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 11
Sunday, March 27th, 2016
After throwing hir backpack into the footwell of the front passenger seat, Alex climbed into hir father’s SUV, saying “Thanks, Dad.”
“No problem, kiddo,” David replied, waiting for his daughter to shut the door and fasten hir seatbelt. After a moment he put the car in reverse to back out of the parking lot in front of the arcade, then put it back in drive, heading up Main Street towards the Aspen Glen subdivision.
“So, how was your first day of spring break? Did you have fun with Azalea and Willow?” the white tiger asked as he drove past the various shops and restaurants in the ‘downtown’ area.
“Yeah,” the young tigress said, quietly.
“That’s not much of an affirmative,” David said, glancing over at his daughter. “Everything okay?”
“Ehhh, I’m not into the same kinds of video games that they are, but it’s still fun watching them play. Also, they both prefer painting, but I like drawing. They like warhammer, I don’t, etcetera,” Alex said, buckling hir seatbelt. “It’s scary how much stuff they have in common with each other. They might as well be twins or something.”
“As long as you had fun, that’s what matters,” David said, turning into the suburb where they lived.
“Yeah,” Alex said, watching the houses go by. “I just... I dunno. I’m feeling like a third wheel or something, ya know?”
David frowned, glancing at his daughter. He knew all too well what that was like; he’d felt that way most of his life. He’d been on good terms with most people but never truly made close friends with anyone. If not for Raenne, he’d be a very lonely person today... if he were even still alive. It was strange that they’d managed to get along so well despite their wildly different backgrounds, and the reasons were worth sharing.
“You know, having a lot in common isn’t necessary to be friends or lovers. There’s more to a relationship than that,” David said, taking the various turns down the streets that eventually led to their house. “Take your mother and I, for example. We don’t necessarily like the same shows, but there’s enough overlap that we can regularly watch TV and movies together. We don’t like the same books, but we can both spend time reading together. I don’t like yoga, she doesn’t like exercise, but we both like karate. I don’t like cooking and she doesn’t like cleaning, so she does the cooking while I do the cleaning. Most importantly, we don’t get on each other’s nerves.”
Alex thought about that as they finished driving through the suburb, eventually pulling into their driveway. “I think I understand. You can’t always find someone who’s a perfect match, but with a bit of effort you can make it work anyway,” shi said, opening the door and hopping out of the car.
David shut the engine off, pushed his own door open, and stepped out. After both doors were shut, he tapped the lock button on his key fob and followed his daughter inside the house. “Well, that’s true, but really I was just saying you can be friends with someone without having a lot in common. For a partner though, the most important thing is finding somebody who doesn’t annoy you with their little quirks or idiosyncrasies,” he said as he closed and locked the door behind them. “Also, your mom’s going to be taking a nap. Try not to wake her; she needs it,” he added more quietly.
Alex nodded, carefully taking off hir shoes and hefting hir backpack. “Want to watch a movie then? Azzy and I watched one a while back called Lucy that was pretty cool. It should be on Netflix or Hulu,” the tigress murmured.
David frowned; he vaguely recalled seeing a trailer for it, but had written it off as absolutely inappropriate for a ten year-old. Only Alex was in middle-school, hanging out with twelve to fourteen year-olds. The white tiger sighed; he should have figured this would happen. “Sure,” he said, following his daughter upstairs.
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Monday, March 28th, 2016
Alex stomped hir feet off to get some of the mud of hir hiking boots and pushed the side door open, stepping inside the house and closing the door. Just as shi finished removing hir boots, hir mom walked out the hallway with the twins in their baby carriers, one in each paw.
“Hey, kiddo,” Raenne said, walking into the great room. “I’m going over to the dojo. There’s a ton of stuff that got delivered like uniforms, cleaning supplies, and such. Do you have plans for today, or can I hire you to assist me for a few hours?”
“Uhh, sure. I was gonna go walk around the neighborhood later and drop in on Brandy, Jerome, and maybe Jason... but I can do that tomorrow,” Alex said, shrugging.
“Great,” Raenne said. “I’ll be down in the car. Grab your gi and gear bag if you want to get some practice in too. We can do some staff sparring and start going over that sai kata.”
Alex grinned with excitement. Sparring with staves was fun, now that they had a dojo in which to do so. Mom hadn’t allowed it before, because it was too easy to hurt yourself falling on the concrete driveway and they didn’t have room in the garage. Shi couldn’t wait to eventually start sparring with sai as well; they made a satisfying clang when they hit. “Okay,” shi said, darting over to the stairwell landing and darting up the stairs to grab hir gear while hir mom headed down to the garage.
__________________________________________________
Thursday, March 31st, 2016
The sound of sneaker soles slapping against asphalt was barely audible over the rustle of wind through the trees and calls of the birds that lived in them. Ravi paused for a moment, bending to re-tie his shoelaces before adjusting his tank top and shorts and continuing down the road that headed east out of town, taking advantage of his free time now that it was spring break. The young white tiger was glad to be running outside once again, now that the weather was barely warm enough... at least in the afternoon, if not in the morning.
Running on a treadmill was tolerable, but there was something relaxing about being out in the crisp mountain air, listening to the sounds of nature. The white tiger was panting for breath as he pushed himself, working on his goal of going a little further each day. Eventually he came to a stop, sucking in a deep breath as he looked off to the side of the road that he had been running along, tilting his head a little at the sight of a brand-new asphalt parking lot that ran along each side of the road. He had been out this way a time or two before Christmas, but he certainly didn’t remember this.
“What the...?” he muttered as he looked around, spotting a set of stone stairs that went up from the parking lot. He quickly jogged up the stairs to take a look, amazed at the sight of an enormous flagstone courtyard with budding trees and a waist-high stone wall around the perimeter. On the far side of the courtyard was a huge building that looked just like an ancient Japanese temple, with two stories, each with their own flared rooftop covered in ceramic tiles. The sudden appearance of such a massive building practically overnight raised the fur on the back of his neck.
The support beams were dark, heavy square timbers, and the walls were white plaster. The doors and windows looked like they were made of paper with slats of dark wood to keep them in place like window panes. It was a sight to say the least, and looked like someplace that would be nice to take a little break at… provided the inhabitants allowed it.
As the young tiger slowly walked across the stone courtyard, the fur on the back of his neck slowly flattened back out. He enjoyed the oddly relaxing feeling of the area. Eventually he reached the shoji doors, which slid open on their own. He peered inside, noticing that it was surprisingly well lit. “Hello?”
The center of the building had a huge, open atrium that went all the way to the ceiling of the second story, and was nearly forty feet long, perhaps sixty feet wide. There were thick square pillars around the room, every ten feet, that supported the second story atrium. All along the walls hung various japanese weapons: curved swords of various lengths, narrow daggers with flared hilts, polearms, throwing weapons, staffs, hand scythes, and even some strange looking weapons on long chains.
