Black Velvet

He went to fetch a towel, then waited by the door until she emerged once more. Apparently, the Araxie hadn't invented towels, they just shook themselves to get dry. That might not be an issue in an extremely humid jungle, but was not acceptable in an apartment. After a quick demonstration, she got the gist of it, drying herself off as the humidity that lingered in the air slowly faded away. Once the shower was turned off, the vents that cycled oxygen into the building got rid of any excess moisture pretty quickly, returning the atmosphere to its usual state.

There was a problem, however. She was so large, and she had so much fur that a single towel wasn't going to get the job done, it was quickly rendered too damp to be of any use. Jules considered just throwing their limited supply of towels at her until it was done, but then a better idea occurred to him. Zuki watched curiously as he rummaged through a drawer beneath the sink, searching through the combs and toothpaste that had been provided.

"Most hotels usually have one," he mumbled, closing the first drawer and opening a second. "If I can just...here we are!"

He withdrew a blow dryer, brandishing it like a gun.

"What's that?" Zuki asked warily.

"Don't worry, it's just a blow dryer. It's a little noisy, so don't be afraid, alright? Kneel down here, and I'll dry you off."

He plugged the cable into the wall, the Araxie kneeling to put herself at about chest height to him, and then he hit the activation switch. It began to blow a stream of hot air, Zuki's initial apprehension melting away as he played it across her head.

"It's so warm!" she giggled, her eyelids fluttering as he dried her face.

"Hold still, I need to dry your hair," he said as he delved his fingers into the damp strands. She shivered contentedly, leaning closer to him as he combed it, swaying slightly as if he was putting her under a trance. Her eyes were closed, her round ears twitching at his touch, her breathing growing deeper and more relaxed.

"That feels nice, when you stroke my hair," she mumbled.

"What?" Jules asked, having difficulty hearing her over the din. He switched off the blow dryer for a moment as he waited for her to repeat herself.

"I like it when you stroke my head," she said, opening her green eyes for a moment and batting her lashes at him. "You have no claws, it feels...nice."

"Oh, do the claws get in the way when Borealans do that?"

She nodded, her now puffy hairdo bouncing with the motion. He remembered stroking her soft ears when she had crept into bed with him the day before. Did she remembered it too, or had she been too drunk at the time? He decided not to comment on it, moving down to her neck and shoulders, keeping his hands above the boundary of her bandages. He asked her to stand once her arms were done, Zuki turning slowly on the spot as he dried her midsection, keeping his hands to himself now as he relied on the blow dryer to do the work. As much as he would have liked to run his fingers across her soaking, muscular belly, it was hardly appropriate.

"Uh, you should probably take those off," he said as he gestured to her leather shorts and her vest. "Just hang them up to dry on the rack over there, and put on the clothes that you bought yesterday. I'll go fetch them for you. You understand how to use the blow dryer, right? Just hit this button here when you want to turn it on and off. Do your, er...do under your shorts, and I'll go...I'll get your clothes."

Jules made a hasty exit, hearing the blow dryer turn on again as he retrieved her clothes where she had discarded them on the couch, bundling them up in his arms. When he arrived back at the bathroom door, he opened it a crack, pushing them through. After a moment, he felt her take them from his hand.

She spent another minute getting dressed, then finally stepped out. Her exposed fur was as puffy as could be, considering how short and fine it was, and he had to stifle a laugh. The festive turtleneck was the cherry on top.

"What?" she asked, cocking her head at him.

"You look as fuzzy as your sweater," he chuckled.

Jules recovered his shopping bags and deposited them on the kitchen table with some difficulty due to its height, upending them, and spilling their contents across its imitation wood surface.

"What's all this?" Zuki marveled, her eyes shining as she looked over the packets of food.

"Those bags of frozen fries are for you, and the rest is food. I don't think we can get away with eating out for every meal, so I picked up some stuff that we can cook at home. As an experienced bachelor, I know my way around a kitchen."

"What is a bachelor?" she asked, "I thought you were a diplomat?"

