Dinner
A meal of meetings and more. Written 2016.
Tod woke up to another day. He got himself ready and went to work. Another day with the same morons and idiots that were so sure that their life was so much more important than his. If he didn't still need the paycheck, he'd quit. Come to think of it, he didn't need the money anymore; rent was covered and what he got from the shows would cover anything else. At the end of the day, he turned in his name tag and told the manager they could get some other idiot to do it. He was glad to get out of there and back to the solitude of his apartment. Life was gonna be good.
He tossed his coat at the closet and changed out of his work clothes, then flung himself on the couch. Time for some trolling and porn before the night's gig. Who gets it today? He woke up his computer and loosened his pants, then checked the news. “Oh, you've got to be kidding."
He opened a story about the morph rights group Anthrocon holding a protest outside a rally for some presidential candidate. With their name, he always figured they should be anti-morph, but it had some historical significance that he didn't give a shit about. He read through the article. They called themselves furry fans or furries and dressed up in costumes to look like morphs. It said that a couple of them climbed over the barrier and security started shooting: seven dead, five of them human, and dozens injured, many trampled by the fleeing crowd.
“What an easy target," he laughed and picked a pro morph site from his bookmarks. As he suspected, there was a lot of whining about the tragedy and persecution of morphs. They were just begging to get knocked down by a solid dose of the truth. He logged in and prepared his counterpoint.
KnuckleTwist [Those idiots got what they deserve. Whoever thought it would be a good idea to dress up as throps and shout at people with guns was a moron]
He watched as all the responses he expected quickly popped up: from “How could you say that?" and defense against morphs to personal attacks and threats. They said they hate him, but they just couldn't resist responding whenever he poked at them.
KnuckleTwist [The senator was just there to voice her opinion and this so-called rights group wants to take away her right to have it. They're hypocrites and militant idiots]
Another flurry of responses: from rants on the senator's policies and conspiracies about her involvement in anti-morph terrorist groups to complaints about the other candidate and his morph control policies and of course more personal threats.
KnuckleTwist [Wake up and face the future. Both candidates know that we need to control the throps. They got their freedom, what else do they need. Humans aren't going to bend over and be slaves]
And it exploded. He was now in control of the entire conversation. Everybody was talking about what he said. It was glorious. Private messages were flooding in, but he didn't even bother to read them; none of those idiots were worth responding to.
Now to top it off with some relevant porn. He opened another bookmark beside it, so he could still watch the rants. He needed something worthy of the event and found it.
The video showed a naked female horse morph bound and gagged and looking terrified. A man wearing nothing but a black hood slipped a noose over its head and tightened it on its neck, then another man in a hood slapped the horse's rear to make it whinny and shuffle its feet.
Tod grinned and got himself ready.
The first man moved behind the horse and rubbed its huge exposed vulva, then slapped it. The throp tried to move away, but stopped when the rope pulled at its neck. The man pulled the horse's tail then pushed his dick into that huge vulva. He grabbed its hips and started pounding away at it while the horse tried to hold still.
Tod stroked his own while he watched the man finish, but that wasn't what he was waiting for.
They cleaned up the horse, then the other man took his turn. He was bigger and thrust harder, making the horse stumble and pull at the rope. He smacked its hips and punched its back, but the horse stayed standing until the man couldn't hold back any longer and yanked out to cum on the horse's tail.
Still not there, Tod stroked and grumbled, “Come on."
They pulled a heavy table behind the throp and put a machine on it. One of them showed the horse a huge dildo and it tensed in fear, then he attached it to the machine. They forced the dildo into the horse's vulva and it shuffled to keep its balance. They both smacked its rear, then turned on the machine. The horse danced as the dildo pistoned in and out. It strained against the rope, trying to keep its balance, but the penetrating pounding was relentless.
Tod stroked faster, eager for the final end as the horse's legs began to give. “Come on. Finish it. Harder. Almost there. Come on." He didn't notice the closet opening until a furry head peeked around it. “What the fuck!" He jumped as he lost control, hitting his shirt, pants, couch, and computer. He quickly remembered that he had a throp living in his closet now. “What the fuck are you doing? You're supposed to stay in there."
“I'm… going out with some friends," Ciji watched as Tod tried to keep his lap covered while he assessed the mess.
“What friends? You just got here. Nobody wants to do anything with you."
The genet didn't want to upset him anymore and spoke softly, “I have friends and I like to make new ones."
“Whatever. Go on, get out of here." Tod waved his hand dismissively as he tried to wipe off his computer with the towel he had waiting.
“Um, can I have a key, so I can get back in?"
“No. And I'm going out tonight too, so if you're back before I am, you'll just have to sit outside and wait."
