Chapter Text
Day 53, 4pm
James and Gerome sat in the human’s car, basking in the glorious relief of the air conditioning. Today had been James’ first day on the job with the renovation crew. Gerome had been right; it wasn’t a particularly complicated job. Hell, they’d spent most of the shift just inspecting the place and finding things that needed to be repaired. The foreman was going to be the one looking that list over and ranking things by priority/difficulty and assigning jobs later in the week.
James’ car was parked facing the run down mansion. It sat on a wooded hillside overlooking the southern coast of Manu Ahi, its broad verandas and faded white walls partly hidden behind palms, banyan trees, and overgrown flowering vines. Built nearly a century ago for a wealthy shipping family, it had three stories, a tiled roof, and dozens of tall windows meant to catch the ocean breeze. The main hall still had a sweeping staircase, carved wooden railings, and a chandelier hanging beneath a ceiling stained brown from years of leaks. Most of the furniture had been removed, leaving the rooms dusty and hollow, with old outlines visible where paintings and cabinets had once stood.
During today’s inspection, the renovation team found several sections of rotted flooring near the rear veranda, including one board that cracked under Gerome’s boot. Water had worked its way through missing roof tiles and damaged the plaster in two upstairs bedrooms, while mold had begun spreading inside one of the closets. Several windows were swollen shut from the humidity, and others had cracked panes or splintering old frames. James also discovered that part of the electrical system still used brittle cloth-covered wiring, meaning most of the western wing would need to be rewired before anyone could safely work there.
Outside, the veranda supports needed reinforcement, the gutters were packed with leaves, and a rusted drainpipe had separated from the wall. A section of the stone retaining wall behind the house had begun to bow outward after years of heavy rain, raising concerns about the slope above it. The old plumbing groaned when the water was turned on, revealing a leak beneath the kitchen sink and weak pressure throughout the second floor. None of the damage appeared impossible to repair, but the inspection made it clear that restoring the mansion would take most of the summer.
That was fine with James. While he still got his monthly trust fund deposits and would for the rest of his life in all likelihood, there was still the matter of paying off his $180k in student loan debt. Starting some sort of job, even if it was blue collar work, was going to give a healthy boost to his monthly income. Paying it off fully would still take many years, but the more he’d thought about it the less impossible it seemed. The time for moping over dropping out of college was over. He had to get his shit together and this was just one of several issues he needed to address. Playing house husband for the girls was fun and all, but it didn’t pay for his debt.
What he would do for work when this summer job was over, he didn’t know. If he saved enough he could at least go back to a community college and get an AA degree in business or something, then start work as an accountant and move from there. It wasn’t an appealing proposition but he didn’t feel like he could work blue collar jobs like this for decades on end. At least, not without sustaining serious back and knee issues in the process.
James took a sip from his water bottle as the two looked out at the run down building before them. “I really owe you for this, dude.”
“Hmm?” Gerome had a mouthful of jerky strips, chewing once more before swallowing and briefly coughing. “You don’t owe me anything man. I’m glad I could help you find some work.” His eyes flicked to the building. “We just gotta pray we don’t get hurt in the process.”
“I’m sure we’ll be fine,” James dismissed. “We do need to watch our step next time we’re inside though. You almost had your leg shredded on that patch of rotting floor.”
“Yeahhhh…not too eager to get more surgery,” Gerome snorted. James looked at him, an eyebrow raised and his eyes briefly glancing at the raptor’s prosthetic snout.
“Damn. Dark.”
Gerome shrugged, smiling. “Eh, I find being able to laugh about my pain helps.”
“Wait, does that thing still hurt?”
“Sometimes! I do get phantom sensations, it’s weird. Like, even if I don’t have the prosthetic on, I’ll get the feeling of the end of my snout tickling if I need to sneeze.”
James subconsciously raised his right hand to his left shoulder, rubbing over the concealed bite Sierra had left on him. “I get what you mean. I still get phantom pains too. Well, I don’t know if you could call them that since I didn’t lose my arm, but-”
Gerome turned his head towards James, confused. “You got an old injury or something?”
“...” James stared at him and then realized something. “Oh…crap. I never told you, did I?”
“Tell me what?”
James sighed. “Oh boy. Uh…so, a long time ago, I was…we’ll say attacked. By a raptor.”
Gerome’s eyes widened in surprise. “What?”
“Yeahhhhh…not a good time for me. I still have the scars, and sometimes I still get stabbing sensations in the old wound. My left hand’s grip strength also is only like 80% of what my right hand can do. The doctor told me there was some nerve damage.”
