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"Gods, my head..."

Adrian chuckled at Iolvin for a moment, at least until his own headache made came back to the forefront. "That's what you get for asking for the full effect. At least Sprite limited ~my~ alcohol a little." Dee pulled Yoyo down to his level and gently kissed his temple. "Let's see if a little greasy food can't fix you up, hon."

"Anything but a prairie oyster, babe." Yoyo just about walked into the kitchen, but paused when he spotted his twin sister fiddling with the clothes-washer controls in the laundry room. "Made a ~mess~ last night, Lulu?"

All that came back in response, without so much as a glance, was a stern, "No."

"Hmm? You wake up wrong or something?"

"I guess... he was drunk then?" Rhyme poked her head out for a moment, then hid back inside the room. "Can you...?"

Yoyo quirked his head as he overheard the tanuki's comment. "What? Was I an ass last night?"

Another harsh, dead response: "Just leave me alone, Yoyo."

"Lulu, what's wrong?" Yoyo walked over and threaded his paws around to Ari's front. "Whatever I did, I'm sorry."

" Iolvin!" Ari hissed and jumped at her twin's touch, shoving him back a good two meters with perhaps too much force. "I won't say it again. Leave me the fuck alone, Iolvin."

"Lulu--" Yoyo cringed and started again when his sister practically spat at the sound of that nickname. "Ielunschra... Seriously, what's the matter? I want to help."

Finally Ari backed away from the machine as it started, only to avoid eye contact as she scrambled for sanctuary in her parents' room. "You can leave me the fuck alone for a while if you want to help."

Yoyo, Dee, and Zoë all stood in awe as Ilaria stormed off to a safe place. Finally Dee managed to break a short silence between them. "Is she the one I've been smelling? I know her heats can be bad..."

"I've noticed it too. It didn't seem like her until just now. That's definitely her scent in the air." Yoyo slid back into the laundry room and tried again with Rhyme. "You know anything we don't?"

A solitary punch slammed into the otter's jaw, though the size difference between Yoyo and Rhyme led to a leverage disadvantage for the tanuki. "Fuck off!"

"Fuck!"

Dee cradled his man as he walked off the punch. "What the hell was that!? Are you alright?"

"Yeah... Gods... At least he hits like..." Yoyo started regaining his composure, at which point he looked up to find a very conflicted Zoë holding her rapier's tip towards Rhyme's neck. "...a girl..."

"Holy crap! Zoë, what are you--!?"

Yoyo held back Dee so the situation wouldn't escalate, then pointed to the kitchen. "Babe, I've got this. Could you give us some time? Maybe work on that breakfast you mentioned? I'm sure mom will help."

"You sure, hon?"

Yoyo gave his mate a kiss, then pushed him away with a pat to the base of his tail. "It'll be fine." He waited for Dee to round the corner before delving any further. "Zoë, enough of that. Why do you look flustered, anyway?"

"I..." The human gave Rhyme an apologetic look. "I can't hide anything from you, Iolvin, but I'm not sure we should talk here."

"Well he isn't trying to kill me, so put that thing down and let's talk. We can be civil, right?" Yoyo stared into Rhyme's eyes and forced her to speak up. "Right?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Then come on." Once Zoë did as she was told and removed violence from the equation Yoyo walked up the stairs and sat on the top step, patting the spot next to him. "So what exactly happened last night?"

Rhyme groaned as she joined the otter, a sense of defeat underlying her voice. "You and Ari--"

"I'm hazy about it myself, so please don't lie. I'm also fairly confident you're a woman too, Rhy." Yoyo waited for Zoë to sit down before lowering his voice and getting into the matter. "Zoë, what's the deal?"

"Well... You and Rhyme sort of... had sex last night." The human ducked her head into her shoulders as she received a nasty glare from Rhyme, but her obligation to her patron drove her forward. "You were drunk, so I tried to cover it up."

"And that's why you were toweling off blood from me this morning, huh?" Yoyo sighed in relief as he thought he got his facts straight. "So I didn't hurt anyone and Lulu's just upset I took Rhy's first time? We were drunk. She'll... Well she won't be alright but I can make up for that. Doesn't explain her mood though. We never fight."

"Not... exactly..." Zoë seriously looked like she was going to upturn her stomach in a mixture of fear and apprehension. "You sort of forced yourself on her. You might have hurt her, too; she was crying."

"Holy... Holy shit." All the blood suddenly left Iolvin's face as he noticeably paled beneath his fur. "Rhy, please tell me that isn't true. Dear gods, say it isn't."

Rhyme basked in silence--which by its lonesome would have been enough confirmation--before grunting out a fierce, "She's right. You fucking scared the shit out of me, asshole. I thought I was going to die from the... the size..."

That awkward stutter of wording couldn't have timed itself worse, with the fresh scent of Rhyme's heat wafting right into Yoyo's nostrils. "Fuck... Fuck!" Yoyo cursed under his breath a few more times before focusing on the tanuki he's wronged. "I can make this right. I ~want~ to make this right."

"Well don't hold your breath, asshole. I'm getting as far away from this ship and this screwed-up family as I can once I get my stuff. Now fuck off, and don't you dare share my secret."

