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.

Yerba Maté
by TaintedThylacine and IndigoNeko

Chapter 8

Tuesday, September 8th, 2015

Elizabeth pulled open the brightly painted doors of Byrom Elementary School. Despite having arrived even earlier than normal, the entry-room was absolutely packed with students, and it looked like they’d somehow formed into a series of lines. Two large folding tables had been set up near the entrance with a half dozen faculty members sitting behind them, handing out printed cards to students. After a few seconds, the little stoat realized that there was a line of students for each faculty member, and when she saw the signs hanging above the tables, she realized the lines were organized by the first letter of the student’s last name. 

The little stoat hybrid joined the tail of the last line, S through Z, which was moving surprisingly quickly. When she reached the front, the elderly fox sitting at the table asked her what her name was. “Elizabeth Stouffer,” she replied. After digging through a small box of printed cards, the fox found one and pulled it out, handing it to the little stoat.

“There you go Elizabeth. That shows you which teacher you have and the classroom you’re in. Use the signs on the walls with the arrows to find your classroom. Have a great day!” the elderly fox said brightly, her fluffy tail swaying from side to side.

The little stoat thanked the fox and walked through the doors into the library; a wide open area with broad pathways that led to each of the classrooms and was full of bookshelves crammed with children’s books: Animorphs, Berenstain Bears, Chronicles of Narnia, Goosebumps... the list went on and on. 

As Elizabeth reached an area that wasn’t packed with students, she stopped and looked at the printed card in her hand, which included her weekly schedule as well as the teacher’s name and the classroom. The teacher was the same as the card that the school had mailed them a few weeks ago: ‘Laura Hart’, in  classroom 113. The little stoat glanced at the placard on the wall nearby that gave directions for where the classrooms were. Apparently 110 to 119 were further down the hallway, so Elizabeth readjusted the straps on her backpack and started walking, her ears twitching and turning as she took in the sounds of the many other cubs

At the end of the corridor, another placard on the wall said that classrooms 110 to 112 were to the left, and 113 to 119 were to the right. Another few steps took her to a short corridor that had classrooms 113 and 114. At least her classroom would be easy to find. Since the door on the left had the numbers 113 and had been propped open, Elizabeth walked right into the brightly colored classroom. 

The usual shelves for book bags and backpacks stood against the wall to the left of the door, and the student desks had been arranged in rows of six desks, with a space in the middle to walk down. All of the desks faced the front of the class where a large whiteboard hung on the wall. The teacher’s desk sat immediately to the right of the door, in the corner between it and the whiteboard. Half the desks were already occupied, some of whom she recognized from fourth grade. Elizabeth noted with a sinking heart that none of them were Chris. Mother had warned her that the yapok would probably have a different teacher, but she had still hoped.

A bobcat in a blue dress with long flowing sleeves sat on the edge of the desk, smiling at her. “Hello! I’m Mrs. Hart. Go ahead and drop your bag in the cubby back there and take a seat. Today we’ll start with introductions and we’ll make some name tags to put on your desks,” the bobcat said with a smile.

“Okay,” Elizabeth said, walking over to the cubbies and putting her green backpack at the bottom. She was usually one of the shortest children in class, so she usually put hers at the bottom of the shelves where it was least likely to be in the way of others. Once it was firmly secured, she stood back up and took a moment to brush some of the loose brown fur off her pale blue blouse and matching plaid skirt. Now that the weather had turned, she was starting to shed again, which was a pain. On the bright side, it meant that she would be pristine white again (except for her tail tip and mask) in a month or so at most.

As she looked back up from her shirt, she glanced at the door then her eyes went wide as she realized that Chris had just walked into the room as well. Resisting the urge to jump around, she darted over to the bigger yapok and wrapped her arms around her, squeezing tightly. “Chris!”

The yapok let out a little squeak as she felt someone squeezing her. It was early enough for her that she wasn’t totally awake, so it took her a moment or two to realize that it was Elizabeth. “Morning to you too,” she said looking down at the stoat. “Did you get lost or are you in this class too?” Chris asked as she walked to the back of the class to put up her bag.

“I hope this is the right class,” Elizabeth said, stepping back to make way. “Room 113?” she asked Chris, waiting for the yapok to put away her book bag.

“You’ve got the right place,” Chris said as she put her bag into one of the open cubbies. “So, have you found a place to sit?” she asked, looking for a pair of spots for them, the yapok’s tail twitching happily

“Not yet,” Elizabeth said, glancing around. 

“There’s a pair of desks up here, if you two want to sit together,” the bobcat sitting on the edge of the teacher’s desk said. Realizing the two cubs were friends, Mrs. Hart hoped she could allow them to sit together while simultaneously making sure they didn’t spend the entire  time talking by putting them near the front of the class.

“Works for me,” Chris said with a smile as she absentmindedly took the little stoat’s paw and went to the desk, taking the one on the left, so she wouldn’t be bumping elbows with the stoat when she was writing.

“Thank you,” the little stoat said to the teacher as she followed Chris, sitting down next to the bigger yapok. After getting comfortable and bringing her tail around to rest it in her lap, she turned and asked “So... did you do anything interesting for your last couple of days of summer vacation?”

“Nothing too fancy. Had one last summer band practice, and then mom and I watched a bunch of movies,” Chris said as she got comfy as she could in the chair that was almost too small for her, wrapping her tail around the chair to keep it out of the way and from getting stepped on. “What about you?”

“I watched a movie with Mother on Sunday and finished up the book I was reading. Yesterday I was playing Minecraft when Alex showed up, out of the blue. Shi had to fly back here for court or something and decided to drop by. Shi was all bandaged up from wrists to elbows. Apparently shi got in a fight with a feral mountain lion and was all cut up. Sooo many stitches,” the little stoat said, looking down at the desk.

“Wait... What did she do!?” Chris asked, her attention turning to Elizabeth. “Did she, like, go pick a fight with one? Or was she just walking along and got jumped?” the water opossum asked, making a mental note to ask Alex if, or when, they met.

“Shi said shi wasn’t paying attention and it jumped hir,” Elizabeth answered, shaking her head. “There were great big cuts all across the undersides of hir arms. Apparently they had to shave hir fur to stitch them up. Did you know that a tiger’s skin is striped just like their fur? It’s weird looking.” 

“I didn’t know that. I wonder if that works for other species.” Chris looked down at the fur on her arms where it went from darker to lighter, brushing some of it to the side to see if she could tell. “I think it’s a tiger only thing.”

“Probably,” the little stoat agreed, thinking about it. The only way she could check herself was to shave the tip of her tail to see if it was black like her tail tuft, and there was no way she was going to do that.

“Good morning, class,” the teacher said, standing up from her desk as the majority of the desks had been filled by students filing in. The bobcat moved to the whiteboard and picked up a marker, then wrote her name in bold black lines. “I’m Mrs. Hart,” she said, turning to face the class. “Today we’re going to start with introductions and then we’re going to make some name tags that you’ll put on the front of your desks. After a week or so I’ll come up with a seating chart for you and you’ll get permanent name tags taped to your assigned desks...”

__________________________________________________

Friday, September 11th, 2015

Charlotte opened the front door and stood to one side to let Chris inside. She waved at the girl’s mother as she drove back down the driveway. “Good evening, Chris,” the doberman greeted the young yapok, her tail swaying behind her.

