It was a cold, rainy day, and Inika was feeling every bit of it through clothes that were not really suitable for a cold, rainy day. She was hungry, too, having been living on little more than bread and water for days. There was no money for more, not since she was fired from her work selling candles the previous week.

They hadn’t even given her a reason for the firing. Nothing beyond “we just don’t think you’re going to be able to achieve your full potential here” and similar phrases, empty of all meaning. It was, the squirrel reflected, bitterly unfair.

She was walking through the market district on her way home when she saw a store that she must have seen before, but never really noticed - a seamstress. There were outfits hanging in the window, finely crafted in a plethora of fabrics and styles and colors. All of them looked nicer than her drab, much-patched tunic and pants.

Without really intending to, she found herself standing at the window, staring inside. Her nose twitched  She felt like she was about to cry as she saw an outfit in her size, crimson and black wool that would compliment her grey fur and amber eyes wonderfully.

She was about to turn and walk away when the door opened. She found herself looking at the strangest cat she had ever seen. She was tall, significantly taller than Inika was, with dappled fur and bright green eyes and a notched ear. All of that, though, was noticed only after a few moments, because first her attention was caught by the mushrooms.

They were growing out of the cat’s skin, all over. One side of her face was more shelf fungus than fur, her eye barely visible. Smaller mushrooms poked out of her fur all down the arm on the other side of her body. When she smiled, there were even tiny specks on her gums.

Inika was prepared to flee from the strange fungal woman, sure that she was here to reprimand the squirrel for loitering and distantly afraid she might be contagious. But her voice, when she spoke, was gentle, soothing. “Hey, what’s wrong? You seem upset.”

Inika was about to answer, but she suddenly shivered, and the cat grabbed her hand, gently, with the hand that wasn’t covered in mushrooms. “Let’s get you inside, get you warmed up,” she said. Inika didn’t have the energy to argue, and let the cat pull her through the door.


“So what’s your name?” the cat asked. She’d given Inika a towel and some privacy to dry herself off, and a wool robe to change into afterward, and Inika was feeling a lot better as a result.

“Inika,” the squirrel said shyly, not meeting the cat’s gaze. “What’s yours?”

“MIca. So what brought you here? You looked...really upset.”

Inika hesitated, and then found herself talking. She wasn’t even sure why. Logically, the chance that this strange cat even wanted to know all this was vanishingly small. She was a complete stranger, for God’s sake. But...she just seemed so earnest, and Inika hadn’t had the chance to really talk about this with anyone, and she needed to.

So she told Mica about the misery of her job, the extra unpaid hours and the way the scents of the candles overwhelmed her sensitive nose and the manager yelling at her for any mistake. She told her about the nasty customers and the way her manager didn’t do anything about them. She told her about how she had no friends since she’d moved to Henton to get away from her abusive family situation, how she was isolated and she spent all her time off alone in the apartment rereading the same books. She told her about how she’d been fired without cause or notice, and now she couldn’t afford food or rent or clothing to suit the changing weather.

There was a good deal of crying.

When she finally fell silent, Mica reached out and very gently patted her on the hand. “Oh, honey,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”

Inika waved it off. “Just how life is,” she mumbled.

“But it’s not how life should be,” Mica said firmly. “Well. What are we going to do about it?”

“We?” Inika’s voice was so full of sarcasm it was almost painful.

“We,” Mica said, just as firmly. “Let’s see. You know how to sew a little, I assume, since those patches look like you did them yourself. You worked in retail. Do you want a job here? I can’t pay terribly well, and I know I’m a little...off-putting, but if you want ...” She trailed off.

Inika looked up at that, her breath catching in her chest. A job here? Selling something she actually liked, for a boss that seemed genuinely nice? It seemed too good to be true, but then, she wasn’t exactly spoiled for choice. “Really?” she asked. “I...you’d really do that?”

“Absolutely! That is...if you want…”

Inika nodded enthusiastically, and the cat giggled. “All right. Let’s sort out the details…”


The next month was perhaps the happiest of Inika’s life. She had enough to eat, and a place to live that didn’t involve being screamed at and struck and tormented in countless other ways the way living with her family had. She had work that she really enjoyed, with a boss who was an actual friend. For now she was just selling the clothes and helping with fitting and such, but Mica was teaching her to make clothing herself, and seemed to think she was learning quickly.

The only thing that really put a damper on the satisfaction she felt with the life she’d found was that she still didn’t understand, in the least, how she’d found it. What was it that made Mica offer her this out when she was on the edge? Why did she deserve this kind of good fortune? She didn’t want to ask for fear that it would vanish if looked at too closely, but not knowing was driving her mad.

