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"You're different today, Calina." Banich spoke softly as she and the old teacher worked their way along the creek bed.

"I was different yesterday too." Calina flicked her ears back and glanced at her mentor with a sideways tilt to her head before wading further down the stream.

The water was starting to become cold enough that she could feel a faint ache in her toes. They were protesting the amount of time they had been submerged as she and Banich worked their way in deeper to where a log had been tied off so it remained half submerged. She'd been told that it was done two years ago to coax a small plant into growing along the cracked edges of the wood, but the herb was devilishly hard to find. It blended in well and she had spent the last three days trying to figure out how Banich unerringly found it while she had to rumble, lick and crush the stuff to be sure she found what she needed instead of rotting wood. It wasn't an easy job and her paws were starting to ache more then was comfortable.

"True, and you haven't told me why." Banich leaned forward and her thin fingers gave a twist before pulling off something that looked like the herb. "This is what you're looking for. Look around the base. Bark and rotting wood will be barely clinging and are easy to remove, the Oakhorn will be dug in deep to gather nutrients from the dying tree."

"Ah, that's how you do it." Calina grinned and started to feel her way along the bottom of the log so she could get at the harder to reach herbs. "I'm not exactly comfortable with it, okay?"

"Mmm.. I suppose not." Banich moved away to the other half the log where the water was a bit more shallow.

Calina forced herself not to glare at the old squirrel. She had been making comments like that the entire week and she had managed to evade answering them. It wasn't something that she was comfortable with, at least not yet. She was still struggling with her own feelings on the matter and they weren't easy to sort out. They all revolved around Kitch and strange turn that their friendship was taking. He didn't press or force her, she didn't say or do anything that startled her. He seemed to be eternally patient and if she hadn't seen his lingering looks she might have believed that he was willing to wait forever. They had kissed again after that night, but he didn't press her or force her. He allowed her to be the aggressor and never tried to hold her lips when she pulled back.

But those kisses had been like a spark to dry tinder. They had flared heat through her until her blood had run hot and her heart pounded against her chest. The scent of him and of the warm vanilla of his fur made her want to be close to him. It went beyond a simple need to comfort him and let him know that he had done no wrong, she did it for herself. She loved the brush of his whiskers and the tentative touch of his tongue. They were sensations that her old self wouldn't have imagined, but now... Now, she had begun to leave her bed each night with dry cheeks and purposefully ran over his roof with enough weight to ensure he awoke. The quiet trysts in the night had soothed the fears that had gnawed away at her soul.

"Is oakhorn so amusing?" Banich clacked her teeth in amusement. "Or is your smile for the coldness of your feet?"

Calina started and gave a rueful smile at her teacher. The thought of Kitch had drawn a smile to her lips without her even realizing it. "Perhaps it is the company I'm keeping that amuses me."

She grinned over at Banich before moving a bit deeper into the creek. The cold water rushed up so that it trailed nearly to mid leg, but she wanted to try and pick over the places that she had moved past before she had been taught the crick. Oakhorn only grew at the end of summer and nearer to fall. It would be carefully distilled for the winter and given to kits to ensure that they stayed healthy despite the limited food stuffs. It was important to gather as much of it as they could so they had time to work with it before it grew too cold to be working outside constantly. Her fingers followed beneath the oak while her numbed toes felt their way across the creek bed.

She wasn't sure if she had formed a hole beneath the water with her earlier walking or if she had simply missed it. But one minute she was pulling some of the herb free and the next her foot encountered nothing as she placed her weight down. With a yelp of surprise Calina lost her footing and fell down with a splash into the frigid creek. The sharp cold water rushed past her and soaked her makeshift top even as she cursed to herself and clung to the bag that she'd halfway filled. At least the herbs would take no harm the soaking. A sharp laugh made her flatten her ears as she dragged herself back up to her foot paws and spat out another curse.

"I'm sorry, girl, but you should have seen your expression." Banich grinned and leaned over to give Calina's herb bag a tug. "Here give that to me."

"Why the b-blast is this so c-cold? The l-last creek wasn't." Calina chattered and let her teacher take the bag from her.

"This creek comes off the mountains and it is already snowing there. It doesn't have enough time to grow warm as it rushes to the river." Banich waved a paw towards the distance. "Go on, Calina, get out of the water and go warm up. The baths will warm you quickly."

Calina grimaced slightly. "I'll just go aloft and get some sun."

"Your already shivering, if you are modest, do not worry. No one will be about in the baths at this time of day." Banich snorted and gave her a look. No one understood her distaste of the public baths. "Go on now, I don't want to nurse you through sickness if you continue trying to help."

