FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

I'm really sorry I haven't updated in months, but I've been very busy with my job, and I just had no time.

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A LEOPARD'S TAIL

1. Part Eleven

The following Friday night, Peter sat back on his sofa, relaxing and watching some TV. After the case of nerves his sister had given him while she was over, Peter had almost been glad to get back to the relative normality of his job. He was just sighing and enjoying the peace and quiet when the doorbell rang.

I'm not expecting anyone tonight.. Peter thought to himself, getting up off the sofa and feeling a bit annoyed at being disturbed. He was almost to the door when he caught a whiff of something in the air. He blinked in surprise, and quickly opened the door.

"Karen?" Peter said before he even got the door opened enough to see her. "Is something wrong?" He asked, surprised by her unexpected visit. "I thought you had work to do down at the zoo..."

Karen grinned as she stepped inside, one hand behind her back, still dressed in her zoo uniform. "How did you know it was me?" She asked as she entered, ignoring his other question for the moment.

Peter tapped the side of his nose. "I smelled your perfume..." He said with a smile, noting her cheerful mood and concluding that there wasn't anything wrong. "So, what's up?"

"Oh, nothing much..." Karen said, still grinning hugely. "I just thought you might want to congratulate me on the large raise I just received..." Karen brought her hand out from behind her back, holding a bottle of champagne.

Peter smiled in surprise. "Congratulations!" He said quickly. "I'm sure you deserved it!" He took the bottle from Karen, and tried to remember where he had a cork opener.

A few minutes later Peter and Karen were sitting in the living room, each holding a champagne glass Peter had managed to find, with the bottle sitting on a small stand between them.

"Well, I suppose we need a toast..." Peter said, holding his glass up a bit. He thought for a moment. "Ah, I've got it!" Peter grinned and held his glass up formally. Karen laughed slightly and followed suit, smiling.

"A toast: To continued good health and good fortune!" The two clinked their glasses together before drinking the contents of their glasses.

Karen blinked as she finished off her glass. "Hmmm.. Not bad." She smiled. "I haven't had champagne in a long time..." Peter nodded in agreement.

"Me neither. But this is as good an occasion as any!" He said, smiling back. "So, how did you get this raise anyway?" He asked as they refilled their glasses.

"Well, I was due for a raise this year in any case, but it seems the Board was pleased with how well I've been doing with the staff and the animals, despite the fact that I'm continually missing meetings.." she added with a chuckle. "That they decided to give me a bigger raise than expected!"

"Well, once again, congratulations!" Peter said with a smile, raising his glass again, with Karen doing the same. The two grinned at eat other as they drank, and continued talking.

About a half an hour later, Peter and Karen were still chatting, a mostly empty bottle of champagne between them.

"Well, that's very interesting..." Peter said. He blinked at his own words a moment later, noting that they seemed a bit slurred. "You know.." He said, speaking a bit slowly. "I believe we are both intoxicated." His voice sounded amused, as he sniffed his glass, and smelled the alcohol on both his own and Karen's breath.

Karen eyed the nearly empty champagne bottle, and replied in her own, slightly slurred voice. "You know, I believe you're right..." She replied. The thought for a moment, then nodded her head. "In my professional medical opinion, we are both intoxicated."

Peter found that amusing for some reason, and laughed. "Maybe we shouldn't have made so many toasts.." He said, still laughing slightly. Karen grinned crookedly.

"No.. Nothing wrong with a good toast!" She said wryly. Peter yawned just then, growing tired both from the late hour and the drinks.

"True, true..." He said, leaning forward to reach for the champagne bottle. Karen leaned forward to reach for it at the same time. They both almost knocked the bottle over when their hands met, and both of them laughed at it as if it were the funniest thing in the world.

After a few moments they stopped laughing, and just stared at each other, still leaning forward. A few seconds later they both leaned forward a bit more and kissed each other passionately, almost knocking the champagne bottle over once again. They broke apart after a second, both laughing and catching their breath.

"We're DEFINITELY drunk.." Peter said, laughing and breathing a bit hard at the same time. A moment later he added yawning to the list of things he was doing, his mouth opening wide. A moment later Karen yawned as well, growing weary herself.

