[h2]Gritpaws and Fineclaws[/h2] It was Dane who answered the door when the bell rang...and smirked at the now familiar frown waiting on the other side. “Hi! Come on in!” he greeted Oro and the line of Felines and Lionesses behind him, stepping back with a wave and directing them toward the dining area. It wasn’t so much a “room” as a table that had been set up in the vacant space on the other side of the long counter that sectioned off the kitchen from the rest of that part of the house. The other three Dogs were already seated around it, with Gemini playfully bouncing their little one on her knee and making silly faces at him. “Heh...since introductions up to now have all been hasty and haphazard, I figured we’d make proper ones today,” Dane chuckled, shaking each of their guests’ hand in turn as they filed through the door. “I’m Dane Gritpaw. It’s nice to meet all of you. The Doberman there is my wife, Gemini—” “But they should call me ‘Gemi’! Yes they should!” she cooed playfully to their baby, who giggled at his mother’s silly voice, “And they shouldn’t worry, ‘cause it’s almost bedtime! Yes it is!” Dane chuckled. “Yeah, that’s our little bit, Orion. I know we invited you over kind of late, but it was deliberately so that we could start about the time he winds down for the first part of the night. The hulk back there is her brother, Ares,” he pointed to the other Doberman, leaning against the wall, looking buff and intimidating. “Fineclaw,” he supplied his last name with a friendly wave and a smile. “Heh...and of course, the one with the phone-shaped growth on her palm is my sister, Johanna,” Dane couldn’t help chiding. The female Dalmation, nose buried in the glow of her screen as usual, waved briefly to them without ever taking her eyes off the device. “Please, make yourselves comfy anywhere you like.” “Thanks,” Oro grunted, rolling his eyes as he assumed the duty of following Dane’s lead, “Oro Ironheart. My wife, Nayeli, mother-in-law Tuli Hope, and Sarahi, Diya, and Kylan,” he rattled off hurriedly. He deliberately left off the last names in part because they weren’t quite sure how widely Sarahi should use [i]his[/i], even though she’d already introduced herself to Dane with it, and didn’t want to have to explain why two completely unrelated siblings were also part of the family. It was bound to come up at some point in conversation, but no point inviting unnecessary questions up-front. “Wow! What unique names!” Gemini beamed at the last two, “Are you not from around here?” “Oh, we are,” Diya assured her with a bright smile as the twins shrugged off their coats and smoothed out their matching, holly-themed dresses, “Born and raised right here in Three-Peaks. Mom and Dad just like exotic names.” “It’s nice to finally meet [i]all [/i]of you,” Johanna remarked idly, still scrolling through something on her phone while Ares pulled no less than four cardboard buckets out of the oven, “We’re kind of lazy around here, so it’s just take-out fried chicken and biscuits, but there should be plenty for everyone and then some.” At last, she laid her phone down on the table and looked at their guests...in particular Oro and Sarahi. “So how did things go with Kita?” “Ah-ah!” Sarahi pointed a warning finger at Oro just as he opened his mouth, “It was a total pleasure getting to meet her, and I can’t thank you enough!” she said to Johanna, having successfully cut off the Rabbit’s typically cynical answers, “Also, he’s going to sound ungrateful even though he’s about the opposite, so I’ll say it for him: thank you [i]very[/i] much for the referral. As weird as it sounds, we are officially contracted monster-hunters as of last Monday, and this guy can’t wait to get started.” “Yeah, yeah,” Oro huffed, “Get excited when we actually get some kind of clue what we’re doing. Anyway...yeah, thanks. It’s the first job I actually feel like I can do competently, even if I’m a little lost getting started,” he said sincerely. Johanna shook her head. “I knew Kita was looking for someone. I just mentioned I’d seen someone do it. No thanks needed. I’m still the one who’s grateful.” “Auntie Jo’s not the only one!” Gemi giggled, “No she’s not! No she—oh, there’s that yawn I’ve been looking for,” the Doberman’s voice and demeanor changed in a snap as her little one’s mouth stretched wide open. Gathering him up against her chest, she flashed them all a bright smile as she got to her feet. “Go on and get started. I’ll be right back. Come on, you little squirt,” she smiled, rocking Orion gently as she carried him upstairs. Tuli smiled at nostalgic memories as they left. “Oh, they are nothing but adorable