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Kinda wanted a few more images for this one, but after fighting with several of them for a long while I realized that they didn't really add much anyway, so I decided these were enough. Really happy with the one of young Wire especially, and the contrast with how far she's grown from the darkest points of her life.\n\nOne, maybe two more releases and act 1 will be complete. 😸\n\nEdit: Doh! Almost forgot the prompts and generation info, like a total dunce. Got too caught up in the final editing pass. I'll upload that soon.","description_bbcode_parsed":"And that's 15! Kinda wanted a few more images for this one, but after fighting with several of them for a long while I realized that they didn't really add much anyway, so I decided these were enough. Really happy with the one of young Wire especially, and the contrast with how far she's grown from the darkest points of her life.
One, maybe two more releases and act 1 will be complete. 😸
Edit: Doh! Almost forgot the prompts and generation info, like a total dunce. Got too caught up in the final editing pass. I'll upload that soon.","writing":"You're not really sure how you got here. Your head is still spinning. Cottontail is ahead of you, occasionally sneaking glances back in your direction, following J down yet another darkened hallway. Every once in a while you can see her stubby little bunny tail twitching happily.\n\nYou reach up to touch the collar around your neck, mostly just to confirm you didn't imagine that part. Nope. Still there. You stare at Cotton's back as you walk, dumbfounded by the bunny before you.\n\nWhat the fuck just happened? What did you miss? How did fifteen minutes with a wolf she barely knows transform Cotton into... this? You've been trying to get her to loosen up and have some fun for months.\n\nSapphire steps out of a doorway ahead, holding a bag and what looks like a pair of boxers. She spots the three of you and smiles. As you get closer the smile slowly morphs into confusion. J steps close as she whispers to him.\n\n\"Is everything okay?\"\n\n\"Good question. Fill you in later. How are things here?\"\n\nSapphire sighs. \"I'm not sure. I can't get a feel for him. He said what I wanted him to say, but I can't tell if he actually believed any of it. You'll have to take a crack at him. I think he's waking up, come on, I'll set up the changeover.\"\n\nSapphire and J step into the room, leaving you alone with Cotton in the hallway. She leans against the wall, pointedly looking at anything but you. You've never felt more out of your depth. The two of you wait silently for what feels like a long time, but it can't have been more than a minute or two. Sapphire steps back out of the room, a wad of bills in her paw, calling back in a sing-song voice.\n\n\"Thank you jaaay!\"\n\nThe door shuts and Sapphire's demeanor shifts from playful to concerned as she quietly leads you to the far end of the hall, ushering you through one of the doors. You wince as she flicks on a table lamp and you discover what looks like an old doctor's office. Sapphire kneels in front of you, a serious expression on her face.\n\n\"I'll admit I wasn't expecting to find you collar-free so quick, Miss Cottontail. I'm also disappointed to find you collared, Cherry. Knowing J, that means you must have bent some more rules.\"\n\nCotton comes to your defense before you can say anything.\n\n\"S-she didn't. I did.\"\n\nSapphire raises an incredulous eyebrow. \"Go on.\"\n\n\"That's my collar. I stole my key from Mr. J and put my collar on Cherry.\"\n\nThis little tidbit is new to you. \"You [i]stole[/i] the key?\"\n\nCottontail looks down and nods silently. Her shame doesn't seem to last long though, as she steels herself and presses on.\n\n\"I had to. I didn't have time to explain. You were going to let those furs... do things to you. I had to tell you first, but I messed everything up when I yelled at you and then you weren't listening to me.\"\n\nSapphire looks slightly confused. \"I think you need to back up a little, sweetie. Give me the quick version of what I missed.\"\n\nCottontail purses her lips for a moment before taking a deep breath and launching into the explanation.\n\n\"I'm a bad fur. I've been really bad ever since I met Cherry. I wanted to tell her, but I was scared because I didn't want to go to hell, and I though I could make her good. I've been trying to make her good so that I could be good too.\n\nBut then Mr. J told me about how he used to fight with his friends because he liked them. Then he, um, had sex with a lot of girls he didn't even like, and then he was all alone and he never even got to tell Max that he loved him before he died.\n\nHe said it was his biggest mistake, and that made me think about my mistakes. I figured out I had to choose. I had to choose if I wanted to be good and go to heaven, or be bad and keep Cherry.\"\n\nSapphire seems to be putting the pieces together even if you aren't totally following.\n\n\"I think I understand, but just to make sure, could you explain something for me sweetie? Why do you think you're a bad fur?\"\n\nCottontail blushes from her cheeks to the tips of her ears, looking down at the tile floor. You feel your own face growing warm as she whispers her reply.\n\n\"Because I love Cherry.\"\n\n\"Oh, sweetheart.\" Sapphire leans in to wrap Cotton in a firm hug. \"That doesn't make you bad. You're not bad just because you love somefur.\"\n\nYou can hear Cotton sniffling as she returns the hug, Sapphire rubbing her back. You still can't quite believe what you're hearing, despite what happened in the lounge. How could you not know this about Cotton? Did she try to tell you, and you were just too stupid to figure it out? Doesn't she know you would have accepted her? You would have accepted her feelings... right?\n\nA blood-curdling scream from down the hall causes all three of you to jump, Sapphire quickly rising to her feet, tail fluffed.\n\n\"Dammit J, that's too far. Wait here you two, don't go anywhere.\"\n\nSapphire hurries out of the room. You wait a moment and quietly pad to the doorway to peek down the hall after her, Cotton sneaking up behind you to look as well. You can hear her snuffling as she pulls herself back together. It has been a long time since you felt weird about bunnies stepping into your personal space, much less Cotton, but it's like you don't know how to react to her anymore. You can feel your fur standing on end just from the proximity.\n\nJ steps out of the room and starts whispering animatedly with Sapphire. You can't make out what they are saying, and cup your paw next to your ear. Cotton notices and whispers to you, still a little stuffy, but steady.\n\n\"They're talking about another fur—some guy in the room, I think?\"\n\n\"You can hear that?\"\n\nCotton nods. \"Mostly. Sapphire is mad, and J is saying that the guy is fine. He just scared him. Now he's saying something about a... belt? I missed part of what he said. Miss Sapphire is asking what J thinks about the guy. He says he's not sure but he doesn't think he is a... vegilanty? What's a vegilanty?\"\n\n\"Comic book stuff. Like Bat Knight.\"\n\n\"Oh. I'm not allowed to read those. Now they're talking about what to do next. I missed some of it. Sapphire says they have to try something else.\"\n\nJ looks in your direction, and you both duck back behind the doorway with Cottontail. You sit quietly for a moment before Cotton breaks the silence.\n\n\"Do you think he saw us?\"\n\n\"Probably. Can you still hear them?\"\n\n\"No. I can't hear anything.\"\n\nYou risk another peek down the hall and find it empty.\n\n\"I think they went back into the room.\"\n\nCottontail nods, easing herself to the floor, her back against the wall next to the doorway.\n\n\"You're just going to sit here? Don't you want to know what's going on?\"\n\nShe thinks a moment before replying. \"No. I trust them.\"\n\n\"Even after that scream? I thought you were worried about them being sex traffickers?\"\n\n\"I used to be. I'm not any more.\"\n\nYou stand for a moment, conflicted, trying to decide if you want to sneak off and listen in some more. It doesn't sound like any fun without Cotton along with you. Despite being a little weirded out you don't want to leave her either. You slide down the catercorner wall, leather pants creaking as they grip the linoleum floor. Cotton leans her head against the sheet rock and closes her eyes while you wait.\n\nThis is the first time you've had a chance to get a good look at her since the lounge. The scene plays back in your head—the way your anger thrummed as Cotton pushed you to the cushions, her surprisingly slight weight on top of you, and then her lips pressed passionately against yours. You're pretty sure you even felt her tongue sneak in there, as you trace your own against your teeth subconsciously. It still doesn't feel real, like you dreamed the whole thing. Why was that so much different from making out with the two losers just before?\n\nPuzzle pieces shift in your head while you watch the little bunny. She stirs slightly, pulling her legs in to get more comfortable, breathing slowly, gentle shadows playing across her face at the edge of the unlit hall. There's still some of that old balled up tension somewhere in there, but it's... smaller, somehow? It's hard to pin down. It unwinds some of your own stress just watching her, comparing the girl before you with a mental image formed over months of trying to get her to loosen up.\n\nSeeing her like this does something to you, deep in your chest. It's like kneading a sore muscle that you didn't realize was knotted up. This is what you wanted to give her, isn't it? Tonight wasn't about fun. Well, not just fun, anyway. You wanted her to stop hurting. It's weird realizing that in retrospect. It should have been obvious. She's been hurting the whole time you've known her, and you wanted it to stop before you could put that into words.