Archive for ‘Adult’
41 items.
mature audiences
Jinx paced agitatedly around his new home, greatly disturbed. His arguments and pleas had fallen on deaf ears: King-Thomas would not back down, and Jinx couldn’t simply kill him for a number of reasons. First, King-Thomas had not harmed him in any way, and even came up with far more than the fifty gold he had promised. The money seemed to mean nothing to him. Jinx was still trapped, but King-Thomas had never said he wasn’t going to trap Jinx and baffle him with gibberish: he just said he was going to pay Jinx money, and he had. Jinx resolved never again to listen to strange wizards who offered money for seemingly harmless things. He felt, with some justification, that his being trapped in Rainmoor was partly his own fault.
Second, King-Thomas was the only person Jinx knew who could let him out of Rainmoor. The passageway that had closed behind Jinx refused to open again, and King-Thomas refused to let Jinx out, totally confusing him with endless talk about ‘good’ and ‘honor’ and ‘duty’ and such things. Jinx listened politely, understanding about one sentence in six, and gradually stopped asking for explanations, because the explanations were inevitably even worse. The most eloquent and incomprehensible part came when Jinx asked whether being ‘good’ meant trapping people in fancy places and making then do what you want. King-Thomas had spoken passionately, sometimes with noble tears in his eyes, for a solid half-hour: apparently ‘good’ meant that you would do whatever you liked because there were other people who were trying to do things you didn’t like. Jinx considered that, and told the King he was good too, meaning that he was still going to try to escape at the earliest opportunity. The King was much relieved.
Third, King-Thomas was putting everything in the room at Jinx’s disposal, and the sheer amount of it was nagging at Jinx’s curiosity very much. It was the magic stuff that was fascinating him, in spite of his fears. The room had so much magic in it that Jinx wanted to hide. There were five other rooms, each one also filled with astonishing, appallingly magical stuff. It reminded him of when he was very young and was trying to survive from day to day in his father’s dark and empty castle, skulking around trying to find food and a safe place to sleep, gazing in wonder at some mysterious magical undertaking of his wizard father and then being noticed and chased down the hall. Once more, the feeling of being surrounded by strange, mysterious forces was overwhelming. However, this time it was a totally novel experience, because this time the magical stuff was Jinx’s to use. That was a new and scary concept, and hard to get used to, but there was something irresistible about it anyway. Jinx had always thought of magic as the strange and unpleasant thing that had created him different from everybody, and his fear of magic was partly from feeling himself the victim of it. King-Thomas was allowing him to turn the tables and start fooling with it, and Jinx considered the possibilities interesting. Jinx also liked the idea of being able to open a door and throw somebody into a raging inferno if you needed to: you never could tell when you might need a raging inferno to throw somebody into. Jinx had never had one before, and there had been a number of occasions when he could have used one.
Finally, there was Elanor. King-Thomas had told Jinx that he could keep Elanor as a pet if that helped any, and added that she understood language a little bit. He could let Elanor run free around the place, or freeze her if he wanted. She was very intelligent for an animal, said King Thomas, and would make an excellent companion for him in many ways. If Jinx was not going to work for the King, however, Elanor would be much more useful as an astral guard. As the King exclaimed over what a wonderful job Elanor did in the Astral Plane, Jinx noticed her gazing at him with a pleading look in her jungle eyes: he tried to imagine what it was like wandering around as an astral spirit and didn’t think it would be as much fun as the King seemed to think it was.
Jinx asked the King whether Elanor could talk, since she understood commands.
“Well,” said the King, “perhaps you’d better see for yourself. She’s an animal, you see: I communicate with her and learn what she’s seen by a form of telepathy, or perhaps you’d call it empathy. The thoughts make a sort of sense, but I wouldn’t call it language. It’s more in terms of imagery, visual, auditory, olfactory and, er, tactile. I suppose one could call it that. I’m afraid it’s been cruel of me keeping Elanor here when I knew perfectly well of her… needs. However, she has been terribly useful and bears me no grudge for it, that is some consolation. It’s not difficult to communicate with an animal, but one has so little in common with it that there isn’t much to talk about. I’ll set up a link…” and Jinx felt a strange and alarming sensation in his mind, and tensed in fear, but before he could react it was over.
“There you are,” said the King. “Now, all you have to do to link minds with Elanor is touch her, for instance put your hand on her head. If you like, you can have me remove the link later. The same holds for the other animals, too. I’ve also given you the ability to change Elanor’s state, like you saw me do, but the other animals have to stay frozen, and you won’t be able to affect them. Oh, and I’ve told her your name. You’re best off staying here for a while, until I can teach you more about how Rainmoor works: you could get lost quite easily, and I wouldn’t relish the task of finding you again. I must go now, I’ve stayed too long already, but do make yourself at home, and do please go around and have a look at the animals’ minds. I can’t always check them as often as I would like, so you could be a great help to me by keeping tabs on them in that way. Goodbye! I’ll be back tomorrow.”
King-Thomas had left then, with a cheery wave, and Jinx was alone in the room.
Jinx kept pacing, lashing his tail in agitation, and Elanor’s eyes followed him wherever he went, though her head was frozen in place. He stared, frustrated, at the blank wall where he’d come in. Behind it was the world, but the passageway was gone and he couldn’t walk through solid rock. The other animals glanced at him occasionally, and then went back to a distant stare as if they were looking at things far away, but Elanor couldn’t stop looking at him and it made him uncomfortable. She must be in heat, he thought, and she thinks I’m an animal too. I’d better not let her loose for one second. King-Thomas must be crazy to think that I’m going to wander around Rainmoor with a lust-crazed black panther climbing all over me. Doesn’t he understand that I’m trying to behave like a human?
Finally, Jinx started to check out the animals, because his thinking wasn’t getting anywhere and he needed a distraction. He started as far from Elanor as he could, with one of the owls. He touched it, lightly.
(Find people talking. Find people acting like they’re trying to hide. Listen for people saying ‘King-of-Rainmoor’. Hunt.)
That sounded like what the King was telling him, and it also sounded like the bird hadn’t found anything. Jinx moved on to the next owl.
(Found! People talking about ‘King-of-Rainmoor’ in Crystal Gardens!)
That sounded like what the King was looking for! Jinx shrugged, and moved on to the next animal, a ferret.
(Sneak. Find people talking about ‘King-of-Rainmoor’. Kill them. Bite them. Attack bad things.)
Jinx supposed the ferret was for hunting in the gutters of Rainmoor, if Rainmoor had any gutters. He was a little taken aback by the ferocity of the ferret’s thoughts, but figured that was what ferrets were like. Next there was a bear. Jinx was glad he couldn’t let that one loose, even by accident.
(sleep)
Jinx wondered if the King knew that the bear was hibernating. Maybe it was spying on people’s dreams. That would be an interesting way to spy.
There were no animals left… except Elanor. Jinx considered skipping her. What good would it do? Her thoughts were probably animal passion and nothing else, judging from the way she was looking at him. Still, it couldn’t hurt. It might even be entertaining, in a way, to feel the crude waves of lust for him. He touched her head.
(Jinx! If you don’t set me loose this instant I’ll never forgive you as long as I live!)
Jinx staggered back, his mind reeling. Hand shaking, he touched her again.
(Oh, please, please, I’ll be good, Jinx, let me go please?)
(You talk?) thought Jinx.
(Of course I do!)
(Well, none of the other animals talk the way you do. Are you really a panther, or are you people like me?)
(I’m a cat. Like you. The others don’t talk? I talk to them all the time.)
(I am not either a cat! I’m people, or at least I’m almost people, sort of…)
(You’re a cat. I can tell. I could tell from the moment I laid eyes on you. You’re a beautiful cat. I need you, Jinx. If I wasn’t frozen stiff, I’d be weak in the knees just looking at you…)
(None of that! I’m people, not some stupid animal! I’d better not let you go, you are in heat, even worse than I thought.)
(Jinx! Please, please, could you let me go? I just need to make love to you, what’s wrong with that? You’d feel the same way, if you’d been wandering around some lonely place without your body for ten years, and then had a beautiful cat like you show up! Please let me go, it’s lonely in here.)
(Ten years?)
(Something like that. I’m not sure what a year is, but that’s what the man thinks. It doesn’t matter. Please let me go, please? I don’t want to be wandering around this place, now that I have another cat to be with.)
(I am not a cat! I’m people! You’re the one who’s a cat.)
(Oh, really? Then how come you understand everything I’m saying, when the man couldn’t?)
Jinx lifted his hand again, cutting her off in mid-thought. He was horrified. Did that mean he really was an animal, and not people? He paced, upset, lashing his tail agitatedly. He touched one of the owls again, and got the same trivial, unfocused thoughts he had before. Finally he crouched beside Elanor, and laid his hand on her head. Her mind was weeping.
(Oh, please, don’t leave me like that! I can’t bear it! If you’re not going to set me free then just take that sword you brought here and chop off my head! I can’t stand it, knowing that one of my own kind is finally here but doesn’t even want me around…)
(Elanor.)
(Y-yes?)
(You may be right about me being an animal, sort of.)
(Of course I am! Does that mean you’re going to let me go? Please, please?)
(Well, I’m willing to act like people. Are you? And will you leave me alone? I can’t have you lusting after me like that. I’m not like you…)
(I’ll do anything, just anything. Please!)
Jinx took his hand away, and crouched facing her, watching her warily. “Elanor. Thaw!”
Elanor began to move, awkwardly, as if trying to stretch before she was fully unfrozen. She stretched each leg out sensuously, then rolled on her back and wriggled lithely for sheer pleasure at being able to move. Then she turned to face Jinx, with glowing, adoring eyes, and pounced, knocking him onto his back and pinning him to the ground.
(Oh, thank you so much! I love you I love you I love you! Don’t ever make me go back to that place again, ever!)
(Elanor, get off me! Now!)
She got off Jinx, let him get up, and sat a short distance from him, unable to meet his eyes. Jinx studied her. She was trembling dreadfully. “You’re going to be endless trouble, aren’t you?”
She hesitantly reached out a shaking paw, and Jinx knew she wanted to communicate some more. He reluctantly took the paw in his hand.
(Are you mad at me, Jinx? Did I do something wrong?)
(Yes, and yes. You don’t understand language all that well, do you?)
(Sort of. You’re the first person I’ve ever talked with, this way at least.)
(Could you talk with King-Thomas?)
(Not really. I could only give him things like a feeling I’d spotted something, and a feeling of what the place was like. He thinks in gibberish.)
(He’s people, you’re not. You know what, Elanor? It’s gibberish to me, too. At least, a lot of it is.)
(Really? Jinx, a lot of what you think is gibberish too.)
(I doubt it. I’m not human enough to think in gibberish.)
(No, not that way. It’s not gibberish gibberish, it’s doesn’t-make-sense gibberish.)
(What?)
(You’re mad at me, and I didn’t do anything. You got mad when I said you were a cat, and you’re the most beautiful cat I ever saw. You won’t make love to me, and I need you to. Right now!)
(Elanor! Stop that! I warned you!)
(Please don’t be angry! I’m afraid you’re going to freeze me again when you think like that! Look, forget it. I’ll just go over to the other side of the room.)
(You do that. And stay over there, too. I’m going to sleep. This has been a rough day.)
Jinx watched her slink dejectedly away, still trembling. She curled up and lay still, and he could see she was still vibrating tensely, although feigning sleep. He shrugged, curled up himself, and gradually drifted off to sleep.
In the middle of a definitely provocative dream, he woke to feel Elanor’s paw on his flank.
(I can’t sleep.)
(So don’t sleep. Your paw’s shaking, Elanor.)
(I still haven’t stopped shaking, Jinx, and I can’t sleep.)
(What do you expect me to do about it?)
(You can either make love to me right now, or you can stop having nice dreams.)
Jinx looked down. Yes, they were nice dreams, and they had been interrupted. Considering that Elanor was in heat, he could see why she was having trouble getting to sleep.
(I can’t stand it, Jinx. It’s too much to ask of me. If you’re going to torture me like that, then you’d better freeze me facing away from you, because I can’t stop looking.)
Jinx was very sleepy, and didn’t have the energy to argue. Perhaps she’d settle down and be easier to deal with if she got what she wanted. Animals did work that way, and she’d probably get worse and worse if he kept on frustrating her. Nobody was watching. And he had to admit she was sexy: in her excited condition she couldn’t help being sexy, every move she made showed how desperate she was. Also, he could talk to her, and that reassured him for some reason. His objections faded reluctantly away, and he decided to give up and worry about it later. Besides, nobody would know…
“Reeeeowww!”
(Be quiet, damn it! People will hear! And hold still! How do you expect me to….)
“Yowr! Reeowww!”
(Now you’ve run right out from under me! Will you make up your mind!?!)
(Oh, please, don’t stop… Oh! Oh!)
“Reeeeoww!!”
Jinx had never been so annoyed and frustrated. This was worse than he’d feared: it was as noisy and obvious as his worst suspicions, but he hadn’t even been able to begin! Elanor was absolutely frantic, and was incapable of listening to reason, and there was no turning back. Jinx suspected she would attack him if he quit trying, but it was impossible to hold her still. There had to be a better way. Finally, Jinx had a bright idea.
“Elanor. Freeze.”
She shook even worse for a second, and then his problems were over.
When he was quite finished, he wandered back over to where he’d slept, and lay down, and looked at Elanor, still in the tense, frantic pose she’d been in when he froze her. “Elanor? Thaw.” he said, wondering what she would do. She’d been totally incoherent the entire time, but perhaps that was understandable. After all, she’d fainted twice.
As she unfroze, she wobbled a bit, then collapsed in a heap. He watched with interest as she struggled to her feet, which took a few attempts, and came towards him. She stood shakily before him, then drew back a paw with her claws extended, and tried to scratch his face. He jerked his head back, and she missed, and fell over again. The next thing he knew, she was snuggling into his arms. That startled him, but he didn’t resist: it felt good to have her cuddling up against him.
(Oh well, I tried. You shouldn’t have ducked, you deserve a scar after that trick.)
(It’s your own fault for being so noisy and wild. Now are you going to sleep?)
(Yes. I love you.)
(Animals don’t love, people do.)
(Then I must be people, because I love you.)
(No, you’re not. I’m not quite people myself: how could you be?)
(I don’t care. Go to sleep, tiger.)
(Only because that’s what I wanted to do in the first place. I think I’m going to have to trick King-Thomas into thinking you’re a person, otherwise he’ll know I’m not really one myself…)
(Or stay up and think gibberish to yourself, if that’s what you want to do. I’m going to sleep, anyway.)
(You do that. I can’t expect you to understand these things.)
Jinx awoke staring at a foot, and looked up to see King-Thomas, who seemed touched and amused at the sight of Jinx and Elanor curled up together. Startled, Jinx tried to figure out a way to get out of his embarrassing position.
“I thought I’d find you two together, Jinx. Elanor is a dear creature, isn’t she? So affectionate. I think I’ll have to give her to you, you suit each other.” His tone said more than his words did.
(What’s he saying, Jinx?)
(Be quiet. Act like a human.) “She’s people, you know, King-Thomas. You shouldn’t talk about giving her.”
“Oh, no, I don’t think so. She’s a beautiful beast, but there’s nothing human about her, not in the sense that you’re human, anyway. I understand you’re part human by birth. She’s entirely an animal, but there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m sure you have your needs, just as she has. Or would that be ‘had’?”
Jinx bristled at the implication. “She can talk as well as I can, over that mind-link thing.”
“Oh, I think not. I’d have noticed if she had. I imagine she can speak eloquently with her body, though. Such a beautiful creature, and so, ah, affectionate… I’m afraid mind-links keep no secrets, Jinx. I’ve been quite aware of Elanor’s moods. She seems much relieved now, however. I’m happy to see it, as I love her dearly… in some ways, at least… You know, I rather envy you, Jinx, although I doubt a real human has any business saying so. I’ve always thought she was exquisitely lovely. Some of our more decadent nobles wouldn’t have lifted an eyebrow if I’d… soothed her. Lord knows I’ve been tempted, working with her so closely. Though it really wouldn’t do, you know.”
(Jinx! No! Don’t you dare hurt my nice King-Thomas! He likes me!)
(He shouldn’t, at least not that way.)
(What’s that supposed to mean?)
(I’ll try to explain later. Okay, I won’t hurt him. Satisfied?)
(Yes. I’m going to go and play in the other room. Call me back if you want to talk.)
“What do you want?” asked Jinx, vexed by the way King-Thomas was watching Elanor glide fluidly into the other room. She moved with indecent languor, and this was too obvious for Jinx’s liking. Probably many people would not know what it meant, but King-Thomas seemed to know all too well. He looked very pleased at the sight.
“The gift seems to be already given, anyhow…” mused King-Thomas. “I came by to help you make your adjustment to Rainmoor. There are so many things you must learn, before you’ll be ready to go out and start working.”
“Is it dawn?” asked Jinx brusquely. The King seemed unperturbed.
“My dear Jinx, it is nearly noon. I let you sleep in until a shocking hour, out of the kindness of my heart, because when I peeked in at you and saw you sleeping with Elanor, I couldn’t bear to wake you. Perhaps it was her I could not bear to wake. Call me soft-hearted, bout that’s how I felt. It was an endearing sight.”
Jinx bristled further at the thought of King-Thomas peeking in at them. He felt violated somehow, and snarled “Jinx hasn’t woken up enough to deal with you yet.”
“Oh, I understand.” said King-Thomas. “Do whatever you need to get your heart started, and I’ll be by again in a few hours.”
He left politely while Jinx was still trying to figure out if he was being suggestive.
“Elanor?” called Jinx, and she scampered up to him and snuggled up.
(You have no idea how nice it is to be alive again, Jinx!)
(Elanor, King-Thomas looked at us while we were sleeping!)
(Oh? Why does that bother you so? And why were you so angry at him? I didn’t really understand what he was saying, but he was talking about me.)
(I wasn’t able to fool him. He still thinks you’re an animal.)
(But I am, silly! What’s wrong with being an animal?)
(I can’t explain. Take my word for it, being an animal is bad. You have to be a person instead if you’re going to stay with me.)
(Jinx, I’m not! I can’t be a person! They think in gibberish, and they don’t make sense. You must be a person, because you don’t make sense either. Jinx, please, can’t I just be what I am? I love you, and I want you to be happy with me…)
(Well, can you try to act like a person?)
(How? Why?)
(I don’t know! Walk upright, like me. Pay attention to what King-Thomas says and listen to the conversation, and be dignified, not scampering around like an enormous kitten.)
(Jinx, honestly! I don’t know how you walk upright and can’t see why you bother, I barely understand what King-Thomas says anyway, and I’m going to scamper if I feel like it. I was frozen for a very long time, and I have a perfect right to scamper now if I choose!)
(Oh, very well. King-Thomas is coming back, and you’d better get it over with before he sees you doing it, so scamper off and play… kitten.)
As Elanor scampered off, Jinx entered what seemed to be a dining room, and suddenly realized he hadn’t eaten since yesterday. He looked around for the kitchen, but there was no sign of a kitchen, just a small but ornate table to sit at and a much larger table jammed with food. Jinx had no intentions of sitting at the small table to eat, because it was made of that wood that rippled and looking at it disturbed him.
The table piled with food was more normal, but Jinx was baffled by most of the food on it. What was the black guck in a bowl? It smelled fishy, and glistened, and Jinx wasn’t about to risk it. There wasn’t any bread Jinx recognized, but there were small things shaped like a lumpy waning moon that smelled wonderfully like bread. Jinx picked one up, and was startled when his fingers gouged deeply into the thing. He tasted it, because it sure smelled like bread, and then ate it. It was delicious, but it was nothing but air! He wasn’t going to get very far eating those things.
He carefully avoided looking at a hideous thing like a huge, swollen insect: this was difficult, as the thing was bright red and smack in the middle of the other food. Jinx thought he had never seen anything so disgusting in his entire life. There were some mushrooms there as well, of two varieties, neither of which Jinx trusted: one was black and rubbery, and the other seemed more normal, though strangely dried up, but wasn’t any sort Jinx recognized. Jinx knew better than to eat strange mushrooms. He looked further.
Jinx spotted something that looked like meat, and took a piece. On close inspection, it smelled very much like ham but looked like ham that had been in a terrible accident. Still, it smelled so much like ham that Jinx tasted it. Yes, it was ham, sort of, but it tasted too strong and the texture was all wrong. It was like ham that somebody had chewed up already, and Jinx spat it out and moved on, beginning to feel desperate. Didn’t King-Thomas have any normal food?
Jinx’s attention was drawn to an outlandish circular food, that smelled promising. It smelled of tomatoes, which Jinx recognized, and had a crust which was definitely bread, and seemed to be made largely of cheese, a strange sort of cheese, but definitely cheese of some sort. It had spots all over it, and when Jinx picked one of them off he quickly realized it was an incredibly thin slice of some sort of sausage. The cheese clung stubbornly to it, and Jinx tried that and thought it was the most boring cheese he’d ever heard of. However, the overall food seemed quite promising and Jinx managed to finish off more than half of the thing. He thought it was a wonderful food, although there were things about it that annoyed him: he couldn’t figure out how anyone could cut the bread under it into wedges while leaving the cheese a solid mass, and he couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to do this even if they could…
He went looking for something to drink but found that the choices there were just as baffling. First, there was wine, but it was clearish instead of red, and to make matters worse was bubbling as if it were a magic potion. Jinx had always avoided even normal wine, because it did things to his mind. Who could imagine what this strange bubbling stuff might do? Next there was a liquid didn’t bubble or do anything alarming, but looked disconcertingly like urine, only with a greenish tint. Jinx considered that it might have something to do with lemons, for he thought he could smell a hint of lemon in it, and so he tasted it, and hastily spat it out. It did indeed taste of lemons, but it also tasted so strongly of strange, unnatural things that Jinx hunted in a panic for something safe to wash his mouth out with. There was some brown stuff that smelled milky and sweet, and then there was clear stuff that reeked savagely of alcohol, even more than brandy did, and also smelled metallic and sour and generally unpleasant. Then, finally, there was water: Jinx supposed it must be some special sort of water, but water it was. It tasted ever so slightly bitter, but that was perfectly normal for water, especially when you drank from a spring high in the mountains. Jinx rinsed his mouth out with it, and then drank some. Looking back at the food, he noticed with a sense of unease that the round thing he’d eaten had replenished itself. Well, he thought, you should have expected that. At least there’s a thing you can eat and a thing you can drink that’s not totally bizarre and decadent. If it can’t run out, all the better: maybe it’s not the food that’s magical (a thought that made Jinx want to vomit), it’s the table that fetches it…
Jinx heard a frightened squall from the other room, and then Elanor rushed in and cowered behind him, pressing against his legs and shuddering.
(It bit me!)
(What bit you? There isn’t anybody here but us. Was it the ferret?)
(No, no! Some strange thing in that room, the one that’s just full of strange things. All I did was touch it with my nose, and it bit me, really hard! Is it coming? Is it chasing me?)
Jinx listened carefully, but he heard nothing.
(I don’t think so. Show me what bit you. I’ll teach it a lesson.)
Elanor led him to the door of the room she’d been in, and Jinx, after getting his sword, prowled warily in. The room was certainly full of strange, incomprehensible things, but not one of them made a move or showed the slightest indication of being alive.
(Elanor, there isn’t anything alive here! How could any of it bite you?)
(The shiny thing.) thought Elanor, still staying safely behind him. (The thing on the floor that’s all complicated. Oh, Jinx, be careful! It’s growling!)
Jinx started to tell her she was talking nonsense, but then he realized that one of the things was indeed making a noise. He would have called it humming instead of growling, and the humming was disconcertingly steady and unvarying, but it was certainly not just sitting there. Bits of it glowed with a strange, orange light, trapped within tall bubbles of glass. Jinx advanced on it cautiously, drawing his sword. The thing was made of various sorts of metal, and appeared to be partly disassembled, with bits of wire of the sort one used for chain-mail sticking out of it here and there. It seemed that King-Thomas had found this thing somewhere and was experimenting with it for some reason. Jinx noticed that there was a ropelike thing emerging from the back of it, smooth and dull and looking like a thin snake without scales. This ropelike thing faded into thin air at the far end, as if it was the creature’s link to its own plane. Jinx considered this, and then a grin stole over his tigerish face. He was certain that, if he cut the thing’s lifeline, all its power would be gone and it would die. Jinx drew back his sword, and at that moment King-Thomas appeared in the doorway, crying “Jinx! No!”. But Jinx wasn’t about to spare the thing on King-Thomas’s whim. It had attacked Elanor, and it was going to die.
The sword swung down, and suddenly there was a shower of crackling sparks and a cold fire was ripping Jinx’s arm off. His ears went back, and he began slashing savagely at the thing’s life line, knowing that his only hope was to cut it, before the angered creature could pivot and cover its weak spot. The world swam before his eyes as the creature’s attacks shook his body, and Jinx crumpled to the floor, with one last desperate slash of his sword…
He regained consciousness slowly, with both Elanor and King-Thomas bending over him.
(Jinx! Wake up, please! Don’t die!)
“Jinx, you poor fellow! Are you all right?”
“Is it dead?” asked Jinx, fumbling for his sword, which he’d dropped when he fainted.
(You killed it! I’m so proud of you!)
“My dear fellow, it never was alive!” said King-Thomas. “But it was still horribly dangerous! I can’t tell you how sorry I am for not warning you about it. I’m deeply ashamed, honestly!”
Jinx looked at the thing, and listened for its humming. It was silent, and its life line had been severed with his final blow. The severed end had vanished away into whatever space it had come from, leaving behind a wisp of foul-smelling smoke and an air of lightning. His sword was charred slightly, and a tiny spot along its edge was melted from the titanic force of the creature’s blows.
“What the hell was it, anyway?” asked Jinx, shaken.
“Jinx, you were fighting storm elementals! To be specific, you were fighting lightning elementals! Some mages in one of the other planes have learned how to trap them and force the elementals to do their bidding. That’s why I say the device was never alive. It’s a sort of cage, which the lightning elementals inhabit. I’d been trying to learn what the device was for, and I haven’t succeeded, but I did learn that lightning elementals travel through metal, at the risk of my own life! Ah, Jinx, I learned quickly to never allow them any way to get at me: they attacked viciously at the slightest opportunity, and there was no reasoning with them! I suppose one must expect that from the fiercest of the Storm Elementals. I have been terribly careful to wear leather gloves, which they have great difficulty attacking through, and to never, ever touch any metal they might be occupying unless I was wearing the gloves! Even then, they would prey upon me in moments of fear, snapping at my sweating hands! And then, what should I see but you, dear fellow, taking on these dangerous creatures with a metal sword! I tried to warn you, but I was too late. You are indeed lucky to be alive!”
(What’s he talking about, Jinx?)
Jinx tried to figure out how to explain it to her. (It wasn’t really alive, but sort of. It was really, really dangerous, but it’s dead now.)
Elanor gazed worshipfully at him with big, adoring eyes, and that was gratifying. Even if she wasn’t really people, rescuing her from Storm Elementals made him feel important.
“But why on earth did you attack it in the first place? I say,” added the King in alarm, “you haven’t been eating the mushrooms, have you?” He backed away, nervously.
“Jinx hasn’t eaten any mushrooms. Why do you ask?”
“I am inestimably relieved, Jinx. I’d better start explaining things starting with your own home: it hadn’t occurred to me how many dangers I’d left lying about. But why did you attack it, Jinx? It was one of the most dangerous things around here. You couldn’t have known about the lightning elementals, for I didn’t think to tell you. Why?”
“It attacked Elanor.”
“Oh, dear! I should have thought of that. I trusted you to not meddle in things that could be dangerous, but I never thought of the danger of leaving Elanor unattended! I’d better take care of it before she gets in any further mischief. Elanor! Fr..”
“Don’t say it.” rasped Jinx. “I’ll tell her to stay out of trouble.”
“Oh, Jinx, don’t be foolish! You can’t tell her anything, you know. At least let me do it while there are dangerous things around. I’ll make the place Elanor-proof, and then you can have her back. Elanor!”
“I said no!” snarled Jinx, and wondered why he was getting angry over Elanor.
King-Thomas stammered, clearly alarmed. “You’re quite sure you haven’t been eating the mushrooms?” he joked nervously.
“Why do you keep talking about mushrooms?” asked Jinx, baffled. “Jinx never eats mushrooms he doesn’t recognize. Some of them are poisonous.”
“Just checking. They’re one of the things I’m going to have to remove. Jinx, I’m only trying to protect Elanor. You must see that. I can see that the thought upsets you,” continued the King carefully, “but you must understand that Elanor could be hurt or killed by some of the loose ends I’m going to tidy up. Don’t you see that there’s no way to tell Elanor to stay out of trouble? She’s exceedingly bright, for an animal, and very inquisitive. When I start tidying up the place, and getting rid of dangerous things, her attention is going to be drawn to them, and some of these things could kill her in a heartbeat if she poked into them. I implore you, for Elanor’s sake, to let me protect her in this way…”
Jinx was moved by his sincerity, and drew his hand back from his sword in shame, leaving it on the floor where he’d dropped it. He felt Elanor pressing against his leg.
(Please don’t hurt King-Thomas, Jinx! I hate seeing you angry at him, he’s a nice man.)
(Yes, I suppose he is. Wait, I have an idea!)
Jinx crouched before Elanor, holding her head in his hands, and spoke out loud.
“Elanor, I know you can hear me. I’m thinking these words at you as I’m saying them, and I know you understand them. I want you to go take a nap while King-Thomas and I go around and make this place safe. There are things we’ll be doing that could hurt you, and you need to stay out of them…”
“Dear boy!” said King-Thomas, deeply touched. “My poor, dear boy, she can’t understand you!”
(Ha!) thought Jinx.
“And to show King-Thomas that you understand what I’m saying, I want you to get up on your hind legs and walk over to where we were sleeping, and lie down.”
(You want me to what?!?)
(You heard me. It’s the only way to prove I can speak to you.)
(I can’t! I won’t! I refuse to look silly in front of King-Thomas like that!)
(Elanor! You’ve got to!)
(No, Jinx!)
(Elanor, do it! Now!) thought Jinx, desperately, letting her feel the full force of his urgency.
“Oh, my poor, dear boy…” began King-Thomas, and stopped.
Elanor jerked her head away from Jinx’s hands, and glared at him in exasperation. Nobody moved for a second, and then Elanor turned, and stiffly, awkwardly rose on her hind legs. She tried to take a step, and then fell over, having no idea how to balance herself. She shot a angry glance at Jinx, turned her back on him, rose on her hind legs again, and staggered drunkenly out of the room, her front legs stuck out stiffly and waving around as she tried to keep from falling down. Jinx and King-Thomas rushed to the door, to see Elanor stagger to the exact spot she and Jinx had slept at, drop to all fours and curl up as if sleeping. She shot baleful looks at Jinx, then rolled over, her back to him, ostentatiously ignoring his existence, her tail twitching angrily.
King-Thomas was speechless for a moment. Then he turned to Jinx.
“Sir, I owe you an apology.”
“Does that mean you’re going to leave Elanor alone?”
“Indeed it does, Jinx, and more. Just a moment!”
King-Thomas ducked into the other room again, and came out brandishing Jinx’s sword, which Jinx had left behind on the floor.
Jinx panicked, stammering “Jinx is sorry he got angry at you, so put down the sword!”
“No, no! Calm yourself, my friend, I’m going to honor you, not chop off your head! Kneel before me, Jinx.”
Jinx looked down at his tiger’s legs, terribly confused. He didn’t know why he was being asked to kneel, and doubted he was capable of it.
King-Thomas noticed the confused glance. “Oops! Of course you can’t kneel, your legs bend the wrong way. I suppose you could crouch, but why don’t we dispense with that part? Come stand before me, Jinx, and look me in the eye like a courageous, ah, creature.”
Jinx complied, warily. He was reassured by King-Thomas’s pompous tone: in his experience, he’d never seen anybody attack while declaiming in a pompous tone. However, he was still nervous, for King-Thomas was holding the sword outstretched over his head.
King-Thomas lowered the sword, and Jinx winced as it touched the top of his head. Thankfully, it was the flat and not the edge touching him. He stood very still, his eyes locked on King-Thomas’s and warily searching for signs of violence. The King began to declaim, pompously.
“Jinx, to honor your courage in battling the Lightning Elementals, a battle I witnessed with my own eyes, to honor your nobleness and compassion for your… for your consort, and to honor your intelligence at learning to speak even with the beasts of the jungle when no man previously had succeeded at the task: for these reasons, and as an expression of my faith in you, I heretofore dub thee ‘Sir Jinx’. You may stand… Well, you are standing, come to think of it, aren’t you? Stand tall, Sir Jinx!”
Jinx obediently stood on tiptoes for a moment. “Can Sir-Jinx have his sword back now?”
“Of course, Sir! With pleasure!”
“Can Sir-Jinx use his old name still, or is it against the rules?” said Jinx, taking the proffered sword.
“Ah, Jinx! Of course you may. But now, if you like, you can be addressed as ‘Sir Jinx’ and punish any of lesser rank who insult you by omitting your title. Within reason, of course. I can explain the guidelines you’ll have to follow should you want to enforce this.”
“Why would Jinx want to do that?”
King-Thomas sighed. “Perhaps it would be too difficult to explain. Actually, I find you curiously refreshing, my dear fellow, for your lack of concern about these things. You’ve no idea how seriously most people take them. Just be assured of one thing, Jinx: you are Nobility now, and not a mere peasant. I shall make the announcements as soon as I’m done here.”
They went into the dining room, Jinx sneaking a glance at Elanor, who was obviously still affronted and angry with him. King-Thomas muttered some gibberish, and the not-black-and-rubbery mushrooms vanished, to be replaced by tiny fish lying in neat rows.
“Hm!” said King-Thomas. “That’s new!” and tried one, then made a face, discreetly removed it from his mouth, and took a swig of the bubbling wine.
“Were those mushrooms poison?” asked Jinx. “Is that why you were so worried Jinx had eaten them?”
“Oh, no! None of the foods are poison, although one is never sure what one will get. Those, my dear Jinx, were enchanted mushrooms. They taste appalling, but eating them brings on wild and fantastic visions. They’re popular among some of the more, dare I say it, dissolute nobles. I was quite worried that you’d eaten some without knowing their magical nature, and the thought of Elanor eating them was even more alarming.”
Jinx was very, very glad he hadn’t touched them. “These things are popular?”
“As I’d said, among the more dissipated noblemen. You sound quite disapproving, Jinx. Do you have strong feelings about such things?”
“Jinx doesn’t understand why real humans like to make themselves sick in the head.”
“Well, if you feel that way, we may as well change some of the beverages while we’re at it. One in particular wouldn’t suit you at all, this one here.” He indicated the one that reeked of alcohol.
“Jinx agrees. It stinks even worse than brandy.”
“Quite so. It’s also popular with the same crowd, you know. Its effects are so shockingly powerful that I had my alchemist analyze it, and it turns out that it’s not magical, but is composed of alcohol from both grapes and grains, with traces of wormwood, which of course is used in casting debilitating hexes. Surprisingly, although it’s not magical, it seems to show the power of compulsion, and you’ll find it served almost anywhere you go, for some high-ranking nobles like Lord Robert refuse to drink anything else. Since the foods and drinks we discover come without names, we have to name them ourselves if they become popular. This one we call ‘the Hammer’, because of what it does to one’s head.”
“Very nice,” Jinx said. “Jinx hopes you can find a more suitable drink to replace it.”
“It wouldn’t be difficult.” said the King wryly, and muttered more gibberish.
The clear liquid changed to a brown liquid, with a familiar smell, and King-Thomas looked pleased.
“Why, I believe it’s… Yes, it is! There you are, Jinx! Apple cider!”
That suited Jinx reasonably well. It was quite fresh and tasty, and seemed to have a hint of cinnamon in it, and also a fair amount of ginger.
“What about these other things?” asked Jinx.
“Have you tried them, Jinx? They’re all good to eat, you know. Do they not agree with you?”
“Jinx will be happier if you take away the large red insect.”
“Oh, that’s not an insect, Jinx! It’s some sort of crab, although nobody’s ever seen a creature that color before. You don’t have to eat the shell, you know.”
“Jinx doesn’t care what it is, it’s disgusting and turns his stomach.”
“Well, we don’t want that. Did you find anything you could eat?”
Jinx indicated the round food.
“Oh, dear. I apologize for the food, Jinx: I might have known your tastes would be less daring than my own. Here’s what I’ll do.”
King-Thomas muttered intently for a minute, then turned to Jinx with a half-suppressed smile.
“This might amuse you. All you have to do, to replace a food or drink with another one, is touch the container, think of the food you want to get rid of, and say the keyword for the cantrip. I don’t expect you to remember the actual cantrip word, so I’ve changed it for you to a word easier to remember.”
“What word?” asked Jinx, uneasy at the prospect of having to say magic words.
“Yuck!” said the King, and burst out laughing.
Jinx was reassured at that, for ‘yuck’ was just how he felt about most of the foods. He hoped he’d be able to find simple food and drink without too much trouble.
“What does Elanor eat?” asked Jinx, realizing that, as far as he knew, she hadn’t had anything to eat for at least a day.
“Elanor doesn’t have to eat. In order to use a beast as an astral guard, one has to set up a way to sustain it, because it can’t feed itself. That’s a special cantrip, separate from the astral projection, and it’s still in effect on Elanor. I expect she’s forgotten what hunger feels like by now. If you like, I can dispel it, you can find food of some sort that she likes, and I’ll find you some sort of sand-box. Or perhaps you can teach her how to use the privy.”
“I’ll ask her whether she wants to eat or not.” said Jinx. “Nobody likes hunger.”
They came back into the room with the fire. Elanor was still feigning sleep, but her tail wasn’t twitching as irritatedly as before. Evidently she found it hard to stay mad at Jinx for long, or perhaps she just forgot things quickly.
“The dangers in this room are the gates.” said King-Thomas. “Do you expect you’ll be using them?”
Jinx didn’t think King-Thomas would approve of his plans for using the raging inferno, and said “Yes” without going into detail.
“Good lad. It can be a real education to explore the planes with Gates. I must introduce you to Vernon: he’ll be quite helpful. There’s one Gate, however, that I must close: actually, I should have closed it long ago, but I never did get around to it.”
“The fiery one?” asked Jinx, rather disappointed.
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you? No. That gate is actually quite safe, for the very simple reason that nobody would ever enter it by accident. You’d have to be totally mad to think you could go through that gate in safety. No, I’m talking about this one. Stand back!”
King-Thomas gingerly opened a door that had been closed since Jinx had been there: it had been closed even when Jinx had first seen it. Jinx braced himself, expecting some horrible nightmare, then gaped in astonishment.
The door opened upon a lovely green field, with pretty flowers and chirping birds. It was a sunny day in early Spring, and the trees glowed with the delicious green that would, all too soon, be replaced by their normal raiment. The cheerful burbling of a stream could be heard, somewhere just out of sight.
“Stand back, I said!” snapped King-Thomas, glancing worriedly back and forth between Jinx and Elanor, who was fascinated. He was clearly ready to slam the door shut at any moment, and his fear conveyed itself to Jinx unmistakably. The contrast between the beautiful scene and King-Thomas’s fear was disturbing. There was obviously something very bad and dangerous about the place, yet it was the picture of innocence and beauty. Was that what humans meant by ‘evil’?
“What’s wrong with it?” asked Jinx. “Is there some terrible monster ready to attack?”
“I’d better show you. Then I’m getting rid of the damned thing, so fast it will make your head spin.” said King-Thomas grimly. He fumbled in his pocket, never taking his eyes off Elanor, who continued to gaze out the Gate with great interest. He produced a gold piece, cursed, then got out a copper piece. “Stand back!”
King-Thomas tossed the coin through the Gate, and there was a deafening report and a blinding flash of colorless light, and the coin was gone. There wasn’t even a wisp of smoke to show where it had been. Stunned, Jinx noticed that the birds had stopped chirping. King-Thomas closed the door, very firmly.
“That, my friend, is an Anti-Plane. Because of the way the Gates operate, you can look through, even stick your head through and look around. I did, when I discovered it. As long as part of you is still in this plane, you don’t exist in the Anti-Plane. The instant you enter it completely, you cease to exist in this plane, and start existing in the Anti-Plane, only you can’t. I don’t know why or how, but you saw what happened to the coin. That copper piece could have been you. Or Elanor, for she certainly liked what she saw. You’d love to go romping among those flowers, wouldn’t you, Elanor?”
Jinx was appalled. “Get rid of it!”
“Quite. I may say that I’ll sleep better at night without it.” King-Thomas muttered his usual gibberish, then opened the door to reveal a extremely boring wasteland. He nodded, and shut the door again.
“Aren’t you going to test it? Throw something through, and see if it explodes.” said Jinx, trying to be nonchalant.
King-Thomas made a sort of twisted grin. “I will if you like, but I’m certain that this new plane is not an Anti-Plane. You wouldn’t know this, but finding that Anti-Plane took weeks of hard work, and I was never able to duplicate the discovery, no matter how I tried. In a way, that’s why I kept the horrid thing around: it was unique. Still, I’m glad it’s gone, for it’s given me nightmares. I honestly think I’d have liked it better if it was a festering swamp. There was something about it being so lovely that had always deeply disturbed me.”
“I still want you to make sure this new place doesn’t explode.” said Jinx. “Please?”
“Oh, certainly.” King-Thomas opened the door again, and tossed a coin through. It landed on the blackened ground and lay there peacefully. King-Thomas stuck his head through, looked around to see if there were any strange creatures about, then walked through and picked up the coin. He looked around again.
“Gad, what an ugly plane.” he said, and came straight back, closing the door behind him.
King-Thomas then showed Jinx the rest of the rooms, explaining as he went. Jinx tried to pay attention, but found it very difficult to understand.
There was the study, filled floor-to-ceiling with books.
“You must remember, Jinx, that each book is a point on several different planes at once, and hence this library contains all books, possibly. I’ll set it for rousing adventures and doughty tales… But you can’t read, can you? That’s easily fixed, and I shall fix it.”
“Please don’t do anything to my mind! I don’t want to be changed!”
“Calm yourself, my dear fellow! I shall do nothing to you. I’d already noted that you feel uncomfortable at the thought of being the subject of magic…”
“Jinx already is the subject of magic, otherwise he wouldn’t have a tail. Jinx wishes to never let it happen again.”
“Quite so. No, what I’m going to do is make the books capable of reading themselves aloud. Have you ever been read to, Jinx?”
“I’m not sure what you mean. Probably not.” Jinx supposed that meant having somebody read out loud. He’d sometimes tried to listen to his wizard father read out loud, but it was useless since he hadn’t been taught language yet, and he got kicked really hard and chased away if he was noticed. That probably wasn’t what King-Thomas meant.
“Well, now you shall. All you need do is open whichever book you choose, and it will speak to you and tell its stories. If you want to read other sorts of books, simply state aloud what sorts of books you wish. I will give you a word of warning, though, Jinx: letting the books read themselves will have precisely the same effect as if you were reading them aloud. I strongly advise you to stick to tales and stories, and not to attempt the reading of grimoires and such. Do we understand each other?”
Jinx wondered what a ‘grimoire’ was. “Yes, King-Thomas.”
“Good.”
The next room was called a ‘vision room’, and Jinx glanced worriedly about for the mushrooms King-Thomas had warned him against. The door opened onto a clearing atop a mountain. It was a dreadfully steep mountain, almost a spire, judging from how it towered above everything else. Jinx noted several huge stone spheres in the middle of the clearing. He tried to walk toward them, curious, but ran into an invisible wall, stopped, and stared at them from a distance.
“What are those things?”
“I’d have thought you’d have heard of them, Jinx. Ah! Perfect timing. If you’d like to know, then turn around and see for yourself!”
Jinx turned, to see King-Thomas looking pleased. Behind him was the door, that still showed the room with the fire: it seemed to be standing in the middle of the air, very like a Gate of some sort. Behind that was the edge of the precipice, and to Jinx’s horror, a titanic bird rose into view just past the edge, beating its enormous wings and fixing him with large, predatory eyes. It must have been larger than a house, and it was less than thirty feet away. Jinx shrank, gasping, against the invisible wall behind him.
Elanor rushed into the room, sensing that something was wrong. She looked over her shoulder, spied the monster, let out a little squeak of terror and rushed straight out again.
Jinx suddenly realized that King-Thomas was laughing. “Dear boy, it can’t see you! In fact, I’m not entirely certain it exists! This is the Vision Room, not a Gate, after all. Gates are easy, but a Vision Room can view anything, whether it’s real or not!”
“It’s not real?” asked Jinx, still quite alarmed. The great bird had passed overhead and was settling down upon the spheres, which were clearly its eggs. Jinx suddenly realized that its wings had not caused any wind. The dust had blown about madly while the thing passed overhead, but it was a trick of the eye.
“I’m not sure. What I do know is that you are viewing a Roc, for that’s what I asked the Room to find. I’ve spent many hours studying the behavior of the Roc, you know: if it turns out to be real, then I shall be well educated from observing it! If it’s merely a figment of somebody’s imagination, then my studies will be useless, but I must admit the fun I’ve had watching it is well worth the time I’ve spent!”
Elanor was peering in the doorway, her fur bristling. She glanced back and forth between Jinx and the Roc, and hesitantly advanced toward it until she bumped into the invisible wall. When she did, she jerked back in alarm, then pressed against Jinx’s leg, trembling.
(Did it hurt you, Jinx? What is it?)
(It’s a very big bird. It might not be real.)
(Why, you’re right, it’s not real, after all!)
(Well, on the other hand it might be.)
(It couldn’t possibly be real, Jinx. It doesn’t smell.)
(That’s true, Elanor, but this place is only for looking at things, not smelling them.)
(What good is that?)
(Damned if I know! I’ve had enough of this place.)
Jinx strode haughtily out of the Vision Room, followed by Elanor and King-Thomas.
“I fear I’ve given you a bad impression of the Vision Room,” said King-Thomas apologetically.
