The Best of Friends

Catalina stared at the placid surface of the pot, her stew still as glass, the only sound in the kitchen the tick-tock of her cat-clock and the gentle drum of the rain outside. Mama had always told her a watched pot never boiled, but Catalina was patient. For her, in life as well as cooking, it was all about patience and waiting for your moment. She enjoyed those quiet moments of anticipation before things came together. The gentle simmer before it came to a rolling boil. And so, she waited with patient calm, staring at her pot of soup. Then came the loud knock at the front door, an urgent rapping that demanded attention. One of her pointed ears flicked and she turned her head in that direction -- and the moment she looked away the soup started to bubble. With an annoyed sigh, she hopped off her step stool and made her way to the front door.

Catalina lived alone, and though she was friends with her neighbors she knew none of them would come and visit so late in the evening. None of them except one. So, as she made her way past her front hall shrine to Goblina Mother Maria and reached for the lower handle to her front door, she had a good idea who it was. And unsurprisingly, it was Leon, standing on her front stoop soaking wet with his hair plastered around his face, looking miserable. He looked down at her and smiled sadly, eyes reddened with tears, and Catalina felt her heart lurch and found she could only hold out her hand and say, "Come in, dear."

Leon was a human, and on the tall side for one, so that made him gigantic compared to Catalina's more modest -- but perfectly respectable for a goblin -- three foot and a half. Practically twice her size, it was comical watching the sorrowful blonde man take her hand and stoop to enter her house, sniffling. He hung his coat up at the rack and followed her to the sitting room, where he sat down on the couch and buried his face in his hands. Catalina clambered up beside him and patted his side soothingly. "Is everything alright, dear?" she asked softly, knowing full well the answer.

"**Yes, **" Leon choked into his hands, shoulders shaking as he struggled to maintain some of his dignity and not burst into tears again in front of his friend. Catalina sighed and rubbed Leon's arm. "It doesn't sound fine, conejito," she murmured, sliding closer and looping his arm around her shoulder. "Tell Catalina what's wrong. Is it Rose?" Leon made a spluttering noise, confirming her suspicions. Catalina tutted and shook her head, reaching up to gently pat his chest. "Cariño, what has she done now? Are you two fighting again?"

"She's left me Catty!" Leon bawled, finally breaking down under his friend's soft touches and gentle insistence. Catalina pursed her lips. How... awful. Yes. "She- she wanted me to give up my art and- and—" he spluttered, trailing off. "And get a real job?" Catalina filled in softly, gently stroking Leon's chest. "Yes," he muttered miserably in response, slumping over. "She said it was stupid and wanted me to get a real job."

Leon of course, was an artist. And not a bad one as far as Catalina was concerned -- but painting was not exactly a lucrative career in most cases, and the sales of Leon's work hadn't exactly been stellar. But that was the life of an artist, she supposed, and sensitive as he was Catalina couldn't really imagine Leon doing anything else. "Shh shh shh, Cariño, it's OK. It's not your fault. She was bad for you, Leo. She never... it was always just a novelty to her." She took hold of one of Leon's hands and kissed it gently. "Ahh mi cielito, it was not meant to be. You love your painting. You are a... sensitive artist. A gentle boy like you was meant to be supported." Leon sniffled and wiped his eyes, staring at the floor glumly. "Sometimes I think you're the only one who believes in me, Catty," he said, looking devastated. Catalina squeezed his hand and smiled. "You're such a good friend..." he added. Her smile -- and one of her eyes -- twitched.

Life was about being patient, Catalina knew. A watched pot WOULD boil, whatever her mother said. But then again... you needed to add heat underneath the pot to get anything at all, didn't you? Her poor, poor *friend* Leon needed her help. Yes, help getting over Rose and all his anxieties and this despair that was interfering with his work. And she had very patiently soothed and supported and helped and waited on Leon for a long time. But now, it was time to add some heat to the pot. This was a job for her mother's spice rack.

Goblin maids were famed for a few things. Their beauty, of course -- far shorter than most but with generously curvy figures and naturally thin waists, bee stung lips and lustrous black hair, topping off flawless emerald green skin. They were also famous for their matriarchal culture, which put a premium on motherhood and feminine sovereignty, and gave them a reputation as vivacious and fiery lovers to some. But more than anything, Goblins were famous for their cooking. It was said warriors wielded a sword, poets wielded a pen, but a goblin wielded a skillet. Nothing was more dangerous than a goblin in front of a stove, they said. Well, the goblins said that anyway.