"Very well.." Calina puffed a sigh and hugged herself tighter as she continued to shiver. "I will come back later to help you."

"Later I will be working in the distillery. You are done for the day. Enjoy some time to relax." The older squirrel gave a flashing grin as Calina blinked a few times and shrugged.

~ ~ * ~ ~

The baths were set up at one end of the village and away from the trees. Calina had been told that a creek used to run through the area, but it had been diverted ages ago to fill a series of seven baths. They were lined with smoothed pieces of rock and constantly refilled themselves from the creek that tried to follow its old course. A house had been built over them so that the heat was contained, but there was no such thing as a private bathing room. It was one of the things that she was shy about. She didn't want to be naked in public. She knew it amused most of the village, but she still had some standards she wanted to keep from her former life.

If it hadn't been for the fact that she was shivering worse then normal by the time she reached the village she would have just sprawled out and tried to dry off normally. The days were growing colder, though, and the water had been frigid. . She would have dried off easily as a human, but as a squirrel, her fur retained water far too easily. A good soaking could take a while to dry off if she weren't careful. So she had been forced to poke her head into one of the buildings to find it empty save for the steam that curled up in the air from two separate baths. The warmth had never felt so good and stripping from her wet clothes had only been momentarily uncomfortable when the result was sinking into warm, nearly hot, water. She nearly melted as the warmth soaked into her muscles and chased away the bite of chill that had been left behind.

Calina stretched out so that her tail flicked beneath the water. The long hairs brushed back and forth as they looked as bushy there as they did above the water when they were dry. She wiggled down and settled on a low cut bench so only her chin was above the water and sighed softly. She had avoided the bathes as much as possible before this. She normally picked out a stream with a pool that was shallow and sun warmed. The few times she'd come here it had been full of laughing adults and splashing kits all in a comfortable state of nudity. Alone, she could revel in the simple feel of muscles relaxing and the tension of her neck starting to ease.

It allowed her mind to roll through the mystery that was Kitch. As before, her lips twitched in a slightly smile at the thought of him. It wasn't just that he was her friend, though there was that, it was something more. She had begun to depend on his quiet advice and their late night talks. She still had insomnia some nights, but mostly she stayed awake as a chance to be away from the hustle and bustle of the people here and see Kitch. They touched, and it wasn't just as friends, but they also spoke as they always had. He had a calmness about him that infected her even when she was upset or trying to puzzle through something. Away from him, she would often become embarrassed or worried at what she was doing. It was so outside the realm of what she was used to that it left her with more questions then answers.

She had toyed with stepping away from him and allowing herself time to sort out her feelings, but... The night would come and she would be alone in her room and her thoughts. The sense of loneliness sometimes rolled her under until she was out the door before she was thinking. During the day... During the day he was friendly, helpful, kind and happy to see her, but he never spoke of their nights together. He seemed to know that it made her uncomfortable and if that hurt his feelings he never showed it. But at night he would be at their spot in the tree already waiting for her, or follow up after her shortly after she awoken. She sometimes wondered if he slept at all or if he just waited for her signal.

"Ah, you did come here." A twist of chilly breeze and a familiar voice clued her in that she wasn't alone as she half drowsed in the heat. She opened one eye and Kitch gave a self conscious grin before stepping into the room and closing the door. "Banich told me you had gotten dunked in the Ice Creek and that you might be stubborn."

"I'm not that foolish." She shifted and moved her arms down to cover herself, grateful the waters ripples hid much of her. "I just.. don't like coming here with others here."

"Ah.." The red male gave a slight smile and tilted his head politely to one side. "We are not so body shy as the people you came from. I am sorry that I have intruded upon you, I only wished to be sure you were warm as it will be very cold tonight. There will be a frost. The end of summer Hatcha has said."

"A frost?" She twitched her ears back. The nights had been growing cooler and their night time meetings had been growing shorter because of it. Having fur helped, but the sharp bite to the wind made it harder to stay out for long.

"Yes, it would be good to stay indoors tonight.." Kitch's words trailed off a trace wistfully as he turned towards the door and cast a smile at her. "Perhaps tomorrow night it will not be so cold."

Calina's chest felt tight. Tomorrow night would be just as cold. Winter would set in and their nightly talks would become a think of the past. She could go to his room, but it felt intrusive to go to his quarters in the middle of the night. His paw pushed the door open and she felt a tickling of cold wind sweep in before she ducked her head down towards the water.

"Wait. Don't go." The words were out before she could stop herself. She didn't try to recall them, but kept her eyes focused on her paws beneath the water. "It.. would be nice to have company now if we cannot meet tonight."

