FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

Stuffed Crust Day

By Coldstone

“Mey! NO!"

“But, but, look at that butt!"

Pan abruptly pulled his rear inward as he looked back in alarm, watching the right twin of the zangoose arguing. Listening to someone complain about being unable to molest you (in a good way, of course) made it very hard to focus on getting dressed for your training shift.

“I don't care if he has a sexy butt," Eos growled, arms crossed and one claw tapping against his arm, “He's off limits. Besides, I need you to coordinate the kitchen while I'm training him."

“I could train him instead..." Mey switched from exasperation to a sulky pout. He could practically hear the big, watery eyes begging to give her the chance. “Please?"

“No. Now hurry up and get to work. You're terrifying the newbie."

Pan let out a small sigh of relief as Mey, defeated, left the storage room. Finally sliding his shorts into place, he resumed donning the rest of his uniform. Eos now stepped into view, arms still crossed but looking less annoyed. Reminded that he was still being watched made him a little self conscious again, but compared to Mey, Eos's gaze was a lot less penetrating. “Sorry for causing you trouble with your sister. If you'd rather I talk to Jack about something different..."

Eos shook his head, annoyance now switched with indifference. “Nah. She's not usually this bitchy about that sort of thing. You just kind of hit several boxes on her checklist," He held out a claw, ticking them off. “You're training for patissier, so she wants to learn what you know; the fact you're off limits makes her want to test how far she can tease you without getting in trouble; you do actually have a nice butt, so she's probably gonna be sneaking looks at it all day; and you don't look like a snob, so she probably thinks you're adorable and is trying too hard to be friendly."

“Well, that is better than her threatening me with a cleaver, so I guess there's that." Pan double checked his outfit for anything missed, while debating whether the comfort of the shorts was worth the display of his backside and its apparent consequences. “Who normally does the desserts then?"

“Mey. She can make a simple enough cake and make it look and taste good, but despite all the chefs we got, we're actually kind of lacking in anyone with serious dessert skills. I wasn't kidding about her wanting to learn stuff from you. If she actually starts getting to you, threaten not to teach her anything and she'll shut her trap."

Pan nodded at that, now debating the sanity of the kitchen if these two were always this antagonistic with each other. “I'll keep that in mind."

They made their way into the kitchen, where Eos introduced him to the rest of the staff on duty with brisk efficiency; his name, that he'd be training with desserts as focus, and not to touch him or so help him Eos would smack the offender with a pot lid. No one seemed to take this personally, and a crack of a smile or two suggested nothing unusual in this behavior, so Pan relaxed just a little more as worries of a tyrannical kitchen fluttered away.

The kitchen ran with surprising calmness. Mey's orders sounded simple, yet everyone seemed perfectly coordinated, working around Pan and Eos as they discussed tools, technique, and speed. Eos seemed particularly pleased at how quickly he grasped the techniques, and started quizzing him through the ordered dishes to see if he could explain the process for each of them.

“I thought you were having me focus on desserts though? Why quiz me on the other foods?" he eventually asked, helping pass a plated meal along to be sent out.

“Cause sometimes we might need your help with other stuff too. You like cooking and making other stuff, right? No reason not to learn everything as it comes up."

Finally, Eos allowed Mey to help out by making a chocolate cake, with Pan stating the steps as she worked. It was a simple piece, as far as desserts (and cake) went, but Pan finally began to understand what they actually wanted out of him as a patissier: they didn't just want someone who could make 'a fancy cake,' but someone who could create a delicious display out of something like a simple cake and create something amazing that you couldn't believe was 'just a cake.' Their love for cooking seemed inspired by mad creativity as much as taste, hinted at by Mey's gleeful anticipation of cake decorating and Eos complaining about seemingly invisible flaws in some of the other meals—even the soup got critiqued!

And through it all, Pan endured, determined to soak in all the learning, to... actually, he only had to fret over learning and keeping up! Contrary to expectation, Mey behaved herself, possibly because she was focused on the actual cake, but he easily deflected her mild mannered flirting with only the faintest irritation. The whole kitchen seemed just busy enough to keep everyone out of trouble yet still have time to pace themselves. With everything going so smoothly, there was only one thing left for him to do...

---

Job hunting sucked.

Emily repeated the mantra in her head at a slow but steady pace, face planted firmly in her pillow on the bed. She grumbled and hummed aggressively into the fabric, only for the irritation to still grow; her nose felt smooshed in this position, making it harder to breathe. She rolled over, pillow and all, now leaving her with a less smothering, but still warming darkness.

A little better. She shunted a bit more of the frustration into her limbs next, making imaginary snow angels on top of the covers and periodically bouncing her heels against the mattress. Pan lacked a foot board, so she didn't have to worry about accidentally bumping it. His pillow, on the other hand, eventually toppled to the floor, dislodged by her flailing. This in turn interrupted her venting, but with it came the welcome distraction of reaching over to retrieve the pillow and hug it close, reveling in the fact it actually seemed to smell like him. It was faint, but the fact she could pick it up still said something...

Job hunting really sucked.

This time, the thought didn't make her want to flail or scream; the cold, welcomed presence of the pillow buffered the impulse. She'd dropped off Pan at the cafe not that long ago. She'd wanted to stay and keep an eye on him, but there was no way they'd tolerate her hanging out in the kitchen like that, and it'd probably distract or embarrass Pan at the same time. Coming back to his apartment—to home—was the smart step.

Now if she could just get her mind to actually focus on doing something productive, like lunch.

Putting the pillow and the rest of the bed back into order, she made good on that motivation by raiding the fridge. She was still too distracted to do anything complicated, but making a sandwich with some odds and ends didn't take that much effort. The first fresh, crisp bite satisfied her palette, and in turn, distracted her mind just a little bit further from her troubles.

Knock knock knock.

Emily paused, looking over at the front door with surprise. Were they expecting anyone? Was Clive checking up on them? Several sillier theories raced through her head as she put the sandwich down and went over to peered through the peephole. An unfamiliar pokemon stood patiently on the other side: bipedal, faintly rabbit-like with perked ears and a large blue fin thing between them. The most striking feature, however, was the blue track suit hiding the rest of their features.

She debated her options, only to realize it was a moot point; she could see their ears twitch, likely sensing her presence behind the door. They even smiled and waved at the peephole! Not answering now would definitely be rude, and for all she knew, they were a friend of Pan. If that was the case...

Preparing herself for her first real interaction as 'the girlfriend,' she opened the door. Now face to face, Emily watched their expression change to surprise before quickly switching back. “Hello," The voice suggested male. “Sorry for knocking out of nowhere, but I was wondering if you happened to have some milk I might be able to borrow? I need some for a protein shake."

