


	Space walked home from mowing yet another lawn early in the afternoon on a quiet fall day, a couple weeks before Harvestfest.  The warm weather of the previous month had somehow managed to carry over into October, and he was intent on enjoying it while it lasted.  Following the age worn and cracked sidewalk slabs, he found his way to the apartment complex he currently called home.  He stopped and looked at the ugly steel door, and kicked his paw through the dried, red-orange leaves fallen upon the ground.
	For some reason, he felt restless.  Unusually so.  Maybe it was just something in the air, or the Snack Falcon burrito he ate kicking in at long last.  But whatever it was, he didn't feel like going upstairs and dealing with the tedium that was already starting to set in here in his new home.  Turning from the door, he looked out across and down the road, reflecting that it would be time to move on soon.  He still didn't know where everything was, but every day, there were fewer new things to catch his interest, fewer furs who were new, strange, and exciting, fewer stories about the past and life of this town to keep him occupied.  It had been two months since he had arrived, and it would be unlikely that he would be here for more than another two.
	An old car came trundling down the street.  In it sat an older looking bear, an astronomy teacher by the name of Mr. Chazokov.  He waved, and Mr. Chazokov waved back cheerily.  He had spent a few hours a week or two back talking to him about the constellations in the night sky, and the history behind them.  It had been a productive and educational evening.  But now that he knew him, he was just another face.  Space gave a last look around, and took off in a more or less random direction.
	Across the street, and down, he left the town center.  For a long time, he walked, taking turns as whim struck him, saying, “Hi,” and striking up casual, friendly conversations with passersby headed in a similar direction.  Soon, he had left behind even the quaint houses of the suburbs, and he came across a bridge leading out of town.
	The sun had fallen low in the sky, and was framed by a small break in the trees created by the stream that ran below the bridge.  A moderately heavy mid fall breeze kept the leaves in motion, the sound mixing in beautifully with the sound of burbling water down below.  The tang of old, rusting iron from the bridge assaulted his nose, but underneath it, the crisp, clean air of the season could still be detected.  Space walked out onto the bridge and stared into the sun for a moment, lost in though.  He remembered all the places he had been over the twenty years of his life.  Only four years on his own, and he had already been to and through over a dozen places.  He wanted to go to Bright Harbor next though.  It was near by, and sounded like a great place.  Looking out into the endless sky, Space felt a little well of sadness for all the cool furs he had met and partied with, all the interesting conversations with odd fellows, the strange places he had been to.  He would never see any of them, or go to any of those places again.  But, there were always more furs.  New places, new stories, and more parties.
	Space sighed, turned, and stopped dead.  Behind him, sitting on the rail of the bridge behind him was a young cat woman.  She was dark blue, and wore a black shirt emblazoned with 'Sacred Youth'.  She sat there, head cocked, like she could hear the thoughts in his head, and somehow empathized.  She was a little on the short side, and a bit squat, but was attractive, and had curves in all the right places.  Her breasts were a nice size, and her tight shorts left fairly little to the imagination.  He could feel his pants tighten just a little bit.  
	“Hello, I'm Ben.  But most of my friends call me Space,”  Space said, walking forward, and extending a hand.  The young woman looked at him with renewed interest.
	“You might want to lay off the weed a little then, Space man.  My name is Mae.  Don't think I've seen you around here before.”
	Space laughed jovially.  He kept the one paw extended, but put the other into the large front pocket of his dark red hoodie.  “I'm fairly new here.  Been around just a couple months. And what can I say?  I like to party.  If I'm not a little loopy at the end, then it wasn't that great to begin with.  I like your shirt.  Sacred Youth is pretty kick ass.”
	Mae smiled, and reached out to take the proffered paw.  “Parties are good.  Anyone down to party is down with me.  But really?  Complimenting my shirt?”  Mae's smile twisted into a teasing grin.  “That's not a good way to get into a girls pants.”
	Space was taken aback by Mae's forwardness.  He was thinking about it, for sure.  But he was surprised that she had come out and stated that like she had known it for fact.  He kept his cool, hesitating for only an instant before countering.  “Who said anything about getting into your pants?  It's the shirt that I want to see come off.”  Space congratulated himself on a smooth comeback.  It was honest and forward, meeting the challenge and hopefully raising it.
	Mae raised an eyebrow, let go of his paw, and the teasing smile became a grin.  “I like you.  A real smooth operator.  A guy like you is bound to be trouble, and I like trouble.”
	'Oh man, is this girl for real?'  Space wondered to himself.  But he didn't let the facade crack.  But he wanted to make sure he cemented himself with this hot kitty.  “What do you do for fun around here?  Anything exciting?”
	“Exciting?  In a place like this?  Hardly.  We got a church, if you can call that exciting.  Though, if your a masochist, going in there just so you can catch fire might count.  There's a drive in theater not that long of a drive away, but they've been playing the same cruddy black-and-white film since forever, and the mall has been dying since it was built.”
	“That's fair.  This does seem like quite a quiet place.  Not like some of the other places I've been.”
	“Other places?  You mean like home?”
