Manda Liet
This story was created for Avanti's Yiff and a Song competition, so that's why the song lyrics are bound into the story. It was originally supposed to be 1500 words, but I got carried away ^_^
Ya Ya, 18 years of age, blah blah etc. etc.
_________________________________________
My breast
is filled with sighing
for your loveliness,
and I suffer grievously.
Manda Liet,
Manda Liet,
my sweetheart
comes not
Your eyes shine
like sunlight,
like the splendor of lightning
in the night.
Manda Liet, etc.
May God grant, may the Gods permit
the plan I have in mind:
to undo the bonds
of her virginity
Manda Liet, etc.
- Carmina Burana
_________________________________________
How little did I know. How much have I learned. When it came to me it came with a blinding flash, tearing me away from all that I knew and all that I had believed in. I called myself rational, logical, sane, now I cherish the insanity and irrationality of love. It is a time of joy for me, the springtime of my life, the start of my love.
She was a vixen who turned men's hearts to gladder pursuits, a siren of the land whose gaze held the promise of greater things.
I watch her from a distance, knowing that my eyes are but two of the many who stare with barely concealed love, trying to appear inconspicuous. She has been my Venus, my Aphrodite, my Galatea. She inspires great feats from me, yet I hardly know her.
As I watch her, my eyes take in every curve, every tilt of her hips as she strides in my direction. I sit at a café table, a book in my lap, a cup of coffee in my paws, smiling vaguely with the look of one entranced. The book lies forgotten, my mind cluttered with the sound of her footsteps coming towards me.
She passes me, heading towards the lunch counter in the back of the cafe. As she passes, I wish to cry out, Ah, Manda Liet, fairest of vixens, your eyes shine like sunshine, like the splendor of lightning in the night. Yet she cannot hear my thought.
She returns with a cup of coffee in her hand, sniffing its sweet aroma through the lid. Then disaster strikes; a stray leg, cast into the aisle, catches her foot, and her delicate beauty seems to glide through the air as it comes down. The coffee splatters all over, drenching the soft gray fur.
I rush forward, napkins in paw, heedless of all except her fragile body crumpled on the ground. My paws slide underneath her head where it had made contact with the floor, and I cradle her in my arms. Ah, Manda Liet, my breast is filled with sighing for your loveliness and I suffer grievously as you lie there, eyes rolled up into your head.
As I sit there, others slowly make their way to me. Still she does not breath, and as I feel the back of her head a sticky wetness transfers itself to my fingers. Manda Liet, you are so pale, so empty, and so devoid of life. My lips find hers and I breath for her, my lungs emptying into hers. From our synergy comes a wracking cough as her body spasms.
She opens her eyes, looking at me. I stare, wondering at her beauty. "What just happened" she moans, eyes still rolled a little back into her head. "You fell, and I had to perform CPR," I reply, her head still in my lap. "You mean, I stopped breathing?" Her disbelief is evident.
"You're damn right you did," a voice from next to me calls. I look up to see the owner of the cafe standing there, a white apron across his faded jeans and T-shirt. "You weren't breathing. That guy just saved your life," he finished, reaching down to shake my paw.
"What's your name?" she asks, as her hand moves to the back of her head, feeling the now cooling blood, marveling at it. My reply is trembling, nervousness from this first encounter filling me with dread. "Rince, short for Rincewind."
She gets up, unsteady at first, then quickly regaining her balance. Her dress, a marvel in lace and silk, is stained and soaking wet, clinging to her. My eyes naturally slide across her body, then quickly back to her face, her beautiful face, her best asset. She looks at me, moving her own gaze across my body.
"Well, Rince, it seems like I probably owe you something," she came out with finally, after what had seemed like an eternity. "It's not every day that someone saves my life." By now, the crowd around us has started to disperse, envy clear in the eyes of many.
"How about dinner Friday?" I ask, sure she will laugh in my face. I am not prepared for the twinkle in her eye, the smile that comes over her face. "Dinner would be fine," she says, brushing away a stray strand of hair that had fallen across her eyes.
* * *
And now it was two weeks later. Dinner had come and went, along with it a promise for dinner the following night, followed by a movie two days after, dinner the night after that, and then a second movie. The following Saturday had been a date at the local hang-out scene, where I was eyed enviously by all the other furs.
Tonight... ah, tonight was our finest night. The school was holding a ball, a real old-fashioned ball. I take her out to it, her in a beautiful dress she'd owned for years, me in a rented Tuxedo, trying to understand why I was holding hands and dancing with the most beautiful vixen in the entire town.
She moves like a ghost, gliding over the floor, seemingly without effort. I try to keep up, but my feet feel like lead compared to her graceful movements. I fight to keep my balance, our bodies waltzing over the hard gym floor, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, breath in, breath out, breath in, her face mere inches from mine.
She giggles as she watches the intense look of concentration on my face. I ask her what's so funny, and she tells me. I can't help but grin back, realizing what I must look like. The musicians up on the stage heft their instruments and start the familiar tune of the amazing waltz from The Merry Widow. The romantic music washes over us, and our lips come together. She tastes like sweet cherry, her muzzle opening for me.
The kiss continues for what seems like eternity for me. In reality, maybe thirty seconds have passed. There is no Hollywood-like crowd of onlookers; the moment has come and passed without witnesses. The other students are wrapped up in their own worlds, embraced in the arms of their partners.
