CAUTION: This story contains implied sexual activity between minors, mild violence, and profanity. Reader discretion is advised.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, events and incidents in this book are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Masala Chai
by IndigoNeko and TaintedThylacine
Chapter 16
Saturday, May 14th, 2016
“I just want it to be known that my mouth still hurts,” Azalea said, sitting back in the bean bag chair with her tongue hanging out.
“Wuss,” Aruna said, poking Azalea’s tongue, causing the squirrel-thing to flail wildly.
“I don’t know what’s more spicy: you or Alex’s cooking,” Azalea said, glaring at Aruna.
The youngest tigress ignored the glare, looking over at the second youngest. “Alex, can we dance?”
“Sure,” Alex said, then smirked at Azalea. Shi hadn’t danced for the jerboa-squirrel yet, and was kind of looking forward to seeing how she would react. “Okay, clear some space,” shi ordered, standing up and moving the bean bag shi’d set down only a few moments ago.
“Should I be worried?” Azalea muttered, seeing Alex’s grin, then stood up and scooted her bean bag chair back as well before flopping back into it. Aruna, meanwhile, rushed off to Alex’s room in search of her MP3 player.
Ignoring the rodent, Alex turned to the oldest among them. “Ravi, do you want to join us?” shi asked. “Or are you still sore from last night?”
“I think that I will sit this one out,” Ravi said from his spot on the sectional while massaging his shoulder. “Even my tail is sore.”
“Alex will take care of that for you,” Azalea said, poking her tongue out.
“Brother would like that,” Aruna said as she returned with her MP3 player and went over to the entertainment system and started fiddling with the connector, smiling as she got the music started. “Something easy to warm up, Alex?”
“Umm, do you remember the really slow one we practiced last weekend?” the orange tigress asked, glancing over at Azalea for a second with a gleam in hir eyes. “Can we do that one again? I think we were almost in sync when we finished practicing,” shi said, walking over to her room and closing the door behind hirself.
“Hurry up, slowpoke,” Aruna called, tugging her shirt off and tossing it at her brother, revealing a blue training bra that almost matched her skirt.
“Okay, okay…” Alex said, coming back out, wearing hir black skirt and sports bra. Shi walked over near Aruna, standing in front of the entertainment system.
“What’s even happening?” Azalea asked, cocking an eyebrow, blushing at the sight of the two tigers in minimal clothing.
“We are going to dance,” Aruna said, giggling as she looked through the song list on her MP3 player, eventually finding the song that Alex was talking about and hitting play. “One... two... three,” Aruna counted up to the start of the song.
The moment that the slow-paced Indian music started up, the two tiger girls, white and orange, started dancing in near perfect unison. Hips started to roll and gyrate to the soft, slow music. The rolling hips led to upper bodies following the flow of hips, arms moving gracefully. Twenty seconds into the song, the two tiger cubs were in near-perfect sync.
Both Alex and Aruna made the simple motions look simple, elegant, and flowing. Both girls moving their entire bodies in time with the music. As the beat started, both of them began to jerk their hips in time, turning around several times as their skirts swished. When they finished turning and the beat picked up, both of them began twitching their shoulders as well. Finally the beat slowed, and they went back to the slow, sinuous movements they had been using before.
The squirrel-jerboa hybrid sat there, wide-eyed and blushing, as she watched the two tigers dancing to the music. “Oh my,” she muttered, squirming slightly and bringing her tail to rest in her lap. “Okay. That is... awesome.”
As Alex and Aruna came to the end of the song, they gave a slow twirl, twisting their bodies in such a way that they looked like snakes. When the music stopped, the two tiger cubs bowed.
“I wish I could do something like that,” Azalea said, licking her lips. “It was... kinda hot.”
“You liked it, huh?” Alex asked with a knowing grin, still panting from exertion. Then shi walked over to the couch and flopped down next to Ravi.
“I’ll show you how!” Aruna said, rushing over to Azalea, taking her hand and tugging. “I’ve been teaching Alex.”
“Not now,” Azalea protested, blushing and keeping her tail over her lap. “I’m a little stiff.”
“I can show you how to stretch out and stuff,” Aruna insisted, still tugging at the hybrid’s paw. “It’s not hard.”
“The dance might not be that hard,” Azalea said, squirming. “I on the other hand... am very hard.”
“Wait... I’m confused,” Aruna said, letting go of the hybrid’s paw and letting Azalea flop back into the bean bag chair.
“It’s not that confusing,” Azalea muttered, blushing. “I have a boner ‘cause of you two.”
“Awww... We gave you a boner?” Alex asked with a smirk. “Poor little squirrel-girl. I’m soooo sorry. I never, ever intended to get you all worked up like that.”
“You know, you’re really bad at playing the innocent,” Azalea grumbled. “I know where your toothbrush is and I’m not afraid to do things to it.”
“Wait,” Aruna said, tilting her head as she sat down next to Azalea. “Are you a herm too?”
“No,” Azalea said, shaking her head. “I’m in the wrong body, so to speak. It’s a kinda long story, but the short of it is that I’m a girl in a boy’s body. If that makes sense.”
Alex piped up, adding “It’s called ‘gender dysphoria’. Azzy was born a boy, but should have been a girl. Speaking of... any word from the doc on when they plan on starting you on hormones?”
“Week after next, I have to go get poked with needles for blood work,” Azalea said, nodding. “If everything goes right from all that, it won’t be long after that.”
“I hope you stopped taking those pills then. The doctor’s gonna need to know what your real testosterone levels are,” Alex said, concerned.
“I stopped taking them last week. Monday, I think... That’s part of the reason that I have a raging urge to steal one of your plushies and do horrible things to it,” Azalea said, thrusting her hips.
“You leave my plushies alone!” Alex protested.
“Yeah! Plushies are there for snuggles and hugs, not... that,” Aruna added, blushing.
“I’d pounce you and hump your leg instead, but I think that Ravi might not like that,” Azalea said to Alex before standing and heading over to her bag to dig through it.
“Azalea, if you can hump her leg and not get mauled, I’ll look the other way,” Ravi said, snickering. “Seriously though, I never would have guessed that you were anything but female. I mean... you act and carry yourself like a young lady and everything...”
Azalea looked up from her bag. “Do you want these back?” she asked Alex, holding out a bottle of pills.
“I don’t need ‘em,” Alex said, shaking hir head. “I got a refill on the prescription after I gave you those, months ago. I just said I accidentally knocked them into the toilet. I won’t need to be taking ‘em in a couple months anyway; apparently I’m ‘balanced’ again.”
Azalea tossed the bottle back into her bag. “Oh God. You know... you coming off the blockers, you’re going to be like, well, a cat in heat,” the squirrel said as she went back to her bean bag chair.
“Yeah, I know all about what happens coming off blockers. I had to go off ‘em last week for a blood test...” Alex muttered.
