FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

_One of the most important things at any job is to maintain good relations with your fellow workers. This can at times be easier said than done, but once in a while, the payoff is entirely worth it....

(( So... yeah, it's been a while. I think my muse went on a long hike through the Australian outback; I literally did not write a word in this or any other of my projects for more than six months. Then I sat myself down and threatened myself with grave consequences until I finally gave in and started writing again. This could be the longest single chapter in any of my series!

I can't guarantee that the next chapter won't take as long as this, but I do promise I'll be trying to move forward. ))_

--

"You know, Ril, I'm starting to think that you never actually take a break when you're, you know, on break."

He looked up at Donna, who leaned on the opposite side of the table with a smirk on her face. "I like keeping up with technical publications," he replied, waving the magazine at her. "Tech is always moving forward, and it's good to stay on top of it if you want a long-lasting career working with it."

"No argument here. But it's also good to relax once in a while too, isn't it?" She took one of the chairs, spinning it around and straddling it with her arms on the backrest. "I heard you talking to Raval about attending conferences. Is that all you do with your time off?"

"Not at all. I have a ticket to a six-square finals game next month, and I like to go out with a couple of friends of mine on occasion."

"Ooooh. Are you, maybe, seeing someone?" There was an unmistakable gleam of curiosity in those dark eyes.

"I'm not in what you'd call a 'relationship', no." He chuckled. "I've only been on-world for about four months, I'm not in a hurry."

"Heh. So...." She traced one blue-lacquered fingernail across the table. "If a woman were to ask you out to the Thetapleus concert coming up at the end of the month, there'd be no objection from someone else?"

"Nope." He tilted his head a bit to the side. "Wait. You have tickets to Thetapleus? On-world? I thought that concert sold out within half a nanosecond of tickets being put up."

"It sure seemed like it! But I have an agent program on my PDA that catches openings like that with bands I'm interested in. I actually got four tickets, and I was going to scalp three of them and go alone, but...." She gave him an impish smile.

"Those tickets could probably go for thirty-five thousand credits each on a bidding site. I'm not used to being that expensive a date." He grinned as she giggled at that. "Okay, I can't resist the charms of a lovely female with Thetapleus tickets. Which day did you have?"

"The 45th."

"Yeah, my plans for that day were pretty much 'sit home and watch vids', so I think I can shift that to another day to make room for Thetapleus."

"So it's a date then!" The Human grinned, standing once more and returning the chair to its former position. "I trust you know enough about Thetapleus to know what to expect at a concert?"

"Don't wear anything you don't want to get intoxicating beverages splashed on, and be ready for when Halan Rhy Caourus does his crowd-surfing routine?"

"Unless you like having a one hundred and twenty kilo ursinoid falling on your tail. Alright, then, send me a message that morning when you're ready to meet up. It'll be fun, I'm sure." She headed towards the breakroom door, and he couldn't help but watch her as she walked. She's got a nice set of hips, he thought with an inward chuckle. Can't help but wonder what it would feel like to coil around them....

"Looks like someone has a date, hm?" He somehow managed not to jump; he'd been deep enough in thought to where he hadn't sensed Myssani come into the room from the other door. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," she apologized, even though her ears quirked slightly in amusement. Ril could understand; there was always a little pride when one predatory species could sneak up on another. "Where are you two going?"

"To the Thetapleus concert on the 45th."

"Ahh. Popular band. Not really to my tastes, though- I prefer orchestral music. I bet you two will have fun, though." The felinoid leaned against the table. "Donna's a pretty energetic female. I hope you can keep up with her."

"Oh, I do like a challenge." He couldn't help but grin.

"I bet you do." She gave out a purring chuckle. "You know, Ril, if I had read about who you are before meeting you, I probably would've been surprised."

"What do you mean?"

"You don't even really need this job, do you? Your parents are wealthy enough for you to have plenty of financial support. And yet not only do you come take a job out here at the outskirts of civilized space, with a company that I wouldn't really call a 'big player', you take it seriously. On top of that you're probably one of the more level-headed males I've ever met. Your parents must've given you some good rearing as you grew up."

"They did. My mother in particular was adamantly against any of us three of her offspring becoming 'lay-in-the-sun lizards'." He chortled. "She and my father did too much to give us a good start for me to want to disappoint them."

Myssani smiled. "If only that sort of thing were more widespread. Well, back to work with me... be sure to let me know how your date with Donna goes. Not that she'll fail to tell me herself, mind you." She gave him a feline grin before heading back out. As he had with the Human before, Ril gave her a good look as she left. A bit more slender than Donna, but not unattractive at all, he thought. Pity, though, that even though they're outgoing in almost every other aspect, Tisharri sexuality is almost a wholly in-species affair. They don't even like being partially unclothed around others. Sure, like any other introverted species there's a few that like to stray from the norm, but Myssani hasn't given me any sort of cues on that. Would be nice....

With a soft chuckle, he hauled himself out of his seat and slithered towards the door. Enough obsessing with sex, Ril. You've got work to do.

--

"And so, then, Amsarath gets into the box while I'm busy dragging Gishsardor out of the cupboard by hir tail. And of course the thing falls over." Malchossi shook hir head and sighed. "Foam packing pellets everywhere. And shi starts burrowing into them like shi's a sand iguana. I was finding them everywhere for days, including a couple in hir aural canals!"

Niosh was practically laughing her tail off at this point, and Keshtril wasn't far behind. Across the table, Falmazu and Dishao'ei- a male Tyrazed and female Kik'nachi, both new friends of hers- were chortling to themselves; Dishao'ei, herself a mother of no less than seven, had a knowing smirk on her face. "Leaving a mischievous youngling out of sight for even a second is like cuddling with a bloodwhale," she said. "Both situations are going to end messily in very short order."

"Don't I know it!" Malchossi slapped hir tail against the floor. "Bless their overenergetic hearts, I love them more than anything, but there are times where I'd welcome the bloodwhale over to visit just for a calming change of pace!"

"Oho! Speaking of welcoming over, you've reminded me of something." Dishao'ei leaned forward. "That little-tinkerer mate of mine has finally fixed that second-hand display he salvaged and he wants to show it off a little. The six-square semifinals are showing on the 14th, and I know some of you are sports-crazed, so how would you like to come over and watch it on a three-meter holoscreen? I'm only inviting about a dozen or so people, because our place isn't big enough for any more. All we ask is that you bring some food to share among everyone who shows up."

"Food?" Falmazu looked aghast. "You're not asking me to cook, are you? Your bathroom can't be big enough for all of us at once."

"Gwah, no! I'm still tasting your 'glazed' demechin." She shot the ungulate a mock-horrified look. "Feel free to bring something storebought if you like. Just respect the fact that it'll be a mixed-species group and try to bring something at least most of us can eat. And if what you bring has fish in it, let me know; two of my little ones are mildly allergic."

Malchossi was grinning. "Do you mind if I bring my two little tailbiters?"

"Oh, by all means. Maybe they'll keep my fin-nippers busy. Tides provide they all tire each other out and we can get some quiet." The cetacean glanced around. "Anyone else want to take me up on the offer?"

Keshtril was quick in doing so- he was an avid six-square fan and had a cousin who was a second-level alternate on the Third Wave Wilders, though it wasn't likely she'd be seeing much playtime in a championship game- and Falmazu was right behind. Niosh was halfway through coming up with a valid-sounding excuse to decline when she realized she didn't feel like making one. She'd be off her warehouse shift in plenty of time to make it there, she had nothing else planned, and the local Thrift Lot was having a sale on party platters for the championship series; while her cooking couldn't be as bad as she'd heard Falmasu's was, it wasn't something she'd want to inflict on a crowd, either. Still, it took a bit of mental steeling before she got herself to agree to show, but once she'd finally said "yes" she felt just the slightest bit proud of herself for it. Growing up a little, cub? she teased herself. It's about time.

Dishao'ei seemed pleased that they'd all accepted. "Good, just drop by anytime in the afternoon, no need to call ahead. Oh, and I know I don't need to say this, but I will anyway- don't utter a word of this to Garush. I wouldn't put it past him to crash the get-together; he'll take any excuse to make a nuisance of himself."

Niosh, Malchossi and the two males couldn't agree to that quickly enough.

--

"Hellfire, Donna. I know you said 'choice seats'... but fourth row?" Ril's tail twitched as he looked over the holofoil-lined ticket she'd given him. "Any closer and I'd be able to lick Samyi Ramhishi. And let me tell you, licking her has been the basis of a couple of fantasies of mine."

"You, many other males and a fair number of hermaphrodites. Not to mention more than a few females I know." Donna snickered. "I don't do this sort of thing halfway, Ril. Life's too short to only have some of the fun you possibly can."

The lobby of the stage hall was certainly crowded; while Thetapleus had already had a fairly long career out towards the more heavily populated galactic core, they were just now seeing their popularity explode in the remote sections and were more than happy to have a "second rise to fame". Remote systems like Ampheru, usually ignored by big-name acts, were thrilled to have live entertainment to see, and Thetapleus raked in the credits that other artists deemed not worth their effort. Halan Rhy Caourus may be a grizzled sex addict with more recreational drugs in his system than blood, Ril thought with an inward smirk, but he's also shrewd as hell when it comes to paying the bills.

The crowds were starting to push in now, and Ril slipped his arm around Donna's waist, smiling when she did the same in return. In fact, he could feel those long fingernails of hers slide along his side, lightly scratching at the scales beneath his shirt, and he lightly traced one clawtip along her spine in return. The little shiver she gave was delicious, and the feeling of warmth that seeped through his hide as she leaned in against him was entirely welcome as well. I bet she's even warmer without clothes in the way....

He had to remind himself yet again to behave- at least for now- as the crowd filed into the stage area. Thin cords of plastiglo lined the rows of seats, lighting the path for the crowds, not to mention making it easier for people to keep from stepping on his tail. Donna caught sight of their row and guided him along to their seats, almost dead-center from the stage. Ril couldn't help but grin as they settled in. "This close to the stage, we're not even going to be using the seats once they start up," he said.

"I'll give up the seat if I can sit in Malal Korshaha's lap. That's in a couple of my fantasies."

Once everyone had filed in and taken their seats, the lights dimmed, and a deep, almost subsonic hum sounded from above and to the sides- the sound system had been turned on. Ril could just barely sense a rhythmic beat traveling through the floor, and little infrared dots that flickered along the walls, tickling his heat sense. Any entertainment group that catered to multiple species had to make things interesting across a wide range of aural, visual, tactile and even olfactory senses, but Thetapleus truly excelled; he saw Donna gazing up at the ceiling, watching a band of shimmering colors that he had trouble seeing but she likely didn't. Others around them with mobile ears were flicking them around, chasing sounds well above his hearing limit.

After a few more moments of this multisensory barrage, the curtain came up, revealing a backlit stage silhouetting the band members, standing stock still by their instruments. The crowd broke out in applause and cheers, lasting over half a minute before Halan Rhy Caourus raised his head and tapped his headset microphone. "We came across tens of millions of kilometers to be here today," he said, his deep voice booming through the hall's hidden speakers. "Past countless stars and planets, through vast stretches of the void, to bring our message to you. Our mission: To destroy your expectations and expand your minds. Our tools: Light, sound and wisdom. Our motto: Leave no soul untouched, no heart unaroused, no mind unenlightened. Our name...." The ursinoid raised his hands, and the stage lights blazed to life, illuminating the band in a wash of colors. "Thetapleus!"

A wall of sound hit Ril as the band launched into their first number, one of his favorites, 30% And Holding. The crowd immediately got to its feet, and Ril rose as well, letting his body sway back and forth slightly with the rhythm of the music. Next to him, Donna raised her arms above her head and did the same, letting her hips rock in a circle and occasionally brushing against his side. Even if he'd wanted to, he couldn't have kept the infectious energy from getting to him, but after the last few weeks he was more than happy to cut loose and revel in it all.

It was five songs into the playset- including a new single, Spirits in the Datastream, that Ril was going to have to get a copy of for his collection- when Halan spread his arms and threw his massive form from the stage. The front rows had been ready and caught him easily enough, though his bulky frame wobbled a little before everyone was able to get used to his weight. The crowds passed him back, and Ril and Donna both had the chance to help move him along; Donna was cheeky enough to grope the ursinoid's rear, and Ril could have sworn he'd heard a pleased growl from Halan as he passed by. The crowd got him about two-thirds of the way around the hall before sending him back to the stage, which he clambered back onto and then launched himself into yet another song with his deep, rasping voice.

