Party Animals

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'Field and Adelaide, mouse and bat mates, go to their friends' house to celebrate Kody the rabbit's birthday, but the combination of sugar and video games lead to the celebration getting out of control.'

Nothing too serious here! A comedic, flirty slice of life story with my longest-running character pair (and their best friends), catching up with them and their goings-on.


Ketchy shuffled back to the bedroom, eyes half-open.

7:04.

In the morning.

The bronze and silver-speckled fox squirrel sighed, flopping face-first onto her side of the bed. The alarm on her phone was set for 7:45. Gave her an hour to eat and prepare. Ten-minute drive to the library where she worked, which opened at 9.

Adelaide, her co-worker and best friend, always got there first. The bat would unlock the doors and turn on the lights. Ketchy would get there just in time. A well-rehearsed routine.

Disrupted, this morning, by an oblivious singing cardinal in a tree outside.

Cheer, cheer, cheer!

Ketchy closed her eyes, blindly fumbling for some foam earplugs she kept on her bedside stand (for just this occasion). She put one in each ear and rolled onto her side.

Ah.

There.

That was be--

CHEER, CHEER, CHEER!

The squirrel's eyes snapped back open.

Her ears swiveled, eyes following their lead.

It was on the outside windowsill, now!

Bastard.

Ketchy huffed, glaring at it while it bobbed and tilted its head in mechanical fashion.

It's taunting me.

Well.

I'm not going to let it win!

She closed her eyes once more, trying to ignore the inconsiderate bird. It was either signaling its territory or asking to get laid. Probably the latter.

Beauty in nature is often horniness in disguise.

The fox squirrel tried to let her mind drift.

But she felt something.

Speaking of ...

Fingers combed through her bountiful tail-fluff.

"How long have you been awake?" she asked Kody, her stupidly beautiful mate, eyes opening for good this time. She rolled around to face the rabbit. How did he look so perfect? First thing upon waking? Not an ounce of grogginess, not a strand of fur out of place.

"Long enough to hear you being cranky," the hunky Himalayan rabbit replied. White-furred, with sooty paws and extremities, he grinned at her. One of those grins that indicated he wasn't clued into the vagaries of the world and all that could possibly go wrong.

"Cranky?" she echoed, taking her earplugs out.

"You were grumbling."

"No, I wasn't," she said. Even if she had been, she wouldn't admit it.

"Sooo ... are you going to say it?"

"Say what?"

"You know."

"You can't smile at me that big so early in the day, Kody. You can get arrested for that in some states."

"Which ones?"

"Probably ours. Better play it safe."

This only made the rabbit's smile widen.

"Stop it," the squirrel muttered. "You're not going to cheer me up ... "

"And you're not going to get out of saying it." The buck continued stroking her tail. He had a thing for it. Of course, she couldn't blame him. It was an impressive appendage. Or should be, given the hours she poured into grooming it.

Ketchy mumbled.

Kody's ears twiddled. "What was that?"

"Happy birthday ... "

"Say it like you mean it. I'm the big three-three today! That's, like, a major milestone."

Ketchy laughed. "Milestones only end in zero and five."

"Says who?"

"Society."

The buck considered this. His eyes widened and he sat upright, the bed sheets spilling off his toned chest. "Hey, what did you get me? A PS5?!"

The squirrel stared at the ceiling, fighting a yawn. "It's not a PS5. Do you know how expensive those are?"

"Oh. Well, give me a hint."

"No." She rubbed her eyes. "You gotta wait 'til tonight. Field and Adelaide are coming over, remember? Your party?"

"Do I get cake?"

"Cupcakes."

"Big ones?"

"Big and fancy, from a real bakery," the squirrel promised.

"What do I get right now? I think a birthday boy should get something in the morning."

"Kody, we haven't even had breakfast yet."

"Ohhh ... heh." He winked. "Maybe we should have breakfast in bed, then? Maybe some hot sausage?"

"We're both vegetarians." Ketchy rolled back onto her other side, squinting at the radio-clock. It was only 7:20.

"Vegan sausage. All natural lapine," he promised, pawing at her bushy tail again. "I'll be quick!"

"Yeah, you will be. What about me?"

"You'll cum before I do," he said casually.

"I could hold out if I wanted to! I just ... don't usually want to," she defended weakly.

"Cause I drive you nuts?"