“Ravi, if you’re sore now, just wait,” Azalea said, turning to the tiger boy. “Your poor hips...”
“I don’t think that I can be any more sore,” Ravi said, pausing a moment as he started blushing, realizing what Azalea was referring to. “Waitaminute... We haven’t done anything like that!”
“Yeah! We’ve all been behaving and stuff,” Aruna huffed, crossing her arms. “All we’ve been doing is snuggling.”
“Wait... ‘we’?” Azalea asked, peering suspiciously at Aruna. “I thought it was your brother and Alex that were gonna be dating. Am I missing something? Or am I overthinking something?”
“Aruna...” Ravi groaned, and dropped his head to his hands. “Nobody else knows about that but us...”
“All I said was that we’re behaving! Besides, Mom and Dad said it was okay for us to both date her,” Aruna insisted with a little huff.
“Aruna, hush!” Ravi ordered, clenching his teeth in frustration. Aruna glared at him, but went silent.
“Wait... Did I wake up in some romance story or something?” Azalea asked, looking from tiger to tiger. “I mean... damn, Alex, I thought that I was lucky... but you have Ravi and his cute sister?”
“By the Goddess,” Alex said to hirself, flushing red with embarrassment and draping hir tail over hir face, ears flat against hir head. “No, no, no... We just talked about having crushes on each other; that’s all! My dad said ‘No’, so we’re not dating unless he says otherwise. I swear I had no idea they were planning on both... er... ”
Azalea smiled and nodded, clearly not believing Alex’s protests of innocence. “Riiight.”
Alex turned to Ravi. “You,” shi started, then turned to Aruna, “and you need to have a talk with me. In private. Okay?”
“I’m sorry, Alex,” Aruna apologized, folding her ears down.
“Well, then... I’ll just... take a moment to call a friend of mine and talk about Guild Wars or something,” Azalea said, getting up and reaching into her pocket to get her phone.
“Azalea? Please don’t tell anyone about this,” Alex begged as Azalea walked towards the door. “I didn’t even know until just now...”
“Alex, I won’t tell anyone about this. I’m just going to call Willow and talk about video games,” she said, smiling.
Alex smiled back at Azalea. “Thanks, Azzy.”
“No worries, and I might have stuff to tell you later too,” Azalea said with a wink as she turned and left the room, pulling the door closed behind her.
“Alex,” Ravi said softly. “We’re sorry.”
“For what?” Alex asked, confused.
“For Aruna just blurting all that out,” Ravi said, tilting his head a little.
“Yeah, Alex... I’m sorry,” the younger tigress confirmed. “I didn’t mean to. It just kinda came out.”
“Umm, okay... But, this is serious. Incest is really illegal. If someone told the police that we’re doing stuff together, they could come and take you away from your parents just because you might be doing stuff together,” Alex explained to Aruna, clearly worried. “If we do start dating each other, you can’t let anyone else know, okay?”
“You don’t have to worry about that,” Ravi said, shaking his head. “Mom and Dad already told us all about it. Mom said it’s illegal, but whatever we do behind closed doors is our business.”
“And Mom told me all kinds of stuff about dating and such,” Aruna said as she hopped up and joined her brother and Alex on the sofa. “I really want to try kissing. Real kissing.”
“I like kissing,” Alex said, nibbling on hir lower lip. “But we have to stick with snuggling until Dad says we can start dating,” shi said, pouting. “But... Your parents... They really said they’re okay with both of you dating me?”
Both of the white tiger siblings nodded in unison.
“They are,” Aruna spoke up. “And even with Ravi and me doing stuff, as long as we’re safe about it. When Mom was explaining how to use condoms and stuff, she kept saying how to put them on ‘Alex or Ravi’.”
“Oh God... That explains why Mom gave me that super-awkward talk...” Ravi said, covering his face with his paws. “About how to be gentle when taking someone’s virginity. She kept saying ‘girl or herm’.”
Alex took a deep breath. “Yeah, I can imagine that would be kind of weird,” shi said absentmindedly. Hir mind was racing a million miles a minute, it felt like, and hir heart was pounding. It sounded like they weren’t opposed to the idea of incest, and wouldn’t be grossed out if they ever found out about hir doing stuff with hir parents. Shi had to ask, just to be sure.
“Ravi? Would you want to take your sister’s virginity?” shi whispered before turning back to Aruna. “And would you want to give it to him?”
“Well... I wanna make sure she doesn’t get hurt,” Ravi paused for a moment, thinking of how to say what he was thinking.
“Ravi’s really special to me,” Aruna said with a nod. “But... if you’re dating us, I’d want you to be there too.”
“What she said,” Ravi agreed, grateful that his sister was so... unfiltered.
“By the Goddess. You two...” Alex broke into a smile. Now that shi was thinking about it, both Ravi and Aruna seemed like they would make perfect mates in every possible way. Ravi’s level-headedness was balanced by Aruna’s impulsiveness, both of them had interests that overlapped hirs. Shi was starting to realize just how unsatisfied shi would be spending the rest of hir life with someone who was only male or female. Finding out that shi wouldn’t have to settle for only one or the other was... it felt like the God and Goddess had blessed hir. It was all shi could do not to cry tears of joy.
Without even thinking about it, Alex leaned over to Ravi and gave him a kiss then turned around and gave one to Aruna as well. “I love you two. You’re the best.”
“Ahhh... Thank you,” Ravi said, blushing at the kiss, rubbing the back of his head a little.
“I love you too, Alex,” Aruna added, blushing and wiggling a little. “You mean lots to us.”
Alex snuffled and wiped at hir eyes. “We need to go talk to my parents, I think... but not tonight. School gets out in a couple weeks, and dad said we can talk about it again then.”
“I’m fine with that,” Ravi said, smiling warmly at Alex. “Just so long as your mom doesn’t kill me... or your dad doesn’t move you away,” he said, frowning slightly. “Only... this isn’t going to work. Your dad sounded really angry at the idea of Aruna and me doing stuff together.”
“Mom won’t kill you, and I’ll threaten to run away if Dad decides to move. They’ll be okay with everything, I promise,” Alex stated with absolute conviction. “Dad got upset ‘cause he doesn’t want any of us to get in trouble with the law, or to get bullied at school for being weird or ‘easy’... but if we don’t let anyone find out we’re dating, that won’t happen.”
The tigress frowned, deep in thought about how to break this to hir parents. If they waited until summer and hir parents somehow found out they’d been planning on dating as a group for a while, they might get upset. Mom didn’t like ‘scheming’ as she put it, and God forbid she ever caught Alex lying; any punishment would be ten times worse. “I should talk to Mom and Dad after Azalea leaves tomorrow. Actually, maybe I should go talk to them now...” shi muttered.
“If you think that that’s best,” Ravi replied, shrugging. “We can wait till tomorrow and do it all at once, when Azalea leaves.”