“Woah woah woah,” Gerome started, turning in the shotgun seat to better look at James, one elbow on the center console between them. “Back up, give me some details man.”
James clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth. “Right. So, when I was a kid, I had this friend named Sierra. I don’t want to get super into it but we were really close. As we got older she had some mental illness develop and…fuck, again, don’t want to get into too much detail, but it was bad. She mauled me and the state locked her up as a result.”
“Oh…fuck, dude, I’m sorry…how bad was it?”
“Preeeeetttyyyy bad.” James glanced out the window, watching some other workers getting into their cars and begin to head home. “I have scars all over my chest and on my left shoulder.”
“Carnivore then?”
“Mhmm. She was a Utahraptor, specifically.”
“Oh-” Gerome shifted in his seat, reflexively scooting back to give James some more space.
“Dude, don’t worry about it. You don’t scare me,” James assured him, which helped Gerome relax. “Ashley did at the start…she still kind of does, if I’m being completely honest.”
“Aren’t you two dating now?”
James gave Gerome an unsure look. “I…don’t know if I’d call it that yet. I just told her I’d be willing to see where things go, take it one day at a time, that sort of thing.”
“But you do like her, right? And she likes you?”
“Saying she likes me is a hell of an understatement,” James snorted. “But, yeah, I do. Maybe not to the same degree right now. That might change. She’s been good about not being too pushy, and she’s very gentle whenever she touches me.”
“That’s good at least,” Gerome agreed. A smile returned to his muzzle. “I’ve only met her a handful of times but she seems like a good fit for someone like you.”
James turned his head back to Gerome, raising an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“I say this with love buddy, but you always look upset. Someone that bright and smiley is probably what you need.”
James rolled his eyes. Part of him wanted to tell Gerome it wasn’t that simple, that Ashley had a lot of her own problems. Her whole bright, happy girl schtick was almost entirely a front, he knew that well enough. But Gerome likely didn’t know about the stripping, and he didn’t know about the pills, James was certain of that much. It wasn’t his place to reveal those things to a guy he’d only known for a handful of weeks.
“Yeah, maybe,” James conceded. “She’s got a great sense of humor. She knows how to make me laugh.”
“Damn, can she give me tips? My jokes don’t land with you, I’ve noticed.”
James couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Oh whatever. That’s just because pun humor isn’t my thing.” James took another sip of his water and glanced at the clock on the dashboard. “I should be getting home soon. You wanna get dinner on the way back? I could fuck up a Chipotle bowl right now.”
Gerome seemed delighted by the idea, perking up immediately at James’ suggestion. Damn, he must really have liked Chipotle too.“Hell yeah dude!”
Day 53, 7pm
The meal he got with Gerome was a much-needed one. The two had lingered at the restaurant for a bit longer than James expected them too. Their conversation was nice. There had been plenty of back and forth on their hobbies and such. Gerome, while not a gamer, did apparently love some quick-paced shooter called Straftat and had convinced James to give it a try sometime with him. It was dawning on James that, especially at this point in his life, he didn’t really have any male friends to speak of. Not that he had many friends at all, really. Even in college, the people he hung out with were more in it for the weekly drinking and such. Outside of that he never spoke to them in any meaningful way.
Gerome reminded him a lot of Lucas. He really needed to give his old friend a call, just to see how he was doing in Denver, and this time not just to beg for a place to crash when he’d had nowhere else to turn. James needed to be a better friend in general. Hell, a better person in general. Somehow that seemed more daunting than more trivial things like cutting back on booze, or paying off his debt.
As he got home, James set his backpack of things for work by the front door, near where the household tended to keep their shoes/sandals. He heard some noises in the kitchen. The house smelled like cooking fish. As he walked by the kitchen he briefly made eye contact with Coral. The shark gave him a small wave from her place by the stove. He returned it with a little upwards nod of his head, but he didn’t say anything to her.
‘God, I really do need to talk to her at some point,’ James thought as he made his way to his bedroom. ‘I know this shit has to be making things awkward for everyone else. But…goddamn, it still stings that she just ditched me like that.’
In his room now, James began to gather his night clothes. He wasn’t going anywhere tonight and just wanted to get comfortable. First, a shower was in order. He went to the bathroom and started the shower so it could warm up, then began to unbutton his shirt, lost in thought.
‘Looking back, Gerome did have a point. Her apology sounded genuine enough. But fuck me, it’s gonna be awkward. How the hell do I even broach that? “Hey, I know you ditched me and one of the girls could have died, but it’s cool.” Like, fuckkkkk…’
He slipped his shirt off and dropped it to the floor, catching the sight of his scars in the mirror, which made James frown.