The door closed and she kept her eyes down at the water as she heard Kitch's paws scuff against the ground. He moved away from the door, but he didn't approach the tub she was lying in. He had always behaved as a gentleman to her and this time was no exception. He moved to the part of the room that was reserved for the towels before turning to face her again. She looked up and saw a slightly pained expression on his face as he dropped down into a crouch a few feet away from the tub. The moment he realized she was watching his features smoothed and the red male's face became the calm mask she normally saw, but she had seen what had come before it. She narrowed her eyes and he turned his head away from her.

"My... will power is not so great, Calina." The words were almost a whisper. "Perhaps when you are dried and clothed we might speak?"

"Kitch.." She frowned a bit. "You called me Calina, not Mark."

Her friend kept his eyes averted as a smile teased the edges of his muzzle. "Because I do not think you are thinking of yourself as Marrck anymore. Am I wrong?"

"No.. I suppose you're right. I don't." Calina frowned slightly. She was still the same person, but different in so many ways. How did he always seem to know her so well?

Kitch didn't respond to her, instead he stiffened a little and seemed to hug himself before shaking his head. He didn't turn around, but he was very carefully keeping his attention on the door way instead of her. Even his ears were flicked back. She studied his features and swallowed slightly before she turned in the water so that she was kneeling on the seat she had been sitting on. The water splashed against her chin as she watched his eyes flick to her before determinedly turning away. Careful not to look at her naked in the tub. The realization that he was obviously hiding behind that reserve and how... gentlemanly he had been made her heart make a leap. Without thinking she licked her lips and pushed herself up from the water so that it ran in rivulets along her flattened fur and down past her naked thighs.

"Don't go.." Calina spoke in a whisper, it was almost too hard to speak past the pounding of her own heart. "I don't want you to leave."

Kitch's head jerked up and he stared up at her as she stood and fought the instinctive urge to cover her nudity with her hands. His eyes widened and his nostrils flared as his gaze traveled over her nude body. She could see him nearly shaking as the need filled his eyes. It was a need that he had carefully kept hidden from her, she suddenly understood. He had already viewed what had happened as having forced her, he had tried to remain just her friend and keep that part of him hidden. The look in his eyes was entirely male, no matter what the species and she, and her body, responded to it. She walked forward one step at a time as the water ran along her thighs and curled down her legs. She could feel it beading along her breasts and her nipples, which tightened to the cooler air of the room.

"I should go..." Kitch's voice was deeper and strained as she approached him. "I.. do not have endless self control, Calina."

"I don't want your control." She whispered as she came close enough to run her fingers along his cheeks. She was shaking, she couldn't seem to stop that, but so was he. "You've been so.. so careful of me. You don't have to be, Kitch.."

Her tentative touch along his cheeks made Kitch groan out and he leaned forward so that his dry head pressed against his damp belly. His hands moved to wrap around her hips as she leaned over him and let her fingers run along the bare curve of his back. His arms tightened around her waist and squeezed tightly so that his muzzle was pressed against the curve of her belly. He drew in a deep breath as the wetness damped his own fur down and turned it a darker brown rather than red. She could see his eyes closed as he rubbed his cheek up and down like a cat scent marking her.

"Would you have me, Calina?" His voice was a rough whisper. "Would you allow me to become what I have wanted to be?"

"Yes.." The answer was drawn from her lips before she thought of it. It had been built up of a hundred soft kisses shared between them and the story that they had shared. "Oh yes.."

Kitch trembled as he moved his head and his soft pink tongue flicked out to lick along the curve of her belly. He gathered the wetness there as she moved her fingers up to run behind his ears. The touch of his tongue should have been muted by her fur, but it felt hot and awakened fire inside of her. He licked softly at first, a gentle caress that worked to dry her fur as well as to trace around her navel. His breath was hotter then the air around them and it made her swallow as she realized that she responded to it. Her body wanted him so badly it was almost painful. She fought the urge to push him back and rub herself against him, to feel all of that soft muscled fur brushing her nude form. The urge to do it was so strong she made a soft noise in her throat as his tongue danced lower.

"Lie down.." Kitch pulled back, his breathing was coming faster as he looked up at her. "Lie down and let me love you."

Calina flushed hotly as she caught his meaning and glanced at the door, "Someone will come in.." The thought of someone walking into the baths made her take a step back from her passion.

Kitch grinned and ran his fingers along her outer thighs. "I think that Banich will ensure they don't. She was quite... eager to have me check on you."

"I'll bet she was.." Calina almost growled, but amusement ran over her annoyance. Her teacher had made several comments over the last week that had made her wonder just how much the old squirrel knew.

