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Cause for Celebration

It had been nearly a year since I left my home land of Saff'Rald to travel abroad and see the world, and I couldn't have been happier to return. While I had been quite successful in my endeavors, there wasn't anything quite like the hug of a serpent and I had missed that in my time away since Leera had stayed behind to concentrate on her struggling business - The Vore House of Klyneth - rather than come with me. Though I was certainly not keen on being away for so long without her, my love for Leera was strong and I had enough faith to respect her decision to remain with Yetzer to operate it.

Last I'd heard about The House, they were struggling to keep up with demand since many of the employees weren't doing their part to keep the place well maintained and that meant that they could only handle one client per week at most. In time, their reputation slowly dwindled and clients stopped coming, preferring instead to seek out the potions guild for a similar experience. That's about the time I left to pursue my own career, urging Leera to come with me and leave The Vore House behind her, but she was resistant and felt the need to prove that she could make this a success so she denied me. Sadly, I couldn't stay behind and help her, so we parted ways, temporarily.

While in Yelfrit nearly a year later, I'd heard about The Vore House's grand re-opening online, and I felt it was time for me to come back and see what was going on and how I could help. I had been working non-stop at two separate jobs - including the founding of a potions and pharmaceutical company called NoThEn Labs - so I felt I had earned a week or two's worth of vacation which I would use to return to Klyneth and reacquaint myself with my mate and check up on her reinvigorated business venture.

Upon officially returning to Saff'Rald, my first stop and original goal was my own home, a well furnished house carved into the side of a cliff on the western edge of Klyneth. Leera was not there, which made me sad, so I deposited my belongings and headed back out, taking flight on my own wings. If Leera wasn't at home, I was quite certain she'd be at work. My path took me north by following the Urto trade route that went from town and through the Emerald Forest to the Great Sapphire lake; about half way between town and lake short, the Vore House grounds could be seen.

Though I was hundreds of meters in the air, hovering over the grounds, my keen eyes could still see a figure on the front yard, riding on a lawn mower to keep the grass well trimmed. It was a slate-gray shire stallion, a glorious stud of a man with a thick chest, powerful looking legs, and a glorious mane and tail that stirred my loins in just the right way. I'm not sure if it's just me or my species, but gryphons are known for their natural attraction to equines, be it as food or sexual partners, so I found myself naturally drawn to him. At least, that's what I heard and that was the excuse I had used for years to explain away my insatiable desire for my equine companions.

Ilorek and Talba in particular liked to tease me about it, joking that I might be their parent.

Curious and eager to talk to this stallion, I banked sharp and spiraled down, wings flared out for a soft landing at the end of the driveway. My paws and talons found themselves covered in the remnants of cut grass as I set down; I didn't much enjoy that, so I flicked each of my feet off and sauntered my way up to the front past the immaculate gardens and grasses to where the stallion was about to meet me. When he saw me, I raised a front talon and a wing to wave, flagging him down.

He let the lawnmower roll the last bit towards the pathway before shutting it off and returning my wave with a broad smile. "Well hello there!" He said with a thick accent. "Welcome to the Vore House of Klyneth! Is there anything I can do for you my...lady? Sir?" He didn't seem to be sure whether I was a hen or drake, so I explained.

"Either work, really. Depends on my mood." I could tell that didn't help to clarify anything, and the pitch and timbre of my voice didn't tip him towards one or the other, so I let him decide for himself how he chose to address me as I casually moved on to the next question. "I was actually wondering who you might be? I've been here before, a few times, and I don't recall seeing you around."

"Oh, me? I'm just Vvilfred, but people around here call me Villie or Vill." He patted the side of his lawnmower like he was patting a feral horse. "And as you can see, I'm the groundskeeper here at The Vore House. I do the lawn, I move the rocks, and I occasionally check out the many biomes out back to make sure everything is in place. Sometimes our predators can get vigorous, and logs can be displaced. Luckily, I'm a strong guy and have no problem putting things back; if I find something too big for me, I get Yetzer or Leera to help." Seemed to be he was eager to tell me his whole story.

I smiled, a beaky gape grin. "So I guess things are going pretty well here now if they hired a groundskeeper. Tell me, how long have you been working here?"

"Yeah, the pay is pretty good I'd say, and I've only been here three months now. It's a good gig, I think! Lots of freedom to clean and maintain at my own pace, and the perks here are really, really nice. Nothing like taking a potion and feeding myself, if you get me!" He winked and smiled, shaking off his mane and raking through it with one of his thick hands. "But I must ask, m'lady, why so curious? Seems like an awful lot of peculiar questions for a random passerby or potential client, not that I mind or anythin', just curious is all, same as you."

I shook my head and laughed at myself, realizing how odd I must have seemed to the new guy. "Oh, I'm sorry about that, I didn't realize that you might not know me. The name is Ceylon, I'm Leera's mate. I was one of the three original founders of the house many years ago before its decline and near obliteration. I left the property with Yetzer and Leera, opting instead to head east to Yelfrit, but I'm back to visit!"

His eyes went wide and his tail flagged up behind him. "By the skies above, really? You're the Ceylon that lady Leera speaks of? Forgive me, mate, but I must shake your talon!" He pulled the keys from his ride and hopped off, ending up directly before me and on one knee with his hand out. "It would be my pleasure and honor to shake your talon!"

While he waited with his hand out and head down, I gently placed my front foot on his palm, careful to not dig my claws into his wrist. "Okay? No idea why you have to revere me so, but it does get my heart all aflutter. Anyway, thanks for your introduction, care to guide me to Leera? I'd greatly like to see her again. I imagine she's here since she's not at home."

"Very well miss Ceylon!" He said, getting back to his hooves. "Want me to take you to her or just tell you where she likely resides at the moment?"

After a brief contemplation, I decided. "Just tell me where she is, if she's not there I'll wander a bit. I'm familiar with the grounds - after all, I'm the one who gave it to Yetzer before this whole endeavor!" I trilled and purred at him, smiling all the while as my tail flicked out behind me.