‘Man, what the hell am I doing? Ashley is fine and all, but…this shit is getting serious. She’s wanted me for a while now, but what if-? No…no, don’t think like that. Ashley isn’t Sierra…Still though…I mean, she’s gonna want to be intimate with me soon. What if I panic on her or something? God, she wouldn’t take that well.’
James slipped off the rest of his clothes and tried to push those thoughts out of his mind. There was no point in catastrophising how that might go. For all he knew it would be fine. What did concern him was that the thought of being intimate with Ashley was anxiety-inducing in more than one way. Even if things went fine, for the first time in a long time, James was somewhat worried about his performance. He’d never been insecure about his size or anything; college had pretty much proven the opposite to be true. But when things got to that point, he really didn’t want to let her down. It was a feeling he hadn’t had since he’d lost his virginity, and it was uncomfortable to say the least.
The shower did help with his anxiety. Once dressed, he went to his room and shut the door, tossing his old clothes in the laundry hamper by his closet. He flopped down into his computer chair and turned it around. ‘Might as well download that game Gerome wanted me to try.’
James ended up having to text Gerome for the name of it again. The game was free, which was a plus. James tried a few rounds in public lobbies. To call it “fast-paced” was not entirely accurate. There was almost no pacing at all. He was just dropped into low-resolution maps and forced to quickly find a gun, only for better players to kick his ass. Needless to say, James gave up on practicing pretty quickly. A one on one game with Gerome would probably be more fun. The soundtrack was a bop though, so there was a silver lining to it.
Closing the game, James shut his laptop and stared down at it. His thoughts began to drift to Polly. Ever since he’d had that talk with her, she’d been more or less isolating herself in her bedroom. James wasn’t even sure when the last time she’d eaten was. She wasn’t touching the food he meal-prepped for her anymore. It was just piling up in the refrigerator and would need to be tossed soon.
Guilt began to claw its way into his chest. ‘Man, I really fucked up with her…She did so much for me too. She put in so much effort to make sure I felt safe here, especially around her, and this is how I fucking repayed her. Goddamnit, I need to go check on her before she assumes I just don’t care.’
It was going to be awkward at best or outright suck at worst, but he couldn’t keep putting it off anymore. Not when he was this worried about the sweet gecko. He did still care a great deal for Polly. James pushed his chair back and stood up, turning to leave his bedroom and head to hers just down the hall. He knocked, but got no answer. Figuring she probably had her headphones on, James cracked her door open. Polly was sitting at her computer, her back to him. She had no headphones on. The screen displayed a commission she was probably intending to work on, but she was leaning back in her chair and scrolling on her phone rather than making any headway with it.
“Polly?” James kept his voice as gentle as he could, but could not hide the twinge of nervousness in his tone.
The gecko didn’t turn her chair to face him when she responded. “What do you want?”
James winced at the bitter question. “I just wanted to check on you. You know, see how you were doing and stuff.”
Polly let out a high pitched growl from her throat. Her tail pushed against the floor, swiveling her chair around to face him. “I’m fine. Just leave me alone, James. Doesn’t Ashy need you to be fawning over her or some shit?”
Gone was the usually sweet and hyperactive gecko he was accustomed to. Not only was she speaking to him in an uncharacteristically cold manner, her appearance too was much different from her usual self. She’d lost the scene girl outfit, replaced by a simple black hoodie and…well, she might have had panties on beneath it, but if so it was concealed by the length of the jacket which went down past her hips. Her tail lacked its usual colored bands and stickers on her scales. The dyed purple streaks in her hair, as well as the bright red clips, were gone, her hair now dyed an even darker shade of black than her natural hair color. It hung low and messy, obscuring her face to a greater degree than usual. The bright makeup she typically wore was replaced with a much darker color in a sharper, edgier pattern. It didn’t conceal the dark circles under her eyes. Polly obviously was not sleeping much. If the exhaustion was not evident by her appearance, the mountain of monster cans overflowing from her deskside trash can told the same story.
‘Raptor Jesus. Look what you did to her, you prick.’
James didn’t come closer. Right now, trying to approach her or comfort her like usual seemed like a bad idea, or at least that was his gut feeling at the moment. He stayed where he was, just inside her doorway. “What’s with the new look?”
