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Complicated love

Hello all you furs who still follow this series. For the few of you who do, I'd like to thank you for your support and patience. The pace and the action of the story are about to pick up big time in the next few chapters, so i hope you'll enjoy it.

I changed my mind about changing the title, and i finally have a good plan or the future of this story. There will be adults seens eventually, so I hope none of you mind that.

I'll be taking a break from this series to write another one; one i really want to write.

Without furthur adieu, Enjoy! :D

Chapter 5: A new house, a new life.

I woke from a dreamless sleep wondering why my bed felt so different. It took me a moment to get myself back in the loop. I nuzzled my head deeper into Karma's chest, intent on sleeping for a while longer and wanting to cuddle with her. As if she knew my desires, I felt her tighten her embrace. I searched for her mind and found was hovering between waking and sleeping. As I watched, she slowly sank back into sleep. I cuddled up against her again and breathed in her scent, content just to lay there forever more. However, after a few minutes, I heard a shrill alarm clock ringing nearby. "Unn... what time is it?" I moaned as I turned over. Karma had already loosened her embrace. She was used to the sound of my alarm clock, so she knew what this one meant. "10:00 AM. You're kind of funny when you sleep, all curled up with your tiger." I felt the bed shift. "It's cute." I glanced up from Karma's side to see Rey siting on the end of the bed, her legs hanging off the edge and swaying back and forth slightly. She was quite the oddity. She was somewhere around 5'2, short by most accounts, but she was also very slender, like me. I'd weigh her in at around 90 pounds at most. She was cute, with her waist length blond hair and childish face, but her purple eyes were unsettling, to say the least. It felt like she was looking through my skin right to my soul. I realised, with a shock, that she was still in her night gown, and that it barely fell beneath her waist. My face turned red as she turned onto her hands and knees and began crawling in my direction, her shirt opening just enough for me to know that she wasn't wearing a bra. She sat down again when she was near Karma's tail. "We need to be out of her at noon, so I thought it best for us to wake at ten, that way we could eat before we leave." Her voice was giddy. "I don't usually leave the manor, and I've never seen a regular person's house before, nor slept without at least one set of bodyguards within 100 meters. Oh, this will be so much FUN!" She leapt off the bed and ran to her closet. My face turned even redder as I saw that she was only wearing a tiny thong, and then redder still I as I realised that to know that, I had to be staring at her rear. 'Hm, nice curves on that one.' I heard in my head. 'KARMA! Don't ever think that again! You can't possibly imagine that I would take advantage of her innocence.' 'Your eyes disagree.' 'Karma!' 'Alright, alright. I know you, Macky. YOU'RE too innocent to do anything sexual with anybody.' I couldn't find a response to that, so I said nothing. She might know me very well, but I kept her out of that part of my mind, and for good reason... "Are you getting up? We need to be ready to leave in two hours. With all the security details and such, we should be ready by eleven, unless you want to be rushed." I saw a few dresses fly out of her closet doors. "Oh, I hope your parents will like me. Which dress should I wear?" She came back out, holding two dresses; one was a pretty sky blue, the other a nice cream yellow. The way she held them concealed her naked chest and poorly clothed lower regions. My face must still have been red, but I took them both into consideration anyway. "I like the blue one more." I said. "Oh, me too!" To my profound relief, she stepped back into the closet to change. I got up out of bed, grabbed the change of clothes that I had put in my backpack and headed off the bathroom next door. I returned a few moments later to see Rey trying to reach the zipper in the back of her dress. "Could you give me a hand with this?" She asked. "Sure." I zipped it up for her, careful not to get anything caught in the zipper. It took a moment for me to process that she still wasn't wearing a bra, since I couldn't see the strap. I heard a giggle in my head, but I chose to ignore it. She looked very pretty in the ensemble. The dress was sleeveless but it had straps holding it up, and it fell to her knees. The blue of her dress brought out the purple in her eyes, making it less creepy and more appealing. "You look nice." I said. "I'm used to wearing these when my father brings me along for business trips, but I don't like dresses much." She responded, looking at herself in her giant mirror. "Common, we should eat before we lose the chance. What do you want?" "Um, what is there to eat?" "Just pick something. We have most anything, and even if we don't have it, odds are we have something close." She picked up what I assumed was a cellphone, hit the first number, and said: "I'd like an omelet for breakfast please. Surprise me with the toppings. What do you want?" She asked, covering the receiver. "Peanut butter and jam sandwich? With some bacon, if that's okay." I said nervously. "PB and J with some bacon for our guest. What flavor of jam?" "Strawberry please." She finished my order and set the phone down. "Not very original. You could have asked for anything at all; steak, sushi, a salad." "Guess I'm just too old fashioned. So, now what?" "We wait. They'll bring the food here when it's ready. You want a shower or something? I was up a couple hours ago; I couldn't sleep, so I've already had one." "I can wait until we get home." No matter how smelly I might be, showering at another person's house was a big No. And this person in particular made it even worse. God knows what she would do, not even realising the implications. "Alright then. I'll be back in a few minutes, there's some stuff I need to take care of. