CAUTION: This story contains implied sexual activity between minors, mild violence, and profanity. Reader discretion is advised.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, events and incidents in this book are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Masala Chai
by IndigoNeko and TaintedThylacine
Chapter 9
Sunday, February 21st, 2016
Alex stood in the front of the great-room next to the glass wall that made up the front of the house, watching as Cora’s car drove away. The young tigress turned around and walked back over to the sofa and flopped down next to hir mom, leaning against the older tigress. A moment later both Mom and Dad simultaneously flipped pages in the books they were reading. The young tigress sighed and looked over at hir dad sitting in the overstuffed chair kitty-corner to the sofa. “Dad, is there anything you can do about Nick and Kate? They’re sooo loud. They woke me and Azalea up last night at three in the morning.”
The white tiger glanced at his daughter over the top of the novel he was reading. He sighed. “Sorry love. We didn’t know when we bought the house that the interior walls don’t have any insulation. That’s why the sound travels so easily. Unfortunately we can’t do any construction for a few years, because the twins are going to be prone to lung problems... the last thing we want to do is get gypsum dust or fiberglass in the air that they’re breathing.”
Alex sighed and pulled hir legs up under the oversized t-shirt shi was wearing as a nightie. Almost as if the twins knew they were being talked about, a cry came from the nursery. David sighed and set down his book, then stood and walked towards the hallway. A moment later the door to the nursery clicked shut and Raenne flipped to the next page in her mystery novel.
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Monday, February 22nd, 2016
Papers and books practically covered the dining room table. While talking with the bus stop gang on the ride home had been entertaining, it was also forty minutes that Alex could have spent doing homework instead. Now shi was trying to play catch-up, trying to ignore Nick and Kate’s mewling while Mom sat on the couch, nursing them.
The young tigress flipped through the social studies book. They’d covered ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome... now they were learning about India, and next would be China and Japan. It didn’t take long to fill out the vocabulary sheet. Ashoka the Great, Brahman, Buddha, Caste, Cyrus II, Eightfold Path...
After finishing social studies, shi moved onto Science. This one shi didn’t even have to crack the book for, quickly filling out the worksheet on genetics, heredity, and inheritance patterns. All the stuff Mr. C had talked about over the past two weeks was stuff shi already knew, thanks to Mom and Dad’s explanations on fur color, hermaphroditism, and the like.
English class was to write up a book report on the book shi’d chosen, ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’. Since shi still had to finish the book before shi could write the report, shi set that aside and picked up the Math sheet that Mr. Donnehue had given them that combined coordinate planes and statistics like calculating means, medians, and modes. That didn’t take long either.
Last was theater class, and their homework for the week was to make a puppet. Shi pulled out the list of materials they’d need and glanced over it, putting a checkmark next to the stuff shi already had like fabric scissors. “Hey Mom? Mrs. Johnson wants us to make a puppet for Theater class. I’m gonna need some felt fabric and polyester stuffing. She already gave us the plastic eyes and nose pieces.”
The older tigress on the sofa turned and looked at her daughter while holding Nicholas against her breast. “When do you need it?”
“Umm... It’s due by Friday. She said that she has supplies for children who can’t get it, but she doesn’t have enough for everyone, and asked if those of us who can would be willing to bring any extra into class.”
“Hmm. Oh! We already have several sheets of felt in various colors. Stuffing too,” the older tigress said. “Your dad bought it when you bought those plushies, in case you decided to make clothing for them. It’s down in the garage, on the shelves along the back wall, behind the plastic totes.”
“He did?” Alex asked, touched that he’d thought to do something like that for hir. Maybe after shi finished making the puppet shi could try making clothes for the stuffies of Victor, Dina, and their four bodyguards. Shi made a mental note to thank Dad when he got home.
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Tuesday, February 23rd, 2016
Tail thrashing in irritation, Alex flipped the book closed and set it down on the empty side of the bus seat. It seemed like the harder shi tried to pin down the actual origins of Wicca and other Pagan religions, the more contradictions shi found. The only thing that was certain was that ancient Druidism had been more or less stamped out by the Romans in the 2nd century AD. Since the Druids hadn’t believed in writing down their beliefs, the only surviving records were second-hand accounts written by the Romans.
Proponents of modern Witchcraft, Druidism, and Wicca claimed that it traced its roots back to the original Druids, passed on as oral histories, and claimed these religions experienced revivals in the 16th century and 20th centuries. Opponents claimed they were more or less made up in the 20th century, pointing out numerous inconsistencies and claiming that Gerald Gardener, the so-called father of Wicca, had simply made up much of what he’d written.
Sighing, Alex looked out the bus window, watching the tree-covered rocky outcroppings go past as they drove towards Prairie Flats. Alex unzipped hir backpack and pulled out the pamphlet that Priestess Sharleen had given Dad and scanned over it once more. The core of the Wiccan beliefs were very, very simple: Respect for Nature, The Wiccan Rede, The Three-Fold Rule, The Triple Goddess, The Horned God, Reverence of Ancestors, and The Wheel of the Year.