“I don’t want to drop it all on them at once. It might be too much to take in, ya know?” Alex said, standing up. “I'll break it to them in pieces... and Dad’s less likely to flip if it’s just me.”
“If you think it’s best...” Ravi said, with a slight shrug. “Aruna and I can find something to do... We’ll play Smash with Azalea or something.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be back,” Alex said, jogging over to the door and pulling it open. Shi peered around a bit, then headed downstairs in search of hir parents and the mysteriously vanishing jerboa-squirrel.
__________________________________________________
“Just be very careful,” Raenne said, gently handing Katherine over to Azalea, who was sitting next to them on the couch. “Make sure you cradle their heads; their neck muscles are still weak.”
“Yes ma’am,” Azalea said with a nod as she carefully cradled the baby, making a happy chitter as she wrapped her tail around her and the little one. “She is just too cute,” the squirrel said, smiling down at the infant. “Who’s a cute little kitten?”
The tiny tigress looked around with ice-blue eyes. When she saw Azalea’s face, she made a strange noise in the back of her throat, something halfway between a growl and a whine.
“Awww.” Azalea smiled at the cute baby tigress, giggling a little at the noises she made. “I know you just met me, but don’t worry little one, Auntie Azzy won’t let anything happen to you.” She said in a soft, motherly voice. “Can I keep her?”
“Trust me, you wouldn’t want to. You wouldn’t believe how many diapers I’ve had to change in the past four months,” Raenne said as they were interrupted by the sound of someone walking down the stairs.
“One thousand?” Azalea guessed. “Hmm. Maybe I should wait till after they’re older...”
Raenne narrowed her eyes at the young squirrel and nodded. “Maybe you should.”
“Hey, Love,” David said as Alex reached the bottom of the stairs and walked over to the sectional they were sitting on. The white tiger was rocking little Nicholas in his arms.
“Oh, there you are,” Alex said to Azalea. “I need to talk to Mom and Dad for a bit. Aruna and Ravi are starting up a new game of Smash, if you want to join. Also, could you help them pick out a movie that you’d all like while I’m down here?”
“But... I don’t want to give her up,” Azalea said, looking down at the baby tiger. “See you later, cutie,” she whispered, uncurling her tail and carefully returning the kitten to her mother. “Thank you Mrs. Raenne,” the squirrel-hybrid said before getting up and heading upstairs.
“You’re welcome, Azalea. Have fun playing games,” Raenne said as she took Katherine back.
“What’s up, Love?” David asked as Azalea walked upstairs and Alex sat next to them, taking a moment to brush hir fingers across the velvet-soft bridge of Nicholas’s nose. “And why don’t you have a shirt on?”
“Me and Aruna were dancing. It’s more comfortable without a shirt,” Alex casually replied. Too casually.
“Somehow I suspect that’s not the only reason you took your shirt off,” David replied, narrowing his eyes at his daughter.
“Maaaybe,” Alex said, blushing slightly as shi leaned against the sofa, between hir parents. “I was teasing Azalea with the dancing. It worked, too,” shi added with a grin.
David let out an exasperated sigh and rolled his eyes. “At least you still have your bra on. So, what did you want to talk about?”
Alex waited for a few moments to be sure Azalea was out of earshot before speaking just barely above a whisper. “So, while we were all talking, the topic of Ravi dating me came back up. Only... Aruna piped in saying how ‘all we’d been doing was snuggling’. Then it came out that apparently both she and Ravi had discussed dating me with their parents. Like... at the same time.”
David raised an eyebrow. “Did this come out while Azalea was up there with you?” he quietly asked.
Alex nodded. “I asked Azalea not to say anything, then talked with Ravi and Aruna in private. That’s why Azzy came downstairs.”
Raenne raised her eyebrows. “You mean that’s not all? There’s more to this?” the older tigress asked, keeping her voice at about the same volume that Alex and David were.
Alex nodded once again. “After Azzy left the room, we talked it over, cause I hadn’t seriously thought of dating both of them, just Ravi. But apparently they both want to date me, and their parents are okay with it.. And with them doing sexy stuff with me...” the tigress took a quick breath before adding, “... and with each other.”
“Really?” David asked, looking rather stunned. “Their parents are okay with them committing incest?”
Alex nodded for a third time. “Uh-huh. Their mom told them it’s illegal, but also said ‘What they do behind closed doors is their business’.”
“Well, that... changes a few things,” Raenne said quietly.
__________________________________________________
A few minutes after dropping the first bomb on hir parents, Alex stepped back into the den that also served as their guest room. Ravi was watching the squirrel-jerboa hybrid and his sister playing Super Smash Bros. The two were giving each other a run for their money, trading combo for combo, knocking each other off the stage, barely making it back to the edge of the platform. Both were well past one hundred percent damage.
“You’re just in time,” Ravi said, pointing to the screen. “They’ve been on last stock for a while.”
“I told you I had this,” Azalea muttered as she tried again to punt Aruna off the stage again.
“Nooo... you can’t beat me,” Aruna huffed, rapidly hitting the buttons on her controller.
Alex walked over and sat on the couch next to Ravi. “So, did y’all pick out a movie?”
“I ended up picking one out,” Ravi said. “These two have been too caught up trying to beat each other. So how did it go?”
“Son of Tequatl!” Azalea swore, accompanied by the iconic explosion of light and stars as her character went flying off the screen. “Good game, Aruna,” she said, holding her paw out.
“Same. We need to play more sometime,” Aruna agreed, taking Azalea’s paw and shaking it.
“So, do I need to step out to let you all talk again?” Azalea asked, setting the controller down and stretching her legs and arms out.
“Nah. Mom and Dad didn’t flip out, but after Azalea leaves they want to talk to us. And Ravi’s parents, when they come to pick them up,” Alex said, stretching and then pulling hir legs up onto the couch, laying down with hir head on Ravi’s lap.
“Well, I’m going to assume that’s good,” Ravi said, blushing at the fact that the tigress was laying her head on his leg.
“Oh yay! Now kith,” Azalea said, snickering.
“Maybe later,” Ravi said, running his fingers through Alex’s snow-white hair.
“Azalea wants to watch... naughty fluffy thing,” Aruna said, side-eyeing the rodent.
Alex rolled hir eyes. “So what are we watching?” shi asked, turning hir head and glancing up at Ravi.
“This one,” Ravi said, picking up the movie that was sitting on the arm of the sofa next to him, showing it to Alex. “I figure that we would all like ‘Song of the Sea’,” he said, handing it down to Azalea who passed it to Aruna, who got up to start the movie.
“Huh. I didn’t even know we had that,” Alex said, frowning. Then again, that wasn’t unusual. Dad frequently picked up random movies at the bargain movie bins... sometimes even movies they already owned.
“It looks like it will be cute,” Aruna said, as she got the DVD playing, going through the menus to get it started.
