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Despite clutching her sore stomach the entire time, and every step sending a reminding ache through her pelt, Kali didn’t stop running. She pressed on, even after Mikora’s furious shouting and growling vanished among the remaining din of the Benz streets.

Ears pointed forward. Her focus on the steady rhythm of her paw pads pounding the boardwalk. Heart racing in her chest. Somehow a more frantic beat than when they were getting chased by Nazhir and his clowder. She didn’t slow down until they were two streets away, and she heard a lagging tread falling farther and farther behind her.

“Wait–can–you–”

Rinzaan’s faint, wheezed voice caught Kali’s ear. She slowed her pace, wincing as she stopped at the corner of the street. Panting, like she had just climbed the mainmast six times over. Rinzaan joined her a second later, panting and wheezing. He sagged down, head hanging and shoulders slumped, and propping himself up by bracing his hands on his knees.

Kali would’ve done the same if her stomach didn’t ache with every breath. A throbbing memento from Nazhir’s punches. One of many recalled, as she licked her lips with a fresh sting. “Are you okay?”

“Are you?” Rinzaan asked between ragged gasps.

He was too breathless to say anything else. Kali smirked. That hurt, too. “I thought you were more used to this,” she said. “After running relays on the ship.”

“No. I’m not. I’m always–dead last.”

“Really?” Kali’s whiskers lifted higher. “I never noticed.”

“Yeah. You wouldn’t. You’re always at the front.” Rinzaan wheezed one more time and straightened up. “Did we have to run?”

“We definitely did,” Kali said. “Definitely. Trust me.”

Kali’s ear turned back the way they came, and her muzzle followed a moment after. The night was winding down with the morning’s swift approach. Fewer cats were out now. Most shop owners were packing up their wares and taking down their banners and tarps. Anyone else had their noses pointed towards home and their awaiting beds.

Among all the different muzzles and ears, Kali didn’t see any calicos. No tan and gray pelts or ears. Mikora hadn’t chased after them. If she had, she would’ve caught them already.

Yet Kali checked anyway. Just to be safe.

And safe they were, it seemed, so she turned back to Rinzaan. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, to herself or to him, this night was almost over. The last few notes from the wandering bands faded away, leaving the air quiet and still. A telltale sign it was time to get back home before the scalding morning rays crested the dunes.

With dour resignation, Kali gestured down the street with a half-hearted wave of her tail. “We should probably get you back to Dockside.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I, uh, should go.” He glanced at Kali, his ears and tail lowering when he did. “I don’t want to cause you any more trouble.”

She knew she looked rough. The bits of blood in her fur. The swelling on her lip. Kali could tell by the vivid worry glistening in his eyes. “It’s fine,” she said. “This stuff happens sometimes.”

“You got hurt because of me.”

Kali shrugged. “If it wasn’t you, they might’ve mugged me, anyway. Besides, it turned out alright. At least I still have all my coins.” Except the one silver coin she dropped, which she now recalled. Kali’s ears twitched. An entire silver left for some scavenger to pluck off the planks. She was going to miss that one, but she didn’t mention it. She just kept smiling as she took Rinzaan’s hand. “Come on. I’ll walk you back to the lift.”

Rinzaan squeezed her fingers once, and he nodded. His leaden whiskers and ears didn’t budge. Not even a ghost of a smile on his sullen muzzle in return.

Kali wasn’t surprised. After the night they had? She was lucky he didn’t swat her hand away. Everything went wrong, from dancing to dinner and getting beat up in the middle of the streets.

Every rumor she’d tried to disprove, all the ‘my parents said’ that she had scoffed at, had been proven right all along. She told Rinzaan the Benz was safe and fun, and this was anything but.

And now, with morning creeping up on the horizon, there wasn’t anything she could do or say to make this night better.

All Kali could do was hold tight on his slim hand and lead him back where he belonged–and hopefully keep him safe the rest of the way there. As morose as Kali was, her ears stayed up and alert. She watched the streets, the alleys they passed, for any further signs of trouble. But her concern was unwarranted, as most cats were more interested in crawling into their beds rather than swiping purses.

She glanced back now and then. Despite feeling the smooth pads of his fingers on her hand, she wanted to make sure Rinzaan was still there. He was so quiet, she scarcely heard his slow, soft footfalls on the boardwalk.

Rinzaan’s eyes weren’t filled with the same sense of wonder as before. He didn’t marvel at the shops they passed or sniff at carts that rolled by with various shellfish. The city’s mystique was gone. Lost when teeth and claws were bared and blood hit the boards. Rinzaan didn’t look at anything. He just stared straight ahead with a vacant haze. Kali’s ears dipped. There was no going back now. He’d never see the Benz–or her–the same way after this.

She wasn’t sure he would ever speak to her again with such a heavy, deafening silence as they traveled. So smothering, it drowned out the idle chatter and the clattering as shops finished packing up their storefronts. And she nearly jumped out of her fur when, as they crossed the street, his soft voice parted the hushed air between them.

“Have you always been able to fight like that?”

Kali chirped her surprise. He asked so quietly, she wouldn’t have heard him if she didn’t have an ear turned towards him.

And after such a pervasive silence, this was what he asked. Not how far they were from the lift–which wasn’t far now. No, Rinzaan asked her how she knew how to fight, and she couldn’t tell from his tone if he posed the question with curiosity or apprehension. She risked another glance back, but he had tucked his tail behind him.

Kali didn’t know how to answer at first. Unfortunately, her own tail wasn’t so hidden with fidgets and flicks spurred on by her frazzled nerves. “No? Not- not always.” Kali grimaced. Worse than her tail, she could hear a quiver in her voice. One she tried to rectify by clearing her throat. “Zi- Tulaziya taught me. Just the of the basics. How to throw a punch and stuff. I don’t get into fights that often.”

Kali tapped her swollen lip. Intended as a humorous gesture, but she ended up wincing and hissing through her teeth. Rinzaan’s ears perked in alarm, but she waved off his concern. She smiled again, a little less than before, with her lip freshly throbbing, and shrugged. “As you can probably tell.”

