Regression - Halloween Special!
Warning! Warning! Warning! This story contains all those things your mom and dad said they'd tell you about when you grew up, in hopes you'd never ask again. Avert your eyes, lest this missage burns itself into your retinas, for I can't be held accountable for your marred purity! And all the rest. You know the deal. 18 blah blah don't read blah blah legal blah blah... Okay, enough on with the story. Warning! Warning! Warning! __________________ Regression - By Kandrel
- * * The Regression The harsh glare of Club Nico's strobes stained Ray's vision through his closed eyelids. All around him, he could feel more than hear the "thud-thud"ing of bass, so deep that his breath caught in his chest with each beat. Forward, and to his left, the sussuration of paws on the dance floor swept under the rhythm, punctuated by staccato clacking of claws, talons, and hooves. Under all of that, just barely loud enough that Ray could hear it beneath the tinny techno and scores of half-shouted conversations, was the lewd, wet slurping of sex. A skilled tongue traced its way up Ray's cock, then swirled across his tapered tip. Ray's fingers clenched convulsively as a spark of pleasure wound its way languidly up his spine, and he heard a squeak from his companion as his hands crumpled the webbing of the sensitive ears he'd been holding. Intentionally relaxing his hands, he opened his closed fist and let his fingers run up and around the short-furred periphery of the triangular ears. Wetness and warmth spread upwards as the muzzle between his legs swallowed Ray's shaft to the knobs. Determined to enjoy this moment, Ray detached his conscious mind from the pleasure rocketing upwards from his crotch, and let his senses eke outwards into the crowded club. Even with his eyes closed, Ray's phenomenal sense of smell could pick out individual scents, painting a more vivid picture of the club's life for him than his eyes alone could. To his right, he could smell the faintly fruity alcohol that Nico's served. Further left, he could still smell the alcohol, but it was washed down with the scent of sweat. The occupants of the dance floor were easy to identify as a whole, but the identity of only a few individuals could be pulled from the tangle. Ray could make out Keeg's scent easily, the burly polar bear had a habit of sweating when he was just sitting down. When dancing, you could identify him from the next continent over. Larissa stood out as well, but no one could mistake that vixen's smell, especially anyone who'd ended as many nights with their muzzle buried between the vixen's thighs as Ray had. The dark corner Ray had retreated to had a few inhabitants as well, though Ray couldn't identify any of them personally. These places hadn't been built with a fox's sense of smell in mind though. Any illusion of privacy for the others in the corner was just that, an illusion. He was pretty sure he could smell an Elk, and as if to confirm his suspicions, he heard the faint rattle of antlers against a wall. Accompanying the elk was some sort of feline of the small variety, female from the smell, and if his nose was right (it always was) then the cat was having a very good night indeed. The scent of sex lay thick in the corner, threatening to overwhelm those with a sensitive nose with the rank musk. Layered over that was the slick slurping sound of flesh on wet flesh. The faint scratch of sharp teeth brought him shuddering back to the present, and Ray opened his eyes. Between his spread legs, Dee the rat was just barely visible in the inconsistent light from the club. His drab grey fur blended with the colorless rug, and only the rat's many piercings really sparkled to betray his presence. Ray felt teeth again, though so lightly that their feather-light touch sent a thrill of excitement into Ray's stomach, where it shook and juddered with the beat of the dance floor's music. Quickly, the soft tongue curled around his root again, and as one techno remix blended seamlessly into the next, Ray pulled on the rat's ears, holding him still as the wave of orgasm peaked and crashed. Dee let out a soft cough as Ray's cock jerked. Now firmly in the grasp of release, the thumping beat of the club receded behind the beat of his own heart. He closed his eyes and lifted his arms, wrapping fingers behind his head, as he rode each delicious sensation out to their end. It was only after a few moments after the warm air hit his now freely dangling shaft that he realized there might be something wrong. The smile on his muzzle ran stale, and without closing his eyes, he murmured, "Dee, where'd you go? That muzzle of yours is..." Halfway through the sentence, a scent hit his nose, drilling through the dense fog of pleasure. A whiff of fear so intense that it triggered an answering jump from Ray's own heart, an involuntary adrenaline surge spreading like a splash of cold water across his limbs. Ray flicked his eyes open, glaring down at the rat between his legs. "Dee, what the fuck is-" "Holy shit, Ray, look!" The rat pointed towards the dance floor, where gyrating bodies, already densely packed, had cleared a ragged circle towards the edge of the slightly raised wooden planking. In the center of the circle, a huge feral tiger, half again as long as Ray was high, crouched over a stricken dancer. The girl under it was a rabbit. Her paws were on its chest, trying to push it away, and her ears lay on the floor at twisted angles to her head. There was a squeal of terror from the tiger's victim, and in answer, the circle of stunned onlookers broke towards the club's entrance. Dee glanced up at Ray, then fumbled a cell phone from his pocket. As he dialled, Ray stood in a rush, frantic fingers grabbing the hem of his pants and pulling them up firmly around his waist. "Hi, there's a feral tiger, big fuck-off tiger, and it's attacking someone in the club." The rat listened for a moment and stood still, figuring that with the press of the crowd, he wouldn't get out of the exit any time soon. "Yeah, Nico's, up on... Oh, really? Okay, good." The rat closed the collapsible top of the phone and popped it back into his pocket. "Someone else got through first?" Ray finally finished buttoning his trousers and offered a hand up to the kneeling rat. "Yeah, someone outside, apparently. Holy shit, is that thing... I think it's trying to fuck her!" The tiger gave a snarl, swinging its head side to side at the crowd that'd mostly dissipated. The few stragglers were attempting to creep by it, but by this point, the tiger had lost interest in them. With the rabbit below pinned by one massive forepaw, the tiger crouched on its hindlegs and was forcefully rubbing its crotch into the bunny's clothes. "Um... Should we?" Ray made a nervous motion towards the entrance, and after a moment's hesitation, Dee gave him a desperate look. "It's not like we'd be any help." The rat's ears were swivelled back, and he was chewing nervously on one claw. "We might get her hurt. Anyway, animal control is on its way." Ray answered, hoping he sounded more calm and controlled, and less cornered and cowardly. "Yeah, you're right. Let's go." The two edged around from their secluded corner towards the exit. As the last of the club patrons scuttled out of the exit, Ray and Dee shuffled into line with the last stragglers, and were greeted moments later with a breath of city air. Both stood with the stunned crowd, gazing back towards the club doors with a vaguely lost look. "Holy shit, do you think she'll be okay?" Ray was the first to speak, louder than strictly necessary with his ears still ringing from the sudden lack of techno. From deep within the club, there was another chuffing snarl, and the rabbit screamed again. "I don't know. She's still alive." Dee wound his fingers together nervously. Both of them lifted their ears and swung around as sirens quickly approached. Bounded on both sides by squad cars, a rickety animal control van rumbled up to the club. "Look, she'll be okay, these guys'll handle it. Um, we should probably leave. You know, before..." "Yeah." Dee answered, and grinned up at the fox. Now with both of them standing, the size difference was fairly apparent. The rat stood at least a head shorter than Ray. "See you next time, foxy." "Huh, parts of me, at least." Ray fumbled for a