“¡Buenas tardes!” Chris said as she stepped into the house. “Is that  new outfit? That one looks more fancy than your other one. Can I touch it?” Chris asked, already reaching out with a webbed paw.

“Sure! Julia made it for me last weekend since the old one was getting a little worn. It’s white silk and black velvet. I love it,” Charlotte said, stooping a bit to let the smaller girl touch the soft fabric. “Julia still thinks it’s silly for me to wear a maid’s outfit, but... I’m a maid, so I should look the part, right?”

“It’s really pretty and soft, but it seems like silk would be really… Unwise.” The water opossum paused for a moment. “That and the only time I’ve heard of something like this is in romance books.”

“Romance books?” Charlotte asked, raising her eyebrows, following the younger yapok inside and closing the front door. “I wouldn’t have figured you for reading romance. You’re right though; I use the other outfit to actually do chores in. I just wanted to show this one off,” the teenaged doberman said with a hint of embarrassment.

“Whatever floats your goat,” Chris said, shrugging a little. “I’m not going to judge you for what you wear. I mean, it looks good on you,” she said, it being her turn to blush. “So, uhhh... where's Elizabeth hiding?”

‘Floats your goat?’ Charlotte thought to herself, then decided to ignore it. “She’s upstairs in her room. Apparently she’s got some new video game or something she wanted to show you,” the doberman answered, her tail wagging at the compliment.

“Thanks,” Chris said as she made her way over to the lift and pressed the button. Once the lift had come down she stepped in and hit the button to go to the third floor. Once the lift had taken her to the top, she stepped out and made her way to Elizabeth’s room and poked her head in the door to watch for a second. The little stoat was sitting at her computer, wearing her usual skirt and blouse combo. “Knock, knock.”

“Hey Chris! Come on in,” Elizabeth said, the little stoat-hybrid turning to motion Chris inside before turning back to the computer. “I was telling Alex I was bored with Terraria last night and shi told me to try this game called Shovel Knight. It’s a side scroller, kind of like the old Mario games.”

“I think I’ve heard of that one,” Chris said as she came in, propping her guitar case against the wall by the door before pulling the little bench over from the makeup dresser and sitting down next to Elizabeth. “It looks like it would be a fun one to play when kicking back in bed. So are you winning?”

“Uhh... Not really. Some of these jumps are tricky,” Elizabeth replied, sighing as she tried bouncing on a skeleton, only to die as it slashed its sword at her character. “Do you want to try?” she asked, holding out the gamepad she’d been using.

“Sure, I can give it a shot,” Chris said, reaching for the controller. “I think that this might be a little easier.” The yapok said, taking a moment or two to figure out what button’s did what. Once she thought she had the controls figured out, she started playing the game, making her way a few screens and to the skeleton that got Elizabeth before taking it out while only taking one or two hits.  “Tada.”

“Showoff,” the little stoat muttered. “This isn’t really my kind of game. I prefer building games like Minecraft,” she added, watching as Chris easily made her way through the levels, bouncing off blocks and slashing bugs with the shovel, her tail twitching everytime that she had to make a jump. “This is more something that Alex would like... those and racing games.”

“I could see that,” the yapok nodded as she got to the end of the level and started fighting the boss that showed up: the black shovel knight. At this point, Chris had heard enough from Elizabeth about Alex to have a good idea of the tigress. “You know, you mention her a lot, you must really miss her.”

The little stoat nodded, her muzzle scrunching up slightly. “I... Yeah,” Elizabeth said, sniffling. “I thought I’d gotten over it, but I guess it sort of all came back when shi showed up on Monday after that court thing. I... I’ll try not to mention hir again.” The stoat's ears and tail dropped.

“I didn’t mean anything mean by it. If it helps you, then mention her all you want,” Chris squeaked out, instantly regretting what she said. “Everyone heals differently and if talking about her a lot is how you do it, that’s cool with me,” she said, putting her paw on the stoat’s shoulder, her tail wrapping around the stoat’s fluffier tail as well.

“It doesn’t though; it just makes me sad,” the little stoat said, shaking her head. She rubbed her face with the sleeves of her dress, sniffling again, then took a deep breath and changed the subject, pointing at the screen with a pale pink painted claw. “Maybe try getting him into the corner so he can’t jump around so much?”

Chris blinked as Elizabeth went from a sad to strategist in a second. The yapok was able to lure the boss into the corner and then start pogo jumping on it. “We- Well we don’t have to talk about her. Or anything else that you don’t like,” she muttered, her tongue poking out of her muzzle as she concentrated on the battle, quickly taking out the boss.

A half hour or so later, a knock on the door interrupted the two cubs. Charlotte was standing in the doorway, wearing a cooking apron over her new outfit. “I’m starting dinner. Will fish tacos be okay? They’re corn tacos with tilapia, shredded cabbage, cotija, avocado, and a cilantro jalapeño cream sauce.”

“You had me at jalapeño,” Chris said, turning to face Charlotte. “That sounds really good, but could I have mine extra spicy?” she asked, licking her chops, thinking about how tasty the doberman’s cooking was.

“I have some Sriracha. Or I can slice up the leftover jalapeño. Will that work?” the teenaged doberman asked, a bit surprised at the request. The Stouffers didn’t like hot food at all; she was the only one in the household who did, actually. She was actually taking a risk with the single pepper she’d blended into the cilantro cream sauce; they might think it was too hot.

“Both. Just slice up the jalapeño for me and I’ll make it work,” Chris said with a nod. “I’ll remember to bring some of my hot sauces next time I come.”

“Okay then,” Charlotte said, turning and disappearing back into the hallway.

Elizabeth was staring with eyes wide at the yapok. “You eat jalapeños?” she whispered with a combination of shock and horror. “Those are hot! Like, Alex’s mom used to put those on some things. Even a little bit makes my mouth and whiskers feel like they're on fire,” the stoat said.

“I’ve eaten hotter things in the past. I can eat jalapeños like candy,” Chris said proudly. “They’re not too bad when you get used to them, I mean my abuela can make you some pollo ixtapa and you would never know it had jalapeños in it. Well... until you're halfway through it and then you feel the burn. We need to take you to Mexico.”

The little stoat’s big black eyes were wide open in horror. “Hotter than jalapeños?” she whispered.

“Well, there is the habanero. They’re really hot; they will make more than just your muzzle tingle,” Chris said, pausing for a moment, “I’ve been trying to talk mom into letting me try something even hotter,” she said, then giggled at the bewildered look on the stoat’s face.

Elizabeth shook her head, wondering if the yapok was crazy. Why anyone would want to eat something hotter than a jalapeño, she had no idea.

__________________________________________________

“That hit the spot, Charlotte,” Chris said, leaning back in her seat, purring softly. “Could have used more jalapeños,” she teased with a smile, using a napkin to clean any stray food from her muzzle.

“More jalapeño?” Julia asked, shocked. “I thought it was too hot as is. I can’t believe you added raw jalapeños to yours... and you think it wasn’t hot enough?”

“No ma’am. Could be a lot hotter,” the yapok said, picking up one of the sliced jalapeños and popping it into her muzzle, happily nomming on it. “See? Needs more spicy.”

Both Julia and Terrence shook their heads in bewilderment. “Well, at least Charlotte has someone else to enjoy her spicy foods with,” Terrence said. “You should see how much Sriracha she uses in the ramen she makes. It makes my eyes water just thinking about it.”