The floor was made up of beige vinyl mats with black rings painted on them. On the far right side of the room was a staircase going down. On the left side was an altar of some kind with incense burning, and a banner with several lines of Japanese kanji painted on it.
Thinking that it might be a temple if not for the weapons on the walls, the tiger took off his shoes before stepping in to get a better look. He was in a bit of a shock, seeing something like this in a mountain town in Colorado, but he had to admit that it was an interesting and intriguing sight. His ears turned and swiveled a little as he thought he heard what sounded like someone coming up the stairs. “Hello?” He called out a little louder this time. “Is someone here?”
“Hello,” came a vaguely familiar, feminine voice. The speaker finally appeared as they made their way up the last few steps, revealing an orange-furred tigress with white hair in a black karate gi and a green belt. “Ravi?” the girl asked, tilting her head as she came to an abrupt halt when she saw him.
Smiling warmly, he waved. “Hello Alexandrea. Nice to see you in a more, ahh, pleasant setting,” he said, taking a step or two closer and looking around. “This is quite a splendid, uh, temple?”
“Dojo,” Alex answered, visibly relaxing and continuing to walk over to him. “Mom’s a Karate teacher, and she wasn’t particularly happy with the buildings in town, so Mom and Dad had this place built,” the tigress explained, coming to a stop a few feet away. Shi smiled as shi glanced down at his feet. “There’s a shoe rack right there,” shi said, pointing to a set of shelves along the wall.
“Alex?” a voice came from downstairs.
“It’s okay, Mom. It’s Ravi, the tiger-boy that I told you about. From the arcade,” Alex replied, turning towards the stairs.
“Okay,” the voice replied.
“Thank you,” Ravi said, walking over to the shelves and setting his shoes down before returning to the tigress. “I might have to come here and practice. It would be a good way to keep in shape.” He smiled. “I normally go running up this way. It was rather surprising to see that this beautiful building had popped up.”
“Yeah, it is rather pretty,” Alex replied. “Especially now that the cherry trees are starting to bud. Mom says that when it gets warmer and the blooms start to fall, it’ll look like pink snow drifting through the air.” The young tigress paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. “Anyway, If you’re interested in taking up karate, we’ll be starting classes beginning on the fifteenth, Monday through Saturday between five and eight in the evening. We also offer private lessons, if you’re interested,” the tigress explained, reciting it as if shi had practiced saying it a hundred times.
“Well then, sign me up,” Ravi said with a smile. He was silent for a few moments. “Also... I don’t wish to overstep, but how are things between you and the girl from the arcade... Azalea, I believe her name was?”
Alex’s mouth twitched. “It’s, well… We’re friends again, but we’re not dating anymore,” the tigress replied, hoping he wouldn’t ask about Heath as well. That was a sore subject, and one shi didn’t particularly want to discuss. “Why?”
“I was just curious,” Ravi said with a shrug; he didn’t want to outright say that he wanted to know if she was single. “It’s good that you two are still friends, though.” The young white tiger reached out and put his paw on her shoulder lightly. “And I must say… anyone that gets to be friends with someone like you is quite lucky.”
Alex blinked as he touched hir shoulder, tempted to step back out of reach. The whole touching thing made hir slightly uncomfortable. Maybe it was something common in his culture, like the three upper-class girls had implied. He definitely had an accent, presumably Indian as the girls had said. “Uh… thanks,” shi replied, shifting uncomfortably. Shi wasn’t exactly certain how to respond to a compliment like that.
The young tiger pulled his hand away, blushing a little. “Sorry. I may have overstepped my bounds again,” Ravi said, looking around the room awkwardly. He hadn’t meant to embarrass the girl; he just wanted to make friends with her. “So, ummm, how long have you been practicing karate?”
“About five or six months now. I practice almost every day with Mom and Dad,” Alex replied, looking down at hir belt. “Mom says I could have already made purple belt by now, but she wanted to teach me some of the optional weapon forms, like staff and sai.”
“That just means that you will be even better prepared, should you need to defend yourself,” Ravi said with a little nod. “Your mother sounds like a smart woman.” The young white tiger paused for a moment, looking down at Alex. “I hope I do not overstep again, but you look nice in that outfit.”
Alex blushed this time, looking down at hir feet. “I… um… Thank you,” shi said. It was pretty obvious he liked hir. To be honest, shi thought he was pretty handsome too: tall and slender, with smooth, shiny white fur and bold black stripes. The tight running shorts he had on were just a bit too revealing, and it was starting to make hir flustered. It was all shi could do to keep from staring. “You look good too... I mean... I think you would look good in a gi too.”
“Well then,” Ravi said, smiling and laughing a little. “Do you have one that would fit me, or should I go buy one?” The tiger said, relaxing a little. “And... you’re cute when you’re embarrassed.”
“I, uhhh, lemmegolook,” the smaller tigress blurted out, then darted back over to the stairs as fast as shi could, disappearing downstairs.
“By the Goddess,” Alex whispered to hirself as shi slid open the door at the bottom of the stairs, stepping into the basement lounge and quickly shutting the door behind hirself. It felt like hir face was on fire with how badly shi was blushing. Both of hir parents looked up at hir.
“What’s wrong?” David asked, dabbing at the baby puke on his gi before setting Nicholas down on the table next to Katherine. Sighing, he took his gi top off and folded it; it was going to need washing.
“Nothing,” Alex said quickly, taking a deep breath. “I just, uh, Ravi’s interested in joining, and wanted to know if we had karate gis in his size...”
The corner of David’s mouth twitched upwards. Alex was more flustered than he’d ever seen hir, and it was all he could do to keep from laughing. “How tall is he?” he asked, walking over to the supply cabinet next to the small refrigerator.
“About, uhhh, a head taller than I am,” Alex replied, feeling hir blushes start to fade. Shi couldn’t believe shi’d panicked like that. “Also, he’s flirting with me. Only, he doesn’t know I’m a... a...”
“A hermaphrodite? Hmm. Okay,” David said, grinning while pulling four different sized karate gis down from the cabinet. “One of these should fit. Let’s go see this kid you mentioned,” he said, walking over to where shi was still standing against the door.
“Aren’t you going to put on a shirt?” Alex asked, eyes wide.
“Why?” the white tiger asked. “It’s not like I’m naked,” he said, reaching over and pulling the sliding door to one side. Alex stepped out of his way, closing the door behind them and following behind him made his way upstairs.
As he was waiting for the cute tigress to return, Ravi occupied himself by looking around the dojo a little more, taking a closer look at the many different weapons that were hung on the walls. Soon he heard someone making their way up the stairs, this time two sets of paws. Turning to the direction of the steps, his mouth dropped open, gasping as he realized the tiger coming up the stairs was free of the curse of blood-stained fur; the first white tiger he’d ever seen outside his own family.
