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The AdvAnTAGE Project

By

Mantrid Brizon

Episode 22: In Heat...

Seated at their workstations, their fingers type away. His eyes are fixated on the screen, as they often are, but hers glance repeatedly toward him. She watches him for a moment, before taking a hand away from her keyboard and inching it toward him. Though she hesitates, she soon overcomes her anxiety and brushes his forearm with her fingertips. In an instant, Louis’ fingers freeze solid. He turns his head, looking toward her with a nervous expression. He gulps quite loudly, so much so that her heightened sense of hearing would not be needed to detect it.

“Y-y-yeah, Macky? Ah-are you alright?” He asks.

“Mmm...” She softly hums.

She bows her head but shifts her eyes, looking up at him so sweetly. She’d seen this pose in movies before, and it always sparked an appropriately sweet response from the man. Will he rest a hand on her cheek and comfort her? Will he steal a kiss?

“D-did you need a refill?!” He asks, slowly scooting the chair away from her.

She furls her brow, then turns her head, glancing at the empty cup that was once filled with sweet tea.

“Just, uhm, l-let me get that for you!” He says with a nervous chuckle.

She watches him closely and can see the nervous man trembling. As he darts off to the kitchen to refill her cup, she sighs. Her heart is heavy. Turning her amber eyes, Mackenzie looks at Connor and Samara, who emerge from upstairs. They spend every waking moment together, and now that AdvAnimals are publicly available, she’s even able to leave the house with him. They waited until a local welcomed the first AdvAnimal to their town.

This local is Mr. Mizrelli, a wealthy and popular lawyer whose only in his mid-thirties. In short order, his AdvAnimal, a Cheetah girl named Paige, became the talk of the town. Even after introducing both Samara and Victoria to the town - the feline was forced to disarm and wear conventional clothes, instead of her bodysuit - Paige continues to be the topic of much discussion.

“Here you go, Macky! I even got you a bendy straw!” Louis says with a shy smile.

Returning to the workstations and presenting Mackenzie with her cup, the mouse girl smiles as she collects the drink. She makes it a point to brush his hands with hers, hoping for a response. Her heart skips a beat when he holds onto her, though she can feel him trembling. He’s even more skittish than she is. After a moment, he finally pulls his hands away and stammers an almost incoherent line before taking his seat.

Trying to focus on his work, Mackenzie watches him for a moment, her eyes scanning his form. Though she wasn’t expecting him to be a romantic, a man willing to take her outside and parade her throughout a town - this is something that she likely would never be comfortable with anyway, given her own shyness and anxieties - she was hoping that he’d at least show more interest in her.

Glancing back at the steps, Connor and Samara have long since disappeared. She finds them seated together in the living room. Connor has spent less and less time working and more time with his lover, leaving Louis to his duties more or less on his own. Mackenzie has picked up the slack, both to spend more time with him and to keep him from suffering from a breakdown. She cares so much for his well-being. Sitting on the couch near Connor and Samara are Jack and Alessandra. As usual, Alessandra hangs on Jack like an ornament, resting her head on his chest and nuzzling him occasionally.

Mackenzie cannot help but notice how uncomfortable Jack looks, as though he wishes he was somewhere else. Is he not interested in her? Is that why Louis acts the way that he does?! Is Louis afraid to reject her?! Her heart sinks, she closes her eyes and shakes her head. Samara and Victoria have told her before, in their long text conversations, to think positively, to give Louis time and to be patient, even if it’s maddening. Taking one last glance at Jack and Alessandra, however, it doesn’t fill her with hope.

“Come on, Alie...” Jack murmurs, moving his head as she nuzzles his chin.

“Mmnnn...” She whimpers, looking up at him with sullen eyes.

“I’m sorry, just... Please, stop.”

With a little puff, she blows warm air from her nostrils, tickling his neck. It’s one of the many ways she shows her displeasure, as Jack swiftly discovered. Pulling away from him, she rests her clawed hands on her legs and sits upright, looking rather bored as they watch TV. Jack cannot help but notice, and the guilt begins to wear on him.

