Work Text:
“The Kukulkans were once a highly influential clan of Elders in Sargon, known for their mastery of flight and ability to control the elements of wind and thunder. In fact, there are even legends about them in some native Sargon tribes. As a direct descendant of this legendary clan, her physical and Arts abilities far exceed those of ordinary individuals. While I come from a background steeped in violence and heroism, even I find her powers to be overwhelming…”
— Warfarin (paraphrased)
Vrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmm…
Over one-thousand years of recorded history, and the microwave was still one of Terra’s best inventions.
Ho’olheyak grinned from ear to ear as she pressed her face to the translucent pane, watching last night’s leftovers, now bathed in a dull orange light, spin around and around on a glass plate.
The night before had proved busier than expected. She had assumed that the Doctor of Rhodes Island would have been buried up to his hood in paperwork.
For once, she loathed she was completely right.
The turquoise-tinted Liberi had only been the man’s assistant for a mere twenty hours, and she was already regretting the arrangement.
No doubt there are more documents to pore over… at least a couple dozen different contracts, too.
She had to admit, there was some amusement to be found in working on Rhodes Island—surrounded by familiar political figures and unfamiliar operators that always gave her a sideways glance, regardless. Naturally, given her status as one of Maylander’s ex-benefactors, her reputation strictly preceded her. There was nothing she could do about it except roll with the punches; work alongside good people with good intentions—even if those good people could be horrifically naïve and with terribly gullible aspirations.
She could think on it in minutes at a time, peering through the window of one of Terra’s greatest inventions. She could think about work, she could think about Rhine Lab, she could think about how to better deal with knowing exactly when she was going to die.
She could think about…
Delicious leftovers!
And, of course, the enigmatic Doctor of Rhodes Island. A man who was greater than the sum of his parts—and that was really saying something, given that some of those parts included representatives from all walks of life and every point on the political spectrum. From Kjerag to Columbia, to Sargon and Siracusa, to Kazimierz and even Kazdel, too. Ho’olheyak could only wonder if one pharmaceutical company even had the room to accommodate all these would-be employees, agents, contract workers, and Catastrophe Messengers.
Were there enough microwaves for all of them?
She rather liked this one. She hoped that not too many people used it.
Ka-thunk!
The door swung open with the push of a button. Ho’olheyak took her food back to the Doctor’s office, her serpentine tail swinging idly all the while.
The man was nowhere to be seen when she came back, prompting Ho’olheyak to raise an eyebrow and set her things aside. Another batch of incoming mail had been placed on her desk—that was to say, the desk reserved for whoever the Doctor’s assistant was this week—and she rolled her snake eyes while she thought about shoving everything to the Burn Pile to get it over and done with.
Then again, that would be the irresponsible thing to do. She didn’t need another earful from Kal’tsit or Saria; she decided to simply get it over and done with.
It boggled the mind how and why she was allowed to handle most of these correspondences. Someone with less than stellar intentions might use this material for something like blackmail—or even, heaven forbid, to ask for a pay raise.
But it was the Doctor himself that insisted Ho’olheyak help him this week, much to everyone’s—including the Liberi’s—confusion.
It could be that he simply wants me back in a secretarial role, she thought. Perhaps he likes to see me behind a desk, rather than near any of the other operators…
She drifted through the cloudy sky of her thoughts, organizing letters and packages all the while. It was one in particular—thicker and sleeker than most of the others—that took the brunt of Ho’olheyak’s attention.
This is…?
There was no mistaking it. Ho’olheyak held the thin book up to eye level. Her growing grin threatened to split her face in two.
Oh, Doctor… this is…!
A magazine—but not just any magazine. This was most definitely Tails/Tangle, a periodical that focused on one thing, and one swingin’ thing only.
Whether one was a fan of thick tails or thin tails; stumped rumps and long bushy bottoms—this magazine had it all. This month’s cover seemed to bear the visage of a rather shy-looking Pythia; a snake woman with long, flowing blonde hair that did an excellent job of censoring her not-so-modest chest.
Her tail was coiled snugly in her own lap, hiding her womanhood from view, keeping the cover a tad more chaste than it otherwise would have been.
“I can hardly even believe it,” Ho’olheyak mumbled. She hated she knew this woman.
At the bottom right of the magazine’s cover was a mailing address, and that was most definitely the Doctor’s name stenciled just above it. This magazine couldn’t belong to anyone else. It was definitely for the Doctor of Rhodes Island.
So Ho’olheyak was ecstatic.
This was exactly what she had been waiting for, and she didn’t even need to wait long! This was something she could taunt the Doctor about—something that didn’t have to do with work, colleagues, politics, or anything else so unsavory. It was practically a porno mag in her hands; the Doctor had just given Ho’olheyak all the ammo she needed.
She licked her lips, tracing her forefinger along the front model’s coiled tail. “How vulgar,” she whispered, winking at the cover girl like she could ever wink back. “I didn’t know you were into this sort of thing, Doctor…”
An impish smile was practically stuck on Ho’olheyak’s face. Her fingers trembled as she peeled the clear plastic wrapping from around the magazine, and she began turning the pages, finding various bushy-tailed models in all manner of poses and uniforms.
“All so attractive, too,” Ho’olheyak mused to herself. She recognized some of these ladies—famous (and infamous) models; old ex-coworkers who found a more “fulfilling” line of work; acquaintances who often complained about the size of their tails, and how killer they could be on the lower back. Evidently, those same girls got over it. All it took was a charming photographer and an enormous pile of cash.
Pages three and four were a two-page spread, bearing the same Pythia that was on the very cover. This time, however, she was naked.
Very naked.
The snake woman with long blonde hair—La Mia was her model name, according to the cover—was blushing beet red and dressed like your typical office secretary. The buttons on her top had popped off, and her massive breasts were spilling out of her shirt. Despite this, however, she didn’t seem to do a damned thing about it. If anything, she was making the viewers’ titillation worse: she was sucking on the tip of her own tail.
Her forked tongue was curled around the very nubbin of her own slithering extremity, giving the camera bedroom eyes while she played with herself and laid on full display—two pages’ worth of eye-catching display. The Pythia was immensely pale, and Ho’olheyak could see baby blue veins—like streaks of cold lightning—spread over the surface of the woman’s breasts, like the limbs of crooked trees reaching out to grab her puffy pink nipples.
Ho’olheyak’s smile dropped. She didn’t know why, but she felt a sudden compulsion to burn the magazine and watch all the women inside turn to dull gray ashes.
