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Casey and Dev's relationship continues to evolve, and even more loose ends are tied up. That's the purpose of this story. Really.

A jackal choose-your-own-adventure story, for Luperkaios. Thanks to Spudz for his help with this, to all y'all for being such wonderful and indulgent readers, and to jackals for being just generally wonderful and an important part of my life. How much of this story you actually see is directly linked to this fact :P

Released under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license. Share, modify, and redistribute--as long as it's attributed and noncommercial, anything goes.

---

"Changes," by Rob Baird

Stuff's changed.

Casey'd said it when explaining why she was willing to help her sister out. Like it wasn't_just_ for the adrenaline rush; not just the opportunity to make trouble for those who deserved it. Like she was starting to mellow.

Maybe.

Stuff's changed.

And it was true for him, too. He stuffed his paws into the pockets of his jeans, letting his thoughts wander while Casey went to find her sister and accept the job.

Just how much was different? In the end, at peace with her sister or not, they'd still leave Kemmerer with Casey's paw shoving the throttle to its limit and their speakers blaring over the roar of the impulse drive.

The thought made him smile. He was still smiling when the jackal returned, locking the hatch and making her way forward to the cockpit. "C'mere, Devvy?"

He followed. "What's up?"

She'd started the navigation computer and was beginning to run calculations on it. "Got the location of the meeting. It's in Port Neshoba."

"Fuck. Really?"

The jackal paused; looked over her shoulder at him. "Yeah. Is that... uh. I know you have history there, coyote. Is that gonna be okay?"

By the time they'd met, three years earlier, Dev was resigned to being stuck on Neshoba for the rest of his life. He'd ended up there after the near-disaster on the_Luke Lane_ spooked him out of hyperspace--for good, he figured.

One odd job after another, watching his opportunities dwindle--getting banned from META, the only thing he'd ever been told he was good at. Sleeping where he could; eating what he could scrape together...

And then the jackal. And as he walked through it all in his head, the coyote found himself grinning. "Sure. Go for it."

"Yeah?"

His grin widened. "Stuff's changed. I've changed. Y'know?"

"If you're okay with it, I--"

But. "There's a condition. If we're going back."

"Which is?"

He took the copilot's seat.Now what? "So..."

"So?"

Honesty. Honesty was the only option. "When we met at that bar three years ago, I never could've guessed where my life was going. You couldn't have talked me into thinking it would be this.

"But now... y'know. There's a lot about my life I could see changing. My home, my job, these walls, how I spent my free time--none of it really matters. None of it needs to stay the same. I could see_any_ of it being different... except you. I can't imagine any path my life could take where you're not a part of it.

"If it seems like I don't know how this is supposed to work, it's because I don't. I never thought I'd have to. Not 'til a few months back. The day I knew I'd do this, it was late afternoon. I think it had rained, but the sky was this deep, stunning blue, with a few clouds drifting in.

"It was gorgeous, I think. But I wasn't really paying attention, because you were there. And as nice as those colors looked behind you, and as beautiful as they were, reflected in your eyes, I have to say...

"I think they'd look better if you kept 'em around all the time." He slid his paw from his pocket, and held it up. Light glinted on the ring: silver; a blue sapphire flanked by two white stones. "Maybe if you kept me around, too.

"I don't know how this is_meant_ to go, but I know you. And I know I love the hell out of you, and I can't help myself, and I wouldn't if I could. And I think we should spend the rest of our lives together. And I guess I could've kept it simpler:

"Will you marry me?"

[Intermission over :3 Because now I have a response--for clarification, the story originally ended here, and everything that follows is a consequence of said response. Jackal choose-your-own-adventure, etc :P]

She blinked. "Coyote..." Her broad ears flicked, and swiveled back. And then she took the ring and slipped it on her finger. "Of course I will. You're the best part of my life, coyote."

He leaned forward to kiss her. Their noses stayed pressed together, and he let his own emotions overcome the last of his reservations. "What if we were the best part of each other's lives and that was true forever?"

The gemstones disappeared from view as her arms circled him, and she pulled the coyote into a hug. "Well. We already know the first part is true. As for the second, we just have to wait forever to find out."

"I'm game if you are."

"Same." Her ears perked again, and she crushed her muzzle to his in a fierce, deep kiss that held until they were both breathless and the coyote knew he'd made the right decision, that it had been the right moment--

That it would be the first of many.

Casey broke the kiss first, pulling away--then resuming it for the few seconds of breath she'd been able to steal. Panting hard, she let the coyote go, looking away. He couldn't quite catch sight of her eyes; something told him that part had been deliberate.

