A Hero's Reward Part VII: Same Old Song in a Whole New Key
This story is for my friend Jason, a furry in denial.
* * *
Kyle was pinned roughly against the wall, his stalks of arms and legs hung limply under his glazed facial expression.
Vladimir Renoir, a big hug jock and professional part-time Kyle-puncher, had his huge paw pushed on the panther's chest, beating his face repeatedly. The gigantic Russian timber wolf was thoroughly pissed at Kyle just because he had some acquaintance with Riku, Vlad's ex-girlfriend. Kyle took his too-often beating with usual lack, even absence of resistance.
The only reason that the huge timber wolf was not beating on Alex Ferdinand, was because Kyle was a cat. Vladimir hated nothing more than cats.
Kyle grunted as his bloodied head was pounded continually against the brick wall behind him. Vlad pulled his great arm back, allowing Kyle to finally slide down onto the ground.
"Stay down, asshole," the timber wolf warned, swinging a merciless kick onto Kyle's pumping ribs.
The rather skinny blue panther strained the muscles in his arms to hold his torso up for just one more second, every second that passed.
"Stay down!" Vlad repeated, snorting, and spitting a huge load of phlegm into the back of Kyle's neck. Kyle finally managed to push himself up to a squatting position, wiping the blood from his eyes and spitting out a tooth.
Vlad rolled his eyes at the pitiful sight. An evil smile spread across his face, as he decided to play around a bit.
"You really like that little catgirl, don't you?" Vlad said, his strong Russian accent extending his voice gutturally at any vowel pronunciation. "She's a freak."
Kyle's entire body went weak and trembling, resigning finally at the mention of Nikki.
"She... she's not..." Kyle croaked, gasping for breath at each syllable.
Vlad gave a short laugh, his long gray hair whipping about tauntingly. "That little whore is unnatural, a freak. Even a fink like you deserves batter that her," the wolf spat into Kyle's face, which was covered in a mixture of blood and spit.
"T... take it back Vlad..." Kyle managed to groan, pushing his elbows against the wall behind him, his legs seemingly reduced to jelly. The panther attempted to stand, but fell back again.
"That is pathetic, you are pathetic! You can't even get a real girl!" Vlad laughed, hoisting Kyle by the collar and socking his across the face with a great fist.
Kyle's internal works switched from emotive resignation to burning rage, and he closed his big eyes tight. The panther rolled his shoulders, building up strength to lift his arms. His tail and chest began to puff up, and he slid out his razor sharp claws.
"What are you waiting for, I wasn't born yesterday! This is the part where the little geek-faced idiot tries to be a hero and punch me! Do your worst you dumb-" Vlad started to jeer, but his eyes opened wide as Kyle roared, and latched his paws onto his adversaries face, balling his fists entirely to sink his weapons farther into Vlad's face.
"Ah! You bastard! Get off!" Vlad wailed, pulling at Kyle's paws, only causing them to tear off more skin and fur.
Kyle finally found the sense to knee the wolf in the stomach with what remained of his might.
"Get off you pussy!" Vlad finally yelled, tearing Kyle's clawed paws, and a good portion of his face, off. "I'm gonna kill you!" the timber wolf yelled, his accent deepening his voice. He drew out of his pants-pocket a small switchblade, witch he promptly switched.
Kyle took the opportunity while Vlad was holding his torn face to run for his dear sweet life from the angered giant.
The blue panther limped out of the alley behind his school, bloody and broken, holding his chest. Kyle finally collapsed in a grassy flat in the wooded area outside of his school, tears pouring from his tightly closed eyes.
"Jesus! Kyle, are you ok?" came the concerned voice of Kyle's friend Aaron Spruce, a pitch black panther. "Can you hear me buddy?"
Kyle did not answer.
Aaron rolled his friend over, seeing that he had taken many blunt blows to the chest and face. "I'm gonna call an ambulance, don't try to move!" the black panther said, whipping out his trusty cell phone.
"No!" Kyle grunted, sitting up on his elbows.
"Kyle, lay down. I think you have a concussion," Aaron scolded, gently laying Kyle flat again on the soft grass. "Who did this?" he asked, pulling his water bottle from his back pack and pouring some of its contents into Kyle's limp mouth, and the rest over his chest.
Kyle responded only by attempting to sit up again. "Don't call... anyone... I can get home... ok," he grunted, a trickle of blood running down his lip.
"Lean on me," Aaron said warmly, helping Kyle to his feet and beginning to walk him to his house, one step at a time.
It was several days after the end of spring break, and Kyle was still suffering from a depression, in grief for his older brother, who was out at war.
Kyle looked up at the sky, then down at his chest. His injuries were not life-threatening, though would take time to mend and heal. He recognized the grassy clearing as the area where he had taken Nikki's virginity, the very first time that the two of them had made love.
Aaron found Kyle backpack in a tree nearby, and carried it to the crosswalk where he waited for cars to stop. Kyle leaned on his friend, limping across the street, taking various stares from drivers.
