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Chapter XVII--Time, Like Sand Through Your Fingers

_I am a one way motorway

I'm the one that drives away

Then follows you back home

I am a street light shining

I'm a wild light blinding bright

Burning off alone_

_It's times like these you learn to live again

It's times like these you give and give again

It's times like these you learn to love again

It's times like these time and time again_

-Foo Fighters, "Times Like These"

Luca could barely keep up with the subsequent months. She struggled a bit to re-establish her good standing in her classes, but there tended to be a high capacity for leniency amongst the teachers in light of her situation with her parents. The beginning of the new block of classes started in January after the break. Thankfully, Luca only had to see Zee once in a while, as none of their classes were together. The only time they were forced to run into each other was when they had to use the restroom. Luca couldn't help but notice Zee's appearances were not being so well-maintained, and had even heard he had dropped from the track team. She couldn't think of what to do.

But now she stood someplace she never thought she would end up. It was early April already, and in the past few months the rock band B.O.C., which stood for Blood of Christ, had been a chart-topping sensation. That slick-looking fox was none other than Frank Yardley of Captail Records, one of the biggest names in the business. He had taken Ronnie and Ray and paired them up with a couple of guys that they hit it off with almost immediately. They had been the new bass and drums players, both of them timber wolves with unkempt fur and mean-looking demeanors, but were nice as could be. They were into things a bit heavier than the alternative stylings of Ronnie and Ray's original band, much to the pair's liking. And, most importantly, the didn't give a shit that Ronnie and Ray were gay lovers.

Ironically enough, it was Luca that proved to be the biggest benefit to B.O.C. Her temporary fame meant an even bigger impact. As B.O.C.'s first album--which was self-titled--came out, it was an intrigue story on Dateline that piqued the interest of many furres. The resulting craze over Blood of Christ--along with much of the heated controversy over whether people should support a band that supports homosexuals and transgenders--made for a whirlwind of activity for Ronnie and Ray. By the time their first tour was slated to start, their opening venue went from a small performing arts center at a Connecticut community college all the way over to Newark at the Prudential Center Arena.

Overlooking the filling stadium, Luca had been the first to arrive at the arena with Alan. She was standing at the forward edge of their box seats, leaning against the railing as people poured in. She was dressed in punk rocker attire, of course, with a shorter than was typical skirt of red and black plaid patterns, a pair of stockings that made their way up to mid-thigh, stopping just an inch or so short of the bottom hem of her skirt, a pair of boots that went to half-shin that had rounded rounded spikes on top of each toe, a tight-fitting black baby-t shirt that hugged her "boobs" with a red jacket that only came down a few inches from her bust, leaving her midriff uncovered, and she finished it off with dark makeup, black nail polish, and a necklace with a cross and skull hanging from it. Her hair had been tied into dual ponytails that had been twisted together, and laced in were several black and red ribbons.

"You look beautiful, baby," Alan said as he slid up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her neck. Luca just murred softly and let her head lay back against his shoulder.

"I think you told me that a dozen times already," she whispered into his ear, biting her lip with a goofy little smile on her face. Alan simply gazed at her, studying her features. "I might start to believe you a little if you keep it up."

Alan chuckled softly. He pulled something from his pocket, but Luca couldn't see what it was. "I got you something for your birthday."

"I'm not sixteen until the stroke of midnight, hun."

"I know, I know, but I couldn't resist. I would like you to have it now."

Luca turned around to face Alan fully, leaning back against the railing of their box. He held up the little thing in his hand, and she already could tell it was a jewelry box. When he opened it, she gasped. It was gorgeous. There in lay a white gold chain, hanging from which was a string of five diamonds that got progressively larger, the bottom one finishing out at a resound two carats in size. "How can you afford this?!" she whisper-yelled at him. She didn't know why she did, there was nobody else at their box yet.

"Well, I... sort of got promoted. Two weeks ago," Alan said nervously.

"Wait, what do you mean, I thought you still had like five months on your internship."