“Oh," She thought back to the fridge, imagining where the line on the milk had been. “Sure. One second." It only took a moment to check and bring the entire jug, but she presented it to him with a smile. “You can have it. Half full, but I can grab another when I head out later."

He took the jug with a new look of surprise, albeit a happy one. “Really? Thanks a lot! Sorry for adding an errand to your day though. I could just pour it really quick and bring the rest back?" He pointed over to the apartment on her right. “It'd literally take only a minute."

“It's not a problem, really. I'm already heading out later, and I'll probably be planning a grocery run soon anyways. We don't need it right away." WIth such a simple, slice-of-life conversation like this, she found herself surprisingly refreshed. “I'm Emily."

“Accel. Cinderace."

The second part sounded like a pokemon species, so Emily made note of it for later Googling. “Are you a friend of Pan's by chance?"

Accel shook his head, though a look of realization seemed to hit at the same time. “Is that the zoroark I thought lived here?" At her nod he looked relieved. “Oh good. I wasn't sure if I'd just guessed wrong or if you were, like, him in disguise or—wait, you're not actually him in disguise, right? Cause if you are and you just prefer your privacy or something..."

Emily cracked a grin; knowing a bit more about zoroark since she'd moved in, she could relate to that uncertainty. “Nope, Just an ordinary human. Next time we're both around I'm sure we can find a way to prove it."

They shared a small laugh, and with that, Accel excused himself to make his protein shake. She returned to her sandwich and resumed eating, looking up 'cinderace' on her phone. Fire type, normally red instead of blue, males more common than females, rare but not unusual, apparently pretty prone to being physically active. All those things save the color certainly felt on point to what she'd seen so far. Apparently a final evolution form too; did that mean Accel was especially strong as far as pokemon were considered? She followed the links to the previous evolutions...

What she found was sheer adorableness. Several of the pictures were obviously models, groomed and posed to perfection, but she found several images of more casual, candid times of the two and decided they definitely fell into the 'cute and fluffy' category of pokemon that she knew. Cinderace might have grown out of that phase, but compared to some of the other pokemon evolutions she was aware of...

Then again, maybe Accel wore the track suit for a reason. It occurred to her that with the exception of Pan, this was the first pokemon she'd seen casually wearing clothes in awhile. Was he self conscious about his body? A scar? Could it be work related? Being bipedal, she could see him as a fitness trainer somewhere, and some of those exercises would be a little questionable with bits sticking out...

She heard the nearby apartment door open and shut, the faint jingle of keys probably signaling locking a door. Though there was no window or tinted glass around the door side of the apartments, she could make out just enough sound to know that someone—most likely Accel—had just jogged by the door.

He'd mentioned making a protein shake. If he wasn't heading straight to work, a protein shake plus a track suit suggested an exercise routine. Jogging would certainly make sense. She recalled mention of the apartments having a common room on the middle floor and a terrace on the third. If you were looking to get some exercise without having to go somewhere...

Curiosity piqued, Emily scarfed down the last bit of her sandwich and went looking for her shoes; a little fresh air wouldn't hurt to help clear her head.

---

As the water swirled and vanished into the depths with a loud whoosh, Pan opened the stall door and made his way to the sink. It all shone with that promise of quality despite the blatant signs of heavy use; the soap dispenser actually worked, the faucets had real handles and not just sensors, and the water came clean and swift, mixing with the soap and creating a chaos of suds as he scrubbed.

The directions down to the bathrooms had led him through what felt like a maze of hallways and rooms, but with each one he found himself updating his opinion of the cafe steadily higher. Another set of doors lead into what he would have called a palatial, if still communal, wash area. Washroom simply didn't do it justice; tubs sat in a neat row in the center of the room, each filled with water and a pokemon or two, while shower heads decorated the outer walls. Even there they went a step further, with separated rooms apparently for ground types and another apparently for electric types. He couldn't think of how they could get away with that much water unless one or two of the water types routinely filled up tanks or something to keep it all readily available.

All this just from just washing his hands! He chastised himself for being so easily distracted, only to remind himself that he wasn't in a rush to get back. He could actually take his time, look at himself in the mirror, and make note of the surprisingly happy looking face peering back at him.

Another loud whoosh from another stall filled the room as the door opened, revealing a simisage. Despite being distinctly shorter, Pan found his eyes drawn to the turgid, wobbling mass of green towering up from their head, clearly striving to add as many inches of prowess as possible. The simisage trotted right up to the sink next to him without a care for how the length swung, simian foot deftly sliding a rolling step ladder out from under the sink to climb up and put himself at a more manageable height for the sink. He didn't seem to mind how the tip of that mass bumped into the mirror, and didn't even say a word about Pan's blatant staring as he washed his hands. Likewise, he didn't so much as bat an eye after finishing when he started cleaning the tan, turgid shaft jutting from his crotch either, alternating wetted hands to moisten and polish it, foreskin and all.

“You can touch it if you like. I swear, everyone wants to do it at least once."

The spell broke. Plan blinked and finally made proper eye contact with the bemused simisage. “What?"

“The grass." He reached up and patted at the pompadour of green fur on his head. “Everyone likes to touch my grass at least once. I even tell them it's good luck so they don't feel as awkward about it."

“That is not just grass; that's a fucking hedge on your head."

He hadn't meant to say it so blatantly like that, but apparently the simisage liked it, bursting into laughter. “Now that's a new comeback! I like that! Nice!" He offered out a hand, freshly washed. “Name's Margrave. You look new, right?"

Not wanting to be rude, he managed to reach out and complete the handshake, trying not to let his gaze settle on either phallic display. “Pan. Yeah. First day training. It's been, pretty good, actually. Heck of a layout this place's got."

“Oh yeah, it's almost a maze, but the whole place is full of hidden treasures. It's great. Great company, too!" Margrave turned and leaned on the counter, not remotely bashful about the glistening flesh pointed his way. “It's got great lays too. If you'd like, I can give you the good ole 'welcome to Cafe Plaisir' package, if you're into that of course."

The growing smile, the small wobble of both spires; If that wasn't a blatant of invitation to gay sex...

“Uh, I appreciate the friendliness, but I have to decline. I have a girlfriend... and I'm kind of afraid you'll poke my eye out with that thing up top."

Despite the rejection, Margrave didn't falter. He even let out another laugh as he patted at his pompadour. “That'd be a first time, taking out an eye, but it's true I've accidentally made a few eat grass when I wasn't thinking about it. No worries about the offer. If you and the girlfriend ever reconsider though, let me know. I'm happy to share or be shared! Peace!"

And with a matching gesture, the simisage hopped down and strolled away, making use of the air dryer before wobbling out with a purpose.

