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The panther bolted upright and hit his head into the roof. Ow. "Velta, what are you doing there?! Where's Chero-san?"

She giggled. "He's taking a bath. Where are you, handsome? You missed all the fun."

Did Dante dare ask? "Wait, how did he even get your number?!"

There was scuffling on the other end. "Oh! I don't know, but I'm glad he did! We had SO much fun last night. Ooooh! I can hardly wait to see you! Mmmph! Hold it, he wants to speak to you. Bye chataka!" [1]

Chero's salutation came across like butter and velvet. He'd never sounded so male.

"Where are you?"

Dante grumbled the location. "The car's busted," he said.

"Oh really? Are you hurt?" Velta was listening in and she giggled.

"No, I'm fine. Why didn't you pick up your phone?"

There was a sound of surprise. There was scuffling in the background and a squeak. "Oh! Silly me, I must have sat on it. There, now it's on again. My apologies, were you trying to reach me long?"

Dante grumbled.

"Well, as long as you're not hurt, that's what's important. You had a fun night I hope?"

Was Velta crooning? "Chero, what's she doing there?"

There was a male sound of satisfaction and more giggling on her end. "I was tired of reading by midnight and called her over. You know I don't like to be alone, you know me well enough. Velta's was very good company last night."

Dante dug his claws into the steering wheel. "Did you mount her?"

There was a male chuckle on the other end. Dante couldn't recall Chero ever sounding like that. "Don't you already know, bolli-fortune teller? Can't you tell?"

"DID YOU MOUNT HER OR NOT?!"

"I was only teasing, Dante-san." The voice sounded no less masculine and with no hint of apology. "You left her number on the nightstand and I thought I should apologize properly for being so rude. Really, she's quite lovely. Oh yes, she's very lovely. We enjoyed a movie and a few other things together."

"So no, right? Just give me a straight answer for once!"

Velta took back the phone with a giddy sound. "So what if he did, eh? What's it to you?"

The panther stammered. Then he growled and kept his voice steady. "Cause I wanna know if he makes you scream like I do. Is he hung or does he have a little one, eh? Could he do you like me? Come on, I want to hear all the details."

She giggled and Dante calmed down. "You could have called me you know. You're a lazy cat."

"I did, and you picked up just now. So what's the problem?"

"You know what I meant!"

"What you meant is that you were waiting for me to call. Lazy princess, lazy princess! Why didn't you call?"

"I just got busy! It's midterms!"

"So I was busy too," he said coolly. "How about tonight after the kids get their candy, you come get yours, mmm? Or are you addicted to the taste of moshva now?"

She purred over the phone. He could almost smell vulpine pheromones through the speaker. When he hung up, he was so pleased with his victory he didn't even mind the police walking toward him with dirty looks and a notice of an abandoned car in the lot.

***

The police were gruff, rough and altogether hard in their reprimands for all the garbage. When they asked what happened, they didn't believe Dante, even when they saw the rust holes. He kicked the edge a bit to knock off more rust and accidentally created a new hole with his toe claw. He was mortified, but the police then let him off with only a warning and called him a tow-truck.

A couple of hours later, starving and carrying the receipt from the mechanic, Dante made heavy steps to the room. He knocked several times until he heard giggling inside.

He waited. And waited. And waited. And -

"OPEN UP! I NEED THE LATRINE!"

The door opened in a flash. Chero looked deeply satisfied.

Dante hopped in, closed the door and relieved himself with aching relief.

When he came out, he was startled to see Velta in the Jacuzzi by the window with the sun lighting her up. Her breasts were completely exposed with black tips just pushing up and toward him like magnets. She had cucumbers over her eyes and her paws were soaking in pink liquids.

The mouse came up to him and looked amused. His whiskers were especially broad today. "Come in, come in, have brunch. She needs a few more minutes before the product sets then she'll join us."

Dante sat down with his jaw slack. "You gobbled up flowers last night when I wasn't looking, didn't you?"

"Of course not, I highly disapprove of recreational drugs." Chero sipped again.

The panther leaned in with his paws begging. "What happened to you yesterday? You...you're freaking me out."

"I met Barty's mother. Didn't you recognize her?" Chero nibbled on a scone.

Dante shook his head. He hadn't heard the conversation from his station in the café, only saw its aftermath.

"Meeting her made me realize I've been very selfish. She had nothing and lost everything, but she took what was left and gave herself strength again. I will not pity myself or suffer anyone else to do the same, not even you. Oh please eat! I see you glancing down at the croissants, please! They're too much for me to finish on my own."

Dante grudgingly snatched the baked goods and devoured them. "Please understand this is for us to have a healthy enjoyment and not to grow tired of one another. I like you, very much."

"That's not healthy." Dante pointed a scone at him. "Chero, you feel bad. You're grieving. That's not pity, that's normal. And it's normal to talk about what you feel with people you care about. Didn't you do that with your friends back then?"

Chero stiffened and Dante bared teeth at him. "If you tell me that you didn't even talk to them, you're even more messed up than I realized."

"We didn't have to," the mouse hissed.

"Boys?"

