Welcome back, my lovely reader!
It looks like Joseph has some help now that Crystal is on board with them. Hey, don't give me that look, I'll tell you right now that persian is 100 not hooking up with them, so get your pervy mind out of the gutter!
That said, maybe our lovely kitty manager will find her some fun as we go along but in the meantime... It's a good thing Joe has that extra help, he's going to need it!
Did you ever hear the old Thomas Edison quote? No, not the one about stealing people's ideas! I mean the quote about being a genius?
Let's jump right in!
—♥—
Episode 6:
One Percent Inspiration
Crystal pulled her small compact car up to the unassuming building. She'd have questioned if she had the right place if she didn't recognize Ivory's car there. It also didn't hurt that her two former co-workers were right there waiting for her.
The persian barely got out of the car before she had a bunny and calico rushing over to hug her.
"Crystal! This is so exciting!" Ivory purred out happily.
"This is gonna be great, I'll get to call you boss for once!" Karen hummed out, also hugging up her old friend.
"Yeah! S-Sure! Ooph! Okay, not so tight girls, gods!" She laughed and returned the hug before they all parted.
"Phew... I can smell those dogs on both of you, had to have a little morning session before you got here?" She offered them a grin.
Karen snorted and put her paws on her hips. "No! We actually didn't have any sex, we just all piled up in the bed and even showed together, so it's hard to fully get the smell of dog off."
"Woah... that must be one hell of a bed and shower." Crystal said, sounding shocked.
"Oh it is, believe me, living most of my life on a tour bus and grabbing my showers in cramped truckstop ones? You bet your ass those two things were what I paid up on with my money." Ivory purred out, sounding smug as she gripped the other cat's paw. "C'mon, boss. Let's go."
Crystal showed her a grin as the girls led her through the dark hallway into the large recording studio. Bianca of course towered over all three of them but had that haughty jovial air she always carried.
"Ah ha! Another little gattina?" The bovine woman peered down the persian who cocked a furred brow.
"A gattina? What are you on about, lady?" Crystal put her paws on her hips with a huff.
"It means a cat, Bianca is just... eccentric," Karen gave the instructor a smile.
"Riiight, well Bianca, I'm Crystal, I'll be assisting Joseph in his management duties going forward. He asked me to come out, meet you, and get an idea of how this all worked." Crystal stabbed right to the heart of the matter.
"Oh ho! You are to the point I can appreciate that! You girls, warm up I will show your manager the sound room, make sure you put on a good show for her!" Bianca slapped a paw around Crystal's shoulder, the cat hissing at the impact as she was pulled along.
"Are you also part of their little... family?" Bianca hummed out curiously as they walked.
"I'm their friend, JUST their friend," Crystal responded with a raised padded-finger, wagging it at the cow. "I've no part in their little polyamory relationship."
"Forgive me for prying, I was simply curious and wished to know how to approach things. As you know, it can be a touchy subject when working with loved ones." She pulled the door to the sound room open, letting the cat walk in first.
"I wouldn't know, been a hot minute for me in that regard." Crystal shrugged as she looked around.
"For me as well since my last divorce. Perhaps boys are not my thing and I should find a good woman, or perhaps the seventh time is the charm, yes?" Bianca gave a laugh and sauntered over to dial on the intercom. "Are my idols ready?"
"I'm never ready for this shit, but let's do it," Ivory hissed out and gave a yawn.
"We're good to start, Bianca!" Karen called out, her own eagerness, a foil to Ivory's morning grumps.
Crystal tried to take in as much of the whole thing as she could. This wasn't her kind of scene but even she could tell the two of them sounded good together. "Woah... I used to karaoke with these two, but what they're doing here... this is on another level!" She spoke out with an impressed tone in her voice.
"They are making great strides, my gattina was already good, but the love of her coniglia fuels her, pushes her. They are stronger together than apart, like... that ariete and lupa!" Bianca thrust a finger out to a poster, one of many that dotted the sound room.
Crystal was almost in her thirties, but she still kept up with pop music, recognizing one of them, a half-fur ram and wolf. "Ah, Electric Blue. I don't recognize the wolf though."