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." With that she left me to wait for breakfast. 'So, are you sure you're not in-' 'No, I'm not. Karma, I told you to stop that.' 'Don't be so un-fun. Come here and cuddle with me.' She thought as she spread her front legs so I could. 'We haven't had much time to ourselves since school yesterday.' I had to smile at her. She was really cute when she was being clingy like this. 'Alright, but it won't last long.' I climbed back in beside her and turned so we would be in a spooning position, and then I placed my head next to hers and started to rub her belly. 'We need to go hunting together soon; we still haven't managed to, with all the excitement.' 'As soon as Rainbow gets settled in, we will. I'll train you so well that you'll be able to take down your own pray.' I saw it in her mind; she was watching me sneak up on a dear, and then I wrestled it to the ground and bit its neck open. I couldn't help but laugh. 'You know I couldn't actually do that.' 'We'll see. I'll get you to try some fresh prey meat eventually, just you wait.' I could feel the force of her belief, and it caused me to hesitate before giving her a sarcastic, nagging response; she really believed I would do it someday, and that scared me. 'If you can pull that off, then the circumstances would have to be pretty dire. I'd really rather not get into that type of situation...' She just grunted back, her determination unfazed. 'If I kidnaped you and let you starve for a day, you'd come around.' "Karma!" I said out loud, flinching a little due to her cruel idea. 'I'm just kidding. Half a day would be more th-' "KARMA!" 'Alright, alright, I'll let it drop.' I could see she was honestly still contemplating the idea, but I had no doubt that she wouldn't do it. She was just trying to scare me... I hope. 'On a less sadistic note, you know those friends of yours. Christine, was it? And Akuol? I like them.' 'They're good people. I was thinking about introducing Rey to them first, before the other four. Call me crazy, but I think she'd get along better with them; they have more in common than she does with the other four. After all, they both had difficult childhoods as well...' Christine and Akuol both came from large families, and they were both second born. Like I've said before, Christine's family are very overprotective: She has an 8 O'clock bedtime; she does almost all the chores; she can only leave the house with her older brother or her parents, except for school; she's NEVER been over to a friend's house, and she can't have boys over to her house, only girls, and no sleepovers. Her birthday parties must have sucked... Akuol is, once again, the opposite. Her father is back in Africa because it's the only place he can work or something like that. She never sees him. She has to take care of all of her younger siblings since her older sister moved out, because her mother has to work a lot too to support the family. She can do whatever she wants, but I think what she wants the most is to have a parent around so she can live like a teen should live... 'Depressing. Are you sure introducing her to such sad back-storied friends is a good idea? I suppose they could start a collective anti-suicide group, but I don't think that gets the right message across to Rey's father. Besides, she has video games in common with your other four friends.' 'I didn't say I wouldn't introduce her to Chet and them, just that I wanted her to meet Christine and Akuol first. And what's with all the cynical thoughts recently?' 'Must be a phase I'm going through. Sorry if all this bad thinking is ruining our cuddling; I've noticed you stopped petting my belly.' I started up again. 'Prrrrrr' She thought, doing it aloud too. 'Geez, you're so high-maintenance. I don't know how you would survive without me. Who would keep all your itches at bay?' 'Ha Ha. Let's see if you still think that way after the world ends and you're the only human survivor because all the other humans can't catch their own food.' 'What??' 'Nothing~' She said, drawing out the last syllable. I just shook my head and pray that this phase would end quickly. We were able to lay there for another few minutes before the chef knocked at the door. I left Karma's embrace, much to her discontent, and open the door so they could roll in the trolleys of food. Why they brought trolleys was beyond me, until I realised that Rey had no tables in her room. They left quickly after they came, wishing me a good meal. I decided to wait for Rey, since it was polite, but I did decide to take a look at the sandwiches. "Holly... by the gods, how much do they think I eat?" I thought aloud as I stared at the stack of sandwiches and small pile of bacon next to it. It had enough to feed 2, no 3 people. I lifted Rainbow's tray lid and found that she only had one rather large omelet. "Oh, they always do that, don't worry about it. Since they don't know how much you eat, it's only natural to make more and then give the extras away." Rey said as she entered the room and saw my face. "...So carefree..." I said. 