Daughter of the Claw - Chapter 8
#8 of Daughter of the Claw
The eighth chapter (of ten) in an on-going story following Tallish--an Anthro canine male and his daughter.
Your comments mean the world to me. Please, if you read the whole chapter, take a moment to let me know what you think of my work. I appreciate constructive criticism as well.
Mrs. Cankson was headed down the hall toward her classroom, talking to a student as she went. The male feline's tail swished back and forth, coming close to tapping Neroli's butt when it swayed to the right.
Menia was behind them, waiting for the student she knew wasn't in phys-ed with her to go his own way. At the classroom door Neroli and the feline shared a few more words and she gave him a reassuring squeeze on his upper arm.
"Menia," Neroli beamed. Her outfit today was a skirt that ended a handspan above her knees and a drapey floral-print blouse that hung on her firm tits and hard nipples. Why were hard so often? Menia wondered. "How's your dad?"
"Alright, he's back home."
"That's good to hear." Neroli peaked into the room. "Class starts in a minute, did you have a question?"
"No, I just wanted to tell you I ... I am."
"You are wh--Oh! You found out? You're compatible?"
"Uh-hmmm," Menia smiled. "Yeah."
"I'd like to hear about that."
"I guess I do have a question though," she said, and the bell rang.
"Text me?"
"Sure."
Menia jogged her way to geography at the end of the hall and dropped into her seat. Mr. Heen, an enormous bull, huffed a rumbling growl. "Page one-oh-two."
Menia mouthed "sorry" and Mr. Heen's nostrils flared. It was an open secret that his feelings toward humans were manifold and almost entirely negative. A human student arriving late to his class was cause for extra homework, even detention. Menia's saving grace was how seriously she took his class and how she was rarely tardy.
"Darobini." Mr. Heen flicked the lights off and turned on his projector. "Two thousand miles across the water to the northwest the sand desert of Darobini stretches for..." He scanned the room. "...Tammy. How many square miles is the Darobini?"
The parrot looked up, struck, her eyes huge. "Uh. W-what?"
"Desert? Darobini?"
"Yeah. Sand. Okay, umm, it's across the water to the northwest."
"Thank you," Mr. Heen grumbled. "We're past that. I asked how many square miles the desert is. Do you have a guess?"
"Uh." She opened her beak, eyes darted about in hopes of finding a clue. "Can you make it multiple choice?"
"Okay, sure. Is the Darobini desert ten-thousand square miles? A hundred thousand, one million, or a billion?" He crossed his arms, convinced one of the school's most popular girls wouldn't have a clue.
"Oh. Uh," Tammy giggled-chipped. It can't be ten-thousand, that's way too little I think. I'll bet it's a billion. It sounds so crazy it must be true. One of those too-crazy-too-be-true-but-it-really-is things, right?"
"Is that your guess?"
"Yes. Yeah. Wait ... No? I don't know, Mr. Heen! Yeah, fine. A billion square miles."
"No. The entire planet is only a hundred and sixty-three million square miles. The correct answer? Anyone?" He spotted Menia's hand, half raised. Of course the little shit knew the answer. "Menia, go on then?"
"It's about a million square miles, one-point-four I think?"
"That's correct," Mr. Heen sighed. Why did that little furless have to be so right so often? Why couldn't a few of the anthros be a little more on-the-ball? Would mind having Kenim on my balls, he grinned. Fifth dragon he was cute. And those shorts today? F-u-u-uck. Since when did the boys start wearing those for volleyball practice? Wasn't that what the girls wore? Not that Mr. Heen was complaining, no sir and no ma'am. Wear those anytime you like, Kenim. The senior pather was gorgeous, there was no other way about it. Stunning.
Class continued. Mr. Heen talked about the Darobini desert for the rest of class. For a full thirty minutes the bovine's rumbling voice bounced through the room. He told them about the on-going drought that had lasted since the time of the dragons. Legends said the desert had once been a lush plain with an ocean of grass and shrubs instead of rocks, but when the dragons died the world changed in ways they were still learning about today, thousands of years later.
Menia sat on a park bench. Families played, people walked their dogs, children played in the wading pool. In that same pool, on the far side, there were ducks being fed by a small gathering of elderly. The park was between her home and school, a couple blocks out of the way but a good place to sit and think, or text.
Menia: *Hi. What I wanted to know is if you've ever been with an anthro. If you don't want to answer, that's fine. Obviously.*
Mrs. Cankson: *Yes. A few. Why?* Her reply read a half minute after Menia had sent her message.
