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Part 7: Art Of Conversation

The original works can be found at Conjoined Dreams. This was posted with permission of the original author Dr. Mercurious.

by Dr. Mercurious

Raquel fidgeted in the squad car; it felt stuffy, despite the fact that the windows had been rolled down to let in some air. It's a good thing it's still light out this late in the afternoon, she thought. I'd go nuts if I couldn't see the door. One pair of her eyes kept flickering to her watch while the other remained glued to the front entrance of the Providence police station.

"Would you relax, already?" The other occupant chided.

She glanced away from her watch to the black panther behind the wheel. "You're sure she'll come out this door?"

Kyle chuckled. "She always leaves work by that door; Kayleigh tends to be a creature of habit."

She smiled at him "Sorry, I worked so hard on this and I just don't want anything going wrong."

He smirked, "Don't worry; she's jumping out of her skin trying to figure out how you managed to leave one rose in the squad car, every hour on the hour, without her catching you once."

She patted him on the shoulder. "Thanks for helping me out on that, by the way."

His grin got bigger. "Piece of cake. She never thought to check the trunk of the cruiser for the flowers. Mind if I ask what was on the notes? I've never seen her blush that shade of red."

Raquel fought her own blush but it crept up her cheeks anyway. "Why should I tell you? After all, you're just going to tease her about that little oversight."

Kyle put on a fake indignant air. "I'll have you know that, as her partner, it's my God-given right to tease her."

She couldn't resist a giggle. "You're terrible."

"And you're the best thing that's happened to her in a long while," he returned, suddenly very serious. "None of her past girlfriends have ever gone through this much trouble to cheer her up."

"Maybe they were afraid of what the other cops would say."

"And you weren't?"

"I just didn't think she cared."

"She doesn't." Kyle gave her a penetrating stare. "Neither does most anyone who's been on the force for over two years. You do know about that serial killer she bagged, right?"

"Yes, she's told me," Raquel began hesitantly. Her added random thoughts -- not so random lately -- had been pushing her to tell Kyle the whole story. Maybe there wasn't any need; she decided to feel him out a bit to see what he knew. "Kyle? How much has Kayleigh told you about what she went through?"

"Nothing, but she doesn't need to," he shuddered. "Cops spend their jobs poking around the underbelly of society where society's secrets hide. Every cop who was around then knows that Kayleigh tangled with the nastier ones head-on and I don't know how many would have been brave enough -- myself included. Me, I've never cared but as far as most everyone is concerned -- including the captain -- who or what she has sex with is her business."

Raquel clapped a warm hand on his shoulder, relieved. "Good to hear it."

Kyle suddenly looked uncomfortable. "By the way...umm, no offense, but..."

She guessed what he was trying to say tactfully, given the way he was glancing from her right head to her left and back. "Yes, I'm one person -- and let's just say that, in my experience, some of those 'secrets' aren't all that bad."

"Ah. Gotcha."

A familiar figure came out the front door of the police department. "That's our cue," she told Kyle. Grabbing the bouquet of roses she'd bought, she and Kyle got out of the squad car. For the occasion she wore a pair of tight jeans, an old T-shirt -- newly tailored for her additional neck -- that clung to both sets of breasts, and a pair of five inch heels. Personally Raquel didn't like heels that high but Kayleigh loved them.

The look on the husky's face was wide-eyed and full of desire; seeing it gave the two-headed tigress a warm feeling. Without any regard for onrushing traffic, Kayleigh ran across the street and straight into Raquel's outstretched arms. She immediately grabbed Raquel's right head by its whiskers and proceeded to suck its tonsils out, cupping Raquel's ass and squeezing them hard.

"If you keep doing that, I'm going to forget we're in public," Raquel purred with her free head. Kayleigh's response was to break the kiss and switch to Raquel's other mouth. She took note of various passer-bys; a few looked put-off but most didn't seem to mind, and one or two even looked approving.

After a while Kayleigh broke the kiss. "You are a very naughty kitty," she giggled, her body still pressed closely to Raquel's own. She sped a mock-glare at the panther. "Both of you."

"We aim to please," he chuckled. This close, Raquel could tell his pupils were dilated. "You two lovebirds all set?"

