FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

_All characters in this story are the intellectual property of the creators of the Dreamkeepers fiction universe. Disclaimer, etc. the only thing that I claim credit for is the following story. Note: The first flashback is several years prior to all the following ones.

Adding this here for those not familiar with the comic Dreamkeepers (Though I highly recommend you read said comic yourself!) For those who are not familiar with these two anthro characters, here's a bit of the official canon....Vanth is a bat-girl who due to her winged anatomy, does not have functional hands. Her school's flight academy has determined that her body mass is too high to safely teach her to fly, an evaluation she disagrees with vehemently. She is well loved by her parents, though constantly delinquent due to her frustrations. Harmony is an arthropoid girl, similar in form to a butterfly. She has six-limbed anatomy in addition to wings on her back that ARE capable of granting flight. She is an A+ student, and has been assigned to Vanth by the school they attend as part of the "helping hands friend" program, which assists students who have anatomical special needs to complete their schoolwork._

What follows is a NSFW fan-fiction that while drawing inspiration from the official prelude canon, is a creation of my telling.

(CLICK)

Lights flickered, illuminating the old apartment. Well, most of them did, as another one popped and burned out dead. It didn't really matter much, since her hearing was good enough to guide her even without sight, but nonetheless, it did bother her that she couldn't do a damn thing about changing out the stupid things, at least, not without asking for help.

That's why she was here, right? On her own. No need for overbearing parents, teachers who ALWAYS thought they knew everything about the way the world worked. Bast had shown her how it really worked though. She'd worked hard to secure her home, to gain enough respect from the street clans that they'd leave her alone. Demonstrate that you meant business right off the bat, that if you had to, you could slice someone open with just your feet, without the use of powers or weapons, and people respected you.

And she'd done well enough alone. With a little street smarts and luck with betting on the ryuu fights, she'd managed to get this old abandoned apartment to herself. Sliding the door shut behind her, she sighed and closed her eyes, immersing herself in the relative silence, stark contrast to the overwhelming noise on the streets. Alone. It was tough sometimes, but spirits knew she appreciated it. It had been so liberating, to find out she COULD take care of herself, that she DIDN'T need someone hovering over her all the time, embarrassing her because they assumed she wasn't capable.

*******FLASHBACK*******

"Vanth! Didn't you hear me the first time young lady?"

Trembling with utter mortification, Vanth slowly turned to face her mother standing in the doorway of her bedroom. "Mom....not...now..."

"No, it has to be now. I have an early day tomorrow, and I need to give you your bath before I go to bed. Unless you'd prefer I asked your dad?"

"MOM!!!" Vanth covered her face with her wings.

"Forgive me" a small polite voice interjected. "Should I be leaving? I don't want to be in the way here."

Vanth shut her eyes tight, trying to ignore the other girl in the room. It had been her first week paired with her new "helping hands friend." Harmony wasn't all that bad, even if she was obnoxiously academic at times. But this...how in the world would she ever live this down?! She'd tried so hard to avoid letting aspects of her private personal life (Or lack thereof) become known outside her home, and just like that...by the end of the week, no, by the end of tomorrow, everyone at school would know!

"Oh, Harmony, was it? No, you can wait if you two still have work to do, we won't take long"

Her mom was speaking again. No matter how hard she clamped her damn useless wings over her ears, she could still hear it.

"No, that's okay, we finished a while ago"

Vanth's eyes snapped open and she stared at the girl she'd only just met a few days ago. Behind her back, hidden from Vanth's mother, one of Harmony's lower hands was giving the "OK" signal. Vanth decided she wasn't going to say anything about the math book that had yet to be touched that night.

"Really?" Her mom eyed her. "I'm surprised you're still here, don't you have homework of your own to do."

Harmony shook her head, antennae waving slightly. "No, it's all done. We were just talking, I guess we lost track of time?"

"Talking?" Vanth's mom turned and gave her usually anti-social daughter a quizzical look. "About what?"

Harmony gave a small laugh, the antennae bobbing again with the motion. "Mostly about how annoying the gossip network is at school. Some people just have no respect for other peoples personal lives, right Vanth?

Vanth blinked and then nodded. "Uh, right. No respect at all."

Harmony gave her a smile and waved with one hand, her other 3 gathering up her books and scroll. "Good night Vanth. See you tomorrow,"

Vanth nodded. "Uh, yeah, good night Harmony" she replied.

*******PRESENT********

Vanth paused at the entrance to the bathroom. It had always been one of the things that bothered her the most, that even her parents didn't believe she was capable of doing the simplest of things on her own. Okay, so what if she had almost drowned in the bathtub when she was younger? Even after she'd grown to the point where that probably wasn't an issue, they still insisted on holding her...well, wing, at every step.

