FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Until Golden Brown

By Coldstone

“Are you sure you’re okay? You fell pretty hard yesterday.”

Emily and Accel took another turn in their jog around the edge of the apartment terrace, reentering the shade from the adjacent wall. At this time of day, a long, inviting shadow covered at least part of the path, but it wouldn’t be long until they entered the sun’s domain once more.

“I’m not that delicate! And I’m not going to let a tumble like that knock me out after what happened.” Accel put on a more determined look and suddenly gained in speed, pulling ahead a few paces.

“Well, okay! I just didn’t expect to see you up here period. I thought you’d at least take a break to relax, or train in your apartment at least.”

“I tried! Yoga’s too slow so I got tired of practicing, and jumping jacks just make me worry I’m going to bounce and hit the ceiling. When I heard you step out and saw you were dressed for jogging, I thought I’d be safe if I kept pace with... oh.” He fell back in line with her, looking annoyed with himself. “Sorry... It’s hard for me to take things slow sometimes.”

She couldn’t help but grin at that, giving him a light pat on the shoulder as they took another corner. “If you’re that full of energy, does that mean the fitness stuff you do is that active, or are there other things you do while you train others to let loose?”

“We got a pretty decent treadmill I can crank up for a nice run in between sessions, so that’s what I usually do if I need to burn a little energy off—or a jump rope! But yeah, they’re more active and they have a higher ceiling. There’s a little more pressure to not overdo it to help me focus there.”

“You really are full of energy! It’s going to be so weird when I finally see you do something relaxing.” She couldn’t help but giggle. “I don’t suppose your place is hiring for anything?”

“Not unless you got some sort of sporting or medical degree or something. I take it that you’re still looking? Do you really need to with Mr. Plaisir Chef?”

“Well, it’s complicated, because, because...”

She stopped, jog abruptly staggering off until found herself bent over with her hands on her knees; It took too much effort to jog that hard and talk at the same time. She needed more air. “I really can’t have conversations with you up here!”

Accel let out a small snicker in front of her, now jogging in place. “You need better lungs and some more practice! But I’m taking it easy in comparison, sorry. Why don’t we take a small break? You can talk all you want while you’re catching your breath.”

“I’m pretty sure there’s a joke in there somewhere.” But she didn’t refuse the offer to rest, guiding herself over to one of the raised platforms for a seat. Surprisingly, Accel joined her, though his feet still hovered off the ground doing small movements: more exercises of some sort? She couldn’t tell. “Well, as far as looking for a job goes...”

She told him the same story as Clive and Jack, watching as his face changed several times from interest, amusement, and horror.

“What the fuck! Emily, I’m so sorry!”

It had just the right amount of energy and feeling to it. Different from the reaction of Jack, a familiar (but still at best) stranger, different from Clive, a professional (but still careful) manager. Adding the sudden hug surrounding her in warm, almost spicy feeling fur and hint of exertion made her realize just how much of a difference a friend actually made with these sorts of things. She had to wonder what her other friends were thinking about her right now, having been strangely absent for as long as she had. “Thanks. That means a lot, actually. That’s why we’re trying to make this job work, even though it’s the cafe.”

“Yeah, I can definitely see stepping out of your comfort zone for reasons like that. No wonder he’s not warming up to me...”

Thinking back, she had to admit Pan’s behavior did come off a little adversarial. “I don’t think it’s that bad. I’ve learned he can be a little jealous when we went to the cafe the first time, so maybe he’s just being defensive about me. He did make that kissing joke with you to tease me back, right? He can’t be too jealous if he’s doing that.”

Accel nodded along, letting out a long sigh as he kicked the ground, mumbling. “Maybe I could at least get a discount...”

“Hmm?”

“I said I guess it’s the thought that counts!” he spoke up, suddenly more alert. “Trying to tease him like you did was probably a bad idea for a first meeting. I’ll be more careful next time.”

“That’s the spirit!” She gave him a light punch in the shoulder, earning a small grin. “Now I just need to bottle that energy into the job hunt. At this point I should look at anything and everything.”

“I suppose you should, yeah,” He stood up and leaned forward, placing a hand on the ground before flipping up into a handstand. His upside down face now facing her. “You really need to save up and get your own vehicle so you can return the van. Although Pan can use the shuttle to get to the Cafe, you’re gonna need transportation unless you get a job super close by or find something at the cafe too, but they don’t hire humans so...”

The handstand turned into push ups, an impressive and thankfully safe routine for the moment, but Accel’s comment reminded her of something from the other day, something important enough to concentrate on...

---

“Good luck with training.” Emily reached out and squeezed Pan’s hand, the van now parked at Cafe Plaisir.

He gave her hand a squeeze and smiled at her. “Thanks. I love you.” He gently tugged her closer and planted a kiss on her lips, almost polite, but the other hand slipping up to caress her cheek gave him leeway to draw it out for several seconds—not that she intended to complain about that!

They parted with a loud pop, both taking a few deep breaths to ease their lungs. Her cheeks felt hot and rosy, but that didn’t stop the smile. “Love you too.”

As their second day of doing this, it didn’t feel right to start up and drive away until she’d watch Pan go inside and leave her sight, but today she didn’t have to worry about that. Once he left her view, she slipped out of the car as well, making her way to the entrance to head inside as well. She figured that’d be enough time to let him get back to the kitchens and not see her as she entered, but she still felt a little silly about trying to be discreet.

