FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Why am I doing this? Jamie asks himself as he fine-tunes the edges of the mask of the wooden meowscarada. The answer is the same as whenever else he would carve something: an image got stuck in his head and he needed to see it realized. The real question is why is Mecara always the subject of his mind's eye? He was hoping that it was the overall striking appearance of a meowscarada, but pictures online did little to quell his obsession. Almost all are distinguished from the one he knows-knew-from their eye color. Pink is the most common, violet following that, and he has only found one other with sky blue. And she has an obvious difference besides the longer tail and bigger collar.

With the head finished, the sheath is the last thing to do before Jamie paints it. But he could barely draw it, partly because he's never sculpted or sketched genitalia before, and partly because everyone online obscures it somehow (an edited-on leaf usually). The one that didn't was a video that...distracted him. He could give up and make it an implied presence-like he has to do with fur. But instead, he puts the figurine and knife down, and clicks the mouse on the other side of the desk to awaken his PC, popping up the porno from earlier. He rewinds it to a close-up of the meowscarada's lower half before the action-and the meowscarada's erection-starts and sketches it a few times, then finally braves knife to wood.

*

As the paint sets, Jamie realizes all he's done is exacerbate his problem. Because no matter how well he captures Mecara's form, nothing happens when he runs a finger over the stem (connected to the cape supposedly). The flower stays in its dormant state and it doesn't make a sound; no words so excited they're unintelligible or purr or anything. The figurine only reminds him of what he fucked up. So what is he to do with it? Throwing away tens of hours of work doesn't appeal, but he could sell it.

What is with me and selling things I care about?

That thought comes unbidden, forcing him to admit he does care, he just couldn't handle the stress anymore and decided to find something else to care about. Seemed like a fine idea at the time, but all it has done is ruin his chances of having the next thing he cared about. Who's to say it won't do that again?

He shoots the prospective buyers an email saying the sale is off and to not come around.

Only if his meowscarada problem was that easy. Jamie can't become the person Mecara thought he was; he cares about the forest, but love? No. Still, Mecara could solve his problem with the trespassers. One flower bomb or a slash of those claws would do it, and what reason does Mecara have to refuse? He even has an apology gift ready to go.

Even so, Jamie doesn't know where Mecara lives, except that he mentioned another forest nearby. But there isn't one-he pulls out the map on his pokedex-the closest is five miles east, which is more like a copse. There's a bunch further out, only making it harder to figure out which one. He could go to each one and sniff around since he has Mecara's scent memorized.

The only other hint is the mago berry trees. Unfortunately, the pokedex doesn't tell him what kind the trees are, but if he doesn't find any, he can be certain it's the wrong forest. Wait, didn't Mecara say where he got the sapling? The wolf thinks back: no he didn't say (or it was in a part he failed to understand), but he did point...south? As good of a place to start as any, perhaps better since everything immediately around the river he'd follow there is public property.

*

Jamie sets off the next day with the sun rising. The flat, featureless land (save for the river) and the temperate weather make the journey easy and, by the time the sun reaches its zenith, mago trees taunt its end. With the still air and the fishy smell of the river, he's yet to pick up on Mecara's scent. But sure enough, it hits him as he enters the shade of the trees. Except... more mature, yet more subtle. Scanning his surroundings, there's a familiar whoosh behind him.

"Detected me already? Meow annoying rada." The growl in Mecara's voice makes his speech harder to translate. "Cara you want?"

Jamie looks down as he turns around, but finds a pink collar instead of eyes, and when he glances up, they're violet. "Nothing bad just looking for someone."

"You understand me?" The growl is gone, but the larger meowscarada's arms remain crossed. "That makes up for your previous annoyance."

"I'm assuming you're Mecara's father?"

"I sure hope I'm nobody's father. And there's no Mecara here, so if that's truly all you wanted, you can-Wait, hold on." The meowscarada drops his arms to his sides and twirls one of the pointed flourishes of his cape. "Is that the name Little Brother gave himself? So that would make you that wolf he was after." With open arms, he lunges at Jamie, forcing the wolf's snout into his fluffy ear. "Meow!"

"I see he's only had nice things to say about me." Jamie hugs back, unsure if it's rude that he's folding his cape in to do so. "Where is he?"

"Not sure." After brushing noses, the meowscarada disengages the embrace. "I doubt he's home, but we can check there anyway." He leads away from the river and into trees so dense they can't walk side by side. "I'll warn you that he's gotten grumpier. Maybe somewhat because of all of our pushing."

The mago trees here still bear their arc-shaped fruit-in contrast to the oran back home that's currently dormant-giving the air a sweeter smell. "Well, if I upset him again he can only break your door," the wolf says as he yoinks one of pink, yet yellow-tipped berries dangling all around him and bites into it. Indeed, it is far sweeter and tastier than oran.