"No! You can't!"

"The fuck I can't!"

"Please!" Tears uncharacteristically streamed down Iolvin's face as he pleaded with the tanuki. "You can't leave! I'll take all the blame! I'll let you throw me in jail! Just don't... don't take it out on anyone else. Don't ruin Lulu's life like that."

"Ruin her life?" Rhyme stood up and started walking away. "Your whole family is crazy. All of you ruined my life. How the flying fuck can you say something like that?"

"Because it's true! Lulu nearly wasted away and threw her pups to the trash after losing Robyn. If she takes another blow like that..."

"Robyn? That girl...?" Rhyme turned about and stormed into Ari's room, grabbing the lone picture that was face-down on her nightstand. "That squirrel was her wife, wasn't she?"

"Yeah. She was a good friend, too." Yoyo collected himself once he saw a spark of potential hope in Rhyme's expression. "I'll leave everyone behind. I don't know... I can work on the elevator or something and stay away from you two. Just... Don't break Lulu's heart. She's still looking for all the remaining pieces as it is, and I'm not sure she could put it back together after another scattering."

"You'd do that? You'd cut your twin sister out of your life to make her happy?" Rhyme heaved a contemplative sigh as she inspected the old photo. "What do you mean by 'break her heart' exactly?"

"I thought the two of you...?" Yoyo sat upright, drying his eyes with the fur on his arms. "With the way you two were acting, I assumed you were dating. Lulu even said she liked you the other day."

"That... explains a lot of her awkwardness now." Rhyme placed the photo back on the nightstand, this time the right way up. "You're really sorry for raping me? You seemed to enjoy it too much for that to be true."

"I probably thought you were my sister! Whenever she's in heat she gets it bad, so I help her out..." Yoyo ducked his head down a bit, breaking eye contact with the tanuki. "But it wasn't her that was in heat, or that I helped. I'm at fault here."

"No... You did have a good reason, and I should have stopped you. As much as I hate to say it, you're not entirely to blame." Rhyme sat on the edge of the bed and draped her head into her paws. "And I sure as hell can't separate a family when I don't fully blame you. I'm pissed, but I can't do that. But regarding Ari..."

"I can't make any demands here, but..." Yoyo paused as he thought of a resolution. "A date. I'll do whatever you want, just please take Lulu on a date. Give her a try, and if there isn't anything there I won't argue. I just have attempt to make her happy again, you know?"

"One date?" Rhyme slowly stood and walked halfway down the stairs, ignoring the glint of joy in Yoyo's eyes. "If you see it that way, no doubt others think we're already a couple. I suppose I should keep up the act long enough to find me an opening to leave, in any case." The tanuki hit the bottom of the stairs and paused one last time. "I can agree to one date."

"Brennar Street. Well this place hasn't changed much." Ilaria looked back to her pups and nodded apologetically. <Sorry. I probably shouldn't talk to myself around you two."

<It's alright. We weren't watching in any case.> Michelle was the first to raise a paw towards an apartment complex directly in their path. <Why does this place feel so familiar?>

<Because you might have been conceived here. The corner of that building on the third floor was Robyn's place. Gods, I remember when her father lived there too.> Ari stopped dead in her tracks when she realized what was going on here. <I can't even wander aimlessly without her influencing it. Sorry, girls. We can go find a park or something.>

<But we want to see inside!>

Despite their protest, Ari still started to cross the street and head for a nearby playground. <She doesn't live there anymore, and I couldn't impose such a strange request on the current occupants.>

<Aww... At least your signing seems to be getting better.> The girls started to cross with their mother, but Mikhaila spotted something out of the corner of her eye. <Wait, maybe we ~should~ stop here.>

Ari stepped out of the street and beckoned for her children to do the same. <Girls, roads are for cars. Come on now.>

Mik led the way, her twin sister easily following as she went into the apartment complex's parking lot. <Mom, come help. We found Carbon's car, so let's see if we can sneak up on her.>

"Don't tell me..." Ari mumbled to herself as she inspected the situation, indeed finding an extremely large hypercar that looked like a stealth jet in far too many ways. <That's hers, alright. Why the hell would she be here?>

The girls checked all around the vehicle for clues, even beneath it. <Visiting a friend, maybe?>

<No, she might be looking for us actually. We did sort of leave unannounced, and my dad probably called her for help.> Ari looked straight up towards Robyn's apartment. "Why here, Carbon? You have to know the place is re-leased by now."

<Maybe she knows that, but thinks you don't?>

<Hey, I'm not that clueless.> Ari watched the windows, almost hoping to see a certain squirrel smile back down at her. Instead she spotted the distinct silhouette of an otter wearing a face mask. <She's inside? How the hell?>

<We found her! Ninja mode, engage!> Ninja mode apparently only meant crouching mischievously, but the girls led the way upstairs nonetheless. <Should we pick open the lock? Sneak in through a window?>

<There's always the fastest way:> Ari raised a paw to the door and gave it a firm but quiet rasp. "Excuse me? Carbon?"

What little sound inside ceased, then the door opened a moment later to Carbon's plastic-covered visage, with the mask oddly being the only thing she was wearing. "Ari! I thought you wanted to be with family. What brings you out here?"

