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Lion.","count":"24","submission_left_submission_id":"372828","submission_left_file_name":"1220212_VerbMyNoun_cherry_lips.doc","submission_left_thumbnail_url_huge":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/1220/1220212_VerbMyNoun_cherry_lips.jpg","submission_left_thumbnail_url_large":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/1220/1220212_VerbMyNoun_cherry_lips.jpg","submission_left_thumbnail_url_medium":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/1220/1220212_VerbMyNoun_cherry_lips.jpg","submission_left_thumb_huge_x":"200","submission_left_thumb_huge_y":"200","submission_left_thumb_large_x":"200","submission_left_thumb_large_y":"200","submission_left_thumb_medium_x":"120","submission_left_thumb_medium_y":"120","submission_right_submission_id":"620399","submission_right_file_name":"1220225_VerbMyNoun_ch8.doc","submission_right_thumbnail_url_huge":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/1220/1220225_VerbMyNoun_ch8.jpg","submission_right_thumbnail_url_large":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/1220/1220225_VerbMyNoun_ch8.jpg","submission_right_thumbnail_url_medium":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/1220/1220225_VerbMyNoun_ch8.jpg","submission_right_thumb_huge_x":"200","submission_right_thumb_huge_y":"200","submission_right_thumb_large_x":"200","submission_right_thumb_large_y":"200","submission_right_thumb_medium_x":"120","submission_right_thumb_medium_y":"120"}],"description":"I promise you all, all the plot development leading up to this point is building up to something very, very special for Chapter 5. In between now and Chapter 5, however, take a glimpse inside Elena's mind, now that she's had more time to think about herms.\n\n[url=https://inkbunny.net/submissionview.php?id=377673]\"Change of Plans\"[/url] by [iconname]Jacinth[/iconname].\n\nRoss Goldmane & the Rikkers family © [iconname]talon2point0[/iconname].\n\nAll other characters and Marblecliff locale © me.\n\nHot Topic is © Hot Topic and has no affiliation with me.","description_bbcode_parsed":"I promise you all, all the plot development leading up to this point is building up to something very, very special for Chapter 5. In between now and Chapter 5, however, take a glimpse inside Elena's mind, now that she's had more time to think about herms.

"Change of Plans" by \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJacinth\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t		\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJacinth\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
.

Ross Goldmane & the Rikkers family © \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttalon2point0\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t		\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttalon2point0\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
.

All other characters and Marblecliff locale © me.