moment. He wanted to reach out and tug the rat into a hug, but with the uniforms crowding into the abandoned club from every angle, the intimate privacy of their secluded corner seemed so far away. Instead, he reached out a hand, which Dee clasped. They held paws for just a moment, then Ray took his back, stuffing it into his pocket. The crowd outside Nico's had already started to disperse. Most of them were heading further down Crown street towards other night clubs. There were a few that had rather broad views of what constituted proper behaviour, so the specific type of clientèle that seemed to be drawn to Nico's like moths to a flame weren't completely at loose ends. Ray, though, had had enough excitement for one night. He pulled his own phone from his pocket as he shuffled away from the bright neon lights and brighter police cruiser lamps. He dialled as he walked, the phone ringing before he turned left onto Alan Knight Boulevard. Before he'd gone ten paces, the receiver at the far end answered. "Ray, that you?" "Tes, baby, you won't believe what I just saw." Ray turned into the grungy A-Tram station and fed his bent travelcard to the kiosk reader. "Hon, just come home. I've got a bitch of a headache. Can you tell me about it tomorrow?" "I... Yeah. You okay?" The first few seconds of Tes' response were lost to the rumble of the A-Train thundering into the station. "...get home, I want someone warm to cuddle up to tonight." Tes responded on the other end. "Right, I'm just boarding the train now. I'll be there in twenty." Ray shuffled onto the train, lethargic and sluggish after the surge of adrenaline started to fade. "Love you, foxy." "Love you too, woof." Ray clicked the faceplate on his phone shut just as the doors closed behind him. He collapsed in a window seat, and with a rumble, the train accelerated away from the station. With nothing but street lamps and dim stars lighting their way, the train carried Ray towards home. When he arrived, he could tell that Tes was already asleep. All of the lights were out, and her computer was off. As he shut their flat's front door and slid the bolt home, the night's worth of giddy nerves finally caught up with him. Lethargically dragging himself across the living room, he unbuttoned his trousers, then scraped his tight shirt over his head. He stumbled a bit as his pants sagged, held up only by the thin clasp over his tail. With slow motions made all the more careful for his tired state, he unclasped the tail strap, pulling his long, russet brush free. Underwear quickly joined the pile of clothes he left near their bedroom door, and with eyelids already tugging themselves closed, he crawled beneath the covers. A soft lupine form melded itself to his front as he pulled the covers over his shoulders. Tes' tail thumped his hips, then with a tug, he pulled her thighs back into an over-friendly spoon. He growled half-heartedly, fitting his sheath between her rumpcheeks and draping his arm over her breasts, then, warm and comfortable, he drifted off to sleep. *** "Reports of wild animals have been flooding in from across the city. One of our watchers took this photo of a lion sitting in her front yard this morning. Authorities have acknowledged the problem, and say they're searching for the cause for the sudden surge of wild animals." Ray woke to the sound of their lounge TV playing the intro music to the morning news. The bed was cold, and the covers had been pushed off to his side, leaving him with just a corner of the blanket. With a yawn that spread to the rest of his body, he stretched and sat up. His head swam a little as he listened to the news cast continue. "City Mayor Rosefeld released a statement that the mayor's offices were considering declaring a state of public emergency, and that federal aid was being sought. Meanwhile, disappearances continue to mount, and district police departments are urging people to report both wild animal sightings and disappearances via their automated call handling service. Many people are unwilling to wait for responses from the automated system, and have formed lines outside the departments. Reporter Edgar Wills joins us from outside 3rd Street Station. Edgar, can you tell us..." Ray quickly came to his senses as he listened to the report. "Tes, that's what I wanted to tell you about last night." He called. Downstairs, he heard the wolf shuffling about. He rose and grabbed underwear from an unsorted basket of clean laundry. Hopping while trying to pull the garment on, he danced to the landing. "There was a tiger in the club last night. Fuck-off big tiger, must have been seven feet long!" "You're shitting me." Tes was sitting on the plush couch that sat in easy view of their wall-mounted TV. She turned about, putting an elbow on the back of the couch, and swivelled to face him. "So this isn't all just junk?" "Nope. Strange shit happening. I thought it was just a weird zoo escape or something." "News said it wasn't zoos. All of the city zoos are reporting that all of their animals are accounted for, though they were acting a bit antsy." Tes chewed her upper lip in thought. "So, you think this is enough of an emergency to skip work?" Ray hopped over the back of the couch and landed on the leather-clad plush surface. Tes leaned into his shoulder, then plopped her head down in his lap. He reached over her bare breasts and traced the black lined tattoos that covered her front in smooth, dizzying patterns. They were tribal, a memory of a past before she'd been devoured by the city. "Definitely. Authorities say they're urging people to stay at home." Ray cocked his ears to the side. There was the soft rumble of a car rolling past outside, quickly followed by another. "Not working so well, is it?" "No." Tes replied, "There's been gridlock traffic leaving the city by every route since news broke this morning." "Well, guess that means we're here for the long haul." Ray smiled and rubbed Tes' temples. His red tail flicked up into his lap, and the white tip tickled at her ears. "Yup. I'm stuck in here with a wild fox until the emergency is over." "Shouldn't I be worried about being stuck with a wild wolf instead." He smiled down at her. "I don't know. Have you done something I should get wild over?" Ray paused for a moment. They were always bluntly honest about their relationship. She knew that he went to pick up guys at Nico's. He knew that her Friday poker group played for forfeits. He'd walked in on them while she'd been bouncing in the lap of that Doberman from a few blocks down. It hadn't really bothered him much; he'd let them have their fun, even if he had watched from the next room over. Ironically, he'd caught a blow job from the same Doberman in Nico's the week after. Ray thought back to last night. "Got a blow job from a cute little rat. You'd like him." Tes was silent for a moment. "Nah, you can keep your rodents." She listened to the news rattle off into the weather. "Ray, should we be actually worried about this?" He paused and thought. He wanted to think that this was a fun little vacation at the city's expense, but the same niggling doubt clouded his mind that it might just be more serious than that. "We could go down to the hardware store on 3rd and Wilson. Lock up the house safe, nothing gets in unless we want them to." Ray mused, his fingers scratching through Tes' neck fur. "I like that idea, then we really are locked inside, and we can be as wild and animal as we want, without threatening the public." Tes ran her fingers through his belly fur, resting her head back against the bulge in his underwear. Ray let the idea settle for a moment, then his sheath throbbed in approval. The supplies came to $43.87, and included five padlocks, a screw-on security bolt for the front door, and supports for the insides of their downstairs bay windows. They took a break for lunch; that wound up lasting until dinner as they stalked each other and mock-wrestled around the house. Ray caught Tes in the lounge and fucked her over the back of the couch. Later, after they'd recovered, they wrestled, and being a larger and stronger wolf, Tes captured the fox and carried him up to the bedroom, where she pinned him to the bed and rode him until they were both sore and exhausted. The last of the house security was put off until after dinner. After locking