FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Can you believe you're going on your honeymoon?" Kaylee tipped her head to the side, peering over at the familiar, red-headed panda in the passenger seat to her right. Skye looked back at her, shaking her head instantly, "No! I can't even believe I'm married! I'm a WIFE!"

"MY WIFE!" Nick chimed in from the back seat, leaning up slightly into the space of the middle console so the two girls wouldn't leave him out of the conversation. They both snickered at him while Skye leaned over, nuzzling the soft fuzz of her muzzle into his cheek before she pressed a short kiss onto the corner of his mouth. "Can you believe we're hopping on a plane now?"

Nick shook his head, settling back into the car seat with a long exhale. "No! All that planning and suddenly it's just... over. Now we just go on a vacation and then what?"

"Well, typically then you fuck till there's a baby and then you just work till you die!" Kaylee interjected, giving Nick a quick look in the rearview mirror, flashing his a fang-filled smirk. He deadpanned a stare back at the leopardess. "You are just always a ray of sunshine in the face of domestic life, aren't ya?"

"What can I say? I was made for travel and wild sex with all the world's women- you wouldn't understand."

"Hey now! I'd rather he didn't understand the desire to sleep with all sorts of women!" Skye smacked at her friend, leaning over the console to poke the side of her muzzle. "Now stop torturing him or he'll be all grumpy for the friggen' 18 hour flight!"

"Wow, long ways..." Kaylee let out a little whistle, pulling the car smoothly onto the next highway towards the airport exits.

"Yeah... which is why we're grateful for not adding a long, expensive Uber ride in the front of it." Skye gave Kaylee a look with pouted lips and round eyes which silently told her, "so thank you for driving us. You're amazing. I love you for it," but without a word, because that's the kind of friends they were.

"Or paying for parking!" Skye made a sound in the back of her throat not unlike someone would if they'd stumbled onto a beheaded kitten. She didn't like paying for parking. Nick laughed, giving her shoulder a soft touch. "And thanks for watching the house, at least until you leave. It's nice to know the plushies won't be alone for as long."

Kaylee flashed him a sharp stare. "You know I hate those dang plushies! Five Nights at Freddy's is creepy! Why make little stuffed animals from it!? THEY WATCH ME!"

"It's the price of staying at the apartment..." Skye sighed out, shaking her head. "Better than a hotel right?"

"It's a fair trade.... Barely," Kaylee conceded, rounding towards the drop-off point of the airport though now a long string of cars was slowing in front of them, all queueing up for the same drop-off dance.

"And you're going where again?" Nick asked Kaylee, looking at her in the mirror.

"Landing in Kanchenjunga, India... but I'm not staying there. I already spent a month there when I was traveling before, this time is for seeing the rest of the country, but that's where my flight worked to start in. From there, I'll meet up with my group-"

"It'll be almost as exciting as our trip!" Skye interjected, squealing a little as she gathered her things into her hands, silently checking that she hadn't set some essential down in the car to leave behind.

"Oh it will be..." Kaylee nodded, agreeing just as she pulled up towards the curb. The car settled into park with a slight rocking motion before all three doors popped open and the passengers and driver alike came stumbling out.

"You better take care of her," Kaylee mumbled into Nick's shoulder, giving the human full, furry hug as her tail smacked against his back and her arms squeezed tight. "She's bound to get you into trouble! But that's your problem now!"

"I accept the responsibility!" Nick chuckled, pulling back and collecting his bag as Kaylee moved to Skye, bending close and leaving a warm, big kiss against the girl's cheek. For a moment, Skye's familiar smell of fruit shampoos and the lingering sugary tinge of her kitchen time hit the leopardess, filling her with a wave of nostalgia and a pang of comfort. "You better be ready for emails and letters and video calls and postcards and everything this time..." Kaylee mumbled, touching the panda's hip softly. "I'm going to send you so many pictures-"

"You'd better! I don't know when you're coming back to us!" Skye's eyes softened slightly, staring at her friend. "You're not going to ignore me? Even if you're hooking up with some tantalizing french thing?"

"I promise I will call and tell you all about it... I'll feed your inner lesbian-"

"Good because otherwise she just... has to live off anime!" Skye gave her friend one more hug, squeezing her with one arm as she heaved her bag onto the other. "And when you're back stateside, you better come visit."

"This will be my first stop! Now go! Go! Safe travels! Don't miss any flights!" Kaylee waved them away from the car, shutting up the trunk and clamoring back into the driver's seat as they walked, hand-in-hand towards their check-in.

Skye leaned into Nick's shoulder, clearly babbling away as he squeezed around her fingers and listened with her tail counting beats on his knees as it swung and smacked into him and her hair tangled and shed against his shirt sleeve. Kaylee felt a familiar pang as Skye's smell hung around her, in the car and on her shirt, at the sight of the pair.

"Could that have been me?" She thought, speaking into the emptiness of the car, though the thought didn't make her as sad as she thought it might, instead she just felt a bit jealous-- not of Nick, but of the feeling.

Junior year, it wouldn't have been an alien idea to her that she and Skye would go off on a honeymoon someday, going hand-in-hand to the gate for their flight and whispering about plans. "If I had just... had my shit together..." She thought, but the next thought didn't wait a second, "But then she wouldn't be with Nick and a perfect pair would have... slipped through the cracks-"

Her lips curled up with a smile, knowing a bit reluctantly that Skye and Nick were two people who couldn't be better off with anyone else. Would she and Skye have been happy? Oh yes, but as happy and her and Nick? Maybe not.

She felt a rush of happiness for her friend as she pulled back into the hurried flow of traffic, starting to reminisce about their time in college with a happy, nostalgic pang on her heart while she drove in silence to their apartment. Though, memories of the past gave way into musing about the future and her upcoming trip: India. It was a big ticket item that she'd been eagerly preparing for around the wedding, pondering stops and stories and people to find, photos to take.

Her mind started to rush with excitement, though she still had three days before her flight.

"What am I going to do stateside for three days?"

Then, as thought prompted, the heft of a little piece of paper tucked into the back pocket of her jeans itched at her through the denim. She rocked to a stop at the red light and yanked it out, reading the scrawl of the wolfess she'd met the other day, before the wedding fun had faded.

"Mmm... yes... you..." She murmured, a smirk pulling up onto her face as the light turned green. She hurried to the next intersection, praying for a red so she could yank her phone free and when she could, she tapped rapidly, typing out the number and tapping call-

"Hello?"

"Hey you, remember me?" Skye's voice rasped into the phone, earning her a soft, breathy giggle in response.

"Mmm- distantly... remind me?"

