How You Play The Game by DOtter

How You Play The Game

DOtter, Character Development, Death, Feline, Fox, Gay, Lesbian, Mouse, Other/Herm, Rape, Threesome

#2 of Roochak's World

"You never win at the game of love. You play until you lose, then play again, until you die!"

-- old French proverb

"Omigawd Sheila, you got it! Like I don't believe 'n stuff but Kuro's gonna be freaked! Like I'm juicy already an' I haven't even seen it yet 'n tonight's gonna be the hawtest..."

Min squealed with delight for the third time. She bounced nearly to the lunchroom's acoustic-tiled ceiling as Sheila put a receipt back in her purse. Several of the staff of Iridescence Inc. gophered at the joyful, feminine shriek; but seeing that it was only Min, they sat back down behind their cubical walls and their keyboards clacked again. Meanwhile the bouncy, Siamese cat was hugging her black-furred, feline playmate. Sheila pulled away enough to face Min.

"Now girlfriend you haven't talked to Kuro since we planned this?"

"C'mon Sheila, I know how to keep a secret... Oh darn! Just a sec."

Min's purse was playing The Dirty Pair theme. She fished out her cell phone and glanced at the Call Waiting report on the external display. She gave a little gasp and her face fell. The phone played on for a bit, then stopped.

"C'mon, just leave a message! You know I'm at work!"

"Min, what's wrong, who is it?"

"...leave a message, don't ring through, just leave a message... A-ya!" she moaned, as the phone started ringing again. She flipped it open and pressed it to her ear.

"Mom, I'm at work, what's the matter!" Her ears started drooping. "But Mom, I told you before I can't make it this year... But Mom, I promised my friends... Mom, a-ya!" she pleaded.

Min glanced at Sheila. She turned to face the coffee machine, away from the door and out of her friend's arms. She spoke to her phone in sing-song Cantonese. Sheila tried to follow the emotional tone of the conversation. It seemed from the set of Min's ears and fur and her occasional, increasingly desperate a-yas that her mother was winning.

"Mom," Min said, reverting to English, "I have to go now! No, Mom... I've already been talking to you for a long time, my boss will get mad. Yes he will... I promise I won't forget the long noodles! Mom... G'bye Mom, my boss is coming, I have to go now!"

Min stabbed the red stop button with a claw tip, slapped the phone shut and stuffed it back into her purse. "A-ya!!!" she hissed, her ears folded back.

"Min, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. I can't come tonight."

"Why girl, what is it?"

"Stupid moon festival... you know, Chinese New Year. It's a big family thing 'n it's fun and there's a big feast 'n everything... but why'd it have to be on Friday this year!"

Sheila looked away. A cloud crossed her face. She shook her head sadly.

"If it's family," she said, "then you have got to be there."

"Aw Sheila, not you too!"

"Look Min, my..." She closed her eyes and swallowed. "...Family is too important, you have to take care of them first! One day they... maybe they won't be there any more. We'll have other weekends with Kuro."

"Yeah, I know, I'm just disappointed..."

But Min's ears were still at half-mast as she grabbed her coffee mug and trudged away to her desk.

Sheila put her own mug on the counter next to the machine. She absently emptied three mini-creamers into the black cup with its cover girl squirrel leaning on a motto, "51% Angel, 49% Devil; don't push me!" She chased the cream with black office sludge and sipped it, still lost in memory. She made a face at her mug, then glanced at the wall clock; eight fifty five. She pulled out her own cell phone and punched the very most convenient speed dial it had.

"Hello lover," she said. "Thinking of you. Listen lover, about tonight... Min couldn't make it, there's a family thing... ...yeah, Chinese New Year. But I still want to try our new toy. Well that's it, it takes three. Well I think it's about time, don't you? I know. Lover, Kuro is getting to be an important part of my life, I need you to like him, too. We both know that sooner or later we have to try. ...that's right, tonight, eight o'clock at his place. Please Sandi, swear you'll be nice!".

Sheila held Sandi's hand as they rode the elevator up to Kuro's apartment. A large duffel bag lay at their feet; puddles expanding from their snow boots threatened to dampen it.

"I've been meaning to ask, do you know what a-ya means?"

"Something Min says a lot?" (Sheila nodded.) "It has no intrinsic meaning. It means whatever you want it to, depending on context and how you say it." The mouse chuckled. "It's kind of a Swiss army ejaculation. Ah hah, yay, hmm, ouch, oh oh, fuck, I dunno and anything else, rolled into one; damn clever these Siamese!"

"Min's clever all right. She's the company's top code editor. She finds and fixes more errors before compile time than most coders catch from compile errors. She saved Iridescence half a million last year!"

"She must be spotting relationships. She's too much of an airhead to be finding them by brute force. She's fun in bed, though."

Sheila closed her mouth on a sharp reply as the elevator stopped on the penthouse floor. She lifted a hand to lick her fingertips, her tongue half out, then glared at her mitten and took it off instead. Sandi picked up their bag. She squeegee'd its bottom with the edge of her snow boot as the door opened. Sheila put a hand on her shoulder as it closed behind them.

"Lover, promise..."

"I've already promised four times."

"It wasn't four times!"

"Once on the phone this morning," Sandi replied, holding up a finger. "Again on the phone at lunch," she continued, adding a second finger. "Once when you got home and once in the cab. Four. In the name of reason Sheil, you'd think you were on a porch full of rocking chairs!"

Sheila's tail lifted at the thought, but she gently stroked the mouse's throat and left a hand on her shoulder.

"Lover, please!"

Sandi sighed.

"I promise, I'll be as nice to Shotgun as he is to me."

"And you'll be objective judging how nice he's being?"

"Give me an objective standard of niceness to judge by. I'll play fair," she added, quickly, "I'll give him a chance!"

"And you'll remember he's probably scared of you and give him space to get used... Quit leering, girl! That's just exactly what he does not need!"

Sandi took the hand on her shoulder in her own.

"I swear Sheil! I'll be nice, I'll play fair with him, I'll give him a chance to be a good guy. I'll even treat him like a good guy if he can prove he is one. Okay?"

Sheila kissed and nuzzled Sandi's hand and purred gently. The mouse smiled and lead the cat, hand-in-hand to Kuro's door. Sheila knocked. A voice behind the door cried out that its owner was coming.

"Wait a minute," Sheila exclaimed. "How can you swear when you don't believe in any... Hey, babe! You gonna open that door or d'you need to think about it?"

"Kitty cat," Kuro murred from behind the security chain, "I haven't stopped to think since I met you. I know you're what I want! Heh. Just a sec..."

Then Kuro paused and peered around the door as well as his long fox's muzzle let him. The welcome in his eyes faded as they lit on Sandi. It returned as he looked back at Sheila.

"...just a sec while I get the chain!"

The door closed, then opened wide. Sheila pounced on Kuro and kissed him almost viciously. Kuro grabbed her into his arms as she jumped and held her close. He let himself be kissed until his lover had calmed down a bit, then returned it with a rising passion. At last their lips parted. Sheila nuzzled her lover's mouth, sighing contentedly.

"Happy to see you too, babe," Kuro murmured.

They both turned at the sound of metal clinking on metal. Behind them, Sandi was setting out an array of dildoes, vibrators, harnesses and other toys. A shiny, stainless steel torpedo glinted in her hand.

"This one's supposed to be chilled," she said. "Okay if I use your fridge?"

"Uh... heh... sure, help yourself. Uh... you use it chilled?"

"Kuro, this is Sandi. Sandi, show Kuro our new toy!"

With a gentle push from Sheila, Kuro crossed his own living room while Sandi crossed to the duffel bag and pulled out a box. Kuro offered a hand. Sandi took it and squeezed as she stood. Kuro returned the pressure as Sandi squeezed harder until both were suppressing grimaces. They let go together; Kuro shook his hand.

"Not bad," Sandi said, as she stretched her fingers and laid them on his chest.

She undid a couple of his buttons and slid her hand under his flannel shirt. She caressed his chest, found and briefly teased a nipple; pressed down his fur and felt the muscles of his chest, stomach, side and back down to the top of his jeans. She smiled at what she found as she withdrew her hand, chuckling at the stunned look on Kuro's face.

"Nice," she said.

"Uh... heh... thanks. Uh... let me help you with your coat."

Kuro started to smile as he reached for the snaps on Sandi's parka. She side-stepped his left hand. Taking his right by the wrist, she put the box she still held in her other hand into it.

"Sheil's new toy," she said and walked quickly towards his closet, undoing her coat.

Sheila draped herself over Kuro and nuzzled his ear.

