Agent 0069, Chapter 2

Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright

Date: 8th May

Kanada Metroplex

The tail was essentially uneventful. She was already on the Kanada subway headed for Chobitsu station. It was the same line that Lin Shi Yao habitually took, and she'd boarded the train before him, on the last car. It was enough time for her to listen to the general chatter of students, helping to get her more into her assumed personality here. She even offered to help a couple of Free States tourists, and her accent was a bit off, more rice fields than inner city. She'd have to polish that quickly if she were to fit in fully, but no one around her seemed to either care or know the difference. Her Common was quickly accented with Nikkonese, and that would be good for making sure that she came off as a local to any tourists. Tourists were excellent as distractions.

She didn't see him on the train, which wasn't unexpected. There were more cars than she could be on, and she was flying solo. No one had eyes on him or a tracking device. She tended to not trust those for something like this, too many chances of being picked up by detailed security scans that he may well have in place. At each stop after his boarding, she got off of the train, scooted up one car, and then repeated this until she spotted him. She had one encounter with a Chikan, which was mildly annoying. She was making her way through the train car when someone's hand rather pointedly cupped her ass. She had enough situational awareness to recognize the area that it came from, and paused long enough to apply a very quick spray of the sleeping perfume over her shoulder at the miscreant. It wasn't fast acting enough to have him simply drop, but a fat akita grumbled something about smelling like women when he went into the office. She apologized profusely, and then kept going. He would be slumping into his seat after a few minutes, probably snoring quite loudly. On the one hand, she wanted to report him, but also realized that it would put the mission at risk, and she wouldn't have any real way to explain how someone would be passed out after groping her, and how she knew.

She was starting to get worried when the next station was Chobitsu and she hadn't spotted the tiger yet, until she very nearly was smooshed into him when she got on the next car. Quite literally pushed in by the station attendants, she ended up with her chest mashed into his as he stood there waiting for the chance to get off. If he noticed anything odd about the situation, he didn't say anything. The station didn't have any major interchanges, but there was always the possibility of her simply getting on at that stop for some reason. So she stood there with her hands on her purse and the handlebar while he had much the same pose, and looked right at her without seeing her, or so it seemed.

It was as if he noted that she was there, and then dismissed her as yet another young professional that happened to be quite pretty, and that he didn't care. Or did he? Pressed in against him as she was, she couldn't help but feel that he was growing hard. Normally something that would be quite useful. Right now, it was a hindrance. She didn't want to be noticed by him just yet, and any scrutiny now might make later encounters more suspicious. "Just my luck, deciding not to go with a tracker. It would be easy enough to apply one right now."

She learned something when she got off the train, ostensibly clearing out enough for him to leave when he growled that this was his stop. She let out a quiet 'excuse me' in Nikkonese and made way for him to get out of the car. He almost instantly turned into one of the exit escalators with barely 5 meters of walking. Someone who thinks about things, such as efficiency. She examined her phone while she waited for the flood of people to obscure her, and then slipped into the crowd, taking the time to make sure that she was back far enough for him to put out of casual observation range.

He moved through Chobitsu station like a tank, picking a direction and moving straight toward it, his aura encouraging people to get out of his way without needing to shoulder them aside. He didn't exactly shove people out of the way, and he wouldn't make a point of bowling some knot of pedestrians over, but he didn't weave through crowds like she did.

It gave her a chance to work her purse to it's other outer layer while still in the crowd, and she shrugged her jacket off as well as her glasses. That should be enough of a visual change to keep her from being noticed, and she wouldn't need to worry about anyone around her seeing anything. Like so many of the modern world, they were almost all glued to their phones and didn't see anything.

He did something interesting almost instantly. She knew from the maps that she'd studied that he should turn left to go to the offices he worked at. Instead, he turned right. It didn't warrant an instant call to arms or alert for national security. He could be going that way for any number of reasons. She simply couldn't think of any that made sense with his profile. He wasn't the sort to swing in some shop that was out of his way for coffee or a morning pastry. Not unless it was the best bakery or coffee in the country, and perhaps not even then.

