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“GIVE US A TWIRL”

(2026 Update)

-by-

Rogue Kzin

***

Jon considered himself fortunate enough to have traveled a fair bit in his youth, and because of that he had developed a pretty healthy travel bug that had never gone away. Through his travels he had been to four continents and called two of them home. He figured he would probably be able to knock out two more with visits, but Antarctica would likely remain as an unchecked bucket list item.

Even though he was a well-travelled tiger, and fairly easy on the eyes, Jon was not super outgoing or sociable. His white coat and black stripes were definitely not the norm for this species, which did attract some attention. While he had reluctantly accepted this as a fact of life, he was rather selective about who his true friends were. He always made friends wherever he ended up, but it was typically more of a tight, small group than a huge social circle. Very much a “quality over quantity” thing.

That’s how it went for him in high school and college, as well as in the military. He settled down in the Pacific Northwest after that particular adventure was over, and that’s where he met Jenna.

Whenever Jon moved somewhere new, he tended to meet his first few friends online. It felt pretty safe, very low-stress, and he could do it without dressing up. He and Jenna crossed paths one spring on a local hangout forum where the best burrito in the area was the topic of discussion. “Discussion” was probably putting too nice a face on it.

It was a warzone.

Battle lines had been drawn early, with Burrito Barge (well-known for their almost-too-big-to-eat burritos and spicy fish fingers) on one side and Witchin’ Kitchen (famous for their massive list of ingredients used in their “bewitching burrito concoctions”) on the other. Jon was team BB and Jenna was WK all the way. They were civil in their discussions of why they’d each chosen the right side, and weren’t just flaming each other like most others on the forum were. In fact, it was because they were actually angering their respective factions by being so polite to one another that they decided to meet up in person.

The only way to resolve the dispute was to dine with the enemy.

Like any civilized warring parties, they drew up terms.

They would take turns hosting each other at their chosen restaurant. The host would pay for the guest’s meal, but no more than $15. The host could make suggestions and offer advice, but the guest was ultimately in charge of choosing what they’d eat. The guest could not commit acts of self-sabotage to “prove” the host’s restaurant was bad. Only after they’d both tried the other’s chosen restaurant, were they allowed to say what they thought about them both. Also, they had to post their honest opinions in the forum.

They settled on doing the comparisons on two consecutive Thursday afternoons, figuring they’d get to see each restaurant at its best. They wouldn’t be slammed with lunch, dinner, or weekend rushes, nor would they be fed up from dealing with customers hating on Mondays. Jon offered to try Witchin’ Kitchen first, but Jenna insisted on using an online coin toss to make things fair. She won the toss, earning the right to choose who had to cross to the other side first.

She chose Witchin’ Kitchen.

Jon wasn’t sure why they needed the coin toss if they were going to hit up WK first, but he didn’t want to ask in case this was some sort of mind game. It wouldn’t have mattered if it was. This wasn’t about minds, it was about guts.

With the terms agreed to and the first restaurant chosen, the only decision left was the date. Neither of them felt like stretching this out, as they were both eager to see the other proven wrong, so they decided to kick things off that same week. They made plans to meet up on Thursday at 2:00 in front of WK.

Jon set out on Thursday in his typical winter wear for the days he was off. Cargo shorts, pocket tee, and a hoodie with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. He was excited about the prospect of meeting someone new, and also eager to put Witchin’ Kitchen’s burritos to the test.

They’d been so focused on the details of the challenge they’d created, that they forgot the most important detail - how to recognize each other. It wasn’t until Jon was on the bus heading over the bridge that he realized he had no idea how to find her. He didn’t know her real name, what she looked like, what she’d be wearing, species, gender - nothing! He pulled out his phone and sent a quick DM on the forum to ask how he’d recognize her, and hoped she’d get it in time. Thankfully, she did, but her reply was a lot briefer than he’d expected.

“Purple hair,” was all it said.

The bus stop was only about half a block from WK, and Jon started scanning the area for anybody with purple hair as he walked towards the restaurant. It didn’t take too long to find Jenna, especially since she was right in front of Witchin’ Kitchen. She was facing the other direction, and Jon walked past her slightly to make sure she was the only one around with purple hair. He didn’t see anybody else with that color, so he turned back to face her. She was a polar bear, and aside from the hair on her head, she’d maintained her natural color - everywhere he could see, at least. Jenna had the trademark stockiness of her species, but definitely looked more athletic than soft. She was wearing army green cargo shorts, an unzipped black leather jacket, and a dark grey shirt underneath it. Jon thought to himself that even if the burritos weren’t all that, he’d at least have somebody cute to spend time with.

Satisfied that he’d found the right fur, Jon felt it was safe to approach. “Are the burritos here really all that?”

“Only somebody who likes Burrito Barge would ask such a question,” Jenna replied.

“And only somebody who’s never eaten at Burrito Barge would think that was wise to say.”

They both laughed, satisfied that they had successfully identified each other. After exchanging names - it wouldn’t have done to just sneer restaurant names at each other - they went inside so she could show him what all the fuss was about.

The array of ingredients on hand was impressive. It was easily more than double what Burrito Barge had to offer. Tortilla flavors, protein varieties, veggies, cheeses, toppings, sauces - there was a LOT to choose from. Jon took a stab at creating his own burrito, rather than ordering straight off the menu, listing off his picks and asking Jenna for her thoughts. She suggested swapping out a couple toppings and adding a second sauce. It was unlikely she was setting him up for failure, especially since she ordered an identical burrito for herself. Keeping with the terms of their agreement, she paid for the burritos, but Jon insisted on paying for the drinks, and got lemonades for both of us.

They were spot on with their plan about the best time to come, and had no trouble getting a table. After they took their seats, Jenna waited for him to unwrap the foil on his burrito and take the first bite. Jon did, and before he’d even swallowed the first one, he had to have a second. Grinning like somebody who’d just won a bet, she unwrapped her burrito and joined him in feasting.

Not wanting to violate the rules they’d laid out, there was no discussion about the food. They had plenty more to talk about - music, books, movies, boardgames - and it seemed like they were in sync on just about everything.

Just not burritos.

By the time they’d finished eating, they’d mostly forgotten why they were there to begin with. They were getting on so well, that they carried on chatting long after their food was gone and their glasses were empty. Eventually, the staff were giving them looks and their message was received loud and clear. They bussed their own table and went outside, only then realizing that the afternoon was swiftly giving way to evening.

Jenna suggested grabbing coffee, and while her offer was tempting, Jon suggested saving any non-burrito related goings-on until after they’d gone to Burrito Barge the following week. Better to wrap this up and see what sort of terms they were on then. She agreed, but it was obvious to an outside observer that she would have been fine with them spending more time together. Honestly, Jon would have too, but he didn’t think he’d be able to keep from talking about how damned good that burrito was.

He was NOT about to give her the satisfaction of breaking the rules.

They did chat more on the forum over the following days, trading recommendations of things to read, watch, or play, keeping with the “everything but burritos” conversation they’d had at Witchin’ Kitchen. The week was unbearably long to both of them, and it felt like an eternity before Thursday rolled around again.

Burrito Barge was just a short walk from Jon's place, and it was very easy to meet up at, since there was a bus stop right out front. That wasn’t by accident either. This was a working-class neighborhood, not too far from the port, and many furs took the bus to and from their jobs. The inbound stop was on the same side of the street as the restaurant, and the outbound one sat on the other side of the crosswalk. Burrito Barge was open from 5 A.M. to 3 P.M., and then again from 5 P.M. to 1 A.M. It was run by two cousins who were each in charge of one of the shifts. Their hours covered all three meals, and they were usually slammed for all three. The day of the week didn’t really matter.

Jon had gotten there a few minutes before the bus was due and waited for Jenna at the outbound bus stop. They greeted each other with a wave when she got off, and agreed that it was good to see each other again. As the bus pulled away, she got her first good look at Burrito Barge, in all its nondescript, red brick glory. Admittedly, their sign was pretty bad, done either by a family member or by a starving artist in exchange for food. It was nothing more than a massive burrito floating in the water, with the name of the restaurant running down its side.

“That?” Jenna pointed. “That’s what you’re going to war for?”

“Books and covers,” Jon said. "You gotta trust me on this one.”

“If nothing else, it’ll be free food and a good laugh. Lead on.”

Her skepticism was easy enough for Jon to understand. The building was as plain as it could be, the sign was bad, and the name was silly. None of that mattered. The flavor did, and Burrito Barge had it by the, well, barge-load. When they got inside, Jenna was clearly unimpressed by the menu. Only flour tortillas, just three kinds of protein (chicken, fish, and tofu), beans, a few basic veggies, guac, sour nut-cream, two levels of hot sauce, and only one kind of cheese. There was nothing artisanal on the menu at BB.

Not being sure what to do with the limited menu, Jenna asked for suggestions. Jon told her to get whatever she thought sounded good, since there were no bad choices. She remained doubtful, but ordered anyway. She was well under the $15 limit, so Jon added an order of spicy fish fingers for her when he ordered his food. The crew at BB works fast, and their burritos were ready almost as quickly as the drinks were.

They settled into a booth with worn vinyl benches, and Jon waited for her to dig in, just like she had with him the previous week. Ready to be underwhelmed, Jenna tore back a strip of foil and had her first taste. When they were at Witchin’ Kitchen, Jon had taken a second bite immediately after the first. Jenna went past that and right into her third before the first had even left her mouth.

“Holy fhit!”

She wasn’t able to wait until her mouth was empty, and Jon's grin was even wider and more self-satisfied than hers had been. Still, he didn’t say anything, instead choosing to unwrap his treasure and share in the joy with her. Once she’d swallowed, she looked at him, waiting for him to say something. Jon just kept eating, smiling the entire time, still certain that if anybody was going to break the terms of their agreement, it wasn’t going to be him.

Not that they didn’t talk during that meal. They quickly got to chatting about what they’d seen and read over the past week, and also revealed more personal information about themselves. They both lived within a few blocks of their chosen burrito places, and neither of them owned a car, though they knew how to drive. They’d attended college - Jon stopping with a B.S., while Jenna was currently pursuing her Master’s. Jon was five years older than her, so while most of their pop culture knowledge was in sync, there were a few of his references that prompted some googling from Jenna.

The mid-day closing time was coming up fast, and they didn’t want to overstay their welcome two weeks in a row, so they cleaned up their stuff and headed out. This time Jon suggested coffee, and was very relieved when Jenna agreed. They had satisfied all the rules they’d laid out, but Jon had privately worried she may have held last week’s rejection of her offer against him.

He was clearly foolish to have thought that; Jenna hadn't minded at all.

Coffee lasted a couple hours, during which they finally had the grand burrito conversation. They immediately agreed that both places were amazing for their own reasons, and that it wasn’t impossible to enjoy what they both had to offer, even if you did prefer one over the other. If you wanted something fancy and supremely customizable, Witchin’ Kitchen was the place to go. If all you were after was a fast, filling, perfectly-seasoned meal, Burrito Barge had you covered. It wasn’t even a rich versus poor thing. Sure, a dollar went further at BB, but not that much further. They concluded that the forum users were just being stubborn, unwilling to admit that they could like two different places, and probably too lazy to go outside their own neighborhoods to try something different. After having tried both restaurants, Jon and Jenna were in complete agreement that it was a really dumb hill to die on, and they couldn’t wait to tell everybody.