Despite the immediate flaw in her silly plan, it still worked. His whiskers twitched, just at the ends, and an almost imperceptible grin tugged at the corners of Rinzaan’s muzzle. “I’m, uh, not sure I could,” he said. “That’s why I was wondering. You seemed like you knew what you were doing.”

Kali turned an ear back, but her eyes stayed on the cart passing in front of them. “Did I?” she asked, her voice hitching with a suppressed laugh. “Seriously? I was getting my tail kicked.”

“Well, for a little while, yeah,” Rinzaan mumbled. “You did better than I would’ve. I couldn’t do anything but stand there and watch. I just–” Rinzaan ran a hand back over his muzzle and bumped his scarf. He had to snatch at the edge to keep his hood in place.

The cart was gone–long gone–but Kali stayed where she was. She looked at Rinzaan, a curious tilt to her head as she tried to understand, but he wouldn’t meet her eyes again. “You what?”

“I don’t know.” Rinzaan sighed again, his shoulder dropping. His hand almost slipped out of Kali’s. It would’ve, if she didn’t tighten her grip when his loosened. His ears flicked, and he looked at their entwined fingers. For a second, Kali was worried he was about to ask her to let go. Then he sighed a third time, and his fingers wrapped tightly around hers again. “I feel bad.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Kali’s tail lowered, brushing the back of her ankles. “It really shouldn’t have turned out like this. I should’ve thought this out better.”

“It’s not that.” Rinzaan shook his head. “It’s just–” he looked at the boardwalk between his feet, and his hand tensed against hers. The tips of his claws pricked her skin. “For a moment, it was–it was exciting. I mean, it was terrifying, too, but I’ve never had anything like this happen before. Sneaking around and getting chased—and watching you fight? An actual fight with claws and teeth—my hearts never raced like that before. I-I was thrilled.” Rinzaan’s ears flicked. “At the beginning. Not when–not when it started getting bad. But for a minute, that first minute, I just–” Rinzaan hissed through his teeth, and his ears fell flat. “This sounds so selfish and stupid. Just forget I said anything.”

Kali stared at him. Torn between amusement and disbelief. The aching corner of her lip lifted, tilting up her whiskers with a lopsided grin. “So you liked me fighting off a bunch of thugs for you?”

“No! Not exactly. I, um, I wouldn’t put it like that.”

Kali’s tail rose with a mischievous curl. With the way his ears splayed, she knew she was right. “It’s okay if you like tough mollies. Don’t worry,” she said, a subtle purr in her voice. She squeezed his hand and winked. “I won’t tell your butler.”

Rinzaan’s ears spun forward. His whiskers spasmed once, and he burst into laughter. A sound Kali relished hearing after such a long night. Her tail perked a little higher, and she couldn’t help but notice his tail had, too.

“Thanks, I guess,” he said. “You’re probably right. If Remsi knew about this, he’d chew off both my ears.”

“I can’t let that happen. I’m pretty fond of your big ears.”

“Me too. I think I’d like to keep them. Even if they’re too tall for this stupid scarf.” He swatted at his hood, pulling it forward on the points of his ears yet again. “It’s annoying.”

“You won’t have to worry about it much longer. We’re not too far from the lift.” Kali flicked her tail, gesturing down the street. “You’ll be able to free those ears soon. You’ll be back at Dockside before you know it.”

His whiskers lowered for a second, sagging with a frown. “Yeah. I guess so.” He pushed them back up, a tight-lipped smile, and nodded. “Hopefully you’re right.”

“We’re not far now. We’ll be there in no time.” Kali prompted Rinzaan to follow again with a light tug on his hand. Though he didn’t take the hint until she tugged him a step forward and started leading the way once more through the winding Benz streets.

Kali didn’t say it, in case that might jinx it, but she hoped she was right, too.

Fortunately for both of them, the last stretch of their walk was uneventful. No prying eyes watched them, and no shadows darted across alleys. None that Kali saw, anyway. Even if there was, she wasn’t sure she could do much about it. She and Rinzaan were too tired for any more thrills tonight. Kali, especially, with how her feet dragged down that final stretch. She could barely pick them up off the boardwalk.

But their night together was over. The way the warm breeze ruffled her fur and the gradual, rosy hues outlined the distant rooftops—dawn was creeping up on them. She could feel it in her fingers, too, as they stopped at the end of the street, and Rinzaan squeezed her hand one more time.

“Thanks,” he said. “For walking me back.”

“Yeah, of course,” she answered, because she didn’t know what else to say. The city ended where they stood. The houses, the shops, stopped in a tidy arc, and the open boardwalk rose before them. A daunting staircase circling around a flat-topped platform—the Mjau’s grand singular lift.

They both stared at the lift, the massive pulleys mounted on either side of the enormous wooden dais. A structure that was built from the remnants of ships when Elimere first swept the sea away and left Dockside hovering on its stilts, so the stories went.

Most times there was a line of ornery cats snaking the block while they waited to get on. So late in the evening–or morning–the only cats out at these hours were those that managed the pulley’s various mechanisms and weights. For once, Kali had a clear view up the steep staircase to the top of the dais where the lift’s platform rested–where it usually did.

At present, the platform wasn’t there. It was somewhere up high, completely out of view, ferrying whatever goods to the upper city. The lift would take at least two hours to descend back to the Benz–assuming it was already at Dockside. If not? Even the attendants working there couldn’t guess when the lift would return.

Kali hesitated, her tail low and the tip twitching. The maintenance crew weren’t the only cats there. There was another group. They waited at the top of the staircase, gathered together, a couple of them chatting and the rest loitering nearby. All of them wore formal attire. She could tell that much from where she stood. The sort of fabrics and patterned weaves that a Benz cat could never afford once in their life.

They were Dockside cats, for certain, with their well-dressed guards. Fancy silks and satins didn’t hide the silver glint of hilts in the brightening light.