"I think so," Raquel told him. "Thanks again."

"Anytime." He waved good-bye and meandered off to the police station's employee parking lot, whistling all the while.

"So what do you want to do tonight?" Raquel asked her lover.

"Tear your clothes off with my teeth," Kayleigh growled.

"I'm up for that," she grinned as they walked to Kayleigh's car, parked in the side lot of the police station. She'd been spending every night of the past week over at the husky's apartment but only to offer comfort whenever the husky woke up sobbing from whatever demons of guilt still tormented her.

"Thanks for being patient with me," Kayleigh said. "I don't know how many femfurs would be understanding about their lover being so broken up over the death of an old flame."

"I'm not most furs," Raquel reassured her. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the potential for something special had existed between Raquel and Vicki. It wasn't in the tigress to be jealous of the past.

What would I have done if Vicki lived, the random thought wanted to know. Could I have stood in the way?

It suddenly dawned on Raquel that in a situation like that, sharing Kayleigh would not have been objectionable. These self-realizations are getting very unsettling, Raquel mused to herself. If I didn't know better, I'd swear -

She got no further as a sudden headache lanced into her; she couldn't tell which head it originated from. They'd started last week and although the headaches didn't last long they worried her a lot.

Kayleigh was looking at first one of her heads then the other intently. "You had another headache, didn't you?"

"Yes." Raquel admitted. She'd originally intended to keep it as a secret but the 'random thought' had hounded her until she caved.

"Didn't you go back to Mike for your MRI Thursday?"

Raquel nodded. "Yes, but I hadn't heard from him yet. I took that as a good sign"

Kayleigh didn't look convinced. "Maybe."

The mood was definitely starting to cool; Raquel decided to heat things back up a bit. "Well if you're that worried, after I drop my car back off at the apartment we can go to your place and you can give me a physical."

"Beast," Kayleigh smiled, although the worried look didn't quite go away. "Actually, could we stop by your apartment first? I'd like to thank Cyndi for helping out with the funeral and all that."

"No problem," Raquel double-smiled. "She should be home by now."

---

Cyndi had been working up the nerve for this all day, even taken a half-day off from her job as customer service manager at the Providence DMV for it. At least the weather had cooperated; a bright sunny day with the occasion fluffy cloud, warm without being oppressive.

It was something she would have given anything not to have to do alone, but who could she turn to? Her work-friends would think she was crazy. Byron would be worried out of his tree. Kayleigh was still pulling herself together from the funeral. Raquel would be there for her in a heartbeat, but something in Cyndi's gut told her that her best friend had enough to deal with at the moment.

Enough stalling, she told herself. The porcupine sat down cross-legged on the grass in front of the new grave and put down the picnic basket. Not for the first time, she wondered why Vicki's brothers and sisters hadn't wanted her buried in the family plot back in California. No, scratch that, she suddenly realized, repressing an angry quill flare. She remembered the looks on the faces of her relatives when they'd learned how the mink had spent her final days. Better to say I don't understand -- and on the day I do I hope someone will be kind enough to kill me.

She opened the picnic basket and took out a small blanket which she spread on the ground in front of the grave, half on the grass and half on the fresh earth. She then took out two sandwiches and two bottles of water. One, a cream-cheese spread with bark bits she left near her. The other, grilled rabbit, she left near the grave. Her nose wrinkled a bit as she unwrapped it. Porcupines, like elephants and rhinoceros, were herbivores; meat didn't even smell good. Minks were thorough carnivores, and rabbit was a common favorite -- so, since the sandwich was for Vicki, that's what its filling was composed of. Cyndi used to do something very similar at her grandmother's grave as a young fur in Amherst. Every two weeks she'd bring a picnic lunch and pretend to share it with her Granny Catherine. She'd always leave her grandmother's portion on the grave and it would always be gone the next time she visited. When she got older she assumed that either the groundskeepers or scavengers took care of cleaning it up. It had occurred to the child she'd been, not the adult she was, that maybe her grandmother had come back from the grave to eat what had been prepared for her.