The first three were basic rules for ethics and morality, the second three were for views of the divinity and worship thereof, and the last was simply a list of celebrations around the year. Maybe the history of Wicca didn’t really matter. It was a simple religion with a solid ethical and moral foundation. All the stuff about spells, rituals, rites, and witchcraft was a bunch of superstitious nonsense for good luck and such. Shi had tried a few of the rituals shi had found online to absolutely zero effect.
“Hey Steve?” Alex called out, trying to get the attention of the polar bear a few seats up. After a few moments, the raccoon sitting next to him poked him in the ribs, catching his attention. After he turned around, the tigress held up the pamphlet. “Is there anything that isn’t mentioned in this thing that I should know about?”
The polar bear frowned as he squinted, looking back at hir from over the bus seat. “Is that the pamphlet that Priestess Sharleen hands out?”
“Yeah. She gave it to Dad during the Imbolc festival.”
“Hmm. The core beliefs are all there. There’s more to the Triple Goddess and the Horned God, but it’s a good summary. The only things missing are the specifics for the rituals and rites that we perform during ceremonies and the personal spells that people perform for luck, fertility, and whatnot,” Steve explained.
“That’s all in the Book of Shadows. You’ll get one if you become an initiate,” Brandy added, the albino skunk turning around in her seat to look back at Alex. “Why? Are you thinking of joining?”
The tigress nodded. “Yeah, kinda. I really like the Wiccan Rede as a rule for right and wrong; It’s simpler than the Ten Commandments. Having a God and Goddess makes way more sense to me, and the God in the Bible is really, really mean. Priestess Sharleen said I should call her if I was considering joining, since there’s a ceremony or something...” Alex’s voice trailed off as most of the gang had turned around in their seats to look at hir. “What?”
“The initiations take place during festivals. The next festival is Ostara, in about a month,” Cindy said, sounding a bit nervous.
“Yeah, the Spring Equinox, celebrating the arrival of Spring and honoring the balance of light and dark,” Alex said, already very familiar with it after spending the last month or so doing research on Pagan religions. “Why are you all looking at me? Did I say something wrong?”
“Noooo... it’s just that... Sonnet’s going to be there,” Jason said, the beaver sitting completely still for the first time Alex could remember.
“Who is Sonnet?” Alex asked, raising an eyebrow.
The rest of the kids look around at each other, as if collectively trying to decide who would explain. After a few moments, Jerome spoke up. “She’s a Druid. A real one.”
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Wednesday, February 24th, 2016
Dr. DeLeon held the door to his office open, letting the two tigers inside. “Welcome. Make yourselves at home.” After Alex and hir father David seated themselves, Everett took his usual seat at the computer chair, straightening his sweater and the gold-rimmed bifocals perched on his muzzle.
“So, before we get started, I wanted to ask if our last session helped. Did you talk with Azalea again?” the skunk asked.
“Uh, Yeah. Actually Azalea and Heath showed up at my house on Saturday, wanting to apologize,” Alex said, staring down at the floor. “After I accepted their apologies, Heath left. I apologized to Azalea for overreacting and she spent the night. I made it clear that we’re not dating anymore though.”
“So you’re not dating anymore, but at least you’re friends again,” Everett said, nodding. “Excellent. Now, your mother was worried about you losing your temper, and you mentioned being mad about Heath. Are you still mad at him?”
The tigress looked up at him, hir gold eyes seeming to glow in the dimly lit office. “You have idea how much I want to kick him in the balls.”
David winced, remembering how much it had hurt when Alex had done the same to him, and he’d been wearing a cup.
“As much as he may deserve it, that’s illegal unless he attacks you first. You could wind up in juvenile detention or worse.” Everett pointed out. “I’d prefer that didn’t happen. There’s a few techniques, mental exercises really, that can help you keep your temper…”
An hour later, Dr. DeLeon shook both Alex and David’s paws as they stepped out of his office. “It was a pleasure to have the chance to assist you, Alex. If you ever need to talk again, or find that life is throwing more at you than you can handle, you’re always welcome to come see me.”
“Thank you,” both of the tigers said, returning his handshakes before leaving.
The skunk watched the two felines walk through the lobby and out the front door. He smiled to himself, hoping that the Andreyev child had a wonderful life ahead of hir. Shi had suffered too much for being merely ten years of age. He hoped the one therapy session he’d had with hir mother had proved beneficial. There was someone who truly needed therapy. Everett sighed; you could lead a horse to water, but you couldn’t make them drink.
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Thursday, February 25th, 2016
Snot dripped from Kalu’s nostrils into the bucket sitting next to his bed. Feeling a tickle in the back of his throat, he raised his arm and draped it across his mouth, careful not to accidentally hit his tusks, and coughed into his elbow. As his phone rang, he quickly tapped the stop button on the remote in his hand. He needed to swap CDs anyway; Drake didn’t do much for him.