"I will if you're free tonight-"

******

A few hours later, the car had returned to the quiet, dark parking garage on the street level floor of the apartment complex while Kaylee had moved up into Nick and Skye's apartment where the moonlight streamed in through open windows, wafting the cool whispering air of falling night.

Around the dining room was empty plates with only the crusts of bread and small droplets of sauce still shimmering across their white tops. The room was still and quiet. In the center of it all, resting on the countertop was a long, tall bottle of wine with none of the rich, red liquid inside and a tiny bit of it still in the bottom of otherwise emptied glasses waiting by the sink for a time when someone would return to rinse them clean.

For now, Kaylee was done with the kitchen, but not done with Liya.

"Mmm...." Her voice whispered out from under the closed door of the bedroom while her fingertips tightened on the soft, downy fur of the wolf's hips. "I only got a little sample of you at the wedding, you know... I want it all now."

The wolf gave a soft giggle, giving a wiggling shake of her hips to pull away from the leopardess, making Kaylee step after her, fingers only able to graze onto the sides of her swaying waist. "Why must you tempt the predator?"

"Oh, foolish Kaylee. I'm a wolf? Do you really think a leopard would win in that competition?"

"Well, why don't we just see?"

Kaylee let out a low growl from the back of her throat, lowering her eyelashes till she only peered out in a heated stare while she started to stalk forward towards the wolfess. Liya grinned back, moving till her thighs bumped into the edge of the bed and stopped her, giving Kaylee time to catch up and slid her fingers up the sides of the girl's frame.

"So, Liya the waitress... tell me about yourself.... You went to college here locally, you majored in philosophy... you want to teach when you're done with your masters... but, the big question: how many times are you going to cum tonight?"

Liya just smirked back, running her fingers down around the leopard's frame, pulling the tight body in closer until their pelvises went flush together and her grip could pull up against Kaylee's rounded ass. "I think," she crooned, running her lips in a lazy pattern up the feline's neck. "That is a question to ask yourself..."

"That is entirely dependant on how long you last-" Kaylee shot back, nipping at the soft scruff of Liya's neck while her fingers started to slide up her soft stomach, trailing through the thick plushy fur that coated the flat expanse of her abs underneath the edges of her top. Her nails traced through the fur, getting to the sensitive skin beneath as her knuckles started to nudge the shirt up higher and higher, revealing that smooth stomach.

Her head tipped, letting her lips press into the soft, curved contours of the other girl's neck. "You know... I am an expert at exhausting my prey-"

"I think..." Liya's voice was raspy and thick as it rolled out into the other girl's ear, followed by the soft nibbling of her teeth along the tender flesh of her ear. "You'll find that my stamina is well above average-"

"Put your money where your mouth is, little girl-" Kaylee let out a rolling purr, sliding a hand up to cup beneath the soft mass of the girl's breast, feeling a bra buffering her touch over the satin barrier. Her finger still found her nipple, teasing it through the material.

"Put your mouth where your fingers is and I will-"

A smirk popped onto Kaylee's face, knowing she'd found a match in this plaything for the night. "As you wish, m'lady-"

******

"Mmm.... What time is it?" A wet tongue lapped against Kaylee's ear, following the sleepy whisper with a zip from the touch. She rolled over in her tangle of sheets until her body nudged into the nude wolf beside her. "I haven't a clue," she growled out, slowly nuzzling her nose into the waitress's ear. "You don't have any work hours today, do you?"

"Late-" A half moan escaped from the wolf's mouth as Kaylee dove beneath the covers, kissing her way in a wobbling line down the length of the other girl's body, searching for the warm slit of her sex with a long, slow lick up its center.

"Oooh.... good morning," Liya pressed her hips up against Kaylee's mouth, eagerly accepting the spreading licks down her cunt. The leopard pushed her thighs further apart, opening the girl up to her greeting licks, taking her sleepy voice from mumbled greetings to soft, fluttering moans within seconds.

When they finally tumbled out of bed together, Liya's fur was scuffed up and twisted in every direction and Kaylee's muzzle was stained and smeared with drying cum.

"Shower?"

"Oh yeah."

******

"What do you think of this?" Kaylee turned, holding a tunic up to her chest as she presented it to Liya, now freshly showered and with her at the mall. Though they'd lost half their day between the shower and trying to get clothes on because Kaylee couldn't keep herself from toying with the wolfess, but once they were out they were happily shopping for a few last minute additions to Kaylee's travel outfits.

"I love it, but it needs a belt, something to cinch it in, ya know?" Liya reached over, sifting through the nearest rack to fix the issue before they moved on, seemingly platonic friends now as though Liya hadn't left her scent stained Kaylee's fur down her muzzle from the amount of times she came that morning.

The day passed quickly between shopping and eating. When evening fell, Liya headed off to her shift working while Kaylee found herself back at the apartment, raiding the freezer for some of Skye's frozen pasta sauce and meatballs to add to the boiled pasta she could handle cooking and leaning over the laptop, starting up some research and starting up a sort of introduction to her journaling for India.

As night came heavily, Kaylee tucked off for bed and ticked off another day closer to her flight off to India.

******

"You really met your favorite pornstar in London?" Liya laughed, sloshing the wine in her glass towards the side as Kaylee nuzzled into her neck, snickering. "I did, it was crazy! I never thought I would meet her let alone sleep with her..."

"Did you give you any secret tidbits on how to have mind-blowing sex?" Liya leaned in, meeting Kaylee's lips with a wine-tinged kiss.

"Oh, she did... she taught me so much... want a lesson?"

******

"Will you keep in touch, world traveler?" Liya leaned out the car window, meeting Kaylee's lips with a last, smacking kiss.

"I will! I will! I've got your details. I've got my chargers... I'll be good and send messages!" Kaylee heaved up her backpack onto both shoulders and waved her passport in a goodbye. "Keep yourself healthy, waitress girl!"

Liya just laughed, giving her a final little wave before she headed off, leaving Kaylee at the airport to check into her flight off to another continent.

Kaylee headed inside, starting to feel the jittery excitement she felt before every flight. "India, India...." Her fingers rose up, lightly toying with all the charms pierced along her ear, reminding he of everywhere else she'd ever been. The shortest chain around her neck jingled and tickled against the fur there while she'd pulled her long, loose indigo hair up from her face and into a piled bun between her ears.

"I can't wait to get on this plane and sleep..."

******

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the local time is 6:24 here at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, we thank you for choosing us as your airline. We hope you have a wonderful stay here in Delhi, India."

Kaylee's head rose up, eyes groggy but sparkling with the knowledge that she was in a fresh new place. She leaned back in her chair though, stretching out her toes in her boots and letting everyone else rush off the plane, knocking their heads and bags as they went. The leopardess knew that she'd either wait on the plane now or she'd wait out in the airport later because this first day was just a meet up day with everyone flying in and heading to a local, budget hotel to get their bearings in the capital. Tomorrow, when they started to move, the real fun would begin for them.

