Right to a Bear's Arms, Ch. 7 (Patreon)

The Birdsong Karaoke bar was a nice establishment tucked down a side street in the deeper parts of Arknought city proper. Nestled between sprawling skyscrapers and illuminated by a bright neon sign, depicting a bird of ambiguous species trilling upon a branch, it seemed both pleasant and weirdly out of place. The entertainment district was an odd mishmash of construction, upbeat shops and restaurants, all of which was surrounded on all sides by the grim shadows of the buildings that towered above it. Anthros of all kinds walked the plaza, sitting on the benches or ample seats, dining in various places, or hanging out on the steps to a huge fountain. The marble statues atop of it were of various breeds, all ambiguous and lacking definitive details to give away species. A lot of Anthro marketing seemed like that.

Despite all of that, and the hustle and bustling noise that droned on all around, Kelin barely heard or acknowledged any of it. He sat on a couch just inside the entrance to the Birdsong, staring at his phone and feeling utterly and completely stuck. He had watched the news story multiple times, swallowed up by morbid curiosity. Every article or story he read just expounded upon the details he had watched. And it all made him feel sick to his stomach. What was he going to do?

On the one hand, he felt grossly inadequate to even begin to imagine being able to help Hera through these kind of issues. He had assumed that she had been in an accident and lost some dear friends, and that while it had hurt her, he had no idea just how deep and intense her pain really was. This hadn't been a random tragedy. This was real, terrible, perpetrated violence. He knew that there had been some violent incidents prior to the Cohabitation act being passed, but nothing of this scale. She had been injured in the line of duty, lost friends to rioters, and had to... He swallowed hard and rubbed at his face. His stubble was thicker given that he hadn't shaved in a few days, and he hadn't been getting much sleep. Maybe it was stupid of him just now to be realizing that there was a much darker side to the friendly Anthros all around him. They had evolved from animals, but their primal roots were always there, beneath the skin, waiting for a chance to be let out again.

He squashed down those phobic thoughts in a heartbeat. He felt sick even thinking of them. That was the same kind of attitudes that had brought on the initial conflicts between their species. People had used to assume that Anthros were all a hair trigger away from turning savage, or going feral as the popular term was for it. Some racist jerks still thought that way. But not him. He could never look at his friends and see some hidden beast or potential monster. No more than he could than by looking at another human. History was full of humans worse than any feral Anthro could ever be.

On the other hand, already feeling down and angry at himself as he was, he felt guilty for even being conflicted about all of this. What business was it of his to get all upset about what she had been through or been forced to do? It probably... no, not probably, was tearing her up every single day. He knew it was, she had even said that it did. She had lost friends, battle buddies, to stupid, meaningless violence. What kind of presumptuous jerk would he be if he didn't still give her 100% of his support to make sure she got better and was able to forgive herself? If she ever truly could. Dating her though... Was that right to do? No, of course it was, it was her choice to pursue him, she had brought it up, asked him first. He had gone along with it, because deep down he had wanted it too, and was only waiting for an excuse to be able to indulge in those deeply repressed emotions and fantasies. He didn't even really feel ashamed about being so attracted to her. Sure, maybe she wasn't the stereotypical image of a woman, but that sexist ideal body type not only did not apply to Anthros, but it also had never really been what he found himself attracted to anyways.

He shook his head, feeling even more self conscious and stupid and put down his phone. Hera had texted a while ago, saying that she was on her way, and he hadn't heard anything otherwise since. He felt guilty as well that he hadn't been as talkative the last three days since, and he suspected that she had picked up on that. He would make sure to apologize, he vowed, maybe tell her he had gotten caught up with some work for school, and it admittedly was also true, if also still just an excuse. Would it better to just out and tell her, "Hey, I'm sorry I haven't been as talkative, but three days ago I saw a news article about the Estarof riots and I know what happened to you. I've been being dumb and not knowing how to talk to you about it but I want you to know it doesn't bother me." It would be the honest truth, wouldn't it?

Kelin sank a bit more into the seat. No. It wasn't. Because it did bother him. And he felt so damn guilty because of it. But he did want to be with her; this afterall was his weakness, his insecurity, not hers. She had been through enough to not also have to deal with her boyfriend being upset about her past. But then why did he feel so torn up? It should have been easy, just talk to her, directly. It was what he wanted to do. It was what he was going to do. After the date was over and if she still wanted to...be alone with him, he would bring it up then. Sex could wait to make sure she knew he was with her completely on her side. Although...what if he ruined her good mood? What if she had a great time and wanted to move their relationship to the next step and he was all set to bring it crashing to a halt? Would she think he had inadvertently been prying into her past? Should he just not say anything at all?

He groaned and flopped his head back against the cushion. Right at that moment, the soft clicking of shoes came from beside him and he looked over to see Ophelia, in a bright pink floral sundress, looking at him concerned. The small Otter woman had just come from the front desk inside, and the crowd of her fellow Trainers were all animatedly talking with one another as the attendants inside began to set the main showroom up for the party.

"Kelin, sweetie?" she asked, brown eyes crinkled with worry. "What's the matter?"

He grimaced. "Sorry Ophelia...I'm just..." He gestured vaguely at nothing.

"Do you not feel good? Upset stomach? Headache? I have a go bag with all sorts of pick-me-ups!" she said hurriedly and turned to pull her purse up, little paw already digging in it.