Rather than head back to their own apartments and post their findings on the forum, cutting their time together short, Jon suggested they head back to his place. He had a laptop as well as a desktop, so they wouldn’t even have to take turns posting. Jenna agreed and they went to his apartment. He lived in a fairly basic one-bedroom unit, but the rooms were big for what he paid, thanks to the neighborhood bordering an industrial zone. Jon set Jenna up with his laptop at the kitchen counter while he used the PC in the living room. They wrote in silence for about 15 minutes, looked at each other, then hit publish at the same time.

It was obvious they both wanted to do nothing more than repeatedly smash F5 to see the reactions as they came in, but they also knew they’d make themselves crazy doing that. Jenna felt they’d be better off grabbing a light dinner and giving things time to happen on their own, without them hovering over their screens. As much as Jon wanted to see everything unfold in real time, he knew she was right. They were both pretty full from their late lunch, so they decided to go easy on their stomachs and just get some basic sandwiches and a couple sodas from the deli up the street. The weather was decent, and there was still some daylight left, so they made a picnic out of it in the park. The temptation to check the forum on their phones was maddening to both of them, but they kept each other strong with talk of other places in the city they’d come to love.

Like Jon, Jenna wasn’t from here originally. She grew up in Canada and was just here to study - for now anyway. She hadn’t decided if she liked the city enough for it to be a forever home, but she was definitely content here. Jon told her about the different places he’d lived, both in the U.S. and abroad, and they agreed that it was best to experience as many places as possible before settling down in one spot.

The conversation lasted much longer than their sandwiches and drinks, and it was about to outlast the daylight. They left the park before twilight was fully upon us and headed back to Jon's place to see what they had wrought. If they had known what they’d unleashed, they probably would’ve stayed in the park all night.

Upon logging in, they both had way more notifications than they’d ever had before, and knew something was up. Rather than read through things in their inboxes, they went to the “burrito battle” topic and started reading the reactions to what they’d posted. If the topic had been a warzone before, it was an ongoing nuclear holocaust now. Furs on both sides of the debate had united-in their hatred of Jon and Jenna. That they would have the audacity to actually eat at the “other” restaurant was an affront nobody could accept. The suggestion that preference had anything to do with proximity was probably the most offensive thing they’d said, as it was taken to imply that furs had no taste and merely ate what was convenient.

“Are they for real?” Jenna asked.

“I really don’t know anymore,” Jon replied.

They read for another half an hour, but things only got worse from there. The attacks against them grew increasingly personal, and their past posts from other topics were being used to infer things about them that were wildly incorrect, but still hurtful to read just the same. New notifications kept pouring in, and they both got PRIORITY ones at about the same time. These ones were from the site owner, and informed them that they were being banned from the forum for “flame-baiting and contributing to an overly hostile environment.”

“I think I’m done,” Jenna said.

Jon showed solidarity with her statement by shutting down his PC. He walked over to the counter where she was sitting, closed the laptop, then hugged her from behind. Jenna clearly needed more than that, and stood up so that they could hug each other properly. As she embraced him, it was obvious that Jon was very much in need of a proper hug as well. Neither one of them wanted to talk much, but they also didn’t want to be alone either.

“You can crash here if you want,” Jon offered.

Jenna nodded her acceptance of the offer without breaking the hug, and they stood together for a while. Holding each other, they could feel their nerves settling, heart rates slowing, and their breathing starting to sync up. The negativity from what had happened on the forum wasn't going to disappear entirely, but they could at least give themselves something better to focus on.

Jon was the first to speak, and to pull back from the hug. “Let me get you some stuff.”

Jenna lowered her arms, and Jon went down the hall, first to the bathroom, then to his bedroom. When he came back to the living room, she was sitting on the couch, hands in her lap. He handed her the stack he had gathered up: a bath towel, sweatpants, a hoodie, a pair of boxers, a t-shirt, and a new toothbrush.

“There should be something here that'll work for you.”

“Thanks. Is it cool if I shower first?”

Jon told her it was and pointed her in the right direction. He thought about occupying himself with his phone while she was getting cleaned up, but didn't really trust himself not to check the forum or other social media. He grabbed a photography magazine instead, and busied himself by flipping through reviews of lenses he couldn't afford and looking at pictures of places he'd never been.

When Jenna returned from the bathroom she was wearing the sweats and hoodie, and was ruffling her wet hair with the towel she'd draped around her neck.

“I'm not sure if I feel better, but at least I feel better. If that makes any sense,” she said.

“Yeah, I totally understand," Jon said. "You okay if I go ahead?”

“Only if I can get another hug.”

In the moment, that felt like the best deal anybody had ever offered him. He set the magazine down and got up from the couch, eager to take her in his arms again. They held each other just as closely as before, except maybe with a little more swaying back and forth. She nuzzled into his chest and Jon rested his cheek on her damp hair. Holding her like that, Jon realized how much better his soap and shampoo smelled when they were on somebody else’s body and hair.

That time it was Jenna that pulled back first.

“I’m probably gonna need a few more of those tonight, if that’s all right,” she said.

“More than all right.”

Jon took his time in the shower, but not too long. He made sure to get properly clean, and then spent the rest of the time just letting the warm water wash over him. It wasn’t quite as good for de-stressing as a soak in the tub, but did well enough. After finishing up and getting dry, he threw on a pair of boxers, some gym shorts and a t-shirt. It was more than he’d normally wear at home this time of year, but this wasn’t exactly a normal day.

When Jon rejoined Jenna in the living room, she was looking at the modest library he’d assembled. He never bought too many books while traveling around, but whenever he stayed in one place for more than a few months, a collection started forming. Secondhand shops, library book sales, neighbors moving out and looking to travel light - if there was a way to get stuff worth reading that he also wouldn’t mind losing if life had him taking off somewhere else, he’d take advantage of it. He did have a sizable digital collection as well, for commuting and longer trips, but for regular, daily reading, paper couldn’t be matched.

Jon couldn’t see her face from where he was standing at the doorway, but her posture seemed a little more relaxed than it had been earlier. Still, he didn’t want to startle her, so he asked from the doorway if she needed anything.

“A real drink?” Jenna responded, turning towards him.

Jon ran down the options available-wine, beer, a few harder selections and several things to mix them with - and she settled on beer. He didn’t want to turn choosing a drink into a quiz, so he grabbed two different kinds from the fridge and brought them over by the bookshelves to let her pick. She opted for the lager, leaving the IPA for him. They popped them open at the same time and she held hers up, offering a somewhat non-traditional toast.

“Lotta furs out there suck.”

“To those that don’t,” Jon countered, raising his can.

She smiled at that, the first one Jon had seen since they started getting forum responses to their restaurant reviews, and tapped his can to hers. Their initial pulls off those first cans were pretty substantial, but they took the rest of the evening a bit slower. Jon gave Jenna a tour of his place, they talked books, leafed through some old architecture magazines, drank a couple more beers (complete with silly toasts), shared more hugs, and brought themselves back to a better state. Maybe not quite where they’d been when they were chatting in the park, but certainly more at ease than they’d been a few hours prior.

Jon had given Jenna the offer to crash earlier in the evening, but felt it was best to reconfirm instead of just assume she was still cool with it. He asked, and she was. Jon let her know she could have her pick of where to sleep.

“I’m not feeling very frisky,” she said, “but I’m also not going to kick you out of your own bed. Besides, it’s a double, so there’s plenty of room for two.”

Jon let her brush her teeth first, while he dealt with the beer cans and lights. By the time he took care of all that and got himself sorted out, she was waiting in the bedroom, sitting at the foot of the bed with only the side lamp still on. There was a brief, and slightly awkward, conversation about what they both normally wore to bed. By this time of year Jon was usually sleeping in his fur, and Jenna was fine in nothing more than a baggy t-shirt. Obviously, neither of them was in the right mood to show off that much.

“I’ve got boxers on under these shorts, and I’ll be fine with those and this t-shirt,” Jon said.

“I’m okay with that,” Jenna said, getting up to pull off the hoodie and drop the sweats she’d been wearing, revealing the boxers and t-shirt Jon had given her with the other items.

When she was done, they were wearing the same outfit.

“Pajama twins!” she grinned.

Jon got in on his usual side and she settled next to him as he turned off the light. Their hands found each other as they laid on their backs, and they stayed like that for a while - resting, breathing, and giving comforting squeezes. Her hand went still after a bit and Jon thought she might have fallen asleep until she spoke, asking him to turn onto his side. He complied without a word, willing to do whatever was needed to make sure she slept well. It had felt really nice to hold her hand, and he was going to miss that contact.

It wasn’t long before it was replaced by something much better. Jon felt the bed shift as Jenna moved, changing her position. Instead of turning away, as he’d thought she might, she rolled up against his back and wrapped her arm around him. There were few things Jon liked better in life than to have a chance to be the little spoon. He took her paw in his, pressed it against his chest, and let out a very satisfied sigh. She responded by squeezing him harder, taking a deep breath of her own, and letting it out. Pressing her forehead into his back, she spoke the last words either of us said before falling asleep.

“Thank you.”

*

A habitual early riser, Jon was up shortly after seven the next morning. Jenna was sleeping rather deeply when he awoke, so he slipped out of bed as quietly as he could and went to the living room. He didn’t know what her schedule was like for that Friday, and was worried he might let her sleep in too late. He also didn’t want to get her up too early if it wasn’t necessary. Either way, coffee was probably going to be needed. He started a pot and decided to check on her around eight o’clock.

The coffee turned out to be a better alarm clock than Jon was, because Jenna appeared in the doorway about ten minutes after it was ready. She was back in the sweats and hoodie, and seeing her like that made Jon keenly aware that he was still in his sleepwear.

“I should get some pants…”

“Coffee first, pants later.”

Who was Jon to let a lack of pants get between a woman and her need for coffee? He poured mugs for both of them, and showed her where all the fixings were. Jon preferred his coffee with oat-silk and caramel, while she went for sugar and nut-cream. Jon made mental notes as he went to retrieve his shorts from the bedroom, hoping he’d get to make her coffee again sometime.

Now that he was suitably dressed for morning conversation, they settled on the couch and talked about what they had lined up for the day. Neither of them had planned on spending the night together that night, but they had both managed to have their Fridays open. She never had classes on Fridays, and Jon was off work, meaning the whole day was available to them.

While they did get on rather well, it was a little awkward. They’d only met in person for the first time a week ago, and yesterday’s events went so completely sideways in a manner that neither of them was prepared for. It felt similar to the morning after what might have started as a one-night stand where both parties thought there could be some potential, except that they’d gotten to this point without any sex and with a big helping of emotional turmoil.

In the midst of their talking, the weather outside took a turn. The forecast will often call for “a chance of rain,” which could mean anything from sunny skies, to drizzle, to a full-on thunderstorm. Today they got the worst of those three. After a miserable evening, both of their spirits were definitely on the mend, but going home in that mess wouldn’t have done anything to help Jenna’s keep going in the right direction. Jon offered to let her stay until the weather cleared up, at least a little, and she accepted. They didn’t have to be sociable and chatty if she didn’t want to. There was plenty on hand to read or watch, and she was free to use the laptop if she needed to.

