FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Where are we going?" Otto muttered.

Jack glanced over his shoulder at Otto and Shakira as they lay on the floor of the rear compartment, keeping well away from the windows.

"Hope you don't mind, but we figured it might not be a good idea for you to head straight home, given the shape you're in." Jack eased his shot-up hearse along a gravel road that appeared to be in the middle of nowhere. "There's a safe house Machiko let us stay in after our apartment was pumped full of bullets. She had Winslow staying here until the Feds took him into custody, and now she's not planning to use it as a safe house anymore."

"She said we could run over to it when we need some time away from all the cameras in our house." Taura smiled. "We thought you could clean up and take some time to pull yourselves together."

"We didn't give Machiko any details," Jack added. "I think it'd be a good idea for you to tell her what happened because it sounds a lot like the situation with Ramirez and Hiro--but it has to be your decision. We'll respect your privacy, and so will Machiko."

"Thanks." Shakira, now dressed in a pair of her cargo shorts and a loose-fitting T-shirt, turned over on her back and crossed her arms tightly over her chest. "I'm definitely too freaked-out to head straight home and try to pretend nothing's going on."

"Yeah," Otto said. "It'll take us a while to regain our equilibrium, and if we show up at the house acting like something's going on, people watching the feeds will get suspicious." He shook his head. "Shakira didn't consent to this, and that's bad enough for her. I don't want her getting into any actual trouble over it."

"Thanks, kid." Shakira managed a shaky and brief smile.

He smiled back and then nodded at the plastic bag that now held the sheets from the motel-room bed. "I hope the place has a laundry room or some way to get rid of those. Last thing we need is someone finding them and identifying me from the jizz stains."

Taura nodded. "We've got a washer and dryer in the loft. And last time we were there, I remember seeing a burning barrel behind the warehouse. If you'd rather just get rid of the sheets quickly, that would do it."

"Sounds good to me. I don't want to take any chances."

"Okay." Jack stopped in front of a gate in a high, corrugated fence. "We're almost there."

"I'll open the gate." Taura got out, but stopped when the gate appeared to slide open on its own.

Corona poked her head out of the widening gap and grinned. "Hi! Been waiting for you."

Jack smiled, reached out the window, and waved. Taura jogged over to Corona and gave her a kiss. Jack moved the car into the warehouse while Corona closed and locked the gate. Taura pointed at a set of stairs nearby.

"The loft is up there. It's got a shower, so you can clean up right away if you want."

"Good. I need to do that before I even think about anything else." Shakira followed them up the stairs.

Jack stepped aside to let the others enter and took a slow look around. The loft was much the same as he remembered it, but the furniture was newer and everything else was a lot less dusty. A long, charcoal couch sat near one wall, with a matching armchair on either end. Over to the left was a platform bed where there once had been nothing but a mattress on the floor.

"Looks good. I like what they've done with the place."

"Machiko said Ralphie and Rocky gave it a little fixing-up recently." Corona walked over to the counter at the far end of the room. "We should spend some time here soon. Get away from the cameras and Dale the Dickhead for a day or two."

Jack laughed. "Yeah, that'd be great. We can just say something vague about being on a mission and then disappear for a while."

"It'll be nice, alright." Taura nodded. "As long as we can keep news vans and paparazzi from following us."

"Yeah." Corona picked up a small, plastic-wrapped box on the counter and brought it over to Shakira. "While you were on the way here, I stopped by a store and bought you a pregnancy test kit. Just in case, y'know?"

Shakira sucked in a deep breath and her hands began shaking. "Oh, shit, you're right!" She glanced at Otto and turned away quickly. "I...oh, hell. Turns out he wasn't kidding about the volume he's able to produce. There's no way I'm not pregnant!"

Otto's face turned pale. "Oh, shit! I hope not! I mean, for the obvious reasons, but also, I'm not ready to be a dad."

Shakira ran a hand through her hair and her breathing turned ragged again. She glanced around frantically and Jack nodded at the door behind her.

"Bathroom's over there."

She nodded, tried to slow her breathing, and rushed through the door.

"Have a seat, Otto. I'll see if there's anything still in the fridge." Corona walked over to the kitchen area.

Otto sank onto the nearest chair, propped his chin on his hand, and bounced his right knee rapidly.