“You know... it’s a good thing you have such a big sofa,” Azalea said, squirming in the bean bag before bringing her tail up and using it like a pillow. “You’ll need it if you three are all dating.”
“Yeah. Plenty of room for activities,” Alex replied flippantly, sitting up and walking over to hir room, closing the door behind hirself.
Aruna tilted her head, pondering that as she went to sit down on the sofa, grabbing a blanket and draping it over herself.
“Not gonna use the bean bag anymore?” Azalea asked.
Aruna shook her head. “Nope.”
“Good. That just means I can build a nest out of these things,” Azalea said with a smile, reaching over to grab the other bean bag.
“You’re almost as bad as Aruna,” Ravi said, smiling and snickering.
“You have no idea,” Azalea said, looking over to Ravi. “I sleep on a pile of pillows, blankets, and plushies.”
“Ooookay. That’s a little weird,” Aruna said, tilting her head a little as Alex stepped back out of hir room.
“Yes, I am,” the hybrid said, poking her tongue out at the two tigers.
“You don’t know the half of it. She even drinks pine needle tea,” Alex said, walking back into the den, wearing an enormously oversized t-shirt that had once belonged to hir dad.
“I’m going to get you to drink some one day,” Azalea said, getting up and heading over to her bag. “I mean, you liked catnip tea,” the squirrel-jerboa added, walking off to the bathroom with some clothes in her paw.
“Ooooh... can we all snuggle?” Aruna asked, getting up and heading to her bag to get out her night clothes, seeing as everyone else was.
“That would be up to Alex,” Ravi said.
“I’ll never turn down snuggles,” Alex said, sitting back down on the couch. “Azalea might get jealous if we leave her out of it, though... Azzy, you wanna snuggle too?” the tigress asked as Azalea stepped out of the closet wearing shorts and a t-shirt.
“Nope. I’ll just steal all the bean bag chairs and plushies,” Azalea said, moving the bean bag chairs around to build a nest. “That one plushie has been making eyes at me all afternoon,” she said, pointing at the ermine plush on a chair at the far end of Alex’s room across the hallway.
“No humping them!” Aruna insisted as she went into the bathroom to change.
“Yeah, no humping the plushies,” Alex added as Azalea walked across the hallway into hir room.
“Forever alone squirrel... jerboa... thing,” Azalea said, frowning. “I need blankets and pillows,” she said, picking the plushie.
Alex hopped up and headed to the guest room closet, pulling it open, then picked up several pillows. “Ravi? Can you get these blankets down for Azzy?” shi asked, pointing at the top shelf, then turned and tossed the pillows to Azalea.
After standing up and pulling down the velvet blankets for Alex, Ravi went over to his backpack and pulled out his own nightclothes. After Aruna returned, wearing a long shirt and pajama pants, he went into the bathroom to change as well.
“There,” Alex said, holding the blankets out for Azalea. “And what do you mean about being ‘forever alone’, huh? Aren’t you dating Willow or something?”
“That was a joke, for the most part,” Azalea said as she took the blankets, draping the first one over the bean bag chairs before tossing the pillows onto the pile and then the plushie and other blanket. “Willow and I went on a date, but we’re not ‘dating’.”
“You should fix that,” Alex said, sitting down on the sectional and curling up with a pillow. “You know she likes you, right? Ask her out. What’s the worst that can happen?”
As Azalea pondered that, Aruna promptly sat down next to Alex and lay down against hir, pulling a throw blanket over both of them. “Mmm, snuggles.”
Ravi returned a few moments later wearing shorts and a t-shirt, wondering where to sit.
Alex looked up at him and made grabbing motions. “Ravi, come here so I can lay on you,” shi said, pushing hirself upright and moving the pillow away.
The white tiger boy shook his head and sighed, but couldn’t hide the smile on his muzzle. “Okay, okay...” Ravi picked up the remote and sat down next to the orange tigress so the three of them could cuddle, then pointed the remote at the TV and started the movie.
__________________________________________________
Sunday, May 15th, 2016
Raenne opened her eyes and looked around the bedroom, which was pitch-black except for the faintest hint of moonlight streaming in through the blinds over her and David’s bed. The house was silent but for the faint hiss of air passing through the duct vents. Wondering what had woken her, the tigress threw back the covers and sat upright, scanning the room.
Her husband was sound asleep, breathing quietly through his nose without so much as a hint of the snoring that had plagued them during the early years of their marriage. The tigress stood up and walked around the bedroom, glancing in the master bathroom before stepping out into the hallway. She paused and listened for a moment, but could hear nothing from the great room, and turned to check the nursery.
Both Katherine and Nicholas were sound asleep, curled up next to each other in the crib they shared. Raenne had long since given up on keeping them separate. The tigress quietly closed the door and walked down the hallway, glancing in the hallway bathroom before stopping at the stairs that led down to the basement garage. She quickly padded down them, trying to be as quiet as possible, walking along the left side of the stairs so they wouldn’t squeak.
The basement was so dark that it only appeared as shades of steel blue except for the LED lights blinking on the exercise treadmill. It was completely empty, as she’d expected. But for some reason the back of her neck itched. She quickly turned and headed back up the stairs to the first floor, this time continuing past the stairs that led up to the second floor and going into the great room.
It didn’t take long to sweep the great room, taking a detour around the kitchen island, past the dining table, and then among the couches and chairs in front of the gas fireplace. Raenne froze as she was about to turn to head upstairs and check on the children. Something out of the corner of her eye had moved. Outside, on the front deck, beyond the huge glass windows.
Knowing they were only good for concealment and not actual cover, Raenne dropped and rolled behind David’s reading chair, then quickly crawled under the coffee table and a moment later behind the loveseat. Hoping she wouldn’t give away her position, the tigress glanced at the fireplace, looking at the reflection in the glass cover. It showed a decent portion of the front deck.
Panting slightly, Raenne shifted, swearing under her breath upon realizing that David’s reading chair was obscuring a large portion of what she wanted to see. The tigress froze, wondering what to do next; she couldn’t see who or what was on the deck and there was no cover for at least ten feet in either direction. She was a sitting duck.
As she watched the reflection of the front deck, a black cat... a feral no more than a foot long... wandered into view. It stopped, sitting on its haunches and licked one paw, then turned its head and looked straight at her reflection in the glass cover over the gas fireplace. It tilted its head, staring at her, and Raenne could swear it raised an eyebrow.
The tigress let out an exasperated sigh, feeling the tension leave her shoulders, and climbed to her feet. Shaking her head at the fact that she’d completely lost her cool over a feral cat lurking on their front deck, Raenne turned and headed back down the hallway to her bedroom, making a note to pester David once again about getting a security system installed.
The black cat on the front deck watched the tigress return to her sleeping quarters with a subtle smirk. “Tha na mothachaidhean agad math. Cadal gu sàmhach, a shaighdear,” it whispered, before turning and hopping off the deck, unfazed by the ten-foot drop to the concrete below.
