Evasiveness of Clouds
"There are no leeches, Field. I checked ... "
" ... again. Check again." His paws were up against his chest. In a dainty way.
" ... three times! Field," she emphasized, spreading her winged arms. The webbing of them illuminated by late-afternoon light. "There are NO leeches." She was thigh-deep in chilled pond water. Wearing a mauve-colored bathing suit. A modest one-piece.
Field, in navy-blue swim trunks that went to his knees, stood on the bank. In the cattails. Foot-paws bare and sinking in mud. He bit his lip. Whiskers going ... twitch-twitch. His dishy ears swivelled.
"Field," Adelaide whispered.
The mouse whispered back, "They might be on the bottom. Like they're gonna let you see them?"
"Field, there are no leeches."
"How do you ... "
"I'm a bat, darling." She sighed and smiled ... exuding patience. "My diet is insects, bugs ... "
"But ARE they insects? Aren't they parasites? Isn't that, like ... "
She rolled her eyes. "I know what I'm looking for. I don't see any." She sighed again. "This was your idea." She'd suggested the beach (where the majority of the crew was spending their time). The mouse had pleaded on the plains (being a farm-mouse born and bred, he wanted to revel with her in the flat land, under endless sky ... just the two of them; sweet, sensual solitude). They were on Corydon, an idyllic planet whose economy was based on tourism. It was a leisure world. The Luminous crew was taking shore leave here.
Field, nodding, took a step into deeper water. "I can't believe," he teased, keeping his tail lifted (and dry), "I kiss and suck a muzzle ... that eats bugs daily." He said it with affection.
She giggled. Held out a paw.
He hesitantly took it, and ...
... she yanked!
Squeak! Splash!
Squeal!
"Oh, you ... " Giggle-squeak. "You ... " Field descended into giggle-squeaks, up to his belly in pond water (but only after coming up to breathe, as her yank had pulled him under). The water rippled all around them. Dripped in drops from his whisker-tips.
"I couldn't resist. I just couldn't," she giggled, floating on her back, neck turned. Giving him a fang-framed grin. She was using her wings to keep afloat. Like water wings. Like a beautiful, dreamy image ... as elusive as clouds. Within view, but ... if you touched her ... the mouse almost felt that, if he touched her right now, right here, she would float away like fluff. Part like vapor. "And THAT'S for the bug comment. You know," she said, taking a mouthful of pond water, filling her cheeks, and then spitting it out like a little fountain ... right at Field.
He squeaked and splashed her ... swimming away.
She laughed.
"You're SO civil ... darling," Field panted, soaked.
She shook with mirth. "Mm ... one of these nights, I'm gonna make you a meal. A whole supper of ... "
" ... not gonna eat it."
" ... bugs. Yes, you are. You will, too."
He gave her a look.
"It'll do you good. You don't get enough protein in your diet."
"Adelaide ... "
She brought her wings back, and ... whooshed them forward. Sending a wave of water at him.
He went "eek" as he was rained on.
And she giggled more.
He grinned, unable to help himself, and he started paddling for her. Paddle-paddle ... lunge!
She squealed and twisted away, swimming to the middle of the pond. Where her foot-paws couldn't touch bottom. Where she had to tread water. Dog-paddling. Which wasn't easy to do with wings. She huffed and had to move back into the shallows, which left her an easy target for the mouse, who latched to her. Sidled up to her, belly-to-belly, wet nose-to-wet nose ...
"Mm ... I'm trapped," Adelaide whispered in observance. Her fur matted. When it was wet, it was a darker, more solid shade of pink. And his fur, when wet, seemed almost brown ... rather than honey-tan. "What shall I do?" Her voice was like air.
"I don't know," the mouse returned. Voice at an equal hush.
She tilted her head a bit, and ... took a lazy lick to his cheek.
Field closed his eyes.
She did it again.
"There's ... you know, all the ... little organisms in the pond water ... "
"And leeches. Don't forget leeches."