and securing all of the doors and windows on the lower level, they barricaded themselves in the bedroom, only their bathroom door left unlocked. Then, as the sound of cars fleeing the city faded into a night decorated with the cries of unfamiliar animals echoing around the urban sprawl, Ray and Tes made slow, gentle love before they fell asleep, still connected at the waist and lounging in each other's arms. *** Ray didn't often dream, but tonight, his were vivid. Pulled from the vague fears and feelings of helplessness, he dreamed of the tiger. It prowled through the incomplete dream-scape, feral and untamed. Its stripes were the darkest night, and its orange was livid flames, Each movement was precise and measured, a promise of death stalking his slumber. Then, with a shift of the dream, it was above him, pinning him like it had the bunny in the club. It was double his size, and its claws dug at his chest, and its fangs dripped saliva onto his face. He screamed and pushed with all his might. When that did nothing, he clenched his fists and beat at its chest. When it didn't move, he cried and pleaded with it. But dreams are fickle, and the tiger wasn't there to kill and maim and devour. The tiger leaned down, and the broad tongue flipped over his muzzle. It felt so real that he could feel the rough texture as it tugged at his lips. The claws kneaded at his chest lightly, and suddenly they weren't so dangerous anymore, nor was the paw so massive. Ray stopped his cries and pummelling fists, and the monster didn't seem so intimidating anymore. And the dream shifted again, and nightmare drifted into fantasy. With the startling revelation of a dreamer half-awakened, Ray recognized the dream for what it was, his conscious mind taking control. The dream-tiger sat on Ray's crotch, and the dream-Ray pushed his crotch up to meet it. In the shameless haze of half-dreaming, the act of grinding sensually against this feral tiger didn't even register as taboo. With a pleased growl that seemed to be more wolf than tiger, the tiger licked his muzzle again, and hot, wet flesh ran across Ray's sheath, and... And then he woke up. Dream banished, he lay in his indulgently warm bed, arms tangled in the pillow beneath his head. He lay on his back, legs spread-eagled towards the bottom corners of the mattress. Above him, the weight on his crotch that'd woken him shifted, and the wet sensation shifted further up his sheath. Ray gave a broad smile, his mind making the last little leap of logic as it emerged from its slumber-induced haze. "Heh, hell of a way to wake up, Tes." He felt her muzzle touch his, and the rough tongue flipped out and licked his lips again. Fully prepared to simply relax and enjoy, Ray kept his eyes shut, focusing just on the gentle sensations brought to him by his mate and lover. The heavy wolf hips lifted a little, and the wet flesh slid up his sheath and kissed the base of his shaft. Ray let out a little moan, his hips jerking involuntarily. A little bit of liquid dribbled over his straining length and pooled just below his sheath. It took every bit of willpower Ray had to keep from grabbing those teasing hips and pushing deep into that enticing heat. While Tes teased him, his mind wandered unwillingly back to the tiger, heavy and feral above him. Now that he was fully awake, some rational part of his conscious mind disregarded the fantasy before it became more than a scattered thought. Instead, he banished the thought of the striped feral monster, and visualized just how Tes would look this morning as she dragged her hips forward over his twitching length. She was warm and smooth, and so wet that her slippery juices were dribbling down his shaft and soaking the thin fur covering his crotch. Ray let out a gasp as the hot kiss slipped over his tapered tip. He grabbed the sheets, burying his blunt finger claws in the blanket as the motion reversed, and he sank, inch by inch, into the hot, silky tunnel that'd teased him so exquisitely. Finally, as the tightness squeezed just above his knot, he let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Oh, Tes, no one can do what you do." Ray's laid his head back against the pillows, leaving his eyes closed to let his other senses feed his pleasure. He lifted his hands, tracing fingers down Tes' slim waist, until they met her curved haunches. As the wolf lifted and rode up his shaft with a powerful thrust of her hips, Ray's mind drew a blank. The form his hands were describing him didn't fit the image he'd drawn in his imagination. Where Tes' thighs and knees should be spread around his waist, the waist bent the wrong way, ending with thin knees that seemed to bend the wrong way. Ray's eyes flickered open, and with a frantic push and startled yell, he dislodged the feral wolf that sat astride his crotch. She rolled off of the end of the bed and disappeared from view beneath the footboard. "Holy shit. Shit. Tes? Tes, where are you?" From the end of the bed, a thin whine drifted into his ears, interspersed with the deafening beat of his own heart. In a panicked grasp, Ray pulled the bed covers up and bunched his legs up to his chest. Curled up at the head of the bed, he stared in shock. "Tes?" His voice sounded distant, though the rational portion of his mind told him it was just nerves. He looked around the room in a panic, eyes flitting from exit to possible exit. The door was closed, still locked with the bolt home. The windows were both closed, and the latch was pulled tight. Even the bathroom door was still closed, and he couldn't figure how a wild wolf could have broken into the third-story window, opened the bathroom door, then close it again behind itself, all without waking him or Tes. Thinking of Tes... "Tes? Where are you? There's a wolf in here. An animal! Tes? Tes?!" Ray's voice cracked on the last cry, his mind stretched close to its breaking point. The whine sounded from the footboard again, and a grey-furred muzzle poked up from the floor. Atop it, triangular ears swivelled towards him hopefully. Then, with a hop, a feral wolf hopped up onto the bed, muzzle outstretched towards Ray with ears down. Almost of its own accord, Ray's hand reached out towards the wolf. His arm felt cold, and his fingers shook with adrenaline-soaked nerves. When his fingers tentatively touched the wolf's muzzle, it pushed into his palm, licking at his wrist. Treating the touch as an invitation, the wolf padded towards the headboard, giving Ray's muzzle a lick as it sat next to him, muzzle pressed lovingly against his shaking chest. Ray ran his hand numbly down the wolf's side. His body was on autodrive while his mind struggled to catch up. Finally, he gave a spastic jerk, realizing that he was head-to-chest with a dangerous feral wolf. Before he could push it away again, though, he thought better of that. It was friendly and passive now, no reason to waste that good will. So he lay curled uncomfortably against the headboard, trying to edge away from the wolf while still petting and keeping it content. The wolf let out a sigh, and before he could pull away, it shoved it's head into Ray's lap, pinning one of his knees under its weight. It rolled, plopping it's head firmly in his lap, and held its large paws up for his inspection as his petting hand spread in between its forelegs, where the greyish-white fur was broken by a black-dyed pattern. Slowly, without conscious thought, his fingers followed the fur dye's lines in a familiar pattern by rote memory. Here, it curved under the wolf's armpit, then down it's side, where it crossed in a thin zig-zag over the wolf's abdomen. It was familiar, he could probably trace the pattern with his eyes close, and his fingers would never miss a corner. He knew it, because it was the dye tattoo that covered Tes' chest. Softly, Ray's uncertain voice whispered, "Tes, is that you?" The wolf in his lap gave another whine, and she lifted her head, nuzzling his belly through the blanket he'd drawn up to protect himself. "Fuck." Finally, all the pieces seemed to click, and the vague discomfort he'd felt over the last few days seemed to sharpen to razor focus. The tiger, the news reports, all the wild animals, all of it made grim, chilling sense. "Tes, what's going on?" He didn't really expect a response, and none was forthcoming. There was another whine, and