Up at the front desk she spotted an unfamiliar pokemon: something short, blue, and boasting some impressive looking white whiskers in a vee shape on both sides of its muzzle. Thankfully, they didn’t seem to share Cheryl’s endless energy, though they did turn and beam in her direction as she came through the door. “Welcome to Cafe Plaisir, miss!” The voice sounded feminine. “Where your wildest dreams can come true. Is this your first time here, or do you have an appointment?”

She shook her head. “Not my first time. I’m actually here to see if Coco is available to talk. Or Jack, but I think Coco is the more appropriate one. I know it’s short notice...”

The request surprised the receptionist, but she took it in stride. “Give me a moment and I’ll see if she’s available.” She reached over to a phone and picked it up, tapping a number and waiting. Emily used the opportunity to slip out her phone to try and pull up her pokedex app. She couldn’t really take a picture without it being obvious, but if she just stuck in a few parameters...

Dewott. Water pokemon, second evolution, mostly males, and apparently detachable seashells. She only needed to lean forward just a little to spot the edge of one, and now she had a little more pokemon knowledge as—

“Coco’s available now in her office if that works.” The dewott spoke up, putting the phone back down. “Do you need directions?”

“Oh!” That’d caught her off guard; had she been that focused on searching she’d missed the phone conversation? She could have sworn not a word or sound have been made during that wait. “No, I know the way up the stairs here if that’s not a problem?”

The Dewott gestured approval, and so she traveled up the stairs to Coco’s office. She did know the way, even if a bit of uncertainty followed her, but the doors on this part all had plaques. It only took a few turns to get to the right door and knock.

“Come in.”

Once more, she found herself greeted by the unusual sight of one small, odd vulpix sitting behind a desk that looked several sizes too big. The little vulpine boasted cream-colored fur, save for her head fluff, tails, and paws that took on the more familiar shade of chocolate. The part that made her odd in Emily’s eyes came from the gold, wire-framed glasses, black blouse and red ascot she wore. She gave every bit the professional demeanor with her appearance, however, and she was the one who had helped get Pan set up when they’d come for his interview.

“Well, welcome back, Emily. Has there been a problem?”

She shook her head. “Everyone’s been really good so far. I’m actually here about something else, and you seemed like the appropriate person to talk to about it if you have a little time.”

Coco gestured to the chair across from her. “Let’s hear it, then. You have me curious as to what this topic is.”

Emily did her best to prepare herself as she took her seat. She knew what she had to ask; all she had to do was not chicken out. “I know from when I talked with Jack about a job he recommended giving it to Pan for several reasons, including the fact he’s a pokemon, but that same conversation also meant that, if I had been the more skilled of the two of us, I could have applied for the position as well. That means you can in fact hire humans despite being a pokemon focused business.”

Coco didn’t so much as blink, though with the way vulpix eyes worked, Emily honestly couldn’t tell if she even had pupils. Serene and calm, she took the information in and gave a smooth reply. “You’re hoping we can give you a job as well.”

“Yes and no. I’m not asking to just give me one—I don’t want to exploit Jack’s generosity like that twice. I just want to confirm that I can actually apply for a job here and that there’s no actual problem with that. There’s not much point in wasting everyone’s time if it would get rejected for one reason.”

They had a brief moment of silence, peering at each other across the desk, until Coco leaned back and slipped her spectacles off. The action looked especially alien, when it was a pair of paws doing what seemed like a task suited for hands. “I presume from the fact you didn’t inquire when you first brought Pan in for his interview means you found a reason or two to consider this that outweighs your concerns about working around a pleasure resort?” She peered down and blew gently at the lenses, tiny trails of smoke appearing along the glass.

The spectacles returned to their rightful perch, and Emily finally understood what she saw—Coco had incinerated the dust off them to clean them. She found herself strangely intimidated by this fact. “A talk with a friend made me realize a few things. One of them is the fact that me finding a job elsewhere means Pan and I would see less of each other each day. I could avoid that if I just stayed home and played housewife, but that feels pretty cruel after pushing Pan into doing this. You don’t seem to have an issue with couples or those in a relationship being able to interact here so long as they can do their job. So, if I got a job here, not only could we see more of each other despite working, we could also help keep an eye on each other and be less worried.”

“We’re definitely much more flexible about relationships, yes.” Coco nodded. “But that’s not the only reason for considering this, I’m sure?”

“No. I’ve sort of said this before to Jack, but I don’t have a lot of experience around pokemon. Even with Pan, I’m always picking up some other new thing and, well, I need that experience.”

Again, Coco nodded. “Even among pokemon, there is always something to learn when we meet one that isn’t typical to the regions we live in. The National Pokedex is useful to a degree, but when you include the various hybrids that spring up and the potential mutations just from mixing different breeds without actually looking different, surprises can still occur. Do you have one more?”

Emily hesitated. She did have another point, but it didn’t sound as good as the first two. The vulpix had been much more warm and inviting when helping get Pan’s papers in order, but her treatment thus far had been lukewarm at best after the initial greeting. “And... to help possibly save up for a car. We can’t exactly keep the bakery van, as much as I don’t want to risk running into my dad...”

Coco’s face suddenly looked satisfied. “Those are all good points. You’re correct in that we could hire you in another position not related to our waiters, but I’m hesitant to do so; compared to the various challenges others face, you are far from in a precarious situation.

“Pardon?”

