Frances had enjoyed much of what had gone on with the Halloween Dance, as it was a fun break from many of the aspects of life that could often be difficult and frustrating. And Moon Lake had had plenty of aspects of life that could be frustrating and difficult recently, first a rogue vixen jumping her neighbor, William Anderson, in a parking lot at the college. Granted, at the time Frances didn't know William beyond what Samantha had told her about the Anderson family's welcome to Moon Lake, but that didn't mean that a rogue were was something that would be tolerated. Especially when the rogue vixen, Yvette Smith, took her apparent infatuation with William Anderson to the point of causing real trouble, clawing another Normal before finally being wrestled into submission by Ben and Nate in the Anderson family's kitchen.
From there, things soon jumped forward as the Skulk moved to atone for Yvette Smith's actions and repay its debts. William Anderson seemed to be content to have Martha by his side and his family safe, and by this time, Frances had gotten to know him, thanks to Martha joining Frances and Samantha as a werecat. While Frances would agree with Samantha that William had a fair number of issues to work through, she did note that he was working through them rather well and that the werefox's bond to Martha was truly helping with that, and with Martha happy, Frances saw no reason to really judge her next door neighbors. The big issue in repaying debts, however, came with Jennifer Harper, now Jennifer Jenkins.
She was the other person Yvette had clawed and became a Fennec Fox based werefox and bonded to a boy she'd been dating at the college, Harry Jenkins. Frances was heavily involved in helping Jenny through her healing and recovery from her transformation being incomplete for as long as it was and then helping Jenny put forth the courage to stand up to her father. That had worked out quite well, as the pair had had their wedding earlier in the day and Jenny did stand up to her father. That front had been a success and had allowed for Frances and Samantha to look to some fun and relaxation and helping an old friend recover from her own stresses, and the Halloween Dance seemed the perfect thing for that.
Though, even there it seemed that trouble never seemed to completely go away. While Frances stood by at her post as a chaperone for the dance, Samantha had ended up spending much of the dance on the phone. Frances did overhear Samantha's frustration at the conversation, but between the music being played and the sound of other conversations going on, Frances couldn't actually pick out what was actually being said. She gave a small sigh and then looked out over the dancing couples, and privately wished that whatever was going wrong now wasn't happening so that one of those couples could be her and Samantha.
"Frances..." a voice said from a side, making her turn. There, she saw Jen Decker standing by with another young woman behind her, with her eyes on Jen and what looked like a rather eager look on her face. From what Frances knew, the girl's name was Claire and was new to Moon Lake, though Samantha had never mentioned a surname for her. The oddity of when Samantha had "welcomed" Claire to Moon Lake was that the woman was then eager to be a werecat, even though she was completely straight at the time. Samantha had tried to explain that while it was safe for Claire to become a werecat, as she was female, she would also become at least bisexual if not an outright lesbian, but it had appeared that hadn't stopped Claire.
"Sorry things haven't gone quite as we'd planned, Jen," Frances said to Jen, "between what's kept Samantha on the phone... and..."
"It's okay, Frances," Jen gave a friendly smile, "I have caught up with old friends and generally speaking... I've had a good time."
"Well, that's good," Frances gave a relieved sigh at that. At least the night wasn't a total loss, then.
"Anyway, Tad's told me he'll likely be heading "home" with Amy later," Jen spoke, with the inflexion of her voice giving Frances the indication that she meant Amy's home, "and in the meantime... it would appear that Claire is pretty determined on being a werecat."
"I'd gathered that," Frances chuckled as she glanced between Jen and Claire.
Jen nodded, "anyway... I'm just letting you know that I'm heading back home... with Claire and will handle her transformation. She knows and understands... and remains eager. And thank you for actually getting me to come. I've had a great time, thank you."
Frances nodded as Jen gave her a quick hug and then left with Claire following hot on heals. Frances only shook her head as they left and then turned back to Samantha. By now, she'd finally finished the series of phone calls that were relating to official business and was approaching Frances. She looked around for a few moments as if looking for Jen, not knowing that Jen had already left.
"Jen left with Claire," Frances said to her wife, "it seems that your warnings on what becoming a werecat will do with Claire's sexuality didn't dampen her desire."
Samantha opened her lips slightly and let out a long and seemingly exasperated breath, which told Frances that her wife was seriously frustrated by something. In that, she figured it was probably a good idea that they leave. Samantha was a loving partner and Frances never regretted ANYTHING in her life with Samantha, even the fact that their first time together before Samantha's first transformation had turned Frances without either knowing it. Frances would always find a great deal of strength in her wife, however, she also knew that when Samantha was frustrated with something or angry about something, she was just as prone to making mistakes as anyone else. Frances chalked up some of Samantha's more antagonistic comments about William Anderson over his actions while incomplete to that, as once his transformation was completed and things progressed the two had appeared to make some amends, but that still took time. And right now, having Samantha frustrated at something would not be a good mix for dealing with chaperone related duties.