"No, no," he said quickly. He met her eyes and rubbed at his own. "I'm just... I don't know. In a mood. Worried."

"About tonight?" she asked.

He nodded, then shrugged.

She sat down beside him without preamble, tucking her tail behind her and sitting with paws folded. She looked at him with her full attention, shiny pelt glowing in the light of the lamps. "Talk to me about it," she implored. "What's got you so upset about it? Is it the sex again?"

Despite himself, Kelin snorted a laugh. "No, sex is the last thing on my mind right now...Honestly I feel horrible bringing everybody down when we're all supposed to be having a good time. I found...some stuff out and I don't know how to handle it is all. But it's on me to figure out and I don't feel it's right to pull people into it when it involves strictly another person."

Ophelia nodded. "Ah. So you feel that you need help, but you can't ask anyone because the help isn't for you strictly. Because it's for someone else who wouldn't themselves ask. I can imagine whom you're talking about."

He glumly sighed. "Yeah. I found...some stuff out. About what happened to her, before she moved here."

Immediately, Ophelia's ears perked up and he felt her attention fixate on him even more. "You mean the riot in Estarof?"

He looked over at her surprised. "You know too?" he asked.

"Of course I know," she sniffed. "It was in her file. Not super specific details but it said enough. Involved in extremely violent riot, loss of fellow soldiers, injuries in the line of duty, severe post traumatic stress. Not to mention it's been all over the news for weeks. You may have only moved here recently and not been exposed to it over much, honestly I'm surprised it's taken this long for you to hear about it, but for Anthros it was a tragedy. We all wanted the Act to pass and the fact that those poor people had to be evacuated out of our sister city because of threats of violence, only for it all to go so horribly wrong..." She sniffled a bit and dabbed at her eyes with a cloth, smudging her makeup just a tiny bit. He felt guilty about that too now.

"I...feel so dumb that other people might not have seen it too," he admitted then. "I try and block out most news things, but that one jumped out at me and I clicked on it without really having a reason to."

She nodded. "Complete circumstantial coincidence," she agreed. "I didn't see that exact story but I can imagine you saw some pretty raw detail. Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't feel right doing so, not when it's so obviously affected her that badly. I can totally understand why you told me nothing about it when you told me to go talk to her that first time. I wouldn't have felt able to help or do anything at all..."

"Much like you are now," she said, and he couldn't help but nod. "But Kelin," she said softly, paw on his shoulder. "You are helping her. The therapist says she's made huge strides in her recent visits, is meeting a lot of her goals and is already seeming like a happier person. That's all because of you. You gave her a friend when she needed it, and whatever you said you let her know she wasn't alone. You did above and beyond what I had hoped you would. I don't really think you need to overthink it. When she's ready to talk about it, she will."

Kelin sighed again, tousling his hair, and then smiled weakly at the Otter woman. She smiled back, patted his hand with a warm paw, and then glanced up from him. A rather portly Canine man, a Bulldog, was walking towards them, bowler hat tucked under one arm and beaming at her as if she was the sunshine on a cloudy day. She beamed right back and climbed down off the chair to walk over and kiss him on the cheek. Kelin watched them, the adorableness of the couple actually lifting his mood a bit.

"Kelin, I don't think you'd ever officially met my Husband. Gryl, this is Kelin, one of our Usuals at the gym and soon to be potentially a Trainee!" Ophelia let go of her husband and following suit, Kelin reached out a hand and proffered his wrist.

Gryl arched an eyebrow comically up at him, flat squashed face a mass of folds and wrinkles, with pale brown fur alongside much darker brown along his muzzle, and his ears did a flopping little flip up and down as he leaned forwards to sniff at the human's hand. He then beamed, and took it to shake. Kelin felt guiltily amused, for obvious reasons. "Charmed me lad, charmed!" the Bulldog said, a thick British accent coloring his words. "I was only wondering what was taking my Ophelia so long, like a flower I wilt without her radiance! I've heard smashing good things about you, young chap! Absolutely smashing!" His grip was impressively strong and he shook Kelin's hand hard enough to make his arm sore.

"A pleasure to meet you!" Kelin responded. "Your wife is equal parts angel and terror at the Gym."

"Dios mio," muttered Ophelia, and she whacked them both gently with her tail before beaming more. "Ok you two, come on, let's go get set up!"

A chime came from Kelin's phone and he glanced at it. He couldn't help, despite his dark mood, that same little thrill he always got when he saw who had texted. "You two go on ahead, Hera's almost here and I wanted to greet her at the door."

"Ah! Young love!" said Gryl, actually seeming to tear up and he wobbled his jowls. "It does a heart good to see..."

"Ok you, mister, in!" Ophelia barked and began to jokingly shove her husband inside. She smiled back at Kelin before they walked around the corner of the doorway and descended down a flight of stairs.

Chuckling, Kelin turned to face the doors and opened his phone to read what Hera had sent.

"Running late but almost there." A second later, an additional message of her usual polar bear emoji showed, wiggling its ears and non-expressive face blinking as a speech bubble containing a heart came up.

"Don't be texting while you're driving," he responded, but sent back a smiling emoji in return. No matter how he was feeling, he always felt a little happier whenever they were texting. He still wished he had been more responsive the last few days, but he would make that up to her.

