“Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
“Positive. It was my idea, wasn’t it?”
Emily was visibly nervous. She hadn’t moved from in front of her full-length mirror for what seemed like hours, and was still literally about a half of one. Her paws constantly fidgeted with her long, luxurious blonde locks, trying to make sure that they were placed just right, so they would cascade around her face elegantly, rather than looking messy. Her typical, more casual attire had been cast aside for the evening, replaced by a tight, lacy black corset top, pushing the soft, supple flesh of her breasts up and tight, more so than they would ever need to be.
“I just don’t want you to think I don’t still care about you,” Emily explained, finally taking a glance away from her mirror to look back over her shoulder, the bright orbs of amethyst that filled her eyes casting a concerned glance upon her brother. “I appreciate you doing this; I really do, but all the same, I…ugh. I just don’t know. What if he doesn’t like me? What if I fall for him a little too hard? What if…”
Ty placed a comforting paw upon his sister’s shoulder. “Enough with the ‘what ifs.’ You deserve a little relaxation in your life, sparing as it may be, and we have nothing going on all weekend as it is. You should enjoy the rare opportunity you have, and stop worrying about me so much. I’ll be fine, Em.”
“You promise?” she asked, letting her vixen ears fold back to her head slightly. It was rare that Emily let her emotions show through to anyone with her assassin’s training background, but more and more lately, she’d been opening up her feelings to her brother, and she found it took the edge and burden off of her life dramatically.
“Promise. I’ll drop you off at the restaurant right on time, and all I want is for you to enjoy yourself. You just give me a call whenever you’re ready for the evening to end; no pressure at all.”
Emily quickly turned back to face the mirror, making a few final adjustments to the flowing blonde of her hair, and a quick tug of her corset put it into a perfect position so that it clung to her body like a second skin, showing off the athletic, yet feminine build that the vixentaur had developed over the years.
With a quiet huff, Emily turned fully to her brother and let out a breath. “Alright…how do I look?”
Ty took a few moments to look his sister over, placing his paw upon his chin as if he were in deep thought about the question. Emily knew by now just how her brother felt about her, and the appreciation held for her in his emerald eyes was clear as day.
“Perfect,” Ty spoke with a quiet, calming voice, taking a step closer to his sister to press a quick, affectionate peck upon her cheek. “Makes me wish I was the lucky guy getting to dine with you tonight…but I think you’ll be just as happy with the one you get.”
Emily didn’t look too sure about that, but she smiled at her brother’s attentions all the same. “We’ll see.”
**
The drive to the restaurant was like a ride down the green mile for Emily.
Typically, when mentally preparing for an assassination, the stunning vixentaur had no problems psyching herself up to the task at hand, and more often than not, her brother was there with his own set of special abilities to act like a crutch for her, if shit hit the proverbial fan.
Tonight, she’d be all alone with a random stranger, perhaps for hours, and with no inclination of whether or not she would enjoy herself, or if the guy would be into her at all…all she could do, be it in the most deadly of missions, or in something as simple as a blind date, was trust her brother’s instincts and make the best of it.
“You’re still fidgeting a little bit,” Ty spoke, not taking his eyes off of the road, only able to see his sister lightly clutching her left paw over her knee out of the corner of his eye. “Are you sure you want to go through with this? I won’t be insulted, and I know he would understand…”
It was a tempting thought. Emily was doing herself more harm than good with all of the overstressing about this date, but she was being just as stubborn as she was nervous. “Sigh…yes, I’m sure, Ty. You said it yourself; I deserve a little relaxation, and I plan to make the most of the opportunity.”
In .5 miles, your destination will be on the right.
“In that case, stop clenching your fur so tightly, before you mess it up.”
Emily blinked owlishly, before bashfully releasing her knee and resting the same paw under her chin, cradling her visage. “Yeah yeah…”
Ty stopped the car just outside of the restaurant, and the very grandeur of the place left Emily breathless.
