The Better Halves: Part One
General Disclaimer: This story may contain scenes of a graphic and/or sexual nature. As such it is not suitable for view by persons under the age of eighteen. Please respect the law in your area, it's in place for your own good.
Mission Statement: This story was written and collaborated on by one or more members of TheMishMash. We are a team of like minded friends who strive to bring humor, drama, adventure, and sordid affairs to the masses. Comments and questions are always welcome and we can be contacted through our user page here on SoFurry. Please denote who you're asking for when leaving a message. Sincerely... Ghoti, Bones, and Scratch.
The Better Halves: Part One
Written by: Ghoti
Content: This story contains the back story heavy buildup to a hopefully wild morning involving four attractive females who all happen to be curiously related to the members of our little troop. No Yiff... Yet...
Personal Notes: Ghoti says, "Whoa... I didn't plan this to run 10 pages before the Yiff kicked in. But that's what happened. I like the premise of this story, and hopefully, as I continue it, it will lead to something I'll be pleased with. But, since for the time being, it's all just introductory character progression, I'll spare the uninterested among you the bore of slogging through it in order to get to the Yiff. I'll post it later as part 2... To any of you who do read this... Please enjoy. Also, the twins' cypher-speak isn't even remotely hard to decode in reality. Maybe a few of you will enjoy the mild challenge."
Mellissa and Clarissa Meiks were in their booth scratching records.
The twin bobcat sisters worked as deejays exclusively for the Triple Cherries club in Briar Ridge. The owner of the club cum casino was a mink with a singular gift for entertainment management named Roger Jackson. He was also a long time friend of the girls'.
Their set up was as simple as it was ingenious. The club was divided into three sections; The casino floor, named Purgatory, which was also the entrance (naturally). The two dance floors to either side, named Heaven and Hell appropriately enough. The 'center mass' which encompassed the restrooms, security rooms, cash room, kitchen, storerooms, and employee locker rooms. And The Lookout, which was a second story, glass encased, observation point where the twins and Roger spent the hours between dusk and dawn watching over everything.
The girls had reached a certain amount of local renown since they began to deejay the club. They worked under the name EmCee Special and kept the music going all night long. Mellissa typically scratched for Heaven, playing mostly Pop, Euro Pop, and a lot of Soft Synth and Buildup Techno to encourage closeness. Clarissa spun for Hell, keeping it busy with House, Rave, and a good bit of Punk and Metal to satisfy those who fancied themselves hardcore.
In reality, both girls were most fond of 50's through 80's Classic Rock. But they had a job to do, and thankfully, all around good taste and appreciation for ALL music.
While they juggled discs, Roger alternated between keeping a watchful eye over Purgatory and making sure the girls had everything they needed. Which usually meant keeping their glasses full and watching the mixer when they took their breaks.
It was as the dawn approached on this particular morning that Roger turned from his ever vigilant watch over the casino to speak to the girls. He had to shout to be heard over their headphones. "Girls! Hey, Em! Cee!"
The twin lynxes glanced over at him and he tapped his watch with one claw. Mellissa gave him a thumbs up and Clarissa nodded. Em then grabbed a nearby mike while Cee toggled the 'speak all' switch, and faded the music in both Heaven and Hell.
The animals bumping and grinding below, what few were left at this late hour, immediately stilled and cast their eyes to the booth. Em and Cee waved to them before sharing the mike.
"It's seven o'clock everybody..." Mellissa began.
"And y'all all know what that means." Clarissa added.
"It's time to clear out."
"Roger has money to count..."
"And we have a booth to clean up."
Grins flashed in the dim dance rooms below and Roger shook his head behind the girls.
"So, once more for the hard of hearing..."
"You don't have to go home..."
"But you can't stay here."
The animals below began to shuffle about. Not toward Purgatory and the exit. Mostly toward the bars in either dance room. They'd leave eventually, but immediately was never in their vocabulary. While Roger chatted with his security chiefs on his walkie-talkie, the girls stood looking out of the partitioned glass window at the animals below.