Her voice was steady, though. "Start us up?"

"Sure thing." He gave the back of her neck a playful nuzzle, right where black fur met peppery red, and took his place at the engineering console. "Reactor's coming online. Everything looks good."

The jackal laughed. "Doesn't it? So, hey--do I have to change names, Dev?"

"You're the one with the reputation." He disconnected the Long Tall Sally from Kemmerer Station's generator. "Ground power's disconnected. I could be a Devin Carr, couldn't I?"

"Could you? We got time to figure it out, yeah?" She reached over her head, flipping the last few switches that brought the engines online with a quiet, familiar hum. "Kemmerer, this is the Long Tall Sally. Ready for departure on pad 1-6, outbound to... hold on." She looked over her shoulder. "What's our flight plan?"

"Palset. You have the manifest ready."

"Thanks. Okay, control. Mr. Carr says we're outbound to Palset VI with a defueled generator and four crates of supporting hardware. Transmitting the plan data now." She waited, paw on the throttle, for the reply.

"Long Tall Sally, confirmed. We have your data and you're authorized to depart. Be advised, there's a superfreighter on that corridor leaving in about an hour, so there's a turbulence warning in effect."

"We'll head out now."

"Copy that. Safe journey, Long Tall Sally."

Casey waited until they were in hyperspace to adjust their course, subtly, away from Palset and towards Port Neshoba--no sense in raising any suspicion before they had to, even if the Kemmerer authorities didn't seem particularly concerned.

Neshoba wasn't even that much of a diversion, really--at worst they'd be a few days late at their scheduled destination, and that wouldn't bother anyone. In between, with any luck, would be a fairly simple job. And settling things with Parker, his old accomplice.

Before that, a straightforward trip. Casey secured the controls, switched off the stereo, and walked back to Dev's station. "Port Neshoba in about thirty hours. You are sure about this, right, coyote?"

"Mostly."

"Yeah? What aren't you sure about?"

"'Mr. Carr'?" He unlocked his chair and spun to face the jackal. "Now that I've heard it..."

She grinned, bending forward until their noses touched. "I'd say it works. Wouldn't you?"

"What if people think I'm a jackal?"

Her grin widened, baring more of her canines. "They'll just think you belong to a jackal," she promised. "Which is right."

"Maybe you belong to me instead."

Sharp teeth snapped, just before his nose. She shoved the coyote back in his chair and straddled him, gemstone-bright eyes glinting. "Say that again?"

"You're my jackal." His arms slipped around her, pulling the slender canine closer. "Right? You gonna fight me over this?"

Casey laughed. She bit her lip, turning the grin quirky and devilish. "Something like that..." Her hips settled into his lap--the warmth alone would've been plenty, but she added a rolling, gentle grind and Devin grunted reflexively. The brush of her tail swept in quick arcs against his legs. "That's the idea."

"Well. No getting knotted in the cockpit. That sounds like something a Carr would say," he reminded her. It had, actually, been one of the first things she'd said to him.

Of course they'd been in the process of stealing a ship at the time, and he couldn't have predicted everything that was going to happen. Her caution was only simple jackal prudence... back then.

Now she didn't even dignify the coyote with a response, because his fingers were already working her jacket open, claws trailing through the dusky fur he'd gained so much familiarity with as he pulled her shirt upwards until Casey arched her lithe back and tossed the clothing away completely.

He took the opportunity to grope her breasts, fingers pressed into her soft pelt and smooth, warm pads teasing the nipples pert and their owner shuddering. Casey pulled away from him, standing briefly on unsteady legs to slip out of her pants.

That was his cue to do the same--with a little more effort, courtesy of the rather sensitive bulge pressed against the catch holding them closed. No sooner had he kicked himself free than the jackal replaced them with the heat of her own body.

And then she nipped the coyote's ear. "We're not in the cockpit, anyway," she whispered in a husky growl. "So, y'know..."

Dev shifted under her, angling his hips until his pre-slick tip nudged into place and a careful movement slipped him a centimeter or so into soft, enticing heat. The way she had him pinned kept the coyote from going any further. "Y'know?" he prompted, muzzle clenched. "Gonna be a good bitch, then?"

"When am I not? Hm, coyote? If I want something..." Casey's voice drizzled breathily into his ear. Even as she said it she was arching, dropping her hips to press herself down and onto him. Dev growled in answer, the sound going coarse and deep as she took the rest of his shaft. "Exactly," she finished.

At that point her own voice was strained; her panting shallow and swift. She stayed in his lap for a few seconds to let them both adjust, with the coyote's cock buried to the hilt and tugging at her with every shudder and twitch of the jackal's rangy frame.