'Karma, since apparently I eat like a horse, come try these. I doubt you'll like them, but whatever.' 'Will you try some raw meat if I try that?' "NO!" I shouted, exasperated. Rey turned on me in surprise. "Sorry." 'Aw. Fine, I'll try one.' And she did, and she didn't like it, to no one's surprise. 'I just don't get how you can eat this squirrel food. Maybe if you ate like me, you would have some muscle on your bones.' I didn't bother to respond, seeing no reason to continue this eternal dispute between the two of us. I just ate my meal in peace. Once we were both finished I brushed my teeth, and suddenly we were being whisked off to "Briefing". From there, we went through like 4 security meetings, during which we were told about the stupidest things. Honestly, its felt like they were trying to teach us common sense. Once that was done, we were brought to another briefing, and finally, it was time to go. The PM had less than 2 minutes to say goodbye, and then were being rushed into a car. After that, we changed vehicles twice and took god knows how many side streets and back roads before FINALY ending up at my house. "Oh, My, GOD! That was hell! Why did we even need that? A 20 minute trip and it took, um, what time is it?" I asked as we stepped out of the car. "4 PM." She said, seeming completely at ease. "5 HOURS?!? I tell you, I won't have it. If we ever have to go through that again, it'll be too soon. And you don't even have your luggage. How are you going to get settled in without it?" "Oh, it probably arrived hours ago. It was sent in ano-" "Why couldn't I take that car?" She just giggled. "It wasn't that bad. So, this is where you live? Oh, I have so much to learn about regular life. I hope I'm suited for it. It seems so small, but then again, I have to adapt to new proportions." She said as she walked up the driveway and the sidewalk. "This garden is nice; so colorful. But what is this weird piece of wood?" She said as she pointed to a really large piece of driftwood my mother had found ages ago. "That's a piece of wood that came from a tree that was half yew, half willow. It's said to change colours slowly over time, and that if you take a picture every 20 years, you can really see the difference eventually." Well, who could blame me for having a little fun after the hell she put me through? "Really? Wow, how long ago did you get it?" "Only a few years now. I haven't seen it change yet, but maybe one day." It was getting hard to not smile. "Common, Karma must be bored by now. SHE didn't have to take 5 hours to get here. And I bet my parents are dying to meet you." "O-okay." She looked nervous. "It'll be fine, don't worry about it." I said as pushed past her on the small sidewalk. "They're very relaxed people, and they can make friends with anyone." I went to open the door but found it was locked. "Um, that's odd." I rang the doorbell, confused. A few moments past before my brother came to open the door. "Oh, mom and dad are over at grandmas. Something happened that couldn't wait, but they told me they would be back by tomorrow." "Tomorrow?? What about Rey?" "Who?" "Our new housemate. Jaeden, this is Rainbow. Rainbow, my brother Jaeden." "It's nice to meet you." She said, smiling pleasantly and being courteous. "Um, sure, hi." He said before turning around and walking back downstairs. "Don't mind him; he has a mental disability, called Asperger's. It basically means he doesn't like being around people." I said as her face fell and she looked confused. "You didn't answer my question, what did they tell you to tell me to do about Rey?" I shouted after him. "They left a note!" He shouted back. "On the counter!" I went into the kitchen to see the note he was talking about, it read: Maverick and friend. Sorry, we had to go to Grandmas; she's having problems with her knees again. We left some money with the note. Use it to buy some pizza and have it delivered. Jaeden already has something ready for him, so we only left enough money for two medium pizzas, encase you and your new friend have different tastes (and let's face it, odds are you do). Your friend's bed isn't here yet; it will be here tomorrow, we hope. For tonight, please decide on the sleeping arrangements. One of the three of you should take our bed, and then there shouldn't be any problems. Make sure you do your homework and your chores. We'll be home around noon tomorrow if nothing goes wrong. If there is a problem, we'll call you to let you know. Mom & Dad. 