I look into her face. I see my emotions mirrored in her eyes. There is love, there is compassion, there is an intense feel of companionship. My lips glisten with her saliva, the feel of her tongue still lingers on my own, having met briefly during the kiss. Words escape me. "Wow," I say, breathless, panting slightly after the long kiss. "That was... that was -"
"Shhhh..." she says, placing a finger on my lips, silencing me. Her lips find mine and she proceeds to render me speechless yet again, her body warm against mine, her arms circled around me, our lips joined in almost godly passion.
The embrace ends sooner then I would like. We whirl across the dance floor, her paws in mine, our fingers entwined. My eyes are captured by hers so much so that I don't notice the large hawk standing in my path. We go down in a tangle of arms and legs, my paws losing contact with Mandy's (as I now call her).
"What the FUCK do you think you're doing," the hawk snarls at me, rubbing the back of his head where it had made contact with the tile floor. His wings snap out as menacingly as is possible while remaining on the floor. I let myself fall backwards, scrambling to my feet. "It was a mistake, man, just a mistake," I babble as the hawk slowly gets to his feet, advancing towards me, menace in his eyes.
"Stop it!" comes the cry from my left. It is Mandy. She steps in front of me, an angel in white. Her paws reach backwards to find mine, and she turns her head to smile at me. "He meant no harm," she pleads, trying to talk sense in to the hawk.
He will have none of it. Intoxicated with power, perhaps, or some other substance, he ignores her, shoving her aside in his haste to reach me. My hands go out, steadying my vixen so that she does not fall. His fist reaches my muzzle, slamming it to the side. I fall, the screams of my love ringing in my ears, my head smacking with glacial slowness it seems into the floor.
A sharp pain rings out from my skull. I taste iron in my mouth, my fangs nipping the underside of my lip. I look up. His foot is drawn back. Prepared this time, Mandy out of the way, my paws whip out as his foot comes forward. Fingers grab hold of his ankle, stop it, then twist. A surprised look on his beak, the hawk goes down, his wingtips hitting the ground first, then his body. He joins me on the floor, panting slightly, moaning in pain.
I get up. Mandy's arms around me, I slowly wander away from the scene, pressing through the silent circle of bystanders as the music plays. We do not speak, her arms around me, my legs shivering and weak with adrenaline. As we near the exit, her right paw comes up to wipe a short streak of blood off of my headfur. She looks at it, thoughtful.
"I'm sorry I couldn't help you more, my love." She is sorrowful, feeling as if she should have done more. I shake my head, explain to her that I love her no matter what she did, and her motion to sacrifice herself for me is more than I could ever dream of from one like her. A concerned look comes over her face. "I don't like it when you get in one of those moods," she says, radiating her concern. "You're a wonderful person. Stop devaluing yourself."
Her words fall on slightly-deafened ears, ears that are slowly unthawing. Self-worth is returning, albeit with great trepidation. Yet my moods still come, the frown still rebelling against the carefree smile, victorious at times, casting the downfallen expression into prison. Her paws are on my shoulders now, massaging the tenseness from the fight, dispelling my thoughts.
"Mandy, I don't know what I'd do without you," I sigh, moaning a little as her talented hands work on my shoulders. The sight of an angel of a vixen with her hands around a battered leopard sends stares in our direction as we arrive finally at the exit, stepping out into the brisk night air.
We make our way to my car, a battered 1986 blue Toyota Camry. No automatic door locks for me, a simple key lets us into the car. I slide the keys into the ignition, Mandy slides into the seat next to me, and I twist my wrist, the starter loud in the still night air.
We drive, silence on both our parts. She is the first to speak. "Rince..." She stops, eyes facing the dashboard, silent, working out a thought in her head. Rince, we've been going out for two weeks now." My ears prick up, my eyes, even though focused on the road, flicker over to watch her. "You're an amazing guy. You're romantic, you're kind, and you're compassionate." She stops, smiling at me, her smile lancing straight through my brain and into my heart, pulsating rapidly in my chest. "I think," and her words break up again. "I think we should take it further."
My heart rises. My soul separates from the corporeal form and gallops into the stratosphere, past the moon, past the planets, and, traveling at light-speed, shoots past the edge of the solar system. A wild smile breaks out on my lips. "God, I've never said it before, but I love you Mandy," comes my reply, my brain surfing on the wave of elation that pulses through my brain.
"And I you, mon amor." Her response connects the final synapse in my brain. I am now complete. Nothing in my life has prepared me for this moment, this unabashed declaration of love on the part of Aphrodite herself. My hands grip the steering wheel as I unconsciously make my way to my empty house, babbling endearments to my vixen, my.... love, now truly requited.
The car stops. We are in my driveway. I open my door, then scurry around to her side of the car, opening hers for her, a true gentleman now. Her arm circles mine, and we walk towards the house, her fingers caressing the soft fur on the back of my paw.
I fumble with the key, sliding it into the lock. The tumblers snick open and the door swings wide, giving us entry. Her arm around mine, we step forward. Ah, Manda Liet, may God grant, may the Gods permit, the plan I have in mind: to undo the bonds of your virginity.
The door closes behind us, and all is well.