"I said not to call me that! _Bunny_boy." She turned and swung her pillow at him. Any nut-related squirrel jokes normally got her fur up.

Kody caught the pillow without blinking. "I didn't. And do I look like a lop?" That was a term more associated with them.

"Well, you still invoked nuts," she groused, "so fair's fair. Anyway, it's not how quickly it happens ... it's the recovery time. You bounce back like Shane Laota," she said, of a famous hare wrestler. "I'm passed out on the mat."

"Mmm, it's so sexy when you talk sports."

"Is wrestling a sport?"

"Birthday boy says yes," the rabbit decreed, flinging the sheets off the bed and getting on his knees.

"Hah. Well, whatever you decree on your birthday, I'll just reverse it on mine," Ketchy bragged.

"You can't do that," Kody said seriously.

"I totally can."

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yes-huh!"

"How about you ... mmph." Kody began to wrestle with her. "Let me win the argument for once? It's my birthday!"

"Thanks for the _umpteenth_reminder. I might've forgotten."

"Mm, I can give you something you won't forget."

The squirrel suddenly found herself face down, pinned, the hunky rabbit wrapping his arms around her body from behind. In spite of her protestations, she didn't really try to get away.

"We should probably do it thirty-three times," he declared. "Y'know, one for each year."

"Even you couldn't manage that." The squirrel seemed to hesitate as she said it. Could he?

"Is that a challenge?" he asked excitedly.

"No!" was her quick retort. "You have work, too, remember. You're supposed to install the wires in that new pizza joint on Main Street."

"Maybe I'll walk over to the library for lunch? We can eat outside?"

"If you want."

"You might wanna hold on to your pillow," Kody warned, grinding against her.

"Look, just stop dawdling and--"

"Ketchy, help me with the computers. They're acting up again."

"I can't. I think I pulled a muscle," Ketchy complained, slouched in a swivel chair behind the library checkout desk.

It was quarter past nine, over an hour later.

"Doing what?"

"Guess."

"You're always claiming that," Adelaide said, not looking up from a monitor. "You're like the squirrel who barked--"

"Don't say nuts!"

"I wasn't going to." The pink-furred bat paused. "The squirrel who barked ... well, whatever squirrels bark about."

"Good save." Ketchy rolled her eyes. "For real, though. It's sore. My groin, Addie!"

"There's some Advil in my purse."

"Mm." The squirrel grabbed the pink bat's purse and fished for the bottle. "It was good, though. I mean ... heh." She smirked, popping the lid off and pouring out a pill. She giggled as she took it with a swig of water. "Y'know?"

"You two are out of control," the bat said, randomly tapping keys on the keyboard. Moving the cursor around. It was still sluggish. All six were like that. The library's computers were pushing a decade old at this point. They really needed new ones.

Adelaide had recently sent in a request. But the town council was slow to approve it. Luckily, no patrons had shown up in dire need of a computer. Yet. But it was still early.

"That's rich," Ketchy replied, "coming from you."

"Meaning?"

"Your wings are draped _all_over Field whenever you're together."

"We're just very affectionate."

"That's a polite way of phrasing it," Ketchy muttered.

"And what's the un-polite way?"

Before Ketchy could respond, a few patrons, two ladies, approached with books to check out.

"Goodness," the squirrel said, scanning the requisite barcodes. In a theatrical voice, she said, "Looks like our 'Banned! Read at Your Own Risk!' section is a hit. Wonder whose idea that was? Mine?"

Adelaide rolled her plum-purple eyes.

One of the ladies, a raccoon, giggled.

The other, a weasel, commented, "It doesn't say where they're banned and what for. How do we know they really are?"

Ketchy picked one up and flipped through it. "Cursing? Violence? Sex? Yup! Banned."

"Ooh," the raccoon went.

"Well ... I guess it's free. Might as well check it out," the weasel said.

"That's the spirit!" was Ketchy's perky reply.

When the ladies left, Ketchy swiveled in her chair, already feeling better. The pain pill had been quick to work.

"What were we arguing about, again?" Adelaide asked, resuming their conversation. "That we both have mates who live to please us?"

"You said Kody and me were 'out of control'," Ketchy reminded.

"With Field and me," Adelaide said, "it's about finesse."

"I think 'The Art of Seduction' is on the banned list," Ketchy quipped.

