Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

They navigated every barrier. Letting Sabrina in made breathing easier. Scents criss-crossed her room, no air pure. Tarot inhaled. At times that week, it lulled her into the motions of sex, making her seek out the largest gradient of scent till she fell into it, the pulse of Sabby’s body so close it felt like an echo. But not right now.

An old wisp of scent found her. The previous night’s exhausting activities were still there, when the room was formless. They’d already turned off the lights, gone to bed. They should have been asleep. Instead, she wanted Sabby. Her paws reached for what they could find. Sabby pushed and pulled fingers in Tarot’s butt. Tarot couldn’t remember what happened after that, deep sleep erasing any peaks or valleys, leaving just that scent.

Scents were losing their effectiveness now. There were notes missing, parts that Sabby couldn’t scratch no matter how deep she rocked. But she tried. Sabby tugged Tarot onto her lap, bringing the toy smacking to her anus. Stretching, so completely full. Tarot gasped, clenching sheets till her fingers hurt. She tried to speak, only managing a few syllables.

“Ahh. Mm–more.”

Sabby smiled. She was blushing, barely any less awkward than her, moves sluggish after yesterday. But she wanted to make Tarot as embarrassed as possible, or barring that, as much of a tightly wound ball of horniness, ready to break the moment the right word was said.

“More?” Sabrina breathed.

Tarot tried to wag her tail, but it was caught somewhere, barely able to flicker. She nodded instead, mouth gaping with panting breaths.

Sabrina pressed forward, shifting the strap-on, falling on top of her. She grabbed Tarot’s breasts, squeezing her close to the long fall that’d follow. Tarot couldn’t look away from her friend's daring expression, couldn’t hold back. Sabby wiggled and rocked her hips, tugging on her butt with ever more insistence, wider than she’d dreamed,  surely about to knot her. Until Sabrina let out a delighted gasp, and sent Tarot past.

“Hhhuuh!” she moaned. She clenched down on the silicone, bucking her hips up with her remaining energy, desperate to feel all of it. But it wouldn’t take. The high was fading, and burning tightness kicking in more than ever. She caught her breath, straining to look at Sabby and soak in what she could of the moment. 

Slipping out, Sabrina relaxed down onto Tarot's chest, kissing her. Tarot kissed back, but as soon as she needed breath, she stayed away. Sabrina stared at her, smiling slightly. She was still holding Tarot’s boobs.

“They’re back soon,” Sabby said.

“I know, but,” Tarot said, then just breathed.

Sabrina traced out the places her sentence could have gone with a finger sliding across her chest. She watched Tarot’s eyes flit around. “I know you love Peanut.”

“It’s not just that. It’s, I mean,” Tarot said. Sabrina fell beside her. The bed comforted effectively, still warm. Tarot got on her side facing her, feeling more confident. Orgasms brought clarity. “Let’s take a hypothetical.”
“Sure,” Sabrina said.

“I’m mating with Max and Peanut. I ask you to join. Balance things out, you know?”

Sitting up, Sabrina frowned. “Where’s Grape in this scenario?”

“I don’t know, napping.”

“Then I'll wake up Grape for you and let you guys sort it out.”

Tarot managed to sit up too. Her butt hurt even more than she expected. “I feel like you’re dodging the issue,” she said. 

“Maybe you’re making one. You were fine just being with the two of them last time.”

“Fair enough. Another hypothetical.”

“Mm.”

Tarot closed her eyes. “Let’s say… we're doing something. Some oral sex thing. Fido joins, but then you have to leave. And don’t ask me why you have to leave! Fido and I are in the same room, two dogs, riled up from eating you out like some sort of Faragan buffet. What do you do?”

Sabrina shook her head. “Umm, sorry I have to go. There’s a thing. You guys do whatever.”

“Whatever?” Tarot murmured.

“Yeah, sure. Why would I be jealous?”

“I’m not saying that; I’m saying it’d be awkward! All our partners, the number of different poly-whathaveyous. It’s so much to think about! There’s Max not wanting to be in the same room as you, much less have sex. And the part where I have two cats who might want to have sex with me, even though I have Peanut. And, gosh. He is plenty.”

Tarot found comfort with her head on Sabby's shoulder. Sabrina placed her paw down over Tarot’s crotch, her paw warm and familiar, making no direct attempt at pleasure. “For the last time, I don’t need to hear about how big Peanut is.”

Tarot held Sabrina’s paw down, helping her fingers between her tender labia. “Huge though,” she mumbled.

“Isn’t this something we can handle case-by-case?” Sabrina asked. “How often are you really…”

Sabrina stopped touching her, falling back down. She grunted her disgust. “Now that you mention it, it’s a mystery how we ever do anything plot-worthy.”

“So how do we simplify?”

“Probably by giving all the complexity over to a computer algorithm. All praise the algorithm.”

“Be serious,” Tarot said.

Sabrina threw her paws up, flinging Tarot-arousal. “I don’t know! There’s—one-two-three—there’s freaking seven of us! We could do something organized, but no one would want to stick to it. We could keep doing what we’ve been doing, but you’re right, it feels like someone’s going to get left out eventually.”

“Again,” Tarot corrected.

Sabrina sighed and agreed. 

“Wait, wait. Me and Peanut, you and Fido, Grape and Max. Where’d you get seven?”

Sabrina gave a glum smile. “My dildo you love so much.”

Tarot buried her face in her paws. She fell beside Sabrina, closing her legs. “I can’t believe I fell for that.”

“We’ll figure it out.”

“But what?” Tarot whispered.

Sabrina petted up her thigh, tickled her belly. Her nose came right up to the spot on her neck that her necklace usually hung, then she whispered. “How about something elaborate? Demolish those last pesky romantic barriers.”

Tarot surged with tingles, like waking up for the first time that week. She took Sabby’s paw. “That sounds… but, would that mean for you what I think it does?”

"Well,” Sabby paused. “Hey, don't look so smug! You have to pull your weight too.”

Tarot sniffed. “Okay.”

She got on her knees and elbows, lifting her tail out of the way. It was hard not to blush, looking back at Sabby. She didn’t like showing herself off, but it felt necessary. They would be in this together. Nothing more needed to be said.

Chapter Text

He was a mystery. An enigma cloaked in veils. Ostensibly a fox, his magical aura was off her charts, but he was never consistent even with that exceptionalism. One of few consistencies was how little he answered his phone. Tarot searched the house from attic to basement, then went over to Jessica’s treehouse. None of the critters could remember when he was last there. Tarot attributed that to his exceptional ability to belong, like a spy evading second glances. It had to be intentional.

She went back to the house. She paused at the entrance. In one of his more poetic moments, Peanut called the house foreboding. It wasn't like that now. Sunlight made the porch glow like the feeling of a long day at the park. Boxes stacked up high near the door. Fewer cobwebs clung to the corners of the railings. Walking in, she almost tripped over rolls of wrapping paper. Unassembled boxes and paints crowded in. Sabrina hustled down the hall, taking blankets and pillows and bringing them into the living room.

“The Sandwiches let you take all that stuff?” Tarot asked.

“They helped carry it over! This way, the mess is going to be our problem,” Sabrina said. She paused, smirking.

Tarot inspected the paints. She wasn’t in the mood for innuendo.

“Didn’t find him?” Sabrina said.

She shook her head. “Could he be in the space between spaces?”

“Could we even check at this point?” Sabrina grumbled.

They couldn’t. Even the sparks of magic were hard to find now. Tarot shrugged. “Do you need help?”

“You could throw our bedding in the wash.”

Tail swishing, Tarot debated a different idea. Sabrina tilted her head, beckoning it out of her. “Unless you wanted to use them one last time?” Tarot said.

Sabrina tongued inside her cheek, looking up. “I kind of want to save my endurance.”

“Right,” Tarot said.

“I could eat you out for a little if you wanted. Take that edge off.”

“No, that’s-that’s good. I mean, I can wait too.”

Sabrina eyed her. She sniffed out a laugh. “A whole week.”

“It can still be awkward!” Tarot said. She felt like Peanut many months ago, when he was still getting used to being with her and Grape. Sabrina hugged her, making her sway. Tarot’s feet didn’t leave the ground, but for all the good they did, they might as well have. 

“It’s okay,” Sabrina said. “That’s what this is for.”

Tarot patted Sabrina’s back so she'd stopped swaying her. Burying her forehead in Sabrina’s fur, she murmured her frustration. Sabrina smelled good. It didn’t help. If she couldn’t be comfortable with Sabrina’s tongue on her squishy bits, she didn’t see what chance the rest of them had. Besides Peanut, probably. She loved his joy for life. If it could be game-ified, Peanut would play.

“Speaking of games,” Sabrina said.

“I think I know where Kari is,” Tarot said.

Tarot walked right under the zoo’s front gate. They were lenient if the pet wore a collar and leash, but she didn’t want to wear a leash. Leashes were reserved for pets with actual owners, as far as she was concerned. And mating. Some part of her was expecting most of the zoo’s inhabitants to be mating like crazy. Sabby broke her expectations of reality, replacing all her imagination with sexual outcomes. It definitely wasn’t healthy. Though it was entertaining.

Tarot kept a quick pace, around zebras, past otters, and over to a large enclosed meadow with a scattering of trees. A handful of humans leaned on the railing, chattering amongst themselves, watching the foxes throw bean bags. Foxes were rowdy creatures. Hollering, trying to make their opponents miss their throw, crying out in agony when Karishad sinked one in the hole. Kari was good at this. Tarot considered her options on the edge of the crowd, peering through the glass. But he had a sixth sense. With one glance in her direction, he spotted her.

“Heya Tarot! Wanna play cornhole?”

Tarot felt all the humans looking at her. “No, I need to talk to you. How do I get down?”

“Climb over! I’ll catch you.” Karishad was eye-level with Tarot’s feet, his arms raised.

She eyed the glass between them. “I’m not doing that. But we should hurry. I don’t want a zookeeper seeing.”

Karishad verged on one of his smiles. “Oh, you’ll blend right in! You already look kinda foxy!”

Tarot shook her head. “Isn’t there a door?”

“There’s no time! Hey Aaron! Sam! Sarah! One of those names! Can you lift the pomeranian up over the railing? She’s my emotional support dog!”

Tarot went from hot in the face to hot everywhere. “Don’t do this to me,” she muttered. After some encouragement from Kari, a tall man wrapped his big hands around Tarot’s chubbier midsection and raised her up, thankfully at least keeping her vertical. People were petting her. She relaxed her arms and let her head fall.

Kari looked up from under her. “Yeah, just throw her over! I’m as good a catch as a throw.”

The human lowered and dropped Tarot. Kari let Tarot fall straight through his outstretched paws. She came down on top of him. He was squishier than he looked. Kari made no effort to pick himself up, content with her weight. But Tarot ended his sneaky cuddle session, dusting herself off. She was relieved that he didn’t get anything poking out of his cute sheath. Maybe when things were less confusing.

“Come on, let’s play!” Karishad said.

“Hey, wait, I’ve been looking everywhere for you. I wanted your help with something.”

“Can I help after bags?”

“Not much time. We have to make it to the next bus.”

“Nuh-ah! The buses come at 3:14, 3:44, 4:14, and every hour after that until 8:14. It’s 3:10 right now, so you’re not making the next bus. Fore there, you have time!”

Kari tapped his bare wrist as he said the times. Tarot pulled her phone out of her bag. The bus stop times sounded right. And it was 3:10.

“How did you—Why am I surprised? Okay, Kari.”

“Cornhole?” he asked, hands behind his back, tail wiggling.

“Yes. Don’t tell anyone how bad I am. Except my boyfriends I guess. Or Sabrina. Or Grape. Or, wait, did I say–” Tarot stopped herself. Karishad had already gone to pick up bean bags. After a shouting-gesticulating match, he retrieved the bags from the other foxes. 

“I usually play best of five, scoring to 42, but just for you we can do three rounds instead.”

Tarot crossed her arms. “Very generous of you. Why double? How about a round up to 21?”

“That’s hardly a question. At least 42 is an answer!”

He grinned with all his teeth. Tarot couldn’t find it in her to not smile back. “One round of 42,” she said.

“Okay, let’s go already!”

“Can we move the boards closer together?”

Karishad hummed, frowning. “I suppose we can risk it.”

“What?" Tarot said, already turning away.

"Butterflies!" Kari said. 

"Look, I need all the help I can get.” Tarot hefted the boards close enough together to still talk to Kari comfortably at the other end. He nodded and sailed a bag over. Most of the humans had wandered off. She was grateful not many would see this embarrassing display of hand-eye coordination. Kari’s bag landed by her paws.

“Eyes are up here,” Tarot said.

“And your paws are down there!”

Tarot whipped one over towards his side. She let go too late. It flew high and fell short. She grumbled to herself.

Kari took another shot. Again it landed at her paws. “You’ll get better!”

Cornhole was not at the forefront of her thoughts. “Is that all it ever takes? Practice?”

“Well, if I practice hitting your paws enough times, eventually that’s all I’ll be good at!”

Tarot returned a volley. “Right. What you practice is just as important. I can’t just mess around and expect everything to work out.”

“Exactly.” Kari’s bag hit her toes with a thunk. “Two points!” he said.

She stomped the bag under her foot. Kari blushed, going stiff. She smirked. “One point.”

She threw her last bag. It landed on the board and slid off over the top. This was going to take a while, especially if Kari wouldn’t play normally. Sabrina might not be happy if she missed the next bus.

“Problem is, with what I’m practicing, it’s not just me,” Tarot said, picking bags off the grass. “How am I supposed to juggle everything?”

“You should learn how to juggle!” Kari said.

“Maybe.” Juggling could mean a lot of things. Juggling time between partners. Switching up who she mated with. Figuring out how to resolve things when there was no clear answer. None of it sounded right to her. She might have been searching out problems where there were none.

“Put more of an arc into it,” Karishad said. “Like last round, but better!”

She scoffed. “I’m distracted, Kari!”

“What!? This is cornhole!”

“I know, I know. Sorry.”

They played on. Kari stopped going for her paws, mostly. His points climbed into the teens. She made a few shots onto the board, but they only canceled out some of his. She barely considered missing on purpose. She wanted to get better.

“16-nil!” Kari announced.

“Why do you like cornhole so much?” Tarot said. She wanted to know, but she mostly asked just to ask.

“Why do fish climb trees? Why do birds swim in the ocean?”

Tarot squinted. “Are you saying it’s in your nature?”

“There’s nature in me? Wait, is there nature in you too?”

“Um. Well, lately there’s been... Never mind. I don’t know, Kari.” She raised her paws. “To save the world. But I need things to do when I’m not doing that.”

“The world always needs protecting!”

“You know, against magical threats. I can’t fix all that human junk. And Keene’s doing all that animal citizenship stuff. You want me to help with that?”

“If that’s the nature in you.”

She wanted to say no, she worried for the wrong reasons. “I don’t know. Not really. I’m not good with people. So I guess it’s not in my nature. But if it’s not natural for me, why am I—.” Tarot growled at herself. Shaking her head clear, she took another shot.

His score crept into the twenties. She finally managed to get a bag in the hole, but Kari followed her shot by doing the same. 