Ravi’s mouth stayed open as the muscular white tiger continued up the stairs, realizing just how big the shirtless man was. He towering over Alexandrea, and could have put The Rock to shame. If not for the fact that the tiger had white fur like himself, Ravi would have been worried for his physical well-being. Instead, he relaxed, confident that he had nothing to fear as the older tiger wasn’t afflicted by the Ancestral Fury. Still, if this was Alex’s sire, he needed to make a good impression... especially now that he knew any children she bore had a chance to be free of the curse as well.
“Hello,” Ravi said with a smile. “You must be Alexandrea’s father,” he said walking over to them, lifting his paw up for a handshake, noting that the man’s black belt had two gold stripes on it.
“That I am,” David said, amused at how bold the boy was. “I’m David. It’s a pleasure to meet you… Ravi, was it?” he asked, taking the boy’s paw and giving it a shake.
“Yes. It’s an honor to meet you, sir,” Ravi said, returning the shake firmly. “And I must say, this is an impressive dojo.”
“Thank you, though I have to admit, I had little to do with it. This is all my wife’s idea,” David said, gesturing around them. “It did come out well though. Mr. Mendelssohn did an amazing job. My wife, Raenne, would have come up to say ‘Hello’ as well, but she’s in the middle of changing the twin’s diapers. She’ll be up in a minute or so, if you’ve got time to wait.”
“Well, I have to say that she is a woman of fine taste,” Ravi said, nodding. “I will wait; I have plenty of time.”
“Excellent. Alex said that you wanted to know if we had karate gis in your size.” The older white tiger held out several plastic-wrapped outfits. “I’m sure one of these will fit. Do you know what sizes you wear?”
Ravi paused for a moment to think about his size. “If I remember right my size is twenty seven.” He paused again. “It just dawned on me. The dojo here looks kind of like the one from that movie, The Matrix, only with way more weapons on the walls.”
David paused for a moment, looking around. “Huh. You’re right, it kind of does… from the scene where Neo fights Morpheus.” The older tiger shook his head, then looked down at the uniforms in his hands and shuffled through them. “Here we are. This is a size twenty-eight. It’ll be a bit loose on you, but you’ll grow into it quickly enough. The pants and sleeves are going to need to be hemmed to fit. There’s a laundromat near downtown that can do that for you, if you or your parents can’t.”
“I’m sure that Mom can. She is quite good with a needle,” Ravi said, looking down at the uniform in his hand. “How much do I owe you?” He paused and folded his ears down. “I just realized I don’t have any money on me... I don’t have pockets in my running shorts.” He handed the uniform back. “I guess you will have to wait to see me in a gi,” Ravi said to Alex, smiling ruefully.
Alex felt hirself blush again. “Ummm, that’s okay,” shi said, trying to maintain hir composure. “We’ll just, um, set it aside. Or something. We can keep it for next time you come in,” shi said. It felt like shi had butterflies in hir stomach.
David smiled to himself as he looked down at his daughter, then over at the young boy. “The uniform is forty dollars, and it comes with a white belt. Lessons are an hour long, and ten dollars each. Each new belt is ten dollars, once you’ve earned them. Private lessons are twenty five dollars each. We’ll be officially opening on the fifteenth, and lessons are from five to eight at night, in one-hour increments. We may be adding more hours if it becomes popular.”
“Yes, sir,” Ravi nodded. “Your lovely daughter explained everything. She is quite the sales cat,” he added with a smile. “I will most likely be here for the seven o’clock lessons. That way I can still get my run in after school and have dinner.”
“Makes sense to me,” David said. “Do you have any questions? Maybe about the style of martial arts, our accreditation, the belt system, or anything else like that?” the older white tiger asked.
“I can answer any questions you might have,” came another voice from the stairs behind them, as Raenne walked upstairs, dressed in a black karate gi. The only touch of color on her other than her fur were the four thin gold stripes on her belt and the red tiger symbol on the breast of her gi. “Apologies for not coming up immediately. I had my hands tied, so to speak,” she said, drying her damp paws on a white cloth. “I’m Sensei Raenne, the instructor.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am. I’m Ravi,” the younger white tiger said, smiling as he walked over the older tigress. “I can see where Alexandrea gets her good looks from,” he said, taking her paw and, like he had done for Alex, kissed the back of it. “As for other questions, there are none that I can think of. I look forward to learning from you.”
Raenne raised an eyebrow as the boy kissed the back of her paw. “Such manners. I’ve yet to meet an American who greets someone like that. I’m guessing from your accent that you and your family are from India?” she asked.
“Thank you, ma’am,” Ravi said happily. “I pride myself on being a gentleman. My family is originally from India, just outside of New Delhi. I do have one question, though it’s not about lessons or anything like that,” the young white tiger said, taking a deep breath. Now that he knew that Alex had a chance to bear children free of the curse, not only could she be a friend... his family would encourage him to pursue her as his wife, if they didn’t arrange the marriage themselves. “I was wondering if you would permit me to take Alexandrea out, ahhh, for a date. Out to dinner.”
This time both of the adult tigers’ eyebrows went up, and Alex’s mouth dropped open. Raenne and David looked at each other for a moment, and Raenne gave a shrug so slight it barely looked like her shoulders moved under the gi. David’s head twitched in response, and he looked down at the kid.
“It’s not up to us. It’s up to Alex if shi wants to go out with you,” David said. “Before you ask hir out though, you and I need to have a short talk. Let’s go outside for a moment.” The older white tiger stepped over to the sliding doors at the front of the dojo, which opened automatically for them.
Ravi nodded at the father tiger and followed him outside, the doors sliding closed behind him. “Yes sir? What did you wish to talk about?” Ravi asked, following him down the handful of stairs to the courtyard.
David continued across the courtyard, gesturing for the cub to follow. “Two things. First, Alex has been through an awful lot in the past year, including much heartache, such as moving a thousand miles from hir best friend and losing two of hir grandparents. Not to mention several broken bones, concussions, being mauled by a feral, and being kidnapped. Quite frankly, we’re getting a bit tired of seeing our girl get hurt, and we won’t stand for seeing it happen again,” the huge white tiger said, stopping near the corner of the courtyard and turning around to face Ravi. “If you hurt hir, nobody will find your body. It won’t be me that kills you; it’ll be my wife,” he said in a deadly serious tone of voice.
“Well, sir,” the tiger-boy said, swallowing and looking up at the other male as came to a halt. “You won’t have to worry about hiding my body,” he said, his eyes never leaving David’s, nor did the unfaltering expression that he wore. “I would never dream of hurting her. I would sooner throw myself down a cliff than do something like that.” He paused, half smiling. “And as for your wife... if I did anything to hurt your daughter, she would have to get to me before my parents killed me first.”
“Just so we’re clear on where we stand,” David said, nodding. “Second... much of the heartache and injuries Alex has suffered are the result of people finding out that shi is a hermaphrodite,” he said, staring at the boy and watching to see his reaction.
“Well,” Ravi started, then paused. He was confused and it showed. “I have never dated a, ahhh, a hermaphrodite or anything like that,” he said, the unfamiliar word rolling off his tongue, “but I don’t think it would stop me.”