"I did. But my boss grew a conscience, apparently. Said my work was at least ten years ahead of my time. Told me he would start paying me like it was. This was where my first paycheck went."

"You didn't have to blow all that money on me," she whispered, putting her hand on his and gripping it firmly.

"I wanted to. Besides, the past few months have been hard. You've done so much to help support me, this is only appropriate."

Luca quickly went about replacing her garish piece of ten dollar costume jewelry that hung from her neck with the new, much more conservative piece. As she did so, she found a paper stuffed under the padding for the necklace. "What's this?" She asked as she opened it. Reading it, she put her hand over her mouth. "A full day at the spa? Alan, you can't seriously think I can acc--"

But Alan didn't let her finish. Instead he pressed his lips to hers, and all Luca found she could do was wrap her arms around him and squeeze him close. She could feel his excitement pressing against her thigh and giggled to herself. He'd have his return gift this night when she turned sixteen, she promised herself.

"Hey, could you guys quit sucking face for two minutes?!" Beccah's voice said from behind Alan. The pair didn't break apart. Instead, Alan went in for a much more passionate embrace with Luca, and Luca's hand raised up behind him with a particular finger Beccah was so fond of flipping at Luca. Luca could hear Beccah laughing in reply. Luca realized she hadn't heard her BFF laugh for a little while. As they broke apart, they turned to see Harold and Beccah, arm-in-arm. Harold was wearing a heavy pair of goth pants that had god knows how much metal hanging from them with a black t-shirt. Beccah was wearing the same plaid skirt as Luca--since they had picked them out the same day--and a t-shirt that was getting bulged out by Beccah's growing belly and breasts. On her belly it read. "Baby Rocker on Board" in a yellow caution sign. It seemed Alan was to be the only conservatively dressed one for the night, since he had come straight from work to pick up Luca. His beige slacks and white polo stood out like a sore corporate thumb amongst the local rebellion of youth.

Beccah ran off to the restroom, and Harold seemed to relax ever so slightly. "Going ok with you two?" Luca pressed as they sat in a row of very plush leather seats.

"I guess," Harold started as some servers came in to lay out a large array of foods on the counter for the guests of privilege. Luca realized why the rich loved to be so high up and away from the game just to be in these boxes now. They treated you like kings here. "I just... I don't know," Harold said as he continued on the conversation topic at hand. "It's like she's a thunderstorm one second, and cool breezes the next."

"She's pregnant, Harold. It happens," Luca said. "Everything will be fine. Just be glad rabbits have one of the shortest cycles. She'll be popping out your pups in a month, tops, and then she'll be her again."

"No, then it'll be Beccah-the-mother, and I'll be working my ass off between school and work to pay for it all."

"How's the job search going, anyway?" Alan asked, jumping in.

Harold held out a fist with the thumb sticking out sideways, then turned it downwards while making a raspberry sound. "With all the unemployed becoming employed gradually again, the inexperienced get slashed."

"It's a cruel world, sometimes," Luca mused. "What about that Benny's place? Didn't you say you had a cousin running it?"

"Yeah, but god kill me if I have to work at a fast food joint."

"Work is work, Harold, there's nothing dishonorable in that," Alan said.

Harold nodded. "I guess...I just wish I could fix things to the way they were, though."

"You mean the day before you knocked Beccah up, when you were still a virgin reject with no friends?"

"Shut up with your putting things in perspective," Harold jibed, pushing Luca playfully. He started sniffing the air and looking over at the food. "I'm starved, and I think I smell some pizza that's going to disappear the moment Beccah returns, so I better hurry."

The three of them began digging in, soon accompanied by Beccah, who ripped through the buffet table like a tornado. Luca could only look on with awe. The boys looked on with envy.

"How much longer before the show?" Beccah asked as she laid out plate three in front of her. It had four stuffed peppers as big as your fist, and each one had chocolate sauce drizzled all over.

Luca checked her watch, but before she could answer, a voice came from the door. "Twenty minutes."

