Jenn cradled her arm instinctively as she rolled out of the bed. The drop was further than she
expected despite how many times she'd been here, making her tumble slightly. She laughed softly
and walked to the bathroom, feeling the chilly air of the house through her uncovered fur. Once she
had relieved herself, she walked softly back to the bed.
Ezra was still there, still sleeping in the curved position on his right that he'd fallen asleep in. Jenn
had been curled up herself in that crescent formed by the polecat's body, the squirrel's much
smaller form kept warm by his. She tried to climb silently back into bed, to curl herself gently back
into his soft embrace. But once she had finally positioned herself as the little spoon, she felt him stir.
'Did I wake you?' She whispered, not turning around and letting her eyes remain closed. Her right
arm still cradled her left, her fingers running over the slight bumps where Ezra's teeth had almost
broken her skin during an unusually wild night of sex. There had been more than a few occasions
that night where Jenn had wondered if it might inadvertently be her last.
There was a soft low murmur as he shifted behind her, wrapping one of his powerful arms around
her belly and pulling her tighter to himself. The murmur turned into a low growl preceding a waft of
hot wet breath over the back of her neck.
'Is that a yes?' She giggled.
'Mmmhm.' He replied. He lifted his hand from her belly, caressing her exposed breasts softly and
tenderly despite the sharp claws that pipped each of his fingers. 'I smelled prey on the move. All
alone and naked.'
'Oh no...' Jenn murmured. 'Are you... hungry?'
'Yea...' He growled in reply, breathing more across her neck and shoulders. 'I think it's breakfast
time and you smell... oh so delicious.'
The next thing Jenn felt was his tongue between her shoulders, then a few seconds later his teeth
biting lightly on her left shoulder. She didn't struggle, instead flicking her long bushy tail up and
batting him across his cheek. He released her with a feigned grunt of surprise, then rested his head
on hers, cheek to cheek.
'What time is it?' He whispered suddenly.
'Time for you to brush your teeth.' She whispered back, trying vainly to push his face off hers.
'You too.' He retorted. 'And... probably a shower too.' He punctuated his final point by making
another long slow lick up her back.
It wasn't much longer before they were both in the bathroom, Ezra running a shower for Jenn
since she was unable to reach the taps in here. Once he had freshened up, he joined her in the
steamy water. Her normally soft fluff was matted to her body as the water flowing over her body
revealed her figure to his adoring eyes.
'What are you-?' She asked in surprise as he slid the glass door across and slunk inside.
'You owe me something tasty.' He replied. 'And I'm here to collect.' He placed his hands under
her arms and lifted her into the air. She squeaked in surprise and excitement, her eyes widening in
trepidation as she saw him lick his lips.
His maw opened and she was lifted towards it. She tried not to let her instincts get the better of
her, having gotten used to his games over the course of their month and a half of dating. It had been
a rather fast-moving relationship, neither of them being shy in their physical interactions. Though it
had become apparent that he was just as interested in exploiting her inherent flavour as much as
enjoying her reciprocated sexual encounters.
His tongue ran across her breasts in several slow laps, but then he lifted her higher and gave her a
more forceful lick between her legs.
'I just... got clean...' She moaned, laughing as he lowered her back down. 'And now the engine's all
worked up.'
'I'll help you get clean again.' The polecat grinned. 'And I'll finish servicing that engine later. For
now, maybe we should get ready to meet... your parents. I think we overslept.'
Ezra had been right. With it being the weekend, neither of the pair had thought to set an alarm
despite the arranged early lunch they had with Jenn's family. The two were making their way
towards the Central District park and a popular small café that was situated nearby. They had both
dressed in relaxed clothing, jeans and simple tops. Hers was pale blue with long sleeves that covered
the marks on her arm, his was a simple yellow with short sleeves.
'You sure picked a public place for this.' Ezra commented as their train rolled into the terminal.