“Trust me, it very well might stop you. I’m guessing by your expression that you don’t know what that means,” David said. “So I’ll put it bluntly. Alex is both a girl and a boy. Shi has both parts between hir legs. You might want to think about that for a bit, before you decide to come back inside and ask hir out. Not just about what you think about it, but what your parents might think about that when they find out too.” The tiger turned and started towards the dojo, toe claws clicking on the flagstone courtyard.
The confusion gradually left the tiger cub as his mind raced, vaguely recalling the anatomy lessons from fifth grade when he hadn’t been totally fluent in English. Having been told that the girl that he was flirting with had both parts was a shock, but didn’t dissuade him from wanting to date her. Him? Hir? That sounded right. There were special pronouns in English for people with both parts, but it had been so long that he’d almost forgotten them. The biggest question was how things would go in bed, if their relationship reached that point. Not that he had much experience in that area to begin with. He opened his muzzle to say something, then closed it again, wondering if dating a girl that had a penis made him gay.
Eventually he spoke up, though the older white tiger was already halfway across the courtyard. “I would be fine with it,” Ravi called out, with the same conviction that he had when asking to date Alex the first time. “My parents might be a little iffy, but once they see that she and I are happy, I’m sure that will change. That is, if they have any ill feelings to start with.” The only thing he was worried about was his grandmother; she was very traditional, but he didn’t say anything about that.
“Just think about it for a bit. Come back inside after you decide whether or not to ask hir out,” David called, waving his paw as he passed through the automated shoji doors at the front of the dojo.
Ravi turned and leaned against the stone wall, staring at the forest that surrounded the area. He had never given any thought to dating someone who wasn’t a girl. It was definitely weird, but the idea of Alex being both male and female didn’t turn him off. As the evening breeze cut through his fur and the chill of the stones under his paw-pads seeped into his feet, eventually he came to a decision: If ‘shi’ could bear cubs that were free of blood-stained fur, nothing else mattered. That shi was cute was a huge bonus.
“I guess this means that I’m bi,” he muttered, shaking his head before turning around and walking across the courtyard. “I don’t care if shi has something extra between hir legs.” He made his way up the steps and back into the dojo. “Hello?”
The older tigress was sitting in front of the tapestry on the left of the dojo, sitting on her knees in seiza. Alex and David were nowhere to be seen.
“Pardon me, ahhh, Sensei Raenne,” Ravi spoke up, unsure if it was wise to bother the tigress while she was sitting in front of the altar.
“You’re forgiven. Come. Sit,” Raenne instructed, motioning to one side. “Alex and David are downstairs, checking on the cubs. I take it you’ve had enough time to think? You were out there for a while.”
“Yes ma’am,” Ravi said, walking over to the tigress and sitting on his knees like she was. “I thought about it... I’ve made a decision,” he said with a nod.
“Oh? And what is that?” the tigress asked.
“I still wish to ask Alex out on a date,” he said with conviction. “I don’t care that shi’s a hermaphrodite or what happened because of it. I’ll never do anything to hurt hir, and I will do all that I can to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”
“I think I’d prefer that you do care that Alex is a hermaphrodite, and were okay with it,” Raenne said, turning to look at the young tiger. “Also, you should care about what’s happened to hir, if you want to ensure it doesn’t happen again. But I know what you meant,” she said with a slight smile, turning back to the altar.
“I’ve never gone on a date with someone else before,” Ravi said blushing and shifting slightly. “Would it be better to ask you what happened in hir past, or should I ask hir myself? Or would it be too painful for hir?” the young tiger asked, looking at the altar that the tigress was sitting at.
Raenne took a moment to think before answering. “Hmm. Once you’ve gotten to know hir a bit better, and decided whether or not shi’s the kind of person you’d like to spend the rest of your life with... If you think shi is the right person for you, then you should ask hir about it. Those are the kinds of questions that will reopen old wounds, but sometimes that’s a good thing, like going to a doctor to have stitches removed.”
“I understand,” Ravi said, nodding. He took a deep breath. “It’s one of those ‘in due time’ kind of things. I still feel bad for not stepping in earlier when all that stuff happened at the arcade.”
“I forgive you. Actually, I owe you thanks. If you hadn’t stopped Alex from attacking Heath, he might be dead and shi would be in juvenile detention right now,” Raenne said with a sigh. “I’d never have imagined that shi would lose hir temper like that. Shi was always so peaceful and happy before. I guess everything that’s happened over the past year has hit hir harder than we thought...”
The tigress shook her head. “Anyway, all you need to know for now is that Alex has been treated badly because shi is a hermaphrodite, and shi won’t tolerate you fooling around with someone else if you’re dating hir... as you saw for yourself when shi found out about Azalea and Heath in the arcade. Alex is very possessive of the people shi cares for. Now, would you like me to go get hir?” the tigress asked, smoothly rising to her feet. “Shi was nearly in tears because shi thought you had left.”
“If you would, I would appreciate it.” Ravi said, getting to his feet. “I would like to ask hir out.”
“Okay,” the tigress said. “Though you might want to consider going home soon; sunset is in half an hour.” Raenne pointed at a small clock hanging on the wall a few feet from a well-hidden security camera. She turned and walked across the dojo, heading for the stairs.
A few moments later, Alex appeared at the far side of the dojo. This time shi was wearing a pair of beige capris and a tight-fitting teal tee shirt. “You’re back! I mean… er… You didn’t leave,” Alex said, jogging across the floor mats and coming to a stop a few feet in front of him, in the middle of the dojo.
“Of course I’m back. I wouldn’t leave my shoes behind,” Ravi pointed out, trying not to let his gaze wander down hir chest; the younger tigress was starting to fill out and the tight shirt highlighted the fact. “Your dad and I had a little talk, and he gave me a lot to think about.” The young white tiger smiled. “I still would like to go out on a date with you, if you’re willing.”
“Really? You do!?” Alex asked, hir eyes going wide. “I would love to! Actually...” The tigress frowned, an expression of sorrow passing across hir face and hir tail growing still. “Ummm, I should have told you back at the arcade, but... I’m not actually a girl. I’m a hermaphrodite,” shi said, looking down at the floor, shoulders hunching, afraid he wouldn’t be interested in dating anymore.
“That was one of the things your dad told me,” Ravi said gently, still smiling. “So, will you go out on a date with me?”
The tigress looked back up, eyes going wide again. “Really?” shi asked, ears perking forward and tail twitching excitedly. “I... okay. I’m busy with school and karate on weekdays, but I’m free on the weekends. Maybe we can go to the arcade or something on Saturday?”
“I can swing by here any afternoon. It’s spring break right now, and this road is my regular running route,” Ravi said. “I like the idea of going to the arcade, though. I want a rematch or two,” he added with a grin.
