The otter ran upstairs two steps at a time. “Okay, I’m hurrying! Where is it?”

“It’s on my dresser. The white purse. I’ve got to get your sister’s stuff all ready, she has to leave for daycamp!” his mom called up from the living room.

The bedroom door was closed, like it usually was. It felt weird to go into his parent’s bedroom when they were downstairs, but he turned the doorknob and flicked the light on. The bed was hastily made, dad’s black socks were on the floor, and the room smelled like his mom’s floral perfume. Her purse was on the dresser with her wallet shoved into it. Success.

Reaching to grab it, the boy noticed one of the drawers was half open. Just mom-underwear and bras. He giggled, ew. And… wait. What’s that? He gingerly reached between the fabric and pulled out something weird, like a long plastic wand, but with a soft knob on the end and a switch. MAGIC VIBE, it said. That’s weird, why was she keeping this hidden?

“TICK!! We have to GO, buddy! Did you get lost up there?”

He shoved it back in the drawer, hurriedly covering it with underwear. “Got it, mom!! Coming!” He pushed the drawer closed and grabbed the purse, running down the stairs.

“S-sorry, had to take a pee.”

She took the purse, raising an eyebrow. “Too much info, kiddo. You coming? It’s only ten minutes away.”

“Ehh, I dunno, I…OOF,” he huffed out as his sister barreled into his legs. 

Her huge pink pony backpack was as big as she was. “Yeah! Take me to camp!”

“FINE, let’s go, but I’m not staying. That’s little kids’ camp.”

His sister thpppt’d and walked out into the garage. “Not a little kid.”

“Are so!”

“Stop,” mom sighed automatically. “C’mon, you two anklebiters.”

The ride there and back was exactly what he thought it would be: ten minutes of his sister listing all of the activities she’d be doing that day, then ten minutes of his mom listing all of his chores to get done that weekend in between complaining about how daycamp had gotten SO much more expensive since he’d gone there a few years back. The young otter looked out the car window, looking at the stores and restaurants he’d never gone into and the ones he’d visited. Was that restaurant seriously called Ho Ding? What was Sichuan food, anyway? He’d have to find out sometime. Maybe for his birthday?

“Tick, I asked how school was.”

“Huh? Oh, okay, I guess. Math is dumb, we’re doing fractions. My social studies teacher keeps spelling United States with an apostrophe at the end, like “United State’s”, and when I said it was wrong, he said “Which one of us is the teacher, hmm?” like I was an idiot or something.”

“Between the two of you, you’re not the idiot.”

“Yeah, right? He also told us we’re skipping the part in our book about the Vietnam War because “it wasn’t a real war”. I don’t even know what that means but he seemed kinda angry about it.”

His mom rolled her eyes and sighed. “Joe, I mean, Mr. Leidecker is… kind of an angry guy. He’s not really an idiot. Just… don’t antagonize him if at all possible. It’s only another week or so til summer.”

“Antagonize? Like make him a bad guy?”

“Just humor him, okay? I’ll get you a good book on Vietnam and we’ll watch Apocalypse Now in a few years. Good job on catching that apostrophe.”

“Kay, mom, thanks.”

The station wagon pulled into the garage. “You get those fractions done. Get ‘em out of the way so your weekend is clear, huh? I’ve got some cleaning to do and we’ll have lunch a little later.”

The otter closed the car door and headed in. “Fractions. Ooookay.”

His mom chuckled. “They aren’t that bad. You’ll use them every day.”

“Mom, seriously. When’s the last time you had to add 2/5 and 5/8?”

“Ten minutes ago. Grownups do it in our heads just for fun. Now scoot, divide those remainders. I’ll bring you cookies.”

“UGH. Okay. For cookies.”

Blowing off the dirty pink eraser dust, the otter squinted at the homework page again. “This is so stupid. Fractions with question marks where the numbers go? I hate this.”

“You mean variables?”

