FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Harem Delights

By

Charles E. Terrell Jr. aka Nightmask

Confusion and pain warred in Charles' mind as he woke, the feeling of fur against what parts of him weren't aching from....what? Keeping his eyes closed he wracked his mind trying to remember what he was doing before, certain that sleep hadn't come to him by choice.

Driving. That was it, he had been driving, cursing the deep winter snows that had blown in and made getting home more difficult by the minute. Had he had a wreck? Was that why he felt pain from head to toe?

Cracking his eyes open he tried to look around, but it was too dark. Stirring, he tried to bring his left hand up to his head but was stopped by whatever was on his left side. Whatever it was, it was as warm and fur-covered as whatever was on his right.

Laying his head back he gave a sigh, not understanding but afraid to tear himself free, if only because of how much he hurt, if not because whatever or whoever was next to him confused and frightened him even more.

Closing his eyes, he focused on the senses that could tell him something. He could hear after a while breathing, several people at the very least. As he focused in it became clear that whatever stretched out next to him was breathing, he could feel the slight movement as they breathed and moved in their sleep. It also became clear that he had apparently been stripped down, for he could feel the fur rubbing against his skin from one end of his body to the other. The thought of his obvious nudity quickly brought a blush to him at the thought of anyone seeing him like this, then gave an embarrassed laugh in his head as it penetrated that at least two had indeed seen him like this, the two bracketing him right now.

Turning his head to the left and right, he noticed the smell of clean fur, with a mix of various animal musks in the air that sent a shiver through him, along with the aroma of smoke and burnt plastic that caused him to sneeze after a few whiffs. His sneezing apparently woke whoever was sleeping against him as well as he felt first the one in front then the one behind him began stirring.

"Ahh good, you're awake," purred the one behind him, her breath brushing over his cheek while the other flicked some switch that turned on a dim light that still left him blinded while his eyes adjusted until he found himself face-to-muzzle with the one in front of him and gazing into her large emerald eyes.

"You, you're a mouse!" he blurted out in reply, once he could see her clearly, with honey-gold fur covering the limited area he could see. He couldn't help but blush brightly when a smile tugged at the corners of her muzzle and she brushed her right paw over his bare hip with a light scratching of her claws.

"Yes indeed, along with several others here," she replied, then nodded in the direction of whoever was behind him. "There are a number of species who've ended up wherever we've ended up at, although you're the only human, and the only male. Some, like you, came through the portals and suffered injury, but thankfully we've more than enough medical talent to take care of you all."

"Some of us had vehicles and equipment that survived the transfer however," added the one behind him, drawing his attention back to her, allowing him to determine she was a cat, her fur color a shimmering black even in the dim light. "We're in a camper-outfitted luxury van belonging to a badger that came through. She's asleep up front, along with one of the rabbits."

"So why are you back here with me then, and why are we, well, naked?" he asked, his embarrassment easily read by the other two from the way he squirmed between them and in the shifts in his scent

"Shortage of blankets?" the mouse relied, trying to look innocent till she giggled almost girlishly and ruined her innocent appearance. "Seriously, many of us ended up here naked, and with a real shortage on protection from the winter weather outside those of us sleeping here in the van are the ones least bothered by nudity or have to trade clothes with others in order to function outside, and you're here so we can keep an eye on you."

"Couldn't you have at least left my underwear on me?" he asked plaintively, his discomfort evident since he couldn't hide the responses brought about by her soft fur and feminine features in general pressed so snuggly against him, along with those brought about by the equally female cat behind him.

"We can restore your clothing to you once it's cleaned up later, but you don't need it in here with us," the feline noted, the black whip of her tail trailing up his leg with a lazy swish. "Some of the others are putting together a large shelter to hold all of us but it'll be several days at least before it's assembled, and some others are scouting for possible dwellings nearby, as well as anybody else that might have also been lost like we are. Until then just stay here with us and recover and spend some time adjusting like we've been doing."

"Waking up naked like this doesn't help," he replied, then felt terrible when he saw the way the expressions on the females fell at his words. "Look, I'm sorry, but this is a shock to wake up to, there aren't even creatures like you where I'm from."

"We're sorry if we've added to your trouble coping with things," the mouse said, and sounded quite sincere when she said it. "We thought you'd be more comfortable waking up with two females, we didn't think you'd be unhappy about it or disturbed."

"It helps knowing who you're waking up with," he replied, managing a weak smile in the process. "Not that I've ever had anyone to wake up with before."

"Oh! I'm sorry!" the mouse said, instantly contrite. "I'm Mandy, and the lady warming you from behind is Ebony."

"Uhm, it's a pleasure to meet you both," he replied, which was certainly the truth, as they were quite the shapely pair and generously curved, albet covered in fur, and strangely enough as he thought about it he did find it comforting to wake up like this. "I'm Charles."

"Are you feeling any more comfortable?" Ebony asked, her left hand resting gently on his shoulder as she gazed into his eyes, projecting a maturity and age in her manner that he thought added to her beauty and charm.

Nodding he gave her an experimental pat on the back, his hand brushing over the soft fur along her spine. "Except for the aches all over and this feverish feeling I've got," he added, which got a return nod from the mouse.

"Your car caught fire when it crashed here," she started to explain, "before we got you out you'd breathed a lot of smoke fumes, and we had to be careful not to use up our limited resources so we held back on some things. You had the best of care though, we must have a half-dozen medical doctors in our group, including myself, watching over you constantly. Now that you're awake you should recover swiftly."

"That's nice to know, but has everyone seen me naked then?" he asked, feeling embarrassed again.

"Of course not," Mandy replied, squashing any irritation about the continuing concern over modesty as she reminded herself how humans had more taboos about nudity than people like herself. "Just those of us in here who haven't any clothes and the doctors like myself making sure you and the other injured ones were getting along okay."

"You're not the only one upset about being seen naked either," purred Ebony, emerald eyes glistening softly as she gazed into his. "Several in here are just as embarrassed as you are, so you aren't alone in that, but by the time the other finish up the basics of the shelter we'll all be comfortable together and soon after that we should be able to clothe everyone adequately, at least that's what one of the rabbit's claim, as does the one gray squirrel."

"I'm one of those who doesn't mind it," interrupted a voice from beneath them, then a head of vulpine persuasion nosed up from the edge of the bed. "I do miss some of the things I carried in my clothes though. So now that you're all awake mind giving a bored vixen a spot up here with you three?" she asked before climbing over the edge without waiting for a response, crawling over Ebony and draping her small, blue form right on top of Charles, her nose resting right against his. "Hi, I'm Krystal, so are you from an Earth too?" she asked, blithely unconcerned about how she was pressed against him, her hands resting on his chest as she filled up the only bare spot he'd had left.

"Krystal!" Mandy said as sharply as she dared with others still sleeping, tail briefly whipping against the side of the van in irritation. "You had to have heard how embarrassed he is being naked, stop adding to it and behave yourself. You're a grown female, act it."

"I'm not hurting him," Krystal replied, her tone more serious than it had been earlier, "just helping him adjust. There are nearly a dozen of us in here and this way he gets most of his embarrassment and eye-candy time in before the rest get up."

"She may be somewhat right in that, although poor in her execution of things," Ebony added in, her eyes still on Charles though as she brushed her fingers through his hair reassuringly, the blush combined with the way he squirmed marking just how much her behavior had left him speechless for the moment. "There there, it's okay, Krystal has what you humans call a bubbly personality, and no shame when it comes to expressing herself."

"I prefer to think of myself as sensible and not bound by silly outmoded ideas like anti-nudity customs," the vixen replied with a sniff. "It's strange not feeling fur under my fingers with them on your chest like this," she said, her curiosity promptly shifting her attention, idly rubbing her hands over his chest despite his protests. "So how does it feel having bare skin instead of fur?"

"It feels like it makes for easier embarrassment," he gasped out, wishing he could push her away but his arms were underneath Ebony and Mandy and now they were pinned there with Krystal's added weight. "Could one of you please stop her? I really feel uncomfortable," he almost whimpered, but when she saw how much she was disturbing him she slipped her arms around him instead and rested her head on his chest.

"Sorry, I get carried away sometimes," she apologized, the fur of her ear tickling him beneath the chin. "There aren't any humans where I come from, just people like the rest here."

"We all have at least one language in common, English," Mandy continued once she felt Charles calming down. "It seems beyond coincidence that so many of us would end up tossed together and all able to speak to one another, but coincidence or not we're grateful for that small break."

"Except that all the talking won't let the rest of us sleep," came a sleepy voice from somewhere else in the van, also below them, and the sounds of someone shifting around came to those already awake. "Might as well wake everyone and get the introductions all over with at once," the annoyed-sounding female added.

"Can we manage something to eat as well?" Charles interjected, the growl of his stomach loud to the sensitive hearing of the females all around him, and evoking an amused giggle from Krystal, given her placement on top of him.

"A shared meal wouldn't hurt," Ebony declared in a soft, throaty purr, her left hand smoothly reaching for the light switch to turn the light up all the way, illuminating the remainder of the sleeping females, and causing them to stir in their sleep. It also gave Charles a chance to see who else was in the van, at least in the back section where they slept, for the front part was sealed off by a curtain between the driver's section and where they lay.

The one who was already awake was a weasel or ferret from the look of her, her tall, slender form stretched out along the floor as only a mustilid could, her tail curled around to preserve her modesty, at least below the waist. Along with her there was a far shorter and bewhiskered otter, the shape of her head and the thickness of her tail giving things away to him. Twined up in the pile was also a raccoon, a fairly voluptuous one he blushingly admitted to himself, and was quite thankful she and the equally well-endowed skunk couldn't see his staring at their naked forms, although as they began to stir he quickly averted his gaze and focused it on Krystal instead. Not that it was easy to avoid staring at her, the feline, or the mouse for that matter, especially in the increased lighting and given their proximity.

The van or whatever it was certainly gave the appearance of a modern and efficient design, arranged around he walls were cabinets and fold-up tables at various heights, adjustable lighting and enough floor space to let the others sleep in relative comfort. From what he could tell Krystal, Ebony, Mandy, and himself were all on a fold-out bed about three feet off the floor at the back of the van, although there looked to be a door making up part of the paneling behind them, so maybe there was a third section taking up the very back of the vehicle.

"Is it time for us to take our turn working already?" came a soft-spoken voice from below the edge of the bed, and several more popped into view, from the curve of their ears and shapes of their heads two more mice joined in, furred in a soft gray rather than the white that covered Mandy. The one on the left turned to look onto the bed, eyes widening as she saw that the human was awake and looking back at her.

"Hey Jasmine, he's awake!" she squeaked to the other mouse and dropped back beneath the bed with a shuffling sound underneath, followed quickly by Jasmine.

"Oh come on out of there you two," the raccoon said, tail clothing her hips while she leaned forward to look under the bed and leave Charles gulping at the presentation of her cleavage that created. "He's as naked as you two are, and surely just as vulnerable, if not more so. Come on out and greet him," she added, then as a show of her own lack of fear she shuffled forward on her knees to look at him and he was sure he caught a hint of a smile or smirk as she regarded his placement not only between the mouse and feline but the addition of the vixen on top of him. "Hello there, I'm Lavender, I'm one of the doctors here, how're you feeling?" she asked more in the manner of a doctor with a patient than simple concern from one sentient creature to another.

"Uhm, achy and quite hungry, Lavender, and seriously embarrassed," he replied, then gasped involuntarily as Krystal shifted on top of him and rubbed him somewhere he'd been trying very hard to NOT think about while both naked and in such mixed company. "Oh, it's nice to meet you too, I'm Charles. Sorry I can't shake hands," he continued, blushing as he knew the vixen at least could tell she'd had an affect on him, and perhaps the raccoon too from her position.

"I'm sure we can take care of the last two of those, the other will sort itself out eventually," she stated with a pat on his left hand where it stuck out from beneath Ebony, the feline behaving quite cat-like as she let the conversation flow without feeling she had to interject a comment at every turn, simply laying against Charles and idly claw-grooming Krystal's side.

"First though you four need to get down from there and join the rest of us, so we can get to the food," she said briskly, then looked beneath the bed at the two mice beneath it. "You two need to come out so we can finish the embarrassing intros and worry about the important things," she told them, "like finishing building our shelter and exploring this world we're all trapped on."

"Don't worry, I'll help maintain your modesty," Krystal piped in, her tail sweeping up between her legs to coil around his waist while she briefly nosed his chest then looked up at him smiling. "Just take hold of me and we'll slide out together after Ebony gets up," she explained, then flashed a smile to the cat as well and wriggled into her hand to let her know how much she'd enjoyed the grooming, although it unintentionally stimulated Charles again and left him squirming as well.

"Some hot coco and a pillow fight and this would make for a fun little slumber party," Lavender said with a giggle while she lithely dropped back to sit on her heels and rested her hands on her knees. "We might as well make the best of things after all, and whatever put us together, chance, fate, or some higher force, we all seem at least somewhat compatible."

"I do feel a sense of rightness to being here," purred Ebony as she swung her feet over the edge of the bed, mindful not to step on or kick either of the mice beneath it as she stood and stretched with all a feline's casual sensuality boosted by an obvious maturity to her movements. Her hands slid over her body as she made full use of the time standing, leaving everyone watching with the impression clothing was either optional where she came from or nudity too common to mind letting everyone see just how little of her that her fur concealed.

"Hey Charles, it's our turn," Krystal declared before giving him a playful poke, careful not to jab him with her claw after the cat's display let him not only speechless but motionless as well. Jumping at the poke he wrapped his now free arm around her and started shifting over very carefully, feeling even more on the spot now that he didn't have Ebony hiding him as she had been. Since the rest of the room was watching him his social awkwardness was going through the roof, but a reassuring hug from the vixen reminded him she was trying to make things easier for him, and it did help. It wasn't easy handling the way she pressed into his lap when he finally slid his other arm free from Mandy and sat up on the edge of the bed, but he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, opened them and dropped onto the floor beside Lavender.