"Autographed by the world's leading singer/song writer," she said, "dancer, choreographer and yiff advocate!"

Kuro was watching disappointedly as Sandi hung up her coat. He looked down at the box.

"Truth or dare? This takes three people?"

"Three or more," Sandi corrected.

Kuro looked back up at her. Under her parka, Sandi wore little more than her winter coat; the white fur of her pelt, thickened against the wind and cold, was brushed out fluffy. A woollen kilt of red-and-green tartan rode her hips, almost reached her knees and let her tail swing freely; no hint of panties showed above them. She used both hands to tug her long, coppery-red back braid free of the hunter-green half-sweater that covered little more than her small, pert breasts and shoulders. She quickly finger-combed her long side bangs, adjusted her wire frame glasses on her nose and smoothed down the fur on her flat tummy and sides. Sheila nuzzled Kuro's ear as they watched.

"Pretty," Sheila murmured.

"Heh, very!" Kuro replied, grinning.

"Got you off guard?" She gave his ear a little lick. "That's her hobby. Take my coat?"

"Sure, babe."

Sheila wore little more than Sandi under her parka; a red midiskirt and a sheer, white blouse that showed where her black met the white fur of her tummy, chest and throat. But she wore it like her own fur; the black-and-white mounds lifted beneath her blouse as she stretched out from under the heavy coat while her tail exposed her thighs and made the skirt swish as it fell again. She fished a brush out of her parka pocket as Kuro carried it past.

"I'm just gonna fix my hair, sugar. Be nice to Sandi."

"Sure babe, take your..."

He glanced into his kitchen at the mouse; Sandi was rubbing KY onto the steel torpedo with a finger. He watched her put it in the freezer.

"...uh, heh... Hurry back!"

The red fox quickly did up the buttons on his shirt as he retreated to the living room. He read the front of the box. It had indeed been signed in silver marker by the game's creator, a very well known pop singer. (Sheila had gotten her face onto the cover of a national magazine by sharing her tongue with that singer; a nice enough mink she'd told Kuro later, but the girl had issues coming out her tail hole. And an awful lot of dicks going in...) He opened the box, testing the table top to be sure it was dry before he put it there, and took out the rule book. There was a pen and a pad of paper in it besides that, along with a pair of dice and two stacks of cards marked "Truth!" and "Dare!" He looked at the cards suspiciously, then opened the book.

"Three or more players," he read aloud, "five to seven recommended... roll the dice to choose the first player, high number starts... ask second highest number or starting player's choice, truth or dare... pick a card or make up your own, the idea is to embarrass the player... if possible? ...player may change mind take dare instead of truth or truth instead of dare or ask for different challenge, only once... after doing the challenge, the player then asks another player truth or dare in turn... if a player refuses challenge..."

"Paddywhacks!"

Kuro looked up from the book; Sandi was watching him from the doorway, leering.

"If you wimp out on the challenge," she said, "you have to role the dice and bend over. If you get the same two numbers on both dice, you have to drop your pants, too."

Kuro looked back at the book, reading quickly.

"...penalty... players must agree on the penalty in advance. Heh. Okay, paddywhacks. Open hand, though."

"If that's all you want to use. I brought toys for the purpose!"

"You are not using that hunk of steel belted radial!" Sheila exclaimed. Her trademark half-bob now covering her right eye as usual, she wrapped an arm around Sandi's waist and lead them back into the room. "You near took the fur off my ass with that so-called paddle last time you used it!"

"Aw!"

"That hand of yours is a lethal weapon anyway! You don't need no paddle."

"Aw all right, open hand."

"And no breakin' bones, girl."

"She's kidding," Sandi told Kuro, "I've never broken anyone's ass spanking them."

"I better warn you," Sheila replied, "she has a black belt."

"It goes with my lil' black dress."

"Yeah, she has a second dan black belt in lil' black dress."

"I thought that was you, babe," Kuro replied.

Sheila kissed the nearer corner of his mouth and sat on the couch beside Sandi.

"Let's play!" she said.

Sandi stood across the coffee table from Sheila and Kuro, holding her long, red back braid over her head with both hands. The bottoms of her breasts peeked out from under her sweater, but the other two players glanced at each other instead.

"I don't get it," Kuro said. "How come your hair is your least favourite body part?"

"Because it's a pain in the tail to keep up!" the mouse replied. "Sure everybody says it looks good this way, I like the way it looks too. But it needs too much attention! Washing, conditioning and drying takes nearly an hour, depending on humidity. I can think of a lot of things I could do instead of my hair."

"Well then why do you not want me to wash it for you?" Sheila replied. "I keep offering, you only let me braid it!"

"Because you're more distracting than doing it myself! Okay, my turn," she went on, as she sat beside the others. "Kuro, how did you get that scar over your eye?"

The fox immediately stiffened.

"...heh, uh... hey, you didn't ask truth or dare!"

"Well?"

"Dare!"

"I dare you to explain the scar."

For a few seconds he glanced between the two girls and blinked. Then his mouth twitched into a tight, grim smile.

"Okay, you want to know where this scar came from?" He watched Sandi, but she only smirked at him a little. "Detroit. Truth or dare, Sheila?"

"Oh no you don't! I dared you to explain..."

"And I sat here," Sheila interrupted, "and watched you not correct his interpretation of the dare! I'm accepting his answer. Now why don't you be a good sport and let him off the hook. Dare, babe..."

Kuro picked a card off the dare stack. He read it silently for a few dramatic seconds, then turned to Sandi.

"Kiss the person in this room who scares you the most."

Sandi looked back, her eyes wide and her mouth part way open; only for a second, then she turned away. For more than a minute she stared at the coffee table.

"D'you wanna different challenge?" Kuro asked.

But Sandi didn't answer, she just sat holding her hands and staring. Then, all at once, she turned and leaned towards Sheila. Her lips brushed the cat's chin. Then she turned away again and sat, huddled against herself, staring at the table.

"Me?" Sheila exclaimed. "You're scared of me?"

"I love you."

"Lover, I love you, too! You know that."

"Sometimes I feel so vulnerable. You could hurt me in nineteen different ways with three to four variations..."

"I'd never hurt you!"

"Do you know how many abusive husbands say that to their wives? All of them!"

"She's not a man," Kuro replied. "You're not her wife."

"Fatuous!" Sandi spat. "I'm vulnerable to her in exactly the same way."

"Then you can trust her in exactly the same way!"

"Lover," Sheila added, "do you believe that I would ever hurt you?"

Sandi finally looked up at her.

"You have hurt me," she replied. "I know you didn't mean it, I forgave you."

"But... how, lover?"

Sandi glanced around Sheila at Kuro. "I'll tell you later. Truth or dare, Kuro?"

"Wait Sandi," Kuro started. "Maybe we should take a break now..."

"Truth or dare!"

"Well, heh, okay then. Dare."

Sandi gave Kuro a grim smile. "Re-enact in pantomime the incident in which you got the scar."

Kuro buried his face in his hands while Sheila glared at Sandi.

"And I guess if I take a truth challenge instead," he moaned, "you'll ask me the same."

"She'd better not!" Sheila growled.

"Or what?"

"Never mind," Kuro said, "just gimme the dice."

"You don't have to take paddywhacks, babe..."

"I'm not gonna answer the question and I'm not gonna do the pantomime and a deal's a deal. Gimme the dice."

Sheila watched, grim-faced as Sandi handed a pair of dice to Kuro. He threw them into the game box and watched as they rolled; a pair of fours looked back at him. He stood and unbuckled his belt. His pants dropped to the floor and he bent and laid his hands on the coffee table. Sandi undid the Velcro tab above his tail and his underwear joined his trousers. She stroked the fur on his butt cheeks, caressed the firm muscles under it.

"Pretty," she said, and her right hand landed smartly where her left hand had been moments before. Kuro grunted, but didn't move. Sandi gently stroked his other butt cheek.

Kuro sat down gingerly on the couch as Sheila took Sandi around her waist and ushered her into the kitchen.

"What the fuck d'you think you were doing back there?" Sandi growled.

"What was I doing! Did I not warn you about his scar? And here you are getting in his face about it..."

"And you haven't been supporting me! If we're going to break him in..."

"We are going to respect his limits! And if you can't do that, then you will respect the fact that he's our host, or keep your promise to be nice, or however you want to justify backing the hell off!"

"And what if I don't?"

Sheila bared her teeth and leaned close.

"I will cut you off for a month!"

"You're serious, aren't you?" Sandi replied, and she looked at Sheila's fangs. (Sheila just growled.) "Okay, if it embarrasses you that much, I'll let him keep some dignity."