This is useless, she found herself thinking. It took no effort whatsoever to slap on makeup and spread your thighs for a drooling cameraman. It didn’t contribute to anything more than a messy splatter on your fingertips.
I mean, really.
Hmph.
Whatever.
Ho’olheyak tossed the magazine onto the Doctor’s desk, just in time to watch the man of the hour waltz into his own office like he owned the damn place.
“Ho’olheyak,” he said, giving her a single nod. “You’re back.”
“Doctor,” she said, letting the corners of her mouth turn up once more. “A special package came in for you. You’ll find it right in front of your computer.”
The Doctor turned to see his desk, and Ho’olheyak watched as the man went completely rigid with shock. In the next second, the Doctor bolted forward and swiped the open magazine from his desk, stammering with embarrassment.
“I, uh,” he tried to speak. “You went through my mail!”
“I thought that was my job this week,” said Ho’olheyak, leaning back against her own desk with a knowing half-smile. “To make doubly sure that none of Rhodes Island’s rivals and detractors mailed you something inappropriate—like anthrax, or a letter bomb.”
“That’s not what—!”
“But it seems,” Ho’olheyak continued, “that something inappropriate found its way to your office after all. Tails/Tangle, Doctor, really? I did not know you were such a fan—I could have come to Rhodes Island with an old coworker’s autograph to win you over.”
The Doctor paused, turning his attention back to the magazine. “You know some of these girls?” He sounded more than a little surprised, and Ho’olheyak crossed her arms as she swung her own tail from left to right.
“Tails/Tangle is a Columbian publication,” said Ho’olheyak. “Their office just so happened to be within spitting distance of one of Maylander’s agencies. Some people work two jobs at once. That’s all there is to it,” she added cryptically.
The Doctor nodded slowly. “I see… I’m sorry.”
“What are you apologizing for?” asked Ho’olheyak.
“Well, it just felt like the right thing to do,” said the Doctor. “It wasn’t my intention to dredge up any bad memories.”
“No, of course not,” said Ho’olheyak. “Your intention was to use this magazine for something a lot more relieving, wasn’t it?”
The Doctor wilted beneath Ho’olheyak’s growing grin.
“We’ll keep this between us,” he said. “Right?”
“It’s not my intention to blackmail you,” said Ho’olheyak. She left it at that, and before the Doctor could say anything else, the snake-tailed Liberi simply circled her desk and sat back down, bringing her microwaved leftovers with her.
The Doctor bit his lip behind his mask and hood, unable to shake the feeling that he’d done something wrong—to say nothing of how awkward the space was between them now. Yesterday, he and Ho’olheyak engaged in light conversation while they worked at different ends of the office. Now, however, it seemed his assistant was far more interested in the piles of paperwork than she was in opening her mouth for anything more than a sigh.
It was an hour later when Ho’olheyak stretched her arms above her head with a pleasured groan, and she cracked her neck loudly enough to get the Doctor’s attention.
“Feeling tired?” he asked from his desk. “I could get us some coffee if you’d like.”
“Her real name is Lenore, by the way.”
The Doctor paused. “Excuse me?”
“That woman on the cover. The one who calls herself La Mia like she’s trying to be clever,” said Ho’olheyak, turning her attention back to the paper in her hands. “Her real name is Lenore. She used to complain all the time about how painful it was to have large breasts and an even larger tail. I’m happy to know that she’s making good money from her pain. Really, just thrilled.”
The Doctor blinked a few times behind his mask. His shoulders sagged.
“Ho’olheyak,” he said, “is something wrong? I can get rid of the magazine if it makes you uncomfortable.”
“You think some perverse publication makes me uncomfortable, Doctor? Not at all,” she said. “I’m not a prude.”
“Then what’s bothering you?” he asked.
“I have a strong distaste for things that make little sense,” said Ho’olheyak. “The prospect of wasting time in front of a camera… trying to preserve your ineptitude for all to see—for years to come.”
“I’m not sure I follow,” said the Doctor, only to lean back in his chair with surprise once Ho’olheyak stood up from hers and walked right over.
“Return to pages three and four,” said the Liberi. The Doctor, not finding any good reason he should refuse, did exactly that. As soon as he did, however, he got an eyeful of La Mia’s spilling rack and wardrobe malfunction.
He gasped without meaning to, clearly excited. Ho’olheyak simply rolled her eyes and jabbed her forefinger against the woman’s face, bringing attention to her erotic tail-sucking.
“Do people really think that feels good?” Ho’olheyak suddenly asked.
“It… it doesn’t?” asked the Doctor.
“Of course not,” said Ho’olheyak, pouting. “Think about it, Doctor. If sucking on one’s tail really felt that good—if it was truly an erogenous zone—don’t you think we tail-havers would be moaning and groaning with every step we took? Every time we bumped it against a chair, or a table, or something? If playing with one’s tail was sexually stimulating in any sense,” said Ho’olheyak, “we’d be having orgasms whenever it’s caught in a door.”
The Doctor nodded. He was thankful that Ho’olheyak couldn’t see the look on his face through the mask, because his imagination was running wild.
“This obsession with tails,” Ho’olheyak added, “makes no sense to me. It’s like being obsessed with… with elbows, armpits, or feet. Wholly unsexy things.”
“Some people are just into what they’re into,” said the Doctor, shrugging. “That’s really all there is to it. Kinks and fetishes are weird! I know a guy who’s really into stomachs.”
“And you’re really into tails,” said Ho’olheyak, staring right through him with those icy, snake-like eyes of hers. “To admit such a thing right to my face… how shameless.”
“Hey, I didn’t know the magazine was—!”
The Doctor shuddered.
Ho’olheyak’s tail was suddenly wrapped around his neck.
“Can you smell through the mask?” asked Ho’olheyak.
“W-What?”
“Can you. Smell. Through. The mask,” Ho’olheyak repeated.
“Yeah, I can—!”
“Then smell it.”
“Y-You want me to…”
“Smell. My. Tail.”
The Doctor gulped. Ho’olheyak grinned as the Doctor tilted his head down and started sniffing her tail, bringing his face close enough to really breathe in Ho’olheyak’s scent.
The Doctor didn’t know how to describe it other than… heady.
It defied explanation. Ho’olheyak’s tail carried a strange scent—but it wasn’t at all unpleasant. It was an aroma he could certainly get used to; smoky, tangy, almost… fruity, and earthy, too. He wanted more of it, suddenly, and he went from sniffing to practically snorting the woman’s tail as she draped it loosely around his head.