"I'm the bossy one here," came her reply.

"Whatever you say, honey," he shot back, feeling a little better since talking to Ophelia. He didn't even think about using a pet name until he realized he had. Were they that far?

"Honey? Is that a dig on me being a bear? You'll pay for that." A bear emoji with a huffy breath coming out.

"I tremble in fear," he replied, also adding in a winking emoji.

"Ha," she sent. A second or two later, another one came. "Here." He looked up, expecting the usual truck belonging to Sergeant Rico, who usually was in charge of driving her around. Despite everything he knew about her, his jaw dropped and something both icy cold and searing hot began to bubble down low around his stomach. The growl of a heavy engine preceded a massive motorcycle, black and blue in alternating colors, a detailed monster of some kind stenciled onto the hood. Sitting astride it, in a heavy leather jacket, tight jean shorts that barely went to her thighs, and a combination of high heels and combat boots, was Hera. It was all a matching uniform combination of light purples, blacks, and blues, all of which complimented her snowy white fur. Her helmet was amusingly a bright cyan and teal, the visor opaque.

She parked the monstrosity of a bike in the nearest spot and reached up to undo the clasps, pulling off the helmet and hanging it on the handlebars. Her bright hair fell around her like a mane of pure silver, yellow eyes sweeping around as she combed it out and falling upon him. Immediately, she smiled. It was a smile that still made him thrill to see it, not a large expression, more like a lifting of one side of her muzzle and the way her eyebrow cocked up a bit.

Hera climbed off the bike, tapped something at her wrist, and it locked and turned off. She walked over towards him, dimensions and assets swaying. As she reached him, he opened the doors and came out to meet her. She smiled more, leaning down and flicking a loose strand of his hair behind his head with one large claw tipped finger. It brushed his ear softly. "Sorry I am late," she said, thick accent still making him unable to believe she was real sometimes. "Traffic was horrible. I trust you did not miss me too much." He shook his head, trying to seem macho, but he melted as she ran her claw tip along his jawline teasingly. "Good, why don't we go inside?"

His worries and stress felt groundless, almost as if they were swept up and tossed away as soon as she was in front of him. He smiled, feeling foolish, and nodded. He hesitated however, feeling anxious, and without thinking, with her still leaning over, he reached up and kissed her furry cheek. He blushed as he did, hoping that he hadn't been too presumptuous.

She growled softly and she met his eyes, smile still bright and eyes sparkling. "Well, hello there," she said, voice husky and she turned her face to the other side. "One more, da?" Chuckling weakly he reached up to do so, only for her to turn at the last second and meet his lips with hers. It was a short kiss but he leaned back from it smiling like an idiot. She hummed contentedly and stood back up to her full height. "And just like that, is good day," she said, making his chest tighten and her paw reached down easily to take his hand. Together they walked into the bar, Hera throwing anyone who gave them odd looks a withering glare which quickly made them turn away. For some reason, even that made Kelin grin.

Descending the stairs once inside, they came into a massive almost theatre style room. A large stage dominated the back wall, with numerous booths lining the walls on either side and various dining tables as well. His friends were all located around the back. There was Ophelia and her husband, Hugo, Rey, Jenille, a couple of other girls, the alligator trainer he had seen before, and to his surprise, Dalton, the gym manager. The wolf looked no less serious than he usually did, despite wearing a Hawaiin style shirt and sipping a large drink with fruit sticking out of it. Everyone shouted a greeting up at them and Kelin waved. Ophelia gave him a wink and then turned to continue whatever conversation she was having prior.

Finding a seat, Kelin, as any gentleman should, let Hera get in first, but she just scoffed and made him sit down in her lap. His cheeks burned for more than one reason as he was forced to recline back into the hard leather of her jacket and the soft plushness underneath, but everyone else just gave a small teasing "Aww," before they laughed. Hera seemed...nervous, almost, and he looked up at her to see her shyly not meeting anyone's eyes, paws tight around his middle. He stroked one of them and she met his eyes, smiled, and relaxed a little.

The first to take the stage, once one of the Flamingo staff members had finished setting up the machine, speakers and microphone, to everyone's shock was Dalton. Putting down his drink, he met their eyes flatly and clicked his claw against the microphone to test it. "I'm very happy to see everyone here," he said, voice monotone and serious. "It's nice to be able to get out with everyone and enjoy some time off. Many thanks to a Mister Kelin for suggesting this," he gestured with a paw and Kelin felt an actual spotlight fall on him and Hera. He waved weakly as everyone applauded and hooted happily before returning their attention to Dalton. "The gym will be covering a portion of everyone's tab, so have fun and enjoy yourselves. As for me, I'm gonna try my hand at this singing business."

Everyone chuckled weakly as well, but more than a few had knowing smiles. Kelin leaned over from Hera's lap towards Ophelia who sat nearby. "Does...Mr. Dalton know how to sing?"

"Oh sweetheart you have no idea..." she said knowingly, as her husband began putting in earplugs. "I told you, our Gym members come from all over, and before he was here, Dalton was a member of a little band some time ago."

