Some time later, Vicki and Christine went up to Christine's room to be alone and chat. 

     They entered the room and Christine closed the door behind them. 

     "Ah, alone at last," said Vicki, happily. 

     "Were you really looking forward to being alone with me?" asked Christine. 

     "Of course," said Vicki.  "You're my new girl friend.  I don't have too many girl friends I can share my wickedness with."

     "Wickedness?" asked Christine.  "But you're such a sweet fox."

     "Oh, you know what I mean," said Vicki.  "You asked me yourself if I was naughty.  Well, I'm a very naughty fox.  And you're naughty in the same way, aren't you?"

     "Oh, I'm very naughty," said Christine.  "And if you're not careful you'll find out just how naughty I can be."

     "But that's what I want," said Vicki.  "I want to talk to you about boys.  I want you to tell me about the males of your planet, and what kinds of fun you've had with them."

     "I'm sure you wouldn't find the males of my planet very interesting," said Christine.  "They seem so mundane next to your males."

     "Oh, no," said Vicki.  "I was fascinated by what you said before about their 'sex' organs being on the outside where you can always see them."

     "Vicki, you said sex," said Christine. 

     "Uh, huh," Vicki nodded.  "It's perfectly proper to use that word in reference to your people.  You said it yourself.  My people yiff.  Your people have sex."

     Then Vicki leaned towards Christine, her eyes widened with the intensity of her interest as she asked in a lustful tone, "What's it like?"

     "You want me to tell you about sex?" asked Christine, as if not understanding what possible interest the subject could hold. 

     "Well, I told you about yiffing," said Vicki, in a cute pleading voice.  "It's only fair.  Please, just tell me about the best sexual experience you ever had."

     Christine sat down on the bed and tried to think of a really great sexual encounter to tell Vicki about.  But she had not had a really great sex life.  She had never even had a steady partner for any length of time.  So she contemplated making up a lie about the perfect dream sex she had never actually experienced.  But she really didn't feel like deceiving her new best friend. 

     "I never had a sexual experience that I can talk about in the glowing terms you used when you talked about what Perry does for you," said Christine, regretfully. 

     "But surely you've had sex," said Vicki. 

     "Sure I have," said Christine.  "I was a touring musician in my world.  Any time I got horny I could just reach out and grab a roadie to service me.  Guess that's not so different from what you're people do.  But I always hoped for a true love of my own.  And I thought I'd finally found him.  But the guy I fell in love with wouldn't think of me that way."

     "He didn't love you back?" asked Vicki. 

     "Yes, he loved me," said Christine.  "But he just seemed to have no interest in sex.  His mind was always on a higher plain.  He had little care for the pleasures of the physical."

     "Sounds like a pretty boring guy," said Vicki.  "What did you see in him?"

     "The same thing I see in you," said Christine.  "A talking animal, like I used to see in my fantasies.  When I met him he was a deer.  Then he turned himself into a human and came to live with me.  And he was to die for gorgeous in his human form."

     "I didn't know pure animals could turn into humans," said Vicki, curiously. 

     "Rael was special," said Christine.  "He was an Omman Knight of sorts.  He had incredible magical powers.  He could turn himself into anything he wanted to be."

     "Christine," said Vicki, suspiciously.  "You're not trying to pawn off a fantasy on me, are you?"

     "No, Rael was no fantasy," said Christine.  "He's the romantic obsession of my life.  He was kind, patient, thoughtful, artistic, philosophical, immortal, magical.  I wouldn't even venture to fantasize a guy as perfect as him.  Sex was his only flaw.  When it came to sex he remained a deer - only wanting it once a friggin year."

     "How frustrating that must have been for you," said Vicki.  "Didn't he sense your need?"

     "I don't know if he did or not," said Christine.  "I've been throwing myself at him shamelessly ever since he came to live with me.  But he only responded with non-sexual affection.  Still, what does that matter now? I've lost him for sure.  I've lost everything - my family, my world, my time.  It's all gone, and here I am in this strange place, never even to know what became of them."