"Gosh... journalists, historians, researchers... it's going to be such a trip," Kaylee started to grin to herself, tugging her earbud out and tucking everything away into her bag. She took a moment, freeing her slightly curled hair in the fading hue of purple only to finger comb through it and pin it back up atop her head with whispy shapes already sneaking out around her ears and dancing down the side of her head.

She was fidgeting and eager now as the plane reached half capacity and she could slip into the aisle easily, shouldering her backpack. She couldn't wait to get out into the streets and get her stomach full of something exciting before she headed to the hotel to clean up for the meet-and-greet dinner.

Hitting the pavement, the heat hit her in a wave, making Kaylee hugely glad she just wore a loose white button up tied at the waist of high rising shorts with her usual, busted up brown boots that'd seen her over every country so far. Already in her hand she'd obtained a paper container steaming with something fragrant from just inside the airport.

"Oooh, fresh dirt, fresh air..." Her eyes scanned rapidly, searching for the car with the right sign for her: "New Greenwich Information Agency," the group that she traveled with, a sort of organized, peaceful collaboration of people who wanted to travel safely as a way to gather stories, information, photos, whatever. Kaylee hadn't ever gone on one of their trips before, only crashed out one of their station's once in Indonesia, so she didn't know any of the travelers, but that wasn't abnormal for her. She was used to showing up at a country's border with no one and leaving with some numbers she'd never dial.

"That's me!" She bounded up, greeting the driver with a friendly, but brief conversation before she was in the backseat, watching the streets rumble past towards the hotel where a hot shower awaited and stuffing her face with the first of many exciting plates.

******

A steaming shower later with her hair freshly brushed and new clothes donned, Kaylee headed down to the hotel's small meeting room, eager to shake the hands of the some thirty people she'd be intermixing with for the journey.

About half the total was already there when she arrived, something looking haggard from recent landings and others clearly having arrived with enough time for a nap. Kaylee found herself somewhere in between, tired but bright eyed and excited.

"Hi there!" Kaylee turned at the voice, finding herself face to face with a tall human girl with the shoulders of the typical bear anthro. "Hiya! I'm Kaylee-" she shot back, offering up a hand.

"I'm Petra, but most everyone calls me Pete-" The girl laughed and the leopardess realized she had a warm, friendly laugh that would become familiar. "I'm one of the photographers in the group-"

"I'm a journalist, so we should be friends, hey?" Kaylee found herself a drink from a nearby table, chattering now about publications and possible collaborations with the first face she'd found, but the night was young and more introductions were to follow.

"Hello there, you're Kaylee aren't you?"

Kaylee pivoted, surprised to hear her name coming back towards her rather than being given out. As she spun a full circle, she could see a young lion, though his mane was trimmed so short he almost looked a bit androgynous. "Sorry if I spooked you, I just... I've been reading your work for awhile, ever since that piece in Russia?"

"Oh, wow... that's awesome. I don't know if I've ever had someone recognize me?" The leopardess chuckled, holding out a hand. "And you are?"

"Ah jeez, sorry. I'm Rodger," He held out one slender hand, giving Kaylee a gentle squeeze on her palm. "I'm really glad to be working alongside you for this one, I'd love to see how you work a bit. You're part of the reason I majored in journalism-"

"Dang!" Kaylee felt her chest flex out slightly though her cheeks felt a bit warm. "When did you graduate, must have been recently, unless you've been blessed with a forever baby face-" She flashed him a good natured smile, but he chuckled back.

"You're right. I just did. Last December actually, I did the early thing. The parents are supporting me for the half year I got out early to run around and build a portfolio, so I thought I'd try to make the most out of the opportunity-" he blushed slightly, looking a bit awkward down at the glass in his hand. "I probably shouldn't offer that out should I? That'd I'm all supported by my parents?"

Kaylee just laughed, shaking her head and taking a short swig of her drink, some bubbling concoction they passed around. "Maybe not, but I won't tell, okay? And really, it's a great opportunity, you're right. Build some good stories without worrying about selling them, that's a good spot to be in. Have you already made the rounds? I just got here a bit ago-"

Rodger took Kaylee's hand, leading her to meet some of the other faces who arrived early. Already mingling and settling together in a pocket were three of the historians who were already comparing notes for their areas of studies.

"So you're really going to try and nail down the economics of open air markets?" Kaylee leaned in, already immersed in conversation with Professor Stalkton, an older human who was taking a sabbatical from teaching economics to study some in India. His hair was peppered with gray, but his voice was booming with youthful excitement and he was drinking them all under the table already.

"You know, I assume he'd be that daddy-professor if I was straight, am I getting the right vibe?" Kaylee whispered, flashing a devlish grin to the most interesting researcher of the night a young cheetah Kizaa who was usually a sex therapist and sexual health researcher in Cambridge back in Europe, but she'd taken the entire year off to travel around and see what she might be able to put together about world wide sex practices. "Oh he for sure is-" She shot back, flashing some sharp teeth inside a biting smile.

Kaylee already felt her urge to flirt flaring out, but she hadn't even met everyone yet!

"Will you excuse me? I want to try to get everyone's names!" Kaylee slipped away, though Rodger, Stalkton, and a plump, but ever-so-friendly bovine historian who's name was either Rita or Rina, and Kaylee wasn't sure were locked in conversation together. Kaylee had instantly started trying out the nickname spec out on the cow as her glasses were a distinctively dainty size and she'd already asked her twice to saw her name.

"Hi there! I don't believe we've met yet," Kaylee rounded a food table, snagging a small pastry as her eyes raised up to two more faces. One was a dull looking dear who's long hair marked him as either photographer or journalist and the small notepad jutting out of his worn jean pocket tipped him towards the later, but the second had Kaylee rethinking her first hook-up of the trip. The girl was drop-dead gorgeous, but not in a usual way.

She was a griffin, with a small, black beak in place of a muzzle and tall, feathered ears atop her head, but what caught Kaylee's eyes was her slender waist and the sheer intensity of her coloring. She was a pale hue of tan all down her body, but her legs which were bare under a short skirt were sriped with varying hues of coffee brown to her brown sock patterned feet and a massively full tail. "Hello, I'm Kaylee-" She offered a hand to them both, smiling.

"I'm Griff, she's a griffin."

"We were just laughing about that!" The girl let out a chittering laugh like soft bells and Kaylee felt her lady boner growing. "I'm Melody, but everyone calls me Mel-"

"What brings you both to India?" Kaylee nodded down, "I'm under the flying class of journalist."

