Grant was feeling pretty good by the time he got back to his room. Sure, he was sore all over but it was the soreness of a good day's work and he loved it. Of course, some of the guests coming back had peppered him with questions, like "How are you human?" and "Is this your place?" Tanner luckily came to his rescue like his knight in shining Hawaiian kitsch.
He peeled out of his clothes and tossed them on the bed, giving his middle section a pat. "Tanner keeps feeding me like he is and you're gonna get bigger, my friend. We'll just need to do more work on this old inn, eh?" It was nice to get a test run. This had been one of the things he had tried to talk Sandra into, running a B&B. Not immediately, for when they grew tired of the city life. She had the business mind for it and he had the maintenance skills. She had seemed receptive, until the law firm brought her on. Then life no longer included leaving the city.
He stepped into the bathroom and turned the shower on, stepping under the hot water to let it relax away the stiffness before it had a chance to settle in. The hot tub had been a more tempting option, but it was in use by other guests, and he was afraid a human among them would make him the center of attention.
He reached behind him and knuckled his back, then froze. Was that? He ran his fingers through the short patch of damp fur that formed a diamond on his lower back, ending just above his butt cheeks at a.. He grabbed it and reflexively wiggled it out of his own grip. He could feel it, a short little nub of a tail, barely worth the name but it was there. He managed to get a hold of it an give it another little tug, which strangely made his cock respond. "That might be fun." He muttered.
It had been a while since he had last taken care of himself, even longer since he had been with someone. He wrapped his hand around his cock, starting with long slow stroked as he let his mind drift. Normally he would have gone to Sandra for this fantasy but he needed to break that thread. Just a hand, not his, around his cock, slowly stroking it, another hand playfully tugging at that bit of tail that made him twitch each time. He felt like he was exploring his own body for the first time again, discovering the things that sent a spark shivering up and down his spine.
He imagined phantom kisses and nibbles at the back of his neck, those hands teasing and gentle. "I'm so glad you came here." He voice whispered in his ear, lightly accented, before nibbling teasingly at his ear. Grant came. Stronger than he had since college. It left him gasping and a little weak kneed, bracing himself with one hand on the shower wall as his cock twitched and spasmed out his seed, his other hand wrapped around what was no longer a nub but a few inches of tail. He let go, water cascading over him as he caught his breath. Had he just? It couldn't be... He had never in his life fantasized about... Not that there was anything wrong with it, it just wasn't him.
He finished showering, trying some of the hotel's shampoo on that patch of fur, which felt oddly good. Stepping out he toweled off, thankful the fur was short and praying it would stay that way. He gave a dubious look to what he had found out from Tanner was a fur dryer. He'd rather air dry. By the time he was getting dressed he notice the hole in his pants. In every pair of pants. As if someone had come in while he was showering and modified his clothes with a tail hole. "Strange place."
He was just considering trying to scrounge up dinner when his room phone rang. He stared, it had to be Tanner or Martin, who else knew he was here? So he picked it up. "Hey. Was wondering if you wanted some company for dinner? All the restaurants are gonna be jammed with parents, but I could always bring something up there if you don't mind room service?"
"Sure, come on up." He felt a little euphoria, glad that their encounter last night hadn't ruined what seemed to be a budding friendship. Tanner must have had dinner ready, because he was up in a flash, holding a tray laden with two meals and a few cold beers. Grant stepped out of the way to let him into the room so he could put his burden on the coffee table. For a moment Tanner seemed to sniff the air as if catching a whiff of something, his eyes sliding to the bathroom. Shit, how much can they smell?
"Just vegetable pasta tonight, didn't have much time to whip up something fancy, I'm afraid. And I know you humans usually like some meat but this inn caters to the herbivore crowd. Including me." He grinned and sat on the couch, then looked down a bit and chuckled as Grant slipped around to sit down next to him. "See you noticed the tail."
"Wait, you saw it?" Grant asked, wondering how long he had been wandering around with the back of his pants twitching.
"Few hours ago. But you were at the top of a ladder, didn't seem the right time to go, 'Oi, mate, yer butt's gone all fuzzy.'" Tanner popped the beer bottles open setting one near each of them before grabbing his bowl of pasta and a fork, leaning back to enjoy the meal and some time off his feet. "Better if you found it for yourself, too."
"I guess that makes sense, in some weird way." Grant said as he picked up his own pasta, digging in. Just like the stew last night, he found he wasn't really missing the meat. Maybe Tanner's cooking wouldn't put extra pounds on him like he thought. Tanner himself was lean and solid, and with his fur out he left his shirt completely unbuttoned and Grant swore he could make out a six pack under that fuzz.
"Mind if I ask why you're trekking cross country? Didn't get the chance last night." Tanner had settled in comfortably, the feet he propped up on the coffee table were huge. Must be an awkward learning to walk stage.
"Told you I wasn't going to ruin a good evening with a tragic backstory." Grant mused between his own bites of dinner. Tanner arched an eyebrow and Grant sighed. "Fine. I'm moving because I got divorced. It finalized two weeks ago. Decided I needed a whole new change of pace is all."
"I'm sorry." Tanner said, wincing as he did so.
"Don't be. I was the one that asked for it. We got married young, had different ideas then. We grew into different people, a worked to enjoy life, she enjoyed to work. We just didn't fit together anymore. But in her position, she would never ask for a divorce, bad optics that way. So I fell on my sword and became the husband that couldn't stand having the wife more successful than him. She gets to look good and I get freedom. It was the best gift I could give her. She thanked me with a generous settlement, gave me more than I was rightly entitled to." Tanner put a hand on Grant's shoulder, but he just shook his head. "Don't worry about it, I grieved that relationship long ago. I'm ready for the new and exciting."
"Braver man than I." Tanner admitted, lifting his bottle of beer for a toast, which Grant returned with a clink of his own bottle. After dinner they decided to try to watch a movie. There were a couple interruptions of Tanner's phone that settled down as the evening wore on. Grant felt the day catching up to him and barely noticed as he started drifting, leaning up against the roo's shoulder. Nor did he protest when an arm rested along his own shoulders, blunted claw tips lightly stroking at his upper arm. He just drifted off to sleep, feeling warm and satiated.