WARNING: This story may contain content of an adult nature. If you are easily offended or are under the legal age to view adult content in your area, please exit now. This text is intended for adults only and may include scenes of sexual content or graphic violence. Reader discretion is advised.

Revelations by IndigoNeko

Chapter 38 – The Storm Breaks

Saturday, June 27th, 2015

“So, how was the movie?” an athletic tigress in a black dress asked, holding the theater door open for a moment as her daughter Alex and her daughter’s friend Elizabeth followed her outside.

“It was okay,” the younger tigress said, stopping for a moment once they were outside to adjust the brace on hir leg. “I still think we should have gone to see the dinosaurs, though,” shi added, smoothing down hir skirt as shi stood back up.

“I liked it, Mrs. Andreyev,” the little stoat said, twirling around to make her brand new pink dress flutter. “I felt bad for Riley though. It must be terrible, having to move to another state and leave your friends behind.”

“It is pretty terrible,” Raenne confirmed as they walked towards the Bridgeport parking garage. “I lived in Camden, New Jersey up until I was eighteen, and had a few friends in school. Then I joined the Army and got shipped out to Fort Jackson, leaving all my friends behind. At first it was miserable, not knowing anyone and having nobody to talk to, but eventually I started talking to the other people I was with in the Army and found a few people that I liked. Everyone is a potential friend. You just don’t know if they’re someone you’ll want to be friends with until you talk with them,” the older tigress explained as they made their way up the stairs to the second floor of the garage, where she had parked.

As they approached the black Nissan Murano, Raenne tapped the key fob, unlocking the vehicle. The two cubs pulled open the back seats and crawled in while she got into the driver’s seat, taking a moment to fit her tail into the gap between the cushions. As she started the car and waited for the cubs to get their seatbelts on, she continued where she had left off: “Your dad went through the same thing, kiddo. When he was a kid he had to move a lot. Eventually he stopped trying to make friends, and became very lonely. But you don’t have to be lonely. You can always just call each other on the phone, or play video games together, like that Minecraft game you like to play. Moving isn’t the end of the world, okay?”

“You say that like we’re moving,” Alex said with a frown as the SUV pulled out of the parking garage, heading out of Bridgeport Village.

“Remember how we were discussing moving to another school district or homeschooling you two weeks ago, kiddo?” Raenne asked ominously.

“Yeah,” Alex replied nervously.

Elizabeth looked back and forth between the two tigers, not liking where this conversation was going at all.

“Well, your dad just got a job in Colorado. As soon as the house is sold, we’ll be moving,” the tigress quietly said.

Alex felt like hir stomach flipped upside down. For a moment shi thought shi was going to puke and clamped hir mouth shut. A sudden chill went through hir entire body, like hir veins had turned to ice, and hir heart started pounding in hir chest.

“Where’s Colorado?” Elizabeth said. To Alex the voice sounded far away and muffled, though the little stoat was sitting not three feet away.

“In the middle, next to Kansas,” Alex whispered, remembering the map they’d had to memorize a few months ago. Shi didn’t know what to say or do, could barely even breath. Shi tried to fix that, concentrating on breathing in and out, mouth hanging open.  Shi felt Lizzy’s paw touch hirs, and grasped it like a lifeline, holding it tight as shi felt tears begin to slip from hir eyes.

__________________________________________________

A japanese macaque squeezed the clutch and feathered the brake on his Honda Rebel as he came to a halt in front of the wrought iron gate that blocked access to the Stouffer family’s estate. He flipped up the visor on his helmet and leaned over, holding the button marked ‘Buzzer’ for a second. A moment later the gate began moving to one side, sliding through the gutter that guided it’s path.

Once the gate had a wide enough gap for him to get his motorcycle through, he eased off the clutch and twisted the throttle a bit, guiding the bike forward. As he passed through the gate, he noticed that there was a matching gap in the thick cement walls that the gate would fit into when closed; apparently the gate was functional as well as decorative.

Curiously, the walls were only about ten feet tall; not nearly high enough to keep a determined thief out. The monkey wondered why someone would build gated walls that were clearly intended to keep things out, but not tall enough to stop a determined individual from climbing over. As he brought his little motorcycle around to the front steps, he tried to put the thought out of his mind, coming to a stop and pushing down the kickstand while hitting the engine cutoff switch. He took off his helmet and hung it on the handlebars; nobody would be able to steal the bike. Maybe that was the reason for the walls.

Still, he couldn’t get it out of his mind. He swung his legs over and off the bike, brushed off his khakis, then turned around and glanced at the wall, noting the columns every so often that stood almost a foot higher than the rest of the wall. A tiny spot near the top of one of them glinted in the sunlight. A camera? Maybe it was a laser tripwire like a garage door had.

The monkey was suddenly brought out of his reverie by the door opening behind him, and he turned around. Charlotte was standing in the doorway, wearing a cute teal-colored blouse and plaid skirt. The doberman was looking at him with her head tilted slightly, clearly puzzled.

“Sorry,” he apologized, turning around and climbing up the steps. “Just wondering why there’s a wall. It’s the only house I’ve ever seen with anything more than a picket fence.”

“Oh,” Charlotte said, stepping back to let the monkey inside. “Mr. Stouffer likes his privacy. He had the house built about a year after Elizabeth was born. Spared no expense on the security system, and put in a lot of conveniences like automatic doors and the elevator I showed you,” she explained, closing and locking the door before pointing out a small panel with a keypad on the wall next to it. There was a small red light in the bottom corner that turned from red to green as they watched. The teenaged doberman reached over and flipped open the cover under the keypad, revealing dozens of little green lights. Each row of lights had a small label next to it: walls, gates, doors, windows 1, windows 2, windows 3.

“Fancy,” Hikari said. “There’s sensors on the walls or something?”

“Yeah,” Charlotte confirmed. “Occasionally birds will trip the sensors. Feral birds, I mean,” she clarified, flipping the cover closed and walking over to the stairs. “The sensors and exterior cameras are all monitored by one of those security companies; I can’t remember the name. They’ve only called us once, to let us know that one of the neighborhood kids climbed up onto the wall.”

Hikari followed the doberman up the stairs. “So where are Mr. and Mrs. Stouffer?”

“I think they were playing tennis earlier in the backyard. They might be downstairs now; they spent a lot of time down there when Elizabeth isn’t home. There’s a wet bar and lounge in the basement,” Charlotte explained as they reached the second floor landing, turning left towards her bedroom and the guest room that sat over the living room and garage.

“Seeing this kind of place makes me wish I had money,” Hikari said, following the doberman into her room. 

“Meh. By the time we’re as old as Mr. Stouffer is, we’ll probably have money too. He’s nearly fifty now,” Charlotte said, sitting down on her bed. “He’s got a lot of salt in his fur if you look for it. He got lucky in the dot-com boom, back in the late nineties.”

“That explains it, I guess. My dad lost everything in the dot-com bust, shortly after I was born. If he didn’t have a kid to deal with, he might have tried imitating superman off a tall building. He’s only barely managed to make it to where he was before, and he refuses to touch the stock market now. To be honest, I don’t blame him,” Hikari said, walking over to the bookshelves once again and going over the manga that Charlotte had.

“That’s rough,” Charlotte said, not knowing what to say to that.

“Eh... life isn’t fair; you just play the hand you're dealt as best you can. Which reminds me,” the monkey said, turning to look at Charlotte as he remembered how badly she’d been injured, “how’s your muzzle doing?”

“Still sore,” the teenaged doberman said, watching as Hikari stepped back around the bed, looking at her face. She leaned backwards a bit as he leaned close, clearly inspecting the ridges along the top of her muzzle where the surgical plates were under her skin.