Alex felt like shi was practically going to burst, shi was so happy, though shi tried hir best not to show it. Ravi was a perfect gentleman, and good looking as well. Maybe not muscley, like Dad, but he certainly wasn’t in bad shape. Shi already knew he liked video games, too. “Awesome! Er, I mean, cool. Do you happen to have a cell phone? I can give you a call or something, so you’ve got my number,” shi said, pulling a small iPhone out of hir pocket.
“I don’t have my phone on me,” Ravi apologized, patting his hips were pockets would be. “But I can give you the number and you just leave me a message.” After the tigress nodded, Ravi recited his phone number to her.
Alex quickly dialed the number, hitting the call button. Shi held the phone up to hir ear, waiting a few moments, meeting Ravi’s eyes.
“Heeelllooo?” A young voice answered. “Who’s this? Why are you calling my brother?” The voice popped off question after question.
Alex blinked; shi hadn’t expected an answer. “Hi there. I’m Alex. I’m calling so that Ravi has my phone number, in case he wants to call me back later. What’s your name?” shi said, a smile forming on hir face.
“Aruna, stop being a hissy kitty,” Ravi spoke up, sounding irritated but still smiling.
“I’m Aruna,” the girl on the other end of the line said. “Ooooh... are you that tiger girl Ravi was talking about?”
“Well, I am a tiger,” Alex said, “though I’m not technically a girl. Ravi and I met at the arcade a month ago, if that’s what he told you.”
“Well, he said something about meeting this cute tiger girl, and then stuff happened, but he wouldn’t tell me what it was.” The girl paused for a moment before asking, “If you’re not a girl, then what are you?”
“I’m a hermaphrodite, actually. I’m both a girl and a boy. Ravi probably thought I was a girl though cause I was wearing a skirt at the arcade,” Alex explained, staring at the boy in front of hir.
“Huh. I knew my brother was a little weird,” the girl said, giggling. There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line. “Ummm... just so you know, if you’re mean to my brother, I’ll beat you up, okay? Bye,” the cub said, hanging up.
“Don’t mind her. She’s a little weird, too,” Ravi said as Alex lowered the phone, still smiling. “She’s a little, ahh, ‘too big for her britches’ so to speak.”
“How old is she?” Alex asked, curious. Shi guessed that Aruna was probably eight or so.
“Aruna? She just turned nine earlier this year,” Ravi said. “Though she’s always been a bit silly... err... innocent? I’m not sure which word to use,” he said, reaching up and scratching behind his ear.
“Oh, really? I turned ten in August, actually,” Alex said, hir ears perking and tail thrashing at the prospect of meeting another tigress near hir own age. “I’d like to meet her, if that’s okay...” shi added, sounding hesitant, but looking anything but.
“Oh, I’m sure that we can work that out.” The young tiger snickered. “I don’t think that she would let me rest if I didn’t let you two meet each other. You know, if we go to the arcade, Mom could drop us both off. She won’t be too much of a bother. How about this Saturday?”
Alex grinned; shi had never met another family of tigers before, and was very much looking forward to doing so. “Awesome,” shi murmured. The wide smile on hir face felt unnatural; it had been so long since shi had felt so genuinely happy and excited.
“Alex? Ready to head home?” David said, walking up the stairs from the basement, dressed in slacks and a turtleneck. In one hand he was carrying a duffel bag, and the other was holding a tiny white tiger cub against his chest, wrapped in blankets.
A moment later, Raenne came up as well, holding a duffel and another tiger cub with orange fur. “Do you want a ride home, Ravi?” Raenne asked. “It’s getting late.”
“Yes please,” Ravi said, smiling at Alex’s mother. “I guess I will have to run a little further tomorrow.” He stretched his arms up, yawning before heading over to the shelves near the door that held several pairs of shoes.
“Okay then,” Raenne said as they all put their shoes on. “You can ride with Alex and David in the white car; there won’t be enough room in mine, not with the child seats in the back and the paperwork all over the front seat.”
“Yup. You can ride in my car,” David confirmed, leading the way across the darkening courtyard. “We’re going to need to put some battery-powered lights out here. It gets surprisingly dark at night.”
The group of tigers walked over to the black car just down the stairs from the courtyard. “So… Where do you live?” David asked as he set the duffel down and pulled open the back door of his wife’s black Murano, setting his infant daughter down in the tiny seat and buckling her in.
“I live in Aspen Glade. Just take the first right to head north after we reach town. It’s not far,” Ravi said.
“Oh, good; you live close to us then. We’re in the Aspen Glen subdivision just south of you.” David said, checking over the straps. The infant tiger cub gave a high-pitched mew, and he reached out to rub the bridge of her nose before closing the door and turning around to the white SUV. “Hop on in,” he said, unlocking it with a key fob.
__________________________________________________
Saturday, April 2nd, 2016
Alex was starting to wonder if shi was a bit too well dressed; the other kids in the arcade kept glancing over at hir. A simple white sleeveless blouse and a black skirt wasn’t all that uncommon, and it wasn’t like it was that cold outside… though there were still piles of dirty snow lying around in parking lots and along sidewalks. It was probably the fur-gloss shi’d sprayed on this morning. Then shi overheard one of the other kids whispering and pointing at the brand-new patch of carpet on the floor that replaced the one shi had shredded in a fit of rage nearly six weeks ago, shi frowned and checked hir phone again, then stepped back outside the arcade, looking around. Ravi’s text had said he’d be here about this time.
Just then an Acura MDX pulled up in front of the arcade. No sooner had it come to a stop than the back door opened and a white tigress a little smaller than Alex hopped out, wearing a long lavender dress over a pink shirt. The younger white tigress darted over to hir as the passenger door opened and Ravi stepped out of the car. “Sooo, you’re Alexandrea,” the younger tigress said as she looked Alex up and down.
“Yep!” Alex replied with a smile, holding hir paw out. “You must be Aruna. Nice to meet you.”
“That’s me!” Aruna said, taking Alex’s paw and giving it a shake. “Ravi was right, you are pretty,” she said with a smile. “And, ummm, remember what I said about being nice to him!” she added, holding one paw up and playfully showing off her pink painted claws.
“Behave squirt,” Ravi said as he walked up, smiling at Alex, and blushing with embarrassment at being under-dressed. He was only wearing a pair of loose, dark pants, and a grey knit sweater.
“As long as he’s nice to me,” Alex countered, then leaned forward to look at the younger tigress’s claws. “Nail polish, huh? I’ve never painted my claws before,” shi said, flexing hir own fingers and looking down at hir ivory claws. “I’m not sure if I’d want pink though. It doesn’t go with my fur.”
“Don’t worry,” Aruna said proudly, “I have lots of colors that you can pick from!” The younger tigress smiled happily. “Maybe, you could, ummm, come over sometime. We could do each other’s nails and fur and stuff,” she suggested, looking up at Alex.
“You know, squirt, I’m starting to think you’re trying to steal my date,” Ravi said with a little laugh. “I’m sure you two could work a girls’ night out. But if you don’t hurry, mom’s gonna leave you behind.” He paused, looking at Alex. “Unless you mind her tagging along.”