Menia: *Canine?*
Mrs. Cankson: *Yes, among others.*
Menia: *What species are you compatible with? I assumed canine.*
Mrs. Cankson: *Felines actually.*
Menia: *Oh.*
Menia: *Well what I was wondering is if being with them... sex... is better than others. Is there any kind of overlap?*
Mrs. Cankson: *Interesting question. Yes, there is. You'll be drawn to the species you're compatible with more than any other. It's a pheromone thing. Have you read chapter 8 of the textbook?*
Menia: *No. Is that in there?*
Mrs. Cankson: *Sort of, it's really minimal. A paragraph. All it really says is that those that are compatible will find the same species to be more "alluring". The author's word, not mine. I'll just say that it was really hard for me to sleep with anthros that were reptile and canine, the only non-felines I've been with. I did so because I wanted to see what it was like.*
Menia: *And?*
Mrs. Cankson: *And it's not the same, not at all. I wish I knew how to describe it ... I really don't. Do you have a comfortable bed?*
Menia: *I guess? Why?*
Mrs. Cankson: *And have you ever slept in another one? Gone on a trip or stayed over at a friend's place?*
Menia: *Sure.*
Mrs. Cankson: *If you're like me then home is always better. I love my bed and really dislike hotels. I can't sleep as well in them. The smells are different, there're new noises, the sheets feel weird, the pillows probably suck. It's not like I can't sleep in a different place, but it's not as good.*
Menia: *It's not home. Yeah, I'm the same way.*
Menia: *Is that how it is sleeping with an anthro of the species you're compatible with?* Her heart fluttered. She thought of the previous night and wasn't sure she'd ever slept so well before. No wonder it'd been so awkward when her dad was at the medical center, even for that one night.
Mrs. Cankson: *No.* The response was a bullet. A dagger. A pain in Menia's gut that bled her of all joy.
Menia started typing, she needed clarification. What was all that about home then? What was Mrs. Cankson trying to say? Fifth dragon, she hated texting. She stopped and erased what she'd written. A little blinking icon told her Mrs. Cankson was crafting a reply.
Mrs. Cankson: *That was my crummy comparison. It's so, so, so, soooo much better than that. I can't even describe it without giving you details a teacher really shouldn't share with a student.*
Menia: *Please? You're my phys-ed teacher, I'm asking about body stuff.*
Mrs. Cankson: *Ha. Okay, fair point. When I'm with a feline I don't want anything else. I feel like I could melt into them. I can't get enough of ... everything. I want them in ways I didn't know I could want. I want them to ... um ... fill me. 100%.*
Menia: *Oh. It's good then?*
Mrs. Cankson: *Good? Good? Menia ... it's literally what I live for. I actually have a date I've been getting ready for as I've talked to you. I should get going. See you tomorrow?*
Menia sent a reply back and was about to tuck her phone away. Instead she pulled up that picture of her dad on the beach again. The tight shorts one. She zoomed in and smiled.
Tallish was in his stuffed comfy chair asleep when Menia returned home, his head lolled to the side and he snuffed the air with every inhale. On first entering Menia was louder than she would have been had she known he was asleep. She shut the door with a thump and dropped her bag on the kitchen table. That was when she noticed him and she froze, mashed her lips tight, and scolded herself for being so inconsiderate.
You didn't know he was sleeping though, she told herself. Okay, fair enough. I didn't wake him? Huh. Fear jumped into her gut and she rushed to his side fearing the absolute worst. Maybe that crate to the head had ... didn't the doctor say something about internal bleeding? Swelling? Oh fuck, oh no, please--please no. She reached the side of his chair and he harrumphed, chewed air, and scratched his leg.
Menia let free a shaking, stuttering, breath. She closed her eyes and put a hand to her chest where her heart was still thumping. What would I do without you? Fifth dragon, the thought was horrifying. She knelt next to his chair, lay her head on the armrest and put her hand on his stomach, burying her fingers in soft fur.
The temptation to slide her hand down, under the band of his lounge pants, was a slap in the face. Now she was thinking how lucky she was to have him in her life, now ... now she wanted him in ways she was still trying to wrap her head around. It doesn't make sense, does it? She wondered. The way I feel about him is a sickness, isn't it? A part of her said she should feel terrible, that these ideas, these desires, should never be allowed to grow. It said she should cut them down, pour poison onto them, and deprive them of all sustenance.