The distraction of trying to sit comfortably due to his aches while Krystal effectively sat in his lap kept his mind off of the fact that half of them were watching him while the skunk, ferret, and otter were whispering something he lacked the sensitive hearing of the others to understand. Mandy was just getting off the bed when he was done and he had the vixen seemingly happy to rest against his chest, although if she didn't quit wriggling on occasion he'd be dying from the embarrassing accident she'd help cause.

"So, uh, for those who didn't hear, I'm Charles," he said as he looked around, including beneath the bed at the two gray mice who were still shyly beneath it, although not for long at the rate Mandy and Ebony were packing it up. "Who else do I share the embarrassing pleasure of being with?"

""I'm Cathleen," the smaller of the two mice beneath the bed said, "and I'm Jasmine," said the other, each sitting with a sideways slant, hands resting over their mounds and the other drawn across their chests to manage their own shyness which he was strangely comforted by, in seeing he wasn't the only one slow to adjust to being so vulnerable before so many strangers.

"I am Valerie," a rich voice called out, drawing his attention back to the mephit and the other side of the van, "and these furs beside me are Angeline and Sarah," she said, gesturing to the ferret and the otter respectively and each waved in turn.

"Of the two sleeping so soundly up front there is Grace, she's the badger who's van this is, and Pamela, a rabbit," finished up the raccoon. "The rest are outside either sleeping in small temporary shelters or Mandy's car if they aren't working on the main shelter for us all."

"Something my sister and I need to get ready for our turn at," Jasmine added, then ducked her head when it drew Charles' attention back her way just as the revealing light shown down on her and her sister with the final stowing of the bed.

"How do you two help out?" he couldn't help asking, since while they certainly seemed to fit the standard level of attractiveness the rest fit they were even smaller than he was, and he wasn't even as tall as the average human female.

"Oh, well I warm the area so that no one has to work in winter conditions, while my sister creates the wood for the frame," Jasmine said matter-of-factly. "Then as the wood frame's being assembled Leah or one of the other mages enchants the wood so it's as strong as steel, Cathleen creates a supply of clay, we pack it into the frame, make sure it's air-tight and seamless, then Leah or Cathleen turn the clay to stone. When we're done we'll have a fine sturdy shelter to live in."

Charles seemed taken aback by that as he tried to make sense of that, then blinked in confusion and disbelief. "You mean like magic? I didn't think magic existed, at least not where I'm from."

"Oh it's quite real Charles," Lavender replied. "I myself have great mastery of spells that can heal and affect the flesh, but only spells of that nature. We seem to have many mages of various sorts within our ranks, which has been of incalculable aid in these difficult times. There are also other exceptional abilities possessed by some, although it'll be a while before any of us have a handle on the full range of everyone's skills."

"As far as I know I don't have any exceptional abilities," Charles stated, feeling even more out of place at the idea that even a pair of small, female mice were capable of more than he was. "The only exception I seem to be is as the only male in a group of females, and the only human."

"I'm sure you'll be able to contribute once we've worked things out better," Mandy reassured him, her long naked tail looping out of the way as she settled down beside him opposite Lavender. "Most of us have little to do until the main shelter is ready, we simply sit, talk, toss ideas out about why we're all here and things like that. Those not building the shelter are out scouting the area or hunting, so we can have fresh food, both for the carnivores and the few herbivores in the group."

"There are some ways around that," Lavender added, "but using magic to negate the need for food and water might deprive of us energy in an emergency."

"I think everyone should see to their bathroom needs now," Cathleen softly interjected at the mention of food, "so that I can fix breakfast without everyone needing to shuffle around me. Kelly and Ashley would likely enjoy finding a hot meal waiting for them, since we're all up so early."

"We should let Charles go first," Mandy interjected in her soft, throaty purr, "since he's been unable to tend to himself since we arrived here. I think Krystal's already volunteered to be his grooming partner," she added with a hint of a smile.

"Grooming partner?" he squeaked out, looking back and forth between the mouse and the vixen.

"Sure," Krystal replied, her hands idly rubbing at his shoulders while her tailtip flicked against him where it rested. "It's more difficult to properly groom all this fur by oneself, so help is always welcome. Well, at least where cultural differences are against it, but we've had to set those aside where possible to function. You can see if someone else would rather be your partner if you want though," she finished, although he could tell she'd feel at the least disappointed if not insulted if he asked for someone else.

"Uh, no, I'm fine with you," Charles replied, partly because he was indeed becoming more comfortable with her and didn't want to try that with someone who hadn't been so enthusiastic in her attentions, and partly because he didn't want to hurt her feelings and look bad to the others for doing so.

"Well let's get a move on then," Krystal stated before settling back a bit and placing the pads of her feet on the floor. "Just slide up the wall and I'll rise up with you so you can stay hidden by me," she murred, her hands brushing down to rest on his hips, just resting on his hips lightly until he started working his way up at her encouragement. He couldn't resist another blush of embarrassment though when she giggled from the reaction her fur had upon his member, but was thankful she didn't do more than that and kept her tail around him.

He couldn't really tell if the attention he was getting as the others looked at him once he was standing again was simple curiosity or for other reasons, but was thankful for Krystal's protection as she slid behind him as he stepped away from the wall while her tail remained to cover his front. Once the mice were out of the way he stepped carefully to the door and once he figured out the handle opened it just enough to slip through, since he didn't want to hit anyone with it and slipped through the corridor leading into the back area, amazed at how large the vehicle was. Something this big would put the average mobile home to shame he couldn't help thinking, pausing once they were far enough in for Krystal to shut the door behind them while he looked things over.

"I think Grace likes to take everything with her when she travels," Krystal said as he looked around, then drew a squeal from him as she slipped her hands all the way around to rest them on his lower belly yet acting as innocent as she had when she first hopped on top of him on the bed. "Everything's built to handle two fairly large beings, even though she's not much taller than I am, which is of great benefit to us now. There's a very big shower on the right, and two bathrooms on the left, and the kitchen section farther back."

"I think I could really do with that bathroom now," he said even as he reached down to slide her hands up to a less embarrassing location on his chest and looked back over his shoulder and down at her.

"Well open the door and I'll show you how to work things," she replied, giving his chest a light scratching with her claws but otherwise not behaving as if she were upset at having her hands moved. Instead she simply waited for him to open the door, stepped in along with him and gave brief instructions on how to work everything, which thankfully while some things were structured somewhat differently (likely to take into account tails and different body shapes) they weren't so different as to make learning overly frustrating.

"I'll, uh, see you when I'm done," Charles told her when she was finished explaining things, the vixen giggling as she drew her tail free of him in an intentionally naughty rub across his crotch as she stepped out.

"Have fun," she said as she slipped out and let the door shut behind her, then went to make use of the other facilities for herself, toe claws ticking across the tiled floor.

Finding himself alone for the first time since he woke up Charles took care of what he had to, then stood staring at himself in the bathroom mirror, then blinked a bit as he realized he was seeing fine without his glasses. He laughed weakly when he became aware of that, such a trivial thing in the midst of everything else, a crushing feeling of separation coming over him, clutching at the edges of the sink when the feeling hit that he'd likely never see his family again. Worse, they'd never even know what happened to him, just that he'd disappeared one day without a word. Tears welled up in his eyes and quickly ran down his cheeks, the fact that they didn't often get along well not negating the sense of loss gripping him.

He didn't know how long he spent like that, trying to hold himself together, but the knocking on the door that finally penetrated his awareness brought himself back to the practical realities facing him, and the comfort brought by knowing he wasn't alone at least in his misery. Of course he wished Krystal didn't take such delight in teasing him the way she did, well, maybe he didn't really, as it was nice to be the target of friendly female attention, even an alien female. If only he and the others were nicely dressed instead of embarrassingly naked!

"Charles, you okay?" he heard through the door, the concern in Krystal's voice perceptible even muffled as it was. With a last splash of water and a wipe of his face he unlatched the door and opened it slowly so he wouldn't hit the vixen with it as he stepped out to join her once again. He briefly considered wrapping the towel around his waist but it would have been a waste of time, not like everyone in the trailer hadn't seen everything he had by now anyway, and vice versa.

"No, but I'm trying to be," he replied honestly before putting on as brave a face as he could manage, giving her something of a smile as she looked up at him, worry written in her posture and the way her tail drooped behind her.

"Don't worry Charles, everything will work out eventually," she told him while clasping his right hand in both of hers, squeezing it reassuringly. "We'll find a way home or at least some way to let those of us who need it notify those left behind. You aren't the only one who's hurting right now; Lavender left behind someone who was to be her mate for example. We've tried to space everyone so they have someone stable around to help watch out for them. For now don't worry about the future and just take care of now, and that means getting your tail into the shower so we can bathe."

"Together?" he squeaked out, although not so shyly as before, the constant exposure having begun to take the edge off his near-constant embarrassment from his nudity and her rubbing against him whenever and wherever she could.

"Of course, that's what a grooming partner's for," she replied, a twinkle in her eyes as she kept his hand in her right hand and slid the shower door open with the left, then tugged him inside. "Besides, you're still recovering from your injuries and shouldn't bathe alone, as you might fall and hurt yourself. Shouldn't take so long to bathe with it just being us anyway, since I'm the only one with fur or a tail. We'll do you, then me, then we can give the others their turn."

"Well, okay, but behave yourself, normally people don't bathe together unless they're lovers where I came from, and I don't know how much more I can handle right now," he warned her, but gave her a reassuring pat on the head when she started to wilt again. "I appreciate the support and all Krystal, really, but you need to give me more than a few hours to be able to cope with everything."

"I'm sorry Charles," she replied, releasing his hand to reach up to draw his head down to where she could nuzzle his cheek briefly before gazing into his eyes. "I'm overly friendly even where I come from, but bathing together is fairly common, at least back home and for most of the others here. I promise we'll just be bathing and nothing more, I'm playful but that's all."

"Let's see about getting clean then," he said with a soft smile, "we don't want to keep the others waiting longer than they have to."

While Charles and Krystal took care of their morning grooming and got better informed, both about each other and he as well regarding the others he was thrust together with, the others were getting up, stretching, and working on waking up, including waking the two sleeping in the front section.

"So our human's finally awakened?" was the first thing the badger femme asked in her rough voice, blinking her eyes in the light as she stepped in to join the others, quickly followed by the taller, calico-patterned rabbit who'd made use of the other seat up front.

"Yes," Lavender replied before anyone else could. "His name is Charles, and seems to be from a world where there are only humans, but we'll need more time to learn much details about his world and see how it compares to the words the rest of us come from."

"He was also behaved quite uncharacteristically for a male," murred the mephit as she stretched as best she could in the packed confines of their shelter. "He woke to a room full of unclothed females and tried nothing at all, Is that normal behavior for human males?" she asked of whoever had experience with humans, being one of those without such knowledge.

"It depends on the human, Valerie," Ebony softly purred in response. "Many have evolved to better control over the breeding instinct than other sentient species, although I've known of many who were just as sexually active as any tomcat during mating season."

"I wouldn't doubt that the shock of waking up to what he did helped leave him without any interest in mating as well," Lavender added. "I certainly haven't any interest beyond survival right now."

"Yes, survive now, worry about mating when we're secure," the ferret chirped in, her sinuous form a bundle of energy now that she'd been reawakened. "If we can't find our way back to our home worlds we must find a way to continue here."

"Well, after talking with Saffron I know she was doing similar work to what I was on her earth, so we both have limited technology for gene-scanning as well as several artificial wombs for joining the genes of two creatures," Mandy stated in response to the ferret's comment. "But we only have limited use from them, without discovering the materials here to keep them functioning Angeline."

"We also only have the one male if we are forced to live out our lives here," Lavender also pointed out. "With something like 50 or more females covering nearly everything you'd need for a colony you'd almost think some being planned this, except for that point."

Mandy strokes her muzzle as she thought about that before replying to the raccoon. "The main problems with inbreeding are causing dangerous recessives to become dominant and lack of diversity in the descendents. If you assume some power arranging things it'd find the best genetic stock available, but it's still strange that it or they included only one male, even with several experts in genetics in the mix."

"Let's focus on getting the shelter built and making it livable first everyone," the badger declared, cutting off the thread of conversation and bringing it back to the present. "Shelter, food, sanitary living conditions, clothing for both modesty and for coping with the weather, and scout the area for other life forms, sentient or otherwise."

"What's the word from Felicity regarding the shelter, Grace," Mandy asked once the subject was brought up, her tail lightly batting against Lavender and the other mice nearby her.

"From what she said before I came to bed it should be able to shelter everyone in a few more days," she replied, the badger's claws glistening in the light as she combed them through her fur. "Several of the anthropologists had a suggestion on a way of heating the building by burning coal and funneling the heated air through thin stone piping, along with a wood fireplace in the various sections."

"I wish we didn't have to deal with large communal areas," Cathleen said. "Being in here is hard enough, with so many of us left with nothing but our fur, but even larger crowds..." the mouse's voice trailed off and an embarrassed shiver ran through her and her sister.

"Don't worry, we can manage something in a week or two," Ebony reassured her, the mature feline patting the mouse gently on the top of the head. "I was talking with another of the mystically inclined females, the rabbit Beverly, and once we've the indoor garden together one of her nature spells will allow her to take the left-over plant rubbish and convert it into soft, supple clothing."

"Will we be setting up more private quarters once the garden's complete?" Jasmine asked just a split second before her sister could.

"If we're here long enough we'll end up building an entire town," the formerly quiet rabbit interjected, her long ears twitching as she continued. "When the weather improves we'll scout the area more thoroughly and find a good location and rebuild in that area and with much better planning than we've time for here."

"It's still turning out quite impressive, even as hastily laid out as it has been," Grace commented. "While magic was considered just something for stories and fantasies where I hale from it's aided us immensely in building a decent shelter as well as helping in nearly everything else we've needed to cope with here."

"This world's mystic energies are weak though," Lavender pointed out. "It's clearly suffered some kind of cataclysm, those who can sense mystic energy and ley lines weren't sensing any within range of us when I spoke with them earlier, and it slows the recovery of our personal stores of magical power."

