WARNING: This story contains sexually explicit material involving adolescent children and incest. This story also contains mild violence and profanity. If such content is illegal to view in your area or you are not of legal age to view such content, close your RTF reader now.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, events and incidents in this book are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Masala Chai
by IndigoNeko and TaintedThylacine

Chapter 7

Sunday, February 14th, 2016

“Are we there yet?” Azalea asked, her breath steaming in the chilly air. The young hybrid was far better dressed for the winter weather than the tiger she was walking next to, with a thick coat and long clothes. It still wasn’t enough to keep her from complaining. “Aaaalex, my paws are cold,” she said, smiling evilly.

Alex sighed, reaching out and taking hold of Azalea’s paws, just to keep them from making their way to sensitive spots. No part of hir was safe when the half-squirrel got cold paws: armpits, neck, back, tummy, or worse. “Don’t even think about it.”

“But that was such a cute sound that you made last time,” Azalea giggled happily as they made their way from the game shop to the arcade, the large building finally coming into view.

“You don’t want to get an accidental elbow in the face, do you?” the tigress asked. “Cause I almost hit you when you stuck your paw up the back of my shirt.”

“Worth it. Next time I’ll just go for your pants, er, skirt,” Azalea said, smiling and stopping, tugging her mate close and kissing hir on the nose. “Now, let’s go pwn some noobs,” half-jerboa said, taking the tigress’ paw and pulling hir along. “I might even teach you a thing or two.”

Alex shivered at how cold Azalea's nose was, brushing against hir own. “Yeah, right. Maybe if we’re playing Tekken seven,” the tigress muttered, following the hybrid into the arcade, stomping some of the snow off hir boots.

The Winter Creek Arcade was even more packed than the game shop had been. Literally dozens of kids were wandering around or playing video games. Alex was kind of surprised, both because it was a Sunday and ‘cause practically everyone had their own game consoles at home nowadays. Not to mention the weather. Then shi remembered that the town was mostly Pagan, rather than Christian, so Sunday morning church wasn’t exactly a thing. Also, the arcade had lots of games you couldn’t play at home, like racing games with a formula one cockpit or a motorcycle chassis to sit on.

“Well, I do have a title to uphold,” Azalea said, sticking her tongue out at the tigress. “Anyway, there are other fighting games that we could play... something neither of us know,” she said, pointing to one of the many cabinets. “Go find us something to play. I will get tokens.” The half-jerboa strode over to the cashier’s counter.

After stuffing hir backpack in one of the cubbies near the door, Alex wandered down the rows of arcade games. Usually they put the newer ones up front, moving the older ones to the back until they were so dated that nobody played them. When shi didn’t see anything new on the nearest aisle, shi turned back around and checked the next. Alex immediately spotted a brand new arcade cabinet with the Mortal Kombat X logo on the front. Unfortunately, several other kids were already standing there, playing or watching.

“You got rekt, scrub,” someone called out. A canine cub slunk away, tail between his legs in embarrassment, having gotten his ass handed to him. “I’m next,” protested the mouse standing next in line, glaring as someone tried to cut in front of him.

“I see you found the new game,” Azalea said, suddenly appearing next to Alex and watching as the mouse and a young colt started a match. “Go on. Teach him a lesson. He’s probably a push over. Look at him mashing buttons.”

“Fine, fine…” the tigress said, walking down the aisle towards the group of children standing around the new cabinet. “How different is this one from nine?”

“No clue. It shouldn’t be too different, but I only know Tekken and King of Fighters,” Azalea said with a shrug. “But as long as you don’t mash buttons like he does, you should be good,” she said, watching the mouse and colt were both randomly slapping buttons. “Heck, I’m gonna teach both these noobs a lesson,” she said, grinning and slipping into the group of children standing around the cabinet.

“Excuse me.” A soft but confident voice spoke near Alex’s ear, accompanied by a tap on the shoulder. 

Alex jerked in alarm, black skirt flaring as shi whirled to face the person who’d tapped hir, instinctively raising hir paws into a guard position. When shi realized he was still speaking, shi put hir hands back down, looking the tiger boy over, hir heart pounding first from alarm and now with excitement. The black-and-white striped tiger boy was wearing khakis and a white knit sweater, and looked only a few years older than shi was.