"And who said you could take over my wife's apartment?"

"Oh, sorry. Your father didn't really want me there yesterday, so we borrowed this place." Carbon opened the door wide and beckoned for everyone to enter. "I wanted to surprise you, but you had your head full of other things. I worked out a deal with the owners and this place is yours. Ten years, payed up front."

"Wait... You kept up the rent, for me?" Ari strode inside, apparently too quickly for Sydney as she wrapped her nude form in blankets on the couch. "Oh. Well this makes more sense on your end..."

"H-Hey..."

"Wait, isn't that her sofa...?" Ari looked around at all the furnishings and lost the will to speak for a moment. "This is all Robyn's stuff. You kept it just as it was?"

"We even camped out on the couch last night. I figured you'd prefer if we left the bedroom untouched." Carbon closed the front door and then returned to her girlfriend, slipping beneath the covers to join her. "We've just been chilling in front of the TV mostly."

"And ruining the couch." Ari smirked and sat on a matching love seat to the side. "For keeping this place around though, you deserve a few liberties. Thank you, Carbon. This is a hell of a birthday gift."

"Oh, that's ~not~ your gift; it was just the right thing to do." Carbon looked around beneath the coffee table, pulling out a generic plastic shopping bag. "Sorry it isn't wrapped, and that it's late. Eve and I are dyslexic or something when it comes to wrapping things."

Cid chuckled as she slowly grew accustomed to her shrouded nudity in Ari's presence. "More like they can't decide which way is best. You should have heard them argue over efficiency and all that crap."

"It's an odd shape. Cut us a little slack where it's due."

"Odd shape, huh?" Ari took the bag and pulled out a heavy, cloth-wrapped item. She unfurled the soft cloth shrouding, revealing a strange watch with a holographic display reaching a few inches off the matte black surface. "Jewelry may be the way to a girl's heart, but the geeky kinds are go right to mine. Thanks, Carbon."

"Thank a few of us. The Ashes adapted some tech from those bracelets of Punk's, Sydney here helped with the software side of things, and your girls and I worked on the hardware." Carbon reached out and tapped a physical button on the side. "Say 'Hi' to your ship."

"Huh? Uh... Hello?"

"Captain." The watch rang true with Prisma's synthetic voice and a hazy image of her avatar's bust floated in the display area. "How may I be of service? Would you like to first pair your biometrics with the security systems?"

"Wow... Wait, so I can keep in touch with Prisma now? That's great!" Ari looked down at the watch and found a small set of camera holes in each of the four corners of the watch's face, then made sure to look at them when speaking. "Sure, Prisma. What do I do?"

"Just place the device on your wrist. Your real one, that is."

Ari beckoned for a helping paw as she currently only had the one and Carbon gladly came to the rescue. "We've got it. Now what?"

"Done! There's sensors on the back for all that. Your biometrics need to be read there in tandem with facial recognition in order to connect to the Starbreeze." Prisma's image faded away quickly, then a set of colored arrows appeared to highlight some physical features. "There are a few things to note. This orange switch you just pressed toggles radio silence. The blue rotary on the other side and the yellow button may be used to silently operate the basic functions. As long as your face is visible, I may listen through a microphone or read your lips as well, then perform requested functions. The rest of the interface consists of tangible holograms."

"You may want to ask Punk about the holographic interface." Cid flicked a spinning 'close' button and the watch shut off its display. "There's some quirks to it, but it's based heavily on her own system so she's the one to bug about it."

"Thank you, guys. This is a genuinely awesome present." Ari gave everyone a hug, adding a few kisses for each of her daughters. "No doubt this baby's gonna see some use, and soon. I love it."

"The girls are also working on their own so they can--"

Everyone fell silent as a series of knocks pierced the apartment door.

"Yoyo?" queried Carbon.

"I hope not." Ari walked over to the door and checked through the peephole. "Shit. It's Rhyme. Wait... How did he even...?"

"He must have followed you here." Carbon stood and took the blanket with her. "Cid, let's scoot. Our clothes are still in the bathroom, right?"

"Fuck... Yeah, they are." Sydney franticly hopped off the sofa and streamed into the bathroom, ready to lock the door the moment Carbon made it inside herself. "Hurry, otter."

"I'm coming." Carbon stepped into the bathroom and gave one last confirmation before the door shut. "Just act natural. We'll be out in a minute."

"Got it." Ari reached for the handle, hesitating long enough to hear the click of the bathroom lock before opening the front door wide. "Hey, Rhyme. What're you doing out here?"

"I could ask the same of you. You sort of ran off without saying anything." The tanuki found an opening in the gap where Ari's arm should have been and casually forced her way inside. "I was worried about you. You family was too."

"Iolvin talked you into this, didn't he? That low-life bastard..."

"We spoke, but he didn't make me chase you down." Rhyme held out her arms for the girls and they easily latched onto her for hugs. "I can't stand to see someone disregard their family like that."

"Oh... Sorry. I didn't even think about that. Iolvin just... pissed me off too much." Ari hunched down a little for her girls, but they shook their heads and remained locked around Rhyme. "Thank you for taking the time, Rhy. I'll eventually get over it, though I'm not sure I can trust--"

"You're wrong, you know." Rhyme finally broke free of the embrace and looked up to Ari. "He thought he was helping you. You should have seen him when he found out that wasn't the case. I'm pissed as hell too, but regardless of what happened your brother is still a really nice person."