"Once the shelter's ready there shouldn't be any need for such demands on them," Grace replied, her short tail twitching. "We'll have salvaged and constructed everything we'll need to survive and explore the area more thoroughly by then. Hopefully we won't have to build all the way from the Stone Age to modern civilization, that'd take several lifetimes easily."

The conversation was interrupted as the sound of knocking was heard up front before a gust of cold air rushed in as one of the front doors was opened and someone slipped in. As the group turned to look up front the curtain was drawn back and in stepped a dark gray-furred vixen barely an inch taller than Cathleen wearing poorly fitted winter clothes, followed by a slender figure easily a foot taller than her. A startling steel-gray fur coat was in full winter's thickness on it's mink owner, a soft shimmering flow to it as she stood shaking a few flakes of snow off of her dark blue pants and matching top.

"We saw the lights on and came in to see what's up," the vixen murred richly as she looked around the room. "Oh, the human's finally awake?" she asked when she saw that the bed had been put up and its occupant was missing.

"Yes, he's in back taking care of his grooming, along with Krystal," Mandy told her while things got more crowded again. "His name's Charles and we're the first he's seen of non-human sentients. All things considered he was quite well behaved, definitely not comfortable being without his clothes but then again none of us were initially."

"How did he react when you told him how close we came to losing him?" the mink asked in a light murr, showing at least a professional concern as she shimmied out of her clothing as only a sleek animal like herself could.

"There's no reason to be telling him that now," Lavender responded sternly, her tail accidentally flicking up against Grace at the question. "Already enough to push him over the edge as it is, he could barely handle the news he wasn't on his home world and was in a room full of females and naked on top of that."

"He actually had a negative reaction to the latter part of that?" the vixen asked, blinking in confusion at the idea of a male minding that.

"Not all beings are raised with the idea that clothing is optional, Kelly," Mandy told her with a chuckle. "He was trying quite hard not to stare, even though it was obvious he wanted a longer look at each of us."

"I'd be quite miffed if he didn't stare," the vixen stated, eyelids fluttering coyly as she slipped casually out of the ill-fitted clothing and ran her hands over her own lush curves. "How a female couldn't feel flattered at an admiring male, even one of a different species, is beyond me. She needn't accept any advances after all, and he's the only male we've got."

"I doubt he qualifies as ours," Ebony said in a soft, chuckling purr. "You'd almost think he belonged to Krystal if you'd seen how she was hovering so protectively over him."

""There is something fascinating about a male of a species you've never seen before," Lavender said. "Even if you can't breed with them they tantalize with the exotic nature they represent, compared to the males of your own species you know so well."

"Not that we should be discussing our resident male in such a fashion," Mandy stated. " He's one of us now and deserves the same measure of respect we expect from each other and him," she continued, which got nods of agreement from the others before they heard the rattle of the door latch from the back of the vehicle.

The shower went as quickly as it could under the circumstances, Charles thought to himself, given that he was taking it with a naked blue vixen who was certainly as sexy wet as she was dry. Krystal insisted on taking care of him first, lathering him up with the unscented liquid shampoo soap and carefully scrubbing at his shoulders and back as he crouched down enough for her to reach them. He could feel the points of her claws scratching at him lightly and squirmed around in the mist that showered them from all directions as she pressed up against him, teasing him off and on but not quite enough to really warrant asking her to stop. Besides, he was more than male enough to let himself enjoy the attention, even if his own nature prevented him from even attempting to indulge in more. To keep his hands busy and her tail under control he busied himself lathering and rinsing her tail out.

Once his bathing was done Krystal turned and offered her back to him, giving him the chance to take care of her back this time, shifting about beneath the spray of water and luxuriating in the moment. She reveled in the attention as she found Charles' touch especially pleasant, the lack of claws letting him work at her in ways the others couldn't, causing her to rise up on her toes, claws scratching at the shower tile as she arched into the washing sensuously. It was so distracting the vixen almost forgot to finish the rest of her own grooming, but brought her attention back to the task at hand until they were both thoroughly clean from head to toe, and ready to dry off.

Krystal pointed out the combination feature of the shower as she touched a few waterproofed controls and with a little fiddling the water stopped and little vents opened to force hot air through the stall instead and a drop-down panel gave access to a number of grooming items for fur. As the hot air circulated around them Krystal took out several tools and instructed Charles in how to use them, using one herself while he used the other to brush the parts she couldn't easily reach, first working the majority of water out of her fur then helping to fluff it up as it dried. It wasn't easy but with her guidance he helped groom her till she was a shimmering beauty in blue and he was at risk from sweating and ruining the benefits of the shower from the heat.

"You did a great job Charles, thanks," Krystal stated while putting the grooming tools away. "Are you sure you haven't done this before?" she asked, a playful smile tugging at the corners of her muzzle before she continued on before he could respond. "The others will end up wanting you grooming them too when they take a look at me."

"Uhm, Thanks for the praise, but I think I'll stick with you right now," he replied.

"You're a sweet male," she stated, her hands brushing against his chest before she stepped up on tiptoes and leaned against him so she could nuzzle his throat briefly. "But time to share you with the others again, and let the rest get groomed too."

Looping her tail back around him once they stepped out of the stall she took up her position in front of him again, presenting him with her concealing furriness as she lead the way back into the other section. The door rattled softly as she turned the handle and pushed it open slowly, not wanting to hit anyone with it as they stepped back in with the others.

"Looks like you can meet some of the others now Charles," Krystal said brightly over her shoulder to him as she noticed the four new females crowding into the area, which only refreshed Charles' embarrassment in being naked in front of yet more unfamiliar females. Tugged along both by her tail and his reluctance to lose her protection he let her draw him the rest of the way in and stood shyly behind her, trying to keep his eyes In motion and from the shoulders up as much as possible as he regarded both the new females and the old.

"Uh Hi, I'm Charles," he finally got out, waving shyly to the newcomers with his left hand while the right rested on Krystal's shoulder. "It's nice to meet you."

"It would be nicer if we'd better circumstances to meet under," the badger growled as she slipped the short distance back to take his hand and give it a firm shake. "I'm Grace, and this is my mobile home and vehicle repair center."

"I'm sure I'd have preferred meeting you all back at my home instead of wherever we're at too."

"Hi there, I'm Kelly," the gray vixen said as she sailed along in Grace's wake, taking and shaking his hand as well as she tried to look him over. She was quite the impressive compact package of furry female, while she was at least six inches shorter than Krystal she was just as maturely built, although she padded about on digitigrade rather than human-style plantigrade legs like most of the others. "The quiet long-ears back there is Pamela, she's the rabbit, and the slinky mink is Ashley. Say, you look pretty good, even without fur, and so tall." She suddenly added as she looked him over.

Taken aback by the comment and the way she looked him over he just stood there behind Krystal, his hand trapped in the other vixen's as she continued to hold onto it. Only when the blue vixen intervened did he get his hand back, and the gray one a finger wagged before her muzzle.

"Behave, he's already embarrassed enough from my teasing," Krystal told the shorter vixen while placing Charles' hand on her side and resting her own on top of it reassuringly. "Besides you and Ashley look like you ought to get in back and get groomed yourselves, since you've been working hard outside."

"True, I am especially musky after all that," she said with a sniff at her underarm and looking to not be feeling overly chastised, although she did stop trying to look around the taller vixen, "not that that's a problem in general, but it does make the fur unpleasant after a while."

"Well we hadn't worked out any order yet so if no one mind's you and Ashley can go ahead on back," Krystal said while glancing at the rest to check for contrary reactions and finding none stepped back out of the way with Charles behind her to give the others plenty of room to pass by.

"Great! Hey, Ashley, come on," she called back over her shoulder before giving a saucy little swish of her tail that brushed the fluffy appendage against Charles and Krystal while she padded into the back area, soon followed by the equally exhibitionistic mink. As the door clicked shut behind them Lavender made a comment about Kelly having seemed like such a well-behaved female before, which elicited a variety of giggles and smiles from the others.

"Tall, strong-looking males often do that to a female," Mandy added, then gave a comforting pat to the freshly embarrassed male in their midst. "Just something you'll have to get used to I'm afraid Charles, since you are the only male around. I know human females where I'm from, before the events that wiped most humans out and evolved animals up to their level, liked to pretend otherwise but we've as much interest in males as they have in us."

"I think it'd be easier to handle if I had something on at the time," he replied, although privately wasn't sure if that was truly the case. While he certainly enjoyed the company of females over males just in general this was certainly enough to overwhelm all but the most self-absorbed horndog around. He doubted even many of those would necessarily handle things that well, after all they preferred to be secure in the illusion that they were God's gift to women, and from the way he was getting treated these ladies didn't let some man automatically get top billing.

"Hey, you happen to be wearing some of the finest fur around," Krystal declared with a wriggle back against him. "Or would you rather go back to wearing nothing at all?" she teased as she made as if to walk away from him. This ended up setting everyone to laughing again and covering their muzzles to hide their smiles as his hasty grab at her accidentally resulted in him grabbing her breasts by mistake then yanking his hands back as if he'd burned them and blushing all over.

"I know I'm hot but I'm not that hot," she murred, causing a shorter spate of laughter before turning her head so she could lap his cheek to show she wasn't upset. "Better sit you back down before you embarrass yourself to death, not much for us but one long slumber party until we know enough to make some serious plans anyway."

"Some of us could contribute if we had attire to join the others," Sarah murred, thick otter tail twitching idly. "There're so many out there building though we'd be better off scouting the area, maybe we'd find something useful."

"I think Heather's in charge of a small scouting and hunting party," Angeline informed everyone in response to Sarah's comment. "I'm not sure who's taking care of salvaging Charles' car and the other scraps we've got and making them useful."

"That'd be Ruth," Grace rumbled, her expression one of annoyance as she spoke the name while she added her information to the rest being collated by everyone. "She was cataloging the tools and equipment stored in the other parts of my vehicle and gratingly critical of them, nearly ripped her ringed tail off over it. I've enough to machine nearly any vehicle part so I'm sure we can make good use of the scrap we've got available, in spite of her opinions."

"So just what exactly are you all doing with my car?" Charles couldn't help asking, he hated thinking of the dependable vehicle being treated like so much scrap to dismantle and strip down.

"Recovering the headlights and electrical system to light parts of the shelter for one, we'll hold off on using up the gasoline for right now, and use the alternator to keep the battery charged and run the lights off of it," Sarah said. "We'll set up some kind of renewable power source as soon as we can."

"I think I can help with that," Mandy interrupted. "I've some seeds for a vine genetically engineered before the Crash that can produce gasoline, although we'll need a good-sized section of wall for It to grow over. With good soil and adequate water and sunlight we could get around 3 gallons of gasoline a day from it."

"That's amazing!" Charles exclaimed. "We could really use that on my world, although as greedy as the gas companies are they'd either try and destroy it or see that only they had a right to own it."

"If we can ever find ways back to our homes I'd gladly send some back with you, along with anything else that'd be helpful," Mandy replied, then yawned and stretched a little, careful not to elbow anyone near her. "No reason to stand around wearing ourselves out, we all might as well sit back down and wait our turns in back, more comfortable that way too."

As Angeline and Valerie settled back in against the front section of the oversized van the tall, slender ferret waved to Charles and Krystal and patted the spot between her and the mephit, motioning for them to sit. "Might as well sit and be warm here between us, and you don't have to keep getting up and moving out of the way for anyone but us till we're all done grooming."

"Want to Charles?" Krystal asked. "She does have a point, several really." When she saw him nod his agreement she slipped through the small crowd agilely, her tail tugging him along behind her. He found himself getting used to being watched by the others, although doubted he'd ever get used to the feel of her fur rubbing against him, especially given how the less than six inch difference in height between them left him pushed up against her tailbase as she walked. It was even more difficult as he had to accept some brief exposure to the ferret and mephit as he sat down, but they thankfully didn't say anything and their expressions were comforting as he settled in then gasped deeply when Krystal dropped into his lap without warning and made herself comfortable.

"Careful there Krystal, you don't want to break anything," Valerie said in a throaty chuckle, ears twitching as she drew her knees up to her chest and let her fluffy tail lay in against Charles' side before resting herself in against her tail with a casual acceptance that would have surprised him if he wasn't coming to expect it from the crowd he was now part of.

"I wonder how long it'll be before we can put together some real beds and furniture," Valerie wondered. "The carpet here is better than the stone the others have to sleep on but I can't wait to have some real comfort to relax on. You wouldn't happen to have any pillow seeds would you Mandy?" she asked for the humor of it.

"Afraid not," she replied after stifling a smile, her hands catching her tail before she took a seat near Angeline and stretched her legs out across Charles'. "You'll just have to make do until we find some birds if any are around to put together some feather packing, or we can put them together out of something else."

"Isn't it interesting how we haven't any avians or reptiles amongst all the creatures who've ended up here?" Angeline murred as the mention of feathers jogged the question into her mind.

"There's a list of questions to stretch from here to the moon like that," Ebony said as she took up a spot opposite Mandy, stretching out as only a feline could, with the added grace and maturity that age brings, leaving Charles and Krystal boxed in by warm furry bodies. "We'll just have to answer what ones we can and save the rest for later. We simply should be thankful that we've a group that seems to knit well together and compliments each other to the degree that we do."

There certainly wasn't any way anyone could argue against being thankful for that, Charles thought to himself as he held Krystal about the waist, in part to restrain some of her more stimulating wriggles and thought that he definitely could use some more personal space, instead of being so surrounded as he was. He couldn't completely squash the contrary part of himself that always seemed to interject a differing perspective whenever one applied though, the one that told him to sit back and enjoy all the female company presented to him, and not be so unappreciative. Since he was arguing with himself he by nature both one and lost the argument, as he conceded the point that it was all quite nice, friendly females surrounding him, glad for his company, and the various animal musks they filled the air with were quite pleasing, even the more potent ones.

"Just how may species are there here anyway?" Charles couldn't risk asking, since just from looking around the room he counted nine others besides his own.

"Somewhere around sixteen overall," Valerie murred into his ear, so casually comfy she didn't even lift her head from where it was pillowed on her tail as it rested against his shoulder. "Mostly raccoons and vulpines, followed by mice and rabbits, and a few others like myself and Angeline who aren't represented by more than a few at most. You'd have to talk with Felicity or Heather for a complete breakdown on who we've got, they're the ones who sorted things out and set up the basic survival protocols in our first few hours."