the wolf in his lap stood. It... She... Ray closed his eyes, and in his mind, he overlayed the picture of Tes onto the feral wolf. Must remember, it's important. This is my Tes, it's not an "it" at all. She's just her. With the unflinching, animal portion of his mind, he remembered that he had very personal, first-hand experience of the wolf being a "her." Unbidden, his shaft gave a little throb, before he quelled that vagrant thought. "Tes, you need to let me up. We need to figure out if there's a way to fix this." As soon as her head made room for him, Ray slipped out of the bed, walking as calmly as he could for the phone. He hesitated for a moment when he picked up the receiver and hovered his finger over the '9'. It would be the first time he'd dialled emergency. Oh, there'd been other "emergencies" in the past, but he was always afraid that he'd dial 9-1-1, and they'd laugh at him over the phone. No one called emergency services because they'd just taken aspirin that had expired, and they were feeling a bit ill (it passed in just an hour or so.) No one called for an ambulance because they'd shut their ankle in the door downstairs, and thought that it might be broken (it'd just been a sprain.) And especially, no one called for a squad car because they'd heard loud noises behind their flat, and thought it might have been gunfire (It was fireworks, he'd forgotten it was a national holiday.) But Tes wasn't Tes anymore. She was an animal, feral. He saw it in her eyes when she gazed at him. The emotion was all there, she still loved him. But the comprehension was gone. When he spoke, it was just noise. It was Tes, it was still her, but it wasn't HIS Tes. With shaking fingers, he pushed the nine, then pushed the one a few times. He might have hit it three times. As it rang, he gave a nervous little giggle, imagining that nine-one-one-one wouldn't give him emergency services at all, but instead would ring the local pizza place. Or maybe bank services so he could check the credit on his cards. But a few seconds stretched into half a minute, then into minutes, and the phone kept ringing. Finally, Ray clicked the plunger on the receiver and redialled. This time, he was sure he'd dialled correctly. It rang, and kept ringing, and rang until the phone company's automated message broke in to tell him that the other side was unavailable, and if would he like to hang up and try again. Ray set the receiver back down into its cradle and stood still. When things got tough at work, or with friends, he wasn't usually the one to keep it together and stay calm, but this felt different. He turned around, and Tes was standing on the bed, looking at him curiously. She was relying on him. Even if she didn't know it, because whatever had happened had happened to her mind as well, but he was the only one who was going to make sure she got back to her old pushy, stubborn, and lovable self. So when his brain screamed at him that this was all wrong, that he should run and hide, grab the next train out of town, he ignored it. Instead, his feet stayed still, and he pushed the growing panic from his mind. "Here, Tes, the phones are all busy. Let's see if we can get some news. If this is happening all over, then there should be some public announcements." The bedroom door was still barricaded from last night, but a thump with his hips budged the dresser, and he was able to flick back the bolt with some straining. Tes followed him downstairs to the lounge, where their TV sat idle on the far wall. Ray picked up the remote and clicked the power, while Tes hopped up onto the leather couch, curling up comfortably with expectant eyes on the flat plasma screen. Then, when his first attempt failed, Ray clicked the power button again, then a third time. With a sudden thought, he glanced over at their internet router. The front lights were dead, along with the "AC In" light on the front of his computer's emergency power supply. "Shit, power's down. Should have figured." Tes glanced up at him, then back to the TV. Maybe it was his mood, or the tone of the voice, but she seemed to get the drift, laying her head down across her front paws dejectedly. Ray considered for a minute, leaning back against the doorjam between the lounge and kitchen. Quick, before panic set in, he made a list of the facts he knew he could count on. Tes had degenerated back into a feral wolf. She'd lost everything that made her a person. Not only that, but if he connected the pitifully easy dots from the tiger he'd seen at the club, and the news he'd seen the prior day, it wasn't an isolated problem. In fact, if the power was out, and emergency services weren't answering, it was probably widespread. And then, in the silence of his own thoughts, the niggling bit of wrongness finally occurred to him. It was actually silent enough to hear his own thoughts. Just like every horror novel he'd read, and every movie he'd watched, things had gone quiet. If he didn't know it'd be a bad omen, he'd almost call it "too quiet." One house down, he could set his clock by the old thrash metal that Zeke played while he was working on his latest prize automobile (which was usually sold a month later at enormous profit on Ebay, if Zeke told the truth.) It'd been half an hour since he woke, and there hadn't been the rumble of the A-tram since he woke. That'd make it at least 25 minutes overdue, not to mention the 5 more behind it that were also late. There hadn't even been the sound of a car juddering down their pothole infested road. Bad omen or not, it was definitely too quiet. Every way he approached the problem, his thoughts kept jumping back to the zombie apocalypse movies that Domingo had always shown at Friday movie nights. In every one, society had disappeared within days or hours, and a small group of survivors would brave their way back through the wasteland and be miraculously saved by the last shreds of civilization, who'd carved a safe zone away from the zombies. Well, he wasn't safe here. Eventually, something big would show up, and a fox (who wasn't even particularly big as far as foxes go) and a wolf wouldn't go far facing down a hungry tiger or lion. In fact, there would probably be other survivors trying to escape the city. Nothing Ray had seen said the problem (he wasn't sure of the cause, so "infection" just didn't seem right) extended further out than the city, though he rarely saw news about the surrounding suburbs. Maybe, just maybe, though, it's already been confined. If they could get to the safe zone, there might be a cure for Tes. Anyway, every time he'd seen those zombie movies, he was always sure that he could do better than the lame survivors. They were slow, they were stupid, and they made every cliche'd mistake in the book. No, he wasn't big, but he was crafty, and he'd have Tes at his side. This was his chance, and he wasn't going to let it get away from him. For the first time that day, Ray let a smile color his muzzle. "Tes, come on, let's go for a walk." *** If it was possible to describe the feeling ghost town without invoking the presence of anything remotely undead, then it would closely resemble the streets through which Ray and Tes walked. In fact, Ray mused as he turned towards the sound of a wild animal (though never the sight of one) that the term "Urban Jungle" had never been quite so apt. Every way he turned, he saw flits of movement in his peripheral vision, as if something had stepped back into the shadows just as his eyes glanced over its hiding spot. He smelled the normal medley of city species, dogs, cats, horses, rats and mice, and all manner of other mammals, but distinctly lacking was the chemical haze of fur care products, and deodorant, and gel for the paws to keep your pads smooth. Turning the corner of Whitney and 8th, he turned off of his home street and onto the main approach to the A-301's entrance ramp, a few miles ahead. This way for half an hour, then left for another hour, then onto the side of the 8-A, and he'd be out of the city proper by nightfall. Ray shifted his shoulders as he walked, uncomfortable in his new role as "Survivor." It was so easy to laugh at the b-grade horror movies, when the slow, shambling zombies caught up with the presumably fit and active protagonists. Ray had spent hours happily bitching with friends about plot