After fourteen songs and an encore reprise of Spirits in the Datastream- that one was going to be a hit, if the crowd's reaction was any gauge- the band finally ended the performance and left the stage, with the promise to be in the atrium for autographs and merchandise sales. Ril noticed that Halan was limping a little as he went offstage, and his body temperature seemed to be a bit higher than it ought to have been- the aging Duraour was still putting everything he had into the show, despite what protests his body was giving. People have been expecting him to retire or even die for the last ten standard years, but here he is still giving it everything he has, Ril thought. Have to respect someone that dedicated to their art.

If the bulky male was still aching at the post-concert meet-and-greet, he wasn't letting it show; he was signing autographs, having his image captured with fans- and capturing their images as well; the band's Netsite had a gallery packed full of pictures of people who had come to their shows- and chatting with admirers without a seeming care in the world. Samyi Ramhishi was there as well, and Ril was certain to get her autograph and spend a little time chatting with her, finding her to be a little standoffish at first but quite warm and open once the person she spoke to proved not to be a drooling, overenthusiastic crush-holder. Donna, for her part, was doing her best to flirt with Malal Korshaha, competing with several others- male AND female; it was no secret the synth-player was bisexual- to get his attention and having a fair bit of luck.

Eventually it came time for the group to pack up for their next tour, and the crowds dispersed onto the streets, excitedly chatting with each other about the show. Donna once more slipped her arm around Ril as she walked beside him. "All the excitement has left me thirsty," she told him, her voice soft and sensual. "Since I brought my hovercar, how about we take it back to my place and get something to drink?"

"That sounds like a good idea." He put his arm over her shoulders- she was fairly tall for a Human female, but still barely came up past his chest- and lightly traced the backs of his fingers across her cheek, getting another shiver from her. He could tell she was aroused by the flush of heat across her body, but otherwise she was doing a great job of hiding it; he could scent nothing out of the ordinary from her, aside from her wonderful perfume. But in the time he'd known her he'd seen that she had a titanium-clad gift of self-control when she chose to exercise it.

Ril let out a hiss of appreciation when they reached Donna's hovercar. "Very nice," he said. "Is that a '227 Marasti Hi-Lift?"

"You know your cars." Donna grinned. "Got it at an auction, put a bit of money into restoration, put on a nice paint job... looks like it just came off the showroom floor."

"It certainly does." The gullwing door lifted open smoothly, and Ril piled himself into the overstuffed passenger seat, buckling the harness as the door closed itself over him. Donna slid into the driver's seat, thumbed the starter, and the vehicle buzzed to life, various readouts blinking on across the dashboard. With a soft hum, the car lifted off the ground, and the Human set the autopilot on course back to her home, then leaned back in her seat and reached over to stroke his forearm with her fingertips. "Okay, so I was wrong," she told him with a smile. "You really do know how to cut loose and have fun."

"Though I don't get to do it nearly as often as I'd like, so thanks for having me along." He slid his hand against hers, pressing the smooth scales of his palm to her warm, soft skin. There was just something about touching mammals that was so enjoyable to him- the gentle give of skin, the texture of hair and fur, the wonderful scents they gave off so much more readily than any reptiloid being. Apparently Donna had similar feelings about scales, taking his hand in hers and running her fingers along his hide, and playfully tapping at his trimmed claws with her own nails. "Don't these things get in the way sometimes?" she teased.

"When they come as standard equipment, you learn early on to keep them in mind." He closed one of his pupils in a wink, getting a chuckle out of her. "They do come in handy, though...." One of his clawtips traced a gentle line along the dark skin of her arm, leaving a thin white trail that vanished quickly; watching the little shiver it caused that she couldn't quite repress was wonderful. She was definitely putting out a lot of body heat, now, and her pupils were dilated, yet she was still managing not to show her arousal beyond those involuntary signs.

He was lucky that his own body was designed to be less obvious about it; had he been a mammal, he would've been sporting a rather uncomfortable erection by now. His tongue wanted to flick out and taste the air for her hormones, and his hands ached to slide their clothes off and press that warm, supple skin against his scales. The bizarre urge to ask the car's computer "Are we there yet?" was just amusing enough to distract him from his baser urges and bring his attention back to his surroundings. "You live in a nice neighborhood," he told her.

"Thanks. The community finished building about three months after I moved onworld, and I managed to get in an application ahead of the crowd due to the planner being the sister of a friend of mine."

He grinned, lifting his hood in humor. "It really is 'who you know', isn't it?"

"Mmm." The car finally set itself down on the pad outside of Donna's home, and Ril nearly fumbled unhooking the harness in his eagerness to get out. Easy, there, he told himself. Be smooth. Donna is very likely to make it worth your while. Still, he was quick to get to her side of the car and offer her a hand, which she graciously took, letting him help her out of the car. "Chivalry is not dead!" she chuckled, holding his hand as she led him to the door of her modest but lovely single-story house. One tap of a finger at the entry scanner and the door opened, and lights automatically flicked on to reveal a spacious living room decked out with an overstuffed couch, a holoprojector mounted above a mantle, and shelves filled with various colorful knick-knacks. His natural curiosity drew him to one of them after he had put his tailboot next to her shoes by the door. "Quite the collection you have here," he said.

"Thanks. That mask you're looking at there is an authentic Angolan theatre mask. A lot of these things I have are from places on Earth I traced my ancestry back to. I learned that my family tree has wide roots- everywhere from the Scottish Highlands to Chile."

"It's good to see you value your lineage." He carefully picked up a thin, long wooden stick painted in bright and cheerful colors. "I've seen one of these before," he said. "Or one like it. When my parents took me and my siblings to Earth for our twelfth hatchingday. We stopped off in Spain to have lunch at a little restaurant my father knows, and the staff let us swing at pinatas in celebration. I lost the stick they gave me years ago, but I still remember the day so well. They even sang a song, though I hardly knew any Spanish back then...."

"No quiero niquel, ni quiero plata...." Her voice was low and sing-song, her eyes half-closed in remembrance. "Yo lo que quiero es romper la pinata...." She took the stick from him and gazed at it for a moment. "I got this in Castellon the day after I passed my finals in Universitat de Valencia. My class had a huge party at a downtown club and they set up celebratory pinatas with pictures of the professors pasted on them. I nailed the one with the picture of my Nanomechanical Engineering professor on the first try with this."

With one hand, Ril gently took the stick from her and put it back on its stand, while his other hand gently cupped Donna's chin. He could feel his heart thumping in his chest, but he made his voice stay steady. "You have a lot of lovely things in this room... but I think I'm holding un tresoro mas grande right here."

Her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped, before a soft, musical chuckle left her full lips. "My goodness, Ril. You can be one smooth serpent when you put your mind to it...." She dragged one fingernail underneath his chin, and it was his turn to shiver. "So I'll tell you what," she continued, her voice growing softer. "I have another treasure to show you, and a different room for you to see it in."

"Lead the way." She took him by the hand through her home, pausing just a moment to instruct the computer to make the lighting "more cozy", which cut the illumination by about two-thirds and gave it a more yellowish, warm tone- Almost like candlelight, Ril thought. She led him down a hallway and through a door, bringing him into her bedroom, with a four-poster bed covered with a quilted comforter, and a long mirror covering much of the right-hand wall. Almost as soon as they were inside, Donna took hold of Ril's snout, brought it down to her face and gave him a deep, sensual kiss; he could feel her hands press against his sides, and he was quick to reciprocate, sliding his arms underneath hers to caress her back with his clawtips, and flicking his tongue through his lips and hers to taste the sweetness of her own tongue. She tasted exquisite, and her tongue rubbed against his in return, making him moan softly.

His hands wandered down along her sides and to her stomach, then upwards to brush lightly against the undersides of her full breasts through the fabric of her blouse. She broke the kiss to let out a soft gasp. "You know what a woman likes," she said with a grin, reaching up to run her fingernails across the edge of his hood. He gave her a smile before lowering his snout to her neck, gently nuzzling the tender skin of her throat and flicking his tongue across it; her grip on his waist tightened, and she let her head loll back, her breathing coming quicker against his aural canal. Her free hand dragged her fingernails along the underside of his neck, from chest to jaw, and now it was his turn to moan.

He needed to feel more of this warm body against his, and his hands moved to the front of her blouse, quickly undoing the buttons and spreading it open to free her bra-clad breasts from its confines. Silver-trimmed, green lace fabric was all that hid the lovely mocha-colored orbs from view, and he wanted very badly to rectify that, but he somehow found the will to go slow and make the moments last. Donna shrugged off her blouse and tossed it aside, then decided to return the favor, and undid the zipper of his shirt to expose his chest to her view. "You take good care of yourself," she told him, her fingernails tracing the contours of the muscles beneath his scales.

"I can definitely say the same about you," he replied. "You are beautiful."

He could see her blush through her dark skin as easily as he could sense the rush of heat through her face. "Flatterer," she said demurely, even as she rubbed her palms along his sides. "That's not fair- how am I supposed to get you to blush in return when you're covered in scales?"

"You're a very intelligent female," he answered, putting his shirt aside next to her blouse. "I'm sure you can come up with a way to get what you desire."

"Mmm, well...." She reached up, placing her hands on either side of his neck, then pressing her fingernails lightly into the base of his hood, right where the skin folded. He'd always known that area was sensitive- any place where the skin needed to flex was very lightly protected as a matter of practicality- but he'd never felt the sensation of Human nails digging ever so gently into the fold-point, sliding down the entire base of his hood. The full length of his spine seemed to tingle at the sensation, and his mouth gaped open a bit, caught by surprise at how pleasurable it felt. Donna giggled. "It's not a blush, but I'll take it," she told him with a broad smile.

"I think... that's the closest I've ever come to feeling things the way you mammals do."

"Really? Have you wanted to know how we feel things?"

He nodded slowly, running his fingertips through her thick hair.

"Mmm." She gently caressed his snout. "Sadly I can't show you how things feel through my skin. But... I'm more than glad to let you feel my skin, at least." With that, she reached behind her and undid the clasp of her bra, letting it slide down her arms and fall to the floor. Ril gazed down at her breasts, at the dark, round areolas circling the nipples that jutted out towards him. Almost involuntarily, he lowered his head and flicked his tongue against one of those nipples, making her moan yet again. "Mmm, Ril," she murmured, bringing her hands down to his midsection, fingers lightly toying with the tie of his lower wrapping. With a couple of deft tugs she undid the knot and pulled the garment open, leaving him wearing nothing but his scales. Free from its covering, his genital slit gaped open slightly, and the very tips of his hemipenes peeked forth from beneath it. Donna practically purred at the sight. "Well," she said, tracing the edges of his slit with her fingertip and making him shudder at the feeling. "Here's one place we don't have to worry about scales getting in the way."

He fumbled just a little with the buttons of her slacks, then slid them down her legs, revealing thong panties that matched her bra. The scent of her sex hit him like something physical, and her couldn't keep his tongue from flicking out to catch her pheromones, which seemed to go right to his hindbrain and work towards destroying any form of hesitation he might have had left. He gently slid his clawtips underneath her final bit of clothing and slowly pulled down, gazing into her eyes as he did, seeing her pupils dilate even more in arousal as he laid her as bare as he was. Her scent was almost overpowering to him now, designed as it was to attract her own species and its relative lack of sensitivity, and despite its not being intended for his own kind it certainly did the same trick. He let his gaze wander down her body and fall upon her treasure, framed by a triangle of close-cropped jet-black hair, with outer lips already puffy and moist from her need. He let one hand slide between her shapely legs and stroke those puffy lips, and she groaned. "Ohh, Ril," she gasped. "You are driving me wild, do you know that?"

"I'm driving you wild?" He gave her a laviscous grin and a flex of his hood. "It's a wonder I'm not fully everted and dripping on your carpet."

"Well, let's do something about that." Donna gently pulled at his genital slit, letting her other hand brush against the tips of his hemipenes. The sensation of her skin on his unprotected flesh finished the job that her pheromones had started, and his twin stalks couldn't seem to evert quickly enough, quickly swelling to their full length to point towards her. "It took me a while to get used to you reptiles having two of these," she chuckled, taking one in each of her hands and drawing her palms along them.

It was suddenly very difficult for him to remember how to talk for a moment. "There's... something to be said for choice, though, right?" he managed to get out.

"Choice is good, yes...." She led him over to her bed, and he stretched himself across it, letting the tip of his tail drape off its edge. She settled herself in next to him and once more took his snout in her hands, pulling him into a deep kiss; he pulled her against him, again relishing her warmth, and slid a lower part of his tail between her legs to rest against her inner thighs. She hooked one heel underneath it and slid her foot up and down along the underside. Once she broke the kiss, he lowered his head to her breasts and began nuzzling and flicking his tongue against them, being sure to give the nipples special attention, and it wasn't long at all before he had her squirming and pressing herself against him. "Ril...." she panted. "God, you know how to turn a woman on!"

