Saturday's Judging

Story by Perrin Wolfbrother on SoFurry

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#52 of Roman Life

Clara has to face a very troubling trial... how will she rule?


Hey everyone!

We left our heroes having a fighting and, in doing so, waking up a (with reasons) angry Clara.... will they survive her fury? Hope that you will like this chapter of mine, don't forget to show it in any way you want!

I thank my editor and lover Gritou to do lots of the later and less of the former (for my own fault )

"What the hell is going on here?" The cold, calm voice of Clara cut in first, in her most effective courtroom voice. She could have slept over Ale playing some videogame ad alto volume1, hell anything short of a bombing wouldn't have waken her up.

But her Tribunal honed instincts had been triggered by the sound of a heated discussion, which unfortunately meant her being awake. Which, in turn, made her extremely grouchy, which didn't promise anything good for the two fools who had dared fight at such hour in the morning.

Said fools weren't speaking now, their fine dog ears having captured the anger under the frosty surface of her voice. They stood there, at the table, sleepily looking at their feet like kids being caught doing something wrong, which was exactly what they were at the moment.

"Quindi2?" She asked, frown on her muzzle and her arms folded under her t-shirt covered breast. That was another trick she learned from her job, men were always intimidated when they were reminded the sex of the angry fur. Of course, the reactions were different, with the rottie focusing on the boobs while the lupo went stiff, but that was because of their sexuality, the result was all the same.

Of course, it worked all too well since they both started talking at the same time, which made a barely intelligible mess except for the various "Lui3" here and there as they accused each other. Shaking her head, the sheppie stopped them with one sharp movement of her paw, feeling like she had to direct the two silly mutts into this. "Let's sit down and I let you talk one after the other."

They did as ordered, sitting back on their respective chairs as they were joined by the German Shepherded. They stayed silent as expected, waiting for the cue to talk, which was a good thing; Clara just wished she had such obedient clients. She regarded them one after the other for a long time, for the purpose of putting them in an unease and more manageable mood.

That said, there was the hidden purpose of leering openly at both males, which was a rare occasions. Sure her eyes were attracted more to the shirtless Rottweiler, his muscles in full display and his cute muzzle giving away his simpatia4 even when he was in a bad mood; plus, he was her boyfriend, which added several points to it. Her silly, lovable boyfriend.

Luca wasn't bad looking either, though. His was a different kind of beauty, not the rough, strongly manlier one of Ale; not that he was effeminate, but his thinness and height made him look a tad gentler and delicate, but still definitely with some muscles. The cougar was sure a lucky fur...

"Luca, you go first." She finally said, deciding that enough time had passed, shooting a glare to her boyfriend. "You will get to talk after."

"Okay, okay, I wasn't going to say anything." The buff restorer rebuked; Clara was half tempted to remark how carino5he was when pouting, but she wasn't up to be pleasant... yet.

"Good. So, Luca, why were you two fighting?" She gave the lupo a little verbal push to get him going. Of course, she had heard a few things, but since it was during dormiveglia6 she needed a bit more of details.

"Ale is meddling too much in my business." The lupine accused with a grimace, his ears flicking in repressed anger. "He interrogated me on what I did last night and why I hadn't come back home. Like he was my own mother."

Clara turned to see if she had to stop a reply from the rottie, but aside from looking irritated his muzzle was completely shut. "So, you came back late, this morning I presume? And Ale questioned why and how." She summed up, letting the other canine add more details if needed.

"Yeah! Like it had been a problem before, he wasn't worried when I hooked up with Stanley number one!" He exclaimed, expressing all of his outrage on such notion. The sheppie felt partially inclined to side with him, as a girl she had been subjected to such double standards all the time with her parents. Still, she couldn't jump to conclusions before hearing the counterpart.

"Good. Now it is Ale's turn, what's your side of the story caro7?" The German shepherd asked in a sweeter way. After all, he was always her boyfriend, no use to exacerbate him, especially after the... discussion they had the previous night.

"I wasn't questioning what he did last night! I was just worried 'cause he didn't even attempt to warn me, just spent the night at the cougar's place!" The rottie's words rolled out of his muzzle, as if he was worried that he could get stopped any time soon. "It's just common sense, I always warn him when I stay at your place Clara!"

"Sometimes." The fairer furred canine intruded, earning a quirked brow and a glare from the other two dogs.

"I might have forgotten to do that a couple of times, but you knew I was seeing her!" The shirtless restorer replied, his tones rising.

"Fair enough, that is all I needed for the moment." Clara stopped them before they devolved in a fight again. She had heard enough to understand the situation after all. "Now, give me a few minutes to think about it, and one of you two would kindly make me some coffee please?"

They both stood up at the same time, and had a brief glare fight before the lupine sat back, recognizing that it was Ale's duty as a boyfriend to answer his girlfriend's request. He walked to the coffee machine, getting all that was needed as he prepared the sweet dark beverage, all the while she could watch his perfect rump, his boxers and his stub of a tail doing nothing to hide his curves.