“You like paws and stuff,” Tarot said. “That can’t be something you were born into. That’s something that happened.”

“No comment,” Kari said.

“Well look, I found something I like. Something that might be difficult. How do I know it’s worth the effort?”

Kari looked up from his beanbag. “Cornhole is always worth the effort.”

His smile destroyed her. Tarot groaned. She threw her head back, body falling to the grass. If she couldn’t stay mad at Kari, she’d stay mad at herself. Kari wandered over and flopped to the grass beside her. Thankfully he didn’t touch, but she felt his presence. Simple companionship was so underrated. She’d done so much relaxing in the past week, and there'd been so much down time in general, but it always felt more complicated than just sitting back. Maybe being worried was in her nature. Or being busy.

“Huh,” Tarot said.

“Yeah, that cloud does kinda look like—”

“No, I think I realized something about myself.”

“That’s good. I was worried I was going to have to do it for you.”

Tarot humphed. “You're very clever. I’m not sure you knew what you were doing, but thank you.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be my support animal?”

Tarot hummed, sitting up. “I think I can do it, but I would like your help.”

Karishad sat up with her, focusing in. “With what?”

“Sabby and I are throwing a party with all our boyfriends and girlfriends. Which is weird to even say. But we need someone to throw in some chaotic—”

Kari gasped.

She winked. “Relax. We need to finish bags.”

Chapter Text

Tarot stiffened. Air slipped between heavy tires and concrete. Suspension springs creaked. With the muted puff of gasses escaping the tail pipe, the sounds ceased. She looked over at Sabrina, Sabrina’s eyes wide and bright.

“Oh!” Sabrina said. “Smell check.”

“It’s a bit late to be worrying about that.”

Sabrina let several sheets of uncut fake dollar bills drift to the floor. She sniffed Tarot’s neck. Tarot backed up, lips parting. Sabrina kissed her nice and hard.

“Good news: you smell like me,” Sabby said.

Tarot scoffed. She pecked Sabby back, and they went for their boyfriends. She had to keep herself from breaking into a jog, annoyed herself how desperate she felt. Maybe it was understandable given the circumstances. Sabby opened the door for her. From the aluminum monstrosity, Fido descended to the driveway, then Peanut. Sabrina’s forever-absent owner waved hello, but Tarot didn’t give him any attention. Peanut’s tail wagged. Exhaustion tinged his eyes. His heart seemed to pound against the fuzzy confines of his chest, but that must have been hers.

Peanut bounded over, up the steps. But he looked the wrong way. He picked Sabrina up with his signature bear hug. Air wheezed out of her lungs. When Tarot looked back towards Fido, he tackled her. She managed an “ack!” before she was encompassed by his muscled chest and forearms, shook side to side by his body.

Fido and Peanut released their captives, looking at each other, laughs trapped in their throats.

Tarot held her arms out, burning with embarrassment, anxiety like tinder. “What’s so funny?”

Seeing her face, Peanut released the last of a laugh with a grimace.

“Sorry, we couldn’t tell who was who, because, you know,” Fido said.

Sabrina slapped Fido’s arm. “Oh you two think you’re so clever!”

“It was Fido’s idea,” Peanut said.

“Wow,” Fido said.

Putting her face in her palm, Tarot attempted to walk back inside, but Sabrina had closed the door. She resigned herself to resting her head on the wood, waiting for it to stop feeling so impossible to turn around. 

A wet nose brushed against her ear. It sniffed around, down to her cheek, to her chin. Eyes stinging, Tarot laughed, turning towards the scent of him. Peanut hugged her close, squeezing the tears out of her.

“I missed you,” Tarot said.

“It was a dumb joke,” Peanut said.

“I know. It’s fine.”

Peanut pulled back, licked the tear off her cheek. Tarot smiled. They spent some time with their chests together while Sabby’s conversation with Fido lost its terseness. Tarot’s face stopped feeling so strained and warm.

“You do smell like Grape after we—” Peanut said, biting his tongue, looking away. “A little bit, I mean.”

Tarot shrugged. “I’m not used to it either.” She paused. “You smell like an entire forest.”

“Yeah?” Peanut said.

“Yeah,” Tarot said. “A real wolf.”

Tarot found an empty spot in the hallway between the dining room and the kitchen to drop off a bundle of marshmallow sticks. She weaved back out around boxes and bags, towards the camper for another set of junk. Dr. D'Angelo’s voice faded in. He and Earl Sandwich stood in the grass, surrounded by scattered camping supplies. The professor stood a head shorter than Earl, but made up for physical shortcomings with superficial vibrancy. Shorts as bright as boiled lobster, and a tank top, stretched and worn, but forever blazing blue.

Tarot stalled in front of them while unloading more. Sabrina jumped out of the camper wearing a plastic rain poncho.

“What happened?” Sabby asked the owners.

D’Angelo unlocked his phone and looked at it like the screen was covered in hieroglyphs, which they might have been for all Tarot knew about his personal habits. His brow furrowed. “Well I hope it isn’t another bad joke. Sorry about that, by the way.”

“What would you even do there?” Earl said.

“Do where?” Sabrina said, some teeth showing.

“Antarctica! I suppose there is a fair bit of fascinating sea life. Virtually unspoiled, save the microplastics and warming oceans,” D’Angelo said. He shook himself. “And the dolphins.”

“You just got back!” Sabrina said.

“Such is the life!”

Tarot blew air out her lips. She suspected Karishad’s involvement. Sabby scowled like she didn’t look ridiculous in a crinkled sheet of plastic.

“It’s only for the summer, Sabrina. I’ll bring you back some fish if I can.”

“You’re a special type of crazy, Stan,” Earl said. He yawned, looking up. Low-fallen sun fought heavy overcast, clouds in turmoil. “Aren’t you exhausted?”

D’Angelo giggled. “Rest when you’re dead, right?” Despite his graying mustache, he was quick to move, picking back up a bin. He and Earl walked inside.

Sabrina stood, still staring up at the clouds like Earl.

“Is it going to rain?” Tarot asked.

Sabrina was in no rush to respond. “You know, I should have seen this coming. With Stanley, I mean. Oddly enough, I did see this next part coming.”

Peanut grunted, struggling against the weight of a cooler, walking past, looking more at Tarot than where he was headed. He tripped on a football left in the lawn. Tumbling over the cooler, ice and meltwater splashed out in all directions. Tarot shook herself. She helped Peanut up from his position sprawled flat on the grass.

“Are you getting glimpses, Sabby? Precognition?” Tarot asked for Peanut’s sake.

“I… maybe. It feels like it, but that shouldn’t be possible.”

“You can tell the future again?” Peanut said. “When am I gonna die? Tarot would never tell me.”

Sabrina shrugged. “Two months, six days from now.” She waited for him to start doubting before smiling like a certain fox. Peanut stuck his tongue out at her, then looked at Tarot for confirmation. Tarot squeezed his wet butt.

“Despite the dubious reading, I am getting a bad feeling about all this. Or maybe it’s just the weather,” Tarot said.

“Maybe the weather is another manifestation! Maybe you can fight a storm again! Oh, but,” Peanut trailed off.

“No more Dragon,” Tarot said, giving a tiny nod.

“You two will think of something though,” Peanut said.

“Thinking might be the problem,” Tarot said. “We got thinking, and now I summoned forces beyond my control.”

“Ah."

“But it might be worth it,” Sabrina said.
Tarot rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Sweetie, just so you know, there’s a good chance everyone’s going to be on you tomorrow. Rest up tonight.”

“Everyone?” Peanut said.

“Not–”

Sabrina leaned in, whispering, smile building itself up. “Everyone. No one shall be spared. Don’t tell Max and Fido."

Chapter Text

The longer she and Sabby talked, the less their prep work seemed to matter. She shook her pot, listening as the pops of dried corn died off behind their meandering conversation. 

“If we do it right, they won’t want to sleep,” Sabrina said.

Shrugging, Tarot turned the gas off and poured the contents into a bowl beside one already filled. Sabby stole a kernel. There was allure in her silky black fur, her gleaming eyes, even when arousal wasn’t overriding complex thought. “We could just talk about it like normal people,” Tarot said.

“We will!”

Salting the kernels, Tarot jerked her head back in disbelief.

“We’ll mix it in. This is just a way to lighten the mood.”

Tarot nodded, not looking at her. She returned her worries to Karishad and his latest antics. An hour ago, she rushed towards the sounds of sawcutting, but when he sounded just a step away, the room proved vacant. An hour before that, he had taken her old magic crystal out from the closet and attempted to use it, but not by any means she’d seen. Far too much yapping was involved.

“Grape’s here,” Sabrina said. “No, wait, no she’s not.”

The doorbell rang.

Sabrina rolled her eyes. “Gods.”

“You might need to get your extrasensory whiskers checked.”

“I blame Karishad,” Sabrina said.

Tarot verbally shrugged. She hated not knowing what Kari was up to, but he was usually a net positive. She went for the door, grabbing her grabber to turn the knob. Rain smacked the balcony above the porch, clouds bringing night early. A flash illuminated a misty lilac cat, followed by a sharp crack of thunder.

“Hi,” Grape said.

Grape closed the door behind herself, dropping her umbrella off, wiping her feet. “I hear we’re oversexualizing our boyfriend tonight.”

Tarot tried a smile. “Maybe? Where is he?”

Annoyance strewn through her words, Grape explained his hangup, and Tarot felt something almost forgotten. Preja vu, a warm breeze that made the fur on the back of her neck feel sticky and matted. Peanut was digging around in a box in his basement. He was going to find a brown felt fedora.

“Woah,” Tarot said.

Grape held her paws together, tail rising. “Well sure. Indiana Jones isn’t really for me, but.”

Tarot nodded despite her confusion, leading them into the kitchen. “I’m going to try not to let the night get away from us.”

“This kind of excitement is still better than the usual gods-and-heaven, world-in-peril stuff,” Grape said.

Tarot looked for wood to knock on. “Hope so.”

“So when are you going to tell me about your—”

Sabrina stood leaning against the cabinets. “Hey Grape.”

“—girlfriend?” Grape asked.

“Maybe when everyone’s here?” Tarot said.

“Won’t that make it even more awkward?” Grape asked. “Are you really girlfriends?”

Sabrina saved her. “Magic-types tend to shy away from rigorous definitions.”

Grape crossed her arms. “Sounds like an excuse not to explain how their magic system works.”

Sabrina blinked at empty space. “Oh would you look at that, Fido’s almost here, let me go grab him.”

Tarot narrowed her eyes at Sabby as she rushed out.

“Hey,” Grape said. “Can we sit down somewhere?”

Trying to nod normally, Tarot agreed. Small lamps illuminated their living room, heavy curtains hiding the young, electric night. Tarot squeezed a popcorn bowl onto the coffee table, sitting at the end of a small couch.

Grape tucked her feet up, facing her. “As someone who pretended to date Sabrina, I think you’re perfect for each other.”

Tarot rubbed her eyes.

“Peanut’s fine with it, obviously. But I can tell he doesn’t really get it.”

“Foreplay is a lot the same,” Tarot said.

“No, I mean, you guys have known each other for years and it’s always been platonic.”

Tarot was distracted by voices in the kitchen: Sabrina, then Fido, then her ears perked up. Peanut was here too, wearing his rugged hat. “Yeah, but that’s also true with you and Peanut,” she said.

“For a while. But then things started escalating. That took years.”

“But then, one day in a mobile hot springs,” Tarot said.

“I guess that’s fair enough.”

“And a few days later, you were lining Peanut up for me!”

“Yes, okay, I get it.”

Tarot noticed the crease between Grape’s legs. Her inner labia might have been a bit more tucked in than Sabby’s. She tried to stop noticing, clearing her throat. “I don’t mean to sound like I’m blaming Sabby, but she brought up sex with girls, and it made me think: why, exactly, am I opposed to that? Sabby’s a good friend. I guess it released a lot of frustration.”

Grape paused. “So, it’s more about benefits than romance?”

Tarot frowned down at the couch. Grape asked the question she wasn’t ready to answer, yet she wanted to try given such a clear opportunity. Tarot spoke softly. “I can’t pretend like sex is ever just sex. I like Sabrina. Even if I’m just trying to enjoy things, I can’t stop myself from having some feelings.”

Tarot had all of Grape’s attention. Things were awfully quiet. Tarot scowled.

“Okay guys, psychic or no, I can tell you’re just behind the wall.”

“Hex,” Sabrina muttered.

Maxwell had snuck his way into her house. He led the charge, paws behind his back. “Hey girls, whatcha talking about? Getting rid of all the men in your life?”

Grape pressed her paw on Tarot’s. “Volunteering, are we?”

Max walked up behind Grape, massaging her shoulders, his nose to her fur. A grin poked through her seriousness. Peanut had his paws on his hips in a sturdy stance. His hat was stunning. He hadn’t made an effort to avoid getting rained on, water still dripping off. 

“Do you need a towel, hun?” Tarot asked.

“No,” he said stoically.

With her eyes, she pleaded.

“I mean yes.”

Tarot grabbed his paw, hurrying up the stairs to her room. She tried prophesying intentionally, trying to make sense of things. She saw fragmented futures like a rainbow through a food processor. Feelings, sensations, change itself. It was all an arm’s-reach away. She saw Kari. He was close in time but not in space. There was so much she didn’t understand, but it’d been a long time since she could look at all the different angles. Maybe she could relearn.

“I’m sorry, I think,” Tarot said, rubbing her forehead. “Yeah. I’m sorry that I didn’t talk more with you about Sabrina. I think I rushed into it.”

“It sounded like you had fun,” Peanut said. His tail wagged.

“It was. It was a lot of… no, it was just a lot. I don’t know how to feel about it. I just want to know how you feel.”

“Well, I’m anxious about what movie we’re going to watch.”

“About Sabby!”

He shrugged. “She’s fun. I guess it was weird talking with Fido about it. He thought I’d know more about dating pets who date pets than I do.”

“What did you tell him?” Tarot asked, nodding.

Peanut tilted his head, mouth opening. “Well, that I focus on who I’m with at that moment. If I try to think about everyone, I get all twisted up. Like when you were saying with Grape, I think.”

Tarot grinned at his honesty. Holding paws, she appreciated his grasp, always so soft. “I was getting you a towel.”

Digging one out of her drawer, she spread her arms, getting it unfolded. Peanut spread his arms to match, hugging the towel and subsequently her. It was a good hug, one that fit all the curves. They kissed. Energy surged through her. She gripped back. A paw slipped to her lower back. She broke from his lips. “Oh, don’t think I wouldn’t love to roll around in bed with you right now.”

“We should! Grape made it hard not to last night.”

He said it like it was the most normal thing to mention. She wasn’t jealous of Grape, but felt lost in what it all meant. She patted his side. “We have a long night planned. We should get back before they come looking.”

“So what are we doing? And what movie?” Peanut asked. 

He was so close. She couldn’t break free from his urgency. She told him. “And then imaginate after. Maybe sexy imaginate? I’m not sure what exactly is going to happen after the movie. I’m feeling very precognicent, but it’s still too noisy to make sense out of any of it.”

“Anything bad?”

“I don’t know. Probably not. Let’s not worry about it yet.”