He tugged gently at a nipple with his lips. "It's more fun when she's worth it."

Her dark eyes flashed as a grin spread over her face. "That's it, foreplay is over. C'mere."

She pulled him against her, arching one leg over his side and pressing her groin up against his left hemipenis. With smooth motions, she dragged her sex up and down along the length of his, soaking it with her wetness. He couldn't help but moan and arch his back, pressing himself against her. "Donna...." he breathed.

"Mmmm. Hold on tight, now, the ride is about to start." With that, she reached up to grab his shoulders, brought herself up so that his hemipenis slipped between her legs and nestled against her entrance, and then slowly brought herself down onto it. Ril couldn't help but hiss as he entered her; she was so warm and wet inside, so soft and yielding, and yet she gripped his length firmly with her inner walls. She worked herself against him for a moment, shifting her hips back and forth, and let out a soft groan of pleasure. "You're a lot warmer on the inside than the outside," she giggled, sliding her nails over his chest.

"So are you, though I don't know how that's possible." His hands slid down her sides to her hips, clawtips lightly trailing across her rear, making her shiver; she stared into his eyes as she dug her fingernails into his chest as much as she was able, and then started moving again.

It was a good thing in Ril's mind that he wasn't the type to compare lovers, because Donna was setting a high bar for other females. She moved almost like a serpent herself, her body seemingly boneless as she undulated herself against him, all softness and warmth and pleasure; her left hand reached down to stroke his other hemipenis lightly, her rhythm jerky from her concentration on moving the rest of her body, but he certainly wasn't about to complain. He rocked against her as she took him, squeezing her breasts gently and flicking his tongue across her neck and back. Neither bothered speaking, aside from the soft moan of the other's name or declaration of pleasure when the other moved in a particular way.

After a little while, Ril slid the end of his tail around Donna's waist, laid his hands against her shoulders and rolled, ending with her on her back and him partially wrapped around her. The Human practically purred beneath him, stretching her legs to put them around his midsection, pulling him towards her as he slid his left hemipenis into her and began thrusting with quick, smooth strokes. He used the greater freedom of movement he had to lightly nuzzle and lick at her, flicking his tongue all over her sweat-sheened skin, and gently rubbed his tail along her body. "Mmm, Ril," she breathed. "I knew you wouldn't disappoint me...."

He got her through two orgasms- and he could tell that she was making him work for them; never one to settle for anything less than the best, our Donna- before she brought him to climax as well. They laid together in her bed for a little while, panting for breath and basking in the afterglow, before getting up to change her sheets. "So," Donna said as she was tucking in her side of the sheet, "did you want a ride back home, or would you rather spend the night? I know we're both scheduled off for tomorrow, so no worrying about rushing to work."

"I wouldn't mind staying the night." He slid back into bed with her, lightly coiling up against her. "I'll even make breakfast, too. My sister sent me an excellent sausage recipe yesterday."

"Really?" A playful smile crept across the Human's lips. "I'll have to have you over more often."

"Gweh. Can you believe that call?! Come on! Rear-plane judge is the easiest referee job in the sport!" Dishao'ei slapped all four of her hands against her knees and sighed in exasperation. "And to think even she makes more money than I do. There's no justice in this galaxy!"

There were various words and grunts of assent from the group crowded together around the holoviewer. Niosh was rather impressed at how well it was working; the thing had obviously seen some abuse, judging by the numerous dents and cracks in its casing, but aside from a bit of blur near the top left and the occasional color-shifting when the view changed quickly, the image was fairly crisp and clear. Apparently, Torai'sheme- Dishao'ei's husband- really was quite the tinkerer.

Green and blue blurs caught Niosh's attention from the corner of her eye, and she turned to see two of Dishao'ei's younglings chasing one of Malchossi's- probably Amsarath, judging by the darker rings along hir tail- past the open back door. A few moments later, all three youths dashed into the house and made their way up to the group of adults, stopping by Malchossi. "Memi," Amsarath churred, "the frosted treat truck is coming up the street. Can me, Hibi'sora and Alfra'nio have some credits for it?" Shi waved hir junior-grade bankcard at hir parent. "Just, like, ten credits! An advance on my allowance!"

Malchossi sighed, feigning a look of being put upon before shi pulled out hir own bankcard. With a couple of taps on its imbedded keypad, shi transferred some money to hir hatchling's card. "Thanks, Memi!" the small sauropod exclaimed, as the two cetaceans practically squeaked in delight behind hir. And then, in a flash, they were gone again, likely out to catch the truck before it left the street. Malchossi shook hir head in amusement. "That little anklebiter is so far advanced on hir allowance that shi'll be repaying me until shi's retired."

Niosh had to excuse herself to use the bathroom a little later on, and as she walked through the small but heavily-decorated home, she took a moment to look at some of the little knickknacks and icons interspaced along the walls and on shelves. She was no expert on Kik'nachi society, but she had heard Dishao'ei talk about some of the difficulties she and her mate had run into in the beginning of their relationship regarding their differing religions- she was a Tideswimmer, while he was a Sundiver, not that Niosh knew much of either- and that in the end, they'd simply decided to celebrate both equally. She stopped for just a moment at a little makeshift shrine to look at a small crystal carving of a curved wave circling a tiny yellow-green gemstone hung from a gold chain; the gem was dancing back and forth from a breeze blowing through the open front window, catching the light from the hallway light panel and scattering it into sparkles. Niosh felt a welcome moment of serenity at the sight before her pressing biological needs urged her to remember where she'd been headed.

When she'd finished what she had to do- thank the stars for waste-disposal technology adapted for species of different sizes- and made it back to the living room, the game had apparently gotten interesting again. Three squares had runners now, and one of them was lit blue; with the Wilders down by only six and a half points, a well-placed hit could break the game wide open. As Niosh retook her seat, she felt something brush against her leg; Keshtril's tail was lightly flicking against it, and he was regarding her with a playful grin. She chuckled softly and swatted at his tailtip. "Watch where you put that thing," she jokingly scolded him.

"If only I had a credit for every time I heard that." He snickered, turning his attention back to the game. She did as well, and just in time- the striker that was up for the Wilders landed a solid hit, skipping the ball past the Shorewatchers' middlefielders, but a sharp-eyed (for a serpentoid) Isshak in the back left sprung towards it, stopping it from leaving her square. With a quick toss, the ball landed in the hands of the center handler, who spiked the ball into the pedestal before any of the Wilders' runners could get back to their points.

A collective groan rose up from around the holoviewer. Now up by nine points with the final third almost over, the Shorewatchers would have to suffer mass amnesia and completely forget how to play in order for the Wilders to stage a comeback. Dishao'ei buried her face in her hands. "Ugh," she moaned. "It's a good thing I'm too broke to bet on these games, or I'd be even more poor than I am now. I suppose there's always next season, huh?"

"The eternal refrain of a Wilders fan." Malchossi sighed, scratching at hir snout with a foreclaw. "Oh well. It was a good run this season, no? And at least we got to watch this game on a good display. You'd have to go to one of the pubs to get to see something similar... and Dishao'ei doesn't make us pay a cover charge!"

"Cover charge... now there's an idea...." The cetacean snickered as Malchossi stuck hir tongue out at her. "Well. I was expecting the game to be interesting a little longer, but I guess now is as good a time as any to bring out lunch. Falmazu, why don't you bring those huge hands of yours along to help carry things?"

"Right, right, all the females just can't resist the size of my... hands." Assorted snickers followed the pair towards the kitchen; as Niosh leaned back against the worn-looking couch and stretched her legs, she felt something rub against her left knee- Keshtril's hand. The male leaned in towards her to whisper into her ear. "I was thinking... maybe after this, you might come over to my place for a while?"

She quirked her ears in surprise. "Um... what for?"

"Well." His own ears were laid to the sides in a coy expression. "I had in mind... you, me, my bed, a lack of clothing...."

Frost and night... he's coming on to me? Niosh was shocked- not only because Tisharri were almost never sexually interested in other species, but because he'd given her no signs that he'd been interested in her, or at least none that she'd picked up on. "Erm... look, Keshtril... I'm flattered. But...."

"But what?" His hand had moved up her thigh a little, as if he were testing the limits of what she'd allow. The hind part of her brain was actually enjoying this- a male was interested in her, touching her!- but her forebrain and all its insecurities would have none of it. "But... I mean, we don't know each other all that well, and...."

"Ahh." Keshtril withdrew his hand, and a small part of Niosh was disappointed. "I was sort of hoping that you'd be like some of the other de'horourna'kir I've heard about. Open to casual joinings."

"Err... but I'm not de'horourna'kir."

"No?" The felinoid's expression went from crestfallen to confused in a heartbeat. "Mrrn... you certainly don't act like any mainstream Tirarnik I've ever seen."

"You mean arrogant, condescending and speciesist to a fault? Yeah, well. We're not all like that, you know?" Maybe just the vast majority, but anyway.... "Really, Keshtril, I'm not saying I'm not flattered, I'm just...." She trailed off, not entirely sure of the right word to use.

"Reserved?" Keshtril finished for her. At her meek half-nod, he chuckled. "I'd noticed that. It took a little while for you to come out of your den, but you're a lot more outgoing than you were when I first met you. I was just wondering if maybe you'd decided you want to be more open in other ways as well." He patted her knee again, giving her a smile. "If you ever change your mind, give me a flick of those pretty ears, hm?"

"I'll keep you in mind, I promise...." She couldn't look him in the eye now, and turned her head to look at the others in the room, whose noisy conversations had kept them from overhearing her whispered exchange with Keshtril. It's not like he isn't attractive, she told herself, fidgeting a little on the sofa. He obviously takes good care of himself, he's got nice fur, and I bet it would feel good to have it rub against mine.... She closed her eyes for a moment as her mind started to explore entirely inappropriate avenues. Frost! Can I not go a day without thinking about sex?Maybe I should cut out of here early, head home and take my frustrations out on my toy before people start smelling how I feel....

It took more self-control than she thought she had to get through the rest of the day in Dishao'ei's home, still managing to chat with everyone else and eat some of the food they'd brought, and to receive thanks for her snack platter. It was when Malchossi's and Dishao'ei's younglings started complaining of being tired, and the sun had dipped below the horizon a half-hour before, that Niosh decided to take her leave, saying goodbye to her friends and politely declining an offer for a ride home from Falmazu before heading out into the cool night air, making her way to the bus stop. She was lucky enough to catch the last bus of the evening a few minutes later, and as it carried her towards home, she gazed at her reflection in the window. Sometimes I don't know what's wrong with me, she mused. It's as though half of me is a sex fiend and the other half is a complete hermit, and I can't find any sort of middle ground! Why can't I enjoy being flirted with without fearing that I'll end up stripping bare right on the spot? Ugh... I don't understand my own mind, sometimes. She let out a sigh, giving her reflection a good long glare. You need to sort yourself out, cub. It's pretty obvious that you're sending mixed messages and confusing people who are showing a normal healthy interest in you. You're an adult, and part of being an adult means dealing with other people when it comes to sex... so figure out just what it is you want already.

When she finally got home, her earlier arousal had completely evaporated, snuffed out by her self-frustration. So instead of her planned self-pleasuring episode, Niosh simply stripped down to her underwear and slid herself into bed, turning off the light and bouncing her head off of her pillows a couple of times in irritation. Might as well get an early start on tomorrow, she thought, and once I'm off from work, I'll seriously need to start thinking about how I interact with others.

Ninety-six hundred flatbread cookies in the shape of the icon of the Tyrazedi homestar. When the big hooved ones have a religious celebration, they do not leave the hunt half-finished.

Niosh refilled her cup of water from the sink and set it on the small table by the oven. New ventilation had finally been put in two weeks ago, and the room was quite a bit cooler for it- not as much as she might have liked, but enough to where she didn't have to trim her bodyfur down to near-indecent lengths. Now if Mr. Salwhel just do something about the smell in the staff room, she thought, wrinkling her nose reflexively. Oh, that reminds me... those bids I had on that used furniture on StuffExchange should be coming close to the time limit. I think I can spare a minute or two to see if anyone's outbid me.

She left her cup on the counter and headed for the staff room, slipping past Garush as he entered the oven room; for once, their passing went without some unwelcome touch or comment from him, and she thanked whatever lucky stars had granted her that minor miracle. Maybe it was the Tyrazedi sun goddess watching over the lowly Tirarnik making cookies for Her celebration, she thought with a mental giggle, making her way through the narrow hallway, reflexively stepping over the upturned edge of the cracked floor tile that had broken a month ago, and heading into the staff room. Once more the lock of her locker required a few moments of fiddling, but then she had it open and her PDA in her hands. The screen was getting fuzzy lately, but she could still make out that both of her bids had been beaten by a fair amount. Feh, she thought dejectedly. I would've liked that bedstand, at least... ah well. I might be able to find something suitable at one of the thrift shops, even if it'll be a little more expensive.