'Tss, it's just my luck that this should happen today of all days.' I thought. "Well, looks like you'll meet them tomorrow. We can eat later, so for now, I'll show you around the house. "This is the kitchen, obviously. It's pretty obvious what we do in here. Next is the hallway, and then across from the kitchen is the bathroom. Back to the hallway now, and if you left from here, you have the front door. Quite nice, the framework, eh? Do a 180 and you have the hallway again, and next up is the dining room, which is attached to the living room. We almost always eat dinner as a family here. Sometimes we even watch TV. So, now the living room, which is attached to dining room. In here, we watch TV and relax. Turn back around again and we return to the hallway. These stairs lead downstairs, those ones lead upstairs. Since we'll be going upstairs later anyway, I'll leave that part for then. Down here is the gaming room. Almost the whole basement is filled with the multiple computers we have, as well the Wii. Back behind this room is the laundry room, which doubles as our tool shed. It also has a freezer. So, that's pretty much my home." "It's so small. My bedroom is bigger than most of this floor. And our kitchen is bigger than the whole house." She said, looking around in wonder. "How can you live in such confined space?" "You'll get used to it. So, it's still too early for dinner. I need to check on Karma before we do anything, but feel free to thumb through my pitifully small collection of games while I do so." I said as I pointed to the shelves that held my games. "I'll be right back." 'Karma? You around?' I thought. 'Upstairs. I WAS napping, but that hardly matters now. Before you ask; get Rainbow settled in first. We can do stuff together later.' She thought back. 'Napping my butt, you were eavesdropping on us. Anyway, thanks. This is all new to her, so I really must make sure it goes as well as possible. Just make sure you're still tired tonight; I want to sleep with you whether she's here or not.' 'Mmm-k' "She's fine. Now, we can do a couple of things. Feel free to pick from them. We can either get you unpacked; I'm sure we can find room for everything. If you'd rather wait, we can also play games, go for a walk around the neighborhood, watch TV or anything else if you can think of something I may have forgot." "A walk sounds nice. I could stand to move around a bit after that car ride." She stuck her tongue out at me. "Hey, what was that weird purple thing on your tongue?" I had spotted some sort of tattoo when she'd done that. "Oh, it's a birth mark. At least, I think it is. I've had it for as long as I can remember." 'Odd place for a birthmark.' I thought to myself. 'Karma, we're going for a walk, want to come with us?' 'Got nothing better to do.' I could almost feel her struggling to get up. 'You know what, start without me, I'll catch up.' "Jaeden, we're going out." I got no answer, not like it mattered. I led Rey upstairs where we put out shoes back on and left. I gave her a quick tour, showing her our street, the nearby parks, the school I went to when I was little... About halfway through, Karma showed up, just padding up beside us. I also showed her the Hoguel's house and the forest where I found Karma. We got back just after 6. "Can we get dinner now?" She asked as we arrived. She'd been daunted at first by the liberty with which we could just walk around, but she outgrew it quickly. Within minutes she started energetically dragging me around and asking questions, less about what we were seeing and more about why I wasn't scared that we'd get jumped by some thugs and dragged off to be held for ransom. She had a ways to go before she'd fit in. "Sure. What do you like on your pizza? It probably won't be up to par with your standards, so you'll have to make due." I said as I picked up the telephone. "I've never had pizza." SLAM. "OWWW!" I shouted as the phone collided with my foot. "Oh my, are you okay?" "F-fine. Why haven't you ever had pizza before?" I said, sitting on the ground and massaging my foot while I picked the phone back up. "My personal chef always refused to make it for me. He said he would never make pizza as long as he lived, and he encouraged me never to eat it. I've almost only ever eaten food from him, since dad is scared of someone trying to poison me, so it was always a big no-no." She said. I felt devastated. What cruel chef refuses to make god's gift to man? "Well, today's your lucky day. What would you like on your pizza? I normally get peperoni and bacon, but that's just me." "I'll try that too. I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to pizza, so I'll let you help me through my first time." She giggled as if she understood the innuendo. "Yeah, sure." I put in an order for two medium pizzas. "Could take a while, what'cha want to do while we wait?" I asked. We ended up just talking about pizza while we waited. I informed her of everything I knew on the subject, which wasn't much. After half an hour it finally arrived. Rey was ecstatic; she loved it, no surprise there. Who doesn't like pizza? After dinner we started to get her unpacked. We left her clothes packed, since I had no clue where they would be going, as well as her feminine products, but we did unpack the few video games she brought with her, as well as her toothbrush, books and... "A plant?" I said. It was small and compact, just a flower, but it was weird, seeing it come out of a suitcase. "Oh yes. It's my favorite flower. It's called a cosmos. I really should have taken it out when we got here, but I forgot I had brought it with me." "Well, it's no big deal, right? A few hours without sunlight won't kill it; else you wouldn't have brought in a suitcase." "Yes, I know. I'm just not used to forgetting things. I never have much to remember, so I can't usually forget." "Lucky you." We went on to speak about the next day and, more importantly, the day after. Tomorrow she would meet my parents yes, but once that was done and over with, the day would be uneventful. On the other hand, her first day of school was a rather important event. We went over the back story again; she