He maintained his almost-stomping pace for three blocks, then turned north, and at this point she was more than a little curious. They weren't quite leaving the business district, but they were nearing another stop on the subway. One that was on a totally different line. That meant that either he was truly a fanatic for efficiency and that he wanted to shave minutes off of his day, or that he wanted to meet someone and the route strictly on the subway wasn't as efficient if he'd switched trains.

There were other possibilities, of course, but she couldn't think of any that made sense. He turned into a maid cafe, and she almost laughed. He didn't want to be there. His whole body posture was uncomfortable, and she could see it. Hell, everyone who saw him probably saw it. She walked past the entrance, checking through the glass as she walked by. He was being seated at a table. Alone. "So. You're meeting someone here and they're either late, you're early, or they're making a point of it," she told herself as she turned into the alleyway behind the shop and ducked behind the dumpster. Full wardrobe change this time; shirt and skirt reversed, jacket stuffed under her shirt for some 'extra weight', glasses back on. Shy otaku would work best for her persona in there.

She took a moment to mentally shift gears and then walked back out into the street and into the cafe. Strictly speaking, it was 'less than ideal practice' for a tail to take their eyes off of the mark. But she was working alone and the chances of him ducking into a cafe to be seated, only to bolt and use that to slip his tail wouldn't make sense; it would create more commotion than it would solve and she'd not only be alerted that he was wise to the tail, but the staff would almost certainly tell her where such a rude customer went if she pressed them just right.

When she walked through the door, she couldn't see him due to where he was seated, but that didn't upset her. A lot of these places were carefully laid out so that you couldn't see everything. Privacy was a very real point of sales for many of these places. The young lady working the hostess stand was, frankly, adorable. The black-and-white maid outfit went just right with her tuxedo coloring, and she wore the bows and ribbons just right, the kind of young woman who genuinely enjoyed the costuming and the whole experience of being at a maid cafe. Rebecca requested a seat by the window, which would put her near enough to the tiger to keep herself in the loop of whatever he was doing.

Pulling her tablet out after placing an order for a parfait, she started "checking her messages" like any young professional would. Her devices were all on, and she wasn't surprised when she couldn't pull up Lin Shi Yao's computer. He likely had all of the wifi disabled. Disappointing but not surprising.

She couldn't break into his phone either. That was a bit on the surprising side. He likely had some extra security there, but for her intrusion suite to just bounce off like that was concerning. If she had to guess, her intuition told her that he had given it to a government for an upgrade. It didn't really narrow down who that government was, certainly not from the list of the most likely suspects. Her parfait arrived and she gave the appropriate enthusiastic sounds and thanks.

The waitress was a pretty little shiba inu, and after a truly impressively deep curtsey, she slipped right back into her job.

Rebecca started in on her treat with a will. She did have a cover to maintain, after all. She put her glasses on and pulled up her work on her tablet. The public would see either her working on one of her papers, or would see a silly game. In reality, she was recording the audio around her, and the directional microphone built into her choker would give her a record of the meeting.

She was almost to the bottom of her dessert, and was worried that she'd have to order something else when the other party showed up.

She didn't track the tigress with her eyes, that would have been too obvious. After all, she had a game to play on her tablet. But out of the corner of her eye, she did see the attractive feline moving in. And she knew that things had just gotten intensely complicated.

That was Baeggan-ui Bomul or she'd try to seduce A. In front of his husband. At the Christmas party.

The tigress wasn't quite 'infamous' in the espionage world, but she was damn close. "Baeggan-ui Bomul", or 'The Treasure of Baeggan', was who you called in the Far East if you needed to facilitate a transfer of anything, and wanted it done seamlessly. She was a bit of a free agent, supposedly she'd resigned from her position with the North Chusinese Intelligense Service. Like any good spy, Baeggan-ui Bomul could get into places that most people couldn't, and the fact that she was a native North Chusinese made things easy in that regard.

