Alexis and Flake quietly entered the bedroom that had been Alexis's as a little girl. Flake continued to find herself amazed by the wealth that the entire chateau carried, but that amazement was now competing with a new feeling. She looked over to Alexis and her heart fluttered. They had been friends for years and now Alexis had proposed to her and she looked forward to being Alexis's mate. It was a strange feeling as neither of them had been homosexual before, yet now sexuality really wasn't an issue. With Flake as a Chakat based along the same lines as her aunt, Catherine Snow aka Snowy, and Alexis as a Skunkat, both of them were both male and female at the same time. They could love anyone heterosexually, be they human with only one gender or another Kat who had both, and their friendship had rapidly blossomed into love between them. It felt weird, but Flake didn't want to change a thing.
"So what do you think?" Alexis asked as they moved into the bedroom.
Flake looked around the bedroom they had come into. The room was lavish with beautiful furnishings, a large mirror, what looked like make-up kits (though not that Flake or Alexis would ever wear make-up again), and a large closet with sliding doors. There was also a door that looked like it lead to a private bathroom, though Flake didn't know for sure if the bathroom was shared with another room or not. What dominated the room was a massive bed complete with ornate posts at each corner of the bed. Hanging from the top was sets of beautiful lace curtains.
"It's beautiful," Flake said softly as she looked at all of it.
"It is," Alexis commented, "though at times it can be a gilded cage... if you know what I mean..."
"So you left to be with me?" Flake asked.
"I left to be your friend," Alexis answered with a smile, and pulled the curtain aside to let Flake climb up into the bed, "and I don't regret that decision."
Once Flake was on the bed, Alexis climbed onto the bed hirself. And Flake found that their taur-like bodies both fit on the bed. Alexis brought hirself and actually began to cuddle with Flake on the bed.
"And soon we'll be mates," Flake said slowly, wrapping her tail around Alexis's tail.
"Yes," Alexis smiled and shuffled hir lower body closer until she hugged Flake's taur body with her forelegs, and felt Flake return the hug.
Flake again gave a short and happy squeal before beginning to purr, feeling her body vibrate against Alexis's body. The two then leaned toward each other and hugged each other with their arms. They then rotated their bodies and their waists so as to lay on their sides and begin to sleep. Their sleep was then peaceful, they didn't even hear the others going to bed.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The next morning came sooner than Flake would have wished. Shi'd been having a wonderful dream where hir and Alexis were happily married and with a horde of baby Chakats and Skunkats around them. Shi looked forward to that, but woke up to find hirself laying on hir side on an ornate bed with Alexis laying across from hir. They were in a soft and loving embrace, which made Flake smile. Shi could soon hear the sound of birds singing outside and knew it was morning.
"Alexis! Alexis, wake up, it's morning!" Flake spoke as she softly shook Alexis's shoulders.
"Hmm?" Alexis woke up slowly.
"It's morning," Flake repeated.
Alexis brought hirself erect so that hir taur body was underneath hir. Flake did the same and began to climb backward out of the bed.
"Sleep well?" Flake asked as shi climbed out of the bed and avoided getting tangled in the curtain and getting all four of hir feet under hir.
"Yes," Alexis nodded, "though I'm not sure if I'm ready for today..."
"Not ready?" Flake wondered.
"I will need my mother's permission to officially take you as my mate," Alexis answered, "Won't you need your mother's consent?"
"My parents are in America, but I know they won't mind," Flake told her, "The only one who could give permission would be my Aunt..."
"Then we'd best talk with hir and do it quickly so that we get all this in order before things begin," Alexis commented and began to move toward the door, "Once all that is handled we can get some breakfast and be ready to help any refugees from the virus."
Flake slowly nodded and moved forward beside Alexis, feeling Alexis' arm wrap around her back and rested on her waist where her torso met her taur-half. From the bedroom, they made their way into the rest of the Chateau that was rapidly being converted into a forward headquarters for the response to the outbreak of the virus. They also found that there was a lot of activity already going on. The American Chakats and Jess were all up and looked to be discussing something among themselves near their bedrooms. A French colonel was also explaining in rather shaky English that army and the police would use the tranquilizer darts on the Kats that were victims of the virus and acting out of lust, but would respond with force if there are any more violent attacks on their perimeter. The only ones who weren't there were Maurice and Snowy.
"Maybe they're downstairs," Alexis commented, and they went down the flight of stairs.
As they arrived in the entryway, they soon heard excited squeals and cheers coming from outside. To their right in a room that looked somewhat like a library, Maurice was discussing something with chief of the French scientists. Much of it seemed to be over the original idea that he and Snowy had had before outbreak in Fee City. While the news had portrayed it as a near apocalypse, Flake and and Alexis found themselves unable to criticize Maurice and Snowy's motives. They wanted to spread love, and when was love ever wrong?
They were about to continue their search for either Snowy or Alexis's mother when Snowy came back in through the front door. She quickly recognized Alexis and Flake there.
"Your friends are quite energetic," Snowy commented off hand.
"Huh?" Flake wondered.
"Danna is excited about her ideas for clothing that we can wear," Snowy answered.
Flake and Alexis looked down at the clothing they had been given. While Danna had found that well tanned leather wouldn't irritate their fur, she didn't have enough of the vests for everyone, and the rest were left wearing what loose pieces of clothing that had been in Alexis's closets at the chateau.
"They show some promise, but I doubt she'll ever find something that completely avoids itching," Snowy continued, "Some material may not be as irritating as others, but any clothing we wear will sit on our fur and will weigh our fur down... unless you've secretly found some sort of "Star Wars" hover engine that could be fitted to cloth."
Alexis and Flake chuckled, knowing that no such device existed.