With a quick look at her side, Clara caught the other seated canine doing just the same, though he swiftly averted his eyes from that bootidelicious show. She couldn't help but chuckle, no one could resist such temptation if you were in male butts; the acute angle the tall ears of the lupine took showed that he had understood the reason of her merriment.

"I wonder what his mind conjure..." The sheppie idly thought, laying her chin on her paws as she patiently waited for her coffee, stifling a yawn. Luca was a man, after all, and all men are perverted; so maybe when he looks at the rottie's ass he might be thinking of ... stuffing...

She perked up from her sogni ad occhi aperti8as her hunk of a ragazzo came back to the table bearing delicious coffee. "Thank you caro." She chimed in, accepting the small cup with a warm smile. She inhaled it first, tasting the earthy and strong smell before its taste, her nostrils flaring as she got the whiff of coffee.

Then the German dog sipped it, slowly and with leisure. It was with just a hint of sugar, as she liked it, tilting her papille gustative9, going down her throat like melted goodness. After four years of university, two of internship and almost two of studying for her lawyer exam, she had acquired quite the liking to coffee.

So she took her time, all the while thinking carefully on what to say, the two dogs staring as if they expected a decision from King Solomon himself. While she prided herself for being fair, she wasn't that good... Luckily, the situation seemed simple enough to defuse.

"Well..." Clara started after taking a deep breath before delivering her judging. "You are due idioti10."

The baffled look on their muzzles threatened her composure as the sheppie tried not to giggle, but that was what she really thought. Not that it would suffice for the two of them, being dumbheads and all, so she proceeded to explain.

"You are idiots because you are both right. But say that in the wrong way." The feminine canine started, one paw pointed at Luca who had started first. "You have the right to privacy and come back home whenever you want."

"Yes, that is what-" The lupo started to say, but a sharp movement of the paw and a hard stare from the sheppie let him know that interruptions wouldn't be tolerated. So he stayed silent, his ears laid back.

"But you live here with Ale, who is also your best friend. Since he tends to worry, good form is to try to inform him in some way since you share un appartamento11." She concluded the part concerning the lupine, turning to face her boyfriend now, trying to convey as much gentleness as possible in her expression.

"Ale... It is very sweet of you to worry about Luca's whereabouts, but that doesn't mean you should freak out or lash at him when you perfectly know where he can be." She said, pausing a bit to breath. The rottie didn't dare to speak, he was far too smart to do that after all; and he seemed to understand each word, since his brown eyes were devoid of anger.

"Luca has his own life. And you should tolerate that he might forgot to warn you, even more so if he is busy in activities." She terminated her lover's part, proceeding to give them the sum of it. "Over all, you were both sleeping deprived and tired, your brains not working properly. I advice you not to engage in complex talks without a good night sleep."

Now Clara smiled, showing that the worse part was past them. "That includes lunch too. I'm gonna order some delivered pizza, and I decide which pizza to get!" She exclaimed triumphantly.

"Nooooooooooooooo she is gonna get some experimental one." The rottie cried out loudly in an overdramatic way, sure sign that he was in a good mood now thanks to her ruling. If she was lucky, the lupine wouldn't ask for an appello12...

"She must not be that BAD at picking!" The leaner restorer exclaimed in disbelief, turning to his friend. No sign of grudge there, only time would tell if he had listened or not but there were good hopes.

"Once she chose one with some arancia in it." The broader canine said, wincing at the memory.

"Hey! You ate three quarters of that pizza!" The German Shepherd replied, though she was smiling while she said that. "And you don't have the right to complain, call it part of your punishment."

"Punishment for what now?" The lupo intruded as he stood up, walking to retrieve something from the dispensa13.

"For waking me up, silly mutts." She told them, adding an evil laughter at the end of it. The sheppie wasn't going to be mean, of course, will take only edible pizzas. The revenge was making them believe that she would choose veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery badly!

"Maybe that is fair enough..." Ale muttered, looking distress all of sudden. Probably feeling guilty for such a heinous act against his girlfriend, and, knowing him, that would haunt him for ages if she didn't fix it.

"Ale, I was just joking, I don't resent you from waking me up..." Clara started, grabbing his paw for good measure and looking deep in his eyes to confirm she meant each and every word. Then, they both turned as the lupine tossed a bag of something on the table, which elicited the same adoring exclamation from the couple.

"PAN DI STELLE14!" They expressed their joy at the same time, looking at the brown biscuits with sugary white stars on them with hunger.

"Oh, you like them too Clara?" The taller dog asked, tossing one rounded cookie in his muzzle and munching it down. "I always hide one bag for when I need to mollify Ale here."

"I never need to be mollified!" The rottie protested, though he was already grabbing a good pawful of food by then.

"Yeah, I like them a lot... NON LI PRENDERE TUTTI15!" She shouted at her boyfriend, who was hoarding a lot of them as they were speaking.

"They are just so fucking delicious!" The buff dog almost growled but let the feminine canine take some of the biscuits, all the while being subjected to the silent but amused stare of the lupine.

"Say, Luca, you could make Edward come to lunch here too. So we can know him better." Clara proposed, as she elegantly nibbled a rounded brown cookie. She caught how the triangular ears of her boyfriend stiffened, but that was something that needed to happen sooner or later, and it was better for it to be sooner.