Hot Topic is © Hot Topic and has no affiliation with me.","writing":"[b]Special[/b]\n\n[u]April 5, 2013[/u]\n\n“So, who is she?”\n\n“Huh?” Ross asked, looking up from her half-touched ribeye, her chin propped up on her elbow. Looking around the dinner table, she saw that Jordan and Elena had finished their suppers and gone to their respective rooms.\n\n“Ross, it’s okay. Your mother told us about your... fling... with that girl back home,” Alice said, with a soft smile. “You’re sitting there daydreaming like you have someone on your mind, so - who is she?”\n\nBlushing slightly at being called out, the younger lioness answered, “Her name’s Megan. I met her while I was in town for the school tour.”\n\n“Wow, you don’t waste any time, do you?” her aunt laughed playfully.\n\n“It wasn’t like that. When I excused myself while you and mom talked with Mrs. Gaithers, I went outside to think about everything that was happening. I found Megan out there, crying,”\n\n“About?”\n\n“She’d recently been dumped by her girlfriend for a boy,” Ross explained, intentionally omitting the details about Megan’s role as Kristin’s submissive. “On top of that, her ex revealed some... personal details... about their relationship to the entire school.”\n\n“Sounds awful,” Alice nodded, “I can see why the poor girl would be upset.” She paused a moment to eat a piece of her steak. “And when did you two become an item?”\n\nRoss blushed further, sliding down into her chair. “My first day,” she muttered shyly. “But we spent the entire week that I was back in Riverview video chatting on Skype. By the time I started here, we already knew so much about each other.”\n\n“How far have the two of you gone?”\n\n“Only kissed. I like her, a lot, but after her last relationship, I don’t want to push Megan too fast.”\n\n“You should invite her over for dinner. I’d like to meet this young lady. Say, tomorrow?”\n\n“She works tomorrow, from 10 til 4, so I think that might work.”\n\n“She has a job?” Alice asked, incredulously.\n\n“Yeah. Her mom doesn’t make much money, and spends a lot of it on alcohol. So Megan helps out around the house with chores, and works part-time at a shop in the mall.”\n\n“Well, ask her. It’s obvious that you can’t stop thinking about this girl,” Alice said with a warming smile. Ross had always loved Alice, seeing her more like an older sister than an aunt. She was definitely more laid back and casual than her sister, Dianna. It probably didn’t hurt matters any that her Uncle Xavier was around a lot more than Ross’s father, Codix. Ross supposed that her mother kept a tighter leash on her daughters because she had more to lose by dishonoring the family name.\n\nSpeaking of dishonoring the family name...\n\n“Aunt Alice?” Ross spoke softly.\n\n“Hmmmmm?”\n\n“About Megan - she’s Goth”\n\n“Goth? Like black clothes?” Alice arched an eyebrow.\n\n“And piercings. Lots of piercings. And purple hair.”\n\n“Does that matter to you?”\n\n“No.”\n\n“Then it shouldn’t matter to anyone else.”\n\nAfter a moment’s hesitation, Ross added, “And she’s a hermaphrodite.”\n\nAlice sat thoughtfully, mulling over this latest bit of news. “Same question as before; does that matter to you?”\n\n“No. Yes. I mean, it excites me,” Ross confessed. “She has all the softness and beauty of a woman, plus the equipment of a man. She’s everything I want, along with everything I could ever need.”\n\n“Then it shouldn’t matter to anyone else. Your Uncle Xavier may have an opinion, but let me take care of him, okay? Now hurry up and finish your dinner.”\n\n-----\n\nRoss could feel the jackal’s eyes focused on her ass through her tight jeans. She was practically a fixture at this Hot Topic by now, even though she stood out in the store like the moon on a clear night sky. Ever since she’d begun dating Megan, Ross made it a point to visit her at work and keep her company. “He’s looking again, isn’t he?” Ross asked, not taking her eyes from her Algebra homework.\n\nMegan shot a quick glance toward Sebastian, who hastily fumbled to appear busy arranging merchandise on the shelves. “Yeah. I hate this job,” she muttered, before returning her attention to the display case. “I swear, they only hired me because of my looks, and every other place I’ve applied turned me down - probably for the same reason.”\n\n“I can’t believe they made a pervert like him a manager,” Ross muttered. In the six weeks she’d been visiting Megan at work, she’d learned to not wear her skirts. \n\n“He wasn’t like this before. He was lazy as hell, and made me work my ass off, but he’d never check out me or any other girls. I think he’s got a thing for you,” the bat explained.\n\n“Lucky me. Well, at least he lets me hang out here with you.”\n\n“It’s still bullshit,” Megan said with a sigh.\n\n“Don’t worry, Megs,” Ross said. “He’ll get his someday.”\n\nThe pair sat together in comfortable silence, just enjoying each others’ company for close to a half hour while Ross finished up her logarithms. Closing her textbook and putting it back into her backpack, she asked her girlfriend, “Would you like to come over to my house for dinner tonight?”