Nothing felt right anymore. Tashi the stallion groaned as he rolled from side to side on the couch. He was almost completely naked except for a green jockstrap he wore. There was no specific reason why he chose that, it was simply one of the last few clean pieces of clothing he had in the wardrobe.

For the hundredth time this evening, he stared at his phone, hoping to see a message, or even just any stupid notification from one of the apps he had installed. The TV showed a still image of the thirteenth series he had tried to get into without feeling the urge to even watch another second. It was quiet in the apartment, too quiet.

***

“It’s nice to have you here, Alex.” The red panda said as she looked at her best friend who had been more than that years ago. “But you’re not really here right now, are you?” The smile on her face widened as she kept watching the tigress stare out of the window. There was no reaction, not even one ear twitching in response to her question. Lauré chuckled as she walked over to her friend and gave her a hug from behind. “Come on, I know you miss him. I won’t hold it against you. You two have such a nice thing going together.”

The tigress shook her head and slipped out of her friend’s hug, then turned around and faced her. She frowned and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “He was so angry, and it was his fault in the first place! Why should I care if his job keeps him so busy?” She asked and returned to staring out the window, her tail swishing left and right behind her, hovering over the ground.

***

The stallion’s phone buzzed, and he quickly picked it up and glanced at the screen. “Ugh… just another credit card charge. That music subscription… should I cancel that?” He mumbled to himself, looking at the phone for a moment longer until the screen turned off by itself. Finally, he just put the phone back on the table without even swiping away that notification. Next to the phone, there were some magazines strewn around on the table, fashion and lifestyle, untouched and gathering some dust. They clearly weren’t his bedtime reading choice. “Come on… just reply…” He whispered before closing his eyes again.

***

Lauré bit her tongue as she looked at her grumpy friend. She was not willing to give up, yet. She took out her phone and swiped around until she found something that made her smile. “You mean you want to throw everything away over one CD he stepped on?” The red panda asked, holding the palm-sized device close to her chest, like a secret trump card she was keeping in reserve. A soft thud could be heard as Alex stomped her right paw onto the ground and huffed. “It wasn’t just a simple CD! It was an album signed by Lady Gaga herself, you have no idea what it meant to me! And when I was angry, he said he didn’t let me into his apartment just to throw my crap everywhere! He was so angry it was scary!”

The tigress’ old friend slowly shook her head. “I’m sure it was just the heat of the moment. I still remember how we cracked jokes about how you had to grab him by the wrist to get him to spank you while you two were fucking. I don’t think he’d ever hurt you. You two are just way too stressed out about so many things.” The panda spoke calmly, and it was dark enough outside for her to see the reflection of her friend in the windowpane. A tear was running down Alex’s cheek and disappearing in her fur.

Lauré took her chance and put her arms around the tigress once more. This time, she also held her phone up in front of her friend’s face, showing her a selfie of herself along with the smiling horse. Tashi had an arm around her and big headphones on his pointy ears. He was looking at her and Alex was cheerfully smiling at the camera. “Remember that? How you were so happy when you told me he loves to hear your music? I’m sure if he could, he would travel back through time to get you that CD again and a private concert on top of it!”

The tigress took the phone out of her friend’s hand, but she didn’t say a word. She wiped away her tears and looked at the picture until the screen darkened, then she touched it to prevent it from going into standby. “So… should I drive you there to pick up your things? Or do you want to try again?” The panda asked with a cautiously content smile on her face. “I’d be all too happy to have my hot little Alex back… But you know my girlfriend isn’t as open to the open relationship thing and all…” Lauré chuckled and playfully spanked the tigress’ sexy naked butt in front of her. “It’s a miracle she didn’t freak out about you walking around bottomless here.”

Alex took a deep breath, turned around, and handed the phone she was holding back to her friend. “I’ll go pack my things. Please drive me back… back home.” She rubbed her temples. “We both fucked up… please wait for me in the car after dropping me off. I don’t know if he’ll take me back.” Lauré listened to the tigress with a happy smile on her face. “Don’t be silly now. Your horse needs you. Excuse me if I don’t bring a book to read while I wait. But if you’d like… we can always stack the deck in your favor a little.” She said cheerfully, peeking over towards a cabinet on the other side of the room, just before Alex jumped to hug her tightly. “Whatever it is… let’s give it a try.” The tigress said, rubbing her cheek against the panda’s neck.

***

Tashi leaned against the doorframe staring at his phone. His mane was frazzled and him scratching his head didn’t make it any better. He had taken a few days off at work, no matter how hard he tried, he wasn’t able to get much coding done. Still, he had to answer a few e-mails with questions from his colleagues. “God damn…” He cursed, but finally, after fixing some typos and wrestling with the autocorrect, he could put the phone away once more. “Still no message…” He sighed and walked back over to the kitchen. There was a stack of pizza cartons on the table, their delicious contents all half-eaten. The apartment was just as chaotic as the state of the stallion’s mind. He opened the upper carton and took out one of the slices of pizza, the cheese on top cold and congealed.