He nodded and nickered gently to match my trilling. "She's in her chambers on the second floor! Has been there all day with that strange girl, Foxifly." He paused a moment as he thought about this character. "I tell ya, she's nice and everything, but she kinda bugs me out, you know? She's never been anything but kind, but those eyes are creepy, and I think she's part insect. I can't tell." He shrugged and hopped back up onto his lawnmower. "But, I have to get back to work m'lady, I tip my hat to thee and I hope to see you soon!" With that, he revved the engine and got back to work, turning around and cutting another strip of glass close to the front terrace.

Content with his answer, I opened the golden-handled door and stepped into the front hall after kicking my feet free of the strands of grass that had clung to me. The inside was better than I remembered, with slate-gray brick, steel colored marble pillars, red and gold carpet, and a blend of green and blue colored banners on either side. The entire room felt like it could have been a palace on the inside despite the outside looking like it might have been an old dilapidated castle that hadn't been used in a century. Off to the left at the concierge desk sat the amphibious receptionist, Theodit.

"C-Ceylon? Is that you?" He asked, tiny form jumping up to stand on his chair and wave to me.

"Indeed my friend! Long time no see!" I stepped up to the desk while glancing around. "Things have changed a lot since I was here. More stuff on the wall, I love the banners, and the deep colors on the wood are a nice accent. Who's your designer? It's certainly not Yetzer, that guy has no eye for design." I theorized his bad sense of style was what partially what turned people off.

Theodit shook his head and sat back down; his frills remained standing high to show his excitement over seeing me again, as we used to be pretty close before I left. "No, not Yetzer." He confirmed. "We've got a new designer now, some bug-eyed fox girl who has been helping Leera design and update the place to be modern. She's been here six months. In fact, Leera's up talking to her now!"

"Foxifly?" I asked with ears perked.

"Y-yeah, how did you know her name?" He narrowed his gaze into a suspicious glance, knowing I was prone to occasionally probe into people's minds for information I needed.

"Your groundskeeper told me. Vvilfred I think his name is." I assured, alleviating his concern. "Talked to him for a bit and he said Leera was chatting to some half fox half bug character; I must meet her, are they still in her chambers? That's what Villie told me, but I'm not sure I trust him just yet." I did, but I wanted a second opinion since I knew for a fact that Theodit wouldn't steer me wrong, and it was his job to keep an eye on the manor and every room through the security cameras.

He glanced down at his monitors to check them out before looking back up at me. "Yeah, that's where they are! Want me to let her know you're coming or would you rather it be a surprise?"

I gape grinned at him, content that he knew me so well. "Let it be a surprise. I love it when she doesn't know I'm coming!" My voice practically chirped as my heart grew to flutter at the thought of seeing my Leera again, the excitement showing in my eyes and every feather that was standing on end.

"Aye!" He gave me a gentle salute before plopping his rump back down on his chair. "Good to see you again, Cey! Are you going to be sticking around this time?"

My current intention was to spend half my time in Saff'Rald and the other half in Yelfrit, dividing my time between the business of myself and Leera, but he didn't need to know that. "I'd like to, but we'll see how things go. For now, I'm going to head upstairs! See ya around Theo! We should totally go out for a meal sometime, and I don't mean you as the appetizer!" I offered only a light bow and a chuckle before leaving him to make my way down the hallway towards the spiral staircase at the end that led to the second floor.

That spiral staircase was the one thing I never liked about the design layout of the Vore House manor, how the only stairs to the second level were on opposite ends of the main part of the building in turrets on the far north and far south. Back when I had still had a say in the operations of the manor, I suggested building one from the main hall to the balcony of the main hall, but Leera preferred the more rustic approach. She wasn't wrong and it was her business in the end, but that's a lot of walking for someone just to be swallowed up by a snake. Regardless, I still made my way up the stairs after walking by a few of the many rooms, each one labeled by a tiny plaque that described their theme.

"Well, that's a new feature." I mused, seeing that there was a water room, a jungle room, and a forest room. Before, those rooms were set up for each of the predators, who would have clients come in and they'd be taken care of for the hours, days, or weeks a proper session would require; it was up to the pred to prep beforehand and clean up afterward according to the original rules. Now, it seemed that each of these rooms would be set aside for a different element. Nice change of pace, but I wasn't sure how that would work without asking.

I kept that question in mind as I hopped up the spiral staircase to the second level, where I saw three more themed rooms lining the halls before I made it to Leera's personal quarters above the grand hallway at the end of my path. Hers and Yetzer's both were on the second floor, hers on the north end and his on the south end, meeting in the middle with windows that let them see into the entrance way, so there was a possibility that she'd seen me and knew I was here. However, the fact that she didn't meet me in the halls was proof enough that she wasn't looking through the window or wasn't in this room; had she seen or heard from me, she'd have leapt at me and given one of her coil snugs.

Upon finally reaching her door, I raised my head to knock with my beak, but instead decided to just walk in. The door creaked as I stepped through it, revealing Leera lounging on the bedding that was laid out in the corner with her head propped up on one of her coils. She was talking to a gray, white, and black fox creature with orange antennae, tiny gossamer wings, and a thick meaty tail that looked like it was more flesh than fur, at least until I opened the door and they both turned to look at me. That fox hybrid must have been Foxifly, the one that Theo and Villie spoke of. Leera halted her words to look at me and freeze in place, flicking her tongue once as she blinked. Slowly, her body pulled itself up into a ball in one place in the corner as her lips peeled up in a smile at the sight of me.

Foxifly got a good look at me with her finely compound green eyes and smiled before glancing back to Leera. "Well, I see you're busy, dear. I shall see you again tonight after sundown." Her voice was gentle and soft but also a bit raspy, like a bug. She gave Leera a gentle rub under her chin and daintily walked out of the room past me, giving me a knowing grin and nod before slipping past my form. As she made it past me, I could see the black shape of her pupil shifting behind the thousands of tiny surfaces of her green iris, my keen eyes able to see every detail with ease. From far away, she looked like a normal person with normal eyes, but up close it was clear she was part insect.

After letting her pass me, I stepped into the room and closed the door behind me with my tail as I stood tall, gape grinning as Leera stared blankly at me. It was clear she didn't know what to say at my presence, so I wing-waved. "So, uh, surprise?" I said with a nervous grin, not sure how to respond to her stoicism. She was usually one to coil right up to me immediately upon seeing my body and had even once struck, coiled, and swallowed a helpless gryphon she thought was me who happened to be in our secret meeting place when we were to meet and I had been distracted!