holes you could fit most of the zombie horde through simultaneously, if you chopped off a few limbs on the sides here and there. But after a mere half an hour of walking, he was reduced to an uncomfortable swagger with the collection of "everything he knew he should have with him" jangling around in an overstuffed backpack over his shoulders that weighed (according to the scale) thirty-two pounds, but felt closer to (according to his back) one-quarter of a metric shit-ton. In his mind, he could think of situations in which every one of the objects he was carrying would not only be useful, but necessary. His feet were asking, though, just how many of those situations were really likely to happen. "Tes, hold it, I can't keep carrying this. I need to drop a few things." Tes stopped for a moment, then turned and watched him as he ducked a shoulder out of the backpack, and let it fall with a clatter to the curb. When he stretched his back, he felt ligaments and vertebrae realign with hearty cracks that reverberated from the eerily empty concrete buildings. With the care of an adventurer who was more of an expert in their mind than they were in experience, Ray opened his pack and pondered its contents. Immediately, he reached in and discarded his old camp heater (a glorified bunson burner) and the sleeping bag. They were both heavy and bulky, and neither were an absolute necessity. Even forgetting the fact that it was summer, he had a lighter and there was more than enough flammable material in the city. Now many pounds lighter, Ray reshouldered his backpack. By his side, Tes nudged his leg heavily, and matched his stride as he continued his hike towards Rt 8-A. He had a map in his backpack with a route clearly indicated, but it was more to satisfy his "survivor" routine than out of need. He knew every twist and turn by heart. So as he turned onto the A-301, he stared blankly at the pileup of cars that blocked the road. They were piled six high, the bottom-most crushed beyond recognition by the ones above it. "What the crap?" Ray muttered to himself, answered by a slight whine from Tes at his side. "Oh, nothing Tes. We'll have to..." Ray's happy monologue trailed off as his eyes swept over the automotive wall that covered all three lanes of the road, straight to the smashed-out store fronts on either side. The copper gunk he'd originally thought was dried oil leaking into small pools at the bottom of the wall smelled faintly of iron, and the old, instinctual part of his brain gave his conscious thoughts a kick. In each of the piled cars, past the shattered safety glass and twisted aluminum and jagged fibreglass shards, he could finally make out maimed bodies slumped in the seats. Some of them, most near the bottom, were scorched in places, with charred flesh hanging limply over the carbonized bone. One was leaning against the drivers-side glass with the taut rictus-grin of death on its face, with clawed fingers latched on the cracked lip of the window. Others were simply crumpled and crushed along with their cars. Lumps which Ray had originally taken to be just more debris acquired limbs and faces and recognizable features. Ray stared, transfixed by his first glimpse of death. His vision seemed to blur at the edges, and only the bodies came into focus as his eyes swung over the grisly wall. Arms hung numbly by his side, and he didn't notice when one of his backpack straps slipped off of his limp shoulders. He'd seen death, he'd told himself, back before he left the house. Oh, yes, he'd seen All Corpse Night (the thriller with Ace Jackman in the lead role) and all of its sequels. Dead House had been one of his favorites, and almost everyone died in that movie. Hell, Gravewalker had close-ups of the characters just as they were clawed to death by the monsters, gore and all, he'd been ready for whatever he found. But he wasn't. As he stared at the wall of misery, where more than a hundred cars with their original inhabitants still trapped inside in their last moments of terror, he realized that no movie special effects ever really showed you the real face of death. It wasn't just sight. It was the smell of blood and burnt plastic and hair and spilt gasoline. It was the silence, absolute silence in which the ringing of his ears is the only sound. It was the knowledge that any one of these unfortunates could have passed him and said hi at work. Any one of these unfortunates could have been one of his "friends" from Nico's. One of them might be Domingo, or Dee, or that Doberman that Tes met, or Zeke. If they'd left in their car yesterday, it could have been himself and Tes. And while his instinctual, predatory side gazed past in apathetic indifference, informing him of all the little changes in the street, the evolved, civilized side of his brain froze in shock. His insides churned, and his nostrils, finally registering the smell, were choked with the scent of blood and roasted flesh and fur and plastic. It was enough to send his consciousness screaming for cover into the recesses of his mind. So for a few moments, his instinctual side took the reigns for a few moments when things on the street became significantly more interesting. Ray's legs threw him awkwardly to the side, numb arms breaking his fall as he rolled across the black top. Where he'd stood just a moment ago, a huge form as large as a horse crashed to the street. Staring dumbly up as the figure issued a feral cry that sounded halfway between a lion's roar and an eagle's cry, his conscious mind suddenly raced back to the fore. Mythics! He'd forgotten about them! A gryphon crouched over where he'd stood, wings still mantled from its stoop. It was massive, as long from neck to haunches as Ray was tall, and its wings were twice that in span. Both its fur and feathers were tawny to yellow in color, straight from the cruelly hooked yellow beak to the dark-tufted tail the swung behind it. It loosed another roaring cry, and the startled fog finally lifted from Ray's mind. He struggled to his feet and ran. Even though he knew the creature could catch him long before he could reach cover, he tried anyway. Across the street, he could see Tes' darting shape duck through an oversized cat flap in a store front door. Her haunches stuck for a moment, then with a pull, her full body disappeared, and the flap shut behind her. In some distant part of his consciousness, there was a bit of satisfaction that at least she would escape. Then, a weight descended on his shoulders, bearing him to the ground with an effortless push. He smelled a spicy, sharp tang from above him, just barely stronger than the char and blood. He could hear a slight tearing sound as the talons punctured his backpack. He held his hands over his head, expecting at any moment to feel the sharp kiss of that beak. There was a roar above him, much louder this time. And just when Ray's shocked mind was ready to say its last goodbyes to his corporeal body, the weight lifted from his back. Through the ringing in his ears, he could just barely hear strangled, screeching cries. Then, from above, the crunch and squeal of bending metal and shattering glass. As he edged his way to his elbows, pulling himself to his feet with haste that made every one of his motions feel slow, a splatter of liquid caught his back. Around him, blackish spots, thick and smelling of blood, clung to the pavement. Above, as he finally jumped to his feet, there was a crunch like a bundle of sticks being snapped, and another splatter of blood sprayed over the unlucky fox. As much as he longed to look up, to see what had happened, he knew it was the wrong choice. Instead, he put his head down and sprinted. A full throated roar that he felt more than heard echoed strangely off of the brick and concrete. With the sides of his vision tunnelled and his heart shuddering in his chest, he rocketed into the closed shop door, knocking the simple bolt lock out of the jam. Tes gave a startled yip as he plunged into the room, then as he collapsed against the far wall, she rushed to him, licking blood and sputum from his ears. "What... What just..." He couldn't finish the sentence, his breath so labored that he was feeling light-headed. Instead, he simply sat, until a second wind and buzzing adrenaline drove him to his feet. Cautiously, he edged towards the open