Trash and debris were scattered by Paprika's feet as she scampered through the ruined building towards the hole at the back. Her white body, bearing pink stripes down her back and black spots on her shoulders, hips and tail, zoomed nimbly across the detritus as she hurried, her green eyes staring at the hole that was her destination. Soft spines grew from the sides of her head, a short trio behind her neck as well, and another set of three just above the base of her tail, which was as long as her body and had several pink tufts along its sides.

Clinging to two of the soft spines on the slugcat hybrid's head was Chili, a tiny pink and white lantern mouse with darker red spots, desperately holding onto Paprika to avoid being tossed aside by her rapid movements. Each time Paprika pushed off from the ground with her paws, Chili had to cling to her for dear life, bouncing around behind her head, his tail wrapped tightly around another spine just in case he lost his grip.

But their haste was for a good reason: the sky above them rumbled ominously, a storm sure to come to the area soon. Paprika took a sharp turn and skidded on some old plastic wrapping, but quickly regained her footing and scampered over to the hole where she stopped abruptly, making Chili bounce against the back of her head. "Hurry," she hissed to him, lowering her head down to the ground to make it easier for him to dismount.

The lantern mouse hopped down from her head and stood in front of her and facing away, curling his long whiplike tail upwards. Paprika gently took it in her mouth and held onto him as Chili began to emit a pinkish light, enough to illuminate the dark tunnel ahead of them. Keeping her head low, Paprika forged ahead and into the tunnel, slipping inside of the smooth metal ductwork beyond.

Each footstep on the floor of the ducts she was passing through echoed, but speed was more important than stealth at the moment. Using Chili's light to see the way, she took a left turn, then a right, and came out into an enclosed room, squeezing upwards out of the duct in the floor, gently setting down Chili on the ground once she had pulled herself out from the tunnel fully.

The shelter was lit, though dimly, by a light in the wall with a rusty iron cage around it. The actual door that led to the room was buried by a collapsed part of the ceiling, but the rest of the room was serviceable enough as a shelter. It even had a flattened cardboard box that would make for a better bed than the concrete floor, and Paprika was relieved to see that nothing else had come into the shelter before them. The two of them had already scouted it out earlier in the day, but after getting sidetracked foraging for food, they had had to hurry back before the rains caught up to them.

Chili's light gradually faded as he scampered about and investigated some of the things in the shelter, while Paprika stayed where she was and panted to recover from her mad dash. The ground shook a little under them as an ominous rumble sounded in the distance from the incoming storm, but now that they were safe, it was of little concern.

"Well, that was quite a run, but we made it," Paprika said between breaths.

Chili darted back over to her, sitting on his haunches. "We'll need to find some water closer than that lake when we wake up."

Paprika gave a little nod to him. "At least we found it. I was so thirsty! If we can just find another water source, this'll be the perfect place to call home for a while."

Turning his head about, Chili took another look at their surroundings. "It's nicer than the last place," he agreed, raising one foreleg and scratching behind one of his large ears.

Paprika roamed around as well for a few moments, leaving Chili by the entrance. "Keep an eye out for anything else coming in," she instructed him as she began roaming around, sniffing here and there, her long tail and the tufts on the end of it wiggling in the air behind her as she did. There was always the chance that something had snuck in and was hiding, waiting to ambush them, but she didn't find anything behind any of the old barrels or boxes in the room, nor amongst the debris by the door.

"Seems all clear," Paprika observed as she returned to where Chili was standing, peering over the edge of the duct. "We can definitely claim it as ours."

Which was exactly what she went to do after making that proclamation – stepping over to the duct, Paprika turned away from it and lowered her hindquarters, lifting her tail upwards and shifting her legs apart a little. Chili quickly scampered to the side and out of the way, and with a smirk, Paprika relaxed her muscles and let a cascade of urine gush forth from her slit, splashing it deliberately against the very edge of the floor by the duct. Some of it sprayed off as droplets all over, and some of it spread out across the floor, but most of it began to pour down into the duct itself, the only way into the room. Any would-be visitors would know before they came in that it was her shelter, now.

Chili blinked once as he stared up at Paprika, sitting by the side edge of the duct. Leaning back slightly and keeping his limbs apart, he joined her, a comparatively tiny arch of the lantern mouse's pee gushed up into the air from his sheath and then fell down into the duct and out of sight. It drummed on the bottom of the duct when it landed and produced an echoing sound, but with a grin, Paprika shifted her hips back and aimed her own stream down into the duct as well to produce a much deeper and louder rumbling echo from the duct that she was marking.

"Show-off", Chili remarked teasingly.

"I know you don't mind the show," Paprika playfully fired back, looking at him over her shoulder as she shifted forwards again and swayed her hips from side to side. Her stream went splashing along with her movements, painting a wet line on the ground next to the duct, most of the excess urine spilling down into the duct itself. Chili shifted slightly further away from her as the splashing sent droplets towards him, his own stream wobbling about in the air as he moved, the arch breaking up into a shower of droplets that fell into the duct.

"Careful!" he squeaked, keeping a watchful eye on Paprika.

"Oh, sorry," she said, keeping an eye on him – before a devious, mischievous smirk broke across her face. "I didn't intend to miss."