"And I'd think it's time we go too," Frances spoke.
She took Samantha's arm and began to lead Samantha out of the gym. As they left they passed a young group of boys, one a werefox offering punch in a plastic cup to a red haired girl with one hand while drinking from another cup with the other. All the while, Frances noted a very downcast look on Samantha's face, which only further confirmed her wife's frustrations. They quietly made their way out and returned to their car, which was right where they left it. However, Frances then ushered Samantha to the passenger seat and took the keys before going back to the driver's side and beginning the drive home.
"Do I need to ask what's wrong?" Frances asked.
"It's things related to this Dymixious character," Samantha grumbled.
Frances slowly nodded. Samantha had told her about the fact that Skulk had him in the house next to hers and Samantha's as something of a favor to the man to allow for some of the heat related to Lionel Ulysses' murder to die down and thus protect the were-secret, while at the same time the police had him under observation and monitoring while they tried to sort the sort of legal issues that related to fact that regardless of the were-secret, Dymixious's actions were criminal and could potentially embarrass Moon Lake greatly if discovered.
"The FBI has apparently found some clues that will bring them here," Samantha said in a low tone as Frances drove along.
"They know Dymixious is here?" Frances wondered.
"They know he has CONTACTS here," Samantha answered, "and they're expected to send at least one agent to look into those contacts and see if they provide any information that would help them find Dymixious..."
Frances remained silent and drove along. The situation did have the clear potential to be a cause for trouble, she knew that, but her purpose was to let Samantha vent a little and get her home. From there, Frances could turn to a slightly different form of physical therapy that would help her wife get over the stress she was presently feeling. She noted that the number of trick or treaters was going down and the Skulk was getting ready for their official tricks for the night, but she remained attentive to the road.
"Which means that bright and early tomorrow morning, I need to go in to be ready for plans dealing with Dymixious," Samantha grumbled, "which in the end will have as much chance of a peaceful conclusion as giving a known killer a gun and expecting there NOT to be negative consequences."
"Sounds rough," Frances sighed as she pulled into the driveway in front of the Twist home, "but... I'd suppose something like this WAS a possibility, and I'm sure you'll have an answer for it. You always do."
Samantha looked over as they walked inside, noting Frances' confident smile. In a way she felt she needed the encouragement and responded with a small smile of her own. Frances opened the door and allowed Samantha in. Neither turned on any lights. While reading in the dark was extremely difficult for any were, the fact that both women were werecats meant that both could see very well in the dark. With that, Frances then lead Samantha to their bedroom, and as they walked, she felt Frances's claws extending from her fingertips. That made her look back see Frances's ears slide up into two triangular points on the top of her head with her hair naturally parting around her ears.
"I don't deserve you," Samantha said slowly as she began to slip out of her clothes and shift into her own werecat form as well. She relished the feeling of her tail growing out behind her and every twitch that it made. She might be frustrated with all the stresses going on, but that didn't mean she didn't like being a werecat.
"Oh, yes you do," Frances answered, ushering Samantha over to their bed and rubbing her back and working to massage the tension out of Samantha's back muscles. "You're smart and you're dedicated... and that IS a good thing. You just have to remember that sometimes things just don't our way. It's one of those facts of life that we just HAVE to accept."
Samantha couldn't help but purr as Frances gently worked on massaging her back and shoulders. It did feel good and was almost as good as the reassurance that Frances gave that things would be okay. In that, Samantha was soon happily twitching the tip of her tail to the same rhythm of her wife's massage. Frances noticed this and felt a smile come to her muzzle as Samantha appeared better.
"Things may be difficult... but in the end, things will work out," Frances assured Samantha, "You're too smart to let things go bad without a full answer. I'm sure you, the mayor, the Chief of Police, and whoever else is needed will have a solution for dealing with Dymixious and keeping Moon Lake safe... and while that may mean an early morning meeting tomorrow... that's still tomorrow. And I will love you as much then as I do now."
Samantha turned back to Frances with a warm smile on her own feline muzzle. Both sets of green cat eyes gazing lovingly into the other's eyes.
"Thank you, Frances," Samantha purred to Frances and scooted closer to her wife. As they came together, they did kiss before Samantha gave a gasp as she felt Frances's hands begin to softly massage her breasts.
"You're welcome," Frances gave a small smile as she softly rolled a thumb over one of Samantha's nipples and being rewarded by the growing scent of arousal from her wife, "And now to add a bit of loving therapy... to let you know that you are loved."
Samantha leaned forward again, kissed Frances and reached down with one hand to softly rub at Frances's clit in return... leading to many happy "mews" coming after... The dance might still be ongoing at the High School, and the Skulk might have their pranks to play, but Samantha and Frances had each other, and despite all the stresses that were out there... for the moment... being together was ALL that mattered.