Vicki's funeral had forced her to once again see the world through those child's eyes; she had to, because it kept her from thinking she was crazy. Vicki's ghost had been ever-present, from watching as well-wishers filtered in and out of the funeral parlor to standing over her own grave, mourners and well-wishers alike unseeing of it. It wasn't a frightening apparition -- the horrible scars that had marred her meat body didn't touch her ghostly one -- it was what seeing it meant.

Cyndi had never had stuff like this happen to her before. First she saw through a powerful illusion and now seeing spirits? She had to find out what was going on, and Vicki was the only one likely to know. The dead are supposed to know more than the living, she reasoned. At least, that's what I've heard. She took a deep breath. "Hi, Vicki? It's Cyndi, a friend of Kayleigh."

The only answer was a slight breeze whispering its way through the green grass.

"Do you remember me? I sang you a lullaby to help you sleep. Could I talk to you? It's important."

There was no gaudy special effect or anything of the kind; one moment there was nothing there and then suddenly a translucent outline of a body. Vicki's gently smiling features became noticeable as her ghost coalesced.

"Thanks," she smiled nervously, nodding at the rabbit sandwich. "I brought that for you if you want it."

Vicki peered at it and took a tentative bite. The mink shyly returned Cyndi's smile and took a couple more; Cyndi wondered where the sandwich was going since Vicki didn't have a stomach anymore. She told herself not to think about it.

"Can you speak?" Cyndi wanted to know.

Vicki opened her mouth a couple of times but no sound came out. She shook her head sadly.

"That's okay," Cyndi reassured her. "I'm sure we can manage to talk to each other. Actually, I was hoping you could answer a few questions." The ghost nodded. Cyndi decided to approach the first question tactfully. "If you don't mind my asking, how come you just revealed yourself to me?"

Vicki shook her head emphatically.

Cyndi sighed. "I was afraid of that; only I can see you."

*Nod*

Well I guess ghosts aren't magical, she thought, remembering Kayleigh's special eyesight. "I wish I knew why," Cyndi declared. "I mean, I could never do anything like this before!"

Vicki took a big bite and chewed thoughtfully. Then she sat up straight, a look of realization on her face; she crooked her neck to her right and patted the revealed expanse.

Cyndi frowned. "Er...you have a sore shoulder...no, that's not right." Vicki flashed a peace sign. "Wait a minute," the porcupine declared, "That's the number two...are you saying it has to do with Raquel?"

Vicki nodded and then shrugged as if to say what else could it be?

"You're probably right," Cyndi mused. "Beats the hell out of me what her transformation has to do with it." She took a bite of her own sandwich. "I just wish I knew what to do next."

Vicki nibbled away at her sandwich, forehead wrinkled in concentration. Finally, she shrugged.

"That was meant to be rhetorical," Cyndi giggled. Without thinking, she patted Vicki's hand reassuringly; the contact felt like she'd dipped her hand in warm water. When she jerked her hand away startled, there was even beads of moisture on it. "Everyone says ghosts are cold," she murmured absently. The ghost-mink was staring at her own hand, obviously surprised.

It was then she noticed Vicki's trembling muzzle, and the way Vicki's eyes seemed to glisten. She's fighting back tears, Cyndi realized. How lonely must it have felt -- to be at your own funeral with the realization that everything you've done has led up to nothing more than to be a painful memory? She doubted Hell could be any worse. Without thinking about the consequences -- and not caring if there were any -- Cyndi hugged the poor ghost. She was only mildly surprised when there seemed to be something solid to hold.

Vicki buried her face in Cyndi's shoulder, a silent wail of pain on her face. The porcupine didn't tell her everything would work out, because it hadn't; things weren't going to get any better either. All she could do is just hold the sobbing ghost-mink for as long as she needed to cry.

There wasn't even a question in Cyndi's mind as to whether or not she'd be back with another picnic basket, just how often could she manage it.

---

A few tombstones down, a blue-point Siamese saw the whole thing. He stayed where he was, watching the whole exchange. When the two embraced, he lit out for the closest Doorway at high speed.

Phaeron's going to want to know about this, he panted to himself.

---

"That's odd," Raquel murmured, entering her and Cyndi's apartment. "Cyndi gets out at 4:30 PM every day. I can't remember the last time she needed to work an overtime shift."