“Damn. I can’t even see where they put the plates in; no surgical incisions or nothing. Once you get those plates out you’ll be just as beautiful as before,” he said, not even realizing he was giving a complement.

“Thanks,” Charlotte said, blushing slightly under her fur. “The surgeon did the incisions inside my gums.”

“Smart,” the monkey said, leaning back again. “So... Manga? Or Anime?” he asked, pulling his hand out of his pocket and holding up a thumb drive.

Charlotte raised an eyebrow, wondering what he had on the thumb drive. “Well, since Elizabeth isn’t here, and we’ve got a few hours until Julia goes to pick her up, we can go watch anime on the big TV downstairs.”

“Sounds like a plan to me. Do you like rom-coms?” he asked, as if daring her to say no.

“I love them!” Charlotte replied.

Hikari smiled. “Have you seen ‘Ore Monogatari’?”

Charlotte shook her head slowly.

“It came out earlier this year. It’s supposed to be a completely different twist on rom-coms, so I’m not sure we’ll like it, but all the reviews are good. If you can hook your laptop up to the TV, I’ve got the fansubs on my thumb drive here,” Hikari said, holding out the small device. 

“Sweet,” Charlotte said, taking the USB drive and walking over to snag her laptop and an HDMI cable from her desk drawer.

“So... I take it that Elizabeth is the Stouffers’ kid?” Hikari asked as he followed Charlotte out of her room.

“Yeah,” the doberman confirmed. “She’s an absolute doll. Cutest little kid I’ve ever met. Just finished fourth grade.”

“Huh. After that stuff with Diego happened, I told Sensei Raenne about it. She nearly got me thinking she was omniscient or something, ‘cause she already knew about it. Then she explained that her kid was friends with the Stouffers’ kid, and that’s how she knew. Up until then I didn’t even know that she had a kid,” he said.

Charlotte smiled. “Yeah. Elizabeth and Alexandrea have been best friends for years. They’re practically joined at the hips; they alternate whose house they stay at every weekend. Apparently they’ve decided they’re dating each other now,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“Little lesbians, huh? That’s kind of cute,” Hikari said, realizing as he said it that it might not be appropriate. “Sorry... that was probably out of line. I apologize.”

“It’s okay. And they’re not really lesbians; Alexandrea is a hermaphrodite,” Charlotte said as they reached the ground floor.

“Really?” Hikari asked, eyebrows going up near his hairline. “That’s rare. Lucky kid.”

“Not so much, actually,” Charlotte disagreed. “Apparently shi was harassed for it during the last two weeks of school when some kids found out shi’s not a girl. First shi got hir clothes torn off, then the next week a group of fifth-graders kicked the crap out of hir; broke hir ribs and put hir in the emergency room. This was while shi still had a broken leg from a snowboarding accident too. I wouldn’t have thought anyone would pick on a kid with a broken leg. They’re doing time in juvie for it though, like Diego is.”

Hikari didn’t even realize how mad that made him until he felt his fingernails digging into his palms. “I hope shi’s okay. Sensei didn’t tell any of us about that. I guess that explains why they’re leaving,” he said, forcing himself to relax.

The doberman came to a halt as his words struck home, and she turned around to face him, eyes wide. “Leaving?”

The monkey nodded. “Yeah. Sensei told me yesterday during the tournament. Said she’d be leaving the dojo in a month or two. I figured that meant she was going to be moving.”

“Oh God. Elizabeth’s going to cry buckets when she finds out,” Charlotte said, looking down at the floor. “Poor kid. Guess I’ll have to play big sis until she gets over it.”

“You’re a good person, Charlotte,” Hikari said, smiling.

“Well, I try to be,” the teenaged canine said with a sigh. Charlotte turned back around and hooked her laptop up to the TV and stuck the USB drive in. She raised her eyebrows upon realizing that there were over a hundred gigabytes of anime sitting on the drive, scrolling down the list of folders until she found the one he’d mentioned. After opening the folder and clicking on the first episode, she made sure it was full screen and the sound was up before sitting down on the overstuffed couch. 

Hikari joined her a moment later, taking a seat a few feet away. Since his friends preferred action and drama, he didn’t get a chance to watch comedy very often, much less romantic comedy. Hopefully this would be a nice change of pace.

__________________________________________________

Raenne sighed as she hung the house keys on the hook next to the front door, watching the two cubs slowly make their way upstairs. They had both been completely silent on the way home except for nearly constant sniffles. Both of them were a mess; they’d cried the whole way home, as if they’d been handed a death sentence. The older tigress shook her head and walked down the hallway to the kitchen. There was prep work for tonight’s dinner that she still had to do.

Elizabeth walked into Lexi’s bedroom and hopped up on the bed, laying back with a thump. “Mom said she’d come pick me up at around seven, so we’ve got... three hours?”

“Yeah,” Alex replied quietly, from the bathroom as shi popped a pill out of the small blister and filled a glass of water to wash it down with. A moment later shi walked into the bedroom and sat down next to Elizabeth. Both hir chest and right leg were aching something fierce. Walking around Bridgeport for an hour had been a bit too much for hir first time out since having the cast removed, though shi would never admit it.

Elizabeth sat up, looking on with interest as Alex carefully undid all the straps on hir boot and then gingerly pulled hir leg out of it. 

“So how much longer do you need to wear that thing?” the little stoat asked.

“Doctor Nez said another month,” Alex said with another sigh, this time of exasperation. Shi was going to be much more careful not to break any bones in the future; three months without playing outdoors was utterly miserable. Not to mention the constant ache for the first month.

Elizabeth flopped backwards again, staring up at the ceiling.

“You’re not going to fall asleep again, are you?” the little stoat asked with trepidation.

“No. Those were Tylenol pills,” Alex replied, carefully laying back against the pile of pillows. Shi let out another sigh of relief as the ache from hir broken ribs started to fade.

“Oh good,” Elizabeth said, rolling onto her side to look at Lexi... Alex, she mentally corrected herself. 

It was still kind of hard not to think of her best friend as Lexi, so she’d talked to Mother about it. Julia had told her to think of Lexi as ‘Girl-Alexandrea’ and think of Alex as ‘Herm-Alexandrea’. That had helped a lot, since it was almost impossible to forget that Alex was part boy as well.

Alex turned hir head sideways, looking quizzically at Lizzy. “What?”

“I’m going to miss you, Lexi,” the little stoat said sadly.

The young tigress reached over and wrapped hir fingers around Lizzy’s paw. “I’ll miss you too,” Alex replied, feeling tears welling up in hir eyes once again. Shi lifted hir other paw to wipe them away.

Elizabeth let go of her best friend’s paw and climbed up next to Alex, lying against hir side and resting her head on the larger tiger’s shoulder. The young tigress wrapped hir arm around the little stoat, holding hir tight.

__________________________________________________

“Hello, Mrs. Stouffer,” Hikari said, waving at the stoat wearing a tennis outfit standing in the kitchen doorway.

Charlotte turned her head, then hopped up off the couch as she noticed Julia standing in the doorway that led from the living room to the kitchen, walking over to the laptop and hitting the space key to pause the anime they were watching. “What’s up? It wasn’t too loud was it?” the doberman asked.

“Hello Hikari. And no, we couldn’t hear it at all downstairs,” the stoat replied, waving one paw. “I just wanted to ask you a question real quick.”

Charlotte nodded, following Mrs. Stouffer into the kitchen. Julia then leaned close, quietly asking: “Should I ask him if he wants to stay for dinner?”

The doberman’s brow furrowed. “If you’re okay with him staying for dinner, then sure. I’ll just make an extra portion or two.”

“Plus one more. Alex might be coming over tonight,” the stoat said.