Dalton coughed once or twice as the lights dimmed and he clicked through the options on the screen, some several thousand odd song options split up by genre, and undid the top button of his shirt. A heavy metal guitar began to blaze through the speakers and immediately the room began to pulse and shudder to the beat of a drum. "Ey, let's kick it off!" Dalton roared, voice suddenly breaking that flat monotone and rising up into a high-pitched scream reminiscent of Motley Crue. And then he began to sing. While he wasn't entirely on tune, he was completely on beat, and soon the whole floor was pounding to the stomping paws and hands of those watching. Dalton had transformed, jumping around the stage with the microphone and not even reading the lyrics on screen, singing a song from some band called Rev Theory, and every time he shouted "Give me a Hell, Give me a Yeah!" the whole room echoed in unison "HELL YEAH!"

Kelin clapped and shouted along with everyone else, and once Dalton had reached the end of the song, they all stood to cheer him on as he rebuttoned his shirt, fixed his glasses and sipped again nonchalantly at his drink. Immediately another trainer jumped up to sing something, and the whole evening began to blur by. Kelin had decided to stay away from any heavy drinks and stuck to soda, as had Hera, but most of the people had decided to cut loose and enjoy themselves fully. Everyone took part in it, even Ophelia's husband, whose off-tune warbles to some British patriotic song made everyone cringe but grin.

Through the hooping and laughter filling the room, their small crowd dominating the entire back corner, with other customers spread out throughout at other tables, Kelin leaned again towards Ophelia who was looking up at her marching husband with a look of adoration in her eyes. He tapped her shoulder and she beamed up at him. "Thank you for this!" he shouted over the music.

She nodded, glanced around as the song ended, and then grinned wickedly up at him. "Looks like it's your turn," she said, everyone having turned to look at him. They had all agreed to go in a certain order, and Kelin, too wrapped up in enjoying himself while sitting in Hera's lap, had just blindly agreed to a spot without looking where he fell in on the order. He gulped but a firm hug around his middle made him look up at Hera.

The bear grinned playfully down at him, bright eyes shining, and she leaned down to whisper in his ear, "Lap will be open for you as soon as you are done, and I want to hear you sing anyways. Youtube is only so good for quality."

He flushed. "You looked me up on Youtube?" he asked, trying to sound withering but failing to do so, instead just chuckling.

"Well it was not easy," she sniffed. "I tried looking up 'sexy human singer Kelin Leod' but got mixed results. But found you anyways. Now get up there!" she shoved him off her lap towards the stage and he glowered at her and everyone else. He noticed that a hush had fallen over them all unlike anyone else had gotten when they took the stage and he suddenly knew why.

Ophelia had arranged everything, he could tell. She was even holding up a phone to record him, dark eyes glittering evilly. She winked once and then gestured him to go on.

Rolling his eyes, he looked behind the Otter to Hera, who was smiling wide at him with her arms spread out across the back of her seat. She gave him a slow nod, ears twitching. Her eyes looked hungry, excited, and dangerous. He turned away, face flushed to pick a song. He scrolled for several long seconds, unhappy with what he found, until he came across a song that he had done a cover of a few years ago when an ex had broken his heart. Smiling slightly, he queued it up.

This was it...he closed his eyes as the extended intro began to play, a long series of low guitar notes droning on. He counted them, knowing exactly how many he had to wait for before he was supposed to start singing. As the first words hit his tongue, he took a solid but gentle grip on the microphone and leaned forwards.

(Song: Teeth, by Five Seconds of Summer)

"Somedays you're the only thing I know...

Only thing that's burning when the lights grow cold.
Can't look away, can't look away
Beg you to stay, beg you to stay, yeah..."

His eyes opened slowly and he fixed them right on Hera, noticing that the spotlight had fallen on him again, the rest of the room dark and lit only by the numerous pairs of glowing eyes. He fixated upon hers, those glowing yellow orbs that twinkled with so many thoughts that he yearned to know. The endless mystery that she was, and that he wished he understood better. He put his full emotion into the song, everything that he could as the beat began to slowly speed up.

"Sometimes you're a stranger in my bed.
Don't know if you love me or you want me dead.

Push me away, push me away...

Then beg me to stay, beg me to stay, yeah..."

The music fell away, his voice filling the room as he had to sing higher to hit the right pitch. He had practiced multiple times to try and match the artist's singing voice.

"Call me in the morning to apologize,

Every little lie gives me butterflies.

Something in the way you're looking through my eyes,

Don't know if I'm gonna make it out alive!"

The beat picked back up, and he began to bounce and sway, jumping from side to side as he matched each movement with the next lyric. The whole room had begun to clap on beat with the notes of the song, and he kept his attention solely on her face and how he was moving, at least so he didn't fall off the stage. At the end of every line, his voice got higher and he stomped his foot, matched by the crowd's enthusiasm.

"Fight so dirty, but your love so sweet,

Talk so pretty, but your heart got teeth.

Late night devil, put your hands on me

And never, never, never ever let go.

Fight so dirty, but your love so sweet,

Talk so pretty, but your heart got teeth.

Late night devil, put your hands on me

And never, never, never ever let go!"

The room was in full swing as he kept singing, microphone hopping in his hand and his lips feeling slightly burned by how close he held it to his mouth. But he kept going, using his years of drama classes, singing classes, and his personal work into everything that he could. He just hoped that she was enjoying what he was doing, could feel everything that he was. The song wasn't perfect to how he was feeling, but most of the lyrics were still exactly how he always felt around her.