"He can be guided. He's not some sexual bowling ball looking to indiscriminately knock down every pin in sight."

"I happen to enjoy bowling," Ketchy said, folding her paws behind her head. A pause. "Funny enough, Kody actually wanted us to go bowling tonight, for his birthday. I said no. He would've made it into a big competitive thing and gotten all pouty if any of us beat him."

Adelaide swiped the tip of her wing-arm across a keyboard. "Bleh! These things are junk."

"Tell the Council to expediate our request."

"And how do I do that?"

"I don't know. Stamp 'urgent' on the letter."

"I went to the town hall and delivered it to one of the council members myself. They're aware." She scoffed. "They'll probably let it linger for months and then finally tell us there's no space for the town budget and we should apply for grants."

"Should we, though? I bet we can find one. I can look 'em up!"

"Might as well."

The library did have money in hand, but it was needed to buy new books and put on book sales and reading programs and whatnot. And, relatedly, to pay staff salaries. Six to eight brand new top-end desktop computers? That could push ten thousand dollars.

Before Ketchy could offer a response, another patron approached the checkout desk. This one male. "Hello," she greeted. "Find everything you needed?"

"Does one ever?" The mouse smiled a big, bucktoothed smile. "Was just browsing, really. I'm new to the area."

"Ah, welcome. So ... want a library card?" the squirrel asked, opening a drawer. "I got 'em for ya. Real, genuine articles. Good at any branch in the county."

"Sure, I guess? Hah. Why not!"

"Yo, Addie, I hooked another one," the squirrel called over her shoulder.

The bat looked up.

The mouse smiled at her.

Adelaide blinked.

Huh.

A harvest mouse.

Just like Field.

Same colorations and patterns. Blue eyes. Gold and cream fur. Pink, prehensile tail. That, in itself, wasn't terribly uncommon. Harvest mice weren't the most populous mouse species (maybe third or fourth? House and deer mice were one and two, for sure), but this was a fairly rural area, and they tended to pop up. Only, well, this one was taller. A bit more muscular.

A mouse ... with a rat's physique?

Intrigued, the bat left the communal computers and went to the desk.

If the mouse was bothered by how she was looking at him, he didn't express it. Just extended a paw. "I'm Bucky."

"Adelaide," the bat said, extending a wing-arm.

He gripped her long, bendy thumb. For more than a few seconds. Then released it. "A pleasure to meet you."

Ketchy blurted, "She's mated to a harvest mouse."

Adelaide lightly whacked the squirrel with a wing-arm.

"Oh? Then she has impeccable taste."

The bat allowed this. "True."

"Here. Gotta fill this out," Ketchy said, giving Bucky a clipboard and pen.

The mouse took the items and looked for someplace to sit. As he was looking, he nodded at the computers. "Tech troubles?" A pause. "I couldn't help but overhear ... " He tilted his dishy ears.

"You could say that," Adelaide answered.

"I know a bit along those lines, myself," Bucky said. "Maybe I can help?"

"Have at it," Adelaide said with a shrug. "Though it's more the age of the equipment. We need new ones."

"Mm. I see." Bucky inspected the machines. "What's your price range?"

"Cheap."

"Hmm. Well!" He squeaked. "Maybe I can hook you up with some in the 'gently used' range. I'll do some research."

"No obligation," Adelaide insisted.

"I'm happy to!" Bucky said, filling out the remainder his form.

Ketchy presented him with a library card. "Ta-daa!"

Bucky laughed, tipped his imaginary hat, and left, leaving the girls alone in the library.

Ketchy whistled. "He's pretty dishy."

"I wouldn't know."

"C'mon. You didn't think so? Even a little?"

Adelaide relented with, "A little."

"What about Field?"

"He knows I'm loyal."

"No, I meant, like ... would Field think he was cute, too? He's bisexual. Does he ever see a guy and tell you 'he's hot'."

"Not really? He's still not comfortable enough to admit it. It takes some work to drag it out of him."

"It didn't take much 'work' to get him into that foursome we had!"

"Uh, yeah, it did?" the bat reminded. "That was years in the making, and we had to get the ball rolling, ourselves."

"Balls. Heh. Rolling," Ketchy repeated with a giggle, leaning back.

"Really?"

"Y'know, Kody is so_excited for his surprise birthday gifts ... maybe we should give him something that'll _really blow his mind?"

Adelaide smirked. "Blow his mind? Or his dick?"