What she didn't understand was where that side had even gotten a voice. Where had it learned to speak, how did it know anything whatsoever, and why was it so against what--seemed--to be forming between the two of them?
I want him, she thought.
Why don't you want a boy your age, someone at school? There are nice bulls, cute tigers, that new sexy reptile that just moved from across the city. What was wrong with them?
Nothing, there's nothing wrong with them.
Too young? Too dumb?
Not in the least, no. I think Rheigio is really attractive and he's clearly smart with how well he does in school, and he's fun to talk to.
Then why not say that? Tell him. Let him know you're interested.
Menia adjusted her hand, turned it a little to point her fingers downward. Because I'm not interested in him, not in any way beyond simple friendship.
And you want more with your dad, more than simple friendship.
That thought, existing in her head, born in her mind, angered her. He and I are far more than "simple friends", he raised me when mom left to go explore the world. He's been there for me every time I needed someone. He's the best thing that's happened to me in my entire life. There's nothing simple about our relationship. It's ... complicated. She smiled. It's a beautiful--crazy--thing. I don't fucking care how I'm supposed to feel about him, this is how I feel.
With that declaration the urge to shove her hand into his pants exploded. Menia pulled her hand away and stood, not now. In getting back to her feet wetness leaked out and into her panties.
Tallish sniffed the air, then again, and woke. "Menia?" He said looking up, then into the rest of the house as the fog of sleep faded. "How long have you been home?" He pulled the footrest in with his legs, sat up straight, and yawned. "Humm," he rubbed his snout and sniffed again. Why's she wet? He flicked his eyes down to her belly. It was bare. The shirt she was wearing was short enough to reveal a few inches of skin and he let himself stare for a moment.
"Five minutes? Ten? Not long. I stopped at the Gebe Park for a little after school."
"What time is it?" Tallish asked, looking for his phone.
"Five? I think. Around that." She went to her bag and pulled her phone out. "Five twenty."
"I'm hungry, you?"
Menia nodded, "Mmmhm."
"I've got good news and some not so good news."
"Okay." Menia put her hands into her pants' back pockets. "About work?"
"Yeah," Tallish scratched his right cheek and ear with his left paw. "The medical center called me back after getting some test results and I won't be able to go back to work for at least six months." Menia's mouth fell open. "They said thatcould change, but they didn't sound hopeful. It's something in my blood I guess. I guess the crate that smashed into my head did ... something, I'm not real clear about what, but any sort of extra stress is a no go. They said rest, taking it easy, and losing my fucking mind," he groaned.
"W-what?" Menia pulled her hands out of her pockets. "You're losing your mind? They said that?"
Tallish half grunted, half laughed. "No, so. Sorry, that was a joke. I just think not being able to work for that long is going to drive me nuts. I like reading the paper in the evening, but I can't imagine doing it all day for weeks on end."
"Was that the good or bad news?"
"That was the bad news."
Okay, thank the fifth dragon. "What's the good news, then?"
"Money isn't going to be an issue, at all. I had no idea, but it turns out I've been putting fifteen percent of my pay into a fund meant for this very kind of thing, a life event. I've been doing it since I started. I guess if someone really pressed me I might have remembered, but probably not honestly."
"Fifteen percent of every paycheck? For the whole time you've been there?"
"Yeah." He smiled. "It gets better." His girl's eyes widened. "That money hasn't just sat in a heap, it's been invested into a handful of companies. One of them is Gebe." Her eyes widened even more. Gebe was a technology corporation that formed thirty years back, right around the same time Tallish started working on the docks. They made phones--both of the Ranercosta's phones were Gebe's--and small appliances for the most part.
"I'm not going to say we're rich, but we have way more money set aside than I would have ever dreamt of. I could not work for the next couple of years and we'd still be fine."
Menia laughed. "That's not rich?"
"Well, not like Charles Gebe is rich."
"Okay, sure," Menia shook her head. Less than a tenth of a percent of the entire world's population was that rich. "You mentioned food. I want burgers, good ones."
"You pick them and we'll order delivery."
Menia rushed to her dad's side and wrapped her arms around his neck. She peppered the side of his face with kisses until he growled and pulled away laughing.
"Go on, I'm hungry."
"Want some tangy jerky while we wait?"
"I want something else that's ta--" he stopped short, unsure what the hell had come over him to say that. "Sure, yeah," he said, his volume louder than needed. "Mind grabbing me a handful?"