\n\nHow did J see it so clearly? Are you blind? Are you a bad friend? Even the way you dragged her here was nothing but fuck-ups and mistakes. How did he manage to untangle her so easily, when you threw everything you had into it for months and came back with nothing but empty paws?\n\nA door halfway down the hall opens and J and Sapphire step out. Apparently they ducked into a different room than the one with the guy while you and Cotton weren't looking. J heads back down the hall while Sapphire walks in your direction. You nudge Cotton's paw with your shoe and she opens her eyes just as Sapphire gets within easy conversation distance.\n\n\"Okay you two, J's going to take you upstairs with our other guest. I'll join you shortly.\"\n\nCotton nods. You're more concerned.\n\n\"Is Cotton in trouble? You kicking her out?\"\n\n\"That's what we need to decide. Or, it's related, anyway. J gave me the whole story, and we agreed we need some other furs involved in the discussion.\"\n\nJ steps back into the hall, a male raccoon roughly his age following behind him, shakily. He looks kinda out of it. They both approach without a word, and you and Cotton get up to follow. Sapphire places a reassuring paw on Cotton's shoulder for a moment and then heads off in another direction.\n\nSeveral darkened hallways and a flight of stairs later and you're waiting in some kind of plushly carpeted meeting room. A long wooden table occupies most of the space with a few other rooms farther in. You spotted a fancy office in one of them before J gave you a look that says you shouldn't be poking around.\n\nYou and Cotton settle by the large windows that overlook the main floor, watching furs mingle. It was fun for the first five or ten minutes, but as time wears on your anxiety about what's going to happen slowly ratchets up, fueled by increasing uncertainty about where you and Cotton stand. Why is it so hard to talk to her now? It should be easier! It doesn't make any fricking sense.\n\nCotton seems to be having a hard time with it too. At least, you think so. You're not really sure about anything when it comes to her any more, not after you missed something so colossal for months. The fact you're both just making small-talk and avoiding the whole reason you got sent up here means she has to be thinking about it too though, right?\n\nRaccoon guy has just been sitting silently at the table, looking uncomfortable and occasionally shooting glances at J when he moves. You're not really sure why he's here, but you also don't really care.\n\nFinally the doorknob to the meeting room rattles and you brace yourself for whatever comes next. Sapphire steps through first, now dressed in casual clothes, holding the door open for a food cart pushed by—\n\n\"Sis!?!\"\n\nYou'd recognize that streak of brilliant yellow dye on raven black hair anywhere. She shoots you a smirk as J walks up to help guide the cart to the table.\n\n\"Hey squirt! Couldn't even make it one night before getting sent all the way to the boss' office, huh? You trying to make me look bad?\"\n\nYou cross your arms and return the grin.\n\n\"I mean, did you expect anything else?\"\n\n\"Yes. Yes I did.\"\n\nOuch. Okay, that has you feeling a little sheepish, even if you weren't the one that bent the rules. Cotton steps up to help J unload the cart and set places at the end of the table closest to the door. You take the cue and help out too. Sis hands Cotton some silverware and eases into a scowl.\n\n\"And you must be the famous Cottontail! Or maybe infamous, if what Fire tells me is true? Putting the moves on my baby sister, huh? Watch yourself, missy. I'm not about to let some random bunny girl steal her purity.\"\n\nCotton turns bright red and nearly drops a plate, stumbling through something halfway between an apology and an explanation. Sis holds the scowl a hair longer before dropping the act and ruffling Cotton's hair with a laugh.\n\n\"I'm just messin' with you! We both know Cherry is a little turd, and anything you can do will only be an improvement.\"\n\n\"Hey!\"\n\n\"Shush. The responsible furs are talking.\" Sis extends a paw to Cotton. \"Livewire, but you can just call me Wire.\"\n\nCotton accepts the offered paw, white fur in white. \"Oh, um, hi. Cherry calls me Cottontail, so I picked that.\"\n\n\"So I've heard. She wouldn't shut up about you when we talked a few weeks back.\"\n\nCotton's ears perk up. \"Really?\"\n\n\"Oh yeah. Years since I've seen my little sister—[i]years![/i]—and all she wants to talk about is the bunny girl that moved into her neighborhood. It was all Cottontail did this, Cotton did that—\"\n\n\"S-shut up! I did not just talk about Cotton.\"\n\n\"Ah! But you admit that you did talk about her!\"\n\n\"Well, I mean... yeah.\"\n\n\"You talked about her a [i]lot[/i].\"\n\nNow it's your turn to sputter and blush. Sis just ignores you, casually waving a fork in your direction as she leans in towards Cotton.\n\n\"I don't know what you see in her, honestly. You could do so much better. I could set you up with this cute little ferret I know. She's about your age, well mannered, good family, smells better...\"\n\nCotton actually smiles her little blushing smile at that last jab. You catch Sapphire and J suppressing chuckles too, out of the corner of your eye. Great. So that's how it's going to be, huh? Ooh, you're so going to get back at her for this.\n\n\"What are you even doing here? Don't you have something better to do?\"\n\n\"I work here, thank you very much. And if you'd just managed to be a normal fur for one night I could have made it a nice surprise after you got accepted. But no!\"\n\nSis pulls out a chair and offers it to Cotton with a dramatic wave, the bunny quietly coming to your defense as she settles in. \n\n\"Um, actually, it's not Cherry's fault. I broke the rules.\"\n\n\"Fire told me. Pretty sure we can blame that one on Cherry too. Bad influence.\"\n\nSis directs you to the chair next to Cotton. You can see what she's doing, but trying to get out of it would only make it worse, so you roll with it. Sapphire sits down near the end of the table on Cotton's other side and starts passing plates to J, which he fills with heaping helpings from the trays on the cart. Cotton accepts a plate piled high with veggies before continuing.\n\n\"No, it was my decision. I wanted to do it.\"\n\nJ scoots the cart out of the way and sits down at the end of the table. Sis takes the seat to his right, across the table from Sapphire. The raccoon guy is directly across from you, an empty seat between him and Sis, looking a bit like a third wheel as you pass him a filled plate. J speaks between mouthfuls of some sort of stir-fry.\n\n\"That's an understatement. I turn my back for five seconds and poof, no more little bunny. Then I find you on top of Cherry, stripping in the middle of the lounge, your collar removed without permission...\"\n\nCotton pokes at her vegetables sheepishly. \"I'm sorry. I couldn't wait. She was kissing some guys, and they were going to... you know... and I had to tell her before that. But she was mad at me because I said all that dumb stuff about wanting her to go away, and that I didn't want to be bad, but I was lying.\"\n\nJ grins his big, goofy smile. \"I thought you might have some interest in Cherry. Caught little looks you kept sending in her direction. Wasn't sure if that was just me projecting though. Figured my story might plant a seed for the future, and maybe it would keep you from ruining a friendship in the meantime. Didn't expect it to have such a dramatic effect though.\"\n\nSapphire makes a humming sound as she wipes her lips with a napkin and finishes a bite.\n\n\"I wondered a little too, though I was much less sure than J.\"\n\nYou stare at the ceiling and sigh. \"Was this obvious to everyfur but me?\"\n\nSis doesn't even look up from her plate. \"Yes.\"\n\nThe table chuckles as you shoot her a go-to-hell look that she shrugs off effortlessly.\n\nYou can tell that Cotton is a little uncomfortable with all the attention, but every time you sneak a peek at her she's wearing that tiny little smile. It makes you feel... well it makes you feel a lot of things. They're not bad things though, right? Cotton looks at you for the first time since you sat down and it makes your heart rate double.\n\n\"I kinda wanted you to find out, but I was scared.\"\n\n\"D-did I do something to make you scared?\"\n\nCotton seems surprised. \"No!\"\n\n\"Then why didn't you say something?\"\n\n\"I wanted to! You make it look easy, just... doing what you want. But it's hard! I like being good. It used to be easy. I didn't want anything bad. And then I met you and I... I never wanted anything more in my whole life.\"\n\nCotton can't make eye contact for this last part, and you find yourself suddenly needing to take a long sip from your glass, despite not being thirsty. Thankfully she continues before you run out of water. \n\n\"I couldn't be good and have you too, so I had to pick. I tried to figure out some way I could have both. Maybe I could make you good, and then maybe I could be good, and we could just be friends. Or maybe you would want me back and I could just let you... have me. But I was being dumb. I was scared. I was scared of going to hell, and being bad, and... just a lot of stuff.\"\n\nYou finally pin down one of the ideas that's been floating in your head since Cotton and Sapphire's conversation in the hall.\n\n\"Can't you just, like, do that thing where you talk to a priest and get forgiveness or some junk?\"\n\nDespite the soft tone of voice, you startle when the raccoon guy speaks. You'd practically forgotten he was there.\n\n\"It doesn't work like that, I'm afraid. Repentance is required for forgiveness. You don't get to use confession as a get-out-of-jail-free card. Well, not since the church stopped selling indulgences, anyway.