Having departed from Dusseldorf, the journey to Dortmund was expected to take three days, given we now had myself, Eveline, Lena, Suzie and Ralf as part of our group. Eveline, I knew was the fastest of all of us. I could maintain a good solid 10-kilometre pace for hours at a time, and I've no doubt both Ralf and Suzie could do the same with their fox legs. Lena was no slouch by any means, but the group insisted on taking regular breaks, and both Ralf and Suzie felt the need to disappear at odd times, either alone or together.

I could never really predict which of the two it would be on any given day.

As promised, Eveline always came to join our group once we set up camp for the midday meal, but she would often disappear again shortly afterward, not spending time with any of us. She did, however, keep up the training she had started with me. I was getting more into it now I was beginning to pick up some defensive stances and combat moves, and she seemed to focus more intently on getting me to the next level, as though she was trying to prove something to someone.

Lena, perhaps? It had become clear over the course of the three days we journeyed to Dortmund, that Lena was skilled with thrown blades, having set off with me to go assist in acquiring provisions by hunting elsewhere from Eveline's hunting grounds. I watched in astonishment as Lena despatched two hares, one with each blade, in less than two seconds. Her accuracy was beyond doubt at this point, and she seemed to know how to fight well.

Maybe that's why Eveline was so intent on pushing me as hard as she could to get better?

Whatever. While we trained, she was at least tolerable.

"How did you get so skilled with throwing knives, anyway?" I'd asked Lena on the morning we were due to arrive in Dortmund, while Eveline was off hunting. With her out of the way, I could hold a conversation without mean looks or interruptions, so I took advantage of it.

"Needed it," She said, giving me a shrug as we walked along the approach to the city. "You know sometimes, you get caught out in the open, but the only things you're carrying are too useless in a fight? Or the only thing you have are knives, but you don't know how to use 'em?"

"Too well," I sighed. While Eveline was an effective teacher, I was impatient, and my skill with knives was woefully inadequate, even now. "It's something I'd like to get fixed."

"What's your weapon of choice?" She asked.

"Right now? I use a combat knife. Can't throw worth shit, though."

Lena gave me a curious smile. "A blade is an effective melee weapon in the right hands. Still, anyone can pick you off at range if you're not highly skilled in the arts of sneaking around," she laughed. "I still don't have that part at the level I'd be comfortable with."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Me either," I quipped. "I also don't have all that much experience in fighting."

Lena's surprise was not feigned, and I realised I might have given away too much. "Wait, really?!"

I nodded. "I don't want to get into it right now, but I've had reason not to have a lot of knowledge of fighting in the world."

That had effectively ended the conversation on that subject. We continued to make irrelevant small talk, of course, until Eveline came back from her hunt and demanded we immediately get to training before we reached the city itself.

The training itself was far more intense than the previous sessions, and I had to wonder if that was because of my conversation with Lena earlier. I was convinced that Eveline was beginning to notice I was getting along better with our human melee fighter than I was with the feline woman, and I had to wonder if that wasn't angering her in some fashion.

Still, I appreciated the knowledge she provided me, so I ignored it as best I could.

Once we made it to the Dortmund city limits, Lena suggested we look for accommodations. Ralf and Suzie took off to book some place in a tavern somewhere, Lena deciding to reserve a couple of tables there. Eveline and I decided to go reserve rooms at a local villa block, where the Cuisset family had an interest. It allowed me to save some credits, and the apartments were reasonable.

"I'm going to find the next person on my list," I told Eveline, who merely glanced my way before going back to what she was doing. "See you at the tavern later?"

All I got in response was a shrug.

Despite my best efforts, I was unable to find Christoph Franck. His profile placed him in the city, and I hoped I'd be able to locate his whereabouts and warn him of what happened. I already suspected that his nanocloud had similar, if not identical functioning to my own, given his stage 4 stomach cancer at the time he was administered his nanocloud, but I wanted him to have enough warning to go to ground and hide from my pursuers.

