His face was slim and his shoulders probably were narrower than Acarni’s A loud, desperate scream escaped his mouth and he slammed his hands against the sink of the bathroom over and over again until he accidental hit the water tab and a slight “crack” could be heard coming from his left hand.

It wasn't until now that Acarni intervened again.

“Shhh, Reso.” she whispered when she hugged his back and pulled him away from the mirror. “Stop hurting yourself.”

Reso looked down on himself. Her smell calmed him just like her touch and her presence did. Perhaps the only reason why he was not completely freaking out right now. While a numbly painful pulsing started spreading in his bleeding left hand, his right hand moved back, behind himself until he could touch the back of Acarni’s neck, where he could feel the soothing comfort of her short, fur-like hair. His hand slowly moved up the back of her head while her auburn eyes carefully observed every inch of his movements, until they crawled below her hat and felt these ears. These beautiful and exotic ears whose very existence was a mystery to them both. He carefully plucked the hat of her head, revealing the red-orange fox ears she held hidden below it.

With an expression of pure, gentle trust she allowed him to do it. Others had tried to steal the head from her head and it usually ended in them getting beaten up severely enough to warrant a hospitals visit. As far as Reso knew he was the only one who was even allowed to touch her in this way and if gave him this weird feeling of intimacy to her.

He closed his eyes and gently pushed the back of her head forwards until her strange, deformed nose was touching his neck. For a slight moment, Reso felt legitimately calmed, soothed by her hands running over his bare upper body, but then the anxiety demanded a vent again. Demanding he turned and grabbed her chin, pressing his lips onto hers.

His hands ran down her body opening the buttons of her suit, while he kept their lips locked into each other, but when she only had one button left she gently stopped his hands and said: “Let me lock the door. I cannot show this body to anyone but you.”

Reso nodded slowly and forced himself to let go off her. A smirk played around her lips as she picked her hat up from the sink and skilfully placed it over her ears again. Then she walked to the doors room and locked it before walking over to the widows. On her way there she discarded one clothing item after the other, revealing her ridiculously trained body before fully closing the window-shutters as well. A dark twilight spread inside of the room and allowed her to look fascinatingly graceful as she walked back towards him. With the ease of a weightlifter she raised Reso from his feet into the air and dropped him onto the bed before climbing after him. It seemed clear not only Reso needed to blow off steam after this announcement, Acarni was just better at maintaining a poker face.

What would happen to her?, she wondered. To this be beautiful thing between them? This unique connection that rewarded both of them with a shoulder they could lean on, when the pressure of being an outcast became too big? Neither she nor Reso had to care about these things, if they made love.

And even if it just prolonged the inevitable moment, in which they both had to confront the new situation, for now it just felt great to feel his nervous fingers pull her clothes off her body and reveal her hazelnut-coloured skin, that was interrupted her reddish fur in some places.

Yes, she knew she was freak with this, but he accepted her as what she was and this was enough for her to accept him for what he was.

She left out a suppressed moan as she sat down on top of him embracing his upper body with her strong arms. If she wanted, she could've probably just crushed his bones with her raw strengths and he knew that. It was part of the thrill for them. This was mainly attributable to Acarni’s preferences as she had been much more experienced when they started their relationship. Perhaps even Acarnis species played a role in this, but it was an interesting game to have in bed and so it was kind of the default way to do it for them. But it seemed like Reso had different plans this time, as he reached down to Acarni’s short, bushy tail, signalling her to lie down on her back. She grinned and pinned him down even rougher, bending over for another passionate kiss. They stayed liked this for a while, loving each other with an intensity that kept them in the present and stopped them from worrying about the future. At the peak of their ecstasy Acarni had to bite into the pillow to stop herself from getting loud enough to be heard in the floor, just outside of Resos room..

In the end they laid next to each other, enjoying the afterglow of their passion. Unfortunately it lasted only incredibly shortly with their worries constantly dragging them back into reality. Bad thoughts were coming for them, no matter what they did to suppress them. For a brief moment Acarni tried to initiate a second round by pressing her lips onto Resos neck but it got quickly clear that he wasn't in the mood anymore.

“I don't want this to end.” Reso opened the conversation.

“Me neither.” Acarni responded. “But your father’s message was pretty clear. You're going to marry a rich American girl. And... well... let's be honest she is way out of my league.”

“As if...” Reso snorted, stroking the space between the fox-like ears on her head. It felt eerily comfortable to her when he did this. She didn't exactly have much experience with people touching these “inhuman” parts of her, so it always made her nervous when someone did who wasn't Reso. Yet, in his case this nervousness was a positive tingling in her belly.

“Reso...” she said with a heavy weight on her chest. “We both knew this couldn't last forever. You are the son of the secretary of state... one of the Oligarch’s ruling this country. And I'm not even a human. There are literal laws that prevent us from ever being official with this.”

“You deserve better than m.” Reso responded with a sigh. “You deserve someone who can keep up with a woman like you. But for some reason you decided to start this... thing with me. And I'm not throwing it away.”

He sat up from her arm looking towards the locked door.

“But your Dad...”; Acarni tried to explain, sitting up next to him.

“Fuck my Dad.” Reso stated with the sulky tone of a pissed off teenager. “I won't go to that dinner.”

“I don't think, he will accept a ‘no’ though, when he comes to call you for dinner.” Acarni gave her opinion with a depressing bitterness in her tone. “And I don't want this to escalate. Who knows what he might do to you if you ruin this for him? If he tries to hurt you, I won't hold myself back.”

You are right...” Reso said resolute. “Then we won't be here when the whole fancy bullshit starts. We're making an excursion, just like my father did, when I invited him to my school performances as a child.”

Acarni had the feeling this was not a good idea at all, but she wasn't in the position to contradict him. All she said was: “Reso... I know you are mad, but please be aware that such a faux pas will have consequences.”

“I know... and I don't care. My father doesn't own me.”, he said, rubbing his still hurting left hand and picking up his clothes. “We're heading out at two pm. That's too early for the security to keep me in. Be ready.”

Acarni nodded, slowly and with a bad feeling in her chest. But she nodded.

“Where are we even going?” she asked him.

“I don't know.” Reso responded spontaneously, really thinking the whole thing through for the first time now. “What about the Neotonic district? That's going to be fun.”