Rainblade-Ryalors Open The Trenches Get In Vixen, We're Going Shopping

[Mina Rose Brewer]

(First few posts are for @Ronan Eirlys; will open up later as they go out in public)

Mina Rose lay with her face down in her pillow, another pillow atop her head. It was the beginning of another week of shifts at the Bilge, and she really should be getting herself ready, but she couldn't bring herself to move. She told herself that it was just the cold outside her covers that made her want to stay in the warmth, but she knew it was more than that. She'd been fighting off the gloom for a while now, trying to keep herself moving and distracted, but eventually it had caught up to her.

Her parents were dead. She thought she'd come to terms with it, but any time she stopped moving it would hit her again. She'd hear her mother's gentle chiding or her father's warm exasperation in her mind, and she'd break down into tears. Sure, they hadn't been her birth parents, but they'd loved her and she loved them. She missed her father tucking her in at night and kissing her forehead before leaving the room; her mother sitting down with Mina Rose in front of her vanity, teaching her how to do her make-up; the family in the kitchen, Mina Rose bustling about to get her family whatever ingredients they needed as they chatted about anything and everything. The lack of their presence in her life felt like a gaping wound in her chest, sucking the air and life out of her.

The absence might not have stung so much if her birth family hadn't been so distant. Aunt Tanya was nice, but she was busy with her own life; apparently she and her husband, Uncle Jeshal, were active in the navy again. She still hadn't met her cousins on that side; apparently they were busy in the navy too. Her other aunt and uncle, Dusk and Talinn, had proved themselves so unpleasant at the Opera House that Mina Rose was actually glad they hadn't reached out to her since. Well, perhaps that was uncharitable; Uncle Talinn hadn't seemed too bad, just a bit aloof. Dusk, however, was a sharp-tongued monster. How they had ever produced the kind-hearted Alwyn was beyond her. Her heart still pattered when she thought of his handsome face, but at least in that regard, Kaii had been taking up the majority of her attention.

Kaii had been a balm on her soul, his gentleness and care for her a soothing antidote to the loneliness poisoning her every day. She loved his inventive mind, listening to him talk about things she didn't understand but didn't need to in order to know how clever they were. And, of course, she loved the moments when he set aside all that brilliance to focus on her, to make her feel like she was important for a little while. Still, he had duties to the navy too, and during the weeks when he was away, the loneliness threatened to crash over her like a wave. This was one of those weeks.

Mina Rose sighed, pulling the blankets up so they covered her pillows and her head both, blocking out the cold, bleak light of a winter morning. Her two days off had been spent in bed, no appetite or energy to motivate her to leave. Now they were over, and she was debating just not showing up for her next shift. What did it matter? She'd been on thin ice with her employer at the Bilge for a while now, and it was just a matter of time before she got fired anyway. It might as well be today. She sank into the darkness, wishing she could just sleep until things somehow got better.

 

[Ronan Eirlys]

Well if this wasn’t the most interesting task on his to-do list since redecorating the MAUL interrogation rooms to better reflect the growing zeitgeist of financial terror under the crushing paw of taxes, he didn’t know what was. Truth be told Ronan had been finding things somewhat dreary within Misanthropy offices over the spring and summer. Routine had fallen well into place with his employer’s frosty relationship to her husband (always a contentious, but juicy, point of discussion) and work ticking along as normal. There was little to be done save take notes, repair cloaks and ensure that dead bodies didn’t filthy up the corridors. Honestly, some agents could be so sloppy with their littering.

Then had come the events of the Opera House, and it was as though every day was abuzz with some form of gossip, scheme or plot. Things had begun to shift gloriously and the todd, ever involved but removed from events, was welcome to bear witness with no small amount of glee. This being so, he had found himself roped into his Minister’s newest schemes that morning and trotted obediently off into the Trenches with a thick linen coat on his shoulders and a pocket full of Misanthropy funds.