Kayleigh sighed, clearly disappointed. "I guess I'll catch her later then."

Raquel took a quick look in the parlor and saw the answering machine blinking. "Hold on, I think she left a message." She pressed the PLAY button and raised both left eyebrows at Byron's voice.

"Hiya honey," he said. "I'm going to be working late tonight. Give me a call at work, okay? Love you!"

"Again?" Kayleigh demanded. "He's worked late every night this week!"

Raquel nodded absently with her right head. This isn't good, the random thought told her. She agreed with it; some furs might be able to deal with their spouses working late hours all the time, but Cyndi wasn't one of them. Oh, she'd pretend to not mind -- of that Raquel was sure -- but she'd be miserable in the long run.

"I hope 'sweetie-bear' isn't getting cold feet," Kayleigh growled.

"Well, it's been over a week since he proposed and Cyndi still hasn't given him an answer," Raquel said defensively. She always liked Byron, even if he'd always been a little distant towards her.

Cyndi's also been busy with Vicki's funeral arrangements for the past three days, the random thought reminded. Byron never showed up to offer moral support; she should have at least been there for Cyndi's sake. Raquel thought it was being over-critical. Right then, on cue, there was a brief flash of pain in both her temples. She tried to hide the grimace but she wasn't quick enough -- Kayleigh's expression as she leaned against the parlor doorway changed from indignation to concern.

"I saw that," she exclaimed. "You had another headache! Raquel, they've never happened that close together!"

"It's just those multitasking exercises Mr. Gregan has me going through," Raquel insisted. "They're a little straining."

"Then tell him to stop," Kayleigh said through gritted teeth.

Raquel drew her lover close. "Kayleigh, don't worry. I'm sure everything is fine."

"But what if it isn't?" The husky clung to her tightly. "Raquel, if something happened to you, I don't know what I'd do."

Time to lighten the mood a bit, she thought. I don't want her dwelling on the recent past. "You? What about me? This is the only me I've got!"

Kayleigh looked up at Raquel; her lip quivered, trying to suppress a grin but it came anyway. "How do you manage to always make me smile?"

"Because I love you," she returned.

The husky raised her hands to Raquel's faces and chucked under both her chins; she purred appreciatively. "I love you too," Kayleigh smiled, "I just wish you were looking for a roommate; we could spend more time together if we shared an apartment."

Now that's a wonderful idea, the random thought butted in.

Raquel agreed with it. "Who says I'm not? Even if Cyndi and Byron don't get married -- which I highly doubt -- Cyndi wouldn't mind another roommate. You two are friends, right?"

"Well....yes, I'd like to think so," Kayleigh began.

"And you've told me that you hate to live alone, right?"

"True...but..."

"So I don't see a problem here," Raquel finished in triumph. "Unless you think it's a little too soon for us to live under the same roof..."

"No!" Kayleigh grabbed Raquel's speaking head by its ears and French kissed it.

"I didn't think so," Raquel smirked with her free mouth. The husky abruptly transferred her attentions to that head, almost cutting her off mid-sentence. Raquel felt warm hands push up her T-shirt and fondle her breasts; she hadn't worn any bras a fact she was grateful for as Kayleigh's eager thumbs found her nipples right away. She felt an answering heat from her pussy and let loose a moan. Looks like it's going to be an early evening -- or a late one, depending on one's point of view, she thought.

Maybe I should have a talk with Byron, another thought intruded.

Kayleigh pulled back. "I think you're right."

Raquel blinked. "What?"

"You said maybe you should..."

"I know, I know -- I hadn't realized I'd spoken aloud," Raquel grinned at Kayleigh. "You've got me so horny I'm babbling."

"Personally, I think he needs is a good swift kick in the ass," Kayleigh mused. She withdrew her hands, much to Raquel's disappointment. "I'd say now is as good a time as any."

"You have a point," Raquel conceded. She had blurted it out while her and Kayleigh had been engaging in pre-foreplay. "We've always gotten along, so I don't foresee any problems. I'll go to his workplace before he leaves for the evening." She straightened her T-shirt out.. "What if Cyndi comes back while I'm gone?"

"It will give me time to thank her and see how she feels about another roommate."