\n\nThe bat stopped what she was doing, caught off guard by the suddenness of the invitation. Averting her gaze, Megan asked, “Will Elena be there?”\n\nOver the past month and a half, things between Megan and Elena had gotten slightly better, but she could tell that the younger girl was still wrestling with the idea of her cousin dating a herm. It made Megan uncomfortable being around people judging her for how she was born; she wasn’t entirely sure herself why Ross was interested in her, but she knew that the lioness treated her better than Kristin had. Still, if Ross was genuinely attracted to her, why hadn’t they moved past kissing and hugging? As she mulled over these thoughts, Ross grabbed her attention by placing her paw on top of Megan’s.\n\n“Do you want this to work out between us?”\n\nMegan’s eyes were as wide as saucers as she tried to defend herself. “O-of course I do! It’s just, well, what if your family doesn’t like me?”\n\n“I’ve told my Aunt Alice everything about you. Everything. She’ll like you. It was her idea to invite you,” Ross said reassuringly. “Jordan will like you, too - she’s very laid back. Uncle Xavier may need some convincing, I hate to say, but Alice says she’ll take care of him. And don’t worry about Elena; she’ll come around eventually.”\n\n“But -”\n\n“No buts. I asked you before if you trusted me, and you said, ‘yes.’ You’re coming to dinner,” Ross squeezed her paw gently around her girlfriend’s. “Megan, I’m scared, too. Not because of you being who you are, but because I was sent to live here after what happened on Valentine’s Day. But that was just me having fun and going behind my mom’s back. I want my family to know I’m serious, and I want them to see us together. Whether they like you or not doesn’t change how I feel, but me hiding my relationship with you from them will only hurt our chances. Trust me.”\n\n“O-okay. I’ll go.”\n\n-----\n\n“So Megan,” Alice began, “Ross has told me so much about you, and you seem like a sweet girl, but I’d still like to get to know you better. Why don’t you tell some things about yourself?”\n\nMegan fidgeted in her seat uneasily, looking at the garden salad in front of her. At a table full of carnivores, having a nice vegetarian meal seemed, at least in her mind, to isolate her further. And now she was being put on the spot to talk about herself to a group of strangers. She could feel her paws sweating, and her stomach was turning in knots. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that this was for Ross, and spoke.\n\n“When I was born, my dad left us because I was a herm. He apparently couldn’t deal with the shame of raising a bi-gendered child. My mom started drinking after he left, more concerned about what she lost instead of trying to find someone better - someone who could accept her and her [i]special[/i] daughter.” Looking at Ross, she smiled happily and said, “But she should try looking sometime. They’re out there, and they’re wonderful people.”\n\n“That’s awful,” Jordan whispered. “You were just a baby!”\n\n“Go ahead, dear,” Alice urged.\n\nMegan nodded, slightly encouraged by the interest the matron of the house was showing in her story. “As I got older, Mom’s drinking only got worse. She’d go off to work at the DMV just to come home and drink herself to sleep. Dinner usually came from the freezer. My studies were my escape, and that was how I was able to get myself a scholarship to attend Chimera Prep, where I met Ross.”\n\n“You seem like a smart young... lady,” Xavier said, his deep voice rumbled with a thick African accent. Megan did her best not to flinch at the cheetah’s pause. “What do you want to do after high school?”\n\n“I’d like to be an EMT, sir,” Megan admitted. “I’ve always liked the idea of helping people in need. I’m also CPR and AED certified with the Red Cross.” She noted that this earned her smiles from both Alice and Xavier, and helped ease her worries a bit.\n\n“What about friends? Surely there were at least 1 or 2 kids that either didn’t know, or didn’t care, that you were a herm,” Alice asked with compassion in her voice.\n\n“None of them knew - I was too scared of one of them finding out that I never let them get close. I didn’t have any friends up until I met Kristin in 3rd grade,” the shy bat confessed.\n\n“Kristin is her ex,” Ross growled.\n\n“So what happened?” Elena spoke up, sounding genuinely interested.\n\n“I met her on the playground at recess one day. Kristin was always cold and aloof, even before she entered her Goth phase. I never really found out about what happened, but she was apparently being mistreated by her folks and wound up in the foster care system. We were inseparable, though, and would spend all of our time together. I think I was the closest anyone ever got to cracking her shell. I guess our demons at home brought us together.”\n\nBy now the entire table had stopped eating, the Rikkers family more intent on hearing about Megan’s life than eating their rapidly-cooling roasted chicken.