She beamed at the darkness in his eyes, strangely unaware of what his hands were doing. There was a magic in his stare that could not be described. She fell prey to it again and again. This time would be no different. She felt her body tilt in motion with his movements, laying her down on his bed, but she would find no rest here. No, she would be pushed to her limits once more. What a blessing it was to have had everything she was stripped away and have only him remain. 

But a rising growl told her their time would be interrupted again... 

------ what came before ------

The day was warm, at least as warm as one might find a Fall's day just as summer is ending. There was a smell in the air, a sense of death, that warned her well before the rustling of leaves and the wind could tell her. Waking to the faint light of sunrise was not uncommon for her, but it felt special today. The night before had been filled with dreams of her date tonight. She's been looking forward to this for 2 weeks. Hector Roiland, one of the most sought-after males in her High School. He may not have been an athlete, but what he lacked in strength, he made up for in Poise, intelligence, and Wit. He always dressed sharply, like at any moment a camera might take a photo of him. Everything he said made him sound so knowledgeable, so funny, so perfect. And that made him so very hot! Many girls in her class had already tried to take him on a date only to be rejected. Now, when she had managed the impossible, many told her not to go. But she could smell the jealousy, it was their failures dictating their answers to her. Velyra threw the covers aside unveiling white and blue speckled PJs that played over the fennec's curves.  The cream colored fox let one foot fall to the floor, and then the other. A deep breath to bolster her resolve, she stood up and beamed a smile across to the mirror at herself. Today was going to be perfect.

-------from the sublime to the lamentable-------

The bar stank of booze, vomit, and clattered with broken wood and loose nails. Another fight the night before. As folks moved about, the sounds rang in Craig's ears. A familiar sound... followed by a familiar pain. A tightness in his chest accompanied by a white hot burning that words could not describe. But this was familiar, what came next was not. A hard slap to the back of his head brings his attention directly behind him as he whips himself to his feet and turns to find a doe there. She shouts at him, but he struggles to hear it over the ringing in his ears. 
"This is the last straw Craig."
She takes a breath to bolster herself, clearly wanting to keep shouting at him,
 "We put up with you for months, and you've been good about paying for damages and then some, but you're driving away business. You're too much trouble Craig. I got to ask you to leave!"
 Craig nods apologetically,  the wolf/bear not fully understanding in his groggy state, 
 "I understand Miss Peak, it won't happen again."
 The doe shakes her head pointing to the door, 
 "Not this time Craig. I'm serious. You pay, you leave, and I don't call the police."
  Craig blinks in Surprise, 
 "... All right, since you've made up your mind about it."
  He turns to leave with his right arm locked at his side as he struggles to turn and walk with his tight chest. She groans Softly and stops him with a gentle hand on his shoulder,
 "Hang on you idiot."
With what many would think is a magic trick she bunches her fingers to a point and strikes two places behind his back and gently massages a specific spot in his shoulder and within a minute all of his tightness has disappeared. She sighs softly,
"If you wanna visit, that's fine... but I'm not serving you any more liquor." Craig opens his mouth to thank her, but the doe raises her hand to stop him then patting the now relaxed shoulder.
"That was just one more for the road. You take care of yourself you ol' fool."
With that, he nods and lets himself out.
-----
She began to pace her room with increasing dread as she looked over her outfit for the 11th time, ultimately discarding it and starting the process all over again. What to wear when you are spending an evening with an angel in a suit? What doesn't look sleazy but also doesn't make her ears look like satellite dishes?! She settles on something formal, making sure to take away the coat but keep the shawl to accent her physique but give a dash of finesse. Surely he would love this! She receives another text from her friends, one of them wishing her luck, and the others still hoping to change her mind even now, with only half a day left between her and her date tonight? Not a chance. She caught herself imagining the night unfolding before her. So elegant, so perfect, with him making her laugh and smile and awe at him with every turn the evening had. And all of this leading to the Apex where he drops to one knee and pulls a little box from his pocket. Her heart races! She puckers up her lips! She leans in for the kiss! 

Cold! 