"How can you...?" There existed a thin veil of confusion behind the certainty in Rhyme's eyes with which Ilaria easily related. "So you're alright with it? With losing your virginity like that? Nobody should suffer that sort of first time."

"It hurt at first, but I sort of... liked it near the end, when I really woke up." Rhyme's face flushed red through her fur and she rubbed her thighs together anxiously. "I know it's supposed to feel good, but that was insane."

"I've heard similar words from Dee's mouth. Magic dick, I guess." Ari looked down to find her own manhood slowly swelling beneath her sirat drapes at the increased level of pheromones in the air. "Maybe we should change the subject. Uh... Oh, I haven't been in the bedroom yet."

"This isn't your place?" Rhyme scanned around the living room until she found a photo identical to the one in Ari's bedroom. "Oh, this is her apartment."

"Shit, he told you?" Ari walked past the bathroom and through the bedroom door, standing in the dim daylight that permeated the curtains. "Now that really makes me angry. I don't like to dwell on that part of my past anymore and he knows it."

"But you should. You don't want to forget your wife." Rhyme crossed the bathroom herself, but paused when she heard a pleasured squeak through the thin door. "Ari!? There's someone in there!"

"It's alright. That's just Carbon and Cid in there, even though they said they'd only be a minute. Silly pervs." Ari awkwardly crawled onto the bed with one arm and slid to rest her head muzzle-first in a frilly pillow. "It still smells like her..."

"Well that must be nice." Rhyme sat on the floor next to the bed and rested her head back along the side of the mattress. "Scents are one of those hard ones to forget. Well, maybe that's just the dog in me speaking."

"I was wondering that. I ~thought~ tanuki were a kind of dog." Ari just took a moment to deeply inhale her late wife's aroma, up until her nose couldn't make a distinction any longer. "My mom's side is worse than canines in that regard. It's... comfortable to smell Pillow again."

"Pillow?"

"Pillowtail. Robyn wasn't exempt from the nicknames either." Finally done with her selfish nostalgia, Ari fought herself upright and crossed her legs on the bed. "If you think Iolvin is a nice fur, you should have met her. Pillow was selfless 'till the end. She even fought through horrible pain to help our whelps."

Rhyme turned her head slightly and two ghosts of the aforementioned twins' heads zipped back into the living room. "They're cute. She definitely didn't fight for less than perfection there."

"You like them? You can have them." Ari chuckled and bopped Rhyme on the top of the head. "They can really be a pawful, but you're right. Robby left us with two wonderful gifts." She leaned forward a bit, sneaking a peek down Rhyme's shirt. "Speaking of, looks like your own 'gifts' went away."

"Huh?" Rhyme blushed and covered her chest fervently as she connected Ari's gaze to its target. "Y-Yeah... They sort of just go down when my heat does."

"Well at least that's one less problem to worry about. And knowing my mom, you'd have never gotten away with the act in that state." Ari scooted back against the headboard and stared at the ceiling fan. "Now at least her grabby paws won't find any flaws in our story."

"Our story? What story is that, exactly?"

"I sort of told her... we were dating." Ari's eyes drooped back down to Rhyme. "She wasn't the only one that wanted to ~bother~ me last night, but she stopped when she saw you in my bed."

"So we're dating now to cover your tail?" Rhyme rolled her eyes, but eventually forced out a smile. "I don't really mind. That Gentleman's Boner thing doesn't work on couples, right? Less chance I'll get called out now."

"You took that better than I thought you would."

"Well if we're not really dating what's the issue?" Rhyme went silent for a moment, then ducked her head down a bit to hide her face. "I s-suppose we should put up a good act though. Maybe... we should go on a date?"

Ari fell onto her side just so her head could hang off the side of the bed and stare at Rhyme's completely embarrassed expression. "You're ~so~ into this. Fine, let's go on a girls' night out or something and we can put on a good show."

"I'm pretty sure we could borrow your brother's car. He offered it to me when I went looking for you."

"No!" Ilaria curled up into a ball, her breathing barely shy of hyperventilation for a few seconds. "I... I don't do cars unless I have to."

Rhyme sighed, turned around, and gave Ari a soft hug. "Sorry. I didn't realize that's... you know..."

"You, uh... couldn't have known. I don't really talk about my leg."

"Leg? You mean the arm was a different occasion?"

"The day Robyn..."

"Fuck, I'm so sorry." Rhyme clamped down on that hug, holding Ari still by her remaining arm. "Now I really do need to take you out, just to cheer you up. I'll see what I can do."

"Yeah... Thank you..."

Rhyme nuzzled Ari and stood up, pausing briefly just to examine the device on Ari's wrist. "Nice watch."

Ari smiled as she looked at the watch. "Thanks. I like it a lot myself."

"Thank you." The watch flickered to life, filling with Prisma's visage. "I enjoy experiencing the world through it as well."

Both Ilaria and Rhyme stared at the hologram, then towards each other, before unleashing a cacophony of laughs.