\n\n“When I was little, I always wore leggings under my skirts to keep anyone from finding out about my penis,” she blushed at the mention of her male anatomy, but managed to continue without stumbling. “One day on the playground, I was running past the swing set and got swung into by one of the other kids. Kristin came to help me, and managed to get a clear enough view up my upturned skirt to see my bulge. She didn’t freak out, or even show any other sign that she’d seen anything, so I thought my secret was still intact.”\n\nBy this time, Megan’s eyes were tearing up, despite her best efforts to hold them back. She sniffled, and then felt Ross’s paw grab ahold of her own. “You don’t have to go on if you don’t want to, Megs.”\n\n“No, it’s ok,” Megan smiled weakly. “It feels good to talk about it, instead of holding it all inside.” She took a drink of her water before continuing. “I didn’t find out that Kristin knew my secret until we were in the 8th grade. We were spending time together down by Granite River, when she made advances on me. I never had ‘the talk’ with my mom like other kids. I didn’t know what was happening. All I knew was I was inside of Kristin, and it felt better than anything I had ever known up until that point.”\n\nElena squirmed uncomfortably in her seat, listening to each word as they left Megan’s lips, feeling the wetness forming in the crotch of her panties. She’d never been so aroused before, and had some difficulty accepting that she was feeling this way because of a herm. She didn’t even realize she’d been holding her breath until the bat girl glanced her direction.\n\n“With Kristin, it was always about what she wanted, what she needed. There was no dating. No romance. No love. I thought it was love at the time, I really did, but I had nothing to compare it to. I’d gone my entire life being rejected by the rest of the world. Then one day, something happened at school, and it made me see things differently. A boy named Wendell came to school one morning, announcing that he was a hermaphrodite like me, and wanted to be known as Wendy, and seen as a girl. Wendy had the love and support of someone she cared about to help her through that process.”\n\n“I remember hearing about that,” Xavier spoke, leaning back in his seat and folding his arms across his chest. “Headmistress Gaithers sent home a letter stating that any bullying, especially against hermaphrodites, wouldn’t be tolerated. I’d wondered what prompted that announcement.”\n\n“Well, I wanted to be brave like Wendy, to step out from the shadows, but Kristin thought otherwise. She insisted that it was all for show, and that Wendy would just attract all kinds of unwanted attention to herself. Looking back, I see it was because she didn’t care about me like Ethan did for Wendy, and she was afraid that I’d leave her.”\n\n“So what finally caused you 2 to split up?” Jordan asked, earning a swat on the arm from her mother.\n\n“Jordan!”\n\n“No, it’s okay, Mrs. Rikkers. I don’t mind,” Megan chucked. She had Ross’s paw in her own, and after how well the family had reacted to her story so far, she wanted to continue. “As I said before, my relationship with Kristin was all about her. Whatever she wanted, I would do to make her happy. She wasn’t against bringing other people into bed with us, male or female. One day, she asked me to do something to a boy that he didn’t agree to -” she caught sight of Xavier grimace and shift uncomfortably in his seat “- and I refused. It was the first and only time I’d ever told her ‘no.’ She broke up with me right then and there, and threw me out. The next day, she revealed my secret to the entire school. Instead of supporting me, she made me deal with it on my own. ”\n\n“Sweetie, that’s awful,” Alice said softly.\n\n“I hate that weasel,” Ross growled.\n\n“It’s okay, really,” Megan replied, smiling. “If not for that day, I wouldn’t have met Ross.” She lifted her paw and Ross’s out from under the table, resting them on the table for the rest of the family to see. “I’ve only known her for 7 weeks, but she’s shown me more love than I’ve ever known. Everything we do together is about what’s best for us, not her. I finally understand now that she wants to make sure that I can separate lust from love before we go any further. It’s frustrating at times, but I trust her more than anyone.”\n\n-----\n\nAfter supper, Megan joined Ross in her room to relax and talk.\n\n“You did good, Megs,” Ross encouraged. “I think you shared more than anyone expected, even me. You seem to have won them over.” Pointing to the spot in front of her on the bed, she commanded. “Come here. Lay down.”\n\nDoing as she was told, Megan laid on her back, her head between her girlfriend’s knees. The lioness began gently massaging her scalp with her claws. The bat relaxed and let a deep sigh escape. “Thanks, Ross, for everything. It felt great just to be able to talk about it. But... do you really think they’ll accept me?”\n\n“I think you already won Aunt Alice and Jordan over. It looks like you made great progress with Uncle Xavier and Elena, too. Of course, the real challenge is going to be my mom.”\n\nMegan murred happily as Ross’s claws worked lovingly over the top of her head.\n\n“So when do I get to meet her?”\n\n“Tell Sebastian you need off the 19th through the 21st. You and I are going to take a road trip.”","writing_bbcode_parsed":"Special

