Daughter of the Claw - Chapter 5
The fifth chapter (of many?) in an on-going story following Tallish--an Anthro canine male and his daughter.
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Mrs. Cankson stood there waiting for her host to tell her where to go, where they could sit and talk.
"Are you thirsty? Do you want anything to drink?"
"Water's fine. Unless you have tea?"
"We have tea. A lot. I can read them?"
"Do you have mint?"
"Oh, yeah, we probably have five different mints. Dad loves that." Menia led the way into the kitchen, went to the pantry, and pulled a rolling shelf forward where a couple dozen boxes sat.
Mrs. Cankson followed Menia, took a seat at the small table, and crossed one leg over the other. "How is he? Your dad."
"I don't know. He seemed okay, but the doctors and nurses are being really annoying." She went on to explain what had happened and why he was being kept at the medical center to be monitored.
"I see. I'm no doctor, but I know a few things about the body and it sounds like they're doing the right thing."
"Yeah, I know, but ... I don't like being home alone."
"I'll stay the night if you want."
"Okay." Menia said and realized she hadn't said "yes" or "no thank you". The kettle began whistling and she poured steaming water into the mug with the metal ball tea strainer. She put a cap on the mug and set a timer on her phone. "I didn't text you because of my dad."
"Oh? No? Why then?"
Menia took a seat opposite her teacher and picked at her thumbnail. "How come you asked me about my sense of smell?" She looked up, then back down at her hands.
"I see. Well, as a teacher it's my job to pay attention to my students. I care about you and all the others. Sometimes I notice things and I've seen your nose twitch at certain things. Things almost none of the other human students would notice. The canine-anthros and you are the only ones that'll sneer when Lory is out mopping the halls."
"I hate that cleaner he uses."
Mrs. Cankson smiled. "I know. But you seem to like it when they're making pizza for lunch." Menia nodded. "And you can smell that, when they open the oven right about eleven thirty on Tuesday?"
"Yes."
"And when Lory is out in the garden, pruning, and sometimes cuts a few flowers for Mr. Cot, you can smell that too--can't you?"
"Yeah, how'd you know that?"
"Because I can too."
"Oh," Menia said and nodded. O-oh. Wait, does that mean she ... ? Menia looked up, her eyes passing up her teacher's chest and valley between her breasts. "Are you compatible too?"
Mrs. Cankson's eyes widened, a smirk pulled at her lips. "Too? I am, yes. What do you mean by too?"
"Oh, well ... I ... I just figured you knew that I was."
"Are you?"
Menia sank back into her chair. She, honestly, wasn't sure. All signs seemed to point to yes, but she wasn't certain. "I think so. Given what you've said--what you talked about in class." She told her about the two aroused dogs she'd smelled. The one outside the market and the other she and her dad had watched for Tallish's coworker.
"For me it smells like sweet warm cream. Fresh. Full. Almost like whipped cream or frosting. The moment I smell it I get," Mrs Cankson sucked on her lips and shook her head. "I get all kinds of hot and bothered," she giggled. "It's true though, I do. I can't help it."
Menia blushed and laughed. "Yeah."
"So what did you want to talk about?"
"I wanted to know if there's a way for me to be sure I'm compatible. Is it possible I'm not but still find those smells good?"
"Possible? Yes, certainly. It's not common, but it does happen. As for your question: yes there is a way."
"I mean a way that doesn't require me to ... to," Menia's face flushed red. "You know."
"Have sex?"
"Y-yeah."
"You could." Mrs. Cankson laughed.
"Mrs. Cankson!"
The phys-ed teacher laughed, a light sound full of precious mirth. "Please, call me Neroli."
"I never knew your first name. It's Neroli?"
"Mmhm. Okay, no sex for Menia. I was half joking anyways."
"So you were half serious."
Neroli smiled. "There's only one other way I know of and it's not that much different, I guess you can be the judge of whether or not it's different enough."
"Okay." The timer on Menia's phone began to sound, a bird's chirp that rose in volume with every passing pair of seconds. She got up and tapped the red stop button then bobbed the strainer a couple times. "Honey? Sugar?"
"No thank you--plain, please."
Menia brought the tea over to the table and found her eyes falling into the valley of Neroli's chest again. Then fell to her bare midsection and down another six inches where a downy trail vanished into the seafoam blue haze of her sheer shorts.
"I guess there are two ways, but one requires a great deal of money. There's a test you can take, they draw blood, send it to a lab, and report back to you in a couple weeks. Last I knew, that still cost around six-thousand." She sipped her tea, watching Menia through the steam rising from the mug. "There's not much demand for the cost of the test to go down when the other option is basically free."
"Free is good, I can afford that. What's that option?"
Neroli's nostrils widened, her pulse thumped, she swallowed back the sudden increase of saliva, and took a sip of tea. There was wetness elsewhere too. "I hope this doesn't gross you out, but there's no other way to say it. The only other way I'm aware of to test if you're compatible or not is to taste the seminal fluid of the species in question. For you that would be canines."
"Because of my dad?"
"That's right. If your mother was another species, corvid for example, you might be fowl compatible too, or one and not the other. But your mother being human and your dad anthro-canine means--"
"Dogs only."
"Right."
"So I ..." A lump formed in the back of Menia's throat. "I just have to taste a canine's cum and ... then what?"
"Oh, you'll know immediately. It'll either be absolutely foul or one of the greatest things you've ever tasted in your life. It's as simple as that."
"The hardest part is finding someone to let you do that with their animal. If you had a pet of your own it'd be pretty simple, but," Neroli looked around, "I don't think you do, do you?"
"No." Menia shook her head, and thought of the message she'd gotten. The one from the owner of the "big boy".