She was just putting the PDA back when she heard Keshtril walk into the room and stop about a meter away from her. She closed her locker and turned. "Hey," she said.

"Hello." He seemed a little pensive, his ears back and his lips a thin line. "Niosh, I wanted to talk about that conversation we had at Dishao'ei's place."

"Erm... what about it?"

"I've noticed you've been a little more... quiet around me ever since then. I wanted to be sure I didn't do anything to jeopardize our friendship."

"Oh... I'm sorry, Keshtril." She gave him a smile. "You didn't. It's not that you did something wrong, it's... well. I'm not exactly... used to being around a male who's interested in me."

"Which makes me wonder what standards most males are using these days if someone as pretty as you isn't meeting them." She couldn't help but lower her ears in embarrassment at that, and he chuckled. "Just let me know if I'm coming on too strong, hm? As much as I'd like to believe that I can read any female's intent, I don't have that big an ego."

She grinned. "I will. You know... there's a question I've been meaning to ask, but... I'm not sure how you'd take it."

"I propositioned you to sleep with me. I think maybe that implies a certain level of openness."

"Fair enough. It's... well. You being a Tisharri, and all...."

"That's what my ID card says, and if you can't trust the RA Info Department, who can you trust?" He gave her a grin as she giggled. "I know what you're getting at. Just as there's some mainstream Tirarnik who aren't speciesist and who don't get offended if someone not of their species shows interest in them, there's some of us Tisharri who decided that our culture is too prudish and sexually restricted. It's not that we can't be attracted to other species, you know- it's that it's ingrained into us from an early age that we should only look to our own."

"I guess I can relate to that." She smiled. "Well. I guess you really do learn something new every other day. So...." She took a deep breath, forcing herself to finish her sentence. "Maybe... maybe we'll go out sometime, hm?" There, cub, you said it, and the universe didn't end. See? You CAN express interest in a male.

Keshtril smiled. "That would be good. Let me know when you'd like to do that. I'm listed, if you want to give me a call when you're ready."

"Sure, I can do that." She surprised herself by brushing her hand against his elbow. "Better get back to work- can't get rich standing around in the staff lounge, right?"

"Of course. Let me know how standing in the oven room works out with that." He shot her a grin as she headed out, practically bouncing on her heels as she walked. Not bad, cub, she congratulated herself. First Ril, now Keshtril? Are you actually opening up to males? Maybe you could build yourself a social life at this rate! Such was her good mood that she didn't even pay any mind to Garush standing in the corner, stacking clean pans on their racks. She took a long drink from her cup, noting a slight sweet taste- must have knocked some sugar into it, though I don't remember tasting it before- before getting back to setting cookies on baking trays.

New ventilation or no, the oven was putting out a good amount of heat, and Niosh found herself panting softly and going back to her cup more and more often. Maybe I need to get out of this room for a bit; starting to feel a little lightheaded, she thought, tugging at her shirt collar as she closed the oven door on the latest batch of cookies. She turned to find Garush watching her from the far corner- was he there all this time? Didn't notice- and walking towards her as she swayed a little. "Well, you're looking a little out-of-sorts," he told her.

"Overheated a bit," she murmured in response. Some part of her mind wondered why he was being nice, for once. "Just need some cool air."

"Well, let's get you out of the oven room then." He put a hand on her shoulder and guided her away from the oven- and past the door to the hallway, towards the smaller door leading to the supply closet. "No sense in letting Mr. Salwhel see you suffering from heat exhaustion," he told her, opening the door and leading her through it. "You know he'll just call it laziness."

"Right... right." It seemed sensible enough; the Peshi'ya was so damned strict about perceived slacking. Instead of leaving her alone in the closet, though, Garush closed the door behind him. "Too much time in front of that oven, hm?" he asked, moving to stand behind her, to her left, as she leaned on a cleaning cart. The air in the closet was cooler, if a bit musty, but it didn't seem to be clearing her head all that much. She felt his hand against the back of her neck, and while she flinched reflexively, she had to admit that the cool scales felt good. "You're feeling a bit warm," he told her. "All that water wasn't helping?"

"I guess not...." Was she slurring her words? She felt drained more than anything, like something had sapped all the energy from her. She heard him chuckle behind her. "Well, maybe we need to try something else," he said, right into her ear, making it twitch. "That shirt is probably trapping a lot of heat... why don't you take it off?"

Wait... what? She shouldn't take off her shirt, because... why shouldn't she? Whatever reason she'd been trying to think of slipped from her mental grasp. Doing so might make her feel cooler, and then she could just put it back on after. So she raised her arms, tugged at the back of the shirt's neckline, and pulled it up off of her; the cool air hit the fur of her chest and back, and her breasts bobbed slightly in her bra. She let the shirt drop onto the cart. "There, doesn't that feel better?" Garush murmured into her ear; he was leaning against her now, and she could feel his hands on her stomach. There was some reason she didn't want him to do that, but whatever it was, it was drowned underneath the sea of dull confusion that swamped her mind. "Still warm?" he asked her.

"Sort of...." She shifted uneasily; his proximity and his touch was making her uncomfortable, though she couldn't figure out why. She let out a whimper as one of his hands cupped her left breast, while the other ran clawtips across the crotch of her pants. "Why don't we uncover more of you?" he said, sliding the left side of her bra down, exposing her breast. She shivered as she felt the cool air flow across her nipple. "There, that seems to be helping," he rumbled, his other hand tugging at and undoing the top button of her pants. It came open after a moment, and he shoved his hand underneath, rubbing against her panties. "Now we can get these pants off...."

Her heart raced inside her chest as he started to tug downwards on her pants. She was starting to get aroused now... but the heat of arousal was chasing away the mental fog, and as she realized just what was happening and what Garush was doing, the arousal was quickly overwhelmed by fear and anger. "...what are...!" she growled, pulling away from him, seeking escape from his grip, from this room. "Get... get off of me! Get away from me!"

She was still too disoriented to remember that she was almost half-naked as she barged out of the supply closet- and almost ran headlong into three people, stumbling to a halt in front of their surprised gazes. Her blood ran cold as she realized that one of them was her employer. "What in the Twelve Hells is this?!" the Peshi'ya bellowed, stepping back as Niosh frantically pulled her bra back on and buttoned her pants, while Garush did his best to ooze through the doorway unnoticed. Behind the bakery's owner, Malchossi and Dishao'ei looked on in a mix of shock and confusion. "I suppose there wasn't enough work to do and you two decided to entertain each other?" Mr. Salwhel demanded, sarcasm coloring his voice.

"It wasn't...." Niosh still couldn't think clearly, but at least a few neurons were firing as she glanced over at the counter where her cup still sat. "My drink... it tasted funny and then I felt... I think he drugged it...!"

Malchossi immediately turned towards the counter- but Mr. Salwhel was faster, picking up the mostly-empty cup and giving it a cursory sniff. "There's nothing wrong with this," he declared, tossing the cup into the nearby sink. Niosh whimpered; the cleaning solution in the sink would wipe out any traces of whatever Garush had used on her, making it impossible to provide proof for a complaint to the RA Hearing Board. "Garush, get in the office; you and I are going to have a long talk about productivity," he said, before turning his gaze towards Niosh. "And you... get dressed and get the Hells out. You're done. I knew I shouldn't have hired a de'horourna'kir; all they ever think about is sex."

Malchossi dipped hir head submissively. "But, Mr. Salwhel, Niosh isn't-"

"Anyone who wants to talk about this can follow her right out the door. Am I understood?" That shut Malchossi up, and Dishao'ei as well; Niosh looked to them pleadingly, but got only sympathetic gazes in response. The Peshi'ya gave a self-satisfied snort and stomped out of the room, with Garush right behind, wisely not looking any of the others in the eye.

Niosh numbly walked back into the supply closet, picked up her shirt and pulled it back on, as Malchossi and Dishao'ei came in behind her. "Look, Niosh," the reptiloid said. "We want to defend you, but... neither of us can afford to lose our jobs too. You understand, right?"

"Yeah...." She did, when it came down to it; if it had happened with her in the spectator spot, she probably couldn't have risked her job either. It didn't make the situation any better for her, though. "I... I'd better leave."

"Hey, look." Malchossi placed a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "I know you've been living paydate-to-paydate, so if things don't pan out well for you... then you're welcome to stay at my place for a while. The hatchlings think you're adorable, and if you don't mind watching them for me and putting in a few credits for food, I'd be happy."

"I'll... yeah, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Malchossi." Niosh looked down to Dishao'ei, who could only shrug sheepishly. "I wish I could make the same offer, girl, but you've seen how crowded my place is," she said. "But I'll be a reference for you anytime you need."

"So will I." Malchossi nodded. "Maybe you should go talk to the Hearing Board? Try to get some action taken on your behalf?"

"Without proof it's just my word against Garush's. He'd just say it was consensual and that I must have taken drugs myself beforehand. By the time I could get in for an examination... there wouldn't be enough of whatever he used on me in my system to trace it anywhere."

"Damn that eggsucker." Dishao'ei had all four fists clenched and was staring at the door. "I should stick a frenzied skittercrab down his slit and watch it turn him into a female."

Niosh had never heard the cetacean say anything so graphic, and it was oddly cheering to see someone else so angry on her behalf. "Thanks... really, thanks, both of you," she said. "Don't let me keep you; I don't want to get either of you in trouble. I've got to get home and start looking for new job openings- my renter keeps track of employment, and if I can't prove I have the income to cover rent expenses I could be out by the end of the month, even if I have enough savings to handle it."

"Grah." Malchossi sighed. "Niosh... if that happens, just come to my place. You won't even have to bother calling. I can make some space for you."

"Thank you." Niosh couldn't help but hug both of them. "I won't say I'll miss this place, but I'll miss you two. I'll keep in touch however I can."

"Ni-Ni?" Gishsardor clambered up onto Niosh's bed. "What's it like where you're from?"

Niosh looked up from her newspaper, caught in the middle of circling a job listing. "Hm? Where did this question come from?"

"One of my books talks about different species' homeworlds, but it doesn't say much about Tiliraneki. That's where Tirarnik are from, right?"

"That's right, cub. Your book probably doesn't say a lot about it because not a lot of people who aren't Tirarnik go there."

"Well, that's silly." Shi made a face. "Have you been there, though, Ni-Ni?"

"Yes, I was born there. In fact, I left there to come to this planet."

"So you grew up there? I want to hear what it's like." Gishsardor curled up against Niosh's side; with a chuckle, the lupenoid folded up the paper and set it down. "Can you tell me?"

"Alright, alright." Niosh leaned back against her pillows, setting her arms behind her head. "It's a lot colder than Ampheru VI. There's a lot of snow and ice, and only at the equator do you get to see plants growing all year. We only have one moon there, and the sun is big and red- but it's not very warm."

"Is it one of those... um...." The Gez'byran screwed up hir face in thought. "One of those red-giant stars?"

"That's right, cub." Niosh grinned. "Where did you learn that? In your books?"

"Yep!" The hatchling positively beamed. "But, wait! Doesn't that mean your star will explode some day?"

"Some day, yes. But not for many millions of years."

"Oh, okay." Gishsardor gazed up at her. "Do you think someday I might get to go to Tiliraneki?"

"Someday, maybe. Why do you want to, though?"

"Because I want to see lots of different places. I read that there are some planets with two suns! Or with gas giants in the sky! I want to see all of those things."

"Well, for now, a certain hatchling is going to see hir bed." Malchossi followed hir words into the living room. "It's late and I want you getting into a regular sleep schedule for school. Your sibling is already in bed and waiting."

"Awww. Okay, Memi." Gishsardor gave Niosh a hug before scampering off of her bed. "G'night, Ni-Ni!" shi chirruped before rushing off towards hir bedroom; Malchossi watched hir go, then turned to Niosh, chuckling. "That one seems to have latched onto you, I've noticed," shi said.

"Shi's a cute cub. Loves reading, too, I've noticed. Amsarath seems to be more inclined with hir hands."

"Yeah, usually getting into things shi shouldn't be." Malchossi snickered. "So how are you doing?"

"I'm... doing okay, really." Niosh leaned back. "If I had to pick a family to room with, this one would've been my first choice. I mean, if nothing else, we're not fighting over the shower."

Malchossi snickered. "Scales have that easy-clean factor, yes. I think I was more worried about how you'd feel about having less personal space."

"Even this situation is better than the one I was at back home." Niosh lowered her ears. "You don't barge in on me in the shower to make sure I'm not doing anything 'unwholesome'."

