Jobs: I needed one.  When you’re out of work, eventually you’ll get to the point where you’ll take pretty much anything to hold you over until you can find the job you actually want.  I’d hit that point a few days back: with rent to be paid and that nasty habit of wanting to eat on a regular basis, the decision had been made and this morning found me hitting the pavement, shirt ironed, headfur neatly combed, and all traces of standards and dignity securely locked away.

Over the last day or two I had canvassed the local mall in its entirety, along with pretty much every halfway decent standalone retail and big-box I’d run across, and as I flipped through the list of cold-calls I’d brought along I couldn’t help but think that if I didn’t get a bite soon I might have to resort to fast food places.

I couldn’t help but shudder a little at the possibility as I fished around in the back seat of the car until I found where my soda had walked itself off to; it might be easier for furs with a less refined sense of smell, but every time I actually drug my furry vulpine tail further inside of a burger place than the drive-through window the stink of fries and hot grease was enough to make me feel like I was about to retch.  No, making me feel the need to vomit is not something I look for in a job…

This was not shaping up to be a good afternoon; I sulked as I slowly cruised through the lot of yet another strip mall.  It was unseasonably hot out, and even with the car’s A/C on as cold as it would go I still felt like I was sweltering in my interview clothes.  I wanted to be back home reading a book or playing video games in air conditioning and underwear, not wandering around in traffic.  That, however, wasn’t in the cards.  Which did make it pretty easy to convince myself that since I’d been so diligent with my job hunting I deserved to take a break and go to the bike shop down the street.  By now they had probably gotten some of those new HP6/RSRs in…

That possibility improved my mood considerably, and my tail had already begun to twitch happily in the confines of my seat as I put the car back in gear and went to pull out of the lot.  I almost made it too when I noticed one of the anchor units in the shopping center actually had a ‘Now Hiring’ sign on the door.  I almost, almost kept on driving, but it really didn’t make sense to come all the way back later, so instead of happily going on my way I grudgingly pulled into a parking space.

What had been a closed-down electronics store last time I’d been by (admittedly quite a while ago) was now a ‘Precious Additions’ cubs’ store.  “Well, warehouse work is warehouse work…” I sighed aloud.  And on the bright side it was only five minutes from my apartment.  Checking my headfur in the rearview mirror I straightened up my shirt collar and tried to psyche myself up to make a good first impression on yet another busy and disinterested assistant shift manager.

I’ve never minded working, but there really isn’t anything I find more onerous than actually having to go about finding a job.  Getting completely dressed up just to drive around town and hand random strangers sheets of paper only to be told to ‘apply online’ seems to be inferior to just doing that in the first place, but on the off chance you’ve not had to play that game before let me assure you: if they’ve actually seen your tail in their store before you’ve got a big jump on applicants that they can’t put a muzzle to a name with.

Walking through the doors the first word to spring to mind was ‘cheerful’.  I mean, at the base of it the place was the typical ‘open industrial’ sort of building any sort of retail establishment uses, but that was pretty much where the similarity ended.  The paint scheme was pastels, with even the ceiling done up in a checkerboard pattern to match the floor tiles.  The various departments were painted in different soothing hues, and even the fronts of the shelving units were stenciled with patterns one would normally see on nursery wall borders.  I couldn’t help but wonder if all cubs’ stores were like this, or if the local general manager was just a wee bit out of their mind.  The female behind the cash register was dracon, her primly folded wings a bit at odds with the cheerful expression that greeted me.

There didn’t tend to be many drakes or dragons in our area, since they usually preferred a warmer climate, so I hadn’t actually had a chance to meet many before, but I always thought that as a whole they were a stoic lot, so I’ll admit I was a bit taken aback…the fact they were also a good bit bigger than a lot of other species didn’t help either.

“I was hoping to put in a job application…” I requested, blinking off my surprise and carrying on “Is there someone on shift I can speak with?”  “Of course.” She nodded cheerfully “But you should know up front that we’re a product research and testing firm, this storefront is mostly a test marketing setup, not our main line of business.”  “I’m looking for pretty much anything to fill in until I find a paralegal job, I’ll take anything y’all have open at this point…bills to pay and that sort of thing.” I sighed.  This wasn’t going how I had hoped…  “Now don’t get cranky.” The dragon chided “We usually need evaluators; it takes all kinds…”  “I’m not really the ‘parental’ type.” I shrugged “Between having a short attention span and being easily distracted I have trouble taking care of myself sometimes, let alone a kit…”  “That’s okay; we need that kind as well!” The dragoness laughed, looking me over appraisingly “We don’t usually hire from the outside much, but sometimes an ignorant opinion can be a big help too.”

Her desk phone decided that it would be a good time to interrupt, and after a brief conversation I found myself deposited in an adjoining room to wait to speak with their hiring director.  Like the rest of the building I’d seen so far the waiting room was comfortably furnished with a sofa and several armchairs, all in the requisite pastel color scheme.  In the center of the room a low table covered in toys sat on an almost excessively fuzzy rug.  All of which turned out to be a good thing as it quickly became apparent that whoever it was I was waiting to talk to must have been at lunch or something.

After sitting around for a while staring at the walls I’d gotten more than a little bit bored, so I think I can be excused for having found myself drawn to the large pile of toys stacked on the coffee table.  It had been years since the last time I’d played with Legos, and they had been some of my favorites while I was growing up.  Besides, I’d know when somefur finally got here; the door would give me a heads-up on that front.  After a bit of initial hesitation I was soon deeply engrossed in trying to make a realistic (though far more colorful) model of my apartment.  So much so that I barely had time to scramble back to the sofa when the doorknob finally turned.

Years of sneaking cigarettes in the school bathrooms finally proved their worth: I was innocently seated again by the time a rabbit in a much nicer business suit than I would have anticipated had let himself in and after quick introductions launched into the usual generic interview questions I’d become so depressingly familiar with by now.  A good forty-five minutes beyond that I was getting bored enough to be eyeballing the Legos again when the rabbit announced that “As long as you’re okay with having to stay at our testing facility during your assignments I think you’ll work out nicely.”  “That shouldn’t be a problem.” I agreed “I live by myself and I don’t have any pets or houseplants to take care of or anything like that…”  “Okay then.  What we usually do is get your bills set up with Accounting, and they take care of them out of your salary.  We prefer that our testers not have to worry about that sort of thing.  Then the rest of your check will be direct deposited wherever you like.  We’ll get you to fill out our employee questionnaire, and then just bring your papers by our main campus either later today or tomorrow morning and we’ll get you started.”

The questionnaire form was a lot thicker than the job application, and along with the usual financial and medical information had quite a few that were completely new to me.  I could understand the ones about food preferences if I was going to be actually staying at work off and on, but towards the end of the form I got to questions that I could only assume was a practical joke by some bored HR guy.  But hey, I can play along right back…bet they’ve never actually gotten answers… Do I prefer cloth or disposable diapers?  “Go with disposables.  It might get me out of doing some laundry…”  What are your favorite toys?  “Fast bikes, high powered target rifles, and pirate Legos.”  What species do you find the most parental?  “Definitely dragons.  Scary as hells is like parental, right?”  The most authoritarian?  “Hamsters.”  Are you sexual?  “Umm…that’s just weird…Not with furs I’ve just met.”  Preference? “Yes, please.”

It went on.  And on.  For pages.  It was actually getting into late afternoon when I finally handed the completed packet to the lady I’d spoken to before at the desk.  “Were you planning on coming in this evening, or tomorrow?” she asked, handing me an index card with the address printed on it.  “Probably tomorrow.” I shrugged “I’ve got to round up some clothes to leave there for when I stay over.”  “Oh, we’ll have that for you.” She explained dismissively “All you need is your paperwork.”  “Then tonight I guess.”

Admittedly this wasn’t the job I had been looking to get: I don’t know anything about cubs, but how hard could it possibly be?  I’d babysat a few times without any major catastrophe; this was going to basically be the same thing, just with paperwork…  Looking around my apartment, I quickly rounded up copies of all my bills and my bank information, then tossed some clothes and a toothbrush in a backpack, debating briefly taking my laptop, but eventually discarding it in favor of a paperback book.  It would probably be a good idea to see what we were and were not allowed to do before making all sorts of assumptions…

Getting back in the car I plugged the address I’d been given into the GPS and got back on the road.  I was going a pretty good distance across town, and since I’d forgotten to ask what their office hours were I was a little bit worried about being late.  Though the idea of being late to something that didn’t have specific times involved did kind of make my head hurt if I thought about it too much…

Not thinking about it was expertly facilitated by the usual psychotic mess of rush hour commuter traffic one learns to live with when your roads were laid out by a blind Spaniard on a drunken mule, and by the time I actually got there the sun was pretty much done for the day and my sanity right along with it.  ‘There’ turned out to be an upscale high rise with a large privacy fence around most of its lot and very little parking.  Pulling into a ‘Visitor’ spot I was trying to get my hackles to settle down to something at least a little bit presentable when a knock on the window drew my attention with a start.  I know logically that modern dracons are perfectly civilized, but with the fangs and claws, not to mention their sheer size…and, well, you’ve read the history books too.  Plus the whole fire breathing thing…  Honestly, I’ve always found them a bit scary.

Rolling down the window, I did my best to hide my surprise from the female I’d met earlier at the store.  “Hi!  You found us okay?” she asked disarmingly.  “Yep, no problem.” I nodded “I was just trying to figure out the parking…”  “I’ll show you; we’ll have to get you set up with a garage access code later…” I popped the locks, and she let herself in the passenger side, carefully folding her wings to avoid the door frame.  “They don’t exactly design these little coupes for dracons.” She observed as she settled in.  “They barely design them for foxes.” I agreed “But they’re a hell of a lot of fun to drive…”  “Language, kit.” She chided reflexively before pointing me around the side of the building to the gate for an underground garage.

A bit of parking and a few keycard swipes later found us in a businesslike reception room when the dragon’s cellphone rang.  “Sorry, but I have to take this…I didn’t think they would be calling me back today…”  “It happens.” I shrugged, taking a seat.  Putting the call on hold, she poured me a glass of soda from a mini-fridge behind the receptionist’s desk, asking as an afterthought “Have you had dinner yet?”  “Nope, I was going to on my way out.” I explained.  “We’ll get that taken care of in a bit.” She assured me before ducking out to take the call.

While she was gone I sipped my drink (a lemon-lime kind that, from the odd chemical aftertaste, must have been diet of one sort or another) and thought things over a bit.  This wasn’t really what I had been hoping for, but everyfur I had met so far had been pretty friendly (if just a bit odd), and it would be really nice to be cashing a paycheck again.  And while the security I’d been noticing might have been a bit of an overkill it was probably just there to keep their insurance carriers placated since they must have a lot of cubs on-site.  I just hoped that their staff housing was decent, and they had something else to drink in the fridge!

The dragoness returned right about the time I was finishing up the last of my soda.  Which was good since I was starting to feel a bit fuzzy, and falling asleep would have made a pretty bad impression for my first hour on the job.  “I’m back!” she announced “Now where were we?”  “Not anywhere much at the moment.” I decided.  “Right, right.” She nodded, taking a seat next to me on the sofa “You look about ready to get started, so introductions are in order.”  “It couldn’t hurt.” I yawned.  Why was I getting so tired all of a sudden?  “Well, my name is Susan.” She began “Since we’re going to be spending a lot of time together I guess I’ll start by telling you a little bit about myself.  I’m just finishing up my Ph.D. in psychology with concentrations in alternative sexuality and child development.  My undergraduate work was in medieval history and dracon studies, though I almost went into classical performance.”  “That’s a bit of a wide field there…” I yawned before quickly covering my muzzle “Oh, excuse me!”  “It’s okay.” She grinned “You’ve got a good excuse…”  “Yeah, it’s kind of been a long day.” I nodded.

“My fields of study are actually more related than you would think: my main focus was ancient performances as a historical record..."  “That actually makes a lot of sense.” I decided.  “I thought so.” Susan laughed before continuing.  “I grew up in a pretty remote colony in the northern part of the Great Crags mountain range, so living in a city has been a pretty big change for me.  I like spending time outside, and I love flying.   Umm…I do martial arts, I like to hunt, and I love books.  Oh, and I don’t have any hatchlings of my own, but I’ve spent a lot of time helping to raise my nestmates’.  Dragons tend to be big on communal parenting, and my clan is no exception.  So don’t worry, I’ll take good care of you, my new kit!”  “Wait, what?” I spluttered, trying to jump up, only to discover that my legs didn’t seem to want to cooperate.  “Shh, settle down.  We don’t want you hurting yourself!” Susan soothed, placing a paw on my shoulder.

“What did you do to me?” I asked, terrified as I felt a spreading weakness throughout my body.  “When Richard, the rabbit you met earlier, ran your employment history he ran into several brick walls.” Susan explained, putting her arms behind me and shifting me into her lap.  ”The kind of walls that tend to indicate certain…government-type jobs.  We felt it would be best to take precautions against you potentially overreacting to things.”  “Yeah, well how’s this for overreacting: I quit.  And you will be served with papers first thing in the morning!”  “Oh honey, you can’t.  You’re under contract.  A very good contract.  So good that, for practical purposes, we own you.”  Damn it.  I’d been so happy to be working again that I’d only skimmed through the employment papers!  “And before you get your hopes up, Section 14(b) is a ‘read and understand’ clause.”

Scooping me up as if I were weightless, Susan carried me through another door and into the complex.  “Don’t worry so much, once you settle in you’ll like it here…you’ve already got some inclination towards this: remember the Legos?”  “You saw that?” I snapped.  “Closed circuit TV.” She confirmed “And you took quite a bit less time to start playing with them than a lot of our other cubs, even the ones who knew what they were signing on for!”  “Great.” I grumbled, watching the rather clinical looking walls go by until Susan stopped at another door.

As she fished out her access card, shifting me over to one arm, I couldn’t help but be amazed and a bit disturbed by how strong Susan was.  Getting myself out of this mess was going to be a bit tricky when she could literally just haul me back by my tail.  Carrying me inside, Susan revealed what I was beginning to suspect, but was still having trouble believing existed: an adult-sized nursery.  Along one wall was an enormous, neatly made crib with pastel blue linens, and even a solar system themed mobile.  Along the adjoining wall was an equally large changing table.  A low table, sofa, and toy chest filled out the room.  Aside from a set of closet doors and a second interior door leading to parts unknown, the room was painted a pastel green with leaf and flower patterned borders and darker green carpeting.

“There really isn’t any reason for you to be sulky…” Susan chided as she set me down gently on the changing table “We took all your requests from the intake evaluation you filled out into consideration to help make your stay as nice as possible…and I’m glad we did!  I’ve been waiting a long time for a cub who didn’t list dracons as their most disciplinarian, and not only didn’t you, but you actually requested one!  I was starting to get a little depressed being passed over every time…”  “Actually, I thought the whole thing was somefur’s idea of a joke.  I think dracons are kind of scary too.” I snapped, only to feel like the biggest jerk on the planet as her muzzle immediately took on a horribly despondent look.  “Oh.” She sighed “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to give it a try, would you?”  “I don’t plan on being here long enough for it to matter, but for what it’s worth I won’t ask for you to be replaced or anything…” I promised.  Rewarding me with a happy grin, Susan nodded “That’s good enough for me!”

“Seriously though.” I warned “I’m out of here the second I can get up on my own again…umm…what are you doing?”  “Getting you settled in…” Susan explained as if stating the obvious.  “That’s not really necessary, is it? We could just put it off until tomorrow.” I suggested.  With any luck I’d be long gone by then. “‘Fraid not.” Susan disagreed “First, because there’s no time like the present, and second because the sooner we dissuade you from the thought of sneaking out when no one is looking the happier everyfur will be.  And I think one of the best ways to drive the point home…” Trailing off she held up an adult sized diaper with a very cub themed print.  “I’m beginning to dislike you just a little bit.” I growled, forcing every scrap of willpower I had into one last ineffective attempt at getting my body to do what I told it to.  Deftly untying my shoelaces, Susan removed my boots first, and then my socks, placing them in a large plastic storage box that already contained my backpack.  “You won’t be needing any of this while you’re here.” I was informed.  “I’m not okay with this, damn it!” I spat in frustration.  “You don’t get a vote, but I appreciate your input.” Susan nodded patiently, continuing to undress me.  As she was pulling my shirt up over my head I managed to lean over and bite her paw.  Hard.

“Ouch.” Susan frowned, looking at me reproachfully.  “Because you’ve had a lot sprung on you all at once I’m going to give you a pass on that this time.  But if you ever do something like that again I’ll give you a spanking that you won’t forget about for a long time.  However, you will be losing privileges over that for the rest of the evening…that’s more than fair I think.”  Giving her one of my best scowls, I sat in silence as she went to the closet and produced a jumble of padded straps and plastic buckles.  After untangling it she dug around in the drawers in the changing table, eventually producing a large pacifier that she snapped into a metal ring attached to the straps.  Popping the pacifier into my mouth she slipped the straps over my head and around my muzzle before deftly snapping now-unseen buckles.  “This is a pacifier gag.” She explained “Besides losing the privilege of being able to speak, it’s good at preventing biting!”

To my great annoyance the paci gag did a really good job of reducing my ability to voice my displeasure, and in short order my muzzled string of invectives gave way to rather impotent growls, and finally only the occasional pathetic whimper.  “And don’t even think about chewing through it!” Susan warned, reading my mind or more probably the twitching of my jaw as I probed the bit of silicone invading my muzzle.  For a moment I seriously considered doing my level best to gnaw it up out of sheer pique, but Susan had kindly refrained from biting me back earlier, so with a dissatisfied ‘harumph’ I let the idea pass.  “That’s better.” Susan praised with unconcealed satisfaction.

Whatever Susan had put in my drink must have had a jelling agent in it: if anything it felt like I was still losing more control of my facilities instead of regaining them.  But at least the paci was keeping me from drooling like an idiot…mostly, anyway.  “Where were we?  Oh yes, I remember now!” Susan teased as she reached over to undo my belt buckle.  Just to be ornery I flexed my tummy, causing the pin to latch tight.  After picking at it for a minute with no success she noticed me grinning around the pacifier and realized what was going on.  Without bothering to respond she leaned down and started to tickle the bottom of my footpaws, and the battle of wills was on!

I lost.  I’m sorry, but I’m ticklish.  In short order I was laughing about as hard as one can with their muzzle bound shut, and with a dexterous flip Susan not only had my belt unbuckled, but slipped completely out of my pants.  Sneaky lizard…can’t be trusted as far as they can be thrown.  “I win.” She informed me seriously, holding the belt up for my inspection before dropping it in the box with the growing pile of the rest of my things.  Undoing the button on my pants, Susan slipped them off as well, leaving me lying helpless and chilly in just my boxers.  “You know, you’re pretty cute, for a fox.” Susan complimented, patting me on the head “I’m surprised you’re not seeing someone…”

“Let’s take a look, shall we?” Susan suggested a bit huskily, whipping off my underwear “Nope, that’s not why you’re single…”  While I might not have been able to move, I took the opportunity to prove conclusively that I could still blush.  “Don’t worry” Susan teased “I don’t ravish the paralyzed, or the deeply cubby…that whole ethics thing.  Besides, I barely know you!”  That was good to know, if (to my surprise) a little bit disappointing in a way I’d never felt before.  “It does come up sometimes, depending on their inclinations and how cubby a fur is, but that’s a matter for another day.” Susan explained as she lifted up my now thoroughly mortified self by the legs and slid a diaper under me, taking a moment to slide my tail through the tail hole and fasten the tapes before setting me back down on its surprisingly cushy surface.  Producing a can of baby powder, Susan sprinkled on a liberal dusting before folding up the front of the diaper and securely fastening the tapes.  “And we’re done!” she announced, patting the front of my diaper with a dull little ‘whumpf’ “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”  I could only assume the question was a rhetorical one for a number of reasons, not the least of them being my utter inability to talk at the moment.

“Since you won’t be able to do much for a while instead of just having some playtime here before diner I think we’ll go check out what’s going on down in the commons first, maybe see about starting to introduce you to some of the other furs.”  Wait, she was going to take me to meet people like this?  Squirming as much as I could to get her attention, I threw desperate glances at my pile of clothes and the closet, whining as loudly as I could manage.  “Not this evening.” Susan disagreed “We just had this talk, didn’t we?  Until I feel that you’re adjusting to things here we’re going to keep things very open and age appropriate.

That was truly the last thing I wanted to hear.  Which had no bearing whatsoever on anything, it turned out, as Susan picked me up and carried me through the second door in ‘my’ room in spite of my indications to the contrary.

The mysterious second door led into a large bathroom with what was probably easily a three person garden tub, double sinks, and a length of counter which could easily serve as a spare changing table.  The wall across from the door we came through had a second identical door, which in turn led into what, had I not known we were in a high rise office building I would have sworn was a cross between a daycare center and a comfortably appointed house.  Down the hall and across the way we heard cheerful excitement, which turned out to be a room full of furs socializing before dinner.  About a dozen furs of varying species were outfitted (and very happily acting) like some of the younger age range, while a somewhat smaller group of ‘adults’ supervised.

“Hi Susan!” A female collie waved from where she was drinking tea with a female hyena and a rather effeminate-looking male coyote.  “Is that your new kit?  He’s a real cutie!”  “Yes, this is Nick!  You’ll have to excuse him, he’s still under sedation right now.  Robert and Tara decided it would be best if he couldn’t get himself into trouble when he found out more about the program.”  “Didn’t work out too well, did it?” the coyote observed, tapping the back of my pacifier with a well-manicured clawtip.  “There was a bump or two along the way.” Susan agreed “But I recall your daddy having a thing or two to say about when you first got here…”  “Maybe Jonathan should sit down with your new kit…Nick was it?...and tell him about his first few days here.” The collie suggested “Alice has a point…” the coyote, Jonathan, nodded.

While the adults had been talking Susan had found a spot for us on one of the sofas and settled down, cuddling me against her chest.  All this time I had been growing more and more frustrated, both with the situation and my inability to articulate my feelings about it.  The way things stood the only outlet I could find was sucking on my paci.  (Being admittedly pretty orally fixated didn’t hurt things, either…)  And as far as that went I provided an example of some of the angriest paci-sucking the world had ever seen.  While the grown-ups talked Susan began to gently rub my tummy, drawing patterns in my fur with her clawtips by tracing in the opposite direction from how the fur preferred to lay, then smoothing it all down again and starting over.  As annoyed and stressed as I was feeling, it was strangely very soothing, and slowly I felt myself growing less agitated, and then, wonder of wonders, something that could even mistaken for contentment.  “There you go little guy, that’s better, isn’t it?” Susan smiled down at me.  Surprisingly, it was.

“Now that Nick has settled down some, why don’t you talk with him a bit, Jonathan?” Susan decided “There’s not much point in introducing him to the other cubs just yet…”  “Sure.” The coyote agreed “Let’s bring him over to the beanbag chairs so we can have a bit of calm and quiet.”  “That’s probably best.” Susan nodded, picking me up and following Jonathan to the far corner of the room which was set up with a deep pile rug and several of the largest beanbag chairs I’d ever seen.  After Jonathan had arranged two of the beanbags together Susan set me down gently, arranging things so that I was in a semi-reclining position with an extra pillow to rest my head on.  It was really pretty comfortable; I might have to end up getting one for my less-furnished-than-I-would-have-preferred apartment.

“Now you pay attention to Jonathan, okay?” Susan half requested, half ordered before turning to the coyote “Come and get me if he needs anything.  He hasn’t been fed yet, so he shouldn’t… I’ll take care of dinner in a bit when you two are done, but if he needs a snack sooner we can find something in the meantime to tide him over until then.”  Heading back to the other caretakers, Susan left me alone with the coyote.

 “Are you comfy, little guy?” Jonathan asked, running a finger under the straps on my paci gag.  “This must be a pretty big change for you…”  Nodding a little bit I earned myself a grin.  “Well then I’ll regale you with the fascinating tale of my arrival here.  I signed on for pretty much the same reasons you did: I needed a job, and I needed it quickly.  It was a term of my probation, and they don’t have much patience with those sorts of things…I’d gotten in a fight at a pool hall, and…  I should probably begin at the beginning, huh?”

“I grew up in a strictly religious household, which didn’t go too badly, all in all, until I reached puberty and started discovering my sexuality.”  Pausing, Jonathan gestured at himself grandiosely.  “You’ve probably figured out that I’m gay.  Well, I had spent my entire life hearing how gays were evil and shameful and disgusting, so when I started figuring out that I was one it took what is a confusing and stressful time in anyfur’s life and made it almost unbearable.  Once it got to the point where I couldn’t hide it from myself any more I started acting out a lot: drinking, getting into fights, really self-destructive stuff.  I dropped out of school and started hanging around with some bad furs.  Anything to hide who I really was…until that night when some guy in a bar called me a ‘faggot’.”

“I got really lucky: the fur I’d hit with a pool cue was wanted on a murder warrant for killing a cop up in the lakes district.  The judge was so interested in him that I was just given self-supervised parole and sent on my way.  Not too long after that my job hunt landed me right here.”

“I might have fooled my parents into thinking I was straight, but the intake lady, Anne, saw right through me.  Anne brought on your Mama Susan, by the way: Susan was one of her graduate students, but that’s neither here nor there.  Anyway, Mrs. Anne had a good measure of things, and she assigned me to my Daddy Anthony.  I was furious about it, not only the whole situation in general, but especially about them having the audacity to assign me to a homosexual.  If you had told me he would be my first lover and then my husband…no, I’d have had a coronary!”

“Now, Anthony is a great guy, don’t get me wrong, but he doesn’t take any crap off of anyfur, so you can imagine how it went when our first introduction involved him catching a right cross to the jaw.  He just told me to ‘never do that again’ then went straight back to taking my clothes off.  Come to think of it, that’s probably why we started using sedation with potentially…problematic cases…”  Looking me over in my current physical state Jonathan laughed cheerfully “Sorry about that!  I guess I’ll have to try to make it up to you later…once you and Susan work out the whole biting thing…”

“But as I was saying…  My first day Anthony was really patient for the first four or five hours, in spite of me being about the biggest jerk ten years of jerkiness had prepared me to be, but even the gods will lose patience eventually, and by mid-afternoon he decided that he was going to have to break me of some of that contrariness sooner rather than later.  So he hooked me up to one of those cub harnesses and paraded me through literally every room in the complex in nothing but the harness and my diaper, stopping to introduce me to everyfur we met along the way.  That was almost the most embarrassed I’ve ever been in my life.”

“It got worse though.  We got back in here a little bit before dinner, and just to make sure he’d thoroughly made his point he tethered me on to one of those big tables in the middle of the room and hooked me up to an IV catheter, several bags of saline fluid, and a feeding gag.  I recommend you eat up cooperatively by the way, unless you’re…into…that kind of thing it would probably be a bit much for your first night here.”  “Oh don’t worry!” he laughed, noticing my eyes had grown to the size of saucers in poorly concealed terror “I doubt that’s on the menu (Oh gods, sorry about the pun, it was an accident!) for you…I was being a complete ass and needed some manners knocked into me!”  Leaning over, Jonathan soothingly stroked my headfur until I’d calmed down again.

“So there I was, on display for anyfur to see, and all of our residents came parading in for dinner, but instead of our usual social little chaos Anthony had everyfur settle down in a half circle around the table to watch me get force-fed my dinner… (Strained pears, by the way…hardly fine dining in anyfur’s book…) before they were dismissed for the moment to go have theirs.”

“As you can imagine the concept of ‘fluid in, fluid out’ had no intention of cutting me a break, and well before everyfur was done eating ‘fluid out’ was growing from an insistent little whimper into a demanding roar.  And it didn’t take long for the other cubs to notice…and start a betting pool on the matter with the jellybeans that had been given out for dessert.  I found out later it really was all in good fun, but when you’re tied to a table, desperately (and rather painfully at that point) having to pee, surrounded all the while by giggling strangers constantly peeking at your no-no zone…let’s just say it’s a good thing you can’t hate someone to death.”

“Eventually I just couldn’t hold it any more.  It wasn’t a conscious decision on my part, it just happened.  I wet my diaper.  Right there in front of a dozen or so complete strangers.  To cheers and rather boisterous applause.  It wasn’t a horrible thing, which really surprised me, just a warm, soon to be heavy feeling whenever I shifted around a bit.  By then I was just hoping that since the show was over and once the jellybeans had changed paws the ‘crowd’ would disperse and leave me the closest thing to alone I could expect at the moment, but Anthony walked into view with what was obviously a diaper bag slung over one shoulder, and I began to having the sinking realization that the evening was going to be a multiple act play.  It was too much.  I couldn’t help it: I started bawling like a puppy, feeding gag or no feeding gag.”

“The whole tone in the room changed instantly.  Where there had been a spirited excitement now not a muzzle in the place didn’t carry a look of concern, parental or otherwise.  Paws reached out to lend comfort, and then Anthony interrupted, concern in his voice. ‘I think that’s enough for tonight.  It looks like little Jonathan could use some quiet time.’  Then with a little bit of a grunt he scooped me up and carried me back to my room, talking soothingly to me the whole time.”

“When we were back in the nursery, Anthony sat down on the couch, holding me in his lap, gently taking off the feeding gag and instead offering me a regular old paci.  I let him pop it in my muzzle as he began to slowly rock me back and forth in his arms, speaking softly about nothing in particular until I cried myself out.  ‘Feeling a little better?” he asked, dabbing at my eyes with a tissue.  I just nodded my agreement; I didn’t want to spit out my paci any more…I’m pretty sure Anthony noticed because he got a happy grin on his muzzle for no particular reason.”

“You’ve been having a rough time of it for a while, huh?’ he asked ‘I’m guessing your folks were pretty tough on you?”  Nodding, I snuggled in closer, wiggling around a bit to get more comfortable.  I’d really lost the urge to be anywhere but right there in Anthony’s lap: he felt safe, and that’s not something I could remember the last time I’d experienced.  ‘You don’t have to play the hard-ass here, okay dear?  Nofur is going to hurt you, this is a safe place.’  I found myself believing him too, which was out of character for me to say the least.  Deciding to lighten the mood some, Anthony flipped on the TV and we watched cartoons for a while.  We’re set up with a closed feed DVR system here, by the way, so you’ll be missing ‘prime time’ for the foreseeable future, but we’ve got every cartoon, movie and cub’s show I’ve been able to think of.”  Leaning closer, Jonathan whispered conspiratorially that “If you’re really good and have a convincing argument sometimes the grownups will sneak you over to their rooms to see a show as a reward!”  That was good to know, I supposed, aside from the fact I didn’t ever really watch TV.  Sixteen billion channels, and they so far have managed only a pawful of things worthy of being background noise…

“After a couple of episodes Anthony noticed I was getting kind of restless and correctly guessed that things down in padding land had gone from ‘nicely warm’ to ‘really kind of icky-clammy’.   ‘Time to get you changed, huh?’ he asked, before glancing at his watch ‘Actually, we should start getting you ready for bedtime pretty soon too, come to think of it…’ I wasn’t particularly interested in ‘bedtime’, but ‘changed’ was an idea I could get behind—even when I was in my ‘greasy biker ‘Yote’ phase I was a clean freak…and don’t even ask how much ribbing that got me over the years!  With my full cooperation I was soon up on the changing table again, sans any need for restraints this time, and Anthony was lining up the supplies neatly on the little pull out shelf at the top of the table.  OCD at work: I’ve been teasing him ever since that his next step will be to start alphabetizing everything…you should see his bookshelves!”

“After he’d gotten everything laid out to his satisfaction Anthony rather theatrically undid the tapes and folded down the front of my now pretty heavily full diaper to reveal, to my greatest embarrassment of the day, exactly how…umm…firmly he had my attention.  Sorry, it just occurred to me that you might prefer I skip over the dirty parts—I’m kind of an exhibitionist, so a captive audience (Bad pun, I couldn’t help myself!) isn’t exactly the safest thing to put me in charge of…”  Looking me over Jonathan took note of the bump in the front of my diaper and announced that “Either you need a change too, or you want to know what happened…”  Reaching over, he placed a paw on the front of my diaper and gave it a gentle, appraising squeeze.  “Right, on with the story then!”

“I had never been touched down there by a male before, and not all that often by females for that matter, and even with the cold wipes Anthony was using to clean me up I was more turned on than I’d ever been in my life.  ‘Let me know if I’m close with this.’ Anthony asked when he was done cleaning everything  to his satisfaction ‘You’re gay, but you grew up in an extremely religious family, and you’re really conflicted about it since you’ve spent your whole life hearing that it’s evil and filthy, ant that’s why you’ve been acting out all these years: to try to hide it from everyfur, even maybe yourself?’  All I could really do was nod in shame and look away.  Taking my muzzle gently in his paw, Anthony turned my head to face him again.”

“‘Now there’s really two ways we can handle this.’ Anthony explained ‘Either we can stop right here and have you reassigned to a female caretaker; no mess, no foul, no hard feelings.  Or we can see how this works out, you being taken care of by me we for a while, with that being only what you want it to be.  But, if we keep working together you have to promise to never lie to me about what you’re feeling.  And we’re going to talk about it, even if it makes you uncomfortable.  So, which would you prefer to do?’  At that moment I made the best, and scariest, decision of my life.  Taking his paw, I looked Anthony in the eyes.  ‘You.’  ‘I was hoping you’d say that.’ He beamed ‘I can help furs who want it, but I can’t make the right decisions for them.  That’s why I changed majors to pre-med most of the way through a psych degree, actually…’“

“‘Now’ he asked, holding up a bottle in one paw and a can in the other ‘Powder?’ (in a sugary sweet tone) ‘Or cub lotion?’ (He added in a much more…playful one).  More than a bit nervously I pointed to the lotion.  ‘How’d I guess?’ Anthony laughed.  Opening the bottle he squeezed a bit out on his palm, then deposited a little dot on my nose.  (It was the bedtime kind that smells like lilac…I’d never liked lilac before then…I guess that changed my mind pretty quickly!)  ‘You’re sure you want this, it’s not too much too quickly?’  Nodding in agreement I did my best not to tense up in anticipation.”

“Any reservations I had evaporated the second he teasingly ran his fingers around my knot.  ‘Puppy likes that, does he?’ Anthony asked rhetorically, as he began to stroke my shaft in earnest, from the head to the top of my knot, stopping every now and then to run his fingers around the top of my sheath, or to give my knot a gentle squeeze.  In no time at all I was reduced to making little ‘eerf’-ing noises under his ministrations.”

“‘I’m guessing you’ve not been told this much, but you’re actually a pretty handsome fur once we get all those scraggly clothes off you…’  I think that simple statement did more for me than anything that raccoon could have ever have hoped to do to my penis…  As my ‘errf’s turned into full-fledged whines he reached around behind me and began firmly rubbing the base of my tail, eliciting a surprised yip and a much louder collection of whines.  ‘Oh, puppy likes that!’ Anthony teased, before  leaning down and putting his muzzle close to my ear ‘There’s some other fun things a fur can do down there…’ he whispered suggestively, circling a finger delicately around my tailhole, then gently pressing for a moment ‘But this isn’t the place to do that for the first time!’  ‘We could try anyway…’ I moaned, letting my paci fall from my muzzle.  ‘Silly puppy’ Anthony chided ‘always assume Daddy has a good reason for things!’ “

“Letting my tail go for a moment he popped the paci back in my muzzle ‘Now you just enjoy yourself…I’ve got the feeling you’ve been wanting this for way, way too long!’  Boy had I.  Not just what we were doing, but accepting the fact that I wanted this, that it felt good.  Responding to the look of acceptance that was spreading across my muzzle Anthony rewarded me with a quicker pace, rapidly pushing me to the edge until my body began lifting up off the changing table to meet his paw, then, squeezing the base of my tail much more firmly, began to press on my tailhole with his thumb again.  With a howl I quickly climaxed, making a rather unfortunately timed mess of my tummy fur before collapsing limply, panting, to the table.”

“‘I’d say it’s a safe bet you’re at least Bi.’ Anthony informed me rather superfluously, idly drawing patterns in the now-sticky fur of my belly.  ‘Now let’s get you cleaned up again and ready for bed, we’re rapidly coming up on lights-out…’  ‘What about you though?’ I yawned around my pacifier.  ‘Don’t get greedy your first time, pup.’ Anthony joked as he began to clean me up ‘I’ll take care of it a little later…”

“Three times, as it turns out.” A voice from behind us pointed out matter of factly “And Jonathan, you should really try to keep your stories age appropriate…What would Susan think?’  “Hiya Anthony!” the coyote laughed, springing up to give the raccoon a huge hug “This is Nick, he’s new!”  “Susan told me.” He nodded, looking bemused “She also told me you were over here being helpful.  I’m not entirely sure that particular story qualifies!”  “It’s a very helpful story.  It teaches not to bite, and that lotion is better than powder, and…”  “Okay, okay!” Anthony threw up his paws in surrender “I’ll cede the point!”

“You can’t win when he gets hyper.” Anthony sighed, pulling up a beanbag.  “But I’m not hyper, I’m always like this!” Jonathan stated, as if it made perfect sense.  Which more or less made the raccoon’s point for him: probably not the coyote’s intent, but if it works go with it…  “Now did my puppy actually tell you anything useful, or just his letter to ‘Playfemme’?” Anthony asked.  “‘No biting’ is a good piece of advice, don’t get me wrong, but…  Let’s just do this the easy way.” Standing back up, he announced “Cubs!  Cubs!  Over here please!  Group project!”

In not time flat I was in a semicircle made up of every fur in the room.  This was quickly growing…less ideal…  “Hi everyone!  As you’ve probably already noticed we have a new neighbor.  The cute little kit over here who looks like he would really love to bite me right now is Nick, and his mommy Susan was hoping that we could give him some advice since he’s brand new to all of this.”  Anthony’s request brought on an immediate barrage of replies, ranging from “broccoli is icky” to “don’t get your fur caught in your diaper tapes”.  This included, to my stubborn satisfaction, several variations of the ‘don’t bite’ recommendation.  Though if I could find out who had accused me of being a ‘poo head’ they were going to be gnawed like a teething ring…  “All good points.” Anthony praised.  “Now which ones were the most important?”  “Don’t try to fight it when you have to tinkle, it’ll just hurt, and you will eventually anyway.” Somefur offered up.  “And don’t wait too long to get changed or you’ll get a rash!” another voice advised.  (I could see several nods of agreement at this shared experience.)  “Don’t sneak out after bedtime or you’ll get a spanking!”  Good advice, I suppose.  “Don’t make your mommy use the suppositories!”  Eww, just…eww.  Definitely time to go, no pun intended, and a problem I’d yet to consider…

Quite a while later, after listening to far more than my share of advice (some of which would even have been helpful if I hadn’t been planning my escape) the meeting was adjourned, leaving me with just the original little group of adults.  “I think that went well.” Susan mused aloud “Though I’m not so sure how much Nick actually absorbed…”  “Yeah, I get the impression you got a stubborn one!” a female rabbit I didn’t have a name for yet agreed.  “A cub can lead you to the potty, but he can’t make you let him use it.” Jonathan said with utmost seriousness.  “That makes no sense.” The rabbit commented a bit dubiously.  “This one rarely does…” Anthony sighed.  “You know you love me anyway.” Jonathan teased “It’s because my natural canine charm makes me irresistible!”  “Keep telling yourself that, pup.” Anthony teased back.  “They’re always like that.” The rabbit informed Susan confidentially in a much louder than necessary state whisper.

My tummy interrupted the discussion to loudly demand that it be filled in the near future.  “There goes the dinner bell!” Susan announced.  “Do you think it’s safe to feed him yet?” A caretaker outside of my line of sight asked, sounding slightly concerned.  “Liquids should be fine.” Anthony decided, looking at his watch “But I’d hold off on anything solid until breakfast.”  “The doctor has spoken!” Susan joked as she retrieved a few things from the refrigerator in the kitchenette.  Disappointingly she only brought back a tray with two baby bottles and a dish towel.

Settling down again, she set the tray on the floor next to her, and then lifted me onto her lap, putting me into a semi-reclined position with my back against the crook of her arm.  It wasn’t all bad, I observed, as it gave me an admirable view of her cleavage, the jade green of her front a nice contrast to the dark green-purple iridescence of the rest of her scales.  I found myself idly wondering why the thin membranes of the insides of her wings were yet a third, much bluer, shade of green when, with a few clicks of the buckles the paci gag was gone, to be replaced by the nipple of one of the bottles.

Crossing my eyes a little I saw that it was filled with a murky liquid of a disgusting looking off white color.  Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen!  Rather shakily I managed to jerk my muzzle away and clamp it shut.  Instead of the expected annoyance, Susan instead looked highly amused.  “Yes dear, that one tastes just as bad as it looks: it’s a protein shake watered down with some pediatric electrolyte drink.  Since you’re ‘liquid diet only’ for a while and because I get the impression you haven’t been eating particularly healthy we have to make sure we get some good stuff in you.  That’s why I brought you something nice in the other one!  …Not that I have to bribe you, since there isn’t a whole lot you can do about it anyway…”

Tapping my nose with the nipple, Susan asked me to “Be a good kit and open up, okay?”  Cooperation wasn’t forthcoming.  “Shall I get the feeding gag?” the rabbit suggested disapprovingly.  “I had really hoped for this to be a good experience…” Susan hesitated before getting an idea.  Covering my nostrils with her fingers, she waited, looking pleased with herself.  Weighing my options, I somewhat sourly ceded the point.  “There we go!” she declared, victoriously returning the nipple to my mouth.  Tentatively I tried sucking on the bottle, quickly discovering two things: first that actually getting anything out of them was a lot harder than I had assumed; and far more importantly that the concoction Susan was trying to feed me was far worse tasting than I had thought it would be.

Making a face, I quickly moved to spit it back out again, but Susan had anticipated that probability and held my head firmly against her shoulder to prevent me from pushing away.  “The sooner you finish it the sooner you can have your juice…” she pointed out.  Knowing she was right I sighed around the bottle, then set about trying to empty it as quickly as possible.

When you’re working with fuel injection systems on cars one of the first things you do is to remove any restrictive spots in the system.  Fluid dynamics teaches us that a system can only flow at the speed and volume allowed by its smallest point.  Which means, in layman’s terms, that no matter how much you may want to, physics won’t allow you to chug a baby bottle.  Not that I didn’t try.  “Slow down, little guy.” Susan reproached “You’re starting to turn a little bit blue!”  Grunting my disagreement only earned me a warning tap on the nose.  “I’m not kidding, you’ll make yourself sick!”

Not wanting to get swatted again, I settled for the next best option to ignoring Susan: surreptitiously I caught the nipple in my teeth and enlarged the opening a bit with one of my canines.  It worked like a charm, but just to make sure I wouldn’t be caught out I made a point of pacing myself so the bottle didn’t empty out too quickly.  After another five or ten minutes I’d finished off the ‘healthy’ part of my dinner.  Susan had the good taste not to ask me if it was as bad as I thought it would be, which was good for everyfur, since by now I couldn’t guarantee I’d be able to keep my mouth shut…

“You did a good job, kit!” she praised instead, patting me on the head.  “Now how about something a bit nicer, hmm?”  I could actually manage some enthusiasm at that one, not because I was starting to enjoy the attention, mind you, but for the opportunity to get the aftertaste of the previous course rinsed out of my mouth.  Leaning over, Susan quietly informed me that “If you bite the end off of this one your naughty little tail is going to be in trouble!” as she presented me with the second bottle.  Oops, busted!  “You’re lucky Susan is such a soft touch.” Anthony informed me “If you were my kit you’d be getting a spanking right now…”  Damn it, I must be losing my touch or something…did everyfur notice?  My instant and unconcealed sulk was a counterpoint to the cheerful round of grins on display amongst the caretakers, which quickly had me wanting to bite somefur again…

“You can console yourself with the fact that you’re pretty doped up right now…” Jonathan offered helpfully “We all believe you would be properly sneaky if you weren’t all out of sorts.”  Not being sure exactly how to take that I decided to continue my sulk and at least try to get my mouth rinsed out.  The bottle of what turned out to be some sort of fruit punch mix turned out to be quite effective at removing the taste of ‘healthy’, which in turn did wonders for my general outlook on things.  Without commenting, Susan started rubbing my tummy as I nursed on the bottle, the subject of conversation among the caretakers turning to things that weren’t me.

Tummy rubs can only be classified as a ‘notorious plot’.  Despite everything that had happened, was happening, and would probably still happen in the near future, I couldn’t help but feel deeply content.  Even though that in itself was troubling I really didn’t find myself inclined to care all that much…things were nice, and that was okay.  I was finding myself getting kind of flighty, not from the drugs or being tired (though they probably helped), but more of a sort of peaceful, well feeling.  I barely even noticed when my second bottle ran out of juice until Susan took it away and set it back on the tray.

At a loss for what to do I quickly ended up snuggling my muzzle into Susan’s chest and just sitting peacefully, not really thinking about much at all, except for an odd, intermittent rumbling…which, with a little start I suddenly identified.  Susan was purring!  I didn’t know dragons could purr…  It was actually quite soothing once I realized I wasn’t about to be lit on fire…  Wrapping my tail over my eyes I sighed happily myself.  It was almost a little disappointing that I’d be gone as soon as everyfur was asleep for the night.  I wonder if Susan would want to come over to watch movies or something once my having escaped had blown over around here…she really was the sort of fur you couldn’t help but like once you got to know her a bit…

“Hold on a second, okay?” Susan asked, interrupting my rather circuitous train of thought.  Not bothering to respond, I was a bit miffed by the sudden burst of light as she moved my tail and set something soft under my muzzle.  “There we go…just a towel, you were drooling a bit, and I’d rather not have a big wet spot on my blouse!”  “Sorry.” I mumbled, more embarrassed than the situation probably really warranted.  (Hey, I’ve never been accused of drooling on somefur before, and I was unclear on the etiquette involved…)  “You’re fine, I promise.” Susan reassured me gently.  “Is not.” I disagreed, shifting around to look back up.  I was actually shocked to see how…softly, I guess…everyfur was looking at me.  “What?” I asked, feeling like maybe I’d done something wrong…or more wrong, anyway.  “Nothing.” the rabbit (did I remember Susan calling her Alice?) explained “It’s just that nobody thought you’d be such a young little kit.  Six or seven, sure, but…”  “Sorry, I guess?” I apologized, now thoroughly confused.  “There’s nothing to apologize for, honey.  We were just a bit surprised, that’s all.”

Beginning to feel picked on I just ‘harrumphed’ and scooted around to face Susan’s chest again, pointedly ignoring the others.  “Aww sweetie, I didn’t mean to…” Alice began, before instead addressing Susan “May I?”  She must have agreed to whatever Alice had wanted because I heard the rustling of beanbags being moved around, then a second set of paws began rubbing behind my ears.  It apparently doesn’t take much to get on my good side, and pretty soon I was leaning into Alice’s paw, back to making happy little noises.

I was perfectly content to just lie quietly where I was for long enough that the caretakers all migrated over from their previous spot at the table and settled in with Susan, Alice, and the rest, and since for the most part the other cubs were keeping each other pretty occupied things remained peaceful until I started to fidget around.  I didn’t really know why, which also struck me as a little bit off, but I was having trouble holding on to the thought, let alone sorting it out.  Susan, however, was on top of it: all she had to do was pop a paci (sans gag this time) in my muzzle and I almost instantly calmed back down.  I didn’t even have the urge to spit it out again.  It was just…I don’t know, settling, I guess.  ‘Settling’ quickly turned into ‘Drowsing’, and the next thing I knew I was sound asleep.

I awoke, tucked into my crib, several hours later by a huge clap of thunder.  Susan must have put me to bed after I’d fallen asleep in her lap earlier; considering the clock was claiming one in the morning it must have been a pretty good nap…  Luckily for me a storm had blown in, because it was looking like a good time to make an exit.  Quickly opening the closet I pulled on a pair of sweatpants, but unfortunately couldn’t find any shoes…guess I’d just have to go without…  Going through the furniture, I eventually located a sturdy pair of EMT shears in the changing table.  In short order I had the casing off the badge reader, and was cutting the cord off a lamp, stripping two good lengths of bare wire.  “Let’s just hope they built this place in compliance with the fire code…” I thought to myself as I twisted the wires into the lock’s circuit board “If these don’t ‘fail/open’ this will be a short trip…”

Plugging the other end of the cord into an electrical outlet with an arcing crackle, I quickly shouldered the door.  I was in luck: the lock had disengaged.  Yanking the cord out of the plug (a fire alarm would cut down my head start) I knew somewhere it was almost certain a monitoring panel was already tattling on me; time was running, and I should be too…  Heading down the hallway, I quickly found the nearest room with windows.

One thing I’d been taught at my ‘previous job’ was that structural glass is next to impossible to break manually.  However they’re usually only held in with silicon sealer and clips.  In short order I had one of the floor to ceiling panels pried out and was examining the three story drop to the parking lot.  “Oh this is going to suck…” I sighed, lowering myself over the edge of the floor, then letting myself drop with a hiss of anticipation.  The storm had developed into the wet, slushy sleet we always tended to get around here in place of honest snow, and instead of landing in the tucked-leg crouch I had been aiming for I slipped and fell flat on my back.  Thankfully, aside from some scrapes and bruises no real damage was done and I was quickly up and moving.

I knew I’d have to put some distance between us, and not towards the road, so instead I cut through the empty lots next to our building and made a beeline to the construction sites down the block.  Hopefully they would have an office trailer where I could get some clothes: I’d rapidly soaked through and it wouldn’t take long for hypothermia to set in.

Because of the accumulation of ice it took much longer than I had hoped, and by the time I’d found a windbreak between pieces of a partially erected staircase lethargy had set in in force.  There was no trailer, not even an equipment storage locker, and if anything the storm was worsening.  I couldn’t stay here, but anywhere else I could go would probably not be any better.  I remembered that there had been a housing development I’d passed on the way in, but for the life of me I couldn’t remember how far off it had been.  Still…  Getting back up, I managed another few blocks before standing became too difficult and I had to stop again, this time only having the leeward side of a telephone junction box to shelter behind.

Logically I knew I had to keep going, but I just couldn’t keep my legs under me.  I was shutting down.  At least freezing to death wasn’t a horrible way to go, I mused bitterly, not like being diapered and taken care of like a little kit by a pretty dragon girl…

…Who was standing over me, looking worried sick.  Well this was getting surreal…  “Nick! Oh you stupid, stubborn…” Susan rambled as she picked me up and wrapped me in a heavy wool blanket that smelled strongly of wood smoke and mothballs.  Things got even fuzzier as I felt myself being lifted into the air, and then reality became a patchwork vignette of dark and wind and disjointed images.  The ground far below.  The inside of a conference room covered in drifts of windblown ice.  Bright lights and warmth.  The sounds of a faucet running and worried voices.  Bubbling water and almost painfully wonderful heat.  And finally strong arms holding me and a gentle voice saying nothing and everything.

“Come on little guy, we need to get your boo-boos cleaned up, then it’s off to bed with you…” Susan cajoled me awake.  Sort of.  “Don’ wanna.” I yawn-grumbled “Nice here.”  “You can‘t stay in the hot tub all night.” She explained patiently.  “Not with that attitude!” I sighed.  “It’s late.” She argued “And at this point I think I’m entitled to a little cooperation…”  Since I wasn’t freezing to death out in the crud she probably had a valid point there, even if I was pretty unclear still on how I had ended up in a hot tub to begin with…  Sighing, I opened my eyes to discover that I’d ended up in an indoor pool area that I’d not seen before.  Judging by the large glass skylights it must have been on the building’s top floor.  “We have a pool, yes.” Susan nodded as she helped me up into a big fluffy towel, almost beating the beginnings of the shivers.

“Why am I up here?” I wondered as she led me into the elevator.  “We had to get your core body temperature back up quickly.” Susan explained “Mine too, for that matter.  It’s a bad idea to fly in this kind of weather: our wings are basically giant heat sinks.  But I had to find you quickly, and it was the best way to do it.”  “I’m sorry.” I sniffed, very obviously genuinely ashamed “I didn’t mean to risk anyone else, it’s just…”  “That you’re too stubborn for your own good, and you felt the need to protest your situation.”  “Uh huh.” I nodded, surprised she pegged it so accurately.  “Because you’re kind of enjoying yourself.”  “Uh huh.” I said again, much more quietly this time.  “But you’re going to try to just go with it from now on; no more giving me heart attacks…”  “Uh huh!” I agreed, cheerfully this time.

“I was hoping you would say that!” Susan beamed.  As the elevator ‘dinged’ open at our stop Susan put out a paw to stop me from exiting, then scooped me up and carried me out.  “I can walk…” I laughed, bemused by this occurrence.  “You can limp.” Susan corrected sternly “And once the pain meds they shot you up with wear off I doubt you’ll even be able to do that for a while…”  “Huh?” I asked intelligently.  “Kit, you jumped out a third floor window then hiked bare-pawed through a construction site!  You don’t really think you came through it unscathed, do you?” Susan sighed in exasperation “How did you manage to live this long if that’s how you take care of yourself?”

For the sake of tact I chose to treat it as a rhetorical question.  Plus I kind of felt like I’d waived my right to be snarky about it around the time Susan had fished me out of a snow drift.  We were arriving at our destination anyway, which turned out to be a pretty well-equipped infirmary run by a tired looking male bobcat.  “Sorry to keep you up.” I apologized by way of introduction.  “You should be.” He agreed gruffly “Next time you’re planning on doing something dumb, do it during normal business hours, okay?”

He had a valid point, but I still clung to Susan as she tried to put me down on the exam table.  “That was a bit rough, wasn’t it Howard?” Susan reproached protectively.  “You’re right.” He conceded, adding to me “Sorry, I don’t do well when I get woken up…”  “S’okay.” I accepted, my thumb finding its way into my muzzle, only to be helpfully replaced with a paci by Susan.  “Now just lie on your tummy and we’ll have you cleaned up in no time.” Howard assured me.  Doing my best to comply I discovered that the clinic had much nicer bedding than I was used to.  Sighing happily I burrowed my muzzle down into the pillow and was almost instantly drowsing off.  Right up until Howard started cleaning out scrapes on my back I had been previously unaware I had.

Luckily for everyfur involved Susan was quicker than I would have thought possible: my arm had barely made it an inch off the table when she pinned my attempt to claw the bobcat’s eyes out back down.  “Sorry!” I explained to her reproachful look “It was a reflex!  I won’t do it again!”  “We’re going to trim those.” She informed me, turning my paws over and examining my nails “Civilized furs don’t wear throwback claws!”  Sensing she wouldn’t appreciate hearing how having claws had come in handy on several occasions, I kept my muzzle shut as she accepted a grooming kit from Howard and set to work disarming my pointies.

“I’m going to run down and get something from my room.” Susan decided “I’m sure Nick will be perfectly behaved while I’m gone…” Nodding in the affirmative, I did my best not to say anything spank-worthy as the doctor did his work.  “You really did a number on some of these…”  “Is it that bad?” I flinched “It didn’t really feel like it…”  “Some of them are going to need sutures.” He confirmed “And we’re probably going to have to keep you off the playground for a couple of days because of that ankle…”

By now I was pretty much past grumbling, so the last part was only worth a put-upon little sigh.  “I know, kit.” The bobcat nodded sympathetically “But it should only be for a couple of days…”  “What should be?” Susan asked, reappearing in the room.  “Light activity.” Howard explained “You made it back just in time, I was going to start with the sutures, and I get the feeling your little guy will need some moral support after the day he’s had…”  “Do you need moral support?” Susan asked as she went back to working on my nails. “Kinda.” I agreed from where I was hiding under the pillow.  “Well, I’ll be right here for you.” She promised.  “This will sting a bit.” Harold warned as he smeared a topical here and there.  It really mostly didn’t: despite our initial rough start Howard was turning out to be a really considerate and gentle doctor.

It took longer than I had anticipated, but Howard got me stitched up and wrapped my ankle with some vet tape (what do they call that stuff when a doctor uses it?) then declared me to be good to go.  Getting up, I was just about to thank him when I noticed something.  “Umm, Susan?  Why are my claws blue?”  “Because green wouldn’t have matched the pastels in your room.” She giggled “Besides, you look so cute!”  “I’m too tired to bite you right now.” I sighed “But I’m going to take a rain check first thing in the morning.”

“I could glue in a set of ‘brat caps’ while you’re here…” Howard offered.  “What are those?” I asked suspiciously.  “They’re a new product we’ve just gotten in.” Susan explained “They’re little rubber tooth caps for incorrigible chewers—kind of a more gentle solution than a muzzle…and no, we’re not going to put them on you just yet.  Well, not unless you keep biting everyone…”  “That only happened that one time!” I blushed.  “It’s a good sign that he’s embarrassed by it.” Howard praised Susan.  “I’m proud of him, yes.” She agreed as she took my paw “But right now I’ve got to get him bathed and in bed before the sun comes up!”

“Why do I need a bath?” I asked as Susan carried me back to the elevator “I just got out of the hot tub.”  “To wash off the chlorine.  You don’t want your fur to get all stringy, do you?”  “Nopers.” I agreed “Soft fur, not icky fur!”  “Well then there you go!”  Honestly I wasn’t feeling the whole ‘bath’ idea, having been wet twice today already, neither time in pleasant circumstances, but I really don’t like having nasty fur, so all things considered a bath would be the least bad option here.

In short order we were back in my room and Susan had the tub filling.  I noticed (surreptitiously, mind you) that both the door lock and floor lamp had been replaced while I was gone.  “The hardest part was getting rid of the burnt plastic smell.” Susan informed me, having caught my glances “Luckily we were testing a new sanitizer/deodorizer combo that turns out is a miracle in a bottle…we might even get a bonus for finding an off label use!”

Seeing the tub was basically full Susan shooed me into the bathroom and helped me into the now bubble-laden water.  “No rubber ducky?” I joked “Howcomes I don’t get bath toys?”  “Because you left before I could show you the toy room.” She teased back.  “Well, if I knew there was going to be toys involved maybe I would have waited around for a while…  Surely you can see how it is really all your fault?”   “I don’t recall being the one who started a fire then knocked a hole in the wall…” Susan informed me archly.  “Well, it still could have been.” I sulked “And that still doesn’t excuse the lack of toys…”

Susan chose to ignore that, instead getting some shampoo and beginning to soap up my fur.  “Not a self-service bathtub?”  “Doesn’t look that way.” She grinned, taking a washrag and carefully cleaning my muzzle and face.  “What kinds of toys do you like?” Susan asked idly as I got scrubbed “I mean, what kind of stuff did your parents give you to play with when you were growing up?”  “I was always pretty big on plushies…well at least my stuffed fox, Fluffy.  I…kinda still have him, actually.  He guards the bed when I’m not there.” I explained, looking away sheepishly.  “You know by now this is the last place where somefur would make you feel bad about that…” Susan chided gently, ducking out of the room briefly.  “Sorry, it occurred to me I didn’t know if we actually had any towels.”  “It could help.” I agreed seriously.

“But yes.” Susan resumed, catching her train of thought “You don’t have to feel bad about things like that, most especially with us here.”  “Uh huh.” I nodded, with much less convincing sincerity.  Lifting my muzzle so I would look her in the eyes, she told me again “I’m serious.”  “Okay.” I decided, after an extended pause.  But this time I meant it.  “That’s better.” Susan smiled happily before returning to getting me clean.

“Hmm…” she mused a few minutes later as she started rinsing the shampoo off “You’ve got the kind of fur that really wants to hold on to soap…”  “Thank you, or I’m sorry.” I laughed.  I’d never been accused of that particular one before…  “Neither one is really necessary.” Susan laughed “I’ve much more experience grooming scales, that’s all…and they tend to be much easier to keep clean!”  “But scales aren’t soft and fluffy…” I countered “They’s… umm…scaley!”  “Not true, oh ignorant one!” Susan explained, eyes twinkling merrily “If one moisturizes properly they don’t ‘armor up’ on you…here, see?”  Presenting an arm, she indicated I should check for myself.  Tentatively at first I stroked her arm (it just felt…I don’t know, sort of rude to do…) and discovered that in fact yes, she was really quite soft.  Not being able to resist laughing at my poorly concealed surprise Susan tousled my headfur.  “If you like that, try a wing!”

Very carefully (my close combat training had explained how sensitive dracon wing membranes were…for very different reasons) I touched her wings, finding that the outsides were a very supple leather, while the insides actually felt feathery, almost like down!  Giggling, I announced that “You’re my new blanket!”  “We’ll discuss that when you’re dry again…” Susan laughed, then added as an afterthought “And after…umm…full disclosure.”

Noticing the subtle shift in the tone of her voice I suddenly realized something which I was pretty sure the slight flush of her face and the dilation of her pupils confirmed.  Failing to resist the urge to act the brat, I adopted my most innocent expression and softly began stroking random patterns across the inside of her wing.  “But I’m cold now.” I whined pitifully “Howcomes I can’t have a dwaggie blankie?”  “Because I’ve already been soaked twice today and I’d prefer not to have to dry off a third time in less than as many hours.” Susan explained, reluctantly moving off to get a furdryer.

“Ooh!  Furdryer!” I cheered, teasing the dragon gone completely from my mind, if not hers.  “Does this meet with your approval, then?” Susan asked rhetorically as she plugged it in, then set me on the counter.  “Yeppers!” I grinned, losing all need to explain it away as she flipped on the furdryer and I scuttled under its pleasant breeze.  I love warm air.  Any sort of warm air: furdryers, space heaters, the pawdryers in public restrooms, they all put me in an almost trance I never seem to want to escape.  “If I’d known this earlier you’d probably not have gone for a stroll in an ice storm.” Susan teased “I wonder if they have a purse sized version…”  “Tease all you want.” I smiled blissfully “I don’t care.  Not even a little bit.”

Susan, being the wonderful female she is, took way longer than needed to get me dry, even accepting the task of combing out the resulting frizzies as a fair trade for how happy I was.  When finally the wire of my sutures began to grow unpleasantly hot she declared “That’s going to have to be enough for now, okay little guy?”  I didn’t think it was, but I wasn’t going to press the issue after everything she had done for me today.  “Now let’s get you all padded up and in bed so Mommy Susan can go take care of…something!” ‘Something’?  Oh right, the whole wing rubbing thing…oops.  That must have been…umm…better for her than I thought…

In short order I found myself up on the bathroom counter, considerately covered by an oversized beach towel to keep my tail off the cold tile, and Susan was setting out all the necessary supplies.  “Now I know you’re going to be a good boy and cooperate this time, right?” Susan suggested authoritatively.  “Yeppers.” I nodded, looking around for a paci but ending up having to settle for my thumb.  “That makes me happy to hear.” Susan told me, lifting up my legs and positioning a diaper under me.  Skillfully threading my tail through it and fastening up the tapes, she set me down and glanced around the room, not finding what she was looking for.  “I must have left your paci in the other room…” she decided, briefly annoyed by the matter.

“I’ll live.” I assured her around my thumb.  “I’m glad to hear that.” Susan nodded seriously “We have a pretty good safety record as far as paci related fatalities go, and I would hate to be the one to break the ‘days since’ streak.”  “Really?” I asked, looking a bit disturbed.  Which completely cracked Susan up.  A good five minutes later when she finally got her laughter under control she patted my head “No sweetheart, there have never been any ‘paci related fatalities’ here…or anywhere else, as far as I know.  You’re perfectly safe.”

Still chuckling a bit, Susan returned to the task at hand.  Pausing for a moment, I could tell Susan was struggling with the ‘powder or lotion’ debate.  Eventually, with a barely audible sigh she chose the powder.  At this point I was beginning to feel downright ashamed of myself.  Do dragons go into heat? I wondered as she sprinkled on the powder in a little white puff and folded up the front of the diaper.  I mean, she couldn’t really be that attracted to me specifically, could she?  I was still mulling over these new developments when Susan fastened up the tapes and declared things to be completed to her satisfaction.

Picking me up, Susan carried me back into my room.  “Now close your eyes.” She instructed without explanation.  Deciding to trust her, I did, feeling myself being set down with a crinkle in the crib.  (I idly wondered if they had a brand of extra crinkly padding for acclimating ‘new employees’: I seemed to be making far more noise than I should, even when I specifically tried not to…)  “You can look now.” Susan told me, a note of pride creeping into her voice.

When I opened my eyes, sitting in front of me, looking cleaner and perkier than I could ever remember seeing him, was my fox plushie!  “Fluffy!” I cheered, glomping him immediately.  He smelled clean!  “You even fixed his popped stitches!” I said in amazement “He almost looks new!”  “She took him apart and re-sewed his seams; added some fresh stuffing; and sewed his eye back tight again.  Plus, look at his collar!” Susan pointed out.  She was right: Fluffy was now sporting some new green velvet jewelry, complete with a little gold tag with his name on one side and mine on the other.  “Thank you.” I whispered, nearly crying “You can’t begin to know what this means to me…I’ve been afraid to cuddle him for years because I couldn’t bare the thought of him falling apart…”  “He’s been with you for quite a while, huh?”  “As long as I can remember.” I confirmed “He’s really the only thing that’s always been there for me.”  “I’m glad I could do it for you.” Susan said quietly, starting to look a little misty eyed herself “Now you two get some sleep, okay?”  As the door began to swing shut behind Susan I made a command decision.

I’d managed to catch my door before the lock had clicked (though I’d be feeling the landing from that dive for the next couple of days), and it turned out that the locks on the caretakers’ doors were a simple warded tumbler: it might keep out a locksmith, but an ex-ops, not so much.  I gave Susan a couple of minutes to get started doing what I was pretty sure she was going to be doing, then let myself in.

Not surprisingly I found Susan lying on her bed in nothing but her panties, eyes closed, slowly running a finger across her breast.  I never thought I’d say it about a dracon, but she was really pretty, honest pretty, not magazine ‘you know you want me but you also know I’m such a bitch you’d never actually consider it’ plastic pretty.  “Please touch me there again, Nick.” She mumbled, her face obviously flushed.  Realistically (and highly flatteringly) I knew she was lost in her head, but I still startled a little: taxpayers had spent a lot of money teaching me to be sneaky, and I was decidedly not used to being noticed.

Sitting down by the side of the bed, I gently caressed the inside of her wing.  Opening her eyes with a questioningly amused look, she acknowledged me.  “You shouldn’t sneak up on furs; if you didn’t reek like iodine we’d be waking Howard up again right now.”  “Sorry.” Was about all I could think of to say.  “What are you doing out of bed, then?” she continued, rather transparently trying to redirect my focus from her focus.  “I wanted to thank you for Fluffy.  For everything.” I explained, continuing to stroke her wing gently.  “To thank me, or because you want to?” she asked seriously.  “Both.” I explained hesitantly “I know it sounds odd, but I really think I’m falling for you…maybe it sounds dumb, and I know it’s quick, I mean we just met, but there’s just something about you…I trust you.”  Realizing just how dumb I must sound, my gaze dropped to the ground and I could feel myself start to blush.  “Maybe this was a bad idea.  I should go…  Sorry…”

Catching my muzzle in her paw as I turned to leave, Susan gently made me meet her gaze.  “It’s not stupid, I feel the same way.  I just needed to know that you felt something other than indebted.  It would be horrible to think something was beginning to grow between us only to find out later it was a ‘debt collection.”  “I usually just pay cash.” I joked, breaking the seriousness of the mood.

Climbing up next to Susan in bed, I settled in under her wing, pulling it over me like a blanket.  “So, are you going to explain the wing thing then?” I grinned, nuzzling the extremity in question with my muzzle “You seemed to be pretty enthusiastic about it earlier…”  “You did that on purpose?  You naughty thing!”  “You didn’t seem to mind…” I observed coyly.  “Oh, I didn’t mind.” She laughed “I was trying to keep from making you uncomfortable!”  “If that’s subtle I’d hate to see what obvious looks like…” I teased, running my fingers across her wing membrane again, more firmly this time.

“I’m going to…” Susan started before I cut her off “You’re not going to do anything; not yet anyway.  I’m thanking you first!”  “Oh…assertive!  The females must go crazy over you!” she teased.  “There’s only been a couple.” I admitted “I always felt dirty about it later, so I kind of gave up pretty quickly.  I guess because I didn’t have feelings for them.  At least not any that didn’t originate in my sheath.”  “That’s one of the reasons I want this.” I realized “Because you’re different.”  Susan just leaned over and kissed me on the nose.  Sometimes the best thing you can say takes no words at all.

