SABRINA

a story by

CHRIS YOST

(c) 1998 by Chris Yost. All rights to story content reserved. Characters Sabrina the Skunkette, Amy the Squirrel, and Tammy Vixen (c) Eric W. Schwartz. Character Roxikat (c) John Barrett. Character Thomas Woolfe (c) Michael Higgs. Characters Chris Foxx, Susan Felin, Cindy Lapine, Amy Squirrel, Clarence Skunk, Dexter Collie, Angel Collie, and Wendy Vixxen (c) Chris Yost. All rights to additional characters reserved by their respective owners. Story based on characters and situations created by Eric W. Schwartz.

Sabrina looked up with a smile. "I knew I'd finally get this right," she said.

Chris lay on his back, his arms out at his sides, his eyes rolled back into his head, only able to manage a gurgle. She climbed up and reached over him for her wine, took a drink and swished it around in her mouth, then took another and swallowed. Laying beside Chris she propped herself up on her elbow and toyed with his light brown hair, it and the room lit only by the light of the near-full moon streaming through the open window. "You okay down there?" she asked.

gurgle

Sabrina giggled and bent herself down to kiss him on the mouth. Chris lowered his eyes back to the middle of their sockets and looked up at her, smiling and stretching his arms around her, pulling her close. His kissing tickled her neck and she came close to spilling her wine on him.

"I knew you were okay," she said, kissing his nose. "It's not supposed to be you that passes out."

Chris sat himself up with a tiny moan, bouncing both of them on the water mattress. "Nope, that's your prerogative." He found his glass and the bottle, and emptied it between Sabrina and himself.

He tinked his glass against hers. "To you, beautiful."

Sabrina blushed lightly. She leaned up and kissed Chris on the cheek. They each sipped, Sabrina looking over the rim of her glass at Chris as she did. Chris handed her the plate, and she took one of the remaining tidbits of cheese.

Chris held on to his glass with both hands. "I'd suggest we take a shower," he said, "but I don't have the energy to get up."

Sabrina nibbled at her cheese. "We can shower tomorrow," she said. Then she looked at the clock on the headboard. "Jeepers, it is tomorrow!"

"Yeah, but look at my fur ... our fur ... it's all ..."

"I think you got the worst of it," Sabrina laughed. She took a cheese cube and placed it in Chris' mouth. "I'm told that kind of thing happens," she finished.

Chris chewed thoughtfully. Then, "And who's telling you these things, pray tell?"

Blush!

"Wellllllllllllllll ... "

Chris lowered his head and raised his eyes at her.

"I, uh, well ... " Sabrina began to stammer. "I, ummm, never told you about my new job ... "

" ....... yes?"

You knew you'd have to tell him sooner or later! Sabrina began to tremble. "Chris," She was forcing her words. "Chris, please tell me you won't leave me! I love you so very much, please don't hate me or leave me or ... "

"Kitten!" Chris brought Sabrina close to his chest, holding her, stroking her soft white hair. "Kitten, you're starting to scare me ... "

"Scare you? Chris, I hid this from you as long as I could. I knew I shouldn't have, but it's all just for the comic, honest! And the money's really good, it really is!"

"Kit-ten," Chris hugged Sabrina as tightly as he could. "You're killing people, aren't you?"

smirk! "Not exactly."

Chris lifted Sabrina's head from his shoulder. "Whatever it is, I'm not going anywhere. You can't get rid of me that easily, I promise you."

Sabrina sniffled, and turned her head slightly away. "I'm ... I'm worfmypnsdomfm." she said into her hand brushing over her mouth.

Chris took her hands in his. "S'cuse me?"

She took a deep breath. Well, it was fun while it lasted. She straightened her back, and tried to meet Chris' eyes, but couldn't. "I work for a porn studio."

Chris gently rested his forehead on Sabrina's. Then he lifted it, turned his head sideways, shook it, straightened it, looked back at her. "I'm sorry?" he asked.

Sabrina raised her head completely up now, but still couldn't make eye contact. "I work for an adult film studio in West Columbus."

Chris rested his forehead on Sabrina's again. He smiled gently. Then smirked. Then giggled, which led into laughter. "You??" Sabrina looked up at him, shocked at his reaction! "You're working for a company that makes dirty movies??"

Watching her boyfriend laughing out loud took every apprehension away! "I'm not in front of the camera!" she explained quickly. "I'm doing a website for them, and I'm doing the cover art for their video boxes and magazine ads. It's creepy sometimes, but it pays really well. I can quit! I can call and quit tomorrow!"

She felt Chris hug her tight, then release her and go into fits of laughter again. "My little wide-eyed innocent Sabrina, working for an adult movie studio!" His laughing started to die down to a more polite level. He wiped a tear from his eye. "I'm sorry, Kitten," he said, "this is just too funny."

"I thought you'd be furious!" Sabrina said, sighing hard with intense relief. "You're so straight and conservative and all." She started laughing herself. "Amy laughed herself silly; I thought you'd never want to see me again."