"Erf." Malchossi squirmed a little in discomfort. "No, you don't have to worry about me doing anything like that. To be honest, I don't know a lot about Tirarnik society, but a lot of people say that you're against... well, you know. Being 'unwholesome' in the shower, for one."

She leaned back a little and let out a sigh, raising her ears a little. She hadn't meant to say as much as she had, but it was out now, and no real harm done. Frost, it's nice to have another person I can talk about this sort of thing with without getting nervous. "We're both adults, you know. Maybe we can graduate to the word 'masturbate'."

The saurian chuckled. "Yes, that. Which, you know, I'm fine with you doing in there."

Niosh's ears went hot in a blush. "I, um... didn't know you knew I was."

"I can smell it. Not very strongly, though. The hatchlings are too young to understand what that's all about, so I just say it's another strange scent other species give off sometimes."

Niosh chuckled. "Heh... yeah. Thanks. I appreciate that."

"Like you said, we're both adults, and there are some things that are more or less universal." Shi smiled. "Oh, before I forget- Keshtril called, and says that all your extra belongings are safe and secured at his place. They aren't taking up much room, so he's alright with hanging on to them however long you need."

"That's good news, thanks." Niosh picked up her newspaper again, and Malchossi came over to look at it. "Any luck?" shi inquired.

"Not much. This would go faster if my PDA was working." Niosh circled one more listing, then set the paper and pen down next to the bed. "I really need to have that thing looked at, if anyone even works on such an old model anymore."

"If you want to borrow mine, feel free."

"I will, thanks." She smiled. "I think I'm going to turn in as well. I want to get an early start on checking some of these job offerings tomorrow before I have to head off to the warehouse for work." She got up and pulled a set of pajamas from her suitcase- so much easier on her clothes, that thing, and so thoughtfully donated to her by Keshtril- and headed for the bathroom to get changed. "Sleep well," Malchossi told her, before heading off towards hir own bedroom.

Once changed, Niosh slid under her thin blanket; by necessity due to hir species's ectothermic metabolism, Malchossi kept hir home quite warm, but it wasn't difficult for Niosh to adjust. She switched off the small desk lamp next to her bed, plunging the living room into darkness, and then settled down on her bed. So I'm down, but not out, she thought, fluffing her pillow a little before setting her head on it. I've got friends I can rely on when I need them. Now I just need to apply myself and pull myself back up to self-sufficiency... and to a point where I can help them if they need it.

It's only fair.

"Hey, cubs. I'm here with groceries!" Niosh closed the door behind her and picked up the bags off of the entrance floor. "Who wants to help put them away?"

"The little ones are sleeping over at Dishao'ei's tonight." Malchossi came out of the kitchen holding a large pot in one gloved hand. "Thanks for doing the food shopping, Niosh. Did you get the spices I put on the list?"

"All but one. The store was completely out of grimshek powder." Niosh brought the bags into the kitchen. "The clerk said that imbibari is a good substitute, so I picked that up instead. I gave it a sniff and it seems pretty good."

"Alright, I'll try that." Shi set the pot down on the stove and helped Niosh to stash the groceries in various cupboards and shelves. The apartment hadn't come with much in the way of storage area, but Malchossi had shown a creative streak in supplementing available space with dividers and such. "Okay, there we go," Niosh grunted as she set a heavy canister of tea mix on a shelf. "Do you need anything else done?"

"I'm alright for now, thanks."

"Okay. I'm going to get out of this jumpsuit, then." Niosh was all too happy to get out of the stuffy jumpsuit from her warehouse job, and slip into a light tanktop and a pair of slender pants. She tossed the jumpsuit on her bed before rejoining Malchossi in the kitchen. "So what are you making?" she asked. "It smells good."

Malchossi opened the pot to stir its contents, letting a waft of steam float towards the ceiling. "Stew! An old clan recipe from back home. Slightly modified- a couple of the ingredients are toxic to most mammalian species, so we've developed substitutes for when we might have friends over."

"Great. About the right time for dinner, too!" Niosh grinned. "How much longer?"

"Half an hour or so. Why don't you go relax, and I'll let you know when it's done."

The smell from the kitchen made the required wait far too long for Niosh, and when Malchossi's voice finally called her over, her stomach was growling in protest for being made to wait. A bowl of thick stew waited for her when she made it into the kitchen, and she gladly dug in, finding it to taste as good as it smelled. "You make me wish I could cook worth anything," she chuckled.

Shi grinned. "It's not hard, and the ingredients are cheap, which is a bonus. You might have noticed we eat a lot of stews, casseroles and the like here. You do what you can to stretch your credits when you've got two more mouths to feed."

"No doubt. I saw how many actual paper books the cubs have. Most of them look second-hand, but there's a good variety."

"Don't have to recharge them, either, or worry when the little tailbiters drop one on the floor. But, you know, almost every intelligent species known has had books, many of them for thousands of years, and I like to think they still have a place alongside computers and datapads." Malchossi smiled to hirself as shi spooned up another helping of stew. "Maybe I can't afford to get them the latest tools, but they WILL have an educational grounding before they go to school."

The stew went quickly, and the conversation carried on into the night, until they both agreed it would be best to get to sleep. Niosh went into the bathroom to brush out her headfur, rubbing lightly at her stomach. That stew was great, but it seems to be doing weird things to my stomach, she thought. I don't usually feel like this unless... hrm. No, I couldn't be going into heat yet, I'm not due for another month....

But the uncomfortable feeling only increased as she got changed and slid into bed. Soon, she was shifting and squirming underneath the blanket, panting despite her best efforts not to. Oh, come on, she thought. Am I seriously entering heat? Now?! The stress must have gotten me off my usual cycle. Frost! She pushed the blanket aside and went to her suitcase. I need to take my countercyclical medication early to stave this off... wait. Where is it? She rifled through her scant possessions, but the small orange plastic hypospray was nowhere to be found. Oh, frost! Don't tell me it's packed in with my other things at Keshtril's place! It's way too late at night to go bothering him about it! Grah.... Her hand brushed against the plastic bag where her toy was kept, half-hidden underneath her undergarments. Guess there's only one other thing I can do about it, she realized, picking the bag up and closing the suitcase. It probably won't sate the heat, but it'll at least take the edge off so I might be able to sleep until tomorrow....

Running the shower would probably wake Malchossi, but the ceiling vent would likely draw out her scent without making too much noise, so she flicked its switch as she closed the bathroom door. The soft electric hum of the fan buzzed above her ears as she pulled her toy out of its bag, and then tugged her pajama bottoms and panties down to her feet. The scent of her arousal blossomed around her, almost making her eyes water before the fan managed to draw most of it out. Ugh, I am in it deep, she thought, leaning on the sink. Usually I've got at least a day of lead-in before it hits me this hard. Maybe I just didn't notice it was starting because I was so busy today? Good thing I wear that jumpsuit at work, or I'd have been spreading this scent all across the warehouse. I wonder if anyone at the store picked up on it?

She set one foot up on the toilet seat, shivering as the action exposed her netherlips to the air. There was no point to foreplay- she was already as wet as she'd ever been; it was a miracle her panties weren't soaked- so she simply spread herself open, turned on the vibrating motor and slid the toy in. Her sex grasped hungrily at the nylaplex length, almost pulling it out of her fingers; she let out a deep growl of pleasure, closing her eyes for a moment as the firm material rubbed against her inner flesh. I don't think I've ever done this while actually in heat, she thought, setting her free hand against the wall to brace herself. Nngh... I wish I could've gotten the longer one; this one isn't going as far as I'd like....

She lost track of how long she'd spent in the bathroom like that, alternating between rubbing the toy across her clit and sliding it as deep as possible into her sex, groaning as her inner muscles squeezed it as hard as they could, driven by ancient instinct to milk the invader for semen with which to bear cubs. But despite three climaxes, her heat and her need showed no signs of abating, even with her practically bent over and panting for breath. Frost and night, this is not working! she realized, letting out a frustrated whine. My toy can't go deep enough; my body is acting more like this is foreplay than sex! What am I-

A sudden soft knocking at the door seemed to freeze the blood in her veins. "Uh... just a moment," she said, frantically throwing her toy back into its bag and using some sanitary paper to wipe the inside of her leg where the juices of her arousal had dripped down. She flushed the paper away, pulled her clothing back on and took a moment to wave her hands in the air in a half-hearted attempt to speed the dispersion of her scent before opening the door, to find Malchossi on the other side, gazing at her in concern. "Are you okay in here?" shi asked.

"Yeah, I, um...." She couldn't think of anything to complete that sentence, so she just waved her hands a bit.

The saurian opened hir mouth to speak, but then took in a couple of deep breaths through hir snout before a slight smile crossed it. "Ahh. Heh. Isn't it a bit late in the day for that sort of thing, though?"

"Well, yeah, it...." Niosh sighed. Might as well tell hir, I'm sure shi'll at least understand. "The problem is that I've gone into heat."

"Heat? Ouch. I don't know how you seasonal ovulators stand that." Shi chuckled. "Don't you take medication for that, though?"

"I think my hypo is packed with my other things at Keshtril's place." Niosh lowered her ears. "Usually I have a day or two of warning; this just hit me out of nowhere. Maybe it's all the stress...."

"I think I can understand what that does to cycles." Shi chuckled. "Did you, um, want to get back to...?"

"There's no point; it isn't working."

"...oh." Malchossi leaned back a little, hir nostrils flaring, and Niosh realized to her dismay that the ceiling vent wasn't doing all that good a job of clearing the scent of her heat from the room. "Well, I guess I could go back to bed," she murmured. "Maybe just try to put my mind off of it."

"Erm." The Gez'byran shifted slightly. "Niosh, if you want, I could... you know... help."

"Hrn?" Niosh blinked in confusion. "What... what do you mean?"

"If it'll help your heat abate until we can get your medication, I could... help." Shi shifted again, looking away for a moment. "You know."

The lupenoid actually didn't comprehend for a moment until she remembered. Duh. Hermaphrodite. Both kinds of "equipment". But even as she tried to think of a way to politely decline, the aching in her groin only intensified; it was taking effort not to hunch over now, and the desperate need to have something- anything- inside her was driving her insane. Her insecurities crumbled like an ice floe in summer thaw. "I... I'd appreciate it, at this point," she said quietly, her ears low and burning with her blush. "I just... it's hard to explain how it is, really...."

"It's alright." Shi reached out and gently laid a hand on her shoulder. "I'd be lying if I said the scent wasn't doing anything to me, you know."

She couldn't help but giggle softly at that. "Are you serious? Is it actually... arousing you?"

"I think you're giving off enough musk to arouse most rock formations." Shi followed Niosh out of the bathroom and into hir bedroom and its much larger bed. "Plus, a benefit of being intersex is a predisposition towards being attracted to aspects of both solitary sexes. But, tonight... I can be male for you." Shi closed the door- obviously the learned habit of a parent with two mischievous younglings. "This will probably go better if we both get out of our clothing."

"Uh... yeah, I guess so." I can't believe I'm actually doing this, Niosh thought, even as she pulled her pajama shirt over her head; the nipples of her bare breasts were hard, jutting out into the warm air of the room. Malchossi cocked hir head to the side as shi looked them over. "Those things must get in the way sometimes," shi teased.

"Well, it's not like mine are all that big, but they are a pain sometimes," Niosh answered. "Um... do you, you know... do this with mammals at all?"

"I actually never have." The saurian easily slipped out of hir nightshirt, placing it on a nightstand and putting Niosh's shirt on top of it once she'd handed it to hir. "Seen plenty of you naked, both sexes, thanks to a free membership at a spa a few years ago, but this'll be my first time being intimate outside my species." Shi managed to tear hir eyes away from Niosh's chest long enough to look her in the eyes. "How about you? Ever been with the scaled types before?"

"Ahh... heh heh. To be honest... technically, I'm still a virgin."

"Hmmss." Shi let out a soft hiss of understanding. "Yeah... I keep forgetting, mainstream Tirarnik don't go for casual sex, right?"

"If she's not in heat and wanting cubs, that particular orifice essentially doesn't exist." Niosh slid her pajama bottoms off and handed them to Malchossi, leaving herself wearing only her panties. Despite the warmth of the room, she shivered, and fought the urge to cover her breasts with her arms; being nearly nude underneath the gaze of another person wasn't something she was used to. "Do you mind if I ask a personal question?" the reptile asked.

"I, um... I think we're about to get really personal, so you might as well go ahead."

"True. If... if you weren't in heat, and I'd just asked you to come in here anyway and do this, what would you have said?"

"I, erm...." She looked away for a moment. "To be honest, I probably would've said no. I almost did anyway even though I am in heat."