Aaron dropped the blue panther off at his house. "You gonna be ok, Kyle? I'll help you up the stares if you-" the black panther started, but Kyle waved his away, limping and stumbling into his house and pushing the door shut with his bruised shoulder.
"Hi Kyle, how was school?" Mrs. Eighly, Kyle's mother, asked from the kitchen. Kyle grunted, then kneeled down at the foot of the stairs. He reached his hand up for the banister, using what strength he had in his right arm to drag his entire body up the stairs. The pain was not sharp, but more of an ache, as though every bone in his body was bruised. Kyle felt as though he would just fall asleep on the stairs, letting his heavy backpack roll downward the duration of the carpeted stairway.
"Honey, there is a barbecue at Beckett Park tomorrow, we are going," Fiona Eighly informed her son over the clash of dishes in the sink.
Kyle hardly acknowledged, as he was bust climbing the peak of Everest that was now his hall staircase. Three more to go, he thought to himself, now able to reach the plain at the start of the hall. With one great heave, he was now to his waist in the hallway, reaching to grab the bottom of the doorframe to his room. He dragged himself to the point where he could now see his warm bed through the open door to his room. He sighed, and crawled on all fours unto the sanctuary, dropping his backpack at the foot.
Kyle pulled the warm cover up to his shoulders, laying his big fuzzy head onto his pillow. Upon closing his eyes, the panther winced as he heard his mother's quick steps up the stairs.
"C'mon lazy-butt, you have some chores to do..." Mrs. Eighly nagged, grasping the covers at her son's back. Kyle shifted as not to let his mother remove the covers, and he groaned in protest to her approaches.
The sky-blue panther woman finally managed to yank the blankets off of the bed. She shrieked, shocked at Kyle's appearance. Kyle inhaled hastily, startled by the pitch of his mother's fright.
Mrs. Eighly ran her tearing eyes across her son's bloody and beaten body, letting her tears fall onto him. "Kyle, what happened to you?" she gasped, running her fingers softly over her son's torn torso.
"I... was ...hiking through... the Crash..." Kyle lied, referring to the trails outside of his school, which were named 'the Crash' because of its dangerous terrain. "...and I... fell into the... Devil's Club... got STUNG..." Kyle said, gasping the last word as his mother ran her hand over an open wound.
Fiona was only half convinced. "Must have been some fall," she said, eyeing Kyle's head, which was battered and bloodied.
"...the... eh, gravel on the... declination... broke my fall... Aaron brought me home," Kyle said, pulling the whole story out of his ass.
Fiona smiled warmly, tucking the covers back around Kyle, "You are lucky to have friends like Aaron," she said, kissing Kyle on the cheek and leaving the room.
Kyle's mother squinted, quickly running to the bathroom to fetch the bottle of hydrogen peroxide from the cupboard, and returning to Kyle's room quietly. She knew that Kyle hated any form of cold liquid on his body, especially once that stings and sizzles.
Seeing that her son had fallen asleep, Fiona slowly pulled back the covers to tend to his wounds. Kyle was dreaming, unfortunately, as his mother was dabbing the cool salve onto his chest.
"Nikki... stop," Kyle murred in his sleep, pushing his mothers hand away.
Mrs. Eighly raised an eyebrow and continued nursing. She proceeded in carefully wrapping her son's arms, legs, and torso in gauze, and placing another pillow under his head. "Rest easy Kyle," Mrs. Eighly finished, kissing Kyle on the cheek and patting him on the head. She left the room, for real this time.
* * *
Nikki opened her big eyes to see that he had fallen off of her bed and rolled under it. She struggled to free herself of the sheets that bound her before eventually poking her dead out from under the wooden bunk. She peered around her room, smiling brightly. Saturday morning. Bright and early... for Nikki anyway. Her bedside alarm clock read half past ten A.M. She crawled out from under the stout bed, yawning and stretching. She was clothed in nothing but her panties, which was her usual bed garb.
The Neko slipped on a T-shirt, opening her room door and stepping onto the longer carpet that made up the hallway. All of the houses in her neighborhood consisted of the same basic design, business in the front... and party in the back.
Nikki skipped down the stairs, smiling brightly and her father, who was reading the newspaper, and eating breakfast at the same time. The man looked past the intelligence report, and waved at Nikki, his hand missing its middle finger.
"Nikki! good morning, sweetie. You should get ready for the barbecue at the Mackenzie's place this afternoon," Nikki's mother, Samantha, said. She offered her daughter a plate of bacon and eggs, which she refused.
"Aww, Mom! Do I have to go to that stupid thing every year?" Nikki whined, turning for the stairs again.
"Hey C'mon, there will be a swimming pool!" Samantha prompted, trying to convince Nikki to come, as she had to every other year. "There'll be boys there..." She continued, raising her eyebrows and smiling.
"Mom!" Nikki said, blushing. She did not want to say that she already had a boyfriend, despite the fact that she was pretty sure that her parents already knew.
Samantha rolled her eyes at her daughter's whines, and said, "Well, your coming anyway, your father and I are going."
Curt Wagner's head popped up from behind the newspaper, "Hey, I thought-" he started to complain, but Samantha cut him short.