"Yes, they're both military officers of some sort where they come from," Angeline added in her own distinctive murr, "and experienced leaders and planners. Whatever worlds they're from are also mixed species and contain humans as well from what they've said."

"If there's some point to things I can't imagine what I could contribute, seems like you've all got far more useful skills than I," their only male stated with a sigh. "I never have seemed to live up to my potential."

"Potential is often realized through trials and hardships," Mandy said by way of comfort while patting his leg reassuringly. "I can't imagine what could be more trying than to have to survive and adapt suddenly to an entirely new world. You'll manage, you'll see. I haven't seen a male yet who didn't when it'd give him a chance to impress a female, and you can't deny you've plenty of those around," she added with a hint of humor that drew quiet laughter from the others and left him unable to resist the impulse to admire her and the others in more eye-pleasing detail before forcing his vision back above the bust-line.

"I can't imagine what it'd take to impress such intelligent and attractive females as yourselves," he replied, squirming some himself since truthfully he did want to impress them all, he didn't want to be the only one to fall short out of the crowd, and not simply because of some antiquated idea that a man had to impress the ladies but from a long-ingrained belief that one should be productive and contribute instead of simply be a drain on everyone else.

"Well you're impressing me right now," Krystal tossed in with a pointed wriggle in his lap that not only did he nearly lose it right there beneath her tail but was left so embarrassed by the laughter the comment and grind invoked he'd have ran as far as way as possible if he could, but settled for hiding behind her as best he could, too much in shock to say anything else.

"What's the matter, Charles?" Angeline asked as he did his best to pull away from her and Valerie, her body language expressing concern just seconds ahead of the others as they began to realize their good-natured laughter was anything but to him. "For you to react like this the females of your world must have treated you very poorly," Valerie added as she sat back up to turn more towards him and tentatively stroke his cheek, even as Krystal's playful behavior drained out of her instantly, the vixen's mood going as blue as her fur as she realized how hurt he was and did her best to both lift up and move forward so she could turn and face him as well, without any more embarrassing rubbing.

"That's one way of putting it," he eventually forced out before anyone else managed to speak, eyes glistening with restrained tears from the memories and feelings being invoked by everything. "I could never get any respect, no matter what I did or tried to do, which makes all this attention even more difficult to accept. It's just not been anything in my world-view before now."

The room went quiet for a moment as heads shook, tails drooped, and other expressions of sympathy and sadness ran throughout the room, as none of them could understand such behavior. None of them seemed able to form a reply as the silence dragged on before Krystal finally managed to speak, her voice subdued and her posture radiating empathy.

"You're not there anymore Charles," she said, her right hand coming up to rest comfortingly on his shoulder. "You're here, and I think I can safely speak for enough of us that you don't have to worry about that being a problem you can expect from us. We are all bound together by whatever brought us together and such defective behavior Is just not acceptable, even if this world is full of some sentient species."

"She's right you know," Sarah added, much to the surprise of everyone, as she'd been almost as quiet as the mouse sisters so far. "People who behave like that know they have the luxury of bad behavior, they abuse a few because they can readily find replacements. The war-torn Earth I came from didn't leave room to learn such anti-social thinking, and observing how everyone's been coming together to survive here I don't believe the rest have learned such habits either."

"So sit back, relax, and enjoy the attention," Krystal declared, her irrepressible perkiness beginning to rise up once again. "You'll have plenty to keep you busy just like the rest of us will soon enough, so forget about those bad females you've known, there isn't any way for them to bother you here and I for one definitely won't mind you showing me some attention," she concluded with a smile and affectionate nuzzling of his cheek.

"You will be sharing him with the rest of us I hope," Mandy replied in such a droll tone it drew chuckles from the rest of the ladies, even the two sisters smiled briefly at the humor invoked. The blue vixen responded by turning her head to stick her tongue out at the mouse and tossed in a playful flick of her tail as well.

"Any chance that I might have some say in things?" Charles interjected, then wished he hadn't when it brought the attention back to him and drew a naughty wriggle from Krystal.

"Sure, you can decide who you want warming your lap when I settle in to sleep later," she murred before licking his nose. "Afraid I got stuck with my ancestors nocturnal nature so I sleep for most of the day, most of my family did."

"Have to count me out of that then," Angeline added with a bit of a yawn. "I'm like that myself. Makes it hard for us night-time furs mixed in with the day-time, so I'll be glad when we've quarters to make it easier on everyone."

"Uhm, I think the last thing I should be doing is saying, 'Would you like to sit in my lap?' to anyone in here while like this," their only male member stated, which brought a round of laughter that left him with a fresh level of embarrassment and a collection of smiles directed his way.

"Well in that case we'll just have to decide then," Krystal told him with a hint of mischievousness glinting in her eyes. "Any volunteers?" she asked as she looked around at everyone, giggling and swishing her tail hither and yon.

"It certainly looks like fun, but I don't think I've the qualifications to fill in for you, Krystal," Grace growled. "Only Valerie, Lavender, and Sarah have tails to compete with yours."

"Kelly or Ashley might want to have a chance too," Ebony purred as she stretched out in all her feline glory, a presentation good enough to distract virtually anyone even glancing her way at least for a brief while. "Then again perhaps you don't mind who preserves your modesty, as long as she's a bit less bouncy?" she asked with a hint of humor.

"He can just make use of my tail," Valerie offered casually, the fluffy appendage proving to be a nice pillow as she remained resting against it. "One doesn't have to sit in his lap after all in order to grant him some modesty."

Biting his tongue over the mental flash about someone giving him a 'piece of tail', Charles instead slid his hands up to rest them on Krystal's hips and keep them out of trouble while he tried to summon up at least some of the confidence he always enjoyed in his fantasies when he dreamt about situations like this. He was making quite the poor showing now that he actually had the chance to live out at least some of his fantasies, which he had to admit sucked royally. Could be worse though, at least he was in a place with friendly and decidedly attractive females, albet ones who enjoyed his discomfort at being naked in their company a bit too much.

"It does help keep things warm though," he replied, then froze until he saw she didn't take any offense at it and Angeline chuckled and ruffled his hair playfully and relaxed between the two once again.

"Wouldn't want you too hot and bothered," Krystal teased, her own shimmering blue tail giving Charles a squeeze. "Need to be focused on building not breeding," she added, blithely unconcerned with the fact that it was more the females who'd been focused on the thought. "Not that breeding isn't one way to build."

"And just what are you interested in building Krystal?" Charles asked her, since she certainly didn't seem interested in building anything. Then again just because she didn't show it didn't mean she wasn't intensely interested or focused on something other than teasing him, or perhaps more than teasing him he blushingly thought to himself.

"Depends on what's available to work with," she pointed out while scratching lightly at his chest. "I'd love to build a nice professional quality sound studio, although I don't know if there'd be much use for it here except my own amusement."

"I think we'll all be doing quite a bit of that," Grace mused, claws snicking at each other as she laced her fingers together and stretched back against the side of her mobile home. "Even if this is a well-structured world with an advanced population we're likely best off remaining together as a group and working together at our own things. We're not a part of this world and we need to be extremely careful if we want to survive and prosper."

"That's hardly a positive outlook on things," Lavender tartly replied, then softened after she said it. "Not that it's too far off the mark, but we need to keep upbeat and believing we'll make it all work out."

A cold gust of air blew into the compartment once again as the door up front on the passenger's side opened once again and a military garbed raccoon slipped through the curtain into the portion they occupied. While several inches shorter than Lavender she more than made up for the difference with her presence. Her military bearing and attire radiated confidence and skill while she dusted some snow off of her fur and tried not to step on anyone as well as avoid smirking at the sight of Charles in the pile of females surrounding him.

"Thought I'd bring you all the latest intelligence now that the rest have been informed of the news," she chirred richly, arms crossing across her mature bosom as she looked everyone over. "I see though you've some news in here as well. It's good to see you finally awake, you had us worried for a while," she said as she addressed Charles directly, dark eyes drinking in the light.

"Uhm, Hi," he said, giving her a shy wave, her clothed status reminding him more acutely of his own nudity. That and the way she stared at him so intently. "I'm uh, Charles, nice to meet you."

"You can call me Heather," she replied, a smile quirking at the corners of her muzzle as she looked down on him and Krystal looked up with a guileless smile and stretched out on top of him, head resting on his chest like she'd done it all her life and her ears tickled beneath his chin. "I see you're fitting in quite well with everyone," she added, causing him to blush and squirm before she put aside the opportunity to indulge in some relaxing banter and returned to business.

"I thought I'd let you all know that we found the remains of a power distribution line just a few miles from here," she said, drawing gasps of surprise from everyone. "Ruby will be flying along them with some magical protection against detection to see how far they go and where they lead. At a minimum we should at least learn if any habitations are along them, and we can salvage the grid for our own use."

"Any way we can get in on some of that?" Valerie asked, perking up at the idea of something useful to do and garnering nods of agreement from the rest.

"Not with the actual salvage, but by the time we get it back here everyone should have minimal clothing and we can begin examining it and retooling it to our needs. I'm hoping that we'll find habitation somewhere along the grid, occupied or non, that's not too far away. Short of being completely wiped out by a bomb or something similar there should be much we can use to learn about this world as well as recycle for our use."

""Considering the kind of excess junk I carry around in my car I'd have thought you could at least clothe everyone in here," Charles interjected, then blushed and went quiet as he considered just what all he carried in his car.

"I don't believe you had much that was winter-worthy," Heather replied with a chuckle and wink. "The blankets and pillows are being used by some of those sleeping in the finished chamber, the emergency kits were transferred inside for quick access, and the remaining attire should be modified good enough for modesty's sake in time for everyone to move into the finished shelter."

"You must carry quite a bit in your car if it can help clothe all of us, even if just to take care of everyone's modesty," Valerie noted, giving him a curious look that left him squirming some more.

"I, uh, have a habit of storing all sorts of things in my car," was the best response he could manage, especially when the others started looking at him too. "Never can tell what might be useful."

"It's certainly proving helpful in the initial stages of setting things up," Heather agreed, although she still had the hint of humor laced into her posture. "Janice, Garnet, and Florence have used their skills and abilities along with some of the scrap from your car to set-up the cooking section of the meat-eating members of our group, including a coal-powered stove and I believe they'll manage a charcoal grill shortly. We'll have separate cooking areas set up so that the herbivores won't be upset or offended by the more carnivorous members."

"How long before we can all have separate quarters, instead of being packed in together?" Jasmine spoke up from the back of the room, her wide eyes looking up to the raccoon while she shifted around and wrapped her arms around her bosom once attention was back upon her.

"Even if we find an intact, abandoned town or city it'll be months before we can manage that for everyone Jasmine," Valerie answered for Heather. "We have to custom build everything and we have to build for safety and security and not just for privacy."

"Plus we still don't know anything about this world's inhabitants," Heather pointed out on top of that. "We could very be well forced to move and set-up elsewhere, so we don't want to invest huge amounts of resource-draining labor here in case we have to start over again in a new location."

"You said Ruby was going to fly out and do a scouting run, now that we've something to give a scout team guidance?" Angeline interrupted. "Have you included some ground teams to scout outward along it while she's doing a quick scan of the area? And what about hunting parties?"

"Some of the technically-minded have gone along with the wolverines in order to start bringing back as much as they can reasonably carry back, although given how powerful the wolverines are that's likely several tons. For those who'd prefer fresh food over magical suspension or our limited stores we've venison for the carnivores and a limited variety of roots until we can get the garden ready."

"We should see about planting several EverFruit trees nearby," Mandy suggested while sidling closer to Charles and the others near the front. "Saffron and I have cuttings of them as part of our plant stores. While they're quite destructive of nearby plant life, killing and keeping barren a spot around them a good 80 feet in radius because of how extensive their root structure is, they supply extremely nutritious fruit all year round."

"A good suggestion, the area we're in is fairly barren anyway," Sarah nodded in agreement, "they wouldn't do too much damage to the environment, although I'm not sure what those environmentally-aligned mages we've got will think of them."

"We have to do what's necessary for us to all survive," Heather declared in all seriousness," and if that means a little bit of damage here to the rock surrounding us for the sake of the group that's just what we'll have to do."

"See about having some of that venison sent inside so we can have something fresh to eat," Grace interjected loudly. "We can do with it to survive right now, and what's not eaten can be stored here."

I doubt we'll have any leftovers," Heather pointed out matter-of-factly. "We do have dozens of carnivores here after all, and it was just two deer they managed to find. Just look around, you've nearly a dozen in here after all. I'll bring enough for everyone to have some though, in through the back way. Should have it fully dressed and ready by the time everyone's done grooming in here."

"We'll be looking forward to it," the badger replied, tongue flicking over her lips as she thought about fresh meat after days of stored food.

Chuckling at the badger's obvious retention of her ancestor's predatory nature the raccoon send a nod her way. "I'll head out and see to things, now that I've updated everyone and let everyone outside know our last member is finally awake," Heather said as she turned towards the front of the vehicle. "We'll give him a chance to meet everyone else once we can move everyone into the shelter and you can all dress." She finished on her way out.

The room settled into more animated discussion over the revelations presented by Heather's news, which also turned enough of the focus from him to let Charles relax and almost forget he was naked in a room full of some of the finest females around. In the meantime Heather worked her way around to the various groups, letting them know that the human had recovered and what his name was, while also checking up on the latest going on with each of them. As one of those helping to organize things she made regular rounds to help out and keep everyone connected, make sure everyone was okay and had everything available in order to do her best. It wasn't easy, but they were making good progress all the same.

Through the creative use of the available abilities of the various castaways they would soon have a shelter that would have taken far longer to create by conventional means, and have dealt with one of the basic needs of survival. The rest seemed to be shaping up as well, courtesy of their location and skills. The star patterns indicated with good certainty that they were on an Earth, and so far the plant and animal life was backing that up, as were other factors. Hopefully from the discovery of the downed power grid the world had sentient human life, and wasn't a remnant left behind by an extinct people, and they were friendly, or at least willing to tolerate their intrusion on their Earth.