“You had a fight with your father because of his treatment of Pan, but strictly speaking, the only problem he has is with him, not you. There’s a very real possibility that if you spoke with him, you two would find yourselves, if not in perfectly amicable positions, acceptable enough terms that you would be able to continue your work at your bakery, even if you didn’t move back home. I should be strongly encouraging you to do just that; talk to him.”

She hung her head, unable to argue with Coco’s words. Jack had basically said the same, after all.

“...But it is also true that there’s enough chance of him rejecting you, even if he hasn’t done anything to contest your ownership of the van.” Coco let out a sigh. “Rather than rudely push into your life, I’m simply expressing my opinion of what you should do. I won’t reject your application, but I will consult the others about it and we’ll put you in the pool of other applications to go through.”

Her head shot back up, surprise and elation rushing to her extremities. “Really!? Thank you, Coco! Thank you so much!”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Coco’s tone still hadn’t warmed up. “I’m not promising you a job, only giving you a chance to be picked. We still have to figure out what ones you can actually do, so we’ll be going over some questions.”

Just being allowed the chance was more than fair. “Totally understandable. Ask me whatever you want.”

One lightly colored brow rose. “There are also a few conditions to this application as well. The first of which is you will return the van if you get the job; we’ll make sure your shifts line up with the shuttle, and you do have the option of carpooling. Should you happen to acquire yourself a car, you only need to let us know and we can adjust your schedule.”

Emily’s earlier elation shrank back; just one condition in and they were already talking about something pretty major! On the other hand, it was a reasonable condition based on her own words. She gave a small nod acknowledging it.

“Second, you will tell Pan about this job before you get any interview. I recommend you tell him about this talk first if you haven’t already. He might have a good reason to not be comfortable with you working here, and if it distracts him from his job, that’s problematic for everyone involved. He’d find out eventually anyways.” Coco blew a slow breath out. “If it’s more convenient for you both, we can try to get your shifts as close together as reasonable so you can both take the shuttle together, though depending on the job that may not always be possible.”

A much more sensible condition, tempting as it was to not mention just yet And the added help for their time was a nice addition. She nodded again. “Thank you.”

“Third, you will treat Cafe Plaisir with a great deal more respect. I do understand the general stigma a brothel has with most humans, and I tolerate it well enough, but at least one of you works here now, so you’re insulting his integrity, as well as the rest of ours, with your wording. I’m not demanding you claim to approve of everything we do, but at the very least, you can be more polite about it.”

“I... think I understand what you mean. I’m sorry if I’ve been especially rude about it.”

Coco acknowledged her words with a small smile. Finally, it seemed like she was getting a bit more of that warmth she’d found wanting. “That just leaves a different subject I want to talk to you about before we try to determine what jobs are available to you: Pan.”

“Did something happen that he didn’t tell me about?” She hadn’t expected to suddenly turn the subject to him, at least not in the way it sounded like.

“Not unless no one has reported it to me, but it’s only been a couple days. How much do you know about Pan’s history, and about zoroark in general?”

“Well, I’ve known him since he started at the bakery, and I’ve picked up other bits and pieces from before that. I actually have wanted to learn more about him, but finding a job kind of took priority for both of us and, well, cuddling together hasn’t exactly worn off yet so...”

This time, she got an actual smirk from the vulpix. “So long as you have it on your mind to learn more, that’s fine. What else?”

“He’s a dark type, can do illusions, he used to be... whatever the word is for running around on all fours? That’s kind of part of the learning about his past bit and part of why I want to learn more about pokemon, cause I feel like there’s a lot of little details I’m not thinking of that are obvious or important because I don’t have that experience. I want to know what I should know so I don’t hurt him, or his feelings, or anything bad like that.”

“Unfortunately, that tells me very little about what you do know...” Coco let out a sigh, looking over at a memopad on her desk. Emily at first expected her to learn forward and grab a pen sitting near it, but instead she saw a flicker of light appear on the notepad; she was writing down a note by neatly burning the letters onto the paper, in cursive. “I will see if I can find you some more concise notes of useful things to know about pokemon in general, and zoroark specifically if it’s available, but the detail I think is most important to tell you right now has to do with the Cafe in general: You want to make sure Pan has some means of venting if things become too much, and you have to make sure he’s not trying to live up to some unhealthy standard that could cause him problems; with both of these I mean sexually.”

Emily blinked at that. “I don’t understand. I mean, I understand the idea, I think, but I don’t understand what you think will happen.”

“Well, if he’s saving himself purely for you—a perfectly acceptable concept on its own, of course—that would mean short of masturbation, his only means of release is having sex or some similar interaction with you. I’m sure you are already aware that he has more stamina than the typical human male?”

Her cheeks warmed up considerably, but she managed to nod. “Y-yeah, I can see that being likely.”

“Just being around here is probably going to increase his libido from the scent of sex and pheromones in the air. It will be even more so if anyone actually throws a sexually-focused move at him such as Attract.” Coco’s professional tone didn’t falter. “Ideally, he’ll get used to that in time and the effect will be less problematic, but if he doesn’t actually get all that pent up energy out, he could, to put it crudely, fall ill from ‘blueballs.”

“You’ve got to be joking!?”

Coco shook her head. “I’m not joking. Worse still, whether or not he gets sick, if he thinks he’s screwed up and didn’t live up to your expectations—by which I mean typical human expectations when it comes to sex, restraint, and so on—he might think himself as failing you, or something as simple as going off to masturbate because just one too many females flaunted themselves at him, and it’s the one thing still stuck on his mind, as cheating.”