Polly took a pull off a vape pen that had been in her hoodie pocket. As she exhaled the vapor the scent caught his nose. That wasn’t nicotine, it was weed. She coughed once before clearing her throat, the high-pitched growl rumbling beneath her words. “Just trying something different. Sorry if you don’t like it.”
She didn’t sound sorry at all. Worry spread across James’ face. “Dress how you like, Polly. I’m just worried about you.”
“Didn’t you hear me? I said I’m fine, godddd. Leave me alone, please.”
“Uh…alright…” Shit, this was bad, but he was not going to be helping anytime soon. It was probably best if he did just leave her be. James took a step back towards the doorway. “Just, real quick. Have you eaten today?”
“I doordashed some McDonalds,” the gecko answered dryly. If she had, he’d seen no evidence of the garbage, and unless someone had thrown it out for her (which he doubted), that was unlikely to be true. There was no sense in pushing the issue though, it wasn’t going to fix this.
“Alright. If you need-”
“I don’t.”
Message fucking received. James left her bedroom without saying another word. He closed the door behind him and slumped against the wall opposing it, letting out a long sigh.
“She’s not doing great, is she?”
“GWAHFUCK!” James jumped. For such a big girl, Coral could sure as shit be silent when she wanted to be. “Fucking hell, you scared me!”
“Sorry,” Coral said, her voice ever nonchalant. Her yellow eyes flicked to Polly’s bedroom door before she nodded down the hallway. “You got a minute?”
Well…shit, he was already considering clearing the air with Coral. Might as well do it now. “Yeah, sure.”
He followed her down the hallway to her own bedroom. Neither of them bothered to shut the door. Coral moved over to sit on her bed, but James remained standing near the bench a bit further away. Coral was the first one to speak.
“So you didn’t listen to me, huh?”
James gave a “so-so” gesture with his right hand. “Sort of. I made a choice, anyways.”
“I don’t think it was the right one.”
“Yeah yeah, I know where you stand, Coral,” James said, folding his arms over his chest. “Sorry for the drama. I’m sure it’s inconvenient for you.”
His words came out with more snark than he intended. This was off to a bad start already. Coral, however, didn’t bristle like he expected. If anything she looked ashamed, turning her head down and not meeting his eyes. “James, I…I am really sorry about everything…”
The human stared at her for a moment, his expression tired. He let out a short sigh. “I know.”
“It-...God, that was so shitty of me to do. I really didn’t think things would get as bad as you said they did.” Her clawed hands wrung tightly together in her lap. “I get that you don’t want to be friends anymore. That’s fine. But can we at least stop making it so awkward to be in the same room as each other?”
“...” James didn’t say anything at first. It was something that needed to be solved, and when on his own, this didn’t feel like a big ask. But now, being in the room with her and even with her as visibly apologetic as she was, he still felt hurt by her actions. Grudges were something James acquired easily and had a hard time letting go of. That wasn’t even on account of something like his drinking problem; he’d been that way since he was a young child and had a kid steal one of his hotwheels in second grade.
‘God, there isn’t a point to that though, is there? If you’re gonna live in the same house as her you might as well try to get along. Holding onto the cold shoulder routine is exhausting…fuck, alright.’
“...It did hurt. A lot.”
“I know…”
“And…look, sure, I can drop the silent treatment and all of that. But I gotta be honest with you Coral, I don’t know if I can actually forgive you walking out on me when we all needed help.”
Coral’s hands clasped one another tighter. “I’m really sorry.”
“I can tell. If it makes you feel any better, I’m not really mad at you at this point. But I can’t trust you, so it’s hard for me to picture being actual friends with you again.”
He’d never heard Coral whimper before. It was a lower sound than what he’d heard the other girls make, but no less depressing. Her head turned up to him. There were no tears in her eyes, she wasn’t that kind of girl, but damn if those words hadn’t cut her.
“Do you think it was easy being friends with you, either?” Coral asked. “Especially when I first met you, and all the drama you caused when I have enough of my own shit going on?” The face James made staunched the aggression that briefly bubbled up in her tone, returning her voice to a completely apologetic one. “Sorry, I didn't mean it like that, I-”
James shook his head. “No, I know it wasn’t. I don’t do the whole “friends” thing particularly well.”
“I’ve noticed. But-” She looked down again. “Neither do I.”
“That’s more or less what Gerome told me.”
Her head shot back up quickly, her lips curled down in a wince. “You told him about what happened?”
“Uh, yeah? He’s my friend now, of course I talked to him about this.” James cleared his throat. “I waited until after, because I didn’t want to risk him volunteering to come help and get sick himself.”
Coral let out a soft and sad laugh from her nose. “He would do that, huh?”
