As the sun rose and the two foxes awoke in each other's arms, both felt as though a weight had been lifted from their shoulders. Although they hadn't had sex, accepting the possibility of it had been the last step of accepting their new life together. This was no longer a prison they were sentenced to live out a curse on: It was their world, their home, and their life.
After a little more cuddling, Brandon playfully beeped Danielle on the nose and crawled out the tunnel to the surface. Danielle still found herself astonished that they were able to fit through such a narrow tunnel, thanks to the incredible flexibility their bodies possessed. As Brandon vanished into the tunnel, she caught herself checking out his butt and tail. She giggled to herself, no longer the least bit embarrassed about it.
"Hey, cutie," Brandon worriedly called down the tunnel from above. "You probably want to come out here and take a look at this."
The tone of his voice immediately shook all the naughty thoughts from Danielle's mind and she crawled out the tunnel, concerned about what might be the matter. She emerged, but didn't immediately notice anything unusual other than that it seemed later than she'd expected.
Danielle looked at Brandon, trying to figure out what he was up to. He was intently staring at a patch of sky and as she followed his gaze she gasped. The sky, which had been virtually cloudless until today, was completely covered in dull silvery clouds. That was a change, but nothing to be alarmed about. What was worth getting alarmed about was a wall of nearly-black clouds climbing over the Western horizon.
"What is that?" Danielle exclaimed.
Brandon frowned. "Looks like rain. A lot of rain." He took a deep breath and pondered the situation. "It hasn't rained since we got here, which is strange since with all the vegetation here I'd think there would be a lot of rain. Maybe this is the beginning of the rainy season."
"How bad do you think it will be?" Danielle asked.
"I don't know," Brandon replied, "I have no idea what the climate is like here other than what we've seen so far. And on top of that, there's no telling whether the weather here even follows the same rules as on Earth. For all we know, it might just be one bad thunderstorm or might be the start of days of pouring rain. In any case, we should prepare for the worst."
Danielle nodded. "Do you think the burrow will keep us dry?"
"Definitely," Brandon replied, "The bends in the tunnel should keep any water from getting inside, and it's deep enough that nothing should seep through from above."
"Good planning."
"Hah, not in the least," Brandon chuckled. "I just dug the way that felt right, I'm just now realizing some of the benefits. Maybe some sort of instincts guided me, or maybe I was just lucky. Either way, it'll keep a roof over our heads. What I'm more worried about is the food supply."
"Why's that?" Danielle asked, "We've had great luck hunting, and there's plenty of fruit nearby if that ever runs in to trouble."
"Do you really want to be hunting or picking fruit in a downpour, with your fur soaked to the bone?"
"I guess not," she replied. "How long do you think we have to get ready?"
"Probably about eight hours, give or take. We should be able to make several trips to the fruit grove and back before it starts to come down. Let's go as fast as we can, though. I don't like the look of those storm clouds."
* * *
The rain started coming down in six and a half hours, and even though the rain cut the last trip short the two foxes were quite soggy by the time they made it back home. They rushed into the burrow and took stock of what they had managed to gather.
Brandon estimated they had enough to last three weeks without having to make another trip. The strange fruit they'd harvested from the grove looked something like a cross between a pear and a lemon that had been dyed bright red-orange. The two foxes had tried them when they first discovered the fruit grove and had found them quite tasty: a vaguely citrusy flavor with an extra zing neither one could really describe.
No matter how good they were the prospect of eating nothing else for weeks didn't sound too attractive, but at least it seemed better than the alternative of catching a cold.
"So what do we do now?" Danielle asked.
"I guess we wait and hope the rain stops before too long. Nobody likes to be cooped up if they can help it."
"Oh don't they?" Danielle asked with a mischievous grin. "I think it might not be such a bad thing."
Brandon grinned back. "You're forgetting one thing you'll have to contend with..."
"What's tha-" Danielle began to ask, but was cut off by Brandon ruthlessly tickling her. "-eee! No faireeehee!" she shouted, reflexively squirming to avoid the onslaught but unable to get away in the close quarters.
"Had enough?" Brandon asked.
"I surrender!" Danielle panted. "But what's that...?"
"What's wha-" Brandon said until he was cut off by a counterattack.
Since both foxes were in fact quite ticklish, they tickled each other back and forth for nearly an hour until they were too exhausted to continue. The tickling faded into tired snuggling and the two fell asleep within minutes.
* * *
It had been a full week of pouring rain now, and there was no sign of slowing. Fortunately the burrow was just as resistant to the elements as Brandon had predicted, so the inside was cosy and dry. Unfortunately every time they had to get a drink of water or go to the bathroom meant a trip outside, and that meant a very wet and muddy fox until they had time to dry.
Between all the extra time spent in the burrow and the sogginess several times a day, the burrow was becoming saturated with Brandon's and Danielle's scents. Although they were now accustomed to it and no longer as strongly affected by it as they had been that first day, they found themselves becoming more intoxicated by each other's scent each time the other returned from a trip outdoors.
As Brandon crawled back into the burrow, Danielle couldn't help but laugh.
"What's so funny, you?" Brandon asked with a grin.
"Look at yourself," Danielle giggled. "You're not red and white, you're so muddy that you're just all brown!"
"Hah!" Brandon replied as he playfully licked Danielle on the nose, "You're just as muddy. Or maybe you like being my dirty girl."
Danielle playfully batted Brandon in the muzzle. "I can tell that you like it, at least!"
"You know it!" said Brandon as he pecked her on the cheek. "Night-night, sweetie."
Brandon thought to himself while they snuggled and drifted off to sleep. Over the course of the week stuck in the burrow, their joking had become more and more sexual. Although they hadn't actually done anything other than kissing and innocent snuggling, he found himself really wanting to pin Danielle down and do it like an animal. He loved her too much to ever do something she didn't want, but part of his mind kept telling him to just go ahead. Lately she had definitely been acting like she wanted to get more serious, but he wasn't sure whether that was serious or just playing around. In any case, he thought to himself as he drifted off to sleep, he wanted to make sure they were both happy.
* * *
Danielle quietly woke an hour later to similar thoughts. More and more she just wanted to spread her legs and tell Brandon to make a woman out of her, but she knew they'd both regret it afterwards if their first time was as unceremonious as that. She also worried slightly that Brandon perhaps just wasn't interested in that level of intimacy. Both had been doing a lot of teasing, but on average Brandon hadn't seem to be pushing as hard as her.
Perhaps, Danielle thought to herself, he wants to go at my pace. He's always been the perfect gentleman and never gone too far, even that first night when we were both going crazy from lust. Maybe I just need to show him that I'm ready. But how, without just saying it?
Danielle thought back to the time they had almost done it, mentally going over how she had felt at each stage. She'd been getting hornier and hornier although still in control of herself, then all of a sudden she completely lost it. Aha! Danielle grinned evilly as she came up with a plan.