at that age. Mmm...so, Johanna,” the Lioness brought her attention back to the room, striding over to help herself to some of the chicken on the table, “What do you do that gives you connections to Kita Peakwood?” The Dalmatian just shrugged. “A bit of anything that involves a keyboard, mouse, and monitor. You can look up my CV on GritpawGruntcode.com, if you really want. Technically I’m an employee for the firm that handles system security for Kita’s shell companies, but I only met her in person thanks to brother,” she nodded to Dane. Dane scratched his head with a sheepish grin, a little embarrassed. “Yeah, I kind of...game...for a living. I play e-sports, among other things. Long story short: you met Rikko when Kita came over, right? The Jackrabbit? Well, I’m in a guild with his wife, and one day they wanted an extra player to help introduce Kita to TTRPGs, so she called me up and I took Johanna along. It was a really neat game, actually, and a pretty fun evening...you know, once I stopped being star-struck.” “You. Lucky. Devil,” Sarahi hissed, though she was grinning while she said it, “I am [i]boiling[/i] with envy right now!” Johanna nodded as if that was perfectly understandable, and a typical reaction. “Dumb luck is dumb, but lucky,” she shrugged, “Anyway...Nayeli, you’re in nursing school, right? And I know Mrs. Hope works at Owl Eyes. What do the rest of you do, if you don’t mind my asking?” Oro frowned, but his wife nodded with a smile. “You looked the rest of us up, too?” she asked gently, suggesting with her voice that she didn’t mind, but her expression reminded the Dalmatian she was being a tad rude. “No,” Johanna shook her head, “I only looked up Oro, but that means I pick up things tangentially...like his wife’s education and his foster mother’s employment and a letter from the mayor pressuring the juvie judge to let him mentor under Sarahi’s father...that sort of thing.” Sarahi’s chin fell slack. So did Tuli’s and the twins’, for that matter. Oro blew an irritated snort. “Much as I hate to draw the comparison, I think I know how the kids in school felt about me, back in the day. You fucking [i]pay attention[/i], and it’s fucking scarey.” Another noncommittal nod. “Yeah. Sorry.” Tuli chuckled. “That’s impressive. Your research is a little dated, though: I was fired towards the end of summer. It’s a long story, but I’m on the market again, as it were.” Sarahi volunteered next. “I’m...well, feeling kind of bad for bailing on Mrs. Rosefur, honestly. I [i]was[/i] going into fashion and tailoring until last week, but now I’ll be helping Oro with the whole monster-hunting thing. That’s good money, and I’ll feel better if he’s not out there alone.” “Photography,” Diya offered simply, followed by her brother’s equally simple, “Business major.” Dane blinked. “Wait...college? But you’re—okay, no, that’s clearly my mistake, but I had you pinned for late middle-school or high-school freshmen,” the Dalmatian confessed with an embarrassed grin, glad that the pair seemed to find his mistake funny rather than insulting, “Sorry about that.” Kylan beamed. “Nope! Twenty-one, and almost done with that associates degree.” “Don’t worry,” Diya assured him with a smile and a wave of her hand, “We’re used to it. We kind of play into it now,” she gestured at her own cutesy dress. “What are we doing?” Gemini asked as she sauntered back into the room, giggling as she sat down, “Guessing ages? I think I’d have got them wrong, too,” she admitted with a grin. “Nah,” Dane chuckled, greeting her with a quick kiss, “Just sharing what we do for a living, getting to know each other better.” “Why?” Oro grunted, giving everyone pause for a moment, “I get being grateful when someone saves your life. But if your house had been on fire, I’m a little skeptical you’d start inviting the firefighters over for dinner.” Johanna rocked her head thoughtfully. “True,” she admitted, “But I might invite the one that lived right next door. What you did wasn’t part of any job description, though, and...I’ll admit, I might be a little desperate and acting on ulterior motives. I don’t think they’re the nefarious kind, though.” The Rabbit dipped a brow. “You don’t think? Not sure what’s going on in your own head?” “Not always. Not clearly, anyway,” Johanna shrugged, like that was typical for her, and quite possibly for everyone. “I fairly well live in my office,” she explained, gesturing in general to the rest of her family, “Here you have my brother, my boyfriend, and my best friend...the sum total of my social circle. Kita and Lua and Rikko are acquaintances at best, and I’ve only hung out with them twice. I’m