	“Well, yes and no.  Hometown was quiet just like Possum Springs.  But I've been a lot of other places.  I travel a lot.  Don't like to stay in one place too long.  It helps with the boredom.  But shitty movie theaters and bursting into flame don't really count as fun in my book.”  Mae giggled.  “No, I meant like, do you go to haunted places, or have bonfires in the woods?  Or do you live dangerously and borrow books at the local library just to never return them, and never pay the fine?”  'Wow, that sounded dumb.' he thought.  But Mae's giggles turned into hard laughter.  He decided to push his advantage a little.
	“No, you wouldn't...  You couldn't!  What monster borrows books and never returns them and doesn't pay the fine?!  I'm not sure I should be seen associating with you.  Don't want to tarnish my “sparkling clean” record.”
	“Did...  Did you just air quote yourself?”  Mae said between bouts of laughter, hugging her sides in a useless gesture to protect herself from the cramps it was causing.
	“And if I did?”  He challenged, giving her a significant look.  Mae let is slide.  She was laughing to hard, and the absurdity caught her off guard.  “But really, what do you really do for fun here?”
	It took a moment more before Mae could collect her breath enough to form a reply.  “I usually just wander around town, talking to people.  Occasionally I go and look at the constellations with Mr. Chazokov, or listen to Selmers when she has a new poem.  She's pretty good.”
	“That sounds like what I do.  It's kind of fun to walk around and meet people.  Never know who you're gonna run into, what you might learn, or what mischief you might get into that way.”
	“I suppose you're right,”  Mae replied, a thoughtful expression taking up residence on her face.  I suppose my favorite thing to do is hang out with my friends Gregg and Bea.  They've been my friends for as long as I can remember.  Gregg works over at the Snack Falcon, and Bea works at her families store.”
	At the mention of the Snack Falcon, Space perked up a bit.  “Yellowish fur, fox, wears  a black leather jacket?”
	“Yeah!  You know Gregg?”
	“Only a little.  I got a burrito there earlier today.  Spent some time talking to him.  An interesting fellow, would love to hang out with him sometime, though probably not tonight.  Seems like he has some interesting ideas for a good time.”
	“Oh yeah, Gregg rules!”
	“Perhaps we could all hang out sometime.”
	“That would be awesome!”
	Space was becoming acutely aware of how late it was getting.  The sun, though still up, was now mostly obscured by the hills on the horizon from which the stream trickled, and some ominous looking clouds that hadn't been there just a short while ago.  The temperature was beginning to drop, and he saw Mae shiver as a particularly hard gust of cooler air from the valley blew through the gorge.
	“Hey, why don't we go somewhere indoors?  It's starting to get a little cold, and it's starting to look like it might rain.”  
	“Sounds like a good idea.  But where?  I don't really want to go home yet.”
	“Are there any good eats around here?  My treat.”  Space watched Mae look him up and down.
	“No, not really.  But I suppose if you're paying, there is a decent enough pizza place not far from the hardware store.”
	“Cool, pizza is good.  And I think I know the one you are talking about.  It's just a few doors down from the big apartment complex, right?”
	“Yeah, that's the one.”
	


	Space and Mae walked up the road, back towards town.  The wind was picking up, and was making it hard to talk.  Whenever either of them tried to speak, they had to shout, and even then, half of what they said was snatched away by the cold teeth of the viscous gusts.  But even without being able to speak, they were able to have fun.  As they passed back into the suburbs, Mae jumped up onto a fence, and balanced her way down a good thirty feet or so before a particularly strong gust knocked her off and onto her ass.  He stopped and laughed, to which she pouted.  
	The fence wasn't tall, maybe waist high.  Space eyed it critically while Mae picked herself up and dusted off her shorts.  After a quick, daring look from her, he hopped onto the fence.  Almost immediately, the wind caused him to over balance, and he too fell onto his ass.  It stung, but he rolled onto his stomach and rose to his paws, laughing with Mae.  Inside, he was amazed with her balance.  He wasn't very athletic, but he did have good balance.  And she just walked the length of a yard in this wind when he was barely able to mount it.  
	The two of them picked up the pace as clouds obscured the last remaining light.  Space looked up to them and recognized them instantly for what they were: rain clouds, and it looked like it was going to be pretty nasty.  By the time they had made it back to the town center, the wind was staggering them both, the cold cut through Mae's t-shirt and Space's hoodie like knives, and the first few drops of cold rain splashed across their muzzles.  
	All around them, it had become dark enough to make it tough to see, but as they stumbled forward, the street lamps flared into life around them.  Down the street, one such lamp illuminated their destination, The Clik Clak Diner.  In the light of day, it had been a pleasant looking place, with a dark brown tiled roof, and orange exterior, but now it was just shades of gray and black.  However, warm, yellow light, extra inviting in the increasingly cold and wet outside, spilled from the windows in its front.  
	Running the last few steps to the door, Space pulled it open and ushered Mae inside.  The interior was well lit and warm, just as the light had promised as they ran for cover.  The myriad smells of a diner in long operation punched Spaces sensitive nose, but he bore it stoically, knowing that it only meant that this place, no matter how it looked, served good food.
	Mae walked to an open booth near the front of the restaurant, and sat down, Space not far behind.  The booth had a window, and outside, the rain was picking up rapidly, though the wind seemed to be dying down just a tad.  Nevertheless, the rain was pounding the window something fierce in a matter of moments.
	“Looks like we got here just in time.”  