They all turned, and Ronnie was standing at the door. Luca squeed and ran over, hugging him close. "Oh my god!" she said excitedly. "Thank you so much for this box. How have you been, Ronnie?"

Ronnie shrugged, then proceeded to peel himself away from Luca, shaking Harold and Alan's hands and giving Beccah a hug. "It's been almost torturous, to be honest. The pace has been insane, especially in recording the new song we'll be playing tonight."

"You guys are already recording another album?" Alan asked.

"No, more like four," Ronnie said. "We've just been tearing through song after song. Paul and Nicky are really great guys to work with. We all just keep coming up with all these ideas for new things and stuff."

"Hey," Luca said, touching Ronnie on the arm. "I wanted to ask you whenever I saw you next: how's the separation going?"

"Oh, right," Ronnie said. "My lawyer pushed that through two weeks ago. I'm officially emancipated. Good thing, too, since there were a lot of legal issues with travelling cross-country on this tour. Plus, I didn't want my parents having a single cent of my money."

Luca gave Ronnie another hug. "I'm happy for you, hun."

"Thanks," he said in an affectionate whisper before the two parted. "Anyway, you guys are comfortable here?" They all nodded in happy agreement. "Good. Listen, I have to get back to the melee, but the whole band is going to meet up here again after the concert. We're gonna party our asses of, k?"

They all nodded in agreement, but Ronnie was already out the door. "You think they mind if I've eaten so much?" Beccah asked, looking to the half-consumed buffet.

"No worries," came a new voice. It was Frank. The well-groomed fox was in his characteristic navy blue business suit and grin. "The food is on us, and there's plenty more where that came from. So dig in."

"Thank you so much for all your hospitality, Mr. Yardley," Luca said, shaking the fox's hand. "You've been so generous."

"Well, I can't exactly make you guys pay full price. I mean hell, I owe a lot of the band's fame to you, Luca."

Luca gave a small, thankful smile.

"Speaking of which," the fox said, striding into the room to overlook the now-full arena. There were only a few more trickles of furre life down there, moving about the stands. "Luca, you're off for the summer, correct?"

"Yeah..." she said tentatively.

"Well, how would you like to go with the tour? They have a lot of summer engagements."

"Why?"

Alan interrupted. "You want her for publicity."

The fox sighed. "You put it in such bad terms. The fact is, a lot of people's eyes are on B.O.C. because of you, Luca. Come here."

Luca did, and when she did, the fox pointed out furres in the crowd. "You see these people here?" She did, many of them were very obviously of the GLBT variety, and they were flooding the arena. When she looked even closer, even the less-obvious members of the crowd had the occasional male-male couples and certain flamboyant giveaways. "Gateway surveys have found that more than half of this entire crowd is part of the GLBT movement. This is huge."

"For your profits," Alan said flatly, stepping up alongside Luca. They were all standing in a row at the railing. The reek of pot smoke wafted to their noses from somewhere below.

"Listen, it wouldn't just be for my profit. You would get to speak to people, hold rallies before events, and do all kinds of things no sixteen-year-old would ever do. And your compensation would be in the six figure range.

Luca's eyes nearly popped from her head in surprise. Alan placed a steadying hand on her shoulder, but said nothing. She took a breath, trying to think rationally. "I appreciate the offer. Would you mind if I took some time to consider it."

"Not at all," Yardley said, slipping her a card. Luca put it in her pocket. Then the fox gave them a little bow. "For the time being, I hope you enjoy the show," he said with a warm smile, marching off towards the door, giving Beccah and Harold a friendly nod.

They did enjoy the concert. The beginning was like a funeral procession, in which a "pyre" was lit aflame behind where the band was. The four members were lowered by harnesses from the rafters to their respective places, hanging limply. But as an actor chanted some voodoo-like spell on the band members, they suddenly sprang to life, beginning with a dramatic riff from Ray and increasingly hard-hitting tempo from Nicky, the timber wolf that was on drums. After that is when Ronnie began belting it out in a way Luca had never heard before. Obviously, he'd been getting some serious practice in.