"It's not because I'm a reptile, is it?"

"What? No!" Niosh rubbed her muzzle with both hands. "That's not it at all! When we were at Dishao'ei's apartment, Keshtril propositioned me, and I told him no also!" She looked away for a moment. "It's definitely not because of what you are, Malchossi. I'm just... I find it hard to be comfortable with being desired, I guess."

"Ahh." Malchossi nodded. "Alright. Thank you."

"Malchossi, what... what made you ask that?"

Now it was hir turn to look away. "Well, since we're both being honest... it's been a long time since I've gotten undressed with someone else, so a part of me wants to know that someone would want to get undressed with me."

"Hey...." She reached over and gently rubbed hir neck. "Why wouldn't someone? I mean, look at you. Nice, smooth, clean scales... clear eyes... kind of a cute snout, when you think about it...." She giggled quietly. "And this is from someone who has pretty much no experience in looking at reptiles sexually, so plenty of people who do would probably fall over themselves to have a look at you."

"Now you're just flattering me. Not that I'm objecting or anything." Shi smiled. "We are a couple of amusingly insecure people, aren't we, Niosh?"

The lupenoid grinned. "Yeah... but somehow we manage to get by."

Malchossi nodded, letting out a soft chuckle before reaching behind hir to unbutton the top of hir trousers, letting them slide down hir long, thickly-muscled legs. At first shi almost seemed sexless, but there were two slits along the scales of hir underbelly where a strange but not unwelcome scent was wafting outward. "Sometimes I wonder why you true reptiles even wear clothing," Niosh said.

"Before our First Contact, we Gez'byran didn't, outside of ornamental or ceremonial garb." Malchossi put hir trousers on the nightstand. "Then we joined the Alliance, and it became a common custom to dress like other species."

Niosh nodded slowly, leaning against the bed. Her rational mind was trying to put off removing her last piece of clothing, but her instincts were practically screaming at her to shed the final barrier between her and being penetrated; Malchossi's nudity and expectant gaze made the decision go faster, and she slid the panties down along her legs to leave them lying on the floor. Her scent didn't take long to spread through the room, and an undiluted dose had the expected effect on the saurian; a pair of long, slender hemipenes pushed their way free of hir forward slit, quickly growing to almost half a meter long each, dark red and throbbing slowly in time with hir heartbeat. Even the part of her brain that wasn't demanding she get one of them in her right this moment couldn't help but find them interesting; it was like shi had independent control of them, flexing one and then the other. She realized that shi was staring right back at her, at the cleft of her sex, the lips of which were puffy and wet. "It, uh... it doesn't bite, I promise," she joked half-heartedly.

"Good. Just because I have two doesn't mean I want to lose either of them." The terrible humor helped defuse the awkwardness of the situation, and both of them visibly relaxed. "Why don't you get on my bed?" shi asked. "Just, er... hands and knees would be good."

"Alright." The mattress proved to be surprisingly firm- there's no way I'd sleep comfortably on this, but it's probably just right for hir- as she climbed onto it, bracing herself and looking over her shoulder at Malchossi as shi gingerly stepped onto the bed behind her. "Are you ready for this?" shi asked.

Niosh nodded. "Y- yeah. Let's go ahead."

"Then you're going to have to raise your tail, dear."

"Wha-? Oh! Frost. Sorry." Her tail was tucked tightly against her rump, and took an effort of will to move aside. She spread her legs a little wider, still watching the reptile as shi moved forward, coming to stand just above and behind her to the left. Something cool and firm pressed against her rump, and she shivered. "Sorry, this is kind of a strange angle for me," shi said, reaching down to lightly rub her back. "Almost have it, though...."

Niosh couldn't help but let out a gasp as the tapered end of the hemipenis brushed against her netherlips. It rubbed up and down a few times, smearing the moisture from her arousal against its tip, and then gently pressed forward. After a moment, her inner edges parted before the shaft, and it slid into her; her groan was echoed by Malchossi above her. "Shades, Niosh, you feel like a furnace," shi murmured.

She couldn't help but dig her fingerclaws into the mattress; the feel of living flesh inside her was far, far different than her toy, especially after it began to absorb her own body heat and warm up within her. Malchossi was pushing hirself into her slowly, probably doing as much adjusting to being inside a mammal as she was to having someone inside her. "Hhhh... how's that feel, Niosh?" shi breathed.

"Frost... you want me to be able to speak coherently?" Another shiver traveled through her as Malchossi's shaft hit the limit of her depths, with still a good number of centimeters between her outer lips and hir slit. If that's how big they are, how deep is the other part...? she couldn't help but wonder.

Malchossi chuckled. "Yeah... I'm sort of in the same state," shi said, gently stroking her back. "It's... it's nice, though. It feels interesting. I think I've been missing out with not thinking about bedding mammals."

"Maybe you could ask Keshtril."

"Maybe. Especially since you've told me that he's open to extraspecies joinings. But I've heard from other hermaphrodites that a lot of times it's more difficult to interest a hetero male than a hetero female."

Niosh let out a soft groan as she shifted herself on the bed, tugging lightly at the saurian's shaft. "Wh... why's that?"

"Two reasons, one of which is right here." Shi playfully flexed the hemipenis shi had inside Niosh, making her squirm. "Hetero males aren't often interested in seeing others' male bits. And it's a lot harder to keep these in than to keep my hindslit closed when I'm aroused."

"Not the easiest things to hide, either," Niosh giggled.

"My former consort's were bigger. I admit to having been a little jealous, except when shi was using them on me."

"Does everyone who has those things go around comparing- mmmmhhh." Malchossi had started to move hir hips, gently placing a hand on her back to steady her as shi slid hir maleflesh in and out of her slowly. "Come on, now," shi said playfully, already breathing a little quickly. "I know about you female mammals and how you are about your breasts."

"Hey, well...." Niosh shook her head and chuckled. "Alright, fine, point granted. But they're a lot more visible!"

"Mmh. And I have to admit they're rather fun to look at. Especially with how some of you all but showcase them." She heard hir chuckle.

"Hey. Speaking of looking at...." She took in a slow breath. "Before we really get started... do you think we could move to the edge of the bed so I could lay on my back?"

"Sure. Getting uncomfortable?"

"No... actually, I want to be able to do this face-to-face." She chuckled. "I mean, you're my first, after all."

"Ahh. That's kind of a strange concept... but then again, if you were a Gez'byran, we'd both have to be contortionists to pull that off. I don't mind giving it a try, though."

Shi slowly pulled out of her, leaving her feeling empty and desperately aching almost immediately. Shi stepped off of the bed and waited as Niosh slid her way down, leaving her lower legs dangling off of the edge; Malchossi leaned forward, putting hir hands on either of Niosh's sides, and maneuvered hirself into position- having to straddle her right leg, but shi was tall enough to manage that. "Okay, this will actually work," shi said, gently sliding hirself back into her and making both of them groan. "And... you know, I see what you mean." Shi reached down and rubbed her chin.

"Yeah...." Shi was close enough for Niosh to rub hir chest, fingerpads tracing across the smooth scales and the slender muscles underneath. With a little effort, she was able to hook her left leg over the base of hir tail. "Maybe if you end up doing this with Keshtril, you could try this position," she told hir.

"With me laying down? Yeah... yeah, that might work. Might be fun as all hells, too." Shi grinned, reaching down to trace hir clawtips through her stomach fur. "Remind me to come to you for advice if I really do start making this 'bedding mammals' thing a habit."

Niosh shook her head and smiled. "Me? Didn't I just tell you this is my first time?"

"Yes, and it should hardly be your last." Shi leaned down to gently nuzzle her. "Niosh, my sweet, forgive the profanity- but you seriously need to get fucked, nice and good, by someone who really knows how to do it. It's almost like you're afraid to enjoy life... maybe once you've known one of the greatest pleasures it can give you, you'll want to come out of your den and live with the rest of us." Shi smiled, lightly licking her muzzle. "But in the meantime, I can get you primed."

Strangely enough, between their unorthodox conversation and the newness of having another living being inside of her, Niosh had almost forgotten that she was in heat. But when Malchossi started moving above her, that aching sexual need came rushing back; shi slowly drew hir maleflesh out of her, again leaving her feeling empty, and she involuntarily pulled the saurian back towards her. "Whoa," shi said. "We're going to start off slow here."

"Can't... help it," Niosh panted. "I just... really need it...."

"You'll thank me." With that, Malchossi laid hir hands on the bed and began a gentle, rhythmic thrusting. The feeling of warm flesh parting her inner reaches, rubbing up against places she'd never been touched before, sent waves of ecstasy through her hormone-intoxicated brain, and she let out a whimper of pleasure. "Oh, that's so good," she groaned. "More... please, Malchossi, I know you're trying to build things up, but right now... right now I need to be fucked!"

She didn't even have it in her to blush at the first time she'd ever used profanity in front of someone else, so far into her heat was she. Malchossi didn't seem fazed either. "You'll get your wish," shi told her. "I want your first time to be a good one, and that's not going to happen if I hurt you."

"It's not like I haven't had anything-" she let out a soft grunt as the tip of hir length pressed up against her cervix- "in there before."

"And how big was that?"

Niosh gave a sheepish grin as she held her hands a short distance apart. Malchossi snickered. "Not even close," shi told her. "And I know you feel me going all the way in. Others may not be as long, but they might be thicker... let your body learn how to deal with it."

"Okay, okay...." There was logic in the reptile's words, no matter how much her hindbrain wanted to ignore it and have her sex filled as hard and fast as possible. It wasn't as though she could fault hir performance, though- hir slow, steady motions were setting her nerves on fire, and her inner muscles were clenching at hir length every time shi withdrew. She gripped her unexpected lover's shoulders tightly, digging in with her fingerclaws- not like they'd do much against that hide- and pressing her leg against the base of hir tail. Shi let out a deep chirr. "Okay, that... that feels nice," shi said. "Being held like that. Not something we can manage with each other."

That made sense; their sauropoid posture and thick tails would make anything other than side-by-side coupling difficult. "So... what do you do?" she asked quietly, panting a little as she spoke. "When you're doing this... with another Gez'byran."

"We, uh... we'll caress, lick, tonguetouch... sometimes the one playing the role of male will stroke the male parts of hir partner. And usually after the one doing the penetrating finishes, we'll switch positions."

"Well... most of that I can actually do, so... maybe we can?" She smiled. "I mean... I want to make it good for you too."

Malchossi chirred quietly. "You are going to make someone a wonderful lover someday, I think," shi replied, leaning down to nuzzle Niosh and flicking out hir tongue against her chin. Niosh set her hands on either side of hir neck and began to stroke up and down, marveling at how smooth the scales felt beneath her palms and fingerpads; the reptile let out a quiet chirrup and began to lap at her throat for a few seconds. "Okay, fur tastes funny," shi chuckled.

She experimentally flicked her tongue across hir snout. "And scales... well, don't really taste like anything."

"Let's see how tongues taste." It took a little careful maneuvering of snout and muzzle to get into the proper position before their tongues could touch. Malchossi's was a little on the cool side, and, well... sort of slimy, but the taste wasn't at all bad, and it felt kind of nice as shi slid it along her own tongue. Apparently shi was getting into the moment, because she could feel hir begin to move faster, hir steady motions pulling hir length almost all the way out of her before sliding it back in again; she found herself raising her hips to meet hir, pulling hir closer, until shi had to put one hand on the bed to steady hirself. "Careful there," shi murmured once they'd broken their tonguekiss. "You don't want me falling on you."

"Mmmh. Sorry, I can't help it. This is... really nice."

"I won't argue that." Shi lowered her snout, letting hir cool breath wash across her breasts, making her shiver. "Do you mind if I play with those a little?" shi asked, gently nosing one of them. "If I'm going to do this with other female mammals, I want to be sure I know my way around there."

Again, she just had to giggle. "All in the name... of science," she said, arching her back a little to present her breasts to hir. Cool, leathery hands pressed against the sensitive mounds, and she felt the gentle friction of tiny scales rubbing against her hard nipples, making her groan and shiver. "Careful, those spots... are sensitive," she breathed, doing her best to keep her tongue from lolling out of the side of her mouth.

"Sensitive, hrm?" Shi gently nuzzled one of them, then dipped hir head down and lapped at it. The cool moisture from hir tongue sent little shocks of pleasure through her. "Haaaaahhh...." she whimpered, gripping the saurian's neck. "Yes... sensitive!"

"Sorry. This is just too much fun." Malchossi carefully ran hir clawtips along the undersides of her breasts before cupping them in hir hands and gently kneading them. Niosh gently stroked the reptile's chin and neck before remembering what shi'd said before, and gingerly reached down to take hold of hir other hemipenis in her hand. She could hear hir let out a soft gasp at the touch, and she lightly squeezed it, sliding her palm up and down along its lower side. "Y- yeah, that's different," shi murmured, beginning to pant as well hirself. "Never felt fur against that before... definitely a new sensation."