Charlotte smiled, her tail wagging behind her. “It’s not that much, honest. And there’s much hotter stuff than Sriracha. There’s some Japanese curry buns that I made a few weeks ago that were so hot they made me cry. They were so good though, I couldn’t stop eating them.”

“I would eat your buns if you made them for me. That sounds like that would be really yummy… You should make it for us sometime,” Chris said, smiling at the doberman.

“Well... I suppose I could try making them again. Maybe on a Thursday night,” the doberman mused. “That way I could have some for lunch on Friday and have a few left over for you to try when you come over in the evening,” she said, looking over the empty table. Apparently the dinner had been a success; there wasn’t a single taco left over, her tail wagged a little faster knowing that everyone enjoyed her cooking.

“Sounds good to me,” Chris said with a nod before turning to the stoatling that was sitting next to her. “So I got to thinking about it, I could teach you how to memorize songs, whatcha think?”

“Sure!” Elizabeth said. “I only know a few songs, and those are all from Frozen. Let it goooo-”

“Elizabeth!” Julia snapped, interrupting her daughter. “Not at the table. If you’re going to sing, you can do so in your room.”

“Okay!” the little stoat said, standing up at that clear dismissal. “Thank you, Charlotte. It was very good,” she said, picking up her plate and carrying it over to the kitchen.

“You’re welcome, dear,” the doberman said, also standing up and gathering the plates and trays.

“Don’t worry. I’ll teach her something else,” Chris said as she got up and followed the stoat to the kitchen with her plate. “How many times have you watched that movie?” She asked, glancing at the stoat as she put her plate away.

“I lost count,” Elizabeth said, thinking about it as she set her plate on the counter, waiting for Chris to do the same before leading the way back into the foyer where the lift was. “Probably once a week, so... at least fifty times, I guess,” she added.

“That’s some dedication,” Chris said as she reached over and pressed the button for the lift. “If you put even half that effort into learning music and singing, you could be a pop star or something.” She stepped into the lift, waiting for the little stoat to join her.

“I just love Disney movies. Especially the musicals,” Elizabeth said, stepping into the lift as well and tapping the button for the third floor. “I like to sing, but usually it’s just along with the movies. You said you’d teach me how to sing though, and you have a band, right? Do you really think I could be a pop star?”

“Well you’re cute, pretty smart, I think you could be anything that you set your mind to.” Chris paused as they got to the third floor and stepped out. “Do you think that you would want to be the one up there singing the songs at a musical?”

“You mean like... be a Disney princess?” Elizabeth asked, confused as they walked into her room. She bounced over to her bed and sat down on it, turning to face the yapok and leaning against one of the tall bed posts.

“I think you could be. Just need to get you a really fancy dress,” Chris said as she opened her guitar case and took the guitar out before joining Elizabeth on the bed. “Soooo... Memorizing a song is pretty easy. You prolly did a lot of what I’m gonna tell you when you learned to sing ‘Let It Go’. Other than watching it like a million times, what did you do?”

“Uhh... I listened to it? I guess I sorta figured out which parts are repeated and learned those first...” Elizabeth said, unsure exactly what Chris was getting at.

“Listening to it over and over again is a good start. And starting by learning the chorus, the part that’s repeated, is a good way to do it,” Chris said, putting the guitar strap over her shoulder. “Pick a song that you want to learn.”

“I don’t know any other songs,” Elizabeth said, frowning. “Other than Disney songs, that is. Mostly just the ones from Frozen, but I like a few of the others like Mulan, Hercules, Aladdin, Robin Hood, The Jungle-”

“Oh!” Chris chimed in. “What about something from The Book Of Life?” She said, ideally strumming out a few cords.

“What?” Elizabeth asked, raising an eyebrow as her ears perked up. “I’ve never heard of that.”

“It came out like last year. I thought that you would have seen it at least once,” Chris said, setting her guitar to the side before pulling her phone out of her pouch and opening google. “Listen to this,” she said, playing one of the songs from the movie.

The little stoat listened to the song, nodding her head in time with the beat. “Live life like it’s a song, so turn it on and sing along... I like this song; it’s really catchy! What was this movie again?”

“The Book Of Life,” Chris said as they watched the music video for the song, her tail thumping against the bed in time with the song. “Think you could learn it? And it sounds like you and I need to watch the movie sometime. What do you say?”

“Sure!” the little stoat agreed, going back to humming along with the song. When it ended, the little stoat hopped up off the bed and darted over to the computer, opening a browser window and typing in the movie name to search for the song lyrics.

__________________________________________________

Saturday, September 12th, 2015

Julia led Alyssa into the kitchen, walking over to the fancy espresso machine on the counter. She turned the handle of the filter and pulled it loose, taking the lid off the jar of powdered ground sitting next to it and filling the filter with two scoops. She then picked up the tamper and tamped down the grounds and re-attached the filter to the espresso machine and flipped it on.

“So... this makes pure espresso,” Julia started explaining while waiting for the espresso to brew. “If you add water, you get an Americano. If you add steamed milk, it’s a flat white or caffe latte. If you add milk it’s a cappuccino or piccolo latte. If you add milk and chocolate, you get a mocha,” the stoat said.

“Well normally I take my coffee black as can be, but I think something like this would be good with a little chocolate,” Alyssa said, watching the machine making the drink before looking over to the stoat. “If this is as good as you said, I might have to get them to get us one for the nurse’s station.”

“Try the straight espresso then, and add what you think it needs. The milk and chocolate are in the fridge,” Julia said, taking the small cup out from under the filter and handing it over to the yapok. “Be careful, it’s scalding hot when it first comes out,” she said, getting out another cup from the cupboard above and preparing a second cup of espresso.

The yapok held the glass up to her nose and sniffed at the drink before blowing it a little. “Coffee isn’t coffee unless it’s hot and strong… just like I like my men or something,” Alyssa joked as she brought the glass up to her muzzle and took a little sip. “Apparently I like my men with chocolate,” she said, turning and getting the chocolate out of the fridge and adding some to the drink.

“Personally I prefer a flat white. It’s something like three parts milk and one part espresso,” the stoat said, waiting on the espresso machine. “Speaking of, would you please hand me the milk?” she asked as the yapok put the chocolate syrup back in the fridge.

“You know,” Alyassa started as she put the chocolate up and reached for the milk. “Ever wonder what anthro cows think about drinking feral cow milk?” She said as she handed the carton over to the stoat before going back to sipping her now chocolaty drink.

“Uh...” Julia paused with the carton in hand and looked at it. “You know, I... I’ve never thought about that in my entire life,” the stoat said. After a few seconds she turned around and poured it into the cup, filling it the rest of the way to the brim, then turned and put it back in the fridge. “Now I kind of want to know. I don’t know any cows that I could ask though,” the stoat mused, holding the cup up to her muzzle and taking a sip of her espresso, her ears and tail perking up a little as she enjoyed the drink.

“Just shower thoughts,” the yapok said as she looked over to Julia, “so you said something about playing cards. Is this going to be strip poker? ‘Cause I didn’t wear my fancy undies,” she said, joking around with the stoat.