"Door?" The wolf bumps into the meowscarada when he suddenly stops at a line of tall trees with their leaf-dense branches criss-crossing each other. "We don't have a door."

"So how do you get in?" After finishing the berry in a second bite, Jamie presses a paw into the unyielding wall.

"You ask the tree of course." The meowscarada stares at a spot in the natural barricade and the branches retreat, leaving enough space to walk through.

Inside is a large open space, the canopy above allowing only enough light to see by. "Is Mecara one of them?" Jamie points to the center where two meowscaradas and a floragato nap in a pile atop a bed of grass and leaves.

"No, Little Brother is, as usual, nowhere to be seen. It's still Big Sister's turn to patrol the other side of the forest, so he's just jerking off somewhere, I don't know."

"Wouldn't want to catch him doing that," the wolf lies. "Can I wait here?"

"Sure, just..." The meowscarada pads to a corner and scrawls something with the paper and stationery found there. "First time that Mom's weird hobby has come in handy." He gives the note to Jamie. "I gotta get back before they wake up and say I'm slacking."

In barely legible handwriting, the note reads, This is the wolf we were looking for. When Jamie looks back up, the meowscarada is gone and the exit is closed, so he takes the opportunity to explore the den. While it is all one room, it's divided into six clusters of items. The corner from before also has worn books, another has a collection of floral wreaths and similar flower-made decorations, and, just visible past the snoozing pokemon, lies a bunch of blocks of wood, some carved into an anthropomorphic shape. Approaching it, there's a distinct lack of a knife, which explains why none of the attempted carvings are salvageable. When Jamie shuffles some of the wood around, he finds a tattered flannel and jeans.

Before he can investigate further, branches scrape behind him. Facing the sound, there's a meowscarada.

"Wolf?" Mecara sighs, running a paw from his nose to up and over his mask. "Big Brother musta dragged you in. I know I didn't formally end our mateship, but I am now." Mecara steps aside and gestures at the doorway he created. "Please leave."

Jamie advances to the doorway, but doesn't go through. "Can we talk just for a minute?"

"Fine, I guess I owe you that much, but not here." Mecara brushes past him and through branches.

The wolf is nearly caught by the reforming barricade as he follows the meowscarada. "Your brother seems cool, even excited to see..." The sparsening trees and the magnifying fishy smell distracts Jamie. "Did you not tell him what happened?"

"I did!" Mecara throws his paws in the air, grazing some leaves. "And they decide to act like this."

"I don't understand." Jamie's words come out slowly as the sound of rushing water swivels his ears.

"My family keeps hounding me to change your mind with mating." Mecara cares little for the sudden view of a waterfall (the river) crashing into a lake, and whips around. "But I keep telling them that if they're so passionate about it, they can do it themselves. But noooo." Jamie can't tell which is more forceful: the meowscarada's gesticulations to the air or the waterfall to the lake below. "Big Brother is as straight as they come-which isn't very-and my sisters are still floragatos-Big Sister is just lazy-and no way my parents could ever become polyamorous-way too happy with each other for that. Sounds to me like a whole lot of 'I don't want to, so you do it.'"

"Wow, you talk like I'm a burden to be passed around which...I guess is fair." Jamie shakes his head. "Would be fair. I'm not selling the forest anymore. I don't expect for that to change how you feel, but-"

"You just want my mouth on your weird penis again."

"Not the only thing I want, but you're right, and you were right before: I don't love nature as you do." Jamie glances at a tree, he knows it's alive, but loving it would be no different than loving the rocks lining the shore of the lake. "I've decided I care about the forest and...I had a reason to give up: I can't fend off the pokemon trainers like you can. I need a pokemon to fight for me, but capturing one never felt right to me. So I've gotta convince one to help me and...you're the strongest one I know."

Mecara rolls his eyes. "You just met a stronger pokemon two minutes ago."

"Well, it'd be awkward to give this to your brother." Jamie takes the figurine out of his satchel and offers it to the meowscarada. "Though, if you say no, I could repaint the eyes to violet."

"You'd need to redo the sheath and sac, too." Mecara snatches the figurine. "His are way bigger; he'd take offense."

"Forgive me for looking at his eyes before his crotch." Jamie smiles, but lets it fade when the meowscarada doesn't return it. "Anyway, do you like it?"

"It is admittedly impressive." Mecara attempts to trace the spiderweb pattern on the inside of the cape, but his fingers are too big. "Do you have a tiny set of claws for all these details?"

The wolf chuckles. "I used a knife, then painted on the rest. I can teach you, or just make more of whatever you want."

"All you want in exchange is the protection of the forest?"

"In exchange, yes. But I also want...you."

"I'll only promise the protection of the forest, but I shall await your performance." Before Jamie can question that, Mecara continues, "For now, I recall you had a spare sleeping area? It'll be easier to live next to what I'm protecting."