"Really...?" Feeling a little bold now, Niosh moved her fingers all the way to the base, before wrapping her hand around it and tugging slowly along the cool flesh until she reached the tip. Malchossi let out a soft hiss and hunched hir back a bit, starting to move faster to match the movements of her hand. "Grrn... Niosh, you're going to make me forget that I want to go slow." Shi squinted down at her. "Or is that what you're trying for?"

"In heat, remember...?" She was almost forgetting that fact herself sometimes, her instincts quieting down at least for a little while with each new sensation. But now that she'd gotten used to the feel of someone else's sex inside of her own, her hindbrain was remembering what it wanted out of the whole deal- orgasm, insemination, impregnation. Malchossi wasn't likely to be able to manage that last one, but her heat would certainly be satisfied by the first two, at least for tonight. "You already know what I want...." she murmured, beginning to stroke a little faster, a little harder, getting another hiss out of the sauropoid. "And you can't blame a female in heat... for doing what it takes to get it...."

"Well, you asked for it." Shi gave her a gentle nuzzle. "Just relax and hold on; I can do the work. But don't stop what you're doing with your hand there."

"Wasn't planning on it...." Niosh let out a soft giggle that quickly dropped into a moan as the reptile above her began to move, faster and more forcefully than before. Shi was obviously being careful not to ram hir tip into her cervix, which was saving her a lot of discomfort- though shi was on occasion pressing hirself up against her innermost barrier and moving hir hips in small circles, which did amazing things to her. In return, she began rubbing, squeezing and even gently twisting hir maleflesh, getting hir to groan and growl in pleasure.

It was when Malchossi leaned down to tongue-kiss her again, and the smooth scales of hir lower stomach pressed against her groin and began rubbing against her clit, that Niosh hit orgasm like a solid wall. She let out a shuddering gasp and pulled hir down towards her, groaning deeply in pleasure against hir throat and lashing her tail against hirs. The reptile chuckled. "What brought that on so suddenly?"

She was still panting. "You... were rubbing against my clit with... your scales."

"That's external? Grah, you mammals are weird. Mine are a third of the way up my vaginal tract." Shi grinned. "Okay, I'll make a note of that. And try to do it again."

"Mmmm." She licked hir neck. "Just go easy... that area is sensitive and scales can be a little rough."

They really found their rhythm after that, with Malchossi alternating between grinding against her clit and rubbing hir tip against her cervix, while Niosh took turns squeezing hir with her inner muscles and her hand. Shi'd already brought her to a second climax before shi started closing in on hir own; she could hear a deep chirring building up in the back of hir throat. "Niosh, I'm getting close...." shi moaned.

"Frost, I was wondering if you ever would...!" she gasped.

With a hoarse grunt, Malchossi planted hir hands on either side of Niosh, pressed hir snout into her neck, and gave in to hir primal impulse. Streams of thick, cool semen sprayed forth from her twin stalks; the one inside her, pressed firmly against her deepest reaches, sent it into her waiting womb, while the other left thick white ropes across her arm and shoulder. Niosh's eyes rolled back for a moment as she reveled in the feeling of it all, her instincts joyous at being bred, regardless of the fact that this particular mate would never sire cubs. They simply laid there for a few minutes, each enjoying the afterglow and gently caressing the other, before shi began to draw her half-erect maleness out of her. "So...." she murmured wearily, as shi practically collapsed next to her. "How was I, for your first time?"

"So much better than I likely would've gotten had I stayed home." She leaned over and gave hir snout a light lick. "Thank you, Malchossi. This... this was wonderful."

"Not only for you, you know." Shi chuckled. "It's been a very long time since I've done this. I forgot how good it could be. Maybe... maybe you and I could do it again sometime?"

"Maybe." She smiled, just a little uncertainly. "I think I need to get used to this sort of thing, you know?"

Shi nodded. "I understand. Though honestly, I think you have gotten me hooked on bedding mammals. You're a lot of fun to sleep with." Shi grinned as Niosh laughed. "Seriously! It's not just because you're warm and all... there's so many things that can be done with you." Shi chuckled. "And then there's the bonus of not having to worry about contraception."

"Mmmh. There's that, too." She rubbed her stomach gently, imagining that she could still feel the reptile's seed inside of her- at least the amount that wasn't leaking out from between her legs, anyway. "You know, I think we're both going to need to wash up," she said.

"Hrrrn, no doubt. You go first; it'll be harder to get all that out of your fur if it dries up."

There was really no such thing as "a quick dip in the shower" when one was covered in fur, but Niosh did her best to get in and out as quickly as she could, drying herself off by her bed while Malchossi literally spent three minutes washing herself off. The lupenoid had to fight the urge to cover herself up with her towels. I just had sex with hir, and now I'm going modest again? she thought. Argh, cub, get your head on straight. "I was going to ask if you wanted to stay in my bed tonight," shi said with a smile, "but considering how soft the mattress you prefer is, I can't see how you'd be comfortable."

"Yeah." She chuckled. "I think I'm already going to be sore tomorrow; no sense in making it worse."

"Alright, then." Shi came forward and wrapped hir arms around Niosh in a gentle hug, which she returned tightly. "No regrets, right?" shi asked.

"Zero. Tonight's going to be a happy memory for me."

"Me too." Shi smiled. "Sleep well, Niosh."

"You also." With that, the Gez'byran headed back to hir room, and the Tirarnik turned off the lights, slipped back into her nightclothes and rolled into bed. She was exhausted, she was sore, she was sated, she was happy, and- within five minutes- she was fast asleep.

"Hey, Rav. Is that the latest issue of Nanoelectronics Journal?"

Raval looked up from his magazine and nodded. "I thought you subscribed to this, Ril."

"I accidentally let the subscription lapse. Do you mind if I read over your shoulder?"

"No, go right ahead." Ril took a seat next to the Human. "I'm looking at this article about 560-picometer carbon-etched circuitry," Raval told him.

"Cripes. Even just five years ago that was wild theory. How could they get around quark spin degradation at that scale?"

"Ruthenium inlays. Apparently they've developed a new technique to plate it onto the etchings at the single-molecule level, and at that scale it has amazing quantum-stabilizing properties."

"And the quarks don't degrade the ruthenium?"

"The molecules interlock and the carbon itself acts as an anchor. It's got a lot of time before it sees practical use, but this could triple computational speed while actually lowering data loss and heat transfer."

Ril shook his head. "That's something. Every time you think we've finally hit the wall in technological advancement, one of the geniuses pulls out a new trick."

"That's why I love this field. Never a dull moment." Raval paused a moment and cocked his head. "Do you hear something?"

"My ears aren't much good compared to yours, I... wait." Now he could hear it, a soft murmuring coming over the public announcement system. After a few seconds of mumbling, the volume increased, and Ril could make out the voices of Donna and Myssani.

"...two hours, give or take. Mind you, I've had longer, but most of those times I was sort of waiting to get it over with."

"Two hours? Huh. The best I've ever had was thirty-five minutes, and that was the whole process- from foreplay to afterglow."

"That's because you need to diversify, sweetie. I know how Tisharri are about that, but, really, there are so many different types of males out there."

"Okay, well, tell me more about Ril. Just in case I decide he might be a good first candidate."

"He's a gentleman and a complete sweetheart. There were a couple of times I'd have liked him to be a bit more forceful, but he got me to come three times- and sweetie, I make a man work for that."

"And, uh... how big is he?"

"About twenty centimeters, give or take. But he's got two of 'em, and one of the fun things about sleeping with reptiles is playing with both."

By now both Ril and Raval were frantically searching for the females, hearing their risque conversation broadcast over every speaker in the place. Finally, Ril found them huddled over Donna's desk, each of them holding a steamy mug. With a few quick hand motions, he got their attention, both falling silent and giving him a confused expression. Now what could have been picking up their conversation and broadcasting it, he wondered, before an odd bit of color caught his eye. On the edge of the service area across from Donna's desk, someone had set up what looked to be a parabolic microphone aimed directly at the females. "What the blazes is this?" he wondered, glancing around. He almost missed the sight of Mauchil leaning back in the far corner, wearing a headset and tapping at a panel- the control panel of the PA system. With a quiet hiss of irritation, Ril gently picked up the microphone- and then dropped it, receiver-first, onto the floor.

Mauchil let out a loud yelp and yanked the headset off, almost sending himself falling backwards out of the seat. With a growl, he got to his feet and slammed his hands down on the desk. "What's your problem, snake?!" he snarled.

By now, Raval, Donna and Myssani had made it over to the service desk. "What the hell is going on?!" Donna demanded, hands on hips.

Ril scooped up the parabolic antenna, jerking it away from the larger primate's hasty attempt to snatch it out of his hand. "Mauchil was broadcasting your conversation over the PA system."

Both females gasped, then turned angry gazes towards the Tanzanli, who instinctively shrank back. "Oh, come on," he said. "You people can't take a joke? It's not like you were talking about anything important-"

Donna leapt forward, slamming her hands down on the counter and making Mauchil literally jump. "I'm giving you ten seconds to get out of my sight, and then Myssani and I will take turns using your scrotum as a scratching post."

For just a second, Mauchil tried to put up a brave front. But Ril could see- from the increased heat of her body, her dilated pupils and the way her fingernails were actually starting to dig into the wooden counter- that Donna was well and truly pissed, and the large primate seemed to realize that maybe the safety of his genitals was not assured. "I'm... going to go check on the inventory," he stammered, practically tripping over himself to get out of view and slamming the stockroom door behind him.

Instantly Donna seemed to deflate. "Oh sweet Jesus," she groaned, half-slumping against the counter. "Ril, Rav... how much was he broadcasting?"

"Erm... a lot." Raval tugged at the collar of his shirt. "I need to double-check that diagnostic I ran on that nullgrav unit. Excuse me."

Ril knew that Raval never needed to recheck any of his diagnostics; it was an excuse to leave the three of them alone to talk- and by the appreciative glances Donna and Myssani gave him as he walked past, they knew it too. As the Human male left, his female counterpart covered her face with her hands. "Ril, I'm so sorry," she murmured. "It's... girl talk, you know? Not anything we'd say if we knew an overgrown jackass had a microphone pointed at us."

"I'm not upset." He lightly rubbed her shoulders. "Well, not at either of you, anyway," he amended, shooting a glance at the stockroom door. "It isn't as if we males don't do that sometimes. At least you were flattering me." He gave Donna a grin as she let out a deep sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God you're such a decent male," she breathed, leaning over to give him a tight hug. "That asshole needs to understand that he'll never be one-tenth the man you are."

"I think you're being generous to that sand-sniffer." Myssani directed a growl over her shoulder before reaching out to pat Ril's arm.

Donna wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. "Good thing my mascara is waterproof," she murmured. "Damn that prick. I'm going to go take my lunch, guys, and try to pull myself together."

"Alright, kyrahassa." Ril knew that to be a Tisharri term of affection. "Take two hours; I'll cover for you."

"Thanks, sweetie. You've always been my bent-tail angel." As the Human made her way towards the bay, Myssani leaned in close to Ril. "Really, how much did you two hear?" she asked quietly.

"Her talking about our night together, mostly."

"Ohh. Yeah, she was really complimenting you." She chuckled. "And... she got me curious, too. Maybe I want to start dating outside my species for a change, and maybe you'd be a good male to start with, so maybe you and I could go out sometime. I can't guarantee there'd be an ending like your date with her, but... I wouldn't definitively rule it out either."

He smiled, raising his hood. "I thought Tisharri didn't do that."

"It's... been frowned upon by our culture for a long time. But things change." She chuckled and twitched her tail slightly. "As open as we've been in everything else, it just made less and less sense to stay to ourselves when it came to relationships."

"I always thought it was a biological thing- that you literally couldn't be aroused by any but your own species."

"Ohhh, no. Far from it. Just ask Donna how many times she's teased me with descriptions of extraspecies lovers she's had." She scratched at one of her ears. "I'm not usually this forward, but then again I usually only ask Tisharri males out, so this is a new arena for me."

"I won't complain. In fact, I'm flattered I'm the first person you've asked outside your species."

"Well, you've proven you're a good person." She smiled again. "So... we'll work out the where and when sometime. In the meantime, I'd better get back to work." She shook her head. "Thank the Trinity that nobody else was here- especially Merran!"