"Ah, me as well!" Griff instantly sad, nodding to the female. "She's a videographer and photographer, we're thinking we should start up a group thing, Griff and griffin, ya dig?"

"People would die," Kaylee agreed, snickering. "How much stuff did you have to pack for videography here?" She pulled her gaze to the girl, hoping that Griff would shut up and let the girl talk some more so Kaylee would listen to her smooth, lilting lisp.

"Oh, there's a whole drone up in my room, I've got like six cameras and fourteen pairs of panties and nothing else in that bag!"

"What's traveling work if not a bit smelly, right?" Kaylee chuckled, though a soft hand on her shoulder paused their conversation.

"Hi! I'm the director of this trip, my name's Saanvi, though I'm sure you've read my emails enough to know that-" Kaylee turned, eagerly introducing herself to the local ambassador of the trip, the emissary of sorts who would guide them while doing her own work. Saanvi, the chital deer, was local to Delhi, India and was the organizer of the trip.

She was a bit older than the median age, which tended towards younger on these sorts of excursions, but Kaylee could tell the woman was passionate about this. She exuded friendliness from her pores it seemed, chattering to everyone and beaming. Plus, her speckled coat had such an interestingly bright pattern she seemed to stand out from everyone, perfect for their leader.

"I'm moving us all to the table for some introductions, just to make sure mingling doesn't miss any faces and make for an awkward breakfast tomorrow asking names and all!" She explained, gesturing to a table now restocked with snack foods and fresh drink trays. "Would you all take a seat?"

The room steadily filtered into chairs, filling up the long table quickly with the thirty some travelers all from varying backgrounds. Saanvi stayed standing as they all sat, raising up a plastic cup of white wine. "Hello everyone! I'm so truly happy to see you here!"

The chital deer wore long loose pants in a flowy, cotton texture covered in an intricate blue pattern that seemed evocative of classical Indian textures. She had a loose black blouse that seemed a perfect balance between professional and approachable. Everything about her just seemed prepared for this, Kaylee liked that because that was going to make for an even better trip for them all.

"I know you're all here from different background and with different work in mind, but I'm just thankful that you wanted to visit my country and learn from it and share it's stories and knowledge and beauty. I've lived here all my life as a historian and researcher of our preserved sites, but I've dabbled in all of your areas over my career before finding what I liked best was seeing it all come together. During the fall months, I teach special courses for girl interested in organizational work and science-based mediums, but come this warmer weather this is what I love best." She breathed in a long breath, smiling brightly which crinkled the dark black line between her eyelids characteristic of her species. "I thought we could all introduce ourselves, maybe our work, and just prepare for some time together as a group!"

Kaylee's eyes ran over the table, looking over all her colleagues for this trip. Some she'd met already, Rodger and Professor Stalkton, Griff and Mel, Rita/Rina and Kizaa, and Petra; but there was many faces she hadn't caught yet in their free mingling. There were plenty of humans and furs all together, which wasn't abnormal anymore, but it brought a lot of variety to the table.

Right across from Kaylee, a girl with deep coffee ground skin and full, curly hair smiled and Kaylee and the leopardess felt a zip up her spine. "Oh, this trip is going to tempt me," she thought with a smirk, shooting a grin right back. Beside her sat a few familiar faces and a few she hadn't met yet, a grinning salamander, another cheetah, a pair of girls both furs who seemed to already know each other. Kaylee gave them all a passing smile as her eyes wandered, waiting for the director to kick off the introductions.

"Reginald, will you kick us off? I know how you won't mind being called out-" The director smiled, nodding at the salamander who jumped right to his feet, showing off a brightly colored button-up shirt. "Well, I'm Reggie, I'm a journalist for the web, but I do mostly videography now a-days. Documentaries are where my money comes in-" He pivoted, pointing to the cheetah beside him, "Wanna go next man? You don't seem shy!"

A slender cheetah waved at the table, ruffling the loose, light scarf tossed around his neck. As much as Reggie claimed not, he did seem shy, "I do some photography... and a little research... my specialty is flora and fauna..." His voice trailed off, quietly passing the torch to the next person.

"Well, hi all!" Next to the cheetah, a slender wolf popped up looking a bit washed out between gray fur and pale white clothing, but his voice was soft and eager to introduce himself before several more strangers stepped up to share their voices and passions with the group.

Kaylee waved, trying to remember that the chubby, curvy skunk was Rose and that the smiling Asian human was Sato, which means sugar she shared! Albina and Vera were adopted sisters, which explained how the lynx and the long-haired dog seemed so close on first meeting.

When it came to Kaylee, she stood up and gave a small wave, she wasn't shy. "Hey all, I'm Kaylee. I met a few of you already, but I'm a journalist. I do all sorts of pieces, but my favorite are the people-driven ones, I like sharing stories for people who might not otherwise be heard."

She sat, smiling to the next and listening as Sofia, an otter from a coastal town of Russia shared her background in fishery research and reporting and how she hoped she could expand into Indian villages and the smooth, chocolate skinned girl confirmed she was from Africa and shared her name Apunda with an extra smile to Kaylee.

Last, seated beside the director, came a petite feline with a gentle, but loud voice. "Hello, I'm Alexa. I'm actually not a journalist or a reporter or a historian, but I'm a medical student and I'm doing some research on alternative healing methods, including medical student healing journalists who hurt themselves!" Everyone gave a small chuckle, including the leopardess. "I'll be your unofficial nurse during the trip, so try not to get too hurt because my degree is still pending a thesis!"

"Okay! Wow! So many faces and names! Remember everyone, don't be afraid to re-introduce yourself or to ask a name, we all have a lot to memorize here. Tomorrow morning we have a breakfast in this room again, but then some free time until we bus to New Delhi, our stop-over before Nepal the primary destination. Feel free to stay and mingle and eat and drink and everything, get to know each other!"

Spattering claps shot out around the room as the introductions faded into more genuine conversations. Kaylee grabbed for some food and turned to the girl beside her, Vera, a gray dog with floppy ears that reminded her of someone she'd met at Skye's wedding though she couldn't recall the girl's name for the life of her. "So, what brought you here? Why India?"

For awhile, Kaylee bounced from person to person, hearing a bit here and there about how people came here, how their flights went, their past work until she found herself sitting in the corner of the room with her third glass of deeply red wine, a full stomach, a soft sparkling feeling in her head, and the quiet medical student across from her.

"So, medical school, that had to be a bitch, right?" Kaylee leaned back, relishing how cushy the chair felt while she swirled her glass idly, listening intently.

"Well, obviously, but it wasn't nearly as bad as you'd think. I went to Yale and they have this whole non-competitive system so you don't have grades-"

"What? Really?"