Jenna did need to check her email, but promised not to go anywhere near the forum. After experiencing that level of hate - over burritos of all things - they were both swearing off online communities for quite a while.

It ended up being a very chill day, and exactly what both of them needed. They spent the morning reading on their own and drinking coffee. After getting lunch delivered - and tipping very generously for making the driver go out in such crummy weather - they snuggled up on the couch to watch a bad slasher film while pointing out all the ways they would have outsmarted the killer. Around the time the movie was over, the clouds started to break up.

They were both in a much better place emotionally by then, and knew they’d be okay on their own. Jenna got changed in the bedroom, then checked her pockets and bag to make sure she wasn’t forgetting anything. She hadn’t dressed for bad weather, so Jon offered her the use of a spare umbrella in case the clouds opened up again, which she accepted. They made their way downstairs to head to the bus stop, but she stopped before they got to the front door and handed the umbrella back.

“Don’t you think you’ll need it?”

“No, I do," Jenna said, "but that’s not it. We only ever communicated through DMs on the forum, so if we don’t exchange numbers we won’t have any way to get in touch again, what with being banned and all.”

Jon moved to get his phone, but couldn’t grab it with an umbrella in each hand. Before he could shift them both to one hand, Jenna already had hers out.

“Number?”

Jon told her and she texted him right then, smiling when his phone buzzed from within his pocket.

“Plus, with my hands free, I can do this.”

Jon was about to ask, “do what?” but she was quicker than him, placing both paws on his shoulders, rising up on her toes, and pulling him down to meet her kiss.

Even if the previous day had been perfect in every possible way, that kiss still would’ve beaten it for Jon. After the day they’d just had, it was like an explosion of warmth washing over his entire body. Any remaining tension, bad vibes, and sad thoughts were immediately blown away, replaced with some of the purest joy he’d ever felt.

When she broke the kiss, Jenna didn’t let go of Jon's shoulders, and pulled him down further so their foreheads pressed together. That time, it was Jon's turn to say it.

“Thank you.”

She held on for a few moments after that, then let go, allowing Jon to stand upright again. As he looked at her face, he could tell she was feeling something similar to what he was, and he suspected his smile was probably a mirror of hers.

They didn’t speak again as they walked down to the bus stop. Not for a lack of things to say, but more that they wanted to stretch that moment out for as long as they could, worried that saying anything would break the spell they’d cast on each other. The rain wasn’t too bad, but it was enough that they needed to use their umbrellas. Jon stood with Jenna until the bus came, then stepped out of line as she boarded and took a seat. They shared one last smile as the bus pulled away, and Jon waited until it turned the corner before heading home.

Jon stopped by Burrito Barge on the way to get dinner, because damned if some forum jerks were going to keep him from appreciating something he enjoyed. The restaurant smelled great, as always, and his burrito was ready in a flash-as always. Dinner in hand, he walked back to his place. It was only after he got home and sat down to eat that he checked his phone to see what Jenna had texted. It was just two words, but they triggered a second explosion of warmth and happiness in his chest.

“You’re welcome.”

Basking in that glow, Jon sent the only response he could think of.

“How’s your burrito?”

“Perfect. Yours?” came the reply a few moments later, complete with a picture of a freshly-made Witchin’ Kitchen specialty that already had a few healthy bites taken out of it.

Jon sent a similar photo as a reply, and she responded with a hug emoji. He sent the same one back to her, and that’s where they left things that day. Jon finished his dinner, got cleaned up, read for a bit, then went to bed. Ever since he’d moved here, his bed had never felt empty, but it did that night. He fell asleep wondering if Jenna was feeling something similar.

***

After winter faded and spring started to give way to summer, they kept up a fairly constant conversation through texts, and also called when it was convenient for both of them. That led to more in-person meetings, getting together for coffee, sharing meals, and hanging out at each other’s places. It wasn’t exactly dating, and things hadn’t gotten any more physical than kissing and holding hands, but it felt like there was something between them. Over the past four months there had been a few occasions where they’d slept at each other’s places, but it was always on the level of “you can crash here if you want to” instead of “let’s spend the night together.”

Early in June they were at her place, along with her best friend, Kenta, a Japanese exchange student who lived on the first floor of her building. He was cute (but straight) and fun to hang out with. A pudgy little tanuki, he definitely had his species’ trademark playfulness, but he was still serious about his studies. He was working on a degree in American History, because he wanted to teach it as a subject at university in Japan someday. He and Jenna hung out fairly often, and after she and Jon became friends, it was a regular thing for the three of them to chill at Jenna’s place, talking, drinking, playing games, watching anime - or some combination of the above. The term was over for both of them, so they decided to celebrate by kicking back with a new anime that was being hyped up everywhere online.

It ended up being not much more than T&A fan service and poorly-written “will they or won’t they” sexual tension between the two main characters. The only reasons they let the episodes keep playing were that the art wasn’t bad for what it was, and the fight scenes were pretty creatively choreographed. The credits started rolling on the third episode and Jenna gave her thoughts on how the show was going.

“How many more episodes until they do it?”

“How many more until you guys do it?” Kenta muttered under his breath.

“What?!?” Jenna and Jon said together.

“We need more popcorn,” Kenta said, holding up his empty bowl.

He busied himself making a fresh batch in the kitchen, while Jenna and Jon just looked at each other, dumbfounded.

They made it through three more episodes before calling it a night, with nothing being said about Kenta‘s comment. By the time he headed downstairs to his place, they weren’t sure if he’d said it or not.

After Kenta left, they fell into their usual habit of lounging in the bedroom. Jenna only had a single size bed, but she had an absurd collection of blankets, comforters, and even pillows to go with it. She explained it was a holdover habit from living with winters that were at least 20 degrees (real degrees - they were both in agreement that Fahrenheit was an abomination) colder than here. Even with a family of bears curling up in the common room of their house, maintaining a decent room temperature would’ve been too expensive, so it was best to pile up as many layers as you could deal with and burrow in for the night. While that wasn’t necessary here, they were great for stacking on the rug and sprawling out on top of. It may not have had the support of a proper mattress, but it was considerably roomier than her bed.

Jenna brought it up first, as they were laying on their sides facing each other.

“We didn’t imagine that, right? He really did say that.”

“We both heard and reacted to it, so he must have,” Jon told her.

“But then he pretended like he didn’t! I don’t get it.”

It was definitely weird for Kenta to say something like that, since he’s typically pretty reserved, but maybe not completely unwarranted. They did spend a lot of time together, and they weren’t shy about holding hands or kissing. And it’s not like they hadn’t talked about sex at length. They had, and they hadn’t held anything back, as far as either of them knew.

They were both bi, and fairly experienced. They’d had more partners of their own gender (Jon for ease of hooking up, Jenna for safety). They’d discussed things they’d done, things they wanted to do, and things they’d absolutely never do. And yet, they hadn’t really done anything with each other.

“He’s probably not wrong to assume we might eventually do it,” Jon said.

“Maybe not, and we know a lot about each other, so it’d probably be pretty good.”

“So is there some reason we haven’t done it?” Jon asked.

“It’s probably that we just haven’t gotten around to it more than anything else. Things have been really great these past few months, and I haven’t felt like anything was missing, have you?”

“Not at all!”

“Me either. Maybe it’s just how he said it that’s bugging me.”

Jon reached out a paw and ruffled her hair. “Try not to let it get to you. Who knows? It might happen in the next episode.”

“Who said this one’s over?” Jenna grinned as she took Jon's paw in hers and moved it to her chest. “I didn’t hear a closing theme.”

“I certainly didn’t see any credits rolling,” Jon smiled.

Just like that, the decision had been made. Instead of the usual first-time routine of making out while slowly undressing each other, they showed exactly how in tune they were. Not a word was said and they went straight to stripping off every last piece of their own clothing, flinging it all off the blanket pile. It was thirty seconds at most before they were laying back down where they’d started, except now they were seeing each other naked for the first time.

“You look even better than I’d imagined,” Jon told her.

“Oh? You’ve been imagining me naked?” Jenna teased.

“Well, yeah. I may never have seen you in less than boxers and a t-shirt, but remembering how you look in those, combined with knowing how well you kiss, I’d say it’s only natural to start imagining other things.”

“Mmm-hmm. And what do you do when you imagine these ‘other things?’” she pressed.

Jon tried to think of something to say, but was distracted by Jenna’s gaze moving down his body, where something was trying to answer for him.

“I thought so.”

Being well aware of what was going on down there, Jon didn’t need to look. “Traitor…”

“You can tell me about them later. For now, we may want to get under at least one of these blankets.”

“Good call,” Jon said.

While summer was almost upon them, the nights still got fairly cool. The blankets would not only save Jon from embarrassment, but they’d also protect them from the breeze coming through the window. They figured two would be enough to keep them warm, without being too stifling as things heated up.

Under the blankets, the teasing stopped, but things remained playful. Since they’d gotten to know each other, and each other’s desires, before getting this far, there wasn’t any performance anxiety or awkward fumbling. They focused on learning their way around one another’s bodies and putting that knowledge to very good use.

The blanket pile ended up being the perfect place for all of this. As good as it was for lounging, it was even better for an extended bout of fooling around. Layers could be added or removed to keep things from getting too cold or too hot. Blankets could be folded or rolled and used for support as needed. Best of all, there was no fixed size limit like with a bed. Spread out, scoot around, shift positions - none of that mattered! The only times they needed to leave the pile were to get, and get rid of, condoms, or to grab something to drink.

Counting the breaks they took for hydration, recovery, and just plain snuggling, it was almost three hours before they hit their limits. Worn out, but quite satisfied, they curled up together in the middle of a blanket pile that was in serious disarray. Tonight was Jon's turn to be the big spoon, and it felt just as good to be on this side of the cuddle as it was when she spooned him.

Jenna was the first to speak, after they’d taken some time to cool down. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but please tell me you’re not going to expect that much every time.”

“Oh, no way,” Jon laughed. “As long as we get to do this fairly often, my expectations will be quite reasonable.”

“Mine will be as well, and I certainly hope we make this a habit.”

“Absolutely.”

“Are we also in agreement that we’re spent enough to say this episode has reached its end?” she asked.

Jon couldn’t see Jenna’s face, but he knew she was smiling when he said it.

“Roll credits.”

Over the next few months they began spending even more time together, if such a thing was possible. Both of their friend groups insisted they were boyfriend and girlfriend, but they didn’t think so. They’d all roll their eyes when Jon and Jenna said they were “just friends,” even though that’s how they thought of each other. They weren’t seeing anyone else, not because of any exclusivity agreements, but more through what they’d taken to calling “the doctrine of mutually assured satisfaction.”

Of course there was lots of sex, and many things were being crossed off each of their “want to do it” lists. They both gave pegging particularly high marks, but felt that whoever came up with “paper bondage” had never actually tried it. The idea of being restrained with crepe paper streamers, and having to control your own movements to remain bound, sounded interesting while reading it, but simply did not work for them in practice. What makes bondage so good is that you can’t get free, and that the tension of struggling against whatever you’re bound with adds to the excitement. They each gave the paper a few good tries, but always tore through it within seconds. They ended up tossing it all, laughing at how poorly that experiment turned out.

