Welcome back, my lovely reader~
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Hello, my lovely reader and I welcome you to Love & Lattes: A bunny's bounty. As with all my serials, I'll give you a little warning of what you're jumping into here. This is a slice of life style romance story, there will be a smidgen of action but not nearly as much as my B&C series.
The L&L series is a fully anthro story unlike B&C and Guarded which are kemonomimi style. This means fur, muzzles, handpaws, padded digits for those that have paw pads, and more emphasis on things like scents.
Finally, I wish to toss out a cursory warning, this story does have elements of PTSD from noncon. It does NOT contain fully-fledged nonconsensual scenes, but it does have reference and opens with a partial one. I generally do not like to offer spoilers right out of the gate, but this is a touchy issue and I felt it the right thing to do for any of my readers that may have issues with such things.
Well, with all that out of the way, let's get started on this new adventure. I truly hope you enjoy your time in this new world I've crafted for you.
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Episode 1:
Sometimes, life stacks too much against you
"I need a mocha latte with unsweetened coconut milk." The small catgirl called out from the counter, her slightly curled brown ears perked up, one aimed towards the back, the other twitching as she listened to another customer's order. On the left breast pocket of her apron had a name tag that read, 'Ivory'.
"Uhuh," The second worker replied while frothing some coconut milk with one handpaw, the other pouring coffee into the cup of another order. Her small fluffed tail flicked about in agitation behind her as another order was added to the list, then another, and another. She wore a similar name tag only with a flourish on it that read 'Team Leader' above her name.
The rabbit grumbled under her breath, both her long mocha-colored ears slowly starting to curl at the tips where the fur was just slightly white. This rush had been going for over an hour and she was about ready to lock the doors.
The blonde cat flicked an ear hearing the rabbit behind her starting to snarl and recognizing the body language as she turned back to look at her. "Um, Karen, do you wanna swap with me?"
"No. Keep taking the orders, I got it." The rabbit called the words back at the cat while shoving a green tea latte at one customer and the mocha latte at a second. She clenched her teeth as she said, "Thanks, have a good day." Her voice had a sharp edge to it and the send-off probably sounded more like, 'I hope you get hit by a truck.'
Twenty minutes later the rush finally calmed down right as the next shift's workers walked in the door. The rabbit and cat waited for the other two to put on their aprons so they could swap with them. One was a young teenage fox who worked after school for them by the name of Joseph. The other was Crystal, an early to mid-twenties cat around the same age as Karen and Ivory who also happened to attend the same community college as the rabbit.
"Fucking sakes, of course it dies down as those two show up." The rabbit grumbled the words as she sipped on her coffee from a travel cup while sitting on a bench behind the coffee shop. Her coffee was none of that triple whipped, double mocha, fufu latte crap either, just black.
Ivory took a long drag from her cigarette making sure to puff the smoke away from the direction of the rabbit while leaning against the wall next to her. "It's not their fault boss, they get rushes in the late afternoon too."
"Think I don't know that?" The rabbit snapped the words, clicking her tongue before swilling some more coffee that was lukewarm at best now, but it was something.
"Wow, way to take my head off, Karen. You're gonna make me feel bad," The cat playfully purred the words before she took another puff from her smoke and gave the rabbit a grin. "Not sure how you handle the stress, If I didn't smoke I would have gone crazy doing this job."
"I like having functioning lungs, thanks," The rabbit huffed the words back before sliding her fingers through her shoulder-length hair the color of dark chocolate and mostly straight but for the slight show of ever faint curl at the tips.
"Uhuh... but not a functioning liver? I've been drinking with you before, I know how you are!" The catgirl cooed the words in a playful sing-song voice while grinding the cigarette out on the wall before flicking the butt into the nearby smoking bucket.
The rabbit's ears shot up at the retort, clearly showing the small silver hoops along the insides of them near the base. Karen sipped her coffee taking a moment to think of what to say to that. The cat wasn't wrong, she had been hitting the hooch pretty hard lately, almost every night needing a drink. Especially the last few nights. "I hope you choke on a dick," Was finally the response the rabbit came up with.
"Funny you should mention that!" The cat clapped her handpaws together, her overly large breasts bouncing gingerly in her button-down top. They were unfairly large for her short stature and body size, especially compared to Karen's more modest set that might have amounted to a handful at best vs tits for days over there.
Ivory purred as she leaned in close to Karen and cooed into her ear, "Finally sealed the deal with James the other night. Never knew elk's could get that big! Ha, I literally did choke and gag a few times!"
The rabbit made a face of disgust and glared at the cat with her sharp emerald eyes. "Oh my gods, Ivory... Why are you telling me this? I don't need to know whose dick you sucked this week!"
The cat grinned her own blue eyes sparkling as she purred then leaned in puffing hotly into Karen's left ear. "Just tormenting you for being an asshole... you think I can't smell it on you? Even through the roasting coffee in the shop?"
If it wasn't for the thin coat of mocha-colored fur, it would be clear to see the deep heavy blush that spread on her cheeks at the cat's words. The rabbit coughed before scooting further down the bench away from the cat's hot breath. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Ivory sat in the spot where Karen had been and folded her paws in her lap, giving the rabbit a toothy grin, her naturally pointed teeth showing. "Sure boss, that's why every guy in the shop was looking you over today. You think they didn't smell it too?"
Karen glared at the cat her cheeks burning now. "They weren't and they couldn't have! It's not THAT obvious!"
"Ah-ha!" The cat called out the word as Karen realized her slip up and scowled at the feline. "Poor bunny rabbit is in heat, isn't she? That's why you've been a moody bitch all day!"
"Fuck you, I'll write you up for disrespecting a manager!" The bunny snapped back huffing in frustration at the cats teasing.
"You won't... and you can't, we are, off, the, clock," The cat purred the words playfully before grinning at the rabbit. "Besides, if you run me off you won't have anyone to talk to or hang out with."
Karen grumbled under her breath but didn't say anything. Ivory was right, she was pretty much the only person she socialized with. Other than that it was just work and school.
"You know what you need? You need to get laid, Karen." The cat spoke the words playfully as she pushed up against the rabbit's shoulder. Her body was smaller than Karen's by a few inches so it was more like pushing her head against her shoulder. Not that the rabbit was much taller, they were definitely the shortest ones on the staff.
"You would be an expert wouldn't you?" Karen spoke the words dryly as she finished off her coffee and threw the cup into the nearby waste can. "I don't need to get laid, I just... I need to relax. I need to finish this semester with passing marks and I need to take a day off from this damn store!"
"Heeey... you've seen how Joe looks at you, yeah?" Ivory suppressed a giggle. "He has the major hots for you Karen. The other day you were bending over getting something from the storage cabinet and he was trying to play it cool but his little fox tail was wagging like crazy. He's so fucking cute when you're around."