"So you accept?" Jamie's tail wags for the first time since...he can't remember. "Do you need to get anything from your den?"

"Let's just get outta here before my family bothers us."

The trip home is initially full of Jamie's failed attempts at conversation until his mind wanders to the performance Mecara mentioned. After a quick search on his pokedex, while lagging behind so the meowscarada can't see his screen, he finds a breakdown of meowscarada courting rituals step by step. Too long to read while walking so he only learns that his performance has to be creative-easy enough-and display...physical prowess. Jamie involuntarily tries to crush his pokedex, only hurting himself. Even if he became a bodybuilder for the next decade his strength wouldn't impress a pokemon. Sighing, he puts his pokedex away and catches up with Mecara.

Upon arriving home, Jamie shows the same spare bedroom from before to Mecara, who tosses the figurine on the bed and mutters, "It's functional. I'm gonna wander the forest some, get reacquainted with it." He pads down the hallway, through the living room, and to the door, once again failing to open it.

Jamie, following close behind, turns the knob the other way, unlatching it. "There you go. Can I tag along with you?"

"I'll be fine."

"Alright, just...be safe."

"Yeah." Mecara closes the door behind him.

*

For the next few days, Jamie sees little of Mecara. Often he returns home after the wolf has retired, and wakes before him. In the one conversation they shared, Mecara divulges that he's yet to do much except clean and scare one fox kit away. Jamie stops himself from asking why he's spending so much time there then, and instead, ponders the question in his newfound free time, along with what his performance will be. Whittling is his only real skill, and he can't make much of a performance out of that. But maybe he can still impress the meowscarada with it and maybe he'll forgo courting procedures-he did before after all.

So he sets an alarm to wake before Mecara, and stops him on his way out. "Hey, did you still want me to teach you how to properly whittle?"

Mecara glances out the living room window to a barely lit world. "I guess, yeah."

Jamie's desk is in his bedroom, so it takes several reassurances that this is not an "invitation" before they're both sitting at it, the PC and peripherals slid over to make space. He explains different cutting techniques while demonstrating them-just as his mother did for him. It should've been a beautiful, nostalgic moment, however, the meowscarada can't do anything the wolf is showing him because he lacks a thumb to guide the blade. After his fifth failed attempt at a simple J-cut, Mecara drops his knife with a clatter.

"I can still carve something for you." Jamie attempts to place a paw on Mecara's arm, but he scoots his chair away. "What would you like me to make?"

"Can you make a figurine of Big Brother?"

"I could try, but I only saw him once, so the best I could do is do you again except taller, with the correct eye color and...y'know, bigger junk."

"Forget it then." Mecara yawns, his jaw grazing one of the petals of his collar.

"Trainers don't come out this early. Why don't you get some more sleep today?"

"Can't." Mecara leans back in the chair, rubbing at his eyelids-a precise task with his mask leaving little room. "Without someone with me, I keep waking up."

"Oh, did you want me to," Jamie drums a finger on the desk, "help you with that?"

"I'll be going now." Mecara rises, but Jamie beats him to the door.

"Let me come with this time. You won't be very perceptive in this state."

"Fine, just don't slow me down."

For the next couple hours, they meander around the forest. Somehow nothing more to clean, and Mecara still isn't in a talking mood, so Jamie tries to think of a new plan for courting him. He could visit his family and sketch them, but would figurines of them accomplish much? Mecara was only a little impressed with the one of him, and he can't increase the quality through sheer willpower. So he's back to drawing something up that shows physical prowess without requiring it. An imposs-

A distant, high-pitched vocalization swivels Jamie's ears. "I hear something that way." He points. "East. A voice but not like any of the pokemon around here."

Mecara races off without a word and Jamie doesn't bother trying to keep up. If something somehow goes wrong while he's trailing behind, he'll hear it and call Ranger Larry; he at least does something when there's injured pokemon.

As the wolf nears the source of the sound, he doesn't hear Mecara's steps, so he slows down. Between a few trees he can make out a figure, likely a cub since it's shorter than Mecara, who appears past the figure. He must have run past and come back around.

"A meowscarada!" the jackal cub-evident now that Jamie's closer-exclaims. "I'll own it at the Casscarafa Gym with one of you!" She throw a pokeball that Mecara sidesteps and lands not far from the wolf. Crouching down, he adds the quick ball to his recently-depleted supply of pokeballs.

When he returns his attention to the action, a mabosstiff has joined, but Mecara pays it no heed. He stares at the jackal holding her pokedex, waiting, until the quadrupedal canine charges, revealing why it's no threat: it's slower than the wolf. Mecara dashes around and stops in front of the jackal, who staggers back. Mecara advances one step and rips her pokedex from her paws, crushing it.

The mabosstiff reverses direction and lunges, jaws ready to bite Mecara's leg from behind. Before Jamie can warn him, green light blinds him, and by the time all the spots disappear from his vision, the mabostiff is a few feet away with a scorch mark on its back. The mabosstiff growls, only for it to turn into a whimper when Mecara's flower blossoms.