Then I spotted him entering a building near the edge of town.

I followed.

Inside, I quickly took inventory of the layout and the contents of the building, the residents and other people and creatures. Cristoph was located on one of the lower floors, and I quickly stepped to his door and knocked, hoping I could speak with him and that he proved less hostile than Klaus had been in Dusseldorf.

"Can I help you?" Christoph asked. Like his profile picture, he was the picture of youth. Where his profile picture was of a slightly malnourished and cancer-riddled young man, the man stood in front of me had a similar build, stature and complexion to myself. He was blonde as opposed to dark-haired, slim as opposed to stocky, and slightly shorter than myself, but he still had the same muscle definition. His gaze was clear and sharp.

"I'm Rick Reyes," I announced. "I won't take up much of your time, but I need to talk to you about Synergy."

I had his attention, as he jumped like I'd slapped him in the face. "What about Synergy?"

I decided to be blunt and started reeling off details under my breath. "Christoph Franck, now early seventies, stage four cancer prior to being infused, now cancer-free. Volunteered early March twenty twenty-six."

Christoph paused significantly, before he stepped back and invited me inside.

"Alright Mr Reyes," he told me. "You now have my attention. What do you need to tell me?"

So, I told him all I could, warned him of my pursuers, and advised him to find a place to lay low. He was cordial, took my warnings seriously, and in the end, tersely thanked me for the warning. By the time we were done, it was early evening, and I had to head back to meet the others. I parted with Christoph with the warning that he should try to keep on the move to prevent anyone from locating him, wished him luck, and headed back to the tavern.

The atmosphere in the tavern was electric once the evening came around. Sitting with Lena, Ralf and Suzie, I found I was enjoying myself for probably the first time in decades. The three of them were a good laugh, had a great sense of humour, played pranks on one another during the evening, and most importantly, were incredibly friendly with me. Lena had spent much of the evening talking me up a storm about my travels, moving across the conversational landscape, bending my ear off with humorous anecdotes of her travels. Their last journey before coming to Dusseldorf where I met with them, was a courier run from Ritzenried in Austria. I wondered what it would be like to live the life of a mercenary, free to take on commissions when I wished, or on my way somewhere, free to pick my own missions, free to travel anywhere I wished.

"Travelling north from Austria this time around," Lena purred as we all discussed this around the table we had reserved in the corner of the tavern. "It was pretty boring this trip."

Eveline was nearby, leaning against a wall, watching the place, as though she was on guard. She looked displeased, and I'd wondered why she wasn't joining in with the festivities. Then I remembered. She didn't like humans, and there were two of us there. The foxes were probably not adequate to offset this fact.

"How so?" I asked Lena, trying to concentrate on what she was saying. While my nanocloud did a good job of maintaining my health and prevented me from getting overly-drunk, alcohol still blunted the edge of my senses enough that I slurred slightly, needing to make an effort to maintain focus. "I can't imagine being on the trail to be all that boring when you have animals out there that'll attack you."

"Not to mention humans who act like vultures," Eveline added derisively, her tail swaying in annoyance.

I ignored her. She seemed to be frostier than usual, and I didn't want to deal with it tonight. Lena was doing a fine job of making up for Eveline's frostiness, and I was enjoying her company, so fuck it. If Eveline wanted to be difficult about it, I wasn't about to let it drag my mood down.

Turning my attention back to Lena, I raised my eyebrows in surprise as she grinned at me over her glass. That smile was disarming, and she probably intended for it to be. "We can take care of ourselves out there," she said coyly, her voice almost too soft to hear over the chatter of the crowd. "Warding off predators and other mercs is just another day at the office for us."

I sighed, slightly melancholy. While my training sessions with Eveline were progressing well, I was still vastly under skilled. "Maybe it'll feel like that for me one day," I sighed, leaning back on my chair. I knocked back my glass, then slid it back onto the table for a refill. "Right now, I barely know how to hold a knife."

