Holding hands, you and Asher stepped outside. You admired your big, fancy home. You took in the perfume of the roses and other flowers properly arranged in the garden. Lovingly tended to by your mother.
As if you had gone down the path hundreds of times, you unlocked a side entrance to your home. One that led to a nature trail. Before you went any further, your boyfriend stopped you for a moment.
Asher lifted up your hand and kissed it. The strawberry-blonde tips in your fur became more pronounced as he did. Paler hues slowly marching across dark stripes. All the better to show off your half-fox heritage.
"A walk? What a wonderful idea, Benjamin. That'll get your appetite going, won't it, eh?"
He gave your buttocks another firm squeeze before kissing you on the cheeks. Careful to not mess up your handsome whiskers. As he leaned in more closely, he whispered into your furry badger ears.
"My delectable honey badger."
My oh my. Your knees wobbled a little as his pet name for you rang inside your head. You weren't a honey badger, obviously. You were a posh, proper, European Badger. He just called you that because you were so sweet, he could just eat you up. You blushed under your fur and dabbed at your forehead with your silk handkerchief.
“My dear Asher, it looks like your appetite is already rearing its head,” you said with a nervous chuckle. Your boyfriend seemed awfully handsy these days.
Walking hand-in-hand through the trail, Asher smiled sweetly at you. “Well, Benjamin, your stomach rumbles when you smell a nice roast beef, doesn’t it?”
You nodded.
“That’s how I feel when I look at you,” he said adoringly. Giving you another quick peck.
Your walk continued for a while. Your gated community’s natural trail was pristine and carefully groomed by landscapers. The trail sheltered walkers from outside noises and distractions. Giving them the utmost privacy. Giving Asher the opportunity to keep touching and exploring you as you walked arm-in-arm.
You swooned under his touch. Taking a stroll with Asher is always a treat.
The end of your strolls was always your favorite part, though. As you left the trail, you were back in your gated community. Next to a large lake with a fountain. Swans from the United Kingdom swam in the waters, misted by the water’s spray.
Asher took a seat on a bench and you sat down next to him. Letting his hand pet the inside of your leg. Back and forth. Rubbing slowly and delectably. You sighed happily, leaning into his touches. Letting him take the lead until your dark eyes widened in surprise.
Out of the corner of your vision, was someone that you recognized! An old friend of yours, called Lyle. Which took you off-guard for a moment. Wasn’t he an American? You had just moved here…
Asher could see that you recognized him, despite your disorientation. A mischievous urge welled up inside of him.
“Do you know that person, Benjamin?” Asked your boyfriend sweetly.
You nodded. “Of course I do, Asher. That’s Lyle. An old mate of mine.”
“Oh? How about he takes a seat with us? I’m sure that some catching up would be nice, wouldn’t it? That’s what proper friends do, right?”
You agreed with Asher and gestured your friend over with a sharp badger claw.
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Lyle was not having a good day. He was tired. His head hurt. Being a paralegal sucked. He felt like a glorified amicus curiae. At the rate things were going, he wasn’t sure he was ever going to make partner, let alone advocate.
As Lyle walked past the lake in his gated community, he noticed two badgers waving him over. He blinked. Oh wait, one of them was Benjamin! Strange that he couldn’t recognize him.
“Hello, Benjamin!” Waved the paralegal as he turned to Asher. “And you are…?”
“Asher,” said the badger as he lifted Benjamin’s hand and kissed it. “My boyfriend’s been telling me all about you. Why don’t you take a seat with us?”
Lyle was very busy. He didn’t have any time to spare on idle chats today, but it would be rude to brush them off, wouldn’t it? That didn’t feel like a proper thing to do. His face tingled as fine, thick hairs started to grow in. His ears moved to the top of his head, taking on a feline appearance.
Covered in tawny-blonde fur.
The bench seemed larger as Lyle sat down between the badgers. His head felt fuzzy. Like it had been stuffed with cotton. It was also becoming literally fuzzy as the hairs continued to grow. The paralegal’s thoughts were further distracted as both badgers rested a hand on his thighs.
Lyle’s mind shrieked through the haze. He did not come here to have two guys grope him! He blushed hotly and squirmed a little.
“Wait! Stop! I’m not-” Started Lyle, until Asher shushed him.
“Working today?” Grinned Asher as he gave his thigh a rub. Tawny-blonde fur started to grow under his pants. “That’s one of the perks of having your own legal practise here, isn’t it?”
Lyle leaned into the badger’s touches. Relaxing. What had worried him so badly a few moments ago? He didn’t notice his feet burst through his shoes as they turned into large paws. Large feline paws tipped with sharp claws and covered with the same tawny fur as on his face. His legs itched a little as the fur surged upwards. He was starting to feel very warm.
Memories flowed into his mind of being a barrister that had moved to the United States. His impeccable breeding and education propelled his career forward at a meteoric rate.
The badger’s touches propelled his hair’s growth at a meteoric rate.
Lyle’s dark hair grew and grew. Loose curls and waves straightened themselves into a perfect curtain of rich, red hair. Decadently thick and lush. Falling over his face and down to his thighs. The same bright hue of red as on the Union Jack.
Lyle looked at his hair in shock. Holding some strands in surprise with a clawed hand. “I’m a ging…”
Asher cut him off and shushed him. “Now, Lyon, that’s a very improper word. A very rude, vulgar way to describe a person. You’re a redhead. A proud one, right? One that knows better to use such harsh words?”
Lyon nodded his head. How could he not like having red hair? He was so proud to be a redhead. To have hair that recalled the Union Jack’s bright red stripes from the Cross of Saint Patrick and the Cross of Saint George.
“Right,” he said dreamily. In awe of his hair.
The badger grinned. “I could tell, you know. Your hair’s very dapper and handsome, if I do say so myself. You must spend so much time taking care of it. I’m sure you turn heads at court with that hair of yours!”
The lion started to blush under his tawny-blonde cheeks, as he nodded in agreement. His face pushed into a leonine muzzle and thick whiskers sprouted on both sides of his snout. My, that badger was such a flatterer!
Lyon continued to change as the badger’s compliments took hold. Hair lifted itself up from his face. A blunt fringe was trimmed just above his thick, crimson eyebrows. Revealing eyes that were a deep navy blue.
Two long bangs framed his handsome face and rested artfully on his strong, broad shoulders. The rest of his hair cascaded to the base of his red-tufted tail, coiffure styled in a V-Cut with ruler-straight precision.
“All in all, your mane is a sight to behold,” said Asher concludingly.
Lyon Lion, esquire, waved his hand back in forth. Feeling positively flattered. Not noticing his sharp claws turning blue. Like the Plantagenet lions on the royal arms of England.
“You two are incorrigible!” Said Lyon with a toothy smile as a Received Pronunciation accent crept into his voice. As the posh lion spoke to the badgers, his tongue took on the same deep azure hue as his nails.
Lyon chuckled to himself and straightened his silk tie. Clothes changing from men’s apparel purchased from a department store to a hand-tailored suit that made him look like a proper, dapper, gentleman.
“Say, old chum,” said Benjamin as he rested a hand on the lion’s shoulder, “Asher and I were headed back to my abode. Would you care to join us for lunch? Or for a snifter?”
As Lyon pondered what he should do next, another badger glowered from outside his house. He was starting to feel like a stranger in his own home.