He smiled, giving her a mock glare. "And leeches," he said, eyes open, head tilting back ... to meet her eyes. "Feel a bit ... "
" ... rustic? Rural? Natural?"
"I don't know," was his admittance. "But I ... feel ... playful," he decided, and ...
"Don't you dare," she whispered into his ear, grinning, "try and dunk me, darling. You don't wanna do that."
"No?" he whispered back, paws on her arms. "No?"
She shook her head. "No ... "
"I'm a better swimmer."
"Perhaps," she relented, and she gave another wet lick to his cheek-fur.
His paws went from her arms to her back. And arms around her in a hug. Both of them waist-deep in water. The sun was an hour from setting. The colors were bold. Oranges ... melons. Berries. The colors of berries. Bold berries.
And there was a light, light breeze. A breezy breeze. And bird-songs lilted, tilted through the air ... as did they. The birds and their wings. Singing, flying things.
Field, nose in the wet, humid fur of the bat's neck, whispered, "I wanna see you fly."
"You do?"
"Of course ... I wanna see you fly," he whispered. "I wanna ... "
"It's not something we do very often, Field. Flying ... "
"Why not?"
"We were hunted ... because we had wings. Flying was outlawed by the predators ... when the prey finally gained rights, it was still ... we still held back from it. We do so to this day."
"You don't know how to fly?"
"Course I do. You know I do ... you've felt the memories in my mind."
"Then why ... "
"It's ... just ... it's spiritual, to me. Flying. It's ... like when we make love. That kind of spiritual. It's not something we do just ... for the heck of it, Field. It's ... when we fly, it's an extension of us. An expression. A release. It's ... "
"I'm your mate," he whispered. "I love you ... I wouldn't hurt you."
"I know."
"But you're embarrassed?"
"I just ... I've never flown in front of a ... non-bat. And I've flown in front of very few bats. It's ... very private. Very personal. Sort of like ... it's between us and God."
The mouse went quiet. Sniffing his nose, still wet. Sloshing the water a bit as he rocked her this way, that way, slowly, softly ...
"But I'll fly for you, Field," she whispered.
He met her eyes.
"I'll do it, and ... we'll link minds while I do, and even though you'll be on the ground, you'll be with me. You'll be flying, too. Just close your eyes ... and you'll see through mine."
He smiled shyly. Thinking how poetic, how perfect, how ... startling she would look up there, in the air. Defying gravity and ... he flushed. "You don't have to ... "
"No, I just ... didn't think you'd ask. I mean, you've been curious before, but I ... I didn't think you wanted to see that part of me."
He hugged her and closed his eyes. Breathing of her. Holding her tight. "Why wouldn't I?"
"Furs are afraid of it. I mean, most furs are content to be generic, to be ... or, if they're not generic, then they're wildly out of wing. Just ... over-the-top unique. But ... I mean, I have wings. Furs think they're beautiful. They think they're attractive. But if they saw me flying, they would be intimidated. Maybe jealous. Maybe ... I don't know. I just ... "
He nuzzled her neck. "Darling ... "
"I just ... I ... I don't know."
"Darling, you'll be beautiful ... I'd love to see you fly. Love to be in your mind as you do it. I'd ... no one's around. It's just us." He radiated of trust.
She smiled sheepishly. Nodding. "Well, I need to be dry ... before I take to the sky. Flying wet's no fun."
"We should dry off, then."
She nodded quietly.
He took her paw and led her to the bank, through the cattails ... and he gnawed a cattail stem with his teeth ... taking the loose stem and tail. Handing it to her as one would do with flowers.
"For me?" she asked, grinning, sitting in the wild, yellow-green grass (which was a foot tall in most spots).
He nodded. Smiling.
"No one's ever given me a cattail before. Mind," she said, teasingly, "most furs want MY tail, but ... no one's ever given me one." She giggled. Took a breath through the nose.
He snaked his thin, silky, ropy mouse tail to her ... saying, "You can have this one, too. Only, I have to have it back. I kind of need it."