'You wouldn't fit in a squirrel sized hotel room.' Jenn shrugged. 'They're only visiting from our old
hometown of Brushvale. A squirrel paradise, that place. And, um... While we're on that topic...'
'What topic?' Ezra asked, following her towards the exit to the train station and out onto the
streets. Other citizens of all sizes were around them, but few were smaller than Jenn herself. Ezra
noticed the larger felids, typically leopards or lions, giving the two of them curious glances as they
passed. When they were outside, she took his hand and pulled hm off to one side of the walkway
out of the main pedestrian traffic.
'Alright, umm...' Jenn sighed. 'Thing is, I may not have told them about your, uh, species?'
'What?' Ezra blinked in bemusement. 'Did you at least tell them you were dating a carnivore?'
'No...' Jenn confessed. 'Sorry I just thought they'd freak out and cancel if they knew! So, I thought
the best way would be if I just mentioned that you weren't a squirrel and left it at that.'
'Fine.' Ezra sighed. 'So, we can deal with their freaking out face to face instead of over a long-
distance phone call. Is there anything else I should know going into this?'
'Well yes, actually.' Jenn sighed. 'They were against me moving to Leona City because they didn't
think I'd be safe. So I'd appreciate it if we avoid talking about that whole ordeal I went through with
Therese?'
'The white cat you used to work with?' Ezra raised an eyebrow. 'Sure. You haven't seen her in
months now anyway, so there probably isn't anything to worry about.'
'Let's still keep it quiet.' Jenn smiled. 'And especially don't mention the part where I ate that poor
mouse to try and impress her.'
'Not a problem.' Ezra nodded. 'I'll be on my best behaviour. No scary stories, no distasteful jokes
and no eating family members.'
'You're the best.' Jenn replied.
'There you are!' Jenn called, finally catching sight of her parents amid the bustling crowd
surrounding the café line-up. Three squirrels were seated around one of the smaller outlying tables,
two of them well dressed adults and the third her younger brother in more casual attire.
'Jenn, good to see you.' Her father, Lucius Aela, called. He stood and waved her over. He had the
same brown fur and black hair as his daughter, but his eyes were a deep green unlike the blue of
hers.
'Hey guys, I'm glad you made it.' Jenn smiled, failing to conceal how nervous she was. 'Did you
have any trouble finding the place?'
'No, Dear.' Her mother stood up, smiling but failing to completely conceal her own nervousness at
the situation. 'Though it is a tad strange to be surrounded by... felids.' She whispered the last word
as she leaned in closer to her daughter. Unlike Jenn and her father, Lorin Aela was grey furred and
slightly taller. Her hair was silver and cut into a short wavy bob and it was from her that Jenn
inherited her blue eyes.
The third visitor, Jenn's younger brother Jerald, had stayed seated but kept an eye on Jenn
expectantly. The twelve-year old boy had the same colouration as his mother, and tapped the table
lightly to get the attention of his family. 'I thought you were bringing your boyfriend, Jenn? What
happened, did we scare him off?'
'Indeed.' Her father remarked. 'Where is the lad? I have to make sure he's right for you.'
With all three of them focused on Jenn, none but her noticed the much taller polecat step out of
the crowd sit cross legged on the ground behind Jerald. He leaned forward and whispered in the
young squirrel's ear. 'Heard you saying I was scared, huh?'
Seeing Jenn's amused reaction, Jerald kept still but smiled nervously. In contrast, both of their
parents saw the newcomer and instantly froze.
'C-can I help you, Sir?' Lucius took a small step forward, failing to conceal his surprise.
'Dad, relax, please?' Jenn placed a hand on her father's shoulder and walked over beside the
stranger. Even sitting down, he was slightly taller than her and continued to hold his head just
behind Jerald's. 'This... ahem, this is Ezra.'
'This is...' Lucius trailed off, unable or unwilling to complete the sentence.
'Ezra Hunt.' The polecat nodded a polite greeting as he leaned back so he was only on his knees
before the group. His lip curled into a smile as Jerald turned around and finally saw who had crept up
behind him. 'It's nice to finally meet you all.'
