Author's note: This is a proof of concept for a counterpart to the Wings AU I came up with: the Tails AU! Although of course anyone who decides to write another one of these, either for Little Shop or another property, can adjust things as they'd like, here everyone in the world can have any kind of mammal tail, scaled in size to their body, but most people, like 90%, have a dog tail. People semi-instinctively move their tail in the same way the species that type of tail comes from does, and it is the primary mode of emotional expression, with facial expressions and other body language being secondary and mostly serving to compliment it. Everyone knows how to read dog tails, since they are the majority, but people with other kinds of tails generally only experience that same ease of people knowing how to read their emotional expression from those who are close enough to them to have learned how to read their tails, people who have learned how to read many kinds of tails for purposes such as being a salesman, and those in their own and other tail subcommunities. They have a much harder time navigating society and tend to be stereotyped as weird and emotionally volatile due to the sometimes disastrous effects of people seriously misjudging their emotions. Here, Audrey has a dalmatian tail, and Seymour has a rabbit tail.
Was this actually happening? Was she dreaming? Was she really here with Seymour, sweet, considerate Seymour, his strong arms oh so sweetly wrapped around her while his hands caressed her back, kissing him with a physical and emotional closeness she'd dreamed of since the day she came to work at Mushnik's Skid Row Florists, that she never would have thought she'd be able to have with someone like him with her past being... what it was? Audrey felt the intense wagging of her tail, more intense that she had ever thought it could be with where she was and what she'd done, so intense that it almost scared her drop off slowly but steadily as her haunting, near omnipresent awareness of why exactly she had very reasonably thought that she could never deserve or be with him, of why he had probably misunderstood something after she hadn't explained the terrible life she'd led right, or his low self image from Mr. Mushnik's cruel treatment of him had gotten to the point that he was trying to be okay with being with a scatterbrain slut who only a short time ago could've been bought instead of a nice girl he didn't know he deserved, or what she had said just hadn't caught up to him yet and he'd be rightfully disgusted by the thought of how many men had come before him and the fact that she hadn't done anything to stop them later, or any of the other possibilities that were more likely by many orders of magnitude than her being loved for who she was.
Seymour had noticed her dropping mood and tail, Audrey realized, and was looking at her with misplaced concern in his face, as well as... anxiety? Guilt? Fear? He was so much more expressive with his face than most people, having to compensate for losing his tail to some kind of childhood freak accident or congenital birth defect or something else, she hadn't pried because it understandably seemed to be a painful subject for him, and it wasn't pleasant for her to think about something bad happening to him and making it that much harder for him to gain his bearings in this cruel place either. Usually facial expressions were inherently less interesting than tail movements, less in depth and varied and not able to even approach the heights of weaving a tapestry of emotion both purposefully conveyed and instinctively expressed, but with him she very often found herself getting lost in the complexity and intrigue of what would in anyone else be a lesser instrument. With her extensive, fortunately gained prior experience, she knew that this emotional state wasn't unusual for him, but why should he be the one that's nervous now? He hadn't flagrantly disobeyed laws both literal and moral. ...Unless Orin's mysterious disappearance had really been... no, why would anyone go to such lengths to help and protect her? "Audrey? Are you okay?"
Audrey brought her tail back into its neutral position, well practiced ever since she had unfortunately started dating a man with extensive skill at tail reading and immense, semi sadistic interest in capitalizing on anything that could even potentially be construed as a sign of weakness or disobedience or pain in it. With that done, she forced back a sigh and probably tears, even though she hadn't been able to do the latter earlier, before he'd followed her into this alley and rocked her world like no one else had, and made a decision that was more of a desperate, instinctual grab for any more of this sheer happiness and care and understanding that she had somehow temporarily been made privy to that she could get before it inevitably crashed and burned as all things did for her. Audrey tightened her hold on him, moving even closer to him so that her head was resting on his shoulder and she couldn't see any of the agonizing emotions that would probably be on his face during this conversation that was bound to be horrifically painful but was still necessary, where she would figure out what had gone wrong for her to be in her wrongfully gained place in his arms like this and fix it so he could go live his well deserved nice life with a nice girl. She savored the feeling of him, the support and kindness and sweet understanding still being extended to her for some reason, and draped her arms lower, to about where his were on her... Wait, what was that?
She felt some kind of... bulge? Even though her hands were on his lower back, not anywhere near his front, and he didn't have a tail? Audrey felt her hand almost instinctively drift lower, underneath his pants now... this would normally be way too inappropriately intimate, but, well, they were certainly well past that at least for the time being, and felt something... really appealingly fluffy and soft, warm and comforting just like him, and flicking a little, puffed up and slightly lowered. He did have a tail? She felt the wagging of her own pick back up slightly in emotional contagion from the puffing up of his and the comfort she derived from it, even though she was normally much better than that at keeping it in the unsettling neutral position Orin's was almost always in save for during their... activities behind closed doors... usually behind closed doors... thanks to him, and the wags quickly transitioned to short, anxious ones as his suddenly dropped hard and he tensed up. Audrey hesitantly pulled away from him slightly after a moment, searching his face and finding about the same emotions as before there, but worse and with added apprehension. ...Why did he feel that way; he hadn't done anything wrong, far from it! "You have a tail?" Seymour averted his gaze from her after a pause, running a hand along his neck awkwardly. "...Uh... yeah, it's a rabbit tail... Mr. Mushnik told me to hide it because it's even worse for business than the rest of me..."
Sympathy for him and anger towards the man who had somehow dared to make him feel like he was anything less than amazing flashed through her, and she wished that Seymour... that both of them, frankly... wouldn't have to deal with him anymore. She felt her tail raise, arching towards him, which only made the maelstrom of negative emotions in his face worse, so she took his hands in hers, calming him down slightly. "He shouldn't have told you that; anyone who would think less of you for it isn't worth your time." He seemed genuinely surprised by her very reasonable observation, hopeful and almost a little... awed? "...You mean, you don't think less of me for it?" Audrey squeezed his hands reassuringly. "Why would I? It's really..." She felt her tail wag slightly. "Cute. You don't..." She hesitated for a moment, her tail drooping in nervous anticipation that was then mostly abated as she saw how flustered she had just made him. "You don't think less of me for my past?" Audrey wasn't feeling... as... fearful about how true and justified Seymour's feelings towards her were now that she had tangibly felt them in her hand, but this check in could still go badly... He looked at her with palpable, unmistakeable, heart aching love, hesitating for a moment before gently pulling her back into his arms, and she gripped him back tightly, running a hand along his back while he and the love and gratitude he inspired in her drove her tail wagging wild. "Why would I? You're still Audrey." She felt her eyes water and let it happen this time, feeling safe in her assurance that he wouldn't pounce on it and use it to hurt her or be unduly negatively affected by it, and dropped her hand further down, feeling that his tail was even more puffed up than before and still flicking.