“I’m sorry if I startled you. I hope this isn’t being too forward, but I saw you standing here, and I don’t often see other tigers,” the teenaged tiger boy said, smiling down at the younger tigress. The black-and-orange striped tigress with snow-white hair looked cute in a black skirt and t-shirt. “I’m, um, not great at introductions, but... it’s nice to meet you. I’m Ravi.” He gently took her paw and bowed, gently kissing the back of hir hand before standing again. “May I know your name?” 

Alex was dumbstruck, first that shi was speaking to a tiger around hir own age, second that he was black-and-white striped like hir dad, and third that he was kissing the back of hir hand. Hir mouth hung open, unable to speak. He’d already let go of hir hand before shi even realized what he’d said. “A-a-a-alex,” shi stuttered, beginning to blush furiously as hir heart continued to thunder, hir nethers suddenly flush with arousal. “Alexandrea, actually.”

“Well, Miss Alexandrea, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Ravi said, smiling. “What, may I ask, brings a cute kitten like you here?” he asked, his tail swishing slightly. 

The young tigress felt like hir skin was burning with how badly shi was blushing, and being called cute just made it worse. Alex was glad shi was wearing undershorts right now, ‘cause if shi hadn’t there’d be a puddle under hir. Shi’d never been so aroused in hir entire life.

Judging by his thinner fur and facial structure, shi was pretty sure that he was a bengal tiger, and by his age and color, he was the one shi had seen in passing at school a few weeks ago. Shi couldn’t place his accent, though. “I… uh… my girlfriend and I just wanted to play some arcade games,” Alex replied, turning slightly and gesturing over at the squirrel hybrid who’d just stepped up to the game console next to the mouse.

Ravi was quiet for a moment. “Girlfriend? As in a, uh... female friend? Or something more?” he asked, tilting his head a little.

At that very moment, Alex wished more than anything that shi wasn’t dating Azalea. It made hir nearly sick to hir stomach that shi had to say that it was something more, knowing that the tiger boy was basically asking if shi was single, but the thought of cheating on someone was even worse. Shi would never betray Azalea like that.

Before the smaller tigress could say anything, a louder voice called out. “I leave you alone for one minute and you’ve already found a girl and started flirting,” a smaller jerboa said as he walked up to the two tigers. “Looks like you found a cutie, too.”

Alex glanced over at the jerboa, irritated at the interruption, then back at the white tiger in front of hir. “Azalea and I are dating, if that’s what you mean…” shi said, cautiously answering the tiger’s question.

“Heath!” Azalea’s voice rang out, getting the group’s attention. “You scrawny, rat-tailed thing. Who said you could come back into my domain?” she said, walking up to the jerboa and clapping him on the shoulder.

“Good to see you too, bushy-tail,” Heath said with a snicker. “So I take it that this is a friend of yours?”

“Yeah. This is my girlfriend, Alex,” Azalea said, not catching the sudden change in Heath’s stance as he turned to look at the tigress, glaring at her. 

Alex certainly caught the furious look he gave hir, which vanished in an instant. The fur on the back of hir neck stood on end at the sudden awareness of danger. Hir heart continued to pound as adrenaline coursed through hir, knowing this had suddenly become a flight or fight situation... and then was left hanging as the jerboa boy started acting like nothing happened.

The tigress swallowed, figuring shi should do the same, and looked over at Azalea. “Wait… Did you lose that] quickly?” Alex asked, glancing over hir shoulder at the Mortal Kombat booth. “That’s gotta be a record.”

“I got cocky and he managed to get me into a corner and start juggling me. No skill at all. Button-mashing scrub,” Azalea said with a little huff. “So who’s this?” She motioned to the tiger. “He could be your older brother, Alex.”

“This is Ravi,” Heath said. “Come on. Let’s go to the snack bar where we can hear a little better.” The jerboa took Azalea’s paw and practically dragged her back up the aisle to the front of the arcade.

Blinking, Alex looked back up at the white tiger in front of hir, who had turned to watch Heath drag Azalea around by the hand. “How old are you?” shi asked curiously, peering up at him, grateful that the jerboa boy’s interruption had broken the spell that this tiger boy, Ravi, had on hir. “Do you live here?”

“I’m thirteen,” Ravi said, turning back to the tigress, then back in the direction that his friend had taken off to. “Ummm, shouldn’t we follow them? I mean, he did drag your girlfriend off.”