door, steeling himself to take a quick peek. Far over the six automobile high wall, a dragon masticulated the remains of the gryphon. It was ebony and ruby, the scintillating scales too brilliant and savage to be colored just red and black. The dragon's head was spade-shaped, sitting atop a long, serpentine neck. Massive, batlike wings sprouted from its back, mantled over its kill like a hawk over its meal. Swallowing its mouthful with a motion that included its entire body, it lifted the remaining haunch to its snout, and there was another crackle of snapping bones as teeth as large as hubcaps tore into the gryphon. "Steve..." Ray couldn't help noticing the similarities. At work, Steve had just been another guy on the accounting team. Black and red dragons couldn't be all that common, though, could they? Steve lived only five or six blocks down, too much matched for it to be coincidence. Ray would have been putting it lightly to call him "timid." Well, Ray mused, he wasn't so timid anymore. Ray had even asked the dragon out to a date once, but Steve had been too flustered by the request to accept. He'd been cute, but now... Ray had intended to only glance, but the sight of the dragon so captivated him that he hadn't realized that the dragon had finished his meal before he remembered to pull back. Tes sat waiting for him, and he greeted her with a nervous smile. "Looks like we're stuck here for a little while, Tes. Shall we..." At his words, she scampered off into the store. Ray paused for a moment in surprise. Had she actually understood him? Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he decided to make due with what he had. The front of the store was lit in spots through the boarding that blocked the main window. From what little he could see, it looked like a clothes store. If memory served, it was Jennies. It'd been there for years, and he'd never stepped foot inside until now. Funny where the breakdown of civilization will lead you. From a side-pocket of his backpack, he extracted a hand-held flashlight and tromped back towards the rear of the store. "Tes?" His voice seemed quiet in the abandoned retail outlet. He brushed past stands of trousers and blouses. A rather life-like mannequin made him stumble, before he recognized its plastic features. Signs and placards shone back at him from the store's dark interior. "Sale! Buy one cardigan, get one free!" "Thompson paw-socks, three pairs for the price of two!" "Try our range of Feline purr-fumes!" At the third sign, Ray turned a corner, away from the faintly offensive smell. "Tes, are you back here?" A pair of eyes glinted back at him from the bright LED's of his flashlight, then at his voice, two more pairs of eyes turned towards him. There was a scampering sound, and three cat shapes bounded out of the light beam and into the store's darkness. Seconds later, a furry shape with a wet nose nudged itself under his palm. Ray swung the flashlight down, and smiled at Tes as she leaned against his leg. "You know, love, I don't think I could tell if those cats were just random strays, or whether they were the night shift clerks. Fuck, I don't know if anyone could tell anymore." Tes gave a dismissive snort, then trotted off towards a swinging door emblazoned with "Employees only". As she put her shoulder against it, edging it open, she gazed back, waiting for Ray to follow. "Fine, I worry too much. What've you found?" Again, Ray got the feeling that his words weren't falling on deaf ears. Tes gave her head a small jerk upwards, then disappeared into the back room. With nerves still shot, Ray followed quickly. He thumped the door open, and stepped into light. The door to the back room sat in shadow, but the rest of the retailer's employee area was bathed in faintly bluish fluorescent glow. There was the faint hum of a generator somewhere in the distance. Tes was sitting in the light, eyes turned towards him and waiting patiently. "So you'd be the voice I heard, right?" A rather high and nervous soprano called out from his right. Ray's eyes darted towards the source, and found a scared-looking doe perched precariously on a pile of thickly corrugated plastic boxes. In her hands, she held a hunting rifle, complete with scope. She seemed to hold it at ease, though he could see her knuckles fidgeting nervously on the stock. "That's right. Sorry for breaking in, but there was some trouble outside." "Yeah, I heard the dragon too. I've been hiding in here from it since..." The doe closed her eyes momentarily, and her speech petered off into silence. Ray felt Tes brush against his side. He glanced down at her, then looked at the deer inquisitively. "Are we okay to come closer? I know my dog here looks big, but she won't bite." Ray heard a definite snatch of a growl from Tes, but didn't let himself waver. "She's your pet?" Without hesitation, Ray nodded. "Yes." It was as good a solution as any. No questions about who she used to be, or how dangerous she was. Just a pet. He only hoped Tes couldn't understand, or if she did, wouldn't mind. No such luck. He felt teeth close over his pinky and bite, hard enough to bruise. "Then where's her collar?" The deer asked cautiously, still fingering the rifle with nervous fingers. "Lost it earlier. Didn't think the leash law was in effect anymore." The doe met Ray's eyes, and even through her terrified quivering, her gaze was strong as steel. Ray swallowed around the lump in his throat. She knew he was lying. But after a few seconds of intense silence, the doe nodded and put the rifle aside. "Fine. I don't care. You look like shit, so if you need to, there's an employee shower back there." She gestured with a thumb. "I won't be staying here long, that dragon will get hungry again, and I don't mean to be here when it does. You and your... pet... can stay here or go, it's your choice." Ray flashed a thankful smile to the doe and let Tes lead him towards the back. There were a pair of bathrooms marked male and female, and Tes shouldered the door open to the female one. Before following, Ray turned to the Doe. "Uhm, you said you were going somewhere. Where are you headed after here?" "Dave and I were going to try to take the 8-A, but we hit traffic. We didn't move for hours, and then..." The rest of the story was easy for Ray to imagine. If she'd been in a car, and then the dragon... "I'm sorry." He automatically answered. "Dave made it out, I think. He transformed last night, so I was driving. When the dragon attacked, I opened the door and ran. Dave was riding in the back of the pick-up. I think he flew off." "Flew? Um, what wa-sorry, is Dave?" Ray stumbled over his tenses. Dave wasn't a "was" yet. "Gryphon. Big guy, too. Used to work out all the time, though he hasn't recently." The same leaden numbness returned to Ray's arms and legs. Just like dragons, gryphons weren't exactly common. "Um, I... That is..." "Yes?" The doe's eyes shone as she looked at him hopefully. "I think I saw something flying, earlier." Ray lied smoothly. "Really? Big? I swear he was the size of a horse after he'd changed." "Might have, it was really far up." "Well, good. Good." She nodded. "I'd better..." Ray grabbed his blood-crusted shirt and pointed towards the back. "Yeah. Don't keep your pet waiting." Ray gave her a wooden smile, then turned quickly towards the bathrooms. After a moments embarrassment, the doe still watching him move, he pushed the female bathroom door open and slipped inside. The lights were on inside, and Tes sat watching him next to a badly-tiled stall that he took to be the shower. Her eyes caught his, and he immediately felt a pang of guilt. "I'm sorry love, but I just thought that..." She stared at him unblinkingly. "We need to..." Her eyes bored into him, and real or not, he felt her disapproval as tangible as a hammer to the skull. "But it's dangerous for you if people know." Whether it was his imagination or reality, the piercing gaze softened somewhat, though her eyes stayed locked to his. Defeated, he slumped. "Okay, I'm sorry. I won't do that again." Much to his surprise, Tes' pink tongue flipped from her muzzle, and her bushy wolf tail gave a few short wags. Then, seemingly content, she turned and stepped into the shower. Ray tugged his shirt over his shoulders, tossing it into a corner next to one of the toilet stalls. His jeans