"Sure." She went to the fridge and unwrapped the jerky from the butcher's paper bundle it was in. She took her time with it, selecting this piece instead of that one. Her head was ablaze with thoughts, ideas, and images. More than anything she was thinking of last night. Her heart was fluttering, she thought she could feel him staring at her. She picked the jerky up and when she turned to bring it back saw he was looking right at her. She stopped in her tracks, gulped, said: "What?"
"Huh?"
"Why're you staring at me?"
"I'm not ... staring? I was just watching you," he smiled. His lips lifted to reveal his teeth.
"Oh." She continued her way over to him and passed him the jerky. "I'm going to look for a place to get burgers."
Okay. He thought he said, his eyes were once again resting on her stomach. Had she pushed her pants down a little, or was he only imagining that?
"Dad?"
"Yeah."
"Did you hear me?"
"Burgers? Yeah, why?"
"You didn't say anything."
"I said okay." Menia shook her head, smiling at him. "Didn't I? Oh, well, yeah, that sounds good. Let me know what they've got on their menu once you find a place you like."
"Okay." Menia grabbed her backpack from the table and headed to her room.
She slid from sitting on her bed's edge to the floor with a sigh. That was ridiculous. He pretty much said he wanted to go down on me, right? Saying he wanted "something else tangy". I know he didn't actually say that, but he may as well have.
You should do something. The voice that had been so against this whole idea said. It had given up that fight, and was now fully in agreement with what she wanted, what her heart, body, mind and soul wanted.
Menia walked back into the living room from her bedroom ten minutes later. To school she'd worn light green slacks that hugged her butt and hips, and a loose blouse. That modest outfit was in the hamper now. Instead of the pants she had lounge shorts on and a tiny top made of soft cotton. The top was cropped so short it passed the bottom slope of her breasts by a couple inches. The shorts were loose and short enough to effectively be a mini skirt. A puff of air here, a turn there, a twist, and anyone looking would see everything she had to offer.
There was a chair across from her dad that she liked to sit in, an armless desk chair with a firm cushion seat and a mesh back. Usually when she sat there it was to work at the desk, but today she had spun the chair around to face the rest of the living room--but, more importantly, her dad.
She sat cross-legged and could feel wetness leaking out of herself and onto the chair. "Hmm," she poked around on her phone looking at burger places. "There's one down near where you work called Bacon Bits. You ever been there?" She pulled her eyes up from her phone, the first time she'd looked at Tallish since changing and sitting. He was staring at her. Staring right between her legs.
Did he hear me? Menia wondered and watched him. If he had, he was ignoring her. But it seemed far more possible that he was too busy to have noticed anything. She bet a cannon could have gone off and it would barely register.
He wanted to lick his lips. He wanted to pull those shorts another inch to the side and bury his tongue ... He savored the smell coming from her blossom and tasted every curve, nook, and secret he was able to discover.
It was fun watching him. Seeing the occasional swallow. She moved her attention down his chest to his stomach, then another six inches down. When had he put a hand there? That made her eyes widen and the temperature in the room rose a few degrees.
Following his lead she pushed a hand down, over her stomach, and across the top of her right leg. Down, to the inside of her thigh, then began to pull it back toward herself. Her eyes were locked on him and she wondered when he would finally look up at her.
Tallish was all the way out of his sheath, but still inside of his pants. He wrapped his thumb and pinky around the base of his cock, under his knot. The knot itself rested in his palm. He worked his hand there, his cock gulping, begging to enter where his eyes were locked.
Menia smiled, sucked and nibbled her lower lip. She pulled her hand up to her shorts, and moved her fingers inside of them to the outer edges of her lips.
Holy shit. She thought. Her heart was racing, sweat was dripping out of every pore, her skin tingled. Her mind was a raging water and a gushing geyser. It was the ocean, a breaking wave, a tide pool. She pulled against her skin, opening herself a little more. Still watching his face she saw his eyes widen and his mouth fall half open, then he closed it with a soft, longing groan.
He pulled his pants up over the tip of his cock, then pushed them down to completely reveal himself to her. And for no better reason than having the thought and finding it so amusing, he said: "Have you found a place to eat yet?"
"Mmhm," she smiled, willing him to look at her. Still his eyes remained down, locked between her legs.
Right hand still on his cock, he pushed himself out of his chair and walked over to her.
It was right there, all she had to do was ... Menia bent her head down and licked the tip.