“Oh, no!” said Jinx. “Jinx likes being frightened by giant birds!”
“There is no need to be snide, sir!” snapped the King. “I regret having inconvenienced you. I assure you that the Vision Room is perfectly safe, barring exceptional circumstances. All you need do, to switch its View to some other thing, is speak the name of the thing aloud, and have the desire to change the View in your mind. The Room will do the rest.”
“No offense.” said Jinx. “What is an exceptional circumstance?”
“Should you ever even think you see a basilisk or cockatrice, shut your eyes immediately and change the View to something else. Basilisks are real, and evidently cockatrice are as well. I know this, because one of my untitled mages thought he could view one in safety through the Vision Room. He occupies a position of honor in my Banquet Hall for his sacrifice.”
“Jinx thought such things were death to look at.” said Jinx. “How is it this wizard gets a special seat at the table, if he’s dead?”
“I never said he wasn’t dead. The position I speak of is standing upon a pedestal in the entrance way. By honor I mean that anybody who attempts to hang their hat and coat on him gets stripped of their rank…”
Comment
Jinx spoke little as they headed back to his place. The first thing to do was to get Vernon to change Elanor around so she could leave the Astral plane at will. Jinx cringed every time he thought of how he’d trapped her there, and left her to fight off whatever incomprehensible horrors the place had. He’d thought it was just some sort of spy-thing, a place where you could fly around looking through walls and listening to people without their noticing. It would have been bad enough if he’d banished Elanor to a gray, empty place over and over, but it was far worse to realize that he’d forced her into a horrible, dangerous place with mysterious, frightening things living in it, a place that drove humans insane. As if that wasn’t enough, while she was in this horrible place he’d been making remarks about how he didn’t particularly want to let her out. It was incredible that she still loved him after such behavior. He certainly didn’t love him after such behavior.
“Jinx? What are you thinking about?” asked Elanor.
“Nothing,” said Jinx. The next thing to do after getting Vernon to change Elanor was getting Vernon to change him, and the thought terrified him. It wasn’t just the thought of being altered by magic, either. He was determined to go into the Lonely Place with Elanor, even if it killed him. He was pretty sure he wasn’t human enough to be hurt by it, but he couldn’t be certain. All those years he’d tried to be human…
“Jinx, why aren’t you talking to me? Are you mad at me, because of the way I ate?”
“No, I’m not mad at you.”
“Then what’s bothering you?”
Jinx sighed, realizing he’d have to tell her sooner or later. “I’m going with you to the lonely place, Elanor, and I’m scared. That’s all.”
“You are? Peter and Julia said not to. I thought you changed your mind.”
“I have to. It’s only fair. Besides, I might learn something about Nameless-King.”
“Oh.” said Elanor. “Okay, then, you can come.”
“You don’t sound very worried!”
“Why wouldn’t you be able to come along? You’re a cat like me.”
“You said there were horrible things there.”
“We chased them away, and now it’s empty. Well, sort of. It can’t really be empty, because it’s too big. It’s hard to explain. I’ll have to show you, and then you’ll understand, but I promise there won’t be any things chasing you. Does that help?”
“I guess so.”
“I call it the Lonely Place, don’t I? If the things were still there, I wouldn’t be calling it the Lonely Place. I’d be calling it the Scary Place, like we used to call it.”
When they reached Jinx’s place, they went straight into Vernon’s cave and confronted the startled dragon, who’d been taking a nap.
“What is it? Do you have an appointment? No pets allowed on the premises.”
“Are you talking about Elanor?” snapped Jinx, offended.
“No, I’ve decided that you’re both my pets, and the humans as well. Unfortunately, I’ve rather outsmarted myself, because my lease doesn’t allow pets. It’s most distressing.”
“What lease?” said Jinx. “You rent this cave from King-Thomas?”
“Certainly not. I found this cave myself, and so I had to make the lease myself as well. I got a tremendous bargain, I might add: the rent is so low that I actually owe myself money! I’m being very lenient, of course. Considering the situation, I suppose I wouldn’t mind if I let you in here, every now and then, but promise you won’t tear up the carpet.”
“There isn’t a carpet, there’s only rock.”
“Well, promise you wouldn’t tear up the carpet if there was one.”
Jinx rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Vernon, this is serious.”
“Serious? That’s extra.”
“Extra what?”
“Hmmm… I’m not sure. Never mind, do please continue.”
“I need you to do some magic. First, can you make it so Elanor can go in and out of the lonely place whenever she wants?”
“I should think so, and I thoroughly approve. I should have thought of that long ago. Consider it done, no charge, and you need buy only six regular club selections over the next two years. Did you have a second request?”
“I need to go there, too.”
The dragon turned his vast, scaly head and stared at Jinx for a moment.
“Have you told anyone else of this, Jinx?”
“Peter and Julia don’t want me to go. They say that if people go there, they go crazy. Is that true?”
“I’ll try and explain.” said the dragon. “I’m not sure how much you’ll understand, though. The Astral plane isn’t just a place, it’s a plane of thought on a tremendously high level. Things live there, and sometimes manifest themselves in Rainmoor proper, but they’re not truly independent entities, more like distorted echoes of the overall consciousness. Elanor and the other astral guards can go into the Astral Plane because they’re not sufficiently complex to be affected by the place…”
“Can you explain better? I didn’t understand any of that. Echoes of what?”
“Hmmm. If you had, I’d know straight away that you shouldn’t risk it. I’ve looked at your mind, Jinx, and it’s extremely ambiguous. I couldn’t tell you whether it’s safe or not. I imagine that Peter and Julia were being rather sentimental if they were shocked at the idea of you going Astral, because I suspect they think of you as a regular human, only with a different appearance. Humans tend to do that. They assume that, if they like an entity, that entity is therefore similar to them. They do this with me as well, and I must admit sometimes I fall into the same irrational trap. However, I am certain that your mind is not a human mind, and yet it’s not an animal mind either. As I said, ambiguous.”
“Does that mean I can go with Elanor?”
“It means I’m not sure, Jinx. Why do you want to? Guilt? Curiosity? A desire to defend Elanor? If that’s the reason, I’d point out that she’s evidently done quite well on her own. There are almost no reports of hauntings or malicious spirits these days. Elanor, do you know why that is?”
“Yes.” said Elanor. “We chased all the things away~.”
“We?” inquired the dragon.
“Us animals. The things were too scary, so we stuck together and went after them until they all started to go down, or up, or whatever, and we didn’t stop until they went far away and left us alone.”
“Ah, that explains it. Good work, Elanor. Jinx, Elanor and her friends presumably thought they were chasing creatures of some sort away. What I imagine actually happened was that they overpowered the entities by the force of their emotion and loyalty to one another, and being animals weren’t susceptible to the dissolving effect of the Astral Plane. Animals tend to have a strong, instinctive sense of self, and will go into a defensive posture when subjected to the Astral Plane, refusing to perceive anything that violates their world-view. For instance, Elanor, what would you say if I told you that all the things you chased away are still there, in fact are everywhere in the Astral Plane at once?”
“They are not! We chased them so far away that they’ll never come back!”
“You see, Jinx? Elanor can’t understand the Astral Plane, and this protects her from it.”
“I don’t understand what you said either, Vernon. Did you go there?”
“Good lord, no!” exclaimed the dragon. “I wouldn’t last a moment! I’m far too intelligent to risk it. There are other ways to learn about the Astral Plane, you know, such as windows and beacons. They’re awfully tedious, but I’ve had centuries to play with them. So you understood nothing of what I said?”
“Nothing.” said Jinx, suppressing a feeling of unease.
“In that case, I suppose I could give you a little taste of the Astral Plane, to see how well you handle it. I’ll fix Elanor up first, and then I’ll project you into Astral for, oh, ten seconds. I think that’s a safe time limit. Humans can stand from five to ten seconds of it before they go mad, so I imagine ten would be safe for you. When the time is up, I’ll pull you back in.”
The dragon fell silent, working on Elanor’s mind and giving her the ability to go in and out of the lonely place at will. Jinx waited, getting more and more alarmed at what was about to happen to him. He hoped Vernon would let him get ready for it, rather than just throwing him in.
Finally, Vernon lifted his head from Elanor, who’d frozen immediately as if wanting to test the new ability out. The dragon looked at Jinx, and his eyes bored into Jinx’s, inexorably.
The first thing Jinx noticed was that the walls of Vernon’s cave were growing gray and misty. In fact, everything was getting gray and misty. Jinx felt something brush his leg, and looked down in alarm, expecting to see some nameless horror.
He saw a misty gray Elanor, looking up at him with ears perked up: however, her eyes were just holes in the cloudy form. Worse, he couldn’t see his leg, and as soon as he noticed that, he couldn’t feel it, either. With a shock, he realized that his body was gone entirely, and he was nothing but a disembodied mind in a transparent gray image of Rainmoor.
Transparent? He looked off into the distance, and that was a terrible mistake. He didn’t see very far, but his mind reached out in the direction he was looking, and he knew then that Rainmoor was infinite. His perception raced uncontrollably in that direction, and he felt the reality of endless caves and tunnels forcing itself on his brain, making him dwindle into a tiny, lost speck in the horrible expanse…
Jinx shut his eyes, refusing to see any more, and that cut off the feeling of infinity, for a moment. Then he sensed things of some sort, off in the distance. He held his eyes tightly shut, even though there was no ‘eyes’ and no ‘him’ anymore. That didn’t matter as much as not letting the things get him.
The things squirmed and flickered in his mind, his perception of them doing impossible things: one instant a thing would be infinitely far away, and then it was already breathing down his neck, latching onto a piece of his mind and vanishing into incalculable distance with it. But, strangely, his mind was not diminished by this: it existed in both places, where he was, and where the thing had gone. He seemed to become them, or perhaps they became him. Again and again, the things reached across the gray abyss and grabbed pieces of him, and this was okay, because he was everywhere…
All at once, with that thought, his mind swelled, as if the gray misty cave he’d been in was dwindling to a speck. He expanded through the infinite caves, and he was imagining all of them, and he was them, for he was Rainmoor. And he smiled.
And as the pinpricks of caves, in their fantastic, minute complexity, grew so tiny he could not see them, though he still felt every one, a strange thing happened. The image of a single cave, larger than all of Rainmoor, faded into existence. He was greatly confused at this, for the new thing wasn’t him, and that didn’t make sense at all. It kept getting clearer, and he suddenly realized he had legs and arms and a tail, which were unusual things for an infinite being to have. He was lying on hard rock, on his back, and something was licking his face, and it was Elanor, and he was Jinx.
“Say something, Jinx! Please!” Vernon was pleading.
“What? Say something… What do you want me to say? Elanor, stop that!”
The dragon heaved a suitably gigantic sigh of relief. “Thank goodness, you’re all right.”
“I am?” said Jinx, not at all convinced.
“You must be, Jinx, you’re talking. Nobody who went mad in the Astral Plane ever talked when they were brought back.”
Elanor, lying on his chest, hugged him awkwardly with her front legs, saying “Oh, tiger, I was so scared! Promise you’ll never disappear again!”
“Uh, okay.” said Jinx. He didn’t quite understand what she meant, but somewhere in the back of his mind was a part of him that did understand, and trembled.
“He’s going to be okay, Elanor, and I will not allow him to risk it again. He had a close call. You’d better stay close to him for a while, body contact will help him stay in touch with reality.”
Jinx, still trying to get within shouting distance of reality, asked “How’d you know the other people were mad, if they didn’t talk?”
“Some could only laugh,” said the dragon, “and some just stared. Some wouldn’t stop crying. They never lasted long, because they wouldn’t eat. One who’d been crying suddenly attacked everyone around him, and wouldn’t stop trying to kill everybody even after he’d been tied up so he couldn’t move. One started laughing, wouldn’t stop, and then sprang up and beat his head against the rock of the cave wall, still laughing as he died of a shattered skull. What would you call it?”
Jinx started shaking, feeling once more the terrible way that reality had overwhelmed the infinite being he’d almost become, trapping him within this ridiculous body, this pathetically small and limited mind. It seemed horribly unfair and absurd. While he was in the Astral Plane, he had nearly become an all-powerful, limitless being, laughing with delight in his omnipotence, and it had turned out to be only a dream, just a terrifying, seductive fantasy. Or was that reality, and this the nightmare? His head spun, and when it stopped spinning the cave was reality, the Astral Plane was the nightmare, and Elanor was licking his face again. He stared at the ceiling, and let her, for the foolishness of it was comfortingly real.
She turned and looked reproachfully at the dragon. “Don’t you dare say anything to upset my mate again! You hold your tongue!”
“I won’t say anything else, Elanor.” rumbled the dragon apologetically. “I didn’t mean to upset him. I think you’d better handle this. When he feels better, can I question him about what he experienced?”
She glared at him. “Maybe. I’m taking Jinx to bed now.”
“That might work. Unless he’s too shaken to respond the way you want.”
“What? Vernon, I’m not going to get him to make love to me! I’m going to cuddle him, like he did for me when I first met you. Don’t you see that Jinx needs some peace and quiet? Haven’t you ever had a mate?”
“No, Elanor, I have not. Dragons aren’t prolific, you know.”
“Then you couldn’t possibly understand. It’s a mate thing. Jinx, are you going to come with me, or shall I drag you by the scruff of the neck?”
Jinx got up hastily, swaying a bit, and followed Elanor out of the dragon’s cave.
They lay down on the cushions, and he held Elanor tightly, feeling her reassuring warmth. She was purring, and he could feel her purr as well as hear it, her body pressed firmly against his.
“Don’t listen to him.” said Elanor. “All that matters is that you came back.”
“Uh-huh.”
“If you want to make love to me, I’ll be happy to. I was just scratching Vernon’s nose about that.”
“No, not now.” said Jinx. “I want to sleep.”
“Actually, so do I. What a day we’ve had, tiger! Just exhausting!”
“You said it.”
Before long, Elanor was fast asleep. She purred in her sleep, which Jinx thought was much more endearing than snoring. Jinx was having problems. When he started to drift off, he’d panic, as if he was drifting away in the Astral Plane again. He’d come awake again with a start, jostling Elanor, who’d grumble crankily without actually waking. That would reassure him, and he’d drift off to sleep again, only to be jolted awake by his nebulous fears again.
After a few hours of this, Jinx had to get out. Even with Elanor pressed against him, he couldn’t stand the frustration of lying there and not quite sleeping. He managed to extricate himself from the affectionate, furry tangle he and Elanor were in, without waking her, and prowled off in search of something that felt real.
He looked in the dining room for a snack of some sort, and ate some half-moon bread things, but his efforts to find reassuringly normal food just made matters worse. The thin, brown liquid that hissed and sputtered, the small forked pieces of meat in clear jelly stuff, the cheese soup with toast: none of it was even slightly reasonable, and when the horrible red insect-thing appeared again, Jinx gave up.
He quietly slipped out into the passages of Rainmoor, closing the door gently to not wake Elanor, and started roaming. One good thing about his experience with the Astral Plane, he thought, was that he now felt like he could find his way around, for that terribly clear sense of all the interlinking caves surrounding him had burned the map of the local area into his brain. That was the only good thing about having been in the Astral Plane, but Jinx had to admit it was helpful.
He passed Gerald’s place, now Charles’s. Light showed under the door, but Jinx didn’t want to see Charles. Jinx wondered if he was happy with getting his lifelong dream, now that he had it. Perhaps he was, but apparently he still couldn’t sleep at night. Jinx could understand that, since he wasn’t able to sleep himself. The events of the day were too disturbing to just shake off, not counting the Astral Plane, which Jinx could feel surrounding him, a dim echo of nightmare giving every cave he went through an uneasy sense of familiarity.
There was somebody ahead approaching him, two people talking to each other. Jinx considered avoiding them, but then decided that wandering Rainmoor alone would only make him feel worse. Perhaps they’d be willing to talk to him, and through companionship dispel the eerie dread he felt. They came into view, and Jinx saw it was James talking to someone he didn’t recognize.
They stopped short, seeing Jinx, and James said “Speak of the devil.”
“Jinx would rather not, thank you,” said Jinx. “Jinx would rather speak of things that aren’t frightening.”
James seemed alarmed and disgusted at the same time. The man with him said, “Now, James, you need not be so shocked. Rainmoor often has people’s paths cross when it wishes to fix these matters. Why don’t we all go back to my place and have a friendly discussion? Perhaps we can solve both your problem and mine at one stroke.”
A friendly discussion sounded fine to Jinx, but James drew himself up haughtily. “I shall take leave of you now, sir. Forgive my reluctance, but I shall not willingly associate with this… with him, even for the best of reasons. Good day.”
James left, brushing past Jinx with a strange combination of irritation and bravado. Jinx was tempted to swipe at him as he passed, for his arrogant manner and contemptuous ways, but held back because James was wearing a sword, and Jinx had left his at home. Jinx felt foolish at the urge, for the desire to lash out like that came from his tiger side, and sometimes he’d forget at such a moment that he had fingers instead of claws. It was fine if he had a sword in his hand, but barehanded he was at a disadvantage, his instincts trying to call upon natural weapons he didn’t have.
The other man remained, examining Jinx with a wary, searching look in his eyes. Jinx wondered if he was frightening the man, and in an attempt at reassurance, said “You wanted to have conversation?”, for he’d found that people got used to him faster if he made a point of talking to them.
“Why, certainly.” replied the man. “I should be delighted to entertain you, Lord Jinx, do please come this way. How does becoming a First Lord suit you? What brings you out here so late at night? Follow me, we’ll go back to my place and I’ll get you a drink.”
They proceeded along a twisting path that wove down into areas Jinx hadn’t been to, and Jinx tried to answer the man’s incessant, curious questions, which never let up. The man watched Jinx closely as he answered, and gave such an impression of shrewdness that Jinx found himself asking questions of his own.
“You don’t say! You survived the Astral Plane? I am impressed. What did you learn there?”
“Not much, just how to not get lost. Vernon wanted to ask questions about it, too. Why is that?”
“We know so little about it, Lord Jinx! It’s natural that any good mage would be fascinated with any intelligent being that went to the Astral Plane and returned with its sanity. What we have for information is dreadfully technical, you know. We lack a subjective impression of what the place is like, and such an impression could be of great help in focusing our efforts. Would you be willing to describe your experience, Lord Jinx?”
“No. Not yet, anyway.”
“Perfectly understandable. I’m not in the least surprised that it’s left you shaken. However, you must understand that the impressions of the Astral Plane will be more useful if they’re fresh. It’s possible that, when you recover fully from your experience, your mind will contain nothing of value about it. Since you’re not willing to describe it, might I enter your mind and examine the…”
“No!”
“Lord Jinx, I apologize. Is there some reason why this notion upsets you? It would seem the obvious thing to do, if you cannot describe what happened.”
“Jinx is not going to let you wander around in his mind!”
“I regret your decision, Lord Jinx. Do you normally refrain from use of your title?”
“I’d rather use my real name. And who are you?”
“By all means. Why is it that you prefer not to use your title, if you don’t mind my asking? I’ve found that First Lords are less likely to use their title in conversation, that is, to wish it to be used. Second Lords, on the other hand, when talking to someone of lesser rank, will often be offended if the title is omitted. Why do you suppose that is, Jinx?”
“Maybe they want everybody to know who they are. Why didn’t you answer when I asked who you are?”
“Now, Jinx, are you suspecting me? I’m not the Nameless Pretender, you know. I’m just an ordinary noble, trying to get by in these dangerous times. It’s distressing, the signs and omens are greatly troubling. Did you mention Vernon? Vernon and I often end up working on the same problems, and I felt him contact Robert as Robert merged with Rainmoor. Did he learn anything useful?”
“Only that Robert got killed by Nameless. Oh, also that I’m supposed to kill Nameless, either that or I’m going to kill the King instead. That doesn’t make sense, the King is a nice human and I have no intentions of killing him. If you were there, did you find out anything that would explain it?”
They’d arrived at a door that seemed to be made of iron, and the man paused while he fumbled at locks of some sort. The door opened silently, and they went into a large, low-ceilinged cave, that was filled with books and magical implements: crucibles, scrying glasses, scrolls, everything a powerful mage would want. Jinx found this disconcerting, for it reminded him of his father’s workshop. He was beginning to think he’d made a mistake in accepting the man’s invitation.
The man replied, slowly, “Yes, I did. If what you’re telling me is true, then it confirms my own perceptions. What Vernon did not notice was a shade of meaning, relating to duration or time, which is perhaps understandable because his species is so long-lived that time means little to him. Can I get you a drink?”
“No, thank you. What does this shade of meaning say?”
“I expressed myself poorly there. It’s only partly related to time and is more to do with the succession, as it works in Rainmoor. Vernon does understand succession, but it’s not important to him.”
“What does it say? And who are you? What are you doing?” asked Jinx in some alarm, for the man was doing things on one of his workbenches with his back turned, making Jinx very nervous.
“You’re not destined to kill King Thomas, you’re destined to kill his successor.” said the man. “Currently, his successor is Lord Ivan. And that will never do, for Lord Ivan is me.”
Jinx turned and made for the door, which still hung open, but stopped in his tracks, as a powerful force clamped down onto his mind. He struggled futilely, unable to move, his mind reeling under the hostile magic trying to destroy it.
“Honestly, I’m not the Nameless Pretender.” said Lord Ivan. “In fact, when I become King, I shall destroy the Nameless Pretender as soon as I can determine who he is. Until then, I will bide my time, and wait for him to kill King Thomas. I’m well protected in my home, since I’ve drawn almost all of my powers into this one small area, so Nameless is bound to kill the King first. Then I will kill him. However, I’d rather you didn’t kill him, at least not until he gets King Thomas. More importantly, I can’t leave you running around loose, ready to kill me when I succeed to the throne…”
Jinx fought desperately against the magic, so hard that he stopped breathing, unable to do anything but strain against the force crushing his mind. His vision ran red as he savagely battled Ivan’s magic, holding it off somehow by sheer ferocity and determination.
“My, your mind is a fierce one, Jinx. I’m lucky I did pull all my power into this one room. I’m tempted to apologize, for I meant to kill you quickly, not this way. It must be terribly uncomfortable for you. I’m dismayed at that, for I’m not a cruel man and I honestly didn’t mean to torture you like this. I’d better stop chatting with you and focus the spell myself. Before I do, I must say that I wish I could have met you in other circumstances, Jinx. Your mind is awe-inspiring in its resistance to hostile magic. It’s rather touchingly futile, for I notice you’re not breathing and will soon die of asphyxiation, anyway. I am sorry for the agony you’re being put through. That spell is supposed to kill instantly and painlessly. I’d better help it now.”
Lord Ivan fell silent, and Jinx’s mind writhed as the pressure doubled, tripled. Jinx became nothing but a center of white-hot rage, holding back the hostile magic with vicious fury. He would not allow himself to be killed by magic, no matter what, even if that meant fighting until his body failed and died. Not by magic. Not that way…
Suddenly the pressure slackened, went back to its original amount, and Jinx could see again, though he was still unable to move. What he saw was baffling: Lord Ivan was reeling around, striking at nothing with his hands, as something invisible tore at his clothing. It would stop for a moment, and Lord Ivan would look around in a panic, and then the invisible thing would attack again, knocking him back. Jinx saw blood coming from the man’s throat, and his tunic was torn.
Finally, Lord Ivan fell back onto the table he’d been working at, his hands around the invisible thing and trying to push it away from his throat. He rolled around, knocking vials and flasks in every direction, and suddenly Jinx was free again, able to move. He nearly fell over when that happened, for he’d been straining so hard that all his muscles were stiff. The door was still open, and Jinx bolted for it and ran for his life, hardly caring where he went as long as he was going away from the wizard’s lair.
When he stopped, he looked around and realized he’d instinctively taken an alternate path back to his place. He was within five minutes’ walk of it, and he knew which way to go. He also realized he’d been running full tilt on all fours, and his hands hurt because they really weren’t much good for that. Jinx stood up, massaging his hands and nervously looking and listening for any indication that Ivan was pursuing him.
Before he could start walking, however, he felt something brush his leg, and nearly jumped out of his skin, his heart pounding. He froze, and looked down, and saw nothing. The invisible thing had followed him. Then, as it rubbed affectionately against his leg, he realized who the invisible thing was. Elanor was trapped in his place, unable to open the door, but still she’d managed to come with him, in Astral form.
He reached down to pet her, but she was gone before he could touch her, and all he felt was a brief sensation of cold, as if his hand had passed through a chill breeze. He headed home.
When he opened the door, Elanor was waiting right behind it, and she reared up on her hind legs and threw herself into his arms, trembling.
“Don’t you ever, ever, do that again, Jinx! I woke up and you were gone, and when I found you in the lonely place, that horrible man was trying to kill you!” she wailed, and burst into tears.
“Well, you got him, anyway. Did you kill him? You were at his throat when I left.”
“No, no, I couldn’t! When I noticed you were gone, I started to fade, and I couldn’t bite him anymore! I tried, but I just went right through him because I wanted to find you so badly that killing him didn’t matter as much. I gave up, and went to find you, but the man was still alive! I’m going to go there right now, and rip his throat out!”
“No, Elanor! You mustn’t! If you go there yourself, he’ll kill you, just like he almost killed me.”
“Is he the bad man everyone keeps talking about?”
“I don’t know. He acts like it, but he said he wasn’t. Why would he lie to somebody he was about to kill?”
“In case you got away, which you did?”
“Maybe. I should talk to Vernon about it. He did say one thing that was interesting. He said that I’m not going to kill King-Thomas, instead I’m going to kill him because he’s the next King.”
“Good. Kill him. Can I help?”
“Well, it’s dangerous.”
“So? I want to eat part of him. It’d serve him right. It was frustrating trying to bite his throat from the lonely place, because I couldn’t taste it.”
Jinx was shocked. “Elanor, do you usually eat people? You can’t do that!”
“Oh, no. I never have, even before I came here. Little monkeys are what I usually ate. Sometimes a deer or something, but I wasn’t really old enough to get deer whenever I wanted. I stopped being hungry when I was brought here, and I haven’t been hungry for a very long time. I just want to make an exception for this one. Can you blame me? He was attacking you!”
“You shouldn’t. Killing him is all right, but you can’t eat him. He’s a human.”
“So?”
“Vernon told me that it’s impolite to eat something that can talk to you.”
“Who cares? Where do you get all these funny ideas, anyway?”
“Elanor,” said Jinx, “I’ve been living like humans for a very long time. As a personal favor to me, will you promise not to eat any humans you kill, even if they were attacking me?”
“Not even a little bit? Just as a snack?”
“Not even a little bit.”
“What difference would it make? Dead things are dead.”
“Elanor, no! How would you feel if something was trying to eat me?”
“You’re not dead! Don’t talk like that, Jinx!”
“I’m just trying to explain. Think of how you’d feel if that happened.”
“I will not! Why are you saying such horrible things?”
“Elanor, I’m trying to show you why eating humans is wrong. You shouldn’t even be saying things like that. Not even about Lord-Ivan!”
“Oh, all right. I don’t see why it’s such a big deal to you, but if it makes you feel better, I promise not to eat any humans. It’s not like I’m hungry, anyway, so it shouldn’t matter much.”
Jinx decided he’d never let that not-having-to-eat spell be taken off Elanor. It was disconcerting to realize that under the ability to talk, under her passionate devotion to him, was a predator that liked to tear her victims’ throats out and eat them. He had still been trying to fool himself into thinking that she was like people, and once more he was reminded that Elanor was still the jungle cat she looked like.
He wondered whether that was what he loved in her, whether his own dual nature was stirred by her innocent shamelessness, her predatory fierceness. His tiger side had been suppressed, so he could live among humans, and he realized that he was ashamed of it. Every time he’d panicked and dropped to all fours, every time he’d lashed out with his hand, forgetting he didn’t have claws, even every time he’d turned around without looking and knocked something over with his tail, his shame had grown.
He tried to put it out of his mind, and was shameless with Elanor for a while, although he had to admit she was far more shameless than he, and then they slept, and Jinx was untroubled by nightmares.
Elanor had trouble getting to sleep, and when she did, her dreams were a far cry from her usual dreams of prowling the jungles, hunting and mating and stalking prey. She dreamed that Jinx was fleeing from a tiger twice his size, while she was stuck in the lonely place and couldn’t touch anything. She jumped around him hysterically, for the other tiger was bounding after him, yet Jinx refused to drop to all fours and run properly. Horrified, she watched it seize him, and heard his agonized squall. The beast threw Jinx down onto the ground, holding him down with one huge paw, and Elanor went for its throat, but her teeth went right through it like she didn’t exist. It began to eat him. She tried frantically and futilely to bite it, tormented unendurably, because it hadn’t bothered to kill him first. It simply held him down, its claws stabbing deep into him, lazily sinking its teeth into Jinx’s helplessly struggling body and ripping him apart before her eyes. Elanor, maddened, desperately tried to drive away the happily feeding beast, but she still couldn’t touch it, and as it finished eating Jinx’s middle and sank its teeth into his chest, he gave one last despairing thrash and yowl and died, and Elanor woke with a start, shaking, her heart pounding wildly.
She had to look to see if Jinx was okay, terrified that she’d find herself lying next to an eviscerated, dead body. He was sleeping peacefully, and there wasn’t the faintest sign of the grisly mayhem she’d seen happen. When she settled back against him, he stirred and mumbled something unintelligible without opening his eyes. Elanor pressed against him, shivering, and lay awake for a long time, not understanding.
Eventually she fell asleep again, exhausted, and dreamed of jungles.
“Do you think he was telling the truth?” purred Edie dreamily, sprawled limply on her belly across her bed. She wriggled a little, then relaxed again.
The fox’s thumbs were just short of cruel, working out the knots in her back, her legs. “Hah! You don’t know Peter very well. Peter has a wife on Earth. Peter sees his wife once every few years, but he’s only happy commanding Aquarius- he’s just that type, as I’m sure you’ll notice. You said he rubbed your shoulders,” remarked the fox, moving to Edie’s shoulders. “Did he rub like… this?”
“Hey!” protested Edie. The fox was massaging her back with one hand, and grasping her scruff tightly with the other, forcing her to go limp. Hearing her tone, he let go, remarking “Obviously not.”
Edie gave him an annoyed look. She’d met Rick in the cafe, and she’d gotten a lot of sympathy and curiosity simply by limping painfully in and getting a cup of tea. He’d been with some friends, but had dropped everything, zipped over and helped her to her seat. In conversation he’d suggested that she was in desperate need of a backrub, and she had to admit technically that was true.
She’d insisted on her own place in hopes she could retain the moral advantage, but it seemed to make little difference to Rick. So she simply focused on keeping her tail held straight rather than held to the side, and kept an eye on him. As his massaging hands moved once more to her feline bottom and began taking a bit too much of an interest in the inside of her thighs, she brought back the conversation again. “He has a wife, then?”
“Sure does,” continued Rick, “a canine morph. I’ve seen a video clip- she’s really cute, like a cocker spaniel morph. I’m sure she doesn’t lack for company while the captain’s away.”
“Maybe she doesn’t look for company.” pointed out Edie.
“Spare me,” smirked Rick. “Though I do have to admit Peter doesn’t look for company either. He can’t, because of his position. The poor guy has to settle for groping beautiful cats in corridors. I feel sorry for him.”
Edie tensed. “If you don’t approve of groping, get your thumbs away from there. Now.”
Rick did so. “Okay, okay. I do approve of groping, though…”
“I don’t.” stated Edie.
“If you really didn’t, you’d be less warm to the touch, kitty. Rick’s well-practiced temperature-sensing thumbs tell no lies. You’re sure, now?”
Edie squirmed away, and sat up. “Thanks- my back does feel much better. Yes, I’m sure. Feel like going back to the cafe now? I’d like another cup of tea.” Her eyes tracked his movements warily.
Rick shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. “Sure. No problem.” He sat up, and Edie’s eyes widened- he’d been letting himself go, and now was visibly preening, showing off his body’s voluntary reaction. People normally didn’t do that- one of the adaptations to totemized bodies had been control of those conspicuous reactions. Except, of course, when one didn’t want them controlled. Edie gulped, looking away.
Rick glanced at her. “Second thoughts, pretty kittycat?”
Edie stood. “I hope,” she purred sweetly, “you don’t mind heading to the cafe in your condition. I feel like having that other cup of tea immediately. Come along now.”
She promptly opened the door and stepped out, to wait in the corridor… and blinked as Rick came out after her, letting her shut the door. She’d been certain he was going to sit there until he was decent. “Don’t you feel… conspicuous?”
Rick grinned. “Half of the people we meet will be reminded of happy memories. The other half won’t even speak to me. Come on.” He headed off cheerfully.
Edie followed, marvelling. If he was not so unconcerned with her rebuff, he would be alarming, but he seemed to have written her off sexually already. This was reassuring, as she’d been responding to his massage and really didn’t want to be driven hard by her instincts. Sometimes it was very hard to be a cat, but Rick didn’t press too hard- he kept on making delicately provocative remarks, but it stayed purely on a verbal level and she could sense that, unless she made an effort to get his attention again, there it would remain. By the time they got to the cafe, he wasn’t conspicuous, and she’d decided she sort of liked him.
As they entered, a few heads turned. The yellow cat-man, David, seemed to be appraising the two of them, and a wolf whose name escaped her looked extremely disapproving. He then noticed Edie looking at him, and looked away bashfully.
Rick left Edie’s side immediately and collared David. “Come along, David. I need you to soothe my hurt feelings.”
“Hurt feelings?” grumbled David. “You barely have feelings at all, hon, you expect me to believe that?”
“Well then,” continued Rick, “you can soothe other things. Please? I am rejected, scorned, I stand before you, a fox who doesn’t appeal to cats.”
David gave him a look. “You know that’s nonsense.”
“Oh? Well, then, come help prove it’s nonsense.”
“Rick!” hissed the cat-man. “What’s the matter with you? You drag this new girl off, get frustrated, and now you have to drag me off right this instant? You might have thought of that before you walked out on me, just now. What gives you the right?”
Edie winced, noting that many of the people present were watching this exchange. They seemed to take it for granted, though the wolf looked particularly disapproving again. Rick drew himself up haughtily for a moment, looked about to speak, then drooped, patted David’s bottom, turned, and left.
Edie found herself exchanging an embarrassed glance with the wolf-man, and as she was left standing in the middle of the room, she padded over to join him. “Is this seat taken?”
“No, no, by all means sit down,” he stammered. “Pleased to meet you.”
“What was all that about?”
The wolf glowered. “David deserves better than that guy. That’s all you need to know, er..”
“Edie.”
The wolf nodded. “I’m Walter. Anyway, that Rick is trouble, stay away from him.”
“Really?” blinked Edie. “I didn’t think he was dangerous. I had him in my room and he still took a no. You’re telling me that Peter will let dangerous people work for him? Or is he a passenger?”
“He’s no pilgrim. He’s a pilot. That’s not what I meant,” explained Walter, looking frustrated. “Maybe you’re that kind, in which case never mind, pretend I didn’t say anything…”
Edie blinked again. “Whoa, hold it. Pilgrim? Pilot? What kind? You’re not making sense.”
The wolf sighed. “Sorry. Which do you want explained first?”
“I’m what kind?”
“Okay, maybe you’re not, in which case good. At least, that’s the way I feel about it. You saw what he did to David? David is his lover, or at least ought to be for sheer loyalty… look, see that?”
Edie followed the gesture to see David’s tail disappearing out the door.
“One guess where he’s going. And it’s such a waste, Rick will drag off anybody and doesn’t care. He explained it to me once as backups, like the backup systems in his sub. David deserves better than to be somebody’s spare part…”
Edie thought she’d figured it out. “Are you sweet on him, hon? You can tell me. It’s okay.”
Walter spluttered a bit, then regained his composure. “Absolutely not… well, I’m a good friend of his. He’s turned to me sometimes. Not for that! I don’t swing that way, actually I don’t swing at all, but David really needs a friend…”
Edie nodded. “And so Rick treating David that way upsets you. I’m sorry I was part of it, Walter, I honestly didn’t know. I can imagine how it must have looked.”
The wolf grinned, just a bit. “Looked like Maggie all over again.” He looked about furtively, but evidently didn’t spot Maggie, and he continued in an undertone, “For the first month she dragged off a different person every night, sometimes a couple times a night. Naturally it was Rick a lot, they’re the same type. I guess you’re not that way, hm?”
Edie shook her head. “I’m no prude…”
“Never met a cat who was,” grinned Walter. “I am, but that’s just me.”
“But,” continued Edie, “I have no desire to drag somebody off to bed the first night I’m here just for the sake of it. I’m not attached, and Peter did say that he thought some people here would be interested in me, but there’s no hurry about meeting any of them.”
A slender vixen, passing by, paused with a wicked smile. “Don’t know who you are, but you obviously have, kitty.”
“Alice!” protested Walter. “Cut it out!”
Edie blinked. “You? Sorry, but I’m boring like Walter, not interested in girls. Even foxy ones. Pun intended.”
“Oh, this is going to be good,” continued the vixen. “Can I speak with you a little, kitty? Er, your name is?”
“Edie, and say what you want right here. I’m not going off anywhere.” said Edie, flustered.
Alice smirked. “Forgive me. I’m being horrible. It’s not me, I have similar tastes to yours. It’s this hulking wolf you’re talking to, the biggest wallflower on board…”
“Which is none of your business!” snapped Walter, becoming more and more embarrassed.
“Who also has a, how did he put it?” continued Alice. “Dreadful?”
Walter got up and made for the door, startling Edie, who cried “Stop! Don’t go!”
“Don’t mind him, he’s all right.” continued Alice. “Dreadful weakness for little cats. Now, he’s what, six two? And you look to be about five feet…”
“Four eleven. Why did you do that?” protested Edie. “I was talking to him! Now he’s all upset, and all I wanted to do was be friends.”
“Edie, Edie,” chided Alice. “I’m one of his closest friends. Largely because I’m also a pilot, and I have a mate, so I’m not a threat to him. He’s not that upset. He’d be more upset if he talked to you for six hours straight as I’m sure he would have done. You had no way of knowing that you were his secret fantasy come to life.”
Edie felt extremely exasperated. “Are all you people sex-crazed weasels?”
Alice giggled. “Of course not. You also didn’t know that the Cafe is the sex-crazed weasel zone…”
“Hey, I resemble that remark!” came a voice from the back of the room. Edie looked. Sure enough, a weasel. Or perhaps a ferret-person.
“You hush, Bill,” called Alice, “you aren’t crazed enough.”
“Aw, shucks.” answered Bill with a grin, and returned to his conversation.
“He’s not?” blinked Edie.
“Nope, that one’s my mate. Plenty of us just come here because it is the most colorful place to hang out. But this is the center for the swingers, you know, and you have to take that into account.”
“I’d rather not,” remarked Edie, still unsettled. “Alice, why were you trying to fix me up with this Walter? You hardly know me. Do you expect me to be publically wanton?”
“Hm?” said Alice. “More and more I’m thinking you’ll make a good friend to Walter. Please try to remember, hon, that I love Walter dearly and know what’s best for him…”
“Forgive me for not caring,” said Edie. “In fact, forgive me for leaving and going back to my room… alone! It’s like I’ve fallen into a soap opera in outer space…”
“The correct term,” said the weasel, who’d noticed her mood and come over to join them, “is Peyton Place in Outer Space.”
“Peyton what?”
“Bill, chill.” chided Alice. “Please don’t go, dear. Look, come back over to our table and join us? Bill and I and Sandy and Arthur have a regular table, and we’re not going to put moves on you. We’re really quite stolid ordinary people and if you go back to your room now you’ll lock the door, which you shouldn’t feel like you have to do.”
“I guess she’s not Rick’s type, eh?” remarked Bill casually.
Alice grimaced. “Obviously not. Just as well, one Maggie’s enough. Don’t tell her I said that. She is certainly Walter’s type, though, isn’t she? It’s incredible.”
Edie allowed herself to be cajoled into joining the little group at their regular table, which turned out to be tucked cozily away in a sort of alcove, a little oasis from the quiet hubbub of the Cafe. Besides Alice, the vixen, and Bill, the weasel, there was a mouse-person, barely four feet tall, who smiled cheerfully at Edie and said, “Arthur. I trust you are not troubled by predatory urges?”
Alice grinned. “Knock it off, Arthur, you’ve been making that joke for years now.”
“And rightly so!” continued Arthur. “After all, this one’s even bigger than the last one was! If she is going to pounce upon me, I demand fair warning!”
“That was years ago too,” grinned Alice, “and that was Maggie as we all know perfectly well.”
“But lest ye forget, she did pounce upon me.”
“You outweighed her by about ten pounds. Hardly an alarming prospect.”
“Ah, but she wanted to eat me!”
Alice hrumphed. “And did, too- that was before you met Sandy, of course. Let’s not talk about Maggie, okay? Edie here is not cut from the same cloth, thankfully, and she’s already dealt with Rick and been narrowly rescued from Walter…”
Arthur peered at Edie, ostentatiously examining her. “Poor Walter.”
“Look,” said Edie, settling in among her odd new friends, “what is all this about Walter? He seems nice but I don’t find this obviousness appealing. And what is it with this place, that everybody’s constantly saturated by lust?”
Bill spoke. “Walter is very dear to all of us here, Edie. He really is a prince- and he’s in a bit of a tough space now since he’s staying away from the singles scene and the singles scene is chasing him very hard.”
“That I can believe,” replied Edie, “as the singles scene here looks like it’d chase a lamppost or a trouser leg. I think I’ll follow his lead. Why would they chase him, if this Rick will drag off anybody on a random whim?”
“Diameter.” smiled Arthur.
“Arthur!” chided Alice. “Edie did not ask for that information, do you think you could make allowances for a newcomer? Pretend it’s really Walter sitting here, she’s just as prudish as he is.”
“I am not!” protested Edie, suppressing a wriggle. “Maybe I’d better try and get used to the way things work here, you shouldn’t be censoring yourselves on my account. I mean, I am a cat, after all! But I just find this blatant dragging-people-off distasteful.”
“Of course,” soothed Bill. “Most people here don’t go in for that sort of thing.”
“Do I get the impression,” blinked Arthur, “that somebody has been trying to sell you on Walter? I saw you talking to him, and his tail wagging over it, but then when Alice joined you he became upset and left. What did she say?”
Edie sighed. “Basically that I was his fantasy come true. Which is particularly disconcerting after that business with Rick.”
“You went off with Rick?” blinked Arthur bemusedly.
“And came straight back again,” said Alice, “and she says Rick didn’t do anything. Which makes sense, Rick never pursues if it takes a serious effort.”
“Well, believe me, he was ready to do things.” said Edie. “I thought he would be embarrassed to go out into the hallways in that condition, but no, he didn’t seem to mind.”
“Pointy or blunt?” asked Arthur, with a mischevious grin.
Edie blinked, stammered, and said “Pointy.”
“Then you are telling the truth,” smiled Arthur, “and Bill owes me a glass of ginger ale.”
“Damn, that’s right!” said Bill. “Be right back.” He zipped off to fetch it.
“What??” gaped Edie.
“We made a small wager, Bill and I, upon seeing you leave the Cafe with Rick, that within an hour you’d see his silly weenus.” smiled Arthur. “My compliments to you on turning it down. As I understand it from the rumors floating around, Walter’s is far better in all respects.”
Edie just stared at him. “How would you know? And why would you know about Rick’s… Excuse me, I am just a bit overwhelmed, okay?”
“My apologies.” said Arthur kindly. “One develops a certain nonchalance about these issues from hanging around in the Cafe for years. As for Rick’s weenus, he is exhibitionistic as you learned, and everybody has seen it, whether they relished the sight or not. As for Walter’s, once he was carnally active, and it became known that his girth was majestic and imposing, and ever since he has been sought by exactly the type he shuns, poor fellow.”
Edie winced, and ostentatiously remarked, “Remind me to be careful never to let anything develop. I have no intention of getting myself injured.”
“Look over there.” suggested Alice.
Edie looked, to see a tiny cat girl with Siamese markings blatantly prowling into the room. She was possibly a little taller than Arthur, but Arthur had a bit of a potbelly and this kitten was slender as Siamese often were. She very nearly made Edie feel inadequate by the sheer felinity of her movements, by the sensuous grace of her silent prowl, the lively flicks of her tail. She walked like she was in heat.
“Maggie.” said Alice.
“Since Maggie was the last person to carnally know Walter, years ago, and the source of the rumors thereafter,” added Arthur, “I think your concerns of injury are unfounded. In fact, she enthused over how slow and careful he was. Which surprised none of us who know him.”
Edie tried to keep from staring at her. “She walks like she’s in heat.” she said very quietly.
Alice looked faintly disgusted. “She probably is. She does go into it, you know. It wouldn’t be that difficult to treat it, adjust it. Take me, for example- I don’t go into heat, got it fixed, the drive is spread out and dissipated…”
“Not too dissipated,” grinned Bill.
“Thank you,” continued Alice. “As you can see, it’s not really an impediment, it just means I don’t get sick with it like that one does. She wouldn’t last a minute like that as a pilot, I can tell you that right now. But as a programmer, she can get away with it.”
“I’m amazed she’s so open about it,” said Edie quietly. “Where I come from you can’t display it like that.”
“Where do you come from?” asked Arthur.
“Oh, Vermont. That’s Earth, you know. Right back where it all started. Where does she come from that’s so different?”
“She comes from oppies,” remarked Bill wryly. “Rich ones, at that, even for oppies. I think the planet was Verdant, I’m not sure. In any case, her background is certainly different from yours.”
“Programmer?” winced Edie. “I’m going to be working with her?”
“Don’t fret,” reassured Bill. “She’s okay, even if she is a bit hard to take sometimes. She’s one hell of a programmer, anyway, and she’s not that hard to get along with. I think some of the other female cats said she tends to get more-feline-than-thou, but that’s not a major problem. Or is it?”
Edie pondered that for a while, and a smirk stole over her face. “I think not.”
“Oh, Edie,” grinned Alice. “What does that smirk say?”
“I’m sorry,” smirked Edie. “I may not be a public spectacle, but I assure you that nobody out-cats me. On any grounds. Not even that kitten.”