“What is that?” he asked.
“Where do you think it’s been?” asked Ho’olheyak.
“Huh?”
“My tail,” said Ho’olheyak. “When do you think I last washed it?”
The Doctor paused. He suddenly didn’t know if he wanted to know. Still, the Liberi continued.
“How often do you think I wash it?”
“You’re starting to scare me a little, Ho’olheyak,” said the Doctor. He tried to imagine all the places that Ho’olheyak might have been in the last day or so; imagined her tail smacking into door frames and being dragged along a dusty floor. He imagined all the things she might do with that tail of hers, too. The way it could slither into cracks or crevices. The way it could dip between the layers of one’s clothing, working its way toward something hot, and wet, and…
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
The Doctor turned just in time to see Durin push open his office door and strut on inside. Like she owned the damn place!
Ho’olheyak turned too, having taken her tail off the Doctor’s neck just in time. She leaned with her hand against the surface of the man’s workstation, flashing the tiny operator a sharp-toothed smile.
“Yes?” asked Ho’olheyak. “Is there something you need?”
Durin gulped, shaking beneath Ho’olheyak’s piercing blue gaze. The Doctor frowned with sympathy for Durin. This was like a fanged predator glaring down a helpless prey.
“Um,” said Durin, holding a packet of papers between her shaking, sleeve-covered hands. “I have the report… for Op A4’s most recent mission. It was a big success…”
The Doctor opened his mouth to give congratulations.
Instead, all that came out was a stifled gasp.
Ho’olheyak took her tail off his neck, alright. She’d draped it right over his desk. Now, however, the very tip of the slithering appendage was touching his crotch—right where the sun refused to shine.
Naturally, the Doctor stiffened—in more ways than one.
And, if there was something obviously wrong with the Doctor, Ho’olheyak didn’t seem to pay him any mind at all. Instead, she kept her glare locked down over operator Durin, like she was trying to melt the girl with her gaze alone.
“Congratulations,” said Ho’olheyak, jerking her head toward her desk. “Leave it there, and the Doctor and I will take care of it before long.”
Durin gulped. She stayed put, looking up at the leaning Liberi like she was trying to find the best method of attack. Ho’olheyak simply stared back, narrowing her laser-focused gaze.
“Shadow of the Colossus…” whispered Durin.
Ho’olheyak raised an eyebrow. “What did you say?”
Suddenly, Durin pointed a sleeved hand up at the busty woman in front of her, having never looked so simultaneously drained and determined.
“You’re not doing anything mean with the Doctor,” said Durin, “right?”
Ho’olheyak licked her lips slowly, and Durin took a worried step back.
“You’re precious,” said Ho’olheyak. “But don’t worry your pretty little head. The Doctor and I are getting along swimmingly… aren’t we, Doctor?”
The man nodded, still seated behind his desk as Ho’olheyak’s tail tickled his balls. “Yep mm-hmm yep we’re doing good we’re doing so good we’re honestly so good it’s insane.”
“You heard him,” said Ho’olheyak, brushing her hand toward the door.
Durin squinted, humming as though she were unsure about all this. Still, she conceded, and turned away to set her papers on Ho’olheyak’s desk. Then she turned back to face the office occupants.
“Some people say weird things about you,” Durin confessed.
“I’m shocked,” said Ho’olheyak, who didn’t sound shocked at all.
“Um…” The tiny operator wrung her hands together, fidgeting before the door. “Doctor, it’s good to see that everything is okay. We’ll be seeing you later, right?”
“Uh-huh!” The Doctor nodded, perhaps a bit too quickly. “Definitely absolutely yes you’ll be seeing me I’ll be there thanks Durin thanks for everything it was good to see you okay bye!”
Durin pouted. With nothing more to say, however, the girl turned and left, shutting the door behind her. That was when Ho’olheyak turned up her nose.
“I suppose I don’t blame her. I’ve become like the Medusa of this landship,” she said, chuckling mirthlessly. Then she turned to look at the Doctor. “What’s the matter?”
The Doctor bit his lip behind his mask. He said nothing—he only looked down, which prompted Ho’olheyak to do the same.
That was when her smile nearly doubled in size, giving her something of a Cheshire cat-like grin.
“Oh,” she whispered. “I see… so that’s the way it is, isn’t it?”
“It—it’s not my fault,” said the Doctor, staying put in his seat. “You just—your tail, it landed on my lap, and I…”
“Became excited,” Ho’olheyak mused. Now the Doctor felt like he was the prey in this situation, and Ho’olheyak never once stopped playing her role as the predator. “Hoh… the Doctor and I get along very well, indeed… we get along… swimmingly…”
The last thing he remembered was being smothered by her bosom.
He didn’t remember when his pants came off. He didn’t remember locking his office door, either. Everything was just fine one minute before it all went dark.
Now, Ho’olheyak was sitting on the edge of the Doctor’s desk. She was facing away from him, yet that tail of hers moved like it had a mind of its own.
Fuck…
He couldn’t hold back his moans and sighs of pleasure. It was like she was wrenching them from right out of his lungs.
Oh, fuck…
Ho’olheyak simply rolled her eyes, thumbing through Durin’s work packet with vague interest. “Her handwriting is atrocious,” said Ho’olheyak. “If she even did write this. Would you like to see, Doctor?”
The man shook his head as if Ho’olheyak could see him. Then, just after moaning from the pleasure of having that serpentine tail wrapped snugly around his stiff dick, all he could think to say was no.
“Well,” said Ho’olheyak, “I wouldn’t want to read this either. Honestly, it’s shoddy. It’s… deplorable, frankly.”
Then she turned her head to wink at him.
“Just like you,” she said.
“H-Ho’olheyak… maybe we should… not do this,” said the Doctor. Moaned, really.
Ho’olheyak simply tilted her head, staring at him. She looked upset for a reason the Doctor couldn’t rightfully place. Amusingly enough, despite how she was giving him a handjob with her tail (tailjob?), he never felt more afraid of her than in this very moment.
“I take responsibility for my mistakes,” said Ho’olheyak, turning back to the work documents as her tail shifted up and down, back and forth, over and over again along the Doctor’s stiff prick. “For my actions, Doctor. But do you know the number one thing I’ve learned during all my years of secretarial work for Maylander?”
“W-What’s that?”
“Men in suits… they never take responsibility for anything.”
And just like that, she tightened the coil.
“Oh, FUCK!”