'L-likewise.' Lorin gave a small flustered bow and then took a small step forward. Her wide eyes
seemed to look him up and down with an uncertain stare, before she refocused her eyes back on
Jenn.
Jenn tried to hide her embarrassment at their reactions, holding both her hands up as she
squeezed her eyes closed in a gesture that begged everyone to let her think her next words through.
'Mom and Dad, please just don't overreact okay? And Ezra, remember you promised to behave.'
Everyone seemed to settle after that, with Lucius being the first to speak. 'So, Jenn. You have
begin dating a... stoat?'
'Polecat, technically.' Ezra corrected. 'Stoats are a little smaller. Most polecats have the mask fur
pattern across our faces.' He gestured to the contrasting colours on his own face, white around the
fringes and then black surrounding his eyes.
'Ohh, like a raccoon!' Jerald chimed in.
'Jerald!' Lucius almost hissed. 'Don't compare people to other species, it's rude.'
'S-sorry.' The boy looked up at Ezra sheepishly.
'That's alright.' Ezra replied with a grin. 'It's not something I haven't heard before, and it's not like
I don't have other things in common with... raccoons.'
'We didn't mean any offense, of course.' Lorin added hastily. 'We live in a community that's
almost entirely squirrels, you see. He hasn't seen many other kinds of people in his life. It's probably
his first time seeing, uh, someone like you.'
'It's alright.' Ezra said. 'Maybe you should all try to relax a little more? You have nothing to be
afraid of here.'
'Ezra's right.' Lucius nodded, forcing himself to take a deep breath. 'I think its fair to say that we
didn't expect this, but that's no reason to forget our manners. Let's all just sit down and have a
pleasant lunch, shall we?'
'Sounds good.' Jenn said, letting the relief show on her face. The seating arrangement was fairly
easy to figure out, with Jerald switching sides to sit between his parents while Jenn sat where he had
been. Ezra, too large for any of the seats available, simply continued to sit cross legged on the
ground and shuffled slightly closer.
Once they had sat down, a savannah cat waitress took their orders. With the café designed
primarily to serve squirrel and rabbit sized patrons, most of the available meals were vegetarian,
prompting Ezra to opt for a simple egg salad sandwich. Perhaps in an effort to show solidarity, Jenn
ordered the same. Her parents and brother ordered a quiche and a fruit platter between them.
As they ate, Jenn became uncomfortably aware of how much her father and Ezra were
scrutinising each other. Though neither of the two said anything of the sort directly to each other,
she could tell her father was mistrustful, and she could also tell that Ezra knew it too.
'So, Ezra.' Lorin began in an attempt to break the silence. 'How did the two of you meet?'
Ezra froze, and it occurred to he and Jenn both that they hadn't quite thought out how to explain
what had happened the first night they'd met. After a few moments he decided the best course was
to tell the truth with several obvious omissions. 'Well, actually, I met her not too far from here one
afternoon.'
'Right.' Jenn added. 'It was after my job interview for Hanley's. I came to the park to relax for a
while, and on my way home we bumped into each other and... talked for a while.'
'Right.' Lucius replied before taking another bite of quiche. 'So, what did you talk about? You
must have found quite some common ground if it led to the two of you dating.'
'Yes, that's right.' Ezra nodded. 'To be honest, at first I was mostly concerned that she was out in
the central district so late. But then I realized I was too, so we decided to head back home together.'
'But whose home?' Lucius pressed.
'We went back to Ezra's place.' Jenn said firmly. 'His district is closer than mine is, and before you
ask, let me assure I absolutely thought it through. Both of us had much better chances of making it
home on time that way.'
'But you didn't know him at this point, dear.' Lorin chimed in. 'Granted, it all worked out, but I
hope you don't make a habit of taking such reckless risks.'