The fox squirrel tilted her head this way and that, indicating 'either/or.'

Adelaide smirked. "How 'bout you get out of my chair and put the returned books back on the shelves?"

"I'm just saying, is all," Adelaide said calmly, from the passenger seat.

It was early evening, just after 6:30, and home from work they were on their way to Kody and Ketchy's house for the rabbit's birthday dinner.

"You think me going to the 500 with Kody constitutes a date?" Field repeated, slowing for a four-way stop. He looked both ways and drove onward.

"You have a crush on him, _and_you're taking him out? Just the two of you? To a place that's special to you? That's loaded with subtext."

Field opened his mouth to reply. Then shut it, scrunching his face. He'd used his muzzle on the rabbit, his first time doing anything with a guy. It had been quite a dizzying experience. How long ago had that been, now? Last year? The year before?

But nothing had happened since then.

They were just ... good friends.

And, besides, they both had mates!

Adelaide added, brightly, "And I'm sure Kody will appreciate it!" Field was going to the race anyway. Hadn't missed one in thirty years. Kody had never been, so that was his birthday present. "Maybe so much he'll want to go again next year. And to other races, too! You can take weekend trips together."

The mouse blushed, glancing at the bat before his eyes zipped back to the road.

"Maybe he'll return the favor you gave him?"

"Adelaide ... "

"What, it's only fair. Wouldn't you like that?"

"I don't know. I've never ... I don't know."

"I go down on you all the time."

"That's different."

"Why?"

"Cause he's got a--" He took a breath. "You don't have a--" He cleared his throat. "Cause it is," the harvest mouse decided.

"There's no need to overthink it. He doesn't."

"Are you saying he's dumb?" Field said, coming to Kody's defense.

"Didn't say that."

"He's an electrician. He's smart about some things."

Adelaide insisted, "I wasn't trying to insult your boy toy, Field."

"Mm."

"I think it's cute! I just want you to be more comfortable with your queerness."

"Why does it matter?"

"Because it's part of you! I love you, and I want you to love yourself." The bat smiled at her mate, reassuring, "Not trying to pressure you. Just ... I know from experience that you need to be nudged."

Field couldn't deny that. He just bit his lower lip before saying, "I'm okay with being nudged. As long as I don't lose my balance."

Kody, wearing a conical, colorful birthday hat and chomping into a big, fancy cupcake (from a bakery called The Flying Cupcake; loaded with icing, of course), reeled in his presents. "Can I open them now?" he asked, crumbs tumbling off his whiskers.

Ketchy shrugged, seated on the other side of their round, wooden kitchen table and taking a swig of cream soda. "Knock yourself out, kid."

"Yessss." The rabbit blew into a party horn, the paper tube uncurling like a chameleon's tongue. Discarding the horn, he tore the wrapping off its box in two seconds flat. "Wait, who's this one from?"

"It was written on the wrapping," the fox squirrel said dryly.

"Oh. Uh ... " The rabbit uncrumpled it, squinting.

"It's from me."

"Oh! Cool." Kody shook the unwrapped box, which was the box the gift had been shipped in. The logo of the online retailer was printed on the side. "Bet it's a Switch game, isn't it? Which one? Is it the one I'm thinking of?"

"If you have a Switch," Adelaide asked, "why do you need a PS5?"

"Because," the rabbit insisted.

Ketchy said, "He has a PS4 already."

"Everyone knows five is more than four," Kody complained, finally opening the box. His eyes lit up. "Ha! Cruze'n Drift: Xtra. Limited edition physical copy." He showed it off to everyone. "Wow, sweet! This was on my list! Thanks, babe." The rabbit leaned to his right give Ketchy a kiss, then handed the game to Field on his left. "We gotta play this, mouse man."

"We do?

"Heck, yeah. You haven't _lived_until you've played this."

The mouse blinked and studied the cover, perking a bit. "Oh, it's a racing game?" Auto racing was his favorite sport.

"Not just a racing game. No holds barred, balls-to-the-wall. Thrills and spills. Yetis and dinosaurs and UFO's."

"So ... you race those things, or they're obstacles?" Field asked slowly, not understanding.

"All of it! Ha, ha!"

"Okay. That might be ... I mean, that sounds fun," the mouse said uncertainly. Whiskers twitching, he set the game down and slid it back to Kody.