“Probably. You know at work he followed me around like a lost puppy all day?”
“Oh, right, you started that today.”
“Mhmm.”
The two faced one another in a tense and awkward silence for a while. James didn’t doubt how apologetic Coral was at this point, and for a moment, what Gerome had said to him over text the other week came back to him.
“She’s used to pushing most people away because it’s just easier for her than risking people hurting her, you know?”
Goddamn if he didn’t relate to that. Just before he’d met Ashley, he had been considering locking himself away in some one-bedroom apartment and never facing the world again. It seemed easier at the time. Safer. Looking back though, despite all the issues he’d faced and the drama around him since moving in with these girls, much of it self-inflicted, it still was far preferable to being alone.
‘She’s kind of doing the same thing, isn’t she? Unless there’s alcohol or pot involved she never hangs out with us. Hell, she only went to the water park because Vanny bribed her with edibles. Otherwise, she’s always at her school or in her room.’
Realizing this, James grit his teeth. He had just told her he didn’t think he could forgive her actions, but that was more about knowing himself and his tendencies than about what she specifically did. James didn’t have a lot of friends either. Right now, aside from Ashley, his only friends were Gerome and Vanette. Polly certainly was not in the mood to be friends with him at this time, if their earlier conversation was anything to go by.
There were a lot of things he needed to be better about. Drinking was one of them, and was hard enough as it was. So had been doing the right thing and not stringing Polly along. James had other things about himself he did not like; his temper, how thin his skin was when it came to insults, and a lot of other flaws he didn’t know how to fix. Holding grudges was another one, and right now he had the opportunity to try and work on it in some small way. If it didn’t pan out, well, he could just remain roommates with her and nothing more.
He took the chance, breaking the silence between them. “Coral. If, and I need to stress the if here, but if I forgive you…you cannot pull some shit like that again. Not on me, not on them. They’re all pretty resigned that this is just how you are, but they care about you. You know that, right?”
For a moment Coral kept her mouth shut. He heard her swallow, and then she spoke, her voice shaking slightly. “I-I know…I don’t understand why…”
“Because they see you as their friend,” he answered. James finally moved, coming to sit beside her on her bed. “They did the same shit to me, you know. I wasn’t looking to make friends, but they didn’t let up on me either.”
“Yeah, and look how that turned out…” Coral mumbled, not meeting his eyes even with his head turned towards her.
“That happened because I was being an ass,” James said. “Plus, yeah, Ashley and Polly had their crushes on me, which I’m sure made it easier. But I don’t think Polly at least started out that way, and she still tried.” He moved a hand to his hair, brushing some of his bangs aside. “Vanny is the best example I can think of. She’s tried over, and over, and over again to be supportive of me. She even was willing to give me a second chance despite me blowing up on Ashley like I did…God, I still can’t believe she got me to try pot.”
Coral turned her head to him at that, and while her eyes expression was ever unchanging, her voice belied her surprise. “Wait, seriously?”
“Eheh…yeahhhh…” James scratched at the back of his neck. “I might sort of be taking edibles nightly now to help me sleep.”
“...Didn’t you have some agreement with Ashley to not abuse so many substances?”
“Listen, we agreed pot is okay as long as I’m careful. At least it doesn’t make me get angry or cry like alcohol does.”
For the first time in this conversation, Coral smiled. She let out a soft giggle too. “Wow. Never thought I’d see the day you became cool.”
“Hey, fuck you, I am cool!”
“Pfft, you wish.” Her head turned to look back down at her lap, although the smile did not leave her snout.
James smiled too, if only faintly. “I guess my point is that, if you all could give me a second chance for that stuff, well…I should probably try to give you one too.” He shifted a little where he sat, dropping his hand from his neck and back onto his thigh. “I can’t promise I can fully forgive you, not right away, but…holding grudges is something I do too easily. I should probably, you know…stop doing that.”
“They’re warranted sometimes,” Coral said, her smile now fading. “What I did was really shitty.”
“It was. But I also have to live with you, and for what it’s worth I did like hanging out with you.”
“Heh, me too.”
James pushed himself off of her bed at that point, as he heard Vanette and Ashley coming into the house, laughing together about something. “I should probably go before Ashley comes and drags me out of here.”
“Alright,” Coral said. She seemed to be feeling a little bit better, but her voice carried some hesitation as her eyes followed him. She called out once he was near the door. “James?”
James stopped and faced her. “Yeah?”
“Ashley, just…be careful with her, alright?”