__________________________________________________
“Well, it’s been fun,” Azalea said, picking up her backpack and slinging it over her shoulder. “It was nice to get to meet you all,” she said, taking Ravi’s paw and shaking it, then turning to Aruna and doing the same. “And remember, you owe me another game of Smash.”
“It’s been nice getting to meet you too, Azalea,” Ravi said, smiling at the jerboa-squirrel.
“You can come play me any time you feel like losing,” Aruna said, smirking.
“Good luck with Willow,” Alex said with a smirk.
“Thank you. I’ll see you later... Hopefully with good news,” Azalea said as she turned to leave, walking down the stairs to the driveway where Cora was waiting in her car.
“Later Azzy,” Alex called, as Azalea reached her mother’s car and hopped in.
After a few moments, Alex turned and headed back into the living room with the two Bassi children, closing the side-entrance door behind them. “Okay... Mom, Dad? You wanted to talk with us before their parents got here?”
Both David and Raenne were sitting on the sectional, as usual. It seemed to Alex that ever since the twins had been born, both of hir parents spent a lot more time together, lounging in the living room while watching over hir baby siblings... who were currently in David and Raenne’s arms.
“Yes, kiddo,” Raenne confirmed as Alex walked over and sat down on the couch between her and her husband.
“Heya, sis,” Alex said, leaning up against hir father’s arm and reaching out to pat Katherine’s soft head-fur. The little white tigress mewed at the unexpected touch, squirming slightly and trying to see where it had come from. “Sit,” Alex said to Ravi and Aruna, gesturing to the other arm of the sectional sofa.
“Okay,” Ravi said as he and his sister took a seat on the sofa.
“So, Aruna... Last night Alex said that you’d let slip something about talking to your parents about the both of you dating hir. Was that true? You talked to your parents about that?” David asked, idly playing with Katherine, moving his paw around her head and watching the infant’s eyes track it.
“Yes sir,” Aruna said with a nod. “Ravi and I talked about it with Momma and Daddy and they are okay with it.”
“When did you talk with them?” David asked, glancing at the young tigress and raising an eyebrow in curiosity.
“It was, like, the day after you got angry at Alex, a couple weeks ago,” Aruna said, nodding.
“So... even after I said Alex wasn’t allowed to date you all until later, you went ahead and discussed it with your parents anyway?” he asked, looking over at the white tiger siblings.
“Well, that wasn’t the only thing that we talked about,” Aruna said, blushing a little. “And we did tell them that it wouldn’t happen until much later when things were okay and stuff.”
“Hmm...” David hummed, thinking that over. “Would you want to date Alex even if Ravi didn’t? Would you want to date hir if Ravi didn’t like hir?”
“Ummm...” The little tigress paused for a moment to consider that. “Well, ummm, if Ravi was okay with it, I would... but if he didn’t like her, I would ask him why, cause I want him to be happy too.”
“That’s fair,” David said, nodding. “So both of you really are interested in dating Alex at the same time? You want to do things like going to the movies with all three of you?”
“Yes, sir,” Aruna said, nodding. “Going to the movies together would be really fun.”
“I’d love to go to the movies with Alex and Aruna,” Ravi agreed, then frowned a moment later. “...though we might have to hide that we’re dating when we’re in public, so people don’t think Aruna and I are doing anything together.”
David nodded. “That’s fair. If anyone who knows that you are siblings suspect that you’re doing anything together, they might report you to the police. You could be taken from your parents and raised by foster families and be forced to have psychiatric counselling. If the district attorney was mean about it, there could be criminal charges filed against all of us: you two, your parents, Alex, and even both of us.”
“We know, sir,” Ravi said, looking up at the older white tiger, taking a deep breath. “We’d have to act like we’re just friends, or that Aruna and I are just siblings, when we’re in public.”
David raised his eyebrows at that. “Hold up. ‘Just siblings’? Are you implying that you would be dating your sister too?”
“Well... I mean, I would be dating Alex and Aruna would be dating hir... I might not be the best at math, but there are three sides to a triangle,” Ravi said, tilting his head a little.
David peered at the tiger boy, suspecting sarcasm. After a second he frowned. “I suppose that’s true. If both of you start dating Alex, you’re going to be a polycule. In order for that to work, it can’t be just a relationship where you two get along with Alex. You two need to be able to get along with each other, both as friends and family. So I have a few questions.
“First, do you two do stuff together? Like you would do when you’re hanging out with your friends?” the white tiger asked, getting a nod from the two tiger siblings.
“Yes, sir,” Ravi confirmed. “We watch movies and television and play video games and board games together. And we dance and play music, usually as a family, but sometimes it’s just me and Aruna. We’d do more, but... there’s not a lot of physical stuff she shouldn’t do because of the CIP.”
“Yeah. It makes finding friends kinda... difficult,” Aruna said, frowning. “Everyone wants to go outside and play tag or frisbee or sports, and I... can’t. Ravi keeps me company, though.”
David nodded. “Good. Second, if you two weren’t siblings... would you be willing to go out with each other?”
“I, uhhh, I never really thought about it,” Aruna said, tilting her head a little. “If he wanted to, I think I would. He’s kind and strong and cute...”
“I mean, we shouldn’t, because it’s illegal, but... If she wasn’t my sister, I’d be happy to go out with her,” Ravi said, blushing.
David took a short breath. “Okay. Third, and most importantly, do you two think you could get along with each other if you had to live with each other for the rest of your lives?”
The two tiger siblings slowly nodded, but didn’t say anything. Several seconds passed in silence before Raenne finally spoke up.
“...And you’re sure your parents are okay with you two...?” Raenne asked, glancing back and forth between the two white tiger cubs.
“Momma said ‘What we do behind closed doors-’,” Aruna replied.
“Stop.” Raenne held up her paw. “That wasn’t exactly what I was asking, but it still answered my question. When your parents get here, we’re going to have to confirm this with them, alright?” she said, looking back and forth from Ravi to Aruna.
“They should already be here,” Ravi said, checking the clock on his phone.
It wasn’t more than a few more seconds before they all heard the faint sound of a vehicle pulling into the driveway. Aruna stood up to check, walking over to the large glass windows at the front of the house. “Yep, that’s them,” she said, spotting their parents’ green Acura, and watching her parents step out of the car. She waited for a bit and walked over to the side door, pulling it open. A few moments later, Atman and Sevita stepped inside.
“Hello!” Raenne said, waving at the Bassi parents. “Come in. Make yourselves comfortable.”
Aruna took a seat next to her brother at the end of the sectional while her parents sat down on the love seat opposite their children. “Afternoon, everyone,” Atman said.
“Is everything okay? Aruna said that you needed to talk to us?” Sevita said, looking at the two Andreyev parents.
“Everything’s okay, although something came up last night that gave both me and my wife a bit of a shock,” David said. “It’s not bad. It’s just that, well, we wanted to confirm it with you before we make any decisions.”