“Uh… yeah, we probably should,” Alex replied, starting after them.

“I don’t think he meant any harm,” Ravi said, taking Alex by the paw as they followed the two rodents.

Now that shi wasn’t overcome with arousal, Alex was starting to get a little weirded out by how quick the other boy was to touch hir hands. But it wasn’t like he was doing anything inappropriate and shi didn’t exactly want to cause a scene.

“Oh, and to answer your question: Yes, I live here in Winter Creek, we moved here five years ago,” Ravi said as they followed the two rodents to the tables and benches at the front of the arcade. “From India.”

“Do you go to Scott Carpenter Middle School?” Alex asked. “I think I saw you in a hallway there a few weeks ago.”

“Yes,” Ravi confirmed as they reached the little food court area, glancing down at the smaller tigress, wondering how a girl that looked barely older than his sister was in middle school.

“About time. I thought that you two got lost,” Heath called out, waving to the two tigers from a booth. Azalea was sitting across from him.

Alex shook hir hand free from Ravi’s, going over and sitting next to Azalea. Shi didn’t say anything, but shi was wondering just what the odds were of a tigress and jerboa-squirrel meeting another tiger and jerboa around their own ages. Especially in a small town like Winter Creek.

Heath leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table as Alex sat across from him, followed a moment later by Ravi taking a seat next to him. “So, Azzy tells me that you two are a thing. Kind of a weird pairing,” he said with mirthless snort, glancing back at Azalea. “How long have you two been together?” he asked, looking back at the tigress like he was sizing her up.

“A month,” Alex said, tensing slightly and narrowing hir eyes at the jerboa suspiciously. “Though we’ve been friends since school started. Why?”

“I was just wondering,” the jerboa said with a shrug. “I mean, I’ve known Azzy for a little while and since you’re girlfriends, I thought it would be the neighborly thing to do, getting to know you,” Heath said, smiling. “You think I’m trying to steal her from you or something don’t you?”

“Yes,” the tigress said without missing a beat, hir expression still one of suspicion.

“Alex! I’m hurt,” Heath said, leaning back, putting a hand on his chest. “That you would think that I would do something like that.”

“Okay, you two. Play nice,” Azalea said, shaking her head. “He likes to joke around.”

“He also didn’t deny it,” Alex pointed out, still glaring at the jerboa across from hir. “Sneaky rodents.”

“Ummm, you know that I am a rodent too, right?” Azalea looked at the tigress next to her. “Like I said, I know Heath. He did this with my other boyfriend too, messing with them… Something about making sure they were right for me or something like that-”

“Wait, you’re a rodent?!” Alex asked incredulously, looking at the squirrel-hybrid next to hir. “Impossible. I thought you were a pillow. You make for a really good one, anyway. Blanket too, for that matter.”

“You know if I’m a pillow, that makes you a pillow humper,” Azalea said with a snicker.

After a moment of awkward silence, Heath spoke up again. “Seriously, though. I wouldn’t dream of coming between you two. Azzy is like a sister to me. So don’t get your panties in a wad there, murder mittens.” Heath smiled, though to Alex it looked fake. 

“See? He’s not trying to steal me or anything like that,” Azalea agreed.

“See? She knows. Look, can you just chill so we can all be friends?” Heath asked.

“You must be into incest, if she’s like a sister to you,” Alex quipped with a snort. Then shi sighed. “Fine, but I don’t trust you any further than I can throw you. Actually, that’s a bad analogy; I could probably throw you pretty far. Shoot, now I’m going to have to think up another analogy…”

“You know, it just hit me,” Heath said, turning to Azalea and then back to the tigress. “It’s not you that has to worry. Azalea is the one that should worry. You’re clearly into rodents.” The jerboa smirked. “You know you want me. Maybe we could have a threesome…”

Ravi coughed and Alex rolled hir eyes. “In your dreams, maybe,” the tigress countered.

“Yeah, I’m probably a little much for you,” Heath said, leaning back against the booth. “Though I still think that Azzy should be worried, especially with the way that you were blushing and wiggling when you met Ravi there.”

“Blushing and wiggling? Alex, what’s he mean?” Azalea asked, turning to her mate.

“Of course I was blushing! He took my hand and kissed it like he was James Bond or something!” Alex protested, waving hir paw at the bengal tiger across from hir. “Seriously, What the hell? And I didn’t wiggle,” shi added, glaring at the jerboa. “I jumped. Cause he scared the shit out of me, sneaking up behind me.”