But now it didn't matter. It was one of the things she liked about this place, that the previous owner seemed to have had similar requirements that she did. All the cupboards, switches, fittings, even the faucets and knobs on the sink and shower, they were all levers or rings, designed so that someone without a grasping hand could manipulate them. Her talons clicked on the tiled floor as she verified that the floor drain hadn't become clogged again. She'd almost flooded the apartment the first time that had happened.

Sighing, she reached to her neck, hooking the ringed zipper with one of her thumb talons. The zippers on either side of her legs followed, and with one quick shrug to guide the baggy sleeves off her wings, she was naked. While finding clothes to fit her anatomy was only a little difficult, underwear was next to impossible. Either it was too flimsy and wound up being shredded by her various sharp extremities, or was of the kind where she'd need help with ties and clips when donning them. Not to mention she didn't exactly have the budget for such things now, so she just didn't bother. Yes, it did mean that she needed to shower far more often than the other street clanners to really feel clean, but that was none of their business, and now, she didn't need anyone's help with that either, so she didn't give a damn about what they thought

*****FLASHBACK *****

"Seriously, who gives a damn about what Viscount Lid-off thought?"

Harmony rolled her eyes as she listened to her friend rant. "Vanth, you know why it's important, Viscount Liddo was instrumental in forming the power laws that keep all of us safe."

Vanth's ears folded back in annoyance.. "And also the stupid laws about flight training. As if the same rules..." she paused to snap up the piece of popcorn Harmony had flicked in her direction. "are a perfect fit for everyone."

Harmony sighed, rubbing the striped ridges over her large eyes with one hand while another dug for more popcorn. It was going to be one of those study nights clearly. Not that she could really blame Vanth. In the years since she'd first met her, it was easy to see how difficult the rules were for her, even as well cared for as she was.. "Vanth, I know that this is a tough subject for you. But we did promise your parents we'd study at some point tonight. You know that we have that exam at the end of next week, and power law history is going to be a big part of it."

"Pfft." Vanth made a dismissive gesture with one wing. "They said we could take a break from the books to watch this. Anyways, how hard can the test be, just pick the answer that's the least amount of fun and you'll get it right. Now be quiet, the commercials are over and it's about to get interesting" she turned and focused on the screen.

Any reply Harmony had was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Vanth?" her mother stood in the doorway dressed in a clean white bathrobe. "We're going to be heading out in an hour. You know the drill, I'm not going to get wet spots on my nicest gown, and we're not going to be late, so hop to it.

Vanth groaned, but held her temper. It wasn't as if it was totally unexpected. Her parents were going out to some fancy black tie event at the tower, and she'd managed to convince them to let Harmony stay the night. While Harmony had long ago proved her integrity by keeping this aspect of her home life a secret, it was still somewhat embarrassing, even if she'd heard the routine several times before. Of course, it was also really annoying that the timing had arrived just as their favorite show was getting to the good part. "Ugh, alright. Harmony, be back in a bit. Fill me in when I get back?"

"Actually" the other girl turned to look at her mother. "If it's all the same to you, I can help her with that tonight, if she's okay with it?"

Vanth's mother raised an eyebrow, pale eyes unreadable as she regarded the other girl. "I suppose that's okay. Are you sure you don't mind?"

Vanth stared at her friend, her annoyance at not being asked her opinion overridden by surprise. Harmony had helped her get ready for gym at school many times, but never at this personal level. But then again, she was her best friend and she actually didn't really mind, so... "Mom, I don't mind. Please? The show's just getting good."

Her mother sighed, and then nodded. "Alright, But you'd better not skip out. You know how matted your hair gets if you don't wash proper. I'd better not find it all full of knots and tangles tomorrow morning."

"You won't mom. Love ya, have fun tonight."

******PRESENT*******

The old valve squeaked, and Vanth yelped as the cold water hit her body. It wasn't as nice as the one her parents had in their house, but it got the job done. Damn thing always took forever to warm up, though. Sighing as she adjusted to the temperature, she slowly unfolded her wings, water cascading down in rivulets as it followed the lines of the bones. It had been a warm day, and the folds had grown somewhat clammy in the heat, so the cool water was actually a welcome relief in this case. Stabilizing herself against the wall with one wing, she slowly drew one thumb claw over the curve at the base of her ear. It took a while, but she'd learned how to untangle knots and snarls with just the one claw. She'd always kept it short since allowing it to grow long would have increased the length of the chore dramatically. At least, not with out anyone else to help her with a brush.