“It’s up to you two; I already said she’s welcome to hang out with us,” Alex pointed out, then looked down at Aruna with a smile. “If you want to play video games with us, I certainly don’t mind.”
Aruna thought for a moment, blushing slightly. “Hmm. I like games and stuff, but Ravi said it was a date. I bet you two probably want some time alone and stuff. ‘Cause you know... making out and stuff. Bleh.” The younger tigress stuck her tongue out in disgust, then giggled before turning and rushing back to the car.
Alex laughed and waved as Aruna hopped into the car. “Later, Aruna!”
The older white tigress behind the steering wheel opened the car window and leaned over a little so that she could be seen. “You two be careful,” she called with an Indian accent even thicker than Ravi’s, then turned her gaze to her son. “You know the rules. I expect you to behave and be home on time.” The older tigress then turned to Alex. “I’m Sevita. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Sevita,” Alex said, waving at her.
“Don’t worry mom, I’ll be home in time. I love you,” Ravi said. He turned to Alex as his mom rolled up the window and drove off. “Shall we?”
The tigress nodded, turning around and walking into the arcade again, this time followed by Ravi.
__________________________________________________
“You got me again,” Ravi sighed, leaning back from the nearly new Mortal Kombat cabinet that they had been playing. “Maybe one day I will beat you,” he said, reaching up to pat her on the shoulder.
The fur on the back of Alex’s neck rose slightly as he rested his paw on hir shoulder. Shi wasn’t used to being touched like that; at least not by people shi barely knew, and it definitely made hir uncomfortable. Shi pulled back a bit, until his paw fell off.
“When Azalea and I started coming here, she already knew all the moves in Tekken, and I hated losing. That, and I like racing games, like those over there, and Azalea doesn’t. So we both wound up playing a lot of Mortal Kombat,” Alex said. “Actually, I never asked… Do you like racing games?”
“I have a few, but I’m not the best at them,” Ravi said, nodding a little. “I like the Burnout games, and some of the Forza ones.” Ravi tilted his head a little as he slipped his paws into his pockets, looking for a token.
“At least you’ve played them,” Alex said with a wide smile. “Azzy hadn’t played Forza at all. I play a lot of racing games; when I can’t go snowboarding, that is. Mom and Dad won’t let me snowboard during the week, cause it gets dark too quickly during the winter.”
“I have never been snowboarding, but I have been skiing. Is it similar?” Ravi asked, looking at the younger tigress.
“Snowboarding is to skiing like skateboarding is to rollerblading. The only thing they’ve really got in common is that you’re moving on slippery snow. With skiing, you sort of lean from your left to right feet while you’re facing downhill. With snowboarding, you’re facing sideways, and you lean your entire body in the direction you want to go. If you want, I’d love to teach you.”
“That sounds like it would be fun.” Ravi said, then took his hand out of his pocket. “Well, I’m out of tokens. Maybe it’s time for a break... and some snacks?”
“Actually,” Alex said, pulling out hir phone to check the time. ”It’s past lunchtime and I’m kind of hungry. Maybe we could go to one of the restaurants nearby? This place only has overpriced junk food,” Alex said, looking over at the counter.
“That sounds like a plan to me,” Ravi said, smiling. “Is there one that you have in mind?” he asked as he turned from the counter, heading to the entrance. “I can go for anything really.”
“Is Mel’s okay?” shi asked somewhat hesitantly; shi could really go for a burger and some fries.
“That’s the diner down the street, right?” Ravi asked as they stepped out of the building. “They have really good hamburgers and stuff.”
“Yeah,” Alex said, following. “I wish there was a good Thai or Indian restaurant around here.”
Ravi nodded as he started walking with Alex, walking towards the diner down the street. “Yeah. If you want good Indian food, my mom’s cooking is amazing. How about you teach me to snowboard and I get mom to cook for you?” The young white tiger laughed.
“How about I teach you to snowboard and your mom teaches me some recipes?” Alex countered as they walked down Main Street.
“I’m sure that mom would enjoy teaching you to cook good Indian food,” Ravi said.
As they continued walking, Alex noticed a Chinese restaurant across the street. “Oh, look. We could try that,” shi said, pointing.
Ravi glanced over to the place that she was pointing out. “Huh. I don’t want to collapse in a food coma right now. Maybe we could try it next time, though” the white tiger suggested.
“Hmm… Okay,” Alex muttered.
“You said something about Thai and Indian food earlier,” Ravi said softly as they reached the diner. “I take it that you like spicy food?” The white tiger asked, stopping at the door, pulling the door open and holding it for Alex.
“Yeah,” Alex said happily, stepping inside. “I like strong flavors, mostly. I like hot stuff, but only if it tastes good too.”
“Ahhh... ‘Cause I was going to say that Mom can make some curry that would burn the whiskers off of your muzzle,” Ravi said, walking over to an empty booth. “Anytime that I would have a friend over, we would have to warn them about Mom’s cooking.”
“I’m okay with it being hot, as long as it’s flavorful,” Alex said as they sat down. “When I make Thai curry, I use a handful of bird’s eye chili peppers in each batch.”
“So, I guess that I can call you ‘hot lips’,” Ravi said, laughing.
“So, what can I get you two to drink?” the waitress asked, stepping up to the two, handing each of them a menu.
“Hi Nadine. Do you happen to have sweet iced tea or lemonade?” Alex asked.
“We have both. The tea is bag brewed, fresh. The lemonade is made from scratch,” the beaver said. “I can even make you an Arnold Palmer if you like,” Nadine offered, showing orange teeth with a smile.
“I think that I will have the tea please,” Ravi said, looking up from his menu.
Alex glanced over at Ravi. “Me too. Thank you,” shi said, looking up at the beaver with a smile.
“Excellent. I will be back in a moment with your drinks and to take your orders,” the waitress said, turning and walking away.
The smile instantly vanished as shi looked back at Ravi. “Hot lips?” shi asked with a touch of exasperation. Shi rolled hir eyes.
“Sorry,” the white tiger apologized. “I thought that it would be an amusing joke,” Ravi went silent.
“It’s okay,” Alex said, sighing. “I just… I’m sorry. All the relationships I’ve been in started out as friendships. The whole dating thing is making me nervous. Like the touching and stuff,” shi said, looking down at the table. “It just feels weird... Being touched by someone who’s not a friend or family member.”
“Well,” Ravi said, taking a breath, “if it would be better, we can start out as friends. As for the touching, I will stop. I’m just used to it because of my family and friends.” He looked down at his paws, fidgeting a little. “If I overstep a boundary or anything, just tell me and I will stop.”
“Here you go,” Nadine said as she stepped up to the table, setting the drinks down in front of the two tigers. “So, are you two ready to order?”
Alex glanced up at the waitress. “Oh... sorry, Nadine. Can we have another minute? I haven’t even looked at the menu,” shi apologized, looking back at the menu in hir paws.