“Is that what question marks mean? Mrs Williams didn’t even explain this. Oh, is it cookie time?” He turned around and felt his tummy plummet.

His mom had a cookie in one hand and, in the other, the strange gadget he’d found earlier. “Maybe. If you tell me why you were in my underwear drawer, buddy.”

The cub panicked and gripped his pencil. “I wasn’t! I was just getting your purse! I was in your bedroom for like two seconds and I never saw any underwears or bras!”

“Triskadekaphobia Maxwell. Your dad’s doing his volunteer thing at the zoo where he talks about monkeys with strangers. Unless we’ve got a ghost that goes through our stuff and closes drawers, I know it was you.”

She used his ridiculous full name. She never does that. “I… I was just curious! I saw it open and… there was this thing? I didn’t mess it up, I just didn’t know what it was.”

She sighed and sat down on his bed. “Buddy… that’s my private stuff. It’s super weird to go through your mom’s underwear drawer, you know that, right? I don’t go through your drawers when you’re not here, because I respect your privacy. For all I know, you’ve got all kinds of bombs and manifestos and mad-scientist stuff in there, but I don’t know, because it’s your stuff. So respect my privacy too, okay?”

He put down his pencil and nodded. “I’m sorry, mom. I just…. haven’t ever been in your room much and got too curious, I guess.”

The corner of her mouth curled a little. Maybe she wasn’t that mad? “I get that. It’s kinda weird to live in a house your whole life and never see everything in it, huh? And then you see this weird thingamajig and you wonder what the heck your mom is doing with it.”

He tried to smile a little, too, to match hers. “I don’t even know what it is, so yeah. It’s not for cleaning, is it?”

She laughed, which surprised him. “No, no, not even close. Watch,” she said, plugging it in, and flicking the switch; the handheld thing made a humming sound and the knob on the end became a blur as it vibrated. “You’re a smart kid, what do you think this is for?”

He thought for a moment. “It’s like those sports massage things on TV, but smaller.”

“Got it in one. Except I don’t play sports. Not even tennis anymore.”

“Uh.. it’s for… stress? That’s what they say massagers are for, right?”

“Closer.” She took his paw in her hand and gently pressed the soft vibrating knob to the palm. He laughed and wiggled his fingers. “It tickles!”

“Right, it feels nice and tickly, yeah? So where else could you use this that’s not for muscles?”

Pondering that, the young otter furrowed his brow. Underwear drawer. Underwear drawer! He gasped and pulled his paw away, blushing. “Ew, mom! No way!”

She laughed out loud, turning it off. “Yes way! You said you were curious, now you know.” She held it up, looking it over. “It’s very useful,” she smiled, teasing.

“Ugh, mom! I can’t believe I touched it.”

“Oh, relax, Tick, it’s not like it’s dirty. You know how well I clean things. And now you know what a vibrator feels like.”

He looked at his paw and flexed his fingers. “It tickled, but felt… kinda neat.” His blush deepened as he found himself imagining how that would feel in other spots. Down below… his mom must have…. He shook his head. “Well. Um. I have uh… m-math. Lots of homework. Fractions and demolitions.”

Smirking, she took his paw again, gently, turning him back towards her. “Look. I know you. You’re the most curious kid I know. The minute I turn my back, you’re going to be searching through my drawers… carefully, this time, so I won’t know… to find this and see how it feels. And if you can’t find it, you’re going to be so distracted thinking about it that you won’t get anything done. And you’ve already got a C in math.”

The kid frowned. She was right. “Yeah, but that’s because math is…” He stopped, because the buzzy thing was suddenly in his paw, solid, smooth and plastic.

“Here. Go for it.”

He blinked, staring at it, confused. He’s not in trouble? “Wait, what?”

“It’s your turn to try it out.”

“Really? I can? But…” He looked around awkwardly, not sure what to do with it. She didn’t mean… “You don’t mean like… now, do you?”