Whoever they were, they were important enough to have a poorly disguised armed entourage in tow. Not any of the royal family, from what Kali could see of their pelts, but they had to be wealthier Dockies. Perhaps they were merchants, returning from negotiations at the shipyard, or maybe they were landlords bringing home the wealth they were owed. Regardless of who they were, they wouldn’t like Kali being there. For more reasons than usual, she realized as she considered her tattered dress. She didn’t look great.

Her dress–what used to be one of her best dresses–had several cuts, and the hem was torn where she stepped on it during the fight. Some places were torn down to the skin, where her fur was matted with bits of blood. Per any Dockie, she looked like a grungy louse-infested Benz-rat.

If she went up there now, there’d be strange looks and whispers. They’d craft yet more rumors to spread around the upper docks–as if there weren’t enough rumors about her already. But, this time, Rinzaan would be involved. It wouldn’t just be her already soured reputation in shambles. Rinzaan, and his fine, polished pedigree, would be besmirched too.

Yet when she tried to pull her hand away from Rinzaan’s, he didn’t let go. His fingers stayed woven with hers. If anything, his grip tightened.

“Will you wait with me?” He asked softly. “If–if it’s not too much trouble.”

Kali chirped. “You want me to wait with you?” She looked at the Dockies waiting for the lift, then back at Rinzaan with a perplexed frown. “Seriously?”

“Or not, if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s not that. Just, I look sort of–” Kali sighed. He had no clue what she was talking about, with how his ears twisted. She waved a hand at her ripped clothes.

Still, Rinzaan took another minute to figure out what she meant, as he looked between her and the cats up at the lift. His eyes widened, and his ears skewed farther back. “Oh! Right. That might be bad.”

Kali smirked at the understatement and shook her head. “Yeah, it would be bad. I shouldn’t go up there with the blood and bruises and stuff.”

“I guess you’re right. So, this is it, then?”

Kali took a sharp breath in. “Yeah,” she said. “Seems like it.”

All the cheer perking up Rinzaan’s tail vanished. A sentiment Kali’s tail shared, too, as it drooped behind her. The realization weighed on both of them. This was it. Even if Rinzaan didn’t want to acknowledge it, with how his hand clutched, steadfast, onto hers.

Kali didn’t want to part ways so soon, either. But if she stayed? It would only be worse for both of them. She knew that. Rinzaan knew it, too.

All Kali needed to do was let go.

Leave him at the lift, where he would be safe with all the Dockies and their guards around. A fellow pedigree? They would welcome him up there. She just had let go of his hand, and Rinzaan would return to where he rightfully belonged.

Yet she still couldn’t bring herself to do it. She hesitated, feeling his palm on hers. Too soft to ever be a true sailor’s palms. A few weeks working on a ship had done nothing to toughen the leather pads on his slim fingers. Strangely, she hoped they never would.

The silken touch of his fingers, the warmth from them—she would miss them if they became hardened and callused. Just as she would miss them if she let go now.

Kali glanced at the lift’s dais again. The Dockies, who Rinzaan would join if she let him. Instead, she held fast onto Rinzaan’s hand. “I mean, I can stay a little while longer,” she said. Rinzaan’s whiskers and tail immediately lightened up, but Kali didn’t perk her tail so soon. “Just not here.”

Rinzaan’s ears shifted forward underneath the rippling fabric of his scarf. “Not here?” he asked.

“Yeah. Somewhere else. Maybe somewhere can sit down for a minute,” she suggested. “Somewhere we won’t get stared at.”

Rinzaan’s shoulders slumped. She worried, for a second, that he didn’t like the idea, but a weary smile lit up his muzzle. “That sounds great, actually.” The tip of his tail flicked. A ponderous motion, as he grabbed the back of his neck and glanced at the houses behind them. “I, uh, know I probably shouldn’t say this, but I’m pretty worn out. Since, well, I’m sure you’re way more tired than I am.”

Kali laughed. Despite her aching feet, and the multiple sore spots on her pelt, she could still laugh–even if it twinged when she took too quick a breath. “Yeah, I’m pretty tired, too. How’d you know?”

Rinzaan’s whiskers twitched. A wider smile on his brown muzzle, as his tail perked up. “No idea. Just a lucky guess.” He turned around, craning his neck as he looked over his shoulder. “Actually, I think I know somewhere we can hide out for a while. Come with me.”

“You do?” Kali let out a quick, surprised chirp, as, for once, Rinzaan tugged her after him. She scrunched her muzzle, equal parts disbelieving and perplexed, but her tired feet and legs followed, regardless.

They circled around the lift, walking around the base of the stairs. The opposite direction from where the Dockies were waiting at the top, who were soon obscured from view.

Kali didn’t think much of where they were going. She simply enjoyed the brushing of fur and leather of their hands—what might be her last chance to hold his hand like this. For whatever time they had left, she was going to savor it. Though her brow furrowed the farther they traveled. He seemed to lead them in a circle, back towards where they started. She almost mentioned it when they passed the halfway point, but then they arrived at a house.

There was a break in the tall flights of stairs, where this single house sat. Half built into the dais itself, it jutted out of the back of the raised platform. A sloped roof, with patchy shingles, and walls that were barely holding up. In all her years in the Benz, she had never seen this building before. She had never checked the back of the lift before.

Apparently Rinzaan had. No hesitation, he pushed in the front door and waved her after. A broad smile on his muzzle, like he wasn’t inviting her into a run-down, suspicious shack.

Kali angled her whiskers and ears forward as she followed him in. “What is this?”

“Maintenance building,” Rinzaan said. “It’s for the lift.”

“And how did you know this was here?”

Rinzaan shrugged. “We had a tour of the lift, once,” he said. “The Dockside part. Not this part. But they had a building up there where they kept stuff for maintenance, so I assumed there had to be one here, too.” He nudged a pile of braided rope with his foot. “Except it’s not built into the platform up there. And there’s less stuff on the floor in Dockside. And less dust.” Rinzaan’s muzzle wrinkled as his eyes followed floating flecks. His ears spun forward, and he hid his grimace. “No offense, I mean.”