The tigress was known to be about 5 feet 2 inches tall, and a wickedly fast martial artist. She was light, and never went without at least three knives on her. It would be a very bad day if 'Bomul' saw her. Rebecca knew the dossier on her inside and out. Appearances could be deceiving, of course. Rebecca currently looked like she was an overweight nerd.

Unfortunately, Bomul could be here representing any one of the problematic nations. Or perhaps even worse, one of the problematic private interests. Rebecca couldn't hear the conversation going on between the two tigers, though she was further convinced that this wasn't how Bomul was trying to spin it; a boyfriend and girlfriend on a date. Lin Shi Yao was obviously uncomfortable with how familiar Bomul was being, and it wasn't a 'stop you're embarrassing me in public' sort of twitch in his eye or tail. She'd have to listen to the recording later, though doubtless they would be speaking at least somewhat in code.

That presented a further problem. If she didn't have their code phrases, she wouldn't be able to reasonably determine what was going on. If it were some other agent, perhaps, but Bomul was far too talented to use vague speak-around-references. Whatever code the two were using, it would be almost impossible to understand anything useful without the key.

Rebecca motioned for the waitress, careful to use the local motion rather than the Kingdom one, and asked for another parfait and a drink as well. The shiba inu curtsied once more, and retreated to the kitchen.

Sighing, she tried to pick out some things from the conversation between the overly-stoic Lin Shi Yao and the overly-affectionate Bomul, but they were being too quiet for her to hear anything directly. The microphone would pick it up, and she could get the recording later, but there was no way to do that right now.

When the waitress returned, Rebecca noticed a note tucked into the folds of the napkin that had been placed under her drink. Instantly, her guard was up. That was a serious breach of etiquette on several levels. She picked the drink up for her first sip from it, and let the note slide free.

"We should meet after I get off. I know a great karaoke place. I bet you're a lovely singer, vixen-chan."

Well. Shit. Singer. A 'Chanteur'. And the use of 'chan' was wrong unless she was already familiar with the speaker. She knew of one local agent who was a shiba inu, and had met them before. It looked like the Nikkonese were already on to whatever this was, at least partially. And they were reaching out for a meeting. A would have a fit, but this one she could even honestly say wasn't her doing. She hadn't reached out to them first.

She kept recording, right up to the point that Lin Shi Yao left, having not transferred anything to his 'girlfriend' that Rebecca could see.

Bomul left a few minutes later, having finished her dessert, literally skipping her way out the door like a lovestruck kitten.

Rebecca waited until she'd finished her own treat, and then paid and walked outside. Tailing Lin Shi Yao at this point would probably be counterproductive. If the locals were tracking his movements, then her meeting later would get her the results from his movements today. Assuming that the Nikkonese were in the mood to cooperate.

*

She'd checked in with the local O3S5 office, reported that she'd been contacted by native agents, and that she was going to pursue the lead, and to please pass a message through channels that she would meet NIS agent Kemuri at a particular karaoke bar in two hours. She also passed along the recording to C, for the affectionately dubbed 'nerd herd' to go over.

She was early to the meet, and had changed her appearance once more. No longer a dumpy nerd, she was an elegant and fully attractive female vixen. She booked a booth and went straight into it, ordering drinks for two so that there wouldn't be any disturbance when Kemuri showed up. Once they'd been delivered (and she'd poured a drink for herself) she swept the room for bugs.

When he walked in the door, she glowered at him. Kemuri was one of the most effeminately presenting males she'd ever encountered, when he wanted to be. He didn't identify as a woman, but his features were far too convenient for him to use any other way. Without the makeup, and the shy, bashful demeanor, he was simply a pretty-boy. Five foot, four inches tall, slender and lithe as a willow branch, graceful and elegant, there were times that he could wear a dress better than some women could. "It's clear," she said after the door shut.

He gave her a small bow, and she could see the mischievous twinkle in his eye. "A choker on an otaku girl, who isn't in costume?" He tsktsktsk'd at her. "You're slipping, Kashu-chan."