“So what I’m hearing is that if I use these for a blanket neither of us will get much sleep…”  “Pretty much.” Susan agreed “You’ll notice that we’re both quite awake at the moment…”  “Well maybe I should stop then…” I mused, moving my paws to her tummy instead “After all you keep telling me I need to get some rest.”  That earned me a grumble of happy frustration.  “What is the thing with the wings anyway, evolutionarily speaking, I mean?”  I asked curiously, going back to playing with them idly.  “For my ancestors foreplay was done in the air, so they developed some extra erogenous zones in large, accessible places.” Susan explained “Then they would find a nice mountaintop to mate on…well mostly.  Mating in flight is actually a fetish with some of us.  For practical purposes it’s really just an exhibitionist sort of thing…it involves a lot of falling.”  “I could see the novelty of that.” I mused “Hmm…want to go make life difficult for the local air traffic control later?”

“Better not.” Susan decided “They take a really dim view of it, especially in cities.”  “Spoilsports.”  Gently nipping the inside of Susan’s wing, I pretended to sulk.  “Ooh!” she sighed “You can forget about the ‘no biting’ rule for a little bit!”  Pleased to have found something new I continued to nibble here and there as I moved my paw to cup the front of her panties.  They were already soaked through and clinging to the curves of her labia.  “Did I take too long?” I asked coyly.  By way of an answer Susan took my paw by the wrist and slipped it under the sheer layer of fabric.

Teasingly I began to lightly explore, rubbing my fingers over her labia before adjusting my paw slightly so that I could settle a finger along her opening and against her clitoris, then began gently stroking her lips.  Breathing heavily, Susan every now and then let out little squeaks I would never have thought a dragon could make until she couldn’t take it anymore and growled longingly in my ear to “Put it in.  Hard!”  Obligingly I complied, curling my finger up to find her g-spot, only to be startled as Susan began to thrust up to meet my paw.  I picked up my pace to meet hers, pressing harder as her squeaks turned to growls and hisses, then an honest to gods roar as she climaxed.

“Mmm…sorry if I was a bit...enthusiastic, it’s been a while since I’ve been with another fur.” Susan explained.  “Seems like you needed that.” I agreed, idly licking my fingers.  “M-hm.” She agreed.  “Well then” I grinned wickedly “why don’t we call that one a ‘mercy yiff’, and move on to the ‘thanking you’ part of the evening?”

Susan’s reply turned into a surprised yelp as I grabbed her footpaws and pulled her down to the edge of the bed.  Snagging a pillow on the way I settled down on the floor between her legs.  Bringing my muzzle between them I ran my tongue across the front of her panties in a few slow laps, then worked my way under the fabric at one of the leg holes, pushing the material out of the way with my muzzle and nibbling at her vaginal lips.  “Ohgods!” Susan squeaked as I switched to sucking hard on her clitoris.  “Ohgods!  Ohgods!” she repeated as I buried my muzzle between her legs and put my tongue inside her.  Soon the dragoness was writhing on the bed, tail wrapped around my arm, paws clenching and unclenching on the sheets, until with a really satisfied little whimper she came.

“Come up here with me, okay?” Susan asked.  More than happy to comply I climbed over and cuddled up next to her.  “That was really nice.” She told me as she spooned up against my back, taking me in her arms.  “So’s this.” I agreed honestly.  For the first time I could remember I was actually enjoying being close to somefur, being held and cuddled.  “I like it too.” Susan agreed.

We lay there quietly for a while, just enjoying each other’s company.  Eventually Susan’s paw strayed to the still quite firmly tented front of my diaper.  (Which I’d not mentioned because I loathed the idea of disturbing our cuddle time, no matter how much I wished I’d ‘taken things into my own paws’ down at the foot of the bed.  Sensing my hesitation, Susan told me simply that “We can take it slow and gently, there isn’t any reason to change this if you don’t want to…”  “I’d like that.” I confirmed.  “Me too.” Susan said, giving me a hug.

“Now” she continued playfully “let’s see if we can’t get you looked after, hmm?”  Nodding with a bit more enthusiasm I rolled over a little to give Susan unrestricted access as she began to slowly rub the front of my diaper with the palm of her paw, more squeezing and pressing than actual rubbing… (For which I was grateful—is there such a thing as ‘diaper burn’?)  It didn’t take me long at all to be making an even more serious attempt to pop the tapes on the diaper when Susan stopped for a minute to get a splotch of something from a tube on her dresser on her paw, then slid it carefully down the front of my padding.

“That’s better.” I could feel her nodding against my back “Wouldn’t want you to chafe down there…” Smearing it along the length of my penis, she began to slowly stroke me, every now and then gently squeezing my knot, or running a clawtip around the opening of my sheath.  True to her promise Susan was in no hurry, and despite me getting more and more turned on I found myself never leaving the happy little mood we found ourselves in when Susan finished disturbing the neighbors.

I couldn’t help but ‘murr’ quietly under Susan’s ministrations: I was enjoying myself for so many different reasons.  “Good boy…” Susan cooed, nuzzling my head “Let’s get some of that stress…and other things…out, hmm?”  “Okies!” I agreed, beginning to breathe heavier, in spite of my best efforts not to.  “Cute!” Susan teased “You should see the look of concentration on your face right now!”  Running a finger delicately across my lips, she slipped it a little ways into my muzzle where I reflexively began to suck on it.  “The oral fixation, it is strong in this one!” she teased, butchering the quote, but making a valid observation.

I was a million miles away by then in the land of the completely blissed out, so Susan got a pass I would never normally be able to offer.  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyfur this passive during sex before…” Susan observed a little while later “If not for the fact you’ve probably teethed the last of my nail polish off by now I’d think you fell asleep on me there!” Where I was firmly entrenched, the only thing that got through to me was that the oh so wonderful rubbing had stopped.

With a frustrated little whine I began to hump into her paw, slowly at first, then with more urgency.  “Okay!  Okay!” Susan laughed, genuinely quite amused “Message received, little guy!”  Taking back over at the quicker pace I had set, Susan sensed that I was ready and became much more purposeful with her ministrations.  As I could feel myself approaching orgasm my tail began to hike up and I was soon making almost the exact same little ‘errf’-ing noises Susan had been earlier.  Suddenly, to my great surprise, Susan leaned over and took the scruff of my neck in her jaws, holding it hard but not painfully while pushing my butt tightly against her with the arm that wasn’t thoroughly engaged with my penis.  Working her paw into the leg-hole of my diaper, Susan firmly squeezed the base of my tail, whispering as best she could around the muzzleful of my scruff “This is good for you, isn’t it?”  “Gods yes…” I whispered in surprise.  “Good.” She mumbled as she continued to rub me quickly to the crinkles of the diaper and my rapidly quickening ‘errf’s.  In no time at all Susan had taken me from ‘errf’s to happy, overwhelmed little whines, until finally, with a surprised little ‘eep!’ I came.

“So we’re even, huh?” Susan teased as she continued to stroke my penis, almost casually now, as she milked out the last little bit she could from my rapidly shrinking member.  Releasing her grip on my scruff Susan lovingly gave me a kiss on the forehead.  “Stay here, I’ll be right back.” She informed me before ducking into the bathroom for a moment, returning with a damp washcloth.  “Let’s get you cleaned up, then it’s truly, finally, really time for bed!”  Scrubbing at my muzzle and then my paws with first the washcloth and then a couple of nicely scented wipes, Susan smoothed down a few unruly bits of fur here and there, then declared herself to be satisfied with the results.  “But what about…you know…down there?” I asked, confused how she could overlook the biggest mess.

“That’s going to stay that way until you need changing tomorrow, sweetie.” Susan explained to my formidable but impotent disagreement.  “You managed to go your whole first day without wetting.” Susan told me gently ”Which is actually against the rules: we’ve found that making a big deal out of it speeds up the transition for our new cubs, especially the more…hesitant ones.  So in your case we’re going to make do with what we’ve got; it’s only fair, really.”  “But it’s all sticky…” I whined “I wants changed now…  Please?”  “I know, my kit, but this is just how it’s going to have to be.” Susan explained, sounding genuinely sorry “But here.  What we’ll do is give you lots of water tonight so you’ll have to go tinkle as soon as possible, then we should be able to get you changed first thing in the morning.”

I was decidedly unhappy about the whole ‘wetting’ prerequisite, but since I (just like every other male over ten) knew how much trouble my ‘mess’ was going to be to clean out of my fur once it dried anything that sped up getting to the ‘cleanup’ stage of things was highly appreciated.  And since this was the only option on the table I drank the three glasses of water that Susan provided.  “That’s a good boy!” she praised as she led me back to my room and tucked me into the crib with my plushie.  “Oh, and don’t even think about changing yourself once I go to bed: I’ll find out and you will be in big trouble.”

If I hadn’t gotten in ‘big trouble’ yet I’d really kind of hate to imagine what it would consist of at this point…besides, I was pretty damn tired at this juncture, and not just because of the post-coital bliss.  (Though I wasn’t even a little bit unhappy about it…)  And let’s not forget the newly rejuvenated Fluffy either!  No, now was the time to leave well enough alone and get some sleep…

And sleep pretty thoroughly, as it turned out…I have a vague recollection of both Susan and Howard checking in on me at various points, but the next thing I really remember was groggily realizing I had to pee, then opening my eyes to discover myself curled up in Susan’s lap on the floor of the public room, amongst a semicircle of cubs and caretakers paying rapt attention to a lion in an armchair at the front of the little group.  Apparently it was storytime…

“Good to see you back with us.” Susan whispered “I would have woken you for lunch anyway, but I was hoping you would be up on your own before then…”  So there was still lunch to look forward to…good, I’d not realized until she had mentioned it just how hungry I was.  Likely because my bladder was doing its best to command my attention in its entirety.  I already knew the answer, but asked anyway.  “Hey Susan, can I run to the bathroom, I’ve got to pee!”  “You already know the answer to that.”  Well that was a productive dialogue.  “Well, can we go back to my room then?  I don’t want everyfur to see…”  Thinking about it for a minute, Susan eventually decided “Not this time.  Maybe after a while if you still feel the need for privacy we can revisit the matter, but right now you’re still in the puppy-house for the trouble you caused yesterday.  You do realize that you got me in trouble too, right?”  “Oh.” I sighed “Didn’t think of that…”  “You didn’t think about much of anything, did you?” Susan chided (I should have known I’d not heard the end of that…).  “What really bothers me” Susan continued “is that you could have been really hurt.  It concerns me that you didn’t seem to even consider that possibility.  I don’t know what you did before we met, but it’s left you way too big for your britches…and that’s why you’re going to wet them, right here in front of everyfur!”

I could understand Susan’s logic, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to argue like hell about it.  “Didn’t have to go anyways.” I announced, turning to pay attention to the lion with the book.  “I don’t know…” Susan mused coyly “You seemed to be pretty insistent earlier.  One might almost say desperate…”  To further make her point Susan began to gently bounce me on her knee, producing enough of an audible crinkling sound that some of the other furs were beginning to cast glances our way.  This just wasn’t fair.

And thus began our little battle of wills, with Susan trying any subtle little thing she could think of to make me wet on one side, and me stoically holding out on the other.  As it became more obvious what was going on between the two of us we attracted more and more attention until we had largely become the morning’s entertainment, the lion reading the story patiently continuing the book out of force of habit more than anything else: the attention span of grownup cubs apparently tended to run much more solidly towards the ‘cub’ not the ‘grownup’ end of the spectrum; distraction was a thoroughly common occurrence.  Or else Susan had put them all up to this…I preferred not to involve myself too heavily in the contemplation that my ‘mommy’ would go through the trouble required to plan to embarrass me on that level…

Feeling a paw on my shoulder I turned my head to come muzzle to muzzle with Jonathan crouching down next to Susan and I.  “Do you remember what I said about trying to fight it?” the coyote asked more gently than I would have expected considering his proclivities towards hyperactivity.  “Uh huh, but I can’t.  I tried to earlier.” I admitted as much to myself as to him.  “That’s a good little kit!” Susan beamed “I’m proud of you, Nick!”  “Do you want me to help him out?” Jonathan asked kindly.  Looking at him appraisingly, Susan finally decided that “You’re actually wanting to be helpful not just being a horn-pup…”  “Yeppers.” Jonathan confirmed “I know, I’m as surprised as you are…but I kind of like the little guy, in a ‘not from my diaper zone’ sort of way.  I guess I need to know that he’s getting everything he needs…”

“It sounds like you’re discovering a caretaker streak in there…” Susan decided cheerfully “I’ll bet you would make a great big brother, too…  Maybe we can start you out with some playdates and kit-sitting, and if that works out, well, who knows?”  “I’d like that, I think.” Jonathan mused “What do you think, Nick”  Truth be told I wasn’t thinking much about anything except not peeing, how much I needed to pee, and that if I could just get it over with I would feel so much better.  (At this point I had to go bad enough that my tummy was beginning to cramp up and make me feel really pretty miserable…)

“I think Nick has much more immediately pressing needs at the moment.” Susan advised Jonathan, pointing to my still marginally contained grimace of discomfort “If you’re not going to take care of it I’ll have to.”  “A valid point, that.” Jonathan agreed, sitting down and scooching me over so as to take Susan’s place as my leaning-on caretaker.  His lap was fluffier than Susan’s, but a bit bonier: the coyote could stand to eat more or move less.  Putting his arms over my shoulders, Jonathan crossed his paws on my tummy, resting his muzzle over my shoulder, cuddling me to his chest.

“As jerky as this seems now, it’s actually for your own good.” Jonathan explained, adding as an afterthought “Even if it also happens to be a lot of fun for me as well…”  “Be careful falling off the moral high road like that, it’s a long way down.” I informed him dourly.  “Such a serious little kit…” Jonathan teased “Your Mommy Susan must not be socializing you well enough or something.  Well don’t you worry, big-brother-in-training Johnny will fix that right up!”

With that the coyote began to enthusiastically tickle my tummy.  I tried to jump up, but with him leaning across my shoulders the way he was I wasn’t going anywhere until Jonathan decided I could.  “Knock it off, Jonathan.” I grumbled, not even vaguely in the mood for this.  “I’m sorry, who now?” he queried, feigning confusion.  “You, damn it!” I growled.  I was growing frustrated at this point: I hurt, and wanted him to stop, but I didn’t want to just pop the coyote one: in spite of myself I kind of liked the guy.  “What’s my name?” he asked sweetly, continuing to tickle.  “Jonathan!” I managed to get out before being overcome by giggles.  “No, that’s what the grownups call me, what do the other little kits like you call me?” he corrected patiently.

Rapidly losing my ability to focus, I realized I couldn’t remember!  If he would just stop for a moment…  “John?” I guessed, having a feeling it wasn’t quite right.  “Nope!” he informed me gleefully, redoubling his efforts.  Damn it, what was his…Oh!  “…nee!” I managed to slur out around my laughter “You’s…’Nee!”  “Not quite, but you can call me that if you would like.” Jonathan decided happily.  He did not, however, show any indication of a cessation of the tickling.

“Nee, stop…” I whined “My tummy hurts!”  “I know, Nick, I know.” He nodded with genuine sympathy “But you can make it stop hurting, you know that…”  “Ms. Susan?” I asked, throwing her a despairing look.  “He’s right, honey.  Just let it happen…”  “I can’t!” I almost yelled “I can’t!  I can’t!  I…”  I could.  Finally, through some combination of discomfort, distraction, and despair, I began to wet, a warm flood desperately beginning to absorb into a spreading, weighty bulge in the front of my diaper.  Jonathan’s tickles immediately turned into a reassuring cuddle.  “I told you that you could.” He said, giving me an extra big hug. “And don’t worry, next time will be easier.”

Susan moved over to join our little cuddle, wrapping both Jonathan and I in her arms.  “I’m proud of you.  I’m proud of both of you.”  “Can we keep ‘Nee, Mommy Susan?” I asked “I likes him, he’s a good puppy…”  “You’ll have to ask his Daddy Anthony…” she grinned, a twinkle in her eyes.  “They come as a set, you know!”  “I don’t know him much, he’ll have to interview.” I decided, to be met by a chorus of giggles and laughs.

With a deeply embarrassed blush I remembered exactly where we were.  Or more specifically, who we were in front of.  With a horrified little yelp I buried my head as deeply as I could between Susan and Jonathan, fully intending not to come out again until approximately the same time as the eventual heat death of the universe, plus or minus a few days.  “Not now you guys, Nick is pretty overwhelmed.” Susan told what I assumed were a few of the audience members wanting to offer comfort “I know you all really want to meet him…maybe after he settles down some he’ll be up for a puppy pile, but right now I think he’s a little bit busy hiding!”  Susan had that last part right, I decided.  And the first part.  I didn’t understand the middle part, but since it involved a ‘later’ I decided I’d just ignore it for a while.

“Did you want to come out now?” Susan asked after a few minutes “They’re ready to get back to story time, but everyfur wants to know that you’re all right first…”  “Do I have to?”  “No, but I’d like you to.”  “Okay…” I nodded.  Meekly looking up I saw a room full of concerned and supportive faces smiling back at me.  “See,” a female white wolf pup assured me, reaching out and patting my arm despite a severe look from the lion storyteller “everything is okay, nothing changed.”  “Uh huh.” I agreed after a moment of thought.  Then after summoning all the courage I could muster I turned back around in Susan’s lap and faced the group again.

The group, cubs and caretakers alike, rewarded me with a collection of smiles, waves, and even a bit of muted applause.  Not really knowing how to respond I just gave a tiny wave back and settled a little deeper into Susan’s arms.  “See, they all want to be your friends.” Susan pointed out amidst a chorus of nods “Nobody here is scary!”  “Uh huh.” I agreed, getting more smiles.  Maybe this really wasn’t all that bad after all…

“Since it’s almost lunchtime, well, lunchtime for you and snack time for everyone else, why don’t we go get you changed, then we’ll all be ready for food…”  The grumbling from my tummy was all the answer Susan needed.  Taking my paw she helped me up, then, trailing Jonathan and the white wolf who had been in front of us in the story group, we moved to the opposite end of the room where a corner was occupied by a changing table in a gender neutral pattern and a little supply cart.  “Usually we would just throw a blanket down on the floor somewhere, but since I didn’t bring a diaper bag we can use the changing station.” Susan explained.  “Plus I kind of want your first official one to be official!”  Leaning over to whisper in my ear Jonathan explained that “Actually she didn’t want you to stress about a big audience your first time out…”  All things considered I really appreciated that.

I was debating saying something to Susan about Jonathan and the wolf femme when Susan scooped me up and deposited me on the table.  “Ready, sweetheart?”  “But what about them?” I blurted out.  “If they need a change they’ll ask for one, I’d imagine.” She shrugged, deliberately missing the point.  “But I don’t want an audience!”  The wolf tactfully turned to rejoin the story group, but was stopped short by Susan.  “Stay right there please.” She requested rather forcefully.  “I was going to cut you some slack, but maybe you need to be reminded that that’s a caretaker’s decision, not a cub’s, hmm?”  “No, Ms. Susan.” I quickly agreed.  “Good.” She smiled “I’m not sure that you’re up to me having to make another point so soon…”  She wasn’t going to get an argument there…

Taking spots out of Susan’s way, my unrequested audience patiently waited for Susan to get started.  This tends to work better if you lie down!” Susan teased me cheerfully.  Pouting a little, I complied.  “You look like you want this…” Susan commented, fishing a paci out of her pocket, inspecting it for lint, and, finding none, popping it in my muzzle.  I hadn’t thought about it before Susan said something, but once the pacifier was there I quickly realized that yes, I did in fact rather want it.  And on top of that it really did seem to work.  I almost didn’t notice when Susan finished bustling around with supplies and undid the diaper’s tapes until a cold draft ‘down there’ rather quickly refocused my attention onto what the canines on the other side of the table were now raptly observing.

Susan was just folding down the front of my old diaper, revealing everything there was to see to everyfur that was there to see it.  Laughing gleefully, Johnny pointed to something at their end of the table, announcing in a singsong voice that “Nick made cummies!  Nick made cummies!”  “Yes he did.” Susan agreed “And if he blushes any more about it he’s likely to use up all his blood and pass out on us here.  So why don’t you practice being a responsible big brother and not broadcast status updates to the entire floor…”  “Oh, okay!” Jonathan agreed, looking as if the possibility had never occurred to him.  Propping his muzzle up on his elbows on the side of the table he watched as Susan got some wipes and cleaned up my diaper area.  After she had swapped the wet diaper for a clean one and finished up fastening its tail hole Jonathan piped up eagerly.  “Is Nick going to make cummies again, Ms. Susan?”  “Probably not this time, Johnny…” Susan laughed, looking for the baby powder amongst the things on the supply cart.  “Oh.” He sighed, ears drooping in disappointment for a moment before perking back up again.  “I could help him, I’m very good at it!”  “I’m sure you are…” Susan gasped out when she could finally get her laughter under control “And that’s between the two of you, but you should probably discuss the possibility first when Nick is less out of sorts…”

“You’re right.” He agreed, his expression looking much older for a moment “That’s why you’re the Mama!”  “And don’t you forget it!” she teased as she sprinkled powder on my private places and folded up the front of my fresh padding.  Fastening the tapes, she ran a finger down the inside of the waistband, checking the snugness of the fit.  “We don’t want any leaks now, do we?” Susan asked rhetorically.  “Nope, leaks are bad.” Jonathan declared, the white wolf femme nodding her agreement.

After assuring herself that everything in the diaper department met her stringent standards of quality Susan helped me down from the changing table.  “He’s a little worse for wear after last night.” She explained when she noticed the concerned looks the wolf femme was giving my limp “He’ll be okay, Ruby, he’s just going to be sore for a while, that’s all.”  “Okies.” She nodded, looking somewhat less than convinced.  “I’m okay.” I assured her “It just kind of hurts sometimes, that’s all.”

“Well now that we’ve got that taken care of I’m going to take Nick over to the quiet room for a while…the doctor said he needs to take it easy for a bit, so we won’t be down at the playground for a couple of days…” Susan explained.  “Would you mind if I joined you?” Ruby asked.  “Of course you can!” Susan nodded, ruffling Ruby’s headfur.

After talking with everyfurs’ caretakers, the retrieval of a few things from some bedrooms, and a stop at a bizarre cross between what could have been somefur’s grandmother’s kitchen if not for the inclusion of a number of restaurant grade workstations, we arrived at the quiet room.

I don’t know exactly what I was expecting, but the quiet room wasn’t it.  There were several adult sized cribs along the walls, and a collection of sofas and beanbag chairs, but the most prominent feature was a sunken pit in the middle of the floor.  It was filled with an assortment of bedding, and the outer edge was upholstered similarly to the headrest of an armchair; kind of an oversized pillow in itself.  Instead of fluorescent ceiling fixtures light was provided by a mismatched assortment of lamps as well as what sunlight filtered in through the curtains over the windows.  Rather than be painted a solid color the walls were decorated with a highly detailed mural of a forest scene that must have taken somefur many, many hours to paint.  All in all the best description I could think of was ‘cozy’.

“Neat, huh?” Ruby nodded, seeing my somewhat bewildered expression “Everyfur really likes it here.”  “They do.” Susan agreed “But remember: the quiet room has ‘library rules’.  We use our indoor voices here, and no roughhousing!”  “Okay.” I acknowledged.  It made sense: a noisy quiet room wasn’t good for much…

We all took seats in the big bowl in the floor, me on Susan’s lap, Johnny and Ruby just lounging, and Susan broke out the contents of a lunchbox she had retrieved on our way over.  “Ready for lunch, honey?” Susan cooed happily as she outfitted me with a larger than I would have expected bib.  It was light green with white piping.  And a teddy bear applique.  I’m pretty sure I would feel worse about getting it dirty than me dirty, but I felt kind of silly about it so I kept that to myself…  Susan, meanwhile, had set out several containers of different cub foods, a sippy cup, and a bottle of some sort of red juice.  “No bento box for hims?” Ruby asked curiously, with a slight note of disapproval in her tone.  “She likes pretty dishes.” Johnny whispered to me as Susan fielded the question.  (Or was it a complaint?)

“No, not this time.” Susan placated “We don’t know what foods he likes yet, and if we used dishes it would all mix together and be messy.”  Ruby seemed to accept that the ‘messy’ argument overrode the need for pretty dishes…I guess she had a neat streak too…  “Speaking of food…” Susan grinned, directing her attention my way.  Selecting among the jars, she chose one filled with a rather unappetizing pink-grey mush.  “Why don’t we start with a beef stew?”  That was supposed to be beef stew?  I eyed it rather dubiously as she opened the jar and scooped up a glob on one of those rubber covered cub spoons.  I won over the urge to clamp my muzzle shut and hold out for something that hadn’t ben pureed beyond recognition, instead allowing Susan to feed me the offering.

We all make mistakes, and this one was going on my short list: it tasted more like salted cardboard than any sort of food product.  “Not a fan, huh?” Susan observed as I quickly gulped it down.  “Yucky.” I confirmed.  “Good thing I got the small jars…  Well, moving on then!”  Next up was a passible imitation of squash, which could have used some sugar; beets, which were edible; peas, which were not; and some pretty good mashed potatoes.  Then, tragically, there was a turkey and rice mixture.  In retrospect I should have gone with my first inclination and spit it out.  Shortly after that ship had sailed my tummy did its level best to give me a chance to reevaluate my decision.  Despite its efforts to the contrary, however, I managed to keep the stuff down…

“Is your tummy okay little guy?” Susan asked, concerned by my sudden pained expression.  “I thinks so…” I mumbled “But that one was bad.”  “Aww…no more of that one then.” Susan agreed, putting the cap back on and setting the jar aside.  “How about some fruit instead?  Everyfur likes those…”  “Can I feed him?” Ruby asked a little hesitantly.  “I don’t see why not…” Susan mused “As long as my little crinkle-butt is okay with it?”  “S’okay.” I agreed quickly.  At this point pretty much anything to get the other stuff to settle down would have met with my wholehearted approval…

Patting the seat next to us Susan gave Ruby the spoon, then slid over the remaining containers of food.  After settling in Ruby began to analyze the selection of little jars with an air of extreme scrutiny: I couldn’t help but smile at how seriously she took her assigned task!  Finally making her selections, Ruby took two of the containers, setting the others aside, then picked one of the two to open.  Her selection, as it was revealed on the spoon, was an orange color pretty much indistinguishable from the squash I’d had earlier.  Really hoping that it wasn’t more of the squash I let Ruby feed me the heaping spoonful.

I happily discovered that Ruby had in fact selected peaches.  And they were good!  Both Susan and Ruby were absolutely beaming, and even Johnny had a grin on his muzzle over how unabashedly eager I was for some more.  “Good stuff, huh?” Johnny asked rather rhetorically as I rapidly finished off several more spoonfuls.  (I didn’t have the heart to tell them I was just hungry—that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it!)

Ruby got really into the whole ‘feeding the kit’ process: in short order she was playing ‘airplane’ with the spoonfuls of food, taking a break as necessary to dab at my muzzle with the bottom of my bib (which was needed way more than it should have been since I couldn’t help giggling at her enthusiasm), and generally cooing over what a ‘good little kit’ Susan had.  Watching her act so parental while obviously barely out of my ‘age group’ amused me, and totally cracked Johnny up; Susan looked happier than I think I’d seen her before, and the small group of other furs that had been trickling in…wait, what?

“It’s a public room dearest…” Susan reminded me after I started a little in surprise.  “Oh, ri…” I began, only to disrupt Ruby’s flight path and splatter peaches across my muzzle.  “Oops.” I finished mildly.  Looking at me a bit reproachfully she managed to scrape up most of the casualties with the spoon before wiping up the rest on my (rather messy at this point) bib.  “It’s really not that big a deal…” Jonathan chided as Ruby’s plane made a much more successful landing the second time around.  “They mostly don’t bite.” Ruby confirmed.

“See.” Susan laughed, giving me a squeeze “There’s confirmation of what I’ve been saying… Though I must admit I’m a bit miffed they’ve got more credibility than I do for some reason…”  “No they don’t.” I informed her matter of factly “Don’t believe them either.”  Johnny thought that declaration was hilarious for some reason that totally confused the rest of us.  (And thus paused the delivery of peaches…)  “I’m pretty sure I said the exact same thing to Anthony the first week I was here!” he explained when he finally got himself under control again “I guess it’s just kind of funny to me how similar my potential ‘little brother’ is turning out to be!”  “Nuh-huh.” I disagreed “You’s similar to me!”  “Nope.” Johnny explained “I’m older than you, so since I was first then you have to be similar to me, not the other way around.”  “Oh.” I mused, contemplating his logic.  I couldn’t find any real holes in it to work with so I decided to cede the point gracefully.  By sticking out my tongue at the coyote, then returning my attentions instead to the peaches once again being offered by Ruby.

While Susan had been watching the exchange with amusement the wolf femme seemed to be somewhere between disinterested and slightly put out by the interruption.  I guess she disapproved of me not taking being fed as seriously as she was taking feeding me.  “Having a big dolly to play with is frustrating when you’re not both on the same page, huh?” Susan commented to Ruby seriously.  “Yep.” She pouted in agreement, tapping me on the muzzle with the spoon to get me to open up.

It surprised me to discover, but I felt a little bit cowed by Ruby’s displeasure.  Out of character or not the end result was that the peaches got finished off with a minimum of additional fuss, followed by a more solid jar of cubed pears, and finally another of pureed bananas.  Ruby showed every intention of carrying on with the rest of the food, but Susan interrupted.  “You’re doing a great job, dear, but that’s probably enough for now…”

And it actually was.  I felt kind of confused by that, until I realized that while the jars weren’t all that big there had actually been quite a few more of them than I had realized…  That mystery solved, I found myself starting to drop into a happy post-food stupor.  “Did you want a drink, or are we going straight to an afternoon nap?” Susan asked kindly, shifting me to a more reclined position in her lap.  “Ba-ba.” I decided after a moment’s thought.  I actually was kind of thirsty (some of the stuff I’d been fed was rather over salted for my taste), and from the way she had asked I got the impression it was the answer Susan was hoping for.

“A drink it is!” she grinned.  Cuddling me against her shoulder, Susan retrieved the bottle of juice she had brought, flicking off the cap and popping the nipple in my muzzle.  “We’re going to need to suggest they make the caps stay on these better.” She noted “Easy open is one thing, falling off in your diaper bag is something else entirely…”  True as that may be, I’d already checked out of the conversation, focusing on my juice as the others discussed the finer points of bottle design.

Being cuddled by Susan, nursing the bottle of juice, while she, Jonathan, and Ruby spoke quietly around me, was incredibly settling, and in what seemed like a really short amount of time I’d dropped into a contented, almost trancelike state of calm, eyes unfocused and nursing the bottle more reflexively than anything else.

“It’s all gone, my kit…” Susan explained a while later when she set the bottle I’d not realized I’d finished aside, replacing it in my muzzle with a pacifier.  Whining a little around it I glanced back at the now thoroughly depleted lunch box, hoping to find a refill…sadly no such luck.  “That’s plenty for now.” Susan pointed out “You didn’t want to have to go potty in ten minutes, do you?”  She had a good point there, or at least one that I wasn’t going to argue about.  Feeling far less put out, I moved on to my secondary plan; settling in for a good snuggle-nap.

“Actually…” Susan began, sounding apologetic “I’ve got to run to the restroom, then take care of a couple of work things.  I was thinking you could come back to the room and take a nap or watch some cartoons while I was doing that.”  “Ruby and I could watch him while you’re busy!” Jonathan suggested eagerly “We’d take good care of him and he wouldn’t have to be all lonely and if we need anything we can ask Daddy Anthony!”  “Well…” Susan hesitated, looking to me for an opinion.  Given the options of being alone and bored, or having some (so far) pleasant company, I didn’t really see all that much to consider.

Taking in my nodding support for the idea, Susan reached her decision.  “Okay.” She told the visibly excited pair “But you two have to promise to take really good care of him: Nick is pretty fragile in a lot of ways, and he’s still really new to everything here…”  “Of course we will!” Jonathan agreed, with a hint of genuine offense in his voice.  “I know you will.” Susan elaborated “I just worry about him, that’s all…”  “Well he has kind of given you reason to…” Ruby nodded, sounding the most grown up I’d heard her so far “But I’m sure he’ll be on his best behavior for us; he really is a good little kit, he just has some…tendencies, that’s all…”

Giving me a hug before she took her leave Susan promised that “I’ll be back in an hour or two!”, then added as an afterthought “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t be proud of while I’m gone!”  Great.  Why did she have to phrase it like that?  I could have ignored a ‘behave’, but ‘don’t bring shame to me’ (and that’s basically what she was saying, right?) was a much harder proposition to rationalize my way around…

“She got you with that one, didn’t she?” Johnny observed “Grownups are sneaky like that.”  “Let’s play Kart Racing.” Ruby suggested “Nick will like Kart Racing, everyfur does!”  “You two can play.” I decided “I thinks I just want to cuddle up and take a nap for somes.”  “See, you’re already getting him in trouble: Ms. Susan said he needed a nap before she left!” Johnny teased gently.  Not picking up on his playful tone, Ruby blanched visibly under her fur, responding with a worried little “Oh!”  “I was only kidding!” Johnny explained quickly “It’s okay if we play some games, really!”

“Nuh huh.” Ruby disagreed sternly “His mommy said naptime, so it’s naptime!”  “But” Johnny began, only to be cut off with a look that could shred a vanadium steel plate.  “Okay.  Naptime it is.” He agreed quickly.  Extracting herself from the cushions, Ruby retrieved several blankets and pillows from a cabinet along the wall then began assembling a cozy little nest inside the floor bowl.  “There!” she announced proudly, satisfied with her creation.

Ironically I’d mostly woken up by then, but Ruby was so pleased with herself that it would have been more than a little ungrateful to point this change in circumstances out to her.  So instead I found myself settling down for a no longer wanted nap, with Johnny following close behind.  In pretty short order Ruby and Johnny were introducing me to the concept of a puppy pile.  And while I wasn’t usually a fan of furs taking the liberty of being all touchy-feely with me, cuddling up with the two of them was actually pretty far away from objectionable.

“Aww…is Nick a tired little foxy?” Johnny asked as he began to gently rub my back.  Since I’d started yawning pretty much nonstop after Ruby had tucked a blanket around me earlier I chose to take it as a rhetorical question…also I was feeling way too happily floaty to feel like holding up my end of a conversation.  “Let him be.” Ruby decided “he’s pretty much ‘out to lunch’ right now…”  “Ate lunch already.” I disagreed, totally missing the point.  “Yes you did, sweetheart.” She agreed, popping a paci that had appeared from somewhere or another into my muzzle.  “So why don’t you take your nap then?”

That sounded like a pretty good idea…  After rearranging several pillows, including, to their great amusement, some that were actually bits and pieces of my friends’ anatomies, I was settled in quite cozily.  Maybe a little too cozily, it turned out: I was happy enough to sit there and listen to Johnny and Ruby argue about a cartoon show I’d not seen that I didn’t really want to go to sleep all that badly any more.  Instead I lay across their laps and just sort of dozed the time away.

Cartoons, it turned out, were much more important than I had previously been led to believe.  Or at least they provided more to talk about: a half hour or more into my ‘nap’ they were still going strong, and I was beginning to consider asking them if we could go watch a few episodes so I’d know what they were talking about…on the other paw, I didn’t want to be on the receiving end of one of Ruby’s laser death stares.  While I was idly mulling over my options another matter decided to come to light: pretty soon I was going to have to pee.

My misgivings about using diapers in the first place notwithstanding, it struck me as a serious potential faux pas to wet (or worse, for that matter…it hadn’t occurred to me before, but that particular issue was an inevitability at this juncture…) when one is sprawled out across somefur’s lap…  Nope, as much as I didn’t feel like it I was going to have to get up.

“Nick is getting a bit antsy.” Jonathan observed knowingly, apparently thinking it was important enough to interrupt his diatribe.  Nodding with a grin, Ruby tapped me on the nose and asked “Are you going to be a good little boy this time, or is Johnny going to have to tickle you again?”  “How did…” I began, quickly deciding it didn’t really matter and moving on to “I’ll be good.  But over there…”  “Nope.” Ruby informed me.  “Nope?”  “Nope.”  “But…” “Nope.”

It’s pretty much impossible to debate against a one word rebuttal, and since Johnny was looking like he was gearing up for a tickle attack it appeared that for practical purposes the discussion was over.  With an exasperated sigh I threw up my paws in resignation.  Johnny and Ruby just gave each other victorious grins.  This was decidedly not going the way I had hoped.

Fine, I decided.  This was just how it was going to be for the foreseeable future, and I needed to get used to it in order to make the best of things.  And hey, it could always be a whole lot worse, all things considered.  Closing my eyes so that at least I wouldn’t have to see my friends watching me, I did my best to relax and think damp thoughts.  “Hey, why don’t…” Jonathan began, only to be shushed by Ruby.  “Don’t make it any harder for him than it already is.” She warned.  I could have hugged her for that if I wasn’t so preoccupied…

I also probably would have noticed Roby shifting around next to me before she tickled the inside of my ear with the guard hairs on the end of her tail.  That did it.  With the world’s most pathetic startled little ‘yip’ I let go and began to wet.  With a soft pitter that quickly grew more urgent as I took control of my accident the front of my diaper began to rapidly bulge.  “That wasn’t so bad, now was it?” Jonathan praised as the noise from ‘downstairs’ subsided, then ceased.  “Nuh huh.” I admitted, sounding pretty resigned to the fact.  “Aww…” Ruby sympathized, burying me in a cuddle-hug.  “You’ll be fine, little kit!”

“Won’t!  Can’t breathe!” I joked, giving a theatrical gurgle and going limp in her arms.  “Not funny.” Ruby fake-pouted.  “‘Nee thinks it was.” I pointed out.  “He thinks everything is funny.” Ruby countered airily “He doesn’t count in the survey!”  “Do so count.” Johnny grumbled, secure in the fact that pouting would fix anything.  “Sulky shorts.” I laughed. (Turns out pouting has to be believable to be effective…)  “Droopy drawers!” he countered, cheerful again.

“Kinda.” I agreed, musing idly that “These hold way more than I thought they would…”  “Better living through chemistry!” he nodded happily “And since we’re R&D we get the bestest stuff first!”  “He’s not even a little bit spoiled, is he?” Ruby joked.  “Not even a little.” Johnny grinned.  “So…” he asked, drumming his fingers on my diaper bulge “Did we want to get this changed now, or later?”

It really wasn’t a decision that should have required a lot of consideration, but I found myself stopping to think about it.  I still wasn’t exactly comfortable with furs taking liberties with… “Does he actually have the option, or did he…” Ruby asked, poking the back of my diaper under my tail “Nope, he can wait if he wants.”

With a highly startled “Eep!” I jumped almost straight up, only to discover that it was less than medically advisable, and falling pretty much straight back down.  “Oww…” I whined, rubbing my tail: I didn’t injure anything, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.  “Careful!” Ruby exclaimed.  She and Johnny both looked genuinely worried, which was actually kind of touching in a way: I wasn’t used to furs worrying about my well-being.  “I’m okay.” I assured everyone “Just startled, that’s all…”

“You’re kinda jumpy…” Johnny observed “You should learn to relax, you’ll live longer!”  “I am relaxed.” I sulked “It’s just…doing…that…  It’s icky!”  “It’s not so bad.” Johnny explained “Just make sure your mommy changes you right after and you’ll barely have to deal with it.”  “No.  Icky.” I interjected.  “But with modern fur wipes you won’t be messy when she’s done, and it doesn’t even take all that long to clean up!”  “No.  Icky.”  “You’re going to have to eventually!”  “No.  Icky!”

“That’s it!” the coyote growled in exasperation.  Taking my paw he drug me down the hallway and into the kitchen, Ruby trailing behind with a concerned look on her muzzle.  “Sit!” he instructed, pointing at one of the kitchen islands.  Dubiously I complied, more than a little confused as to why he was digging out a pot and putting water on to boil.  Ruby, however, must have known something I didn’t: her concerned look had turned into a gleeful grin as she began helping Johnny dig through the cabinets in search of something apparently elusive…

“What are we doing here?” I asked curiously.  “It’s a surprise.” Johnny decided before taking me by the shoulders and spinning me around to face away from the action unfolding by the stove.  “What ‘cha doing?” I asked again, starting to feel a little left out.  “Not telling.” Johnny laughed “You’ll just have to wait and see!” “‘Nee!” I whined, my tail beginning to twitch in agitation “I wanna know!”  “We’re making oatmeal, dear.” Ruby informed me.  “Not funny.” I pouted “Tell me!  Tell me tell me tell me tell me!”  By this time I’d hit the point of an actual pout.  They were just being mean; there wasn’t any reason they couldn’t just explain what the two of them were up to…

“Here, look.” Johnny offered.  Turning around I saw him holding out the large pot from the stove, which, after I hopped off the counter and took a look, was actually full of oatmeal.  “But I don’t get it…” I stumbled out in confusion “Why did you…?”  “Because.” Johnny nodded.  Then, before I realized what was going on, he stretched open the waistband on the back of my diaper and unceremoniously dumped the whole contents of the pot down it.

I stared at him and Ruby in shock for a moment, then burst out giggling uncontrollably.  I couldn’t help it; it was such an odd thing to do that it struck me as completely hilarious.  “Better that response than the other options…” Ruby observed drolly.  That struck me as even funnier, if anything making me giggle harder.

Quite some time later when the giggles had finally gotten back under control again Johnny took one of my paws, Ruby took the other, and they led me back out into the hallway “Before somefur comes along and makes us clean up in here…”  Not exactly the most responsible of positions to take on the matter, but neither was it an argument I thought I’d be likely to win.  As an afterthought on our way out of the kitchen Johnny reached across and gave me a couple of solid pats on the now lumpy backside of my diaper.

“‘Nee!” I protested, looking to Ruby for backup, only to find that my (in their eyes, anyway) drastic overreaction to my predicament didn’t get me the sympathy I felt it deserved.  “Well?” Johnny questioned as we arrived back at the quiet room “What are you thinking about it?”  “I’m thinking that was an unnecessarily jerky thing to do, that this is going to be a pain to clean up, and…”  “No,” he interrupted, quite seriously “what does the kit part of you think?”  I was about two seconds from verbally ripping him a new one (and possibly physically, actually…) when I glanced over and noticed Ruby nodding encouragingly.

For some reason that completely shifted my focus.  If she was on board with it then he probably had a reason beyond sheer pique…  Stopping for a moment at the edge of the floor bowl, I seriously considered the question for a bit.

“It’s squishy.” I decided “And warm.”  “That’s a start.” Johnny nodded “What else?  Does it feel icky?”  “No…” I decided, drawing out the word for about a week before hastily adding “But it’s not…  You know…”  “That’s okay!” he assured me “The point is that it doesn’t feel icky, right?”  “Uh huh…I kind of want to squish around in it…” I agreed, blushing furiously.  “And there’s your little kit talking!” Ruby laughed, ruffling my headfur as we sat down.  “The other thing is still icky though.” I warned them seriously.  “One thing isn’t the other.” Ruby nodded “And that’s okay, thinking this is fun doesn’t mean you have to be okay with messing, we just wanted to show you that there isn’t anything wrong with letting your kit be in charge sometimes, that’s all!”

“There might have been a way that didn’t end up with me sitting in everyfur’s breakfast…” I observed “We’re not going to be popular when the kitchens are out of food tomorrow!”  Ruby and Jonathan both got a laugh out of that one before cluing me in.  “There’s plenty of oatmeal.”  Johnny informed me “This actually happens kind of all the time…they keep plenty in stock!”  “A lot of cubs like the feeling of it, but think messing is gross.” Ruby elaborated “So they keep surrogates for product testing.”  “And fun.” Johnny added cheerfully.  “And fun.” Ruby agreed.

After the ‘teaching moment had passed I had found the topic of conversation had returned solidly back to ‘Nick needs a nap.’ With an equally immobile ‘Because Mommy Susan said so’ sidebar.  Putting aside my reflexive need to be contrary, I had been tired enough that very little had actually proved necessary to convince me of the quality of the idea.  Between Johnny and Ruby being really first rate pillows and Ruby being nice enough to make a quick trip back to my room to retrieve Fluffy (along with my paci and a pair of handheld video game systems for her and Johnny) my inevitable nap wasn’t even staved off for more than a couple of minutes.

When I awoke again I found myself still sprawled out comfortably across my pair of ‘older siblings’, though the blankets and pillows had been arranged more comfortably than before.  (To my consternation I also discovered that I’d apparently drooled around my paci pretty thoroughly and was going to need to groom out the now pretty matted fur of my muzzle.)  “I’ll help you with that.” Ruby assured me, noticing that I was awake and perturbed.  “We’ll get you changed too.” Johnny added “We probably should have earlier, but you looked so contented neither of us could bring ourselves to wake you up for it…”

“Bubble tub.”  Ruby suggested, setting down her game and helping me to sit up.  “Ooh, yes yes yes!” Johnny nodded enthusiastically.  “Hmm?” I asked curiously as I stretched out some of the ‘sleeping in an odd position’ stiffness.  “The floor in the room with the big sauna tub was built wrong so water that spills out drains back in, so if you flood the place by putting bubble bath in it you can just rinse it all back into the tub and nofur will care.” Johnny explained mildly incoherently.  “Umm…” I queried, only slightly less confused than I was before he explained.  “You’ll see.” Ruby shrugged as the pair led me into the elevator and towards who knows what new sort of trouble.

We got out on the floor with the pool Susan and I had been in the day before, Ruby explaining that it was the ‘Rec Floor’ and actually had a lot more than just the pool.  “There’s a full gym, and a gymnastics room, and a racquetball court, and even an indoor playground for when the weather is bad outside.”  “Are there swings?” I asked, fondly remembering good times from days past.  “Yep yep!” she confirmed “They fit an’ everything!”  “Let’s do that instead!” I suggested eagerly.  “Nope.” Johnny disagreed “You have to take it easy still, remember?”  “Oh.” I sighed, not disagreeing, but still obviously disappointed.

“Don’t worry, this will be lots of fun too!” He assured me “Besides, you need to be changed ‘an cleaned up anyway.  It’s icky, remember?”  His mild teasing was actually kind of justified, so I gave the urge to pout a pass.  Mostly to be a good sport about it all, not because I was admitting that they had maybe been a little bit right about things.  Plus, if they had to clean up the mess they’d made then the balance of the universe would be restored.  Or something.  Maybe I just didn’t really care as much as I thought I did…

We stopped at a door down the hall from the pool, which a sign informed me was the ‘Cub’s Room’.  While the rest of the floor I’d seen so far looked pretty much like any other upscale athletics facility, this door was painted in diagonal stripes of alternating pastel pink and blue.  Yep, it was pretty easy to guess what this room was set aside for.  “In here…” Ruby directed rather superfluously.  “Are you sure this is the right one?” I joked as we went inside.

I’d been kind of expecting a playroom, but it turned out to be more of a rest area.  The room mostly contained various sofas, chairs, and beanbags, but also had a little wet bar thing for snacks.  A pair of changing tables flanked one wall, a supply cart between them, a built in bank of cubbies and coat closets took up another.  The back wall had a row of doors labeled ‘Boys’, ‘Girls’, and ‘Nurse’.  “Sometimes somefur will get a boo-boo on the playground and need a bandage.” Ruby explained, seeing me looking at the doors “Not often though; we all play safe!”  Actually I’d been noticing the potties, but I didn’t want to have that conversation again, so I didn’t correct her.

“Right!” Johnny declared, all business, “you needs a cleanup, and everyfur needs a swim diapee!”  “It’s a rule.” Ruby explained, seeing my confusion “They won’t get mad at us bubbling the hot tub, or ‘forgetting’ them, but both would be pushing it…”  “Risk assessment.” I nodded.  That I understood.  “Well, hop up then!” Johnny laughed, patting the top of one of the changing tables.

I found myself hesitating for a moment: for some reason this felt like a decisive choice to me, not just about the direction my friendship with Johnny and Ruby would develop in, but also kind of how my whole attitude towards this place would go.  Thoughts about the furs I had met, and the events of the last few days flitted through my mind, along with all the questions and concerns that went along with them.  There were kind of a lot of both of them, but the longer I pondered it the easier the choice became: I was happy with this.

“That was your second ‘ah-hah’ moment, wasn’t it?” Ruby beamed as I climbed up on the table “I know you already had the first one with your Mommy Susan, I can see it in your eyes every time you look at her—you love being her kit.  This was your other one: you just accepted you like being one for yourself too!”  “How could you tell?” I wondered as I lay down on the table.  “The whole way you carry yourself about these things just shifted.” Johnny laughed, beaming just as widely as Ruby.

“Rock, paper, scissors you for it.” Johnny suggested, the coyote’s tail wagging excitedly.  “That’s fair.” Ruby nodded.  “Wait, for what?” I interjected, feeling like I was missing something obvious.  “You!” they both said at the same time before bursting out laughing.  “Jinx!”  “I’m not sure how I feel about being won in a game of rock paper scissors…” I grumbled.  “You should be happy!” Johnny suggested “Everyfur wants to change your fuzzy little butt!  You’re just that adorable!”  “Are you sure that changing it is the only thing you want to do to his butt?” Ruby teased playfully.

“Umm…” Johnny stuttered, staring at the floor.  (I think that’s the first time I’d seen the coyote blush…) “Were we going to rock, paper, scissors or not?” he demanded, quickly changing the subject.  “Fine. If you’re going to be a spoilsport about it…” Ruby grinned before the game commenced in earnest.  On the second try Johnny won, to his excitement and Ruby’s sportsmanlike disappointment.  (I was starting to think she was the older puppy of the two.)

“Right then.” Johnny announced “Why don’t we get you all sorted out?”  I assumed it was a rhetorical question since he had already busied himself with laying out supplies.  Ruby, meanwhile had taken an attentive seat on a stool at the opposite side of the changing table.  Unfastening the diaper’s tapes, Jonathan folded down the front with a grin.  “Roll on your side please.”  He requested, obviously doing his best to sound grownup and clinical.  I obliged and in short order (which was long on wipes) he had the oatmeal cleaned out of the fur of my tail and butt.

“See,” Johnny pointed out proudly “everything’s all clean, and it didn’t take long at all, did it?”  “Nope.” I admitted, legitimately impressed.  Those fur wipes were some good stuff!  “We did try to tell you…” Ruby reminded me with just a hint of satisfaction at being proven right sneaking into her tone.  “They’s cold though.” I complained, just for the sake of being ornery “They’s not cold when Mama Susan does it!”

“You’re just not used to them.” Johnny informed me seriously “I’ll do it again so you acclimate to them!”  “That’s okay, I’m fine!” I disagreed quickly.  I tried to roll back over, but Johnny was faster, reaching out an arm to block me.  “Nope.  It’s for your own good, right Ruby?”  “Yep!” she nodded cheerfully.  (No help was coming from that avenue, it would seem…)  Making good on his playful threat, Johnny got a fresh wipe and began to teasingly rub it across my bottom and down my crack, pausing briefly at the entrance to my tailhole before continuing on.  “That’s not that cold, now is it?” he asked, knowing full well by my little shivers that it was.  “Uh huh it is!” I accused as he got another wipe and repeated the process in the other direction.

“Umm, Johnny?” Ruby interrupted gently, pointing at where my penis was beginning to poke out of my sheath.  (No, I was not hating the attention!)  “Oh.  Sorry about that, Nick.” He yipped in surprise, letting me lay the rest of the way back down.  “I didn’t mean to…umm…”  “He doesn’t seem to mind.” Ruby pointed out, stating the somewhat obvious.

“That’s not the point.” Jonathan grumbled, now sounding completely grownup “He’s my friend, I don’t want to make him uncomfortable…I mean, we’ve not talked about it or anything.  I don’t even know if he likes boys!”  “ ‘Nee…” I told him kindly “You can if you want.  I want to, and Susan already said it was okay if it was okay with me…”  “She did?” he asked in surprise.  “Yep.” I laughed “She knows about you being an ‘incorrigible leg humper’, and she was pretty convinced you wanted to be that kind of friend too!”  Blushing at a collegiate level, Johnny did his best to shoot Ruby a withering look, though she was way too busy giggling uncontrollably to pay him even cursory attention.

“I don’t know what you think is so funny…” Johnny grumbled “And anyway, if you keep being disruptive you won’t be able to stay and watch!”  “Aww…” Ruby sighed, ears drooping in disappointment “But I want to…”  “Are you going to stop laughing?”  Johnny chided, paws on his hips “Because if you can’t I don’t see how we could possibly…”  “I will!” Ruby interrupted quickly, even managing to get herself mostly back under control.  “Good.” Johnny nodded approvingly “‘Cause I like doing sexy-time things with friends, even if they is a girl!”

“What’s wrong with girls?” I asked, genuinely curious.  I’d never been able to wrap my head around the concept of having an exclusionary preference to one gender or another on the theoretical level.  I mean, of individuals sure, there are more furs than not that I wouldn’t be interested in, but mostly that came from not knowing them well enough to have feelings for them one way or another.  Or alternately knowing them well enough to not be interested in them like that.  But a categorical disinterest just seemed kind of…odd, I guess.  “Nothing…they’re just…not boys.” Johnny shrugged, totally clearing up my confusion about the matter.

Ruby looked like she was going to start laughing again at that, and since I didn’t want to get her in trouble with Johnny again I tactfully decided it would be best to change the subject.  “So, all things considered, do you think we need to finish this up first?” I asked, indicating my still half-finished diaper change.  “Yes please?” Johnny asked hopefully.  “I think somefur might have a thing…” I teased in a singsong voice, almost getting Ruby in trouble again.  “Is that a ‘yes’?” he queried.  “That’s a ‘yes’.” I confirmed.

While Johnny rather eagerly finished up getting me ‘properly padded’ Ruby retrieved several things from the supply cabinets, then set about scooting two of the sofas together.  “We have a fort!” she announced cheerfully before stripping down to just her diaper and taking over one corner.  Taking my paw Johnny led me over to the opposite side and told me to “Hold on for a second.”  While I watched in bemusement he too stripped down to just his diaper, but unlike Ruby did a fantastic job of scattering his clothes to the four winds before hopping over the edge of the couch and taking up residence in the corner diagonally opposite Ruby.  “Well, hop in!” he laughed once he’d gotten himself settled.

Rather more cautiously than he had (what with being sore from getting busted up the other day—though I’d never admit it!) I slid over the back of the sofa next to Johnny.  “That won’t do; you’re too far away!” he grinned, pulling me over to sit on his lap, both of us facing Ruby.  “See, much more friendly!”  “Uh huh.” I nodded, leaning back into his chest.  “You’re big on cuddling, aren’t you?” he observed, brushing his paw along the growing bulge in the front of my diaper.  “Cuddling is nice.” I agreed, a bit distracted by his paw.  “Hmm?” he teased, feigning ignorance of what I was starting to fixate on.  “You seem a little distracted…I wonder why?”  Reaching over for a tube of lube Ruby had brought over, Johnny lifted up the waistband of my padding.  I could practically hear him grinning.  “Nothing little down there!” he informed Ruby matter of factly, then pulling down the waistband of my diaper and squirting a long glob of the lube along the length of my penis before putting it back up again.

Placing the palm of his paw flat on my diaper-covered member he began to rub me, slowly but firmly.  “The little foxy likes that, huh?” he asked rhetorically as I began breathing more heavily.  “Hold on, I forgot something!” he laughed suddenly.  I felt him moving around a bit, followed by the ‘splut’ of the bottle of lube and him returning to where he’d been sitting.  “That could have gotten…chafey.” Johnny explained “Now where were we?”  His paw returning to cup my penis, Johnny began to rub me again, this time grinding his crotch against my diapered butt, matching the rhythm of his paw on my front.

Johnny was in no particular hurry, instead edging us along at a lazy pace that perfectly fit the mood.  After a few minutes I noticed Ruby smiling playfully at us.  Making very deliberate eye contact with me, she pushed the material at the crotch of her diaper aside, revealing the pink of her arousal, and began to masturbate, alternating between stroking a finger along her opening and rubbing her clitoris.  “Yep, she’s not an exhibitionist.  Not even a little bit!” Johnny laughed “Is this your subtle way of saying you’d like to be part of things, dear?”  “If it wouldn’t be an imposition…” she nodded.  “I don’t mind if you don’t.” I informed Johnny.  “Wouldn’t want her to feel left out.” He agreed “But you two have to figure out the logistics!”

“Oh, I’ve got some ideas!” the white wolf smiled ferally.  Straddling Johnny and I on her knees, she leaned forward, her muzzle a hairsbreadth from mine, holding onto the back of the couch behind Johnny with one paw, and taking one of mine in her other.  “This goes here.” She told me, placing it down the front of her diaper to cup her vagina.  “And this one…” she grinned wide enough to show her back teeth while squirting a good bit of lube onto the fingers of my other paw “This one goes here!”  Placing my paw down the back of her diaper Ruby guided it down below the base of her tail.

I raised an eyebrow, giving her a look of ‘are you sure?’  Ruby nodded back eagerly before beginning to grind against my paw, matching Johnny’s pace as she grabbed the back of the sofa with her other paw.  ‘Well, if that’s what she wants.’ I shrugged mentally.  Teasing her tailhole for a minute, I gently worked fingers inside of her from both sides.  “Mmmm…” she purred excitedly, picking up the pace markedly as she unabashedly began making happy ‘eerf’-ing noises.

That worked for me as well: watching the wolf femme enjoying herself like that really shortened how long I was going to last.  Sensing this, Johnny began to rub me much more purposefully through the front of my diaper, and I in turn began to grind back into his crotch as well.

Ruby’s little ‘errf’s quickly grew louder and turned into full-on ‘woofs’ and growls as her thrusting, both forward into my paw and backward onto my fingers, grew more frenetic, drowning out my little ‘errfs’ and Johnny’s much less restrained version.  I could feel her clenching around the fingers in her tailhole, her tail flagging almost spastically, until, with a howl, she orgasmed.  As she extracted herself and flopped down on the couch again with a happy sigh and content expression, I felt Johnny stop for some reason!

“‘Nee?” I whined in urgent confusion “Don’t stop!”  “I want to try something different.” He tried to explain, moving to get up.  “No ‘Nee!” I whined in frustrated horror “I’m nearly…”  “If I let you” he asked coyly beginning to slowly stroke me again “will you do something for me?”  “Uh huh!” I nodded quickly, willing to offer quite a bit at this point.  “Good.” He nodded, pressing hard on my diapered penis and beginning to stroke with real purpose.  “Now make cummies in your diaper for your big brother, okay?”  “Uh huh!” I gasped, past the point where I had much conscious say in the matter.  Then with a gasp I was there, cumming hard.  For what seemed like an eternity I ejaculated, spurt after spurt running down the inside of the diaper, warm trails against the cold of the lube, oozing down my shaft and my sheath to drip in a sticky puddle around my testicles.

“Good, kit?” Johnny asked kindly.  “Very much so.” I agreed as Johnny moved out from under me.  “Where are you going?” I wondered, a bit annoyed by the interrupted cuddle.  “As I recall…” he grinned slyly as he got on all fours in front of me “It’s your turn to do something for me!”  “You mean you want me to…” I asked, a bit surprised.  Instead of answering me, Johnny flicked up his tail and wiggled his butt with quite the audible crinkle.

“I’ll get him ready!” Ruby enthused, helping me to my knees and pulling down the front of my diaper to reveal my now shrinking penis.  “I’ll have that right back in action!” she promised cheerfully.  I was going to express my somewhat dubious opinion on the possibility of an immediate repeat performance, but my comment just came out as a surprised yelp as Ruby took my shaft in her muzzle, slowly running her tongue around it and occasionally managing to get in a nip here and there.

“Don’t forget that’s supposed to be for me!” Johnny pouted as I began to quickly whine in pleasure “You’d better not get girl cooties all over him…”  Pulling back with a laugh, Ruby couldn’t resist teasing the increasingly impatient coyote.  “You’re not the one with a muzzle full of boy-fox!  I was here first, you’ll just have to wait your turn!”  “Ru…by!” Johnny whined plaintively “I want him!  It’s not fair, I haven’t gotten to make stickies yet, and I wanted him to be inside me when I did, and you’re being mean!”  “Oh relax,” Ruby laughed, slapping his butt with a crinkle of plastic “I was just teasing you!”

“Oh...Okay then!” Johnny decided, wiggling his tail in my face again “So quit talking and yiff me already!”  “Well, I guess I’d better…” I sighed theatrically.  Pushing aside the back of his diaper, I squirted more lube onto his tailhole, causing the coyote to shiver a little at the sudden coldness.  “You’ve been a good big brother, haven’t you puppy?” I asked, beginning to gently rub his opening with a finger, every now and then putting it a little way inside him.  “Uh huh.” He panted, trying to push back a little.  “And you’re sure you want this?” I teased playfully.  “Yes.” He nodded simply.

Lining myself up, I began to slowly push against the resistance of his tailhole.  Johnny, however, had other plans.  Catching me completely off guard he thrust back onto me, taking me all the way to my knot in one quick motion.  “Mmm…” he moaned happily before reminding me that “I haven’t had one yet, remember?  I’m ready!”  Feeling him clench and unclench along my length, it took me no time at all to be ‘ready’ too.

Beginning to thrust slowly but firmly into the coyote, I leaned forward over Johnny’s back so that I could stroke him through his diaper.  As his panting turned into excited yips and moans Johnny began to push back faster and more insistently.  Matching his pace, I rewarded him with a firmer grip on his member, every now and then stopping to squeeze his knot playfully.

Leaning forward to almost lie across his back, I took Johnny’s scruff in my muzzle, bringing on a whole new urgency to his yips.  I could tell that the coyote wouldn’t last much longer, and truthfully I wouldn’t either.  I was far enough absorbed in our yiffing that I almost missed it when Johnny mumbled something between yips and moans.  “What was that?” I asked him kindly (around my muzzleful of scruff) “I couldn’t hear you, ‘Nee…”  “Knot me!” he pleaded, more coherently this time “I’m almost there, Nick.  Please tie with me!”  Stopping my thrusting, I began to push firmly against the coyote’s tailhole, biting more firmly on his scruff as he urgently pushed back onto my shaft, until with a last urgent grunt it slipped past his ring, my hips meeting the smooth plastic of Johnny’s diaper.

Beginning to thrust again, hard and fast, I could hear Johnny’s gasps reaching a crescendo.  Releasing his scruff, I leaned forward, muzzle to his ear, and whispered “Make cummies in your diaper for me like a good puppy!”  Moments later Johnny began to orgasm, then, with a final hard push, I began to cum as well, tail twitching behind me wildly.

I could feel Johnny trembling beneath me, and I was having my own troubles standing, so, wrapping an arm around his chest I collapsed backwards, pulling him with me into my lap.  “Worth the wait?” I asked, gently stroking his muzzle.  “Oh yes.” He laughed, sighing happily.  Scooting over and cuddling up with us, Ruby observed that “It’s going to be a little bit before we get that bubble bath, huh?”  “You know how it is…” Johnny nodded in agreement.  “I’ve never let a male tie with me, but I’m familiar with the concept, yes.”  “Well, maybe when we’re done here Nick will be willing to try it out with you…” Johnny suggested with a playfulness I was too tired to find “It’s a really neat feeling by itself, and I love how close it makes me feel to my lovers!”

“Between you two and Mommy Susan I’m going to end up with a protein deficiency!” I joked.  “I’ll ask Daddy Anthony to make steak for dinner.” Johnny decided dismissively, before planting his mind firmly back in his diaper. “Do you like playing with your tailhole?” Johnny asked me, growing excited “I could tie with you, and you could tie with Ruby!  You could do it on whichever side she wanted, but if you did it front ways we could all sandwich hug afterwards while we’re waiting to separate!”  “How come I couldn’t be in the middle?” Ruby asked, sounding slightly put out.  “‘Cause that would be a lot more tying if you didn’t like it.” Johnny explained logically before spoiling it slightly by adding “Besides, if you were in the middle I’d haf’ta yiff a girl…”

“I’m not sure how good an idea it would be anyway…” I hedged, starting to suspect that my bubble bath might be in jeopardy…  “You think it’s a great idea.” Johnny corrected, rubbing his butt against me playfully “I know because I feel it getting full in there again!”  “You’re embarrassing him…” Ruby chided gently.  “He likes it though.” Johnny countered “I can feel that too!”

“So, do you like playing with your tailhole?” Johnny asked, sounding like he was genuinely curious rather than trying to make me uncomfortable.  (I don’t know if he was doing it on purpose, or if Johnny was just unconsciously getting worked up again, but he had begun to gently squeeze and release me inside of him.)  “I like doing it with toys,” I admitted “but I’ve never had another fur inside of me before…”  “Have you ever thought about it?  I mean, I think we’ve pretty conclusively proved that you like males too…” Johnny mused, playfully grinding himself against me to emphasize his point.  “I’ve thought about it.” I explained “But up until I met Mommy Susan and you guys I never really enjoyed anything I’d done with other furs…I guess maybe I really didn’t like them all that much, or I didn’t trust them or something…”  “It makes a big difference.” Ruby agreed “It doesn’t feel cheap or icky when it’s with furs you have feelings for…”

“So is it something you might think about doing some time?” Johnny asked.  At this point I’d kind of decided that if Johnny was going to keep squeezing me with his tailhole then the least I could do was return the favor, so while I was thinking his question over I slid a paw down the front of his diaper and idly began to stroke his still erect penis.  “I think I would.” I decided hesitantly after a long enough pause that my friends were beginning to wonder if I was going to answer at all.

“What about you, Ruby?” Johnny asked, giving the white wolf a hug.  “With you two I would.” She nodded simply “With any other furs, not in a million and a half years.”  “What about your Mommy or Daddy?” I wondered.  “I haven’t found one that fits yet…” she shrugged “I’m a freelance puppy!”  “Well then you have to at least be our sister.” I decided with finality “That way if you get lonely or scared you can sleep over whenever you want!”  “I’d like that.” She decided “I never really wanted to be a sister before, but this really feels like it fits!”  “That doesn’t mean you two can’t yiff, does it?” Johnny teased.  “Not that kind of sister!” Ruby glowered while at the same time I added “You’d better hope not!” pushing his hips down kind of firmly on my shaft.

“Eep!” Johnny exclaimed in pleased surprise.  “Don’t get your hopes up…” I laughed “I don’t have the energy for anything athletic right now!”  “That doesn’t mean that it can’t be good.” Ruby laughed.  “It does if I fall asleep.” I countered.  “That’s okay.” Johnny mused “How about Ruby gets the bubble tub started and Nick and I finish up here?”  It sounded like a plan to both Ruby and I, though I wasn’t quite sure how Johnny planned to ‘finish up’.

As Ruby padded off towards the hallway, Johnny suggested we lie down for a bit.  It seemed like a fantastic idea as far as I was concerned, and a bit of awkward maneuvering later found us flopped out on our sides, spooning because of both anatomical necessity and personal preference.  “This is nice…” I yawned “But I’m not sure how it’ll get my knot to shrink any faster.”  “Well” Johnny explained quite seriously “At this point another orgasm or two and I doubt you’ll be able to keep it up, even if you wanted to.”  My only response to that was an odd hybrid of a laugh and a groan.

“’Nee…” I sighed, not really even knowing what to say to him.  “Don’t worry.” He promised soothingly “Nothing athletic, I promise, just a cozy, sleepy little time…”  “Okay.” I nodded, discovering to my astonishment that when he put it that way I really kind of did want it.

As he began to flex his tail hole on my member again I put both my paws down the front of his diaper, taking his shaft in one and his scrotum in the other, beginning to stroke and rub as I hugged him hard against me, beginning to thrust lazily into him again.  “All the yiffing aside,” he asked “how do you like it here?”  “You know,” I mused, teasing the opening of his sheath with a clawtip “I think I really do.  I’m employed, I’ve made friends, and an actual surrogate family, everyfur has been really friendly, and the cub thing…well, it scratches an itch I didn’t know I had.”  “So you’ll stay then?”  “I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be.” I agreed honestly.  “No more late night covert ops then?” Johnny teased.  “Not off the clock anyway…” I kidded back.  “Well, except” I added, giving a couple of harder thrusts “I could probably be convinced to sneak in through the back door now and then…strictly to stay in practice, mind you!”  “You’re just as incorrigible as I am, you know that?” Johnny accused, clamping down on me hard to emphasize his point.