"I wasn't going to hurt her." Mecara moves from between them. "You two can leave now. Oh," he unclenches his digits, dropping glass and metal, "don't forget this."

"That's not how you're supposed to fight!" The jackal pinches the pieces out from the grass. "Mom won't buy me a third one."

The mabosstiff looks pleadingly at her.

"I know he's scary, but you could have at least tried to fight." She suddenly jerks her arm back as she attempts to grab another broken shard. "Whatever, let's get out of here."

Only when she disappears beyond several rows of trees does Jamie reveal himself from behind a bush. "You did that without getting a scratch."

"That is incorrect." The meowscarada holds up his paw, showing the central pad with embedded glass. "I need to stop breaking their device like that, but it's so satisfying and it heals quickly, so I forget about it."

"I'm surprised you didn't just attack the jackal." The wolf rummages into his satchel for a potion. "Give me your paw."

Mecara complies. "My parents learned not to do that the hard way. Trainers get injured way too easily then it's a whole mess. They had to migrate halfway across Paldea." He winces as shards are picked out of his flesh. "Anyway, their device is a better target. Destroying it makes them just kinda give up, like if you cracked open a chansey's egg, except hopefully not that cruel."

Jamie sprays the potion onto the cuts, which mend within seconds. "I'd say it's a little more. Chansey's eggs in their pouch don't bear young and they can make more, but getting a new pokedex, that's a bitch." He discards the empty bottle into his satchel, not onto the forest floor. "Still, she deserved it for thinking she could just take you to fight some random gym leader."

*

The next morning Jamie stops a disheveled Mecara from going out the door. "I mean this as nicely as possible: you look like shit. I didn't even know your flower could droop like that."

"Tonight was especially fitful." Mecara covers his face as he yawns.

"Look, it's pretty cold today, so there won't be any trainers." Jamie takes the meowscarada's paws so he can see at his glazed-over eyes. "Just go back to your family for a bit. Get some rest finally."

"If you're sure..."

"I am. You're not helping anyone by destroying yourself." Jamie steps aside and watches as Mecara exits, climbs down the steps, and rounds the house instead of heading straight into the forest.

So starts another day of Jamie lounging around while worrying about how he's supposed to impress someone a million times more impressive than himself. After eight hours of that, the question of whether Mecara will return nags him. He wasn't enjoying this arrangement, so what would entice him back? The wolf? The figurine he left behind? No, the forest of course.

Before Jamie spirals, he decides to take a walk. The trees have already lost their leaves in the usual flashy fashion, littering the ground. The chirping wattrels create a nice ambience. But how Mecara loves all of this still eludes him. Maybe he could understand if he could communicate with the plants as meowscaradas can. In fact, most of his problems would be solved if he could do what meowscaradas can do.

This isn't helping me at all, Jamie thinks as he repeatedly smacks his skull into a trunk. Then why am I doing it? He stops when it starts to really hurt, and breathes for a few minutes.

Something orange moving in his periphery drags his gaze from the tree bark: a pawmi that's way too small to be away from its mother. When he squats down to its level, it jumps, but doesn't run.

"Hey little guy. You lost?"

"Pa-pawmi."

Jamie extends his paw. "Come on. I'll get you back to your burrow." The quadrupedal rodent places a leg on his fingertip, pulls away, then scampers up his arm and onto his shoulder. The wolf nuzzles the pawmi; similar scents aren't far, likely siblings, though he doesn't smell a pawmot, but he's only encountered one before so it's probably entangled in all the other scents of the forest.

Ensuring the pawmi doesn't fall with a paw, Jamie tracks the location of the burrow to a small hole dug under a tree root, where he reunites the pawmi with its four siblings. Their mother shouldn't be gone long, so after thirty minutes of nothing, he concludes that a trainer caught her. Because of course cold weather wouldn't hold back their madness.

Sighing, he takes out his pokedex, scrolls through the contacts, and calls Mary.

"Jamie?" Below her voice there's the usual chatter of pokemon. "Long time, no ring."

"Yes, well, until now I've been fortunate enough not to have more motherless hatchlings."

"I've told you this already." She distances herself from her pokedex, says something to somebody else, but doesn't bring the mic closer to her when she continues, "I don't want your skwovets."

"Pawmis this time," Jamie mumbles, already given up.

"Oh?" The single, drawn-out sound gets closer and closer. "How many?"

Jamie re-examines the burrow and finds one sleeping on top of another that previously seemed like one. "Six."

"Hmm, that's a lot." A door opens and closes, ending the background noise. "But yeah, I'll take them out of your paws."

"You'll take six pawmis, but not two skwovets?"

"Nobody wants a greedent no matter how well I raise them. But a pawmot? They're adorable!"