As she toured the inside of the developing structure she smiled inwardly to herself, it was turning out to be quite the grand creation, she thought, especially given the artistic flairs tossed in by the sculptors in the group. It had also expanded to be far larger than originally planned, with three sleeping areas each, broken down by carnivores and herbivores, arranged near the appropriate kitchen areas, several communal baths heated by coal or wood, and once they had everything moved and modified or set up properly a nice workshop as well.

It would also function as a decent military base and fortification when they were done, although after seeing some examples of ultra-advanced weapons technology in those shiny power armor suits several of the females arrived in she was afraid she had much to learn to be able to cope with such destructive potential. Hopefully there wouldn't be a need for such caution though, or that at the very least they'd have time to learn and prepare before such would be necessary.

Dismissing those concerns for the more immediate ones she looked around until she found the squirrel Mandy has spoken of earlier, and asked about the plant she'd mentioned and got an affirmative about both its existence and its abilities. Getting the help in order to plant and grow several up quickly was far more difficult however. While they had several who could actually accelerate plant growth they were very much against the use of such genetically engineered creations for philosophical reasons. It took all her considerable persuasive skills to get them to agree to speed grow a half dozen of the plants, spaced to use up the least amount of ground without interfering with each other. She left it to Saffron and Beverly, one of the rabbits with the mystical plant manipulating abilities, to work out with some of the others where to plant and to arrange harvesting.

By the time she was caught up and checking in with Felicity she found the tigress already debriefing the returned bat along with one of the mystical skunks, Danielle she thought if she remembered correctly.

"...And there were a lot of crashed vehicles just beyond the town," the crimson furred bat was just stating once she was in earshot, her wings folded against her back while she spoke animatedly to the much taller feline.

"And you're sure you saw no signs of life?" Felicity asked while nodding in greeting to the approaching raccoon, choosing to not interrupt the information gathering as she studied the bat intently.

"Nothing at all," she repeated. "I saw evidence of bodies scattered through the ruins but didn't drop in close enough for greater detail. The tech levels of the vehicles I saw varied as well, and some were clearly of Earth make, my earth that is, the rift-torn one."

"We'll have to divert as many as we can to inspect the town more completely then," Felicity purred throatily, her long orange tail lashing about. "Are you up to putting together a team and mounting an exploratory and salvage mission Heather?"

"I'm about ready to hit the sack," the raccoon murred tiredly, "but I can see about putting one together. That wolverine, Bernadette, should have the skill set to manage things efficiently, particularly with help from some of our expert archaeologists and forensically trained members."

"I volunteer to be part of that mission then," the mephit interjected, her breath frosting on the air as the circle of heat warming the area wore off and winter conditions reasserted themselves. "We should definitely bring along some pilots too, in case some of the downed aircraft or all-terrain vehicles can be repaired and used for transport."

"Let's go find Bernadette so you can pass that idea along Danielle," Heather replied, shivering briefly as the cold returned before she adjusted. "The sooner we get things started the sooner we can find out as much as we can and potentially improve our survival chances here immensely.

"Oh, Felicity, before I forget, Saffron and Beverly are going to be planting some specially designed fruit trees that grow even in this kind of weather, something that should take care of some of our food needs for the herbivores, and perhaps all."

"Well that's good news," the tigress replied, scratching her chin thoughtfully.. "If the deer we caught earlier are an indication the hunting should be good enough to cover the rest of us, especially once we have the indoor garden complete. I'll go check up with them now while you, Danielle, and Ruby check in with Bernadette before you get some rest Heather."

As they broke up to take care of the latest things to worry about things back in the van were quieting back down by that point, especially once Krystal curled up to sleep, although with the addition of the other vixen Kelly things didn't calm down as much as they might have. While she wasn't as bubbly as Krystal the gray vixen wasn't a wallflower either. There was also an undercurrent of curiosity that even the mouse sisters were subject to in some fashion regarding Charles that manifested in a variety of ways. The bolder ones, like Kelly, would rub up against him or touch him where they could whenever they got to move about, while the shyer would simply sneak glances at him and quickly look away if they thought anyone would notice, and they all took turns asking him about himself and where he can from.

There was a degree of companionship and comradely behavior that had been absent from his previous experiences in life, people were quick to backstab and present a false face of decency where he'd worked at over the years. Maybe with life so dependent upon cooperation and trust the kind of bad behavior he was used to seeing just couldn't take hold, with no social ladders to climb and too much to lose with nothing to gain.

Of course even with the level of peaceful easy feelings going around he still wasn't up to simply moving around or taking any bathroom breaks without some means of privacy afforded to him. Kelly was quick to offer her tail up once she learned of his modestly requirements, and likely would have availed herself of his lap as well if given the opportunity. While she wasn't as openly frisky and teasing as Krystal she still rubbed against him suggestively enough to leave him wondering if all the vixens in the group were naturally open and frisky like the two he already had met.

Heather returned in the meantime to give them the big news from Ruby regarding the ruined town and the crashed vehicles nearby it, which increased the level of discussion briefly before the speculation ran down, then curled up in the front to sleep, politely refusing invitations to sleep in the middle compartment with them. Cathleen and her sister took their leave shortly after that, after slipping into the poorly fitting clothing that Kelly and Ashley had been wearing and taking up their duties outside. Shortly after that another raccoon and a ferret dropped in as well.

The raccoon was around the same height as Heather, the ferret on the other hand was several inches shorter than Angeline, the ferret already sleeping in the room, named Cassie and Naomi respectively. Neither was nocturnal like the ones already asleep in the vehicle, and both were scientists trained by a galactic civilization in some other dimension. Their outfits consisted of form-fitting jump suits in a uniform white that put their own curvaceous natures on display along with the others, although their tails were caught up inside the uncomfortable tail pouches designed to handle that extra appendage. They also demonstrated a greater degree of modesty and remained inside the relatively stuffy outfits rather than remove them for increased freedom.

Outside the full environmental nature of the suits that would give limited survival even in a vacuum they had powerful wrist-band microcomputers with holographic interfaces and display screens that seemed quite useful in relieving the boredom of being cooped up in such a small space together, and let them give background information on their own portion of reality. The technical and medical databases were of particular interest to Grace, Lavender, and the other like-minded females in the room, and they devoured as much as they could, with the occasional question directed to Cassie and Naomi, until the sleepers woke and joined in.

Angeline woke first, the sinuous ferret yawning and stretching sleepily as she woke, claws combing through her fur as she scritched and rubbed along her sides, then oooooooo'd and leaned in to intently check out the display of technical specs. She started asking about the interface options on the computers and surprised those unfamiliar with the idea that she had an access port behind her right ear to let her directly interface with a computer, in full virtual access and even improve her piloting abilities for jack-compatible vehicles.

While the two ferrets were locked in rapid-fire discussion Krystal woke and gave her own languid and jiggly display of furry femininity as she stretched and wriggled her way to consciousness, eyes blinking to work the sleep out, her tail sweeping back up behind her before she smiled and pounced Charles, eager to take up her place in his lap again. Once she was comfy in his lap again she lapped the newly embarrassed human on the cheek before turning her attention to the holographic displays, eager for something new to learn.

The interruptions were few once the entire room was awake, outside of the occasional necessary breaks for food, drink, and bathroom needs. Once things were flowing they all mostly forgot about their predicament and enjoyed the learning experience and looked eager for the chance to expand on what they were learning in creative applications in their own areas of interest.

Night had long since fallen before the day cycle members started running down, the ferret and raccoon heading off to settle in to sleep in their own group area, much to the unhappy protests of those who wanted to push themselves and continue to delve into the computer databases. Setting things up for sleep was a little more involved this time around though, for even as Jasmine and Cathleen returned only Ashley was rested enough to return outside, Kelly having pushed herself staying up all day after working all night too, so that only the mink and Heather were in any shape to return to their nighttime duties. In fact the vixen fell into such a deep sleep once the stimulation was removed they had little trouble moving her around without her offering any protest at all.

Deciding to leave the back section accessible this time around, now that Charles was awake, it made for more crowding on the floor, and considering that Krystal and Angeline wouldn't be sleeping while the rest were and Krystal insisted on remaining with him, "to keep him warm," as she put it, there was a certain amount of debate over who'd get to warm his other side while he slept. While the idea that so many females wanted to sleep near him was flattering(if not actually on top of him) some of the senxual vibes, especially from Ebony, were uncomfortable to say the least. The feline regarded him with an affection that was way out of proportion with their current level of interaction, a different kind of affection than being expressed by the perky blue vixen's own behavior.

Since she was already asleep he suggested letting Kelly have his left side, while Angeline occupied his right, so that she and Krystal could at least chat and not be too bored being the only ones up and unable to move about. The gray vixen didn't even stir as she was shifted into a more comfortable position and they settled in to sleep, although lacking the fur padding of the rest sleep wasn't as simple or easy for the only human member of the pack. There were ways he could have slept more comfortably, but he wasn't about to see if he could actually sleep on anyone, no matter how possible that might be.

Sleep eventually claimed him though, the voices of Krystal and Angeline a soothing backdrop while the vixen occasionally wriggled about or stroked his head gently as she lay on top of him. The chatter quickly exceeded his own limited engineering education, which helped him fall asleep, as he couldn't follow along and it all descended into a blur till dreamland was his home.

He wasn't sure how long he'd slept before something filtered through into his dreams, a heat and wetness enveloping him, causing him to pant and moan softly in his sleep. A blush crept over him as he started waking up, knowing he'd gotten an erection in his sleep from both the stimulation of the vixen laying on top of him, as well as the day's visions of so many naked females he couldn't help but look at in all their beauty.

"...can't believe you did that, Krystal." was the first clear thing he heard filtering into his consciousness, right on the heels of realizing he wasn't just having a nighttime erection but was actually inside someone!

"I really needed to," she murred in reply to the ferret, the pressure of her hands on his shoulders evident to him, as was her breasts pressing into his chest and the very tight feel of her sex causing him to feel a growing arousal without her even moving around at all. "The higher the stress the more females like me require physical intimacy with a male, and Charles is all I have."

"Is that why you've been all over him since he woke up?" he heard Angeline ask, then clutched at Krystal's behind as she pushed back a little more onto his member and licked him gently on the throat.

"I can tell you're awake Charles," she murred richly as she licked up his chin and nuzzled at the side of his head, "and yes Angeline, that's part of it, but I couldn't have brought myself to do anything if he'd not been so nice."

"Maybe you could have asked somewhere more private?" he gasped out, trying to keep his voice down in spite of the effect she was having on him. "At least my first time wouldn't have been in my sleep then."

"You're awake now, and I hope you don't mind my being your first," she murred throatily into his ear as she rubbed her muzzle against his cheek. "I need you more than I can express with words," she added, her hips gyrating gently and sliding just a fraction of an inch up and down along his throbbing member, the musks in the air mixing with the new scent of her nether regions as it wafted up.

"But everyone will know!" he squeaked, trying to hold back but knowing he couldn't resist indefinitely. It was so getting to him his right hand began rubbing over her bottom and stroking around and under her tailbase, his left rubbed at Angeline's back, since she was laying carefully upon his left arm.

""Just go ahead and enjoy yourself Charles," Angeline softly interjected, which set his heart to racing at the reminder that at least one other female was already awake and knew. "We're all adults here, and sex is a very good way to relieve tension, and you're just as tense as the rest of us."

"I just need you inside me handsome," Krystal added before a soft, contented sigh escaped her. "Enjoy me and show me I've made you happy is all I ask," she concluded, her head settling down to lay beside his, her bottom rising and falling in longer shifts of her furry backside as she sought to pleasure him.

"O-okay," he stuttered out, the longer strokes as she rid him along with the sensual caress of her fur against his belly and chest giving him little time before he was clutching at her and Angeline, head tossed back as he tried to keep quiet as he climaxed, his seed spraying into Krystal's belly as his shaft throbbed inside of her and she milked him firmly with her sugar walls. With his embarrassment complete at having reached such a point and knowing someone else was around who knew what was going on he went limp beneath Krystal and closed his eyes, blocking out what little he'd been able to see in the dim light and wishing he'd had more control over himself (not that he felt any male that loved females could have under the circumstances).

"Mmmmmm, thank you for your gift," Krystal murred softly to him, bringing him back from the place he'd begun sliding into and back to the moment, and his union with the beautiful and very confident vixen. "I feel so much more comfortable and relaxed now."

"But you didn't, well, you know, peak," he blushingly pointed out, certain he'd have detected some kind of sign if she'd climaxed too.

"You can take care of that next time, and there will be a next time" she declared, which brought a small chuckle from the ferret when she heard that, and left Charles squirming again, although not too much since he was still inside the vixen. "Also if you're really that bothered about the others knowing about this just say you must have been asleep and don't know what happened, otherwise just don't worry about it. It's not like you have to worry about being a father or anything like that," she playfully pointed out, her hands stroking inward from his shoulders to brush over his cheeks and draw his head up until she licked his lips softly then let her head settle down onto his chest once again.

"I think being the only male around so many active females is under the heading of too much of a good thing," he couldn't resist saying, which drew a laugh from Angeline and an answering grin from Krystal before a surprise voice joined in from around their feet.

"I'm sure you will rise to the occasion," came Mandy's voice up to the other three, although with the steady stream of embarrassments Charles was simply too overloaded by that and the lingering naughty pleasure (even if he hadn't been as much a willing participant as he might have wished) to blush or feel too shy at yet another knowing. "But only if you get proper rest, which some seem to be denying you," she chastised the vixen and ferret gently.

"Now now doctor, you know an incentive is always helpful, and he seems to be recovering quite nicely. Everything seems to be in working order in fact, at least from my perspective," Krystal teased back over her shoulder to the mouse, while her fingerpads gently massaged Charles' neck and shoulders.

"Well if you don't want to have everyone knowing that you're going to have to see about cleaning up," she pointed out, nose wrinkling a little at the distinct musk in the air. "Not that it'll do much I'm sure, it certainly woke me up and there can't be anyone who's here who doesn't know what lovemaking smells like."