She giggled and wrapped it around her paw like a fork tine around a spaghetti noodle. Like a fishing line, she reeled it in. Reeled the mouse closer. Until he was sprawling back in her lap, staring at the sky. She at a sit.
"I'm glad to see," Adelaide confided, "that you're ... finally relaxing. You know, you always deny yourself any rest. You push yourself too hard. I'm glad to see you're learning to just ... let go. To relax. To recharge. It's helping you. And I'm ... glad." Her voice trailed.
"Well, it's," he started, faltering. Looking up at her. She looking down at him. His whiskers twitched as he continued, "Well, it's all because of you. You're, like, you know ... my medicine. For all that was ailing me, you've been my medicine."
Her eyes watered. That was maybe the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to her. And, wriggling, she worked herself onto all fours over him. The mouse now on his back in the grass. And she laid down, gently, atop of him. And he hugged her from below. And she kissed his muzzle, getting his lower lip. And he kissed back.
They both panted very lightly. Very wispily.
Their eyes met. Burning for each other. In love with each other ... mind, body, soul. Their eyes held, communicating what words could not.
His paws quietly slipped the straps of her swimsuit off her furry, soft shoulders. Slid them down, down ... slid the suit off of her. To her waist. Exposing her breasts and belly. While the claws of her paws undid the knot of the string of the mouse's swim-trunks.
A kick of the mouse's furry leg, and his own suit fluttered a few feet away. Down into the weeds.
She giggled, giving a light kick of her own. But her suit not going to far. And landing in the cattails a foot or so away.
Crickets (or something like them) chirruped. Chirped. Chirruped.
The bat let out a breath. Took one in. And leaned in ... for a kiss.
His muzzle met hers. In a warm, wet moment. Their heads tilted, and her tongue (longer than his) wormed into his mouth. The mouse's nose flared at this, and his paws clutched at the fur on her upper arms, as he rolled her to her back.
She panted, stretching her wings. Her wondrous, webbed wings ... she stretched them. The delicate fur, the muscle, the veins ... she was a fragile fur. Yet so strong. Her personality was so strong.
Field's huffing muzzle was releasing hot breaths onto her breasts. And taking lazy licks at her nipples.
She huffed and smiled airily. Eyes half-open. As if in a fantasy. And when the mouse settled on one ... and began to suckle of it, she breathed as deeply as she could through the nose. Held the breath. And then let it out (just as slowly). And remarked, at a stagger, "I've ... I guess there ... are leeches after all."
The mouse giggled, pulling his muzzle an inch from her left nipple. "Not ... I'm not," he panted, "a leech."
"You're sucking me."
"Not for blood."
She giggled. "Mm ... I don't know," she said, as if undecided. But she was only teasing him. And he knew it. And kept on doing what he'd been doing. Suckling one. Moving to the other, and then down, down ... between her spread legs. Burying his muzzle into the warmth there. The scent there. Her exposed femininity.
Field's tongue wasn't as versatile. He couldn't get it that far out of his own muzzle, and he felt it was a detriment when trying to pleasure her like this, but ... he did his best. And she let him know, mentally, how much she appreciated it. How much she enjoyed it ...
He licked up ... down. Around. Allowing his lips, just his lips, to bump and nibble on her clitoris.
She whimper-squeaked. Gave a few echo-bursts ... high-pitched squeaks.
And he moved off, letting her recuperate, before ... going back again.
Her chitters becoming more pronounced.
And, again, he backed off. By inches. And wormed his tongue as best he could ... between her folds. Going for her opening. Pressing his muzzle against her fur and flesh. The fur there shorter, more velvety ... a more paler shade of pink.
And, through drooping eyelids, the bat saw the mouse's pink, stiff mouse-hood dangling between his legs. Stiff. A drop of clear liquid stringing down from the tip ... and to the grass. She wondered if, using her telepathic abilities, she could get him to climax ... without touching him. If she could channel her coming orgasm into his mind, get him to sow his seed ... without laying a paw on his mouse-hood.