"Thank you," Sheila said, and closed her mouth. "Now let's go seduce our host so we can get to the good part."

The two women walked arm-in-arm back into the living room. Kuro looked up.

"Sandi," he said, "I think you enjoyed that!"

Sandi turned and lead Sheila back into the kitchen.

"Whose side are you on here?"

"What do you mean, whose side? You were enjoying that!"

"Well yeah! I've been wanting to spank someone since you and a certain cougar..."

"Shh!"

"You never told him about Eddie."

Sheila glanced nervously at the doorway.

"Why would I tell one guy about another guy? That's just asking for trouble! Anyway, neither of us ever said anything about exclusive..."

"Then why not tell him?"

Sheila stared with her mouth half-open for several seconds.

"That's not the point!" she growled. "You were being cruel! And Kuro isn't into that kinda shit! This is just a game, girl!"

"Sheil, if anyone but you had said that and our host weren't waiting, I could tear your argument into so many pieces it'd become a chaotic system of its own. C'mon..."

"A what?" Sheila replied, as Sandi lead them into the living room again.

"Thanks babe," Kuro told Sheila, as the two women approached the couch. "When you said paddywhacks," he added to Sandi, "I thought you had something like college initiation in mind. Heh. That was more like B&D and Sheila's right, I'm really not into it."

Sheila and Sandi stopped in their tracks.

"But it's okay, " Kuro added. "I liked how you were stroking me, heh. Just next time, you know, pain without pleasure. Okay?"

"How..." Sheila started.

Kuro pointed to his ear. "They're not just decorations, babe. I didn't mean to overhear..."

The two women turned as one and went back into the kitchen.

"So that's your perfect gentleman," Sandi grunted, "eavesdropping!"

"Okay," Sheila replied, "we were talking kinda loud, but..."

"...but Shotgun just listened in! And now he knows about..."

"I'll deal with that later! Kuro's got some 'splainin' to do!"

"You know why he did it, Sheil. He's just like all the rest, a nice wang with a scoundrel on the other end!"

"But... that's not him!"

"Don't fool yourself, he's under a little pressure and now your seeing the manners drop. This is him!"

"Okay, I'm mad at him too. You know, we really were talking pretty loud..."

"You still are." Kuro stepped through the doorway, knocking on the lintel as he came. "Nice party. Can I come too?"

"Fuck off!" Sandi replied.

"Now just a minute! You're talking about me behind my back, that's not fair! Give me a chance to explain!"

"You had your chance, dick. You couldn't resist coming between us. Out of my face..."

"Between you?"

"Between us?" Sheila laid a hand on Sandi's arm. "When did you see him do that!"

"I wasn't! Sandi, I swear..."

"Don't even start, dick! You have no credibility left to bargain with! Sheila," she said, turning, "him or me."

Sheila stared at Sandi, her mouth hanging open in shock. Then she glanced at Kuro and froze. The fox's lips were parted on clenched teeth. Every muscle in his body was tense. The pale blue of his eyes nearly filled his pupils completely, they seemed almost to glow with rage.

"You can retract that statement," he growled. "Right now."

"What," Sandi replied, her voice shaking, (though with fear or rage Sheila couldn't tell), "that you're nothing but an estrogen-challenged bully who can't understand feminine love, just like every other man? That you can't accept what you can't experience so you have to try to destroy it? It's not my fault that you're too weak to stay out of the..."

If Sandi had anything else to say it was drowned out by a snarl of rage. Kuro stepped forward into Sheila's restraining arm. Both the black cat's eyes were full of horror even under her half-bob; she tried to shy away from the fox even as she tried to hold him back. But Kuro only glared past her at Sandi.

"You gawdamn jealous idiot!" he growled. "You're the one who can't accept that Sheila could really love someone besides you! You're too weak..."

"Kuro, no!" Sheila cried.

But Kuro pushed past her and grabbed the mouse by her shoulders.

"For all your intelligence, you're too weak to stand alone! You couldn't do without Sheila for more than a couple of days! Just the thought of losing her reduces you to a snivelling, jealous wimp! Just look at you, standing there making claims about me that can't even seem logical to you, as if it was impossible for Sheila to love more than one person..."

"Bastard!" Sandi screamed. She grabbed both his arms with her opposing hands, a little below his elbows, and dug her fingertips into them. Kuro snarled in pain as his hands opened on their own. Sandi lunged, her thumbs aimed at the base of his neck. Kuro sidestepped inside the blow, bringing his elbow up for a quick chop to her solar plexus. Sandi grabbed his elbow and used the heave to launch herself into a tuck-and-roll down the hall. She rolled to her feet and sprinted to the bathroom, well ahead of Kuro. He stopped several feet from the door as it slammed shut. He snarled at it, almost as loud as the outraged, painful sobs that were coming from behind it.

"Sandi!" he snapped.

"That will be quite enough!" replied an angry, shaking voice, approaching along the hall.

Kuro turned his furious glare on Sheila, hissing with each ragged breath. The cat only slowed a little, her long tail lashing behind her.

"You know I was right!" he growled.

"I know," Sheila said, "that you just undid in twenty seconds what it's taken me since college to accomplish with her," and she shoved a bottle of Heinekin into his hand.

"I didn't deserve what she was saying..."

"Sandi is not weak. But she is vulnerable, her emotional shielding is thin. You managed to find a hole in her shields and drive your words right into a major childhood trauma. Now why don't you go drink that beer and cool off and leave the damage control to me!"

For a moment, Kuro glared at her; Sheila glared back steadily. Then he put the bottle to his lips, found it already opened and took a long pull. Sheila turned as he did and walked the rest of the way down the hall. Her long tailed thumped against both walls as she went, but she never looked back. Kuro grabbed a second beer from his fridge as he passed it on his way to the living room. His ears twisted back towards the kitchen.

"...babymouse," Sheila was saying, "I need you to talk to me so I know you're okay. Can you say something, baby? Please?"

Sandi's reply sounded something like mother fucker. He turned his ears away and took another long pull on his first bottle. He gave the empty an accusing glare and went to put it down on the coffee table. Something was in the way; the Truth Or Dare box. He went to knock it off the table, but the silver-marker signature caught his eye; worth a mint already, who knew how much in ten years, or when its maker died... He stuck the empty under his arm and tried to close the lid to make room. His hand was still shaking; he settled for leaving the lid loose on top. He set down the empty between two dildoes and wrenched the cap off his second bottle. He looked at the window; it was snowing. Big, heavy flakes were drifting down past him; a good contemplative image for chilling out. He took another pull on his beer and watched the window for a while. Every so often his ear twisted towards the kitchen and the bathroom beyond it.

"...he's not right! I'm not weak!"

"No Sandi, you're not weak. Just sometimes..."

"Sometimes what?"

Snowflakes danced past him.

"...what if I am jealous?" Sandi murmured.

"You don't have to be jealous of me! I'll always love you..."

He drained the last drops from his third bottle and set it beside the rest.

"...Sheila, I can't lose you, I'm sorry..."

Kuro looked at the window. His breath had steamed it over right in front of him. He couldn't see the snow, just his reflection; a handsome fox with a big, ugly scar over his eye.

"Sonovabitch!" he muttered. "What have I done?"

Kuro's watch said midnight. He twisted an ear towards the bathroom; silence. He padded into the kitchen, glancing down the hall as he went. Sheila was sitting on the floor, leaning against the bathroom door, purring so softly he could barely hear it even now. She looked half-dead. He walked towards her, very slowly, making very little noise, though he was sure Sheila could hear. He bent close.

"I'm gonna make some coffee," he whispered. "Want some?"

"Go 'way," she replied.

He straightened slowly and backed away into the kitchen again. He took coffee out of the fridge and reached above it for a filter. Then he paused and cocked an ear.

"He's in the kitchen now," Sheila whispered to the door; she went on, but too softly for him to hear.

His watch said two in the morning. He'd long ago given up trying to hear what the girls were saying, but now he couldn't even hear vague whispers. He got up off the couch and peeked. Sheila was slumped against the door, not even purring. Her tummy rose and fell, slowly and regularly. He ducked back into the living room and grabbed a throw pillow off the couch, then crept up to her and gently slipped it under her head. She moaned in her sleep and sighed.

"Sheila?" came a weak, groggy voice from behind the door.

Sheila stirred a little, but didn't wake up. Kuro leaned close to the door.

"I'm sorry Sandi," he murmured. "I shouldn't've jumped down your throat like that."

There was silence now behind the door; the little mouse was holding her breath, frozen.