The elephant picked the flip phone up and held it to his head. “Kal here. ‘Sup?” he asked, his voice probably a full octave lower than it normally was.
“Kal? Are you alright?”
“No. Sick,” Kalu said, recognizing the voice as that of the tiger cub who periodically called him. He sternly reminded himself not to swear this time.
“I’m sorry. I hope you get better soon. I’ll call you back later,” Alex said.
“No, s’okay. I can listen just fine. Just can’t talk much,” the elephant explained. “What’s up, tigger?”
“Mom and Dad took my TV and Nintendo away cause I accidentally dropped the f-word last night and again today while doing homework. At least they let me keep my phone. Or maybe they forgot about it since I barely ever use it.”
Kalu snorted in amusement, accidentally blowing snot into the bucket at the side of his bed. “That’s rough.”
“Anyway... I, uh, wanted to thank you for giving me a heads up about all that racism stuff. You were right; even the kids around here...” Alex said, then sighed. “I was at the arcade with Azzy when Heath started saying a bunch of racist shit about how felines and rodents should stick to their own species. He managed to convince Azzy that we aren’t meant to be together or something.”
The elephant blinked at that. “Some other kid stole your girl?”
There was a moment of silence on the line, then Alex muttered “Well, I guess when you put it that way, yeah. I found out they were kissing in the photo booth and lost my shit. I was gonna kill him, but this other kid, Ravi, held me down while Heath took off running. Then I told Azzy we were through.”
Kalu whistled. “Daaamn, tigger. That suuucks.”
“Ehhh... I would have wound up in juvie if Ravi hadn’t stopped me,” the tiger cub said. “Silver linings.”
“Wait, juvie?” the elephant said, confused for a second before he realized the tiger cub literally meant shi was gonna kill the other kid. “You were gonna kill him for real?”
“I wouldn’t have done it on purpose, but I totally lost my shit and I hadn’t trimmed my claws in like a month,” Alex said. “I mean, I tore Henry’s eye out and he was a fully-grown horse. Heath’s barely as big as I am... so yeah, I could have killed him.”
Kalu’s eyes went wide; nobody would make a claim like that. “You serious? You tore someone’s eye out?” he asked, wanting to know the whole story. He coughed into his elbow again as the itch in the back of his throat got to be too much.
“Uh... Yeah. Henry was one of the three guys my grandparents sent to kidnap me,” the tigress explained. “He was a brute; couldn’t even talk. After they got me in the car Henry started sniffing me over, then he yanked my skirt off. I was afraid I was gonna die, so I fought back; kicked him in the stomach and clawed his eye out. Henry lost it and was gonna kill me, so Jordan shot him in the head. They had to get me new clothes, cause my hoodie was bloody and my skirt was ripped.”
“Shiiiit,” Kal said. “I thought I heard most of that kidnapping story when it was making the rounds at school, but I hadn’t heard that part.” The elephant blinked as he stared up at the ceiling, glad he hadn’t picked on the cat when he’d had the opportunity to do so. “So who was this kid who held you down at the arcade?”
There was a moment of silence before Alex answered. “Actually, that’s the other reason I called. I wanted to know if you knew him. He’s a white tiger named Ravi. I saw him in the upper-class halls just before you gave me your phone number. I wanted to thank him for keeping me from ripping Heath’s throat out.” Alex paused for a moment before quietly adding “...and maybe ask him out.”
The elephant smirked at that. “Well, I don’t know him, so he’s probably not in eighth grade, but I will let it be known that you’re asking about him.”
“Thanks, Kal,” Alex said, happily. “I hope you get better soon.”
“Me too. Later, Alex,” Kalu said, waiting a moment before flipping his phone closed. He blew his dripping trunk into the bucket next to his bed. He’d practically forgotten he was sick while talking to the tiger cub; Alex was one interesting individual.
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Friday, February 26th, 2016
Alex felt like a zombie by the time Friday rolled around. Nicholas and Katherine kept waking up at odd hours and their high-pitched mewling was guaranteed to wake hir up, every single time. Shi could literally hear them through the walls.
The tigress had given up on trying to draw anything in art class. It was all shi could do just to keep hir eyes open, trying not to fall asleep, and the creepy green-haired mouse kept glancing at hir and Azalea again. Shi didn’t know what Willow was plotting, but it couldn’t be good. Shi only hoped shi could stay awake long enough to thwart it.
“And then the guild leader came rushing in, yelling ‘Leeeroy Jeeenkins’,” Azalea said, telling a story of her adventures, looking over to Alex who was awfully quiet. “Aaaalex. I know I’m not that boring.” Getting no response, the squirrel licked her finger, then stuck it into the tiger’s ear, snickering as she did.
Alex jerked to the side, startled back awake and clapping hir paw over hir ear. “Ewww… gross,” shi said, trying to wipe the moisture off the fluff inside hir ear. “What the hell, Azzy?”
“I thought it was the best way to wake you up. It was that, or licking your nose, or something,” Azalea said, giggling. “Have you caught my insomnia? Or just having trouble getting used to the babies?”