Clarissa spoke to her sister, and although Roger heard her, he tuned the conversation out as soon as it had begun. He had known the girls for a good few years, and was quite familiar with their 'twin-speak'. It consisted of an indecipherable mash up of nonsense that only the two of them could understand. The one time he had tried to learn it by speaking it to them, they had politely, but vehemently persuaded him not to. It was a language by them, for them. Therefore, his curiosity notwithstanding, whatever they were talking about was none of his business.
"Blf tlg vbvh lm zmbylwb?" Cee asked her sister.
Mellissa nodded and pointed into Heaven. "Gsviv zg gsv yzi. Hpfmp trio dsl wvurmzgvob wlvhm'g yvolmtv rm gsv 'tllw' hrwv."
Clarissa looked where her sister was pointing and saw a shapely female skunk enjoying a drink at the Heaven Bar. She smiled and nodded at her sister's assessment. Anyone could tell by the halter top and the too short skirt that the striped girl belonged in Hell.
Em continued. "Dszg zylfg blf?"
Cee squinted and pointed toward the far corner of Hell. "Yzg trio dzb yzxp rm gsv xlimvi. Xzm blf hvv svi?"
Em shaded her eyes and searched the dark corner of the dance hall. "Mlg ivzoob... Ls dzrg! Levi yb gsv xztvh?
"Gszg'h gsv lmv." Clarissa nodded.
Mellissa looked the female bat over as well as she could considering her distance from the booth. She appeared to have pure white fur, but very dark hair. She was dressed sensibly and very smartly in skinny jeans and a light blouse. She also wore a short cut flight jacket that rode high on her midriff. "Hsv ollph prmwz uznroorzi... Wl dv pmld svi?"
Cee shook her head. "Mlg gl nb pmldovwtv. Yfg R gslftsg gsv hznv gsrmt." She nudged her sister with an elbow and smiled broadly. "Dv lftsg gl tl tizy blfi hpfmp xfgrv zmw zhp svi zylfg rg."
Em returned her sister's smile and nodded her agreement. They then both turned toward Roger and spoke simultaneously. "Hey, Rog."
The mink turned from the window and raised his brow questioningly.
"We're gonna go down and mingle a little." Mellissa told him.
Clarissa added, "We'll come in early tomorrow and spruce up, 'kay?"
Roger shook his head with a smile of his own. "Don't worry 'bout it." He held out his arms indicating The Lookout. "It'll keep. Y'all go down and have a good time. I'll see you at sundown."
The girls rushed forward and hugged him together. "Thanks so much." They said in unison.
Roger watched them leave with a soft smile on his face, then perked his short ears up as he heard his cell phone ring. He went to his desk to retrieve it, saw it was his own sister calling, and answered right away. "Sis? What's up?"
Meanwhile...
Em and Cee navigated the winding staircase and myriad rooms of the center mass and stopped by their lockers.
"R'oo tl levi gl Svoo zmw tvg gsv yzg zmw yirmt svi gl Svzevm." Em told her sister as she looked herself over in the mirror in her locker. Just like her twin, she had freckled fur and golden, luminescent eyes.
Cee nodded. "Rg'oo yv ovhh xilfwvw." She ran her claws through her saffron colored headfur a few times and grinned at her own reflection, exposing her winning smile and it's powerful teeth. "R'oo tvg gsv hpfmp zmw nvvg blf gsviv."
The two of them in agreement as usual, Mellissa went off to retrieve the girl bat from the Hell lounge. She waved to the animals that cheered at her arrival, gave then a winning smile, then went towards the dancer cages at the back of the bar. The white bat hadn't moved, and stood silently next to the wall.
"Hi there." She spoke kindly.
The girl turned and gave her a curiously disinterested look and Em felt a second's discouragement before the pale furred girl smiled in return, showing off her fangs in the process. "You're one of the deejays." She said matter-of-factly. "What're you doing down here mingling with the commoners?"
Mellissa laughed musically. "Funny you should put it that way. Because my sister and I don't think you really fit in that category." She then held out her paw to shake with the girl. "I'm Em, I've been spinning for the other side all night."