Pan began processing everything that'd just happened; being flirted with wasn't new, of course, but that had probably been the most straightforward proposition he'd had in ages! He had no clue if Emily would laugh her ass off if he told her about it like those times at the bakery, or fume at him being hit on now that they were together, even by a guy. He didn't think she was homophobic, but it hadn't occurred to him to consider getting hit on by both sides of the field either.

Thus distracted, despite remembering to wash his hands again after witnessing the earlier polishing, he found himself another countermate when a pikachu hopped up the still present step ladder and directly onto the counter. Like before, not a word was shared to start, even as he produced a small stopper from behind the faucet and plugged the sink, turning the water on and plunging into the growing tub. Once thoroughly doused, their eyes met at last. “Mind giving me a squirt or two there?"

The pikachu pointed over to the soap dispenser, where the tip of his lightning-shaped tail now sat. Understanding the purpose, Pan pressed and delivered the dollops of cleanliness into the flattened side.

“Thanks!"

Pan decided to finish up his own hand wash and leave at that point, taking one last glance back to the pikachu in the sink-tub before making his way back to the kitchens. He would have to put in some extra work processing this part of his day too, entirely unsure what to make of that...

Or the fact that the pikachu and Margrave had come out of the same bathroom stall.

---

Accel had already vanished by the time she'd managed to find her shoes. Since she didn't know if the common room had a jogging track (or if it was even big enough for that sort of activity), she checked on it first, spotting the entrance to the area as she made her way towards the stair—ramp?—well. Several pokemon were already making use of it, sitting around, chatting, gaming and so on. She scanned the crowd, but didn't see any track suits, though several spots of blue did catch her attention before ruling them out. She didn't know enough about pokemon to name a lot of them, but that wasn't the important part right now; No Accel, therefore, new floor.

The ramp—stair?—well had a pretty forgiving incline, a fact aided by the sheer width of it. Given the third floor was meant for larger pokemon, she couldn't deny the logic of that size going for the entire thing, otherwise they'd never fit at the bottom to get up to the top in the first place! But at the same time it felt weird, and now she had to wonder just how many larger pokemon were actually living at Atlas. What did they do with tenants that suddenly evolved and could no longer fit in their previous dwelling? What did they do with tenants that suddenly couldn't get out of their dwelling?

She continued to ponder, finding herself in the wider hallway of the third floor. Unlike the common room entrance, the terrace wasn't accessible from all directions, so she ended up walking to the opposite end of the hall before she found the entryway. Large, glass doors shielded the inside from the stray breeze, but they opened easily at her touch as she found herself surrounded by grass. Raised grass, to be specific: several raised platforms that seemed to be filled with dirt and, in turn, grass, were situated through the space. A surprisingly thriving tree near the center provided an inviting spot for shade without stretching beyond the reach of the surrounding walls. Several posts with spokes sticking out likewise shared the space, the various scratch marks suggesting they were resting places for flying types, or the occasional scratching post for others.

It always seemed like she was getting surprised by the things she found out regarding pokemon, but she couldn't help but regret not exploring the apartments sooner to find all this. More surprising still was the fact that the entire space seemed empty at the moment, minus one blue blur flying through the air.

With a thump, Accel landed deftly on his feet, paused only for a moment before running towards the opposing wall once again. At the last moment he hopped upward with a slight tilt, before abruptly hanging horizontal as he ran up the wall several steps and kicked off, soaring backwards through the air in a flip. Once again he landed with a thump, but turned to look at her with obvious surprise. “Emily? Well this is unexpected. I've never seen you up here before. Weird timing or were you looking for me or something?"

“Kind of. You reminded me about the terrace and common room when I thought about the fact you were in a track suit, so I got curious." She hadn't really thought through explaining herself when she decided to follow him; giving him the honest answer seemed best. “It kind of sticks out when most pokemon you see aren't usually wearing anything. Impressive wall jump thing though."

Her mention of the suit made him glance down at it, then chuckle. “I guess you got a point there. It's just, uh, a habit I guess! And thanks!" Looking a little more cheerful, Accel started to jog in place. "I can't exactly do them at work. They get cranky about footprints up on the walls and they don't want others trying to do it—liability stuff."

Emily watched as the jog turned into a bit more of a skip, or a hop. Clearly he wasn't lacking energy, and some of that cuteness she'd thought lost from evolution seemed to come back. “So does that mean you're a fitness trainer or some sort of athlete?"

“Fitness Trainer, yup! I'd love it if I got signed up as an athlete, but I haven't had any luck with that yet." From hop, now jump, he got some impressive air for just staying in one spot. Fortunately he only did it a few times before coming to a complete stop. “But yeah, between that and playing pokemon taxi—"

“Pokemon taxi?"

“I carry larger pokemon in pokeballs to places they want to go, since they can't always get there easily themselves. I get to run around a lot, but it's a lot more awkward running for exercise. If you're not wearing a friggin jacket that says 'taxi' on it people freak out half the time."

“Wait, why? You're just running, right? Or are you, like, running super fast and leaping over crosswalks..." she'd been joking when she suggested it, but the moment she mentioned crosswalks those ears immediately dipped. “Oh no, you didn't?"

“It's not like it's illegal! I said people only freak out half the time! But they're afraid I'll startle the drivers and make them crash if I do it too much..."

Her hands were covering her mouth, thankfully obscuring the face wanting to laugh out loud. “I'm so sorry!" She couldn't hide the hints in her voice, unfortunately. “I mean, it's hilarious, but also so bad! I can totally understand getting frustrated by that."

“Thanks," He let out a sigh, but at least seemed to have recovered from his embarrassment. “So yeah. I didn't feel like looking for some wide track to go running, so I come up here and kinda parkour around, buuuuuut..."

A thought clicked in Emily's head as he trailed off. “Oh! Shit, you can't exactly exercise if I'm talking to you. I'm so sorry."

Accel gave her a shrug, though he didn't seem too annoyed with her at least. “You said I reminded you we had the place, so at least I showed you what's around! I'm off today, so it's not like I can't wait a little if you had something you really wanted to ask me, but it's not always this empty either, so I want to make use of it. So if you want a rain check on questions...?"

Emily shook her head. “No rain checks needed. I just didn't think this through. It looks great up here though. If you don't mind me hanging around to take in the atmosphere, I can leave you to your... exercise, stunt tricks, ninja training, whatever you want to qualify it as."

“Stunt tricks do sound kind of fun, but so does ninja training! Thanks. Hope you like the view!" With that, he gave her a grin and a wave and bounced off to resume his antics.

