FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

It was with the typical soothing, wind-chime tones of his phone's alarm that Vara awoke, with a very much not soothed, audible groan. He took a glance over at the electronic slab's display -- 15:15. He gave the phone a whack with his tail, a well-practiced gesture that sent the device back to sleep for another fifteen minutes. Three o'clock felt entirely_too early, especially given the shifts the Café had been rolling him onto recently... and the night would've always been preferable to afternoon, regardless! For that reason, as a representative of the "Sun Pokémon" species, Vara really felt fairly out of place. The night, after all, was when the world truly came _alive. In retrospect, he might've wondered if he'd have been better off taking on the form of an Umbreon, rather than the Espeon self he'd ended up with...

It might've better suited at least a few of his mannerisms, too. Even during the night he rarely intended to be a big part of the lively activities - he tended to prefer a life on the outskirts, existing on the sideline and observing the fun, analyzing the fun. To this effect, he had found his way onto a job as a rotating shift guard at Café Plaisir, a... 'reputable', establishment, if ever there was one. A position at a place that would allow the feline-esque Psychic type to watch the Pokémon and people alike as they enjoyed the highlife Plaisir had to offer. It wasn't bad work by any means; the guests usually didn't cause much fuss, and his various abilities were often more than enough to restrain an unruly fighting type who decided that fists might be better than words. Though, he usually went out of his way not to use them, and it was always a miserable experience, especially when he was asked to actually step into minds. It'd taken him days to fully return to his normal vocabulary after performing a bit of inquisition on a particularly vulgar Primeape!

Vara rolled back over in his bed, trying to catch that extra few minutes of sleep he'd given himself, informing his brain that it should stop inanely babbling to itself. His shift didn't start for another...while. Hours. Attempting to put numbers against available remaining sleep time made him anxious, so he didn't. Festivities were starting to pick up above him anyway, as this bedroom in the lower floors started shaking from something of a ruckus upstairs - sounded like the afternoon crowd was shuffling in and starting to enjoy themselves. Some of the clientele had to start drinking earlier than others, if they wanted to enjoy all the amenities Plaisir had to offer.

His alarm began to chime once again, followed by another whack of the tail. This time, he did manage to make his brain shut up for a short while. 15 minutes passed. Whack. Then 30. Whap. Then 45. Thump. The sleepy Eeveelution was tempted to continue trying to pass out, ready for that full hour despite none of the prior time having been restful, when, suddenly, something made him jolt up in bed.

A thunderous crash exploded onto the floor above the room! It would have had to come from Captivate, the Café's primary showroom and lounge -- apparently tonight was going to be lively.

His shift technically hadn't started, but still he rolled out of bed, adjusted his bearings, and dashed out of the room. It was a bit irritating to be taking to his duties so early out of bed, but he couldn't help but be curious about what had happened to cause such a ruckus. Not to mention, whoever was on shift might need help...

Vara took off toward the crashing sound like a streak of lavender lightning, patrons he passed along the way seeming not to notice or care that an Espeon with fur finally beginning to darken from a long-since-past bleaching was weaving and darting its way amongst the crowds. Those that did look, either in the direction of the sound or the sprinting male, quickly returned to their other activities without so much as a word.

Nothing could have really prepared the 'eon for what he would find on his arrival, though, especially given that he'd pretty much just expected to find a particularly rowdy drunkard! Vara slipped in through the wooden double-doors that were the entrance to Captivate, his head pushing them open as silently as possible which, given the speed he was moving at, was not in any way subtle.

Captivate was a fairly major area of Plaisir. A small entryway lead to a large viewing area, center-set with a grand, polished oak stage, an ebony grand piano sitting in a small enclosure adjacent, lights glaring down from above. It was joined by copious amounts of booth seating surrounding, a bar off to one side, and the occasional scattered tables, surrounded by chairs. The opposite side to the bar contained blackout booths, frequently occupied by those less wanting of public attention, and a second floor contained extended seating. The ceiling sloped up into a graceful crest, lined with glass on either side that let in the afternoon sun.

Oh, and the center stage had a full-blown catwalk running off of it. With tall, gleaming stripper poles adjacent. It was Plaisir, after all...

All things considered, the area was normally somewhat pretty! However, this time around, he discovered a scene of chaos that was in the very beginnings of unfolding -- packed throngs of guests, of all shapes and sizes, sat or stood around various dining tables, some of which were toppled over, their respective chairs strewn wildly about the room. The blue-green Flygon present on stage, adorned in what appeared to be the robes of a desert nomad, with a microphone strung over one of his antennae-like horns, wore a horrified expression. It would seem that recent activity had stunned the poor dear mid-show! The ever-present Plaisir Waiting staff, standing scattered amongst the customers, were in various states of disarray -- raised hackles, frizzed tails, raised hands... some of the customers echoed this, especially a particularly-incensed looking Pangoro standing near the bar. But, every creature involved, performer, customer, or employee alike, all seemed to be looking at something in the room.

A golden ball on the floor, in the midst of the chaos, specifically, which seemed to be...cackling? It moved erratically, as if possessed, and looked around - brilliant green, gem-like eyes cast around the room, glowing ball of pure white energy flitting about the facets as pupils might on another creature. The yellow form revealed a long line of razor sharp teeth, curled up into a vicious grin, as it locked its gaze onto Vara.

_Ah. That's...well, today is going to be deeply unfortunate,_was the only thought that cropped up in response. It was one of the worst possible situations, as a security officer. A shiny Sableye had appeared, and was looking right at him. It was clear what had happened, even at a glance -- the Dark/Ghost Pokémon had likely slipped into the Café, and promptly set about accomplishing some manner of mischief! It had, apparently, begun throwing around tables and chairs in what he could only assume it found fun. He moved to approach, but the thing let off a more sinister, chest-deep laugh, and jumped behind one of the downed dining platforms.

The Espeon gave a bit of a start, and began to step his way toward its point of disappearance, only to be caught off-guard by wisps of inky black energy rising up off of the red carpeted floor beneath his paws. Not entirely certain what was happening, Vara took a very quick backward leap, sliding himself a good several feet, but the wisps remained tidily within his own shadow! A shape began to bubble within, only for a silhouetted form to slowly rise up in front of him, contorting and shifting as it grew, hues cycling from black through to significantly brighter colors.