The feline smile, showing a few dagger-sharp fangs tucked inside her otherwise very fluffy looking appearance. "Hah, yeah. They have a whole Yale System that they sell, but it's basically like meant to make it more survivable and there's a lot of non-mandatory classes so I did lab research and watched my lectures during dinner a lot... anyways," she waved her hand, stopping herself from prattling on. "I won't bore you,"

"No, no! You're good! Listening to people is my favorite thing, that's why I got this job-" Kaylee snickered at her own joke, flashing a smile. "So, how did this fit into a medical school timeline?"

The cat took in a long breath, "Well, we have a funded fifth year, optionally. I took classes for the first portion, but for the second I opted for this as research towards my thesis which is about the integration of non-traditional medicine styles and healing and the potential for beneficial placebo effect with other cultural beliefs. America is very drug-focused, which is what works, but I'd like to see more practitioners embracing a bit of... trust in their patients and their backgrounds to create less doctor-hate."

"Doctor-hate, is that the official, thesis term?"

"No, that'd be clinician-related anxiety," the cat shot back, chuckling. "I did go to med school after all, you think I don't know big words when I need them."

"Duly noted-"

Before either of them said anything else, a friendly face interjected as Hugo, the soft spoken cheetah gave a small wave and stepped to them. "Mind if I join in?" Kaylee instantly welcomed him while Alexa actually moved up from her seat, switching it to him while she pulled another one closer. Now, she sat beside Kaylee slightly in between Hugo and the leopard. "Mingling is like a game of musical chairs, isn't it?" Alexa offered warmly. "Sometimes you feel like you've just lost your chair and you don't know where to go."

Hugo smiled, showing bright dimples into one of his speckles. "Yeah, that's exactly right. I just hate trying to talk to everyone in one night! I mean, we're traveling for weeks, I'm sure we'll all meet each other naturally." He seemed to breath a sigh of relief alongside the sand cat as she gently grinned and coaxed him into conversation.

"Damn," Kaylee thought. "This girl could be a journalist-" She watched Alexa's round, fluff-rimmed face lean in towards the cheetah, talking with animation about a documentary they had both seen. "Or, I suppose a really good doctor-"

******

The night eventually sent everyone to their rooms tired. They all had private spaces, but they were tight quarters. Not that Kaylee minded at 2:00 in the morning when she headed into her bathroom, peeling away all the layers of clothing she wore and brushing the wine flavor out of her mouth. "Why did I go and earn a hangover on the first day?" She asked her own reflection, but her rumpled purple hair didn't have a response so she just spit out the froth from her brush and headed into the bed, ready to get as much sleep in as she could before the morning meet-up.

******

Morning came all too quickly.

"Ooh fuck me.... right in the ass-" Kaylee groaned, waking up with a dry mouth and a pulsing headache as she sat up. She ran a brush through her hair, rapidly tugging on her same shorts and a fresh t-shirt over her bare, bouncing boobs before she got her bag pulled together and raced towards the morning meet-up, arriving alongside another straggler.

"Did the free booze bite ye on the ass?" Gunther asked, lilting his voice with a slightly, tired morning accent. He was popping an aspirin as he spoke, clearly from a place of shared experience.

"Oh yeah.... she did. She's a bitch, free booze is."

"I got ya," he passed her over a bottle clattering with pills, which she took dry and with ample thanks.

The morning meeting started with a lot of coffee and some groaning. Spirits were noticeably lower than the first night, but minimal sleep in their first bed of a trip can do that to people, especially if those people all drank a touch too much. Some people though were still bright, sunny versions of themselves, maybe a bit too sunny for the rest.

"You kids and your drinking! You know a stiff green tea will do you just the same!" Professor Stalkton preached with a laughing face, "I saw you last night though!" Kaylee interjected. "You drank me under the table by comparison!"

He smirked, flashing her a wise grin. "Ah, yes but I am not so weak as to feel the punishment."

"But like how?"

He clicked his tongue, shaking his head. "I cannot have you publishing my secret and taking away my most impressive trick, journalist-" Kaylee chuckled at that, heading right for a platter of sausages with a rumbling stomach.

"I'm always so hungry in the mornings..." Kizaa groaned, filling her plate alongside the leopard. "Which might be due to the rigorous exercise routine I do nightly but..."

Kaylee looked at her, bright eyed. "Are you telling me you already hooked up on this trip?"

The sex therapist just laughed. "Oh! No! Yoga! I do a flow before bed, always. Keeps me young." She chuckled and nudged the leopard, "But I like where your mind is, that'll keep you even younger!"

They ate and talked, gathering up the strength to face the day's itinerary which wasn't too intense. They had a bus to catch in the early afternoon, but until then they had some time to explore. Kaylee found a small group heading to a local market, eager to get a taste of more local cuisine and to find some people to talk to, even if not for a story yet. They split up, heading out with their groups based on what and where everyone wanted to be. Kaylee found herself heading towards the market with Apunda and Melody, both armed with cameras for some livestyle shots of the market in action while Kaylee shouldered a rucksack with her notebook and she tucked a her phone, acting as a modern recorder, into her front pocket. She didn't want to worry about pictures or video today. Today was just about tasting the country and getting back into her groove of talking to strangers.

"Kaylee, if you talk to anyone, can I get some shots of it? I'd love to capture a bit of the process of this trip too for more context for my project-"

"Yeah, just get my good side, 'kay?" She snickered. "And I'd love the files too for my own stuff if that's cool? Full credit and all?"

They chatted out a route plan, attacking the market with eager enthusiasm after the walk over and falling into the exploration of that area until it was time to head back where a bus was waiting to bring them off towards New Delhi, their home base from which they'd explore outwards.

******

"Okay, today's main excursion is the Humayun's tomb," Saanvi was introducing everyone to where the bus would head. The rough plan for the trip was a daily, single main attraction where the rented bus would head to and pick up from. Everyone was free to do anything, obviously, but that would fall to them to organize and pay for while the bus was a part of the deal.

Very few of the group was skipping the offered ride.

"The tomb was commissioned by the wife and consort of the the emperor..." Saanvi happily chattered over the full history while they all ate. Kaylee was sketching up some of her ideas, thoughts for what her angle could be exploring this place. She hoped to find someone who was visiting for a personal reason beyond idle tourism. She always tended to have an eye for which person carried a story with them waiting to share it, but she could only hope she'd get lucky.

"You look thoughtful today."

Kaylee looked up from her leather bound journal to see the sand cat Alexa standing beside the table, smiling with some frothy green smoothie in hand.

"What is that?"

"Kale smoothie, very nutritious." She held it out, wafting the leafy scent forward. "Want some?"

