The Striped Filly

This is a short work of erotic fiction containing furry, or anthropomorphic, characters, which are animals that either demonstrate human intelligence or walk on two legs, for the purposes of these tales. It is a thriving and growing fandom in which creators are prevalent in art and writing especially.

****

The Striped Filly

Flying Changes

Chapter Three

With a surprisingly clear head, Christian stared into his cup as rain glanced off the window of the coffee shop, flashing by the street lamps as if it possessed its own source of illumination. A Wednesday evening easing into night, he hadn't seen Anna in four whole days -- four days that, now, seemed far too long to be without her. And that was even with the fact that the thought of her roused feelings and ideas that he didn't want to acknowledge, at least not yet.

He sipped his coffee, pursing his lips as it flared too hot on his tongue. He drank coffee almost every day but, somehow, this coffee was different. It was the first coffee since he had had sex. Christian's fingers tightened around the cup, pressing into smooth ceramic. He had had sex with a zebra. He stared suspiciously at the older gentleman with greying hair and a walking stick sitting on one of the sofas as if everyone and anyone could tell what he'd done a few days before simply by looking at him. His fingers twisted together in his lap as he constantly fidgeted, heartbeat as flighty as a caged bird.

Well, technically, he was still a virgin. He rubbed his face, heat tingling across his cheekbones. Just not a complete one anymore.

The bell above the door jingled and his lips parted, breaking into a smile, as Anna stood in the entranceway, shaking water from her mane and tail. Tail flicking, she sought to rid it of the annoyance weighing it down, but gave up after a few half-hearted flicks, letting it drape down wetly over her rump and hocks. Christian half-stood and waved her over, a wave of giddiness catching him unawares. He dropped back into his booth seat against the wall with an ungainly thump on faux leather as Anna trotted up, drawing all eyes in her passing.

"I thought you weren't going to show up." Christian moved a chair out of the way, allowing her room in which to stand comfortably beside the table. "What can I get for you?" He grinned widely -- too widely. "My treat."

He cringed at his own words, yet the zebra merely shook her head, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

"Christian..." She began and then turned away, ears twitching.

He leaned forward, elbow on the table, the spot between his eyes knotted.

"What's wrong? Are you unwell?"

His mind whispered that it was something far worse than Anna feeling a little under the weather and he shoved those thoughts to the back of his mind, ignoring the frantic pace of his heart. Gripping his thigh in a vice-like grip, he tried to smile and failed, lips turning down.

Anna shook her head.

"I am perfectly well, Christian, don't worry..." She trailed off, unable to look him in the eye. "I only feel that I need to apologise for my behaviour a few nights ago."

She chuffed as if clearing her throat, gaze brushing his for the briefest of instants.

"When we went on...our..." She pawed the ground with a hoof. "You know..."

Christian froze and slipped back in the booth, cold all over as if he had been doused in a bucket of ice water. This was it. She had realised that it was all a big mistake and regretted everything. He set his jaw into a tight, aching line and stared directly into the glaring overhead light until his eyes watered.

"Oh," he said at last, not trusting himself to say more. "I didn't realise."

He rubbed his arm and looked away, scraping the sole of one trainer over the top of the other beneath the table. Anna rested her chin on the table, nostrils vibrating gently as she snorted.

"I did not mean to be so forward... I know you asked me about it in the moment." She chuckled, eyes wide and imploring. "I didn't mean to push you so far so quickly. I..." Anna swallowed, looking down between her hooves. "I got carried away. I can be hasty."

Christian's head snapped back around.

"You think I did something I didn't want to do?"

His jaw would have dropped if every muscle in his body had not been so tense that any notion of relaxing, even in shock, was a foreign concept. Anna lifted a hoof earnestly and nudged his knee with hers, the knobbly joint warm through his jeans.

"I know I started it and I drove you on, further and further... I wanted you and couldn't stop myself." She snorted warm air over his arm and pushed her head against his chest, legs shaking. "You've done something to me, Christian. I can't explain it. I can't explain it at all."