April 5, 2013

“So, who is she?”

“Huh?” Ross asked, looking up from her half-touched ribeye, her chin propped up on her elbow. Looking around the dinner table, she saw that Jordan and Elena had finished their suppers and gone to their respective rooms.

“Ross, it’s okay. Your mother told us about your... fling... with that girl back home,” Alice said, with a soft smile. “You’re sitting there daydreaming like you have someone on your mind, so - who is she?”

Blushing slightly at being called out, the younger lioness answered, “Her name’s Megan. I met her while I was in town for the school tour.”

“Wow, you don’t waste any time, do you?” her aunt laughed playfully.

“It wasn’t like that. When I excused myself while you and mom talked with Mrs. Gaithers, I went outside to think about everything that was happening. I found Megan out there, crying,”

“About?”

“She’d recently been dumped by her girlfriend for a boy,” Ross explained, intentionally omitting the details about Megan’s role as Kristin’s submissive. “On top of that, her ex revealed some... personal details... about their relationship to the entire school.”

“Sounds awful,” Alice nodded, “I can see why the poor girl would be upset.” She paused a moment to eat a piece of her steak. “And when did you two become an item?”

Ross blushed further, sliding down into her chair. “My first day,” she muttered shyly. “But we spent the entire week that I was back in Riverview video chatting on Skype. By the time I started here, we already knew so much about each other.”

“How far have the two of you gone?”

“Only kissed. I like her, a lot, but after her last relationship, I don’t want to push Megan too fast.”

“You should invite her over for dinner. I’d like to meet this young lady. Say, tomorrow?”

“She works tomorrow, from 10 til 4, so I think that might work.”

“She has a job?” Alice asked, incredulously.

“Yeah. Her mom doesn’t make much money, and spends a lot of it on alcohol. So Megan helps out around the house with chores, and works part-time at a shop in the mall.”

“Well, ask her. It’s obvious that you can’t stop thinking about this girl,” Alice said with a warming smile. Ross had always loved Alice, seeing her more like an older sister than an aunt. She was definitely more laid back and casual than her sister, Dianna. It probably didn’t hurt matters any that her Uncle Xavier was around a lot more than Ross’s father, Codix. Ross supposed that her mother kept a tighter leash on her daughters because she had more to lose by dishonoring the family name.

Speaking of dishonoring the family name...

“Aunt Alice?” Ross spoke softly.

“Hmmmmm?”

“About Megan - she’s Goth”

“Goth? Like black clothes?” Alice arched an eyebrow.

“And piercings. Lots of piercings. And purple hair.”

“Does that matter to you?”

“No.”

“Then it shouldn’t matter to anyone else.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Ross added, “And she’s a hermaphrodite.”

Alice sat thoughtfully, mulling over this latest bit of news. “Same question as before; does that matter to you?”

“No. Yes. I mean, it excites me,” Ross confessed. “She has all the softness and beauty of a woman, plus the equipment of a man. She’s everything I want, along with everything I could ever need.”

“Then it shouldn’t matter to anyone else. Your Uncle Xavier may have an opinion, but let me take care of him, okay? Now hurry up and finish your dinner.”

-----

Ross could feel the jackal’s eyes focused on her ass through her tight jeans. She was practically a fixture at this Hot Topic by now, even though she stood out in the store like the moon on a clear night sky. Ever since she’d begun dating Megan, Ross made it a point to visit her at work and keep her company. “He’s looking again, isn’t he?” Ross asked, not taking her eyes from her Algebra homework.

Megan shot a quick glance toward Sebastian, who hastily fumbled to appear busy arranging merchandise on the shelves. “Yeah. I hate this job,” she muttered, before returning her attention to the display case. “I swear, they only hired me because of my looks, and every other place I’ve applied turned me down - probably for the same reason.”

“I can’t believe they made a pervert like him a manager,” Ross muttered. In the six weeks she’d been visiting Megan at work, she’d learned to not wear her skirts.

“He wasn’t like this before. He was lazy as hell, and made me work my ass off, but he’d never check out me or any other girls. I think he’s got a thing for you,” the bat explained.

“Lucky me. Well, at least he lets me hang out here with you.”

“It’s still bullshit,” Megan said with a sigh.

“Don’t worry, Megs,” Ross said. “He’ll get his someday.”

The pair sat together in comfortable silence, just enjoying each others’ company for close to a half hour while Ross finished up her logarithms. Closing her textbook and putting it back into her backpack, she asked her girlfriend, “Would you like to come over to my house for dinner tonight?”

The bat stopped what she was doing, caught off guard by the suddenness of the invitation. Averting her gaze, Megan asked, “Will Elena be there?”

Over the past month and a half, things between Megan and Elena had gotten slightly better, but she could tell that the younger girl was still wrestling with the idea of her cousin dating a herm. It made Megan uncomfortable being around people judging her for how she was born; she wasn’t entirely sure herself why Ross was interested in her, but she knew that the lioness treated her better than Kristin had. Still, if Ross was genuinely attracted to her, why hadn’t they moved past kissing and hugging? As she mulled over these thoughts, Ross grabbed her attention by placing her paw on top of Megan’s.

“Do you want this to work out between us?”

