Trust
Short, sickeningly sweet tale of two girls who love each other. One's open about her feelings, one's not. This is how that changes...
The polecat-girl shuffled from her room with her paws held out, ears askew and eyes squinting; her fulsome fur was mussed, her dark green pyjama top and paler green bottoms rumpled and twisted.
"Carrie?" she called out. "I can't find my glasses."
A blur of black, amber-gold and white at the far side of the main area of the flat shifted, as a warmly elegant voice chuckled. "They're on the book you were reading last night. Here, let me..."
The polecat sighed, shaking her head with a wry laugh. "Why do you insist on spoiling me?"
The figure filled her view, soft paws setting her glasses on her snout, the arms clasping the sides of her head. It focused into a black-backed jackal in just an unbuttoned shirt of vivid blue hue with swirling silvery patterns woven into it, most of a body that balanced grace and curves to captivating effect left unclothed.
"The same reason I've cooked you breakfast," the canid smiled, paw feathering the mustelid's cheek. "Because I love you."
Ears reddening, the polecat slipped by the jackal, straightening up her sleepwear as she made for the small table her meal was set out on. A pair of chairs were either side of it, one of which she dropped into, the other her companion fluidly occupied. The breakfast was simple, just bacon, eggs, fried bread and beans, but well cooked and tasty.
"So," the canine enquired, one leg pivoted up to rest on the other, a cup of tea now in her paws, "what's on the to-do list, today, Fen?"
"Research," the polecat answered, supping her own hot drink. "Write a report. I need to stock up on a few things, too, and collect my guitar from the shop. I might even try to grab that jigsaw I've been dithering over for so long. What about you?"
"Essays." Carrie splayed her ears in playful frustration. "Tutoring Mal this afternoon. A little of my own shopping. Dodging Deb."
"She's_still_ throwing cheap barbs at you?" Fen asked, frowning.
The jackal nodded. "By the pawful, every chance she gets. She seems to be deliberately seeking me out, now."
"Vindictive, isn't she?" The polecat-girl swallowed the last bite of her food, and got up to take her plate to the sink, expression softening to the melancholic. "Just last week she called me a 'four-eyed sack of dull with all the curves of a wall, and who wouldn't know true beauty if it smacked her in the face'."
Carrie moved to lean against the counter alongside the sink, reaching out to squeeze Fen's shoulder as the mustelid cleaned the dish. "Deb's an arrogant snob with delusions of grandeur; she wouldn't know true beauty if it danced nude in front of her singing 'I am true beauty, I am true beauty'."
"Good point." Fen set the plate in the rack and dried her paws, gazing at the shapely jackal with no small measure of appreciation. "After all, you'd never do that."
Carrie laughed. "Of course not. There's only one person who gets to see me in the fur, dancing or otherwise." She gave Fen a wink.
The polecat-girl blushed anew. "Not that she knows why."
The jackal took up Fen's paw, clasping it to one of her pertly rounded, white-furred breasts. "Because I trust you. And it makes you smile."
Tears prickled the mustelid's eyes as she did indeed smile, broadly; a keen determination soon set in, though, and she brought her free paw to the topmost button of her pyjama shirt.
Carrie's brows rose. "You really don't have t-"
"Yes, I do," Fen interrupted her, firmly. "It's only fair..."
"But if it makes you uncomfortable," the jackal persisted, "then..."
"I_need_ to do it," the polecat insisted. "Need to give back."
"All right." Carrie conceded; then a wry, soft smirk grew. "But that's kinda dependent on you actually, you know, doing it."
Fen's ears turned redder, but still her fingers hovered just shy of the button. Eventually, with a frustrated grunt, her paw fell away, while its owner slumped. Easing her other hand loose, she flashed a chagrined smile then hastened towards the bathroom, calling back. "I_will_ open up to you. I promise. I have to."
Carrie watched her go, smile turning hopeful. "I can't wait."
The jackal rubbed her muzzle, debating a word choice. She sat at the small table, her laptop running, her second essay almost complete. All she needed was a conclusion, but phrasing it was proving tricky. With a sigh she sat back, and took a deep gulp of orange juice, her pale eyes drifting to the door. She should be back any...
Almost as if given a cue Fen shouldered her way in, clutching a pair of carrier bags. With a half-hearted greeting she crossed to the kitchen area, and set to storing all the food she'd bought.
"Problems?" Carrie asked, concerned.
"I didn't get the jigsaw," the polecat sighed. "It was sold today. Guess I dithered a little too much."
"Rotten luck," the jackal commiserated. "Give me a moment to finish my essay, and I'll dole out all the comforting hugs you want."
Fen closed the fridge door, and headed for her room. "Eh, I'll get over it. It's not as if it was a serious rarity that I'll almost certainly never get a chance to buy again let alone lay eyes on and what in the world is it doing sitting on my bed?!"
Carrie roared with delighted laughter. "Surprise!"
Swinging road in her seat, she beamed at the polecat as they stepped back into the main room, their eyes glassy, the large puzzle clutched to their chest. Their incredulity was palpable.
"_You_bought this...?" she whispered, voice wavering.
"Yep!" Carrie chirped.
"For_me_...?"
"Double yep."
"B-but it was so expensive! And-and didn't you tell me the other day you were low on funds? Why...?"
Carrie got to her feet, smoothed the smoky grey crop top that was all she wore, paced up to the mustelid, and cradled her cheek in one paw while leaning so close their noses touched.
"Because," she murmured, with complete sincerity, "I love you."