'Mom, I trusted him, okay?' Jenn replied forcefully. 'And if I didn't, I may not have made it home. I
didn't just roll the dice with my own life here. Ezra's a polecat, not a leopard. It was just as risky for
him to be outside as well.'
'R-right, sorry.' Lorin smiled awkwardly.
'You mother is only concerned for your safety, Jenn.' Lucius said firmly. 'None of us mean any
disrespect to Ezra here, he seems like a fine young man. But that does not change the fact that he is
a carnivore, and this city does provide legal opportunities for carnivores to hunt during night hours,
correct?'
'Yes.' Ezra nodded slowly. 'And like Jenn said, I need to be careful as much as she does.'
'A little less, I'd imagine.' Lucius retorted. 'Let me ask you, Ezra, and tell me honestly. Do you ever
take these opportunities to hunt?'
'Dad?!' Jenn exclaimed. 'That isn't something we just talk about in the middle of the day!'
'I don't mean to offend.' Lucius remarked reassuringly. 'But I do think we should all be honest
here, don't you agree? After all, if you two are serious about being together, then we should know
each other at least that well.'
Ezra was silent for a moment, then leaned forward and whispered in Jenn's ear. 'Do you think that
maybe... honesty would work here?'
Jenn's eyes widened and she looked sideways at him. Holding a hand to obscure her mouth from
the others, she mouthed her reply back to him. 'Are you crazy?!'
Ezra grinned and shook his head. 'Alright.' He gave an apologetic glance towards Jenn before
turning his gaze back to her father. 'If you need to know, yes I have hunted in the past. And I intend
to hunt again in the future. It isn't something I do out of malice. It's something I do because of...'
'...I-instinct?' Lorin suggested.
'Exactly.' Ezra agreed. 'I guess I shouldn't expect a non-carnivore to understand what it feels like.'
'No, no.' Lucius shook his head. 'I just think our primary concern should be ensuring that you can
keep it under control around our daughter. And us, of course.'
'You have nothing to worry about.' Ezra smiled. 'Jenn is a wonderful, gorgeous young woman and
my only interest in her is romantic, I assure you.'
Both of her parents were silent after that, whether they were satisfied with the answer or not
however was for anyone to guess. Jenn herself still seemed somewhat tense after the direction their
conversation had gone. Just as it looked like she was about to calm back down, Jerald piped up.
'Hey Ezra?' The boy asked quizzically. 'Have you ever eaten a squirrel?'
'Jerald!' Jenn exclaimed, reaching over and holding Jerald firmly by the wrist. 'That's really... none
of our business!'
'I just wanted to know.' Jerald protested with a shrug, looking back towards Ezra. The polecat was
trying not to laugh at Jenn's reaction, then looked at her as though pleading to give an answer.
'Umm, actually...' Lorin placed her hand over her children's hands and shook her head. 'I think
Jenn's right about this. What Ezra does in his own free time is not for us to worry about.'
'Thank you.' Jenn sighed, glancing sideways and ignoring the small disappointed shrug that Ezra
gave her. 'Can we maybe talk about something else?'
Ezra wrapped an arm around her and pulled her gently into a small hug. 'I didn't mean to cause a
scene. I just think your brother's direct approach is hilarious. Part of me wanted to see his reaction if
I said yes, that's all.'
'I-is that the real answer?' Jerald leaned forward and whispered.
Ezra leaned forward and whispered back to him. 'You'll never know.'
The rest of the lunch went relatively well, with Jenn's parents deciding to ask questions more
about how Jenn had been faring with finding a job since she'd moved to Leona City and less to do
with her choice of partner. Jenn noticed the change of tone but said nothing, preferring not to allow
any more chances for such provocative topics to take root again.
Eventually, Lorin probed a little further into details about Ezra's life. The polecat freely spoke of
his day job as a simple courier for cross city packages, including the occasional run into one of the
outer suburbs. Not much further was asked after this, the squirrels seeming to deliberately avoid
any questions pertaining to Ezra's personal life outside Jenn.