The bat remained reserved and mildly curious, but reached out a three fingered paw to shake with her nonetheless. "I'm Krissy. What brings you to the wrong side of the tracks?"
Em continued to hold the girl's paw after they shook and looked into her eyes as she replied. "You."
The bat gave her an unreadable look, but didn't try to retrieve her paw. Em breathed an internal sigh of relief. Both her and her sister were usually dead on when they spotted someone leading an 'alternate lifestyle', but there had been a few mistaken identities over the years. Looked like the bat, regardless of her pristine fur, fit the bill however. "I've heard rumors about you two... I guess they were true after all."
Mellissa laughed once more. "The greatest thing about being even a little famous is that no one believes it when some regular, 'ordinary' animal starts telling 'unbelievable' stories about spending the night with us." She winked at the girl. "We get to have our fun, and no matter what they might say, no one EVER believes them."
"And you picked me, I take it?" The white furred girl asked.
Em shook her head. "Cee picked you... I picked another girl, over in Heaven." She paused, and tugged on the bat's paw gently. "Wanna go meet her?"
The bat's eyes widened, and even in the dim light of the shadowy corner, Em noted that they were a unique violet color. "Two girls?" She relaxed again almost immediately and laughed to herself. "Of course two girls. One for each of you."
Em smiled at her again and tugged on her paw once more. The girl relented this time and the bobcat led her towards the other dance floor.
Meanwhile...
Cee had little trouble finding her way to the skunk, who was still nursing a drink at the Heaven bar. There were far fewer animals left on the 'good' side.
She approached her cautiously and took a seat next to her.
Before she could speak, the shapely girl voiced her own dulcet voice. "No need to creep around." She said simply and looked over at the bobcat, pinning Cee in place with her emerald eyes. "I've been de-scented." She looked away and sipped her drink, which to Clarissa's well trained eye, appeared to be a Gibson Martini.
Cee grinned. "Good to know. My name's-"
"Meiks." The skunk interrupted her without looking her way. "Whether Em or Cee, I have no idea. But you're one of them for sure. Not that many bobcats around here. Plus, I've seen your pictures in the paper."
Cee had to admit, she admired the girl's self sure attitude. Em had picked a winner tonight. "I'm Clarissa." She held out a paw.
The skunk sipped her drink some more and mostly ignored the offered hand.
Cee frowned briefly, retrieved her paw, and changed tactics. "Doesn't look like that drink's doing much to raise your spirits." In fact, she could have added, it looks like you're beyond the point where whatever's bugging you should be long forgotten.
The striped girl glanced at her again, then affirmed her unspoken conclusion. "Not trying to raise 'em." She tipped the glass back, drained the gin and vermouth mixture inside, and chewed up the cocktail onion before spitting the toothpick in the glass and continuing. "I'm trying to drown 'em." She began to signal the bartender and Cee took the initiative and grabbed the skunk's wrist.
"Listen, Hotness... If my little sis had come down here, you're 'too cool for school' act might have worked. But you've got the evil twin tonight. And you're coming home with me."
The girl gave her an exasperated look. "Look, Goldie. I'm off the clock. And I normally don't dance for free in the first place."
Cee wasn't too perturbed at the girl's personal revelation. She'd known coming down here that she had no business in Heaven. And a girl had to make money somehow... "This isn't about me paying for a lap dance any more than it's about you blowing the rest of your hard earned on more drinks. This is about relaxing and having some fun with me, my sister, and this cutie she went to get from the other bar." Clarissa gave her a level look, then released her wrist. "So, are you in or out?"
The skunk gave the lynx a long, considering look, then tossed her white hair and huffed. "Fine. But you better have liquor at your place. Or at least some smokes. Momma always said, if you was good at something not to do it for free."
They both got to their feet and the striped girl swayed slightly. Cee held out a paw to steady her, and was relieved to see her sister approaching with the white bat in tow. She waved them over and the skunk looked up in time to see the female bat. "Oh God..." She groaned. "It's you..."
Em and Cee exchanged a puzzled look, then glanced at the girl bat. "Do you know each other?" They asked in unison.