“Oh, okay." The morph ducked back into the closet and pulled out its cart.
“Where are you taking that?"
“Just some things for tonight."
He saw the stilts and computer. “Well, if you don't come back, anything you leave behind is mine."
“I'll be back." Ciji opened the door and pulled the cart out, then closed it gently.
“Not if I don't let you." Tod threw the towel towards the door, then looked at his clothes. His concert shirt had spots on it now. He took it off and headed for the bathroom to wash it, hoping it would dry in time.
“Hey Ciji!" Greg waved from his car and the genet hurried up to it in the misty rain. He hopped out to put the cart in the trunk and close the door after the morph got in, then hurried around to the driver's side. “Not a good day for fur, is it?"
“Could be worse. Where are we going?"
Greg pulled away from the curb. “We've got to pick up Benny, then we'll meet everyone else for dinner before heading to the bar to set up. Hey, what do genets eat?"
“I think they eat small animals, insects, fruit, … But I'm an American morph that was raised on chicken nuggets and cheeseburgers. I guess the answer is: whatever they want."
He laughed “Well, we like this place and I hope you do too. They've got pretty much anything you could want, though I don't think I've seen any insects on the menu."
“That's okay, I think I'll be able to find something else," Ciji made a yuck face and Greg laughed again.
He pulled over and rolled his window down to call to a guy on the other side on the street, “Come on, Benny, back seat."
The chubby guy hurried across the street as the rain got harder and opened the door to dive into the back seat. He closed the door and wiped water from his face.
“Hey Benny, this is Ciji. Ciji, Benny."
The morph got up in the seat to reach around and offer a hand.
“Whoa, hey, you are small." He carefully shook the smaller hand and smiled. “How'd you keep your fur dry in all this?"
Ciji smiled and sat back down as Greg pulled out again, “I got in before it started."
“Lucky." He tousled his hair to shake the water out. “So, are you one of those Swedish animal morphs?"
“No, my family is from Texas. I'm just short."
“Oh, sorry."
“Why?"
Benny shrugged, “I don't know. It must suck being short."
“I like being my size. It gives me a chance to find new ways to do things."
Greg parked the car and turned it off. “Alright, we're here. Do we want to wait a bit or make a run for it?"
Ciji looked up at the clouds, “It's supposed to rain all night."
Benny leaned forward to point out the windshield, “There's Blake running in."
Greg shrugged, “Guess we're getting wet. The parking lot looks like it's flooding a bit. Do you need any help?"
Ciji looked at the water flowing across the pavement and hesitated, “Um, I…"
“Oh come on." Greg snatched the morph under his arm as he ducked out of the car and hurried to the restaurant.
Ciji curled up and held on until the big man stopped running.
“You can let go now."
The small morph looked down and found the floor to stand on, then looked up at Greg, “Um, thanks."
“Don't worry about it. I figured you might be too proud to ask me to carry you."
“No. No." The genet brushed its clothes straight. “I just started thinking of what might help in that situation."
“That would be me."
“No, something somebody my size could carry around."
Greg chuckled, “Think about that later. Everybody's waiting for us."
Ciji followed him to the table, “Well, it's kind of my job."
“Hey Greg! Where's your dancing morph?"
He led the genet through the crowded restaurant to the large table of people waiting for them.
“Whoa, hey, it's…" The tall man standing up looked from Ciji back to Greg. “What is it again?"
The small morph stepped up and offered a hand, “I'm Ciji… and I'm a genet morph."
“Right, wow, I've never seen a genet before."
“And you still haven't, since I'm a morph."
Some of the people at the table laughed.
“Heh. I'm Blake. Human; Scottish, I think." He sat down as Ciji climbed into a chair beside Greg
“Which part aren't you sure about?"
“The human part," someone at the table answered for him.
“Very funny, Wart. Alright, around the table we've got Tish, Eric's on keyboard, Wart and Nina on guitar, Varney is our magic man, Benny's on drums, and you know Greg on bass."
“Hey, we need another chair. I invited Sam."
“Samuel? Why?"
Benny shrugged, “He's the only other morph I know."
“So?"
“I don't know. He seemed interested when I mentioned a genet morph."
“Of course he's interested; He wants to screw anything that won't get pregnant on him."
“Man, this place is packed. You wouldn't expect it with the weather." Tish changed the subject.
“Yeah, it'd be great if they all went to our show."
“Absolutely!" Blake smacked the table and stood up again. “Attention everybody! … I'd like you all to join us at OM tonight at nine." He gestured to the group at his table, “Inverted Aura will be playing all original music all night long. … And for your cover, first drink's on us."