She soon found 'antics' was the right word. She took shelter under the tree, where the shade mixed perfectly with the open space and refreshing breeze. She had a clear view of almost everything, including Accel, resuming his jog, skip, and jump routine. Without her bringing in conversation, however, this led into a trot, then a little faster, and faster still. Lacking a real jogging track, he could only go so far, but he started with a lap around the entire space before he started jumping around everywhere. Wall running, wall flips, hopping up onto the grass platforms and jumping one from to the other, even parkour elements going from one to the other she wasn't really sure how she'd ever describe to someone else.

All this and more. Cartwheels, somersaults, flips she didn't know the name for. She was a little concerned that burning footprints were going to start appearing, or how his feet could put up with all that roughness, but maybe this was just a trifle for a pokemon? That, or her mere presence had instigated a bit of showing off on his part, hinted at by a grinning, excited face flashing in her direction at certain points. The theory seemed to hold some merit when the metaphorical bouncing around turned into a series of backflips, almost seeming to get more and more dramatic with each rotation the further he went, towards the fenced off edge of the building!

Emily shot up from her seat. “Accel! Stop! The fence! THE FENCE!"

She had no idea if he heard her, even as she started running. The flips were full of energy, and she could see with the one particular how his legs crouched more deeply than the last. Given the distance he could make just from jumping off a wall made things that much more terrifying as she watched him launch up—too high. Blue form twirling in place as he went upside down—way too high.

Her legs froze up at the point of no return, as did the last scream that would have carried his name when she saw him go past the fence.

His arms shot out at the last second and grabbed onto the wire frame. The whirling mass came to an abrupt halt as gravity and momentum swung him into the rest of it, somehow crashing with purpose on the outside portion, feet in front of him. The entire fence rippled and buckled at the grab and impact, but amazingly held firm. A sudden burst of flame and legs made him flip back just as abruptly as the sudden grab, the anchor point of his hands helped him direct himself back over the fence again in a jaw-dropping somersault. Letting go, he landed with the loudest thump yet, a wisp of leftover flames flashing out before they were snuffed...

Emily felt her jaw drop open as he stood up in a dramatic pose, looking perfectly accomplished, arms outstretched, only for the legs to suddenly buckle and give way as he crumpled with an absolute cry of terror. The feeling in her legs finally kicked back in enough for her to rush over, where they both ended up in a huddled mass of relieved hysteria.

“WhatthefuckwhatthefuckInearlyfelloff!" Somehow he pulled in air between the nonexistent spaces, hands clinging to her arms. Next thing she knew, he'd leaned in and hugged her tight, almost crushing her in his grip. “HolyshitholyshitIcan'tbelieveIpulledmyselfbackinholyshit!"

“Breathe! Breathe! You're okay!" Emily gasped out, trying to pry his grip loose somehow. “Accel... air! I need air!"

“Whatareyou—shit! Sorry!"His grip loosened and he pulled himself back. They were a crumbled mess together now, but the brief distraction seemed to pull him out of his traumatic moment enough to take in his surroundings again. “Sorry! I just, I just... are you okay?"

“I think I should be asking you that. Are you okay?"

“Yeah, yeah I think so. Just got to, uh feel my legs again. Still a bit freaked out." he glanced down briefly as he began several long, deep breaths. “I damn near pissed myself."

“I don't think anyone would blame you if you did, to be honest."

“And crawl past everyone with a soggy leg? No thank you!" Bit by bit, he seemed a little more in control. “That was so fucking stupid of me. I don't know why I did that."

Emily had a theory. “I think that's my fault. You weren't showing off by chance, were you?"

From the brief pause of probably introspection—followed by dipping ears—he cringed. “Fuck. Maybe? I guess with you there I had a little more reason to put some more effort in. I don't normally do backflips up here with all the obstacles. I wasn't trying to impress you, but I didn't want to come off disappointing?"

“Well, I was definitely impressed you didn't die, so let's make sure you don't do that again and disappoint me that way."

Accel gave a ghost of a chuckle. “Sounds like a plan. I like that plan."

“Good." She picked herself off the ground and held out her hands. “You think you can stand up yet? Now's probably a good time to head inside."

He looked up at her offered assistance. For a moment, she worried he was going to be particularly masculine and suddenly get angry, but he gave a small nod and grasped them. “Yeah, if you're helping I think I can."

“Also good," she gave him an encouraging smile. With a timed count, they both pulled and got him back onto his feet. Though his legs did still shake a little bit, he seemed perfectly capable of walking on his own. She didn't let go immediately, however, letting him control the pace of independence as she led them back towards the glass doors. “We'll make an aerial performance star out of you yet."

She hadn't meant to use that kind of humor; it was a habit with Pan of course. Thankfully, Accel let out a snort instead of a glare. “Fuuuck that," he said firmly. “I'd rather take up yoga."

---

Pan took his time heading back to the kitchen, in part to give himself a chance to psych himself back into work focus, but the truth was just one time heading through wasn't enough to memorize the way back. Twice he opened a door only to find himself looking into a completely unfamiliar room, and the third time actually found him behind the main bar of the main bar, complete with a back view of Jack polishing a glass.

“Took your time, did ya?" Eos called out when he finally arrived, arms crossed and one claw tapping. This didn't seem too unusual from his usual demeanor, so Pan didn't worry just yet. “I hope you washed your hands."

“I made a few wrong turns and I washed my hands twice. I'm not that late, am I?"

“You're fine. He's just trying to keep up the tough boss guy act." Mey gave him a cheeky grin, tail wagging a bit behind her. She was hanging out beside her sibling, though with her hands on the counter as she leaned in a bit. “But why twice? Were you jacking it in the—"

“I'm going to spoil your fun right there by saying I ran into someone I assume was a waiter and had to shake hands. Since they were also handling something else right before, I was playing it safe." He gave them both a shrug. “I don't know what the handwashing rules are for non-chefs here, but I wasn' taking any chances."

Mey didn't seem to take the interruption personally, though from the way her grin widened as she fidgeted, perhaps imagining the scenario made up for it. Eos let out a huff, but did seem a little more mollified. “Fair enough. And you're not really late so don't worry about it. You ready for your next task?"

“Sure."

“Then you're going to decorate a cake. Mey'll tell you what to do."

“What!?" She did a double take at this news. “Why me!?"

“So you don't want to see him decorate a cake?" Eos looked oddly smug about the situation.

Pan looked between the two with utter confusion, especially after Mey swatted her brother's shoulder before coming around the counter to take him to the fridge; why would Eos involve Mey when he'd been trying to keep her out of trouble and having her direct the kitchen? Weirder still, why did Mey actually seem upset about getting the opportunity?

Mey pointed out the chilled cakes sitting in the fridge as she went and collected the decorating supplies. Eos simply watched from his position on the other side of the counter with only the smallest of fidgets as they arranged everything before him, though he gave Mey a small glare as she practically skipped around beside him again and started giving Pan directions. Her slight squeak as she settled in was... strange; maybe she really was that excited for sweets?