Kitch's paws flexed against her hips and gave a light pull. She swallowed and kept her ears back so he couldn't see the flush that ran along them. She let him pull her down to her knees before he glanced around and let out a low growl to himself. The sound was odd coming from his normally modulated tones, and he moved to one side to snagged the entire stack of towels that were piled up near the tub. He tumbled them over so they spilled over the floor in a soft pile instead of a neat stack. He tilted his head back with a slightly abashed grin before slipping his hands along her hips again and kissing along the curve of her neck.

His touch was tentative, as if ready to let go if she made any indication that she didn't want this. The touches trailed along her collar bone and then moved lower before he gave a gentle press forward. She knew what he wanted. The thoughts of people walking in on them slipped away as his mouth lowered until the softness of his nose brushed the tops of her breasts. His breath was so warm and his whiskers trailed over her nipples so they hardened a bit more. A soft gasp escaped her and she arched backwards before letting him push her down onto the hastily thrown towels. They cushioned her body as he moved his kisses to trail over her breast and brushed right along one hardened nub. She glanced down at him, so she was able to watch before the soft pink tongue flicked out to lick around it.

Calina swallowed roughly as her stomach tightened at the caress. Everything felt sensitive, eager, and on edge as he licked again with a feather light touch before passing away from it. He kissed along the pale white-grey of her damp belly and licked as he moved down. Kitch rolled his eyes up to watch her as her mouth went dry as she realized where he was going. His kisses lowered and briefly teased along her navel before his hands brushed along her outer thighs. She moved her hands down to grip the towel and trembled as he gently coaxed her legs open to reveal the soft vulnerable folds.

She nearly called out for him to stop, but his lips dropped down so that he kissed her in the most intimate way possible. The start of her protest turned into a soft cry as she leaned her head back and let her legs part open a touch more. She'd never touched herself, never explored, part of her had been horrified at her change and the rest had no idea what to do with it. Kitch did. He kissed her as he kissed her muzzle, a tentative brush of lips and tongue that trailed along the outer mound before licking inwards in a swift wet caress. She squirmed under his touch and her heart beat thundered in her ears as the tongue tip danced deeper and coaxed her into arching her hips upwards.

The heat of his breath spilled over her mound and his whiskers tickled along her inner thighs as he began to lick in slow firm strokes. Each time he pushed forward he started to spread her wider with the tip of his tongue before backing away again. Calina lifted her head to find him still watching her as he kissed and rolled his tongue up to catch against a spot that made her entire body squirm and wriggle against the towels. She moved her hands down to grip his shoulders, but not to pry him away. It was a pleasure she'd never experienced. It was sharper and more intense with his teasing tongue curling and caressing upwards.

She knew she was growing slick. She could feel it and his eager tongue seemed to seek it out with fluttering touches as his hands left her thighs. She leaned backwards and let out a softer cry when the tongue started to spread her open. She felt the slickened heat invading her passage hesitantly and then with more confidence as she didn't protest. Her untrained muscles quivered and reacted to him until she could feel the pressure and need starting to build. Her hips rocked against him subtly, trying to time it in time with his tongue. He rolled his tongue upwards before slowly pulling it away with a final caress and his muzzle lifted up. Her body quivered beneath him as she panted and blinked her eyes open to see him staring up at her. His eyes weren't calm or collected as he stared up at her. They were naked with his need. His need for her.

She felt a touch of fear at the desire she saw there, but it was soothed away with the rightness of feeling him so close to her. She wanted more. She wanted him. It was a desire they had built up together as they began to accept one another and she brushed her fingers up to cup his cheeks. The sound of something hitting the ground barely registered as she pulled lightly along his cheeks and drew him upwards. She was shaking and her breathing was too fast as he responded by slipping over her. His breath was just as fast as her own as he licked his damp muzzle and gave an abashed ducking of his head. His lips caught against inner curve of her paw and kissed it lightly as she felt his hips pressing between her legs. Something warm, hard and eager rested against her belly.

"I am.. too eager." Kitch murmured and kissed her paw again. "If you tell me no, I will leave. If you want me to stop I will.."

"Don't leave.." Calina gave a tremulous smile as she realized she meant it. Her eyes flickered low enough to see the tapered red shaft resting against her belly.

Kitch lifted his muzzle away from her paw and pressed forward so that his lips captured her own. They pressed together and she tasted her own sweetness there as he kissed her slowly and gave his hips a gentle roll. The warm sweet scent of her own body mingled with the male-musk-vanilla scent she had come to know as his. It was comforting and arousing as she kissed him back. His chest pressed against her naked breasts and she felt his heart beating faster as he drew his hips backwards and trailed himself down slowly. The slickened tip brushed against her damp mound so her breath caught and his hands moved to cup the swell of her hips and gave a gentle squeeze.