Giant, crystal clear windows sat upon the front face of the building, crossed about with patterns of shimmering steel and vibrant colors. Pillars were molded into the side of the building, casting a perfect frame upon the windows, where Emily could see furres sitting inside the restaurant without a care of the outside world, as if she were looking into another realm through the glass. Each one was completely dressed up to the nines, wearing an outfit that no one could possibly bear to wear on an everyday basis, but wearing it just once in a while felt completely luxurious. Suddenly, she felt more like she was just a character for the evening, but she was already warming up to the idea of what awaited her inside, and she would be happy to blend in with everybody else, even if it was just this once.
“I…oh my goodness…wow. Just wow, Ty…you really didn’t have to go to all the trouble…”
“Your date is paying, remember? I’m just the chauffer,” Ty teased, brushing off the attempted compliment as if this was a common occurrence. “Now hurry on in, no use being fashionably late when you’re already dressed so fancy!”
Emily was suddenly giddy, her arms shaking a tiny bit as she brought them to her chest to try and contain her excitement, but when she failed, she threw her paws around her brothers neck and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Ty…I’ll only be a couple hours, I mean it!”
Ty felt his cheeks blazing at his sister’s affection, but he simply smiled in content and sent Emily off with a wave as she climbed out of the car. “You just call me whenever you’re ready. I’ll be waiting.”
The only reply Ty received was the slamming of a car door, but he took no offense. Rather, he happily drove off as he watched Emily trying not to run to the front door of the establishment.
Emily didn’t even hear the rumbling of the engine as she tried to contain herself, not wanting to act too terribly giddy as she approached the wide, solid oak double doors at the entrance, but she was having a hard time containing herself. Her footpaws danced beneath her as she took a jaunty trot to the door instead of a simple walk, while she clenched her higher set of paws right up to her chest, holding a simple, black clad purse up to innocently censor her cleavage. She was the perfect picture of a lady, and even if she felt a little bit silly, or perhaps just out of place at being so dressed up, she loved it in the moment.
“Welcome to the Échantillon de Rêves, Madam. Please, allow me!”
The doorman, a prim and proper dire wolf in a suit that looked almost comically correct, reached to the ornate handle of the massive oak door and pulled it open for Emily, who felt a warmth rising up into the downy-soft fur of her cheeks. She wasn’t used to being treated with such flattery, and already, the evening was off to a spectacular start. Not wanting to keep the polite fellow waiting, Emily smiled daintily and nodded her acknowledgment, before strolling through the door and into the entryway. As the door closed behind her, she took a quick look around, surveying her surroundings, and she felt the slightest bit of pain in her eyes. As exquisite and bright as the ornamental chandeliers had appeared through the windows, seeing them from the inside felt like gazing straight into the sun, after being out in the dark blue light of the early evening. Squinting just a little, the vixentaur tried to look as prim and proper as the attire seemed to call for, but before she could make her way up to the hostess, a young man who had been sitting near the front on a bench the whole time stood up and flagged down her attention.
“You must be Emily! The way Ty spoke of your beauty, I can’t imagine it being anyone else.”
The man was tall, although not toweringly so, and even with at least a couple layers of black and white fabric clinging to his body, Emily could tell that he took very good care of his body. His outfit played perfectly into a certain contrast, as the jet black hues of his coat and dress pants clashed heavily against the teal, nearly electric blue fur that covered his skin and his head, but it wasn’t so stark as to be unpleasant, but instead, just the right amount to draw some serious attention. Dress shoes of the same, with a pair of grey and black argyle patterned socks completed the outfit, and if she could find the words, Emily would have immediately told him just how dapper he looked.
Unfortunately, she found it hard to do more than stand and try to keep her jaw from dropping.
This was really happening.
A hot, young, well dressed, well-mannered man is really taking me to dinner on a blind date. No drama, no danger, no expectations, and we’re at quite possibly the fanciest restaurant I’ve ever seen. How could this possibly get any better…?
“You certainly know your way around a little flattery, mister…?” she paused, still unsure of her mystery date’s name.
The bright blue echidna reached out a paw in greeting. “Please, call me KC.”
Emily took the paw gently in one of her own, shaking it with a softer touch than what she might normally use in greeting someone. “It’s a pleasure, KC. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long?”
“Not at all!” KC quickly replied, shaking his head with a chuckle, and perhaps just a little bit of nerves. “Tradition says I should be a little early, after all. Our table is ready, though…shall we head in?”