Peanut hummed. “Well, I’ll try not to!”

She tilted her head up. Smooches, tongue on her lips. She came to rest against the towel on his chest. “With that in mind, I wasn’t kidding yesterday, I’m totally setting you up with Sabrina.”

“That’s not unnerving at all!"

She sniffled. “If you think you’d enjoy it, I mean.”

“I dunno. Maybe.”

They headed back down the stairs. Tarot slowed her pace. "Did you get yourself off during the trip?" she whispered.

"No, didn't you want me to save it for you?"

Tarot’s tail lifted high. Her blush tickled her soul. "You know just what to say sometimes."

She brushed her paw over his sheath before they crossed back into the party. "Daddy.”

"Mmmp!"

"What's up?" Grape asked.

"Just teasing our boyfriend," Tarot said, flush with confidence.

Peanut giggled. He sat beside Grape, throwing a blanket over his lap. Grape eyed the blanket with suspicion.

“So if we’re imaginating this after,” Max said.

Tarot nodded. “Yes, we have catnip. And the canine equivalent.”

“Check the minifridge,” Sabrina said, pointing.

Peanut looked down to his right. He swung a small white door open. With a puff of fog, brilliant light made the orange cans glow.

“Is all that a good idea?” Fido said.

“Just a lil’ method acting,” Sabrina said, looking at Max. Max stiffened up. All these years. Through the fog in her head, there was something about the two of them. Something embarrassing. Then a breeze obscured it once more, leaving nothing but doubt.

“I guess,” Fido said. “Ralph doesn’t like us hitting more than the soda.”

“What about cats?” Tarot said.

“Oh, ha ha. You’re lucky I don’t know where the line is with you and Sabby.”

Sabrina hid her lips, mumbling. “Didn’t know there was a line.”

Tarot willed her to stop speaking. Unfortunately, her will was met. Silence hung heavier than stormy night. Fido was doing his absolute best to break it, fighting for that first word with various lip movements.

Peanut looked at Sabrina. “So are we having sex after the movie?” he said.

“Oh my goodness sake,” Tarot said, falling in on herself.

“Who said we’re having sex?” Max said.

Everyone talked at once, matching the chaos inside her gut. Tarot heard her name. Sabrina was looking at her.

“What?” Tarot said.

“It was supposed to be spontaneous,” Sabrina said.

“That doesn’t work with—” she turned to Peanut. “I thought you would want to know!”

“And when was I going to get in the loop?” Fido said calmly. There was real anger in his eyes that made her stomach drop. 

“Obviously at some point!” Sabrina said.

“Really? Cause it sounded like you were getting hot and heavy with Tarot before you decided to—”

“Fido, could you stop falling into the jealous boyfriend role?” Grape said.

He took a deep breath, looking away. “Well what if I wanted to?” He garnered some snorts from Max and Tarot. “Really though. This is between me and Sabrina.”

Grape stood up, dragging the blanket from Peanut’s lap by accident. But no one took notice of Peanut's exposure. Grape sat down on the armrest of the couch, right above Fido. They looked at each other, expressions measured, eyes reserved. Grape’s words were well defined. 

“Sabrina loves Tarot, Tarot loves my boyfriend. And I love both of my adorable boyfriends. We don’t have to pretend like we don’t have preferences, but we’re all responsible for each other.”

“Responsible?” Fido asked.

Grape wavered from her hard line, arms relaxing. “Something like that, right?”

“Indebted with gratitude,” Max said with a bow.

Tarot held in a laugh.

“Sirr Phidoneas,” Sabrina said, acquiring a distant accent, taking Fido’s paw.

Fido turned. “Err. Yes, my lady?”

“I would simply adore the opportunity to know this knight of white and brown more personably.”

“For what purpose!” Fido said.

“For study! To better serve you!”

“That’s rich,” Fido muttered, chuckling.

Sabrina slouched down on the couch, nodding. “Okay, fine. You can guess what happened. Tarot made me curious.”

“You’re right, I guess. It’s fine,” Fido said.

“Am I hearing you right?” she said.

“That was always the plan anyway. We wanted to find a way to mix it up. For both of us.”

Peanut’s bulging sheath was still distracting Tarot. She snapped her attention back, trying to figure out who Fido looked at when he spoke.

“Should we watch the movie?” Fido asked.

“Let’s do it,” Max said, standing. He grabbed the remote off the end table beside Grape. “Dibs on Grape being Naomi after.”

“You can’t call dibs for me,” Grape said.

“You don’t want to be the indisputable gem of the whole production?” Max asked. He pulled her to her feet, held her as though to dance. He picked up a Brooklyn accent. “I’ll take you fishing on my hundred-fifty foot yacht.”

Grape kissed his paw. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Maxy-honey.”

Sabby offered her own suggestions.

“I’m lost,” Peanut said. “Mom wouldn’t let me check out the book when the movie came out.”

Max stopped swaying with Grape. “It’s a book?”

“Can we please watch Wolf of Wall Street already?” Fido said. “Where’d the remote go?”

Before he finished asking, Tarot pressed play. The present and future were overlapping. A stare into the middle distance, there it was. A blink and it was gone again. She grazed a digit over Peanut’s red tip of arousal, future and present feeling the same. His hips pressed up to hers. Dizziness from love in every shade, every scent a scene. She missed the indulgence of it, but pleaded it would fade again. Powers meant gods. It was a ringing in her ears. It was better left behind.

Chapter Text

The logos played. Idealized mountains took shape on television. Tarot distrusted digital displays. They took far more layers of understanding than magic. Peanut sat between her and Grape, pointing at the screen. “Do you think we saw those, Fido?” he said.

Max poked his head up beside Grape. “Oh yeah. How was the trip?”

Tarot tried to focus on Peanut’s answer. Most of it was stuff they’d already texted about. She cuddled up against his arm, his voice vibrating through his chest and into her. It was a shame she couldn’t get away with touching him under the blanket.

“...That was right around when Tarot was texting me about Sabrina. It made the drive to the Tetons go a lot faster."

Tarot sat up. "Peanut, could you maybe abbreviate that part of the trip?"

"Oh, let him," Sabrina said. She sat beside Fido to the left of the four of them, nearer to Tarot. Tarot was impressed by the optimization of the seating arrangement. In her marveling, she forgot to tell Peanut not to embarrass her too much. Thankfully he didn’t.

"Well there’s not a lot to say. Fido didn't really want to talk about it. Dad and the professor were right there. I did draw comics showing how I thought polyamory works."

"You drew porn," Fido said.

"No!" Peanut said, raising his voice over the first of the movie’s narration. Little humans were getting thrown for sport. "Well yeah, a little."

"You don't still have them, do you?" Max said. Grape elbowed his side.

"Dunno, Fido took them."

"Time to watch the movie, eh?" Fido said, grabbing a bowl of popcorn.

Sabrina growled. "Hun, what did you do with the lewds?"

Fido perspired. "They're still in my luggage."

"Uh-huh. So what's that stuck under your collar?" she said. Fido squirmed. She dragged him by the collar into a kiss, snatching the square of paper, unfolding. Reading for a minute, she stopped, looking at Tarot with an aura of wanting. "My my, Peanut."

Peanut’s heartbeat came through over the din of the movie's opening. "Sorry, I should have—"

"No no, it's fine. It's cute. I like it."

Tarot held Sabrina’s gaze a moment longer. She didn’t know whether to squeeze her legs shut or give her a view. She did neither, subtly pointing at Max. Sabby’s eyes flickered remembrance.

"You wanted to see, Max?" Sabrina said.

Max jerked his head away from the movie. He squeezed Grape’s thigh. "What? No, no I'm fine."

"Oh please,” Grape said. “Do you mind, Peanut?"

"Uh. Go ahead," Peanut said while biting his teeth. Tarot snuggled up to him, grabbing his paw and lacing their short and long digits together. Heartbeats slowed.

Grape snatched the page, sitting back down between Peanut and Max. Grape tried to show Max, but he pushed it away. She whispered something, resting the page on his lap. Most of them were finally watching the movie. Tarot kept her ears open, and a minute later there was the crinkle of notebook paper. The young Wolf of Wall Street talked to his boss about rookie numbers. When Tarot looked over, Max was staring at TV like it was the most immersive thing in the world. A pillow was on his lap. Tarot smiled, squeezing Peanut’s paw. He looked over. She put her head on his shoulder.

The characters spoke like they were paid on a per-cuss basis. There was penis, vulva, cocaine, crack cocaine. But nowhere in the hundred-eighty-minute runtime was a sex scene that was sexy. That was probably part of the message. Tarot didn’t care too much for that. Her boyfriend put his arm over her shoulder. She was all but ready to swoon. She verged on slipping off into the ridiculous world of the movie. Just because it was based on a true story didn’t make it comprehensible.

Paper crinkled once more. Grape held it out for Peanut, drawing side down. Light from the movie made his lines glow through to the other side. He took it.

“Can I see?” Tarot whispered. He passed it over, and she flipped it over in front of them.

Spot, superdog, comes in front of a house with a fistful of roses. He storms up the stairs. Inside, Stripe is in a lovepile with two others, the tangle of limbs, tails, and whiskers too dense to discern who they were.

“Stripe! What are you doing with these women?!” Spot says.

The cat lifts up, tufts of wet fur on her muzzle. Triangle ears poke out from behind her butt: wet, sexy onomatopoeia scattered around. “Spot! It’s exactly what it looks like!”

“When did we agree to all this girl-on-girl stuff! I’m so upset, if not for my Super Memory, I’d be forgetting that I’m into this.”

The scene shifts. Stripe’s pumping a dildo inside another girl. The girl is short, fluffy, with full assets. There’s a sweat drop on Stripe’s head. “Well, technically we didn’t agree, but I figured we would agree in the future. And since you can look in the future, I figured you’d stop me if you weren’t okay with it!”

Spot narrows his eyes and puts his fist to his lips, still holding all the roses. “Your reasoning may be rock-solid, but you still interrupted our date night.”

Stripe climbs on top of the short fluffy girl. She pulls her tail up, looking back at Spot. “Or did I?”

“Yes,” Spot says off-panel. “We were going to Texas Roadhouse.”

“Well did you want to boink anyway?”

The final panel, Spot, Stripe, and the two other girls sit around a table. All the girls’ fur is frazzled. Ankh and tarot card collars sit askew. Stripe has a dazed look in her eyes, but a smile on her lips. Spot has a menu held up. “Just so you know, I looked at the future and you’re paying for your two girlfriends.”

Tarot swallowed. Was Peanut saying he was upset over the lack of prior communication? Was he saying it didn’t matter? Sensual Movie Night was hardly the time for asking these kinds of questions. She tried to relax for the hundredth time. Peanut wasn’t upset with her when they’d been alone together, despite how direct she was. Unless she missed something, or was too intense for an honest answer. But Peanut was holding her. He wasn’t upset, at least not any more. If anything, he drew her and Sabrina like that because he was into it.

Tarot reached under the comic page, humming. Peanut turned his head, eye-to-eye.

“Boink boink,” Tarot whispered, poking his ballsack.

“Tarot,” Peanut said through his teeth.

“I like how you drew me.” She brushed her fingers down the front of his sack, wedging underneath. There was no way to hold all of him, but she could manage to take on his balls. Dry, fuzzy, fun to lift side to side. He was cool in her paw, but warming fast. She aimed to get him unsheathed, to see him lift up against the flimsy decency of the notebook sheet.

Peanut took hold of her by the wrist, stopping her explorations. 

“I thought you liked being Spot?” Tarot said.

“Yeah. Hmm. Guess I do,” Peanut said after a moment, letting her come back around. He yipped. Grape had reached in, grabbing the end of his sheath.

"Enjoying the movie?" Grape said.

Fido cleared his throat, adjusting the sunglasses on top of his head. "Grape, put those paws where I can see them."

On closer inspection, Grape's other paw had wiggled under the pillow on Max’s lap. The pillow wiggled up and down. Max crossed his legs, leaning away as if to distance himself from Grape touching him as she pleased. 

"What if they don't want me to?" Grape said. 

Peanut squirmed. Two paws with free reign. She felt one of his testes slipping it around with a careful touch. Then she felt his other. She never got so much of a chance to appreciate what strange things they were. Round, almost egg-shaped. A pair of instruments required for all his ejaculate, and proportional in size to it. On average, one for each partner. Each partner's paws making claim. She tried to cradle his sack while pressing her palm down tight. Peanut’s dick peeped free, high-pitched hum escaping his modesty.

"Yeah this isn't what I signed up for. Sabrina, can we—Sabrina?"

Sabrina grabbed Fido’s wrist.

"Oh, it was a trap all along. I see."

Fido watched the men on screen shave a woman's head. He chowed on popcorn. But behind the veneer of munching, his fingers curled up inside Sabby. Sabrina smiled at him. Dragging out and rubbing her slippery labia, he pumped back in. Tarot inhaled deeply through her nose, the last wisps of Sabby’s heat filling the air and their snouts.

Tarot stopped resisting impulses. She left Grape to her double ministrations and touched herself. She made eyes with Sabby, both of them spreading their legs. Little murmurs pushed out through the group. Lust clouded her vision. She wanted to go kneel down in front of her, maybe give Fido a handjob. But no. Top priority was getting everything out of Peanut tonight, with or without everyone watching.

She left her own warmth and returned to Peanut’s, his balls slipping in her fingers. Making her arousal theirs. Peanut sucked in air. He fell against Tarot, kissed her neck. Actors and scores were gone. Peanut’s kiss urged her to turn and get on his lap. He kept her there, his tongue slipping over her teeth. Grape brushed a paw between their bellies, pumping his penis. Tarot felt around for his shaft, bumping into Grape.

Tarot licked Peanut’s cheek. "Grape, mind if I take over?"

"Okay. But be careful."

“I’m intimately aware how much Peanut can ejaculate.”

Peanut caught his breath. "Is it just me or did you and Grape really like touching me suddenly?"

Tarot tried to mirror his sincerity. "Peanut, you've been away. I missed getting a good look at you."

"Yeah, but I sexted you at like every rest stop."

"Not quite the same," she grumbled.

"If he doesn't want to fool around," Fido said, shrugging, still fapping Sabrina. 

"Fine, yeah," Tarot said. She dismounted. She whispered to Peanut. "Can I still hold your dick?"

Peanut hesitated, but nodded.

"You’re sure?"

"Can I put my fingers in you?"

Tarot sniffed out. "Yeah you can. You can for the rest of the movie if you’d like."

"That backfired," Fido mumbled. 

Tarot shuffled her legs apart and tilted her hips up, welcoming in Peanut’s paw. He feathered over her before rubbing down her crease, pushing a finger in, then two. She stuck the tip of her tongue at Fido.

Unfortunately, Peanut nearly took her up on her offer. He just held some digits in her vagina, rarely moving. Tarot considered asking for him to get her off, or just rubbing her clit herself. But it felt justified given her own teasing. Rubbing her thumb against his veiny heat, she kept his dick extended and his balls plump. As scenes passed, the novelty of showing Peanut’s leaky dick off to the others wore off. It did earn a few long stares from Sabrina as she rode Fido’s fingers to climax. Fido acted uninterested, or perhaps he was, with not even a peep out of his sheath.