Julia nearly choked on her coffee at the phrase ‘strip poker’, having to quickly swallow and set her cup on the counter as she started coughing. “Ahem! No,” she stated firmly, stepping to the side and glancing into the living room to make sure Charlotte wasn’t there. “We are not playing strip poker. There are children upstairs, for Heaven’s sake.”

The yapok burst out laughing at Julia’s expression. “That was meant to be a joke,” Alyssa said after she’d managed to get her giggles mostly under control. “I know you don’t do that kinda thing with kids in the house, we would do that when they are off somewhere else,” she said, looking sideways at the stoat, her tail twitching a little, a bit of a give away to her and her shenanigans.

“Ahem,” Julia said, looking a bit abashed. She picked up her cup of espresso and took a sip, meeting Alyssa’s eyes. “Sorry. I guess I tend to take things a bit literally sometimes. I guess I, uh, don’t get out much. Actually, now that I think about it, I haven’t spoken much with anyone other than Terry and Elizabeth in quite a while, except for my business contacts.”

“Okay. We are going to have to drag you out of the house,” Alyssa said smiling. “I know a really nice bar and restaurant that serves really good margaritas.”

“Oh?” Julia asked, raising an eyebrow. “Terrence takes me over to McCormick and Schmick’s occasionally. Or Riccardo’s. But other than that we don’t go out very often.”

“There is this little hole in the wall place called Juan Colorado, near the Tualatin Commons.” Alyssa said as she sipped her espresso. “They have some of the best food, and they have something for everyone.”

“It’s not too spicy, is it?” Julia asked cautiously. “Your daughter was sprinkling diced jalapeños on her tacos last night... We can’t do spicy things like that.” A shiver ran from her ear tip to tail tip at the thought of eating jalapeños.

“Yeah, that’s normal for her. And they have some stuff that isn’t spicy, but I would stay away from their salsa, it packs a punch.” The yapok warned as she finished her drink and sat it on the counter next to her. “How spicy can you handle?”

“Well, I think Charlotte pureed a jalapeño in the cream sauce last night that she used on the tacos and it was pretty spicy. My mouth was tingling,” Julia said. “I know there’s much hotter things out there, but I can’t eat things that hot.”

“Don’t worry, I will help you pick something out that isn’t too spicy. Don’t trust anything that my daughter suggests,” she snickered. “Some of the things that she picks out are a little hot even for me. She gets that from her abuela.”  

“Okay,” the stoat said. “Let’s head down to the den. Terrence is already waiting down there,” she said, walking over to the door between the kitchen and dining room. The stoat opened the door and started down the stairs into the den.

“It’s been a while since I’ve played cards. My poker face might be a little rusty,” Alyssa said as she followed the stoat down to the den, heading over to the plush leather sofa and taking a seat. “Morning Terrence.”

“Good morning,” the ferret said from behind the bar, putting up a bottle of irish cream. He walked out with a steaming mug and sat down at one of the padded chairs next to the coffee table in front of the sofa. “So, you mentioned poker. Any other card games you like?” the ferret asked, nodding as his wife took a seat in the other overstuffed leather chair.

“Well the only other card game that I have played or am good at is Blackjack.” The yapok said as she leaned back, enjoying how soft and comfy the sofa is. “My daughter tried to teach me some card game that I didn’t get, Magic or something.”

“So, poker and blackjack. Any preference?” Julia asked, setting her espresso on the coffee table and stepping over to the bookshelf with all their board games and card games and returning a moment later with a standard card deck and a sack of pennies.

“Poker would be more fun between friends. Personally, I like seven card stud,” Alyssa said as she leaned forward, watching as Julia returned with the cards. “Any house rules that I should know?”

“Nope, no house rules. We play for pennies,” Julia replied, spilling a small amount of pennies onto the table and quickly counting ten for each of them, then pulling the cards out of their box and quickly shuffling the deck a few times. She quickly dealt each of them a pair of cards face down and a final card face up and set the deck down in the center of the table, then sipped her espresso before looking at her hand.

The marsupial picked up her cards and looked over her hand, half smiling as she looked at the other two players. “Pennies are fine seeing as it’s not going to be strip poker,” she joked, glancing at Julia.

Terrence glanced at the yapok appraisingly for a second at the ‘strip poker’ comment, his ears perking up a little, then picked up his own hand, glancing at it before setting it back on the table and taking a sip of his Bailey’s coffee. He pushed two pennies forward.

__________________________________________________

Saturday, October 24th, 2015

“You don’t have to be nervous,” Chris said reassuringly, reaching over and patting Elizabeth on the leg. “The band will love you, and they don’t bite or anything,” she said as her mom pulled to a stop at the driveway. “Come on.”

Elizabeth picked a few loose hairs off her skirt. At least now she was mostly done shedding her summer coat. “I’m not nervous. I just...”

“Just what? You know that you can tell me anything, and you don’t have to sing if you don’t want to. It was your idea, after all,” Chris said, looking at the hybrid with a gentle smile.

“I like to sing. I just don’t... meet new people very often,” the little stoat said.

“Oh. Think of it like meeting people at school. They are all easy to get along with. Come on, it’s like a bandaid; just rip it off and get it over with. Don’t worry; I’ll do all the talking,” Chris said, putting her webbed paw on Elizabeth’s soft-furred paw.

“Okay,” Elizabeth said, nodding. She pulled at the handle and pushed the door open.

“See you two later,” Alyssa said as she watched the two cubs getting out of the jeep.

“See you, love you,” Chris said as she walked to the front of the car to walk with Elizabeth. “Hey doodz. I brought a friend,” she said, motioning to the stoatling that was standing next to her. “Elizabeth, this is the band.” 

The white-furred stoat raised one hand a bit nervously and waved at the group of band members, feeling decidedly out of place. Everyone else was wearing jeans and t-shirts and she was wearing a skirt and blouse.

“The one over there with the guitar is my co-singer, Ashlyn,” Chris said pointing to the short-furred canid with tiger stripes that was fingering the frets of her guitar. “The one over there with the bass is Milly. No, she won’t steal your snacks,” she said, joking about the racoon’s feral ancestry. “And lastly Nadia is on the drums,” she said pointing to the opossum that was busy balancing a drumstick on her snout.

“Nice to meet you,” Ashlyn said with a little smile. “Chris hasn’t shut up about you; it's good to finally see who’s got her in a twist. Welcome to the Trash Cats rehearsals.”

“Thanks,” Elizabeth said, matching the smile. “Chris had me memorize one of Nadia’s songs last weekend... The one that starts with ‘Lately I found myself walking’.”

“You’ll be doing the singing for me Elizabeth. It’s going to be weird to not sing,” Chris said, stepping over to her new spot next to Ashlyn. “Your spot’s right there,” she said, pointing at the mic stand.

“Just let us know when you’re ready, and I will give the count down,” Nadia said, twirling one of her drum sticks.

“And don’t worry about being perfect. Just let the music carry you,” Milly said, picking up her guitar pick.

“Okay,” Elizabeth said, trying to keep calm. She always got the jitters around new people and having to sing in public as well was putting her well out of her comfort zone. The little stoat walked over to the mic stand, clearing her throat and waiting for the count.

“Here we go Trash Cats! One… Two… Three!” Nadia called out before starting the drumline for the song, the rest of the band picking up and starting their parts of the song:

Lately I found myself walking.
Been dreaming about you a lot.
In my head I'm your girlfriend,
But that's one thing you've already got.