“Well, then,” smiled Bill, “sounds like you’ll be fine…”
Arthur had been studying Edie’s expression, and cheerfully interrupted. “Pardon me, but might I venture a guess? Are we to take it that when you become sick with heat yourself, you might turn to our dear Walter and simultaneously relieve his longings and transport yourself to heights of yowling ecstacy?”
Edie stared at him aghast. “I beg your pardon!”
Arthur blinked. “No offense, I hope?”
Edie dropped her eyes and could not face any of the others. A normal human would have gone chalk white and then bright red- as she was totemized and wore fur, the first part wasn’t visible, but the second part translated to her bristling dreadfully.
With over ten years of covering her shameful but natural condition, ten years of taking great pains to hide it so she could avoid the hospital and going on permanent medication, she’d been unmasked here in ten minutes. Probably Rick knew too. They called it EI, it stood for estrus-intensive, and it was not okay. It was treated as a sickness. You had to be able to cover it up. So much for that.
“Good god.” said Alice, taking in the situation. “Arthur, I think you stuffed your paw in it up to the elbow.”
“I better leave,” stammered Edie, trying to rise, but Alice caught her hand.
“Please sit, Edie. I apologize for Arthur- you are beginning to learn about him. This is a safe place and you are welcome here. It’s true, then? I also apologize for my own thoughtless remarks- please don’t go away shamed!”
Edie gave up trying to rise and sank back into her seat, her head in her hands. Nobody spoke, not even Arthur, though he gazed at her with great curiosity.
Finally, she spoke. “It looks like I’m out of the closet. For God’s sake, don’t tell that Rick. Or Walter! Let me have a little self-respect.”
“We respect you, Edie.” said Alice quietly.
Edie gave her a look. “You’ll forgive me for not believing that right off. Where I come from it’s not acceptable. And you don’t have a lot of respect for that little kitty prowling around over there. She’s being conspicuous- it’s not good enough.”
“You’re not the same as her,” said Bill, “and we joke about her but she’s an all right person underneath. What I’m wondering is how you’ve made it this far if your environment was that disapproving?”
Edie sighed gently. “Being estrus-intensive is not the same as being provocative. Where I come from one doesn’t really talk about those things. I know how to repress it.”
“But…” said Alice.
“And, I might add, I know how to groom myself three times a day if necessary so I don’t look bedraggled and ravaged…”
“But…” said Alice.
“And know which deodorants are effective against it.” finished Edie.
Alice heaved a deep sigh. “It sounds like you have all the bases covered. Can you tell me if you’re dealing with this now? In which case a lot of our conversation has been very cruel. When I was going natural my rating wasn’t that high but I still remember times when mere conversation made me a little frantic. Are you being hurt by our careless talk?”
“No, I’m not.” said Edie. “And yes, if I was then it would be cruel. But it looks like I’ll have to adapt to it somehow.”
“It must be hell.” said Bill. “Why do you deal with it?”
“Well, for starters, I don’t like playing with my own chemistry,” said Edie. “No offense, I hope, Alice? I can see that you need to in order to do your job.”
“No offense at all, Edie. I wouldn’t get very far imposing my values on everybody around me.”
“Well,” said Edie, “here’s hoping you don’t end up making me the butt of jokes like this Maggie.”
Alice blinked. “I guess I deserved that. Edie, part of it is that Maggie puts tremendous effort into being the most sexual thing on Aquarius, which is sort of childish, really. After all, we have Rick for that.” She smirked.
“Might I ask what the rating is?” inquired Arthur politely.
“You may not.” replied Edie.
Bill blinked. “That bad? You’re kidding.”
“It’s no concern of yours. I can handle it. You’ll never know.”
“Peter does know?” asked Alice. “Because you’ll catch hell for it if you hid something like that. You’d be out so fast it’d make your…”
“Alice, hon,” chided Bill, “of course he knows. You’re seriously thinking he couldn’t find something like that out? Besides- she’s a programmer. So is Maggie a programmer. Peter knows what he’s doing.”
“He knows,” nodded Edie. “He even played on it a bit when I panicked coming down here, and put up really clear boundaries around it, too. He’s very pragmatic, isn’t he?”
“You’d be surprised,” noted Bill. “Did you know that there is a correlation between intuitive problem solving and EI? It’s not an accident that he hired Maggie- she is phenomenal. Fantastic spurts of concerted work, like lightning flashes…”
Edie nodded. “That’s me, too. I guess they can deal with me, huh?”
“Is that why you prefer not to treat your condition?” asked Arthur.
“It’s not a condition!” snapped Edie defensively. “It’s the natural way my body wants to operate!”
“Edie,” chided Alice, “that doesn’t mean people always enjoy it. I’ve heard even Maggie complain at times. Tension, obsession, a degree of intensity that is virtually intolerable…”
“Stop it.” hissed the catgirl.
“Sorry.” said Alice. “But as you can see, we’re fascinated. Is it really just respect for the natural order of things, is it really something to endure for the sake of the brilliance that can sometimes accompany it? Is that all there is?”
Edie looked angry for a moment, untrusting and hostile. Gradually it faded, and the cat-girl looked back and forth, between the very professional vixen, the friendly weasel and the curious and unworldly mouse, and slowly a delicate smirk stole over her kittenish face.
“Guess.” she purred.
“Well, then,” grinned Alice, “never mind. You’ll do.”
Edie’s smirk faded. “Oh? I hope you’re not going to start talking about Walter again. I should think you understand now that such talk isn’t fair to me. I want to be friends, f…” She flushed.
“F?” grinned Bill.
“Forget anything else,” purred Edie sweetly. “If he’s so wonderful to know he’ll make a terrific friend. As for the EI, there’s inanimate objects, grooming and deodorant.”
Alice sighed, then unexpectedly giggled. “Poor Walter. It’s no use, you’re as stubborn as a cat. Promise me one thing, Edie?”
“What?”
“Use the deodorant. Don’t torture our friend. He’s a wolf and he has the sensitive nose. And he has his little quirk. Please don’t make his life a living hell, okay?”
Edie paused, embarrassed to hear somebody else saying such things. “Okay.”
Arthur stirred. “And I’ll suggest to him that he do likewise- in case you develop a matching quirk. One can’t be too careful. I believe I can phrase it in such a way that he won’t suspect.”
Alice grinned. “If she develops a matching quirk, they’ll both be too careful.”
Bill grinned as well… and whispered to Alice, “If she develops a matching quirk, it doesn’t matter a damn how careful they are anyways.”
The elevator was not impressive. It wasn’t anything like the TV shows suggested. It was a little cramped for three people, and it was quite undecorated, and as a final touch it was somewhat dingy and dusty.
Edie considered this. So far Aquarius had been a mind-boggling assortment of failed hype and unguessed astonishments for her. None of the luxury was apparent from underside. The long steel corridors so clearly showed the cost restraints in building a ship the size of a planet- there was a grim fuctionality in their exposed struts and gray unfinished surfaces.
“I never saw anything like this on the TV shows,” noted Edie. “On those it was all incredibly luxurious, but I can imagine they’d sugarcoat it a little.”
“Oh?” grinned Bill.
“Well, yes. You’d have to be familiar with some of the techniques. The light temperature is a little warmer than it would normally be, it’s a flattering sort of light you don’t get from flourescents or incandescents. It’s a simple trick you can do with color-sync…”
“Warmer?” blinked Bill.
“Kelvin.” remarked Walter offhandedly.
“What?” said Bill, and Edie blinked in surprise. “Where did you learn about color temperatures, Walter?”
“I’m a photographer.”
“Oh, of course,” grinned Bill, “and now that’s his cue to persuade you to pose naked for him, right Walter? Works every time.”
“What?” stammered Edie, as she and Walter glanced at each other and then looked away.
“Worked with Maggie, and the pictures- wow!” continued Bill blithely.
“Bill, stuff it!” snapped Walter.
Bill seemed unwilling to quit teasing Walter right away. “Well, Edie’s already naked, so all you need is a camera!” He laughed awkwardly. “Uh, sorry about that.”
Edie bristled slightly in embarrassment. Walter was refusing to look at her all of a sudden, even though she wasn’t any different. She surreptitiously checked to make sure her nipples weren’t showing through the covering fur, and of course they were not. “Oh, no problem.” she said. She felt an odd satisfaction at the thought that Walter was once more seeing her as a sexually arousing feline. It was still embarrassing to have him looking away, though. Anybody would think her private parts were showing. And she was even more careful to brush her fur so it covered that.
The elevator continued to rise in silence for a moment, then Walter broke the silence. “Yeah, you might say the pictures of Maggie were ‘wow’. I mean, she was my lover at the time, and that kitten is absolutely shameless. She wanted everyone to see those pictures. It was all I could do to keep her looking fairly artistic.”
“Oh, you succeeded, all right.” said Bill. “Amazing work.”
“A little too amazing.” said Walter. “Did I ever tell you what the last straw was?”
“Nope.” said the weasel. Both he and Edie relaxed, seeing Walter begin to talk comfortably again.
“Well, you know that picture of her face over my shoulder? With her eyes closed? That wasn’t the last straw. It was the only picture like that I ever agreed to shoot.”
“You mean..” said Bill.
“Yeah.” said Walter quickly. “You get it. Surprised she didn’t tell you, she told everybody.”
“Told them what?” asked Edie, expecting the answer.
“Let’s just say it was ‘why is this cat smiling?’ and leave it at that, okay?” said Walter, uncomfortably. “The last straw… er… let’s say it was ‘why is this cat smiling and why is the face over her shoulder smiling?’”
Bill burst out in laughter, which he quickly controlled. “Oh, jeez! I might have known. So that was it, huh?”
Edie blinked, and guessed “She wanted a picture of Walter on her back?”
“Edie…” chuckled Bill, “you don’t know Maggie. She wanted a picture of Walter on her front and somebody else on her back.”
“Rick.” snorted Walter in disgust. “That was the last straw.”
“Oh!” giggled Edie. “That’s very, er, daring of her, right? Wouldn’t it be physically demanding?”
“You don’t know Maggie.” chuckled Bill. “I can easily believe she’d want to be locked to two males, instead of just one. She’s unbelievable.”
Edie gulped and looked away, fighting her imagination. Imagination plus memory was a terrible thing, and she desperately wanted to maintain the cozy fiction of prudery. Walter kept becoming more of a friend to her, elbowing out the alternative.
“Bill, you’re embarrassing Kid Sister,” chided Walter. “Quit it or I’ll spank you. We’re almost there.”
“Yeah,” purred Edie, brightening. “You stop that naughty talk or I’ll have my big brother beat you up, so there!”
“Okay, okay!” laughed Bill. “Sheesh, you two are impossible.”
“So anyway,” said Edie, getting back to a safer topic, “were the TV shows exaggerated or not?”
“Seriously?” asked Walter. “You haven’t been here very long. Have you ever been topside?”
“No, I came on board through a sort of service entrance, and Peter met me at the docking area. We went straight to your main dormitory, or whatever it is.”
Walter chuckled quietly. “You’ll have to make up your own mind about that. We’re almost there- here we are.”
The elevator stopped, and the door opened, revealing another dingy corridor. There was a large sign right by the door, and it said ‘POLISH’ in large letters. Somebody had scribbled ‘Fuck off’ over it with permanent marker. Edie boggled at the sign.
Bill noticed her confusion. “Be grateful we get to wear the black sash. The regular topside staff are just about slaves. That sign is to remind them that if they don’t behave with polish and refinement at all times, they’ll be punished. There’s no room for individuality- did you know that some of them are required to speak from phrasebooks? They’re paid very well and for that they have to be virtual robots.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Not even slightly. And if we meet any be very nice and be careful what you say. Don’t say anything like ‘I wish I had a little biplane like this only painted silver to match my fur’, if you do it’s very possible that somebody will be ordered to paint one or find one like that. If there are pilgrims watching, it becomes almost certain.”
“You’re kidding!” blinked Edie. “That’s crazy!”
They hadn’t moved from the entrance of the elevator, and Bill turned earnestly to Edie with a glance at Walter. “It’s money, Edie. The pilgrims keep all this going, and you haven’t yet seen what that means, not completely. There are a lot of them and when they pay enough to buy a medium-sized building just for a trip to another star system, they expect to be catered to for the duration, all the more so because the trip takes many months, years for some legs of the journey.”
“Pilgrims?” blinked Edie. “What are these pilgrims, Roman emperors?”
“To the topside staff, yes, exactly…”
Walter interrupted him. “It’s just the topside name for oppies, Edie. You know, old and spiritually delicious and wonderfully enlightened, which is proved by the fact that they own ninety percent of everything not nailed down.”
“Oh, god, those.” grumbled Edie, her ears going back noticably. “They’re not that old, really, they just act superior.”
“Yeah, those, and I’m sure we all feel the same way,” said Bill, “but they’re paying the bills and they know it.”
“Okay, so I can see why they have everyone running scared,” admitted Edie, “but why call them pilgrims, of all things?”
Walter grinned wryly. “Supposedly it’s because they are all on a grand, glorious pilgrimage to other places. The real reason we call them pilgrims is sarcasm. They tend not to notice sarcasm when it’s subtle.”
“So do we have to kowtow to them too?” asked Edie, less than happy about the prospect. “It sounds like it.”
“No, no!” said Walter. “What we do is stay clear of them. If they give orders to you, pretend not to hear. Wear the sash, they do know that black sash wearers don’t count. We’re supposed to be maintenance people, doing very important things behind the scenes, and most of them understand that though they’ll still have you serving drinks if you let them.”
Edie glanced down the dingy corridor. “So that’s why we’re waiting? So you can explain that to me?”
“Mostly to explain what not to do, and to stay out of the way of the topside staff. And the oppies. Hell,” said Walter with amusement, “stay out of the way of everybody. We’re there to see the sights, and…. oh! Don’t tell anybody we were asked to move some bipes. Not a word. We’ll just see them and pretend we just decided to fly around a little. I know where to take them so we won’t need to ask.”
Bill nodded vehemently. “Not a word about the bipes. We’re there just by random chance, we’ll tell ‘em you wanted to see the Z.L.”
With that, Bill headed down the corridor, and Edie and Walter followed.
It was difficult for Edie to describe what was happening… as she continued down the corridor the very air seemed to get fresher, and the walls seemed to be better cared for. As they passed a sort of kitchen, suddenly the walls were wallpapered, and the next thing she knew her paws were sinking into thick shag carpeting. There was a twist in the corridor they were approaching, and a distant babble of voices lifted in cheery shouts, loud demands, drunken slurs. The twist in the corridor grew nearer, and then they were upon it.
Edie staggered, catching hold of Walter’s arm, as she tried to look everywhere at once. Walter chuckled and continued to walk, and Edie padded along with him, wide-eyed in amazement.
It was just like TV, only a lot bigger- that was her first impression. Everything was built on a grand scale, from the swooping, curving bar to the vast, crystalline windows looking out on dizzying vistas, yet even the smallest details reeked of luxury. Outside the windows, it was fairly dark, for there were no nearby stars, yet somehow great swathes of landscape were lit to dramatic effect by light that made the greenery glow with unbearable perfectness. It was all luxurious enough to cause heart failure. It was full of evidently very rich people chattering merrily to each other. Many of them were traditional humans in form, but Edie spotted several felines, one totemized person who seemed to be a kangaroo type, and a very convincing centaur.
Edie pointed in wonder at a particularly striking use of area lighting, and then gasped and stared at her own arm. The color effects on the TV shows had not been special effects- suddenly her own arm was part of the magical spell. Her silver fur seemed to shimmer bewitchingly, looked too beautiful to be real. Edie looked down at her body and the rest of her was equally radiant. She glanced over and saw that even Walter’s shaggy fur had taken on a touch of glamour, and Bill’s looked much like her own. She then noticed both Bill and Walter were staring at her, blinked, and drew away from Walter a little, embarrassed.
“Nice lights,” she said lamely, and then giggled. “I should come here more often.”
Bill elbowed Walter in the ribs, and Walter erked, and stopped staring.
“Get a grip,” said Bill kindly, “I thought this might happen.”
“Uh.” said Walter intelligently. “Well! Shall we go refresh ourselves at the bar, then? Before we go and just happen to find bipes and fly them around?”
“Would they have tea?” asked Edie. “You’re not planning to drink and then fly a biplane, are you?”
Bill grinned. “Edie, he’s a pilot, what do you think? Walter is an ex-military pilot. If we weren’t flying I might have a beer, but where’s the need when I’m in such excellent company?”
“So they’ll have tea?”
“They have everything. Be careful what you ask for! They’ll have something nice on hand, just don’t specify.” said Walter.
They went up to the bar, which was largely unoccupied, as most of the pilgrims were mingling in the ingeniously designed conversation pits. There were a few humans at the bar, a very scruffy coyote with a ring in his ear and a subtly spiked hairdo, and (Edie blinked) a strange birdlike creature, absolutely emaciated but with very nice brightly colored feathers. Walter and Bill picked stools well separated from the other people, and left a stool between them, obviously for Edie’s use.
Before she had even settled her feline bottom on the stool, a bartender was before them, smiling like a movie actor. “Well!” he said. “The usual, Walter and Bill? And…” and he glanced rapidly below the bar, “Edie my dear, what’ll it be?”
“Do you have any tea?” asked Edie, taken aback.
“Just name it.” said the bartender confidently. Walter caught her eye and, almost imperceptibly, shook his head, reminding her.
“I’d like a cup of tea,” purred Edie. “Whatever Earth type you have handy, no special flavorings. Black tea, the regular sort.”
The bartender smiled. “Of course. And it’ll be coffee for you gentlemen?”
Bill nodded. Walter said, “Actually, I’ll try some of the tea. What Edie’s having.”
The bartender zipped off, returning amazingly soon with their tea and coffee. He then took up a position where he could see the whole bar, his eyes scanning his customers deftly and a little huntedly, the smile of a movie star still habitually on his face. Edie studied him and thought she had never seen anybody look more like a jolly bartender. He was almost too perfect to be real.
“How on earth did he know my name was Edie?” whispered Edie to Walter.
“Go on and ask him,” grinned Walter. “He knows we’re staff. He can tell you. In fact you might someday have work to do up here.”
Edie glanced at the bartender questioningly and the man scooted over, ready to serve her. Edie glanced around furtively, and whispered “How did you know my name was Edie? I’m curious.”
The bartender continued to smile, but Edie felt it suddenly become more honest. He leaned over and whispered, “It’s our computer system. Brought you up on the database. Walter and Bill have been here before and ordered coffee. I like you people, underside people tend to stick to stuff we have in.. just a moment..”
He zipped over to the coyote, before Edie even saw the coyote lift a finger. When she looked, she realized that he hadn’t. He looked up at the bartender’s approach, surprised, and then looked at his empty glass, and a coyote grin came over his face, and he nodded.
When the bartender was done serving him, he returned and deftly picked up where he’d left off. “Stuff we have in stock… it’s a big help. If you’re wondering what happened, a sensor told me his glass was empty. Shows up on the readouts, and it’s very useful at busy times. It’s a very sophisticated system.”
Edie glanced at his grizzled hair, and blinked. “That’s not real?”
“Bleached and dyed. Doesn’t matter if a sober person can spot it, it’s for atmosphere. A real old man wouldn’t be as good at handling a drunken centaur if things got physical.”
Edie blinked again. “Seems like you’re ready for everything.”
The bartender chuckled. “I’m paid to be. I should be getting back to ready position unless you need more of my attention.”
“Oh, by all means,” said Edie, and he faded back to his watchful position, scanning the room.
“Wow.” purred Edie softly. “Amazing. I was sort of expecting flunkies.”
Walter chuckled, and Bill drooped a little. “I guess we didn’t tell you everything.” said Bill. “These guys might be absolute puppets, but they are also the best. Period. They’re paid very well, but it’s not just that which keeps them, it’s also the chance to work at the peak of whatever profession they practice. Very few of them quit despite the rigors of the job.”
Walter nodded. “Sometimes we make fun of their being such puppets, but it’s good to remember where they stand, and why they put up with it.”
“But you couldn’t get me to put up with it,” grumbled Bill amiably.
“Hell, you’d never get through the first interviews!” laughed Walter. “You’re underside staff, Bill, there’s no getting around it. Look what happened to Maggie!”
“Yeah.” grinned Bill. “Just goes to show you.”
“Maggie?” inquired Edie, puzzled.
“Maggie originally applied for a job topside,” confided Walter. “Red sash. She didn’t make it but Peter spotted her records and grabbed her for underside work.”
“Oh.”
“So,” continued Walter, “shall we wander off and just happen to discover some little biplanes that need to be flown around and landed somewhere else?”
They got up and Edie followed Walter and Bill through the clusters of pilgrims, toward a sort of hangar-like area open to the outside air. The room was crowded, and she found it tricky to keep up, wriggling around groups of chatting oppies with a deft swing of her feline hips or a sinous twist of her body, her fur shimmering glamorously in the flattering light. As she got past the last group, and began closing the distance between herself and her friends, a hand gently caught hers, turning her around. She let out an eep of surprise, and stopped, looking up at the hand’s owner.
“Oh… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” said the man gently. “Please come this way.” He spoke clearly and reassuringly, though Edie detected a whiff of alcohol on his breath, and his eyes were too bright.
He began striding calmly toward another door, quite relaxed, still holding Edie’s hand. She noticed Bill and Walter, who’d spotted what happened and were trying to rejoin her, but the crowds were in their way and they seemingly didn’t dare shove. Walter looked absolutely horrified.
Edie tugged on the man’s hand. “Who are you? Where are you taking me? Are you staff?”
The man chuckled. “Oh, you’ll like me. And I like you. I’ve never seen a more beautiful cat. I saw the way you moved, and that was it, I knew what I had to do.”
Edie gasped, trying to pull her hand free, as the other door got nearer. “Just what are you implying?”
“I’m going to sink my lovely staff deep in you, kitty.” said the man, with a glitter in his eyes. “I bet you are very tight. Do you squirm? I’d like that. I want to make you yowl in ecstacy. And I’m really wired, I’ll last a very long time, little one.”
Edie squeaked, a little shocked sound, and yanked away frantically. The man whirled. “I like it! Let’s play you’re trying to escape, that would be…” and then he looked over at Walter, who’d made it past the crowds and was rushing over, bristling horribly. Bill was close behind him. “What the hell is this?” said the man, indignantly, as if he was being cheated.
Walter glanced at the bartender, who was looking very worried. Edie backed away until she bumped into Walter, and shivered as Walter’s arm went reassuringly around her.
“Look,” said the man, “I’m a passenger here. I wouldn’t have hurt her, that would ruin it for other people. What the hell is your problem, Fido?”
Walter drew Edie closer, protectively. “Black sash. Not red sash. Please look more closely next time.” His voice was flat and rigidly controlled, his body was tense, and he kept darting glances at the bartender. He turned until his body shielded Edie from the man’s gaze, and together they began easing toward the hangar area.
“Same goddamn difference.” said the man angrily.
“We’re sorry.” said the bartender, seeming to relax a little.
The man withdrew, grumbling, to rejoin his friends, and as Edie left the place she could hear them comforting him, saying “No, they’re right, Robert, I just didn’t want to say anything in case it worked” and chuckling “Can’t blame you for trying, ya rascal- reooow! Ha ha ha.”
Edie pressed close to Walter, shivering, until they’d put some distance between themselves and the bar. She looked up at him. “I want you to tell me right now what job Maggie first applied for.”
“Heh.” said Bill. “You can’t guess?”
Walter snarled, a shockingly vicious sound that startled Edie, and hugged her tightly to him for a moment. “I could have killed that guy.”
“Hey, Walter, take it easy, it was our own stupid fault.”
“No it wasn’t.” Walter glowered. “That guy knew. Same difference, hell.” The hulking wolf looked formidable, and his body was still tense with repressed fight reflexes. Edie could feel the tenseness, and Walter seemed to not want to let her go again, though they were safely away from the scene.
Edie shivered again, letting Walter hold her for a little while, but then decided it was time to move past the current mood. Bill looked unhappy, and Walter was unreachable and furious, so it was up to her, but she suspected she could mend things pretty easily.
“Walter?” purred Edie softly, and when Walter paused and looked down at her, she turned and hugged him affectionately, pressing close to him and purring. Her tail flicked to the left, but she let it, this once, and just let herself go, focusing on how big and strong and wonderful he was and melting into a dreamy embrace. When she felt his body relaxing, she looked up into his eyes, and purred “Thank you.” with great conviction- and backed off, a little unsteadily.
Walter looked like someone had hit him on the head with a rock. “Er, of course.” he said, and then suddenly bristled like mad in embarrassment and turned away. Edie let him, for she knew perfectly well why he had to. She’d felt bulky stirrings against her belly, and had barely broken the clinch in time to spare his dignity.
She padded very slowly away, with Bill by her side, doing her best to regain her own equilibrium, which was shaken more than she cared to admit. As they slowly walked, giving Walter time to catch up when he felt decent again, Bill whispered, “My god. You do understand what you just did to him?”
“Yes.” whispered Edie.
“But…” whispered Bill, “well, I know it worked, but are you sure you intended to go that far? I thought you wanted to avoid that sort of thing.”
“I do.” whispered Edie.
“Then why?” whispered Bill.
“Because I knew it would work.” whispered Edie.
“You okay?” whispered Bill.
“Where did that man go?” joked Edie in a whisper. “I seem to be shivering, maybe he could suggest something to help it.”
Bill burst out laughing, earning a mild glare from Walter who was bringing up the rear.
“I could point you to a nice room…” whispered Bill very quietly. “I wouldn’t mind. I’ll go fly bipes or something.”
“No,” whispered Edie. “I need to think.”
“Be good.” whispered Bill, and then he called out, “Come on, Walter, get a move on. You look fine.”
“Well, she isn’t doing it right, Artie dear. Must want tutoring, she’s doing it so wrong it has to be a plea for attention. I think she’s trying to get in your pants. I know the type.” said Maggie sweetly.
Edie’s first shift wasn’t going easily. Arthur, who turned out to be the supervisor, was completely tuned out, trying to decipher the subtleties of some obscure interaction between networking protocols and a time-based glitch in the sub-router T-gate. Edie herself was thrown in at the deep end, asked to work with Maggie to get traffic around the ailing topology so a proper diagnosis could be effected. And Maggie- well, Maggie whiffed of heat, was extremely agitated, and was sniping at Edie every chance she got, for no immediately apparent reason. It was going to be a very long day.
“Okay,” tried Edie, “what am I doing wrong, Maggie? You know this better than I do.”
“That’s right. You can’t re-route like that. It’s going to go, fweeeeeee-BOOM and we are going to have mission-critical data all over the floor. Just step aside, let me handle this.”
Edie’s ears flattened. “I was asked to help you with it…”
Maggie’s ears were already laid back in obvious hostility. “You can’t. Get out of the way.”
Arthur looked up momentarily at the two bristling felines. “Maggie, stop that.” He resumed his trance again.
Edie swallowed back the sour taste that was creeping up her throat. “I’ll route it manually.”
“No, I will route it manually…” stated Maggie.
“No,” persisted Edie, “you need to merge it again past the traffic problem, and you know it. You’re the one who knows what gets to which busses. All I need to do is ride the splitter to keep the flow manageable. Three splits should get around this problem. Right?”
Maggie paused, glowering, and suddenly said “Do it. On three.” She took a position at a well-worn keyboard, attention so locked on a high-scan screen that her body seemed to vibrate with pent-up tension. “One. Two.” she said, and Edie scrambled to her own position. “Three!”
For half an hour there was nothing but the sound of tense breathing and the chatter of keyboards being hammered at. The two cats wrestled with a data-stream that was like a high-pressure hose, impossibly deflecting it while the strangely quiet Arthur peered at the faulty router software in the resulting lull, as if there was all the time in the world. Again and again, the temporary linkages would saturate, and just before they did, Edie would divert traffic to a new path and Maggie would catch it as it came through and weave it into the complex dance of purpose her data was undergoing. There was no time to blink. The warning signs were coming barely in time, even over the two hundred hertz high-speed scan CRTs. And all the while, Arthur wandered about, poking at bits of router, humming absently to himself, his eyes not registering the presence of either desperately struggling feline.
Finally, he typed in some commands, then some more, and with a little flourish, struck return, and Edie’s router paths dropped instantly to zero load. Edie knew better than to look up from the screen, for it could be only a fluctuation. Arthur noticed this with amusement, as he glanced back and forth from one tense feline to another. Neither would be the first to risk looking up.
“You’re done.” said Arthur, smiling. “Go get a cup of tea at the Cafe. That’s enough for one day. I can handle anything else that comes up, I promise.”
Edie blinked- when Arthur had said they were done, Maggie had collapsed over her keyboard in a heap. Edie began to get up and quietly depart, but Arthur cleared his throat.
“No.” he said, “not alone. Both of you helped fix this, I want both of you to go decompress. I saw what was happening, and you need to talk anyhow. Please? Now, go help Maggie. She’ll need help walking.”
“She won’t take it from me.” argued Edie.
“Yes, she will.” said Arthur gently. “Go.”
At his prompting, Edie stepped uncertainly over toward the stricken Siamese, wondering what to do. Arthur joined her, and prodded Maggie gently on the shoulder, producing a faint, rather pathetic mew.
“Maggie, Edie is going to take you to the Cafe for a cup of tea.” said Arthur, firmly.
“Don’t want a cup of tea.” whined Maggie weakly.
“Yes you do,” he said. “You always have a cup of tea after these things happen.”
“Don’t want to have it with her,” complained Maggie.
“Oh, now, she doesn’t want my help.” protested Edie. “I told you so.”
“That doesn’t matter.” said Arthur, in vexation. “She’s showing inexplicable bugs and you are going to solve them. I won’t have my people behaving this way, so run along, and you’re ordered to talk to each other and come to an agreement. I don’t care what the problem was, I just want it gone. You’re capable of being a great team and I refuse to waste that in personality conflicts. Go settle your differences, come back tomorrow with purrs and happy faces.”
Arthur hoisted Maggie to her feet, pushed her against Edie, and pulled Edie’s arm around the tiny Siamese catgirl. “There. Now go have tea, and leave me to my work.”
He watched, stubbornly, until the two felines were actually out the door.
As Edie padded awkwardly down the corridor, thankful that the lab they’d been working at wasn’t too distant, she concentrated on keeping Maggie upright. The tiny Siamese was barely able to proceed, her little body shivering violently, her legs trying to give way every few steps. Finally, they arrived at the Cafe, which was sparsely populated at mid-day, and Edie parked Maggie at a secluded table, went off, and returned with tea and some semi-appropriate junk food. She shook Maggie very gently, as the kitten had passed out again, and she sat across from Maggie and wondered where to begin. Finally, she just said, “So what happened?”
“Sometimes he would carry me…” said Maggie blearily.
“What?” blinked Edie, confused.
“Oh, it’s all right, it’s just my right to hate you for it,” said Maggie, “surely you must understand that. I had him first, dear.”
Edie’s heart began to pound. “Walter.”
“You won’t keep him, you know. He has funny notions about love. I would swoon away when he’d come to the lab, at times like today’s, and carry me home in his arms when I couldn’t walk… it was like I didn’t weigh anything at all to him…”
“You almost don’t,” said Edie, trying to divert the conversation.
“And then, instead of sitting here, alone, shaking… well, I don’t have to tell you, do I, kitty?” said Maggie bitterly. “I’m quite sure you know. Rick says you’re an EI too. Tell me, have you had all of him yet? It took me two weeks to get him to bury himself in me all the way. But perhaps he learned from that, perhaps you got every inch of that glorious bulk right away without having to beg and wheedle…”
“Maggie, stop.” said Edie, horrified, her hand beginning to shake.
“Why should I? It’s the only pleasure I can get from him anymore. Reminiscing. I am just feeling sick and rotten and jealous and I want you to wince, darling, to cringe at what you’re doing. Do you love the way he is so blunted for a canid? The way he has to shove to enter you, that huge blunt tip tucking into you and stretching you all at once?”
“Maggie, damn it, stop!” begged Edie, shaking. “You don’t understand!”
“How could I not understand?” said Maggie bitterly. “What part don’t I understand? The wild, heady dizziness of his movings inside me? The knot expanding until I was nearly fainting? The gushers of his release and the eager hunching motions he can’t repress? What part don’t I understand?”
Edie bit her lip, tears leaking from her eyes. She now smelt as bad as Maggie, and it made her want to run away and hide. The unwanted intimacy was not something she could defend against, it played on fantasies she couldn’t discard. Her arousal hurt, and it hurt badly.
“He won’t make love to me.” managed Edie, finally, for lack of any better way to explain it- and Maggie’s eyes glanced up suddenly, went to Edie’s eyes in startlement and confusion.
“What did you say?” said Maggie uncertainly.
Edie wiped away a tear of tension and frustration, feeling like she had no control at all over what was happening. “It’s a little complicated, but he won’t make love to me. You’re wrong, and don’t ever talk like that again! Don’t you know what it does?”
Maggie blinked. “Let me get this straight. You are, in fact, EI.”
Edie nodded.
“You’ve spent a lot of time with him recently, and he is just about ready to fight to defend your honor.”
Edie thought, and nodded again, wiping away another tear.
“But he has never made love to you.”
Edie shook her head. “Never!”
“Are you in love with him?” asked Maggie.
Edie whimpered faintly, and Maggie looked her over and said “Don’t even answer that. Do you have another lover here somewhere?”
Edie shook her head. Maggie began to look distinctly alarmed.
“What is your rating, Edie, and when was the last time you had lovemaking?”
“f… Four thousand, and two and a half months ago.” stammered Edie.
Maggie’s jaw dropped, and she reached out in a flash, clasping Edie’s paw with her own. “Oh my God. What have I done? You poor baby…”
“I want to go home,” managed Edie, and then she burst into tears.
Maggie struggled to her feet. “Oh, my God, baby, how can I ever… look, we’re going to get you home, then I will fetch anybody you want, and I’ll skulk off and probably find Rick…”
Edie didn’t want to get up, she wanted to stay crying on the table, but Maggie stubbornly set about getting her home. The little Siamese’s legs wobbled heavily, but it didn’t take too much effort- eventually they found Edie’s room, and Edie blindly, fumblingly unlocked the door and stumbled in. Maggie hesitantly followed, watching as Edie collapsed on the couch.
“Should I go?” asked Maggie. Edie shook her head, sobbing.
Maggie sat next to the weeping kitten, holding her and providing a furry shoulder to soak up tears. She petted Edie, softly and tenderly,and eventually Edie’s sobs quieted. Then, suddenly, Edie gasped and pulled away.
Maggie blinked. “That was only nipples, honey, petting down one row. Was that wrong? I understand girl cats. I can heal your hurts.”
Edie shivered, staring through wide, tear-streaked eyes. “Please, no? I don’t want you to make love to me. Maybe you should go now.”
Maggie blinked again, then again. “You’re a strange kitty, Edie. You mean that, do you? I won’t touch you there again. Unless you ask me to.”
“…good,” said Edie weakly, “because I still need a hug that isn’t dirty.”
Maggie said nothing in reply, just hugged Edie close for a few minutes in silence. Then, she murmured, “You need to do something about this, Edie-kitty.”
“Can’t.” sniffled Edie.
“Yes you can, and you will. Are you going to be okay to sleep, Edie?”
Edie simply nodded.
“Good for you. I’m sure not- I’ll probably settle for Rick if I can’t get anybody really good. No more crying?”
“Not right now,” said Edie softly.
“That will have to do. Poor kitten…” purred Maggie. “You don’t know how much I wish I could help you now.”
Edie blinked. “You hurt, but you also helped.”
“That,” purred Maggie, “is not what I meant.” She reached out to tickle one of Edie’s exposed nipples, caught herself in the act, and stopped herself. “I think I had better get away from here, sweet and moral kitten, because you aren’t the only one who needs soothing. You’ll be all right?”
“I’ll be all right.” said Edie quietly.
Maggie got up, wobbly but able to walk, and she padded to the door with the familiar gait Edie had seen her first night in the Cafe, prowling fluidly, tail held to the side without shame. She glanced back at Edie as if hoping for some kind of invitation, and when she did not get one, she was out the door with the flicker of a half-smile, and the wafting of feline perfumes which lingered impossibly, lingered until Edie figured out she was picking up her own.
Edie was so exhausted, she crawled over to her bed and simply collapsed. By the time she’d decided her body was too sexually excited to get any sleep without first reaching orgasm, she had fallen asleep anyway, and so her tensions worked themselves out in a series of wildly, feverishly vivid dreams, most of which were about Walter.
The other one was about Maggie, but Edie did not remember it past the moment.
The endless corridors of Aquarius could be very intimidating. Unswerving, cavernous, unlit except by remotely operated computer control, sterile and forever empty in a formidably unnatural way, the corridors stayed quite empty most of the time, with the staff of Aquarius tending to congregate near living areas as if huddling away from the distressing space of the corridors.
It was said that some weird person, shortly after Aquarius began its duties, had painted everything within a fifty yard section of corridor fluorescent pink, using a powerful spray gun. Granted, there wasn’t much to paint but wall panels and ceiling and floor. This section of corridor was still out there somewhere, and Peter confirmed it but would not give the location, saying that it would ruin some people’s hobbies to reveal the place.
Realizing that there were people who’d spent some years roaming Aquarius looking for a fifty yard section of corridor painted pink, and not finding it, really brought home the immensity of the place. It wasn’t simply the thousands of miles it sometimes took simply to get from one place to another, or the density of cross-corridors, sometimes only every hundred yards or so: the layout was also in three dimensions in many places, resulting in an average of three levels at any given point, though two was more common and some places boasted as many as forty levels, all of them echoingly, sterilely empty, a nightmare of solitude and personal insignificance.
On the other hand, thought Edie, when your personal life was far too complicated and your head was far too busy, the corridors were quite soothing in their uncompromising emptiness.
She turned aside onto 16F3-A8B8-C67B-3, more familiarly known by those who knew it at all as 16F3-A8B8-C67B, since level three was the main traffic level in the entire 1AC sector. Her paws ached and she focussed on walking steadily, with only a mile to go until she got back to where her sub was parked. Judging from her reflection she was maintaining a good prowl, actually rather attractive in her catgirl way, though the mirror not only had her looking yellow but was showing her back by mistake.
Mirror? Edie looked again. Of course there was no mirror: somebody else was also walking this corridor, another cat. She watched for a minute, curious, padding along very quietly to remain unnoticed, watching the other cat walk. She- no, it was David, Rick’s steady boyfriend, and somehow this decided her. She stealthily approached, ducked aside into an alcove which showed a cargo lift was available for use, and pressed the button, making the doors open and pretending she was exiting the lift.
“Oh! Hello.” she purred, as he turned. “Am I intruding?”
“Uh.” replied David, since the answer was apparently ‘yes’. “Er, well, I…”
Edie was taken aback, suddenly becoming aware that he was roaming such obscure corners of Aquarius for reasons like her own- privacy for private and difficult thoughts. She started to feel vulnerable again, her bit of social engineering falling apart mockingly, and she stammered, “P.. perhaps I’d better go?”
“No, wait,” said David. “What are you doing here?”
“Well… what are you doing here, then?”
“Asked you first,” he purred, with the hint of a halfsmile, though his eyes remained troubled.
Edie gave up. It was only fair to admit it. “Walter.” she replied simply, guessing that he’d figure it out. He nodded and in turn answered, “Rick.”
“Though,” he added, “I’m tempted to argue with you, because you’re not doing Walter at all. At least, I don’t think so…”
“And others do?” blinked Edie, rather affronted. It was true that Aquarius seemed a likely place to find gossip, but she hadn’t really thought about it very much. She wondered just how often her behavior was being discussed.
David was clearly a bright cat and followed all this without further clues- he appeared to be deciding whether to apologize or affront her further, and finally shrugged, the second idea winning out. “Absolutely. Why do you think I’m even here? Rick is driving me crazy, talking about you. He can’t get over the fact that you spurned him. He can’t talk about anything else, it seems. It’s become a popular subject. It’s become a lottery, even.”
“You’re kidding.” managed Edie.
“You don’t know Aquarius very well,” replied David. “Geez- sorry. That really bothers you, does it? If it helps, I bet that you aren’t, though I guess that’s partly because Rick is so stubbornly convinced that you are. Foxes!”
Edie sighed. “I’m afraid it does. You’re right. I mean, you’re right that I’m not sleeping with Walter, but you’re also right that it helps, your believing in me. How much do they know?”
“Huh?” said David. “Oh- believing that you’re not sleeping with him. As far as the people doing the lottery? People really don’t understand what’s going on, that’s why they find it so interesting. You’re an EI lady cat, but everything about you is unlike, well, Maggie for instance…”
“Good.” commented Edie.
“Now wait a second, she’s one of my best friends!”
“No, I mean…” sputtered Edie, then sighed. “You’re right. I’m not good at being fair to her. That’s not how I grew up, you know, and all my life my biggest fear has been acting like she acts. I don’t suppose you’d understand?”
“I did bet that you weren’t sleeping with him,” David pointed out. “I think I do understand.”
“But you’re with Rick!” blurted Edie, and David winced.
“Now you don’t understand. Do you see me acting like Rick often acts? Have you ever seen me act that way?”
“Certainly not… but if he hurts your feelings and doesn’t fit you then why do you stay with him?” asked Edie.
David unexpectedly giggled. “He barely fits. You wouldn’t know that part.” He became serious again, quickly. “How far does your, uh… dignity? go? I mean, do you believe all people must pair off in couples and be monogamous, or is it simply that public lewdness offends your sensibilities?”
Edie, rather off-balance, tried to explain. “It’s not dignity. Well… I see what you were trying not to say. I suppose I act like a prude, but I have my reasons. I haven’t been monogamous, but where I came from it was already pretty perverse to not be monagamous… but I had my work, and I guess I took the easy way out…”
David was nodding. “You sort of understand. Listen- I have my work too, but more than that, sometimes I can’t cope with being there for what you might call a ‘mate’. I choose to be poly, and I am choosy, but who is the main squeeze? Rick, because I can trust him to not want to tie me up. Well…” he chuckled, “in a way I want that, and in another way he sometimes wants to and I prefer not to play that way, but you get the idea, don’t you? With Rick I’m free. Hell, he’s held my paw while… but you wouldn’t care about that.”
“What?” blinked Edie, typically prey to curiosity.
“Well, imagine a wuf who’d fit me like Walter’d fit you,” suggested David, and then blinked himself, seeing her wince at the remark, figuring it out. “Oh. It’s not that you don’t want him, is it? Maybe I don’t understand enough.”
“No,” admitted Edie. “You understand a lot, though. But I guess you don’t understand why I’m not sleeping with him, because I’m beginning to lose sleep and concentration over him and can’t think of anyth… anyone else!” She bristled in embarrassment and turned away.
David gently reached over, finger under her chin, turning her to face him. Her eyes glistened with repressed tears and tension, and she trembled, meeting his gaze in silence, wanting to flee, wondering what he could say to break the terrible silence.
He said, softly, “Could you deal with a hug from a gay cat?” and suddenly she was in his arms weeping bitterly, shaking. “I’m so bad!” she sobbed. “I can’t control it! Please, please don’t tell anyone?”
“Can’t control what?” asked David gently, petting her scruff, her back, with an oddly non-sexual tenderness.
Edie sniffled. “Don’t tell anyone. I keep thinking about his… I want his sex… It’s Maggie’s fault, she told me so much about him that now I can’t sleep at night, but whenever I see him I have to be nice because we get along well and we’re good friends and he feels the same way I do…”
“I bet,” chuckled David. “What’s bad about that? I can see that something must be very bad about it, but you should tell me what it is, because I don’t know without your telling me.”
Edie pulled away for a moment to look into his eyes, startled. “No… I suppose you don’t know, do you? But you said people know I am EI, because of Rick, I suppose.”
“That’s right. There’s a problem with that? You must be afraid of how you might act if you were too overwhelmed by it? Doesn’t fit your persona?”
“No, you don’t understand. It’s a sickness.”
“No it’s not, and be careful to not say that around Maggie,” began David, but Edie interrupted him desperately. “It is! I know, that doesn’t apply here, but you can’t understand! I grew up with dangerous EI in a culture that would have stamped it out of me if they’d only known. I became such a good computer programmer, and such a good girl, because I had something to hide…” she broke off, rather overwhelmed at the sudden outpouring of emotion, the venting of her secret history.
David hugged her gently and cautiously. “Tell me more. I’m beginning to understand.”
“I sort of knew about it- other children told jokes, you know. They weren’t very nice jokes. But I’ll never forget that night when I knew for sure… I’d been increasingly edgy all week and couldn’t settle down, and kids even made jokes about me, saying that I was catching EI and could they have my phone number, which window was mine, that kind of thing…” and she paused again. David hesitated, then prompted her gently, “And?”
“I woke up and I was shivering even though it wasn’t cold, and I had a terrible itch- in my pussy.” admitted Edie, “and all my nipples were standing up, and I should have known, but I was still half asleep, and before I really understood what I was doing, I… scratched. Oh, God, did that wake me up- suddenly I was wide awake and so aroused I wanted to scream, to yowl at the top of my lungs and go out and… well, you know. And I could wake up my parents and they would take me to the emergency room, and I knew that, but that would take time and I was just simply going to die right there and… and there was this candle.”
David repressed a chuckle, because he knew how purely jealous Rick would be of him at this moment. He also knew how important this was to Edie, and let her continue when she felt okay with it. For a minute he thought the horrible admission, that there was (gasp) a candle being used for carnal purposes, had rendered her mute, but eventually she continued, as if she had to tell the whole dreadful story or burst.