\"\n\nJ sets his silverware down and gestures to the guy.\n\n\"Everyfur, this is... well, we haven't actually settled on a nickname yet. Let's just call him Priest for now. Given his history it seems like a decent placeholder. No real names down here.\"\n\nThe guy looks uncomfortable. \"It has been a long time since I was worthy of that title. I've barely spoken of it for years, how could you possibly know that?\"\n\n\"We do our research on all prospective members. You got flagged weeks ago. When we found out about your connections to the church the plan was to get you banned upstairs as quickly as possible. \n\n\"Chester was the first to stick up for you. He didn't just vote against banning you from the cover bar, he actually wanted to card you—invite you down here. We thought he was crazy, but finding furs that fit is his main job, and he's got a track record to back it up.\"\n\nSapphire leans down to speak quietly to Cotton. \"Chester is our barkeeper upstairs. Moose fellow. You'd like him. He's a big softy.\" Priest nibbles on some greens as he absorbs what J is saying.\n\n\"I see. Is it alright if I ask what 'down here' is? I'm still a little foggy on that point. She—\" Priest gestures at Sapphire \"—wouldn't explain anything, and you didn't seem to be in a question answering mood, before.\"\n\nJ's grin is strangely sheepish. \"Fair questions. I'd apologize, but it's my job to keep this place safe, and sometimes that means thinking outside the box.\n\n\"Short version is we believe in letting all furs be themselves and enjoy each other's company, as long as they're safe, keep this place a secret, and respect every fur's choices. That applies to all sexes, orientations, and a wide range of ages, including those below what's legal.\" J points to you and Cotton. \"It's their first night here.\"\n\nPriest's eyebrows go up. \"So, by [i]enjoy each other's company[/i] I assume you mean...?\"\n\n\"Whatever they agree to and is safe. Sex included.\"\n\nPriest leans back in his chair. You can't help but mess with him a little and waggle your eyebrows in his direction. You can see it hit the bullseye as he squirms. It's everything you can do to keep from snickering. J seems oblivious as he continues.\n\n\"You can see why we have to be selective with our membership, not only because every fur we add increases the risk of getting shut down, but also for the safety of our members, the youngest especially. We don't tolerate exploitation or abuse in any form.\"\n\nPriest focuses back on J and you let him off the hook.\n\n\"I'm not sure how can you say that with a straight face.\"\n\nSis jumps in between bites and J cedes the floor. \"I was skeptical too, when the club got started years ago. Things were a little different then, but nothing has changed about making sure furs make their own choices. I didn't think it could work. Didn't exactly have a lot of positive examples to go off of.\n\n\"My home life wasn't pretty. Dad drank a lot and beat my mother. Cherry tells me the drinking hasn't changed, though our mom left the picture when I was younger than Cherry is now. Not a great environment to grow up in. I tried to shield Cherry from our dad as much as I could, but no fur should have to deal with that kind of shit, and I was still a cub myself.\n\n\"Fell in with a bad crowd. Started doing drugs, and not the harmless stuff. Took something hard at a party one night. It let me escape all the shit from home and just go numb for a while. Felt good. So, I did it again. And then again, and again, and again. Before I knew it I couldn't do anything but think about the next hit, just like the pushers wanted. Obviously I couldn't afford to maintain the habit, so I started turning tricks for more.\"\n\nYou've never heard this before. You're too stunned to say anything. Priest seems more sympathetic than surprised.\n\n\"I was so far gone the first time I got whored out that I didn't even care. From there it was easy to just keep doing it. I became a toy for a bunch of thugs. When I wasn't busy with one or two or three of them they'd send me out to make some cash with the rest of their girls.\n\n\"I wouldn't go home for days at a time. Any time I did, it was a screaming match with my dad. If it weren't for Cherry I wouldn't have gone back at all. It was the only time I was sober. I couldn't let her see me like that—like our dad always was.\n\n\"It starts to get a little blurry around this point. I could tell that I wasn't making it home as often. I was losing track of time for longer and longer stretches. Then one day I went back and our trailer wasn't there any more. I talked to a few of the neighbors and they told me that my dad had pulled up stakes. No fur knew where he went.\"\n\nYou remember that night, how Dad came home extra surly, rambling about something, acting paranoid, throwing stuff and hitching up the trailer. You'd screamed at him when you realized he was getting ready to leave and didn't care that Sis wasn't with you. He just threw you in the trailer, slammed the door, and drove off. You spent the whole night crying while the trailer bounced and rocked, stuff falling out of cabinets and crashing to the floor.\n\n\"That kicked my legs out from under me. I thought about going to the police, but I didn't exactly have a high opinion of them, and the feeling was mutual. This also wasn't the first time Dad did this, it was just the first time he'd left me behind. He tended to rack up debts that he couldn't pay.\n\n\"I knew he'd keep a low profile no matter where he went. Probably change names again. I didn't give a shit about losing him. He was a bastard, and the older I got the more I hated his guts, but he took Cherry. Protecting her was the only thing that still mattered to me, and now she was trapped with my dad because I couldn't hack it... It was my fault. I...\"\n\nSis trails off. You can tell she's having as much trouble keeping it together as you are. You feel Cotton's paw wrap around yours under the table. The contact catches you off guard, and as you glance in her direction you catch her face creased with sadness. You quickly look away to keep from falling apart, only to find mirrored expressions on J and Sapphire's faces, directed at Sis. It's too much, and hot tears roll down your cheeks. Sis starts to crack too, as she notices you.\n\n\"Hey now, don't you go turning on the waterworks.\"\n\n\"You picked the story\" you croak in response. Sis manages a laugh, raspy and forced.\n\n\"Fair.\"\n\nIt's a few minutes before anyone can say anything. Sapphire pulls a bottle from the minibar in the corner, pouring Sis some wine and hugging her from behind before offering glasses to the other adults. You feel a little conflicted about seeing Sis drink, but figure now really isn't the time to make a big deal about it. It takes another minute or two, but eventually she returns to the tale.\n\n\"So, like you can probably guess, things went downhill from there. When I realized Cherry was gone, probably for good, I just gave up. Went back to the gang and let them fuck the shit out of me. I knew they didn't actually care about why I was such a mess after that, but at least they pretended long enough to get into my pants, and that was better than nothing.\n\n\"I don't know how long things went on like that. I just buried myself in the drugs and sex as deep as I could go. Only thing I really remember clearly was watching one of the other girls OD one night. She was even younger than I was. There was a lot of yelling about what to do before they eventually settled on dumping her somewhere.\n\n\"I remember thinking that's how I would go—choking on my own vomit while furs argued over how to get rid of me. A dark hole in my head told me it was what I deserved, and I believed it. I started looking forward to the day it would happen, pushing for bigger and bigger hits, hoping each one would be the last.\n\n\"I don't even remember the shootout that wiped out most of the gang. When I came around I didn't recognize where I was. There was this giant bear lady in the room. Scared the shit out of me. Took a while before I calmed down enough to listen, but eventually she explained what happened.\n\n\"Turns out my idiot crew had been messing with another gang, trying to take over turf. Eventually they pushed too hard, killed the wrong fur, and got a bigger response than they bargained for. The gang that wiped them out was the one that took me in—Momma Bear's crew.\n\n\"They cleaned me up. Took weeks. Felt like forever. Momma Bear spent a lot of time looking after me. I chewed her out and swore the paint of the walls, begged, cried, pleaded, fought, puked all over and spent nights soaking the sheets with cold sweat. It was the farthest thing from pretty, but she stayed with me through all of it.\n\n\"Spent some time getting to know the rest of her gang after I was well enough to walk around. They were in the middle of some shit. The fight with my old gang had forced an issue over leadership. Momma had been in charge of the whores for years, and had worked her way up to the boss' right paw before he bit it a few years back. She'd sorta just taken over by default after that, but there was some discontent about it, so every decision was political.\n\n\"Momma approved the hit on my old gang, but it didn't go down like she wanted. She didn't know there were cubs involved. As rough as my recovery was, I was one of the lucky ones. Bunch of others got caught in the crossfire. That almost broke Momma. She was trying to take things in a new direction, but not everyfur was onboard with the idea. Some thought she was going soft, or that she'd been too soft to begin with.