“By the Lady,” Alex said, resting hir elbows on the table and holding hir head in hir paws. “Those two… I swear to God. If they weren’t so cute, I’d be tempted to kill them. They keep waking up all the fu- all the blasted time, crying. It doesn’t matter if the doors are closed, I can hear them from anywhere in the house, and it wakes me up every single time,” shi said, almost in tears with how frustrating it was.
“You know, I’m starting to think that you’ve been around me too much. You're going to slip and drop the f-bomb,” Azalea said, tail twitching in amusement.
“I already did. Twice. Mom and Dad threatened to disconnect the televisions for a month if I said it again…” Alex said, still holding hir head between hir paws. “As if losing TV for a week wasn’t bad enough.”
“You know, you could come stay the night at my house. Get some sleep, eat some junk food,” Azalea suggested.
“Really?” Alex asked, looking up at Azalea. “You’re okay with me staying at your place for a night or two?”
“Well, you’re not going to try and maul me or Heath, are you? Not going to get into the catnip?” Azalea asked with a giggle. “But yeah, you’re still my friend and it gets boring just sitting around grinding and stuff.”
“Grinding in Guild Wars or grinding on Heath?” Alex asked with a smirk, feeling a little better.
“Guild Wars, you perv,” the hybrid said, rolling her eyes. “Besides, I don’t need Heath for that; I have something purple that vibrates now. I’m surprised it hasn’t been found yet.”
“Ewww. I bet you keep that in your nest too, don’t you?” Alex asked, looking grossed out.
“Nooo, noo, no,” Azalea said, shaking her head, blushing a little. “I have a better hiding spot. So, should I text mom and tell her to get the snacks together?”
“I just want to get some sleep,” Alex whined. “But... snacks would be good too.”
“Well, I could text her to tell her to pull out the sofa bed and fix you some warm milk,” Azalea said, slumping back in her seat. “Unless you like my nest better. I don’t mind letting you have it. I can do other things while you sleep,” she said, looking down at her paws and peeling some dried paint off them, wincing as it pulled out some fur.
“I don’t care. I just need a nap,” Alex replied, rubbing hir eyes. “After that we can play games or go hiking or something after that until bedtime.”
“Wait, wait, wait... You have bedtime on the weekend?” Azalea asked, as she pulled out her phone and typed out a message to one of her moms. Moments later her phone dingged. “Mom A says it’s okay for you to stay, if it’s okay with your parents.”
“Ask her if I can have some more catnip tea,” Alex joked with a tired grin.
“Only if you have leather mitts on,” Azalea countered, shaking her head. “I don’t want to repaint my room again. I just found the right color for it.”
“Oh? What color?” Alex asked, pulling out hir own phone and texting hir mom.
“Hot pink,” Azalea said, nodding proudly. “No, I’m kidding. It’s a light blue. Sky blue.” She looked at her paw, then pointed at a splotch of paint on one of her claws. “This color.”
“Huh… Not bad. Won’t match your nest though, unless you got new pillows,” Alex said, waiting for hir mom to respond.
“Actually, I did. I just changed the blankets this morning, and replaced the pillow cases,” Azalea said, smiling and nodding. “You’re going to be getting a nice nap in a fresh nest.”
Alex’s phone dinged. “Thank the Lady. Mom’s okay with it,” shi said, reading the message. “Mom said she’ll bring my jammies and stuff over to your place, so we can just take your bus after school gets out.”
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“It’s good to see you again, Alex,” Cora said, smiling warmly at the tiger cub as she opened the door. “Bushy texted me earlier saying that you need some rest. Don’t worry. It will be nice and quiet. Beth is at work and Jenny is off at her friend's house.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Winters,” Alex replied, stepping inside and taking off hir shoes, followed a moment later by Azalea. “The twins are driving me crazy; I haven’t slept more than an hour or two at a time for like two weeks.”
“Alex, you know that you can call me Cora,” the jerboa said, walking back to the kitchen. “Would you like me to wake you up for dinner?”
“Yes, please,” the tigress replied. “I missed your cooking.”
“Good. It’s roasted lamb tonight,” Cora said, walking back to the kitchen to start working on the various dishes she was planning for dinner.
“Come on, sleepy cat,” Azalea said, motioning for Alex to follow her upstairs. “I’m proud of the paint color I picked for my room,” she said happily, her tail bouncing as she hopped up the stairs..
Alex followed, then came to a stop just after stepping through the beads in Azalea’s doorway. The room looked completely different with the sky blue walls and navy colored pillows and blankets, and smelled of drying latex paint.
“Hey Micro. You’ve got to give up the bed,” Azalea said as she dropped her backpack on the floor and walked over to the cat lounging in her nest, picking the runt up and cradling her. “Like it?”
“Yeah. It’s more… you,” Alex replied. “It just needs Christmas lights on the ceiling.”
“I had to take them down to repaint the room,” Azalea said, looking around the room. “Ooooh. I need the icicle ones. In, like, purple or something,” the half-squirrel said, sitting down at her painting station with her cat in her lap.