Catalina bit the inside of her cheek and patted poor sorrowful dense-as-a-neutron-star Leon's hand. "Cariño, the weather is bad and you're in such a state. Stay here with me, at least a little bit. I had the stove on and was just fixing supper." Leon's glum expression brightened a little, along with a brief flash of guilt in his eyes. He knew she would have been cooking, of course. It's why he came to her -- her food always made him feel better. Catalina saw through him of course but that was alright, his utter lack of guile was just one of the many things she found adorable about him. "Come come," she urged, hopping off of the couch and tugging on his arm, "We must get you warmed up, your soaking wet from the rain." As she led Leon out of the sitting room to the dining area that adjoined the kitchen, she shot a look at her statue of Goblina Mother Maria, beatific with her arms full of children, and muttered a quick prayer. One way or another, tonight was going to be her night.

Leon sat down at the dining table and cleaned himself up with a towel as Catalina went back to her soup, a nice pot of pozole, now bubbling merrily away. She pre-cooked most of her week-day meals and reheated them as she needed, but always made extra just in case she needed leftovers or to entertain a certain someone. This meant dinner was mostly already ready to go, it just needed to finish heating through. But tonight, she knew she had to sweeten the deal a bit. Because there were spices, and then there were **goblin** spices.

Opening one of her cabinets, she reached in and took out her ancestral spice rack. Carved from hard-wood and bone, its edges worn from use, this little cabinet had been passed down through her family mother to daughter for centuries. Goblins had learned a long time ago that there were certain flavors, certain seasonings that for them tasted good and interesting, but for other races there were... extra effects. Effects that helped the all-female Goblin race to integrate with species all over the world, adopting their cultures and cuisines as their own into the greater melting-pot of goblindom. This was the secret to Goblin cookery; this was the power of the most ultimate ingredient. Other races thought it was a joke, a myth, but Goblins knew more than anyone else -- the secret ingredient was love. Because that's what they called it.

'Love' was actually a spice blend made of several different kind of herbs, lichens, and dried peppers grown in caves. Its effects were as potent as they were self-descriptive. For goblins, it just tasted spicey, and gave a nice tingling mouthfeel. But for other races, the tingle went from their mouths to their brains, and overwhelmed them with feelings of affection and adoration. Or at the very least incredible horniness. But usually both. Catalina perused the unlabeled jars and shakers of her spice rack and picked out the container of 'love' which had sat unused but still potent in her mother's rack for decades. And then, taking a healthy palmful, she sprinkled it into her bubbling soup and gave it a good stir, before packing the spice rack away and going to prep the other accompaniments for the pozole. She simply must have some shredded lettuce, sliced avocado, and diced radish and onion to go with it after all.

As she worked, a warm delicious smell wafted through the house. Leon sighed contentedly, hair finally dry. He was, as Catalina had already noted, a tall man, with short blonde hair that came down to his ears, and baby blue eyes. He was clean shaven, and never seemed capable of growing anything more than stubble. Boyish, but handsome, perhaps a bit overly sensitive and emotional. And terrible luck with women, if it wasn't already apparent enough, except for Catalina. His good good 'friend' Catalina. Catalina sniffed to herself, drawing a confused look from Leon that she allayed with a smile. The night would see just how friendly friends could be after dinner.

"Soups on!" she chimed merrily, and Leon stood up to help her carry the pot over to the table, for which she smiled gratefully and went to the refrigerator. "Everything in your house is so tall for you, Catty, don't they make goblin sized furniture?" Leon asked, carefully setting the steaming pot down on a linen coaster, hands protected by kitchen towels. "Si Leo," she called back, fetching some bottles of cerveza out of the fridge and carrying them back, setting them up on the table before dragging over her step latter to clamber up into her seat, "But no Goblin plans to make house with goblins alone." Leon looked confused a moment, then blinked in recognition and nodded. Goblins were, after all, a female only race. A Goblin woman would only give birth to more Goblin daughters. That meant a Goblin would inevitably have to seek someone outside their species to marry or father their children. And everything in Catalina's house was human sized, so...