“Right. This is gonna be a chocolate mint cake. Nothin super fancy, but I want to see how you think of decorating it with what you got here."

Pan looked over the supplies given; making a simple cake design wouldn't be a problem, so it wasn't like they were trying to trick him, but he felt like he was missing something. “And if I want to do something I don't have supplies for?"

Eos spoke up. “Then just mention what you want and Mey will help you get it. Just try not to make a giant mess of the place."

Right. He could work with that...

The premade cake layers saved him having to worry about the cake crumbling while working with it. Adding the mint simply involved slathering it between each layer, but since they were giving him the leeway to complete the cake, he decided to push that by adding extra mint as a thinner layer before covering it with chocolate. Neither zangoose objected, watching with apparent interest and more of those faint signs of twitching, or noises or—

Ding! A timer beside an oven went off.

The three of them jumped, Mey turning towards the source with another squeak. “Oh! Baking done! I'll get it!" and yet, she hesitated, if only for a couple seconds, before hurrying around the counter and past Pan.

That settled it; something was definitely going on, and Pan wanted to know what. Looking between the two, he tried looking for some clue that'd lead him to an explanation first. His scrutinizing didn't go unnoticed either, Eos being the first to notice his narrowed eyes. Pan had expected a glare back, maybe a question of what he was staring at, but all he got was a huff and a look-away. Was Eos flustered?

The sound of the first oven opening turned his attention to his next target, Mey, or rather, Mey's backside. Being bent over to pull a cake out of an oven, it was only natural to see, but the important reason why Pan's eyes went wide was the raised, white tail wagging happily, showing off equally white fur, and the black strap and conspicuous wire leading from it into her vulva.

To the side, he heard Eos plant his face into his palm, no doubt seeing the same thing.

Mey turned around, hot cake in mitted claws, and paused at their looks. “What? What'd I miss?"

Pan sighed. “Well, I'd say your fluffy ass, but I'm pretty sure you already know what you got stuck up your—"

“Oh! Uhh, I can explain that! See, uh—"

A sudden thunk made them both jump; Eos, now bent over the extension of the counter he stood behind, flexing the fist he'd suddenly decided to pound onto the countertop. “Ignore that." he half growled, now gripping the edge. “J-just, ignore... that!"

“What the fucking hell is going on with you two?" Pan slipped around the counter to get a closer look at Eos. Was he having some sort of an attack or...

On the floor sat Eos's shorts, pooled around one foot. The guilty gaze of a third, unknown zangoose with his mouth shoved onto the other's crotch looked up at him from beneath the counter extension. He made a muffled noise which Pan could only assume was a greeting, shyly waving with a free hand—the other one occupied with sticking a claw up Eos's backside.

“What. The fuck. Is this!? Who is this!?"

“No, don't—!" Eos looked up from whatever he was going through at that, only to be interrupted below.

The other zangoose pulled back with a long slurp, louder than he would have expected, and with pop, his mouth came free. “Hi! I'm Karma. So—ack!" he suddenly found himself getting hit in the face, the twitching shaft he'd just released clearly still releasing spunk with every twitch.

“Fuck! Karma, you did that on purpose!" Eos scowled as he pushed himself upright again.

“Maybe! I was just saying hel—gl'ck!" Karma's words were cut off as the other zangoose abruptly reached beneath and seized him by the head, shoving him right back into place. The hand didn't move, leaving him to struggle and squirm.

“Short version: He popped in while you were washing your hands. You came back before he could finish." Eos used his free hand to point to the unfinished cake. “Ignore this, finish that. No one is sucking you off without permission. You'll need to get your work done around a little sex on occasion - this is Cafe Plaisir. Now's as good a time as any to get used to it."

The sight of Eos now effectively fucking the other zangoose senseless left Pan absolutely flummoxed. He'd thought the scene in the bathroom had been a bit much, but this...

He couldn't make the pun literally sitting there half finished in front of him; Surely his standards were higher than that?

Mey tugged gently at this sleeve, drawing his attention. The smile seemed like the consoling sort, but she also drew him back towards the cake. “Like he said - if you're gonna work here, you're gonna have to see this, at least a little. Eos and I can get pretty rowdy. Usually he goes out of the kitchen for fun, but Karma surprised him—his own fault, actually."

Pan looked between Mey and Eos and Karma, albeit that last one being more in his general direction of the half choked sounds of being face fucked. This was definitely the most graphic display of eroticism he'd seen so far at the cafe. He'd expected to run into something like this eventually, but not on his first day! Still, he'd expected it, which meant he had to accept it...

For now, at any rate. He turned to the poor, innocent cake that had done nothing wrong and gave it a death glare. “Fine. it's get this over with, but I'm still debating if I let you try a slice when we're done. Maybe I'll just let Karma have a slice for his throat."

“What!?" Mey, now back on the other side of the counter, cried out in dismay. “But, but, I can't even use his claw now! Just one slice, please!"

“I saw the vibrator cord on your leg. You'll be fine. Turn it up to max if you're that desperate."

“It's already at max pow—YEE!"

Once more interrupted by surprises, Pan looked up to see Mey suddenly rising up; whether getting onto her toes or from a small jump, he didn't know, but he had a sneaking suspicion he knew what happened.

“Well since he just gave you the finger back, nothing to complain about, is there?"

Suddenly, Pan didn't feel so conflicted with the moment, drinking in the delicious outrage of Mey's next words.

“DAMMIT, KARMA!"

---

The granbull gently laid the damp towel across Accel's forehead. “There we go, dear. Hopefully that helps a bit. You just relax."

“Thanks, uh, ma'am..."

His face, despite being hidden partly by the towel, practically screamed awkwardness. Emily tried not to grin or laugh, both for his sake and not to be rude, but she had a feeling the doglike pokemon was enjoying doting on him a little bit. “Thank you for letting us have the couch too. We didn't mean to steal your seat."

The couch in question was one of several in the common room of the apartments, most of which boasted several occupants in turn, a mixture of watching television, watching children, socializing, or any combination of the three. The granbull seemed to be one of the ones in charge of children watching, though it seemed like the majority of them could take care of themselves perfectly fine. That, or the several sets of eyes now watching the cinderace laid out on the couch were doing part of the work for her. Emily herself sat perched on the couch arm at his feet, grateful the design allowed such sitting in the first place.

“It's not a problem. Poor boy seems like he needs it more than I do right now! Call me Peggy." Peggy beamed another one of her motherly smiles at them both. “Is there anything else I can do to be of help? Something to drink? Crackers?"