Ronan had worked with Mrs Rainblade for long enough to be cautious of her moods, particularly where family was concerned. When reports drifted in of a Mina Rose he had elected to steer clear at first, then with growing interest. Poor vixen seemed to be having a ‘Gates of a time adjusting, and no sooner had the thought crossed his mind he found himself tasked with meeting her. Sociable as ever he had readily agreed (much to the chagrin of those agents hoping to keep his yapping jaws within Misanthropy’s suitably thick walls).

Dusk had wanted him to proactively encourage Mina Rose out, to ensure she had fresh air and got moving again before she could turn stagnant. Touched though he was, in some small way, to sense that this was her way of showing affection, he had struck upon a far more palatable idea. Besides, this newcomer didn’t need jostling and grumbling and tough love: she needed a friend. After five years of professional life with Dusk he wagered her relative would be a positive balm.

Wandering footpaws brought him to the address scrawled on a slip of birchbark paper and, checking it one final time, the handsome todd nodded to himself. There was time enough for the well-dressed todd to slick back his headfur and adjust his cravat before raising a dainty paw towards the apartment door. He then proceeded to hammer upon said door as though there was a fire. Just you try and stay in bed if you can, Rosie.

 

[Mina Rose Brewer]

Unless the description given of Mina Rose had been wildly inaccurate, the gruff, fifty-something weasel in a tattered and stained workman's undershirt, red-striped long underwear, and threadbare smoking jacket who opened the door, yelling "WHAT?", was most likely not Ronan's intended target. Fortunately, the door next to his down the hall opened, and a vixen who seemed to fit the description far more aptly (at least, based on the blob visible to Ronan) poked out her head. "Mr. Nebbins, can ya keep ih' down?" she complained. "Ih's loud, an' I go' a headache."

"I weren' talkin' to ya, y' daft lass," the weasel snapped back. "It's this fool what's hammerin' on doors fer no good reason. What ya want? We don' want no subscriptions to the Smelt here, so beat it."

 

[Ronan Eirlys]

There was little keeping the shocked expression from Ronan’s countenance, tinged as it was with disdain for the state of the weasel who had answered the door. Huh. The 1 and 7 must have been mixed up on the slip: Dusk’s writing always was a little sloped. Still no harm done, for the next beast to open their door seemed unmistakable by the shade of her coat and shape of her eyes. That’s…uncanny. Uncannier still was the polite way she spoke to this Nebbins fellow, who the todd had by now lost all apparent interest in.

“Mmm, no, I’d not expect that you can read,” Ronan answered blithely to the unfortunate mustelid, giving him a paw-waving gesture as though dismissing his attendance. He rounded instead on the young fox, beaming at her. “You, however, look like just the beast I was looking for. Mina Rose, I presume?” The well-manicured paw extended. “I’m Ronan: Mrs Rainblade - I know - sent me to see that you were settling in alright.” He eyed her tousled headfur critically for a moment. “…And perhaps offer some company getting used to the city. I thought we could start with seeing if you need any furniture or clothing. May I come in?”

 

[Mina Rose Brewer]

Mina Rose blinked, a bit startled by this suave, confident todd. He was well-dressed, affable, and, for some reason, instantly likeable. His dig at Mr. Nebbins might not have been nice, but it had been clever enough to nearly make her snort in laughter, and she was surprised by how much she appreciated that right now. Shocking was its own kind of funny, it seemed. It was equally shocking to her that her Aunt Dusk, of all beasts, would send someone to check up on her. She hadn't even realized that the vixen knew of their family connection. Their sole meeting had been bizarre, tinged with animosity and sudden care when danger arose. Mina Rose had turned over the events of the evening at the opera house again and again in her mind, trying to discern the meaning in her aunt's seemingly bipolar behavior, and had come up with nothing. Now, it seemed, the vixen was again making herself known - albeit through an intermediary.