	“No kidding,”  Mae responded.  “I'm just glad I won't have to spend the evening all wet.”  Space's mind was instantly in the gutter, and it took some effort to pull it back out.  But before he could say anything, a nice young doe came bustling up to the table.
	“Hello, welcome to the Clik Clak Diner.  My name is Dianna, and I'll be your waitress tonight.”
	“Hi Dianna.  I'll have my usual drink.”  Mae said.  
	“Sure Mae,”  Dianna replied, then looked over to Space.
	“Hello, I'm Ben.  Nice to meet you.”
	“Nice to meet you too, cutie.  What'll ya have?”
	“Does a large pepperoni pizza sound good to you, Mae?”
	“Can't go wrong with pepperoni pizza.”
	“One large pepperoni pizza, and a soda.  Can I get ya anything to drink, Ben?”
	“Hm, I'll have a soda too, please.”
	“Coming right up!”  Dianna pulled out a little notepad, jotted down the order and bustled off at high speed.  Space watched her go for a moment, lost in thought.  A sudden sharp whistle and a movement at the corner of his eye brought his attention back to Mae.
	“Yoo-hoo, Spaceman, where did you go?”  Mae asked, waving her hand back and forth in front of his face.
	“Huh?”  Space asked, then realizing what happened, chuckled.  “Oh, sorry, Mae.  Sometimes, the call to space walk is too strong to resist.”  Mae raised an eyebrow.
	“So, you said you're from out of town.  Where did you come from?”
	“Where did I come from?  Nowhere special.  It was just a little podunk town called Otterton.”
	“Oh, come on.  Nowhere could be more boring than Possum Springs.”
	“I beg to differ.”
	“Tell me about it then.”
	“Sure.  I don't mind sharing.”  Space cleared his throat and marshaled his thoughts before beginning his story.
	“The town was tiny.  It was just two main streets, each on one side of a large river.  On the one side, it was the grocery store, the court house, the fire department, and the PD, which was like, three people.  A dock, a few businesses, and a factory too.  On the other side, there was the school, which housed all twelve grades, and the general population.  The whole town, except where the river cut through, was surrounded by forest that went for miles.  People got lost in them constantly, and I got lost a few times myself. 
	“Growing up, my parents were pretty cool.  Family is decently well off, and they were supportive.  They encouraged me to chase my dreams.  My friends and I loved exploring the forests that surrounded the town, and looking for junk among the rocks at the rivers edge, and until I got too old, occasionally went skinny-dipping.  I went fishing whenever I felt I could sit still long enough to cast my rod.  Got surprisingly decent at it.  There were a few caves that we found.  Never went too far into them because we thought there were monsters in them.  Never found anything more interesting than a few empty cans though.
	“As a teen, I got busted a few times with a couple of my friends for stealing beer from the local grocery store.  Woman who worked there, Bon Bon Hutchinson...  Oh, she hated us.  She would chase us to hell and back if she ever caught us in the store.  We called her 'Bum Bum Touch-her-son'.  I don't think she even had a cub, but it seemed funny to us at the time.”
	Mae leaned in, getting closer to Space as he spoke.  The rain hitting the window was such that she had to if she didn't want to make him repeat himself.  And in spite of his insistence that his cubhood had been boring, she found herself really quite interested.
	“Anyway, whenever we got away with stealing the booze, we would go down to the river, sit on the pier and get drunk, then throw the empty bottles at the barges as they came through.
	“We had some killer parties.  I didn't attend many, but once in awhile, I went and had a good time.  It was about the only thing we had that wasn't swimming or toilet papering peoples houses.  It was at my second party, someone offered me some weed.  Was some real good shit too.  Must've been laced with something though, as not long after I went zooming around the bonfire screaming that my spaceship had caught fire.  My friends all called me Spaceman after that, and it kinda stuck.  I liked to joke that when the gray starts to creep in to my fur, I'll look like I'm wearing the night sky.
	“At sixteen, I dropped out of school.  Parents weren't thrilled, but by that time, they had known that I had the wanderlust real bad.  So they paid out my college fund, bought me a train ticket to a nearby town, and gave me a contact for a place to stay for a few weeks.  Ever since then, I've lived a mean life; only the necessities.  I work odd jobs so I can eat, and pay for my phone to call home twice a week.  And when I want to move, I just tell them and they send me a ticket with a new contact address.  I wonder where all these contacts come from.  I can't help but wonder if they did what I did when they were young-  moving from place to place, living simply until one day they met and settled.  But I've never asked.  It's been four years.  I've never returned home, or spoken to the friends I left behind.  Only my family.”
	“Wow,”  Mae said, leaning back.  “Has it been tough, drifting along like that?”
	“A little.  I miss my friends, I miss some of the people I've met in my travels.  I miss some of the places too.  But even when I want to stay, sooner or later...  My legs tell me it's time to move on.  I can resist, but only for so long.  I've rather enjoyed my time here in Possum Springs, been here two months.  But I feel the drive to move on.  I'm resisting the urge already, but I don't think I'm going to be here in two months from now.  In two weeks, it will have been the longest I've stayed in one place since leaving home.”
	Mae lapsed into silence as Dianna could be seen coming down the aisle with a large serving tray, topped with pizza and two drinks.  