     Vicki sat down on the bed and put her hand on Christine's shoulder to show her sympathy. 

     "Do you want to go home, Christine?" asked Vicki, as though it pained her to think of losing her new best friend. 

     "Let me see," said Christine thoughtfully.  "Do I want to go home to a scary house full of ghosts, a father who's a homicidal animated statue, my grandfather who's having an illicit relationship with a fairy, my niece who keeps dredging up my painful past and forcing me to face it, my cousin who married a witch and brought her home to live with us, my other cousin the vampire, and all the government officials who'd pay any price to see me dead? Do I want to go back to all that? Or do I want to stay here and run around naked with the talking foxes and puppy dogs?"

     "What kind of world do you come from?" asked Vicki, bemused by the shocking portrait Christine was painting of her home life. 

     "I suppose in some ways it's a very nice world," said Christine, reflectively.  "It must be, if there are nice people like Rael in it who would waste their time on a worthless hypocrite like me.  Still, if you were to try to force me to go home, I'd strip off all my clothes and walk out naked into the street to show you how badly I wanted to stay."

     "Well, you don't have to walk out in the street just yet," said Vicki.  "But the taking off all your clothes part is a good idea.  After all, we're alone here.  And we have this nice big bed to stretch out on.  Why don't you lose those garments and get cozy with me?"

     "You really are serious about making me become a nudist, aren't you?" said Christine. 

     "I'm concerned about you, Christine," said Vicki, sincerely.  "We all are.  You're not going to want to be stuck in this house forever.  Sooner or later you'll have to give up wearing clothes.  You understand that, don't you?"

     "I guess I do," said Christine, sadly.  "But, the thought is just unbearable.  Here I am with the paradise I've always dreamed of within my very grasp.  And this stupid human conditioning is keeping me from reaching it."

     "Perry asked me to help you with that," Vicki confessed. 

     "He did?" asked Christine. 

     "Yes," said Vicki.  "You see, we don't know too much about how the elder race of humans were, except what we see in the art they left behind.  From that we know that they wore clothes almost all the time, and that, for some reason we can't understand, they were ashamed of their bodies.  But there are some pictures that show females in situations where they didn't wear clothes, like in saunas and public baths and things."

     "Oh, I know what you mean," said Christine. 

     "So, from that we gather, " Vicki continued.  "That pure humans don't feel the need to wear clothes around people of the same gender."

     "That's true," said Christine.  "There's no reason at all why I should be bothered by you seeing me without clothes."

     "Perry thought that, if you could get used to being without your clothes around me, you might eventually get used to being without them all together," said Vicki. 

     "That was a good idea of his," said Christine.  "And now that I think about it, it's not just people of the same gender we don't mind being nude around.  Humans like me aren't shy around animals, either.  You guys say you're human, but I don't see you that way.  To me you're a fox, and Perry is a dog.  I shouldn't be shy like this around you, but for some reason I am."

     "Tell me, is it true that the real animals we're made from couldn't talk or think?" asked Vicki. 

     "Not in the sense that you and I are talking right now," said Christine.  "They had their own kind of language, as well as their own way of thinking.  But it was invisible to most humans."

     "So, even if they were judgmental of how you looked without your clothes," Vicki surmised.  "It didn't matter because they weren't in a position to criticize you."

     "That was true of most humans, but not necessarily for me," said Christine.  "You see, I have a special gift that allows me to communicate with them."

     "So you knew what they were thinking when they watched you undress?" asked Vicki. 

     "If they thought anything about it at all it was that I was silly for hanging rags over my body," said Christine.  "They tended to prefer me au natural.  And I was naughty because I enjoyed that."

     "That's just how we feel, you know," said Vicki.  "You're a beautiful being.  We want to see you and know you and love you for who you are.  We're sad that you hide your true self from us."

     "My true self," Christine mused.  "I wish I understood my true self.  Vicki, don't you think I've been awfully silly and foolish since I came here?"

     "Well, yes," Vicki admitted. 

     "The real me isn't like that," said Christine.  "Why can't I be who I truly am?"