"Uh, sure," Mina Rose allowed, glancing over her shoulder and wincing at the state of the room. She hurried to push the greasy, crumpled old Smelt pages off her end table, the remnant wrappers of far too many non-fish fishsticks from the vendor down the street that exhaustion and apathy had turned into her primary (and debatable) source of nutrition. She pushed the mess down in her waste bin, then hastened to collect the loose clothes that had collected in a pile in the corner awaiting a laundry day that kept getting put off. "Sorry 'bout the mess," she apologized, a little bit of shame creeping onto her face. "Been workin' long hours an', well, 'tis easy ta leh th' simple things fall by the wayside, ya know?" She tightened the belt of the robe that had become her go-to attire in her apartment before searching her drawers for anything clean to wear, and was dismayed to find next to nothing. Her gaze slid in shame to the dirty clothes now piled in a hamper, debating between feigning serious illness and admitting to this todd that all of her outdoor clothes were already worn.

"So," she inquired, trying to buy time to work out a plan, "ya work fer my aun'? Can' say I ever 'spected 'er ta take an interes'. 'Gates, I didn' even think she liked me much." She slipped a blouse from the top of the laundry pile and sniffed at it, deciding that it wasn't too rank yet, just a little musty and creased. "'Gates," she exclaimed, glancing over her shoulder at him and trying to block his gaze with her body while she rummaged for something she could piece together into an outfit, "I'm sorry, I don' remember whatcha said yer name was. 'Fraid ya 'ave the advantage of me 'at way."

 

[Ronan Eirlys]

No sooner was the invitation given then Ronan swept into the apartment; his face dropped at the same time as his politely held tailbrush. Oh.

“Oh, girl,” he sighed. “I mean I’m impressed how fast you’ve managed this, but…you’re right. They work us far too long, some days. What is it that you do?” At the very least for the state of her flat he could appreciate her already having work, though he supposed any relative to a Minister would find offers in plentiful supply if they were willing to leverage their contacts as, surely, she must be.

“I wouldn’t worry, by the by,” Ronan prodded a greasy leaf of used newspaper with a wrinkled snout, then looked about for something to wipe the claw upon lest he ruin his waistcoat. “Dusk doesn’t much like anyone, so I wouldn’t take it personally. She’d not send her assistant out if you didn’t mean something to her.” Blue eyes roved over the interior making some sort of assessment, though whether merely aesthetic or if he was scheming something else it was difficult to discern. Either way he was disinclined to behave too motherly or offer to tidy on her behalf. That wasn’t what he was sent for.

“Don’t worry too much about what you’re putting on: we’ll be getting you in something much more suitable soon. Right, again my name is Ronan. Ronan Eirlys if you want the full title, but most just call me Ro’.”

 

[Mina Rose Brewer]

Mina Rose winced at the sympathetic show of pity, even as she pulled together the least objectionable elements of her wardrobe. It occurred to her that she might need to get an actual wardrobe for hanging some of her dresses... and that she'd need to get some dresses actually worth hanging, rather than bargained for at Dina's Discount Clothing Bin. It all kept coming back to money, which she seemed to have ever less of these days. If not for Kaii buying her the occasional blouse while out on their dates, she'd have even fewer clothes than she did.

"Sorry, Ronan," she apologized, searching through her hamper in search of the more comfortable of her two corsets. It must have gone somewhere... "I can remember Ro easy 'nuff," she remarked. "One a' my friends back 'ome was called Ro, short fer Romilda. We'd 'ave sleepovers t'gether when we were younger. 'En we grew up an' weren' allowed t' 'ave 'em anymore. She moved t' a differern' island ta get married, an' I started waitin' tables fer my folks." Admittedly, that was an oversimplification of what had happened; getting into their tween years, Mina Rose had got it into her head that she and Romilda both could prepare themselves better for future boyfriends if they practiced kissing with each other first. Unfortunately Mina Rose's mother had walked in on the pair mid-practice. She hadn't been allowed any more sleepovers with any of her friends after that.