KC released Emily’s paw from his gentle grasp, and quickly replaced it with an offered arm, turned out like a hook for her to grab onto. The vixentaur didn’t need any further prompting, and she gladly rested her two paws around the arm, sneaking a quick and quiet feel of KC’s bicep underneath. She did her best to keep an impressed growl from passing her lips, settling for a low rumble instead, though it was enough for the echidna to get a quiet earful.
“Lets.”
Emily’s soft words spoke volumes to KC, who quickly escorted her to their booth. It seemed to Emily that he had gone to every possible trouble to make sure that she had a good evening, and the booth was no exception to that; delicate, hand-carved wooden framing surrounded every booth in the restaurant on all sides, each with a different pattern made into the lattice that divided the booths from each other. The seats, she discovered, were as soft as she would imagine clouds to be, and they were layered over with comfortable cotton, cool to the touch of a warm, anxious body.
“Awfully comfortable, isn’t it?”
Across the ornate, intricately carved surface of the table, KC was gazing into a pair of the brightest eyes he’d ever seen, cast in an enchanting shade of amethyst, something he had never seen before. Even in his words Emily could hear just how she had entranced him, and it gave a fresh burst of surrealism to the whole evening.
“It really is. I can’t recall the last time that I ate in such a fancy establishment,” Emily admitted, and though she was just making conversation at first, a quick picking of her own mind revealed that she really couldn’t remember. Living the lifestyle that she and her brother did, working so often on assassinations, it wasn’t very common for them to get to enjoy a fancy meal out.
“I assured Ty that I would only provide the very best for you, and that’s exactly what I intend to do,” KC briefly explained. “And if forty-three restaurant reviews saying that this place is excellent aren’t convincing enough, I won’t deny feeling underdressed, even now.”
Emily stifled a giggle behind a paw, ever mindful now to look dainty in her mannerisms. “I assure you, KC, you look positively stunning. That suit looks like it was made for you,” she commented, slowly starting to visibly relax, as the booth easily accommodated her entire vixentaur body. “I just hope I can even remotely match up!”
You do quite a bit more than match up,” KC started, and seeing Emily start to unwind in her seat a little bit, he finally felt comfortable enough to do the same, even if the jitters of a first date kept his heart thumping in his chest. “I’d go so far as to say that I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to dine with the finest vixen in the restaurant.”
Light hints of a blush started to show under Emily’s fur. “I’d say that you’re laying it on awfully thick for someone who just met me,” she pointed out, though she was suddenly quite glad to have that paw in front of her muzzle. It wasn’t often she was romanced this way, and she almost felt unsure of how to react. “I hope you’re not just trying to butter me up, hm?”
KC chuckled to himself and shook his head. “You’re not a dinner roll, Emily…no use in buttering you up,” he said, hoping he might garner even a giggle for his lame attempt at a joke. He wished that the bread had already been brought to the table for a visual aid, but there was no such luck. “Really, though…you are gorgeous…I can’t help feeling like I don’t compare.”
“I like to think that I’m the one who lucked out,” Emily disagreed. She did indeed giggle, still quietly and behind her paw, but KC smiled at her reaction, glad to see she’d taken to it, even a little. “So…how do you know Ty, anyway?”
Whew! Thank goodness she had something to say…I was already about to draw a blank! KC thought, resisting the urge to wipe the sweat that wasn’t even there from his brow. “Ty and I go way back. There’s a big, lush forest on the outside of town where I spend most of my free time, and one day when we were younger, he just happened to wander by me while I was hanging out there. It turned out that we had a lot in common, and young boys can hang out for hours just goofing off and running around, so it wasn’t too surprising that we became fast friends…but then he disappeared for a time, and it seems like he’s gotten really busy, as of late…do you know anything about that?”
“You know my brother almost as well as I do, then, I’m sure,” Emily commented, though the sudden question about Ty’s disappearance made the fur upon her tail stand on end. Everything was going smoothly so far, but it seemed far too early in the night to explain something that happened to be so personal of their lives. “He is awfully busy, it’s true…and he hasn’t really said much to me about it, either. You boys get your heads so caught up in the wanderlust sometimes that it’s a wonder you remember to eat!” Please, don’t pry any further, Emily thought.