“Sure, now. Your sister isn’t home, it’s the weekend, and you’re curious to see what it’s like.”

The otter paused and looked at the door. “But… I mean… you’re gonna…”

“Watch to make sure you figure it out? Thought you’d never ask. Heck, if personal privacy isn’t a thing, I can stick around, right?”

He sighed. “I said I was sorry, mom.”

“Aw, it’s not a punishment, scamp. I’m just teasing,” she chuckled, ruffling his head. “What do you think, want to try it?“

“I mean… kinda… “

She grinned. “You can leave your underwear on.”

Tick paused. His imagination was in overdrive. It might feel neat. What would it be like? He was actually allowed to do this grownup thing? He didn’t have to be naked. It was like a massage, right? They were healthy or something! “M-maybe. I dunno.”

She started to reach for it. “Last chance!”

He held it in both paws. He’d decided. “Okay. Can you… close my door? It’s kinda weird to have it open for some reason when I’m holding this.”

“Aw. Of course, little guy.” She stepped over and shut it, clicking the lock for good measure. “All set. Oh! Well, look at you,” she laughed, turning to see him in just his white briefs — his favorites, the ones with red seams — and undersized t-shirt. That didn’t take long. “Leaving the old dinosaur shirt on. Classy.”

He looked down at the t-rex and stegosaurus. He’d had it since he was smaller and refused to stop wearing it. “Classy? Really?”

“Oh, very,” she smirked. “Now, c’mon, on the bed with you.”

He clambered onto the unmade bed and sat cross-legged in the middle. “Kay.”

Mom fluffed up his pillow, tossing it to him. “Gotta get more comfy than that! Let’s prop up a pillow or two, and you can lie back, tail under your rear. Perfect. OK, got the toy? Go ahead and turn it on low, that’s the first notch.”

The otter’s paw trembled a bit. He was seriously trying this thing with his mom watching him? “O-okay. It’s going.” The vibrator hummed in his paw.

“Try it on your tummy. Just along the sides.”

He let it push gently against his belly and cackled, yelping. The vibe made a soft farty noise as it buzzed his tum through his shirt. “Gah, tickles!!”

“Good, now try your tail. Here, spread your legs, just right down there.”

Bending his back a little to reach, he pressed the knob along the thick part of his rudder, and shivered, the vibrations tickling right up his spine, down to the tip. “Oh, it.. it feels really neat, actually… weird, but… I like that,” he admitted, pushing it a little firmer into his tail.

“Feels funny, hmm? Not tickly, but tingly?”

The boy nodded, running it around his tail, feeling the vibrations in different spots. “Tingly, yeah.”

She let him explore down there with the buzzy toy for a bit. “I can tell you like it,” she grinned. “Look down.”

Lost in the fascinating new sensations, he blinked. “At what?” and if he could blush harder, he would have, seeing the small tent in his briefs. “Omigod. Omigod.” Not with his mom looking! She can’t see that!

His mom gently took the paw that was automatically darting to cover himself. “Tick, it’s okay! You’ve been massaging your rudder and that’s a very natural reaction. This is exactly why I wanted you to try this, so you can learn how cool it is when your body reacts to things.”

That’s absolutely not a word he expected his mother to say. “This is… cool?”

“Oh, yeah. Rad to the max. It’s even bitchin’.”

“Pffff!! Ahaha!” The boy cackled. “Mom, c’mon.”

She grinned at him, “Hey, I used to be cool, before I was a mom!”

“Aw, you’re still cool, mom.” He gingerly touched the massager to his tail again and prrr’d softly. 

She watched him explore with the buzzy toy, trying not to giggle as his tent twitched from the sensations. “Thanks, kiddo. Y’know, I think you might be ready for…. Advanced Mode.”

“Huh? How’s that work?”

“Tails are nice, but buzzy pros win bonus points for trying it on other, special spots.”