Taura glanced out one of the windows, picked up the bag, and headed for the stairs. "The burning barrel is still here. I'll take care of the sheets."

"Thanks." Otto rubbed his hands over his face and then up over the bald portions of his head on either side of his hair spikes.

Corona returned with a bottle of water. "Here. I'll brew some coffee if you'd like."

"Thank you." He opened the bottle, leaned back, and took a few slow breaths before sipping.

The bathroom door opened far enough for Shakira to poke her head out. "It's negative!" She released a long sigh of relief, took her glasses off and wiped her eye with the back of her hand. She closed the door, and a moment later the shower started up.

"Yes!" Otto slumped over and laughed almost hysterically. "Totally dodged a bullet!"

#

"So, uh, what now?" Otto sat on the opposite end of the couch from Shakira and brushed his limp, wet hair away from his face.

"I don't know," Shakira mumbled. She sat with her feet tucked under her and sipped a cup of coffee. "After the sheer horror of what I woke up to, followed by the relief of finding out I'm not pregnant, I'm just kind of...'numb' isn't the right word, exactly. I feel like my mind is just sort of floating around."

"Take your time." Corona dug her phone out of her pocket, shrugged out of her vest, and tossed it onto the bed before walking over to the couch and plopping down in the center. "Whenever you're ready, though, I'd suggest you talk to Machiko or Lola about this. Maybe you know something that'll help Lola track down the guy who did it."

Otto shook his head. "I'd really prefer not to risk Shakira landing in jail."

"Remember, the same thing was done to Lola and Hiro, and Hiro's underage, too." Corona shrugged. "So are Taura and I, though with us it's_completely_ voluntary." She grinned. "Physically, I'm probably somewhere around fourteen or fifteen, I guess. Taura's only a couple years older. And chronologically, I'm less than a year old."

Jack shifted in the armchair beside Otto. "That's another thing I hope never gets brought up in front of the cameras in the house. Anyway, it's just something for you to consider later on. For now, though, you probably should focus on getting over what happened today. Like Corrie said, take your time. Try to relax and stay calm."

Shakira nodded and took another sip.

"Whenever we do go home," Otto said, "we shouldn't show up together. One of us should go first, and the other a few hours later, just to be safe."

"Good idea." Shakira sighed and raked her fingers through her dreadlocks. "You first. If anybody asks, you can say you were just out somewhere, having a few hours to yourself."

"That's good. Nice and simple, not easy to let a wrong detail slip out. I'll do it. And when you come home, if you're not ready to have all those cameras on you, maybe you can say something about the pain meds knocking you loopy, and head straight up to your room. That should give you a little more time to get into the right headspace."

"Works for me." She took another sip of her coffee and everyone lapsed back into silence. It stretched out for nearly two minutes before Corona spoke.

"So, uh, what would you have done if the test had turned out positive?"

"Oh,shit! I don't even want to think about that!"

Otto nodded frantically. "Aside from the fact that it probably would've landed Shakira in prison, like I said before, I'm not ready to have a kid."

"What would you have named it, though?" Corona chuckled. "If it had happened?"

Shakira shuddered and chugged the rest of her coffee. Then she laughed. "I suddenly imagined Otto naming them after gamertags he saw somewhere." She shook her head. "There's no way in hell I'd ever introduce my kid to anyone as 'Edonkulation' or 'Daddyfatsack' or whatever else."

Otto burst into laughter. Shakira tried to hold in her own laugh, but couldn't.

Once she finally caught her breath, she said, "I'd be tempted to name the kid after a video game character from my childhood. Or something else gaming-related. Like, '1Up,' but that sounds more like something you'd name your pet, now that I think about it."

Otto snickered. "How about some of the usernames we find in the show's forums?"

She shook her head and waved her hand. "Oh, no. I'm not naming my kid, 'Captain Potatofucker.'"

Jack slumped over the arm of his chair and howled with laughter. Otto and Shakira also burst out laughing.

"That's the sound I wanted to hear." Corona giggled. "It's good to see your spirits lifting."

"I'm definitely feeling a little closer to normal." Shakira shrugged. "I guess at this point, it's better than crying or freaking out. I'll recover faster, this way."

"That's what I was hoping for." Corona glanced at her watch. "Think I should scout the area again and make sure there aren't any paparazzi gathering nearby."