She chuckled as he continued making a meal of her. And she grinned, panting, closing her eyes all the way. They still had, what, like ... forty minutes of light left? Before sunset. She was more than up to the challenge ...
"I didn't know you drank." Pause. "Leopard." And a nod.
Assumpta turned. Squinted. "Wolf."
Lonely showed his teeth.
Assumpta showed her own. Taking a seat across from him. He was Luminous' sole wolf crew-fur. And an informant for Admiral Silver.
"I didn't know you drank," Lonely repeated. And, raising his eyes at her attire, adding, "And I didn't know you wore dresses."
The leopard was wearing a simple, understated evening dress. Black in color. Contrasting the snow-white and the grey wisps of her fur. "It is ginger ale," she said of her drink. Though not answering the dress comment.
"Ah ... "
"As I recall, you drink often. You seem to enjoy it."
Lonely gave a toothy, half-grin, breathing deeply. "Maybe I do."
"I would've thought you would've remained on the ship." They were in a beach-side restaurant. With a bar and with food being served all around. The majority of the crew had been mulling around here.
"I needed some air. You?"
"I am on a date," she said, sounding a bit ... out of her element.
"A date?" he showed his teeth again.
"With Azure."
"The plant squirrel?"
"The word is botanist."
"The word should be 'weak'."
"He wishes to be mates."
Lonely's eyes widened. "You agreed?"
"I am strongly considering it."
"You shouldn't yiff with prey," Lonely urged. "They become attached. They become clingy. Needy."
"I am more acceptant of prey ... than you are."
"You're an apologist for them." He took a swig of something. Some kind of peach drink. Sweet and sour. Scowling. "There are three male predators on Luminous. I am one of them. Why not turn to me for ... relief? For company?"
"Because my reproductive organs are on the inside. I doubt I would excite you." She knew Lonely had a preference for males.
He laughed. And shrugged as he did so. "Oh, well," he remarked. "All the same ... " The wolf had been involved with a fox aboard ship. A male fox. Though the snow leopard had heard, via the "grape vine," as Ketchy called it (for she ran the ship's gossip), that they were no longer together.
Assumpta sipped her ginger ale. The ice clinked in the glass. "How is life as Admiral Silver's informant?"
Another shrug. A small smile. "You object?"
"You are betraying the confidence of Wren. And the rest of us."
"Us? You consider yourself one of them?"
She gave no response.
"What has happened to you?" Lonely squinted suspiciously.
Assumpta squinted back. Sipping.
"Wren hasn't kicked me off the ship," continued the wolf, leaning back. "He's allowed me to stay. I've done nothing wrong."
"Wren is outranked by Admiral Silver. The Captain is not 'allowing' you to stay. He is simply tolerating your presence."
"You've a way with words, leopard."
"SNOW leopard."
"I almost forgot." He chuckled. Taking another swig of his drink. It burned. He gave a feral, little growl. As if he were a loose canon. "Almost." A pause. He looked around. "So, where's your play-thing?"
"Azure."
"Where is he?"
"He is not here yet."
"I see that ... "
"He will be soon."
The wolf nodded. "Never done a squirrel. Hear they make great tail ... do they?"
"I wouldn't know. It is normally my 'tail,' as you put it, that is being taken. I've no reason to take theirs. Nor do I have the necessary sex organ to do so."
"You ARE blunt, aren't you?" He chuckled.
"As are you."
"Ah, but we're predators. We're honest. Up-front." He spread his arms and paws. Grinning.
"Are we?" she challenged, sensing he was hiding things. Keeping things.
He shrugged. Leaning back in his chair. "We all have certain secrets. It is possible," he told her, "to be open and yet ... enigmatic."
She sipped at her ginger ale. Again.
"I'll tell you what," Lonely said, piping up again. He was tipsy. "I'll tell you ... a secret. But you DIDN'T hear it from me."
"Why should I believe any secret you tell me?"
"I'm a predator. You're a predator. We have a bond." He smiled in a loopy way.
She frowned, sighing. Sipping.