"Oh heavens no." Kaylee shook her head, lips puckering with distaste. "Not ever."

"Very well. Now, why do you look so thoughtful, is the tomb special to you?" The girl took the seat besides Kaylee, sipping between words.

"No, but it is to someone. I'm just hoping I can find that person today. That's always the trouble with heavily toured locations rather than local establishments, harder to find the person aching to tell a tale," Kaylee looked at her, staring into the pale, faded blue of her eyes. They were colored like the fading hem of a pair of jeans, softly tinged as the sky but fading towards white. She found they were staring right back at her, intent.

"Ah, I see. The story hunter," Alexa nodded. "That is a kind of journalism that is less popular these days."

"Less profitable too, at least up front, but once you prove it's exciting or heart wrenching magazines will buy it freelance..." She rolled her eyes, "They just can't suck it up and pay full time for it."

"What about National Public Radio or something like that? They do long-form journalism, don't they?"

"Yeah, but it's a rigid style and so sound based. I like the old pen and paper, interviews and interpretations style sometimes. Get back to the root of the thing, just swapping stories," she shrugged, smiling. It wasn't often someone asked her about her work, not like this. They asked about places and publications sure, but not really about the how, about the details.

Kaylee liked it.

*******

Time in New Delhi flew by all too fast. Too fast for talking to everyone who interested her, for taking all the videos and timelapses she wanted. She felt like she was scribbling or filming constantly and fell into bed every night feeling drained and alive all at once.

"This is such a way to live," she whispered towards the ceiling, knowing that just a curtain was separating her room from the next sleeping area in their communal hostel that night. They'd moved to the edge of town the last weekend and she'd been non-stop wandering around, capturing snippets and gossip and chasing down the people with heavy hearts to speak to.

Her feet were dusty, but she was too tired to try and bathe. Instead she slipped off to sleep knowing tomorrow brought Nepal.

******

"Oh man, it's like I haven't slept... ever. Just never. I popped out of the womb and came to India," Griff was whining, leaning over a steaming mug of jet black coffee and aching with exhaustion. Kaylee agreed with him, slurping down her own bitter injection of caffeine. They'd risen before the sun to catch their bus to Nepal and now they were all stuck awake on the bumpy road there, aching for sleep.

Petra yawned, half covering her mouth. "I think I could sleep for the rest of the trip... two months without even twitching-"

"When I go home after this, I'll never stay up too late again. I'll go to bed at eight and feel blessed," Rodger winced, gulping down more coffee. They hadn't had time to unpack the sugar and cream for that morning's servings and he wasn't used to drinking it so... pure.

"You know, at least we'll see the sunset! Maybe we can pull over and make the photographers of us all happy," Alexa offered up, glancing at their driver, a grizzled and friendly camel who grunted his agreement and offered up his thermos, "Bribe me with that coffee and yes."

******

"God," Kaylee's eyes tipped up, drinking in the sights as they drove. Now the sun sat high in the sky and she was delighted to be able to see the world around, it woke her right up to have sights to see. Mountains kissed the sky and plunged into the clouds on their side. "If I wasn't so lazy, I'd climb mountains."

"And if I wasn't so fat, I'd be a marathon runner," Rose shot back, snickering. "Excuses.. Excuses."

"Oh come on, I couldn't climb a mountain," Kaylee said with a groan. "All we do now is walk and talk and eat and I'm exhausted."

"Did you catch the drinking part?" Reggie piped up, snickering. He was heavily doped on Advil after going home with some friendly locals the night before and just coming to the bus smashed. They all felt his head and swore they could feel the headache emanating outwards like a demon possessing him.

Shockingly, even a hangover didn't kill his perpetual good mood. The salamander was as laid back and happy as ever.

"I can't wait to arrive. I want to see everything," Kaylee murmured, staring out the window.

"I thought you wanted to nap," Alexa questioned, grinning.

"That's before I saw it. Now I just wanna see more-" Her eyes peered out the window, gazing into the distance as they approached the first of many small towns that they'd stop at. It sat at the base of a mountain and Kaylee felt like she could climb to its peak even on two hours asleep, her excitement just fueled her.

******

"What should we all do after we finally get a good night sleep in Nepal? I know, let's go on a six mile hike to some mountain for pictures! It'll be great! The content we'll make! Wow! Come on, Hugo said. Hugo said it's beautiful! Hugo said the flowers are so rare! Hugo! Hugo you're killing me!" Vera let out a moan, grabbing onto her water bottle and guzzling another slurp.

Hugo blushed, dabbing his sweaty forehead with the wispy scarf hanging around his neck. "I'm sorry, maybe I understated the difficulty of the climb... just a touch? I am pretty good at climbing... I didn't realize it'd be so hard..."

Behind them, panting, Kaylee raised her finger. "You know, it'd be fine if it was just...flatter.... and paved.... like a road. I could walk six miles flat on a road."

Alexa chuckled, walking up besides Hugo in a fluttering little dress. She had on a hiking boots, but the loose, linen dress rode high on her thighs, letting her fur breath in the hot weather, which seemed not to bother her at all, not with her heritage being one of dessert dwelling. "It's not that bad! Come on! The view will be so worth it!" She had her camera out casually as they climbed, filming them and chuckling as she narrated: "The journalist you can see is tired of the journey, yet she trudges on hoping the top of the peak might yield trail mix. Little did she know, she had forgotten her trail mix back at the camp and wouldn't be able to dine without begging for Alexa to share-"

"Wait? Did I really?!"

"I spotted it when we left. I grabbed it. It's in my bag." Alexa laughed, crinkling the lines of darkened brown that trailed out from her eyes on her otherwise pure, dusty tan face fur.

"I would have DIED!" Kaylee moaned, craning her back to work out a kink. "I may be fit, but this isn't a fitness activity... this is torture."

"Did you say the other day how you could climb mountains?" Vera shot over, panting heavily with her tongue lolling out, like a dog would. She was, after all, a dog.

"I mean... I didn't mean that... literally... not... like... .... oof.... this!" She pulled herself up onto a flatter ledge, breathing hard. "I think... I might die ... here.... write about me... it'll be your big break.."

"Drama queen-" Hugo said, snickering. He trudged on ahead but Kaylee hung back, genuinely catching her breath, but just when she went to continue she went tumbling backwards with a cursing yelping. "Aye! Fucking Goat Anus!"

"What?" Vera said.

Hugo gasped.

Alexa demanded, "Are you okay?"

"Shit, shit... shit.." Kaylee was backwards on the group, sitting with her ass against the dusty path and her leg slightly contorted in front of her. Her ankle was already blooming with the red of a warming swell.