"Would be rude to not clean up my partner," Krystal agreed, then to the surprise of all three she sat up, stretching and wriggling to work her spine while she sat in Charles' lap, then bent down with exceptional flexibility to blithely begin lapping away at the wet, sticky spot where they met. She was well on her way before realizing the others had gone quiet and looked up and gave them all a curious look. "What?" she asked into the silence.

"Is it common to, well, clean up like that, with others watching?" Angeline asked as she broached the question about what had left them all speechless, and in the case of the male present a measure of excited as well, both from what little he could see in the dark and from what he could feel as her tongue lapped in such sensitive areas.

"Cleaning up afterwards is common," the blue vixen began between careful licks of her tongue as she only briefly interrupted her devotions, "only isn't common in groups since sex in groups isn't common, at least not for most species, although I think the rabbits are bad about that. It's a mark of respect to groom your partner anyway instead of going your own way afterward."

"Growing up on an earth where most of the remaining culture is derived from humans cleaning up like that isn't something I'd consider normal," Mandy replied, although thanks to her medical training and general experiences in the post-collapse world she came from she managed a more clinical opinion on things.

"Normal is highly subjective," the curvaceous vixen pointed out as she finished cleaning what she could and stretched back out across Charles' chest, head resting with her ear tickling beneath his chin. "I think we'll be quite a while finding what is normal for our group of castaways. In any case we've a lot of time to kill before we're all able to be active at what we're skilled at as well as have things set up for entertainment, and if Charles is willing we can have fun as often as we've the relative privacy for it."

"We can?!" Charles squeaked out, not even close to believing the offer and would have dismissed it as a dream if not for the fact he never got that lucky in a dream, then blushed in the darkness as his question and how he said it elicited a variety of soft feminine chuckles from the ladies surrounding him.

"What about the rest of us?" came a sleepy voice from his other side, causing him to groan silently to himself and triggering a mental slap to the forehead and a "Not another one!" cry inside his mind at the idea of waking Kelly up as well. Pushing herself up on her hands to look things over and sniffing at the obvious traces on the air wafting her way from just inches away she couldn't resist ooooooing at what all had been going on while she slept. "Can I be next?" she asked matter-of-factly.

"I'm not an amusement park ride ladies," he replied testily, flattering though it was to be the object of such attention, and garnered him a comforting squeeze on his shoulders by Angeline and by Krystal. "Could we also consider waiting until we have some actual privacy if there is a next time? I am so not used to anything like this in so many ways."

"You didn't need privacy tonight," Kelly pouted with a bit of a sniffle, her lack of knowledge about things having left her taking the simple, logical conclusion about what she'd awakened to find, wrong though it was.

"I had to take care of my need and couldn't resist the temptation while he slept Kelly," Krystal informed her, the blue vixen swishing her tail over to brush over the gray one's back in a gentle stroke. "I'm sure males 'present' themselves in their sleep where you're from too," she said, the comment causing Charles to roll his eyes at the commentary about himself and males in general. You'd have thought he was in a locker room full of men going on about sex to listen to them.

"Well mostly I've only known male humans, and some other races, like dragons and elves, no male foxes or species like the rest here," Kelly admitted while taking the opportunity to enjoy herself what little she could by re-inspecting Charles' form in the dim light. Unlike many of those there she'd had extensive contact with humans and had learned early on to enjoy the differences between their species and her own. "It is cute though when they do that in their sleep, and they like waking up to having their bits played with."

"How about taking a break from talking about male bits, mine or anyone else's, before you wake everyone else?" Charles pleaded, then squirmed briefly beneath Krystal as she gave him a naughty squeeze before licking him on the nose.

"I'm sure most would just be like Kelly and ask you for some time too," she told him in a throaty murr, her breath brushing down over his face while he heard the others chuckling in agreement. "They'd just likely want it more private like you do."

"I definitely want to be next though," Kelly said, a hint of something in her voice reflecting an underlying seriousness that triggered feelings of concern within Charles, and left him with the impression that Krystal wasn't the only one needing to mate for more than the enjoyment of it. "Maybe we can arrange a tour of the finished parts of the shelter, like say the sleeping areas?" she added, her hand coming up to rest upon his chest as she ignored Krystal's breast already resting there.

"If- If you really want to Kelly," he finally replied, trailing his hand on Krystal's behind over to pat and stroke the gray vixen's clumsily instead. "I just don't want to end up feeling like I'm here just for that while you do all the serious stuff."

"You're definitely here for more than that Charles," Angeline corrected him somewhat forcefully, just barely beating Krystal and Mandy before they could protest his low classification of himself. "You've been awake no where near as long as the rest of us, and just haven't had the chance for us to find out what all you're here to contribute."

"Many of the rest of us haven't anything else to do either," Mandy pointed out while crawling forward to bring herself more in alignment with the others, even if it did make things somewhat cramped with so many laying side by side.

"Not much use for spies and thieves as just one example," Krystal stated, to which Angeline nodded agreement. "Like I said earlier, just enjoy the chance to relax and some nice accepting females while you've got it. Situations like this rarely leave you with much time to relax before things get very serious very quickly."

"The fun times were very short-lived where I came from," Kelly added quietly, sadness clinging to her before she shook herself and put on her happy self from earlier. "So no more serious talk, I want fun as long as possible, especially once I don't have to put in time building the shelter," she concluded while scratching his chest lightly with her claws.

"Maybe we were all picked because we all had some special need to escape to somewhere we could forget for a while and just be happy," Charles mused aloud, "somewhere to just start over and build something fresh and new."

"That's an interesting thought," Mandy agreed, her tail wrapping around his leg as she reached over Angeline to touch him along with the rest, "although why anyone, higher being or not, would yank us from our home worlds and toss us together somewhere completely alien to all of us as a means of giving us such a start instead of simply arranging something where we all came from is overkill, to say the least. I'm sure we've got quite a bit more to worry about than just relaxing and building a nice new life here, but definitely shouldn't waste the chance to relax while we've got it."

"I hope someone's got some nice games that happened to come along with them, perhaps some nice virtual reality computer games," Charles couldn't help stating. "A change from playing naked twister wouldn't hurt," he concluded, to the delighted laughter of the ladies awake with him, even the ones who didn't know about the non-adult version of the game getting his meaning all the same.

"I'm sure we can find some fun games we can keep our clothes on for, once we have clothes that is," Angeline murred. "Not that I mind the freedom, as it's a nice break from the constriction of clothing and all that unnecessary modesty."

"Nothing wrong with modesty," Mandy said, "just false modesty that's used to hurt or control."

"Nice clothes are a great way to show off too," Charles couldn't resist adding. "Not that you ladies aren't lovely like this," he quickly added, "and quite distracting, but a guy enjoys a lady when she's dressed up for him."

"Ah, so the secret is out!" Krystal declared, beaming. "You like a femme dressing up so she's your present to unwrap!" She teased, while Kelly pondered that and yawned briefly.

"Well I wouldn't put it quite like that," he said, blushing almost bright enough to set off an infra-red sensor or wake the rest if any of them had vision in the infra-red range. "I just like how the outfits look on a lady, since I've never gotten to take one off a girl before to know how fun that is to do."

"What kind of outfits do you like to see on a female?" Kelly asked softly, her nose brushing against his ear as she licked the edge. "Once we've the material perhaps I could make a few up for you to take off me or Krystal or anyone else who'd like dressing up for you."

"Uhm, well, the French maid look is sexy," he finally admitted, not sure how to handle someone actually wanting to dress up for him. "So is the Japanese school girl look, if you know what those are."

"I'm sure I can manage something when I've a chance to look into it," she murred throatily, her tail twitching lazily as she yawned and closed her eyes, resting cozily against his side. "In the meantime, if I can arrange to get your clothes back and the privacy would you care to join me in one of the finished, secluded rooms in the shelter, Charles? Please?"

"Uh, okay, it'd nice to get out and see things," and get his clothes back, even if just for a bit, he thought to himself, although doubted Kelly would let him keep them on for very long. Krystal couldn't resist tossing in a teasing comment given the opening though.

"I'm sure you'll get to do more than just see things," she gigglemurred, eliciting chuckles and giggles from the others listening as well, to which he rolled his eyes and let himself enjoy the brief fantasy image that danced through his mind.

"Just how much is there to see?" piped in an annoyed, sleepy voice from farther up front, and the sounds of stirring came to them as Sarah drew herself partly upright, resting her hands flat on the floor to stretch out. "Smells like someone has been up to something. Couldn't you have waited until we had more private surroundings?" she complained, loudly enough to wake the rest who hadn't managed to sleep through the talking and scent of sex in the air.

"I guess we aren't going to get to sleep through the night until we've all got separate accommodations, if tonight's any indication," chirred Lavender as she turned up the lights enough for everyone to see, and left Charles blushing crimson from head to toe as the entire room could now see just how intimately he was connected with Krystal. The only ones who looked even close to as embarrassed as he was upon seeing things were the mouse sisters Cathleen and Jasmine, and even they couldn't seem to keep their eyes off of him.

"Maybe you two should go and get cleaned up in back, while we air things out here," suggested Mandy, looking to give Charles an out and time to get more comfortable. She'd have to talk with one of the shelter builders about perhaps setting up a nice, cozy-sized section just for Charles and a few others to be in, since the mouse was certain Krystal would insist on staying close to him at a minimum. To be honest she wanted to be close to him too, but was going to need to make herself stick to her professional ethics first before letting herself indulge her personal desires.

"Yes, let's go get cleaned up!" Charles declared, eager for the chance to get out of the spotlight of dozens of eyes regarding him with a variety of expressions, of which he could tell at least some wanted to take Krystal's place just like Kelly wished to. Why couldn't he have been this popular back home?

"Just don't take too long," Lavender said as they struggled upright, with Charles not even realizing he was supporting the blue vixen completely off the floor while her tail wrapped around them. "We might as well all tend to our grooming now that we're all awake."

"Yes Mother," Krystal quipped and stuck her tongue out at the raccoon playfully and topped it with a saucy flick of her tail tip. She winked at the mouse sisters when she had the chance, since they hadn't been able to stop staring at the couple. Blushing pink inside their ears they both managed to turn away in embarrassment and slip out of the way so the two could get through the back door into the shower area.

Even before they'd slipped in back the others were rearranging themselves to sit better and more easily talk, the topic naturally revolving around what they'd awakened to.

"I must say for such a shy human I never would have expected to wake to such bold behavior," Lavender chirred softly. " Had me completely fooled."

"Charles didn't start things Lavender," Angeline spoke up in his defense, just barely ahead of Mandy. "Krystal kind of 'mounted up' while he was asleep, couldn't resist the need. He just couldn't hold out once he was awake, and as a doctor I'm sure you know quite well that certain things just aren't under a male's control, or a female's for that matter."

"Yes, Krystal's more feral and impulsive than some of us," Mandy added, her tail flicking before she caught it and held it in her lap. "She appeared somewhat calmer afterwards, so the physical release seems to have helped drop her tension to more manageable levels, and Charles very much wished for more private conditions and input on who and when to be doing anything with."

"Hard to manage private conditions given our current situation," Sarah stated with a sniff. "We'll have to build an entire town to give everyone some measure of privacy, and we can't keep pushing all this round the clock construction, some time off is essential."

"Well at some point we're all going to feel the same desires that Krystal felt," Angeline pointed out, "and want the freedom to express it. Whether or not this world has anyone we'd find compatible we need to consider what we've got now. One male who's so far looking nice and friendly and just as overwhelmed as the rest of us."

"You can pull the claws in, Angeline," Sarah churred as she drew back against the side of the van and made herself comfortable. With her legs drawn up she rested her hands upon her left knee, fingers gently laced together as she continued. "I wasn't condemning anyone earlier when I woke up, I'm just irritable when my sleep's interrupted. That and maybe a bit jealous that someone was having some fun and didn't mind it that they didn't have someone of their own species to have that fun with. I was an experimental product by the Coalition States on my Earth and there weren't any male otters around for me to be with."

"That's not impossible to correct, given time," Mandy stated, her tail tip flicking a little with her lingering annoyance at the apparent attack on Charles' character, and Krystal's. "I've a few of the original gene-tech kits left over from before the Crash on my earth that let just about anyone create their own custom creatures, including creatures much like us. As long as there are some otters here we can create added males eventually, if we're stuck here for life we'd need more than Charles as a source of male DNA for creating a stable population."

"You can actually do that?!" Sarah asked excitedly, leaning forward to gaze more intently at the mouse, her irritation and jealousy instantly forgotten at the idea they might actually manage males for all of them.

"Oh yes. Like I said earlier Saffron and I have some of that tech with us, but it'd take years for such males to reach maturity," she cautioned, "and require proper education as well. Until then we're stuck as we are. We'll have to be creative if we want to create a viable, thriving community here."

"We've a good resource base to start with at least," Kelly murred, claws idly grooming her fur as she joined in. "It'd take work for this place to be worse than where I came from. I don't know if it's the same earth as Sarah's but its Coalition States just destroyed the city-state that found and raised me. One of the unstable rifts created by the destruction is what likely sent me here."

"I definitely agree that it'd be hard to do worse than my earth, or ours if we're indeed from the same one," Sarah replied sympathetically. "I don't mind a fresh start here, I've no real ties to that place. I just hope there's a good-sized lake or ocean nearby, so I can put the body of my skills to use, and do the kinds of things I loved doing."

"You arrived in that small submarine didn't you, Sarah?" Mandy asked.

"Yes, I was exploring an underwater reef, making notes on the ecology and whether or not there was anything useful for harvesting when I was caught up in some clear water and found myself here."

"So you wish to explore this world's bodies of water, and set yourself up with a seaside home?" Grace asked in her deep, rough voice.

"If that's possible yes, I'd love a nice home like that," she replied, eyes growing misty as she thought about it, eyes partly lidded as her head rested on top of her hands and knee. "With a nice family and friends to share things with."

"I think we'll all end up with many new friends in the coming months and years," Mandy said before a yawn took her and she took a long stretch to let it out. "We might even manage some nice families, hopefully all of us who want one, if we work hard enough for it."