"Good idea."

Cyndi's probably going to be upset at me for butting in, she thought.

She'll get over it quickly when she sees it was because I was worried about her and Byron's future, the random thought interjected. It was a good point.

---

On the bottom floor of the old brick building that Granitemovers Construction called home, Byron crouched in the break room with a week-old newspaper clenched in one fist and called himself a coward. He hadn't needed to put in all that overtime this past week; the promotion he'd struggled for was his. No, he was here because it spared him a confrontation he didn't want.

He stared at the newspaper again and the picture on the front page, just under the fold. When he first saw it, his first thought was that it was awful what newspapers would do these days to sell issues, like plaster some poor deformed fur on the front page for everyone to see. His second thought, a split second after he crumpled it, had been along the lines of, I've seen her before.

He'd had to take a good, long look to recognize Raquel, Cyndi's longtime friend -- she'd changed considerably, after all. Not only was she missing her wreck of a tail but she...she...

It made him want to vomit.

How the hell does something like this happen' Byron whined silently. Furs just don't up and grow extra heads. What if it's some sort of flu? What if Cyndi gets hurt because of it! What if -

"Yo, Boss!"

Byron's head snapped up to look at the Doberman who'd just walked into the break room. "What's up, Andy?"

"There's a hot dame waiting in your office," Andy smirked.

Cyndi, he thought suddenly. "Thanks," he said, patting his friend on the shoulder as he brushed by.

"Go get 'em," Andy grinned.

In a way, Byron was glad she was here. I've been keeping this bottled up for too long, he told himself as he strode across the main garage area. I've got to tell her the real reason I've been working all these late hours recently. His lovely porcupine lady craved affection. He didn't want to think what he'd put her through.

As he opened the door to his office, three things occurred to him far too late. The first was Andrew's sense of humor. The second was Cyndi tended to inspire her friends to go above and beyond the call of duty in their desire to help her simply because she would do the same. Third, and most terribly, was the assumption that the femfur in his office was Cyndi might have been premature.

"Hey, Byron! Sorry for dropping by unannounced like this, but I need to talk to you."

Raquel, big as life and twice as ugly -- he barely stifled an insane giggle at the mental pun -- perched at the edge of his faux-wood desk; one head had been casually studying a city map of Providence pinned to one wall but it turned to also look at him. Her presence made the close quarters of his office seem even more confining. Byron supposed he looked curious, because she got up off his desk and moved towards him. "That's right...you haven't seen my new look, have you?" She giggled in stereo, which sent chills down his spine. She spread her arms and pirouetted to give him a good look. "Not bad, huh?" He couldn't say a word; his tongue seemed cemented to his throat. She seemed to take this at a license to continue. "Anyway, I couldn't help but notice you've been working a lot of late hours and I wanted to check to see if there was anything wrong between you and Cyndi."

I can remain civil, he told himself. "Everything's fine," he told her. His voice sounded normal to his ears.

"Are you sure?" Both her faces looked concerned as she moved closer to him, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder. "Because if..."

Byron's own body betrayed his good intentions, flinching away from the touch. "Don't touch me," he growled. He could feel his face screw up in a grimace of disgust; his voice came out so distorted with revulsion he almost didn't recognize it.

Raquel stopped dead in her tracks; both her jaws dropped in surprise. "What?"

"Stay away from me!" Now the dam was broken, there was no stemming the tide of his inner horror. He turned to bolt out of his office, put some distance between him and that thing -

"Hello, Byron."

• and Cyndi was right behind him.

She didn't say anything else other than that, and the expression on her face was almost blank. Byron had no idea how she managed to get so close to him without sensing it and for the moment didn't care; she'd certainly heard his reaction. He had to explain things before it was too late! "Cyndi..."

"Raquel, could you leave me and Byron alone please?" She never took her eyes off him. "I'll catch you later at the apartment."

There was a pause behind him; Byron couldn't tear himself away from Cyndi's gaze to see the tigress' expressions. Finally she said, "Sure thing," and practically ran past him and out the main garage area.

"Cyndi, please," he tried again, but she pushed past him without a word. He heard a faint noise coming from her; with a start, he realized she was humming a tune to herself. "Cyndi, honey..."