The door clicked shut behind us, which triggered her as expected; she hissed and lunged at me with an open maw, throwing herself clear across the open room before latching onto my shoulder and pulling me into her bundle of coils in the middle of the room away from any desks or furniture, her tail and body twitching and flicking in excitement. "Aww, Ceylon burd! I've missed you so much! It's been so long! Burd, burd, burd, burd!" She giggled like a hatchling, kissing me every time she said burd. "So where have you been? Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" After pulling away from my shoulder, her sharp teeth lightly tugging at my feathers and her body still squeezing tightly, she looked me in the eyes, her emerald irises dotted by her dilated pupils. She was always so cute when her pupils dilated like that, the truest form of pure happiness I've ever seen in a snake.

In response I grunted and resisted the immense strength of her coil hug, struggling to breath and make a noise; when she saw this, she loosened up a bit but didn't let me go. I could literally feel her excitement through her rapid heartbeat that throbbed and pulsated around me. "I wanted to surprise you, dear! I got a few weeks off and couldn't imagine not spending it with my love!" Though I was trying to be reserved and controlled, I couldn't help but lean in to peck at her cheek for a kiss.

Her tongue flicked a bit, the forked tip slapping at my cheek before she pulled back a bit more and cocked her head to the side. After blinking, she gaped her maw open a bit to give me a good look at the dilated windpipe and glistening folds of her gullet flesh as her entire body heaved with her rapid breaths of excitement; she knew I loved that view. "But...but now that you're here we can...I can take you on a tour and introduce you to the new hires and..." she paused for a bit, only to stop and lean in close, nibbling at my neck in excitement, a dozen kisses all over me. "Oh Ceylon, it's been too long! Don't leave me again, Life just hasn't been as good with you gone!"

"Don't worry, dear." I assured her with a gentle coo, daintily stepping out of her coils to pull her back into the corner where her bed lay. I could feel her entire body writhing and trying to get a better hold of me, with folds of her body cradling my belly and every muscle in her body twitching in waves to give me a massage; I absolutely loved it, but I was keen on getting comfortable and not making a mess of the middle of the room. Once I'd lugged her body over to the corner where she had a little hut and that comfortable bit of bedding, I flopped over onto my side and let myself get lost in the writhing mass of her body. "I am here for a while now."

She relaxed a bit, her body melting off mine as her coils fell around me with sections of her squeezing around my torso and her head wrapped lightly around my neck. "How long?" She asked, right into my ear.

"As of right now I've got a few weeks off, so I'm going to be using that to the best of my abilities. I do have to go back to work at the end of the month but I'm going to try and set things up so I can spend half my time here and half my time there." I wasn't sure she'd like that answer, but it was the best I could do at the time with what I did and did not know. I could feel her body tensing around me, her scales and muscles shifting under my belly and squeezing my ankles and around the base of my tail for balance; I could tell she wasn't thrilled, but she was pretty smart and wasn't the type to whine.

With another deep hug, she squeezed me tight and nuzzled up under my chin, gently parting her lips to smother my beak in a full kiss - one that could easily be seen as the precursor to swallowing me. When she pulled away, she flicked her tongue at me and faked a smile. "Well alright then. I guess your enterprise is pretty important to you, isn't it?"

I nodded with a solemn gaze. "It is. But nothing will compare to you, I just know that I have to make sure the labs are established before I leave it in the hands of those I trust. Once it's all set up and autonomous I can spend more time with you, but until then I have to divide my attention." I could see her eyes losing a bit of their shine, so I explained. "Leera, darling, we've been together many, many years. I don't think being away for a bit is going to kill us. We're not parting ways any time soon."

Her sad demeanor melted away as she smiled, knowing that I wouldn't ever leave her. "Alright, alright. So how long do you think it will take to establish NoThEn Labs so you can spend more time with me? That is what you called it, right? You know how hungry I get for gryphon flesh and nobody satisfies that hunger like you." Her lips curled up in a devious smirk, eye slits narrowing.

"Yes, dear. I know. And I guess it would be a couple years before it's stable enough that I can leave for long stretches of time without the labs losing its direction. Right now, I get a week or two at a time, and in that time I can come and-" I stopped mid sentence, clicking my beak shut as I came to realize she didn't want to talk about the logistics of my coming and going. "You know what? Let's not talk about me, I wanna hear about you! How have you been in the past year or so? I see the Vore House is coming along very well! Last time I saw things weren't going so well; what changed?"

She paused for only a moment before sensing that I was trying to avoid talking about my other job, then she took over, loosening her coils a bit while still keeping a firm grip around my neck and shoulders for warmth and comfort so that she could look me in the eyes. "Well, a lot has happened since last time you were here, helping out. We fired our last directors, they just weren't helping to get the word out at all. For many months we waited for them to make progress, but nothing came of it so we moved on; that's when I met Foxifly - the hybrid you saw as you came in. At first she just wanted to see what the house was like as a patron, but her knowledge of our craft and desire to help us out ended up convincing me that maybe she'd be a valuable asset."

I stroked her neck, relishing the feel of her scales as she spoke, keeping touch with her. "So she came to be eaten, ended up offering her services? Nice. What's she like on a personal level? I've talked to your groundskeeper and Theo both and they both say she's kinda weird but nice; I trust your judgment above all else, though."

Leera rolled her eyes with an exasperated hiss. "Oh, she's wonderful. I agree she can be a little strange at times, but I think that's most just because her voice and eyes are a little buggy. She is a fox and moth hybrid, after all." She leaned in close to me and whispered into my ears, tickling the feathers there. "I think there's much, much more to her than she lets on, but I don't want to pry too deep into her mind, so if you wanted to do that for me I'd be okay with that." After pulling away, she winked at me.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, not sure how to respond otherwise.

She slithered off me, pulling every coil away from my body to pull it up into a ball on her bedding, half in her sleeping box. "Well, I can't be sure, I don't know the details, but when I'm around her I feel a far greater presence, like her mind is linked to another, powerful being. It's not any of us, I know that, but I can't figure out who or what it is that she's linked to. Those Antennae of hers are broadcasting and receiving something, but I don't know what."

I gape-grinned at her, eager to learn more about Foxifly. "Sounds like a mystery. You know, you could pry into her mind if you really wanted, find out for sure what's going on with her. If you're so curious, why not go that route? I know you don't like messing with people's thoughts, but if she's got you this curious, then why not make an exception?"