******FLASHBACK********

Harmony twiddled the hairbrush between two hands, then slowly ran one of her fingers across the bristles. It was strangely fascinating.

"Harmony, hello?"

Squeaking in surprise, she almost dropped the brush as she hid it behind her back. "Sorry....what did you say?" she turned to her friend who had just returned to the bedroom with another bowl of popcorn.

"I asked if you wanted to play another game of..." She trailed off as she noticed Harmony's odd posture, and the fact that she was leaning rather conspicuously against Vanth's nightstand. "Were you looking for something?"

"What? No I...." Harmony fumbled and then really did drop the brush. "Sorry" she said softly, staring dumbly at the fallen implement.

"Is something wrong?" Vanth asked, one ear cocked sideways as she carefully set the bowl down. "You're acting odd."

Harmony sighed. "No, I mean.... Okay, it's kind of silly, but promise you won't laugh?"

Vanth nodded, still a little confused.

"I've...well, actually never used or even held one of these before so..." Harmony kneeled to pick up the brush in one hand. "I don't know, curious maybe?"

"About a hairbrush?"

"Well, when this is all you have to work with" Harmony gestured to her antennae, "There's not really any need."

"Oh." Vanth stared blankly for a moment. "I mean, there's not really anything special about it. Just one of those things you gotta do."

Harmony gave a short nervous laugh. "Right. It's just....well..."

Vanth was surprised to see her friend blushing slightly. Despite the leathery carapace and scales covering the majority of her body, the young arthropoid girl could be surprisingly expressive. But Vanth had never seen a blush before. "It's okay Harm. I won't laugh".

Harmony nodded and finally spoke

"I want to help you wash your hair."

"You....what?" Vanth actually took a step backwards in surprise.

"I'm sorry! I know it sounds weird, but I've always liked it. Your hair I mean. It's one of those things that girls are always talking about, doing their hair, and I always just felt like I was missing out." Her upper hands were clutching the hairbrush tightly to her chest, the nervousness evident in her voice. "I understand if you don't want me to though."

Vanth blinked, realization slowly dawning on her. "So that's why you told my mom you'd help."

Harmony nodded. "Well, not the only reason. You always just seemed to be annoyed whenever she interrupts us. I don't know. I didn't really think this through actually." she paused as she realized what she'd gotten herself into. "I should have asked you first, if you were okay with this."

Vanth's expression softened and she stepped forward, enveloping her friend with her wings. "Harmony. You're my best friend, and I wouldn't have said it was okay if it actually wasn't. You know me, right? Since when can I keep quiet if I'm not okay with things?"

Harmony giggled a little, her lower arms wrapping themselves around Vanth's waist to return the hug. "Since never."

******PRESENT*********

Frowning, Vanth once again adjusted the temperature of the water. Neighbor must have flushed next door. The building was old enough that it was sometimes a problem. Stepping out of the stream of water, she reached with her left thumb to a hook on the wall. All stupid jokes aside, soap on a rope was legitimately useful. Working up a lather across the surface of her other wing, she wrapped the membrane around her body, working it into the silky gray fur that covered most of her body. Once she was satisfied, she switched the loop to the right thumb and repeated with the other side. Perfectly capable. All on her own.

******FLASHBACK******

"Honestly, I probably could do all this on my own, but as much as I hate to admit it, I do kinda need your help with one thing first." she gestured towards the bathtub. "The idiots who designed this house fancied themselves beach combers."

"Beach....oh, I see." Harmony spotted the problem. The knobs for hot and cold water on the tub were shaped like ornamental sea shells. Impossible to turn unless you had opposable thumbs. "Is that all you need? Why doesn't your mom just run it for you and leave?"

Vanth snorted. "According to her, I need help with everything, even getting in and out." Vanth saw the question on Harmony's face before it was asked. She sighed. Harmony had the decency in the past not to ask about the situation, so she'd never told her the story. "When I was 6, my mom left the room for a moment, and I had decided that I was done with my bath. I slipped while trying to get out, and whacked my head on the edge when I fell since I couldn't catch myself. She came back in to find me face down unconscious in the water. Ever since then..." she shrugged.

Harmony winced in sympathy. "You know she must have been beyond worried."

Vanth sighed. "I know. It was a long time ago though, you'd think she could learn to trust me a little? I've grown, it's not like I'm totally helpless here"

"Right." Harmony paused. "Wait... wouldn't it be way easier with that?" She indicated the shower stall next to the tub. The frosted glass sliding doors were slightly open, revealing a shower bench and wire basket of cleaning products.