"You're going." Mrs. Wagner said with utter finality.
"Yes, dear..." Curt replied, pouting back into the newspaper.
"Mama, don't you think I'm old enough to stay home alone, yet?" Nikki said, becoming angry at her parents all of a sudden, throwing her short arms out to her sides.
"You are only eleven Nikki! We are going all the way up past Evansbhurg!" Samantha scolded, taking some egg salad that she had prepared for the barbecue out of the refrigerator.
Nikki growled gutturally. "I'm so tired of you treating me like a baby!" the Neko fumed, stomping up stairs, her yellow tail wagging back and forth violently. SLAM! Her room door shut as she walked into it.
"It's about time some hormones came to a boil in that girl..." Curt said, his face still in the newspaper. Samantha leaned back against the table, her paw on her forehead.
"Oh, the attitude she'll have when she's sixteen..." the feline-woman groaned. Curt rolled his eyes this time.
* * *
Nikki pounced up onto her bed, taking one of her pillows in her fanged mouth, shaking it around, and tossing it across the room. At that moment, she thought that she was the only child on earth who grew tired of their parents sometimes. She stretched her arm under her bed, producing her fiddle case. The instrument that she played was much smaller than the one at Kyle's house. She applied resin to the bowstrings, and placed it at tip to the G string.
Her short arm worked furiously as she sawed out Horvits' "Concerto in G Major" which was a traditional Thanksgiving Holiday song, played by the pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. She sawed so furiously at the instrument, the music playing so loudly that it sounded like a screaming cat (i.e. Nikki). The G string on her fiddle snapped clean up, whipping the Neko in the face and leaving a razor thin line of blood up her cheek.
"Damn it!" she yelled, her grip deathly tight on the fingerboard. The Neko lowered the violin to her criss-crossed legs. She wiped off her cut face, then the little bit of blood onto her pillow.
Nikki looked down onto the blankets of the bed. The little bit of blood from the cut on her face was gone, but there was a mess more of the red liquid on the bed between her legs.
"Ahh! What's happening to me!" Nikki screeched, not having experienced her period. She crawled under her blankets, where she sat in a fetal position.
Samantha Wagner, Nikki's mother, walked into the room slowly, seeing the elevated lump of blankets that was her daughter. "Nikki, I'm sorry for yelling at you..." she said, having heard the Neko's yell from downstairs.
"Go away." Nikki replied, her voice muffled by blankets.
"Nikki... listen to me. You are right. You are growing up now, and your father and I need to grow into that ourselves," Samantha said, warmly, still standing at the doorframe. "You don't have to go to that barbecue if you don't want to."
"Please, Mama just leave me alone," Nikki whined, in fear that he mother would remove the blankets and see her menstrual period.
"Are you ok, honey?" Nikki's mother asked, attempting to pull the covers over her daughter's head. Samantha finally managed to remove the covers completely, raising an eyebrow at the sight of Nikki's behind in her face.
Nikki had burrowed her head into her pillow in shame. Her mother smiled knowingly.
"Nikki, I know what is going on..." Samantha began. "The same thing happened to me when I was your age. It is the same with every girl on earth."
Nikki pulled the covers back up over her head, burrowing farther into the pillows.
"Don't be afraid Nikki. You are going through puberty, and it is a natural thing..." Nikki's mother continued.
"I don't want to hear!" Nikki whined, pulling the pillowcase so in covered her entire head and shoulders.
"If you ever need to know anything, Nikki, don't hide it from us. You can tell us anything, and we will love you no matter what. Please remember that." Samantha said warmly, tucking Nikki into the bed, and returning to the kitchen downstairs to clean up the bountiful remains of breakfast.
Anything. The word echoed through Nikki's head like The Raven's rapping. 'I can't tell you anything...' the Neko thought to herself, turning out of bed, and standing up. Her optimistic side began to show, and she suddenly became happy again.
"Saturday..." she said to herself, changing panties, and ignoring the ache that was building in her pussy. "And no Makenzies..." The Neko was still talking out loud. She looked down at her vagina again, noting the blood that had spilled out of it. She noted mentally to get some tampons...
"Nikki, my cell phone number is on the fridge, nine-one-one, you know the drill. Curt and I are leaving. Are you sure you don't want to come?" Nikki's mother shouted up stairs.
"Yes, Mama, I will stay home," Nikki shouted back, pulling on a pair of white socks. She sat back again at the sound of the front door closing, and the car soon starting up.
The Neko lay on her bed, thinking about calling up Kyle, or one of her other friends. Now that she had had her first period, she felt like a woman, and not just a girl. Soon, the little Neko would be a big cat-woman, proudly flaunting the name Nicole Wagner. She closed her eyes, envisioning her adulthood (mainly herself with breasts). Nikki was eleven years old, almost twelve, but she had the body of a six-year-old.
Nikki marched downstairs proudly, pouncing into the kitchen. The Neko snatched a peach from the fruit bowl on the table, and took a large bite out of one side. She let out a small giggle. The taste of peaches somehow reminded her of Riku. Curious...
She flipped the core into the trashcan, and picked up the phone. She called up Kyle, just to see how he was doing.
