Date Night: Tuli

Nayeli awoke to the gentle, pleasant sensation of his fingers combing through her fur, making their way down her belly after warming her breasts. Oro kissed her bare back softly as his hands tucked in between her thighs briefly, before rolling across those sensual curves and continuing on down toward her knees. "Good morning, sweetheart," the Lioness murmured, bucking her hips back against him in a lazy roll.

"Good morning," the Rabbit whispered in her ear, just before scooting down to put his cheek against the small of her back, where his hands could reach the rest of her long legs and feet, "Seems like you guys had fun last night."

"Oh yes," the Lioness whispered back, sharing a kiss with her mother before Tuli sat up to get started on the day. Sarahi and the twins were already up and about, by the sound of it, while Kitt continued snoozing at the far edge of the mattresses. "Mmm, I hate to cut this short," Nayeli mused, stretching her arms while Oro lightly massaged her feet, "But I should help Sarahi with breakfast."

"Nah," Oro countered, taking her hips and rolling her over to face him as he crawled back up to eye-level with her, "The twins can handle it. We haven't had our morning ritual in days," he reminded her, and cut off her complaint (if it had been one) with a kiss on the lips and his arms around her back, holding her possessively.

"Oh, let him," Sarahi cooed from the kitchenette, leaning over the counter to flash an appreciative smile at the two of them, "We've got this." Nayeli hummed gratefully to her, lips still trapped by their husband, and let him enjoy running his hands over every inch of her, squeezing the softer parts and tickling the sensitive ones just a little. Sarahi spent more time than she probably should have watching, but the twins made sure nothing burned while her back was turned, giggling between them.

Having at last indulged himself, Oro shared one more kiss with Nayeli before the two of them got up and shared a shower, then sat down to breakfast with the rest of the family. "So, where are we going today?" Diya asked, ears perked with curiosity.

"I figured one of these," Oro said, dropping a couple of brochures onto the table. "Whichever you're all more interested in."

They went with the aquarium, as it was huge compared to the one back home, and had several species not found anywhere else in the world...or so the brochure promised. Honestly, they would be happy enough to enjoy any air-conditioned space for a few hours, even if most of it was familiar. Beaches were fine and dandy, but they were still getting used to tropical temperatures overall. And it didn't hurt that the aquarium was within a few blocks of them, so they didn't even have to resort to buying transportation if they didn't mind the walk...which they didn't.

The aquarium was cool, and relatively quiet...but possibly a bit more crowded than they'd anticipated. They had to move carefully, and Sarahi attracted almost as much attention as some of the exhibits, to the point that Oro had to resort to the use of some very loud vulgarities to make the crowd give her space at one point. Nayeli and Tuli were frankly a little surprised security didn't get involved after that tirade, but enough people seemed to have heard it that nobody did more than stare curiously at the Sha'khari after that. Kitt was fairly well beside herself at the sight of so many creatures that were not only new to her, but should have been impossible for air-breathing people to ever see alive. For her sake, if no one else's, they finished seeing every exhibit, then promptly left, opting to take their lunch in town rather than the aquarium's food court.

"Whew!" Sarahi sighed as they took seats under the umbrellas of an outdoor cafe, "Sorry about that, honey-bunny, but thanks for coming to my rescue."

"Eh, everywhere has its share of tail-holes," Oro shrugged, "I just got pissed when that one jerk moved right into your escape route, like you weren't allowed to leave. Fuck that guy."

"Easy, dear," Nayeli urged, rocking against his shoulder, "You did good, it turned out fine, and we're out of it now. It was still a nice morning, I think."

"Yeah," Sarahi agreed with a sheepish smile, "I feel like we rushed it for my sake, though. Sorry, Kitt."

"Oh, it was a-MAZE-ing!" the little Dog laughed, kicking her feet excitedly as their order arrived, "I didn't mind the hurry. I never expected to see anything like that in my life in the first place!"

Despite her reassurance, that kind of made the Sha'khari feel even worse. But she was glad the smaller girl took the little misfortunes of life in such good stride. "So...what do we want to do with the rest of the day?"

"Hey, there's no rule against just lounging around the hotel," Diya pointed out with a smile as she and Kylan dug into some ice-cream to fight the heat, "Seeing sights is great, but relaxing is part of a vacation, too, right?"

"Naturally," Oro nodded, "I've got an errand we can all run together while we're in town, if you aren't ready to head back yet, but we'll need to go back to the hotel before I take Tuli out tonight in any case."

"Really?" the Lioness tilted her head, "Me? Well where are we going?"

"Eh, nothing terribly exciting," the Rabbit admitted, looking just a little embarrassed, "Honestly, I had a hard time thinking of anything you'd particularly enjoy. So I went with a reservation at a fancy restaurant. Cliche, I know...but if you thought to bring something nice, wear it." Looking down at his own habitual jeans and tee-shirt, he shrugged. "Not that I remembered my dress-clothes, but no sense in both of us sticking out like sore thumbs."

Tuli giggled and clapped her hands quietly. "Oh, that is fine, dear! I can't wait!"