"He just wants to play you, Field, cause you won't beat his ass like I do," Ketchy said with a bucktoothed grin, polishing off her soda. She set the bottle aside and swished her tail in a slow, cocky fashion.

"That was a glitch last time!" Kody insisted stubbornly, tall ears twiddling.

"Uh-huh." The squirrel leaned back and studied her claws. "Was it a glitch the time before that?"

"Cruze'n?" Kody challenged, waving the game at her. "Can you handle it?"

Ketchy snatched it away. "I was _born_to handle it."

The buck sat up straight, prepared to take this to the living room. "Hah, you don't even know the difference between a side-wheelie and a barrel roll!"

"Then you have nothing to worry about," Ketchy goaded.

"Guys, maybe we should open the other presents first?" Adelaide said, pulling her friends back from the edge of videogame brinksmanship. "Look, Kody, from me and Field! Also, you have something from your folks."

"Yeah, it's just money or a gift card or whatever." Kody waved off his parents' gift.

"Boring stuff," Ketchy explained to the bat.

The bat giggled.

Kody picked up Field and Adelaide's gift, opening it easily. "A ticket?" he said. "Oh, hey, Indy 500? I've never been!"

"Yeah, I know. Everyone needs to experience it once! We're ... I'm gonna take you," Field says.

"Cool! Where these seats at?"

"Across from pit exit on the front stretch."

"Niiiice," the rabbit said. "When is it, again?"

"Um, in three weeks. Last Sunday in May." Field blushed and nodded. "We gotta leave early, though! It's the world's largest sporting crowd. Normally, I hit the road at 6:30."

"Dang, okay. Five hundred laps, huh? I'm in!"

"It's actually two hundred laps, five hundred miles. Cause, uh, each lap is two-and-a-half miles."

"Field's a total racing geek," Adelaide said.

Kody, coming to the mouse's defense, said, "Racing's serious business."

"Like your silly game?" Ketchy asked.

Kody stood up, staring down his mate and snatching his game back. He took off his birthday hat. "Oh, it's on."

As the game started up, Kody chose 'tour' mode, four rounds, with the first leg being 'Death Valley, USA.'

"How do we know who wins?" Adelaide asked, sitting beside the rabbit in the living room. Kody and Ketchy were in the middle of the couch, with Field and Adelaide flanking them on the edges.

"Whoever racks up the most points over the tour. Sorta like real racing!" Kody insisted.

Of course, that was where the similarities ended.

The rabbit proceeded to the 'choose vehicle' screen, scrolling immediately to the sports cars. Past the Nissans. He toggled between two Corvettes, choosing a yellow Stingray. "Sweet. If I was a millionaire, I'd have a car like this."

Field imagined Kody, in said corvette, with the top down. Driving around shirtless with sunglasses on. The mouse blushed.

Ketchy, still looking for her 'fighter,' scrolled all the way to the obscure options.

Kody made a face. "You're not choosing that, are you?"

"Maybe."

"Your vehicle can't be a unicorn."

"Why's it an option, then?" the squirrel asked irreverently, continuing to scroll. "Hmm, what do you think about this one, Addie?"

"Hammerhead shark?!" Kody exclaimed before Adelaide could respond. "They don't even have wheels or legs. How's it going to move in the freakin' desert?"

"How 'bout a school bus?"

"They don't have seatbelts. You'll hurt all those kids!"

"It's nighttime. They're not _on_the bus."

"So, you're stealing it from the lot, then?"

Adelaide gave Field a look behind their friends' back.

The mouse diplomatically said, "It's, uh, just a game, guys."

"She's not respecting the integrity of it!" Kody insisted.

Adelaide echoed, "This game has integrity?"

"I'm proving a point," Ketchy insisted. "I can whip your tail with a UFO or a triceratops ... with a quad ATV, whatever that is."

"Choose an actual car. I want us to be evenly matched."

"Fine, um ... how about this one?"

"A Caddie? 1959 Eldorado?" Kody snorted. "Hah, okay, sure. Pick me up some milkshakes at the drive-through."

"I'll drive through you," was Ketchy's retort.

"I'd like to see that."

"You won't see me coming at all."

"Maybe I'll feel it instead!"

"Oh, you'll feel it alright."

As Kody launched the game, Field picked up on a heated, almost sexual energy.

Wait.

Was this ... foreplay for them?