Tick looked down. His poky tent wasn’t going away by itself. “I’d rather have a bonus cookie than points.”

She laughed, “You can spend points on cookies!”

“Hmm. 500 points?”

“450. Non negotiable.”

“Deal.” And he gingerly touched the humming knob to the tip of his tented briefs, gasping and squirming upwards on the pillow. “Aaah!”

His mom hid a giggle behind her paw. “Careful there, buddy! Too much too soon! Try it a little bit lower. Real slowly.”

The otter frowned in concentration, holding the toy in both paws now. “You mean, right here?” And he gently nudged it to his shaft, sending vibrations through him. “O-ohh…”

She nodded, “That’s the spot! Try pushing it a little harder against it.” Scooting forward, she leaned in to watch more closely, one paw tucked in her lap, biting her lip gently.

Concentrating on the intense tingly sensations, the otter pressed the flexible soft knob against himself, letting out a breathy moan without even meaning to. Nudging the toy a little lower, then higher, he gasped again when it found even more sensitive spots, his tent twitching inside his underwear as his boyhood reacted to the vibrations. “F-feels awesome right there…”

“See, you’re so good at this! You can try moving it around a little, or… there’s Extra Advanced Mode.”

“Wh… another level? Nnngh… “

“Mmhmm, for big bonus points. Are you ready?”

He nodded, breathing hard, the boy feeling more and more like he might have to pee. “I can do it!”

“Well then.” With a quick motion, his mom reached in and flicked the switch to high. “Let’s see.”

The knob’s buzzing became a blur and its humming filled the room as he squealed, “Eee! It’s so intense! M-mom, I can’t…”

“Can’t what? You can do it, champ. Ooh, look at you, about to burst.” She smiled as his face scrunched up, and she leaned in further, quietly rubbing herself with her fingertips as she watched his excitement growing quickly. “Go on. Show me,” she whispered.

The cub’s back arched off the bed and he gave a series of sharp gasps, as if just on the edge of something, then he moaned as his stiff penis twitched dryly against the vibrating knob, pulsing with his eager climax. “M-mommm!”

“Theeeere you go,” she purred soothingly, “you did so well! Just let it happen…” one paw started to reach out to help, but she drew it back, thinking better of it. Let him have his moment.

His rear gradually lowered back to the bed, tail flicking and wiggling underneath him, as his orgasm ebbed and the vibrations started to feel way, way too intense. The cub sucked air between his teeth. “Fffff!”

“Ahh, let’s slow that back down,” mom smiled, reaching over to dial the vibes back a bit. “Better?”

He nodded, taking a few breaths. He could still feel his penis pulse every once in a while as the gentle hum tickled it. “Better. Um,” he wondered as he prodded himself with the toy, “Does it just keep going? Or should I turn it off?”

Mom grinned, watching him nudge his half-hard bulge with the wand. “Well, at your age, it might just keep going. Wanna try for bonus points?”

“Mmf. Maybe… tomorrow?” He giggled a bit, turning the switch off and dropping the toy next to him. “That was kind of a lot. And I wanna cash in my points already.”

“Oh yeah! This one’s free,” she smiled, handing him the chocolate chip Soft Batch. “Did you have fun?”

Shoving the cookie in his mouth, he nodded enthusiastically. “Mfffmmff! Yeah, totally!” And, leaning in, he gave his mom a cookie-flavored kiss on her whiskery cheek. “Thanks for the help, mom. Love you.”

She plucked the toy off the bed and peered at the soft knob. Not a drop. Not yet, anyway. “Love you too, honey. Mind if I hold onto it? For safe keeping? I might need to make sure you didn’t break it or something.”

Grinning, he wiggled his tail, sitting up. “Can I watch you uh, keep it safe sometime?”

Now it was her turn to blush. “Maybe. Maybe sometime.”

“You can earn some bonus points!” he teased.

She laughed and pushed him back on the bed. “You dork.”