And so, finally, a little over a month after taking the job, she screwed up her courage to ask. It was just after the shop closed for the night, while they were cleaning up. No one else was in the shop, and it had been slow all day.

“Mica?” she called, and waited for the cat to turn. “I...I was wondering if I could ask you a question.”

“Of course!” Mica replied instantly, setting her mop aside and walking over. “What’s up?”

“I was...wondering...why’d you take me in like this?” she blurted. “Like. I know you could handle the business yourself, so why do you need an assistant?”

Mica didn’t answer for a long moment, and Inika was increasingly sure that she’d been right not to ask. Eventually, the cat just said, “Let me make some tea,” and it settled into real certainty.

“I’m sorry, I’ll just go,” the sciurid said, only for Mica to shake her head firmly.

“No, no, it’s not like that at all,” Mica said. “It’s just...this is the kind of thing that needs tea.”

With this dubious reassurance, Inika waited for the cat to go about making tea. It seemed to take a very long time before she settled in at the counter and gestured for the squirrel to take a seat across from her.

“So I know this seems like a non sequitur,” Mica said, after sipping her tea. Black tea, strong, with a little honey. “But I’m sure you’ve wondered why I have these.” She gestured at the fungal growths on her face.

Inika nodded. “I didn’t want to be rude,” she said. “But yes.”

“I appreciate it! A lot of people pry first thing, and it gets old,” Mica said. “It’s pretty personal. But I like you, so. You know there’s a huge cave system under this city, right?”

“Yeah, of course,” Inika said. Everyone knew that.

“Right, well, I used to be a tour guide for that, believe it or not. And I was...well, I was a godawful mess inside. Depressed, angry, afraid all the time.” She took another sip of tea. “My life was miserable and I didn’t want to be a part of it and it showed pretty heavily. I drank myself to sleep every night, got in fights, the works. Eventually I decided I wanted to die.”

“I...I’m sorry, Mica, I didn’t know.”

She waved it off. “No way you would have. Anyway. I decided I’d go down into the caves, but instead of going around the safer portions, I’d go deep. I’d just keep going down until I got lost and died of thirst in the dark, because that was what I deserved. So I did.”

Inika wanted to say something, to console the cat, but what could she possibly say that would mean something in contrast to that level of suffering? And Mica hadn’t stopped.

“I went down, deeper than I’d ever gone before, well past the boundary of what was safe and charted. There are some strange things down there, Inika, I can tell you that. Eventually, though, I found something...beautiful, and terrifying, all at once. A ravine, filled with fungi of all kinds - mushrooms as tall as I was, and tiny ones, and everything in between. I was walking through there, just marveling at what I was seeing, when I heard a voice inside my head. Asking to colonize me.”

She sipped some more tea before continuing. “Well, I thought that it would mean I died, and I didn’t care about anything anymore. So I said yes. Hyphae crawled up my arm to my face, and they burrowed under my skin. It hurt, a lot. And I blacked out.”

“But I woke up again.” She paused. “You have to understand how crazy that was, to me. To wake up again, I just...that had never crossed my mind as a possibility. But I was awake, and there was still that voice in my head, and it was...nice. It talked me into going back up. It convinced me to quit my job and study to be a seamstress - I’d always wanted to work in this field, you understand. It encouraged me, helped me with the depression and anxiety. It just...it helped me turn my life around.”

“That’s amazing,” Inika said, in a very small voice.

“It really is. So I kinda. Wanted to do the same for you, you know? I could feel some of the same things from you that I was feeling, back then, the desperation, and just...I wanted to show you that it could get better. I wanted to make sure you didn’t end up doing what I almost did.”

“Thank you. I...thank you, really. I don’t know what I’d have done without you, but it wouldn’t have been nearly as good as the life you’ve given me.”

“Hey, you worked for it,” Mica said. “Like, I know it feels like nothing, but you’ve been doing hard work here, and from what you told me you left everything you knew to chase a better life. That takes a lot of courage, girl.” She shrugged. “Anyway, now you know, I guess.”

“Do the mushrooms still hurt?” Inika asked.

“Not...really? They’re very sensitive, but they don’t ache or anything like that.” MIca shrugged. “I know they’re ugly, but I don’t really mind anymore.”

“I think they’re beautiful,” Inika said without thinking.

Now it was MIca’s turn to stammer. “I...you…really?”

Inika giggled and reached out, very slowly, to gently stroke one of the fungal growths on Mica’s arm. “Yeah,” she said. “Not that you aren’t beautiful without them, but yeah.”