“It was a… thick candle. I tried pushing it against me and it wouldn’t go, and I remember whittling the edges off it frantically, horribly afraid somebody would come in even though it was three-thirty in the morning. I was stepping over the line and I knew it, and the shame was unbelievable but I told myself I was going to die if I didn’t deal with it, that I’d never even make it to the emergency room. And I sprawled on my bed, shaking and breathing hard, and…”
Edie unexpectedly giggled, purring at the mere memory. “Well, my God! That was when I knew I was an outlaw. It still didn’t fit, and I went crazy with a throttled yowl and forced it into me, and oh my God! The next thing I knew, I was writhing on my bed, mewling and biting my lip as I clamped on the thing like I was exploding. The top of my head was just about coming off from orgasms, it was unbearably intense. I was bristling all over in surges, which I didn’t even know was possible. I bit my lip until it bled, somehow managed to not scream out… let it subside long enough to listen and be sure nobody was coming for me… and, uh… well, I didn’t sleep at all that night. I started experimenting with how that candle felt when it actually moved in me, and I spent several hours in continuous orgasm, and slunk into the bathroom bowlegged before anyone else got up, to cover up what I’d done. That day I stole deodorant from the store… and my life was never the same again.”
David didn’t repress the chuckle this time. “I’ll say!”
Edie giggled, herself, and purred smugly. “Well, can you blame me? Swear you won’t tell anybody?”
“But, Edie,” said David, “it doesn’t matter here. I promise I won’t tell Rick, okay?”
“Don’t tell anybody!” begged Edie. “It matters to me.”
“But surely eventually there were people who knew? You never dated, had lovers? Ever?”
“No no… I had that. But I had to handle it a special way- because I knew when they made love to me they would know. I’d done some reading and researched it and I knew I was right up at the danger point… well, over it… and, well, you know whores? Well, it turned out that cat whores with EI like mine could charge literally anything. There were freelance cat whores out there who were positively rich because of the way they went mad when a male plugged into them. Sometimes you heard about one in the hospital with heart failure- her heart would give out from the intensity of it, and they’d bring her back and, well, spay her for her own good, and you’d see a rich cat whore weeping brokenheartedly on the evening news, because of what they took from her when they gave her back her life. I had to sympathize, but of course I didn’t dare admit it…”
“But you said you did have lovers?” blinked David, confused.
“I slummed.” admitted Edie, turning her face away. “I slunk off to bad places and bad people- and I would find a lover, seduce him, and swear him to secrecy. It didn’t matter because they would never know where I lived, but even when I was slinking down to the docks to be humped by a wolf with a knot the size of both of my fists held together, I wasn’t about to have his friends know it. I picked well- I had to. None of them exposed me. I only changed lovers when one got killed, or drank himself to death, or went crazy and wanted to marry me. One teased me one night until I almost had heart attacks like the cat whores on the news, and I dropped him for it. One found out where I lived… and he died when the police came for him… I should have known they would shoot. Of course I had to seem relieved about it… I had to learn not to care much for any of these lovers, because they would come to bad ends. I think they are all dead now.”
David seemed stunned. “Unbelievable. Your life was like that?”
“Is.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I was eyeing Rick, only he’s obviously a talker. I’ve been keeping my eyes open for a good male, preferably a wolf for that archetypical male-female thing you can get with a wolf and a cat, preferably really hung, and he has to be quiet. I can’t help it- I can’t stop, and I’m getting pretty desperate. I’m still looking for a wolf like that, to slum with in secret.” admitted Edie.
“Like Walter?” asked David unthinkingly.
Edie abruptly burst into tears again. “No! I’m in love with Walter!” she wailed, and wept, clinging to David hopelessly.
“Oh, my God.” he breathed quietly to himself. “I thought I had problems…”
Work was slow. It often was in the computer industry- Edie knew quite well how maintenance ended up being either hysterical scrambling in desperation, or utter boredom. She had no priority design work to do, was bored with Quake Eternal (as Maggie trounced her regularly- the tiny Siamese turned into a terrifyingly cunning predator on the virtual playing fields), and was even bored with Auger In, as she’d just spent four hours teaching a delighted Maggie and Arthur how to sideslip violently enough to get into the giant sewer systems, and how to read the direction signs inside it to avoid flying into a dead-end and crashing.
And so, bored out of her restless feline mind, and edgy with the first hints of a wave of estrus to deal with, she began to take Maggie into her confidence, in such a roundabout way that the little Siamese was totally perplexed, at first, over what Edie was trying to reveal.
“Does David keep secrets?” blinked Maggie. “Not that I know of. He’s actually quite honest and reliable. I mean, he is a little quiet, but that’s just him. If you got to know him, maybe he would open up to you more. Don’t worry, he’s a yowler not a grunter, you don’t have what he wants in a lover…”
Edie headed the smaller catgirl off at the pass. “No, no! I meant, if I confided in him, would he have told everyone, or would he keep it to himself?”
Maggie hardly hesitated. “Hmmm! Well, you can’t tease me like that- what did you confide?”
Edie went silent, and the little Siamese waited unperturbed, then coaxed, “I’ll keep secrets if they are important. I just don’t keep any of my own, dear.”
“I’m all right,” said Edie. “It’s just hard to start talking about this.” She glanced around as if to spot secret listening devices, and went on. “You know about how I am EI?”
“Yes, but that’s not a secret. Is it that you’ve finally taken up with Walter? Is that your secret?”
“That’s my problem,” purred Edie wearily. “I only told this to David. I guess I’ll just tell you, because I certainly don’t know what to do. Do you know what slumming is?”
Maggie listened, fascinated, as Edie went on, and didn’t even try to interrupt as the silver catgirl, sitting pertly and looking utterly proper, told of sneaking off to secretly meet with lovers down by the docks- of playing with wolf-pack biker gangs and ‘pulling the train’, of the terrible strain of maintaining a double life and the irresistible lure of that wilder side… and by the time Edie was done, the tiny Siamese looked faintly stunned, even though she tried to hide it.
Finally, she spoke. “You’ve lived some stuff I’ve only play-acted. What is it like?”
“It’s very tiring,” answered Edie.
“But I don’t understand why you’re telling me all this. I don’t understand why you hide it like you do. You have to be yourself, after all. Are you ashamed?” inquired Maggie, puzzledly.
“Very much!” admitted Edie. “I’m having a really hard time getting used to this place! My shame made sense where I came from. It protected me, but I’m not there any longer- and I can’t let go of it. And I’m coming into heat again, which is going to be torture because I don’t have docks to sneak down to this time. I don’t know the bad people here, I only know good people, and they scare me.”
Maggie’s ear flicked, and several conflicting expressions crowded onto her face. “You don’t seem scared by me. Does that mean I’m bad people? I don’t think I’ll buy that.”
Edie hastened to explain as best she could. “You’re like me! I could see you doing what I’ve done. You say you’ve play-acted it. At any rate, you can understand why heat’s driven me to do these things. Can you understand that I liked it, even though it was bad?”
Maggie mrowled softly. “Oh, that’s not a mystery! Someday you ought to tell me bedtime stories if I am frustrated and want to masturbate- you have some real rousers, honey. I can understand you liking it. I don’t understand why that’s bad. You did suggest that the world you grew up in was more repressed than the one I grew up in. I guess you believed it? And does all this explain why you won’t do the sensible thing and sleep with Walter?”
Edie was taken aback. “I thought you were jealous of me about that.”
Maggie smirked merrily. “Maybe I can hold your paw and watch and listen sometime.”
“No!” protested Edie, becoming upset, and Maggie seized on the reaction at once. “And why not, silly kitten?”
Edie tried to regain control, with some success. “You know, it’s a funny thing,” she managed, “but you could fit in both worlds…”
“Exactly! I am a cat, more specifically a totemized person with Siamese cat derivation. As such, I can fit in both worlds, and you know it, and I love it. I can go from being the center of attention in a rousing orgy, to talking over tea with Peter or the most polite people imaginable, without ever feeling out of place. That’s my birthright as a cat, damn it, and I’d like to know why you can’t?”
Edie shrugged weakly, rather overwhelmed by the passion of the smaller feline. “I don’t know how to explain it to you. I can, but they mustn’t connect in any way. It’s sort of complicated…”
“Well,” said Maggie, “I guess I can figure some of that out. In fact, I bet I can tell you some of the things that are bothering you. Walter is one of them. He’s about as far from your wolfpacks as you could possibly imagine…”
“That’s right,” nodded Edie, “and I can’t easily picture him accepting that about me.”
“Oh, honey, you aren’t being fair to him!” protested the little Siamese. “Take it from an old flame of his, okay? I still miss him. I tormented you once with the things I miss about his body, and I’m sorry about that, but I’ve come to know and like you a lot better since then, and I’d want him to be happy and you to be happy. And I have to tell you, you’ll never find a kinder, sweeter, more forgiving and compassionate…”
She broke off, in consternation, staring at Edie. Edie realised she was making a face, and composed herself, but too late. Maggie’s eyes narrowed, and she inquired pointedly, “Why are you looking like you just tasted something bad?”
Edie’s face twisted, and her eyes filled with tears. She felt as helpless as a tiny kitten, with her last secrets being stripped from her, and simply explained, “Because that’s a horrible turnoff. But I still love him. Can you help?”
Maggie was left speechless for a while, and then shook her head in amazement. “Maybe you’d better explain yourself a little more. Don’t worry, I won’t bite you. Unless you ask very nicely,” she teased, and it seemed to bring Edie out of her shell a little bit.
“I’m glad you fit in both worlds,” said Edie, wiping a tear away, “maybe you can help somehow. I don’t know what to do. I’m in love with him, but I’m in lust with his body, and I can’t make the two meet, and he’s not helping at all…”
“He wouldn’t,” added Maggie. “From what I hear, he’s being sickeningly virtuous.”
Edie nodded fiercely. “And I just can’t stand it! He’s being all the wrong sort of person to drag off and screw, and I don’t know how to do the normal person thing. Dating, introducing him to the parents, arranging a little wedding with me all decked out in white and looking like butter wouldn’t melt in my…”
“I get the picture,” giggled Maggie. “Wooo! You have more in common with me than I thought! But aren’t you a little old for bringing the wuf boyfriend home to Mommy? Surely you’re a free agent now? Help me out, I have a hard time understanding this part. I grew up in a polyfamily and my Daddy held my paw while I had my first lover, so I wouldn’t be frightened. I learned from watching him and Mom and sometimes Aunt Janine too. I guess that is a little different from what you’re used to.”
Edie blinked. “You could say that. Actually, what I did was bury myself in computer programming. My parents worried that I wasn’t dating, but eventually they said that if I wanted to be a computer nun that was my business. They didn’t know about the docks, of course.”
“That would have been something to watch.” remarked Maggie wickedly.
“Or listen to.” answered Edie, with matching playful wickedness.
“So how do we get Walter down by those docks for you?” inquired Maggie, and Edie’s face fell.
“I don’t think you can. Can you? He’s just not right. Oh, he’s wonderful,” added Edie hastily, seeing Maggie getting cantankerous again, “but how can I explain it? Maybe I’m too old to change. All those years, I slummed, and I don’t know if I can be with a good person now. They just don’t connect, I can’t accept that from somebody I’m being friends with. My lovers have to be scary people… It’s like I’m addicted to that primal edge, the risk and danger of it. How can you understand if you haven’t been there? Your big troublemaker here is Rick, and all he does is screw around like mad. Do you have any idea what it feels like to be seized, scruffed, taken like an animal when you’re in heat and feeling like one anyhow? Feeling dozens of hungry eyes devouring the sight of you as you writhe in orgasm? Do you know what it’s like to be fought over, wolves with switchblades fighting for rights to your body? I knew I’d be losing that when I signed up for Aquarius, but I was ready for the change. I saw what happened to some of the others… do you know what a ‘mama’ is? That’s what I would be when my looks faded and I wasn’t worth fighting over anymore- I’d be just following those rough boys around begging for more rough treatment, and they’d be less and less excited about it, and eventually I’d be nothing and it would all be over. Well, I had the computer side of things, and I just jumped- I left my biker boys behind while they still longed for me and fought over me, and I came here, so I could at least earn money and be socially acceptable.”
Edie’s face twisted, as she was utterly caught up in what she was saying. “And now, you expect me to be turned on by a nice wolf Boy Scout? Oh, hell… I’m too damn outlaw at heart to go for that! His body makes me weak in the knees, every now and then I get a spark of fire out of him, but is there anybody here who compares to what I used to have? It’s either Boy Scout niceness, or totally empty group-sex where nobody really cares who does what or who! Do you know how unimpressive that can seem after you’ve been a prize in a duel to the death, and a snarling ragged wolf has killed his rival to win you- and then claimed his prize right then and there?”
Maggie had bristled at this diatribe, but as it went on the Siamese looked more and more stunned at the revelations- yet she did not flinch or condemn. She held Edie’s gaze, unwaveringly, and eventually it was Edie who looked down and sagged a little. Maggie continued to stare with frank feline curiosity at the silver catgirl, who, after her outburst, looked shamefaced and surprisingly adolescent.
Finally, Maggie spoke, with a quiet certainty in her voice. “Edie, you have left that behind now. You said that if you’d stayed, you’d have lost the glamour of it, and I believe that. Here, things are more civilised, and the civilised part of you can find a home. If you can’t be turned on by civilised things, that’s just too bad and you’re going to have to grow up. I think, what with the EI and all, you’re going to have to settle for a nice guy for a lover, because, my dear, Peter doesn’t hire violent punks, and the oppies aren’t like that either.”
“If it helps,” added Maggie more gently, “I can sympathise. I know a lot of people, and so does Rick, who like play-acting all that sort of thing. It must seem awfully tame, but at least there are people to understand you here.”
“You’ll just have to settle for the more civilised pleasures. It’s really not so bad. What choice do you have?”
Several thousand miles away, a man turned down a path in well-sculpted artifical woods, and followed patches of green spray paint rudely emblazoned on the finely cultivated tree trunks. He stepped carefully, wary of twisting his ankle, because the imitation forest floor was torn and rutted by tire tracks. He arrived at a sculpted hillside, and banged on a section of artificial rock which served as a door- and the rock opened, revealing a cavernous space, cold, smelling of industrial steel- and also of grease, exhaust fumes, sweat, beer, and vomit. There was a fire built in the middle of the bare floor, and the man approached it, catching the attention of a wolf wearing an unrecognizable scrap of denim vest and urinating into the fire.
“Hey, you got any more of that crank I got from you the other day?”
The wolf yawned, revealing an impressive set of sharp but rotting teeth. “You got the money? Good shit, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, it was really good. Makes up for how this cruise sucks.”
“Your problem, Robert, is that you’re a goddamn whiner.” proclaimed the wolf. “Have a beer, and shut the fuck up about your whining. What, did some girl spit in your face again?” He guffawed crudely and grabbed another beer from an untidy pile by the fire.
“Oh, man, you should have seen her. A cat, okay? Pure cat, right down to the body and legs…”
“No tits?” asked the wolf. “All covered with mange, a kink in the tail? That’s your type.” He guffawed again.
“No, man, you should have seen her. Little, like less than five feet tall, and this shimmering silver color, and she moved like liquid magic… I bet she’s a complete animal in bed…”
The wolf considered this, with a hiccup. “Well, now, drunk as I am and will be, I must say that your story sounds appealing. In fact, I had one like that once, and your pansy ass would never be able to handle a little fireball like this one I had. She’d pinch your floppy dick off, Robert.” He guffawed coarsely again and whacked the man on the back. “What’d she do, scratch your nose? Wuss.”
The man laughed weakly, knowing he dared not be offended with the other wolves around. “I mistook her sash, thought she was red sash to play with.”
“What fuckin’ difference does that make?”
The man shrugged. “Well, next time, maybe I can point her out to you, how’s that? She had some pretty tough-looking friends.”
“I,” proclaimed the wolf drunkenly, “have some tough friends too, and we’ll take anybody down, you know that. Hell, if she’s anything like the one I had, I’ll take her myself, and you can get in the damn line!” He guffawed.
The man was growing tired of being laughed at, and dared to ask, “If she was so great why’d you lose her?”
The wolf took a long pull at his beer. “Just disappeared one day. Damndest thing. And goddamnit, it was just after the most amazing performance she put on for me. I had that lil’ pussy shrieking like an alleycat taking a Clydesdale, man, she kept fainting, and I never felt such clampings in all my damn life. I was in love, man, just blown away, and she just ups and disappears. What can you do? There’s always others. But I tell you, Rob my man, if you get the chance at one like that, you take it, understand what I’m sayin’? Now, we gotta get you your crank, if you got the money.”
“Yeah, I hear you. And you know I got the money, you guys have the best shit. I don’t know what I’d do without ya, Chuck.”
“Same as you do with me. Talk a lot, and get no action!”
Chuck guffawed again, and headed off towards his ratty old tent, followed by his customer.
That morning, Edie glanced warily at the deodorant, as if it was some sort of bad habit. She’d bathed, and was getting ready to go on the picnic, and was still whiffing of heat, which left her with an extremely strong desire to deodorize it away. Yet, she kept remembering the way Walter’s nose wrinkled in disgust just talking about the chemical stink of the stuff, and she had to admit there was an antiseptic note to it. She’d never thought of it in that way, because all her life the important thing had been to somehow cover the vivid, piercing scent her body produced at these times. The idea this could be appreciated by someone without it leading to immediate action had never occurred to her.
When she padded out into the corridor, she was immaculately groomed- but free of deodorants and chemical scents, which brought back memories of late nights sneaking down to the docks. This time, she was sneaking off, just as herself, but to be with the good people instead of the bad people. The freedom of this was intoxicating, although it was terribly unfamiliar.
Walter met her at the sub docking bay, and he immediately quirked an ear and sniffed the air. “What’s this? No horrible chemicals?”
“Were they really that horrible?” asked Edie.
“Well, yeah. I guess you had your reasons. Ready to go?”
Edie blinked, taken off guard, as some part of her was all set to purr ‘I trust you’ in order to defuse the deep and lustful sniffing, drooling, and other crude reactions she found she was expecting. It occurred to her that she had no grounds for expecting this from Walter at all, and surprisingly, she found herself annoyed, as if she was entitled to a certain amount of uncontrollable, crude slavering to rebuff. Denied this, she covered her pique by asking, “What’re we having?” and promptly raged at herself in her head for tacky, suggestive remarks, but Walter didn’t seem to notice that, and gave her a straight answer.
“Just some sandwiches. Made some chai tea, because I know you like it- that’s what’s in this bottle. Set your navcom for L1-3F-VS, or you could just follow me but we might as well both have the set destination.”
“What’s the subsector location?” asked Edie. “That’s pretty general.”
“You won’t need it- there’s virtually nothing in the whole sector but the place we’re going. The sector itself only goes up to R4 at its highest point. That’s one of the reasons it’s so nice- it’s a sort of lowlands, the ceiling is very high there. There’s a field reinforcement node there- so far above you that it looks like a star. Nice place,” said Walter.
They entered their respective subs, and, with a shriek of tiny turbines, plunged through the hole in the floor into the main tank, bound for L1-3F-VS.
Walter’s voice burst in over Edie’s radio. “Shit! I wasn’t thinking at all. Is this bothering you, are you okay? I could fly you by wire…”
“No!” said Edie. “I mean, I’m fine! Let’s just go. Anyway, you’re with me.”
“Absolutely! Sure you’re okay?” came the voice.
Edie smirked a bit, flying straight and level without a waver. “I had to go back into the tank someday. And please believe me when I say that I checked my fuel gauge very carefully and compared it to the length of the journey before I even hit the throttle in the first place…”
Walter laughed. “You’re a hell of a kitty! All right, good for you. I’m going to stick close by- and I was trained in the service to check that before launching. Mine’s good, too.”
When the destination approached, Edie found she was flying rather too close to the ceiling, and checking her fuel obsessively. There was no comment about this from Walter- probably it was only to be expected- at any rate, she felt enormous relief as the arc of her final approach intersected neatly with the landing bay, and her wheels hit sturdy metal. Shortly thereafter, Walter came in for an equally neat landing on the vast docking space. Edie considered for a moment how handy it was that Aquarius structures could be built so absurdly large, while she taxied for the elevator that would lift her up into that vast ceiling.
Walter joined her in the sub parking area, which was very empty- no other subs at all, no machinery. She blinked, however, at something that wasn’t often seen in these echoing, empty steel caverns- litter. There was an empty beer can lying by the wall. “What’s up with that?” she asked.
Walter looked surprised. “That’s not regulation,” he said, and jogged over to pick up the bit of trash. He jogged back, and the two headed for the freight elevator that was the only inter-level transport available.
It dwarfed them ridiculously, but Aquarius wasn’t short of energy and it made a kind of sense to Edie, as yet another huge steel room bore them patiently upward- it was simpler to have one elevator do everything, in low-traffic areas like this, and simpler was better: less to break down.
At the top of the ride, another cavernous steel room came into view, and it was all wrong.
Walter’s ears were bolt upright in alertness. “That’s the smell of vomit! Someone’s been sick?” Edie tensed, as well- though her sense of smell was not as finely honed as the wolf’s, the scent was awakening memories in her. Vomit, stale beer, something that had been burned, unwashed wolf… inexplicably here, in this vast steel room. A glance around showed more trash, the remains of a fire that had been lit on the floor, the place where someone had been very sick…
Edie trembled. “What do we do?”
“We’re gonna call in the janitors,” answered Walter, “they’ve got another lovely job on their hands.” He tossed his beer can in the direction of some of the randomly strewn garbage. “Some picnic spot! Sometimes I just can’t believe those oppies. This is disgusting. I’m sorry about this…”
“But aren’t you sc… alarmed?” asked Edie, who plainly was. “Who did this?”
Walter set down the picnic things, and took her by the shoulders. “Edie, nobody travels on Aquarius who isn’t meant to be there. We can track any living thing on the whole damn ship. There is no such thing as space pirates! This is the result of some filthy dumb oppies who had a party. It’s somebody who has money but no class at all. We do get those from time to time. Now, let’s go out and find a nice clean spot to have our picnic, and by the time we’re done, they might have gotten around to sending someone to clean this up.”
Edie relaxed a little. “No pirates, or bug-eyed monsters?”
“Maybe they’ll be bug-eyed when I tell them off- politely- for unnecessary littering, which I hope I get the chance to do. It only causes work for the maintenance staff, and there are plenty of better places where they could party.”
Edie and Walter headed for the entrance to the cavern, which was conveniently open. The area was indeed pretty, but there was evidence of more partying- the ground was far from immaculately groomed, and there was more garbage scattered around here and there. Edie began to get very nervous, while Walter’s look got harder and harder, and finally, he said “This won’t take a moment. Come with me, I really need to ask these people to be more considerate. It’s gonna take some poor maintenance sap hours to clean all this up.”
He began to head up over a nearby hill, following the signs of foot traffic, the occasional bit of garbage, and Edie came along, but her heart pounded and she began to hear indistinct sounds in the distance…
The air was split by a cat-shriek of fear and pain, from a voice that would be hard to mistake for any other, a harsh soprano scream, and Walter froze, and then dropped the picnic things and charged over the hill.
“Maggie!”
Edie froze in turn, everything coming into focus in an instant of horror as she realized what Walter was about to do, and she shrieked, “No!” and raced after him desperately- too late.
Gasping, she rushed into a clearing, in which Walter was at bay, encircled by ragged, mean-looking wolves. At one side of the clearing, surrounded by grinning wolves, was Maggie- and she was pulling the train. There were wolves over her, under her, taking her in every way, soiling her fur with semen and with spit- she had found the real thing, somehow. They had her by the throat, as well, and her eyes sought out Walter and Maggie in shock and terror.
Then Edie saw the alpha wolf ambling forward, totally confident, with a beer in his hand, and her brain short-circuited for a second, and all she could say was “You.”
Chuck looked her over. “Where the fuck did you go? It’s been years.”
Beside her, she saw a grinning wolf flick a lit cigarette at Walter, and hissed at him with desperate intensity, “Don’t! do! anything! Don’t even move! I’ll handle this!”
“They’ve got Maggie!” hissed Walter back, in agony. He was shaking.
“Damn it,” hissed Edie rapidly, “they will kill you if you start anything, you be still!” She hastily returned her attention to Chuck, who seemed interested but unhurried. The other wolves continued to circle.
“I had to go, hon, you know how it is,” purred Edie appealingly. “What brings you here?”
“Edie..!” hissed Walter, and she hissed, “shut! up! soldier!” back. This seemed to work, and she returned her attention to the gang leader.
Chuck yawned, showing rotting teeth. “We’re going to Verdant. We made some money, traveling in style. Makin’ some money on the way, too. And havin’ some fun.”
Walter was just about creaking from intolerable tension, and a circling wolf moved in, clearly intending to poke or shove him. With a glance at Chuck, Edie scooted around to interpose her body and shield Walter. She was limp with fear that someone would get through, would cause Walter to swing on one of the pack, any one, it wouldn’t matter. All that was keeping him alive was the fact that he hadn’t attacked anybody. One slip and he would be dead- she knew the code and had seen it played out over and over again. You attacked one of the pack, and you had all of them on you at once.
Chuck smirked at her. “You want a turn? It’s been a long time since you were with us. And this one doesn’t have the fire you had, baby. You were the best there ever was.”
Unexpectedly, there was a flurry of motion, as Maggie writhed and yanked and burst free of the wolves around her. The pack’s attention snapped to her, but at that instant Chuck snapped “Hey, chill!” and Edie hissed “No!” at Walter, and their combined authority was enough to keep a lid on things. It wasn’t clear what Chuck wanted, but it was certainly clear that according to him Maggie wasn’t worth much, and also that he wasn’t intending to punish her attempt to get away. The wolf under her tail slipped out easily enough, but Edie winced as the little Siamese yanked against a wolf-tie, pulling free of what turned out to be a substantial knot. Edie winced again as she realised that she’d had that one herself.
Maggie staggered weeping into Walter’s arms. Sniffling, she caught sight of Edie, and sobbed, “I don’t LIKE your kind of fun!”. Edie didn’t dare look at Walter’s face. She bristled with embarrassment, but held her ground, thinking to herself- so far so good, now if we can all get out of here alive…
“Come on, babe. For old times’ sake?” wheedled Chuck, which did not go unnoticed by the other wolves. They regarded her with interest- an even better cat, and Alpha’s Choice as well. Edie saw this and took advantage of it, purring “Can you ask your boys to give us some space, hon? For old times’ sake?”
Chuck glanced sharply at them and jerked his head. That was all it took- the other wolves cleared away, taking positions behind him, leaving Edie, Walter, and Maggie alone.
Walter muttered thickly, “She’s hurt, Edie.” while holding Maggie tight. Edie glanced rapidly at the little Siamese while trying to hold Chuck’s gaze at the same time, and saw that one of Maggie’s ears was torn and bloody. The silver cat lifted an eyebrow questioningly at Chuck.
The alpha wolf snorted. “That was Jeb. He’s an asshole. You’re an asshole, Jeb!”
“Fuck you!” snarled an emaciated wolf in reply. His eyes were frightening, and he had a slight tremor that never entirely went away.
“You’re an asshole, you don’t know how to fuck a cat nicely. Shut up, asshole.” replied Chuck. “This a friend of yours, Edie?”
Edie nodded, standing her ground. “This is a friend of ours.”
“I can smell that you want to fuck, too. Come on, honey- look, if you ride for a while, tell you what, we’ll fuck Jeb up to pay him back for what he did to your friend when he fucked her…”
“Fuck you!” screamed Jeb, shaking. Edie could see he was one of the mean ones- there was a definite type who always were in there when the train was being pulled, and who got a special kick out of blood and pain and humiliation. Jeb was clearly a hairsbreadth away from attacking someone, and Edie took a moment to hiss to Walter with desperate urgency, “Stay!”
Chuck turned slowly to look at Jeb, who snarled horribly, twisted his head, and finally looked away. Finally, Chuck growled, “Oughta fuck you up anyway. No class. Look at you, ripping up her ear like that, make her ugly, and she’s a friend of this fine pussy useta be one of us. Asshole.”
Jeb snarled, not meeting Chuck’s eye, and Chuck barked, “Asshole! Go around hurting our honeys, make ‘em not pretty anymore, what the hell good are they then? No class asshole.” He turned again to face Edie. “So you had to go, huh? Assholes like this one get too much for ya? You were always a match for ‘em, that’s what I liked about ya.”
Edie nodded, not looking at Walter, picking her words carefully. “I had to go. You know how it is. I went out and started working. Left the planet.”
Chuck nodded. “Yeah, I know how it is. Hey, I keep seeing ya not exactly padding over here to get fucked, huh? Asked ya three times. You sure you don’t want any? I got Bob here, he’s fuckin’ hung like a horse, would that be nice? You like that, babe.”
Edie stayed where she was, and purred carefully, “You know how it is…”
At that, Chuck grumbled, “Yeah, yeah. So… I guess you want to take your friends and get the fuck out of here, is that it? Shiiiit.”
“I’m sorry, Chuck,” said Edie. “May we go?” She watched carefully, keeping an eye on the other wolves who clearly weren’t happy with that proposal, but remembering the way Chuck had a weakness for feline politeness and protocol. It was the contrast he’d liked, between that and the vision of the same feline going wild with the whole pack- and Edie thought there was a chance to get through to him in that way.
She added, in all sincerity, “Please?”
At that, Chuck lifted his head, looking disappointed but strangely dignified. He took a leisurely glance over his pack, as if to remind them who was alpha, and then he said, “Yeah. Damn. Good seeing ya, babe. You’re the best. You may go.” A slight stirring of discontent in the pack was stilled by a sharp glance from its Alpha, and silence fell.
Edie hissed at Walter, still nervous, “Back away slowly. Do not run, do not turn your back until we are out of sight.” They did so, Walter supporting Maggie, who was very wobbly. Slowly, they backed away over the top of the hill, until they were out of sight- and then, rushed back the way they had come, Edie glancing nervously in every direction.
They went down to the sub docking area without speaking, and then Walter, his face unreadable, said, “We need to get her to the infirmary- we’ll want dock B. I’ll walk you back to your place then. While we’re flying back, I’m going to get security brought up to speed.”
“Are there jails on Aquarius?” asked Edie.
Walter snarled harshly. “You don’t understand. If they could pay for a ticket, they can buy and sell any justice, any lawyers- it’s just as if they got rough with a red-sash. Security needs to be warned so they can contain any damage. We’re left to pick up the mess. Let’s get Maggie somewhere safe.”
Edie nodded, and they got into the subs, Walter awkwardly flying with Maggie on his lap, and fled the place with a scream of small turbines, covering the endless miles back to their home.
The nurse was a pretty vixen, and she dropped her clipboard in shock as Walter helped Maggie through the door. “Holy… here, let me help you! What on earth happened?”
“Some pilgrims play rough,” said Walter levelly, helping Maggie onto an examining table.
“Who did this?”, asked the vixen, going over Maggie carefully. “Somebody’s hit her in the mouth, and that ear’s lacerated and the tip is missing, and yes, we have bite marks and I’d better check for internal bleeding, is that okay honey? Can you tell me what happened?”
Maggie had regained some of her usual style. “Too much fucking fun!” The vixen blinked, and the little Siamese corrected herself. “I mean… okay, do you want the short list or the long list?”
“Tell me everything that has to do with an injury,” replied the nurse soothingly. “If you need to talk, I’m here to listen.”
Maggie earflicked, and mewed in pain as it was the torn ear. “Okay- it was group sex- well, in a way it was, that’s what I thought it was- the one that tore my ear is also the same one that bit my arm. It was claws that hurt my thigh, but wuf type so they weren’t that sharp. I remember one of them doing anal was just too big…” She seemed prepared to shamelessly recount absolutely everything that had to do with an injury, but then stopped abruptly as she saw Edie and Walter beginning to depart, at an awkward distance from each other, and looking uncomfortable. “Stop, wait! Make them stop!”
They did, and Edie asked, “What is it?”
Maggie looked at Walter, and at Edie, earnestly. “I’m sorry… I mean, I had no idea that you knew him, and, well, I know what you two have been going through. It seems like this might have made things a lot harder for you… me, I’ll heal up, and in the line of work I originally wanted you run that kind of risk, and anyway I think I’ll look pretty good with one ragged ear, huh? All streety and stuff. But I don’t want to live that way really.”
“No,” said Edie carefully. “I don’t, either. Not now.”
Maggie continued determinedly, in spite of the protestations of the vixen nurse. “But I wouldn’t want to think that I made things harder for you! Ow, my mouth. Leave me alone, you, I’m talking to my friends!”
The vixen came right back at her with, “Well, finish it up quick, you crazy moggy, so I can make you better! Or I’ll sedate you!” She put her hands on her hips, tsking in gentle mockery.
Maggie smirked. “I’m in trouble! Ow. Okay, okay- but listen, Edie, Walter, promise you won’t be mean to each other! Or something. Oh, I don’t know! You’re too complicated! Just be good, okay? Promise you’ll be good.”
Walter nodded, and shortly after, so did Edie.
“Well then.” said Maggie. “See you later, I’m going to let this nice vixen fix me up.”
“Good!” said the nurse, and resumed fussing over Maggie, as Edie and Walter slipped out into the corridor, and the long walk home.
They walked for a while, until Edie broke the silence with “Sorry.”
“Sorry for what?” replied Walter, brooding.
“Oh, it’s like that, is it? All right.”
“Wait. What?” said Walter, brusquely. “I’m not in the mood for complicated.”
Edie sighed. “I’m sorry I wrecked your image of me, and go ahead and write me off. We needn’t talk about it any more…”
“It was pretty dumb anyway,” said Walter. “But why should I write you off?”
Edie bristled in shame. “Because I’m a horrible little slut? Not a good kid sister?”
Walter took a moment to reply. “I think I’m beginning to understand…”
“You’d better, because my cover is blown, Walter. It’s true, all of it. I was with that pack, when I was younger.”
“Made an impression, too, didn’t you? You really are something kinda special. You dealt with that all yourself…”
“I was saving your life!” snapped Edie. “I’m sorry I had to treat you that way, but they’d have killed you! I couldn’t let that happen. I destroyed my reputation but it was to save your life! If you had taken even one swing at even one of them…”
“Slow down, Edie. I think I understood what was happening. Didn’t I do as you told me? And it was the hardest thing anyone’s ever asked me to do.” said Walter.
“It wasn’t fair to you!”
Walter harrumphed. “Of course not. Seems like there was a reason for it, though. And did I, or did I not, come through with flying colors? Edie?”
The little silver cat nodded slowly, still padding along. “As a matter of fact, you did.”
“Thank you,” replied Walter. A little while later, he added, “So did you.”
“Flying the colors of a raving slut? Why thank you, good of you to notice…”
Walter whirled and firmly pressed Edie up against the wall. “Stop!”
“What?” gasped Edie, frightened. “Don’t hurt me!” To top it all off, Walter’s sudden fierceness hit her below the belt, and her legs suddenly went wobbly with desire. Edie began to cry, all her barriers falling away.
The hulking wolf looked her over, his hands on her shoulders trembling from some strong emotion. Presently, he let her go, but grabbed her hand and resumed his walk, saying with great seriousness, “Walk with me, and listen.”
Edie did so, though her legs were still unsteady. There wasn’t much else she could do.
“I think I understand almost everything now, it all makes sense for the first time. Just listen to what I have to say… first, you came there with me to have a picnic. Understand? You were coming on a picnic, and you weren’t going to do anything else, either. I knew that, and I was happy just to be with you. Am I going too fast?” asked Walter.
Edie shook her head, and he continued.
“Secondly, there was a cat there who was getting gangbanged by a group of wolves, and knowing her, she started it on purpose- I think I’ve heard her talking about that, actually, how she was getting in touch with some rough crowd. Well, she did that, and got it every which way, and she was so covered in spoo and spit and dirt that I had to wrap a tarp around her to not get filthy when taking her home. And Edie? That cat was not you, doing that. It was Maggie. And I bet the appeal’s worn off, too,” added Walter, brusquely.
Edie nodded. “It does.” she said, weakly.
“That’s what drew me to Maggie in the first place, you know. The sheer wildness of her! The trouble was, she just kept on doing it. I didn’t mind it that much. I didn’t even mind that I had to share her, because that was always a given, and where she comes from, that’s no big deal. But she wanted to teach me to be that way as well, and there are some people I just don’t want to bump uglies with, you hear what I’m saying?”
Edie sniffled. “Uh-huh.”
“This… Chuck, was it? What drew you to him, and why are you not there anymore?” Walter kept walking, and didn’t press for an immediate answer.
Eventually, Edie said, “The wildness of him. The whole scene. I have very strong heats, and at the time it seemed like a good idea to just run with it. It was so primal. There were times when he half killed me with my own libido. It was like nobody else in the world got to get off the way I did. It was like I was special.”
“But you are.” said Walter softly.
“Where I come from, they take you to the hospital and spay you for being like that,” said Edie. “I couldn’t let that happen, so I led a double life. Finally, it got to be too much. Chuck drove me one night so hard that I could have died. As soon as I could walk again, I snuck out and I left. And I left the scene, and I left the planet, and my whole culture, and I came here- because it was over, I couldn’t live that life anymore. I’d never even said goodbye. It wasn’t the sort of thing where you said goodbye when it was over…”
“And you left all that.”
“No, I didn’t!” cried Edie. “When I got here I was still wanting to hook up with bad people, but there weren’t any! Rick is a talker, and everyone is so open, and there was nowhere to hide so I couldn’t! I’ve been so frustrated…”
Walter’s steady stride hesitated. “But…”
“But what? It’s true!”
Walter stopped. “But you didn’t want me? You wanted people like this Chuck?”
“Like hell I didn’t,” said Edie. “Slutty little cat desperately wanted you, but you’re good, it doesn’t fit the program. You don’t hide, you’re upfront, all that. I’ve been sick with want for you, but it doesn’t matter.”
“Then… You could have had Chuck, there, for the asking. He asked you what, three times, to come and be treated like a slut? Edie, why didn’t you go, and leave me to take care of Maggie? I would’ve done that for you. I lo..”
He stopped, abruptly, choking off the word, falling silent, and Edie floated helplessly through the silence, with everything that she knew adrift and no use anymore. There wasn’t an answer, and she saw Walter’s eyes fill with yearning and his need for an answer, and finally Edie had to say, in a little voice, “I don’t know.”
“Yeah,” said Walter, “I know the feeling.”
This was unexpected enough to jolt Edie out of her self-absorbed haze a bit, and she found herself asking, “Why do you know the feeling?” And, amazed, she saw Walter go bashful and uncomfortable in turn.
“Used to think I had a type,” he mumbled. “Used to understand that pretty well. On the one hand, all naughty, and on the other hand little and cute, maybe innocent, I don’t know. That’s never worked out that well for me, you know. Why is it that all of a sudden when I see you being so capable, dealing with that Chuck guy and being in control of the situation, something clicks? I’m supposed to like you better if you’re innocent or faking it, that’s the type.”
Edie blinked, wiping a tear, her programmer brain coming to the fore. “You have a type, but it doesn’t work? You can’t pursue it anymore?”
“Nope.”
“Me either.” said Edie, and silence fell again, but this time it was a very busy, thoughts-whirling silence, and Edie broke it first, purring, “But… that’s too easy!”
“You think?” said Walter. “Wanna bet?”
“But… it doesn’t feel right!” said Edie.
“Compared to what?” replied Walter, promptly. Slowly, a grin began to sneak onto his face.
“But… that would be crazy!” said Edie, beginning to feel so giddy that she feared she’d leave the ground.
“Compared to what?” grinned Walter. Suddenly he let out a yelp of delight, and grabbed her, and they were hugging each other, whirling around and laughing and crying and shaking as the emotions cut loose.
Finally, Walter put her down, beaming, and Edie looked up at him, glowing. She noticed her tail was hard left, and straightened it with an air of feline fastidiousness, and looked up at him again, with great curiosity.
“But… you love me even though I DON’T set off the old chemistry?”
Walter replied with a soft, deep, lusty growl that nearly toppled her where she stood, yet she held her ground. “Silly! I mean, I can still think. Can you still think, too?”
He nodded, smugly. “Absolutely. And, good for us!”
“So,” purred Edie, “what now?”
Walter took her hand. “Well, let me hazard a guess. You will continue to be not helpless or innocent at all, and that will turn out to suit me just fine. I will continue to be civilized and understanding, and amazingly enough, that will turn out to suit you just fine too. And, in conclusion…”
Edie smirked, amazed at the sense of freedom- everything was strange and utterly unfamiliar, and yet she’d never felt so grounded. “In conclusion?”
Walter put the final touch on all the unexpectedness, by petting her for an answer- he, who had never touched her in any suggestive way, ran an affectionate touch down her front, down her chest, down her belly… Edie gasped and sagged against him as the touch teasingly stopped just a hairsbreadth short.
“In conclusion,” said Walter, “let’s get you home.” His eyes twinkled at her reaction.
“That,” managed Edie, “will do nicely.”
They set off, and Walter inquired solicitously, “Can you walk?”, his tail wagging like mad.
“Hell, I’d drag you.” replied Edie, breathlessly.
Rick wasn’t paying much attention to where he was going, heading on autopilot to the Cafe, when he heard the cry.
It froze him in his tracks. Some heady, sweet, feline wail from somewhere, speaking of lewd yearning beyond most people’s ability to even imagine. He realized that he’d started to get an erection just from a single, brief sound that went through him like a beam of pure lust, and he slowly turned, reading wall markings, to get a sense of where he was…
…and yes, he just happened to be walking by Edie’s rooms.
Rick stood there, stunned, in the middle of the corridor. Was that a deep growl from behind the door? And, all at once, he knew what he was going to do. It wasn’t his usual style, but… the fox crept very quietly up to the door, and hungrily pressed his ear to it, silently begging his heartbeat to quiet down so he could hear more of those sweet, sweet sounds, no more able to resist than a salmon swimming upstream to spawn.
There was a little pause, and then a high, keening, desperately yearning sound absolutely glued him to the door- answered by a sort of interrogative rumble, and then Rick’s eyes went very wide as he listened to a desperate, breathy wail that suddenly transformed into a paint-peeling yowl.
Transfixed, he listened avidly and thought he heard those inevitable words, ‘Are you okay?’, but it was hard to be sure, as the caterwauling didn’t stop. Right after that, he was sure he heard a deep “Ohmygod! nhh!” and privately noted: Walter, knew it all the time.
The riveted fox continued to listen at the door, quite shamelessly, as the sweet, feline song of lust played on. As it developed, it seemed to somehow gain fervor- it would die away for a moment, and then flare up to a wild, bold yowl. At some point, the wail began to break up into rhythmic yowls and gasps, and what caught Rick’s attention most about this was the way it was accompanied by little yelps- he thought he could guess what was provoking those, and figured he’d probably be yiping too if it was him. The caterwauling built and built in power and intensity, taking on a glorious shameless resonance, and began to be accompanied by deeper groans and growlings… until all at once, Rick was nearly blasted away from the door by an eruption of shrieks and howls beyond anything he’d heard. Stunned, he sagged against the door in amazement as it went on and on, and then the yelps quieted but the yowling carried on relentlessly, exhaustingly, and… yes… began gently to lose its alarming force, gradually quieted and came in for a very gradual landing, until finally Rick was listening hungrily to long, trembling moans of ecstacy, beautifully shameless and passionate, sweetly and slowly fading to a quivering silence in which he could hear only the excited pounding of his own heart.
Silence filled the corridor, and Rick realised his ear was still pressed to the door.
He looked down at himself, looked at the door, and headed off down the corridor, in search of somebody.
Anybody.
The End
(continues the story from the comic strip at tallyroad.com, but can be read standalone)
Dawn broke gradually over the city of Verss- washed vivid orange by smog, filtering grudgingly around tens of thousands of tall buildings woven around each other, stacked into a single mountainous structure alive with its wolfish inhabitants. Some levels, some depths of urban crush, never saw daylight at all.
Some depths of urban crush were literally that- subway caves that had once been upper levels in the forgotten past, that were now not merely abandoned hellscapes of acrid air and failed lighting, not merely home to the most desperate failures the city held, but were tombs to those ragged wanderers when the weight of Verss produced another subsidence- when the world groaned, sagged, and made those forgotten ones a part of itself.
Nobody of importance would be found near enough to those dangerous areas to hear any screams- one would literally rise in Verss, spending one’s time nearer the top of the city, if one could afford to do that. One would try not to think about the levels one came from- one would try to forget that in Verss, fate literally stretched vertically from the abodes of the impossibly wealthy down to corpses without even the rank, stale air left around them anymore, bodies that had been shunned while life remained and were now the tortured soil Verss rested on.
But then, this city forgot everybody eventually.
Dawn broke over a spot which wasn’t exactly at the peak of the city, but was very much on the outside layer. A small cafe basked in the lurid, smog-painted glow, a cafe with a wide, sandy patio and green trees in terracotta planters. The color alone told a story of wealth and privilege- to the wise, it told a story of teams of gardeners switching out weary, pollution-worn trees for fresh ones, and whisking the sick ones off to special nursery bubbles with clinically purified air and fresh water, to recover and then serve another tour of duty outside at the cafe.
Dawn broke over one of the first arrivals to the cafe, and her guest. Jennis didn’t think of it in this way, but in the ecosystem of the cafe she rated as less important than the trees- certainly, they were given lives in the nursery where they were cared for and given the strength to go to the cafe and do their jobs. In turn, she returned to the cafe not to give strength but to gain it- and, replenished, return to her job. Today, she was bringing Allie, who was new to this job.
Jennis felt a bit envious, though her spirit was well enough to appreciate it vicariously- Allie had been increasingly awestruck as she ascended to the level of the cafe, and stepped out onto the patio as if she was a princess arriving at the ball. It was understandable, thought Jennis- though the cafe couldn’t claim the staggering view as its own creation, it certainly made the most of it- and paid for it in property taxes. Jennis knew that for the same reason she knew she was welcome…
Jennis paid for this welcomeness with barter, with hedonism, above all with discretion. The manager was a driven, gaunt wolf who was constantly getting in fights with his wife, and his fanaticism for maintaining his exquisite cafe and his pose as a debonair maitre d’ was matched only by his fanaticism for blowing off steam in bed and perversity when in it.
