An Empty Chair

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

12/31/1999:

"You know, I think I figured it out," I said, looking up
from my piles of notes and copies of Marn's documents. Rhea,
who was sitting on the other side of my office, looked up at
me her ears cocked towards me.

I sighed and dropped my pen on the desk, "Mr. Green did it,
in the hall, with the revolver."

My somewhat sister and wife let out a loud chuff and shook
her head. <<Give it a break Fox-- you are starting to get as
crazy as Marn was.>>

"Probably," I told her as I stood up and stretched
backwards, bending a little bit too far for most humans, one
of the benefits of not being human anymore. With a roll of
my shoulders I walked around the desk to pet her scruff. "We
have other things to do today, anyway."

She nodded and rose up to all fours, her long body rubbing
against my leg as I opened the door to the hallway. I was
surprised to find that no one was waiting for me on the
other side.

I frowned and glanced down each direction, "Where is
Ravindar?"

<<I don't know, but if anything bad was happening we would
have heard it already,>> she told me as she started towards
the kitchen.

"Right, no one in the house will go quietly," I commented, a
deeper frown crossing my face as I came into the kitchen.
Rachel was sitting at the table, drinking a glass of milk as
her eyes focused on me.

"It's nice that you made it, I was getting a little
worried," the vixen said as she set down the glass.

I nodded, pulling out another chair and settling down across
the table from her. "I'm sorry, I got a little too involved
in the files I gave you a copy of."

"Learn anything new?" she asked.

"The only thing I found was something about a Mr. Pink, but
with no idea of who he is, or what he looks like," I
replied.

She nodded, taking another drink as she looked me over.
"What a collection of names, Marn really was strangely
creative."

I smirked, "In more ways than one. Frankly I think most of
what he gave me was just bull. I never suspected he was such
a nut when I knew him, this was something he just never
talked about."

"We all have our secrets," Rachel said.

"I don't," I replied with a shrug. "Oriana knows most
everything, and what she doesn't know Rhea does."

<<I keep your secrets,>> she replied from her place on the
floor.

"I know, I know," I said, reaching down to stroke her back.
"Still it would be nice to have some secrets that are my
own. At least I have both you and Oria to confide in."

Rachel smiled at me, shaking her head as she held back a
soft laugh. "It's nice to see you happy; you've earned all
of this."

"Thank you. So have you found anything else about the rest
of Marn's rainbow?" I asked, moving the subject back on
topic.

She shook her head, "I don't really know, Jadith just
started looking into it, and hasn't had anything yet to
report. She'll be staying here on Prid, so you will probably
hear about it before I do."

I nodded, watching her as she finished the last of her milk.
We had just suddenly gotten to the point of the matter, and
the main event of the day. "How is the move going?" I asked
after a moment of thought.

"Good. My office has moved, as has most of the rest of the
Consortium. Oriana conscripted Ravindar to help with moving
my things to my new apartment," she said, then let out a
sigh. "It's going to be strange to have a place all to
myself, even if it's small."

I nodded again, "I know the feeling. I'm lucky that I never
really had to live alone. The longest was back after I lost
Earth. I spent some time alone just to get my head in place.
After that Sora moved in, then Oria came back, and we just
stayed together after that. I don't think I've ever really
lived alone."

The vixen sighed and shook her head, "It's not really alone,
I'll have my security with me, but they will be a lot more
obvious than they are around here."

"But still alone," I said.

She sighed and nodded her head. "Still alone," she echoed,
sadness outlining her eyes.

"Well, I'll come and visit sometimes," I told her.

"On official business," she replied, as she stood up and
took her glass to the sink. Carefully she washed it out, her
tail hanging low to the ground.

I walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "As
a friend."

Rachel bit her lip, but said nothing. Instead she
concentrated on cleaning the glass.

With a sigh I stroked the fur on her neck. "Not good
enough?"

She set the glass down and turned to look at me. "It's good
enough, Fox, but I still want more. You're the only person
in years I've been intimate with, and I know you have good
reasons to have ended it, being married and all. I still
miss it. I thought I didn't, but I do, and every time you
touch me," she pulled away from my fingers as she spoke, "it
makes it worse."

I flexed my fingers as she pulled back, frowning a bit. I
had forgotten that she had a thing for skin. That's how we
had started in the first place, and at the time I hadn't
though about the fact I was sleeping with the leader of one
of the oldest governments in the Multi-Verse. I did realize
it later, but as time moved on it wasn't too much of an
issue. It did cause some minor problems later on, but in the
end it wasn't worth comment.

It had been a nearly two years since we had been physical.
Between the Plague and my curse we just didn't get together,
and by the time we could have I had discovered my love for
Oria. After that there was no question about sex, or rather
the lack of it. Even now that my wife had returned to her
old job, and I was allowed, and in fact encouraged, by Oria
to be with others, I still wasn't up for it.

Of course in Oria's culture doing such things are allowed,
as long as there is a level of honesty about it. Sneaking
around was still, and always would be, be a bad thing. It
meant that I heard about everything she did at the House, in
detail. Not that I minded, it convinced me that I had done
the right thing by letting her go back.

The fact that she still wanted me to join in... well, it
worth at least thinking about; she made it sound like a lot
of fun.

Not that it helped me in any way with the current situation.
In fact there really wasn't much I could do. Even if I was
willing to get physical, right now was very much the wrong
time for it. If I tried to make a move, it would be just to
make her happy, which of course would be the worst thing I
could do in the situation.

I let out a sigh and pulled away from Rachel, keeping my
hands at my side. "I wish I knew what would be the right
thing to say to say to you, I still want to be with you like
that."