"Wait," Diya blinked, tilting her head as something seemed to dawn on her, "I understood Nayeli and Sarahi. That makes plenty of sense. But...are you taking all of us out for a one-on-one night? Like, me and Kylan, even?"

Oro nodded, pointing to her and then her brother. "Yeah, but you then Kylan, just to be clear. You deserve individual time, too. And before you ask, yes, even Kitt gets one."

"Whee! Finally!" the little Dog giggled happily at the announcement.

Diya looked more stunned than excited. "Wow, you really are going all-out for this, aren't you?"

"I told you I wanted to make time to remind each of you that I like you...even if I'm too fucked up to show it most of the time," the Rabbit shrugged, "I dunno if that's going all-out. Just seems like something a guy ought to do from time to time, really...but yeah, I'm making a point of it this trip. That a problem?"

"No," Diya shook her head quickly, "I'm just a little nervous now. And excited."

"So what's our errand?" Kylan asked, "It's not like we're busy with other stuff today."

Oro chuckled with a smirk, devouring half his hotdog in a single bite before answering, "Toy shopping. The kids need something of their own. Nigel didn't even get a present for Deep White, thanks to us not knowing the situation."

"US?!" the Nicks came practically exploding out of Tuli's back in their excitement. Nigel appeared just long enough to throw a coil around the pair, then all three vanished again. It happened so fast it would be easy to put the scene down as a momentary hallucination in the heat, if anyone had seen.

"Sorry, Mom," Nigel's voice came quietly, just loud enough for her and Nayeli to hear, and probably Oro with his sharp ears.

Oro chuckled again as Tuli put a hand over her pounding heart, glancing around discreetly to see if anyone was reacting. "Yeah, you," he said firmly, knowing they could hear him from inside their mother even if he couldn't see them, "This trip's probably been more like work for you, having to stay inside and quiet with all the exciting stuff around. You've been really well behaved kids. You deserve a reward. So I thought we'd look for one before I take you out somewhere else you'll have to be well behaved."

Tuli closed her eyes, inclining her head as though straining to hear someone speaking a little too softly beside her. Then she smiled. "Thank you, dear," she told Oro sincerely, "They are very excited now...not least, I think, because their dad is acknowledging them."

The next few hours were spent roaming through various toy outlets, looking for something suitable for "children" who had neither hands nor feet. They tried to catch moments when the store clerks were all busy or distracted, to let the little tendrils actually handle some of the merchandise and see what they thought...and more than once, Kylan, Kitt, and Diya made such a distraction, posing as sweet and energetic children themselves. In the end, they took home a volleyball, a frisbee, and a target-toss game set, all things that would let the tendrils build control of their strength and finer coordination.

And while they were at it, Kylan managed to talk "Dad" into buying a new set of casual dress-clothes, as part of his treat to Tuli that night. He and Diya had been playing this game all week, consistently referring to Oro as "Dad" in public while leaving the clerks and guides to sweat over which of the ladies hovering around them was "Mom"...made all the worse by Kitt, who looked to be roughly their same age, simultaneously referring to him as "brother". Oro, being Oro, utterly failed to make things any clearer to the few clerks that asked, pointedly reminding them that it didn't matter a whit to their work, but in a tone that suggested repeating the question might.

Evening rolled in, and Oro, wearing his new flower-printed button-down and khakis, left Nayeli in charge of the family while he took Tuli out on the town. She had changed into a backless, calf-length summer dress bearing a peacock-feather print. It walked a fine line between casual and formal, beach-wear and dinner dress, and spoke to Tuli's surprisingly refined tastes. Next to her, Oro still felt under-dressed.

The restaurant was uncrowded (probably due to the prices), softly lit by candles as much as LED, and just shy of being a black-tie establishment. After confirming the reservation, they were lead through the main dining room and out a back door onto a private boardwalk built over the sand, right to the water's edge. Outdoor dining tables sat on platforms scattered along the walkways, and it was at one of these that the waiter left them. "Oo, this is fancy," Tuli smiled as they sat down, feeling the cool breeze rolling in off the ocean negate the tropical heat. "I'm surprised you'd go for a place like this, dear."

"Yeah, well, we'll see if the food's worth it...but the atmosphere definitely deserves a dollar or two," the Rabbit admitted, a little surprised himself at the pleasing aesthetics. Tuli nodded with a giggle, opening the menu to see what was on offer. She didn't spend long, settling for one of the less expensive items, but indulged herself in a drink her date wasn't quite old enough to share yet.

"Hmhmhm...I've served so many of these, it's about time I learned what one tastes like," she grinned in amusement at the swirling cloud of colors in the tall, tubular glass as she stirred it. Taking a small sip, she smiled at the Rabbit across from her, resting her chin on her hand and nudging his knee with her toes under the table. "You seem uncomfortable. Is it the alcohol or the atmosphere?"