	“Here you are, fresh out the oven.  I'd let it sit a moment, or you might burn yourselves.  Here's two sodas, and your bill.  As she enumerated each item, Dianna placed it down on the table between them.  
	Space grabbed the bill, looked at it, and pulled out his wallet.  There was just enough to cover the meal in there, with tip.  He handed Dianna a few bills, and told her to keep the change.
	“Thank you, cutie,”  She said, before turning and walking away with the cash.  Space looked at the steaming hot pizza.  It was a pretty good size.  And if it tasted as good as it smelled, then it was well worth the price.  Mae reached forward and grabbed a slice.
	“Ouch!”  She said, pulling back, and blowing on her hand.  Space shook his head.  “Hey, don't judge me.  I'm hungry!”
	“Judge you?  I did that awhile ago.”  He grinned, and Mae pouted.  “Don't worry, it's a positive judgment.  Now why don't you tell me a little about yourself, Mae?  What's life like for you here?” 
	Mae didn't answer right away.  Instead, much more carefully this time, she reached again for a slice of pizza.  She pulled it to herself and blew on it.  When she was sure it was cooled enough, she picked it up, and took an over-sized bite and chewed thoughtfully.  She swallowed, and took another bite.  
	“Whats the matter, Mae, don't want to talk about it?  Cause that's cool too.”  Mae set the slice down.  
	“Yeah, I don't really want to talk about it.  Life here sucks, my life kinda sucks, and I'm still sorting through all the shit from last Harvestfest.  I'm just not ready to share it with anyone from out of town yet.  Hell, I'm not ready to share it with most of the town, either.”
	Space nodded.  He was intensely interested.  What could possibly have happened during last years Harvestfest that she couldn't bring herself to talk about it?  As curious as he was, Space decided not to pry.  It wasn't his business, and if she didn't want to share, that was fine by him.  Maybe she would change her mind on her own later.  For awhile, the two ate their pizza in silence, marred only by the ferocity of the rain against glass, and the gentle hubbub of the handful of other diners.  	Occasionally, a soggy, bedraggled fur would enter and plop down with a wet squelch and one or both of them would titter or commiserate as they asked for napkins and ordered food.  After about half the pizza was eaten, and the consumption of greasy cheese with tomato sauce and equally greasy preserved meat slices slowed, they began to toss jokes back and fourth, trying to get the other to laugh with their mouthful.  They got increasingly loud and obnoxious until someone from a nearby booth came over and asked them to cool it.  When the gentlerat saw who was making the noise, he simply said, “Oh, it's just you, Mae.”  He heaved a deep sigh and went back to his table.  For some reason, Space though this was so funny, that the force of his laughing expelled his muzzle full of pizza right onto Mae's plate.  At first, she was grossed out, but then the hilarity caught, and she couldn't stop either.
	Much too soon, the pizza was gone, and the drinks had been drunk.  “I think it's about time I went home,”  Mae said, peering intently at something behind and above Space's head.  “It's getting late.”
	Space pulled out his phone to check the time.  It was near to nine already.  When had they gotten here?  How long had they been chatting and spewing pizza at each other as they laughed?  It was only then that he noticed that the rain had calmed a little. It was no longer hitting the window of their booth, but anyone walking in that would surely be soaked through within minutes still.
	“Yeah, I suppose so.  But how're you going to get home?  It's still raining pretty hard out there, and you live a fair distance away from here, don't you?”
	“I guess.  I mean, it's only a ten, fifteen minute walk.  It's like two minutes in a car.”
	“If I had a car, I'd offer to drive you home, but sadly, I don't know how to drive.  Never needed to.  But I'm currently sheltering in the apartment complex down the street.  We could run there and possibly not get soaked all the way through.”
	“You live in the apartment complex down the street?  That's the one my friend Bea lives in!”
	“Really?  Cool.  Why not come with me then, and you can go see if Bea will drive you home?”
	“Sure!”
	Space and Mae got up and went to the door.  Just before Mae opened it however, Space stopped her.  By the door, there was a newspaper dispenser.  He dug around in his pocket for some change, felt for a couple of quarters, then popped them into the stand.  He grabbed one of the papers and turned back to Mae, who was looking confused.
	“Here, use this to keep the rain off your head,” he said, holding it out to her.
	“Oh!  Neat, thanks!  But aren't you going to get one for yourself?”
	“Nah,” Space said, opening the door and letting a cold gust of air blow in.  “It's a short trip, and unlike you, I'll have fresh clothes to change into where we are going.”
	Mae smiled at his thoughtfulness.  She unfurled the paper, and stepped into the rain, and, sparing only one quick glance behind herself, dashed into the rain in the direction of the apartment complex.  Space watched her go for a second, preparing for the feeling of the cold rain, then dashed out after her.  True to his prediction, it was like ice sliding through his fur, and the wind cut at him like shards of glass.  He didn't know where this storm had come from, but it felt like it had been spawned from the icy tits of a demon.



	Space arrived, panting and huffing in spite of the intense shivers that wracked his body.  He arrived only seconds behind Mae, and caught the door just before it fully shut.  Inside, Space and Mae took a few moments to try and warm up, and Mae discarded the paper into the lobby trashcan.  “M-my apartment is on the t-t-top floor, but if you w-want to stop at w-whatever floor Bea is on, then that's fine.  I will still see you t-tomorrow.” he said through chattering teeth.  He headed for the stairs, calling over his shoulder, “The elevator is broken.” 