Christian exhaled a breath that he had not known he'd been holding, lungs sore. Yet his lips twitched into a smile.

"Anna..." He stroked down her neck and made her look up at him, cupping his fingers beneath her chin. "I didn't do a single thing that I regret! I thought you were here to break up with me when you started on like that!"

The zebra stepped back, head shooting high.

"What? No -- of course not!"

Christian laughed as she brayed, not even caring that others in the coffee shop were staring at them -- the strange couple staring at one another as if they'd each grown several extra heads. Let them stare. His heart thrummed back to life. All was right with the world again! Anna wasn't disappearing in a flash of black and white.

"I thought I'd pushed you into things," he confessed, sliding his arm around her neck. "I didn't mean to... I never thought I'd be with someone so soon after meeting them." His neck warmed. "It's really not like me."

Anna eyed him slyly and stretched up to kiss his cheek with a velveteen brush of her lips.

"Are you saying that I'm doing things to you too, Christian?"

He swallowed hard and rubbed the back of his neck, looking down the length of her striped body.

"Maybe."

Anna's lips curved into a smile and he felt his heart break into a million pieces all over again at the unmarred beauty of it. Yes, the mare had done something wonderful to him and it was only growing stronger as the days -- nay, hours -- passed. Hugging Anna, Christian chuckled as her nose brushed over the back of his hand. The zebra withdrew slightly, turning her head to get a better look at his hand and the oddly thicker hair there. She blew warm breath over his skin as she inspected him, ears twitching back and forth as if listening to something that he could not quite catch.

"How peculiar..."

"What is?"

Anna shook herself, whole body rippling, as she stepped back, eyes on the menu.

"Nothing to worry about. So, what's good here?"

He was about to press for more information when someone standing in front of the case of muffins whipped their head around, a goofy grin breaking out across their face. The brown-haired man with carefully styled blonde highlights strode across without collecting his order, hair scraped back in a bun. His toothy grin flashed beneath the bright lights and his long stride covered the span of the coffee shop in seconds, allowing Christian no time in which to mentally prepare himself for the interruption.

"Chris! Didn't think I'd see you around here again!"

He clapped Christian on the shoulder, pushing past Anna who stood with her head high and a white rim showing around her irises. Christian stood, partly to greet his friend and partly to lay a reassuring palm on Anna's neck. The zebra relaxed under his touch and exhaled gently.

"Hey, Todd," he returned the greeting. "Why wouldn't I be here? Best coffee in the city."

Todd laughed, hand on his stomach, although he had no belly to speak of.

"I wouldn't say that but it's good -- good enough." He turned his eyes on Anna, expression darkening noticeably. "And who..." He adjusted the neck of his polo shirt, gaze sliding back to Christian as if drawn by a magnet. "How have you been?"

Christian stiffened. What the hell was that? The zebra looked between Christian and Todd, lips sealed shut. He scratched her neck soothingly, feeling her shiver.

"This is Anna," he said, ignoring Todd's question. "She's visiting from Kenya and was on the radio show last week. Maybe you heard it?"

Todd visibly relaxed, slumping forward as if a colossal weight had been whipped from his shoulders.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Todd mimed wiping sweat from his brow. "For a moment, I thought you were out on a date with a feral!"

Christian's jaw dropped, hand falling from Anna's neck. What on earth did Todd mean by that? Christian closed his mouth slowly and wiped the back of his hand across his lips, buying time while his thoughts raced. Todd, oblivious, stole his cup from the table and sipped from his cooling coffee, screwing up his face: not nearly enough sugar for his taste. The zebra shuffled away from Christian, tail flicking erratically as she eyed the intruder on their peace up and down like she would an approaching predator. Only she couldn't decide whether he was a threat or not.

Yet.

"Actually," Christian found his tongue at last. "Anna and I --"

"Oh, hang tight!" Todd made a show of looking at his watch, eyes wide in exaggerated shock. "So sorry but I've got to be making tracks now -- day's a-passing!"

Christian frowned, shaking his head, but Todd was already turning on his heel, designer shirt flapping about his waist.