“If this might be about what I think it is, then we know what’s coming,” Atman said with a little nod.
“Okay then,” David said. “Raenne, I’ve talked myself out already. Do you mind...?”
“Sure, Love,” Raenne said, looking up from the cub in her arms and at Atman and Sevita. “So, last night apparently Aruna said that they’d asked you two about possibly dating Alex... at the same time.”
“Yes,” Atman confirmed, nodding. “About two weeks ago they raised the idea of them dating Alex together. Personally I think it’s a few years too early for Aruna to start dating, but she pointed out that Alex had started dating when shi was nine. So we told them that we are okay with it, as long as it was okay with Alex and you two.”
Raenne nodded. “We’re okay with it too,” the tigress said, “but there’s a few things we’re concerned about. Since they’re siblings, it might be best if we keep this whole thing, uhh, private. Even if Ravi and Aruna aren’t committing incest, it could cause legal problems if others think they are.”
This time Sevita spoke up. “Yes. I already informed them of that. I think keeping their relationship confidential is a reasonable way to prevent any complications. What do you think, Atman?”
The heavyset tiger sighed while he leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees. “Well, I was originally thinking it might be okay for Ravi and Alex to be publicly dating... but that wouldn’t be fair to Aruna to pretend she’s just tagging along. No...” Atman looked up to his wife, then leaned back against the loveseat. “I think you’re right. It’s probably best if their relationship is a secret. While you’re in public, it would be best if you three pretend that you’re only friends.”
David nodded. “Agreed. No kissing, holding hands, or other displays of affection, outside of our homes. At school, pretend you’re just acquaintances. If it comes out that people see you outside of school and start asking about it, you can say that we, your parents, are close friends, and that’s how you know each other and why you hang out. Okay?”
The three children nodded.
Raenne held her paw up. “Before you two approve of Ravi and Aruna dating Alex, there’s one thing you should know,” she said, looking at Atman and Sevita. “Alex has been sexually active for well over a year now and has had two serious partners.”
“I would have thought that was illegal,” Atman said, cautiously. “It is in India.”
“It... depends on how old the other participants are,” Sevita explained. “The age of consent is eighteen in the United States, but some states explicitly permit it when both individuals are within a certain age of each other. Otherwise the older child is usually committing the crime of statutory rape.”
“Correct,” Raenne confirmed. “It’s a long story. I’ll be happy to tell you the whole thing, but...”
“I’m not so sure they should be doing anything like that at this age,” Atman said, frowning. “I still think Ravi is a bit on the young side, much less Aruna. Also, since you mentioned statutory rape, Alex being so much younger than Ravi might cause problems too...”
Sevita opened her mouth for a second before finally speaking. “Both Ravi and Aruna know quite a bit more than you’d think about sex, honey. I’m afraid it’s only a matter of time before they start experimenting. It would be best if it’s in a controlled and safe environment, with someone who is both knowledgeable and experienced that’s around their own age...”
Raenne leaned forward, carefully holding her dozing infant son. “That’s the exact same conclusion that we came to when we found out that Alex was experimenting with Lizzy, last spring. We’d rather have them be safe than sorry. It’s pretty well proven that abstinence isn’t enforceable... and states that only teach abstinence have far higher rates of teen pregnancies.”
Atman frowned, but after a bit of thinking he nodded. “I still don’t approve of them having sex before marriage. Aruna should remain a virgin for her wedding night-”
Sevita frowned. “Atman, you and I both know you had sex before we got married. Don’t be a hypocrite.”
The portly tiger went silent with embarrassment.
“That leads to our requirements for them dating,” Raenne said, breaking the awkward silence. “First, that they remain completely faithful to each other and don’t have sexual contact with anyone else under any circumstances,” the tigress said, glancing at her daughter. “Second, we require that they use birth control if they have sex. Alex has an IUD to ensure shi can’t get pregnant. We have condoms as well, but-”
“I’ve been thinking about getting an IUD for Aruna, to ensure she doesn’t become pregnant,” Sevita interrupted, looking at her daughter, then back to the other tiger parents. “Aruna is too young to carry children safely.”
“I have a requirement of my own,” Atman said when his wife finished talking, looking unhappy about where this was going. “If Alex has had several partners, shi should be tested for any kind of... diseases,” he said with obvious distaste.
David clenched his teeth at the implication that his daughter was a disease-ridden slut. “We had hir tested with a full STD panel back in January and shi had a clean bill of health.”
Raenne casually laid her paw on her husband’s arm, knowing he was upset. “And we’ll have another test and give you the results before we allow them to do anything,” she said, looking at Atman.
“Very well then,” Atman said, taking a formal tone. “Under the conditions that we keep this relationship secret from anyone who is not in this room, that you three children remain absolutely faithful to each other, and you do not have sex until Aruna has an IUD and Alex is proven to have no STDs... then Ravi and Aruna have my permission to date Alex. Agreed?”
The two Bassi children nodded, Ravi saying “Yes, sir,” while Aruna replied “Yes, Daddy.”
David took a deep breath to calm himself, then turned to the three children on the couch. “So be it. Alex, if you agree to those terms, then you have my permission to date Ravi and Aruna.”
Alex looked stunned; shi could hardly believe how this had turned out. A moment later, shi quickly nodded hir head, saying “I do!” The young tigress darted out from between hir parents to the two tiger cubs sitting on the other side of the sectional, wrapping both Ravi and Aruna in a tight hug, kissing Aruna and turning to nuzzle Ravi’s chest, purring loudly.
“Alex, Ravi, Aruna... If you three wouldn’t mind giving us fifteen minutes or so, there’s a few things I’m sure Atman and Sevita will want to discuss with us,” Raenne said. “And stuff we need to tell them as well. Okay?”
“Okay,” Alex said, standing back up. “Come on you two. Video games? Or snuggles?”
“Yes!” Aruna said, hopping up and tugging at Alex’s paw. “Come on,” she said happily.
Alex, still deliriously happy, gave hir mom a quick kiss just before Aruna pulled hir away. “Thanks Mom and Dad. I love you. And thank you Mr. Atman, Mrs. Sevita,” shi added, waving as Aruna pulled hir over to the stairs while Ravi followed on hir tail. Watching the children head upstairs, the other adults missed the satisfied smile on Sevita’s lips.
__________________________________________________
Before following Ravi and Aruna into the den, Alex stopped at hir bedroom and turned off the overhead lights. Surprisingly, the bedroom was fairly tidy for once after a sleepover; Ravi had insisted they make the bed and trundle after they’d woken up. The den, on the other hand, still needed some cleaning, and Alex moved the bean bag chairs against the wall and put the pillows back in the closet while Ravi and Aruna folded the blankets that Azalea had slept under.
“So... more video games?” Alex asked, sitting down on the sofa.
“Naaah,” Aruna said. “Oh! I brought some of my nail polish! We could paint your toe-claws,” she suggested.