“Would he really think that?”

“I don’t know. He’s not my boyfriend.” Coco shrugged. “Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t, but you need to figure that out. Pokemon are not humans, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have similar problems, or the same problems but on different scales. Just as pokemon are prone to having amazing abilities superior to humans on a regular basis, we are equally prone to having crippling weaknesses. Our sexual lifestyles and more are heavily influenced by the past.”

Emily bit her thumb as she thought it all over; none of that made any sense to her, at least by the scale Coco seemed to be implying, but she had already known her knowledge to be lacking. Was it as simple as her inexperience that made her think that, or was Coco somehow playing a trick on her, trying to separate her from Pan? That seemed just as absurd! “Do you think he’s in that much trouble after just two days?”

“Thankfully, no, but I can’t imagine he’ll manage to go more than a week without showing some signs, and that’s if he has impeccable discipline. Not to be rude, but we do have services available to help that don’t require actual sex if you’re not sure you can handle it all yourself. They could probably even teach you a few things to help down the road...” The flicker of fire appeared again on the memo pad. “Actually, I’m sure if I can get a copy of some such material from them to go with the other information.”

So long as it wasn’t something similar to dealing with a knot, Emily found herself gratefully embarrassed by this deluge of assistance. “I’m almost afraid to ask, but is there anything else I should know?”

“Nothing that can’t wait. This is probably already a bit much to digest in one go, and you’re looking quite embarrassed. I think we can finish up our meeting by going over some questions about possible jobs you can do, if you’re still determined to try and work here?”

A distraction sounded very appealing. “Yes, please.”

---

Pan huffed heavily, cheeks warm, ears pulled back. Part of him shouted to just put the binoculars away, but every time he tried to follow through, he got distracted again. The added warmth at his crotch didn’t help matters, but he at least had the small respite of it not being obvious beneath his uniform. The material proved to be nice and pliable, allowing for growth without squeezing painfully.

Whether or not to consider that a good feature or not was a different question.

For his break, Pan had managed to find his way to the waiter’s lounge—a room for cafe employees—where food, drink, and respite was available. He’d actually been tasked with taking the latest batch of food up for the lounge before going on his break. He’d then taken some of the buffet for himself and slipped off onto the rooftop patio adjacent. The outside weather didn’t exactly appeal to him, but the area had excellent concealment from the inside, meaning he could at least eat here in peace before he retreated back inside to the AC It also boasted an impressive view of the back gardens of the cafe; sculpted bits of lawn, flowers, benches in what he wanted to call miniature parks. He even spotted what looked like a hedge maze at the far back..

But in particular to his peeping was the gazebo in the middle of it all, right along a center path leading into the area. He could see chest boards and other games like it scattered among several seats, along with two pokemon, male and female.

In front of him, space distorted weirdly, circular, and yet crisp and clear. He’d illusioned the magnifying effect of some binoculars, narrowed it down to a single ‘eyehole’ and made it a little bigger. Annoying to make, and it took him a couple tries to get the trick down again, but he could basically ‘twist it’ mentally to adjust the distance, and since it ignored gravity, he could just sit it in front of him to see things further off, like the current scene below.

Pan wouldn’t call himself a professional at identifying pokemon, but he felt that he could at least tell when a pokemon that came into his view qualified as a hybrid—a pokemon variant that came from an actual fusion of both parents traits versus minor details or just the mother. The one that had stirred him to make the magnifier in the first place showed traits that were distinctly zoroark—he’d never seen any other pokemon with a keratin bead (let alone a pink one) and a mane to go with it, for example—but what he at first thought at being some sort of regional variant he realized were actually traits of hybridization. His vantage point limited him to her back, but thanks to her sprawling across the a game table to dance a claw tip through her furret companion’s chest fur, he noted her unashamedly pink claws on both hands and toes, the latter’s paws swaying merrily behind her thanks to her position.

Definitely not Zoroark in body shape, but not dissimilar either. And despite the pinkish tip at the end of her mane and the claws, the rest of her seemed to feature red and white, with a bit of black probably linking back to the zoroark side. He could feel the name of another pokemon on the tip of his tongue, but he wasn’t quite there yet...

And then the first distraction to his pondering appeared as the flirty female gave a languid stretch, rolling just enough to the side for her mane to roll off her back and show off her form to the staring Furret, while also displaying everything private between her legs in the middle of his magnifier. A valley of red mooned him, its hills obscuring a dash of pink, but further down a much more provocative feature couldn’t be hidden away: the thick, pouty petals of a black spade.

Pan had not expected the display, but given his status as the voyeur in the moment, she had no idea he could see it all to begin with. Then again, from the way she pawed at the Furret, apparently teasing him with tantalizing tales that brought him close enough to lock muzzles and the swollen sheath visible beneath the game table, she might not have cared. They were sitting in the middle of a very visible gazebo, after all.

He had several opportunities to put the magnifier away, each time feeling guiltier as he missed it, yet also gaining new knowledge. Her pink, wild looking eyes finally clued him into her other parentage of lycanroc. Her deceptively long, surprisingly strong paws as they helped urge the Furret up higher, letting her press her snout into his crotch as she rolled fully onto her back. The glisten of her spade as her apparent arousal showed itself with a copious drip...