"Nice seeing you!" He called back with a flutter of his fingers.

Dashing from the coffee shop into the rain, the last glimpse they had of him was the young man briefly illuminated by the headlights of an oncoming taxi as he lifted his hand high, hailing it. Christian sat frozen in place, fingers curled around the edge of the booth seat beside his legs. Not once throughout the exchange had Todd stopped to acknowledge Anna. Christian shot her a guilty look, gaping like a goldfish. The zebra sighed, ears folding back.

"I'm really sorry he acted like that," Christian said, tone soft as he rubbed around the base of her ears. "I had no idea he even thought those things."

Anna grunted and shook her head, mane rippling from one side of her neck to the other.

"Why are you friends with someone like that?"

Christian grimaced.

"I haven't seen him in ages, I didn't know." He ran his hand down her neck, scratching fingertips pleading forgiveness. "I tried to correct him..." Christian matched her sigh. "But I wasn't quick enough. I know. I should have been quicker."

Anna rested her head on his leg, pushing over his thighs so that he didn't have to reach so far to her ears and neck. Taking it as a good sign, Christian rubbed and caressed her smooth coat with both hands.

"I'm really sorry," he murmured, so quiet that even the zebra's ears had to flick to catch his words. "I shouldn't have let him say those things. I shouldn't have let him treat you like that." He took a deep breath, intending to say more, but the words died on his lips, leaving him with only three. "I am sorry."

"It's not your fault, I know," Anna grumbled, ears perking up a little. "People are still like that. We live differently to you, true, but we're not all that different."

She stomped and ducked her head, ripping from his grasp and pleasing hands.

"Why can't your kind take the time to understand?" She lamented, nostrils quivering. "It wouldn't be so hard and then we could avoid this whole sorry affair!"

She stared at her hooves, sides heaving in short, laboured breaths.

"Maybe we'd even get along better."

Christian slipped from the booth and wrapped his arms around her neck, drawing her close as he pressed his chest to her stronger one, firm with muscle and shivering with restrained emotion. Anna tensed and then relaxed into him, head dropping down over his back as she exhaled slowly, letting all her breath out at once. Christian kissed the arch of her neck and scratched her withers until her lip quivered in pleasure. The thought that others might have been watching never even crossed his mind.

"I don't really have the words to explain people like that," Christian said, teasing his fingers through her mane. "But I know that not everyone thinks like that. We're not all biased and we're not all so closed-minded."

He winced, rubbing his forearm, though he had no itch to speak of.

"I don't suppose it's any consolation but it's not only ferals that some behave like that towards. We do it to our own kind. Anything different is scary to some. I really couldn't tell you why."

"I know..." Anna leaned into him. "I don't want to get used to it. It's not right."

"It's not right," Christian agreed. "And I'll make sure to set the bastard straight next time I see him."

Anna's ears lifted at his harsher language, but she made no comment. Christian drew back, relaxing the hand he'd unconsciously clenched into a fist, and pressed his forehead to hers, drinking in her sweet, fresh scent. Beneath the musty warmth of zebra lay a softer fragrance. His nose twitched, trying to draw more of it in. Lilies? Anna bumped her nose into his chest.

"Now, let's enjoy the rest of our date." He smiled and kissed her lips, heart fluttering even at that brief caress. "There is too much of the evening left to let one idiot ruin it for us."

Shifting her weight on to her hind hooves, Anna half-reared, bopping Christian cheekily on the nose. He fell back against the booth with a startled cry, landing heavily on his backside and laughing as the zebra brayed, pawing at the floor in triumph with her jest. Christian's chest ached from laughing but he could not find the will to stop, only happy to see Anna brighter again, eyes shining with the life he was starting to fall for more and more.

Anna helped him back to his feet, nipping slyly at his shirt as she raised her head to the level of his.

"This is one reason why I like you so much," she snorted, lips brushing his. "You laugh with me. And you make me laugh."

Christian blushed and rubbed his throat, arm over her withers.

Truth be told...he was starting to like the zebra filly rather a lot too.