“You two do that. I’m going to play some Gran Turismo,” Ravi said, walking over to the television and turning it on. “You two can do all the nail painting you want, so long as you leave me out of it.”
“Having your claws painted isn’t that bad, and they look cool,” Alex said, unsheathing hir claws and admiring the silvery pearl paint job that Aruna had applied last weekend. “Maybe it’s not for guys though.”
“Exactly. You two have one another to do all that nail painting. I like mine the way they are,” Ravi said, holding his paw up and unsheathing his ivory claws.
“But brother,” Aruna said, showing off her pink claws. “You’d look nice with pink claws like this! Alex too.”
“Yeah... No. They’d clash with my school uniform,” Alex replied. “Speaking of… what school do you go to, Aruna? I never asked.”
“I go to Johnathan Adams Elementary School,” Aruna said, walking over to her backpack and digging through it.
“Huh. I was going to go there, but after they gave me the preliminary exams they suggested I go to Scott Carpenter Middle School,” Alex said. “Do you have any problems with bullies and stuff there?”
“Nope,” Aruna said, pulling the silver-pearl nail polish out of her backpack along with a few other odds and ends, then kneeling in front of the sofa where Alex was sitting.
“Most schools around here have zero tolerance for bullying, and all of them that I’ve ever been to have been on top of it,” Ravi said with a nod, taking a seat on the sofa next to Alex and tapping a few buttons on the game controller. “As nice as you are, I wouldn’t think that you’d ever have trouble with bullies.”
Alex frowned, looking down at the floor and closing hir eyes. Even after over a year, the memories were still painful. Shi swallowed and brought hir tail up, holding it against hir chest and playing with the black fur at the tip. “I did though... I think I mentioned it a few weeks ago. The reason we moved here to begin with was ‘cause I got beaten up so badly I nearly died.”
“Oh, Right...” Ravi said, frowning. After a moment he reached out and put a paw on hir shoulder. “Alex, you don’t have to tell us anything that you’re not ready to,” he said smiling to her, “I know that things like that can hurt for a long time.”
“Yeah,” Aruna said, resting her paw on Alex’s knee. “You don’t have to talk about things if they make you sad.”
Alex opened hir eyes and down at Aruna. “No, it’s probably a good idea to tell you two why we moved to Winter Creek in the first place,” shi said, taking a deep breath and trying not to get emotional about it; It was a long time ago, anyway. “So... Last year, around the last couple of weeks of school, my best friend Lizzy and I sort of became a thing. She taught me about sex. It was… Amazing. Incredible. Wonderful.”
For a moment shi was considering going into detail, but decided against it; it wasn’t relevant to what had happened. “Anyway, my entire life I’d been pretending to be a girl, cause Mom and Dad were worried I’d get bullied for being a herm. After Lizzy and I started having sex, I guess my hormones went crazy or something, and I kept getting boners at school. Only one time I didn’t realize it, ‘cause I was daydreaming... I’d broken my leg a couple weeks earlier, going snowboarding, and so I was just sitting, watching Lizzy play wall-ball,” Alex said, unaware of how badly shi was rambling.
“One of the boys who was playing wall-ball, Robert, saw it, and came over and started making fun of me, calling me names. If it hadn’t been for my broken leg, I’d have... I dunno, but I would have done something. As it was, Lizzy tried to defend me, and one of the big fifth graders threw her to the ground. Then Robert pulled my skirt and panties off...” shi trailed off, swallowing. Realizing shi was crying, shi wiped hir eyes with the back of hir paw.
“Robert and the other kid got expelled. I guess the teachers thought that would be the end of it. Only, I guess the other kid’s friends blamed me for the fact he’d gotten expelled, and the next week, during recess, they started harassing me. Then one of them pushed me and I fell. They all started kicking me...” Alex paused, taking another deep breath.
“All I remember was that I couldn’t breathe and was coughing blood. It hurt so much. I guess I nearly died. The school had to call an ambulance, and I had to have surgery to fix my lungs and broken ribs. Put metal plates in to hold my ribs together and everything. I’ve still got a scar on my side, too,” shi said, pausing for a moment and rubbing hir side.
“I was out of school for the rest of the year, cause I was in the hospital, recovering. I had to go in and take my exams after school ended. After that, Mom and Dad decided they didn’t want to stay in Oregon anymore. So, well, we moved here.”
“Oh, Alex... I’m sorry you went through that,” Aruna said, gently rubbing Alex’s leg. “I hope you don’t ever have to go through something like that again.”
“Alex, I didn’t know,” Ravi said, wrapping the tigress in a hug. “Your dad said something had happened, but I didn’t know that it was that bad. You don’t have to worry about anything like that happening here.”
“Thanks,” Alex said, tears falling down hir muzzle. Shi hadn’t thought that telling the story to someone else would help that much, but somehow it did. Like pulling out a splinter; it hurt, but shi felt much better once it was out. “So... yeah. That’s why I’m taking Karate now. I don’t want to be bullied ever again.”
“Hopefully you will never need to use it for more than showing off how good you are,” Aruna said, smiling up at Alex.
“I don’t think that she will...” Ravi said softly. “I don’t think that there has been anything like that, that’s happened here.”
“Uhh... Actually, I have needed it, but it wasn’t at school,” Alex said with a sniff. “I don’t want to talk about it right now, though. Maybe later.”
“Alex... Are you okay? Do you want to snuggle and watch a happy movie? Or can I paint your toe-nails?” Aruna asked softly.
Alex sniffed and smiled. “Yeah, I’m okay now. Actually... I feel better than I have in a long time,” shi said, reaching down and rubbing Aruna’s ears and head-fur. “I dunno how long our parents will be talking, so maybe not a movie, but... I wouldn’t mind having my toe-claws painted.”
Aruna smiled and picked up Alex’s feet, picking up a glass file. After a few seconds Ravi squeezed Alex’s shoulders one last time before letting go, gripping the game controller with both hands to start a race. As Aruna began to work on hir toe-claws, Alex leaned against Ravi’s arm and rest hir head against his shoulder, purring quietly.
__________________________________________________
Wednesday, May 25th, 2016
So far, the school day was going surprisingly quickly, with exam after exam. The Social Studies final handed out by Mr. Spencer had covered everything they’d gone over throughout the year. The test consisted of lots of easy multiple choice questions (provided you remembered the general topics for each chapter of the book), but there had been a ton of them, covering all kinds of things from ancient civilizations like Egypt and Rome to different types of governments and economic systems.
The exam in second period Science class, taught by Mr. Carvalho, had been similar, though the topics revolved around life sciences like plant and animal life cycles and ecosystems, earth sciences like weather and geological processes, and physical sciences like energy transfer and states of matter. That had been just as easy as the social studies exam.