"Never mind," he mumbled, quickly changing the subject. "I also brought the ingredients to bake a cake, I figured it was something fun that you could participate in." Without burning the place down or creating any electrical hazards, he neglected to add. "Before you ask, I realize that you probably don't know what a cake is, but you'll find out soon enough."

He had Zuki help him put everything away, he actually couldn't reach some of the higher cupboards and the freezer at the top of the Borealan-scale refrigerator. She seemed pleased to be of use, and it reminded him that she saw their relationship very differently than he did. To him, they were just friends sharing an apartment, there was nothing unusual about that. He had lived with plenty of roommates before. But to Zuki, they were a pack, and he was her Alpha. He didn't fully understand the dynamics of Araxie social groups, but their pack structure at least seemed less stringent than those of the Equatorials, she was not as submissive as Noza's packmates had been towards him, and she didn't seem to expect a great deal of instruction. Still, he wondered if there would be any other surprises along the lines of her expecting to share a bed with him. Maybe he shouldn't have been so frivolous with his declaration that they were a two-man pack, but as long as Zuki was happy, there was little reason to complain.

"Now, I'm going to make some coffee and cook us up some breakfast," Jules said. "Then, we're going to bake a cake."

***

"First comes the ingredients," Jules said, pausing to fasten his apron before spreading the bags and packets out across the table. "Put this on," he added, throwing a balled-up apron to Zuki. She fumbled with it for a moment, then pulled it over her head. It was human-sized, barely large enough to cover her chest, and she couldn't fasten it around her torso.

"Oh, right...guess I didn't account for your size," he said. "Actually, your leather clothes should be mostly dry by now, go put those back on. This could get messy, and we don't want to get your new clothes dirty."

She did as he asked, returning a short time later clad in her leather pants and her vest, the apron discarded. She moved over to the table, her eyes darting eagerly between the different items.

"What are all of these pouches for?" she asked, leaning closer to sniff at a bag of powdered sugar.

"First thing's first, I need you to warm the oven up. See that white box with the glass door built into the counter over there? Go turn the rightmost knob to one hundred and ninety degrees. Good job, now fetch me two of those pans from the cupboard above it, the round metal bowls."

Jules pulled up a chair to stand on so that he could reach more easily as Zuki trotted back over to him with two baking pans, setting them down on the table beside him. He felt a little ridiculous, but it made things simpler.

So far, his hunch had been right. Baking a cake was the perfect activity for Zuki. He was trying to simulate how he thought a pack might behave, involving its members, instructing them in the task at hand. It was a little different from a pack of Araxie hunting an animal or fighting a skirmish, but the principle was the same. Everyone had a job to do, and they looked to their Alpha for leadership.

"Alright. Next, I want you to butter the pans," he said as he passed her a stick of butter. Zuki sniffed at it, seeming to enjoy the scent, and then she began to peel away the wrapping. "Don't lick it," he chided, Zuki pausing with her pink tongue an inch away from it. "Cut off a piece and use it to coat the interior of the pans, we want to make them slippery."

She discarded the wrapper and took the stick of butter in her fist, squeezing it to test its softness. Before Jules could complain, she began to paint the inside of the nearest pan, like she was drawing with an oversized crayon. Whatever, it would get the job done.

Meanwhile, Jules began pouring the ingredients into a large mixing bowl. He cracked four eggs against the rim one by one and began to whisk them, the yellow yolks breaking and running together. Zuki finished the second pan, standing beside him with the partially melted butter in her hand as if she didn't know what to do with it.

"Throw that in here," he said, and she dropped it into the bowl. Immediately, she began to lick her buttery fingers, combing her fine fur with the barbs on her tongue. Jules kept up his whisking, instructing Zuki to start opening the packets.

"We need one tablespoon of baking powder, use that plastic spoon over there to measure it. Read the packets and figure out which one we need."

She examined the different bags, narrowing her eyes as she read the text.

"Is it this one?" she asked, lifting one of them up.

"That's right, good job. Open it up and measure out one tablespoon, then pour it into the bowl while I'm mixing."

Zuki tore into the paper bag with her claws, spilling some of the baking powder onto the table, then dipped the plastic measuring spoon into the mess.