Ringing... still ringing... click, "Heeelo?" Kyle's voice on the phone answered.
"Hello Mr. Eighly, is Kyle home?" Nikki asked politely, sitting herself on a table chair with her knees together.
Kyle laughed, picturing Nikki's cute face at the moment. "This is him," Kyle began, "May I ask who is calling?" the panther asked, though he knew perfectly well to whom he was speaking.
Nikki blushed heavily. "Hi Kyle, this is Nikki!" she replied shakily. "So... er... how's it... going?"
"I'm just lyin' in bed with a broken rib and a concussion, so... pretty well," Kyle replied sarcastically, laughing. He winced as laughing hurt his head.
"Oh my God! What happened?" Nikki squeaked, putting her small hand over her mouth.
"It's a... kinda long story," he answered, his brief reply not easing the Neko's worries. "But you always seem to make me feel better."
Nikki blushed even more, her cheeks now as red as her shirt. She knew what Kyle was talking about. "Are you still worried about Raj?" Nikki asked, standing up and rubbing her face.
"Naturally... but he sent me a letter, saying everything is fine," Kyle sighed, speaking of the letter made him feel better about his brother's departing.
Nikki smiled, her eyes tearing up, and she sniffled into the phone.
Kyle giggled, "Crying already, Nikki?"
The panther had a knack for making the Neko blush as much as possible. "No."
"Do you mind if I come over, I want to see you again," Kyle said, rather embarrassed at his own question.
"Please do," Nikki began, "but my parents are out to that stupid barbecue."
"The Mackenzie's place? I was going to go, but I'm a little beat..." Kyle said, as if to common Nikki's reference.
Nikki's eyes shot open. "Oh... I'm sorry! I forgot... You should not be up walking," the Neko warned, disappointed with herself that she had forgotten.
"Don't worry about it. I'll walk it off. It will take me a bit longer to get ready..." Kyle said, turning painfully to stand up.
"Be careful, please," she said, closing her eyes.
"you are overreacting, Nikki." Kyle said, "Its just a walk across the neighborhood."
"Ok... I will see you in a bit, I love you Kyle," Nikki said, though she seemed rather unsure about how to accept her guest without seeming awkward.
"You too, Nikki. G'bye..." Kyle finished, hanging up the phone.
Nikki placed the piece onto the phone receiver, as she quickly decided what to do. She was going to prepare some cookies for Kyle, as some sort of welcome if not with words.
* * *
Kyle stood in the shower, letting the cold water rain down on his injured body. He didn't like water at all, but he knew that things such as baths and showers were necessary.
The panther cranked off the water, and stepped out of the shower. His normally fluffy chest was now laid flat against him, showing his actual lack of extra body mass.
Kyle quickly dried off with a warm towel, causing him to immediately puff up again, giving him his statuesque appearance. He groaned, reaching to scratch at a gash on his back. He combed back his wild hair, allowing his ears to stick upright again. Having had bed rest, Kyle felt considerably better than he did the night before, as he was now able to walk normally. He truly looked forward to seeing Nikki's heart-warming face.
Kyle knew that Nikki probably wanted something more than a hug from him, and he prepared to, at least, try to give it to her.
He limped out toward his front door, and looked back to see in all the doors were closed, and the lights were off. Seeing as all was satisfactory, the panther continued his "stroll" down the sidewalk on his suburban block. The fresh air was fine, and there didn't seem to be any sharp rocks about the ground. 'Maybe today will be one of those good days...' Kyle thought, looking at the blue sky, and the singing birds. It seemed to be the stereotype of any suburban neighborhood. Weeping willows dangled their vines over the open sidewalk, and young furs played about soccer balls and bicycles.
It became increasingly evident that Nekos did not show in furry neighborhoods. The odd hybrids are found mainly when inbreeding occurs in curtain areas outside of the cities.
Nikki's house, Kyle remembered, was the third left turn off of Pitchpipe Road, and into a caldisac on four houses. To the left of such, stood the Neko's abode.
Kyle hid his gait, holding his bandaged chest. He had had friends who had broken ribs skiing, and he expected the inflammation to be much worse. He slowly approached the second left off of Pitchpipe Road, seeing the familiar rhododendron that marked the turn into the circular enclosure of houses. He paid his wave 'hello' to some of his friends who rode by on bicycles, flashing a forced smile, then returning back eventually to holding his chest.
Step-by-step... Kyle glared down at his furry feet. He heaved a great sigh, and turned into the caldisac. Nikki's home was now in clear view, and the curtains were drawn at each window. Kyle could plainly see smoke swelling within which ever room preceded the house. He quickened his pace, worried by the sight of what might be a house fire.
Kyle latched his hand onto the cast-iron banister of Nikki's front steps. He promptly stood at the frame and knocked three times. There was no answer.
Kyle grew worried, and opened the door. Smoke blew into his face, irritating his cuts and causing him to cough.
"Hi Kyle!" Nikki's squeaky voice said, as she jumped toward her lover and hugged him around the knees.
"Ooww!" Kyle yelped, stumbling back a few steps.