He gave her a confused look. “I will? I’m not gonna fall back into being a fuckboy with her or anything.”
Coral bit her lip. “...That’s…not really what I meant.”
“How do you mean it, then?”
“She…I meant don’t let her hurt you. You still haven’t known her for that long.” If there was something more to it, she didn’t say. He could only guess it had to do with the stripping thing. That did bother James, but it was too early into…whatever this was he had with Ashley for him to bring that up. If things turned more serious and looked like they’d go on for a while, he could address it down the road.
“I won’t.”
James left Coral’s room at that point. When he came out into the hallway it was just as Ashley was poking her head into his bedroom. “Jaaaamesss?~”
“Over here.”
Ashley startled, snapping back out of his bedroom and giving him a sweet smile. Her tail was slowly wagging behind her, the raptor so excited to see him. “There you areeee!~” Her voice was a tender coo, and she came close, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing him tightly. “Mmmmnnnn!~ I missed you!”
“I missed you too.”
“How was your first day at work?”
“Eh, fine. You would not believe how fucked that mansion is. It’ll take until September or later to get it sellable again.” James broke their hug. “What about you?”
“It was good! I made a lot of tips today. A big family came in and their little girl was so excited when she saw my outfit. It made my heart melt~”
James smiled. “That’s sweet.”
“It was,” Ashley purred. She grabbed one of his hands. “Vanny wanted to watch some movies with everyone tonight, is that okay?”
“Fine with me.”
Ashley leaned in and pecked his cheek. “Okay, I’m gonna go shower.”
“Need me to go pick up any snacks or something?”
“Ummmmm…no, I think I have everything I’d want. You can ask Vanny though.”
“Okay. Just a heads up, I doubt Polly is going to join us,” James warned. “She’s, uh…not doing so hot.”
Ashley turned her head back to Polly’s bedroom door and then rolled her eyes. “Her loss. She’ll get it out of her system eventually. Just don’t feed into her tantrum.”
While it didn’t show on his face, her dismissal of Polly’s change in attitude was a little grating. No doubt she still felt a little jealousy over Polly’s feelings for him, even if she had been the one to benefit in the end. James choked it up to her just being territorial over him. Seeing this side of Ashley was a little unusual. Hopefully as time went on she could be more sympathetic.
Day 53, 9pm
Polly did not join them, just as James figured. Coral did though, sitting on the recliner beside the couch. Vanette and Ashley were snuggled up together under one of the heated blankets he had purchased when they were ill, while James sat to their right, his arms folded over his chest. Ashley had her tail sticking out from under the blanket and the end was wrapped around one of his calves, maintaining physical contact with both of them.
James wasn’t paying particular attention to the movie. His mind was elsewhere, wandering back to what Coral had said to him earlier. That’s where it had been since she’d cast him a sideways glance after Ashley tail-hugged him. What had she meant, exactly, when she warned him not to let Ashley hurt him? Aside from the stripping, he couldn’t really make sense of it. He knew about that obviously, and the pills, and aside from not really having room to judge, they were both trying to work on their vices. That pit of anxiety was clawing in his chest again. Had he made a bad choice, going with Ashley?
He must have been making a face, because Vanette glanced over at him and snickered to Ashley, “I think richie might be jealous.”
Ashley turned to look at James, then clicked her tongue. “Awww, Jamessss~ Do you feel left out?”
“Huh?” He was drawn out of his thoughts by her question. The playful look she was giving him brought a flush to his cheeks. “Nah, I’m good. I have…this.” He shook his leg slightly, the one Ashley had her tail curled around.
“Oh, goodness,” Ashley sighed, turning back to Vanny and pulling the blanket off of her. “Sorry love, he’s had a hard day. Can we trade?”
“If it gets him to stop pouting and enjoy the movie, then sure,” Vanny snorted. Ashley uncurled her tail from James’ leg and swapped places, snuggling up against his left side and draping the blanket around the both of them. Her tail draped over Vanette’s lap at the same time. The raptor wrapped her arms around his torso, nuzzling into his shoulder. “Better?”
“I guess…” James mumbled. He felt incredibly flustered and was trying not to let that drip into his tone. Why he was feeling this way, he didn’t know. Maybe he had been feeling left out and didn’t realize it until after it was pointed out by someone else. Ashley let out a soft bellow, turning her head just enough to rest it against the front of his shoulder. Her emerald eyes peered up at him, her smile softer now but no less playful.
“You poor thing. If you wanted your cuddle raptor you could have just asked~”
‘Ohhhhkay that did something’
“Is that your title now, huh?” he asked, trying to play off the warmth in his chest (and lower) that her words and tone gave him.