“Yeah… purple icicle lights would be perfect. Or you could go ultra-modern and put in some of those canister lights in the corners, pointed up at the ceiling...” Alex said, dropping hir backpack and flopping backwards onto the pile of pillows.
“Hmmm… I have things to look into now. Maybe I can get some for my birthday or something,” Azalea said, setting Micro back down, before picking up her painting pallet. She quickly went through a few tubes of acrylic paints, putting some common colors on it. “So… is this a cat nap?” she asked, smirking.
Alex rolled hir eyes. “Yes, this would be a cat nap...” shi murmured, relaxing into the pile of pillows. Azalea said something else after that, but it barely registered to the tigress, who was already drifting off to sleep.
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Roughly three hours later, there was a soft knock on Azalea’s doorframe. “Bushy, Alex,” Cora called as she poked her head past the bead curtain, startling Micro enough that she jumped off the nest and hid under the computer desk. “Dinner is ready,” the jerboa said, smiling at the sight of Alex snoozing and Azalea painting.
“I’ll get hir up,” Azalea said, walking over to the sleeping tiger. “Aaaalex,” the hybrid quietly called, reaching out to pat Alex’s shoulder, being careful not to get paint or anything on hir. “Time for dinner.”
The tigress yawned, rolling over onto hir side while muttering “Just a few more hours...”
“You know,” Azalea said conversationally. “I still have some paint. I’m sure that I can turn you pink. Or I could get the spray bottle.” She nudged the sleepy feline once again.
That woke Alex up. “Stop. I’m up,” shi said, rolling over. “I’m up… please don’t get paint on me; it takes forever to wash out of my fur.”
“Awww, but a few pink stripes might look nice on you,” Azalea said, standing up. “Come on. Dinner time, then snacks and stuff… and more painting,” the half-squirrel said, walking over to her easel. “I’m almost done. You make a good subject.”
“Ugh. You didn’t…” Alex protested, rolling out of the pile of pillows and standing up to look at the canvas.
“Maaaybe,” Azalea said, smirking as she stepped back and looked from between the tiger and her most recent painting.
“Oh my God. You did,” Alex said, holding hir hands up to hir muzzle. “It’s adorable.”
“I couldn’t help it,” Azalea said, turning the painting for Alex to see it better. She had indeed painted the sleeping tigress along with Micro, who had been curled up on Alex’s tummy. With the level of detail Azalea had used, it looked almost as good as a photo.
“My God. That’s incredible. You’re absolutely amazing,” Alex said, leaning forward to see the individual brush strokes. It was better than hir own best work by a mile. Even the collaboration shi had done: the painting of hir grandparents, while going through therapy. “I wish I had half your skill at painting. Why don’t you paint stuff that’s this good in art class?”
“It’s not that good. It’s just a quick painting.” Azalea said, blushing and trying to hide behind her tail while refusing to answer. “Umm, I think it’s dinner time.”
“Oh, Good. I’m hungry,” Alex said, stretching hir arms towards the ceiling. “And I love your mom’s cooking.”
“You know that you’re welcome for dinner anytime. She’ll fatten you up,” Azalea said, holding the beaded curtain to the side. “Or try to, anyway,” she added, glancing enviously at the slender tigress.
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Saturday, February 27th, 2016
Alex watched Heath step out the door with a sigh of relief, feeling hir shoulders relax. Shi still didn’t like the jerboa boy, not in the slightest, but had done hir best to be polite while he had come over to visit Azalea. The past several hours had been nerve-wracking. Azalea at least seemed comfortable with the other kid.
“You said you were in the same class as Heath in elementary school, right?” Alex asked, tail swaying behind her.
Azalea frowned. “Yes. Fifth grade. Why?”
“So... Did he first meet you before or after you became a girl?” Alex asked.
“After, I guess?” Azalea replied, looking at Alex with suspicion. “Why?”
“Does he know you’re trans?” the tigress asked.
“I don’t know. Probably. Why?” the squirrel-hybrid asked, looking a bit uncomfortable.
“It’s just... something that he said in the arcade. He was asking if you and I could even have cubs, like he was more likely to have cubs with you. He wouldn’t have asked that at all if he knew you’re trans, cause he can’t have cubs with you. Unless he’s a trans-boy, that is...” Alex said with a shrug.
Azalea blinked, a look of worry flickered across her face before she shrugged. “I don’t know what’s in his pants. Maybe he is trans.”
“Azzy...” Alex said with mild exasperation, hir tail thrashing. “I don’t want you to get hurt by someone who just wants to get into your pants because they think you’re a normal girl.”
“Okay, Mom,” Azalea said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She turned away and started looking through the movies that they had on their entertainment center shelves. “Anyway... You handle the ice cream and I will get a movie started,” she said, glancing at the tigress.
“I can do that,” Alex replied, walking around the counter and into the kitchen. “So, what are we watching?” the tiger cub asked as shi pulled the freezer door open and pulled out the gallon container of rocky road ice cream.