Accel shook his head gently. “No thank you. This should be fine." He seemed even shyer than ever, but once Peggy moved on to get a seat at another couch (with the others politely making room or even hopping into her lap after), the tension seemed to ease out of him.

At least until one of the set of eyes spoke up, belonging to a blue... thing, with a small yellow fin appendage on its head. “Are you gonna throw up?"

Emily felt his foot twitch slightly by her leg. His head turned slightly towards the sobble. “No." His voice hinted at polite irritation.

“Are you sure?" The next voice came from one of two Rattata. “You look like you're gonna throw up." The other Rattata nodded in agreement.

This time she spotted the towel twitch as he scowled blindly. “I'm not going to throw up."

No one spoke up this time, though all eyes stayed on him anyways. The two rattatas, sobble, even an eevee. Despite being watched, the silence (from his audience) seemed to placate his mood.

At least until the sobble spoke up again. “Are you sure you—"

“Stop asking if I'm going to throw up, gaaah!"

The sobble squeaked, abruptly vanishing into thin air. The other three fled more traditionally, though no one else having witnessed the outburst seemed remotely alarmed. Emily finally cracked, covering her mouth just in time to muffle out a snort of laughter, which only brought out a groan of dismay from Accel.

“Sorry," Emily tried to stop her mouth from twitching in a grin as her hands came away. “But at least they probably won't be back?"

He pulled the towel a little further over his face, more effectively obscuring his disgruntled look, if muffling his words a little. “I'm not good with kids..."

“Or doting motherly types either." She teased him with some care to her volume; no reason to accidentally upset Peggy's feelings if she hadn't noticed the awkwardness from earlier.

This jab earned her a small huff, which made the towel dance a little. “That's different." He lowered his voice as well. “But getting treated like a kid isn't exactly doing wonders for my self-esteem."

“Well at least I know how impressive you can be." She gave his foot a consoling pat. “Maybe next time you should do some exercises or yoga in here, and demonstrate your maturity that way?"

The suggestion—or possibly the compliment—seemed to mollify him.

With no reply back to her suggestion, they sat in relative peace, allowing Emily a moment to look over the room and everyone in it. Despite the plethora of shapes and features, the general hum of the room felt remarkably cozy. She'd been worried that she'd be getting awkward stares or more when she came in supporting Accel, but other than the concern for his well being and a little bit of curiosity, things didn't seem that different from hanging out with her usual friends.

A faint buzz at her hip got her attention, bringing out her cellphone: A text from Pan!

[How's day for you?]

[Not bad. Search slow. Went out to stretch

legs. You ever been upstairs to terrace?]

[No. Was it nice?]

[Yes. Good spot for shade and breeze. We

should hang out there sometime.]

[Good excuse for picnic.]

[Training going okay?]

“Is that the boyfriend?"

Emily looked up from texting to find Accel peering her way; he had a corner of the towel held up. “Yeah. Why?"

He gave her a bit of a smirk. “Just guessing. You were smiling while typing so I figured it was him."

Having been caught, she couldn't pick out a particularly witty repartee. “I guess you win this round."

“S'alright to ask what he does for work?"

Oof; there was a trickier subject. She thought about it for a moment. “He used to be a baker, but got an opportunity to be a chef, actually. First day today."

Accel perked up at this information. “Really? I only saw him with a duffel bag now and then, so I had no clue. He must be pretty good if he's gonna be a chef, right?"

She nodded. “That's the hope. Big deal and all. We're hoping it works out."

“Me too. Especially if he's making desserts, oh, or pizza? What else would a baker make..."

The phone vibrated again.

[Could be worse. Training is

fine, but head chef's lil crazy.

Can share later. Shift may

finish early. Should I take

shuttle?]

[I can get you. Just tell me

when.] .

She tuned back into Accel guessing at more foods. It was nice to see him in better spirits, and that in turn brought on another idea. “Say, Accel? What do you think about coming with me to pick Pan up from work?"

That got his attention. “Hm?"

“It sounds like he may finish early, and since I said we'd prove to you we're two people at some point, easy opportunity. Plus it means you can get some air without going anywhere high, and avoid questions about..." She trailed off, but with a smirk, pointed upward.

Accel lifted his towel a little higher. Perched on the ceiling squatted the sobble from before, clearly watching him. When their eyes met, they started again and promptly vanished, though tell tale noises from their retreat hinted at their escape path.

He let out a sigh as he dropped the towel back in place. “Just getting away from the eyes is reason enough. You sure that's okay?"

“I don't see any reason why it wouldn't."

“Weren't you planning to do some grocery shopping too?"

“It doesn't have to be today, but if you need to shop for anything I don't see the harm in a group shopping trip. We could even pick up ingredients to make pizza~"

Yes, all that talk of food had gotten to her stomach. She knew he felt the same way, given the thoughtful silence that followed the suggestion.

“Does that even count as making a pizza? You're talking about one of those premade pizza dough things, right?"

“Anything's possible with the right seasoning and a little effort, and it'll still be a pizza. Sauce, cheese, toppings. It's a lot cheaper to go crazy with toppings when you do it yourself."

“Aaaand now I'm hungry. Evil human is evil!" Despite the protest, he pushed himself upright and took the towel from his forehead. “How long until we'd need to head out?"

She checked her phone. “Mmm, fifteen, twenty minutes? If we don't want to leave him waiting long."

“I can work with that." He pushed up off the couch and stretched. “I should freshen up a little so I don't smell like I nearly fell off the building, and grab my wallet. Should I wait outside your apartment?"

“Sure. I'll probably be ready first it sounds like."

[We're on our way! Also we're

shopping for pizza.] .

[We?]

[You'll see!]

Some minutes later, they were in the van and on their way, radio playing random background music, windows down, and Accel in the passenger seat, enjoying himself by surfing one arm in the jetstream around the car. Emily had been a little worried the rushing air might remind him of nearly falling earlier, but maybe that was why he chose to arm surf instead?

Either way, a little more adorableness had been added to the cinderace gauge in her head. “So, better?"

“Much." He gave her a smile. “It might not be a good run, but the wind feels nice this way, and it's ground level."

“Good. I wasn't sure if that'd be a problem. No sticking your head out the window though, just to play it safe."

He laughed, and they enjoyed the drive for a while longer without much concern. At least until she noticed him looking thoughtful, arm still in the wind.

“You mentioned it was his first day with this new chef job, right?"

“Yup."

“...Where exactly is this job?"

She realized the potential complication the moment the answer came to mind. Unable to avoid the potential awkwardness, she answered truthfully. “Uh, Cafe Plaisir."

“Plaisir!?"

“Yeah," She could practically hear his eyes growing as big as saucers, and a quick glance confirmed it. “I kinda forgot that might be awkward. Sorry."