Unfortunately, as good as things were going for them, not everybody was having the same luck. Right before the start of the fall semester, Kenta received word that his father had fallen ill. He was an only child, and his mother wasn’t able to care for his dad well enough on her own, so he had to go back to Japan on very short notice.

Of course, this left him with an entire apartment’s worth of stuff to sort out. Kenta was in no state of mind to deal with all that, so Jon and Jenna offered to do it for him. They shipped back what he wanted returned, threw out what he didn’t need, and donated the rest to charity. He’d had a really nice double bed, which he gave to Jenna in return for everything they were doing.

With his place being on the first floor, removing stuff to mail, toss, or donate wasn’t too much work. Getting the bed and frame up three flights of stairs to Jenna’s place was a bigger challenge (hooray for old buildings and narrow stairwells…), but it was well worth it. Luckily, they’d been able to arrange everything so her old single went out with Kenta’s donations, leaving plenty of space in the bedroom for the double.

It did take up a bit more room than the single had, but not so much as to be in the way or cause any issues. The loss of floor space did mean no more spreading blankets out on the rug, though there was always the living room for that.

“It was more work than I expected, but definitely worth it,” Jenna said, finally catching her breath while admiring the new acquisition.

“Oh, absolutely,” Jon agreed. “A single bed just isn’t made for two to share, but a double is more than enough.”

“I feel really bad for Kenta, but I’m glad we were able to help him out.”

“Yeah. I hope things turn out okay for him and his parents,” Jon said.

“He said the doctors were giving his dad really good odds, but that it was going to take a lot of time for him to fully recover.”

They were glad there was some good news in all of this for Kenta, but they were also sad to see him go. They’d gone with him to the airport three days ago, said their good-byes, and told him not to worry about anything here in the states. All of Kenta’s stuff had been taken care of, and if there was anything else he needed, all he had to do was reach out and they’d handle whatevert it was.

“So,” Jon started, “that’s pretty much the whole day gone, and we definitely need to eat and shower. What do you think-shower then eat, or the other way around?”

“You shower first, and I’ll order food. Is the Taiwanese place okay?”

“Perfect! Can you order the blackened tofu fried rice for me and maybe some dumplings to share?” Jon requested, leaving a trail of clothing on his way to the bathroom.

“Slob. What kind of dumplings?”

“Surprise me!”

Jon jumped into the shower to take care of the day’s sweat and dust. With dinner being ordered in, it was pretty safe to assume that they wouldn’t be going out again, so he took his time getting clean. He must’ve gotten lost in warm, soapy bliss, because it seemed like he’d barely started rinsing off when Jenna slid the door open.

“Okay, out. You’ve got to be clean by now.”

“Aww. How about if I stay and help you get clean?”

“Nope. Food’s on the way and we don’t want to miss it. You get dry and listen for the buzzer. I told them we’d tip cash instead of in the app, so there’s a ten by the door.”

“Gotcha.” As much as Jon would’ve liked to stay and scrub her back, he made do with watching her disappear behind the curtain, and thought of what they might get up to later.

Fearful of missing the delivery, Jon made do with a quick toweling-off. He’d let his fur air dry as much as it could, with boxers and a t-shirt at the ready for when the driver arrived.

He needn’t have worried, since the delivery took longer than expected. Jon was much drier and still waiting when he heard the water turn off.

“It’s not here yet,” Jon hollered from the living room.

“All good,” Jenna answered back. “Gives me time to get dry and dressed.”

Jon went back to playing on his phone, but got too distracted by the sounds coming from the bathroom. He couldn’t help but imagine the sight of Jenna taking care of her fur - drying it, fluffing it, smoothing it out…

Nonono! Food’s almost here and I don’t want to be answering the door with an awkward boner, Jon thought to himself.

As if summoned by his thoughts of potential embarrassment, the buzzer sounded.

Jenna heard it as well. “Still naked!”

“I got it,” Jon answered back, as he pulled his shirt on and closed the hallway door.

He buzzed the driver up and waited with the door cracked open. He could smell the food before the driver had even made it all the way up the stairs, and Jon's stomach growled in anticipation. He'd clearly worked up even more of an appetite than he’d realized.

The driver reached the landing and Jon called out with a smile and a wave, “Over here!”

“These old buildings look great, but I’m not a fan of all the stairs,” the delivery driver remarked.

“No arguments there,” Jon agreed as he traded her the food for the tip, with an apology, “sorry for the steps, but thanks a bunch for making the trip.”

“Sure thing!” she smiled, pocketing the ten.

As she headed back to her deliveries, Jon closed the door, brought the food to the table, and started unpacking their dinner.

“That smells amazing,” Jenna said as she entered the living room. She’d opted for the same outfit as Jon, and he chuckled as he realized they were both in boxers and t-shirts again. And both wearing his clothes. Again.

“What? It’s hot, we’re freshly showered, and it feels really good,” Jenna said.

“Hey, you’ll get no arguments from me. I think you look adorable.”

“Thanks,” she said with a little bit of a blush, “I guess you’ll have to start leaving more than just a couple changes of clothes here.”

“Works for me, and I have been suggesting you make better use of that dresser drawer of mine you commandeered.”

“Duly noted. I’ll bring a couple extra sets next time I’m over. Be warned, I may take more of your boxers to make room for my stuff.”

“I’ll allow it, so long as you don’t take so many that I’ve got to be constantly doing laundry.”

“Fair enough. Couch?” she asked, picking up her food and the dumplings.

They settled in for a relaxing dinner. No TV, just open windows to let in the last of the day’s light, along with a nice breeze and the sounds of the city. Jon shared his fried rice with her, she shared her noodles with him, and they devoured the dumplings together. After they finished and did what little tidying up there was to be done, they decided to complete setting up her new bed.

They’d already vacuumed and lint-rollered the mattress when they brought it up, but never got around to making it. Once Jenna found out she was getting the bed, she picked up some nice, cozy sheets and a mattress pad, which had all been washed in preparation for today. The entire blanket pile wasn’t really a necessity this time of year, but a couple light ones aren’t a bad idea for when the occasional chilly breeze comes in through the window at night.

Once they’d gotten the bed properly made, Jon gestured towards it with one arm. “Shall we?”

“We shall, but we’re just snuggling right now. There’s too much in either of our tummies for anything more.”

“No argument there," Jon said. "The dinner was just what I needed, but I don’t need to see it again.”

Jon got in first, taking the side nearest the wall, and Jenna settled in behind him. They curled up together, and she took the role of the big spoon. Even on a warm evening, it felt great to Jon to have her pressed up against him from behind, with an arm around him and a hand resting on his tummy. Chatting like this while it got dark outside was always relaxing. They didn’t need to look each other in the eye to have a good conversation. They could feel the laughs as well as hear them, and the pressure from her taking a deep breath and letting it out let Jon know she’s about to say something that really mattered to her.

She did exactly that, so Jon listened up.

“Do you really like how I look in your boxers, or were you just saying that?”

Jon was tempted to crack a joke about how they look better on the floor no matter who they came off of, but he knew she wasn't looking for that kind of a response.

“Of course!” Jon insisted. “They really are adorable on you. The waist might be a bit loose, but that just means I get to sneak peeks at your butt when you’re not looking.”

That last bit earned Jon a tickle, which he made a half-hearted attempt at stopping. Once she let up, she had another question for him.

“So… how do you think you might look in something of mine?” Jenna asked cautiously.

“I’m not sure,” Jon answered honestly. “It’d depend on what it was. There are some things of yours that would fit me okay, but we’re not 100% compatible-size-wise, I mean.”

It was true. Boxers, t-shirts, and hoodies are one thing. What fit him well, she could get away with wearing loose. They were a bit different in height and weight, with Jon being both taller and heavier. Neither of them was skinny, by any means, but they weren’t solely shopping off the big racks, either.

“I take it you’ve got something in mind already?” Jon asked, turning his head slightly.

“Yeah,” she started, pushing her forehead into his back, “but please don’t think it’s weird. I got the idea in my head that it’d be cute, and I just want to see if it really is.”

“I’m game,” Jon reassured her. He reached back and rested his right hand on her hip, giving it a squeeze and some comforting pats. “Show me what you’ve been thinking about.”

“Okay,” she said, getting up from the bed, “but no laughing.”

“I won’t laugh,” Jon promised as he moved to sit on the edge of the bed.

Jenna went to the closet and started shuffling hangers around, trying to find the item in question. Jon's curiosity was completely piqued, and he was wondering what it could be. A blouse? A dress? A nightie?

“Got it!” she announced. “Now close your eyes.”

“They’re closed.” Jon heard her take something out, then move to stand before him.

“You can open them now.”

Jon opened his eyes slowly, not sure what to expect. The first thing he could see was a nice dark blue color. When he opened them wider, he could tell it was solid, so not pants or shorts. Fully opened, it was clear to him that it was a skirt. Nothing frilly or lacy, but nice, practical cotton. It didn’t look like it’d be too warm for summer, and it seemed like it would be roomy enough to fit him. Jon had seen Jenna wear it before, and on her it reached just past her knees.

“Well, what do you think?”

“I love the color,” Jon admitted, already blushing at the thought of wearing it, “but how far down would that reach on me?”

“How about you get up and let’s find out! Get your shirt off, while you’re at it. You were definitely topless in my vision.”

“It’s a vision, now?” Jon teased, but still stood up and pulled his shirt over his head. By the time he’d dropped it on the bed, she had the skirt free from its hanger.

She handed it to him and sat at her desk, turning the chair to face him, ready to take things in.

“So how do I…?”

“You’ve taken skirts off me often enough,” she pointed out. “Just do that, but in reverse. And to yourself.”

Jon looked at the skirt and she was right. He just needed to step into it, pull it up (thank goodness for elastic waists!), then do the button over his tail. He could do this.

“Got it.” Jon started to bend over and step into it, but she stopped him.

“Uh-uh. No boxers.”

“Do you want me to wear something else of yours under this?”

Her wicked grin told him the answer to that question better than any words ever could.

“Okay,” Jon said, setting the skirt on the bed to take his boxers off. “Commando it is.”

Jon hooked both thumbs into the waistband, pushed his boxers down and stepped out of them in one move. They joined his shirt on the bed and he picked the skirt up again. He made sure he had the bit with the button at the back, then bent over to step into the skirt.

“Uh-uh. Turn around.”

Jon looked up at Jenna and saw that she had her legs pulled up beneath her. She was slouched against the right armrest, with her chin resting in her palm. Jon smiled and complied, turning his rear towards her before he tried to step into the skirt for a third time.

Finally, there were no objections.

Jon knew what she was after, so he took things nice and slow. He bent over deliberately, pushed his bottom out, and flicked his tail from side to side. His left foot went through the skirt, then his right. He was fully bent over then, and his hands were about even with his ankles. Slowly - very slowly - Jon brought himself upright, let his body move his hands up, and pulled the skirt past his calves. When it passed his knees, he heard Jenna shift in her chair. As it started to move up his thighs, Jon kept his body bent forwards, forcing his ass outwards. He stayed bent, and used his hands to drag the fabric higher. First it hid his balls from view, and then it started to cover his cheeks.

“...oh fuck…” Jenna sighed slowly.

Jon kept the waistband of the skirt moving and turned to look at her over his right shoulder. She was sitting upright and was biting her right index finger. Jon maintained eye contact as the skirt finished its upwards journey, buttoned the tab over the top of his tail, then turned to face her, never looking away from her eyes.