As the starting lights came on, the mouse asked, "Why are there eight cars? Are you playing online?"

"Nah, rest are AI's," Kody said, leaning forward, gripping his controller tightly.

Ketchy's big, bushy tail swooshed about.

Adelaide chittered and swatted it away.

"Ready!" a sultry female voice said. "Set! Go!"

Immediately, Kody's corvette reared up on its back tires, speeding ahead and leaving flaming tracks in its wake. Then it did a forward flip for no apparent reason, the flames becoming blue instead of orange.

Ketchy, muttering to herself, tilted her purple Caddie onto the right-side tires only and passed one of the AI competitors. Coming upon arrows on the track, her Caddie shot forward at accelerated speed, passing everyone but Kody. A tyrannosaurus could be seen stalking the side of the road, and a yeti hung from an overpass.

Several of the AI cars crashed but didn't seem to lose much actual ground.

Field noted, "This doesn't look like it requires much skill."

They ignored him, now racing side by side, doing barrel rolls and veering into each other. Fast coming upon a semi, they flipped themselves out of the way, landing on all four tires and coming back together.

"You might as well give up now!" Ketchy insisted, almost panting with exertion.

"You'd only be saying that if you thought you were going to lose! Too hard for you?"

"Not hard enough!"

Their cars careened down the obscenely crowded Death Valley highway, which they randomly veered from, taking a perpendicular dirt road that sloped down toward a gaping canyon. Right before they reached the edge, they flipped and rolled their way skyward, over the drop, a fleet of discarded 747's parked at the bottom.

When they landed, four fighter jets flew overhead releasing American flag colored smoke trails while a dusty tornado swiped across their path getting them both sideways. Grinding at each other, they both flipped their way past the funnel and to the finish line.

Field shook his head, trying to comprehend what he'd just watched. "What?!"

"Hah!" Ketchy crowed. "I win!"

"No, you didn't!" Kody protested. "It's four rounds."

"How many points do you both have?" Adelaide wondered. The calculation came and went so fast. Almost like it didn't really matter in the first place.

"I'm spending some of mine on an upgrade," Ketchy announced. "Police cruiser. Rules don't apply to me, now!"

"This game has rules?"

"I'm sticking with the 'vette. Changing the color to ... red."

"Red? Ha. That's so cliché."

"If cliché means smokin' hot."

"I'll show you smokin' hot!"

"I bet you will!"

"Eek!"

Field jumped off the couch, eyes going wide, as Ketchy and Kody came together like magnets. They grunted and groaned, hungrily making out.

"Mm!"

"Mmhff!"

Adelaide got up, too, just in time.

Horizontal with Kody on top, the rabbit and squirrel stretched, wriggling out of their clothes between kisses.

Field ducked, avoiding a shirt.

Ketchy stuffed a paw into her mate's unbuttoned pants.

Kody huffed, eyes rolling back, rump lifting as he desperately pulled those pants down. Pulled everything down.

Adelaide looked to Field and tilted her head toward the kitchen. Staring at Kody's rump, it took the mouse a second to notice.

They retreated as their friends descended into a feral frenzy.

"I ... I mean, it is his birthday," Field stammered, ears rosy red. He felt sort of breathless, and he hadn't even done anything!

"I told her they were out of control," Adelaide said, leaning against the dishwasher.

"When?"

"This morning, at work. This just proves it." A pause, quickly adding, "Not like us, of course."

"Yeah," Field agreed, sitting at the kitchen table. He tore a vanilla cupcake (with caramel icing) in half and nibbled on it. "I mean ... we're well-behaved."

"A model couple."

"Mmhmm!"

Field's ears swiveled, listening to their friends going at it. Squelching and slapping noises. Hips and balls smashing against ... well. Yeah. His imagination was filling in all the gaps.

Just like Kody's filling her.

He swallowed and took a deep breath, only for it to whoosh right back out. He took another chunk of cupcake, shoving it into his mouth.

"Except," Adelaide said, drawing the word out while looking through a window.

"Mmf?" Field went, mouth full.

Their gazes met. "We did do it at your work."

The mouse held up a finger and swallowed before saying, "Once." In the warehouse at the farmer's market last Thanksgiving. Right at closing time. "And it was cause your parents were staying over and we couldn't do it at home."

"We've done it at my work, too," the bat added, of the library. She flashed her fangs. "A lot."