"A no-nonsense lupa, I was fond of training with her. She was fierce like a warrior but stubborn! We argued many times and she even threatened to throw me to the floor once or twice!" Bianca laughed the whole thing off, sounding amused as Crystal frowned at the display.
"At any rate, she is his love and it fuels him. Is the lupa on par with the ariete? No, not yet, but she makes him stronger. That is these two, she is not at the level of my gattina, but she will be and she makes her stronger by being with her!"
"Ruby Thunder and Electric Blue..." She shifted her gaze back to Ivory and Karen who were both pushed to the lone mic as they sang, looking fully focused. "Cream and Mocha... Yeah, even a novice manager like me can feel it. They've got something, they really do." Crystal purred to herself as she folded her arms, her tail coiling and flicking to their singing.
Bianca just gave her a confident nod before declaring dramatically, "Mark my word, they will have a number one when I am finished with them, it is their fate to do so!"
—♥—
Joseph stood across from Isaac, the wolf in an unfamiliar dojo, both of them dressed in gi's. The smaller fox brought his paw up, a cocky grin on his muzzle as he motioned with his padded-fingers.
Isaac barked out as he lunged forward with a snap kick, the smaller dog shifting his knee up, letting the blow land squarely on his shin. The drive made him actually hop back on his one planted footpad, but Joseph seemed to use the moment and simply spun out with a wide sweeping roundhouse kick.
Isaac hissed out and jerked his head back but he wasn't going to be able to clear before the blow landed. Then the footpaw just halted right there about six inches from his muzzle, the fox flicking his tail, looking at the wolf over his shoulder before dropping back into stance.
"Holy... I didn't think you could move that fast, Joe..." The wolf barked out with a pant. They'd been sparring for a while now, Isaac having pushed for Joseph to show him some muay thai even though this was the wolf's first lesson.
"Excellent control, Joseph-san!" Another fox called out, this one sporting a blonde tail and ears that blended perfectly with his hair. He was what some affectionately called a half-fur, sporting a soft tan flesh over most of his body. They didn't tend to have paws or muzzles either, but regardless they seamlessly intermingled with the full-furs, there being about an equal amount of one another in society at large.
"Thank you sensei. I was quite nervous if I'm being truthful." Joseph made a practiced bow.
"Isaac-san, I know you are an adept martial artist with several forms under your belt, I hope you will not let this dishearten you. I did caution you-"
"Not at all, Sensei. I simply wished to see it in live practice. Ego has no place in the martial arts, regardless if it's practice or competition." The red wolf offered his own practiced bow he no doubt made to his other instructors throughout the years.
The blonde fox gave an approving nod at that. "I lament I cannot instruct you longer than the time we have, I feel you would have much I could learn from as well. Still, I will make the few sessions we have as educational as I can. Since you are a practiced martial artist, I will be able to... skip past some things, as it were."
After a while longer, the lesson concluded, and Isaac thanked the instructor for his time on such short notice. The two dogs that were now a couple, cleaned up and got back into their regular clothes before leaving the dojo.
"I always get a little nervous sparring with half-furs, ya know?" Isaac called out conversationally from the passenger seat.
"Why's that?" Joseph gave him a curious look with a tilt of his head.
"I dunno... no fur for padding, they don't even have pads." He looked down at his own open paw.
"I mean, Karen doesn't have pads either." Joseph shrugged. "You want my opinion on the matter?"
"Well duh, I did bring it up." Issac grinned over at his lover.
"I think it offers some advantages too. I mean smooth flesh offers less wind drag. You can theoretically move faster. Also their footpaws erm... feet? They offer more spring and agility."
"I suppose that's fair. I think I like my fur personally, I'd feel vulnerable without it." Isaac nodded.
"Can't miss what you never had, right?" Joseph pointed out.
"I see them every day, of course, it's just interesting because I never spar with them. So it got me thinking." Isaac huffed out as he looked to the side window.
"Are you about to open with 'I'm not racist but-'" The fox offered him a grin.
"Don't be an asshole, Joe!" Isaac laughed out and grinned. "I don't give a shit one way or another, fur or not, it's what's inside that counts."