"Sheila should've warned you about my temper, I just snap when I'm provoked..." He sighed and looked down miserably at the sleeping cat. "She couldn't've warned you, I've never gotten mad with her..."

Silence still; but Kuro could smell fear coming through the cracks.

"I'm not mad now," he added. "If you like, I'll wake Sheila and go hide in the bedroom. You can leave..."

"No!" came a whisper, then a pause. "Let her sleep."

"Okay..."

Kuro licked his lips. He gave the door knob an uncertain look. He grimaced and bumped the door frame with his forehead. He shook his head. He begged the doorknob with his eyes. Then he looked up. His eyes slowly opened wide and his jaw drooped a little. He showed the doorknob fear; showed it his throat. Then, with a determined grimace, he gently gripped the knob and knelt beside the door behind Sheila. He licked his lips.

"Sandi, there's something I want you to know," he murmured. "It's not that I don't understand, you and Sheila I mean. I've been there. Well, kind of. I, uh... Heh...

"I had this friend. He was a fox cub, like me. He lived across the street. Aiden, that was his name. We were close, real close. Sometimes folks even thought he was my brother 'cause we were together so much. Heh! Then we got older and started going to camp together. Both our folks wanted us to go... Heh, I figure they wanted some alone time, you know? ...we wouldn't, unless we went to the same camp. That's how we were, okay?

"So it was, uh, our third year at camp. The third summer, I mean. There were lots of kids and lots of stuff to do. Mostly we just hung out together, though. I think the other kids didn't like it, but we didn't care. We weren't going to have another camp, we were fourteen, high school was next year. We wouldn't be getting this again. So we hung together.

"It was the fourth week and we'd been learning a lot about woodcraft, camp skills, plant identification and all that. The counsellors announced that we were going to use what we'd learned that week, we were going to spend three days with just one other camper in the woods. So they dropped us two at a time along the shore of the lake. The camp had a lake. The kids got dropped off all around it. Aiden and I were together, the counsellors didn't even argue about it. Heh. That should've tipped me off.

"So anyway, Aiden and I got this nice spot by the river that fed the lake. I decided I was gonna catch a fish for lunch. So I stripped to my skivvies and found a shady spot and waited. I kept pouncing into the river. Aiden kept laughing at me. But I finally managed to grab a big one! Then I had to keep hold of it. I was wrestling with this big bass in the water. I ended up getting soaked!"

There was a feminine giggle from behind the door. Kuro smiled. Then he gave the doorknob he was leaning against another uncertain look and swallowed.

"I landed the fish. By then my fur was soaked through. So I gave the fish to Aiden. He started a fire and set up a barbecue spit. I shook out my fur and lay down in the sun to dry. I took my skivvies off to dry. It wasn't like we'd never seen each other naked! We'd even bathed together a couple times, we swam together, we knew. It wasn't a big deal.

"Anyway, I was lying on the sand by the lake in the sun. There was a little breeze blowing. The sun was warm. I could smell the fish starting to cook. I felt good! Warm, happy. Heh. Heh! Too good, maybe. I was down by the beach, away from the trees. But there was this shadow that was keeping the sun off my belly. So I looked up and Aiden was kneeling beside me, looking at my legs. Well, not my legs. I had a boner. Heh. An erection. He was looking at it. We'd seen each other naked before, but we'd never seen each other's dicks. Fuck, we never pee'd in front of each other!"

Sandi giggled again. Kuro swallowed. He opened his mouth to continue, but he looked down as he did. Sheila was looking back, her head still on the pillow. She gave him a little smile and nodded. He took a deep breath.

"Then he touched it. I was scared. But this was Aiden, I knew I could trust him, we were the closest! So I let him anyway. And he did. He stroked it all over. He looked down inside my slit and stroked there, too. Around my knot and everything. Then he stopped. But I told him, no, don't stop, I..."

"What, babe?" Sheila prompted. "What was it?"

"It was turning me on." Kuro gripped the doorknob. "I begged him to keep doing it. And he did. He stroked me some more, then he took me in his hands and squeezed and rubbed. He massaged me, kinda hard, too. And before I knew it, I came. Heh. I was like six, seven feet from the water, but it flew up and sploosh! A good yard past the water line. And Aiden says, 'Wow, you cum like a shotgun!' Heh. I've been Shotgun ever since."

"That's how you got your nickname?"

"Heh, yeah, that was it. So by then Aiden had an erection, too. My knot was still hard, so I still had one. And he started rubbing himself. I watched him getting himself off. Then I said I'd like it if he rubbed my dick with his. So he did. After a while my knot went down and I went back into my slit, but he was still trying to cum. I told him to rub himself inside it."

"Kuro," Sheila said, "that's the second most intimate thing two men can do with each other! You were just boys?"

"Heh. He came inside my slit, too. It went all around my dick and down over my asshole, I was a real mess. And then he lay down in my arms. His dick was still hard, he was still inside me, pushing my slit with his knot. And he was on top and I was holding him and he looked at me, right into my eyes.

"And we just knew. Heh. I mean, it wasn't that we'd learned something and knew something we didn't know before. It was more it'd been in front of us all along, but now we'd seen it and now we knew. And we were gonna do something about it, something big that was gonna be forever."

"Did you kiss him?"

"Heh. Maybe that was it. I'll never know now."

"Why, what happened?"

"The booby-trap that I hadn't clicked to when they let Aiden and me camp out together happened. The whole camp wasn't camping out, just the six or seven kids nobody liked. The rest of them got into three gangs with a counsellor. They were supposed to wait until dark and try to scare their victims, just to see them scream. But our gang got rid of their counsellor. The camp assholes were in our gang, so they followed their counsellor when he went to take a leak until he'd gone so far to get away from them he got lost. I dunno how they found their own way back first. Then they all saw us... doing it, that. So they decided not to wait until dark or settle for just scaring us.

"All of a sudden someone was yellin' faggot, faggot, faggot! It looked like half the fuckin' camp was chargin' out of the bushes at us, carryin' sticks 'n stuff! Aiden was on top, so he got to his feet first and tried to keep them off while I got up. He never had a chance. There were six of them on him. I got to my feet, but there were three of them between me and him. I had to fight for my own life before I could get to him. I mean it Sandi, they were trying to kill us!

"We got lucky. All the noise lead the counsellor back to us. And he was young, he didn't have experience, he didn't know to protect his own job first. But he did have a black belt in... something. He waded into the fight and ended it fast. Dented a few of their skulls. We were 'way past cellular range, but he had a walkie-talkie on the fire tower frequency, so he had them send a helicopter to take Aiden 'n me to hospital. And the police. He never told the camp, tried to press charges himself. They fired him of course. I met him years later, he never worked with children again. The camp was mad that he hadn't looked out for their business before our lives, so they..."

"Never mind that!" Sheila exclaimed. "They sent you to hospital?"

"I was just banged up some, bruises, a few deep cuts and bite wounds."

"Is that how you got your scar?" came a voice from behind the door.

"Heh, no. But I got a few nice ones that don't show as much. Look inside my left ear Sheila, you can kinda see it through the fur."

"Faintly... there's a line of some kind. That's a scar? It must've been nearly torn off!"

"Nearly. Heh. You shoulda seen other guy, though!" Kuro smiled, then frowned. "Aiden got it a lot worse. They had to operate on him. He lost his spleen, part of his liver. They had to set all his ribs but two and replace both kneecaps. His shoulder was just dislocated, but his left hand was in a cast and two fingers of his right hand. And a third finger... was... gone. His ring finger. Just a stump left. And implants to replace some teeth. I visited him a couple of times, then they wouldn't let me any more, they wouldn't say why."

"He must've been too weak for visitors," Sheila said.

"No, it wasn't that. I found out why in the middle of grade nine when he finally got back to school. First thing he did was come up to me in the lunch room and dump his soup over my head and yell so everybody could hear that I was a faggot and I'd better not come near him."

"What? Why?"

"He blamed me!" For several seconds Kuro stared at Sheila, his mouth open enough for his fangs to show, but his eyes were blank. He buried his muzzle in his hands. "He blamed me for what we'd done! He figured if I hadn't tempted him we'd never have fucked and the gang wouldn't have attacked! It wasn't my fault! He didn't have to give in and let himself be tempted! We weren't even doing anything really wrong! Lots of teenage guys have sex with each other the first time!"

"Most guys do!" Sheila said. "But they go on to be straight when they grow up!"

"According to Kinsey," Sandi said, (her voice still weary), "twenty eight percent of boys have sex with another boy at least once by the time they're twenty. But Kinsey's suspected..."