“I am a little nervous about what we were talking about earlier.” I admitted, changing the subject.  “Don’t be.” Johnny reassured me, beginning to breathe more heavily.  (It would seem he liked having his sheath played with, I observed.)  “You know I’d never do anything that would hurt you, or else we’d…oh gods yes, just like that…we’d not be having this conversation, would we?”  Instead of answering him I slowly worked my pinkie finger back down into his sheath again, turning whatever he was going to say into a delighted moan instead.

“If you keep doing that I’m going to finish way before you do, kit!”  Johnny gasped out.  “I trust you.” I nodded, giving him another tight squeeze that was more hug than hump “It’s just that new things make me kind of nervous, that’s all.”  “Well, this is new to you, how is it working out?” Johnny laughed, wiggling his butt against me with a loud crinkle.  “I’m not hating it.” I teased, unconsciously picking up the pace a little in spite of myself.

“Hey,” I asked, returning my finger to Jonathan’s sheath and slowly beginning to wiggle it around “have you ever tried docking?”  “No, but godsIwantto!” he gasped.  “Want to what?” Ruby asked, sliding over the back of the couch.  “Turns out Jonathan really likes having his sheath played with!” I laughed.  “And if he doesn’t quit it I’m going to cum, and he’ll be on his own for the rest of it!” Johnny explained in exasperation.

“Oh, is that the problem?” Ruby laughed.  Disappearing behind us, I felt a pull on my diaper’s waistband, then a pleasant intrusion working its way into my tail hole.  Adjusting her paw slightly, Ruby began to firmly rub my prostate while stroking the base of my tail with her other paw.  “Problem solved!” she laughed as with a final couple of humps I came, Johnny only moments behind.

As Johnny and I lay there trying to catch our breath, Ruby announced that “I want to watch when you two separate!”  “It’s kind of a thing for me, and I was hoping to have another before we all cleaned up…” she explained, blushing.  “Okay!” Johnny agreed gleefully “I likes showing off!”

Sitting down across from us, Ruby spread her legs wide, untapeing her diaper and folding down the front to reveal her thoroughly aroused opening before idly beginning to finger herself.  I was about to suggest Johnny wait a bit for my knot to go down some more, but before I could he shifted around a little and pulled it out of himself with none of the trouble I’d been led to expect.  With a playful grin he sidled over to Ruby, slipping out of his diaper as he went.

Setting it down under him, he straddled it and laid down on his knees, butt in the air, presenting himself for our inspection, his tail held high in the air like a flag.  Johnny was still stretched wide from pulling out my knot, and as he shifted his position the slight ooze that had matted the fur around his tail hole became a steady stream of semen running out of him to drip down his scrotum and puddle with his own ejaculations in his now very used diaper.

This obviously turned Ruby on to no end, and she was quickly touching herself with a burning need.  Her moans had soon reduced themselves to hiccupy little gasps, her tail thrashing around her, until with a howl she climaxed.  “You good?” I asked kindly, brushing a few pieces of stray headfur out of her eyes.  “Uh huh.” She smiled with a highly sated expression on her muzzle.  “But later I want you to yiff me on the changing table!”

The amount of cleanup the three of us needed really precluded the swim diapers, so instead (as soon as everyfur could walk again) we just scampered quickly to the shower room.  “I think we can agree to make the shower co-ed in present company.” I joked as I ducked in to let the water warm up before we all hopped in to rinse off.  “If we have to…” Johnny sighed fakely “But if I get girl cooties…”  “I’m pretty sure your fleas would just eat them…” Ruby explained sweetly.  “Only if your mange didn’t kill them both.” Johnny agreed seriously before they both cracked up laughing.  “What’s even funnier is that Nick was starting to look worried!” he pointed out cheerfully as we all ducked into the shower.

Ruby and I didn’t take particularly long to get clean, but Johnny was a different story.  While he was finishing up Ruby took me to get our swim diapers.  I was a bit disappointed to learn that they were pull-ups, but I guess they’d have to be given their intended use.  I was still grumbling a bit when Johnny joined us.  “All clean?” Ruby asked while grabbing us some towels off the shelf.  Johnny pirouetted around on his heel dramatically, finishing it off with a deep bow.  He probably shouldn’t have held the bow quite as long as he did: lifting up his tail I pretended to thoroughly inspect the area beneath.  “He’s clean.” I announced clinically “No matting or seepage.”

Johnny had a look of happy embarrassment, along with a very visible blush as he stepped into the swim diaper Ruby presented him with, and we were soon heading to the bubbles everyfur kept promising me.

We entered the sauna room I had been to with Susan the other night, but this time I was in a much better position to take things in than on my last visit.  The room was part of an actual sauna (it was probably intended to be an upgraded cooling pool), with the steam room being through a door in the back.  The room we were in was more of a changing room, having several benches and hooks for robes and things along one wall and storage cabinets and cubbies along the other.  The floor was of a brown ceramic tile with a surprisingly effective non-slip texture and a color that almost perfectly matched the cedar paneling of the walls and cabinets.  (And ceiling too, I noticed—somefur put a lot of money into building this room…)  As interesting as all that was, my attention was immediately monopolized by what I saw in the center of the room: an enormous mound of bubbles that, if my sources were correct, had a hot tub buried under it somewhere!

“Bet you thought we only had the one by the pool!” Ruby commented as I looked around.  “Actually, I didn’t know there was one by the pool too…” I nodded “But your point remains valid.”  Shuffling his feet through the edge of the bubbles, Johnny located the little staircase down into the tub, warning us “Don’t trip on anything, it’s kind of buried under here…”  All things considered I had to agree with him.  Carefully finding my footing I descended into the cloud until only the tips of my ears were visible to my friends, then disappearing entirely as I sat down.

I could hear Ruby and Johnny getting in too, little splashes giving them away before they emerged through the bubble wall into the little clear space I’d made.  “This is…really something…” I said in a little bit of awe.  “Oh yeah.” Johnny nodded as he and Ruby took spots on either side of me “I didn’t want to leave the first time I was here!”  “I could definitely see that.” Ruby agreed.  “The water’s nice.” I nodded.  I should have thought to give this a try much earlier, between the gentle massage of the jets and the warmth of the water soaking in to my muscles my aches and pains had moved from ‘a low level of tolerable’ to ‘pretty much gone’.  Closing my eyes with a happy sigh I let my mind start to drift.  (Which would have been much easier if somefur hadn’t decided to make me a bubble hat…)

“Now don’t go falling asleep on us!” Ruby warned “You don’t want to slip under by accident…”  “I’m awake.” I assured her, not bothering to open my eyes “I’m just kind of blissed out over here…It’s really nice, and I’m kind of sore…”  “Me too!” Johnny laughed, his tone a bit suggestive “We’ve got to do that again soon!”  “That’s not what I meant, and yes we do.” I laughed back.

“Aren’t you going to play with the bubbles?” Ruby suggested.  “I don’t like bubbles.” I explained with a complete lack of credibility “They’re…umm…bubbly?”  “It’s a good thing you don’t work for an intelligence agency.” Johnny laughed, finally getting me to open my eyes again by depositing a huge blob of bubbles on my muzzle “You’d have never made it as a spy if you can’t lie better than that!”  “That was a different department.” I informed him distractedly while trying to figure out exactly how one would go about throwing a pawful of bubbles at a certain coyote.  Failing miserably, I settled for trying to add a roof to our little clearing in the bubbles.  “Besides, I never did anything like that…I’ve worked as an assistant general manager at Book Lands for the last ten years…”  “Which went out of business, leaving no verifiable employment records…” Jonathan pointed out, rolling his eyes “But a plausible resume placeholder…”  “That’s mildly uncharitable.” I grinned, amused that the coyote was turning out to be much more thorough than any of the staffing drones I’d talked to.  “So what kind of manager were you?” Jonathan pressed.  “The boring kind.  That sells things.  And does paperwork and stuff!” I growled, growing irritated.  If my fur wasn’t soaked it would have been starting to frizz.

“Be nice.  We just wanted to know some more about you, little brother.” Ruby chided “And you’ll have to excuse us if we’re a bit incredulous: with the wet fur your ‘bookstore’ scars are kind of obvious.”  I didn’t really have a counter to that.  “I didn’t mean to be a jerk about it.  I’m sorry.” I sighed.  “It’s okay.” Jonathan nodded seriously before adding in a more playful tone of voice “So what kind of ‘manager’ were you?”

Slipping back down into the warm water, I gave him a look.  “The kind that carries a rifle with the serial numbers scrubbed off in places we’re not at war with to zap folks that are just as not holed up there.  The kind that is paid through companies that only exist on paper to do things that international agreements say we don’t do.  The kind that when a run goes right makes sure our boys in the field get back home and if it goes sideways nobody is coming for.”  Looking at Jonathan and Ruby I was relieved to see none of the disdain I’d been anticipating finding there.  “So why did you quit?” Jonathan wondered.  “Mostly I got fired.” I explained “I got written off; sent out on a run without an assumption of completion.  To be a diversion, it turned out.  I made it home a little less dead than my handlers expected, and after some…umm…discussion on the matter we mutually decided to part company.”  “Discussion?” Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow.  “Killed my boss.” I shrugged “It’s cool though, management was going to ‘retire’ him anyway; turns out he had some…side projects he was involved with.”  “Did you know that at the time?” Ruby asked somewhat pointedly.   “If you like.” I shrugged innocently “Hey, do we have any more of the bubble liquid?”

Once their curiosity had been satisfied the subject dropped and we had all gone back to the bubbles until a combination of them eventually dissolving and the three of our pawpads having wrinkled up to the point that they were getting uncomfortable forced the decision to evacuate the tub.

I had almost started to be disappointed with the situation until Johnny pointed out that the next stop was down the hall at the furdrying room.  That immediately drug up my reserves of enthusiasm.  The large rooms with their staggered rows of air blowers and exhaust vents were a special treat for me since their size usually limited them to larger swimming centers and public bathhouses.  “Now remember” Ruby instructed “we can’t spend too long in here or else your skin will dry out too much and you’ll start to dehydrate…”

“Don’t care!” I giggled, slipping by her and selecting one of the wood lattice benches in the center of the room to flop my naked, drippy self down on “I’m not leaving even if I turn into a stick of fox jerky!”  Ignoring my defiance she turned her attention to the control panel, picking out the settings she wanted and turning on the fans.  “You can’t stay too long.” Johnny informed me sadly “There’s a lock-out timer.”  “Aww…” I sighed as my friends situated themselves on neighboring benches.

A moment later the program Ruby had selected kicked on.  She had set the lights to ‘low’, and had the dryers on ‘medium heat, low wind’, but with a randomized, whirlwind pattern to the airflow so that the intake and exhaust vents kept shifting, creating, not surprisingly, a cyclone with pulsing eddies in the currents.  All in all, I approved.  “Susan mentioned a toy room…” I recalled somewhat randomly.  “Yep.” Johnny nodded “It’s down a floor from here.  Most of the storage is for some reason, I guess maybe as a noise barrier between the gym and the sleeping areas…”  “Have you been in there before?” I wondered “What kind of stuff do they have?”  “Pretty much anything you can think of.” Ruby laughed “That’s kind of the point…”  “We should go there when the machine kicks us out of here…” I mused “Think they have enough Legos to build a playhouse out of?”  “Maybe!” Ruby exclaimed, obviously loving the idea “Or at least build some arches in the hallway!  Wouldn’t that be neat!  Do you think we could make a gate even?  I want a hall gate!”  “That would be pretty cool, but they don’t have any of the cubs authorized on the door’s lock…” Johnny sighed.

“Oh Nick…” Ruby asked in a singsong voice “Do you think you could use your spy skills to get us past that mean old door?”  “I don’t have ‘spy skills’, I have ‘wetwork skills’…” I corrected primly “And for the record I could break into any room in this building blindfolded, with one paw tied to my tail!”  “I’m going to like having you for a little brother…” she praised.  “I’m really uncomfortable being the voice of reason” Johnny sighed “but I think I need to go on record saying this may actually be the worst idea ever.”  “But…” Ruby began to argue.  Johnny just talked over her “Do you have any idea how much trouble we would be in if we got caught?  If you two want a spanking, just ask and we can work something out that doesn’t involve being in time out for a year…”  “I don’t want to get spanked…” I nodded, seeing his logic.  (Ruby just looked at him appraisingly, apparently filing the offer away for later…)

“You’re right.” She eventually sighed “But we should at least ask the grownups about it; you have to admit it would be a great project for everyfur!”  “I never said I didn’t like the idea, just the implementation.” He laughed “The idea is great…”  That seemed to cheer Ruby up a bit as the conversation moved on to other things.  “It’s Friday, isn’t it?” Johnny remembered suddenly.  “Oh yeah!” Ruby nodded, her tail beginning to wag happily “With everything going on I’d forgotten!”  “What’s on Friday?” I asked curiously.  “Late bedtime video game night!” Johnny explained “It’s like a sleepover in the main room all night:  we play games until cartoons come on in the morning!”  “That could be pretty fun!” I agreed before remembering something that made my ears droop “But my laptop is back at my apartment…”

“That’s okay.” Johnny nodded “Most of our stuff is console anyway.  Plus you can ask the grownups and they’ll have whatever you want brought over for you…”  “You should think about having them sublet your apartment.” Ruby pointed out “Since you’ve decided you’re staying with us it’s really kind of a waste of money to keep it.  They’ll give you storage space on five or six for your personal stuff and get you one of those portable storage cubes for your furniture and anything like that…”  “But what if I want a space later for being a big boy?” I mused.

“Well, if you really hate my decorating that much I guess we could keep your place off-property…” A voice by the door joked.  “Hi Mommy!” I laughed, jumping up to give the dragon femme a hug.  “Anthony said you three were coming down here…” she explained, sitting down with me on my bench “So I thought I should make sure you cubs were keeping out of trouble!”  “Mostly.” I nodded as I settled back down in her lap “We were trying to decide what I should do with my place…”  “And what have you come up with?”

“I really kind of want to get a place with you…” I suggested shyly “My apartment isn’t all that great anyway, but I’d still sort of like to have a grownup place for my books and things…plus, I don’t know, I kind of wish we had something a little more…domestic, less dormitory feeling…”  “I agree actually.” Susan nodded “As a matter of fact I’ve been talking with the building operations furs, and they’re going to see about moving us to one of the apartments they’re putting together on the other floor.  They’ve been slowly trying to get everyfur moved up somewhere homier.  Nobody really wants to live in a dorm…”

“There’s one other thing.” I began, hoping Susan wouldn’t get mad “Ruby and I were sort of hoping she could move in with us.  She doesn’t have a caretaker, and we all think she should have a family, and…” I kind of trailed off, waiting for an explosion.  “Of course you can honey!” Susan beamed at the white wolf “I’m so glad you finally decided to settle down!”  “We were friends before either of us came here.” Susan explained “But we can tell you about that later.  It’s not really much of a story anyway.”  “Do you think Daddy Anthony and I could be next door?” Johnny asked eagerly “I like having our own place, but nearby would be good!”  “They’ve not started assigning units yet, so I’ll bet that could be arranged.” Susan nodded “Once we’re done here I’ll talk to Anthony and we’ll check with Operations.”  “Let’s go now!” Johnny decided eagerly.  I was just about to vote against leaving the warm air when the dryers clicked off, rendering the issue moot.

Johnny was of the ‘go now’ persuasion, and Ruby was leaning towards ‘get dressed first’, so we compromised with ‘bathrobes and run’.  (Except that Susan demanded ‘run’ actually be ‘walk’.)  On the other side of the elevator we split up to get dressed (and diapered) again, agreeing to meet back up later for dinner before game night.

Susan decided that clothes were to be the first order of business, so we headed over to my room.  Setting me on the changing table, she made her calls while looking though my closet for what I’d be wearing.  From what I gathered from her side of the call having Ruby move in with us would actually simplify the logistics involved, and having Jonathan and Anthony next door wasn’t a problem either.  By the time she’d hung up it seemed like everything was in order.  It also seemed I’d be wearing shorts and a blue shirt with ‘Little Terror’ screen printed on the front.

“We’ve got to move this along a bit.” Susan grinned as she set out a diaper and powder “The powers that be think that ‘right now’ would be a good time for us to move in.”  “What about Ruby?” I worried as I lifted up my butt so Susan could slide the diaper under me “I hope it’s not a bad time for her…”  Getting my tail situated, Susan just laughed.  “Apparently she’s already half done…you have to understand something about Ruby: the poor puppy is both horribly shy and really lonely.  She just doesn’t trust easily, but she actually really likes being around other furs.  Everyfur is going to be ecstatic that you talked her into staying with us!”  “I’m glad you’re not mad…I kind of dropped that on you…”  Sprinkling on some powder, Susan fastened up the front of my diaper with a crinkly flourish.  “Not even a little bit, in this case.  We actually dated for a bit in school before her…problems.”

“I’m not going to ask about that.” I told Susan “If she wants to tell me about whatever happened to her, she will when she’s ready.”  Looking relieved, Susan helped me into my clothes.  “I’m proud of you for that.  It’s a more grown up attitude than most furs have.”  “I like her.” I explained honestly “if she needs some space it would be crass of me to not give it.”  Taking my paw, Susan suggested that “We should vacate before the movers get here…why don’t we check on Ruby, then maybe see the new place?”

It seemed like a solid plan at first, but upon arriving at Ruby’s room we discovered it was already completely cleaned out.  “That didn’t take long.” I observed.  “I guess not.” Susan laughed “She’s probably upstairs already…” A quick elevator ride proved Susan right: a similar hallway to the one we had left was occupied by several dollies of furniture and a moving crew being bossed around by a familiar muzzle in a pink party dress.

Noticing our arrival, Ruby eagerly waved us over.  “Hi hi!  Come look, it’s really nice and has a bunch of rooms and everything!”  Giving each other bemused looks, Susan and I went along for the somewhat manic tour.  Besides the expected three bedrooms, there was a little kitchen, a utility closet with a little washer/dryer and a drying rack (for diaper covers and other stuff that shouldn’t go in the machines, Susan explained), a bigger living room than I’d expected (complete with a sort of mini-office in an alcove off one corner), a little dining area, and only one (very large) bathroom.

The two bedrooms for Ruby and I were set up basically like my old one had been, except being more roomy and having windows.  Ruby’s furniture, I noticed, was for a puppy a little older than I was, mostly by having a bed with bumper rails and a princess canopy.  (I found myself liking my crib better—I guess they’d been right about me being a ‘young one’…)  The rest of our new place was set up in a much more suburban manner, or at least would be once the furniture was moved in.

“They wanted to see if you two wanted some of your own furniture moved in before they filled the place out.” Ruby explained.  “Just my bookshelves.” I decided “The rest of my stuff is pretty ‘bachelor pad’.  Oh, and I wants one of those ‘bowl chair’ thingies!”  “My stuff is pretty much dorm furniture.” Ruby chimed in “And I actually got rid of most of it since I’ve been here.  I vote for bowl chairs too, by the way…”  “Well, I’ve got some actual furniture you two will like.” Susan nodded “And judging by the bowl chair votes I should probably handle this anyway…”  “Very autocratic of you, dear.” I laughed.  “More like despotic.” Ruby grumbled as her visions of a fluffy pink house began to fade.  “I’m open to suggestions…” Susan assured her “Just within reason…”

“There’s not all that much to do here…” I hinted “I say we loot the toy room and build a toll gate in the hallway.”  “Oh yeah!” Ruby squealed, beginning to lay out our plans to Susan.  “That’s actually a pretty good idea.” She mused “I’ll bet we could even get it authorized and official.  I’ll check on that this evening when I do my work emails.”

I began to notice that the stuff being moved in was now from my and (I assumed) Susan’s rooms, and that more importantly we were starting to be in the way of some of the larger stuff.  “Yeah.” Susan agreed, seeing what I had noticed “It would probably be polite for us to go somewhere that isn’t in the way for a while…”  Looking at her watch, Susan decided on a plan.  “If you two want to head downstairs for a while to the main room I’ll get the rest of the furniture sorted out, then we can meet Jonathan and Anthony for dinner before game night starts up.”  “Is it that late already?” I asked in surprise, reflexively looking at a watch that wasn’t there.  “You slept pretty much all morning, remember, silly kit!” Susan pointed out patiently.  “Ruby, please keep an eye on your little brother, I’m beginning to really wonder how he managed without us…”  “Mean!” I laughed as Ruby took my paw and led me back out into the hallway.

“We’ll probably have to come back up after dinner for our jammies.” Ruby mused on the elevator “They’re much nicer for game night…”  “Why don’t we get them first then?” I suggested.  “Because we don’t want them to get dirty.” She sighed, giving me a look that made it clear she felt that should have been obvious.  In retrospect it probably should have been, but my reply was cut off by Johnny glomping both of us as we entered the dining room.

“Hi ‘Nee!” I laughed.  “Be careful, we don’t want Nick to pull a stitch!” Ruby growled at the same time.  “I’m okay, it’s fine!” I assured the room at large, placating both the angry look on Ruby’s muzzle and the ashen concern appearing on Johnny’s.  “Glad to hear it.” Susan nodded from where she had come up behind us “What did I miss?”  “The food.” I told her seriously “You took so long we decided you weren’t coming, so I ate it all.”  “Obviously your brain is still scrambled.” She teased back “We’ll just have to skip solids again until you’re making more sense!”

“But there’s macaroni…” Johnny disagreed, grabbing Ruby and I’s paws and dragging us to the table he and Anthony had been waiting at.  “Besides, I already got some for everyfur so he has to eat it!”  “I see what you’re doing…” Susan informed him seriously.  “Looking out for my little brother.” Johnny nodded, equally seriously.  “Don’t think I won’t let her spank you if you start getting mouthy, pup.” Anthony warned.  “I’ll be good.” Johnny nodded “But the point remains valid.”  “That’s sweet of you.” Susan smiled, deflating Anthony a bit “I feel good knowing that you and Ruby are such a good brother and sister to him.”

As Susan began serving everyfur from the large pan on the warmer in the middle of the table, Anthony changed the subject, “So Ruby, Johnny says you’re moving in with Susan and Nick.”  “Yep yep!” she nodded happily before attacking her food “An I’s got brothers now too. Two of them!”  “That’s good!” Anthony nodded “I’m glad to see you decided it was time; everyfur thinks it would be good for you.”  “Are you and Johnny going to be our neighbors?” she asked between bites.  “We’re moving in right after dinner.” Anthony confirmed “We’ll be the first two on the floor!”  “We’re pioneers!” I laughed as Susan unsuccessfully tried to feed me a spoonful of macaroni “Or conquerors!  I say we seize the territory and start our own autonomous collective of…”  There was more to the thought, but Susan clamped a paw around my muzzle.  “No more talking until you clean your plate!”

My dining made more progress after that, with the others planning the evening while Susan fed me.  I almost felt a little put out by this, but the macaroni was good, and I quickly discovered that I actually really liked being fed when I let myself.  Susan and Anthony, it turned out, had a staff meeting after dinner, which was one of the points of a weekly game night.  Anthony figured he and Johnny could get the movers set up, then he’d drop Johnny off with Ruby and I for the games.  Susan had to be there earlier since she had some ‘new kit’ things to take care of, so Ruby would be in charge of keeping an eye on her ‘little brother’ until the caretakers got back.  This was fine with me, especially since the other choice was an early bedtime.

I was disappointed to discover the macaroni had come with a sippy cup of juice instead of the bottle I was quickly getting accustomed to, but as Susan logically pointed out solid foods worked better that way.  That, and Johnny’s reassurance that he would personally see that I would get as many bottles as I felt the need for at the game night went a long way towards consoling me.

At least up until I learned that ‘for sanity’s sake’ dessert would be limited to game night as well.  Something about cubs being given free reign of the stores of sugar and caffeine being only permissible after civilized furs were behind locked doors…I was pretty sure that was just the grownups being facetious, but I really had the urge to let myself in to the security office to see if I could actually put the building on lockdown.  For the caretakers’ safety, of course.

“That’s the same look you had when Ruby was talking you in to going on a commando raid to the toy room…” Johnny said, sounding a little bit worried “I don’t like that look…Daddy Anthony, make Nick stop!”  “Many have tried to breach the gates of the toy room, but all have failed!” Anthony laughed “The toy room is impregnable!”  “Yeah, but he could if he wanted to.” Johnny explained “His Big is kind of scary…”  “Am not.” I sulked.  “You kind of are…” Ruby corrected gently “But we love you anyway!”  “So you were a toy store burglar then?” Anthony asked, sounding bemused “Can you liberate the bounty of the kingdom and give it to the cubs like some kind of cute little diapered Robin Hood?”  “Yep.” I agreed cheerfully.  “Actually, he probably can.” Susan confirmed with a shrug.  “…Oh.” Anthony said, not sure if he needed to know, was curious, or would be happier just letting the matter drop.

After a long pause Anthony’s curiosity finally got the better of him.  “You really used to be a burglar?”  “Oh, no no no, nothing like that!”  I assured him “I worked for a government agency, that’s all…”  “Ah, okay.” Anthony nodded, looking relieved “Law enforcement or something?”  “Not even that interesting…I just fixed stuff.”  Johnny nearly choked on his ‘to go’ juice box at that he laughed so hard “Yep, Nick is our little diapered ‘fixer’…”  “Be nice.” Anthony chided “There’s nothing wrong with working in facilities maintenance…when I was in the Army the two most popular furs on base were the medic and the repair guy…if either of them didn’t do a good job…”  “Hey, maybe Nick fixed something for you!” Johnny continued, still giggling.

Anthony was visibly torn between correcting Johnny or joining in.  Since I was laughing along with everyone else he decided it really was all in fun, so he decided to go along with it.  “Maybe…  Ever do any electrical work in Berdanth?  We had a lot of repair guys over on that when I was deployed…”  Shaking my head in the negative as we were all splitting up at the elevators to go our separate ways, I shrugged.  “Nope, no electrical work…”  As the doors started to close on Ruby and I, I couldn’t resist adding “I fixed that warlord that kept ambushing your patrols outside of FB-11 though.”  I probably shouldn’t have enjoyed the look of dawning realization on his muzzle as the elevator doors clicked shut quite as much as I did…

“Should I feel bad about that?” I grinned at Ruby as the elevator took us to our floor.  “Naw…he needs to be pushed a little now and then.  That’s why he and Johnny are so good together: Johnny brings some disorder into his life…”  “And he keeps Johnny firmly planted on the right side of the line.” I finished.  “Exactly.” Ruby agreed as we got off the elevator “Kind of like you and Susan: have you noticed how much happier you’ve been since you’ve had her to make you not be so serious all the time?”  “I’d not thought about it, but I think there’s something to that.” I agreed.  “So what about you then?”  “I needed some furs that I feel unconditionally safe around.” Ruby decided “And I think that’s you and Johnny.  Susan too probably, once I adjust how I think of our relationship; how it is and could be, not just friends and exes the way it was…”  “What about Anthony?” I wondered.  “I consider him a friend.” She decided “Not sure as far as a caretaker…definitely Uncle material though, I think…”  “That’s a good way to look at it.” I nodded “Not a Daddy, but more than just a random caretaker…”

“This has gotten way too analytical.” Ruby decided as we let ourselves in to our new place.  “No argument there!” I nodded “Let’s see how things have filled out on the home front…”  The answer turned out to be ‘pretty well, so far’.  All our bedrooms were done, as was the kitchen and office space.  We had a dining room table, which, I was surprised (and more than a little pleased) to see included a highchair.  The living room was still a work in progress, with masking tape on the floor and walls setting out where most of the furniture would go.  We did, however, have a big coffee table that would be perfect for playdates, and a large playpen off to one side.  “Not sure how I feel about the cubby jail…” I grumbled, eyeing the playpen suspiciously.  “But on the bright side, the fridge is full!” Ruby announced cheerfully.

“As long as my bed is here, and Fluffy made it.” I decided as we went to inspect our rooms.  Everything seemed to have moved okay, though the larger rooms felt a little sparse with just the things from our old ones.  “Not a problem.” Ruby informed me “They left a whole stack of catalogs on Susan’s desk!”  “That could be pretty nifty, I’ve never picked out furniture before…”  “Maybe tomorrow after everyfur is back up and about.” Ruby agreed “Historically we’re always pretty zonked out the morning after a game night.”

“Speaking of which, we have to decide what you’re going to wear!” Ruby grinned before diving into my closet.  “There’s not all that much to choose from.” I warned her “Unless Mama picked up some things I haven’t seen.”  “You’re right about there not being much there.” Ruby grumbled “Mommy Susan and I are going to have to order you some stuff…”  “Howcomes you too?” I teased.  “Because I’m the big sister now, that means I’m responsible for making sure a certain little boy-fox looks presentable!”

Returning to the closet, Ruby made a selection: a light blue footed sleeper with a white cloud print on it.  “This will be cute.” She decided, holding it up for my approval.  “Will it be too warm?” I asked “Being all sweaty isn’t cute…”  “They always run the air conditioning cold for these things.” Ruby explained “that way everyfur can have their blankies or cuddle and not feel icky.”  “That’s good.” I nodded “I don’t like being hot.  It’s just…not good.”

“My turn!” Ruby giggled, tossing the sleeper over a chair and practically dragging me to her room.  “I’ve got lots more clothes than you…” she explained, throwing open the closet to reveal the truth in that statement: it was packed to almost overflowing.  Settling down I watched Ruby cheerfully putter through her closet, discarding one selection or another, sporadically asking my opinion of this or that until finally deciding on a frilly pink and white sleeper with (in my opinion) a rather disturbing amount of lacey trim.

“Are we ready to go then?” I asked getting back up and stretching out as well as my sutures would allow.  “We’ve still got a while before anyfur starts showing up downstairs, I was thinking, maybe, if you wanted to…” Ruby began, blushing deeply while staring at her feet.  “Ruby, you don’t have to be shy with me…not by now, certainly!”  Looking me in the eyes, she rushed out “Will you yiff me on the changing table like we talked about earlier?”  “Do you really even have to ask that?” I grinned playfully.  “Umm…are we going to have to go find some protection first though?”  It was Ruby’s turn to laugh at that this time.  “Everyfur in this building except maybe a couple of the office staff is on birth control.  AB/DL and Caretaker tendencies most certainly do not equate wanting to breed up a litter!  Oh, and just for your peace of mind, everyfur here has had a clean health screening as well.”  “I’m glad to hear the first one, and the second one doesn’t matter so much: I trust you, Susan, and ‘Nee to tell me if there’s something I need to know, and despite the impression I might have given y’all I’m actually really picky…I’m not about to yiff just anyfur who raises their tail for me!”

Grinning playfully at me, Ruby hiked up the back of her skirt, lifted her tail, and teasingly wiggled her butt at me with a crinkling of plastic.  “See.” I grinned, patting her diaper as a noticeable bulge began to grow in the front of mine “You just have to know how to ask!”  Taking her by the paw I led Ruby over to the changing table and helped her up onto it.  “Now if I heard right, puppy wants her little brother to help her out with something in her nappy?”  “Yes please!” she nodded.  “Well then let’s get these off…” I nodded as she stepped out of her shoes, then raised her arms so I could slip her dress off over her head, leaving her on the changing table in nothing but her diaper.

Getting a pillow from her bed, I suggested that “Maybe you should lie down here at the end so we can…umm…get to everything.”  Seeing the logic in this, and being fully in support of ‘getting to everything’, the white wolf quickly complied, and after she had situated herself with her legs hanging off the end of the table I slipped the pillow under her head.  “There we go!  Comfortable?”  “Yep!” she nodded expectantly.  “Well then…” I grinned back.  Slowly I began to unfasten the tapes on her diaper, enjoying the look of happy anticipation on her muzzle at the sound of each of the tapes pulling away from the plastic.

“Let’s see what we’ve got here…” I suggested, tapping the front of her diaper with a finger, before pausing, a contemplative look on my muzzle.  “Actually,” I teased “I’ve got something to take care of first…” Reaching down, I found the ends of a strap that was tucked away under the table top.  Buckling the seatbelt (Is there actually a name for these things?) across her, I tightened the strap just enough to make my point.  “Don’t want my big sis falling off…” I chided “Now you be a good little girl and wait there until I get back!”

Stepping outside of Ruby’s line of sight I quickly stripped down to the fur.  Noticing that she was very quickly growing fidgety, I couldn’t resist waiting a few moments to see what Ruby would do.  Fidgeting turned quickly to occasional plaintive little whines, and I could see the wolf femme having to make a conscious effort to keep her paws from straying to her diaper.  Just as I was pretty sure arousal was about to win out over willpower, I stepped back into view at the end of the table.

“That’s better,” I announced cheerfully “let’s just get that seatbelt off and we’ll see if I can’t figure out what I was doing over here!”  “Leave it on?” Ruby requested.  “If you like.” I smiled indulgently.  “I’m pretty sure I do like…” she nodded, seeming a bit curious about it.

Tickling her belly to re-focus things a bit, it didn’t take long to have Ruby giggling and squirming.  Slowly working my way downwards, I passed her bellybutton, and began to tiptoe my fingers along the waistband of the wolf’s last bit of modesty.  With a little shiver of anticipation Ruby let out a tiny whine of impatience.  Without any prompting she lifted her legs up, spreading them so I could fold down the front of her diaper.  “Let me just slide this out from under here…” I began.  Putting a paw out to stop me, Ruby disagreed.  “Leave it there…I want you to fasten it back up when we finish.  Then we’ll have a naughty little secret tonight!” she explained cheekily.  “You seem to like that idea…” I observed, running a finger gently along the damp pinkness of her arousal.  “Kind of a lot!” she agreed.

Letting the front half of her diaper fall over the edge of the table I took a moment to appreciate the sight before me.  I had to admit I liked what I saw, her snowy white fur, dappled here and there with faint highlights of silver, and her almost golden eyes looking both cute and arousing at the same time.  Putting her legs in the air, and spreading them wide, Ruby gave me a pouting look.  “Little brother…” she chided a little impatiently now.  (I guess her puppy was starting to show!)  “Good things come to those who wait.” I pointed out seriously.  “Yes, and corner time comes to little kits who don’t hurry up and yiff their big sisters!”

“I’d hate to get a time-out on a game night.” I nodded, beginning to oh so slowly push into her, stopping as my knot began to brush up against her opening.  Ruby put her footpaws on the edge of the changing table, knees pointing up and outwards for ‘easy access’.  I almost cracked up laughing a minute later when I felt her lifting her tail up between my legs and along my back: she had much fluffier fur on her tail than I did on my testicles, and it tickled…a lot!  Seeing my barely stifled giggle a wicked grin plastered itself to Ruby’s muzzle and she began to slowly wag her tail back and forth under me and along my back.  This time I did giggle, I couldn’t help it!  “Naughty little puppy!”  “You’re one to talk!”

Instead of answering Ruby (when I really had no valid reply to the accusation) I began to slowly thrust into the wolf femme, earning a murr of appreciation.  I was surprised to discover that unlike her very physically assertive mood our last encounter this time Ruby seemed much more inclined towards a passive stance.  Even her ‘approving feedback’ was much more ‘happy little huff’ than ‘enthusiastic growl’.  “Everything okay?” I finally asked…kind of an odd question to broach to somefur when your knot is brushing up against their clitoris…

“Uh huh.” She smiled dreamily up at me “It’s been so long since I’ve felt safe like this with somefur, I’d almost forgotten how much I liked feeling submissive during sex sometimes…”  “As long as I’m not boring you.” I teased “It would be kind of a blow to the ego if I yiffed you to sleep!”  “Oh, I’ll give you a blow to something a little later…” she promised “But right now what I really need is an Alpha!”  “Hush puppy!” I nodded, tapping her on the nose “Little brother is yiffing here!”  Yeah, I’m not sure how well I could fake Alpha, but if that’s what Ruby was in the mood for I’d try my best…as long as nofur laughed!

Leaning forward a bit I put my paws on Ruby’s shoulders and began thrusting more earnestly, feeling her tail begin to hitch behind me as she began to vocalize little panting ‘aahs’ of excitement.  “Naughty little puppy enjoying herself?” I asked rhetorically.  “Not naughty!” she disagreed, doing something with the end of her tail that rather disproved her assertion and nearly caused me to lose my somewhat precarious footing in surprise.  “Pretty sure we’re both naughty.” I argued “Doesn’t that go paw in paw with ‘I’ll show you mine if you show me yours’ games?”  “Nope.” She explained, finding yet another part of my bathing suit area to tickle with her tail “’Doctor’ is educational!”

“I’m not sure you need any sex education…” I gasped, moving my paws to tickle her tummy playfully, slowing my thrusting in the process “You’re quite good at it, it would seem!”  “I could teach it.” Ruby suggested, before a better idea (and wider grin) occurred to her “Or we could get Mommy Susan and Daddy Anthony to!  That could be really…inclusive…and satisfying!”  “I’m…not hating that idea.” I decided, unconsciously picking up the pace again, to Ruby’s obvious delight.  “But that’s for later.” I informed her severely, reaching over and giving her ear a nip in my best pseudo-Alpha “Right now…you’re mine…puppy!”  I might have been having trouble not laughing at myself, but it was working for Ruby, which worked for me.  Convenient, that.

As we were both rapidly approaching orgasm a fantastically wicked idea occurred to me.  “Don’t you dare cum yet!” I instructed with a look on my muzzle that made it clear what I had in mind would be totally worth it.  Nodding in anticipation I saw a look of serious willpower cross Ruby’s muzzle as I tried to bring myself off before she did.  I quickly pulled out as I climaxed, yipping happily as I came across her pubis, my tail hitching behind me.

“Puppy wanted a naughty little secret to keep…” I grinned when I’d made as much of a mess as I was going to.  Moving to the side of the changing table, I ignored Ruby’s whines of frustration as I folded up the front of her diaper.  “Oh don’t worry!” I laughed, laying my paw across her front and beginning to rub firmly, using my cum to lubricate her quickly insistent grinding “I’m not going to let you down like that, big sis!”  The front of her diaper began to dip into her, creating a little path along her opening.  Closing her eyes, Ruby began to make quiet, happy little yips again as she grew close.  “Will you like feeling my cummies in your diaper tonight, naughty little puppy?” I teased suggestively “Making your nappy slippery on your private place?  Just you and I knowing, none of the other cubs being any the wiser?  Should we tell ‘Nee that I shared my sticky with…”  Letting out a final yip that was almost a hiss, Ruby came, arching up against the seatbelt before collapsing into a limp, sated heap.

Efficiently I fastened up the tapes on her diaper, then unbuckled the lap belt.  Leaning down, my body covering hers, I propped myself up on my elbows so we were muzzle to muzzle.  “Hi.”  I smiled, kissing the end of Ruby’s nose “You look pretty satisfied…”  “Mmm…yes.” She nodded “I’ve got a wonderful little bro-kit…have I told you that lately?”  “Thanks for not laughing at me.” I told her seriously “I’m a pretty lousy Alpha…”  “You might not have noticed, but I was quite satisfied with your performance in the role!” Ruby grinned “And you’ll only improve with practice…if you’re willing to do it again sometimes; I know it’s not really your thing, but I really appreciate you being willing to ‘scratch the itch’ for me…”  “I like that you liked it.” I decided “Just be careful about asking when I get back from the races…catch me in that mood and I’m liable to drag you off by the tail, bend you over the sofa, and have my way with you!”  “Where’s your keys?” she grinned with a not entirely faked enthusiasm “I’ll cover the fuel!”

After getting me diapered and both of us dressed Ruby took us downstairs.  We were on time (despite not having a watch amongst us), which turned out was ‘late’ for the week’s eagerly awaited entertainment.  I got the impression every cub I’d seen so far, plus quite a number that were unfamiliar, had arrived ahead of us.  (At least it seemed that way with all the hyperactive milling around taking place…)  “Think Johnny is here yet?” I wondered as I looked around a little dubiously.  I’m not known for being good with crowds, and the rowdy one shaping up in front of us was not exactly filling me with sunshine and rainbows…

“Guess who!” a female voice I didn’t recognize exclaimed as a pair of paws dropped over my eyes.  “You’re not Mama Susan or Ruby, so I’m guessing you’re somefur who thinks I’m someone else.” I opined with a nod.  “Nope!” the voice giggled “Guess again!”  “Hey Ruby?  How about an assist?” I sighed, not really all that happy with my personal space being violated like this.  “Sorry, no.  It’s good for you to learn patience, little brother!”  “Not nice…” I grumbled, finally deciding that “I don’t know anyfur else’s names, so I give up I guess…”  “Aww…” Johnny chided, giving a cheerful thumbs up to Ruby and the rabbit femme who had been doing the talking “You’d have gotten it eventually…”  “Hiya ‘Nee!” I laughed “I was wondering where you were!”  “I went back to get a couple of games we didn’t have here yet.” He explained “What took you two so long, you’re late!”  “We’re on time.” Ruby corrected, making a mental note to get her family a set of matching watches.  With built in walkie-talkies.  And secret spy keys to open each other’s doors.  And…no, better just stick to the watches…

“I think we lost her…” Johnny laughed, snapping his fingers in front of Ruby’s muzzle.  “I’m here.” She grinned, catching his paw “I just had an idea for later, that’s all.”  “Girls are weird.” Johnny decided seriously “Oh well, let’s get snacks and go play some!”  We could all agree on that, and after pillaging an extremely well stocked, not to mention eclectically appointed, food table, settled down in a huge pile of beanbag chairs in front of one of the gaming ‘stations’.  “Kart Racing.”  Johnny announced, handing me a controller.  “Candy.” I countered, stuffing a double pawfull of jellybeans into my muzzle.  “Don’t choke…” Ruby warned as I chewed.

“She has a valid point.” Jonathan pointed out, gently slapping my paw away as I reached for another handful.  “Besides: game.”  “You’re probably right.” I nodded, typing in my name and picking a car.  We played for a while after that, me admittedly with much less skill than the others but no less enthusiasm.  “In my defense I’m much better with real cars.” I snicker-sighed after an epic string of defeats “Do we have any shoot-‘em-ups?  Maybe with zombies?”  “They do, but we’d have to move over to the TV in the back.” Jonathan explained “We keep them a little separate; they scare some of the younger cubs…”  “Probably for the best.” I nodded “But I’m not getting up for that…”

“You probably don’t want to go play the dancing game either, then.” Ruby mused “Actually, you really shouldn’t with your stitches…”  “How about Ryku?” Johnny suggested. “It’s a puzzle game that’ll make your brain melt…”  Popping in the disk, he and Ruby were soon explaining the multiple leveled puzzle board to me, which involved erasing ‘board’ tiles to collect various items and capture other furs’ game pieces.  It turned out to be highly multi-player, with our board levels linking in places to ones from games going on in other parts of the room, along with boards at different ‘elevations’ in our own game.  It turned out to be really hard…and really addictive!

“You’re grinding your teeth, pup…” Ruby noticed “Do we need to take a break for a while?”  “No!” I yelped “No break!  I’m winning!”  “I’m not sure anyfur wins this one.”  Jonathan explained dryly.  “Here, I’ll make a deal with you: you can play a while longer if you keep your paci in so you don’t hurt your teeth.” Ruby offered.  Popping it in my muzzle by way of an agreement I was soon sucking on it with more vigor than strictly necessary.  “He’s cute when he’s all serious like that!” Jonathan smiled, ruffling my headfur affectionately.

‘Cute’ lasted for probably another hour or so before it was unanimously decided by everyfur that wasn’t me (“Now Nick, you know full well you’re too little to vote!”) that I’d become a bit too worked up to keep playing.  It was also concluded that watching cartoons for a while would be a perfectly acceptable substitute.  I was about to protest (read: pitch a fit) when it occurred to me that the mere fact that I was about to protest (read: deafen every fur in the room with the vocal application of ‘kit logic’) proved quite succinctly their point.

There was a pretty good sized group of cubs clustered around the room’s big TV, but since beanbag chairs and the floor were by far the preferred seating arrangement we had no trouble finding a sofa for our little family.  Ruby got the middle, with Johnny and I on either end.  “Wish it had pop up footrests…” I sighed, feeling like flopping out for a while would be a nice idea.  Johnny reached down with a grin and grabbed my footpaws, swinging my legs up across Ruby and his laps.  “Better?”  “Uh huh.” I nodded as I settled in a bit more comfortably “Thank yous…”

“What’s on?” became my next pressing order of business.  “The caretakers set it on ‘random’ so no one feels left out or gets grumpy about their choice being voted down or anything like that.” Ruby explained.  “That makes sense.” I agreed, turning my attention to the show.  I didn’t really watch all that much TV, so it wasn’t a shock that it was a show I hadn’t seen before.  Something about a space spy that turned into a dumb rabbit when he ate green beans…not exactly Rise of the Third Empire, but still pretty good for fluff programming.

After we had watched a couple of episodes, Johnny got up to stretch, returning with an armful of resupplies.  Trading places with Ruby, he had me curl up in his lap then started handing out the goodies.  “Brought you something, sweetheart.” He explained, draping a plaid fleece blanket over me and tucking in its edges.  “I thought it might be a good time for that bottle I promised you at dinner…”  “Yeppers.” I nodded as I idly began to fidget with the corner of the blanket.  Locating a bottle in the pile of stuff he’d set down in front of the  couch the coyote held it out for my inspection, only to pull it away when I reached for it.

“Silly boy!” Jonathan chided “Tiny kits don’t get to hold their own ba-bas, they might spill them!”  Cooperatively I took the nipple into my muzzle while Jonathan held on to the bottle, slowly rocking me in the crook of his arm while I nursed.  Jonathan had selected a cherry juice with a mildly alcoholic aftertaste: nowhere near enough to get a serious buzz, but plenty for a happy, relaxed calm.  “Is this one okay or would you like something different?” Jonathan asked seriously, tapping the bottom of the bottle with a clawtip.  Not bothering to answer I just curled myself up a little deeper in his arms, giving a contented little snort as I returned my attention to the cartoons.  “He’s fine.” Ruby decided “Just keep up with how much he’s had; we don’t want to end up cubsitting a hung over little kit…”

A show or two later I was mildly startled to realize that everyfur had really been spot-on about my age: this must be what it was like to be a newborn.  I really wasn’t so much watching the show on the TV as observing the moving colors while the sound washed over me.  Even drinking my bottle seemed to have become an if/then corollary: if nipple is present then nurse.  I just didn’t feel a need for analysis and decision, Jonathan and Ruby were there so all was right with the world.  It should have been terrifying to feel absolutely dependent on others, but it wasn’t.  It was soothing.

“All done!” Jonathan pointed out, finally getting my attention by taking away the now empty bottle.  (Had he been talking?)  “Would you like something else?” I opened my muzzle to reply only to find that stringing the words together in my head was kind of tricky.  Or did I just not want to?  Either way I just ended up hiccupping instead.  “Okay then.” Jonathan laughed, popping in my paci instead “We’ll go with this…”  That felt like a good idea, and pretty soon I was drowsing with my eyes half closed, not a care in the world or a thought in my head.

I could tell our little group was slowly becoming one of the major focuses in the room, but nothing beyond the soft expressions on the muzzles directed our way really registered with me.  Jonathan had begun to idly pet my head or rub my ears, and what little attention I cared to muster up got used on those sensations instead of the much less interesting conversations of the bigger cubs.  It didn’t really even bother me that I was rapidly ending up ‘on display’, particularly since it also turned out to involve other furs sneaking in a skritchy here and there.  I would probably need a good brushing out eventually, but I couldn’t really see that being any less pleasant than the petting…

Even eventually having to piddle didn’t earn a cursory interest.  For the first time since I’d arrived I wet with neither forethought nor any personal struggle, my bladder just letting go with a feeling of warmth and a slight crinkling of the plastic of my diaper.  I got the feeling Jonathan noticed, but he didn’t say anything about it at the time.  Or maybe he did, I’m not sure it would have registered with me if he had right then…  Keeping my eyes open was growing to be a chore, so the non-decision was made that it was time for a nap.

I woke up to find myself enclosed in a mostly-complete ‘crib’ assembled out of what must have been every Lego brick in the state.  I’m really not sure what one says in a situation like that so I settled for staring in bemused confusion.  While I’d been napping it had been decided by unanimous vote that I was ‘way too young’ to be trusted not to accidentally fall off the couch in my sleep, and the obvious solution was to convert it into a crib by the judicious application of Lego blocks.  I almost felt like I was spoiling the game by waking up before they’d had time to finish it.  Still, with what seemed like every cub in the room participating they had made fantastic progress in (what I assume was) a pretty short amount of time: all that was really left to finish up was the elaborately decorative headboard…

“I was telling everyfur about our hallway idea.” Ruby explained as she and Johnny returned with some more bricks “And they thought it was the greatest idea ever, and wanted to try something while Kevin is working on the plans!”  “Kevin is a structural engineer.” Jonathan explained as the last of the bricks began going up on the headboard “Like a really, really good one; that’s why his company lets him ‘work from home’.  A lot of us do, actually…”  “Really?” I wondered as he helped me carefully out of the crib...it being empty would make bedding installation much easier, and there was talk of adding a roof and making it a tent going around as well!  “You’ll notice pretty quickly that cubs are statistically some of the most intelligent furs out there…if any of us ever develop an attention span we’d probably take over the world.”

“I’ve got a lot of work stuff squirreled away here and there…” I mused “If you want to go on a road trip some time there’s these tractor trailers buried out in the desert…”  “Tractor trailers?  Where do you even get that much stuff?”  “You don’t really think all that ‘military aid’ goes overseas, do you?” I tisked “Or the hundred years or so worth of ‘surplused and destroyed’ equipment?”  “Why do I get the feeling everyfur is safer with you crinkly and contained than roaming the wilds unsupervised?  No, don’t answer that, let’s just go see how Kevin is coming along…”

Kevin turned out to be a thoroughly occupied opossum taking up an entire table in one corner of the room.  Looking over his shoulder curiously I found the entire surface was covered in a blizzard of white construction paper, crayons, and an impromptu collection of straight edges, protractors, and triangles.  Counterpointing the odd collection of mismatched (and occasionally wildly inappropriate for the task at hand) supplies was the precise, incredibly detailed drawings he was producing.  (Oddly enough his notes were almost illegibly badly written.)  “Hey Kevin, how’s it going?” Johnny asked as we took seats on the other side of the table.  “Good, good.” Kevin nodded, looking up with an expression that made me wonder if he’d forgotten there was anyfur else in the room.  “I’d gotten a couple of other ideas done, but I didn’t really like the way they turned out…”  he sighed, waving dismissively at a pile made up of the bulk of the paper on the table “But when I switched to the purple crayon I came up with this one!  I love it; I think I’m going to put it in my portfolio online when we’re done…there’s not that many architects working in Legos these days…”  “You’re the first one I’ve heard of.” I agreed.

“It’s not done yet, Kevin warned, sliding some papers across the table “but you can take a look.  Oh hey, you’re the new little kit!  Hiyas!”  “Yeppers.” I nodded, giving a self-conscious little wave.  “Do you like drawing stuff?”  “Uh huh!” I nodded as I looked over Kevin’s elaborate design “I took a couple of board drafting classes in school even.  I was pretty good at it too…”  “You should come over tomorrow and do a portfolio, the firm might hire you on.  They keep trying to get me a draftsman, but…well…” he shrugged, waving a paw around the room.  “That could be nifty.” I nodded “We’ll have to talk to Mama Susan about arranging a playdate.”

“I really like this design.” I decided a few minutes later “You’ve managed to make it cubby, but still match the kind of residential feel…”  Kevin had gone with a whimsical, playground gate kind of structure, but in an almost gothic revival style.  It shouldn’t have worked, but it did.  “The hardest part is making complex shapes out of cubes…” he explained proudly.  I was beginning to see why his employer humored the strange little guy: he obviously had tremendous innate talent.  “Know what would be neat?” I part asked, part suggested “If we incorporated some of the translucent bricks they make into this I could wire it up with LED’s and we could make it have glowing patterns…”  The opossum’s entire face lit up at that, and with a disconcertingly toothy grin he told us to “Come back in a while, if I don’t work with this my brain is going to explode!”  “Wouldn’t want that.” I laughed as Johnny and I left him to his work.

“I think you made a friend…” Johnny observed as we went back to where the group was proudly waving us over to inspect the completed crib.  To my delight it now sported a bed sheet canopy for a roof, held up by I couldn’t begin to guess what.  “We had enough bricks for tent poles?” I questioned Ruby.  “Yes, but they didn’t want to shape right, so we made some up out of plastic silverware and tape!”  “Take over the world…” Johnny laughed.  “I’m starting to believe you.” I nodded seriously “It’s both funny and terrifying at the same time…”

Deciding she really didn’t want to know, Ruby changed the subject instead of asking a bunch of potentially awkward questions.  “I’m hungry and they brought up pizza.”  “Pizza?” Both Johnny and I asked at the same time, both pairs of ears perking up at the news.  “I could eat.” I nodded eagerly.  “Me too!” Johnny chimed in, thoroughly in agreement with the idea.  “Because we never feed either of you.” Ruby nodded seriously “Well, if we have a consensus it’s off to the kitchen then.”  “Gooey foods go to the kitchen on game nights, it works out better that way.” Ruby explained to my raised eyebrow.  “Early on there were a couple of …incidents.” Johnny informed me “Messy ones.  Involving certain amounts of unsupervised throwing of food products.  We ended up with several new contracts with companies that make cleaning supplies, but Facilities Maintenance was pretty much ready to make rugs out of the lot of us!”

“No grasp of the bigger picture…they really need to get a sense of perspective.” I lamented.  Rounding the corner into the kitchen, we were met by some tantalizing possibilities.  “Know that smell?  I love that smell.  It smells like…eating!” I misquoted happily.  “You would pick that one…” Johnny teased “Come on, let’s eat!”   “Seconded!” I agreed, following him and Ruby to the small cluster of other furs gathered around the pizza boxes.

Looking at the sheer amount of food I had a pretty good idea that one of the cubs had put in the pizza order—it probably wasn’t the best idea for management to have made one of us a signatory on a business account.  (On the other hand, I really could use a new car or two…though if that wasn’t a spank-worthy offense, I’m not sure what would be!)  “Grab a plate.” Ruby suggested.  “Or just eat it out of the box like everyfur else, we’re not allowed to take it out of here anyway.” Johnny added, reaching over a female rabbit’s shoulder to snag a piece.

Ruby gave him a look, but didn’t say anything further.  Quickly deciding where my best interests lay, I went the plate route, getting a fork from the drawer as well before helping myself to altogether too much of the yummy goodness.  We took seats on one of the islands with some of the other cubs and dug in to our post-dinner dinner.  Well, I did.  Ruby and Johnny spent a lot of time talking with friends while I listened on and shyly worked my way through my food, doing my best to set names and faces to memory.  I’m horrible with names, and I really wanted to avoid getting off on the wrong paw with anyfur.

“You eat pizza with a fork.” a rabbit girl (Lisa, I think) noticed curiously.  “Uh huh.  If you hold the pizza with it then it doesn’t sag in the middle or get your paws all icky.” I explained.  “Ruby will ‘prolly start doing that too.” She nodded “She doesn’t like icky.”  “Yeppers!” Ruby nodded.  She was already digging around in the silverware drawer, I noticed with amusement.

“So how do you like it so far?” a male leopard asked through a mouthful of veggie special.  “I like it.” I nodded, warming up some despite my earlier trepidation “All the strangers are a little horrifyingly nerve wracking, but I’ll get over that after a while.”  “I’m shy too.” He nodded sympathetically “But everyfur here has always been really nice, even to strangers.  Crinkle butt solidarity, if you will.”  I couldn’t help but laugh at that one.  “I like that.  See, ‘Nee, we already have a movement, we just need to arm the troops and declare a sovereign Crinklevania!”  “Can’t.” the leopard explained seriously “I’m a pacifist.  And a vegetarian.”  “Thomas is a philosopher.” Johnny teased lightly.  “Cultural anthropologist.” Thomas corrected “And that’s ‘Doctor Cultural Anthropologist’ to you, you mere undergrads!”  “Rise up ye oppressed undergrads!” I announced, raising a fist in the air “Viva le proletariat!  Viva le revolución!  Viva…”  “Viva le pizza.” Ruby laughed, stuffing her remaining half-slice in my muzzle “And Nick, I don’t allow rabble rousing at the dinner table, it tends to be messy!”  “Aww…” I grumbled after swallowing the food “That’s no fun…you’re starting to sound like my old handler.  The newer one, not the deader one…”

“Bigger sister.” Johnny explained to the group “Always with the delusions of grandeur!”  “Brat.” Ruby laughed, flicking a mushroom at Johnny.  “A little bit.” He agreed happily, picking it off his arm and popping it in his muzzle.  “You’ve got your work cut out for you.” Lisa informed me.  “They behave better with caretakers around.” I sighed.  “Pretty much everyfur does.” She nodded.  “Which is why game nights are so fun!” Johnny laughed “And why they’re fantastic for stress testing products.”  “Not to mention the maintenance staff.” Thomas added.

Once everyfur was done with the pizza our whole group headed back to the other room to play Music Gods, which turned out to be basically ‘interactive karaoke advanced’, with some degree of audience participation…though the designers couldn’t possibly have anticipated quite the amount of  audience participation we ended up with.  Knowing the effect my singing voice had on other furs was much akin to running a nail through a paper shredder made out of chalkboards, I chose to sit this particular one out for humanitarian reasons.  Also I was having trouble not laughing at the little plastic instruments the game used as controllers.  Ruby and Johnny squadded up with a couple of other furs, and I like to think my moral support from a front row beanbag chair went a long way towards ensuring the quality of their performance.

We all had a lot of fun watching the other players too: everyfur put a ton of energy into it, and what it lacked in quality was more than made up for in enthusiasm.  Or hyperactivity, if you would rather; either description could be validly applied…

A little past two in the morning I was starting to have to stifle the beginnings of the evening’s yawns, and by two-thirty or so I was beginning to fail at hiding it.  “It looks like it’s getting to be time for us to call it a night.” Ruby observed tenderly.  “I’m okay.” I assured her “We’re barely into the prime clubbing hours downtown…”  “No arguments, kit.” Jonathan disagreed gently “You’re still recovering and we’re not going to let you push it.”  “You’re right.” I agreed as I stood up “I’ll see you in the afternoon…”  “We’re going to head up too, I think.” Jonathan decided, looking to Ruby for confirmation.  Nodding her agreement Ruby extracted herself from the sofa as well and followed us out to the elevator.

“I feel kind of bad taking you two away from the party.” I apologized as we got out at our floor.  “There’s no reason to be.” Jonathan shrugged “If we didn’t want to come along we would have stayed downstairs.”  “Oh, okay then.” I nodded, actually feeling a lot better about it “As long as you’re not just taking your ‘Keep Nick out of trouble’ mission a little too seriously.”  “Mostly I just wanted to see how your apartment turned out.” Johnny teased “You know, make sure it isn’t nicer than Daddy and mine is.”  “Sorry, we can’t have guests over unless a caretaker is home.” Ruby told him seriously “You might be a stranger or something…”  “I’m not stranger than you!” Johnny grinned back.

“Still no sofa…” I observed as Ruby flipped on the lights.  “I’m sure it will get here tomorrow.” She shrugged “We kinda moved on short notice…”  “Pillow fort.” I concluded “It’s the obvious solution here.”  “Or you could go to bed.” Ruby pointed out.  “Not that tired yet.” I disagreed, beginning to round up a pile of unattached bedding.  Rather than the argument I was expecting Ruby just shrugged and gave me a paw with it.

Once we’d gotten a nice pile set out and everyfur was settled down I gave a happy sigh.  “That was fun.”  “Thought you would like it.” Johnny nodded “I don’t think anyone has ever voted against game night.”  “You’ve been grounded a few times.” Ruby pointed out helpfully “But that’s not really the same thing…hey, how long have you been wet?  You should have said something!”  “Him or me?” Johnny giggled.

“Both!” Ruby sighed, rolling her eyes in exasperation as she pulled back waistbands and administrated diaper checks all around.  “Him since his nap, me since snack time.” Johnny explained matter of factly.  “What about you then?” I accused, taking a wild guess and proving to be correct.  “About snack time too…” Ruby confirmed with a blush.  “Well, unless you two want to make a competitive event out of diaper rash we should probably think about getting changed…” I suggested.

“The little kit has a valid point, I’m afraid.” Johnny declared solemnly.  “I suppose we should humor him then.”  Ruby agreed, equally seriously.  “Well, if it’s going to be an imposition I can always take care of it myself.” I shrugged, feigning a resigned pout as I got up and headed out towards the bedrooms.  “Are you convinced?  I don’t really feel all that convinced…” Johnny grinned as he and Ruby got up to follow me.  “Better safe than sorry.” Ruby joked back “I’d hate for Nick to be soggy and sulky!”  “It could be a learning experience…” Johnny opined “I get the impression he could stand to work on his patience a little bit.  You know how little kits can be sometimes…”  “I’m right here…” I pointed out “It’s rude to talk over other furs…”

Johnny and Ruby both chose to ignore that, instead setting about with the task at hand.  “Ladies first!” Johnny decided, theatrically helping Ruby up on the changing table.  “Why thank you, that’s very gentlemanly of you!” Ruby teased as I helped her out of her sleeper.  Noticing that Ruby had affected a thoroughly ‘cat at the canary’ grin as he unfastened the tapes on her diaper, Johnny started to get the feeling he was missing something.  “What?” he wondered in mild confusion as he folded down the front of her diaper, revealing our naughty little secret.

“Is that why you two were late for game night?” Johnny chided cheerfully, tickling Ruby in a very naughty place “You could have at least let me watch!”  “I thought you didn’t like girls!” I teased back playfully.  “Not personally, no, but I still appreciate seeing my friends having fun!”  Proving his point rather…visually, Johnny slipped off his thoroughly soaked diaper, letting it fall to the floor at his feet with a muffled thud, to reveal a rapidly growing erection beginning to poke out of his sheath.  “It certainly looks that way.” Ruby observed.

“Why do I get the impression that this just stopped being a simple diaper change?” I wondered, obviously not displeased with the possibility.  “Hmm…  Well, let’s see!” Johnny declared, promptly pulling down my diaper to expose my ‘agreement’.  “Yep.  Pretty sure it has!”  “Ahem.  First thing’s first.” Ruby suggested, looking rather pointedly at the package of wipes sitting on the changing table.

“Neat freak.” Johnny accused, nonetheless getting the wipes and beginning to teasingly clean her diaper area, earning himself a few happy little ‘churrls’ in the process.  While the pair of them were otherwise occupied I disposed of the old diapers, and did my best to neatly fold up our now apparently superfluous clothing.  (No sense having a mess to potentially earn all involved corner time when Susan and Anthony eventually got back…)

“We were starting to think you’d gotten bored and gone back downstairs!” Ruby accused when I returned.  They had both taken seats on the changing table and were eyeing me with an almost uncomfortable amount of interest, I observed.  “Umm…What?” I asked, starting to grow a bit flustered by the rather pointed attention I found myself on the receiving end of.  “Someone is still a dirty foxy!” Ruby declared as the pair hopped up and led me to the changing table.  After I’d lain down Ruby took a couple of wipes and began to gently clean off my groin until she was satisfied with the results.  “Think that’s good?” she commented, stepping back so that Johnny could inspect things.  “Hmm…” Johnny mused playfully, sliding my feet back towards my butt so my knees were pointing up and outwards.  Theatrically examining my groin and tailhole as if searching for the meaning of life, he eventually nodded his agreement.  “I do believe so, yes.”  Then, as an afterthought added “I love the scenery here, too…I’d almost like to make him messy again!”  “Is that a comment, or a request?” I solicited, grinning as the coyote began to blush.  “Can it be a request?” he asked hopefully.

“Mmm… I think it could be…” I agreed playfully, scooting down to the edge of the table and getting more comfortable.  “Hey Ruby?” I suggested “As long as he’s going to be busy pawing off down there, do you think I could lick your girl-place?  I really kind of like doing that…”  “I’m not surprised.” She giggled “I’ve noticed you’re pretty orally fixated, little brother…”  Hopping up on the table and kneeling over my muzzle, Ruby replaced my view of Johnny’s now quite ‘involved’ expression with something different but equally exciting.

The femme’s fur was already growing damp down there, and I could smell her arousal as I began to tentatively run my tongue along her lips, eliciting a little shudder of anticipation from the wolf.  “Yes please!” she encouraged as I buried my muzzle in her sex, beginning to lap and suck in earnest.  I could hear Johnny beginning to yip excitedly now, not quite drowning out Ruby’s own happy sounds, until with a gasping bark and the feeling of a warm splattering across my penis I knew he’d finished.

“That didn’t take him long…you must have really gotten the poor boy pretty worked up!” Ruby laughed.  Feeling a little bratty I nipped at Ruby lightly in response, then nearly jumped in surprise as Johnny enveloped my length in his muzzle.  “Hmm?” Ruby questioned, shifting around a little to see what was going on.  “Oh settle down.” She laughed “He’s just cleaning up after himself; it’s quite considerate of him, if you think about it!”

I must have been more ‘worked up’ (as Ruby put it) than I had thought, and as Johnny began to gently rub a finger around the outside of my tailhole I began to get the distinct impression I wasn’t going to last much longer either.  Working my tongue as deeply into Ruby as I could, my nose brushing against her clitoris, I could feel her tail begin to hike as her little yips and barks grew more urgent.  Then, with a final enthusiastic howl (and a thrashing buck that was more than a little hard on my nose) Ruby was coming.

Rocking back on her heels a little, she took a seat on my chest, looking happily disheveled.  Johnny, meanwhile, seemed to be doing his best to command my full attention, tickling me in all the right places while continuing to minister enthusiastically to places I could only assume had been thoroughly clean for quite some time.

With the vulpine equivalent of a purr I closed my eyes and just let myself get lost in the sensation.  I’d never really been much of a fan of being on the receiving end of oral sex, it just sort of struck me as being kind of icky, but this time was a little bit different.  Maybe it was because Johnny really, obviously, seemed to be enjoying himself: it didn’t seem like he was doing me a mildly unpleasant favor the way it always had been with others in the past…

Moving off my chest, Ruby sat down behind me, placing my head in her lap and beginning to gently stroke my hair.  “Are you enjoying yourself, little guy?” she asked, somewhat rhetorically.  “Uh huh.” I murred happily, making a conscious effort to not let myself thrust up into Johnny’s muzzle.  I’m not sure about the etiquette involved, but that couldn’t possibly be polite…

Picking up the pace after my words of encouragement, Johnny began to teasingly play with the opening of my sheath, alternately running the tip of his tongue around just inside it and gently nibbling the sensitive spot, quickly pushing me to the edge of orgasm.  “Are you going to be a good little boy and make cummies for Johnny?” Ruby asked cheerfully “I’m pretty sure he’d like to taste how much you’re enjoying this…”  “Mmm hmm!” came an enthusiastic agreement from the other end of the table, accompanied by a playful nibble on the top of my knot.

That nearly pushed me over the edge, to Johnny’s obvious amusement.  Placing a paw on my belly to get me to stop trying to hump his muzzle (damn it, when did that happen?) he began to nibble and gently scratch along the length of my shaft, throwing in a judicious amount of licking for good measure, until, with a yip that was almost a whimper, I began to cum.  Taking my length in his muzzle, Johnny began to suck on it, almost roughly, draining me of everything he could until all I could do was whimper happily.

“I think he liked that.” Johnny observed, coming over to where Ruby was holding my head in her lap.  “I think he did too.” I agreed happily as he ruffled my headfur.  “So…” Ruby mused hopefully “Is it bedtime, or are you up for trying something new first?”  “Something new.” I decided “But ‘Nee has to sleep over; I want to wake up next to both of you in the morning.”  “Girl!” Johnny teased before amending in a more serious tone “That would be really nice though…I think I’d like that too.”  “Yeah, but I don’t want to wake up covered in boy cooties!” Ruby teased before hugging us both.

Helping me up, Ruby and Johnny took my paws and Ruby led us back out into the hallway.  “Since we’re going to need more room I don’t think Susan will mind us borrowing her bed, since ours aren’t exactly spacious…”  “We could all fit in Nick’s crib…” Johnny joked “Just think skinny thoughts!”  “But I’m pretty sure I like this one.” I pouted as I hopped up and started looking for a pillow to toss at the coyote.  Sitting down rather more gracefully, Ruby got to them first, tactfully heading off a full-on war.  “Spoilsport.” Johnny sighed, joining us on the bed.