"Well, there are a few reasons for that. First and foremost, I respect her; she's been wonderful to us since day one and I don't think the house would be the same without her so I really don't want to abuse that level of trust." She explained, slithering off the bedding to the carpeted floor and past the computer desk.

"Okay, that's fair, I can respect that, but what other reasons do you have? You said you have a few and that's only one." I hopped off the bedding to join her when she turned and starred me in the eye, a stone-faced look of sincerity on her.

"She doesn't seem to have a soul, or a mind of her own."

I raised an eyebrow and lowered both ears with a dismissive scoff. "Excuse me?"

"I'm serious, when I tried to delve into her mind I quickly came to realize there's nothing there. There is no mind for me to prod into. Her body is biological - I know from personal experience that it's very real." She offered a sly and seductive grin. "But I sense only the thoughts entering and leaving her body, I can't find her spiritual core."

"Interesting." I mused, rubbing my beak with my talon. "Very much so. Is there a chance it's because she's part insect? I know the bug people are really hard to read if they're part of a subspecies with a hive mind, maybe that has something to do with it? Have you been able to read the mind of a queen nearby?"

She shook her head. "No, nothing like that, I thought of that already!"

"And in the thoughts and mind of what you have been able to read, have you detected even a hint of malice in her? Does she have ulterior motives that she's hiding?" Part of me was reserved and a little concerned, but I trusted Leera's judgment in character above most anyone elses, so I thought it best to ask a few questions and leave it at that.

"No. Not that I can read, anyway. Her thoughts and actions have been pure as far as I can tell."

I shrugged and smiled. "Then leave it be. She's been great for the house thus far, the manor is gorgeous, the grounds are well kept, you seem to be keeping up with demand, and I heard you recently had a grand re-opening! Seriously, congratulations on all of that, and I can sense your happiness caused by it. I knew this project wouldn't be easy, but you've made it work." I stepped up and wrapped my neck around hers, relishing the rubbing of her scales on my feathers, sighing deeply as I did so. "Why dwell on it? We have the power to squash any who oppose us if it turned out she was working against us, so there's no reason to get worked up; just enjoy her presence while it lasts!"

She smiled and nodded, still hooked around my neck. "Yeah, I guess you're right. You usually are. I just can't get it out of my mind, you know? Trust me, next time you spend some time with her, prod at her mind a bit, tell me what you find. You might be surprised."

Given that she was still a little paranoid, I sincerely considered it, but I would wait and see what happened before committing. Still, if she was so worried that Foxifly might be a threat, it was worth looking into. "Of course. But for now, tell me about all the things that have changed. Take me on a tour, Leera! The manor feels like a whole new world to me and you are my ambassador!" I offered one light peck to her muscled cheek before hopping away out of striking range. "Let's go for a walk!"

The tension in her body could be seen through her scales as she was not ready to let this line of discussion drop, but she trusted me and knew that we would resume the conversation later if she insisted, so she didn't push or force it. Instead, she nodded and smiled, slithering down off the bedding to the floor of the room to join me, her silken form weaving through my four legs to make walking really hard or me. "Up to you, boss." She joked, ensuring her head remained just off the ground beneath mine as we moved together.

Within seconds of exiting her personal chambers, she was already chirping up at me from between my front legs like an eager puppy, telling me about the changes. "Okay, okay, so, I know it might not seem like a big deal to you, but things are very different now and I think it's so much better. As I'm sure you recall, when you were still around and helping out, each of the rooms were specifically set up to be each worker's personal spot. I had a room for work, Yetzer had a room for work, Vinn had a room and Firon had a room and Spike had a room and Jayri had a room and...you get the point. Our original model was more like a traditional brothel, with each of the whores - in this instance, predators or prey - given their workstation and they were in charge of prepping for their guests and cleaning up after."

I nodded, smiling as I looked down at her. "Yes, I remember."

Her tongue flicked and slapped at my beak as she smiled, pulling her body up in a tight zig-zag between my feet since we'd stopped walking. "Good, I'm just starting from the top because I want to make sure we're on the same page before I go on. Anyway, that model worked fine, but prep and clean up were both taking too long. If someone hired Spike and wanted to do a thing where they came upon him in a cave or something, it was either risk doing the scene out back on the grounds or make up one of the rooms like a cavern and let the imagination do the rest. If the weather didn't cooperate, then setup could take a week. If the client had to wait a week, they might get bored and move on, thus impacting our bottom line."

"So you couldn't keep up with demand. Yeah, I knew that." I acknowledged. "But go on."

"Well, once business slowed a bit, our marketing directors all had various levels of cold feet and left us. Our first gave up midway through the contract to offer his services to one of our competitors, the second stuck around but took forever to get anything done, the third said he'd do it but then he tried to alter the contract without telling us first, the fourth disappeared and hasn't been seen in many months, and the last one is still around but from what I've extracted from his mind he plans on selling his contract to Foxifly. Not one of our significant hires stuck around."

I waved my hand a bit. "And what does this have to do with The House and how awesome it is now?" I wasn't frustrated, but she promised me tales of awesomeness, not whining about failed previous contracts.

"Sssorry." She hised in shame. "But I'm pretty much there. With all of them gone and our inexperience in business, things went downhill. Then, Foxifly showed up seemingly out of nowhere around the same time my daughters showed up!"

"Wait, what?" I interrupted. "We have kids, now? What did you do, Leera? You know the rules concerning our kind!"

She rolled her eyes and slid up my leg to give my neck a bit of a reassuring squeeze. "Relax, it's not that. They're from a past life of sorts. They're not yours, they're a product of my own experimentation with a saurossin. Don't worry too much about it. Anyway, Anax and Cero both showed up with an eagerness to help out right after Foxi helped restructure."

"Wait, hold up again. Who showed up first? You just said-"

"Let me finish, dear. You know how much you hate it when people interrupt you, so don't do it to me. Agreed?" She scolded, eyes narrowed and pupils constricted into tight slits.

I scoffed at myself, knowing she was right and I was in the wrong. "Okay, go on."