"Clearly someone wants them if they're being kidnapped."

"Probably a catch of convenience rather than actual desire."

"I fucking hate the world we live in." Jamie slumps down onto the ground with his back against a tree. "But thank you, Mary. Can you come pick them up right now?"

"Um, yeah, give me a bit and I'll hop on over."

"Great. I'm on the west end. Thanks again and see you soon." He hangs up.

It's not long before a familiar scent is on the wind, getting closer at what should be an impossible speed. A shift in the air, then Mecara stands above him, looking as fresh as the day Jamie met him.

"You found some pawmis?" Mecara crouches down and allows one of them to sniff his paw. "They're cute."

"What they are is orphans." Jamie rests his head against the tree bark, hurting from the earlier abuse. "Some trainer musta came through while you were gone."

"Oh." With parting neck scritches, the meowscarada rises away from the pawmis.

"I've got my cousin that runs the breeding farm coming for 'em."

"I'm..." Mecara sits cross-legged across from the wolf and waits until he meets his eyes. "I'm sorry."

"For what? Sleeping? This is just the world we live in."

"No, I didn't just sleep. I talked, I played, I had fun. I promised to protect this forest and I broke that promise. It's just...I can handle being sleep deprived, but I didn't realize how much I'd miss my family, especially since they're showering me with praise now." Mecara falls back in the grass, watching a kilowattrel far up in the sky. "I wish I could speak with them while I am here."

Jamie springs to his feet and paces about, body needing to move as fast as his mind. Physical prowess may be impossible, but Mecara's wish just now is very possible. And maybe afterwards the meowscarada will allow him to help with the sleeping problem.

*

After a week of preparation, Jamie announces his performance is ready and leads Mecara to the living room.

"Your performance is in your den?" Mecara hesitantly sits on the sofa. "Are you not afraid of breaking something?"

"Mine's not as physical as yours was." Jamie stands before the meowscarada and takes a steadying breath, whether this succeeds is out of his control. "I'm gonna wow you with knowledge."

Mecara rests his head in his paw, elbow on the armrest. "You haven't displayed any noteworthy intelligence."

"Ow, that was uncalled for." Jamie steps back against the coffee table so he doesn't have to look down as much. "But I said knowledge, a key difference. Ask me something about your family that I shouldn't know."

"When did my parents become mates?"

Jamie glances up at the ceiling as he waits, then the answer is given to him. "Fourteen summers ago."

"You just went and asked them a bunch of questions." Mecara adjusts his cape so it flows out in front of him instead of crumpling in the crook of the couch. "That's not impressing me."

"Then ask me something they wouldn't tell me."

"Fine." Mecara groans as he thinks. "Where do my parents typically mate?"

"Hmm, that knowledge is a little foggy." Rather, the voices keep trampling over each other, forcing the wolf to pick out words and extrapolate the rest. "Some kind of treehouse? No, wait, not a house, just a really big branch of...some tree."

"I thought you would be too shy to ask that, but it seems you have thorough interview skills, wolf. But that's not what I look for in a mate."

"Fine, I'll just tell you something." After some deliberation amongst themselves, the monotone female voice tells a short story. "Your big sister, she stole...your really big stick? And threw it in the river. All because you were rubbing in the fact that you evolved before her."

"I knew it!" Mecara straightens his posture and slams his fist into the armrest. "Big Brother would never."

"Your big brother that..." At the prompting, the less-gravely male voice starts speaking. "Wow, you convinced him to help you, I'm quoting here, 'practice oral skills to win over a hot wolf.'"

"It's been established I was smitten with you. I'm not embarrassed about it, and I suppose that descriptor isn't completely wrong."

"Okay," Jamie drawls. I think the embarrassing part was the incest. "Moving on. Your little sister..." Quiet until now, the high-pitched, excited voice prattles about...something. "She's very hard to understand."

"You're talking to them somehow." Mecara rises from the couch and circles the wolf, having to go around the coffee table and past the TV. "Do you have some sort of telepathy? Like a lucario except for it's long range?"

"I wish, but I'm devoid of any powers, or any showy skills." Jamie pulls out a pokedex, distinct from his own with its green and white design. "But what I've got is technology."

"That's one of the devices that you can ask questions to."

"That you like to break, yes. Two of them can be used to communicate over any distance, well, practically. You can even see each other."

Mecara takes the pokedex with both paws. "I need two but you're only giving me one?"

"No, listen." Jamie taps the screen a few times to disconnect it from the wireless earpiece-which he removes while he's at it-and the cacophony of voices sound through the built-in speaker instead. "Your family has the other one."

"Hello?" Mecara receives several greetings in return and they proceed to converse faster than Jamie could ever hope to understand. A minute or two passes, then two beeps herald the following silence, but Mecara still stares at the screen.

"They hung up. I'll have to teach you how to use it, but for right now..."