“That reminds me... Hikari said Raenne was leaving the dojo. Are they moving?” Charlotte asked.

Julia looked down at the floor and nodded. “Yeah. They told us last night, and Raenne said they were going to tell Alex and Elizabeth today. I’ve got a feeling they’ll want to spend as much time as possible together until Alex moves.”

Charlotte nodded. “Okay then.”

Julia followed Charlotte back into the living room. “Hikari, would you like to stay for dinner?” the stoat asked.

The white-furred monkey looked a bit surprised. “Umm... Sure. I’ll need to call my mom and let her know I won’t be home for dinner though. Thank you,” he said.

“You’re welcome,” Julia replied. “I was just heading out to go pick up my daughter and since Charlotte was planning on doing dinner tonight. Alex may be coming over too.”

“Really? I’ve never actually met my sensei’s kid,” Hikari said.

“Sen-say?” Julia asked. “What’s that mean?”

“It’s the japanese word for teacher,” the monkey explained. “Mrs. Andreyev has been my Karate teacher for like four years now. I just call her sensei out of habit now.”

“Oh. That makes sense,” Julia said, nodding. “Anyway, I’ll be back in about fifteen minutes. Terrence is downstairs, if either of you need anything.”

“Okay,” Charlotte said, watching the stoat head back through the kitchen to the garage. She turned back to Hikari. “I’m going to start dinner. You can watch the last of that episode without me,” she said.

“No way,” Hikari said, standing up and walking over to the kitchen doorway. “Watching anime while you’re fixing me dinner wouldn’t be fair at all. Give me a second to call my mom, then I’ll come help. I love cooking,” he said, pulling out his flip phone.

Charlotte raised her eyes at that. Not only was he fit and smart, he loved anime and cooking. As he lifted the phone to his ear, she smiled, wondering what else they had in common.

Fifteen minutes later, both Hikari and Charlotte were in the kitchen, cooking. “So, once you’ve cut the skin off, just take the cucumber and roll it to the side as you slice, cutting it into sheets,” the monkey said, demonstrating. “Then sprinkle it with a dash of salt. It’s not exactly the same as nori, but it’s got a similar flavor profile so it’ll do in a pinch. It’s great for people who get heartburn from eating sushi, since the nori is usually what causes it. Just lay the cucumber sheets down over the rice, put your fillings on top, then roll it up with the plastic wrapped hand towel. No mat needed.”

“You’re a genius,” Charlotte said, flipping over the salmon fillets in the frying pan sitting on the range. She checked the temperature of the oil in the cast iron skillet. The digital thermometer was reading right around 350 degrees fahrenheit. She carefully picked up a handful of the tempura battered broccoli and carefully deposited them into the oil, watching it bubble.

“Nah, this is an old trick,” Hikari said as he rolled up the second sushi roll. He was kind of surprised that Charlotte had suggested making sushi for dinner, and even more surprised to find they had avocado and imitation crab in the fridge. Apparently Mrs. Stouffer kept a well stocked kitchen. “Do you have any eel sauce?” he asked.

“No, but we have mirin, soy, and sugar. We might have some sake downstairs. Do you need it now or can it wait? I need to watch the veggies,” the doberman replied.

“It can wait. Or... I can watch the veggies if you can see if there’s some sake. Eel sauce takes time to reduce,” he said, turning around and looking at the veggies. 

“Good point. I’ll go see if we have sake while you watch the veggies,” Charlotte said, turning around and walking to the door that led to the basement. She pulled the door open and yelled down the basement stairs. “Mr. Stouffer? Are you down there?”

The ferret looked up from his book, setting down the glass of scotch he’d been sipping. “Indeed. What’s up, dear?”

“You know the bar better than I do. Do we have any japanese sake? Rice wine?” Charlotte asked.

“Pretty sure,” he said, standing up and adjusting his khaki shorts and polo before walking over to the bar. “Yeah, here’s one. ‘g fifty saké’. Want me to bring it up?”

“Please. We need it to make the Eel sauce,” Charlotte explained.

“Eel sauce?” Terrence asked incredulously as he made his way up the stairs. “You want to use a twenty dollar bottle of sake to make Eel sauce?”

Charlotte laughed. “Just a little bit. If you had something cheaper, we’d use that instead.”

“Fair enough,” he said, handing the bottle over as he reached the top of the stairs. “Eel sauce is like sweet teriyaki, right?”

“Exactly. Only it doesn’t have ginger and garlic, so it’s a cleaner flavor profile. Though we’ll be having teriyaki too,” the canine said, taking the bottle and turning around.

“Hmm. Teriyaki salmon?” Terrence asked, sniffing and following the larger canine into the kitchen. “Hello Hikari,” he said when he saw the japanese macaque.

“Hello Mr. Stouffer. I insisted on helping Charlotte fix dinner,” the monkey said, pulling tempura broccoli out of the frying pan with a pair of tongs and setting them on a paper towel.

“That’s certainly fine by me. It smells delicious,” the ferret replied, walking over to the cabinet next to the dishwasher and pulling out a set of plates. As he walked into the dining room to set the table, the doorway to the garage opened and a young tiger wearing a black skirt and white shirt and a medical brace on one leg walked in, followed by a much smaller stoat in a pink dress. Julia walked in last, closing the door behind them.

“Alex, Elizabeth, this is Hikari Arakaki,” Julia said, introducing the two cubs as Hikari turned and waved at them. “Hikari, meet Alexandrea Andreyev and my daughter Elizabeth.”

“Pleased to meet you two,” Hikari said with a short bow. “I’m one of your mother’s Karate students,” he added, meeting the young tiger’s gaze.

“Hello Hikari,” Alex replied, waving back at the japanese macaque.

“So, has your mom taught you any karate yet?” he asked, filling up another sushi roll while Charlotte pulled out a small pot and started mixing the ingredients for eel sauce.

“No. She said she was waiting for me to ask before teaching me. I guess I waited too long though, cause I got beaten up only a couple days later,” Alex replied. “Now I’ve got to wait for my chest to heal before I can start.”

“That’s too bad,” Hikari said, preparing another sushi roll. “Hopefully by the time you know enough to defend yourself, you’ll never need to use it. What about you, Elizabeth; do you ever plan on learning Karate?”

“Mmm... probably not. I’m really small, so I don’t think I’d be good at fighting anyway. I might be good at sneaking up on people and stabbing them in the neck though,” Elizabeth said flippantly.

“Elizabeth!” Julia exclaimed with a shocked expression as Hikari started laughing.

__________________________________________________

Monday, July 13th, 2015

David clicked the disconnect button, ending the grueling three hour long conference call. The last two weeks had been a wonderful vacation, but now it was back to the grindstone... at least for him. His daughter Alex and hir best friend Lizzy were still on summer vacation and were living it up, spending every last minute together either here or at Lizzy’s house, just as they had for the past two weeks straight. He’d have thought they’d get tired of spending time together, but apparently not.

Now that the conference call was over, the white tiger minimized Microsoft Teams, then logged into GitHub with the new company email he’d been given. Low and behold, there were the six different repositories they’d mentioned on the call. Sighing, the white tiger opened a browser window and ran a search for SourceTree, then quickly downloaded the GIT GUI, installing it. While he waited for the installation to finish, he ran another search for the SSH setup and went through all the steps to add the GIT SSH key to the GIT account, then finished the SourceTree installation and fired it up, adding the new GIT login credentials to it. Now that everything was ready, he copied the repository SSH URL from GitHub and created a new repository directory in SourceTree.

Getting everything configured for a new programming job was always tedious. Everyone had a slightly different toolset that they preferred. At least there was one constant with doing iOS development: the only industry standard IDE was XCode. It had a few quirks to it, but for the most part it was a very solid piece of software.