“Do you want to watch something else?” He asks her.

“Mhm!” She nods, smiling wide.

“Where’s the remote?” Jack asks, looking around.

“Last I saw, it was on the table... I think.” Connor replies.

Swiftly rising to her feet, Alessandra takes the two steps toward the coffee table and begins searching among the piles of mail and old soda pop cans, which they’ve yet to clean up. Finding the remote, she grabs the device, but then she pauses. Her lips curl around her long, angular snout as she flashes a rather sinister grin. Standing bent over, she looks back at Jack, her exceptionally long, tapering tail swaying gracefully behind her. Her tail lifts, taking much of her orange skirt with it. Jack finds himself staring right at Alessandra’s backside. She isn’t wearing panties; her glossy, jet-black nether lips stare right back at him, free for the taking.

“Never mind...” He grumbles, getting up from the couch.

Connor and Samara raise their brows, perplexed at his behavior. No one, not even Louis, can understand why Jack so consistently rejects Alessandra’s invitations. Realizing that she’s made a mistake, Alessandra straightens her back, drops the remote and runs after Jack, following him like a lost puppy as he walks out of the manor and through the back door. She steps into the sunlight, feeling the warm breeze on her skin. Spring is in the air, and it’s a beautiful day.

She hasn’t seen many of those, certainly not when she was at Gold Base, but not here, either. She’s been kept hidden away, and as her breed were never mentioned before, when Unifact made the AdvAnimals public, she wonders if she’s making yet another mistake. Seeing Jack walking away, however, she whimpers. All she wants to do is follow him. Stopping and turning back, Jack sees her standing halfway down the steps, watching him. He lifts a hand and motions to her.

“It’s okay, Alie. You can come out.”

“Eee!” She exclaims and jumps from the steps and dashes up to him.

“It’s nice... Seeing you smile.” He says, holding out a hand to her.

Taking his hand in hers, she follows him toward a long, rectangular building made of red bricks and with a squared roof of black shingles. There are three large doors in the building. She’s glanced at the building from the windows, but she’s never seen it up close before, nor has she ever glimpsed whatever’s inside.

“Do you remember me saying that I used to have hobbies before you girls came here?”

“Mhm!” She nods.

“Well, here’s one of them...”

Pulling open a large door, it conceals a two-car garage. Stepping inside, however, she finds that there are no dividing walls. She looks to the left and to the right, finding eight vehicles; five cars and an assortment of motorcycles are inside. A 1971 Honda SB175, a 1970 Honda CB350, and Donnie’s 1992 Honda XR200 sit in a far corner. All of them are in mint condition. Beside the bikes is the very familiar surveillance van, the vehicle they’d used to bring the girls back from Gold Base. A series of barrels sits beside it, filled with rolled up decals, ready to be stuck on to disguise the van.

Alessandra steps to her right, approaching a very unique looking vehicle. The 1930 Ford Model A Roadster is painted in a traditional matte black finish, with red trim and a visible engine and chromed side pipes. It draws her eyes like a magnet, more than the 1975 Chevrolet El Camino, the 1978 Ford Mustang II Cobra, and the Vintage Volkswagen Beetle with dune buggy conversion.

“Ooohhh!” Her emerald eyes grow wide as she marvels at the old car.

“Hobbies are a good thing to have. It’s a healthy distraction. When Donnie was out doing whatever, and Louis and Connor were busy helping him, I was the odd man out. I sometimes got to help, but I spent most of my time spending my money on guns and car parts. I once spent a whole year with nothing to do but restore that El Camino. It kept me busy, kept my mind occupied. Maybe you could have a few hobbies of your own?”

“Hm?” She turns back and raises a brow.

“I didn’t mean restoring cars or anything. We have a pool we never use, and there’s a garden that someone probably took care of some thirty years ago... I’m just saying, it would be healthy if you had something to do other than...”