"Oh man, you really did something!" Alexa stepped up, letting her bag down from her shoulder and settling onto the ground besides the leopard. "When I said I needed practice for school, I was kidding you know. I was enjoying being not needed!" She started to gently inspect the girl's ankle, feeling it out and wiping away the dust with a cloth before she started to wrap a steadying ace around it with swift, practiced moves.

"I was just trying to be a lady, give you what you needed."

"Well, you've definitely sprained it, it's not terrible, but you're going to need to stay off it if you want it to heal at all..." She helped Kaylee up, leaning her to a tree for now. "We've got to get you back to camp and then see what we can do to get you someplace a bit more restful than mountain climbing."

"Ah man..." Kaylee groaned, glancing at Hugo with a playful glare. "Look what you've done! Gone and sabotaged me!"

*******

"You're going to have to go back to New Delhi, the hotel from before snagged a studio room for you and Alexa and she'll help you until you're rested up. We'll pick you back up at location five in just over two weeks, you'll have to get a taxi to the town, but it's not far and you can test up until then," Saanvi gave a small pout, knowing that Kaylee was not too happy about having to miss out on their first four towns and two weeks in Nepal.

"It'll be fun! You'll get so much extra time with those locals!" Alexa encouraged, knowing that Kaylee was a bit crushed, though her mood quickly started to rise with the idea of something more in-depth in new Delhi.

"Yeah, you're right. I am gonna get over myself-" Kaylee sighed, rolling her head back. "Thank you for coming with, Alexa."

"Well, I promised to be your nurse so I'll be your nurse!" She smiled, waving towards the road. "Now come on, you got lucky that our driver was able to come grab us so let's go!"

******

By the time Kaylee was settled into her space with Alexa back in New Delhi, they'd gotten their hands on a rickety old wheelchair that Kaylee could ride around in with Alexa's help to still go do interviews and explore without just making her ankle worse all the same.

Their room, as promised, was a double studio with one larger bedroom and a side bedroom, which Kaylee had tried to take, but Alexa refused to give into her niceness and won out the better sacrifice.

"Will you let me be nicer ever?" Kaylee whined, nursing a coffee on their living room couch while Alexa padded in and out of the bathroom, brushing and braiding her long pale dishwater blonde hair into something more mange able while she sipped at a steaming mug of tea instead of Kaylee's tar-esque coffee.

"No, I don't want to. I gave up four of my stops on my research to come take care of you so I win ultra nice!"

"You didn't half to do that! Oh man, now I feel terrible!" Kaylee twisted, looking at her with a wide eyed look.

"I'm kidding!" She snickered, flashing a cheeky face from over her mug's edge. "Relax your butt, I'm only joking."

"You're much too nice to joke," Kaylee grumbled, finishing her mug and re-filling it. She needed it.

******

"Alexaaaaa! Alexaaaaaa!" Kaylee whined, crying from her bed and pouting over dramatically when the sand cat appeared in the door.

"Alexa?"

"Yes?"

"When will my package be delivered?"

"You mean the coffee you asked for?"

"Yes-" Kaylee let out a whine, pouting cutely with her eyelashes fluttering. "Please? I just... I need coffee..."

"Yeah, I brought it-" Alexa chuckled, offering up the mug. "But you've got to stop making Amazon jokes-"

"But it's so funny!"

"The first time maybe!"

"But, Alexa... every time with you is just like the first time-" She breathed in a deep breath. "It feels like the first time! It feels like the very first tiiiiime!'

"I'm going to take the coffee away."

"Please, God. No."

******

"Wow, what a morning!" Kaylee let out a sigh, looking across the cafe table at Alexa.

"It really was, we talked to what.... Four people?" She leaned down, chomping into her sandwich with eager hunger.

"Yeah. I think we've earned down time. You still want that cat nap?"

"I'd love one if you think you'll be okay without your nurse for awhile," Alexa smiled, passing Kaylee a napkin just before she oozed sauce down her chin. The girl had a sense for these things, Kaylee appreciated it greatly as did her clothing.

"I'll survive with some sitting time as long as there's wifi."

******

"Oh my god, is that really Kaylee? Calling me? Remembered to call home?" Skye's voice crackled in through Skype before the video had totalled settled onto her face, showing her crisply.

"Yes! I know! It's so rare and wonderful, but after some twenty years on Earth I might be learning how to communicate, even platonically!" Kaylee leaned back onto her bed with pillows mashed behind her into a chair. The windows were open, sending a slight breeze in, but otherwise the studio room was quiet as Alexa slept in her own room just next door.

"It can't be true!" Nick's face swam in the back of the video, though something huge obscured it.

"W-what is that?"

"Oh?" Skye looked back, rolling her eyes. "He found a place that molds your face and makes a gummy mask of yourself. He's been eating and playing with it for four hours now..."

"I am Two Face-" Nick muttered, laughing maniacally in the background while chewing on his right eyeball.

"Jesus-" Kaylee just shook her head. "No wonder you were on Skye."

"Yeah, I'm trying to line up online therapy as we speak-"

"For which of you?"

"Doesn't matter. Wherever we can get the help-" Skye's face cracked with a grin. "Now, tell me about this first platonic friend of yours..."

"Well, she was basically forced into it because I went and fell off a mountain-"

"YOU WHAT?!"

"I mean on! On! I fell on a mountain! On a trail!"

"YOU WHAT?!" Nick echoed, though with his mouth full of gummy candy, it didn't come out correctly. "YOWHAAFFFTTT?"

"Nothing serious! I just tweaked my ankle a bit and for the best healing I'm a bit bedridden for a bit, but Alexa is a medical student so she's been helping me..." For a moment, Skye was ready to make a joke about a sexy nurse, but the expression on her friend's face stopped her. She shifted her gaze, flaring her stare at Nick to shoo him out of the room so Kaylee could keep talking uninterrupted.

"Well, it's been nice? She's also big on travel and cultures, but from a slightly way than me. She delves into their beliefs a lot more, but we've been some of the same places! She noticed entirely different details than I did! And-and... it's just so interesting, I've never had such long conversations with someone without flirting? Or at least thinking about when to start flirting? Is that nuts?" For a moment, she chuckled at herself.

"You know, I hung out with Liya-"

"Who?"

"The waitress girl? From your wedding?" Skye nodded, urging her on. "Yeah, I hung out with her until I left. It was fun, a little platonic, a little butt stuff? You know.. Like when we were just hanging out it was like a rest from the sex, and really more of an acquaintance or something."

"Skye, I think I have no friends?" Kaylee blinked, squinting a little. "Like... other than you now, I just I don't keep in contact with people, I don't talk to people about myself or for a long time, over time. I swap stories, but I don't converse like this... about mundane shit on a day to day basis and enjoy it? I just, I don't even know if I really know how to be friends!"