followed, and after a quick embarrassed glance around the women's bathroom, his underwear joined them as well. The shower stall was more cramped than he'd expected, though it did have room for a knee-height shelf or seat, for no reason that he could immediately put his finger on. Never having been in a female public bathroom before, he supposed that it had some arcane use that his lowly male mind could only glimpse from a distance. Tes was standing to one side, giving him room to step in, as long as he stayed along one wall. He pulled the particle board door shut, clicked the latch through habit, and turned the shower knob. And promptly shot out of the shower stall, holding his arms around him and shivering as icy cold water sprayed in a mist that didn't seem to actually fall to the floor. Tes turned her head and glared out at him, obviously nonplussed. Smiling sheepishly, Ray approached the stall again, holding his hand out. The water quickly grew in temperature. He fiddled with the knobs, and the fine spray disappeared in a drenching downpour of hot water. Satisfied, he stepped back into the stall, the bolt sliding home behind him. The water felt good. No, it felt great. After the grisly wall, then the gryphon, and then the dragon just to top it all off, the hot shower felt like an end point, the closing of a chapter. He could draw a line right now, call an end to the horrible morning, and count himself wiser and more experienced for surviving. Deep in a recessed part of his mind, he was secretly enjoying this "survival" kick, the part of his mind that examined every part of the zombie movies and figured out what he could have done better. He'd escaped the gryphon and the dragon, even if it was through just luck. As he sat down on the knee-high shelf, letting the water run over him, he let a nervous little chuckle past his lips. "Ding..." He muttered to himself. The crazy little whim wondered which skill he should pump with the experience points from that last encounter. The chuckle became a laugh, deep and breath-stealing. He knew it was either that, or cry. He closed his eyes and gave in to the laugh, almost silent above the roar of his shower. When he could finally fill his lungs with hot and damp shower air again, the impulse had purged itself. "We survived, love. Both of us." He felt a tongue lick his arm, and he opened his eyes. Somehow, he was surprised by what he saw. Tes sat in front of him, no different than how she'd been five minutes ago. He'd survived the dragon and the gryphon, and for some reason, in the giddiness of the moment, he'd forgotten that things were not only not done, but they'd barely begun. The thought alone silenced his laughs. "But we've got a long way to go, don't we." He put a hand on top of Tes' grey furred head, and she looked up at him momentarily, before she took another swipe with her tongue. His arm was still covered in black droplets that had congealed to clump his fur. Carefully, she groomed him, lifting the gryphon blood from his forearm. Silently, Ray leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes again. The tongue worked slowly, and the smooth sensation as it tugged lightly at his fur, coupled with the pattering of hot water droplets, let him truly relax. He leaned back as Tes groomed him, in an almost meditative state. The calm patter of water on his fur was peaceful, letting himself come to grips with the situation he found himself in. If he'd learned one thing from the wall, it was that this wasn't a movie. It wasn't a video game, and it wasn't a role-playing session with his buddies over a few beers. All his scheming and planning and "experience" just couldn't have prepared him for the fact that, out in front of their little retail safe-haven, hundreds of people (and the animals they'd become) had died. In pain, in terror, and in vain, they'd died. If he lost, there wouldn't be a "do over." No save screen, no rewind button. He'd have to be serious, he'd have to pay attention, and no more standing in shock, eyes and mouth wide open, while the suddenly hostile world snuck up behind him. All this he decided as the tongue groomed his arms, then moved on to his legs. Up, over his calves, then to his outer, then inner thighs. With his new-found resolve to be more focused and observant, he rubbed Tes' ears. "That's nice, love." Then, it struck him that he'd been wearing jeans. His eyes shot open, and he turned a suspicious eye down at his transformed girlfriend. "Uh, Tes, I didn't get any of if on my-Ohgod..." The tongue slipped over his sac, pulling them up slightly, then letting them slap back against his perineum. The water that'd felt scaldingly hot seemingly just moments ago only felt warm and comfortable now, and lulled him into gentle complacency as the tongue slipped over his scrotum again. "Tes, I..." His conscious mind came to a screeching halt as the teasing sensation lathed over his sac again with a slow lap. As nice as it felt, he would need to tell her to stop. She wasn't right, right now. She wasn't what she used to be, she didn't understand. The tongue paused for a moment as he hesitated, and the tongue disappeared. Good, now to let her know that it just wouldn't work. "Tes, fuck, just don't stop." With a happy, playful growl, Tes's tongue slipped over his testicles and sheath with a long lap, ducking her head between his spread legs as he leaned back against the tiled wall. Ray analysed the words he'd just uttered as the tongue snaked over his sheath again, and realized that his instinctual, survival, primitive mind had just blocked his civilized, rational thoughts at the pass. And worse (or better), his civilized thoughts just didn't seem to mind. So Ray leaned his head back, flattening his ears against his skull as the rough canid tongue touched a nub of flesh peeking from his quickly swelling sheath. In the downpour of the hot shower, a thin spray of musky liquid over Tes' muzzle was quickly drowned and washed away, but just seconds later, the tip of Ray's lengthening shaft fired another one. He throbbed and wriggled in excitement, his entire body getting in on the act as her tongue slathered up his exposed cock. Ray leaned back and slipped his fingers around Tes' ears, rubbing them softly as the tongue played over him. Her tongue was rough, rougher than he remembered from before she'd become what she was, and it tugged at him with each eager lap. He watched as her light pink tongue slipped out and dragged in extended laps up his mottled shaft. The sides and tip of her tongue curved, following every contour and bulge. As the seconds of intense pleasure ticked past, his excitement quickly approached its peak. The adrenaline and terror of the day had left him drained, and any endurance he might have had was shot. He let out a loud huff, his breath misting a bit in the steamy air, just a few slick laps away from orgasm. And stalled, just steps away, as the tongue disappeared. Between his legs, Tes gazed up at him, and he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she could tell just how close he was. With a meaningful flick of her ears, she turned around in the tight shower stall. Her tail flicked up, and she planted her rump against his knees, presenting herself with transparently clear anticipation. Ray ran fingers through her soaked coat. Her fur was smooth and thick, the running water cascading off of it in thin sheets as he dug claws into the pelt covering her haunches. Again, the thin fingers of doubt clouded his mind, and he hesitated. It was one thing to be licked, he could enjoy that without really calling it sex with an animal, couldn't he? She was just doing what dogs do, so it was okay. Anyway, it was his Tes. They'd been together for years. It was weird, but it was okay. But his eyes traced over the thick, dark skinned lips that formed a "y" under Tes' tail, and his brain came to a screeching halt. This wasn't just innocent fun. She was asking for him to actively take part in... What was it really? It was still his Tes. She looked back at him, wondering why he'd stopped, and his brief internal war of morals faltered. His fingers traced down over her rump, and two blunt-clawed fingers dragged hesitantly towards towards the glistening lips, water running in drips and rivulets over them from her sodden fur. She was Tes, no matter