"See, babe? More'n a quarter of your high school friends prob'ly did it, too!"

"It wasn't my fault!" Kuro cried and grasped the doorknob again. "It was the camp, they never should've played that stupid trick on us! It wasn't fair! What were they thinking of doing that to the unpopular kids! Who the hell do they think they are!"

Kuro gripped the doorknob tightly and rested his muzzle against his fists, sniffling. The fur around his eyes grew damp. He covered them with a hand. Sheila slipped to her knees beside him. She laid a hand on his shoulder and gently tried to uncover his face, but he growled and pulled back. She cuddled against him instead and petted his chest, nuzzling his shoulder and purring.

"He's crying," Sandi said, evenly, "isn't he?"

"No!" Kuro grunted.

("Uh huh," Sheila purred.)

For a few minutes they stayed that way; Kuro sniffling as he fought his tears, Sheila purring as she tried to comfort him and Sandi waiting silently.

"So what happened in high school?" the mouse finally asked.

"...uh... ...it was bad," he said. "Aiden avoided me mostly, he just glared at me when he did see me. It was behind my back he... I dunno what all he did, but after a while everybody thought I was a faggot. And they hated me. I had to fight all the time, someone yelled hey shotgun and... I learned to duck. I got good at fighting. My grades suffered. Mom 'n Dad kept telling me to make up with Aiden, that was the only thing they could think of. Just make up with Aiden and everything would be okay again, like I was too proud to talk to him or something. Heh! He wouldn't even talk to me! I had to drag a big fight back to in front of my house so Mom could see before they took it seriously. By then it was the end of the year, I only had exams to get through. They sent me to another school next year. Somehow word got to my new school about me being a faggot; nickname and all so it must've been Aiden. I started hanging out with girls to prove it wasn't true. Heh! I ended up getting laid more than any other guy in school. Only good thing that came out of it all..."

Kuro closed his mouth and looked down. Sheila stopped purring and looked at him.

"What else," Sandi demanded at last.

"Nothing."

"What else!"

"...well... ...I never actually hit any of the gay guys in my new school! Well, once, but I didn't throw the first punch! They started the fight... I didn't make it any secret that I hated faggots."

"You blamed real gays for your having been fag-bashed yourself."

"No! For Aiden! He wouldn't even talk to me! If he'd just talked to me..."

"And the gays in your new school were to blame for that."

"No... I never said I was right to..."

"But you couldn't blame Aiden for his own actions so you blamed them instead."

"I..."

"Just like Aiden did to you."

Kuro froze. He knelt panting, looking blankly at his hands gripping the doorknob. "Yeah," he finally said.

"So you hate gays."

"No, Aiden and I finally made up."

"Tell us, babe," Sheila said.

"Well, I was in college, freshman year. It was pride week. I was staying in my dorm room as much as I could, I hated it. The worst thing was there was a stage across the road from the dorm and they kept having rallies and I couldn't help hearing it all. I just wished they'd shut the fuck up! Then one day there was this one guy who was talking about how he'd come to know he was gay. Well it was like he was telling my story! All he left out was my home town and which summer camp! That got right up my nose! I marched across the road, I was gonna beat his fuckin' head in. I clawed my way through the crowd, mad as hell 'til I finally got up on the stage. And you know who it was. I didn't; his voice had changed in the mean time, he was just some fox until I was close enough to really see him.

"Heh! My jaw about hit the stage! There was a lot of noise in the crowd when I jumped up there, but suddenly you could've heard a pin drop. And he said my name... He said he was sorry. Heh. He looked at me with his ears down and said he was wrong how he treated me, some things he did I hadn't figured out... he said he was sorry. And I knew he meant it, I just knew. I guess I know him that well, heh. So I... I hugged him... heh... I took him in my arms and we held each other and he cried... I just wish he hadn't..."

"What?" Sheila asked.

"He kissed me." He sighed. "Right up there on stage, he just nuzzled me until I opened my mouth and he, uh, he did it. The whole crowd was cheering, I was pretty shocked anyway... I let him. It wasn't bad as they go, I guess he knew how to kiss a guy, heh... I wish he hadn't.

"Later we went back to my dorm room. He told me it wasn't a coincidence he was there. He'd been trying to get to me and explain since he figured himself out. In university he'd gotten into gay activism and finally tracked me down, so he volunteered to talk at my college. He didn't plan on confronting me on stage... well, now we were in my dorm room and it didn't really matter, he found me.

"Then he tried to seduce me... heh... we tried to have sex. But nothing he did... and I let him try, I guess I needed to know, too... He couldn't even give me a hard-on. He had one. I tried to suck him off... It ended with me holding him while he jerked off. Then we talked some more.

"But it wasn't just that even. When we were cubs, we'd hold each other, even cuddle sometimes. It was cute when we were just little, no one thought twice. It was... When I was with him, I was home. We'd walk around with our arms around each other and that was home to me. Us, Aiden and me, was home. On the beach that day, I could get off with him, I was home. But in my dorm room, trying to get off with him after all that stuff we'd done and been through, it wasn't that way any more. Being with Aiden wasn't home any more. I mean, I was holding him and stroking his ears and face while he jerked off and felt... I felt nothing. It was gone."

"You weren't friends any more?" Sheila asked.

"But at least we got to say good bye. He left in peace. And I wasn't mad any more. I guess we both had some peace after that. I was scared for a while of what everyone who saw us on stage would think, I didn't want to be known as a faggot again! It worked out okay, though."

"The kids in university were more mature," Sheila said.

"Who are you kidding?" Sandi replied.

"You're right Sandi, there was some gay bashing on campus back then. But after all that with Aiden, I really needed a drink! I went down to the campus bar, I figured nobody went there. But I forgot someone was serving. She was a cougar girl and god, she was hot! She was at the rally and she thought it was hot that I'd kissed Aiden. So she had a couple beers with me until the end of her shift. Heh! It was the campus pub, nobody came there. Then we went back to my room and... heh... you know. We were together for a couple months before we moved on. Heh! It was hard for anyone to call me gay with her on my arm! She was nice. Smart. You'd have liked her. It didn't last, though. It just wasn't... She wasn't... or I wasn't... I dunno.

"Sheila? I... You have to know, I've never felt that way, like I was home, anywhere I went or anybody I was with, not since Aiden. Not until... Remember when we went on that picnic, that little pond in the park where nobody goes? Heh! We never even opened the food!"

"You sure? I think we nibbled on something besides each other! I know we opened that tube of cinnamon lube I had under the beers!"

"Sheila..."

"No, don't say it, not now..."

"He might as well," Sandi said, "it's obvious what he means."

"She's right," Kuro added. "I felt like I was home, babe. For the first time since Aiden... I've felt that way with you ever since.

"And Sandi's right about what could happen. It's not what I want! But I can't change how I feel about you." Kuro hung his head. "I can't give you up, Sheila."

The bathroom door flew open.

"No," Sandi growled, as she stormed out, "but you expect me to give her up!"

"No!" Kuro exclaimed. "I don't..."

"Then what exactly do you expect to happen?"

"I don't know!"

Sandi crouched close to Kuro's face. He stared back at her, shocked. The fur on her face was wet, except for her jaw where tears hadn't flowed, but her upper lip and chin were matted. She'd taken off her top; there were wet spots on her small breasts and arms. Her lower lip was raw under her sharp front teeth. The whites of her eyes were bloodshot, even her nose was red. But under all this, her face was set in rage; she was trembling! For a few seconds she just stared at Kuro, who stared back in awe.

"My father," she growled.

"Sandi..." Sheila started.

"My stepfather!" she snarled.

Sheila was silent. Kuro stared at Sandi, his jaw slowly sinking as his eyes grew wide. He shook his head slowly, but his eyes never left hers.

"Aw, shit!" he said. "Aw, Sandi..."

The mouse nodded and knelt, practically into his lap.

"My real father died when I was about three. Mom remarried when I was five. He tried to get us kids to want him, too. I was the only one who liked him, he seemed nice to me and I wanted Mom to be happy. He'd clown around with me, acting confused over the simplest things I tried to tell him, getting all huffy... then he'd tickle me all over until I hugged him. I thought he loved me.

"Then I started bleeding."

"Having her period," Sheila explained.

"One day after school he asked me about something he'd seen on TV the night before. I was in grade ten, just turned fourteen. Being tickled to death by dad didn't feel right any more, not that it stopped him. So I decided it was time to take a stand, tell him not to do it any more. But he didn't stop. Instead he tore my skirt off. And I told him no, don't, and he hit my face, hard! And he tore my top off, it was a school top 'n we couldn't replace it until September 'cause they stopped selling, and he kept slapping my face, over and over! Think you're a big girl, huh? You're a big girl, huh? You're a big girl, huh? Huh? And then he pushed me down on the stairs and he pulled his pants open! It was big and purple and ugly..."