And Jennis was not merely a whore- she was the straw-boss at the notorious “Mistress Elistary”. She was more than able to handle the manager’s desperate needs, she was big and rangy enough to cope when he got crazy, and she was more than street-savvy enough to turn a few minor injuries into a free subscription for entrance to the cafe- for life. The small electronic card which opened the gates was one of Jennis’s prize possessions. It still cost a great deal even to have breakfast there, but without a little careful blackmail she’d not have been allowed near the place.
Now, she watched her new employee look around in awe, and played it cool. There were many things this Allie didn’t know- Jennis felt quite concerned for her, while at the same time fighting off the enviousness. Allie seemed so vulnerable and was clearly on the run from some terrible abusive situation- earlier conversations had made that abundantly clear. Allie was on the young side, had nowhere to go, and wished nothing more than to escape to Verss, and- what? Jennis doubted that Allie’s plans had read ‘get fucked for money’, but the young wolfess was so unprepared for the biggest of the big cities, and her options were frankly terrible.
Allie had light brown fur with a white blaze running from breasts to belly to right under her tail- she sported a ‘two-tone’ pattern that Jennis knew was money in the bank. Allie seemed totally unfazed by the idea of selling her pussy for money, which again said ‘fleeing abusive life that makes being a whore seem relatively cozy’. Allie had no ID, no licenses for any form of work, no connnections for getting on the waiting list for an apartment, nobody she knew in the city at all. Allie had no idea how to get any of these things, no clue that if she turned up at a shelter she would end up fought over and claimed as a prize, which was to say slave, or even a corpse if the fighting became too intense. Allie, in fact, acted like a rich kid who was sheltered from the real world- or more accurately, kept from the real world by some family member who wanted the stunning two-tone wolf girl all for himself.
Jennis knew that some of those never made it out. Some committed suicide. And some fled- often to Verss, in the belief they wouldn’t be found easily. All too often, they were found by the dregs, and the city gradually crushed them without a second thought.
This one had turned up in a room at Mistress Elistary, and Jennis was expected to make a working girl out of her. It seemed like Mistress Elistary had some way of finding these girls- they would turn up, often emotionally shattered, and go to work like whipped dogs, terribly obedient and fearful. Allie had turned up shattered and fearful, but without that obedience- again, like a rich kid on the run and out of options. She wasn’t going to find another place to live that was remotely acceptable, and Jennis was going to have to train her or see her turned out on the street.
As she watched Allie gawk at the view, Jennis felt both envy and anxiety. This girl was going to make a bundle, hopefully without being hurt too badly, and she seemed to be aware of neither her beauty, nor the unfairness of her situation. Jennis was going to have to be her boss and teach her all the things school had never hinted at.
As they accepted cups of coffee from the cafe’s morning staff- who treated Jennis with great but mocking deference- Jennis thought that was going to be a real bitch, and hoped desperately that the lovely wolf girl would be impressed by her street-savvy and den-mother loyalty. She had to gain that upper hand, for if Allie copped an attitude or acted entitled like a rich girl, she’d be thrown out by Mistress Elistary in no time at all. Jennis knew she had to get Allie up to speed or see her sucked into the maelstrom of Verss and lost forever.
The cafe staff had given Allie a menu for breakfast, and did not give Jennis one- they gave her, instead, the faintest possible smirk, but she dared not rebuke them. She quickly told them, “Yeah, the usual” and hoped like mad that Allie’d take it as a symbol of special favor.
As she watched the younger, prettier wolf who was to be her subordinate poring over the menu, Jennis glowered briefly, then fought back her rage at the cafe staff. She’d tell the manager, when she got a chance, of what they had done.
They knew Jennis could not read.
Allie looked around, and her eyes sparkled. “Oh, this is nice!” she cried, and Jennis suffered another pang of jealousy. She’d never had a cute little voice like that, even when she was young- if you wanted to call it ‘young’.
“Yeah,” said Jennis, “always have a nice breakfast, in case the johns are assholes that day. They ain’t there to take care of you!”
She caught a look of alarm in the younger wolf’s eyes. Good, she thought. You learn respect, missy, and maybe we won’t lose you after all…
“So, what’ll you have?”
The alarm turned to embarrassment, and Allie looked down, not meeting Jennis’s eyes. Oh, no, thought Jennis- I called it. She’s remembered what I am. She’d forgotten. Next, she tries to get away, makes some excuse.
“Just the coffee, thanks- I’ll pay you back!”
Sure you will, thought Jennis. “Ya sure? I better get you more. You know it’s physical work, right? What’ll you have?” said Jennis, and thought, there you are, my dear- picture it. If you’re going to run, do it now, so I don’t have to see your damned pretty face over breakfast, knowing what’s likely to happen to you.
The girl didn’t react well. Jennis, alert to the small telltales of Runge behavior, saw her draw a breath and look about anxiously. The older wolf’s mood soured further as she gauged the tantalizing heave of Allie’s breasts under the low-cut t-shirt- when she’d had that, she made half again as much damn money a night. Allie’s paw scratched at the patio sand. Her tail bristled faintly, as did her ruffs and facefur, all very subtle but dead giveaways to the experienced observer.
The experienced observer sat, waiting. Just you say it, missy, thought Jennis. Just dare to suggest I’m not good enough to be seen with.
“Oh no, no.” breathed Allie. “I couldn’t!”
That was enough for Jennis. She didn’t even let Allie finish the little apologetic eyeroll she was in the middle of.
“Now, look, Missy! If you object to a whore buying you breakfast, I got nothing but bad news for you. Now. What will you have?”
That sank in. Jennis wondered if she’d been too brutal- Allie cowered as if trapped, and then looked down, her eyes filling with tears, making no reply. She heaved a shuddery, woe-is-me sigh, and Jennis watched her breasts rise and fall again, and thought, that’s another twenty credits to you, if only you knew it. Or are you the kind of rich girl who knows it quite well already? If so, you’re about to learn it doesn’t work on me.
“I just ruined your day, huh?” said Jennis, levelly. “Well, you’re ruining mine.”
Jennis began counting seconds to herself- in expectation that the girl would stand about fifteen seconds before springing up and rushing off to her fate- but before three had passed, the lovely tan wolf had looked up, and Jennis found herself staring into pleading amber eyes, brimming with tears.
“It’s not that!”
Jennis blinked. This was seriously off the script.
“I want to be like you…”
Seriously off the script! What?
“More than anything… but…”
It was Jennis’s turn to be off balance. If this wasn’t contempt, what the hell was it? Jennis faced her stunning young subordinate, would-be whore, possibly somehow hero-worshipper (how on earth did that happen to a brazen shaggy byotch in a white ribbon bikini with tits like melons and a cunt like a muscular goddamn cavern?) and tried to find less harsh words.
“Really? ‘But’ what?”
Allie’s eyes dropped again, miserably. “I don’t have any money.”
Jennis laughed, startling her. “Oh please! Spare me. Look at you! A little coaching and you’ll be filthy with it.”
Interestingly, the girl didn’t look at herself- or brighten up, or show any sign she’d been paid a compliment. Jennis considered this. Girls usually had some degree of vanity, but then there were some that were so damaged they couldn’t get their heads around the idea. Self-image was so goddamn relative. You could count on those ones to not quit, or throw a fit over conditions (even when one ought to be thrown), or demand more money- but there was a price you paid that Jennis took very seriously. Those girls didn’t protect themselves well. They could be talked into stuff that hurt them- they attracted creeps like crazy- and you had to look after them, because if they lost their center, if their world got too dark and empty, they weren’t just no good to themselves, they weren’t even any good at their job.
And when their job was to be fucked by strangers… well, you could say that didn’t help. You had to keep a pretty level head for that not to mess with you. It was almost a job requirement- if you were in it for the long haul, anyhow.
Allie looked up again, with a very polite pleading gaze. “I don’t have any now. Can I borrow some? Like, properly- with interest and whatever?”
Jennis looked at her in astonishment. “Why the flying fuck do you want to pay me interest? I’m your fucking boss, not a bank! Explain.”
It seemed like this was unexpectedly hard to explain. Allie’s eyes dropped yet again, and she bristled harder, the Runge equivalent of a blush, and her ears went back as if she expected a blow, but it was a psychological blow rather than a physical one.
“I… don’t ever want to depend on anybody, ever again.”
With that, the young wolfess looked up, a strange intensity in the way she held Jennis’s eyes, and she continued with alarming conviction, as if it were a matter of life and death- “You shouldn’t have to buy me breakfast.”
Jennis was taken aback, but now she knew exactly what was up.
“You are poor, aren’t you? You’ve got that pride they get.”
Allie winced. “Please, stop it…”
“Or should I say, new poor? You’re acting like someone who was raised with a life. You wanna tell me anything about what happened?”
“I… I…”
“Take it easy.” said Jennis. “You’re safe enough now. Though some people wouldn’t see it that way, let me tell you. But… some of us know better, don’t we?”
It took a while for Allie to pull herself together- she would try to look at Jennis, and tear up or become upset, but the older wolf watched with approval as Allie got a grip. That was going to be a useful skill- it boded well. Finally, she was able to trust her voice, and Allie spoke again.
“We?”
“I was six. Looks like you hung in there for longer than I did, my dear. That probably gained you some good things, you know. I really did hit the streets too early.”
“Really?” said Allie, fascinated. “Too early for what?”
“I bet you’ve got more schooling than me. Am I right?”
“Um… yeah, probably. You stopped at six? I was still going right up to last month when… when all this started happening.”
“There you go.” said Jennis. “It might not get you very far in this city, but that’s a resource. I bet there are lots of things you can do. I hope you trust me, though, because I’m telling you there are lots of things you don’t know- and I honestly don’t want you to be hurt. You fell into a job that you will be able to do- I promise you that- but you’re going to have to start learning all over again.”
Allie thought, and Jennis let her think. The two Runge sat quietly, sharing the beginnings of an understanding. When Allie spoke again, it wasn’t about what she was expected to learn.
“Why did you run away at six? I didn’t understand what was happening to me when I was six. I didn’t understand it was… different.”
Jennis gazed levelly at the younger wolf, but her eyes were chilly.
“I thought I’d better leave while I still had one unbroken arm.”
Allie actually cringed at this, unable to meet Jennis’s gaze, as if the shaggy black-furred wolf was the bearer of a reality too terrible to look at directly. When Allie’s eyes found Jennis’s again, the older wolf had not looked away, and the gaze of the wolf girl was full of awe.
That’s it, thought Jennis. I’ve got her. I’ll never thank that bastard for what he did, but every time I’m able to reach a kid like this, the pain’s not wasted. This one’s not going into the shelters, this one’s not turning junkie or chew-toy if I can help it…
Okay, call it even money she makes it, then. That still beats the usual one in four. …this goddamned city!
Jennis shook her head, dispelling the grim calculations of survival odds for pretty young runaways with no street sense. Across from her, the pretty young runaway perked her ears, wide-eyed, and drew a breath expectantly. Again with the heaving tits, thought Jennis. I can’t believe you aren’t aware of that. No, I guess I can, I’ve seen it before. You might be a crawling worm, in the privacy of your own head. I was.
“Okay, listen. Boss speaking.”
“I’m listening.” said Allie eagerly.
“We’re having breakfast. You’re getting what I get. That way, you don’t have to choose.”
“…okay.” said Allie, suddenly abashed again, and feeling outmaneuvered.
“While you have this breakfast, I’ll tell you about some things to expect. You will pay attention to all of it. You will not be paying me back for the breakfast. You’ll pay attention, that’s what you’ll pay, missy. Understood?”
“…okay.” said Allie, planning to buy this amazing woman something later to square it.
“You can be rich and sore and buy your own breakfast tomorrow.”
Allie laughed, in spite of everything.
“Heh! Okay…”
“I said it’s not involunary.”
“Do you mean ‘voluntary’?” asked Allie politely.
“Probably. You’d know better than me, but I bet you don’t know this. Let’s talk tying on a guy’s dick, shall we? You’re going to have to do better than your typical untrained girl on a Saturday night. Maybe not right away, but you’d better learn it.”
Allie’s eyes were wide, her chin slightly up, as she put a bold face on while listening. She was still a little awed, but determined to keep up. Apparently it was dirty talk time, or something…
“Okay, I get it. I’m gonna lock down on the guys like they never felt before. Um- are there exercises I should do?”
“No, no, honey. Well, yes there are exercises, but you’ve got it all wrong. You’re gonna have to learn how to fake a tie. You probably don’t realise how not involunary it is…”
“Voluntary…” said Allie involuntarily.
Jennis gave her a sour look. “That you can fucking let go. Or do you know that as well? That would be clever. What does it feel like to get into a good hard tie? Remember, that might not always be ‘good’ for our purposes.”
Allie blinked. “Usually I don’t want to think about it. Um… I’m confused. I mean, it feels confused.”
“How’s that? Describe the feeling.”
The young wolf looked miserable. “Like… when can this be over, please don’t ask me to say anything, I don’t want to make noise for you, I’m scared and okay I’ll say oooh and uh, don’t hit me if it doesn’t sound right…”
“Oh, honey, no!” said Jennis. “Oh poor baby, not that! Are you sure you want to do this? I’m really not sure how I could fool Elistary into thinking you were working, but I can’t put you through…”
“No! No, I’m okay!” said Allie hastily. “I thought you wanted me to describe the feeling.”
“But if that’s how it feels…”
“I got pretty good at doing it. Who cares? I just… it’s like, as long as it’s not him? I got away, I got all the way to Verss. It’s like, I win. Do you understand how important it is that it’s not him?”
Jennis was silent for a moment, then said “…maybe.”
“So what did you want me to describe? I’m happy if it wasn’t that! It sucked!” said Allie brightly. She laughed, but it didn’t come out very convincingly.
Allie cringed just a bit at the sharpness of the look that Jennis pinned her with. It wasn’t an unfriendly look, but it made her feel emotionally naked- it was that laugh, she shouldn’t have tried to laugh, this tough courageous lady saw right through her, next thing you know she’d be saying, go home- and not that, ever…
“I’d better know.” said Jennis, as if in apology. “Listen closely. I’ll describe, you just listen and identify the feelings. And… I’m sorry in case I… never mind. Listen.”
Allie leaned forward a bit, all attention and perked ears, determined to make a good impression.
“First off, it’s not him, but I’m only going to say that up front, because I have to know. Okay?”
Allie nodded, ear quirked a bit in confusion, a bit uneasy without knowing why. But what could happen out at a posh cafe, over breakfast?
“The guy’s with you, and he’s all worked up. You’re both in bed, you have no clothes on- you look over and oh boy are you seein’ red. He’s more than peeking out, your guy there is getting good and stiff. That sharp scent cuts through the air. You can see a bit of ooze coming off him, he was excited even before he showed, and he’s real shiny. Glistening…”
Allie’s eyes got wider and wider, and she glanced in alarm at the cafe’s morning staff, but they didn’t seem to hear any of it. Jennis was almost crooning her words, hypnotically, unhurriedly.
“We’ll say you’re gonna go your basic all-fours style. You hit your pose, maybe you’re quivering a bit. Your puss is ready, when he comes around behind he sees not just that great two-tone pattern, but between your legs, your vulva’s standing out. It’s jutting, baby, it says ‘tuck in here and let’s go’. The next thing you know, his arms are around your body and he’s on your back.”
Allie listened, heart pounding, still glancing at the wait-staff. What was all this? She wriggled a bit, trying to figure out if she was expected to play it cool.
“And then, shove! His crotch is crammed up against your rump, and that cock you were looking at? It’s in you, babe, he’s slid it right into you in one lucky thrust. He didn’t even poke you twelve times with it, the boy was on target and slurp! To the hilt, two tone babe. He’s balls-deep in you, and that boy is excited. And you know what that means, don’t you?”
Allie couldn’t speak. She did manage to nod.
“He’s a strong one! Oh my, he’s a lively one. You’re hearing it echo off the walls. How can his back hold out? He’s churning you like a maniac, your pussy’s real wet and getting hotter and hotter- you’re melting- as you melt around him you’re feeling him swell up and ho boy does he ever. That boy’s well favored, you’re getting a really goodsized knot and it’s taking him a while to settle into it. You’re getting churned until it feels like your whole body’s possessed by his huge throbbing dick.”
Allie wriggled- and whimpered. Jennis’s eyes glinted.
“And the knot gets bigger and bigger until your boy can’t churn it anymore, and he settles into position as it swells so hard inside you, the pressure making you reel, and you feel yourself respond, that taut band inside you locking down behind the knot and that’s not really involuntary!”
Allie’s eyes went wide. “What? Wait, what? Don’t stop there!”
Jennis giggled, unexpectedly. “Well, it’s not. Your nipples are showing, sweetie. Do you need to hit the bathroom?”
Allie blinked. Her nipples were so stiff they ached, and sure enough, she’d been lubricating- her vulva was trying to jut, was sedately dripping against the black panties that were all she’d been able to find for underwear. Much more of that, and it’d show through her cut-off jeans. Jennis looked very amused.
“You were TESTING me?”
“Best to know now, sweetie. I think you’ll work out…”
“Finish the damn story! …please?”
“While you do what? Masturbate?”
Allie looked around, huntedly. “Are we gonna get busted? I mean, if I sort of quietly do? And not so loud, now that you’ve made your point?” She wriggled again, trembling.
“Put your napkin in your lap- or over whatever you’re gonna tickle, if it’s not your lap. There you go. Where was I?”
“Telling me it’s not involuntary. Go on. You tell it so well…”
Jennis barked a sudden laugh, then leaned forward. “All right. But we can’t leave right after, I do have stuff to explain. All right. Your boy, he’s swelled hard and fast, he’s just beginning to figure out he can’t move so wildly in you anymore…”
Allie’s eyes gleamed as, beneath a napkin, one furry finger traced rapid circles against the denim. Damned pants!
“That’s because your, I think they called it constricter vesty bull-eye, the one I’m telling you to learn about, when that knot started expanding so hard, it constricted. Your body locks down. You feel it just cramping onto him, and it feels like that just makes him swell harder- which it does, too, that’s why you do exercises…”
Allie panted, thinking to herself, this was a lot better when she was testing me, now she’s gone all teacherly on me, but no matter…
Jennis seemed to notice. “Alright then, first things first.” She crooned, “Oh, so hard inside you- and your body just goes crazy and locks down more and more, and then you feel that steady pulsing, that throbbing as he unloads into you, he’s coming, babe, he’s huge and stiff and you’ve got those little motions and pushes he can’t help making, he’s got this huge dumb smile on him and he’s just throbbing and flooding your passionately clenched…”
“…hh!”
“Oooh. You’re a quiet one. Is it the public setting?”
“…h!”
“Check you out. You’re bolder than I thought, I’m honestly impressed. We’re gonna get along just fine. …well?”
“…h!”
“Damn, honey. Story wasn’t that good! Something tells me you ran off because on top of everything else, you were starting to get really horny… am I right?”
Allie panted, eyes unfocused. “…h! …way to… …ruinthe… …moment… …hh…”
“Aw, I’m sorry. We do have to get back to work though. I have explaining to do. You can’t just wing it on enthusiasm, sweetie.”
Allie took a breath. “Okay… but yeah, that was it. I was okay up till then, but… when I started to really get off… it couldn’t be for him.”
“Of course not.”
“I’m NOT frigid! I’m really not!” blurted Allie, her ears flattening, as if someone somewhere had made that remark.
“I should say not. Wow.” said Jennis.
“Just… not for him.”
“Of course not. Now- can we move on? I’ve got some things to tell you about that vesty-bulleye muscle. You know the one- probably it’s pretty cramped up right now, poor thing. It likes something solid to grab.”
Allie winced. “Yeah, pretty much. But I won’t lack for that, right?”
“Betcher ass.”
Allie considered for a moment. “Why do you say I should learn to fake tying? Are we like, rushing guys out the door in order to bring new ones in?”
“Two reasons, really. One should be obvious. Some guys will bite you once you can’t get away.”
“Oh, shit. Are we talking every other one, or one in ten, or…”
“No, no! Maybe… hmm. You should know we keep track of that, and share information. It’d be one in a hundred if we let ‘em in the door freely. Some don’t even get in the door. Some, we have an enforcer on hand to watch ‘em. It’s like every few thousand, maybe- frankly, most guys just wanna fuck and won’t make that kind of trouble. Plus, Mistress Elistary is… special.”
Allie glanced sharply at Jennis. “That worries me more than the guys. How special do you mean?”
Jennis looked surprised. “Why would it worry you? What’s it got to do with you? She’s a dom. She’s damn good at it.”
“It doesn’t have to do with me? I’m worried about what she’s gonna do to me.”
“Honey, you’d have to pay for her time, and you know it’s mostly guys that make up her clientele. I don’t know what she wants with all the money but she doesn’t give a shit about us. I run the place and you mostly won’t even see her. I understand she was around more when it was getting started, but these days you won’t see much of her. When she’s around, there’s a stream of guys skulking in and cringing out. Sometimes, limping out.”
“Really.”
“Oh yeah.” said Jennis. “Don’t talk about this, but sometimes- bloody. Mistress Elistary is real special. That’s not quite legal, but she’s some kind of Resten royalty and she just doesn’t care.”
“Really.” said Allie, thinking back to recent events. She’d been caught trying to get through Tally Road on foot, something she now knew was laughable. She’d been kept in a sort of bondage dungeon by a bunch of guys, as one particular one with a scary metal bondage mask and a weird, deformed cock had worked to break her- and just as things seemed worst, Mistress Elistary had turned up and ‘rescued’ her and brought her here.
She really wasn’t quite stupid enough to fall for that- not after the haughty royal Resten lady had used the same word, ‘girl’, that she’d grown to dread from the bondage guy.
But… she was still apparently stupid enough to get all the way to Verss, just like in her escape fantasy, only to realize she had no clue, nowhere to go, and nobody to trust…
“What’s the matter, honey? I promise she won’t bother you. She doesn’t like to spend time with us.”
Probably nobody to trust.
“I just… don’t think I like her.” said Allie.
“Shit, babe, I don’t like her at all. She’s obsessed with making money, about which ain’t we all, but not everybody’s as fierce about it. I told you we have to barter with T and A for basic stuff like repairs- hell, for toiletries. If we didn’t, the place would be a fucking jail, only with less supplies. Mistress is a bitch, but she holds the lease and she holds the leash on all of us.”
“Great.”
“Don’t you repeat that. Ever. I probably can’t get away with it but you sure can’t. It’s like this: play nice, give her her cut, we all pitch in on basic needs, and it turns out we don’t do so badly for ourselves when you compare it to other places. And we’re probably in with City Hall better than anybody else except probably the Cathouse.”
“How come? Elistary bribes them with all the money she makes?”
“Hah! And you’d better learn to call her Mistress. No, Mistress Elistary beats them with whips and barbed wire, so I hear. And keeps pictures for blackmail. Verss is a very old, very big, very rich city, dear, and its tastes tend to be ‘special’.”
Allie nodded, wide-eyed. “I don’t have to do that stuff, do I?”
“You won’t be asked to. Normal madams are trained and experienced, which you are not. I do a bit of it but I’m not really an expert, just fill in on a busy night. I’ve got a few girls with a knack for it. Most guys are drawn in by the rumor, but don’t really want anything like that.”
“You said the Cathouse is more in with City Hall? What do they do, claw politicians or something?”
“Oh no no… probably wish they did, though. Get a load of this. The Cathouse is the Nerre place, you know, it’s like a pun or something- and they’d like to consider themselves artistes and much classier than us- but do you remember ever hearing of a famous cat whore, named Faisand?”
“I think so. I even saw an old magazine. There was this headline- ‘Slim, Silvery, Silky, Sexy’. She was really pretty. Um- it was an old magazine. I was a kid and it was still an old magazine…”
“She’s still there.” smirked Jennis. “And this falls into the ‘don’t let this happen to you’ category… not so many guys want to fuck such an old cat, so she changes diapers, I’m told.”
“What, they get pregnant from us Runge, our guys? That’s impossible!”
“Oh no. She has a special clientele. I understand it includes important people in City Hall and in the police. It’s usually powerful guys, with so much power that even getting whipped doesn’t de-stress them. I’m not making this up- they wear diapers, crap themselves. They’re pretend babies. This Faisand mum-cats them- for money that would make our dear Elistary just puke with envy.”
“You’re kidding! People do that?”
“You might not understand the kind of pressure the people in this city live with, honey. You don’t live here. In this town you’re either going up or you’re going down. Well, we go down but I don’t mean that… I mean, everybody fights like maniacs for position and there’s no way to rest. If you start slipping, you could fall a very long way and end up down where the air’s stinky and the light flickers. You haven’t seen those places- hope you don’t have to.”
Allie gulped. “And that’s why you’re working for Elistary?”
“Damn straight. We’re along for the ride because the bitch is one hell of a fighter and she’s loaded with money. Just remember to kiss her puppy butt and stay out of her way. Practice it- Mistress Elistary. I’m not joking. Don’t let me hear you call her by her name that way. Miss-tress. C’mon, say it, or I’ll worry…”
“Sure. Mis-tress Elistary. You promise I won’t have to deal with her very much? I… I’ve seen enough of her.”
“We all have, believe me. Everybody’s happier when she’s not around. Well- some of the enforcers seem to have, shall we say, an understanding. That figures, but as long as they can protect us, who’s counting?”
“I gotta ask you something.”
“Sure.” said Jennis. “Shoot.”
“All this sounds… overwhelming. I realise when I tried to run away to Verss, I didn’t really know what I was doing…”
“Of course not.” said Jennis sympathetically. “You just went. I did the same thing, remember. If I can make it, you can.”
“Yeah but- is it all just horrible? Is there any fun? I hoped life would be better. I mean- if it’s not, I’m still not going back, but is it just horrible? I want to know.”
Jennis stared. “Is that what it seems like? Don’t tell me I’m a grim miserable byotch. I’d like to think I’m a fun, caring byotch. Do you think my life is horrible?”
Allie bristled. “You work for Elistary who you hate, who doesn’t take care of your place, you barter pussy for home repairs, every so often guys try to bite your throat out…”
“No, no, hang on! First of all, biters usually get your shoulders or back if they’re on your back… but hang on there. I was just trying to be honest with you! I could have snowed you just as easy, okay? Give me some credit for trying to be honest, at least!”
“But… it sounds bad!”
Jennis regarded her solemnly. “Listen. It’s a little of both. I think this is where I explain about faking a tie- and what that means. You can’t give yourself over completely to feeling bad- and you can’t give yourself over completely to feeling good. You’ve got to have a private place- if you can master that, life is definitely fuckin’ good.”
“Even while you’re getting used and treated like shit?” asked Allie.
“Remember how I said one in a thousand were gonna try and hurt you? And even then, we have enforcers and we’ll rally around, nobody’s going to hurt you and get away with it. Flip that around. Hundreds of guys, lonely, horny, some perfectly nice in their way, they just wanna fuck and they’ll happily pay you to do it. Honey, if you keep that private place safe and with the rest of you, get into it, they’ll love you for it. That has its own problems but nothing we can’t handle…”
Allie’s ears were quirked in curiosity. “You keep this- private place- and then you just go romp? What if they don’t like you?”
“Training, dear. They’d better like you. They won’t respect you- but they’ll feel really good. And you don’t have to respect them, either. Don’t give them your real heart, whatever you do. But… Shit, honey! People get sore digging ditches, at least in other places where there’s dirt to dig in. Getting fucked might get old, but it’s just a more fun way to get sore, know what I mean? Do you seriously think I’d still be doing it if I didn’t have at least SOME fun with it?”
“Well, I don’t know,” said Allie. “I thought you were stuck doing it.”
“Aren’t we all stuck doing something? Honey, I have fans. I know if some jerk gets bitey with me, there’s a good twelve guys who’d love to feed that jerk his teeth. I do my thing and make a living, and what the hell is so wrong with that, missy?”
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings!”
“No- I just… don’t tell me I have no fun, okay? I’m trying to get you up to speed, not to bring you down. Maybe I can spare you some of the problems I had. What’s wrong with that? But listen- I know I said we’re having a nice breakfast in case the johns are jerks. That can happen. But dammit, I’m good enough at what I do- I’m gonna send them home happy, if nothing else. And it’s a piss-poor day that I don’t have at least SOME fun fuckin’.”
Allie considered this.
“So… when you say fake a tie, what you mean is, you’re gonna have fun but you’re able to cope if things go wrong.”
“Exactly!” said Jennis. “You need to have a sense of the things that can happen- both good and bad. You’ve got to be professional.”
“I guess I can deal with that. …you’re proud of your work?”
“I’m fuckin’ good.” said Jennis. “I may be a shaggy byotch who’s seen a lot of dick, but I know my stuff and I can make a guy feel fuckin’ awesome. There’s no reason you can’t learn too.”
“Is it all about controlling different muscles?”
“No way. A lot of it is about understanding guys. That includes exotics, too, for instance Nerre…”
“I’m gonna fuck Nerre?” said Allie, incredulously. “I thought they wouldn’t touch other species. I do know those ones at the Cathouse are outlaws, they’re shunned.”
“No, you don’t quite understand, sweetie. It’s not that they’re not allowed to touch us. We’re sort of an exception to their rules- those kitties have some of the toughest rules about fucking I’ve ever heard of. They’ve gotta do everything just right. They go crazy with the stress of it, but they stick with it…”
“I think I read something about that once, in a book.”
“Oh yeah?” said Jennis, wryly. “Maybe you can tell me about it. I wouldn’t have read that book. I told you, you got a lot more schooling than me- at least that kind.”
“Oh!” said Allie, blinking. She hadn’t really registered what the older wolf meant, and now she met Jennis’s level gaze and was barely equal to it. “Do… you want to know what they said?”
“Hell yeah. We’ll trade information. I know a lot about them that’ll be more useful to you. What’s the book say?”
Allie eagerly started to explain. “It says it’s their natural weaponry! I mean, the reason they’re so uptight and strict. It said, because they’re capable of causing terrible injury, their social protocol becomes the instinctive defense mechanism…”
“I know they can hurt you real bad if they lose their shit- I’ll be warning you about that, there’s a particular situation you have to avoid. Is that what you mean?”
“What situation?” said Allie.
“Later. Trust me, I won’t skip that, sweetie. So they’re uptight because they can do so much damage?”
“That and their females. It’s like, they go into these heats and go berserk- the whole society is set up to deal with their fucking habits. Those creches they have, where they don’t even know their own mothers sometimes, if the mother’s work is too demanding to bring up her kittens…”
“I’m surprised they’re not crazier than they are, but what about the natural weapons you mentioned? It might have to do with the part I’ll be telling you about.”
“It’s because they have to avoid fighting over women! They’re too deadly- as they got smarter and evolved and learned things like primeval martial arts, they could take down bigger prey, but they also could kill each other totally off. They’re really passionate, apparently, though it doesn’t show…”
“Speak for yourself, honey.” said Jennis. “Fuck yes, they’re passionate. But incredibly detached.”
“Exactly!” said Allie, her eyes shining. “Their protocol is a deeply seated societal mechanism for detachment- a system that gives them responses which don’t involve them fighting each other. But… I don’t see how we fit into that.”
“We don’t.”
“But- you’re saying I’ll probably be getting fucked by Nerre…”
“Probably, hell. They have an eye for beauty. Your two-tone fur pattern qualifies. You’re definitely getting kitty dick, unless there’s a problem with that happening.”
“I don’t know if there is or not.” said Allie, uncomfortably. “I’ve heard some stories about them… but how could I possibly be getting fucked by Nerre if their rules are so strict?”
“I’m not sure you’re gonna like this- but their rules apply to people. We’re not people, to them.”
“What? Then what do they think we are, robots?”
“We’re animals, hon. We don’t count. We’re not good to eat because we’re not Ause-native prey animals- but we’re not off limits to fuck, for sport.”
Allie was speechless. Before long, she found voice, a careful, edgy one. “I… seem to remember seeing once… something in a magazine about how we manufacture more than HALF their spaceships and industrial machinery…”
“We’re clever animals. Actually, they find us charming…”
“If perhaps uncivilized??”
“Yeah, you got it! Honey, in some ways they have a point. Go hire some really heavy security sometime and go down to the lower levels of Verss and look at how we live and then come back here and call us civilized. They don’t have that, not that way. They actually have this thing where the lowliest janitor is supposed to be as good as royalty if he’s never broken their rules- they talk about it like it’s a religion. I guess for them it is.”
Allie still felt uncomfortable. She’d let herself be swept up in Jennis’s story, and wanted so badly to impress the lady wolf that she’d masturbated secretly in public to seem bold- but hearing about these Nerre after that had caught her off guard. Now everything felt rather shameful- the swell of her furry breasts under the lowcut T-shirt, the way her panties were now squishy, the musky scent sneaking out- Allie felt trapped, judged.
“Oh, honey.” said Jennis sympathetically. “Don’t judge them so harshly. Hey, they really kinda revere animals- in some ways we’re really special animals to them. Almost people. Give ‘em a few hundred years and they’ll be keeping us as pets on their home planet.”
Allie looked sullen. “I don’t really like it. It’s like rubbing your nose in the fact you’re a whore. One minute, you’ve got it seeming like it’s a sort of art form and interesting job, and then suddenly I’m an animal.”
“Babe, to a Nerre on Ause you’re an animal whatever you do. Remember about the private place I mentioned? You need to go there and shrug off what the Nerre think. You don’t really have to deal with them, but I’m telling you, they’ll be checking you out, and they’ll want some.”
“Will they want me to moo? Or shit on the floor, or something?”
“Hell no! The kitties tend to be a lot more fastidious than that. It’s hard to explain. They’ll want to fuck you- and more than that, pretty much all of them will want you to enjoy it. Honey, our own wolf boys are more likely to just fuck your tail off and not pick it up for you. The kitties care about everything, up to and including how to fuck Runge ladies nicely.”
Allie hesitated. “They better not demand that I moan for them. Nuh-uh!”
“What? Maybe you should learn that- but that’s not what I mean. Nerre are real exotic. Once you’re used to the physical details, they’re a treat…”
“I heard their dicks are spiky and that’s why the ladies scream…”
“I think there are species on Ause like that, but you’re wrong. The ladies scream because they come super hard- and if that was true, they’d scream AFTER the dick comes out, right? And don’t they scream when it’s to the hilt and being rammed as deep as it can go?”
Allie bristled a bit. “I should get used to that from you. And how would I know? You probably know better than me.”
“I asked one, hon. I wanted to know why he did me the way he did- they all have this way of fucking that’s very different from our way. He’s a regular. He was nice and explained a lot.”
“Even though you’re not people?”
Jennis laughed quietly, a low knowing chuckle. “He doesn’t like people- and he loves me. Why do you think he lives on a planet of non-people? He lives here in Verss. Real high up, too.”
Allie blinked. “Okay, didn’t expect that. You’re better than people?”
“I’m way better than people. I kinda love him too a little. He can afford me as often as he wants, doesn’t try anyone else anymore, and if anyone hurts me, I’m pretty sure he’ll snuff ‘em if he knows. Gives me some courage to face the day, you know? I’ve got regular fans but to him, I’m really special. Would you really rather count as ‘people’ to him, when he hates people?”
Allie’s ears were quirked all different directions, and the young wolf was almost tearful. “Are you making that up?”
“Not one bit of it. Hey, what’s the matter?”
“Sign me up. I mean it. I… I want to be special to somebody, too.”
The older wolf leaned over the table, squeezed her paw. “You are, okay? You made it this far. You’re a lot like me, really. Wipe your eyes. Uh, maybe not with that paw…”
“No, it’s not wet. I was just rubbing.” Allie sniffled. “You’re just full of surprises, Jennis. I had no idea the world could be like this.”
“Suddenly you’re hot for Nerre? I’d better tell you more. We might not have one for you right away- and honey, listen to me. That one I’ve mentioned? I’ve had him for years. Do not try to seek out that from your first day. Learn to do the job and find your place in it. I’m not gonna stand for you seeking love in johns. Seriously!”
Allie pulled herself together visibly, rewarded by an approving glance from the older wolf, who added, “Shall I tell you what the nice kitties need from you? And I’m damned well going to tell you what to watch out for, now more than ever. Before we leave this place!”
“Um- okay!” said Allie.
“The important thing to remember,” said Jennis, “is that they’re not built like us.”
“But you say they don’t have spikes like I heard?”
“Mmm- not exactly. There’s definitely a texture, but that’s not what I mean. I’m talking about your basic shape. It’s also possible you’ll have to be careful about penis length.”
“You’re kidding. They don’t look that big.”
“They’re not… it’s more behavior… look, how about I just tell you the whole thing and then you can ask questions?”
“Okay.” said Allie, fascinated and somewhat humbled.
“Most important thing is the knot. There isn’t any.”
“Well, I knew that!”
“Ssh, I’m not done. Instead of that, they sort of taper. They’re comfy to enter you, but think about it for a bit. No knot, tapering shaft that’s thicker at the base… are you seeing where I’m heading with this?”
“Into the arms of your Nerre lover, apparently.”
“No, listen. Our guys thin back out again behind the knot. It’s a whole erogenous zone, a trigger for them. We’re made to lock down on that, instinctively. Now, my dear- what happens to you, when you lock down, and you’re stuck ON the knot?”
Allie looked stunned. “Um. That doesn’t happen. Ow! When would that happen? I’ve never heard of it.”
“You’ve been with Runge guys. I can tell you that if it does, with one of us, you’ll either pop it into you, or you both jump around and it’s pulled right out. And the guy’s usually pretty pissed off… but that’s another story. But picture the kitty dick I described. Tapering, thick at the base…”
Allie nodded, wide-eyed. “I think I’m starting to see what you mean.”
“Now let me fill in one more detail. Nerre can be a lot stronger than they look. You know how us Runge move and thrust? Humping, then settling down with a tie? Well, know what the kitties do?”
“What?”
“They SHOVE. As deep as they possibly can.”
Allie blinked. “Are they trying to make up for not being as big as our guys?”
“No, no, it’s not like that! I’m talking their instincts. One of them, my favorite, he told me once that Nerre females ovulate when the dick bottoms out in them. I don’t know why it’s that, but it’s affected how they are. The whole species is like, ram it into me until I’m burping sperm, know what I mean? That’s why they move how they do. And if you’re having one…”
Allie was pretty quick. “Taper- and it’s thick down there- and they shove as hard as they can… yikes.”
“Yeah. It feels like regular lovemaking gone horribly wrong- like you’re straddling the knot and you can’t get it to go through and the guy won’t pull out, he’ll almost always go into these snarling thrusting spasms, real primal…”
“What the hell do you do?”
“First of all, you can’t react in the normal way. We can clamp pretty hard in a tie. They don’t like that- well, most of them don’t like that. It pinches and it’s the opposite of what Nerre do- what their females do. They tend to melt into a puddle, claw the bed, shudder and shriek. You gotta do like them if you’re going to please the kitties.”
Allie considered this dubiously. “Really?”
“Oh, and stick your butt WAY up when they mount, or they WILL go up your ass.”
“Eeep!”
Jennis laughed. “Don’t be so shocked! I’ve known a couple who do that on purpose! But you should be careful not to do it by accident. Most of them won’t like it, not one bit.”
“That doesn’t sound good. Is it dangerous to get it wrong like that?”
Jennis leaned forward. “Not that, no. They might not pick you again if that happens. But there is a dangerous part, and we won’t let it happen to you knowingly, but you’d better learn what it is because you won’t get a second chance.”
Allie looked worried. “What’s that?”
“Double kitty.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t ever, ever be with two Nerre at once.” said Jennis.
“You just said they’re not very big- or at least, they don’t have knots. What’s so dangerous?”
“It’s cultural.” said Jennis. “Didn’t I tell you, they have these incredible rules for fucking? It’s all based on enforcing that they fuck one at a time, and don’t fight each other over it. They’re obsessed with following their own rules. Well… some of the ones that leave the planet, they think they’re gonna break the rules.”
“I still don’t get it. Why shouldn’t they?”
“It’s drummed into them so hard that they really can’t get away from it. It’s like their greatest crime is double-teaming some lady. They just can’t do it- they’ve just got to take turns. And every now and then you’ll get some who figure they can do it if it’s a Runge or whatever getting double-fucked…”
Allie didn’t like the expression she saw on Jennis’s face. “What happens?”
“Nine times out of ten, as they come, they will both freak out- and tear you and each other apart.”
Allie couldn’t speak.
Jennis added, “If they do that and survive, they always suicide, pretty much right away.”
She looked at Allie, sternly.
“Don’t ever try to take on a pair of Nerre. You should be able to sense something’s wrong- they’ll be crazy tense, maybe also all fucked up. The whole situation will feel totally wrong.”
“And I should say no, thank you?” managed Allie.
“Honey, if you see that coming, you should run away as fast as you can.”
Allie looked stunned. “Um… yeah. They’re pretty quick, too, aren’t they?”
“It usually isn’t like that.” said Jennis earnestly.
“Uh-huh.”
“It usually isn’t anything like that. I just had to tell you. You’re not going to let that happen, now, are you?”
“No!” said Allie. “Um… what else don’t I know? How about Tompar, what’s gonna happen if I get Tompar fucking me?”
“Oh my god, no!” said Jennis. “Are you kidding?”
“Well, you say I was wrong about Nerre dicks being, you know, covered with needles and spikes. You mean the stuff about Tompar is true?”
“That depends on what you’ve heard, my dear. What stuff?”
Allie thought. “Okay… I think it boils down to two things and they’re both nasty. They explode you and they poison you. Oh, and if you’re a guy and fuck a Tompar lady, she crushes your dick and laughs at you. So how much of that is real? Or do you even know?”
“Heh! It’s my business to know. It sounds crazy, but a lot of that is true- but not the way it’s phrased. I’d better try to explain it in case you run into Tompar elsewhere- what you described sounds like your basic hate talk…”
“They do sound really nasty. It makes you wonder why the Estrai keep defending them.”
“I think the foxies would defend them anyway if it was romantic. No, I mean you’ve got their motivations wrong, which isn’t really fair to the Tompar. And you’d never know it, because they’re not gonna speak up and defend themselves…”
“You’re saying they explode you, poison you and crush your dick… but they don’t really mean it?” asked Allie.
“Okay,” said Jennis, “let’s take it one thing at a time. How about the poisoning- because that could happen to you even if you were in heavy petting with a Tompar and you weren’t planning any penetration. You should think of it as play bites… love bites?”
“It sounds pretty hardcore, if your love bites are venomous.”
“I had a boyfriend like that once… no, seriously. Tompar will do love bites. There’s poison involved. But what you don’t know is, it’s a smaller dose than a full-on Tompar strike. They’re snakey love bites, not meant to kill. Tompar get high on them.”
“Oh!”
“Oh yeah. It gets worse, babe. It’s so much a smaller dose that you’d get high on it as well. People have… well, Runge, we’re big enough that we can almost get away with it. Estrai and Nerre and Resten are pretty out of luck, Aintar forget it, no way. But I’ve heard of our species getting fucked by Tompar and living. In fact, I’ve seen movies of it.”
“I heard the movies end in death.” said Allie.
“Yeah, for five of the six girls, it did. I didn’t let that girl keep that movie, don’t you try to bring anything like that home with you. I should also mention that I asked around to find out who made that movie, and of course it was Runge who made it. The only Tompar involved- was the star.”
“Okay, so they aren’t setting out to kill you but they do love bites to get high. How do they explode you?”
“That’s simple- it’s a big exaggeration. They inflate, like our guys do. If you can take a really big knot, it won’t be that which kills you, it’s the love bites that’ll do it.”
“That makes sense. All right- how do they crush your dick?”
“We tie and then subside. They tie- and the female compresses the dick until it can come out. They have to do it before they love-bite each other enough to get really sick… so there’s more than a bit of truth to that as well. It’s not a problem for you or me- or something like a Nerre who’ll just slide out- but a Runge or Resten male is in bad trouble if he ties in a Tompar. At a certain point he’s gonna be a very unhappy wolf…”
“I guess I can see why you don’t let them come to Mistress Elistary.”
“No.” said Jennis. “That’s just common sense. There’s something more. Maybe it’s just because Elistary is a Resten and not one of us? I know Resten don’t tolerate Tompar very easily. Trust me- don’t even mention Tompar around Elistary. She’ll rage about them, and she’ll be a jerk to everybody the whole night. We’ve learned to just not mention it- ever.”
“Really. What’s her problem?”
“Babe, we have to work for a living and she owns the building. We truly do not care, we just know not to mention it. Do us a favor and don’t even say the word?”
“Okay… did you ever get, you know, a hint?”
“Allie! Don’t even say it. Seriously!”
“Okay.” said Allie.
“Got any other questions? Like how do we go to bed with Vorsi males?”
“Now you’re making fun of me.” protested Allie. “That’s totally impossible.”
“I heard it’s possible, but Vorsi keep to themselves so much… it just wouldn’t ever happen.”
“How would you even know if it was possible? They barely talk to anybody who’s not a Vorsi, and they wouldn’t even fit into the building!”
“I just heard about this third or fourth-hand, so it might not be true, but check this out. Somebody was out in the country on Restred when a Vorsi ship came in. They’d had the area cleared, they wanted to have some kind of picnic, just take in the sights. This guy was miles away- but he had his telescope.”
Allie listened, fascinated, as Jennis laid out the tale.
“So he’s watching what are basically big scaly dragons hanging out in a meadow- one was painting a landscape, they had some kind of picnic stuff happening and he says it was hard to even understand- food floating in the air, flickers of light, just a maxed-out weird-shit-o-meter. People don’t get to watch them do anything, so he was beyond interested.”
“And the next thing you know, one’s climbing on top of another one, and they’re facing away from him. He realises he’s gonna see what nobody ever sees- he’s gonna watch Vorsi fuck.”
Allie giggled, unexpectedly. “Sort of like watching heavy machinery cuddle?”
“No, get this. He’s expecting them to hump, and he’s wondering if there’s going to be earthquakes, when suddenly he sees this thing, it’s hard to see, like a snake or something between them. And suddenly he realizes, it’s dick. Then he realizes there’s two of them, twisting and coiling against each other… and they begin doing all this stuff, caressing, tickling, thrusting in here and there and it’s against the background of these huge Vorsi bodies that are totally motionless…”
“Seriously? Prehensile dicks? …and the tips are so small that, you know- it’d fit even in us?”
