Another night sprawled in front of the TV.  Another night of banal noise playing in the background while I eat my microwave dinner for one and catch up with a pointless piece of work.  If “Same Shit, Different Day” were defined in the dictionary, it’d say “See that poor fucker.”  I reached out to grab the remote and as my paw closed around it my cellphone sat next to it vibrated in three short, loud bursts.   The screen lit up with a message:
 
“Can I come over?  Could really do with someone to bitch at for a while… xBirdxx”
 
I tapped back a brief affirmation; it was fine, I wasn’t doing anything.  I’d not had a chance to put the phone back down on the table before it chimed again “I’m five minutes away.  Sorry for being a nuisance .x.”
 
I mulled the words over as I quickly tidied the remnants of my pathetic meal away and put on a pot of her favourite tea.  Elle had never been a nuisance to me, we’d met at a local coffee shop some years before; in a town full of mammals it was rare to find an avian and she seemed so lonely, huddled in the smallest corner she could find, surrounded by some frankly incomprehensible University texts.  She treated me with undisguised mistrust that night, but we grew to be close f…
 
DING
 
…riends.  I was snapped out of my reverie by the doorbell. 
 
DING
 
“Alright, keep your feathers on!” I called as I padded down the hallway, slipping the latches back on the door and opening it wide to reveal the 5’5 magpie.  I could tell by the way she blinked and bobbed her head that she was pissed about something.   I stepped back to let her in, reaching for the jacket she’d slung around her shoulders.  She was dressed up to the nines under that coat, a long, blood-red satin evening dress contrasted against the glossy rainbow black of her feathers.  “Took you long enough!” she chided, shrugging the coat into my grasp.  I grinned and gestured toward the lounge “Don’t blame me, I was making you tea.  Go on through and I’ll bring you a cup.”  She headbobbed and regarded me with a blink, a gesture I recognised as amusement “You know me too well, fox.  I’ll let you off this once.”
 
The tea had just brewed as I stepped back into the kitchen, a spicy, sweet and smoky scent filling the room as I gave the pot a gentle swirl and poured two mugs.  Elle was sat, perched primly on the edge of the sofa, the slit in her gown showing way more leg than I was used to my friend showing.  Our usual meetings were no more formal than a hoodie and jeans.  Making out like I didn’t notice, I set the mug in her grasp and sat by her side, arm outstretched.  She looked, blinked and nestled into the crook of my elbow and I drew her close.  “Date night went pear-shaped again?”  She looked down at the tea, steam rising in tendrils around her beak as she inhaled the vapour and sighed.
 
“No.  It was fine.  I’d just heard you’d instigated a dress code.”  She sighed again “Alex, it’s been months.  He won’t talk to me, when he does he fobs me off with some vague reassurance.  If I reach out to him, he pushes me away. “  I nodded quietly, I’d heard this bit before.  “I did everything I could!  I got dressed up, I took him out; we went to his favourite restaurant … He even held my hand, I thought I was getting somewhere!”  She took a draught of the hot tea, her shoulders heaving.  “We get home and he goes to bed, locking the door behind him… Alex…” She looked up at me “… We’re supposed to be married in two months and I don’t know he even loves me.  He makes me feel like I’m some kind of hideous pig. “  Casting her gaze back down to the mug which she set neatly back on the table.
 
“Birdy… I know I’ve said it before, but it’s not your fault.”  I said softly, hugging her just that bit tighter to me, feeling her feathers trembling against the satin “There’s obviously something going on there that needs some real help.  You’d mentioned counseling… Did you?”  She cawed, a derisive, mocking sound
“Yeah.  We went twice.  Sam didn’t like the questions so we didn’t go again.  He said we could work it out ourselves. “  I rolled my eyes and took a sip of my tea, that was Sam all over.  The guy was a dead fish; he must be not to see what was under his nose, what he stood to lose.  “Elle… There’s only so much you can do.  If he won’t accept help from you or anybody else…  I’m not saying it’s a lost cause, but he’s got to come round in his own time.  Under this macho exterior, we’re pretty fragile, you know?”  I laughed softly at the snort that followed “It’s true!  I swear.  And I tell you this.  You’re no pig.  I swear, he must be dead inside if this get up didn’t have /some/ effect on him.  You’re gorgeous Elle…”
 
“Then why haven’t you made a pass at me?”  She whispered. 
 
I was stunned, lost for words, my muzzle opened, closed. “I… Elle.  You said yourself you’re getting married in a couple of months, and you’re my friend.  I’d not risk that for the earth, you /know/ that.”
 
She pulled away from me, staring intently, her usually impassive gaze flashing, her eyes glistening as she stared at me “Fox, he doesn’t WANT me.  You’ve been here for me every night that he hasn’t.  You… You…” She was sobbing now, I reached back for her and she shrunk back against the corner of the sofa “Elle.  I’m your friend.  I wouldn’t, couldn’t take advantage of you like this.  I couldn’t face the fact that when you woke up in the morning and seen the mistake you’d made, that’d be it.  We’d be done.”
 
“Great.  A city full of foxes and I find the one that has to be a gentleman!”  She spat, her beak clacking furiously “And if this isn’t a mistake?  What if I’m doing the first right thing in nearly ten years?  What then?  Fox.  I need this.  I need you. “ 
 
All good sense had pretty much deserted me.  I looked at her and whispered, “Are you sure?”