“Dad?”

David turned around. “Yes?” he asked, noticing Elizabeth standing behind his daughter Alex. Both of them were still wearing their pajamas; the little stoat in a nightgown and his daughter wearing one of his old oversized t-shirts.

“I’m going to make us lunch. Do you want anything?” Alex asked.

“Sure. What’s on the menu?” David asked, curious.

“I was thinking... peanut butter, bacon, and banana sandwiches,” the young tiger replied.

David raised an eyebrow, trying not to express his disgust at the idea. “Peanut butter, bacon, and banana sandwiches?”

“Yeah! It’s called an Elvis sandwich,” Elizabeth piped up. “They’re delicious!”

David’s mouth hung open and he felt one of his eyelids twitch. “Ooookay.”

__________________________________________________

Monday, July 20th, 2015

Raenne slipped a bookmark between the two pages and set the murder mystery down on the coffee table as the doorbell rang. The tigress quickly walked down the hallway to the front door and pulled it open. A pair of armadillos wearing jeans and t-shirts were standing next to a real estate agent, a tag with the name “Justine” pinned on her lapel.

“Mrs. Andreyev, I’m Justine Rutherford. We talked on the phone yesterday. This is Mr. and Mrs. Martin, the two people that I mentioned. They’re moving up here from California,” the blue-tongued skink said, introducing the two prospective buyers.

“Please, come in. Come in,” Raenne said, stepping back to let them inside. The house was sparkling clean; ever since they’d put the house on the market, Raenne had been spending at least an hour a day making sure everything was clean and neat. Luckily Alex and Elizabeth were currently over at the Stouffer’s house at the moment. “Would you like anything to drink?”

“No, thank you,” the male armadillo said, looking around the front foyer.

“Very well. I’ll be in the living room if you need anything,” the tigress said, careful not to show her teeth while smiling. She returned to reading her book while the real estate agent let the two armadillos around the house, starting with the kitchen.

Five minutes later, the two armadillos and the blue-tongued skink returned to the living room. “Mrs. Andreyev?” the real estate agent asked.

Raenne put the bookmark back between the pages of her book and set it down. “Yes?”

“I noticed the square footage doesn’t seem to match what we’ve seen so far. Do you have a basement?” the skink said.

“Oh. Yes. We have a small gymnasium down there and an exercise room. It’s all fully finished. Here, I’ll show you,” Raenne said, standing up and walking over to the door to the right of the entertainment center. She pulled it open and walked down the stairs.

The entire area under the kitchen and dining room and part of the living room was a single wide open area with two thick support beams running across the ceiling and most of the floor was covered with thick blue vinyl exercise mats like those found in a school gymnasium or karate dojo. Overhead recessed lighting kept the place well lit, highlighting nearly a hundred Edo-period japanese weapons and hand-painted japanese scrolls that decorated the walls.

“So, here’s the gymnasium. You can turn it into a library or den or whatever. We’ll be taking the mats with us when we move out; it’s polished hardwood underneath the mats,” the tigress said, lifting one of the mats up at the base of the stairs to show the two armadillos who were making their way downstairs. Raenne let the floor mat drop and walked across the mats towards the back of the house.

“The washer, dryer, water heater, and electrical systems are all here underneath the stairwell, in this utility room,” she said, sliding the pocket door to one side to reveal the aforementioned utilities. “There’s a drain in the floor there and all the floorboards and floor trim is sealed with polyurethane in case the water heater or washer leak.”

As the two armadillos poked their heads into the utility room, the tigress turned and walked to the doorway a bit further down the wall, sliding it open to reveal a bathroom with a small shower stall. “We don’t use the shower down here cause we didn’t have room to put in a fur dryer as well. Looks like it’ll be fine for you, seeing as you don’t have thick fur like we do.”

The tigress turned and walked a few more feet, pushing open a regular door to reveal another room with a window that opened to a window well with a small ladder. The room was filled with exercise equipment: a treadmill, exercise bike, two different exercise machines, a punching bag, and a long rack of free weights. The room was easily as big as the master bedroom upstairs. “Here’s the third bedroom. We’re using it for an exercise room at the moment,” Raenne said as the armadillos peered in, eyes wide.

The two armadillos looked at each other. “Think Kevin will like it?” Mrs. Martin asked.

“He’ll love it. So will Shelly,” Mr. Martin replied. He turned to the tigress and the blue-tongued skink. “You were asking four-hundred thousand?”

“Yes,” Raenne confirmed.

“We’ll take it,” the armadillo said, holding out one scaly hand. “How soon can you move out?”

__________________________________________________

Dr. Nez stepped into the small examination room with the two tigers and closed the door behind himself. “Well, good news... The testosterone blockers are working exactly as intended, and you’re back under one thirty. I’ll write you a prescription for a two month supply, good for three refills. That’s six months. Get your hormone levels tested again in six months. The next doctor you go to will probably renew the prescription for another six months. After that, you can stop taking them as long as you’re having regular periods, okay?”

“Okay,” Alex said, nodding.

“So, is there anything else you two need before I send Charon over?” the otter asked.

“Nope,” Alex said.

“I think we’re good. Thanks for everything, Jim,” Raenne said, holding her paw out.

“You’re very welcome, Raenne,” the otter replied, shaking her hand. He turned around and held his own paw out towards the younger tiger. “Well Alex, I’ll be sad to see you go. You take care of yourself. No more broken bones, okay?”

“I don’t want to break any more bones, ever again,” the young tiger replied, shaking his paw. “Being stuck indoors for the last two months really sucked.”

Dr. Nez smiled. “I’ll bet. Anyway, I’ll go let Dr. Brohan know you’re ready.” The otter stood up and straightened his lab coat, then opened the door. “Farewell, you two.”

“Bye Dr. Nez,” Alex said, waving at him as he left the exam room.

Two minutes later the two tigers heard a knock on the door, which opened to reveal a familiar looking female deer in medical scrubs. “Hello again Alexandrea. Mrs. Andreyev, are you ready for your ultrasound?” she asked.

Ten minutes later, the two tigers and the deer were watching the computer monitor as Dr. Brohan attempted to find the spot that marked the tiny growing embryo within the larger tiger’s belly. She wasn’t having much luck so far and kept moving the sensor head around. “How far along did you say you were? Six weeks?”

“Seven weeks,” Raenne corrected.

“I’m still not seeing... well speak of the devil,” the deer said, smiling. “There we are. The large dark spot is the gestational sac, and the smaller bright spot near the edge there is your baby. You can even make out it’s heartbeat.”

“What’s that other black spot at the edge?” Alex pointed out.

Dr. Brohan carefully adjusted the camera view. “That is another gestational sac with another baby. Congratulations, Mrs. Andreyev. You have twins. Let’s see if there are any more in there, shall we?” she asked with a smile.

__________________________________________________

David shook his head as he sat down at the computer again. He still couldn’t believe their house had sold and they’d found out they were going to have twins on the same day. The screen on the computer came to life once again and he quickly opened a web browser, returning to looking for homes between Denver and Prairie Flats and around the Prairie Flats area itself. Once he changed the search listing to four bedroom houses, the prices seemed to skyrocket. Nothing was available for less than half a million dollars, except near downtown Denver itself.

Seeing as their current house was already paid off, he’d only have a mortgage of $100,000 if he did that. Still, he needed to do house hunting and he definitely needed to go into the office soon. Frowning, he turned around. “Raenne?”

The svelte tigress looked up at him over the top of the book she was reading.

“I’m going to need to go into the office over in Colorado soon, and we need to do some house hunting. I was thinking I could fly out there this weekend and look at some houses. Do you want to come?” he asked.

“I can’t go this weekend; it’s my last week at the dojo and I’m refereeing a tournament. Next week would be fine though,” she said.