Lena leaned forward, almost blatantly obvious in her suggestive pose as she grinned. "I know how to fight with knives," she purred. "I could train you."

A low growl startled me, and I looked back in surprise as Eveline narrowed her eyes at Lena, her tail twitching faster in annoyance. Suddenly, she pushed off of the wall and started to walk off. "I need to see you, right now," she said, looking me squarely in the eyes, before she stepped outside, leaving me stunned in my chair.

I laughed awkwardly at Lena, who was leaning so close to me that I couldn't help but notice she was blatant in her attempt to show cleavage in my direction. Despite myself, I felt a twitch in my lower extremities, which I desperately tried to ignore given the tense situation with Eveline. "I'd better see what she wants now," I sighed, shrugging my shoulders. Awkwardly, clumsily, I slipped out of my seat.

Lena's pout was amusing, and probably intended to be adorable, while the slight flutter of her eyes and her slight smile suggested that I needed to hurry back as soon as I was done outside.

Honestly, I wasn't sure how I felt about that. We had only met a few days ago, after all, and Eveline was clearly bothered by the presence of this woman.

Then again, I'd only met Eveline about a week ago, too. And fuck it, maybe Eveline didn't like this woman purely because she was human, and Eveline was not. I mean, she was antagonistic toward me.

Fuck if I know.

I'd reached the doorway then, and opened it onto the street, hit immediately by the cold night air. Eveline stood at the edge of the pavement, looking for all the world like she was stone cold sober, her pose rigid, her tail angrily darting from one side to the other. I couldn't see her face with her back to me.

The door slammed shut behind me, and she turned to face me, her face a mask of simmering anger, and was there something else there?

"Enjoying yourself in there, are you?" she asked, her tone full of contempt.

Yeah, no, I told myself. "Not tonight," was all I said as I turned back to the door.

"What's she got that I haven't?"

"Manners, just to fucking start," I sighed, turning back to face her. "I really don't know where I stand with you, and it's getting exhausting."

"Answer me," she demanded, her tone frosty.

"No. You refuse to let me know where I stand with you, so I don't owe you an explanation." I told her flatly. I might be slightly tipsy, but this was one matter I'd had plenty of time to consider the last half a week or so. Whatever was going through her mind right now, I was pretty sure I didn't need to be a part of it, nor the additional headache this was likely to cause. "For one thing, I don't know why her flirting outrageously with me bothers you so much. It's not like you can even stomach being in the same room as I'm in, so why the hell does it concern you so much that someone else isn't sickened by my presence like you are?"

"I'm not sickened by your presence," she snapped. "Stop with the dramatics."

"Really?" I asked scornfully. "You could have fooled me. You've made it very clear that as a human, I'm the scum of the Earth. There's no room for vagueness in anything you've told me there."

Eveline's ears twitched in annoyance as she continued to stare at me, something in her expression conveying a muted fear, and I wasn't sure how I was picking this up. This was more emotion than I'd seen in one week, other than contempt and disdain. "My opinion about humans isn't something I want to get into with someone I don't fully trust-"

"Or trust at all, so like I said-"

"Just shut up," she hissed. "I don't want to get into it with you. All I want to do right now is understand why you'd rather fuck her than me."

"Why?" I asked, feeling brutal about it. She never once expressed any desire for any sort of intimacy, nor even the friendly camaraderie of travelling companions or friendship. As far as I was concerned, she was poking her nose into something she had no right to know. "It's not like you want me to fuck you."

"You don't know me as well as you think you do," Eveline retorted, though her tone held a note of uncertainty for all she was still argumentative. "I detest that she's throwing herself at you and you're lapping it up like a dog in heat, yet despite your obvious sexual desire for me, you won't even so much as lift a finger to touch me."

"I'm not a rapist," I began, but she cut me off.

"What's that to do with anything?"

"Are you serious?" I asked, incredulous. "I mean, I'm not a fucking rapist, Eveline. It means I don't force myself on other people, and you've hardly made it clear you'd be happy about me coming within ten yards of you."