KC didn’t see the furs upon Emily’s tail peeking up, but he could nearly sense the tension about her as she answered. Still, she didn’t seem too keen on divulging, so he thought he might brush it off, for the moment. “I understand…I’ll just have to ask him again. He always seems really secretive about it, though. I hope everything’s okay…” the teal echidna mused to himself, his voice almost trailing off as he went into thought, but he quickly snapped himself out of it. “Speaking of eating, here’s our waiter!” he announced, thanking his lucky stars once again for the perfectly timed conversation savior.
“Sorry to keep the two of you waiting! Welcome to the Échantillon de Rêves. My name is Sven, and I’ll be your server tonight.”
A tall, fit lion approached the table and stood at attention, smiling politely down at the happy pair. His mane was slicked back atop of his head, and any extra fur was trimmed down perfectly so that he fit right in with the rest of the staff, who all seemed too perfect to be real. As if to put an exclamation point on the statement, a tuxedo that lived up to the standards of James Bond clung to each and every inch of his body. “May I interest either of you in a sample of our paw-picked wine for the evening? It’s a very light Riesling, bottled in the year 2000, made with grapes from only the freshest vines in California. It’s perfect for the casual wine drinker.”
“I’d love a glass, actually,” Emily piped up, hoping that a quick taste of the wine would calm her nerves just a little bit. She couldn’t help being rattled by the question from before, but she was determined to enjoy herself tonight, come hell or high water.
KC smiled up at Sven and gave an agreeing nod. “Make that two.”
Sven was already holding the bottle when he approached the table. He removed a simple wine cork from his pocket, and yet, he took expert care in opening the wine, making sure not to spill even a drop upon the table. The cork came loose with a satisfying poomf, and Sven took each of the wine glasses sitting before the couple to the bottle, pouring just the right amount to taste and enjoy, but not inebriate. “I’ll let the two of you enjoy these samples, and give you a little more time to look over the menu. I’ll return shortly!”
Sven kept his tail tucked back and tight to keep it from brushing over the table, as he took the bottle back into his paws and stepped away quietly. Giving KC an encouraging smile, Emily raised the wine flute to her lips first, taking a cautious sip. Sweet, gentle tones of fruit and grape immediately met her senses, and the scent of the wine was simply divine. As sensually pleasant as it was, the Riesling brought Emily back down to earth a bit, making her all the more aware of the date she was on.
“Certainly looks like you’re enjoying it. Here’s to a successful date?” KC asked, slowly reaching his paw forward and presenting his wine flute to Emily, who felt a fire burning in her cheeks once again. She almost felt rude for starting the drink without KC, but after all, she had no idea he was going to toast right then. “It’s not over already, is it?” she teased, but then clinked her glass lightly upon KC’s, and took another quiet sip.
KC followed suit, and took his first sip of the tasty white wine, enjoying the light, sweet flavor that it left upon his palette. “I certainly hope not. It feels like we only just got here,” he replied, following suit in the playful attitude that Emily was showing off. She’s beautiful, and she has a good sense of humor. How could this get any better?
“Well…since you already asked me something a little personal, why not tell me something a little personal about yourself?” Emily asked, finding that the quick sip of wine was really all she needed to settle in and relax a bit. As wonderful as the evening had already been for her, she felt like she could focus a bit more on the date itself, now, and the delightful echidna sitting across from her. Even now, she completely forgot to pick up the menu or so much as glance over it.
KC scoffed and snickered at the idea. “I was asking about your brother, not you!” he reminded the vixentaur, but his snickering softened into a more pleasant smile just moments later. “But, I suppose it is fair…how personal are we talking, here?”
Emily quietly finished her wine as KC replied, setting the glass down and resting her paws underneath her muzzle, gazing across the table as if she were studying the male. “I dunno…it doesn’t have to be anything too deep. Just tell me a little something about yourself!”
“Hmm…so telling you what brand of underwear I’m wearing might be a little too far?”
Emily giggled. “Just a bit.”