Mina Rose found the corset, working to pull it out of the hamper from where it was trapped as she continued. "I'm workin' down a' th' Bilge, nigh' shifts mos'ly. Ih' ain' much, an' 'Gates if males in 'is town ain' all kinds a' grabby, bu' ih' pays enough ta make ren'." She straightened up, realizing that there was an unfamiliar male alone with her in her very small apartment, for which she didn't have a changing screen. "Er, Ro," she ventured apprehensively, "ya min' maybe steppin' ou' while I change? 'Ese walls are thin as paper, so it ya'd like, ye coul' tell me wha' 'tis ya do fer my aun' anyway... An' maybe wha' my aun' does. No one much seems t' know, or at leas' 'ey don' wanna say."

 

[Ronan Eirlys]

Likening to a Romilda instantly drew a distasteful wrinkle of the muzzle but he made no comment on the likeness as Mina Rose spoke on. Ronan watched her sorting through the pile of garments instead, noting colour and quality and wondering just how Dusk had allowed this all to happen. Whilst he wouldn’t go so far as to call his employer a generous sort, he knew the vixen to pride herself on appearance and dote well enough on the looks of her children: that a relative would be flouncing around like this was…interesting, to say the least. He’d have so many questions later, though suspected none would receive an answer. Still, maybe he could winkle something out of Matisse with enough bribery.

Softly pointed ears stood with shock to hear of Mina Rose skivvying at the Bilge. Oh this poor vixen. He resolved then and there that his instincts on her needing a friend were correct: she wasn’t just a charity case but she needed somebeast she could rely on. Perhaps Dusk’s instincts to send him had been more insightful than he’d realised.

Mina Rose’s request drew a blink, for her state of dress had not immediately occurred to a todd uninterested in vixens. “Oh, right, yes.” He scuttled out at once, pulling the door closed as he chattered on. “Don’t know or don’t want to say? Sounds about right. Half of Misanthropy doesn’t even know what it does, let alone the other half. Most Ministries feel like that I imagine. Easier to think of what Dusk heads as intelligence, I suppose. Not just within the city, either.” Though ever the blabbermouth he supposed that detailing the arrests and tortures, at least within the first half-hour of meeting this vixen, might be a bit much. Easier to talk about himself, then: he was excellent at that, at least. “As for me, I’m her aide. Sometimes that means reminding her of appointments through the day, fetching and setting up things, organising events she wants to hold, writing letters, ensuring her clothing stays repaired and neat…anything she needs, really. Sometimes that’s work within Misanthropy, sometimes it’s more personal.”

 

[Mina Rose Brewer]

Mina Rose hurriedly stripped, pulling on her chosen clothes as she listened to Ronan's explanation. She still wasn't quite sure what intelligence meant in this context; if her job was to make sure that folks in the Imperium weren't dumb as rocks, then it seemed like she was doing a terrible job of it.

"So, yer like her butler?" Mina Rose inquired, taking a deep breath before tightening the laces of her leather corset. She'd made the mistake of tying tight her corset based on an exhale before; fortunately her mother had found her before she'd managed to expire from her accidental autoasphyxiation. She considered what she'd seen of Ro's clothing and poise. "Mus' pay well," Mina Rose commented, adjusting her dress under the corset so it lined up a bit more neatly. "Mebbe I shoul' ask 'er if I can do 'er laundry; migh' pay better 'an th' Bilge."

She opened the door, stepping out and smiling up at Ronan. There wasn't a ton of height distance between them, but Mina Rose encountered very few beasts shorter than her - a trait that seemed to run strong in the Rainblade femmes. "Ya know, if she's forcin' ya t' be nice ta me, ya don' 'ave ta," she remarked. "Ain' much friendship innit if it's fer coin, ya know? I'd rather 'ave honesty, e'en if it's mean.' Gates," she chuckled a bit ruefully, her gaze dropping a bit, "pu' me down well 'nuff an' Aunt Dusk migh' give ya a raise. I don' think she likes me much," she admitted, peeking up at Ronan. "Pro'ly sent ya here so I don' go embarrassin' her so much."