not unhappy with that, but I wouldn’t mind expanding my network just a tad. Especially to dependable people.” “Even the guy you couldn’t stand to have on your porch two seasons before?” the Rabbit sneered dubiously. Johanna nodded like it shouldn’t even be surprising. “Well, it wasn’t just you. Sarahi came running, too, even if she couldn’t keep pace with you. But yes, when a man and a woman rescue my family from the literal jaws of death...I want to extend a hand to those people. Technically, you’ve done it twice already, though I wasn’t in a state to appreciate it the first time. Wouldn’t [i]you[/i] want to be friends with someone like that?” “Hmph. I already am,” Oro grunted. “Dear,” Nayeli whispered, leaning in close to his ear, “You’re being a little [i]too[/i] grumpy. Even you admitted they’re good people. I don’t think you need to be so suspicious.” Sarahi likewise bumped his hip with her lower shoulders, giving him a look that said he should swallow a bit of his venom. The Rabbit frowned at them both. “Fine. You want to be friends? I’ll treat you like I treat friends,” he promised, “And make everyone fucking uncomfortable: who’s the howler?” Every pair of eyes in the room blinked at him, now utterly lost as to what he was going on about. So he elaborated: “Nearly every night, and sometimes more than once a night, [i]someone[/i] over here howls at the moon like their fucking soul is being sucked out. Which one of you is it?” Dane and Ares looked at each other...and both chuckled. Then Ares threw his head back and unleashed a deep, reverberating howl that had all of their guests wincing as they covered their ears...especially Oro. “AUGH! FUCK! I didn’t need a demonstration!!” the Rabbit yelped, trying to stuff the long lobes of his ears down into the canals. “Hehe, you asked,” Ares quirked a brow, “But seriously, you can hear me all the way over there? Sorry about that. Hope I haven’t kept you up.” Oro shook his head. “It’s fine with a couple of football fields between us. It’s just that I [i]can[/i] hear you from the house, and that’s impressive.” “‘You can hear me from your house and that’s impressive’ is [i]my[/i] line,” the Doberman chuckled, “Just how sharp [i]are[/i] those things?” “Very,” the Rabbit winced, still rubbing them, “Or they [i]were[/i]. Fuck...next time you need help, have [i]him[/i] call for it,” Oro suggested with a growl. Johanna shook her head. “No. You’ve already noted it happens pretty regularly. I wouldn’t want you running over here on a false flag. Especially given that’s the sound of his orgasm, and I absolutely do [i]not [/i]want you crashing through the wall in the middle of that.” The explanation set nearly every one of their guest’s cheeks to burning, not least due to how casually she’d stated it. “Wow...uh...pretty open about...things...overe here, aren’t you?” Sarahi chuckled. Johanna rocked her head from side to side thoughtfully for a moment. “Kind of. We’re complicated. You can sympathize, I imagine. His attempt was clumsy, mostly on account of that, but I think Oro has the right idea. A hallmark of friends is that they can talk about uncomfortable things and still remain friends. In the interest of forming those kinds of bonds...,” she propped her elbows on the table and knit her fingers together, resting her chin on them. The rest of her family was giving her wary looks at this point, recognizing both where she was taking the conversation and the signs that she was entirely too serious about it. To a one, though, they seemed to trust her judgment despite not necessarily being comfortable with it. “There are details I’m curious to know about you. And some that we are usually very reluctant to share. So I’ll confess some of the latter if you’ll provide the former, and we’ll all swear not to breathe a word of any of it outside our own houses. Can you do that?” Oro crossed is arms over his chest, leaning back in the chair he’d occupied and frowning at her like he was taking this meeting seriously for the first time. “Sounds like you want to know something that’s none of your business. I can’t imagine why I’d agree to tell it.” “Dear,” Nayeli said in as soothing a tone as she could muster, though her own suspicions were beginning to be roused, “Let’s just hear the question. We can still refuse the answer...though I guess that kind of defeats your hopes, huh?” she looked at Johanna. The Dalmatian shrugged. “It’ll just mark where we stand. But I’ll open the door to you first: how comfortable are you with the topic of incest?” That made every eye widen, including the ones in her family. The twins, in particular, blushed deep, all