Fur World: Venus's Story

@venus_lovegore is a VTuber supporter (her words) I met on Twitter. This was made for an art trade with her, and was super fun and chill. I hope you enjoy!

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The afternoon light shone golden at the forest's edge. Nestled against the trees was a single-story cottage, windows to the sun. From a distance, one could be forgiven for thinking that this place was normal. At least, as normal as things ever got. As one got closer, they would realize swiftly that they were much further away than they thought, since the cottage was much larger than almost any other of the kind.

It was an odd mix of old and new. Well-sealed and well-built wooden walls, plentiful solar panels on the roof, a garden laid out with the best materials that could be found to grow herbs from traditions millenia old, the borders fading into the wild space around them as the plants were allowed to be as free as possible. The place was enormous. The single level sprawled over thousands of square feet, rising to heights that were more like a storey and a half. The vine trellises reached a dozen feet up.

As one approached the cottage, the next thing that would strike the senses would be the smells. It was a very green place, wildflowers blooming along the path, moss in the rocks housing happy insects, and the wind carrying a hint of stew on the pot. Something rich and savory. Something full of herbs, suitable to maintaining health and happiness though the deepest reaches of winter.

A door opened and shut in the back, at the garden. Out slithered a being who stood out even in a world of anthropomorphs in every size and shape. Had she had legs, she would have stood some ten feet tall. Fit of build with pale skin, she had several tattoos showing on her skin. Whether they grew there or were applied later was really anyone's guess. Her eyes had black sclera and red irises, but despite this were open and friendly. Fangs poked from her mouth as she smiled. She wore leather today, gloves on her hands and an open shirt on her body, as she moved out to gather a few things. Behind her trailed an enormous snake's tail, like a Lamia or Naga, dark at the top but flowing through all the colors of the rainbow at the underside where visible.

She slithered here and there, plucking tomatoes and cutting rosemary. Digging for garlic and ginger root, bundling sage. Taking some snips of mint and basil. Her hands were practiced and sure, the plants grown expertly, so the process was unexpectedly quick. Just as quickly, she ducked back inside, tail tip ticking back and forth in pleasant concentration.

There are a few ways to enjoy some good, wholesome, witchy pleasures in the world. Finishing up a stew in a traditional cauldron over a hearth-fire is one of the better ones. The smells, which were mouth-watering and wholesome from outside, were positively unearthly at close quarters.

"Girl, that stew gonna be ready soon? Trying to sit here and not dive into it snout-first is a test!" This came from a nearby table. Another woman, this a brown-scaled dragon girl in jeans and a tan tee shirt, sat there. Beside her, a red-brown ferret in blue nurse's scrubs laughed.

"Temperance, now I know why your mother didn't name you Patience."

"Oh, come on, Aya! As if you don't agree!"

"Oh, I do. I've tasted Venus's stews before. Pretty sure if I could get them into an IV they'd cure cancer."

Venus Lovegore was glad she was facing the hearth at this. The blush would be much more easily explained by the heat of the flames. "Just have to let it simmer a bit, almost there. Aya, you know where the bowls and spoons are, mind grabbing them? We have to let ours cool, but Temperance doesn't and it sounds like she doesn't intend to."

"On it! I'll make sure to ladle hers last, then."

"Hey!" All three were laughing. The week had been a good one by most measures, but it was still good to be there with friends. Laugh and chat the stress away. All three of them often volunteered to take literal and metaphorical burdens across their shoulders, and all three could feel the burdens ease ever so slightly. It was enough. Or... maybe not.

"Alright, alright, Venus? Real talk time." Temperance didn't have eyebrows to raise, but her expression spoke volumes. "How long has it been since you've had an evening you weren't on call? Ain't seen you at Girl's Night in a while."

"I... ah... couple weeks or so? The Ruddertails needed some help with their youngest, had some newly Changed to mentor, one girl who needed to get the news that she'd need to move to someplace drier..."

"Okay, I heard enough. Aya, back me up! The big Goth Mom over there needs a break. I say bowling alley, right after the stew."

"Sounds good to me! Kind of miss seeing you there, Venus."

"Alright! Doctor's orders!"

"... you know I'm a Nurse, right?"

"Okay, okay, settle down you two. You know, I actually think you might have a point. Tonight's clear, for once, and so is tomorrow until noon. Haven't bowled in too long, sounds great." The others cheered at this. Entirely too loudly, in Venus's opinion, but she could understand. "Stew's ready, by the way."