The Doctor arched his back. All the air left his body as he started to ejaculate, making an absolute mess all over Ho’olheyak’s tail with wet splatters of pearly-white cum.
Mercilessly, Ho’olheyak didn’t stop moving her tail. She only clicked her tongue with an air of frustration, not even deigning to look his way.
“Already?” said Ho’olheyak. “What a disappointment.”
The Doctor slumped back in his chair, groaning from the explosion of pleasure and the sensitivity of his shaft. “Y-You’re still—! Ah, slow down…! Ho’olheyak, give me a b-break!”
“I mean, really, now…”
She took pity on the man, releasing his cock without effort, and draped her now cum-stained, slithery appendage over his lap. Then she flashed him a sideways glance, and a grin full of malice.
“So,” she said, “same question I asked you before, Doctor: do you have any idea where that tail has been?”
“Kal’tsit and I vouched for her abilities. Her position is more complicated than you can imagine, but on a working level, she’s more than sufficient. As for her relationship with us? Leave it to the Doctor. The Doctor will figure something out.”
— Unknown (paraphrased)
Vrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmm…
Over one-thousand years of recorded history—plus one day—and, no, Ho’olheyak truly couldn’t think of a better appliance in all of Terra.
Two boxes of leftovers this time—one for her, and one for Rhodes Island’s favorite doctor. The two had stayed up all night cranking out the rest of those assignments. She could only wonder what they would do now. Perhaps that esteemed Dr. Kal’tsit would bury them in more paperwork, if she was feeling particularly ornery.
Despite the odd looks and concerned stares, Ho’olheyak walked with a bit of a spring in her step. She couldn’t help but think back to the debauchery she’d gotten up to with the man in his own office, making way for an extra-quiet, extra-focused hour of hard work.
For a second, she wondered if she took things too far.
Then, in the next second, she decided she didn’t care. They had enough tissues to clean up the mess—and though she couldn’t see the man’s face through his mask, she had to assume he was blushing and staring for the rest of the night as they sat quietly in his office, trying not to talk or even think about what they had just done.
Ho’olheyak pushed open the office door, finding the Doctor…
…sitting behind his desk, reading Tails/Tangle like it was nothing.
Ho’olheyak narrowed her eyes. She smiled.
“How shameless,” she said, and she closed the door behind her.
Then she locked it.
With her tail.
The man avoided her gaze for now. So be it. Ho’olheyak approached his desk and sat his microwaved leftovers right on its surface, before circling around to her own desk to do the same. She sat in her swivel chair with a quiet sigh, and then she drummed her fingers against the surface of her workstation.
“All the work’s been taken care of, Doctor,” said Ho’olheyak. “Is there anything you’d like for me to do? Anything I should take care of?”
The Doctor looked up at her from the magazine, as though he seemed to consider something. Still, the Liberi crossed her legs and relaxed her serpentine tail, laying it on top of her desk without a second thought.
“There is no shortage of work to be done on Rhodes Island,” Ho’olheyak continued. “If you need me to take a trip to the Intelligence Processing Room, I could make a dent in those processes. I could even organize things a little better than they are now,” she said. “No offense to Closure, but I don’t think that Sarkaz knows the first thing about…”
Ho’olheyak trailed off, watching the Doctor stand up from behind his desk and make the short trip over to hers. Her smile grew bigger the closer he was, before finally looking like a wicked grin once he was standing right next to her desk, looking down at her, still seated in her swivel chair.
Ho’olheyak tilted her head, trying to glare right through the man’s mask. “You look like you’ve got something to say, Doctor. Well,” she said, “I’m all ears.”
The Doctor took a single step closer, and in that same motion, he took off his mask.
Ho’olheyak’s eyes went wide, and she stood up straighter. “D-Doctor? What are you—?”
She never finished her sentence.
The Doctor reached down with his free hand and picked up the tip of the woman’s tail. Then, looking her straight in the eyes with his own…
Chomp!
He bit down on its very tip, prompting Ho’olheyak to let out a girlish moan that took the both of them off guard.
“AH~!”
Then, as quickly as the sound left her lips, Ho’olheyak arched back, eyes wide and mouth agape. The Doctor smiled—he actually smiled!—and kept a vise-like grip on the end of her tail.
“You told me it wasn’t an erogenous zone,” he said. Ho’olheyak stiffened, her feathers more than a little ruffled now.
“I-I wasn’t expecting you to… to do something like that!” She growled. “You took me off guard, Doctor.”
“Then we’re even.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Then beg.”
Ho’olheyak opened her mouth to retort, but the Doctor was faster. He yanked her tail with a sudden show of force, causing her to zoom forward on that swivel chair until she fell forward against his crotch.
Neither of them moved for a moment. Ho’olheyak’s eyes were wide as saucers, and she could feel the Doctor’s prowess twitching through his pants against her lips.
She shot him a death glare. Unlike his cock, however, it softened after a few seconds. She looked impressed.
“Are you trying to make up for disappointing me yesterday?” she asked.
The Doctor smirked. “Is it working?”
“Unlike those of your ilk… do you intend to take responsibility?” asked Ho’olheyak. Then she added: “I’m wet…”
“Let me see,” said the Doctor. His voice was lower now; huskier. It was a change that Ho’olheyak certainly didn’t mind, especially while he kept a tight hold on that tail of hers. Before she knew it, she was sitting on her own desk, and the Doctor was between her slender legs.
“You should know your place,” muttered Ho’olheyak, jerking her tail out of the Doctor’s grasp just before snaking it around his midsection. “I’ll squeeze the life right out of you.”
The Doctor’s entire body locked up. Ho’olheyak thought she had him right where she wanted him. Then he pressed right up against her, and Ho’olheyak could feel that he was even harder than before.
“Let me… take responsibility… for my actions,” he said, struggling against her tightening tail. “Before you do that…”
She loosened her tail grip around his midsection. There was enough slack for the Doctor to truly unwrap her—like she was a turquoise-tinted gift, just for him. She bit her lip as he went to work—a belt here, a clasp there; he helped peel her pantyhose off, and the panties came with it. She wasn’t lying—they were soaked.
“Biting your tail did this?” he asked. He was incredulous.
Ho’olheyak avoided his gaze. “Well, now. You’re awfully frustrating…”
“Too many questions?”
She didn’t answer at first. A typical interaction was supposed to go from A, to B, to C. Ho’olheyak suddenly wondered if maybe they’d skipped a few letters—they were on L now, for lust. Perhaps last night, during all their unspoken tension, they’d been dancing around a few other consonants. Maybe that’s why things were quickly boiling over.