the way to their necks. “Um...more comfortable than we’re comfortable admitting?” Diya confessed beside Kylan’s nods, “Why do you ask? Or should I be asking...how did you know?” Johanna tilted her head curiously. “Well, if you’re referring to yourselves, I didn’t. That’s reassuring, though,” she admitted, straightening one finger in her brother’s direction, “Dane was my first love and second lover, right after Gemini,” she confessed bluntly, “We still get together at least one night a week.” Gemini chewed her lip beneath a sheepish smile, nodding as she added, “And they kind of got Ares and me started. So...yeah, our family’s pretty deep into each other on literally all sides. Big part of why we all live together.” The Runepaws looked like they might faint, but from relief rather than shame. The other girls were blushing deep, but exchanging knowing looks, like something amusing had just come to light. Oro blinked...and then burst out laughing, which surprised [i]everyone[/i]. It was a rare sound for his own family to hear, and their neighbors had honestly wondered if he was even capable of it. “Well...fuck...that was [i]not[/i] the answer I was expecting,” he chuckled when he managed to rein himself in. Diya and her brother were nodding in perfect unison. “That’s a nice shock, though,” Kylan admitted, “We’re a nightly item, ourselves, when none of the others are in with us.” “Kylan!” Sarahi hissed softly, “You don’t have to tell [i]that[/i] much.” “Oops! Sorry,” he covered his mouth, “I kind of thought that was the point at this point.” “Yeah, pretty sure you’re right,” Oro agreed, still staring hard at Johanna, though his frown had transformed into a smirk he couldn’t quite shake, “That got real personal real fast, though, and I’m still not sure why. Figured out what’s in your head yet?” “Maybe a little,” she nodded, leaning back in her own chair and relaxing a little as she stared thoughtfully up at the ceiling, “I do want to be friends. I am [i]very[/i] curious about you. But maybe the biggest thing is...I associate you very strongly with the witch, whom I [i]despise[/i],” she admitted with a growl, “I’d like to break that association, in my head. That will require getting to know you better. You are definitely not on the same page with her. You seemed to be itching for a fight, or bracing for one, for every interaction I’ve had with you, but somehow convinced two very pretty girls to marry you in spite of that attitude. There must be something charming about you when strangers aren’t looking. You are a very unusual Rabbit, and yours is a very unusual family. That intrigues me.” “Erf,” Sarahi sighed, looking over her shoulder and giving her tail a little shake, “I guess we really shouldn’t wear these rings outside the house. Kind of announcing our taboo, huh?” “Only if you don’t want people asking questions,” Johanna shrugged. Gemini giggled, remarking quietly to Dane, “I’m just glad to find out we don’t have to triple-check the curtains anymore...” “Kita said you two share a lot of similarities,” Nayeli chuckled in amusement, leaning against her husband...[i]their[/i] husband, “I think I see it, too. And yes, he [i]is[/i] quite charming in his own way, but that’s not the way people usually think of when they hear that word.” Oro quirked a brow, either not understanding the flattery or not seeing the resemblance. “We’ve got [i]one[/i] thing in common, anyway: I hate the fucking witch. I regret ever getting involved with her...mostly,” he added, shooting a look at Sarahi, “Which brings me to another uncomfortable question: what made you think she knows something about these monsters Kita’s having trouble with? She suggested I could try ‘consultation work’, like I’d trust a thing the bitch says anymore,” he growled. Johanna nodded with a reluctant sigh. “The first time we met her, we were taking shelter in her hut from the monster you killed. She made a remark, offhandedly, that ‘that lazy god needs to remember who he is and do his job already’. I presume she was talking about that Deer that kind of announced himself a few years back, but it makes me think she knows at least a [i]little[/i] about what that monster was. Now that I really think about it, though,” she reflexively picked up her phone and began typing in a search, “It would be a better idea to try talking to the mountain god. Let me find his name...” Ares chuckled, and Dane and Gemini both rolled their eyes good-naturedly. “Now you’ve got her going,” her brother sighed, “She’s a bit of an addict...but she’ll find what you need to know, rest assured.” “Oo, while she’s busy, I’m dying to know something,” Gemini