"Thinking about being one of those founding families?" Lavender chirred softly as she regarded the mouse curiously.

Looking a bit embarrassed at the question Mandy's ears flushed red as she went silent for a short bit before replying. "I'd like to be a mother and have a family, although I know without a compatible male mouse the only children I'll have will be artificially. That was a common problem where I came from though, finding a partner whose mutations were compatible enough to reproduce."

"I never expected to be so lucky either," Kelly murred softly. " I was the only one of my species around. I don't even know if I'm a child lost through a rift or a native-born mutation or some experimental creation like Sarah or some of the others here."

"I was close to starting my own family," Lavender chirred quietly as she added in her own story, eyes glistening with unshed tears. "Jason and I were just months from formalizing our relationship and becoming mates before I found myself waking up here in the freezing cold."

Shifting to sit up on her knees Mandy leaned forward to pat the raccoon comfortingly on the leg, gazing sympathetically at her. "Hang in there Lavender, you aren't alone, you've got the rest of us to lean on. Whatever comes out way we can turn it around somehow. Where there's life there's hope."

"I know, I just wish he could have ended up here too," she said, a deep sigh escaping her as she settled down into herself. "Cathleen and Jasmine got to stay together, why couldn't I have gotten to stay together with him too?" she asked, the anguish evident in her voice. At the mention of their names the two mice jumped and looked stricken at the idea of being separated and clung tightly to each other, tails entwining.

"I don't know Lavender, I really don't," the more mature mouse replied, trying to calm the raccoon and smooth things out before anyone else got upset over painful memories. "You aren't the only one taken away from a loved one, so it's not like you were singled out. I know that's not very comforting but others are hurting too."

"This is getting too depressing," Kelly interrupted sharply. "I think I'm going to head outside and make some plans to show the shelter off to Charles, and help with the building since I slept through most of my share tonight."

"Why don't you see if some of us can join in on that salvage party while you're at it Kelly?" Mandy asked as she looked up at the vixen as she stood and moved over to where Cathleen was in order to get the clothing left for her and began to dress.

"I'll talk with Felicity and Heather and see what they think," she replied, voice muffled briefly by the top as she struggled into it. "I know most of you don't even get to leave here for a break like some of us can and must be going stir-crazy because of it."

"Might be a good idea to include Charles in that," Angeline suggested as she used the opportunity to stretch into the space vacated by the gray vixen and rub her legs from thighs to footpads. "He could do with some time in the sun and fresh air, as long as we've a doctor along in case he shows any signs of relapsing, and the rest of us don't mind doing without him for a few days." She added with a soft chuckle.

"It'd be nice to find some way for us all to take such a trip," Grace mused, her dark eyes glittering in the light. "Instead of simply sitting here feeling useless we could be doing something to help. Let some of the others spend their time sitting around naked while we do the work for a change."

A round of soft laughter echoed through the room, even some shy giggles from the mouse sisters joined in at that declaration. The tension broke thanks to that moment of levity and everyone settled into a more relaxed footing, although Kelly continued out through the front section so as to not interrupt Charles and Krystal and left the others to what little time they had left before the two returned.

As the door clicked shut behind them Charles let Krystal settle her feet back down onto the floor, gasping a bit since she slid down and rubbed her lower belly against his bits in the process. Resting her hands on his shoulders she gazed up fondly at him and pulled him down just enough to lick his nose and squish her breasts firmly against his chest.

"Looks like we've finally got some privacy Charles," she murred sensually, her tail flicking energetically enough to bounce off the surroundings. "Feeling up to another go?" she asked, behaving as innocently as she could in expression while her hips wriggled to rub her bellyfur against his still-damp member.

"Are you normally this insatiable Krystal?" he asked while doing his best not to respond, a failed effort at best given how stimulating her fur felt on his skin, especially when combined with the musk she exuded. "Plus they'd all know if we went and did it again in here," he also pointed out, trying to distract her but not managing too well when he couldn't keep his own hands from running over her furry behind and kneading it gently.

"So what? They know we've done it once already," she noted matter-of-factly between little licks and nibbles at his lips and chin. "Besides I hadn't had anyone in a long time before you, and you'd never had anyone before, so we've lots of missed fun to catch up on," she concluded with a kiss, sealing her lips to his to silence his weak protests and lapping into his mouth.

Melting into the kiss he surrendered himself to the moment, unable to resist both her logic or his needs and hers, drawing her even tighter to him as he clutched firmly at her backside and hardened against her belly. He nearly lifted her off the floor once again from the intensity of his released passions, marveling at the strange newness of the kiss, tongue tentatively flicking to brush against hers while he sat back on the countertop for the kitchen area. Time held little meaning for the duration of the kiss, until Krystal broke it with a languid lap along her lips from corner to corner.

"Mmmm, that's the way Charles, now take me and mate me," she panted, encouraging him to plant himself within her tight, slick walls. Gripping his shoulders for support she drew herself up and slipped onto the counter beside him, careful not to bang her head against the shelves above it as she rested her right foot on the edge and spread her legs wide. "Hop down there and breed me good lover," she encouraged while stroking her fingers and claws along her folds to show just how wet and ready for him she was.

With his inhibitions pretty much on hold after so much attention and the instincts most males have pushing him to take a ready female he wasted no time in slipping off the countertop and positioning himself between her wide-spread legs, his hard shaft sliding up and down along her wet slit as she held herself open for him. Wrapping her fingers around his shaft with an affectionate squeeze she pulled him into her, murring richly as he slid into her welcoming depths, his own hands coming up to cup and fondle her furry mounds, thumbs brushing over her hard nipples while his eyes roamed over luscious form.

When his hips met hers nice and snug and she felt him pressing against her cervix once again she drew her hands up to cup his face and draw him down to kiss her even more heatedly than before, her juices wetting his face and her musk strong to both their noses as she ended up wiping them on his cheeks from where she'd been touching herself earlier. It was hard to say what she enjoyed more, the flavor of his kiss or the full feeling he gave her below, each was pleasing in its own way, but once he started moving his hips and sliding in and out between her snug-fitting lips she definitely found in favor of what he was giving her below.

It was an easier choice for Charles as to what was most enjoyable at the moment to him, the caresses along his pulsing shaft clearly winning out over the rest. Not that he wasn't enjoying someone so eager to kiss him, or getting to fondle such a fine set of breasts, but that couldn't compare with the pleasures of getting to mate such a delightfully willing female, especially when his mind was so clouded by sex and long-chained need unshackled by the key she presented.

Krystal's juices quickly rewet her thighs and Charles' crotch as he mated her, heart racing along with his as she dragged the kiss out as long as possible, until her need for air grew too great and she broke the kiss to toss her head back and arched up into his grasp. Her claws raked down over his back, leaving deep scratches in her enthusiasm, scratches that still somehow faded almost as quickly as they formed, the pain from them barely noticed in the heat of the moment.

Clutching at his bare backside once her hands reached them she added her own tugs to his thrust, silently begging him to take her harder and faster. Her tail swatted at the insides of his legs as she savored being taken by the larger male, the jarring hits against her clit and cervix only serving to send her cresting higher and higher as she surfed towards her peak, rising along with her partner as they were carried along by that special pleasure of male and female united as one.

Wrapping his arms around her Charles tightened his hold on the beautiful blue vixen as he closed on his peak, the urges leaving him little freedom to occupy his hands with exploring her bosom and clutching at her instead. The excitement and naughtiness of things sent him quickly into his climax, his hot seed spraying once again into her belly, the crush of his hips to hers sending her over the edge as well, a trip-fire of orgasmic ecstasy cycling between them as her rippling walls milked at him and drained him dry, even as he buried his face in her neck and lost himself in the scent of her until the moment finally passed and he draped forward partly on top of her, panting softly into her fur.

After they managed to come down from the binding heights of pleasure they rested holding onto each other, Charles' hands planted on what was available of Krystal's behind while her own stroked up and down over his back tenderly. Her tail also wrapped languidly around his right leg, resting their snuggly.

"For one so inexperienced you do that well," she murred softly into his ear, nose rubbing around the edge while she licked and nibbled it lightly.

"I've, uh, fantasized a lot about it," he replied shyly, fingertips lightly rubbing around the base of her tail. "Thanks Krystal, for this and everything else."

"You're quite welcome, my adorable human lover," she said, breath brushing over his ear and cooling it where her saliva left it wet. "I wish we could stay like this till long after I fall asleep again."

"I wish we could too," he confessed, blushing a little at how she referred to him, "but the others will want in here eventually and we have to get cleaned up and let them in. Once the shelter's ready and can be expanded we can have more fun later."

" I'll be fighting for a spot in line by that point though," she teased, patting his bottom with her left hand playfully. "You've already got Kelly wanting some time with you, and I'm sure Ebony would love to play 'Pet the Pussy' with you too. *giggle*"

"Can't let up on the teasing can you?" he asked, not unkindly, and kissed her on the nose. "The demands on a single male surrounded by a bunch of females aren't often played up in stories. Then again fantasies don't tend to let those facts in, and harder on a male instead of a female with a harem of males."

Krystal quirked her eye at that before winking at him and saying, "So you think of us as your harem now?"

"No, of course not," he declared, blushing furiously. "I just meant that's the kind of fantasy males sometimes have."

"It's okay," she told him, giggling richly and giving him a squeeze as she wrapped her legs around his waist and tightened her inner walls on his softening member. "Harems aren't a bad thing, any male who can keep one, or female for that matter, shows he or she's of such value that they can keep many of the opposite sex dedicated to them. Well that and the rare group of same-sex harems. I certainly don't mind being the first member of your harem, if you want to form one."

"Uhm, thanks for the compliment Krystal," he replied, "but that's going way too fast right now. Let's save any harems for when we're better settled in okay?"

"Sure," she murred between laps at his face with her tongue, swiping it along his lightly stubbled cheeks, then sighed softly. "I so hate having to break this up, but you were right earlier, we can't stay here indefinitely. At least we got some private time and might be able to manage a week without feeling too needy," she told him while reluctantly unwrapping her legs from around his waist and tail from his leg and gently pushed him free from her so she could slip from the countertop. "Not that I'll turn down any opportunities for more sooner than that mind you," she said with a wink.

"No tongue baths this time, okay?" he said while wagging a finger at her and patting her on the shoulder with his other hand. "We'd be here for hours if you started doing that, if only because I couldn't get enough of watching you bathe yourself," he confessed.

"You certainly know how to sweet talk the femmes don't you?" she said with a smirk, her tail saucily flicking back up behind her as she stretched and stepped forward to nuzzle his chest. "Let's get into the shower and get in a quick cleaning before I decide to clean up just for you to watch me." She teased, although with a hint of seriously in her voice.

"After you then, my lady," he said with as best a bow as he could manage, and enjoyed both the curtsy and the view as she padded ahead of him, behind twitching most fetchingly. "Mmmmm, wish I could have some of that too," he couldn't resist declaring as he gazed upon her fine foxy fanny.

"Some of what?" she asked as she looked back over her shoulder to see where he was looking.

"Did I say that out loud?" he said, blushing furiously. "Uhm, your backside."

"Here I thought you were getting plenty of it already," she replied with a wink and a wiggle of her furry rump at him.

"I guess where you come from the idea of being mounted under your tail isn't a commonly considered thing?" he asked while quickly giving her backside a pat.

"You mean mate me there?" she asked, surprised as she realized what he meant by that. "No, I hadn't heard of anyone considering that someplace to mate another. You want to make love to my bottom?"

"Not if you're too uncomfortable with the idea," he stated while the started cleaning back up.

"Welllll, I'll have to think about it Charles," she told him honestly. "In the meantime perhaps you should ask one of the others and see if they'd like that."

"That'd be a pretty embarrassing thing to ask though," he pointed out while talking care of her tail. "Wouldn't want to offend anyone."

"Don't worry about it dear, I'm sure you'll find someone who'd like that, the odds are in your favor after all," she murred while looking back at him with a smile and a wink, then pounced and tickled him playfully to get him focused on the task at hand.

Thankfully they both managed to behave from that point and get cleaned up with the least amount of naughty behavior possible, a grooming that went quickly, with a stop off at the bathroom to take care of those needs in the meantime. Separately of course, Charles wasn't ready yet by any stretch of the imagination to be watched during that kind of business by anyone.

Freshened up once again Krystal took up her favored spot in front of Charles, her buns and tail resting against his crotch while the fluffy appendage wrapped around him, her hands reaching back to rest against his hips. She left it up to him to open the door for them, mindful but not caring that they'd readily smell the scent of fresh lovemaking on the air. Sex was never something to be ashamed of where she came from, and wasn't even kept that much out of the public eye if the ones making out didn't mind being watched.

The room went quiet briefly once they opened the door and rejoined the rest of the group, and several of them wrinkled their noses when the air in the sections mixed once again but didn't say anything and instead welcomed them back. Neither missed the fact that Kelly was missing, nor did Charles miss just how happy Ebony looked that he was back, along with several of the others, including Mandy and Angeline. Mandy patted the spot between her and Angeline in invitation to them to sit, and much to his surprise the mouse sisters even gave a shy indicator that they wouldn't mind the pair sitting with them either.

While he couldn't imagine why they'd be so inviting now when they'd been so shy about him earlier he felt it'd be rude not to take up their invitation, when they'd gone so far as to make the offer. Since he didn't want to snub the other two either he settled on a spot that made for a good compromise between the two sets of females and smiled thankfully to both. As Krystal made herself comfy in his lap he rested his hands on her hips, the recent time with the vixen having at least for the moment left him feeling quite warm and confident. He gave Cathleen and Jasmine a friendly smile and stretched out near them, his foot brushing against theirs in the process.

"So how've you two been doing?" he asked, looking pleased that they didn't shy away as badly as they did when he first woke up. "I haven't heard you two saying much since I first woke up."

"We've been doing fine thanks," Cathleen answered, her left foot shyly resting against his while her sister's right foot rested alongside it. "We've finished some of the main inner rooms and are looking forward to building some smaller rooms once we've had some time off to rest up and recover."