if she was on two legs or four, and she wanted this. He wanted this. "Society" was gone here, civilization had fled before this feral tide, so morals be damned. Tes was still his fickle wolf bitch, and the regression couldn't change that. With renewed purpose, he ran his leathery fingerpads over her lips. She'd loved this, when he teased her lips in little circles before he took her. He heard a growl the rose in pitch, and her tail gave a little spasm as she pushed back hard against his fingers. Caught unaware, his two fingers slid into her begging slit. She was as wet inside as she was out, and she squeezed around his knuckles each time the base of her tail wagged. "Alright, you needy bitch, you win." He couldn't help but smile with giddy anticipation. Somehow the knowledge that what he was doing would shock and traumatize every "decent" person he'd known was exciting. He pulled his fingers from Tes' grasping cunny and tugged her hips backwards with his free hand. She let out a yelp, and spread her hindlegs in a steady brace as Ray fit the rubbery tip of his shaft against her entrance. With an easy rocking of his hips, he watched the lips spread around the first few inches of his cock. In one smooth thrust, he slid himself deep into her, stopping only when his sheath kissed her backside. He paused for a moment and just let his senses enjoy themselves. Tes was growling in pleasure, so low he felt more than heard her. The shower caused her pelt to steam, and little streams that cascaded from her fur were splashing against the base of his cock and dripping over his sheath and sac. Her tail thumped his chest, and he could feel her squeeze around him each time her tailbase wagged. As he kept himself hilted, her lips squeezed around his knot. It was still slim, and slid smoothly with each little twitch and motion. In the cramped little world of the shower stall, he could have stayed buried in her forever, his spine tingling straight down to the root of his tail with sharp little pangs of pleasure. But after long seconds that dragged slowly by, Tes' growls grew, and she pushed needily back against him. He ran fingers through the wet fur over her spine, then with a push, he tugged his hips back. Her tunnel tugged and gripped at him, then let him slide with silky friction. He held for another long second, his tapered tip kissing her lips, before he thrust deep again. Tes' growl truncated in a sharp yip, then a soft whine as Ray's hips pistoned again. In and out, he slid himself deep every second as the shower matted his and her fur down, and the dust and gore of the day disappearing down the drain. Her juices mingled with his, the friction disappearing almost completely as he hammered himself into her grasping slit. Instead, there was just heat and pressure, and slickness so deceptive that he couldn't tell without looking which way he was sliding. Instead, it was just a steady caress, like skilled, slimy fingers that covered his cock with feather-soft touches. Even when she squeezed around him, so tight that he had to work to push himself in to his quickly ballooning knot, she was so slick that the pleasure just tickled his senses in a torrent of little sensations that, when taken as a whole, overloaded his synapses to the point of breaking. So engrossed was he that it took him a moment to feel the hot, squeezing pressure at his sheath. Tes let out a growl and rocked her hips back against his, and his knot, now throbbing at full size, spread those slick lips around its girth, then stuck. Even though he'd tied more times than he could count, the sudden pleasure struck Ray. He let out a growl of his own, his hips only able to move a few inches as her tight tunnel gripped him like a smooth iron fist, coated on every surface with plush, slippery velvet. Ray doubled over Tes' back, and orgasm hit him like a gold-plated brick. He bit her ruff to keep himself from screaming, while she made enough noise for the both of them. She growled and barked and howled, and squeezed and throbbed and pulsed around him, as his shaft jerked in the peak of pleasure. Their mixed liquids dripped down his sheath, drowned in the hot water from the shower, and dribbled down the drain. They both held deathly still as wave after wave of intense sensations soaked Ray's brain. Then, after what could have been seconds, or minutes, or hours, Ray opened his jaws and released the fur around Tes' neck. Tes wriggled around in the tight shower stall, and Ray planted his hands on her hips. With eyes open, he burned the image into his memory, so no matter what came next, he'd have this moment. Whether they returned to civilization, or whether civilization sank beneath the waves of feral regression, Ray had the time in the shower stall, near the dragon's lair, where he'd given society the middle finger. And he loved it. It felt wrong, naughty, kinky, like all those things he'd averted his gaze from in Nico's club, in case he actually found it interesting. She stood shivering in her orgasm between he spread knees, her tail flicking up from his crotch and rubbing against his white chest fur. It felt smooth, slick, and so exciting that he wondered if the water would hold out for a second go. So with the regular plod of cruel, unforgiving fate, the second he thought about the shower, the hot water vanished, replaced with an icy downpour. "Shit!" Ray barked, and scrambled at the dials until the flow ceased entirely. Just like the axiom, the cold shower had dampened his interest immensely, and he could feel himself softening. With a soft slurp, his knot slid from Tes' tight confines, quickly followed by a translucent and milky stream of liquid. She crouched for a moment, then pawed at the stall door, ready to be off. *** By the time they emerged, still dripping and naked, the doe had left. Within a few minutes of searching the stacked inventory, Ray found a box of new towels. They were ready to hit the road again after half an hour, after drying, raiding the vending machine in the break room, and using the facilities (Tes had disappeared for a few minutes on her own. Ray figured she knew how to take care of herself.) Following the whirr of the generator, Ray found the old smoky contraption in a maintenance closet, and flashlight at the ready, turned it off. He walked carefully to the store front, Tes at his side, and prepared to leave. Before he left, he fished a sharpie he'd taken from the break room from his pocket and wrote on the wall opposite the front door, "Exit by rear. Some gas in generator. Food in break room. No hot water." He then shut the front door. Anyone who survived the front edge of the dragon's lair and got here would find it at least a serviceable safe house, until they were ready to hit the road again. In the back, he opened the rear entrance to a small alley where he startled a raccoon rummaging through the dumpster. The door clicked shut behind, and Ray could hear the lock catch. With his backpack shouldered, and Tes by his side, he felt ready to take on the world. Even if last night was the last one he'd spend in civilization, it was alright. In the woman's bathroom of his neighbourhood Jennies, he's said his goodbyes to society. "Come on, Tes. I bet we can still find someplace to hide near the 8-A entrance ramp by nightfall. We should at least get someplace less dangerous than next to a dragon's lair." His feet carried him to the end of the alleyway, and with a surruptious glance down the main road, he and his companion started to hike, keeping to the wall of store fronts and hidden doorways. "I bet by this time tomorrow, we'll be out of the city, and we can look for help. Maybe we can get you back to the way you were." And with a glance down at his shaggy wolf lover, her coat glowing healthily, and tail held attentively over her back, he smiled. With a little mental thrill that brought a throb to his sheath, he added, "Well, if you really want." _________________________________________________________________ (Fin! All characters in this story are copyright Kandrel and any other resemblance to other characters is only incedental and unintentional. Reposting is permissable, however, all reposts must be in original form, and must contain the author's name unaltered.) Send Kandrel mail! fox at foxyonline dot com Comments and suggestions are welcome.