Eveline seemed to take a pause at that. Her expression seemed a little conflicted.

I continued. "Like I told you before, I've never forced myself on anyone, and you're the last person on Earth I'd want anyone forcing themselves on, and that means myself as much as anyone else."

I don't know what possessed me to add that little qualifier on at the end. Not only was it redundant, but why she cared whether or not I held myself to a higher standard than anyone else around me would be something of a mystery, and not for me to know.

It was nonetheless true. I didn't want anything to happen to Eveline. For all she was endlessly frustrating and could try the patience of a saint, I still only wished for good things to happen for her. At the very least, I wanted to find a way to make her feel contented, and not just because it would make interacting with her a lot easier...

Or would it?

I didn't fucking know. All I know is, I hated the idea that anyone would make her do anything against her will, even if the chances of it actually happening were remote, given her martial ability with her natural weapons and skills.

It wasn't just intellectual for me. It wasn't just a hypothetical.

No, I had a visceral revulsion and hatred of the very thought of her coming to any sort of harm.

Eveline's expression held a hint of surprise, as she stepped closer to me, her eyes searching my face. "So, you're saying the only reason you've been keeping to yourself all this time is because I haven't agreed to let you near me?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," I told her, breathing deep from the cold air, holding her gaze. "Nothing will ever happen between us unless you tell me you want it to happen."

This silence was unbearable. What the hell possessed me to say all these things tonight, of all nights? It would be far easier for me to just tell her that nothing was going to happen, and then shut the fuck up. Why suggest I was waiting for permission I already knew in my heart, was never going to be granted to me?

I was ready to stop this uncomfortable scene and head back inside to get drunk and say fuckit to the world, when Eveline broke the silence. "Come with me," she said, quickly striding off down the street. "Right now."

I followed, quick as I could, the tarmac under my feet smooth enough that I didn't have to try and pick my way across any uneven spots, allowing me to rapidly close the distance as Eveline reached her room. Without so much as a backward glance, she unlocked the door to the nearest one in the lot, opened it and stepped in, holding the door open. I joined her inside, and she closed the door. Without another word, she dropped her keys, and started to unbutton her coat. As soon as she had finished, she turned back to face me.

The expression she wore on her face was an enigma. Her eyes smouldered with an intensity bordering between disdain, anger and lust. A toxic combination to be sure, and while I was beginning to wonder if this was such a good idea after all, I also didn't want to reject Eveline, especially as I had secretly been hoping I would be acceptable to her.

What could I say? My body was in its prime again, and my hormones were reacting strongly to her orbit. I wanted her, my heart beginning to beat rapidly, my chest thumping in a weird, almost painful fashion that reminded me of when I saw someone desirable as a teen, worrying I'd be rejected. I desired her touch, and if I had to be honest with myself, I was sick of pretending she wasn't hotter than the surface of the sun.

I had no more time to think on things, because Eveline was now sauntering over to me in a manner I'd never seen before, her steps like that of a cat stalking its' prey, her generous lips slowly parting, her nostrils flaring, her eyes fixed on my own, her ears pointing forward. It was as though I now had her undivided attention, which I supposed was also a first. As she closed within reach of me, she reached up slowly, gripping my face with surprising firmness, enough to hold me in place, but not enough to cause me any discomfort or pain.

There was something erotic about the way she traced her fingertips along my jawline, down my neck, where she then stepped closer so she could take a deep breath through her nose. I was utterly floored when she licked my neck, her tongue rough like a cat's.

Actually… It was exactly like a cat's tongue.

I closed my eyes, losing myself in the sensation as Eveline followed her personal ritual, my hands of their own volition reaching out to take her by her small waist, feeling dense muscle rippling beneath my fingertips.

I could feel myself getting hard, quickly.