“Uhhh... Have you seen Lucy?” Azalea asked, walking into the kitchen while holding the DVD case. “I like it.”
“Nope,” the tigress said, peering at it. “What’s it about?” shi asked, pulling a pair of bowls down from the cupboard.
“It’s about this woman that gets tricked into taking a briefcase to someone for her boyfriend, and she gets used as a drug mule,” Azalea explained as she walked over to the sink and started running the hot water. “They put bags with some kind of drug in her. The bags break open and the drug causes her to change and stuff. It’s good. A little violent, though,” the hybrid said, filling a glass with hot water before putting a spoon in it and handing it to the tigress.
“Thanks,” Alex said, taking the cup and setting it next to the ice cream container and the pair of bowls. “What’s a drug mule?” shi asked, using the warm spoon to scoop out several large chunks of ice cream.
“It’s, uh, someone that is used to smuggle drugs,” she said, tilting her head a little. “It’s really dangerous.” She said picking up the DVD case and watching Alex fixing the ice cream for them. “Do I need to get a towel or anything? Don’t want you getting ice cream on my tail.”
“Sure,” the tigress said, scooping even more ice cream into each bowl. By the time shi was satisfied, half the container of ice cream was empty, and Azalea was laying a towel out in front of the couch. Alex put the container of ice cream back in the freezer and then took the bowls out into the living room.
“You know, you could have just brought the whole container. It would have been easier,” Azalea said with a giggle as she put the DVD in, then used the remote to get everything set up.
“I figured you might want to have some later,” Alex said as shi sat down on the towel and put the bowls down. “Besides, I didn’t want to be too greedy.”
“True,” Azalea said as she sat back next to Alex, wiggling against the pillows in front of the couch. “I missed this.” she said, flopping her tail down on the floor between them. “Who needs mates when you have best friends... or something like that.”
That comment struck home deeper than Azalea had probably meant it to; tears welled up in Alex’s eyes. “I… I’m sorry,” the tigress said, sniffling and scooting over to Azalea, then wrapping the squirrel-hybrid in a tight hug. “I wish that whole thing in the Arcade never happened, Azzy. I over-reacted, and… I’m sorry.”
Azalea blushed as her friend hugged her. “It’s…. It’s okay, Alex,” she said, returning the hug. “I was the one that fucked up... I was a bad girlfriend.” The half-squirrel pulled back just enough to look the tigress in the eyes. “But, we are still friends. That's more than I could ask for. And you never know, maybe one day we'll look back on this all and laugh.”
Alex took a deep breath. “Yeah. Maybe we will, one day,” shi said as the movie began to play.
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Sunday, February 28th, 2016
After stepping out of hir mom’s Murano, Alex shut the door and followed Raenne inside the house, carrying a small bag of groceries they’d picked up on the way home from Azalea’s. Alex kicked the door shut after stepping into the garage, then locked it before following hir mom upstairs to the kitchen.
The young tigress paused after setting the bag of groceries on the kitchen island, ears perking up upon hearing several loud thumps from the back of the house near the nursery. Shi immediately double-timed it down the hallway, stopping at the nursery door.
Hir dad was in the process of hanging several large, dark, textured panels around the room and even on the ceiling. “What’s that?” Alex asked, looking around.
“Sound dampening panels.” David explained. “It should be good enough that you won’t hear them upstairs anymore, so you should be able to start getting some sleep again. It’s a bit expensive, but it’s the only thing I could think of. Wish I’d thought of using it when you were a cub.”
Alex bounced into the room and wrapped hir dad in a tight hug, purring. “Thank you.”
The white tiger carefully wrapped an arm around his daughter, returning the hug. “You’re welcome, love. Sorry it took so long to figure out a way to help you get some sleep.”
__________________________________________________
Monday, February 29th, 2016
Azalea dropped her backpack on the floor and collapsed onto the stool next to the table. The half-jerboa clenched her first and took a deep breath, trying to keep from screaming.
Alex glanced over at Azalea, wondering why the half-squirrel hadn’t started taking out her art supplies like she normally did first thing after sitting down. “Azzy? You okay?” shi asked, noticing the way hir friend’s nostrils were flaring.
“No,” Azalea replied, taking several deep breaths. “Heath... doesn’t want to see me anymore.”
“What? Why?” Alex asked, already guessing the reason. “Wait, is it because you told him...?”
Azalea nodded her head, sniffling as her eyes began to water.
“Oh, Azzy,” Alex said, hopping off hir stool and wrapping hir arms around hir friend. “I’m so sorry. I was worried that he would...” The tigress went silent as Azalea continued to sob in hir arms, shaking like a leaf.
“What’s going on?”
Alex looked up. Willow had come over and was standing a few feet away. “Heath dumped Azalea when she told him she’s trans,” the tigress said, staring at the green-haired mouse.