"I'm sorry!" Nikki said, pulling back.
"It's ok, Nikki. Your hugs are always a... treat," Kyle said, giving a short laugh, then following Nikki inside.
"I made you some cookies, Kyle. See?" Nikki said excitedly, jumping for the kitchen and retrieving a cooling rack dotted with little cookies.
'That explains the smoke...' Kyle thought, as he knew that Nikki was among the worst cooks on earth.
"Wanna try one?" the Neko prompted, holding out the sheet.
Kyle looked her in the big yellow eyes. She was so cute wearing the oven mitts which seemed to cover her entire arms. "Of course," he replied, taking a cookie.
Nikki glared, wide-eyed with anticipation.
"Almonds?" Kyle asked, noting some small white pieces embedded in the cookie's face.
"Er... actually... egg shells," Nikki said, blushing still.
Kyle took a bite of the cookie, and tried not to make a rude face. The small pastry was mainly flour on the inside, and the bottoms were still dough. The panther was amazed that these simple cookies defied the laws of physics. "Ehem, thanks Nikki. You went through a lot of trouble I see..." Kyle observed, swallowing the cookie, and gazing around at the messy kitchen.
He had been to Nikki's house only a few times before, only to see mainly her room. The panther looked down to smile at the Neko, but she was already halfway upstairs.
"Come on Kyle!" she yelled, and her tiny arm could be seen waving from behind the wall.
Kyle sighed and smiled, following the Neko up the stairs to her room. He ducked down a little, as his shoulders pushed against the ceiling. "I never realized how low the ceiling is in here..." he said, looking about the wide room.
Nikki giggled, "Don't worry, we won't be standing up." The fell back onto her bed, spreading apart her arms and legs. She sighed heavily, sounding moonstruck. "Kyle, there's this feeling that I get when you... you know... it feels really good," Nikki said, lifting up her chin and arching her back a little.
Kyle assumed that Nikki was referring to heat.
"Will you make me feel good now?" Nikki asked, her big yellow eyes sparkling.
"Will you?" Kyle teased, smiling evilly.
Nikki nodded, her neck-length hair waving spastically. "I know how," she squeaked, relaxing herself and laying backward. The Neko sprawled out her arms and legs, closing her eyes and beginning to breath in a soft, measured respiration.
Kyle knelt down carefully, minding his bound rib, eventually settling on both knees. He quickly pulled off Nikki's slightly damp panties, taking in the aroma of her soft plain.
Nikki softly removed her red T-shirt, placing it on a pillow behind her. She let herself go completely limp for Kyle.
The panther placed his furry paws on her loins, letting the Neko's soft legs dangle outside of his shoulders. He ran his broad, rough tongue over Nikki's swelling slit. He felt the muscles on the Neko's side tightly a little, then soften again as Kyle began a rhythm of licking.
Kyle didn't insert his tongue yet, as he was waiting for the right moment.
Nikki lay back, completely relaxed, feeling the numbing consistency that Kyle was giving her. The thoughts in her mind cleared, there was nothing to think about at that moment. Her thoughts morphed into emotions, and her peripheral vision left her mind's eye.
The Neko's head was tilted back slightly, her tongue poking out of her lips, and drool running down her soft, blushing cheek.
Kyle removed his tongue from Nikki's opening. He pursed his lips, and started to blow cold air onto her moist, sensitive area.
Nikki's legs twitched in surprise, and the Neko arched her back, pushing out her flat chest.
Kyle took this moment of pleasure as the opportunity to slide his rough tongue horizontally into Nikki's soft, warm pussy.
Nikki flinched, startled at the intrusion, then went limp again. She struggled to pull her arms up to place on Kyle's head, pulling him closer, farther into her love.
Kyle softly caressed his soft paws in soothing circular motions over Nikki's smooth belly, eventually wrapping the movements around to massage her back. He sighed from his nose, his tongue finally processing the taste of his lover's fluids. Kyle removed his tongue from Nikki's depths, holding it under her slit, gathering the pearls of her drippings on it. His paws found their way down to Nikki's ass, which was smooth and soft, almost as if it had fur on it.
Nikki clenched her hands in Kyle's hair, rubbing her feet together on his shoulders, and bringing her knees in a vertex in front of his eyes.
The panther quickly slipped his tongue back into Nikki, wrapping his fuzzy lips around the Neko's outer walls. His tongue soared in deep, digging into the grooves and rivets of her pleasure. Kyle noticed erasure of Nikki's virginity ribbing the inner walls around her clitoris. He mopped his tongue over these lines, his hands blindly massaging her behind.
He curled his tongue slightly, then poked it so very softly on the edge of Nikki's pulsing clit. Kyle brushed the dry tip over it a few times.
Nikki gritted her teeth, grunting, and shaking her entire body violently. She let out a suppressed yelp, and arched her back, lifting her pelvis into the air.
Kyle pulled back a bit, "Sorry, I didn't mean to-" Kyle began, panting a little.
"Don't stop, I'm gonna...!" Nikki moaned, loosing a soaking of her cum onto Kyle's already-dampened muzzle.