Megan’s eyes were as wide as saucers as she tried to defend herself. “O-of course I do! It’s just, well, what if your family doesn’t like me?”

“I’ve told my Aunt Alice everything about you. Everything. She’ll like you. It was her idea to invite you,” Ross said reassuringly. “Jordan will like you, too - she’s very laid back. Uncle Xavier may need some convincing, I hate to say, but Alice says she’ll take care of him. And don’t worry about Elena; she’ll come around eventually.”

“But -”

“No buts. I asked you before if you trusted me, and you said, ‘yes.’ You’re coming to dinner,” Ross squeezed her paw gently around her girlfriend’s. “Megan, I’m scared, too. Not because of you being who you are, but because I was sent to live here after what happened on Valentine’s Day. But that was just me having fun and going behind my mom’s back. I want my family to know I’m serious, and I want them to see us together. Whether they like you or not doesn’t change how I feel, but me hiding my relationship with you from them will only hurt our chances. Trust me.”

“O-okay. I’ll go.”

-----

“So Megan,” Alice began, “Ross has told me so much about you, and you seem like a sweet girl, but I’d still like to get to know you better. Why don’t you tell some things about yourself?”

Megan fidgeted in her seat uneasily, looking at the garden salad in front of her. At a table full of carnivores, having a nice vegetarian meal seemed, at least in her mind, to isolate her further. And now she was being put on the spot to talk about herself to a group of strangers. She could feel her paws sweating, and her stomach was turning in knots. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that this was for Ross, and spoke.

“When I was born, my dad left us because I was a herm. He apparently couldn’t deal with the shame of raising a bi-gendered child. My mom started drinking after he left, more concerned about what she lost instead of trying to find someone better - someone who could accept her and her special daughter.” Looking at Ross, she smiled happily and said, “But she should try looking sometime. They’re out there, and they’re wonderful people.”

“That’s awful,” Jordan whispered. “You were just a baby!”

“Go ahead, dear,” Alice urged.

Megan nodded, slightly encouraged by the interest the matron of the house was showing in her story. “As I got older, Mom’s drinking only got worse. She’d go off to work at the DMV just to come home and drink herself to sleep. Dinner usually came from the freezer. My studies were my escape, and that was how I was able to get myself a scholarship to attend Chimera Prep, where I met Ross.”

“You seem like a smart young... lady,” Xavier said, his deep voice rumbled with a thick African accent. Megan did her best not to flinch at the cheetah’s pause. “What do you want to do after high school?”

“I’d like to be an EMT, sir,” Megan admitted. “I’ve always liked the idea of helping people in need. I’m also CPR and AED certified with the Red Cross.” She noted that this earned her smiles from both Alice and Xavier, and helped ease her worries a bit.

“What about friends? Surely there were at least 1 or 2 kids that either didn’t know, or didn’t care, that you were a herm,” Alice asked with compassion in her voice.

“None of them knew - I was too scared of one of them finding out that I never let them get close. I didn’t have any friends up until I met Kristin in 3rd grade,” the shy bat confessed.

“Kristin is her ex,” Ross growled.

“So what happened?” Elena spoke up, sounding genuinely interested.

“I met her on the playground at recess one day. Kristin was always cold and aloof, even before she entered her Goth phase. I never really found out about what happened, but she was apparently being mistreated by her folks and wound up in the foster care system. We were inseparable, though, and would spend all of our time together. I think I was the closest anyone ever got to cracking her shell. I guess our demons at home brought us together.”

By now the entire table had stopped eating, the Rikkers family more intent on hearing about Megan’s life than eating their rapidly-cooling roasted chicken.

“When I was little, I always wore leggings under my skirts to keep anyone from finding out about my penis,” she blushed at the mention of her male anatomy, but managed to continue without stumbling. “One day on the playground, I was running past the swing set and got swung into by one of the other kids. Kristin came to help me, and managed to get a clear enough view up my upturned skirt to see my bulge. She didn’t freak out, or even show any other sign that she’d seen anything, so I thought my secret was still intact.”

By this time, Megan’s eyes were tearing up, despite her best efforts to hold them back. She sniffled, and then felt Ross’s paw grab ahold of her own. “You don’t have to go on if you don’t want to, Megs.”