Vanth shuddered. "Showering with your mom, can you say awkward?"

Harmony laughed. "But, I'm not your mom right?"

Vanth thought about what Harmony was suggesting, then nodded excitedly. A hot shower, as opposed to just wallowing in lukewarm water sounded amazing. After years of supervised bathing she'd long gotten over any personal modesty issues with her mother, and she trusted Harmony just as much if not more. "It's just us girls right?"

Harmony smiled. "Right. I'll get the warm water going"

"Great" Vanth grinned and unzipped her jacket. The pants quickly followed, leaving her in nothing but a lacy red and black strapless bra and matching string bikini bottoms. Harmony laughed, remembering the first time she'd seen the lingerie her friend owned. They'd been doing homework, and Vanth's mother had asked her to put together a load of laundry, of course including her favorite hoodie jacket that she was wearing at the time.. Her gaping stare at the time had caused Vanth to break down laughing. She was the last person Harmony expected to be wearing "Tinsels Secret", what with the unflattering baggy clothes that she normally wore (and her distaste for the bratty pop star).

It made sense though, since there was no way of getting normal undergarments over her talons and claws, and even though she didn't have the body for the lingerie at the time, the trendy boutique was the easiest place to find things that actually worked. Of course these days....Harmony sighed. "Lucky..." she muttered under her breath, eying the cleavage that had secretly developed behind that baggy hoodie.

"Lucky about what?" Vanths ears perked, her thumbs still fiddling with the clasp at her chest.

Oh right. The hearing thing. Harmony just shook her head, reaching behind her wings to unzip the back of her own tunic. "You look a lot better in that stuff than the first time I saw them. You might hate the rest of your genes, but you really won on endowment."

"Pfft, you kidding?" Vanth retorted. "These things are annoying. The one time the guys at school did figure it out, they wouldn't stop bothering me for a week, acting like it was too hot to be wearing a jacket, 'suggesting' that I'd be more comfortable without it on. Ahhh...." she sighed with relief as she finally got the clasp, the binding falling free of her breasts. "Trust me, they're not as fun as they look"

"Maybe, but they have to be at least a little more fun than this" Harmony replied glumly, freeing the last arm from its sleeve. "I mean, look, there are ironing boards with more curvature than this." she gestured to her own chest. Although there was a slight curve where breasts would have been, it was still a mostly flat featureless expanse of pink shell with a small ridge running down the center. "The only thing feminine here is the color"

"Harm..." Vanth's face fell as she suddenly realized what she'd completely missed in the years she'd known Harmony. First the hair, now this, it was apparent she'd spent so much time being frustrated with her own body, she'd never really considered how Harmony felt. "How long has this been bothering you? You've never told me any of this before."

"I don't know. " Harmony replied, antennae drooping behind her head. "I mean, I'm lucky that I can at least pull off 'pretty', unlike some other arthropoids. But you know how rare we are. Among flyers, when it comes to beauty, it's all about feathers and fur, not scales and shell. It's why I've always focused so hard on school, so that I'd at least be respected for that."

"Harmony, you don't need their respect if that's all they care about" Vanth replied, wrapping her friend in another wing hug. "And besides, you've been so nice to me, even after I've gotten you in trouble, and I know I'm not easy to be around sometimes. You're a wonderful caring person, and if that doesn't mean anything to anyone else, they can go stuff their heads up their feathery furry..."

"All right, I get it" Harmony laughed, gently pushing Vanth away. "I appreciate it though, I really do." She glanced at the steam starting to billow from the open shower stall. "I think it should be good now."

"Yeah. One second." Vanth hooked her thumbs into the strings at her waist, sliding them over her hips. The panties fell past her knees....only to stop as they caught on the large dewclaws extending from the back of her feet. "Oh for spirits sake..." she muttered, shaking one foot in an effort to dislodge the undergarment.

Harmony covered her mouth with one hand, suppressing a laugh. "Wait, stop moving" she said, shaking her head in amusement. "Let me help"

"I could have gotten it" Vanth pouted, but obliged anyways.

"I know you could have" Harmony replied. "But this is easier. And besides, these are a really nice pair, you don't want to ruin them" Crouching down, she reached to untie the string caught on her friend's right ankle.

And stopped. Directly in front of her face, a tuft of gray fur marked the beginning of the soft shadowy folds between her friend's legs. It was strangely fascinating, especially considering the stark differences between their body types. Silky light gray fuzz obscured any further details, though Harmony knew exactly what would be hiding within, since all female dreamkeepers had roughly the same structure down there. This was the first example of female anatomy outside of her own she'd ever seen.