"Oh, no, Kitten. I told you, you can't get rid of me that easy." Chris cleared his throat and pointed across the room. "Turn on the lamp, and open my bottom drawer."

Sabrina looked inquisitively at Chris, then climbed off the foot of the bed, touched the lamp to turn the bulb on its lowest setting, and opened his drawer.

"Right hand side, lift the sweaters."

Sabrina did, and now it was her turn to be surprised! She removed two videotapes, the boxes they were in had a large picture in the center of the cover, against a white and black diagonal tiger stripe motif. She turned the tapes to look at the spine, read the titles, and saw the ZZ logo at the bottom.

"This is the company!" She looked up at Chris, wide-mouthed.

"See?" Chris said. "I thought you'd lose all respect for me if you saw those."

"I don't believe you thought I'd -- " Sabrina turned them back to the front and actually saw the picture on the top cassette box, then looked at the other, and looked up at Chris with a tight smirk. "And you told me you did that just to keep my tail down!"

a-heh! "Well, it worked, didn't it?"

"Why you ... !"

"You not saying you didn't like it now, are you?" Chris winked at her.

Twitching her nose, "No, I'm not saying that."

Chris opened his arms. "Turn the light off and c'mere, Kitten."

Sabrina grinned, delighted to be rid of her nervousness. She set the tapes back on top of the sweaters, touched the lamp until the only light again came from the moon outside, and climbed back onto the water mattress and into Chris's waiting arms. Avoiding the magic little spots as much as they could, they laid back on the bed and cuddled. Sabrina kissed her lover. "I love you."

Chris smiled wide. "I love you, Kitten." And they kissed. And cuddled, Chris' arm around Sabrina. She yawned first, then Chris followed. Another kiss, and they just lay together.

Chris fell asleep first. Sabrina, as she liked to do, watched him sleep; she watched him for several minutes. She smiled, twirled and played with a few of his chest hairs. But tonight she saw him in a different light; not that of a handsome fox, nor of a lover. Rather that of an understanding, wonderful man who obviously loved her every ounce as much as she loved him. Adjusting herself closer, she laid her head next to his shoulder, still wrapped in his arm, and drifted off to sleep herself.

Chris read his magazine on the couch, his feet up on the coffee table, his necktie undone and still hanging around his neck. Sabrina sat beside him, turning off the TV and setting the remote down. She smacked his feet. "Don't put those on the coffee table!" she scolded.

Chris slid a hand over to Sabrina's leg and made her jump when he gently squeezed her lower thigh. "They're clean," he said. "Remember, we don't wear shoes."

"That's not the point. We may want to have coffee on it someday."

Chris lifted his eyes from his computer magazine and shifted them toward his wife, shrugged, and swung his legs onto her lap. Sabrina pursed her lips and grinned, Chris returned it and went back to his magazine until Sabrina started tickling the soles of his feet.

Yip! Dropping his magazine to the floor Chris swung his legs out of the way and pounced! "You will, will you?" he said as Sabrina tried desperately to protect her sides and armpits, and attack Chris at the same time. They tickled at each other until Chris' hands slipped and he landed on top of the poor girl, pinning her hands down.

"Be careful!" Sabrina warned. "This is what started everything, remember!"

Chris rubbed his black nose over Sabrina's pink one. "I remember, Kitten. The only difference is we were naked and wet, and we were at Thomas and Amy's apartment."

A tiny cry caught their attention. They looked at the pile of blocks and small toys in the middle of the floor. Samantha was starting to fuss. Darrin was looking at her and offering her a block. Samantha wanted nothing to do with it and tried to bat at it; her fussing turned into crying. With a stream of jabber Darrin dropped it and went back to his building, getting three blocks stacked, then the fourth tumbled them down.

Sabrina looked up at Chris, and gave him a kiss. "Duty calls." Once freed she got one last tickle in before she slid off the couch and picked Samantha up. "Pheeeeeeeeew!" She bounced her as she carried her to the table. "I know you're a skunk, Sam, but even I never smelled that bad." She stopped in the doorway and turned their daughter around. "Can you believe such a bushy tail on a skunk?" she said.

"It's in the genes," Chris called back, laying down on the floor and handing a block to Darrin. "Looks come from you, fur comes from me."

Sabrina walked into the next room and laid Samantha on a changing pad. "Then when is her twin brother going to get the white stripe down his back?"

"He doesn't need it. Try sneaking up on him sometime! He swings that tail up awfully quick."

While Sabrina undid Samantha's diaper, Chris tickled Darrin's belly. "Who's a good boy then?" Darrin giggled, threw the block, and nailed Chris square between the ears.

"Ow!"

Sabrina peeked into the living room from the dining room table where Samantha lay long enough to see Chris rubbing his head. She opened the diaper and ... well, you know diapers and all ...

"Phew! Samantha made a gift for Daddy!"

"Hey, 'brina!" Chris yelled. "I'm not that easy to shop for!" Conk! "Ow!"