"You wanna hear?"
"If you wish ... "
He leaned forward. Eyes glinting. "Admiral Silver ... let it slip that ... " He chuckled. "You're gonna like this one ... "
The snow leopard's white ears, tipped and angular, swivelled.
"There's a build-up of ships. A secret build-up of ships in the Obsidian sector. Furry ships. A whole quarter of the fleet ... is building there."
"What for?" She squinted, voice quiet. Her fur bristling ...
"Apparently, Wondrous Wren and his ... fairy-tales of humans and ... how they were fated to turn on us. To genetically experiment on us. His claims that, sometime in the future, humans and furs would meet ... and humans would bring about our extinction ... apparently, all that stuff, it freaked out the Council. And the Admirals. And everyone back home. So, the Council is amassing a fleet ... " His eyes were dangerous. His voice barely audible. "They're going to launch a preemptive strike."
A shiver went down Assumpta's spine. "What?"
He nodded. "Uh-huh." He swallowed, nodded.
"But ... we do not know the location of the human home-world. It could be years from our space. It could take decades to find. Perhaps they don't have adequate propulsion to reach us for ... "
"Doesn't matter. They're gonna launch the fleet ... after they refit all the ships. That'll take a year. Then they'll launch the fleet, and ... break into groups of seven, little hunting packs, and the first pack to find the human world ... will signal the rest. Then they'll gather like a swarm and ... obliterate the planet."
"The humans will see them coming."
"Hence the refits. Stealth technology. Experimental."
The snow leopard shook her head. "This is foolish. If, indeed, humans are fated to bring about the extinction of furs ... could it not stand to reason that the trigger ... is this attack? That, by launching a preemptive strike, it will fail. The ire of the humans will be drawn. And we will have handed them knowledge of our existence. Our technology. The location of our home-world. It won't be the humans who destroy us. It will be ourselves."
"Quite a paradox," Lonely whispered. What a whisper.
Assumpta let out a breath. "How accurate is this information?"
"Just rumor that ... Admiral Silver heard. In a moment of ego-driven venting. He was mad he wasn't let in on the planning of this 'new venture,' but he claimed to have sources, and ... so, it could be false. It depends on how much you trust Admiral Silver and his informants."
"I do not trust Admiral Silver, or his ... "
"Well, all the same ... "
The two predators locked eyes.
"You gonna tell Wren?"
She hesitated. "Not yet. Prey panic ... when faced with such information. And if the said information is only rumor, there is no reason to spread it. Besides, we are one ship. One crew. He is one captain. How could we stop such an act?"
Lonely shrugged. "Don't know. But I just thought I'd give you that ball of yarn," he said, grinning at his own words. "Let you play with that for a while."
Assumpta gave him a cold glare. The wolf put on a fun, rough edge, but she half-expected that, beneath it all ... was an emotional, effeminate creature. But it didn't serve a male predator ... to be that way. Not if other predators knew about it. No, he had to hide it. But he was among prey. And ... Assumpta, herself, was not a stereotypical predator. She wondered if he would ever be safe from judgment. She wondered if any of them ever would be.
"Gataki?"
Assumpta blinked, turned. And saw Azure. Gataki was an alien word for "kitten" ... that the learned squirrel had taken to using. He stood there, shy, awkward. Dressed casually, but ... handsomely. He bit his lip.
"Ah, Azure. How are the flowers today?" Lonely asked.
"Um ... fine," Azure said, eyes darting.
"I shall take my leave of you," Assumpta said to Lonely, nodding at him.
The wolf nodded back.
The snow leopard stood, standing taller than Azure.
The squirrel, obviously nervous, obviously drawn to her, said, "Um ... wanna walk on the beach? And ... or get something to eat?" He reached for one of the feline's paws.
She gave it to him.
He took it. Squeezed it. Let out a shaky breath. And managed a smile. And the squirrel and snow leopard drifted away.
Lonely shook his head and chuckled. "Crazy furs."