	“Again?”
	“I don't know about 'again', but it isn't working now.  At least, it's never worked for me.”  Space opened the door into the stairwell, and they climbed in relative quiet for a few flights, until Mae cleared her throat loudly.  He turned around to see Mae standing indecisively by the exit on that flight, and fidgeting.
	“Are you going to go to Bea's then?”
	“Yeah,” she replied, looking away from Space.
	“Okay.  Where should we meet tomorrow?  You have my address, you could come here.”
	Mae shook her head.  She seemed a little nervous.  But after a moment, she reached into her jeans, and fished around for a moment, before extracting a few wrinkled bits of paper.  After doing the same in the other pocket, she looked back to Space.  “Do you have a pen?”
	Space reached into his pants, and pulled out a pen.  Internally, he congratulated himself for always having a pen on himself.  “Here,” he said, moving closer to Mae and handing it to her.  She scribbled on the paper, using the wall to write against.  After a moment, she handed both paper and pen to him.  He took them, and without looking, put them into his hoodie pocket.  He opened the door into the hall beyond, and hesitantly, Mae went through.  On her way, Space put a paw on her shoulder.  “I'll see you tomorrow.”  Then turned and climbed the rest of the way up to his apartment.
	At his door, Space fitted his key to the lock, and pushed into his home for the duration of his stay in Possum Springs.  It was a tiny studio apartment.  It was pitch-black inside, save for the tiny green light of his phone charger plugged into the outlet by the sink in the kitchen area.  Space flipped on the light, entered, and closed the door.   He went over to his bed, which was pushed into a corner underneath a window.  It was just a mattress on the floor, but it had been provided to him free, and it served well enough.  He wouldn't be taking it with him when he left.  Folded neatly on the floor at the foot of the bed was his clothes.  Just a few pairs of pants, his favorite gray sweats, and a half dozen shirts.  He took of his dark red hoodie, folded it, and placed it down next to the gray sweats.  
	Not wanting to be in the damp clothes any longer, he striped the rest of the way, and went over to the shower cubical that was adjoining to his kitchen space.  The tiny bathroom was probably the most recently updated area, with a modern looking glass shower cubical.  He stepped in and turned on the water.  It started out almost as cold as the rain outside, but heated up quickly.  Once warm, he scrubbed vigorously, working the grime of a long day of yard work from his black fur.
	As he scrubbed, Space couldn't help but to think of Mae.  She was an interesting character, for sure.  Something big had happened to her last year, and he was curious about it.  But that wasn't the only thing about her that held his attention.    
	It did not take long for Space's mind to begin going over Mae's curves inside his head.  Her modestly sized breasts, her round butt, the way her thighs and slightly chubby belly curved into her crotch...  He thought about what she would look like naked, and he could feel himself getting stiff.  In his minds eye, he let his paws wander her body, cupping her and thumbing her nipples.  With one paw, he grabbed his stiffening cock and began to jerk back and forth.  He let his mind continue to wander down her body as he slowly sped up.  
	Space wanted her, had wanted her all evening, and he cursed himself for not trying harder to get her to come up here with him.  When she had started fidgeting, getting all hesitant, she was putting out all the signs of someone who wanted the night to continue.  He thought about her hot, wet sex, and let out a groan.  How he wanted to feel her silky smooth depths.  It was almost more than he could bare.  Further down, past her pussy, and he saw her paws, and shuddered as orgasm rippled through his body.  The spurts of cum hit the wall of the tiny glass cubical and dribbled down slowly.  Some of it spilled over his paw, and he cleaned his hands before spraying down the shower wall.  As his cock softened, he thought about how to best get her to have sex with him.
	With that thought, he popped open the door and grabbed his towel, pulling it back into the cubical and shutting out the cool air while he dried.  Exiting the shower, he set aside his towel, and went over to his bed.  He laid down upon the mattress, and thought about Mae.  'Yeah', he thought.  'I definitely want to get it on with that girl'.  Space closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.



	Space opened his eyes, and immediately shut them again.  The light through the window was hitting him right in the face, and it was painful.  He sat up, leaned down towards the far end of the mattress, and groped around for clothes.  By feel alone, he found his favored gray sweats and dark red hoodie.  Scooting away from the window so he could actually look at his clothes, he opened his eyes, nabbed a pair of boxers, and dressed for the day.
	freshly clothed, he stood and walked over to the fridge, and investigated it's dwindling contents.  It had been a long time since he stayed in one place long enough to do more than two grocery runs, but he found himself now needing to do his fourth.  A quick survey turned up a pair of carrots, a single English muffin, and half a stick of butter, plus the remnants of his pasta from two nights previous.  The sell by date on the milk in the door was a day past, and his peach iced tea was almost out.  He grabbed the English muffin, sliced it, and popped it into the toaster, then set about making coffee.  It was one of the few real splurges he made; if there was no coffee, there was no getting out of bed that day.  He looked into the can, and found that there were almost no grounds left.  It would get him through the next two days, but that was it.  He made a mental note to go shopping tomorrow morning before he went out to work.  As he waited for the coffee to percolate, Space dug into his hoodie for the note that was in there.  It said to meet her at her place at eleven AM, and below that was her address.  Space pulled out his phone, checked the time, and saw that he didn't have much time left.