\n\n\"So, Momma split the gang. She left the businesses to the agitators who wanted her gone, claimed most of the liquid assets for herself, and let everyfur decide who they wanted to follow. \n\n\"It was about as bloodless as a coup could be. Nearly all the girls stayed loyal to Momma. I know it sounds crazy, especially if you've never lived in that world, but she was a good head misstress. A bunch of the barkeeps, bouncers, and nearly all the behind-the-scenes types stuck with her too. They were the good ones, relatively speaking. They bought into Momma's vision of something better than death and backstabbing, and made her faction big enough that it looked like too much work to just kill us all.\n\n\"The rough types all smelled opportunity. With Momma gone there was a power vacuum that any fur with balls could take a shot at. Even with most of their cash depleted they still had turf, street muscle to hold it, a reputation that said they weren't to be fucked with, and all the sources of income to replace what they lost.\n\n\"Momma made sure to point all this out to them, since most were too stupid to figure it out for themselves. If they'd known just how much money Momma was walking off with they might have felt differently, but every fur who knew was on Momma's side, and they weren't telling.\n\n\"So we split. I stuck with Momma, of course. Not like I had anything else to hang onto. We hit a new city, opened up a club, and started building things differently. First new rule was zero violence—as much as possible, anyway. No gang warfare, no hits, no 'insurance' scams, no skullduggery. Bouncing a fur who couldn't take no for an answer was about as rough as we got, and we've tried to stick to that.\n\n\"Part of pulling that off was going upscale. Momma picked us a good spot, right on the fringe between the high-class muckety-mucks with money to burn and the seedier parts of town where furs are open to having their paws greased.\n\n\"The fact we had underage furs from the old gang was a big part of our cachet. Lots of furs are willing to pay a premium for that kind of access, especially if we're discreet. That got us a reputation and customers early on, but it didn't sit right with Momma.\n\n\"After a little while she announced that we wouldn't be in the prostitution game any more. Any of the girls who wanted to stick around were offered positions as paid staff if they were old enough, and the cubs could stay or go, no strings attached. The ones that didn't stay got a big chunk of cash and an open-ended invitation to come back for any reason if they ever needed help. Most of us stayed. We didn't have anywhere to go. It's why we'd gotten singled out by the gangs in the first place.\n\n\"I don't know if you'll believe me when I tell you that Momma loved us cubs, and I don't mean that in any sort of sexual way. She got her nickname honestly, back when she was head mistress, making sure her girls were taken care of as best as she could manage. She wasn't always able to do right by us in the early days, even by her own standards, but to most of us she was Momma, and to any fur who messed with us she was every inch the bear.\n\n\"Getting out of prostitution left us with two issues. The first was the cold business problem of keeping the doors open. The second was the fact that a lot of the girls who decided to stay actually enjoyed having fun with the patrons, and kept at it even after they weren't getting paid for it. We had some long squabbles about what to do about that.\n\n\"Eventually the cubs talked Momma into the idea that we could make something better without becoming like the rest of society that had failed us. We landed on the model we use today. No fur pays for sex. No fur is a whore. Adults pay for membership in the club and keep the lights on.\n\n\"If you're a gentlefur and not an asshole, well, there are a lot of cubs looking for some fun, and they get in for free. We wanted a place they could do that and stay safe—to be treated like flesh and blood who can make their own decisions, not just a couple of holes on two legs, and not perfect little dolls devoid of desire.\n\n\"After a while we figured out that meant helping cubs learn about who they are, what they want, and the tricks that their bodies and other furs can play on them. It also meant keeping plenty of furs on staff to look out for the younger members while they figure that out.\n\n\"Then there are furs in positions like me, and Cherry, and so many others who are already being abused and need somefur to pull them out of it. That became the core of what we do. Realizing that was who we were—not a gang, or a bar, or a whorehouse, was what finally got Momma to believe in it herself.\n\n\"It's good you're suspicious. There are a lot of assholes out there that won't hesitate to exploit others, including cubs. This city is worse than most. Assuming you believe what I've told you about my history, I think we can agree that I know that better than you do.\n\n\"That's why you should listen when I tell you that I spent years carrying a VIP card for Cherry, searching for her in every city I visited, praying to any god that would listen that I would get the chance to see her again and bring her here. If there was a single shred of doubt in my mind that this place would harm her, I'd tear it all down myself.\"\n\nSis leans back in her chair and takes another sip of wine, her piece said. You'd gotten little peeks at that story earlier, but just the cub version. Knowing she never stopped looking for you, even after you'd somehow gotten it into your head that she'd abandoned you, leaves you more than a little choked up. Priest looks introspective. He barely moved for the last ten minutes straight. His plate sits mostly untouched, probably getting a little cold by now.\n\n\"That's... a heck of a story. I don't think I would have believed it if Cherry wasn't sitting right here. I'm still not completely convinced, but it's also difficult to believe that you're all performing some kind of elaborate act. If it is, you've all missed your calling. You should be in theater.\"\n\nSis makes an exaggerated bow, ducking her head and fluttering her free paw. Sapphire clears her throat.\n\n\"That's part of why we decided to try this. It's not the normal way we do things, but we realized that it made more sense for you, Cherry, and Cottontail to just talk to us together and get the truth, instead of trying to test you all separately.\"\n\nCotton beats you to the question. \"Test?\"\n\n\"Mhm. Our tests are more than just your bloodwork. Like J mentioned earlier, we're careful about who we let in, especially the adults these days. You and Priest had us worried for some of the same reasons, at first. We weren't sure if you'd turn around and tell somefur about what you saw here and get us shut down. We still haven't made all the final decisions, actually. We're taking some big risks tonight with the both of you, and our normal approach wasn't working.\"\n\nSomething seems to click in Priest's head. \"That's what that was all about? In the room?\"\n\n\"Yes. With both J and I. I'm the carrot, he's the stick. I... don't really like it. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy playing as much as any of the other furs here, that's still my choice. What I don't like is the sneaking around and trying to trick other furs into telling us the truth. I understand why it's necessary. I do. I just like this much better. It's riskier. Maybe it will blow up in our faces and I'll regret talking J and Wire into it, but I hope not.\"\n\n\"I won't tell anyfur. I promise.\" Cotton's honesty is written all over her face. Sapphire smiles gently and takes her paw.\n\n\"I believe you. I think J does too. It's what we were worried about at first, but after you made your move on Cherry it's pretty obvious that we can trust you. But... that also made us worried about something a little different. We thought it would be good to have this little dinner with you for another reason.\"\n\nSapphire fixes Priest with an intense look. \"I know you're still not completely sure about this place, and that's fair. Set that aside for a moment. I want you to address just one thing, and it's this girl who just accepted that she's going to hell because she loves another girl.\n\n\"We've actually done more than a little digging on you, and I think you're the fur she needs to hear from now. J told her about growing up denying this part of himself and how destructive it can be. I can tell her as much about her heats as we understand, but none of us can help her with this. We can tell her it isn't wrong to love Cherry, but the church says differently. What do you say?\"\n\nPriest stutters. \"I-I'm hardly qualif—\"\n\n\"Try. Anyway.\"\n\nPriest sighs and dips his head as Cotton scoots forward, all her attention on the raccoon. He sits quietly for a pawful of seconds, collecting his thoughts.\n\n\"I don't really know what to say... I used to think I had answers, but the longer I've lived the less I'm sure about anything. I may still be a priest on paper, technically I'm on a very extended sabbatical, but I apostatized years ago. I don't know if anything I can tell you will do any good. There's a chance that all I can give you are more questions, because that's the only thing I seem to have these days.\"\n\nCotton's nose twitches as she absorbs this. \"You don't believe anymore?\"\n\n\"I'm afraid not. I don't know if there's a god out there, or if they are listening. I vacillate from one day to the next. I just know that I can't believe what the church teaches any more.\"\n\n\"Why not?\"\n\n\"Well... that's a bit of a long story.\"\n\nSapphire smiles. \"Long stories are what we're here for. I think I need desert for the next one though. Anyfur want some cake?\"","writing_bbcode_parsed":"You're not really sure how you got here. Your head is still spinning. Cottontail is ahead of you, occasionally sneaking glances back in your direction, following J down yet another darkened hallway. Every once in a while you can see her stubby little bunny tail twitching happily.
