I. Double Date
#1 of Felidine Dreams
Felidine Dreams I. Double Date Diane rushed up the stairs and into the small room she shared with her sister Sharja. She flung herself on the double bed and gave Sharja an evil grin that made her ears twitch in sudden apprehension: "You did NOT...", Sharja intoned, but her sister's grin only widened and she put a paw over her eyes and groaned. She still remembered the last time her sister had arranged a double date for them - mostly so their parents would allow her to go out at all - and it had been a complete and utter disaster. Her date had been a boy that probably never saw a felidine before and obviously nobody had told him about his date's species as well. Suffice to say the evening had not gone well and on top of it all her sister had tried to put the blame on her for ruining the mood. Who could blame her for growling at the stupid son-of-a-monkey for gaping like that... Before she could begin to try explaining to Diane that she would not under any circumstances have any part in this, her sister raised her hands with a soothing gesture: "Don't worry, don't worry. You won't have to go out with anybody this time. It's just a friend of mine coming along and you. Just to keep the 'rents quiet." Diane winked at Sharja and she sighed. Sharja knew she was defeated. She couldn't say no now, not after her sister doing her math homework for almost two weeks - the sneaky little devil - which she had to repay somehow. She sighed again and decided to try and enjoy the evening as much as possible. * * * Sharja opened her wardrobe and rummaged around for some minutes. She die not have any special dresses, but she knew that the dark red dress she had worn on her highschool graduation party had to be somewhere. It was rather plain in shape, but the material was both comfortable and went very well with the shiny black fur that coated her slender body. She did not wear shoes because of her rather big clawed digitigrade paws that ended in strong toes with retractable claws. Her shape was every bit that of a perfect anthropomorphic black-furred wild cat with movements that combined gentle grace with traces of feral strength. She took a soft brush from a box in the bottom drawer and removed any loose hair first from herself, then from the dress. Looking into the big mirror on the inside of her wardrobe she looked over her nude form and sighed. Her coat looked healthy and she had beautifully shaped breasts under the fur of her chest, but she had never been comfortable with her felidine shape. She had been adopted as a very small cub, even before Diane was born. Her parents had thought they would not be able to have children at that time, but Diane's birth did not change anything about the love they showed her or the care they took of her. Still, she often felt lost in this human world and sometimes she wished she could just be like everybody else. While these thoughts had stirred in her mind, she had carefully put on the dress. It was an armless design that was held up by one shoulder and hugged her form perfectly. The short skirts were divided so her tail could move unobstructed and she wore a g-string of the same wine-red color underneath. She moved to the bathroom and applied some mascara to her lashes and settled a few stray strands of hair. She chuckled and shook her head when she realized how much time she had spent dressing up, considering that tonight wasn't even a real date for her, but it had been fun. * * * The doorbell rang and Diane came crashing down the stairs: "It's Zach! Shar, come on! Let's go!" Diane was only two years younger then Sharja, but she was still in highschool and acting quite young for her age. She was wearing a dress too and had taken some effort to make it look good, but Sharja thought she could have done alot better had she not finished it virtually at the last moment. When Diane opened the door her smile shrank by a few degrees and the young man in front of the door gave her an apologetic grin: "Why, hello - Nice to see you too, Di.. Zach is in the car." Then he looked at Sharja and gave her a little bow: "You must be Sharja. Your sister has told me quite abit about you. Nice to meet you at last." Sharja gave Diane a quizzical look that made her shrug and tried to put on her most winning smile, that actually gave her face a roguish impression. What had she told the boy... and wait! Was this really no double date...? She quickly wiped the irritation off her face and returned the boy's bow just as formally: "I hope she did not tell you too much nonesense. Pleased to meet you, too,..." This seemingly caught the boy off balance and he hastened to tell her his name and added yet another bow. Oh, great... Another double date again. At least he had not gaped or tried to run away yet. Well, he would have all evening for that. She unconsciously sighed before she could stop herself which only worked to make her date, Wesley, more nervous if that was possible at all. She saw her mother standing in the door when they walked toward Zach's car. She wore her usual mild smile with the usual message on