“Well? How does reality compare to your vision?”

“Oh, reality most definitely wins, but I think we can make it even better.”

“What should I change? I want to get this right for you.”

“Don’t worry. I got this,” Jenna said.

She got up from her chair and stood in front of him. Jon still wasn’t sure what needed changing, but like she said, she had this. She put both of her index fingers inside the waistband at the front, ran them around to the back to his tail, then back to the front, tugging outwards and pulling downwards as she did.

With her adjustments completed, she stepped back to check her work. “Much better.”

Jon wasn’t sure how much that one quick move could have changed things, but when he looked down he could see that the waistband was now riding considerably lower. Not obscenely low, but definitely below where he’d normally have his boxers.

“Walk around a bit for me?”

Jon did as requested, and walked across to the closet and then back to his original spot by the bed. The skirt widened a decent amount from the waist to the hem, which was at about knee-level, so it wasn’t restrictive, even while moving around. It did have one issue he hadn’t considered.

“How do you like it?” Jenna asked.

“It’s definitely…breezy?”

“But is that bad?”

“I don’t think so. I mean, there’s the definite lack of support and all that, but-the air! The air just gets everywhere up in there. Is that what it’s like for you?”

“Not so much. It does go lower on me, so it’s not quite as breezy, and I’m rarely going commando in a skirt.”

“But even when it’s windy, you don’t just feel all that air?” Jon asked.

“Well,” she began, “if you wear skirts or dresses enough, you kind of get used to it. I imagine only wearing pants and shorts that it does feel quite different. Can I ask for one more thing?”

“Sure. Whatever you like.”

“Give us a twirl?”

Jon blushed, but complied. He pushed off with his left foot and brought that knee up, spinning on the ball of his right foot. The skirt rose up a bit as he did, but he didn’t think he’d shown off too much. When he finished the spin he was facing Jenna again, and he saw that her knuckle had found its way back between her teeth.

“You approve?” Jon grinned.

“Let me show you just how much I approve.” She stepped closer and embraced him. Her left arm wrapped around his body while her right moved to the back of his neck, pulling him down into a kiss. As they kissed, she pushed her right knee between his legs and brought it up, forcing them apart. She kept pushing until her thigh brushed against his furry pouch.

“Oh, I like that access,” she said when they broke for air.

“It seems handy,” Jon agreed.

Setting her foot back down, she bent her knees just enough to get her hands under the skirt. Instead of going to the front as Jon had hoped, she slid them up the backs of his thighs, coming to a stop with a firm grip on his cheeks.

“Yes, I could definitely get used to this kind of access,” she said as she pulled him against her and leaned into his chest.

“How about on the front side?” Jon asked.

“Gonna have to check that too…” she started, before falling silent.

“Everything okay?” Jon asked, wondering what thought just came into her mind.

“Drinks!”

“Not what I was expecting, but what about drinks?”

“We don’t have any,” she explained.

It slowly dawned on Jon that with everything they’d had going on today, they didn’t have a chance to do any shopping. The fridge was definitely nearing empty, part of the reason they’d ordered in for dinner.

“It’s okay,” Jenna said. “We can run out to 7-Eleven. It’s just a few blocks away.”

“Works for me. Let me just get changed real quick.”

“Or maybe you could not get changed,” she suggested, reminding him that her hands were still on his ass with a squeeze.

“Umm…was this also part of your vision?”

“It wasn’t before, but I think it is now. Just need to get you the right top…” she drifted off again, this time physically as well as verbally, as she headed to her dresser instead of the closet.

As she started rummaging around, Jon sat down on the bed and did a bit of drifting himself. In the bedroom, this was just good fun, but out in public? Could he do that? Should he do that? Wasn’t that taking things a bit far? Was this a game? Was it a dare? Was he…

“Found it!”

Jon snapped back to the moment and looked up, seeing her walking towards him with another item of clothing. This one was sky blue, and he thought he knew what it was.

She must’ve seen something different in Jon's expression as she got back in front of him. “Hey, are you okay? Am I asking too much here?”

“I’m honestly not sure," Jon admitted. "So far this has been hotter than I expected, but it was also just me and you in your bedroom.”

“Okay, maybe I was getting a little carried away from seeing my ‘vision’ realized, but I would like to take things a little further if you’re willing.”

Jon thought about it. It had gotten kind of dark out, and 7-Eleven was just up the street. Still…

“Tell you what. Try this on with the skirt, and then let me know if you’re game.”

“That can’t hurt. Let me see what you’ve picked out.”

As she handed it to him, Jon could see that his guess was right. It was her blue hoodie vest. Of course, it hadn’t always been a vest. She’d bought it for the color, but the only ones that shop had with the right body size had arms that were way too long, so those got cut off. Jon thought he remembered her wearing it with this same skirt before, only she had worn a black sports top underneath it.

Jon stood up and put it on, leaving the hood down. When he started to zip it up, she took hold of his hands.

“Don’t. It’s much better like this. See for yourself,” she added, gesturing towards the mirror on the closet door.

As Jon walked to the mirror, he realized he’d only looked down at the skirt after putting it on, and hadn’t seen the full picture yet. As he stepped in front of it, he finally got to see what she’d been seeing, and took in her full vision with her. It was definitely him, and that was definitely a skirt, and it was definitely riding low on his hips. The hoodie didn’t hang quite as loosely on him as it did on Jenna, but it still looked okay. While that piece was very gender-neutral for most everyone these days, a skirt still meant “female.” Jon certainly didn’t present that way, but even so, he couldn’t actually say it looked bad.

“So? What do you think?” she asked.

“I’m not really sure what I was expecting when you first suggested I wear something of yours," Jon said. "I had no idea what you might pick, but now that I’m in it, I’d say you chose well. The dark blue of the skirt is good with my fur, and while it’s not fancy or frilly, I think that works in its favor. It’s simple, but not plain. The sky blue of the hoodie is a nice complement. I can see why you pair these together for yourself.”

“My fur may be all white, and you’ve got a little more white than black in your stripes, so I figured this combo would look good on you, too. Minus the sports bra, of course.”

“Yeah, I don’t need that kind of support, thankfully.” As they talked, Jon found himself turning left and right, taking in her vision, and felt more comfortable with it than he’d expected.

“I don’t know which one of us is checking you out more,” Jenna said.

Jon smiled and put an arm around her shoulders. She countered by sliding her hand back under the skirt to his ass.

“Sooo, you up for this?” she asked with a caress.

“I think so.”

“Only think? Anything I can do to boost your confidence?” As she asked, her caress turned firmer, almost like a one-handed massage.

“That’ll help for sure, but it might make this outfit a bit awkward in public,” Jon noted.

“Oh shit! Sorry. I didn’t get you too worked up, did I?”

“Maybe a bit firmer than things were a moment ago, but I think I’m still presentable,” Jon said as he grabbed the waistband to pull it forward and check.

“Dude, it’s a skirt, remember?”

With her free hand, she flipped up the front, completely exposing him. Things may have swollen slightly, but nothing was peeking out yet. Jon was actually a bit shocked at how quickly she had been able to put everything on display.

“Things look okay,” Jon said as he tugged the skirt from her hand and pulled it back down, “but please don’t do that when we’re outside.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be on my best behavior.”

With that, Jenna started getting herself ready. She settled on a pair of khaki shorts and a black hoodie to wear over what she already had on, and they headed back to the living room. She grabbed her bag and Jon picked up his phone, suddenly realizing he had no pants pocket to put it in.

She quickly caught on to his newfound problem. “Welcome to the life.”

“No biggie," Jon said. "I can put it in the hoodie pocket for one trip to the store. At least with cashless payment I can leave my wallet here, and you can manage the keys.”

“Sounds like we’re all sorted then,” she said, heading for the door. “Shall we?”

“Moment of truth,” Jon grinned nervously, feeling his cheeks flush with warmth.

“You’ll be fine. If anybody stares, it’s because they’re wishing they looked as hot as you.”

Jon blushed a little harder, and they shared a laugh as she opened the door. Once they were out, she locked up and led the way downstairs. When they got to the front door, Jon surprised himself by following her right out. He’d thought he might hesitate, but he didn’t miss a step as they moved onto the sidewalk.

The concrete was still warm beneath their paws, and the air had started to cool a little, but not so much that they needed to wear more than they already were. Jenna took Jon's right paw in hers and they headed off down the street. There was just the slightest bit of wind, which Jon was acutely aware of. Enough so that he gave a slight shiver.

“Still feeling ‘breezy?’”

“Definitely. This would take a lot of getting used to.”

“Oh? You think you may be up for more?”

“We’ve barely gone half a block," Jon pointed out. "Let’s at least finish one trip to the store first.”

“Fair point.”

“It does feel pretty good, if I’m being completely honest," Jon said. "Definitely feeling ‘free-er,’ if that’s the right term, than I would in my cargo shorts. There’s also the no underwear thing, so there’s no fabric creep, but it feels a bit odd having everything more or less out in the open. Even with boxers there’s at least something between my bits and the outer layer of clothing. I mean, I know nothing’s showing, but I also know that I’m completely exposed from a certain angle.”

“Try not to think about it too much,” she said with a reassuring squeeze of his hand. “Just enjoy looking gorgeous.”

They reached the first corner and checked for traffic. There wasn’t any coming so they crossed and continued on their way. On the next block, there was somebody walking towards us. They angled towards the side and gave them room to pass. If they noticed what Jon was wearing, they didn’t give any sign.

“See? No biggie.”

“They were looking at their phone,” Jon pointed out. “So maybe they didn’t notice. And the trees are blocking the streetlights a bit.”

“Well, it looks like we’ll have to wait at the crosswalk up ahead, and we won’t be alone,” Jenna said.

Sure enough, there was somebody else heading the same direction, jogging in place as they waited for the light to change. Glancing at the traffic lights, Jon could tell that they’d catch up to them before the crossing went green.

When they reached the corner Jenna was between the stranger and Jon. Jon looked to see if they were looking, and they were. It was an older badger, maybe in her late 40’s with a short haircut and several piercings in the ear he could see. She looked them both up and down, obviously aware of what Jon was wearing, and that they were holding hands.

“Right on,” she said with a wink and a smile, before she turned her attention back to the crossing light.

It went green a few moments later and she took off at a good clip. They made their way across and turned to wait for a green signal in the other direction, which would get them to their destination.

“Allow me to repeat myself. No biggie!”

“Maybe so, but I’m still glad we’re doing this when it’s dark,” Jon muttered.

“You’re doing great. Just remember that ‘right on’ when we get over there and you’ll be fine.”

With that last line, she pointed towards 7-Eleven with its well-lit parking lot and bright interior, and Jon realized he’d not thought that far ahead. He swallowed, perhaps a bit more loudly than he’d intended, and pulled up his hood.

“Hey, you’ll be fine.”

The light turned green and Jon psyched himself up with an, “I got this,” as they started across.

Jon could only see one car in the parking lot as they stepped off the curb, but there were a few more moving up and down the street, any of which might turn in. He squeezed Jenna’s hand a little tighter, not feeling quite as confident under the bright lights.

When they entered the parking lot Jon could see an older Jeep coming up the road with its top off and blinker on, but he wasn’t sure if they were turning at the corner or into the lot here. They were almost at the doors when the reflection of headlights in the glass in front of them answered the question.