"No one ever sticks in my life, not just because of the travel, it's something about me, some thing in how I am built that I just am not great at connecting."

Skye gave a soft hmm, trying to take in all Kaylee was saying. It wasn't often that the leopard was so serious and she could tell, maybe more than Kaylee did, that this was something coming from an honest place. "But maybe that's changing a bit? With this Alexa?"

"Yeah, maybe. Or maybe I'm just getting a bit better at it in general-"

"Maybe you were destined to fall on a mountain," Skye offered, smirking.

"Pfft!" Kaylee rolled her eyes, laughing now with the seriousness fading. "Show me more pictures now! I wanna see all the food!"

******

The rest of the two weeks flew by a lot quicker than Kaylee expected. She gathered a lot more stories and footage and got to know both New Delhi and Alexa in the time it took.

By the last night, they were tucked in their shared living space, eating take-out from their favorite place and guzzling iced drinks in the muggy evening, summertime air.

"Can you believe it? My two weeks as an invalid are up! Soon I'll be my graceful self again," Kaylee sighed.

"I think you just go back to your usual self, you don't like ascend to a greater, more balanced version of yourself because you fall once-"

"What are you saying?" Kaylee blinking, smothering a grin.

"Well, you fell on a hiking path. A path. Made for walking."

"I fell on a rock on a mountain! A MOUNTAIN!"

"A path, for walking, on a hill."

"It was a mountain."

"Mountains usually have names."

"What was its name then?"

"I do not know but I know it had one."

"Aren't journalists supposed to be good at names?"

"I WAS HAVING AN OFF DAY!"

They laughed. The sound of their overlapping voices was becoming familiar to them both, especially when followed by the clinking of ice cubes and long drags on their straws to fight the muggy air.

"I wonder how everyone else fared without us," Alexa pondered, staring across at the leopard with her soft blue eyes round and curious.

"Well, they didn't have their nurse there, so they probably all died on mountains."

Alexa snickered, crinkling up her fluffy face and rolling her eyes before responding.

"You were just lucky it was something I knew how to treat-"

"What are you lying about med school? Flunk out and flee to India?" Kaylee chuckled, leaning into her seat.

"No, no. Just... never had a lot of hands on stuff, ya know? I've done EMT rounds a little, but mostly internal medicine, so I don't always know if I can respond under pressure!"

"Well, I didn't die, so I'd say your success rate is 100%." Kaylee popped another hunk of meat into her mouth, chewing while she thought to herself. "How did you get into medicine anyways? That's a bit one to stick yourself into, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is. You're right..." Alexa stabbed her fork into her rice, musing for a moment. "I guess I never really thought twice about it, you see. My dad's a geneticist so the science part was easy... And I grew up making some medical decision that most kids don't really... have to learn about or defend and I just thought.. 'We need more doctors who are better, nicer, kinder...'"

"What do you mean?" Kaylee stared at her, raising a brow. "Did you have something?" Usually, to ask such a thing point blank might have been jarring or rude, but the late night was cushioning their conversation and Alexa didn't mind.

"No, nothing so serious. I just..." She struggled for a moment, finding the words. "I was born with both male and female organs and the male aspects were dominant physically, but I have always been a woman." She paused a moment, thinking. "Basically, I had to sorta... step up and know myself a bit more than a usual check-up all the time and that makes someone want better care for the next person."

Kaylee let out a soft sounds, "Wow... That makes so much sense then. So, traveling is a way to get more unique perspectives so you don't ever have a kid who has to stand up to a doctor like you did?"

Alexa smiled, letting out a soft exhale. "Exactly. Exactly. I don't want a kid to ever hear that how his mom treats his cold is wrong or stupid if it's just cultural and harmless placebo. I just want to make sure he gets enough care alongside that."

"Wow-" Kaylee rolled her shoulders back, whistling. "Your reasons for traveling make mine look really lame!"

"Oh pssh! That can't be true!"

"Well, I mean I basically ran away-" Kaylee gave a short laugh. "My parents were fucking nutty Christians. You know the ones that smother their kids and make them hate themselves? Well, those were mine and they were homophobic as hell..." She let out a little sound, realizing that she'd never formally outed herself to Alexa, but the girl didn't even react, just listening. "I just wanted to get out and see more people, more perspectives and cultures. I just couldn't stay in such a zealous, homophobic, close-minded closet."

Alexa nodded deeply, slurping. "I get that completely-"

"Oh? Is the geneticist a jerk?"

"God no. Not at all. My parents are great, but the community around us... not as much-"

"What? Why do they care?"

"Well, sand cats population is dwindling... pretty drastically and they really push for marriage and breeding within the species to help support that... whether you happen to love another sand cat or not or even want kits or not-"

"Oh.... oh no."

"Oh yeah, they just.... They don't care that it's not even safe. My womb is there, technically, but it's not functioning as normal even with therapy. It'd have maybe a 50% chance to produce an entirely health offspring and I can't imagine, as a doctor, having a child who could die or be deformed or challenged? Why? When there's so many children who need homes and help and love already? Why force one into the world in an imperfect womb? Plus, what if I fall in love with a woman?"

Kaylee was silent for a moment, just processing. She didn't want to respond without thinking for a beat. "You know, you really make me seem lame by comparison."

Alexa laughed, her voice coming out in a relieved rush. "Maybe, but it never seemed so bad day to day. My parents really were great. They just... support me however, whatever I do. They've never pressured my to pick a guy or a girl or to have a kid or not, they know those will come naturally and I'll choose what feels best."

The leopard stared over the girl for a second, meeting those soft blue eyes with a new respect. This girl, this sweet kind girl had a whole backstory of pressure not unlike her own bullshit. "Damn, can I just say I never would have guessed? Is that rude? Tell me if I'm rude."

"No!" Alexa snickered. "No, no! It's kinda nice to hear, a lot went into looking like I felt. I mean, I tried the boy thing... but it was never right and... so it took a lot of hormones and such to get this body."

"It looks great-" Kaylee said, instinctively, blurting it without thinking. She just smiled, dorkilly after, waiting to see how it'd land until Alexa smiled gently.

"Thanks-"

"So, what is hormone therapy even like? How does that work?"

"Well, basically-"

Their forks smacked back into soft, disposable containers as they fell once more into a comfortable silence of eating too much late at night while they chatted religion and hormones and high school and family.

By the time the sun came up, they regretted eating so much but not staying up late talking because nothing felt better all trip. A single bus trip re-joined them with the group who had plenty of stories to tell, but in the middle of Reggie's long-winded recap of the last two weeks Alexa's eyes met Kaylee and they both grinned.