The white furred girl shook her head. "I don't know any female skunks on a personal level."
The girl in question had gotten steadily worse since gaining her feet and replied thickly. "I done tole you once, FishFace... No. Free. Rides..." The last trailed off and the skunk slumped against Cee heavily.
"R srg z slov rm lmv gsrh grnv, wrwm'g R?" Mellissa asked her sister with a grin.
The bat's ears twitched at the apparent babble. "Beg pardon?" She asked.
Cee laughed. "Hsv'oo yv irtsg z izrm hllm vmlfts." She said to Em, then turned her attention to the fanged girl. "You know the score, right?"
The white girl nodded. "We're all going back to y'all's place. Fun and drinks maybe." She gave the slowly fading skunk a worried look. "Although I don't think she needs anymore."
"We got just the thing for her." Em assured her.
"How'd you get here, Snowflake?" Cee asked.
"Taxi." The girl replied.
"Great. This one's a stripper I think. 1 will get you 2, she walked." Cee said as she threw the striped girl's arm over her shoulder and began to make her way toward Purgatory.
"I won't bet against it." Em chimed and motioned for the bat to follow them out. They made their way to the parking lot, the twins taking turns supporting the woozy skunk.
"Would've been... Just fine if... Hadn't made me... Get up..." The drunken girl managed as they leaned her against their car.
Cee chuckled and tossed her sister the keys. "You and Snowflake-"
"It's Krissy." The white bat interjected, with a look of slight distaste.
"Well enough." Clarissa said, then continued. "Y'all take the front, and I'll babysit Hotness here." She gingerly helped the girl into the backseat and got in beside her as Em and Krissy got in the front.
They were soon on their way toward the twins' house, the skunk still muttering occasionally. "What'd you do to your hair anyway..? Makes you look... Like a girl..." She cast a bleary eye at the back of the bat's head, then drifted out again.
"Are you SURE you don't know each other?" Mellissa asked her.
"She must know my cousin, Ghoti." Krissy said after some thought. "We look... Very similar."
Cee face palmed herself. "Fish!" She said happily. "That's why you look so familiar. We know Fish. Remember, Em?"
Mellissa searched her mind and almost immediately retrieved the face she was looking for. Remarkably similar to the girl in the seat next to her, but with blond headfur instead of black. "Oh yeah!" She exclaimed. "Fish is your cousin?"
The white furred girl nodded. "How do you two know him? I didn't think he got out much."
"He's been to the club once before when we were having a private party." Cee explained. "He lives with our brother Scratch and the big lout brought him along."
"That still doesn't explain how..." Em trailed off, realizing she didn't know the female skunk's name. "She..." The bobcat hooked a thumb over her shoulder. "Knows you, or Fish."
"Her name's Veronica." Krissy clarified. "Her brother lives with Ghoti too."
"Well, don't that beat all?" Em and Cee said together. "Almost like we planned it..." Em added.
"So you HAVE met her before?" Clarissa asked the bat.
"No. Me and her have never met. But she's obviously met Ghoti, and I met her brother Bones once at the mall where I work." She paused. "Very strange that the four of us would wind up together this morning..."
"Very..." Veronica mumbled, and the others laughed.
Meanwhile...
Roger had been in the process of chasing out all the lingering party animals when his sister showed up and finished the job in record time. The fact that her uniform was for the nearby town of GreenWood didn't make much difference to the tired and drunk patrons. All they saw was a cop's outfit, and they high tailed it.
Marie had come by to see her brother before returning home, and if roger knew his little sis, it probably meant she had something to brag about. After the last of the staff had left, he led her back to The Lookout.
"Alright, Sis... What's the deal?" He asked as he leaned back in his chair.
The younger mink gave him a bright smile, then handed him a police printout. "Got me a bat." She said simply. "On the clock."
Roger's spirits dropped considerably. Being minks, both he and his sister had the associated intense sex drive prevalent in their species. Although he hid it well, Marie had never even tried. Their shared, long term goal had been to tag every local species at least once. Marie almost always stayed one in head of him. "I can't believe you..." He said simply. "How do you NOT get caught?"