On the other side of the open-air restaurant (with its umbrellas and awnings), a table of four was occupied by Wren and Rella ... and Ketchy and Fredrick. The four squirrels dined and chatted.
"Well, Wren can't relax for ... anything. I had to DRAG him off the ship."
"Really?"
Rella nodded.
"You did not," Wren objected, poking his fork at some boiled carrots. At some peas. "Did not."
Rella nodded.
Wren shook his head.
Ketchy giggled at the two of them. They made a cute couple. But, admittedly, it was hard for Ketchy to relax around them. They were her superiors. The Captain and the chief tactical/security officer (the second officer, after Wren and Field). She found it hard, sometimes, to think of them as ... "just furs" ... because they were more than that. They were leaders. They had strong personalities. They made tough decisions that impacted countless lives ...
"Well, you think I'M bad," Wren emphasized, chewing on the peas and carrots. He swallowed. "Field's the worst. I mean, you think I can't relax ... show me a mouse who can enjoy himself ... "
"Well, he's doing better," Ketchy defended. She had been on the shuttle-pod with Field and Adelaide ... on the trip down here. With only two shuttle-pods, Luminous was having to use them as ferries. As one went up, the other was going down. They would get two new pods before they left Corydon. But that wouldn't be until the end of the week.
"Where is the mouse, anyway?" Rella asked. "The mouse and the bat? Everyone else has been on the beach and ... in here." She looked around. "They go back to the ship?"
"Mm." Wren shook his head. Sipping of milk. "No. The farm mouse in Field needed some flat land ... so, he and Adelaide took a skimmer up north. To the plains."
"Mm ... "
Fredrick quietly busied himself ... eating his macaroni cheese. His tossed salad. Ketchy looked to him. Her new mate. He was awfully quiet. He was, as she'd remarked before their first embrace, a "squirrel of few words." She always wondered what he was thinking. What he was really feeling. She wished for Adelaide's ability to read minds. Her telepathy ... but she didn't have it. Ketchy was just an ordinary, plain squirrel. Fifteen pounds heavier than she should've been for her height. Fur a simple brown. She was just an average squirrel, and she couldn't read minds, and ...
Fredrick looked up. Saw the doubt in her eyes. And gave her a shy, little smile.
Ketchy smiled back. She was glad to have someone. Have a mate. She just ... was terrified this would fall apart. That he would withdraw from her. Regret this. Or ... she'd had so much go wrong. Had endured so many failures. She needed this to work. She needed him to work with her ... to build this. To make a lasting love.
"So, what have you and Fredrick been doing all day?" Rella asked, sipping some wine. "Mm?"
"We walked ... we walked through the city, and ... we watched one of the sporting events. We got tickets," Ketchy said.
"It was good," Fredrick said. Not one to elaborate.
Wren nodded. "How's Juneau treating you? Mm? Hey, is it true," Wren asked, "that Juneau does a passable me? A passable Wren?"
Fredrick blinked coyly.
"You can tell me ... you know, I can order you to tell me."
"Juneau does lots of things. Sometimes, I don't pay attention."
Wren squinted. Feeling the squirrel was, indeed, being coy. And was shielding his chief engineer from the Captain's playful wrath.
Fredrick nibbled on a cinnamon roll. Broke it in half. Gave half of it to Ketchy (who smiled and whispered her thanks).
Rella sipped more wine. Getting slightly tipsy. She wanted to be tipsy for later ... when they yiffed (she and Wren). She'd never been tipsy during a yiff. She imagined it might be quite fun. She wondered what it would make her do ...
"Don't drown yourself," Wren said, noticing her wine intake.
"I can swim," was her giggling reply.
Ketchy, looking around, caught Assumpta the snow leopard's eyes ... as Assumpta and Azure sat at a table not too far away. She nodded at the snow leopard (nodding being the predatory way of greeting). Assumpta nodded politely back.
"You friends with the tiger?" Fredrick asked.
"She's not a tiger."
"Snow tiger."
"Leopard. Snow leopard," Ketchy said, frowning. "You should know that."