Then, abruptly, with a shake of its body, the golden Sableye finished materializing. It regarded him with that same wide grin that showed entirely too many teeth. Every single last one of them looked sharp enough to cleave through stones, let alone bone. Vara attempted to talk to it, hesitantly, while the creature looked him over. It seemed to be puzzled by him.

"Erm... Hiya! I'm afraid you're--"

At this point, it seemed to become satisfied, and so it spoke, interrupting him. More accurately, _she_spoke, interrupting him.

"Well, aren't you_cute?" the apparent female asked, hands slipping down to rest on hips that were cocked to one side, standing akimbo. The tooth exposure had somehow become even_wider -- it felt like less of a grin at this point, and more of an intimidation tactic...

Vara took a moment to process this. It was probably the response he'd expected the _least_given the current circumstances. Yet, still, the compliment brought just the faintest hint of a blush to his cheeks, prompting a huff to himself. The Sableye seemed to be greatly amused by this, and she voiced it before he could even respond.

"Oh my sweet Arceus, you are just too precious for words. Do you work here? Please tell me you work here," she enthused, suddenly gushing with unexpected excitement. It seemed to ooze from her very being. She turned to the rest of the room. "This is what I want. Someone who I can actually play with." The room watched in a stunned, confused silence.

Vara was among the number. He was completely gobsmacked by the Sableye's behavior, but did his best to get back onto his proverbial feet. Not an easy task, considering how sluggishly his brain was still firing from residual grogginess...

"Uh...yes, I do, and I need to ask you -- " he stammered quickly, trying to get out a response, but she interrupted him once again!

"Of course I want to. I already have a room. We can leave these squares behind and get somewhere more... private," she interjected, laying it on thick. It prompted Vara's face to take on a distinct pink hue, looking down at the significantly smaller female uncertainly.

He weighed his options. Realistically, he had only two ways to respond, and neither seemed entirely pleasant. If he went along with her, he'd end up in a room with an apparently incredibly_mischievous being to whom he was severely type disadvantaged. Not to mention, whilst it was to _some extent up to the discretion of the security crew whether an offense warranted a warning or expulsion from the premises, Vara would typically throw this under the latter category from what he'd seen thus far.

That having been thought, the alternative was...effectively, to set the wrecking ball in motion once more, and let a creature he could do very little about wreak havoc upon Captivate until backup arrived. If they arrived. His present lack of phone, combined with not knowing who was meant to be on shift, meant that he really didn't have any ability to reach out to them, even telepathically. How the hell had they not shown up yet, anyway? He might have been closer, but Plaisir was only so big...

Well, as it stood, the only type effective move he even had would potentially blind the others present in the room! In a less crowded area he may have been able to focus it, but here? He was, in not so many words, screwed. Figuratively. And, potentially, literally.

They were both terrible options. He cycled on them for a bit, attempting to generate a valid response.

"Speechless huh?" She interjected, forcing his train of thought to skip the tracks between the options, "I guess that means 'yes', then! Let's get out of here before the heat comes," she said, taking a second to climb onto the Espeon's back, and squeezed his side with her shadowy heels. "To the elevator! High-ho Espeon!"

Vara very much wanted to interject at this point, to say that he was, in fact, the heat, but the tiny amount of pride he clung to wouldn't allow it, with so many people looking on. As a result, he gave another firm huff, looked about the room, meeting the eyes of a few of the Waiters scattered amongst the crowd. Some of them gave him knowing, remorseful looks... he turned about on the spot, trodding out of the room he'd barely entered, with his tail twitching in agitation.

"You remind me of someone else I tend to be wary of," Vara commented, off-hand, trying to strike up a bit of conversation that was more acceptable to him as he plodded the _long_way around to the lift, intending to venture through the guest lounge and across the covered walkway, rather than traipsing through the main bar with a Sableye on his back. He might find one of the other security officers along the way, if he was lucky. "She's also quite fond of climbing things. And harassing them."

"I'm sure she's as delightful as me, too!" she began, prompting immediate sarcastic thoughts from the Espeon... which he kept politely to himself, "Probably a very pretty dark type as well - maybe an Umbreon... Or a Liepard..." she said, thinking about the options. "Oh! Or maybe a ghost type, like a Froslass or a Gengar..."

"Weavile," was the solitary response, the Espeon wincing his eyes half-shut as they emerged into the bright daylight that the walkway was exposed to. At least she hadn't seemed to pick up on the fact that he'd deliberately taken the slower route... His eyes scanned the area, looking for familiar faces as he went.

"Close enough!" She said cheerfully, looking around, seemingly tracking his wandering gaze. There didn't seem to be anyone else around - most people were likely in the main bar they were avoiding. She let out a sigh. "Hey, sorry about that back there. I just needed to get out of that room as fast as possible. I tell ya, people just always assume the worst in ghost types. I didn't even do anything, but they were already going to throw me under the bus before security could even show up." The Sableye seemed to relax and speak more simply, no longer laying it on thick. Her body eased and she looked around, more to take in the sights than to worry. "Thank goodness you came along when you did or I'd have to deal with the conflicting allegations against my good character."

At this, Vara physically paused, his steps slowing to a stop in the middle of the walkway to look up at the female perched upon his back, intensely confused. She looked down at him curiously, before seeming to realize the situation.

"Oh, right. I bet you want me to get down..." She hopped off of his back with a little huff, coming to stand next to him. "Sorry again. So, you're one of the waiters around here?"

Another pause. The situation grew increasingly strange...

He took a moment to look around. Despite the relative fuss indoors, this little outside area was pretty muted. If not for the Sableye, he would've been inclined to wander out from the glass-covered path into the garden, stand by the empty gazebo for a bit, and just...take it all in.

The sun was ever-beautiful in its shining splendor, not a butt in the sky. He turned his gaze back to the small, vibrant yellow ghost-type, who was looking at him expectantly.

Whelp. Here went nothing.

"Actually, I'm security," he answered, simply and honestly, sitting down alongside the Sableye in what he hoped was a non-threatening way. It was hard not to loom over something under half his size. "So...technically, I'm supposed to throw you out, now. But I'd like to hear what you have to say, since you're under the impression you didn't do anything...?"