Max sighed blissfully and came in Grape’s paw. He didn’t so much as move his hips, strings shooting out over his lap. Grape murred, licking her lips. She cleaned him up, earning grunts, sharp inhales. The tip of Grape’s tail fluttered over Peanut’s dick, giving him enough excitement to have his knot to bulge in his sheath, but not enough for his bulb to make an actual appearance. Grape finished cleaning Max before he could orgasm again. They cuddled close, trading kisses, groping each other's privates rather unprivately.

Peanut finally withdrew at the sinking yacht scene. Tarot took his paw before he could wipe it off. She sucked down. Peanut hummed, blushing.

The rest of the movie was far removed from sexy. There was a scene where a lady decided not to wear panties to tease her terrible husband, but it felt like more of a tease to wear undergarments at all. Seeing a fellow animal’s crease or sheath was a fact of life, only interesting with context. But Peanut’s was always interesting. Some privacy, and they could do what they wanted. Now, not even that was totally required.

Tarot let Peanut’s dick retreat, only her palm pushing down on his tip. That went away too, and with one firm squeeze of his balls, she finally abandoned the practice.

“Why did we do all that?” Peanut asked.

“For later,” she whispered.

“Mating?”

Tarot found a pen. She wrote her response on the back of his comic. “You’re flooding me with puppy juice.”

Peanut uttered a laugh. He bit back a smile. His penis was on track to grow bigger than during all of her touching.

She put a loose paw around his knot, leaning in close enough to kiss. “Save it for me, okay?”

“What if she…?” he said, looking at Sabrina.

“Just try your best.”

Peanut fell in and licked her neck. She squeezed his knot. He tried to take off her collar. She adored the idea of him pounding her silly right here on the couch. But reality kept getting in the way. The movie was in its final few minutes. Grimacing, she released her grip and held his paw instead.

At long last, credits. They all stood, stretched. Tarot yawned. Fido turned on the lights, sending them blinking. Peanut still had a bit hanging out, but nowhere near what the others had seen in the dark.

“Well, this was fun, but,” Fido said. All eyes turned to him. “I don’t mind you guys doing what you want together. Sorry for getting jealous, it’s just.” Fido shrugged. “I don’t think it’s really for me.”

“You’re breaking up with us?” Peanut gasped.

Fido took a step back, then snorted. “I just didn’t sign up for all this tonight.” He took Sabby by the paw.

“I should have told you what we were planning,” Sabrina said.

“It’s fine,” Fido said.

“No, but,” she said. “I don’t think you should leave. You need to have a say in all this.”

“Sabby, it’s fine, you can fool around with Peanut or Tarot or—”

“This is not just about sex,” Sabrina murmured.

“So you weren’t about to have sex with Peanut? Hey, we can talk in private more tomorrow.” Fido left the room. Sabrina opened her mouth, but only a sigh came out. Max started heading the same direction.

“Where are you going?” Sabrina said, teeth out.

“Um,” Max said. And that was it. They stared at each other. 

Grape walked up to him, paw on his shoulder. “What is it?”

He jerkily turned. “Just going to clean myself up. Cum. On my thighs.”

“Why didn’t you just say ‘restroom’?”

“Because I was embarrassed okay be right back,” Max said without pause. He tried to rush out but ran his shoulder into the door frame.

“And Fido wonders why I like girls all of the sudden,” Sabrina said.

“You did yell at him,” Tarot said.

“What? When?”

“‘Where are you going?’” Grape said, mimicking her tone.

“Fine, I take it back. This was a bad idea.”

“Hey, the movie was fun,” Tarot said, searching for Peanut’s paw.

“Maybe we should do sexy imaginate when things are a bit more amicable,” Sabrina said.

Grape rubbed her arm. “I agree. I don’t want you to be worried about Fido all night.”

Tarot had trouble nodding. The movie-watching experience was just holding Peanut’s dick, him rubbing her. She didn’t want to think about running off and following up on that foreplay, not if Sabby needed her. This was all as confusing as she feared. And admittedly, frustrating.

The lights turned off. There was nothing to see. Lightning had stopped its onslaught, leaving only wind and rain.

Peanut shrieked and made her jump. “The fire went out in Plato’s Cave!”

Chapter Text

"Peanut,” Grape said, her voice moving. “If this is the apocalypse, philosophers are always the first to go. That and horny guys, but we can’t blame you for that.”

“You’re just saying that because you didn’t get to go to the seminar,” Peanut said. “And did you say apocalypse?”

The two’s fur rubbed together. Tarot felt around for her phone. Sabrina shuffled close to the window, pulling back the fabric. Her triangle ears were outlined by stray atoms of starlight. “I can see absolutely nothing. The power must be out.”

“But it’s not the apocalypse,” Grape said.

Tarot turned on her phone’s flashlight. Peanut was holding onto Grape’s side.

“Probably not,” Sabrina said. “Oh, I mean no, it’s not the apocalypse, Peanut. I’m sure a tree branch took down a power line or something.”

“That would make sense,” Peanut said.

“Sabrina!” Fido yelled. “Why’s the door stuck?”

Peanut shrieked again. 

“Get your paw off my boob,” Grape murmured.

“How could it be stuck?” Sabrina said. “Just unlock it!”

“I can’t!” Fido said.

Sabrina groaned. “Oh my–get back up here!”

“No, you come to me!”

“Can’t say I didn’t see that coming,” Sabrina said. Tarot saw it coming, too. Including the power going out. Something was definitely up. Sabrina turned on her phone. “Fido, I’m coming!”

That’s what she said, Tarot thought. “Be careful,” she said instead.

Sabrina gave her an odd look, half a laugh, then she pushed out of the room.

“Guys?!” Max yelled not from far outside the room. Tarot could only shed the darkness off them so much. It all felt like an audio drama.

“Power’s out,” Grape said.

“Oh, hi,” Max said a ways away.

“How’s it going, Max?” Sabrina said.

“It’s, well, fine. I’ll be going this way.”

“Yep, see you.”

Max shuffled back into the living room, scooching up alongside Grape.

“Okay, a power outage is not an excuse to feel up your significant other.”

“Yeah, that's just a movie thing,” Peanut said.

“Shh. Max, why do you still smell?”

“Thanks for bringing that up. I ran out of water pressure.”

“Washcloth?” Tarot said.

“Yeah, let me just feel around for one in the dark. You guys smell like sex, too, you know.”

Tarot shook her head. She wasn’t sure anyone could make out her annoyance. “Where are your guys’ phones?” she asked.

“Didn’t think I’d have someone I’d need to talk to. Everyone was here,” Peanut said.

“I didn’t want to bring my flimsy thing out in this downpour,” Grape said.

“Phones are just a fad anyways,” Max said.

Tarot huffed. “You guys were on me for years! And now you don’t—. Whatever, let’s just light some candles!”

“Ambiance! Atmosphere!” Peanut said. He raised his paws up. “Relight the fiiiiire!” Peanut howled, shaking Max. After a few shakes, Max asked what ritual he was in. They gave their best discordant tones.

Awfully charmed, Tarot walked out. 

Grape followed. “What did you do to Peanut?”

Tarot ducked under the sink, grabbing a ladder, intensely aware of the wetness on her inner thighs. “I might have been a bit of a horndog.”

“Were you guys passing notes? Should I be worried?” Grape said.

“No, it’s just fun, for now.”

“Oh, like things weren’t ominous enough.”

Tarot climbed the ladder, then heaved herself onto the countertop. “Don’t worry about it! Give me that ladder again.”

Grape did. “I guess it’s not serious yet if Peanut’s able to not tell me about it. But it’s weird to have secrets now.”

Guilt lept at Tarot. She searched the shelves, shifting cookie cutters and sprinkles out of the way. She heard thumps and grunts. Peanut and Max were either roughhousing on the couches, or the other thing. Peanut would try anything once, but this would be twice under some metrics.

“I know,” Tarot sighed. “I just don’t feel ready for everyone to know. It’s hard when it’s not just you, but Sabrina, Max, Fido.”

Grape looked in Peanut’s direction. “I know what that’s like. I hope you know that.”

Tarot fished out a candle from the back of the shelf, dug her claws into it, felt its weight. “I do,” she said.

“And, well…” Grape said, voice tighter, not finishing the thought.

“I think I know what you’re about to say. I could just tell you for now. Instead of everyone.”

Grape shook her head. “Yeah, exactly.”

Tarot sat down and cleared emotion from her face. “Me and Peanut are going to try for puppies,” she whispered. 

Fido cursed somewhere down the stairs, Peanut and Max were still making noise, but the localized silence was hard to bear.

“Congratulations,” Grape murmured.

“Nothing’s happened yet,” Tarot said.

“It’s just. I have no ducking clue what to say to that.”

“Are you okay with it?”

Grape paused, squinting. “What part of ‘no ducking clue’?”

“The duck part. I mean, okay, but you have to tell me if you’re not.”

Grape’s eyes grew. “Because you just riled Peanut up for the past three hours.”

“More than that. He hasn’t cum since he left two weeks ago.”

“What have you done?!” Grape whispered.

“I thought it’d be fun!”

“Great, now we’re poets.”

Pawsteps. “Guys,” Max breathed.

Grape and Tarot looked at him like he was covered in blood. “Yes Maxy?” Grape asked.

Peanut poked his head out of the living room, panting. 

“You guys are being weird,” Max said. “You need help with candles?”

They fished more candles out of the cabinets and lit flame after flame. The house grew with flickering shadows, glowing halos on the ceiling. As they all dispersed with candles, the house breathed with whispers, voices echoing down hallways. Grape and Max were waiting for her back in the kitchen. Max pointed with his thumb back at the living room. 

“So are we gonna crack open the orange or what?” he said.

“If you want to. I need to go talk to Fido,” Tarot said.

“They’re not out yet?” Grape asked.

She sighed. “I think this is kind of all my fault.”

“Oh, good,” Max nodded. Grape blew air out at him.

Peanut walked in. He and Max hadn’t done anything, but his sheath was absolutely plump. Tarot squeezed her legs together. “I kinda told Kari to make the night less predictable. I guess this was his plan. Lock us all in and cut the power.”

“That’s pretty lame,” Max said.

“Yeah,” Peanut said. “He should have found ghosts, ghouls, goblins! Haunted houses are great.”

“Please honey, ghouls aren’t real in this one,” Tarot said.

Grape lit one candle using another. Wax dripped down the side of the rounded glass. “Here,” she said.

Tarot took the candle with both paws, watching the flame. “You guys make yourselves at home, et cetera.” She turned for the front door. A second later, a can snapped open. 

“Thanks Tarot, we’ll save you guys some,” Max said.

She was more worried about them saving some of Peanut. That future was still too overwhelming to peer into. The rainbow lost its color, replaced by dark hues. Voices poked through: Grape’s, Peanut’s. Sabrina’s was loudest down the stairs; she went to the basement’s reading room in search of answers. Tarot sank slowly down each big step, paw blocking wind from the flame. Stairs creaked. Sabby and Fido would hear her coming. But still they talked.

“I feel like you didn’t get the full experience though.”

“Um, Sabby.”

“Like, I already warmed you up, and Tarot was very goal-focused.

They came into view as Tarot descended. Light shined from a phone placed screen-down between them, illuminating their faces like they were telling ghost stories. Fido put a paw under Sabby’s chin. “Be quiet please,” he said.

“Tarot’s a big girl, hun. She can handle us teasing her.”

“I’d ask what you’re teasing me about, but I think I know.”

“Yes, okay?” Fido said. “I’d be crazy not to like two girls at once. But us hooking up with you is not the same as a snugglefest with bags over our heads.”

“What don’t you like about a snugglefest?” Sabrina said.

Fido stumbled through a vague thought. Tarot weaved around books left open on the floor. Leaving the candle on the nearest table, she joined the others in sitting cross-legged at the foot of her favorite reading chair.

“Are you sure you’re not just being shy?” Tarot asked.

“Of course I’m being shy,” Fido said after a moment.

“Okay?” Tarot said.

“If Peanut wanted to do something super kinky, you’re going to be really awkward about it, right?”

“Yeah, I suppose.”

“Same thing! You’re not going to be into it, so it’s probably not going to be any fun for either of you.”

“Depends on the thing. If Peanut asks if he can wake me up with sex like he’s been doing with Grape—”

“I didn’t need to—I didn’t want to know that,” Fido said.

“Too bad. Point is, I don’t think I’m into it. But if he asked me, I’d be willing to try. I’m trying to make him happy more.”

“Well maybe it’s not like that for me!” Fido said. He swallowed down his anger. “I’m just really not sure, guys. I love you, Sabby.”

Sabby grunted softly. “Oh.” She scooched in, knee-to-knee with him. She held his wrist.

Tarot tried to find something to look at. “We can drop the orgy talk for now.”

Sabrina agreed, asking about the doors. 

The handles to all the outer doors still turned. The locks all disengaged. But the doors didn’t move, like an ocean pressing back. Rain still splattered, audible even from the basement. Tarot didn’t have much to offer off-hand. She was eager to test some of her old powers, find their limitations. Especially if they offered a way out of the house. But she was intimately aware that that was more her own curiosity, and she didn’t know what to try yet. They spent many minutes picking back over the pile of books on the floor, following indices, feeling for any trace of precognition.

Glancing up, extra light came from up the stairs. She looked again. Reflections, eyes. “Who’s there?” she said.

The eyes turned. She swore she heard giggling. Then nothing.

“Was that Kari?” Tarot asked.

“I didn’t see anything,” Sabrina said.

“What is this?” Tarot said. “You better not be joking.”

“Me neither,” Fido said.

“Oh okay. I’m finally going crazy. I thought our magic coming back was too weird anyway.”

“You’re not crazy. Well, if that’s crazy, we’re both nuts. Our future keeps jumping around.”

“Should we be worried?” Tarot said.

“You tell me. I’m just the apprentice.”

“Don’t give me that.”

“I’m serious, I can’t make whiskers or tails.”

“Well,” Tarot said, rubbing her lips together. “I think me and Fido were about to have sex.”

“That can’t be right, we just got done saying…” Sabrina said.

They looked at Fido. He had a few inches poking out.

“Look, okay?” Fido said. “You guys both smell like you-know-what, and I’ve had nothing to think about other than my sexual boundaries.”

“My point was that I don’t think we need to be worried,” Tarot said.

“Well we better not be, if you guys are having sex.”

Tarot felt seasoned, if not desensitized. Sabrina was going to have to try a lot harder. “We’re not having anything unless Fido actually wants to.”

Sabrina narrowed her eyes. “Well I was going to tell Fidy about your stellar foreplay.”

“Is that so?”

“Big, soft tongue curling around his dick? Pretty sure he would enjoy that.”

“You shouldn’t count yourself out. I’m pretty sure you could take most of him now.”

She leaned in. “Wait till he sees what you can take up your butt.”

“Sabrina!” Tarot gasped.

The feline fell to the floor, cackling. Her crotch was for them to see, wet on the inner red of her lips. Fido sat stiff, his arousal not far behind hers.

“Are we doing this?” Tarot asked.

Fido stared at her, eyes big. I think we’re doing this, he thought.