As he pauses and Alessandra’s heart sinks. Her smile fades and she looks him over very carefully.

“I just want you to be happy, is all.” He says, looking down at his feet. “Anyway, what do you think?”

Seeing his warmth, her smile returns. Alessandra looks around at the vehicles, taking a moment to admire her reflection in the polished chrome of the Model A’s supercharger. Resting her hands on the passenger side door, she bends over, and once again she lifts her tail. Imitating the starlets of the black and white films that play so often at two o’ clock in the morning, she swiftly turns her head and throws her beautiful, black hair over her shoulder. Once more attempting to use her feminine wiles, Jack grows increasingly frustrated. With a heavy sigh, he turns and leaves the garage.

“Come on... Let me show you the other stuff.”

Walking out of the garage and across the large backyard, Jack leads Alessandra past a large, empty pool that’s dug into the ground. Alessandra’s eyes grow wide and she cocks her head.

“One of these days we might fill this up with water... After we clean it.” He murmurs.

Taking out her phone from a small pocket sewn into her skirt, Alessandra begins to type on the keyboard.

“You never swam here?” She texts him.

“No. I don’t actually know how...” He sheepishly replies.

“They tested my swimming before taking me to Gold Base. I loved it. I could teach you how to swim.”

“That’d be nice.” He says with a little smile. “Come on. You might like the garden, too.”

Continuing along the backyard, he leads her to an overgrown plot, adjacent to the house. Blocked by a fence and some natural hills, the plot was once a neatly crafted field of flowers and shrubs, all of which are now tall, scraggly and overgrown. Seeing a large patch of orange flowers, Alessandra drops down to her knees. She smells the flowers and strokes them, before plucking one and examining it closely.

“You like these?”

“Mhm!” She nods.

Taking the plucked flower, she turns her eyes up and to the left as she tries to see herself placing the stem in her hair, just above her ear. She looks to Jack so innocently and smiles.

“Very pretty.”

“Hmm!” Her smile widens.

She turns back and plucks another flower, then turns around and presents it to him. However, as soon as he reaches for it, she pulls her hand away. He watches with a furled brow as she slips the stem between her large and perky breasts. Using her upper arms to squeeze her bust together, her eyes narrow in a lustful gaze as she leans forward, tempting him to reach in and take it from her bosom.

“Rrr... Damn it! Will you just stop?!” He snaps at her.

Taking a step back, Alessandra’s brow softens and she brings her hand to her face.

“You keep doing this all the fucking time! Please! Stop!” He growls.

She runs a finger along her bottom lip as she listens. She sniffles and her emerald eyes begin to gloss over. The AdvAnimal turns and promptly runs back into the house, visibly hurt by his reaction. Stunned and frustrated, at both her and himself, Jack looks down at the flower, which fell from between her breasts as she fled from him. Taking a knee, he picks it up and holds it. As his own eyes well up, he takes a deep breath.

“Shit...”

Entering the house shortly after her, Jack finds the flower that was once in Alessandra’s hair. It’s lying on the floor, next to a trash can. She must have tossed it as she ran and missed her mark. Picking that flower up as well, he walks slowly into the manor, only to pass the steps and stop. Louis, Connor, Mackenzie and Samara all look to him. While his friends are quite perplexed, the girls stare daggers at him, silently demanding and explanation for why Alessandra is so upset.

“She went upstairs... If that’s what you’re wondering.” Louis speaks softly.

“Oh... Okay...”

Jack steps closer to the workstations, glancing repeatedly at the staircase.

“So, uhm... What’s going on?”

“With us or you?” Connor asks.

Jack can only stare at him for a moment before averting his eyes.

“Well, uhm, we have something you might be interested in!” Louis begins, trying to change the subject.

“What’s up?”

“Yeah. When Donnie got up, we were going to share it all.” Connor adds.

“Turns out, Macky’s a genius.” Louis turns to her and grins.