Now, as he questioned the integrity of his shorts and whether their dampness would bleed through to his apron, he could see them both on the floor and off the game table, her spade and rear now perched upon the Furret’s face, bouncing and clearly having a good time, while she held up the other end of his long, slinky body to nurse on his erection, balls sprawled haphazardly over her snout. She practically played with him like a pool toy, and he didn’t seem to mind one bit.

Which only made things more embarrassing for Pan when his phone went off, signaling the end of his break. He turned back to his phone and half eaten lunch, glaring down at the barely concealed bulge between his legs.

“Fuck...”

No choice to it; he’d have to make his way back and hope he didn’t give off too much of a smell. At least amongst all the scents of the kitchen he might at least be obscured a bit...

One last look at the exhibitionistic pair in his magnifier left him with a parting gift of the Furret seemingly lost in a sea of wetness. Tongue working furiously at a barely visible patch of black, before getting lost between the cheeks again.

He finally managed to banish the thing before carefully marching himself back to the kitchen... only to find himself with a front row seat to another show.

Eos, tucked out of the way of the staff, but right next to the entryway he’d return by, bounced on the rungs of a stool. His uniform laid strewn across the counter beside him, along with a bottle of lubricant. No doubt the glossy shine across the shaft between his claws and slick slurps of the dildo making its way up his backside demonstrated its reason for being there, while the zangoose leaned back with his mouth open in a heavy pant. The bulge that seemed to form in his stomach with each fall of his legs hinted at the actual size of the dildo.

Pan frowned, one hand now resting on his hip as he used the other to gesture at his boss. He tried his best to ignore the new twinge in his already damp shorts. “Really? You couldn’t even make it out of the kitchen?”

“Goddamnit!” the Zangoose snapped, bristling with frustration. “Come on, Pan- it’s my kitchen, and you’re back faster than I expected. Just give me a minute!” Eos raised himself higher, before dropping with more force than before. Now the dildo seemed to be reaching even deeper, even as the hand stroking at the swollen member worked itself to a blur. “A-almost.... Nnngh!”

Demonstrating a level of flexibility Pan had not expected out of him, Eos, now firmly planted on every inch of the dildo, bent himself forward and curled. He could see the warning throbs of a shaft ready to burst, and watched as the zangoose slipped his rod all the way into his mouth. Hips tried to buck despite, grunts of pain and pleasure came out muffled from the connection, sounds of what he could only assume were slurping and swallowing followed, until eventually he seemed to shrink, if only a little, and finally uncurl with a faint pop. “Ahhh~!” Eos leaned back into the bit of wall available to him, dick now deflating a little as only the smallest dribble of seed came out from it. “That hit the spot. I think I’ll be able to concentrate now...”

“Concentrate?”

“Yeah.” The Zangoose drew in a deep breath, then released it. “I’m going to spend the next few hours working on meal prep, and there’s no way I can focus on that when I’m horny. Especially with people teasing me every few minutes!” He shook his head, huffing. “I figured if I didn’t do something about it the moment you stepped out, I might actually be tempted to eat your friggin’ ass, rule or no rule.”

“Seriously!?” Pan automatically clutched his rear, stepping back against the other wall.

“I’m joking. Mostly.” Eos cracked a smile, holding up a paw in mock surrender. “I’ll keep my paws off you for as long as you want me to. Also, blame Mey, not me. She kept teasing me behind your back. I should put her on fuckin’ dish duty...”

Pan looked around, realizing that the sibling in question was actually missing. Normally she’d be chomping at the bit to tease (and cheer, and heckle) her brother in his current state. “Where is she now?”

Eos blinked, going blank for a moment. “Uhhh... oh! In the fridge.”

“Why!?”

“I shoved her in there with the cufant after she started rimming her to rile me up.”

No words could complete the puzzle of emotions and obscenities that flew through Pan’s brain. Instead, he made his way over to the fridge in question and pulled it open. Inside he found Mey, uniform also scattered about, along with a stubby pair of orange legs and backside, hints of green visible here and there. If it weren’t for the questionable portion of what seemed like a very thick cucumber showing between their legs—in a very strategic position, no less—he might have mistaken their current position as a means to keep warm.

Naturally, the faint moans coming from beneath Mey and the way she gyrated up and down before he interrupted said otherwise. “Hey!” Mey’s face lit up as she turned and saw him. “Back from break already? I’ll be with ya in a sec!”

An orange-and-green trunk slinked up from the side with a daikon—a long, white radish not unlike a carrot—and abruptly shoved it under her tail. She jumped in place and let out a shaky moan.

“M-Make that five minutes!”

Pan shut the door.

---

The ride back to the apartments passed with surprising silence, though not for the reasons Emily had expected. Each time she’d glanced over to check on Pan, she couldn’t help but smile when the passing street lights illuminated the sight of him clinging to her arm—not enough to keep her from driving—nuzzling against her as he both grumbled and relaxed.

She hadn’t brought anything up about her meeting with Coco yet, in part because she still found herself processing it, but also because she didn’t know if she had a chance yet. The way he’d thrown himself into the van and almost smothered her in relief suggested he’d had a more hectic day than expected, and she didn’t want to push him into a worse state bringing up what she’d done just yet.

The warnings about the risks to his health now seemed more grounded, even if he hadn’t displayed any blatant sexual behavior. She had been concerned with temptation, but involving the risk of cheating, not simply libido! If she could help him cope with things by just getting a bit more hands on to start...