There was even more excitement at that. It is worth noting that all predictions were correct about the stew. Even the often self-critical Venus was rightfully proud of how it came out. Kept the fangs sharp and the belly happy.

Cauldron lidded, fire banked, and the two much-smaller women practically dragged Venus to do makeup and get a nicer shirt on. Nothing wrong with leather, but it was time for something more comfy and easy to move in. And to look good in. She could be deeper than the ocean on occasion, but sometimes it just felt good to look good, even if the only one she was showing off for was herself.

The tattoos could stay. They did that.

While normally the process of "drag friend out to Girl's Night" would involve driving them out, neither Aya nor Temperance had a vehicle capable of fitting Venus even remotely. Aya actually biked that afternoon, living and working close enough to Venus to do so. Likewise, modifications for a Serpentine species made it difficult (to say the least) for bipeds to drive. So, Venus ended up coiled in her own vehicle's driver seat as the others chatted with her. The standard dares and light smack talk were in proper order, the music on the radio smooth, the smell and taste of the air warning of coming rain that hadn't appeared just yet.

Traffic was light for a Friday evening, the Bowling Alley was busy but had an open lane for the trio. Venus often felt some guilt about being able to throw the heavier balls around as easily as she did due to her size, but these two? These two were strong enough to make it fair. Well, almost fair.

Crash

"Venus, you gonna to leave one for us next time?"

"You were the one who suggested we come here, and who bet dinner for Solstice." Venus grinned. "Glad I still got it." Aya, of course, hadn't jumped in on this particular bet. One, she knew better. Two, she knew that no matter who of the other won the bet, she'd get a good dinner out of it again. Win-win.

Not saying any of them were bad, per se. "Better than the dudes in the next lane" just wasn't enough to with this bet in particular. Speaking of, this last strike was followed by a significantly-weaker sound coming from the dudes in the next lane, followed by a lot of laughing and teasing as the Skunk... well, skunked. It really took the oomph out of it when he tried to flex for the ladies.

Unlike Temperance, Venus had an eyebrow to use on the offensive. She did so now, to deadly effect. "Going to have to try harder than that, boys!" His Wolf buddy howled with laughter at that, slapping the Skunk's back as the striped tail twitched a bit. Along with their Cheetah friend, the bunch turned out to be decent enough company for the hour or so they all had left. The girls got through two more games in the time. The guys got one. The laughs continued unabated, though thankfully once the Skunk saw he'd struck out this time he decided to not make any more tries at it. Venus was relieved at that. She wanted to enjoy the evening of bowling and smack-talk, not have to go Mom/Cobra Mode on her evening off. She got to, along with a chocolaty dessert.

Look, skill is good, but it had been a while since she'd bowled and her arm was sore after three games. Painkiller needed a base.

The other underappreciated part of being Serpentine. No shoe rentals at the lanes. Thus, no "ew" while going back to regular shoes. She could continue the chatter... and pull additional wipes out for Aya. Spray works great for scales. Not so much for fur, and the Ferret hadn't come prepared for that part. Combined with "medical professional," the extra assist was very much appreciated.

The evening was much darker than when they got here, the air heavy with the threat of rain that had not yet manifested. Given that she had biked to Venus's cottage, Aya asked to be dropped off at home. She could jog over and pick it up later, when it wasn't raining. Temperance stayed for the full trip, and helped get the bike under a cover before coming in.

"Thanks for actually coming out. We do worry about you sometimes."

"It means a lot. I wonder sometimes if what I do makes a difference."

"You of all people? Come on. If I disappeared tomorrow, you might be the only one to realize it before a week went by. You disappear? Everyone within fifty miles would help with the search party the next day. You aren't making the news, sure, but you know... you're there for folks. You were there when I got my horn broken and helped through the regrowth. You were there for Aya's clinicals, cup of tea when she about had a nervous breakdown, and now she works up at Maternity. Best nurse on the team. Doesn't matter who asks, either. You don't have to do giant things to be a hero, Venus. You do a million small ones." Temperance smiled a bit. "Anyway. Enough of that. See you next week?"

"Don't know about bowling again, but I'll be here. And Temperance... thanks. Hard to remember what I do."

The brown-scaled dragon left the house, hopping into her own vehicle to get going. As for Venus? Well, there was always more to do. Thing is? This night? She lit a bundle of sage and steeped some mint tea, putting out the flame once it was ready, then happily flopped onto her favorite polka-dot couch to sip her favorite tea with some music playing on the radio.The rains finally decided to come down outside the window.

She was content. It was enough.