“Hey, I’m just saying what it looked like from where I was,” the jerboa said with a shrug. “Not my fault.”

“My apologies for kissing your hand. I didn’t know you had a girlfriend when I did so,” the tiger boy said, blushing a little.

“Okay, I think things are getting a little out-of-hand,” Azalea said, looking at the jerboa and then the tigress. “You two, be friends.” She looked back at the jerboa. “You, stop being a dick, or whatever it is you’re doing.”

“I can’t help it. I gotta make sure she’s not going to hurt you or anything. Cat and mouse and all that,” Heath protested, holding his paws up.

“Fine,” Alex huffed. Shi still didn’t trust the jerboa; he still hadn’t given hir a straight answer. Ravi seemed genuine at least, and polite. “And you don’t need to worry about me hurting her.”

“Good. ‘Cause, like I said, she’s like a sister to me and all that,” Heath said, nodding to Alex. “So, how about a makeup game? My treat.”

“Well, if Azzy won’t let me kick your ass in real life, at least I can kick it in-game,” Alex muttered.

“I’m starting to think that you two want to fuck or something,” Azalea muttered, shaking her head. “Let’s go. I’ll teach both of you a lesson,” she said, pushing Alex out of the way and wiggling out of the booth.

__________________________________________________

“I didn’t think that Ravi would be that good at Tekken,” Azalea said, obviously affronted, leaning against the photo booth. “I can’t believe he beat me. I have all the top scores on that game.”

“Azzy, I think we need to talk,” Heath murmured, looking at the hybrid. “I mean, it might just be me, but... Alex was really checking Ravi out earlier. And that whole thing where he kissed her hand? I swear to God, it looked like Cinderella and Prince Charming.”

“Oh, come on. I’m not worried about Alex,” Azalea said, shaking her head. “I trust her. So suck it up and behave.”

“I’m just saying. That and she’s been eyeing me all day, like she wants to maul me,” Heath said shrugging a little. “I’ve got a bad feeling and I don’t want anything to happen.” The jerboa pushed the photo booth curtain open. “Come on. I wanna get a picture with you.”

“You’re an overprotective dork,” Azalea muttered. “Fine, just one set.” The half-jerboa followed Heath inside, sitting next to him. There was a moment of silence as he put some coins in and picked out a background.

The first photo was of the two of them sitting next to each other, smiling. The second was of Azalea looking at Heath with a shocked expression. The third was of Heath looking back with a suave smile, leaning towards her. The fourth showed Azalea with her eyes closed, head against the side of the booth with Heath’s muzzle pressed against hers.

Alex grinned as shi managed to pull off a fatality. Scorpion stepped back and threw his signature spear straight through Cane’s head, yanking it clean off and throwing it backwards, followed shortly by one of scorpion’s swords. Cane’s eyes twitched as his head hung there, pinned against the pillar by the sword. “Three out of three,” shi said, flashing a grin at Ravi. “Where’d Azalea and Heath go?” the tigress asked, turning and looking around as other kids pushed forward to take their spots.

“Last I saw them, they were by the photo booth. Maybe one of them needed to use the water closet,” Ravi said looking around. “Or they could have found another game to play.”

Alex blinked and shi looked up at the older tiger boy. “Water closet?” shi asked, puzzled. “What’s that?”

“Er… The bathroom,” Ravi said, shaking his head. “Sorry. I’ve been here for five years now, but some phrases just stick.” 

“Ah, gotcha,” Alex said, still looking around.

Ravi smiled, then pointed at the photo booth. “There. I’m fairly sure that is your friend’s tail.”

Alex spun, quickly walking over towards the photo booth where Azalea’s fluffy tail was hanging out from under the curtain. “Hey! You better not be doing anything funny in there, Heath,” the tigress threatened, throwing the curtain wide. “Or you’ll find out just how far I can throw you.”

“God, don’t get your panties in a wad,” Heath huffed. “Can’t someone take some silly photos with a friend?” As the two rodents stepped out of the booth, Heath stood in front of the photo printing slot. Azalea hung her head, hoping nobody noticed that she was crying.

“Of course they can,” Alex said, standing next to him. “But I still don’t trust you. Are you going to show us those photos, or leave me wondering if you did something you shouldn’t have with my girlfriend?”