 

[Ronan Eirlys]

A shrill, haughty snort escaped the foppish todd’s muzzle, immediately primping his tailbrush as though some errant placement of fur had given such a lowly appearance. “Butler?!” Ronan spluttered. “Please, I am so much more than some…butler. Butlers wouldn’t be entrusted with half of the work I do. I don’t wait on her, I assist. Lots of clerical work alongside the personal. Oh, I do miss when she and her husband were separated, though: the letters were so much fun. Makes one wonder what she sent in personal missives…” Off-track as he’d drifted, he neglected to mention how much of his pay was frittered on clothing and rental of a flat far too lavish for his needs, nor that no relative of Dusk’s should be reduced to a mere washerbeast. He’d really need to start showing this vixen what she was capable of.

Blue eyes met green after briefly appraising Mina Rose’s choice of attire (suitable enough, though her figure deserved better) and lit with a spark of amusement. There it is. “Dusk doesn’t even like me much and I spend most of the day around her. She can barely force herself to be nice half the time, let alone me – the pay isn’t that good. Don’t give it another thought, today isn’t about her. You’re right, though: I don’t have to be nice to you, so I won’t. The Minister just wanted to see you up and about, but what you need is a new wardrobe and a beast to show you around some of the better spots in the city, and I’d like to be that for you. You seem sweet and it’d be fun.”

 

[Mina Rose Brewer]

Oddly enough, the promise that he wouldn't be nice to her set Mina Rose at ease. "Alrigh' then," she agreed, smiling as she reached to slip her paw through his arm, "I reckon 'at sounds fun ta me as well. 'Gates knows I ain' gone much further 'an th' Opry House, an' 'at ended in disaster. I trus' ya t' show me wha' I've been missin' ou' on." She chuckled as they started for the outside door, remarking, "E'eryone keeps sayin' 'ere's summat special' bout Bully 'Arbor, 'at tis a magical place. I ain' seen it yet, bu' mebbe I've been lookin' in the wrong places. You from 'ere yerself?" she inquired, glancing at her new friend.

 

[Ronan Eirlys]

At once Ronan barked a high-pitched, derisive cackle, patting the arm linked with his. “Oh no no no, the only magic in this dump is how it hasn’t been wiped off of the map with everything that happens every decade. Like clockwork this place seems to go wild. If it isn’t boring it’s incredible, but I wouldn’t call that magic, just beasts being beasts. It’s the strangest place I know, but no, I’m not from here myself: got here five, six years ago? Around when I turned seventeen. Had no clue what I was in for, but I haven’t left yet so there must be something, right?”

Nudging the vixen, he chuckled before giving her a look as impressed as it was bemused. “Sorry, wait, you were at the Opera House – when it….? What was that like? Why were you there? Tell me everything! What happened, who did you see, what did you wear?!”

 

[Mina Rose Brewer]

Mina Rose smiled at the nudge, clinging to his arm a little tighter as a chilly breeze hit her. She really wasn't adjusted to this winter weather. "Well, I was there workin', so I didn' see too much. 'Ey had us in 'ese ugly pants sorta flared at the hips, like so." She demonstrated with her paw. "We 'ad button-up shirts an' vests - nah bad, bu' not mah style at all. 'Ey took back th' outfit afterward - fired me after all a' 'at. Course, now I'm workin' at th' Bilge, which is a li'l more steady work, so I ain' complainin'."

She reflected on that night, parsing through her jumbled memories. "It were nice at firs'. Lotsa fancy folks in fancy clothes, eatin' fancy food. Met mah cousin even, Alwyn," she recalled, a little of a blush coming over her face. "Real handsome fella, an' courteous t' boot. 'E was wiv' a kit, Finny - mus' be one a' mah other cousins. Really 'ope I get ta meet 'em proper soon. Course, I don' reckon I'll be gettin' any invites ta family dinner." She made a sour face at that.

She glanced up at Ronan, puzzlement on her face. "Aunt Dusk really didn' bring ya wiv' 'er?" she inquired, surprise and hurt in her eyes. "'At was rude a' 'er. I'da loved ta meet ya there. Reckon we'd a' 'ad fun, a' leas' 'fore it all wen' ta hell."