She picked up the nameplate from his desk and studied it. "I understand Raquel's new look can take some getting used to," she shrugged. "I even understand some furs may find it unattractive." She put the nameplate back down on his desk. "But I never expected to see a reaction like that from you. It reminded me of the look on your parents' faces when they found out we were dating. Do you remember when that was?"

"Cyndi," he urged.

She cut him off with a gesture. "We'd been dating for a month; it was your birthday, in fact. I surprised you at by showing up at your apartment wearing nothing but a trench coat and heels -- unfortunately your parents had decided to pay you a surprise visit, beating me by about five minutes. You introduced me, and -- I'll never forget this -- your father gave me this look and said 'how could you, son? She's not the same species'. I'd never heard that tone before and I haven't since...until tonight."

"Cyndi I'm just worried about you," he managed. "I mean, one day Raquel all of a sudden has two heads and I'm supposed to take it in stride?"

"No one said that," she corrected, walking back to him. "But reacting to her like she's a walking disease is a different story." She stopped just in front of him, her green eyes boring into his. "But let's talk about us. What if it had happened to me?"

His brain would not let him go there. "Cyndi, that's crazy."

"Is it?" There was an odd smile to her lips. "Why don't we think about that for a moment, hm?"

Byron's office became claustrophobic; his eyes played tricks on him, seeing the walls grow dark and cold. "Cyndi..." His own denial sounded feeble.

"It's not hard." There was a peculiar quality to her voice, almost musical. "I want you to just think about it. It could be something mundane -- a car accident that leaves me disfigured or missing a limb."

"Don't say that," he sobbed. Her eyes held him prisoner; he couldn't look away.

"I need to know, Byron," Cyndi continued.

She's singing her words, Byron realized. Cyndi had a beautiful voice, but a severe case of stage fright prevented her from singing unless she was in private. Byron considered himself honored that she would sing for him; now, the tune was auguring into his skull and he couldn't seem to think straight. "Cyndi, please," Byron tried again.

"Show me right now, Byron. Show me what kind of malefur you are."

An image came to mind, unbidden, more vivid than a dream. He was unlocking a door to a house he lived in, a wedding ring on his finger. He walked into the parlor to greet his beloved wife Cyndi -- and stood there as, her legless torso smiled at him from a wheelchair. A wave of nausea and disgust came over him and he shuddered, clamping his eyes shut to drive the image out.

"I see," he heard Cyndi say. Suddenly she clamped onto his wrist, wrenching it up savagely. Before he could react or even say a word, she wedged something in the palm of his hand.

Byron didn't need to look at it to know what it was.

" 'In sickness and in health,' " Cyndi quoted. "If you can't deal with the one, then I don't want you for the other."

He could not bring himself to open his eyes as she walked out of his life forever.

---

"It's been an hour," Kayleigh reminded Raquel softly.

She didn't answer her lover at first, merely continued to stare out the window with both pairs of eyes. Evening had started to fall, preparing to darken streets that felt a little colder. She'd come right home after that horrible moment when she'd seen the look on Cyndi's face.

"Some friend I turned out to be," she muttered. She had no idea how Cyndi had managed to just show up without Raquel spotting her, but it didn't matter.

"Raquel, it's not your fault," Kayleigh insisted.

She turned her left head to look at her lover. "Who else's fault could it be?"

"I still think you're jumping to conclusions. They could have worked it out..."

"I don't think so," Raquel shook her head. "Now that I think about it, Byron's reacted badly to my tail from the first day we met; he was just very good at hiding it. I know Cyndi and a reaction like I got from Byron today will make her drop him like a hot potato." Headlights blossomed outside, and a familiar-looking car parked behind hers. "She's back," Raquel breathed, sitting up straight.

"Maybe I should go," Kayleigh hesitated, standing up.

"Too late," the tigress muttered. The door opened slowly and Cyndi stepped into the parlor. Her cheeks were matted from crying.

"Cyndi," Raquel started to say, but her longtime friend held up a hand.

"My life was great, then you do something weird and everything goes to shit," the porcupine spat, glaring at her.

"I'm sorry," Raquel stammered. "Isn't there a way you two could work this out?"