"I guess we're only going to be baking one cake," Jules muttered, "shake the spoon gently until all the excess powder falls off. There you go, now it's measured properly, dump it in." She brought the spoon over to him and poured it into the mixture, watching with fascination as he beat the eggs and butter into a thick cream. "Good, now we need two tablespoons of milk, the bottle is in the fridge door. Think you can handle that?"

She nodded as she cracked open the fridge door, blinking against the bright light that it cast, rummaging for the milk. She quickly realized that it was a liquid, and Jules could practically see the gears turning in her head as she tried to figure out what to do with it. After examining the bottle for a moment, she asked him how to get it open, having never seen a screw cap before. He showed her how to turn it, and then provided no further instructions, curious to see how she would tackle the problem of measuring out the portions.

She seemed to want to upend the bottle and pour it into the measuring spoon at first, but then thought better of it, turning and pulling a cup from the countertop behind them. She filled the cup with milk, and then dipped the spoon into it, leaning over and pouring it into the bowl.

"Nice work," he said as she poured the second spoon into the bowl and then raised the glass to her lips, drinking what was left. "Now we just need to add the flour. It's the heavy bag, that one over there." Zuki reached across the table and picked it up, looking to Jules for confirmation. "That's the one, yeah. Open it up. Just be careful, because-"

There was a puff of white powder as Zuki broke the bag open with her sharp claws, the contents escaping in a cloud as if a smoke grenade had just gone off in her face. She dropped it in alarm, causing a second explosion as it impacted the counter. As it settled on the table, she coughed, expelling another puff of powder. Jules couldn't help but laugh, her black fur had been stained a ghostly white, it was all over her face. The dust clung to her coat, sticking to her forearms and even her torso where she wasn't covered by her vest and her bandages.

"Are you alright?" he chuckled.

"It's so dry and bitter," she grumbled, sticking out her long tongue as she tried to rub the flour off her face. It was already clumping up and sticking to her naturally damp fur.

"Don't lick it," Jules warned, "looks like you'll have to take another shower once we're done. It's not toxic or anything, so don't worry."

He helped her measure out the flour that they needed, Jules getting covered in it too as he scooped what was left into the remnants of the bag. After a little more mixing, the contents of the bowl were transformed into a smooth batter, which he then poured into the two baking pans. Zuki leaned closer to watch the thick mixture as it spread out to fill them, creating a completely flat surface.

Jules placed them in the oven and then started on the filling, mixing the ingredients in another bowl and then putting it in the fridge to cool.

"All of the ingredients are done," he announced, reaching behind his back to untie his apron. "Nice work Zuki, now you can add baker to your list of skills."

She gave him a broad smile as her tail flicked back and forth excitedly, looking pleased with herself. With her covering of flour, she was a little intimidating, like she was wearing some kind of skull face paint.

"We've got about twenty minutes until the cake will be ready," he continued, "we should probably get cleaned up. We've already racked up a huge water bill, so why stop there?"

"I might need your help," Zuki grumbled as she tugged at a clump of flour that was caked into her hair. "This white stuff is all sticky."

"My help?" he asked.

"Your hands don't have claws," she explained, "you're good at bathing."

"Oh...you want us to get into the shower together so that I can wash the flour out?" he asked as his cheeks began to redden.

"Is that a problem?" she asked, her round ears tracking him like little radar dishes. "You seem troubled. It's common for members of an Araxie pack to bathe one another."

"No, no...it's just that...well, I suppose that we'll both be clothed, so there's no reason to worry about it. It's no different than wearing a bathing suit."

They made their way over to the bathroom, disrobing outside the door. Zuki seemed to like the water temperature as hot as it would go, which meant that the steam would dampen his clothes if he hung them on the rack inside. He unbuttoned his shirt and slipped it off, kicking off his shoes and starting on his pants. There were no swimming trunks on hand, and so he would have to make do with his shorts. Hopefully, they wouldn't become too clingy when wet. He pulled off his socks, feeling Zuki's eyes on him, this was the first time that she had seen him wearing only his briefs.