The only thing he could get out of the coffee machine were some angry beeping noises, the display asking him to refill coffee beans and water. “Shit... should have ordered some…” He groaned and instead settled for some water from the tap. Right as he pushed the lever down, before he could lift the cup to his mouth to have a sip, he heard the apartment door closing. His ears twitched and he listened intently. Had he forgotten to close the door after he got his pizza delivered? He bit off a piece and chewed it until the cheese slowly melted in his mouth, his head turned towards the hallway. There was a silent shadow moving towards the kitchen door, the stallion himself was in near darkness, he had only turned on a small lamp underneath one of the cupboards in the kitchen. Whoever had entered his apartment, he was more embarrassed about the state it was in than afraid of any potential burglar breaking in.

“Hi... Am I interrupting your dinner?” A soft voice spoke. Even with his confused state of mind, Tashi immediately knew who it was. “Alex! No… no just having a leftover slice.” He replied, shyly scratching his neck as he looked at the tigress. “Can I have a slice, too?” She asked him, slowly stepping towards the stallion. He put his cup of water down and tried to stop her as she lifted the lid on the pizza box, but she was already about to take a slice. “You… you can. But it’s horrible… has gone all cold.” He protested and warily watched her taking a slice. “But I love it that way!” She said and took a bite, giving them both a short moment of quiet chewing.

“Then… it’s all yours, Alex.” Tashi finally mumbled. “I’m so sorry… Are you here to pick up your things? I… didn’t manage to clean up. But I can help you pack…” His voice was shaky, and it felt to him like the congealed cheese he had swallowed earlier was still stuck in his throat. The tigress also seemed to have overestimated her appetite as she put the half-eaten slice back down. “Told you it’s not that good…” Tashi whispered to the wonderful woman that slowly approached him. “Alex?” He raised his voice when she still didn’t reply. The tall stallion suddenly seemed so powerless, his arms were shaking, when the tigress put her arms around him to give him a hug. She buried her nose in the fur on his chest and he felt the air brushing over his skin as she took a deep breath.

The stallion was still close enough to the counter to drop off his cup and slice of pizza. “Stinky horsey…” Alex whispered, making Tashi blush heavily. “I’m sorry… Didn’t really feel like showering.” He mumbled as he shyly turned his head away from her, his hands hovering over her sides, so very close to touching the tips of her fur. The tigress’ nose slowly moved closer towards his armpit. “You say that as if it was a bad thing… I missed my musky horsey.” She gave him another sniff and in that same moment, the stallion put his arms around her and hugged her tightly.

At first, his hands were just resting on her back, but then he began caressing her. He sniffed her hair and snorted softly. “It’s good to have you back, Alex.” He whispered finally. “I’m sorry I ran away.” The tigress said as she looked up into her boyfriend’s weary eyes. “We both were fools, Alex… It’s so good to have you back. If you can forgive me, then I forgive you, too. It’s all water under the bridge.” Tashi looked back into her eyes, but the tigress just chuffed. “I wouldn’t be here if I had not forgiven you.” She said before pushing her nose up against his armpit and taking a deep sniff again. After exhaling, she sighed and leaned against his strong frame.

Tashi craned his neck down to kiss her forehead. His warm breath brushed over her hair, pushing it down, as he snorted happily. The longer their hug lasted, the further down the stallion’s hands roamed. Down until they were resting on the tigress’ wonderful behind, then they made a turn towards the front. “Those jeans always look good on you…” The stallion whispered.

“Means you’ve been walking a bit?” He asked her and Alex just shook her head. “No… Lauré drove me. I can’t wait to take these off again.” She replied and the stallion chuckled softly. “Tell her I’m grateful she took good care of you when you see her next, yes? And let me help you with that… but let’s get away from this cursed cold pizza first.” He said and without waiting for a response, he picked his tigress up and carried her in his arms. “It is not cursed, but I can finish it for you later!” She protested, but quickly, her nose went up right against her boyfriend’s armpit again and she kept huffing his scent, alleviating her musk withdrawal.

As soon as Tashi put her down in the living room and her soft paws touched the ground, Alex put her arms around him. Their lips met, and they shared a long, loving kiss, almost enough to make up for those few days they spent apart from each other. To nobody’s surprise, the stallion couldn’t keep his hands off his girlfriend, either. Without hesitation, he prepared to make good on his promise to help her out of those pesky jeans. Skillfully, he undid the button in front, and then pulled down the zipper. Even as the tigress was still sniffing him all over, he pulled her pants down just enough to uncover her panties. After touching her crotch, he snorted playfully.

“Speaking of water under the bridge…” He said with a chuckle. “… you’re leaking like a faucet, Alex. Looks like my little musk slut didn’t change at all.” The tigress groaned and gave him an angry stare. She pushed her claws out against his skin but pulled them back quickly. “Shush… you know I love it when you’re a little musky!” She replied quickly and then gave him another sniff. “Ouch! Not the claws!” Tashi protested and playfully grabbed her by her shoulders to turn her to the side, her right shoulder still pressed against his strong chest. “Let me take a look at those panties… are those the ones that I love so much?” He whispered into her ear, craning his neck down to peek down between her legs. “Fuck yes… they are…” He said excitedly and tightly put one arm around the tigress.