Her eyes snap open from the fantasy, realizing how silly she was being as she pries her lips from the mirror and rubs them with a bit of surprise. She thought back to when another in her class had managed the impossible, landing a date with Hector. She mentioned a very similar fantasy to them, and though Velyra remembered chastising her at the time, she felt silly now for doing so. People do crazy things when they're in love... isn't that right? She wondered if he would want children. She never thought of herself as much of a house maker. Even if she was reasonably good with knitting needles. A glance at the mirror she imagined having a belly heavy with child. Maybe... she wouldn't mind her breasts filling out a bit after all.
Goodness! Where was her mind going?? She reeled in her future imaginings to only be about the near future.
She wondered what kind of films he'd like. A pang of worry set in as she wondered if he wouldn't like horror movies or Romance films as much as she did. Perhaps someone as sophisticated as him drew no such boundaries, and he would merely appreciate the art form as it was. Perhaps, he would be happy merely to be there with her while she enjoyed them. Yes! That must be what he would think. 

The thought of intimacy, closeness, and a hint of lust all welled up inside of her, and she pressed her thighs together squirming.  What kind of lover was he? Soft spoken and gentle, making every subtle gesture like a ripple in a pool of ecstasy? Or more passionate, leaving behind his inhibiting shackles as he becomes wild with lust! And now she could hardly think straight, let alone compose herself enough to prevent needing ANOTHER shower.  She'd already cleaned up the night before due to her daydreams. Would she really have to get herself off this morning just to help keep the jitters at bay?
------
Craig stumbled into his apartment, glancing around and finding an ashtray on the floor. He picks it up, putting out his cigarette in it with a heavy sigh. He wanders over to the solitary recliner, dropping the ashtray on the side table, while he unceremoniously plops into the sanctuary of his chair with a huff. No sooner had he done so, that there was a knock at the door. He groaned back to his feet and crossed over to it looking out the peephole. On the other side is a small framed otter, patiently waiting with his arms casually crossed. Craig opens the door while unlatching it with rehearsed rhythm, able to crack half a smile at him as he looks down at him. 
"Hey Rufus, what's the occasion?" 

The little male otter returns the half-smile and offers a hand for shaking which he takes. Rufus states candidly, 
"Saw you saunter in and figured now was as good a time as any to remind you what day of the month it is."
Rufus grumbles with a snarl that showed his frustration with himself. 
"Ah, shit. Am I late again?"
 Rufus smirks, shaking his head. 
 "Technically... but you're fine right now, just curious if it's ready today."
"It sure is. I can grab it right now. Just a minute here."
 Craig disappeared back into his apartment, calling over his shoulder. 
 "snag a drink, if you like."
 Rufus called back. 
 "little early isn't it?"
 from out of sight, Craig called with an audible smile, 
  "Even for your bitch beer? I gotcha some more. Or is that too much to handle?"
 that gets Rufus interested and he smirks as he retorts, 
 "Says the drunk who can't even remember what day it is."
 "It's after Noon, innit?"
 there is a pause before Rufus concedes, 
 "alright just one. You're my kinda trouble,  Craig."
"Ey!" He says with an audible smile, still out of sight, but still within earshot. 

After a short trip through the living room, Rufus emerges from the kitchen at the same time Craig steps in from the bedroom. Craig presents the money, looking freshly counted,
"Here we are. And you're sure I don't need to give you late pay?"
Rufus shakes his head, gesturing at him with the open drink,  
"Craig, you're one of the only tenants I DON'T have to worry about paying rent. I know you're good for it and that peace of mind is sometimes worth its weight in gold."
It was Craig's turn to smirk,
"Oh yeah?"
Rufus raised a brow at him, easy to miss on the little otter, but no one could miss the slight shift in tone,
"Sometimes. Not today. Especially after I woke up at 2am to the sounds of an ambulance."
"Oh shit... were they...?"
Rufus finishes his sentence, sighing as he delivered the bad news,
"...At the bar? Yeah... they thought only their pride was hurt till they got home and two of them figured out they had a fractured arm and a couple broken ribs."

Craig sighed heavily to himself, re-examining his callused knuckles.
"God dammit..."

"Count on my brother stopping in."
Craig snarls softly at himself uttering again quieter, 
"God dammit."
Rufus chuckles while he chimes in, but it was Craig's turn to cut him off,
 "If you don't like it ya-"
 
"-ya shouldn't have done it. Yeah yeah... I just... really need to make good on the damages at the ol' watering hole again so I need until tomorrow. I can't be put up several days with this in limbo. I need to fix it tonight." 
Rufus turns to leave, money in hand. 
"Well, promise me you won't leave town and I'll see what I can do for ya."
Craig sighs with relief, 
"Thanks Rufus."
"Well, don't thank me yet..."
The door closes, leaving Craig in the dark again.