“Sure thing,” Nadine said with a little nod. “I’ll check back in a couple of minutes.” The beaver turned and walked off to check on her other tables.
“I want the chicken and dumplings,” Ravi muttered, lowering his menu.
“I dunno about that, but the fried chicken is good, you think,” Alex said, looking through the list of American and Southern cuisine. “I’m going with a hamburger.”
“The fried chicken is good, but it’s a little on the greasy side,” Ravi said, glancing back at the menu. “The hamburger is always a good choice.”
“Okay.” Alex lay the menu down on the table. “And... I think I’d prefer to start as friends, if that’s okay,” the tigress added quietly, looking down at hir own paws. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Ravi said, smiling gently at Alex. He was sure that breaking up with Azalea and the things that hir father had told him about were a big factor in this. “I understand where you’re coming from, and I would be happy to start with being friends before doing the whole dating thing,” the white tiger said.
“Really?” the tigress asked, ears perking while looking back up. “I’d prefer that, to be honest.”
“So, did you two pick something out?” the waitress asked, stepping up to the table again with a notepad in one paw.
“I would like the chicken and dumplings,” Ravi said, looking up to the beaver as she scribbled his order down, holding out his menu.
“I’ll have a hamburger and fries. No cheese, no onions, no pickles. And some barbeque sauce on the side,” Alex said, handing hir menu over as well. “Thanks, Nadine.”
“You’re welcome,” the waitress said, taking the menus. “Give us a few minutes and I’ll bring your food out,” she said, turning and heading back to the kitchen to deliver the order.
“So, ummm, what do you like to do for fun?” Alex asked. It seemed like such a basic, stupid question to ask since they’d been hanging out for well over an hour now, but… shi couldn’t think of anything else to talk about, and the silence was feeling a bit uncomfortable after the whole dating vs. friendship thing.
“Well, I like to run, but I think you knew that already,” Ravi said. “I play kamancheh. Oh, and I do cheerleading. Other than that, reading. I guess that I’m kind of a homebody.”
What’s kamancheh?” the tigress asked, puzzled. “Is that like a game or something?”
“It’s a stringed instrument from India; kind of like a violin.” Ravi paused to think of the best way to explain it. “It’s a little hard to explain. Actually, I can show you mine,” he said, smiling as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He flipped through a screen or two before turning the phone to Alex to show a photo of him sitting on a pillow, shirtless, playing the aforementioned instrument.
“Weird,” Alex said, looking at the picture. “It’s like someone crossed a guitar with a drum or something.” To be honest, shi wasn’t looking at the instrument after the first few seconds; the picture of Ravi with his shirt off was... distracting. Shi licked hir lips as hir mouth went dry. After a moment, Alex looked back up. “Oh. Ummm... cheerleading? I thought that was for girls, running around with pom-poms and stuff?”
“It’s not just for girls,” Ravi said, grinning as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. “It’s like acrobatics. Lots of stretching and tumbling and such. That, and having someone who can toss and catch the other cheerleaders makes for a good show. And no, I don’t wear a skirt. That was like one of the first things my sister asked,” he added with a laugh.
“Oh,” Alex said, going silent for a moment. “So... it’s more like gymnastics? Not just throwing your legs up and dancing around with pom-poms?”
“Exactly, though there are times that I have the pom-poms,” Ravi admitted. “It’s a pretty fun way to keep in shape and try something new, and thank goodness for the mats; messing up a flip or something can hurt.” He paused, thinking back to that day at the arcade. “That day at the arcade... the, ah, the kip-up you did... Do you practice gymnastics?”
That question sort of caught hir off-guard, though shi didn’t know why. “Umm... not really. I mean, I do know a couple of moves, but it’s mostly stuff for karate. Like, I can run up walls and jump off them, or do a front flip, but I dunno how to do a cartwheel or a handspring. Actually, I’ve never tried. I could probably do a cartwheel...” the tigress said, going quiet again.
Ravi smiled. “You know, I bet that if you tried, you could get out there and do flips with the best of them. Maybe even give some of the cheerleaders a run for their money,” Ravi said, picking up his glass and taking a sip of the tea. “If you want, I could help you learn to cartwheels and handsprings.”
“Okay,” Alex agreed, finally starting to relax again. It still felt like a date, but at the same time, it felt like some of the pressure had vanished, knowing that they were just trying to be friends.
“Sorry it took so long,” the waitress said, walking up to the table with a tray in one hand. “Chicken and dumplings for you,” she said, setting the plate in front of the white tiger, “and your burger and fries,” the beaver added, setting the plate in front of Alex. “Enjoy!”
Alex smiled, looking down at the plate. “By the Goddess, I love this place. It’s way better than fast food.”
“Me too,” Ravi said as he picked up his fork. He tilted his head at the reference to a Goddess, but didn’t say anything; that was a question for later. “It’s not greasy and oddly dried out at the same time. None of that sitting under a heat lamp,” he said, taking a bite. “So, other than video games and karate, what do you do in your free time?”
“Hmm. Along with karate I also do some strength training and yoga. I do a little bit of reading too, but I prefer watching movies. And I like board games and card games, like monopoly. But I prefer being outside if I can, going exploring and hiking and stuff. And snowboarding,” Alex added. “That’s my favorite thing to do. Oh, and cooking,” shi added, taking the top off the burger and drizzling some barbeque sauce on it.
“We could go for a hike or something, sometime. I don’t know how much you like to run, or I’d invite you on one with me,” Ravi said as he enjoyed his meal. “And cooking, eh? You and my mom would get along well, though you might have to be a little careful. She might fatten you up a little.”
Alex gave a short laugh. “Maybe. You haven’t seen how much I eat... but you will in a moment,” shi said, picking up the hamburger and taking a large bite. A drop of barbeque sauce dripped off the back, landing on the plate.
“Quite the, uhhhh, fierce appetite?” Ravi asked with a little snicker. “Like I said, you and my mom will get along well,” the white tiger said, glancing down at his plate then back at Alex.
__________________________________________________
“So... Does your mom know?” Alex asked as they walked back to the arcade, “About me being a hermaphrodite?”
“She does,” Ravi confirmed with a nod. “Mom and Dad and I had a long talk about it last night. They were a little iffy about it at first, but once I explained everything, and told them that you were no different from anyone else, they opened up more to the idea.” He took a deep breath, declining to add that the fact that Alex’s father was a white tiger was the biggest reason that they were okay with it. “Grandma is still really iffy about it. But in the end, Mom gave me the ‘as long as you’re safe and happy’ speech.” He snickered.
“Really?” the young tigress asked, a little surprised. “Huh. I guess I thought they’d be... I dunno... weirded out or something.”
“A little. But I guess I explained it to them right. I don’t know, parents are weird,” Ravi said with a shrug. “Grandma might say something about it, but she just wants what’s best for our family and she isn’t great at speaking English,” the white tiger said as they walked past the Chinese restaurant again on the way to the arcade. “She’s pretty traditional.”