"Unfortunately he promised his friend to have lunch together and then they had to study or something..." The lupo shook is head mestamente16, though it seemed to her that it was genuinely regretted for not introducing his new flame to his friends.

"And they manage to study with this heat?" The sheppie asked, filling the silence from the rottie who was ostentatiously munching down cookies as an excuse not to talk. He could be rather jealous of his close ones... Something that she noted down for further good use.

"They were complaining about it... something about the harsh Roman weather or something..." He mused, eliciting a chuckle from his female friend. Tourists never expected Rome to be that hot, especially those coming from cooler environments.

"Well, maybe they would like to see how we fighting... By going al mare17!" She exclaimed, a sudden idea forming in her mind. Might be a bit of a hazard, but if it worked her boyfriend would stop being so defensive of his friend...

"Nice idea! But I doubt they will be impressed with Ostia18 though..." The lupine smiled at her, expressing his obvious dislike of the sea just close to the Eternal city.

"Wasn't thinking about that! More Sabaudia19." The German Shepherd rebuked, naming the closest nicest beach to Rome, with its sandy dunes and clear cool water of its small gulf.

"Isn't it a bit too far for just a day at the beach?" Luca replied, the silent rottie nodding his head and expressing his agreement. They were both veeeery lazy for sure, from what the sheppie had understood, but she had an ace that would turn the tables.

"We can stay the whole week-end. My grandpa built a house on the dunes back before it was fashionable!" She proudly announced how her family had destroyed a bit of the natural beauty of the place. But it had been in the '60s before environment was invented, as her grandpa used to say.

"You didn't tell me you have a beach house!" The rottie finally said something, and the wag of his stub was almost auditable. The one from the longer tail of the lupine sure was making a lot of noise though, practically swiping the floor.

"I might have kept some aspects of my life secret in case you needed to be impressed further." The sheppie said, getting a big kiss on her lips from the excited rottie that threatened to become more than just lips. But they knew their places and refrained themselves in front of Luca.

"Well that sounds like a plan to me! I have to see if they can be out of Rome for week-end!" The lean canine said, probably already planning all of that in his mind, more than happy to have such a house at their disposition, Clara was sure.

"Yeah, both Edward and his friend can come, that house is big enough for all of us!" She smiled. Accepting the presence of the unknown friend too. After all, it was part of the plan too, so that Ale won't suspect that the cougar cheated on his lupo with a woman. The rottie sure could be that illogical sometimes.

"Good, I am sure they both will like it! I have to see if they are free next week, I sure know I don't have any... visit... planned." Luca's voice slowed down, color disappearing on his fur-covered skin, as he realized something terrible; then, he just jumped on his footpaws, running to the bathroom like he was being sick.

"Is something wrong...?" The German shepherd asked, unsure on the lupine's sudden reaction. The rottie had a knowing grimace, as if that was just one of the several times he pulled something like that off.

"He just remembered he has a tour at eleven." Her boyfriend explained, shaking his big head.

"Aaaaaaaaah so I guess we will be alone at lunch?" Clara wondered, regretting that she couldn't unleash her colorful punishment on the lighter furred dog.

"Nah, we can ask him when it comes how long it will take, he might eat here after all." He replied, tossing another cookie in his wide muzzle.

"Well, good, I was planning to get him an extra strange pizza after all..." She expressed her relief at the possibility of getting her punishment through. It was a principle of justice, if the culprit didn't get punished how was he supposed to learn?

"What's the deal with this invitation?" The rottie idly asked. Too idly. It was clear that he wanted to be part of her secret plan.

"I am just a natural sweetheart." The sheppie answered with an extra sweet smile, which was shot down by the other with a stare. "Well I just thought that, to avoid problems, it is better if we meet Edward and the other American..."

".. So that we know the enemy! That is smart I must say." The Rottweiler grinned wildly, even if he had misunderstood her intentions.

"Yeah something like that." Clara went along with her assumption, really praying that such a trip would make him less suspicious of the mountain lion.

"Still, I am glad we will go to the beach, been a year and want to get in the water so bad!" The rottie exclaimed, again excited for the prospective.

"Yeah! And maybe, we could go skinny dipping at night..." She suggested, her tone lowered to a sexy baritone.

"Oh? That is a good idea..." The predictable answer came, as Ale got closer to her for a proper kiss.

Translation:

1) High volume.

2) So?

3) "Him/he".

4) Pleasantness.

5) Cute.

6) Drowsiness.

7) Dear.

8) Daydreams.

9) Tastebuds.

10) Idiots.

11) A flat/an apartment.

12) Appeal.

13) Pantry.

14) A specific hazelnut-chocolate cookie with stars on it (hence the "bread of the star" name)

15) DON'T TAKE (as in, eat) ALL OF THEM!

16) Sadly.

17) To the sea!

18) Ostia is one of the closest (and not the top) sea locations to Rome. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostia_(Rome)

19) Another sea side town, farther away of Rome but with better sea and beach https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabaudia