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Under the Eyes of Arnold Applebaum

The glow from her cigarette lit her naked body before the eyes of Mr. Applebaum. She wasn't really feeling horny tonight, just a little naughty and the warm spring air was wonderful against her scales. She'd just made a nice sale at the Ol' Pickaxe and was feeling unusually cheerful tonight. On the edges of her mind, the gloomy thoughts were lurking, of course. Her mom, Casey, the cult, crushing debt that could never be paid off - all lingered, waiting for her to give them a moment of attention. The sale was a drop in the bucket, but she'd learned to savor the little drops whenever she could, so she kept the gloom away.

Still, it was springtime, and even the horrible events of the Black Goat had faded. Possum Springs carried on. The newspaper had said there was a terrible accident at an abandoned mine, and several members of a Possum Springs fraternity had died in the collapse, but there was no mention of the Black Goat, nor Mae's or anyone else's involvement - or of Germ's dynamite for that matter. Casey's body had never been recovered. In fact, no mention of the Pit or the cult's murders had even come up. All in all, it was the expected outcome, given the circumstances and small-town folk's tendency to ignore things that were too uncomfortable to look at deeply.

And so life went on. Inertia was a hell of a thing to stop. People were horrified of the deaths, but no mention of any connection to missing people was made. Bea suspected Mae's aunt Molly knew a lot more than she was letting on, but if so she must have understood not to push it. Or maybe she was just as dumb as the police are always made out to be. But Bea didn't think so.

A warm breeze wafted in through the windows, stirring the shades with the scent of spring and perhaps a bit of gator girl. She wasn't worried about it. Her father was snoring away, and there were no buildings opposite hers on the street, so no one was going to be peeping at her save the stone eyes of Mr. Applebaum.

She did let one thought of Casey in then. He had found her attractive enough obviously. She'd seen ample proof of that first hand. It was odd, she thought. This body that she'd always thought of as so weird, with scaley smooth skin, had somehow managed to evoke thoughts of love and lust in the poor drug-addled guy. Maybe there was hope for her yet in that department.

She laughed a little. Mae. Yeah, she probably would be into her. But Mae didn't count. She was... well. Mae had problems.

Bea had no doubt of her own sexuality. She was hetero through-and-through. But Mae was such a broken girl. It would seem so wrong to even consider that - like hitting on a kid or something. She had recovered from... whatever it was that had almost killed her a year ago, but she was still broken. Little things would come up, or she would start talking about her 'shapes'.

Bea had done some research into Mae's condition. Dissociative disorder of some sort, surely. And, in a way, Bea felt like she could understand a little. To suddenly see a person not as a whole, but as separate things - to lose the concept of the other. She'd never felt it herself, but she could understand conceptually. Yet these episodes almost never happened when she was with her core friends - except during the Black Goat incident of course. But that didn't count. That was... exceptional.

And, to be perfectly honest, Bea liked the insane cat. A lot. Maybe a little tiny bit more than just as a friend. But never, ever would she let Mae cross that line. Well, not unless someday she was confident Mae was stable again anyway.

Bea took another drag on the cigarette and directed the exhale towards Mr. Applebaum.

"She needs me," she explained to the concrete.

And, really, she probably did. If Mae fucked up around the Ol' Pickaxe a little - like today - it was rarely anything big. Bea had hired her to do odd jobs around the place. At least it gave the runt some relief from the boredom of no life at all. With Angus and Gregg leaving soon, she'd need that even more. She wasn't as good as Germ, and Bea would never leave her alone at the Pickaxe, but she could still do odd jobs around the place.

Another breeze blew in, and with it a silhouette climbed in the window.

"Hi Bea!"

Bea was too shocked to even think about covering herself.

"Mae!" she hissed.

"Oh! Do you sleep naked too? I guess you don't have to worry about mosquitoes and stuff this high up."

"How did you get up here?!"

"Power lines. Yeah, it's nice up here," Mae said as she took off her own clothes and snuggled up beside Bea.

"Mae! What?"

"Oh. Sorry. Nightmare. You said I could come over anytime though, right?"

Bea had said that, she reminded herself. If she hadn't expected Mae to take her up on it, she shouldn't have said it.

"Yeah, it's okay," Bea nodded, moving to give her friend a little more room, and caught herself looking at Mae's body for a moment before she realized what she was doing.

"What was the nightmare?"

"I dreamed Casey was trying to tell me something. He was down in the hole, and he was... very dead. But he was trying to talk. But he didn't have a tongue... oh Bea, it was awful!"

Bea took the poor thing in her arms, nudity be damned.

"Do you think it was... the Goat?"

"No. It was just a normal nightmare. But it seemed so real, Bea. I think the Goat is dead. Or at least gone."

"What do you think it meant?" asked Bea quietly, drawing back and looking at her friend, now noticing Mae's tear-stained eyes.

"I think he wants us to get him out, Bea."

Bea shivered involuntarily, but she'd had similar thoughts - if not actual dreams. Casey's parents still thought he was just missing and still were hoping for some news of him. News that would never come.

"Oh Mae, I think you might be right. But how on earth could we possibly do that? I heard the whole mine has collapsed."

"They got the cultist's bodies out. They must have gotten that far in."

"But the hole - who knows how far down it goes?"

Mae lay back and stared at the ceiling for a while, and Bea lit another cigarette.

"That's not good for you," Mae said quietly.

"Walking on power lines after midnight isn't either."

"True."

Minutes passed before Mae spoke again.

"Casey knows."

Bea turned to look at Mae again. "Knows what?"

"Casey knows how far down it goes."

"Mae, Casey is dead."

Mae turned to Bea again and allowed herself to be hugged. A thought passed through Bea's mind. "Why is it that I'm comforting you, Mae? Who hugs me? Who brings me comfort?"

But as soon as it arose, she pushed it away. That was just selfishness. Her friend needed her, and she wanted to help.

"You sure you're hetero?" Mae asked from between Bea's breasts.

"Yup. 100%. Sorry Mae."

The cat sighed. "Figures."

"Well, at least that way you don't have to worry about me taking advantage of you, right?"

"That's the problem. Can I stay here anyway, Bea?"

"Sure. But... maybe we should get some clothes on?"

"Na. I like it like this. You're squishier than I thought you'd be. And warmer."

"Thanks," Bea said, pulling a long drag on her cigarette before snuffing it out in the ashtray.

Eventually Mae fell asleep, her head on top of Bea's arm. But Bea couldn't sleep.

"Consider yourself lucky, Mr. Applebaum. You get to peep at two nubile young women sleeping naked in front of you instead of just one," she thought to herself. "Don't expect anything more tonight."

She looked at the sleeping form of Mae beside her and thought of Casey. He was the last person she'd ever slept with. She'd been uncomfortable as hell with Casey. She wasn't uncomfortable with Mae, unexpected as this visit was. Maybe that was the problem. She still thought of Mae as the kid they both used to be. They'd certainly seen each other naked often enough over the years - before they'd grown apart. And now they were back together again - best available friends. Bea knew Mae would like to be more than friends, but that wasn't going to happen.

Still, she thought to herself as she drifted off to sleep, Mae was - in a feline and terribly mammalian way - a very pretty cat. A few extra pounds on her frame maybe, but still. If she were so inclined... yeah, she could see the attraction.

Mr. Applebaum watched over the two sleeping girls - nay women - as they slept, and nothing disturbed them until Bea's alarm went off in the morning. Who's to say that his ever-watchful eyes didn't protect them that night? They were not attacked by lions.