"Don't!" Sheila hugged Sandi's shoulders. "You don't have to tell him babymouse, he gets the point!"

Sandi was staring into the middle distance, her face stretched in terror. Sheila gently turned her head down so that she was looking at Kuro. He was crouched as if to leap, the fur on the back of his neck rising. His hands were balled into fists. He panted through clenched teeth, his lips as red as his nose and ears. His eyes were wide open, the pale blue pupils broad.

"Motherfuck!" he growled. "Blind, dirty motherfuck! I'll kill him!"

"No!" Sandi screamed, and grabbed his shoulders. "He's mine!"

Kuro grabbed Sandi's upper arms, as much in defensive reflex as consciously. For a moment they glared at each other.

"He's already dead!" Sandi hissed.

"How?" Kuro growled.

"I killed him!"

Round as Kuro's eyes had been in rage, they grew even rounder as his jaw went slack. His grip on Sandi's arms loosened; his hands slipped a little under them. (Sheila watched intently, her face unreadable.)

"You?"

Sandi scowled at him, grim-faced. He reached slowly, gently behind her back and guided her into his arms. At first she didn't move. Then her glare distorted; her lower lip started to quiver as she leaned towards Kuro. At last she grimaced in soul-torment and hugged the big fox tightly as she sobbed. Kuro nuzzled her hair and stroked her back as he held her close. Sheila moved that hand to her ear and he petted it instead. Sandi relaxed into his arms and began to sob in earnest. Sheila leaned close to his ear.

"You're the second person in the world she's ever told this too!" she whispered. "Just let her talk."

"Oh my god, Sandi!" he murmured. "Oh my god!"

"A year and a half!" the mouse sniffled. "He raped me once or twice a week, clean or bloody until September of my senior year. And not alone, either! He brought his friends in to help him fuck me, one in each hole, two to a hole, made me learn to deep throat 'n almost killed me doin' it while his buddies creamed my ass!" She pulled away a little and held a wrist in front of his face. "Look, you can see it through the fur."

"You tried to kill yourself?"

"Three times. I just wanted it to end, I didn't deserve to live. I hated myself for being too weak to stop them."

"Too weak..." Kuro muttered. "Oh shit! Sandi, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I didn't know! You're not weak, Sandi, you're not!"

"I know I'm not! It was them! It was him! He did it to me! He almost killed me so many times... then wouldn't let me die... I had to kill him in self-defence!"

"Damn right it was self-defence!" Kuro murmured.

"Damn right!" Sheila added; she kissed the mouse's cheek and nuzzled her.

"It was easy, once I made up my mind. He always got drunk before he mowed the lawn. He had a lawn tractor he didn't need for our little yards but he loved it. Not enough to change the oil or service it, though. It backfired when he tried to start it, sometimes more than once. He'd tried to do maintenance on the roof once, he'd gotten muriatic acid for the job. I just needed to take the cap off so it'd dry into powder, then grind it fine enough to aerosolize, rinse inside the bottle with a little alcohol to make it burst when it got hot and bury it in some oily rags next to the tractor's muffler. That week, instead of raping me when he'd done the lawn, he set the garage on fire and got a face full of muriatic powder when he tried to put it out."

"Instant heart attack!" Kuro exclaimed. "I've gotta remember that one... But he hardly even suffered."

"I didn't care if he got what he deserved, I just wanted him gone!"

Sheila stroked Sandi's face as she shivered.

"The garage burned down," she went on at last. "I could've told Mom what really happened, but where was she when he was raping me? She gave me birth, but she wouldn't lift a finger when he was hurting me! So I let her think he'd burned to death, let her suffer, like she did me! A couple of my brothers figured it out. One of Dad's buddies was a cop, he was suspicious, but he didn't dare do anything about it. They made a tape of them fucking me, sold it on the black market. That was one of my suicides. Now I just had to let the press know it was there and he'd have been in maximum security with all kinds of paedophilia victims who'd love to get some of their own back. He'll die slow when it eventually comes to light, him and Dad's other friends. Meanwhile, let them die a thousand deaths!" She chuckled through her sobs. "One of them threw himself in front of a train before I'd even graduated. All I did was send him a Christmas card with a shard of coal in it."

Kuro's smile was cruel and lasted only a second. It was admiring as he nuzzled Sandi.

"I guess you don't need me to protect you," he muttered.

Sandi smiled; Sheila smiled with her and petted her throat.

"My grades went back up fast. I passed my SATs with high nineties across the board. Got any scholarship I wanted, went away to college 'n met Sheila." Sandi reached a hand behind the cat's back and scritched between her shoulder blades. "And we fell in love and she healed me. She taught me how to love my body again, how to love hers. She taught me to be strong again." The mouse cuddled her face against the fox's throat. "You were right about me," she moaned. "I'm weak without Sheila, I can't make it without her."

Sheila frowned and opened her mouth.

"I'm sorry, Sandi," Kuro interrupted her. "I can't let go of her, I need her, she's just too much part of me now. One of us is gonna lose her, unless..."

Sandi drew away from their embrace until she was looking at Kuro, their noses almost touching. Her face was tense with fear; Kuro's look was pleading.

"...unless..."

"I need you," Sandi said, pushing his shoulder back and down. "I want you. Right now."

"S-Sandi," he stammered, "m-maybe..."

"It's okay Shotgun," Sheila replied, as she eased him by his shoulders back towards the floor. "She knows what she's doin'. Just don't say no."

Sheila sat cross-legged and Kuro lay back with his head cradled on her skirt. Sandi knelt over his legs, her tartan kilt hiding their loins. Sheila tucked the couch pillow under her tail. She folded her arms over his chest and unbuttoned his shirt. He looked up at her as she gently petted his chest; she smiled down at him. He looked down at Sandi. Her hand was under her kilt, making little circles; he shivered.

"Anything you want, Sandi," he said. "Anything, I swear!"

Sandi's expression was uncertain, timid, but she slowly crept forward, fur sounding against fur, until she was kneeling over his throat. His tummy and chest were damp where she'd passed. She looked down blinking at him, none of her usual confidence in her eyes. He smiled up at her and nodded encouragement. Closing her eyes, she lifted her kilt over Kuro's face as she raised herself a little. She trembled as she leaned a hand on Sheila's shoulder; gasped as the front of her kilt began to lap slowly up and down. She put both hands on Sheila's shoulders and trembled. Sheila smiled back and slid her hands around Sandi's waist. "He has a long tongue!" she whispered; the mouse nodded.

Sheila leaned forward and gently licked the base of Sandi's ear. Sandi stroked one hand over the black cat's shoulder; her hand trembled less as she kneaded Sheila's breast through her blouse. Her kilt front began to lap left to right, right to left with each up-down stroke. It raised enough to reveal a black-tipped ear. Sandi moaned and winced.

"N-no..." she whimpered. "N-n-n, too sensitive, not yet!"

"Sorry," came from under her kilt and it fell back over Kuro's ear.

Sandi panted as her kilt arced slow and shallow, left to right. She hugged Sheila close, nibbled her throat and gently rubbed slow circles in the white fur of the cat's tummy. Sheila's purr was loud and throaty. She slid a hand under Sandi's butt cheek to help support her, petted her throat with the other as she licked the rim of the mouse's ear. An appreciative moan sounded under Sandi's kilt. Kuro's trousers began to tent. Sheila watched longingly as his fly rose ever higher, heard him moan in discomfort as the fabric began to stretch. The kilt lay still for a few seconds as Kuro felt for the zipper, fumbled it open and pulled his long, thick, dark tool out. He sighed with relief and Sandi's kilt began to lap once more. Sheila smiled at the masculine rod as she licked the top of Sandi's ear. But then Sandi froze and sniffed.

"What did he do?" she whispered.

"It's okay," Sheila replied. "His zipper was cutting into his foreskin, he had to take it out. I don't usually let him keep his pants on this long! Lover... babymouse, are you okay?"

Sandi was sniffing frantically, her fur fluffing out. Sheila drew away enough to face her. Sandi's face was unreadable; her ears were still up, though her tail was tense along Kuro's belly.

"It's a pretty scent, isn't it?" Sheila said. "Musky sweet." (The kilt stopped moving.) "Lover, are you all right?"

"...it's strong, very masculine..." Her hips began to rock. "Kuro, more!"