"Yes, we'd like a return to having some privacy," her sister added, then squirmed as her ears flushed pink with embarrassment. "Not that we have any problems with the rest of you, we're just used to being able to find time for ourselves."

"Privacy has many good points," Krystal murred, her tail swishing playfully against Charles as she looked back over her shoulder and winked at him. "I'm looking forward to when we've plenty of privacy to suit everyone's needs," she concluded as she turned her head back around and smiled to the mice and winked to them as well. Unable to hide the pink blush lighting up their ears from the suggestive nature of the comment and wink the sisters did their best to ride it out just as Charles did his various embarrassments.

"We can tell what your needs are Krystal," Mandy teased in a throaty chuckle, to which the blue vixen sniffed and turned her nose up at the mouse, but couldn't hold the pose as she broke out in giggles and wriggled back to settle more snuggly against Charles.

"A girl's got to take care of her needs too you know," she tossed back, "boys aren't the only ones with needs after all. Isn't that right Charles?"

"Uhm sure, of course it is," he replied, startled by the question as she included him in the conversation. "Wouldn't think to discriminate against the ladies and what they need."

"Might find your words coming back to haunt you Charles," Angeline said with a laugh. "I know I'm not the only one who'll be reminding you of them when the time comes," she added, which elicited a few agreeing nods, and not just from Krystal or an ear-blushing Mandy, but Ebony and Sarah too.

"I think Krystal's done a pretty good job impressing on me how much, uhm, demand I can look forward to," he replied, not feeling the shyness he'd started out with when thinking about it. Such constant exposure to the vixen's affections and the general atmosphere seemed to be giving him the keys to unlocking those chains he'd fantasized about not having wrapped around his ability to express himself. He found that he even didn't mind the smiles and laughter from the ladies in response to his statement. There wasn't anything malicious in their attention after all, indeed it was quite good-natured and friendly, and the frankness quite ego-boosting.

"Only demands right now are to make an early start to the day," Grace gruffed, her claws scraping over the carpeting to keep her hands busy. "Since we're all up anyway we can just get that out of the way now."

"We don't mind waiting on the rest of you going first," Jasmine softly said after sharing a wordless glance with her sister, "just let us move out of the way first."

"Let's go next Grace," Pamela purred shyly. "Sleeping up front isn't as comfortable as I like and I could use the stretch now."

"I'm all for that if the rest don't mind," the badger replied, to which the others moved to make an easier path for them from the front to the back, to let them know it was okay with them. When they padded by him he nearly got a face full of badger behind, and perhaps not from innocent happenstance, from the way her tail flicked up to fan her musk at him as well as leave nothing to the imagination for him in regards to what lay beneath it and between her rump cheeks. Given he still had Krystal in his lap though he was prevented from getting more than that show and whiff as Grace went by, and while she didn't complain the vixen did manage quite the smirk as she glanced from Grace's backside to Charles' clear eyeing of it. She gave him a playful poke after the two had slipped into the back and licked him on the cheek lightly.

"Thinking of what needs to take care of next?" she asked him in a completely innocent voice before slipping into a yawn that she used as an excuse for a naughty stretch and bounce in his lap before settling back with a languid resting of her hands on top of his where they rested on her belly, her question forgotten in the wave of sleepiness that came over her. "Vixen's gotta sleep soon, and just when everything's been getting so much more fun too."

"The fun will still be here when you wake up dear," he told her, then blinked and felt both shocked and delighted that he actually used a term of endearment for someone without fear of censure. From the contented sigh she gave after he said it he could tell she liked it too.

We could use some games or something to occupy ourselves with until we have more room to do other things," Sarah complained and thumped her thick tail against the wall. "At least if Cassie or Naomi had left one of those computers we'd have something to busy ourselves with."

"I'd offer to share some of mine if it were possible to let you network with my built-in computer," Angeline replied regretfully. "We're all quite intelligent though, we should be able to come up with something entertaining we can do."

"Some cards or dice would be helpful, perhaps someone could put together some?" Charles suggested while giving Krystal a gentle squeeze at the same time to distract her from making any naughty suggestions, even if he was feeling exceptionally energetic after their time together. "Or maybe create a simple checker or chess board?"

"I've never played those but I could create a crude version of the boards and pieces if someone gives me directions how to," Cathleen offered, "once back outside and with access to the materials."

"In the meantime we could sing or tell stories," Jasmine shyly suggested, her emerald eyes flicking over to glance at Charles before she continued. "I'm a fair singer, if you'd like me to go first."

"I like the sound of that," Krystal murred, smiling and leaning forward to pat Jasmine's foot lightly. "I'm a fairly good singer too. We could try a duet sometime when we can learn some songs in common."

"It would be nice to sing with someone for a change," Jasmine blushingly admitted. Drawing her legs back to her she rested her legs beneath her, backside sitting on her heels as she stretched and planted her hands on the tops of her legs and ignored as best she could how that pushed her breasts to the forefront. "Is everyone okay with a song?" she asked, waiting to see that everyone was okay with her singing before beginning.

She took a deep breath before closing her eyes and letting the song rise up unbidden within her, letting it well up from her heart as she sang about the losses of herself and the everyone else within the room, touching everyone as the sweet notes rang out. Caught up in the moment she didn't even react as Grace and Pamela returned, the two getting caught up in the music as well as they knelt down beside her and the others.

As the song ran on she shifted into other feelings, speaking so clearly to the hopes of better things for them now, and the shy reaching out to others. She carried them along with her as she rocked gently back and forth, saying with her song what she'd been too shy to before, until with a last drawn-out note she brought things to an end and let her head drop down into her cleavage and simply rested.

"That was beautiful Jasmine!" Krystal shouted happily, to which the others agreed as they clapped in appreciation. So overjoyed was she the vixen reached to hug the mouse tightly to her and drag her into Charles' lap with her. "I'm going to love sharing songs and singing with you," she murred to the mouse while ignoring Charles' gasp of surprise at both the added weight in his lap and the pressure the vixen's buns put on his manhood as it rested between them.

"Th- Thank you," she said, shyly squirming about in the vixen's lap as she tried to get comfortable in the exuberant femme's embrace.

"We should consider one of the newer structures including a few rooms built exclusively for music and entertainment," Lavender suggested softly. "We'll have much need of laughter and entertainment in these difficult times."

"Things aren't so difficult as all that, Lavender," Ebony purred. "Whatever put us here, whether it intended to or not, has supplied us with everything we'd need to survive and perhaps even flourish."

"Except for the lack of any males of our own species to build families with," the raccoon replied sadly, thoughts of her lost fiancée rarely far from her mind.

"You're going to have to stop dwelling on that Lavender," Mandy replied with a sigh. "I'm sure even the females who hadn't had males on their minds before coming here have started or will start thinking about that soon enough, and we just have to live with it and move on from there. We have to focus on here and now and each other."

"It's not like there are any females of my species around either you know," Charles pointed out to the raccoon as well, not that he felt deep down in his heart that he'd have had any more luck with one of his own species even if one had ended up there. "Maybe we can think more about how lucky we are being together instead of stranded alone, with no one at all to rely on or turn to for help and support."

"You don't look all that upset about it," Lavender tartly replied with a sniff, then relented after the way he stiffened and shrank into himself, as well as at the frowns and cold looks she got, even from the generally shy and respectful mouse sisters. "I'm sorry, that was completely uncalled for and petty of me to say. I, I just don't know how much longer I can keep it together. I'm hanging on by a thread," she forced out with a sob, then tensed up as Sarah crawled over to hug her and stroke her soothingly.

"There there, it's going to be okay Lavender, we're here for you," the otter churred to her, claws combing through the raccoon's fur gently. "You're not alone, none of us are. Whatever we can do to help we will."

"It's okay Lavender, I forgive you," Charles told her while she held onto Sarah and cried into the otter's bosom, completely unaware of where her head rested and her tears were wetting. Although he couldn't move over to add any physical comfort he did manage to pet her tail while the others looked on with sympathy, remembering their own various moments of crisis and forgiving her as well. "To be perfectly honest part of me is happy to be here, I won't deny that. All of you here have treated me a thousand times better than any female I've ever known back home, and it's probably the only thing keeping me from falling apart." He confessed, while giving Krystal a hug with his free arm and smiled tenderly to her as she looked him in the eyes.

"You've been good about keeping me together too," the blue vixen murred throatily before licking him on the lips and squirming happily in his lap. "Having someone to look out for helps too, takes your mind off of your own problems, so we've all got each other to take care of and lighten our own loads. So cheer up Lavender, we're all going to help take good care of you," she said as she looked back over to the raccoon and smiled at her.

"Thanks Krystal," Lavender replied while wiping her tears away. "Thanks all of you, including you Charles." Then on an impulse she added, "Just don't wear yourself out taking care of the rest of us," which brought some startled gasps and giggles from the others and renewed the blush that he'd actually lost for a while.

"Well, as long as it's in a good cause...," he finally got out as he tried putting on a confident air and let out that part of himself he'd always felt was there, the part more than suave enough to handle any situation, the part always inhibited in the past by life's disappointments and heartbreaks before now. Krystal giggled when she heard that, and even Lavender couldn't help smiling weakly while most of the others laughed and even the mouse sisters blushed and squirmed shyly at his reply.

"Is that an invitation?" Angeline murred throatily, her black-furred hand coming to rest on his shoulder as she gave his ear a lick that left him squirming beneath Krystal and Jasmine.

"Uhm, well, I didn't mean it quite like that," he blushingly replied, heart beating faster at the question as well as from the contact with her and the dose of her musk he was hit with from the closeness. It didn't help that along with his racing heart Krystal had to be noticing the 'rise to attention' between her furry cheeks the teasing and question had invoked. Oh well, not like she didn't already know how favorably he responded to the interest.

"Just how did you mean it then?" the lovely ferret asked as she gazed at him with a bit of a smirk, and the others looked on, while Krystal teased him by slyly squeezing her rump cheeks around his shaft and wriggling in his lap as she half-turned to look back at him. "Because it should be obvious Krystal's not the only female around here who's got needs or will be having them soon enough," she added with a suggestive rub against him.

"Okay, okay, I guess maybe I did mean it that way," he confessed while averting his eyes from her and looking at Krystal, who couldn't keep from grinning and squirming enough in his lap to cause him to leave a trace of wetness beneath her tail and cause him to involuntarily gasp from the stimulation. "It's not like I've had any such interest expressed towards me before, especially so openly, to be able to resist. Not that I think I'd even want to resist such loveliness," he added, then gasped and hid his face in Krystal's tail when he realized he spoke that last aloud instead of simply thinking it.

"Now, now Charles, nothing wrong with being honest about that with us," Mandy told him with a comforting pat of her own hand on his other shoulder and a soft, gentle rub down along his back and side. "We're all adults here, and I doubt any of us mind you wanting us. I know I certainly don't mind if you do."

"You looking to take my place when I head to bed later then, Mandy?" Krystal asked with a wink to the mouse. "I don't think Jasmine here's up to it yet,' she added as she teased the mouse still sitting in her lap and drew an embarrassed squirming from her.

"Perhaps we should let Charles decide who he'd like in your place," she replied with a bit of a smirk. "Or would you favor us deciding for you Charles?" she asked as she looked back to him.

"I, uh, think it'd be less embarrassing letting you ladies decide," he stated, and tried to occupy his hands rubbing Krystal's tummy, without rubbing Jasmine in any embarrassing spots in the bargain. "As comfortable as I've gotten with someone in my lap, asking someone into it is something I'm still not confident about doing." Plus, he thought to himself, the worse embarrassment if he asked someone else and she refused for some reason instead.

"How many here would like to take my place?" Krystal asked at her most innocent, although she couldn't keep the sparkle in her eyes from showing. When all she got was a mixture of chuckles and giggles she leaned back against Charles, drawing Jasmine along with her and topped things off with a clearly naughty wriggle against him and rested her head beneath his. "I guess we'll just have to give everyone some time lap warming to be fair," she murred richly.

"How nice of you to share," Sarah tossed out a bit sarcastically, just in time for the returning badger and lapine to hear as the returned from the grooming.

"How nice to share what?" Grace gruffly asked as she and Pamela checked out the current layout of everyone in the room and stepped carefully in with the rest and let the door shut behind the two.

"Krystal was just saying how everyone should be free to enjoy some time warming Charles' lap and preserving his modesty when she's asleep," Mandy replied before Sarah could express any more of her evident unhappiness that he wasn't a male otter and that there weren't any male otters around.

"In order of species sounds like a fair way to manage it then," she promptly replied as she stepped by Charles and those in his lap, tail held as proudly high as it had been when she'd gone back to groom, and giving him an even clearer view than before of her backside, tailhole, and shortly furred slit.

"That would make you first wouldn't it?" Angeline pointed out while shaking her head in amusement at the way the badger paused to ensure Charles could check her out before making her way closer to the front.

"Anyone else wish to be first instead?" she asked as she made herself comfortable up front, tail dropping back down as she settled in and gazed back at Charles and quirked a quick grin to him as she took note of the flush to his cheeks. Resting her hands behind her head she stretched out into the corner she'd chosen and rested her footpads flat on the floor, with her legs just snuggly close enough together to conceal her feminine treasures.

"Yes Sarah, you sound like you could use some cuddle time to warm you up," Krystal suggested, her keen mind more than able to capture that fact about the otter, and the blue vixen much favored everyone relaxed and getting along than sniping or biting at each other. She was also a firm believer that a female required some male contact and interaction to feel okay about herself and deal well with others. Certainly Charles was showing the flipside of that, even his short time with her and the others was clearly breaking him out of whatever shell his lack of female companionship had forced him into.

"I think I can live without it thank you very much," the otter replied testily, but she couldn't hide the longing for it in her posture and eyes from the others. Drawing her tail around she clutched it tightly in her hands, and found herself being the recipient of a comforting petting this time from the raccoon.

"I think you've lived for too long without it Sarah," Lavender said, her smile warm as she gazed into the otter's eyes. "We all need that kind of outlet to some degree. It's been hurting me losing it, and it's hurting you being without it. I know it's not the most opportune time to consider it, but I think if Charles doesn't mind you ought to consider letting him hold you for a while."