“How about I go this weekend and if I can’t find anything that suits, you can go next weekend. Deal?”

“Sure,” Raenne agreed.

“Cool. I can fly out to Denver on Thursday night and go into work on Friday, then spend Saturday and Sunday house hunting and fly back Sunday night. Once you’re done with the karate stuff, you can fly out there and do the house hunting if I haven’t found anything,” the white tiger proposed.

“Fine by me,” the tigress agreed.

“Sweet. Come over here and let’s go through this list of houses. I figure we need a minimum of four bedrooms and three baths, and I don’t really want to spend more than half a million on a house. There’s only six houses in Prairie Flats itself that meet those criteria, plus one house out in the mountains. There’s two dozen of them inside the Denver area though, if you don’t mind living in the city...”

__________________________________________________

Friday, July 24th, 2015

David stepped out of the office building, now carrying two laptops instead of just one. The company had insisted on providing him with his own work laptop, gently reminding him that anything on it was subject to search and seizure at any time and that it was all considered confidential. He’d also been told to remove any existing code from his personal devices. To someone outside the tech industry that might have seemed a bit harsh, but it was actually pretty standard procedure.

Despite being nearly 95 degrees fahrenheit, it was actually pretty pleasant, due to the nearly nonexistent humidity and the slight breeze that gently rustled his fur. Prairie Flats was at slightly higher elevation than Denver itself and butted right up against the mountains. It was surprisingly picturesque. Much more than Denver itself, which had looked like every other city he’d ever seen, and had traffic to match.

The white tiger walked across the parking lot to the rented SUV and pulled the door open, carefully setting his overstuffed satchel on the passenger seat. Now he needed to go find that realtor who was supposed to be showing him around. He leaned over to the car’s computer console and opened the map system, quickly punching in the realtor’s business address. It was actually only about a mile away.

Another two minutes later, David pulled into a parking spot in front of the small office building that the car’s nav system had directed him to. He flipped off the ignition and grabbed his satchel from the passenger seat, then stepped out of the car. The Jeep Grand Cherokee was actually pretty fun to drive, and had nearly as many features as his Nissan Rogue. The computer in the center console was way easier to use though. After locking the car behind himself, he walked over to the front entrance and pulled the door open. 

A young bird with brown and grey plumage looked up at him from the desk. “Hello, I’m heather. How can I help you?” she asked.

“Hi Heather, my name is David Andreyev. I’m here to meet Mr. Sorenson,” the white tiger said.

A door to one side opened and an athletic-looking lynx in a blue button-down shirt and black slacks opened the door and stepped out of one of the side rooms. “Hey! I’m Trevor,” the lynx said, walking over to shake the tall tiger’s paw. “Good to finally meet you, Mr. Andreyev!”

“You too, Trevor. Just call me David, please,” the taller white tiger said, shaking the realtor’s paw.

“So, I’ve gotten the codes to four of the houses you mentioned, and called to inform the other two that we’ll be dropping by today or tomorrow. Do you want to take my car or your own?” the lynx asked.

“We can take yours. You know the area better than I do,” David said.

“Ha! Seeing as you’re from Oregon, I’d be surprised if you did know the area. Anyway, time’s a-wasting. Let’s get started, shall we?”

__________________________________________________

Saturday, July 25th, 2015

David sighed as he got into the passenger side of the Nissan Altima and looked over at Trevor. “Well, I guess that’s it. Every single house we’ve looked at has needed renovations. I’m starting to think I’ll have to look outside the half-million dollar range for a decent house,” he said.

“I’m so sorry, man,” Trevor replied. “If I’d known that she’d had a half-dozen feral cats I’d have struck this one off the list to begin with. I can still smell the ammonia. Phew. What a reek.”

The lynx reached over and flipped the car’s ignition on. “Do you want to head back to the office or shall I pull out my laptop and start looking into something in a slightly higher price range?”

David was silent for a second before responding. “Actually... I vaguely recall seeing one house for sale in a place up in the mountains. After you get us back to the office I can drive up there and check it out.”

The lynx turned to look at him. “I saw that too in the email link you sent me. You know it’s nearly forty miles drive to get to Winter Creek. That’s a hell of a commute to Prairie Flats, especially in the winter.”

“Yeah, I suppose it is. On the other paw, it’s probably a beautiful commute if it’s anything like what I’ve seen out here so far,” David said.

“Well, seeing as we’ve got plenty of time left in the day, and you’re renting that car you’ve got, how about I save you some money on your car rental and drive us both out there? There’s a small bistro out in Winter Creek that serves the best pies and cakes in the state. Maybe in the entire country,” the lynx said.

David frowned. “I could go for a good apple pie. Are you sure you’re okay with driving for... what... an hour and a half?”

“Sure! Besides, I know a guy up there. Lemme give him a call and see if we can meet him at the bistro. There might be more than just that one house up there, if you know who to ask.”

__________________________________________________

David couldn’t help but stare out the window at the beautiful evergreens that covered the rugged mountain landscape out here in the mountains. It was probably the most picturesque area he’d ever seen. The twisty winding roads were probably hell in winter, but they definitely wouldn’t make for a boring drive. He was totally fine with driving for an hour or more a day if this was the kind of drive he would have.

The narrow road opened up into a broad valley studded with hundreds of little houses. The view looked strangely familiar. As they drove along the quiet, well maintained road, the edge of the small town’s business district came into view. Instead of a garish billboard welcome sign, a pair of ornate  stonework pillars supported a hand carved wood plaque welcoming them to Winter Creek. A smaller, whitewashed section below the sign had a prayer for tranquility. 

Within moments they found themselves entering the shopping and business district, though it looked more like converted residences than office buildings. Both sides of the two lane road were lined with small shops ranging from a local barber to several eateries. The shops they saw over the next mile stretch of road offered a wide variety of artisan goods and services. The buildings themselves were not cookie cutter store fronts, but they weren’t garish either. Everything seemed to blend in with the other rustic residences further away from the main road through town.

“There’s that bistro I mentioned,” Trevor said, pointing over the top of the steering wheel. “Aunt Alice’s Sweets and Treats. Hopefully Floyd will be there. We’re right on time. If he’s not, we can just grab a bite to eat. I could go for some apple pie as well.”

A minute later, the lynx pulled his sedan into the angled parking lot two spots down from the front entrance of the store. It was about half past noon, just in time for a late lunch. Both the tiger and lynx got out of the car, stretching their limbs to work the kinks out from sitting in a car for the past forty minutes. David followed Trevor down the sidewalk and into the shop. The smell of donuts and sugar tickled their noses.

The lynx walked up to the counter. “Hi Alice,” he said to the pine marten behind the glass-fronted display case. David followed at a more sedate pace, looking around the store and at the various goods inside the display case. The small mom and pop bakery shop was surprisingly crowded. A third of the display consisted of dozens of different kinds of donuts, and the rest of it was a mix of pastries, cakes, and pies.

“Hi! Welcome to the shop. Have a seat and one of the girls will be with you momentarily,” the pine marten said, glancing at the lynx for a moment and raising one eyebrow in possible recognition before returning to ringing up the customer she was helping.

Trevor turned and looked over at the tables. “Well, looks like Floyd isn’t here yet,” he muttered, spotting an empty table next to a window. The lynx quickly walked over and sat down, throwing his arms up in the air and stretching as the white tiger followed, taking the seat across from him. 

A teenaged pine marten in a waiter’s outfit walked up to the side of the table. “Hi and welcome to our little slice of heaven. What can I get you today?” she asked with a smile. Her resemblance to the older marten behind the counter was uncanny.