	Not wanting to waste any more time, as he was eager to hang out with Mae, Space grabbed the muffin out of the toaster the moment it dinged.  He played hot potato with it as it cooled, and he rushed out the door.  Taking the stairs two at a time, he ran down, taking occasional bites of his breakfast.  On his way down, he passed a light blue-gray alligator, to whom he greeted hastily, before moving on.  Out side, the Autumn air was crisp and cool.  The rain had let up sometime during the night, but the ground was still soaking wet.  Walking quickly, he maneuvered around the puddles in the sidewalk and small ponds that had developed at the edges of some peoples lawns.  It would be a bad day trying to mow, so he resigned himself to not getting any work done until tomorrow.  It was late in the year too, so few people would miss it if he didn't do any this one day.
	Luckily for Space, the trip wasn't difficult.  Mae lived right on the main road, and if he remembered correctly, then the house in front of which they had mounted the fences was actually where she lived.  And he had remembered correctly.  He grinned ear to ear as he came up the road and saw the old tree out in the front yard.  The note was in his pocket, and he pulled it out, along with his phone to check the time.  The note, along with her address, had said to come around eleven, after her parents had left for the day, and that he could come right in.  The time on his phone said it was just a hair after eleven, but if he was a few minutes late, that was fine, right?
	Space mounted the curb, and crossed to the door.  He felt unusually nervous, and didn't know why.  He had done this with plenty of people in the past.  He stood in front of the door and gave it a light knock, just in case.  After moment, with no answer, he knocked again, harder.  There was no answer this time either.  Once more he knocked, but still there was no answer.  He looked down at his paw, the one he had knocked with, where he was still holding her note.  He looked at it, and it did say plainly to just come in.  Taking a deep breath, Space put his paw on the knob and gave it an experimental twist.  It was unlocked, so he pushed the door open.
	Inside was a long entryway with a coat rack to one side.  All the way down the at the end appeared to be a kitchen, and to his left there was a large archway into nicely wallpapered living room.  A small table with various nick-knacks was against the stairs leading to the second floor.  Going up the stairs, there were framed pictures of a farmstead, a house, and tractor.  Right at the foot of it, there was a larger framed picture that said “Bless this Mess”.  
	“Hello?”  He called out, at a moderate volume, not one-hundred percent certain about whether he should be loud or quiet in this situation.  No answer.  He thought she must be still asleep.
	Space poked his head into the living room before deciding heading up the stairs.  Space reached the landing, and was confronted with a large quantity of pictures, all appearing to of Mae and her parents.  There was a cage up here with an aged looking bird in it.
	“Hello, birdy.  Would you know if Mae is home?”  He asked.  The bird cocked it's head and stared with its beady little eyes, and then hopped from side to side.  “No, I guess you don't, do you?”
	Space continued on past the bird and found a door with a bookshelf next to it.  He popped it open, and found a well kept room.  The closet stood open in a corner, and contained both men's and women's clothing.  Clearly, this wasn't Mae's room.  He went down the other end of the little hall.  On this side, there was a Grandfather clock, with a door on it's far side.  He opened this to find a crawl space.  Quickly, he closed this door and went back to the stairs.  He looked up, and saw that there was just a single door, right at the top.  That had to be Mae's room, and she had to be there.  He mounted the stairs, and climbed quickly to the top.  He stood there for a quick second, then opened the door and announced himself.
	“Hey Mae, I'm he-.”  His greeting died in his throat at the spectacle before him.
	There was a lot of things in the room that would've caught his eye, had there not been a naked Mae reclining on a futon with a laptop on her belly, fingers pushed deep into her pussy.  Her beautiful blue foot paws wiggling as she pleasured herself.  Space was momentarily stunned, and his pants were very rapidly feeling tighter.
	“Space!”  Mae exclaimed, sitting up quickly, removing her fingers from herself and setting the laptop into her lap to cover herself.  “You weren't supposed to be here for another,” her eyes flicked down to the laptop, and her ears drooped as she realized that it was her own fault that she had been caught like this.  
	Space took a half step further into the room.  He had a hard time looking away from Mae's paws, but he managed to look her in the eyes.  “You're sexy.”  
	Mae looked at him.  Space wasn't paying enough attention to notice that she was surprised, rather than angry.  He was to busy looking down at his paws and wondering why he had just blurted it out like that.
	“You...  You think I'm sexy?”
	Space's had snapped up, and he locked gazes with Mae.  “Yes.”
	Mae bit her lip.  Hesitantly, she sat further up, clearing a space at the foot of the futon.  “Do you want to sit down?”  Space didn't need any more invitation than that.  He cautiously came all the way inside her room, and shut the door, then moved to the futon and sat down.  The futon, while unkempt, was soft and springy.  He turned to face her.  
	Mae was still biting her lip, with the laptop still covering her pussy.  Space thought it was super cute how nervous she was, though if he was honest with himself, he was just a tiny bit nervous too.  He always was with a new girl, and he wondered if that would ever go away.  But he was more comfortable that she was, that much was clear, and he wanted to make her feel more at ease.