Kali angled her nose up, checking the air. It smelled like ropes. Rusted steel–probably from the couple of large plates leaning on a wall. Above all, it smelled like dust. She swiped a finger across a set of shelves and regretted it. “How often do they service the lift?” she asked, snarling as she wiped her dusty fingers on the skirt of her dress. “Never?”

She looked up at the high ceiling and the rafters overhead. They also had a thick layer of dust on them. The source of the specks and flecks that wafted down and landed on her whiskers. “Never,” Kali decided. She spun on her feet only to almost bump nose-first into Rinzaan.

Hardly a chirp, and Rinzaan pressed his lips to hers. Which stung for an instant, but the flash of warmth that rose to her ears distracted her. As did his tongue, when it pushed between her teeth and dragged along the top of hers. More of a kiss than she was expecting in this abandoned, dusty storeroom—especially after a night like the one they’d had.

Not that she minded. Rather the opposite, as she leaned into Rinzaan’s arms, pressing against his hips. She trilled her surprise, breaking away from his lusty kiss to stare at him. “Really?” Kali asked. “I’m cut and beat up, but you’re still turned on?”

“Well, yeah.” He shrugged. “It was kinda hot? I guess?”

Kali puzzled yet again, her tail nonstop flicking. She licked her sore lip, which was more numb than anything after their quick kiss. The flick of her tail became a curl as realization dawned on her, and a slim smile spread across Kali’s muzzle. “You wanted me to stay with you.”

“Um, yeah?” Rinzaan stepped back. His fur was slightly ruffled as he glimpsed Kali’s flicking tail. His own tail twitched nervously in return.

“And then you brought me here. Somewhere we’d be alone.” Kali flashed her teeth with a knowing grin. “You planned this, didn’t you?”

“I-I mean–I just–I thought–”

“You did. Definitely did,” Kali purred. “You’re sneakier than you seem.”

Rinzaan laughed once. “Am I, really? If you already figured out what I’m up to, am I that sneaky?”

“I didn’t know until you were shoving your tongue down my throat. I think that’s pretty sneaky.”

“Right. I guess that wasn’t very subtle.” Rinzaan reached under his hood and scratched behind his ear. “I’m just used to, well, having to rush. I can slow down, if you want.”

Kali lashed her tail. She sank her claws into Rinzaan’s shirt, anchoring herself against his chest as she leaned her muzzle in close. “Who said I wanted you to slow down?”

Before he stammered another inarticulate answer, Kali sealed his lips with hers. Only grimacing for a moment, as her sore lip bumped into his and his hand brushed against her bruised side. But all her aches and pains melted away when their tongues met again. Swept from her thoughts with each lick. The dragging pull, as the fine hairs on his tongue pulled against hers.

A shudder ran through Kali’s pelt, down to the dampening fur between her legs. Her heart rate was still up from brawling in the street, and it only quickened as Rinzaan’s hands slid underneath her skirt. The sharp ends of his claws grazed along her pants towards the base of her tail.

“You should take off your clothes,” he whispered into her ear. “You promised me fur.”

“I did, didn’t I?” Kali grinned. She pried her claws off his chest and ran her fingers up his neck. A low purr rumbled beneath her fingertips. Then she slipped her hands down to his neck and hooked her claws on his scarf. “I guess I did,” she purred, as she unwound Rinzaan’s scarf, loop by loop, until the silken fabric slipped off his ears and shoulders and fluttered onto the floor.

Rinzaan’s hands slid down her waist to her skirt. His claws dug into the fabric, lifting her dress until it was over her ears, and soon joined his discarded scarf. Kali shuddered. The sudden freedom fluffed her pelt. Cool morning air prickled at the skin underneath.

She did the same with Rinzaan’s shirt, grabbing the bottom edge and lifting it over his ears with some assistance. His shirt barely hit the ground, and he grabbed Kali’s waist. His fingers dragged through her bristled fur. He mewled his delight as he shoved his muzzle into her shoulder, nuzzling and rubbing his cheek against her. Kali wrapped her arms around Rinzaan’s neck and leaned into him with a pleasured trill. The warmth of his chest on hers, the meshing of their pelts together–she missed this as much as Rinzaan had.

The tips of Rinzaan’s claws emerged, combing along her back. Parting her fur, almost grazing her skin, as they slid down her sides into her pants. His fingers shoved underneath her waistband and grabbed onto her bottom, and pressed her hips against his.

Kali’s purrs hitched. All the pent up desire from the rooftop was still there. A tense pressure hardly alleviated by all this nuzzling. She felt his length digging in between her thighs, through his pants and hers. It ached for release, the stroke of her fingers, or the graze of her tongue again. He was aching for her just as much as her slick thighs ached for him. Kali reached for his belt, but Rinzaan slipped a hand out and stopped her.

Rinzaan slung her arm around his neck again. He smiled at Kali’s quizzical chirp and pressed his nose into her ear. “Lay down,” he said, his low voice and warm breath sending sparks through Kali’s fur. “I want to try something.”

She trilled again as he rasped his tongue against her ear, tugging on each earring. He didn’t realize it at all. The way he whispered, with that slight growl in his voice, the edge to it that made Kali’s hackles bristle and her heart race all at once. He could’ve told her to jump off the docks into the sand. With her heart in her ears, and chirps and trills roiling in her throat, she would jump whiskers-first without hesitating.

Kali’s tail danced about as she sat down on a relatively empty section of floor. Every eager lash in anticipation, as Rinzaan crouched down next to her and pressed her back. She wasn’t certain, at first, what he was after. Her anticipation became a more curious confusion as he leaned over her. Both of them still wearing pants rather limited her imagination.

Rinzaan seemed to enjoy the uncertainty, at least. Though his tail was back to its nervous twitches and spasms. He set his palm on Kali’s stomach. The center, where a fresh ache brought an involuntary wince.

“Does this hurt?” he asked, lifting his hand. “I didn’t think about it. We can stop–”

Kali laughed into the dusty air. She grabbed his fingers and pressed them back into her stomach. “I’m fine,” Kali said, which was a partial lie. There was a dull ache as she pushed his palm into her fur. The muscle underneath certainly wouldn’t be fine. But the light pressure, the warmth, eased whatever bruising she was going to deal with tomorrow. The touch of his soft fingertips was worth it. “Just don’t punch me in the guts, and I’ll be okay.”