"I'm pretty sure nobody followed us from the house." Jack shrugged. "On the other hand, my car isn't exactly inconspicuous." He stood and stretched. "I'll see how Taura's doing with the sheets. Hey, if you two want to get some fresh air before you head home, the roof has an awesome view, and a wall around the edge to keep prying eyes out."

Shakira smiled. "That sounds nice, actually." She stood and walked over to the counter to pour a fresh cup of coffee.

Otto watched her and grinned as his gaze caressed every curve. He stood and adjusted the front of his pants before his body could react in its usual way. He poured himself a cup and both of them headed for the balcony. On the left was a ladder that looked like it had been installed recently. He climbed up to the roof, took a quick look around, and smiled.

"Hey, there's a resin table and some chairs here. Nice!"

She followed him up and grinned at the furniture. They sat, sipped their coffee, and took in the view.

"This place really is pretty isolated," she said. "I know the city's all around us, but from here, it doesn't look like it. Looks like we're on the outer edge."

"Yeah. It's really quiet here. Peaceful. And the sky is wide open. I bet the sunsets are gorgeous."

"I bet they are." Shakira smiled and nodded slowly.

"Not nearly as beautiful as you, though." He turned to her and their eyes met.

"Otto..." She trailed off, shook her head, and turned back to the skyline.

"Sorry. I don't want to make you uncomfortable. I just--well, you know how I feel about you."

"You've made it abundantly clear over the past few months, yeah." A very slight smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Well, you finally got what you wanted."

"Yeah, but like I said in the motel, this isn't the way I wanted it to happen. If it happened at all, I wanted it to be because you honestly loved me." He held his hand up. "I know, dream on. But still."

"Hold on." She reached out and took his hand, then her eyes widened and her lips parted, as if her own actions startled her. "I don't know if it's a residual effect of whatever was done to us, but..." She sighed. "Hell, maybe there's a reason I keep hanging around you that I never wanted to admit to myself. Whenever someone asks me why, I can never think of a good answer. You're a fun guy to hang out with, but, well, we seem to have become almost inseparable over the last few months. I dunno, maybe there's something going on in my head that I keep trying not to think about."

Otto stared at her and his pulse revved up. Is this going where I hope it's going?

"Assuming that wasn't an idea the fucker just planted in my mind." She forced out a quick, nervous laugh and let go of his hand.

At least that's a step in the right direction."So, what happens now?"

"I don't know. Don't have even the slightest idea."

"Well, I guess we can just try to go on like things are normal, and see what happens. Keep doing what we've always done, and if anything comes together..."

"Eh. I have no idea what else to do, so, sure. I guess. Take it day by day."

Otto smiled. "Sounds like a plan."

#

Taura glanced over her shoulder at the sound of Jack's boots crunching over the gravel. They smiled at each other as he joined her a few feet from the burning barrel.

"Almost finished." She shook her head slowly. "I can only imagine how scary that must've been for them. Just not having any idea what was happening at first, and being unable to control their own bodies."

"Yeah. Otto said he was terrified that he'd be forced to hurt her, or worse." Jack shuddered. "I don't want to think about what that must've felt like."

"Yeah. That's why I hope they talk to Lola about this. Whoever that bastard is, he has to be stopped before he does cause someone to harm someone else." She picked up the wooden broom handle she'd found near the barrel, and stoked the fire. "You could make an argument that this wasn't as bad as it could've been, since all he did was make them have sex. But we have no idea how long it'll be before that's not enough of a thrill for him."

"Exactly. Even if he's not interested in using this mind-control thing for assassinations or robbing banks or whatever, he's still basically_raping_ people. I'd rather not think about what he might do if he goes even farther off the rails."

"We can hear you guys," Shakira called from the rooftop. "Thanks for even more nightmare fuel."

"Aw, shit." Jack winced. "Uh, sorry, guys."

"Eh, I'll get over it, eventually. Just...it's bad enough, wondering what the son of a bitch is doing with the clothes he stole from us. Like, probably masturbating into my panties, or some goddamned thing."

"Or worse," Otto added, "masturbating into _my_underpants."

"Ewwwwahahahahaha!" Shakira finally regained her composure and sighed. "That's fuckin' nasty."

Otto laughed.

Taura chuckled and turned to watch the flames. "Well, this is almost done. Good thing we didn't try to wash them. Probably would've taken several runs through the washer." She shook her head and widened her eyes. "Too much semen."