It was like being in a spotlight, and Jon felt incredibly exposed, especially since they didn’t turn off.

“Just run in and grab a 12-pack,” a male voice said from the Jeep. “And hurry up ‘cause we’re already late.”

“I’m going,” another male voice answered, accompanied by the sound of an opening door. “Yoooo! Check out the ass on Mama Longlegs in the skirt!”

Oh. Shit. Jon thought.

His mind was racing and he couldn’t figure out how to react. There were plenty of things he could do, but he couldn’t focus on any of them clearly enough to figure out which one was the right one.

He ended up not having to make that decision, because some deeper part of his brain already had.

Jon turned his head, looked over his right shoulder and said, “Thanks!” while grinning the wickedest grin he could manage. Just for good measure, he threw a proper bump with his right hip.

The driver erupted with laughter, and since there was no top on the Jeep the sound really carried. Even with the headlights in his eyes, the parking lot lights showed Jon that they were both hyenas, as if the laughter hadn’t already given the driver away. They were typical mid-20’s dude-bros, the kind who kept living life as though they were still in a fraternity.

“Look at you!” Jenna said, pulling him towards the door as she pushed it open.

“I have no idea what came over me,” Jon tried to explain, his heart pounding from the rush of adrenaline.

“You’ll be okay. Just take some deep breaths and let’s find you something to drink that’ll help take the edge off once we’re back at my place.”

Jon nodded his assent and they took their time choosing, eventually picking out a couple variety six-packs of beer. The catcaller was in the store as they were making their selections, but he was hanging by the magazines with his head down, clearly too embarrassed to browse the beers while they were still in that section. He didn’t say anything else, and waited until they headed to the register with their beer before he went to grab his 12-pack.

Jon did get a bit of an odd look from the cashier as they were checking out, but he was still on enough of a rush that he didn’t pay her any mind. With the beer bought and bagged they moved towards the doors, still lit up by the Jeep’s headlights.

“He could’ve turned those off,” Jenna pointed out, “being right in front of the doors and all.”

“Dudes are gonna dude, I guess,” Jon shrugged.

Once they were outside, driver dude called out to them.

“Hey.”

“Yeah?” Jon responded, tensing up and not really knowing what to expect.

“Sorry about my friend earlier,” the driver apologized. “He can be a bit of a jerk sometimes.”

“No worries,” Jon replied, relieved that he was being cool.

“But you know,” the driver continued, “he wasn’t wrong.”

“Oh? How so?”

“Your ass does look great in that skirt,” the driver said with a wink and a grin, much like the one Jon had given his friend earlier, if a little toothier.

Jon didn’t think he’d ever had a massive adrenaline surge followed by that much blushing before, and it had him feeling very floaty.

“Thanks,” Jon said softly as he looked down, no longer able to meet his gaze.

Fortunately, Jenna was there to keep him moving.

“We gotta go,” she told driver dude, taking Jon's hand and pulling him towards the sidewalk home, “but I hope you dudes have as much fun tonight as we’re going to.”

“Not likely!” driver dude called after them, with another big laugh and a wave farewell.

It wasn’t until they reached the sidewalk that Jon realized he’d been holding his breath.

“Whooooooh,” Jon exhaled loudly, with a little shudder.

“You doing okay?”

“That is without a doubt, the most intense convenience store visit of my life,” Jon said.

“I’ll bet. Glad to see you’re still in good spirits.”

“I can’t say I’m running at 100% right now," Jon said. "The rush is definitely wearing off, and driver dude threw me for a loop there at the end.”

“Right?!? I wasn’t expecting that from him either,” Jenna agreed.

“Book. Cover. No judging and all that,” was about the best Jon could manage at that point. “I just need a beer or three.”

“Well then, we’d best get you home.”

The walk back to her place was uneventful. The few furs they passed were either busy chatting with each other or too into their phones to take any notice of them, which was just fine with Jon. Aside from a few breezes getting up into things, he wasn’t really all that aware of the skirt anymore.

Until they got back to Jenna’s building.

“I know this has been a pretty heavy experience, but can I make one more request?”

“Sure. What did you have in mind?” Jon wondered, not sure what else could be missing from her vision at this point.

“Can you go up the stairs ahead of me?” she asked, blushing a bit.

“Yeah, that’s not a big deal,” Jon said, before something occurred to him. “Wait, you’re not going to take upskirt photos, are you?”

“No, no! I just wanted to peek, but…”

There was that drift again, stopping her from finishing her sentence as she looked at the floor. Jon could guess what was coming next.

“But what…?” Jon prodded, lifting her chin with a finger to look into her eyes.

“If you’re okay with it, I think it’d be really hot to take a few.”

Once things had gotten more physical between them, they’d sent each other all kinds of photos, and had even taken some of each other. As they started spending a lot more time with each other in person, however, their interest in that activity had more or less burned out. Now Jon saw it just needed the right sort of spark to get it going again.

“I’m cool with that,” Jon said, and gave her nose a little reassuring kiss.

Jenna hurriedly got out her phone and opened the camera app. “Regular lens, zoom lens, selfie lens…? Which one’s best, do you think?”

“How would I know?” Jon laughed. “I’ve never taken upskirts!”

“I know, but if you were going to? Okay, imagine it’s me. Say I just got a new miniskirt and I offered to let you take some, how would you do it?”

“Did you get a new miniskirt?” Jon asked.

“Not important right now! Let’s focus.”

“Okay, okay. Hmmm... If you use the lenses on the back of your phone, you have access to the flash, but you can’t frame your shots since you can’t see the screen. If you use the selfie lens, you lose the flash, but you can frame your shots. I guess you’ve got to decide what’s more important.”

“No, I don’t. I can do both! The first flight of stairs is better lit, so I can go no flash on those shots. The second flight loses the extra light from the lobby, so I’ll use the flash on those.”

“And on the third flight?” Jon asked.

“Burned out bulb,” she reminded him. “The landlord’s been dragging his tail for months on getting that fixed. He’s just lucky we get light in there from the streetlight or it’d be really unsafe.”

“Sounds like you’ve got a plan. Shall we?” Jon asked, gesturing towards the stairs.

“Let’s!”

As they headed up the stairs, Jon was grateful her phone didn’t make a shutter sound each time she took a picture. Knowing how many photos she was taking would probably have made him really self-conscious. Right before they got to the second floor landing, Jon felt a slight tug on the back of the skirt. Looking back, he could see that Jenna was lifting it up with her free hand while taking pictures with the other.

“Are you supposed to do that? I thought the whole point was to do this without getting caught.”

“You gave me permission, remember? You can’t ‘get caught’ if you’re allowed to do it.”

“Are you really trying to lawyer your way into getting better shots up my skirt for your spank bank?” Jon laughed.

“Objection!” she countered. “It’s called the ‘Rub Club,’ and what I’m doing is absolutely okay.”

“Okay, Phoenix. Have it your way.”

On the second flight, it was more obvious to Jon when she was taking shots since each photo was accompanied by the flash. There were a LOT of flashes. Jon was walking a little more slowly than normal, making sure she was able to get enough photos, and also making sure she didn’t trip, especially on the turn in the stairs.

“I can’t wait to see how these turned out,” Jenna said as they reached the third floor.

“I’m a little curious myself," Jon said. "Shall we head up and have a look?”

“Okay. I can settle for just looking this time, if you don’t mind staying in front?”

“Not at all.”

Jon started up the last flight to her floor and was just past the turn when Jenna told him to stop.

“Everything okay?”

“Uh-huh. I just noticed how the light from the streetlight was hitting you through the window and got struck by an idea,” she said.

“Another vision?”

“It could be, if you’ll allow me another little indulgence?”

Jon didn’t see any reason to stop now, and told her as much.

“Great! Now, we don’t need the beer for this shot,” she said as she took it from him and set it down on the floor at the top of the stairs. “If you can stand here, on maybe the third step past the turn?”

Jon moved where she asked and waited for further direction.

“Hmm. Put the hood down, lean against the wall and bring up your right foot. Good, now back where you were. Right foot up, paw flat on the wall. No, your right, not mine. The one on the higher step. Next…hands over your head and perhaps cross your wrists? Perfect. Now if you can just turn your head to the right, so that you’re catching more light on your face.”

Jon couldn’t quite tell what she was going for, but guessed that she had him mostly framed in the light coming in through the window. She moved back down to the turn and got her phone out again to check her shot.

“Something’s not quite right. Can you put your right paw back down on the step it was on? The skirt’s pulling away from your body too much right now.”

Jon did as she asked, but he could tell by her expression that she still wasn’t happy.

“Anything I can change?” Jon asked.

“Hmm. No, I know how to fix this.”

Jenna walked up the few steps to the one Jon's right paw was on, putting their faces on about the same level. Her left hand reached up to where his wrists were crossed and pinned them to the wall. With her right, she caressed his cheek, then pulled his face to hers and started in on a very deep kiss. Her left hand held his wrists firmly, while she leaned into him, keeping the kiss going. Her right slid down his neck, tracing a path across his chest, over his stomach, and down below his waist. It only stopped once she was gripping his sheath through the fabric of his skirt. She started working her hand back and forth, first getting him swollen, then bringing him out.

The moment was so intense Jon didn’t even realize she’d released his wrists until after the kiss was broken and she’d stepped back.

“That’s what was missing,” she said, looking down with a grin.

Jon held his position, and followed her gaze. He wasn’t surprised to see his skirt tenting up over his erection, but he still gasped at the sight all the same.

“Oh my…”

“Hold that pose.”

Jon did as instructed while Jenna moved back into position for her shot. Again there wasn’t any flash so he wasn’t sure how many photos she was taking, but after she started shooting from different spots, and taking high angles and low angles, he could guess it was quite a few.

“I think we’re good,” she said as she dropped her phone into her bag. “You can relax now.”

Jon lowered his arms to his sides, closed his eyes for a moment, and took a few deep breaths.

“You too,” she chuckled, pointing at his skirt, which was still noticeably tented.

“Hmm?” Jon looked at where she was pointing and laughed. “Go to sleep, you. Gonna get me arrested.”

“Nah, we’re inside now. Besides, even if you did get arrested, you’ve got your own lawyer here ready to take the case.”

“I think it takes a bit more than being able to say ‘Objection!’ forcefully to be a lawyer,” Jon countered.

“Pfft! That’s at least 75% of it.”

“No arguments from me, counselor, but I still think we ought to get inside. If not for the sake of decency, then at least for the sake of cold beer,” Jon said, gesturing towards the essentially-forgotten shopping bag on the landing.

“No objections there. I move that we take things inside to secure the beer in a proper location and then examine this photographic evidence,” she stated, tapping her bag for emphasis.

They both maxed out on silliness at roughly the same moment and dissolved into giggles, with Jon snatching up the beer while she fished for her keys as they made for the door.

After they managed to get inside without further photography breaks, they put the beer away and each grabbed a can, then collapsed onto the couch. Cracking them open, they offered toasts to one another.

“To new experiences,” Jenna proclaimed.

“To visions made real,” Jon toasted in return.

They knocked the cans together and both took very hearty pulls.

Neither of them said anything right away, and they were both processing the events of the past hour (really? was that all it was?) in their heads. They drank and thought, and thought and drank, each getting more than halfway through their beer before one of them was willing to break the silence.