Kyle gasped, taking in the sudden eruption, letting some of it fall onto his fluffy chest. He looked up at Nikki, who was shaking all over. Her legs seemed to be made of jelly, and her eyes were shut tight. The panther gazed in admiration, poking his dripping face over the side of the bed, to see the Neko's chest rising and falling in heat. He placed his paws on her trembling legs, laying his big fuzzy head on Nikki's belly, purring loudly.
"Oh, Nikki..." Kyle whispered, cradling the cute little catgirl by the shoulders, in his arms.
Nikki tried to open her eyes, seeing that she had wrapped her arms tightly around one of Kyle's. Her legs were still spread wide, and she could feel cum still running out of her swollen red pussy, trickling in tiny streams down the cleft of her ass.
Nikki opened her mouth to exhale, but Kyle had already proceeded to kissing her. His broad tongue licked the Neko's lips, dripping with juices.
Kyle's contented eyes popped open as he heard the familiar ring of his cell-phone in his right pocket. He considered letting it rung, but thought it better to answer it, not to concern the caller. The panther gently lay his lover down onto the bed, letting her tremble about the warm sheets. He flipped open the phone and held it up to his ear.
"Hello?" the panther replied to the ring, his voice sounding glazed over.
"Hey, Kyle. It's Aaron and the guys, were in the garage. I need you over here." Aaron shouted into the phone, his sentence composed of concise quips rather than words.
"Now?"
"Now."
"Can it wait just a couple of minutes... I gotta get... ready." Kyle groaned, rolling his head on its shoulders, and letting himself fall back into a standing position. He looked down at the large erection in his pants that tightened his pockets.
"Fine... but we got a new audit for the band, and we'd like you to play bass." Aaron said, and could be heard telling the other band members to 'shut up guys, I'm on the fucking phone'.
Kyle's face lit up, and he looked back over his shoulder. "It's gonna take me a bit to get over there..." he murmured, remembering the pain that it brought to put any pressure down on his waist.
"Ok, see ya then, I gotta go..." beep.
Kyle clapped the phone shut, and placed one arm over Nikki, lowering himself to her. The pain in his chest caused by this position almost made him collapse onto his girlfriend. "Nikki," he whispered, licking her on the cheek.
The Neko opened her eyes slowly. Her vision was blurred, but the shades of blue on Kyle's face were clear enough. "Thank you..." she whispered softly, closing her eyes again.
"Nikki... please stay awake. I need you to come with me to Aaron's too-" Kyle started, buy stopped quickly, blushing as the Neko began to unbutton his shirt and stroke his chest. "Please, can this wait... I..." the panther's eyes glazed over, and he purred at the soft precision of Nikki's caressing massage. He scooted his whole body toward the Neko, laying himself down. He took in her soft, soothing warmth, the sensation was unbelievable to the young panther.
Kyle slipped his shirt off over the back of his arms, placing his great right paw over Nikki's chest, beginning to rub her slowly and carefully. "Nikki... I need to-" Kyle attempted for the second time, but the catgirl was to quick for his tongue. She wrapped her warm lips inside of the panthers mouth, sighing deeply, pulling her lover farther into the soothing sensation.
Kyle opened his eyes in mid-kiss. He pulled away gently from the half-sleeping Neko. "Look, Nikki, I'm going to go audition for a band... see. I would like you to come with me." He said, pulling Nikki up by her narrow shoulders.
Nikki smiled, two fangs poking out over her bottom lip. "My Kyle is gonna be a rock star!" she said playfully, sitting on Kyle's lap and facing him.
"Yup, that's right Nikki!" Kyle said, unsheathing his claws and using their razor-points to softly tickle Nikki's chin and neck. He pulled his shirt back on, ushering Nikki to do that same. The panther in his head as he watched the Neko stumble about the room, still half-pleasured and dripping juices from between her legs.
Kyle stood up, clutching his chest, stumbling a bit himself.
"What happened to you, Kyle?" Nikki asked, her voice still sounding as if she was drunk.
Kyle sighed. "Oh... it was Vlad. He roughed me up a bit, nothing serious." He assured Nikki.
"A broken rib?" Nikki asked, leaning against the wall with her knees clacking together rapidly.
"Don't worry about it, let's go." The panther said finally, opening the door from Nikki's room, nearly forgetting about the stairs. He padded down the extent, carefully relying on the side banister for support, then look back to see Nikki following him.
"Do you know where Aaron's house is?" Kyle asked the Neko. Nikki shook her head in reply. She did not have many friends. "Hmm. Aaron's got a band, and he wants me to play the bass guitar..." Kyle said, picturing himself playing rock and roll music. Kyle with a guitar in his arms was like a fourth dimension. It would never happen.
"I thought you liked-" Nikki started, yawning, and rubbing her big eyes.
"Classical music, I know..." Kyle sighed, continuing down the front steps of Nikki's house. "...but I have heard my share of what he plays, and it's pretty basic score-keeping."
Nikki smiled, eager to see Kyle attempt to 'heat the beat' which he had little of in such tempos. She then thought of the sensation that he had brought her just a few minutes before. "Er... well, back in my room... that was... erm," the Neko stammered, avoiding Kyle's eyes at all costs.