her face that Sharja should look after her sister, but - quite uncharacteristically - there was a hint of encouragement, too. When they were in the car and on their way to the movie theater with Diane sitting in front next to Zach who was driving, Sharja just stared at the back of her sister's seat in front of her. Before they left the small country road she felt an urge to twitch her ear that seemed to grow. She turned her head slightly and was surprised to see that Wesley was looking at her. He was smiling in a strange way that she could not quite place and it did not seem to bother him that she had noticed. No, it wasn't gaping. She had to be an expert for that by now. He just seemed to enjoy looking at her and for some strange reason it did not bother her in the least, but actually felt somewhat flattering. Their gazes met and seemed to interlock. The car arrived at the parking lot and the two in the backseat were startled back into the real world. Zach had almost scraped the finish off another car and Diane was berating him loudly for it. Sharja turned her head away. She was blushing furiously. How could she have stared at Wesley like that?! She didn't even know him. Unbeknownst to her Wesley, too, had turned and was blushing for the same reason. This was definitely the most exotic girl he had ever dated and damn - she looked absolutely gorgeous! He had originally only agreed to do it as a favor for Diane. He and Diane had been together some years back until Diane had tried to go alot further then he was willing to go with her. They had broken up over this as was to be expected and Diane had been in a rage whenever she saw him for weeks. But while she had a blazing temper, she also never felt a grudge for long so the two of them had settled their differences and agreed to be just friends. It was actually working great - having a female friend had any number of advantages and he could often give her useful advice as well, even though she rarely heeded it. But he only gave it when she asked for it and for the most part it was having fun together whenever they needed "time off" from one of their many unsuccessful relationships. Diane usually picked boyfriends who weren't bad guys, but had no real concept of love or respect, so sooner or later and no matter how hard they tried, they would mess up badly and then again. Adding Diane's own dose of dropped bricks this doomed pretty much any relationship right from the start. Zach was actually the first guy since Wesley she had been with for more then half a year. Since she and Zach got together, he had only rarely seen her these last months. Zach treated her well even though he made loads of mistakes that made him facepalm whenever he happened to see, but the guy tried his hardest. Wesley's own problems were quite different and at the same time somewhat similar. He usually ran into females that seemed nice at first, but only seemed to want quick sex on second glance. He never got close enough to any of them to be comfortable with the thought of sleeping with them, so failure was predetermined. Staring at the window he noticed Sharja's reflection from the opposite side. Again their eyes met and they blushed, but could not make themselves look away. It felt like a strange kind of magic that had taken hold of them. It definitely wasn't love, they barely knew each other. But there was a profound feeling of what might be called "animal attraction" that drew them together. Sharja found herself admiring the reflection of the young man she had only just met for the first time and she knew it was mutual. She feeling of his eyes on her, to know that somebody relished looking at her, the respectful light in his eyes that had neither the insult of a fool gaping nor the discomfort of a pervert staring - it all made her feel strangely invigorated. * * * Zach finally maneuvered the car into a vacant parking space and pulled the gearstick with a sickly creaking noise from the transmission that made the other three wince briefly. The car actually belonged to Zach's dad and, while bringing it back in perfect shape was his personal problem, they should at least be able to make it back home with the car in one piece. They left the car and Wesley actually hurried to open Sharja's door, then somewhat formally offered her his arm. She took it and felt a hint of doubt about his sudden lack of diffidence. "Hey lovebirds!", came Diane's voice from behind, "It's this way to the movies and we are late already so get moving!" Wesley's face could have rivalled the reddest tomatoes at that and Sharja snickered as she gently pulled on his arm and drew him with her after the others. It felt good to know that he had not suddenly turned into Mr. Im-perfectly-sure-of-myself - it made it easier for herself to hide her coyness. * * * At the theater Zach insisted to pay for everybody and got them some of the best seats. It also ensured that he had Diane to himself on the far side of the room. Sharja and Wesley had adjacent seats as well and they gave each other shy smiles as they walked alongside. On the way her hand gently slipped