The Sableye let out a paralyzed 'erk' as she froze in place as she heard before laughing nervously into her explanation of the events. "Aheh... Uh, so, it's like this see. I'm somewhat new to the area and I needed a place to stay. I heard this was a place with the best amenities around. So, I came here. I... don't have any of the local currency, but I've been exchanging these_for them." She said, reaching into her chest and producing a small ruby. "I may have been getting ripped off, but it _was_giving me scratch to use here. So _naturally_I try to buy a drink to enjoy the show and the fucker in town gave me _fake bills. Well, turns out Captivate doesn't take fake currency, and... well, after some heated words with the bartender there, one of the other patrons got sick of me and decided to give me a throw. One of the hazards of being small, I guess." She paused, indicating her size with her clawed hands. Vara smiled, just a bit, as she continued.

"So, I got back up, gave him a piece of my mind for throwing me around and... well... he threw me again, but this time I was still wrapped up in expressing my point to him, so I didn't phase through the tables the second time... or the third... Before I could do anything else, you showed up. I figured that people were on their way - dark and ghost typing with my species predisposition for pranking... plus they'd say I was antagonizing the bastard who threw me. Like, how is getting thrown my fault?" she demanded, indignantly. Vara closely examined her body language throughout her speech -- it appeared to reflect the tone of her voice, every bit as upset as one who was unfairly attributed blame would be. The points of light that made her pupils were unfocused, the dim light covering the entire surface of her gem-like eyes, though they were still apparently focused on Vara to the best of her ability, a more intense point of light forming to track him as he leaned back. He couldn't help but wonder if it was the Sableye equivalent of being on the verge of tears...angry or otherwise.

"Usually, around this time, I'd ask the person accused if they'd mind me having a small peek into their mind, to see their intents and the recollection of events that occurred," he began, trailing off as he looked over the girl, "But, ah...well, that's not really possible with you, due to your typing, even if you were willing to consent."

The Espeon began to drum his claws along the concrete surface beneath him with slow, rapraprap sounds, thinking aloud. "I could always go back and ask the bartender for a peek, or one of the waiters. Wouldn't be violating any legal stuff since they're signed on with all the requisite paperwork..." at this point, he turned his head up, to maintain eye contact with the Sableye. He squared his shoulders some, turning on his infrequently-used 'intimidating' posture, sitting high over the female. "Do you believe your story would hold up under mental inspection of eyewitnesses in the area?"

The Sableye nodded, not seeming even remotely affected by his change in posture, "Yep, I was framed and I don't think I deserve what happened to me." She sounded confident.

"Mhmm..." Vara intoned, tail lashing the air somewhat behind him, looking up past her as a Stoutland rounded its way onto the covered walkway behind her... then, seemingly recognized the yellow critter, blanched, and hurriedly turned away. "...and you're entirely certain that the way you...'proved your point', which you spared the details on, has nothing to do with this?"

The Sableye hesitated, her confidence visibly cracking some as she averted her gaze, "well, I mean maybe?_But it was after he threw me the first time. So I _may have expressed my opinion a bit more extremely than I needed to..."

"Uhuh," was the initial response, the Espeon slowly grinning. He couldn't help himself -- security or not, he did appreciate a bit of innocent mischief... which it sounded like this was turning out to be. He hoped. "So then, fill me in on the details. What exactly did you do to get the remaining throws, and why would you be so caught up in it that you didn't notice you were being thrown into tables?" he asked, incredulously.

Her grin faltered a little bit. "Wellllllllll... I... may have used Night Shade to put on a little puppet show of sorts, explaining why I was defrauded, and I may have used some extra props to do it, but no one was hurt at all! Night Shade just makes tangible illusions. Here, let me show you."

She took a step back and took a breath to focus herself. Her shadow seemed to twist and distort, before a solid black mass of smoke seemed to rise out of it, even as Vara rose to his feet and tried to sputter out a response. True to her word, she seemed to be mostly out of it as she controlled the shadow. The illusory version was quite a bit bigger than her, but took the form of a giant Sableye, with a fairly malevolent looking grin. It reached down with a giant clawed hand, almost looking like it wanted to swat the Espeon, prompting him to take several cautionary steps back, before vanishing completely inches from his face. She seemed to shake off her trance. "Like that, in a way, but I just put on a caricature performance of the jeweler ripping me off... and, hey, did you know he has a brother? Did you know his brother is very big and fairly strong, and doesn't like his brother being demeaned? I learned that pretty quickly."

"So...you're insinuating that the patron you just so happened to set off at Captivate's bar, also just so happened to be the brother of the man who scammed you off of your jewelry money back in the village?"

"That is correct, your honor." She said playfully. "'S a Pangoro back at the bar. Normally, that stuff wouldn't hit me at all, but his dark typing let him grab me and give me a throw. Naturally, I wasn't expecting it the first time, and the second time I was a little wrapped up. Brother's a little Pancham that runs the shop out there. Adorable, but apparently crafty."

Vara scowled. He did, indeed, remember seeing a Pangoro back at the bar, looking rather ruffled...but, he wouldn't be able to read that particular creature's thoughts either, due to the dark typing.

"And you are one hundred percent sure that what you've just described to me will line up with the exact recollections of the first waiter I go back there and interview?" he asked, once again, trying to drive the point home as he rose up onto all fours. "Keeping in mind, I will be taking you with me to do so, so that you don't run away on me, should I head back to Captivate?"

"To the best of my ability, I have explained the events to you as I recall them. The memories may not line up 100% the same, but they should be similar enough to demonstrate my innocence. It is, therefore, my pleasure to accompany you back. Please, lead the way." She nodded, offering her hand, prompting Vara to consider it for several moments. Then, he abruptly leant forward, ducking past the hand to grasp the Sableye by the scruff, and haul her up onto his back, back to where she'd been before he'd prompted her off. The little Sableye squirmed a bit as she was lifted, thrashing slightly before realizing what he was doing, and trying to calm down. She was put on his back and she gripped at his fur, indignantly insisting that he 'warn a girl next time'.

"Gotta be honest with you? I'm not feeling this today. I'm not even on shift at the moment, and that's such a shitty defense that there's pretty much no way it can't be true," he said, with a palpable shrug of his shoulders that rolled her form atop his, where she gripped at him for balance as he adjusted himself beneath her. "Do you actually have a room here? If so I'll escort you to it, and go sort the mess out without tangling you up in it."

"I do, as it happens. It's on the uppermost floor, one of the penthouse suites. If I'm going to be here a while, I may as well do it in style." She grinned, "Thanks for taking my word for it. I... think if we went back there to verify, the brute would try and toss me again while you were distracted."