Mica shivered a little at the touch. “That’s...very sweet of you.”

“I don’t...want to push anything,” Inika said. “You’ve already done so much for me. But you’re cute and you’re...unique. I’ve never met anyone like you.”

“Oh, honey,” Mica said. “You’re not pushing anything. Like, I’ve wanted to flirt with you since I first saw you standing outside my window.”

“...really?”

“Absolutely,” Mica said. “I, uh. I don’t really know how to do this sort of thing very well. But I think you’re pretty, and the way you keep fighting is really inspirational. And you’ve been learning so quickly how to run the store and how to make the clothes. And - “

Inika leaned in, slow enough to give Mica plenty of time to pull away, and kissed her. It started as a gentle touch of lips, but then MIca opened her mouth a little at the contact, and Inika couldn’t resist reaching in with her tongue to explore a little. She ran her tongue lightly  over the cat’s gums, feeling the specks of the fungal growths under her tongue, and the cat shuddered.

It was a long, slow exploration of a kiss, steadily building in intensity until finally Mica broke it off, breathing hard as she pulled away a little. “My apartment is upstairs,” she said, her voice a little husky. “Do you want to…?”

“Yes,” Inika said, standing. “Very yes.”

Mica grinned, drained her tea, and stood as well. She took Inika’s hand in her own, and tugged her along towards a door in the back area of the shop that the squirrel had never seen open before. It revealed a staircase, and upstairs, a door.

Mica’s apartment was spare, minimalist, modernist. There was a dark futon, a glass coffee table, black carpet, and a dark green loveseat. One door was open to show the kitchen, while the other presumably had the bathroom behind it. It was small, but...homey.

Mica pulled Inika over to the futon, and sat down beside her. “What do you think?” she asked.

“It’s nice! It feels really...authentic to you.” The squirrel grinned, rested one hand on the cat’s thigh. “I like it.”

“I’m glad,” Mica said. “Now. I think we were in the middle of something.” This time she was the one to lean in close and kiss Inika, her lips pressing tight to the squirrel’s face. Her hands slipped over Inika’s shirt, exploring lightly. Inika returned the favor as she returned the kiss, her hands sliding over the light dress the cat was wearing. She didn’t avoid the mushrooms, and every time she stroked them, Mica shivered a little. She clearly hadn’t been overstating how sensitive they were.

Eventually, Mica slipped first one hand and then the other under Inika’s shirt, savoring the feel of her fur directly. It was Inika’s turn to shiver this time, especially as Mica worked her hands up her body, slowly, steadily, offering plenty of time to say no. Eventually, they reached her breasts, squeezing and massaging them gently. She pinched the nipples and twisted them a little.

Inika made a little breathy noise at that, and Mica grinned, a sharp-toothed predator’s grin. “Aw, does the squeaker like that?” she said, her tone teasing.

“You know it,” Inika said, gasping again as the cat twisted her nipples a little harder, sending spikes of mixed pleasure and pain up into her. She retaliated, if such a term applied, by reaching up and rubbing the shelf fungus on Mica’s face, a little more firmly than before.

This time it was the cat’s turn to gasp, and Inika giggled at the noise. “Aw, does the kitty like that?” she said.

“Oh yeah, honey,” Mica said. She let go of Inika’s breasts, and gently peeled the sciurid out of her shirt. She ran her hands up and down Inika’s sides, pressing in enough to feel the spaces between her ribs, before returning to her breasts once again. She leaned in to nuzzle into Inika’s neck at the same time, nibbling just a little with those sharp teeth.

Inika sighed happily, working her hands up under Mica’s shirt to her breasts. She could feel herself starting to get wet as she worked them over, rubbing and squeezing those lovely orbs. Eventually, MIca pulled back, and skinned out of her dress. There were more fungal growths underneath, on her chest and her legs, close to the skin. Inika stroked those as well, and was rewarded with happy churring from the cat.

“You want to lie down?” Mica asked, and Inika nodded. Mica stood up, went to the futon, and fiddled with it, fiddled with it to convert it to a flat bed, and laid down on it. She looked up at Inika, dappled fur and green eyes and fungus, and smiled in a way that made Inika melt inside.

The squirrel went over,  but was interrupted when she saw something under the futon. “What are those?” she asked, pointing.

“Restraints,” Mica said, her tone very matter-of-fact. Then, more hesitantly, “...do you like to be restrained?”

“I’d like to try,” Inika said, blushing furiously, and laid down beside Mica.

“Soon enough,” the cat said, dragging Inika’s pants down and spending a long time stroking and rubbing her legs, even her feet.