"Baby girl!" Catherine dropped her phone and practically flew out of her reading chair at the sight of her daughter. "Don't scare us like that! If you have any problems, we'll share the burden as a family!"

"I'm fine, mom. I just needed some alone time." Ilaria leaned down to give her mother a hug, only for her to latch tightly and refuse to release. "Woah. You were really worried, huh?"

"She was trying to convince me that we needed the police involved." Vasily sighed in relief as his wife began calming down, then quickly threw an arm around his two kin. "It's fine if you need to collect your thoughts, but maybe warn me next time. We were about to hit DefCon Three around here."

"Oof. Sorry, dad." Ari gave them each a kiss, then broke free of the stranglehold her mom was maintaining. "I love you guys too much to do anything stupid, if that's what you were thinking."

"It sort of was, at least for your mother," Vasily confirmed, though with a bit of worried truth to those words in his own expression.

"Rhyme!" Cathy suddenly found another target for her incessant hugging and lunged into action. "Thank you for finding our Ielunschra. You're ~perfect~ boyfriend material for our daughter, alright."

"I just... I couldn't see her hurting like that." Rhyme slowly grew into her role and helped support Ari with a low, one-armed hug. "She told you about us, huh?"

"And I didn't believe her until now with the way you act together. Oh, but gods you two make a cute couple!"

"Th-Thank you, ma'am."

Vasily grinned and slapped Rhyme firmly on the back. "Always nice to find a man that sticks by his titles. I always said chivalry starts with military." The older canine grinned as he failed to spot dog tags or rank markings anywhere on Rhyme's person. "So what's your position? Probably a desk job with your small stature, right?"

"Extra-vehicular aeronautics engineer, sir."

"Oh, a space ranger! Damn, you guys are crazy." Vasily pulled Rhyme away, heading to his study for a friendly interrogation. "So I used to see you guys floating around, but what's it actually like...?"

"Well I guess I won't see him for ~a few hours~ then." Ari sighed and ran her paw through her hair, remembering her new toy as it passed by her eyes. "I guess I should take care of some business so we can have fun later."

"You've got something planned? Is it as fun as some ~family bedtime~, honey?"

Ari shook her head in slight disapproval. "Actually Rhyme and I were going to go on a little date. And I'd appreciate it if we... took the tribal bonding a little slowly with him. Maybe don't go randomly sucking his dick or anything? Please?"

"Oh, but that's no fun!" Cathy rolled her eyes as her daughter's face soured, finally relenting after a few long seconds. "As long as you aren't ashamed of where you come from, I won't disagree with that. I'll only push if you make the first move, sweetie."

"Thanks, mom. Rhyme's just the type that'll need more gradual exposure, but I'm pretty sure he'd be fine with it all."

"Are you sure about that?" Iolvin walked into the room with Adrian, enticed by the commotion. "I just... don't want you to screw things up with him. You deserve a good guy in your life, Ielunschra."

"I'm... ~fairly~ certain." Ari walked over to her twin brother, then threw her arm around his shoulder. "And call me 'Lulu', silly."

"You're not mad? I'm seriously sorry for what happened, sis." Yoyo hesitated to return the hug, but his sister insisted. "If you want me to keep to myself from now on, I'll--"

"No, don't. I'm the one that's sorry." Ari drooped her head until the twins touched foreheads. "You screwed up, but I'm the one at fault for blowing it out of proportions."

"You can't just forgive me like that!"

"If nobody feels hurt when all's said and done," the otter whispered as she nuzzled her twin, "then I can let it slide. I'd rather have you love me than not, Yoyo."

"Well I don't know what's going on here, but thank goodness the two of you are making up." Cathy smiled and picked up her phone, giving a little victory paw-pump when she found it unscathed. "I think some oolong would do us some good. Any takers?"

The phantom aroma of tea flushed through Ari's mind at the proposal, the familiarity settling her even in its non-existence. "Absolutely. Thanks, mom."

"Oh, what herbal teas do you have?" Adrian slipped away to follow Cat towards the kitchen. "Snacks, too! Let's make this into awesome family tea time!"

"Gods..." Yoyo finally built up the courage to look his sister in the eyes with a smile on his face. "I hope he doesn't come back with anything baked. Well... maybe if Ashe helped."

"Dee always did take his caffeine breaks seriously." Ari sighed out the rest of her frustrations and sneaked a kiss on her brother's nose. "He really is the right one for you. Seriously, you're a lucky guy."

"Oh... Thanks, Lulu." Yoyo stared quietly for a moment, his lips forming the start of several failed sentences. "I... I know it must be har--"

"Don't, Yoyo. I've had enough of that for one day, let alone a lifetime." Ari paused as a conga line of Arctic wolves led each other into the kitchen from the basement, Elliot guarding the rear with a silly smile. "Everyone else has someone they've never lost. I'm okay with that, and I can deal with it in my own ways. Just let me be a little selfish sometimes and have a second someone. With that, I think I'll be alright."

"Lulu, I'm not trying to split you two up or anything--"

"I know that. I suspect it's actually quite the opposite. I just... want to know that this is my own self she likes, not someone's guiding paw aiming her that direction. I want to earn her love myself." Ari held out her arm and looked down at the screen, calling up Prisma. "Speaking of doing things myself, I should check in on my ship. Prisma, any news? Things quiet?"