“Mhmm~” Ashley purred. She moved her left arm, which had been wrapped around his torso. “Just yours~”
James shivered, which made her giggle. Her left hand began to run gently over his chest, the raptor careful to use the pads of her fingers rather than her claws. James almost told her that he didn’t mind if she used her claws, but as her fingers found some of the scars on his chest and followed their length, he understood why she was doing it. Having his scars touched by her, even through clothing, made him frown. She glanced up, noticing this, and softened her voice to a whisper. “Do you want me to stop?”
“I…” He swallowed. “No, it’s fine. I just don’t like remembering them.”
“I bet,” Ashley hushed. “I wouldn’t ever do that to you. I promise.”
“I know,” he answered just as softly. “Now stop interrupting the movie.”
She huffed softly at his comment but did stop talking. Her hand drifted lower, moving over the scars lower on his torso wherever she felt their indentations beneath his shirt. James wasn’t sure why she was doing this. It could have been instinctive for her, he didn’t know. Or maybe she was just trying, in her own way, to get him used to her touch being more intimate than before. Reconditioning one’s nervous system wasn’t that simple. That said, it did feel kind of nice.
They stayed like that for a while as the movie played on. Eventually, she slipped her hand under his shirt beneath the blanket, allowing her fingers to touch over his scars directly. She snuggled up closer when the sensation made him become tense, shushing him once when he stifled an uncomfortable noise as her fingers found the lower edges of the bite mark on his left shoulder. In between touches of his scars, she let her hands drift over his skin. It wasn’t overtly horny or anything, but it was intimate, bringing his fears of disappointing her to the forefront of his mind for a brief moment before he shut them down again.
He tried to let himself enjoy the touches she gave him. As time passed, the first movie finished. Vanette and Coral took edibles as the second one started, and James took one too when offered. They were indica, the relaxing kind, which would help him sleep tonight for sure. He’d need that after his talk with Polly earlier, fuck.
The second movie was some action flick Vanette had picked out, the first one having been a romcom Ashley enjoyed. It was a nice movie but the second one was more James’ speed. He found himself drawn into it to a greater degree than the first. Like this, with the air cleared with Coral and Ashley snuggled up next to him, he felt…happy. Not just content, or calm, or at peace, but actually happy. It certainly was not the happiest moment of his life by any means, but this was a marked improvement compared to his mental state two months ago.
Locking himself away like he’d considered doing before meeting Ashley would have been a horrible idea, huh?
The peaceful, happy moment was certainly going to become a core memory for him, even with the issues with Polly lingering in the back of his mind. She would probably come around sooner or later. Then she could join them for another one of these and it would feel even nicer.
That thought, a brief daydream really, was interrupted as Ashley’s hand got suspiciously low beneath the blankets, trailing her claws deliberately along his waistline and teasing just at the edge of his sweatpants. James grit his teeth and glanced down at her, mouthing silently “What are you doing?”
Ashley shrugged in response. Her grin was so damn smug. She turned her head back to look at Vanny, who was engrossed in the movie and hitting her dab pen. Coral too was actually engaged with it, not casting so much as a sideways glance to either of them. She looked back up at James and mouthed back silently, “Can I?”
Ashley looked eager for him to say yes. He knew she’d wanted to get her hands on him for some time now. Even when dressed in just her kitty pjs, she was so damn pretty that he had a hard time saying no. It would be a lie to say he didn’t want her too, despite his reservations. Plus, he had really made her go through a lot of effort in holding back how she felt for multiple months…
James’ eyes glanced at Vanny, then Coral, and seeing them both paying them no mind, he swallowed the dry feeling in his mouth and gave Ashley a small nod. She let out a satisfied huff and turned her head to watch the movie some more, but her hand gently slipped under his waistline, running over the outline of his half-erect cock through his boxers. Due to the way the blanket was draped over them and how they were cuddling, it was not form fitting. There was no sign of movement beneath it like when she’d been rubbing her hand over his chest. Hopefully it stayed that way.
The sensation of her soft, clawed hand rubbing over his nether region made James shiver. His cock twitched in his boxers, starting to grow harder while she rubbed him through the thin fabric. She let out the smallest, softest huff she could as her fingers trailed up over the outline of his cock as he reached full size. This time she intentionally dragged her claws over it. The sensation sent tingles through his crotch and made him throb in his boxers.