"Good. Anyway, Foxifly showed up first - we call her Foxi - and my daughters showed up mere weeks later to see the prototype of her work. What we had done with her influence was change up the room structure from being worker operated to elemental or thematic. As you know, there are ten rooms on the top floor, nine rooms on the main floor, and eight rooms underground, which we turned into thematic or scene-specific locales."

"Wait, how many?" I asked, confused as I tried to remember how many there had been prior.

"Yeah, ten up on the top floor. Four natural themed rooms, four artificial themed rooms, my office, and Yetzer's office. What's so hard to understand about that?" She slithered ahead and turned around, coiling up in a pile with her head poking out the top as she grinned at me. "You're not going soft in the head, are you?"

"N-no, not at all. I just don't remember there being that many rooms. Thought there were, like, twice that many." I may have been wrong, but it had been nearly a year since I'd last thought about it.

"We broke down some walls for the sake of our updated goals. Now, here's the key to this whole endeavor: the manor is symmetrical, with the north and south half being identical in structure. The north half - the portion I call my own - is all made up of natural settings like forests and plains and jungles and stuff. Four on the top floor, four on the main floor, and four underground. The south half - Yetzer's half - is all artificial locales like a lab, a classroom, a kitchen, a stage, and a dungeon. Each room is outfitted with all the props needed to make the scene seem real, and we went so far as to use my highly advanced biological magic to make everything real."

My ears flattened to the skull hearing that. "Leera, what did you do this time? You know messing around with biological magic is to only be applied to our own bodies, not to be used for-"

"Don't give me that nonsense, Ceylon. I know you used magic to convince investors to give you money for NoThEn." She winked, then flicked her tongue. "So I'll just move on and ignore your comment, mmkay?"

"Sure. Fine." I said through gritted beak.

"Good. So, on the top floor here on my side, we have four tree-rich biomes with actual trees that have roots contained in the dirt with a special material used to repel them from intertwining with the other rooms. Here we have the forest room, the jungle room, the cliffside room, and the shroom room. Yes, we actually cultivated real tree-sized fungus to make up an outlandish biome from only a few of the Ijimulian archipelago. Cool, right?"

I nodded slowly in agreement as she used her tail tip to open the door, giving me a view of the shroom room. Inside, I could see a series of about a dozen 'fungal trees', with trunks made of mushroom material that had moss crawling up them and the bulk of their top made of the cap of orange and purple. There was a tiny pond in the middle, thick moss everywhere, and the walls appeared to be painted and textured to make the whole room seem bigger and more vast than it actually was, a feat considering each of the rooms had to be 20x25 meters.

"Impressive." I mused with a smile on my beak. "Are all of the rooms like this?"

"Yeah, all of the natural ones, anyway. We got Foxifly to personally design and paint each of the walls before we grew our fauna to fill the room. Forest, Jungle, Meadow, and all that each have their own complete functional ecosystem unique to one another, with bugs and all the amenities." She quickly closed the door as she spoke. "Which means we can't leave the doors open for long. Don't want the aromas mixing. The Shroom Room gets really strong if you stay in there too long."

"I can imagine."

"So yeah, no magic used in the maintenance of each room, just pure knowledge and understanding of the natural world. Since Yetzer and I don't do much in terms of playing predator here at The House anymore, we mostly focus on maintenance and research. Vinn helps, Theo does research online, Anax and Cero have been a blessing, and none of it could be possible without Foxi's endless creativity." She paused and gape-grinned back at me. "But let's go see Yetzer's side, I'll show you what we have here." She dove between my legs and slithered past me with ease, forcing me to follow.

After passing both her office and Yetzer's, we made it to the south end of the hall that had what she referred to as the 'artificial' settings. The first one caught my eye and made me well up a bit.

"The Spirit of Dalonia?" I blurted out, grinning at her. "Really? Is that what I think it is?"

"I knew you'd like that! Come here!" She used her tail to open the door.

Inside I was treated to a wonderful memory from a past life. It was a colonian pirate ship, the infamous Spirit of Dalonia that she and I had co-captained centuries prior. From the door, a ramp leading up to deck and what appeared to be a 50% scaled model of the ship itself from corner to corner, including what I imagined was one deck below and a ceiling painted to look like the mast and sails. This was a memory of quite possibly my favorite life of the dozens I'd lived, and Leera knew this. "It's wonderful! Seriously! You remembered how to build much of it from scratch?"

She shook her head and slowly closed the door. "Actually, no. Not memory, I swam to the depths themselves to retrieve it about six months ago. I braved the monsters of the deep to bring it back to the surface and restore it, altering it as needed to make it fit in the room."

I could feel my heart jumping into my throat so I swallowed it down before pulling her in for a hug. "That's kind of awesome, Leera. It really is, but I have to ask," I pulled away and licked one of the tears off the cusp of my beak. "Why didn't you ask for my help? The ocean is one place even we're not fully safe. If one of the creatures of the deep sought you out, you might very well have not come back from it and I couldn't imagine a life without you."

Leera flicked her tongue and hissed a time with a smile before striking for a kiss at my cheek followed by a gentle nuzzle. "Don't worry about me, Cey. I know what my capabilities are. I enlisted the help of Olfrin and Venosa, since they're the only ones I feel comfortable with exploring the depths. You're great, but kinda useless underwater."

I nodded in complete agreement. "Won't argue with that."

"Plus you were just on the verge of your big break in Yelfrit. I was totally going to give you an electronic mail telling you my plans, but I didn't want to get you too worried so I just went out and did it myself." She pulled back so that her head was again resting on one of the coils of her body. "Sorry if that upsets you, I promise I didn't mean for that to be the case."

"What? Why would that offend me? Mostly I'm just surprised you call it electronic mail. Where I'm from we call it e-mail! Get with the times, girl!"

She hissed at me. "I'm still getting used to it, I'll catch up eventually." She paused and turned, slithering down the hallway towards the south spiral stairs. "So other rooms on the south half, top floor, include the following. Classroom B-16 is just a classroom with chairs and a chalkboard and all that. Nothing special. Vinn's Lab is up here, that's not only where he does much of his research but also doubles as a place to experiment and use potions on guests. Finally, a simple apartment with a bedroom and a living room. Simple stuff, really."

I caught up to her and leaned into her, giving her a nuzzle and a kiss before diving down the stairs first. My burst of energy and affection was meant to tell her how I appreciated her moving on, but I wasn't sure if that worked, so I waited at the bottom of the stairs with tail up and mouth agape in a grin. "So what's here?"