"There was a slight leak around my outer weapons platform loading seals, but I managed to correct it with positive pressure. We should replace the seals at next full docking." The android paused her own image perfectly still for a moment as she computed some more data into intelligible words. "Also, there appears to me an anomaly in our cargo. An unaccounted piece of battle debris entered my hull without detection."

"Oh, sorry. My bad." Ari rolled her eyes as she unnecessarily tried to appease the AI. "We didn't want to risk another ship contacting that debris. Wait... Did you say battle debris? What big battles have happened in space?"

"According to my system logs and our crew reports, this debris most likely belongs to a short incursion during our last sortie. I should probably say that I didn't assume control over these files until after the incident, however."

"Oh. Well just in case, have someone help you scan the junk. There might be something useful we can glean from it."

"Sure thing, Ielunschra."

Ari sighed and rolled her eyes backwards again. "Call me Ari, please. Only my family uses my traditional name."

"Got it, Ielun--" The AI caught herself, her avatar going so far as to simulate blushing in her embarrassment. "Sorry... Hard for me to switch habits, Ari."

"No problem. I'll catch up later, but feel free to ping me if something comes up. Later, Pris."

"Well there's still hope for her yet." Yoyo admired the birthday present for a moment, then slowly backed away to the kitchen. "She's starting to act more alive though--way more like herself than before. Glad to see her doing so well."

"Aren't we all? Good to know our losses weren't for nothing." Ari flicked her wrist to switch to the time, then followed her brother. "And oddly enough, it actually ~is~ tea time."

"Then let's go relax, Lulu. We sure as hell earned it."

"That we did."

"You look preoccupied." Ilaria grinned as she ducked down to Rhyme's eye level. "You're not ~nervous~, are you?"

"Ah, hush. I'm fine." The tanuki let her eyes dart around the inside of the Rihzyet house from the backyard, eventually locking on to Iolvin's own pair and nodding in acknowledgment. "Just had to confirm something. Wouldn't be much of a date without something to eat, right? We should be good though. Come on."

"Wait, ~this~ is our date? Where are we going?"

"I'll let you know when I find it, though... I'd rather not have to ask my date for directions." Rhyme laughed mildly at the thought as she walked along the grassy shores of the lake behind the house. "Sorry if it's a bit dark. I already dropped off the flashlight earlier by mistake."

Ari grinned as they started heading towards a tree line on the right tangent side of the lake, a guess as to their destination popping up in her head. "So a strange new tanuki is taking me deep into the woods, alone, in the dark of night. Better hope my dad doesn't decide to ~get his guns~."

Rhyme burst out into chuckles alongside Ari at the thought. "At least we're both dressed to run."

"Well now I'm glad you insisted on something more protective than my dress. There's all sorts of thorny things out here."

Rhyme started to relax, letting herself get a little more comfortable being around Ilaria. "Oh really? ~Horny~ things, you say?"

"Oh, shut up! You know that's not what I said!" Ari huffed through her chuckling and tried to take the lead with her larger strides, but her unfamiliarity with this type of rough terrain only led her to stumble with her false leg. "Crap. Stop being a dweeb and help a lady out."

Rhyme giggled and looped her arm through Ari's to help her around. "My pleasure, ~dear~. I think we're almost there anyway, ~honey bunch~."

Ari flat out laughed at the tanuki's strange tone as she stressed those sappy nicknames. "You're way more fun when you're not hiding in that shell of yours. I'm glad I get to see the real you."

"And having someone I can vent with is surprisingly better than I thought, too." Rhyme slowed down long enough to steady Ilaria, then cast out a paw towards a tree house. "Aha! May I present our abode away from home." She flipped a switch hanging down from a wire and the tree flushed full with multi-colored holiday lighting. "You like it?"

"I... I love it." Ari blinked a few times as both her eyes and her mind adjusted to the odd sight. "How did you even...?"

"Remember when Yoyo said I could borrow his jeep? Well I settled for just the battery. You wouldn't believe how many miles of lights I had to untangle though. I swear it looks more professional inside." Rhyme pulled down on a rope ladder to keep it taut, then offered a paw to help Ari climb up. "Come on. I've got ya'."

"Such a ~gentleman~." Ari stepped up on the ladder, then alternated between pulling upward with her arm and securing her last hold with an anchoring tendril until she reached the warbled platform of the tree house. "Why thank you, Rhyme. Now get up here so we can... Wait, what's that smell? I know that smell."

Rhyme did as requested and climbed up, then half-crawled over to a picnic basket in the far corner. "Your brother refuses to stop his attempts at making up for last night. I'm not complaining if I get free burgers out of it, though."

"Burgers?" Ari watched puzzled as Rhyme set up two sets of plates and wine glasses, only to smile in relief when the food followed. "Tuna burgers! I knew I remembered that from somewhere."

"Tuna? I mean... Well I guess you're otters, after all. Huh." Rhyme inspected her own burger a moment, then shook her head and served up two pours of white wine. "So I take it he chose wisely? Your face is lit up brighter than this tree house."