As the music dropped away again, Kelin sank down against the microphone stand, feeling both parts ashamed of how he was performing and exhilarated to be doing so in front of so many people. Even if they didn't like it, even if it wasn't as good as he hoped, it was still so liberating. And the smiles he saw all around kept making him want to go bigger. He rose to his feet fully, bouncing and kicking his feet apart, equal parts singing and dancing his heart out as the climax of the song hit with the refrain one more time.

At last the song had ended, and he numbly hooked the microphone back onto the stand as the notes and backup voices on the track faded away. He panted softly for breath and he combed some of his loose black hair out of his face, looking around the room. Every Anthro present looked stunned and for a second he felt like he had done horribly. His face began to flush. And then all at once they unanimously stood and began to cheer. Paws slapped together loudly and he heard several whooping cries and even animal roars of excitement. Even the people he hadn't come here with were cheering for him and he did a weak, nervous bow. "Thank you very much," he said and then hurried off the stage.

He hadn't so much as neared the seat when Hera scooped him back up and hugged him tight. Her breathing was a bit off and he was being very slowly crushed into her jacket but he didn't care. She nuzzled against the side of his head happily as everyone else kept clapping around him even as Jennile took the stage.

"You were amazing, my little Rockstar," Hera whispered into his ear, making it tingle and his face heat up. "I've never heard that song before, I love it now though..."

Chuckling, he returned the hug. "Thanks...I wanted to show off a little bit I guess. I'm mostly just glad that you liked it." He leaned back out of the crushing embrace and met her eyes, before they snuggled back into their usual position although now with her leaning her head against the top of his and making small growly breaths every few seconds, almost as if she was purring as a bear somehow. He didn't mind it at all, feeling on top of the world.

Turning his attention to the Raccoon girl on stage, he watched as she scrolled through some songs and then shyly turned to look back at the group as she gestured to the second microphone that was nearby for duets. "Umm...if it wouldn't be too much trouble, would...you like to come up and sing with me?" Everyone murmured for a bit and glanced around, trying to make out who she was talking to, before she gave away the answer. "Rey?"

Everyone's attention swung towards the ex-con Fox who was in the middle of taking a drink. Blinking in surprise, his sleeveless shirt bearing the logo of 'Shut up and let's Rock and Roll', Rey leaned forwards and put his beer down. "Me?" he asked. "Ummm, sure. Ain't much of a singer though."

There was some hooping and hollering, Hugo making a whooping football fan sound to egg his friend on, and Rey growled playfully back at them, but Jennile looked nervous and bouncy all at once. Trading looks with a smug-faced Ophelia, Kelin understood suddenly and he couldn't help a cheesy grin as the Raccoon handed Rey the extra mic and gestured to stand near her.

A familiar song intro began and the dual pink and blue lines over the duet parts began to play. Kelin had never heard a woman singing a Nickelback song before, but Jennile started off strong.

(Song: Gotta be Somebody, by Nickelback)

"This time, I wonder what it feels like, to find the one in this life

The one we all dream of, but dreams just aren't enough,

So I'll be waiting for the real thing, I'll know it by the feeling..."

She looked pointedly at Rey who was staring at her completely still, but as the music kept swelling and he saw that his lines were about to start, the Fox slowly grew a glowing grin and he took over singing perfectly on beat. His voice was pleasant and somber, and Kelin could actually hear the hints of an accent as well, perhaps even Greek.

"That moment when we're meeting...will play out like a scene
Straight off the silver screen, and I'll be holding my breath
Right up to the end, Until that moment when I find the one I spend forever with..."

And then the duet truly began. Back and forth the two sang, trading lines and looks, gaining more and more energy and even dancing together a bit. Kelin leaned back against Hera content and heard her mumbling the lyrics. He touched her furry arm and her grip tightened a bit for a second. Ophelia leaned towards him then, grinning evilly. "Told you. Mother knows best..."

Kelin just sniffed. "I'll give Jennile this, girl's got serious game. That was smooth as hell." He traded knowing winks with the Otter and everyone settled back to watch another romance blossom before their eyes. The song ended with the two embracing, Rey leaning Jennile back in his arms and her giggling and blushing like mad. Their tails wagged rapidly and everyone clapped and cheered for them heartily. As they left the stage, paw in paw, some conversation began and a few more people went on.

Finally, Ophelia, after coming back from a very lively Spanish song that she sung with a few other women from the gym, pranced up to the table and gestured at, not Kelin this time but Hera. "Ms. Doring, I believe your turn is up that you asked for," she said, bright teeth shining without any aggression, rudder tail waving happily.

Blinking, Kelin looked up at Hera as she climbed out from behind him and began walking towards the stage. "Wait, she asked to sing? I didn't think she would really want to!"

"She asked me if she could sing a song while you were doing your live concert." Ophelia's eyes twinkled like a proud mother and she sipped at her tea. "She seemed so excited that I put her into the slot as soon that I could. I couldn't be happier for her to see someone come out of their shell, and that's all thanks to you Kelin." she then made a shushing sound and everyone turned to watch the polar bear pick out a song and turn to face the room. Kelin could barely believe his eyes as she began to nod to a slow but steadily building rhythm, the song vaguely familiar.