     "Because you're always acting - playing a part," said Vicki.  "I can't imagine why you would want to play the bitch or the fool.  We all sense how intelligent, kind and loving you are.  That's why we're so patient with you.  We know the real you that you hide, and we love her."

     "So you see right through me," said Christine.  "My soul is bared to you whether I want it to be or not.  What difference can it make if you see my body, then?"

     "If it helps you," Vicki suggested.  "I don't mind if you think of me purely as a fox.  I don't need you to acknowledge me as a human being.  Just please don't let Perry hear you call him a dog anymore.  He's a properly bred Elysian Spaniel, and on our planet that's very rare.  He's used to people regarding him as something special.  To call him a dog, especially in a negative tone, is very hurtful to him."

     "Poor Perry," said Christine, regretfully. "I didn't mean to hurt him so bad.  I had no idea guys on this planet were so sensitive."

     "Perry is more sensitive than most," said Vicki.  "And more fragile.  If you'll take off your clothes and lie down with me, I'll tell you his story like I promised I would."

     "Alright," said Christine, as she stood up and began to undress.  "But I hope you know I'm bisexual."

     "Bisexual?" asked Vicki.  "I have no idea what that word means."

     "It means I have a tendency to love both boys and girls," said Christine. 

     "That's perfectly normal in this world," said Vicki.  "Besides, I already know that you love me."

     "Can everyone on your planet sense such things?" asked Christine. 

     "Of course," said Vicki.  "We can always sense how people feel about us.  Like for instance, I know how much you like the feel of my fur.  Every time I touch you, you send a little pleasure signal into the air.  And it's very pleasing for me to receive that signal and know that I gave you a nice feeling.  That's why I want you to lie down here with me without your clothes.  When you can feel my fur over your whole body, you'll be very relaxed and content."

     "Well," said Christine as she discarded her last piece of clothing.  "Now I've got an even better reason for not minding being naked with you," said Christine. 

     "Really, what's that?" asked Vicki. 

     "I think I've just accepted you as a lover," said Christine. 

     Vicki giggled and hopped up off the bed to give the now naked Christine a once over.  And after a moment it became apparent that she was troubled by what she saw. 

     "What's the matter?" asked Christine in a worried tone.  "Don't you like my body?"

     "I love your body," said Vicki.  "It's gorgeous.  But it's so impractical.  I know mice whose bodies are less vulnerable than yours.  Gravity will take its toll on your breasts if you don't have something to hold them up.  You're genital region is unnaturally exposed.  And you have no pads on your feet.  I'm sorry I didn't believe you.  You were right.  You do need to wear clothes."

     "Oh, thank Ra," sighed Christine in relief.  "I'm so glad you understand that, finally."

     "I suppose we're just going to have to treat you like you're pregnant," said Vicki.  "A pregnancy outfit would fix everything, except for your feet.  But I'm sure Perry could figure out a way to make you some stick on pads."

     "I wish I'd had time to pack," said Christine.  "I'd be good to go with a bathing suit and sandals."

     "Well, we still can't let you be seen in the clothes you brought with you," said Vicki.  "You should stay naked until we figure out what to do with you."

     Christine let out a sob and started to shed tears. 

     "Awe, Christine, don't cry," said Vicki, lovingly, as she took Christine into her arms and began to pet her consolingly.  "Hush now.  It'll be alright.  Trust me."

     "So soft," sighed Christine as she put her arms around Vicki and held her close. 

     Vicki smiled and let out a contented sigh as she enjoyed Christine's appreciation of her fur. 

     After a moment Vicki towed Christine over to the bed.  They stretched out beside each other and got comfortable. 

     Then Vicki leaned over and touched Christine's face with her paw-like hand, and once again Christine drank in the softness of it.  Vicki then gently ran her hand over Christine's neck, shoulders, breasts and stomach - all the while being surprised and fascinated by Christine's reactions. 

     "Oh," Vicki said with a slight giggle and a big smile.  "I had no idea you were such a sensitive creature.  I can sense the waves of pleasure running through your body.  All it takes is just the slightest touch."