She scowled harder. "I'm older than you are, Kemuri-kun."

He laughed, and flopped down into the love seat next to her. He wore the slacks and button-down shirt and jacket of an off-duty office worker. "A woman who doesn't want to be told she looks young and beautiful," he teased further. "Are you truly getting senile in your old age?"

She rolled her eyes, and threw back the tumbler of whiskey. "Three weeks. I'm three weeks older than you are." She sat the glass down on the coster, and motioned for him to get on with it. "You wanted this meeting. Doubtless you know why I'm here, so let's not dance around too much. This feels like it's unraveling, and quickly."

Kemuri started playing with the long black ponytail that hung over his shoulder, trailing his fingers through it. Without the prosthetics that changed the shape of his muzzle, and the contacts that had previously made his eyes look an artificial pink, he looked less 'adorable'. "We obviously are playing the same game." He stopped combing his fingers through his hair and leaned forward to stand. Tugging something out of his jacket, he walked to the door and set what looked like a small speaker against the door, then activated it. Sounds of pop music came from the speaker, with some truly horrible singing accompanying it.

Rebecca knew that many spies in her position would have tensed at the unexplained movement. She didn't. Either he was going to betray her (in which case she was well and truly fucked and not in a good way) or he wasn't. She'd known Kemuri for years, though, and had pulled his tail out of the fire. They first ran into each other during training, inter-agency visits and such. He'd already been working at that point, while she'd just started. A little while later, they covered for each other during the street-racing affair.

Kemuri turned back to the couch and fell into it again. "We have reason to think that Lin Shi Yao isn't just selling whatever it is. We have every reason to think that he's going to steal all of Kamasuta's work outright, and defect. And yes, in case you weren't sure, that was Bomul. What we're not sure of is whether he's going to the North Chusinese, the Hannic state, or someone else entirely. Unfortunately for us, Bomul is quite good at her job."

They spent the next hour going over what information each of them had, how they knew it, and what the various puzzle pieces meant. The longer the collaboration went on, the more they slipped back into familiar and even friendly roles. Kemuri's data showed that Lin Shi Yao's political leanings were vastly different from his parents, which O3S5 hadn't known. It was part of why she'd been sent.

Rebecca's information showed much the same, though she had different parts, and filled in some of the other interested parties. She hadn't known that it was more than a sale. It was a possibility, of course, but not the first conclusion that O3S5 had drawn, lacking all of the political information.

"I know that the general impression the Kingdom has of Nikkonese culture says that we never really say what we mean flat out," Kemuri said as he sipped his whiskey. "Which should tell you something when I say that this is fucking frustrating. We'd been operating off of the assumption that he would likely be staying in this part of the world. Now you're showing me data that says he could be going to the Mediflumian region, somewhere in the Mesogaian area, South Novimunda, Sub-Teneren Alkebula, Kossia..." He scrubbed his face with his hands. "Why is it never simple?"

She snorted. "If it were simple, then we wouldn't be paid the big bucks, as our Free States friends would say." She was about to continue the conversation when her phone rang. She'd silenced it, which meant that someone had sent a priority override code in the call. She picked it up and held a finger out.

He quickly tapped at his own phone, and the voice track on the false speaker cut off.

"Hello," she answered in Nikonese.

"Miss Kamagari, please," said a nervous tenor from the other end of the line.

"Miss Kamagari isn't in right now, but I can leave her a note," Rebecca gave the countersign that would indicate that she wasn't alone, but that the other party was involved and friendly. And that her line was clear and the scrambler was active.

"If you can throw your tablet's view on the screen, please do so, then set it up with the camera facing you. We have news, Agent Chanteur." It was one of C's crew, and she knew who it was by their voice alone. For all of their reputation as wild and unruly and all of the other things, this particular member of the Coms division was outwardly all of that. And then lost his ability to speak the instant he saw her.

"Copy," she said, and activated a couple of programs, then set the tablet up on the table propped so that it faced the pair of agents on the love seat.