beamed, bouncing a finger between Oro, Nayeli, and Sarahi, “I’m sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong, so feel free to bop it if you don’t want to answer, but...he’s marked as husband to two, and she’s marked as wife to two, and you’re marked as one of each,” she gave Sarahi a sly grin, “Does that just mean you’re the domineering type, or are you packing under that skirt?” Sarahi blushed, opened her mouth as if to say something, then giggled as an idea seemed to occur to her. Clearing her throat and straightening her back, she flashed a sly grin of her own right back at the Doberman. “...Wanna see?” Gemi’s tongue started peeking out the side of her mouth, lolling with lustful curiosity. Now it was Ares’ turn to sigh. “And there goes the other addict,” he winked at Dane. Grinning, blushing, and trembling just a little in disbelief that she was doing this...Sarahi unzipped the waist of her skirt and stepped out of it as elegantly as her years of practice would allow, scooting it under Oro’s chair with her back leg and flashing Gemini a good view of her package in the process. The Sha'khari actually managed to maintain a dignified posture for about a minute after she sat back down...then pulled her front legs in tight between her back ones and buried her scarlet face in her hands. “Oh gosh, I [i]must not[/i] get used to this! Next thing I’ll be trying to walk down the strip like this, and you’ll have to come pay my bail!” she giggled, nudging her shoulder against Oro’s. “It’s weird doing it outside my own house...but nice,” she admitted. The Doberman giggled, bounced to her feet, and trotted over to give the Sha'khari a brief but encouraging hug. “Feel free to make yourself comfortable in our house anytime,” she urged. “Just be careful, or she might jump you,” Ares snickered. Dane rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish grin. “Yeah, she gets a little infatuated with anything she can shove—” “Hey!” Gemi rounded on her husband with a glare that lost much of its punch above the grin on her face, “Don’t make her self-conscious, now! It’s nice not having to dance around secrets for once!” Her lack of denial of what she had actually been accused of did not go unnoted. Sarahi giggled, too. “Well, I’m not the only one packing a surprise,” she admitted, nodding her head in the twin’s direction. Dane blinked and did a double-take. “Wait,” he wagged a finger between them, “[i]Not[/i] sisters?” The twins laughed in unison, right down to the delighted bounce of their shoulders, then hopped to their feet and flipped their skirts up once, just high enough to show off their matching panties. The small bulge in Kylan’s wasn’t so discreet as it had been when they first arrived, to be honest... Dane was pinching the bridge of his nose, cheeks red with embarrassment both at his own gullibility and the effect that little flash had had on him. Gemini was quick to sit back down beside her husband, hands folded purposefully in her lap. “Wuff, I should not have asked,” she admitted with an apologetic grin, “Now I’m all flustered and envious...” “Jareth,” Johanna announced, breaking in on the other conversation, “Takes the form of a Deer around people, probably because he took a fancy to a Doe not long before that incident where he outed himself. Doesn’t sound like the brightest god in the pantheon. Rumor has it he lives in a little cabin with her to this day, right around here,” she tapped her screen a few times, sending the location with a pinned map to Nayeli’s phone. The Lioness blinked in surprise when the device chimed in her pocket. “How did you...?” “Tangential information,” was all the explanation Johanna offered, putting her phone back down on the table at last, “Though I never found Oro’s. Does he really not have one?” Nayeli grinned sheepishly. “He always thought they were too expensive to be reasonable, and by the time we could comfortably afford one...well, Sarahi or I one are with him almost constantly, so he just relies on us.” Tuli, at this point, was quietly sipping a soda and observing the room with a [i]highly[/i] amused smile on her lips, perhaps having flash-backs to parties she’d attended in her school years. Oro, almost opposite in attitude, was leaning back in his chair, frowning underneath closed eyes. Only the twitch of his ears betrayed that he was still awake and listening to the conversations going on around him. The frown softened a little as he finally sat back upright, rubbing the tension out of his face with a soft sigh. “You know...I think it worked,” the Rabbit admitted, looking first at Johanna, then to Sarahi and her absent