Her paws clenched at his shoulders, and she used her claws to keep herself anchored when, presently, she started moving again. Her tail wagged in time to the deliberate, firm rise and fall of her hips. "Fuck, Dev," she moaned to him. "Fuck, I love you."

There was no point at which the coyote could've argued. Certainly not with the desert dog taking him, pace building just a little faster with every revolution. He ran his fingers up her sides, against the grain of her fur, until he had her swaying breasts steadied in his grip. He squeezed, and her voice broke into a throaty growl.

She pressed down hard, shoving the coyote into the chair, squirming to grind herself against his shaft. "Fuck, I love you, coyote."

"You, too." He nuzzled awkwardly, blindly, until his nose met her ear. "I love you, too." Her rhythm resumed at a faster tempo; the wet, textured heat of her pussy sliding with an irresistible friction over his cock as she pumped herself eagerly on the coyote. "Oh, God, Case--"

His knot had started to form--started to stretch the jackal less subtly at the deepest parts of her firm, plunging thrusts down and onto him. He groped her again, and a yelp spilled giddily from her open muzzle. "Devin! Fuck, coyote, yes!"

And then another yelp, when he bucked up sharply to hammer his length into her. She wasn't about to let him take control--he was still her coyote, after all--but she let him match her pace, driving their bodies together urgently. Purposefully. Desperately, even, and now less easily by the second.

If I wanted. She did, clearly--dropping heavily, accenting the slurp of his knot slipping into her with an exulting groan. She lifted, straining until he pulled reluctantly free; dropped again. Started to repeat it...

Dev grabbed her rump in both paws and jerked his hips upwards, bringing her to a quivering halt. Another jolting thrust drove the message home. They both wanted it--she'd known that, of course, known even what would happen in those heated, final movements because it had happened before and would happen again but as she gasped her lover's name and let him take her neither of them were really considering that logic.

They were tied together already--probably--but biology had taken over and just in case Devin gripped her tightly while he rutted into her, movements growing ever-shallower as his knot wedged more snugly into place. She rode his rapid thrusts out with a rising pitch in her barked cries.

"Take me!" she urged. By that point it was a meaningless order, an assertion of control that had utterly deserted them both. Dev's answer didn't even rise to the level of words. It came out as a choked grunt, wrought from the same impulse as the frantic bucking of his imminent release.

The jackal cried out again, and her head snapped forward, crushing her howl out into the fur of his neck. He felt her shudder, and tense, and the sharp pressure of her claws. But his own were no more gentle--rough and taut and possessive on her flexing hips.

There was a rising pleasure, building exponentially in his last, uneven strokes--then a snarl, and the rush of release. His cock swelled, lurching in the grip of her spasming folds before a jet of cum splashed its heat against them.

He humped up and into the jackal as he claimed her, the snarl ebbing to the satisfied growl of filling his mate while his knot kept every last drop he gave her in place. Casey moaned against his neck, still rigid as the spurts slowly grew further apart and his movements lost their energy.

When he sank back into the chair, spent, the jackal came with him, collapsing onto his chest and panting raggedly. Every now and again a tremor ran through one of them, or the other, but at last they lay still. Casey's fingers raked through his fur, stroking gently.

Presently she stopped. She was staring at something. Dev cocked his head. "Jackal?"

Her paw drew back, and she lifted it into his view. "I still can't quite..." Her fingers wiggled until the ring caught the light. "It hasn't sunk in yet."

"Not for me, either," he admitted.

"When did you..."

"Decide? Buy the ring?" He shook his head with a soft, rueful chuckle. "Same thing. Back on the station. But if you want to know the truth, that's my fault. I shouldn't have waited so long."

"We put a lot of things off," she pointed out, and snuggled back into his chest. "I didn't exactly help. But thanks for... thanks for being a coyote about it, Dev. For being my coyote."

"Of course. I probably always was. A long time before either of us knew it. Maybe..."

***

Maybe all the way back to Port Neshoba, he said, though that implied a level of certainty and pleasant outcomes at odds with the life of a trickster. The weather was the same as always when they touched down: muggy and grey, with the glare of departing starships and floodlights smearing the low clouds into a garish blur.

The Anomaly, a dive bar right off the harbor, looked the same as always, too. Inside was the same sort of crowd, the same greasy music, the same drink orders holding recollections of the work day at bay.

The same bartender. He was at the edge of the bar, wiping down the remains of a spill, when he noticed Dev. The moment he recognized him, he cocked an eyebrow, tossed the rag aside, and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, fuck me. If it ain't Dev McGee."