Tarot pulled back, eyes widening in turn. What did you just think, she thought.

I don’t know, he thought, I’m wigged out.

“Let’s not, then,” Tarot said aloud.

“What just happened?” Sabrina asked. “No sexy?”

“No, um,” Fido said. “I’m still into it.”

“Are you thinking with your dick right now?” Tarot asked.

“Yeah, I guess.”

I’m so confused, Sabrina thought.

For simplicity, Tarot closed her mind, nothing in or out. Her labia was aching to be touched. “No,” she said. “I’ve been horny all night. Can you lick me out?”

“I thought you were going down on me?” Fido said. The straightforwardness of his tone, and the simplicity of his request, was incredibly attractive. It made her urges stronger, amplifying the general confusion. 

“We could go down on each other, but I haven't had much luck with that,” Tarot said.

“We’re forgetting we have Sabby,” Fido said. “She wants to get between your legs as soon as possible.”

Fido and Sabby stared at each other.

“Ookay that’s weird,” Sabrina said.

“Saaaabby baby,” Tarot said, taking her paw. “You’re getting behind me. I’m getting Fido. We’re gonna ignore the crazy.”

They got into position, but Fido stayed kneeling. “Why’d you say her name like that?” he asked.

She squeezed Fido’s shaft, making him grunt. “Fido, you too. I don’t see danger nearby. Ignore the crazy and I’m pretty sure we’ll have fun. Did Sabby tell you how much I’ve been practicing with Peanut?”

Fido nodded, blushing. His penis was twitching. Every little difference that separated him from her boyfriend was in vision. The web of veins. His long taper. His smell. 

“Then be a good boy and sit,” she said, failing to keep her voice steady. 

Fido sat, leaning back onto his paws, penis pointing straight at her. 

She fell in. Her nose went to his sheath. She licked across the boundary between fur and flesh.

“Gah,” Fido murmured.

“Don’t you dare thrust,” Tarot said.

She slid him into her mouth, dropping her head fast. Tarot murmured, adjusting her lips, jaws feeling full. The taste of pre. His penis pulsed with his heart. She missed the added warmth of real canine flesh. Sabrina held Tarot’s tail still, rubbing wet fingers against her vulva. She pressed in, kneading her walls. Tarot raised off Fido’s dick, taking in the sight of him. She breathed, her lips on his intimate fur.

Hope you know how talented your girlfriend is, Tarot thought.

Dog yeah, Fido thought, panting.

Tarot licked his sack, dragging all the way up to the tip of his penis. It was hard to lick up all his pre before more came dripping down. Finally, Sabby found a spot behind Tarot’s butt. Tarot raised her ass up high to give Sabrina room. It was worth the effort. Sabby avoided her most sensitive bits, urging pleasure with her rough tongue, sliding up towards her butt. Tarot tensed. Sabby might stay licking her butt for a while, longer than any time before. She was used to Peanut’s rimming. This was playing with fire by comparison. Sabrina pressed close, hot breath over her wet fur, fingers pulling apart her velvety labia. She was being stretched, being made ready. 

Tarot didn’t dare peer ahead. She opened her mouth wide on Fido’s sack. Her nose brushed against his knot. Fido sucked in air, huffing it out. She didn’t rub his dick in the meantime. She enjoyed holding his anticipation. She lapped the innermost part of his thigh, tongue curling on the side of his sack. She closed her eyes, going by feel, licking around his balls. They tensed with every lick pushing them up, making him round.

“You girls,” Fido murmured.

Sabrina purred. She delved in, spit lubricating, giving plenty of freedom. The gentlest lick made Tarot gasp. She used the motion. Sinking back down on Fido’s smooth penis, it felt so comforting to have her mouth totally filled. His taste was building. She breathed through her nose, going deep. Pulses grew, precum drooling out of her mouth, spit leaking down his knot. His crotch was fully coated. Tarot pushed up, a grunt slipping out of her jaws, dropping far. She needed to live vicariously, to feel his relief. His twitching tip prodded at the back of her mouth. His knot was still inches from her lips. She swallowed around his cock, tail wagging over Sabrina’s face. Another push, and pre pulsed in. Tarot moaned. She adjusted her jaws around him, opening wider. At some point, Fido got the mental memo to hold her head down. His fingers dug into the fur on the back of her head. She used his insistence, pushing against the edge of what she could take without gagging. His wide knot pushed between her teeth. The front of him bent down her throat. He moaned out a whole breath. His hips tensed, pushing up, sheath to mouth. Waves pulsed down, forcing Tarot to swallow. Her eyes went dazed, focusing on his pleasure pulsing in, the cum leaking down her tongue, the knot growing up against her cheeks, spreading her jaws wider.

Sabrina spread Tarot's butt cheeks, licking her pussy deep. Tarot wouldn’t have minded keeping her there. Her prickly tongue slipped right over with an endless latent tingle. Fido's dick satisfied the same kind of way as having vaginal, just without the air. She pulled off. Cum and spit came down in globs from her pants, back down on Fido. Sabrina made it hard to fully catch her breath.

Fido petted her cheek. He swiped away cum hanging from her mouth. “I can’t believe you took all that. Sabby wouldn’t stop looking at me when you were, you know.”
“I had fun too,” Tarot huffed.

“Sorry but, what’s the mind reading about?”

What mind reading, Tarot thought. She spit in her paw, spreading the mess back onto Fido’s belly.

“Hey,” he said, sitting up. Stray spurts still leaked down his rod.

“Sabby, I think Fidy needs your help here.”.

Sabrina pulled back from her butt. “I didn’t get you off though, did I?”

“Don’t worry,” Tarot said. She’d save everything she could for Peanut, if only in solidarity.

“Okay, but don't go anywhere!” Sabrina said. She pounced on Fido.

He grunted, holding her neck. "I’m sensitive, you know.”

“You’ll be fine. Tarot, can you line us up?”

“What are we doing now?” Fido asked.

“What, is the canine done cumming already? You're gonna finish in me.”

Fido laughed

Tarot found her place among all the shadowy limbs. She went by scent. Sabby’s pussy leaked like she was fully in heat again. She was mouth-watering. Sweet, musty, like the stray scent of berries in the forest. Tarot leaned in. Despite how sore her jaw was, she needed to get Sabby ready to have a dick pushing through her. Fido wasn’t an easy size. Lapping over Sabrina's bulging labia was just making out with a good friend at this point. Comfortable, sensual. She craved watching Sabby wrap to Fido. Sabby wiggled her hips. The two murmured, held in each other’s kiss, their chests pressed together. Fido thumped his tail. Tarot eyed his dick, covered in cum. His musk was nothing like Sabrina’s. She preferred Sabrina’s alone, but she was more than willing to let them mingle. 

Holding Fido’s slippery penis, she pushed Sabby down, rubbing her and Fido together. They shifted, searching, till her labia slipped onto the tip of his hard rod. Tarot held Sabrina down. He tilted his hips up, spreading her. Cum gushed down Sabby’s black lips.

Fido moaned. 

“Fits right in,” Sabrina said. “Missed you, babe.”

“Want me to get it all out of him?” Tarot asked.

“We’re all yours,” Sabrina said.

Tarot relaxed down. She rolled her tongue over Fido’s knot, picking up cum with every pass and spreading it over his balls. 

“Oh my dog. You girls are so warm,” Fido breathed.

She stretched a paw under herself, pumping in, kneading her vagina like Sabrina did. If she stayed turned on, the taste didn’t bother her at all. She had to be careful not to orgasm.

Licking up, her tongue passed over Sabby and Fido’s coupling. She got flashbacks to what Grape did to her and Peanut. She wondered if they were having sex yet. Somewhere up ahead, they would be.

Tarot lapped inches below Sabrina’s tail. If one of her holes was busy with Fido, she didn’t see the harm in taking over the other. But for now, she made sure Fido deposited everything he had. She polished his knot, murmuring, licking under it. Fido gasped. Sabby started trying to move, cum leaking down. Tarot kept her pushed down on his knot. She didn’t want Fido to be abused too heavily.

Taking a moment to breathe, Tarot looked at Fido’s penis shift against her friend’s labia. They fitted against each other’s bare fur. Tarot felt her chest. Her collar was missing. It wasn’t anywhere the light reached. She debated asking, but interrupting the mini-snugglefest would be criminal.

Then she saw the eyes again. 

“I gotta go hook up with the others. You guys make a big mess for me, okay?” Tarot said.

Her high tone must have given her away. “Ah! Oh uh, okay. You, you sure?” Sabrina said.

Sabby was grinding on Fido like rolling around on top of his knot was better than actually taking it. She was right. With a sigh, Tarot lowered back down. She helped them wiggle in, licking their sexes, licking Sabrina's perfect butt. Sabrina gasped out. She stretched around the widest of his knot. Tarot felt Sabby's tailhole pulse as she came. Sabrina's vulva swelled with the knot. Fluids squished around, huffs and grunts coming muffled from above. Tarot cupped Fido’s sack, pressing them closer, earning whimpers. Sabby got everything out of him.

Tarot stopped masturbating moments before their scents could take her over. A tremble passed through her, feeling desperate to clench on something like Sabrina was. She wiped her dripping paw off on Sabby. She stood, looking past, up the stairs. The eyes were gone. “Enjoy the tie for me. I’ll go figure this out.”

Sabrina sighed, voice fluttering down through notes into an exhale, resting her head down on Fido’s chest. Something was on her mind, but the thought didn’t transfer. It didn’t need to. The longing was on her lips. “Okay,” Sabrina said.

Chapter Text

No collar. Tarot only had herself. Ascending the stairs, she fought her memory, pushing through each corner of a maze, looking for anything familiar. Mind reading, future sight, doors stuck closed. She had no light. Measuring her steps was close to all the progress she made. 

Somehow, Kari imbued the house in magic. It seeped under every creaky wooden step, making her paws tingle. More shakes and creeks came from up the stairs, presumably the living room. Tarot stumbled. The last step didn’t exist. She caught herself against the wall with both paws. The missing step felt like the falling sensation that sometimes came just before sleep. Kari was her enigma in a veil. Maybe he couldn’t be doing all this. She didn’t know. What seemed more likely was that she, or maybe they all, were dreaming.

Tarot kept a paw to the wallpaper, sandy, sliding against her paw pads. Dreamworlds had remarkably few giveaways, especially when created by the divine. She must have fallen asleep during the movie. If so, there would still be a chance to salvage the night. Not that she couldn’t enjoy this while it lasted. The gods left flutters in her chest. They had to be peeping in on her with the others. She hated dealing with their contrivances. She was so close to making sense of her love life. 

Complaining to the gods hadn’t gotten her anywhere. She’d find a way out instead, a loophole, something. No more forced participation. In truth, they were gods. They could always look in. But there was no need for shattering the veil so strongly, not any more.

Walking towards the candlelight, the action was nearly in sight. Grape gasped, shuddering out a giggle. A lower voice, Max, growled. There were rhythmic thumps, furniture bumping into the wall. Then nothing.

Tarot stopped in the kitchen, looking around for something. She already forgot what. Grape stumbled out of the living room, catching herself against a cabinet, face to face with Tarot the same place they talked about puppies.

“Having fun in there?” Tarot asked.

“Having fun in where?” Grape asked.

Tarot gestured at the door to the living room, still in shadow. “Is Peanut with you?”

“Yeah, just need a drink and we’ll continue.”

Tarot got out of the way of the refrigerator, looking at Grape, narrowing an eye. Even factoring the smell of orange soda on her breath, her words were uncanny.

“I talked—well, had sex—with Fido. I don’t think he’s joining us. But I think him and Sabby are feeling better about things.”

“Why the pie dough?” Grape asked. She closed the fridge. She leaned close to Tarot, sniffing her, giving a smile and a nod. “He was a bit sus. But I’m glad you could pull some strings.”

“Since when do you abbreviate suspicious?” Tarot asked.

Grape gave her a look. She took a swig of water. “I’m feeling capricious.”

Tarot slapped Grape. Grape clutched her cheek. “What the heck, Tarot?”

“You’re rhyming me!”

Grape shook her head. “Rhyming you?”

“Suspicious, capricious. Fido, pie dough!”

“Carp on a crouton, how though? I mean how?”

“I think we might be dreaming. I was hoping that might wake you up.”

“All you did was sober me up.”

Tarot shrugged.

“Well, I still want more time with our boyfriends. You coming?”

“Sorry,” Tarot said late. She was slow to follow Grape into the dark. Tarot need to get Peanut out of the room. She wasn’t ready to tell Max about the puppymaking. Better yet, she could get him in a room with Sabrina. He’d be aroused. His guard was lowered, nip and booze in the air. She took her time making it around the bend to the living room, shadows stretching down the hall. She didn’t remember a bend.

Tarot entered. Things were obscured in the haze of nip smoke. Max took puffs with one paw, the other massaging his penis, moisture catching the candleglow. Grape settled in beside, paw tracing up his thigh. She stole his joint.

“I thought you said Peanut was here,” Tarot said.

“He was,” Grape said, breathing out.

“Hey Tarot,” Max said, blinking slowly. “You’re smelling sexy.”

She didn’t have time to feel self-conscious. “Thanks. Where’d he go?”

Max went to take a drag, but only found his empty paw. “Yeah, where’d it go?”

“Guys, please, where is Peanut?”

A second took forever. “He went out, um, out that way,” Max said. He pointed at the balcony door. Grape wrapped a paw around his dick. He looked up at her. “Oh, there it is.”

“It’s raining yous and mes out there! What is he—?”

Tarot gave up on language. She rushed for the door, stretching up, expecting the handle not to turn. It did. She opened it a crack. Wind pushed it closed, rain splattering the glass. Trying again, the door smacked her in the side. Rain attacked her eyes. Grimacing, Tarot pushed out, a paw in front of her face. The balcony wasn’t big. Peanut wasn’t on it. Nowhere near enough light made it past the rain to the ground. They were on an island, drenched in ink. Without a frame of reference, up and down had no meaning. Soaking already, Tarot retreated inside. She strained, closing the door. Leaning back against it, she caught her breath. Worry made her throat close up.

She made it a few steps before falling, sitting against the couch, covering her eyes in her paws. Water pooled around her. Cold seeped in. She didn’t care. All the wet did a good job hiding some tears.

“Hey, what’s the matter?” Grape asked.

Tarot tried to be angry, but nothing came out. Her friends were all out of it. It was on her if she wanted things to start making sense. She wasn’t even sure why she was so upset. Clearly nothing was real. They were stuck beyond time. Kari brought them all to the space between spaces after all.

“Nothing. Peanut’s just gone. I’m sure he’s fine.”

Grape stood. She unrolled a big wool blanket, heavy even while dry. “Come on, dawg. You smell like wet dog.”

Tarot let her lead her to the couch with Max. Grape draped the blanket over her shoulders. She was Tarot’s pillow: untalking, very squishy. Grape’s arms kept her and her emotions contained. Slowly, her thoughts organized themselves in order of priority.

“Where did he go?” Tarot asked. “What happened?”

“Dunno,” Grape said.

“He was—” Max said. “It was weird. He couldn’t cum.”

Tarot shifted, turning her head. She hugged Grape’s arm, preparing herself to lie by omission. “Weird.”