The jerboa turned around to face the tigress, his back to the photo booth, catching the strip of photos behind his back as the machine spat them out, then stuck them in his back pocket. “Something that I shouldn’t have? Oh, no,” Heath said. After a moment he turned back around, waiting for a moment, then gave the machine a kick. “Come on... Stupid thing’s busted.”

“Riiight,” Alex said, glaring at him, then turned to Azalea as the half-squirrel wiped at her eyes. “Azzy! Are you alright?”

“Huh?” Azalea squeaked, looking up from her phone. “I’m okay. I was just reading some news about a... a game getting canned.” The hybrid flashed a smile.

“Pardon me ladies, Ravi. I need to use the bathroom,” Heath said, slipping around the other side of the photo booth, looking around.

The moment Heath stepped out of the way, Alex dug a token out of hir pocket and stuck it into the booth, hitting the re-print button. A moment later, the machine started making the same noise it had a moment earlier, and spat out another copy of the pictures. Alex quickly snagged them, looking down at them with a frown.

The jerboa boy looked around the side of the photo booth, eventually finding the photo booth’s power plug. He yanked it out, hoping to kill the machine before it would print another copy, but was two seconds too late. He pushed it back in a moment later, then stepped back around the photo booth. “Where the heck is the bathroom around here, anyway?” he muttered, trying to play it cool.

Alex glared at him as shi held up the narrow strip of photographs. “Oh? ‘Stupid things busted’, huh?” shi asked in a flat voice before turning back to hir girlfriend. “Azalea? What the fuck. You could have at least told me you had a thing for him, rather than hiding it and pretending he’s just a friend.”

Azalea looked up with tears in her eyes, and opened her muzzle to say something, but was quickly cut off by Heath. “Hey, murder mittens, calm down a little,” Heath said. “It was just a kiss between friends.”

“You can shut the hell up,” Alex snapped at Heath before turning back to Azalea and waiting.

“I… We got to talking. He told me how you were acting around Ravi and that he was worried,” Azalea said, tears in her eyes. “Then in the booth, he said felines and rodents aren’t meant to be together, and he said he had feelings for me. I was so confused... ” She shook as she started sobbing.

Alex turned to face the jerboa boy. “You racist little shit,” shi said in a quiet, deadly voice. The fur on the back of hir neck went up, hir face tightening into an angry growl, showing a pair of large, sharp ivory fangs. “I knew I couldn’t trust you,” shi snarled, hir tail twitching as shi hunched slightly, hands coming up with claws unsheathed. Hir eyes practically glowed with barely contained rage.

Ravi watched with growing alarm, knowing all too well what was happening. Like all tigers cursed with blood-stained fur, Alexandrea had the Ancestral Fury, and Heath had just provoked her to bloodshed. He quickly moved close to the young tigress, hoping that he would be quick enough and strong enough to prevent her from tearing the stupid rodent’s throat out.

“You should stick to your own species. It’s basic biology,” Heath spat out. “I mean... Could you two even have a cub? Sure, she’s a hybrid, but her parents were both Rodentia. But Panthera? Forget it.” He said showing no fear at this point. “Sure, I might be wrong. You two might be compatible, but I don’t think so.”

The young white tiger was stunned at how stupid the jerboa boy was being; provoking a tiger like that after she had bared teeth and claws. Heath had just earned himself a Darwin Award. Ravi was seriously tempted to simply let Alex rip the boy’s throat out... except then the tigress would take the blame for the rodent’s death, and she didn’t deserve that.

The retort about having a better chance at bearing cubs than Heath would died on Alex’s lips as shi realized just how racist he was. In the back of hir mind, shi realized shi would never win a verbal argument with him, and the time had come to make non-verbal arguments. Hir golden eyes seemed to flash in the neon lights of the arcade. Adrenaline coursed through Alex’s veins as shi leapt at him, intending to rip his throat out, to punish him for trying to steal Azalea.

The moment that the younger tiger’s tail stopped twitching, Ravi knew the moment had come. He grabbed her shoulders as she leapt, forcing her to the floor, then fell on top of her, trying to pin her in place. “Miss Alex, you need to calm down. There are far more dignified ways to settle this,” he said to her, hoping a cool, collected tone would bring her to her senses. “Ones that don’t involve committing murder,” he hissed.