"Kuro, wait! Girlfriend, you are getting out of control!"

"I know! I-I think I need to be!"

"No, Sandi. The way you are right now it's not safe."

"There's too much to lose! I'm too close to going mental!" She closed her eyes, winced and looked away. "I'm scared, Sheil! I'm so scared! But I'm even more scared of not taking this risk!" She looked back with her ears at half-mast. "Kuro won't let me down, will he?"

"I won't let you down, I swear!"

For a moment Sheila just stared back, as still as Sandi, her ears twitching back. Then she looked down; the big fox's hand reached past Sandi's kilt towards her. She took it in her own and squeezed; she curled her tail around Sandi and over his tummy.

"Kuro can do it," she replied. "He won't let you down. But I won't let you hurt yourself!"

"I know you won't, Sheil. Kuro... I... I want you to lick inside me... okay?"

"Yum! ...uh, I'll be entering you slowly though, okay?"

"Yeah, that's perfect."

But she was shaking as she crouched down a little. Sheila held Sandi's bottom with both hands but kept back enough to watch her face. The wave pushing up under her kilt moved from the front to the back. It began to move randomly. Sandi's ears flattened. Her mouth opened in a silent cry and she panted raggedly.

"More," she panted. "Deeper!"

Sandi's ears and tail slowly lifted. She moaned aloud. She put one hand to her breast, the other still on Sheila's shoulder. The black cat shifted one hand further behind, pushing more of the mouse's kilt between her cheeks. The other hand she shifted to her lover's other breast. Kuro sighed as the mouse's thin tail curled around his erection; the tip of his own brush slid back and forth over the carpet. He reached a hand under Sandi's kilt. She gasped and cried out.

"I won't push it in unless you want it," he said, "just rub, like this..."

"Kuro..." she moaned. Her cheeks dampened as she gasped raggedly.

"Kuro," Sheila called, "ease up a minute. Sandi, are you still okay?" The mouse nodded. "You're startin' to hyperventilate, girl!"

Sandi nodded again. Her tummy heaved with her breath now, but more slowly.

"Good," Sheila said. "Ready to go on?"

Sandi breathed for a few seconds. Her head started to nod, but her shoulders followed it in dry sobs and her ears folded back. Finally, with a squeak of frustration, she grabbed Sheila by both shoulders and heaved herself to her feet. The fox's face fur was streaked with mousy juice. Sandi's face was set in furious determination as she paced the two steps back to Kuro's hips. She took his hard organ in both hands as she knelt over him; caressed it swiftly, consternation in her face.

"Holy shit!" she exclaimed as she turned it in her hands. "It's too big, it won't fit!"

"Forget it then," Kuro moaned, sadly. "If it's gonna injure you, forget it."

"Wait," Sheila replied. "Sandi, how bad do you need this?" Sandi turned despairing eyes on her and swallowed a sob. "Okay, let's see." Sandi bit her lip and shuddered as Sheila reached forward and put a hand under her kilt. She withdrew her hand, sliding her fingers together through a slick film, which she licked off with a little smile. "You're good and slippery inside. Okay Sandi, try to take as much of him in as you can, but slowly! It might feel kinda crampy at first. Stop though when it starts to really hurt. If you can take most of him in, it should be okay to go ahead."

"Are you, uh, you're sure about this?" Kuro asked.

"How d'you think I feel havin' that thing inside me!" she chuckled. "Okay lover, get ready."

Sandi nodded. She took Kuro's pole in hand and ducked it under her kilt. For a few seconds she fished around, then wiggled her hips and finally put her hands back on Sheila's shoulders.

"I'm ready," she said.

"Slowly, now!"

Sandi bit her lip and started to squat down. Her breath quickly became ragged, her expression frantic, despairing; she moaned in fear, sobbed once or twice; but she kept lowering herself into Kuro's lap. Her moans became painful as she sank, her teeth exposed and her ears flat in pain.

"Sandi stop!" Sheila cried. "It shouldn't hurt! That's far enough."

"She's tight," Kuro said. "Oh man, is she tight!" he added, smiling despite himself. "She still feels good and slick, though. Sandi, are you still okay?"

The mouse nodded. "You're all the way in," she told Kuro. "It'll get better after this. C'mon, let's just do it!"

"But slow," Sheila added.

Kuro nodded as Sandi leaned forward and moved her hands to his shoulders. He held her hips to help her keep steady. Her expression was fierce, her eyes rather blank. But her ears were forward as she started to pump herself, her kilt unfolding and creasing as she did. At first Kuro watched her face intently, but after a while his gaze wandered to her breasts and down to her kilt. He was breathing as hard as she was now as his back arched with her thrusts; his brush lashed over the hall carpet.

"C'mon foxy!" Sandi moaned. It became a mantra; she chanted it with each thrust.

For a while Sheila held Kuro, scritching and caressing both her lovers, drawing appreciative moans. Sandi slowly, determinedly pumped Kuro's lap, chanting encouragement now fiercely, now pleadingly. At last the big fox started whimpering.

"Sandi," he said, "are you close? 'Cause I am!"

"Yes!" she cried. "Now, now!"

She thrust herself frantically over Kuro's hips, grunting furiously. Soon he gasped and yowled. Sandi gasped too and looked down at the big fox in shock. Then she gasped again, raggedly and pulled herself down into his lap. Head back and tail straight up, she yowled with him. Finally her yowls turned to sobs and she collapsed onto his chest, weeping. Kuro took her in his arms.

"Sandi?" he said and looked up at Sheila.

"I-I've never seen her like this," she replied.

"...nozzle diameter maybe three, four millimetres..." Sandi murmured, through her sobs. "...commonly pressure of twenty five hundred pascals, this almost lifted me... say five or six kilopascals... ...assuming light winds at STP... Fuck Shotgun, you could still put it in the river!"

"She's fine," Sheila replied.

"'Course that's just a Feinman estimate," Sandi added.

Kuro stroked her head. "How come you're crying?" he said.

"'Cause I've never had a nine Richter orgasm before! Holy fuck, Shotgun!"

"My pleasure," he replied, grinning.

"Hold still babe," Sheila said, as she lay down over them. "You got Sandi all over your face," and she started licking Kuro's muzzle.

Sheila had all but a cheek clean by the time Sandi's sobs had subsided. Kuro stroked the mouse's hair and throat and scritched her ear as she lay, smiling and relaxed on his chest.

"How're you doing?" he asked her.

"'Way too full," she replied, "but it's not as bad now I'm relaxed. Your right up into my womb! It's a little crampy, but not bad. I don't think I can take your knot inside me again, though. How long before it goes down?"

"Should be pretty soon, now I'm relaxed. You kilt's kind scrunched against my bladder, though and it's kinda full from all those beers. How you doin', Sheila?"

"Tired," she replied. "It's been a long night! But it's not over 'til you give me the full Kuro, babe! I got my needs, too." She gave his cheek a last lick. "There, I think your clean now," and she snuggled against his side with an arm around Sandi's back.

"We never finished the game," Sandi murmured.

"Truth Or Dare?" Kuro asked. "How 'bout game called on account of pain?"

"Nuh-uh!" she replied. "I got one for you..."

"Sandi for pete sake, I just can't tell you..."

"Not you, Kuro." Sandi leaned up on his chest and stroked the scar where it descended his cheek from his eye. "I've still got skeletons in my closet. I'll respect yours. But we're probably gonna need to know one day."

"I know. Thanks, Sandi."

She kissed his chin and turned towards Sheila. "You missed a spot," she said. "My dare's for you. Tell 'im."

"Tell... tell him what, lover?"

"Don't give me that. Tell 'im."

Sheila licked the fingers of her free hand and rearranged her eye-curtain bob in thought. Suddenly she glanced at Sandi, startled. She shook her head.

"This isn't the time..."

"You've had months to find the right time. Just tell him."

"Tell me what?" Kuro asked.

Sheila stared at him, her ears dropping to half-mast. She glanced at Sandi; the mouse stared back remorselessly. Sheila looked at Kuro again, then closed her eyes and cuddled.

"Kuro, I... I love you, Kuro."

"I love you, too," he replied, off-handedly. "What's Sandi talking about..."

The mouse started snickering. Kuro looked down at her, then scratched his head.

"Have you ever said that before?" he asked Sheila. She shook her head. By now Sandi was openly giggling. "Oh! Heh. Uh, I love you, too."

"Really?" Sheila asked.

Kuro scratched his head again. He smiled slowly until he turned a big grin to Sheila.

"Yeah. Heh. I love you!" and he chuckled with Sandi.