"Eww. Now that I think about it, since these were taken from a fleabag motel, there's probably cum from several dozen dudes on them."

"_Not_helping," Shakira muttered.

Taura whapped Jack's shoulder lightly and grinned. "Sorry again. But if it makes you feel any better, I didn't smell anyone else's on the sheets."

"Well, great. I feel slightly less icky now." She snorted. "I still can't believe I didn't get knocked up."

Jack grinned and looked up at the roof. "Hey, kid, better buy some rubbers, just in case."

Shakira burst out laughing. "You guys should see the shit-eating grin he's got on right now."

"I've still got the box I bought the other day. Y'know, the day that guy flashed us."

"Yeah, and then you whipped your own wang out and became even more of an internet celebrity."

"Not my fault that clerk uploaded a screenshot from the security cam. But what the hell, I've got no problem with it. Maybe when I'm legal, I can pose for Playgirl or something."

Silence fell for a few seconds, then Otto laughed.

"You totally just imagined it, didn't you?"

"No!"

"Bullshit." He laughed again, and finally she snickered.

"Might be time for you to head home. I'll catch up with you this evening."

"Okay. It's a date!" Next came the sound of a chair scooting back and footsteps heading for the ladder.

"It's_not_ a--oh, whatever." Shakira snorted and let out a long sigh.

"Guess I'll give Otto a lift home." Jack laughed and stood on tiptoe to give Taura a kiss.

"Okay. Corrie and I will keep Shakira company for a few more hours, then we'll take her home."

A leathery flutter from above made both of them glance upward.

Corona glided in and landed a few feet away. She grinned as she approached them.

"Didn't find anyone nearby. Which is good because I forgot to put my vest back on before I left." She waved a hand over her bare chest and giggled.

"We're in enough trouble without having cops hassling you for showing your tits in public." Jack grinned and kissed her.

"Eh, my tits are too small for anyone to see at a distance."

"They're big enough for us," Taura said with a quick glance at Jack and a nod at Corrie's chest. Moving in unison, both of them leaned forward suddenly and kissed one of her breasts, prompting another giggle from her.

"I might need some alone time before we head home," Otto said, and they turned to find him watching them with a broad grin.

Jack blushed and headed off to the warehouse. Corona and Taura glanced at each other and burst out laughing. Otto followed him Jack the building, and a moment later the hearse's engine started.

Taura glanced into the burning barrel, found mostly ash and embers, and jabbed at them with the broom handle to stamp them out. She took Corrie's hand and they walked back inside.

#

Corona stepped through the door of their house and the first sound that greeted her was a sort of convulsive, echoing roar coming from the living room. She glanced around frantically, but found Jack and Otto on the couch and Kim on one of the armchairs, looking up at her as if nothing had happened. Eddie stood off to the left, aiming his shoulder-mounted camera first at one and then another.

"Uh, I did hear something horrifying, right?" Corona glanced at Taura and Shakira, and both nodded.

"I heard it, too," Taura said as they filed into the living room.

"Yep," Shakira muttered.

"Glad you're finally back." Otto aimed a brilliant smile at Shakira.

She smiled back. "Thanks, kid. It's good to finally be out of the hospital."

"So," Corona said, arching a brow ridge, "what the hell was that sound?"

Jack stood, pointed a thumb over his shoulder, and walked over to greet his girlfriends with a kiss. "That's Dale. He came home from another party a few minutes ago. Couldn't make it to the bathroom upstairs, so he's using the toilet in the closet."

Otto shook his head slowly. "I don't know what the hell he drank at that party, but I think all of it just came back up."

Jack snickered and walked toward the closet door. Taura closed the front door.

Kim chuckled. "Be glad you weren't here when he showed up. He threw the door open, yelled, 'Whassup, motherfuckers,' stubbed his toe on the carpet, and belly-flopped."

Eddie laughed. "I swear I heard his stomach contents starting to surge up his pipe."

Another thunderous puke erupted from the closet, followed by Dale moaning, "Ohhhhhh, gawwwwwd!"

"Wow." Otto glanced at Shakira and raised an eyebrow. "Maybe someone at the party spiked his beer with Ipecac."

She burst into laughter.

Jack grinned and yanked the closet door open, revealing Dale hunched over the toilet at the end of the narrow space, moaning something that sounded like, "Huuuuhhhhhh....huuuuhhhh...huuuuhhhh..."