He had his arms crossed over his chest, and his legs crossed underneath the tablecloth, frowning slightly as he stared at her glass. But the question tempted him to laugh, and that showed refreshingly on his face. "You worked at a bar since before I met you, but I've never once seen you drunk, or found a drop of the stuff in the house. Nah, I'm not worried about your self-control," he shook his head, "It's...you look nice," he complimented, glancing from her face back down to the glass, "Doesn't help that if I'm not staring directly at you, I keep seeing Nayeli out of the corner of my eye. The resemblance between you two is uncanny sometimes. If you were her_,_ or Sarahi, it wouldn't be a problem, but the temptation to eye you up is...more awkward."

The Lioness raised a bemused brow, taking a longer sip of her new drink as he explained. "I'm a little sad to hear that," she smiled, leaning forward just a little to subtly rest her ample breasts on the table, "I thought by now that we'd be way past the stage of feeling awkward about furtive glances. It makes my plans for the evening more difficult."

That made the Rabbit quirk a brow. "Oh? And what did you plan for this evening?" They were interrupted briefly by the arrival of the food. They both thanked the waiter as the plates were laid out in front of them, looking even more mouth-wateringly good than the descriptions in the menu had suggested. Oro decided this place might be worth the price tags after all.

"To tease you," Tuli grinned, picking up her silverware and the conversation right where they'd left it, "Make you a tad uncomfortable in those pants, if I can, and maybe a little hungry for...something else," she winked, subtly bouncing her breasts with a shrug of her shoulders.

Oro rolled his eyes, and almost put the bite on his fork into his mouth before speaking his thoughts...but caught himself and pointed it at her instead. "I pitied you for that tail-sucking job," he grunted, "But damn if you weren't made for it."

Tuli giggled, covering her own mouth and swallowing before answering. "I had just enough sense back then to play to my few strengths. Though the first few years were rougher than you know, before I was old enough to work at Owl Eyes," she nodded, watching him stuff his face as quickly as he could while (barely) managing to mind his manners. "I made some very irresponsible choices in my youth, dear," she reminded him softly, "Choices most people would outright call ‘bad', or at least ‘poor'. In retrospect, I think I can agree with them. Those choices led to long days of hard work, and lots of lonely nights for my little girl. We are rarely the only ones to suffer from our own mistakes. In many regards, I am no better a mother than your own."

"Oh, you are leagues above that bitch," her date growled, immediately aggravated by the mere mention of his own family, "And Nayeli is proof of it."

"Hmhm, and yet she married you," Tuli grinned, unfazed by his reaction, "But I'll take your perspective for argument's sake: your mother is not much worse than me, if at all, and you are proof of it. She only had a more difficult vice to work around. Nayeli chose to marry a brute and a bully, and stuck with him even after she caught him flirting with another woman. Sarahi chose the same, knowing he loved another woman. Is that degrading enough?" she winked.

He'd put down his fork at this point, genuinely frowning across the table at her. "What's your point? I'm tempted to take back what I said about you being made for the job, if this is your idea of teasing."

But Tuli shook her head. "I haven't even started that yet. My point is that most of us, if not quite all, make some very bad decisions in life, and other people suffer for them. You're not alone. And unlike me, you can't even say you were fairly warned of the consequences before you made that decision. You were at least trying to be kind to a stranger, and were deceived. If the likes of me can be forgiven, I dare say you can, too. It's good to recognize it, and to steer others clear of the same mistake, if you can...but the time for regret is over. You've done your penance. Now it's time for you to recognize that we are here...are still here...because this is where we want to be, and how we want to keep living. We love you. And I'm sure that goes even for the twins."

He chewed on that thought for a moment, ignoring the actual food on his plate. Tuli was nearly done with her meal by the time he picked up his fork again, sighing into the cooling vegetables. "Resemblance more than skin deep," he muttered, "Obviously where Nayeli gets it from."

Tuli smiled quietly at the compliment — at least, she took it as one — nursing her drink while he caught up with his food. "Now that all the serious talk is out of the way...I'm going to get the fun started," she warned with a sly grin as he put his silverware down. He felt her rub his foot, then his ankle, suggestively sliding back and forth along them.

"Really?" The Rabbit arched a brow but played along, rubbing his foot back against hers. "Footsie is supposed to be exciting at this stage? I'm not in school anymore, you know."

"That's not my foot, dear," she answered smugly, taking another sip from her nearly-empty glass as the thing against his foot slid further up, inside the leg of his pants, to caress his calf. He felt the suckers clearly then, as the thicker parts of Nigel began to move across his foot and leg.

It was easy to forget that they were attached to her, at all times, in all places. Tuli alone never really forgot that, probably. Her whole little speech had likely been as much a lesson for their future as an effort to comfort him. Oro couldn't be mad about that, though he could kick himself for forgetting they were listening to every word that was said. He felt a second tendril, smoother in body and with a large head, sliding around his other leg as Nigel carefully turned the crook at his knee and started to wrap around his thigh...

Much to Oro's embarrassment — and Tuli's infinite amusement — they very nearly got thrown out before she was finished. They returned to the hotel rather early, going by how late he'd kept Nayeli and Sarahi out, and found the suite empty as the others were still out enjoying their own dinner. That was just fine by Tuli, who had decided their date wasn't over quite yet, and whisked Oro off to the bathroom to share something she had somehow never done with anyone before, even among her various clients: a shower.