Jon went first.

“So, about that evidence you wanted to examine. Should we have a look at that?”

“In a minute. There’s one thing I want to ask you about first. Out on the stairs, you said something, and I’m not sure you’re even aware that you said it.”

“What was that?” Jon asked.

“When I was taking that first batch of photos, I was trying to get a better view and cheated a little.”

“Oh, so now you admit that grabbing my skirt was cheating?” Jon teased.

“Not the point!” she laughed. “Besides, you just said it again - ‘my’ skirt. Not ‘your’ or ‘the,’ but ‘my.’”

“Hmm. I guess I did," Jon said, wondering what that meant, if anything. “Well, we do tend to refer to stuff we’re wearing as if it’s ours. I mean, the boxers you have on now are mine, but I’d definitely say my hand was inside ‘your’ boxers if I were copping a feel.”

“That’s true, but I gotta admit, it was kind of hot hearing you say ‘my skirt’ as I was getting those photos.”

“Speaking of which…”

“We’ll get to them,” she said, holding up her can. “How’s your beer?”

Jon raised his and swirled it a little. “Getting there. Yours?”

“Low enough to kill it. Shall we?”

They tapped their cans together again, then finished off what was left in them. As they stood up, she took Jon's can and put the pair of them in the sink to deal with later. Jon grabbed them two fresh ones from the fridge.

“Before we go over the evidence,” Jenna began, “do you mind if I get more comfortable?”

“It’s your place. Do whatever you like.”

Jon had barely finished speaking and her hoodie was getting tossed on a chair. The shorts followed right after and she was back to her post-shower wear of boxers and a t-shirt.

She put her hands on her hips and struck a pose. “So what do you think of MY boxers?” she asked, giggling.

Jon sat the beers down on the table before answering. “They’re positively adorable. And you? How do you feel about MY skirt?” After Jon asked his question, he performed a spin, much faster than the one he had done earlier in the bedroom. He could feel his skirt rising up higher this time, but it still didn’t feel like he’d showed off the goodies.

“Fucking love it,” Jenna said.

“Play your cards right and I may wear it again for you sometime,” Jon teased.

“I will play whatever cards you like if that’s the reward I get,” she promised.

Jon handed Jenna her beer and they cracked them open, offering up a new set of toasts.

“To just rewards,” Jon toasted.

“To playing the right cards,” Jenna offered in return.

Once again, cans were clunked and drinks were drunked.

“So, shall we examine the evidence?” she suggested.

“Wonderful idea!”

Instead of her phone, Jenna grabbed her tablet. “Things should’ve synced up by now, and this’ll be better for looking at the photos.”

“Works for me,” Jon said.

Evidence in hand, they returned to the couch. Her photo album showed the most recent shots first, but she quickly flicked down, scrolling them off the screen, and only stopped the scroll when the album reached the first of the upskirt shots, of which there appeared to be many.

“We’re gonna save what I’m pretty sure are the best for last.”

“There are quite a lot more than I was expecting," Jon confessed.

“I did most of them with the rapid shot. It was hard enough to keep things in frame while you were walking, so snapping pics one at a time seemed like a bad idea.”

She tapped the first photo from tonight and it expanded to fill the screen. Seeing nudes of himself was nothing new to Jon, of course, but he’d never seen things from this angle before. Most of the screen was taken up by his left thigh, but it didn’t totally hide his pouch.

“It’s like they’re peeking out to say ‘hi,’” Jenna giggled as she spread two fingers on the screen to zoom in on them. “Hello!”

“Okay,” Jon laughed. “I don’t think I need to get quite that up close and personal with them.”

“Awww, but they’re so cute and fuzzy.”

“Next photo?” Jon asked.

“Oh, okay,” she said as she zoomed out and swiped left to bring up the next shot.

This time there was less thigh in the photo, since Jon was raising that leg to walk up the stairs. Of course, that meant a much less obscured pouch shot.

“See? Cute!” she insisted, holding the tablet up to make sure Jon got a closer look.

Jon didn’t say anything, but at least she wasn’t zooming in again. This image wasn’t too different from the last, so Jon guessed the rapid shot mode on her phone took the photos in pretty quick succession.

“No comment? Okay, on to the next one.”

She swiped a bit fast and ended up flicking through the next two photos. Because of how close together the photos were in time, they looked almost like still images from a video.

“This looks almost…” she started, clearly having come to the same realization Jon had. “I need to try something.”

She flicked back to the first image in this set, then swiped through the next ten or so images in rapid succession. They slid onto the screen, so while it wasn’t exactly the same as watching a video, the effect wasn’t too far off.

It was like watching old, flickering film footage, except that it was in full color, shot in high-definition, and very much not the sort of thing that would’ve been shown as a matinee. The images she swiped through showed about one full cycle of Jon walking up the steps. His left leg went up, his pouch came into view, pushed to that side by his right thigh. Then he stepped up with his right leg, and things got pushed back to that side. It’s not that they were swinging like a pendulum, by any means, but there was a lot more back and forth than Jon had previously thought about.

Jenna seemed equally enraptured. Once she got to the end of the cycle, she began swiping in the other direction, making it look like Jon was backing down the steps. Jon kept quiet until she’d walked him up and down these two steps a few more times.

“Kind of hypnotic isn’t it?” Jon kidded.

“Definitely. I am so making this into a .gif.”

“Putting it in the Rub Club, are we?” Jon asked.

“Oh, we most certainly are.”

“Shall we move on to the flash shots?”

“Don’t rush me,” she said. “We’ll get there in good time. I gotta find which set would make the best loop.”

Jon watched as she took her time flicking through the rest of the photos from the first flight of stairs. He did notice that some individual shots got tagged as favorites, and then she settled on a series of about twelve and tagged them all as a set.

“Found your loop?”

“I think so, but I’ll have to do a little editing, and maybe some stabilizing to make the animation smoother. This should definitely work.”

“What about the ones you tagged that weren’t part of that sequence?" Jon asked. "I’m curious about what made those worth faving.”

“Those are ones I just like,” she said, swiping to find an example. “This one here? I like how the cheek is tightening up when you step. It shows a little more definition, makes the fur stand up a little…and also opens things up a bit,” she added with a blush.

“I get what you mean.” Jon also blushed when he realized just how much could be seen, and how clearly. “Phone cameras really have come a long way since the early 2000’s, haven’t they?”

“They sure have. Flip phones were fine in their day, but I’m not about to give up all these pixels. Not when I can get shots like this.”

“I’ll have to see if I can get something similar with you and that new miniskirt you mentioned,” Jon winked.

Blushing a bit more, she hurriedly changed the subject. “Flash shots, was it?”

Jon didn’t press, and gave her a little hug as she swiped through to the batch from the second flight of stairs. He could tell they got there when the screen went almost completely white.

“Damn,” Jenna said, clearly not happy with the result, “that’s way more flash than I was expecting. It may have blown all the detail out to the point where it’s not even salvageable with editing.”

“Hmm… Darker stairwell, not much light getting through my skirt," Jon reasoned. "I guess the sensor couldn’t get much of a read.”

She swiped through a few more, but they were all pretty much the same. Jon was privately almost as disappointed as her.

“What do you think? Maybe shoot in HDR next time?” Jon suggested.

“So there is going to be a next time?”

“It’s all about those cards, remember?”

“Trust me, I’m not going to forget.”

“I’d be worried if you did,” Jon said, giving her temple a kiss. “Want to look at the last batch?”

“Yeah, I’m sure those turned out better than these.”

Jenna flicked through the rest of the flash photos pretty quickly, and faved a couple that she thought she could possibly rescue, but they clearly weren’t as good as the ones that were taken with the selfie camera. It was obvious when she reached the first photo from the last set, because they both reacted the same way.

“Damn…” they whispered together.

Jon had some idea how these might have looked, given how much effort she’d put into posing him, but as they looked at the first shot now-the composition, the lighting, the posing-it was way more than he’d expected.

The light coming in through the window was a big, skewed rectangle, split up into smaller rectangles by the wooden sash bars that separated the individual panes of glass. Jon's hands and wrists were just outside the top edge of the light, and his face had a line of shadow running down it, straight through his left eye. Having his arms raised pulled the hoodie up and open, exposing more of his chest. It was also up enough that it wasn’t touching his skirt any longer, leaving the top of his hips out in the open. (His raised arms also resulted in a slight flattening of his stomach, which Jon was internally grateful for.) His skirt was what definitely caught the eye when looking at this photo. There was some obvious lifting going on in front, but not an obscene amount. Just enough to let the viewer know exactly what’s under the fabric. Jon had his right heel up, pushing his knee forward and calf out, making for a nice curve. His tail was curled around his left ankle, and that foot was flat, with his toes curled ever so slightly.

“You sure can take one hell of a photo,” Jon said.

“Thanks. Having one hell of a subject really helps.”

They took their time going through the rest of this series of shots, working on their drinks as they did. They were all somewhat similar, given that Jon never changed his pose, but the angle they were taken from, the amount of zoom used, and the focal point of the shots all varied quite a bit. Jon was particularly drawn to the ones that zoomed in to focus on specific body parts.

There was one of his arms, showing how his wrists were crossed as if they were bound, but clearly they weren’t. He was free to move them if he’d chosen to, but he hadn’t, since this is how she’d wanted him.

One focused on his right knee, with his skirt resting more on his thigh than on the joint. The fabric laid flat against his skin, as if it was trying to slide up and reveal more.

The close-up of his face was really nice. The streetlight gave him a bit of a glow, but the shadow across his eye was keeping his pupil from narrowing too much. His expression was mostly neutral, but not flat, and there was a bit of a smile forming at the corner of his mouth.

Towards the end, they got to the one Jon had kind of suspected was in there somewhere - the tent shot. It wasn’t zoomed in too far, otherwise it could have been just any old something poking against a piece of fabric. The way Jenna had framed it, though, there was no denying what it was. She took this one vertically, and the bottom of Jon's belly button was barely in frame at the top of the image. Just enough to give a bit of curve and texture to his tummy. A bit of open fur between it and the waistband of his skirt made it clear what part of his body this was. Things were pushing against the material firmly enough that the fabric didn’t even have a chance to dip from his waist. It was more like a stretched out “U” shape, curving down, then up to where it was being supported. Having his left leg straight put everything on display in a way that was almost more revealing than if he had been fully nude.

“Club material?” Jon asked.

“Absolutely. I think this whole series is, but the very first one gets a gold star membership for sure.”

“There are membership levels?” Jon asked, unable to keep from laughing as he did.

“Well, yeah,” she responded, surprised. “I’m sure it’s the same for guys. You have some things in the safe deposit level of your bank that you use regularly, when you need something quick and reliable, and then there are the ones you keep in the vault, only to be used when you’re in a special kind of mood, and really want to savor things.”

She wasn’t wrong. “I’ve never thought about it in those terms before, but you’re absolutely right,” Jon admitted.

“I bet I’m also right in guessing that both our drinks are just about done.”

Jon hadn’t really even noticed the change in the weight of his can, but again, she wasn’t wrong.

They gave their cans a final tap, then finished them off.

“Do you need another?” she asked.

“You know, I think I’m good for now. Maybe just some water?”