Corona glanced at Eddie and almost laughed when she found the camera pointed straight at Dale.

Dale finally flushed the toilet and heaved himself back to his feet. His face had turned roughly the color of a canned beet and tears streamed from his eyes. He took a few breaths and groaned, "I'm never doing that again! Never, never, never, never, never, never...n...oh, no! Nooooo--hurrrrrrrk!"

Jack shook his head, turned to Eddie, grinned directly into his camera, and waved a hand into the closet. "Dale Halvorson, ladies and gentlemen!"

Taura laughed, took her coat off, and hung it on the hook inside the closet door, beside Jack's duster.

Otto vacated the couch, placed his laptop on the coffee table, and sat on the floor.

"Aw, thanks!" Corona smiled as she sat and waited for Jack and Taura to join her. He took the middle spot and she giggled and threw her arms around him. "Sandwich time!"

Taura laughed and took the last empty spot, putting Jack between her and Corona. She slipped her arm around Jack and cuddled.

Shakira grinned, stepped into the kitchen, and returned with a glass of water. She took a small orange bottle from her pocket and snapped the lid off.

"Pain meds for ol' Scarface, here." She tossed off a sheepish grin, motioned at her left cheek, and popped one of the pills before settling onto the vacant armchair.

Corona kept her expression neutral. On the way home, Shakira had stopped by a clinic to pick up a supply of birth-control meds custom-designed specifically for her--"Just in case," she'd said. Which would delight Otto to no end if Shakira hadn't asked them not to mention it to him.

"I thought Jack was going to pick you up," Otto said.

"Well, since the hospital isn't that far away, I wanted to walk home." Shakira let out a long sigh and smiled. "Figured the fresh air and exercise would do me some good, and it did."

"Glad you're feeling better." Otto beamed.

"Thanks. So am I."

"So," Kim said to Jack and the girls, "how'd your day go?"

"Pretty good." Corona smiled and nuzzled Jack. "We wrapped up the current job and now we're waiting to see what comes up next. Oh, which reminds me." She dug her phone out of her pocket and tapped the screen. "A conversation we had today started me thinking about learning how to pick locks and stuff like that. It's only a matter of time before we end up in a situation where we'll need to know that."

"Yeah, that would be pretty handy. My mom wouldn't approve of me knowing things like that, but since there's always a chance that a case she's working on could blow back on me, it might be a good idea to start taking lessons."

"Couldn't hurt." Corona opened a document and flipped through page after page, reading it in about fifteen seconds. She took a pair of heavy-duty cuffs from her vest pocket. "Okay, guess I'll give it a try."

"Right here?" Jack raised an eyebrow.

"Sure, why not?" She handed the cuffs over to him.

"Well, okay." He locked them around her wrists. "Alright, go for it."

She grinned and started fiddling with the cuffs.

"Uhhhh." Dale finally staggered out of the closet. He stared at the occupied furniture, took nearly a minute to realize there was nowhere for him to sit, and finally lowered himself to the floor and toppled over. "Fuhuuuhuuuh."

Kim shook her head, walked to the closet, and closed the door. She returned to her chair, sighed, and aimed a pitying look at him.

"I bet you anything, next time one of his buddies throws a party, he'll do the same thing all over again."

"As long as the party isn't here, it's all good." Shakira chuckled and shook her head. "I'll never forget the sight of that guy walking around with no pants."

"I almost had, until now." Otto shook his head and poked at his laptop's screen. He stared at whatever was on it, and snickered.

Shakira shot a sidelong glance at him and sighed. "If people are still drawing pictures of us doin' it, I'd really rather not hear about it."

"Nah, it's just some spam I got." He turned the laptop to show her the subject line.

She rolled her eyes.

"What is it?" Kim leaned forward. "I can't see it from here."

"Someone wants to sell me some stuff that supposedly increases cum volume."

"Not that you need it." Shakira froze for a split second and scrambled to cover her slip-up. "If the claims you're always making are true, I mean."

He grinned. "Well, maybe 'volume' implies this stuff makes it_louder_."

Shakira burst out laughing, then snorted. "What a horrifying image that brings to mind."

"No kidding. Now I'm imagining millions of my sperm cells screaming in terror a split-second before they slam into my Fleshlight's end cap."