The face that sprang up on the large screen usually reserved for karaoke lyrics was what one might think of as cute, in an end-of-millenia punk-rock sort of way. Wild hair, piercings from large ears to lips and nostril, and a cultivated unkemptness couldn't hide the vast intelligence in those eyes. Or it wouldn't have hid the intelligence, if those eyes were open. They were both pointedly squeezed shut as the hyena male said, "We just intercepted a communication from one of the interested parties in Lin Shi Yao and his data. Given your report, it looks like it's going to one of Bomul's accounts, one that we didn't know about."

Rebecca couldn't help but smile. "You can't even look me in the face on video, Abby?"

The computer nerd's eyes snapped open. "It's Aberration, for the las..." The anger died almost instantly, as the poor nerd saw that Rebecca had tugged a couple of buttons on her blouse open and let out the compression straps of her bra. Every last bit of cleavage was on display, and even the blouse seemed to be straining against the load. Aberration's jaw worked a few times, and then looked to the side with his ears folding flat and his muzzle fur bushing out.

Rebecca laughed, and it just added to the hacker's embarrassment with all of the imparted motion.

Kemuri sighed, and shook his head. "Stop being mean to the poor boy," he said quietly in Nikkonese. He couldn't help but smile just a touch, though. Aberration's self-imposed isolation and absolute inability to talk with women was legendary, both in the intelligence community and technology sectors.

Rebecca did the buttons back up. "It's exposure therapy," she replied in the same language, before switching back to Common. "I'm sorry, Aberration. I've put them away."

The screen shifted as Aberration manipulated controls on his end, displaying the email in question. He turned back, though with the displayed email dominating the screen, his camera view was tucked in the corner. Both of the agents in the karaoke booth could tell where their own was on his screen, because Aberration's eyes were locked right there, rather than on his camera. "Took some detective work to interpret things, but we're quite certain that Bomul is going to be holding an auction for Lin Shi Yao's data tonight at Nakatomi Plaza."

Rebecca sat back and crossed her arms over her chest. "An auction? That doesn't make sense. NIS has good intelligence that Lin Shi Yao is defecting, not selling to the highest bidder."

And yet, there the email was. 'Opening price?' No other words.

"You don't have new orders, per se, but A wanted you to know about this, and expects that you'll take the appropriate steps, Chanteur." Aberration's face didn't change it's position, his eyes doing their best to dive straight down Rebecca's blouse from what he no doubt thought of as a 'hidden interest'.

Rebecca tapped her fingers on her upper arms, thinking. "Why do we think Nakatomi Plaza tonight?"

Aberration threw a whole slew of other emails and maps on the screen. "Long story short, this is from a brand new phone, which we traced back to a Sub-Tenere Alkebulan free agent in the area. Once we had that, we ran some programs that traced it's GPS, correlated that with social calendars, other known agents in the area, their GPS, and a few other bits of technical wizardry. It's anything but a sure bet, but it's the most likely scenario. Bunch of people scouting this location, and there's a charity ball going on there tonight. Good cover for them."

Rebecca pursed her lips, bobbing her head as she ran through possibilities. "Please send me the floor plan for Nakatomi. If A hasn't already done so, please ask him to throw a behavioral analyst on this and get me an analysis on Lin Shi Yao's motivation. I think that I'm seeing something, and I don't like it. Oh, one more thing. Any traction on the recording I sent you now that we have this other data?"

Aberration shook his head. "Totally different cypher. If we find anything we'll let you know, but everything that we heard just sounded like a couple of people squabbling over where to go for a weekend getaway. None of the prices referenced made sense, of course, so we know that each of the 'getaways' is a separate entity, but we have no idea what they are yet."

Rebecca sighed. "I didn't think we'd be that lucky. Thank you, Aberration. Please keep me informed."

Aberration acknowledged and then signed off of the call.

Kemuri stood and went to the door. "I take it we're done here?"

Rebecca stood as well, and she adjusted her clothing so that she wasn't quite as noticeable. "I think so, though if that thing has a 'cool down' programme, run that while we chat. I'm thinking that we should crash the charity ball tonight. Can NIS get us in, officially?"