Willow’s eyebrows shot up at that. That was a major bombshell right there; she’d had no idea that Azalea was transgender, only that Azzy was cute and had been terribly envious when it became obvious that the tigress was dating the jerboa-squirrel hybrid... up until last week, when it had become equally obvious that they were definitely not dating anymore.
“Wait, I thought you two were dating. You were kissing all the damn time a few weeks ago... are you trans too, or bisexual or something?” Willow asked in a midwestern accent, glancing down at the skirts that the tigress was wearing.
“We were dating, until Heath tricked Azzy into kissing him at the Arcade two weeks ago. I broke up with her over that, but I forgave her. We’re still friends,” Alex explained. ”And I’m a herm... a hermaphrodite. I guess that makes me bisexual? I dunno.”
Willow reeled, stunned by the back-to-back revelations the tigress had just dropped on her. All of her preconceived notions had been completely wrong: They weren’t lesbians, the tiger wasn’t actually the bad guy, and neither of them were the right gender. Or maybe they were the right genders? This was so confusing. The brown-furred mouse brushed back her green-dyed hair and reached out to put her hand on the half-squirrel’s paw. “I... I’m sorry. That must hurt, getting dumped twice in two weeks. Nobody deserves that.”
Azalea looked up, tears running down the fur of her muzzle. “It’s my own stupid fault. I should have trusted Alex. Heath’s a racist, sexist jerk... and a liar, just like shi said.”
“Yes, you should have trusted me,” Alex said, squeezing the half-squirrel for a moment before leaning forward to meet Azalea’s eyes. “Want me to go kick him in the balls? I really, really want to kick him in the balls. I’ll pop them like grapes,” shi said, deadly serious. Hir golden eyes practically glowed with restrained fury.
“Alex, as fun as it would be to see and hear his balls pop, I don't think they've even dropped.” Azalea wiped her eyes. “He's not worth it.”
“Yeah, at least not here at school; you’d get in big trouble,” Willow added before a grin spread across her muzzle. “But at the Conoco station near the highway where he hangs out...”
Alex glanced up at Willow. “You know Heath?”
“The jerboa? Yeah. He’s in a couple of my classes,” Willow replied, gently rubbing the back of Azalea’s paw. “We live over in the Oakbower neighborhood, in Winter Creek.”
“And you said he hangs out at the Conoco station? The one just off the highway on the south side of town?” Alex asked, looking very intently at the mouse.
“Alex! Stop it,” Azalea protested. “You’ll get in trouble, and he’s not worth it.”
The tigress sighed. “Fiiine.”
__________________________________________________
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2016
Alex practically sprinted down the upper-class halls, backpack bouncing on hir shoulders. It was longer taking this route, but far, far faster than having to push through crowds of other kids. The halls were practically empty due to the upper-class kids having a slightly different schedule. As shi did, shi kept an eye open for Ravi, just in case.
“Hey!”
The tigress slowed, looking over at the three girls that were standing just outside one of the 7th-grade classrooms. Shi tilted hir head, looking at the secretary bird, cheetah, and spotted hyena.
“You’re Alex, right?” the secretary bird asked.
The tigress came to a stop. “Uh... yes. Alexandrea, but I go by Alex,” shi said, nodding.
“Kal told us you’d asked him about the Bassi kid last week,” the hyena said.
“Bassi kid?” Alex asked, confused. “You mean Ravi? The white tiger?”
“Yeah. His last name is Bassi,” the hyena confirmed. “He’s in a few of our classes. He’s polite, but very quiet. Doesn’t talk much unless spoken to.”
“And fast. Almost as fast as me,” the cheetah said, glancing down at her polished black nails. “I don’t know if he’s on the track team, but he definitely should be.”
“And smart too,” the secretary bird said, feathers bouncing as she nodded her head. “He’s an honors student.”
“If he wasn’t from India, I’d totally date him,” the hyena girl said, followed by murmurs of agreement from the other two girls.
“What’s wrong with being from India?” Alex asked, tilting hir head.
The three girls glanced at each other for a moment before the hyena spoke up. “Ehhh... India has a really strange culture. They’ve got this weird social hierarchy, called a caste system, have a bunch of strange religions, and they touch old people’s feet.”
Alex blinked; shi knew about the caste system and most of the religions in India thanks to hir social studies class, but hadn’t heard about touching old people’s feet.
“Yeah. And they’re up-tight about not showing any fur. Women have to dress modestly. They’re sexist too; like women are basically property. Girls are forced into arranged marriages with older men all the time,” the secretary bird said. “Bunch of pedos, raping little girls.”
The cheetah shuddered. “Yeah. Or raping women in general. There’s always news stories coming out of India, like about that woman that was gang-raped and murdered on a bus a few years ago.”
“Not that you have to worry about that, do you?” the secretary bird said, peering at the tiger cub. “I heard you’re not actually a girl. You’re a herm, right?”
Alex nodded. “Yeah, I’m a hermaphrodite.”
The three girls looked at each other, and the hyena spoke again. “You might want to make that absolutely clear to Ravi before you start chasing his tail. I don’t know what Indians think about herms, but they’re very traditional. He might not want anything to do with you once he finds out.”