Fen's ears turned redder than ever, her eyes fully watering; her head dipped, and her hand reached out to drift across the elegant curve of the jackal's hip and rear. Carrie responded with the softest of nuzzles, and a gossamer little lick; a shiver ran through the polecat-girl, and the steely resolve set in again.
In one sharp movement the mustelid tugged off her light, baggy red pullover, dropping it aside. A pause as she vacillated between equally loose leggings of darker red and a white blouse, then her fingers were almost scrabbling at the top buttons of the latter. She'd gotten two undone when a jaunty tune issued from Carrie's phone, sitting on the table by her laptop.
"Dammit!" the jackal cursed, darting across to grab it. "It's Mal; what great timing." She dabbed the screen and clapped it to an ear. "What, Mal?...yes, you're interrupting something...better have good reason or I'll...you forgot your tablet?" She cast around, frustrated. "I can't see it anywh...wait..." She crouched to pluck a tablet from under the table. "I got it...what now?...all right, all right, but you owe me...bye..."
Groaning, Carrie turned to Fen, who was sagging with a look close to despondent. The jackal went to her, brushing her cheek again. "Mal's gonna need this back tonight. I'll be as quick as I can." She kissed the polecat's nose, then headed for the door. "Maybe I'll buy you another jigsaw to apologise."
Fen watched her leave, tears tingling once more. As the door clicked shut her head lowered along with her ears, and a long sigh flowed out of her. She started to re-button her blouse, but froze as a realisation dawned. Her head and ears lifting, she stared at the door, and a smile began to spread.
The polecat-girl stiffened when she heard footsteps approaching the door. She pulled the bathrobe tighter about herself and straightened up, trying to calm her nerves with deep, regular breaths but not really succeeding. Her heart rate accelerated as the door knob rattled; then it swung open, Carrie was stepping in, and it jumped to her throat.
"Well, that was frustrati..." The jackal trailed off on spotting Fen, pale eyes widening. She let free a short laugh. "Oh, my!" She waggled the large plastic bag she was carrying, from which tantalising smells were issuing. "I guess takeaway will have to wait, huh?"
"Takeaway...?" Fen blinked. "You bought...?"
"Chinese," Carrie supplied, flowing across to the kitchen.
"My favourite." The mustelid half-giggled, cheeks dampening.
"But, of course. Consider it an apology for earlier."
A choked sob escaped Fen, then her paws flew to the tie of her robe.
"Whoa!" Carrie held up her paw. "Let me lock the door and close the curtains, first."
The polecat blinked again, then laughed. "Good idea."
Her tail fair dancing behind her the jackal secured the door, but when she went to the window, she froze completely. Her ears splayed, and a low growl began to rise from her. "Not rudddy now, Deb,please..."
"Deb?!" Fen's heart tried to hammer its way out of her throat. "No, no, no, no, no!"
"Yes." Carrie marched to the door, unlocking it. "I'll deal with her, and be right back."
The polecat-girl nodded mutely, barely fighting off the urge to run to her room; instead she stood, clutching the bathrobe even more tightly to her, and listened.
Carrie exhaled at length, sagging on the spot. Without so much as a glance at the fast-retreating Deb, she turned to the door. Unlocking it she stepped through, spun, and secured it. She marched to the flat's one window and yanked the curtain closed. Finally, she nearly tore off her clothes, threw them away, and was about to look at Fen when the mustelid's soft voice stopped her.
"Turn off the light," she requested. "Please."
"All right." Carrie moved back to the door, flicking the switch next to it. The room fell into almost perfect darkness. She revolved to where she remembered Fen to be standing. "Why?"
"Close your eyes."
"Seems redundant," the jackal laughed, "but all right."
Silence then stretched out for what felt like half an eternity. Carrie was just about to risk speaking when cloth quietly ruffled, followed by a muted click. More lingering silence, then Fen finally spoke.
"O-open them."
The jackal didn't do so immediately, pausing a moment to savour the anticipation. When she did, it took a second for her eyes to adjust to the soft light illuminating the room. It came from a disc of LEDs sitting on the floor right in front of Fen, playing up over the form of the now entirely nude polecat-girl.
Carrie's breath hitched. Trim, shapely legs flowed up into strong hips, that tapered into a subtly hourglass waist, that filled out to a graceful chest and handsome shoulders, between which round and soft breasts capped by warm brown nipples lay, with a pair half the size just below, and a third barely south of her pretty little crease of a navel, and two further sets of nipples finishing two tapering, dotted lines of them that led to the tidy, plush swell and seam of her vulva.
To the jackal, she was little short of radiant. No words came to her.
Standing with her arms loosely at her sides, her head bowed and her eyes closed, the mustelid was visibly trembling. "W...well...?"
"I..." Carrie swallowed. "You're...you're absolutely beautiful..."
"You're...you're just saying that..." The shivers had lessened a little.
"No." The canid surprised herself with her fervour. "No...I'm not." She took a step closer. "You. Are. Beautiful."
Fen laughed, a bright sound with only the faintest hint of nerves. "Is that why you love me?"
"No." Carrie took another step. "Well, it's certainly part of it now, but it's more because..." Another step. "Because...even though it_terrified_ you, you opened yourself up to me...because you thought it the only fair thing to do. How could I not love someone like that?"
"Funny thing." The polecat's voice grew stronger, filling with humour and warmth, as the jackal took one last step, to stand so close to her their fur nearly touched, and cradle her paws. Her head lifted fluidly, eyes locking with the equally-shining ones right in front of them, and her smile widened. "It's not nearly so scary any more."