	Taking the initiative, Space slowly extended a paw towards her, and touched her big toe.  It was a gentle and tentative touch, and he pulled back immediately.  When she said nothing, only continued to watch, he touched her paw again, more firmly, then rested his hand upon it.  He looked up at her face again, asking without speaking if it was okay, and Mae nodded.  He inched up the futon, getting closer  to and turning to face her.  He rubbed her paw with the one hand, then reached out with the other, and pulled her paw into his lap.  For several minutes, he kneaded her paw pads in silence, switching back and forth and exploring the beautiful appendages in his hands.  He heaved a great sigh of contentment.
	“Do you get off on paws or something?”  She asked, leaning back and stretching out her toes, even extending her claws a little.  At first, Space didn't respond; he was to mesmerized by the spreading and wiggling toes.  Then he felt those same toes touch the massive, easy to see tent in his sweats.
	“Y-yes, I do,” he replied tentatively.  “D-do you?”
	Mae left him hanging for a moment, as if considering, or embarrassed.  “Yes.”
	Space's erection became painfully ridged with her admission.  Emboldened, he reached down to his paws, pulled off his socks and sneakers, and scooted as close as he could get to Mae.  Reclining, he took her paws onto his chest so that once he was laying down, her paws were resting at muzzle level, and began to lick at her pads.  From the other end of the futon, a sharp intake of breath told him that she had been unprepared for what he was doing, but seconds later, a soft moan told him that she was enjoying it nonetheless.  He placed a kiss to the tips of her toes, lifted his legs, wiggled himself into a slightly better position, and extended his own paws out to Mae.  She set her laptop aside to make room, then nosed his paw pads shyly, not entirely sure of what to do.
	His expectation was that she would nuzzle into them with her nose and explore, which was what happened at first.  But it was as surprising to Space as it had been to Mae when he felt her tongue tentatively lap at the bottom of one of his own paws.  His cock throbbed in his boxers as the stimulation turned him on even more.  For awhile, there was nothing but soft pants and quiet moans as they nuzzled and groomed each others paws.  Slowly, the heat of her pussy, and the moisture of her arousal began to permeate the seat of his pants.  The flow of precum was starting to mess his fur.  He didn't want to, but he realized that he had to stop sucking on her toes if he didn't want to have to walk home wearing pants that were sopping wet and covered in the scent of a wet pussy.
	Regretfully, Space spit her toes out of his muzzle.  The feel of Mae's tongue between his toes was amazing, but he got her to let his toes go too, and sat up.  He felt down where the seat of his pants had been pressed up against Mae's pussy and found it was hot, and very damp.  It would likely take an hour or more to dry properly on its own.  He stood up, and untied the drawstring on his sweats.  
	“Wh-What're you doing?”  Mae asked, a hint of nervousness in her voice.
	“I'm getting undressed.  Your getting the bottom of my pants wet.”
	“Oh no, I'm sorry!”  Mae said, mortified.
	“It's okay,” Space responded casually, his relaxed tone and easy response setting her at ease.  “It happens.  I should've taken these off first anyway, and that's my fault.”
	“Oh.  But I'm glad you didn't take them off right away.”
	“Why's that?”
	“Well, I-I...”
	“You what?  Never seen a guy naked before?”
	“What?  No, of course I have!  Just not...”
	“Just not in real life, and you aren't sure your ready to see one naked in real life yet, are you?”  Mae shrank back into the futon and nodded.  Space was momentarily unsure of what he should do, but doubt wasn't a thing he liked to give air to in a situation like this, so he simply pushed his sweats and boxers down in one go.  He stood, facing Mae, with his cock standing proudly at attention, and stepped out of them.  “And now you have.”
	Mae inhaled sharply, and Space was pleased to see her paw sneak it's way down to her pussy and play with it.  He laid back down on the futon, and began to wiggle his way back into the position he was before.
	“Wait...”  Mae whispered, almost too quietly to hear over the creaking of the futon and the rustling of blankets as Space tried to maneuver his butt back into position against hers.  Once he had realized she had spoken, he stopped, and looked up at her.
	“What?”  He asked.
	“Lay on your back, and stay right there.”
	Space hastened to obey, and realized immediately what she wanted to do, as Mae's foot paws were now level with his cock.  Space moaned as her inexperienced paws rubbed over his prick, making it throb and spit precum.  He almost couldn't believe how lucky he was.  Space looked her in the eyes as she carefully wrapped her paws around his shaft, and experimentally gave the shaft a tug.  He shuddered in pleasure.  Her touches weren't the most effective, but the longer she went at it, the more unabashedly enthusiastic she got.
	Mae sped up slowly.  And as she did so, Space was treated to a show of her touching her perky, young breasts and an occasional rub of her pussy.  After one such touch, and before Mae had picked up to a speed that made it hard to do, he put his own foot paw against her crotch.  The heat was incredible.  It radiated through the bottom of his paw all the way up to his ankle.  She was so wet, too.  His paw slipped and slid over her soft feminine folds easily, and she moaned loudly when his toes kneaded her clit.  She reached a fevered pitch, pulling and tugging on his cock almost painfully, but he didn't care.  