Jennis chuckled. “You look interested.”
Allie bristled a bit, but without earflattening or being upset. “I think I just like the idea of the differentness. Sometimes the regular thing’s ruined for you and you just want something weird and really different…”
“Hope the regular thing doesn’t stay ruined for you. You should work happy- well, reasonably happy. You just won’t get the right kind of attention any other way.”
“Anyway, what happened with the Vorsi? That’s amazing. Did he watch them come? Did they move then?”
“This might creep you out… the guy’s watching these, what did you say, prehensile? These prehensile dicks getting busy. And guess what- he’s gay, and he’s never seen anything so hot. So he’s watching, and he’s getting kind of aroused himself, and he keeps the telescope steady and reaches down and begins to touch his dick…”
“And? And??”
“Two dragon heads pop up, and they’re both staring down the telescope at him. The instant he touches his dick, boom, they’re staring back at him and they don’t look happy.”
“Holy shit!” said Allie.
“The guy panicks, but he freezes. He can’t move. And then, the dicks pull out, they go back into the Vorsi bodies, the two Vorsi get off each other, they’re all dropping everything and getting back into the ship, and it blasts off. And no Vorsi ship ever visits that Resten planet again.”
“Wow!”
“Vorsi want their privacy.”
“Apparently!”
“And although they could probably really do crazy things with a Runge female like us, it just ain’t gonna happen.”
“Sort of like the Nerre thing, huh?”
“No, it’s beyond that. With Nerre, it’s like whether they will have sex with animal people, rather than real people. I think to Vorsi, we’re more like bugs. Fuzzy bugs, maybe even cute, but bugs.”
“I guess the guy was lucky they didn’t squish him. But- why would they care if a bug was watching them?”
“Wouldn’t it startle you,” said Jennis, “if you were fucking and suddenly noticed a bug was watching you through a telescope- and masturbating?”
“Yikes.” said Allie. “I see what you mean…”
“Let’s just say you’re not going to see any Vorsi looking imploringly at you and asking to rent wolf pussy…”
“Oh geez, do they usually look imploringly? That’s not very sexy.”
“Okay,” said Jennis, “enough with the advanced stuff, you’d better hear about some real basics. Get used to unsexy. It is your JOB to bring the sexy to them. Yes, some of them will look imploringly, or worse.”
“Worse? How?”
“Well, I guess it depends on what you like. You got two basic kinds, the kinds that are trying to be sexy and fail, and the kinds that don’t even know how to try. I actually like those ones best, because you can make such an impression and leave them so happy. You know, what we do can really leave a guy happy.”
“Orgasms tend to do that, yeah.”
“Oh no no, missy- you can do better than that. I’m glad we started talking about it, because we’re going to give you these ones to start. You’re not getting anybody challenging or tricky until I think you’re ready to handle it.”
“O… kay… so you’re saying you’re gonna give me guys who look imploringly at me and don’t know what to do? Am I gonna have to draw them a diagram? Do I get a whiteboard, or charts?”
Jennis snickered at the younger wolf. “Hardly. I assume you know what to do… hang on, here’s a thing. Are you on contraceptive pills? Ain’t no maternity leave, dear. A lot of us have had surgery but if you haven’t, you need to get your own pills.”
“Wouldn’t Elistary provide them?”
“Listen to what you just said, sweetie, and think about it.”
“Um.” said Allie. “Yeah. I don’t have money right now, do you have any? Maybe I can go get some tomorrow.”
“You’re quick. Do that. Don’t ever take a pill the owner gives you. Some houses, the nasty ones, they’ll put drugs in to get more leverage over you. I’m pretty sure Elistary isn’t doing that, but she’s got some of the girls really whipped and I don’t know where she keeps getting them… but they are clean and don’t make trouble…”
“I’m sure they don’t.” said Allie darkly.
Jennis glanced at her. “Hm. Do I want to know this? Sounds like you have your suspicions.”
“I’m not sure. All I have is suspicions. Put it this way?” said Allie. “She owns the place, she’s giving me a room, but aren’t I really working for you?”
“That’s right.” said Jennis. “I’m your floor manager. I’m the one that has to work with Mistress Elistary, and you should stay clear of her and try not to talk to her or attract attention. She doesn’t even set your pay. That’s a fixed percentage and I won’t let her chisel away at it, either. If she throws some kind of expense at me, I absorb it out of my cut, which is double scale as a floor manager. I should be getting triple scale, but out of that bitch? It’ll never happen.”
“Got it.”
“Back to looking imploringly. Here’s the thing- guys that use whores do it for various reasons. Some are so afraid of women that they need a formal way to get sex. Some are busy with their jobs- especially in this city- and they just will not spend the time required to keep a mate, so they’ll turn to a whore, sometimes even develop a favorite, like me with that kitty. Some are such jerks that women spot them immediately and run. Remember, you’d think there are lots like that, but it’s really not- the sad truth, babe, is that you can be a real jerk and still hang onto a girlfriend. She just has to be nurturing and not too bright, and you’re good to go. On the whole we don’t get mostly jerks, we get the desperate or the selfish.”
“I see,” nodded Allie. “So it’s going to be desperate guys, looking imploring, and going ‘please fuck me’?”
“More like ‘please ACCEPT me’. These guys, they’ve already decided that no woman will take ‘em. A lot of times that’s ridiculous, they’re fine, but in their heads they’re horrible. They get a whore, because if they pay money you have to let them fuck you, but what they really want is to not feel horrible about themselves. That’s how you earn your living.”
Allie thought. “Should I be acting like, oh, you’re so big?”
“Only if the guy is dumb, and dumb guys don’t get so twisted in their own negative thoughts. Dumb guys are slightly less likely to resort to us, because they’ll just ask a girl, “Wanna fuck?” without worrying about what might happen. We get a lot of really neurotic guys, sometimes they’ll even be worried about if they’re impressing you and if you’re faking it all. I can see why, too, ‘cos the cheaper street girls mostly need money for drugs and there’s no jollies in it for them at all.”
“So there’s no point crying oh such a big fat knot. So what do I do?”
“Hopefully it shouldn’t be that hard. Just keep your head, be careful about the ties and learn to be able to release- we’ll try to start you off with guys that are pretty decent, and just try and method act it? Try to enjoy yourself, try to have enthusiasm. That’s gonna be the one factor separating you from the street girls. You’re more high class, you’re an artiste. It’s important.”
“That’s how I get through to these neurotic guys?”
“Damn right. It works great, and you might find it an ego boost. We’ll give you some of the busy workaholic guys, they can afford someone new and fresh like you and they’ll like that a lot- and you can have some imploring ones, maybe those first of all, so you can build confidence. You’ll tell them how to do it, tell ‘em they’re sweet…”
“I had a friend at school who hated that. He’d freak out if you called him sweet.”
“Hah! Maybe he’ll turn up one day. He’s been rejected with that word, a lot. I see those guys come in all the time. Girls seem to like your tough, bold guys- especially younger ones go for that and write off the nice, unsure ones who don’t know how to make a move. It’s pretty natural, I guess.”
“You sound skeptical.”
“Well, it’s stupid. Put it this way- I’m the one who fucks those nice guys that the popular girls won’t touch, okay? They usually end up with good jobs. Their money’s as good as anybody’s- but more than that, I guarantee that their dicks and knots are as big as the popular guys. They just don’t believe it, because they keep getting rejected so much. I’m telling you it can be fun work.”
“I thought you’d get a lot of guys with inadequate dicks. Not that I care, it’d probably be comfortable.”
“No, sweetie, trust me on this. It’s guys with inadequate feelings, inadequate egos. A lot of the time, nobody’s even tried them out in bed. You have to get them past that by having a spirit of fun and confidence about it, and that’s when it becomes fun work. Lots of grateful guys, some of the dicks are really hot stuff. Honey, I’ve had a double-fist knot in me. Had to go for an extra hour because even I couldn’t release it. It felt awesome, if I was the one hiring a gigolo this guy would get triple scale, and he held me so nicely, like I was real precious. Oh my God that was a good day at work. And that guy? He thought he was ugly with a small dick, because lengthwise there wasn’t much to him.”
“Really? …was he ugly?”
“Nah, he was kinda funny lookin’ but I always say, why should I care about your face if I’m gonna have you on my back?”
Allie laughed.
“Hey, it convinces them! You can’t make them believe they’re not ugly, but if you’re smart you can convince them that they feel good to fuck. So often, it’s just the simple truth. If it didn’t feel good, why would people be so obsessed with it?”
“Yeah, I can live with that- do you think I can work out my own way of showing it? I don’t like the idea of yelling oh you’re so big.”
“Don’t do that! You should come up with your own style. As long as you’re in control and showing enthusiasm. You’ll do fine!”
Allie looked down at her breakfast- or what remained of it. It’d been such heavy conversation that she hadn’t noticed how quickly they’d been eating. Well- she’d been ravenous because she’d been kept in a bondage jail for weeks and fed poorly- and this Jennis lady apparently burned up calories happily fucking neurotic boys all night and leaving them happy. If there were better excuses to be hungry, Allie wasn’t sure what they would be.
“Shall we trot off to work, with tails held high?” said Allie.
“If you want the kitties to feel comfortable, learn to hold your tail real hard to the side.” winked Jennis.
“Um- I think I can do that. I’ll practice. And, butt stuck way up, right?”
“Right! Maybe we can find you one who’s good with new girls. The great thing about them is how civilized they are about it, while at the same time being snarling, thrusting fuck-beasts.” Jennis crooned the last part of this lavasciously, with a wicked glint in her eye.
“Are you trying to get me worked up again?”
“Yes. Because you’re not getting kitties right away, you’re going to get either a busywuf or an imploring-boy. Whichever turns up first. Ready to get started? And don’t forget to pick up your pills tomorrow when you have money.”
“I won’t forget. I promise. I want to shower when I get back to the house, okay?” said Allie.
“Whoa, almost forgot. No personal shower. We have a gang shower, and it’s part of the job. Is that okay? Boy, am I glad I remembered to mention that part…”
Allie quirked an ear. “There’s going to be guys fucking me while I shower? That sounds inconvenient. I’m not sure I like it.”
“Peep show, dear. Not uncommon. You won’t see anybody, and you’re not expected to put on an act or do anything, because you don’t get any commission for actions- the take is divvied up between everybody, so don’t put any effort into it. That crowd wants you candid anyway. They actually like it better if you don’t do anything, because they pretend you don’t know they’re watching.”
“Uh-huh. Yeah, okay. I’m glad you told me- thanks.”
“I’m just glad I remembered. You seem pretty well-adjusted, sweetie, and I forget how inexperienced you really are.”
“I’m glad you’re going to be there. Okay- let’s get back, and I’ll start off with a nice peepshow shower, as if there’s nobody watching. What if I randomly want to masturbate, tickle my nipples, or wash my puss thoroughly?”
“Heh!” said Jennis. “Just don’t try to look for the peepholes. And don’t ever tell any johns that we’ve got yellow-and-black caution tape picking out where they are, on our side. That’s a secret…”
Allie laughed again. “Okay! That’s gonna be funny, I’d better laugh at it now so I don’t give the game away. Let’s go.”
As the two left the cafe, one of the staff called out to them- apparently throwing caution to the wind in her scorn and contempt.
“Hey, we’d give her a menu too, honey, but you know she can’t read…”
Jennis bristled, hard, and her ears went back. “Just keep walking.” she hissed. “That bitch isn’t going to be working here by the end of the day.”
Allie did as Jennis asked, unhesitatingly- both of them keeping their chins high, maintaining a dignity against the attempt to steal it. Then, as they got a few feet away, Allie turned her head.
“Hsst! don’t! keep walking!” said Jennis, but the young wolf’s voice sang out anyhow.
“She reads me just fine. I guess it’s you that didn’t!”
With that, Allie and her new boss departed.
Boodins was just totally off balance.
Seriously, it was all about half again too much, even though it was crazy exciting. This cat lady was walking along a hallway, but it was just a big ledge that you could fall off of. He’d had to climb a rope ladder just to get up here. There weren’t any curtains on the windows! You could look right in at the ground floor and see her. You could stare right at her from off the street.
Boodins was staring at her too. It was kind of hard to avoid. He hoped like hell it wasn’t rude to do it, but she was stark bare naked, from her pawpads to the tips of her ears, and everything in between.
He’d got a darn good look at the everything in between, and it turned out he couldn’t really STOP looking, and now his ears were really hot and his face bristled its short canine fur in a blush reaction, and the fur at the back of his neck was standing up for the same reason- it was worse than with that crazy little pirate kitty Magarce, because with her, he kind of didn’t have a choice, did he?
With Magarce, she’d dragged him off on an adventure, ripped his clothes off and lost them, yelled at him until he was curled up like a cowering puppy, and then she’d jumped on him and the next thing you know, he wasn’t a virgin.
And the next thing after that, they’d hit this huge bump in the road (which kinda was one problem with getting sexually attacked on the back of a moving truck) and it jolted them so hard that he’d tied her AFTER swelling up. Dad said never ever to do that, too. He made it sound so terrifying and awful, as if he thought Boodins was some creepy guy who was going to force a swoled-up knot into a girl and hurt her, and he really wouldn’t, especially since he didn’t even know how to suggest pushing the front part of his dick into a girl for starters. Dad being all weird- well, that just made it seem even scarier and crazier.
Boodins didn’t think he was going to tell Dad about the pirate kitty. It was actually the scariest thing that had ever happened to him, and also a secret, dark fantasy. He’d spent many late nights, clamping with his fingers behind his knot, coming steadily and imagining the exotic Nerre on him, taking his cock and then (and he was unclear on how this worked and vague on the mechanics) doing that scary, forbidden thing, taking his knot while it was fully big.
Sometimes he imagined the kitties’ pussies like folds of furry velvet, reaching out and enfolding him. Sometimes he got a bit confused and imagined it like a hole in a wall, empty on the other side- it was vaguely frustrating that he had no idea what happened or what it felt like, but it didn’t even matter. The general ideas were as exciting as they were confused.
It turned out the real thing was startling and unexpected, and that he’d had a lot of time to memorize how it felt- so that the next time he had his fingers locked behind his knot he’d know how it felt and smelled and sounded. Most of all, it had been quick- one huge wham against the flat bed of the truck, and Magarce’s full weight slammed down, impaling her onto him regardless of his inflated state.
The pirate kitty had screamed and fainted as Boodins knotted her, and he’d panicked, terrified that he’d killed her. It was like popping a cork into a bottle, and he’d yiped at the tautness of her, but quickly been distracted, because she remained very much alive. The pirate kitty had shuddered and shook all over, was very hot and wet on him, squeezed spastically at him, even squirmed and wriggled and cried out in harsh shrieks and wails, driven beyond endurance and trying to wake.
Boodins had quickly learned several ways to stop that from happening. Whether it was hunching his hips, stroking her body, playing with her nipples, even playfully tugging her tail, he discovered that he could flip her into a stunned, shuddering, moaning, quivering state at will- and he was alarmed enough at what would happen when she did come around, that he did it again and again until her cries were weak and hoarse, and only when she could barely move or lift her head did he allow her to regain consciousness.
This had turned out to be the dumbest thing ever, as the truck they were on was being stolen by bandits…
Now Boodins walked along a corridor in a whorehouse, following another Nerre who was in some ways even more intimidating. This one was named Daucery, and she was almost bigger than he was, and quite possibly stronger as well. Very likely stronger. He didn’t dare tell her he’d changed his mind. He wasn’t sure if he did change his mind, either. This one got paid to fuck, and he was getting a sort of freebie! They’d said, “Poor thing. Daucery will show you how to have it nicely.”
Boodins just wondered what that meant, because he knew how to have it nicely. It involved his hand, and he knew what to expect, and it wasn’t anything like this frightening, unless he thought Mom was going to open the door on him.
Suddenly, this Daucery wasn’t leading the way- her tawny breasts were smooshed against him, her body pressed to his side like she was butter someone had spread over him, and she had a paw right down between his legs, feeling the front of his pants with surprising gentleness. Boodins yipped.
“I said, how come you’re hanging back, honey? I won’t hurt you. I’m not like Mags, she’s kinda crazy, and I don’t think she balled you nicely. Let me show you how to be more than a cat toy. I’ll make you a man.” purred Daucery, looking saucily into his eyes.
“It’s, uh, different?” Boodins squeaked. He glanced frantically at the big plateglass windows downstairs, terrified he was being watched.
“Aw.” said Daucery. “Sure it is… I’m sorry, puppy, I wasn’t thinking how embarrassed that would make you. Can I do it again when we’re behind closed doors?” She stepped back, clasped her paws behind her back, and her tail made cute curlicues in the air as she glanced coyly at him.
Boodins tried to get some dignity back, but he was panting and even that little paw-fondle had caused his cock to try and leap forth. Currently it just hurt because it was straining against his pants, which were borrowed from Rai and already too tight to be comfortable.
“Uhhh…”
Daucery earned a few points then- she glanced quickly at the windows, grabbed Boodins’ paw in hers, and made for the nearest bedroom with great haste. Ginger feline and frantic young whelp burst through the door, and with a click, it closed behind them and there was privacy.
“Oh, honey, I’m sorry. Open those pants before it hurts you even worse. I promise, I’ll let you catch your breath. I’ll even look away if you want…” said Daucery, and then giggled. “I’m gonna peek, though. It felt biiiig under my paw…”
“Um.” said Boodins. “Good? I mean, I guess you’re into that? Uh, nice line of work for it…”
Daucery flowed up against him again, and this time rather than slipping a paw between his legs, the ginger Nerre’s paw went between her own legs, fiddling around while her tail twitched eagerly.
“I’m not sure how you want it, sweetie,” she purred, “so just in case- there! That oughta be okay if you’re fixing to just grab and take me. Is that your pleasure?” She twirled languidly against him, rubbing breasts, belly, hips against his body until he was frantic to lose the over-tight pants.
“Um! Uh! mm!”
Daucery suddenly hugged him, pressing the whole front of her body against his from chest to thighs. “C’mon. I’m all set. I’m ready right now. You’re totally free, take me!”
“That’s what’s scaring the shit out of me!” yelped Boodins, and screwed his eyes shut. He was terrified he was going to start crying, and also terrified he was going to start coming, or get knot-swoled-up too soon. As he pictured the shame of standing there spurting come and tears in equal proportion, his nose was kissed- and when he opened his eyes, Daucery was looking into them, a lot less demandingly.
“I keep forgetting that Mags shouldn’t count, and you’re still basically a virgin. And a cutie nicie-pie,” she said, and kissed his nose again.
“It’s that obvious, huh?”
“Sure. Cheer up, I just… I thought I could get certain things out of you, that’s all. Selfish of me. I can do better than that, B… Boodin?”
“Boodins. Boodins Earncy.”
“Poor guy. But you seem well favored, I wasn’t even fooling about that. Well- it’s a habit, I do tell guys that anyway. But what I’m saying is, I can do better than I was doing. Here, you need to loosen those pants, but we’ll just sit down and talk a bit, okay? I’m rushing you, being selfish again.”
“I don’t get it,” said Boodins, letting his erection sproing gratefully out and sitting on the bed. “How is that selfish? I thought it was just whore stuff and I wasn’t acting right. Um, I’m sorry! I called you a… name.”
“In this city, sweetie, it’s a job description. That’s what Arle puts on our taxes.”
“Arlie?”
“Demarle. You know, the big bouncy white fluffball. I’m lucky I snagged you instead of her- well, probably lucky. That’s a nice dick. Are you a rowdy puppy in the sack, sweetie?”
“Huh?” said Boodins, embarrassed again, and looking away.
“Crap. I am making a total hash of this. Poor guy, I’m no better than Mags with you. That’s a lie, I’m sure I’m at least paying better attention. How the hell did she take that? She’s promiscuous as hell, but I don’t think she does any particular exercises.”
“Uh- we hit a bump in the road, and I couldn’t help it. I didn’t mean to knot her like that!”
“Wow.” said Daucery. “I bet she hurt your ears, even in better circumstances she’s pretty noisy.”
“She fainted.”
“I’m envious. But that’s no concern of yours, right now I’m just wondering if I’m the right girl for you. How about I try to tone it down, okay? Maybe we should have asked Faisand. Mind you, I’m not sure you’d pick her out… but it would be your loss, we love Faisand a lot and she deserves to keep some of the regular thing in her life…”
Boodins was beginning to get confused, but it was a welcome distraction. He was terrified he’d start coming before the ginger kitty even touched him. It would be better to keep the distraction going. “Who’s Faisand?”
“You don’t know her? You’ve probably heard of her. She practically invented us- the first expatriate superstar cat whore on the Runge homeworld. Without her, we wouldn’t have this place, or the reputation. She’s our mum-cat. She’s exquisite.”
Boodins was still casting about for conversation that wouldn’t inflame him. “Did you say, you’re not sure I’d pick her out?”
Daucery shot him a glance. “You’d better not repeat that. Don’t you dare repeat that. I’m not going to hurt her feelings again. I know I’m blunt, but I have such respect for that lady…”
“I won’t, I won’t! But what did you mean?”
The stunning ginger feline heaved a heavy sigh, and some of the sex-appeal she was exuding in every direction diminished, to Boodins’ relief.
“Okay, we all have our preferences, right? Faisand is getting, well, old. Maybe you’re a breast guy. Hers are going pretty slack, were never very big to start with. She’s always been bony and lithe, now she’s more scrawny. I happen to know if you’re a cunt guy, a sensation guy, she’s still your cat- that lady could dent a goddamn steel bar, she’s astonishing- but the rest of us are getting the normal trade. Faisand is doing specialty stuff that she doesn’t care for all that much, that’s all I’ll say.”
“So, you mean, if I liked an old lady I should be with her instead?”
“Please, honey, don’t call her that. You have no idea how much we love her, and she has her pride. I wish we could do more.”
“Uh, you mean it would be good if I did fuck her so she’d feel better?”
“Now hang on- that is so not what I’m suggesting. You’re flagging, honey, do you want me to fluff you a bit?”
“No no!” yipped Boodins. “I actually wanted to settle down some and talk. Unless you don’t have time to do that? You tell me what I can do. I wanted to talk until I wasn’t freaked out.”
“Aw! I’ve got a good amount of time, it’s early in the day still. We don’t get a lot of walk-ins during the usual work-day, though there are always some. After hours is usually the way, sometimes we’re up pretty late. But that’s not your problem. I’m awake. Barely. So, you a breast guy?”
“Um- yup! Yes, I certainly am!”
“Oooh. I like how you sounded happier. It would be either me or Demarle, then. I’m rangier, Arle is more several tons of fun- don’t tell her I said that. Good, good. Titty-fucking, then? I mean, is that how you’ll want it?”
Boodins blinked. “I’m not even paying! Shouldn’t you tell me how you want it?”
“Oh no. You tell me what YOUR pleasure is.”
“Oh no no! You tell me!” retorted Boodins, ears perked.
“I asked first!” teased Daucery.
“Yeah, well, I, uh…”
“Come on, you must have a pleasure! Think it over, what’s your heart’s desire? I’ll make it happen for you or get someone who can. Your first real fuck ought to be special for you, not goddamn Mags raping you.”
“Um.”
“You’re stalling.” purred Daucery, whiskers curling in amusement.
“I’m THINKING.”
“What is it, anal or something, that you don’t want to admit? We’ve seen it all, sweetie.”
“No, no! It’s just…”
Daucery tilted her head. Her emerald eyes glinted with amusement and a hint of predatory desire. Her whiskers were a picture of feline anticipation.
Boodins took a breath.
“If it’s up to me…”
“It so totally is, cutie.” replied Daucery.
“I want to do whatever would turn you on the very most that you could possibly ever be turned on. Ever.” said Boodins in a rush.
Daucery’s eyes widened. “Really.”
“Uh-huh!”
“Really.”
“I just told you!”
The beautiful, rangy, muscular ginger cat seemed to shrink into herself a bit. She looked thoughtful. “You know, that would be perfect- and thank you, Boodins, thank you so much- I believe you can. You mean it?”
“Yeah! Um… what are you thinking? I kinda hope it’s not really weird, okay?”
Daucery laughed, but there was a curious lack of humor in it. “Depends what you’d call weird. It’s not something I talk about because it won’t really help business. You’re okay with me telling you? Faisand knows too.”
“Of course, and you better tell me before I get freaked out again, please?”
“Oh, no no, we’re not talking anything you’d not like. Um, you might hurt your back, but you looked young and excitable and I was actually trying to get you to do this without saying what it meant to me…”
Boodins whined. “What?”
“I mentioned Magarce. Boodins, I want to BE Magarce.”
“A psycho pirate kitty raping people on trucks?”
“No!” said Daucery. “What I mean is, look at me!”
Boodins looked. It was pretty rewarding. The ginger Nerre was a tall, powerful creature, well muscled with large breasts and boldly flaring hips. Just looking her over was exciting. “Oooh.”
“Heh. You like that, I can see. Good for you, you’ll be happy. Boodins, at heart I would like to be tiny like Mags. Just a little fluff. I’d like to romp as boldly as I do now- but at that size. It would be overwhelming, and I wouldn’t feel like I was looming over everybody awkwardly. On this planet, I don’t have to be the tallest female in the room all the time- I’m kinda normal size. I left Ause because on our homeworld I’m a freak, Boodins, just a freak.”
The lovely cat looked bitter and sad saying this, like it was old pain she was re-feeling, and Boodins’ impulsive heart went out to her. “But… you’re just beautiful! I mean, oh my God, your boobies, and your body, and your boobies, and…”
Daucery glanced at him inquiringly. “You counted my tits twice.”
“There are two of them!” replied Boodins promptly.
Daucery laughed. “Good boy! So that’s the deal. You wanted to know. It’s nothing exotic that I need, it’s just a personal fantasy. Actually I often run with that fantasy while at work.”
Boodins’ ears were splayed comically in confusion. “So… so what do I do? I don’t know how to make you feel tiny. I don’t want your boobies to be tiny, even if you do. Now what? I’m all confused.”
“What you gotta do- is what I was trying to get you to do. I bet you can do it, but I can see you’re just too nice to do it without being told.”
“Uh. It sounds like you want me to HIT you. Do what?”
Daucery’s eyes glittered and went very green. “You’re a young Resten male. You’ve got a hell of a big dick, and you look strong and healthy.”
“…yeaaaahhh?” said Boodins, fascinated.
“I’m going to explain a few things to make sure you understand.”
“…yeaaaahhh?”
“And then, you’re gonna grab me, and fuck the SHIT out of me like you’re trying to break me.” purred Daucery, and her eyes gleamed with a wild light, and her nipples were standing up outrageously stiff.
“Ooooh.”
“Probably you’ll get the most aggressive humping if you’re on my back, because you guys naturally go for that- you can play with my tits all you want later.” said Daucery. “I want your hips free, and I want you to have your feet well planted. I’ll hold myself like I was a Resten so your body doesn’t get confused or strained…”
The ginger cat was wriggling, and panting, and Boodins was getting heady scents of female feline arousal- a strange pungency that was flaring to extraordinary sharpness. She continued, urgently. “Understand, I do this for a living. You’re a sweetie, you’ll want to be careful. I don’t want you to be careful. I want to feel like a lil’ fluff in way over her head. That’s my kink. Now you know. So when you’re ready, let’s get it going, and then baby- go fucking crazy in me. Knot me and start churning, as hard and deep as you possibly can…”
Boodins’ eyes were wide, and his tongue lolled in delight. “I think I can do that!”
“I’m gonna love this. You young excitable Resten are GREAT at this. I’m gonna love this…”
“Um,” inquired Boodins, “should I be doing things to, you know, warm you up?”
“Are you joking?” purred Daucery unsteadily. “I’m about ready to get off just telling you all that.”
“Do you need to be in some kind of position, or do we need to, you know, get ready or… I don’t really know what I’m supposed to be doing, though I bet I can figure it out…”
Daucery twisted away, sprang into the center of the bed with a powerful leap that startled Boodins terribly, and crouched facing away from him, her face pressed to the sheets. Her tail was held so hard to the side it twanged, her behind jutting up boldly, legs spread and braced so hard that her muscles stood out. Her claws dug into the bedsheets savagely. Her little pink anus, surrounded by tawny fur, poked out, then tucked in, then poked out, as if Daucery’s body was madly tensing and then melting into the pose, and beneath it, framed by that same tawny fur, Daucery’s pussy- pouting open and glistening with feline gloopy lube.
Boodins stared transfixed, and a waft of the ginger cat’s pussy juices hit him, an olfactory note that seared through his brain with its alien urgency. As he watched, she suddenly adjusted her position, presenting at a shallower angle for his canine conveninence.
Daucery’s legs were trembling. A lot.
“Whenever… you’re ready… oooh boy… come on! Your body knows what to do!” cried Daucery eagerly.
Boodins sat on the end of the bed, nonplussed but very pleased. He glanced at the door, but nobody was going to come in- or if someone did, it’d be another sex-mad kitty and that would be kinda cool. He glanced at Daucery’s butt. Her tail was quivering. That was kinda cool too…
Boodins Earncy slowly realized that, for all practical purposes, this was his turn. This Daucery seemed honestly frantic for his lovemaking- apparently because she craved rowdy excitable guys, and she figured his inexperience would make him freak out and go at her like a pile-driver. She’d more or less begged him to do that.
No- wait- not exactly. Boodins’ ears perked as he put two and two together. It wasn’t that she wanted him to be an excitable kid- she didn’t need that from him. She was hoping to be ravished- she wanted to feel like a kittenish waif, rather than the tall, rangy, athletic creature she really was.
Boodins began to wag against the bedsheet. He was going to remember this one for a long time. He was going to get a clear scent of something he hadn’t expected to meet for a while yet- and yes, he was going to please the kitty.
“Come ON, puppy!” cried Daucery.
“Hush.” said Boodins, moving up behind her.
“Come on, give me that…”
“Hush.” said Boodins, and his voice wasn’t what it had been. It wasn’t much deeper, but… authoritative.
Daucery glanced back at him, startled. Boodins didn’t look away- he gazed solemnly back at her, his muzzle raised, his bearing confident. He saw her eyes go wider, and he smiled.
“You’ve got lots of time to be noisy. For right now, Daucery, hush. I want to remember the sound this makes…”
Boodins played with his sheath, quickly becoming fully erect. He thought briefly of trying to get his knot going- but no, there was another idea. Ideas were just popping into his mind left and right now. If he was in control- maybe he could use her imagination, not just his…
“Close your eyes.”
She obeyed him immediately, her feline ass wriggling slightly in anticipation. Boodins marveled at her delicious body. These kitties must make vast sums, he thought- this is amazing. Well- time to amaze. Let’s see if this works.
“This is my finger.”
She must surely have expected penetration- her claws dug at the bedsheets- but it wasn’t that she got. Boodins was remembering some things he’d done to Magarce while she was incoherent. This one had got her clenching and moaning drunkenly- combined with the fantasy, it might do a number on this Daucery. Boodins wished himself luck- and thumped Daucery’s tailbase firmly with his whole hand.
“Nghhh! Uhhh!”
The effect exceeded his expectations. Daucery bought into the fantasy with an urgency that amazed him. She pressed to the bed, panting great heaving gasps, and didn’t try to look back at him- and that elegant feline pussy was pouting harder and harder.
“Hope I won’t be too rough! I have to pet you with just one finger.”
Boodins thumped her tailbase again, then stroked down her back with the edge of his hand, putting the full force of his arm into it. He did some more petting, down against the base of her tail, again trying to mimic the impression of a giant male finger caressing a tiny, increasingly frantic kitty. From the sound of things, Daucery was losing her mind- moaning unrestrainedly now. Boodins hoped the next things went according to plan.
“This might not fit if you tense up…”
Boodins let her tense up- expecting that she’d take the hint.
“It might be a little much for you, don’t tense up…”
The ginger cat moaned, and thrust her butt in the air, before remembering she was trying to hold a Resten-like posture. Boodins smiled. Losing track of things a little… good.
“This is my dick.”
Boodins thumped his fist, knuckles formed into a cock-like point, against the pouting, wet, Nerre pussy- and pushed fairly hard, while frantically working his sheath and praying for stiffness.
That got the ginger kitty’s full attention. Her body convulsed, she grabbed the bedspread with four sets of claws, she let out a shriek and began twisting around and stammering hysterically. “GYAH! No but if you, I mean I know it might seem like, I mean…”
“Don’t tense up!” snapped Boodins. The frantic feline couldn’t decide whether to play along, or to go limp expecting a Resten fist to thrust into her- and in the anxiety and confusion, just as Boodins had hoped, Daucery stiffened and tensed up rather than relaxing.
And that was the moment Boodins Earncy chose- to seize Daucery’s hips, and in a single fierce shove, thrust his stiff cock fully into her frantic, wildly aroused yet panicked pussy.
Boodins noted the bold juicy slurp of it, for just an instant- and then folded his ears back, for the ginger cat let out a godawful shriek and clung to the bed like it was the ceiling. He braced his paws well, and took a deep breath. Her cunt felt awesome- clenchingly, quiveringly alive on him.
“Hang… on!” gasped Boodins, and with that, the young Resten gave himself over completely to what Daucery had begged him to do to her. His body bucked and thrashed as he threw himself into it- he grabbed her hips, then wrapped his arms around her, then grabbed her hips again when his lower back began to hurt, and he devoted himself wholeheartedly to thrusting his canine cock as violently as he could within his lover.
Daucery’s reaction was gratifying- after the initial clinging to the bed in shock, she had apparently figured out he hadn’t fisted her- but all the setup had done what he’d hoped. She reacted very much as if he was really what he’d suggested- her puss had stayed very tight, to the point that it was deliciously uncomfortable on him, and the sounds she was making were outrageously exciting. The ginger cat writhed and wailed as if tormented by joys too intense to handle.
Very quickly, Boodins felt himself tying her. It was a savage, noisy flurry of thrusting and wet sounds and shrieks, and it was all just too exciting, not to mention intimidating. As his knot swelled harder and harder, he thought Daucery would twist around and disembowel him in her hysteria- he noticed huge shredded rips in the bedsheets, with alarm.
In the end, Boodins simply grabbed his feline lover’s body in a tight embrace with his arms, toppled over onto his side holding her, wrapped his legs around hers as best he could for good measure, and just hung on, gritting his teeth as his knot swelled up harder than he’d ever felt it.
Daucery could not settle into his embrace- the beautiful ginger cat twisted and writhed, her ears laid back as the knot inflated inside her. She kicked a leg back, then she kicked both legs back, paws clawing at nothing as her rump squeezed Boodins’ sheath- and in that position, Daucery let out a wavering shriek that was jolted and broken up by a series of brutal clenches and shudders.
She ran out of breath before she ran out of orgasm- Boodins felt her buck and jerk as her ragged voice gave way to little harsh squeaks and mews. This, thought Boodins, is Nerre orgasm. This is that holy grail. It’s way better than I thought it would be, and I can’t believe I didn’t get clawed to bits. Next time, not so fucking dramatic.
…my back hurts. Wow, my back really hurts…
Daucery trembled, taking great heaving gasps of air, and began to relax- whether from satiation, or simple exhaustion, wasn’t clear. With relief, Boodins loosened his death-grip on the powerful feline, and with gratitude felt her pussy loosening its death-grip on his cock-base.
Boodins began stroking her breasts, her belly, her thighs, her pussy where his cockbase transfixed it, the slight lump that betrayed the titanic pressure of his knot wedged in her. The ginger cat moaned, trembling not in a steady motion, but in sharp little spasms that racked her as if thunder was echoing around inside her.
Boodins kept stroking her, feeling his nuts empty in steady, insistent spurts into the depths of his lover. She was feverishly hot. Well- friction? That and exertion. He’d barely been able to hang on to her. Boodins stroked her ears, and she nuzzled against his caress.
There had to be something to say at this point, but amazingly, it continued to be ‘silence’.
No, wait- ‘purring’. Wow- deep, intense purring.
Made him wish he could do that, too, because that was just how he felt.
The door remained closed. On their side of the door, nothing broke the silence. On the other side of the door- two felines, of utterly different ages, also not breaking the silence- but, unknown to Boodins, at least one was listening, listening in awe and some alarm.
Alonifi didn’t come up much past the door handle. Faisand was somewhat taller than that, but in spite of a proud bearing, she showed signs of being bent, slipping inexorably towards what one would describe as being wizened with age. Alonifi was nude, taking advantage of the legal status of the hallway and defying her elders. Faisand wore an elegant, sheer dress that complemented her silvery fur. Alonifi was listening at the door, and Faisand stood, arms crossed, as if she had delivered a lesson.
Alonifi’s eyes were wide. She whispered furtively to the old feline, “That was real?”
Faisand nodded. Her voice had a raspy, dried-up quality, but a sweet sternness to it as she said, “Too rich for your blood, little one. Let’s walk this way, shall we?”
As they quietly padded clear of the door, Alonifi asked, “When am I gonna be ready to do that?”
“Not your concern. That wasn’t meant to entice you! I suspected Daucery was going to have a challenging time, and as you can see, I was right. Have I made my point?”
“It sounded like toilet plungers!” said Alonifi. Her ears were laid back a little, and she glanced back at the door with fearful, sidelong glances.
“Yes,” said Faisand with satisfaction, “it certainly did. Let that be a lesson to you, little one.”
“You say they’re too big and too rough. How big does it have to be to make that noise?”
“Big as your arm. You stay away for now.”
“I’m almost as big as you, and you can still do it.”
“Not like I used to,” lied Faisand, “you know Cery is nearly as big as they are. My point is, you must NOT flirt with the wuffies. I will not stand by and see you injured.”
“But you won’t let me do it EVER!” whined Alonifi.
“You heard what was happening in there.” said Faisand. “Think about that! Or… hrmph… well, don’t think about it… or think about it and play with yourself for all I care, we’re just trying to protect you.”
“Daucery says you don’t want me to have sex with the johns. She says you don’t want me to join all of you.”
“She talks too much, that one.”
“Daucery says you don’t want me to become a whore.”
“May I say that perhaps I have a better idea than she has, of the future you’ll be heading for?” said Faisand tartly.
“Daucery says you’re overprotective.”
“Somebody ought to be, and I hasten to add that Demarle agrees with me entirely.”
“Daucery says she wishes she was me.”
“I’m sure she does, dear, but she doesn’t have to be.”
“Daucery says if it was up to her, I should auction off my pussy and get really rich and do whatever I want.”
Faisand whirled. “Stop it! You’re staying safe and that’s all there is to it.”
“You mean boring!” cried Alonifi, her small tail lashing.
“No, dear,” snapped Faisand, “I mean safe. I’d hoped that hearing that Resten boy with Daucery would impress upon you the physical demands involved, but it’s only inflamed you further.”
Alonifi had the grace to look away. “Yes. It has.”
“Do you understand that such treatment would hurt you, possibly injure you permanently?”
Alonifi thought. “Can I ask you something? I’m try’na be grown-up about it.”
“Well, that’s a blessed relief, dear. All right- ask.”
“Okay- I understand you and Arle are protecting me. But you’re used to me the way I used to be. You know I’m not ever gonna be tall like Daucery, but I’m still growing up. You KNOW I’m having feelings, but everything you’ve ever said about them is a big NO…”
Faisand said softly, “Maybe it’s because we know about those feelings. They can make you do foolish things- and we’re not on a Nerre world. It’s important that you listen to us, Nifi.”
“Yes, but… we ARE here, and I AM having these feelings, and can’t you tell me what I’m supposed to do?”
Faisand’s eyes were worried. “Nifi- I’m not entirely sure what you should do. You don’t want to return to Ause, and I don’t want you to do what I’ve done.”
“You’ve done everything I could want to do!”
“Well, dear, the bloom fades.” snapped Faisand. “I want better for you. I don’t want you to end up- like this.”
Alonifi teared up. “But, Faisand- we love you.”
“Oh, Nifi…” said Faisand wearily, and hugged the young feline for a time. Afterwards, no further words being of any use, they padded down the hall and out of sight of Daucery’s door.
“You can stand on those as long as nobody’s standing there…”
Jennis was indicating some podiums, draped in dark burgundy cloth that showed the occasional stain. Allie thought it would be rather nasty to have your paws standing on crusty spooge… then considered that beggars couldn’t be choosers, and whores apparently couldn’t be over-tidy. She ventured a question.
“Is it wrong if I want to stand on the clean bits?”
“We try to keep ‘em clean. Did you smell something? Don’t ever comment if you do, it could be a john- in fact, keep it down, they’re beginning to show up already.” said Jennis.
“No,” said Allie softly, “I saw something- that looks like a crusty bit there.” She pointed.
Without hesitation, Jennis darted to a nearby alcove where she retrieved a fresh cloth, and replaced the soiled one. “Here’s a tip- the drapes are here, and if you soil one, you change it yourself. There’s a bin down the hall for laundry, behind a door. We need to do our own laundry, and it can be urgent some nights. You’ll learn.”
“Urgent?”
“Honey, we need to maintain standards or we’ll slip. Mistress is already running some activities that aren’t real pretty. We really can’t allow smells or stains or our level of class- and level of customer- could drop very fast. I’ve seen it happen.”
Allie saw other Runge girls, in provocative or minimal clothing, skulking out to take places on the podiums. There were a few that strutted, but skulking was apparently the common mood. It made Allie feel distressed- she thought she guessed what these girls had been through. Jennis followed her gaze.
“Don’t get on pills, Allie.” she said bitterly. “Some of these girls know I’d love to kick their asses out of here, but Elistary is the only one who does hiring and firing in this place.”
Allie glanced at the older wolf in confusion. “You mean, the birth control pills? That I should get for myself?”
“No, not those. Be glad you don’t understand. You’ll be a favorite with me, simply because I’ll be able to take your word for things. Some of these girls are really difficult. Do not lend them any money.”
One of the skulking girls, a ragged, skinny, grey-furred wolf, muttered “…thanks, bitch…” under her breath.
“Hey, thank Elistary, instead, Gertly.” snapped Jennis. “I know you much too well. She’s the only reason you’re still here. C’mon, break me a major rule, let me report you.”
“Not a chance.” sneered Gertly. “I know you, too.”
Jennis pulled Allie aside for some more coaching, watched by the ragged grey wolf haughtily.
“You’re gonna need to know some basic things about how to do business. First of all, you get scale, remember, the thirty-seven and a half percent? Scale is fifty, so you get eighteen seventy-five minimum. You’ll get paid directly. You’ve got to turn over at least the remainder to the bouncer immediately, and it’s better to make it three-quarters and get reimbursed. Elistary will nail you to the wall for shorting her, don’t take any chances or look like you’re holding out on her.”
Allie cringed. “I hope that’s a metaphorical nailing to the wall!”
“Yeah,” said Jennis, “that. Meta… basically, she’ll kick you out and a lot of these girls won’t be a bit sorry about it. Turn over the take, the bouncers here aren’t going to take a commission too. Mistress listens to me about the bouncers, so they’ll play it straight. They’re double-scale too, because they have to handle some serious events.”
“Rowdy customers?”
“Police raids.”
“I don’t have any paperwork or anything, do I need some?”
“If you’re confronted, you’ll tell them you’re applying for a 341B interim license. Got that? A 341B interim license. Which you can do by the end of this week, I’ll go with you- the point is, if you’re doing that you have half a month to get it in order and they can’t harass you while you’re doing it. Okay, next, billing.”
“And cooing?”
“Cute. I doubt that, but knock yourself out. I mean the money. You see we’ve got the bouncers? They need to hear you say a figure before you take a john off and do him. We’ve got microphones as well, but the bouncer is your cashier- you give him either the house’s share, or the whole take, and he’ll reimburse you at the end of the night. You see the armor on those belts they’re wearing, the accounting tablets they’ve got?”
“Yeah, they look ready for combat bookkeeping.” said Allie.
“Pretty much! These guys are good. Like I said, Mistress listens to me about them, I peeled some of these guys off other houses because I knew they were solid. I’d actually recommend you give them the full take, because you can’t get rolled if the money’s in an armored belt on a bouncer. It also saves you the trouble of calculating. Just remember, you need to hand over the house share on the spot.”
“Okay.” said Allie.
One of the bouncers smiled at her. “New girl, Jennis?”
“Yeah. Knockout, smart, no drugs, real friendly. You keep an eye on her, okay?”
“Will do.” said the guy, and resumed scanning the room.
“Okay, what else?” said Jennis. “Oh- etiquette. This is important, don’t fuck it up. You can walk around, or be on one of those stands…”
“The podiums, with the cloth?”
“Yeah, those. If you spot a guy and he’s checking out somebody who’s on a stand- best to not even look at him until his attention wanders. Do not wave, do not speak to him while he looks, above all do not touch him in any way. We call that sniping, and you won’t last the night if you’re caught doing it.”
“What happens?” asked Allie, wide-eyed and anxious.
“Well, probably some little bitch who can’t compete with your looks will fink on you to Mistress, who’s capable of throwing you out on the spot. You want to avoid her attention. You’re almost certainly okay if you make a real point of not sniping. Remember, they’re not allowed to snipe YOU either, and I promise johns will be checking you out. You won’t need to snipe, you probably won’t need to go on a stand…”
“What are they for, then?”
“Under Verss city law, if both your paws are either on the stand or in the air, you are in a process of advertising display, and since you’re a whore, that gives you the privilege of showing what you got. Walking the floor, keep your panties on. If you go up on a stand, you’re allowed to pull them down, show your tits, anything you want so long as the john’s penis doesn’t enter any part of your body.”
“Wow. This is, uh, a lot to learn…”
“Technically, his tongue is permitted to enter your body, but you might want to save that for a room.” winked Jennis. “It’s a loophole because the law doesn’t distinguish between tongue-kisses and cunt-licking…”
“That happens?”
“You’ll see it happen. I doubt you’ll need to do it to get attention. If a john slips you the tongue on a stand, play it for all its worth- when they’re really aggressive like that you can get them to agree to a higher payment, because they won’t want to haggle. The cheap bastards will always play it a lot cooler.”