“Alex, please don’t be mad at Heath,” Azalea begged, wiping her eyes with the back of her paw. “I mean... He does have a point, and I had no idea he felt that way about me.”

Alex barely heard the two other cubs speaking, struggling as shi was against the older, larger tiger boy’s grip as he tried to pin hir arms to hir sides, kneeling over hir. Growling, shi tried to break free, shredding the carpet under hir and nearly throwing him off despite his size. Hir anger gave way to panic, the rational part of hir mind having long since fled with the intensity of hir emotions. “Let go!” shi roared, loudly enough to catch the attention of most of the people in the arcade, including the two employees at the front counter.

“Heath? Uh, you need to leave. Now,” Azalea said with growing alarm as she watched Alex rip chunks of carpet up, about to break free of the older tiger’s grip. The jerboa boy, only now realizing that his life was in danger, sprinted for the exit.

“Alex? Please, calm down,” Ravi said softly, barely keeping his grip on the struggling tigress. “I can’t let go until you do.”

Somehow Ravi’s calm, collected voice managed to get through to hir. The smaller tigress went still, then looked around, realizing with embarrassment how many kids had gathered around them, staring at the spectacle. “Fine. I’m calm. Get off me already.”

“Okay,” Ravi said softly, his grip on the tigress loosening and letting go as he rolled off her and stood up. “Are you okay?” he asked, holding his paw out to help her up.

“Alex? Please… Don’t ever do that again. You were scary,” Azalea said, the tears having returned, rolling down her dark cheek fur. “And... I’m sorry,” she muttered, wanting to reach out to Alex, but too frightened to do so.

Alex waited until Ravi was standing to one side before rolling onto hir back and doing a kip-up, startling the various other cubs and the employees who were standing around. Shi brushed bits of shredded carpet off hir shirt and paws, then turned back around to face Azalea. “No, I’m the one who’s sorry. I knew what that little shit was trying to pull,” shi said angrily, using hir feet to push the strip of photographs across the floor and over to the jerboa-squirrel hybrid. “He’s probably right too,” shi continued. “We aren’t right for each other. At least not as mates.” 

‘Not if you’re willing to cheat on me,’ Alex thought to hirself, as hir chest began to ache, realizing shi had lost yet another lover. “We’re through. I’m going home,” the tigress said, turning around and walking through the crowd that had gathered, yanking hir backpack from the cubby next to the counter, wiping away a tear as shi pushed through the doorway and stepped outside.

“Alex,” Azalea called as she picked up the photos. “Alex!” She called louder, looking up in time to see the tigress throw open the door and storm away. Getting to her paws, Azalea took off after the tigress, pushing through the doors with all the power her little legs had, yelling. “Alex, wait!” she called after the tigress.

Ravi watched with heavy heart as the young tigress left the arcade, followed by her now ex-girlfriend. He had been able to prevent her from shedding blood this time, but it was only a matter of time before she would again. She was doomed to a short, violent life that would end in death or prison, like the rest of his species with blood-stained fur. Their Ancestral Fury made it inevitable. It was both their blessing and their curse, a gift bestowed by Durga for bearing the Goddess into battle.

__________________________________________________

Alex darted up the stairs from the driveway to the upper patio, reaching the side entrance and pulling out hir key, fumbling three times before getting it into the lock with how badly hir paws were shaking from the storm of emotions shi was barely holding at bay. The tigress stepped through the door, locking it behind hirself and immediately ran upstairs. 

When shi reached the sanctity of hir own room, shi shut the door and chucked hir backpack into a corner, then fell onto hir bed. After everything that had happened, shi wanted nothing more than to curl up and cry, but the tears just wouldn’t come. The tiger cub rolled onto hir side and grabbed a pillow, holding it tight, hoping the tightness in hir chest would ease. Shi would have given anything just then to be taken by the soothing darkness of one of a blackout, like shi had been having earlier that year.

Several miles away, Cora sat down as she watched her daughter head upstairs to her room. She wasn’t sure what had happened, but it was obvious something had, since Alex wasn’t there when she’d gone to pick up Azalea. She had tried talking to her daughter, but Azzy insisted everything was okay. Supposedly they had a tough time at the arcade, but nothing more than that.

“I think this is the number,” Cora murmured, looking at the little notebook by the phone. She dialed the number written under the label ‘Tigers’, and waited.