Haunting strings began to play and Hera bounced on her high heel combat boots, shaking out her arms and waving her mane of silver hair back and forth. She took a deep breath, grabbed the mic in one huge paw, and began to sing. The voice that came out of her Kelin would never have seen coming. Some people trained to sing their whole lives, and some hid that talent for moments like this. He knew which one Hera was.

(Song: Physical, by Dua Lipa)

"Common love isn't for us

We created something phenomenal

Don't you agree?

Don't you agree?"

Her bright eyes scanned the crowd and fell upon him like a literal weight. Heat rushed to his face and he felt a huge smile growing across his face even as the music kept building into what was right now his new favorite song. And it had only just begun.

As the music paused, she flicked her hair back and hung up the microphone in its stand to begin singing, paws gripping the zipper of her jacket. Her gaze became somehow even heavier and she arched her back and hips into a position that accentuated everything about her, making the entire crowd begin to cheer for much different reasons than for everyone else.

"Who needs to go to sleep, when I got you next to me?"

The crowd erupted into roars of approval as the music exploded and she began to bounce in her boots, pounding her fist up to the beat and waving on the crowd, stoking them to a frenzy, but her eyes always returning to him. She pointed towards him as she sang, and he felt all of that energy he had put out in his own performance being given right back in the very spirit of Dua Lipa. She pumped her hips and fists to the line of the song's title of "Let's Get Physical!", and then did a perfect pivot on the heel of one foot, spinning in place a full 360 degrees and coming to a complete stop in time for the next verse. She spun again, this time facing away from the crowd, having picked up the mic and one paw moved to the zipper of her jacket again, and slowly began to divest herself of it.

To the very beat of the song and still swaying and undulating her hips as if having done this professionally, she stripped herself out of the heavy leather just in time to spin around and throw it off and behind her. The crowd howled to see that underneath she wore a jean fabric biker-style vest, studded across the shoulders, and done up across the front by heavy buckles and straps. Her assets strained it to the seeming breaking point and she moved in it like water, and if they all thought she could dance before, once she was out of the jacket she really began to move.

She jumped in place and moved to the beat of the song, stirring the crowd to further heights of frenzy and exaltation. And then she was spinning in place and pointing right at him, arching a claw and beckoning him to join her. Paws pushed him up before he could even object and in no time at all he found himself lifted onto the stage beside his polar bear as she kept singing. Except this time, she was winding herself around and against him, paws trailing all over and making him move with her. He did his best to match her, barely able to think fast enough beyond how utterly amazed he was with her new confidence and how utterly beautiful she was. Not to mention the hungry gazes of all the Anthros in the room who he knew wanted to be exactly where he was right now.

As the song finally wound down, he found himself swept up into her arms on her last note. The rest of the room was a roar of cheers and pounding of paws on tables, but she had eyes for only him. They walked off the stage together and went to go sit back down as other customers beside their group began to take their turns, invigorated by the energy in the room. The scent of Aggression was high and more than a few of even his Trainer friends had it on. Kelin couldn't remember a night he was happier in his life.

***

A while later into the evening, when everyone had sung at least one song, some even going for a double performance, Kelin had not left Hera's lap in a while but eventually she had to excuse herself. Watching her go, the human beamed and sighed, his face actually in pain from how much he had been smiling. Ophelia was quick to comment on it, but he waved her off and returned his gaze back to the admittedly delightful task of watching her white tail bob through the crowd attached to those sinful shorts. She vanished into a bathroom and he turned to watch the stage for a bit longer before glancing around after a few minutes to see if she was coming back. It was hard to pinpoint even a huge polar bear in the crowd, but after a while of scanning, he caught sight of a head of silver hair surrounded by a few other burly anthros. He figured they were just talking to her, he knew for sure that she would knock their blocks off if they were trying to flirt, as it had happened a few times at the gym, but something about the trio of men seemed different.

They were all large men, not quite as big as Hera but that was to be expected given the species difference. Two of them, a Jackal and a Rhino, flanked her on either side, and the third and most likely the one in charge, was a Panther. He wore a faded green jacket over his startlingly dark pelt, ring earrings in his notched ears, and he kept pointing at Hera over and over. From this far away it was hard to tell, but he seemed...agitated. His ears were folded back and his tail lashed like a whip.

The two others then moved towards the door and Hera began to go with them. Alarmed, Kelin saw her face. As joyous as she had been, her expression had turned completely downcast, and she made no objections as either man put a paw to her shoulder and began escorting her out, the Panther in the rear.

Everything about the situation screamed wrong and Kelin hurriedly turned to his friends. Rey and Jennile had left a while ago, so he tapped Hugo hard on the arm several times until the Bull turned to look down at him. "Oy, what's wrong mate?" the slightly inebriated Aussie asked.

Kelin explained what was going on, and Ophelia, listening nearby, hurried over. "I saw it too, I don't know who those three are but I don't think it's anything good going on. Hugo, you go with him, I'll stay and phone the police to drive by."

Nodding, the human and the Bull wove their way through the crowd. Krak, the alligator, followed shortly behind, having heard enough and going along for backup apparently. He didn't have time to thank either of the large males, so he put all his energy into getting through the various tables and people as quickly as he could without bumping into anyone. By the time they reached the doors, Hera was nowhere in sight.

"Bollocks," said Hugo, snorting. "Split up and search around the building. Krak, check the parking structure next door. Kel, you and me circle around the build yeah?"