"Mm. I guess," he admitted.

They'd probably done it at the library a dozen times. Maybe more? Definitely more. After hours, of course. There was something kind of thrilling about being so loud and lewd in a quiet, respectable space. Not that the mouse would ever admit to being 'naughty.'

Like he'd told Adelaide: he was well-behaved!

He was a good mouse.

But Adelaide kept bringing the receipts. "Then there's outside, in the woods? That open pasture by the road?" They'd done it out there last week, their first 'outdoor sex' of the warm weather season. But that couldn't be held against them, surely. It was one of the perks of living in the countryside! Even in broad daylight.

A car had driven by while they were out there, and a private plane had slowly puttered overhead.

But they hadn't stopped.

"Oh, heh, and remember that time at the movies during that empty matinee showing of Star--"

"I remember, yes," Field insisted, feeling his ears burning, libido surging. "But we've never lost complete control. Right? We think things out. We ... we're always self-aware enough to not get caught."

"That we know of." Adelaide licked her lips, bubblegum wing-arms hugging herself.

"You're such an exhibitionist," the mouse muttered.

Adelaide unfolded her wing-arms. "We've been mated for seventeen years, mousey. We're almost forty."

Field felt himself aging as she said this. He checked his gold fur to make sure it wasn't suddenly turning silver.

"Nothing wrong with doing new things, putting yourselves in exciting situations. Keeping it ... mm ... spicy." She sauntered toward him. "And watching your straightlaced, butterscotch ass get into a frenzy? And knowing it's _all_because you want me? Mmf."

"You're turned on right now, aren't you?"

Kody could be heard grunting loudly.

Ketchy barked.

Adelaide 'innocently' asked, "You think I want to screw you, Field? Here? In their kitchen? While they're in the next room banging each other's brains out? Hmm?" She reached out with a wingtip to trace one of his lobes.

"Um." Field shivered and swallowed. "Yup?"

He would've replied with something smarter, if the only thought in his head wasn't how to get his cock into her pussy as fast as possible.

"They started fucking first," Adelaide blamed, slowly undressing, making a show of her movements.

"That's true."

"And they didn't even invite us?" She clicked her tongue, setting her shirt on the table. Along with her bra. "We've had a foursome before. In this very house, in that room." She paused, letting the memory resurface. "We were right there for another round ... weren't we talking about that? In the car ride over here? Kody going down on you."

"Yeah ... well, you were."

"Frankly, we should be offended," Adelaide said, dropping her pants and panties, stepping out of them to straddle Field's lap. She whispered into his other ear, "We would've blown their minds."

Field squeaked, fondling her colorful breasts. So soft and warm. "It's their loss," he said, tilting for a kiss.

"Mmh." Their lips smacked. "So ... what are two 'well-behaved' friends to do? Just leave without saying goodbye or being dismissed?" Adelaide pulled a wing-arm back and reached between them, big, bendy thumb undoing the mouse's belt. Unbuttoning his shorts. Pulling the zipper.

"That'd be a big s-social ... mm, faux pas," Field insisted, wriggling, getting his clothes out of the way. His thick cock sprung directly upward.

"Agreed." The bat gyrated against him. "We'll just have to stay until they're done, I guess! Which, going by what Ketchy tells me, could be a while." The gyrating turned to outright grinding. "Think ... ah, think we can occupy ourselves until then?"

The mouse answered by grabbing his cock, rubbing the tip against her petals before easing it into her body.

There was a time when he wouldn't have gone along with this so quickly or easily, when it would've been harder to pull him out of his shell. But, like the bat has insinuated: after all this time, a little spice _did_keep things fresh.

The bat dropped down, impaling herself on him, her wet, pink pussy flush to his white-furred loins.

Squeak!

There was a brief sensory shock as Field's brain tried to comprehend the feeling, followed, a second later, by a wonderful sense of euphoric relief at being inside her, buried in his mate.

More!

He already wanted more.

Knowing this, and wanting it, too, the bat started to bounce.

He hugged her, panting, squeaking, nipping and kissing at her shoulders and neck. As her breasts pressed to him, he realized he'd forgotten to take off his T-shirt. Gah! It didn't really matter, but ... he wanted nothing between them. Nothing at all. So, he pulled it up, twisting as he freed himself from it.

"Mm, mmm ... "

"Oh!"

"Field!" she moaned.