"It was fun," Kyle finished warmly, smiling more to himself than to Nikki.
The Neko blushed, wringing her tiny hands in front of her. The remainder of the short walk to Aaron's house was all but anticipated, as loud garage rock was playing, shaking the ground under their feet.
* * *
"Kyle's here, finally..." groaned Alex Ferdinand, who was hiding behind his set of drums when the music stopped.
"Go easy on him Dogdish, he was beat to a paste yesterday by your girlfriend's ex."
"Vlad?"
"Yes."
"Damn."
"Yes, Mr. Ferdinand. We need Kyle on the bass to be playing from your favorite band... so shut your maw and get the Franz Ferdinand pulsing through your veins!" Aaron Sigley Spruce, a.k.a. Ass, hissed.
"Who's that with him?" Aaron asked, somehow figuring that Alex would know.
Alex looked up in surprise, to see Kyle and Nikki waving. "That's Nikki..." Alex replied, his voice wavy.
Kyle limped into the garage, promptly taking his seat at the bass stool, holding his chest. "What are we gonna be playing?" he asked, hugging Nikki up to his side.
"You will be auditioning with a song of your choice on the bass. No classical crap, hear?" Alex snapped, and Kyle looked his way, flames in his once charming eyes. The wolf shut up immediately.
Nikki sat and watched attentively from the garage floor as Kyle picked up the long-necked instrument.
He lowered himself to one knee, his ear to the tuning peg. He rolled out the base line for 'Feel Good Inc.' accounting perfectly on every abrupt pause, nodding his head at the downbeat.
Aaron and Alex watched, more than impressed by Kyle's diverse ear for music.
Once the song was over, Kyle tipped off with a vibrato in the last few measures of the stylized riff.
"Astounding Kyle... and I thought you were a Mozart to the core. A few things though," Aaron started, setting his own guitar in the stand next to him. "This is a bass guitar, not a cello. Tip it about ninety degrees, and get rid of the finger thing."
"Vibrato?"
"Whatever..." Aaron said, turning around with his back to Kyle. "Grow a mullet, and your in." the black panther teased, whipping around to pull Kyle up in a friendship hold by the wrists.
Kyle smiled, and promptly held his instrument in the proper stance. Nikki looked up at him, smiling preciously in congratulation.
"What's next for the band?" Kyle asked the wolf and the black panther.
"Holy Hand Grenade is our band name, and we are going to be playing 'Take me Out' by Franz Ferdinand," Aaron said proudly, lifting a finger and pulling up his medical-taped guitar.
Kyle looked over curiously. "Alex, are you related at all to Alex Ferdinand from this band?" he asked.
Alex shrugged, "I dooon't think so..." he said, picking whipping out his 'styx' like swords.
"Ok, Kyle, shake the fuckin' floor... one, two, three!" Aaron shouted enthusiastically, reaching over to turn on Kyle amp, and leaning the needle over to full volume.
Kyle walked his fingers along the A note at the start of the song, each note bringing a tremor to the messy garage, and lifting little Nikki at least and inch off the ground.
Alex began beating rhythmically on the snare drum and symbol, playing the weak drums like a power set.
Aaron started at the mid-pitched riff, his jet-black furry fingers working with rehearsed precision over the thing strings.
Alex, the gray wolf behind the drums, stood up and stopped playing. "Wait... WAIT!" he shouted, placing his drumsticks into their sheaths, which were actually cardboard tubes across his back. "Ok asshole! You have yet to hear the freakin' rules to playing in a Goddamned band!" he shouted, o everyone's surprise. "Rule number one, you are the bass player, and you are worthless! Number two, drums keep the beat, not the bass guitar. Most importantly, the bass player gets no solos, so don't be a hero and steal it from one of us!"
Kyle and Aaron glared in amazement, their eyes could never be more open, at the meaningless fit of rage.
"I see that Riku hasn't given you your hourly backrub..." Kyle said slyly.
"That's it! It's on asshole!" Alex yelled, drawing his drumsticks like daggers in his hands.
Kyle turned to run, not wanting to fight, and seeing that he was in no condition to. Aaron attempted to grab the angered wolf around the shoulders, but to no avail. Alex was only twelve years old, but was too angry to let limits slow him down. Nikki crawled out of the way of his stomping.
"Baby, you've been home for three days, and you're already trying to kill Kyle? That's a new record..." Riku giggled, stepping from the door into the garage. "...have a cold one!" she finished, throwing the wolf a can of beer.
"You guys can't drink!" Kyle and Nikki both shouted.
Riku, for some reason, continued trying to offer them alcohol.
Aaron refused it, saying "I gotta be in my head to play." Kyle's respect for his friend increased significantly.
"Nikki, we have to leave!" Kyle shouted, hoisting up the Neko, her mere wait sending a jerk of pain from his ribs down to his legs.
"You're not going anywhere!" Alex said, guzzling down his beer and turning Kyle around by the shoulder. The wolf decked the blue panther across the face, causing him to fall on the ground holding his nose and chest.