She tried to grimace, but couldn't hold it before she laughed again. "I think we could've done without that mental picture."

"Speak for yourself." Kim laughed and wiggled her eyebrows. "So, if your, uh, emissions could talk--or scream, or whatever--what would they say?"

"Probably something like, 'Huh, that's not a cervix.' Then the scream, followed by the splat."

Shakira slumped over the arm of the couch and giggled, then she finally managed to gasp out, "I'm never gonna sleep well again!"

"No kidding," Jack said.

The floor creaked behind Eddie and Corona glanced at him. Eddie turned and flicked his eyes around.

What the hell was that? Corona stared at the empty floor as the creaking continued, as if someone invisible were walking from one end of the living room to the other.

Eddie faced the others as the creaking moved past him and toward the coffee table between the couch and the chairs. A bit of the color had drained from his face and his hands trembled.

"This has happened a few times already, but it's not getting any less creepy."

Shakira lifted her feet off the floor and braced them on the end of the coffee table.

The creaking reached the wall with the one hundred-inch TV mounded on it, and stopped. Kim started to raise her feet up to her chair, but changed her mind abruptly and lowered them back to the floor with a scowl.

"This is the first I've heard of any of this," Jack muttered. He glanced at the girls and both of them shook their heads.

"I didn't know about it," Corona said.

"This has been going on a long time?" Taura glanced around at the others and settled her gaze on Kim.

"Couple days." She shrugged.

Eddie stared at the spot where the sound had stopped, and shivered. "I haven't checked up on the history of this house, but it wasn't built on a cemetery or an ancient burial ground or anything like that, was it?"

"That's the first thing I checked out when this shit started." Kim shook her head. "According to all the records I've been able to find, there was nothing but grass and dirt here before anything was built."

"Oh. Okay. Great."

Everyone fell silent for nearly a full minute. Finally, the only sound in the room was sudden snoring from where Dale had plopped down.

Jack sneered at him, shook his head, and turned back to Corona. "So, how's it coming with the handcuffs?"

She mumbled something that sounded like, "Eheh."

He grinned.

"Oh, just give me a minute. I'm sure I can slip out of these." She frowned and grunted. "Sooner or later."

"It's not that hard," Otto said. "I can do it."

"Uh-huh. Sure." Corona gnashed her teeth and kept struggling with the cuffs.

"I'm serious." Otto stood and held his hands out to Jack. "If you have another pair, slap 'em on."

"I'm not gonna put cuffs on a kid." Jack rolled his eyes.

"Come on, it's not a big deal. If I can't get out of 'em, you can always unlock 'em." Otto stepped closer, nodded at Shakira, and muttered, "C'mon, bud, it's a chance for me to show off."

Shakira flicked an alarmed glance at him, but regained her composure quickly and rolled her eye.

Jack shook his head and sighed. "Okay, fine." He walked to the closet, dug a pair of cuffs from his coat pocket, and returned to Otto. "You sure about this?"

"Yep."

"Okay, then." Jack put the cuffs on him, made sure they were locked on, and put his hands on his hips. "Alright, Houdini, go for it."

Otto smirked, turned around, and fiddled with the cuffs.

Shakira laughed and applauded. "Bravo."

He turned to face Jack again, and handed over the now-open cuffs.

Jack plucked them out of Otto's hand and stared at him. "How'd you do that?"

Otto held up a key.

"Where the hell did you get that?"

"I picked it off you while you were putting the cuffs on me." Otto grinned and gave him the key back.

"Whoa," Eddie said. "I had the camera on him the whole time and I didn't even see it happen."

"That's cheating." Jack chuckled while flicking an unsettled glance at Corrie and Taura.

"Okay, I'll do it again without cheating, then." Otto held his hands out.

Jack sighed, shrugged, and put the cuffs back on.

Otto pulled his duffel bag out from under the coffee table, dug around in it, and pulled out a set of lockpicks. He opened the case, selected one of the picks, and jiggled it around in the left cuff's lock.

It popped open in less than a second.

Everyone gaped at him as he opened the other cuff and handed the set back to Jack.

"Well, goddamn," Jack muttered.

"Nice." Shakira stared at him with a slight smile and shook her head slowly.

Otto placed the lockpick set on the coffee table and scooted it toward Corona. "Those might speed things up a little."