was my parentless cousin, her mother had died recently and she was coming to live with us, her only family. She's small for her age, but she is 15 in this story. She skipped a year of school because she's so smart. It was pure luck that has ALL the same classes as me. "Keeping it simple is the best option so we don't screw up. Also, let me answer any questions so we don't give mixed answers." She said. We planned the day from wake up. We would take the bus that day, and maybe the day after too; as long as it took for her to be comfortable with it. Then I could go back to riding Karma to school; for now she would meet me there. After we arrived, she would stay glued to my side for the first few days, just to be sure. I'd introduce her to my friends, teachers and I'd keep other, less desirable people away from her thanks to Karma. "Seems good. I'll be in your hands, so take good care of me, okay?" She said, once again missing the subtle innuendo. "Of course. So, now that we have the outline of the day planed, what do you wa-" "You pick. I've picked everything so far, so you make the decision for once." We ended up watching a movie. How we got there is beyond me, like WAY beyond me. I swear it started out with video games. We decided on The Avengers. We'd both seen it before, but we also liked it so much that we both wanted to see it again. As we sat down to watch, along with Karma, I noticed that, as always, she seemed to try and sit as close as possible without actually touching me. I sort of wanted to confront her about it, but I decided to let it go for now. I had her on my left and Karma curled up on my right, with me leaning on the latter. The movie was almost as good as the first time, but since I'd seen it before, I kept an eye on Rainbow the whole time. She made no effort to get closer, and she reacted normally to all the scenes, but for some reason, I could feel she was barely watching the movie either. I knew she was watching me while I was watching her, but it was getting difficult for both of us to watch the other and yet see the other person watching the movie. Then an explosion went off in the movie. I jumped a little, realising that I had stopped watching it all together. Next to me, Rainbow did the same thing. We both returned our focus to movie, but out of the corner of my eye, I was still watching her, and she me. 'Oh, for peet's sake, what are you looking for?' Karma asked. She couldn't understand the movie at all, so she was pretty much just watching the scenes but keeping her attention focused on me. 'I have no idea. It just feels like I'm learning about her. She's like an alien to us, from a totally different society. The best way for me to learn about her is to watch her.' I responded. 'No, the BEST way for you to learn about her is to talk to her.' She pointed out 'There are some questions you can't ask, and some things only detailed observation can reveal.' I countered. She harrumphed in her mind, a very odd feeling at that, and returned to the movie as best she could. It was almost over by the time my observation bore fruit. I don't know I was looking at her, but I learned that she was just like me since she observed me through till the end too. Honestly, it felt to me like we just wasted a good two hours of our lives. "Well, that was a good movie." I broke the ice as the credits started to roll through. She sighed. "Yes, quite. So, I've got to ask: what was the point of that stare down we had? I mean, I've read about people doing that in books, but in real life, it just felt pointless." "I guess we were looking for the wrong things. All I ended up with was that we're somewhat alike." "Huh, well, honestly, now I want to watch the movie all over again, but actually watch it this time." "Wish we could, but it's almost midnight." I responded, glancing at the clock. "So? What's that got to do with anything?" She asked. "Bedtimes 12 on the weekends and 10 during the week. Just another thing you'll have to get used to." "Oh, okay then. We still need to sort out who's sleeping where." "Well, my brother will sleep wherever he is now, since he's already in bed. Let's just go see what he picked." I brought her upstairs and continued in whisper. "That's his room, right next to the staircase. Looks like he chose his own bed. Honestly, I'm quite surprised. I assumed he would pick our parents bed. Next to his room is mine. Then there's the bath room, and finally my parents room. Honestly, I'm fine in either bed, so you can pick whichever one you want." I said. "Oh, um, actually..." she began, then stopped and looked away, embarrassed. "What's up?" "Well, this might sound weird, but I'm scared of being alone. Back at home was fine since I knew I had people patrolling the whole house, and I've lived there my whole life. But here, in a new house... I'd feel better if I could sleep in the same room as you again." "...That might be possible, I suppose. My room only has one bed, but we have a small mattress that guests sleep on sometimes. You can take the bed, and I'll sleep on that." I offered, uncomfortable at her request but determined to be a good host. "But wouldn't it be so much simpler if we were to just both sleep in that big bed in your parents room?" She asked. I was so unwilling. "I'd really rather not... You know how I feel about that." "Please? It's huge, and you can keep Karma between us so you don't feel so awkward. And it would make me feel much safer." She pleaded.