You're always serious. Don't know what for,
Turning heads when you walk through the door,
Don't need fancy clothes to be a star,
You’re just fine the way you are.

The way that you stare gets me depressed,
When you frown it ain't hard to tell,
You don't know, Oh, oh,
You don't know you gotta leave (her),
If only you saw what I can see,
You'd understand why I want you so desperately,
Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe,
That you don't know, Oh, oh,
That you gotta leave her, Oh, oh, 
She’s what makes you sad.

I've tried playing it cool,
But when I'm looking at you,
I just wish I could talk,
But you make my heart walk.

One way or another I'm gonna get up off the floor,
I'm gonna get you, get you, get you, get you.
One way or another I'm gonna get you through the door,
I'm gonna get you, get you, get you, get you.

I gotta get you to see,
Cause I can't compete with her,
That you gotta leave her.

As the song came to an end, Elizabeth stepped back from the mic, pretty happy with the performance; she’d managed to stay in time and in tune, with only a few mispronunciations. The stoat turned back around to face the rest of the band.

“That was really good, Snowball,” Ashlyn said smiling, and walking over to pat her on the shoulder, her tail swishing back and forth. “Little rough in some spots, but diamonds come in the rough or something like that.”

“I told you she was good. Just think, we could branch out into more than just pop and rock,” Chris said, stepping up to the other two and smiling.

“Agreed. I can really stretch my writing legs then,” Nadia said, pulling a little notebook from her pouch and jotting down something.

Elizabeth smiled at the compliments; this was something she could get used to. She’d definitely have to practice a bit more though. “Thanks,” she said, trying not to bounce with excitement.

__________________________________________________

Julia pulled open the front door, checking to see if Charlotte’s car was gone while letting Alyssa inside. “Well, it’s just us this time. Charlotte said she was going over to Hikari’s house, and she said she’d be gone until around three in the afternoon. When do you normally pick up Chris from band practice? Did it look like Elizabeth was getting along with the rest of the kids?” the stoat asked, waiting until Alyssa was inside before closing the front door.

“About three or four, she normally texts me when she is ready for me to come get her,” Alyssa said as she stepped into the house. “Sounds like it's just gonna be us today?”

“Apparently,” Julia said. “So what’ll it be? Poker, Backgammon, Chess, Monopoly, Risk? Or you could give Settlers of Catan a shot...” the stoat asked, walking over to the lift.

“So many choices… I would say anything but Chess; I’m not good at that one, and I don’t think I could even come close enough to outsmarting Terence,” she said as she stepped into the lift with Julia and hit the button for the basement. “Monopoly could be good, or high stakes poker.” Alyssa smiled.

Julia leaned against the inside of the lift and peered over at Alyssa. “Be careful playing Monopoly with Terry. If he offers to buy property of yours, don’t accept unless you’re going to complete a row, cause I guarantee you he’ll have hotels on whatever he buys the next round,” she said, going quiet as the lift dinged and the door opened. “What do you mean by ‘high stakes poker’?” she asked, stepping out into the den where Terrence was sitting on a chair in his usual polo shirt and slacks, reading a book. Terrence looked up as the two women entered the den, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, we wouldn’t be playing for pennies if you get my drift.” Alyssa said, wiggling her eyebrows and whiskers as she got off the lift. “Or we could play a game of ‘Never Have I Ever’.”

“I haven’t played ‘Ten Fingers’ since I was in college,” Julia said, apparently familiar with the game. 

“Same,” Terrence added. “And that was in the late eighties.”

“Well, it would make for a fun and spicy way to get to know each other. I bet Terry has some good stories,” Alyssa said, taking her seat on the sofa, slouching back, purring softly.

“Not as many as you might think,” the business ferret said. “I’ve lived a boring life, I promise. Also, I’m getting a bit long in the tooth to get hammered playing a drinking game like that, but if you insist, I think I’ve got some bottom-shelf liquor we can use. Personally I’m more in favor of ‘high stakes poker’,” he said, setting a bookmark in his book and setting it down on an end table.

“We don’t have to drink. Instead of drinking ‘cause you did the thing, you have to strip. Put on a little show as you tell the story.” Alyssa leaned forward, resting her arms on her knees, her tail thumping against the carpeted floor.

“Well, seeing as someone has to go pick up the kids in a few hours, we need to cut it off at three drinks. Or we can do show and tell instead. I’m fine with either,” Julia said with a slight smirk, showing off her sharp fangs, glancing at her husband and then over at the yapok.

The ferret raised one paw, masking the wicked grin that he couldn’t suppress. “Ten fingers it is, then. I’m down with show and tell. Or drinking, provided we stop at three shots. Your choice,” Terrence said looking over at Alyssa.

“Well drinking can lead to stripping and I have nothing to do tomorrow. Worse comes to worse, I can crash on your sofa,” Alyssa said.

“Let’s drink then,” the ferret said, making an executive decision. “House rule: If nobody drinks at your statement, you need to take a penalty drink. So no silly statements like ‘I never gave a reach-around to a spider monkey while reciting the Pledge of Allegiance’,” Terrence said, standing up and walking over to the bar and reaching into a shelf under the countertop. He pulled a bottle of Bacardi white rum, then took down several highball glasses and carefully measured a shot each into each of them. “Rum and coke okay?” he asked.

“I never say no to a good rum and coke. So who’s going first?” the yapok asked as she looked from Terrence to Julia.

“You two flip a coin or something,” Terrence said, carefully measuring a small scoop of crushed ice into each glass before topping them off with coke from a soda gun.

Julia shrugged and went over to the shelf, picking up a coin and tossing it to Alyssa before walking back over to one of the overstuffed leather chairs and taking a seat.

The yapok fumbled a little as the coin was tossed to her, but she managed to catch it and got ready to flip the coin. “Call it,” she said, using her thumb to flip the coin into the air. It was a bit of a challenge to flip the coin thanks to the webbing between her digits.

“Heads,” Julia said, crossing her legs as she relaxed into the chair, watching as Terrence brought over a tray full of glasses and set them on the coffee table, casually passing out three glasses to each of them before sitting down.

Alyssa watched the coin flying through the air, catching it and slapping it onto the back of her paw. “Ohhhh. Tails,” She said with a smile. “I guess that means I go first.” She paused to think of what to say. “Never have I... Gotten rug burn.”

Terrence raised an eyebrow and took a swig from one of his glasses. “Guess it counts... but I got mine playing football on astroturf as a kid. Fur or not, that stuff will cut you up. So... Never have I had to deal with a patient who needed an object removed from their butt,” he said, smirking at Alyssa. He knew she was a nurse; apparently this happened so often it was a trope.

Alyssa let out a sigh as she picked up her drink and took a sip. “I didn’t think that it was that common. About half way through my first year, a young girl came in, drunk as a skunk, and well, she got frisky and only had a big-ass cucumber.”

Julia shook her head. “Some people... I guess it’s my turn. So... Never have I ever stuck a cucumber up my butt, or anywhere else.”

“Well, I’m in the same boat. Never put something like that up there; I have toys for that,” Alyssa said, poking her tongue out.

After looking at her husband, Julia sighed and picked up her own glass, taking her own first sip. “This is pretty good for bottom-shelf rum and coke,” she said, glancing over at her husband, who nodded, then looked at Alyssa while waiting for the next statement.