Her hips rhythmically slapped against his lap.

They kissed again, again, lips tasting of sweet, sugary icing. And cake. Orange and cream, vanilla bean, chocolate. They twisted and pressed, tongues getting involved. Her wily bat tongue easily overpowered his own, making his eyes roll back.

Field gripped her short-tailed rump, pulling at her body, feeling and aiding in her motions.

Such blissful repetition as she rode him.

Endless ups, delicious downs!

Then, those frantic, twitching feelings that came at culmination.

Adelaide came first. Settling to a hilt, her sex clenched. Wet, hot. Wonderful! The pleasure was electric, sizzling all the way to her wingtips. She chittered in the highest of pitches! The noises bounced every which way, around the room, through doorways and back.

Field, meanwhile, teetered a bit longer, so close!

Almost!

Please!

Just, oh, a little ... more ... ohh!

A pink tidal wave crashed into him, leaving his senses reeling. Her body. Her hot, wet sex. The feel of her peaking around him, because of him. He gasped! Spurt after spurt, punchy, ecstatic jolts, filling her with his essence. Breathless, he moaned incoherently, clutching to her, ropy tail whipping every which way.

"Ooh!" She hugged him back, fangs grazing his golden neck. "Ah, yeah!" Huff. "Got you, mousey."

"Mmm ... oh, Adelaide."

"That was fun, hmm?" the bat murmured.

"Yes," Field emphatically agreed, still tingling. Paws rubbing her rump.

"Happy un-birthday," she joked.

"Heh!"

They giggled and nuzzled each other tenderly.

A moment passed.

"Wait. You hear that?" Field whispered.

Adelaide's scoop-like ears tilted. "No?"

"Exactly."

The sex noises from the living room? They'd stopped.

"Yo, Addie!" Ketchy called, confirming they'd finished in there. "You still here?"

Adelaide pulled her nose back from Field's cheek. "What do _you_think?" she called back.

"Well. You sound like you're here," the squirrel replied obviously.

"Field and I agreed it would've been rude to leave without saying anything."

"So classy."

"Your noises really travel!" Kody said. "Addie's, I mean."

"Echo-bursts. They gave me quite a vivid picture of you two. Y'know, screwing on the couch in front of your best friends?"

"We might have gotten carried away," Ketchy admitted.

"So did we," Field said.

"We'll call it even. Deal?"

They all agreed.

After a pause, the bat added cheekily, "FYI, you're gonna need to mop in here. Mice are ... copious."

"Copi-what?" Kody, of course.

"It means they produce a lot of--"

"Are we ... are we all done, or is this like the seventh inning stretch?" Field asked.

"More like seventh-inning sex," Ketchy said with a giggle.

Kody laughed. "Good one, babe!"

Field looked to Adelaide, as if she were the pun umpire.

"Whippersnappers," she said lightly.

"I'm good, though," Kody insisted, finally answering whatever question he'd originally been asked. No one could keep track anymore.

"I'll say you are."

"Mm. Best birthday ever," the rabbit insisted.

"It's not over 'til I kick your fluffy bobtail at Cruze'n Drift. We're finishing our game," Ketchy insisted.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah," she echoed. "Unless you're scared."

"Psh! I'll beat you even if I have to drive a UFO."

"You fly UFO's, not drive them."

"We'll see about that!"

Field told Adelaide, "I think we should make our escape while we can."

"Mmhmm," the bat agreed, dismounting and putting her clothes back on. "I'm taking the leftover cupcakes, though." A brief pause. "All of them." She picked up the half-empty box.

"I want some, too," the mouse insisted, getting his shirt back on. Pants up. Fastening his belt. "Happy Birthday, Kody!"

No answer.

Just full-throttle sound effects.

Outside, Field got in the car and fastened his seatbelt. Starting the engine, he looked to Adelaide and lamented, "We never got to play Cruze'n Drift." For all the insanity, it looked kinda fun.

"Never mind." Adelaide buckled her own seatbelt. Box of cupcakes in her lap, she leaned over to kiss Field's cheek. "You made me feel like I went through every level."

He blushed and smiled. "Aw." A pause, a blink. "That's a good thing, right?"

The bat giggled. "I'd say so."

Field beamed.

Still aglow, they drove home, the light fading and giving way to night, encountering no yetis, dust devils, or dinosaurs along the way.