"I just... Tuna's so ~rare~ after the Reclamation War and the radiation it caused. I haven't had this but one other time since all that happened." Ari sat down over her knees and fidgeted before her meal. "You can't even begin to understand how much I've missed this. This was my favorite dish as a whelp: my childhood between two buns."

Rhyme snorted as she fought back a laugh. "Yoyo came through then. Good. Don't hold back on my regard, girl."

"Thank the gods." Ari smiled as she fought to bring her burger to her mouth with only the one paw, but managed a hefty, sloppy chomp. "Mnn... That's good. You're sure Yoyo made these?"

Rhyme chuckled and brought a napkin to Ari's chin, wiping away some secret sauce that tasted vaguely of redfish blacking spice. "You're a mess. At least you're smiling again."

"Seriously, this is better than sex right now," the otter garbled out between chewing and churring in delight.

"Better than sex, huh?" Rhyme more tamely tried her own burger, finding it surprisingly spicy and quite to her tastes. "Okay, it ~is~ pretty good now. Not sure about 'better than sex' though."

Ilaria slowed her fervent assault on her meal when Rhyme's eyes shot to what might be called a wall for a shanty like this. "Sorry... I forgot you hadn't, you know, until last night..."

"I'm fine, Ari. I'm still pissed at Yoyo, but I don't hate him." Rhyme chewed another, larger bite of meaty fish burger as she lamented over a new concept. "I just didn't realize it can feel that way and now somehow I'm nothing but distracted thinking about my... loins..."

Ari politely killed a chuckle before it could begin. "You're in heat, and that's apparently pretty normal. Shame to hear you're not living up to the Zen master title though."

"Your brother ~disturbed my chi~." Rhy sighed and kept slowly working on her meal, enticing Ari to do the same. "Sorry if I'm a little distracted because of it. I'm just trying not to... well, not to break down and shove a paw between my legs."

"Ooh, to ~find your center~? Keep talking..." Ari grinned through her little joke, but rolled her eyes as Rhyme failed to react kindly towards it. "If it makes you feel any better, I think I might be starting a heat of my own. Who knows? Might be because of everyone around me."

"Gods, that'd be evil."

"Well you're doing gads better than most women. Just try not to think about it and you'll be better off." Ari scanned the tree house, gobbled down the last of her burger, and licked her paw clean. "Oh, what's that? Don't tell me our telescope survived out here. At the very least I'd expect some other kids would have stolen it by now."

"Nope. Your dad stashed it in the basement." Rhy reached over for the device and placed it by a 'window' in the wall. "Looks like it still works fine. Your dad was saying he fixed it up, something about it being a 'family treasure' now."

"Yeah... It was Robyn's, actually. I can't believe he remembered such a small thing." Ari reached over and fidgeted with the primary focus until the image inside turned clear. "She always dreamed of the stars. I just wanted to peep on the neighbors though, like this."

Rhyme took a look through the view glass and smiled. "Of ~course~ you'd pick that one randomly."

"Hmm?" Ari checked the view herself, only spotting one of the neighbors across the lake. "The Persimmons' place? You know them?"

"I lived there at one point. They're... my last foster family." Rhyme took control of the high-powered spyglass and chose another house at random. "They aren't as nice as they try to appear."

"I... remember now. They had their kid run away the year I started high school." Rhyme found Ari staring and the otter shot her gaze towards the lake suddenly. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to bring something like that up."

"Don't be. I'm actually glad to hear they made a fuss about it." Rhyme stopped panning the telescope and offered the view to Ari. "You don't want to know what that old man did to me. At least there's only a few hidden scars. Here, check this out..."

Ari looked through the lens a bit more reluctantly now, but latched on for dear life when she noticed what she was watching. "Holy crap. That's Yoyo and Dee... with the window open?"

"They're cute like that. It's probably because we can't actually see anything below the waist though." The tanuki took another peep and smiled as she watched a few seconds of one otter trying his hardest to send the other through a mattress. "Not helping me any, but at least it's a sort of harmless revenge."

"Well that's not nearly enough reparation if you ask me. He can't ever pay back what he stole from you." Ari grunted as Zoë closed the window blinds and a composite of flustered and annoyed feelings rushed over her wireless Link. "A~nd they found us."

"Don't hate him only to regret it. You have a bigger heart than that. I know it. I've seen it in the way you are with your family, with the crew..." Rhyme took control of the scope and slowly scanned around with a sigh, soon leading into a mumbled song just below talking level. "All the colors of the rain~bow... hi~dden 'neath my skin. Hearts have colors, don't we all know. Re~d ru~ns through our vei~ns..."

"That's... beautiful. You have a hell of a voice, hon." Ari sat back to listen some more, leading Rhyme with, "Continue, please."

"...Uh..." Rhyme took a moment to collect herself and choke down some rising embarrassment. "Fee~l the fire burning up; inspire me~ with blood of blue and gree~n. I~ have~ ho~ope~... inside is not a hea~rt, but a kalei~do~scope..."

Ilaria waited a few seconds until she was sure the little tune was over and then lightly clapped her paw against her thigh. "That's wonderful. I don't think I've ever heard that one before."