“Cafe Plaisir!? He works at Cafe Plaisir!? We're going to Cafe Plaisir!?"

“Accel, relax!" Okay, maybe the reaction was a bit worse than saucer eyes. “It's not like I'm taking you there for the blackjack and hookers. We're just picking up Pan!"

“Right, right." That seemed to help a bit. He took a few deep breaths. “Sorry. You're right. I shouldn't freak out like that."

“I'm kinda surprised by that reaction, actually," Emily gave him a concerned look; the road lacked any real traffic to be concerned with at the moment. “Most pokemon I know seem to have no problem with the place. Do you?"

“No! I mean, no, but... Gaaah!" he hid his face behind his hands, blatantly embarrassed. “This is not how I thought I'd end up here!"

“...Accel, are you a virgin?"

A whine. “Noooo..."

“Okay. Not a virgin, but freaking out about a brothel. Are you body-shy, or something?"

Another whine and no answer, at first. “...Sort of."

“Would you like me to stop asking questions?"

A defeated sense of relief. “Yes please."

Awkward silence. Cheery radio music. Periodic sound of a vehicle passing by the other side. Mile markers and informational signs.

He broke the silence first. “He's not gonna be, you know, naked, is he?"

Emily felt a smirk grow. “I hope not. I'd hate to see you die from a nose bleed of all things after nearly jumping off a building."

A brief snort, but it was enough to make Accel's hands drop a little, exposing his eyes again. “That would be pretty stupid, especially since he's always dressed when I've seen him."

She nodded encouragingly. “That's the spirit. That said, if we pull up and he is naked, you have my permission to stare, cause I'm probably gonna be too."

Once again, the eyes vanished. “I'm so buying a second set of pizza ingredients." He grumbled.

She agreed. “This is definitely sounding like a stuffed crust pizza day."

The Cafe finally came into view, steadily getting bigger. With the sun still out it looked like little more than a large, eclectic fusion of building ideas, but Emily couldn't help but wonder what it looked like in the dark when all the lights came on. Regardless of the time, trees obscured the parking lot, making it hard to pick out Pan anywhere.

“Alrighty. Here's hoping we're on time." She slowed and turned into the parking lot.

“R-Right. Right. Just looking for a zoroark. One zoroark...hm?" Accel's gaze went upward for a moment before abruptly coming back down, eyes wide. “O-One zoroark."

“Something wrong?" She looked over to find him squirming in place, looking very flustered and also keeping his eyes firmly at ground level.

“N-No! Just don't, look up at the windows..."

“Oh." She had a pretty good guess as to why. “Well so long as none of them were a zoroark."

“Definitely not."

“Good. But at the same time we're not early, so... ah ha!" A flash of red caught her attention. “There he is!"

The van stopped. Pan appeared through the trees in a stroll, dressed in his regular clothes. He looked surprisingly tired despite the smile on his face, which changed to a curious look as she lowered the window and he got a clearer view of both occupants. “Hey!" He lifted a hand in greeting. “Who's this?"

Emily waited a moment, then nudged Accel. He jumped in place before giving a quick wave. “Hi! Sorry, uh, I'm Accel! I'm your neighbor."

“Huh. Well, Hello, Accel. I'm Pan." He gave him a friendly smile before popping up the side door; they only had two seats in the van, but the back at least had some spots one could sit and hang on. “What brings you along for the ride? Getting dropped off?"

“Actually, I brought him along to prove there were two of us."

“And to go shopping." Accel quickly added. “For pizza."

“And that."

Pan arched a brow, but shrugged. “Well, pizza does sound appealing right now. If you're doing most of the work then I'm all for the shopping trip. I take it we're getting enough for four then?"

Both Emily and Accel blinked in confusion. In response to the unasked question, he lifted up a hand and showed them an excited sobble.

“Pizzaaaaa!"

Emily's jaw dropped. Accel let out a groan as he leaned forward and thunked his head against the dash. Pan gave them both a concerned frown. “I... take it you don't know them?"

She closed her mouth. “No, we do, I think." She turned her gaze to the sobble. “Did you follow us from the apartments?"

The tiny pokemon nodded. “You were talking about pizza! Are we getting pizza now? I'm hungry."

“I think you should be worrying about your parents right now over pizza, kiddo." Pan looked very amused, patting them on the head.

At the suggestion they weren't getting any pizza, the sobble's hopeful gaze turned into one of sad reflection, complete with a childlike sigh. “Awwww..."

Emily turned the van around to head back out to the main rode.“I guess we're heading back to the apartments first."

“Maybe call the front desk. Clive can probably find out who's missing a sobble. They probably got a hunt going on right now." Pan suggested.

Accel sat back up, now fiddling with his phone. “I can do that. I bet Peggy's heading the charge."

Sobble wiggled in place at the mention of the granbull. “Aunt Peggy knows my dad!"

“Thank God for that..." Emily couldn't help but mutter. Still, the whole situation reminded her about the various 'stranger danger' things that had been thrown at her as a kid. “Did Aunt Peggy never tell you not to wander off with strangers or in their cars, even if they live around you?"

“Maybe..." Sobble seemed to finally grasp the situation, now sniffing a little bit as eyes started to tear up. “I'm sorry..."

“It's okay." Pan suddenly spoke up, giving sobble another pat. “Nothing bad happened this time, so don't be sad." He looked up at them both. “Whatever you do, don't make them cry. Help me think of something happy or funny."

“Wait, why?"

“Sobble tears act like onions, but way worse."

Everyone glanced back at sobble, who let out another loud sniff; their eyes looked alarmingly watery.

Accel turned in his seat. “It's okay. It's okay! Hey, how about this? You can ask me anything you want and I'll answer it, okay? I won't say stop asking me questions or anything!"

This seemed to pique sobble's interest. Little droplets of dangerous tears trickled down their cheeks, which seemed to activate its invisibility trick, but a quick sniff later abruptly popped them back into view. Everyone could already feel the slight sting in their eyes. “Really?"

“Really!"

“...What's a virgin?"

---

“Okay, between the three of us, I declare you two had the rougher day." Pan leaned back in his chair as he took another bite of his pizza. He'd just finished listening to Emily and her new friend, Accel, talk about how they met, including the near fall from the terrace. Peggy had been the one to retrieve the sobble when they'd returned, with everyone being very understanding of it; it turned out this was not sobble's first adventure in following others, though definitely their farthest. They were now back at the apartment after acquiring everything they needed from the grocery store, with Accel invited in courtesy of Emily.