Some of the other patrons cheered briefly and Blake bowed, then sat down again.
Benny leaned towards him, “Doesn't OM already give one free drink with the cover?"
“Details. Tonight, for them, it's from us. Gotta sell it."
A waiter came over and smiled patiently, “Is everyone here now? Are you ready to order?"
“Everyone that matters." Blake spoke up, “I want to start with the nachos; give me the mushroom burger and she wants the curry burger."
Eric leaned across the table, “So, uh, what do genets eat?"
Greg laughed, then ordered, “I'll take the western burger with extra barbecue sauce on the side."
“What's so funny?"
“I already asked. Don't be rude."
The waiter leaned over to Ciji, “Are you ready to order?"
“Why is it rude for me but not for you?"
The genet chuckled, “You can look it up later; I'm going to have the jalapeno burger with bacon and a small extra plate."
The others laughed, then the waiter continued taking orders down the table.
“So Greg says that you can dance." Blake put his arm around Tish and smiled at Ciji.
“Me? I was just moving to the music because I liked the beat."
“That's dancing," Tish smiled.
Greg grumbled, “And then Tod threw a fit because he didn't want fur on his couch."
“Tod?" Nina grimaced, “What were you doing there?"
“I took over the new tracks to let him listen and found out he was keeping Ciji in the closet."
“The closet?" Tish gasped, “What an ass."
“How bad is his place? I always figured it'd be a dump with porn all over the walls." Wart laughed.
Greg laughed, “Nah, he's picky about his place. He keeps it so clean I'm surprised he doesn't make me take my shoes off."
“He sure isn't very careful with our equipment."
“You're right about that."
“If we didn't need him tonight, …"
“I'm with you there." Blake moved away from Tish to check his phone. “But who's going to run the board?"
Ciji touched Greg's arm, “Actually, I wanted to show you something I worked out last night."
“What's that?"
“Well, I listened to all the tracks you gave me and I heard you talking with Tod about the professional cleaning that took out the sound of an ice machine. You said you wished he could do that live. Well, I think I figured out how."
“Really?"
“Yeah, it'd need a microphone or two in the audience and some active noise canceling software, but with some tweaking, we could lessen the background noise feeding back through the speakers."
“Tod said he was already doing that, but never put a mic in the audience."
“Can you do that tonight?"
“I have some software, but I haven't had any time to try it out."
“Think you can at least handle the board for us?"
“I don't know. I've pretty much only had a crash course in my research last night."
“Couldn't be worse than Tod."
Blake stood up. “Great. All in favor of giving Ciji Tod's job?"
Everyone at the table raised a hand. Greg and Eric raised both.
“You're hired." Blake sat down.
“What?" Ciji needed a moment to catch up. “I don't want to take Tod's job. What will he do when he finds out?"
“Nothing, if he knows what's good for him." Nina jabbed her knife on the table.
Ciji gasped, “Don't hurt him!"
Wart took the knife away from Nina and set it on the table, then kissed her neck. “I wouldn't let Nina get in that kind of trouble. But seriously, we should really get you out of Tod's closet. There has got to be someplace better."
Greg shifted uncomfortably, “That brings up the other topic for tonight."
“Wish we could, but it's already the two of us in a one bedroom." Wart rubbed Nina's hand.
Benny shrugged, “I'm on rental assistance and can't let anybody else stay with me or I lose it."
Eric spoke up, “There's room at my mom's place, but I'd have to ask her."
Blake shook his head, “I'm in the wagon and Tish has a roommate."
“Karma said no."
“What?" Tish scoffed.
Greg exhaled heavily. “When I asked, she got angry and said a lot of things I don't want to repeat here." He glanced at Ciji. “It was a surprise to me, but when I found out how anti-morph she is, I left."
“Is that why she's not here?"
Greg nodded. “Now I need to find a place to sleep tonight and a new place to live."
“Damn, man. Never would have thought it."
“Don't worry, we'll get you set up; you and Ciji, both."
“Well, Tod still has an empty bedroom," the genet mentioned timidly.
“Ew. We're trying to get you out of there, not torture Greg, too." Nina dragged the back of her knife across her neck and Wart took it away again.
Greg chuckled, “No… Actually, I think that's a great idea. I can keep him in line until we find something else for Ciji."
Blake laughed.
Benny grinned, “Just wait till he hears this."
Eric grimaced, “Would he let you?"
“He's going to whether he wants to or not." Greg unwrapped his silverware as he saw two waiters carrying trays of food toward them.
“Hey Benny! I got here as fast as I could." A cheetah morph followed behind the waiters. “Where's my seat? Ah, you must be Ciji" He winked and reached across the table to offer a paw.