Rinzaan’s muzzle brightened with a smile. “I think I can manage that.”

His fingers pressed in. Harder than Kali expected. But any aches subsided as his hand moved down. Slow, steady circles that stroked through her fur.

He shoved his muzzle into her neck, a resounding purr rumbling in his throat. But Kali paid little attention to his cool nose or the persistent licks just below her chin. All her attention was on Rinzaan’s hand as it drifted along her stomach. Meandering farther off center, until his fingertips grazed the edge of a nipple. Then a more purposeful stroke, a rub of his thumb pressed fast into her fur.

She was so focused on his hand, she didn’t notice when his muzzle left her neck. His fingers wandered down, the soft pads of his fingertips pausing and tracing each nipple as he went. And then his hand lifted. The cool tip of Rinzaan’s nose pressed against her stomach in its place.

Kali chirped. Dissent at his absent hand and surprise all at once. A dissent that evaporated as he sighed into her fur. Warmth spread from her stomach down her thighs. His hand moved around to her back, lifting her up to his muzzle. His nose roved through her pelt until he found what he was looking for. And his tongue, with a single lick, parted her fur and reached the small nub of hard flesh underneath.

Kali tensed. Her claws dug into Rinzaan’s shoulder. A sharp inhale clenched in her chest as his rough tongue pressed against her nipple. A quick, testing lick. The single stroke sent a twinge through Kali’s spine down to her flailing tail. A quick, chirped gasp, and squirming in his hands. Which, apparently, was a satisfactory response, as Rinzaan’s nose nestled into her fur and his tongue dove in after.

Slow, tender licks. Excruciatingly slow. His tongue curled around her nipple, teasing the hard surface. Rough hairs dragged along her skin. Probing and kneading. Kali’s breaths were short whimpers. She clutched at his shoulders, driving in her claws. Writhing in his arms, as he moved from one nipple to the next. Steady, rough licks torturing her sore stomach. Sending throbs through her hips and thighs. The small amount she could grind against him wasn’t enough.

There was a brief pause. His lips lifted from her skin, and he sighed. A more forlorn sigh than Kali expected, since he finally had her pelt all to himself.

“I wish we could’ve just done this tonight,” he whispered. “Without the arguing and the running, and then the fighting and just–everything.”

He sighed again. His warm breath didn’t radiate through her fur the same way, when he was lamenting how their night went. It was irritating, more than anything else. Kali rolled her eyes. She grabbed behind Rinzaan’s ears and pushed his nose back into the fine white fur on her stomach. “Don’t think about that. Just focus on my fur,” she muttered. “And get me out of these pants.”

Rinzaan’s purred assent rumbled against her chest. He hooked his claws on her pants and underwear, and he tugged them down. Kali’s tail danced left and right, and she watched as his pants hit the floor as well, his underwear following a split second after. His erect member already drawn from its furred sheath slick and glistening in the maintenance shed’s dim light.

Rinzaan nodded left. “Turn over.”

Kali twisted around and flipped over, shivering once as her stomach hit the cool floorboards. Her tail lifted, curled up along her back. She squirmed, as Rinzaan’s chest slid along her spine, brushing across her fur and raised tail. The rigid length of his member moved between her legs, the barbs brushing across her left thigh. The tip found its way between and pressed against her folds. Kali’s voice half-trilled and half-purred. A frantic plea as she dug her claws into the floor.

Slowly, he slid in. Kali held her breath as he did. Relishing in that familiar pressure, the tension, as his hard length sank in and parted her flesh. He mounted her, pressing until his furred balls were at her rump. She waited for that first pull. That prick of his barbs deep between her hips. But Rinzaan stayed there, perfectly still. Locked against her, his hot breaths at her nape. His hand slipped around her stomach, prowling through her fur. He took one of her nipples between his fingers. Rolled it against the leathery pads. Stroking and pulling.

Kali panted. She winced, clenching her teeth. Her thighs ached. Loins burned. She tried to squirm, but he wouldn’t draw back. Wouldn’t rake inside her. He just panted next to her ear, teasing at her raw nipple and sending shivers down to her spread thighs. Each flick and rub of his smooth fingers pushed her closer to the edge. Kali’s breath strangled in her chest. A sharp whine as she twisted her hips. The spines dug in too slowly. Her walls close to spasming as his taunting fingers moved farther up her fur.

He found the next one. Kali’s claws sank into the floorboards and latched onto the surface. She couldn’t fight it. She moaned. Just short of a yowl. He drew back.

A sharp spasm rocked Kali’s hips. A yowl this time, as she clenched Rinzaan between her thighs. His fingers left her stomach and grabbed her hips instead. He thrust back in. Staying deep, barely separated, but rocking with her just enough to rake her loins. Barbs digging into the same deep, tender spot again and again.

No pillow to bury her muzzle in. Kali had nothing to bite down on. Nothing to stifle every pitched moan that escaped her lips. Each time, Rinzaan drew back a little farther, until he nearly slipped out of her folds. Barbs sinking in and dragging along every inch. Her loins ached. Another spasm clenched onto his member. He pressed in. A throaty growl at her ear, as she yowled the last bits of strength she had. Her quivering thighs gave out with that final throb, as he came with her. A last pulsating warmth that spread up towards her stomach.

Kali collapsed. She didn’t even care that Rinzaan jostled between her legs. The little dig at her tender nethers was negligible compared to the sheer exhaustion. Rinzaan, similarly, dropped on top of her and panted into her shoulder.

Her head slowly cleared. The last waves of pleasure ebbed away. Kali grinned when she felt a gentle lick just behind her ear. “I think you’re going to miss the lift.”

His tongue stopped, mid-stoke, and Rinzaan chuckled into her fur. “Yeah,” he said. “I don’t think it matters, if I do. I won’t be any good for breeding after this. My parents are going to skin me when I get back.”