Leon cleared his throat and grabbed the ladle, serving up a bowel he passed to Catalina. She tutted, "I should be serving *you*," she insisted, but accepted anyway -- his arms were longer, so it was easier for him to reach across the table. She popped open the cap on her bottle of beer and watched him carefully as he filled his own bowl, sprinkling on the toppings Catalina pointed out to them. "A Goblin must always top," she said, with a knowing smirk that only confused Leon. Catalina could be strange sometimes but was such a good *friend* he paid it no mind. He trusted her implicitly. Taking his first spoonful of the pozole, he sighed in utter contentment as he felt the hot soup enter his mouth and warm his soul. Already he could feel his grief over Rose fading a little -- which only made him feel guilty again, so he quickly took another spoonful. Catalina gave a satisfied smile as he dug in with almost childlike enthusiasm and stirred her own soup before taking a taste. She could feel the 'love' tingling on her tongue, and knew with every bite, Leon would start feeling the 'tingle' too.

She felt a little guilty, at first, when his eyelids first started to droop a little and a dopey little smile spread across his face, his face starting to flush. Everyone knew how dangerous Goblin cooking could be, but Leon had always trusted her to handle his food. And until now, she had never taken advantage of that trust. But as she watched him ladle up a second bowl and watched the redness fade from his eyes only to settle in his cheeks, she knew she made the right decision. Leon was a sweet, silly boy, and needed someone to look after him. A nice loving mama. A Goblin mama. She bit her lip and squeezed her thighs together, thinking about the night ahead.

Leon polished off his second bowl of soup and finished his bottle of beer with a loud, content sigh, sinking back into his chair smiling ear to ear. A delicious, happy, contented feeling had utterly overwhelmed him. He felt -- warm, from the inside out. Safe and dreamy. But not tired, surprisingly, as he usually would be after a big meal. Instead, he was almost, energetic. And though he didn't notice it at the time, his cock was starting to stir in his pants.

"I may have had too much to drink, Catty," he admitted, rubbing his face. He'd only had one beer, but still felt like it had gone straight to his head. Catalina just giggled and looked up at him with her pretty little smile, her beautiful and soft looking black lips curling into a knowing smile. "Feeling tipsy, Cariño? Such an old excuse! A girl might think you were looking for reasons to stay over," she teased, lifting her bottle of beer to her mouth and taking a sip. Leon couldn't help but watch with rapt attention as her lips wrapped around the head of the bottle, gently puckering as they curled around the opening, caressing the surface of the glass and—Leon swallowed and shook his head. "Oh, it's uh, haha, not like that y'know. But I should, uhm," he stammered, watching a bead of condensation moisture drip from Catalina's bottle of beer and land on her chest, where the first few buttons of her shirt had been undone -- when had she done that? -- and slid down into the green valley of her cleavage around the edges of which he could see just the hint of black lace that would've been her bra. Catalina slid her lips off the bottle with an audible pop. "You should stay. You're tired, and have had such a simply awful night," she purred, eyeing him with a predatory glint that made Leon shift uncomfortably in his seat. "Anyway, the weathers still awful outside and you've been drinking. Come now, you can sleep over," she suggested with a smile, expression sliding back to innocent friendliness.

Leon cleared his throat and shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, which seemed to keep drifting back to Catalina in ways he hadn't considered before. "W-Well, I can catch a nap on the couch, I guess," he stammered. "You've already done so much for me though, and I- "Catalina held up a hand to cut him off, shaking her head. "Ah no no no, the couch? Leon I am a Goblin, hospitality is *sacred*! You will sleep in the bed. And think nothing of any of it -- we're such very... good.... friends," she licked her lips, "How could I not be there for you?"

Leon swallowed. He could feel his heart pounding in his ears. Maybe she was right -- he'd only had the one beer but still felt so... so flushed. It was probably the shock and emotion of the evening finally catching up to him. He was lucky he had Catalina to take care of him, even if it made him feel guilty. She was such a good friend, a pretty friend. A pretty, sexy little Goblin friend. She smiled at him and reached out to touch his arm. Hadn't she been seated across from him? He really did need to lay down. Opening his mouth but finding no words, he just nodded, entranced by Catalina's eyes and the feeling of her touching his skin. She reached down and took a firm hold of his hand. "Come with me darling, I'll put you to bed," she purred.

Leon followed her upstairs, led by the hand as the softly humming Catalina tugged him along. The gentle sigh of her humming was soothing, and the way her wide hips swayed as she walked was hypnotic. He'd never really noticed what a looker Catalina was. Sure, she was only three feet tall, but her body... God, if she had only been human, she'd be a knockout. She WAS a knockout. His cock was growing fat in his trousers, lurching and squirming uncomfortably. He could almost imagine what she'd look like naked. Holy shit, he really did need to lay down. How could he even think like that, so soon after breaking up with Rose, and coming to Catalina's house to cry on her shoulder. What kind of scumbag was he turning into?