“I assume you're Samuel." Ciji shook his paw.
“Sam," the spotted cat smiled and held the genet's hand while he examined the new morph, then a waiter brought another chair and he sat by Benny.
“Anything for you?" the waiter asked.
“Nah, I'm good. So, you're a genet. You ever fool around with a big cat?"
“Come on, Samuel, the rest of us are trying to eat here." Blake flicked a small fry across the table at the cat.
Sam picked it up and tossed it in his mouth, “Hey, give a cat a chance to score."
Ciji finished putting the burger together and put the top bun on. “Your score: zero."
The group laughed.
Eric stared at the burger, “That thing's huge. How are you going to fit it in your mouth?"
Everyone watched as Ciji put the small plate on top of the burger, then stood on the chair and pressed it down. It wasn't enough and the genet tried again.
Greg held out his hand, “Need some extra weight?"
“If you don't mind."
He pressed on the plate, then pulled it away.
“Thank you." Ciji cut the flattened burger into quarters and picked one up. The small morph paused, mouth open, and looked around the table at everyone watching, then took a bite.
Blake chuckled, “Pretty smart."
“I've seen a lot of smart things since we met." Greg smiled at Ciji.
Nina self-consciously put down her knife, “Then how did you end up in Tod's closet?"
“Tod's closet?" Sam looked confused, as he stole another fry from Benny's plate.
Ciji swallowed, “I'd been through a lot of rejection from landlords around here because I'm a morph. Tod's ad didn't say no morphs or animals or anything like that, so I gave it a shot. He balked at first, but money was more important… and pizza."
Greg laughed, “It's really good pizza."
“I'm not surprised Tod can be bought." Wart smirked.
Tish put her pickle on Blake's plate, “I'm surprised there are still so many landlords that don't allow morphs."
“I'm not; people are assholes." Nina pointed her knife and Wart took it away again.
Sam swiped a chip from Varney's plate, “Mine's a jerk, but he takes my money. You could move in with me."
“Your place is a dump," Nina threw a leaf of lettuce that hit the cat's face.
“No it's not." Sam picked up the green and ate it.
“Did you ever get that window fixed?" Blake took a big bite of his burger.
“I got it covered."
“I'd rather sleep in Tod's closet than your place." Eric sneered.
“At least the closet's clean." Greg tossed a fry in his mouth.
Ciji looked up at Greg, “Is there a score less than zero?"
He snorted, “Yeah, Sam."
“Hey! I don't know why I hang out with you guys." The cat snatched the pickle from Varney's plate, who snatched it back, then he took Benny's.
Eric leaned across the table again, “So, um, are you male or female?"
Ciji leaned in to answer, “Why does it matter?"
He noticed the others watching and sat back, “I was just wondering."
“Me, too." Sam grinned.
The genet smiled, “If you ever need to know, you will."
He leaned in again, “But what bathroom do you use?"
Ciji sat back, “Whatever one I can, since there are still places that don't let morphs use their bathrooms."
“That's just stupid." Nina jabbed her spoon on the table. “Morphs need to pee, too."
“Guess they expect them to go find a tree." Wart moved his and her knives under his napkin.
“That's not fair."
The small morph sighed, “No, but it's what we have to deal with. Fighting or arguing about it only justifies their argument to themselves that we're animals."
“Humans are animals, too. And a lot are much more disgusting than morphs." Nina glanced at Sam, “Most morphs."
The cheetah morph took a gulp of Benny's drink, “Why do you have to be so mean to me?"
“Because you're a disgrace to sentient beings everywhere."
“You call yourself sentient?"
“ Alright." Blake finished his burger, then put his plate on top of the empty nacho plate, “For the set list, we'll just do the same as last show, nothing special. Eric, don't forget to adjust your volume when you switch from smooth synth to piano; so you don't drown out Tish."
Eric nodded.
“Benny, your set is still in the van from last time. I'm going to take Ciji with us to get familiar with the board. We'll see you guys there." Blake got up and Tish followed.
Greg stood up, “I'll come along."
Ciji interjected, “Can I get a box for this, if we're leaving?"
They boxed it up, paid for their meals and headed out with Benny in tow.
“Yeah, I'll see you at the show. The conversation here's not intelligent enough to continue." Sam snagged the last few fries from Benny's plate as he stood up. “Surprised you're smart enough to pluck a string."
Nina started to get up, but Wart put his arm around her shoulders. She tried to throw him off, but he grabbed her hand. She turned to glare at him, but saw his worried face and leaned against him defeatedly.
Eric idly pushed his fork on the table, “Do you think Ciji is a girl? I think she's cute."
Varney smirked and leaned back in his chair as he bit his pickle, amused.