Kali laughed with him. The thought of Rinzaan, struggling to even unsheathe with Cerinnia tail-up was too funny. Especially while his semi-flaccid member was still hooked between her thighs. “Yeah, I don’t think you’ll be very breedable now,” Kali said. She turned her head, resting her cheek on the floor. “Is that why you came to visit me? To avoid the spectators?”

“No. I mean, maybe.” Rinzaan wrapped his arms around Kali. His tail lifted and swished through the air above them. “I mostly wanted to see you.”

“See me, or my tail end?”

“Both. But, I, uh, don’t mind when you’re on top.”

Kali grinned. Rinzaan’s pressed his cheek against her shoulder, buffing against her fur with his chin and whiskers. Clearly more interested in cuddling than moving off of her. “Are you going to pull out?”

“In a minute,” Rinzaan mumbled. He rubbed her shoulder once more, and then he hesitated. “If I do, do I have to go?”

Kali’s smile faded at the corners. “Probably.” She shifted her hips, grimacing at the pull. More of a twinge than previous times he had finished in her. His barbs dug in harder, clung more than they usually did. Kali’s tail twitched. “Unless you, you know, want to go again?”

“Again?”

Kali shrugged. “If you’re interested.”

Rinzaan huffed beside her ear. She wasn’t sure if it was apathetic or amused until he licked the side of her muzzle. “Turn over.”

Kali smirked. “Again?” she asked, mimicking his tone.

A bait he didn’t take, as he nodded once. “Again,” he said. “We might as well. It’s going to be even worse, if I can half get it up.”

Kali laughed. “Ah,” she said. “Yeah, I could see that.”

He slipped out from between her legs. Kali winced as his barbs raked along. She looked at him, his half-hard, drenched member, and an eager smile lifted her whiskers. With some effort from her wobbling legs, she rolled onto her back. But, as Rinzaan climbed on top of her, her usual excited trill wasn’t there. There was a different sort of tension in her chest. Her heart raced a different way than it usually did.

This wasn’t their usual position. She felt strange with him looming over her. Face to face. His brown nose pointed at hers. Eyes level. Kali’s tail flicked nervously. “Is this okay?” She asked, angling her head left.

“Should I stop?”

“No. Just–we’re kind of nose to nose like this. And I have the eye and all. I just didn’t know if this would be okay.”

Rinzaan grinned. “This is okay,” he reassured her, purring as he touched his nose to hers. “Besides, it’s not that bad. I’m sort of used to it.”

A little excited chirp bubbled in Kali’s throat. “You are?”

Rinzaan shrugged. “It’s not as weird if you look into the other eye more. It’s fine.”

Kali’s ears flicked again. She was glad that he had closed his eyes to relish in the delicate touch of their noses and whiskers. If he hadn’t, he would’ve seen the slight dip on her muzzle. The disappointment she couldn’t hide, with the brief lapse of her smile. The strain in her lips, as she tried to smile, anyway.

But his eyes were closed just long enough, and she forced it from her mind. Though the warm touch of his member helped. She could feel the slick surface resting atop her folds, getting harder again with a little rocking of his hips. Still not quite hard enough to sate either of them.

Kali reached down. Rinzaan’s eyes snapped open, when her fingertips reached him. They slipped along, stroking down to the furred base. His hips pressed forward into her hand, a delighted rumble urging her on. She squeezed harder, moving up and down, letting her slick palm caress the barbed tip. He leaned his muzzle into her collarbone, purring and mewling his delight into her short fur. Each languid stroke brought some of his erection back until his member was thick and firm again.

“I’m starting to think you tricked me,” Kali whispered into his ear, as she traced her fingers just below the barbed head. “You seem like you’re fine for another breeding session.”

Rinzaan’s purrs shifted, for an instant, to an annoyed growl. “Definitely not.” He pressed his nose to Kali’s neck and drew one, long lick up to her chin. “I wouldn’t be up for it. Not without you. Nobody else pets me the way you do. They’re just annoying.”

Kali laughed at the particularly surly growl from Rinzaan. Like he wasn’t being spoiled enough on Dockside. Now he was too used to Kali’s affections. Too much stroking and licking, kissing and petting–and he demanded the same during his scheduled exhibitions.

She chirped in surprise, as he suddenly drew back. His barbs skipped across her palm, and her hand was left empty. Another chirp, as he pressed between her legs again. A gasp as he thrust up to the hilt, grinding his hips against hers.

Kali barely felt the barbs anymore. Her walls were too slick, too tender. The faintest prick, and all remained were the powerful spasms deep between her loins that she writhed and jerked against. She didn’t hold her breath anymore. She moaned and yowled as Rinzaan slid in and out. Drawn out thrusts again and again.

A flush rushed up to her whiskers, as he bore down on her. His creamy furred chest pressed against her. His teeth digging into her neck, searching for her nape. Biting, anyway, when he couldn’t find it. A more painful sensation, without the loose scruff of her neck, but Kali trilled regardless.

One last orgasm, as he bit down. Her walls tightened around him, drawing him in and holding him there. Another flash inside her, weaker this time, but filling all the same. He throbbed, crying out through his teeth. He thrust again. Pressed his furred sack to her drenched thighs. Forced the last of his warm seed into her loins.

Rinzaan released her neck with a winded gasp. There wasn’t time for warning. He slipped out between her legs, retreated to the safety of his sheath. He flopped onto his back, panting with every inch of his lungs. Kali glanced over at him, and she laughed once. “You’re definitely not going to make it to the lift in time.”

“Stars no. Not a chance.” Rinzaan grinned up at the ceiling–too exhausted to turn his head. “I’ll catch the next one. I can be late. They’ll cancel class for sure now.”

Kali threw her hands onto her muzzle. She laughed. More than she’d laughed the entire night. Despite her bruised gut and sore muzzle. “Yeah,” she said, once she could breathe again. “I think you’re right.”