She slithered down one step at a time, her body melting into the angular edges of each castle wall. "On the south side, we have Kit's Kitchen - Literally our kitchen that has also been outfitted for vore scenes and fantasies. The Stage is for plays with an audience, or maybe a magic show where the pred makes the prey disappear. You know how it is. There's also Olfrin's Aquarium, which is basically just a big underwater cavern, then there's our free room."

"Free room?" I asked, curiosity piqued by that.

"Yeah, it's just an empty room. While we've covered most of the settings and scenarios inside here that our clients could think up, sometimes a customer comes up with something wholly original, and we have to accommodate with the free room. It's whatever your imagination can conjure up! Anyway, underground are the final four artificial settings: a dungeon, a temple, an office, and a club. Wait, no, that's wrong. The office is upstairs and the lab is downstairs. Because why not?"

"Did you recently change or something? Is that the cause of the confusion?"

"Yeah, we just recently made a few adaptations and Vinn wanted his lab downstairs. It was upstairs and the office setting was in the basement, but that didn't make sense. Over on my side, we arranged things so that the wide open plain areas like the tundra, savannah, desert, and cave system were all in the underground region. More room means more freedom and a more vast experience. We also focused all the water-based settings on the main floor so that the water overflow can be drained directly into the moat. There we have the water room, the beach room, the swamp room, and the meadow room with a pond and stream running through it."

I had noticed she was running through her explanations a bit faster than before, so I had to ask. "Hey, any reason you're rushing through all this? I find this exciting, why skim past the details?"

She kept ahead of me, slithering while glancing back over her shoulder to guide me to the grand hall, where she went to the backdoor that led to the courtyard. "Because I still have so much to show you, and it's getting dark. Foxi said she'd meet me at sundown and I'd love to make sure I catch up with her so I can introduce you." Her tail coiled around the door and pushed it open, revealing the vastness of the courtyard before us.

From high in the sky the manor seemed small, and even from ground level it seemed average, but standing there under the stone arch way of the castle doors that led to the courtyard I came to remember just how big it all was. The courtyard itself had to be easily a hundred meters wide and long, with an elevated balcony lining the outer walls between the courtyard and the castle walls. I knew from my time here in the past that the walls were filled with halls, a perfect square with a drawbridge at the back that led to the natural grounds.

"This is where I like to spend my days when I'm not in the office." She announced as she slithered between my legs, down the stairs, and into the courtyard. The tip of her tail cradled my loins and prodded under my tail before she got too far away. "Care to join me?"

The sun had set and the full moon cast its light on the courtyard to illuminate the flower petals and dust in the air, creating a serene scene. Honestly, it seemed odd to me that the sun had set in what couldn't have been an hour, but I did know that by the time I'd arrived in Klyneth it was already evening before I ever made it to the Vore House, so it made sense. Though my thoughts were rambling on in my head, I eventually shook them away and decided to enjoy the moment for what it was by following her down the path.

"Of course! Why would I say no to a wonderful night with a sultry snake?" A set of stairs led from the door of the main hall and onto a platform, which in turn hosted stairs that led up to the balcony and down to the bed of the courtyard. Before us, two tiny rectangle ponds lay still with lily pads floating on the surface, perfectly representing the serenity of the courtyard. "But I do have to ask, where is everyone else? Since I've been here, I've only seen the groundskeeper, Theo, and yourself. Not that I mind, at least I got to see you, but it is a little unnerving."

She pulled her body up into a ball in front of me, assuming her typical position with her chin resting on one of her coils as she looked at me. "They're all busy, you see. Spike and Firon are both with prey underground at the moment and their scenes are scheduled to last for another day or two. Vinn is probably in his lab with Anax or Cero, and of those two, whichever one's not with Vinn is probably doing a scene as well. People are busy, we're very busy here." She smiled and nodded.

I did the same before stepping up to her and hopping up so that my front legs were cradled over her body with her head between them looking up at me. "I'm glad to hear that. So does that mean we're free to do whatever we want without worry of being caught?" My tail swished wide behind me and my feathers stood on end as I thought about all the kinky things she and I could do to catch up on sixteen months apart. Only four more and it would have been a full year.

With a flick of her tongue slapping at me beak, she leaned in and pressed her lips to my cheek, using that tongue to prod within my maw. "Who cares if they watch? This place is as much a brothel as it is a House of Vore; sensuality is part of the package." With that, her tail looped around to slither backwards up my hind leg, the tip of it prodding at my loins to coax a shudder and a wink from me.

I nuzzled back, purring at her as I did so while my tail lifted up high to expose my pussy lips. Though I'd been hoping for some fun all day, I was still mostly dry because I was more interested in cuddling and reacquainting myself with her before anything like this happened. Most of the time, she wasn't in the mood so we just didn't get all that intimate beyond a coil and a snug or a nuzzle, so this was quite the pleasant surprise. I wasn't complaining, that's for sure!

"Ssso, what do you want to do to me, Ceylon?" She asked, hissing into my ear as her tongue flicked, tickling the light feathers there. "Or what do you want me to do to you? Sixteen months, and I've been too focused on work to seek out partners. I could really use the release of tension, you know." Her entire body shifted and slid against itself, each of her coils splaying out and flattening on the ground beneath me as her head stayed in place. Out of the corner of my eye I could see her slit, exposed and pink under the dark browns of her body.

Despite having rehearsed the sexy things I would say when presented with an opportunity, my mind went blank. I had no idea how to respond to her or what to do at that time, I just wanted to bury every part of me in any part of her. I hadn't been consumed in a very long time, and I didn't trust others to do it when I was in Yelfrit so I didn't bother indulging that part of me. As such, I kept my eyes locked on hers as I reached down, grabbing the part of her body where it met the base of her tail, wrapping my claws around it and giving it a gentle prod with my thumb claw. "Just, you know, I'm sure we could figure something out." I said with a dumb smile on my beak.