“I want to make you feel good,” he said simply. As if that was all there was to it. Mercifully, he continued. “I want to make up for yesterday.”
She scoffed. “For reaching climax too quickly?”
“For the magazine,” he said. “And the paperwork… and, sure, that last thing, too.”
Ho’olheyak’s eyes drifted shut as the Doctor pressed a finger to her sodden crotch. She relaxed her tail just a little more, but even so, she kept it laced around his body. After all, she didn’t want him going anywhere. Not when they were already playing this game.
Ho’olheyak opened her eyes again. She looked down as the Doctor sunk two fingers into her honey pot, relishing the wet sound of their engulfment. The Liberi shuddered, trying to steady her breathing. She knew she was blushing far more than she wanted to be.
“Fuck. How are you this wet?” the Doctor remarked. “It feels so…”
“Phew… hah…”
Ho’olheyak leaned back, keeping her thighs spread to give the Doctor all the room he wanted. She leaned back on her palms. Their food was getting cold. They were probably going to have to microwave it again. All the way across the room, La Mia was blushing bashfully at the mischief that these two were getting up to.
“How long were you thinking about this?” she asked suddenly. The Doctor moved his fingers back and forth, in and out of her soaking wet pussy, and Ho’olheyak felt embarrassed at the wet noises they were making. He wasn’t even pumping those fingers earnestly—not yet. Even so, it sounded like he was fingering a puddle.
“Since you did that thing with your tail,” said the Doctor. “And we cleaned it up…”
Ho’olheyak gave the man a lopsided smile. “Truly, Doctor?”
“Why are you surprised?” he asked. “That was some stunt you pulled… I’m just returning the favor.”
“Such a g-gentleman,” Ho’olheyak said with a stammer. She tilted her head back as the Doctor quickened his pace, pushing those fingers in and out of her dripping-wet, greedy snatch. The feathered serpent swallowed his digits like they were nothing, surprising herself with the level of wetness on display here. Ho’olheyak didn’t want to admit that his infatuation with tails—and that firm bite—were two of the reasons she were presently like a broken faucet. She didn’t want to admit that. She wouldn’t.
Even so, it seemed as though she didn’t have to. The Doctor got the picture, squeezing the woman’s thigh with one hand and fingering her with the other. Ho’olheyak’s chest rose and fell with her heavy breathing, and the Doctor was inspired to slide his hand up from her thigh to her chest; he groped her through her top, prompting Ho’olheyak to narrow her eyes up at him, flashing her pearly-white fangs his way.
“Oh,” she moaned, “you’re so deplorable.”
“Want me to stop yet?”
“You’d better not, you amnesiac degenerate…”
“Let me see them,” the Doctor whispered, palming the Liberi’s mounds through her top. She paused with a palpable delay, biting her lip and screwing her eyes shut.
“No,” she finally said. “I r-refuse.”
The Doctor was surprised. Still, he didn’t want to push her into doing something she didn’t want to do. He nodded against the crook of her neck, peppering her red-flush skin with fiery kisses.
His hands never stopped. He continued to grope and knead her chest with one hand, even pinching one of her nipples to make her squeak from the burst of pleasure. His other hand busied itself between her slick inner thighs; she was leaking all over his digits and the desk beneath her, and the Doctor dipped back just to get a good look at her. Just to really drink her all in.
Ho’olheyak was panting profusely. She was already sweating, her hair a bit more disheveled than normal, and the bright red blush on her face never went away. She was drooling, too, and staring down at the Doctor’s hands like she truly, meekly, couldn’t believe what they were doing together.
She’s surprisingly cute like this, thought the Doctor. I can’t control myself. Oh, Ho’olheyak…
Suddenly, the Liberi’s breathing grew shallower, quicker, until she reached a climax of her own. She arched her back and clamped her thighs together, sandwiching the Doctor’s hand and humping it to push herself firmly over the edge. Ho’olheyak firmly screwed her eyes shut, gasping and whimpering through her orgasm, leaking over herself with a girlish whine that left the Doctor stunned right in front of her.
She bucked her hips with zeal, causing it to creak beneath her bare butt. When she opened her eyes again, they were full of tears, and she finally parted her thighs to reveal the absolute mess between them—glittering; transparent love and lust. A true overflow.
“Holy fuck,” the Doctor remarked, as if in reverence to a snake god. “Ho’olheyak…”
Ho’olheyak took a deep breath. Then she let it pass through her lips. The Doctor had only used his hands, but she looked utterly breathless and meek. Flustered beyond belief.
“Ho’olheyak… are you okay?” asked the Doctor.
“Doctor…” Ho’olheyak gulped. “You…”
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
“Hello? Doctor? Ho’olheyak? Are you in here?”
There was some resistance when Amiya tried the door. She frowned, and for a moment, she thought that something was very, very wrong.
Her worries were somewhat quelled, however, when the office door finally opened. It hadn’t swung more than a few inches before Amiya met Ho’olheyak’s bright, smiling face. She was grinning almost impishly through the crack in the door, and Amiya took a step back with worry.
“Ho’olheyak… is the Doctor in there with you?” asked the little Cautus.
“I’m in here, Amiya,” the Doctor called, and Amiya’s shoulders relaxed. “We’re getting some hard work done. Do you need something?”
Amiya pouted. “Not necessarily, Doctor. I just wanted to know if you had time for—!”
“You heard the Doctor, didn’t you, young Cautus?” said Ho’olheyak. “He’s far too busy for you today. I think it’s in your best interest to find someone else to play with.”
Amiya frowned, and her bunny ears drooped down low. “It wasn’t playing!”
“No?” Ho’olheyak pretended to frown right back. “How pitiable…”
The Doctor couldn’t see Amiya, and Amiya couldn’t see him.
But hidden just behind the door, the Doctor could see Ho’olheyak’s ass wiggling from left to right, begging to be manhandled.
The Liberi had done a good job at hiding away her naughtier bits. Amiya was none the wiser as Ho’olheyak tried to convince her into stepping away—leaving her rear end and tail exposed and ready for more fun and games.
Naturally, this was the perfect time for the Doctor to unzip.
“Is everything alright, Ho’olheyak?” asked Amiya. “You seem touchy… can I do something for you?”
“Not at all,” said Ho’olheyak. “I’m simply stressed, Amiya. Think nothing of it. Also, I’m not a fan of—eek!”
Amiya blinked. “Eek?”