She rolled and dropped her cheek on Rinzaan’s shoulder, shifting once he had sufficient willpower to move his arm around her shoulders. And she didn’t say anything else. She didn’t need to. The soft purr beside her, and the resonating purrs from her chest, said enough.

They rested a while, a tangled mess of arms, legs, and tails. Dripping, occasionally, onto the floor. Which, thankfully, Kali didn’t have to care about. She had to make sure the Sandstalker stayed clean after every lunchtime session, lest someone else find out what they were up to. This random storage room wasn’t a concern.

They napped through sunrise until the slants of light penetrated the cracks between the maintenance shed’s walls and roof. Eventually they managed to get off the floor, and, after some hunting, found their scattered clothes.

Kali tugged her dress down, flicking her ears and flexing her whiskers to make sure everything was in place. She frowned when she saw some of her gray fur through the several slits gouged into her sleeve. Her shirt was ruined, and the dress wouldn’t be as flattering with weird jagged stitching across the skirt. Kali didn’t dwell on it for long. She saw Rinzaan’s offered hand out of the corner of her eye, which she greedily took. Anything for another minute of contact with him. Even if it was just the tips of their fingers.

She held on until they were in eyeshot of the lift again. The platform was lowered this time. Docked on the Benz’s dais, at the top of the several flights of stairs, and the Dockies from before had already boarded. Other cats had shown up, meanwhile, with goods to ferry to the upper city. She spotted carts and crates gathered along the edge. A couple burly toms were busy loading yet more barrels and boxes on.

Then, the moment had arrived. The moment they both dreaded. Rinzaan’s hand slipped from Kali’s. That last fleeting touch was gone, as he took a step back and turned to look at her.

“So, uh, I’ll see you, I guess,” Rinzaan muttered.

There was a forced perk to his tail. His glossy eyes belied him, but Kali simply nodded.

“Next time, send a note, first,” Kali said, managing more of a genuine smile. “I’ll meet you here, and I’ll plan better. So we can avoid the street-brawling–”

“Yeah, I don’t–I don’t know when I can come back.”

Kali’s ears flicked. Her smile faltered at the edges. “Oh.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to.” Rinzaan’s half perked tail fell lower, dropping low behind him. “I–I didn’t actually run away. This was the only time I had a break.” He sighed a hiss through his teeth. “I couldn’t really run off. My parents would just send our guards after me, and it’d be a whole thing.”

Kali’s tail lifted, and she smirked. “Now I wish I’d ignored the rocks hitting my window. I definitely thought you were a cool runaway cat.”

He laughed once. A little cheer returned to Rinzaan’s eyes, and his muzzle eased. “You didn’t even believe that? Am I really that obvious?”

“Absolutely.” Kali grinned. “But I like that about you.”

Rinzaan’s tail lifted higher. He smiled back at her, as his soft gray eyes met hers. “I’m glad. I–I like you, too.”

Kali trilled lightly. She didn’t keep it bottled in her chest. She hardly could anymore. Every time she saw that sweet, doting look on his muzzle, she wanted to melt into a puddle of fur on the floor. No less so now, since he still looked at her the same way even when she had a swollen lip and dried blood on her clothes.

Rinzaan’s tail swished. She saw the tension in his arms, his back, as he took a half step forward. Rinzaan barely stopped himself from tossing his arms around her. But he did. He dug his claws into his pants, wrinkling the fabric, and nodded. “I’ll try to find time,” he said. “Before we sail again. I can try to figure out a way to see you again.”

“Even if you don’t. It’s fine. I’ll see you on deck.” Kali’s ears twitched. A cat by the lift called out. One last call for passengers before the platform ascended. Kali laughed. “You better run. They’re going up without you.”

Rinzaan’s ears skewed. His tail puffed up as he spun around and he ran.

Kali chirped. She didn’t think he’d run for it, but he certainly did. Faster than he’d ever run laps on the ship. Kali laughed, when he seemed confused that the platform wasn’t immediately ascending the moment his feet landed on it. Then he turned and looked down at her, waving his hands in exasperation. Kali just shrugged and waved back.

But, after another call, the platform went up. The groaning pulleys turned, and the ropes strained against the counterbalances. Gradually, the lift, and all its passengers, ascended up into the sky. And Rinzaan with his nervous twitchy tail and big awkward ears, his dazzling smile and soft blue eyes, was finally gone.

She watched the platform until it was so high, it was just a speck blending into the immense, dark mass overhead. Kali’s tail sank lower and lower, the higher it was.

She wished they had more time together. Maybe less time spent running and fighting, like Rinzaan said. And one less stupid argument. Just one more night, or possibly the rest of the afternoon together–but even that might not have been enough.

But the little time they had? She could treasure that, at least.

The walk back was quiet. Activity in the Benz died down as scant rays of dawn crested the desert sand. Shops had long since finished packing up and had locked their doors. Most cats were at home already asleep, or they were on their way like Kali was.

Though she didn’t take the most direct route. She loitered for a while, hanging around alleys and empty streets and following some less frequented paths down other neighborhoods. She didn’t give up and slink home until early afternoon, when Dockside partly eclipsed the sun overhead.

Even then, she stood outside her house’s front door, reluctant to go in. Her ears faced forward, listening for movement beyond the thin facade. Possibly the soft taps of paw pads on the floor or the scratch of claws on the kitchen table or on the couch in the living room. She didn’t hear anything, except the slight breeze scraping sand across the boardwalk.

Somehow, this didn’t seem like a good sign.

But her options were to stand outside, battered, tired, and thirsty, or go in. So she tapped Elimere’s nose once, a silent prayer for good luck, and she turned the doorknob.

Not a single sound. Not even a creak from the door’s hinges, as Kali crept inside. She shut the door so softly behind her, she wouldn’t have known the latch clicked if she hadn’t felt it through her fingertips. But she only took one more step, and every hair on her pelt stood on end. A deathly stare from the kitchen, and the cat stationed at the table, pierced Kali straight through.

“Kals.”