His attention makes the mouse girl bow her head and bashfully look away, struggling to hide her growing smile.

“We were looking over those old codes, just to see what we could learn, and she noticed something.” Louis continues. “Turns out, the codes are always increased in multiples of eight. We tested out an algorithm and we think we can predict the next set of codes for Red Base.”

“You mean?!”

“We can still get you in.” Connor smirks.

“We should plan for a mission, then!” Jack chirps.

Taking this as a hint, Samara leaves Connor’s side and heads for the basement. Early into their stay, Jack entrusted her with the codes to their armory, and as the one-woman security team for The Four Horsemen and their girls, she’s become comfortable with everything in Jack’s collection, from his weapons and ammo to his safes and gunsmithing tools. After polishing off the last of her sweet tea, Mackenzie abruptly rises from her seat and leaves, heading toward the small bathroom at the end of the hall. Louis watches her closely, nibbling on his bottom lip rather nervously.

“I guess that’s my cue to go fetch Donnie, huh?” Jack asks his friends.

“Eh... Him and Vicky have been sleeping in a lot, lately. You can always tell them later.” Connor replies.

“Unless you want to go up and...” Louis hesitates to finish his sentence.

“What?” Jack glares at Louis, a sternness in his voice.

“Nothing... Excuse me!”

Promptly rising from his seat, Louis darts away and enters the kitchen.

“I think you scared him.” Connor remarks.

“Everything scares him.” Jack says with a sigh, rubbing his forehead with his palm. “He’s right though... I should probably talk to her...”

“What did you do, anyway?”

“I told her ‘no’... A lot more forcefully than usual.”

Clearing his throat, Connor slides closer in his computer chair, looking up at Jack.

“What the hell is going on with you, man? I really don’t get why you’re so... With her.” Connor speaks in a hushed voice.

“You want to know what it is? Are you really that curious?” Jack asks.

“Well, yeah! I asked you, didn’t I?!” Connor whispers loudly.

“I... Want her to love me...”

“...”

“But the way she comes off, it’s like... It’s like I’m all she has in the world. For one, that’s not healthy, but for two, it’s how she shows her feelings that bothers me. It’s like... I don’t know... I sometimes feel like I’m just a breathing machine for my dick, and that her only goal in life is to... Never mind.” Jack sighs, bowing his head and looking at the floor. “I probably sound really stupid, don’t I?”

“Eh... A little.” Connor smirks.

“Easy for you to say. You let Sammy have it right away.” Jack retorts.

“So?”

“So, doesn’t it ever bother you? I mean, don’t you feel like if you held out until you really got to know each other, it would’ve been better?”

“No.” Connor bluntly replies.

“Okay, then.”

“Look, man... I never thought I’d have this talk with you, but here’s my honest opinion... I feel like that whole thing is an outdated concept. Most people don’t wait until they’re married before they have sex. Hell, some people don’t even wait to say “I love you” before they do it these days. I love Samara. I’d kill and die for her, and I told her as much. She made it clear what she wanted very early on, but I told her I didn’t want her to come after me if she was going to do it with you guys, too. “I don’t want to be your entertainment”, I said. She wrote me a little note saying that I was all she wanted, and then later that night, she came into the study while I was putting away some computer manuals and... Well... It is what it is. She knew what she wanted and so did I. I wouldn’t change a damn thing.” Connor scolds him in a rather stern voice.

“You make it sound so easy.”

“Sometimes, Jack, the love and the sex come at about the same time. Just don’t think that because she’s trying to jump on your bone, she isn’t looking to keep it all to herself.” Connor says with a little smirk.

“Spoken like a true poet... Look, uhm... Thanks for the talk. I’m going to go tell Donnie the good news. You should print out a badge for this coming Monday, just to be on the safe side.”

“Okay.”