“Huh,” Alex replied, going silent again as they walked down the sidewalk. As they reached the arcade entrance, shi said “I’ve still got some change. You want to maybe play a few racing games?”
“That would be fun. Maybe... isn’t there a park or something near here? We could hang out there too.” He said looking at the younger tigress. “If you’re not too cold.”
“I love the cold,” Alex said with a smile. “ I think there’s a park, but I’ve never been there. You know where it is?”
“I think it’s over there,” Ravi said, tilting his head and pointing further down the street. “I’m sure it can’t be that hard to find.” The two of them continued down the sidewalk, past the arcade.
Alex pulled out hir phone and quickly brought up the map. “Yeah. It’s just up ahead, on the left.”
“I should use my phone’s maps more,” Ravi said with a snicker as the two kept walking to the park. “I think that you and my family would get along. My sister is warming up to you already.”
“I hope we get along. Your sister seems nice. A little hyper, though. What grade is she in?”
“Well, she’s always been a little on the hyper side. There’s a reason we don’t give her sugar.” He laughed. “And hey, she didn’t try to get you with that little hand buzzer that she has,” he said, coming to a stop at the gate of the park. “She’s in fourth grade.”
“I was in fourth grade last year, in Oregon. They put me in sixth grade when I moved here,” Alex said looking up at the gate before walking in.
“So you’re a grade below me, but three years younger than me. Crazy,” Ravi said, shaking his head as they walked through the gate, heading to the little picnic area that they had set up. “How do you like middle school so far?”
“Actually, I like it. I thought I’d hate it, since it’s a private school, but most of the kids are pretty nice,” shi said, walking over to the picnic area with him. “The teachers are pretty good, too. Having to wear a uniform is kind of weird, but you get used to it. They let me choose between a boy’s and girl’s uniform, which was cool. At first I was wearing the boys uniform cause I didn’t like skirts at the time, but it didn’t fit me that well, so I switched to the girl’s uniform. I prefer wearing capris unless I’m dressing up,” shi said, tugging at the hem of the knee-length pleated black skirt shi was wearing. This particular one from Saks Fifth Avenue had sentimental value.
“I think that it looks good on you. The color matches your stripes,” Ravi said smiling as he took a seat on one of the picnic tables. “Your fur is a pretty shade of orange.”
“Thanks,” Alex said, sitting down next to him. “Mom helps me dye it from time to time. My natural color is the same as mom’s, but I like it a little more orange,” shi added, holding hir arm out.
“I dyed my fur once with the stuff that washes out,” Ravi said. “I make a bad panther.”
“Oh, I’ll bet,” Alex giggled. “Your head’s the wrong shape to be anything other than a tiger. Or maybe a lion with a shaved mane,” shi added, giggling.
“Well, now I know what I’m going as, for my next Halloween party,” the older tiger said, snickering.
“Oh no! Don’t do that,” Alex protested. “You’d have to bleach your stripes, and then you’d look silly. I like your stripes,” shi said, thinking of the picture he’d shown hir earlier.
“A tiger without stripes,” Ravi chuckled. “I’m sure I can come up with something better between now and Halloween.”
“Last Halloween I wasn’t really in the mood for trick or treating, so I didn’t go. Actually, me and Azzy went exploring up in the mountains over that way,” shi said, pointing. “We found a creepy old abandoned house that was falling apart. Pretty cool... and kind of scary,” shi said, going silent. The fur on the back of hir neck rose as shi remembered the dead fawns staring at hir. It had been way too vivid to just be a dream.
“I’ve never done something like that, but it sounds fun,” Ravi said leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I normally just take Aruna trick or treating, but something like that sounds like fun. Maybe you and I could do something like that.”
“Well, I just didn’t go trick or treating ‘cause I… nevermind,” Alex caught hirself. Shi didn’t want to go into everything that had happened last year and how miserable shi had been. “But… if you’re going trick or treating, could I join you two? Actually, nevermind. I guess it’s a bit early to ask; Halloween’s half a year away.”
“We have lots of time to make plans for stuff like that, things happen and sometimes things get flipped,” Ravi said looking over to the tigress. “And I’m sure that there are other holidays and stuff that are coming up sooner.”
“Oh! Speaking of flips...” Alex said, standing up. “You mentioned that kip-up I did. Did you want me to show you how to do one, or do you already know how?”
“Well, that would be fun to learn, but wouldn’t it be a little, uhhh, revealing to do that in a skirt?” Ravi asked, then paused a moment. “You could just explain it to me.”
“Oh. Hmm… I’ve got shorts on under this,” Alex said, glancing down, hir mouth tightening. “But Mom would kill me if I got grass stains on this blouse.”
“Give me a bit to warm up, then you can walk me through it,” Ravi said, looking down at the sweater that he was wearing. It wasn’t too cold right now, just a bit chilly. “Might need to take this off. Mom won’t care about the grass, but if I rip it...”
Alex licked hir lips, feeling hir heart start to race; he had looked really good without a shirt on in that picture, and shi definitely wanted to see him without one in person. “I, uhhh, sure. I can hold it so it doesn’t get dirt on it.”
“Perfect,” Ravi said, smiling as he pulled his sweater off in one motion, holding the grey cloth out to Alex. “Thank you,” he said as shi held it for him. He stretched for a few moments, getting ready to show off.
“So, ummm, the tricky part about it... is how to use your hands to push off the ground,” Alex said, holding his shirt while looking at his beautiful stripe patterns. Unlike hirself, his fur was much shorter and lay flat against his hide, and it made it easy to see his six-pack abs. It was distracting enough that Alex was having a hard time keeping hir train of thought. Shaking hir head slightly, shi tried to concentrate on how to do a kip-up.
“So, just lay on the ground, on your back, and lift your knees up, rolling back almost onto your shoulders. And you put your hands on the ground just above your shoulders,” the young tigress explained. “When your knees are all the way above your head, you kick your legs out and push hard with your hands, trying to flip forward.”
“Okay. That shouldn’t be too hard,” Ravi said, taking a number of steps away from Alex before laying down in the grass. “So I just do this,” he said, putting his palms on the grass beside his head. “Then lift my legs up,” he said next, rolling back like Alex said. He kicked his legs out and pushed hard with his hands, springing up and barely landing on his feet, stumbling a step or two forward. “Like that?” he asked as he turned to hir, grinning with pride.
“Exactly!” Alex exclaimed. “I can’t believe you did it on the first try,” shi added, rather impressed. It had taken hir at least a dozen tries to figure it out. Then again, shi had learned how to do it all on hir own, after seeing Mom do it in the dojo while sparring with Dad.
“It’s not too hard, actually.” Ravi paused for a moment. “Then again, I’ve done a lot of hand springs, and it’s similar,” he said, turning away from Alex and started running a few steps before starting to do a series of hand springs, before finishing it up with a flip and a 180° twist.
“By the Lady,” Alex muttered to hirself. “You’ve got to teach me how to do that!” shi called out, jogging over to him.