“I guess I’m not sure what there is to tell. I’m not used to being put on the spot like this,” KC admitted, a hint of nerves in his voice. He was about to take another sip of his wine, before seeing that he finished his own glass just moments after Emily finished hers. “I’m just a run of the mill, bright teal echidna…which, I guess, isn’t really such a run of the mill thing. I have a ‘twin’ of sorts, and I work a pretty average job…I guess that about covers it?”
Emily wasn’t convinced. “I don’t think you’re telling me the whole story, KC. I can tell just by looking at you that you’re unique, but I’m sure there’s more interesting things to tell about your life…” she mused, just as Sven came back with an ordering booklet.
“Are the two of you ready to order?” he asked, seeing that the menus literally hadn’t even shifted since he walked away. Huh.
KC looked to his glass for a moment. “I know I’m not quite ready, but, might I have another spot of the wine?”
“I’d love another glass as well, actually,” Emily added in quickly.
“Uhm…sure! I’ll be right back with the bottle,” Sven said, smiling as pleasantly as he could before he stepped away from the table once more.
“Here. Let’s do this…you tell me a small secret, then, and I’ll tell you a small secret. And then, you tell me a big secret, and I’ll tell you a big secret in return. Sound fair?” Emily asked, resorting to a more desperate, but also more interesting method to find out a little more about KC. She was enjoying herself, there was no doubt about that; still, she wanted KC to come out of his shell a bit more, so she could truly get to know the handsome man sitting across from her.
Small secret…small secret, small secret, small secret…hmm…
“Well, sometimes…when I’m around a really pretty lady, I get really nervous and forget to eat,” KC said plainly, glancing down at the menu for a moment. “Normally I’d have already ordered everything but the kitchen sink.”
Emily smiled behind her clasped paws and flickered the tip of her tail slowly at the secret. “I’ll take that as a compliment, certainly. At this rate, neither one of us is going to eat anything…I’m not sure I have an appetite for a meal anymore, but I’d certainly love another serving of conversation.”
KC could just catch sight of that smile, and it relieved his nerves a bit. Telling such a simple secret, he was worried that Emily might not accept it. After all, who didn’t get a little nervous eating around someone on their first date? “I’d be more than happy to satisfy that, but I do believe it’s your turn, Emily.”
“I don’t have too many small secrets…not that I can think of off the top of my head,” Emily admitted, and the extra few seconds she needed to think were granted as Sven, as if he were listening in on the conversation, dropped right back in with the bottle of wine. Once again, he took expert care in filling each of the glasses with just the right amount, but this time, he left the bottle in the center of the table. “I’ll be back again to check on you two in a little while, but in the meantime, help yourselves to the rest of the bottle, if you’d like.”
Again, Sven was gone in the breath of a moment, and neither Emily nor KC had much concern of where he wandered off to. “Maybe it’s not so much of a secret, but I like it when a man is honest with me. Even more so I like it when they aren’t afraid to make the first move,” Emily paused, taking a quick sip of the freshly placed wine. “See? Two secrets for the price of one…you should consider yourself lucky!”
In his own mind, luck wasn’t on KC’s side, just yet. “Lucky…? But now I have to tell you a big secret! I’m not sure how lucky that really is…” he argued, though it was clearly in jest, and he evidenced that with a quick wink. Although…I honestly have no idea what to say. I only have one really big secret to share, and I’m not sure that I can share it so soon…
“Well…?”
Emily tried her best not to look impatient, but she was truly curious, now. She could almost see a hint of pink sneaking up under the light blue in KC’s fur in the form of a blush, and it gave his fur a hue that she found adorable for just that very reason. “If I…if I really were to tell you,” KC stammered, “I’d almost rather it not be here. I’d rather tell you somewhere a little more private, y’know? Or even just not quite so fancy…”
KC finally broke his gaze away from the hypnotizing amethysts that sat so perfectly upon Emily’s face. He looked down at the wine flute that was still in his paw, appearing uncomfortable for the first time in a good few minutes. “I’m sorry…I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable. You don’t really have to tell me such a big secret,” Emily assured him, giving her best comforting smile, even as she lost KC’s gaze. “You’re not worried about being judged, are you? I promise I won’t judge you…I’m certainly not one to do so…”
“Are you?”