Still, she loved the way he leaned into her like a pillow, periodically stroking her arm with a claw. When they got home she planned on smothering him with just as much attention back—then the good stuff, most likely. That’d probably be enough decompressing to talk with him about things.

They pulled into Atlas Apartments and made their way up to the second floor, arms around each other’s waists, without a care for passing eyes. She didn’t find the glances as awkward today, which felt promising to her sense of adapting to her new home, enough that she found herself being remarkably bold when she snuck her hand down to give his rump a light squeeze. Pan stood a little straighter at that, but she felt a pleased rumble pass through him as he gave her another nuzzle into her neck and cheek, sneaking in a warm, wet lick.

The effect cascaded from there; They started competing with who could nudge the other around by the hips, causing their path to weave just a bit as they went up the stairwell. Pan’s grip on her side never went as far back as her backside, but he didn’t hesitate to caress along her outer thigh during the jockeying, and being that close together made whispering into her ear effortless.

“You smell delicious.” His words ran low and husky as his nose pressed into her neck, taking a deep breath inward. The phantom touch of fangs tickled her skin, the preceding exhale warming her body inside and out.

“If you start nibbling on me you’re going to make me jump and draw attention.” She whispered, fishing for her key as the door got closer, thoughts about what would happen on the other side of it swimming through her mind. “Are you even going to give me a chance to open the door before you start undressing me?”

Another low rumble came out of him at those words, one that added new ideas to her head. His position shifted now to fall closer behind her, claw tip danced maddeningly along her hip just above her pants. “Not gonna lie. After today, you saying that is making me consider it. It’s late, if I press you up against the door with my body and block the view with my mane on one side, all I’d have to do is move one or two little obstacles...”

When they reached the door, he hustled her up against it, just as promised. The movement came gently enough to do little more than thump them against it, but forceful enough to let her feel the obvious bulge pressing against her hip. With his mane draped off to one side the light from one of the nearby wall lamps disappeared, leaving her in a sizable dark space. Further away in the other direction,another lamp left just enough illumination to still leave her feeling exposed, despite not being able to make out the lock on the door.

“J-Jeez! Easy there, Pan! You’re like a rock right now!” Between struggling to find the keyhole and quivering at the sensations behind her, she started to worry they really would end up doing something in the doorway!

“I did warn you!” His bemused, lustful voice sang, even as his hips gyrated even more. Despite this, however, he moved to let in just enough light for her to finally get the door open, allowing it to finally swing open.

Now inside, Emily barely had a chance to let out a sigh of relief before Pan took action; he deftly swiped her keys with the tip of a claw before sending them flying towards the couch, the front door abruptly swung shut with a bang, courtesy of his foot, and his one free hand managed to spin her around to face him before lifting her up against his waist, bulge helping spread her legs before she found herself suddenly seated on the kitchen counter.

Barely restrained lust saved them both from having to worry about words; Pan enveloped her in his arms as their faces pressed tight. They’d managed plenty of practice at kissing now, whether the soft peck, the loving dip, or the lecherous tongue invading and claiming her. Small wonder they went for the third, but even so his touch along her body showed love and care, as though marveling at every curve at the end of his claw tips, even with her clothes in the way. That same experience also allowed him to flick free the button of her pants and force the zipper down while that same touch tickle her navel, and she only needed to provide a little wiggle of her own as he helped slide everything down her legs, leaving cool, laminate countertop against her bare rump.

They took less care with his clothes, but she barely had to do a thing when it came to pulling the strings of his shirt piece to fling it off him, and a quick shove of both his hands down his sides sent the rest of his outfit to the floor. Their moment of nakedness barely got any time to marvel over before they met in the air between them, a pleasurable mixing of heat between both nearly making them both sing out. Why waste time taking off her shirt? She flung her arms around his shoulders as their lips mashed together even harder, his arms now pulling her forward further on their perch to—

Thump thump thump!

...

Thump thump thump!

A faint whine sounded from the other side of the door. “Please be home, please be home...”

A long, quiet, frustrated sigh blew down Emily’s front as Pan tucked his head down against her neck and chest. The ache and throb of their bodies screamed outrage, but the sudden interruption had already done its work: chilling, terrified hesitation seized their insides and began warring with their lusts.

Emily shared the sense of frustration with Pan, hugging his neck and kissing his forehead, but she knew what she had to do. Gently, she nudged him away as she slid down from the counter. “Just a minute!” Getting dressed wouldn’t be hard for her; she just had to pull her pants back up. Meanwhile, directing Pan into the space where the door would be when she opened it helped keep his indecency dripping out of sight.

Outside the door, Accel’s panicked face transformed into relieved desperation. Compared to his usual attire, the cinderace wore a wrinkled sports jersey for a time she didn’t recognize. Whatever else he wore with it she couldn’t see, thanks to the large basket clutched in his hands in front of him. “I’m sorry! I know it’s late but I didn’t know what else to do! I don’t have anything left for tomorrow and it’s all broken!”

She felt Pan crane his head around the door behind her, and she swore she could feel the irritation radiating off his body. She watched Accel shrink a little, confirming her suspicions, but he still kept his ground at least...at least until his nose started to twitch, and the eyes flicking back and forth between them blinked in realization. “...Shit. Uh, Sorry! I’ll, um, I’ll figure something else out. Sorry!”

