The White Anubis C. 1
WARNING: The following contains plot. In fact, this first chapter doesn't even have sex! Anyway, this is my attempt at something a little more serious. Feel free to PIM me with comments, suggestions, yiff requests...., spam, or out of boredom. Critiques and suggestions welcome. Enjoy.
Chapter 1
His hands rub against her back. He loves her.
Her muscles are pleasured beneath his paws, his love and experience making themselves known in his work.
He loves her.
And he doesn't even know her name.
He finishes his session with the other and smiles at the finished product of his work. For work it truly is. Other than being an albino jackal, he is a masseuse. If you want to get fancy and dress it up he's a massage therapist. It's a not quite accurate term for his profession. Though he is known for his skills in therapy as well, by the few who know him.
"Better now?" Cream asks his patient. A strange name for a strange fur.
The other nods her head and yawns sleepily into her head brace, "Thanks. Was that really only an hour?" She leans up, covering herself modestly.
"A little over," he laughs, "but it seemed like you needed it." The rabbit girl nods again. She finds herself returning his smile for a bit before sneaking off behind the changing screen. "By the way," he asks from across the room, "we rushed into this so quickly that I forgot to ask your name."
He takes out a little white notebook and turns to an empty page. "Sara," comes the tentative reply. Cream jots down the name and a couple of things about her to make the entry unique.
Sara finishes changing quickly. She walks up to him, payment in hand. "Do you think you'll be coming back?" he meets her eyes. She jumps. Everyone jumps when they first notice his eyes. He has neither iris nor pupil: just pure white to match his fur. He is not blind. The jackal just sees things a little differently. " Hm?"
Sara comes back to herself, shaking her head. "Yes, of course!" She grins. The bunny leans up and pecks him on the cheek. He blushes. "Same time next week?" From her curtness she is obviously in a hurry. Perhaps late for a class or, more likely at this hour, a date.
He looks over at his schedule while she heads for the door, "That'll work, I think. Come on by then."
"Kk," she says and runs out, waving a hand as she leaves. Cream chuckles to himself. The girl was full to the brim with the excitement of being young when she left. Then again, he thinks, he is young himself. At 26 he would seem ancient to her 16 years, but he still has a good two thirds of his life to go. He loved her, like he loved all his patients, showing them the pleasure and fulfillment that can come from a nice backrub, legrub, neckrub or... almost... whatever. In the past he has always been very careful to never cross the line between masseuse and lover. He's crossed it to therapist and friend time and again, but never has he gone that final step. Not to mention that if he ever got paid it would be prostitution, which would mean losing his license and the ability to massage, the one thing he loved besides music. Years of training and hard effort had led to this career and he wouldn't give it up for a thing, even though, more often than not, his clients were either elderly or out of shape.
Cream washes up in the next room, preparing for his usual 6:30 appointment when he hears the front door slam. "Be there in a minute," he yells across the apartment. The jackal washes up, humming to himself.
"Get your white Egyptian butt out here already!" It was Selene, his neighbor, fellow masseuse and a close friend. Well, as close of a friend as a lesbian cat can be. "Or did you forget that you're supposed to have the night off," the voice gets closer, "to go clubbing..." It's suspiciously quiet when Cream dries his hands. He walks into the front room to find that none are there. The brown tabby is nowhere to be found. "With us?"
"!?" He jumps suddenly, turning around with a fake scowl on his face.
Selene carefully removes her claws from his rear, giggling maliciously. Her violet eyes stare up into his, "You didn't forget, did you?" She walks uncomfortably close to him; her slim form not a finger's width away. "Did you?"
"Yes," he responds plainly.
The female's hair rises on end, "Again? How many times is that? It's been three months since your birthday and you're getting your goddamn present!" Her ears flatten against her head in a manner that is more cute than menacing.
"Selene. You know clients come first. One of these nights I'll remember to not schedule anyone and..."
"You," she interrupts, "aren't getting out of it this time. Last time you skipped out on us I did the liberty of altering your books to make you think you had an appointment tonight. You don't," she grabs him by the hand, "and you're coming with me." She hauls him to the door by force, "and having a nice time." Before he knows it he's kicked out of his own apartment and headed to the elevator down, "whether you like it or not." She puts his jacket on his shoulders as she prods him along.
'She is pushy,' he thinks. He considers it on the elevator ride down. Her pushiness is the reason why he likes her so much. She stands on her own feet and isn't afraid to let her opinion be heard while he, on the other hand, stands in the corner until he's drawn out. "You could've at least let me put on my street clothes," he chides.
"Pffft," she dismisses, "no." The elevator doors open and they step through the lobby into the oncoming torrent of rain. "A plain shirt and plain jeans versus your current attire of full Egyptian regalia minus the necklace thing." Cream tries to respond to defend himself, but is cut off. "I wonder which wins? At least this way you look interesting." They stand close to the building, sheltering themselves. Selene appears to be waiting for someone. In all likelihood her current partner. Cream tries to recall what this one looks like, but can't remember if he's ever met her. The feline goes through girlfriends as often as she changes her outfit.
"If that's what you want to call it, I only do this for the clients." He fingers the silver snake bracelet on his arm. Thick, black makeup lines his eyes and a pair of shorts provides little comfort against the cold.