Raenne swore as her cell phone began ringing in her purse rather than the call going through the speaker system of the SUV like it was supposed to. The five-year-old Nissan supposedly had a hands-free phone mode, but half the time the blasted thing wouldn’t pair correctly with her phone, and she wouldn’t know it until someone was calling… like right now. Pulling over to the side of the twisty mountain road on the way back from the construction site, the tigress reached over and fumbled through the contents of her purse until she found the phone, then pulled it out and unlocked it. “Raenne speaking,” she said, glancing in the side mirror and then putting the vehicle back in drive to continue the ride back into town.

“Hey. I was starting to wonder if I’d written down the right number,” Cora said as she walked over to the sofa. “It’s Cora. I was wondering if Alex said anything to you about what happened today.”

“Sorry I was slow to pick up. I had to dig through my purse to get the phone. I’m actually driving back to the house right now,” Raenne replied. “I thought Alex was still over at your place. Last night shi said shi was going to be there until noon or so. Did something happen?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Cora said with a shrug. “I drove them into town earlier. Azalea called me to pick her up at the arcade not that long ago, quiet as the dead, saying Alex had walked home.” The jerboa took a deep breath. “I asked Azalea what happened, but all she said was they had a rough time at the arcade. I don’t know if it’s something big or not.”

“I’ll ask when I get home in a couple minutes. Alex is usually willing to talk to me and David when something’s wrong. If I find anything out, I’ll let you know, ‘kay?” the tigress asked, wanting to get off the phone; she hated driving with a phone in her paw.

“That works for me. I’m gonna see if I can get something out of Azzy,” Cora said softly as she got up. “I’ll talk to you soon.” She said as she walked back to the phone’s cradle in the kitchen.

Two minutes later, Raenne finally pulled into their driveway in the tiny suburb of Aspen Glen. By the time she’d managed to get the sleeping twins unbuckled and one of them into the baby carrier around her chest, she was swearing at her husband for knocking her up in the first place. Muttering something about buying a henderson tool, she walked over to the ‘front’ door that led into the garage, pulling a pair of keys out of the side of her purse.

The tigress unlocked the door, stepped in, then locked it behind herself and stood there in the garage for a moment, listening. The house was silent as the grave. Taking a not-so-wild guess as to where Alex might be, she went up the stairs, heading to the nursery to put the twins in their crib, then went upstairs to Alex’s bedroom.

As expected, Alex’s door was closed. Walking over to it, Raenne knocked on it quietly. A second later, a soft “Yes?” came from within.

“Alex? I’m home. May I come in?” the older tigress asked.

There was a sigh, followed by something Raenne couldn’t make out. Shrugging, she opened the door a crack and stuck her head in. “I couldn’t make that out.”

“I said ‘yeah, if you want’,” Alex replied, laying on hir side, holding a pillow.

Raenne stepped in, closing the door behind her, and walked over to sit down on Alex’s bed. Knowing better than to immediately ask what was wrong, the older tigress sat silently for a bit, looking over at her daughter. It was amazing how quickly Alex seemed to have grown; the years just seemed to fly by. She could still remember holding the little tiger cub, the day shi had been born.

“Cora called me a few minutes ago. Said that you’d walked home from the arcade rather than catching a ride with her. She was worried something had happened, but Azalea wouldn’t talk.”

Alex didn’t say anything. Actually, if the tiger cub hadn’t said something earlier, Raenne could have mistaken the cub for being dead. It was hard to tell that shi was even breathing.

Raenne pressed on. “Did something happen?”

Alex nodded.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Raenne asked.

Alex shook hir head.

“Will you tell me about it if I ask you anyways?” the tigress asked, hesitantly.

Alex sighed. “Fine,” shi said, rolling onto hir back and staring at the ceiling.

Raenne gave a quick, silent prayer to whatever deity had given her a child that was at least willing to talk when things were going wrong. For a moment she wondered if it was because she’d followed the advice in the parenting guide she’d read when Alex was still a toddler. Particularly that little bit about always listening when your child wanted to talk, and never, punishing them without giving both a warning and a reason.

“Well, what happened at the arcade?” Raenne asked. “I assume you went to the one on main street, next to the bakery and diner.”