skirt, then to the embarrassingly-excited Doberman sitting by her husband, “Not sure how I feel about how fast it happened. I’m used to it taking years, and no few tears, to establish a friendship. But I never came at it with the deliberate purpose in mind.” He leveled a finger at the female Dalmatian. “I already warned Dane: this is about as friendly as I get with people I [i]like[/i]. If that’s not enough, you’re fucked. No helping it. But...thanks. We should hang out again sometime.” Johanna nodded. “I’m pretty familiar with how it is, when the attitude on the face doesn’t match what’s in the heart. I can get over a little aggression. Just don’t punch any of us and we should get along fine.” “Eh...well,” Sarahi gave a sheepish grin, “He’s still likely to punch someone, sooner or later. Just remember to punch back. Fair enough?” “Ha! Totally,” Ares grinned, popping his knuckles even as his shirt strained against his considerable muscles. Oro looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a smug grin. “Oh, you want round two right now? How many houses can you afford to rebuild?” “Oh yeah. I’ve got a secret weapon of my own this time. I think it’ll even the odds,” the Doberman claimed confidently. He took an exaggeratedly slow, deep breath, scrunching up his face as he tipped his head back... Oro’s eyes shot wide, then squeezed shut as he grabbed his ears and folded them down over themselves, pressing his hands as hard as he could over the sensitive canals. Ares burst out laughing instead of howling, and Oro was surrounded by sympathetic chuckles, and hugs from Sarahi and Nayeli. “I reckon I’ve already got payback for the hands,” the big Doberman grinned good-naturedly, waving his palms at the Rabbit, “We’re good.” “I think he’s got your number now,” Sarahi warned with a smile, though, “Maybe don’t be so gruff with our new friends?” “Invest in some fucking ear-plugs is what I’m gonna do,” Oro growled. He was smiling as he said it, though, and followed it up by finally plunging into the food on the table rather than any suggestion of a fight. “Ares, sweetie,” Tuli purred now that everyone was in good spirits again, “We still haven’t heard what you or Gemi do for a living. I’m going to guess...fitness trainer?...just based on all [i]that[/i],” she grinned at his [i]very[/i] well-defined muscles and decided lack of fat. The Doberman laughed. “No, but I’ll take the compliment. I make sure to get my exercise in, but I’m in the same business as Dane. Got him into it, actually, and then he went and got better sponsors than me, the jerk,” Ares winked at the smaller Dog, “Spot on a pro team and everything.” Gemini beamed proudly beside her husband, nudging his hip with her shoulder, then shrugged. “I’m just a skate-rink DJ by day,” she declared, then turned a sly grin and continued, “But by [i]night[/i] I’m a side-hustle entrepreneur!” She giggled, pointing off-handedly to a collection of bottles and baskets crammed into a pair of buckets in the kitchen corner. “I make personal care products and sell them online, that’s all. But it sounds fancy being an ‘entrepreneur’.” Kylan quirked a brow at the buckets, slipping down out of his chair for a closer look at something that had caught his attention. Sticking out of the top of the pile, he picked up an empty bottle with a very familiar shape to its lid. It was unmarked and unlabeled, still waiting to be filled...but his eyes went wide at the collection of stickers wedged between it and its brothers. “Wait...[i]you[/i] make this?!” he asked, lifting one of the bottles and holding one of the branding stickers in front of it. Diya’s eyes widened at the sight, too, instantly recognizing the stylized shape of both the bottle and the strawberry sticker belonging to their favorite brand of flavored lube. Gemini quirked a brow, then looked mildly embarrassed. “Oh...seen my shop, eh?” “[i]Seen[/i] it?!” Diya laughed, “We try our best to buy you out whenever we notice a supply announced! We can’t keep enough stocked in our house.” She couldn’t suppress a giggle as she added, “I like how you phrase it. ‘Personal care products.’ Ha!” “Ah yes, they are easily your most devoted customers,” Nayeli agreed with an embarrassed shake of her head, “Though I do have to admit the product deserves the hype they give it...at least in my limited experience.” Gemini giggled. “Well thank you! I’ll be sure to set aside a bottle for you from the next batch, when I get around to it,” she winked. It had become a good visit, among good friends. And by the time they went home that night, nobody was worried about what the neighbors would think anymore...