Inika returned the favor with a soft moan, rubbing and stroking and squeezing every part of Mica. The cat leaned down and kissed her again, a gentle contact of muzzles and lips and tongues.

That went on for what could have been a few minutes or an eternity before Mica pulled away again, and reached for Inika’s panties, tugging the damp fabric down. “Lie on your back,” the cat ordered once the cloth was out of the way. Her tone was much more commanding, now, more assertive.

Inika obeyed, sprawling on her back as Mica dug around under the futon. She came up after a few moments, holding a set of padded leather cuffs and some carabiners. She began affixing the former around Inika’s wrists, tight enough that the squirrel couldn’t have wriggled out even if she wanted to. But she didn’t want to, so that was fine.

Once the cuffs were in place, she pulled Inika’s arms up above her head, and clipped the cuffs to loops on the futon frame. The squirrel tugged on them, and found no give - her hands were quite effectively restrained. She was breathing faster, the tiny edge of fear feeding into the hunger until she couldn’t think.

The cuffs went around her ankles next, and then those were clipped to the futon frame as well, her legs spread. She squirmed, and found she could move her torso around a little, but her limbs were very effectively pinned in place. She grinned, involuntarily rolling her hips a little.

“Aw, honey, you look so needy splayed out like that for me,” Mica said, grinning back. “You’re lucky I love it.” She climbed back onto the futon, between Inika’s legs, and went back to stroking and teasing her.

It was the same sensation as before, but somehow it was far more intense now that Inika was pinned down for her lover to do with as she pleased, unable to do anything about it. She was panting now, as Mica pinched her nipples, tighter now.

Inika was whimpering with need when Mica finally slid one finger inside her, and she gasped. “Ohhh, that feels so good,” she said. The cat grinned and pumped her finger in and out of Inika’s pussy, stroking and twisting it inside her. Her hips were rolling in time with the strokes of that finger, her eyes half-closed as she moaned with pleasure.

“I think the squeaker likes this,” Mica said to no one in particular, and Inika nodded enthusiastically. Grinning, Mica slid a second finger inside her, spreading her open a little, both fingers twisting and twining inside of her. The squirrel gasped, whimpered, writhed to the limited extent that the restraints allowed. Mica found a particularly sensitive spot, and Inika arched, moaning.

Mica focused on that spot, stroking and teasing it with both fingers, her soft fur gliding across the surface of Inika’s pussy. The squirrel whimpered and moaned hungrily, until suddenly the fingers pulled out and did not glide back in. Her eyes opened fully just in time to see the cat dive in face first.

Her tongue dove right into Inika’s pussy, and the squirrel went right back to moaning happily, her eyes closing fully now. Mica’s tongue wriggled around inside her, its rough texture uniquely intense. Her hips were rolling faster now, and she was pulling against the cuffs hard.

Then Mica’s fingers went to her clit, rubbing and squeezing and tweaking it, and she melted. Her eyes rolled up in her head, heat and ecstatic pleasure exploding through her. She let out a long, rough moan, and she could feel a small gush of fluid coat her thighs and Mica’s mouth.

Mica kept working, extending the orgasm to the point of near-pain, before finally pulling away. “Did the squeaker enjoy herself?” she asked, teasing.

Unable to speak, Inika nodded almost frantically.

“Good, because I’m not done yet,” Mica said. Inika opened her eyes, and saw Mica approaching.

The cat straddled her face, her mouth, and without further instruction, Inika leaned up and started licking, her tongue working in and around Mica’s hot, wet pussy. She tasted a little darker and more bitter than Inika was used to, a taste that rapidly became quite good as Inika spread more and more of the cat’s juices through her mouth.

Mica rode her hard, making sure she had time to breathe but otherwise using her mouth, grinding against it. Her hands went to Inika’s head, gripping her fur and holding her in, pulling her up even as she ground down against Inika’s mouth.

The cat thrust against her, rode her, fingering her clitoris as she did, until finally she went stiff, back arched to push into Inika’s face. The squirrel took the hint and worked her over more enthusiastically still until finally, several seconds later, Mica let out a deep moan, her legs and arms clenching around Inika. The fluid that had been lubricating the inside of her pussy the whole time flowed more freely, and Inika licked it up.

Eventually the orgasm ran its course and Mica flopped down beside her. “I’m going to take the cuffs off in a moment,” she said, breathing hard. “You want to uh. Stay here tonight?”

Inika smiled. “I’d love to,” she said.

The two fell asleep that night cuddled up together on MIca’s futon.