Karen rubbed her chin with her hand and laughed, her voice more than a little slurred, and a bit tired sounding.. "You're face.. It's all fuzzy.." She said, giggling. Peter brought a hand up to his face and felt it, noting the growth of fur. He suddenly yawned again, the alcohol draining his energy.

"I should prrrobably go and change beforrree I CHANGE.." He said. He blinked a moment later, a befuddled look on his face as he noticed the odd timbre of his voice and mispronunciation of words. But instead of getting up as he meant too, both he and Karen leaned forward again for another, longer kiss. Peter could feel his face changing slightly as his eyes drooped and his concentration faltered.

The last thing Peter remembered before he nodded off was finally breaking off the kiss, and leaning back onto the sofa before sleep overtook him.

Peter slowly began to wake up a few hours later, head feeling like it was stuffed full of tissue paper. Feeling bone tired, his mind not yet awake, he slowly became aware of the world around him. He found himself laying on his side somewhere, trying to summon up enough energy to open his eyes.

As he lay there, the first things he noticed was that there was something laying on his side, and that there was something wrapped loosely around his neck. Normally the thought of something around his neck would have instantly brought back memories of all his nightmares of being thrown in cages, or leashed, but whatever was wrapped around his neck was warm and loose, and for some reason didn't seem to bother him.

Peter was just opening his eyes when a familiar sent reached him. His weary, alcohol fogged mind was slow in identifying it as Peter blinked his eyes and tried to focus them. There were no lights on in the room, but it only took Peter's eyes a few second to adjust to the dimness and allow him to see. As he slowly turned his head to look around, his situation became clear.

Peter was laying on the floor in the middle of the living room, the shredded remains of his clothes on the floor a few feet away. Resting perpendicular to him, arms wrapped around his neck and head resting on his side, was Karen in her wrinkled uniform. Peter's brain belatedly announced that the scent he was detecting was Karen's perfume.

As he watched, Karen shifted in her sleep, wrapping her arms a bit tighter around his neck. Peter resisted the urge to yawn as he laid his head back down, his mind satisfied that there was no problem or danger, and his body loudly advising a return to sleep. Within moments he was back asleep, Karen still using his side as a furry pillow.

Peter tried to groan when he woke up the next morning, but ended up letting out a pathetic sounding growl-like noise instead. When he opened his eyes, the seemingly blinding light of the early morning burned into his head, which was already throbbing with each beat of his heart. He sniffed his nose, detecting the scent of coffee in the air, and slowly forced himself to get up.

Looking around, Peter spotted Karen, sitting in the kitchen, looking a bit rumpled in her zoo uniform, sipping coffee from a mug. Peter slowly walked towards his bedroom to change back into a human and get dressed, tail dragging behind him as he moved.

A few minutes later Peter stepped out of the bedroom, hastily dressed, hair in disarray, and head still throbbing. Karen looked up as he entered the kitchen and flopped down in a chair, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"You look about as bad as I feel..." Karen said after a moment.

Peter smiled a bit. "I was about to say the same thing." He replied. They both drank their coffee in silence for a few moments, trying to banish the ringing in their heads.

"You know, I honestly can't remember the last time I had a hangover, it was so long ago..." Peter mused as he poured himself a bit more coffee.

"Unless you had one recently, and it was so bad you just don't remember it." Karen put in.

"I wouldn't be so lucky..." He mumbled. He slowly realized, with a small amount of amusement, that they were both talking in whispers.

Karen snorted. "Look at us... One little bottle of champagne, and we're both as giddy as school children." She said, and shook her head. The look on her face a moment later shower that shaking her head had been a mistake.

"I don't know about that..." Peter replied, and Karen raised an eyebrow. "The size of that bottle of champagne seems to get bigger and bigger every time I think about it..." They both laughed slightly.

"Next time, we drink non-alcoholic champagne." Karen said. Peter started to nod his head, but quickly decided against it. Instead he lifted his coffee mug to make a toast.

"To non-alcoholic champagne!" He said with a grin.