“He literally couldn’t. We were tied,” Grape said.

Tarot sighed, crumpling down. She shivered, warmth returning. “Why can’t things just make sense?”

Grape rubbed her arms through the blanket. She wasn't lying about the sex. She smelled a lot like Peanut.

"Why did you guys tie?" Tarot asked.

"Why wouldn't they? They're hot."

Grape laughed. "It was an accident. Horniness."

Tarot shook her head. "The things we do." 

"Peanut said something…" Max said, yawning. "Something about a ritual."

"Oh yeah. Don't ask," Grape said.

"How am I not going to ask about that?" Tarot asked.

Grape hummed. “Some kind of roleplay.”

“Hey, yeah!” Max said. “Are we doing that still?”

“Max, you’re drunk and high,” Tarot said.

“Method. Acting,” Max said, clapping his paws together. He was still sitting back, absorbed by the couch.

“I need to find Peanut,” Tarot said.

Grape rubbed Tarot’s sides with the blanket. “No, you need to dry off.”

“He’ll be fine,” Max said. He giggled. “Peanut’s running on pure, pent-up nut.”

Tarot squirmed. “I feel awful just wanting to have sex with him. It’s supposed to come after romance, but it’s like it’s I can think about when we meet up.”

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting sex,” Grape said.

Wrapping the blanket the rest of the way around her, Tarot hummed and considered nodding. 

“That reminds me, Tarot,” Max said.

“This is cuddle time, Max,” Grape said.

Tarot closed her eyes. “Ask your question, Max.”

“Been a while since we hooked up.”

“Uh-huh. That’s not a question.”

Max held his sheath, tip poking back out. “Did you wanna… you really want me to ask?”

Tarot stood, shedding the blanket. The heat and water brought steam to the air. She kept trying and trying to take things as they came. But wanting some agency shouldn’t be so hard. She straddled Max on the couch. She pressed her paw into the cushion just beside his shoulder. At this point, she’d do most things for him. She just wanted to make Max blush.

“Let’s hear it, Max.”

Max pressed his lips together. His dick left his paw, twitching higher. “Could you blow me, please?”

She kissed Max. All sorts of scents attacked her taste buds, from nip to Peanut. She grabbed hold of his dick. “Such a polite kitty cat.”

Max looked at her, captivated. 

Grape pushed away the blanket. “Max should be doing you! How much did you get off from Fido and Sabby?”

Tarot pulled Max him to the edge of the couch. She knelt down in front of his dick. “Oh that reminds me, Max. You wanna know something about Sabrina?”

“Oh no,” Max said.

“No, you’ll like this, I promise.”

Tarot smooched his dick. She pushed his spines along her tongue, almost smooth. The different tastes caught her attention. She found his eyes, his open mouth, grinning back as best she could. Holding Max’s whole dick in her mouth made her proud. It didn’t use to feel this easy. She pulled off, spines scratching where she didn’t open wide enough. She kept her lips to the end of his penis, not pushing back down. 

Max breathed, moaning, waiting. “Fish. Fine, tell me.”

Tarot licked her lips. “Sabrina really wants to do this to you, too.”

“No, she–”

Tarot dragged her tongue up his spines. “It’s been a long time since she, how did you put it, got ‘a taste of cat’?”

Max humphed, red in the face. “Well I already have you, and you're great, so.”

Tarot expected Grape to interject. Grape pulled her legs up and was rubbing herself, watching them.

Tarot pulled off, drooling spit. She fapped him off. “You could tease her about it though.”

“But then she might think, I,” Max said, losing steam.

“Think that you…” Tarot continued. Taking time to enjoy the long draws in and out, she kissed his sheath over and over. She was giving him time to think. Licking, murmuring. Her backside ached. She didn’t give in. She gave Max her muzzle, urging him to the edge. She held his thigh, pressed her paw down on his balls. She squeezed him with her tongue.

“Hhha!” Max moaned. “You’re so good!”

Spurts of pre oozed out of him. He pushed his hips deeper. She was eager to get more out of him, but she lifted, keeping a paw curled tight around his sack.

“Sabby’s pretty talented too, you know.”

Catching his breath, Max shook his head “Yeah?”

“You should have seen her purring behind me. And all her practice on Fido?”

Max rubbed a thumb on his dick. “She was eating you out?”

“Uh-huh.”

He pretended to lack interest, lips tense.

“Just think about it, Max.”

“Hard not to,” Max murmured. He gasped. “I mean!”

“Oh relax. We’re not going to tease you any more.”

Max looked less than confident.

Tarot took hold of his paw. “I promise. Relax. That reminds me. Don’t tell me when you’re about to cum.”

Opening wide, she looked up at him in open challenge, dick sliding in along her tongue. Closing in around his whole taper, his taste filled her thoughts. He grunted. He gave a quick nod.

Time passed by without Tarot. Max was fun, more room to play with him on her mouth. Separating the flavors out in her mind, she tried to put together the story of what happened. Max had orgasmed. She also tasted Peanut on him. Grape must have made out with Peanut, blew Peanut. Or she was sucking off both of them. She pictured Max struggling to wait for his turn. Or maybe the more obvious story was true. She lapped and nibbled at Max’s balls, covering him in spit, making his sheath grow taut. Both her and Peanut were givers at heart. Peanut might have had fewer reservations sucking him off a second time. 

Grape straddled Max, giving Tarot just enough room to bob her head. Max moaned when he wasn’t kissing Grape. His thighs tensed. Tarot licked his rod with the lightest passes, focusing closer to his base.

The first pulse was small. Tarot hurried to fit back around him, dragging her tongue on his spines. He moaned in earnest. He pushed his hips up, mating her mouth, making sure she got every inch he had. Tarot closed her eyes and welcomed the roughness, the hard pulses. Cum slipped from his rod to her lips, coating everything. Not as much as Fido, but an abundance of enthusiasm. 

Tarot rested her cheek up against his thigh, swallowing, panting. She couldn’t see Max’s dorky face, only Grape’s purple and white backside, her tail pulled aside. Her crease, still inflamed and pushed apart from taking Peanut’s knot. Even without his cum seeping out of her, Grape’s pussy still leaked, tufts of fur sticking together. Tarot had to admit Grape's smell was getting to her, just like Sabby’s. They needed to have more threesomes. All the ways they could keep each other engaged while their boyfriend mated one of them.

“Grape, can I do you too?” Tarot asked. The question was out before she could think about it. She was so turned on.

Grape took a moment, but she spoke like it was a normal request. “Yeah. Go ahead.”

Tarot only had to tilt her head up. She dragging her tongue across Grape’s labia, spreading Max’s cum across. Some vague sense of responsibility found its way through the lust. Grape wasn’t trying for kittens. With quick passes, Tarot cleaned off the last globs. Soon, all that was left was the taste of female cat. No hint of sweetness this time. She pushed closer. Grape’s vulva was looking much better, all her thin fur licked in the same direction. With her free paw, she stroked Max’s length, sliding easily through his ejaculate. She pushed her tongue between Grape’s bulging lips. Max and Grape murmured together. Teasing remarks slipped past their pleasure.

“I think we should keep her,” Grape said.

“Her tongue is something else.”

Grape purred. “I know.”

“You want me to make it up to her? You can stay there.”

“You’re worse than Peanut now, you know that?”

 Temptation got the better of her. She polished off Max’s rod, lapping up all sides. The future was repeating itself. She asked Grape for a condom. Tarot dried off Max's prick on a blanket and rolled the condom on. She sucked down, getting his condom wet, taking a second to enjoy feeling him grow in her mouth. With tender paws, pushing Grape down, she rubbed Max to the end of her crease. They sighed. The two cat’s tails intertwined, leaving Tarot with a beautiful view of their butts, Max’s dick embedded deep in Grape’s crease, drooling with spit. Tasting both really helped her appreciate how well they came together.

They let moisture fly. Max’s wet sack plapped up against Grape. The couch thumped the wall. Grape’s mouth hung open, moaning, digging her claws into Max. 

Tarot stayed close, masturbating, but stopped again before the brink. She stood, fluid drooling down her thigh. Peanut might be a lost cause tonight. He must have gone home. All she’d have to do is call him, and they could mate bare. She’d be almost as strung up as he was.

Chapter Text

To try calling Peanut, Tarot needed her phone. She patted Grape on the derrière and fell back to the kitchen. There, on the countertop, her phone and her collar. Things were moving around without her permission. She hadn’t heard anyone. Except for the moans coming from the living room, the world lost all energy. The wavering of the candles stabilized, leaving her awash in amber light.

She dialed Peanut. Immediately, it went to voicemail.

“You’ve reached Peanut Sandwich! Sorry I’m not here, I mean, wherever my phone is. I kinda forget where I put it sometimes. Try calling Grape or mom or dad. They usually know where I am!”

Peanut sounded years younger. Despite everything, she tried his number again.

“This is Peanut Butter Sandwich! I don’t know what to say here! Beeeep!”

His voice was higher, but it was definitely him. Concerned what would happen if she ventured further back in time, she left her phone behind. She decided against her collar too. It wasn’t the kind of night with any decency left.

Tarot paused by the front door on her way upstairs. Her grabber was missing. On her tiptoes, she turned the handle, pulling. Didn’t budge. On a whim, she tried pushing. It snapped open. The rain had stopped. Air from behind her rushed out, pulling her towards the dark. She turned on her phone flashlight, despite not having her phone. No light made it past the porch steps. The darkness felt close, humid, like she always had her back turned to someone watching. She very much wanted to get inside and close the door. But the door wouldn’t move closer to closed, only further clockwise. The hinges let the door extend far more than it should have. She kept going. The door phased through the outside wall of the house with a grating pound of metal, like a car engine banging and grinding, operating despite twenty broken parks. 

Her pulse pounded in her ears. “This is normal door behavior!”

The door made it inside. She kept swinging it clockwise, and it closed. She took a moment for herself, feeling half of her fur to make sure she was still there, then headed upstairs, holding the railing so her legs wouldn’t fail her.

On the steps, her light caught the sheen of a large flat crystal. Her crystal, her tool to amplify thoughts onto the astral plane. If some of her magic was working, the crystal had a chance, too. Picking it up off the stair, she rushed for her room. She closed herself in, but the crystal wasn’t in her paws any more. It was on her nightstand. It was glowing, moving within. She blinked, and suddenly she stood in front of it. There was D’Angelo, eating dinner with billionaire ferrets. He was carving into chicken.

“Based on our current understanding, it’s not actually possible to bring back dodos. But I’m convinced, with some effort, we can make chickens that taste like them.”

“Say no more.”

The dinner party fluttered away as voxels of every color. A voxel passed through her chest and made her jump, but she kept looking. There was a shimmering, time warping all on its own. New shapes, but only their shadows. They vocalized. Gasps in, silent out. A hacking cough. Their gasps died, a susurrus taking its place.

“Sorry. Sabby on my tongue,” the cougher said. Fido’s voice.

They continued gasping.

Tarot blinked, trying to make out who else was there. Every blink brought them closer to the forefront, a dizzying rush of blood through her ears. She tried not to blink. Their forms disappeared, leaving a true dark. Tarot turned, though tempted to try to traverse time towards truth. Turning to the tablet, truth took total truancy. Tricked. 

Nothing needed normalcy now. 

She fell up set-up steps, a slide inside her pupils. Her fur stood on edge, indefinitely long. No flesh was left. Exhibitionist eyes entered every exit. She was dry, and then she was dry.

Through the time traversal, Tarot took temporary tranquility. One set of eyes was familiar. She spotted a path of cocoa powder and avocados. But if she went nowhere, the king was dead. All hail the King.

King took her paw, helped her sideways, and asked how she wasn’t.

“Couldn’t be worse,” Tarot said.

“It can get pretty bad,” King said.

They drifted, paddling the void. Gems rained off skyscrapers. Jumping caviar ate pennies. The eyes were back.

“How do I get over to those?” Tarot asked.

“Pretty sure you don’t.”

“Okay, how do I make like I am, then get to the future where I did?”

King spread his arms, levitating if not for the lack of reference frame. “You just don’t.”

“You know how frustrating that is? Whose are they?” Tarot asked.

Salty waiters sloshed. Missed sprayed her face. “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming,” King said.

“But I want to get somewhere.”

King sighed, turning onto his back to watch moons explode into kittens. “Look at that! Don’t you get it?”

Tarot hated it, because she did. Dark wizards boiled nodules. The concept of friendship killed radio. “Things can just happen. There's no place to go.”

King was marketable, plush, sticking his thumb out with a nod. “Now you’re getting somewhere!”

“Oh shut it. I still don’t get how this is happening. My old magic(k) is supposed to be gone.”

Falcons scried tenuous escape routes. Alpha, sierra, sierra. 

“It is. This isn't anything,” King said. 

“So I’m asleep?”

“If that helps.”

“So I’m not.”

King shrugged. “I can’t give a better image than all this.”

Tarot looked down. Cancerous raisins infested cookies. All was lost.

“You’re not King, then,” Tarot said. “Who are you? Why can’t I remember?”

“You’re sounding a lot like someone still trying to get somewhere.”

“That’s who I am! Am I just supposed to stop having desire?”

“No,” King said, waving the paw he stole. “Have sex, have those puppies.”

“Just…”

“Just let yourself be here. Nowhere.”

Tarot rolled her eyes. It took a while to make them stop rolling. “I’ll think about it.”

No more gems or cookies or eyes or steps. King was just a voice. “No,” he said, “don't.”

Darkness returned, the normal kind. Pillows supported her body. There was the susurrus, her friends and significant others talking hushed. Her eyes were closed. She opened them.

“Oh! Here Tarot, take this,” Peanut said, giving her a brown paper bag.

She sat up, expecting to find the rest of the couch around her. Instead, it was bare wood planks. Lumber stuffed with fuzzy insulation arched high above. She spotted boxes D’Angelo had stored: spare textbooks, old photographs. But the attic looked twice as big in all dimensions as it should have been. Her friends couldn’t fill all this space. She was so small.

Chapter Text

Tarot donned the bag over her eyes. She could still see through, finding the shapes of everyone else.

Peanut grabbed her from behind, holding her arms. He humped against her back. “You wanna be our sacrifice for the ritual?” he asked.

“Sure?” Tarot said.

“Woo!” Peanut said. He let go and began chanting. “Sac-rif-ice, Sac-rif-ice!” 

“You’re getting ahead of yourself, Donnie,” Grape said.

“Naomi! This is none of your concern!” Peanut said.

Grape took hold of Tarot by the wrists. “But it is, because as long as my husband is still eating the rich, I love him unconditionally!”

“What?” Tarot muttered.

“You’re the Wolfy Wolf of Wall Street,” Grape said.

“Not anymore, she—I mean—he isn’t!” Fido said. He wore his K9 vest, “FBI” written on the bag over his eyes. “We were fine with the Wolf eating the rich, but trying to eat government officials is a step too far.”

“Oh, in that case, sacrifice away,” Grape said.

“Feed her to the algorithm! All praise its mighty bits!” Peanut said.

“Not today, Donnie,” Max said, a fedora drawn on his bag. “There won’t be any need for a sacrifice. Unless you count if the Wolf gives us a really sweet deal on the rest of you.”