     "The slightest touch of your velvet paw," said Christine, adoringly, as though she had been thoroughly seduced. 

     Then Vicki took Christine in her arms and gave her a cuddle, and Christine felt Vicki's soft fox fur down the entire length of her body. 

     "How does that feel?" asked Vicki. 

     "I feel like I must have died and gone to heaven," sighed Christine.  "Nothing in life could be this soft.  Oh Vicki, are you my angel? Have you come to guide me to a different life?"

     "You think like a poet," said Vicki. 

     "I'm a song writer," said Christine. 

     "Same thing, isn't it?" asked Vicki. 

     "I guess," said Christine, giving Vicki a loving squeeze.  And Vicki responded by nuzzling Christine's ears. 

     Unable to resist Christine's sensitivity, Vicki began exploring Christine's body with her hands, massaging her gently in the places that drew the most vocal reaction from her.  And the more Christine moaned and sighed the more difficult it was for Vicki to restrain her childish laughter. 

     Seeing how much Vicki enjoyed this, Christine purposefully threw in a few animal like yips and whines, which eventually defeated Vicki's restraint.  And soon she was laughing like an ecstatic little girl at her power to make Christine feel pleasure. 

     At first Christine was quite content to let Vicki play with her in this fashion.  She thought of Vicki as an innocent little animal who couldn't possibly have any interest in her sexually.  So it was something of a shock when she suddenly felt Vicki's hand lingering over her genital region. 

     Christine looked down to see the blue fox curiously exploring the sensitive area between her legs.  But before she could comment or protest the pleasure of Vicki's fur covered fingers touching her in that area overwhelmed her, causing her to let out a cry that sent the blue fox into hysterics. 

     "You're lots more fun to tease than Perry," Vicki laughed. 

     "Is that what you're doing?" said Christine, breathlessly.  "Teasing me?"

     "Actually, I was thinking this would be a good time to give you that examination I promised you," said Vicki, in a slightly more serious tone. 

     "You mean, to see if I can yiff or not?" said Christine, once again flushing at the idea of being intimately probed by her exotic new friend. 

     "Um, hmm," Vicki nodded.  "You said you wanted privacy when you were examined.  This is about as private as we can get."

     "Have you ever done this sort of thing before?" asked Christine, nervously. 

     "Yes, I have," said Vicki.  "I studied to be a nurse.  Unfortunately I failed the course."

     "You failed a nursing course?" asked Christine, curiously. 

     "Yep," said Vicki.  "I lost too many points for cracking up during examinations.  See what a naughty fox I am? I blew a whole career because I can't be impersonal about this sort of thing.  I'm too aware of the pleasure people feel when I touch them.  But I do know what to look for.  And I will be able to tell you if you can yiff safely or not."

     "I really need this examination, don't I?" asked Christine. 

     "I highly recommend it," said Vicki, in a serious tone.  "If we turn you loose to start yiffing without being sure and you do turn out to be incompatible, yiffing might injure you in some very unpleasant ways.  It might even kill you."

     "Will your examination be conclusive?" asked Christine.  "Or will my first yiff still be a big risk?"

     "Well, let's just say that if I give you the go ahead and something happens to you, I'll never get over the guilt.  So I'll do my very best to be thorough and accurate," said Vicki. 

     Christine moved herself into the position she was usually asked to assume when being given that sort of examination.  Then she asked, "Is this good?"

     "Perfect," said Vicki.  "I'll begin now."

     Christine laid her head back and tried to picture herself in her gynecologist's examining room.  But the moment Vicki laid her hands back on her there was no way Christine could regard the experience as clinical. 

     Vicki had been completely honest about her inability to be impersonal.  She was aware of every sensation Christine felt, and she couldn't resist lingering her attention on places that caused Christine the most intense pleasure. 

     "I can see why you failed your course," said Christine, in a sensuously overwhelmed tone. 

     "Oh?" said Vicki, curiously. 

     "Yeah," Christine sighed.  "People aren't supposed to look forward to visiting their gynecologist."