“No point. It’s already done, so get your tail in here.” Pan’s voice dripped with irritation now, and Emily suddenly found him walking towards the living room, not bothering to hide the wobbling, dripping redness between his legs as he went.

The blush on Accel’s face practically glowed. She could see his fingers tighten on the basket in front. Before he could bolt, however, she reached out and grabbed his jersey. A good yank brought him stumbling across the threshold, and then the door slammed shut again.

“Pan! What the hell!?” Her face felt as bright as Accel’s, but now that she had both of them inside and out of the public eye, she felt a little less scandalized. Now, she found herself with a new pair of issues; she had Pan leaning against the wall adjacent to the washer and dryer, arms crossed and not bothering to conceal his shrinking erection, and Accel, looking mortified at the situation he found himself in.

A sudden shift of the basket brought her attention downward; blue hips showed at the sides of the jersey, and the tip of a short, fluffy tail wiggled into view. “Accel, why aren’t you wearing any pants?”

The tail popped into view again, this time looking alarmed at being caught. “I’m the one you ask first!?”

“Well I’m pretty sure I know why Pan’s acting like an asshole—and isn’t wearing any pants—but I think he needs a minute to simmer before I can get him to calm down, so I’m working on the question that came to me first.” She placed herself between the two, hoping that breaking eye contact between the two—or at least eye to dick contact—would make things a bit less tense.

Accel pouted, but it seemed like her efforts were having at least some effect. “I threw it on because I was worried it’d be awkward asking for your help naked. I tried earlier hoping you hadn’t left yet to pick Pan up, but I was too late, so I had to wait! When I heard your door slam I figured you’d just got back. I didn’t think I’d catch you in the middle of... that!”

She couldn’t really find any sort of a fault in that logic. Peering back towards Pan, she saw that his brooding posture had softened a little, though not enough to keep him from retorting back. “Even if you didn’t expect to interrupt something, it’s pretty cheeky to try and ingratiate yourself with someone’s mate to seduce them.”

“What!?” Emily and Accel’s outburst synced up perfectly.

Pan pushed off from the wall and marched in front of Accel. He easily pulled the basket out of the other’s hands before setting it on the table nearby. Accel reflexively grabbed his jersey and pulled it down lower, though it didn’t help him much for his backside, but that seemed enough for the other’s outrage. “You may as well be naked! With this, you can just accidentally give little peeks, fidgets, apologies, whatever! Your tail just keeps the back of it pushed up so your butt is always showing! How is this not more awkward, unless you’re deliberately trying to be a temptuous tease?”

The call out brought a deafening silence to the room. Emily looked on, mouth agape, as the situation suddenly turned, well, more than serious. She’d figured on Pan being a little jealous, but this... Everything was either about to break, or Pan had just revealed a very devious side to Accel she’d never realized before.

“Why,” Accel’s voice quivered slightly, seeming unable to decide on emotion to play with, though his eyes almost seemed to flicker with an inner energy, “would I do something as stupid as dress to seduce someone’s mate when I know they’re bringing the other home? What part of anything have I done to even make me look like that kind of person!? It’s barely been two, fucking, DAYS!” His foot stomped the floor with a startling crash, everything around it giving a noisy shake from the impact. “Stupid!” Stomp. “Fucking!” Stomp. “MORON!”

The third stomp succeeded in making random odds and ends actually topple over in the apartment, but what truly made them all jump was the burst of flame that appeared from beneath his foot after. Accel staggered backwards and caught himself on the nearby counter as he suddenly held his foot up in the air, his sole rolling with visible heat and wisps of flame. The scorched imprint of his foot smoldered on the carpet, enough that it honestly looked ready to catch on fire by itself. That last detail seemed to get Pan’s attention enough to rush and grab a towel, throwing it on the spot and getting down to smother it thoroughly.

“Emily! Bring me water! WATER!”

“What?” She stared dumbly down at Pan, before it finally clicked. “Oh!”

What she thought would suddenly turn into an apartment inferno ended up being nothing more than an embarrassing burn on the carpet. She’d stupidly brought just a glass of water the first time, only to be told to take the towel and soak it in the sink, before they threw it over the spot again and let it smother out any lingering embers.

Meanwhile, Accel had his face in his hands, now sitting at the kitchen table, the offending foot perched over a knee to keep it away from the floor. It no longer simmered with heat, but Emily found herself focused more on the rest of his body: Defeat, embarrassment, humiliation. She honestly wondered what had held him back from just running out the door with the distraction...

“Stupid...” The words barely made a sound, but somehow she picked them up. “You stupid, sexy zoroark...”

Emily took that in and found herself not quite able to process it. She turned to Pan, hoping that maybe he’d have a clue, but all she found was him squatting on all fours, still manning the damp towel and not seeming to pay attention to the words, looking annoyingly sexy in that position somehow putting a bigger emphasis on his parts. She chastised her brain for letting itself be so easily distracted in the middle of...

“Oh my God.”

“Bit late for that.” Pan muttered.

Somehow, Accel managed to make himself smaller.

“No,” She swatted at Pan’s ear. “I understand what’s going on now, and you were being stupid, but so was I. He’s gay.”

This declaration made them both look up at her, frowning, but Accel was the one to express their shared thought out loud. “I’m confused.”

This response suddenly made her confidence drop. “Why are you confused?”

“Because I don’t see what that has to do with me nearly setting your carpet on fire?”