"There's nothing to work out. His reaction would be the same if it was me and not you. Better we split now than after we're married." Fresh tears began to flow from her eyes. "God DAMN you, Raquel, I could have been normal! I never would have known about...about..."

"Cyndi, you're not making any sense," Kayleigh interjected.

Cyndi's eye flickered to the husky and the glare faded, to be replaced with an almost guilty look. "I can do magic."

That got both Raquel and Kayleigh's immediate attention. "What?" They gasped in unison.

"Think about it!" Cyndi screamed. "First, I see through a powerful illusion. Then I kept seeing Vicki's ghost -- I even went to the grave and talked to her!" Kayleigh went rigid at hearing her dead lover mentioned. "I wanted to surprise Byron at work and all of a sudden there I am; then, as my grand finale, I mind-controlled Byron!" Cyndi quivered and with a great heaving sob collapsed to the carpet, sobbing.

Raquel didn't waste a heartbeat rushing to her friend's side, and Kayleigh was right behind her. "Take it easy," the tigress soothed, wrapping Cyndi up in a firm hug. Kayleigh took one of the porcupine's hands in both of hers.

"I raped him, Raquel," Cyndi wailed. "I tore the answer out of him and I didn't care what he had to say in his defense. And because I know it was the truth I can't forget -- never mind the fact that even he probably didn't know it. I hate magic."

"Believe me," the husky answered, squatting down next to the distraught porcupine, "I understand." Cyndi wrapped one arm around Kayleigh and kept the other tightly around Raquel as the three femfurs hugged each other with all their might while Cyndi wept bitter tears.

They stayed that way for a long time. Finally, Cyndi's crying diminished enough for her to speak. "Thank you for trying to speak to him on my behalf," she sniffled.

"I should have let you do it," Raquel admitted.

"So what happens now?" Cyndi asked, glancing back and forth between her two friends. "Does some magical version of Obi-Wan show up at the front door to give me lessons?"

"How should I know?" Raquel managed to grin, giving her roommate to poke.

"Don't look at me," Kayleigh shrugged. "I suppose I could try to hook you up with you-know-who, but I think he's overkill as far as tutors go."

Cyndi giggled. The giggle turned into a laugh, and the laugh grew louder until she was clutching her sides. Raquel looked at her friend with one head and at Kayleigh with the other, not sure whether to join the porcupine or try to snap her out of it; Kayleigh looked like she was having the same inner conflict. Before they could reach a decision, Cyndi's paroxysm of mirth ended and she straightened up. "Thanks," she grinned at Kayleigh. "I needed that."

"Er, you're welcome?" The husky guessed.

"Wait a minute," Raquel gasped. How could she have been so stupid? "I do know someone who'll help -- Hell, I even know how to get in contact with her!"

Cyndi's eyes were huge. "Who?"

"Patricia," the tigress answered.

Kayleigh smacked herself in the forehead. "That's right! You said she's got a daughter on South Pluge Street!"

"Granddaughter actually," Raquel corrected. "We can pay her a visit tomorrow."

"I'd like to go tonight," Cyndi said, "but it is kinda a little late to have my life messed up even more than it already is. Besides, I'd like to save something until later." Somehow, she managed to make it sound like a joke.

"Tomorrow it is," Raquel double-nodded.

"So what did you guys have planned tonight?" Cyndi sounded hopeful.

"Anything that includes you," Raquel said quickly. Most furs would have wanted to stay at home after breaking up with a serious boyfriend but the tigress knew Cyndi, and she'd want to lose herself in a crowd.

"That goes ditto for me," Kayleigh agreed without a moment's hesitation. "Actually, Cyndi, this gives me a chance to ask you a question.

"Oh?"

Kayleigh started to speak but a knock on the front door stopped her. She frowned. "Could that be Byron come to make amends?"

"God, could you answer that Raquel?" Cyndi pleaded with a desperate look. "If it's him, I...I can't face him."

"Will do." The tigress squared off and threw the front door open, expecting a conflict.

She wound up gaping.

The black cat, tail still fluffy despite her advancing years, made shooing motions at her. "Better invite me in, dearie," Patricia told her. "We've got a lot to talk about."