"To non alcoholic champagne!" Karen echoed, and they taped their mugs together. They both cringed slightly at the sound the mugs made when they hit each other.

The coffee soon began doing its work, and Peter's throbbing headache receded just enough for him to feel embarrassed about last night.

"Um.. I'm.. Sorry about last night..." Peter said, looking away a bit, face turning slightly red from embarrassment. Peter's embarrassment increased when he realized he wasn't quite sure if he was sorry for getting drunk, for kissing her, or for falling asleep when he did.

Karen seemed a bit embarrassed as well, and looked away as she responded. "Don't worry about it.." She said quietly, with a small smile. Peter smiled a little bit as well, and the two went back to finishing off their coffee.

"Well, I had better head for home." Karen said, putting down her cup and standing up, trying to smooth out her wrinkled clothes.

Peter stood up when she did. "Of course." He said, and followed her to the door, opening it for her. Not for the first time he was glad he didn't have any nosy neighbors, what with Karen sleeping over and all. "Um..." Peter tried to think of something to say.

While Peter was wracking his mind, Karen gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for keeping me company last night." She said with a smile as she walked out the door. It was an effort not to laugh at the look on Peter's face, a cross between elation, confusion, and a bit of embarrassment.

"Good morning Karen!" Lauren said as Karen walked into her office the following Monday. "How was you're weekend? I heard about your raise. Congratulations!"

"Good morning Lauren." Karen replied, a bit absently. "My weekend was pretty good, thanks. I was a bit surprised by the raise though!"

Lauren nodded her head in acknowledgement. "Well, let's see here.." She looked down at the scheduling book in front of her. "You've got a meeting in three hours, and there's some more paperwork to be filled out for the new shipment of food you ordered... Oh yeah, I tried to call you Friday night and Saturday morning to congratulate you, but you weren't in. I left a message on your machine."

Karen nodded and responded without thinking. "Oh, I was over at Peter's. I got your messages." Lauren raised an eyebrow at her, a grin on her face.

"At Peter's you say? All night?" Lauren asked. Karen blushed slightly.

"It's nothing like that." She said firmly. Well, not really...

" Oh, of course not..." Lauren said, still grinning.

"We just talked." Karen continued.

"Of course you did. Just talk that is. All night long." Lauren said, the smirk on her face saying just how sure she was.

Karen sighed and rolled her eyes. "I went over to his apartment and we had a little champagne to celebrate my raise. And.."

"And...?" Lauren leaned forward a bit , eager to hear, grin plastered across her face. Karen cleared her throat and tried to ignore her friend's stare.

"And we both got a little bit tipsy..." Karen said, a bit embarrassed. "We gave each other a little kiss, and then..."

Lauren leaned forward a bit more. "Then?"

"Then we both fell asleep." Karen finished. Lauren seemed to slump down into her chair in disappointment.

"You.. Fell asleep?" She asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah..." Karen replied, a bit sheepishly. "We'd both had a long day, and with the champagne on top of that..." She shrugged and grinned at her friend's disappointment. "I told you nothing happened!"

Lauren grinned suddenly. "And what did he do the next morning?" She asked smugly. Karen was a bit surprised by the question, recalling how she had woken up using Peter as a pillow. I'm certainly not telling her THAT part! Karen thought to herself in amusement.

"Why, he apologized for the night before." Karen said firmly, and nodded her head.

"He apologized for kissing you?" Lauren laughed. "A bit unusual.. He sounds kind of old fashioned."

"Well I think it's sweet, and at least he's a gentleman!" Karen said in defense of Peter. Lauren just grinned and nodded her head.

"If you say so. Not that it's any of my business, of course. After all, I'd never get involved in your personal life..." Lauren said in an amusing tone of voice. Karen just laughed and rolled her eyes before walking into her office.

Peter walked into work Monday morning, whistling cheerfully to himself. His coworkers looked up from their normal early morning routine to watch him come down the hall. Peter barely noticed the attention as he headed for his work area, still whistling, off key to himself.Dan and Jake looked at each other as Peter passed by, and nodded. The two quickly walked over to Peter and matched his pace as he went to get some coffee, one on each side of him.