Walking away from Connor, Jack reaches the staircase at the same time that Mackenzie emerges from the hallway bathroom and Louis pokes his head out from the kitchen. The perpetually nervous Louis carries a pitcher full of freshly mixed sweet tea. Climbing the steps, he heads down the hall where the girl’s rooms are located, at the opposite end of the house. The lone exception is Victoria’s room, which Donnie now shares with her. After their first night together, he moved in with her, and just as he’d said to Martin, he sleeps beside her every night, and sometimes well into the morning.

As Jack stands before their bedroom door, he looks down the hall, staring at Alessandra’s door. He can feel a stinging in his chest, and though he feels the urge to visit her first, something gives him pause. Instead, he balls a fist and knocks.

“Hhrm?” Donnie grumbles from the other side.

“It’s Jack. Are you decent?”

“No... Give us a-”

The clopping of hooves causes Donnie to call out, but his groggy voice is slurred. Opening the door, Jack’s eyes grow wide at the sight of the towering Victoria. The six-foot-four, silver furred mare AdvAnimal stares down at him with an expressionless face, her sapphire eyes half closed. She looks very sleepy, and she’s also completely naked.

“Babe! Come back here!” Donnie calls out to her.

Clearing his throat, Jack watches as she turns around and walks back to the bed, her hooves dragging every few steps. She crawls into bed, lying on her side, and covers herself with the bedsheet, slipping an arm around her lover and snuggling with him.

“Mmmm...” She coos, nuzzling his face.

“Aww, that’s my girl. I love you, babe.” He says, before kissing her tenderly.

“Mmm!” She coos a little louder, kissing him back.

“So... Why the sudden intrusion?” Donnie asks, lifting his head from the pillow.

Standing in the couple’s bedroom, Jack glances at a wastebasket placed near the nightstand. It’s filled with only three things: bundled Kleenex, from Donnie’s and Victoria’s shared allergies, and used Trojan Magnum condoms, along with the corresponding golden wrappers. The sheer quantity they’ve used in only a month is astonishing.

“Well... Someone’s been busy.” Jack remarks.

“It’s early, man. What’s going on?” Donnie snaps at him.

“Actually, it’s half-past noon.” Jack points at a clock on their nightstand.

“Oh... Well, you know what I mean! So? What’s brings you in here, at the crack of noon?” Donnie smirks.

Without missing a beat, Jack reveals everything that Louis and Connor had told him, even laying out some details for a potential mission to infiltrate Red Base. Donnie sits up, a strange expression on his face as he listens. To Jack’s shock, however, Donnie doesn’t appear excited or even interested in the news. If anything, he looks anxious, even fearful. Victoria shares his looks, sitting up and covering her ample breasts with the bedsheet as she turns to her lover. Donnie and Vicky stare into each other’s eyes for a moment, leaving Jack to wonder what they’re silently discussing.

“That’s great news... Right?” He finally asks.

“Yeah... I guess...” Donnie murmurs.

“What’s wrong, Donnie? You’re usually all gung-ho about this kind of stuff.”

“Listen, Jack... I love Vicky, more than anything. I can’t live without her...” Donnie begins.

“Mmmm!” She promptly hugs and nuzzles him.

“Aww, baby.” He smiles and rubs her back. “See, Jack? I never used to get it, why some people would just let things happen and say ‘well, I have a family so it’s not my problem’. People just letting their government do whatever and get away with it, letting gangsters do whatever and get away with it. Never standing in the way of bad people. I used to think those people were cowards, using their families as shields, but I get it now... I’d never risk Vicky’s life for any reason, and the thought of her crying every night because I got myself...”

Victoria sniffles and squeezes him at the mere thought, prompting him to pet her furry back and shush her, telling her it’s alright.

“I could never do that to her. I get why people are like that now, why they stay out of the way.”

“I don’t believe this...” Jack murmurs.

“I can’t be doing shit like that anymore, Jack. I’m glad they figured that out, bro, but... I’m not going back to Red Base. I’m not going into any base, ever again...”