*****************

"I can't believe you dragged me into this." I was lying in bed with Karma and Rey. She talked me into it... Tears might have been shed to aid her arguments. "Thanks Maverick. I won't forget this." She said. "On the contrary, pretend it never happened. That'll make it easier for me to bear." I said. I was still red in the face, and I was pretty sure it would last all night and into tomorrow. 'I thought you said you wouldn't take advantage of her. What's the big deal?' Karma inquired. 'It just is, okay? There's no reason beyond the fact that it makes me uncomfortable.' I responded. 'Hm. Maybe it's because, as you humans say, you roll that way?' She winked. I turned redder. 'NO, I do not roll that way. I roll in a perfectly normal way. How did it work in your tribe, Karma? Were there gay tigers?' 'Of course. We never shunned any members of the tribe based on sexual orientation. Things one cannot change are things one should not be judged upon, as my parents would have thought.' "Hey, Maverick, do you think tomorrow will go well? And Monday?" Rey asked. "How should I know? I hope it will, but I have no way of knowing. Why are you asking such an odd question?" I retorted, a little sharper then I intended. "No reason~. You know, I'll feel better once the climax of this adventure has ended." "Oh my god, are you doing that on purpose?" "What?" "Nothing. Just go to sleep." I said, disturbed by her ability to make innuendoes and yet not see them at all. "Yes boss. Goodnight you two." "Goodnight from us two." I responded. 'Goodnight Karma. Don't let her do anything to me during the night.' 'Nyu~. No promises!' 'KARMA!' 'Alright, alright. But I can do stuff to you, right?' *sigh*

*****

I woke to the scratchy, terribly familiar feeling of tiger tongue on my forehead. 'Time to wake-up, sleeping beauty. It's already 10 AM; your parents will be home soon, and we can't be having you sleep through their introduction now can we. Also, you'll be glad to know that you won't be fathering any children anytime soon, or at least, none that I know of.' 'Yeah yeah. Wake me again in an hour; you're too comfy to move away from.' I thought back trying to sleep a while longer. 'Tempting proposition. I'll take it, if you let me explore some more of your memories in exchange for that hour.' 'Done.' An hour later, she woke me again. 'Awwww, already? Common, say it ain't so.' I whined. 'We can stay here as long as you want, I really don't care, but I think your friend would be disappointed if she had to meet your parents alone.' She told me. 'Your call.' I honestly considered staying there, I really did. 'Karma, why do I always make the right choice?' 'Because you're just that type of person. Not that it's a bad thing; I love that about you, as do most sane people.' She thought as she uncurled from me. 'Later, we shall continue this.' 'I wish it never had to stop.' I got up from bed and stretched. Rey was nowhere to be seen, so I went back to my room and changed. 'I hope she found breakfast.' I thought to myself. Once I was presentable, I went to the kitchen and found Rey leaning agitatedly over the sink. "Something wrong?" I asked. "Just nervous. I don't meet new people often, but when I do, I've always made a good first impression. Today, that's even more important; these are people I'm going to be living with!" She sighed. "What if I mess up?" "We'll, two things come to mind for me. First off, the first impression you made on me wasn't exactly ideal, but we're still fine. Second, DO NOT mention how we slept in the same bed or I'll never hear the end of it, and I mean never." I said. "My parents think I'm gay, since I've never shown any interest in girls. They're wrong, of course, but they still insist on thinking it. But that's beside the point. I don't want them getting the wrong idea of the relationship between us, and I don't want them thinking that I'm irresponsible and sleep with girls whenever I choose. So just keep last night between us, please. If you can do that, I'm sure you'll be fine. Care for some breakfast?" I asked. "That would be pleasant, yes." "We don't have as large a selection as you did back at your home. All I can really offer you is cereal, waffles and toast." I said, pulling out a bow for myself. "I'll just have whatever you're having, please." She said. We finished up our breakfast by 11:30, so we still had some time to get ready... "Calm down. I told you, it's going to be fine. Stop pacing before you make an indent in the carpet." I said. "I can't. I've never wanted to impress someone more in my whole life." "Here, sit down. Watch some TV. It'll get your mind off of the situation." She sat down and watched, but the tenseness in her shoulders told me it was having no effect. When it was finally noon, she grew very still, waiting or the sound of a car engine if I had to guess. I just chuckled. They wouldn't be home before 1 if I knew my grandparents. They would talk to my parents for hours, and then they would insist my parents stay for lunch. If they were in a good mood, they would probably go out to a dinner. Else, they would still go out to a dinner. Time started to slip by as I grew engrossed by the episode of CSI that was running. They were just about to determine the killer when I felt like my arm was caught in a vice-grip. Surprised, I looked up to see Rey holding me and looking towards the front door. "Just calm down. The calmer you are, the smoother this will go." I told her as I shut off the TV and rose from my seat. She followed suit, smoothing her dress down, which was a slightly different blue then yesterday. "Boys, and girl, we're home." My mother yelled as she entered. "Oh, you're already here. You won't believe this, Maverick, but my sister Hannah, who you have never heard of, just passed away. Isn't that tragic? Apparently, her daughter is coming to live with us." She smiled to Rey. "Hello niece, long time no see. I'm so sorry for your loss." Rey looked frightened, although