Wait, what was she doing? Harmony shook her head, suddenly reminded as to just why she was down here. "Hold on, the knot's being stubborn" she said conversationally, deftly untying both sets of strings at same time.

********PRESENT********

Settling down on a small plastic shower stool, Vanth carefully ran a wingtip between the layers of scales on her feet. It was the only place they grew, a hereditary quirk from her father. Originally she'd hated her feet, as massive as they were. But out here, they afforded her a certain level of intimidation. The talons and scales provided protection that shoes never would, even if she had been capable of wearing them. This did mean dirt and dust accumulated throughout the day, so the scales did need to be picked out occasionally, but that was something her wingtip claws were perfectly suited for. She sighed as she massaged the stiff muscles on each leg with the top edge of each wing. Many found it unnerving, the way she could hang upside-down for hours, just observing. A quirk of her anatomy meant she didn't have to expend any energy to hold that position, but hours of motionless watching did cause a little stiffness to accumulate. She paused as one of her thumbs tickled a very sensitive spot on the inside of one thigh. It had been a stressful day. No one else was here aside from her ryuu-neko, Harmony.

Harmony...

********FLASHBACK********

"Harmony, before you get in, grab the shampoo and fur wash from the tub"

"One moment" Harmony placed her underwear on top of her neatly folded skirt and tunic, then turned to look for the requested items. Behind her a sound of contentment echoed through the bathroom as she heard Vanth step in to the steamy shower. "Which ones?" she paused, staring at the bottles sitting at the edge of the bathtub. There were way more than she expected.

"The green and the blue one" Vanth replied, her voice somewhat distorted by the streaming water. "Wait, no, there's already fur wash in here, so never mind the blue one."

"Got it" Harmony nodded, grabbing the bottle covered in stylized leaf green ryuu-nekos. "Do you really need all those different things?" she asked, carefully stepping in and placing the bottle on the bench, another arm sliding the frosted glass door shut behind her.

"Well..." Vanth paused to shake the water from her eyes. "Obviously there's no point in bubble bath here. The rest of those are my mom's, for that long tail of hers. Your turn." she added, moving aside.

"I didn't realize fur was so much work." Harmony replied, wings fluttering slightly as she stepped into the hot water stream. It was the perfect temperature. "The worst I ever have to deal with is scale shedding." she laughed a little, brushing a hand over one dripping antennae. "But aside from that..." she turned and gestured with all four hands. "Pretty simple, water runs right off everything."

Vanth smiled. "Simple looks really good on you."

"What?" Harmony blinked in confusion,

"I mean it" Vanth nodded, looking up and down her friend. Although Harmony's slim body was indeed mostly featureless, there was a delicate elegance to her. Water shined off of segments joined together at graceful angles, all part of a body meant to be borne aloft by those magnificent wings. "If any of the others could see this, they wouldn't be teasing you"

Harmony blushed even deeper than she had when she'd been caught with Vanth's brush. "I...no! I don't want them to to see..." her top pair of hands gesticulated frantically while the lower pair instinctively covered the feminine cleft between her legs. "I mean..."

Vanth giggled. "Harm, I'm kidding! No one else has to see! Seriously though. You have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of."

Harmony smiled and nodded, though the blush still remained. "I...Thank you."

"I tell it like it is" Vanth shrugged, then tapped the bottle Harmony had retrieved with one thumb. "Did you want to do this now? My hair is wet enough."

"Sure" Harmony nodded, hoping that the flutter of excitement she felt in her chest didn't show in her voice. Turning to grab the green bottle and popping open the cap, she paused as she realized she had no idea what she was doing. "How much do I need here?" she asked somewhat sheepishly.

Vanth smiled, recognizing her friend's shy uneasiness. It was actually very endearing. "Mom just uses a handful." she replied, then looked at Harmony's own thin three fingered hands. "So, maybe two of yours?"

Harmony nodded, cupping one set of hands together and pouring out a quantity of cool aloe scented green liquid.

"Yeah, that's enough. Now, just start at the top, and try not to let it get it in my eyes." Vanth shifted a little closer to the edge of the bench to make it easier for Harmony.

"So I just...eep!" Harmony squeaked as the liquid spilled out of her palms to land in a glob between Vanth's ears.

"That's okay! Just spread it around" Vanth lowered her head and closed her eyes, one ear twitching slightly as some of the cool liquid touched it. "There's more if you need it."

"Right" Harmony nodded, some of her nervousness easing away. Setting the bottle down, she tentatively ran her fingers across Vanth's scalp, spreading the shampoo across the icy blue strands with all four hands. "Let me know if I'm pulling too hard."