He must look as strange to her as she did to him, perhaps even moreso. While Jules might compare her to a cat or a panther, animals that were somewhat familiar to him, it was doubtful that there were any creatures native to Borealis that looked anything like a human.

"Your feet," she chuckled, pointing down. "They look like fingers."

Of course, Zuki hadn't seen a human's bare feet before. She had probably been expecting an appendage a little more suited to walking. He wiggled them, and she laughed again, which went some way towards dissolving the tension.

His eyes widened in surprise as she shrugged off her leather vest, stooping to lay it on the carpet. When she stood back up again, she was wearing only her shorts and the bandages that were tightly wrapped around her bosom. She had to have seen the unspoken question in his eyes as they wandered towards her chest, but he didn't press her for details, nor did she volunteer any new information. That she was willing to remove her vest in front of him was a step in the right direction, at least.

They walked into the bathroom, and this time, Jules was careful to close the door so that the apartment didn't get filled with steam again. Zuki's claws clicked against the tile floor as she slid the panel to the glass shower cubicle open and shuffled inside, Jules following after her. It was a tight fit for the two of them together, and it was only thanks to Zuki's slim build when compared to her Polar and Equatorial counterparts that he was able to squeeze inside with her. He found himself pressed up tightly against her furry body, the cold glass to his back, his naked skin sliding against the alien's damp coat and her leather shorts. She was so casual despite their proximity. Borealans were social creatures, apparently sleeping and bathing together was common practice.

The lights embedded in the ceiling had been dimmed to make the Araxie more comfortable, just like in the rest of the apartment, and it was rather murky with Zuki's shadow looming over him. Her green eyes seemed to sparkle in the gloom, reflective like those of a cat, catching whatever light was available to them as she peered down at him. When they were this close together, he had to crane his neck to look her in the face. It made him feel...odd.

She turned around to face the touch panel so that she could turn on the shower, her fluffy tail batting him in the face, and her rump pressing up against his stomach due to her stature. She seemed oblivious, Jules pulling his hands away so as not to accidentally cop a feel as he was trapped between her ample rear and the glass. Her shorts creaked as she moved, so tight that they left very little to the imagination, thin enough that he could feel the firm muscle that they concealed.

He was distracted as a shower of warm water began to splash against her head, raining down on him as she interrupted the stream. She was large enough that she was preventing the majority of the water from reaching him, turning to face him again when she noticed.

"Oh, sorry," she mumbled as she repositioned herself to put the showerhead to their right. Now the hot water cascaded over Jules too, and he reached across to tap at the panel, changing the settings so that the spray was wide enough that neither of them was left in the cold. The fit was no less tight, and he found himself pressed up against her flat stomach with the bandages an inch from his nose. He stood in silence for a moment, listening to the sound of the water raining down on the tiles, watching her muscles move beneath her fine fur.

"What next?" she asked, snapping him out of his stupor.

"Oh, right. There should be some shampoo on the little shelf behind you, some bottles, pass them to me." Her soft rump pressed up against him through the leather of her shorts as she spun around, and when she turned again, she was holding three bottles in her hands. "Give them here," he said, taking them from her and examining the labels. "That one's a conditioner, might need that later. Here we are, shampoo. If you can use this on hair, I'm sure it will work on fur as well, and they wouldn't have put it in here if it was toxic to Borealans."

He upended one of the bottles into his cupped palm, Zuki wrinkling her nose at the smell.

"What, don't you like the scents of ocean spray?" he asked sarcastically. "I guess it's a little chemical-y, but it's all we have right now. So do I just...rub it in?" he asked as he played his eyes over her stomach. The flour was clinging to her midsection between the bandages and her beltline, the shorts riding low on her wide hips.

"We're a pack, are we not?" she asked.

"Alright..."

Jules rubbed his hands together, spreading the slimy shampoo and creating a lather, then he delved his fingers into her fur. It was so incredibly fine and silky, like cat fur, but even shorter. It barely felt like hair at all, especially when it was soaked through like this. If he had been blindfolded, he might have assumed that it was naked skin. Zuki tensed at his touch, her taut abdominal muscles growing more defined as they flexed, the deep channels that they carved into her tummy clearly visible as they caught the dim light.