Catalina glanced up at Leon, who had screwed his eyes shut as if he was trying to avoid looking at her, and grinned. She gave his hand a squeeze, brushing her thumb over the back of it. "Right this way, sweetie," she purred, goblin leading the blind as she dragged Leon to her bedroom. It too was human sized along with the bed, just with the light switch set lower where Catalina could comfortably reach. She didn't bother turning it on, and as she led Leon inside nudged the door shut behind them with her foot.

Leon flopped over onto her bed with a sigh, feet dangling off the edge. He tried to focus his eyes on the ceiling fan, blinking repeatedly. Catalina reached up and patted his hip, before pulling off both of his shoes for him and climbing up into the bed to crawl beside him. Propped up on her side, she reached down and stroked Leon's cheek. His skin was flush and hot, and he groaned softly, turning his face towards her hand to nuzzle it. "There there, Mami Catalina's got you now," she cooed, hand running across his chest to slip below his collar, rubbing his neck before she started undoing the buttons of his shirt.

Leon smiled dreamily and opened his eyes. "What'cha doing, Cat?" he slurred, making no move to stop her as he enjoyed the petting. She tugged on his shirt and urged his arms up, pulling it up over his head. "Undressing you," she replied breezily, "Can't go to bed with your cloths on, silly." Leon shifted, helping her pull of his shirt. That made sense, he guessed. He ought to help. Blinking, he reached down and started fumbling with his belt, prompting an amused Catalina to giggle and help him, shimmying his trousers down past his knees till he could kick them off. Lightly she ran her fingertips across his smooth chest and through the light scattering of hair on his abdomen. He was dressed only in boxers and socks now, sporting a slight tent as the 'Love' spice worked its physical changes as well as mental. She eyed the lump with a smirk, watching it twitch as she lightly scratched his stomach. "Oh Leon, you silly boy... slide on further up," she ordered, as she started to take off her own shoes. Leon gave a dopey grinned and shimmied further up the mattress till his head flopped back against the pillow.

Popping her shoes off onto the floor, Catalina leaned over Leon, with whom her head was now chest level. "Silly pretty boy," she sighed, stroking Leon's face, making him purr in delight. It was... decidedly un-masculine, but the usually anxious Leon found he couldn't really give a damn. Catalina was so beautiful, and she was petting him and calling him pretty and her touch felt SO amazing, he just shivered as her hands ran over his body. She made her way back down his toned stomach to the waistband of his boxers, which she teased at suggestively before prying them up and sliding her hand inside.

Leon groaned as her clever little goblin fingers closed around his bloating, leaking shaft -- fattened up and heavy inside his underwear and laying thick against his thigh. "Cat-a-lina," he groaned, feeling her give him a delicious little squeeze and a stroke, causing his sensitive member to rapidly rise. "What... whatcha doing?" he panted, watching her ease his boxers down so his penis could flop free. She cooed with delight, brushing her fingers over it like it was her precious pet, making him and his penis squirm under her teasing hands. "Taking care of you, Papi," she purred, jacking him off slowly. It felt **delicious**, and his already bloated cock swelled further, hardening under her silken touch. "Ohh, Catalina," Leon groaned, head tilting back as his dick stretched upward, already leaking little beads of moisture from the tip. Her little fingers rubbed around the rim of the coronal glans, brushing the sensitive underside of his mushroom head and making him shiver. "That... that feels," he slurred, overwhelmed by sensation and at a loss for words.

"Mmm, aye papi, se siente bien, no?" she smirked, brushing a glob of precum off of his tip and bringing the finger to her mouth to lick it clean, making a show of pursing her lips and smacking. "Mami Catalina has you now, no worries to be had baby, she'll take good care of you and pamper you soo good." Temporarily letting go of his dick -- which was now so hard it stood up on it's own, it's bloated length jutting out from his body at a teetering angle -- Catalina started unbuttoning the rest of her blouse, shrugging the linen off. Underneath, a black lacey bra held her impressive goblin breasts -- which would have been generous on even a much taller woman -- in their straining cups, the deep green valley of her cleavage drawing Leon's eyes magnetically as she arched her back and rolled her shoulders causing them to wobble and sway temptingly. "Papi likes what he sees?" she asked, tapping a fingernail against her cheek and smiling knowingly at the gawping Leon. "S-si, este... muy bien?" he stammered, gazing at her with a mixture of adoration and awe.