"It's an old song, but the telescope and the whole..." Rhy's face flushed full when she noticed Ari was looking at her with some sort of intent in her eyes. "Well, nevermind. I just like it."

"You've got some oomph in those lungs of yours, girl. I think I may have just found a real vocalist for our band." Ari chuckled as she remembered the former band, plus Robyn in some of her happiest moments as well. "Don't stop, Rhy. What else you know?"

"I... I'm not in the mood for more. My contacts are dying on me and it's getting cold out here. I brought a blanket, but..."

Ari slid closer and pulled the smaller fur into her lap. "Well that's one solved." She reached for the mentioned blanket and threw it over Rhyme's front, haphazardly draping the corners over her own back. "So what can we do about the other now that we're comfy?"

"Damn, you're like a furnace. Something to be said for otter fur." Rhyme reached into her pants and pulled out a small spectacle case. She nervously popped it open and then carefully replaced her contacts with a set of nerdy, amber-lensed glasses. "Please don't laugh. I don't ever show people these."

"They're cute in their own way. Nothing to worry about." Ari formed her own glasses out of nanites and smiled as she morphed them from the normal memorized shape to one that matched Rhyme's own. "See? We can both rock the secret glasses now."

Rhyme chuckled and eased up a bit more in Ari's loose hold. "Thanks. I got nothing but flak for these in highschool."

Ari tilted her head a bit so she could see below her amber tinted glasses with one eye. "So mine are this color because of ~me~ being the same one, but... You don't mind me asking why yours are yellow, do you?"

"I have some oddball eye thing. I don't need these for magnification or whatever, just for the filtering." Rhyme huffed indecisively, then chose to remove her glasses and face Ari. "I can't see past my arm without them. And don't say it... I know they look different somehow..."

Sure enough, Ilaria stared deeply into two faintly glowing, indigo irises. "Again you remind me of Carbon." Ari took the glasses and held a lens over Rhy's left eye, the iris reverting back to a light brown or hazel color once filtered. "I get it now. These block something that blinds you?"

Rhyme took back her glasses and placed them properly on her snout. "That's my basic understanding. Everything's too bright without them."

"I know Carbon can see more than the visible spectrum, so you're probably the same. Cool, as long as there's a workaround." Ari picked up one of the contacts Rhyme had discarded and nodded to herself as she found it was also amber in the center. "You have nice eyes in either case... But no distractions! Your voice is even better, so why not show it off?"

Rhyme groaned in discomfort for being put on the spot, then tried something she thought might satisfy the insistent otter. "...Ground control to Major T--"

"No. Not that one." Ari rolled her head side to side, then fell to her right with Rhyme in tow. "Sorry... That one just has special meaning now."

"I just thought... One of the guys said you were singing it on the bridge when we took off." Rhyme hissed out a sigh as she read Ari's body language like a book. "Reminds you of her?"

"Last song we played as a band." Ilaria took a deep breath and expelled her bad thoughts with it. "Sorry for ruining the mood. We can just call it a night if you want."

"Where's the fun in that?" Rhyme pulled the blanket around so it covered the two of them more evenly. "She's always in your head, huh? There's a certain beauty in the way she's still alive like that."

"I'm really sorry. I just haven't been so close to someone in what feels like forever, and it's been even longer since I've been on a date." The otter jumped as she realized her own words. "Not that this is a ~real~ date, uh... Right? But it's still..."

"It ~is~ a date. But, it's fun. You're one of only a few furs that ever just liked the real me." Rhyme pressed her head backwards in an odd analog for a nuzzle. "And I like you too."

"I... I have to admit, my intentions weren't..."

Rhyme stopped Ari with a stronger nuzzle. "I don't mind. Think about your wife... Think about me... Just whatever you do, enjoy it and be yourself. It fits you better."

"S-...Sorry."

Rhyme stared forward in still silence for a moment, then once the moment shifted into uneasy silence she barely raised her tender voice. "Something al~ways bri~ngs me back to you. It ne~ver take too long. No matter what I~ say or do... I'll still feel you~ here, till the moment I~I~'m gone."

"Rhyme, that's... wonderful."

The tanuki smiled as she wove her fingers with the webbing of Ilaria's paw. "Se ~~t me fre~e~. Leave me be~~. I don't want to fall ano~ther mo~ment into your gra~vi~ty. He~re I a ~~m... and I sta~nd so~ tall, just the wa~y I'm~~ supposed to be. But you're on to me~, and all over~ me~..."

"Gods... Bless that fucking voice of yours, Rhy." Ari hugged the tanuki in thanks. "That was perfect. You know just the right songs. Thank you."

"Same artist as the last. She really knows how to put emotion in her songs." Rhyme placed her glasses in her nearby case and closed her eyes. "Now if you really want to thank me, you'll let me borrow you for a few more hours. That leather couch in the office isn't exactly cozy and I have a feeling your dad would want to have some more uncomfortable talks."

"Sorry... He's just being a good father: prying, but with the right intentions." Ilaria wrapped her tail around Rhyme's leg and moved as close as she could manage. "You can hide away with me. I'm all yours, if you'll have me."

Rhyme smiled and softly mumbled past a yawn. "Gladly."