"Right, yes, my response. Your performance impressed me greatly, even if it was more of a gift than anything else. But it shows the kind of mate you would be, which is the most important part." Mecara grabs Jamie's paw and caresses it before resting it on the middle diamond of his mask. "I invite you to my den, even though it's just a section of your den."

Previous research informs the wolf that the invitation is not code for, "let's have sex," and initiation falls to the courtee (Mecara) instead of him. His tail wags regardless, thumping on the coffee table behind him. "I accept your invitation graciously."

"Come then." Mecara guides the wolf to his bedroom, now full of the meowscarada's earthy scent. "It would be best if you undressed." He tosses his pokedex onto his bed and faces Jamie, but doesn't help. His less-than-patient gaze gives the wolf shaky paws, especially when revealing his erection.

"I wanted to be the little spoon," Mecara says with a sidelong glance. "But that doesn't seem to be possible."

"Sorry." Jamie lays on the bed and a second later warmth holds him from behind.

"It happens." Mecara drapes his cape over the wolf.

"You're just so-"

"Shush." The meowscarada interlaces his three fingers between four of Jamie's. "Sleep now." He purrs, and the wolf's thoughts and breathing slow to its melody, coaxing his eyelids shut.

*

Jamie pulls the blanket further over himself, then a grunt reaches his ears.

"If you wish for me to wake, there's better ways to do that."

The wolf looks down at what his paws tugged and finds a black cape. It's warmer than it should be from sharing the wolf's body heat, but thinking about it, of course it is. This isn't an accessory, it's a part of the meowscarada, and turning it over to the green side, Jamie realizes the lines creating the spiderweb patterns are veins.

Mecara takes his cape from the wolf and adjusts its position. "Be gentle when touching the sensitive bits."

"I'd gladly touch more of your sensitive bits." Jamie pushes the meowscarada's paw on his chest down his form. "If you would initiate."

"Impatience is unbecoming." Mecara frees his paw from the wolf's and it vanishes from view. "Besides, we don't have time to mate."

"I suppose I don't want to be strapped with any hatchlings, but I don't want to get up."

"That's alright." The warmth behind the wolf disappears and Mecara's voice grows distant. "I'd like to go alone this time. I need time to think."

"But-" The door latch clicks and footsteps depart. "The last time you said that you didn't come back."

Jamie rolls over and instead of plushness he hits something hard. He fishes it out from underneath him and sighs when Mecara's pokedex is before him. While it is mostly to talk to his family, the wolf was hoping Mecara would take it with him so they could speak as well. Maybe he doesn't need it; he could talk to his family all he wants if he moves back with them. Ridiculous, the pokedex would be useful to coordinate their patrols if Mecara brought it back. So maybe he just didn't want to hold it while walking around. Although, he could have just-

Jamie throws himself out of bed; this thought process is getting him nowhere. Mecara will return, and if he doesn't, he'll deal with it then. He has all day and needs to continue to impress meowscarada if they're ever going to consummate their new mateship.

In his own room on his desk, he finds his pile of sketches. The one on top depicts the meowscaradas' den with the canopy fully parted and the sun shining through. But he settles on the second and third: hurried drawings of Mecara's brother from the front and the back. The wolf only spent time on his distinguishing details-except he forgot about the flower. The distance from the shoulder and the size vary between individuals, and he can't remember anything about Mecara's brother's.

So he texts the family and hopes they remember his instructions for how the camera works. While he's at it, he asks if they found an electric type to charge their pokedex for them. A minute later, he receives two photos, both blurry. One is of a luxio shocking the adapter he gave them, and the other is the reference image he needs. After studying it for a few seconds, he grabs his knife and a fresh block of wood and starts whittling.

*

By early evening the figurine is almost done. An impressive pace even though he spent all day on it. He still needs to make the mask more jagged and the tail less so, but he also needs a break so as to not fully exhaust his paw-he might need that later. And Mecara should be home soon anyway. With the shorter days, the ghosts come out sooner, so he can return earlier and earlier until the winter solstice.

Having not much else to do, the wolf lays on his bed and examines the figurine for other things he'll have to perfect later. Everything wrong jumps out at him, so before he depletes his confidence, he lets his arm fall away from his face.

Finally, he hears the front door open followed by a "Wolf?"

"In here."

Approaching footfalls, then Mecara emerges from the doorway. "Nice to finally see a friendly face." He crosses the room to stand over the bed. "There were three trainers today."

"You okay?" Jamie flips to his side and the meowscarada spoons him.

"Yeah, the only problem was that this pyroar lit a tree on fire because she can't aim a flamethrower. Thankfully the trainer had a drizzile in a ball, so the tree got away with just a singe." When Mecara attempts to hold the wolf's paw, his fingers close around the carving. "What's this?"

"What I've been working on all day. It's not done, but I'm hoping you can recognize who it is."