Sheila opened her eyes at last and smiled. She licked his throat as Kuro pulled an arm free and wrapped it around her shoulder, the other still around Sandi's back.

"Okay lover," the cat said, "my turn. You said I hurt you. How did I hurt you?"

"Don't, Sheil."

"I never, ever want to hurt you, lover! If I hurt you, tell me how and I'll never do it again! Please," she begged.

Sandi sighed and snuggled her face into Kuro's fur.

"This guy," she sighed.

"Me?" Kuro replied.

"You've been spending so much time with him, it's like I don't exist. I know, it's not the first time. That was back in college. Liam, remember?"

"I started with him before we were a couple! I hardly even knew you back then!"

"I knew you," Sandi replied. "From the moment we met, I wanted you. It shocked the hell out of me! I had no idea I was lesbian until I fell for you like a chondrite. Meteor," she added to Kuro, "the rocky kind. I took months before I worked up the courage to talk to her, about the time she and Liam broke up."

"We broke up over you!" Sheila replied. "'You made me admit I liked girls as much as he did. He couldn't deal with it."

"Typical male ego."

"Well, he was just a college kid back then. And who did he turn to for comfort?"

"Ironically, me." Sandi chuckled and looked up to Kuro fondly. "I forgave him his big ego, he was the first man who ever treated me like a person. The first man I ever fucked because I wanted to. That was healing." She sighed and snuggled again. "I couldn't take it though, not for long. It was too soon after my stepfather. I needed Sheila." She glanced at Kuro again. "We're both still friends with Liam, though. You might have to meet him."

"Oh. Heh. Sure, uh..."

"Then you turned all your attention on me. I needed it."

"You still need it," Sheila replied. "And you'll always get it."

"So when it happened a third time, and a fourth, and a fifth and you always came back to me, I understood the pattern. I didn't worry about Vince or Tony or Anne or Franky or Gabe or Vanilla or Melody or Passion or Fury or Min or Eddie or... Who was that cabbit again?"

"Never mind, she was just a one night stand."

"But it was different with you," Sandi told Kuro. "She told me everything she did with the others, she hardly even mentioned you. And her eyes had that twinkle when she was going out with them, you know the one."

"Yeah," Kuro replied, glancing at Sheila, "I know that twinkle!"

"She couldn't even meet my eyes when she was going to be with you. There were other things, you get the picture. I knew you were trouble, foxy. But I let it happen. I couldn't confront her about you, I knew I'd lose her. Until tonight." She leaned up on Kuro's chest to face him. "You were right. I was being jealous and stupid." She sighed. "I'm sorry. What're you grinnin' at, now?"

Kuro smiled in astonishment at Sandi. He pointed at her and turned to Sheila.

"Is this the same girl who walked in?"

"Nope!" the black cat replied, grinning back. "That girl burned up in a fit of jealousy. This girl was born from her ashes!" She tousled Sandi's hair. "Proud of you, babymouse!"

Sandi stiffened. "I've asked you before not to call me that," she growled.

"Sorry lover, just checkin'."

Sandi opened her mouth to reply, then looked askance from the heavens instead and snuggled again into Kuro's chest.

"Your knot's going down," she told him.

"I'll need to duck into the bathroom when it does... Oh oh, that is going down! Get ready!"

They struggled to a kneeling position as Sheila stood clear. Fluid started to drain onto Kuro's pants just as they did. Sandi pulled free and jumped back. Kuro grabbed himself and scrambled into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Shortly the sound of water striking water sounded from behind it.

"I'll be a few minutes!" he called.

Sheila grinned at Sandi; the mouse grinned back and leapt into her arms. Sheila caught and held her and for a little while they shook with suppressed mirth. At last Sandi rubbed Sheila's nose with her own.

"He is incredible!" she mouthed.

"Now do you believe he's a good guy?" Sheila mouthed back.

"What?"

Sandi looked down at Sheila's mouth; Sheila repeated her question. Sandi held up a single thumb, grinning broadly.

"He's a keeper!" she mouthed.

Sheila pulled her back into her arms again.

"I love you, Sandi Carter!" she whispered.

"I'd be lost without you," Sandi whispered back.

"Come on, I need to hear it!"

Sandi sighed. "I love you, Sheila," she replied, out loud.

"Sandi, where are your glasses?"

"Kuro has them," Sandi snorted. "They got spotty when I was crying, so I wrapped them in my sweater. They're on the toilet tank."

"You left Persian cashmere on the toilet tank?" Sheila scowled and shook her head. "Girl, I can dress you up, but I can't take you anywhere!"

"They had tear stains on them anyway. You and our clothes!"

"Listen girl, I did not win two consecutive Goodie awards by neglecting my clothes!"

"For pete sake, Sheila," Kuro called from the bathroom, "there's a dry cleaners across the street! They're open in the morning!"

"I've been one of their best customers since I met you!" Sheila called. "Look, if we're gonna sleep together, there's no excuse for usin' a hard floor when we got a soft bed. We'll be in the bedroom."

"No, the livingroom couch," Sandi replied. "That's where the toys are."

"They can wait for tomorrow! I am tired!"

"Hang on a second!" Kuro called back from behind the door. "It's my turn! Sheila, who is Eddie?"

Sheila walked with a spring in her step to the coffee maker, her black mug in her hand, and grabbed four creamers from the tray.

"So where you were all weekend?" came a voice from behind.

She set down her mug at once, turned and leapt across the floor. She swept Min into her arms and squeezed, laughing with joy.

"Girlfriend, have a got a story... Min? Min, what's wrong?"

Sheila pulled away to face Min without letting go. The Siamese's eyes were stern, her mouth pouted and hurt.

"I called your cell phone and you didn't answer, it was turned off. So I called your place and Sandi wasn't even there. And I called Kuro and he only had his machine on."

"Min, I..."

"You took Sandi to play with Kuro! Admit it!"

"Well, yeah, I did..."

"So you admit it!"

Min stomped over to the coffee machine and emptied the last two creamers into Sheila's cup, then chased it with coffee that didn't smell like the usual black office sludge from across the kitchen. Sheila followed her, but kept a safe distance. Min started putting sugar in her own cup.

"Min, what has gotten into you!" (She put two more spoonfuls of sugar into her cup and added coffee.) "I swear girlfriend, you're acting jealous!"

"You call me your best friend!" she growled. "But you try out Truth Or Dare with Sandi instead of waiting a week. And you still try to act like I'm your best friend!"

"You are my best friend!"

"Yeah, then what Sandi is?"

"Sandi... well... she's..." Sheila licked her fingertips and groomed an ear. Then she smiled. "Sandi's family." She looked up smiling. "She's my family, Min. Her and Kuro, they're all the family I really have."

"How she can be family! She is a mouse! And how come I'm talking with an accent! I was born here, I never have an accent!"

"You do when you're upset enough."

"Why she is..." Min hissed at herself. "Why is she your family and I'm not?"

"Because I love her."

"You love me!" Min put her cup down and leaned both hands on the counter, shivering. "You act like you love me. We have sex. A lot."

Sheila crossed to the counter and stroked Min's shoulders; the pretty Siamese purred despite herself.

"I do love you. You're my best friend. But it's not quite the same thing as with Sandi."

"How? How isn't it the same?"

"Well... like there are things I just can't talk to Sandi about, 'cause I'm scared of how she'll react. 'Cause if she gets mad, I have to live with it. And it hurts to see her mad at me. I can talk to you about anything."

"And it doesn't hurt if I'm mad at you?"

"You're mad at me now. I'm tryin' to make it up, aren't I?"

Min turned towards her and let Sheila put an arm around her waist, though her face was still sad.

"And I matter to you, don't I? If I went away, you would miss me?"

"Min, promise if we're ever parted you'll keep in touch and let me visit whenever I can."

"I'm not going anywhere!" she mewled and hugged Sheila tight.

"And the most wonderful thing happened this weekend!" Sheila added as she stroked Min's back.

"What?" Min cried, as she pulled back enough to face Sheila.

"Kuro said he loves me!"

The office rang to Min's joyful shriek. Several of the staff of Iridescence Inc. gophered; but seeing that it was only Min, they sat back down behind their cubical walls and their keyboards clacked again. Meanwhile, the bouncy Siamese cat rebounded from the kitchen's acoustic tiled ceiling and did a happy dance with Sheila.

END

All other characters are the property of their respective owners, except for Vince, Tony, Anne and Franky, which are random names. Permission has been granted by the copyright holders to publically post this work.

"Truth Or Dare" is in the public domain as far as the author knows.

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