“So how are we going to do this?” I asked, changing the subject.  “Slowly and gently.” Johnny nodded absolutely seriously “I really want you to enjoy this and have a good first experience, little brother.”  That was encouraging, and I was feeling a lot less nervous as Johnny rolled me over on my tummy.  “Now just relax.” He told me gently as he accepted a bottle of lube Ruby had found in Susan’s dresser.  Lifting my tail, Johnny squirted a glob of the gel on my tailhole and began to gently rub around it before beginning to work first one, then another of his fingers into me.  As he felt me begin to relax, Johnny started to move his fingers in and out, wiggling them around now and then when he thought I might be beginning to tense up again.  In no time at all he had me chuffing excitedly, quickly getting lost in the sensations in my tailhole.

With a grin Johnny pulled his fingers out of me, earning a plaintive whine of disappointment and need.  “Oh hush.” He laughed, enjoying my enthusiasm “I think you’re ready for the real thing!  Present for me, kit?”  Oh yes, I was ready for the real thing!  Rising to all fours, I flicked my tail straight up in the air, unconsciously wiggling a little in anticipation as Johnny applied more lube than I thought could possibly be necessary to anywhere that could possibly need it, and some places that probably didn’t.  Lining himself up, I could feel the head of Johnny’s penis brushing up against my tailhole.  “Are you ready, little guy?”  “Yeppers!” I agreed, at this point unabashedly eager to have Johnny inside me.

I felt an insistent pressure at first, followed by the sensation of being filled deeply as Johnny slid into me, stopping when I felt his knot against my tailhole.  “How is it, nothing’s hurting?” he questioned gently, lifting me to my knees then hugging me to his chest.  “No…” I said in a contemplative arousal “It’s really different from my toys…bigger…and warm…”  “Thanks, I think.” Johnny nodded, kissing my neck tenderly.  “No, ‘thanks’ is the right answer!” I laughed, experimentally squeezing him with the muscles of my tailhole.  “Happy to hear it then.” He told me seriously.

“My turn!” Ruby announced eagerly, tapping Johnny on the shoulder.  “We may not have thought the logistics of this through all the way.” I mused as I realized I wasn’t exactly sure what we were going to do.  “But I want to get yiffed too…“ she sulked, beginning to look a little bit frustrated before perking up again.  “I know!  You two really need to think about these things ahead of time…” Helping us to lie down mostly on our sides (which was a lot of fun in and of itself) Ruby straddled us, guiding my shaft to her entrance, slowly lowering herself on to me until my knot was pressing against her labia.  Then, after another couple of moments of awkward but enjoyable shuffling we were all lying side by side on the bed.

“Hi.” She smiled before kissing me deeply.  “Hi to you too.” I grinned back.  “As I recall” she continued “somefur here has agreed to tie with me…”  “I may have said something to that effect.” I grinned “I’ll have to check with the other piece of bread in our little fox sandwich, but I think we could get working on that…”  In response Johnny reached in front of me to cup Ruby’s butt in his paws and began to gently hump into me, maybe an inch or so at a time.

Beginning to chuff a little bit, I in turn started to shallowly thrust into Ruby as well.  “That won’t do.” She chided “I’m more than turned on enough, and I’d really like an intimate little cuddle-yiff…besides, it’s not like we can ‘move the bed’ like this anyway!”  Being nothing if not obliging, I nodded my agreement.  If Ruby thought she was ready for it I’d not second guess her.

Placing my paws on top of Johnny’s on Ruby’s butt I locked muzzles with her in a deep kiss and began to press her firmly down on my knot.  It might not have been the most traditional of techniques, but the lack of traction from my present position made it the best option.  I felt a lot of resistance at first, then with a sudden pop my knot slipped in and our hips met.  “Wow!” Ruby said huskily when our muzzles parted “I can feel you swelling inside me!  It’s really…just…wow!”  “I think Ruby has found a new ‘thing’.” Johnny teased cheerfully.  Leaning forward over my shoulder, Ruby gave Johnny a very adult kiss in response.  “Now you’ve got girl cooties!”  “Doesn’t count if you’re yiffing a boy when it happens!”

“Speaking of which…” I suggested, squeezing his shaft with my tailhole.  “I could accuse you of the same thing!” Ruby laughed, humping onto me in gentle reminder.  Not surprisingly that was all the encouragement anyfur needed, and soon we had developed a workable rhythm.  Or more accurately Ruby and Johnny had: I’d pretty quickly drifted into an ecstatic, almost passive, haze.  I was lazily humping the inch or two my knot would allow into Ruby, idly playing with the base of her tail (with occasional forays to explore places below) while Johnny slid in and out of my tailhole a bit more enthusiastically.

“Hey…” Ruby murred, nipping my ear gently to bring me back enough to get more than happy little moans in response “Pull out a little harder when you do that, okay?”  “Okies.” I nodded, nibbling on her neck “But let me know if it’s too much…” Beginning to pull into the resistance of my knot more, I was reassured by the way Ruby’s tail began to twitch harder as her yips and whines of pleasure grew quickly in intensity.

Johnny too was picking up his pace as all three of us were nearing orgasm.  I could feel his knot pushing against my tailhole as he thrust, not trying to enter me, but projecting how close he was getting.  Feeling its pressure like that was a really arousing feeling, and I was just beginning to grind back on him more firmly when Ruby suddenly thrust herself against me hard and let out a series of fast yips and barks, her tail flagging wildly as she climaxed.

“Who’s next?” she panted happily, continuing to flex herself against my shaft before tucking her head against my chest with a contented sigh.  “Probably me…” Johnny warned with a gasp “Are you getting close too?”  “The thought had crossed my mind and wiener.” I teased as I squeezed his shaft with my tailhole “But I want something from you first…will you tie with me?”

“Are you sure about that?” Johnny asked, slowing his pace to almost an idle thrusting “It might be a little much for your first time…”  “I really think I like the idea.” I explained “And I trust you to be gentle…”  “I never thought I’d hear the horn-pup being this cautious!” Ruby teased lightly.  “Hey, Nick is still recuperating.” Johnny replied loftily “He’s going to need a doctor’s note before partaking in any legendary-class yiffing!”  “Well, if you really want to wait for me to rock your world…” I bragged playfully.

“You don’t fake arrogance very well, dear one.” Johnny laughed “Seriously though, we’ll try it if you want, but you have to promise you’ll tell me if you want to stop.”  “That’s reasonable.” I agreed.

The matter decided (not that it would have waited all that much longer in the present situation) Johnny began to thrust in earnest.  “Try to relax, you’re starting to tense up again!” he chided.  “Scruff him.” Ruby suggested “When we were talking earlier Susan mentioned that her little kit seemed to really like that the other night!”  “Why would she…” I began indignantly before Ruby cut me off with a laugh.  “You thought she didn’t know everything that…Dracons have about the best sense of smell there is, Nick.  She could probably tell us exactly who, where, which hole, and how often!”  “Yeah, but that’s kind of private…” I sighed, dangerously close to a pout.  I could almost feel Johnny rolling his eyes at that.  “She just wants the same thing all of us do: for you to relax and start enjoying your life and your friends!”  “I guess I’d not thought of it that way.” I decided, not feeling offended now that I’d considered that perspective.

“So is the little kit going to enjoy himself?” Ruby asked, gently pressing against me again.  It was a rhetorical question, and one that my happy whines made moot anyway.  Taking my scruff in his muzzle in a way that managed to feel affectionate rather than dominant, Johnny began to press himself into me slowly but firmly.  I tried as best I could to relax myself as his knot stretched my tailhole wider with an intense feeling that was just barely on the right side of painful.  Leaning forward, Ruby locked muzzles with me.  Our tongues entwining in a deep, lingering kiss, she traced her fingers down my sides.

With a final, brief push Johnny’s knot slipped all the way inside of me, locking me to my friends in the most intimate of ways.  Pausing for a minute to let me get used to the new sensations, Johnny affectionately stroked my muzzle.  “I can’t decide if I want to yiff you two senseless or cuddle until I fall asleep…” I almost whimpered, feeling kind of overwhelmed by it all.  “It doesn’t have to be one or the other, does it?” Johnny teased, feigning concern at the idea we might not finish.  “You tell me…” I laughed, wiggling my butt against him invitingly.  “Do I get a vote?” Ruby asked, nobbling on the base of my neck.  “That depends on how you’re planning on voting…”

Taking my scruff in his muzzle again, Johnny began to yiff my tailhole with a growing need that I matched equally.  While I was more than a little experienced playing with toys down there, this was a really new feeling.  Between the fullness, the sensation of Johnny’s knot pulling against my tailhole, and the muffled sounds of Johnny’s urgent yips of desire escaping around his mouthful of my scruff, in no time at all I was approaching orgasm.  Ruby seemed to be intent on getting me, or her, or both of us, there as quickly as she could as well.  My fingers had found their way under her tail again, earning me a surprised yelp and thoroughly appreciative lick on the nose for my efforts.

With a muffled howl Johnny began to cum, introducing me to another first as the coyote filled my tailhole with the warmth of his ejaculation.  “Be a good boy now and make cummies in your sister for me!” he encouraged, continuing to thrust into me with short, rapid strokes “She’s…oops, too late!”  Reaching behind me as she climaxed, Ruby firmly squeezed the base of my tail, whispering encouragement to “Make stickies for us, little one!”  That was it, and with one last frantic thrust I gave the white wolf what she wanted.

Collapsing into a happily exhausted heap, we scooted around a bit until everyfur was comfortably cuddled up.  “That was really good.” I yawned “And this is nice too…”  “Yep.” Johnny agreed “Ruby?”  His query was met by an already half-asleep mumble.  “I think she’s done for the night.” I observed.  “Me too.” Johnny admitted as we drifted into a peaceful silence.  I never would have guessed furs would be able to fall asleep while they were tied, but Johnny’s soft snoring soon confirmed I was the last of our little family still awake, and even that wouldn’t last: soon I too was entwined in the sleep of the thoroughly, happily, yiffed.

Some time later I was partially awakened by somefurs padding up in the hallway.  I wasn’t awake enough to really tell (or care, honestly) if I was still dreaming or not, and was about as far away from interested in waking up as a fur could be.  “Aww…aren’t they cute?” I heard Susan say through my fog of not quite awake.  “Let them sleep.” I heard Anthony whisper back “I doubt they’ve been finished very long…with canines they won’t be able to separate for a while anyway.  Besides, after the last couple of days Nick probably needs all the rest he can get!”

“I hope he didn’t pull anything.” Susan worried maternally “He’s really not all that good at taking care of himself, on the off chance it wasn’t obvious!”  Anthony just laughed at that.  “Out of every fur I’ve ever met I think those two would be my first choice to look out for him.”  “Why don’t we set you up in one of the other rooms for tonight since they’re not done moving you two in next door?” Susan suggested “I think a good bubble bath is going to be in order in the morning…”  “And maybe the ‘birds and the bees’ talk?” Anthony suggested playfully as he switched out the lights.

I woke up the next morning when Johnny pulled out of me.  As it turned out Ruby and I had separated when she had shifted around in her sleep and she was now spooned up to my chest, still dozing comfortably.  “Time to get up!” the coyote announced, shaking me to no effect.  He had better luck with Ruby, and eventually with the wolf femme’s help they managed to drag me, metaphorically kicking and screaming, into the new day.  “Jerk-faces.” I groused as we went in search for food.

We found Susan and Anthony in the kitchen finishing eating breakfast.  “Well hello, sleepyheads!” Anthony greeted us cheerfully over the top of a newspaper he was reading.  “Do we have food?” Johnny asked eagerly, eyeing the kitchen in a rather predatory manner.  “We do.” Susan nodded “But there’s three little cubs here that are going to need a bath first!”  “If I don’t get coffee soon I’ll kill everyfur in this building, and then I’ll feel bad about it because I love all of you except for maybe Mister Ant’nee ‘cause I don’t know him all that well, but he seems like a really nice guy so I’d still feel bad about him too.” I told them reasonably as I ducked into the kitchen, to emerge moments later with the requested coffee.

All this struck Anthony as hilarious: after narrowly suppressing a spit take he chuckled his way through most of Susan’s lecture on how good little kits didn’t threaten mass murder over coffee.  “Not this coffee anyway…” I agreed, properly abashed “I don’t know where you got it, but it tastes like refried sh…”  “Nick! Language, little kit!”

“He does have a point about the coffee.” Anthony mused as they herded us to the waiting bathtub.  “Don’t encourage him.” Susan warned “I’m guessing you’re going to be spending a lot of time over here; you’re going to have to live with it too!”  “I’m a good boy.” I chimed in, refusing to relinquish my coffee mug.  “I know you try to be.” Susan laughed, not quite agreeing with me.

Our apartment had a truly massive garden tub (I had my suspicions that it was jetted and Susan was holding out on me for safety reasons) and when Johnny and Ruby joined me it was only mildly full, not crowded.  “You three sure managed to make a mess…” Susan observed as we were milling around in the warm water.  “Yep.” Ruby nodded unapologetically as I took the shampoo and began to lather up her headfur.  “Well, nothing a little soap won’t fix!” Susan decided, skillfully retrieving the bottle from the other end of the tub and starting to work some into my headfur.

“Can we have some tub toys?” Johnny asked as Anthony worked to get the now somewhat hyperactive coyote to hold still enough to be washed.  “You’re squirmy enough as it is.” Anthony laughed, tweaking Johnny’s nose playfully.  “Besides, I thought everyfur wanted breakfast…and you have some things to do later, too.  Your little opossum friend Kevin has called several times this morning; something about finalizing a set of blueprints he’s been working on, and a job interview with Nick.  I couldn’t tell exactly what it was he was talking about, he sounded like he’d been into the energy drinks already today.”

“I don’t know why they make them available down in the kitchen.” Susan grumbled in disapproval as she began rinsing out my chestfur.  Taking the unspoken hint I quit giving Ruby a back rub and started getting the soap suds out of her fur as well.  With a disapproving grumble-harrumph she looked about to protest, but thought better of it, instead explaining our project idea to the caretakers.  “…and Kevin’s company might hire Nick to do some drafting for him every now and then.” She concluded as we were getting out of the tub.

“That’s nice.” Susan nodded as she and Anthony got the rest of us toweled off and started passing around the furdryer.  “Are you going to be a working todd like the grownups?” Anthony teased, ruffling my headfur.  “With crayons.” I nodded, the furdryer preempting any real attention I might have given the conversation.  I was quite content to bask in the warm air, eyes closed, tongue peeking out, until somefur rather uncharitably switched off the dryer.

Opening my eyes again with a resigned sigh I found everyfur grinning at me.  “You’re fun to watch, sweetheart.” Susan explained in response to my obviously curious expression.  “Oh, okies.” I nodded, satisfied enough with her explanation “Can we have food now?”  “Not quite yet, you’re missing a step, aren’t you?” Susan laughed, pointing out I wasn’t wearing anything except my fur.  “Oh, right.” I blushed “I’d kinda forgotten about that…”  “That’s okay, nobody expects such a little kit to remember everything…that’s why you’ve got a Mommy!”

Rather than convincing me to get up and walk (or because she wanted to, it hardly mattered why…) Susan scooped me up and carried me to my room while the others dispersed for their tasks.  Anthony had brought a diaper bag with him and took over the living room, while I could hear Ruby cheerfully digging in her closet.  (She talked to her plushies, it turned out, though they stuck to their ‘indoor voices’, so I only caught parts of the conversation…)

Setting me down on the changing table, Susan started to look for something, then stopped with a laugh.  “I guess I’m not used to all this extra space!” she grinned, waving a paw expansively around the room “I’m still stopping to think where I packed everything back up last time I changed you!”  “I still wants a bowl chair.” I reminded her as I idly swung my legs off the edge of the changing table.  “I’ve got that covered.” She informed me as she set out a diaper “Now let’s see about getting you covered!”

Rather eagerly I lifted up my butt so she could get the diaper situated and my tail threaded through the tail hole.  I was feeling really cubby this morning, cubby enough that I didn’t even feel the need to overthink it, and I was really looking forward to being all crinkly and padded!  Maybe I’d used up all my ‘adult’ with Johnny and Ruby last night, I grinned to myself, getting a mental picture of a pair of gauges with the outlines of a todd and a kit, one indicating empty and the other full.  Yep, that was just about me this morning!

“What’s so funny?” Susan grinned, paws on her hips.  Shaking my head ‘no’ and sticking out my tongue, I didn’t bother to explain.  “Aww, you’ve got a case of the sillies today, don’t ‘cha?” she laughed as she rapidly applied powder and fastened up the front of my diaper “And everyfur knows the only cure for a bad case of the sillies is…tickles!”  Pouncing on me (at least as much as was necessary when I was lying prone in front of her) Susan began to tickle me mercilessly.

Quickly reduced to giggling and squirming enough that escape was impossible, I halfheartedly tried to fend her off, with little to no success.  “Don’t worry, Dr. Susan will cure those sillies for you!” she cooed, enjoying herself immensely “Yes she will!  Yes she will!”  Leaning over to blow raspberries on my oh so vulnerable tummy while I kept laughing so hard my eyes were starting to water, she gleefully continued.  “Who’s Mommy’s fuzzy little cutie, hmm?  Who’s my little baby foxy?  That’s right, you are!  Yes you are!  Yes you are!”

By now ‘Big Todd Nick’ had completely left the building…I mean out the door, in the car, and two cities down the highway, gone.  All that I comprehended was my Mommy smiling down at me lovingly; not the tickles, not my friends appearing in the doorway, not even when I unconsciously began to wet.  When I began to hiccup between giggles Susan finally decided that enough was probably just about enough.  “I love seeing him like this.” Susan told everyfur or nofur “He’s just so innocent and happy.”  “I think you’re going to have to change him again…” Ruby observed, looking just about as maternal as Susan as she peeked under the waistband of my diaper.  I didn’t pay her the least bit of attention—I was too fascinated with trying to reach Susan’s muzzle at the moment.  (How did it get way up there, anyway?)

“Small prices, dear, small prices...” Susan dismissed cheerfully, stroking my headfur gently as she got my second diaper of the morning out and began changing me again.  “I think I know what you mean…” Ruby nodded, playing with my paws to distract me when I began to grow fussy.  I wanted to be fed; coffee doesn’t sit so well in an otherwise empty tummy…  Susan was efficient about it though, and soon she was carrying me back out to the living room.

Johnny helpfully dipped into the kitchen to get me a revised breakfast while everyone else was settling in at the table.  Well, everyone who wasn’t me: Susan shifted me around in her lap to cuddle me against her chest, as silverware was kind of ‘off the table’ at the moment…the bottle and jars of baby food Johnny presented to Susan being much more my current speed.  “I guess he won’t be making his interview…” Johnny mused as he dug in to a plate of something I probably should have been able to identify.  Not that I really had any inclination to: Johnny had brought peaches, and such bounty deserved nothing less than my full attention!

Susan was playfully flying each spoonful around on their way to my muzzle, and I really felt a sense of accomplishment as I caught each and every one; even the sneakiest didn’t manage to make an escape!  (The fact that Susan assured it was so never occurred to me…) “We can take him over anyway.” Ruby mused “Kevin wanted to show us the plans he’d gotten finished; Nick might age up a bit while we’re there…and if he doesn’t we’ll need to swing by the toy room and pick him up some age-appropriate activities anyway…I’m not going to just pop my little brother in front of the TV all morning, he needs enrichment!”

Ruby’s idea seemed like a sound plan to everyfur capable of making decisions, and, having run out of peaches, Susan offered me some juice while the others finished their breakfast.  For my part, I was happy with pretty much anything, and nursing my bottle only solidified that opinion…  Some vague place in the back of my mind kind of wished the nipple would flow liquid a little quicker, but it really took less than no effort to ignore.  Besides, you can’t have everything, now can you?

When everyfur was done with their food we all headed out to the elevators.  I had to admit, I was really starting to enjoy having Susan carry me around like she had taken to doing; it was somewhere between cuddling and flying, and made me feel a comforting lack of control of things: Mommy Susan was in charge of the situation, and all I had to do, all I could do, was come along for the ride.  In this case, to the elevators.

Kevin’s room turned out to be a few down from my recently vacated accommodations, but when we arrived a crayon and block print note on the door informed us that ‘I’m inna work room, go there!’  “Guess he’s in the work room” Johnny decided cheerfully.  “They’ve got a shared office facility at the other end of the building.” Susan explained to me “It’s a more efficient use of space to share something that mostly nofur needs all that often…”  I’d not paid more than half-attention, and everyfur would probably be amazed if I recalled any of it later, but it was still considerate of her to explain…

Some other occasion I would have been pretty impressed with the room our little group ended up in.  To call it a ‘business center’ like you would find in a hotel or convention center would do it a major disservice.  Besides a more thorough collection of the usual office equipment and related paraphernalia, there were several far more specialized workstations mixed in to provide for the needs of residents whose ‘work from home’ didn’t involve a typical office.  There was what looked a lot like an electronics prototyping station, an easel and racks of art supplies, several desks with ‘mission specific’ computer hardware, and Kevin’s drafting setup, to name just a few. The powers that be, it would seem, took their charges secondary employment responsibilities quite seriously.

The destination of our excursion, Kevin, was asleep at his drafting table, a small puddle of drool forming under his muzzle as he snored quietly amongst a collection of energy drink cans and candy wrappers.  “We’ll try back later.” Susan decided, starting to shoo us back towards the door.  “I’m awake!” Kevin announced, head snapping up quickly “Oh, there you all are.  I was beginning to wonder if I should call again…”

Getting straight to business, Kevin started giving an overview of his design concept as he laid out a meticulously detailed (despite being drawn out in purple crayon) set of architectural plans.  It must have been a pretty intriguing presentation, since everyfur but me was listening raptly.  Something on Kevin’s desk had caught my eye first, and I was way too busy staring at his large collection of little magnetic building blocks to pay attention to anything else at the moment.

“No, no…” Susan instructed, gently pushing my paw away from the enticing desk toys “You’re too little for those right now dear, they’re for ages ten and up…”  Noticing my situation for the first time, Kevin grinned.  “I thought he seemed a bit quiet this morning…” Digging around in his desk for a bit he produced a chain of clip together plastic links for me to play with instead.  “I was going to try to hang my board guides from that” Kevin informed the group “but I think Nick will get more use out of it…”

I was more than happy to occupy myself with them, and Kevin continued his presentation uninterrupted by the threat of desk toy cooption.  Though albeit at a slightly higher volume: the colorful plastic links made a really satisfying rattling sound, and since taking it apart and building something was quite beyond my reach at the moment serving as a rattle was their next highest use.  Nofur seemed to mind, or if they did I didn’t pick up on it, anyway…

Quite a while later (I think) Kevin finished up his presentation, providing Susan and Anthony with a file folder to pass on to the powers that be.  I guess they’d noticed I’d been aging up a little while Kevin had been explaining his plans, because after the first order of business had been squared away Kevin asked me “Did you want to work on a portfolio piece while you’re here, or would later be a better idea?”  “I don’t really think I can right now…” I apologized, extracting myself from Susan and sitting down on the carpet.  “That’s okay,” the ‘possum nodded, not the least bit put out “Whenever you think you’re old enough.  No sense doing work you’ll have to redo later!”  “Besides,” Anthony added seriously “we wouldn’t want Kevin running afoul of any child labor laws!”

“Could I stay for a while and do some exercise sheets?” I requested “It’s been long enough I’ll need to get back in practice…” “Sure.” Kevin agreed, stretching as she stood up “You can use my workstation for now…I need to be getting to bed before the sun comes up anyway!”  Taking his leave, Kevin headed for the hallway while the others watched him go with various flavors of bemusement.  “Think we should tell him it’ll be lunchtime soon?” Johnny asked nofur in particular.  “He’s really something else…” Susan agreed.

“While Nick’s working on that why don’t we take the rest of the cubs down to the playground for some fresh air?” Anthony suggested to Susan “It’s supposed to sleet for the next couple of days, so it’s either today or next week…”  “That’s probably a good idea.” Susan agreed “And if we go now I won’t have to worry about making sure Nick takes it easy out there.”  I really wanted to take a look at the playground too, but by this point I’d ‘grown up’ enough to realize it would be a bad idea.  I didn’t like it, but I could at least acknowledge it.  Which was both frustrating and decidedly not fun.  And really, I couldn’t possibly get in that much…  “Okay my little kit, we’ll be back to check on you in a while!” Susan announced, interrupting my train of thought (probably quite intentionally) as she picked me up and deposited me in Kevin’s recently vacated chair.  I was going to suggest I change my mind, but Kevin’s drafting stuff looked like a lot of fun too, and by the time I’d remembered to argue I was looking up at an empty room.

“They move pretty quickly when there’s an argument to avoid!” I laughed to myself as I turned back to the table.  I didn’t really have any ideas for a project, so I just started in on the old standby, geometric pattern exercises.  To my delight Kevin’s desk had a full set of artist’s colored micron pens, probably more than a hundred of them, and since I was just going to be practicing I decided to skip pencil work and go straight to inking.  (Is it inking if there wasn’t penciling first?)  Looking over the various tip sizes available to me, I chose to start with the thickest tips and work back over the white space with consecutively finer ones and see how it came out.

Selecting the largest piece of paper I could find (which almost covered the entire board) I rapidly laid out a web of light guidelines with a pencil, then set to work.

After what felt like quite a while, but realistically must have been even longer, I got up and stretched.  Looking at my masterpiece I grinned, feeling a bit proud of myself.  “That’s kind of neat, maybe Mommy Susan will put part of it on the fridge…”  “Mommy Susan is going to frame it and put it on the wall.” An awed voice from behind me told the room “You guys come take a look at this!”

While they had been gone the paper in question had undergone quite a thorough transformation.  A pattern of thick, interconnected lines subdivided the paper into geometric zones, which, in turn were divided again into smaller spaces, which were filled with what, at first glance appeared to be almost random lines and squiggles in all the vibrant colors of a truly superior set of art pens.  But, upon closer examination it became apparent that the random squiggles actually made up several deepening layers of pictures in an odd art deco/pointillist hybrid style.  Their subject matter was as varied as the lines themselves; everything from landscapes and famous architectural works to images straight out of a sci-fi movie or the cover of a high fantasy novel.  (There were also several scenes of furs in rather…naughty situations, but since nofur immediately pointed them out I made the assumption they had ‘passed the censors’, so to speak!)

Nobody in the small group now surrounding the table said anything for quite a while, and I was beginning to grow more than a little bit uncomfortable with the situation when Anthony finally broke the appreciative silence.  “After we get this back from being framed we’re going to have to hang it up in the hallway, at least for a while.  Everyfur should get a chance to see it!”  “It’s just a bunch of doodles…” I objected cautiously.  “Technically everything anyfur has ever drawn was ‘just a bunch of doodles’, dear one.” Susan pointed out, ruffling my headfur affectionately.  This was an argument I wasn’t going to win, so rather than discussing the artistic merits of my creation I just stretched and changed the subject.  “Can we get food now?”

“It’s been a while since lunchtime, but I’m sure we can find you something down in the kitchen…” Susan grinned as we all headed in the appropriate direction.  “Did you have anything in particular you were thinking about?”  “Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.” I decided, taking a spot on the kitchen island next to Ruby.  “I’ve got this!” Johnathan announced cheerfully “I was a short order cook at a diner for a while; I do the best grilled cheese you’ll ever find!”

Relieved of any cooking duties, Susan and Anthony took seats on the counter with Ruby and I as Jonathan began to cheerfully gather up the stuff he was going to need.  While the hallway had been moderately busy with furs going about their daily tasks, the kitchen was only occupied by our little group.  We were neatly situated between lunch and snack time, so it was not a place that generated a lot of interest at the moment…

Jonathan was soon humming cheerfully as he puttered around the kitchen.  One thing he’d never bothered to tell any of us before (because it hadn’t come up, not due to any sort of impulse to hide it) was that not only did he enjoy cooking, he was actually really good at it.  Jonathan wouldn’t admit it to himself, but if he ever left our employers he would have a promising career as a chef before him.

In short order the room was filled with some very appetizing aromas, and my tummy was making its opinions regarding me missing lunch abundantly, vocally clear.  “It’ll be ready in a minute…” Johnathan kidded “There’s no call for growling at the cook…didn’t Mommy Susan teach you any better than that?”  “It was my tummy, silly!” I informed the coyote “I didn’t growl!”  “Your tummy growled, and it’s part of you, so you growled!” he disagreed seriously.  “Mommy Susan?” I asked, looking for support.  A big-fur’s opinion had to be worth…like two and a half little kit opinions, right?  “Sorry.” She shook her head “I’ll have to study the matter, it’s a complex scenario, and it could really go either way…” Shaking his head at my questioning look, Anthony decided that “I’m going to opt out with Susan, it’s much too tricky a question for a weekend!”

“Besides” Jonathan placated “The food is done, so it doesn’t matter anymore.”  It was a cop-out.  But a cop-out delivered with a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich and a side of tomato soup, which as far as I was concerned was better than winning outright.  Victoriously digging into my lunch, I earned myself a selection of bemused grins from my companions.  “I’m starting to think you’re not feeding him often enough…” Anthony observed wryly “I’m pretty sure if you get too close to him when he’s eating you’ll get sucked in too!”  Pausing for a minute to stick out my tongue, I returned to my food, and in short order had made the last of it disappear.

“Well, if everyfur has been satisfactorily fed we do have some other things to do this afternoon.” Anthony pointed out, tapping his watch with mock severity.  “Time and tides wait for no fur.” I nodded solemnly.  “Exactly!” Anthony praised.  Turning to Susan, he added as an aside “One of these days I’ll get my puppy to grasp that concept…I’m actually kind of envious of you!”  “Nick is a clever little kit…” she bragged as we all departed the kitchen.

Johnny, Ruby, and I were all a little surprised when the elevator didn’t stop at our usual floor, and even more so when Susan and Anthony led us into the infirmary.  Dr. Howard wasn’t around, I noticed, and some of the clinic’s furniture had been rearranged since my last visit: most of the beds had been moved aside, leaving only one in the middle of the room, and a sofa and a couple of gym mats had been placed next to it.

“There’s something we need to talk about.” Anthony explained as he motioned us to the couch before taking a seat with Susan across from us on the bed.  “Anthony and I saw the game you three were playing last night.” Susan began “And we want you to know that it’s perfectly okay to be curious about your bodies and to want to make each other feel good, but now that you’re starting to discover these things there’s some stuff we need to explain to you three.”

Taking a large book off a nearby table, Anthony presented us with a copy of A Young Fur’s Guide to Growing Up.  “Susan and I are going to go through this with you” he explained, snapping the book shut on Johnny’s eagerly paging fingers “but first everyfur down to their diapers!”  “And fold your clothes up neatly!” Susan added cheerfully “There’s no reason to make any more laundry than is strictly necessary!”

As I began to strip down I was relieved to observe that I wasn’t the only fur blushing in embarrassed anticipation; even the usually unflappable Johnny was showing visibly through his fur.  Something about the clinically educational setting with its naughty undertones immediately put our present situation into a whole different place than our previous encounters…  Turning back from stacking my clothes neatly next to the others’, I was surprised to discover Anthony and Susan in their underwear as well.

“Now, starting with the basics.” Susan said cheerfully after we’d all settled back down in our seats.  Flipping past the book’s introductions and table of contents, she stopped at one of the early pages and pointed to an illustration of two sets of naked furs, male and female, that showed how they changed throughout puberty from cubs to adults.  “I’m sure you’ve noticed two things by now: that boys and girls are different, and that your bodies have started to change as you’ve been growing up.”  Nodding, we all waited for her to continue.  “Now to be fair we’re going to flip a coin to decide if we’re going to talk about boys or girls first.”  Ruby got to do the toss, by merit of being the first one of us to stand up.  “Tails!  You win, Ruby!  So which will it be?”  “Boys!” She grinned cheekily.

“Okay, gather around the table you guys!” Susan instructed, thumbing through the book as Anthony took off his underwear and lay down on the table.  Finding her page, Susan set the book down next to the naked (and I could almost swear blushing a little) raccoon, and pointed to a series of diagrams, the first showing a male in the flaccid and erect states, and the second showing a cross section of his insides.

“The main parts of a boy’s reproductive system are his penis and testicles.” She explained.  “Now usually a male’s penis is soft and covered by his sheath, like you can see in this drawing, and on Anthony.  When it’s like this it stays protected, and he can use it to go pee pee, like you boys have your whole lives.  But when a boy gets aroused in his day to day life, or when he or a partner stimulate it, his penis grows in size, and becomes what we call an ‘erection’.”  Gently rubbing her fingers along Anthony’s sheath, Susan soon had him erect before continuing.  “See how it got hard and much larger?  If he keeps getting stimulated, eventually he’ll have an orgasm, and semen will come out of it, which is called ‘ejaculating’.  Semen is a milky liquid that has sperm in it, which is a boy’s part of making a baby.”

Pointing to the cross-section diagram, Susan continued.  “Sperm are made in a boy’s testicles, where they’re stored until he ejaculates, then they come up through the spermatic ducts, these little tubes here, and mix with some other fluids from the prostate gland, here, to make semen.”

“Now,” Susan continued, turning the page to a large illustration of a variety of types of penises “You can see that different species of furs have differently shaped parts.  See, here’s a raccoon like Anthony, and felines have ones with backwards facing barbs like that one, and that one is a canine, like Nick and Johnny!”  Pausing for a bit, Susan let us examine the picture.

“That one looks ouchy.” Ruby decided, pointing at the feline.  “I don’t actually know myself.” Susan explained, looking to the rest of us and getting no further input before continuing.  “One thing I would like you to pay careful attention to, since the three of you have been playing together, is the canine one.  See how it has that swelling at the base there?  That’s called a knot, and when a male canine is getting close to ejaculating it swells up like that and can cause him to tie with his partner if he’s inside of them.  Its okay if that happens, some furs really like it actually; a little while after he ejaculates it will go back down and they can separate.  But it’s important not to pull it out when it’s still too big or it may be painful.  We’ll talk about that more in a little while…”

“Is this semen, Ms. Susan?” Ruby asked, wiping up a clear liquid leaking from the end of Anthony’s penis with a fingertip.  “No dear, that’s called pre-ejaculate.  Males leak that when they have an erection.” Susan explained “It acts as a lubricant, and also has some things in it that neutralize any pee pee he may still have in his penis.”  “Oh, okay!” Ruby nodded, wiping her paw on a paper towel and returning to her seat while Anthony got back up off the table.

“Right, girls’ turn!” He announced as Susan took off her panties and got up on the table in his place.  A quick flip of the pages had us looking at the female version of the previous drawings.  “We’re going to skip a step here for a minute so you can see something you might not be able to for a while.” Anthony explained, elevating a set of low stirrups at the end of the table and helping Susan set her paws in them.  “Girls go through a change when they get sexually stimulated, just like boys do.” He explained, indicating we should observe Susan’s vagina.  “See how as she gets aroused her outer labia spread and the inner ones become more pronounced?”  I’d not known that before, and as I watched with excusably rapt attention they did just that, accentuating her opening before us.

“Right…” Anthony laughed, snapping his fingers to get my attention “Back to the book for a second, if you don’t mind!”  I kind of did, actually, but that was a battle not worth engaging, so with a barely audible sigh I complied.  “As you can see” Anthony explained “most of a female’s reproductive parts are on the inside, so we’ll start there.  At the top things begin in the ovaries, which is where the eggs are made.  After a girl hits puberty, once a month an egg will leave the ovary and travel down the fallopian tubes and into the uterus, here, where, if they meet a sperm they will start growing into a new baby, just like you were!  If they don’t a little while later they will come out through the vagina, here, which is what we mean when we say a female is menstruating, or having her period…Susan will tell you more about that in a bit.  For a couple of days before she begins menstruating, a female will be ‘in heat’, and will be a lot more interested in doing sexual things than usual.  It depends on the fur, but it can be anywhere from just ‘on her mind’ to being a pretty urgent distraction…its evolution’s way of trying to talk her into having a cub!”   Ruby nodded at that, but chose not to interrupt the raccoon’s train of thought just yet.  “Below the uterus, this part is called the cervix.  It’s a little ring of muscles that connects the uterus and the vagina.  Now the vagina is really the beginning (or the end, depending on your perspective) of the places you can see…like the shaft of a boy’s penis, there’s a lot of nerve endings there which can make a female feel really good when they’re stimulated.”

“Moving on to the outside,” Anthony continued, turning our attention back to Susan “this whole area is called the vulva.  The inner and outer labia we looked at earlier on Susan, and if you look right there, the big opening at the bottom is the entrance to her vagina!  The smaller one right above it is her urethra, where she goes pee pee…you shouldn’t play with that, you could end up irritating things.”

Pausing to give us some time to compare Susan’s parts to the labeled diagrams in the book, Anthony waited until we had finished, then returned to his lesson.  “Here up at the top where her labia come together, this is called the clitoral hood, and not surprisingly, under it is her clitoris.”

“The clitoris is a lot like the head of a male’s penis; it’s a female’s most sensitive spot, and can make her feel really good.  But don’t forget that it’s also really sensitive, and you need to remember to be gentle, because it can hurt, too.”

Running a finger along Susan’s labia, Anthony showed us the liquid that came away on his paw.  “Girl’s parts produce a lubrication when they’re aroused too, and for the same reasons…” he commented.  Picking up something from the side table with a grin, Anthony pointed back at the cross-section diagram.  “You might not think so, but we can actually see a little bit of her insides as well!  This is called a ‘speculum’, and it’s what doctors use to look inside a female when she has a checkup.”

Warming it in his paws for a moment, Anthony put a coating of lube on it from a tube on the table, then gently inserted it into Susan, looking up with concern as she let out a little ‘errf’.  Seeing her give a little nod and a smile, he slowly opened the speculum and motioned for the three of us to gather around and take a look.  “See, that’s what the inside of a vagina looks like, and all the way at the end, that’s Susan’s cervix!”  None of us could help but stare a little bit; it would be a safe bet that it was something none of us had gotten to see before!

When we had all finished looking, Anthony closed the speculum and carefully removed it from Susan before she took over the talk again.  Flipping forward in the book again, Susan found another illustration.  “Like Anthony said earlier, once a female reaches puberty she’ll start having her period, and when she does there are certain things she will need to use to keep everything hygienic down there.  The first option is pads, which just have a little tape on the bottom to stick them to your panties; those don’t really need a whole lot of teaching…”

“The other option is tampons.” Susan continued, pointing out the comic panel instructions in the book.  Taking a box of tampons from the table, she handed each of us one to look at.  “If you take one of them apart, you’ll see there’s not a lot to them; just a two part applicator tube and the actual tampon.” She demonstrated, taking hers apart to show us.  “They’re just as easy to use too: you hold it like this and put it in your vagina up to the grippy part here, then just push the little tube into the big one and slide them both out!”

Pointing to the instructions in the book again she showed us in the pictures how the tube would push out the tampon and set it right up at the entrance to the cervix.  “I’m going to demonstrate it, then Ruby, we’ll have you give it a try so you can get the hang of it now instead of later when you actually need it…that way you won’t be stressed out your first time!”  Turning to Johnny and I she added somewhat apologetically “You two will have to sit this one out, I’m afraid…”  “No we don’t!” Johnny laughed eagerly, jumping up and starting to take down his diaper “We’ve got holes too!”  “Johnny!  Keep your paws off of that diaper and sit down!” Anthony admonished.  Somewhat sulkily Johnny complied, only to have to get up again when Susan motioned us over to get a better view.

Unwrapping another tampon, she sat at the edge of the bed and talked us through what she was doing.  Ruby had sat down on the floor directly in front of her for the best view (only fair since she was the one this would be useful to) while Johnny and I stood behind her.  “Now Ruby, you hold it between your thumb and middle finger with one paw, like this, and spread yourself some with your other one.  Then you just slide it in and up until you get to the end; then push in the little tube, pull it out, and you’re done!  Now why don’t you trade places with me and give it a try?”

Grasping the string hanging from her vagina, Susan slipped out her demonstration and tossed it, along with its applicator and wrapper, in the trash before getting up and patting her now vacant seat.  “Don’t be nervous.” Susan soothed as Ruby took her place. “It’s easy, you’ll do just fine!”  (My guess was that it had more to do with having an audience, but Ruby really did look pretty nervous…)  Unfastening the tapes on Ruby’s diaper, Susan helped her slip it off and out from under her, then handed her a tampon from the box.

Unwrapping it hesitantly, Ruby looked at it for a moment.  “Go on, sweetie.” Susan encouraged gently.  Placing a paw on Ruby’s pubis, Susan gently spread her labia, then placing her other paw atop Ruby’s, guided the end of the tampon to her opening.  Drawing a shallow breath Ruby slid it into herself until her fingers were brushing her labia, then pushed the applicator tube into itself and pulled the little plastic tube triumphantly from her vagina.  “Good job, Ruby!” Susan praised, hugging her and giving her a kiss on the forehead.  “Now, to take it out you just gently pull down on the string at the same angle you put it in, okay?”  With a nod Ruby complied, holding it up like a trophy before tossing it in the trash, to Johnny and I’s amused applause.

Ruby moved to rejoin us on the couch, but Susan waved her back down.  “You might as well stay there for a bit, sweetie…” she suggested “Moving along to the next chapter…”  Anthony announced by way of an explanation as he turned the page to the next section—‘Masturbation’.  “Before we teach you how to work each other’s parts you need to know how to work your own!”

“Everyfur likes to be touched in different ways, just like some furs like chocolate ice cream and other furs would rather have vanilla: we’re all unique!  As you see in the pictures, masturbation is touching yourself in ways that make you feel good.  Boys usually do it by rubbing their penis and testicles, or playing with their sheaths; and girls do it by touching their vulvas, or putting things into their vaginas.  And some boys and girls sometimes like to put things inside their anus, or tailhole, or rub around the outsides of them.”

“There are other parts of your bodies that can feel good to touch too” added Susan “like your breasts, your lips, or the base of your tail.  And some furs like different kinds of touching, like being tickled or gently petted…that’s why it’s important for furs to explore themselves: if you don’t know what feels good to you, how can you tell your partners what you like?”

“Now what we would like you to do is have Ruby stay on the bed while Johnny and Nick sit on either end of the couch so you can watch each other while you try it yourselves.”  Johnny and I scooted to our respective places, him with an anticipatory grin and me with far more of a blush as we took down our diapers.  “Hold out your paws before you start.” Anthony instructed, helpfully depositing a blob of lube in Johnny and I’s paws, and a line of it across the ends of Ruby’s fingers.  “This is called a ‘personal lubricant’…mostly because companies can charge more if it sounds complicated!  Everyfur who isn’t in marketing just calls it lube.  It makes things a little nicer by making everything slippery and less prone to chafing…”

Grinning at Anthony’s understatement, I took shaft in paw and began to slowly stroke myself as Anthony and Susan supervised.  “Hold off on that for a bit.” Susan suggested, gently moving Ruby’s paw away as she went to penetrate herself “Spend a little time getting to know your outsides before you ‘jump right in’…”  Placing Ruby’s paw over her clitoris and gently guiding her motions Susan slowed her rather eager pace a bit “We’re not on a timetable, dearest…”

“Be sure to look at what the other cubs are doing.” Anthony suggested cheerfully “There’s all sorts of different ways to masturbate, and even if they don’t have the same parts you do you can still learn things one of your future lovers might like!”  Plus it was an entertaining show, to say the least!

Sitting together like that we all played off each other’s arousal, the mutual pace quickening to a background of excited little yips and grunts.  Deciding that I was the closest, Susan told us to stop for a moment, and had me stand, legs about shoulder height apart, between Ruby and Johnny.  Placing some lube in her palm, Susan took over where I left off, instructing me to “Be a good little kit; no humping!”

A few purposeful strokes later she had me on the edge of orgasm.  “You can tell that Nick is going to climax soon…see how his tail is flagging, and his knot is fully formed?”  Taking a cub-sized diaper from Anthony, she held it under my penis and instructed the others to “Watch closely!” increasing her pace.  Moments later I was coming, Susan catching it neatly in the diaper then continuing to hold it under me until I finished.  “Why don’t you sit down now, my little kit?” she suggested kindly as I grew a little wobbly on my paws.  Gratefully flopping down on the couch again I was just in time to watch Ruby finish with a relieved little bark (she hadn’t handled waiting for it particularly gracefully) and relax back onto the bed, panting lightly.

“Let me borrow that for a second.” Anthony requested, taking the diaper from Susan and narrowly avoiding Johnny making a mess.  Ruby joined us on the sofa, taking Johnny and I’s paws as Susan and Anthony returned to their seats on the table.  “This is what semen looks like.” Susan told us as an aside, passing around the clean-up diaper while Anthony found the next chapter in A Young Fur’s Guide.  I gave Ruby a grin as I noticed her surreptitiously dip a clawtip in the warm liquid puddled in the diaper and pop it in her muzzle, an act which did not go unnoticed by Susan.  “It’s okay, Ruby.  Semen isn’t bad for you or anything like that…why don’t you tell the others what it tastes like?”  “Kind of salty.” She blushed vigorously “But not bad…”  Not to be outdone, Johnny took the diaper from her and promptly licked up the whole puddle with one huge slurp.  As much as I tried I couldn’t help giggling at his ‘I know I’m naughty, but it’s way too much fun to care!’ expression.  “Johnny!  Nick may have wanted to taste it too, you know!” Anthony chided seriously, giving him a not entirely faked ‘look’.  “Soorrryy…” he apologized in a singsong tone that managed to actually be contrite as well.  “Pretty sure there will be more later…” I grinned, lifting his morose expression.

“If we can move on then?” Susan suggested, grinning at our antics.  “If we have to…” I groaned, feigning the longest suffering of sighs.  “I know, I know…educational and all of that.”  Anthony commiserated “There’s nothing worse than having to learn on a weekend!”  Choosing to ignore our fledgling solidarity movement, Susan continued on with the lesson.

“Before we move on there’s something else Anthony and I would like to mention.  You all know that a lot of cubs live with their mommy and daddy; well some cubs have two mommies or two daddies instead, and that’s okay too!  Some males and females are attracted to each other, and some furs are attracted both males and females.  But no matter who you are attracted to, everyfur can fall in love, have a family and be happy!”  “Well duh…” Johnny laughed as Ruby and I nodded in agreement.  “I guess we’ve got that covered then!” Anthony declared, honestly looking more than a little proud of his charges.  Grinning in agreement, Susan turned the page again.

“Now that we’ve talked about what boys and girls do by themselves, the obvious next question is what do furs do with each other.”  “Yiff!” Johnny piped up, choosing to interpret it as a question.  “That’s right, Johnny, but there are a lot of other things that furs do together besides mating: mutual masturbation, oral sex, anal sex, and all kinds of games you’ve probably never even heard of!” Susan explained in patient amusement “If you never consider anything beyond ‘penis goes in vagina to make a baby’, well, that’s really kind of limiting, don’t you think?”  “Uh huh!” Johnny agreed wholeheartedly.  (I think I can say with total accuracy that nofur was surprised that Johnny wasn’t interested in being sexually limited…he would probably be nominated as the presidential candidate for the Pro-Orgasm Party, were there such a thing…)

“Mutual masturbation is pretty much exactly what it sounds like.” Anthony began again, trying to get back on topic, or at least keep us in the right general ballpark.  (A task that was proving a bit more difficult than one would imagine, given both the subject matter and the present company involved…)  “Just take what we learned about earlier and add more furs!”  “How do you get good at it?” Ruby questioned “You can’t go home and ‘practice’ if you don’t have the equipment…”  “That’s why it’s important to have good communication and partners you have feelings for, honey.” Susan explained kindly “That way you can have fun learning together instead of feeling like it’s a performance or a competition…”  Susan’s answer seemed to satisfy Ruby, but in a way that was more thought provoking than rote explanation.

“Moving on to something new: oral sex!”  Anthony continued, setting down the book, open to a page that was just text.  “Sorry, no pictures with this one…though I’m guessing that some of the more orally fixated amongst us will probably be interested anyway!”  Blushing at Anthony’s good natured teasing I found myself wondering if everyfur had been comparing notes again when I wasn’t around…and I couldn’t decide if I found the idea cute or mildly upsetting.  “Oral sex, cunnlingus if it’s a female, fellatio if it’s a male, is pleasuring your partner with your muzzle.  The important thing to remember here, and I can’t stress this enough, Johnny I’m looking at you here, is don’t forget that your canines are sharp!”

“He’s never going to let me live that one down…” Johnny whisper-sighed, blushing redder than I’d ever seen him before.  No further details were forthcoming, despite Ruby and I’s obvious curiosity.  “Should I fill them in?” Anthony asked sweetly, having picked up on our aside “At the very least I think Nick deserves a public service announcement if the two of you are going to be intimate on a regular basis now!”  “Please no.” Johnny actually begged “It was an accident, and a long time ago and everything!”  “I’ll take his word for it.” I offered diplomatically, feeling like the coyote was getting genuinely uncomfortable at this point.  “That’s probably for the best.” Anthony agreed, having started to pick up on the same signs I had and beginning to pat the coyote on the head comfortingly.  (I felt my respect for the raccoon go up a couple of notches at that moment—if there’s one thing I can’t stand its mean-spirited furs.)

“While I agree we can let that particular story slide, it does bring up some safety concerns.” Susan told us, taking a moment to rub Johnny’s head too.  “I know it can be really fun, but you’ve always got to remember to make sure that nofur ends up having any…umm…airflow problems.  Or neck injuries!  Personally I try to stick to a ‘paws off their head’ policy, but I’ll admit I am a little paranoid about it: your mileage may vary, and that’s okay!”  Nodding his agreement, Anthony added “You also need to remember that a lot of species of furs have a bone inside of the males’ penis called a bacculum, and if you…err…miss when you’re thrusting you can hurt both partners.  And that goes for anything, by the way, not just oral sex!”

“I know you three are getting antsy,” Susan smiled (had I been getting fidgety, I wondered to myself) “but we have a couple of things to cover before you can start trying some more of this out!  Let’s talk about penetration for a while…basically a lot of our advice and warnings about anal sex and mating cross over.”  “It can be summarized as ‘slow and gentle’.” Anthony laughed “Listen to what your bodies are telling you, and don’t do things it doesn’t want you to!”

“The key to anal sex is lube.  Lots of lube.  Too much is almost enough.  Don’t force things, and don’t rush things: when in doubt, stop and relax, then try again…”  “Also,” Susan added “anal sex isn’t just for gay males: females can enjoy it too!”

“There’s a bit more to mating than that, however, since that’s how the male’s sperm and the female’s egg meet to make a baby.  Particularly how furs go about not making a baby…Anthony and I already have you three, and we’re both quite happy to keep it just the way things are.”

“Now the most effective thing a female can do to keep from getting pregnant, without surgery, anyway, is to take that little pill you take every morning, Ruby; that’s why we’re always nagging you to make sure you took it on time!  There are some other methods available to females too, but they don’t work as well and are more complicated, so unless you’re allergic to the pill there’s really no reason to bother with them…”

Taking over from Susan, Anthony covered the other half of the equation.  “Boys don’t have a pill; for them, the best thing we’ve got is called a condom.  Basically it’s a latex cover for your penis that catches and holds the semen when you ejaculate…which is why it’s important to wash yourself after you take it off: it is possible for a female to get pregnant from accidental transfer after the fact!”  Taking one out of a box from the table, Anthony unwrapped it and showed us the little latex doughnut.  “There is actually a right and wrong way to unroll them, by the way.” He pointed out, putting a fingertip into one side, then the other, and showing how it would only unroll in one direction.  “Watch me first, then you can give it a try too!”

Placing it on the tip of his penis, Anthony unrolled it down his length, making a conscious effort to keep his paw where we could see what he was doing.  “See?” he announced “It’s not rocket science…” Handing out one to each of us, Anthony indicated we should give it a try ourselves.  Johnny and I both quickly completed the exercise, but Ruby just sat there looking at her condom with a rather quizzical expression, her problem rather obvious.  Rolling her eyes at Anthony, Susan turned to me.  “Nick, would you be a dear and loan Ruby your penis for a minute?  She looks like she’s feeling left out, and this really is something she should know how to do.”

“Okies, Mama Susan!” I nodded helpfully, taking off my condom and tossing it in the trash before leaning back and looking at Ruby expectantly.  Unwrapping her condom Ruby balanced it on the tip of my penis, giggling with delight.  “Nick’s wiener has a hat, Ms. Susan!”  “Yes it does.” She nodded tolerantly “But why don’t you go ahead and finish showing us you understand how to do it, okay?”  “Okay.” Ruby sighed theatrically before giving me a wickedly naughty grin.  Then, wrapping her paw around me, she teasingly stroked down my shaft, unrolling the condom as she went.  With a happy little shudder I did my best to stifle a moan of excitement.

“Wait a minute for that, please…” Susan chided, taking Ruby’s paw (to my obvious disappointment) “You’re getting ahead of the class!”  “Yeah Ruby!” Johnny teased cheerfully “You’re getting ahead of the class!”  “Do you really want a time out when we’re this close to being done with the talking part for a while?”  Anthony asked Johnny rhetorically.  Johnny, not surprisingly, required no consideration before he decided that it was the perfect time to close his muzzle and listen attentively to what the grownups had to say; probably a first for him, actually.  (I could tell Anthony was filing that one away for future use!)

“I sense a certain amount of impatience, do you sense a certain amount of impatience?” Anthony asked Susan seriously.  “Oh is that what it is?” She mused “I was thinking a few little cubs we know needed to cut down on their caffeine intake…”  Standing up and stretching, Anthony chivalrously offered Susan a paw as she got up as well.  “Think we should stop and take a break for a bit?” he mused “We need to move some furniture anyway, and that could take a while…”  “No it won’t!” Johnny insisted quickly, jumping up and pulling me to my feet “Nick and I can move stuff; fast too!”

Johnny proved to be correct, and in short order we had two of the modular beds next to each other and snapped together.  “You realize that was a poorly disguised attempt to trick us into doing work…” I pointed out to Johnny.  “Who cares?” he laughed “Yiffing!”  He clearly had a valid, if not somewhat one-track, point, and I chose not to pursue it any further.  Tossing two of the gym mats and a sheet over the bed to mitigate the indentation where they were joined together, Johnny and I stepped back and admired the results.  “We’re construction workers!” Johnny observed cheerfully.  “I did that for a while…” I disagreed “It usually involved more sweating and hard hats.”

Hopping up on the bed, Ruby grinned playfully.  “Get up here and I’ll help you out with the sweating…you’re on your own with the hard hats though!”  A thought occurred to me, and I snagged the pillows from the surrounding beds, assembling a really comfortable back rest before joining Ruby and Johnny (he was staring at me more than a little bit impatiently by now) on the bed.  “Cozy enough?” he teased playfully.  “If you’re getting up anyway I wouldn’t mind a couple of blankets and the TV remote…” I suggested sweetly.

“Umm…hi.” Ruby, it would seem, had gotten impatient with Johnny and I talking, and was taking the opportunity to get some hands-on experience with my sheath.  “Shh…I’m doing classwork!” she chided, not bothering to look up from my crotch. “I want to see you get a ‘rection again!”  Johnny quickly got behind that idea as well, and I was soon thoroughly blushing at once more being the ‘teaching prop’ for the class.

“He’s kind of using up a lot of his blood flow…” Johnny mused seriously before changing his tone with a playfully naughty grin “Which do you think will quit working first, his blushing or his wiener?”  “You’re getting off topic, puppy…” Susan chided in amusement, enjoying the spectacle of my not-unpleasant embarrassment.

Ruby had flopped down by me, reclining against my pile of pillows and idly playing with the end of my tail.  Placing a paw on her inner thigh, I gave Ruby a look that was both playful and curious at the same time.  Returning it with a smile, she allowed me to part her knees and begin to gently explore.  Whimpering happily, Ruby lifted her leg, placing her footpaw on the bed, to provide me with easier access.

When I moved to accept her invitation, Ruby quickly curled her tail up between her legs, covering herself with a playful grin.  “Mama Susan! Ruby is keeping me from learning!” I tattled, failing miserably to contain my amused grin.  Ruby was just so damn cute when she acted the brat…  “If Ruby doesn’t want to participate she’s perfectly welcome to sit this part out and just watch.  Ruby, why don’t you pull up a chair over here where you’ll have a good view?” Susan suggested quite seriously, more than a little adept at countering those sort of tendencies, or being one herself, depending on a fur’s point of view.

Ruby was having none of that sort of nonsense: whipping her tail out of the way with a speed that risked breaking the sound barrier, she grabbed my paw and slapped it down between her legs hard enough to make her wince and my pawpads sting a little bit.  “If you didn’t like the idea you could have just said something…” Susan pointed out mildly.  “You didn’t think that through very well, did you?” I observed, trying not to look too amused.  “Your paw is just sitting there.”  Ruby pointed out, refusing to acknowledge, let alone cede, the point.  Given the other, far nicer, options, arguing with her about it was at the very bottom of the long list of things (and furs) I could be doing at the moment…

With a teasing hesitance that was more brat than inclination, I moved my paw over slightly and gently spread her labia.  “Why don’t you show us that you know where everything is located, hmm?”  Susan instructed, bringing over the Young Fur’s Guide, and rather convincingly pretending to use it as an answer key.

“First, where’s the vulva?”  Placing my paw across Ruby, I pressed gently, barely rocking my palm against her.  “Okay, now the labia.”  Removing my paw, I began slowly running my fingers along Ruby’s outer lips, occasionally dipping one or two deeper inside the wolf.  “That’s correct.” Susan nodded, smiling at the way the wolf femme’s breathing was growing more rapid.  “Now spread her labia and point out her clitoris for the class, okay, kit?”  Holding Ruby open with one paw, I began to rub her clit with two of the fingers on the other.  “Very good!” Susan praised me happily.  “Gods yes it is!” Ruby gasped, finally giving up entirely on trying to keep quiet.  “You win.” Anthony informed Susan after taking a surreptitious glance at his watch.  “We did date for a while…” she grinned back at the raccoon before returning her attention to Ruby and I.

“The vaginal opening, can you show me where Ruby’s vaginal opening is?”  Obligingly, I did, getting a whine somewhere between disappointment and anticipation from Ruby in response.  “Yep!  Now the last one, for a gold star: where is her cervix located?”  With a wicked grin I very slowly began to insert a finger into Ruby, eliciting a very happy moan of encouragement as I did, until I could just barely begin to feel its tip brushing against something deep inside her.  “He found it, Ms. Susan!” Ruby yipped, squeezing my finger with her insides.

Deciding that Ruby had been a good sport for long enough, I began to give the wolf what she had been too patient to ask for, slipping in a second finger as I began to work in and out of her.  In short order she was pushing back to meet my paw, murring in pent-up need.  “That’s a good boy.” Ruby panted.  “Do you like taking care of your big sister?” Susan asked rhetorically as her paw found its way to her own opening.  “Ye…eep!” I began, my response ceasing to be words as Johnny took my penis into his muzzle.  I could hear him giggling around it, evidently amused by my surprise.

“Told you he wouldn’t mind!” Anthony laughed as I began to chuff in excitement.  Johnny didn’t have anything he could really say to Anthony about it at the moment, anatomically speaking, but instead he did a rather effective job of communicating his sentiments to me non-verbally, alternately playfully nipping at my shaft and teasingly tickling the head of my penis with his tongue.  “I’m about there!” Ruby told Johnny “Can you give him a little more encouragement?”  Left to his own devices as to what ‘a little more encouragement’ might look like, Johnny settled with trying to delicately work his tongue down into my sheath.  He only managed to get it a little way in, but that still went a long way towards capturing my undivided attention!

Ruby, meanwhile, was on her way to finishing up without me (though not by much…).  Switching things up, I changed from thrusting into her to instead pressing my fingers against the roof of her vagina and rubbing firmly against the special spot Susan and Anthony had forgotten to mention but that had provided such satisfactory results the last time we had been intimate.  Her tail flagging, Ruby began to yip urgently, then moments later orgasmed loudly.

Truth be told I was only half paying attention by this point.  Johnny was proving himself to be quite adept at what he was up to down there, and as he began to firmly stroke the base of my tail in time to his licking and nibbling I soon climaxed as well.

Scootching over to cuddle Ruby, we made room next to us for Susan to sit down (the…enthusiasm she was putting towards masturbating was beginning to preclude her continuing to stand; and besides, this way I could idly stroke the inner membrane of her wings) and turned our attentions to the edge of the bed where Anthony was having Johnny lie down on his back and tuck his tail out of the way.

“They’re going to show us how boy-furs yiff each other.” Susan explained in a rather husky tone of voice as Anthony applied a glob of lube to Johnny’s tailhole, and then along his own member.  “And of course it works the same way when a boy-fur and a girl-fur have anal sex…”

Having complied with his previous ‘too much lube is almost enough’ warning, Anthony placed the head of his penis up to Johnny’s tailhole, nothing but a bubble of clear goo separating the pair.  Putting his paws on Johnny’s hips, the raccoon began to push slowly into him.  The coyote’s anal ring twitched some as it stretched to accept the head of Anthony’s member.  As he slowly continued to sink deeper into the coyote, the raccoon looked carefully for any signs of discomfort from his pup, only getting needful, eager little whines in reply, until finally Johnny had accepted all he had to give.

Stopping for a moment, hilted in the coyote’s tailhole, Anthony leaned down and kissed Johnny deeply on the muzzle.  “That’s a good puppy.” He told him lovingly, then began to thrust into him; slow, short strokes at first, building in pace and energy as the pair grew accustomed to each other.

“See how they went slowly and used plenty of lube?” Susan pointed out “That’s the right way to do it to make sure that everyfur enjoys themselves.”  “Are they enjoying themselves?” I asked innocently (over the pair’s now rather vocal enthusiasm) “I can’t exactly tell for sure…”  “Yes dear, I’m pretty sure they are!” Ruby decided cheerfully.  “Pay attention, little ones!” Susan chided between her own now very rapid huffs “You don’t want to miss out on part of the lesson, do you?  There may be a …” Whatever we were being warned about (or threatened with), however, was lost in the hissing roar of the dracon’s orgasm.  Extracting her fingers from her opening, Susan flopped down next to Ruby and I, content to watch Anthony and Johnny finish up while she worked to get her panting back under control.

Anthony and Johnny, for their part, seemed to be far too preoccupied to pay even cursory attention to their audience.  Or at least that’s what I thought right up until Johnny made eye contact with me and mouthed “You’re next!” with a wink.  “Cheeky little puppy, isn’t he?” Susan observed with a laugh.  “Insatiable too.” Ruby informed her seriously “We should probably put together a signup sheet for Nick or neither of us will get a turn…”

“Sitting right here!” I grumbled “And not fond of being talked over, by the way!”  I immediately began to regret not watching my tone a little more carefully as Susan and Ruby exchanged wicked grins.  “I do believe that a certain little kit may be getting just a touch too big for his britches!”  Susan told Ruby playfully “It may be time to remind him that Mommy and his big sister are the ones who make the decisions, not mouthy little kits.”  “Well, if you think it’s for the best…”  “I think it would be, yes.” Susan agreed.  “Would you be a dear and get a diaper for the little guy?  If we can’t trust him to remember his manners I’m not sure we should count on his potty training either…”

I was…not hating the direction this was going in, a fact that was not lost on Susan and Ruby.  By the time Ruby skipped back with a diaper I was already lifting up my butt and giving out soft, eager little whines.”  “It looks like somebody really wants to learn to be a good boy…” Ruby laughed, rubbing my headfur.  Nodding my eager agreement, I leaned up and licked her nose with a giggle.  In short order Ruby had me padded up, sealing the tapes with a huge grin.

Pulling me over to her, Susan soon had me lying in her lap, never stopping her conversation with Ruby the whole time.  “…but anyway, if you’re going to be ‘playing doctor’ with my little kit there’s a few things I should let you know that will help you both have even more fun together…”  “Mommy Susan!” I whined, starting to blush “Don’t tell her things like that, it’s private!”  (Yes, I knew that at this point there really wasn’t much the two of them could tell each other that would be ‘news’, but the idea of my lovers comparing notes like that…yeah.)

Seeing a mildly concerned look pass Ruby’s muzzle at my protest, Susan waved it away airily.  “It’s fine sweetheart, Nick’s just being fussy because he needs to be fed, that’s all.”  Deftly unfastening her bra, Susan rather forcefully presented me with a breast, preemptively silencing any commentary I might have been considering.  “See?” she grinned at Ruby as my oral fixation took over the way it always seemed to when something was presented to my muzzle.  Just for the sake of defiance I tried to turn my head away, to try to exercise some small control over the situation, but with a firm “No sir!” and a light pop on the bottom Susan held me in place more firmly, stymieing my attempt at rebellion.  Mommy was in charge, and while I might have some input, I didn’t have any say in the matter.  And, as it turned out, I was surprisingly okay with it.

“I guess you were right!” Ruby giggled, tapping the even more rapidly growing bulge in the front of my diaper.  “And that’s one of the first things you should know…my little kit really likes it when somefur takes charge of things!  And even if he says he doesn’t like it when we talk over him, or are Bigger than he is, he likes not liking it…”

Noticing that Ruby had started to fidget with her paws a bit, Susan smiled patiently.  “Did you want to…?” she asked, waving a paw at the front of my diaper.  “May I?” Ruby asked politely.  At Susan’s cheerful nod Ruby found the bottle of lube and squirted rather a lot more than was really necessary down the front of my diaper, then placed a paw on my diaper bulge, beginning to slowly but firmly rub me through the padding.  “I like the plastic backed ones best.” Ruby commented idly “There’s just something intrinsically satisfying about that crinkling sound…”

“There is, isn’t there?” Susan agreed “Though I’ve noticed a lot of cubs have really strongly held preferences one way or another…after everyfur has had some time for a little ‘paws on’ exploration we’ll talk about that some more when we learn about fetishes.”  “That could be fun!” Ruby nodded eagerly, causing me to yelp a little in surprise around my muzzleful of Susan’s nipple as she squeezed me a good bit more firmly than she had been “I may borrow Nick for that part, if that’s okay…”  “We’ll see dear.” Susan grinned, a wickedly contemplative look taking up residence on her muzzle.  “We already tried some of that yesterday!”  Ruby offered cheerfully.  “Do tell!” Susan grinned back, both out of interest and a desire to continue the ‘see who can make Nick blush the reddest’ game.

“I told him that it had been a long time since I’d been yiffed by someone being Alpha, and that I kind of missed it, so he did that for me even though it’s kind of really not his thing, and he tried really hard for me because he said I was a good big sister and he wanted me to be happy!” Ruby explained enthusiastically.  “That was very sweet of you Nick.  I’m proud of you!” Susan praised.  Which, oddly enough, made me feel about the happiest I could remember being in years: I’d made Ruby feel special, and Mama Susan proud of me!  “It was really good, too!” Ruby added in a conspiratorial stage whisper.

“But yeppers,” Ruby continued “When we get to that part I hope we can find something I can do for him…”  “I’m sure we can figure out something…and it would certainly be fun to find out!”  “I think Nick thinks so too…” Ruby observed “He got all twitchy down there!”  Ruby began to reward me with a faster pace, but Susan interrupted with a suggestion that made me whine in disappointment: “Don’t speed things up too much dear; we wouldn’t want him interrupting our conversation, now would we?”  I had to strongly resist the urge to nip Susan somewhere she would really prefer I didn’t at that one…it seemed rather unfair in my opinion…

“Hmm…what else?” Susan mused “I’ve discovered he’s quite fun to tickle; he gets this adorable little look of consternation when you do that.  But I’m sure you and Johnny have discovered that already.  Then there’s his oral fixation: he rather likes putting things in his muzzle.”  “Yeah, but for some reason the little guy doesn’t seem all that fond of putting his thing in muzzles.” Ruby mused “I’d always assumed that the two kind of went together.”  “Huh.” Susan nodded, looking mildly surprised “We’ve not been to that particular juncture yet…it wouldn’t have been my first assumption either…  Well, live and learn!”

“He likes having the base of his tail rubbed…” Johnny added helpfully, sidling over from where he and Anthony had just reached an extremely mutually agreeable conclusion to their ‘student/teacher conference’ “And there’s some things under his tail that he really likes!”  “Mm hmm!” I mumbled around Susan, Ruby extracting the emphasis with a well-timed squeeze.  “I guess I’ve missed out on seeing that part so far too…” Susan sighed, doing a passable enough imitation of disappointment that I couldn’t quite tell how much of it was faked.