“So, you’re just giving up!”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Well, that’s what it sounds like!” Jack snaps.

“I’m not giving up, okay? I’m just going to be taking less risks, playing the game a lot smarter.”

“Unbelievable...”

“You’d understand if...” Donnie hesitates to finish.

“You know what? ... Fuck it! I’ll just do it myself!” Jack says as he walks backward, toward the door.

“Bro...”

“Enjoy your life!” Jack exclaims, slamming their bedroom door as he storms out.

“Bro, wait! Don’t do this!” Donnie stumbles out of bed.

Standing in the hallway, Jack turns toward Alessandra’s bedroom. After taking less than a second to decide, he makes his way down the hall, knocks and then turns the doorknob. Lifting her head, he stops in his tracks at the sight of the AdvAnimal girl lying on her side, atop the bed. She sniffles, and her cheeks are glossy with tears, her red flesh glistening. She lifts a hand and wipes beneath her eyes.

“Oh, Alie... I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I just... You push so hard sometimes. I’m not mad at you, okay?”

With another sniffle, she slowly nods her head.

“Look, uhm... I’m going to do something. I was wondering if maybe you’d...”

Furling her brow, Alessandra cocks her head. Before she can reach for her cell phone to ask him what he’s trying to say, Jack speaks the magic words.

“I’m going to try and get into Red Base... Wanna come?”

Leaping out of bed, she has to pause for a moment to keep herself from looking too excited. She smiles and nods her head more quickly.

“Good.” He says with a little smile. “Pack quick. I think Donnie’s going to try and be a buzz-kill.”

She retrieves a small, red backpack from her nightstand, one of the accessory items she asked them to purchase for her, around the same time she picked out her clothes. Pulling open a few draws, Alessandra stuffs the bag full of tops, skirts, panties and her original jumpsuit. By the time she scoops an arm full of CDs and her Walkman into the bag, only sixty seconds have passed.

“Well, that was fast!” Jack chuckles.

Slinging her backpack over her shoulders, she follows behind Jack as he makes his way to his bedroom. Opening his closet door, there’s a backpack already packed and ready to go. It’s unsurprising, considering Jack’s pension for security and preparedness. By the time Donnie pulls on his shoes and dashes down the stairs, he looks toward the workstations.

“Where is he? Where did he go?”

“Who, Jack?” Louis furls his brow.

“Yes, Jack! Who the hell else would I be talking about?!” Donnie barks.

“You don’t have to yell...” Louis murmurs.

“They left.” Connor answers him.

“... They?!”

“Jack and Alie.” Louis replies.

“We gave them the badge, hot out of the laminator, and they took off through the back.” Connor points.

“Damn...”

Racing through the hallway, Donnie barrels through the back door, only to stand on the stoop and watch in horror. With the easternmost garage door pulled open, The Four Horsemen’s surveillance van pulls out. With the driver’s side window down, Jack glares at Donnie, sticks out his arm and waves once, very unenthusiastically. Alessandra sits in the passenger seat, buckling her seatbelt. As the van moves around the manor and reaches the road, Donnie glances inside of the garage. He can see the barrels next to the empty space, the barrels that hold their vinyl decals used to disguise the van. They’re all empty, and one barrel is lying on its side, slowly rolling away.

“What the hell are you doing?” Donnie thinks aloud.

Pacing the floor many hours later, Donnie cannot help but feel a sense of guilt for not being able to talk Jack down. It’s late, and the only word they’ve had from either the human or his AdvAnimal companion is a five second phone call made over an hour ago, giving them the name of the city where Jack stopped for gas. As the grandfather clock in the upstairs study strikes midnight, the tune it plays can be heard from downstairs. Donnie double-checks with the nearest clock. It’s officially Sunday. At Jack’s current pace, he’ll be able to use that counterfeit badge by Monday morning. Perhaps that was the last conversation he’ll ever have with the man? Is that yet another failure?