"You started trouble after buying out a penthouse?!" was his immediate, intensely startled response. He couldn't help but crane his neck to one side, looking up at her -- she seemed nonplussed. "... Right. Well, regardless we do have other security members on staff. They would've prevented any harm from coming to you... and, thinking on it, I'd be pretty surprised if they weren't there already..." he mentally completed the statement with and, of course, we've more than one trained Psychic, so if if turns out you're lying to me...

Vara sighed, and shook his head, turning his gaze up to hold hers. He imagined his look was almost pleading at this point.

"Right. So... okay. Just... personally speaking, off the record, you really are innocent, right? I don't want to deal with management ranting at me today."

"Scout's honor." she said, holding up her hand solemnly. "...Or something like that. Point is I'm innocent. Besides, I didn't even start the trouble. He started it. I was just making my point."

Now, that finally got a bit of a laugh from a turbulent, barely-awake Vara. His long, forked-at-the-tip tail gave a swish behind him, as he set off once again in the general direction that would eventually lead to the lift, his ears perked up.

"Well, for now, I'll take your word on it. What's your name, by the way? Didn't catch it amongst the commotion. Mine's Vara."

"'S a pleasure, Vara. Fable." She said, offering her clawed hand earnestly. The 'eon gave it a contemplative look, and then glanced up at Fable with a smirk. His tail came around to curl around her hand, and give it his best approximation of a shake while he walked, rather lacking a free paw. She let out a little giggle, which caught him off-guard. Maybe she had a point with quick judgements about ghost types...

"I've had enough excitement for now." She said, smiling as she retracted her hand. "And, though I appreciate your handshake... of sorts... I'd rather get up to my room. I don't suppose you'd like to give me your personal company? I can pay you. Not with money until I get that business with the jeweler sorted out, but I can give you gems."

"Well, uh..." he began, that earlier blush coming back to his face again -- he was pretty genuinely unused to being solicited, seeing as he typically kept to the background, and...well, his targets didn't tend to make requests of him, afterward. He was... exceptionally hesitant. "I'm not supposed to? Not unless the Café can get a cut of the profits, which would mean cash or credit, and can get someone to cover for me..."

"I have a penthouse suite." She reminded him. "I am fairly confident I can assure a line of credit. Here, if you can take me to someone who handles that sort of thing, I'd be happy to give them a gem or two now to help you feel better about it." She offered.

"Ah! No, no, that won't be necessary. I, ah... if you're that confident, I can just bill it to your name-slash-room-number, and let you sort it out later. I just..." he trailed off, trying to come up with an appropriate excuse, and finding none. Still, he tried, "I don't happen to have my phone on me, and I need to make sure--"

"There's one up in my suite. I'll let you use it before we get down to it, if you ask nicely~" she interrupted, the sing-song tone a devilish mockery of innocence. His brain continued to work through excuses, even as his feet moved of their own accord, carrying the duo down the halls.

"Look, if you're getting cold feet--" she began, but Vara cut her off quickly.

"N-no, that's not it!"

That was exactly it.

"I-I just..." he trailed off again, and internally sighed, cursing his brain for its genuinely terrible capacity for generating lies. One of those would make a really handy excuse right about now. "When we get up there, I'll need to make sure Petier can cover for me. My shift hasn't even started yet, so...I can just call in sick."

"Wonderful!" was her solitary response, with what sounded like a giddy rubbing together of hands from behind him.

Without even turning, he could tell she was grinning.

---

He was standing outside the lift beside the type bedrooms, when she gave a gentle tug his ears, presumably to get his attention.

"Hey, Vara?" she asked, "How did you end up here?"

Normally, Vara would, to this question, have responded with a light-hearted, silly answer. Something along the lines of 'I walked', or 'I got out of bed'. However...

Instead, he let out a very surprised-sounding squeak from the bottom of his throat, whilst his face flared up a bright, orchid color with a sudden blush, and shifted his weight on the spot, which prompted Fable to shift as well. Her feet dug into his side a little, trying to maintain her balance as the Espeon shifted under her. In an attempt to recover gracefully from this, preferably without prompting comments on what had just happened, though he may have been too late to save much face, he responded somewhat seriously.

"A-ah...well, there's not really much to it..." he murmured, thoughtful, considering how to best distill his experiences down to the shortest number of words. "Basically, I'd observed Plaisir from a distance for quite a while. Just sorta...read up on it and reviews, n' such. I showed up as a customer once after a few years, and fell in love with the place. Few months later I started considering if I might be able to do anything here, and...well, here I am."

The Sableye raised an eyebrow... or where the eyebrow would be, if she had one. It was an expression that left him immediately_concerned, but she spoke nonetheless, "Is that it? You watched from afar, got your dick wet once, and then decided to stay here enforcing the law?" She laughed almost derisively. By this point, his face was quite red. "Here I was hoping for some _intrigue or something juicy. Must have been a good single round if it got you to stay here full time. Tell me, who was it with? Maybe I should hit them up when I'm done with you."

Ding!

Rather than responding to the series of not-incredibly-conscientious questions and comments, he considered himself lucky for the tolling of the elevator bell, and stepped aboard.

The lift was pretty small, all things considered. Vara figured the brightly-lit, metal-and-wood box could probably comfortably hold six bipeds or four quadrupeds, with just a bit of breathing room to spare. Still didn't give much for comfort in terms of build quality -- the panelling on the wall didn't necessarily look ugly, but it still had that hollow, cheap quality about it that most elevators came with. The metal accents weren't much better, chromed up in that way that was intended to make it look fancy, without actually being expensive, or particularly rigid.

The Espeon turned himself about, and used his nose to press the button marked '3'. It took on a pleasant, yellow glow, whilst the elevator doors slid smoothly shut. For the most part, his mind was generating, quite frankly, highly logical second thoughts for him to be having at this point. Fable tapped her claws on his head.

"I'm waiting," she quipped in an annoyed tone, apparently not intending to let him escape her condescending questions quite that easily. He huffed loudly in response.

"It's not _that_simple, no," he said, finally, voice echoing a minor amount of exasperation. He plopped down onto his butt in the moving lift without warning, taking some small amount of pleasure at the way she slid down his back, prior to her claws managing to scrabble into his fur and find some purchase. "There were other motives at play as well, obviously, but I'm less inclined to talk about them. To tell the truth, I didn't actually even 'get with' anyone while I was here the first time, so..."

"...So you tried to dip your stick, but couldn't? Wow. I thought my life was boring."

Vara audibly clacked_his teeth together in irritation. It was hard to get on his nerves, but she was certainly _trying. Where had all of this come from?