KC’s response was jarring for Emily. Once she’d settled in, she felt that she hid her discomfort very well, but apparently, KC was deeper than she’d given him credit for. “Judged, and…fearful of other things, yes,” Emily admitted with that playful smile turning to a sour frown. “I guess we’re on the same page, a little bit. I don’t really feel comfortable telling you my secret here, either…”
The echidna tried to keep his composure. Suddenly, this date from his dreams was starting to slide down a rickety path, but much like Emily, he was quite adept at thinking on his footpaws, and doing it fast.
“…Let’s get out of here, then.”
“Huh…?”
KC reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his wallet, quickly fishing out a couple of twenties…one for the drinks, and another for a tip, and set them down on the table. “You seem like a really sweet girl, Emily, and I don’t doubt that this is the person you really are…but I can tell that you’ve been a little uneasy all night. I want this date to be whatever you’d like it to be, so…tell me where you want to go to talk, and I’ll take us there.”
Emily was visibly rattled by KC’s sudden burst of energy, bringing a paw up to her chest and leaning back in her seat, but before she could protest, KC was already standing up and to the side of the booth. “I…I just want to keep you safe, KC. You seem like a really nice guy…I would never want to endanger someone like you.”
“Once you hear my secret, you’ll understand completely why you never have to worry about a guy like me being in danger,” KC admitted, bringing back some of his confidence in the form of a calming smile. “And I still owe you that secret, anyway.”
…Can I really trust him that much? Ty wouldn’t set me up with someone that he doesn’t trust, so…maybe I can…maybe I really can let my guard down around him, even for a little bit…
“Where’s the nearest McDonald’s?”
**
Emily sunk her fangs into the cheaply made, and yet so magically delicious bun of a Big Mac, her tail flickering up against her seatback as she rested in KC’s car.
KC was quickly munching down a few of their overly-yet-perfectly salted fries, and just like that, it seemed that the pair found their appetite once again. After they’d made the order, KC pulled them over to a park across the street, and there they sat in the parking lot, enjoying what had been a rather impromptu change to their plans for the evening, and yet, neither one was complaining a bit.
“Mnff…mnn. So good…” Emily mumbled as she swallowed down her food. “Listen, KC…I wanna thank you, sincerely, for taking me out to that fancy restaurant…but I wanted to be honest with you, too. So much of my life seems scripted and pre-planned that it’s nice to just wing it sometimes. This was the perfect way to finish the evening, really.”
“If that’s the case, I get the feeling you don’t get treated to fast food very often either,” KC replied, just as he gulped down a mawful of fries. “And while I am more than happy to treat you to that, I suppose I do still owe you a secret, don’t I?”
Emily nodded, having taken another bite of her burger, but once she finished it, she let out a quiet sigh, half of the content of eating such unhealthy food, and half in despair at what she was going to say. “I know I’m going out of turn, but…you really should hear mine first. Goodness only knows if you’ll still want to tell me anything once you know, but, the truth is…I’m an assassin, KC. Ty and I are both contract killers, and we lead really dangerous lives…you’re a really wonderful guy, and I can’t thank my brother enough for setting me up with you, but…” Emily paused, taking in a sharper breath. Her voice was growing weaker with each word. “I don’t want you to get dragged into it just for dating me…”
KC was attentive to Emily’s every word, but when she admitted her unusual profession, his eyes widened in surprise. From everything he’d seen of her in that night, and the honesty he’d seen in the bright amethyst of her eyes, he would never have guessed that Emily could so much as hurt a fly. “I really don’t mean to make small of your secret when I say this, but…that’s kind of awesome.”
Emily was floored.
“…What?”
“Maybe it’s not the glamorous world that it’s made out to be in movies, but there’s really something to be said about a girl who is every bit as deadly as she is beautiful! I really appreciate your concern for me, Emily…I sincerely do, but that’s just kinda cool to me…”
The vixentaur was still in disbelief at KC’s response, but as she mulled it over in her head, he certainly could have said something much, much worse, and more than anything, she felt like it was a compliment. “Not exactly the reaction I was expecting, but I’ll take it!” Emily replied, her shocked features turning up into a pleasantly surprised smile. “But you do still need to explain how you wouldn’t be in any kind of danger…don’t tell me you’re an assassin too or something?”