“Yeah,” the tiger cub replied, too depressed to be snarky, even though there was only one arcade in town. “We were going to play some fighting games, only we were interrupted by a pair of boys. A tiger and a jerboa.”

Raenne raised her eyebrows at that. What were the odds that a tigress and jerboa-hybrid would be at the arcade at the same time as another tiger and jerboa-hybrid? She shook her head. “And?”

“Well… Ravi was mostly quiet and polite… but Heath… I dunno… something about him just… I dunno,” the tiger cub said, still staring up at the ceiling. Then shi looked down the bed at hir mom. “I didn’t trust him. Something told me he was trying to split me and Azalea up, cause he wanted to get into her pants. Turns out I was right. Fucker.”

“Alex!” Raenne gasped. “Watch your mouth! If you say the f-word again, you can say goodbye to television and video games for a week,” she stated, glaring at her daughter. She couldn’t believe her ten-year-old cub had just dropped the f-bomb. Then again, shi was going to middle-school now, and hanging out with twelve and thirteen-year-olds.

“Sorry,” Alex replied, not feeling particularly sorry. After a moment shi continued. “He kept saying shit- Sorry. Saying stuff about how he was looking out for Azzy, making sure I was right for her, stuff like that. Liar,” she muttered. “Anyway, Azzy told us to stop arguing, and he offered to pay for a few games. So we played a bit, then when me and Ravi were playing, Heath took Azalea over to the photo booth.” Alex said, clenching hir teeth. Just the memory was enough to get hir angry again. If shi ever saw him again, shi was going to kick him in the balls as hard as shi could.

“So what happened?” Raenne asked, reaching out and rubbing Alex’s leg. “Did he know you and Azzy are dating?”

“Were dating,” Alex spat out angrily. “He knew it too; it was the first thing I told him and Ravi when they started talking to us,” the young tigress said, sitting up and staring down at hir skirt. “When I got there, he said they were just goofing around and pretended the machine was broken. I didn’t believe him, so I stuck another token in and printed a second set of photos when he walked away.”

A frown started to form on Raenne’s face. She could already see where this was going, but didn’t interrupt as Alex continued to recount the story of what had happened.

“They’d been kissing in the photo booth. I was pissed and I called him out on it. That’s when he gave me that shit about how me and Azalea weren’t supposed to be together, being cat and mouse or some shit. Racist little-

“Alex…” Raenne said sternly. “Language.”

“Sorry,” Alex muttered again, clenching hir fists in anger. “Anyway, I lost my temper. I wanted to kill him. I would have killed him if Ravi hadn’t grabbed me and held me down while Heath ran off. Coward.”

The older tigress stared at her daughter, worried. If a tiger lost their temper, claws and fangs were bad enough, but martial training made them lethal, and it wasn’t possible to un-learn Karate. This was something they’d need to bring up with the therapist, before Alex wound up actually killing someone. “Alex?” Raenne asked, attempting to distract her daughter before shi lost hir temper again. “Where did you learn about racism?”

The question came out of left field for the tiger cub. “I… I dunno,” Alex said, evasively. For some reason shi didn’t want to tell hir mom about Kal. “I think I overheard some of the kids at school, talking about it. Does it matter?”

“Not really. I was just curious. But saying that a given species should stick to their own isn’t really racist or specist, per se. It’s just… well… intolerant,” Raenne explained. “Treating other people badly just because they’re a different species is racist. Or, more accurately, speciesism. I better not catch you ever being racist.”

Alex sighed and rolled hir eyes. “Mom, I’m not the one who was being a racist, okay?” Anyway… yeah. That’s it. After that I was angry. Mostly at Heath, but Azalea too. So I told her ‘we’re through’, and I walked home.”

Raenne sighed, and scooted further up Alex’s bed. “Come here,” she said, using Alex’s leg to drag hir closer. “So you were angry at Heath because he lied and tried to steal your girlfriend, and you were angry at Azalea because she fell for it.”

“No... Yes,” Alex corrected hirself, starting to get choked up when mom put her arm around hir shoulders. “I was also mad at Azalea cause she cheated on me,” the young tigress said, hir eyes starting to tear up. “And I was mad at myself… ‘cause I thought I could trust her… like I trusted Lizzy.” 

Alex’s voice cracked on the last word, and shi started to sob. Raenne sighed, pulling Alex close. She held her daughter and gently rubbed hir back as tears began to spill down hir muzzle.