Kemuri nodded, tapping a few times on his phone. "NIS can get us in. What's your plan? Pull a Gallian Gallop and see what we could find that way?"

She tapped her chin. "I hate trying a Gallian Gallop without a team on site monitoring cameras. Hellespont Hustle?"

He shook his head. "No way, NIS would kill me. Chang-an Choo-Choo?"

She raised one eyebrow at him. Just one. "You need three people for a Chang-an Choo-Choo. Koskov Dump?"

Kemuri considered. "Suit or dress?"

Rebecca giggled. "Suit, I think. As much fun as it would be for us to parade around as a lesbian couple, I think that it might be a bit too much."

Kemuri let out the breath he was holding. "Good. I don't mind how heels make my butt look but I'm getting a little tired of walking around in them constantly. How's your Free States accent? I'm thinking Los Diablos bimbo, with your... ah... assets."

Rebecca grimaced. "My Southern Belle's more polished than my Beach Blond, darlin'."

He shrugged. "Workable. I take it that I need to ask NIS to deliver my tuxedo to your hotel, as a lady needs her time to get ready?"

She rolled her eyes. "That might be best. Doubtless you'll be wanting to assist in getting ready?"

He just winked at her.

*

The ride back to the hotel had been uneventful, both of them texting their organizations and receiving texts back. She led him up to the hotel room, and once the door was shut, she went to her closet and started picking through the outfits. A personal rule of hers was that she never wore the same dress twice, and while it was an operational decision, she would at least admit that it played into her vanity as well.

Kemuri took a seat on the couch, still going back and forth with NIS about final details. He stood when someone knocked at the door and answered it, accepting the tuxedo before shutting and locking the door.

Rebecca set the dress she was going to wear aside on the rung, then selected her lingerie for the evening. Last were the accessories, which she placed on the desk or in her E-issued handbag. "I'm going to take a shower and wash this dye job off." She went into the bathroom before stripping down and getting into the shower. The warm water felt good. She closed her eyes as she put her head under the spray and ran her hands through her hair, then reached for the shampoo that contained the dye solvent.

It wasn't there.

She sighed dramatically, but couldn't keep the smile out of her voice. "I almost wondered if you were going to go through my documents or email."

Kemuri squeezed a large amount of the shampoo onto his hands, and then started with her hair after she stepped back from the spray. "Spies? Keeping secrets? You must be joking. You have no secrets from me, Kushi." He ran his hands through her thick hair slowly, massaging the scalp as he went.

Rebecca picked up the tube and started to squeeze some into her own hands. She knew that he'd put at least some dye in his own fur for the day, his coat was far too light from what she remembered. "Every girl has at least one secret," she chided. "Which line were you going to use? Save time, or save water?"

Kemuri's hands drifted down to her shoulders, and he squeezed them gently. "I was thinking more 'I haven't seen you since Hermanslautern and I wanted to get reacquainted."

She laughed, and turned to face him, starting her own massage of his scalp and ears. "Has it really been that long?"

His eyes were closed as she worked the suds into his hair. "It has. I don't know whether NIS was more upset at you that you rang the bell, or that you stole my date for that little romp." He settled his hands on her hips, stepping closer. Her breasts pillowed against his chest before his erection brushed her thigh. He gave her a gentle kiss on her muzzle.

She sighed at that. "No one likes being shown up, darling. And I wouldn't have even thought about it if I hadn't heard him and the other drivers making comments about what they were going to do to you. Besides, by that point I'd already sent your findings off." She kissed him again. "We make a good team, when we're not having to pretend we don't know each other."

Kemuri kissed her, deeper this time, pushing closer to her and backing her against the wall. His hands roamed freely along her curves, feeling the heft of her bust as he cupped and lifted her globes.

She was trailing her claws down the back of his shoulders and spine as he played. She didn't begrudge him the attention there. To be fair, they were her most notable physical feature. On the other hand both of them were attracted for reasons besides the physicality. They both knew the other to be resourceful, intelligent, and talented in their own ways.