“Not even close!” KC exclaimed with a chortle. “Like I said, I really am a pretty average guy…all except that, under certain veeeeery particular circumstances, I can become gigantic. Like…to the point that I’ve actually stood taller than some of the buildings downtown, sometimes. It may not make me a better fighter or anything of that sort, but a lot of people find themselves intimidated by a muscular giant.”
Emily suddenly felt rather star struck. She’d heard rumors before of a giant that wandered around in the forests outside of town, but even in a world such as her own, something like that didn’t seem possible. She was on a date with a local legend, of all people! “…You’re being dead serious, aren’t you?” she questioned, looking KC over with a curious visage, but the echidna didn’t falter. “That’s so cool! Why on earth wouldn’t you have wanted to tell me that in the restaurant before…?”
KC felt his cheeks instantly flush, and his throat tried to tighten up on him. “Well…I, uhm…heh. It has to do with those circumstances I was talking about, actually…”
“What about them…?” Emily asked, but in that same moment, she glanced upon the clock on KC’s radio. “…Oh, shoot! I told Ty I was going to call him for a ride almost an hour ago!”
It seemed that time was going to get KC out of a jam, at least, just this once. “Don’t worry about bothering your brother with that. We’re just a few blocks away, anyway. He can rest; I’ll drive you back home myself…if you don’t mind, that is.”
Emily might have been apprehensive about a total stranger driving back to her house and knowing where she lived, but KC seemed like someone she could really trust and get to know better. He was good friends with Ty, and in her first evening alone with him, he’d shared something with her that he was pretty reluctant to talk about. “Not even a little bit, KC, but don’t worry about rushing, then.”
KC stuffed his garbage into the drive-thru bag that they had left over, and put the car in reverse. “For the whole six blocks? The only way to take it slow would be to drive backwards.”
“If not for the fact that I know we’d get in trouble, I’d be tempted to ask you to try it anyway,” Emily admitted, while KC put the transmission in drive and turned out of the parking lot, back onto the main avenue that Emily and Ty had driven up before. “This really was a wonderful evening. Time does fly when you’re having fun, after all.”
KC let out a silent sigh of relief. “I was just about to ask you that,” he said, pulling over in front of Emily’s place and throwing the car into park. “I’m really glad to hear you enjoyed yourself. I’m sorry we ended up getting McDonald’s instead of filet mignon,” the echidna joked, letting out a nervous chuckle thereafter.
Emily replied quickly and quietly by glancing around, as if she was worried someone might actually be watching them. KC raised an eyebrow, completely confused, but his eyes shot wide open as Emily leaned across the middle of the seats and pressed a quick, tiny kiss upon the warmth of his blue cheekfur, and one more upon his shy, almost quivering lips, her own flesh lingering just long enough for him to get a taste of the faint lip gloss that Emily chose for the night.
“Don’t apologize for anything, KC. Just don’t think I’ve forgotten about those circumstances. You’re not off the hook for that…you’ll have to tell me next time.”
Before KC could protest, Emily opened her door and slipped out, mindful to keep her tail matted down flat, and her outfit intact, just in case KC happened to be the type to sneak a glance. His eyes were still locked upon her, but a random passerby might have thought he was unconscious in his car, as Emily walked up to the front door.
“Thanks for the ride!” she yelled back, and KC simply grinned like an idiot and waved.
I’ve got a date…another date, even, with a sexy, hot, funny assassin chick.
…AWESOME!
KC pulled away only as he saw Ty opening the front door of the house, and the moment it came fully open, Emily threw her arms around her brother’s neck and pressed a quick kiss upon his cheek.
“Emily!!” Ty shouted, nearly falling back and over as Emily pounced him, but the extra set of legs on his taur body came in quite handy, keeping him upright. “Hehe…I suppose this means the date went well?”
Emily just smiled as she hung onto her brother. “Better than I ever could have imagined, Ty…better than anything I hoped for.”