She flew at me, pushing me down into the thick, soft cushions, wings splayed, a flurry of feathers, talons and beak raking at my clothes, lapping furiously at my muzzle.  “Here, now!”  She gasped between kisses, shrugging the slinky, sheer material down over her shoulders, revealing the swell of her breasts, dragging my paws up to touch her “I’m not going to make it upstairs…” pleading, imploring, as she straddled my thigh, grinding herself against the coarse material of my jeans, her warmth leeching through the thick denim.  I shook my head, lifting her against me, her avian frame no heavier than the feathers covering her beautiful frame, the dress slithering to the floor, her naked form pressing tight to me, her mouth seeking mine as we staggered down the hall to the bedroom, crashing through the door and kissing like our lives depended on it, barely noticing the sharpness of her beak against my tongue as we collapsed against the bed, her chest heaving against mine as agile fingers worked into my clothing.
 
“Fox, you need out of these” She cooed as I shrugged out of my shirt, her fingers struggling with my belt and brushing lower as I reached down to help, snapping the stiff leather back and snapping the button open with a practiced flick of my wrist, fingers darting into the gap and closing around my sheath, tugging gently, insistently, coaxing me back toward her as she fell beneath me, wings spread wide, her tailfan opening invitingly as I gazed down, her beauty searing into my mind.  “Fox… Neeed you” she begged, chittering coyly as she squeezed around my knot, my foxhood throbbing against the talons.   I shook my head and pulled away, smiling as she screeched “Fox, please… Don’t tease… I can’t.. I can’t bear it!”
 
“As if I would,” I purred softly, kissing down over the flat down of her tummy and lower “I just need to know if you taste as good as you smell…” My muzzle flaring as I pushed my nose firmly into the furnace between her thighs, my tongue dragging firmly over her lips as she arched against me,  my ears perking as the sharp sound of rending cloth, her talons digging deep into the ticking of my mattress as my tongue probed deeper, tasting her very essence, the earthy muskiness making my head spin as I drew back, my tongue up over her hood, flitting over the nub of her clit, murrrring deeply , my muzzle vibrating as I pressed down against her.  I felt claws hooking around my shoulders, pulling me down, flesh burning under the pressure as she screamed, begging me not to stop as I felt her muscles contract, a jet of sweet nectar soaking my maw as she came.  I did as I was told, my tongue tip flitting incessantly over her lips and hood, rewarding me with another soaking as she collapsed back against the bed, her body trembling under me as I covered her , her hips meeting mine, her sodden walls gripping my aching, swollen shaft.
 
“Did I do that?” she trilled, giggling softly as she cocooned me in her wings, tugging me down as I slipped deeper into her, the heat caressing me as I hilted, gasping an affirmation as she lapped at the moisture coating my muzzle “Don’t be gentle Fox, my love… Make me yours.  My paws were under her thighs before the words had left her lips, lifting her against me as I drove my knot home, dragging it against the tightness as instinct took over, the urge to breed all consuming.  I barely noticed the beak rubbing against my neck, the voice cooing and trilling, calling my name and encouraging me in sweet, filthy gasps to split her in half.  I was only too willing to oblige, slamming my hips home, driving the whole bed into the wall as the gasps became screams, begging me to hold on, to give it to her deeper,  talons drawing a blazing trail up my spine as  I felt her shudder under me, her hips slamming back against me with bruising ferocity, the white heat of my orgasm being held at bay by sheer willpower.  I barely heard her calling my name, screaming as her claws sunk into my behind “FOX!”  The screech so high, my ears folded flat as I hammered down, my knot irretrievably trapped, rolling and pulling her down against me, taking her as deep as I was able, her body vibrating against mine as she came, my knot unable to hold back the torrent of nectar, soaking my thighs as it gushed down over my sac, her beak seeking my muzzle and kissing me, silencing me before I could utter a word.
 
We lay in the wreckage of the bed for maybe 5 minutes, maybe an ice age.  Time didn’t seem to matter any more as I cradled her in my arms as her breathing slowed to a steady, somnolent rhythm, the slightest of twitches against me betraying her slumbering, dream-like state and I held her, whispering the softest, sweetest nothings until she stirred, starting against me with a little ruffle of feathers, a momentary, panicky struggle before nestling close to my chest, eyes still closed.  A whisper “Fox… You’re still here?”  I nodded, nuzzling against her crown until she looked up and into my eyes, a mirthful twinkle sparkling in their depths.  “I wish I’d jumped you years ago.  I might have saved myself a lot of heartache…”
“No regrets?” I whispered, barely trusting myself to speak.  A tap of beak against my breastplate admonished me.
“Don’t you dare, you gorgeous creature!  The only regret is it took this long, that we wasted so much time…”
I nodded; I knew what she meant.  It didn’t feel wrong and I knew the only injustice now would be to let go.   I was shaken from my reverie by an embarrassed cheep.
“Fox!  Look what I’ve done to your bed!” she squeaked, gazing down at the rents in the sheets, the ticking poking through the slashes in the mattress cover.  I smiled and shrugged.  “This old thing?  I’ve been meaning to replace it anyway.   What do you say we choose the next one together?”  I felt a nod against my chest. “I like that idea...” A pause and a giggle “Fox?  You’re stinky.”
I laughed and rolled out from under her, reaching out a paw as I stood, my sheath already thickening as she reached back to me “What would you say to a shower?”
 
…. To be continued?