“Would you like to supervise Johnny for that part of the lesson?” Anthony suggested “I was going to duck out and get some sports drinks for everyfur (and turn up the damn air-conditioning—it’s getting warm in here!), and that way they won’t have to wait for me to get back…”  “That could be educational.” Susan agreed (after catching my enthusiastic nod out of the corner of her eye) “What do you think, Ruby, should we share the little guy with his big brother for a while, or does Johnny need to take a number and wait his turn?”  “Maybe I’ll just ask Nick then…” Johnny threatened when Ruby took too long ‘thinking about it’.  “Can’t.  He’s being reminded Ms. Susan is in charge.” Ruby explained “And yep: we can share with Johnny this time!”

While Anthony got dressed and ducked out on his errand the rest of my family discussed the potential logistical questions involved.  I, however, was rather expressly left out of the conversation.  Really the only part of that which bothered me was the temporary ‘interruption of service’: when I tried to take matters (and other things) ‘into my own paws’ Susan rapped my knuckles and told me that “Good little kits are patient when older furs are talking.”  I wasn’t tremendously happy with that, but accepted Susan’s mild rebuke with grace, dignity, and a boner that could knock down a door.

In much less time than it seemed in my frustrated state they’d reached a consensus.  A bit of scooting around later found everyfur in more or less the same arrangement as before, just more conveniently located at the edge of the bed.  Remembering our little changing table romp from the other day, Ruby grinned down at me slyly.  “Does this bring back any memories?” she teased, placing my footpaws on the edge of the table.

“It would, but I wasn’t invited along for that one…” Johnny sighed, trying to look as deprived as possible “Actually, come to think of it, it still does, sort of!”  “Well, come on, we could use some details over here!” Ruby demanded, her eyes twinkling eagerly.  “As fascinating as that is, and I expect the whole story later, as I recall you puppies were in the middle of something, weren’t you?” Susan reminded my ‘older siblings’.  “There is a fine line between teaching the kit patience and being deliberately mean!”  “We’re not being mean…” Johnny explained, almost more to me than Susan “Just easily distracted!”

Slowly running his paw along my butt with a crinkle, the coyote continued sympathetically “We wouldn’t want our little guy to feel ignored…”, Ruby and Susan nodding cheerfully at that as they got situated.  Continuing to slowly play with my backside, Johnny looked at Susan and Ruby nervously, actually shuffling his footpaws; a cute, awkward little expression on his muzzle.  “Do you think…maybe…we could keep the padding this time?”  Smiling in indulgent agreement, Susan reached down and delicately slit a small hole in my diaper below its tail hole with one of her claws.  “Just be careful to line everything up right… Remember what we said about a canine’s bacculum?”

Wisely deciding to pass on the opportunity to make a ‘bone-r’ joke, Johnny looked around for the bottle of lube instead.  (It would be a pretty inopportune moment to get put in time-out, to say the least!)  While he was busy with that, Susan placed a pillow between my back and her lap, putting a leg to either side of me.  “I want to make sure the little guy is comfy…” she explained to Ruby “He’s still pretty new to this; at least I think he is!”  “Yeppers, he is!  I know because he told us it was his first time with another male yesterday when Johnny yiffed him.” Ruby informed Susan helpfully, obviously enjoying having another opportunity to make me blush.  “He really liked it too!  I bet he wishes he hadn’t waited so long to try it; he could have been getting his tailhole yiffed…”  “Okay, okay!  That’s enough, Ruby.” Susan laughed, trying to settle the wolf femme’s enthusiasm down a few notches.

Realizing that I was fast approaching the fine line between ‘happily embarrassed’ and ‘not fun uncomfortable’, Ruby let it drop.  Settling down on her tummy with her muzzle near the returning bulge in the front of my diaper, she idly drummed her fingers against me until Johnny finally (at least it felt like a ‘finally’ from my perspective) popped back up from under the bed.  “Found it!” he declared triumphantly “It’d rolled way under there…Daddy Anthony must have knocked it over earlier…or else Ruby hid it because she didn’t want to share!”  Personally I didn’t think it was all that likely Ruby was formulating evil plots against Johnny, but it really wasn’t that time nor the place for that debate, so I kept my muzzle shut.

“Go ahead, Johnny.” Susan encouraged the coyote cheerfully before leaning down to kiss my forehead and kindly telling me to “Just try to relax yourself, honey, Johnny will take good care of you!”  “I know, Mama!” I smiled back at her.  Squirting a glob of lube on the pawpads of two fingers, Johnny reached up through the slit in my diaper and began to thoroughly wipe a quantity of it around under my tail until he was completely satisfied with the results.

His idea of enough was north of where I probably would have stopped, but turned out to be a little shy of where Susan wanted things to be.  “Maybe just a little bit more down there…” she part suggested, part instructed “Nick’s still basically brand new to this, and he’s not exactly an expert at relaxing and loosening himself up for a lover yet.  Isn’t that right, little one?”  Nodding in thankful agreement, I tried my best not to shiver as another round of cold gel found its way under my tail.  “That’s good!” Susan praised Johnny.

As Johnny began to gently run a finger around the outside of my tailhole, Ruby took it as her cue and began to play with my penis through the front of my diaper again.  I eagerly began to try to hump up against Ruby’s palm, but with a cheerful laugh Susan tightened her hug, the dragoness’ almost supernatural strength cutting short my ability to squirm.  “None of that now, little one!”  My desire overrode my need to argue as Johnny began to slowly work first a finger, then another into my tailhole; any words I might have had being replaced by a pleased little yelp as he alternated between pushing them slowly in and out and gently wiggling them around inside.

“See what Johnny is doing, Ruby?  It’s important that if you try anal play you go slowly and make sure that everyfur is relaxed and doesn’t tense up: that’s why Johnny is starting with his fingers, so Nick can get used to being penetrated and not tense up when Johnny mounts him later.  But even if you don’t plan on somefur getting mounted, rubbing or penetrating the anus can feel really good, and not just to males!”  “Uh huh!” Ruby agreed, paying more attention to Johnny and I than Susan.  As Ruby started to rub me a bit more purposefully with one paw, I noticed her (less than discreetly) slip the other under herself…

I guess that Susan decided that if everyfur else was going to ‘explore’ then she might as well too.  Still holding me tightly enough to keep me from being an active participant, I felt her begin to slowly but firmly grind her pelvis against the pillow between us.  “Do you think my little brother is about ready for something…different?” Johnny asked playfully, talking to Susan and Ruby, but making eye contact with me.  “I think so.” Susan decided, while I nodded to Johnny, albeit nervously.  (Chalk it up to inexperience, or having an audience; dealer’s choice!)

Smearing a coating of lube on his penis for the sake of thoroughness, and also to preclude the possibility of finding out if Susan was able to restrain me well enough to prevent him needing sutures and a muzzle transplant if things turned ouchy, Johnny lined himself up with the entrance of my tailhole and began to press into me with a gentle insistence.  “Try not to tense up, dear one.” Susan soothed as I started to react to the intrusion below my tail.  Not entirely surprisingly that caused me to tense up even more.  (Johnny, being the great big brother he is, paused at that point, reaching over to skritch my tummy playfully despite his desire to be inside me.)  “Ruby, could you distract Nick a bit? I think having an audience is a bit problematic for the poor little guy…” Susan suggested.

With a playful little giggle Ruby obligingly began to rub and squeeze the front of my diaper again, rather more purposefully than before.  “Do I have your attention, little brother?” Ruby asked, rather superfluously.  I nodded, even though nofur in the room really needed an answer; my sporadic little yip-whines were a clear enough indication, as was the continuing necessity for Susan to hold me still.

“Ready to try it again, little brother?” Johnny asked softly, the kindness of his words belying the huskiness of his tone as he leaned down and kissed me gently on my muzzle “Now just relax.  Don’t pay the girls any mind; they’re here for you too, just like I am, and you are for us: company isn’t anything to be nervous about!”  Nodding my agreement I was kind of surprised to realize that I really was a lot more relaxed than I would have thought.  Funny how my friends always seemed to know the exact right thing to say…trusting furs was sure taking some getting used to!

Grinning playfully, Johnny began to teasingly rub himself against my tailhole, stopping every now and then to push into me without trying to gain entrance.  There’s only so much a fur can take, and between Johnny’s teasing under my tail and Ruby’s delicate stroking on the other side I was soon quietly whining in need.  Finally, after what seemed like the most pleasant of eternities, Johnny began to slowly penetrate my anal ring.  The head of his penis parted my tailhole easily, and as I did my best to not tense up more and more of his shaft disappeared under my tail until I could feel his partially formed knot brushing against my entrance.

“See how Johnny stopped after he penetrated Nick?” Susan pointed out to Ruby “It’s a good idea to give the bottom a few minutes to get used to everything before continuing…”  “So should Johnny wait until Nick’s tail quits twitching like that or until after he makes cummies in his didy a few times first?” Ruby teased playfully, giving me a firm, crinkly squeeze for emphasis.  I didn’t feel the need to respond, beyond a contentedly aroused sigh…well actually what I felt the need to do was frantically hump every fur in the room.  At least twice.  But Mama Susan was making it quite clear we were in the middle of a lesson in patience and good behavior.

Johnny, however, was under no such restrictions.  With a smile and an almost purring chuff that would have seemed more at home from a feline’s muzzle than coming from the coyote, he began to slowly hump my tailhole, pulling almost all the way out on each stroke before thrusting back in as far as his knot would allow.  He had soon established a rhythm, which Ruby picked up on as well, the rustling crinkles of my diaper only serving to further arouse everyfur in the room.  (Frustratingly, at this point my ‘padding’ was a more active participant in things than I was!)

“It’s okay if you want to be vocal...” Susan laughed “I think I speak for all of us when I say that we’d like to have some input from you!”  “Me first though!” Ruby declared, a naughty grin plastered on the wolf femme’s muzzle.  “Not what I meant, but still a good idea.” Susan nodded in mock seriousness.  I’d largely tuned them out anyway, between the sensations of Johnny yiffing my tailhole, Ruby’s continued stroking, and the crinkling of my diaper, there was plenty of other things to occupy my attentions.

As odd as it would have seemed had I thought about it, I really had been subconsciously trying to ‘keep the noise down’, and it wasn’t long after Susan’s pronouncement until my own yips and whines enthusiastically joined with Johnny’s.  “I was starting to worry you weren’t having fun…” he half joked, growing more enthusiastic with my encouragement.  Grinning up at Johnny, I squeezed his doghood with my tailhole by way of a response.  Nope, I wasn’t lacking in enthusiasm!

Johnny was rapidly approaching orgasm, his yips and barks growing more frenetic and needful, and his tail wagging around us with a mind of its own.  Slowing for a moment, Johnny managed to blush, despite the flush of arousal tinting his muzzle.  “May I…tie…with you?” Johnny gasped out between ‘errfs’.  “Yeppers!” I nodded with only a hint of nervousness and more than a little enthusiasm.  “Be gentle with him!” Susan interjected protectively.  “It’s okay, Mommy Susan…” I reassured her.  I couldn’t help but be a little amused that she seemed more nervous about it than I was…

Stopping his thrusting, Johnny slowly sunk himself into my tailhole, stopping briefly when his knot began to brush against my opening.  Then with a quiet ‘huff’ he began to slowly but firmly push his knot into my opening, pulling out and working it in a little at a time to allow me to relax and loosen up for him gradually rather than just trying to force it all at once.  Johnny was taking his time and being really cautious, and as he gradually worked to gain entry I couldn’t help but start to whine a little in impatient desire.  “It’s not hurting, is it?” Johnny asked quickly, obviously interested in my well-being.  “No…well kind of…not really.” I tried to explain, beginning (at least in my ears) to sound a little whiney “I just want…”

“Are you feeling a little bit frustrated with not being allowed to move?” Susan asked me kindly.  “Uh huh.” I nodded “I don’t want to be passive this time, I want to play too!”  “Because you can’t?”  “Uh huh.”  “You’ve been a good little kit.” Susan decided “But you still need to learn to ask for what you need…  Use your words, please!”  “Can I move again, Mommy?”  “Not this time, sweetheart, but you can ask for us to do something for you.”  “Ruby, will you rub me harder then?”  “Yes I will.” She nodded seriously “That wasn’t so hard to do, now was it, little brother?”

As Johnny began to hump into me again, Ruby began to teasingly run her fingers just under the elastics of my diaper.  I couldn’t help myself: I was giggling and squirming in no time flat.  “Are you a ticklish little guy, hmm?” Ruby grinned, beginning to take full advantage of my predicament.  About the same time I was starting to hiccup as I tried to catch my breath I felt a distinct increase in the pressure under my tail, then with a mildly ouchy ‘pop’ Johnny’s knot slipped in and we were tied.  Feeling my slight flinch and seeing Johnny pause again to allow me to adjust to being filled, and Ruby lay off on her tickle assault as well.

“How is it?” Susan checked in, smiling down at me.  “I’d say he approves!” Ruby grinned, patting the obviously growing bulge in the front of my diaper.  “Yeppers!” I grinned back as Johnny began to yiff me again, at least to the extent his knot would allow.  Shifting around a little, Susan began to delicately run a finger along my lips.  The odd, tickly, but extremely intimate feeling really worked for me, especially when every now and then she would allow me to nurse on a finger or two for a moment, and soon I was whining and yipping at least as loudly as Johnny was.

As Johnny rapidly approached orgasm, his tail beginning to flag behind him, Ruby put her paw down the front of my diaper, grasping my penis firmly and beginning to stroke me with purpose.  I yelped a little in surprise at that, but it barely made it out of my muzzle before it turned into an enthusiastically aroused yip of appreciation.

Then, with the yip-warble that is a coyote’s song Johnny was cumming, filling me with the warmth of his seed as I tried to milk him the best I could with my inner muscles.  (And Ruby doing her best to make sure I wasn’t far behind!)  As Johnny continued to yiff my tailhole with lazy little humps (more for my benefit than his own—he looked about ready to collapse into a happily sated heap and take a nap…) Ruby playfully continued her task under my diaper.  “Are you going to be a good little kit and show us how you make stickies in your di-di?” Susan asked cheerfully, if not a bit rhetorically, alternating between gently stroking my lips and tickling me wherever struck her fancy (but pointedly continuing to hold me down the whole time).

“I want to see cummies in your di-di when we change you!” Ruby chimed in “It makes me feel appreciated!”  ‘Appreciated’ came with something that nearly earned her some ‘appreciation’ right then and there: I was so close to the edge all I could do was whine plaintively and implore with my eyes…and I wanted to stay like this forever!  Alas, all things must come to an end, though that end begins another…

“Make cummies for me, little brother!” Ruby grinned.  My whines and occasional little yips grew in volume as she quickened her pace, then with a final gasping whine I began to cum, the hiking twitches of my tail all I could manage under Susan’s restraint.  Falling limply against Susan with a thoroughly contented sigh I seriously considered taking a short nap…at least I would have considered it if Ruby would quit idly continuing to play with my penis: it was more than a slight bit distracting!

“What did I miss?  Aww, I missed it?  I knew I shouldn’t have waited on the nachos…”  “Daddy Anthony!” Johnny exclaimed, pulling out of my tailhole with a mildly unpleasant tugging feeling and rushing over to see what the raccoon had brought back for us.  “Ouch…’Nee…” I frowned after him.  “Oh!  I’m sorry!  Are you okies?” he asked with real concern, about-facing and returning to my side just as quickly “I thought I’d shrunk down enough…”  “I’m okay, you mostly just startled me, is all!” I assured him quickly.

“Good.” Anthony nodded, looking at Johnny severely “You pups need to remember to always be considerate of what you’re doing: it stops being fun if somefur gets hurt!”  Johnny very obviously didn’t need Anthony’s reproach: the expression on his muzzle, and the highly apologetic way he had begun skritching behind my ears made his feelings abundantly clear.  “Forgive me?”  “Always…hey!” I yelped in surprise.

Ruby, for reasons known only to herself, had taken the opportunity to inspect my still stretched open and flexing opening.  Which was brought to my attention when ‘inspecting’ turned into ‘exploring’.  Looking down, my annoyance at the surprise turned into genuine amusement at the look of fascinated curiosity on her muzzle.  “It’s so smooth in there!” she said in wonder as she ran a finger around the inside of my anal ring.  “Yep.” Anthony nodded, handing her a little flashlight, which she promptly accepted.  I couldn’t decide if I felt put out or a bit jealous I couldn’t take a look myself!

I shivered expectantly as Ruby once again ran a finger delicately along my insides.  So much for mental debate!  Though if I had to lose my train of thought this was proving to be an enjoyable distraction!  To both of our disappointment my tailhole wasn’t inclined to wait around on our timetable, and about the time the beginnings of a tent was forming in the front of my diaper the portal had pretty much closed, so to speak.

Grumbling in disappointment, Ruby decided to get proactive, only to have Susan pluck the speculum she had retrieved from the table from Ruby’s paws and return it from whence it came.  “Why don’t we take a break first?”  “But Mama…” I whined (Ruby seemed content to let me take point on this one.)  “Ruby was making me feel all tingly in my diaper, and…”  “…And now it’s snack time!” Susan grinned, indicating where Anthony was setting out the bag of food.  “Wieners work best when they’re well fed you know!”  I’m sure Susan would have been proud of me if she knew how much willpower I had to put into resisting the urge to ask if ‘wiener’ was a technical term!  (I caught Johnny giving me a wink; the gleam in my eyes cluing him in to my train of thought…)

“Do I want to know what those two are grinning about?” Susan asked the room in general.  Johnny was about to respond when I quickly clamped a paw over his muzzle.  “Name, rank, and serial number, soldier!” I instructed in my best drill sergeant tone “And even that should be on your dog tags.”  “Johnny has a doggy tag?  Does he have a collar and leash too?  We could all play pretend and he could be my puppy, and we could play fetch and I could take him for a walk!” Ruby enthused.  “Not quite what I meant.” I laughed.  It was a fun mental picture though (on more than one level), and if not for the attractive smells drifting from the snacks I might have helped try to talk him into it!

“What did you tell them?” Johnny asked Anthony, an embarrassed expression plastered on his muzzle.  “I didn’t tell them anything.” Anthony reassured the worried coyote.  Then as an afterthought added wickedly “But you just did!”  “Food or yiffing.” I declared firmly “Embarrassing big brothers isn’t on the list of approved activities for today!”  “Quite right.” The raccoon agreed “But since I went through the trouble of getting us a few things from the kitchen right now the choices are just ‘food’.”

Since it was pretty obvious I was disinclined to move from my comfy spot on Susan’s lap Ruby took it upon herself to select a few things for both Susan and I.  The price of convenience became apparent when I reached for my plate only to have Ruby smile and shake her head ‘no’.  It turned out she had decided she would be feeding me instead.

“But it’s solids…” I complained to Ruby, and to a lesser extent Susan.  “Don’t be fussy, dearest.” Susan chided affectionately as Ruby cheerfully cut the burritos on my plate into little pieces.  That was okay, I liked Ruby’s plan just as well as the other option, I just felt the need to push back a bit.  Everyfur in the room knew it too, so the only reactions I got were patient expressions and a couple of brief eye rolls from the peanut gallery.

“See what I have to deal with?” Susan whispered to Ruby in a tone never intended for secrecy.  “That’s what happens when you have boy-pups around the place!” Ruby nodded sympathetically.  “But no cooties!” Johnny couldn’t help but chime in.  “Only because the fleas end up eating them; we went over that yesterday, remember?”

To my relief the subject changed at that point.  Hey, I was hungry!  (Must have been all that ‘strenuous activity’…)  Ruby took a lot of amusement from feeding her ‘little brother’, and watching her play ‘airplane’ with the fork made it pretty clear to everyfur that she wasn’t all that ‘big’ herself at the moment…

The caretakers both thought it was a really cute show, and even Johnny was smiling indulgently around his food, so Susan was content to allow it to continue.  At least she did up until Ruby started drawing on my face with some of the refried beans.  “Ruby dear?  The food is supposed to go in the kit, not on the kit…  Why don’t we not finger paint on Nick, okay?”  “Okay.” Ruby sighed at Susan’s totally unreasonable suggestion “I’ll only feed him.  Even though I was making him all pretty…”  “Actually, you’ve already fed him rather a lot of food; we should probably call it enough for now.  You don’t want him to be too full to play some more after lunch, do you?”

Actually Susan had a valid point there.  Ruby must have sensed it too because she just nodded and turned her attentions to her own plate rather than making a fuss about Susan ending her game.  I couldn’t help but wonder if Susan had gotten a puppy instead of a roommate yesterday…it was certainly starting to look like a possibility…  Giving it some thought I decided I was okay with the idea.  She was my big sister after all!

That got my kit’s admittedly highly random train of thought moving, and the next thing I knew I was giggling hysterically.  “Hyphens.” I explained to my friends’ questioning looks when I finally settled down somewhat.  That obviously wasn’t sufficient, and after my second round of mirth had subsided I explained myself.  “I guess none of you have stopped to consider the deep philosophical ramifications of our little family unit: what are we going to do about our last names?  I mean, if we changed them we’d have to pick one, and I’m sure we’re all pretty attached to them.  Plus it’s a lot of paperwork.  So then I thought we could hyphenate them: that would be better because we could show how everyfur is related to each other.  But can you imagine how long they would end up being, especially if we added relational prefixes like some cultures do?  And then there’s…”  “Would somefur please go yiff him or something?” Susan interrupted in (amused) exasperation.  “I’m not sure even that will distract him once Nick gets started!” Johnny giggled.

“Well since you don’t think it will work I get to be Nick’s distraction!” Ruby announced.  “I was kidding about that…” Susan tried to explain, but Ruby wasn’t paying any attention to things she didn’t want to hear.  Like ‘no yiffing during snack time’.  “Well, they are done eating…” Anthony pointed out when Susan looked like she was going to reiterate her point in the form of an order.  Everyfur else was pretty much done with the food as well, so the timing wasn’t that bad, all things considered.

Reaching a decision, Susan clapped her paws and announced “Okay puppies, back to class!”  Not a phrase I was usually excited to hear, but in this case I’d have to admit an exception…  “We should probably get Nick cleaned up a little bit first…” Anthony observed as I walked past him.  “Why is…oh!” Johnny started to ask only to start laughing mid-sentence.  Looking behind me Susan and Ruby were soon grinning as well.  Seeing I was moments from a pout, Susan explained.  “The…leakage…from the…err…’yiff hole’ in the back of your diaper kind of collected the absorbent fluff and it’s sort of made your butt…extra fuzzy!”  “You’d just have to see it.” Anthony explained “It’s a rather…umm…striking image.”  “Well, let’s get you cleaned up!” Susan nodded placatingly, but secretly wishing she had a camera all the same.

Helping me back up onto the table Susan caught herself looking for a clean diaper.  Grinning to herself she couldn’t help shaking her head at that: there really wasn’t much of a point to that at this juncture—it would inevitably just be coming right back off in short order.  Which brought up another thing, now that the pups had formed their little family group: this might be a good time to test his boundaries a bit.  It would come up eventually regardless, and now while everyfur was relaxed might be a good time to introduce the idea.

“Anthony, would you mind getting Nick cleaned up for me?  I’d like a bit more to eat before we get back to the lessons…”  Susan’s request really took me by surprise, but not so much that I immediately wanted to argue with her about it.  Anthony had been proving himself to be a good guy, and besides, he was Johnny’s Daddy…that made him my like…step-Daddy or uncle or something, right?  I wasn’t really ready for anything more than that at this point, but changing me would be okay, I decided.  (Anthony, I noticed, didn’t seem perturbed in the least by the suggestion…)

Seeing that I was on board with it but still pretty nervous, Anthony sat down next to me and began to gently stroke my headfur until some of the nervous tension had left me.  “Are you okay with this?” he asked kindly.  “I think so.” I nodded “It’s just that…” I couldn’t really find the words to go with my feelings, so I just trailed off with a confused sort of shrug.  “It’s hard to be that intimately vulnerable with new furs?” Anthony offered.  I nodded thankfully.  “Trust can be hard, especially coming out of our previous line of work.” Anthony agreed sympathetically “I had a lot of trouble with it for a while too.  The good news is that it gets easier with time…and you would have trouble finding a safer, more supportive place to work on it.  As long as you refrain from any early morning coffee massacres, anyway!”

Oh.  That again.  I was starting to get the feeling Anthony wasn’t planning on allowing me to live that one down any time soon…  “Your tail is fluffy.” I decided, burying my muzzle in it, somewhere between an attempt to change the subject and a developing pout.  “Well thank you!” Anthony laughed, sounding genuinely flattered.  I couldn’t see it through his tail, but I had actually made the raccoon blush.

Rewarding me with a good skritching behind my ears, Anthony mused that “I think that you’ve been really good for Johnny; since we met you he’s been a lot better behaved than usual.  Calmer, too.”  “’Nee’s a good boy.” I informed Anthony a bit defensively.  “He wants to be.” Anthony almost agreed, before acquiescing slightly “He really has been the last few days…I think he’s trying to set a good example for you.  He really likes having somefur to take care of you know.  Truth be told I’m growing fond of you pretty quickly too…I guess I kind of see you as me if I were a cub instead of a caretaker.”  “So if I’m you…if we did something naughty would it be yiffing or masturbation?” I asked innocently.

“Then again, maybe you’re more like Johnny!”  Grinning playfully Anthony tickled my tummy until I was squirming happily.  “I think your Mommy Susan and I need to rename the two of you: giggles and wiggles!”  I couldn’t decide if I was ‘giggles’ or ‘wiggles’ (I was kind of doing both) so instead I just snuggled up against his side with an amused snort.

“Did you want to go ahead and get cleaned up now?” Anthony suggested after a period of comfortable quiet.  “Uh huh.” I decided, finally looking back up.  It hadn’t occurred to me until then that the others might have been waiting on me for…stuff.  To my relief nofur seemed to mind, seemingly content to watch our interaction with indulgent grins.

“Ruby, did you want to take a look at the cummies Nick made for you in his didy?” Susan reminded my big sister.  Letting her excitement get the better of her Ruby made a beeline for the edge of the bed, with Johnny only a tail-length behind the white wolf femme.  Susan followed the pair as well, albeit at a much more dignified pace.

I whined as Anthony stood up; I’d just gotten comfortable, and really didn’t have any interest in moving just yet.  “I know, I know…and yet the pillow is still moving.” He informed me seriously as he located a packet of wipes on a neighboring table.  “Let’s get you cleaned up, okay little guy?”  I’d assumed it was a rhetorical statement, but Anthony was just sitting there expectantly…I guess he was a bit nervous about me being a bit nervous.  Meeting his eyes, I smiled up at the raccoon, doing my best to communicate that everything really was fine.  “Okies!”

Nodding his understanding, Anthony grinned back, his mind at ease.  Unfastening the tapes on my diaper with a crinkle, he folded down the front with a flourish that earned giggles from everyfur in the room, myself included.  “Somebody is a very messy little kit!” he observed.  “Yeppers!” Ruby grinned, obviously proud of herself.  “Now Ruby…” Susan pointed out seriously, patting Johnny on the head “It was a team effort.”  “Uh huh.”  Ruby argued, pointing at the large wet spot in the front of my diaper “But that’s my part.  Johnny’s is on the other side…at least the part that isn’t inside Nick…”  “Well, then which part is my part?” Susan questioned seriously “I was here too you know!”  “Oh…” Ruby nodded, getting Susan’s point “I guess all of it is everyfur’s part!”  Obviously proud of Ruby’s conclusion, Susan gave a happy nod.  “Exactly!  Yiffing is a team activity!”  “Moving on…” Anthony suggested, rolling his eyes in poorly faked boredom that did a wholly inadequate job of masking his amused chuckle.

Taking a wipe Anthony began to slowly clean up my lower tummy and thighs, causing me to shiver reflexively from the cold.  When he was satisfied with the results Anthony got another couple of them and began to teasingly clean my now thoroughly at attention boy parts, after raising an eyebrow in request (and getting a highly enthusiastic nod), going so far as to rub the edge of the wipe gently around just inside the opening to my sheath.

“I think that’s pretty good.” Anthony finally decided.  “Nuh huh!” Johnny disagreed “You forgot his butt side!”  “And why would I need to clean that side?” Anthony asked innocently “I don’t smell a stinky little kit…”  Johnny blushed crimson, even though his fur and looked down, mumbling something no one could quite understand.  “What’s that, sweetheart?” Anthony asked.  Giving Anthony a look that clearly said ‘don’t make me say it’ Johnny pretended to not hear him.  Anthony, however, was having way too much fun with this.  His puppy was notoriously, unflappably precocious, and he could count on one paw the number of times he’s seen Johnny blush, let alone be this embarrassed.  (Come to think of it most of them had been since Nick’s arrival…oh yes, Anthony was going to enjoy having this new weak spot living right next door!)  “Well, speak up…” Anthony asked again, not unkindly, but not taking ‘no’ for an answer either.  “When we were playing earlier I made cummies under Nick’s tail, so you need to clean him there too.” Johnny explained meekly.  “There, that wasn’t so hard to say, was it?” Anthony nodded gently.  (Judging by Johnny’s growing erection, being put on the spot like that hadn’t entirely been a bad experience…)

“Be a good boy and roll over for me please.” Anthony requested.  Cooperatively I did as instructed, raising my tail and trying not to cringe in anticipation of the coldness of the wipes.  “Have you gotten a warmer for your apartment yet?” Anthony asked Susan as he gave me a sympathetic look.  “When I requested one they said they were sending us something new we were getting in.  It should be here in a day or two.” Susan confirmed.  Good news by my way of thinking!

Inspecting under my tail Anthony commented to Johnny that “You did make a mess of him, didn’t you?”  Johnny just blushed and nodded as Anthony set about cleaning me up back there as well, only slightly less than chastely.  (To my mild disappointment; I was almost ready to go again, it would seem!)  “There we go!” he finally announced, giving me an affectionate swat on the butt “Now back to class with you!”

‘Back to class’ was all Ruby was waiting to hear, and the white wolf certainly couldn’t be accused of missing her cue.  I was going to try to stretch out some of the kinks I had left over from being held down prone earlier (not that I was complaining about how that had turned out!), but I had barely managed to stand up when, with a declarative cry of “Mine!” Ruby pounced my back, suspending herself off the floor with her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist.

I wasn’t able to keep from staggering some from the impact, but to my great satisfaction I managed to mostly suppress the grimace of pain as my not quite healed injuries all lodged their protests at the same time.  “Ruby! Careful!” Susan warned, concern adding a sharpness to her tone.  Ruby looked confused for a second then blanched when she realized what Susan was worried about.  Dropping to the ground instantly Ruby looked me over thoroughly, apologizing profusely the whole time despite my protests.

“If you’re hurting you don’t need to try to hide it from us.  No one is going to think badly of you for it.” Anthony told me kindly.  I couldn’t tell if he was reading my mind or my body language, but either way I appreciated his concern.  Even if I did find it kind of strange to realize I felt better about being seen as vulnerable now that I had ‘permission’.  “It’s an occupational quirk.  Try not to overthink it!” he laughed, guessing the cause of my confused look.

Once Ruby’s concern had begun to approach the point of ridiculousness without any of my friends coming to my rescue I finally just laughed and threw up my paws in surrender.  Having decided I was done with protesting, and intended to be more up front if my injuries were bothering me, she quit paying attention to what I was doing.  Seizing the opportunity I scooped Ruby up into my arms and gave the surprised wolf a kiss on the nose.  “I’m fine.  Really!  No harm done!”  “Put me down!” she instructed firmly.  “Are you going to settle down and quit playing doctor?”  “I’ll settle down…” she promised playfully “But I don’t think either of us wants me to quit ‘playing doctor’!”

“I may hold you to that…” I warned, matching her suggestive grin as I set her back on her paws.  “Is ‘playing doctor’ covered in today’s lesson plan?” Johnny asked, feigning a curiously innocent expression for everyfur’s benefit.  “Well,” Susan explained, switching back to ‘teacher mode’ but missing the appropriate age range by a mile and landing solidly on ‘college professor’ “It’s a common trope cubs often use when they’re first beginning to discover their bodies and the sexes as a validation to explore them with other cubs.  So yes, it is generally an educational experience.”

“It’s an excuse to play with other fur’s no-no zones.  So yes.” Anthony clarified with a laugh.  The dracon just rolled her eyes at him.  “I like other furs’ no-no zones.” Johnny informed everyfur in what must have been the least necessary revelation in history.  “We know, honey.  Believe me, we know.”

“Still mine!” Ruby announced, deciding to try to steer things away from subjects that would result in her having to wait any longer than strictly necessary for what she was hoping for.  She refrained from any more glomping, however, which I (and my sutures) appreciated.  Taking my paw Ruby guided me back to the bed, then after taking a seat behind me began to rub my shoulders for a while.  “Fox maintenance.” She grinned at Susan “It’s in the ‘care and feeding’ manual they send out with new kits!”  “I don’t think they included one with him…” Susan played along “I may have to see if I can download a copy from their website.”  “See if you can do a warranty exchange for one that isn’t defective.” I suggested.  Low blood sugar, needing a nap, or something; I was starting to feel kind of moody…”  “That’s not funny.” Susan informed me with an expression I couldn’t quite place but didn’t think I liked being the cause of.  Shrugging apologetically I explained that “Being tired tends to make my insecurities come out…”  “Aww…did we wear you out, little brother?” Ruby asked, her back rub turning into an over the shoulders hug.  “Not entirely…I guess you’ll just have to try harder!” I suggested playfully.  “Be careful what you wish for, little one!”

“Uh oh.  Now you’re going to get it!” Johnny said in a singsong voice.  “’It.’  ‘Some.’  Either way a valid option.” Ruby nodded seriously.  Despite her cavalierly horny display Ruby remembered full well what had happened when she had glomped me, and my big sis had no intentions of risking life and limb in her quest for an exhausting number of orgasms…no matter how eager and willing all parties involved obviously were.  Instead she decided that the ‘playing doctor’ flavor of curious and gentle exploration could be a satisfying and (equally importantly) low-impact form of play.

“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.” She offered sweetly.  “Okay.” I nodded in mock indecisiveness as she rounded up a little pillow pile for us to recline on.  Or hide behind…that had a fun little naughty feeling too!  “Mine’s an ‘innie’ and yours is an ‘outie’…” she observed astutely, proving herself to have a keen sense of observation well beyond her years.  Reaching out, Ruby gingerly poked my penis with her fingertips, then after some initial exploring tickled me playfully around my testicles and the base of my sheath.  “Look!  Nick’s growing!” she announced to everyfur.  “Good job!” Susan encouraged in cheerful amusement.

“My turn!” I managed to get out between giggles.  A short defensively retaliatory tickle campaign later I had Ruby convinced to settle down to a somewhat winded truce.  “Whew!” Ruby panted, curling up into my shoulder with a happy laugh.  “Puppy need a minute?” I teased.  “Maybe just a minute…” she conceded. (I noticed Johnny grinning at that one…I guess they didn’t expect the walking wounded to be the one to come out on top in the tickle war!)

Gently rubbing Ruby’s tummy I soon had the wolf murring happily as I traced random patterns in her fur.  “Did you want to…umm…stay here for a while?” I questioned.  Ruby had her eyes half-closed at the moment, and I really didn’t want to spoil things if she wanted to keep it at just a tummy rub for a while.  With the most innocent of looks Ruby smoothed out the fur on her tummy.  Then with an equally suggestive one she drew an arrow from the top of her belly to the bottom, pointing at her no-no zone.  That handily answered that question…but I could tell Ruby appreciated the consideration.

Tiptoeing my fingers down Ruby’s arrow, I let them come to rest just above her mons.  As I began to explore lower with a playful hesitancy Ruby’s breathing began to grow more rapid, punctuated now and then with quiet little ‘errfs’ of anticipation.  Taking my time I began to genuinely explore her body, all of her body: a stroke here, a little tickle or rub there…it hadn’t occurred to me before, but none of my previous (albeit limited) sexual experiences had ever been like this.  My ‘adult’ encounters had always been more goal oriented; still playful and fun (with the present company, anyway) but without this sense of curious exploration.  It was actually really good for both of us, and I couldn’t help but feel like maybe I’d missed out by not having the opportunity to try these things the first time I was a kit.  This was definitely going to have to not be a one-time thing!

As I worked my way back towards her thighs, Ruby put one of her footpaws on the bed and obligingly spread her legs for me.  But, when I moved to accept her invitation Ruby wrapped her tail between her legs, covering herself demurely.  “But I showed you mine…” I pouted.  “I know!” Ruby nodded slyly “I just wanted you to play with my tail…”  I think I could oblige her that!

Running my fingers through the deep fur of her tail I somehow found myself really amused with grooming Ruby’s fluff.  “I wish I had a piece of ribbon…” I commented as I combed her tail.  Susan, resourceful as ever, produced a length of a really pretty shiny pink ribbon about the time I was finishing up with grooming Ruby’s tail.  “Ooh!’ Ruby smiled, in obvious approval.

“May I put a bow in your tail, sis?” I asked politely.  (And also highly rhetorically…)  “Yeppers!” she nodded excitedly.  Moving Ruby’s tail down out of the way, I idly began to trace the ribbon down her tummy, leaving a trail of tickly shivers in its wake.  I slowed when I got down to her diaper area, paying particular attention to her inner thighs and lips.  Gasping and beginning to pant a little in spite of herself, she began to curl her toes and twitch the very tip of her tail in arousal.

Teasingly rubbing the base of Ruby’s tail (and occasionally ‘accidentally’ brushing a finger along her tailhole) I spent an altogether unnecessary amount of time tying a neat, and very attractive (if I do say so myself) bow around it.  Sitting back to examine my handiwork, I took a moment to admire the view.  The pink of the bow stood out really well against the white-silver of her fur, and as she posed a bit reclining on the pillows Ruby looked really attractive: cute and coy and arousing all at the same time.

“You know” Ruby blushed “it feels good when I rub your parts, and it feels good when you rub my parts; if we rubbed our parts together we could feel really good at the same time!”  Pretending to think about it for a second, I decided that “I think we should try it!”  Taking the lead with a giggle, Ruby snagged the tube of lube from the edge of the bed where it was making another attempt to escape onto the floor again.  “They said slippery is better…”

Squeezing a thin line of lube from top to bottom between her labia, Ruby took me by the shoulders and guided me down beside her on the bed so that we were lying on our sides facing each other.  Pulling me against her she guided my penis to lay along her opening then wrapped her arms around me, pressing us into a full body hug.  I was confused for a moment before I caught on to her idea, but then squeezed her back as she began to slowly rocking against me, rubbing my length shallowly between her lips.

I was initially kind of dubious about the whole idea, but as we began to grind against each other with a growing enthusiasm it proved to be far less awkward than I had assumed it would be.  As I began to ‘errf’ and yip with an unabashed openness that I was gradually learning was okay to allow myself (as opposed to Ruby, who’s whines and barks felt no need to be stifled; and for which I felt a certain amount of envy for the self-confidence behind) I let my paws roam down Ruby’s back until they found their way under her ribbon and began to firmly rub and knead the base of her tail.

“Oh!  That’s nice!” Ruby yelped happily, pressing against me even more firmly before presenting a new idea.  “Hey Nick?  Remember how it felt nice when you were touching my inside places earlier?  I’ll bet it would feel really good too if you…umm…put your ‘outie’ into my ‘innie’…if you wanted to, I mean…”  “I want to!” I agreed quickly, more than a bit excited by this new possibility as we scooted around to adjust our positions.

Rolling over onto her back, Ruby spread her legs, parting herself with her fingers and looking at me expectantly.  “Now you remember where it goes?” Susan interjected kindly.  “I think so…” I nodded, feigning some slight confusion as I positioned myself above the wolf femme.  “Johnny, look closely please…” Susan instructed, waiting for the coyote to find a good spot to watch.  Then, taking me in her paw Susan placed the head of my penis against Ruby’s opening.  “Okay, now press in slowly.” She instructed “And once you reach your knot stop until Ruby tells you that she’s ready.”

“Okies!” I nodded.  Slowly but steadily I pushed into Ruby until at last I was hilted to my knot in the eager wolf.  “Mmm…  Yes please, little brother!” she encouraged, catching me more enthusiastically with her clawtips than I think she realized.

“Hi there…” I winced.  “Hello to you too…” she nodded apologetically.  (I’ll bet that can be a real problem with felines when things get exciting…well, at least Ruby didn’t have a thing for press-on nails!)

“See how it all fits together, Johnny?” I heard Susan saying in the background.  Johnny apparently was paying more attention to how it all fit together than to what Susan had to say about how it all fit together because all she got by way of a reply was a highly distracted “Uh huh.”.  I couldn’t help but grin at that, which made Ruby in turn grin at me.  “Pay attention to us, not them…” Ruby chided me cheerfully “You don’t want me to think I’m boring you, do you?  That would be…”

I didn’t let her finish, instead locking muzzles with the wolf in a deep, passionate kiss.  “What were you saying?” I asked with a sly smile.  “Nothing whatsoever.” Ruby decided, kissing me back with equal enthusiasm.  As our tongues began to explore each other’s muzzles I cupped my lover’s butt and hugged Ruby to me in more affection than lust.  “Little brother can’t pass up a chance for a good cuddle, can he?” she observed affectionately.  “It doesn’t have to be one or the other!” I grinned.  Moving a paw over a bit I earned a surprised yelp followed by a pleased giggle as I tickled Ruby under her tail.

It must have jogged her memory as well since it finally occurred to her what it was that I had been waiting for.  “I’m ready!” she informed me, sounding somewhat exasperated at her oversight “Actually I was ready quite a while ago.  Like a long while ago.  A really long while ago.  A really, really…”  “Are you sure?” I interrupted innocently “I don’t want to rush you into anything if you aren’t ready yet, big sis…”

With a playful growl still tinged with frustration she thrust up against me once, squeezing my length hard with her inner muscles.  “Okay then!” I ‘eeped’, taking the hint: in her opinion this was decidedly not the time to be playing coy.  Shifting a bit to get some better traction I began to puppy hump her with quick, shallow strokes.  While not particularly effective it did get giggles from most of the furs in the room, Ruby being the notable exception with a resigned and poorly muffled sigh.

“Let’s try this a little differently, okay honey?” Susan stepped in kindly “You both will probably enjoy it more if you go in and out deeper, and try to get a rhythm going…”  Placing her paws on my hips, Susan began to guide my thrusting.  I couldn’t really figure out exactly why, but there was just something about Susan’s paws-on instruction that managed to be both funny and really hot at the same time, maybe just the playfulness of it all, and I could tell that Susan and Ruby were enjoying themselves as much as I was…

“There, isn’t that better?” Susan said after finally ‘directing’ me to a rhythm she approved of.  I made a halfhearted attempt to vocalize some sort of coherent response, which ended up emerging as an only slightly linguistically recognizable hybrid of a bark and a moan, but Susan got the general idea.  “I thought it might!”

Stepping back to allow things between Ruby and I to run their course, Susan pulled a chair over next to where Johnny had already settled in to watch.  The coyote had reclined back in his chair with a footpaw up on either armrest, masturbating contentedly as he observed us.  “They make a really cute couple, don’t they?” he mused, idly circling a finger around the opening of his sheath.  “All three of you do, dear.” Susan nodded.  Johnny just blushed at that: he never really knew how to respond to compliments.

“Do you mind if I…umm…join you?” the dracon asked, actually feeling somewhat shy about it.  “Not at all.” Johnny grinned downright gleefully.  Something about seeing the usually unflappably confident femme in this different, almost vulnerable, light was somehow really endearing to the puppy.  “Did you want some goop?”  Johnny offered helpfully, passing Susan the tube of lube.  “Well aren’t you a helpful little guy!” Susan praised, causing Johnny to blush proudly.  Ironic that he didn’t give a second thought to pawing off in front of a whole roomful of furs, but a few words of approval from one of our caretakers had Johnny shuffling his paws in pleased embarrassment…

Not inclined to be left out of the fun, Anthony took a seat on the edge of the bed near Ruby and I.  The raccoon found himself lost in indecision at the moment: he really wanted the chance to get to know these new extended family members better, both intimately and otherwise, but he also didn’t want to push anyfur into something they were uncomfortable with, or not ready for…it weighed on him.  “Could I be involved with this?” he finally asked Ruby and I, deciding that the direct approach would probably be best in the long run.  “Indirectly, I mean…”

I’d kind of figured it was going to come up eventually, so I wasn’t really surprised by the question.  “It’s okay with me.” I agreed seriously.  (The nice thing about anticipating a question is being able to have an answer ready.)  “But let’s start slow, okay?”  “Fair enough!” Anthony nodded, having expected that particular caveat, and feeling pretty much the same way himself.

For her part Ruby looked somewhere between disconcerted and embarrassed.  “I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet…” she finally admitted “You’re really nice, and I like you, but after…  I have a lot of trouble with getting comfortable enough with furs to be intimate; it takes me a long time…”  “It’s okay, puppy.” Anthony nodded, ruffling her headfur affectionately “It really is, I promise.”  “You can play with Nick though!” she grinned “I’m okay with that part, and I’ll bet he would be really okay with it!”  Something random occurred to me, and I startled the two of them by bursting out laughing.  “This is probably the first time in history furs have stopped mid-yiff to have a conversation!”

“Well, as you were then, little guy!” Anthony laughed, patting my butt with a grin.  “Or we could debate market driven economic policies...I’ve not gotten to authoritatively debunk Keynesian growth theories in a while…” Ruby suggested pompously.  “If I start yiffing you some more will you promise to quit talking?” I asked politely.  “I think you should probably find out.  For all our sakes.” Anthony decided equally seriously.

After I began to thrust into Ruby again it took no time at all to move on to more enjoyable pursuits and talking was soon replaced by happy little yiffing sounds.  “Don’t you hate it when your shows go to intermission?” I heard Johnny joke between some happy little sounds of his own.  “I heard that!”

Ruby and I had found our rhythm again (hers admittedly quite a bit more ‘musical’ than mine) when I felt somefur’s paws begin to tiptoe their way along my shoulders and down my back.  I shivered slightly as Anthony shifted down to my sides; it was tickly…and distracting!  “I get the feeling that’s somewhat…counterproductive.” Susan pointed out to Anthony after noticing me start to falter as I began to concentrate on fighting down the reflexive urge to hide from Anthony’s delicately probing fingers.

He didn’t say anything in response, but Anthony did move on, finding his way to the base of my tail.  I let out a yip of pleasure as Anthony began to massage my tail firmly, paying particular attention to working at the underside right at its base.  “Does that feel nice?” Anthony questioned cheerfully “I know Johnny has always been a big fan!”  I couldn’t even really respond to his question; I just moaned my enthusiasm and increased the pace of my thrusting.  “Keep doing that…” Ruby joked “It turns out it’s just as good for me!”  “Naughty girl!” Anthony snorted with an amused grin and a roll of his eyes.  But he tactfully gave no indication he was considering stopping.

It was becoming apparent to Ruby that I was beginning to get close; and there was still something on her mind.  “Tie with me, little brother?” she part asked, part told, leaning up to playfully lick my nose.  Slowing my pace, I leaned down and again locked muzzles with the white wolf in a deep, passionate kiss.  As our tongues entwined and began to explore each other’s muzzles I began to slowly, deliberately push my knot against her opening.  To my pleased surprise when I began working myself into Ruby’s opening Anthony began working a couple of fingers into mine.

“Relax for me, little kit…” Anthony instructed me gently.  That was much easier to say than to do, not so much because Anthony still made me a bit nervous but rather that Ruby and I were busy pursuing the whole tying plan.  Then, with a popping sensation my knot slipped past her opening, intimately locking me inside my lover.  Fully intending to emphasize the moment Anthony moved his fingers apart, spreading my tailhole wide for a few moments as well.  “Don’t wait…” Ruby panted eagerly “Be a good little brother and yiff me!”

That was all the encouragement I needed to begin thrusting again with purpose, and soon both Ruby and I were flirting with the edge of orgasm.  As her yips grew more abrupt and her tail began to flag reflexively I knew she was almost there.  “Tell me if you’re enjoying yourself…” I teased playfully as I worked a paw around under her and began to tease her tailhole and massage around the base of her tail.  Just starting to respond, my lover began to cum, arching her hips up to meet me as deeply as possible, and replacing whatever she had been planning to say with a thoroughly contented whine.

“It’s your turn now.” Anthony told me kindly, picking up the pace as he continued playing with my tailhole “You did a really good job for Ruby, and now it’s time for you to have one too!  Can you do that for us?”  “Mm hmm!” Ruby agreed as she began to squeeze my knot inside of her “Be a good little kit and show us how you make cummies!”  To say I was not opposed to the idea would be putting it mildly, and even though the two of them were certainly making an impression I was really trying to edge things along for as long as I could.  The little kit in me just didn’t want it to be over, even though I knew everyfur would be more than willing to play again as soon as we were able!

My genius plan, however, only lasted until Anthony figured out what I was up to.  “Now don’t be greedy; we can play some more in a little bit!” he laughed.  When I started to disagree Anthony just shook his head with an amused grin and began to firmly rub a spot a little way inside my tailhole up towards the backside of my front side…and I was pretty sure the world exploded.  Orgasming hard for what seemed like forever, my energetic yips and ‘errfs’ turned to a whine rich with pleasure and need that, finally, trailed off into a blissful sigh of contentment.

“How did you do that?” Ruby asked in a voice bordering on awe as I wrapped an arm around her and rolled us over so she was on top and I could collapse without squishing the smaller wolf “I need to learn that trick!”  “That was his prostate.” Anthony explained as he wiped off his fingers “And I’ll be more than happy to show you…once you two are mobile again.”

“Don’t care.  Fine right here…” I yawned, closing my eyes and idly beginning to rub Ruby’s back.  “Somehow I think you’ll change your mind in a while.” Susan laughed, scooting her chair over so she could ruffle my headfur.  (She looked pretty flushed herself; I couldn’t help but feel a certain amount of pride that apparently Ruby and I were that ‘entertaining’ for our friends to watch…)  “I could speed things up…” Johnny offered helpfully.  “Or you could wipe off your tummy; you’re about to start dripping on the floor!” Anthony pointed out seriously.

“Oh yeah…that was a good one…well, two actually.”  The coyote agreed, not put off in the least.  Picking up a packet of wipes, he flopped back down on his chair and began to clean himself up.  “I’ll get you two next.” He offered Ruby and I “But like Daddy said, there’s ‘drippage concerns’ to address first!”

“So my little exhibitionist likes watching too, it would seem.” Anthony observed, adding as an aside to Susan that “That’s actually a new one as far as I know…”  “Yeppers!” Johnny agreed, consolidating his thoughts for a moment “But when it’s my friends having fun…I don’t think I’m really all that interested when it’s just some furs.  Nick and Ruby looked like they were having a lot of fun, and that was fun for me.”  “Do you think you might like to try playing with a girl some time, just to see what it’s like?” Susan asked curiously.

Johnny really thought about it for a while before finally answering.  “I…don’t know.  A couple weeks ago I’d have told you the idea was completely icky; and it still really is if we were talking about strangers.  But when I think about maybe doing something with Ruby, or even you, someday…I guess I feel like I would be doing sexy things with Ruby, not a girl.  Does that make any sense?”  “It does, actually, honey.” Susan reassured him as the rest of us nodded our agreement.  Slipping off of me, Ruby gave our brother a hug.  “We can put a pin in that one and come back to it if you want to…it’s not like there’s a rush!”

“I see a rush…” Johnny teased, leaning forward to cup a wipe between Ruby’s legs “Now you’re dripping!”  “Nick really enjoyed himself!” Ruby giggled, replacing Johnny’s paw with her own and flopping back down on the bed to start wiping up my mess.  “Messes are good.” I opined “They mean everyfur had fun!”  “You told us yesterday that you thought messes were icky.” Johnny argued cheerfully.  “No I didn’t.  Nu uh.” I shook my head “You’s fibbing!”  “Okay, okay.  I must have heard you wrong.” He corrected innocently before turning to Ruby “When you’re done cleaning off Nick’s stickies can you get us some oatmeal from the kitchen?”

“That’s not what I meant!” I disagreed, sounding flustered.  I was still well into a happy, post-orgasmic haze, and switching trains of thought was frustratingly difficult.  Coming to my rescue Anthony declared that “We can think about that after class, but there’s still some things we haven’t covered yet.”  My thankful expression drooped a bit as he continued talking though.  “Since it looks like he’s going to be lying down for a while I’m sure Nick won’t mind if we use him to help me show you and Johnny the prostate.”  I groaned and was about to complain, but Anthony leaned over and quietly assured me “Don’t worry, you’re going to love this!”  Thinking back to earlier I realized that yes, I probably really would.

“Okies!” I agreed.  Susan scooped me up and sat down in one of the chairs with me in her lap while Johnny and Ruby moved some things around (rather gleefully, I might add) under Anthony’s supervision.  “If ‘Nee keeps grinning like that I’m going to ask Mr. Anthony about the doggy thing they were talking about earlier…” I grumbled to Susan.  (It wasn’t that I was actually annoyed by anything the coyote had done, I was just starting to need an afternoon nap…that however kind of was aggravating!)  “If you’re curious about it, like actually curious, not trying to make him uncomfortable, then you should.” Susan told me.  “I kind of am…” I mused “Like is it a play thing, or a sexy time thing?  Do furs playing doggy…umm…breed?”  “It can be any of those things.” Susan explained “You’ll just have to ask Anthony and Johnny…”  We let the subject drop at that point, though Susan filed it away as something to bring up again later.

The others were making good progress with Anthony’s construction project in the meantime.  They had stacked up two piles of pillows: a fairly tall one, and a good bit shorter one spaced apart from the first; then they had covered the piles with a pair of blankets, tucking the edges neatly under the pillows.  Ruby was just finishing up draping a large piddle pad across the bigger of the two stacks of pillows as Susan and I turned to observe their progress.

“Ready?” Anthony asked cheerfully, patting the pillows.  This wasn’t exactly what I had been expecting, and it was with a distinct trepidation that I climbed down from Susan’s lap and approached the bed.  “There’s no need to be nervous.” Anthony reassured me gently “Just lie down on your tummy with your head up on the low end and your butt on the taller one.”  “Oops!  One thing first though!” Johnny announced.  Grabbing the lube he squirted a huge puddle in the middle of the piddle pad.  “Now we’re ready!” he decided, giving me a wink.  “What’s that for?”  Johnny didn’t answer, he just gave me a huge, knowing grin and patted the pillows invitingly.

Climbing up on the bed I did my best to settle in nonchalantly, crossing my arms under my chin on the head rest and scooting around to get my hips comfortable.  I ended up with the bigger pile under my pelvis and tummy, with my sheath pressed up against the back of the pillows and my butt presenting in the air submissively.  It felt…different, exposing myself so thoroughly, offering myself to them, and trusting them with all that entailed.

I didn’t hear it the first time she asked, and Susan looked rather bemused about having to repeat herself.  “Are you comfy there?”  “Oh!  Yeppers!” I blushed as I snapped back to the present.  “Good.” She nodded “Now be sure to tell us if anything gets uncomfortable, or you want us to wait for a while, okay?”

Tucking my tail to the side, I could feel somefur applying lube to my tailhole, and then Anthony began, making a point of describing what he was doing for my benefit.  (In the position I was in, both physically and mentally, nofur wanted me to have any unexpected surprises!)  “Now everyfur remembers the speculum from earlier?  Well doctors use them for looking inside other places too, not just the vagina.”

Warming the metal tool in his paws, Anthony laughed.  “Just like anything else, speculums won’t hurt if you go slowly and carefully, and use plenty of lube…but the polite thing to do is to warm them up first!  …Well, unless the patient is into that sort of thing.”  Ruby and Susan were nodding at that particular instruction, expressions a mix of amusement and the sympathetic understanding shared by pretty much anyfur who has been to a gynecologist.

I felt a momentary pressure under my tail, then the tip of the speculum gently pushed its way past the resistance of my entrance, its polished stainless steel allowing it to easily slip fully into me.  Pausing for a few moments to make sure I was ready, Anthony resumed his talk.  “I’m sure you all remember how these work; it’s not complicated or anything, but it’s very important to remember to always open it slowly, and to pay attention to your patient’s reactions—you don’t want to accidentally hurt them!”

Turning it somewhat inside me to make sure that the ‘subject of the inquiry’ wouldn’t be covered up when it was opened, Anthony began to gradually squeeze the handles.  It didn’t hurt, but felt more ‘insistent’ and inevitable than anything I’d experienced before as I was slowly spread wide for all to see.  Once he had it all the way open, Anthony explained that “By turning this screw inwards like this we can lock the speculum open so you don’t have to hold it the whole time.  Now we just have to give Nick a chance to get adjusted to things.  A fur’s bottom isn’t used to being held open like this, and it can take some time for your muscular reflexes to settle down; see how his anal ring is twitching a little against the speculum?”  Reaching over, Susan began to gently rub my scruff and the backs of my ears.  “A lot of that is because he’s nervous and it’s making him tense up…” she explained to the room in general before turning to me.  “I know it’s not the easiest thing to ask right now, but try to relax.  Focus on the sensations, the feelings, and not on things to worry about…”

It took a real, conscious effort to do what Susan asked, but when I did it didn’t take long at all to find myself in a whole new place.  Being held wide by the tool was a very forceful sensation, but oddly not really a rough one like I had been expecting…I guess clinical and sort of detached would be a good way to describe it.  It was certainly different than playing with toys or being mounted by Johnny.  Not that I was complaining: the pressure of having my anal ring held open, while not exactly feeling ‘filling’, was a turn on in its own way, and pretty soon I found myself escaping my sheath.

“I’m guessing you’re doing better…” Susan grinned playfully, having correctly interpreted the flush developing across my features.  “Uh huh!” I nodded, my voice already growing husky.  “Let’s continue, then!” Anthony decided.  “If you take a look inside you’ll discover that you can’t really see where the prostate is, and you can’t exactly feel it…you can tell once you locate it but only sort of.  I guarantee you’ll know when you find it though!”

Even though I knew what to expect I was still startled when Anthony gently ran a finger along my insides.  “The prostate is actually located an inch or two inside the rectum, behind the penis.  Placing his finger, Anthony showed that yes, he knew exactly what he was talking about.  My penis was already beginning to twitch just from the light touch as he continued.  “Now there’s not a whole lot you can do with a prostate, considering that the accessible part is just a spot on the wall of the rectum, but what you can do will get a reaction!”

I couldn’t help but moan happily as Anthony began to put a gentle pressure on it, and my tail began to twitch quite outside of my control.  “Your choices are basically to rub it or press on it.”  As Anthony began to demonstrate I quickly ended up whining plaintively and trying to fight down the urge to masturbate.

“Nick dear?  It’s perfectly all right if you want to mount the pillows, just try not to move around too much, okay little guy?” Susan told me mercifully.  With a grateful nod I wasted no time in starting to hump against the cushions.  (I was really, really thankful to Johnny for considerately providing that big puddle of lube…)

“This is all actually new to me.” Susan said as she looked on in fascination “Would you mind terribly if I took over?”  “Help yourself!” Anthony agreed cheerfully.  I didn’t even bother trying to conceal my whimpers of need and desire as he stopped that amazing rubbing.

After some ginger exploration Susan found the spot Anthony had vacated, and soon had me writhing under her attention.  She was, however, being frustrated in her task by the amount of wiggling I was doing as I vigorously humped against the pillows.  Rolling her eyes in exasperation after the third or fourth time her fingers slipped out of my tailhole, Susan finally just went with an obvious solution.  “You’re an enthusiastic little kit, aren’t you?” she asked rhetorically.  Placing her other paw firmly, but kindly, on my lower back she forced me to adjust my motions to something that worked better for the situation.  Starting to rub against the pillows instead of humping into them, I earned myself a pleased “Good boy!” from Susan.  As she began to firmly massage my prostate in earnest I began to get really deeply lost in the sensations.  I gave in to the urge to close my eyes and rested my cheek on the pillows, not even noticing how loudly I was moaning and gasping and yipping.  I didn’t notice much of anything beyond my own body actually; not the crinkling of the piddle pad or the rustling of the bedding, not the coolness of the room as the air conditioning finally started to catch up, not even the looks of intrigued arousal on the muzzles of my friends.

The feeling of being stretched wide and the sensations of Susan playing with my prostate had fixated in my mind to the point that all I wanted to do, all that existed, was stimulating myself against the bedding.  The pace of my rubbing sped up rapidly with my now frenetic need; all thoughts of limiting myself to just rubbing had long since left my mind: if not for Susan’s restraining paw on my lower back I probably would have yiffed that pillow across the room!  (Ruby would tell me later that at that moment she was more envious of my pillow than she had ever been of anything in her life, and with an embarrassed laugh Johnny admitted that he’d felt the same way…)

Suddenly, without any of the usual feelings of warning I was accustomed to, I began to cum explosively, toes curling, tail thrashing, and my body rising as high off the table as Susan’s paw would allow.  Susan just kept rubbing my prostate the whole time, until, finally, I collapsed down, limp and gasping, in the warmth of the spreading puddle of my seed.  Extracting her fingers (but not the speculum) from my tailhole she brushed my headfur back from my eyes and began gently stroking my muzzle.

“While we’re giving Nick some time to find his way back to us: who gets to go next, Ruby or Johnny?”  Oof, Anthony sure put his finger on it (no pun intended), ‘finding my way back’ was exactly what I felt like I was…wait, ‘next’?  I’m not strictly sure I was ready, or even able, for there to be a ‘next’…  But on the other paw I wasn’t quite tired enough to say no to yiffing.  Maybe we could wait for ten or fifteen minutes…

While those thoughts were stumbling drunkenly through my still orgasm-blissed mind, Ruby and Johnny were playing ‘rock, paper, scissors’ to decide whose turn it would be next.  The wolf femme won, and after a short but excited victory dance she quickly took over Susan’s post.  As it became apparent that I wasn’t going to be getting the down time I was hoping for I politely tried to raise the point.  Everyfur involved, myself included, however, knew it was a gripe and not a problem.

Putting her paw between me and the pillow Susan confirmed that I was in fact erect again.  “Good anatomy models don’t complain, dear.” She chided me playfully as she wiped off her paw “Go ahead, Ruby!”  And then the wolf femme’s fingers were in my tailhole.  “In a little deeper than that.” Anthony explained, watching her progress.  Then, with a pleasant shudder, I knew Ruby had found her target.  “I think that’s it!” she announced happily, if thoroughly superfluously.  “Yes…” I agreed, almost hissing it out through clenched teeth.  How could something feel so good this soon after an orgasm?

“Don’t grind your teeth, my little kit; you don’t want to have to go to the dentist early, do you?”  “Nuh huh.” I agreed, already beginning to yip off and on again “But my pee-pee is kind of sore…”  “We didn’t wait for your refractory period to completely pass.” She nodded sympathetically “I know it’s hard, but try not to stimulate yourself for a while; it will pass.”

Popping a finger in my muzzle, she began to delicately touch my gums and the roof of my mouth to distract me.  It tickled!  A lot.  In a very good way!  (Why was I only finding out about these things now?)  Going back in to ‘teacher mode’, Susan explained to the three of us: “After a male ejaculates there’s a short period of time before he’s able to do it again, and during that time his penis gets really sensitive to touch and can feel sore or even slightly painful.  Luckily for everyfur lining up to play with Nick here, it doesn’t last very long!”

Susan went to take her finger out of my muzzle, but was convinced by my rather disgruntled whine and attempt to bite down on it without hurting her to leave it there instead.  “Okay, okay!” she laughed “You like that, huh?”  I didn’t answer beyond a pleased snuffle, I was quickly nearing orgasm again, and couldn’t manage much beyond ‘errfs’ and ‘yips’…

To my happy surprise I’d progressed enough that touching myself was back in the ‘good times’ category.  Not surprisingly it didn’t take long for me to begin rubbing against the pillows again…though a lot less athletically this time!  “You’re getting close, aren’t you, little brother?” Ruby observed huskily “I’ll tell you a secret—I am too!  You allowing me to have my way with you so thoroughly, to see and touch everything is really erotic; and watching my little brother enjoying himself so much that all he can do is wiggle and moan, it’s…oh gods yes!” Ruby was cut off in midsentence, her words turning to a howl, when she reached a shuddering orgasm, judging by the grins on Susan and Johnny’s muzzles, quite by accident.

“Train leave the station early?” Johnny teased, amused by the look of consternation she’d taken on.  Pulling her fingers from within herself, Ruby examined the rather copious amount of her juices on them with a contemplative expression, then announced “Girl cooties!” and promptly wiped them clean on the coyote’s fur.  “Eww…” Johnny laughed, debating the merits of getting between me and the pillow that by now I inarguably owed dinner and a movie in search of retaliatory ammunition.  “Ahem.” Susan pointed out sternly “Don’t forget about Nick…he’s ‘in need’ at the moment…”

“Oh!” Ruby remembered, looking chagrined for a moment before her expression was replaced again with a playful smile.  “You’re cute when you’re frustrated.” She told me affectionately “But don’t worry little brother, what kind of big sis would I be if I didn’t make sure you were taken care of?”  Thank the gods it was a rhetorical question: I didn’t trust myself to be able to form a coherent answer!

“You’re really enjoying helping the rest of the cubs learn about their bodies, aren’t you?” Ruby mused conversationally as she idly began to tap a clawtip against the metal handle of the speculum.  (I was so turned on at this point that I could swear I felt every ‘ping’ vibrating against my insides.)  “And you’ve done a good job, too!  I think it’s time for another reward…would you like that?”

Either my “Yes please” was more understandable than I thought, or the wolf really didn’t need an answer from me.  Whichever the case Ruby took a practical cue from Susan: placing a paw on my lower back she began to firmly rub my prostate.  I, in turn, began to hump against the pillows with as much energy as I could still muster up.  Which by now wasn’t all that much, but damn it: yiffing!

“I do believe somefur is just about ready to make stickies!” Ruby announced “Are you going to make a mess on your piddle pad for us like a good little kit?” I didn’t really even hear her; I wasn’t paying attention to anything above the waist, my breathing coming in shallow, almost silent little gasps, my tail shaking more than twitching, until with an “Oh!” that was almost a squeak I came for Ruby.

With my release I was able to slow my breathing again and settle into a calm.  Shuffling my muzzle to find a spot on the pillow that was slightly less drooled on, I didn’t bother opening my eyes; I just let out the vulpine equivalent of a purr.  It wasn’t so much that I was getting tired (though admittedly there was some of that too) but more like that post-orgasmic bliss was a cumulative thing.  I just couldn’t convince myself, in my currently warmly fuzzy state of mind, that moving would be more pleasant than just basking right here where I was.  I was feeling a little sore, sure, particularly my anal ring (those didn’t evolve to be held open, after all), but lying there completely limp was slowly sorting that out for me anyway…

“So it’s my turn now, right?” Johnny asked hopefully “Right?”  Oh now that was a bit much…did he really think I was up for another romp quite this soon?  I was flattered by his opinion of my stamina anyway, if not his timing!  “Are you up for it?” Susan asked me gently “Nofur will push you to do anything you don’t want to.”  “I know.” I nodded, meaning it absolutely and without reservation.

“So?”  “I want to.” I nodded, sounding sheepish “But I don’t know if I can…”  “You said that yesterday, remember?” Johnny told me, sounding more loving than horny.  “Gentle and quiet?”  “Yes, love.” He nodded.  A consensus being reached, Ruby tapped Johnny on the shoulder to get him to wait a minute, then hopped up on the bed, delicately holding up my shoulders and slipping under me in place of my head rest.  A touch of maneuvering had me resting (rather more comfortably than on the pillows) on her thigh.

Ruby seemed quite content to play with my headfur and gently stroke the top of my muzzle.  “You look like a tired little kit…” she observed.  “Don’t want ‘ta move…even talking is too much moving.  Good thing Johnny will be doing all the moving…”  “Nah, I was just going to hold out a paw and let you do it.” Johnny teased.  “I’ll take a nap then.” I pouted.

“Okay, okay!  No need to sulk!” Johnny had no problem locating his target; seriously, the coyote was like a prostate seeking missile or something.  “Why do I get the feeling that Johnathan has done this a few times before…” Susan observed blandly.  Anthony pretended to have not heard the dracon, so Susan couldn’t resist continuing with it.  “I mean, just look at the expression on Nick’s muzzle!  That kind of skill must have taken lots and lots of practice…”  “No comment.” Anthony blushed.

While the grownups were busy talking the cubs had been entertaining ourselves quite happily.  Johnny, to my utter amazement, had managed to get me erect again, and was cheerfully involved with rubbing my prostate.  And his penis.  Ruby was playing with my headfur and talking at me quietly, mostly recounting a vacation she thought we should all take in the spring once the weather cleared up.  She was honestly somewhat concerned about me: I’d never been this passive during sex around her, and even though I was smiling languidly and occasionally letting out a quiet little whine the fact that I’d stopped making any attempt to stimulate myself didn’t sit well with the wolf femme.