Vanth gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head. "You're not. Use your fingers to work it in, down towards the skin. I'll let you know if you're doing it too hard. Yeah, like that..." She sighed as chills ran down her spine in reaction to the gentle pressure on her scalp. "Just...keep doing that."

Harmony barely heard the words. While she'd had plenty of exposure to fur on the adorable ryuu-nekos, hair had been a complete mystery to her...until now. Vanth kept her hair shorter than most other girls, but to Harmony, it was absolutely luxurious. Subconsciously, her hands began to simply stroke the lathered up blue hair, following the curve of her friend's large expressive ears, down the center of her scalp, all the way down to the nape her neck. A shiver of something, Harmony didn't know what, ran through her body. Wistfully, one hand traced the thin black markings down the side of Vanth's face, following the spiral all the way down her cheek.

"Harmony?"

Harmony froze, suddenly realizing what she'd been doing. "Yes?" she replied nervously, her mind racing to find an explanation for her actions.

"Help me up?" Vanth asked, her eyes still closed.

Harmony swallowed, still uncertain as to what had just happened. Taking one outstretched wing, Harmony helped Vanth to her feet and moved behind her, guiding her under the water stream. Vanth sighed with contentment as the water cascaded over her head and down her back. Harmony watched in rapt attention as the normally spiky blue shock of hair fell into graceful tresses around her friend's ears, just short of her shoulders. It was beautiful. Tentatively, she reached up and ran her fingers through the strands. Her heart skipped a beat as Vanth leaned back into her touch.

"I really like that"

"I'm glad." Harmony replied almost breathlessly. "Thank you for letting me do this"

"No." Vanth shook her head, turning to face her friend, a serene look on her face. "Thank you. For everything, for always being there, even when I was being difficult." Large pink eyes slowly opened in a gesture reminiscent of an affectionate ryuu-neko. Reaching up with a wing, she hooked her thumb around the hand that was still stroking her hair, caressing as best as she could with the claw. "You've been so much more than just a helping hand friend. Even though you didn't have to be. If there's anything else you want to do...."

Harmony pulled the other naked girl into a hug with all four arms. "You don't have to" she whispered into her friend's ear, nearly overwhelmed with emotion. "You've already been so nice about today."

"But what if I want you to?" the reply came back, almost too quiet for her to hear.

"Vanth?" Loosening her hold enough to look at her friend, she was surprised to find a shy but playful look on her face.

"I know I said I could probably do everything by myself" Vanth continued "but if you want....you could help me with the rest" she looked over Harmony's shoulder.

Harmony turned, following Vanth's gaze to the blue fur wash bottle on the shower bench. "You mean..." she turned back to face Vanth, unable to finish the sentence, even though she knew exactly what her friend was suggesting. She was suddenly very aware of the soft fur covering her friend, the soft swells of her breasts still pressed up against her, even though she'd loosened her grip from the hug.

There had been an intense fluttering sensation building in her chest ever since she'd gotten into the shower, one that she'd been trying to ignore, but with soft feminine curves clinging to her body, it was impossible to do so any longer. She'd never paid much attention to her own feelings on the matter, but at this moment, she couldn't think of anything more beautiful than the body Vanth kept hidden from the rest of the world. Her wings fluttered as a warm sensation started building in her lower abdomen. "Do you?" she asked, her words barely audible over the running water. "I mean...do you want..."

Vanth leaned forward, brushing Harmony's lips with a feathery soft kiss. "I want you to." she whispered.

Almost in a trance, Harmony nodded, the blue bottle somehow appearing in one of her hands as the others guided Vanth to stand in front of the bench, warmth down her spine as the water spattered across her wings and back. "Turn around" she heard herself say, popping open the bottle cap. "Let me get your back first".

"EEE!!! Cold!" Vanth squealed playfully as the cool liquid made contact with her back, then sighed as firm yet gentle hands moved across her body. "Harmony, that feels so good".

Harmony was unable to reply, completely enthralled by the feel of her friend beneath her hands. Despite the apparent lack of functionality of her wings, Vanth still had the body of a flyer. Lean wiry muscles rippled in response to Harmony's touch across her back, shoulders and arms. Taking Vanth's sighs as encouragement, her hands moved downward across the soft gray fur, pausing only for a moment as she reached her friends muscular hips before moving onward. A breath she didn't realize she was holding escaped as her hands spread lather across the toned thighs and shapely rump, feeling a firmness that rivaled her own carapace. "Vanth, you have such a beautiful body" Suddenly she felt Vanth tense up. "Sorry!" she quickly withdrew her hands, embarrassed at what she'd been doing.