"In the flesh," the coyote answered. Parker's arms stayed crossed until they reached the bar. Then, finally, the badger stuck his arm out.

Dev took his paw, and Parker jerked him into a crushing hug. "You asshole. Figured you were dead. You and the girl, both--you definitely made some friends with that stunt. Reckoned y'all were plasma somewhere."

"Not that lucky," Dev grunted, and finally managed to push Parker away. "Can't die owing you money, right? Can I get a..."

"Ressik," Casey spoke up.

"Two Ressik pilseners," the coyote finished. "I can explain, trust me."

Parker snorted. "The fuck you can." He seemed to be in pretty good spirits, though, and he didn't hesitate before filling them a pair of glasses. "You don't owe me shit, though. Surprisingly."

"Really? The rent, though--right? Had that place over the bar. I know I was behind when I left. And you don't like me that much."

He snorted again, and poured himself a small helping of whiskey. "Cheers."

"Cheers," Devin echoed, and the three clinked their glasses.

Parker downed his whiskey. "Couple months after you two left, you got a letter from Transbarnard. I filed it with the rest of your shit, but then that other girl, the... tiger? She was around; asked about ya."

"Anya? How's she doing?"

"Fine. Company finally paid you both out on the accident--that's what the letter was. At that point, I hadn't heard from you. Then I heard through the grapevine your av had been burned. Gave it another six months and--"

"Took my money?"

"A lot of it was mine, coyote." Dev couldn't really argue with that, and gave his blessing with a wave of his paw. "Did you not get burned, or what? What happened?"

"I got a new avatar, courtesy of friends in high places." He indicated Casey with a dip of his head. The jackal, muzzle buried in her mug, confirmed it with a slight nod. "She has her own ship now."

"Who'd you steal it from?"

Casey set her beer down, flashing the grin she'd kept to herself when they'd first met at that counter. "Saul Harrell. Eventually. Really he just didn't know what he had his paws on."

"Harrell's an idiot," Parker concluded. He looked around; it was still early, and the Anomaly was almost empty, and he poured another serving of whiskey for himself. "Good ship?"

"She's treated us pretty well. Wouldn't you say, Dev? A bit old, but reliable... later-model Sierra--Dev's done some good work with the Luxodynes. You didn't tell me he was a mechanic when you tricked me into hiring him."

"Well, that wasn't the lie he wanted. What kind of Sierra? 350?"

"Older. 254."

"Harrell had a 254? The fuck was he doing with a 254?" Parker mused aloud, glass half to his muzzle. "Nah. Shit, didn't something go down with him and the boys at Ker..." Suddenly he blinked, and set the glass down heavily. "Are you fuckin' for real?"

Casey shrugged, finished her beer, and slid it across the bar towards him. "Try me."

"Jesus." Parker took the glass and poured it full again. "You know the New Families have a shoot-on-sight order for a 254 somebody salvaged from Keratek? We don't deal with the Families, not out here--this is Kai's territory. But, uh. Rumor is nobody'll take the offer. Last time somebody tried, the Twelve Blades lost their command ship on it."

"Shame," Casey said.

Parker whistled. "That's what you've been up to, Dev?"

"Yeah. And breaking the Tevanista blockade. And getting Kai into the Banshee's Nest. And finding some old lost city. And running the Melkown Rift in twelve light-years. And patching things up with my parents."

"After stealing a priceless racing ship from the most powerful syndicate in the sector," Parker reminded them, and--finishing his whiskey again--turned to Casey. "Right? And you kept him with you all this time? I told you to watch out for him."

"Yep."

"Dev ain't nothing but trouble. Tried to warn you. Coyotes..."

"Those weren't all my idea," Dev spoke up. "A lot of 'em really weren't my idea. The Rift, for one. Fuck..."

"True. But some were. The craziest one was." She lifted her beer, twisting it in her grip until her fingers were to him, and Parker's eyes went to the ring.

"And you went along with it?"

"Of course."

Parker took the bottle of whiskey, tilting it back and forth to gauge how much was left. He shook his head and set the bottle back down. "Not enough. Here I thought I was done being surprised. Fuckin' tricksters. You deserve each other."

Casey's free paw found the coyote's, resting on the bar. She intertwined their fingers, giving him a firm squeeze, and he felt the movements of the jackal's wagging tail.

For a moment, while she took a drink, the glass hid her grin--but it remained, when she set the beer down. Indeed, if anything, it widened. And she gave a knowing, mischievous nod.

"I know."