Raising her hips and shifting to the side, Paprika was able to redirect the flow of her urine enough to splash the lantern mouse with the shower of warm yellow fluid. He was so much smaller than her that he was knocked onto his back and soaked from head to toe within moments, squeaking and flailing his limbs and tail, and Paprika giggled as she lowered her hips to let the rest of her now-waning stream pour into the ducts.

Chili wriggled about, drenched in Paprika's urine and a little bit of his own after being sent sprawling. Righting himself back onto all fours, he shook his whole body and sent Paprika's piss spraying off to his sides, the last of his own fluid splashing onto the ground under him and running off down into the vent. "Pap!" he squeaked, giving a huff as he tried to shake and get himself dry again, his fur still damp regardless.

Paprika winked and stuck her long tongue out at him playfully. "You've never minded before," she teased, her stream trickling off, a few clenches of her muscles forcing what remained in her bladder out and into the vents with one final echoing splash.

"I can't wash off here," Chili grumbled. "I don't want to be cold and wet."

"Aww, well, I can help with that," Paprika offered. Before Chili could answer either away, she opened her maw, lashing out with her long tongue. It struck Chili's side and stuck to him, and he squeaked as she pulled him back towards her, though she didn't pull him all the way into her mouth, instead holding him in front of her face with her long, prehensile tongue.

Chili squirmed and wiggled as she coiled her tongue around him for a better hold. "Pap, what are you doing?" he squeaked out.

"Dwying you oth," she replied, her extended tongue slurring her words. Chili shivered as he felt Paprika's tongue sliding all over his tiny body, her eyes staring at him, the strawberry lizard hybrid's dexterous tongue easily working its way up and down his form.

"Now I'm covered in spit instead!" Chili complained, though he didn't struggle too much; it did feel nice to have the long tongue teasing over him. The sticky appendage was very warm, and held in front of her face he could feel her breath washing over him too, buffeting his entire body with warmer air than the shelter's cool atmosphere.

Just as he was relaxing a little, Paprika opened her jaws wider, then tugged her tongue back a bit and pulled the lantern mouse into her mouth. He let out another squeak, but she kept her mouth open as she released him from the coils of her tongue, only to continue licking him with long wet slurping motions instead. The very end of her sticky tongue dragged through his fur, the rest of the appendage smoothing him back out, running across his back and his belly alternately. Each time it slid over his face he closed his eyes, but opened them up again, and now that he was held entirely within her maw, each breath she took flowed over his entire body, warming him up nicely.

His tail brushed against the roof of her mouth, and he wriggled a little when her tongue slid across his belly once more. "Thanks, Pap," he said quietly.

She gave a little chuckle in response and a soft pat on the back with her tongue before letting it rest on the bottom of her mouth. With the clean-off apparently done, Chili took a step forward, only for Paprika to close her jaws and surround him in darkness.

Squeaking, Chili lit himself up, casting a pink glow over his surroundings: Paprika's closed jaws, her tongue in its thick resting state, and the roof of her mouth. "Hey!" he protested, and then he felt the 'ground' under him shift. Paprika tipped back her head, sending the lantern mouse tumbling backwards and towards her throat. In reflex, he reached out with his tail to try and grab onto something, but only brushed against the top of her mouth again, unable to stop his descent.

Chili squeaked as he fell from her mouth and into the tighter confines of her gullet, the walls pressing on him and rippling downwards. Squirming as he was swallowed, he felt his body bump against something on the outside: Paprika's paw held gently against her throat as she gulped down her friend. The walls of her esophagus pressed firmly against him as they ushered him downwards, and with his own light he could just about make out a short distance of the tunnels above him – only for them to disappear into blackness as he descended.

Soon he was dumped out into Paprika's stomach, splashed a bit by her stomach juices, his own light casting a glow over her inner walls. Landing on his back, he quickly rolled over, feeling the fleshy 'floor' of her stomach underneath his paws. "Paaaap!" he complained from inside of her, but she just chuckled again, and his surroundings shifted and sent him tumbling as she rolled over onto her side.

Paprika lay herself down on the collapsed cardboard box, stroking one hand over her front, smiling as she looked at the pink glow that was showing up through her belly. "I thought you were complaining about being cold?" she teased, stretching her legs out as she got comfortable. "Now you'll be nice and warm while we sleep."

"This wasn't what I meant!" he protested weakly, though he didn't really mind all that much. At least being inside of her, she couldn't see his blush.

"But it's warm and cozy, isn't it?" she remarked with another little giggle.

Chili gave another little squeaky huff from inside of her as he sat down. "I can't believe you ate me again."

"You'll be fine," she crooned to him, patting the glowing part of herself. "I'll see you when I wake up." She slowly curled up, making Chili tumble about inside of her again, resting her long tail beside her so that the tufts on the end were just in front of her face. Out of the corner of her eye she could still see her glowing belly, illuminated from within by the lantern mouse, and she gave a little smile as she felt him moving around within her.

"Fiiiiine," Chili conceded, sighing and taking a seat. "...sleep well, Pap," he told her after a moment before lying down. She was certainly right about one thing: her insides were indeed warm and cozy, so he curled himself up into a little ball against the soft walls of her stomach, letting the glow of his body fade out of its own accord.

"You too, Chili," she murmured to him quietly. The ground rumbled again, and a metallic grinding sound echoed from the vent they had entered from as the door to the shelter closed, sealing them inside, both of them safe from the incoming flood.