The final exam for English had been an entirely different beast, consisting of three one-page essays in the narrative, expository, and persuasive styles. By the time Alex had finished the third page, hir paw was cramping so badly that shi had to massage it after every sentence. Finally shi flipped the last paper face-down on the corner of hir desk, with barely a minute left before the end of class.
Alex let out a sigh of relief as Mrs. Petry walked over to pick it up. The old lady was remarkably slow for a Cheetah, and had the most boring speaking voice of any teacher shi’d ever had. Luckily tomorrow was the end of classes for the year, and after that shi would never have to listen to the old woman’s monotone drone again. The moment the bell rang, Alex darted for the door with hir backpack in hand, looking forward to lunch with Azalea, Willow, and Jennifer before shi had to take hir Math and ISTE exams.
As Alex headed down the hallways towards hir locker, shi spotted a familiar jerboa walking towards hir, deep in conversation with an unfamiliar vole. A surge of anger flowed through hir, remembering what Heath had done, sabotaging hir and Azalea’s relationship, and then dumping Azalea the moment he found out she was transgender. The tigress clenched hir fist and quickly checked to see if this section of the hallways had a camera monitoring it, then started closing the gap, weaving hir way through the crowd of students.
Surprisingly, Heath was so focused on the conversation that he didn’t notice Alex approach. It was too great an opportunity to pass up, and the tigress pulled a quick 180 as they went past, following behind them. Heath’s backpack had two zippers that met at the top of his backpack. Unable to resist the temptation, Alex grabbed the zipper tabs and pulled them apart as far as they’d go, then grabbed the edge of his backpack and yanked hard towards the ground.
As books, binders, and loose paper spilled across the floor, Heath fell backwards, landing on his tail. Before either of the boys could guess what had happened, Alex turned and darted the other way, weaving hir way through the crowd of students and vanishing from sight while shouts erupted behind hir.
__________________________________________________
With a solid three minutes left before class was due to start, Alex walked into Mrs. Stanton’s classroom. The tigress sighed as shi walked to the back of the classroom where Azalea and Willow were swapping spit. “Knock it off, you two. If someone complains, Mrs. Stanton’s gonna have to give you detention for ‘public displays of affection’,” shi whispered as shi sat down next to them at the table and started pulling hir colored pencils out of hir backpack.
“Hey, Catnip,” Azalea said, pulling back from Willow and turning to start setting up her usual acrylic paints. “So... Now that it’s almost summer break, I have to ask... Did your Dad finally say ‘yes’? Are you officially off the market?”
For a moment Alex debated telling Azalea the truth, but... Shi had made a promise not to tell anyone. “No. Dad was pretty upset,” shi lied, faking a sigh. “After you left there was... drama.”
“Aww, that sucks,” Willow said, running her paws through her freshly-dyed neon-blue head-fur. The mouse started setting up her own easel and pulled out her custom-made box of watercolor supplies. “What’s up with calling Alex ‘Catnip’?”
“Azalea drinks catnip tea. I keep following her around in the hopes I might get some again, but she refuses to give me any more,” Alex said with a sad expression.
“You destroyed my walls,” Azalea said, shaking her head. “You know what? I’m going to wait ‘til we’re out in a park somewhere and then give you some. Then I’m gonna film it.”
“I don’t know if that would be a good idea,” Willow said nervously, glancing at the two.
“Don’t worry. I’m a squirrel; I can climb trees. You can come watch if you want. You’re a field mouse; you can do field... things...” the jerboa-squirrel hybrid said.
“You know, I’m pretty sure that murder mittens can climb trees,” Willow replied, shaking her head. “I think I’d rather hide in a hole or something.”
“Yep,” Alex confirmed. “I can definitely climb trees. And walls,” shi added, flexing hir claws and showing off hir silvery pearl nail polish.
“Well then,” Azalea said, picking up a paint brush. “I guess I will just have to hide in Willow’s hole. Problem solved,” she said as she started working on her project for the day.
Alex covered hir mouth, staring at Azalea, unable to believe the squirrel had just said that. Then shi started laughing, and a few moments later fell off hir chair, clutching hir sides as shi tried to contain hir laughter. None of them could hear the teacher tell them to quiet down over the noisy tigress.
“Azzy... Remember what I said about watching what you say? That was one of those moments,” Willow said, giggling.
“Oh bite me, both of you. You two knew what I meant,” Azalea said, blushing, trying to act like nothing had happened.
Alex didn’t respond, still gasping for breath as shi crawled back into the chair, blushing and going silent as the teacher walked over to them.
“Is everything alright?” Mrs. Stanton asked, glaring down at the three students.
“Yes, ma’am,” Alex replied, pulling out hir sketchbook. “Sorry.”
“Good. I know you only have one more day of school for the year, but... Please keep it down,” the spotted skunk said, then walked back to the front of the class, leaving the three of them alone once again.
“You sure that you’re okay there, Catnip?” Azalea asked, smiling at the tiger. “You sure you haven’t been sneaking ‘nip in between classes?”
“Oh, trust me,” Alex replied, going serious. “You’d know if I was on ‘nip.”
“Alex... I’m sorry. She can’t help being a bad influence sometimes,” Willow said, reaching over and nudging the hybrid.
“You’re telling me?” Alex asked, raising hir eyebrows. “I’ve been sitting next to her every single day this school year. I know exactly how bad of an influence Azzy is.”
“Oh, and you were right. God above does Azzy shed all over everything,” Willow said, looking over at the tigress. “The first day that she came over, I had to vacuum and lint roller the bed.”
“Hey,” Azalea said, looking at her girlfriend. “I warned you about the fur. And I don’t shed that much. At least you haven’t made the mistake of nomming my tail.”
“Yeah, don’t get that tail of hers near your mouth. Hairballs are not fun,” Alex said. “I learned that when I was, like, four years old.”
“I don’t think I heard this story,” Azalea said, slowly turning to Alex. “I think that I will have to ask your mom about that one,” she said, smiling from ear to ear.
“Oh no you don’t,” Alex said. “I’ll let Aruna nom on you again.”
“Oh, like that would stop me from asking. I’m fearless or crazy... court is still out on that one,” the hybrid pointed out.
Alex snorted. “I hate to burst your bubble, but the court settled that one a long time ago.”
Suddenly the bell rang, and Mrs. Stanton stood up at the front of class to cover the topic for the day’s lessons. As the teacher turned around and began writing on the whiteboard, the three of them wrapped up their conversation.
“Oh, and... congrats on becoming a thing,” Alex whispered to Willow and Azalea.
“She was bound to figure out I liked her eventually, but... Thanks for prompting her to finally ask me out,” Willow whispered back with a smile.
“Geez, make me seem slow or something,” Azalea muttered.
Alex smiled, then leaned over and gave Azalea a quick kiss on the cheek. “That’s okay. We still love you... even if you are a little special.”
“More than a little special,” Willow said, leaning over and planting a quick kiss on the hybrid’s other cheek.",
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