The two women talked for another hour before it was time to head to bed. The subject meandered from Tallish, how he was doing, what he did for work, back to Menia and how school was going for her--good--and ended on Neroli and a little about her past. She'd been born in the north in a tiny village, even farther away than the town Menia's mother had grown up in. Clainin's hometown of three thousand people was a booming city compared to Neroli's village of fifty.
Menia sent a message to her dad, brushed her teeth, checked her phone one last time--no reply--and changed for bed.
"You're sure it's okay I sleep in your dad's bed?"
"Yeah, he won't care."
"Okay. Goodnight, Menia. Sweet dreams."
"You too, and thanks for coming over."
"Of course."
Neroli lay in Tallish's bed and knew it was going to be a challenge to find sleep. The smell that permeated the room bordered on psychedelic. Her mind was a haze of sense data, her skin was aflame, the world was alive. With every drawn breath her body threatened to collapse. Even though she was already laying down, she felt she could melt into a pool of ecstasy at any moment. It was Tallish's scent that did it.
She rolled in the bed, pulled a pillow into her face and inhaled through nose and mouth. Her whole body spasmed with bliss, her pussy blossomed and gushed, her nipples hardened and every subtle touch against her top sent ripples of gleeful, agonizing pleasure across her chest and down her stomach.
She touched herself. The middle two fingers of her right hand vibrated against her cilt, back and forth, wetness spilled free and ran down and over her ass. Her left hand explored her breasts, neck, face. She grabbed a handful of sheets and bit hard, drawing nosefuls of that exquisite scent. Fifth dragon, oh if only Tallish were here. She'd met him a couple of times at parent teacher potlucks and had found him to be charming and quite handsome.
Five minutes passed, and she took a little break. Breathing hard, her mind spinning, she lay there staring at the ceiling. Then she dove her fingers into herself, bit her lip, and came.
She fell asleep, fingers still inside of herself, one of Tallish's pillows pulled close to her nose.
Menia woke to sounds coming from the kitchen. At first she thought it was her dad and rolled over to her side for another few minutes of sleep. Then she remembered her dad wasn't home and sat bolt up, her heart hammered. Oh, Mrs. Cankson ... that's right, Neroli was there.
Menia smelled something strange. A weird bitter smell. Wait, was that coffee? Where'd she get that? She and her dad only drank tea. She'd had coffee, but Tallish wasn't a fan.
"Did you go and get coffee?" Menia asked. She set her bookbag down and pulled her water bottle out. Yesterday's water was a little stale and she dumped it out and refilled it from the filter-pitcher on the counter, then refilled that in the sink.
"I did. I struggle to start my day without it. That little market at the end of your street is super cute."
"Yeah, I like it, but it's kind of expensive. We don't usually go there unless it's for something small that we need."
"Their coffee is good. I got you one," she pointed to the paper cup on the table. Neroli chuckled. "Oh, you don't like it?"
"Mm," Menia lifted the cup, sniffed at the mouth hole, shook her head. "No. I have tea in the morning."
"I'll start some water."
"What time is it?" Menia asked herself and went to check her phone on the counter.
"Quarter to seven."
"Aren't you going to ... You're not wearing that to school are you?" Menia waved a hand at Neroli's pretty much nonexistent outfit.
"No," Neroli laughed. "No, of course not. Although I'm sure some of the boys would love it if I did," she stuck her tongue out.
"Not just the boys," said Menia. "No, hey, whoa, don't look at me like that. I don't care what you wear ... no, no. You're pretty, but ... no, I'm not. Can we not?"
Neroli spread her hands and her face brightened. "I didn't say anything."
"I need to make breakfast."
"You should stay home today, Menia. May as well make it a long weekend. You had a long night last night and I can't imagine your dad will be stuck at the medical center much longer. You probably want to be home when he gets here. I'll tell the office you need a personal day."
"You're sure?"
"Positive."
An hour later, well after Mrs. Cankson had left, Menia was washing her morning dishes. Her phone chripped. She dried her hands and checked it.
Unknown number: *Sounds great. Any chance today works for you? I actually have an appointment with my dentist at noon. Maybe you could watch Rava for me? If not, that's fine, I can swing by after. Let me know before ten so I know if I need to make other arrangements.*
Menia: *That sounds great. I'd be happy to watch your big boy while you're at your appointment. If you'd like to come by sooner that works too. What's your name by the way? I'm Menia.*
Unknown number: *Begolin. Nice to meet you, Menia. Let me know where you'd like to meet. Sooner would be wonderful, I have other errands I could run.*
Menia sent him the address of the market at the end of the street and they agreed to meet in half an hour at nine sharp. Before she'd finished with the message a notification of a message from her dad popped up. She finished the message to Begolin then checked to see how her dad was doing.
Tallish: *Hey. Sleep was awful. This room smells terrible, I hate it. Miss you.*
Menia: *When are you coming home?*
Tallish: *Hang on. Doctor is here now.*
Menia set her phone down and stared at the screen for a full minute. When nothing happened she looked at the time. It was quarter to nine. She checked the weather in Darobini and saw it was already ninety-three with a forecasted high of a hundred and six today.
Menia: *A hundred and six? How can you stand that?*
A minute passed before her mom responded. *Hi. It's cooling down as the days go on, if you can believe it. During the summer it gets up to a hundred and twenty. That sounds like hell to me. How're you?*
Menia: *Okay. When are you coming back to Stannik Fash?*
Clainin: *Maybe next year, spring or summer.*
A message from her dad came through. *Doctor says I'm in pretty good shape but they want to watch me a little longer. Says I can come home this afternoon if everything looks good next check up.*
Menia: *Okay =D I love you. See you later.*
Dad: *See you soon. Love you.*