"Well, I never talk to her."
"Well, I've told you about her," she started. "She's my friend."
"I don't know why," Fredrick responded.
Wren and Rella exchanged glances with each other ... silently commenting on the lovers' quarrel seemingly brewing between Ketchy and Fredrick, who both went quiet again. Were both focusing on their meals.
A few tables over, Assumpta and Azure made conversation.
"I, uh ... um ... " The squirrel trailed. "Um ... thanks for agreeing to spend the night with me."
"It is not a problem."
"Well ... "
"Well, what?" A head-tilt.
"I just thought, you know, that ... what we did in the hydroponics bay ... I thought that maybe, for you, it was just instinct."
"Part of it was."
The squirrel's whiskers drooped. He said nothing.
"But not all of it. I do," she said, finding the words embarrassing to say (for she'd never really said them to anyone). "I do like you. I felt your sadness. At being a misfit."
"I'm not a ... "
"I am a misfit," Assumpta said, putting her meat with a knife. Gently piercing the pieces with a fork. "I know how it is." She chewed the meat. Swallowed. Stared at him. "I would," she said, feeling a flush, "like to ... try," she said, "to be mates."
"Really?" His voice was at a whisper. "You don't think I'm annoying?"
"I think you are lonely." She went quiet. "I think ... I would like to try."
"You're lonely, too," he said. "But, I mean, surely, you could have any fur on the ship ... "
"They are afraid of me," she stressed. Frowning. "You are not." She didn't understand that.
"They just ... I don't know." Azure went quiet. Watching her eating the meat. He, like all squirrels, was a vegetarian.
"Predator-prey romances rarely work," Assumpta noted. "But I am ... a different sort of predator. I've always been curious about prey. I've always been drawn to them. To their way of life. It's why I had to leave home."
Azure listened ...
"My fellow predators tried to discredit me. Convincing others that I had been 'contaminated' ... by the prey mind-set."
"What happened?"
She opened her muzzle to spill more of the story, but ... stopped. Not quite ready to divulge it. Surprised she'd even said this much. "I ... it's a long story. I was driven away."
"By force?"
"Predators do not need to use force to drive one away. They simply need to look at you. There are pains worse than physical pain. As I'm sure you know."
Azure was quiet.
"I had thought that, were I to end up with prey, it would've been a snow rabbit. I found them ... very intriguing. I admire their culture."
"I'm not a snow rabbit. I'm just ... a squirrel," Azure offered lamely.
"It is of no difference to me."
"Well, I ... "
"I wish to try," she said again. "Maybe we can ... love?"
"I already," he admitted, blushing, "love you. I ... that's why I asked you to be my mate. That's ... after what you did to me, I ... you, like, you ... " He went quiet again. Listening to the ding and din of silverware and glasses and plates. And voices. And the sound of the sea. The waves coming in, going out. Coming in, going ...
"You yiffed with a snow rabbit?" Azure asked quietly.
She nodded. Equally quiet.
"You yiff with ... many furs?" The snow leopard was Azure's first yiff. And she was imprinted on his heart now ...
She made no motion. But then nodded.
"I ... I suppose that's how predators do things, huh? They just ... yiff is just ... carnal?"
"We view it differently, yes. Predators don't believe in 'romance' ... not in the way prey do. But, as I said," she whispered earnestly. "I've become ... enchanted with the ways of prey. With the idea of romance. Of love, and ... "
"But you said you'd rather be with a snow rabbit, or ... "
"I would rather be with someone I can rely on. I came from the ice. I left it. I didn't leave it ... to go back to it. Not yet. I ... "
"I want this to work," Azure breathed. "I just ... I'm sitting here, and I'm taking to you, and I want it ... so bad. I want you, and I ... want it to be love, you know? But I'm afraid that ... it won't be."
"We can only try."