It was then, that it clicked. Was she intentionally trying to get his goat, for some reason...? The Espeon decided to return the favor.

"Have you ever heard of a Ring Target, Fable? It's this handy little device that would end your immunity to my abilities..." he snipped, changing the topic abruptly, turning his head to look back at the chartreuse thing clinging to his back.

"You wouldn't," she shot back darkly.

"Getting there," was the simple response, giving her what he hoped was a very worryingly polite smile.

He could feel the glower burning into the back of his head, whilst the elevator ascended in near silence. After a second or two, she spoke up again.

"I don't know what I have to be worried about - you couldn't get laid in a brothel. Literally. You don't have the balls to use a Ring Target on me, even if you did have one."

Vara churned on that one for a bit. He was still thinking by the time the elevator chimed pleasantly to announce their arrival to her floor, doors sliding open to reveal the prestigious wing that contained the very best Plaisir had to offer -- the Penthouse Suites. He could feel Fable shifting about on his back, hooking her legs over his flanks in preparation for him to stand up...but instead, he leaned forward, and bapped the second floor's button with his paw.

The doors slid shut once more, giving him no real chance to observe that fancy area. If she was _trying_to get him going, he might as well see how far this could go...

"Hey!" she shouted indignantly, "What gives?! That was my floor, and now we're going to floor 2? Are you sure you're an Espeon? I thought your kind was supposed to be smart," she grouched, a pointed roll of her eyes audible in her voice, and reached for the 3 button.

"Have you ever met Rain Flower?" Vara queried, pleasantly, abruptly changing topic once more, whilst he brushed her hand gently aside. He opted to rear up, throwing the ghost free of his back and confirming a faint 'thump' behind him as her feet landed on carpeted floor.

"I can't say I have. What are they? Some kind of... I don't know... Ludicolo? Lombre? Something in that line. Water and grass." She paused, looking around a bit, waving on the spot as she caught her balance. Shaking off any disorientation from her abrupt position change, she surveyed the Espeon with a mixture of frustration and confusion. "And what was that for, anyway?"

"She's a Vaporeon," he corrected, whilst peering at the elevator panel. More specifically, he stared at the keyhole at the bottom of the panel -- whose positions were labeled 'stop'_and _'run', respectively. Of course, he'd left the key in his room, along with his badge and phone, but... he'd picked much harder. "Not...always a terribly bright one, if I'm being entirely honest, but she's got spunk!" he continued, obviously distracted. The lock was single-pin, just there for the sake of preventing tampering, rather than actual security. "I bring it up because you're taking some cues from her book right now, bereft of the charm... or her more black-hole-like properties."

It was an unsubtle enough insult. He wondered if it would catch, testing the waters to see how she'd react.

After stating this sweetly, he fished a claw in, found the pin, and slowly pushed it up flush to the top of the cylinder. The Espeon's heart was beating a bit rapidly in his chest, admittedly pretty nervous at what he was about to do, but fortunately Fable had no way to know that! It was as simple as a mental flex -- Telekinesis providing the leverage to turn the keyway slowly to one side. With the sound of sighing metal, the elevator slowed to a stop between floors.

Not like he'd be the first to call in sick late, after all.

Fable looked him over, mulling over her thoughts as she chewed on her tongue a bit, as if unsure of how to respond to his previous phrase. "Charm, huh?" She asked, a terse note in her voice. He winced. "I may not be dripping with charm like you, Mr. Lock-Us-In-A-Stopped-Elevatoreon." It was a bad insult. The little ghost was losing her cool, it seemed. Vara was understanding how that Pangoro could have been inclined to throw her. Despite this, he smiled again, never once introducing even a smidge of harshness to his tone.That trailing joke at the end encouraged him to push just a bit further...

"I don't recall claiming to be charming at any point, Ms. Fable!" he responded, voice taking on a more playful timbre, "I simply showed up to stop a troublemaker, was rode off into the sunset, and ended up stuck in an elevator with bespoke troublemaker. A very strange sequence of events, to be certain..." he trailed off toward the end, losing focus as if lost in thought. It was quite intentionally teasing, hoping to push it over the top enough for her to notice... "Ah! But, then, here we are, in a hastily constructed time-out box for your poor behavior! Even more curious, yes?"

The golden Sableye seemed to be considering this, chewing on her tongue, if the motions of her jaw were any indication. That gave him a bit of an internal giggle -- normally, Vara wasn't a very confrontational sort of person, but it seemed that was what this one was looking for? At the very least, she didn't seem to be getting _angry_about it...

He hoped she was in the same process he'd been in earlier: trying to discern if he was _actually_irritated, or just playing with her. She tapped where her chin would be, appearing to survey him again. The Espeon's response was to simply stand with a neutral stance, smiling that ever-present, pleasant smile.

"Well, maybe you're stuck in here. I have a way out." Her face twisted into a wicked grin as her body began to take on more of a liquid state, slowly dripping and seeping into the ground below them, in what Vara considered to be similar to water hitting into, and sizzling off of, a hot blacktop. The quadruped watched this curiously, leaning in to observe the wispy trails raising up off the floor from the reaction. He'd seen Pokémon abuse Shadow Sneak before of course, but never quite so up-close! It really was mesmerising, to watch her form slowly contort and pitch to black, seemingly dematerializing right into the inky black pools of shadow below...

Well, it was also kind of a bad decision. After all, the move was called Shadow Sneak for a reason -- it was best not attempted in plain sight. Vara sat back with a slow swish of his tail, giving the garnet gem embedded into his forehead a dramaticized tap or two with a claw -- it flickered once or twice, then began to fill the elevator with an intense fandango hue, that red-purple luminosity melting all shadow from the cabin, starkly illuminating the Sableye as she tried to escape. She stared back, deerling-in-the-headlights, as the flash reflected off of the perfectly cut peridots that were her eyes.

Fable winced, and was blown against the wall - not by the gleam itself, but rather, it seemed, from her just trying to escape the bright Fairy light. "So, you're not going to let me escape, and you came prepared. You're not just a no-trick pony after all!" She said, her face growing a small smile. Vara's ears actually perked at that -- he was on the right track, after all. "Well, maybe I can make this work instead," she took a breath and looked right at him, her eyes glinting with what could only be malevolent intent. "If you refuse to escort me to my room, then I'll just need to make use of your services here..." She said, sounding almost contemplative. "So, Vara, I imagine you're pretty worked up right about now. Why don't you go ahead and punish me? You are security, right? I was hoping we'd get to my room first, buuuuuut..." She trailed off expectantly, looking up at him with her big, green eyes and an incredibly wry grin.