"No kidding." He slithered his way back to the breakroom, to find that Raval had gone back to work- but had left him the magazine on the table. Unfortunately he was still too wound up to want to read it. Bad enough that overgrown gorilla did his best to make everyone's life hell when we were kids. Now it's like his body got bigger and his brain got smaller. I used to love when Dad told me about the concept of karma, but it's certainly taking a long time to get around to Mauchil.

He pulled out his PDA, eager to find something to take his mind off of his old nemesis. Random flipping through his contacts list brought up a familiar name. Oh, fuck, he inwardly groaned. Niosh! I completely forgot to get back to her about a second date. It's been more than a month now, hasn't it? Way to go, Ril- blow off the cute Tirarnik. He tapped the "connect" button, figuring that even if she were working or otherwise occupied, he could leave her a message- but a dialogue box popped up with "unable to connect to contact". Hmm. If her PDA were off, it would give me a different message for that. She mentioned it being faulty a few times; I wonder if it gave out on her?

He leaned against the window to look at the street outside. I could always ask her....

Niosh sighed in frustration as she scratched off yet another employment lead. It seemed that the event with Garush at the bakery was poisoning her image in the minds of any potential employers who checked her references. She'd really hoped that her solid record at the warehouse job would overcome that, but it seemed that nobody wanted to take a risk on someone who- at least by Salwhel's account- couldn't be trusted not to slip off for a quick naked romp during work hours.

Well, things could be worse, she thought, dropping the newspaper on her bed. I still do have one paying job, a place to live and a couple of fun cubs to occupy my free time. She sat up and put the paper aside, rubbing the underside of her muzzle_. I have_ really got to find a way to get in touch with Ril. He'd be a good reference, even if we don't know each other that well, and maybe he or someone he knows can find an opening....

"Ni-Ni?" Amsarath's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Somebody's at the door for you."

Her ears pricked. "Here? For me?"

"Uh-huh! He says he's a friend of yours. Tall snake guy."

"No way, it couldn't be him." She followed the youngling to the door, where waited a bemused-looking Doril. "Ril!" she exclaimed, ears and tail frozen in shock.

"Hi, Niosh." He grinned. "Haven't heard from you in a while; just thought I'd drop by and see how you were doing."

"It... I... how...?" she stammered, three different trains of thought trying to exit her mouth at the same time. Finally, one got ahead of the others. "How'd you even know to find me here?"

"You told me where you worked, so when I couldn't reach your PDA, I stopped by there and asked around. There was a friendly Tisharri male there who understood I really was an acquaintance of yours and gave me directions here."

"Couldn't reach my... oh!" She slapped her forehead, her ears dipping in embarrassment. "I'm SO sorry, Ril. That frost-bitten piece of refuse gave out on me a couple of months ago. I've had so many issues nipping at my tail that I didn't even think about calling you until recently, and then I couldn't retrieve your contact info off of it, and since you're not publicly listed...."

He nodded in understanding, flexing his hood. "A perfect storm of bad happenings, I take it."

She let out a deep sigh and nodded back. "You don't know the half of it."

"Well, if you'd like to tell me about both halves sometime, I wouldn't mind listening." He smiled. "Also, I might be able to do something about your PDA, if you don't mind me tinkering with it."

"Not mind? Ril, if you can get that thrice-blasted piece of dung to work, you'd be my hero!" Belatedly, she realized she was swearing in front of Amsarath, who was still watching them both intently. "...erk," she groaned, looking down at the juvenile. "Amsarath, let's both pretend you never heard me say that, okay?"

"Okay, Ni-Ni." Shi giggled. "But we're even for the cake mix thing then, okay?"

"Alright, you little rascal." She chuckled. "Ril, I-"

"Amsarath, are you leaving the door open?" came Malchossi's voice. "Hatchling, it's getting too cold out for- oh." Shi stopped when shi came to the door. "I'm sorry, Niosh, I didn't know you had company."

"Neither did I until he got here!" She grinned at the absurdity of this whole situation. "Malchossi, this is Doril Syhassi. He's a friend I made when I first came onworld. Ril, this is Malchossi, someone I used to work with at the bakery who was good enough to give me a place to stay when I lost my apartment."

"Lost your apartment?" His hood folded in what seemed to be an expression of shock. "What happened? I- er. I'm being rude, sorry." He lowered his head towards Malchossi in greeting. "It's nice to meet you and your youngling. Please, call me Ril."

"And it's good to meet another friend of Niosh's." Malchossi smiled. "Come in, Ril, please."

He did so, and Malchossi sent Amsarath off to play with hir sibling so that the adults could talk. "Drinks?" shi asked.

Niosh declined, while Ril opted for plain water. As shi left to get glasses, the Kryyjh leaned forward, leaning his elbows against his tail. "So. If you don't mind me asking... what happened?"

She found herself spilling out the entire goings-on of the last couple of months, thankful for another ear to bark into. Ril's expression seemed to vary between pained understanding and bewilderment- until she got to the incident with Garush, at which point she was startled when he briefly flashed his fangs. "HE TRIED TO-" he began, before remembering there were young ears in the apartment and immediately toning down his voice. "He tried to rape you?!" he half-whispered.

"If you want to call a stone a stone." She sighed, while Malchossi rubbed her shoulders. "Trust me," shi told Ril, "everyone there wanted to take turns stomping him into femalehood. But we didn't have any evidence to bring a complaint, and it's not like we could afford to raise any noise over it."

"I can understand that. Though I've got half a mind to go back to that bakery and put him in about three dozen separate loaves of bread."

"I can't imagine any decent being who works there lifting a finger to stop you." Malchossi chuckled. "To be honest, none of us can stand to look at him and we resent having to work anywhere near him."

"Mmh." Ril leaned back, folding his hands in front of him. "If any of you are looking to get away from there, I could ask around my workplace, see if anyone has any leads."

"That would make you my personal hero." Malchossi grinned, and Niosh couldn't help but chuckle. "Ril likes to be a hero," she told hir. "Speaking of... let me go get my PDA before I forget all about your offer." She excused herself for a moment to fish her defunct assistant out from the closet. "Here you go," she said, handing it over to the male. "I've done everything but perform ritual prayer to get it to work again, so if you can get it back up and running, I may just owe you my soul."

"What's the going market rate on Tirarnik souls? This could be profitable." He closed one pupil in a wink as Niosh and Malchossi laughed. "I've worked on a pretty wide range of electronics, so this shouldn't be too much trouble. If nothing else, I can at least recover all the data."

"I could easily settle for that. Thanks, Ril."

It was only a little later when the Kryyjh male excused himself to head home, saying something about an early workday due to a company needing their fleet given a full overhaul and promising to have her PDA- or at least its datacore- back to her within the next couple of days. After he left, Malchossi turned to her with a playful grin. "Please tell me he has siblings," shi begged.

"Huh? Yeah, he does, a sister and a brother. Why?"

"Because if either of them is as nice as him, I absolutely want to date one of them. Or both!"

Niosh laugh. "But, what, Ril isn't your type?"

"He absolutely is. But he's your type, too. And I think I'd like to see you and him get together."

"Me and Ril? He and I barely know each other!"

"So get to know him! Believe me, Niosh, I don't at all mind you being here, but it is simply not healthy for you to spend all your free time in this place! You should be going out once in a while, getting males to fawn over you."

"And what males are going to fawn over an underemployed homeless female?"

"You mean besides Ril? Did you forget he made an effort to find out what had happened to you? That isn't something someone does just for a casual acquaintance. Not to mention how he reacted to hearing what Garush did." Shi shivered. "Ril is one person I wouldn't want to get that angry at me, let me tell you that."

"You aren't joking." Niosh lowered her ears and lightly tugged at her tail. "I don't know. He really is someone I'd like to get to know better, but... what can I even offer him?"

"Your company? Your personality? He seems to be pretty content with that."

"I wish I knew why. Do you even know who he actually is?"

"I thought his name sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it."

"Do you remember who the first Kryyjh to come to RA space was? You just spoke to one of her offspring."

The saurian gaped at her. "...are you serious?"

"Completely. That male could probably land any heterosexual, herpetophiliac female on the planet if he wanted to. How could I possibly rate someone like him?"

"Maybe he just likes you, Niosh. I think that's entirely allowed. After all, I like you too!" Shi prodded the lupenoid's shoulder. "And if someone like him thinks you're worth all that effort... well, hey, maybe you are. Hmm?"

Niosh let out a half-chuckle, half-sigh, and shook her head. "You're going to give me an overinflated ego at this rate."

"I'd like to see you show any ego." Shi rested hir snout on her shoulder and gently nuzzled her neck. "I adore you. My hatchlings adore you. Di'shaeo loved having you visit. Keshtril wants to get you in bed- and having been there with you myself, I don't blame him. Ril cares about you. That's six different people who think you are exceptional." Shi tapped her nose with a clawtip. "Now, maybe, just maybe, we see something worthwhile under all this fur and insecurity?"

Niosh let out a deep sigh and wrapped her arms around the reptile's neck. "I appreciate it," she said quietly. "It's just hard for me to feel that way. It's not an idea that saw a lot of reinforcement back home."

"Too bad. They were just blind to it, it has to be so." Shi licked her nose affectionately. "Because I don't think all of us are just imagining it."

It was a rather tender moment they spent there on Malchossi's couch- until the reptiloid's stomach growled loudly. "Gwah!" shi exclaimed, glaring back at her abdomen. "Shut up back there!"

Niosh giggled, patting hir neck. "It's my turn to make dinner, isn't it? And I bet the little ones are getting hungry as well. Let me get on that."

Rain pattered down on Ril's umbrella as he rang Malchossi's doorbell. It was only a few seconds' wait before the Gez'byran opened the door. "Hello, Ril," shi said with a smile. "Nice to see you again. Come in out of the rain, please."

He did so, putting the umbrella on a mat next to the door before making his way inside. "Niosh, Ril is here," Malchossi called; after a few moments, Niosh came out from the nearby hallway. "Hey, Ril," she said, giving him a friendly smile and ear-tilt. "What brings you back so soon?"

"I'm actually on lunch break, so I have to rush a little, but I wanted to give you back your PDA." He grinned as he handed it to her; she opened it and powered it up, and he could tell by her expression that she was taken aback. "You'd think this thing was brand-new!" she exclaimed. "The screen doesn't even flicker anymore! Seriously, Ril, are you a wizard or something?"

He laughed at that. "Not hardly, or I'd conjure this rain away. I studied up on that model and found that it has a history of burning out data relays- and certain enough, yours had three that were completely cooked. The fact that it lasted as long as it did for you is actually sort of surprising- their usual lifespan was four years, but apparently you kept it going for seven." He smiled. "I also took the liberty of performing data reallocation on the storage crystal so it'll run faster. I promise I didn't peek at anything."

She nodded, giving him a warm smile. "I figured you wouldn't. You're not that type."

"If for no other reason than my parents would have my hide if I did things like that." He grinned. "So now that you've got a working PDA again, I can schedule another date with you."

"Oh, so that's why you did it, huh?" A playful growl left her muzzle, and her ears quirked to the sides to show she was joking. "Hah. Okay, Ril. Though I'm not really available until the 23rd or so of Month 6- I'm going to be working overtime to save up due to a two-week furlough from work. They're going to be doing some major overhauling at the warehouse and it'll be too dangerous for forklifts."

"Month 6?" He leaned back, rubbing his chin. "Actually... okay, I know this is going to sound incredibly forward, but how would you like to take a trip with me?"

Her head tilted a little to the side in curiosity. "A trip?"

"Sort of a round trip across the outskirts of RA space. Stopping by Eligaria-Seven to see my parents, then to Earth for some sightseeing, and a stopoff at Hansheru 12-II for an all-day lecture session. That last bit would probably be boring, I admit, but still. The whole trip will fit inside of a week, so you'd be back in plenty of time to return to work."

"This... this is a little unexpected." She glanced away for a moment, and he saw Malchossi give her a supportive look. "I can handle things just fine if you take a vacation, Niosh," shi said, gently patting her arm. "The hatchlings are in school during the day, we don't have to worry about mandatory overtime at the bakery at this time of year, and Di'shaeo, Falmazu and Keshtril have volunteered to help if something comes up." Shi smiled at the lupenoid, and Ril had the distinct feeling that shi was prodding her into accepting. Still, Niosh seemed indecisive. "I'll tell you what," he said. "Plenty of time to decide, yet. Give me a call when you do, alright?"

"Y... yeah. I will, Ril. Thanks a lot. I really owe you for this." To his surprise, she pulled him into a tight embrace, and he returned it gently. "Glad to help," he told her. "If it starts giving you trouble again, let me know."

"I will. Thanks." With that, he said his goodbyes and headed back out into the rain.

It was less than an hour later when he got a quick text message from Niosh.

"Ril-

Okay, I'm up for a trip. Let me know when to be ready.

- Niosh"