	“I'm so close to cumming, Mae, keep going!  I'm almost t-there!”  Space panted, now circling her clit with his big toe.  He nudged it gently just as she opened her muzzle to speak, but whatever she was going to say was lost in a long, drawn out moan.  Her hips twitched from the stimulation, and Space suddenly felt his big toe slip and sink into her tight, virgin depths.  He could feel Mae squeeze down on him as she went into orgasm, her pussy trying to milk his toe.
	Three hot, thick, ropes of cum jetted from him.  The first and most powerful ended up squirting out over his stomach, but the second and third came down over her toes and leaving them prettily glazed.  After a few moments of heavy panting, and once Mae's pussy stopped squeezing his toe, he sat up, and pulled her paws to his muzzle, and gently licked the mess from her.
	“Eww, you're licking you own cum up?”
	“Yeah?  So what?  I've already licked your paws.  Or did you expect me to use my pants or your blankets?”
	“Uhh...”  Mae looked at him blankly for a second.  “Good point.”  She blushed and looked away, but Space could tell she was secretly really turned on by this.
	When Space was finished cleaning her paws of his mess, he set them down, and climbed over her on his hands and knees.  Mae looked up at him, nervousness returning.  She was about to speak, but he put a finger over her muzzle.  “Shhh.  I know you're nervous, and that's okay.  Just lay back, and let me make you feel good.”
	Mae nodded timidly, but said nothing as Space finished lowering himself over her.  Her breasts pushed firmly against his own chest, and brought a paw up to fondle one softly as he licked at the side of her neck.  It took a few minutes, but she eventually relaxed and sighed with pleasure.  Against her hot sex, his still stiff cock twitched, eager to plunge down into her.  He could feel the warmth, and the wetness of her, and he ground himself into her gently.  When at last she bucked her hips back up into him, he new she was ready, and pulled back, lining himself up with her passage.  
	Gently, he nudged the tip of his cock against her, and it slid upwards against her folds.  Space repositioned himself, and tried again.  With the second attempt, he felt the head of his dick sink into her, getting enveloped by her silky depths.  He pushed in slowly, knowing that she was virgin, and not wanting to cause her any more discomfort than was necessary, but he never encountered a hymen.  “I-I thought you said you were a virgin,” he huffed.
	“I-I am,” she responded, squirming in pleasure at the penetration.  “B-but I accidentally b-broke it...  Broke it years ago...”
	Space realized he should've known that would be the case, so he just nodded, holding himself steady deep inside Mae's tunnel.  Soon, he could feel Mae relax again, and he pulled back out until only his head was still inside.  He was gentle about thrusting back in the second time too, but not as much, and bottomed out much sooner.  Her only response was a pleasured whimper, so he continued, picking up speed.  The moans and whimpers picked up in intensity as he sped up, and soon he was adding his own moans.  In and out he thrusted, going as deep as he could.  He fondled her breasts and thumbed her nipples, causing her to squeal.  All through, he licked and kissed her neck, and nibbled her ear.
	Space was so close to cumming, and he could feel Mae was near the edge of her own climax too.  Their tails entwined as pleasure rose, until neither could stand it any longer. 
	“Oh!  Oh!  Oh!  Space, f-fuck!  Fill me!”  Mae yelled so loudly, that he thought that the neighbors might be able to hear her.  Considering how quietly her first orgasm had been, he hadn't been ready for the volume of the second.  Ears ringing, Space thrusted erratically for a moment, before pushing as deeply as he could and coming to a rest and squirting his seed.  
	Mae's pussy worked his shaft, her muscles milking him, pulling all he had to offer from him, the spasming drawing out his own pleasure.  He throbbed and pulsed, giving to her willingly until he could give no more, and collapsed on top of her, exhausted.  Equally exhausted from the sex, Mae didn't care.  She shifted a little so she could breath better, and they panted in tandem.  
	Mae had her eyes closed, and was still breathing too heavily, lost in the post orgasmic afterglow to notice anything, but Space heard a noise behind them.  He turned his head to see a yellow furred fox in a black leather jacket and blue jeans standing in the door with his jaw hanging open and a look of intense horror on his face.
	“Uhhhhh, Hey Gregg.”  He said, freeing a paw from Mae's breast to wave.  
	Mae opened her eyes, and they looked like they were about to bulge out of their sockets.  “Gregg!  You weren't supposed be here until after noon!”  She extricated herself from Space, but used his body to cover herself so as not to further reveal herself to him.
	Space watched as, with a mighty act of will, Gregg pulled himself together, then in an almost scream, “Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!”  And bolted out the door and down the attic stairs.  Both Space and Mae were momentarily paralyzed with shock and horror at being discovered like that, but then Space chuckled weakly, and soon both were in pain as they cramped from the overwhelming laughter.  As the hilarity wore off, Space leaned over the futon, tossed a pair of clean looking panties from on the floor and some pants up to Mae, and then grabbed his own.  
	As Space pulled on his boxers and his pants, the urge to wander onward didn't feel so strong as it had.  Was it Mae?  Was it Possum Springs?  Or some combination of the two?  Something else entirely?  He couldn't tell.  Perhaps he really would stay here as long as he could.  Who knew, maybe when he couldn't resist leaving anymore, he could convince Mae, and maybe Gregg to go with him to Bright Harbor.