The realtor glanced at the young woman’s name tag. “Hi Michelle. Can I get a cup of coffee with two creams, one sugar, and a slice of apple pie?” he asked.

“Sure thing, straight up or ala mode?” the young pine martin asked with a slight giggle in her voice.

“I’d never turn down ice cream,” the lynx replied with a grin.

“Alright then, and for you sir?” she asked, turning her attention to the tiger in the other seat.

“I’ll have the same thing he is, thank you,” David replied with a smile, being careful not to show his teeth.

“I’ll be back shortly with your order,” the waitress said, walking away to check in on another table.

David looked out the window while they waited, taking in the rustic buildings and the rugged landscape. Other than being a bit more rocky, it reminded him of certain parts of Oregon, especially the wood siding on the houses and the pine trees all over. “This is an absolutely gorgeous area. I can see why people would want to live out here, despite being so far from the comforts of civilization. My daughter would love it out here.”

“Here ya go,” a familiar voice said from behind the tiger’s head, followed immediately by the clink of plates and cups on the tabletop in front of them. “Two pies with a snow cap and two coffees. If you need or want anything else just let us know,” the waitress said before walking away. 

“Thank you,” the lynx replied, picking up a fork. Then he did a double take, realizing that it wasn’t the same woman who’d taken their order.

David also added his thanks as he picked up the coffee and took a sip, careful not to burn his tongue. After taking a few sips, he set down the cup and picked up his own fork and knife, sawing into the crispy apple pie crust.

“Started without me like always I see,” an old prairie dog said, grabbing an empty chair from the closest table and spinning it around. He straddled it and leaned against the back of it. “So, what exactly are you hoping to accomplish by hauling my backside out of my porch swing on a day like this?”

“Hey Floyd!” the lynx replied with a broad smile. “Just showing David here around the area. He’s moving out here from Oregon and we couldn’t find anything out in Prairie Flats. There’s one house out here that matches what he’s looking for that we were going to check out, and I figured since I was out here I’d have a slice of Alice’s amazing apple pie and catch up with an old friend. So, how ya doing?”

“I’ve been better, then again I was less old and ugly then too. But seriously; I can’t complain. Health is good, beautiful scenery, and a lot of peace and quiet. Can’t ask for more than that when they toss your backside out the door. Then again I think they did me a favor eighteen months ago by forcing me out of the rat race. You may want to think about that; you’re starting to look a little frayed around the edges there yourself.”

“Nah, I’m doing fine on the business side of things. Just a bit worn from taking care of the little one, is all. Sarah’s still working part time, so we’re alternating taking care of little Jack. The kit’s a handful,” the lynx replied, taking another bite of apple pie with ice cream.

“Sounds like he takes after his old man,” the older prairie dog  said with a grin. “So, interested in a house up here, huh? I would guess you’re talking about that winter home of Kravetts’. He remodeled it, what three years ago? I still think he’s asking too little for it. Surprised it’s not been grabbed up already.”

“That’s the one,” Trevor replied. “Unless you know of anything else up here. And here I’ve been running my mouth instead of being polite. David, this is an old friend of mine, Floyd Worthen. Floyd, meet David Andreyev.”

“Nice to meet you,” the older male said, offering his paw to the tiger. “Not to be nosey, but that’s kind of a big place. Have a family or planning on starting one?”

David set his knife down and carefully shook the smaller prairie dog’s paw. “Found out my wife’s pregnant with twins on Monday, and I’ve already got a kid who’ll be turning ten in a couple of weeks. We heard that people out here in Colorado were a bit more tolerant of those who don’t fit the binary gender standard, and after what happened last month...” the white tiger’s voice trailed off, realizing that he’d probably said too much.

“Binary gender? What the hell you talking about?” an older weasel in the corner behind David chimed in. “You mean like them peter puffers and crack lickers? Maybe them hebeshewas what the fuck they call ‘em? Hamonasticks?”

“Hermaphrodites, Herman,” another man a couple of tables over offered in correction. “Hi,” he added, looking at the white-furred tiger sheepishly. “Don’t mind the old ferret face there. We all love the old coot even if his mouth is bigger than his mind. To answer the question I think you’re asking though, yes we are more tolerant, at least in the Denver metro area and that includes Winter Creek.”

David relaxed a little at that. For a moment he’d been afraid he’d have to leave the diner or risk getting upset. “Oh, good. My kid was attacked twice after it came out that shi’s a hermaphrodite. Wound up in the hospital with three broken ribs and a punctured lung the second time. I can’t risk it happening again. So... we’re moving out here,” he said, leaning back against the window so he could see everyone else who had taken an interest in the conversation.

“Then rest assured you’re coming to the right place for hir,” a large white furred polar bear said as he rose from his seat and turned to look the tiger in the eyes. “Here we take care of our own, and I can personally assure you even a tiny fraction of that kind of treatment of a hermaphrodite of any age or preferred gender would be dealt with rapidly, and harshly. If you do move into our little corner of the world here sir, we will undoubtedly meet again and will speak further if you wish,” he concluded before nodding to the pine marten behind the counter and making his exit.

David glanced back over at Trevor and raised an eyebrow, then looked over at Floyd. “Anyway, yes, we’re looking for a four bedroom house, or maybe a little larger. Trevor and I couldn’t find anything reasonable out in Prairie Flats where I’ll be working. I’m not too keen on living in the Denver suburbs, though the prices are more reasonable there. I’d seen the house that was for sale up here and figured we’d take a look. I wasn’t sure if I’d be okay with driving forty-five minutes each way, but after seeing the scenery out here I’m starting to think that a long drive isn’t so bad.”

“Once you’ve made the trip a few times and work out the minor change in scheduling to beat the bulk of the rush hour traffic, the drive can actually be a rather refreshing break to decompress. Unless the code on the lock box has changed I can get you into the house to give it a look over,” Floyd said leaning a little harder into the chair back.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” David said. Then he looked down at his plate and picked up his fork and knife again. “After we finish lunch though. There’s no way I’m going to leave this pie behind. Do you want to get anything?”

“I’m good, I was at Mel’s earlier and already had a late breakfast. We’ll take off when you’re done, no hurry on my part.”

__________________________________________________

Ten minutes later, Trevor brought his sedan to a halt outside the beige house, parking on the flat driveway behind Floyd’s Toyota 4Runner. The house in front of them consisted of three levels with a garage door and a regular doorway on the ground level along with an L-shaped staircase going from the driveway up to a deck that wrapped all the way around the front of the house and along one side. The first floor had a pair of french doors leading out to the terrace over the garage and another door on the side patio. The roof was fairly steep, except where it overhung the side patio.

David and Trevor stepped out of the car, looking around. It looked like the house sat on a fairly small lot in the neighborhood. Most of the other houses were similarly built, with natural wood log fencing and pine wood siding. All the houses were clearly new, probably built within the last ten to fifteen years.

“Well, this is definitely the place. That front room over the garage is supposed to be an open atrium,” the lynx said, pointing. “I’ll be honest, I can’t tell which door is the front door. Do we go into the door next to the garage or do we go up the steps?”

“Either will be fine,” Floyd said as he exited his car. “The door there beside the garage door leads into what amounts to an unfinished mudroom. The side entrance would be the official main entrance,” he continued as he walked to the door next to the garage, motioning the other two men to follow him. “The design is a little non standard with the door placement. Primary reason for it is to put the entrance out of the usual wind direction. Snow can get deep up here sometimes and being out of the wind supposedly reduces the chance of getting snowed in.” 

The older prairie dog retrieved the keys from the lock box attached to the doorknob and opened the outer door. “As you can see the garage runs the length of the house. Should be able to get two cars in here fine, unless you have a lot of stuff to store,” he said, his voice echoing slightly. “Room behind the stairs is the mechanical room. Not much to see; water heater, heat and air unit, and some open space.”