He moved slowly, a roll of his hips that pressed the tip forward and she pulled away from the kiss to let out a sharp cry. He pushed into her, spread her and filled her. The girth stretched her and caressed nerves she had never had or felt. His own cry echoed hers as his red hips dropped down against her grey in a slow measured thrust. She moved one of her legs to wrap around him as he dropped all the way down and hilted himself inside of her. His breathing came in short pants as her inner muscles caressed and squeezed around him. Her friend, her Kitch, dropped his head and caught her lips again and claimed them with a kiss before drawing backwards. The muscles along his hips shifted against her leg as he drew himself from her almost all the way out before pushing back in.

Calina wrapped her arms around his dark red body and held him as he started to move in slow deliberate thrusts. It was painful, at first. Her body stretched and strained in ways it had never managed, but the slight pain was washed away in pleasure. He moved gently to help her adjust to him, despite the fact she felt his muscles taut with the effort it cost him not to move as fast as he wanted. She twined her tongue with him as he slowly picked up the pace and she felt the slick heat of him within her pushing ever deeper. He pushed all the way to the point that his furred loins were flush with her own before pulling back again.

She finally drew her lips away to muffle her cries against his red furred shoulder. She burrowed her muzzle there and lightly set her teeth against him to stifle the noises that spilled from her throat. She moved with him, her hips rolled upwards to help him drive entirely inside of her time and again. His breath was hot against her neck as his paws slipped upwards to massage against her sides and then trailed back to her hips. The thrusts started to grow faster and shorter as she was rocked against the towels and she flattened her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't think, she only felt the rub and pull within her as her muscles squeezed and caressed around him.

Some part of her she had clung to, hidden, buried within her was released. She didn't want that part anymore, she didn't want the darkness and doubt that tainted her heart and soul. Not when she felt the tender warmth of Kitch above and inside of her. Not when the pleasure grew and grew like a great wave that rolled through her body. Her fingers flexed against his back as Calina rolled her hips up and let out a muffled cry. Her release coming in a rush that made the world spin dizzily and her body throb in time with her beating hard. Kitch's hands squeezed against her hips as he moved his hips in a short burst designed to keep her on that edge. His breathing came out ragged and short as he drove himself within her and pulled his head back.

"CALINA!" Kitch's voice cracked as his hips finally drove forward and settled against her loins.

She felt the tapered length of her throbbing within her passage before a thick rich spill of heat flowed into her. She let out a soft cry as she squeezed his lower back while his tail twitched as if in time with his release. For the span of a heart beat the world ceased to exist outside of each other and all she knew was the rightness that welled up inside of her to finally have him, know him, feel him.

Ever so slowly Kitch came down and he let out a trembling sigh as he lowered his head to rest against her shoulder and his body relaxed against her. He didn't withdraw, but he shifted his weight so he wasn't pressing down so hard against her. She could feel his breathing against the curve of her neck as he moved one of his paws up to stroke along her cheek. He rubbed lightly as she leaned her head so that it pressed over his own. It was so hard to think, and even harder to consider moving, not when he was so warm above her and within her.

"Calina.." He sighed out and he lifted his head to look at her with slightly unfocused eyes. "You.. wanted this.." It wasn't a question, not really. Almost as if he sought for confirmation.

"I think if I hadn't you'd have heard about it." She managed a weak smile and leaned her head to one side so that she brushed her nose against his cheek. "Though.. next time perhaps not on the floor in the baths.."

"Next time?" Kitch's lips parted in a broad smile at those words. "Next time will be better. I have been.." He ducked his head in embarrassment. "thinking of this for a long time. I was over eager."

"It was wonderful, more then I could have ever imagined.." She murmured and felt a touch of wonderment that she meant those words. Her body was relaxed and limp beneath the male, well loved and the tension that she had carried since coming to this world started to ease.

"Ahh.. then I must do better to show you that I can be more." Kitch's lips turned up in a playful smile before he leaned in to kiss her neck. "And we shall both need a bath, and I would be honored if my lady would allow me to care for her."

"Kitch.. you just finished.." She laughed as his whiskers tickled her neck and then gasped as his tongue ran in a hot wet line down towards her collar bone.

"I have waited for you for so long, I would be ashamed to be finished." Kitch nipped lightly against her neck and then smoothed his tongue downwards. "I have only begun."

And he proceeded to do just that, until there was no doubt left in her mind that he had only been beginning. She relaxed into his embrace, his touch, and the warm scent of vanilla and musk as he roused her need and quenched it again.