"Harmony." Vanth shook her head, then turned to face her friend. "Coming from anyone else, I wouldn't believe it, but from you..." she blinked, a dampness forming around her eyes that had nothing to do with the water splashing behind her. "I believe it. Thank you. Thank you so much."

This time the kiss was deep and intense. For Vanth, it was beyond imagining. The feel of hard fingertips running through her hair sent tingles all the way down her spine, to where another pair of hands clung tightly to her waist, keeping her right where she wanted to be. "Harmony..." she gasped as they broke free for a moment. "Please. Don't stop"

Harmony nodded, one hand still running her fingers through the hair around Vanth's ears. Any of her previous feelings of envy or embarrassment were completely absent, replaced by a desire to explore every inch of Vanth's incredible body. Seemingly of its own accord, the other hand had found its way down Vanth's neck to caress the curves of one breast.

"Oh spirits yes..." Vanth's eyes closed in ecstasy, her wings wrapping themselves around Harmony's slender hips as best as they could, claws scraping across the cool hard shell. "Yesss..." she hissed with pleasure as fingertips flicked across the sensitive nipple. The firm yet gentle feeling was something she'd never dreamed of, especially not from Harmony, but right now she could imagine nothing else. More chills ran up her spine as the second pair of hands on her hips slid lower, stroking and kneading the hard muscles of her rear. "Harmony, you're amazing" she murmured as she leaned into the embrace.

"Me?" Harmony laughed. "You're...I mean, I never imagined....well, any of this." she gave a squeeze to emphasize the last word, drawing a purr of contentment from Vanth. "I hardly know what I'm doing"

"Oh come on, you know everything. At least.." Vanth sighed at the touch on her breast "it feels like you do."

Harmony smiled demurely "Only what I read. You wouldn't believe what...." she suddenly covered her mouth with one hand.

Vanth grinned impishly. "Wouldn't believe what? Has someone been doing some late night studying in the library?"

Harmony rolled her eyes in amused resignation. "Okay okay. I was staying late and I bumped into Lilith...."

Vanth laughed "Of course she'd be there, I think she's the only one who studies more than you do"

"Maybe." Harmony shrugged. "Anyways. She dropped a bunch of books, apologized while gathering them, and then she ran off. Well, she missed one. I caught a glance at the page it fell open to and..." her antennae quivered in a silent nervous laugh. "Well, I think it might have been why she ran off."

"What was it?" Vanth asked, suddenly more interested in a book than she'd ever been in her life.

Harmony giggled nervously. "It...oh, I can't say! It's too..." she shook her head.

Vanth swallowed, her heart thumping in her chest. Leaning in close to Harmony, she whispered softly in her ear.

"Can you show me?"

Harmony was still for a moment, then very slowly, she nodded. Her entire body quivering, she moved one of her lower hands from around Vanth's rear, across her hip, over the top and to the inside of one thigh.

Vanth exhaled slowly as the touch caused her fur to ripple. The hand was teasing further upward now, and she felt her knees reflexively open as the tingles merged into building heat at the junction of her thighs. She'd been to the same health class as Harmony, where they'd split the boys and girls to teach sugar coated 'facts of life'. The teacher had been absolutely adamant that just like power use, and unlicensed flying, there were other things that good dreamkeepers didn't do. Things that she desperately wanted right now. She gave a sharp intake of breath as Harmony's fingers moved over the fur covering her most secret of places and then...

Harmony almost stumbled as her friend nearly collapsed against her with a moan. The clawed wings around her abdomen clutched even tighter as her nimble fingers explored the slick folds to find Vanth's center of pleasure, eliciting a sharp gasp when she found the hidden pearl. Another moan echoed through the shower, and with a shock she realized it was her own voice. Her heart pounded with excitement as she felt soft breasts pressed against her chest, each stroke of her fingertips bringing another shudder that her own body mirrored.

"Spirits...I'm flying..." Vanths voice was soft in her ear. "Keep...yes!." Suddenly she gave a cry, her legs giving out on her as she climaxed. Harmony braced herself against the wall, the other girl wrapped in all four arms, guiding both of them to the tiled floor. For a moment, the cascading hot water was the only sound they heard. After a few moments, Vanth's heavy breathing slowed and she pulled herself out of Harmony's lap. Kneeling, she pulled one strand of wet hair out of eyes with one thumb.

"That was...." Vanth shook her head. "How did you get that good from just a quick look at a book..." Pausing as something occurred to her, a sly look crossed her face. "Wait. I know you. It's impossible for you to "just glance" at a book. You had to have read it and....." She stared at Harmony, who looked away shyly. Vanth grinned. "You went home and 'studied' yourself, didn't you?"