"Uh, thanks." She opened it and stared at the picks.

Jack grinned and sat between her and Taura. He slipped his arm around Taura, leaned back, and said, "I've got all night."

#

"You_sure_ you don't want me to unlock those?" Jack asked her for what Taura swore was the hundredth time.

"No! I'll figure it out." Corona sat on the edge of their bed, stuck her tongue out at him, and continued fiddling with the lockpicks. "Damn it. My talons are too big for these things."

"That how I always feel when I'm replacing parts in a computer." Taura held her hand up and wiggled her two big fingers and thumb.

"Uh-huh," Corona muttered.

Jack grinned and sat beside her. "Know what I'm thinking, Taura?"

"What are you thinking, Jack?" Taura matched his grin and sat on Corona's other side.

"I think we might have to take advantage of Corrie's impaired mobility while it lasts. After all, she's gonna slip out of those cuffs any moment now."

Corona snorted. "Keep laughing, monkey-boy."

"_After_eating dinner with the cuffs on," Taura added. "Trying to get out of them between bites and never making it."

Corrie smirked and extended her middle talon.

"What exactly do you have in mind, Jack?" Taura leaned on Corona's shoulder.

Corrie whapped her with her wing.

"I'm thinking...revenge for all the times she pinned me down and tickled me relentlessly." Jack turned to aim a wicked grin at Corona.

"Wait a minute!" Corona held her hands up--but Jack pounced, unzipping her vest, shoving his hands under it, and tickling her sides. She shrieked and burst out laughing at the same time. She pressed her arms to her sides, pinning Jack's hands there. He kept trying to wiggle his fingers around, but could barely budge.

"Hahaha!" Corona giggled, leaned over, and flicked the tips of her forked tongue across Jack's neck. He laughed and tried to back away, but could only move as far as his trapped arms would let him. Corrie grabbed the front of his shirt, pulled him closer, and flicked her tongue over his neck again.

Taura reached behind Corona and brushed a fingertip lightly down her back, at the point where her wing attached. Corona squealed, whipped her wings out, lifted her arms and tried to twist away. Jack pulled his hands free and tickled Corona's belly while Taura continued working on the base of her wings.

Corona twisted and wriggled around, and finally pushed Jack off the bed. He hit the floor laughing and started to sit up, but Corona dropped on him and shoved her cuffed hands under his shirt. He doubled over and laughed until he couldn't breathe.

Taura descended on her, lifted her tail, and flicked her finger under the point where it joined her lower back.

"Whoa!" Corona twitched and erupted into a fit of giggling.

"Oh, I think I found a good spot to go after." Taura grinned and continued tickling.

Corona lashed her tail, drew in a deep breath, and laughed again. Then suddenly she froze, staring at the still-open door.

Taura turned to the doorway and found Otto, Shakira, and Kim standing there, grinning from ear to ear.

Corona snickered.

Shakira grinned, wiggled her eyebrows, and said, "Y'all are nasty."

"Oh, we haven't even started yet!" Corona giggled, stood long enough to run over and close the door, and pinned Jack to the floor again. She grinned, started to slip her vest off, and stopped. "Oh. The cuffs."

Jack unfastened the button on her shorts and pulled the zipper down. "I could just unlock the cuffs, you know."

"Give me one more shot." Corona held her hands up, clenched her fists, and began pulling.

"Uh, hold on." Jack tried to shove his hand into his pocket, but her thigh was covering it. "Let me get the key."

Corona clenched her teeth and pulled harder.

"Those were built to hold anthros. You'll hurt yourself."

Taura scooted out of Corona's reach. "Come on, move your leg so Jack can get to the key."

Corrie gave it one last wrench. Her muscles rippled and the chain snapped. Her arms shot out to either side and Taura let out a relieved sigh. She'd moved just in time; that could've left a nasty bruise.

"Hah!" Corona grinned and shrugged out of her vest. "Did it! I got out of 'em!"

"That's cheating." Taura sighed and shook her head.

"Eh. I'll try it again later, and do it the right way."

"We'll have to get some new cuffs." Jack chuckled and flicked the chain dangling from the cuff on Corrie's left wrist.

"We can do that tomorrow." Corona leaned over and kissed him. "First things first."

#

"I don't know what you three were doing last night," Otto said with a grin, "but I could hear it through the floor and down the hall."