“Yeah, better to let him know up-front rather than tell him later and get your heart crushed,” the cheetah said, getting murmurs of approval from the other two.
The tigress frowned, feeling vaguely sick to hir stomach. Shi didn’t want to go through what Azalea had gone through with Heath. Shi nodded at the three girls. “Thanks for the warning,” shi said, waving as shi turned to continue hir way to class, fighting back tears.
“No problem, hun,” the hyena said, waving at the tiger as they walked away.
__________________________________________________
Friday, March 4th, 2016
After pulling out hir set of colored pencils and drawing pad, Alex dropped hir backpack to the floor with a thump. Shi carefully set the Prismacolor box on the table and then flipped through the doodle pad until shi found a blank sheet. The tigress turned to the half-squirrel sitting next to hir. “So what should I draw to... day...” Alex’s voice trailed off as Willow walked up to them, carrying a small black wooden box and a pad of paper.
“Um, do you mind if I sit with you two today?” the green-haired deer mouse said, a slight midwestern twinge to her accent. “Oh, and hello.”
“Sure… Alex, do you mind?” Azalea asked, turning to the tigress and then back to the rodent.
“Uh, I don’t mind,” Alex said with a shrug, hir tail twitching slightly as shi eyed the mouse.
“Awesome,” the brown-furred mouse said, setting her box of supplies on the table before holding her hand out to the two. “I think you two already know, but I’m Willow, local mouse.”
“Azalea, though friends call me Azzy,” the half-squirrel introduced herself, taking the deer-mouse’s paw and shaking it, making a mental note of how weirdly slick the mouse’s paw felt. “Oh and of course this is Alex.”
Alex watched as Azalea shook paws with the other rodent, a little creeped out by Willow’s completely hairless long-fingered hands. After a moment shi shook hands with the field mouse as well, fighting back the urge to shudder at the sensation of the oily bare skin against hir paw-pads.
“Sorry. Mouse paws are a little weird, and the oil paint doesn’t help,” Willow said, rubbing her paw on her apron before grabbing a stool and pulling it over to the table. “Speaking of... oil or acrylic?” she asked, opening the finely-crafted box of art supplies, looking for a specific brush.
“The one, true, and most holy, Acrylic,” Azalea answered, using a broad brush to smear paint across her canvas. “Oil takes too long to dry.”
“Someone thinks highly of themselves,” Willow snickered. “I mean it’s okay if you can’t handle oil yet. One day you’ll grow into it.” The mouse started laughing at the face that Azzy was making at her. “I can teach you,” she offered, pulling out a little tray that had at least a dozen different colors of pigment. “Water color is good too. It dries fast if you don’t use too much water.”
“I’ll teach you a few things, and/or switch your drinking mug for your brush mug,” Azalea grumbled playfully, smiling at the mouse. “I wouldn’t mind learning oil paint. It can’t be that different from the blessed acrylic. Though I still don’t like waiting for paint to dry...”
“I’m sure you two could find something to do while waiting for the paint to dry,” Alex said, glancing sideways at the two rodents. Shi held hir paw up, inspecting hir claws. “I’ve heard rodents are almost as good as rabbits when it comes to finding ways to occupy their time.”
“Alex!” Azalea huffed, blushing dark at the implications.
“I mean, She’s not wrong... but do you even like non-penis-having-people?” Willow asked, both embarrassed by the tigress but thankful for the segway into her question.
“I mean, I’m bi-lateral… sexual… pansomethingorother,” Azalea muttered, still trying to hide behind her canvas. “I’m attracted to cuties, and people that are nice and funny, and a little bit weird too.”
“Oh, so that knocks me out of the race,” Willow joked, giggling at how blushy Azzy was. “I mean, I have the funny down. Maybe a little weird.”
“Oh shush. You’re plenty cute. The only sin that you’ve committed is the oil paint thing, but I think I can overlook that, for a price.” Azalea smiled, peeking over the top of her canvas.
“And what would that be?” Willow’s smile grew as she watched Azalea dipping down and hiding behind her canvas again.
“Hanging out sometime?” Azalea suggested in a near whisper.
“A date you said? Sounds good to me.” The mouse smiled, watching Azalea’s ears perk up and then fold back trying to hide the blush.
Alex smirked and picked up hir colored pencils, relieved that Azalea had found someone who knew she was trans and was willing to go out with her. “So what do you do for fun, Willow? Other than painting, that is.”
“Well I think I found something new to add to the list, making fluffy butt’s blush.” Willow smiled. “I like painting and drawing. Reading is near the top of the list. Playing games and board games are best.”
“Have you been introduced to Warhammer tabletop?” Azalea asked, perking up a bit more.
“Oh you mean legal crack? I’ve seen it. I’ve managed to not spend all my lunch money on it,” she teased, knowing that Azalea had done that once or twice. “Maybe you can teach me some time.”
“Deal,” Azalea nodded, picking up her paintbrush. Willow smiled and did the same.