“A lot to learn…”
“Hey, listen. You’re fine. You don’t have to be an expert, not your first damn day! Me and the bouncers, we’ll get you settled. In fact…” said Jennis, scanning the room, “…quick, come this way, with me.”
She seized Allie’s hand and towed her past unused podiums and idle bouncers toward where some of the girls had congregated- there were a few johns hanging around, and girls were posing for them and wheedling with them, but one of the johns seemed to be having trouble.
He was a scruffy looking guy in rumpled pants and a shirt with two pens in the pocket, and wore glasses and a look of veiled panic, as several of the most skanky, ragged whores fought for his attention. One jumped on a stand and tried to disrobe, but this only gave him a chance to turn away, causing her to curse and jump down again. Allie stared in amazement at the feeding frenzy. Surely this guy wasn’t all that attractive? He looked like a complete dweeb.
Jennis towed her firmly into the area, right next to the fellow, and stepped behind Allie, still holding her arm. As Allie wriggled free of the grip, the fellow turned and spotted her- and he froze.
“…say hello!” hissed Jennis, behind her.
“Uh. Hello?”
“…perfect.” Jennis stepped out from behind Allie, and the fellow stepped back, alarmed.
“Welcome to Mistress Elistary. I am your hostess.” said Jennis graciously. “Don’t be alarmed, we don’t bite- that’s extra!” She winked. “First time here, dear?”
“Uh! Yes, yes, you could say, ah, that…”
“I thought so.” murmured Jennis. “Well, it is a pleasure to have you, sir. We hope your afternoon visit will please you. What brings you here in the middle of the day?”
“Uhhhh… I’m off work early… and I’d seen this place before, and nobody was watching, and…”
“Oh, we are the soul of discretion.” said Jennis. Allie was impressed, the older wolf was pulling out stops Allie hadn’t known she had. Maybe she’d learned the phrase somewhere? Jennis was continuing.
“What’s work, dear? It’s done for the day, I take it?”
“Um, I’m a programmer…”
Jennis’s eyes seemed to flash. “One moment, dear.” She pivoted to whisper to Allie, and what she whispered was “Rich! Hundred! Go!”
She pivoted back, elegantly. “I would like to introduce you to someone special. Allie has something in common with you.”
“What? She does?” stammered the fellow, in almost a yelp. Around them, thin whores circled jealously.
“Oh yes. You see- it’s her first time, too.”
“Oh come on!” protested Allie. “Not like that, it’s not!”
“You’ve d.. d.. done it? Before?” said the fellow.
“Maybe not like this, exactly.” admitted Allie.
“I hh.. hh… haven’t.”
Jennis pivoted again, whispering urgently to Allie. “Imploring type- all yours. You go ahead. I’ll wait. Ask a hundred, in front of a bouncer. Go!”
Allie whispered back frantically, “What the hell do I DO?”
“…hug the poor bastard, lead him past a bouncer, to an empty room, and fuck him! Go!”
Allie’s head was spinning, but she gathered her courage, parted from Jennis, padded the few steps towards her panicked programmer virgin john, and very gently hugged him. He stood very stiffly, his arms sticking out awkwardly in pitiable indecision, and then he patted her back in a stilted fashion, which was strangely endearing.
Allie whispered in his ear. “Come on. We can do this…” and began leading him to the back of the room, where the bouncers and private rooms waited.
The rooms wouldn’t lock- not properly. Allie sighed and chalked it up to more etiquette, and possibly a need to monitor johns- maybe a legal requirement. She’d said “Um- how about a hundred?” in front of the bouncer, as Jennis had told her, and this john had nodded, wide-eyed. He’d been led in quite peacably, but was now standing around looking awkward.
“You do know what we do here, right?” asked Allie.
“I assume I do…” said the guy. “For values of ‘know’ that don’t involve me actually doing anything. Um.”
“Well… you’d like to do something… right?”
“Is it really your first time?”
Allie earflattened. “Well- I’ve done things like this before. A lot, actually. This is a little different. I might be able to make a living at it.”
“It must be a hard life.”
Spare me your philosophy, thought Allie, I’m just trying to figure out how to even start. Well… how about I touch you again and see if you get the idea.
She flowed over to the hapless fellow, feeling a little superior. One thing about a tragic past of getting used as a fucktoy- you did at least know what happened. This guy had no mean in him at all. It might even be fun.
“Oh, my,” he said, as Allie nestled against him and ran her paws up and down his body. He looked around hectically. “Are you sure you…”
Allie’s paw found his nose, and the unexpected touch silenced him.
“You seem nice. I’m going to earn my keep, and enjoy it. Okay? I know what to do. Let me show you how.” said Allie, gently.
The fellow’s eyes filled with tears- but Allie was already leading him towards the bed. She tested it- quite firm, which made sense. She curled her lip at some minor stains and markings on the covers, but he didn’t seem like he’d notice.
He sat, still dressed. “Um…” said Allie, “you’ll need to- never mind, I still know what to do, when I think about it.” With that, she pulled off her t-shirt top in a single, graceful motion.
The guy seemed like he was going to panic- Allie felt like she was stalking some skittish beast. It actually turned her on, a bit- she wasn’t used to being an aggressor. Rather than approach him right away, she stepped back a few paces, and demurely removed her pants, and panties, keeping her body side-on and obscuring her privates from his sight, for now. This seemed to be a good call- mister virgin programmer stared and stared, as if it was all he’d get to do, and well worth the price.
Allie wriggled a bit, petting her puss furtively. She’d do more with this guy. She’d conquer him. Perhaps she’d ride atop him and have him be entirely passive, he’d probably not complain.
This gave her an idea, and she turned to catch his eye- then crouched facing him, mock-fiercely, her tail wagging. “I’m gonna POUNCE you!”
“Really?”
“Oh yeah. I’m gonna POUNCE you!” Allie grinned manically. “Here it comes!” and she leapt lightly onto him, bowling him over onto the bed.
“There,” giggled Allie, “now you’re pounced. Any last words?”
“Um! Wow! Uh, thank you?”
“Oh, no no- thank YOU,” said Allie, and hugged him. Playfully, she rubbed her breasts against his muzzle- then scooted back and rubbed her pussy on his leg. “Maybe I’m scent marking you! What’d you think of that, huh?”
“Oooh- for you, anything. I’m yours.” The fellow was overwhelmed, panting, and Allie noticed a bulge that looked promising inside the pants.
This reminded her of the job, and she realized that she was getting rather giddy, and probably should be getting busy. She favored the guy with a serious look. “We need to get those pants off. You’re about to have sex, my dear.”
“Yes ma’am!” he said, and suddenly he was madly unbuttoning everything, removing it, folding it (!) and setting it aside. Allie watched this with astonishment. This wolf was nothing if not orderly.
When he was done, she shared the bed with a rather nerdly, potbellied programmer wolf who sported the beginnings of an erection and a slightly brittle big smile. Allie considered this, and thought it might be a good time to be cooperative, for fear of spooking him.
“Does regular sexual intercourse sound good to you?”
He nodded, his eyes widening. “How should I do it?”
Allie giggled, which seemed to cheer him. “The usual procedure is, insert wuf A into slot B, hump, have orgasms, tie, be happy…” She didn’t tell him that she was planning to practice Jennis’s way of not allowing a tie- he wouldn’t know the difference anyhow, and she might not carry it off in the first place.
“No, I mean, how- where do I- what position do I-”
Allie’s heart warmed to the poor nervous creature.
“Listen, it can be very simple and cozy. You don’t have a preference, then?”
The fellow shook his head.
Allie lay back, spreading her legs, reaching her arms out to him.
“Come here- and let me hold you. It’s going to be o-kay, I promise.”
Allie felt happy quivers through her body as the guy- really fairly big and handsome, but totally freaked out and submissive- crept across the bed toward her. His tail was between his legs. That wasn’t all that was between his legs- flashes of red revealed that his body was a bit ahead of him, and that was just fine. It even looked fine, just like Jennis had said- there was no correlation between courage and dick size.
Seemed like a good line to try. “There’s no correlation, I see.”
This startled the fellow. “I beg your pardon?” His ears perked forward- she was speaking his language.
“I mean- between, well, your inexperience, and your size down there. There’s no correlation. I was told it might be that way…”
“I’m sure it’s not a linear relationship, at least?”
“I was just wondering if it’s Gaussian.” said Allie, remembering some of her classes.
The fellow looked about ready to cry. “You’re such a nerd, to say that in bed!”
“I’m sorry!” said Allie. “I’ll stop!” She suddenly felt trapped, with this guy between her legs and possibly upset with her.
“No, you don’t understand! I love you so much right now…” he said, “…and I’m going to make you as happy as you are beautiful.”
With that, he began petting and caressing her breasts, and scooted forward, awkwardly, causing his cock to ram heavily to the side of Allie’s pussy.
“Uh! Little aim there, how about?”
“Oh sorry!” he said, and the next thing Allie knew, the fellow was trying to poke his dick parallel to her body, about an inch higher than her vagina wanted it. He really had no idea how that worked, but he was certainly close to finding out…
“Nghhh! hhh!”
Pressure was a marvellous thing- all it took was a bit of extra urgency, a little more blind force as he tried to push his ever-stiffer cock where there was no hole. It could only go up or down. If it went up, it would slither across her belly, a bright red bulky mass of virginal wolfmeat.
It did not go up, not at all. It went down- found a slick opening- and plunged fully into her body in a single bold thrust, surely more roughly than the guy would’ve intended. Allie gasped. It was a double shock, because the fellow was so excited that his knot was getting involved, and she’d been entered and knotted in about a quarter of a second.
“Oh my god oh my god ohmygodohmygodohmygod…”
Allie reeled at the sudden potent sensations, and bared her teeth in a silent snarl that the fellow was too awed to notice. She could feel herself trying to tie behind the fellow’s knot. Damn, it was a big dick- but it wasn’t actually a huge knot- but even so, she had to avoid locking on it too hard…
“Oh my GOD!” cried the guy, and began hunching his hips excitedly into Allie, completely heedless of her reaction.
Allie clung to him with arms and legs, controlling the roughness of his excited fucking by plastering herself to him as tightly as possible. It was incredible, he was a wild animal, heaving and bucking on her. His crotch kept grinding at her aroused vulva, exposed in the belly-to-belly position where it usually served as a tuck-in spot for all-fours style. Allie tried to fight the tie, and then yelped as her efforts were rewarded by the overexcited guy yanking his knot out of her and then plunging it in without noticing. After that, Allie let herself lock down a little harder…
Before long, she found herself clinging to his bucking body, shaking with orgasm, and weeping silently. She wasn’t sure exactly why it was affecting her so- perhaps it was the peculiar innocence of it all? The orgasms peaked until they forced whimpers and squeaks out of her, and gradually the guy settled down. His knot went fully hard (still, not so huge) and he yiped cutely as his body unloaded come into her with fierce throbs and shudders.
Allie petted his back and shoulders and felt just wonderful- and wondered what his name was, if she’d ever know, and if she could practice the tie-relaxing now that things had quieted down. She tried identifying the muscle inside her- right now, it was cramped tight as normal during a tie, but she thought she might be able to relax it.
“Oh my God.” said the fellow, breathlessly, his muzzle inches from hers.
“You did it,” said Allie softly. “You’re a man now.” This, she figured, ought to please him. He’d been delicious, if uncontrolled.
“Oh my God. Live with me. I’ll take you away from all this.”
Allie had a sinking feeling. “You’ll what?”
“I have a spare room. You can stay there, while I’m at work- it’ll be wonderful. I can rescue you. I have money.”
The sinking feeling intensified. “Um. I have a room.”
“You don’t have to be a whore anymore.”
“…instead I’ll be a sort of sex doll?”
“But… I can save you!”
Allie put all her attention into relaxing her tie- she’d had it with this scene. “I have a place to live HERE- and at least one friend who respects me more than that. Stop it.”
The fellow didn’t take that well. It seemed like he’d expected her to automatically agree- that being his pet or sex-doll was supposed to appeal simply because it wasn’t being a whore. Possibly he even started to wise up once Allie had objected- his face showed dismay, overwhelming him more and more, and very suddenly, he was trying to get up, jerking Allie around fiercely by the pussy as he yanked at the tie.
“Ow, hey!” cried Allie, and then her private efforts paid off- the knot popped out with a searing wrench that seemed to tug at her whole insides, and the fellow was grabbing his clothes, weeping, and rushing out the door.
“Hey, you!”
It was a bouncer, trying to block the hysterical, largely naked nerd as he fled.
“No!” cried Allie. “Let him go!”
“Really? Ya sure?” said the bouncer, but he obeyed, and the guy fled past the other whores and out into the street, arms full of pants and socks.
“Yeah,” said Allie, “it went wrong for him.” She panted, still alarmed. “For me too, I guess.”
“I only asked,” said the bouncer, “because it seemed like he might have…”
Jennis appeared. “What happened, Allie?”
“The guy freaked out. He wanted to keep me as a pet in his closet. He ran off.”
“Um, you’re not telling me our man here let him…” said Jennis.
“She said let him go! Pretty generous… nice kid…”
Jennis turned to the bouncer. “She said a hundred.”
“Yeah. Like I said… generous…”
“She doesn’t understand.”
“I could use another word besides ‘generous’, but she’s a sweet kid.”
“You’re not going to waive it, are you?”
“Nope. Since when does Mistress give rent-free space?”
Allie felt the sinking sensation intensify. “What are you guys talking about?”
At this, Jennis reached into a small pouch clipped to her bikini strap. She produced a hundred-credit bill, and handed it to the bouncer, who said, “You’re sweet too, honey, but seriously, teach that kid, quick.” He walked off, leaving Allie with Jennis.
“What did you do?”
Jennis spoke gently. “Usually the bouncer will stop a guy if he tries to run…”
“Why did you… oh. Oh, no, no…”
“You do have to pay the house commission on what was stated, even if the guy ran off… some of them will try to stage some kind of freak-out just to run off without paying…”
“Oh, no, you didn’t…”
“I can’t let you get in that kind of trouble, you’ll just have to pay me back when you can, okay?” said Jennis.
Allie’s eyes filled with tears of chagrin and rage. She stood, the programmer’s come leaking out of her ill-treated pussy, took a few wobbly steps to Jennis, and hugged the older wolf fiercely, not letting go right away.
When they broke the hug, the two just looked at each other for a moment, then Jennis wiped some tears from Allie’s eye, not saying a word.
Allie, in turn, tried to wipe the come from her inner thigh- and then set her jaw, abandoned the attempt, and strode straight out of the room, only a little bit wobbly- strode past a few scrawny wolf girls who made way nervously- and out onto the main floor, as nude as the programmer who’d run through minutes before.
Allie glanced back at Jennis- and leapt lightly onto one of the podiums, striking a pose, and flicking her tail about to entice the small crowd of appreciative johns that began to gather.
Jennis watched, arms folded. Hard luck, she thought- but the funny thing is, that happened to me just the same way when I started. We learn…
By the time Daucery was done with Boodins, everybody in the Cathouse was up. She didn’t hurry him, which was surprising- but she explained that she liked to take time for herself, too. He counted as ‘me time’. Boodins found this gratifying, and by the time he had his pants on and was wandering back out into the common area, he was further gratified by a plethora of kitties.
Daucery was talking with the fat white fluffy Nerre in the black ribbon bikini- Demarle? Yes, Demarle… and the little one, Alonifi, was talking with Faisand. She caught sight of him, but Faisand led her away.
Dene was trying to talk to Rai, but she was having some difficulty, because Rai had given Boodins his pants. The elegant little ninja was not the least bit self-conscious in only a shirt, and apparently the Nerre way was to make no mention of this, but Dene wasn’t a Nerre, and she was visibly trying not to look at his small fuzzy testicles.
Leaving them to sort out their problem- or not, since Rai seemed unaware of a problem- Boodins joined Daucery and Demarle.
“Here’s our big boy!” said Daucery jovially, elbowing him.
“Really? Me? I guess you’d know, huh?”
“Sure. You might even need to tone it down with some of the others. Like we talked about, I’m not exactly a little waif myself…”
“Oh now, you must be joking,” said Demarle. “Seriously?”
“I told you,” said Daucery, “he’s a rowdy puppy in the sack.”
“Yeah, I know.” said Demarle. “You always grab those ones. You know you shouldn’t try to work them up like that…”
“Come on, gimme a break. You don’t do it that way, Faisand either, Brittery is the opposite thing- somebody’s got to let the wuffies and puppies cut loose. Right?”
Demarle tsked. “I know you’re tough, Cery, but it’s really not a great idea. They’re still happy with the rest of us, and we don’t have to make emergency runs to the hospital.”
“That was once! And that was a couple years ago! C’mon, Arle.”
“We panicked. Magarce had to drive you. She thought it was the coolest thing ever. She’s… odd.”
“I’ll say!” said Boodins.
“Yes, you’d know, wouldn’t you?” said Demarle. “How does our Cery stand up to the notorious Magarce, anyhow? I’m damn sure Cery’s roomier, for what that’s worth.”
Daucery glanced hastily at Boodins, but he was in a generous mood.
“Cery was way better. It felt more good.”
Demarle purred. “I should hope so, dear. I’d never let her hear the end of it if she didn’t. We’ve got standards to uphold. But I suspect she had some kind of personal motives as well?”
Daucery shot Boodins another nervous glance.
“Dunno. I was busy.” said Boodins loyally.
“Hm.” said Demarle, and fell silent, studying him. It was a little disconcerting, and after a bit, Boodins asked, “Did I do something wrong?”
“Oh, no- I’m just deciding whether to give you the madam’s bed after you rest up. It’s that one over there.”
“I’m not sure I can sleep in the daytime, or with those big windows there.”
“You misunderstand. It’s a special thing we have for certain clients. I’ve got this room zoned as my bedroom- so I can have fun right out here if I like. The rest of the girls have to stick to the regular bedrooms. Furthermore, if you’re getting the madam’s bed, it’s a sign of special favor, and you may not be asked to pay. It’s been a while since I’ve given it.” The white Nerre looked sour. “I’ve been doing bookkeeping for this place, and keeping abreast of the legal situation.”
“You have a legal situation?” asked Boodins.
“This is Verss. There’s always a legal situation. It’s just a matter of who you can influence to deal with it. Faisand is a huge help there.”
Daucery had padded off in search of more coffee, presumably, leaving Boodins with the fluffy white madam. She was eyeing him up as if he was a questionable side of beef. “Faisand says you were rough with Daucery, dear.”
“I’m sorry! I… she didn’t seem to mind…”
“No, our Cery doesn’t mind that, but I hope it didn’t give you wrong ideas. I said she’d show you how to have sex nicely, but I didn’t mean just nice for her. I don’t think you’re learning very useful things, Boodles.”
“Boodins.”
“Sorry. The point stands. And it might matter- your friend Rairate says you’re here on some mission that is now more confusing, because you’re supposed to be finding and rescuing Elistary, and believe me, you won’t have trouble finding her now, but rescuing is going to be a bit of a problem…”
Rai, hearing his name, padded over. Boodins noticed that Rai kept well clear of this Demarle lady. “You were saying, ‘aons?”
“Honey, you might want to not remind us of the protocol back home, okay? Some of us ran away from that on purpose.”
Rai didn’t reply to this. Boodins knew the little word, ‘aons, was short for a hell of a lot of kitty expectations and rules- he hadn’t followed the whole explanation, he’d got bored, but it meant something like ‘listen to me without interrupting, please’ or maybe ‘let me have my way as long as I ask politely’. Rai certainly came out with it more often when he needed to be bossy.
“You were speaking of our mission- repeat, ‘aons?”
Demarle rolled her eyes. “I was saying, it’s easy enough to find Mistress Elistary, but I’m not sure how you propose to rescue her. Anything that gets her out of our way would be great. She won’t want to go.”
“What’s she…” “What exactly is she doing?” Boodins and Rai looked at each other, each ready to apologize for interrupting the other. Demarle looked on, more amused than she had been.
“Maybe you’d heard. She runs the house ‘Mistress Elistary’, and she’s our main competitor. Faisand thinks she’s trying to send us rough trade, but I think that would take too much effort. What I can’t figure out is what’s making her so obsessed with it all. You can see she comes from money. She wears pearls around. I’ve heard she’s had them snatched, and she just gets new ones and carries on.”
Rai said, “Yes, she comes from money- her family is paying handsomely for her rescue. We were told she’d been kidnapped.”
“Not her! She came into town and bought a damn building and started running her show. Honey, some Resten ladies come to the Runge homeworld because they like that wolfish flair- though, honestly, Resten guys are every bit as well hung. I’ll test that on you later, sweetie…” winked Demarle.
“I don’t suppose I could stop you.” said Rai. “I’ve rather given up on trying to protect this boy from himself…”
“From what Daucery tells me, you might need to protect me from him!”
“Not interested, ‘aons.” said Rai coolly.
Demarle lifted an eyebrow. “Hm.” She regarded Rairate with matching coolness. “Let me speak your- okay, our- language, all right?”
Rai nodded, carefully.
“I don’t mind your haughty attitude, Nifi’s been spared much contact with our culture, and the girls- Brittery and Daucery- they’re busy working their trade.” said Demarle. “I ask that you be courteous to the old grey cat you’ve seen here, Faisand. She was the first of us and the treatment she received from our people still haunts her. You will not scorn her- vraonse.”
Rai said, awkwardly, “I… understand things have changed… for some of our people who’ve travelled far from home…”
“Faisand was here before anybody understood. Seriously- you will not scorn her, ‘aons.”
Rai nodded slowly. “I… may understand a little of what she felt… though I have kept faith.”
“Yes, dear.” said Demarle, softening her tone. “We all understand that. And just because we don’t obey protocol, it doesn’t mean we… okay, never mind. I saw how that made you frown.”
Rai looked unhappy. “I’ve given offense…”
Demarle smiled wryly. “Actually, we like you. It’s amazing you care. I can’t believe we have a Hse-Nerre in here, with the claw implants and everything, and you’re caring what we think and not just gutting, say, Cery for things she’s done…”
Rai looked still unhappier, mewing “Nooooo…” while Boodins became alarmed.
“Why would he do that? No way! Rai, you wouldn’t do that?”
“Hush, puppy, he’s not doing anything of the sort, or we’d have called the police on him hours ago…”
“We’ve met them.” said Rai politely, “and please don’t tell me any more about this ‘Cery’, ‘aons!”
“Certainly not.” said Demarle, more in command now. “You may not think it, but we still feel obligations towards you, maybe less… formally.”
Rai blinked. “What other sort are there?”
“You’d be surprised. If I know your type, you’re bound by protocol like any Nerre on Ause, but you may have ideas that here on the Runge homeworld there are things that don’t count…”
Rai unaccountably looked away, which interested Boodins. Did this have something to do with that mysterious night at the anarchist base? Where, the morning after, Rai’d looked amazingly smug and said nothing?
Rai’s reaction wasn’t lost on Demarle, who continued, “…like almost every Nerre who figures out the gaps our protocol was never designed for. Okay, honey? You’re right, there are things that are just not covered in your obligations.”
The deadly ninja-kitty nodded bashfully, still looking away, his hips tilting coyly.
Demarle chuckled. “Runge guys! Equal opportunity kitty crack. I think I get it. But listen, Rai- ‘aons?”
Rai looked back at her, hesitantly, as if she’d caught him doing something and might yet let him go.
“Just because we don’t obey protocol doesn’t mean we have no rules. We want to do right by you- and those yummy wuffie playtoys? Those are people, honey, we want to do right by them- but sometimes they’re terribly alien, and we have to try to understand what they need and want.”
“…ump…”
“What’s that, honey?” said Demarle, her ears perking.
“…I’m pretty sure what some of them want!” said Rai.
“Of course you are, but how much do you really know about them? Sometimes what they need is terribly complicated and peculiar. We’ve actually got one coming in who’s all of that, and I’ve got to talk to Brittery right away and find out if she’s okay with it…”
“Yes?” called a sultry voice from the upper level of the Cathouse.
Boodins glanced up to see a striking new kitty. This one was shorter than Daucery, and probably Demarle as well, but not as tiny as Magarce. She was covered in short black fur, dense and glossy- lying so close to her body that her figure remained shockingly well defined. She was curvaceous, but not in the manner of Demarle, whose roundness was only exacerbated by rampant fluff- this one was more muscular, like some small huntress. Though her fur was black, her eyes were not unlike Magarce’s- ice-blue, and wild.
“Tery! I need to talk to you.” said Demarle.
Brittery swarmed down the wooden pole that the kitties used as stairs. Boodins couldn’t help but stare as she did- the compact, lithe little creature made effortless work of the climb, and every angle of her motion revealed more elegant, muscled contours to her body. She resembled a feline gymnast crossed with a fertility goddess. Boodins stepped back as she approached, as if he’d be burned by waves of erotic hotness. She moved as if she believed that as well, and liked it…
“Is it this boy?” purred Brittery. “Any special requests?”
“I’m afraid not.”
Brittery stepped back. “You didn’t.”
“I can still call him and tell him deal’s off- but yeah- it’s Buckets.”
“NO way!”
“Aw, come on, honey- it’s worth your while!” pleaded Demarle. “It’s good for all of us when the margin is that high!”
“You don’t have to put up with him!”
“I would in a second, Tery! It’s not that outrageous, honestly! I’d do it for him, but he doesn’t want me.”
“He KNOWS I don’t want to do it! He creeps me out with all that stuff! I don’t like knowing his little routine!”
“Well, supposing that’s why he wants you…”
“Of course it is! He wants me exactly because I don’t want it! I don’t get paid enough to put up with this b…”
“Three thousand.”
Brittery froze.
“You wanna repeat that again, Arle?”
“I spent ten minutes on the phone telling him he was done. He doesn’t want to be done. Three thousand. I told him I’d run it by you.”
Brittery looked angry and disgusted. “That’s crazy. How can he have that much?”
“You know he travels from Restred just to do it with you…”
Boodins’ ears perked, but he watched without interruption.
“It’s got to stop, Arle,” pleaded Brittery. “I don’t like not wanting to work. I don’t like cringing.”
“Tery, honestly! It doesn’t hurt! Well… not in the usual way, not in any severe way! You’re just too damn fastidious.”
“Fine! You do it. With my blessing!”
“He’s not offering three thousand for me, Tery. It’s gotta be you.”
“I shouldn’t have to do such things!”
Demarle lost patience. “What? I’m the one who unclogs toilets around here. I wash the sheets afterwards. All you have to do is wash your fur…”
“Eeeesh, stop saying the WORD…”
“Listen, they all have some private thing, okay? I’m sorry that this one is hung up on you. I’m sorry he likes the fact that you don’t like it. I’m even sorry he’s offering three thousand. But I want you to stop wasting my time and decide if YOU are going to put up with it for three thousand, or whether I call him back and tell him not to come. And that had better be soon, because you know he always rushes right…”
Outside the Cathouse, there was a motion towards the door, and it began to open.
“Tery. Now. Yes or no?”
Brittery remained staring at Demarle, as the door opened, and kept staring as an elderly Resten priest shuffled in. He spotted Boodins and gave a start, making an ‘erk!’ noise, but after peering at him for a moment, shrugged and continued approaching the two kitties locked in the staring contest.
Boodins was staring a bit himself. This fellow seemed quite harmless. He was your perfect middle class Resten shopkeeper/vicar type, rather potbellied. He had the short arms and legs, the long dangling ears and droopy muzzle. He seemed to waddle a bit.
“Yes.” said Brittery. “You should have told me. Now that he’s here, yes, damn you.”
Boodins looked back and forth, perplexed at the bizarre conflict. This Resten priest fellow, this hound-like innocuous guy, didn’t seem to justify this level of tension.
Rai padded off unobtrusively, on the assumption that whatever was about to happen, might well be disturbing or even impossible to tolerate.
Demarle met Brittery’s eyes, and looked stricken. “I should have been quicker. I… forgot, your thing about professionalism. Are you sure? I ought to be able to say no FOR you if you really need it…”
Brittery turned slowly to face the Resten. He trembled, slightly, just looking at her.
“No,” she said. “He is our guest. Tomson, damn it, I told you. No more! Why don’t you take one of the other girls? Daucery would love to do it for you.”
“Hell, yeah!” said Daucery, from across the room. “You told me more than enough!”
“No…” said the Resten. “No, it’s you I need.”
“You’re a damn sicko. I know it’s harmless enough, but you want me just because I don’t like it. It’s not comfortable. How long did you wait this time?” demanded Brittery.
“I’d rather not say.”
Brittery looked at him, gritting her teeth. “You know I have my pride. You’re here now. I want to break my own rules and tell you to get the hell out.”
“Four thousand.”
“Where the HELL are you coming up with this money, Tomson? I don’t give a fuck HOW much…”
“Five thousand.” said the hound priest.
Brittery’s ears went back. “…you promise not to do that thing with your fingers?”
“Ten thousand.” said the hound priest.
“Holy shit.” said Brittery. She was trembling as well, now. She had the feeling she was being outmanuevered. “You realize you’ve just gone to five times what you used to pay? You do realize that’s going to be hard to keep up? That you just won’t be able to do it as often as you’d like?”
“I don’t care. Ten thousand. I need you now. I can’t tell you how bad I need it.”
Brittery padded forward very slowly, and touched his nose with a paw. “I think you just did. Damn you anyway. You’re so nice, except for…”
“I need my except-for. Please. I have to go back home and be endlessly nice again.”
“You realize you could go to Mistress Elistary and be really mean for much cheaper than that? If it’s not-nice you want… why does it have to be your goddamn, insane, ridiculous kink?”
“Ten thousand to go along with it. I can’t help how I’m made. Not now. Yes, it has to be my way. Please.”
Brittery sighed. “Come along, damn you. I should cut you off. I can’t believe this is good for you. Among other things, you’ll injure yourself one of these days…”
“No, it’s not dangerous, honestly.” said the Resten, following her with his peculiar waddle.
“You’re even walking funny! God damn it.”
“I know what I like.”
“I’m going to regret this.” said Brittery.
“I know.” said Tomson.
“Yeah, that’s your favorite part.”
“I’m so glad I met you.” said Tomson.
“Yay.” said Brittery bitterly.
She led him into one of the back rooms, not too quickly- neither seemed inclined to move too fast. Brittery gave a sudden leap, pantherlike muscles convulsing in an outburst of nervous tension, and pounced onto the bed. “Let’s get this over with, shall we? At least the beginning is always nice.”
“Funny,” said Tomson, “it’s the ending that does it for me.”
“You’re teasing me, doggy. Any chance you won’t go through with the whole damn ritual?”
“Nope.”
“Well… for God’s sake, fondle the hell out of me at the start. You know we’re on the same page for part of it. Oh shit you’ve gotta be kidding me!”
Tomson had dropped his already low-hanging pants. “Don’t take that name in vain, Brittery.” he said, but it wasn’t his reprimand that had shocked her.
The Resten man stood revealing the first suggestions of a simply enormous canine penis- and two blue-balled testicles, already huge enough to affect his walk, engorged with abstinence and self-imposed frustration until they looked horribly sore. Tomson’s balls looked like they were about to explode.
Brittery bit her lip gently. “Damn it, Tomson. This can’t go on.”
“Nobody else can please me like you do.” said the Resten.
“Because you have that ridiculous fantasy! Why does it have to…”
“But it does,” he said. “It does.” He removed his shirt, and began carefully working his turgid sheath. Very quickly, Tomson’s erection began to appear, already leaking precome, pliant and shockingly bulky.
Brittery licked her lips. “You’re sure I can’t… just enjoy you the way I’d like to? God, Tomson, it would be something. Why must you spoil it?”
“You can enjoy the beginning. I’ll even touch you the way you like. But you must allow me my turn.”
“Devil’s bargain.” purred Brittery softly, licking her lips again.
“Please don’t say that. But it’s in character. Shall we?”
“Character, hell. It’s hard for me to resist that humongous cock. You’re even nice and gentle with it, which at your size is helpful. C’mere.”
The Resten priest didn’t need a lot of persuading- but he did have to walk carefully, almost wincing with each step. “Harlot.”
“And damn proud of it. And good at it. Come HERE.”
He did, still working his sheath awkwardly, and the sensuous black Nerre fell upon him hungrily, stroking his body and favoring his swollen member with tiny delicate licks.
“Nhh!” said Tomson, as he grew even stiffer. “You’re trying to get me off early. Won’t work. Harlot.”
“Hope springs eternal. How do you want me, she asked knowing what he will answer?” said Brittery, mockingly.
“You know.”
“Tell me. At least I can get you to blush.”
Tomson did, a bit, at that. “I want you to straddle me like the harlot you are, and pleasure yourself in the most sinful manner imaginable. That’s what I want. Same as ever.”
“Just think,” said Brittery, “the first time it was just me acting natural. You know, the other girls are just as good at harloting? Well… nearly as good.”
“I want you. Nobody could be as good.” said Tomson.
Brittery crouched, her paws set apart, her tail lashing, taking in the sight of the Resten’s shocking, bountiful cock, bobbing with his pulse and gleaming in slickened red, and she hesitated no longer. She might dread the end result, but in the immediate moment, her feline pussy pouted hard, heavy and swollen with urgent need, and the cure was right there asking her to pounce it. The lithe black cat specialized in her predatory air, her seeming ferocity- it was said that nobody and nothing in Verss compared to her intensity.
She sprang- and in moments, the trembling feline was straddling Tomson’s larger, bulkier body, and pressing back against his erection, which she had effortlessly aimed for and tucked between her labia in a simple, graceful swoop of her hips.
Brittery lifted off Tomson’s body, rising up, guiding his cock with her, until she was poised atop it, sitting bolt upright, her hips swivelling lustily as if she was trying to chalk the tip of him like a pool cue. Tomson’s eyes nearly crossed with the sensation, but they couldn’t cross because they were needed for staring at the wanton Nerre. She was running her paws up and down her body, over all the clearly defined elegant little belly muscles, fondling her perky breasts until the nipples stood out boldly. Her eyes were mere slits, her teeth bared in a snarl of pleasure.
Then, her paws dropped to his chest- she leaned forward a bit- and began to press back onto him, her pelvis writhing and twisting as she forced the swollen Resten cock into herself, beginning to moan more and more loudly, eyes still passionate slits with glints of ice-blue peeking through.
Tomson was frozen with excitement as the black cat took him, inch by inch, his shudders matched by hers. She was so taut, so impossibly excited- such an utter harlot and virtuoso of lust. As if of their own accord, his own hands slowly came up to either side of her bold, curvaceous hips…
Brittery more than suspected she was going to have help- she had lingered and gone slower than she had to, just in the hope that she’d get more action out of him. Her eyes opened wide as his hands grasped her, partly because it was good form, but partly because an honest jolt went through her as she realized what he was going to do. And then, he did. In a single, very firm motion, Tomson pressed Brittery down all the way, his fat canine cock thrusting powerfully and deeply into her until it took her breath away and left no space, none at all.
Brittery shrieked- she knew just how to combine the sounds of pain and savage pleasure, and the Resten’s cock was so ridiculously bulky that she didn’t have to try, it was pretty much authentic. He held her there, and the black cat reeled and caterwauled, heaving deep breaths and releasing them as ragged screams, gripping his arms as he gripped her hips, locked in a tableau of erotic tension. Very quickly, Brittery began coming hard enough that her tail bristled and thrashed, and her feline pussy clenched and spasmed on Tomson in frantic rhythm, begging and demanding his own release.
She tried to hold his hands onto her hips, but the Resten had become alarmed and anxious, and before she could stop him- one hand had vanished between her legs, to encircle his cockbase in the manner of Resten masturbation- except for one thing.
As always, he’d managed to pinch her pussy shut around him, in a very stubborn handgrip. It wasn’t that uncomfortable- by itself.
Brittery was coming so hard she could barely focus, and that was a mercy, but she managed, “….ohfuckhereitcomes…”
“Say it!” begged the Resten priest.
“Hhhh! Ngyaah! ReOWWll!”
“Say it! Oh please say it say it!”
“Hhhh! Hhhh! Damn you! Can’t… breathe, hh!”
“Say it, you’ve got to say it!”
“Dammit! Tomson! hhhh!”
“SAY IT!” howled the desperate Resten, his teeth gritted, his cock impossibly hard in her still spasming pussy.
Brittery set her jaw, a feral grin on her face as the orgasms shook and tossed her. Well- this was IT. And she satisfied- no matter what. And through gritted teeth, with blazing scorn, looking Tomson right in the eye, she hissed…
“You… can’t… wash… MY… sins away!”
Tomson’s entire body bucked under her. It was like he exploded… He didn’t unpinch her, as much as she would have liked that to happen. Instead- he let go, and those agonizingly swollen testicles vented themselves in a torrent, expressed in jets of come so forceful she could feel them blasting her insides. The first blasts kicked her into still hotter orgasms, because under normal circumstances, it was unspeakably erotic to have your lover spurting into you that forcefully and passionately.
With Tomson, circumstances weren’t normal.
Brittery mewled, and squirmed, at the sensation, one she’d felt before, one that always seemed just entirely too much. Even on a normal day, when you were knotted, it tended to cork you up and the come didn’t escape until after. Tomson was huge and didn’t leave room to start with- and his fingers didn’t let go- and Brittery’s ears laid back and her tail bristled hard as she felt him keep coming, and coming, and coming- pumping into her, the hot slippery liquid oozing into her feline womb, and steadily filling that, and not stopping…
Tomson didn’t let up. It was rather frightening, his eyes burned and he no longer looked like the fumbling, gentle Resten priest. He was like the cock of an angry God- transfixing her, flooding her, and with the help of his very stubborn fingers, pumping her full of come until she whimpered and begged, stabs of pain poking her insides obscenely from the pressure. Even then, he didn’t let go- only when her wails turned to sharp screams and her claws gripping his arms drew blood did he relent.
His fingers pulled away, and he drew Brittery down belly to belly with him, and held her as she sobbed. He shifted his hips, and the motions worked the knot within the hysterical feline, and come began oozing urgently out… more urgently than he’d expected.
He wondered if he’d blown it for good, this time.
Slowly, the black cat’s head lifted, ears flattened, and he saw the cause of the weeping. This was not a harlot to be shattered by pain and ill-use. It was tears of rage he saw in her eyes.
“You… fucker. You’re… hhh… done.”
“Ah. Um. I… may have held on too long…”
Brittery tried to rise, but her body trembled and would not heed her demands. The maddening thing was, there was a huge dose of post-coital limpness involved. The stupid fucker had taken her to some of her highest peaks and THEN hurt her by inflating her like a damn balloon with come. She’d been coming so hard that it just took her into sensations she’d never imagined, combined with the pleasure to flare outward into indescribable planes of experience. Ones she hadn’t asked for, and didn’t wish to explore further.
“You… stupid… fucker…”
“Oh, no. Oh, dear. I… I injured you?”
Brittery wriggled, feebly. It was tempting to tell him yes- to claim he’d done terrible damage. She was almost certain that would be a total lie. As the hydraulic pressure had been released, as the shiftings of that vast cock in her coaxed the come to squirt out and soil her leg fur and his crotch fur, the pain had vanished. Now, her body glowed, as it often did after an intense fucking, but at the same time it felt like her womb, and every hollow place in her body, was literally filled with warm Resten spunk. The feeling still unsettled her terribly- but the experience had taught her something.
Brittery considered herself very competent, an artiste and business-woman equal to any situation. She stared at her impossible client, considering the arc of his behavior, what he was doing to himself and to her.
“I should have said this a long time ago. I can’t believe I didn’t figure it out.”
Tomson stared at her, terrified.
“The part I can’t take is… that pinching. I don’t know where you got that, but you did it a lot harder this time. You’re done.”
The Resten priest’s eyes filled with tears. It was as if she was sentencing him to death, as if his life held nothing but this.
“…with that. Next time, I don’t care if I have to handcuff you, you will NOT pinch me shut. Ever! Not ever again.”
“…n.. next time?”
Brittery nodded weakly, and let out a tiny, exhausted purr. “Damn if I know what else to do with you. And I’m gonna soak you, but never ten thousand again if it causes you to take liberties like this. And you’re going to give me some time to recover- and you’re god damned well going to beat off or something, between sessions!”
Tomson’s tail began to wag, beneath the two of them.
“Seriously, why, Tomson? You’ve always done that. I can’t stand it, nobody else ever does it. Whatever gave you the idea that was okay?”
Tomson looked woebegone. “I… with my fantasy… I just need to be washing you clean. I do it because I want to pretend that I’m filling you completely. Which is probably impossible, so I have to pretend by, you know. I pinch, and then I imagine I’m filling you up…”
Brittery gave him a weary look. “Tomson.”
“Yes? Beloved harlot?”
“Tomson, you’re huge. Why the fuck do you think I scream? You’re already taking up all the room in my pussy by the time you do that. Your knot is a motherfucker of a knot, it’s right at the limit of what I can handle. Knots are MADE for that purpose. Don’t you get it?”
“You’re saying that…”
“Yes. You sweet, cruel idiot. By the time I’m screaming and struggling, you have ALREADY filled every bit of me with come and not noticed it, and kept going. Liquids don’t squeeze, dummy. You’re over-filling the cat every god-damned time. Is that really part of your stupid fantasy?”
“Why, no! No, it certainly is not! There’s… that little room in you?”
Brittery’s expression was the height of exasperation. “Darling, your dick is the size of part of my forearm. It’s impressive enough I can accomodate that. We do exercises to not just stretch out in every direction. You stretch me in every direction anyhow. Why do you think I let you keep doing it?”
“For money?”
“How about we cut the money back again, and do it in a way I can enjoy? That’s really all I wanted from the beginning.”
“Are you sure you’ll be okay with that? And me, besides… I mean… well, I like the way I triumph over your wickedness… um, no offense…”
Brittery sighed. “Okay- how about, you don’t pinch, I don’t hurt- that will help a lot, you have no idea. And… how about instead of me saying that mean and haughty, like it’s a fight… how about, right when you need to let go…”
Brittery leaned closer to Tomson, eyes big and cute in her best innocent-kitten look (something few johns got to see).
“Won’t you wash my sins away?”
Tomson’s eyes widened, and next Brittery moaned and melted against him, for the outlandish canine cock had suddenly given a surge of hardness in her. She nuzzled his chest, and purred loudly.
Tomson wagged manically. “My. That should work.”
Brittery purred louder. It was a good day when you could tame the nasty excesses of the notorious Buckets, and keep the bits you usually didn’t get to appreciate.
“I daresay I shall even, ah, masturbate, and not build up such a quantity of seminal fluid…”
Brittery gazed up at him with half-lidded eyes.
“Liar.”
“I’m afraid so.”
Brittery kept purring. Life was improving.
Boodins was still glancing in the direction of the back rooms. The screaming had shocked him- first, so wanton and erotic, and then escalating to that awful peak. Rai’d gone as far away as he could from the sound without going outside. Demarle seemed to be unfazed, though Boodins noticed her eyes narrowing a bit at some of the shrieks.
“What did he DO to her?” asked Boodins.
“If she wishes to tell you, she will. We offer at least some discretion for the… unusual clients. Faisand keeps reminding me that we shouldn’t encourage too much of that…”
“I know Magarce… well, when she started getting all over me, she was pulling down my pants asking if I was a shopkeeper.”
“Sure. That’s part of the answer that’s not a secret at all. You saw him.”
“Yeah, but he seemed normal enough to me! I’m Resten too!”
“Sure. You’re already enough to give Daucery a real workout, and you’re one of their Scruff caste…”
“We don’t have CASTE!” protested Boodins.
“Sorry, hon. Heh, maybe I’d better make amends with you later, as well… I’m not trying to be mean, I’m Nerre and it doesn’t mean anything to us. But my point being- okay, you’re just built differently. You’re a lot more rangy, you’ve got longer arms, a less droopy muzzle, longer legs…”
“Oh yeah. I’m workin’ class! And we kick ass. My dad’s the head gardener at the Evensring estates.”
“Yes, yes, but maybe you haven’t personally considered… okay, you saw that guy, right? You’ve heard what Mags was talking about, the Resten Shopkeeper type? And you can see that he was that type?”
“Yeeeeeahh… yeah, the stumpy little arms and legs. I like mine better. We don’t really mix a lot, back home, I gotta admit that…”
“Boodins, he was very nearly as tall as you, in spite of having little stumpy legs. Are you doing the math?”
“Um, what, big legs, big dick?”
“Oh no no, dear. No. His BODY is quite a bit bigger than yours. The shopkeeper stereotype is often quite true. It’s just that with the shortness of their legs, their equipment seems ridiculously oversized. We always make a point of checking out Resten middle class when they come here- we have to. Nerre can take on a lot with practice, but some of your people would be too dangerous to play with. Twice we’ve sent a shopkeeper on his way with kisses, and a lot of fondling and licking at no charge, because nobody here would’ve been able to take him. Once we had to rush Daucery to the hospital, and that was enough. Now we test them.”
Boodins looked tragic. “But… then… I’m just a little guy?”
Demarle smirked. “Don’t be foolish. You must be an inexperienced kid, seriously. There’s a sweet spot, even for the most passionate lovers of big cock, and it’s never going to be just ‘more’ in a multicultural situation where we’re going across species this way. The guys I mentioned? No Nerre in the world could enjoy them. I’ve seen lots of fantasy drawings of that pairing, honey, and sometimes they’re drawn very impressively, but sweetie? Ink and paper can be made to do anything. Flesh- tears.”
“Oh god!” yelped Boodins. “You sound like my Dad!”
“Really? I’d have thought his voice would be deeper, and not purr as much. Settle down, we’re fine. We’re professionals. But I can tell you, that guy in there with Brittery, he’s borderline, and he has some… interesting needs. In fact I’m going to have to check on her because I did not like the sound of some of those screams.”
She began padding furtively toward the back rooms. Boodins tagged along.
“Did she get hurt?”
“Shush! I just need to be sure…”
Demarle snuck up to one particular door, and listened against it, her white fluffy tail flicking about agitatedly. It took a little while- apparently those inside weren’t making a lot of noise. Then, she stepped back, with an air of relief, whispering, “I think it’s okay. I heard her talking, she sounds limp as a dishrag. I’m sure I would be…”
At the end of the short hallway, there was a knock at the door.