Jack blushed. "Uh, sorry. I didn't realize we were that loud."

"Don't apologize. It didn't bother me at all." He held his hand in front of his pants and made a suggestive gesture.

"Well, it kept me up half the night," Shakira grumbled as she trudged past them.

Taura facepalmed and Corona's face turned a darker red.

"Well, yeah, it kept me up for a while, too." Otto grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. "I had to whack off three times before I was tired enough to fall asleep."

Shakira drew in a sharp breath and burst into a coughing fit. Otto winced and rubbed her back.

Oh, boy. Jack tugged on his shirt collar and mumbled, "We'll, uh, we'll try to keep it down next time."

"Don't let her kill your fun." Otto gave him a thumbs-up. "I found it very...inspiring."

"Ah. Well. That's...awesome." Jack tried to grin, gave up, and headed for the stairs. The girls followed him, and Otto and Shakira brought up the rear.

When they reached the living room, Taura walked into the kitchen. Otto took a bottle of Viso from his duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder. He opened the bottle, took a long sip, and stared bleary-eyed at a spot on the floor. Shakira yawned and stood beside him, holding her satchel in her left hand.

Jack glanced to the left and found Kim walking across the room from the chair in the corner, grimacing and carrying a towel and a spray bottle of all-purpose cleaner.

"Dale puke on the carpet last night?" Corona chuckled.

"On the chair." Kim paused in the kitchen doorway. "I'm pretty sure he also shat in his pants, but he's cleaning that mess up." She turned and strode into the utility room, where the washer and dryer were.

"Classy guy."

"Hmm?" Otto yawned. "Oh, yeah, him. Genuine product of the American educational system."

"You okay? You look like you got less sleep last night than you let on."

"Barely got any, to be honest. Nightmares again." He shrugged and had another sip of his drink. "Hey, would you guys mind giving me and Shakira a lift? We're heading out for our morning coffee, but she doesn't want to drive. Y'know, missing eye, and all that."

"Sure, no problem." Jack smiled and nodded.

Taura came through the kitchen door a moment later. She held a large cooler in her right hand.

"Picnic." She smiled. "For lunch."

"Sweet." Corona grinned. "We're dropping Otto and Shakira off at their coffee shop."

"Okay."

Jack opened the door and everyone walked to the hearse and piled in. Shakira yawned and blinked a few times as Jack eased around Dale's truck, which was parked half on the fucking lawn.

"We really kept you awake all night?" Taura cocked her head at Shakira.

"Well, to be fair, it wasn't entirely you three. I'd fall asleep, then wake up, go back to sleep, wake up again. I'm not sure if I was just dreaming or what, but every now and then I heard whispering. Like, right next to my ear. Couldn't make any sense of it out, though. Several times, I turned the light on, but of course there was nobody else in the room."

"Oh, that is fucking creepy." Otto shivered.

Shakira shrugged and pointed at her eyepatch. "I don't know. Could just be a side-effect of the pain meds. I'll have to ask my doctor about it. Might need to switch to a different prescription, if this one is making me hallucinate."

"You might want to see if he'll give you something to help you sleep, while you're at it." Otto patted the back of her hand.

"Maybe. We'll see how it goes."

Otto glanced around at Corona, Jack, and Taura. "Any of you hear any other weird sounds in the last few days?"

"Not that I've noticed," Corona said.

Jack shook his head. "Not unless you count the sound of Dale powerchucking last night. I swear, it sounded like some kind of goddamn wild animal was being butchered."

Taura laughed. "Same here. But I haven't heard anything else unusual, other than the living room floor creaking last night."

"Well, that creaking thing probably spooked me, is all." Shakira shrugged again. "Must've made me have fucked-up dreams."

"Sounds right." Jack shook his head slowly. "Still, that's seriously unnerving."

"No kidding. Oh, well, it's probably nothing."

Silence settled over them for the next few minutes, until Jack parked on the curb in front of Otto's and Shakira's favorite coffee shop.

"Thanks for the lift, guys." Otto scooted out the back door and held Shakira's hand for a moment as she followed him.

"Any time." Jack smiled. "Give us a call when you need a ride back home."

"Will do. Thanks." Shakira waved and walked with Otto to the coffee shop.

"Okay." Jack checked the mirrors and eased away from the curb. "Well, let's see if we can avoid being shot at for another day."