There was visual relief on everyone's face when Jenn announced she needed to make
preparations to go to work. She had the afternoon shift at Hanley's that day and would be working
until 7pm, a time her employer had granted her this shift so she'd still have an hour to make it
home. Once everyone had said their goodbyes, Jenn's family left to return to their accommodation
while Ezra walked Jenn back to her place to get ready.
'That could have gone better.' She remarked, dropping her jeans and belt as she stepped into her
bedroom. 'It could have gone a lot better.'
'Look on the bright side.' Ezra remarked from outside her window. 'At least I didn't eat anyone?'
'Very funny.' Jenn sighed in exasperation. 'I just... I really hoped they'd be more open minded. All
my dad could think about the whole time was that you were a polecat and not some other squirrel.'
'I know.' Ezra said, leaning in on the window with his chin. He had tried to fit inside her apartment
once with comedically disastrous results, and ever since had resigned himself to the fact that it
would be easier to converse from here. Both of them were thankful that Jenn resided on the ground
floor.
'And Jerald...' Jenn shook her head, pausing with her shirt halfway off and inadvertently displaying
her breasts. 'He's my brother and I love him, but he can be so damn clueless sometimes!' She looked
across at Ezra, his lowered gaze prompting her to realize she hadn't finished changing her top. Once
she pulled her shirt off, she tossed it at his face before pulling on the white shirt and red vest she
wore as a waitress.
'Yea.' Ezra nodded, dropping her old shirt to the floor. 'I was gonna tell him I'd eaten lots of
squirrels just to see the look on his face, but then I thought maybe I shouldn't.' Unlike what she'd
worn during the day, the new shirt she pulled on had very short sleeves. She would just have to
hope nobody questioned the marks on her left arm as she worked
'Well I'm glad you didn't.' Jenn replied, stepping across now in her full uniform. She cradled Ezra's
face in her arms before leaning in close and whispering. 'Even though we both know it's true.'
'Just makes me all the more lucky to have you.' He grinned. 'What time do you want me to pick
you up tonight?'
'Just swing by a little before seven.' She replied. 'And we'll head back to your place. You still have
an engine to service. I kept it running this whole time.'
With the end of Jenn's shift approaching, Ezra had made his way back to the row of cafes near the
edge of the Central District. With many of the clients still being present and most of them being
smaller denizens like rabbits and the occasional squirrel, he decided to wait a short distance away
and found a cat sized bench facing towards the large central park. After sending a text message to
her phone letting Jenn know where he was, he let himself slump on the seat.
Jenn stepped into the staff room with a sigh. Her shift had taken a few minutes longer than it was
supposed to due to a spill she volunteered to clean up. She quickly took off her shoes and took a
moment to bask in the relief of having her bare feet on the ground once more. Once she had
gathered her things, she made her way out the staff entrance into a relatively clean alley between
Hanley's and the next building.
'A little late?' A familiar voice called.
'Dad?' Jenn turned, surprised to see her father leaning against the alley's wall. 'What are you
doing here? Did you follow me?'
'Of course not.' Lucius smirked. 'Think I'd wait around here for your whole shift? No, I just found
out where you worked and when your shift was over. It was pretty easy to look up your boss and
make a phone call.'
'I... guess.' Jenn folder her arms. 'So, what do you want? I need to find Ezra so we can head
home.'
Lucius sighed. 'Yes, about him. Honestly Jenn, have you given any thought to the long-term
implications of that... relationship?'
'What the hell is your problem with him?' Jenn snapped. 'Maybe you should spend some more
time in this city and see how well everyone gets along.'
'Until the sun goes down.' Lucius retorted. 'Don't try and talk crap to me, Jenn. In less than an
hour these felids, as well as overgrown weasels like Ezra, will be making meals of people like us. The
civility in this place is just a cover so those carnivores can keep us close by.'
