Ringel Bodice Ripper (Patreon)

@RickGriffin suggested that I write a scene featuring a ringel bodice ripper, complete with neon lights and samurai swords. Sure, why the hell not?

Please note that there are intentional discrepancies and you get bonus points for spotting them. That's part of the fun of fiction written by one species who has never actually seen another!

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Enni gasped, her body spinning as she tumbled to the wet pavement. Pain exploded through the side of her muzzle, immediately causing her eyes to water. Clutching her cheek, she lifted her chin and glared at the stocky male who loomed over her. He raised his open paw a second time. “I said ‘Da boss wants ta speak with ya.’ Now ya gonna play nice? Roughin’ up dames ain’t my kink,” he said with a leer, “buts I do see da appeal…”

Peal groaned and rolled his eyes. “Enni? Enni isn’t even a ringel name.”

Chahe turned and glared at her mate, raising her lip in a snarl just as she imagined that Enni would have done. “Oh, and now you’re an expert on ringel?”

He shrugged. “Well, um, no. But seriously, why would a ringel gal just happen to have such a popular geroo name?”

“I think it’s a pretty name,” said Chahe.

“Well, of course… Ugh…” he groaned. “This was written by a geroo, wasn’t it?”

He tried to look over her shoulder and she turned away, hiding the author’s name from his eyes. “Y’know… Never mind,” said Chahe, her ears hanging low. “I just thought reading you one of these stories would be fun. Might… I dunno… might bring out your adventurous side, or something.”

He flopped back on the couch and released the most exasperated sigh he could manage. “I’m sorry. Continue.”

“No.” She crossed her arms over her cream-colored chest, hugging the tablet away from him. “I changed my mind. I don’t really want to share this with you.”

“Okay, whatever,” the black geroo grumped. With his thick tail, he pushed himself up to his paws and stomped toward the door. “I’m gonna go get a beer.”

Chahe turned away, staring down at her knees and listened to the front door as it opened and shut. She squeezed her eyes closed, wringing free a hot tear that tumbled slowly down her cheek. Then, feeling lower than ever, she curled up into a tight ball at the very end of the battered couch, her tail wrapped close around her, and wept for a while.

How had this wall grown between them? Where had the days gone where every little bit of play and mischief made his eyes sparkle? Made him hungry to hold her?

Eventually, she snuffled and wiped her face with the back of her wrist before escaping back into Always a Grifter.

A stranger stepped from the shadows, his pelt like night and his eyes like the stars. The long coat draped from his shoulders fell open, exposing his muscular thighs. Enni’s eyes followed his curves slowly up to the rigid shaft he gripped in his right paw—the hilt of his sword, a glinting blade just barely peeking from the sheath tucked into his belt. “Perhaps you should try that with someone who isn’t afraid of hitting back,” he said, his voice a husky growl.

The thug retreated a step, his snarl vanishing in surprise before his ears melted into a sneer. “Well, lookee here,” he said, letting the city’s neon signs flash from his long gold canines. “This doll’s got a guardian of her own…”

With a laugh that started deep in his throat, the gangster pulled his coat behind him, tucking the heavy cloth behind his own sword. “You sure you wanna go there?”

“As soon as you wish to die,” said the stranger.

The lack of fear in the male’s voice cut the thug’s laughter short. His tiny eyes stared at the stranger. “You know who I work for?”

With a movement too brief for Enni to follow and the distinctive ring of titanium, the tip of a long narrow blade appeared beneath the hoodlum's throat. The stranger stood motionless, the point of his razor-sharp weapon never wavering. “Boss Jijy’s lost many enforcers before. I hear he discards you guys with as much thought as the wrapper on a candy bar. You honestly think he’ll shed tear when the brass dump you in a zipper bag?”

Breathing hard, Enni looked from one male to the other. The goon was decorated with ugly chunks of gold and semi-precious stones, looking more like they were chosen by cost rather than any sentimental value. Expanders dotted the rims of both his ears, gems in his lips, and weighing down his nipples. So many bits of gold pierced his sheath, almost desperate in his attempt to draw attention to that region.

The stranger’s jewelry was clean and under-stated. A glowing stud in his eyebrow drawing attention to his lovely eyes… a diamond in the opposite nostril to balance the look… and a single golden loop pierced into the very tip of his sheath so that the intrigue of the stranger’s black-wrapped tool wouldn’t be completely lost in the shadows.

“H-hang on guys,” said Enni, climbing to her knees. She reached out, her outstretched fingers touching the bristly brown fur of Boss Jijy’s enforcer on one side and the taught, rippling abs of the stranger on the other. “It’s just a fat lip. No one’s got to lose their head.”

If the thug was frightened, he hid it well. “Yeah, okay,” he spat. “I delivered my message. Boss wants ta speak with ya. If yer smart, ya’ll go ta his club tonight.”

A pause, then the black ringel’s blade lifted the enforcer’s chin a few centimeters more. “She heard you. Now scram.”

The goon didn’t need to be told twice. He scampered away, his long skinny tail pointing back to the alley behind him.

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I had so much fun writing this drivel. Sure hope you guys got a laugh out of it, too.

Reviewer's link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ly_knSstWFBV1E0VFRqa7XFmTG4-BU6lxUKlZ3afdKs/edit?usp=sharing