Figuring out the direction of Ruby’s thoughts, Susan took it upon herself to reassure the wolf.  She was proud of Ruby for her concern, but it seemed to be causing my big sister more than a bit of distress.  “He gets like this sometimes, sweetheart.” Susan explained before turning to me “Are you having fun, little guy?”  “Uh huh!” I nodded, doing my best to present my adult “Moving is just a lot of work right now…I’m kind of ‘out to lunch’ at the moment.”  “If you’re going to be blissing out for a while would you like me to touch you?”  “Yes please.”

“Such a polite little guy.” Susan grinned indulgently.  Locating the tube of lube after a brief search, she squirted a glob on her paw, then taking a seat next to the bed slipped her paw under me.  “Not much room under here…” she commented as she took my penis in her paw and gently began to stroke my shaft, occasionally squeezing my knot, or tickling the few places she could reach.

Murring quietly I let myself sink further into the pleasant little fog.  I’d never been here before; it wasn’t just erotic or arousing, but something much more complex and confusing.  Horney, and limply relaxed, and deeply intimately close, and trusting, and confusing, and almost painful, and just a touch scary; all muddled up into a floaty, almost out of body experience.

I was beyond noticing it, but my friends had slowed, and were giving each other looks; my present state was not lost on them.  “Nick honey?  I need you to look at me, dearest.” Ruby instructed kindly, sounding completely grown up now.  With a tremendous effort I opened my eyes and met her gaze.  “Are you okay?” I nodded with a silly little grin.  “Do you want to keep going?”  “Yes!” I nodded again, more eagerly this time.  “Okay then!” Ruby nodded “We just had to know for sure.  Sometimes furs can get deep enough in a headspace that they maybe can’t say ‘when’…and none of us will ever let that happen.  We’ve got to watch out for our little guy!”

Assurances having been made all around, we quickly got back to less serious pursuits.  Johnny began rubbing my prostate again, slowly but with purpose, and Susan was soon matching his pace on the other side.  Rather than the yips and barks of earlier I found myself quietly making a sort of plaintive, hopeful whine that seemed much more fitting to where I was at mentally.

“Does little brother want to make cummies again?” Johnny asked soothingly as he slowly increased the pace “Don’t worry, I know it can be hard sometimes when you’re all worn out, but you’ve been a good little kit for us, and we all love you very much.  We’ll take care of you.”  Johnny was as good as his word too.  As I slowly felt myself near orgasm, but not quite reaching it, my whines turned to frustrated, almost confused whimpers of need.  Why hadn’t I cum?  I wanted it, and I was so close…

Taking the nape of my neck in her paw, Ruby scruffed me softly.  “Don’t think about it.” She soothed “It’s okay.  Just let it happen…”  Almost as if I had been waiting for permission, as soon as she’d said it I began to cum.  On cue Johnny began to firmly rub his thumb against my prostate, very differently than his previous stroking, and, of the same mind, Susan began to squeeze the base of my penis and my knot, the two of them trying their hardest to milk the last little bit of cum from my now happily sated, not to mention completely exhausted, body.

“See?” Ruby nodded seriously when I was finally well and truly done “I told you: all you had to do was quit thinking about it!”  As good advice as that was, I’d already sunk far enough into my happy daze that it was completely lost on me.  “I’m pretty sure grown-up Nick is out for the night…” Susan grinned at Ruby “We should probably get his fuzzy butt washed up, padded up, and down for a nap!”

Recognizing the wisdom in that suggestion, Anthony agreed.  “That’s about it for the 101 class anyway…we can always pick up with 201 once everyfur has had an opportunity to recover a bit…and in Nick’s case grow back up a few years!”  “Oh, and as a post-script…” he added as he unscrewed the latch on the speculum and slowly allowed it to close “Never let one of these just snap closed—if you get something caught in it, and you can get things caught in it, it’s one of the nastiest pinches you can imagine!”  Slipping the speculum out of me, Anthony tousled my headfur.  “There you are, kiddo, all done.”

I wasn’t really there to respond, beyond a little ‘oof’ and a few tiny reflexive spasms in my anal ring that passed almost as quickly as they started.  I was sore back there, but not enough that I really even noticed if I wasn’t concentrating on it.  (If I wasn’t so deeply sated I got the feeling it would have been kind of a turn-on…)  And right now the only things I was interested in focusing on was the soft fur of Ruby’s hip against my muzzle and my friends’ affectionate attentions.

Scooping me up in her arms, Susan accepted a huge beach towel from Johnny to wrap me up in.  “All things considered it might be a good idea for us to use the shower rooms up at the gym…otherwise this could take a while.” Anthony suggested as the others decked themselves out in various towels, robes, and in Johnny’s case, a bed sheet toga.  As far as plans went it was a sound one, and a quick elevator ride later found us getting ready for bath time.

The others were heading for the showers, but Susan took a look at the way I was staring at my toes in fascination and correctly decided one of the other options would be a much better idea.  Setting me down on the floor in a pile of towels, she went to start running a bath.  “A shower would be quicker…” Johnny commented.  “Yes, but…” Susan pointed out, waving a paw at me as she trailed off.  Now that I was down on the floor and able to move around more I’d caught that footpaw and was contentedly sucking on a muzzleful of my toes at the moment.  “I see your point.” Johnny nodded before heading to join Ruby and Anthony in the showers.

When the tub had filled enough to be useful Susan picked me up and set me in.  I whined at first about having to give my toes back, but as soon as the warmth of the water started working its way into my muscles the complaining stopped almost immediately, replaced by a contented churrling.  “You like that, huh?” Susan grinned as she began to lather up my headfur.  It wasn’t one of the parts of my anatomy that was in need of cleaning, but since she had me in the tub while I was this cooperative anyway, why waste the opportunity for a good, thorough, scrubbing?

As far as I was concerned she could scrub anything she wanted, as much as she wanted: the warm water was great, and Susan massaging the shampoo into my fur was wonderful!  Sighing happily I closed my eyes and sunk down into the water as much as Susan would allow me.  (“Honey, let’s sit you back up a little bit, I can’t wash what I can’t reach…”)  Somehow my thumb had found its way into my muzzle and I’d latched on to my tail like a security blanket as she finished up by washing my diaper area as non-sexually as possible.  “All done!” she declared, lifting me from the tub despite my mild protests.

“Oh I know, I know…” Susan cooed sympathetically “But it’s time for clean little kits to get out and be dried off.  It’ll be naptime soon and I need to shower too you know!”  Be that as it may, I liked my bath: the water felt nice, and Susan’s attentions made me feel loved…  The adult side of me knew that it wasn’t anything of significance, but my cub just didn’t understand.  All he knew was that Mommy was making it go away, and it really upset him.

Seeing that I was actually beginning to sniffle, Susan gave me a big, reassuring hug.  “Aww…it’s okay honey, don’t get upset!  We’re going to the dryer room next…remember the dryer room?  It’s nice too!”  My sniffles started to subside a little with her promise…I sort of remembered a dryer room; I couldn’t quite recall the details of it, but the impressions I could dredge up were all positive feelings…maybe it would be okay?

“Johnny, would you be a sweetheart and help Nick get settled in with the dryer?  The poor little guy is getting upset, and I really need to get cleaned up…” Susan requested.  “Yeppers!” Johnny nodded “But you’ll have to drop him off for me…he doesn’t look all that inclined to walk, and I’m not big enough to carry him on my own!”  “That’s reasonable.” She nodded, leading us all across the hallway.

Johnny laid out a pile of towels on one of the benches, and Susan set me down, giving Johnny an appreciative grin on her way back to the showers.  “Ruby and Daddy Anthony will be right over, and your Mommy Susan will be along shortly too…” Johnny explained, not sure if I was really comprehending what he was saying, but pretty sure that even if I didn’t I would find his voice comforting.  (He was right…)  “Now let’s make you all nice and comfy and then I’ll fire up the dryers!”

In short order the coyote had used what must have been most of the towels in the room to make a fluffy nest around me, keeping up a running stream of soft banter the whole time.  I didn’t really understand what he was doing, and was only listening to the tone of his voice, but I was quite content with things just the way they were.  The towels were soft, the room was pleasantly dim, and ‘Nee was showing me a comforting attention that was exactly what I needed right now.  The only thing that would make things any nicer was…Oh!  There’s my thumb!  Popping it in my muzzle with a contented sigh, my day became perfect.

Then Anthony flipped on the dryers and conclusively proved that it was possible to improve on perfection.  “Look at Nick’s expression!” Ruby giggled “Now that’s a happy little kit!”  I’m sure there were words for expressing my agreement, but I couldn’t quite put a finger on them, so I just sort of cooed instead.  That would be fine, it got my point across and I didn’t even have to take my thumb out of my muzzle!

Everyfur just kind of watched me and smiled for a while.  No matter how hard I might be to convince of it, I really was cute when I was tiny.  “Can we make him pretty when he’s done drying off?” Johnny asked at last.  “You’ll have to ask Susan, but I don’t see why not.” Anthony decided, positioning himself in front of one of the vents and fluffing his fur with his fingers to help speed up the drying.  It wasn’t that he was vain, but the raccoon hated to have his fur messed up…he figured it just went part and parcel with his neat streak.

“Ask Susan what?” Susan wondered, coming in at the end of Anthony’s thought.  “We want to make Nick pretty!” Ruby suggested, her tail wagging eagerly.  “What did Nick have to say about…oh, he didn’t did he?” she laughed, patting my tummy.  “Well, he didn’t say no…” Anthony pointed out innocently.  “You’re very on board with this, aren’t you?”  “We all are.” He confirmed, Ruby and Johnny nodding supportively.  Susan felt obligated to be the voice of reason on the matter, but the idea of seeing Nick all dressed up and fluffed out was just too cute to pass up.  And it’s not like clothes couldn’t be changed or ribbons taken back out of fur…

“I tell you what” Susan decided “scales dry much quicker than fur: once I’m done I’ll run over to our apartment and pick up a few things!”  With a cheer Ruby and Johnny swarmed Susan with a couple of towels, unwilling to wait any longer than necessary, and the giggling, laughing, tornado quickly had Susan dry and getting dressed.  “Keep a close eye on Nick…” Susan warned on her way out the door “Those benches are kind of skinny, and I’m not sure he’s got the wherewithal right now to not accidentally roll over and fall off…  We don’t want to end the day with a trip to the infirmary!”

“We want to make sure you’re good and dry anyway, don’t we?” Ruby cooed, sitting down next to my bench and starting to run her fingers through my fur to locate the damp spots.  “Can you sit up for me so I can start on your back?” I caught ‘up’ from the sentence, which obviously meant that Ruby wanted to carry me somewhere like Mama Susan did.  I really kind of hoped we weren’t going far, I liked the warm air, but snacks would be good too.  Maybe she would get me a bottle of juice and carry me around the room some…then I could have warm air and food!  That would be pretty great…

Raising my arms expectantly, I was confused when instead of scooping me up for a ‘lunch tour’ Ruby placed a paw behind my back and raised me to a sitting position.  What happened to food and walkies?  I was just on the edge of a disappointed sniffle when ‘Nee stepped in and lightly touched my nose.  “Boop!”  Bursting out into a fit of giggles, I instantly forgot what I was getting upset about.  Grinning widely, ‘Nee tapped my nose again.  “Boop boop!”  Reaching over and waving my paws, I ineffectually tried to defend myself from the onslaught, but it was pretty obvious that I would lose the ‘battle of the boop’.

Victory wasn’t the point though: Johnny and I were just having a good time.  (It didn’t hurt that Ruby was getting the drying done without interruption at the same time!)  Then, suddenly a miracle happened: I caught one of those sneaky ‘boops’!  I’d not noticed Ruby motioning over my shoulder that she was finished, but even that wouldn’t have spoiled the moment…  “Good job, you got me!” Johnny laughed, leaning forward and kissing my forehead.  “Umm…may I have my paw back now?”

His proposal was less appealing than the idea of putting my spoils of war to other uses: accordingly I popped the fingers in question in my muzzle with a satisfied ‘yip!’  Johnny just shrugged patiently to Anthony and Ruby.  “That’s good too I guess; I wasn’t really using those for anything…”

“I’m gone five minutes and Nick is already gnawing on the other cubs…” Susan shook her head in amusement “If this is you three’s idea of cubsitting I’m feeling a bit dubious about letting you watch him again!”  “I’m not the one raising a biter.” Anthony teased back in a sugary sweet tone of voice.  Ruby and Johnny weren’t impressed by Susan’s accusations either, and I wasn’t paying attention.  Well, except to Johnny’s fingers.  I was really kind of enjoying teething on his clawtips…

“What did you bring?” Ruby wondered aloud, not bothering to try to hide the fact that she was rather pointedly trying to redirect our caretakers’ conversation.  “Take a look!” Susan offered, setting a large gym bag on one of the benches.  Susan and the other cubs were soon buried in an enthusiastic show and tell.  They looked like they were having so much fun that even Anthony’s resolve to stay out of playing dress-up with them quickly dissolved as well.

Susan must have liked this plan more than everyfur had thought—she had brought a little bit of everything from our apartment: clothes, ribbons, grooming supplies, even a couple of little bottles of nail polish.  Johnny was content to start brushing out my fur, switching over to a slicker comb with a disapproving shake of his head.  “You’ve not been taking proper care of your fur…” Johnny chided “When was the last time you brushed out your undercoat, little one?”  He didn’t really expect an answer; talking to me just felt right.  “We’re all going to have to work on that…you have such pretty fur, it’s a shame not to have it looking its best!”

Ruby and Susan exchanged grins from where they were debating polish colors with Anthony.  (It turned out the raccoon held some deeply conservative opinions about the appropriateness of glitter.)  “Don’t you worry though.” Johnny continued, pulling a huge fluff ball of undercoat from the brush “Big brother will have you tidied up in no time!  See how much shinier you’re looking already?”  The coyote did make an inarguable observation; it takes furs with heavy undercoats quite a while to thoroughly brush themselves out, and since I’d never have anyfur to look nice for in the past (let alone three…and maybe even four!) it was not something I bothered with.  Like at all.  Which I guess was about to change…

While Johnny was removing the mass equivalent of a young cub from my fur the others had settled on a polish color: a sort of iridescent light blue.  “It’s pretty, but still a boy color.” Ruby explained, holding it up for my inspection.  I reached out for it and nearly fell off the bench in the process.  (Thankfully Johnny had some quick reflexes!)  I wanted that bottle.  It was shiny and should probably be in my muzzle!  “I think he approves!” Susan nodded, skritching me behind the ear.

Johnny wasn’t anywhere near done with my fur, which turned out to be distinctly to the advantage of the nail painting project: rather than squirming I was content to sit quietly with my eyes closed and enjoy being groomed.  The others chatted cordially about one thing or another, and while I wasn’t listening, they made a comfortable background noise for the arduous task of sucking my thumb.  Which lasted until Ruby had finished with my toes and wanted to move on to my fingers.  The first paw was easy, but when it was time for the paw I had in my muzzle I really didn’t want to relinquish my thumb.

“Can I have it for just a little bit?” Ruby cajoled “You’ll hardly even notice it’s gone, I promise!”  I was having none of it though, instead latching down on my thumb as hard as I could without it hurting and starting to whimper pitifully.  “Aww…don’t get upset!  It’s okay, really!” Ruby said quickly, not quite sure what to do, and a little flustered by it.  “There’s a better way, dear.” Susan informed the wolf airily.  Pulling a length of ribbon from the pile of things she had brought from our apartment, she dangled it a foot in front of my muzzle.  “Look! Isn’t this neat?”

And of course I had to have it!  Up went my paws, and in went the pacifier Susan had wisely added to the pile of stuff from our place.  Deftly catching the end of my tail Susan started tickling the inside of my ear with it before it occurred to me that I was supposed to be getting my thumb back from Ruby.  (She had lost no time in moving to finish up the last of my clawtips.)  It didn’t take me long to get somewhat…perturbed with the tickling.  Conveniently for Ruby my patience lasted longer than her painting, and by the time I was starting to get visibly cranky she was just putting the cap back on the bottle of polish.

“All done!” Ruby announced “Moving on…outfits!”  “Assuming Johnny is almost done with the brushing.” Anthony pointed out “There was a lot of fur maintenance there…”  “Just finishing.” Johnny nodded as he cleared out the brush again “And I’m really glad we waited until after his bath got a lot of that washed out—check out the fur ball in the trash can…if we put clothes on it I’ll bet they’d try to make it file a tax return!”  Johnny was probably right about that one, it was a pretty epic pile…  I really needed to not let things go that long again.

“Isn’t that better?” Johnny cooed “See how much shinier your coat is now?”  Mumbling something that probably wouldn’t have made much sense even without a pacifier in my muzzle I nodded my agreement.  It was probably just psychosomatic, but I actually felt better too.

Susan had set out the collection of changing supplies while Johnny had been finishing up his end of things, so she was ready to go when we were.  “Are you ready to get dressed now, my little kit?”  Shaking my head ‘no’, I moved to lay back down on the bench.  The dryers were running, I was warm, and as far as I was concerned there was approximately zero pressing need to change anything.  Susan had a pretty good idea of the nature of my reasoning and pointed out that “The timer on the dryers are going to click soon, you want to be all dressed and cozy while it’s still warm in here, don’t you?”

Susan could be excused for her exaggeration for the sake of expedient cooperation, and I wasn’t in a state where I could recognize the omissions in her argument, so getting dressed it was.  I lay down on the bench and watched expectantly as she got a diaper and lifted me up, expertly threading my tail through the tail hole and adjusting the tapes before setting me down again.  “Can you hold still for your Mommy, please?” Anthony suggested “I know you would really rather get back over to the vents, but we really do need to get a certain little boy-kit all finished up first, okay?”  “Aren’t you glad I’m not wiggly?” Johnny bragged “Well at least not most of the time…more often than not?  Sometimes?  Err…maybe I’ll just stop talking now.”

I really couldn’t help but giggle.  As Johnny was talking everyfur in the room had just sort of stopped what they were doing to stare at the coyote, and under the looks of ‘you’re not fooling anyfur and we’re mildly reproachful that you would even make the attempt’ his claim corrected, revised, and finally withered into a pout.  “Well, Nick appreciates me at least!” he grumbled.  Reaching out I found his tail and snuggled it to my muzzle with a contented sigh.

I was happy.  As incredibly cubby as I was right now this was exactly what it was that I needed: to cuddle and be paid benevolent attention to.  When Johnny turned to find out what was happening to his tail he couldn’t help but smile a little bit, his pout evaporating instantly.  Sitting down carefully (he decided that if I was that happy snuggling with his tail then I could hold on to it for a while) he began to stroke my headfur.

Susan was finding herself almost wanting to settle down with Johnny and I to cuddle with me until we all drifted off to sleep, but as one of the authority figures in the room she had to give a mental sigh and promise herself she would make time for it later.  Oh well, taking care of her kit was nice too!  Getting the powder Susan sprinkled a generous coating across my diaper area.  The dryers caught a little of the fine white dust, making swirling eddies as it played in the air before departing to parts unknown.

Scrunching up my muzzle into a mildly perturbed frown I let out a tiny little sneeze.  I guess some of the powder had managed to find its way upwind somehow.  For some reason I found the tickly feel on my nose deeply troubling.  Beginning to whimper I batted at my muzzle.  I couldn’t quite figure out what was going on, but I wanted it to stop!  “Shh…  It’s okay.  I’ve got it, little brother.” Johnny assured me as he guided my paws away from my face.  Finding one of the damp towels, Johnny dabbed at my muzzle until he was satisfied that he’d cured my sneezies.  “All better!”

Susan smiled and nodded to Johnny thankfully.  She had actually been having some trouble figuring out what had been bothering me (largely because she’d been having her own problems keeping me from squirming out of my diaper) and Johnny’s assist had been timely to say the least.  Folding up the front of my diaper she quickly fastened the tapes.  Tickling my tummy Susan just smiled to herself.  Even though she was a caretaker there was nothing wrong with enjoying playing dress-up with the young ones; if you thought about it, you could consider it one of the better perks of the job!  “I can’t believe we get paid for this!” she whispered to Anthony.  “Bet you wish they found you a cub a long time ago.” He grinned back “You’ll never convince me you don’t like this way more than being an executive full time…”  (Wait, Mommy Susan is an executive?  I thought she was a receptionist or something.  I’d have to ask her about that later, when…later…umm, whatever: tummy rubs are nice.  Coherency, why hast thou forsaken me?)  “I wouldn’t even try.” Susan told him honestly “But if I did get a cub earlier I wouldn’t have gotten to meet Nick.  Nope, he’s worth the wait!”  Seeing me blush, Anthony ruffled my headfur.  “It looks like somefur’s little ears are burning!”

“How about some clothes?” Susan suggested.  The dryers really would shut down eventually, and she was pretty sure she didn’t want Nick to know that the caretakers had a code to override the timers.  Musing to herself as she and Ruby sorted through the selection she had brought down, it occurred to the dragoness that she should probably avoid letting him think about it too much in general: she still remembered the facilities guy telling her about the electronic lock on Nick’s door.  The rat had been equal parts impressed and horrified by Nick’s handiwork, describing it (and the window as well) as ‘brutally efficient’.  And the rep from the security company had called it a number of other things, none of which Susan would ever repeat around the cubs!  No, better not give him the idea that he could find his own solution to the timers…

Susan had her eyes on a cute little pair of green shortalls with a train applique on the front pocket, but Ruby wasn’t convinced.  “I want him in something that shows off his diaper.” She explained, continuing to sort through the clothes “He’s a bit young for pants anyway.”  “And you think it’s adorable.” Johnny piped up cheerfully.  “And I think it’s adorable.” Ruby confirmed.  Susan looked to Anthony for support, but none was forthcoming.  “I’m with the puppies on this one.” He apologized completely unapologetically “There aren’t that many really tiny cubs running around, it would be a pity to pass up the opportunity.”

Selecting a shirt of a green so light it was almost white, Susan said that “This will be just about perfect, then.”  She slipped it on me with a bit of trouble (I wasn’t inclined to hold up my arms for her) then stepped back to take a look.  It was long, and billowy, reaching down to just below the elastic waistband of my diaper, with sleeves at my elbows.  “Very nice.” She decided “But everyfur is going to have to promise they will help me to watch to make sure that he doesn’t get cold.”

“Can we do a ribbon now?” Ruby almost pleaded.  This was the part she had been waiting for, and the puppy was eager to finally get to put a bow on my tail.  “I get veto power.” Johnny warned suspiciously “I’m not going to let you turn my little brother into a bow head!”  “Nothing like that…” Ruby assured him “I don’t want him to be embarrassed when he grows up later.  That would be kind of mean.”  Reassured, my guard-coyote left them to it.

After some serious debate, the details of which I ignored completely in favor of playing with my toes, a decision was reached that we simply had to go with a satiny, pale blue ribbon.  Shortly after that Ruby was cheerfully making a bow with it towards the end of my tail, a little way above where the orange fur transitioned to the black band and white end of my tail tip.  “That looks quite fetching.” Anthony complimented.  “Yeppers!” Ruby agreed, pleased with her work “I kind of want to make a little necklace for him too, but I don’t think Nick would be too happy about keeping it on.”  “Why’s that?” Anthony wondered curiously.  “He tends to fidget with his shirt collars, and I’ve never seen him keep his top buttons buttoned.”

If I were in any fit state to pay attention to anything more complex than my footpaws I would have been quite proud of my big sister’s powers of observation…if we were ever in need of a sideline I could put in a good word with my old employers!

My powers of observation were a bit out of practice it would seem: while I was trying to get my toes in my muzzle without taking out my paci Susan had picked me up and our little group headed back out into the hallway.  By the time I noticed the lack of a warm breeze we were most of the way to the elevators.  Susan noticed my confused look, and decided it would be best to explain, for whatever good it ended up doing.  “We’re going to make a quick stop at the common room, and then it’s time to head on back for the night.”  “She means that she wants to show you off.” Anthony explained helpfully, earning a look from Susan.  I didn’t really understand, but I didn’t feel the need to either, I was quite content to snuggle into Susan’s chest and go along for the ride.

I’d settled into a pleasant doze by the time we’d gotten to the common room, and I was loathe to drag myself out of it for something as trivial as entertainment or socialization.  After a halfhearted attempt to get me to climb down Susan just settled onto one of the sofas with a chuckle.  She was perfectly happy to hold me on her lap anyway, and had mostly just felt obligated to give me the option.  “He’ll have to start socializing more anyway, especially when we need to take the three of them to daycare next week, but with his shyness and everything I feel like it would be better not to push the matter until his head is somewhere a bit older anyway…” Susan explained.  Anthony nodded in agreement.  “That would be my professional opinion as well.”

“My professional opinion is that if anyfur is mean to Nick I’ll gnaw their ear off and spit it at them.” Johnny pointed out with a dark matter-of-factness that raised some eyebrows.  “That’s…not very nice…” Anthony cautioned.  It had been quite a while since he’d seen this side of his puppy, and it kind of startled him.  “When he’s done, I’ll be going after the other ear.” Ruby informed our caretakers sweetly.

“I feel like I should be scolding the two of you.” Susan sighed “But I’m having trouble not feeling proud instead…just don’t do anything rash, okay?”  “And if Nick forgets about this later don’t remind the little guy.  I’d prefer not to set that particular precedent with him, all things considered…” Anthony added before allowing the subject to drop.  “I think he’ll like daycare though…” Johnny mused “But maybe we could have a few playdates first, so he can get to know some of the other cubs in a smaller, more controlled environment.”

I didn’t have an opinion on the matter.  Largely because I was more than half way to a solid doze.  That didn’t seem to bother anyfur though.  The common room was pretty full at the moment, with groups of caretakers and cubs lounging and socializing after dinner.  (After last night’s game night the entire building was pretty subdued…)  In short order, however, we had gone from being a point of interest to the center of attention.  Everyfur was being polite about things though; it wasn’t hard to see that our little group was having a ‘moment’, and while their expressions said that quite a few of the other furs really kind of wanted to join in they were nice enough to give us our space until they were asked.

Regardless, all eyes and quite a few grins were upon us.  Had I actually noticed I’d have been more than slightly uncomfortable with the attention, but at the moment I had my paci and Susan was skritching my tummy, so life was good.  The others were involved in a conversation about work, admittedly to rather different levels of effectiveness.  Apparently we were scheduled for some ‘office time’ and a ‘meeting’ tomorrow, whatever those were.  They sounded about as boring as they were incomprehensible, so I ended up paying even less attention than I had been previously.  It was far more interesting to look around the room and see the other furs interacting with each other.

There were quite a few toys out and other activities going on, but those didn’t really register much with me…too mature, I guess.  For some reason what really intrigued me was watching the other furs’ faces while they talked with each other: seeing them talk, watching the expressions on their muzzles change…it was both funny and deeply fascinating at the same time.

One of the nice things about being a tiny little kit was that I didn’t feel the least bit awkward to be caught staring at other furs.  (Is it actually being ‘caught’ if you weren’t trying to hide it?)  Nofur really minded, but it was kind of funny how many would quickly look away as if they were the ones caught staring.  Some of them even blushed!

Seeing furs blush was just as good as watching their expressions, and I was quite content to observe the room with wide-eyed curiosity.  Even though they were hesitant to join us without being invited, a few of the other cubs (and even a caretaker or two) couldn’t resist the urge to interact from a distance.  While I was fur-watching a lion kitten started making funny faces at me trying to keep my attention, and pretty soon she had half the room playing along, and me giggling uncontrollably.

“We might as well invite them over.” Susan laughed “Nick needs to be socialized more anyway…and besides, they’re trying so hard.  It’s pretty cute actually…”  Waving an open invitation to the room she soon had a cheerfully enthusiastic little crowd settling in around us.  “Nick is pretty tired, so it would be nice if we could try to keep it down to our indoor voices.” Susan requested.  Nodding seriously the lioness reared back, muzzle opened as if to loose a mighty roar…and let out a petit little ‘mew’, much to everyfurs’ abject amusement.

The ice broken, conversation resumed.  And mostly it rotated around me and how I was settling in.  I wasn’t really catching any of it, which was too bad since there were some pretty good stories about some of the others’ first days here floating around…on the other paw there was a lot of advice and suggestions as well that I was probably more comfortable not taking in.

I was beginning to feel kind of overstimulated (rather overwhelming at the moment), and was starting to slowly retreat under Mommy Susan’s wing when the lioness who had been making faces at me sat down on the floor next to Susan and I.  “Hi hi! I’m Kylie!” she announced in a bubbly voice that practically dripped sunshine.  I was a bit confused (chalk it up to being tired, maybe) but I couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiastic wave.  “I hadn’t met you yet, but now I have and I know everyfur again!  I like knowing everyfur, its nice having friends, don’t ‘cha think?  Hmm…you don’t say much do you?  That’s okay, Daddy Greg says I talk enough for everyfur!”

“Nick is really little right now, Kylie…don’t worry, it doesn’t have anything to do with you.” Susan explained, seeing the kitten was growing unsure about how quiet I was being.  “Oh good.” Kylie nodded, sounding more grown up now “I know I can be…umm…a lot to take in sometimes, and I’d hate to think I was making him uncomfortable!”  “We all know you mean well, sweetheart.” Susan nodded, feigning seriousness.

“So is he really…” Kylie wondered.  “Uh huh.” Ruby nodded “Not all the time or anything like that, but he is.”  “Next time we play dollies you should bring him.” Kylie mused “Remember how we were talking about how it would be nifty to have somefur to play dress-up with?  It would be fun to have a new toy!”  “I’m not okay with that.” Johnny informed them less than congenially.  In point of fact he sounded a hairsbreadth away from skipping straight to backing up his ear biting promise.

“I’ve been friends with Kylie long enough to know when she’s kidding…she would never do something she felt would be taking advantage of somefur.” Ruby reassured him, while Kylie held up a paw in a ‘my word of honor’ gesture.  Shooting Kylie an appraising look, Johnny eventually decided he believed her.  Giving the lioness a short nod, he patted me on the head affectionately and returned to his conversation.

“Whew!” Kylie commented, releasing a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding “Why do I feel like I narrowly avoided a mauling?”  “Because you did.  Johnathan is incredibly protective of our little guy.  We all are.” Ruby explained “The professional application of violence may have been Nick’s department, but don’t think for a second Johnathan would hesitate to give it a try on an amateur basis if he thought it was necessary…”

Hesitating briefly Kylie skritched under my muzzle.  “Well don’t worry, even without your security detail I’d never do anything you didn’t like to you!” Kylie not only genuinely meant it, but it was obviously important to the lioness that I knew it too.  I’d picked up on exactly none of any of it, but I’d be happy to know it later when Ruby rehashed the evening to me.  Not really seeing any change in my expression, the lioness shook her head in amusement.  “You’re really gone, aren’t you?  Well, I guess that rules out playing blocks or something before bedtime…”

Kylie looked somewhat disappointed by that realization, but it didn’t take long for the kitten to have an idea.  (Cubs are good with those sorts of things—we’re resilient like that!)  “Hmm…  It looks like I found a pair of footpaws…I wonder who they could possibly belong to?” she announced sweetly, looking to Susan for permission to play with me.  Susan for her part nodded with a smile.  As far as she was concerned both my kit and my grown-up would benefit from all the social interaction I could get.  She didn’t mind that I was shy, but the reasons for it saddened her.  It was high time her kit started making some better memories to help push aside those old ones!

Running a finger across the bottom of my footpaw Kylie grinned as I giggled and curled my toes.  “One…two…three…” she counted, straightening a toe with each number.  When she got to five she tickled my pawpad again, making me coo and squirm.  “You’re just a wiggly little one, aren’t you?” the lioness questioned before turning to Susan “Where did you find this little guy?  I mean, really Tinies are rarer than you’d think, especially deeply regressive ones, and it’s a small world…I’m surprised our paths haven’t crossed before.”

Susan smiled and tousled my headfur. (Though I didn’t notice, I was busy curling my toes around Kylie’s finger…) “Believe it or not he showed up at our retail storefront looking for a job…it was completely by chance!  I’d sent him in to one of the observation rooms while I made some calls to see if we could use somefur on the office staff or in facilities or something, and it took him about ten seconds to start cubbing out with some of the toys we have in there… It was truly just a happy coincidence!”  “Really?  He didn’t know he was a cub?  Or what we do here?  That’s…just…really…”  “Prophetic?” Johnny offered.  “Meant to be?” Ruby suggested.  “Cool!” Kylie finished.

“I’m happy with how things have turned out, and Nick seems pretty happy with it too!” Susan agreed.  “He’s a great little kit.” Anthony added “Once he starts coming out of his shell some and everyfur gets to know the little guy I think we’ll all wonder how we got along without him!”  As they were talking, Kylie and I had a good game of ‘capture the finger’ going, and her being distracted talking was evening the score enough that I hadn’t lost interest yet.  I couldn’t help but slowly come to the conclusion that maybe not all strangers were as scary as I had thought.

“Just as long as you’re not planning on waking everyfur up every couple of nights!” Kylie teased me, capturing my big toe “That’s right, your Mommy Susan did tell us all about your little adventure!  Yes she did!  But she also told us you said you were sorry and that you promised you wouldn’t be naughty like that again!”  Well, that at least was one thing I could promise at the moment: I was finding myself rather inclined towards yawning, and ‘tired’ usually precluded ‘naughty’.

“I think your little guy may be due to be tucked in for a nap…” Kylie observed, gently tapping my nose for emphasis as a yawn finally escaped my muzzle…only to be followed by a rumble escaping my tummy!  “We should probably take care of that first though…” Susan joked “Otherwise he’s likely to grow convinced that there’s a monster growling at him from under his crib!”

The room in general got a good laugh at that, but somefur helpfully produced a bottle of warm milk for us all the same.  Susan tested the temperature on her wrist, then offered me the nipple.  (Wisely, she chose to hold the bottle herself.) “I’ll trade you the paci for a snack!”  I wasn’t really inclined to spit out the paci, but nor was I intending any resistance; Susan deftly swapped one for the other, and any potential grumbling didn’t even make it to the consideration stage as I discovered it was good!

Closing my eyes I began to nurse the bottle happily, even more so when somefur handed Susan a blanket to wrap me up in.  I’d not been cold but I was on the cool end of comfy in spite of having had my coat properly dried out, and as Susan managed the awkward task of swaddling a basically limp adult-sized kit I couldn’t help but giggle at the softness of the blankie.  It was fleece.  You can’t beat fleece for happy cuddle times.

“I think he approves.” Anthony’s voice observed, feigning seriousness but with enough of a smile in it that he wasn’t fooling anyfur.  “I think you’re right.” Susan agreed, matching his tone perfectly.  I didn’t have anything to add to the conversation; the blankie was fuzzy, Kylie had moved from playing with my footpaws to rubbing my tummy, and the conversations around me were blending into a quiet, comforting buzz.  They continued to talk with each other about whatever it was they found so interesting, other voices joining in or holding their own.

I found it all really settling.  The conversation itself didn’t really matter much at all, it was the tones and feelings washing over me that I was affected by.  I could pick out voices I recognized here and there: Mommy Susan talking to my new friend Kylie, Ruby and Johnny joking with each other, Anthony and a voice I didn’t recognize sounding a bit more serious.  It took what would have been kind of overwhelming and made it familiar and comforting.

Every now and then a paw would dip in to rub my tummy, or tousle my headfur, or play with a toe; more often than not accompanied by kind voices I didn’t recognize.  And even this I was okay with.  I was cozy, Mommy Susan was feeding me a bottle, my friends and family were nearby, and everyfur liked me.  This was how I wanted things to be.

“I think Nick is drifting off on us…” Ruby observed.  I opened my eyes a little and looked at her in confusion, only then realizing that I’d been yawning around the nipple of the bottle…for a while now.  “Shh…  It’s okay little guy; you don’t need to wake up if you don’t want to.” Ruby reassured me gently.  “You’re pretty much finished with this anyway…” Susan decided, setting aside the bottle and replacing it with my pacifier again.

Seeing I was getting fidgety in an ‘I’m cranky because I’m tired’ sort of way, Susan started talking to me quietly, suggesting I rest for a while.  Running her fingers down my eyelids to get me to close them, she earned a now quite tired giggle and my cooperation before draping a wing over me.  Deciding I was moments from sleep, Susan gently kissed my forehead and bid me sweet dreams, then turned back to her conversation.

Quite a while later when the hour began to catch up with Ruby and Johnny (as well as Susan and Anthony, though neither would ever admit it) the decision was made to call it a night.  “As much as we’d like to stay later we’ve all had a pretty…active day, and it’s about time we get the pups to bed…” Susan explained to the room at large.  “Can we play some more tomorrow?” Kylie questioned, sounding disappointed “Or play at all I guess, since we talked and Nick mostly napped, which isn’t really playing so much as hanging out, and has a lot less toys than playing…”  “You’ll have to ask your Daddy Greg, but I’ll bet something could be arranged.” Susan laughed.  The kitten just never seemed to slow down for a minute…poor Greg must really have his paws full keeping up!  Which, come to think of it, made her a great friend to help Nick get settled in with the other cubs: he wouldn’t be introverted for long…she wouldn’t let him!

I was pretty much out like a light, only whimpering and shifting around a bit when Susan stood up.  “Shh… We’re going somewhere nicer for bedtimes, little one.  Nothing to worry about…” she whispered, rocking me gently until she was sure I’d stay asleep.  It wasn’t even vaguely necessary by now, but Susan enjoyed the act of being a reassuring presence, and if I was awake I would have enjoyed being reassured just as much.  So really the point of the act was the act…convenient, that.

I didn’t catch any of the trip back to our apartment; the next thing I knew I found myself being set down on the sofa in our living room.  Looking around sleepily, the first thing I noticed was that there had been some additions to the room furniture-wise.  “We have a sofa now.” I observed as my siblings were busy scrambling up on it next to me.  “Yep.” Susan nodded “And some new chairs, and end tables, and a rug or two…  I don’t think you noticed when we were downstairs, but your picture is hanging up in the common room now as well!  Facilities had a busy afternoon…”  “There’s no bowl chair.” I pointed out in disapproval.  “I was wondering how long it would take you to pick up on that…” the dracon sighed, doing her best to affect a guilty expression before breaking out into a grin “Not to worry! There’s going to be a bowl chair—a really neat one—but they’re reupholstering it so it’s more us.”  “Will it be here soon?” I wondered, equal parts appeased and disappointed with bits of curiosity and impatience thrown in for variety.  “Not by the time you wake up, but probably before you go bedtimes again.” Susan explained, using concepts I could wrap my head around at the moment.

I was pretty much satisfied with Susan’s assurances, and besides, with the sofa my older siblings could fit too.  (Though I’d not wager the two of them wouldn’t make the attempt with a bowl chair!)  “Regardless of the furniture it’s about time for you three to be in bed.” The dracon informed us.  “But we just got comfy…can’t we sleep here tonight?” Johnny suggested from where he was busy arranging my tail across his eyes like a sleep mask.  “Nope.  We sleep in beds like civilized furs around here.” Anthony explained patiently, trying somewhat unsuccessfully to rouse his puppy.

It took more prodding than the raccoon would have liked, along with promises that he would bring Johnny back over first thing after breakfast, but the two of them did manage to head back to their apartment for the night, leaving just the three of us to get ready for bed.  “Okay you two, hop up!  It’s time for good little cubs to be going to bed.”  “Do we have to?” I whined, sounding a wee bit cranky.  It was bad enough that ‘Nee and Anthony had to go home, now she wanted me to get up just as I’d gotten comfortable again.  “We have to.” Ruby nodded as she unfolded herself from the couch.  As the big sister Ruby felt obligated to set a good example for me.  (Also she kind of enjoyed it for some reason…)

Good example or not I didn’t really want to leave my cozy little spot.  Instead of getting up I burrowed in deeper, piling the loose pillows and cushions on top of myself until only my muzzle and the tip of my tail protruded from the pile.  “Now Nick…be a good little kit for Mommy Susan and I.  You want to be a good little kit, right?” Ruby chided.

When I didn’t respond Susan tried a different technique.  Finding a poorly defended foot she started tickling my pawpads until I couldn’t ignore her any more.  Scootching my head out from under the cushions I shot her a reproachful look.  “Your crib is more comfortable than the couch; you know that.” Susan pointed out “And I’m sure you don’t want to earn a time-out just because you’re tired and not thinking quite right…”  She had a point, even if I didn’t like it.

Sighing way more than was warranted (even more than I felt was warranted) I made a theatrical production out of getting up off the couch.  “I know.  We’re horrible.” Susan grinned, not taken in at all by my performance.  “What’s this ‘we’ thing?” Ruby pointed out “I didn’t make him get up and go to bed…”  Susan just rolled her eyes at the white wolf, not dignifying the statement with a response.

Ruby took my paw and started to lead me back towards our rooms, but Susan held up a paw to stop us.  “Diaper check!” she announced cheerfully “Can’t have anyfur going to bed wet, now can we?”  Sticking a finger under the waistband of Ruby’s diaper Susan found her to be dry.  “You’re good to go!” she announced, patting Ruby’s butt with a crinkling of plastic.  “Next!”  Shrugging my paws, I blushed vigorously as Susan checked my diaper.  “You on the other paw are in need of attention.” She tisked, wagging a finger at me “It’s okay though; we’ll get you changed, then it’s off to bed!”

How did I end up wet?  Or more accurately, when did I end up wet?  I’d a pretty good idea how I ended up wet, as far as the mechanics of it went!  Honestly it was a bit disconcerting to me that I had begun to lose myself so deeply.  I remembered the evening, but almost as if it was something I had watched; something I had ridden along for.  Crisp moments of an almost surrealistic clarity within a light mist.  But those moments were intensely beautiful; snapshots from a photo album of all that was truly right in the world.

“You look like you’ve got a lot on your mind…do you want to talk about it?” Susan asked me gently.  “I don’t know if I can.” I admitted in a voice that was both curious and subdued.  “Well, maybe tomorrow, after you’ve had time to think through it some.” She nodded, picking me up and taking me over to the changing table in my room with Ruby trailing along behind us.  “But right now I think the best thing for you is to get cleaned up and tucked in to bed!”

I was shrinking again, and by the time Susan had gotten everything set up she was thankful to have Ruby there to derail the accompanying case of the grumpies.  (It was late.  I was tired.  And little kits don’t handle that sort of thing well…).  As Ruby occupied me by gently tapping random places on my muzzle with a cheerful little “Boop!” Susan undid my wet diaper and efficiently cleaned me up.  I didn’t even really notice as she slipped a fresh one under me and fastened up the tail hole, and by the time she was sprinkling on some powder nothing short of the fire alarm going off would have distracted me from trying to catch Ruby’s finger.

Putting a paw on my tummy to stop my squirming long enough to get the front of the diaper folded up, she quickly got the tapes fastened.  The dracon was a little concerned that Ruby had gotten me worked up enough that she’d have trouble getting me to bed, but was quickly reassured when I let out a huge yawn and curled up on the changing table, apparently quite content to go to sleep right there.

“And here I was worried he’d not want to go to bed…” Susan smiled affectionately.  Delicately picking me up again she managed to deposit me in my crib without waking me beyond a sleepy little squint and a halfhearted yawn.  Putting my plush fox Fluffy in next to me Susan wrapped me in my quilt, then she and Ruby tiptoed out, leaving my bedroom door slightly ajar behind them.

“He’s just so cute…” Ruby grinned affectionately “You’re really lucky to have found him…”  “We both are, honey.” Susan corrected, matching the wolf’s smile.  “Now I do believe he’s not the only one up past their bedtime…let’s get you tucked in for the night too, okay pup?”

I don’t know how long I slept, but it was nowhere near morning when I was awoken by somefur falling over the railing into my crib.  It was Ruby, and something was wrong.  In the brief glimpse I caught of her before she’d scurried under my quilt and cuddled up against my chest I saw that every inch of her fur was puffed straight out and she had a haunted, terrified look in her eyes.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong sissy?” I asked gently, cuddling the wolf to me.  “He’s going to get me!” she whimpered “He’s going to get me, he’s going to get me, he’s going to get me…” she kept repeating. 

It took me quite some time to get Ruby to calm down enough to stop darting her gaze around the room aimlessly, and in the process I became quite convinced that her terror was from more than just a bad dream.  “Can you tell me what you’re worried about, sweetie?” I asked gently.  I hated to pry, but I hated to see her like this even more.  “It’s something that happened before I came here, somefur I used to know.” Ruby explained hesitantly.  “Tell me.”

She did.  As the time passed and the story unfolded, Ruby grew calmer, letting me in to her confidence replacing fear with a cathartic release.  I, on the other paw, was developing a cold, quiet rage.  “…and the last thing I heard from him is that he would find me again someday.  That he would come back.”  She yawned, calm enough to be tired again.  “He won’t, dearest.  I promise.” I reassured the wolf quietly, kissing her forehead as she drifted back to sleep, Fluffy keeping watch for things that went bump in the night.

Thirty minutes later, Susan’s key card in my cup holder, I was on the highway.  Dawn was hours away, but I always felt at home in the night.  You don’t have to be scared of the dark when you’re the thing in monsters’ nightmares.

Ruby woke before Susan the next morning, and, following the smell of a proper pot of coffee, found me in the living room eating breakfast and watching the morning report.  “Hey Ruby!” I nodded cheerfully “Coffee is fresh…”  “Don’t think I won’t take you up on it, either!” the wolf femme grinned, ducking into the kitchen for a cup before settling down next to me.

“Listen, I’m sorry I woke you up last night.” She began hesitantly, before I almost immediately cut her off.  “There’s nothing to feel sorry about.  We both know it was the right thing to do.  As a matter of fact you’re going to promise me right now that you’ll do the same thing any time you think you need to.  Or even just want to.” I stared at her expectantly for a few moments while she mentally waffled over it for a bit, then nodded in agreement.  “Okay then.”  “Damn straight ‘Okay then’…now drink your coffee before it gets cold.”

“I’m going to choose to believe that was directed at me.” Susan announced, making a beeline for the kitchen.  (Nothing draws ‘em in like a good pot of coffee first thing in the morning!)  Once everyfur had settled down for a feed, Susan un-paused the TV.  “Anything interesting going on?” she wondered idly as we all turned our attention to the news anchors.

“…son of the CEO of Overland Logistics was killed in a single vehicle wreck early this morning when his car suffered what investigators are calling a catastrophic mechanical failure.” The announcer explained before the image of a crumpled, burned out wreck was replaced on the screen by a photo of an arrogant looking bobcat of approximately our age.  Ruby nearly jumped off the couch she flinched so hard, and Susan actually snorted a little jet of flame, her muzzle taking on a look of absolute malice.  “He’s…dead?” Ruby whispered in a mix of disbelief and cautious hope.  “Good.” Susan spat, not even bothering to pretend to hide her satisfaction.

“Somefur you knew?” I asked innocently.  “That’s the fur I was telling you about last…” Ruby explained, trailing off as conclusions occurred to her.  Ruby looked conflicted: she wanted to know, but even more she wanted to grab on to this opportunity to finally close that chapter of her life.

The decision made, she gave my paw a subtly thankful squeeze.  “Just somefur from back in school…no one who matters any more.  What else is on?”  Ruby meant it too.  And I couldn’t have been more satisfied.  As we watched cartoons and ate breakfast, you could tell that before too long it really would be just an ugly thing in her past.

As I ducked into the kitchen for another cup of coffee, Susan followed.  She gave me a look I couldn’t really read while I poured my top-off, finally clearing her throat.  “Hmm?” I asked innocently.  “If, for the sake of argument, you took a field trip last night, should I be concerned about any potential fallout from it?”  “If I did, and I’m neither confirming nor denying by implication or omission any knowledge or involvement, the chances of this being deemed anything but an accident are negligible, and the possibility of it being tied to me is statistically indistinguishable from zero.”  “I should put you in time out.”  “For what this means to Ruby?  Worth it.”  “Drink your coffee before it gets cold, sweetie.”

After breakfast Susan announced that “Our morning is pretty much free, but after lunch we have some office stuff to take care of.  Well, specifically Nick has some office stuff to take care of…we have some office stuff it might not be a terrible idea to think about taking the opportunity to spend some time on…”  “How come I have stuff I have to do and you two don’t?” I wondered, faking a pout “It’s not fair, I always have to take care of…eh, indignance is too much work.  So what’s on the schedule?”

“Not much.” Susan explained “I just have to show you how the product evaluation system works.  We thought it would be good to let you settle in and get used to everything around here first.  As you may recall you had kind of a negative outlook on the situation when you first got here.”  I couldn’t argue with that, instead looking down abashedly and shuffling my footpaws.  “Oh knock it off, we’ve all forgiven you!” Susan grinned, more than a little amused that I’d found the correct answer to a question that didn’t have one.

“Oh…” she continued, deciding to break the news she was pretty sure I’d not be excited about while I had my tail tucked between my legs and didn’t look inclined to argue, cause property damage, or make a break for the nearest point that could be converted to an exit.  “You’ve also got a meeting with HR.”  “I said I was sorry!” I stuttered, immediately starting to feel panicky “I’ll be good, please don’t make me leave!”

“What?  Oh sweetheart, it’s nothing like that!” Susan reassured me quickly, narrowly beating out Ruby to wrap me in a tight hug “They just want to make sure that you’re adjusting okay, and that you want to stay…”  “Really?” I sniffed hopefully.  “Really.” The dracon nodded seriously.

Skritching my head until I’d settled down, Susan pointed out that “You have to admit that it is a valid question…I didn’t mean to upset you though.”  “I’m okay.” I mumbled from where I’d buried my muzzle under her wing “But I don’t want to talk to HR.  They sound scary, an’ they’ll ‘prolly be mean to me!”  “No they won’t, and I’m pretty sure you know that.”  “Scary and mean.” I disagreed, before blushing and hesitantly adding that “I think I even piddled a little bit…”

“Aww…that’s sweet.” Ruby giggled.  Susan shot the wolf a look, trying to decide if Ruby was being mean or just confusing.  “Seriously.” She explained “The idea of leaving us scared him enough that he wet himself.”  Susan considered that for a moment, then nodded “It kind of is, isn’t it?”  That was a new one to me: wetting as a sign of affection.  And it really was kind of funny; it didn’t take long for me to start grinning back.

“If you keep being affectionate I’m going to have to run down to the supply room…pretty soon you’ll have ‘affectioned’ us out of diapers!”  As my grin turned to a blush Susan checked my diaper.  “Yep.” She nodded to Ruby “Looks like our little kit needs to be changed!”  “I’m good.” I decided “I’m only a little wet…that’s what the diaper is for, right?”  “If I let you run around with a soggy bottom I’d be a bad Mommy…” Susan pointed out seriously, shaking her head in the negative.  “Well, he doesn’t look all that wet.” Ruby observed “He could probably wait on it for the time being.”

Patting my butt with a crinkle, then running a paw down the front more firmly than was strictly necessary for a mere check, Ruby shook her head with a smile.  “Then again I could be wrong; your front seems to be filling up…” she informed me innocently.  Giving Susan a hopeful look, Ruby suggested that “I could take care of that for him…it would make it easier to change him if he…umm…didn’t need tucking in.”  “I swear, you’re just as bad as Johnny!” Susan grumbled, trying to look annoyed but not managing to get past bemused.  Then, after a moment she relented with a cheerful nod.  “Well, go ahead then…”

“I like how no one bothered asking me if I wanted to be ‘taken care of’.” I grumbled argumentatively.  It seemed a bit inconsiderate to insist on yiffy-times before I’d finished my second cup of coffee for the morning.  Didn’t they realize I was pretty much worthless before my third or fourth cup?  Everyfur should know that.  Activity before coffee was my morning equivalent of dividing by zero.

“If we asked you would you have said ‘no’?” Susan questioned sweetly, punctuating her question with a quizzically raised eyebrow.  “That’s not the point!” I countered quickly.  I could see I was losing the argument, but the thing that irked me was that I couldn’t make myself care enough to work up an appropriate amount of righteous indignation.  “You’ll never be captain of the debate team if that’s the best you can come up with!” Susan teased playfully while Ruby grabbed the diaper bag out of the corner.

Laying a blanket from the box of new linens out in the middle of the living room floor, Ruby added a throw pillow off the sofa, then patted it invitingly.  I sat down square in the middle of the blanket and crossed my arms in a pout.  I couldn’t think of a reason for it, it just seemed like the thing to do.  “Really?” Ruby questioned, mildly frustrated.  “Observe.” Susan instructed her mildly.  Placing a finger in the middle of my forehead, she waited until I’d focused on it curiously, then gave me a push.  I promptly fell over onto my back and immediately burst out in uncontrollable giggling.  “Problem solved.” Susan grinned in satisfaction.  “I’ll have to remember that one!” Ruby nodded gleefully.

I scooted around until I was comfortably settled in on my back looking up at Ruby and Susan expectantly.  My tail was unconsciously tracing a slow wag next to me, telling my friends all they needed to know about if I was on board with Ruby’s early morning plan.

Ruby slowly walked around me in a circle, tapping her muzzle with a finger with an almost comical look of serious contemplation as she thought over what she wanted to do with her little brother.  There wasn’t any shortage of possibilities, not by a long shot, and the wolf femme found herself wondering if she should get creative, or if that would be pushing Nick too quickly too soon…or at least too early in the morning!  He seemed perfectly content to passively be on the receiving end of things, so after some thought Ruby decided she would go down that road and see where it took them.

I was starting to feel kind of frustrated lying there looking at the ceiling.  It wasn’t particularly interesting, my tummy was lobbying for a snack to keep the coffee company, and I was beginning to lose the sense of exactly what it was I was doing there on the floor in the first place.  Seeing that I was quickly growing fussy Ruby sat down cross-legged next to me.  “Poor little kit…” she tisked sympathetically “I know it’s hard” (Ruby ignored Susan’s mostly concealed laugh) “but you know you have to wear your didies before you can go out…” I nodded my agreement, compliant if a bit sulky.  “And we can’t get you all snug and fastened up like this, can we?” I shook my head, still sulky.  I wanted to go do stuff; this was boring!  “Well, I’ll get you settled down, then we have a nice cushy didy for you, and we can be on our way!”  I whined a little uncertainly at that.  I guess I was feeling somewhat scattered this morning…between not getting enough sleep and being kind of cubby I was having trouble putting things together.  “You’ll like this, little brother, I promise.” Ruby smiled kindly.

Unfastening the tapes on my not-dry-enough diaper (which I was already slipping out of, so to speak) Ruby quickly had me out of it, my ‘problem’ prominently on display.  “Yep, we’re definitely going to need to attend to a certain something before we can get you all tucked away.” The wolf femme nodded matter-of-factly.  Picking up the tube of lube Susan had set down near us, Ruby brushed a stray piece of headfur gently back into place.  “Would you like me to get you ready for your didy, little one?”  Nodding, I passively left myself in her care.

“You have this look of impending horror on your muzzle…” Ruby chided, sounding somehow amused and reassuring at the same time.  Beginning to tickle my tummy, she pointed out that “As I recall you seemed pretty enthusiastic about it yesterday!”  Tiptoeing her paw down my tummy, she circled a finger around my bellybutton, bringing a silly little grin to my muzzle.  “I could be wrong though…” Ruby mused teasingly, continuing her way lower “But somehow I don’t really think so…”

Ruby delicately rubbed the very tips of her fingers along my shaft, nearly causing me to jump off the blanket.  “Shh…” she cooed “Be a good little guy and lie still for me, okay?”  Squeezing some lube into her paw, Ruby began to slowly stroke me, earning an almost surprised little whine and a happy shiver in response.  Susan took a seat on the other side of the blanket and idly started to play with my headfur.  “There we go…” Ruby encouraged as I began to let out quiet little gasps and ‘errfs’ “I told you that you would enjoy this part!”  Nodding rather distractedly I closed my eyes, the tip of my tongue poking out of my muzzle and my tail beginning to twitch quite outside of my control.

“I do believe Nick is going to be ready for his diaper soon…” Susan observed playfully, allowing me to take the end of her finger into my muzzle as Ruby sped up her ministrations.  “You may be right…” the white wolf nodded.  I didn’t have anything to say to that at the moment.  Well, anything coherently grown-up anyway…I was feeling really passively happy, and rather than bothering to try to pull myself together enough to come up with a witty response I just giggle-yipped and nodded slightly.

Susan grinned at that and kissed my nose playfully.  “He’s a cooperative little guy once you manage to get him to settle down for two seconds!”  Under other circumstances I would feel inclined to argue, but I got derailed contemplating how exactly it was that I really did feel so settled and peaceful while somefur was rather intently playing with my penis.  “I’m not sure what’s going on in there” Susan observed, noticing a change in my facial expression “but you’re thinking too hard.  Just lie back and enjoy yourself!”  “Susan is right you know…you really do need to work on learning to relax, little brother.” Ruby agreed.

Ruby was right, and I didn’t want to age up enough to argue, so I closed my eyes and tried to focus on feelings instead of thoughts.  “That’s better.” Ruby praised as I relaxed noticeably.  Without anything else to really focus on pretty soon I had lost myself completely, only now and then gasping out quiet, almost hiccuppy little ‘aahs’ and ‘ohs’.  “That’s a good little kit!” Susan encouraged gently.

Ruby was thoroughly pleased with herself: not only had she actually gotten me to behave myself, but it was beginning to look like I’d actually managed to step off the analytical track for a while, and the better she had gotten to know me lately the more she realized that this was no small accomplishment.  (Actually, neither of them were: I did tend towards being…enthusiastically ‘high spirited’.  Which sound so much better than ‘naughty’…) Smiling playfully to herself, the white wolf decided that a reward just might be in order.

Beginning to rub the base of my tail, she picked up the pace of her ministrations.  For what seemed like an eternity that it couldn’t possibly be time stood still in a blissful haze as Ruby edged me along, Susan whispering kind words all the while.  After by all rights what should have been approximately the end of time Ruby leaned over and kissed my nose.  “Will you make cummies for me, little one?”  All I could manage was a plaintive little whine as she ran a clawtip delicately along the entrance to my sheath, but Ruby mercifully chose to interpret that as an “Oh yes please?”  With a few more purposeful strokes (and a couple of very happy little grunts and whines on my part) I was cumming, creating a new obstacle to future diaperings as I made a rather sticky mess on the fur of my tummy in the process.

“Good little kit!” Susan praised as I went limp on the blanket, having lost any inclination at all to go much of anywhere.  “Now let’s see about getting you cleaned up: you have things to do this morning, remember?”

I was really starting to wish that my life had a fast forward button, or at least a ‘scroll speed’ knob.  It had been at least four or five hours since Susan had set me down in front of the computer to start my ‘training class’, and it had only taken the first ten minutes for me to start wishing I was somewhere else.  (And the first eleven to discover that the company had the sense to turn on the ‘parental controls’ for ‘work time’!)  It wouldn’t have been so bad if I had actual work to do, but before I could start on that I had to sit through an exhaustive library of instructional videos on how to do good product reviews, followed by even more on how the computer system worked.  The videos would have been kind of funny, in a surrealistic sort of way (listening to a formally dressed fur discuss the proper way to describe other full grown furs’ diaper experiences and opinions while interspersing the lecture with cubby vocabulary, for instance), if not for there being tests and comprehension activities at the end of each video.

When I’d finally finished with the instructional part of the morning there was my first official batch of reviews and evaluations waiting for me on the database to do, along with a notification giving me the account information for my company e-mail.  Having a company e-mail really struck me as pretty cool…I was official!

They really should have known better than to offer up logins before a certain little kit turned in his assignments.  I mean, come on, really?  Obviously I decided to take a look around our servers before I got back to the work-y part of things.  It turned out that beyond the email accounts there were a lot of other really nifty things to play with on the company portal.  “I wish there was somefur else around that I could video chat with…” I grumbled to myself as I continued poking around.

Disappointingly, though not really a surprise, most of the stuff on the corporate network was business stuff.  I was also getting kind of cubby again, and it was quickly failing to hold my interest.  (Okay, honestly, even if I aged up to a million years old it still wouldn’t hold my attention…last time I checked very few furs went into business for their personal amusement.)

Server fishing proved to not be all that interesting when nothing was biting, and eventually, after a rather lot of bored grumbling, I ran out of reasons not to do something useful instead.  This was my job, after all.  “So back to work, then…”

I tried, really I did.  The first two or three reports I breezed right through, but by the fourth or fifth my mind had started to wander, and by six it took very little convincing to decide I would be more productive if I got myself a snack.  Low blood sugar makes it hard to concentrate, right?  Sure, that’s what I was doing, increasing my productivity.

I heard the door open while I was in the kitchen, and couldn’t help but grin.  If Susan and Ruby were back there was probably other things we needed to be doing.  And I don’t think I would even be able to pretend that I minded the break!  To my surprise however, upon returning to the living room instead of Susan and Ruby I found Johnny waiting for me.

He was sitting on his haunches with his forepaws in a begging position and a folded piece of paper in his muzzle, wearing nothing but a red nylon doggie collar and a blush.  “Umm…o-kay…” I almost stammered, justifiably confused.  This…was not what I had been expecting.  Johnny just cocked his head at me, as if to point out I really ought to read the note in his muzzle.  With a mental shrug I accepted the piece of paper and unfolded the note.

Nick—

The other day when Daddy was talking about ‘playing puppy’?  This is it.  I can’t exactly answer questions from this place, and seeing it will probably take care of a lot of them anyway, but I promise later I’ll try to explain anything you would like to know.  I’m kind of unsure about it, but this is something I’d like to share with you.

I’d like to ask you for something, and I’m okay with it if you say no.  I know that you helped Ruby to ‘scratch an itch’ as she put it, and I was kind of hoping that maybe you could do the same for me too.  Sometimes I just have a need for some ‘pet time’.  Daddy Anthony is going to be over at the headquarters building all day, and the more I thought about it the more I realized it’s something I could do with you.  Something I want to do with you.

My pet’s name is Scamp.

Folding the note back up, I noticed the look of terrified hope in Johnny’s eyes, and realized what it had taken for him to share this with me.  And what it meant that he had.  “Well, I’m afraid I’m not scheduled for a whole lot of fun time at the moment, Scamp.” I sighed, patting his head affectionately and earning myself an enthusiastic tail wag (which made me beam with pride) “There’s some work stuff I really have to get finished up this morning.  I’ve got a meeting with some furs from HR this afternoon, and I’d feel a lot better if I could show them I’ve been productive!”  Scamp whined at that and pawed at my leg reassuringly, then trotted over by my desk, walked around in a circle a couple of times, then flopped down with a contented ‘whurf’.  “Good boy!” I praised as I sat back down to work.

It wouldn’t have been my first assumption, but having Scamp around turned out to really help me focus and get things done.  I guess he kind of grounded me in adulthood: whenever my mind started to wander I found myself reaching down and idly skritching his head, or tossing a chew toy for him a couple of times (Johnny must have brought it along when he ‘dropped him off’), then I was right back in work mode.  It was also really kind of cute how when he sensed I was ‘timing out’ or getting frustrated he would nuzzle my leg, or reach up and lick my paw.

Eventually I got the final questionnaire finished and sent off, and stood up for a well-deserved stretch.  “Well, now that I’ve got that done, what would my feral puppy like to do until everyfur gets back?” I mused (mostly) to myself.  Scamp cocked his head quizzically, an expression I was already beginning to strongly associate with this side of him, then slyly shifted his leg to show me the little hint of red peeking out of his sheath.  Then, just to be sure I got the point he padded over and began to nuzzle the front of my now-beginning-to-tent diaper.

“Does the little feral want to practice his tricks?” I suggested, pretending to have not picked up on Scamp’s suggestion.  “Can you beg?”  Scamp whined a bit in frustration, but obliged me none the less, returning to the pose I’d found him in earlier.  “Goo boy!” I praised “Now can you shake paws?”  Holding one out he gave me a big doggy grin and a tail wag as I very formally shook it.  “Very good!” I smiled “Now lie down.”  With a “whurf” he settled down on the living room rug, looking at me expectantly.

Flopping down next to him, I rewarded the puppy by skritching his back, soon having him rumbling happily.  “You’re pretty well trained, aren’t you?” I mused.  Scamp yipped happily in reply, his tongue lolling out in a rather undignified manner.  I found myself wishing I had a slicker brush floating around; I was pretty sure he would love being groomed.  (Sadly I was still firmly planted in post-move ‘don’t know where anything is’ mode…)  Still, the skritching seemed to meet with his approval.

“How about another trick?” I suggested after a while “Does Scamp think he can roll over?”  He looked a little disgruntled about the interruption in the skritchies, but the answer turned out to be that yes, yes he could.  Without complaining even!  (Johnny’s pet was turning out to be better behaved than he usually managed to be…)

Scamp rolled over on his back with his paws in the air and his tail tucked up over his tummy, just about the cutest expression I had ever seen on his muzzle.  “Aren’t you an adorable little guy?  Yes you are.  Yes you are!” I cooed, tickling his tummy and making one of his back legs kick uncontrollably.  (Hmm…I knew that worked on ferals, but I don’t think I could recall hearing that it worked on anthro canines before!)

While he was wiggling around from the skritchies, Scamp’s tail found its way off its perch on his tummy, revealing that he was enjoying our play time in more ways than one: he wasn’t anywhere near fully erect, but there was certainly something starting to poke its way out of his sheath!  “Well well…was some puppy holding out on me?” I accused him playfully.  With an equally playful ‘harumph’ he flicked his tail back over himself, his eyes hopefully challenging me to do something about it.

“When was the last time Anthony took you to the vet?  It looks like you may have some swelling down there.” I teased “Maybe I should take a look, just to make sure there isn’t anything wrong…”  Johnny was really in his pet role, and the frustration of not letting himself nod eagerly (or, he admitted to himself, pounce a certain fox that by now he desperately wanted to do some very naughty things with) was almost killing him as much as the anticipation!

“Nope.” I disagreed, tapping his tail with a sly smile “I’d really better make sure there’s nothing wrong.”  Taking the tip of his tail between my thumb and forefinger, I gently lifted it out of the way.  “Now let’s get you checked out, okay pup?”  The ‘feral puppy’ had absolutely no intention of complaining, not even a little bit!

Rolling his testicles around in my paw, I announced in what I hoped was a clinical tone of voice that “These seem to be doing just fine.”  Then, running a finger gently over the end of his penis where it was slowly coming out of his sheath I added “But this is definitely starting to swell some…”  Stretching across the coffee table, I snagged the bottle of lube from where Ruby and Susan had conveniently forgotten to put it away earlier, and quickly got a bit on my paw, just to be sure.  Gently putting the tip of a finger inside his sheath, I slowly circled it around its opening.

Scamp really liked that part of his checkup: in no time at all he was fully erect, breathing more heavily with a slightly unfocused look in his eyes.  “Well that seems to have made it worse.” I observed, feigning an exasperated confusion, then looking contemplative for a bit.  “Oh!  I know!” I announced cheerfully.  Putting some lube on my other paw, I began to run a finger along the outside of his tailhole, every now and then putting a little bit of pressure on his entrance.

Scamp’s initial shiver of pleasurable surprise quickly turned to excited little yips and grunts as I continued to tease under his tail for a while before finally announcing that “It seems normal there too…” I ignored his disappointed whine as I stopped touching him for a moment and continued.  “Now there is one other thing that can cause a feral puppy’s penis to swell up like that: if he’s become grown-up enough to breed.”  Getting a bit more lube, I took his shaft in my paw and began to stroke him.  “I know that this may be a little scary at first, but I promise it won’t hurt.” I reassured Scamp kindly “You may even like it!  And I’m sure we all agree it’s important that we’re thorough.”

Oh yes, he was in agreement with ‘thorough’…thoroughly!  It didn’t take Scamp long at all to begin yipping and twitching his tail with abandon…I had to be careful, every now and then his footpaw couldn’t resist getting in on the act as well, and I very nearly got kicked in one place or another on more than one occasion.  There are hazards to being around a horny puppy!

“Shh…” I soothed “I know all these new feelings and sensations are probably pretty confusing, especially if this is maybe the first time a puppy has gotten an erection, but it’s probably actually a good thing that we ended up having to get you checked out.  This way if Anthony decides to breed you when you’re a bit older you won’t be learning about everything the first time you’re put out there…”

Speeding up my pace and alternating every now and then with giving his now fully formed knot a squeeze or running a clawtip around just inside the entrance of his sheath, I snuck my other paw under his tail again.  “Don’t worry, Scamp.” I grinned, recognizing the growing need in his whines and the hiking of his tail “It’s almost over.  You don’t know it yet, but you’re just about ready to ejaculate.  Then once we know everything is in order I’ll get you a bowl of water and you can sprawl out on the rug for a while.  How’s that sound?”  Scamp, of course, didn’t have anything to say to that.