 

[Ronan Eirlys]

Ronan listened avidly, caught in a rare bout of silence as he absorbed every detail Mina Rose would give him. He’d frowned at the description of her attire, prepared to pass judgement until the word fired put the pieces together. Horror and indignation were stamped on his handsome features: not only had she been made to work at the event, they’d dressed her terribly to boot?! Something wasn’t sitting right. He’d have to find a diplomatic approach with Dusk later to ask her what the ‘Gates was in her head. At the very least they could find her somewhere better than the Bilge, surely.

Brows raised in recognition and approval of Mina Rose’s assessment of Alwyn (handsome indeed, he’d seen the todd around and about), though he had not met this Finny fellow. Things really were about to get interesting indeed if more foxes from the family were piling in. He was thrilled about the prospect as much as horrified. "Trust me you won’t want to be at the dinners from what I hear."

“Oh, we’d have had a wonderful time!” the fox replied wistfully, the back of his free paw pressed to his forehead dramatically. “Parties really are my thing, but we can always make up for lost time. Honestly I think the workload they gave me was just to keep me away, though I suppose that’s for the best in hindsight, I don’t much fancy having been singed. Well, no more than happens when the OD start experimenting. Anyway! You still have to tell me all about that: the Smelt had a report and of course there were plenty of MAUL agents but they all talk nonsense anyway. What was it really like, was it as scary as they said?”

 

[Mina Rose Brewer]

Mina held her tongue and didn't ask what OD was, though her brain tried out a few combinations before giving up. She shivered, less from the cold than from the memory of that night. "It were righ' a mess," she reflected. "I 'member when a buncha th' kitchen an' wait staff came ou' an' started killin' folks left an' right. I was lucky no one though' I was wiv' 'em. Course, I was mostly in Kaii's arms then." She nearly melted into a puddle as she thought of her... Was he her toddfriend? They hadn't really had a conversation yet about what they were to each other, but they'd gotten up to things that her parents would definitely not have approved of, so she supposed it counted.

Pushing away warm thoughts of Kaii and her favorite bits of him, she refocused on Ronan's question. "Anyway, th' whole place caugh' on fire sommere in there, an' things got mad. 'Ere were 'ese foxes protectin' us, an' - oh!" Her eyes lit up, and she squeezed Ro's arm excitedly. "I fergot ta mention, two a' th' todds approached Uncle Talinn earlier in the evenin' an' said they was a couple, an' asked fer his blessin'- and he said yes! 'Fore I lef' Tookumberry, I allus thought todds doin' 'at sorta thing was jus' a sailor's story." The fascination and excitement in her voice was reflected in the eager twitches of her tail. "I mean, I can see why, todds are lotsa fun... Though I suppose us vixens got some fun bits ta play with as well."

She blinked, flushing suddenly as heat shifted across her body, and in a panic she pushed down hard on that sensation and what it might mean for her. She'd been through a lot of unwanted self-discovery lately, and she wasn't ready for any more quite yet.

 

[Ronan Eirlys]

The bubbly todd seemed, throughout the telling of the tale, to be withholding something – that something being a foxish squeal of delight. He’d read enough books to know the tales: her, working at an event held by the upper classes, rescued by a handsome stranger – no doubt a beast of status to boot – right at the moment of peril?

Ugh, lucky little thing living his dream. Well, almost: he’d rather not work at all in his fantasy world.

Whatever opinions he had on the matter of Talinn’s blessing – and opinions he had aplenty after his proximity to the Minister of Misanthropy – they were mercifully discarded with Mina Rose’s follow-up statement which brought a laugh. “Oh I’m certain you do but I’d not know about that,” Ronan replied. “Todds are far too much fun. And jacks, and bucks…I suppose there’s not much talk about such things out on the islands, then? That’s such a shame.” He gestured with a paw. “Explains why you dress the way you do, too. We’re going to get you properly outfitted: a vixen like you, in the right attire…you’ll be turning heads – todd and vixen. Although…” His tail swished playfully. “By the sounds of it this Kaii might not thank me for the favour.”