You reach up to touch the collar around your neck, mostly just to confirm you didn't imagine that part. Nope. Still there. You stare at Cotton's back as you walk, dumbfounded by the bunny before you.
What the fuck just happened? What did you miss? How did fifteen minutes with a wolf she barely knows transform Cotton into... this? You've been trying to get her to loosen up and have some fun for months.
Sapphire steps out of a doorway ahead, holding a bag and what looks like a pair of boxers. She spots the three of you and smiles. As you get closer the smile slowly morphs into confusion. J steps close as she whispers to him.
"Is everything okay?"
"Good question. Fill you in later. How are things here?"
Sapphire sighs. "I'm not sure. I can't get a feel for him. He said what I wanted him to say, but I can't tell if he actually believed any of it. You'll have to take a crack at him. I think he's waking up, come on, I'll set up the changeover."
Sapphire and J step into the room, leaving you alone with Cotton in the hallway. She leans against the wall, pointedly looking at anything but you. You've never felt more out of your depth. The two of you wait silently for what feels like a long time, but it can't have been more than a minute or two. Sapphire steps back out of the room, a wad of bills in her paw, calling back in a sing-song voice.
"Thank you jaaay!"
The door shuts and Sapphire's demeanor shifts from playful to concerned as she quietly leads you to the far end of the hall, ushering you through one of the doors. You wince as she flicks on a table lamp and you discover what looks like an old doctor's office. Sapphire kneels in front of you, a serious expression on her face.
"I'll admit I wasn't expecting to find you collar-free so quick, Miss Cottontail. I'm also disappointed to find you collared, Cherry. Knowing J, that means you must have bent some more rules."
Cotton comes to your defense before you can say anything.
"S-she didn't. I did."
Sapphire raises an incredulous eyebrow. "Go on."
"That's my collar. I stole my key from Mr. J and put my collar on Cherry."
This little tidbit is new to you. "You stole the key?"
Cottontail looks down and nods silently. Her shame doesn't seem to last long though, as she steels herself and presses on.
"I had to. I didn't have time to explain. You were going to let those furs... do things to you. I had to tell you first, but I messed everything up when I yelled at you and then you weren't listening to me."
Sapphire looks slightly confused. "I think you need to back up a little, sweetie. Give me the quick version of what I missed."
Cottontail purses her lips for a moment before taking a deep breath and launching into the explanation.
"I'm a bad fur. I've been really bad ever since I met Cherry. I wanted to tell her, but I was scared because I didn't want to go to hell, and I though I could make her good. I've been trying to make her good so that I could be good too.
But then Mr. J told me about how he used to fight with his friends because he liked them. Then he, um, had sex with a lot of girls he didn't even like, and then he was all alone and he never even got to tell Max that he loved him before he died.
He said it was his biggest mistake, and that made me think about my mistakes. I figured out I had to choose. I had to choose if I wanted to be good and go to heaven, or be bad and keep Cherry."
Sapphire seems to be putting the pieces together even if you aren't totally following.
"I think I understand, but just to make sure, could you explain something for me sweetie? Why do you think you're a bad fur?"
Cottontail blushes from her cheeks to the tips of her ears, looking down at the tile floor. You feel your own face growing warm as she whispers her reply.
"Because I love Cherry."
"Oh, sweetheart." Sapphire leans in to wrap Cotton in a firm hug. "That doesn't make you bad. You're not bad just because you love somefur."
You can hear Cotton sniffling as she returns the hug, Sapphire rubbing her back. You still can't quite believe what you're hearing, despite what happened in the lounge. How could you not know this about Cotton? Did she try to tell you, and you were just too stupid to figure it out? Doesn't she know you would have accepted her? You would have accepted her feelings... right?
A blood-curdling scream from down the hall causes all three of you to jump, Sapphire quickly rising to her feet, tail fluffed.
"Dammit J, that's too far. Wait here you two, don't go anywhere."
Sapphire hurries out of the room. You wait a moment and quietly pad to the doorway to peek down the hall after her, Cotton sneaking up behind you to look as well. You can hear her snuffling as she pulls herself back together. It has been a long time since you felt weird about bunnies stepping into your personal space, much less Cotton, but it's like you don't know how to react to her anymore. You can feel your fur standing on end just from the proximity.
J steps out of the room and starts whispering animatedly with Sapphire. You can't make out what they are saying, and cup your paw next to your ear. Cotton notices and whispers to you, still a little stuffy, but steady.
"They're talking about another fur—some guy in the room, I think?"
"You can hear that?"
Cotton nods. "Mostly. Sapphire is mad, and J is saying that the guy is fine. He just scared him. Now he's saying something about a... belt? I missed part of what he said. Miss Sapphire is asking what J thinks about the guy. He says he's not sure but he doesn't think he is a... vegilanty? What's a vegilanty?"
"Comic book stuff. Like Bat Knight."
"Oh. I'm not allowed to read those. Now they're talking about what to do next. I missed some of it. Sapphire says they have to try something else."
J looks in your direction, and you both duck back behind the doorway with Cottontail. You sit quietly for a moment before Cotton breaks the silence.
"Do you think he saw us?"
"Probably. Can you still hear them?"
"No. I can't hear anything."
You risk another peek down the hall and find it empty.
"I think they went back into the room."
Cottontail nods, easing herself to the floor, her back against the wall next to the doorway.
"You're just going to sit here? Don't you want to know what's going on?"
She thinks a moment before replying. "No. I trust them."
"Even after that scream? I thought you were worried about them being sex traffickers?"
"I used to be. I'm not any more."
You stand for a moment, conflicted, trying to decide if you want to sneak off and listen in some more. It doesn't sound like any fun without Cotton along with you. Despite being a little weirded out you don't want to leave her either. You slide down the catercorner wall, leather pants creaking as they grip the linoleum floor. Cotton leans her head against the sheet rock and closes her eyes while you wait.
This is the first time you've had a chance to get a good look at her since the lounge. The scene plays back in your head—the way your anger thrummed as Cotton pushed you to the cushions, her surprisingly slight weight on top of you, and then her lips pressed passionately against yours. You're pretty sure you even felt her tongue sneak in there, as you trace your own against your teeth subconsciously. It still doesn't feel real, like you dreamed the whole thing. Why was that so much different from making out with the two losers just before?
Puzzle pieces shift in your head while you watch the little bunny. She stirs slightly, pulling her legs in to get more comfortable, breathing slowly, gentle shadows playing across her face at the edge of the unlit hall. There's still some of that old balled up tension somewhere in there, but it's... smaller, somehow? It's hard to pin down. It unwinds some of your own stress just watching her, comparing the girl before you with a mental image formed over months of trying to get her to loosen up.
Seeing her like this does something to you, deep in your chest. It's like kneading a sore muscle that you didn't realize was knotted up. This is what you wanted to give her, isn't it? Tonight wasn't about fun. Well, not just fun, anyway. You wanted her to stop hurting. It's weird realizing that in retrospect. It should have been obvious. She's been hurting the whole time you've known her, and you wanted it to stop before you could put that into words.
How did J see it so clearly? Are you blind? Are you a bad friend? Even the way you dragged her here was nothing but fuck-ups and mistakes. How did he manage to untangle her so easily, when you threw everything you had into it for months and came back with nothing but empty paws?