“Open space behind the utility room?” David asked, walking to the corner of the wall and peering around. “At least I’ll have some place to put the exercise equipment. Not enough room for a gym unless we leave the cars outside, though. What’s the likelihood of hail around here?”

“Pretty low actually, snow is the bigger worry over all. The kind of storm that would give you hail tends to work themselves out over the plains or peter out over Denver,” Floyd replied.

“Huh. Guess we can leave the cars outside then and put a few of the gym mats down in here. What’s upstairs?” David asked, pulling out his phone and snapping a few photos.

“First floor is the main living area,” he responded as he turned and started up the stairs. “Kitchen straight ahead top of the stairs. To the left,” he added as he reached the top of the stairs, gesturing with his left arm, “is the master suite, a second bedroom, shower room, pantry and the laundry closet.” He waited as the other two men followed him up the stairs, moving a bit to the right of the stairs and giving David time to examine the rooms.

Once he reached the top of the stair, the white tiger looked to the right, which opened up to the kitchen, dining room, and living room. The area over the dining room and part of the living room was indeed an open air atrium that went all the way to the vaulted ceiling on the third floor. In the center of the far wall, between the dining room and living room were the french doors they had seen from outside. On the living room wall that matched the covered patio was a large glass-fronted fireplace and a doorway that opened up to the covered patio itself, and the foot of the staircase that led up to the third floor. 

David brought his phone up and started a video recording, scanning the room counterclockwise, starting with the stairs that went up to the third floor, the patio side door, fireplace, french doors and open atrium, dining room, and kitchen, stopping with the hallway. “Daaamn. I’ve gotta say this is a nice place. I’m guessing the whole building is probably about forty feet long, thirty feet wide?”

“That’s right,” the prairie dog confirmed. “The place has a good heat and air unit, the wood stove is more for added heat or making hot cocoa on a cold night. Not really a good placement for a fireplace with the overall design, then again that’s sort of the point, some separation from the young ones.”

David started another video recording, walking from the kitchen down the hallway, poking his head and camera into each room. On the left side, past the staircase going to the basement was a small pantry, then the door into the master suite. At the end of the hallway was a small linen closet and on the right wall was the door to the second bedroom and a short hallway with a door to a shower room and another door to a stacked washer and dryer room. The entire layout was remarkably compact, but with plenty of room where it mattered. He turned back around, going back from the living room up to the second floor, which opened up to a large game room and nook next to the open atrium. The back of the third floor was a short hallway with a full bath and the two other bedrooms. He finally cut the video recording.

“This place is perfect. Why in the world hasn’t it sold yet?” David asked as he returned to the main floor with Floyd and Trevor.

“Truth of the matter is that the owner, Lenny Kravetts, has yet to find someone he feels, as he puts it, is worthy of residing in his personal sanctuary.” The prairie dog male shrugged as he continued, “he always struck me as a bit... odd. But he’s one of the most kind hearted people you would ever meet.”

“Well, my wife’s going to want to see this place too and maybe talk to the owner. She’ll probably be able to make it out here Monday or Tuesday. Think you can set up a meeting with them?” the white tiger asked.

“I’m mostly sure I can pry him loose of the bingo hall to meet with your wife. Now whether or not Trevor can get the old goat in a car is a different story,” Floyd cut his eyes at his younger counterpart and grinned.

“Oh I’ll get him in a car, even if I have to hogtie him.” Wagging a finger at the older man he added, “maybe this time he’ll find whatever it is he thinks he’s looking for and finally sell this place.”

__________________________________________________

Tuesday, July 28th, 2015

Raenne brought the Jeep Wrangler she’d rented to a halt in front of the residence that her husband had apparently fallen in love with. After driving for nearly two hours from the Denver International Airport, she was glad to finally get a chance to stretch her legs. She’d used nearly a half tank of gas travelling from the far side of Denver all the way out here. On the other hand, driving all through the mountains with the top off the wrangler had been amazing.

She popped open the door hopped out, taking a moment to stretch, grateful she’d worn a loose pair of cargo pants and a thin flannel shirt instead of her usual pant-suit or evening dress. After re-rolling the sleeves up, and re-lacing up her hiking boots, she turned towards the house and gave it a good look. It was obviously new, and the front of the house looked sleek and modern with the wide, tall windows and french doors above the garage, despite the rugged timber railing surrounding the wrap-around deck and the pine wood siding.

“Ah, looks like Mrs. Andreyev has arrived at last,” Floyd said before turning to the younger man. “So are you going to greet her or should I?” While the younger of the pair paused to make up his mind, the prairie dog chimed back in. “Never mind, Let’s just both get out there and not waste this womans’ time.” He then opened the door and unceremoniously pushed his compatriot through the opening.

Raenne turned as the door next to the garage opened and a lynx stumbled out the doorway, followed by a smaller, older prairie dog. The lynx was wearing a pair of black slacks and a blue button-down shirt, and the prairie dog was wearing a blue flannel shirt and jeans. The tigress nodded at the two of them, walking over and holding her hand out to the lynx. “Mr. Sorenson, I presume?”

“Uh, yes,” the lynx replied as he regained his footing, holding his hand out and giving the tigress a firm handshake. “Mrs. Andreyev, this is Floyd Worthen. He’s the realtor representing Lenny Kravetts. It’s good to finally meet you.”

“Mrs. Andreyev, a pleasure to meet you as well,” Floyd said offering his paw to the tigress. “At least slinky here got my name right. As he said I’ll be representing Mr. Kravetts in general. Though he has asked to meet you for himself.”

Raenne gave a firm handshake to the older prairie dog as well, tilting her head slightly as she looked down at the two of them. “Did he? Interesting. I promise you I’m nothing special, but if he’s here I’ll gladly have a chat with him,” the tigress said, glancing around the property.

“Yes ma’am. He’s right inside. First floor in the living room. He’s asked to speak with you privately first. Trevor and I will wait here until we’re called inside.” Floyd nodded to his counterpart and walked towards the end of the driveway.

The tigress blinked in surprise and she felt the fur on the back of her neck stand on end. David hadn’t mentioned talking with the owner and this definitely wasn’t standard procedure: direct meetings between prospective buyers and sellers were extremely unusual nowadays. Instead they were always done through realtor intermediaries. Still, whatever was up with this, she doubted it would turn physical, and if it did she was more than confident in her martial skills. Now on high alert, she scanned the surrounding areas, checking every possible shadow for anyone hiding, including the windows on the second floor. The tigress didn’t see anything up in the windows, but that didn’t mean anything since she was on the floor below.

Raenne carefully walked toward the door next to the garage that the two realtors had come through, glancing over her shoulder at them before peering through the doorway. Nobody was down in the garage area and it was wide open and swept cleaner than a barracks floor before inspection. It was a short walk across the cement to the stairwell going up, and the tigress was completely silent despite the hiking boots she was wearing. She peered around the corner up the stairs and headed up, noting that the stairs didn’t so much as creak under her feet. 

Upon reaching the first floor, the tigress glanced down the hallway to the left, remembering it from her husband’s video footage, then looked over the kitchen. She slowly stepped out onto the first floor hallway near the kitchen scanning the main room as it came into view. Unlike the video, which had shown the house devoid of any furniture, there were a pair of folding chairs and a small table with a tea set between them in the living room.

Vapor wafted from the top of the teapot, slightly obscuring the old goat sitting in one of the folding chairs who was wearing a brown plaid tweed three-piece suit with a white shirt and mocha tie. Realizing that he hadn’t heard her come up the stairs and feeling a bit more confident that she wasn’t going to be ambushed, Raenne raised one hand and knocked on the wall to catch his attention, slowly walking into the room.