Continuing to stroke his shaft with purpose, I began to slowly work a finger into Scamp’s tailhole.  I guess this had all been way better for Johnny than I had thought though: I hadn’t gotten it in much past the first knuckle when he began to cum, his semen matting the fur of his belly, but luckily staying pretty well contained.  (I’d not really thought things through, so I wasn’t exactly prepared for this eventuality…oh well, even if he dripped some we could always wash the blanket.)

“There’s a good boy, all done!  I told you it wouldn’t be too bad, didn’t…hey!” I was just getting up to find something to clean him up with when Scamp pounced me back down to the blanket, licking my muzzle enthusiastically.  “Okay, okay!” I laughed “I’m good, really! I took a bath last night!”  Scamp didn’t see it that way apparently, letting out a ‘wurf’ of disagreement as he nuzzled my chest.

“Aww, you’re a good little ‘critter aren’t… You naughty little pup!”  It would seem Scamp had an agenda.  I hadn’t even finished my sentence when nuzzling my chest and tummy turned into nuzzling and sniffing the front of my diaper.  And that turned into licking at its leg holes.  He couldn’t quite get to what he wanted that way, so Scamp began to push aside the material with his muzzle until he could work his way close enough to start to lap at my quickly growing erection.  As far as he was concerned we weren’t done yet!

“Does Scamp want to try another trick for me?” I asked in a husky voice, my face beginning to flush in a combination of embarrassment and arousal.  Looking up from my crotch he gave me an enthusiastic doggy grin, and if anything his tail managed to wag faster.  “Can Scamp present for me?”

With a happy bark that eloquently said “I was wondering when you would get to this!” without any words at all, Scamp trotted over to the center of the rug and stopped with his hind end facing me, holding his tail up and to the side while looking back over his shoulder at me expectantly.  This was truly a feral’s interpretation of “Well, come on then!”  And by now I was more than ready to oblige…

Picking up the lube, I sat down behind him.  “Good job!” I praised conversationally as I squirted on some extra goo and began to idly play with his tailhole “But there’s more to it than that you know…  Since you’re old enough to ejaculate that means you can be bred.”  Slipping a finger a little way into his tailhole I mused that “Maybe we should teach you some of those things…would you like that, Scamp?”  Whining hopefully, Scamp started to push back onto my finger.  “Not so fast, puppy.” I chided, lightly smacking his butt “That’s not your role this time…” ‘Whurfing’ apologetically, he settled down, resigned to being patient.

Unfastening my diaper and setting it aside, I positioned myself behind the feral.  This was Johnny’s ‘itch’, I decided, and I wanted it to be good for him.  So if he wanted to play ‘puppies’ I’d give it my best effort…besides, I had to admit the idea was kind of hot in a playful sort of way.

 Smearing some extra lube on my shaft, just to be thorough, I placed the head of my penis against the opening of his tailhole, then leaned over him, placing my forepaws just behind his and taking his scruff firmly but not roughly in my muzzle.  Scamp shivered with a happy anticipation as I settled my footing in preparation.

Slowly I began to push myself into Scamp’s tailhole, trading some authenticity for a reduced chance of baculum-related accident.  As the head of my penis slipped past his anal ring I paused for a bit, grinning mentally at the puppy’s eager whine.  Scamp seemed rather less amused and decided to try and speed things along by pushing back against me impatiently.

That wouldn’t do at all…a certain puppy needed to be reminded of his place in the pack!  Gripping down more firmly on Scamp’s scruff I gave a playfully warning growl at the cheeky little pup.  (If anything that seemed to work even more for Johnny…I wasn’t hating it either for that matter!)  Scamp settled down obligingly, though having to be patient was unbelievably frustrating to him in a wonderfully arousing sort of way.

Fun as it was to tease Scamp, neither of us were inclined to wait any more.  I began to slowly push into him again with an excited whine of my own, stopping when my knot brushed against the coyote’s entrance.  As I gave him a moment to get used to being filled Scamp began to squeeze my shaft insistently with his inner muscles.  He wasn’t taking ‘in a minute’ for an answer!

I couldn’t help but laugh a bit through my muzzleful of his scruff: even Johnny’s pet was incorrigible!  I began to thrust into Scamp again, slowly at first but with an increasing enthusiasm as we developed a rhythm; deep, purposeful strokes that went from tip to knot and back again.  And Scamp was loving it.  Watching him yip and whine with his eyes half closed and his tongue lolling out of his muzzle as I mounted him, I felt kind of proud that I’d apparently guessed exactly what he’d been hoping for!

Scamp played his role as an Omega pup well too: after my initial correction he had been quite content to stay still and be bred by an Alpha however they chose to take him.  A little more than I was really comfortable with, actually…  Scamp was obviously enjoying himself immensely but I felt bad that he wasn’t getting to be a more active participant in the festivities.  If there was one word I wouldn’t usually use to describe the pup, it was ‘passive’.

Scamp yelped in excited surprise as I wrapped a paw around his erection and began to vigorously stroke him in rhythm with my thrusting.  If anything Scamp’s ‘happy sounds’ were getting even more feral-like, which only served to encourage me.  (I kind of needed encouragement too: Johnny seemed to disagree, but I didn’t think I made a very convincing feral.)

The closer I crept to orgasm the less self-conscious I felt, and before long I was actually really getting into it, yipping and gasping into Scamp’s scruff with unrestrained enthusiasm.  I was totally in another place, and I only vaguely recognized in the back of my mind that my knot was slowly working its way past Scamp’s anal ring.  Which was exactly what the feral pup had been lusting for.

Seizing the opportunity, Scamp suddenly pushed back against me, and with a popping sensation I slipped all the way inside, tying with him.  I nipped his scruff a little bit for taking the liberty, but I really wasn’t upset or anything.  And Scamp, for his part, didn’t even notice: his tail was flagging urgently and he had begun to whine and whimper with an uncontrolled need as he hung just short of orgasm.  I understood how he felt: I was mere moments behind him.  It was time.

Scruffing him more firmly I began to stroke and hump with a frantic urgency, my knot pulling against his anal ring from the inside before thrusting back in as deeply as I could.  Moments later Scamp began to orgasm, squeezing and working my shaft inside him as he barked and howled unabashedly.  And then I was cumming as well.  I kept humping into his tailhole, trying to fill the feral just as urgently as he was trying to milk me for everything I could give.

Finally, after an exhausting and satisfying forever, we were left drained and panting, tied together on all fours.  With a sated ‘whurf’, Scamp began to awkwardly shift positions until we were butt-to-butt (oh yeah, ferals do that, don’t they?), and by unspoken agreement we both managed to flop out on the floor, still tied but oddly comfortable in an awkward but intimate way.  We’d managed to settle down in the sticky ‘deposit’ Scamp had left on the blanket, but neither of us were inclined to really care.  There was way too much panting, and eventually drifting off for a nap, for that…

When I woke up again a while later I was mildly confused to discover that I’d been cleaned up, re-diapered, and tucked in cozy and snug amongst the freshly laundered blankets.  Johnny must have taken it upon himself to tidy up a bit at some point after we separated.  I couldn’t say I wasn’t thankful for the consideration: cleaning up my fur first thing after waking up wasn’t exactly an ideal situation.  I was kind of curious how exactly Johnny had managed all of it without waking me up…

“Nick’s awake.” I heard Ruby point out from the direction of the kitchen, followed by some shuffling around as she, Johnny, and Susan appeared from the doorway and settled themselves down in the living room.  “When did you two show up?” I wondered as I joined them, curling up in Susan’s lap.  I wasn’t entirely sure it wouldn’t be a truly fantastic idea to just go back to sleep, and Susan’s lap was a comfy way to keep that option open…  “While you were napping.” Ruby explained helpfully.  “Oh, okay.  So what were we talking about?”  “Johnny was just explaining that you’d worn yourself out getting caught up on your assignments so he put you down for a quick nap.” Susan explained, stroking my headfur as she cuddled me.

She gave the air an exaggerated sniff and cast a look at where Johnny had left Scamp’s collar on the counter, giving the two of us a wickedly playful grin.  Susan knew exactly what we had been up to between work-time and nap-time, she just didn’t want to make Johnny uncomfortable about the whole ‘puppy’ thing.  Eventually he would become more accepting of that part of himself, and even though Susan hated to see the coyote struggling with it, pushing the matter would just make it harder for him to own things in the long run…even the thought that she might suspect was making Johnny fidget nervously.

Giving him a mental ‘out’, Susan patted his leg kindly.  “I appreciate you looking out for our little kit…Nick was up way past his bedtime last night and really probably needed the rest.” She praised “It wouldn’t do to have him nodding off at his meeting this afternoon, now would it?”  Oh!  Between work and my adventures with Scamp I had completely forgotten that I had an appointment with HR coming up later!

I kind of wished Susan hadn’t reminded me; in an instant my happy calm was well on its way out the window and I was back to my nervous, fidgety self again.  “I should probably start getting ready for that.” I groaned.  Moving to extract myself from Susan’s lap, I quickly discovered she planned to veto that idea.  “There’s still quite a while before we need to leave.” Susan pointed out “Don’t start getting all worked up again, okay little one?”  “But I’ve got to be ready!”  The exasperation and borderline panic in my voice was not reassuring to my friends, to say the least!

“Am I going to have to yiff you again?” Johnny joked “That seemed to work last time!”  “Often a good option,” Susan nodded seriously “but probably not exactly what he needs right now…”  “You don’t know that for sure without giving it a try…” Johnny disagreed.  Not because he was feeling yiffy—he was still quite happily sated from earlier—he just felt honor-bound to defend yiffing as a solution to any and all of life’s problems.  “You didn’t do enough of that earlier?” Ruby teased “Even I can smell it on you two, and my sense of smell isn’t half of what Susan’s is.”  Susan grinned slyly in agreement, but tactfully didn’t add any details she might or might not have deduced.

“You got to play with Nick earlier this morning, as I recall…” Susan pointed out seriously “If anyfur should be angling for some ‘fun time’ with him I’ve got the best claim at this point!”  “Doesn’t he have a meeting this afternoon?” Johnathan reluctantly reminded us.  “Late afternoon, yes.  And it’s over at the office complex.” Susan nodded.  “It’s not here?” I wondered aloud.  Seeing my confusion, Ruby filled in some of the blanks.  “Besides this building the company has several other facilities: there’s a couple of storefronts for our more sales and marketing oriented testing, and an actual office suite downtown.  We’ve actually got a whole floor in one of the prestige-address high-rises down there.  It’s just better for all of us to not have a bunch of clients and office staff parading through here…”

“So does everyfur over there know about all this, about us?”  “Not all of them.” Ruby shrugged “Just the ones that need to know.  I’d assume that most of them at least suspect though.”  “Oh.”  I said, sounding kind of unsure.  I didn’t know how I felt about that.  Mind you, I’d have felt the same way no matter what the answer had been.

“Being serious for a moment,” Johnathan told me, patting my paw “you need to realize that everyfur, from the maintenance staff to the CEO, have been extensively screened and vetted, and every one of them is trustworthy.  They might not understand it, but even the ones who don’t know about it would accept it if they found out.  I’d bet my plushy we looked into you more carefully than anywhere else you’ve ever worked!”  “I have my doubts.” I informed the coyote “But if you trust them I’ll give them a chance…I’m not taking your plushie if you’re wrong though, that would be mean.”

“Well, now that we’ve got that decided maybe we should start making plans for the afternoon?” Ruby grinned.  “Will y’all come with me?” I suggested “For the ride, I mean, not the meeting.  We could grab food afterwards or something…”  Everyfur seemed pretty enthusiastic about the idea, if not quite so happy about needing to stand up, and the lot of us were soon in a lively debate about where to go and what to do.  For my part I really didn’t have any particular preference one way or another, I was just looking forward to spending time with my chosen family.

“Are you okay, little one?” Susan asked “You’re kind of quiet down there.”  “I’m happy.” I nodded “I just don’t really know what normal furs do for fun, so I don’t really have much to add.”  “’Normal furs’.” Johnny grinned, trying to stifle a laugh, but soon breaking down into a full on giggle fit.  I gave him a confused look at that, not really understanding what he was on about.  My confusion, in turn, set Ruby and Susan off…I didn’t get it, but at least they were enjoying themselves.  Eventually Ruby gasped out an explanation between giggles.  “Little brother, you don’t really believe anyfur in this building could be mistaken for a ‘normal fur’ do you?”

Once everyfur had settled down a bit it was decided we would all get ready to go and meet up down in the main room in an hour or so, and in short order Susan and I had adjourned to her room to find me something to wear.  “Why exactly did my grown-up clothes end up in here?” I wondered as I watched her pick through the few things I had to wear.  Which apparently now resided in the back of her closet.  “We all have some wardrobes up on the storage floor, but these are things you brought with you your first night…I’d not gotten around to putting them with the stuff from your apartment yet.”  “But why aren’t they in my closet?”  “Silly little kit!  You don’t need big boy clothes!” she laughed, genuinely amused by the thought.

That made sense, so I just shrugged and nodded.  “I wish you had more of a selection, but that outfit you interviewed in will be okay.  It looks really…nice on you, too…” I picked up on the subtle, unintentional pause in Susan’s sentence, as I walked over to see what she was looking at, and it put a naughty smile on my muzzle.  “You think so?”  “Well of course.  I have a very handsome kit you know…” she teased, not turning around from her search.

“You know…” I teased back playfully “I’m starting to get the distinct impression that I’m not the only one here with damp undergarments…should I check Mommy Susan’s panties?”  Susan’s amused giggle turned into a happy gasp of surprise as I glomped her from behind, wrapping the dracon in an affectionate hug.  I ran a finger gently down the inside of her wing, eliciting the churrling dracon equivalent of a purr.

I couldn’t help but smile at that; I liked getting a reaction from Mama Susan.  It made me feel appreciated!  Continuing to massage and gently pinch her wing membranes, I moved a paw to the front of her waistband and began to teasingly run my fingers along between her panties and her scales.  Not getting a rebuke (unless you counted her muzzle flushing and her breathing getting heavier as a rebuke…) I decided Susan and I were on the same page about the possibilities before us.

Slipping my paw down the front of her pants, I cupped her mons through her panties.  “Yep, you’re definitely damp down there…I’m just going to have to get those clothes off you; there’s really no way around it!”  I informed her in the most poorly faked apologetic tone that had ever crossed a muzzle.  “Well that’s truly a shame.” Susan nodded, failing utterly to convince me.

Unbuttoning her pants, I let them fall to the floor, where, to my great amusement she unceremoniously hiked them over into the corner of the room.  (Tactfully I didn’t point out she’d scolded me for doing the exact same thing just yesterday…see, I do eventually learn!)  Moving around, I crouched down in front of her and made a big production out of examining her panties before finally announcing that “Yep, definitely wet!”

Susan was giving me a look of equal parts amusement and arousal as I led her to the bed…but not so distracted that she hadn’t managed to shed most of her clothes by the time we had gotten there, ending up in only her panties by the time she sat down.  “Why are you still standing up?”  “I need to get something to clean you…” I began to explain.  Susan was having none of it, however, and cut me off midsentence by grabbing my collar and pulling me down next to her on the bed.  “Much better!” she laughed “It’s not nice to tease the Mama!”

“Why don’t we get you out of these?” Susan suggested before helpfully (and far quicker than I would have imagined possible) working me out of my clothes.  “I think we’ll leave the diaper on for now…” she decided.  “But that’ll make it kind of hard to…you know…” I argued.  “To what?” Susan grinned wickedly.  She was never one to pass up the chance to make me blush, and the dracon got the feeling this would be a good one!  “You know…” I hedged, not disappointing in the blushing department.  “Say it.” She instructed me kindly.  This was turning into a ‘teaching moment’, and the more I tried to get around it the more set she was about working on my hang up.  “The diaper will make it harder for us to yiff.”  “See, that wasn’t so difficult, was it?”

Feeling that her work was accomplished, Susan slipped a claw delicately under the sides of my diaper, and with a deft flick simply cut it off of me.  “A week ago that would have been terrifying.” I mused.  “Well, I’m glad it’s now then…” Susan nodded seriously.  Showing off a little, she whisked what was left of my dearly departed diaper out from between my legs with a flourish.  (She lost a few points when it got caught up on my tail, but I still got the idea…and my kit loved the show!)  “We’ll just pretend that was as suave in real life as it was in my mind, okay?”

I couldn’t help giggling, but Susan couldn’t bring herself to be annoyed about it; she had to admit it had been pretty funny!  Obviously her little kit needed a distraction to re-focus his attentions.  And there was a simple method for that!  “Moving on…” she suggested, running a clawtip teasingly up the underside of my erection.  “Yes please!” I eeped.  Susan got a kick out of that; there was just something so eager and cheerfully adventurous about the fox’s reactions to things that she couldn’t help but find unbelievably endearing.  He didn’t have the almost jaded or purposefully self-interested mannerisms she was so used to finding in other furs.  It was both refreshing and cute at the same time, and something the dragoness was pretty sure she wouldn’t want to live without now that she’d discovered!

“I’ve got a well-mannered little guy, don’t I?” Susan mused in what was supposed to be a rhetorical question.  (I was a bit too…excited to pick up on that, however.  She didn’t seem to mind—or notice—though!)  “And a playful one…” I nodded innocently as my paw made its way back to her panty covered mons.  “That too!” she agreed huskily as I began to rub her through her panties.  “Kits need lots of play time…” I told her seriously as I switched to rubbing a finger up and down just a little bit inside her labia.  “It’s good to make sure they get plenty of stimulation.” She agreed teasingly, taking my penis into her paw and beginning to delicately run her fingers along my length in return “It’s good for their development!”

We continued to play with each other, with enthusiasm if not urgency.  “Let’s get rid of these…” I suggested, slipping Susan’s panties down her thighs.  With a mischievous grin she slipped the end of her tail through the front of her panties and deftly whisked them off her legs.  I couldn’t help but be impressed (and judging by Susan’s cheerful laugh it must have shown on my muzzle): I had no idea a dracon’s tail was that strong…or dexterous!

Now that there were no ‘obstructions’, the dragoness spread her legs some and placed one of her footpaws flat on the bed with her knee pointing upwards, giving me a view of (and equally important, access to) everything there was to see.  I was struck again by how different her skin was down there than I had assumed a dragon’s would be before I met Susan, and I couldn’t help but slip into cubby ‘doctor game’ mode a bit as I resumed quietly touching the femme again.  Susan watched with amused tolerance as I spent some time just exploring her.

I ran a finger down her outer labia, absorbing the differences in sensations between the fine-enough-to-be-almost-nonexistent scales of her opening and the downy fur of my other lovers.  Delicately moving deeper inside, I lingered over her clitoral hood, indirectly stimulating her with the movement of the skin, before idly circling a finger around the opening of her vagina.

“We could play a different game…” Susan suggested, desire bringing an edge of need to her tone.  The dragon femme felt a bit odd admitting it, but she hadn’t been in any kind of real relationship since…well, shortly after Ruby, actually, and the few casual furs since then had really just been a stopgap: they’d been there, but without an emotional connection they’d been inferior to masturbation in the end.  In short, she was really pent up, and relishing the possibilities!

“A different game?” I asked, feigning innocent confusion.  “Uh huh.”  “Hmm…” I mused, drumming my fingers on her upraised knee “I’m not quite sure I know what exactly you’re thinking of…” leaning down I ran my tongue up her opening, slowly exploring every detail until finally nipping her clitoris gently and looking into her eyes, a wicked grin on my muzzle “…but I think I can figure it out!”

“You naughty, naughty little kit!” Susan accused, her voice making it abundantly clear that right now it wasn’t a bad thing at all.  Wrapping an arm behind me, she pulled me forward into a deep kiss, our muzzles locking and our tongues intertwining.  “Woo…” I gasped out when we finally parted.  “Thanks…I think!” Susan laughed, looking unapologetically proud of herself.

Lying back on the bed, she settled me down next to her.  “I have to admit I’ve been fantasizing about this since our first time together.” Susan blushed.  “Well why didn’t you bring it up earlier?” I chided “It’s not like I don’t want to…I’m up for it any time you’d like!”  Kissing me on the nose, she gave me a silly little grin.  “How about now?”

Taking my penis in her paw she guided me to her entrance, resting my tip against her.  “Now you remember what to do from our lessons yesterday, right?” Susan teased me playfully.  In response I leaned down and kissed the dracon on the muzzle; lightly at first, but growing deeper and more passionate as I slowly began to enter her.  Susan shivered happily as her anticipation was fulfilled.  As aroused as she was, and as much as she had the urge to skip straight to some ‘wake-up-the-neighbors’ type yiffing, this almost teasing deliberateness was in some ways even better.

Encouraged by Susan’s deeper, more excited breathing and the hiss-gasp I was learning to associate with a very…uh…happy dracon I began to thrust as deeply as I could without getting my knot involved in things, nuzzling the crook of her wing where it met her shoulder with the underside of my muzzle.

“That’s…different.” She laughed.  She was doing her best not to let on that I’d found a ticklish spot, but I still filed the knowledge away for later…maybe the next tickle war could end in a negotiated truce…  “Good different, or bad different?” I smiled, already knowing the answer.  “I’m not sure…keep doing it!” the dracon suggested seriously “I’ll get back to…oh!  Naughty!”  I’d nipped her shoulder a little bit…Susan wasn’t the only one who could be deliberately ornery.

I began to pick up the pace some after that, with my yips and whines easily matching Susan’s enthusiasm.  “That’s a good boy!” she praised in gasps as well as words.  It wasn’t exactly coherent, but I was lost enough in the moment that I didn’t’ really catch more than the spirit of it anyway.

Susan could tell she was going to finish first, it wasn’t my first orgasm of the day after all, and she decided to catch me up a bit.  (Besides, it was fun to watch me have fun!)  “You’re going to be a good boy and not keep Mommy waiting for you to make cummies, aren’t you?” she asked playfully.  “Uh huh!” I agreed.  (It wasn’t exactly a difficult request to want to fulfill!)

Nodding her approval, she began to firmly stroke the base of my tail.  I yelped in surprise, but it quickly turned into a moan of pleasure.  “You like that, sweetie?  Shall I continue?” the dracon femme asked rhetorically.  By now I could only whimper in reply, my thrusts gaining even more urgency as I grew as close to orgasm as Susan was.

As our arousal and need fed off the others’ we soon arrived at the gates of the inevitable, then, with a hissing roar Susan climaxed, her body shuddering as she squeezed against my shaft with her most intimate muscles.  “It’s your turn now…” she panted, scruffing me with the paw that wasn’t busy with the base of my tail (and now trailing to places lower) “Cum for me, little one.”

With a final thrust and a shuddering whine I slipped over the edge, a series of slowing huffs and moans paralleling my ejaculations, until with a happy, sated sigh I cuddled up limply in Susan’s arms.

Shifting around slightly to get me more comfortably situated on her chest, Susan wrapped her wings around us as we both slipped into a peaceful quiet.  I didn’t fall asleep so much as slipped into a fuzzy little kit place.  Lying on Susan’s chest, listening to her heartbeat, my mind wandered to no place in particular beyond how soothing it all felt.  And if I had been inclined to look up, the expression on Susan’s muzzle would have told me that I was not alone there…

I was just closing my eyes and beginning to drift off to sleep when Susan decided it was time for us to get up and start moving.  “Much as I hate to say it, kiddo, we’ve got to be heading out soon.” She sighed.  “Couldn’t even if I wanted to.” I yawned, ignoring her gentle attempts to convince me to stand up.  “Why would that be?” the dracon humored.  “I’m still inside you.” I explained seriously (though maybe with less authority than if I had managed not to yawn midsentence) “That means we’re still mating.  You don’t want to stop mid-yiff, do you?”  Looking equally serious, Susan simply lifted me up like she was bench pressing an empty bar (and with about the same amount of effort—I kept forgetting how strong she was!) and set me down next to her on the bed.  Patting me on the head affectionately, she gave me a mild grin.  “Oh look, we finished.  Now grab a cigarette and scurry your fuzzy self into the bathroom!”

“Encouraging little kits to smoke is bad parenting…” I grumbled.  But I got up and drug myself into the bathroom anyway…  “Yes, but we both know I was kidding, so it doesn’t count.” Susan debated primly as she appeared in the bathroom doorway “Now let’s get cleaned up, so we can get dressed, so we can go!”

“Okay, stand right there.  Paws apart…tail up!” Susan instructed with maternal efficiency.  I complied, only to start blushing in embarrassment as Susan got a packet of wipes and crouched down to thoroughly inspect my private places.  I did my best not to shiver too much as she began to tidy me up down there, but the wipes were cold…and it didn’t help that every place Mommy Susan’s paws explored seemed to be ticklish!  “Weren’t we supposed to be getting a warmer for these?” I complained, sounding whinier than was really necessary.  “It will probably actually be here sometime today.” Susan sighed in sympathy “…okay, all done!”

With me taken care of, Susan sat down on the edge of the tub and took a moment to clean herself as well.  I couldn’t help but watch in mildly aroused fascination as Susan spread herself and slowly, thoroughly, wiped up the mess we had made.  The dragoness had noticed both my rapt attention and the flash of red peeking out of my sheath, and took a flattered enjoyment in putting on a subtle little show for me in the process.

As reluctant as we both were to not pass the rest of the day yiffing, cuddling, and just enjoying each other’s presence, eventually everyfur was too clean to put off less pleasant pursuits any longer.  “Well…” Susan sighed, not bothering to disguise the fact she wished it weren’t so “We should probably get dressed.”

Taking my paw, she led me back to the other room and set me up on the bed.  “Time to get you all nice and diapered up!”  “About that…considering that I’m going to a work-related meeting, with furs high enough up in the company that you think having me dress up for it is a good idea, and that of every fur in the city they are probably some of the most likely to not only notice crinkling and a diaper bulge but also recognize what they are…maybe this should be a ‘big boy underwear’ trip?”

“Nope!” Susan disagreed cheerfully as she dug out the diapering supplies.  I waited patiently for her reasoning, but she wasn’t inclined to elaborate.  While I was trying to come up with something that could be mistaken for a valid argument Susan lifted up my butt and slid a diaper under me, and threaded my tail through the tail hole.

Growing just a bit uncomfortable (okay, panicky) I went with a more directly honest admission.  “I’m really skittish about this…it just doesn’t seem appropriate for a business meeting.  I don’t want to make a bad impression.”  “You don’t really think I’d let you do something that would put you in a bad situation.” Susan said as she sprinkled on some baby powder.  It was a statement, not a question.  And she had a valid point, which left me without an answer.  “Look at it this way: you want to show everyfur that you’re a team player, don’t you?”

I couldn’t help giggling at that; the irony really took the fangs out of my fear, and by the time Susan was fastening up the diaper’s tapes I was actually beginning to feel like I was ready for this!  Grinning playfully, I suggested that “Maybe instead of the dress clothes I should find a pair of shortalls and my spaceship t-shirt.”  Patting my head affectionately, the dracon tried to think up a way to tactfully disagree without squelching my newfound enthusiasm.  “Not during office hours, sweetheart.  We wouldn’t want to confuse the other tenants.”

“Okay.” I sighed, drawing the word out to great lengths in my increasingly cubby disapproval.  It took kind of a lot of effort, but I managed not to pout about it.  “That’s very mature of you.” She praised genuinely.  “Yeppers!”

Susan had started getting herself dressed, which seemed like a hint, so I tried to follow her example.  Emphasis on ‘tried’: the pants were fine, but no matter how hard I focused on it I just couldn’t seem to make the buttons on my shirt work.  First they refused to go through the tiny little holes, then, once I finally did get them buttoned I discovered that the whole line of them had somehow ended up crooked!

When Susan had gotten herself finished up and turned her attention back to my efforts she found me sitting on the bed with my shirt askew and a look on my muzzle like I was moments away from bursting into tears.  “I wanted to be ready too so you wouldn’t have to wait, but my shirt is broken…” I sniffled, looking up at her in disappointment.  “Buttons can be tricky sometimes.” She consoled me with a hug “But I’m proud of you for trying!”

In short order Susan had my button issue resolved and my shoes on (she tactfully didn’t explain she wasn’t sure I could work the laces at the moment), and after grabbing the diaper bag we were on our way to meet up with Ruby and Johnathan.

Back downstairs Ruby and Johnathan exchanged knowingly amused looks, but neither said anything.  (I guess Susan and I had kept them waiting longer than we had thought…)  “I know, I know…” I groused “I think Susan found the poofiest, most crinkly brand of diaper we’ve got here to put me in for this…”  “Actually, what we were thinking was…” Johnathan cheerfully began to correct before Ruby elbowed him warningly.  “They’re not as obvious as all that.” The wolf femme transitioned, elbowing Johnny again when he added “Even if you and Susan are!” under his breath in a tone that made it clear he didn’t appreciate her interrupting his quest for all the yiffy details.

“So, whose care are we taking?” Susan asked, quickly trying to change the subject.  (Johnny had actually made her start to blush, I noticed…I think that may have been a first!)  “I don’t even have a driver’s license.” Ruby admitted “I grew up in a big city with really good public transportation, then I went to college and didn’t ever have time to go anywhere, then I came here, so it’s never actually been an issue…”  “Don’t look at me.” Johnathan shrugged “Pickup truck.”  “And Nick has a sports car.  Which means we’re taking mine: I drive a mid-sized sedan like a mature, responsible fur.”  Susan announced primly.  Before I could complain though her expression changed to chagrin and she corrected herself.  “Except I took it in for maintenance the day before yesterday.  I kind of forgot to get the oil changed for a couple of thousand extra miles, and they have to make sure nothing got messed up…”

“Well, I guess we’re taking mine then.  I’m glad somefur here is mature and responsible enough to take care of their things!”  “It could happen to anyfur.”  Susan defended as we took the elevator to the garage.  I ignored her completely: this was too much fun to just let go of!  “After all, cars are very expensive and driving is a big responsibility!”  “Like you’ve never accidentally…”  “I mean, can you imagine what would happen if they let furs who insist on acting like hatchlings operate a multiple ton piece of machinery on the public roads?”

“One more word out of you, little kit, and I’ll be driving it!” Susan warned as we got to my parking spot and I popped the locks.  “Can you drive a stick?” I asked innocently, dangling my keys in the air between two fingers.  Looking a little grumpy at being thwarted, the dragoness admitted that she could in fact not.  “I can!” Johnny announced cheerfully, making a grab for my keys.  “Try it and you’ll pull back a stump, puppy!” I laughed.

After a certain amount of squabbling over who got what seat, which being the driver happily rose me above, we were pulling out onto the road.  It was a good thing I had some company on my excursion: one of my (admittedly many) faults is that I’ve got no sense of direction, and since I didn’t have a clue where I was going beyond ‘downtown’ I really appreciated having somefur along who did.

“You’re being really quiet.” Ruby observed after several miles without me joining in on the others’ small talk “Is everything okay?”  “I’m just a little nervous—well, a lot nervous actually—that’s all.  Be glad though: you’re getting ‘granny driving’ out of it!”  “How do you drive when you’re not too nervous to pay attention?” Johnathan asked, half in curiosity, and half in encouragement.  “At 163 miles per hour the front end of this thing starts to float enough that the steering lightens up on you noticeably.” I commented by means of an answer that wasn’t.

“Your grin is a bit disturbing, dearest.” Susan frowned “And furthermore, you most definitely will not be doing that!”  “It was merely a hypothetical, and not to be construed as actual firsthand knowledge, nor an endorsement of such hooligan behaviors.”  “Uh huh.” She told me flatly, not buying it, and obviously less than amused.

“Well, at least he’s getting less nervous…” Ruby whispered to Johnathan.  “Just as long as he doesn’t earn himself a time out.” The coyote agreed seriously “That would put a damper on our afternoon…”

Our discussion, luckily, was sidetracked before I could talk myself into any more potential trouble by our arrival at the downtown exits: Susan had to concentrate on navigating and I had to pay closer attention to the road.  “I hate downtown.” I grumbled as I nearly turned the wrong way down yet another one way street “It would be less trouble to park on the exit ramp and walk in.”  “I feel obligated to disagree with you, but I can’t really think of a credible counterpoint.” Susan nodded “The only saving grace I can offer is that we’ve at least got our own parking garage at the office.”

Hearing that was a relief: I was starting to dread the possibility we would have to find a meter.  Somewhere.  “Once you get used to the way the streets are laid out down here it’s not so bad.” Johnathan reassured me.  I was visibly not believing the coyote, but we arrived at our destination before he could continue trying to convince me.

There really wasn’t anything noteworthy about the building whose underground garage we pulled in to: it was just a nice, upscale high rise.  Logically that’s all I’d been expecting, but somehow I couldn’t help feeling a little let down.  “It’s a corporate office, little one.  It’s not going to look like our building back at the campus.” Susan explained gently, reading my expression.  “I know…” I nodded as we piled out of the car and headed for the elevators “But it should look more kit friendly!”

“There’s actually an office set aside for us.” Ruby informed me as the elevator whisked us rapidly to our destination “It’s pretty neat, sort of a mix of a nursery and a play room, but with a desk and a couple of computer terminals on a raised piece of floor in one corner.  We’re only allowed in that part if we’re doing work things though…there’s staplers and permanent markers and stuff we could get in trouble with up there!”

I was about to ask just how much trouble a stapler could be when the elevator opened into a well-appointed reception area, presumably with a matching office suite stretching out behind it.  Susan waved at the doe manning the reception desk as she led our little band past her desk “Hey Jillian, slow day?”  “I wish.” The doe laughed “It’s been one thing after another all day…I’m surprised they didn’t re-schedule with your little guy.”

About four doors down from the reception desk Susan stopped.  “Here we are!” she announced, taking a minute to straighten my collar and tidy up my headfur “Elizabeth said it was just going to be a short meeting to see how you’re settling in.  Then, once you two finish your talk we can all go do something fun.”  “You guys aren’t coming with me?”  “Aww…  I’m sorry little one, but they want you to be able to talk openly about anything…it could be counterproductive if we were invited.” Susan explained “You have to do this one on your own, honey.  There’s nothing to worry about though, you’ll be fine, I promise.  Elizabeth is really nice, you’ll see.”

I was about to disagree in no uncertain terms, but that line of possibilities was cut short when a female otter opened the office door in front of us.  “Nick?  Hi, I’m Elizabeth, come on in!” she greeted me as she waved me inside.  Then turning to Susan said that “I’ll bring him back to the cubs’ office when we’re done.  And don’t worry, I’ll take good care of him!”  And with that, I was alone.

“Hey, hey.  It’s nothing bad…” she reassured me comfortingly “Why don’t you take a seat, you’re trembling!”  Her office was decorated in what could be described as ‘modern business casual’—upscale office furniture and decorations, but also a leather couch and chairs around a coffee table in a nice seating area complete with framed photos and several house plants.  (If I was less jumpy I’d have approved of her choice of wall art; I used to have several of the same prints in my apartment, admittedly in cheaper frames…)

I followed the otter’s suggestion to sit down, choosing the sofa, but it was much harder to do anything about the trembling…  Elizabeth grabbed me a bottle of water out of a little mini-fridge by her desk, then took a seat across from me in one of the chairs, smiling in what she hoped was a disarming way.  She was used to cubs being shy or nervous until they realized they weren’t being called on the carpet, but Nick was displaying a level of anxiety she hadn’t encountered before, and she was beginning to feel guilty for putting him through it.

“I’m kind of at a loss why you’re so agitated.” Elizabeth admitted, deciding to tackle the matter head on “Can you help me out with that?”  “I don’t want to have to leave.” I told her miserably “I like it here, and I like being Mommy Susan’s little kit, and I love my new family, and…and…”  Moving over to the sofa, Elizabeth took me in her arms and gave me a hug.  “Oh sweetheart, we’re not here to talk about making you go, we’re here to make sure you want to stay!”

“The way you got recruited wasn’t how we typically go about it, and after your…umm…’covert ops mission’ your first night we all felt it best to make sure you wanted to be here after you had a chance to see what it’s all about…  And I think you’ve answered that question.”  “So I get to stay?”  “Of course.”

With that established I was finally able to settle down and relax some.  I got the feeling that Elizabeth was a Caretaker, or else was just naturally good with cubs: after a few minutes of random small talk she’d managed to put me enough at ease (and get me big enough) to get back to the task at hand.

When we’d finally talked about all the things on Elizabeth’s list, and a lot of stuff that wasn’t, she announced that “Well, I think that’s just about everything…why don’t we go see what your Mommy is doing, okay?”  “Okies!” I agreed taking her paw and following her down the hall to another office.

This one turned out (not surprisingly) to be the ‘cubs’ office’ I’d been told about earlier.  It was pretty much how they’d described it, but it was niftier in person.  Everyfur was there: Ruby and Susan were doing something on one of the computer terminals, and Johnny was curled up asleep on the couch.  (I couldn’t help but wonder if I looked that peaceful when I was asleep.)

“Here he is,” Elizabeth announced cheerfully “safe and sound!”  “Oh good.” Susan smiled “I was somewhat concerned; he was pretty tense when I dropped him off.”  “Now Susan…” Elizabeth teased “You know I’m good with cubs.  You didn’t think you’d have to go poking around in snow drifts again, did you?”  “Well, maybe a little…”  “I’m never going to live that down, am I?” I pouted, stamping a paw and crossing my arms.  Everyfur shook their heads at that, their expressions ranging from seriousness to outright glee.  “Nope.” Susan explained “A good story tends to have some staying power; and around cubs even more so…I wouldn’t count on this one ever going away!”  “Especially since everyfur here has heard it by now…alarms tend to do that you know.” Elizabeth confirmed “But look on the bright side: you’re really cute when you’re embarrassed!”  “You’re in management, you don’t get to tease the cubs.” I argued as I rapidly moved towards a sulk.  “So is Susan, but it hasn’t slowed her down, has it?” the otter informed me seriously.

I wasn’t going to win this one, so I just sighed in exasperation and tried to be a good sport about it.  My escape attempt had failed, after all, so I guess I earned it fair and square.  “We’re going to get food, did you want to come?” I offered the otter to show that there were no hard feelings.  “I’d really like to, but I’m swamped for the rest of the day.” She sighed, looking at her watch “As a matter of fact I‘ve got to be in a client meeting in about ten minutes.  But maybe we could catch up later this evening back at the campus.  I like to get to know everyfur around here socially, and that would be as good a time as any!”

I wasn’t fond of the idea of meeting much of anyfur back at ‘the campus’ because of…well, everything, but while I was trying to come up with good excuse Susan cut me off at the pass.   “Sure, that sounds great!  Just give us a call when you’re on the way over.”  “It was nice getting to meet you little guy, and I guess we’ll all see each other this evening!”  Ruffling my headfur affectionately Elizabeth excused herself.  She was running a bit late, but that was okay…it was hard to get too worried about things like that when she was spending time with some of the cubs…

I, meanwhile, was giving Susan a look.  “A proper secretary would have made sure I didn’t have anything else scheduled this evening…”  “I sense somefur is a wee bit grumpy!” she observed, obviously not concerned in the least by this particular turn of events.  “You let her violate my dignity!” I accused the dracon.  Reaching over, Susan gave my butt a couple of loud, crinkly pats.  “You’re still my same dignified Todd!”

Oh I was going to pout.  I was going to pout such a pout as the world had never before seen.  It would be an epic pout that…  “So, who wants to go to the mall?” The mall?  I could go to the mall.  They have nifty things there!  And thus the end of the world as we know it was averted.  By the possibility of shiny things.

Once we’d gotten Johnny woken up and back on his paws (“Just ten more minutes, Daddy…please?  Oh, it’s you guys!”) it didn’t take us long to pile back into the car and be on our way.  And despite the fact I was deliberately driving with less than my usual vigor by the time we had arrived Johnny was looking pale and Susan was making rumblings about little kits not needing car keys.  (Ruby, however, was perfectly content and couldn’t quite figure out what the others were on about…)

All in all everyfur was happy to head inside, if for different reasons.  “I want to get Nick some dress clothes, but we really can’t do that until we go through the ones he’s already got.” Susan mused.  “I’ve got plenty of clothes, but I appreciate the thought.”  came the immediate response.  There are few things I like less than shopping for clothes.  For that matter, with the exception of decent coats I really had no interest in clothing.  I didn’t look particularly good (in my opinion) in anything, so I’d never had the urge to make a thing of it.  “Whatever you say, sweetie.” Susan patronized, rolling her eyes for Ruby’s benefit.

“You have to take me with you when you two go.” Johnny announced “I want to play-dress up with him!”  “You’re not helping.” I accused the coyote.  “I’m your big brother, I have to make sure you look good!”  “We’ll see.” Susan compromised, doing her best to derail the forthcoming argument.

“So where to first?” Ruby announced more than questioned, deciding it best to help change the subject.  “Mostly I was thinking we would hit the bookstore for a while since Nick doesn’t seem interested in clothes shopping at the moment.”  “Or ever.” I elaborated helpfully.  “Don’t be cheeky.” Susan admonished.  Though, I noted, she couldn’t help smiling some in an indulgent sort of way.  I wasn’t going to try to push my luck though…eventually I’d run out of ‘I’m proud of you’, and I was feeling cheerful enough that I was loathe to risk spoiling it.

I’d not been in this particular shopping mall before, but luckily I had several tour guides that knew their way around like the backs of their paws, and were quite willing to give me the nickel tour along the way.  (Whether I wanted it or not…)  For the most part I just smiled and nodded a lot, doing my best to feign interest at the reviews of every boutique clothing store along the way, but I did glean bits and pieces of useful intel in the process.  And it would have been rude to look bored when my friends were trying to be helpful!

“…and every now and then we have a party there!” Ruby said, pointing to one of those build-your-own-plushie stores.  I must have looked pretty dubious at that revelation because the wolf femme felt the need to elaborate.  “After hours when the mall is closed, silly!  Their staff is really nice…and the tips we always leave don’t hurt either.”  “She’s right.” Susan confirmed “We’ve actually hired away some of their furs on occasion, and a few of them have even ended up at the campus.”

“Can we stop there for a while?” I suggested with a blush “I’ve never been, and it looks like fun…”  “Not today, but we…umm…might be back around pretty soon…” Susan waffled.  It was a miracle and an embarrassment that I didn’t pick up on the suspiciously furtive glances that the three of them were shooting back and forth.  (There was a tradition of throwing new-hire cubs a party there at the end of their first week ‘on the job’, and nofur wanted to be the one to ruin the surprise for me.)

Luckily for all involved we were only a couple of doors down from our destination, and nothing distracts like a bookstore!  Susan was hesitant to let us split up (“Well, Nick and Johnny, anyway.  I’m sure you can behave yourself without supervision, Ruby.”), but for the sake of efficiency she gave her better judgment a pass this time, and the three of us had soon scattered to the winds.  “As long as I don’t hear a crash I guess I can assume they’re keeping themselves out of trouble… the dracon sighed to herself.  It sounded less convincing than she would have liked…

Susan would have been proud to know that I was keeping out of trouble quite nicely, thank you.  After a quick but productive trip through the Science Fiction and Fantasy sections I’d happened across something in the nonfiction new releases and after checking out settled down in the coffee shop at the front of the store to occupy myself until the others were ready to move on.

Quite some time later, but still well before anyfur else had finished up, Anthony found his way to the coffee shop as well.  Susan had given him a call and suggested that if he could take a break from his meetings they should all meet up for ice cream after Nick’s appointment.  Apparently the fox was pretty bent out of shape about the whole thing and Susan felt it would be a good way to settle him down afterwards.

Looking around the shop, the raccoon spotted him at a table, surrounded by several large coffee cups (which Anthony sincerely hoped were there before he was—otherwise Susan was going to have hell to pay putting him down for bed later!), scribbling intently in a large book.  “I really hope he already paid for that…” Anthony frowned as he went to check up on the kit.

“Hey Nick, what are you up to?” Anthony asked as he flipped around one of the other chairs at my table so he could lean on the back as he sat down.  “Hiya!” I grinned, looking up in surprise “I’m waiting on everyfur else to be done.”  Clarifying his question in the hopes of getting more than the obvious answer, the raccoon tried again.  “I meant with your book there…”  “I’m fixing it.  It’s pretty good, but they forgot some stuff…it makes more sense this way.”  I explained slowly in a tone of voice that made it clear that it should have been obvious.

Nick had apparently sunk down into ‘deeply cubby’ mode and a sensible answer wasn’t likely to be forthcoming, so Anthony switched to a different track.  “Can I see it?”  “Okies!” I agreed, proudly handing over the book.  Taking a look at it, Anthony discovered that it was a recently released history of the country’s latest ‘police action’ that he’d heard about on one of the morning shows earlier in the week.

“That’s kind of heavy reading for a little kit…” he pointed out.  It confused the raccoon somewhat: Nick was obviously pretty cubby at the moment, and Anthony didn’t think it was the sort of thing he’d get absorbed in.  Flipping through the book, he discovered that yes, Nick had in fact been editing it: parts had been struck through and changed, and entire sections had been added in the margins.  “Huh…” he muttered to himself as he began to read through the new material “Huh?  …uh oh…”

“So what’s my little kit been up to?” Susan asked as she and the others joined us at the table.  “Trying to give the alphabet soup agencies fits it would seem…” Anthony scowled “He got it into his head to correct this.  Which would be okay, if a bit destructive, except that the parts of this I’m familiar with are classified…and my guess is the parts I don’t know about are probably even more so.”

“Oh.” Susan nodded, grasping the potential gravity of the situation.  “Cool! Is there anything good in there?” Johnny asked gleefully.  “Johnny, age up!” Anthony snapped “If Nick can’t be trusted to keep State secrets when he’s a kit, and furs find out…”  “Oh.  Oh damn.” The coyote realized.  “Then I guess we’ll just have to make sure his kit understands…and nofur finds out.”

The ensuing conversation would have been hilarious in its awkwardness if it wasn’t so important.  Dumbing down the ideas of national security, felony charges, and espionage to levels a two year old would understand didn’t really work, and, as horrible as they felt doing it Susan and Anthony eventually had to phrase it in terms of ‘having to go away’.  Which, while effective, brought them very close to having to manage a bawling, panicky adult two year old in one of the most public places imaginable.

We ended up having to retreat to the relative privacy of Anthony’s SUV out in the parking lot for a while—it wasn’t the ideal place for a comforting group cuddle, but it was a lot better than in the middle of a shopping mall.  And with the back seats folded down there turned out to be more than enough room for all of us.

Anthony had set the a/c to just slightly cool and put on a soft classical music station before we had settled in, and once I was curled up in Susan’s lap, surrounded by my friends, I was able to slowly find my way out of the bad place necessity had forced me into.  In actuality it had managed to be soothing enough I was almost asleep.  Nofur seemed to mind, they just kept on with their conversation.  And I was a part of it without saying anything at all.

Susan had found me a pacifier somewhere (not a difficult task within our group) and my friends were taking turns casually skritching on me as they talked…things didn’t really get a whole lot nicer as far as I was concerned.  Until they did.  “Do you think we should go to the ice cream shop, or bring some back here instead?” Anthony asked.  “I think Nick is asleep, so maybe we should just take a rain check.” Susan mused.  “I’m awake, I’m up, ice cream!” I announced forcefully snapping my head up from Susan’s chest and looking around with a predatory authority “Which way is the ice cream, and why are you furs still sitting around?  Let’s move, y’all!”  “Going there it is.” Susan laughed.

My enthusiasm was infectious, and as quickly as we could drag the caretakers we were staring into a freezer full of yummy frozen goodness.  “I guess he actually did drink all that coffee…” Anthony warned Susan.  “Yeppers!” I agreed “Now less talking and more ice cream!”  “We do have ice cream…   What can I get you kids?” the teenage ocelot behind the counter asked.  Ruby, Johnny, and I exchanged glances.  How did she know?  “I was trying to make a joke.” The ocelot explained quickly, having misunderstood our expressions completely “Because most of our customers are…well I thought it was funny.  Anyway, what can I get you guys?”

And thus the negotiations began.  I ordered ‘one of everything’, which seemed like a pretty good idea to me.  Susan, however, felt like one scoop of something in a sugar cone was a more appropriate choice.  There was a pretty good chance she was going with a lowball initial offer to lower the eventual midpoint settlement, however.  The dracon was turning out to be a sharp negotiator, and we went back and forth for quite a long time before eventually reaching a consensus: two scoops in a waffle cone.

“You look far too grumpy for a fur with an ice cream cone.” Anthony observed after we’d all staked out a booth in the corner of the shop.  “I feel like I negotiated poorly.” I explained “I left way too much on the table.”  “You also sound far too serious for somefur who has that much ice cream smeared over that much of his muzzle.” Susan observed “Anyway, you shouldn’t feel too bad about it; nofur expects a two year old kit to bargain at a corporate level.  All in all I’d say you did pretty well.”  “It’s easy for you to be gracious, you won.” I griped.  I didn’t really mean it, I was just feeling like a bit of a sore loser.

Susan preferred my good natured pouting to my earlier agitation, so instead of arguing semantics she just advised me to “Eat your ice cream before it melts, honey.  And I’d consider it a personal favor if you would try not to wear too much of it out with you!”  She had a point; I was looking less than tidy, and there was a very real chance it could get worse before it got better.  Preventative maintenance would probably be prudent at this juncture, so Susan tucked a napkin into the front of my shirt to serve as a makeshift bib.  “How come Johnny and Ruby don’t haf ‘ta have them?” I grumbled.  “Because they’ve managed to not cover themselves in ice cream.” Susan told me logically.  I couldn’t argue with that, no matter how much I wanted to…

“Are you coming back with us after ice cream?” Johnny asked Anthony as we were finishing up our treats.  (Johnny and I were finishing up our treats, anyway…Ruby had been displaying a tidy restraint in her eating that the two of us were obviously unfamiliar with, so she still had some of hers left.)  “No, I’ve got to go back to the office for a couple of hours.  But I’ll definitely be back for dinner!”  Johnny seemed mildly disappointed with it, but he understood.  “Well, duty calls I guess.”

“You said ‘doody’!” I giggled.  I couldn’t help myself, and soon Ruby was doing her best not to start too.  The wolf pup liked to think she was a proper, mature little girl, and potty jokes were obviously just too gauche for a cub of her stature.  Even if it was kind of funny!  “Speaking of which…” Susan nodded maternally “Stand up for a minute please, Nick.”  Since Susan had just finished helping me to get my muzzle cleaned up, I assumed she just wanted to check that I hadn’t dripped anything on my clothes.  To my utter horror I discovered that she was planning on checking something else entirely!  I quickly jumped back a step as her paw brushed against my belt and made haste to put a chair in between us.

“What are you doing?” I hissed in a whisper “Somefur could see!”  Susan, of course, was well aware of that and had made quite sure it wouldn’t happen, I was just too nervous to realize it.  “There’s two ways we can do this.” Susan warned me calmly “You can hold still like a good boy, or it can be ‘paws up, pants down’, it’s your choice.  Which will it be, hmm?”

“Good boy…” I mumbled, blushing and shuffling my footpaws as I stared at the floor.  Susan beamed at my decision as she slipped a finger under my belt and the elastic waistband of my diaper.  It wasn’t the victory so much as that I trusted her enough that if she said she wanted to check my diaper in the middle of the mall, then that was the way it was going to be.  The fox had come a long way in a very short amount of time, on a lot of different fronts!  “Still dry!” Susan nodded “I’m honestly a little surprised considering you probably ran them out of coffee back there earlier…”

“Don’t haf ‘ta tinkle!” I announced proudly “Not even a teeny tiny bit.  Wont haf ‘ta for hours and hours!”  “I don’t know if I’d go quite that far…” Ruby laughed “You drank a lot of coffee!”  “Let’s bet on it!” Johnny suggested excitedly “I think he’ll be able to wait until we get back to the campus.”  “Okay.” Ruby mused “What are the stakes?”

Susan, Anthony, and I watched with bemusement as Ruby and Johnny haggled.  It was actually pretty fun to watch; they got really intense with back and forth offers of candy and chores, inconsequential things taking on the seriousness of an international trade negotiation.  “I love how nofur has bothered asking if I’m okay with being the entertainment.” I said drolly.  “Well, you want to prove you’re right, don’t you?” Anthony pointed out.  “Don’t encourage him…” Susan interjected “The last thing Nick needs after that much coffee is encouragement!”

Negotiations, meanwhile, had ground to a standstill, apparently over the matter of laundry, and both Johnny and Ruby were looking pretty frustrated about it.  Then, just when it looked like the game might be off Ruby got an idea.  Leaning over towards Johnny, she whispered something in the coyote’s ear, and which point they both started grinning.  “I think we have an agreement!” Johnny nodded, giving me a playful look.

“What?” I questioned suspiciously “Why are you staring at me like that?  I don’t think I like having you two stare at me like that…  Mommy Susan, make them quit staring at me like that!”  “I get the distinct impression you’re the prize in their bet…” Susan mused idly.  “I bet you wouldn’t make it back to the campus, and Johnny bet you’d make it into the property line.  If you can make it all the way into our apartment we’ll give you a veto.  How’s that sound?” Ruby offered playfully “But if you lose…no arguments!”  “Veto what?” I grumbled, growing unnerved by the whole thing.  I trusted them, but uncertainty always dug at me, and my two siblings being that happy about a secret was making me nervous.  “It wouldn’t be any fun if you knew ahead of time!”  Letting out a growl that was nearly a whimper I took off for the car, the others in tow.

By the time we had hit the highway I was starting to feel the first inklings that I was going to have to pee soon.  And between being nervous about what the other cubs were planning and my itchy competitive streak, I was not about to lose this.  Plus, and I wasn’t proud of it, I really kind of wanted to get a reaction out of the two of them…they’d certainly enjoyed getting a reaction out of me…  Mostly though, I wanted to win.

It would be a while before furs would start getting out of work, so there wasn’t any traffic to speak of and I was able to really open it up on the slab, but the need to pee was growing quicker than we were moving.  Before we were even half way back I’d gone from feeling like I’d have to pee before too long to having to concentrate on holding it in.  By the time we were pulling into the parking lot I was rather visibly uncomfortable, and doing more trying not to wet myself than driving (which was doing nothing for the speed I was willing to go—no way was I going to risk an accident with my friends in the car over some bet).

“Sorry Ruby, looks like you lost this time.” Susan announced after checking the front of my diaper and finding me still dry.  “And yet…I still win!” the wolf giggled.  I was too busy parking and making as much of a break for the elevator as my now strained waddle of a gait would allow to question her about it.  Luck was on my side though: the elevator was on the garage level so I didn’t have to wait to hop in and bang the button for our floor.  “Come on, come on, come on!” I mumbled, desperately now, as it crept upwards.  Relief, and victory, were so close now!

“He’s doing the pee-pee dance now…” Johnny observed, before musing that “All I’d have to do to win this would be to hit a couple of extra buttons…”  “They’d never find your body!”  “I’d still win though, and…”  The elevator doors ‘dinged’ open and I was down the hall before he could finish the though.  Thank gods they had print readers on the apartment doors, otherwise I would have had to wait for Susan to catch up.  (Shouldn’t I have gotten a badge by now?  I was a full-time employee, after all!)  Except…I still had to wait for a ‘judge’, I realized as I burst through the door.

“And…he’s dry!” Ruby announced over my loud string of invectives and anatomical suggestions.  She had decided she needed to keep up with my desperate flight, and at that moment I don’t think I had ever loved her more!  “I think we’ve all learned an important lesion.” Johnny sighed, graciously admitting defeat “Never bet against Nick’s willpower.  Umm, Nick?  Are you okay?  You’re not looking so good, little brother…”

I didn’t even hear him: I had come to the disturbing realization that my bladder didn’t want to release!  I must have tensed my muscles up so much that they wouldn’t cooperate.  Seeing my look of panic, Susan guessed what was going on.  Taking me in her arms and pressing my body fully against her, the dracon began to stroke my headfur and soothingly whispered to me.  “Shh…  Just close your eyes and relax, my little kit.  When you stop trying it will come.”

That was easy enough to say, but actually doing it was another thing entirely.  I couldn’t think of a better idea though.  My bladder had gone from a dull ache to an almost throbbing pain but I forced myself to stop trying to pee and think of something else.  Anything else.  I was obviously in distress: my tail was tucked between my legs and my ears were pinned back flat against my head.  Here was a canid who was about as far from happy as one could get.  “Right.  Drastic measures.” Johnny unilaterally decided.

He started to tickle me just about anywhere he could lay a paw, and if I could have seen him I would have been surprised how little it looked like he was enjoying himself.  It didn’t take long for Ruby to latch on to the idea and join in as well.  Despite my bladder I still reflexively tried to escape, but just as quickly Susan pulled me back and held me still.  I didn’t have the wherewithal to protest, but giggles were another matter entirely, though they came closer to pained hysterics than anything else.

Then: relief.  In a rush I began to wet with a hard urgency that even outpaced my diaper’s ability to absorb.  Though thankfully not contain: as I started to feel things begin to slosh around down there I desperately hoped it would be up to the task.  The last thing I wanted to have to deal with was finding myself standing in a puddle of my own making.  Thankfully, however, my diaper served me well, and when the flood became a trickle and then a pattering drip our carpet remained unsullied.

“It’s okay!  I’m done!  You can stop now!” I gasped out.  “We know.” Ruby nodded sweetly, the two of them showing no inclination to stop, nor Susan to release me “Those were medical tickles, these are fun-time tickles!”  All I could do about that was whine pitifully.  Between the tension from my bladder issue and now the tickling my knees were buckling and Susan suddenly found herself having to hold me up on her own.  “That’s enough you two.” The dracon announced quickly “I think you’ve hit his limit for right now!”

“Umm…the door was open, did I catch you at a bad time?”  I’d forgotten that Elizabeth from HR was going to be dropping by.  She, however, had apparently not.  “Not at all, come on in!” Susan invited the otter cheerfully before explaining things a bit “Nick has a hesitant bladder sometimes, and he was really stressed about his meeting earlier, poor little guy…”  “So you helped him along.”

“I really need to get him changed, he flooded himself…  Ruby, Johnathan, could you two run down and round up dinner for us while I take care of Nick?”  “Actually, I picked up food on my way over.” Elizabeth grinned, waving towards the hallway “I felt bad that your little guy seemed so stressed out when he left, so I thought I’d treat everyfur.  I’d imagine Anthony will be along by the time you’ve got your little kit squared away…”

“Come here, you!” Susan laughed, finally realizing that she was still holding me up.  (Not by any choice of my own: I felt like my legs had fallen asleep…)  Getting a paw under my butt, she scooped me into her arms and carried me off to my room.  Elizabeth and Ruby followed along behind us, with Johnathan quickly catching up after bringing in the food.

I probably should have felt nervous about Elizabeth showing no inclination to give me some privacy, but after I’d wet I had found myself shrinking pretty rapidly, and by this point I was cubby enough that the concept of modesty was approximately as comprehensible as differential calculus or the list of ingredients on the side of a can of energy drink.  “I think Nick may be out to lunch for a while.” Johnathan observed.  “It’s for the best.” Ruby nodded “At this point he really kind of needs it.”

Susan set me down on the changing table and started getting me undressed.  My boots were given to Ruby along with my wallet, keys and assorted adult clutter, to be put away neatly, while everything else went with Johnathan to the laundry hamper.  “Johnathan and Ruby have been a big help with their little brother.” Susan commented proudly as they went about their tasks “Honestly I think that those three are the best thing that could have happened to each other.  They compliment each other’s weaknesses just about perfectly.”  “I noticed that Ruby seems a lot more at ease.” The otter nodded approvingly.  “She’s got the scariest guard fox to ever walk the planet.  Woe betide any fur who looks at any of us cross-eyed…’protective’ doesn’t even begin to describe our little crinkle butt.” Susan grinned in a way that couldn’t exactly be described as pleasant.

Unfastening the tapes on my diaper, the dracon slipped it out from under me with a laugh.  “You really wet that one, huh?”  Seeing the otter’s expression she held the massively full diaper up for inspection.  “I mean really wet it; this thing is heavy…good job!”  “Should I get him a sticker?” Johnathan asked seriously, he and Ruby having returned in time to catch the tail end of the discussion.  With a mildly reproachful look Ruby pointed out that “You won’t be able to make him blush when he’s tiny…”  “You’re just jealous of his accomplishment!” Johnathan decided.  The wolf femme just rolled her eyes at that, but allowed the subject to change.

Meanwhile Susan had been cleaning up my diaper area with some wipes.  Our warmer had shown up while we had been gone, and rather than the mildly unpleasant cold I had grown accustomed to they had a nice warmth that got me cooing happily in short order.  “I get the feeling that warmer is going to get a very positive review!” Elizabeth joked.  “It certainly seems that way, yes.”

Lifting my legs, Susan slid a new diaper under me and got the tail hole situated and fastened up before setting me back down again.  Then, after sprinkling on a good bit of powder she folded up the front and fastened the tapes.  “There we go…now how about some dinner?”  Dinner could be nice, but what I really wanted right now was to be cuddled.  I was feeling that tired, contented feeling that comes along when a lot of stress gets taken away all at once, and it made quiet acknowledgment sound like the best thing in the world right now.  “Uppies!” I asked hopefully, holding my arms up towards Susan.  “And…you got Tiny Nick.  Hopefully you weren’t looking for a conversation tonight…” Susan laughed indulgently as she scooped me up and carried me to the sofa.

“In his defense though, after a point I don’t think he really has much control over it.” Susan explained as she sat down and cradled me in her lap.  “You noticed that too huh?” Johnathan mused, Ruby nodding in agreement as well.  Elizabeth wasn’t perturbed at all by any of this.  “It’s quite all right; I came here to get to know Nick, and this is part of him too.  If he ages up some later, great.  If he doesn’t, that’s great too.”  The other three already knew this, Elizabeth was just stating it for my benefit…which was ironic since I wasn’t really taking any of it in right now.

I’d settled in to my warm little spot in the crook of Susan’s arm and was contentedly observing the others, half listening to the conversation and half basking in the company.  Elizabeth had taken a seat on the other end of the couch, while Ruby and Johnathan staked out the other chairs.  “I think he’s actually settling in quite quickly, at least after that first little hiccup.” Susan was explaining “He seems so much happier now than when we first met.  He’s much more outgoing, less tense…”  “He smiles and laughs now.” Ruby added.  “I’m happy.” I nodded quietly “I haven’t been happy before…”

Elizabeth apparently felt this was a cuddle-worthy statement.  Trading a questioning glance for an agreeing nod she scooted over next to Susan on the sofa and gave me a hug that eventually turned into idle tummy skritches.  I thoroughly approved of this plan, and by the time Anthony came through the door my responses were again pretty much limited to happy churrling and the occasional near-monosyllabic answers.  “Daddy Anthony is home, let’s eat!” Johnny excitedly suggested.  “If you can say it again without stringing it all into one word, then yes.” The raccoon nodded seriously.

Johnny could, and soon the food was being distributed.  Elizabeth had picked up a catering sized tray of a macaroni and bacon concoction that gave early indications of hitting every one of my food criteria and quite possibly adding some additional categories to the list.  By general consensus it was decided this was going to be a casual dining experience, or as Susan joked “a picnic in the living room”.

Nofur expected that I would be feeding myself this time around, all things considered (quite perceptive of them), so Johnathan heaped up as much food as he could reasonably manage on one plate for both Susan and I to share.  The dracon then made a game out of it with me: “One scoop for Mama Susan, one scoop for Mama’s little kit…and could somefur be so kind as to find me something that we could use as a bib, I’ve hit the reasonable limit on the number of baths I’d think he would be willing to tolerate in one day…”

“Baf.” I agreed.  “You want another bath?” the dracon questioned, looking amused “Are you quite sure about that?  I didn’t think foxes were an aquatic species!”  “Otters are an aquatic species…” Elizabeth told me seriously.  Holding out her paw she spread her fingers and showed me the webbing connecting them.  I was fascinated.  “Wings!” I giggled as I reached out to examine her paw.  I was surprised to discover that her webbing and Susan’s wing membranes felt distinctly different: Susan’s wings were much warmer to the touch, and more downy than fuzzy, but Elizabeth’s webbing struck me as being a bit more flexible.  And as Tiny as I was right now this could conceivably keep me occupied for quite some time…

“Why don’t you give Elizabeth her paw back and eat some dinner?” Susan suggested “It is dinner time, after all...”  I whined about it, but dropped Elizabeth’s paw, and my loss was soon compensated with an ‘airplane’ of macaroni.  “The kit is easily sidetracked.” Anthony grinned.  This truth, while being self-evident, was still met by knowing smiles from everyfur.  “As long as he doesn’t get upset; I think I’ve already caused him more than enough of that for one day.” Our otter friend decided.  Sighing, Susan nodded.  “Try not to feel too bad about it.  We’ve all been learning that Nick is a lot more fragile than anyfur expected, especially when he’s Tiny.”  “It’s been a surprise to all of us.” Johnathan agreed “But we’re all keeping an eye out for him, aren’t we, little brother?”

I did my best to agree through a mouthful of macaroni, but all I really managed to do was prove the worth of Susan’s bib idea.  Well, that and get a chuckle out of everyfur else…but that didn’t really count as an accomplishment!  Taking a paper towel, Elizabeth dabbed at my muzzle.  “I put a note in his file this afternoon, so that in the future we can handle things differently…hopefully we can reduce his stress over our meetings some.”

The subject changed with that, as everyfur went on to lighter topics as they got back to eating.  The macaroni was really good, and on top of it I was having fun trying to duck Susan’s airplanes (she didn’t mind, it was more of a cheerful little game between the two of us), but I had managed to drag it on long enough that everyfur except the two of us had pretty much finished up.  “Would you like me to take over for a while?” Elizabeth suggested to Susan “At this rate your food will be stone cold before you actually get to eat any of it!”

“If you don’t mind…” Susan nodded gratefully.  She was getting really hungry at this point: everything smelled really good and so far she hadn’t really had any of it.  “Not at all!” the otter assured her eagerly “The one thing I find to be a real downside to working at the offices is that I don’t get to spend much time with the little ones…”

A few moments of shuffling later had me rearranged some; still on Susan’s lap, but more conveniently located for Elizabeth.  I was confused by it at first, but food has a sneaky way of clearing things up to my satisfaction, and in no time at all I was back to dodging airplanes.  Susan turned out to be a markedly better pilot than Elizabeth (maybe because she had wings?) and the changeover resulted in a decrease in the amount of food going ‘in’ and an increase in the amount of food going ‘on’.  “Behave.” Susan admonished me after a while “You don’t want Elizabeth to think I’m doing a bad job with you, do you?” I let out a snuffling little whine at that, but quickly thought better of pouting: I’d eaten quite a bit and was getting kind of drowsy.

“Looks like we’ve got a food coma coming on!” Johnathan observed after it was decided that I’d probably had enough for the time being.  “Would my little kit like a ba-ba?” Susan asked.  I seemed more drowsy than communicative, and the dragon femme thought it would be a good way to keep me settled.  It seemed like a nice idea to me, so I nodded and tried to smile a little.  It seemed like less trouble than remembering the words grown-ups used when they wanted things.

“Could I maybe take care of that too?” Elizabeth asked nervously.  She didn’t want to come across as butting in to their little domestic unit, but it wasn’t all that often she got to indulge her caretaker impulses either.  And Nick was such a cute little kit!  Susan understood where she was coming from to a large degree, having been there herself not that long ago (Elizabeth wasn’t actually in the process of getting a cub of her own, but still, the feelings and urges overlapped even if the situation didn’t.) and she was happy to oblige the otter.  “You’re more than welcome to if you would like.”  The dracon agreed “We need to start getting him used to being looked after by other furs now and then so it’s not a big shock when I need to drop him off at the daycare occasionally.  And I’d imagine this is about as non-threatening an environment as we’re likely to find!”

I found myself being shuffled around again, ending up with my back snuggled into Elizabeth’s shoulder, my butt mostly in Susan’s lap, and my footpaws sprawled out across the rest of the sofa.  It was actually surprisingly comfortable, and really cuddly.  Somefur, meanwhile, had gotten a bottle for Elizabeth.  Or me.  Both of us?  Something like that.  Thankfully Elizabeth derailed that particular train of thought before I ended up getting too lost in it.  “Here you go, little guy.” She nodded, popping the nipple in my muzzle.