As I spoke and lightly kneaded at her loins, I felt the very tip of her tail peeling my pussy lip to the side, a cool draft of air lightly blowing over my moist flesh in such a way that it made me giggle a bit. "Well...alright then." I said, arcing my spine and spreading my wings a bit. "If that's what you want to do, I won't stop you." My clit winked and my loins squeezed tight, forcing the air out with a juicy squelch before relaxing and gaping wide, eager to host as much of my lover as I could. I knew that she wasn't much for being inside others in any way, but I was her one exception and if she was willing to play with me in such a way, I'd be proud to let her explore me freely.

"It's not about what I want, Cey, it's about what I know you love." She pushed her cheek past mine to hook around my neck, her muscular form giving me a nice squeeze to pin me down against her coil as her tail continued to prod under my tail. To an outsider, her tensing muscles and my splayed wings would have made it look like she was constricting me, but my tail was up and my back was raised high with my hind legs parted, pussy lips soaking wet and dripping arousal down the many bumps and ridges of her scales.

My eyes rolled back in my head as I managed to grunt and whimper against the pressure of her single coil, hips lowering to grind and gyrate on the tip of her tail. I wanted her inside me, and had no better way to communicate that without outright asking for it, and nothing ruined the mood like begging for certain types of affection. Luckily, she picked up on my subtle demands and immediately pushed her tail up into me, the end of it curling just inside my folds to caress that sensitive spot just in past my winking clit.

The pressure from her tail made me shudder as a gush of fluids from deep within me burst out, cascading over her tentacley appendage and splashing on the ground behind me. The juicy ejaculate soaked my lips and tailhole before dribbling down my lips and over her scales. I winked my clit again, clenching as tight as I would go to put pressure on her invading tendril, only to have her resist and push in even farther, the very tip plunging through my depths and into my womb through my open cervix.

"Oh my, Ceylon; have you been saving yourself for me?" She asked, whispering directly into my ear. She knew that, as part equine, my cervix would close after only one powerful penetration, thus locking it off from other partners. It was an evolutionary adaptation borne of a mare's nature in herds, wherein she'd mate with the stallion of her choice, then have all the other stallions take turns after the womb had closed up so they all thought the offspring was theirs. A silly, feral adaptation, but it had its place in someone like me, such as indicating how long it had been since I'd last felt a cock that deep inside me.

I didn't answer her, as I felt that would devalue the truth. Instead, I simply grunted and pushed down harder, eager to feel more of her snaking its way into me. The girth of her tail spread me out, the taper and her powerful muscles allowing her to ease herself in deeper. Just then, as I was about to pull off and get her to thrust back in, I felt the tip of her tail curl into a knot deep within me, forming an anchor against the inside of my cervix before pulling more of herself into me. The tension of her muscles pressed her scales out against my slick, quivering walls, my muscles weakening against the strength of her body. I quickly gave into her desires, relaxing wholly so that my belly flopped down on her coils; I was willing to let her have her way with me however that might be.

Before I could tell her this or whisper sweet nothings at her, she squeezed my body with her folded coils, holding me in place and flipping me over and slamming me onto my back in the nest of her body. My head came to rest on her coils as she hovered over me, her forked tongue flicking intermittently over my beak, slapping her saliva all over me to distract me from the slowly shifting mass all around me that served to drive more of her tail even deeper into my loins.

My breaths started to grow ragged and short, heart fluttering like the wings of a bee within me. "L-Leera, I...Skies above don't stop." I whimpered at her, struggling to release my front talon from her coils to caress her cheek and chin, her tail tensing and pumping in and out of me while the tip hooked on my cervix to hold it in place. I could feel my flesh distending, stretching wide and quivering with each of her subtle motions accented by a wave of her muscles to deep within my womb. In theory her tail wasn't unique or special, nor was it particularly thick compared to what I'd hosted within me, but lifetimes together had taught her exactly what it was I liked and she was using that knowledge to rub exactly the way I liked it on my most sensitive parts.

Her tail thrust in wavelike contractions, slithering back and forth within me to give the illusion of a thrust while just waggling from side to side, the glorious texture of scales pressing out against my pussy walls the ultimate form of pleasure. Though I was trying my best to be reserved, not wanting to cry out in pleasure at the expert manipulation of my loins, I couldn't help but curl my toes, arch my back, and let me depths give way to one splash after another of my feminine ejaculate. Though my sense of smell wasn't particularly strong compared to the mammals of this land, even I felt my nares overwhelmed by the thick pheromone rich scent of my own arousal.

Leera nuzzled into me, rubbing her chin against the hand I used to cradle it as her tongue flicked at the air. She chuckled a bit at my shameless release, raising her snout to the air as if she was sniffing like a dog trying to catch a scent. "What's this? Is someone letting themselves go? Seems a bit out of character to let someone take you like this." She said with a wink and another powerful wave of muscle contractions that traveled down her body and ended up deep within my womb. "Of course, if you're in a submissive mood, you know what that means, right?"

"Mmhmm!" I whimpered as my beak clamped shut and every muscle in my legs stiffened. "I do." I didn't, but she didn't need to know that. All I could think about was how tender her tail was making my loins, and how loose I was allowing them to grow. Normally I'd tighten up, clench hard to please my partner and farther feel what they had to offer, but with Leera I could relax and let her pound me into submission and I never had to push back. This was a perfect example of her tail fucking me raw and sloppy, so much so that my legs were pedaling in the air, kicking at nothing.

Another powerful gush of my arousal spurted out from between my lips and the bulge of her tail with an audible squelch. This seemed to make her pause for a moment, as the slimy mess from my loins must have been gumming up her coils. It was only then that she pecked me on the end of the beak and twisted her neck, widening her maw to smother my face! She gave only a gentle squeeze for her teeth to lock into place at the soft flesh around my beak before flicking her tongue at me, gullet opening up before me to give a look down the tunnel of her throat. The cherry pink of her depths was so inviting, even if I wasn't completely sure I was ready for that just yet.

As she leaned into me, lower jaw extending up to smother the other side of my face, I felt her tail relax and pull out of me, leaving me loose and gaping as its tip tugged on my lip, then eventually slid up to caress my clit and yank away. My depths slapped shut with a guttural squelch in her tail's absence, leaving me to clench my muscles and force out the mix of lube and air from within me. My toes were still curling in delight as pangs of pleasure shot up and down my spine, aftershocks of climax still rattling through my body.