Kali tried to keep her fur smooth, but that tone sent a chill crawling down her spine. Her hackles bristled, and her tail fluffed, despite her quick attempts to brush them down. “Mikora,” Kali said. She bobbed her stiff tail–a weak attempt at a greeting. “I was just going to–”

“No. No you weren’t. We need to talk.”

“It’s fine! Don’t worry about it.” Kali grinned, and she only winced slightly at her sore lip. “I got him to the lift in one piece.”

“That’s not the problem here.” Mikora rose from her seat. Her furious, lashing tail was in full view. “A Dockie? That’s your new tom?”

“It’s not a big deal.”

“No, it is a big deal,” Mikora hissed. “It’s a very big deal. Kals–”

“It’s fine!” Kali snapped. “Look, he’s not like the rest of them. He’s fine, and I’m fine. Everything is fine! I’m not a kitten anymore. I can handle this.”

“Kals.”

Kali flattened her ears. “Mikora, I’m fine.”

“For now,” Mikora said. Her tail halted, mid-lash, and dropped. “But you need to be careful. You know what the cats are like up there.”

“I know what they’re like,” Kali said, a slight growl creeping into her voice. “And I told you, he’s not like the other Dockies. He’s not like that.”

“It doesn’t matter what he’s like. What matters is the Empress,” Mikora said. She rapped her claws against the table. “She’s the one you need to worry about. Her and the palace fanciers. They won’t tolerate this, if they find out. Because–”

“Because I’m not like other cats?” Kali scoffed. “Because I’m a freak that shouldn’t have been born?”

“No.” Mikora’s fur bristled. “That’s not what I was going to say.”

“But it’s true!” Kali bared her teeth. “And you know what? I don’t care. I don’t care what you have to say about it. And I don’t care what the Empress or anyone else has to say, either! I’ve found the one cat that doesn’t care about any of that. Yeah, he’s a Dockie, but he actually likes me. He really likes me! And you’re just trying to ruin that!”

“Kals–”

“Just let me have this!” Kali hissed. “Why can’t you just let me have this one thing? Why do you have to ruin everything?”

“Because when he turns on you, it’s going to fall on your tail. Not on his,” Mikora snapped. “If you have a kitten with him? If you steal one of their precious pedigree cats, the Empress is going to notice.”

“Well, no worries there,” Kali growled. “I’m never having kittens. I haven’t gone into heat once, and I’m never going to.”

“Wait, what?” Mikora balked, her foot bumping the chair behind her. “That’s not true. You don’t know that—”

“Yeah, I do know it,” Kali said, whipping her tail. She snarled and dug her claws into her palms. “Because I’m cursed with this stupid eye and this stupid life! You should’ve just let me die when I was a stupid kitten with my stupid dad!”

“Kals!”

Kali turned on her lashing tail and stormed upstairs. Even with her ears flat, she could hear Mikora following. “Kalari–”

“No! I don’t care.” She dashed to her room and slammed the door. “Just leave me alone!”

Kali dropped into her hammock, throwing her face and whiskers into her pillow. She heard Mikora’s claws on her bedroom door. Faint scratching, as she considered barging in. Light scuffs as she took her hand away, with a forlorn sigh. Then a thunk, that made Kali jump in bed, as Mikora pressed her forehead against the door.

“I’m just trying to warn you, Kalari,” Mikora’s muffled voice echoed through the woodwork. “And I know it’s hard for you, I do. I know it’s always been so hard, and it’s not fair. And I know what it’s like falling ears over tail for someone, especially the first time, but I don’t think–” Mikora hissed a weighty sigh against the door. Even behind it, Kali could feel Mikora’s exasperation breeze across her fur. “Just–just be careful, okay? Please, be careful. I only want the best for you. I hope you know that.”

The door creaked. Kali heard Mikora take two steps back, and her claws lightly scuffed the surface as she backed away.

One of Kali’s ear stayed twisted towards the door until Mikora’s steps trailed off. Into her own room, by the familiar groaning hinges and soft click. Then she was finally alone.

Kali buried her face back in her pillow, smashing her ears flat on her head. She hissed and growled her frustrations. But it didn’t help.

Of course, Mikora wouldn’t understand. She hated Dockies as much as almost every Benz cat did. Even more so, since she used to work in the palace. She had the worst first-hand experience with them.

Rinzaan? He was different. He had to be. No one else had ever looked at her the way he did. No one said they liked her before. He wasn’t like the other Dockies.

Mikora didn’t understand that. But, maybe, given time, she could come to terms with it. If Mikora just gave Rinzaan a chance, she might see past his colorpoint coat pattern and acknowledge the charming tom underneath. She would understand why Kali was so smitten with him. Mikora just needed to see the way Rinzaan smiled, how his tall ears twisted and skewed, the softness in his eyes. Then she would understand.

Kali rolled onto her side. Her whiskers pressed flat on her cheek, pinned against her pillow. She huffed at the light filtering through her curtains.

Maybe not.

Maybe Mikora wouldn’t understand. She might never approve of them. Not now–not ever. But, that was a problem for another day.

For now? Kali’s face hurt. Her ribs hurt. Every bruise, every sore, every cut on her pelt ached. And she didn’t have a cute tom’s nuzzles and cuddles to distract her now. Only the whirlwind of thoughts spiraling around between her ears–and they weren’t comforting at all.

Kali curled her legs in, wincing as she leaned forward, and wrapped her tail over her. She drove her claws into her pillow. Hissed one last sigh as she shut her eyes.

She pushed all of Mikora’s troublesome words out of mind as best she could. Resolved now, more than ever, to sleep under the morning’s warm rays, through the hot afternoon, and wake with a clear head tomorrow. And maybe come up with a more convincing argument when the sun was down.

Kali knew Rinzaan, and she knew him better than Mikora did. Everything would be fine–despite whatever Mikora said.

And Kali was going to sleep well. She was determined to sleep so well, so soundly, and prove Mikora wrong. Because there wasn’t anything to worry about. Kali was going to sleep well, even with that nagging little part of her, the small voice whispering at the back of her mind. That little tension she felt in her chest. The fear that tensed her fur.

The part of Kali that was afraid, so afraid, that Mikora might be right.