"I want more than TRY ... "
She looked to her own paws. And swallowed. Azure was ... full of doubt. Was desperate for companionship. For company other than flowers and trees. He was very inexperienced in relationships. He was, in many ways, a lot like her. Except he allowed those feelings to control him. He radiated them. Assumpta felt those things, all those same things, but she kept them dulled. Detached herself from them. Viewed them with a predatory gaze ... as if from afar. And, seeing him ... seeing him feeling SO much for her. Wanting so much from her (and from himself), she was envious of his ability to be so poignant, so emotional. It made him richer.
It was ironic, in a way, that she would sit here and wish for his ability to let down one's guard ... to feel fully. To feel warmly. While he, at the exact same time, would be wanting the opposite. For her ability to corral and reign the emotions in. To barricade them. To be detached from them. To be pure.
They wanted to be like each other. And the only way to do that ... was to have each other. To explore each other. And the safest way to do that ... to not get hurt ... was to be mates. Regardless of fear.
Their eyes met again. She tried to smile, but ... it didn't turn out very well. It turned out as all teeth.
He bit his lip nervously, but smiled back at her. His smile less stiff.
"When we are done eating, you wish to walk the beach?"
He nodded. Swallowing some asparagus (drizzled with cheese). "I'd like to."
"Do you have a room?"
"What?"
"Room. Board. A place to stay."
"No, I hadn't ... made reservations." He flushed.
"Luckily, I did. You will stay with me."
He chuckled nervously. "What, is that, like ... an order?"
She purred. It was much easier to show warmth through purring, she found, than smiling. It was easier for her to do. "If it must be."
He smiled shyly. Before they had coupled, Azure had been high-strung, demanding, but the moment she'd pinned him to that floor and ... had bared all to him ... the act of her doing that, it had changed him. He felt humbled now. He felt needed. And, in turn, needy. He felt more frail than he had felt a few days ago. And he wanted her so badly. He really did love her. But she was a predator, and often, came across as unemotional. And he NEEDED to feel her love. Emotionally feel it. Not just physically. Not just ...
"Or shall we skip the walk?" she posed.
Azure blinked. "Um ... " He poked at his asparagus. "Um ... " He met her eyes. Throat suddenly dry. He nodded weakly.
"But we must finish eating. We need our strength."
He giggled again. That shy giggle ... that looking down at his plate. That thought of, "what am I getting myself into" ... and the subsequent reply of, "you're getting into her ... " He smiled to himself. Very quietly. He was, though. And if he lost himself in her, then ... he would take that chance.
Predator-prey love always ended in disaster. It had ended that way for Field, among other furs, but ... Azure wanted to make this work. Wanted to be the first. Wanted his love to be different. To be set apart. And it would be. He loved the snow leopard. And he would help her to feel ... and maybe she would help him to be stronger than he was.
Assumpta gnawed on her meat.
"Gataki," Azure whispered, voice delicate.
She looked up.
He hesitated. Thinking he shouldn't say it. But he stammered, "I ... I love you, gataki."
She tilted her head, eyes cool. Eyes like liquid cool. And she purred. "As do I," she said, "love you."
Quiet. And Azure, whiskers twitching, clutching his bushy tail to his chest, said, "Um ... maybe tomorrow, we can walk, then? Cause I wanna ... collect some plants and flowers. Some new things for hydroponics. You know? I haven't had a chance to do that yet, but I ... really want to."
"I will assist you. As a huntress, I am good at finding things. Perhaps I can find you the prettiest flowers."
Azure smiled brightly. Wanted to reply, "you need look no farther than yourself," but ... felt that might be too lame. That she might think he was being awkward. This was a start ...
"When we return to Luminous, I will help you in hydroponics."
"Yeah?"
"We can turn it into a sanctuary. For furs to come to ... when they need peace. When they need nature."
"Well, if we do that, then ... it won't be our little secret anymore. Hydroponics is, like, our little secret." He smiled quietly.
"Then it can be our sanctuary."
"I'd like that ... "
And as night came, and as the moons (for their were three) emerged, the crew was finding no rest. For it was early night when furs were most active. When their passions burned hottest. And they had time. A few more days. Thank God for shore leave.