Leera had me mapped out so well that once she got me to climax - my first gushing orgasm - she kept me there for as long as she wanted, making it seem like a plateau of pleasure that never dissipated. Even once her maw was wrapped tight around my head, threatening to pull me into her gullet, I couldn't help but twitch and constrict my pelvic muscles in anticipation.

Then, from afar, I heard a raspy voice. "So that's what it's like? To be consumed by one who loves you. Very interesting."

Leera gaped her maw open, teeth peeling away from my feathers to leave me coated in saliva and confused. She gave a quick yawn to adjust her jaw bones as her whole body gave a squeeze of surprise. "Foxifly, what are you doing here?" She asked, looking up to the raised balcony that surrounded the castle courtyard. Sitting on the railing was Foxifly, nude and smoking from an extended pipe cigarette, tiny wisps of smoke billowing up around her into the pale glow of the night.

I twisted in place to get a better look at her, eventually finding myself with belly down and rump end up with much of the weight of Leera's coils weighing my torso down, bowing down my spine. My first reaction would normally have been to call out and say something, to complain about how she'd interrupted a wonderfully intimate moment I was having, but instead all I could focus on was just how stunned I was by her presence. I hadn't thought about it earlier because my mind was focused on seeing Leera again, but even with the knowledge of Foxifly's lack of an essence, I wasn't prepared for how empty she felt.

For the first time in my life, I found myself unable to telepathically read her. This upset me.

The buggy fox smiled and flicked her smoke. "What do you mean? I told you I'd meet you in the courtyard after dark, didn't I? Well, here I am, I was wondering if you wanted to have that meeting now. Are you done with her?" She asked, pointing to me.

As she spoke, I tried harder to have my mind prod into hers, eager and desperate to find out just what she was or why Leera was unable to read her. Despite focusing as hard as I could, all I could feel was the slight wisps of thoughts coming and going, with her antennae as the broadcasters and receptors. I stared directly up into her finely compounded eyes, and I could see the shifting mass of black behind them focusing on me as she took another drag. Before saying anything, I clawed and scraped at Leera to escape her coils, getting on all fours beside her with my hind legs weak from the aggressive nature of my many orgasms.

"Foxifly, darling, I'm curious to know, what brings you here?" I asked, preening the messed up feathers of my wing.

"Didn't Leera just ask me that? I said I'm here to conclude our meeting. We were discussing the status of The Vore House and how I can help to farther get your name out there. I just couldn't bare to interrupt your intimacy, at least not until I was sure it was going farther than I'd expected. Sorry about that." She hopped down off the ledge, her gossamer wings emerging and helping her gently descend. "Sincerely, I didn't mean to ruin your mood, I'm just fascinated by the love you two share. It's far deeper than what I've seen in others, and certainly more physical than I've experienced myself."

I shook my head and glanced over to Leera, who was now bundled up in a series of tight coils next to me, her tongue flicking intermittently. Her mind was broadcasting thoughts to me, questions of Foxifly's nature and wondering if I felt it, too, or if I felt the lack of anything from her. I did, so I nodded and confirmed before looking back to the fox moth character. "Yes, we've enjoyed quite a life together."

"Many lives." She corrected me with a kind smile. "You've been together a lot longer than you'd like for others to know. Don't worry, I'm not going to tell everyone, but I can sense you might be as old as I am." Foxifly mused, taking another puff of her smoke. "And in all my years, I've never met someone as in love as you two. I could feel it, in Leera, in my months of working here that she longed for someone, and I can now tell it was you, Ceylon. Congratulations."

Leera inched her head forward out of her coils to talk, but I stepped up as well, interrupting her. "Foxifly, or Foxi - whichever you prefer - I have to admit I'm quite curious to know more about you. You've got me quite off guard in more ways than one, and that just doesn't happen to me. Above all else I'd like to politely request you leave Leera and I alone to finish our personal time, but at on the other wing I'm very, very interested in you."

"Alright. I have no qualms with this, but I'm not sure what's so special about me that requires you make a big deal out of asking. Leera can confirm that in my time with her I've been quite open about myself, my intent, and desire to help. I love art, I love what you're doing here, and I want to be a part of it, but I fear that I may always be an outsider, so I'm very curious what makes you so curious about me. Ask me anything, and I'll happily answer." She smiled and shrugged with a nonchalant glance. If not for her compound eyes and her apparent lack of soul, I'd have assumed nothing was afoot and left it that that.

But she was different. I needed to understand why. There wasn't a mystery in this world I hadn't solved, and I didn't plan on starting now.

However, Leera laughed. "Oh Ceylon, stop being so dramatic." She lashed at me with her tail.

"I'm not being dramatic, I'm just curious. There's something different about Foxifly and I want to know what it is." I turned to look at the hybrid and bowed as respectfully as I could. "My dear, I confess, when I meet a new person I always delve into their mind to instantly discover their motives and the nature of their soul. I link myself to all I've ever been close to so that I may never be shocked or surprised by their presence, but I can't do that with you. I don't feel your essence, your soul, or your mind. I'd normally not divulge this information with anyone aside from the few closest to me, but you have certainly piqued my curiosity. So tell me, what allows you to completely block my telepathy?"

She stepped in closer, a smirk on her face. Not a devious one, but almost bashful. "I can't block your telepathy as far as I am aware, you're just not aiming it in the right place. You see, I'm not actually here, I am very far away and the link to my true form requires so much energy that I couldn't hope to interfere with the abilities of another. I can, however, read true power when I feel it. Ceylon, I bow to thee." She got down on one knee and crossed her arm over her chest, antennae down and tail out rigid behind her. "I suspected I was in the presence of gods when I met Leera, but I am sure of it now."

Leera and I glanced at one another, eyes squinting as my ear and her tail both flicked at the same time. I stepped over to Foxifly and looked down at her, using my tail to raise her chin so that she looked me in the eyes. "You have a whole lot of questions to answer, my friend. Got some time?"

"For you? Of course! But I'd rather not have this discussion here in the courtyard. Who knows who might be sitting on a balcony listening in. You have your secrets, I have my secrets, and while I'm happy to share with you, there are others I'd rather not involve. Deal?"

"Deal." Leera and I both nodded and made our way down the path to the drawbridge at the back of the castle, guiding Foxifly along with us as we passed the moat and headed to the many biomes of the back lot.

That night had only just begun, and I had quite the eye opening experience ahead of me.