"I wasn't expecting a human to taste so good," Eveline said in a husky voice as she stepped closer to me, her voice filled with a lust that I knew would soon overtake us both. My hands gently traced the contours of her waist, then hips, until I was within reach of her derriere, giving it a gentle squeeze. I felt the incredible muscles twitch beneath my hands, and I let out an exhale.

Eveline stepped right up against me, the swell of her compact breasts pressing against my abs, her hands roving around behind me as she grabbed my arse and squeezed it firmly. "You like that?" She asked, voice still husky, yet also somewhat hesitant.

"Always been something of a hips and arse lover," I breathed into her ear, causing her to let out a breath that ended on a gentle moan. I inhaled the scent of her golden mane on top of her head as she pressed more firmly against me, inhaling my own scent in turn. "What do you want to do?"

Slowly, she withdrew her hand from my cheek, lazily drawing me to the edge of a table in the room. "Let's start with this," she breathed as she sat back, unbuttoning her cargo shorts from behind, sliding them over her incredible, densely-muscled hips and letting them slip down around her feet, before stepping out of them.

This was my first good look at Eveline's abs, and as expected, they were densely-packed, well defined, and along her obliques and her back, were covered in a soft covering of short fur that had dark tiger stripes over an orange-red coat. Her abs were different. From the band where her shirt ended, down to where she wore a pair of panties, her skin was bare, slightly darker than my own with an olive tan, and exceedingly smooth.

I secretly hoped I'd get to see her back, betting I'd see the same tiger-patterning there as well.

Eveline took my right hand with her left. Her right started to gently stroke against her panties, right where her clitoral hood would most likely be. "Ever done this to a woman before?" She asked.

"Done what?" I asked, though I suspected I knew.

She glanced down, her eyes now filling with lust, everything else beginning to fall away. "Used your tongue to lick in between a woman's legs," she stated matter-of-factly.

Hell yes, I had. I found my lips were dry, and I licked them as I nodded. She wanted me to do what was one of my favourite foreplay activities, and I felt rock-hard and flushed as my heart started to race.

Fuck!

I really wanted her to be multi-orgasmic.

I started rubbing against the nub I felt underneath her panties as she pressed her fingers in the right spot, and as I did this, Eveline's eyes closed, her head falling back against the wall, and her fingers started to slowly stroke gently through my hair, the curious feeling of her soft furry fingertips feeling oddly exciting against my scalp. I'd practiced this many times in my old life, and put every technique I knew to good use. Slowly at first, I gave gentle strokes to encourage dilation of her blood vessels. The final climax would be far more impactful that way, in my experience, and after a few moments I gradually increased my speed, listening as Eveline's breathing increased, then become ragged and uneven.

Good. She was losing herself to this feeling.

Bringing her to a peak of passion, I quickly twitched my finger across the same spot she's indicated to me, trying to remain as gentle as possible, while moving as quick as my fingers were able, until I could smell the gentle scent of her heat, watching as her panties started to dampen in response to my attentions.

She was ready.

I slid my fingers inside her panties, pushing them to one side so I could reach her labia, rubbing against drenched lips and eliciting a twitch and a hitched moan from her. I inhaled her scent deeply, enjoying every second of this experience.

Her fingers were now gently gripping against my hair, massaging against my scalp as I moistened my fingertips to rub against her clitoral hood, rubbing slowly as she came down from her first orgasm.

Just as she started to slow down her massage of my head, I sped up again to quickly bring her up to a second orgasm. She adjusted her hips involuntarily, letting me know where my attentions were most effective. I looked again as I rubbed her mound, at the curious striped pattern that covered her in the same way as it did the rest of her body, extending right across her groin where a human would have pubic hair, fading to bare, olive skin where her slit began, darkening around her labia, and turning pink within.

I licked greedily at her in that moment, feeling adventurous, drinking in the fragrant juices that were slowly oozing out of her, feeling her twitch at the new sensations.

"Where the hell did you learn how to do all this?" Eveline breathed, her hands grasping weakly at my hair.