Kemuri was a far better stealth operative than she was. She was better at analysis and fishing information out. Both of them knew when to play to the other's strengths. And both of them could be intensely passionate when they were about to go into a situation.

Everyone was nervous before an operation. Anyone who said otherwise was a liar, or a psychopath. And everyone dealt with it in their own way. Anything to relieve stress. Exercise. Meditation. Rehearsal of the op. Sex. All of those were valid options.

She enjoyed sex, and she knew that Kemuri did as well, especially when he got to be unapologetically masculine. She had been with the kind of men that she would classify as a 'brute'. It came with the job. Sometimes it even was at least somewhat satisfying, if she was in the mood for something rough. Kemuri was anything but.

Perhaps he'd learned about how to balance things with his near-continual roles posing as a woman. Perhaps he'd always been this way. Regardless, he didn't just 'push in and rut'. He gave as good as he got.

She hissed out as she felt him slide up into her, and scoop her thigh up to rest against his hip. He was hardly the largest male she'd ever been with, and that was good with her. As much sex as Rebecca had partaken in (which was a lot, by objective standards) she had long ago gotten over the desire to constantly have more.

He shifted his legs, pressing up and forward until she was braced against the wall, and then started sliding his whole frame against hers. He felt her breasts mashing back against his wiry chest, kissing her constantly. He was the same height as she was, and it made sharing this moment with her far better. Kemuri's preference was neither domination nor submission. Equals.

Tense as they both were, neither lasted very long. And that was fine, too. He scooped one of her breasts up and shifted from kissing her muzzle, to sucking on the nipple, while she arched and called out. He felt her tremble, and then sag against him as he picked the pace up. His needs were starting to take over.

She moaned as he drove up into her heat and then spilled inside of her. It didn't take long for him to relax after that, gasping as the sensations rolled through his oversensitized shaft.

The rest of the shower was spent in a strange no-man's-land of almost-aftercare, almost-preparation. Each shampooed the other's fur. Each laughed at the muddy color that the suds took as they pulled the dye out of their fur; hers far more than his. Each dried the other off with the fluffy towels and dryer and brush.

On some levels, Rebecca almost wished that this sort of communal bathing was more accepted in the rest of the world. In her opinion, it helped to engender a sense of community and care for fellow sentients. On the other hand, given how The West still viewed sex and sexuality, that would likely not happen for a very long time.

Yes, they'd both just shared each other's bodies. But there wasn't any kind of erotic undertone as they dressed in front of each other. Not as she bounced herself in her bra to make sure everything was seated correctly. Not as he bent over to pull a pair of briefs on, flashing his cute butt at her.

They checked each other over, adjusting a strap here, tugging a sleeve there. He helped to clasp her golden cuff-bracelets on, and looked into her eyes after he set the locking pin in place.

"E." It was all she had to say. She turned her back to him and held her hair up so that he could clasp the choker around her throat. Earrings and then heels, and she was ready.

"I'll call for a cab," Kemuri said as he offered her his other sleeve, letting her adjust and fasten the cufflink there. While she fussed over the small smoke grenades, he placed the call.

Five minutes later, they were walking out of the hotel room and into the elevator.

---

This story is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to any characters, living, dead or imaginary is purely a coincidence. All characters are a product of the author's imagination and copyright to them, unless noted guest appearances of other copyrighted characters are listed in this notice. Comments may be left (and are encouraged!) on the author's FurAffinity or SoFurry page. If you liked this story, and wish to support the author, please visit their Patreon.

This story is a work of fiction. Any immoral acts included in this story are a fantasy and should not be taken as encouragement to perform or endorsement of these acts by the author. Specifically, because apparently it needs to be said; anything other than expressed consent for any sexual encounter by a legal unimpaired sentient adult is wrong, immoral, and evil. Unwilling subjugation of sentients who have committed no crime is wrong, immoral, and evil.