"I'm just that good." She stated, and sat across from him.
Roger looked over the printout, which contained information on the pictured animal that the police department considered relevant, and investigated the bat. He lived in GreenWood. Worked at the local clinic. Had predominantly white fur. Pretty standard stuff. His name was Ghoti Finnegan.
Roger hung his head. "Damn you, Marie. You know I can't get a bat, no matter how hard I try."
The female mink smirked. "No hard feelings, big bro. I'm sure you'll get yours one day."
Roger smiled at her. "Well, congratulations." He stated. "Now what're you gonna shoot for?"
Marie cocked her head and gave her brother a subdued look. "I honestly don't know. But, I do know this... That bat, Finnegan..."
"What IS his first name anyway?" Roger chimed in, squinting at the type on the bat's sheet.
"Not a clue." Marie admitted. "But, he's something special."
"They ALL have long tongues, Marie. Hell, I'm the one who told you that." Roger said simply.
His sister seemed to dismiss his statement, and her eyes went a little distant with the memory of her time spent with the bat. "I just don't know big bro. There was SOMETHING about him..."
Roger gave his younger sibling a curious look, then shrugged. Their own parents had eventually stopped roaming the area, banging tail left, right, and center... Was it such a stretch to think that Marie might settle down too?
Meanwhile...
The four girls had arrived at the twins' house.
Em and Cee had helped Veronica into the living room and plopped the skunk down on the couch.
"Make yourself to home, Krissy." Mellissa told the bat. "We gotta get Pretty Woman here sobered up before we do anything else."
"How do you plan to do that? There's no telling how long she'd been in Heaven drinking up her tip money." Krissy stood next to the hearth looking over the framed photos the twins had on display there.
Cee grinned. "Well, you've heard of those old-timey hangover cures? A bit of something nasty, coupled with a dash of something just plain terrible..."
Krissy nodded reluctantly.
"Well, ours is soup broth, heavy cream, chives, cilantro, Tabasco sauce, and potatoes." Em stated.
Krissy coughed to suppress a gag. That sounds like a nightmare.
"Don't knock it, Snowflake. When you smell it, you'll be begging for some." Clarissa assured her as she went toward the kitchen.
Em walked toward the white furred girl. "It's potato soup." She clarified. "And it's damn good. Just so happens that it DOES kill a hangover..." She hooked a thumb at the snoozing skunk. "Or in her case, a blackout drunk, like magic."
Krissy smiled and pointed to a picture on the mantel of two young lynx girls and a younger boy bobcat wearing an eye patch. The girls were smiling and had their arms around the boy, who looked like he would have gladly killed to be anywhere else. "Is that you two and Scratch?" She asked.
Em smiled broadly herself. "That's our little bro." She said happily. "Of course, he's not so little now. The runts always grow up to be the biggest."
"He's always been..." Krissy faltered. "Missing, the eye?"
Mellissa laughed softly. "I'm afraid you'd have to get that story from him, if you could." She replied cryptically, them motioned toward the couch and passed out skunk. "I wonder if you can help me with something important."
Krissy approached the white haired drunk with the bobcat. "Like what, exactly?"
"Well." Em began. "I've heard rumors about bats. But other than your cousin and the few that frequent the club, I've never actually been on speaking terms with any." She paused for a moment, then rushed on. "Is it true that you drink blood?"
Krissy nodded. "We have to. If we don't, then our bodies revolt. We call it 'bleeding out'. It's a last ditch effort by our bodies to force us to drink our own blood. It's much less traumatic and health hazardous to drink somebody else's or to drain lesser animals."
"So, it's fair to say that you KNOW blood?" EM pressed.
Krissy gave her a curious look. "I suppose you could say that. Why?"
Em pointed at the skunk. "She's a stripper all right. I've seen her at one of the other clubs. I picked her because she looked lonely and, despite her street walking get up, she's pretty attractive. But, I need to know if getting with her is gonna give me something I can't lick out of my fur."
Krissy nodded and gave the lynx a respected look. "I'm impressed. Nobody stops to think about the GOOD qualities inherent to my species' bloodlust. As it so happens, I can tell if she's clean or not. Give me some room, yeah?"