 

[Mina Rose Brewer]

Mina Rose, growing ever more relaxed in Ronan's presence, gave him an impish grin. "Oh, I don' reckon 'e'll be complainin' much," she remarked, leaning in to share in a whisper, "'e's the one 'oo'll be collectin' 'em off 'is floor in th' mornin'."

Something he said earlier clicked in her mind, and she stopped dead, staring at Ro. "Wai' a minute. So you... Y' an' other todds..." She pressed the tips of her pointer pawfingers together, ambiguously unaware of the significance of that gesture. The squeal that emitted from her mouth was at a pitch barely audible to even vermin ears, though it sent up a squawking flock of gulls from a nearby rooftop. "Omigates tell me everything!" she gushed, seizing his arm and practically bouncing with the force of her tail wagging. "Do ye have a toddfriend? Have ya ever, ya know..." She seemed to struggle to find a gesture with her paws, going through several iterations that bore little to no resemblance to any acts to which she could possibly be alluding.

 

[Ronan Eirlys]

A blank stare was all Ronan afforded Mina Rose as he waited for the vixen to work it out for herself. There was something charming in her naivety, an opportunity to be a sibling of sorts and help guide the youngster towards the beautiful landscape of opportunities in the city. It did, however, come with a bittersweet edge to realise that such simple matters were still novel concepts to some beasts. Oh, the poor dear: they really were so old-fashioned out in the-

Her squeal, at this proximity, was impossible to avoid: his ears pinned back, brief alarm on his face before transmuting at speed to delight with her enthusiasm. “Ha! Every which way possible, darling!” the todd cackled, his own brush setting up a wag. He had no idea what specific she could possibly mean with a gesture like that, but he was reasonably confident in his own experience. “I’ll try anything twice, there’s always a good story in it at the very least. I don’t have a toddfriend at the moment, uh, no.” Blue eyes darted for a moment, but the grin fast returned. “I’ve dated all sorts and not just foxes, too. Be a shame to let species get in the way of compatibility, wouldn’t it?” Easier not to let on that no relationship had lasted more than a fortnight before disaster or his own fears came to call.

 

[Mina Rose Brewer]

Mina Rose's eyes widened, and she leaned in as she gushed, "Wai', ye can do 'at? Bu' wha' abou'- oh." She blinked as she rethought her biases. "Huh. I guess kits ain' a worry fer many reasons. Huh." She tilted her head as she considered the matter. "Gettin' ta fool abou' wiv'ou' worryin' abou' gettin' in th' fam'ly way sounds fun enough ta me, bu' havin' a partner who unnerstan's ya better as a male mus' be e'en nicer. Why d' males ever bother wiv' us femmes 'en they got each other?" She paused, the inverse thought briefly arising in her own mind before she hurriedly brushed it away.

"Anyway, I feel like I gotta find ya a date now," she declared. "Is 'ere, like, a code phrase ya use t' identify yerselves t' each other, like in a secret society? Ooh," she enthused, "ya coul' all wear fancy underthings. Course, th' problem 'en woul' be 'ow ya ask politely t' see what's in a bloke's trousers. Kinda back ta square one there."

 

[Ronan Eirlys]

There was something precious in bearing witness to a beast making connections of their own and showing genuine interest in a lifestyle so foreign to their upbringing. For a rare moment Ronan made no attempt to speak nor interject as the vixen chatted away, brush setting a slow wag as they walked. Her outspoken curiosity was refreshing and matched well his own propensity to answer with just as much enthusiasm.

Her question drew another cackle from the well-dressed todd, head thrown back as he patted the paw gripping his arm. “Oh, you are a hoot! My underthings are fancy enough, thank you. One could ask impolitely and risk a paw to the snout, but you get a feel, or the boldness to simply ask. After all, I’m certain any todds interested in you would have flirted to see if you’re interested back. It really isn’t all that different. I don’t know, it just tends to happen. That or there are occasionally parties and places for beasts to meet up without that question.” He fixed her with a grin as friendly as it was curious. “I could always take you out to meet some of my friends, some time, if you would be interested. After we get you better dressed, that is: couldn’t have you turning up without turning heads.”