The crowd was wild, the music even wilder. And it was at the end that they introduced a new, never-before-released song, and Ronnie dedicated it to a very special friend. When his eyes went up to the box seats, Luca knew who he was referring to. Thankfully, the stage crew didn't make a show of it by shining lights on her, and most of the audience didn't even notice the transient glance towards where she sat.

The song was a power ballad that spoke of salvation in another's eyes. There were vague references and twists in the music, and Luca knew exactly what Ronnie was referring to with each line. Cell phones danced in the air, along with a few smuggled lighters. When the song finished, the crowd went crazy, demanding encore with a pounding chant.

The group disappeared behind the curtains of the stage, the lights cut out, and a common sigh of disappointment went through the crowd. But then, just as people were losing hope and turning towards he doors, a huge, powerful hit resounded from the bass drum on Nicky's drum set. Furres turned their heads. The vague silhouette of the wolf in the darkness of the stage could be seen, and the crowd went nuts. The others reappeared, taking their places in the darkness.

What they began playing, the crowd did not expect. It was oh so familiar, the piece, except instead of the notes being played on synthesizer, it was on guitar. It was the opening notes to "Take On Me."

The group went into a hard rock version of A-Ha's (in)famous song, altering certain portions of it in their own twist on the classic eighties piece.

Ronnie went to the edge of the stage in reply to the incredible applause, holding the microphone to his mouth. "I ah... I'm surprised you enjoyed that one so much. We sort of did that as a joke piece for an encore. We're actually doing a different, original piece that we've been working on the past couple weeks."

This was met by even bigger applause.

"This song was written as a testament to the fact we are all deserving of the same rights as individuals. It's called "Love for Who I Am."

As the band started playing, a group of security guards gathered just off the part of the stage where Ronnie was standing. He jumped off to be between them, and they opened up a path for him through the middle of the floor crowd. Retractable balustrades were set up on either side of the path, marking where the fans had to remain. As Ronnie sang, he went through the crowd, touching as many hands as he could. Feathers, scales, and fur clustered around him as the encouraging, powerful words of his song resonated through the arena.

Furres all over the arena cried as the ballad reached their hearts. The cameras showed a display of different furres of all walks of life. Ronnie sang of pride and self-love, and his words were powerful indeed. Finally he reached the other end of the path that had been marked out for him, and climbed up on the control station set at the back of the floor crowd, and marched along the edge, touching every hand he could. Even Luca felt touched at the sight, realizing that this hope, this happiness given to the crowd was worth so much.

Ronnie finished off the song on a belting, powerful note that gave rise to an even more powerful uproar of applause. Finally, the will to party for the crowd was broken, replaced by an upwelling of emotion and happiness. They slowly filed out of the arena, with a crowd remaining behind for a little while around where Ronnie stood and around where the three other band members stood on the stage. Luca watched a pair of daddies. One was a hulking black panther, the other a jay. On the jay's shoulder was the cutest kitten Luca had ever seen, the girl maybe ten or eleven years old. The stood right in front of where Ray was standing at the main stage. She watched as he slid the guitar from his shoulder and gave it to the girl.

About an hour later, with the crowds gone and the cleanup crew fanning across the arena, the band showed up to the box and the after-party began. It was their first big show, and everyone was having a good time. Much to Luca's satisfaction, Ronnie wasn't touching anything from the bar that had been wheeled in. At the stroke of midnight, everyone toasted to Luca's birthday with shouts of jubilation. At ten after, she whispered into Ronnie's ear where she might find a private room. When he told her that there were several other boxes made available with a particular red tag taped to the door, she grinned and thanked him. A few minutes later, Alan and Luca were no longer amongst the party-goers.

"What's this about?" Alan asked, a slight amount of irritation in his voice. He was having a good time at the party, and had even started networking a bit with some of the crew. Apparently they were thinking of having a reporter travel with the band, which would be convenient if Luca took the job offered by Yardley.