Kelin didn't stop to acknowledge him, he just took off around the corner and kept moving. His heart was hammering in his chest, his instincts screaming at him to keep moving and do it fast. Hera was in trouble, and he had to find out how and why.

He rounded the next building corner and spotted the three men from before lounging about in the entrance to an alley. Loud shouting could be heard as he snuck up as quietly as he could, not wanting to startle obviously already agitated Anthros into a Fury. They were talking so loud that he didn't need to really get that close anyways to hear.

"...Sick with yourself?!" shouted a loud, growling voice containing the yowl of an angry Panther. "How do you go to bed at night knowing what you did?!" A soft murmur of reply followed but was cut off. "You don't?! Bullshit, Ursid! You took a side and now you reap the consequences of it! You know how many people you hurt?!"

Another murmur, a soft voice containing no anger, no hint of fighting back. Only quiet remorse that was more inwardly directed than at anyone else.

"You shot up half a dozen of our own kind! And for what?! To protect some humans who had it coming to them in the first place?! Those terrorists started that riot and you damn well know it, but as soon as the government calls for crowd control, who gets the guns pointed at them?!"

"Us!" snarled the Jackal.

"Damn right at us!" continued the Panther. "Your damn government cowards have their tails cropped and brainwash the rest of the population into thinking that we're always in the wrong, that we have to be nice and friendly and gentle with Humans! They start everything, and we take the blame! And you defend them! You protect them, you point an assault weapon at your own kind and shoot up a crowd of protestors!"

A loud smack of paw on something solid came.

"PEOPLE DIED BECAUSE YOU KILLED THEM YOU FUCKING BI-!"

Kelin whirled around the corner. "Leave her the hell alone!" There were tears in his eyes, rage, fear, confusion. He saw the three Anthros staring at him in surprise. The Panther had Hera pushed into a corner, the bear not even trying to resist with the feline's fist an inch from her ear, having smashed heavily into the wall and cracking it. Small trickles of blood stained the black fur.

"Who the hell are you?" demanded the Jackal, but Kelin ignored him.

"I said leave her alone!"

"Get out of here while you still can, Human," growled the Rhino, cracking his knuckles loudly.

"I said, leave her alone." Kelin's voice was iron hard and as loud as he could make it. "You don't have the right to bully and threaten someone, let alone a veteran! She's done nothing wrong, now back the hell off. Cops are already on their way here!"

The Rhino and Jackal balked a bit at that, but the Panther turned slowly to face him, teeth glinting. The Aggression was so strong that Kelin could actually smell it, a musky scent not unlike fur warmed too long in the sun, like metal and musk mixed together. An angry smell. The hackles on the back of the Panther's neck kept twitching and his tail lashed from side to side. His paws stomped on the ground and he towered over Kelin like a predator over a rabbit. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about," he snarled down at him, foam flecking the corners of his mouth. "This bitch killed people who were protesting. The hell she hasn't done anything wro-"

Kelin cut him off again. "She was doing her job! Those people were evacuating from their homes. It wasn't their fault that someone jumped the fence and went after a little girl! It wasn't her fault that a ton more broke through and hurt her squad mates!"

"Fucking new's jockey," growled the Jackal. "Think's he's some white knight coming to her aid. Piss off runt."

"No, YOU piss off!" he growled right back. "I'm not a white knight, she's my girlfriend!"

The three men snarled and grunted as if he had thrown something repulsive in their faces. "Oh dear Spirits and she's a damn Breeder!?" exclaimed the Jackal. "How low can she sink?"

"How low indeed?" asked the Panther, voice having grown more quiet. And that scared Kelin even more. The pupils in those hunter eyes were beginning to narrow into slits. The teeth kept flashing more and more. "Little human wants to defend an Anthro-killer does he?" He stalked forwards, and even his two friends looked at him uneasily as his paws flexed. "Thinks the law is on his side doesn't he, in an Anthro city?"

"Leroy, the Act..." said the Rhino warningly.

"To the Hells with the Act!" rasped Leroy. "This little piece of shit is the main problem. We have Humans thinking they can interfere. Humans thinking that they can butt into Anthro business and do as they like. Humans thinking that they are still with us at the top of the Food chain." His eyes were long narrow slits in yellow hunter orbs. "My brother was right about you, all of you...I wish I'd been there..." Small tears leaked from the corner of one eye.

Kelin realized that he was afraid. That he was making it worse without saying anything. He had been slowly stepping back, until his back hit the wall of the building behind him. The panther loomed above him. His paws glittered at the tips.

"You fucking stink..." Leroy rasped, voice a low, steady purr, soft as velvet. "And your breath is so fucking loud...shut up for five seconds, let me think..."

"Leroy!" called one of his friends, voice thready and nervous.

"SHUT UP!" he roared then, whirling back and lips curled fully back. "Some prey needs to learn its place in this world." He turned back towards Kelin. "I said stop fucking breathing...it hurts my damn EARS!" The panther didn't so much swing as his paw was abruptly slashing through the air. Only his athletically tuned reflexes saved him but not before he felt a small sting to his ear tip. He fell onto his side and rolled as Leroy pounced, giving out a loud hunter yowl. His paws left the ground...and didn't come back down.