“No, it’s ok,” Megan smiled weakly. “It feels good to talk about it, instead of holding it all inside.” She took a drink of her water before continuing. “I didn’t find out that Kristin knew my secret until we were in the 8th grade. We were spending time together down by Granite River, when she made advances on me. I never had ‘the talk’ with my mom like other kids. I didn’t know what was happening. All I knew was I was inside of Kristin, and it felt better than anything I had ever known up until that point.”

Elena squirmed uncomfortably in her seat, listening to each word as they left Megan’s lips, feeling the wetness forming in the crotch of her panties. She’d never been so aroused before, and had some difficulty accepting that she was feeling this way because of a herm. She didn’t even realize she’d been holding her breath until the bat girl glanced her direction.

“With Kristin, it was always about what she wanted, what she needed. There was no dating. No romance. No love. I thought it was love at the time, I really did, but I had nothing to compare it to. I’d gone my entire life being rejected by the rest of the world. Then one day, something happened at school, and it made me see things differently. A boy named Wendell came to school one morning, announcing that he was a hermaphrodite like me, and wanted to be known as Wendy, and seen as a girl. Wendy had the love and support of someone she cared about to help her through that process.”

“I remember hearing about that,” Xavier spoke, leaning back in his seat and folding his arms across his chest. “Headmistress Gaithers sent home a letter stating that any bullying, especially against hermaphrodites, wouldn’t be tolerated. I’d wondered what prompted that announcement.”

“Well, I wanted to be brave like Wendy, to step out from the shadows, but Kristin thought otherwise. She insisted that it was all for show, and that Wendy would just attract all kinds of unwanted attention to herself. Looking back, I see it was because she didn’t care about me like Ethan did for Wendy, and she was afraid that I’d leave her.”

“So what finally caused you 2 to split up?” Jordan asked, earning a swat on the arm from her mother.

“Jordan!”

“No, it’s okay, Mrs. Rikkers. I don’t mind,” Megan chucked. She had Ross’s paw in her own, and after how well the family had reacted to her story so far, she wanted to continue. “As I said before, my relationship with Kristin was all about her. Whatever she wanted, I would do to make her happy. She wasn’t against bringing other people into bed with us, male or female. One day, she asked me to do something to a boy that he didn’t agree to -” she caught sight of Xavier grimace and shift uncomfortably in his seat “- and I refused. It was the first and only time I’d ever told her ‘no.’ She broke up with me right then and there, and threw me out. The next day, she revealed my secret to the entire school. Instead of supporting me, she made me deal with it on my own. ”

“Sweetie, that’s awful,” Alice said softly.

“I hate that weasel,” Ross growled.

“It’s okay, really,” Megan replied, smiling. “If not for that day, I wouldn’t have met Ross.” She lifted her paw and Ross’s out from under the table, resting them on the table for the rest of the family to see. “I’ve only known her for 7 weeks, but she’s shown me more love than I’ve ever known. Everything we do together is about what’s best for us, not her. I finally understand now that she wants to make sure that I can separate lust from love before we go any further. It’s frustrating at times, but I trust her more than anyone.”

-----

After supper, Megan joined Ross in her room to relax and talk.

“You did good, Megs,” Ross encouraged. “I think you shared more than anyone expected, even me. You seem to have won them over.” Pointing to the spot in front of her on the bed, she commanded. “Come here. Lay down.”

Doing as she was told, Megan laid on her back, her head between her girlfriend’s knees. The lioness began gently massaging her scalp with her claws. The bat relaxed and let a deep sigh escape. “Thanks, Ross, for everything. It felt great just to be able to talk about it. But... do you really think they’ll accept me?”

“I think you already won Aunt Alice and Jordan over. It looks like you made great progress with Uncle Xavier and Elena, too. Of course, the real challenge is going to be my mom.”

Megan murred happily as Ross’s claws worked lovingly over the top of her head.

“So when do I get to meet her?”

“Tell Sebastian you need off the 19th through the 21st. You and I are going to take a road trip.”","pools_count":2,"title":"The Bat & the Cat, Ch. 4","deleted":"f","public":"t","mimetype":"application/msword","pagecount":"1","rating_id":"1","rating_name":"Mature","ratings":[{"content_tag_id":"2","name":"Nudity","description":"Nonsexual nudity exposing breasts or genitals (must not show arousal)","rating_id":"1"}],"submission_type_id":"12","type_name":"Writing - Document","guest_block":"t","friends_only":"f","comments_count":"8","views":"291","sales_description":null,"forsale":"f","digitalsales":"f","printsales":"f","digital_price":""}