Pan didn't actually know his immediate neighbor, though he did know a few others in the hallway. A blue cinderace seemed pretty distinct, but adding in the tracksuit made him less obvious. With them all now eating pizza, he had his jacket unzipped to least at minimize the risk of stains, silvery white fur now visible. Pan had done similar, taking off his shirt piece, but he'd opted to keep his pants on. Partly cause he wasn't quite sure about stripping down with other company about, but also to discourage Accel from possibly doing the same around Emily...

Again, that apparent wariness he got around other males possibly flirting with her reared its head, but he could feel it debating the case. On the one hand, borrowing milk made a great excuse to check out potential neighbors for courting, and they might have left out a detail that actually lured Emily into following him to the terrace to show off. Nearly throwing yourself off the building, on the other hand, seemed a bit extreme, even as a drastic measure to get someone into your bed. Showing off only for it to go wrong: salvageable, but every event following down to the common room or to pick him up at the Cafe, along with his uneasiness with a brothel, practically went in the opposite direction. Even now, just taking off his shirt piece seemed to make him a little nervous...

But that could just be the jealous paranoia overthinking. Adding in the eye watering adventure they'd all shared in the end, he couldn't blame the cinderace for looking exhausted or possibly giving up on such plans and at least getting food out of the bargain. He'd already inhaled two large slices before slowing down on the third.

Emily, for her part, seemed surprisingly energized by it all, even with the shock of watching someone nearly jump off a building and indirectly kidnapping someone's kid. “What about your day? It sounds like you had a little chaos yourself. Did the other chefs give you trouble or something?"

“Not exactly," Her question pulled his mind back to the current moment. He hesitated to give the whole story in front of company, but he didn't want to come off rude either. “I ran into a simisage there when I went to the bathroom. Very friendly, and very forward. I think he was getting a blowjob from a pikachu in one of the stalls."

Accel nearly choked. Emily reached over to rub his back as he came back from the faux pas, which just made the inner jealous glare a little harder. Neither suggested any notice of it though as Emily replied back. “I'm not exactly surprised in a bathroom, but I don't know what a simisage is, so it's hard to make the comparison. So he didn't hit on you then?"

“It's a grass type monkey, a little shorter than Accel and I, with a... well it might be easier for you to look it up, actually. And no, he totally hit on me too after he was done. I turned him down."

“S-So you're just into females then?" Accel looked between the two shyly. “Not that that's weird! But, with you working at Cafe Plaisir and being together, it kinda seemed like...nevermind."

The questions were held back, but Pan could see the curiosity there; he could at least use the opportunity to cut off any risks to further flirting with Emily. “I took the job because I needed it, but the only one I plan on being seduced by is sitting across from me."

He could see disappointment in the others eyes, and the beast within slithered back into hiding, satisfied, only to be replaced by a different beast entirely when Emily grinned at him. “Actually, now you got me curious! I know several pokemon were hitting on you before, but they were all female, right? I know I'm not up to speed about pokemon preferences, but are you saying none of the males ever hit you up back at the bakery, or in general?" She leaned in a little, a foreboding sense of teasing imminent. “You did mention having a buneary friend way back..."

Shit! He'd only meant to fend off competition, not start questions like that! He tried to keep his ears from betraying his panic, but he could already see her gaze intensifying. “Wait, why does that matter? We only agreed to the job because we're desperate! It doesn't matter which sex they are if I'm only dating you!"

“Sure, but now I'm kind of curious if things would have been the same if I'd been a guy named Emile and we had some strange sort of 'bros before hoes' trope going, or if you would have actually taken up one of those girls on an offer."

“Dear lord, you're making fan fiction about me now..."

He couldn't help it; he huffed and pouted, looking away from her in embarrassment as he shoved more pizza into his mouth. Emily actually cackled at his reaction, which at least had the small side effect of keeping her from pushing onward with the teasing. Accel, however, looked back and forth between the two as if realizing something. “Wow, she really does tease you like that..."

Oh no. Pan could see something new in that gaze. Please don't let it be—

Accel turned to Emily. “So I get humans like the whole closed relationship thing, but what would you do if some guy had the hots for Pan? Like, a pokemon, not a human." Even his tail seemed to be twitching excitedly. “He's built differently from other zoroark; does he work out? I don't see how he isn't getting hit on by both sides like that."

Pan groaned. “I hate you both right now..."

His hell continued as Emily grabbed the metaphorical torch. “I haven't been able to compare to another zoroark, actually, but you're right, he's definitely got the body for it. I don't see him work out much though. As for him getting hit on by a guy... I'd have to think on that, but I definitely wouldn't say yes to just some random stranger patting his butt."

No, no! This was not the direction he wanted things to go!

“You could at least charge them a twenty." Accel offered.

“Arceus, kill me now." Pan muttered.

He continued to live. Emily continued the game. “Maybe! Just one hand though."

“That's it! Just for that I'm not telling either of you what else happened at work!"

“Wait, there's more!?"

“You'll never know now!"

Snickers, giggles, another case of nearly choking. Pan fumed with embarrassment. He knew, inwardly, he wasn't actually angry, but by Arceus he wished he had a good counter he could use on Emily equivalent to getting his nipples twisted...

Accel did seem concerned with his reaction, however, his ears faltering a little. “Sorry if I took that too far. It just kinda seemed fun and all..."

“I think you're okay. I'm the one that picked it up and ran with it." Emily slipped out of her chair and came around to Pan. He turned his face away from her, but that didn't stop her from slipping one arm around him in a hug, or kissing his cheek. “I'm sorry I tried to sell your ass for only twenty dollars. You're worth a lot more than that to me."

...Okay, that did make him feel a little better. He let out a relenting sigh before he nuzzled into her. “For the record, the buneary was a guy, and no we didn't have sex." He reached out for another slice of pizza. “Still not telling you two the rest of the work story though."

The mood lightened considerably with the apologies given. Enough to, as Pan dwelled on the moment, realize one way he could even the scales between him and Emily. Or at the very least be the one doing the teasing this time around!

“But you know, since everyone was having so much fun discussing my sexuality earlier..."

“Uh oh." Accel seemed to be preparing himself for round two. Little did he know what Pan had up his sleeve.

“For twenty bucks, I'll kiss Accel right in front of you just to prove I'd kiss 'Emile' too."

Accel squeaked, nearly choking again. Emily ended up doing a double take to make sure he actually was okay before she responded to the joke. “Wow, seducing my new friend right in front of me, and for money!"

He shrugged, smirking. “Make it fifty, and I'll demonstrate with tongue."

Accel and his chair fell back with a crash.

<end>

P.S.: Due to some confusion, Margrave ended up with a pomp, when he never actually had one. Max being a good kitty didn't want to deprive us of the entertainment, but I don't want to deprive him of character rights, so I plan an explanation for this mystery down the road. But just in case I'm putting this here in case somehow that doesn't happen.