The two males became aware they were being watched. They settled back in their seats and withdrew their claws. Chero finished his tea and his scone wiping his mouth daintily while Dante looked twice to make sure what he was seeing was real.

Velta had been completely groomed, washed, polished and styled from the tips of her ears down to her toes and claws. Her tail had doubled in volume and she had been trimmed to show off her curves, eyelashes, lips and breasts. Her body was wrapped in a tightly hugging orange dress that draped under her shoulders and down to her forearms, meeting open spaces to show off her hips and draw attention to the length of her legs. New earrings, bracelets, and ornaments graced her that sparkled with radiant colors and shapes of flowers at every turn.

"Like it?" Even her voice seemed to have been polished and cleaned.

"You look fabulous darling. Dante, what do you think? Doesn't she look like a dream?"

Dante nodded dumbly. She wasn't a co-ed anymore, she was a goddess.

She sat with them and took coffee with a languid coyness. She loved the attention.

"Chero-san is amazing with grooming tools. You should have seen the way he handled the curling iron and the brush. He did my whole body in under an hour, just like this."

She ran her fingers over her chest and down her stomach to the very tip of her... Dante sucked in a drop of saliva and shut his mouth.

"The dress was too loose at the hips, but we fixed that." Chero smiled over cup rim without looking up."After the movie we had no energy left to sleep."

When Velta kissed Chero on the cheek, Dante was certain no mounting had happened. The way Chero ran his claws under her chin in return was disturbing. "You'll look lovely tonight," he said in a male voice.

She had bedroom eyes and an aura of romance that Dante needed no special vision to see. It was nauseating.

Chero broke the spell and she was startled by the loss of touch. She was embarrassed when she smiled at Dante with her curls hiding her cheek.

"So what are our festival plans tonight? You always know where the best entertainments are. We have to show off Velta's new costume where everyone can see it. She's too beautiful to be kept in private tonight."

Velta watched him with a deep need and the panther knew he'd been cornered. Somehow, he knew this was a trap.

***

Velta had to leave for class, so Chero arranged for a limousine to take her. She would be a spectacle on campus today with live poppy and chrysanthemums along her arms and her head. She kissed Chero several times before being carried off with royal pomp and delight.

"So the whole night? You watched a movie together and gave her a make-over? The whole night?"

Chero whipped his tail with a strut of delight. He was proud of his success.

Dante slept until mid-afternoon while Chero busied himself. When Dante woke, the room had a stack of boxes and their evening meal.

"Get washed fortune teller, you'll have to help me get into my costume."

Dante blinked. "You're dressing up?"

"Of course!" Chero moved with grace and cheer through the room arranging boxes in order. "Velta had her costume delivered a few hours ago and yours is here. Simple, masculine, but I think you'll enjoy it."

"Wait, you picked a costume for me? That's creepy."

"Nonsense!" Chero handed him two boxes. "What had you prepared for tonight otherwise?"

Dante hated how Chero read his answer instantly and grinned with understanding. Prick.

"Yours will take no time, I know how you like to move freely. Now go wash! And take your time! I want it to be a surprise."

Dante went into the bath grudgingly. A hot shower would calm his restlessness. The mechanic had called only hours earlier, laughing, to tell him that his car was totaled. He had been lucky to have driven it as long as he had without the wheels falling off. Where was he going to get another car? He couldn't afford a new one, he had nothing.

He growled to himself. In his vest pocket was a temptation he hated to have to resist.

Why was he resisting so much? Hadn't Fate thrown him help when he needed it the most? Wasn't this exactly how fortune worked?

But it hadn't been from just any source. Accepting the boon would make him obligated to the giver. No, he wouldn't do it. He would find another way.

As he pushed open the door, there was resistance on the other side.

"I'm not ready yet!" Chero called.

Dante groaned. "Just give me a few minutes! Please? No peeking!"

Dante dried off and grumbled. His friends would call him ungrateful and his girlfriends would say he was being stubborn. What did they know? They weren't a male in his position. What did they know?

When the door opened, the room was dark. The panther chuckled. "No scary monster masks, I fight back."

Chero giggled and Dante pinpointed him. He was hard to see but for a bit of white around the head. "Ready, Dante-san?"

"Surprise me."

The lights came on.

Dante opened his eyes wide and his jaw came unhinged. If his bowels had been full, he would have released them on the spot.

Black sequins dripped down Chero's body like rain. The streams rolled with a long, body-hugging swath over the hips. Two pairs of full, female breasts were decorated with elegant pumpkins on the upper pair and embroidered spider webs on the bottom pair like the arms and neck covers [2]. Webs and spiders ran down the legs to sparkling black slippers.

Gravity defying, a little black pointed-hat rested on top of a fresh, coiffed head. The black satin matched the elbow length gloves and the luster of the fur and the polish of the cartouche, now on a black collar. Only the lightest touch of make-up graced her white cheeks and around the eyes.

"How do I look?" she asked.

***

[1] term of endearment from a female to a male with masculine overtones. Origin, Eastern Territories, probably Badger or Mole.

[2] Females often have 2 or more pairs of breasts during their ovulation and child rearing life stages depending on the species. These flatten or are diminished at other periods, making many species difficult to distinguish between male and female.