Darrin nailed him with another block. Chris looked at him sternly. Darrin looked at Daddy, opened his arms and flexed his fingers. Shaking his head and smiling, Chris picked him up. "That's a no-no, Darrin. No-no." Then he caught a whiff of his diaper! "So's that.

"Hey, Kitten," Chris said, setting Darrin beside his twin sister, "remember when you asked when Darrin's going to show some skunk-like traits?" He squeezed his nostrils closed and turned his head away.

"No worse than mine," Sabrina said as she handed him the talcum powder. Chris unsnapped the playsuit, then undid the diaper and slid it out. "Wow," he said, hefting it. "When the box says 10 to 15 pounds, they know that's all these things'll hold!"

"Remember when they didn't have any odor?" Sabrina asked. She fastened the new diaper around Samantha.

Chris nodded. "I remember before you weaned them I used to get the leftovers."

Sabrina snatched back the powder and squeezed a puff over Chris' head. Samantha was kicking her legs and gurgling. Darrin laid still and watched while Chris waved his hand and fanned the cloud back in Sabrina's direction.

"Boy, isn't it getting bright in here?" Sabrina asked.

The daylight was definitely getting brighter. Chris nodded in agreement. He folded up Darrin's used diaper and wrapped the tapes around to close it. The room brightened even more, until Chris was forced to open his eyes. He moaned out loud, then smiled as he rolled onto his front and slid his left arm over to wake his girlfriend.

Chris started. Sabrina's side of the bed was empty! Like a shot Chris grabbed his glasses, climbed out of bed and looked in the bathroom, then ran straight through and to the kitchen.

He stopped himself by grabbing the doorframe. Sabrina sat at the kitchen table in her blue bathrobe, holding a cup of coffee. She straightened her posture and smiled a sleepy smile. "Good morning," she said.

Chris couldn't hide his sigh. He ran his paw through his morning hair and returned her smile. "Good morning."

Sabrina leaned back for the coffee pot and filled the extra mug on the table, keeping one eye on Chris and fighting to hold the pot still as she poured. "You looked so peaceful, I hated the thought of waking you. Sleep well?"

Chris found the milk in the refrigerator and sat down. "Sure did. Been getting some incredible dreams lately."

"You too?" Sabrina slid the cup to Chris. "I never slept so well in my life." She took another sip of coffee. "It must be the air out here," she said, and winked at Chris.

Chris grinned and nodded. "That, or the magnum of wine you helped put away, and what in the world?? " He got up for a teaspoon, and looked at the sink rack full of wet dishes and silverware. "Kitten, you did my dishes?"

"Well, they needed done," Sabrina explained. "If you'd still be asleep I might've tackled your refrigerator, too. How old is that Chinese food in there, anyway?"

Chris looked over at the fridge with the clean door. "Don't diss my science project. Another year and it can vote." Chris sat down and opened his sugarbowl. Wait, I have a sugarbowl? "You're not here to do my housework, Sabrina. You're here to relax and enjoy yourself."

"I know," Sabrina said, "but I couldn't stop myself. I told you, you need a woman's touch here." She pointed to the small area of wall above the door. "And how in the world did you get food up there?"

Chris looked up -- When did I do that?! "Uhm, it was like that when I moved in?"

"Oh, it was not!"

"Of course it was." Chris stirred his coffee. "I don't even like zucchini."

"It's orange," Sabrina noticed.

"It wasn't when it went up there."

Sabrina made a disgusting face that almost made coffee come out Chris' nose when he stifled his laugh. He brushed the drops out of his chest fur. "You hungry?" he asked. "I've got something breakfast-related ... somewhere ... I'm sure ..."

"Well," Sabrina set her coffee mug down, "if you're game, I can try making breakfast. I mean, I'm not great, but I can use the practice."

"And on your boyfriend? Sabrina!"

"Hey, you liked my lasagna!" Then she remembered she didn't make it. "Well, you liked my salad."

Chris squeezed her paw with his free hand. "I'm just teasing you, Kitten."

"I know," Sabrina smiled. "Well, I can make hard boiled eggs."

Chris raised his eyes over his mug and nodded.

"Uh, any idea how long you boil them?"

Chris shook his head. "Not a clue. But, I don't think I have any meat by-products to go with 'em anyway."

"You bachelors." Sabrina got up and walked over to Chris, sitting on his lap facing him, her dressing gown draped over his knees. "How do you survive by yourselves?"

She felt Chris wrap his arms around her waist. "We stay pre-occupied with pretty girls and eat our weight in chicken wings in sports bars. Trouble is, I only know one pretty girl and she's all I think about."

"Oh really?" Sabrina settled herself higher on his lap and slid his glasses down his nose and off. "Does she live around here?" she asked.

Chris adjusted her weight on his lap. "I hope she will one day." Ask her, you idiot!

Sabrina let her eyeglasses drop lower on her nose. Her big blue eyes rose above them and scattered Chris' thoughts, giving him nice new ones. "You never did tell me how you learned to keep your tail down," Chris said.

"Remember who I work for." Sabrina squealed behind the kiss she gave Chris, and adjusted herself higher again, and down.