Chapter 24 : The Clearing
There isn't a massive upside about having so many siblings. One of them though, is that the older ones are relatively free to do whatever they want on free days. Given the number of small ones to keep an eye on, her parents leave them at peace as long as they get back before dark. When they're not supposed to do chores, that is.
So, making a picnic basket to spend a meal and the afternoon with Gideon has been a fairly common occurrence for the past few weeks.
Of course, those afternoons are mostly spent lazying around, something she would never have thought she'd do before, and making out. The make-out sessions are great, and the tod is proving to be a real gentletod, never overstepping or being too pawsy.
Which is starting to make her lose it.
So, today, she's going to confront him. Not giving him hint, not just opening a couple of his shirt's buttons.
Today, she's going to lose her virginity to Gideon Grey, and nothing is going to stop her… She hopes.
"Usual spot?" The tod asks, as she meets him down the road leading toward Deerbroke. Stopping her bike, she leans to give him a kiss.
"Usual spot." She answers.
The road goes down between wooden meadows, with several sinuous and hidden trays leading to clearings that are great to get privacy. Her favourite one has big rocks and a large comfy moss patch, onto which they usually spread a blanket. There's enough space to lie down and have a nap, or in her opinion, to do more interesting things.
She feels her stomach gurgle as she arrives, and they quickly put down the picnic stuff. Soon she's leaning against him, nibbling on some salad, while he keeps himself from wolfing down his sandwich. She noticed that he avoids eating meat when they're together, and though she wouldn't mind seeing him do so, the after taste in his mouths isn't very pleasant.
"It's almost the end of summer." Judy states.
"Don't remind me." He sighs. "Means I'll have to go to classes again."
"Is it that bad? Do you know how it will be at your new school?"
"I dunno. S'just that bakin' is fun, and sittin' behind a desk ain't."
The doe chuckles. "Maybe… Honestly, before this summer, I always got bored halfway through my vacations."
"Really? I didn't."
"You were always up to mischief."
"Yeah… That's true." He mutters.
That he feels ashamed of how he used to behave shows how much he changed, but it still breaks her heart when she realises he's still beating himself up for it. So, to pull him from this line of thinking, she kisses him.
Then they push away the remnant of their meal and lie down next to each other. His paw roam to her hip, and hers to his face. Eyes closed, she relishes his increasingly heated and exploratory caresses… And then, when it starts getting exciting, when she feels his paws shake, inching away toward her tail, he retreats, and she has to keep herself from groaning and pulling her ears in frustration.
Instead, she shoves her faces into his chest and leaves a trail of kiss up to his chin.
She tries to find the courage to outright ask him, but the word remain stuck in her throat. Asking him for sex feels… Weird. A thought crawls up from the back of her mind. Maybe a bit of teasing would do the trick? Bring them in the mood?
"Hey Gid?"
"Mh?"
"Do you find me attractive?"
"Y-yeah, of course!"
"Really? What do you like about me?"
"D'ya really need me to say it?" He asks, blushing. "I… I like your round face, and your smile, and uh… You have reallly beautiful eyes… Yeah..." The tod can't look at her as he tells her all this, not that he needs to either. He spent a lot of time staring at her the past few months.
"What about my body."
"Jude, come one!" He reacts, pulling his paws away from her.
"I know I'm nothing like a vixen. You're not going to upset me if-"
"It's just really embarassin' talkin' 'bout that." He blurts. "I… I don't want you to think I'm a perv or sumthin'."
"So you do look at me."
"Yeah."
"What about this… I tell you what I like about how you look, and for each thing, you tell me something you like about how I look."
"Uh..."
"For instance, I like your snout."
"Yer not talking about my body." He jokes.
"You want me to start with that?"
"No." Comes his immediate answer. He has never been really self-conscious, but he hadn't really thought of the prospect of dating before… Well, before. Since everyone steered clear of him, he didn't care about their gaze. But now, he doesn't know what to think about his pudgy body. Commonly, predator's beauty standards are lean and athletic, everything that he isn't. Well, he's strong for a fox, he knows that, but he certainly isn't lean. And he has trouble imagining what positive thing she could say about it.
"I like your snout."
"You like me snout."
"Yup."
"Why?"
"I don't know. I just like it." She grins, planting a smooch on it.
"Well I like your ears."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yup."
"Why?"
"The same reason ya like my snout." He grins back.
"Walked right into that one, didn't I?"
They both giggle, and kiss again. "I like your eyes." She whispers. "They're a really pretty blue."
"Yours are… real pretty."
Her paw roam down to his naked forearms. "I like your arms."
"My arms?"
"Yeah, they're strong, and they make me feel safe."
"T-they do?"
"Hm-hm. I really liked how you had rolled up your sleeves at prom on the picture. Made you look so… Hot."
The tod emits a gulp, followed by a short breath intake. "Hot?"
"Very hot." Judy's emboldened by Gideon's shyness. She can also see him shifting his posture, to hide the effect the discussion is having on him.
"Well, erh… I like your fur. It's… I like how it shines, and how soft it is."
His paw seem to hesitate as it brushes her neck and cheek. She leans into it and smiles. "I like yours too. Especially that part." She says, running her fingers under his chin, where red turns to cream. Though she really wants to undo the first button of his shirt, she doesn't dare. Her ears are already burning, and she feels like she's about to explode. "I like your tail. It's so big and fluffy, it makes me want to hug it."
The appendage wags its way between them, and the fox gently grabs it. "Y-ya can touch it… If ya want."