     Vicki quickly drew her hands away and cupped them over her face as she burst into laughter. 

     "Oh, Christine," said Vicki, fighting back her amusement.  "Don't make me laugh.  I have to take this seriously."

     Vicki returned to her work, and Christine closed her eyes, contentedly resolved to her fate and drinking in every pleasurable sensation. 

     After a short while she felt Vicki begin to probe her.  The sensation of Vicki's furry finger penetrating her sent shock waves of pleasure through her entire body.  She could tell that Vicki was being very professional and not deliberately trying to push her sexual buttons.  Yet this was still proving to be the most exotic intimate experience Christine had ever enjoyed. 

     Meanwhile, Vicki was doing her best to concentrate on the examination, which was difficult because Christine's obvious state of extreme pleasure was something Vicki just naturally enjoyed and was irresistibly tempted to focus on. 

     After a while Vicki withdrew her finger and said, "Don't move, I'll be right back."

     Vicki hopped off the bed and rushed into the bathroom where Christine could hear her going through cabinets and drawers, apparently looking for tools to continue the examination with. 

     Christine wondered if this might mean Vicki had felt something strange inside her.  Maybe she wouldn't be able to yiff after all.  And she wondered why that prospect suddenly didn't make her happy. 

     Vicki soon returned carrying a small flashlight and several other items she could use to probe with. 

     Beyond this point the examination was not so pleasant for Christine.  Not only had it ceased to be pleasurable, but Vicki's sudden switch to a serious and professional attitude worried Christine. 

     Finally, after several minutes, Vicki announced that the examination was over.  Then she gathered up her tools and went back into the bathroom - leaving Christine to relax while she waited for Vicki to return with her verdict. 

     After several minutes Vicki returned and laid down beside Christine. 

     "Well, Dr.  Fox," said Christine, fancifully.  "What's your prognosis? Will the patient have a yiff-life or not?"

     "Oh, you'll have a yiff-life alright," said Vicki.  "But every male that gets inside you better be prepared for a shock."

     "Why do you say that?" asked Christine. 

     "Well, obviously your body wasn't built for yiffing," said Vicki.  "It was built for something a lot more strenuous.  You have highly developed muscles in there that our females don't.  So you'll be able to do things we can't - things that should be highly pleasurable for the male.  Also, you're smaller inside than we are.  So the males should find you a delightfully tight fit.  But I didn't see any evidence that the nature of the male yiff organ should hurt you.  You look vulnerable from the outside, but inside you're very resilient."

     "But what about compatibility factors?" asked Christine.  "Will I be able to breed with your males?"

     "Well, that would require a different kind of test to be sure," said Vicki.  "But off-hand I'd seriously doubt it.  Our males have enough trouble breeding with girls from their own planet.  But I thought you said you were beyond the age of giving birth."

     "No, I'm not, really," Christine confessed.  "It's just that when you reach my age and you haven't had any luck yet, you start giving up hope.  When Rael rejected me I thought that was it.  I'd lost my last chance.  But I don't know why it should bother me.  I'm more interested in finding a life mate than I am in having children.  I don't really like them all that much, you know."

     "You don't?" asked Vicki.  "But you're such a loving person."

     "I'm a divided person," said Christine.  "There's part of me that has an extreme love for children and animals.  My other part is extremely selfish.  And depending on which side of me is dominant at the moment I can be very nice or very cruel.  I didn't hesitate to take care of my brother's children when they needed me.  I dropped everything to stay home and devote myself to them.  Then my niece paid me back by ruining my relationship with Rael.  That comes back to me every time I think about having children of my own - how I resent that little girl for keeping me from getting something my selfish side wanted.  So I don't think I'd make a very good mother."

     "So what does it matter if you can yiff, then?" asked Vicki.  "What would be the point of it?"

     "For the pleasure of it, of course," said Christine. 

     "Our kind never yiffs just for the pleasure of it," said Vicki.  "We enjoy the pleasure, but to do it without the hope of finding a mate and carrying on our species, yiffing would be an empty thing.  Don't you want to get married?"