Kelin looked up to see Hera holding Leroy up off the ground, her huge arms grappling him against the side of the building. The smell of Aggression had built too high. Fury gleamed in both of the predators' eyes, growling and roaring at one another. Leroy's yowl warred against Hera's full on bear snarl, long teeth flashing and muscles tight as she held him off of her, pinning his arms to his sides and slamming his back against the wall of the building.

It was over in a flash, blue-clad police officers were suddenly everywhere, tackling Hera and Leroy to the ground. Nearby, the Jackal and Rhino were being pinned against the alley wall, paws behind their backs and being handcuffed. Three officers apiece were restraining the two larger predators, who were still trying to get at one another. Hera calmed down quickly enough but Leroy kept snarling and lashing his tail, actually trying to bite one of the officers.

"Shit he's Frenzied!" the cop said. "Sedate! We need a sedative and a muzzle!" Another pair emerged, one with a huge leather harness in one hand while the other bore a large needle. They pinned Leroy down harder and injected him with it. He screamed. And then went limp. The muzzle was fastened on in a flash and all four Anthros were then being hauled up and towards numerous squad cars at the end of the street.

"Wait...no..." Kelin said, head ringing for some reason and he stretched out a hand towards the back of Hera, who turned her head back to look at him. Her face was distraught, tears wet her cheeks and her eyes bore the deepest of pain.

A burly, blue-clad body stepped between him and his view of her. A huge paw grabbed his hand and hauled him up. He lurched forwards unsteadily trying to get past him and he heard a voice say, "Woah, woah sir. Calm down. The situation is contained. Are you all right?"

Kelin's mouth felt almost glued together. "I'm fine...don't...stop wait, you can't blame her! She's not at fault! It's not her fault!"

The officer, also another bear but this one dark brown, looked down at him in concern. "Easy son, what are you talking about? You're not making any sense."

He pointed numbly down the street towards the squad cars who were just then slamming their doors shut and beginning to drive off. "Hera!" He said and then wobbled startlingly. The cop caught him.

"Easy kid, you're bleeding a lot and I think you hit your head. You need to calm down!"

"You don't understand, it's not her fault, none of this is her fault! I made it worse, I made him go Fury!"

The bear furrowed his brows in confusion. "You mean the Panther? What do..." His nose sniffed and his eyebrows went up. "Oh...oh shit ok. Listen son, just because you were afraid of him that doesn't make Fury your fault. It's a medical condition that we are trying to handle. Listen why don't we get an Ambulance to take a look at your head and then you can get some rest. I'll still need a statement though."

Kelin wobbled again and he numbly leaned against the Bear. "It wasn't her fault, you didn't have to arrest her too..."

A heavy paw patted his back. "Just a precaution son, we have to arrest any known sign of Fury that spirals that bad out of control. What happened, did you get dragged into their fight?" He turned quickly away, clicking on his radio. "Dispatch, this is 09-C, I need an Ambulance and a Human counselor on site here at 44 Adams and Spring, outside the Songbird bar. We have a human here involved in a Fury altercation." He turned back to Kelin and sat him down against a wall easily. "Go ahead son, tell me what you can."

"Hera...bear..." Kelin said, his head suddenly beginning to pound. He held a hand against it and when he lowered it back down, it was covered in red. His vision swam. "Three guys...took her out here...we were on a date...they started harassing and assaulting her, I came out to help...I made the Panther mad, he got...crazy angry..."

The officer nodded. "Fury Frenzy, it happens from time to time. Not that fast though. Did he foam at the mouth?" Kelin nodded. "Shit that means he isn't taking his eppradophrinsamide... he isn't dosed against Fury anymore." Kelin's confused expression made the officer, whose name tag said Faith, explain. "EPD pills, standard medical need for Anthros now. It helps us control our Agg before it turns into full on Fury. Even then we have outliers, it's a suppressant not a cure, but undosed it can turn into Frenzy. Subject goes wild, completely berserk and reverts to primal instinct of self defense or hunting. The senses go into overdrive."

Kelin groaned softly and held his head as sirens blazed down the street towards them.

"Can you stand?" Kelin shook his head. "Do you give permission to be moved? The ambulance crew can't get in here." He nodded. Immediately the huge paws lifted him up and he was carried out of the alleyway. Near the mouth of the Songbird were the puzzled faces of his friends. Ophelia gasped as she saw him and Hugo tried to rush over but was held back by another officer, this one a Badger.

"Back sir," the female said firmly.

"Kel!" Hugo shouted. "You ok? We saw Hera and those guys get put into police cars, what happened?!"

"Sir, please get back, we are not at liberty to discuss it at this point," insisted the Badger.

"Kelin!" said Ophelia loudly. "We'll see you later, won't we? Officer is he going to be ok? Please contact me if you hear anything he's my friend."

Officer Faith nodded down at her. "I will ma'am. I recognize you from the Gym. He's going to be fine."

Kelin's vision swam and he felt himself being laid down on a soft but bumpy bed, jangling back and forth. His world got a lot darker all of a sudden as a pair of doors slammed shut and a human face leaned over him. A middle-aged woman looked down concerned as a medic swabbed at his face. "Hello, sir? My name is Catherine Dougal, you're going to be just fine. Do you know your name?"

Hera...where was Hera? Kelin's eyes rolled slowly closed and he passed out.