Max went behind Tarot, making click noises for the imaginary handcuffs. They dragged her to the other side of the attic. Behind her, more movement. The candlelight trembled. Chalk scraped across the floor.

They threw her in a chair. Tarot swiveled her head. “What was that about a really sweet deal?”

“We’d need you to wear a wire, write down a list of everyone who helped you eat people, and then snitch on them in court. Otherwise, you’re going away for a long, long, long time!” Fido said. “At least a few days.”

“I’m no snitch!”

“See you Wednesday then!” Fido sneered.

“Alright. So I’m a snitch.”

They stood her up. Max patted Tarot down. “Huh, interesting.”

Tarot looked over her shoulder, Max feeling up her butt. “What?” she said.

“It appears you’re not wearing any clothes, so we can’t hide the wire.”

“We’ll have to improvise,” Fido said.

“That’s all we ever do!” Max said.

“In any case, I have an idea.” Fido held up a pillow from Sabrina’s bedroom. “We can manipulate the sacrifice and use our annual Spy Pillow subscription to listen in.”

Things were gradually making less sense, not more. Tarot debated even asking. “Why was I being sacrificed?” she said.

“As things stand, you’re remarkably unpopular among the people you’ve eaten,” Fido said. “You were going to be orgisized, tarred, feathered, and then given to the great god above, but we can probably just talk them down to just the first. We have a lady on the inside who’s into that.”

“Orgisized,” Tarot said, furrowing her brow, tail raising up anyway.

“Dibs on you first, by the way,” Max said, lifting her tail even more.
“Dang nabbit. You’re not supposed to go sexing up our key witness. And I already called dibs.”

“You, I can, so,” Tarot stuttered, blushing.

“Oh, don’t worry, Wolf!” Max said. “We’ll make sure you’re safe. Now go back over there. And if they ask questions, just say you’re rich and powerful so the FBI let you go. That horny cult will believe anything.”

Tarot wasn’t sure if she had slept through the movie, forgot a few scenes, or was currently sleeping. Handing off the pillow, Fido pushed her in the right direction. Tarot stumbled, face to face with Peanut. She couldn’t make him out, so her nose and imagination made up the difference. Exotic stripes in his fur, barely dried. Dick out, ready to stuff her.

“Hhhii,” Tarot said, grinning, clutching the pillow.

“Why does she look so happy to see us?” Peanut said. “In any case! Sacrifiiiice!”

Grape and Peanut dropped her on pillows in the middle of a large pentagram. Candles surrounded. Tarot released her pillow among the rest. They tied rope around her wrists and ankles and removed her collar.

“For the crimes my husband has committed, this mob grants him excessive amounts of sex, and then a massive drug overdose, a death we will pretend is ironic. Dun dun dun,” Grape said.

“Wait!” Sabrina called. She hurried up the ladder into the attic. “I’m the Wolf’s first wife. I hate him as much as the rest of you, but is this really the fate he deserves?”

“Yes!” Peanut said.

“The Wolf is just filling his sleazy ecological niche! If he did not eat our loved ones, someone else would have. Can we truly blame the Wolf?”

“Yea, obviously,” Grape said.

“Naomi,” Sabrina said, holding Grape’s paw. “Please let me show you he still has love in his heart and not just clueless investors in his stomach.”

Grape showed her teeth. “Ehhh… Okay! But it better be titillating.”

“Hmm.” Sabrina sauntered over, looking down at Tarot. The ropes weren’t tied down to anything, but Tarot stayed still anyway, knees bent and legs spread, working hard to keep her breath steady. Sabby apparently got a lot of pleasure just having her there sweating it out. Kneeling, She placed her paws on Tarot’s thighs. She lowered her head, sniffing in. Her breath was a stiff breeze over Tarot's crotch, felt by the moisture leaking out of her. A smile curled Sabby's lips.

“Getting a taste of all your friends, and you just smell like you. How’d that happen?”

“Please, you have to forgive me,” Tarot said.

“Hush. We’ll make it right.”

Sabby slipped to the floor, clutching Tarot’s inner thighs. Tarot tensed up, feeling every breath, preparing then overpreparing. Sabrina finally flicked her tongue over. The others watched in silence. Sabby nestled between the fluff of her legs. Whiskers tingled her inner thighs, Their scents wafted through the room. With all the need piled up, Sabby’s rough tongue glided over Tarot’s clit. Saliva drooled down her mound, warm all the way. Sabby dragged through the sensitive thin fur on her outer labia. She delved between her folds, licking in. She swallowed. The purr that followed vibrated Tarot’s whole crotch.

“Guuhh,” Tarot grunted, tilting her hips up. 

“I think she likes it, huh?” Grape said, nudging Peanut.

“Are we gonna just watch?” he asked.

“It’s not just watching!” Grape cried. “You should take notes. Look how slow she’s going.”

“So you like when I go slow? I can do that.”

Grape spit out air. “You Wall Street boys are so insistent.”

Tarot chuckled, curling her toes. Sabby sucked on her in ways she’d never felt. The paper bag came off an inch, letting in a crack of light from the real world. She saw Sabby’s open mouth just before she returned, brushing over Tarot’s blushing flesh. She didn’t know why she was so worried about Sabby going down on her. Her and Fido got along fine. 

Sabrina moved with her writhing. Tongue warmer than any toy. Reaching forward, she scratched the side of Sabrina’s head, watching Sabby’s tongue roll over the top of her labia. She tensed, then shuddered. 

Tarot heard another tongue lapping. Grape sniffed out air, Peanut not wasting a second to dig in. 

“Look at them, too,” Grape said. “You get enough time there.”

Peanut spoke into her muff, but Tarot couldn’t make it out. Grape sighed, ears falling. Her smell mixed with theirs. Floorboards squeaked below. “Oh, hey, definitely-not-an-FBI-agent. Come sit with us.”

Peanut's licking stopped. Sabrina slowed down. She looked over Tarot like a piece of freshly caught tuna. She rubbed Tarot’s inner labia, pushing fingers in. And that’s where they stayed. Despite all the push and pull of her tongue, release still eluded Tarot. For now, she just appreciated Sabby’s digits. She tried not to move, but the paper bag fell down anyway.

“Party foul,” Sabrina murmured, spreading Tarot wide.

If any of them wanted, they could look inside her vagina now. Tarot tried to say sorry, but the joy of exposure stole her voice away. She wanted everyone, right then.

Sabby chuckled. She got on top of Tarot. Tarot was frozen, just breathing. Sabrina fell in and kissed her, earning murmurs from their audience. “Thanks for helping us loosen up, Tarot.”

“What’d I do?” Tarot asked, voice barely back.

Sabrina pressed their lower bellies close. “Don’t play modest with me. Hold still.”

Sabby weaved their legs together just so. Tarot had the strangest sensation she was about to feel a dick push into her. Instead, there was smooth, slippery heat. Their labias slipped side to side, giving more moisture to her whole crotch. It felt like teasing if not for Sabrina's body heat, the delightful sound it made. Her pussy fit to the curves of Tarot’s mound better than oral, fully touching, trading pure need. Once the sensation stabilized, pleasure pulsed out in waves that soaked Tarot's tail. Sabby’s labia touched her clit. Sabrina holding one leg, their fur rubbed, humping Tarot with one hard press. Tarot moaned. She was taken to those days with the toy play, but now it was real, silky hot. Sabby gave her eye contact, mating her crotch with hers in forceful slips, soft sucking noises, strings of arousal leaking away.

Panting, unable to find something worth holding onto, she gave in to vocalizing. It was all so much tighter and closer than she imagined. She pressed back, searching for the sweet scent in the little hills and valleys. With just the right motion, she ground against Sabrina’s labia, riding the spark of sensitivity, urging them closer.

“Ahh! Hhha!” Tarot moaned.

Sabrina dropped down, fingering her, nibbling her neck. Tarot squeezed her legs around Sabby, bringing her close. Their crotches met. Sabby mated her for all it was worth, urging the last drips of her orgasm out. Tarot closed her eyes, focusing on how Sabby still slipped despite her climax. This was for both of them. All of them. Faps and fingers rubbing, comments on what they were seeing. Somehow, she forgot to feel ashamed. She grinned up at Sabby.

Sabrina clutched Tarot’s boobs. “You liked that?” she asked. 

Tarot trembled. “Yeah. You’re giving me ideas again.”

“Wanna go again?”

“No you’re not,” Fido said. “I had dibs. But uh.”

“Oh right,” Sabrina said. “Fidy wanted slightly more privacy.”

“Who’s Fidy?” Grape asked. “I have to admit, that was surprisingly captivating. I guess he can live.”

“Aww,” Peanut said.

“Shhh,” Sabby said. “Let’s go make a mess in Tarot’s room.”

Tarot didn’t bother asking why her room and not any other. She’d deal with it later. 

“Wait,” Fido said.

Grape was halfway down the attic ladder. She tilted her head. Peanut’s bag was similarly askew.

“I was thinking, if you guys wanted to stay. No reason to break up the mood. I just don’t want to be the focus.”

“Do I dare ask what would be the focus?” Sabrina asked.

Fido turned his head towards Max and back. He swallowed.

“Oh no,” Max said. “No no no. I was horny when I said that. I want a reroll.”

“You don’t get to reroll life, Maxy,” Grape said.

“Then I want a takeback!”

“I was just,” Fido said, cheeks getting more color. “You don’t have to do anything with my girlfriend. I’m sure you and Grape could… I don’t know.”

Sabrina was still on Tarot, chest jiggling in a chuckle but with no sound coming out. Her crotch still leaked on hers.

“We can make that work,” Grape said. She hugged Max from behind, feeling up his lithe chest. “But you have to be the center of attention, okay?”

Max looked over at her and Sabby from the corner of his eye. “Okay.”

Fido bent down and grabbed Sabby, unweaving her from Tarot. Sabby kicked her legs out, giggling, pussy drooling. 

“You did such a good job,” he muttered into her ear. “Where’d I get a girlfriend so sexy?”

Sabrina laughed. “Let me go!”

He eased her to her feet. They kissed.

Sabrina met the others a few paces away, sitting beside Peanut in front of Grape and Max. Grape stayed behind Max’s back. 

“As sleazy salesmen, your most important ability is how well you can sell a pen-…-is. A penis. So watch and learn,” Grape said. She took hold of Max between his legs, hiding away his ballsack in her paw. Red slid from his sheath. “For five-ninety-nine, you too can enjoy some of the best dick available. Get this: spines are already included in your purchase, cats and curious canines! And that’s not all! Also included in your purchase is the cat the penis is attached to. Funny, charming, humble, great in bed, and just look at this belly.”

Fido sat down beside Tarot, taking off his bag. Tarot struggled up from the pillows. 

“Hey, thanks,” he whispered.

“What for?”

“Making me do this.”

Tarot shrugged. “I really don’t know if I did much.”

“You and Sabby listened.”

She looked him over. He didn’t seem like the type to want a kiss on the lips from his girlfriend’s something-or-other. She pecked his shoulder. 

He smiled. “We don’t have to hook up, by the way.

“Fido, if there’s one thing I've been trying out with friends, it’s hooking up with them.”

Fido raised his eyebrows for a split-second, coughing. “Fair enough,” he said. “That reminds me. I wanted to ask you something. Was it hard getting used to Grape and Peanut being a thing?”

“No,” Tarot said, blushing. “I was into that.”

“Well. I can’t play totally innocent. You and Sabby mating like that is pretty exciting.”

Tarot tucked her legs in, glancing down. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

Fido’s paws stayed in his lap, his sheath getting ever more tantalizing. But he seemed to be an expert at not noticing these things. Tarot did her best to put up with it. Max was already at full mast.

“What does it feel like for you?” Fido said. “Just having sex for fun?”

Tarot shook her head clear. She looked up at the rafters. “I’m pretty bad at that concept. That's how it starts I guess. Just fun.”

Fido watched her, ears attuned. She continued.

“But then you have a thought, like, oh, I really want to kiss this person. And you know you should probably talk about it. And eventually you do. But even if you’re on one-hundred-percent the same page, you still think about it.”

Tarot hesitated. “None of us like Pete and Dragon, but you do need faith sometimes. You have to believe pets feel how they say, even when you’re not totally positive about your own feelings. And sometimes it’s easy. But maybe sex together will never feel totally natural. I’d be kidding myself if hooking up with Max or Sabby felt natural. So I don’t know. I guess you keep trying, and trying, and trying. And you don’t worry if it feels exactly like how you imagine it’s supposed to feel. You just make sure all the highs and lows are still positive-sum.”

Fido smiled more as she talked, till she was smiling back. “I like that,” he said. “I spent a long time worrying about nature when me and Sabby were… You know. Bino and the others. It was difficult. I’m just glad we kept trying. I think that worry can get smaller over time.”

Tarot nodded, swallowing. Her paws closed in on herself, feeling the wetness of her inner thighs. 

“So really,” Fido said, leaning against her. “Thanks.”

“No problem, Fido,” Tarot said, stiff.

Sabrina reached up, wrapping a paw around Max’s bits. Grape nuzzled his neck, eyes closed.

Fido looked with her, then looked Tarot over. “I don’t want to go out on a limb here, but.” 

 Holding his gaze, she reached for him. She wrapped her fingers around his dick, sliding down, nodding back. “Want me to get a condom on you?”

She eased onto her back, bringing Fido between her legs. He rubbed up against her slippery folds, then grabbed his dick. She nodded. He pushed his first few inches in.

“Oh wow. You beautiful dog,” Fido breathed.

Tarot rubbed his arms. “How does it feel?” she asked.

It took him a few slow pushes to make room for himself. Her walls relaxed, hugging his shaft. Fido held in a grunt, clearly thinking something was funny. “I could give you compliments the whole time if you want. I’ll do it.”

“You should save some for your girlfriend,” Tarot said, trying not to laugh.

“You both deserve them after that last performance,” Fido said. “I can feel how hot you guys were.” He stalled out. “Actually, could you scooch up on that pillow a bit?”

Fido held her legs as she repositioned, relieving pressure on her labia, leaving smooth fullness all the way in. Last time they had sex, she was too distracted to really enjoy having a new canine's shaft in her. His dick was nice and wide, and he still had some to push in, ready to poke close to her limits. She never got a chance to tie with him. This wouldn't be it, either. Still, the thought sat there: Fido panting, staying deep, waiting for permission. She grunted, head falling back.

“You good?” Fido asked.

“Just super turned on by you,” Tarot said.

“Oh,” Fido said.

It didn’t take much more encouragement. Fido built up his confidence by watching her break down, his casual demeanor turning to enthusiasm. He thrusted. Warmth came in all directions. Warmth brought sensitivity. Fido was used to mating a feline who liked it rough. He had no difficulty working his hips down to hers without losing speed, spreading her and pushing through all the wetness of hers and Sabby’s orgasms. His tail brushed against her knees with every stroke. Together, they could pant. Fido pushed her down into the pillows, grinding his hips to hers. His balls pressed up to all the wetness. She listened, his knot slowly growing, pushing through. It was hard not to yelp, relieved, delighted, when he slipped it all in, giving her a wet smack. She let out a throaty moan instead.

“Fido!” she breathed.