Em stepped aside and stood next to the door to the kitchen. Clarissa joined her. "Soup'll be on in a few." She said then turned to her sister. "Hmlduozpv xzm zxgfzoob gvhg svi yollw?" She asked.
Krissy trained her ears toward the sisters as she knelt beside Veronica. They were talking that gibberish again.
"Ollph gszg dzb..." Mellissa replied. "R kvihlmzoob xzm'g dzrg gl dzgxs."
Krissy shook her head. Something about the nonsense they were saying troubled her superior hearing. It was obvious they were talking to one another. But it made no coherent sense. "At least she's fairly out of it. She shouldn't struggle." She leaned in then, took the sleeping girl's paw, and brought it to her mouth.
Em And Cee stood at the doorway watching with great interest.
Krissy lifted one of the girl's fingers and placed the pad of the digit against her lips. Then, in one swift motion, She opened her mouth and nipped the skunk's fingertip with one of her upper fangs. Despite the inherent thick skin of the skunk species, Krissy's fang brought blood on the first try. She then extended her long tongue and wrapped it around the bleeding finger, drawing the scarlet effluence into her mouth. Unlike her strikingly similar looking cousin, who lived more in fear of his dark desires than in acceptance, temperance had always been Krissy's watchword. She drank plenty from lower animals and family members so at times like this, her bloodlust wouldn't carry her away. One sip, and a careful analysis, was all she needed. She swallowed, then reached into her coat pocket and retrieved a length of bandage to wrap around the girl's finger. "She's clean." She told the twins.
Em and Cee gave each other a smile.
"She's not what I would call healthy though." Krissy went on as she bound the skunk's finger. Veronica hadn't even flinched throughout the whole ordeal. "Her Blood Alcohol Content is way too high. And she has the flu. Probably from walking around in the southern winter air dressed like that."
"You can tell all that just from one sip of blood?" Mellissa asked in an astonished voice.
"I can, yes. But, there aren't a lot of us who can. My grandmother taught me." Krissy tied the wrap secure on Veronica's finger and stood beside the couch. "All bat's tend to specialize in one of our species specific traits. I know hematophagy inside and out. Ghoti can concentrate his hearing to a point that he can locate people by the sound of their breathing or even their heartbeats. And our cousin Gaibon can fly better than most birds."
"Impressive." Cee said admirably.
"Gaibon, did you say?" Em asked.
"What a strange name." Cee added.
Krissy gave them a shrug. "He's a strange guy."
A tone sounded in the kitchen and Clarissa went to fetch the re-heated soup.
"So, tell me..." Krissy began, looking at Em hopefully. "What exactly do you want from the two of us?"
Mellissa smiled. "Nothing you aren't willing to give. If all you want is some polite conversation, then that's all we're after." She approached the girl and gingerly touched her cheek with one paw. "But, if you'd like to get to know us better... That'd make us very happy."
"One thing at a time though." Clarissa chimed in, coming into the room holding a steaming bowl of soup. "Help us get Dancing Queen sobered up."
Krissy smiled in spite of herself and the three went to the couch to join the sleeping skunk.
Meanwhile...
In another town, completely unaware of the fact that his cousin was preparing to spend the morning with his roommates' sisters, Ghoti Finnegan awoke suspended from a rod in his closet and carefully let himself down to his feet before exiting to his room proper.
The early morning sun filtered into his window and warmed his exposed fur. As he stood, smiling both at the pretty winter morning outside and the memory of the mink officer who had pulled him over some hours previous, he smelled the tell tale odor of blood... his own blood.
He reached up and wiped a paw across his nose, bringing away a pinkish streak of thin blood in his fur. "You gotta be kidding me." He moaned to himself. "I drank a bit of my own LAST night."
He knew better than to think it mattered however. His own blood didn't slake his body's need. And to make matters worse, his cousin Charlotte had drank the last of his stash when she visited 4 days ago.
Long story short, he NEEDED blood... And quick...
Ending Time Stamp: Saturday, January 22, 2011, 8:03am