“Never have I had a threesome,” the yapok said as she looked at the two, trying not to smile too much as her tail twitched with anticipation.

Both Terrence and Julia glanced at each other, then over at Alyssa, giving simultaneous sighs before taking sips. The ferret looked over at Alyssa, saying “That was a low blow, so I’ll give one of my own. Never have I ever had sex with a hermaphrodite.” The ferret’s tail twitched slightly; he knew exactly what he was doing.

“Pay back for the cucumber in the butt thing,” Alyssa said, picking up and taking a swig of her drink. “Worth it though.”

“You know, ever since I found out that Alexandrea was one, I always wondered what that would be like...” Julia mused. “That reminds me; Elizabeth and Chris first did it in the shower, and I just realized... never have I ever had sex in the shower.”

“Like mother, like daughter,” Alyssa said as she took another sip of her drink before sitting back a little. “It’s getting a little warm,” she said, unbuttoning the top button on her shirt. “Never have I taken something larger than a male of my species.”

“Wait... how large are we talking?” Julia asked, peering suspiciously at the yapok with her big black eyes.

“Uhhh, lets say, more than a few inches around, you know how a lot of toy stores sell toys in different sizes?” She asked, thinking of the best way to phrase it.

“Of course. I have several,” Julia said, slightly confused.

“And are any of them considered or sold as Large or XL sized?” Alyssa asked, “Have you taken anything bigger than Terry?”

Julia sighed, glancing sideways at the yapok as she picked up her drink and took a sip before answering. “I got curious a few months ago, after finding out my daughter was having sex with a tiger. So I went over to Spencer’s and picked up a few dildos including feline, canine, cervine, and equine shapes. I’ve only tried two of them, and the canine one is bigger than Terry.”

“Can you take the knot though?” Alyssa asked, a blush tinting her ears.

The stoat blushed as well, staring at the floor, paws trembling as she set the drink down.

“Ahem,” Terrence interrupted, saving his wife from having to answer. “Never have I ever had a dildo inside of me,” he said with a smirk, glancing back and forth at both the women.

“You know Terrence, we could change that. I hear pegging is all the rage,” the yapok teased as she picked up her drink and took another sip. “At this rate Tarrence is going to be the one that gets to get the kids.” Alyssa was starting to feel the warmth of the alcohol spreading and making her feel flushed from muzzle to ear tips.

Julia picked up her own drink and took a sip as well, glaring at her husband. “Not if I can help it. Never have I ever traded stock.”

The ferret rolled his eyes and took a sip of his drink, then raised an eyebrow as Alyssa reached for her drink as well. “You trade?”

Alyssa picked up her drink and took a sip. “Yes, but I think that you're doing better than me at it. Estoy a punto de quitarme los pantalones.” She said with a sigh, leaning back on the sofa.

“I’m going to have to start learning Spanish, considering how often you and your daughter use it,” Julia muttered, then realized that was the perfect statement to get Alyssa with. “Never have I ever spoken fluent Spanish.”

“Oh Dios mío,” Alyssa sighed as she picked up her drink and instead of taking a sip, she just threw it back and finished it. “La venganza viene mi linda” She said as she leaned back, unbuttoning a few more buttons on her shirt, using her webbed paws to fan herself

__________________________________________________

Sunday, November 1st, 2015

“Dios mio, mama. I think we have enough food to feed the whole town and then some,” Chris said, looking up from the ofrenda that she was setting up. “We’re not going to be the only ones at the get together.”

“You know that your abuela would throw her chancla at you for saying that there’s too much food,” Alyssa replied with a laugh as she opened the oven to pull out another tray of pan de muerto, setting with the trays of sugar skulls, tamales, mole negro, and red pozole. “I’m just about done here, are you about ready?”

“Just about. I still need to take a shower,” Chris said, putting the finishing touches on the ofrenda that they set up for the members of their family that had passed on.

“I tell you what, I will get the shower running and warmed up. You get our clothes out and ready,” Alyssa said as she wiped her paws off on the apron that she was wearing before pulling it off and draping it on a chair. “And don’t go eating any of the food,” she added, giving her daughter ‘the look’.

“I won’t,” she said, rolling her eyes and heading to the bedroom to start getting their clothing and stuff ready. She smiled as she heard the shower coming on and turned on her heels, her tail nearly knocking a lamp over. As she made her way to the bathroom to join her mother she worked her way out of her night clothes, tossing them into the hamper as she got to the bathroom.

“I was starting to wonder if you got into the food,” Alyssa called from inside the shower, opening the curtain and smiling at the sight of her daughter undressing and coming over.

“I wish, but I have better self control of myself,” Chris said as she got into the shower and under the hot water, starting to purr the moment that she did.

“You’re right. My daughter, Christina Paige, was known throughout all the lands and by all of her friends as having absolute self control. She was truly the saint of not eating all of the snacks before anyone else, and the most fair of girls in the lands. She will be missed,” the older yapok teased, composing a calaveras literarias for her daughter and surprising Chris a little as she came up with it off the top of her head.

“Moooom!” The younger yapok huffed out, blush creeping over her ears. “I love you,” she said, having to stand on her toes a little to kiss her mom on the muzzle.

“I mean I call it as I see it,” she said, poking her daughter’s tummy. “We're gonna have to take you to the gym,” she teased as she watched her daughter wetting and then lathering up her hair.

Chris rolled her eyes as she leaned back to rinse her hair before looking at the mother marsupial. “You know, I’m saving you from having to eat it,” she joked as they switched places and Alyssa started wetting her hair and then lathering it up.

“You haven’t seen how much I have to run around the ER sometimes. I could probably out run you,” Alyssa joked, flexing her arms before leaning back and rinsing her hair.

“Here's to Alyssa Paige: Mother, nurse, lover, and runner. She was known for being the best cook in the world, even though she burnt many things. Of all the things that she made, her daughter and their pies were the best. Her daughter learned a great many things from her about love, life, and... pleasure,” Chris said, her Calaveras literarias wasn’t as thought out as her mother’s and more crude, but it showed a lot of love for her mother.

“You’re such a dork. I still love you, though,” Alyssa said, looking down at her daughter. “I'll have you know that I have only burned one thing. I’m not the one that nearly set the place on fire,” she countered before smiling warmly as she leaned down and pressed her muzzle against her daughter’s.

Chris closed her eyes as they kissed, relaxing a little as she felt her mother’s tongue slipping into her muzzle, her tongue soon starting the familiar dance with her mother’s as they made out in the shower, both of them happy that the hot water never seemed to run out. The younger yapok felt herself getting aroused, her twin tipped member poking out of her sheath as her hands explored around her mom’s body, teasing and playing with her breasts.

“I’m starting to think that you have an obsession with my chest.” Alyssa said as she broke the kiss, looking down at her daughter and smirking at the sight of her erection.

“Chest, thighs, that tail, your butt... all of it,” Chris said, poking her tongue out. “Do we have time to take care of a few more things?”

“I’m sure we have time to take care of this,” Alyssa teased, reaching down to give her daughter’s cock a few strokes and getting a moan out of her.

As the older yapok teased her daughter’s shaft, she spread her legs a little as she brought her tail up between her legs, letting part of it stick out much like if she had a cock of her own. Alyssa moved her hand away from her daughter’s cock and put them on her hips. “Lean forward a little, put your arms around my shoulders,” the older yapok ordered, then smiled as her daughter did as she asked.