She sticks out her tongue at him. "You know you do it because you think it makes you look pretty." The jackal blushes very red at this. His mouth opens as if to reply, but nothing comes out. She looks him up and down in the dim light. "It's too bad you're right."
A sleek black sports car rounds the corner to stop in front of them. The passenger window rolls down. "Hey there pretty lady, need a ride?" a sultry female voice says from within.
"Jade..." Selene says, rolling her eyes to hide her blush. "I let you take the car around the block, now I'm driving."
Cream can almost hear the other quiver her lower lip and make big puppy dog eyes to gain sympathy. It doesn't work and Jade ends up getting out of the car. She shakes her hair in the rain. She certainly has a lot of it, Cream thinks. Thin and black it falls perfectly straight all the way to her waist. She's a Siamese cat and definitely the type to turn heads by the look of her. She looks right at him, and her eyes seem to pierce right through him. "Hi, boy."
"Be nice, Jade, he's a good friend of mine. I told you this night was for him and you still wanted to come along."
"Hmph," responds the Siamese. "I know." She then takes the passenger seat while Cream sits himself in the back. Selene revs the engine a few times, then takes off down the street.
The rain lightens up as they make their way downtown. Selene eventually finds her way from speeding around seemingly still cars to just barely making the speed limit. "So," she asks Cream, "Where we going?"
"Don't ask me," he says, "I haven't been out like this since... well... a really long time." Truth be told he hasn't been out since Selene and a girlfriend from a long time ago had gotten engaged, but he wasn't about to open up that wound. "You know all the places, pick a..." he thinks for a second, trying for the right words. The right words failing him, "quiet one," he says.
Selene rolls her eyes again. She knew she'd have to pick, she had a surprise waiting for him at a certain place, but she plays the part of annoyed. "Idiot... I know a good enough one. It's a little mundane, but for you it'll be fine." She speeds up when an opening comes up and cars fly by once more.
* * *
They arrive at a parking lot and Selene guides the other two to a dimly lit dance café. Soft jazz music greets their ears when they enter. Selene and Jade immediately head to the dancing half of the café and start slowly swaying, seductively centered in each other's soft arms. Cream suddenly feels tongue tied for a reason he can't identify. He sits at a lonely table for two, sipping Irish coffee.
The jackal swings leisurely with the music, his long tail brushing the floor in time with the sax. He's familiar with the piece. Cream has tried playing it himself, but his saxophone is too worn out to hit the notes quite right. He's sat many a long night playing and relaxing on his balcony, away from the world. A stray memory comes along and he is soon lost in his own world while time passes him by. He enjoys his thoughts, drowned in the music as he is.
"Hey, stranger."
Cream shakes himself out of his daze. 'Now why does that voice sound so familiar?' he thinks. The music has changed since he spaced out. The furs around him have more energy and the music is bouncy. His coffee must have been refilled at least three times. A wolf sits across from him, "enjoying yourself?"
"Sylph!" She's an old client of his and quite possibly his favorite. "It's so good to see you." It's been two years but he can still remember the feel of her fur. Her tan-grey hide is very short and soothing to the touch. He stands up, motions for her to do the same and glomps her as hard as he can. She doesn't react initially, but soon returns the hug with equal fervor. Her warm, soft body presses onto his. "It really has been too long," he says, breathing deeply.
Slowly, Sylph releases the hug and Cream looks down into her violet eyes. She has a very seductive red dress on, hugging her curves, but bringing all the attention back up to her eyes. He returns her gaze, but a quick thought snaps the jackal back to himself. "How's married life?" he says, stepping out of intimate distance.
The wolf lowers her head, "I don't want to talk about it." Anyone could tell that there's something important that she's hiding. He's hurt, but he concedes to himself that time changes people and he can't expect to share the same closeness with her as he once did.
"Well, you look gorgeous anyway," he says. Sylph's cheeks pink and her ears perk up. "Here to meet someone special?" She seems hesitant to answer his question. There is a stop in the music and Cream catches Jade motioning him over out of the corner of his eye. He doesn't want to abandon Sylph, but given that she's likely waiting for her husband Gerard, it'd be more impolite to interrupt that. "Nevermind." He digs through his wallet and hands her his card, "I'm being summoned, but keep in touch, neh?" He tries to meet her eyes again, but she looks down. "Please," he says, "don't just disappear on me again."
He leaves her standing there, looking after him. When he reaches Jade, she meets his eyes and he is greeted with a long, sloppy kiss from her. He pulls back, "Ew. What was that for?"
Jade looks at him innocently, "Selene told me to," she lies. Cream blinks. It sounds like something Selene'd do, just to keep him on his toes. "It's an apology for making such a curt first impression."
"O... k," he replies.
"Now come on." She turns to leave, grabbing his paw, "Selene's waiting for us backstage. She's got some kind of surprise for you." He follows, not knowing what else to do.
* * *
Sylph watches. She sees him kiss the cat girl. She sees him disappear into a back room, holding her hand. It was stupid of her to come, stupid of her to think he'd care. Of course he'd have someone else.
Of course she'd be left alone again.
She walks out and hails a cab. Once inside the tan wolf puts her head in her hands and cries.