At this, Vara's mind skipped several cycles of computation. Of course, he'd been expecting that locking her into such a small area with himself would have naturally prompted something, as was somewhat the intent to begin with, but for her to be so forward about it...

"I mean, surely a ne'er-do-well like myself has earned a round of punishment for wrecking Captivate, riding you here like a horse, and generally causing mayhem since you met me," she continued, interrupting his thoughts, the grin cutting across her face so quickly that Vara thought the teeth would cleave clear through her skull.

There it was. An open confirmation of his previous suspicion that she was intentionally riling him up... apparently in an effort to make him more rough on her? He'd figured she just wanted the friendly competition.

Could've just said that... he thought, with no small amount of grump present in his metal voice. The teasing had been a little fun, sure, but as far as first impressions went, being nice was always the far more sane approach, in his mind.

"So, there is an unfortunate wrench in your plans here," he began thoughtfully, either ear swivelling atop his skull, "and that is that I'm not a waiter. Most waiters are well trained enough to be able to jump someone's bones at the word go, but I'm just a security curmudgeon. There needs to be a _little_bit of an actual start-up, or... I'm not going to be able to do what you're asking of me. I'd been hoping you'd be less forward, so I could maybe try to lead into it naturally."

"Me? Be less forward?" she asked, incredulous, belting out a short cackle, "Oh, you poor thing... you don't get how this works yet, do you? Well, just leave it to me. Do you want to make this easy, or do you want me to figure it out myself?" She asked coyly. She wore an expression similar to someone playing a favorite game. His brain appended a new flag to the ever-growing list: dangerous.

To be fair, it'd already been there. But now it was in duplicate, and mentally, it was a bright, screaming red.

"A-ah..." he began, somewhat lamely given how relaxed he'd been moments ago, tail agitatedly twitching behind him, "What...do you mean by that, exactly?"

Mentally, he cursed himself a bit for letting the prior confidence he'd been affecting slip.

"What do you think?" she asked, sounding some mix of surprised and amused. "I'm sure you have sensitive points to help with the lead-in, as you put it. Do you want to just tell me about them and make it easy," she said, sliding up close to him, almost whispering as she finished the thought, "or do you want me to find them myself?"

It was Vara's turn to smile, just a hint, in response to the questions, even as a blush subtly crept up onto his face. It grew wider as her expression shifted from amusement to bemusement. He had an opening to try to return her jabbing once more!

"Oh! So...you actually _didn't_notice earlier, then? Maybe you're less dangerous than I give you credit for..." he murmured, raising up onto his feet. He'd thought the earlier squeak and blush in response to the tug to his ears would be reaction enough for her to realize they were sensitive, but apparently not! Time to continue the escalation game she seemed so fond of...

"Well... I suppose if you want to play that way." She said, a clawed hand gripping at one of the tufts on his ear, gently running along it as she guided him down, closer to her mouth. The gesture prompted him to immediately lock up, barely holding back a noise in his throat. "I'm _certain_I'll figure out how to crack you before long..."

And so, once again, Vara had found himself in another difficult choice scenario. In this instance, the choices were, effectively: fight his own natural bashfulness, and immediately give away the sensitivity of those ears by letting out any prompted sounds; or follow his nature and try to suppress them as hard as possible, whilst blushing like mad.

As expected, the latter choice won out.

"That's...ah...erm..." he attempted before trailing off, suddenly nervous, the bright pink stain to his cheeks starting to spread throughout his face. He tried again, attempting to deflect answering by asking a question, as he attempted to shrink back. Fable grinned, cackling gently as she watched him move, apparently incredibly pleased with herself. "Do you have any sensitive spots...?"

Fable shrugged visibly. "Not that I know. Side effect of being, you know, a ghost. You're welcome to look for them, if you'd like," she said, her claw crawling up his ear fuzz, gently scratching its way through thistle fur as it found its way to his ear proper. This time, Vara unintentionally let out a little bit of a squeak...and once again tried shy away as he watched her resulting grin. She held it, preventing him from tugging too much. "Sensitive spots are unique to everyone, like one's ears, for instance, and they require patient and oftentimes thorough exploration. So there's no need to hold back. Find them for yourself."

"A-aheh... I, uh... bwrf..." was the gradually-melting response, trailing off particularly hard as that tormenting claw began to scratch along the back of the membrane it had ensnared. This prompted a heated blush to spread throughout his face, much to the obvious delight of the much smaller creature in front of him. He could feel the heat travelling up into his over-large ears. Things... were not going particularly well for the Espeon.

She seemed inclined to follow up and press her advantage, as her other hand swung around and attached itself to his other ear, mirroring her actions on the other side of his body, attending to both of his sensitive membranes at the same time. Her eyes stared right into his, watching and gauging his reactions, and seeming to adjust accordingly as her body weight leaned up against his chest. It prompted a soft whine to rise from his throat -- this was not an area of expertise for Vara, and the attention to his ears was already prompting particular stirrings...

Fable looked strained for a second, before her expression faltered. Had she been trying to use Shadow Sneak again? What for?

"Oh, right. Dazzling Gleam," she said, "I can't dematerialize for a few more minutes..." she still very much directly held that gaze with him -- one that he was having increasing difficulties meeting as those claws kept working at ears that were trying to swivel and shift away from them. His blush had made it all the way up to their tips, and was likely darkening. To make matters worse, a little note of pleasure slipped through his nose when one of her hands became more adventurous, and gave one a small tug. Fable grinned a pleased, malicious grin, even wider than the terrifying one he'd seen earlier.

"What's the matter, Vara? You look downright possessed. Almost like you've seen a ghost." She said with a growing grin, her confidence oozing back in like so much black sludge. Vara groaned audibly at the terrible jokes, managing to hide the pleasured noises inside of it. The redness of his face was continually worsened by the fact that her hands stayed firmly attached to his sensitive ears, drawing more of that blush forcibly forth. "You'd better get to exorcising your spirits, before they _really_get out of hand... or paw, as the case may be."