A door halfway down the hall opens and J and Sapphire step out. Apparently they ducked into a different room than the one with the guy while you and Cotton weren't looking. J heads back down the hall while Sapphire walks in your direction. You nudge Cotton's paw with your shoe and she opens her eyes just as Sapphire gets within easy conversation distance.
"Okay you two, J's going to take you upstairs with our other guest. I'll join you shortly."
Cotton nods. You're more concerned.
"Is Cotton in trouble? You kicking her out?"
"That's what we need to decide. Or, it's related, anyway. J gave me the whole story, and we agreed we need some other furs involved in the discussion."
J steps back into the hall, a male raccoon roughly his age following behind him, shakily. He looks kinda out of it. They both approach without a word, and you and Cotton get up to follow. Sapphire places a reassuring paw on Cotton's shoulder for a moment and then heads off in another direction.
Several darkened hallways and a flight of stairs later and you're waiting in some kind of plushly carpeted meeting room. A long wooden table occupies most of the space with a few other rooms farther in. You spotted a fancy office in one of them before J gave you a look that says you shouldn't be poking around.
You and Cotton settle by the large windows that overlook the main floor, watching furs mingle. It was fun for the first five or ten minutes, but as time wears on your anxiety about what's going to happen slowly ratchets up, fueled by increasing uncertainty about where you and Cotton stand. Why is it so hard to talk to her now? It should be easier! It doesn't make any fricking sense.
Cotton seems to be having a hard time with it too. At least, you think so. You're not really sure about anything when it comes to her any more, not after you missed something so colossal for months. The fact you're both just making small-talk and avoiding the whole reason you got sent up here means she has to be thinking about it too though, right?
Raccoon guy has just been sitting silently at the table, looking uncomfortable and occasionally shooting glances at J when he moves. You're not really sure why he's here, but you also don't really care.
Finally the doorknob to the meeting room rattles and you brace yourself for whatever comes next. Sapphire steps through first, now dressed in casual clothes, holding the door open for a food cart pushed by—
"Sis!?!"
You'd recognize that streak of brilliant yellow dye on raven black hair anywhere. She shoots you a smirk as J walks up to help guide the cart to the table.
"Hey squirt! Couldn't even make it one night before getting sent all the way to the boss' office, huh? You trying to make me look bad?"
You cross your arms and return the grin.
"I mean, did you expect anything else?"
"Yes. Yes I did."
Ouch. Okay, that has you feeling a little sheepish, even if you weren't the one that bent the rules. Cotton steps up to help J unload the cart and set places at the end of the table closest to the door. You take the cue and help out too. Sis hands Cotton some silverware and eases into a scowl.
"And you must be the famous Cottontail! Or maybe infamous, if what Fire tells me is true? Putting the moves on my baby sister, huh? Watch yourself, missy. I'm not about to let some random bunny girl steal her purity."
Cotton turns bright red and nearly drops a plate, stumbling through something halfway between an apology and an explanation. Sis holds the scowl a hair longer before dropping the act and ruffling Cotton's hair with a laugh.
"I'm just messin' with you! We both know Cherry is a little turd, and anything you can do will only be an improvement."
"Hey!"
"Shush. The responsible furs are talking." Sis extends a paw to Cotton. "Livewire, but you can just call me Wire."
Cotton accepts the offered paw, white fur in white. "Oh, um, hi. Cherry calls me Cottontail, so I picked that."
"So I've heard. She wouldn't shut up about you when we talked a few weeks back."
Cotton's ears perk up. "Really?"
"Oh yeah. Years since I've seen my little sister—years!—and all she wants to talk about is the bunny girl that moved into her neighborhood. It was all Cottontail did this, Cotton did that—"
"S-shut up! I did not just talk about Cotton."
"Ah! But you admit that you did talk about her!"
"Well, I mean... yeah."
"You talked about her a lot."
Now it's your turn to sputter and blush. Sis just ignores you, casually waving a fork in your direction as she leans in towards Cotton.
"I don't know what you see in her, honestly. You could do so much better. I could set you up with this cute little ferret I know. She's about your age, well mannered, good family, smells better..."
Cotton actually smiles her little blushing smile at that last jab. You catch Sapphire and J suppressing chuckles too, out of the corner of your eye. Great. So that's how it's going to be, huh? Ooh, you're so going to get back at her for this.
"What are you even doing here? Don't you have something better to do?"
"I work here, thank you very much. And if you'd just managed to be a normal fur for one night I could have made it a nice surprise after you got accepted. But no!"
Sis pulls out a chair and offers it to Cotton with a dramatic wave, the bunny quietly coming to your defense as she settles in.
"Um, actually, it's not Cherry's fault. I broke the rules."
"Fire told me. Pretty sure we can blame that one on Cherry too. Bad influence."
Sis directs you to the chair next to Cotton. You can see what she's doing, but trying to get out of it would only make it worse, so you roll with it. Sapphire sits down near the end of the table on Cotton's other side and starts passing plates to J, which he fills with heaping helpings from the trays on the cart. Cotton accepts a plate piled high with veggies before continuing.
"No, it was my decision. I wanted to do it."
J scoots the cart out of the way and sits down at the end of the table. Sis takes the seat to his right, across the table from Sapphire. The raccoon guy is directly across from you, an empty seat between him and Sis, looking a bit like a third wheel as you pass him a filled plate. J speaks between mouthfuls of some sort of stir-fry.
"That's an understatement. I turn my back for five seconds and poof, no more little bunny. Then I find you on top of Cherry, stripping in the middle of the lounge, your collar removed without permission..."
Cotton pokes at her vegetables sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I couldn't wait. She was kissing some guys, and they were going to... you know... and I had to tell her before that. But she was mad at me because I said all that dumb stuff about wanting her to go away, and that I didn't want to be bad, but I was lying."
J grins his big, goofy smile. "I thought you might have some interest in Cherry. Caught little looks you kept sending in her direction. Wasn't sure if that was just me projecting though. Figured my story might plant a seed for the future, and maybe it would keep you from ruining a friendship in the meantime. Didn't expect it to have such a dramatic effect though."
Sapphire makes a humming sound as she wipes her lips with a napkin and finishes a bite.
"I wondered a little too, though I was much less sure than J."
You stare at the ceiling and sigh. "Was this obvious to everyfur but me?"
Sis doesn't even look up from her plate. "Yes."
The table chuckles as you shoot her a go-to-hell look that she shrugs off effortlessly.
You can tell that Cotton is a little uncomfortable with all the attention, but every time you sneak a peek at her she's wearing that tiny little smile. It makes you feel... well it makes you feel a lot of things. They're not bad things though, right? Cotton looks at you for the first time since you sat down and it makes your heart rate double.
"I kinda wanted you to find out, but I was scared."
"D-did I do something to make you scared?"
Cotton seems surprised. "No!"
"Then why didn't you say something?"
"I wanted to! You make it look easy, just... doing what you want. But it's hard! I like being good. It used to be easy. I didn't want anything bad. And then I met you and I... I never wanted anything more in my whole life."
Cotton can't make eye contact for this last part, and you find yourself suddenly needing to take a long sip from your glass, despite not being thirsty. Thankfully she continues before you run out of water.
"I couldn't be good and have you too, so I had to pick. I tried to figure out some way I could have both. Maybe I could make you good, and then maybe I could be good, and we could just be friends. Or maybe you would want me back and I could just let you... have me. But I was being dumb. I was scared. I was scared of going to hell, and being bad, and... just a lot of stuff."
You finally pin down one of the ideas that's been floating in your head since Cotton and Sapphire's conversation in the hall.
"Can't you just, like, do that thing where you talk to a priest and get forgiveness or some junk?"
Despite the soft tone of voice, you startle when the raccoon guy speaks. You'd practically forgotten he was there.
"It doesn't work like that, I'm afraid. Repentance is required for forgiveness. You don't get to use confession as a get-out-of-jail-free card. Well, not since the church stopped selling indulgences, anyway."
J sets his silverware down and gestures to the guy.
"Everyfur, this is... well, we haven't actually settled on a nickname yet. Let's just call him Priest for now. Given his history it seems like a decent placeholder. No real names down here."
The guy looks uncomfortable. "It has been a long time since I was worthy of that title. I've barely spoken of it for years, how could you possibly know that?"
"We do our research on all prospective members. You got flagged weeks ago. When we found out about your connections to the church the plan was to get you banned upstairs as quickly as possible.