With a slight start the older goat turned and caught sight of the tigress walking into the room. “Ah, Mrs. Andreyev at last. Truly a vision of beauty and grace. But please, overlook the honeyed words of a lonely old man. Please, come in and sit with me for a few moments if you will.”

Raenne tried not to show any of the discomfort she felt at the strange overly formal speech and walked across the room to the other seat. “My apologies, Mr. Kravetts. I wasn’t expecting to meet someone in a handsome three-piece suit. If I had, I’d have worn something a bit more appropriate,” she said, holding one paw out.

The old goat reached out and shook the tigress’ hand. “Yes, I realize my request is rather unorthodox, to say the least. But I have my reasons, and I believe you will understand very shortly. Your choice of attire is perfect for someone travelling and to be honest a refreshing change form the stuffed dresses and evening wear I see every day. It saddens me that women have forgotten how to just relax and be themselves.” 

The old goat gestured to the steaming teapot between them. “A rather amusing oolong blend I recently discovered locally. May I offer you a cup, dear lady?”

“Yes, please,” Raenne said, carefully sitting on the folding chair. “I’m more familiar with japanese teas like Matcha, Sencha, and Hojicha than chinese teas, to be honest. I don’t often have Oolong tea.”

“I think you will find this interesting then,” he said as he poured two cups of tea. As he offered one to the tigress in the seat across from himself he began explaining. “I will not keep you in suspense any longer, dear lady. My reason for wishing to meet you is the same as it has been for the other seven people that have shown interest in my humble abode since I first put it on the market. That reason is to determine if you are the one worthy of taking up residence in what was once my personal sanctuary from the world. As odd as it may sound, I don’t feel as if just anyone would be as attuned to this house and this area as I have been. The ramblings of an old fool I know. In part I could not feel right if I let the beauty and tranquility of this place be spoiled by some hooligan.”

Raenne took a careful sip of the tea, as she listened to the old goat. She remained silent for a few moments, trying to think of a response, and took another sip of the tea, enjoying the mix of bitter tannins and the sweet earthy taste that followed. It had a faint nutty flavor to it as well, and a faint herbal taste she couldn’t quite identify. “You’re right. This is interesting. Definitely Oolong, but there’s also hints of amaretto and an earthy nutty flavor like coffee that I can’t quite pin down. There’s also something herbal with a citrus overtone. Coriander?”

“I do believe that nutty taste is chicory root, and excellent on picking up the hint of coriander. An interesting blend that I discovered on a rare trip down into Prairie Flats. I am pleased it is to your liking,” the older goat said with a slight smile.

“It’s very good. As for the rest... I can assure you that by most people’s definitions, me and my husband are definitely not hooligans. My husband is a software developer and I am a Japanese martial arts instructor. We’re mostly quiet and prefer reading to watching television, though we do spend most evenings watching a movie with our daughter. Shi isn’t a troublemaker, but shi is very active, and fond of sports like snowboarding, soccer, tennis, and swimming. We’re actually moving out here for hir sake,” the tigress explained.

“Yes, as Floyd was intent on informing me of. I can not make apologies for the rest of the country, but I am deeply sorry and equally deeply troubled that your family had to endure such narrow-minded bigotry. While I am certain it will take far more than the words of an old goat to convince you, you are bringing your child into a far safer environment, one far more conducive to her discovery and acknowledgement of hir true self.”

Raenne took another sip of the tea blend, wondering exactly what he meant by ‘discovery and acknowledgement of hir true self’. She was starting to wonder if he had bats in the belfry. “Well, we were informed when shi was born that bullying and bigotry would be some of the challenges shi could face. The doctors strongly recommended sexual assignment surgery, but neither David or I could in good conscience make such a drastic decision for a child. Instead we asked hir to pick whether to be a boy or girl in school to avoid any... unpleasantness. That worked out pretty well until last month, when shi was forced out of the closet, so to speak. Safety is our primary concern at this point, since shi decided that shi doesn’t want to hide who shi is anymore. Once shi’s healed enough, I plan on training her in self-defense, but that takes time.”

“Good on her for making such a bold decision, and on your husband and yourselves for supporting her,” Mr. Kravetts said with enthusiasm. “Far too many parents make a life changing decision without considering the consequences to the child just to make things easier on themselves. Too often they get it wrong from the child’s point of view and then they are stuck in a situation they did not need to be.” 

The older goat leaned back in his seat and seemed to be contemplating something as he looked out the large windows of the room. “Mrs. Andreyev,” he began without taking his gaze from the windows, “even though our chat has been brief I get the sense that you are a woman of strong opinions. and even stronger resolve in particular where your family is concerned. From what Floyd has told me of your husband he seems to be the type of father and husband I would be proud to be acquainted with. I believe you will be a good match to the essence of this refuge.”

“Well, he’s certainly a good father and husband. Well... most of the time. Nobody is perfect. And thank you,” the tigress said, taking another sip of tea, “both for the tea and your approval.”

“You are quite welcome, for both” he responded as he slowly rose from his seat and began walking towards the windows. “I only voice the approval of all that is around us here. Upon your arrival I could feel a great and joyus surge in the energy of this house and all that lay around it. You are far more connected to the earth and this area than you may ever realise,” the old goat man turned to look the tigress in the eyes at this. “You and your family will be well sheltered here and the land welcomes you. If you and your husband truly wish to purchase this home and land it is yours. Trevor won’t like it until he figures out that his commission is already set but I have decided that if you wish to buy this home it is yours, for two ninety five.”

Raenne wasn’t so sure about what the old goat was saying about the ‘energy of the land’ or her ‘connection to the earth’, much less that ‘the land welcomed’ her. She was starting to really wonder about the old man’s sanity. Then she realized what he’d said about offering the home for $200,000 below the original list value, which was preposterous. She raised one eyebrow, staring at the goat for a second in shock and grateful she hadn’t taken another sip of tea, for she was certain she would have spit it out. “That’s... surprisingly generous. This house is easily worth what you were asking for it,” the tigress replied; she couldn’t in good conscience accept without giving at least a token objection.

“Indeed, and a good bit more if I were interested in monetary gain. The sale of this place has never been about money, it’s been about being my time to move on and explore the world at large a bit more. Nomadic life is in my blood and the time I’ve spent here has been a wonder in itself. I have held off on the sale until I could find someone that wanted and actually needed this house and the area it sits in,” the old goat explained, emphasizing the fact that he wasn’t holding onto the property for money.

“I am an actively practicing pagan of the druidic persuasion. I doubt that you, much like many people these days have any understanding of what I hold as dear and holy. Finding a person or family that could find health, joy, and happiness on this patch of dirt is one of those things. I honestly believe that you, and your growing family are exactly what this land wants and needs,” he continued, revealing the reason for holding onto the property.

“Now as far as dropping the price, that amount is a good forty percent above what I have invested in it. Allowing for a twenty percent commission for all of Floyd and Trevor’s hard work and putting up with me, that amount matches what was promised from this sale as a donation to the local organizations fighting to preserve the town’s current state and fight for further improvements for minorities, including your daughter.”

The tigress took another sip while he was talking, then set the cup down. “Huh. I didn’t know there was a druidic sect out here. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised though; Colorado has a reputation for that sort of thing. I’m all for supporting local organizations too. So, I will gladly accept your offer. Thank you.”

“Excellent, you have made the heart of this old goat both proud and happy. May your path always be clear and firm, and the wind always at your back,” he replied as he held out his paw to the tigress.

Raenne took his hand, giving a firm handshake, then picked up the cup again to finish it. It was a remarkably good tea blend. The only thing left was to move her family and all her worldly possessions over a thousand miles across the country.