Peter abruptly noticed he was being flanked, and turned his head to look at his two friends. "Hey guys. What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much." Jake said. "We were just wondering how your weekend was. You seem pretty cheerful. Anything happen?"

"No, not really. Just had some company over..."

"Company, huh?" Dan said. "Who?"

"Oh, no one you'd know.." Peter responded, looking from Jake to Dan, getting just a little bit suspicious.

Dan spoke in a mock hurt tone of voice. "I bet Peter here has been throwing huge parties up as his apartment every weekend, without even inviting us.." He said, grinning in amusement.

"Yeah, he looks all innocent and pure right now, but I bet when he leaves work, he turns into a real party animal." Jake said with a chuckled. Peter twitched slightly at his choice of words, and tried to figure out what his two friends were up to.

"He probably has his apartment filled with women every night..." Dan continued.

"Just Karen..." Peter said, slightly preoccupied trying to figure out if Jake had meant anything else by that "Party Animal" comment. He laughed slightly. "And you'd be lucky to fit half a dozen people in my apartment without... Hey!"

Peter stopped and turned around as Jake and Dan stopped flanking him. Dan was grinning hugely behind his sunglasses while Jake sighed and reached for his wallet, pulling out a few dollars and handing them over to Dan.

"What's going on here?" Peter demanded. Dan grinned at him

"Oh, me and Jake just had a bet going at to whether or not we could get a name out of you."

"A name of what?" He asked, a bit confused.

"Why your girlfriend, of course!" Jake said with a laugh, handing over his money. Peter's face flushed a bit.

"But I never said I had a girlfriend..." Peter argued.

By now they had walked close enough to the rest of the cubicles to be overheard by Peter's coworkers. Frank shook his head in amusement behind his newspaper, and Brooke laughed out loud.

"Please!" Brooke said. "Could it be any MORE obvious?" The rest of the gang laughed in good humor along with her, as Peter's face turned a bit red in embarrassment.

"We'd have to be blind not to see that something was going on." Dan said with a grin, and slapped him on the back good-naturedly. Peter smiled slightly and rolled his eye a bit.

"The way you wear those sunglasses 24/7, I'm surprised you aren't!" He said in good humor.

Jake grinned at him. "Well, I just lost ten bucks finding out her name..." He said, opening a can or Jolt and pouring some sugar into it. "The least you can do is tell us a bit about the lucky lady!"

Peter sighed in defeat, a small smile on his face, as the rest of his friends voiced their agreement. He thought for a moment before speaking. I'll have to be careful not to give anything away.

With a sad shake of his head and a grin on his face, he spoke. "Okay, okay, you got me! Her name is Karen Fuller, and she works at the zoo..."

Needless to say, it was a very unproductive morning.

"You think your secretary is nosy?" Peter asked Karen in amusement. "You should see MY friends! They practically grilled me today when they found out about you!"

Karen and Peter were sitting on the sofa in Peter's apartment, talking about how their days had went and generally relaxing. Karen raised an eyebrow at him and grinned.

"Oh? And what exactly did you tell them?" She asked in amusement.

"Um, nothing much..." Peter replied, looking vaguely embarrassed, not quite sure how the two of them stood in any case and trying to think of an appropriate answer. Just then the doorbell rang and they both look up curiously.

"I wonder who that is?" Peter said aloud, getting up off the sofa and walking over to the door. He wasn't expecting anyone tonight except Karen, and she was already here. He opened the door slowly, and stared in surprise.

"Hello 'Little Brother'" Kristy said with a grin. Peter got over his surprise in a moment and hugged her.

"Sis! What are you doing down here?" After he'd ended his hug, he stepped out of the way to let her inside the room. Karen stood up off the sofa when she heard Peter's warm welcome, and walked over to greet Kristy as well.

Within a few minutes they were all seated in the living room, Peter and Karen sitting on the sofa, facing Kristy who was sitting on a chair to make conversation easier.

"So, what brings you down here Sis?" Peter asked again once they were all settled down, a smile on his face. "Is your little art tour over already?"