“Keep this up and you’re going to wear a hole in the floor.” Connor remarks.

“I should’ve stopped him.” Donnie replies.

“He’s doing what he wants to do. You couldn’t have, even if you tried.” Connor replies.

“Jack is competent. He’ll be okay.” Louis adds.

“Jack hasn’t tried this in ten years! Not since we tried to get into White Base, and after that, I was the only one who even thought about it! ... He has no idea what he’s getting himself into.” Donnie retorts.

“Just relax. There’s nothing we can do about it now. If he calls, we can try and talk him into coming home. Who knows! Maybe he’ll get all of the way out there, realize it’s a dumb idea and drive right back!” Connor assures him.

“Yeah. He might just race back with his tail between his legs.” Louis adds.

Mackenzie turns toward him and furls her brow, then looks down at her pelvis, visibly confused.

“It’s just an expression.” Louis says with a little smile.

“Oh...”

She has little time to be embarrassed; her round ears pull back and she winces, her jaw opening wide and her voice squeaking as she yawns.

“Tired?” He turns to her.

“Mhm.” She slowly nods.

“Then you should get some sleep.”

She looks to him, then shakes her head. Lifting her phone, Mackenzie sends Louis a text.

“I should stay with you.”

“It’s okay, Macky.” Louis begins, his voice always becoming softer when he speaks to her. “I don’t want you to be tired.”

“But what if you need me?” She texts him.

“As smart as you are, I probably will!” He chuckles. “But I don’t think anything is going to happen tonight. If I do, though, you’ll be right upstairs. Go ahead and get some sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

With a warm smile on his face, Mackenzie smiles back and nods her head. As she walks past him, she reaches out and touches his bicep. It’s a gentle touch, and she wonders what he’ll do. Glancing back, she can see that Louis’ face is beet red. He looks so nervous again, his arms crossed and his hands gripping his elbows. With a little sigh, she shuffles her way up the stairs. Louis looks between the others, who all wait in the living room for word from Jack and Alessandra. Samara and Victoria share a strange smirk, while Connor’s eyes scan Louis’ form.

“What?”

“Nothing!” Connor grins. “I’m wondering if maybe you should go up and, uh... Check on her.”

“W-why would I n-need to do that?!” Louis’ voice shivers.

“Oh, you know... Just to make sure she’s comfortable!” Connor innocently replies.

“Oh...”

Stepping into her room, Mackenzie closes the door and slowly strips off her light-colored summer dress before pushing off her panties. Like the other girls, she greatly prefers sleeping in nothing but her fur. As she makes her way toward her nightstand, where she’s left much of her personal belongings, such as her hair ties and brush, she glances toward a tablet. The mouse girl is about to remove her braid, but as she holds it over her right shoulder, she takes another look at the tablet. With a little sigh, the dainty mouse girl picks up the device and activates it.

As soon as it’s ready, she presses the icon for the photo gallery app and begins to swipe. Skimming through pictures, she finds the one she wants. Her lips curl into a little grin as she shuffles her paw-like feet toward the bed. She doesn’t even realize how close she is until her legs bump against the side of the bed. Climbing up and onto her bed, she lies down onto her left side, holding the tablet and staring at the picture. It’s a candid photo, taken the day she was given the tablet, a surprise present from Louis.

Pressing the “edit” button, she looks over the potential features, all the while glancing at the door and wishing that he’d knock or perhaps even barge in. Any kind of romantic gesture would be welcomed, even if his sudden assertiveness unnerved her; finally knowing his desires would make it all worthwhile. She listens as she stares at the door. When she finally hears footfalls, they’re not Louis’ but the clopping of Victoria’s hooves, followed by Donnie’s heavier footsteps. She lets out a sigh, turns her amber eyes toward the picture and begins to draw with her finger.

As she looks upon Louis’ picture, a pink heart now framing his face, she cannot help but wonder. Will he ever act? Is he even interested in her? She certainly hopes so. She doesn’t desire anyone else.