Alex looked down at the shaking panther, reaching into his pocket, and retrieving a fifty caliber pistol. A real one.
"Alex, no!" Riku shrieked, jumping to grab her boyfriend's arm. He had the gun barely centered on Kyle's left temple, but Riku managed to keep his finger off of the trigger.
"Drop it, Dogdish!" Aaron said, his pocketknife poised on Alex's gray neck. "Fire that damn thing and it'll be that last thing you ever do."
The wolf lowered the gun. "Killing you would be a waste of a good bullet." Said Alex, his grip still tight on the weapon's handle. "The next one will, though!" he roared, pulling the trigger and sending a white-hit led bullet through Kyle's right foot.
The panther's scream could be heard in India in you listened hard enough. His howls of pain rocked the gravel streets along this county of Pennsylvania.
"Alex, how could you do that!" Nikki screamed, tears flying from her reddened face.
Riku batted the wolf's face around, slapping him hard across it. "We are through, hear me?" she screamed. "And to think your father is a cop!"
Alex's ears flattened, and her frowned. "Listed baby, he was-"
"Shut up! I don't ever want to see you smile at me again!" the fox shrieked, growling in her boyfriend's face and turning to flee from the garage.
"Kyle, sit still, I'm calling the police!" Aaron yelled, swiftly passing Nikki his pocketknife. The Neko kicked the gun across the room as Alex tried to overthrow Aaron. She climbed up the wolf like a tree, the stout blade of the utility brushing his throat.
Kyle rolled his back on the ground, hugging his knee up to his chest and crying loudly. The fur on his digits was still smoking with spent powder, as the red-hot bullet-shell slipped out of the bottom of his foot. He looked up at the sky, hearing the snarling of an angry wolf, justified crying from Nikki, and the wail of sirens. Everything went black as he passed out from numbing pain.
* * *
Kyle slowly opened his eyes. All of his friends standing in a row over him, except for Nikki, who's head barely poked up from the side of the white hospital bed. Nikki's and his parents were there, as well as a pretty nurse at the foot of the bed, holding a clipboard.
Nikki saw the panther's eyes opening, and immediately hopped up onto the bunk, passionately kissing him on the lips, and letting his mouth fall open under her tongue. Kyle and Nikki both closed their eyes.
Nikki's and Kyle's parents were both about to pull their children apart in unison, but decided that it would be best not to.
"Awww..." the nurse, a yellow Labrador, could not help but saying as she watched the two children share their love.
Nikki pulled her head away, smiling warmly and waving her tail slowly back and forth.
"What happened to... Alex?" Kyle muttered, his eyes still closed.
"He was arrested and put on trial for domestic assault and battery," Aaron answered smartly, blowing on his claws.
"Was my foot amputated?" the panther then asked, and the nurse let out a short laugh.
"No, you are one lucky cat, the paramedics had the wound treated before infection caught." The nurse answered, smiling happily and wagging her tail. "The bad news, though, is that you won't be able to stand on it for a few weeks."
Kyle smiled. "Oh, that's terrible. I'm going to miss school, and Nikki's going to have to bring me my homework every day..." he said sarcastically, muzzling Nikki's cute little nose. A frown came to Kyle's face all of a sudden, and pulled away from the Neko.
What would Raj think of him now? His brother was being shot at twenty-four seven, and Kyle could not even take a mere cap to the foot!
"Kyle, what is wrong?" Nikki asked, seeing the look of utmost emptiness on her boy's face, and letting a tear drop onto his chest.
"Nothing..." he said, turning his head.
Fiona Eighly whispered into Samantha Wagner's ear, "I think he needs a few minutes alone with Nikki..." and Mrs. Wagner nodded in agreement. They signaled to the nurse, who led everyone out of the cramped room.
"Kyle, we are alone now, please tell me what is wrong!" Nikki wept, rubbing her nose on Kyle's furry neck.
Kyle placed his paws on her back, pulling her warm little body closer to him. "I know what it is like to take a bullet..." he whispered very, very softly into the Neko's ear. "...One bullet. In the foot, at that. If I can't take that, then I don't deserve to have a brave brother like Raj..." he finished, his own tears dripping onto Nikki's neck-length yellow hair.
"Kyle, don't say that! Raj chose to fight for this country, and there is a price to pay for pride. Do not let pride get in the way, or the price will be too great..." Nikki wept into Kyle's neck, taking in short quips of crying breath.
Kyle caressed Nikki's back, which was shaking as she wept. The Neko cuddled up under the panther's arm, tears still running, slowly rolling in beads onto the white sheets. Kyle brought her closer, turning painfully on his side opposite his bandaged foot, bringing his other arm around Nikki's back, and falling into deep and peaceful slumber.
Nikki and Kyle's parents slowly and quietly opened the door, seeing the young couple cuddled in the small bed. "I don't believe it..." said Zach Eighly, "They really love each other..." The other three parents nodded, sniffing as tears ran down their own cheeks.
"The deepest love I have ever seen..." Samantha said, as she was the last one to walk out of the room, quietly shutting the door.