"No, not quite. I've still got another stop or two to make. But in the meantime, I have a layover here on the way to my next stop, so I decided to stay for the night, and say hi to my cute, cuddly, fuzzy little brother." She said with a grin. Peter rolled his eyes and Karen smiled as Kristy continued. "I'll probably drop by to pester you some more after my tour is done, and everything is set up again. But enough about my plans for the future. I come bearing news!" She said with a grin.

Peter raised an eyebrow at her. "News? Well, let's hear it."

"Well, I was talking to Mom and Dad before..." Warning bells immediately started going off in Peter's head. "And they want you to come down this weekend for your Birthday." Peter let out a small sigh of relief. He wasn't looking forward to another weekend hiding his "condition" from his parents, but at least he wouldn't have to worry about Kristy digging into him this time, and it wasn't a if something like this was completely unexpected.

While Peter considered the possibilities, Kristy continued speaking. "They also want YOU to come." She said with a smile, pointing at Karen.

"Me?" Karen said in shock, taken completely unaware. She just stared at the smiling Karen for a moment in confusion.

Peter was equally surprised. "But. . But why would they want to meet Karen?" He said, half to himself, half to his sister.

"Oh, well, you know how Mom and Dad are.. Mom especially..." She said, grin widening.

Peter's eyes suddenly widened in comprehension. "What have you been telling Mom and Dad, you little traitor?" He asked in shock. Kristy grinned a bit more, then had the good sense to try to look apologetic.

"Well, when Mom and Dad learned about how I'd met you and Karen here, they wanted to know what was going on. And you know how Mom can pick at something, without ever saying a word..." The siblings both grimaced, familiar with their mother's tactics. "Besides, they're both concerned about you." She said a bit more quietly.

Peter put his hand to his forehead. What a mess THIS is! He thought to himself. Suddenly he recalled Karen sitting next to him, who hadn't said a word yet. How would she feel about all this? He turned his head towards her.

"Um, it's really not fair to spring this on you like this..." Peter said. Karen blinked and looked up, obviously thinking. "If you can't go, or need some time to see if you're busy or anything, I understand." Peter said uncomfortably, resisting the urge to fidget. What if she doesn't want to go? What if she does go, and Mom and Dad don't like her? What if they DO like her? If she comes, will Mom and Dad think we're a couple? ARE we a couple? I never was any good with these things!

Kristy watched Karen and Peter as they thought. "Mom and Dad are going to pay for the air fare, of course." She added, trying to fill in the long moment of silence her statement had created.

Karen took a moment to think, trying to decide. Do I really want to go home to meet his family? That's a pretty big step isn't it? I've already met his sister, and she's nice enough. But what if they don't like me? What if they DO like me? She wrestled with her indecision for a few moments, then looked over at Peter. Karen had to restrain a laugh as worry, hope, fear, and confusion battled for supremacy on Peter's face, coupled with a light growth of fur. She smiled a bit as she made a decision.

"I think I'll probably be able to make it." She said, smiling at Peter. A few emotions continued to flit across his face, but after a moment he smiled back at her, the light coat of fur slowly vanishing from his face.

"I'm.. glad." Peter said, obviously not quite sure what to say, or how to feel. He was glad Karen was coming along, that much he was sure of, but this whole situation was making him nervous already.

"Good!" Kristy said with a grin, obviously happy everything seemed to be working out. "This will probably be a great time for you to tell Mom and Dad about how you change into a leopard too!" She said cheerfully.

Peter, who was just sitting back on the sofa and relaxing, almost gave himself whiplash when he suddenly sat up ramrod straight in shock.

"What?!? No way!!" He called out spontaneously without thinking. Kristy and Karen both gave him odd, somewhat surprised looks at his outburst, but he stood his ground and reaffirmed his original statement a bit more calmly. "No way."

"But why not?" Kristy asked her brother, concern in her voice.

"I.. I just can't!" He said plaintively. Just the idea of going in front of his parents and telling them made him shiver. The light coat of fur on his face a few moments ago returned full force as Karen and Kristy watched in concern.

"But why?" Karen asked. "I can understand why you'd be anxious, but you told your sister already." She said, pointing at Kristy. "Why can't you tell the rest of your family?"