Ho’olheyak gulped, taking a steady deep breath as she felt something hot and hard press up against her pussy—hidden from view behind the Doctor’s door.
“I… dislike… being interrupted,” said Ho’olheyak, giving the girl a wobbly smile.
“I understand,” said Amiya, smiling apologetically. “I’ll leave you to it.”
“P-Please do,” Ho’olheyak stammered, before jerking forward with a quiet whimper. “Ngh…!”
“Ho’olheyak? Are you sure you’re okay? Your face is so red!” Amiya winced. “Do you have a fever? Doctor,” Amiya cried, “Ho’olheyak might have a fever!”
“Oh, no!” The Doctor grunted softly. “I’ll, ah~ try to get her some medicine—don’t you worry! I’ve got a good stash from Gavial!”
“That’s not something you should brag about…!”
Ho’olheyak huffed, wincing as the Doctor started pushing his cock in and out of her dripping-wet pussy. Oh, God, he’s truly taking me in front of Amiya! Is he serious?!
“Enough. R-Run along now, A-Amiya… please d-do us this favor and—ah~ don’t come back, okay? M-More time for playing later!”
Amiya sighed. “I said it’s not—!”
Wham! The door slammed right in the little bunny’s face.
Amiya stood with her hands on her hips, scowling to herself.
She glanced around, making sure that no one could hear her. Then she whispered it.
“Bitch…”
Ho’olheyak’s leftovers toppled over as soon as she hit the desk.
She didn’t know it then, but she and the Doctor were, in that moment, thinking the exact same thing: this was a onetime deal. This couldn’t happen between them again.
Stress relief—that’s all this was. Things had boiled over between them. Now, they were simply taking care of things before going back to work. Just one time.
One time was all they needed. No one else had to know about this, because it was definitely just a onetime thing.
Right?
The Doctor didn’t know it then, but he and Ho’olheyak were in sync. While he pounded her against that desk, which creaked in time with their impassioned grunts and desperate moans—in that moment, thinking the exact same thing.
And they were so fucking wrong.
Love, n.
A temporary insanity curable by marriage or by removal of the patient from the influences under which he incurred the disorder. This disease…is prevalent only among civilized races living under artificial conditions; barbarous nations breathing pure air and eating simple food enjoy immunity from its ravages. It is sometimes fatal, but more frequently to the physician than to the patient.
— Bierce (paraphrased)
Vrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmm…
It’s been over one-thousand years and some change.
Ho’olheyak wondered, if only for a moment, if anything could ever beat the microwave in both simplicity and utility. She decided that the only thing that could possibly surpass the classic appliance was the cure for Oripathy.
And even then, it would be a damn close race.
She made the short trip over to the Doctor’s office, knocking only once before pushing open the door and walking inside.
Door, locked. Food, desked. Papers…
…
…they’d get around to it, eventually.
Behind the Doctor’s workstation was another simple door, and behind the simple door was a comfortable, yet messy room. Almost like a suite, although to call it such a thing would do it a lovely kindness; a generosity.
She found the Doctor sleeping in their bed.
…their bed?
His bed, she reminded herself. Perhaps it wasn’t their bed. Perhaps not yet.
Even so, she joined him almost dutifully, stripping out of those pesky clothes first and foremost. Her shoes, her pantyhose, a belt here, a clasp there. The Originium catalyst, set aside. The overcoat, draped over a chair.
She removed everything except her top—then, when she removed that, too, she quickly put on one of his shirts before he could notice.
Only then did she join him. She crawled into bed beside him, slithering in like a proper serpent (even despite her soft feathers), and she snuggled up to the man’s chest, draping her tail around his unclothed body. He would wake up in a few hours, and he would know exactly where that tail had been.
He woke up in one.
The Doctor groaned quietly, shuffling with enough fervor to wake Ho’olheyak, too. When he opened his eyes, he met with her own—dark slits, trapped in pools of sun-kissed blue. She smiled. He smiled back.
He opened his mouth. “How long have you—?”
“Shh.” She held up a finger to her own lips. “Do you hear that?”
The lull hardly lasted ten seconds.
“I hear nothing,” said the Doctor.
“And neither do I.”
That was when they kissed—with all the ease and familiarity of a bee settling into a flower bursting at the seams with pollen. It wasn’t long before their tongues tangled in feverish joy, and Ho’olheyak’s tail wrapped more tightly around her man.
As if he would ever leave.
He palmed her through her (his?) shirt, taking greedy handfuls of her mounds and making her shudder from his tender, familiar avariciousness. The bed was soft, the room was warm, the sheets were fresh—but they’d have to wash them again in no time.
The Doctor attacked his woman’s neck with long, languid kisses. Ho’olheyak gladly stayed put, returning his blows with a few of her own, gracing the man’s chest with her fingertips; she danced them over his bare skin, drawing invisible lines and shapes like she was charting a map—an expanse she’d already explored enough times to have it memorized.
Without really meaning to—without really thinking about it—the Doctor started peeling off Ho’olheyak’s shirt. This time, she let him. She kept her eyes sealed shut, toying with his body and carefully rubbing a knee against his stiffness. Still, the shirt came off, and when it did, Ho’olheyak tried to keep her eyes closed.
She waited.
And waited.
And waited…
Finally, the Doctor dipped down, and he gave one of her breasts a chaste kiss.
“Holy goddamn…”
Ho’olheyak’s nostrils flared. “I’m afraid you aren’t funny, Doctor.”
“Don’t worry—they’re bigger than La Mia’s.”
“Of course they are,” she said bitterly. “They’re fake—like the rest of me.”
“Ho’olheyak…”
“This dreadful modification… was one of the last things I ever did for Maylander. It was supposed to help with—!”
“Come on, Hool. You don’t have to explain yourself to me,” he assured. “Not to me. Not this. I swear I don’t think any differently about you.”
“Then you’re a fool,” she muttered.
“Of course I’m a fool,” he said. “Look at where I am.”
She finally opened her eyes. The Doctor was smiling—and it was an earnest smile, as if he was trying to remind her he meant every word of what he said.
As an ex-secret agent, honest people honestly frustrated her. Part of the fun of human interaction, at least in Ho’olheyak’s eyes, was picking apart their lies. Leaving them vulnerable, surrounded by half-truths and purposeful omissions.
The Doctor hadn’t ever lied to her. Not once.
She loathed how much she loved it.
Then she watched him dip down again, and he started kissing her breasts like it was the last time he’d ever see them. If it were strictly up to the old Ho’olheyak, then he never would have. But the man hadn’t lied—not once. She considered this another favor; another spoonful of honesty served right to his too-sweet lips. She would be honest with him, too.
