A Sip of Coffee

Getting a cup of coffee helps a young businesswoman relax into a trendier persona.

Eight bucks was far too much for a cup of coffee. But eight bucks here as compared to five at the place down the road--Tiffany figured she saved the time it took to walk to the parking lot, drive out, park, and drive back. The new gourmet coffee shop was two minutes from the front door of her office as opposed to the ten minute drive to the cheaper place.

Sixteen minutes for three dollars, which came out to about twelve dollars an hour--and she was definitely getting paid more than that, so on the whole, it was worth her time. As long as the coffee was good.

Tiffany took a seat at one of the small tables and set her black brick of a business laptop in front of her. She flipped it open and checked her reflection in the screen before it turned on. Her pale fur, combed; her black hair, pinned back into a bun; her charcoal suit jacket, sitting crooked on her shoulders. She sat up, straightened her jacket, pulled her blouse flat, then swept her charcoal skirt beneath her thighs and sat down again.

.BAT

A corporate spy's gas mask starts to grow on her. Other bits grow on her too. Explicit.

Eyes watched her from every corner of the abandoned plant. The first few times she'd spotted the red light, she brought it down with a quick shot. Couldn't hurt to be safe, right? But there were hundreds of the damn cameras. She'd just have to trust that the surveillance system was no longer broadcasting.

And why should it have been? The fabrication plant had been sealed over a decade ago. They didn't want competitors sneaking in to steal their secrets. Exosuit development had been a big deal for a while now.

After ten years, whoever was sitting and watching the feed had to have better things to do.

Marian

Robin Hood fanfic, oh no! Sir Hiss hypno-corrupts Maid Marian. Mature.

Prince John had a gallows grip on the gold coins between his fingers. One wrinkle creased his brow just above his snout. His lip curled, just a little. With each breath, an uneven whine left his throat, like a wet log steaming in a hot fire.

Sir Hiss grinned as ingratiatingly as he could.

"Sssire, you've counted that gold twice already. I think it'sss time sssomeone went to bed," he said.

Prince John didn't look at him. Hiss peeled back the corners of his mouth harder.

"Come now, sssir, you need your beauty sssleep," Hiss said.

Hiss's tail draped across the line of gold rings that Prince John held. He hooked the coins against his tail and tugged. Prince John held on tightly. His mouth stayed closed, though his lip had started to wobble.

Hiss had hoped the prince would have taken rejection better, but there was nothing the lion reacted to pleasantly.

Operative Lost

A government operative is captured, implanted with a parasite, and remodeled into a more profitable form. Explicit.

DATALINKS ACCESS

Authorization key accepted at 0x94f2ee

Enter search term: triple a_

TRIPLE A: Colloquial term referring to Aegis Systems, AeroTech, and Atmos as a single entity. While these companies prefer to be called by their official branding, little effort is made to correct citizens of Canis who use this term. Often used as a stand-in for 'the government', as the government of Canis is run via corporate enterprise. Aegis, AeroTech and Atmos have owned controlling stock in Canis government since 2151 and have provided over five centuries of fair, continuous rule.

The Hyena in the Honeymoon

Dick and Janet have some car trouble, so they stop for help at a mad scientist's home. Explicit.

Janice reached out one paw and switched off the radio. The inside of the car was starting to smell like radiator fluid.

"Are you all right, honey?"

Dick grasped his forehead where a bump was slowly rising against his fingers. "I'm fine—Jesus, that was some kick," he said.

Dick opened the door, climbed out of the driver's seat and popped open the hood of his car to be greeted with a plume of smoke. The tiger stepped back, eyes closed, coughing.

"Looks like the radiator blew. I could fix it, but I'd need some tools."

Janice climbed out of the car and Dick took just a moment to soak her in, lit up by the headlights. From her silky dark bob to her polka dot dress to her frankly fantastic legs, all of the beautiful skunk was his to have and to hold: his brand new wife.

"What are we going to do? We're in the middle of nowhere," Janice said.

Her Best Act

A new mask improves an acrobat's talents and makes her more of a crowd-pleaser. Explicit.

The crowd looked at her and laughed at her and they were all upside-down.

"And if my puns didn't please you, remember a groat is always better than a groan!" Tam said.

She stage-winked and nodded toward the wide open pouch beneath her. There were a couple snickers, a few groans all the same, and some flashes of coins flicking into the depths of the pouch.

Tam unwound her legs from the second-story bannister. Her hands clutched the edge for a pivot and she swung down into a roll, tucked into a ball. Everything pitched around her and she tumbled until the ground was coming up underneath her and she landed, feet-first, arms outstretched, smiling. She was greeted by gentle applause. She kept up the smile until the crowd was breaking up and drifting away into the market and there were no profits to be lost by snatching up her pouch.