into his and when they sat down she felt him gently caress the inside of her palm and the back of her hand with his fingers. She smiled at him, forgetting to be timid, and he smiled back with admiration in his eyes. The room suddenly darkened and the usual advertisements started. Sharja barely looked at the screen, her eyes half closed, as Wesley still ran his fingers through the soft short fur of her hands and wrists, the feeling of this simple act far better then most other things she had felt before. She sighed deeply and he gave her a brief worried look, but the loving smile she gave him wiped away his doubt about her appreciation of his soft ministrations. Before long he was looking back at her again with a smile of his own, his eyes slightly glazed as he continued to stroke through her lush fur. Sharja knew that she was quickly falling in love and that her own expression was probably no less adorably stupid then his was right now. "Puppy dog in love" seemed to be written all over his face in bright red letters and Sharja caught herself purring softly at the thought. She shifted slightly in her seat and moved closer to him. It took all her willpower to lean against him and snuggle into his shoulder. Something inside her tried to hold her back, warned her that she might be doing something wrong, but the greater part of her urged her on, wanted to get closer. Wesley shivered and gently woke out of his trance state when he felt Sharja shift against him. He swallowed inaudibly at the sight and feel of the beautiful feline so close to him, brief images rushing through his head that made him blush before he resolutely pushed them away - for the time being. He carefully lifted his arm and laid it over her shoulder and she made a little noise that sounded close to a miaow, but richer in sound and mixed with a purr of enjoyment that made another shiver roll over him. He was pretty sure that he could not remember any time when he had enjoyed himself more and all he was doing was holding her. Sharja's body felt like a spongue that wanted to soak in all the affection he was willing to show her. She no longer cared about only knowing him for about an hour, she didn't care if it would last beyond this day, she just lived for the moment - this one perfect moment. Wesley cradled her in his arms and whispered sweet nothings to her, occasionally daring to plant a soft kiss into her luscious black hair. He ran his fingers over her cheek and she no longer suppressed her purring. He caressed her tenderly and her purring grew softer and more regular until she was fast asleep in his arms and he did not mind at all as long as he could just hold her close. * * * Sharja awoke to the sun shining into her eyes through the window. Diane was already awake as usual and had just finished getting dressed. Sharja moved her hand to her cheek, the feel of a gentle touch still upon it and took a brief moment of pondering if it had all just been a wonderful dream. "You fell asleep and Wes carried you to a cab and brought you home." She began to remember. She had only woken up briefly for a few times, only to snuggle back into his arms and return to sleep when she had felt him there. Suddenly she blushed at the thought of what a boring date she must have been, just falling asleep on Wesley like that, but Diane had seemingly guessed her thought, which was quite unlike her: "The boy looked about as happy as I've ever seen him.. He wrote you a note since he didn't want to wake you when you arrived back home." She handed her a little slip of paper with a few densely-writte lines on it at an odd angle, obviously written in a hurry, but in an attempt to convey as much as possible, too: "Dear Sharja, my deepest thanks for the wonderful evening. I can't remember having felt so comfortable with anybody before and we only just met. I hope you enjoyed it as well. I hope to see you again as soon as possible. I know it's weird to say, but I miss you already. Yours, Wesley" She smiled at his letter. She noticed that he tried to prevent making implications about them being "officially" together while at the same time attempting to express as much of what he felt as possible. She found it incredibly cute. Diane directed one of her roguish grins at her: "I took the liberty of inviting him for tonight. Zach will pick me up again and you and him can go for a walk or something." Sharja felt flooded by a wave of gratitude. She knew perfectly well that her sister had in part done this so she could go out with Zach unbothered by their parents, but the prospect of seeing Wesley again soon made her heart leap about in her chest. With a wide grin she thought about the possibilities of the night, for once completely unabashed. * * *
Yes, yes, another story series, I know - but I promise I will neither abandon the other one (the wolfriders) nor leave this one unfinished. There, now I promised so there's no way out of it :) Sorry for leaving you hanging with this chapter, but it is only for the moment and I AM building towards something very.. well.. yiffy. Please tell me what you think and please vote!