"But her ideas aren't necessarily bad ideas," Snowy continued, "and when we get this whole outbreak fixed, I suppose Maurice and I can look into finding away to make the vines she's trying out now more durable in the sense that they won't decay... though I'd think some treatment similar to what they would do for cotton or other cloth to prevent them from decaying away."
Flake walked out forward to look out through a small window to see Danna working with what looked like some strands of various vines that hung in decoration around the walls around the chateau and on parts of the chateau itself.
"She may owe your mother some Euros for material," Flake commented.
"Yeah... but that's Danna... once she has an idea, it's full speed ahead regardless of the consequences," Alexis said with a chuckle, and then turned serious, "Do you have a minute?"
"I suppose," Snowy nodded, "what is it?"
"Well, Auntie... you see... Alexis and I want to become mates," Flake said slowly.
"That's wonderful," Snowy exclaimed and pulled both of them into a hug, and began to purr.
"So we have your permission?" Alexis asked.
"Of course, why would you think you'd need permission from me or from Kelsey's... Flake's mother?" Snowy asked.
"Protocol," Alexis answered.
"Forget that," Snowy answered, "Love knows no bounds and doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, peasant or noble. If you love each other... LOVE is all that should matter."
"How would we handle it, though?" Flake asked.
"Well... Maurice and I simply had sex and promised each other that we would love each other forever," Snowy answered, "Jess and Nikole and Sally and Charlie were married by Fee City's mayor. If the church or the city government won't marry you... you could always come to Janace, Colorado..."
"Janace, Colorado?" Alexis asked.
"It's the sheep ranch that we all live on, though it's more of a small communal ranch and Jess would be the mayor there since shi has the title to the land," Snowy replied.
"I'm sure we can get a church here," Alexis answered, "If my mother gives her consent, I'm sure my family would pay the church to carry out the ceremony."
+++++++++++++++++++++
Meanwhile Francine Bourbon de Moltitier and Justin Cain were getting the dinning room ready. Typically Francine left a lot of this work to her servants or to Justin as her personal manservant, but with her daughter and her friends visiting, with all the American Chakats there, and with the soldiers, scientists, and policemen there, her staff was overworked. The soldiers seemed to content themselves on rations they carried with them, but the others would need food and care as well. So, she put aside her pride to help get a breakfast ready with her manservant. The relationship between them was a friendly one that in many ways mirrored the supposed stories of the romance between Queen Victoria and her manservant, John Brown. The difference was that in Francine's case, the romance was real while John Brown never had a chance with Queen Victoria in the 1800s.
"But then... he is a rather suave diplomat," Francine thought to herself.
"Remember we'll be babysitting today," Justin commented in French as he finished setting the last place at the table.
"Your grandchildren?" Francine responded.
"Yes," Justin answered, "someone will need to look after them while their parents are working..."
"They're all adopted, aren't they?" Francine inquired, "Your daughters and their friends are all females."
"Actually they're hermaphrodites," Justin answered, "every Kat is. They have no single gender. My daughters are both mothers and fathers at the same time."
"And there is no way they can go back?" Francine wondered.
"If there is... they've stopped looking," Justin answered, "and given that they've given birth to and sired children of their own... it would be wrong to tell my grandchildren their parents have to be human..."
Francine was about say more when the door opened. She then turned to see her daughter and her roommate approaching her carefully. She noted some nervous tension on their muzzles, but she also noticed that they were holding hands.
"Hello, Alexis, my dear, good morning," Francine greeted her daughter and than her daughter's roommate, "and good morning to you too, Ms. Snow. Is there something you require?"
The looks of nervousness intensified.
"Mother... what was it like when dad proposed to you?" Alexis asked.
"It was a magical night," Francine responded almost automatically, "His unit within the armée d'air had a grand ball... there was music... dancing... bright colors... and at that time, peace."
That made Alexis sigh as she remembered the notice that had come to them when her father had been killed during the wars in the Balkans over Bosnia and Serbia when some Serb shot down his Mirage fighter with a SAM.
"We'd just finished dancing when he suddenly got down on one knee and presented me with the most beautiful wedding ring I'd ever seen," Francine continued, "It made me very happy..."
There was a nervous and short silence that then went through the room.
"Has someone made you feel that way, my daughter?" Francine asked.
"Yes," Alexis said slowly, "It's sudden, I know... but..."
"You've fallen for your roommate," Francine finished.
"What... no... I mean... yes... I love hir very much," Alexis stuttered, not expecting hir mother to figure it out.
"We want to take each other as mates," Flake added, "as Kat and wife."
Francine slowly nodded and looked between the two Kats. It was strange, and personally she would have preferred her daughter marry a man and marry as a human. Her first instinct was to forbid it, but then she saw Justin's soft smile and the twinkle in his eyes. He seemed supportive of it, but then Francine also supposed that was because his own children were Kats as well. The twinkle though, made her rethink her own position. Many of the other noble families would probably look down on her for romancing an American diplomat turned servant who was not a millionaire in his country.
"I'd prefer you both to be human," Francine said slowly, "but should no cure be available to turn you both back... know that you will have my blessing and good wishes."
Francine came forward and hugged her daughter, jumping a little when Alexis's fur tickled her skin, "Be happy with her, my daughter. May you both be together for a long time."
"Hir, mom," Alexis answered, "Flake is a hir complete with both sets of parts... just... just as I am now."
"And my Aunt's said that the Chakat Virus was engineered to be irreversible," Flake answered, "The lust can be blocked and stopped... but once you go Kat you can't go back... sorry."
"Just be happy," Francine said softly to Alexis, stroking the fur on her cheeks.
Francine then turned to Flake, "and if you hurt my baby girl in any way... there is nothing that will keep you safe."
Flake didn't know whether to gulp at the "threat" of a protective parent or jump up and down at the consent to her taking Alexis as her mate.