"Gah, th-that's awful..." the 'eon managed, despite the little trembles that were gradually working their way along his form. He tried once again to duck his head back, but _this_time she chose to respond by using the momentum to give another firm tug on his ears, prompting a strong shudder and a quiet, high-pitched whimper from him. Vara closed his eyes fully and began to shake his head slowly back and forth, trying to be rid of the teasing grip, trembling on the spot. He was certain she could smell him, by now. "If...if you were looking to just get me worked up, that's...you've well and done it, by now..."

Upon hearing those words, Fable stepped back, letting go of his ears, prompting him to open his eyes. She was just standing there, her hands on her hips as she seemingly admired her handiwork, big pleased grin on her face as she looked Vara up and down. "'s a fine tint you've got there, Espy." She said with a bit of laughter. "It'll look _real_good between my legs."

This, of course, prompted an even darker blush. It was spreading down into his chest... but now that his ears had been let alone for a moment, his mind was working once more. She'd been looking for a bit of rougher play...

...is this her way of trying to get me on top of her? He wondered, looking her body language over. She certainly didn't _seem_inviting for it, with her confident posture, and now-continually-held eye contact.

To hell with it. The waiters always seem to do well enough with their intuition! Here goes nothin'.

With that, Vara suddenly pounced. There was no wind-up, no warning in his body language that he'd been about to move. He was just suddenly flying toward her like a coiled spring that had been let loose. She seemed quite surprised by his sudden speed! At least, that's what he assumed the significantly brighter glow of her 'pupils' to mean, as his body landed on hers. Combined, their weights slid forward along the metal floor, the Espeon's head bumping one of the elevator's wood-paneled walls, whilst the enclosure itself seemed to sway somewhat on its cabling with the shifting of weight. A quick motion of his paws ensured he had the stunned and significantly smaller female pinned against the ground by the shoulders. Alright! That had worked. Now...

The small Sableye scrambled beneath his form, her confidence visibly deteriorating as they hit the wall. It was hard to tell if his intuition was correct, given how she moved beneath him, almost like she was trying to get away! But she didn't appear to be trying very hard. A creature like her, an embodiment of his weaknesses... she could get away if she wanted, right? She was letting him have this? It was hard to tell without asking directly... but would asking directly ruin the mood? These were questions the more experienced probably didn't have to ask. But he wasn't at all trained for this. He was on security. Such knowledge was beyond the pale of his experience.

Then, there was a sudden spark of intuition.

"Panel," he stated, suddenly, confidently, looking down at the girl he had pinned. She gave him a confused look in return.

"The fuck?" was her only response, this single word apparently striking so far into her core that she stopped squirming for a moment. Vara laughed, some of his internal tension melting out of him.

"Safe word. I do something you don't like, you say 'panel'. Sound fair?"

She nodded enthusiastically amidst her feeble struggles. It was a valuable clue for the faltering Vara -- she was putting on a show indeed! Mind set further at ease, he could feel more of that residual tension start to slip away.

Despite the abuse to his sensitive ears, it was initially hard for Vara to... get in the mood, as it were. He'd been peeking from his sheath earlier, but in the ruckus he'd slipped back in, and it didn't just work at the drop of a hat... which could be a quite _literal_turn of phrase, from what he'd seen from the floor. Still, he wanted to try and please the girl below him! And so, he turned to something of a technique he'd learned -- literally saturating himself in lust, in hopes of getting a bit of a confidence boost out of it, since she seemed to want a more dominant partner than he would typically provide.

And so, his mind began to drift as he kept her pinned down, trying to remember some of the things she'd said earlier, things that had made him blush. His typing did have some advantages, one of which being almost perfect recall for some subsets of information... and being able to make himself tangibly feel sensations remembered. He used this to lose himself in the way she'd handled his ears earlier, re-listening to the words she'd said, words that had gotten him flustered, hot under the collar. Combined with her helpless pose beneath him, it was starting to help coax him to action.

It was slow at first, but his tip began to emerge from his sheath once more, as red as the blush that was flushing his face. Fable grinned below him, snickering a bit at the visuals; an action that didn't particularly help the already flustered Espeon, who responded with a loud huff. Intending to put something of a dent her her cocky demeanor, he sank his teeth into her shoulder - not hard enough to break skin, but more than hard enough to draw a response, and hopefully quiet her down. He could tell he'd been successful when her snicker turned into a hiss, right into his big, sensitive ear.

Well... maybe he hadn't quite thought that particular action through. The hiss made his body give a gentle shudder, but the upshot was that it made his length lurch between his legs. He could practically feel the blood surging to it, with a thrill of pleasure, hanging free of his body.

Right. Time to try and play his part for her a little more... he extended his claws, letting them dig into the ghost's surprisingly soft flesh beneath her fur, his teeth sinking a little harder, fangs singing a promise of penetrating flesh. It drew a more pained-sounding hiss and small whine from the Sableye's throat, but not that magic word. He pressed a little more -- this time, not with his sharp claws or fangs, but with that pointed, tapered shaft, throbbing with a growing need as it continued to reveal itself, pointed directly at Fable's body. Vara, being the good Plaisir employee he was, tested the female's waters with his tapered tip, the hot rod already drooling as it teased past her lips... and finding, to his surprise, that she was already fairly receptive to his size, despite her stature.

Not wanting to disappoint, and admittedly at least somewhat curious at her limits, Vara began to ease that firmly-pulsing length into her. It drew an initial pained cry from the small female, prompting him to pause for a moment in hesitation, but it devolved into almost manic laughter as her body adapted to his size - or so he supposed, based on how her muscles flexed in waves around him, almost like they were making more room. He slid his shaft back out, leaving just the very tip within her sensitive lips, before blazing a trail forward once more, deeper now, feeling the contracting walls pulse around him as they tried to hold on to him, as if urging him deeper, and adapt to him at the same time. The whole while, Fable squirmed under him, demonstrating her vocal range with a veritable cornucopia of varied moans and cries. He was mostly quiet, actively working to lose himself in sensation, fighting his usual shy nature, submerging his mind in the growing pool of lust... this was where he'd really be able to find his confidence. Drinking in the pleasure of the hot, slick tunnel that wrung his girth; the sweet, pleasured vocalizations that echoed about their small enclosure, punctuated by the female's labored breathing; the subtle tremors that rolled through the body he held beneath tooth and claw; the delightful scent of feminine and masculine musk produced by two bodies with lusts burning ever stronger; the sight of her form arching beneath his, claws dug into the elevator floor, legs spreading subconsciously wider in sweet, fulfilled subjugation...

Having something other than his own reactions to focus on helped wonders, as it would so happen.