if it was because of my mother or because of what she was going to say next is beyond me. "Hello, Mrs. Mailhot." She said. "Oh come now, no need to be so formal. We're going to be family for a while, so it's not only unnecessary, but it makes our story seem unconvincing. Just call me Aunty Anne." She replied, smiling and offering her hand. "It's nice to meet you, um." "Rainbow. But every calls me Rey." She said, shaking my mom's hand and giving a timid smile. "I hope my son has been a good host?" "Oh yes, he's been very helpful. I couldn't ask for a better cousin." She replied, turning to me and displaying the same shy smile. "Well, I'm glad to see you're getting along well. So, we still haven't found a spot for Rey to sleep, but we will. It's going to take some re-arranging, but we'll make it work. We're expecting the bed today, so we're hoping to get the arrangements out of the way before it gets here." "Um, if it's not too much trouble, could I sleep in Maverick's room?" She asked. I shot her a glare that clearly said: 'Didn't I just tell you NOT to mention that!?' My mother turned on her with a look of shock. "Surely not. We can't have a boy and girl sleeping in the same room; it's unheard of." "But he slept in my room back at my house. I know he won't do anything to me, and I swear I won't do anything to him. Please? I don't like being on my own at night, and it will solve all the sleeping arrangement problems." My mother had been staring at me since the mention of her house, but she switched her gaze back to Rey once she finished talking. She took her time, surely thinking about how to turn her down gently. "If it's okay with Maverick, then I won't object." "WHAT? You're going to go along with this? What happened to no children before marriage and no marriage before degree?" I asked, outraged that she would side with Rey. "Oh come now. We both know you'd never even consider that." She said to me. "If it makes her feel better, why not?" 'Am I really that trustworthy? Or is she just certain that I'm gay?' I thought to myself. "It's beside the point. What about privacy? Where are we going to put her clothes? How are we going to change? Why am I even arguing? I'm going to end up saying yes anyway..." "Oh, thank you Maverick. You don't know how happy that makes me." She squealed in joy. "Come and help me finish unpacking now that we know where I'll be sleeping." She picked up the suitcase we hadn't opened yet and rushed upstairs, beckoning me to follow. "Maverick, you had better not try anything. Not even peeking at her when she's changing. Is that understood?" My mother had approached from behind and whispered in my ear. "Why would you even say that? Don't you trust me at all?" I whispered back. "Of course I do, and clearly that girl does as well. However, I have to make sure that you won't take advantage of her stay. Come now, Maverick. Surely by now, you know just why this bugs me so much?" "Yes, yes, I know that both your siblings had to give their first born up for adoption. They were too young. You've said all this before. Don't worry; I won't get her pregnant." I said as I headed up the stairs. "I'll be back soon." I said as she glared at my back. 'Your mother is right to worry. If you human males have a sex drive even remotely as powerful as we do during our heats, particularly the first one, it's not inconceivable that you might give in at some point.' Karma pointed out. 'I thought you couldn't understand her.' I thought. 'I caught the gist of your conversation from your words, silly. Would you get in here already, she's waiting for you.' "So, first impression good enough? I told you they would be fine." I said to Rey as I entered our room. "Oh, are you sure? She seemed so light hearted, I'm scared she might be mad but hiding it. You know, at my request." "About that, didn't I specifically say NOT to speak of that?" "No, you said not to mention that we've slept in the same bed, not the same room. Here, where should I put these?" She said as she pulled out a pile of thongs. "S-stupid, don't take out your underwear right in front of me!" I said as I turned around. "Oh, I don't mind. It's just clothes, right? Maybe I should just put them in the same spot as yours." "NO, oh for heaven's sake... Here, put your dresses in the closet; I don't use it anyway. You can probably stack your pants and shorts and skirts on the floor of the closet... Yeah, like that. Okay, the rest can go in these two drawers here, I don't use them either. Just let me turn around first." When she had finished putting her underwear away, I turned back around. "Thanks Maverick. Where should I put my other things, like the little bit of make-up I brought, and my tampons?" She asked. I turned red again; I had a feeling this would be happening a lot for the duration of her stay. "J-just leave them in there. Do you have to take them out?" "No. Thanks Maverick, you're such a big help." She ran over and gave me a hug. "I can't believe this is actually happening; I'm going to live like a regular person: I'm going to go to school; I'm going to eat as a family instead of with maids and chef; I have a FRIEND!" She squeezed tighter. "And it's all thanks to you. I love you, Maverick." I turned redder. "Um, here in the world of regular people, saying you love someone doesn't mean what you think it means, else you wouldn't have used it." "No, I think I might really love you. You've given me what I wanted most; a regular life." She smiled up to me. I was at a loss. I'd never had anyone say that to me meaning THAT type of love; I've only experienced family love so far. I wasn't quite sure how to proceed. "I, I think I'd rather start at friends, if you don't mind." I said. "I've never loved anybody." I looked away a little. That wasn't entirely true. In my mind I heard a little grunt of shock; I'd kept Karma out of that part of my mind, so she didn't know either. Her smile didn't waver. "Then I'll wait. I'll help you love me back. Don't