“Wait, wait.” Pan looked between them both, hands up in the air as if somehow that’d make sense of things. “So you are gay?”

“Yeah?”

She saw the realization hit him, eyes closing and a big grimace forming on his face. He pivoted in place and thumped his head against the side of the counter. “Stupid, stupid, stupid zoroark...”

Fidgeting in place, Accel looked between the two of them, his features a mess of emotions. “I don’t know what’s going on now, but I think I should go.” Carefully setting his foot back to the floor, he reached out for his laundry basket. “I’m sorry about the carpet. I’ll let Clive know and pay—”

He’d barely risen from his seat when Pan’s hand latched onto his leg, causing him to freeze in place. “No. Stay. Please.” he turned from the counter and looked up at him, finally clear of all that hostility he’d been displaying. “You need to do laundry, right? And I owe you a major apology.”

“Uhh, I feel like I’m technically owed a small apology myself, actually.” Emily couldn’t help but smirk a little. “Just so you know.”

“Quiet, woman. Make yourself useful and start his wash so he’s trapped here.”

The jokes were back. Emily’s smirk turned into a grin, and she slid the basket out of Accel’s bewildered grasp. “Fair enough.”

“What the hell is going on!?” Accel looked between them, clearly confused, almost hysterical. “I’m even more confused now than earlier!”

“Right. I should probably try and fix that.” Pan let Accel’s leg go, but took that same opportunity to grab at both of his hands. Squatting as he was, he looked ridiculous, but it added a certain sense of sincerity to his gaze. “Accel, I was a jealous asshole, who thought you were trying to hit on his girlfriend to steal her away, without any real proof. I let a lot of shit that’d happen to me the last couple weeks get to me, and I took out a lot of it on you; I’m so, so sorry.

Emily felt a warmth float through her at those words as she prepped the washer. It also occurred to her something Coco had not possibly thought of: the stress of their fight with her father had no doubt put a completely different pressure on him that had nothing to do with sexual tension, and that would never easily go away either.

She carefully peered over her shoulder to try and get a read on Accel’s reaction. With both hands held, his gaze seemed locked on the physical contact, a heavy blush back on his cheeks. “W-well, I mean... Emily told me about what happened, so, yeah, I can understand that, yeah...”

“I’m also sorry about making you fall out of your chair the other day. I technically did it to try and get Emily back, but that all happened because I was also trying to scare you off from her, which makes me a pretty big asshole, playing with your feelings like that.”

“Okay, that’s actually kinda nice, but really you’re going to make me blush too hard and this has been really weird day and—”

“And I also need to apologize for using my blueballed emotions to dick whip you without remorse earlier. I’m not kidding when I say today has been so full of sexual tension that I seriously considered humping Emily in front of you just to make my point, but—”

Emily dropped the laundry detergent canister on the edge of the washer, making a loud metallic bang as she caught it before it could spill everywhere.

“For the love of Arceus can you two EVER HAVE A SERIOUS CONVERSATION WHEN YOU”RE IN THE SAME ROOM!?” Accel’s cheeks finally reached the limit of their rosiness again, his head craned back as he shouted at the ceiling.

“Pan!” Emily felt her own cheeks burning, though she also found herself fighting back laughter.

“Sorry. I’m exaggerating a bit, but I wasn’t kidding about what today has been like. Your timing really was awful for that.”

Accel’s shoulders sank as he let out a sigh. “I do feel real bad about that part, even if I want to kick your stupid, sexy face right now.”

“At least you’ll have something clean to wear for tomorrow.” Emily offered, turning around and putting her hands on his shoulders to give a squeeze. She’d been part of the same rollercoaster ride as he just now, if not quite on the same wavelength of stress. “I hope we can still be friends?”

With a simple squeeze of the shoulders, Accel practically rolled like putty, his head bumping into her stomach; maybe he’d been under more stress than she’d thought? “I’ll tell you what: We can still be friends, but under two conditions.”

“Okay. Shoot.”

“One: If I ask you two to be serious, you’ll actually be serious, cause I don’t think I can handle this level of what-the-fuck comedy without a break. It’s seriously been less than two days.”

“I can’t promise how good we are at that sort of thing, but I’m willing to give it a try.” Pan’s tone suggested amusement.

Emily nodded. “Agreed. What’s condition two?”

“Keep squeezing my shoulders. That feels really, really good right now.”

She kept going, but she couldn’t help but keep up the moment; he hadn’t actually asked them to be serious yet, after all. “I dunno, that’s pretty suspicious, getting shoulder rubs from the girlfriend you’re supposedly not seducing.”

He let out a small grumble, but otherwise didn’t react to the teasing. “Okay, then maybe convince Pan to do it instead?”

That got a giggle out of her, and as she looked to Pan and silently pleaded at him to indulge their poor friend, he rose up from the floor and came around to trade places with her. He barely hesitated, in fact, which Emily hoped to be a good sign going forward.

Accel’s head lifted as they switched. As the red claws started to work and knead, he let out a satisfied sigh, drifting back to now rest against Pan’s front. It only took a few more squeezes before his eyes drifted open, realization growing on his face. “Is that...”

“Don’t worry,” Pan’s growing smirk only seemed to make the cinderace’s blush grow faster. “Consider it part of my apology.”

Accel shuffled and adjusted his jersey. “Not to sound ungrateful, but I just realized a third thing I’d really like right now.”

“What’s that?” Emily asked.

“Can we finally wash my clothes?”

<end>