"Are you sure?" She asks, knowing that a fox letting another mammal touch it is a pretty big deal. She did spend time on the internet researching foxes when she realised her feelings for him.
"Y-Yeah. It's fine."
Hesitantly, she reaches and plunges her paw into the puffy fur. She thought the thing would be soft, but her expectations were so far below how it actually feels. She slowly strokes it, taking it the texture. Then she hears a noise, a low rumble. It takes a few seconds for her to identify its sources as the fox's throat. He's intensely looking away, and she can see the blush under his fur.
"Do you want me to stop?"
"N-no."
"Does it feel good?"
"Yeah. I-i-it does." He answers in a small voice. He can feel her paw slowly retreat from his tail, and roaming up to his forearms.
"Do you want to touch mine?"
"Can I?"
"Go ahead."
His thumb and index finger tentatively approach the enticing tuft of white hair. Judy can't help the gasp that escapes her. It's not that pleasurable (though it is, a little), but at this point, he could touch her anywhere and she'd react the same way. "It's very soft." He says.
"Do you know w-what else is soft?" The doe wishes she hadn't stuttered, she wishes she sounded alluring instead of like a frightened teenager.
"What?"
She moves back an inch, and the tod finds himself holding a pawful of bunny rump.
"Ah- Yeah… It is. It's… Firm, though." He mutters, pulling his paw away.
"You can keep you paw here." She states, trying to sound confident, but knowing she's sounding more desperate. "I… I want you to touch me. Do you-" She closes her eyes and slowly exhales, trying to keep her paws from shaking. "Do you want to touch me?"
"Y-yeah."
His paws come back. On her rump, her thighs, her back.
"Wait." The doe utters, making the tod instantly pull back his paws. Then, his eyes widen, as her paws undo the buttons of her shirt.
"You don't have to-"
"I want to."
The pink shirt is discarded, and the fox takes in the sight of her silvery white fur. And then of course, teenage stupidity worms its way back toward them. "You don't wear a bra." He blurts.
"Well, I don't really need one, do I?" She answers, somewhat defensively. As a highly physically active bunny, not being gifted in that department is a boon, but it doesn't stop her from feeling self-conscious about it.
"Sorry." He answers, lowering his gaze. "I didn't mean- I think you look beautiful. Your fur is so soft a-and shiny."
She's not really angry at him. She knows by now that he'll sometimes talk before thinking, and that he wasn't commenting on the size of her breasts, but rather voicing his surprise at the absence of garment. Her paws reach forward, and she open the first button of his shirt, then the second, the third… She wouldn't say that she's into chubby mammals, but somehow, on him, it works well. Too well. Her paw roam through his cream fur, pressing against his soft belly.
"Yeah, I'm a bit fat." He blushes.
"I think it's cute."
"C-cute?"
"Yeah, like you're this strong fox that can be rough and scary, but you're still soft. Plus it makes for comfortable cuddling." Her bare chest presses against his, and he feels his arousal growing.
"Uh… Judy?"
"Mh?"
"Are you… Uh… Sure… I mean, yer kinda young."
"I'm fifteen."
"Yer just fifteen. And I'm seventeen. It's a two and a half years difference. I don't want ya to feel like ya hafta do it with me for me to like ya."
She almost rolls her eyes. Yeah, she's sure. But it would seem the tod won't believe it until she shoves more overwhelming evidence in his face.
His expression turns desperate when she pulls away from him and gets up. Then, her gaze locked on his, she opens her belt, and slowly pulls down her pants. Then her underwear. Despite the warmth of august, she can't help the chill in her back as his eyes roam on her body.
"Woah." Is all he can say.
- 1 -
It's really hard for the two mammals too keep in control their expressions, or their paws to themselves as they push their bikes on the small dirt road. Each time their gazes roam toward each other, they blush and start stupidly smiling. They both wishes this could have gone on for longer, but they know their families will worry if they don't get back before dinner.
Judy's glad that she can hold herself to her bike. Her legs are so wobbly she can barely stand. She could probably ride, but it would mean getting home faster.
She remembers a few of her sisters saying they had cried afterwards, or that it had hurt. Well, it did hurt a little, it was her first time, and the tod's quite gifted… But crying? She feels likes she's floating on a cloud that she won't ever climb down from.
Gideon, for his part, has given up the fight against his smile. He feels sore too, swimming through a warm weariness.
As they reach the town's outskirt, they both stop. "Judy, I-"
"Hey, Gid-"
"You first." He giggles.
Taking a breath, she tries to find the words. Putting her bike down, she walks up to him and hugs him. "I'm happy."
"I'm happy too."
"I was… Kind of worried, you know? That maybe it would hurt, or that I wouldn't like it. Or that you didn't want me."
"Ya can trust me, I want ya. I mean, I'm exhausted, but if ya really wanted..." He trails off, and Judy has half a mind to pull him into a bush and take him up on that offer.
"That wouldn't be reasonable." She states, as evenly as she can.
"Yeah. True. And… I was afraid I was gonna hurt you too. What, with the fangs and claws, and everythin'..."
"Was it good?"
"It was amazin'. It's gonna be hard havin' to wait for four days to see ya again."
"Oh, I hope it's going to be hard." She grins.
"Wha- Oh. Well, lookatcha, Judy Hopps with her mind in the gutter." He laughs.
"You're having a bad influence on me."
"That okay if I don't feel bad about it?"
"It's perfect. I'm… I'm so glad you're my boyfriend." She says, kissing him.
"Think I hit the jackpot wid' that one." He answers. "See ya next week then?"
"Can't wait. I'll text you."
"Not if I text ya first."