Seeing he liked it, Ashley’s fingers moved to snag his waistline and pulled both his sweats and boxers down just enough to leave his cock free. She gingerly wrapped her hand around his length, careful not to let her claws do any more than lightly graze their tips over the sensitive skin. He let out a breath at the feeling, his heart starting to race from a mix of anxiety; some from fear of the other two catching them, but some being a natural reaction to having those claws near such a sensitive place. Ashley picked up on it. She turned her head, nuzzling the end of her snout against the side of his face and giving him a soft peck on the corner of his mouth. Her quiet words were carried on a breath alone, something only he could hear.
“It’s okay baby~”
He said nothing. He just tried to keep his eyes on the TV and not give away what they were doing with the other two in the room. Ashley did the same, returning her head to his shoulder. Underneath the blanket her hand began to move. She gave his cock slow, gentle strokes, a rhythmic up and down motion. It felt so, so much better than James could have expected. Handjobs had always felt pointless to him. Why let someone else do what he could do better himself?
He got it now.
The human had to grit his teeth and work to keep his breathing from becoming shaky. That was difficult with Ashley working his cock like this. She absolutely knew what she was doing with this sort of thing. Not too much pressure, nor too much speed, and being careful to not let her arm move so much that the draped blanket would give what she was doing to him away.
Pre was beginning to leak from his tip after a minute or so. As she felt him throb, her fingers uncurled from his length, her hand moving so the pad of her index finger could dab some of it up. She glanced at the other two, and seeing they were in the clear, she drew her hand up just enough to bring it out from under the blanket. James’ eyes held her own while she opened her toothy muzzle, her tongue briefly flicking out to lick the fluids off of it. When she tasted it she let out a soft bellow from her throat.
‘Oh fuck that’s hot.’
She gave a breathy giggle at his face when he watched her do that. Her hand returned under the blanket, making sure it was draped around them comfortably and just enough to still conceal what she was doing, then it returned to his cock. She briefly circled her thumb over his tip, making his eyes close and his jaw clench, and then returned to stroking him. She went faster now, using just a little more pressure with her fingers. He could feel the tension building at his base. He was going to cum soon and prayed to every deity he could think of that he could do so quietly.
“Damn, did you see that shit James?” Vanny asked.
“H-huh?”
Vanny glanced over at him. If she noticed what Ashley was doing, she didn’t comment, but it seemed like she genuinely had not picked up on it. “The explosion dude.”
“Oh, yeah. Cool shit.”
Vanette frowned. “You good?”
“My stomach hurts a bit. I’m sort of out of it.”
“Oh, damn dude, I’m sorry. Do you want me to go get you some of the medicine you bought for that?”
“I’m…” He had to stifle a groan. “I’m fine Vanny, thanks.”
“Let me know if you change your mind~” Ashley purred, leaning her head up to again nuzzle against his cheek with the end of her snout. This time she let her tongue flick out, just enough to give his cheek a soft, almost imperceptible lick. Her tongue was hot, and wet, and so fucking soft on his skin.
“I will…”
Her fingers worked faster still, putting more pressure around the rim of his tip, working him up more and more as the minutes passed on. He was close now. While he managed to not make a sound, he did let out one quivering breath, causing Ashley to look up to him and quietly mouth “Are you gonna?”
He gave her a small nod and closed his eyes again, but not before seeing Ashley’s grin widen. She picked up the pace just a little more, and as a result it was impossible to not have the blanket over his crotch move just a little bit. If either of the other two glanced over, they’d see it.
‘Fuck, don’t look, do not look.’
James’ cock throbbed hard as his peak hit after just a few more strokes. As soon as it did, her hand moved, cupping over his tip and gently massaging her fingers against his shaft while he came. His orgasm lasted for several seconds, throughout which James had to move a hand to his lips and bite down on one of his fingers, his eyes shut tight. He didn’t make a sound though, while several ropes of white cum shot against her cupped palm, raised just enough to not stifle his orgasm. She bellowed as she felt them spray into her hand one by one. Then they tapered off and stopped altogether.
Ashley’s hand lingered on his length for a moment longer as residual throbs ran through it. Then, slowly, she gripped the hem of his sweats and boxers together and drew them up high enough to dab up the cum off his waistline. He would need to change after movie night was over. With his cock now put away, Ashley nuzzled against his shoulder and fully turned her attention back to the movie, as if nothing had just happened. As if she hadn’t just jerked him off with Coral and Vanny right there in the room with them. As if it wasn’t a miracle they weren’t caught.
This girl…well, he certainly liked her a lot more now. That had been both frightening and exhilarating. He should have figured she was freaky. What the fuck was his life now?