Demarle froze, then approached the door. The knock came again. She gestured Boodins away, but he protested. “What if it’s something dangerous?”
“I’m pretty sure it won’t be…” said Demarle, but she relented and Boodins moved in closer.
Demarle opened the door upon a dark back-alley, shaded heavily by nearby buildings, and a figure loomed. It was a Runge outline, bulky, a little stooped. It moved closer, and Boodins gasped, for he’d seen this wolf before. It was the police chief who’d questioned Rai, earlier. It was the cop who was friends with that Estrai detective, Voustrets, who had them running around investigating things. It was Anzende Ndeschwin, all the way from Kiesens, here in Verss, and Boodins briefly panicked and wondered if this cop had come to arrest him and Rai again.
Ndeschwin clearly recognized Boodins, as well. His eyes got wider, as if in alarm, and he glanced back and forth between him and Demarle uncertainly.”
“Can we help you?” asked Demarle, pointedly.
The big wolf’s uncertain look lingered, and then was replaced by a stubborn look. He set his jaw, and spoke. “Ah… goo. Guh… nwah.” He said it looking down his muzzle with a how-dare-you-judge-me glint in his eye.
“Oh, fuck. Boodins, you go get Faisand right NOW! Go!”
Boodins bolted off, not so quickly that he couldn’t hear Demarle saying, “Don’t you dare start yet! You wait until she has you in the room for it! I mean it, some smells just don’t help us do our regular work!” and the cop’s reply of “Yes, ma’am.”
Boodins spotted Faisand on the upper level, where she appeared to be having a cup of tea. He couldn’t climb the wooden pole they used as stairs, so he jumped up and down excitedly, yelping “Faisand! Demarle needs you right now!”
“Oh, fuck.” said the silverfurred Nerre in the simple white dress. “Duty calls, does it?” She set the teacup down carefully, a grimace twisting her feline face.
“She says right now!”
“Damn it, just because one of them messed in the hall, suddenly I have to rush about like a teenager. Hold it!” she yelled, and got up with cautious hurry. Boodins’ eyes widened as Faisand swarmed down the pole with surprising agility for such an old cat- and as her dress billowed out revealing a great deal of a wiry, dancerlike body that suggested both her great age and the glories of her past. The dress fell back around her as she hit the floor with a cranky little mew of protest, and she strode off unhestitatingly, Boodins in her wake and fascinated.
As Boodins followed her, he noticed that Faisand stumbled for a moment when she came in sight of the cop and Demarle. It was just for a moment, and then she was hurrying down the hallway. Boodins wondered if she, too, was afraid she’d be arrested. He followed after, but caught an urgent stay-back gesture from Demarle, and halted well short of the doorway.
“Quickly, Faisand! Over to you!”
“All right all RIGHT. Is a good boy, then? Do we need to go to the little room?”
“Goo.” rumbled the cop.
“Look, if we hold on just a LITTLE bit longer, look what I have!”
Faisand reached into her dress and produced a small lollipop.
“mmmMMMMmm!” rumbled the cop, reaching for it.
“Uht! First we go to the little room! Right?”
Boodins had grown more and more wide-eyed at this, but he didn’t resist as Demarle took his hand and led him hastily back down the hall again. He kept looking back at the diminutive, elderly kitty and the grey-muzzled cop that said ‘goo’ and wanted lollipops and the little room.
But eventually they were lost to sight.
“Now quickly, will you go to the little room?”
“Bet your ass.” rumbled the cop very quietly.
“sh! Now hurry, you mustn’t have an accident here…”
The grey feline led the wolf cop quickly to a small room, and hustled him inside, switching on a light. Inside, was a very large table- no bed, but a cupboard with linens and child-care items, but strangely oversized- and a powerful exhaust fan. She flipped it on- and shut the door very firmly, the lollipop in her other paw.
The old grey cat and old grey wolf cop hesitated for a moment, staring at the door.
“Do you think she bought it?” said Anzende Ndeschwin in his gravelly cop’s voice.
“Yeah. They didn’t guess.” replied Faisand.
With that, in a single motion, the elderly grey feline dropped the lollipop on the floor, and flung herself into Anzende’s passionate embrace, her frail body enfolded by his powerful lupine arms.
“Oh, my beloved… oh my darling…” stammered Faisand, clinging tightly.
“My love…” rumbled Anzende. “Wait… tears? What’s this?”
“I… just didn’t expect you to be here this soon. Oh, my love!”
“Something’s happened.”
Faisand pulled away from him a bit. “Does it have to come first?”
“So conscientious. No, you’re crying, darling, that comes first.”
“Oh phoo.” sniffled Faisand. “You know how it is.”
“Tell me, darling. I’m here for you.”
Faisand gathered herself, wiping her eyes with the back of her paw. “I just… it’s hard to take. These younger girls running around. Do you know how long it’s been since someone asked to make love to me, never mind pay for it?”
“I don’t know, hon. They ought to. I could tell them a few things, except it would blow my cover.”
“It was you.” said Faisand softly.
“What? Darling, I haven’t been here in… it must have been five weeks! You’re serious?”
“It was you.” said Faisand softly, and sadly. “You are the last to know me. You’re the only one that remembers.”
“Oh, Faisand…” said the wolf cop.
“I never thought it would happen this way.” continued Faisand. “It’s as if people began looking more critically at me- drew back- and then, suddenly, there was nothing. I didn’t notice it happening. I’m sure I couldn’t have done anything if I had.”
The old grey cat leaked shiny tears, as she said this in an unwavering, level voice. Her chin was high, and there was a terrible dignity in her open-eyed acceptance of her fate.
An acceptance, however, that Anzende Ndeschwin wasn’t going to let pass without a fight. Before Faisand could continue, she let out an oof, as Anzende had seized her in another fierce hug, nearly knocking her over.
“Uh! Please, my love, you can’t change it by squishing me!”
“No.” growled the old wolf. “You’re acting like you’re not beautiful.”
“That’s easy for you to say, dearest.” said Faisand acidly. “We’re both running down like unwound clocks. Tell it to the customers. The ones without diapers.”
“No! You’re wrong. I wasn’t sure this day would come.”
“Anzy, darling, face it. I’m out of time. I’m done.”
“No! You’re MINE.”
The old grey cat wriggled in Anzende’s arms a bit, without being able to get free. “Don’t be a fool, dear. I’m a working courtesan and nobody’s to keep.”
“You just said you were done.”
“That’s not yours to decide, Anzy! You’ve never said that before!”
“Because it isn’t mine to decide.” He released her, to gaze down into her eyes. “It’s you who decided.”
“Well… but… Anzy, I’m proud of my career! I’m quite good at what I do! Or I was… no, damn it, I’m still very good!”
“I know it.” rumbled the wolf cop.
“And how dare you try to take that from me?”
“But I’m not.” said Anzende. “I’m sorry. If you didn’t mean it, never mind… I just thought…”
Faisand glanced sharply at the hulking, aging wolf. It was always this way- you pleased them, and they wanted to take possession and keep you. And yet… her bones ached, and she could not keep her curves in trim anymore, she sagged here and was too scrawny there, and it had been weeks.
The last one before Anzy had been a reporter, who was writing an article on prostitution across cultural and species divides, and there had been a real chance he would have just interviewed her. She’d insisted on demonstrating some points. He worked for a tabloid, so it wasn’t surprising that he’d gone along with it- but he was a younger Runge guy, and when she disrobed, she was certain she’d seen a flash of disgust, when he’d seen the curve of her breasts, once so firm and taut, now more slack every year.
She’d wept for hours that night and never told anyone- and the next time she’d had a chance to get aggressive with a walk-in customer, she’d held back, and Daucery had romped over and dragged the guy off happily.
Faisand thought it was probably harder for her because she had been a famous beauty with a notorious body- she wasn’t at all comfortable with any decline. She’d ridden on raw self-confidence until that terrible day when the guy’s eyes said, your breasts sag and your haunches don’t fill out any more, and I’m going to go along with this because I can get some great lines written about the tragedy of old whores not fading gracefully…
Faisand had never had the nerve to try and read what his article eventually said. A part of her died that day.
The maddening thing was, the rest of her was not ready to quit. Her muscles were in trim, she exercised, she was careful to not risk broken bones, and she had her secret wolf cop lover, who came seeking information about things in Verss that he couldn’t learn by normal means- and ended up craving her, and never tiring of her even as the years wore on. And she craved him more and more, too, because he was marvellous, and she basked in his adoration and did her best with him every time.
And here he was, at the end of the line, claiming her.
And who else could have that right?
“Anzy, my love.”
“Yes?” rumbled the wolf cop, uncertainly.
“If I run across somebody else, somebody who remembers- you MUST allow me to please them. Out of respect for my artistry. If there is anybody else. Do you understand?”
Anzende nodded, slowly. “Yes, I do understand. Yes.”
“Anzy.”
“Yes?”
“There is no such person. I love you. And my heart is already yours… my love.”
She flowed into his arms, purring a creaky little purr, and before very long, there was a drip onto one of her elegant, shell-like feline ears.
“Tears? What’s this?”
Anzende released his bear-hug, raised an arm, wiped his eye.
“Nothin’.” he said gruffly.
“Now,” said Faisand, “what’s this that happened? You didn’t come here just to sweep me off my feet.”
“Well… I’m not sure I want to say.”
“Anzy!”
“No, I mean- I want to make love to you, darling, I don’t want to ruin the mood.”
Faisand tsked. “That does it. Now you’ll have to tell me. What on earth has happened?”
“Oh, all right. Promise you won’t…”
“Anzy!”
“Well… your friend Magarce. I don’t think she can be coming back here anymore.”
“Do you mean,” said Faisand, “that she has died?”
“No. What I mean is, she’s gunned down a lot of cops.”
“Oh, damn it.” said Faisand. “I suspected that day might come…”
“Did you?” said the wolf cop. “You didn’t tell me.”
“One hopes. I hoped she would avoid the brink. How did it happen?”
“They’d gone to clean out that anarchist base outside Verss. I’m not happy about that part, mind you. It was another typical Verss cop scenario- playing goddamn soldiers. They apparently got the drop on Magarce while she was facing off some Tompar in the parking lot.”
“They got the… do you mean, they shot her as well?”
“Not before she took out almost every one of them in a matter of a few seconds.”
“They did shoot her as well. Oh, damn it.”
“Only one guy survived. She’s blown half his skull off and his jaw as well, I’m amazed he lived. He did shoot her, but she was with two guys…”
“I saw one of them. Perre, the highway bandit. I have no idea what he was doing here in Verss, he’s a wanted fox and it was an incredible risk.”
“The other was a big Runge guy. The surviving cop says that’s who ran out and scooped her up. The Estrai- Perre, you say? covered them with his body until they made the ship, and they blasted off.”
“I see.”
“I don’t know if she lived. She might have, our guy says he’s far from sure he took her out. He thinks he wounded and concussed her, but not fatally. She damn near killed him, and she did kill every single other cop on that squad.”
“I see.”
“She can’t return here, love. If she does, you’ve got to turn her over.”
“I see.”
“Are you okay?”
Faisand shook herself. “It’s… a bit of a shock. I always wanted to believe… that she could find some safe place, be more normal. There was always that danger, you know. We knew she wasn’t safe. She was a good enforcer for that very reason, when she was around.”
“If she does return, you’ve got to turn her over.”
“Oh, Anzy.” sighed Faisand. “It’s a shame we hadn’t done it years ago. I can’t argue with you, not a bit. You’re right.”
Anzende hugged Faisand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to bring it up…”
The old cat quirked an eyebrow, and her tail flicked. “You feel I shall be too distressed, now? I shall go off and weep over our poor mad friend?”
“I’ve never understood you in some ways, darling. Won’t you? It would be all right with me. It would be understandable.”
“Erre.” said Faisand, in her people’s language. “It is no more than what she has always been.”
“None of you girls ever talk Nerre language.” said Anzende, interested. “What brought that on?”
“Always the cop, picking at clues. Erre means harmony of being what you were meant to be. For Magarce, that has always been tragic, or the pattern of tragedy to come was clear.”
“You didn’t fill me in on that part, darling.”
“Wasn’t the pattern obvious?” asked Faisand.
“For that matter, did you realize that your whole species is just one letter off from this ‘erre’ idea?”
Faisand flowed against her lover, petting his body. “Naturally. We are the poetry of fate.”
“Uhmmmmm…. you can say that again. Er… I should mention that I’m a little distressed, even if you’re not. I knew some of those guys Magarce shot. It seems like this does actually matter, okay?”
“Do you wish to go tell the others?” purred Faisand, and licked Anzende’s neck.
“Shit, you’ve got a point. I might just need to go public with this, which would mean blowing my cover with you. Erm.”
“They will learn more respect for you. I’d like that. You are most of my life, now.” said Faisand.
“I… somehow I don’t think you want to go do that first.” said Anzende, for Faisand was petting down his belly, slipping a slim paw into his pants.
“No. I don’t know when I shall see you next. I’m sorry for Magarce, of course, and I’m sorry for the ones she shot still more. But you’re here now, and you’ve had distress. Let us both indulge ourselves. I’d like to make you feel better- and I know you can make me feel better.”
“All right.” said Anzy, nodding. “I’ll go along with that. Help me out, all right? I’m not feeling real sexy right now, too distracted.”
“Of course.” purred Faisand.
She stepped back from him, eyes shining, ears perked with confidence and attention, and with a graceful tilt to her feline torso, Faisand twirled elegantly, her dress billowing. Anzy saw that her breasts didn’t fill the dress out as they had when he’d first met her, but he’d grown old himself kissing and fondling those sensitive cat breasts and they were a part of him now as much as they were a part of her. He felt a stirring, in spite of how tough the day had been.
Anzy never had worked out how she did the next bit- it had something to do with releasing straps, allowing a deeply slashed back and front to slip free, but as always, Faisand finished the twirl with the dress elegantly settling to the floor around her, paws set close together, facing away from him with a coy angling of her feline rump and her tail flicking about enticingly, as if it was animated by sparks. Her perky butt had held up to the years better- once dainty, elegant curves, she’d taken on a more feral look that Anzende had grown fond of. He knew there was no fat left on her- what he saw was a tough, passionate old cat lady, and that was totally accurate and something of which he approved.
“Anzy!”
“Uh! What?”
“You’re staring at my ass,” purred Faisand, “and your pants are still on. Can’t I have some eye candy, too?”
“Oh! Sorry! Heh, you flatter me, darling…”
“Oh, I know what I’ll see.” purred Faisand. “And feel.”
Anzy hastily removed his uniform, folding it neatly under Faisand’s amused, impatient eye. He stood, and tried to suck in his gut, with moderate success. Faisand giggled, and flowed over to tickle his belly. “You’re trying to play young wolf again!”
“For you, baby,” rumbled Anzende, “I’ll play anything.”
“You’re playing the fool, silly darling. I’ll have you just as you are. In fact…”
Faisand gave a little hop, jumping back onto the table, eyeing its height relative to Anzende’s hips, nodding her satisfaction.
“In fact, here’s what we shall do. You don’t need to be a young wolf for me, darling. I don’t want to be churned like bloody Daucery. I am too old for that nonsense, my dear. Come into me, gently, and we’ll turn and you’ll sit here, and we shall hold each other. We’ll do it a way the young frisky types don’t know about. Shall we?”
“I think we’ve done this before, darling.”
“Sounds good, does it?”
“Oh hell yeah.” rumbled Anzy.
The wolf cop deftly worked his sheath, his eyes fixed lovingly on the target, inciting himself to greater stiffness by gazing upon the pert pinkness of Faisand’s neatly parted pussy. It was curiously plain- once, sheathed in the folds of luxuriant flesh, billows of muscle and stretches of tendon, and now her fur was neatly brushed and less full, fat had worn off, muscle had grown leaner, and Faisand’s pert vagina nestled now in the arch of her mons, clearly defined pubic bone, clean tidy fur surrounding it, slim wiry limbs framing it.
Anzy’s cock steadily developed, as if to say ‘oh, this? yes, we can handle one more go-round since it’s special’. He worked the sheath a little harder, baring his teeth a tiny bit in a snarl of determination, only to be stopped as Faisand’s paw flicked out to touch his.
“Darling? Let me have it now. It’ll get the idea.”
“You’ll have to relax.” said Anzy.
“Of course.”
Anzende moved in, and obediently flopped his dick over to the right basic area, with what Faisand thought was a cute look of concentration. It was warranted- he faced the interesting puzzle of inserting a penis that wasn’t really rigid yet, which even with his lover’s help would be a mite tricky. Anzende nestled the tip of it against Faisand’s tender nook, and began patiently squeezing and cajoling it to cooperate.
The silvery cat crooned with pleasure, relaxing herself to the point of limpness, a glisten coming to her lady parts both from wolf precome and her own arousal. She felt very warm and slick to Anzende- he hoped he wasn’t clammy against her- that would pass quickly, anyhow. Gradually, inch by inch, the wolf’s cock began to penetrate Faisand as she sweetly moaned.
He knew she was right, and how right she was- the feline pussy tenderly enclosing his half-waking erection felt mind-meltingly good, and all at once, his body seemed to say HEY! We’re doing this! Anzende felt a rush of hot blood to his cock, and all at once he didn’t have to coax it with his hand. All at once, he was swelling and hardening inside his moaning lover- and not all at once, but in a lingering, languid thrust of his still-powerful hips, he slid that wolf cock fully into Faisand, tenderly impaling her on swelling wolfhood.
Faisand’s moan shifted just as languidly, from a sleepy croon to a full-throated groan of sheer ecstacy. Her eyes shone and her whiskers curled, and the next thing Anzy knew, she had grasped him. Not with her hands- no, the famous courtesan’s dexterity extended beyond that. Her pussy grasped him, and the only word to fit was- lovingly. The silvery-grey cat was known for being able to pinch ferociously, she’d started off in utter limpness and pliancy, and she now grasped his cock in a loving embrace.
“Here, I’ll reach up. We can turn around now, you can sit.”
Faisand embraced her wolf lover’s body with her slender arms, as well as wrapping her legs around his waist and gripping a bit tighter with her pussy (which caused a grunt of pleasure from Anzy), and the two of them carefully shifted and rotated until Anzy was sitting comfortably, Faisand straddling him, her legs not taking her weight- instead, the wolf cock thrusting up into her grateful body was very nearly supporting her all by itself.
Faisand wriggled delicately, just to adjust- her Anzy was such a close fit, that if she settled this heavily onto him, with all her insignificant weight, and if he was really hard in her as he delightfully was, he filled her from mound to womb and nuzzled with delectable firmness against her quivering cervix. And for the feline Nerre, this was the secret that drove them away from home to explore the wolflike Runge- their bodies craved that deep penetration, in some primitive instinct perhaps related to the desire to roll and flip about after sex. It probably all had to do with having come spurt deeply inside you, spreading it about for fertility, some practical reason- but it became a real compulsion.
Faisand wriggled a bit more. Anzy’s wolfish bulk could be made to press inside her JUST right, neither too tentatively or with painful jabs- that being a danger of the wuffies, one that foolish Daucery was continually addicted to. Faisand knew better- there was an ideal size, an ideal fierceness, and it was personal. In fact, it was nuzzling her cervix firmly at this very moment, and she shuddered from sheer pleasure.
Beneath her, Anzy shifted, jolting her with a little flash of sensation, and she heard him rumble, “Want a little motion, darling?”
“No!” gasped Faisand.
“Sorry, sorry!”
Faisand pulled herself together. “It’s all right. Darling, love, angelwolf… I only mean, this is another way. Don’t move except to hold me. I won’t move except if you flag I’ll squeeze at you. This is a special way, ride it with me…”
She settled back into her reverie again, swooning into Anzy’s loving embrace, and this time he didn’t jolt her. He trusted her completely, and it seemed he understood- his embrace was so passionate but so still, and she wasn’t having to squeeze at him to keep his attention. The wolf, rapt in stillness, was steadily getting harder, his breathing deeper, and Faisand reeled in ecstacy, balanced on his cock, herself perfectly still.
Her eyes were closed when she began to croon, singing a feline wordless song of arousal and sweet anticipatory tension, and Anzy did not react, other than to grow still harder, still bulkier in her. He seemed like an expert in this, which Faisand knew wasn’t the case- he’d barely tried it before- but this time his body held no tension, no desire to move or thrust, his full awareness increasingly centered in the motionless pressure of his stiffly erect cock. Faisand could feel it, felt the focussing, the shift of his awareness, and she crooned and moaned, feeling his pressure goaded on by her gentle cries.
There was a moment, hard to determine, where something changed- no motion, yet now rather than a feeling of waiting and gathering, Faisand and Anzende merged in a soaring, rushing feeling, their energies surging within stillness in a momentum that built and built. Anzende did not budge or shift his focus one bit- held it with the determination of the wolf cop he was. Faisand’s voice served as expression for both of them- and as the feeling swept up inside them like an eruption, the grey cat’s moans turned to throaty yowls and wails, redolent of the sweetest sexual torments soon to be relieved.
There was a moment of perfect silence, like the eye of a hurricane.
Anzende’s body gave one savage throb, and cut loose, unleashing an initial jet of wolf come of a ferocity he hadn’t produced in thirty years. He gritted his teeth, but still clung to his motionlessness- and still clung to his beloved Faisand.
Faisand had been caught exhaling, and her eyes flew open as Anzende throbbed and gushed against her cervix, seemingly flooding her womb from the first spasm. She struggled for a bit, ears laid back, fighting for breath as her body convulsed, dragged in a huge breath, and let it out in a shriek of carnal release that would leave her hoarse for days.
Anzende held her frail body tightly to his as he, still motionless, blasted spurt after spurt of come into her, feeling his knot flare out and come to full size, something that always awed him a little the way it wedged into her pelvis, unnatural device tolerated by female feline, tying her to him until the orgasm finished.
Faisand screamed hoarsely, and clung to her wolf lover’s body, leaking tears again, this time gratitude, ecstacy, and in no small part the sheer scale of the peak she’d been driven over. The silvery-grey cat reeled, a hairsbreadth from fainting dead away. Just a little hunching would do it, or a jab of that swollen cock against her insides- and nothing of the sort happened, Anzende stuck grimly to his orders and did not move except to throb heavily.
Faisand trembled and shuddered all over, her tail bristled out irregularly, as she gradually caught more breaths, as her shrieks gentled to cries and then croons, as she clung to her beloved Anzende who still gently throbbed and pumped wolfseed tirelessly into her womb.
Sometimes she wished like hell Nerre and Runge were crossfertile- but then, business would be so different- it was all right, really.
After a while, Faisand lifted her head from Anzy’s chest.
“Yours. Beloved.”
He stroked her head gently.
Faisand quirked an ear, feebly. “You’re not going to say it?”
“I’ve been yours,” rumbled Anzy softly, “since I first saw you.”
“Do you know,” said Faisand, “how odd it is?”
“What? Aw, darling… it’s like that for us sometimes, we mate for life, and when you’re just swallowed up by the feeling…”
“No, Anzy, I don’t mean that you’re odd.” said Faisand. She kissed his nose delicately. “You’re special, but not odd in the sense I mean.”
“Well… so, what’s odd, then?”
Faisand gazed into his eyes. “When you look like I do… well, did… it’s not so uncommon to hear that refrain. ‘I love you, I loved you since I first saw you’, always professing their love. They don’t know me. Sometimes they hadn’t even made love to me. After a night of passion, they were all the more certain. You would go to bed limp and sore, having made quite a lot of money, and everyone loved you, but nobody really listened. Their love was the pressure of their desire.”
“Yeah… I know. That’s just what I mean.” said Anzende.
“Sh. Don’t conclude. Not finished with my thought.”
“Sorry! I’m listening.”
“Yes, beloved. You do. The others all knew what they needed me to do with them. I did a lot with them, enjoying most of it immensely, but I didn’t go become their pet lady- at first because they were sex toys which paid, and then I became aware they were much like people, and strange, domineering people at that.”
“I know we seem rude to Nerre.” said the wolf cop.
“You came to me, got me alone, put down money and you said, what do you know about drug running into Kiesens? You’d seen me with some guys that you suspected of it. You remember what I said?”
“You said ‘is that all?’”
“You wouldn’t go to bed with me at first,” said Faisand. “You were intimidated, and you wanted me to remain just an informant. You started to pay more attention to what my life was like, my attitudes to things…”
“Yeah, and I got you insecure before I was done with being insecure myself…”
“Nobody else was refusing to have sex with me, dear. I couldn’t think how to raise the issue, you always needed to know different things and we’d just talk about street level stuff in Verss.”
“You cried.”
“I did. I felt tawdry, but I finally had to beg to do what you’d been faithfully paying me for. I’ll never forget how stunned you were, love.”
“Not half as stunned as I was about to be!”
“Ah,” purred Faisand, “great days…”
“But,” said Anzy, “you haven’t said what’s odd.”
Faisand glanced at him. “Trust you to not miss a detail.” She squeezed briefly at his cock, forcing an ‘erf!’ out of him, then relented. “Yes. It’s my own feeling that’s odd.”
“How’s that?”
“I won’t take that talk of love from anyone else. I know it means nothing more than hungers and selfish desires and all these horny wolves building worlds in their heads, myself the star attraction, the featured animal in their mental cage. But- I’ve not had that feeling from you.”
“Oh, come on now- sometimes I’ve been so lovesick I couldn’t think straight.”
“But there was always that part of you seeking answers, information for your work- wanting to understand. It was as if you came without expectation, ready to observe who I was, while everyone else came eager to tell me who I was… I guess we Nerre really don’t take to that, do we?”
“Heh! You’re famous for objecting to it. But I guess you’re right- I’ve never felt I had any chance with you, other than what you agreed to. I’m amazed I got away with… what I’ve said today.”
“I don’t see what’s so amazing.” said Faisand. “We’ve worked together for so many years, and made love so many times, either as part of the cover or just sneaking off. That was thrilling, by the way. Have you any idea how odd it is to sneak off for illicit sex, when your business is basically that? Going off to please yourself becomes a rebellious, illicit activity.”
“I corrupted you, huh?” chuckled the wolf cop.
“Dreadfully.” purred Faisand.
“I guess we’re going to give that up, if I’m going to tell your friends about Magarce, huh? Unless you want to think up some story for how you’d know…”
“No- I think that time has come to an end. I’m tired of sneaking you into the little room, and I don’t like the way Arle looks at you. They have no idea how central you’ve been to my life, and I’m afraid you’ll just have to get another informant. I’m going public with you.”
“What, now?” said Anzende.
“No, n… hmm. Hmm! Oh, to see the look on Daucery’s face… I think that’s a wonderful idea, darling, let’s!”
“Now just a minute!” said Anzende. “I’m still going to be tied to you for a while!”
“Yes, so delicious. Did we ever find out what makes you do that? I have to clear out my whole schedule, sometimes.”
“Keep to the point, Faisand. We can’t go talk to them now.”
Faisand twinkled at him. “But surely we can’t wait until you’re done. You have a strange tendency to tie for ever and ever, and I’m certainly not a large enough Nerre to pull forcibly off you. Nor would I wish to, even if I could.” She squeezed lovingly at him again.
“Erf… well, you’re just going to have to wait it out with me. All my clothes are off, I’m out of uniform…”
“But I am in my work clothes, so I haven’t that excuse.”
“Wouldn’t that be more of a big apron?” said Anzende.
Faisand’s eyes narrowed, and suddenly Anzy yiped. She’d given him a pinch- without using her hands.
“Will you behave, or shall I bite your dick more?”
“I’ll be good! Wow… it’s been a while since you hit me with that. Sorry, hon, I’m real sorry…” said Anzende.
“You deserved it, for unmentionable truth,” said Faisand. “Honestly, I should give that up, but the power it gives us is simply too good to pass up. You might need leverage on some politician yourself one day. Though I’m sure it’s a one time thing- they’d never trust me again if I outed them. The money that comes in is staggering.”
Anzende was, as always, stuck on the unresolved earlier subject. “You still have to wait. You have to let me finish and get dressed. Unless you want to drag me behind you…”
“I think that would be a mite difficult.” said Faisand.
“Well then.”
Faisand was thinking hard. Anzende saw the tip of her tail flicking in that characteristic way he knew so well, and his heart sank. This was looking like one of those dreaded cat ideas in the making.
“Anzy?”
“…yes?”
“It would be a shock to the other girls to see you walking out tied to me, but I believe it would be salutary. Not the fact of shocking them, but that we must break their image of you as one of the baby clients. They do not respect those men, possibly because those men aren’t lured by their charms…”
“Now hang on. What difference does it make? I guess you want to be able to show me off, but darling, it’s okay if that doesn’t happen right away. The baby guys never hang around with your girls anyhow, you take them right to this room and they beat it when they’re done…”
“True.” said Faisand. Her tail-tip continued to flick, however. It was definitely going to be one of those cat moments.
“Anzy?”
“Oh, honey…”
“Possibly our Alonifi needs to be more in awe of me. She is all too interested in Daucery, and I’m concerned she’s writing me off as a fuss-budget. Now, if you walked out with me tied to you for the several hours we will still have to spend…”
“Not my problem.”
“Oh, Anzy.”
“Oh, Faisand! I’ll tell you this- I think you’re just trying to manufacture an excuse to have me walk out there balls-deep in you, so your friends will see you’ve still got it.”
“Yes, dear, absolutely.” said Faisand, without batting an eyelash. “I see them carouse often enough. They’re getting awfully gentle and sheltering of me, and it makes me want to scratch them. You know that my fire still burns.”
Faisand wriggled idly, causing Anzy’s eyes to cross a bit, for she combined the pelvis-wriggle with an idle grasping at his cock that was like being groped by a hand- and which guaranteed he’d be stuck in her for another half an hour, at least. He felt himself harden, just when he thought he was starting to unwind.
“Mmmmmmm… as does yours, of course.” she added.
“Faisand, I understand how you feel, but I’m really going to stay right here, okay?” said Anzende.
The tail flicked, just at the tip, and Anzy cringed. She wasn’t out of argument yet. Most likely, she wasn’t going to give up…
“Anzy?”
“Oh, no…”
“Anzy, you mentioned that you wished I’d told you of my thoughts about Magarce.”
“Well, yeah. It might have mattered. It might not, but you never know what’ll happen. What if she’d done something and I was able to take her in? It would upset you guys, but there’d be a lot of Verss cops not dead, and she might have ended up not shot herself. I wish you’d said something.”
“Anzy.”
“Oh, crap, here it comes…”
“Anzy, you must get up and carry me out to talk with the girls. For all you know, Magarce will try to get in contact with us. They have to know what’s happened, so we can decide what to do. You know she’s with these two men, and for all you know they are bringing her right back here. Up, darling, duty calls.”
Anzende Ndeschwin rolled his eyes. He knew Faisand’s real reason was to be seen tied on a wolf lover again. He even sympathized, a little. He had no wish to walk out carrying her in front of him, wrapped lovingly around his slight potbelly, his butt swaying in the breeze for the amusement of the Nerre girls of the Cathouse. It wasn’t even very comforting that Faisand would doubtless tell them later of his sexual desirability, since he was quite content to just stick with her indefinitely- hell, forever.
But he also knew she was right.
Demarle didn’t recognize at first what she saw coming down the corridor. It looked a heavyset Runge wearing some kind of coat, or some guy she’d never seen before.
When she realized it was the guy she’d let in, and Faisand, she was startled.
A moment later, when she realised he was effortlessly carrying Faisand because she was tied on him, she was beyond startled. Demarle was astonished, which didn’t happen often.
They walked right up to her, while she stood openmouthed with her tail still foofed out from the initial startle, and they rotated to the side so that Faisand could speak directly to her friend, rather than over her shoulder. The grey feline wriggled a bit, and a small amount of wolfcome dripped to the floor.
“Allow me to introduce Anzende Ndeschwin- police chief for the city of Kiesens, and my secret lover who will now be less of a secret. He has information that you all need to hear- we can start with you, Arle. Can we sit on your bed? Anzy is heroic and strong, but deserves to sit comfortably while I’m stuck to him.”
“Um. Sure.” said Demarle. “This is a bit of a… surprise.”
“We’ve kept our secret well.” purred Faisand.
Anzende walked over nonchalantly and sat on Demarle’s “madam’s bed”, a large firm mattress in the middle of the room that Arle entertained clients on. As he sat, Faisand shuddered and mewed sweetly at the jolting of his wolfhood trapped within her. Anzy stroked her back, as she clung to him.
“Okay,” said Anzende. “There’s no easy way to say this- your friend Magarce has been hurt, and what’s more she’s just killed quite a few Verss cops. I must ask that you keep us informed of any contact you may have with her. I’d like to see justice done, and for what it’s worth, not Verss justice- Runge justice, the way it ought to be everywhere on this planet. I’ll do what I can to try and get her medical assistance if she turns up, but she must be taken into custody and charged with her crime.”
Demarle’s surprise and astonishment had turned to a completely stunned look. “You’re kidding. Mags? How did… How can you say that? Listen, buddy, I’ve turned that kitten into a happy puddle, how could she possibly kill off a bunch of cops?”
“He’s not kidding, Arle.” said Faisand.
“But how? Faisand! Back me up here! There’s got to be some mistake!”
“No, Arle. I suspected this might happen. And she shot them. Anzy has an eyewitness. Haven’t you seen Mags shoot before?”
“I didn’t pay that kind of attention.” muttered Demarle, a paw to her eyes. “I got upset when she… I don’t like to think about that night.”
“We can’t behave like that stuff is normal, Arle. Just because the guy she offed was a total punk…”
“What?” interrupted Anzende.
“I’m sorry, Anzy. You know how in Verss sometimes people die and aren’t missed? We had one like that. Mags shot him. Verss cops don’t care about some of the lowlifes in this city. One less problem.”
Anzende Ndeschwin didn’t speak for a moment.
“You know that’s how it is.” said Faisand, gently.
Anzende glanced at her, looking sad and irritated. “Hey, don’t squeeze my dick when you say that, okay?”
“I’m sorry.” said Faisand, her ears going back slightly.
Anzende petted her, but he looked even sadder and angrier. “That’s the whole problem, though, it really is. How are we expected to have justice done when it’s a complete nightmare every day and most of the cops are as savage as the criminals? I could run you in as an accomplice for that.”
“Now just a minute, dear heart…” snapped Faisand.
“I could. Good luck trying to run. I don’t need to cuff you, you’re tied. Admittedly the desk sergeant would give me a really funny look…”
Faisand looked extremely affronted. “Are you joking? You do understand what this city is like, don’t you? Do you expect us to work in a fantasy world where we are safe and the cops police our rough trade?”
“No.” said Anzende. “No, no… I’m not going to run you in. But… I just wish you could have a bigger picture on all this. I have to. It’s my job, okay? I can’t believe you concealed a murder from me. You left that one out when I was asking you about what went on in this city…”
“Do you still love me?” asked Faisand quietly. Demarle stared.
Anzende looked her right in the eye, levelly, for some time. Faisand sat, tied firmly to his wolfhood, clearly not trying to squeeze at him or affect his answer in any way. The only sign of tension was that Faisand’s tailtip twitched ever more agitatedly, but still she didn’t drop her gaze.
“Yes. Yes, I will always love you, and you are still mine.”
Faisand didn’t speak- but her eyes filled with tears, and with a curious dignity she buried her face in Anzende’s shaggy-furred chest. As his arms enclosed her, Faisand’s slim body shook roughly- first in silence, and then a harsh sob escaped her.
Anzy held her tightly, not letting go. Demarle watched with wide, wide eyes, and was for once entirely speechless. Finally, Faisand lifted her tear-streaked muzzle to look at Anzende again.
“I’ll do whatever you ask. What should we do now?” she said.
Anzende petted her. “Start doing it my way. Tell me if you hear from Magarce. It might save her life. The Verss cops are going to try a vengeance killing- they’re going to blow away everybody who left the scene, rather than arrest them. I can get her to safety and she can stand trial and probably end up locked up for the rest of her life- but can you really blame me for that, after what she’s done?”
“There we agree.” said Faisand. “I do really wish I’d been able to stop her.”
“Love- the type that do that one day, are a little beyond your ability to stop just by reasoning with them.”
“Yes… I didn’t say I thought I could have stopped her, Anzy. But I wish it anyhow…”
“Are you really sure?” asked Demarle, in a small voice.
“I’m sorry, hon.” said Faisand. “I’m sure. I believe him. You did see who she ran off after?”
“Yeah. I recognized him. What exactly happened? She’s been hurt, but she also killed a bunch of guys? How can that happen?”
Anzende explained patiently. “Those guys were doing a raid on that anarchist base, the one that calls itself Ungovernment…”
“Excuse me.” said Rairate, who had drifted over silently. “Please repeat, ‘aons?”
Anzende glanced at him. “You again. That’s right- Voustrets had sent you and your friends to try and check the place out. Did you get anything?”
Rairate did not bat an eyelash. “Yes. Their leader told me they were running supplies to a company named Dinsam Industrial Fabrication. I didn’t get any farther than that.” In fact, the feline ninja had gone a great deal farther than that, and had learned this information in bed after seducing and being seduced by that fellow, but Rai kept that to himself.
“That’s actually pretty impressive. Nobody else has learned much from that guy. And they’re not going to be getting any more information out of him, either.”
“Why? ‘aons?”
“Magarce caught those cops as they were finishing up at the base. They’d already killed everybody there.”
Rai stood up suddenly and walked off, away from everybody.
“So what happened,” continued Anzende, “was this- they tried to corner Mags as she was facing off with some Tompar. What I get from the one survivor was, they thought they were going to rescue the little Nerre girl, who apparently was naked as well…”
“She was when she left us.” said Demarle. “It’s not surprising.”
“Yeah, they figured they’d rescue her from the Tompar, and then all bang her. The guy who survived is a friend of mine, who’s tried to tone those raid guys down. He doesn’t succeed, but he tries. He says the next thing that happened was, the Tompar dives out of the way, all the raid guys try to shoot the Tompar and before they know it, the Nerre girl’s nailed all of them in a sort of frenzy. They didn’t even have time to aim. She shot most of them in the eye or the forehead, or sometimes right dead center on the badge.”
“How’d she get hurt?” asked Demarle.
“One of the guys wasn’t quite dead, and she ran out of ammo.”
Demarle cringed. “I guess I believe you.”
“I think we must believe him.” said Faisand. “I vouch for Anzy’s honesty, and Arle- I saw this coming. Didn’t I insist that Magarce couldn’t work alongside us?”
“Yes, you did.”
“What will we say to her if she shows back up here?”
While this conversation went on, Denenke Tieschtet wandered in, and began to pay attention to it- but something distracted her. Rai stood where he’d walked, by the front windows of the Cathouse, stood motionless and too tense, facing away from everyone, and Dene sensed something was very wrong without knowing quite what. She approached Rai cautiously, for she wasn’t sure if it was acceptable for her to try and talk to him.
As she came around to where she could see his face, she saw he was silently weeping, with his jaw set very tightly.
Dene was startled- she’d missed the beginning of the conversation, and she was nervous about asking Rai anything. But she couldn’t bear to see him in such obvious, silent distress, and she took the chance.
“…Rai? What happened?”
“He’s dead now.” said Rairate, quietly.
“Who?”
“That’s what troubles me.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I knew his body.” said Rai. “I knew his passion. I even knew the shudders of his orgasm- but Dene, do you realize, I never knew his name?”
“Rai? Who? What are you talking about?”
“The Runge at the anarchist base. You saw him. They say everybody there is dead now.”
Dene’s paw flew to her mouth. “What? What about the kids? What is this?”
“This Runge cop says they were all killed.”
Dene turned, staring at the new face, sitting naked with Faisand in his lap tied to him. “There were kids there!”
“I’m sorry.” said Anzende. “The survivor didn’t say anything about the raid squad killing any children. That would actually be a little out of character for them. I know they killed the others, and Magarce killed them in turn.”
“How did this happen?”
“It was an illegal settlement. The raid guys from Verss tend to do it that way. If it’s any consolation, I wish I could stop that, but it’s tough to deal with…”
Rai continued staring out the window.
Dene was thinking furiously. “You say they didn’t talk about any children?”
“No,” said Anzende. “This guy would probably have mentioned it, too. He may not have seen everything.”
“I don’t know who you are, but I need to go back there. I met two kids there. If they’re still alive we need to rescue them…”
Rai kept looking out the window.
“Rai!
The deadly little Nerre turned slowly, still silently weeping.
“Rai, can you help me? I don’t think I can do it alone- I mean, if it’s dangerous.”
Anzende said, “The cops are dead, but after a situation like that, they’ve probably got some major looting going on.”
“He mentioned a son.” said Rai.
“I know exactly which one would have been the son of the leader.” said Dene. “Not only that- I know where he hides. They might have survived…”
Rai nodded, slowly. “He mentioned a son. Perhaps in some way I can honor him by rescuing his son…”
“And the little girl is an absolute sweetie.” continued Dene. “Please, Rai!”
Anzende looked between them. “It’s very dangerous, what you’re talking about. But your friend there, he’s very dangerous also… and you know, I can’t really trust any of the Verss cops to do it. You, Runge lady, you say these children know you?”
“Yes, absolutely, and I know where they might be hiding. They might remember my voice.”
“You, mister Rairate, you’re okay with doing this? Can I ask you to try and stay nonviolent unless you guys are truly in mortal danger?”
“How do you define mortal danger, ‘aons?” said Rai.
“Let me put it this way. I want you to not kill any more punks, mister claw-fighter Nerre. I want you to get this lady in there to find those kids, and then back out of there alive- without killing anybody. The guys who killed the adults there are now dead anyhow. Don’t add to the corpses.”
“I understand.”
“Will you give me your word on it?” said Anzende.
Rai hesitated for a long time, long enough to suggest the seriousness of the Runge cop’s request. The very reluctance he showed was testament to the weight of his promise. He clearly didn’t want to say it.
“Mister Rairate- will you give me your word?”
“Yes.” said Rai. “For the duration of that journey, I will not add to the corpses.”
“I’m happy to hear it.” said the Runge cop wryly.
“How shall we get there? Denenke and I walked to Verss from there, and it took some time.”
“Well… there I think I might be able to help you out. My cruiser will go a lot faster than that.”
“You will drive us?” asked Rai.
“Um- you probably don’t want to pay close attention to my lap right now… I’ll just say that I can’t drive you. Can you drive, mister Nerre claw-fighter?”
Dene broke in. “I’ll drive.”
“You sound pretty decided.” said Anzende, an ear quirking in curiosity.
“We need to get there fast.” said Dene. “I’ll drive…”
“You’re sure you can handle it?” said Anzende. “They’re very fast. It’s no use to anybody if you paint yourself across the divider wall on the high-speed conduit.”
“I’m telling you, I’ll be okay. Actually I’ve always wanted to drive one of those.”
“I don’t want you using any of the weapons. I wish I had something more suitable for you to take, but I came here in my police cruiser and that’s all I have to offer.” said Anzende.
“It’ll be all right. I promise I won’t shoot anything. I don’t even know how.” said Dene.
“But you don’t know how to run the autopilot either! I’ve always thought it was a stupid idea to make it so complicated that we have to take classes to operate it. They never took into account the idea that we might need to have a civilian operate it… like if they’re driving injured cops away from a situation…”
Faisand wriggled on Anzende’s still stubbornly rigid erection. “I thought you were civilians.” she said.
The wolf cop looked cranky. “You’d be right. I guess it’s easy for the Verss flavor to rub off whether I like it or not…”
“I could hang onto you more, so you can go out and show her how the car works,” suggested Faisand. “Would that help?”
Anzende considered it. “I don’t think so. Put it this way- remember how I’d like you to be obeying the law a little more than you’ve been doing? Walking nonchalantly outside with my dick stuck in you was not what I had in mind for setting a good example. Actually, I’d like it if we could go to a room without outside windows. Can you do that for me?”
“I’d like to know how I could possibly stop you.” said Faisand wryly.
“Um- you could have me walking real funny, I’ll say that much. Please, darling, I’d like to get out of here. Maybe I can tell this lady how to disable some of the automatic stuff.”
Dene was watching closely. “That should work. I’ll need your key, right?”
“Worse.” said Anzende. “My badge is chipped- and so am I. You can’t have my body but you’re going to have to wear my badge even to get into the car. Once there, you hit the pad-scanner…”
“My pawpad? Which one?”
“Nah, your nose. It’ll activate the text entry and then you have t… you… um.”
“Enter text, I assume.” said Dene.
“The pass phrase. Oh geez. Oh GEEZ.”
Anzende’s dismay had aroused the attention of everybody within earshot- Faisand looked fascinated, Demarle’s ears were perked in total curiosity, even Rai looked interested, though in his case he also looked wary, as if the phrase might be distressing.
“Do you want to whisper it to me?” suggested Dene.
“Ma’am, these lovelies can hear a lot better than we do. Oh geez.” Anzende’s facefur was bristling terribly in embarrassment, and he sighed. “Okay… I want you all to understand that this is just private and I don’t mean any harm by it, please don’t give me too hard a time, okay? Oh geez.”
“Oh, just say it.” said Dene. “How bad can it be?”
“I am NOT prejudiced. You might say I’m the reverse, and I can’t help it now…”
“Anzy?” said Faisand, whiskers curling in amusement. “What have you been hiding?”
Anzende gulped. “The password, and it has to be all caps, is ‘once you have cat you never go back, exclamation point one one one exclamation point.”
“Really!” said Faisand, startled. Demarle burst out laughing. Rai backed off a bit and pretended to ignore the conversation again.
“It’s your fault, darling, for being too unforgettable. Since that first time, that’s been my passphrase.”
“Really!” said Faisand again. “Why on earth do you add exclamation points and ones?”
“You have to have some numbers in the pass phrase… and I add exclamation points because I mean them… my darling.”
Faisand purred and melted into Anzende’s embrace. “Keep it. I might say the same sort of thing.”
Dene looked a little cranky. “When you’re done, can you tell me what I do next?”
“You’re going t