     "I'd love to get married if I could find the right guy," said Christine.  "Someone as perfect as Rael .  .  .  What am I saying? A girl couldn't meet two guys that perfect in one life time."

     "It must be nice on your planet to have your choice of husbands," said Vicki.  "I don't get a choice.  I have to marry the guy who gets me pregnant, whether he's my first choice or not."

     "Who says you have to?" asked Christine. 

     "It's the law and custom of our society," said Vicki.  "I pray it will be Perry.  But I know there are dozens of girls in this town praying the same thing.  And the moment one of them hears bells, BOOM, there goes my dream life."

     "You mean Perry doesn't get a choice either?" asked Christine. 

     "Not in this society," said Vicki.  "In this society mating is supposed to be our first and foremost consideration.  To pass up a chance to give birth for a personal desire would be a shameful disgrace."

     "Even if you have to end up marrying an alligator?" asked Christine, intending it as a joke.  But Vicki let out a tearful sigh and rolled over onto her side, turning her back to Christine so as to not flaunt her distress at the idea. 

     "I guess it's not such a perfect world after all," said Christine.  "But at least you get to choose who you yiff with.  You don't have to risk ending up with an alligator."

     "That's the thing," said Vicki.  "Lately I've been contemplating taking that offer I told you about."

     "You mean you're thinking of becoming a prostitute?" asked Christine, in disbelief. 

     "Christine, my life is bottoming out," Vicki confessed, sadly. 

     "But you seem so happy and care free," said Christine. 

     "That's my nature," said Vicki.  "It's not my situation.  The truth is I've tried for several careers in my life.  But I blew them all, because it's not in my nature to take things seriously enough.  Now I'm out on my own, living on my savings, no male I love seems capable of mating with me, I'm having to sponge off my friends to pay my bills.  Very soon I'll have to make a decision.  And selling myself into service is starting to look like my most attractive option."

     "What's attractive about being a prostitute?" asked Christine. 

     "Well, for one thing it's a very cushy life," said Vicki.  "I get my own room in that big luxurious house.  It pays a lot of money up front.  Enough to pay off all my bills, repay my friends, and still have plenty to live on when my time of service is over."

     "But it's like being a slave, isn't it?" asked Christine. 

     "It is slavery," said Vicki.  "Voluntary slavery.  But I'll be treated well.  I won't be abused.  And I'll get to yiff every night with different guys.  And hopefully one of them will make me pregnant."

     "The owners want their prostitutes to get pregnant?" asked Christine. 

     "That's why it's an honorable profession," said Vicki.  "It works towards the preservation of our species.  If a client got me pregnant he'd buy out my contract and marry me.  Then I'd really be set for life."

     "Even if you didn't love him?" asked Christine. 

     "I'd have to learn to love him," said Vicki. 

     "But what if he's an alligator?" asked Christine?

     Vicki once again began to sob.  Then she rolled over and clasped herself about Christine tightly, burying her face in Christine's chest and bawling like a baby. 

     Christine hugged Vicki tightly, cradling and petting her soothingly. 

     "Don't cry, Vicki," said Christine, comfortingly.  "It'll be alright.  You don't have to sell yourself."

     "I don't?" Vicki sobbed, hopefully. 

     "No," said Christine.  "What I want you to do is this.  Tie yourself to me and share my fate - whatever it may be.  Go with me wherever I go.  Look after me and keep me out of trouble.  Be my confidant and constant companion."

     "You want me to sell myself into service to you?" asked Vicki. 

     "That wasn't exactly what I had in mind," said Christine.  "But if that's what it takes to keep you with me .  .  ."

     "Do you love me that much?" asked Vicki. 

     "I adore you, you silly fox," said Christine. 

     Christine looked into Vicki's eyes to see them watering with love and gratitude. 

     Vicki hugged Christine tightly and began snuggling her lovingly while uttering little fox like sighs of adoration.  And Christine could not help noting how like an animal Vicki seemed at that moment.  How like somebody's abandoned pet offering undying love and devotion to the kind human who had taken her in.