He pushed out, her labia bulging, releasing. She wanted him all the way back in again, but she still enjoyed rubbing on all the rest of his dick. He was so strong, his paws gripping her arms. Pleasure urged for further pleasure. But she managed to interrupt. 

“Fido,” she panted. 

“Yeah?” he said.

“Where do you want to finish? My butt?”

Fido’s humps were electrified, knot pressing halfway in. “Your butt?”

She could barely answer. “Oh my—If you want!”

“Right now?” he asked.

She nodded, panting. She clenched as he pulled out. Fido moaned. With her gaze fixed on him, she rubbed her labia, pushing fingers in. Once soaked, she used that paw on her butt. Fido stroked himself, panting, watching her work herself up. She grabbed his dick, taking off the condom, rubbing in moisture.

“Go slow.”

“Yeah.”

He rubbed an inch up her tail's base. His tip was warm on her tailhole, pushing against it, bare and carnal. It didn't take much more effort before she stretched around. Tarot dug her claws into the blanket below. She strained, wiggling her hips, trying to relax the right muscles. Fido didn't let up, always pressing back. 

“You goddess,” Fido panted.

Rubbing her clit, her eyes were half-open. Fido watched for signs to stop his slow humps: pulling back, rocking deeper and deeper. She kept nodding, but never quite in the same motion, losing control of things. She could take it. Not all of it, but enough to make Fido moan low. He twitched once deep in her ass. He held down on her shoulders and pushed close. He shared her air, panting together. His knot pressed to her body, warmed by her pussy leaking on him, her wet tail below. Tarot’s mouth hung open, wagging her tail, rocking his balls. One more hard, deep hump made Tarot howl. She burned, but it stopped mattering. She pulsed on her fingers so much it became part of the experience. He grunted. He pumped his knot against her butt, finally stopping, stretching her, staying there.

“Hhha-my dog,” he moaned.

“Cumming?” Tarot said, perking up.

“Y-Yeah. Mm! Dog. Seems we may have attracted attention.”

“Sorry,” Sabrina said.

Tarot felt his tension, not ready for him to leave. She grabbed the back of Fido’s knot. He squirmed. He swelled in her paw, hot. His dick tensed, pulsing hard. Fido whimpered, ears finally relaxing, accepting.

For their audience, Tarot tried to get all of Fido’s release squeezed into her butt. She fingered herself, allowing her eyes to drift. The others all sat around on pillows, catching gazes. She watched Peanut’s dick grow. Peanut sat cross-legged, pumping his fingers in Sabrina. Sabby must have bought Max. Max's legs fought, shifting open and closed, shoo-ing her paw away. Insistent, she latched back around. He always took a moment to push her away again.

“Max, do you need some help?” Tarot asked.

“N-No, I’m having a–having a good time.”

“Max wants to be where Fido is,” Sabby said.

“No! Well, yes, but.”

“Try anything once,” Tarot said.

Fido pressed tight, biting back a moan. “This feels great, but aren’t you sore?”

“I've been doing things to her butt all week. She’s ready.”

Tarot didn’t deny it. Fido pulled out, looking with some satisfaction at all he left behind. Max took Fido's place in one fluid motion. His balls came to rest on her tail, tapered penis pointing up from her crotch. He pressed his thumb against her labia, shifting his sheath up against the sticky cum covering her tail. He hummed. He slipped into her vagina without any adjustments. They were face-to-face. Fully buried, his sheath tingled on her labia. Tarot grinned back. He paused, looking sheepish only now. Their friendship earned him some wiggle room as far as she was concerned. “I really just like this,” he said. “You feel amazing.”

“You can sodomize me some other time. Whatever you like.”

“You’ve been mating with us all night,” Max said. “You should be the one asking. Anything you want.”

All she wanted was for them all to be having fun together. She already got that. She hatched an idea. The first thing that came to mind.

“I want you to mate me as rough as you want. And I want Sabby to sit on my face.”

Max blushed, muttering. “I just had to say ‘anything.’”

“Mmm!” Sabrina sat up. She eased herself off Peanut’s dick. He looked too big for her, but she left behind a sheen on most of his shaft. Drooling fluids slipped from her crease to the floor. Tarot salivated so hard it hurt. Fido stayed close, absentmindedly playing with her boobs. She rubbed his sheathed penis. She regretted not bringing in Peanut, but she wanted to save him. He was panting, unbelievably built-up, his balls ready to overflow at any moment. Grape was there to keep him company. With some luck, he could hold on a few more minutes.

Deep black came for Tarot. Heavy thighs pressed to her face. The scent of half their partners hung there on Sabby’s pussy, completely overloading her ability to appreciate it. Tarot squeezed her legs around Max. He didn’t need another reminder. His spines found all the right itches to scratch, hips moving in humps invisible to Sabrina. Sabrina shifted to come to rest right on Tarot’s mouth. Her taste was pure need: the combination of urges from their whole night. She pressed up hard, spreading Sabrina’s labia on her tongue, slobber running down. 

Sabrina murmured something, wiggling her butt in place. Fido squeezed Tarot’s breast. Max let out a moan. He thrusted more purposefully, fully hilting himself every time. Tarot sought out every hidden crease of Sabby’s pussy, imagining how Max must have looked with Sabby there. But she felt no reservations. Max's spines forever stole her attention from Sabby’s pussy. He took her over with his shameless pleasure. She lifted her hips up and met his thrusts, tiny drops splattering her legs. Max let out a moan, delighted, stopping just to grind deep. He pulled back, thrusting in, his dick harder than ever. He didn’t let up.

He moaned unrestrained. “Uuh! Tarot! Your pussy is! Ahh-hh-hh!”

Max slammed hips up against hers, jostling her position under Sabby. Cum slipped over his spines, dulling their lovely ache. When he calmed, Max started to pull away. Tarot humped closer, squeezing Sabby’s butt, urging him to let her enjoy both their company a while longer. She reached a paw out in search of Fido.

“Hhhhu,” Sabrina sighed, her tail brushing Tarot’s head. “I think she liked it. Fido, give her your dick back.”

Tarot got her paw around him. She swept over Sabby's mound, her labia tensing, urging out fresh arousal. She’d already gotten all of Peanut and Fido’s scents out of her, now only tasting the subtlety of her musk. Her tongue found Sabrina’s fingers touching herself, so she focused lower, lapping her equally tender butt. Sabby trembled, rubbing quickly. “Mmmmhh.”

Sabby pressed back. Her orgasm leaked down to her tongue. Time disappeared again, clenching on Max, squeezing Fido’s knot. Maintaining pleasure brought more of her partners' release in. Sabby’s wet paw bumping into hers, she helped with Fido. She heard the two kiss. Fido grunted. An arc of cum warmed her breasts. Pressing her thumb up Sabby’s wet butt, she pulled Sabby up, letting in light. Like all the times before, she had to resist making out for too long with Sabby’s labia, beautifully supple after climax. She released Max’s hips, and the two assisted each other off Tarot. Tarot took some time to try to wipe the cum off her chest.

“What did I hear you say about her pussy?” Sabrina asked.

Max scampered from her outstretched paw. “Hey!”

“You’re supposed to focus on the person,” Sabrina said.

“Says the one going for my dick.”

“I saw where you were looking!”

Max paused and scratched the back of his head. “You’re right. Tarot makes me really excited.”

“She’s good,” Fido said.

“Can’t pretend I didn't like seeing you either, Max,” Sabby said, rubbing her lips together. 

“Oh. So… we’re even then?”

Sabrina gave Tarot eyes. Tarot urged her on.

“I think we’ll be fine.”

Tarot turned her head the other way. Grape and Peanut were looking straight at her, Grape stroking his penis, his wet rod reflecting the glow of candlelight. Her strokes were tiny, moving her digits more than her whole paw. Peanut panted, straining like he might pass out from the effort of staying contained. 

“You exhausted?” Sabrina asked Maxwell.

“I mean. Grape and I might wanna, you know,” Max said.

“No, you should have sex with her,” Grape said.
“What about you? Peanut? Fido?” Max said.

Grape shrugged. “We'll be fine.”

Max spoke just as Sabrina lowered down. “Okay-y-y.”

Tarot propped herself up on her arms, enjoying Max’s face making a wide range of shapes. Sabrina moved slowly. Max was too exhausted to do much more than hold Sabby’s head. Max met Tarot’s eyes for a second, sticking his tongue out. Sabrina pushed her head down all the way to his sticky sheath, and he went back to making faces.

Peanut knelt beside Tarot, similarly entranced. Her precognition had dissipated, now. That didn’t bother her. It was clear as anything she was going to have sex with Peanut. But picking the right moment was important, as much as she wanted to climb onto Peanut right that instant.

Grape kept Fido’s attention. Just chatting, but the ease of conversation was hard to ignore. Tarot worried Grape wouldn’t be able to keep her secret. But with a blink, that worry was as gone as her future sight. Grape was a force. She’d do the right thing.

“Peanut?” Tarot said. She couldn’t keep her voice level. She might as well have been begging.

“Sex time?” Peanut asked.

She laughed, not able to think why it was so funny. She spread her legs. Her sex had the gleam of her passion, of everyone else’s. “Uh-huh.”

Peanut didn’t waver in his gaze. She thought about looking for a condom until she remembered. Her heart picked up. The reality of their bodies coming together, the uncertainty of everything. She tried to remember what the fake King talked about, but she was losing details. It was already so confusing. King said it was important not to think about it. She didn’t know what that meant, but she tried. She sat up.

“You okay?” Peanut asked.

She put a paw on his hip, leaning close. “Are you sure we’ve talked about it enough?” she whispered.

Peanut nodded. “I was thinking about it for half the trip.”

She held her breath. “You’re sure? We’re both horny, maybe we should—”

Peanut kissed her, long and gentle. His lips tasted so sweet. She’s gotten on his lap without noticing. Pulling her lips back, she looked away. “Making out isn’t a substitute for serious discussion,” she murmured.

His tail still thumped the floor. “Sorry, I couldn't help it.”

“No, it's okay, I,” Tarot said. “I’m not ready, and that’s okay.”

Peanut looked down. “Oh. So...”

“You’re right, that was confusing,” she whispered. “Um. Do you want more boy pups or girls?”

Peanut let out a little gasp. He turned his head away, blinking. He held her shoulders. “I couldn’t decide. I think boys,” he said. Tears welled on the corners of his eyes. Tarot kissed those tears away. He kissed her back, squeezed her close. He brushed his paws over her, taking her breasts. A firm clutch from him and she couldn’t take it any longer. 

Tarot fell back to the pillows and pulled Peanut in close. Peanut pushed his bare dick in. They inhaled. Tarot tucked her legs up, giving him plenty of room to sink deep. All the arousal and cum gushed around Peanut's cock, his knot pressing to her. She had never taken his width so quickly, so prepared for him to keep moving after one thrust. She huffed. Peanut murmured back, his face ridiculous in his pleasure. Squeezing his shoulder, she nodded. Peanut rocked his hips side-to-side against hers, kissing her neck so hard his teeth pressed to her. He stretched her, getting her more ready than she thought possible. He pulled back through streaks of white, thumping back in. Tarot hummed low, awash in satisfaction, holding him so close in her walls. She bit the edge of her lip. Intent was on his face. With long strokes, he filled her with his shaft, his knot growing, smacking. She couldn’t stop trembling. His balls soaked through, pressing to her crotch, pulling back with slippery strings. She was getting lost to it. Infinite possibility, no need for control. Peanut jerked his knot against her, slipping deeper and stretching her labia, extending the fullness.

“Tie me!” Tarot whispered.

Peanut inhaled, slowing. He smiled, looking away. “I think we can enjoy this part a little longer.”

His knot rubbed on her clit. She squirmed, hoping he’d give in. But Peanut was so confident. Her chest fluttered. She could hold on if he could. “Okay,” she said.

Peanut murmured, closing his eyes. He rocked his hips, indulging in her. “You feel extra nice. We should have Max cum in you more often.”

Tarot squeaked quietly.

Peanut humped her nice and hard. Tarot struggled to hold enough of his body. She was exhausted from the others, so ready for Peanut to add to the mess. His knot kept her on edge. Never so prepared for his tie. To be bred. She couldn't find words. Yips and grunts were all she had. The others’ noises added to the chaos. She couldn't tell who was having sex, who was watching them. His bare heat, his width. Even after everything, he might have been too big for her, especially with how he grew. She came, shuddering under his humps. Peanut grit his teeth, slowing. Barely keeping her eyes open, she put a paw on his butt. He stalled out, panting.

“Waited too long,” Peanut said.

“No, no.”

He tilted his head. She pulled on his butt and strained her hips up, taking him a little deeper. He moaned.

Peanut pulled back most of the way. Fluids drooled off his dick, the splatter warm on her fur. Tarot looked between her legs, seeing his red bulb. She met his eyes and nodded. He pushed hard back into her. They moaned. He went again, struggling against her labia.

She pressed her snout to his. “I can take it,” she murmured.

He tried again, giving a deep hump. His balls thumped her, knot grinding so close. But not quite. He gave up on individual strokes. He mated her unrestrained. The sounds didn’t stop, fluids slipping a million ways. She felt his eagerness, his paws clenching back at hers, hot breaths shared between their faces, unable to kiss. Peanut shifted his weight, stretching her all too tight. He pushed hard, squishing her flat to the pillow, his balls heavy against her soaking fur. Pressing, pressing. She couldn't keep quiet.

“Ahh! Ah! AH!"

Peanut sank his knot in. The ache was gone. The fullness extended.

“Oh my dog!” Peanut said. He humped her like it was their last ever chance. His dick pulsed. His hips fit unbelievably snug between her legs, her tail no longer making his sack sway. His knot grew tight. She orgasmed around it.

When they could kiss, they did, otherwise breathing. She had nothing to say, enjoying the nothing between them. She felt relieved. Peanut hugged her, getting her on top without a word. Her tail wagged freely, Fido’s cum still leaking down, mixing with cum from Max that coated their crotches. But it occurred to her she didn’t know if Peanut had ejaculated. Magic somehow prevented Peanut’s release last time, if that had even happened at all.

Max grunted loud, pulling Tarot’s thoughts away. Lying down, he dug his claws into the fur on the back of Sabby’s head. Grape lay beside him, blushing and lips parted, similarly holding Fido down. Max and Grape kissed. It was hard for Tarot to look away.

Then Tarot felt it. Warmth emanated inside, deep. She clenched on Peanut, and another pulse added to the warmth.

“Ah!”

She squirmed in delight, tugging gently. Her labia stretched, bulging out on his knot. She sighed. So much warmth, so many pulses. Peanut grunted, pushing her hips back down, spurting in deeper. 

She clutched him back.

By Taro

This was usually the time when she thought about the next sexual journey. Their friends, the tie, made it an easy place to go. But she wasn't feeling it. Partner choice and positions. Where and how. It all seemed small. 

She thought she’d feel worried. All that very real warmth pooling in her, conception suddenly a possibility. But she’d already done so much thinking. They both had.

No. There was nowhere to be, nothing to think about. Peanut petted her back, nuzzled her head. Tarot found a comfortable place to lie. She held his chest and closed her eyes, nose in his fur.