"Chester was the first to stick up for you. He didn't just vote against banning you from the cover bar, he actually wanted to card you—invite you down here. We thought he was crazy, but finding furs that fit is his main job, and he's got a track record to back it up."
Sapphire leans down to speak quietly to Cotton. "Chester is our barkeeper upstairs. Moose fellow. You'd like him. He's a big softy." Priest nibbles on some greens as he absorbs what J is saying.
"I see. Is it alright if I ask what 'down here' is? I'm still a little foggy on that point. She—" Priest gestures at Sapphire "—wouldn't explain anything, and you didn't seem to be in a question answering mood, before."
J's grin is strangely sheepish. "Fair questions. I'd apologize, but it's my job to keep this place safe, and sometimes that means thinking outside the box.
"Short version is we believe in letting all furs be themselves and enjoy each other's company, as long as they're safe, keep this place a secret, and respect every fur's choices. That applies to all sexes, orientations, and a wide range of ages, including those below what's legal." J points to you and Cotton. "It's their first night here."
Priest's eyebrows go up. "So, by enjoy each other's company I assume you mean...?"
"Whatever they agree to and is safe. Sex included."
Priest leans back in his chair. You can't help but mess with him a little and waggle your eyebrows in his direction. You can see it hit the bullseye as he squirms. It's everything you can do to keep from snickering. J seems oblivious as he continues.
"You can see why we have to be selective with our membership, not only because every fur we add increases the risk of getting shut down, but also for the safety of our members, the youngest especially. We don't tolerate exploitation or abuse in any form."
Priest focuses back on J and you let him off the hook.
"I'm not sure how can you say that with a straight face."
Sis jumps in between bites and J cedes the floor. "I was skeptical too, when the club got started years ago. Things were a little different then, but nothing has changed about making sure furs make their own choices. I didn't think it could work. Didn't exactly have a lot of positive examples to go off of.
"My home life wasn't pretty. Dad drank a lot and beat my mother. Cherry tells me the drinking hasn't changed, though our mom left the picture when I was younger than Cherry is now. Not a great environment to grow up in. I tried to shield Cherry from our dad as much as I could, but no fur should have to deal with that kind of shit, and I was still a cub myself.
"Fell in with a bad crowd. Started doing drugs, and not the harmless stuff. Took something hard at a party one night. It let me escape all the shit from home and just go numb for a while. Felt good. So, I did it again. And then again, and again, and again. Before I knew it I couldn't do anything but think about the next hit, just like the pushers wanted. Obviously I couldn't afford to maintain the habit, so I started turning tricks for more."
You've never heard this before. You're too stunned to say anything. Priest seems more sympathetic than surprised.
"I was so far gone the first time I got whored out that I didn't even care. From there it was easy to just keep doing it. I became a toy for a bunch of thugs. When I wasn't busy with one or two or three of them they'd send me out to make some cash with the rest of their girls.
"I wouldn't go home for days at a time. Any time I did, it was a screaming match with my dad. If it weren't for Cherry I wouldn't have gone back at all. It was the only time I was sober. I couldn't let her see me like that—like our dad always was.
"It starts to get a little blurry around this point. I could tell that I wasn't making it home as often. I was losing track of time for longer and longer stretches. Then one day I went back and our trailer wasn't there any more. I talked to a few of the neighbors and they told me that my dad had pulled up stakes. No fur knew where he went."
You remember that night, how Dad came home extra surly, rambling about something, acting paranoid, throwing stuff and hitching up the trailer. You'd screamed at him when you realized he was getting ready to leave and didn't care that Sis wasn't with you. He just threw you in the trailer, slammed the door, and drove off. You spent the whole night crying while the trailer bounced and rocked, stuff falling out of cabinets and crashing to the floor.
"That kicked my legs out from under me. I thought about going to the police, but I didn't exactly have a high opinion of them, and the feeling was mutual. This also wasn't the first time Dad did this, it was just the first time he'd left me behind. He tended to rack up debts that he couldn't pay.
"I knew he'd keep a low profile no matter where he went. Probably change names again. I didn't give a shit about losing him. He was a bastard, and the older I got the more I hated his guts, but he took Cherry. Protecting her was the only thing that still mattered to me, and now she was trapped with my dad because I couldn't hack it... It was my fault. I..."
Sis trails off. You can tell she's having as much trouble keeping it together as you are. You feel Cotton's paw wrap around yours under the table. The contact catches you off guard, and as you glance in her direction you catch her face creased with sadness. You quickly look away to keep from falling apart, only to find mirrored expressions on J and Sapphire's faces, directed at Sis. It's too much, and hot tears roll down your cheeks. Sis starts to crack too, as she notices you.
"Hey now, don't you go turning on the waterworks."
"You picked the story" you croak in response. Sis manages a laugh, raspy and forced.
"Fair."
It's a few minutes before anyone can say anything. Sapphire pulls a bottle from the minibar in the corner, pouring Sis some wine and hugging her from behind before offering glasses to the other adults. You feel a little conflicted about seeing Sis drink, but figure now really isn't the time to make a big deal about it. It takes another minute or two, but eventually she returns to the tale.
"So, like you can probably guess, things went downhill from there. When I realized Cherry was gone, probably for good, I just gave up. Went back to the gang and let them fuck the shit out of me. I knew they didn't actually care about why I was such a mess after that, but at least they pretended long enough to get into my pants, and that was better than nothing.
"I don't know how long things went on like that. I just buried myself in the drugs and sex as deep as I could go. Only thing I really remember clearly was watching one of the other girls OD one night. She was even younger than I was. There was a lot of yelling about what to do before they eventually settled on dumping her somewhere.
"I remember thinking that's how I would go—choking on my own vomit while furs argued over how to get rid of me. A dark hole in my head told me it was what I deserved, and I believed it. I started looking forward to the day it would happen, pushing for bigger and bigger hits, hoping each one would be the last.
"I don't even remember the shootout that wiped out most of the gang. When I came around I didn't recognize where I was. There was this giant bear lady in the room. Scared the shit out of me. Took a while before I calmed down enough to listen, but eventually she explained what happened.
"Turns out my idiot crew had been messing with another gang, trying to take over turf. Eventually they pushed too hard, killed the wrong fur, and got a bigger response than they bargained for. The gang that wiped them out was the one that took me in—Momma Bear's crew.
"They cleaned me up. Took weeks. Felt like forever. Momma Bear spent a lot of time looking after me. I chewed her out and swore the paint of the walls, begged, cried, pleaded, fought, puked all over and spent nights soaking the sheets with cold sweat. It was the farthest thing from pretty, but she stayed with me through all of it.
"Spent some time getting to know the rest of her gang after I was well enough to walk around. They were in the middle of some shit. The fight with my old gang had forced an issue over leadership. Momma had been in charge of the whores for years, and had worked her way up to the boss' right paw before he bit it a few years back. She'd sorta just taken over by default after that, but there was some discontent about it, so every decision was political.
"Momma approved the hit on my old gang, but it didn't go down like she wanted. She didn't know there were cubs involved. As rough as my recovery was, I was one of the lucky ones. Bunch of others got caught in the crossfire. That almost broke Momma. She was trying to take things in a new direction, but not everyfur was onboard with the idea. Some thought she was going soft, or that she'd been too soft to begin with.
"So, Momma split the gang. She left the businesses to the agitators who wanted her gone, claimed most of the liquid assets for herself, and let everyfur decide who they wanted to follow.
"It was about as bloodless as a coup could be. Nearly all the girls stayed loyal to Momma. I know it sounds crazy, especially if you've never lived in that world, but she was a good head misstress. A bunch of the barkeeps, bouncers, and nearly all the behind-the-scenes types stuck with her too. They were the good ones, relatively speaking. They bought into Momma's vision of something better than death and backstabbing, and made her faction big enough that it looked like too much work to just kill us all.
"The rough types all smelled opportunity. With Momma gone there was a power vacuum that any fur with balls could take a shot at. Even with most of their cash depleted they still had turf, street muscle to hold it, a reputation that said they weren't to be fucked with, and all the sources of income to replace what they lost.
"Momma made sure to point all this out to them, since most were too stupid to figure it out for themselves. If they'd known just how much money Momma was walking off with they might have felt differently, but every fur who knew was on Momma's side, and they weren't telling.