“Mom, what are you doing?” Chris asked as she felt her mother lifting her up. “Mom, you’re going to hurt yourself!” The smaller yapok squeaked as she realized that her mother had already got her lifted up and pinned against the shower wall.

“Come on. You say that like I’m some old fart,” Alyssa said, as she leaned in a little, her tail tip teasing Chris’ folds. The sight of her daughter blushing as she figured out what she had planned turned her on more than anything. “That’s right, it’s my turn.” She bucked her hips, pressing the tip of her tail into her daughter’s slick tunnel.

Chris opened her muzzle to say something but was quickly cut off when Alyssa had pressed her muzzle against Chris’s, slipping her tongue in. The pair’s tongues danced over each other, exploring one another’s muzzles as they made out. Alyssa pressed her hips against Chris, slipping her tail deeper before pulling her hips and tail back out. It took the older yapok a few tries and a minute or two to get the action down, but she was soon using her tail as a makeshift strap-on.

Alyssa got into a rhythm of pumping her hips and keeping her tail still as she thrust into her daughter, a thicker part of her tail rubbing against her own slit and clit. Chris quickly became a panting mess, a paw working her boy parts as she got closer to cumming. Her mother kept an eye on her daughter, looking for the signs that she was getting a little too worked up. 

“M-Mom, please don’t stop,” Chris whined, letting go of her cock as she had to brace herself. Her mother started to thrust deep and hard, only pulling out an inch or two of her tail as she craned her head towards her daughter’s waist. In an impressive show of flexibility, Alyssa began sucking on her daughter's cock, letting her tongue move around them in circles and even between the tips of the bifurcated member, knowing that that would drive her daughter further up the wall.

Both of the marsupials were close and they knew it. Alyssa could feel her daughter’s cock twitching and taste the small river of pre that was leaking from it. Chris could feel her mother’s tail thrusts getting more and more erratic, some of them slipping even deeper than she’d thought possible.

“Mom!” Chris moaned, saying the only word that she had the mental processing power to form. Her twin tips started to spurt streams of watery yapok seed into her mother’s muzzle. Her mother kept sucking, letting her tongue tease each tip as her tail worked to prolong her daughter’s orgasm, slowly reaching her own as well.

Chris clung to her mother’s head as she finished cumming, letting out another squeaking moan as she felt her mom’s tail pump into her one last time, a bit harder than she’d expected. The blush returned to her ears as the younger yapok realized why her mother stopped; she was twitching, cumming hard from the looks of it.

The two didn’t move for a moment or two. Then Alyssa raised her head and spoke up. “Hold on sweetie,” she said as she slowly regained her composure, then lowered herself and Chris so that her daughter could get her paws back on the ground.

“Holy crap, mom,” Chis sighed. “That was new, and I loved it. I don’t think that you need to get that strap-on for Christmas,” the teen said as she leaned against the shower wall, both of them still recovering. 

“Good. I can get you that other thing that I was looking at, then,” Alyssa said, smiling as she turned away from her daughter to get back to their shower.

“Wait, what are you going to get me?” Chris asked, perking up as she joined her mother in getting her fur wet to continue the shower.

“Well, it’s something that you will really love, but you will just have to wait till Christmas,” the older yapok said, reaching for the soap to start lathering up. “Now start getting cleaned up. We have places to see and things to do.”

“Yes, mom,” Chris said, half rolling her eyes as she picked up the other bar of soap and started lathering up. “Can you at least give me a hint?”

__________________________________________________

Alyssa pulled to a stop at the intercom and pushed the button, waiting for a response. She glanced over at her daughter, who was adjusting her dress, and smiled at the sight of how pretty she looked in a dress. The older yapok made a mental note to try and get her daughter to wear more dresses.

After several seconds, the intercom came to life. The Stouffer’s maid, Charlotte, asked “Who is it?”

“It’s Alyssa and Chris. We come bearing things and are possibly here to borrow some stoats and ferrets,” she said, turning back to the intercom and then looking at the gate.

“Oh, I didn’t realize you would be coming over. I’ll let everyone know you’re here,” the doberman girl said over the intercom as the gate began opening.

Once the gate opened, Alyssa pulled the jeep forward and up to the spot that she normally parked. She and Chris got out of the car and went to the back of it. Alyssa opened the back and picked up a tray that they had set aside for the Stoufers. Chris picked up the painted skull mask and slipped it on, twirling in place before shutting the trunk for her mother. Chris was the one that knocked on the door once they got to it.

A few moments later, the door opened, revealing both Elizabeth and Julia. Both of them looked a bit taken aback. “Uh... Hi Chris,” Elizabeth said, looking her up and down. “Cool costume, but wasn’t Halloween yesterday?” she asked, tilting her head a little, confused by the mask that was covering her friend’s muzzle.

Chris giggled as she turned in place, showing off her mostly black dress. Around the top there was a ruffle that had painted skulls on it along with splashes of bright colors. The lower part  had two ruffles, the first made of stripes in every color in the rainbow and the second had anthro cartoon skulls painted on it. “I know Halloween was yesterday,” she said happily, clearly excited. “We’re not celebrating that, we’re celebrating el Dia de los Muertos.”

Julia nodded in understanding, but Elizabeth just blinked. “Uhh... What’s that?”

“The Day of the Dead,” Chris explained. “It’s kind of like Halloween for us. But there is a lot more to it. We have food, honor all of our family that’s passed on, and give friends food, treats, and stuff like that, and we go to the graveyard.”

“It’s a celebration of life and death,” Alyssa said, giving a more detailed definition as she lowered the tray a little so that Chris could take a small bundled thing from it. “It’s where we leave out offerings for our family that have passed on, build them ofrendas, tell stories, and even clean up their graves and visit them.” 

“Why don’t you two come in?” Julia asked, putting her hands on her daughter’s shoulders and tugging her back slightly. Elizabeth stepped back out of the doorway, making room for the two yapoks.

Chris was the first into the house and Alyssa followed behind her. Alyssa’s dress wasn’t as colorful as Chris’ but she wore the reds and blacks of the flowing dress well. “Sounds good. We have a little bit of time before we have to head to the Church,” Alyssa said, holding out the tray.  “We didn’t know if you all would like to come, so we made you some food.” The older yapok’s whiskers twitched as she got a whiff of the food that they had made. “Don’t worry, nothing should be spicy.”

“And I made you this,” Chris said, turning to Elizabeth and holding out a paw, offering a small bundle that was tied up with a ribbon.

“Thank you,” the little stoat said, accepting the gift. “What is it?”

“Open it silly.” Chris said, her tail twitching with anticipation.. The water opossum had spent a good hour or so decorating the sugar skull for her friend, picking out the colors and designs that she thought would fit the most, and borrowing designs from things that she’d seen in the movie Frozen, knowing that Elizabeth loved it.

The little stoat picked at the ribbon for a moment and then pulled open the cloth bag, revealing the fist-sized sugar skull. “Wow. It’s beautiful. But, uh... what is it?”

“It’s a sugar skull. It’s something that we make to honor people that are close to us, gifted to both living and dead friends and family,” Chris said, pointing out the colors on the skull. “The colors have meanings too… And yes you can eat it, but it might give you a belly ache. It’s made with a looooot of sugar.”