'Shut up!' Jenn shouted back. 'You don't know him! You didn't even give him a chance, all you
could focus on was the fact that he's a carnivore. What's wrong with you? You wanna complain
about them being biologically obligated to eat meat, and then you won't give them a chance to be
people when they actually try!'
'That's not what this is about!' Lucius lifted a hand to his head in exasperation. 'What's gonna
happen to you if he decides the relationship is over? Or if you decide, is he just gonna let you walk
out of his life in one piece?'
Jenn was silent. Admittedly, she hadn't given much thought to the idea of her relationship with
Ezra ending. 'That's something we can talk about later. He's not just gonna bite my head off first
time he's in a shitty mood, okay?' She ran her hands through her hair in frustration.
'What's that on your arm?' Lucius said suddenly, stepping closer and taking Jenn's left arm into
his hand. His eyes widened as he saw the two rows of bumps that looked like a pattern of light
bruises.
'Let me go!' Jenn pulled away reflexively, turning and doing her best to conceal the marks that
Ezra had left on her skin.
'Are those teeth marks?' Lucius demanded. 'Jenn, for fuck's sake! If you keep dating this...
polecat, you could die! Don't you see that?'
Jenn was silent, not wanting to believe a word her father said but unable to completely dismiss
what he was saying out of hand either. There was no doubt that Ezra was an extremely dangerous
individual to squirrels, rabbits and other smaller denizens when he wanted to be. But ever since
their first night together, all she had seen from him was his gentler side, his affection and his
passion. The bite was simply a result of his playfulness, far from the bone crushing power he was
capable of.
'Are you listening to me?' Lucius pressed.
'We don't have time for this!' Jenn insisted, pushing past and only pausing long enough to give
her father a pointed glare. 'You should get back to your hotel. I'm gonna find Ezra and then we're
going back to his place. And if you don't like that? Tough. I'll call you or Mom tomorrow.'
Lucius muttered something under his breath, but Jenn couldn't make it out and didn't care
enough to ask.
'You're... upset?' Ezra asked as they stepped into his house. He'd noticed it as soon as she found
him at the park, but chose not to distract from the task of getting home safely. They'd made it with
five minutes to spare, but it was still closer than Ezra preferred. He had no intent of attempting to
hunt for the night, having used the time Jenn was working to restock his fridge and pantry.
'I must be real easy to read.' Jenn sighed sarcastically. Immediately she turned around and looked
at him apologetically.
'Rough shift?' The polecat asked, sitting down in front of her.
'No, the work was fine...' Jenn answered slowly. 'I... um, Ezra? What kind of... future, do you think
we can have together? A polecat and a squirrel?'
'Well, no kids unless we adopt.' Ezra shrugged. 'Other than that? Whatever kind of life we want I
would think. We could keep living like this, maybe move somewhere with less felids around, or stay
here and start a business doing... something I assume we both have an interest in.'
'I'm sorry, you're right.' Jenn stepped between his legs and leaned into a close hug. 'I don't wanna
make you feel bad about any of this, none of it's your fault.'
'Your dad spoke to you again?' Ezra asked, brushing her arm.
'How did you know?' She asked.
'You have his scent on your arm.' He replied. 'And I could tell he didn't like me.'
'I'm so sorry.' Jenn buried her head in the soft fur of his chest and wrapped her arms as far
around him as they would go. 'I wanted to believe they'd accept you for who you are, but they didn't
even get past what you are.'
'They want you to be safe.' Ezra said, holding her tight as he stood and began to walk towards the
living room. 'But you know you're safe with me. We both know that I am not going to hurt you. At
least not more than you can handle, huh?'
The squirrel twitched slightly, trying not to let him see her growing smile.
'Huh?' Ezra repeated, louder this time and accompanied by both arms squeezing her even tighter
as he laid himself backwards on his sofa, making Jenn bounce on his chest and then let out a
surprised squeak of laughter.
'There she is.' Ezra remarked. 'Does she want a kiss?'
'She does.' Jenn replied. 'She wants everything you have...'