"So we split. I stuck with Momma, of course. Not like I had anything else to hang onto. We hit a new city, opened up a club, and started building things differently. First new rule was zero violence—as much as possible, anyway. No gang warfare, no hits, no 'insurance' scams, no skullduggery. Bouncing a fur who couldn't take no for an answer was about as rough as we got, and we've tried to stick to that.
"Part of pulling that off was going upscale. Momma picked us a good spot, right on the fringe between the high-class muckety-mucks with money to burn and the seedier parts of town where furs are open to having their paws greased.
"The fact we had underage furs from the old gang was a big part of our cachet. Lots of furs are willing to pay a premium for that kind of access, especially if we're discreet. That got us a reputation and customers early on, but it didn't sit right with Momma.
"After a little while she announced that we wouldn't be in the prostitution game any more. Any of the girls who wanted to stick around were offered positions as paid staff if they were old enough, and the cubs could stay or go, no strings attached. The ones that didn't stay got a big chunk of cash and an open-ended invitation to come back for any reason if they ever needed help. Most of us stayed. We didn't have anywhere to go. It's why we'd gotten singled out by the gangs in the first place.
"I don't know if you'll believe me when I tell you that Momma loved us cubs, and I don't mean that in any sort of sexual way. She got her nickname honestly, back when she was head mistress, making sure her girls were taken care of as best as she could manage. She wasn't always able to do right by us in the early days, even by her own standards, but to most of us she was Momma, and to any fur who messed with us she was every inch the bear.
"Getting out of prostitution left us with two issues. The first was the cold business problem of keeping the doors open. The second was the fact that a lot of the girls who decided to stay actually enjoyed having fun with the patrons, and kept at it even after they weren't getting paid for it. We had some long squabbles about what to do about that.
"Eventually the cubs talked Momma into the idea that we could make something better without becoming like the rest of society that had failed us. We landed on the model we use today. No fur pays for sex. No fur is a whore. Adults pay for membership in the club and keep the lights on.
"If you're a gentlefur and not an asshole, well, there are a lot of cubs looking for some fun, and they get in for free. We wanted a place they could do that and stay safe—to be treated like flesh and blood who can make their own decisions, not just a couple of holes on two legs, and not perfect little dolls devoid of desire.
"After a while we figured out that meant helping cubs learn about who they are, what they want, and the tricks that their bodies and other furs can play on them. It also meant keeping plenty of furs on staff to look out for the younger members while they figure that out.
"Then there are furs in positions like me, and Cherry, and so many others who are already being abused and need somefur to pull them out of it. That became the core of what we do. Realizing that was who we were—not a gang, or a bar, or a whorehouse, was what finally got Momma to believe in it herself.
"It's good you're suspicious. There are a lot of assholes out there that won't hesitate to exploit others, including cubs. This city is worse than most. Assuming you believe what I've told you about my history, I think we can agree that I know that better than you do.
"That's why you should listen when I tell you that I spent years carrying a VIP card for Cherry, searching for her in every city I visited, praying to any god that would listen that I would get the chance to see her again and bring her here. If there was a single shred of doubt in my mind that this place would harm her, I'd tear it all down myself."
Sis leans back in her chair and takes another sip of wine, her piece said. You'd gotten little peeks at that story earlier, but just the cub version. Knowing she never stopped looking for you, even after you'd somehow gotten it into your head that she'd abandoned you, leaves you more than a little choked up. Priest looks introspective. He barely moved for the last ten minutes straight. His plate sits mostly untouched, probably getting a little cold by now.
"That's... a heck of a story. I don't think I would have believed it if Cherry wasn't sitting right here. I'm still not completely convinced, but it's also difficult to believe that you're all performing some kind of elaborate act. If it is, you've all missed your calling. You should be in theater."
Sis makes an exaggerated bow, ducking her head and fluttering her free paw. Sapphire clears her throat.
"That's part of why we decided to try this. It's not the normal way we do things, but we realized that it made more sense for you, Cherry, and Cottontail to just talk to us together and get the truth, instead of trying to test you all separately."
Cotton beats you to the question. "Test?"
"Mhm. Our tests are more than just your bloodwork. Like J mentioned earlier, we're careful about who we let in, especially the adults these days. You and Priest had us worried for some of the same reasons, at first. We weren't sure if you'd turn around and tell somefur about what you saw here and get us shut down. We still haven't made all the final decisions, actually. We're taking some big risks tonight with the both of you, and our normal approach wasn't working."
Something seems to click in Priest's head. "That's what that was all about? In the room?"
"Yes. With both J and I. I'm the carrot, he's the stick. I... don't really like it. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy playing as much as any of the other furs here, that's still my choice. What I don't like is the sneaking around and trying to trick other furs into telling us the truth. I understand why it's necessary. I do. I just like this much better. It's riskier. Maybe it will blow up in our faces and I'll regret talking J and Wire into it, but I hope not."
"I won't tell anyfur. I promise." Cotton's honesty is written all over her face. Sapphire smiles gently and takes her paw.
"I believe you. I think J does too. It's what we were worried about at first, but after you made your move on Cherry it's pretty obvious that we can trust you. But... that also made us worried about something a little different. We thought it would be good to have this little dinner with you for another reason."
Sapphire fixes Priest with an intense look. "I know you're still not completely sure about this place, and that's fair. Set that aside for a moment. I want you to address just one thing, and it's this girl who just accepted that she's going to hell because she loves another girl.
"We've actually done more than a little digging on you, and I think you're the fur she needs to hear from now. J told her about growing up denying this part of himself and how destructive it can be. I can tell her as much about her heats as we understand, but none of us can help her with this. We can tell her it isn't wrong to love Cherry, but the church says differently. What do you say?"
Priest stutters. "I-I'm hardly qualif—"
"Try. Anyway."
Priest sighs and dips his head as Cotton scoots forward, all her attention on the raccoon. He sits quietly for a pawful of seconds, collecting his thoughts.
"I don't really know what to say... I used to think I had answers, but the longer I've lived the less I'm sure about anything. I may still be a priest on paper, technically I'm on a very extended sabbatical, but I apostatized years ago. I don't know if anything I can tell you will do any good. There's a chance that all I can give you are more questions, because that's the only thing I seem to have these days."
Cotton's nose twitches as she absorbs this. "You don't believe anymore?"
"I'm afraid not. I don't know if there's a god out there, or if they are listening. I vacillate from one day to the next. I just know that I can't believe what the church teaches any more."
"Why not?"
"Well... that's a bit of a long story."
Sapphire smiles. "Long stories are what we're here for. I think I need desert for the next one though. Anyfur want some cake?"","pools_count":1,"title":"The Club - 15 - Facts, Fables, Food, and Family","deleted":"f","public":"t","mimetype":"image/png","pagecount":"4","rating_id":"2","rating_name":"Adult","ratings":[{"content_tag_id":"4","name":"Sexual Themes","description":"Erotic imagery, sexual activity or arousal","rating_id":"2"},{"content_tag_id":"5","name":"Strong Violence","description":"Strong violence, blood, serious injury or death","rating_id":"2"}],"submission_type_id":"12","type_name":"Writing - Document","guest_block":"t","friends_only":"f","comments_count":"2","views":"181","latest_file_name":"4733186_NonceSensei_tmp10w048de_final.png","latest_mimetype":"image/png","latest_file_url_full":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/full/4733/4733186_NonceSensei_tmp10w048de_final.png","latest_file_url_screen":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/4733/4733186_NonceSensei_tmp10w048de_final.png","latest_file_url_preview":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/4733/4733186_NonceSensei_tmp10w048de_final.jpg","latest_thumbnail_url_huge_noncustom":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/4733/4733186_NonceSensei_tmp10w048de_final.jpg","latest_thumbnail_url_large_noncustom":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/4733/4733186_NonceSensei_tmp10w048de_final_noncustom.jpg","latest_thumbnail_url_medium_noncustom":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/4733/4733186_NonceSensei_tmp10w048de_final_noncustom.jpg","latest_thumb_medium_noncustom_x":"120","latest_thumb_medium_noncustom_y":"120","latest_thumb_large_noncustom_x":"200","latest_thumb_large_noncustom_y":"200","latest_thumb_huge_noncustom_x":"300","latest_thumb_huge_noncustom_y":"300"}