Jenna took their empties to the sink where they joined their fellows, then returned to the couch with a glass of water for each of them. She sat down cross-legged, facing Jon.

“How are you feeling about all this, now that you’ve had a chance to relax and level out a bit?”

Jon matched her posture, wanting to have this conversation face to face. “Pretty good, actually. When you first showed me the skirt it didn’t really faze me, but then you suggested going to 7-Eleven like this, and I nearly panicked. I thought there was no way in hell I could do that.”

“But you did.”

“Yeah, because you were there with me. On my own? I’d have never made it out the door.”

“Be honest with me. Did I push you too hard to do any of this?”

“I can’t say you didn’t push some, but no, you didn’t push too hard," Jon reminded her. "We aren’t really strangers to helping each other test our limits, and we’ve always understood that it’s okay to say ‘no’ at any point.”

“That’s true, but you do have a little history of not being willing to say no until you’re already too far outside your comfort zone.”

“You’re talking about that time with the spanking, right?” It wasn’t really a question. Jon knew exactly what she was talking about.

“Yes. That happened at your place, so it was about as safe an environment as possible, and yet you still froze up so bad that you couldn’t even remember your safeword. That’s not something either of us were prepared for.”

“But you still knew when to stop, so it wasn’t a big deal,” Jon said.

“I’m being serious, Jon,” Jenna chastised. She raised her free hand to his face and caressed his cheek with her thumb, showing that this intensity came from a place of caring. “Testing limits is all good and well - and even really healthy - but you have to be aware of where they are, and you have to respect them. Or else you’re going to get yourself into trouble again. I was worried for a minute when you got catcalled, but you handled that just fine on your own.”

“That was definitely something I hadn’t considered might happen," Jon said, placing his hand over hers. "My reaction to that was 100% instinct. I did not plan to do or say any of that.”

“Well, I’d say your instincts definitely served you well.”

“As startling as that was, I think the driver’s comment when we came out of the store shook me even more,” Jon said.

“How come? They were both commenting on your appearance, and they were both a bit too crude to be considered polite compliments.” Jenna sat back and sipped her water, curious to hear the explanation.

“Beer dude mistook me for female, and he acted based on that incorrect assumption," Jon explained. "Driver dude knew I was male, and made his comment fully aware of who he was addressing. Even though he was crass, he was genuine.”

“But if you were female,” Jenna wanted to know, “would you consider beer dude’s comment ‘genuine?’”

“Nah, fuck that guy,” Jon said.

They both laughed.

“Let me see if I can explain this better," Jon tried. "Beer dude was trash, and clearly never learned to respect women. He saw an ass…”

“Ahem. A great ass,” Jenna corrected.

Jon continued, “…and reacted, cave-dweller style. He didn’t even bother to look at the rest of the person the ass was attached to.”

“Okay, and driver dude?”

“He was aware of the total package first, and then made his crude comment," Jon said. "If I were a woman, that’d probably still be gross. But as a man? Getting a reaction like that from another man? That shit works on me.”

Jon pretty much only had two stages of blushing-just barely and fire engine red. When he realized what he'd just said, you could've heard sirens as he hung his head.

“Woooow.” Jenna leaned down and looked up into his face. “You think you know somebody...”

“Really not helping!” Jon groaned.

“You know I'm only teasing, but you should definitely drink some more water.”

Grateful to not have to say anything, and not really trusting himself to speak at that point, Jon picked up his glass and slowly drank the rest.

“Seriously, though,” she began, after Jon had set his glass down, “that’s nothing to be embarrassed about. You know there’s no chance that I’m going to judge you for that or hold it against you. Think about all the stuff we’ve told each other. Is this really that big of a deal?”

“It’s not, and I know you won’t, but that doesn’t make it any less embarrassing,” Jon muttered, finally looking up. “It’s nice to be thought of as ‘handsome,’ but it was very different to be seen as ‘pretty.’”

“Theres no reason you can’t be both, Jon.” Jenna got up from the couch, ruffling his hair as she did. “Do you want more water, or another beer maybe?”

“About that…”

“Yeah?”

Jon's blush had barely begun to fade, and he could feel it starting to rise again. “I need to pee.”

“You know where the bathroom is…oh right!”

Jon got up and looked down at the skirt. It was comfortable enough that he’d more or less forgotten he had it on, but now that he needed the restroom, he was very much aware of it.

“Do I just hike it up and sit down, or what?”

“It’s short enough on you that that’ll work. Usually it’s underwear down, then skirt up as you sit, but obviously you can skip that first step. Just make sure you’re holding it up enough so that you don’t sit on it.”

“Sounds easy enough. Be right back.” It was, and Jon was - after stopping to wash his hands, of course.

“All good?”

“Yup.” Jon held the sides of the skirt and swung them back and forth a little. “Pretty handy for that, actually. I’d guess it’s easier for women to keep everything dry in a public bathroom.”

”Usually, yes. Most of us use the ‘sit’ side of the restroom while you lot have it easier over there on the ‘stand’ side,” Jenna began. “But there are times I’ve gone into a stall and thought somebody wound up in the wrong place.”

“And on that note, I think I’ve had enough to drink tonight,” Jon laughed.

“You sure? It’s not all that late yet,” Jenna pointed out.

“Between dealing with Kenta’s stuff and this evening’s adventure, it has been quite the day, but I didn’t say I was tired.”

“Sounds like you’ve got something in mind,” she smiled.

“I do. Give me a minute then join me in the bedroom?”

“I think I can wait that long.”

Jon didn’t have anything too wild in mind, so a minute was probably overkill. He just wanted to be sure he’d make a good impression when she came in. They’d set the bed up under the window, and since the only thing across the street from her place was a park, they were free to leave the curtains wide open whenever they felt like it.

Tonight, Jon felt like it.

He took off the hoodie and dropped it on her chair, then laid on the bed, centering himself in the light coming through the window in an attempt to recreate the pose she’d had him in on the stairs. It wasn’t perfect, but it was close. He was barely able to raise a knee, or else he would’ve put everything on display, and, eager though he was, there wasn’t any obvious tenting. He did keep her idea of crossing his wrists above his head, and because he was laying down, the effect on his chest and stomach was more pronounced.

“Is it okay if I come in?”

“It’s very okay,” Jon called out.

Jenna started to enter the bedroom, but stopped in the doorway.

“…damn, boy…” she whispered.

Jon smiled up at her, enjoying her reaction. “Do you need to get your phone?”

“No need. There’s no way I’ll ever forget this vision.”

“Another gold star addition to the Club?”

“I think this is going to require a whole new membership level. Executive Platinum, at least.”

“Join me?” Jon asked.

“I will. I just need to make sure I remember every last detail.”

Jenna stood in the doorway longer than Jon had expected, but she eventually joined him in her new bed, after taking off her t-shirt and boxers. She knelt between his legs and rested her hands on his knees.

“Now,” she said, as her fingers slid upwards, “let’s see about the access on this side.”

***

Jenna and Jon continued to see each other as much as possible (they still swore they weren’t dating, of course), but the colder weather that arrived with winter meant no more trips to the store in skirts - for Jon, at least. Jenna had plenty to choose from in her wardrobe, but none of her warmer stuff would fit him. That’s not to say Jon didn’t wear his skirt for her anymore, because he absolutely did. They just had to make do with indoor adventures.

“Make do” was selling things incredibly short.

Jon wearing his skirt changed things in ways he hadn’t expected. Jenna liked going down on him from underneath it, and getting pegged with it flipped up onto his back was a huge turn-on for him. Even when they weren’t being overtly sexual, the access meant that intimate touches and playful tickles could happen at any time.

It wasn’t entirely one-sided, either. Jenna really had gotten a new miniskirt, and they both ended up getting disturbingly good at taking upskirts. They almost got caught doing that by her building’s super when he finally came to fix the lights on the third flight of stairs, and figured it was best to give that up before they ended up needing to hire a real lawyer.

Not all of their time was spent getting frisky. They went to museums, plundered secondhand bookstores, binged awful anime series, and continued the quest for the best burrito in town. So far, nothing had managed to measure up to Witchin’ Kitchen or Burrito Barge, but they were hopeful that there were other equally good ones out there, just waiting to be discovered.

It was in service of that mission that Jenna came to Jon's place on a Saturday morning. They’d heard of a trio of burrito food trucks called The Tortilla Flotilla that would set up in various spots around the port. The name did come across as a Burrito Barge knockoff, but word of mouth was that they were pretty good, so they were going to try and find one today.

By this point they were well past buzzing each other into their respective apartments and had traded keys. Three knocks on Jon's door and the sound of the deadbolt turning let him know Jenna had arrived to begin the search. He got up to greet her at the door and gave her the usual hug and kiss hello.

They figured they ought to plan things out to try and maximize their chances of finding one of the burrito trucks, so they sat down on the couch, got out their phones, and started going over the maps. There were a few places that looked promising, as they were known to have the most workers breaking for lunch around the same time. That always drew a large number of food trucks. A couple of these weren’t too far from each other, so there was a decent chance they’d be successful.

Right when they were getting ready to go, they both got email notifications at the same time, which was weird. Curious, they checked their mail and saw that they’d gotten messages from Kenta. He was writing to see how they were doing and to give them an update on his dad. Things were much better than they had been, but he was still quite a way from a full recovery. Even though he had a long road ahead, the doctors were now convinced he would get back to 100% someday.

They both sent him a reply, wishing him and his family well, and asked him if there was anything needed from the US. Messages sent, they checked their maps and the bus schedule one last time, then headed for the door.

Just as they were getting their shoes on, both their phones dinged at the same time again.

“Kenta again?” Jenna wondered.

“Could be,” Jon replied.

They pulled their phones out, but it wasn’t Kenta who’d emailed them. They’d both gotten mail from the same address, but it wasn’t one they recognized. The subject line was “I’m sorry.”

“Is this some new scam?” Jenna asked.

“Maybe, but our names are the only ones in the “to:” field, and there aren’t any other addresses CCed,” Jon noted.

“We’re on our phones, so it should be safe to at least read it.”

They both opened the email, and it wasn’t spam. It probably would’ve been better if it had been.

It was an apology letter from the owner of the forum they’d been banned from back in the February. He wanted to tell them that he’d tried both restaurants (they did notice that he never said which side he was on to begin with), and agreed that they were right in saying they were both good. However, in the interest of keeping his site from erupting into chaos all over again, he would not be reversing their bans, nor would he be reporting his findings on the forum himself.

Jon couldn’t figure out any possible reason for this.

“Why email us?” Jon asked. “Is he trying to score brownie points with himself or something?”

Jenna had more succinct thoughts.

“Fuck that guy.”

“Delete it,” Jon said, nodding in agreement. “Nothing good can come of this. Don’t read it again. Don’t reply. Just delete it.”

Jenna tapped on her phone a few times. “Delete what? The last email I have is from Kenta,” she said, showing Jon her screen with a grin. “How about you?”

Jon tapped his phone a few times, and smiled as he showed her the screen. “Same. What were we just talking about?”

“The Tortilla Flotilla. We’re going to track them down and find out if they’re really all that.”

“Yes, we are," Jon agreed. "And even if they’re not the burritos we’re looking for, we’re going to keep on looking until we find the ones that are.”

“Awesome,” said Jenna. “Let’s do this.”

Roll credits.