"You'll see," Luca said as she pulled in into a box that was about twenty doors down from where they had been. It was a smaller box, but the coziness made it that much better as she locked the door behind them. Immediately, she pulled Alan into a deep, passionate kiss. Alan needed little encouragement, and was starting to get the picture.

"You really want this?" he asked softly. Luca simply nodded in the darkness, her hand on his chest.

"You've been so good to me, Alan. I care about you so much."

"How long have you been planning this?"

Luca giggled. "I don't tell my secrets."

Luca pulled Alan to a couch that was in the lounge-like box and pushed him onto it so that he was sitting up. She straddled him and began kissing along his neck. Alan's hands reached around her, rubbing her back slowly. "I don't have a rubber, Luca."

"It's ok... I trust you," she whispered, kissing his lips. "And at least I can't end up getting knocked up..." She giggled, slowly unbuttoning the top of his polo and kissing down his silky furred chest. Soon, she found herself opening his fly, pulling his member out. She had felt him grind against her before, and she'd rubbed over that bulge out of playfulness from time to time, but this was the first she was really seeing it up close and personal. It was over seven inches, and absolutely beautiful in her eyes. Running her tongue along the length, she smirked as she watched him squirm.

It was not long before Luca was plunging her mouth up and down on Alan's cock, tasting the saltiness of his precum as it leaked into her maw. She shoved him deeper and deeper still until she had to start swallowing at it to avoid choking. This only made him moan and squirm even more.

After a while, she finally got back up again, straddling over Alan's lap. Her skirt was hiding his member, and she reached under to pull her thong underwear aside, releasing her boy bits from their prison. She figured she'd give them that much, at least. Gradually, she rubbed them together more and more, her own member grinding against his until they were both slick with Luca's saliva.

Alan could feel Luca as she kissed along his shoulder, using his own saliva to slicken his finger. He then reached down and very gently began to rub at Luca's tight little pucker. The hole was still very tight, as Luca had never been penetrated by anything before. He worked his finger in slowly, and Luca moaned with a delight that only made him harder and more ready for this. He wouldn't take this much longer.

As if reading his mind, Luca shifted herself upright, positioning her rump right over Alan's cock. She carefully positioned him and lowered herself slowly, feeling her ass spread wider and wider. There was pain, but even more there was pleasure. She felt his cock head pop in, then that was followed by inch after inch until, eventually, Alan was buried inside of her. Luca's body was shuddering and she had some mild spasms here and there, barely able to control herself. She leaned in against him, undoing her skirt. Now her member was leaning against his naked belly, rubbing into his silky fur.

Alan shifted, holding Luca against him as he moved her around to lay on her back with him on top. She opened up her jacket and lifted off her shirt, afraid of messing it up. "Take me..." she whispered to him encouragingly. Alan happily obliged, pulling back and plunging in hard. Luca shuddered with an intensity that was mind-numbing, and their love-making boiled down into a session of incredibly impassioned lovemaking.

It wasn't until the pair were finished, Luca's belly covered in jets of her own cum, her rump full of Alan's seed, that they heard a sudden scream from where the party was across the arc of box rooms that overlooked the arena. The party goers seemed to go silent, and a small panic began to form at the center of it. So much for the afterglow.

Luca found herself in the passenger seat of Alan's half-functional Civic. In the back seat were Ronnie and Ray. Ahead of them was the ambulance, with Harold inside and Beccah screaming like a banshee.

"It's too soon," Luca whispered, trying to calculate the number in her head. "When did Beccah say she was due?"

"Just over three weeks. April 28th, I think," Ronnie said.

"It's now the ninth," Luca said. "That's twenty-seven days early," she moaned. (FYI, for those doing the math, equivalent to being almost six weeks premature in human terms. Estimated about 190 day gestation period for lapines).

Alan only managed a sigh, reaching over and gripping Luca's hand in his own. "She'll be ok, baby."

"She might..." she said, squeezing back. "But what about the pups?"

Only a dark kind of silence met her in reply.