"Definitely male and not me by the size." Mecara rotates it on his central pad to look at the backside. "The tail's a little weird...oh the flower! This can't be Dad. This is Big Brother."

"Your dad's flower is, like, way out there."

"Yeah, his stem is ridiculously long."

Jamie takes the figurine back and sets it on the nightstand, its face pointed away. "So, did you do all the thinking you needed to?"

"I guess, I'm still not sure about us." Despite his words, Mecara hugs the wolf tighter into himself. "We sleep well together, and you've gone to great lengths to express how much you care for me, and the one mating we had was better than I could ever hope for. But it's just...I know you can't hear them, but every plant that you intended to destroy has a voice. They're nowhere near as intelligent as you or I, but still, I don't understand why you didn't do more to protect them."

"I did what little I'm able to, but eventually I just...couldn't." Jamie expects revealing such weakness to loosen the grip holding him, and when the paw only draws circles across his breast, he clears the lump out of his throat. "I admit that I should have sought help instead of giving up, but I just couldn't see a light at the end of the tunnel. I needed to find someone-not even a lover, just someone-and I thought I'd have a better shot in, like, Medali or Levincia. Not here where there was only family that pitied me from a distance and pokemon I can't understand." He rubs the back of head against the rough texture of the meowscarada's mask, prompting the soft fur below to nuzzle in return. "You're the first pokemon that I hear actual words from, and now that I have someone...I remember everything my mom taught me, everything she valued. I won't lose sight of that again so...even if you won't take me as a mate, I'll stay here and do everything I can, even if I'm powerless."

"I guess that makes some sense, and you never actually did anything. So I'll forgive you, because it hurts not to. I just have to accept you'll never truly see the world as I do. Because for me, it's ridiculous to think you're lonely when you're surrounded by life." Mecara licks one of the wolf's ears, then between them before reaching the next. "One other thing, dear wolf: you're not powerless." Every word tickles Jamie's ears, making them twitch. "You lack the power of destruction, but in creation, you're unrivaled."

"Thank you, Mecara, I never thought of it like that." Jamie relaxes muscles he didn't realize were tense. "Can you purr again? I've never fallen asleep as fast as last night."

"Little early for sleep and too late for a nap." Mecara's paw lifts from the wolf to hover above his shoulder. "How do I initiate since you don't have a flower?"

Jamie's tail frees itself from between them so it may excitedly wag and tap against Mecara's leg. "A kiss and a wandering paw usually does the trick."

"Wander where?"

"To my most sensitive bits."

"Your eyes? That doesn't seem comfortable."

"No," Jamie says with a giggle in his voice. "My sheath."

"Mmm, alright." Mecara leans over the wolf and rubs his cheek before guiding his muzzle into his lips. Jamie welcomes the tongue bringing the usual earthiness of the meowscarada, who glides down the wolf's white stomach. He shimmies the knot free, then rests his paw on hsi sheath.

Jamie plays with Mecara's smaller, bumpy tongue until his impatience overwhelmes. "Come on. Don't stop there."

"You haven't accepted my proposition." Mecara floats his flower closer to the wolf.

"It can move!? On its own?"

"Yes, now please, dear wolf."

When Jamie grasps the green petal, he receives a squeeze on his knot, making him gasp.

"Finally, do you mind if I go in your muzzle first this time around?"

"I don't mind pleasuring you first, but I was thinking you could do the other end this time."

"Other end? Oh, you mean anally. I've heard of mating that way, but it's too dry and water doesn't help."

"That's what this is for." Jamie reaches across the bed for a little bottle in the drawer of the nightstand, then holds it out to the meowscarada behind him."Just put some of that stuff on me and you, then everything will be nice and wet."

"I'll trust you." Mecara snaps the bottle open and gently nudges the wolf's tail. "Why does it smell like mago berries?"

"Because it's your favorIIII..." Jamie yelps as slickness rubs his tailhole, dripping down. "No need to use so much. It's expensive, not to mention frigid."

The digits leave the wolf's rear, then shortly after, Mecara exclaims, "Sca! You're right. This stuff better work."

"It will just go slow. I haven't done this since...in a long time."

"Of course." Kisses trail down Jamie's neck and to his flank where Mecara nuzzles furiously. "This scent right here is my favorite, not mago berries." He drags his cape over the wolf's waist.

"My bad. I'll look for wolf-scented lube next time."

Mecara's erection prods around the wolf's taint before finding his mark and applying pressure. A paw closes around his as the tip slides inside. They stay like that, listening to each other's breathing and feeling Jamie's thumping heart through their conjoined fingers; until Mecara inches forward, barb after barb filling the wolf. He pauses again, so Jamie pushes back to get the rest in.

"Mmm, how do I make you loud like our last mating?" Mecara withdraws slowly, each one his barbs massaging Jamie's walls. "I want you to enjoy this as much as I am."