"That's... different!" Peter replied, fidgeting, not even noticing the fur on his face and hands. "She's my sister. Everyone knows she's the talented, crazy one in the family. Of course she took it well!" Kristy blinked at her brother's statement, unable to decide if she should take it as a compliment or an insult.

"Besides." Peter continued. "She was sleeping in my apartment, pestering me to death. I didn't have much of a choice!" Peter stopped suddenly, finally noticing his slow metamorphosis when his voice started to change slightly.

Kristy snorted and grinned slightly. "And a good thing I was too, or you would have sat in here hiding for the rest of your life like when you didn't want to take your medicine when you were little." Peter declined to respond, instead concentrating on calming down and controlling his nerves and emotions, his face once again returning to normal as Karen and Kristy watched.

"And the situation really isn't as different as you seem to think." Kristy said quietly, in a serious tone of voice. Peter looked up at her as she stared back.

"Mom and Dad are worried about you Peter. They're not blind you know. They know something is going on, just like I did. They just try not to show it as much." Kristy smiled a bit. "And they don't have an excuse to drop by and meddle in your affairs like I do."But what if... What if they're scared of me?" Peter said in a small voice, looking down at the floor and avoiding eye contact with his sister or Karen.

"I... haven't met your parents yet." Karen began a bit hesitantly, joining the conversation. "But from what you've told me about them, they seem like good people." She smiled reassuringly. "I suppose they'd have to be to have raised you as you are. I think your sister is right. You should tell them. Besides, think of it this way. Which is worse; telling them your secret, or leaving them in the dark, knowing something is wrong, but never being able to figure out what it is?"

Peter frowned and made a face. "That's not fair!" He complained weakly, considering Karen's words.

"Maybe not, but it's true." Kristy replied, nodding in agreement with Karen. "You should have heard Mom debrief me last time we talked. They're worried about you Peter. They're scared because they know something is wrong, but you won't let anyone tell them what it is." She squeezed her brother's arm to lend him support. "The longer you put it off, the more miserable everyone gets."

Peter closed his eyes and let his head sag forward, towards the floor. Both Karen and Kristy watched him in concern, waiting. Finally, without looking up, he spoke.

"All right. I'll tell them." He said, voice low and emotionless. Kristy smiled a bit, and Karen put her arm around Peter's shoulders as he continued to frown down at the floor.

"Well then, now that we're agreed on that, let's move on to other things, shall we?" Kristy said cheerfully, trying to lift the mood, acting as if everything were normal. "Did you ever manage to get that part..."

If he were human, Peter would have shot upright in bed, sweating, eyes wide open. Being a cat, he instead rolled off of the mattress he was sleeping on, and shot upright, standing on his front legs and sitting on his rear ones, ears laid back against his head, eyes darting around.

Peter took a moment to look around, suddenly realized he was safely in his room, and flopped back down on his mattress, cushioning his head with his two front paws. A quick glance at the digital clock on his nightstand revealed the time to be 2:00 a.m. Peter tried to groan to himself, the result being a low, pitiful sounding growl.

It was early Saturday morning. VERY early Saturday morning. Peter shut his eyes and tried to lay back down and relax, but found it impossible. In a few hours Karen would be coming by to meet him for the drive to the airport, and then the flight to his parents house. And then he'd tell them about his 'condition'.

Peter shivered and opened one eye, looking through the half open door of his bedroom at the suitcase sitting in the middle of the living room, all packed and ready to go. He closed his eyes again with another groan.

It's going to be a long day. I need some sleep. He thought to himself. But sleep wouldn't come, and he wasn't too eager for it anyway. It had been another nightmare that had awoken him a few minutes ago. He'd been having them all week, even since he agreed to tell his mother and father. In each dream his parents would shun him, or get someone to trap him or he'd do something horrible to someone or make a fool of himself... They weren't pleasant dreams.

Consciously Peter knew the dreams were just a manifestation of his anxiety at the thought of talking to his parents. That, and having something else to occupy his mind, usually kept such thoughts and fears at bay during the day. At night however...

Peter turned over on his mattress and tried to sleep once again. It was going to be a very long day.