However, that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to blush like mad. Even now, her face was beet red with embarrassment. She half-expected the Doctor to find her true form distasteful. Instead, he was kissing all the right places; whispering all the right things. She was helpless beneath him. It wasn’t fair, goddamn it.
Maybe she could one-up him if she just…
“They’re like warm jelly,” the Doctor whispered. “I could just—mmf!”
Grabbing the Doctor’s head, Ho’olheyak suddenly shoved the man’s face into her immense rack, smiling devilishly as she muffled his words with her enormous breasts. He didn’t struggle—of course he didn’t. Instead, the Doctor motorboated Ho’olheyak’s chest, taking the woman’s guidance and rubbing his face almost violently, hungrily, against her.
“That’s it,” she cooed. “Quiet down, now. I’ve kept you waiting long enough, Doctor…”
He switched gears, going from motorboating the woman’s chest to taking one of her nipples into his mouth. The Doctor moaned delightedly as she felt Ho’olheyak’s fingers rake through his hair, and the Liberi’s moans soon filled his ears as he started sucking.
Ho’olheyak quietly gasped. “Oh? W-What’s this, now? Are you… do you think I’m trying to breastfeed you, Doctor?” The woman chuckled low, snuggling even closer to him under the covers. “How vulgar… now you’re acting like an infant. Is that truly what you want?”
He didn’t answer her with words. Instead, the Doctor kept sucking, keeping his lips sealed around one of Ho’olheyak’s nipples, fondling her breasts with those greedy hands of his. Ho’olheyak groaned with pleasure; she kept raking her fingers through his locks of hair, trying her best to keep her breathing steady. With every passing second, however, it became more and more difficult. Then came the familiar dampness between her thighs.
To make matters “worse”, the Doctor started to thrust between those thighs of hers, gently humping her and making it oh-so clear what he wanted.
She wanted it, too.
She wanted it bad.
So, she parted her thighs again. Welcomed him inside—where he belonged.
“Doc… tor…”
She ended up on her back again. Like this, it was easy for Ho’olheyak to lock her legs around the man’s waist—to bring him in; bring him home. The Doctor pounded her into the bedsheets, over and over again, keeping his hands on Ho’olheyak’s breasts and sucking her nipples all the while. He was hooked now; he wouldn’t be stopping this anytime soon.
“You really are like a babe,” she said with a lusty purr, keeping her thighs spread and watching as he took her repeatedly. She groaned as she felt him pulse in her pussy; he throbbed against her vaginal walls; it was always a reminder of just how large he was, and she cherished his endowment and what it could do to her.
Like a… babe…
Naturally, she remembered that they never once used condoms. Condoms meant preparation, and she and the Doctor were never really prepared with their trysts; their coitus. Like their relationship—it was sudden, passionate; explosive, like a grenade.
“Ho’olheyak,” the Doctor groaned. “God, yes… God, you feel so good… and you look so amazing… I can’t contain myself…”
Ho’olheyak smiled. “I look amazing? Ngh… Doctor… I l-look… like a m-mess,” she stammered, groaning.
“I love it when you look like a mess,” he told her, sliding a hand up to her face to cup her cheek. And both things were true—Ho’olheyak looked like a mess, but she was completely and utterly beautiful. The Doctor was helpless beneath that icy blue gaze of hers. He moved like he was on autopilot, thrusting against her with vim and vigor, and poking her lips to get at her pretty pink tongue.
She opened her mouth diligently for him, and the Doctor dipped his digits into her maw. He toyed with that hot, wet tongue of hers; she sucked on his fingers while he fucked her, humming and moaning around his index and middle fingers.
All this time, the Doctor continued to rail her against the bed, causing it to creak beneath them repeatedly. He huffed and groaned while he took her, and her eyes fell half-closed like they were heavy with lust.
He’s finished inside me… three… four… no, five times this week? thought Ho’olheyak.
Oh, no…
Ho’olheyak’s mouth fell open. Her tongue lolled around his slick, wet fingers. She felt like she was melting, and simultaneously, like she was being pounded into diamonds. The first time he took her, it was an exercise in keeping her voice down—an exercise she failed with gusto. Now, Ho’olheyak felt like the man had molded her into the shape of his cock. She felt so slutty—so unlike herself; she could hardly recognize the woman in the mirror beside the bed, so completely disheveled and doting she was like a different person.
He’s like a man possessed… with so much vigor… he’s filling me with it…
Suddenly, the Doctor slid his hand down to Ho’olheyak’s neck. Her eyes drifted open further and, getting the idea, she choked him, too. She used her tail for this, draping it around his neck and giving it a firm tug to strangle him sexually.
The Doctor smiled. He struggled to breathe, and she did, too. Even so, she couldn’t remember the last time she felt so alive—the Doctor’s hand around her throat, and her tail around his neck. They were entangled, and writhing like a singular mass of hot, wet limbs.
“Fuck me,” she croaked. “Fuck me like you own me…”
The Doctor quickened his pace, slamming his hips against Ho’olheyak’s with animalistic grunts and growls. She kept his legs locked around his body as he pressed her into the sheets. As he mated with her.
Ho’olheyak nodded as best she could, swallowing and gasping for air as he kept his hand locked around her throat. She could feel his palm against her slender neck—clenching, tensing, releasing, relieving. She did the same with her tail, pulling him softly, pushing him gently, pulsing and undulating like a tide that rose and fell whenever it felt like.
And just like that, the Doctor let go of her throat.
She let go of his, too, and that was a good chance for the Doctor to dip down and lock his lips against her own. He kissed her fiercely—passionately—and she matched his kiss with equal intensity and desire.
He dug his tongue into her mouth. Ho’olheyak clenched even tighter around his cock; it felt as though her body was making more room to accommodate him—his pure, physical prowess.
Oh, no…
Oh no oh no oh no oh no…
Doctor, don’t… don’t kiss me like this…
If you do, she thought, I’ll…
She broke the kiss between them with a wet gasp.
The Doctor didn’t allow it. He followed the saliva trail their mouths left behind, like they were tethered to one another, and he kissed her even harder this time. He drank from her, and Ho’olheyak whimpered as she clamped down tighter around him.
If he kisses me like this… I’ll definitely get pregnant!
I’m definitely going to be a mommy now!!!