A demure smile crossed Harmony's face and she finally nodded, not trusting her voice at the moment. Vanth giggled and reached out affectionately, her wing resting on Harmony's knee. "And here I thought you were the innocent one". Glancing downward, her attention was suddenly grabbed by the pink shell framed between the green of Harmony's legs.

Harmony shifted, and to her surprise found her legs falling open further on their own accord. Earlier she had covered herself in embarrassment. She suddenly found that not only did she not care, but the way Vanth was staring was exciting her in more ways than one. Just as she was trying to figure out how to suggest what she desperately wanted, Vanth solved the problem for her.

"Harmony. I....I want to try." she asked, kneeling in front of Harmony. "After what you did for me, to make me feel that good. I want to, for you. But...." she looked down at her wing, at the long finger bones ending in sharp points. "They've been useless for so many other things. I don't want to hurt you"

Rising to her own unsteady knees, Harmony moved close to Vanth and took the wing in her upper hands. "You won't" she replied, running her fingers gently across its surface. She'd never really paid much attention to them, though a lot of that was because the other girl didn't like talking about them. They were fascinating, so completely different from the set she had on her back. The blue membrane stretching between the elongated fingers and elbow was completely smooth, in contrast to the soft velvety gray fur covering the rest of each wing. Running her hand across what would have been Vanth's forefinger, she touched the knuckle where it formed a ridge midway between the sharp wingtip and Vanth's thumb. "Use this, here" she whispered, spreading her knees slightly to allow access.

Vanth nodded, allowing Harmony to guide her wing with her lower left hand. A shiver ran through her body as the appendage made contact with her new lover's most intimate of places. Unlike the rest of Harmony's body, the shell here was delicate, distinctly less rigid. At the urging of Harmony's hand, she pushed gently upward, drawing a breath of wonder as the shell parted, enveloping her wing in a warmth and wetness that had nothing to do with the shower.

"Slowly..." Harmony whispered, her wings fluttering behind her as she steadied herself against Vanth with both right hands. "Just move it...oh..." her eyes closed and she trailed off into a soft moan as Vanth found exactly what she'd discovered that night in the library book.

"Like this Harm?" Vanth asked, though the shy smile on her face showed she already knew the answer.

"Spirits yes..." Harmony gasped. "It's so much better than when I ahh!" she pulled Vanth closer and buried her face into the icy blue hair below the other girls ear, a whimper of ecstasy muffled by the wet tresses. "So much better when you do it" she whispered, pulling back slightly and lightly touching her forehead to Vanth's, antennae quivering in response to the other girls efforts.

Vanth wrapped her other unoccupied wing around Harmony's shoulder in a light hug. "I always wanted to give back to you, somehow, when you've always given so much to me." she whispered, her touch below following the rocking that Harmony's hips had started on their own. " she grinned devilishly as more soft sounds of pleasure reached her ears. "And now that I know how, I really don't want to stop"

Harmony smiled. "I don't either" she replied softly, her lower right hand retracing its earlier path from Vanth's hip to between her legs. "So I won't" she covered Vanth's mouth with her own as her nimble fingers once again found their way. Her touch had the desired effect as Vanth moaned in approval and pulled her in tighter, matching the rhythm of Harmony's touch with her own. "Vanth..." she gasped breaking free momentarily from the kiss. "I'm so close..."

Vanth simply nodded, unable to find words as Harmony once again brought her to the edge. With a collective cry that echoed through the room, the two climaxed simultaneously, claws and shell scraping across the shower floor as they rode wave after wave of orgasmic energy. Finally they collapsed in a tangle of limbs, neither caring about the hard tiled floor or cooling water as they embraced, reveling in moment of their new relationship.

********PRESENT*********

Vanth came back to her senses as she realized that the water had turned cold on her. Shaking water out of her eyes, she glanced at the overturned stool next to her before rinsing the remnants of her arousal from the edge of her wing. A tickle at her elbow drew her attention and she looked down to see her ryuu-neko nosing her arm, chirping in concern. Shaking her head, she reached up to turn off the water before the little creature got totally soaked. The rare darkness/air hybrid had a volatile temper, but was absolutely loyal to her. After reassuring itself that her fall from the stool had caused no harm, her pet jumped into her lap, letting out a mournful trill as it sensed that something else was wrong. Vanth blinked, realizing that drops of moisture were still rolling down her face even though the shower was off. Closing her eyes, she gently hugged her pet, allowing it to nuzzle its face beneath her chin.

Harmony....