He couldn't help but jump his hips forward, a faint clap ringing out as they finally found hers, groaning heatedly as balls nestled to moistened lips. Surprisingly, the girl didn't seem to have any trouble handling his full size... she clearly had some level of practice, to be stuffing so much into that little body of hers. He drew his hips back some, only to abruptly press himself in harder, repeating this process exactly, listening to the music of Fable's assorted cries and moans echoing around the small box they inhabited, letting her vocals mask the rapidly increasing sounds of his hips connecting with hers while he began to drive.

Now that he found himself in the swing of things, this was suddenly much, much more enjoyable. His teeth withdrew from her neck, grinning wide as her previously-dull peridots seemed to flicker with life, the glow of her pupils focusing on him with a confused expression. He took that in for just a moment before he went for the other side, fangs biting down on previously untouched flesh, left all the more sensitive to their points for it, and growled pleasantly as she gasped in response. Afterward, those growls leaked out of his throat like a sieve, a deep baritone to compliment her warbling soprano, set to the slick, percussive beat of his hips connecting with hers, an incidental A Capella in its own right.

And oh, how slick things were, indeed! Between the copious nectar flooding constantly around his length, and the precum that he was insistently pumping into her, they were already spreading a deep, wet stain across the fur of their joining... as well as the floor below. It was as unavoidable as the act of the Espeon's hips picking up speed whilst his arousal climbed, the previous clapping and schlicking sounds increasingly rising into thunderous smacking and squishing, rutting her body hard and fast, much to her intensely expressed delight!

As Fable's tonality heralded her rising need, oh-so-rapidly seeming to approach that fever pitch, so too did Vara's own. The knot at the base of his cock was starting to take form, the multiple lobes swelling rapidly, priming for a lock. It began to knock at her lips, demanding entrance to the constricted passage, each rough thrust making its presence more than known to her. Every attempt to hilt seemed to move more and more of her free of his path; each knock coating a new stretch of knot with her needful juices, the entire fist-sized ball coated slick before it was even a third of the way in...

He needed more leverage. Abruptly, Vara tore his paws away from her body, and pressed them into the elevator wall, raking gouges into its cheap panelling. This was acknowledged by nothing more than a cry from below as his hips shunted forward, that point of contact carrying them both forward, Fable's body shunting back to slide up the wall, shoulders and head propped up, putting her at a diagonal for his continued reaming. He was so close! With each piston of his hips, the swell of his knot urged those lips ever-so-slightly wider, sinking in just a fraction deeper, the progression frustratingly slow! The little Sable seemed to want it almost as badly as him, her body bucking back against his with heady cries, forcing the back of her shoulders harder against the wall, lifting her hips to better present herself for the forceful breeding...it seemed to the 'eon that she was practically begging him for that knot with her body language.

Vara was only too happy to provide.

With a grunt, some wind-up, and a concentrated, full-body thrust, Vara pushed that fleshy, bulbous knot to the all-important midpoint and, with a satisfyingly wet squelch, it forced its way into Fable's body. The ghost's voice died in her throat as her body quickly seemed to be figuring out what to do with the new size he'd planted in her, if the flexing and convulsing was any indication. She was close, he could feel it in the urgency of her walls as they worked around his knot. The errantness of her muscles forcing him out pushed his already sensitive mind to the tipping point, using the very last vestiges of conscious thought to angle his hips up, and lever his dick down, putting pressure where he figured her most sensitive spot would be... before giving in. His teeth broke through the flesh on her shoulder, prompting his senses with the taste of copper, rekindling her voice as she cried in mixed sensations, wavering between pleasured pain and painful pleasure!

Her body trying to wring him out as it tried to milk his shaft for all it had, the gesture tipping her tiny body over the cliff and into the tumultuous waves of climax. He couldn't help but deliver for those suddenly-wringing, writhing walls, his shuddering, growling climax flooding her body in thick, explosive waves. Every single one was accompanied by a powerful jerk of his shaft inside of her, hips grinding, bucking, and thrusting those scant couple inches he had available to move within... it was a truly wonderful sensation, one that melted his brain right to white.

Eventually, when the last few trickles were escaping into Fable, he collapsed on top of her. The two had long since devolved beyond proper vocalization into laboured, pleasured breathing, unable to even functionally embrace in their exhausted states. Vara did, however, offer the Sableye a tender lick to her cheek, brain clearing from... whatever state he'd worked himself up into. His surge of arousal-infused confidence began to drain away with it, leaving him back to his usual, skittish self. She let out a sigh.

"I knew you had it in you..." She said through her heated panting, head rising up to focus those glowing points on him. The expression was odd -- no malice, no teasing intent... he read only contentment, there.

"You, uh... you can take more than I was expecting, for your size. And... maybe I got a bit more riled up than I should have... kinda surprising, to be honest..."

"Fortunately, I'm full of all kinds of surprises... and now, you too." She said, giving her belly a gentle pat. Her small size lent her to being slightly rounded out by the intensity of his production. That drew a vibrant blush to Vara's face.

"I, uh... that's... mrf," was all he could bring himself to start, failing to produce a functioning sentence. The golden girl laughed, and ruffled the fur between his ears with one sharply-clawed hand. Again, surprisingly, it wasn't followed up by any sorts of taunts... now, he was wondering if she was naturally more like the polite girl he'd been speaking to under the bridge canopy, or if she was just basking in the afterglow.

After several seconds of silence, Vara decided to change the topic.

"We're going to be here a while... unless you're able to dematerialize again just yet?" He asked quietly, giving his hips a tentative shift. Hopefully just enough to give her an idea as to what he meant, without having to audibly mention it. "Sorry..."

"Don't worry about it... I'm not going anywhere yet..." She said with a surprisingly wide smile, her voice carrying an unusually sincere, warm tone with it. "...I'm pretty happy right here," she added a little more quietly, almost as an afterthought.

The change in tone caught him off guard -- he was increasingly wondering if this pleasant side, the same she'd shown to him immediately after getting out of Captivate earlier, was what she was actually like. At least, beneath all the teasing and attempts at getting him riled up.

Small arms wrapped around him, abruptly interrupting his train of thought, pulling his body down against hers... well, on top of hers, more like. Her face only reached his chest. Still, he closed his eyes, and slowly embraced her back, forelimbs wrapping protectively about the small thing, snuggling in the afterglow of their suspended activities, enjoying each other's embrace, without a care in the world.

This, he thought, I could get up for in the morning.