Elizabeth held the skull up, inspecting it. “So it’s mostly just for decoration? If it’s made of sugar, how long does it last?”

“Well, somewhere between ten years to sometime around forever,” Chris said with a nod, knowing that she had one from her abueala that has been sitting on her dresser for as long as she can remember. “Oh and you have to be a little careful, they can get fur stuck to them.”

“Cool,” the little stoat said, carefully wrapping it back up. She knew exactly where she was going to put it.

“So are you just dropping by? Or did you want to stay a while?” Julia asked. “You’re more than welcome to stay if you want to.”

“We can sit and chat for a little bit. Did you, Terrence, and Elizabeth want to come with us? We’re going to the local Catholic church for a celebration there. Eating, socializing, and cleaning and decorating the graves and graveyard,” Alyssa said, turning to Julia, still smiling at how cute she thought the kids were.

“We haven’t been to church in... umm... since shortly after Elizabeth was born,” Julia admitted, a bit ashamed, her ears and whiskers drooping. “I don’t know much about the Day of the Dead, but it seems much more worthy of the name ‘holiday’ than Halloween does. Why don’t we go downstairs and talk with Terry. He’s down in the den, reading,” the older stoat said, walking over to the lift. “We’d need a few minutes to get ready for church anyway, if I can convince him to go, that is...”

“Well, if it helps,” Alyssa said, following the stoat to the lift, watching Julia hit the button to go down to the den, “this isn’t a church function. There’s no preaching or anything like that. It’s just a lot of people getting together, talking about their family and friends that have passed on, honoring them, and doing a little cleaning around the graveyard.”

As the lift reached the basement level, opening into the den, Julia stepped out. Terrence looked up as his wife walked over to where he was sitting in one of the overstuffed leather chairs, reading a surprisingly thick book and sipping from a small glass of whiskey. 

“Terry?” Julia asked, a bit cautiously. “Alyssa’s invited us to attend a Day of the Dead celebration at the local Catholic church. It’s not a sermon or anything...”

__________________________________________________

Elizabeth knelt next to the gravestone, reading the epitaph. She’d never met any Mendezes, at least not that she was aware of. This particular tombstone had been on a list of graves that were no longer maintained by any family members, and were being requested to be cleaned by volunteers. It didn’t look difficult, so she’d taken one of the small buckets of water and soft brushes and looked up the location on the map while her parents, Chris, and Alyssa were ‘mingling’ in the chapel and snacking on the free food. She hadn’t been hungry or talkative, so she’d decided to clean the grave. It seemed like the right thing to do.

Many of the graves had already been cleaned and decorated with candles, flowers, and sugar skulls like the one that Chris had given her. Most of the other people here were dressed in brightly colored dresses or shirts, many of them wearing face paint or masks. It was actually pretty neat, though she couldn’t understand what most of them were saying; she didn’t speak any Spanish.

It didn’t take too long to clean the gravestone; the moss wasn’t that thick and came off pretty easily with a gentle scrubbing. The only hard part was making sure she didn’t get her dress or tail dirty, kneeling next to the gravestone. After a couple of minutes, she stood up, then carefully poured the rest of the water over the gravestone, washing away the last of the moss and dirt. She turned to walk back over to the chapel and jumped, almost dropping the brush and bucket. Chris was standing right behind her, still wearing the creepy but colorful skull mask. “Jeez! Don’t scare me like that,” she said, her fur standing on end. “It’s bad enough that we’re in a graveyard.”

“I didn’t think that my mask was that scary,” the young yapok replied, walking past Elizabeth and looking at the grave that the little stoat had been cleaning while Chris had gone to get the flowers and other things to decorate with. “Wow. You cleaned it so well,” Chris said, a little surprised that Elizabeth had volunteered to clean one of the gravestones. “Wanna help decorate it?” she asked, as she pulled out the bundle of flowers and set them on the gravestone, holding out the basket. 

“Are we supposed to?” Elizabeth asked, glancing back at the gravestone. “The sign just said they were asking for volunteers to clean it.”

“We are. I just didn’t think that you would clean it,” the yapok said, instantly regretting the way that she said it. “I mean... I thought that you would be with the others doing the decorating.”

“Oh,” the little stoat said. “Umm... Sure, I guess. How are we supposed to decorate it? Just put flowers and stuff on it?”

“Pretty much. Put flowers on it, light some candles, and add sugar skulls,” Chris said, smiling happily as she looked at the stoat. “If you want to pick out a few trinkets and put them around, I will light the candles,” Chris said as she pulled out a jar candle and a lighter, then lit it carefully so as to avoid another self-ignition incident before setting it on the gravestone.

“Okay,” Elizabeth said, reaching into the basket and pulling a pair of sugar skulls out of the basket. She looked over at the gravestone and carefully set them atop it, one to each side. The glitter and sequins shimmered in the candle light. “I’d like to think Mr. Mendez would have appreciated these. The sugar skulls are pretty.”

“The skulls do look really good. You picked them well,” Chris said, standing up and slipping the lighter back into her pocket. She stepped back and looked over the work that they’d done, still surprised that Elizabeth had cleaned it and so well too. The yapok would have thought that the stoat was too sheltered and spoiled to bother cleaning gravestones, but she’d been proved wrong. “Oh I got something for you,” Chris said, reaching into the basket and pulling out a stoat sized mask, before adding, “and I wanted to ask you something.”

Elizabeth accepted the plastic mask, looking it over. It was thicker than she’d expected, and the black and white skull motif was pretty cool, if somewhat scary looking. She pulled the elastic band back around her head and set the mask over her face. It did fit pretty well, though the eye holes weren’t quite centered. “How do I look?” she asked, turning to face Chris again.

“Cute… and a little spooky,” Chris said as she realized how the stoatling’s black eyes and sclera gave the mask an eerie appearance. “Also… Walk with me? There’s a quiet little spot that I want to take you to and ask you something,” she said, holding out her hand to the stoat, the yapok’s tail twitching nervously. 

“Okay,” Elizabeth said, accepting Chris’s paw. It felt a little odd, holding hands in public.

The yapok led her over to a little stone bench under a large tree in the corner of the graveyard. “So, I got to thinking, and…” Chris paused as she sat down, trying to think of how to say what she was thinking. “So, you know how you talked about waiting to date and all of that? I think that I’m ready if you are,” Chris said, blush forming in her ears.

Elizabeth felt her breath catch in her chest. “I... I... Are you sure?” she asked. Chris had balked when she had first brought it up, well over a month ago. They’d been friends for a couple of months now.

Chris was silent for a moment as she reached up and pulled her mask off. “I am. Seeing you cleaning the grave gave me… It proved something to me,” she said, patting the spot next to her. “That is if you’re ready to date and make it official.”

Elizabeth nodded, then sat down next to the yapok. “So... do I ask you out, or do you ask me out?” she asked, flashing a small smile at Chris.

“I just asked you out, silly stoat,” Chris said, poking her tongue out at the other cub. She reached over, taking Elizabeth’s soft furred paws into her webbed paws.

“Then I accept,” Elizabeth said, leaning against the older cub. She let out a sigh, looking out over the graveyard, all lit up with candles and decorated with flowers, tiny sugar skulls, and colorful banners.

“Thank you,” Chris said as she tilted her head a little and kissed the stoat on the top of her head.