"Try adjusting your angle, um..." Jamie cannot figure out which direction it would be in this position.

The meowscarada shifts a little before thrusting and finding the spot he seeks. After the wolf's short, surprised moan, Mecara says, "Your preseed feels good on my cape." He heaves his cock out, creating tingly lines of pleasure that don't fade before he hits the wolf's prostate again.

Mecara establishes an accelerating rhythm, each thrust shallower than the last, until he only pulls out enough for his tip to mash the spot that makes the wolf squeal, then whimper after as the barbs grind along it.

"I'm close, dear wolf."

"Just let me feel you." Jamie reaches for his wolfhood soaking the cape with pre, but realizes he won't catch up, so instead he places his paw over Mecara's, sandwiching it with the first.

Mecara licks, then nibbles onto the wolf's side before stopping fully hilted. With a muffled murr and a powerful throb, he shoots heat deeper into the wolf. His arm's strength slackens-his jaw now responsible for holding the wolf-so Jamie brings the paw to his lips, grinding back in an attempt to get the cock to reach further inside him. The filling sensation brought by each jet of cum and thinking about the pleasure he's giving to Mecara abate the wolf's need.

As the meowscarada pulls out, his tongue caresses over where his teeth were. "Get on your back."

"But then you'll stop holding me."

Mecara grasps the wolfhood, but lacks dexterity when he strokes it. "I can only reach your penis with my non-dominant."

"Well clearly that paw needs the practice."

"Fine." Mecara's fingers give up their attempted dance and a second later put a bottle into Jamie's. "I'm taking my turn at little spoon." He flips over onto his other side, his cape fluttering off the wolf and under himself instead.

Before the cold air could affect him, Jamie snuggles into the meowscarada from behind. "Are you sure? A paw is all I really need."

"Quite sure."

"Alright." Jamie readies a dollop of lube, which is all that comes out. "Frigidness incoming." When he slathers it on the meowscarada's tailhole, it tenses, so he pets Mecara's poofy, little tail until he relaxes, allowing his fingertip to sink inside. Mecara grunts and clenches, nearly forcing him out. "Too fast?"

"No, just...strange feeling. But not bad."

"Tell me if I need to stop." Jamie wiggles around as he slides in little by little, noting when Mecara's breath hitches and his body shudders, then carefully avoids the prostate as he spreads the lube as far as his finger is able to. "Do you want to come again? I'm blessed with my dominant paw."

"No, just mate me already. I want to feel what you did."

"As you wish." Jamie exits the passage and, while he aligns his cock-that thankfully lubed itself-finds Mecara's paw on his midriff and holds it. "Is it okay if I tie you?"

"That's when your penis locks itself in me, right? I'd love that."

The wolf positions his muzzle on top of the meowscarada's head, nose poking past the points of the mask, before enveloping his wolfhood in wonderful tightness. He gives Mecara time to adjust, grazing his nose down his mask to his fluffy ears and nibbling. When he finally ventures deeper, Mecara bucks into him, encouraging Jamie to shove the rest of his shaft and knot inside.

New arousal tickles the wolf's nose and, when his paw leaves Mecara's and travels lower, he finds an erection jumping into his paw. "Somebody's liking this more than they thought they would."

"Usually I need a longer refractory period but-"

"Not when there's a hot wolf in your rear." As Jamie teases each barb individually, he slowly draws his cock out. Once only the tip remains, he ceases his paw and jams into the spot he noted earlier, earning a long mewl (or was that speech?). The instant he bottoms out, his paw resumes playing with the barbs, keeping the meowscarda's breathing frantic.

Like that, he alternates stimulation of the sensitive areas, his fingers and the tunnel slickening with even more pre. But before he's had enough of the meowscarada's moans, mewls, squeals, and other cute sounds, his knot strains and fails to exit, causing him to yip at the increased pressure. He lets go of inhibition, jackhammering with the little length he has and frantically pumping Mecara's dick.

"You're getting so big, dear wolf."

"Can you come for me?"

"Just touch my flower, that-"

Jamie brushes his snout along the green petals. It blossoms, the cock in his paw jerks and adds fresh musk to the air, and the passage around him clamps down. While he just surrenders to it all, entering a haze as he floods his essence into the meowscarada pressing into him. The knot seals every jet inside, each blissful even as they steadily reduce to a trickle. By that time, only Mecara's sheath lay in his palm.

"Are you still seeding me? " Mecara moves his hips, tugging at their union and making the wolf whine.

"Yes I am, so just lay still."

Jamie's wolfhood starts vibrating and his hold on Mecara becomes limp. He thinks it to be stuttering clenches until his sense of hearing cuts through the overstimulation. "Don't purr now. I'll never be able to pull out."

After hugging the wolf's arm to his chest, Mecara gives him a brief respite to say, "Good thing I don't need you to till morning."