I didn't answer. This was a moment to be enjoyed, not ruined with a discussion of my past sexual experience. Instead, I ran my right hand down the inside of her leg, feeling the flawless, unblemished skin inside, gently stroking in the direction of her peach-fuzz. Her reaction was to wrap her leg around my back and press my head more insistently against her pussy, her hips moving of their own accord in a way that suggested she wanted to feel something deep within.

I was only too willing to oblige, as I pierced her opening with my fingers, finding the rough wrinkles of skin where some women tended to have a cluster of sensitive nerves. Slowly at first, but with increasing speed, I stroked in a come-hither gesture.

It was only a matter of time, but rapidly, her rhythm quickened, her breathing hitched and became ragged, and she let out an involuntary squeak that she quickly muffled, taking one of the hands that was kneading my head so she could cover her mouth. As tempting as it was to look up and see her face, I didn't want to break the rhythm when she was this close. I gradually increased my ministrations, keeping at it despite her increasingly erratic body movements, until she started to twitch almost violently as another orgasm gripped her.

The sight of her pussy contracting right next to my lips was almost too much for me, and I had a hard time not going over the edge myself, Gradually, the intensity, if not the speed of her contractions, eased off. I kept licking her clit as the orgasm continued, withdrawing my fingers before I licked her clean. Tenderly, I covered her back up with her panties and breathed hot air over her mound, causing her to grasp at my head once more.

That was fucking amazing.

I let out a contented sigh, standing, and as I did so, I looked at Eveline's face for the first time since our night began. Her expression was momentarily unguarded, as she remained for just a brief second in the throes of orgasmic bliss, eyes closed, lips parted open in a stunned exhale, her ears flat against the sides of her head. As she breathed in deeply, she opened her eyes. Realising that she had drifted into a hazy bliss, her expression became guarded, weary.

I felt my heart sink but tried to keep my expression from slipping.

The effects of my ministrations were not entirely lost on her, though. She pulled the hand that had held my head descended down the side of my face, gently stroking fingers across my skin, lingering on my chest as she looked up at me, turning away and looking anywhere else at that moment.

She swallowed drily after a moment of silence between us.

"What's the matter?" I asked, my tone slightly wheedling, as I continued to ride a wave of sexual endorphins that desired release soon. Eveline leaned back against the wall, sighing, closing her eyes slightly and letting out a quiet moan that sounded both aroused and flustered. "Did you not like that, kitten?"

The effect of my words right then was like a slap to her face. Her eyes flew open, her expression closed off, and her hand stilled, before pushing back against my chest. She immediately stood from the edge of the table, frowning at me with an expression I really didn't care to interpret.

"This was a bad idea," she said flatly, her tone sounding numb.

"What's happening?" I asked, the sudden change in her demeanour throwing me off. I felt confusion at what was happening. "What did I do?"

"I've changed my mind. Women are allowed to do that, you know," Eveline snapped angrily, bending to pull her cargo shorts back over her hips, fastening them in angry gestures.

There was no arguing with her when she was like this, I realised, and swallowed my objections. My pride wounded slightly, I realised that the night was now over. Hopefully, we could sort this shit out tomorrow, but I knew that right now, it was only right that I give her some space.

"Whatever it was, I'm sorry," was all I said, as I stepped back.

"See yourself out," was all she said as she stepped to the door and opened it for me.

I awkwardly stepped out into the chilly night. "Good night, Eveline," I said to her, and the only response I got was the door closing slowly, latching itself until it was locked.

Shortly after that, the light went out.

I felt even worse now than I would have if this hadn't have happened.

I walked to my own door, slipped the key in, and letting out a frustrated sigh, I opened the door, briefly catching a glimpse of someone standing at the edge of the apartment block, but not caring at that moment who it was or what they wanted. Once I was inside, I locked the door, adjusted my pants to ease the slowly softening erection within, and I sighed once more, dropping to the bed in a tumbling fashion not unlike a tree after it had been felled.