She kissed him back regardless, drooling all over herself. The feeling of melting around him never went away—it only intensified, even as the Doctor finally broke the kiss to gasp for air; even as Ho’olheyak’s gaze held all the tenderness she had ever known.
“God,” she groaned. “Please… please please please don’t spill a drop…”
“Ho’olheyak!” The Doctor grabbed his woman and hefted her up, putting her ankles on his shoulders. Like this, he could drill into her even faster and deeper than before, and Ho’olheyak shamelessly let her noises carry far beyond their bedroom. She moaned and screamed with overwhelming lust, clenching her eyes shut and gripping the pillow above her head like it was her only lifeline to this world.
The Doctor held Ho’olheyak by the hips. He dug his fingertips into her skin, rutting against her like it was the last thing he would ever do—ever again.
“Doctor!” Ho’olheyak screamed. “DOCTOR!”
He’s digging in… he’s seriously trying to get me pregnant!
He wants it… so… bad!
“DOCTOR!!!”
Ho’olheyak shrieked as she finally reached her orgasm. She went dizzy and dumb with overwhelming lust, her climax washing over her like a tidal wave. She clenched tightly around the Doctor’s cock, feeling it pulse and twitch before he finally let himself go, too.
They reached a spine-tingling, toe-curling climax together. The Doctor grunted and groaned as he stuffed his precious Ho’olheyak, flooding her womanhood with all the passion and vigor he had. Ho’olheyak panted and gasped, eyes going wide as she felt the Doctor practically paint her insides stark white with his sticky spunk.
She held her head in disbelief, disheveled and frazzled and knowing without a shadow of a doubt that she’d just been bred.
Her feathers were bent and askew in certain places, making it look like she’d just been tossed around the room. Drool stained her mouth and chin; tears stained her eyes and cheeks. She shivered like she was cold, when this couldn’t be further from the truth. Her skin was hot and flushed red; she was blushing so much, one could be mistaken for thinking she could light up the room.
And, despite the overwhelming mess between them—despite how sweaty and unkempt and ruined she was—the Doctor leaned forward and planted a sweet kiss on her forehead.
And then he fell backwards, utterly spent. His flaccid, messy cock fell out of Ho’olheyak’s well-used pussy, which began to trickle and ooze a pearly-white, viscous mess. It just kept coming, and coming, and…
…and they were definitely going to have do the laundry again.
Outside their passion-filled bedroom, the microwaved leftovers had gone cold again.
“That’s all for today Doctor, What’s coming next is.... a secret. If you want to find out about it, then work hard.”
— Ho’olheyak (paraphrased)
The microwave was currently undergoing maintenance.
Ho’olheyak didn’t complain. The Liberi had a feeling she was going to have to start eating healthier soon, anyway.
The trip from the women’s restroom to the Doctor’s office was distant enough that she could think about how many things had changed over the past month and a half.
The answer was: a lot. A lot of fucking things, quite frankly.
Ho’olheyak wasn’t surprised when Muelsyse made the claim that she seemed so much brighter these days. What surprised Ho’olheyak more than anything was that even Saria of Rhine Lab told Ho’olheyak that she seemed different. She went out of her way to say it, so it must have been true. That was the Liberi’s rationale, but in truth… she certainly felt much lighter these days.
How ironic, all things considered, she thought.
She avoided forming connections when she first came to Rhodes Island. She only wanted to deal with those who were absolutely necessary.
Closure. Kal’tsit. The Doctor.
Good grief, and alas. How things changed.
Now she needed help. She needed others more than ever, because…
She knocked on the Doctor’s door before letting herself in. It was the secret knock, so the man’s mask and hood were already off as soon as she walked inside.
“Hey,” he said. “Ho’olheyak…”
The Liberi smiled. “Doctor…”
“How did you sleep?”
“Well,” said Ho’olheyak, “I had a few things on my mind… so it could have been better.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” asked the Doctor.
“Oh,” said Ho’olheyak, keeping her knowing smile. “Don’t worry—we will. But first…”
She turned to look at the stack of letters and documents on her desk.
“It seems I have my work cut out for me today, hm?”
“I haven’t sorted through any of that stuff,” the Doctor confessed. “I know you like having your own system, so…”
Ho’olheyak simply nodded. She got started immediately, shoving a letter here, putting a missive there, an invoice here, a new contract there…
“A thank-you letter from the guys at Bungie,” Ho’olheyak mused. “Amiya might want to read this, too…”
Then, finally, the piece of mail that Ho’olheyak had been waiting for. The monthly publication. Tails/Tangle.
She glanced up just in time to see the Doctor look her way. He smiled anxiously.
“Uh… I forgot to cancel,” he said with a mumble.
Ho’olheyak flashed her fangs in a wicked grin. “Oh,” she said, “Doctor… I don’t care if you want to read this sort of thing, you know. You’re well within your right to do so.”
“Y-You think so?” he asked.
“Absolutely, Doctor. In fact,” said Ho’olheyak, “I feel somewhat indebted to La Mia and the other meaty-tailed models—do you understand?”
“S-Somewhat,” said the Doctor. He wilted beneath Ho’olheyak’s piercing gaze, wondering if she was going to do something drastic suddenly.
“But,” said Ho’olheyak, “I’ve got a magazine for me here, too. I think it’s only fair.”
The Doctor gulped. “Of course!”
Ho’olheyak closed her eyes with a mirthful giggle. Then, somewhat surprising the Doctor, she circled his desk and placed the magazine right on top of it.
“Thanks, Hool… trust me,” he said, watching the Liberi saunter back to her workstation. “I’ll only read this once we get all our work done. And, besides, none of these girls could ever compare… to…”
The Doctor trailed off. He raised an eyebrow as he picked up the magazine, noticing an obvious lump just beneath the cover page. Did he win some kind of prize?
Without a second thought, the Doctor opened the magazine’s cover flap and lifted the item left behind.
It was a pregnancy test.
A positive pregnancy test.
All the air left his lungs at once. The Doctor turned back to Ho’olheyak, mouth agape, and he watched as the typically icy Liberi shyly hid her face behind her own magazine. Addressed directly to her: Babysteps—a bimonthly guide for new mothers.
“H-Ho’olheyak?!”
The Doctor fell out of his chair.
Even so, the flustered Liberi grumbled under her breath, hiding her nervous smile behind the pastel magazine pinched in her shaking fingers.
Ho’olheyak gulped, casting her gaze down to the floor with a soft shudder and a tail that trembled with worry.
“Y-You’d better take responsibility for this, too… Doctor…!” 💙