It was warm milk.  And almost instantly I was gone again.  It’s not that I had strong feelings about the taste one way or another (I was pretty sure I preferred juice actually), it was just soothing, and a little bit tranquilizing, and made me feel a deep contentment entirely apart from the satisfaction of my oral fixation.  (There was probably a biological imperative at work in there somewhere.)  “I think he’s going to be good for a while.  So anyway, Ruby, how…”  I had already tuned out the room again, not that I would have necessarily understood the answers if I had caught the rest of the question.

I mostly focused on my bottle while the conversation continued around me.  I wasn’t sleepy so much as kind of spaced out and floaty, lying there with my eyes half-closed just kind of absorbing bits and pieces of what was going on around me.  Eventually my bottle was replaced by a pacifier, and soon after somefur brought me my fox plushie, Fluffy.  I kind of tried to pay more attention for a while after that; some little spot in the back of my mind had a nagging feeling I should be trying  to be a more active part of the evening.  It was hard though…

“So did you get your motorcycle back together yet?” Elizabeth was asking Johnathan.  Johnny had a motorcycle?  “I’d actually just gotten it finished when Nick put in his appearance the other day, so I’ve not had the chance to give it a shakedown yet…we’ve been a bit busy lately…”  “I can ride a bike!” I announced, my ears perking up in excitement “I’ll get one tomorrow, and we can go riding!”  “That sounds like fun.” Johnathan agreed, obviously (to everyfur but me) humoring me.  “We could do that if you can borrow a motorcycle from somefur…”

I was interested in making some more definite plans, but it got pre-empted by Ruby starting to rub my tummy (which also totally stole my train of thought) and we ended up talking about how Ruby’s graduate thesis was coming along instead.  Well, they talked about it.  I had largely gone back to cooing and playing with Elizabeth’s paw webbing again.  (Still fascinating, by the way.)

“He’s out again.” Elizabeth observed “I was going to ask him about the drawing he has down in the common room…”  Looking down at me affectionately, Susan smiled patiently.  “I can take a message if you would like…apparently I’m his secretary, unless I’ve been fired for my calendaring debacle!”  “I’m not going to ask about that…” Elizabeth decided “I was going to see if he would consider letting us license it and sell gallery prints.  I think he could do pretty well with it as a limited edition…I know I’d like one.”

“I has ideas for a series of them.” I yawned “Get me a gallery exhibit and you’re on…”  “I’ll shop it around and get some papers drawn up.” Elizabeth nodded cheerfully.  “Was kidding, Ms. ‘Za’beth.” I explained “Nofur would pay for that…’sides, it has naughty parts.”  “Can I try anyway?  I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised…”  “Okies.” I yawned, closing my eyes and tucking my muzzle under my tail.  I was pretty sure the otter would be the one who would be surprised, but I’d timed out and didn’t feel like discussing it any more.  I needed a break from grown-up talk now, it was starting to make me feel confused.  And just a wee bit cranky.

“I guess Nick was more worn out than we thought: he’s fallen asleep on us!” Ruby noticed some time later.  “That’s to be expected, all things considered.” Anthony nodded “Actually I’m surprised he stayed up as long as he did…”  Johnathan was kind enough to find a blanket, and soon I was cozily huddled up with Fluffy in Susan’s arms, having never woken for a moment.  “I think I’ll let him sleep here for a while, but I ought to tuck him in properly before too long.” The dracon decided.

“We wouldn’t want him to be tired at his party tomorrow…” Anthony agreed.  “On that subject,” Elizabeth nodded “we’ve got all the arrangements worked out with the mall, and I emailed the caretakers this afternoon, so all that’s really left is to keep him occupied until then…well, that and get him there on time!”  The otter’s last thought was playfully directed at Ruby, who blushed and glanced away.  “Anyfur can fall asleep…” she defended “you know puppies aren’t always good with time, you should have sent somefur to check up on me!”  “We didn’t think you would miss your own party…”  “In my defense, I didn’t know it was a party.”

“I’ll keep him distracted if you take care of the party end of things.” Johnathan offered.  “Because you’re known for your reliable sense of time.” Anthony pointed out seriously.  “Exactly!” the coyote agreed cheerfully “I’ll get him to go run some errands with me, and we can stop off to ‘pick something up’ on the way back.”  “Sounds like a plan!” Susan grinned “Just make sure you bring your watch…”  “I’m beginning to feel a bit picked on…”  “Well, picked on or not Nick isn’t the only one who needs to be getting to bed…we don’t want you and Ruby to be tired tomorrow either!”

I woke up early the next morning, but not as early as everyfur else: Ruby and Susan were already getting breakfast ready when I padded into the kitchen.  “Hiyas!” I yawned “Something smells good…”  “We’ve got waffles.” Ruby explained “I have to get an early start on something for school, so I thought we might as well get the morning going on a high note!”  “School?” I wondered as I settled down at the table.  I was pretty sure this was the first time I’d heard about Ruby taking a day off for school work…though I really should have been expecting it at some point: degrees don’t just magically show up on their own!

“The version that won’t make your eyes glaze over is that I’m in the process of finishing up my master’s dissertation.”  “Be careful about asking too many questions.” Susan laughed “I asked for details once, and now I’m a proof reader!”  “I probably wouldn’t be much good at it, but I’ll help you if you like.” I offered congenially.  There were waffles: I’d agree to pretty much anything right now.

“It’s the waffles talking, isn’t it?” Susan accused with a poorly faked seriousness.  “Yes.  Yes it is.  And to strategically change the subject, what are your plans for the day?  I have to make sure you won’t get yourself in trouble while Johnathan and I are out doing adult things.”  Susan was content to grin at the idea of her little kit feeling the need to make sure she ‘stayed out of trouble’, but Ruby saw the opportunity to have a bit of fun with me about it.  “What kind of ‘adult things’?” Ruby asked playfully.  “Nothing like that.” I blushed “I was going to see if I could dig up a bike so I could surprise him.  He was talking about taking his for a test run, so I thought it would be fun to ride along!”  “Oh, that you remember…” Susan laughed.

She may have been feigning exasperation, but the dracon was actually thinking it was a really good idea: it would keep me occupied and out of the way today for as long as anyfur needed.  Still, there were parental stipulations that needed to be laid out…  “As long as you find some safety gear too…I think we can agree I don’t have a lot of ‘Maternal Decrees’, but this is one of them: you are not to ever get on a motorcycle without riding gear!”  “I can live with that.” I nodded, trying to seem a little put out.  Susan didn’t need to know I always did anyway…if we ‘compromised’ I might be able to use it to negotiate ice cream later!

Breakfast passed pretty quickly after that, with Ruby and Susan largely dominating the conversation with a discussion about her thesis.  Which was just fine by me, it gave me an unbalanced shot at the waffles!  Once they’d disappeared I excused myself to take a quick shower before I got moving.  I probably should have grabbed a cup of coffee first, however: I’d just gotten some clothes rounded up (finding big-boy underwear had been a challenge!) and was waiting on the water to get warm when it occurred to me I should probably make sure I had enough money for a rental.  That does usually help somewhat.

I’d been saving up for a while to get a bike again (I sold my old one when I started spending more time out of the country than in it), and I figured I’d pull some money out of ‘the fund’ for this.  After scampering over to the computer and logging into my bank however I discovered my financial situation had changed since last I’d looked.  There had been several large deposits from the company: ‘signing bonus’, ‘relocation stipend’, ‘air freshener bonus’, and a sizeable paycheck!  (It occurred to me I’d never actually asked what my salary was…oops.)  “I never liked renting things anyway…” I grinned to myself.  This did change my plans a bit!

With new motivation I was showered and dressed in record time, and after asking Susan to talk to Johnathan for me made a beeline for the road.  And an equally quick beeline to my favorite place to window shop!

They all knew me pretty well at the shop, and put up with my wishful browsing even though up until this morning my finances had been keeping things at ‘merely dreaming for the foreseeable future’.  “Hey Nick, how’s my favorite cager doing today?” One of the salesfurs, a panther with the hyperactivity of a squirrel, yelled across the sales floor as the door swung closed behind me.  “Hey Gris, what’s fresh in this week?”  “Multi-Sport or crotch rocket?”  “Hmm…both tempting, but I think I’m looking to buy something in a hooligan bike today.”  Playing along with what he assumed was a joke the panther thought about it for a minute before answering.  “Well, you’re about as familiar as any of us are with the usual selection, but if you want to see something really special…”

Waving me past an ‘employees only’ sign and into the service bay, Gris pointed me to a tarp covered shape in the back.  “We got this in last week…they only shipped about six of ‘em before the factory recalled it.  The boss wanted to do it up hot for the window so he bought it outright right after it got here, and we were already half done with the work before they started trying to get it back…”  Pulling off the tarp he revealed an angular carbon fiber nightmare on wheels.  “I think I’ve got wood…what am I looking at?”  “Del Fulmine took the drivetrain out of their new factory works bike, supercharged it, and mounted it in the lightest chassis that stood a reasonable chance of not torqueing apart.”  Gris grinned “This thing was a monster before we souped it up.  Now, who knows?  Nofur has ridded it yet.”

“It’s gorgeous.” I grinned ferally.  “She’s got more electronics than the space shuttle and a wet curb weight under 350, yeah, she’s really something…and you should see it with the electricals powered up!” he agreed.  “Why’d they recall it?”  “Lawyers.  The liability involved in offering something like that from the factory in a street legal package scared them off…besides, ‘street legal’ takes advantage of several loopholes that would probably have been slammed shut after these were out for a few months anyway.  No sense marketing something you won’t be able to sell by the time production ramps up.”

“Give me a cash price.” I decided “I’ll be picking out some gear.”  The panther stared at me for a moment.  “You’re serious.  Okay, I’ll call the boss and see if I can talk him into letting it go…”  “He will.” I nodded “To me anyway.  The guy is a lunatic, but we understand each other.”

I knew I was right, but I’d assumed it would take longer than it did.  I didn’t even make it all the way across the showroom when Gris came hurrying after me.  Without saying a word he handed me a folded piece of paper.  On it was written a very reasonable number.  “He says cash price, and the offer expires when you walk out the door.”  “Done.” I nodded “I’ll run my car back when we’re finished here, and pick it up around noon.”  We shook on it, then I went back to satisfying ‘Mama’s Prerogative’.

I really had the urge to get one of those super cool one piece leather track suits, and it took a real effort to turn away and look at something more practical.  I guess my kit wanted to be a part of the shopping process, but those things are ticket magnets, and logically I knew I didn’t need the aggravation.  Instead I went with a set of black leather riding pants with composite strike plates and a brown on brown coat of similar construction which was much more ‘vintage café enthusiast’ than ‘hooligan street racer’.  I did let myself get a pair of hard shell track boots with some really nifty latches instead of laces.  I couldn’t resist, they looked like something out of a sci-fi movie!

Helmets were more complicated.  Even ignoring ones that wouldn’t fit a canid, and ruling out all the ones that weren’t full-face (I saw a statistical breakdown once, and something like 60% of damage in accidents occur to places you have zero protection in a partial helmet—no thanks!), there were still a lot of options.  After a good bit of looking I finally gave up and asked somefur who knew about it for help.  Which sped things up markedly.  Selections made, I just had to sign a few things, authorize a funds transfer, and I was on my way back to the campus.

I’d given Susan a call on the road, and she and Johnathan were both waiting back at our place when I arrived.  I had no way of knowing it but Johnathan had gotten an intensive briefing about his role in things while I was gone, and Ruby and Anthony had already left for pre-party duties.  (Susan told me Ruby had gone to the school library…)  “I don’t see a motorcycle.” Johnathan observed.  “Had to bring the car back.” I explained “Plus I thought I’d change here so I wouldn’t need to drag clothes around with me all afternoon.”

“Well let’s get you changed and on your way!” Susan grinned.  “I need to gear up too.” Johnathan commented “I’ll be back in a minute.”  While he ducked out Susan helped me haul my new stuff back to my room and started digging things out and removing tags and stickers.  A lot of tags and stickers.  “These are actually pretty nice.” She decided as I was stripping down to my underwear.  I was reaching for the pants when Susan stopped me.  “Not so fast…aren’t you forgetting something, my little kit?” I hadn’t, but I was kind of hoping she had.  “But I’m going riding.”  “Nope.”  “But…”  “Nope.”

I wasn’t going to win this one, and I really wanted to go play with my new toy, so instead of arguing I hopped up on the changing table.  Grinning from ear to ear, Susan slipped off my underwear and lifted me up to get a diaper situated under me and the tail hole adjusted.  “Think of it this way” she told me cheerfully as she set me down and started powdering my neither regions “you don’t want to have an accident on your new clothes.  Especially on leather.  Leather doesn’t clean easily you know…”

“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.” I sulked.  Which didn’t put a damper on Susan’s mood in the least.  To her it wasn’t anything more than talking to a mildly petulant child—it was a nicety, not anything of any consequence to the decision.  “Better safe than sorry!”  I suppose she had a point but I couldn’t help but feel somewhat put upon.  I had planned a fun big boy day, but now I was going to spend it padded.  It wasn’t what I had been planning on.  But it was Mommy Susan’s call.  Folding up the front of the diaper she fastened the tapes with a crinkle, then leaned over and kissed the end of my nose.  “There, that wasn’t so bad, was it?”  No, it really wasn’t, and today wouldn’t be either.

“Now how about we get you dressed…you don’t want to keep Johnathan waiting, do you?”  “No, Mommy Susan.” I agreed cheerfully.  “That’s a good boy!” I held my arms up and she pulled the t-shirt I had selected (‘grabbing at random’ is technically a selection method, especially if ‘too cubby’ gets the candidate put back in the closet), then gave me some help with the pants.  I’d gotten the correct size, but because riding pants were usually cut on the small side (to keep the plates from being able to shift around and wind up not sitting where they needed to be) when I put them on over my diaper they ended up being more snug than I’d anticipated, with a noticeable, but not obvious, bulge in all the wrong places.  (Actually, judging by Susan’s playful and slightly wicked expression they might have been in all the right places!)

When I stood up I discovered, much to my chagrin, that if I wasn’t careful how I moved the waistband of my diaper had an embarrassing tendency to want to poke out between the top of my pants and the bottom of my now obviously slightly too short shirt.  And there was no way Susan was going to let me change it.  “You look unbelievably adorable, my little biker!” Susan beamed “Would it be okay if I took a picture?  I’ve been thinking about starting a baby book, and this would be perfect for it…plus, I have to show Ruby!”  “I’m okay with that.” I decided, and in short order Susan had retrieved a camera and was clicking away.  (I guess I should have clarified that I was okay with a picture, not a hundred of them…)

Eventually she decided we had enough, or ran out of batteries, or something, and we moved back to the living room to discover that Johnathan had been waiting on us there.  I couldn’t help but grin—the coyote was the mirror image of a 1950’s biker, as seen through a lens filter of the 1980’s punk scene: dark jeans under black chaps, a black leather jacket with silver hardware and a canid skull logo painted on the back complete with a collection of patches, and finished off with a well-worn set of riding boots.  A semi-obvious diaper bulge that was the twin of my own and several diaper pins with pastel blue plastic clips worked into the outfit here and there, however, were not standard issue.  And my big brother somehow managed to make it look cute.

“Looking good, big bro!” I nodded cheerfully.  “You too, kit.” He nodded back “Except there’s something missing…”  Unpinning one of his safety pins, Johnathan fastened it lengthwise along the edge of my collar.  “There!  Now it’s just about perfect.”  “And photogenic.” Susan nodded, threatening us with her camera “So hold still and smile, you two aren’t going anywhere until I get my pictures!”

“Can’t you do something about this?” the coyote joked “She’s your Mommy…put your footpaw down or something.”  “I’ll get right on that.  Just as soon as she’s done with her pictures.”  “I’m pretty much done.” Susan decided “You two should probably run along anyway, Nick’s cab will be arriving out front in another ten minutes or so and you wouldn’t want them to have to wait on you.”  She had a valid point that didn’t involve any more pictures, so the two of us scrambled, Johnathan stopping briefly to snag a set of saddlebags from next to the door on his way out.

The plan was for Johnathan to follow the cab, so I went out front while he pulled his bike around.  It turned out the coyote rode a cruiser, but something about it seemed just slightly off.  “Swift tried to make a ‘sport-cruiser’ for a couple of years.  It’s got a longer wheel base and suspension, among other things, that’s why you don’t recognize it.” He explained.  “Oh, I was just kind of wishing mine was green too.” I laughed “I like green.  But carbon is still pretty nifty…”  Johnathan looked curious about that, but the cab had shown up, so it would have to wait for later.

When we arrived at the shop the lot was swamped.  Gris had forgotten to mention that they were having some sort of charity bike wash and barbecue thing this afternoon.  “If you don’t mind I’m going to get in on this while you’re finishing up.  The Swift was sitting for a while, and it kind of needs it…”  “Watch out for girl cooties from the bikini femmes!” I nodded as I headed inside.  The showroom was equally swamped, and it took a while to find Gris, but after some searching I eventually turned him up.

“They’re expecting you, just head on back.” He explained before adding as an afterthought “Try not to get yourself killed, okay?”  “I appreciate your confidence in my abilities, I really do.” I teased back over my shoulder as I headed for the shop.  The dealership was way more crowded than I liked, and I really wanted to be somewhere else.

My new toy was just where I’d left it earlier, except somefur had thrown the tarp back over it.  With all the furs wandering around the employees probably didn’t want to have to keep the other customers from getting all touchy-feely with my new shiny; out of sight, out of mind.  Pulling off the tarp I dug out the key and stuck it in the ignition before putting on my helmet and swinging a leg over the bike.

The gauges were of the newer digital blackout style; with the power off there was nothing to see but a shiny black expanse were the console cluster was, largely blending into the carbon fiber of the bodywork.  Between that and the opaque lights and indicators flush mounted into the fairings the whole package had a beautifully foreboding presence.

“Don’t disappoint me…” I mumbled to the bike as I kicked on the power.  The dash instantly glowed to life; not only digital readouts but electronic representations of a sweep-needle tach and speedometer, and a touch screen panel with more controls than I could figure out without spending a couple of hours playing with it.  Well this was a good start!  I fought the urge to just have at it and instead spent some time sorting out the basics.  That tends to be much easier to do when you’re not moving…

After some experimentation I finally decided I’d become reasonably competent with things, and the time had come to fire her up.  I hit the starter while giving it the barest hint of throttle and the bike roared to life, the engine revving then settling into a loping idle.  The papers that came with the bike stated that the engines on this model were run in ‘on the stand’ prior to installation: she was ready to stretch her legs, and I was eager to give her the chance.  Flipping up the kickstand, I made a mental note that I needed to locate my paddock stand in the stuff from my old place: Del Fulmine hadn’t seen fit to mount a center stand on this model, just swing arm spindles.  Always fantastic for maintenance…

I had to be exceptionally careful maneuvering the bike around all the various partially disassembled projects; it just didn’t like running at low RPMs.  Until I found the ride mode selector: one flick of a switch and suddenly it became as docile as could be.  (I wish I’d noticed that before I’d spent ten minutes creeping along the scenic route out of the garage, lurching or stalling the whole way!)

To say that I drew some attention out in the parking lot was an understatement; just because furs didn’t exactly know what I was riding didn’t mean they all didn’t seem to want to take a look!  Well, at least if they were looking at my ride they probably wouldn’t notice anything out of sorts with my pants (or the ‘clothing’ under them…).

I found Johnathan awkwardly trying to fend off the amorous advances of a female coyote in what could charitably be referred to as a bikini, or more accurately be called two lengths of ribbon.  “Excuse me a second.” The flustered looking male told her before walking over to meet me.  “What took you so long?  Let’s get out of here before Candi over there gives up on subtlety and just pounces me…”  “Now don’t be so hasty…” I teased “She’s not bad looking, if you wanted to give females a try.”  “Ruby, or even Susan, maybe.  Some random stranger who dresses like her job involves a pole…”  Johnathan shook his head emphatically “Where’s your bike?”  “See that group of nosy-muzzles over there?” I asked.

Taking me by the shoulder he pulled me towards the group.  “I thought we could play follow-the-leader up into the hills outside of town, then hit the canyons for something a little more challenging.”  “Yeah, but you’re missing out on potential yiffing.  Are you sure you don’t want to hang around for a while?”  I wasn’t quite done teasing my big brother, and it was kind of rude of him, in my opinion, to try to change the subject!  “I’m sure you’ll make it up to me later.” The coyote grinned playfully “But right now we should get on the road.”

It took a minute, but after I’d shooed everyfur away from my bike I fired it up and met Johnathan by the entrance to the parking lot.  Flipping up his visor he leaned over to me.  “That’s one scary looking ride!” he grinned “Maybe you’ll be able to keep up after all…”  “Nobody likes a smart ass, big brother…”

We pulled out of the lot and merged onto the highway at a stable pace.  I’d been a little concerned about what the learning curve on the Del Fulmine was going to be like: I’d ridden some pretty hot liter bikes in the past, but my new toy was something else entirely, even with the electronic interventions set to their most intrusive.  But after the first ten or twenty miles I’d gained enough confidence to pace Johnathan’s Swift to within a tail’s length or two.

The coyote had been watching me in his mirrors the whole time, and once he’d decided it wouldn’t get me in trouble he moved over to the left most lane and opened it up some, starting to pass the slower moving inner lanes.  Merging in behind him I followed suit, grinning happily as I followed him on up the speedometer.  We were moving at a pretty good clip, but I was still not dipping much into fourth gear.  And you could still reach back and poke the speed limit from where we were.

Giving in to the urge to be a brat, I moved into the lane next to Johnathan, pulled in the clutch, throttled up, and popping it back out, yanking the front tire off the pavement.  After a second or two of feathering the throttle I found the bike’s balance point and was soon casually carrying the front.  Johnathan was far closer to terrified than impressed.  Waving frantically to get my attention, he snapped his fingers and pointed ‘down’ with authority.

Grinning ferally, I decided to give the coyote a few more white hairs…I’d not forgotten that “maybe you can keep up” crack from earlier.  Hitting the foot brake I let the front wheel drop back down, then the second the tire contacted the blacktop I shifted my weight forward and crushed on the levers, the anti-lock brakes chattering in protest and the back end lifting up off the road as I quickly transitioned into a stoppie.

After leaving about a fifty foot tire track I’d dropped enough speed that traffic was catching up with me, so I let off the front brake and accelerated to catch back up with Johnathan.  Which was probably a good thing: he was looking over his shoulder at me more than at the road in front of him, which is a good way to get in a wreck.  My big brother was not happy with me to say the least, and reached out, smacking my butt when I caught up to him.  It wasn’t all that effective, between the riding pants and the diaper under them, but I chose to get the point.

Johnathan decided it would be a good idea for us to be somewhere else on the off chance somefur had called me in.  We weren’t all that far from the rural route turn-off, so instead of pulling over to give me a stern talking-to he gunned it and we went zipping up the road.  We’d been heading uphill since we’d passed the outskirts of the city and the oaks and juniper trees along the roadside had already transitioned to beach and pine when we reached the turn-off that he had been leading us to.

About a half mile or so up the two lane track Johnathan pulled off at a scenic overlook with a nice little picnic spot.  He dropped his kickstand and got off his bike to stretch out his legs.  Growing a bit more nervous about what he might have to say about earlier I followed suit.  The coyote, however, was less annoyed than I had anticipated.  “You’re obviously skilled enough to pull that stuff off, but I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t do that.  I’m supposed to be keeping an eye on you, and I don’t know what I’d tell Susan if you got hurt.”  “Oh.” I nodded “Okay.”  And that was the end of it.

“I vote for a snack.” Johnathan offered, moving on.  Rooting around in one of his saddlebags he dug out a plastic grocery bag and we settled down at the picnic table where he produced chips, jerky, and several bottles of assorted colors of sports drink.  “Always good to keep fed and hydrated.” He explained seriously, sliding over two of the bottles and opening up the chips.  I tore open the jerky and fished out a piece; happily gnawing on it for a while as I worked my way through the first of the drinks.

“I haven’t been out this way in a long time.” I mused “I’d forgotten how pretty it is here.”  “Yeah, it’s one of my favorite spots around our area.”  Johnathan agreed “This, and the lake loop further west of here.  That one is better in the summers because the water keeps the temperatures down.”  “Ever been through any of the deserts out in the southwest?  There’s some really scenic routes around there if you go through during the cold months…we should take that run some time.”

“That would be fun.” Johnathan nodded as I cracked another drink and gulped down about half of it.  “The Great Serpent off of highway 27 is a lot of fun too, and it’s much closer.  We could do that one as a long weekend.” The coyote suggested.  We were both having a great time; it’s nice having furs to ride with.  Once we were pretty much done with the snacks Johnathan started rounding up the wrappers as I polished off my drink.  “Hey, finish this off for me too.” Johnathan asked, tossing me a last bottle “I hate having extra stuff bouncing around in my bags…”

While he was tossing out our trash I finished off the last drink, then followed him back to our bikes.  “There’s a closed loop I usually like to run out here.” Johnathan explained “It mostly follows the main road through, but part of it runs along an improved service cut-out for about a mile and a half or so.  The paving is mostly decent, but it does get wash outs sometimes, and I’ve seen downed tree limbs once or twice, so don’t try to pass too quickly and watch out on blind curves.  We’ll end up back here in maybe two and a half or three hours.”  “Sounds good.” I nodded “Just as long as it’s paved…somehow I don’t think the Del Fulmine was designed to be run on gravel!”

We got back on the road and started up the mountain.  Johnathan was right, it was a challenging route with some really pretty scenery.  The road wound along through the hills, changing elevations frequently over the course of its many twists and turns.  Johnathan had gotten the point from my stunt on the highway and had quit trying to coddle me so much, and for my part I had a growing appreciation for the coyote’s skill on a motorcycle.  For that matter I was more than slightly impressed with his bike’s ability to handle what he was throwing at it…I never would have guessed a cruiser could display the lean angles my big brother was putting it through.  If the coyote hung himself any further off it he’d be dragging his knees!

After more than an hour of carving canyons we came up on the service bypass Johnathan had mentioned at the rest stop.  It was blocked off with a length of chain between two vertical pipes, but there was plenty of hard shoulder on either side.  It wouldn’t have been passable by a car; our bikes negotiated it after barely slowing down.

The service cut-out had a lot different atmosphere than the main track; it had the forest canopy forming an almost roof-like cover over us, making it cool and almost dusk-like on the road.  Leaves coated the asphalt, swirling in the eddies and air currents in our wake, their rustling continuing long after our passing.  The pavement was a lot rougher as well, and after being jostled around for the first mile or so I was really starting to have to pee.

This turned out to be way more awkward than I would have thought.  If I pulled over to take a leak Johnathan would probably get some good distance on me before he noticed I was gone, and because of the sporadic patches of loose gravel and other assorted detritus along the path it wouldn’t be the best idea to use my greater horsepower to close up the distance.  But I wasn’t exactly sure I wanted to see what would happen if you wet on a bike…it seemed like that would just be asking for leaks.

Still, I really needed to go, and it would probably be fine.  Relaxing myself as much as I could under the circumstances, I held my breath for a second, then began to wet.  My diaper had been quite snug against me under my riding pants to begin with, and as it began to absorb the results of multiple bottles of the sports drinks Johnathan had brought along it became downright tight, molding itself into whatever space it could find until I had finished.

It was probably the right decision: almost immediately after I returned my full, now undistracted attention to the road Johnathan flashed his brake lights to warn me we were coming up on the chain barricade at the other end of the service road, and would have to drop quite a bit of speed to maneuver around this one.

We came out on the main road just shy of a sharp series of climbing s-curves that opened up into a straightaway with a gorgeous panoramic view.  I was pretty sure if I didn’t have to pay attention to the road I could probably pick out the beginnings of the city off in the distance beyond the birches and pines.  The straightaway came to an end before I was really done enjoying the view; Johnathan’s brake lights warned me that we were coming up on something.  He was decelerating rapidly before I saw it: the road forked sharply ahead, one branch continuing uphill and the other going back down at an oblique angle.

Johnathan selected the branch that sent us downhill.  I could see bits and pieces of the road and considering the way it jumped around all over the place this could quite possibly be the challenging part of the route…  Johnathan certainly seemed to think so: he pulsed his brake lights to get my attention and made the sign for ‘twisties’.  It was kind of starting to be obvious, but I couldn’t help but grin at how the coyote insisted on taking care of his little brother…rather more parental than one would expect from a hooligan!

We passed through a chicane at the beginning of the downslope, and disappeared into the dappled shade of the forest again.  Hiding within was one of the most highly technical runs I’d ever encountered: one steeply banked curve after another was paired with a two lane piece of blacktop that was almost wide enough for four…and the coyote hit it with a vengeance.  This was one of his old stomping grounds, and he knew every nuance of it like the back of his paw.

I fell in line about two lengths behind him and kept it tight, really tucking into the Del Fulmine, so much so that I could feel the soaked padding of my diaper squish between me and the bike whenever I shifted my weight around…which was almost constantly!  I really hoped Susan’s choice of diaper was up to the task, or I was going to need to find a drycleaner by the time we got back to the highway.  Not to mention the wet spot I’d have to hide for the rest of the afternoon!  It would be pretty awkward hitting a biker bar with ‘piddle pants’…

The risks of leakage should probably have bothered me for longer than the brief moments that they were in my mind, but between the challenging road, beautiful scenery, and my slow slide into a cubby place, it really didn’t seem to matter all that much.  The ride was relaxing, and I was getting to spend the day outdoors having fun with Johnathan; that was the important thing.

When we finally reached the bottom of the loop again Johnathan pulled back in to the turn-out where we had eaten lunch earlier.  “So what did you think?” he grinned as we were pulling off our helmets and sitting down at the picnic table.  “Let’s do it again!” I demanded eagerly “I don’t know how I’ve never found this one before!”  The coyote reached across the table and ruffled my headfur affectionately.  I was obviously not quite grown-up at the moment, and Johnathan found my almost hyperactive enthusiasm endearing.

“Not today, kiddo, we got a late start this time and we’re going to start burning daylight pretty soon.  But the road will still be here later.”  That wasn’t the answer I was hoping for, but it was understandable.  “I guess…” I shrugged, doing my best to be a good sport about the situation.  I could tell he was grateful he didn’t have to be the bad guy about it, which helped too.

“I’ve got to stop on our way back and pick something up I forgot about when we were at the mall yesterday.” Johnathan sighed “I got kind of sidetracked by promises of ice cream…”  “No big deal.” I shrugged “Though I’d appreciate it if we could make it a short trip, I’ve got to get back to the campus…”  Johnathan looked confused for a minute, then something dawned on him.  With a laugh he sidled over and stuck a finger under the waistband of my diaper.  “Yep!  How did I guess…?”  Tousling my headfur he shook his head.  “Silly little kit, you should tell somefur when you’re wet…you don’t want to get a rash, do you?  Well don’t worry.  We’ll get you taken care of real quick, then we can get back on the road.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.  What if somefur…hey, where are you going?”  My big brother hadn’t even bothered to finish listening to my protests before going to get his saddlebags off the Swift.  “Not going to.” I informed him sternly upon his return.  Johnathan just ignored me, taking a folded up blanket from his bag and turning a couple of little valves on opposite corners.  With a slight hissing sound it inflated into a thin pad in a second or two, then he closed the valves again.  (I had something like that in my backpacking stuff, actually, but mine was nowhere near as efficient.)  “I’m serious.” I warned “What if somefur drives by?”  “These pads are pretty neat.” The coyote mused “Not only are they waterproof, they do a fantastic job of insulating your little butt from whatever it’s laying on.  Of course the actual product will be quite a bit smaller…just as cute though!”

“You’re not changing me here.” I told him flatly.  Giving me a long suffering look Johnathan tried a different tactic.  “There’s nothing to worry about…have you seen a car since we left the highway?” he assured me “Now we both know you could physically stop me, and we both know that if you really don’t want to all you have to do is say so.  But I’m going to ask you—do you trust me?”  “Damn it…” I grumbled, climbing up on the picnic table with a deep sigh “That’s a cheap shot…”  “It’s better than getting a rash though!”  I was informed cheerfully.

“One might be just a wee bit suspicious about your motivations for having a full diaper bag packed in your saddlebags, along with a half dozen bottles of sports drink…” I not quite accused.  “Guilty!” Johnathan confirmed happily.  The latches on my boots gave him none of the trouble Susan had experienced, and the coyote was soon setting them aside and moving on to my pants.  “I’m actually a bit surprised you wet all on your own without prompting or anything.” He praised as my pants came off as well “Pleased, mind you, but surprised…historically you’ve been hesitant to try new things for the first time.”  I just mumbled something unintelligible and blushed.  “Nope, no being embarrassed!” he instructed seriously.

Unfastening the tapes on my old diaper, he worked it out from under me and placed it in a plastic bag for disposal.  The temperature was slowly beginning to drop with the sun, and by the time Johnathan had gotten a packet of wipes dug out I was already starting to get goosebumps where my fur was damp.  We were just approaching the beginnings of the serious part of winter so it wasn’t bad yet by any means, but the temperature was making itself known.

Johnathan was well aware of the temperature situation, and continued on as efficiently as possible.  “This will be a little cold.” He warned me sympathetically as he started to clean me up with the best balance of speed and thoroughness he could manage.  It turned out to be less unpleasant than I had been dreading; the packet of wipes must have been against the back of the saddlebags near the Swift’s pipes because they turned out to be pleasantly warm!  “You’re grinning way more than I would have expected.” Johnathan observed, tapping my hip so I would lift up my butt and let him get a fresh diaper settled under me.

“The wipes are warm.” I explained “And it feels pretty nice!” A naughty smile crossed the coyote’s muzzle at that.  Taking another wipe from the package he began to slowly wipe along my sheath and testicles again.  “The little kit likes that, huh?”  Even though the little kit was nervously blushing at the possibilities of somefur driving by, the little kit’s penis was rapidly starting to signal its agreement.

“Oh dear, isn’t that inconvenient.  How ever will I be able to get you fastened up?” Johnathan wondered, his tone of voice so far from actually concerned it would take a GPS to find it from here.  Slowly running a clawtip along my shaft, the coyote decided that “I’d better get that taken care of…if we wait it out we’ll get behind schedule.  I hope you don’t mind, but punctuality is important!”  “Yes please!” I whimpered eagerly.

Leaning forward he teasingly brushed the very tip of his tongue across the head of my penis, making me shudder happily.  “Now be a polite little guy and lie still for me, okay?”  Johnathan didn’t wait for an answer; some combination of trust and eagerness making his comment merely a reminder at this point.  “Okies, but only if you remember what your Daddy Anthony said about teeth!” I agreed, grinning at the blush that immediately took up residence on Johnathan’s face.  (Blush or not his tail was announcing that he was enjoying himself.)

Just to be contrary he nipped playfully at my shaft, barely hard enough to feel, let alone hurt, then began to lightly run his tongue along my length.  In no time at all Johnathan had me squirming and breathing heavily.  “What did we say about moving?” He reminded me in a singsong voice when ‘squirming’ got a little too close to ‘puppy humping’.  “Sorrys.” I blushed.  “That’s okay.” He nodded, running a clawtip around just inside the opening of my sheath “You’re just getting a little excited, that’s all…”

Leaning in close to whisper in my ear, he added “And I want you to be able to relax and enjoy yourself, little brother.”  To emphasize his point he nibbled on the tip of my ear.  And I just about melted, going limp with a shudder and allowing Johnathan to lay me back on the table.  The coyote had an idea with that…  “Now close your eyes.” He instructed me affectionately, sliding one of his saddlebags under my head “And don’t open them until I say you can.”

Taking my length into his muzzle, Johnathan began to suck and tease me with enthusiasm, every now and then nibbling gently here and there.  At the same time I could feel his paws exploring my body, petting and tickling any place that struck his fancy or happened to be convenient.  It was erotic and playful and caring all muddled together in a wonderful mix of sensations and emotions that left me feeling somehow quiet and passive.

And it was exactly what I needed after an afternoon of focused grown-up time.  I was feeling overwhelmed and started to whimper, but in a very good way.  And I was getting oh so close.  Johnathan slowed for a moment, making sure that everything was okay…my noises could have been either a good thing or a bad thing, and the coyote wanted to make sure it was the right one.

Assured that things were in fact very right, he gave himself a huge mental grin and decided it was time.  It didn’t take much: firmly rubbing the base of my tail he barely had time to do much more than brush a finger around the outside of my tailhole when, with a yip and a shuddering gasp I began to cum in the coyote’s muzzle.  He continued to suck and tease the head of my penis until my tail finally quit flagging, then swallowed with an exaggeratedly satisfied gulp.

“You can open your eyes now, silly kit!” Johnathan laughed, amused I was still abiding by his edict.  “Did you have fun, little brother?”  I giggled and nodded.  “Yeppers!”  “Well good!”  Giving my headfur a tousle, Johnathan made one last cautionary pass with the wipes before sprinkling on a good dusting of powder.  A slight breeze made this somewhat problematic, but luckily there was nofur downwind, so the end result was me staring in mild fascination at the drifting white puff instead of one of us needing a bath.

As Johnathan was folding up the front of the diaper and fastening the tapes he was quickly growing suspicious that I was on the train to Cubbyville, a conclusion that was firmly cemented when I had trouble getting my pants fastened up then outright needed help with the latches on my riding boots.  This was obviously something he was going to have to evaluate before he allowed me on a high powered piece of machinery that was unable to remain upright without input from its user.  “Hey kiddo, how you doing?  You seem somewhat spacey.”  “I’m okay.” I decided, pulling myself into a more communicative age range “A little bit…over-sated maybe, but I’m not going to go all Tiny on the road if that’s what you’re worried about.”  “There was a concern there, yes.” Johnathan nodded, happy to have been spared the necessity of figuring out a tactful way to ask.

“So, best guess: how old do you think you are right now?”  I thought about that one for a while before finally deciding “Somewhere around Ruby.”  It wasn’t really an age, but Johnathan got the general idea well enough.  “So more low energy levels than anything else.” He decided “I can fix that!”  Out of his saddlebags came one of the worst ideas the coyote had come up with in a long time: a pair of those little energy shot bottles.  “Now only drink about half of this, we don’t…”  Too late: I’d already snatched one and swallowed the whole thing in one gulp.  “…want you bouncing off the walls all night.”  Johnathan finished, his voice taking on an exasperated tone.  “Oh well…” he sighed, downing his with a shrug.  “Hey…” I giggled “Race you to the mall?”

Johnny was a lot more fun to ride with when he was cubby and hyper.  The sun had already started going down when we had gotten back on the road and the day’s commuter traffic was well and truly home for the night, leaving only truckers and travelers for us to share the road with.

Johnny had gotten lucky: he’d been first pulling on to the main road, immediately after which I got blocked by the one cluster of vehicles anywhere near us.  And, an ill omen for my chances of victory, it was largely made up of semi-trucks, all intent on jostling for ‘leader of the pack’.  Johnny took full advantage of his stroke of good fortune, and had soon disappeared, leaving me to work my way through the mob.

The semis just wouldn’t let anyfur through…rolling roadblocks were just too much fun.  So the options boiled down to splitting lanes or making use of the conveniently wide improved shoulder.  I really didn’t want to count on the truckers noticing me, so shoulder it was, and as soon as I had a good stretch of visibility I whipped left and shot by the moving speed bumps.  Let them play road games with somefur else, I had places to be…before Johnny!

When last I’d seen the coyote he was working hard to put as much distance on me as he could, and by now he must have been ten or fifteen miles down the road, minimum.  Which was not conducive to me winning.  Okay, time to see if my new toy lived up to its mechanical potential.  Yanking the throttle wide I felt the bike jump forward and nearly leave me behind.  I tucked in tight and ducked down behind the windscreen as I quickly burned my way through the gears.  As the bike reached truly disturbing speeds the edges of my vision started to blur and everything not straight ahead fuzzed into rapidly moving shadows.

The Del Fulmine never picked up any vibration or tremor, and remained rock solid stable deep into Formula One speeds.  I was at the top of the shift tree and nowhere near redline, the supercharger sounding like a large industrial vacuum cleaner and the engine screaming like a banshee, and I wanted more!  But the highway just wouldn’t allow it: a little too much traffic and not quite enough road.  Someday soon I was going to have to go out to the western super-slabs and find out just where exactly it would top out!

I was so busy paying attention to my gauges that I almost missed it when I overtook Johnny, but by then we were entering into town again, and the road conditions soon forced me to slow down enough that it became about the skill of the rider and not the power of the machine.  We were soon back to jockeying for position again, only a couple of lengths in between us as we cut in and out of traffic, the distance to the mall closing rapidly, until there it was: the turn in for the parking lot!

Johnny was in front, barely, and already beginning to brake.  I quickly took in that the lot was clear for some distance on the inside, and no cars were waiting to pull out, so I made a command decision.  Doubling down on the shifter I slammed the throttle wide open, whipping around Johnny in the oncoming lane and into the lot.  I’d won!

Slamming on the brakes I brought the bike to a halt and flipped up my visor, even my eyes grinning at Johnny.  He slowed as he passed me and waved for me to follow him…I was confused for a second before I remembered: Johnny had an errand to run.  That’s why we were here in the first place!

We got parked and after Johnny checked that his saddlebags were both locked closed and locked to the bike we headed inside.  “Good race…” I grinned as the doors slid shut behind us “You nearly had me there at the end!”  “I can’t believe how fast that bike is.” Johnny mused as he took the lead and steered me into the mall “After those trucks at the on-ramp by all rights you never should have seen me again!”  “I never did find top end…” I giggled a little disconcertingly “That bike and I are going to get along just fine!”

As we walked along I slowly started to notice something seemed slightly off, but it took me a while to realize exactly what: the place was well on its way to closing for the night.  “I think we should pick up the pace, it looks like they’re all locking up for the evening.” I observed.  “Yep.” Johnny agreed “Luckily, however, we have arrived!”  Apparently we had been heading to the build-a-plush store.  Though I was at a loss quite what he was planning on doing there when the store was closing.  “Umm…’Nee? I don’t think they’re going to be open long enough to do anything here…”  “Just go inside, silly little kit.  Honestly…” the coyote huffed in exasperation.

Taking my paw, he drug me inside…to discover basically the entire group from the campus having a party.  “We always throw a ‘welcome aboard’ party for new cubs at the end of their first week.” He explained, tousling my headfur affectionately “Even if they do try to burn the place down!”  As soon as we were in the door the rest of our little family descended on us.  “What took you so long?” Ruby asked “We were starting to think you two had gotten lost!”  Johnny burst out laughing at that, but luckily we only got odd looks, not questions…chalk it up to some fantastic distractions!

None of my friends could resist smiling at the expression of awe I completely failed at keeping to myself.  I knew the store did birthday parties, but on top of what I would have expected them to have on site it was obvious that our caretakers (and in all probability some of the cubs) had brought a lot of stuff as well.  RC cars zipped around groups of furs coloring or building with Legos; there was a well-appointed snack table; and the whole storefront was decked out in cheerfully colored decorations and balloons.  But the thing that really shocked me was that everyfur was dressed exactly as they did back at the campus; diapers, rompers, and all…and the pawful of store employees facilitating the party didn’t even bat an eyelash at the whole scene.  (I was also more than slightly amazed that it didn’t seem to be making any of the cubs the least bit uncomfortable either.)  Well, if everyfur else was okay I guess I’d just try to go with it…

The expression of acceptance that replaced the worried look on my muzzle made Susan beam with pride.  She knew what was going on in my mind, and the changes that it represented.  “That’s my little kit!” the dracon whispered to herself, too low for me to hear, before adding in her normal voice “Let’s get you changed into some play clothes…I’m sure you’re eager to run amuck!”  “Some younger play clothes…” Johnny added with a knowing grin.

“We’ve got a changing station set up off to the side in the back.” Anthony pointed out “The employees here are always really understanding, but they probably don’t want to see us flashing your private parts all night, so we try to have some discretion available.”  “Speak for yourself!” one of the employees, a female chipmunk, laughed, giving me a teasingly appraising look “It might just be the highlight of some of our evenings!”  “I’ll come get you if he needs changing later.” Susan offered slyly “And if you ask really nicely we might even let you help!”

“Bet you’re glad I changed you before we headed in!” Johnny told me seriously.  “That’s not the only thing I’ll bet he’s glad you did.” Susan grinned wickedly, pointedly sniffing the air between us “You two naughty little boys are going to get in trouble if you make a habit of yiffing on the side of the road!”  “I need to get a motorcycle.” Ruby pouted “I’m missing all kinds of fun…”  “Be that as it may, if Nick can stop blushing for a moment we need to get him and Johnny sorted out so they can join the party.” Susan pointed out as she took my paw and led us to the back of the room.

Susan had no trouble with my boots this time, and in short order I found myself ‘released into the wild’ clad in a pair of shortalls that did absolutely nothing to conceal my diaper in any meaningful way.  Johnny got ‘changed’ even faster than I did: he just took off everything he was wearing that wasn’t his diaper.  Anthony raised an eyebrow for a moment, then just shrugged.  “I brought some of your cubby clothes, but that’s good too I guess.”

“Have you two eaten, or should we fill some little tummies before everyfur goes off to play?” Anthony asked.  “We had snacks.” Johnny informed the raccoon “But not any meal-time food yet.”  “A meal it is then.” He decided.  There wasn’t really much in the way of tables, this was a store after all, so we staked out a chunk of floor near the food table.  It would work as well as anywhere, and better than some places; it was barely more than a big stretch away from refills!

The available selection was mostly finger food, so Susan decided to let me feed myself for a while.  I grabbed some biscuit sandwiches, more chips than was strictly necessary, and several fruit cups.  “Did you want something to drink?” Ruby stated more than asked as she set two juice boxes amongst my pile of food.  She’d correctly guessed that I was cubby enough that for the time being remembering things wasn’t going to be my strong suit, and decided that a good big sister would try to pick up some of the slack.

“T’ank you.” I said politely through a mouthful of chips.  I was sort of confused why I didn’t have a drink already, but that was pretty boring so the thought didn’t hang around long.  While we were eating Johnny regaled the rest of our group with a highly sanitized version of what we had been up to.  (Later when I was in a more analytical frame of mind I would find myself really proud of the way he made a point of keeping my plate, and by association muzzle, well stocked with food so I wouldn’t accidentally provide any ‘strategically inadvisable’ details.)

They all seemed quite entertained by his story, and for my part I was having fun eating my dinner and watching the goings on around me.  The only down side to which was that I ended up wearing a nontrivial amount of my food.  Susan had considered getting me a bib, but up until we got into the ice cream it wasn’t really all that necessary.  “Well it could have been worse.” basically summarized the clean-up process: a wet cloth was required, but after Susan and Ruby took turns dabbing at me (a process the two of them seemed to delight in) I was presentable again.

“Can we go play now?” I requested eagerly “I ated all my food, and was good and everything!”  “Almost.” Susan reassured me, having just noticed Elizabeth walking through the door “There’s just one more thing we need to do first…and here’s Elizabeth!”  “Hiyas Miss Elizabeth!” I waved cheerfully.  I was pretty sure I liked the otter, or at least wasn’t afraid of her, which was almost the same thing.  Either way it was nice seeing her.

“Hi guys!” she waved back, before turning to Anthony and Susan “It looks like everyfur has been fed and had a chance to burn off some of the sillies, I was thinking it would be a good time to do the presentation.”  “You’re probably right.” Susan agreed “Before all the cubs are too tired or too sugared up to pay attention…in my experience there’s a definite ‘sweet spot’ to aim for!”  “You do presentations?” I asked curiously.  “I usually do, yes.” She nodded.  “What do you actually do in the company?  I mean, what’s your job title?  First I thought you worked at the store, then I thought you worked in the office somewhere.  But office furs don’t usually do presentations…”

Everyfur looked at each other and exchanged amused looks.  “Well, actually…I run the place.” Susan explained, actually blushing a little.  That came as a surprise to me, I just couldn’t really picture her as some cutthroat corporate board member.  “So how come it took you so long to get your own cub?  Wouldn’t you get fast-tracked or something since you’re the boss?”  Susan was genuinely amused with that.  “Because we hadn’t found the right fit, silly.  We all take the caretaker/cub relationship very seriously, you know that!  It’s what this whole place is built on.”  “I’d not thought about it that way.” I nodded.  “Besides, if I’d gotten a cub right away it wouldn’t have been you!” she added affectionately, cuddling me to her in a huge hug “You’re worth the wait.”  I could see the dracon starting to get a little misty eyed as I hugged her back, and truth be told I was too.  Strange as it sounds, this was the first time I’d realized that I had made as big an impact in my new family’s lives as they had in mine.

“Well, before we all get too blubbery, why don’t we move on to the presentation?” Susan suggested.  She’d noticed that some of the other furs had seen our ‘moment’ and were starting to wonder if everything was okay with our little group.  (Never let it be said that cubs aren’t intuitive!)  “Do I have to?  Everyfur will be staring at me, and I don’t like being the center of attention…”  “This is your party, silly boy, of course you have to!”  Not the answer I’d been looking for, though it was the one I’d been expecting.  There would be no arguing with Mommy Susan on this one though, so reluctantly I got up and followed her and Ms. Elizabeth over to the machine the store used to for stuffing their plushies.  (It was a huge acrylic tube with a cyclone of fluff being blown around inside of it by some sort of an air compressor or blower fan…under other circumstances it would have been wildly interesting, but at the moment I was preoccupied with being ‘up front’…)

“Excuse me, can I have your attention over here for a minute?  Hi guys!” Elizabeth announced.  The otter’s voice could really project when she wanted it to, and that’s all it took to have all eyes forward.  “I’m sure you’ve all heard we’ve got a new fox kit at the campus!  Some of you have already met Nick…and the furs who haven’t probably at least remember his fire drill the other night!  As you’ve all probably figured out by us being here tonight he’s been with us a whole week now, so we’d all like to officially welcome him to our group, and congratulate his Mommy Susan on her adoption!”

Amidst the clapping and cheers Elizabeth handed me a good sized box that had been sitting on top of the machine.  “We’ve had a tradition here for a while that when a new cub comes to stay with us the caretakers get together and get them a plushie so they have something special to remind them how glad we are to have them here!”  With some difficulty I fought my way through the tape on the box while everyfur looked on expectantly.  “This would have been easier if somefur hadn’t trimmed down my ‘throwback claws’…” I grumbled, giving Susan an accusing look.  “Yes, except we’re all civilized furs here.” She reminded me patiently.

I eventually achieved victory over the box, opening it to reveal, instead of the good sized plushie I’d been anticipating, the unfilled outsides of a red fox.  “I think they forgot the ‘plush’ part…” I observed, slightly confused.  Which earned me a round of cheerful laughter from everyfur.  (I was a little too cubby to realize I was missing something obvious, so that just confused me even more.)  “Do you remember where we are?” Susan asked me helpfully.  “Oh!  Right…”  “Now if you give it to the nice lady in the apron she’ll put in the fluff!”

The machine turned out to be even niftier than I had thought.  After attaching the plushie-in-training to a pipe on one side of the big swirling tornado (via an orifice that had Johnny and I whispering and giggling enough to earn a warning look from Anthony) I got to pick how squishy I wanted him to end up.  Then, with the pull of a lever and a ‘whoosh’ of compressed air he rapidly went from looking like an odd dish towel to a genuine plushie.  After that it was just a matter of tightening a few seams, tying a few knots, and trimming off the extra string, and he was done!

When the chipmunk returned my new friend it turned out he was way bigger than I had thought he would be, and after gleefully tossing him in the air a few times (“Flying fox!  Flying fox!”) I unceremoniously flopped on the floor and cuddled up with him for a nap.  “I was going to ask Nick if he liked it, but I guess that’s not really a necessary question.”  Elizabeth observed mildly.  “Maybe we should have waited for a while.” Susan mused “Historically speaking he could stay Tiny until bedtime, and that could really cut down on the ‘meet and greet’ part of the evening.”  “Oh he’s fine.” Anthony shrugged “This is him too; let everyfur meet his kit tonight…they can always meet his grownup tomorrow.  It’s not like this is an uncommon side of him to encounter around the campus!”    The raccoon made a valid point, and it pretty much soothed the others’ concerns towards the passing of the evening.

I ended up spending the evening pretty Tiny, and as far as I was concerned it was a highly satisfying party.  As things progressed over the course of the night I did gradually age up:  I started out sitting in Susan’s lap and cuddling my new plushie, just generally basking in the attention (and skritchies) as furs came and went to say hello, or make introductions, or just rub my head.  Once I’d gotten a bit older Ruby and Johnny rounded me up and we went over to the Lego table for a time.  A group of cubs were playing a sort of free-form stacking game where each fur took turns adding a block to the sculpture in a chaotic, but interesting geometric explosion.  After more introduction than construction we ended up finishing out the evening having a grand old time racing RC cars.

Once the mall proper was well and truly shut down and deserted, to all the cubs’ great amusement the caretakers had a surprise for us, and a treat for everyfur, the plushie store staff included.  Several heavy duty plastic travel cases which had been sitting discreetly along the back wall disgorged a full dozen remote control cars.  Not the little battery operated toy store jobs, no, these were the big internal combustion methyl alcohol sort!

“This is going to be fun!” I laughed to Johnny and Ruby.  It was going to be an organized race, with brackets and everything.  Somefur had laid out a track with masking tape, and we split off into groups while the caretakers were busy getting things fired up.  In no time the empty hallways were filled with the angry weed eater buzzing of the cars as they zipped around benches and planters, and flew up and down the hallways.  The concept of scorekeeping fell apart almost immediately, but that didn’t stop everyfur involved from having a blast!

When it was my turn to drive I quickly made it thoroughly obvious to anyfur who spent two seconds watching that I was far better at driving an actual car than a remote controlled one.  After several bounces off of everything from other cars and planters to very nearly a group of furs who got a little too close to the track (oops!) I actually managed to stall out the engine.  “Well, I think we can write these up as officially ‘durable’.” Anthony teased as he went to get it started again “But I’m not sure if I feel safe with Johnny hitching rides with Nick anymore!”  “Hey!  I’m a good driver for real!” I yelled after the raccoon.  “We’ve ridden with you.” Johnny laughed “You’re a lousy driver, but a fantastic wheelman!”

“I think I’m about done with this anyway.” I yawned, passing off the remote control to Johnny.  “That’s handy.” Anthony laughed, having returned victorious from his mechanical task “Because we’ve burned through the last of the fuel we’d brought.”  “Already?” I wondered dubiously.  Anthony just showed me his watch by way of an answer.  Turns out it had gotten late.  Really late.  Like, much later than I would have thought possible.  But at least I knew why I was getting tired again.

Maybe twenty minutes later the cars started running dry, and another ten after that the last of them sputtered a few times and fell silent.  “And we’re done, ladies and gentlemen!” Susan announced “And since it’s well past when good little cubs should be tucked in for the night it’s time to round everything up and head on out!  Everyone thank our hosts for being so kind as to put up with us this long!”  Amongst cries of ‘thanks’ and ‘thank you’ (and a couple of ‘t’ankies!’) we all went back in and started gathering up our stuff.

The breakdown went smoothly enough that I could tell everyfur had a lot of practice at it.  Once the store had been tidied the furs who didn’t need a change of one thoroughness or another started hauling everything to the cars while the rest of us got sorted out.  “Right, let’s get you geared up…” Johnny decided.  Slipping a finger under the waistband of my diaper, Susan was surprised to find that I was dry.  “After all that juice I would have thought you’d be wet by now.” She laughed.  “I’m going to hold it until we get back.” I made the mistake of admitting “There’s a lot of furs here, and …I kinda don’t want to somewhere this public…”

“My little brother is being shy again!” Johnny announced, grinning playfully.  “’Nee…” I blushed, looking down and shuffling my paws “Not so loud!”  “He is getting better about it.” Ruby pointed out “Even if he does still have a long way to go.”  “Exposure therapy.” Anthony nodded seriously.  I really didn’t like the direction this conversation was going in…I could recall certain ‘previous incidents’ in the not too distant past…  “It’s a safety issue when you think about it.” Susan added playfully, starting to move in my direction “Having to potty is distracting, and I’m sure Johnny would, in his expert opinion, agree that it’s not a good idea to be distracted when you’re riding a motorcycle!”  Johnny, to nofur’s surprise, wasted no time in cheerfully agreeing with her.

“So which is it going to be,” the dragoness asked me, sounding way happier with it than I was “can you do it on your own, or should I ask Ruby and Johnny to help you?”  “Neither.” I sulked, crossing my arms.  They were all being unreasonable, and I couldn’t help but feel picked on.  “I don’t need ‘ta.  Besides, what about ‘Nee and Ruby?  How come they don’t have to?”  “Because they’ll go if they need to.  You won’t.” Susan explained logically “And it sounds like you’ve made your choice, so…”  “No!” I interrupted quickly “Can go myself!  No tickles!”

That was the answer she was looking for, and despite not exactly being happy with the situation I couldn’t help but feel proud at the pleased expression on Mommy Susan’s muzzle.  Not that it made things any easier to accomplish.

I did my best to relax enough to be able to piddle, but with the growing audience I had it just wasn’t happening.  “Close your eyes and try to ignore everyfur.” Ruby suggested kindly, placing a paw on the back of my neck and comfortingly beginning to rub my scruff.  I took her suggestion gratefully, and it turned out it actually worked pretty well: in short order I was visibly a lot less tense, and the involuntary little tremors that had been starting up faded.  “I had the same problem for a while too, and it always worked for me.” She explained.

With Ruby’s soothing coaching I managed to start to wet even over the loud objections of my nervousness; a forced and hesitant trickle at first, but once the dam broke (so to speak) it quickly turned into an enthusiastic enough stream that it started to actually puddle up for a few moments until the diaper’s absorption could catch up with me.  (That part always worried me some—what if the leg holes decided to leak?)  When my bladder was finally empty and my diaper had gone from ‘sloshy’ to ‘warmly bulky’ I couldn’t help but let out a relieved whimper as the tension passed and I slumped slightly on my paws.  It was a relief for multiple reasons.

“Good boy.” Susan praised me gently “I’m proud of you, my little kit.”  And that alone made the ordeal worth it.  Susan was scooping me into her arms now, so I didn’t bother to open my eyes as she took me to get changed.  I couldn’t really think of a pressing reason to until she was laying me down on a blanket on the floor.  I figured that it was probably going to be a semi-public event, which somewhere in the back of my mind bothered me to a degree, but I really couldn’t work up the concern to make a big deal out of it at the moment.

I turned out to be right, too.  When I did finally open my eyes I found myself lying on a blanket in the center of the store with Susan sitting to one side of me, and every other fur in the place sitting in a semi-circle on the other.  Ruby and Johnny had settled in by my head, and Anthony, Elizabeth and the female chipmunk we had been talking to earlier were front and center.  Having my friends and family there like that felt really supporting, and I was surprised to realize that on the balance I was oddly okay with it all.

“Usually we try to have something like this on a cub’s first day or two, and since you got out of doing it it’s only fair we do it now.” Susan explained “honestly in your case it’s probably better this way: I don’t think it would have been good for you then, all things considered…”  The rest of our domestic unit nodded or shrugged, expressing, unhelpfully, solidary with the plan and not the fox.  “Yes, but back at the campus everyfur else didn’t have non-personnel involved.” I pointed out, doing my best to sound like a sophisticated adult.  “Isn’t he a cute little kit when he tries to use big words?” Susan beamed.

Anthony knew Susan was enjoying herself immensely, but the store employees would want to be going home before too long, and it wouldn’t be good to wear out our welcome, so he took it upon himself to be the responsible fur in the room.  Which was how it almost always ended up working out, but then he was really good at it.  Catching Susan’s eye, the raccoon discretely tapped his watch to remind her that it had gotten late.

Susan started undoing my shortalls and I started blushing at approximately the same rate.  The dracon was in no hurry however, folding the shortalls up neatly before moving on to my t-shirt, which also ended up neatly folded and put away.  Susan hadn’t set out any of the supplies she would need, so once I was down to only my diaper she left me on display for a while as she located a new one and a packet of wipes.  She was doing it intentionally, but not to be mean, the dragoness would explain later; getting the embarrassment out of cubs’ systems early and showing them that it really was okay had turned out to be the best way to help them put aside any lingering feelings of shame so they could fully accept themselves for who they really are.  And since they considered me kind of a hard-case in that respect, well, Susan could take a long time changing a diaper if she put her mind to it.

By the time Susan had located what she was looking for I’d begun to grow fidgety.  “Would one of you two be a dear and occupy your little brother for me?”  “Sure thing!” Ruby nodded helpfully.  She wiggled her fingers above my face, then placed one on the end of my muzzle with a “boop!”  Which turned out to be all it took to get me giggling and batting at her paw gleefully.  “Easily amused…” Susan explained to the room at large.

Moving on, Susan lifted me up and unfastened the tapes for the diaper’s tail hole (okay, now she was just wasting time…) then set me back down and pulled the tapes loose at the waist, folding down the now quite weighty front.  (The chipmunk, I noticed, was leaning forward with an intrigued expression on her muzzle…which made me blush even harder than I had been.)  Sliding the diaper out from under me she rolled it up and deposited it in a disposal bag.  Then taking a wipe she lifted me up again and began to slowly wipe down my butt and the base of my tail.

When she had finished up on that side the dracon set me down again and put the wipes in the bag with the old diaper, then started on my front.  Spreading my legs apart slightly she began to very thoroughly wipe off all the areas that weren’t actually my private parts.  After she’d finished up there she got a fresh wipe and cleaned up my scrotum (which tickled and quickly had me giggling) and with a second one went to work on my sheath (which didn’t), paying more playfully thorough attention than was strictly necessary to its opening.  To my great relief I was too nervous to get aroused by her ministrations, sparing me from an even greater (and potentially lethal) level of embarrassment.  I did however notice a number of badly concealed looks of disappointment, the female chipmunk included.  Well too bad: they’d all gotten to see me naked, they could make do with that.

Eventually Susan decided that I was as clean as I was going to get, so she started getting me padded back up.  Lifting me again she got my tail threaded through the tail hole and deftly fastened the tapes one-pawed.  (I could tell a number of the furs in the audience were quite impressed by that particular feat.  Did I mention that Mommy Susan was really strong?)

Setting me back down again Susan turned back to her diaper bag, digging around until she finally found the powder.  This time she actually was having trouble locating what she was after, and only came across it about three seconds before she gave up and asked if anyfur had some she could borrow.  “Crisis averted!” the dragon femme announced as she held up the jar like a trophy for all to see.  She then spent the next several minutes making sure that absolutely everything had a properly uniform coating of it.  By the time that Susan set the jar down again I was convinced that if she had access to a micrometer the dracon would have used it to spot check the powder depth!

Once Susan couldn’t reasonably drag things out any further she finally got around to folding up the front of the diaper and fastening the tapes with a crinkly finality.  “And…done!”   Her announcement launched an instant round of applause and good-natured cheers.  As far as everyfur was concerned, I was now official!  I started to get up, intending to take a rather theatrical bow, but Mommy Susan placed a paw on my shoulder.  “Aren’t you forgetting something?”  Oh, right.  I’d probably need some clothes if we were going to be leaving, wouldn’t I?

I started getting dressed with Ruby and Johnny’s somewhat dubious assistance, watching Susan and the chipmunk have a quiet conversation off to the side.  I couldn’t tell what they were talking about even though I was paying enough attention that it took me three tries to get my boots fastened, but it looked to be quite agreeable to both furs.  There was a lot of smiling and excited nodding, and the conversation ended with Susan handing her a business card.

“I think I may have found a caretaker to fill the new spot in the daycare !” Susan told Anthony happily “We’re going to try to do an interview in the next few days, then if it goes well bring her in for a couple of cubsitting sessions.”  “Yeah, I noticed she seemed quite captivated with your little Nick.” Anthony laughed “I get the impression she’ll fit right in!”  “Who’s she going to cubsit for?” Johnny wondered idly as he finished up getting dressed “She seemed pretty nice when Ruby and I talked to her…”  “Umm…actually…” Susan began, starting to look embarrassed “I may have kind of promised to let her sit for Nick when I have to gout of town for a few days later this month…”  “But with you and Ruby supervising of course!” she added quickly before I could lodge a vocal and all-encompassing protest “And I’d be mentoring her for a while first!”

“See this?” I calmly pointed out, smiling a grin that fit in much better at my old job than it did here “This is what I look like when I’m not happy.”  In point of fact, between the grin and my riding gear I gave off the distinct aura of a fur you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley or on the wrong side of the front lines.  “You’re cute when you try to be scary!” Susan laughed, then glomped me in a surprise tickle attack.  “Are you being a grumpy little kit, hmm?  Did you forget it’s your Mommy’s job to make sure everything will be okay?  I think you did, yes I do!  Are you a forgetful foxy?  Yes you are!  Yes you are!”  “Okay, okay!  You’re right!  You win…no more tickles…” I giggled, my momentary annoyance forgotten.  “That’s better.”

“You could have backed me up there…” I grumbled at my two siblings.  The caretakers were getting us all assembled in the front of the store in preparation for caravanning back to the campus.  If they didn’t pay enough attention there was a very real possibility of a cub wandering off and getting lost, so things were being run a lot like an elementary school field trip, complete with buddy system and everything.  “You had things pretty well under control.” Ruby giggled “We figured you were fine.”  I tried for a withering look, but it was impossible to be mad at those two and I ended up giggling along with them instead.

“Nick and I need to start walking.” Johnny pointed out to everyfur “We’re parked around the other side of the building, and it looks like they’ve locked up behind us…”  “We’ll see you two back at the campus then.” Anthony nodded “Don’t make any side trips, it’s getting pretty late, and the rest of us will be back on the road here shortly too.”  The raccoon considered driving us over to our bikes, but he was pretty sure Johnny wanted the walk to give me time to age up all the way before we left.  Which was probably a good idea…

The temperature was dropping pretty quickly now that the sun had been down for a couple of hours but it was still a nice night to be outside, especially after I’d zipped up my vents.  “So did you have fun?” Johnny queried as we rounded the corner.  “It was kind of scary.” I mused “But I had a lot of fun, yeppers!”  “That’s good.  And it’s important for you to socialize.”  Johnny was feeling parental, it would seem…which was good: I was tired and slowly starting to unwind from the day, and right now I kind of needed that sort of gently nurturing attention.

The coyote could tell, too, and as we were doing our ‘pre-flights’ and mounting up he was already planning on seeing if Susan would let us all borrow the big bed so we could cuddle tonight.  It sounded like just about the perfect way to end our day.  After we’d fired up the engines, I waved Johnny ahead.  I was feeling a touch spacey (okay, a lot spacey) and having him take point seemed more attractive an idea than trying to remember exactly how to get back to the campus from here.  I wasn’t unsafe to drive, I was just still kind of little, and this wasn’t my end of town…

Johnny led us past the other side of the parking lot on the off chance the others had decided to wait up or something.  Neither of us liked caravanning, especially big ones with slow drivers, but it wouldn’t do to leave them sitting around all night if they were still there.  Luckily no such aggravation was forthcoming: they must have had the sense to head out already.  Or more likely some of the cubs were starting to get the ‘bedtime crankies’ and they had left it to us to sort out.

Johnny hit the highway at what reasonable furs would consider an appropriate pace, it was the kind of night we both really liked and the two of us were little enough to enjoy it without the urge to seek out speed.  The road was largely empty, the temperature was just on the pleasant side of cool with a weak breeze playing across the city, and the street lights were casting a fuzzy nightlight glow upon the scene.  The lack of traffic let me parallel Johnny in the next lane, and despite the separate bikes and the isolation of the helmets I felt an incredible closeness to my big brother at that moment.  And whenever I looked over I could see the coyote smiling happily with his eyes through his visor.  He felt it too.

Time seemed to have lost its hold on us as we rode, the streetlight dappled highway seemed to carry on forever, the rolling planes of the suburbs giving way to the glass canyons of downtown and the gritty deserts of industrial sectors, places trading off with seemingly no rhyme or reason.

Then, after the passing of some of the most peaceful moments of my life, the road led into neighborhoods that were growing familiar to me.  We turned off the highway, and I caught sight of the outline of the campus in the distance, its windows glowing cheerfully, beckoning Johnny and I back to the place of caring and acceptance where our friends and loved ones were waiting for us.  Waving us back to the campus.  Back to a place I’d never had before, and would never leave again.

Home.

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