worry, it'll come with time." "What if I find someone else?" Now her smile did waver a little. "Well, I'll live. I'd rather see you happy with someone else then force you into a relationship in which you're not willing. But don't worry about it. If that comes to pass, we'll worry about it then. For now, let's go have fun!" She took my hand and pulled me towards the stairs. The day passed uneventfully. After she met my father and they shared some words, we played some video games. I still couldn't beat her at anything; she'd played all of my games before. We continued until dinner time, during which we, that is, my family and I, helped her understand some of the basic rules of living in a regular house. Most she understood right from the get-go, but others didn't come so easily. For example, she couldn't understand why we went to bed so early. "10 O'clock during the week just seems so... extreme." She said "I have to wake up at 6:30 if I intend to catch the bus. If you think about it that way, 10 doesn't seem quite so early." I replied. By the end of dinner, she was starting to understand life a little better. "Hey, Rey. Would you mind if Karma and I went out? It's been over two days now that we haven't spent time together." "Sure, go ahead. I'll find something to do while you're gone." She replied. "Thanks." 'Karma, get up, let's go hunting while we have the chance.' I thought. 'Yay, finally. Are you sure you don't want to taste the prey? You won't find fresher meet anywhere, and it's loaded with protein.' She thought as she made her way to the backdoor. 'No, I'm still full from dinner.' I opened the door and got on her back. 'Forward!' She just laughed. After half an hour she stopped and smelled the air. 'This is good; I smell lots of deer around here. Try not to make any noise while I find them.' 'Yeah yeah.' It took another few minutes, but we ended up in a brush overlooking a field that contained about twenty deer. 'Alright, you stay here; I'll go around and wait on the other side. When I say so, run out at them and scare them towards me.' She thought. 'Yes boss.' I slid of her and tried to stay still so I wouldn't make any noise as she rounded the field. 'Make sure you're paying attention, eh? We don't want a repeat of what happened last time.' 'Don't worry; I said I would never let that happen again. I'm almost ready... okay, run out and scare them.' I did. I jumped out of the bushes and ran towards the deer, yelling and waving my arms. They took one look at me and ran towards where Karma was hidden. However, after only a few steps, they stopped, turned and ran back towards me. 'What the...' Suddenly, Karma burst out of her hiding spot and started to run them down. The deer ran around me and made for the forest behind me with Karma hot on their heels. I thought she was going to catch one when it suddenly swerved towards me. Karma leapt at it, but it changed directions at the last second, so instead of her catching it, she collided with me. "OW! Owowowow." I cried as she almost crushed by body. 'Macky! Are you okay?' She put her paws on the ground around me so she wasn't crushing me anymore. 'This whole hunting this isn't going our way. Why did they turn around?' I asked. 'They smelled me; the wind changed direction just as you jumped out. Are you okay, Macky? I didn't break anything?' 'Well, I'll have bruises, that's for sure. Can we still catch something?' I asked. 'Silly, that's enough hunting for one day.' 'But we still haven't caught anything!' I tried to get up, but she pushed me back down gently. 'It's fine.' She lay down beside me. 'Come here, you'll catch a cold dressed like that.' 'I'll be fine. Common, I wanna catch something!' I protested as she pulled me closer. 'Karma.' I whined. 'Shh, I thought you said you liked this?' She said, cradling me and purring slightly. I still wanted to hunt, but her embrace was starting to win me over. 'I suppose a few minutes wouldn't hurt...' A few minutes tuned into a few hours. The sun had almost fallen before I realised just how much time had passed. 'Karma, how long have we been lying here?' 'Nyu~ does it really matter? I could lay here forever.' She started licking me. 'We should get home before my parents start to worry, and I have school tomorrow...' I was reluctant, and by her response, which was to grip me tighter, I could tell she was too. 'No, we have to go back, tomorrow is Rey's first day of school; she must be worried.' 'You know, once in a while you could make the wrong decision.' She thought. She unwrapped herself from me. 'Up, let's get home as soon as we can so we can go to bed.' With that mindset, we were home in 20 minutes. Once we got there, Karma when straight upstairs to bed, waiting for me to make sure Rey was okay. I found her in the basement. She was watching a youtube video. "What'cha watching?" I asked. "A video about the attitudes of teenagers and how to respond to them." She said. "Interesting?" "Not really, but since I'm going to be faced with these problems tomorrow, might as well get some information, you know?" She replied. "It's already almost 10 though, so might as well turn in early." We proceeded upstairs together. At the main floor my mother stopped us. "The bed came in while you were away, Maverick. We had it installed in your room. It's a little cramped now, but you'll survive. Goodnight." She went to bed too. I performed my pre-bedtime ritual as always, but when I was going to change, I had to ask both girls to turn away. And, call me crazy, but I think I saw the glint of disappointment in both their eyes when I asked. "Perverts." I said, getting two giggles in response. Finally, I was ready. I turned around to get in my bed and I saw that Rey was trying her best to mirror Karma's pose that she makes when I'm about to get in with her. I just rolled my eyes, receiving another laugh from both of them. "Goodnight you two." I said as I crawled into bed with Karma. "Goodnight." They chorused, 'Goodnight.' They chorused.