A few days went by since Dana had gotten a chance to into the zoo. She delivered her babies a week or so early, and once she recovered, she went back to the zoo, trying to cope with quite a few emotions and hormones left over from a pregnancy that really wasn't hers to keep the result of. She'd no sooner than closed the entrance gate behind her when a familiar voice rang in her head.
~Hello, Dana, you don’t seem to well, dear. Come by my pen when you can, I'll do what I can to cheer you up.~ A ridiculous image of the busty cat girl wearing a cheerleader's outfit and jumping up and down with pom-poms and mewing cheers for the keeper entered Dana's head, and despite her depression, she couldn't help but smile.
She went back to the 'Employees Only' section of the park and donned her brown shorts and short-sleeved shirt, looking down at her deflated tummy, really wanting her babies back. She clocked in and smiled a bit when she found out that she would be in charge of the cat-girl's exhibit again today. Her boss had even gone so far as to write that she had 'a rapport with the animal'. She picked up the tray of meat on the counter labeled with Sarah's scientific name, hefted it onto a golf cart and drove to her enclosure. When she got there she sighed softly. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty," she cooed, knowing that is would get a chuckle out of the cat.
Musical laughter filled her head as the cat girl laughed happily. ~Oh, stop it! You are too cute sometimes. I left a path for you to find to track me, see if you can find where I'm hidden. You'll like the surprise.~
Her tone of voice was slowly regaining some of the strain she'd had before dining on the zookeeper- the satiating effect it had had on her was slowly wearing off. nowhere near as urgent as it had been a few days ago, but it was coming back.
~I've been practicing a few Nekomimi tricks in anticipation of your return,~ she giggled and then went silent, waiting for Dana to start hunting for her.
She took the tray of meat and opened the enclosure and stepped inside. Once the door was latched, she dropped the tray on the floor, knowing that Sarah would only eat it if she were really hungry, preferring the 'fresher' meat she got the other day. Dana placed her hand over her stomach protectively, a habit from when she was pregnant. A flood of emotions washed over her and she sniffed softly. She found the trail that Sarah had left but knew how to get to the cave from before.
"Sarrie... are you in there?" she said as she peered through the underbrush.
~You can go to the cave but I'm not theeeeeeere!~ she replied in a singsong voice, giggling a little. ~I made a path for you to follow for a reason. practice all that useful knowledge I taught you about tracking and find me, silly!~
She rolled her eyes and spotted a cleared path in the trees. 'This way?' she asked the cat mentally.
~I give no help! follow the trail and you shall find me. Lose the trail and you can wander until your feet hurt,~ she spoke calmly, confident that Dana would find her.
Dana knew it was impossible to track a nekomimi unless they wanted to be tracked. There were subtle signs that Sarah had left for Dana- a leaf out of position, a spider web that had a single strand snapped by someone’s passing, twigs scattered on the ground from someone stepping on them. She saw other signs as she went on; a puddle that had been stepped in, a tuft of hair on a briar.
'Someone is shedding,' she said with a smile, hoping to get some reaction from the cat.
~SHEDDING?! I, my dear, do NOT shed. That's left over from grooming, thank you very much.~
There was no anger, just playfulness and happiness. Nekomimi, so far as Dana knew, were humanlike cats- fur from head to toe like regular cats, though their bodies were closer to human ones than feline ones. Dana wandered seemingly aimlessly, spotting little hints that the cat was there. She came to a part of the 'jungle' where the birds didn’t chirp and the bugs didn’t buzz. She looked around, knowing Sarah must be close.
A deep rumbling purr emanated from the thick foliage above and the branches on the trees here were all thick enough and closely spaced enough that climbing up to Sarah would be as easy as climbing a ladder.
~Nice to see you. Come on up, Dana.~
'Hey cutie,' she said in her mind, trying to seem as lighthearted as possible, even though her heart was on a roller coaster ride from hell. She dusted off her hands and grabbed one of the lower branches, hoisting herself up and getting a good footing. As soon as she saw Sarah, she almost fell. The Nekomimi's already huge breasts had become unbelievably huge, two vast round globes hanging down from the cat morph’s body as she lay sprawled on her stomach on a tree limb.
~Now, now, no use lying to yourself or me. You’re feeling miserable after having those two babies of yours leave, aren't you? Come on up, dear and I'll do what I can to cheer you up.~
Her eyes were immediately drawn to the massive breasts before her, wondering if the tree could hold such weight. She had a thought run through her head; a quote from a television show, "Looking at cleavage is like looking at the sun... you get a sense of it and you look away!" and she turned away, choosing to look at her own hands.
~Yeah, but you won't go blind looking at my cleavage, darling.~
Dana spoke softly aloud, "I missed you Sarah, how have you been without me?"
~I've been kind of okay. They throw the steaks in and slam the door- no one dares come in here any more- I missed you a lot.~
'I missed you too! Surprisingly that got me through a lot after I gave birth. I figured if I couldn’t take care of them, I could come look after you. Maybe become a damsel in distress and have more stupid people come in and try to rescue me like Thompson did!' she grinned wickedly.
Dana inched closer to the cat and made a motion, indicating that, if acceptable, she wanted to rest her head next to the cat's. The nekomimi yawned hugely, purred and stretched, still laying on her branch. With one swift motion she'd pulled Dana close and cuddled close to the smaller woman.
~They'd catch on eventually, though. I can only block thoughts for so many people for so long. someone will notice and put two and two together,~ she sighed, ~I'm going to break out of here in a while, though. want to come with?~
'You want me to break out with you? Sarah... not to sound rude or inconsiderate but I can come in and out as I please. But I want to help you... just as long as you promise to come and visit!' she said with a mocking scowl.
Dana was really sorry that she could do nothing really for Sarah but even if she could she wouldn’t know what to do! The cat could bust out of here in a heartbeat, Dana truthfully didn’t know why she hadn’t already. She was smart enough and strong enough if it came down to brute force... it would be a cinch.
~Because everything happens for a reason and the reason for me to leave hasn't happened yet. And besides, wouldn’t you want to have kids again?~ the big cat girl purred nuzzling Dana and smiling.
'Of course I would but my next surrogacy wont start for another few months at least. Even if I were offered a job today it still takes 3 months for all the paperwork and legal stuff to go through.'
~What if you didn’t have to worry about paperwork? And you got to see the kids every day?~
She looked at the cat quizzically, 'What do you mean?'
~I'll answer when you do. What if it worked that way?~
'I would be ecstatic,' she thought, with a huge smile on her face.