She turned to face me, looking exasperated. "But you never
do! You are still there, and I'm still here, and come
tonight there will be a thousand light years between us."

I nodded with a sigh, crossing my arms over my chest. "It's
not my wanting that's the problem, it's that I just can't
see myself with others. Even if I do have permission, I
still have to get over it myself."

Rachel shook her head, pressing the fingers of one paw to
the side of her face. "So you want to, you can, but you are
unwilling."

"That's about the size of it. All of the problems are in my
head," I said tapping one finger against my temple. "I'm
just not in a hurry to change it. Being with Oria is still
special for me, even if she spends time with others."

The vixen sighed and shook her head. "Fox, you are ball of
contradictions. You say you want me, but I'm giving myself
to you and you don't take me. You talk about how it's
special between yourself and Oriana, but then tell me how
you let her be with others. Of the pair of you, you're the
one who should be jealous of her relationships, and you are
not."

I shrugged, not having a reply for now, then jumped a bit
when I felt a hand come to rest on my shoulder. Leaning my
head back I saw Oria standing beside me.

"I would never be jealous if Fox was with you, or Ken, or
anyone else. As long as he told me, I would be happy for
him," my wife said, giving me a smile.

Rachel nodded her head, "But it's not enough for him."

"It's not about what is or isn't enough," I said with a
sigh. "It's about me, about how I was raised. I come from a
monogamous culture and now find myself in a polygamous
relationship. It's difficult to adapt."

My wife ran her fingers over my shoulder. "I think you
managed the most difficult part in allowing me to be a whore
again. Your being with others is your choice, it always has
been."

I shook my head, "I wish it was that easy," I replied.

Oria nodded and dropped her paw, running her fingers down my
back. "Nothing is ever that easy, and I can't force you to
do something you do not want to."

I let out a sigh, "No, and this is something that should
never be forced."

"Never," Rachel replied, crossing her arms over her chest,
her tail tensing up slightly.

Oria nodded and stepped away from me, walking over to
Rachel's side. "We're are almost finished with your things.
If you could look over your old room, to make sure that
nothing is being left behind?"

The vixen nodded her head, "Of course, Oriana."

"We will see you off, so don't worry about that," my wife
said.

Rachel nodded her head again then turned away as she waked
out of the kitchen.

Oria turned back to face me, letting out a sigh. "Rhea,
could you go with her?"

The lioness lifted herself from the floor and shook out her
fur. She turned in a tight circle and padded down the
hallway, following the vixen.

My wife turned her attention to me, and shook her head,
sending her hair bouncing over her shoulders. "Fox, you are
very sweet."

"Thank you, Love," I replied.

"I really think you should come to work at the House with
me. Then you can get a feeling for all of this, and I can be
there to hold you hand," she told me, cocking her hips to
one side.

I blushed through my beard, trying hard not to smile, but
only managed to keep half of it off my face. "You really
want me to work there with you?" I asked.

She smiled, her ears lifting as her tailed curled behind her
legs. "I want to share everything I can with you, and you
never have put your female form to its proper use."

My blush grew in intensity, "I'll think about it," I told
her.

Oria shook her head, and reached out to touch my arm.
"That's what you said three months ago, I think that is
plenty of time to make a decision."

I bit my lip, but didn't say anything.

She sighed a bit, "Fox, you're going to be leaving in almost
a week, I would like to do something special before you go.
Something we can both think about in the six weeks we are
both alone in bed."

The blush had my cheeks so red that it must have been
glowing through the black hair of my beard. "Alright Oria,
I'll do in. It does sound like fun," I said, as I wrapped my
arms around her in a tight hug.

She laughed and kissed my nose, "I'll arrange a couple days
for us, you'll have a lot of fun," she said with a purr.
"Now come on, we need to take Rachel to her new place."

"Yes, hon," I told her as we untangled ourselves, but she
did take the opportunity to grope my ass. I wiggled free and
gave her a soft laugh as I ran my fingers over her tail, and
held on to the tuft as we walked down the hall.

Samantha found us first as we neared Rachel's rooms, "Aren't
the two of you just the love birds," she said as she fell in
beside us.

I shrugged and tugged gently on my wife's tail. "We try
hard," I replied.

The young women sighed and shook her head. "So I see."

"So, are you here to help?" I asked her.

Samantha shook her head, her tail flicking slowly against
her ankles. "I was just wondering if Oria told you our
idea."

"Idea?" I asked my wife.

She nodded her head a bit as we all came to a stop. "It
nearly slipped my mind. Samantha had a better idea about how
to get the item."

"Really? What is it?" I asked the young women.

A smile played over Samantha's face as she placed her hands
of her hips. "Well, I was thinking, the light show was a
good idea, but it would be better if they didn't ever know
we had the computer, right? So I thought, 'What would Bond
do?' and he'd replace it with a fake one so the bad guys
don't know we took it."

I tilted my head to the side and considered that for a few
moments, it was an idea that had merit, and would lead to
fewer people trying to kill us, which was an all around good
thing.

"I can get the specifications on the computer, we could make
some kind of shell, the trick will be the swap," I said.

Oria nodded, draping one paw over my back. "That's what I
thought, and if we make it out of something precious, like
gold, they will be the better for it," she said with a
smile.

"See, this is why I had you working on this project, Love,"
I told her as I pulled myself a bit closer. "Though we
should still keep the original idea as plan B, you never
know when a little magic could come in handy."

Samantha nodded, "One holocaust cloak coming up. I have most
of the spells worked out already, thanks to Ken."

"I'm glad he's helping," I said.

She nodded again and clapped her hand together. "I need to
run, I have to pick up a few things. I'll see you tomorrow!"
She gave us a wave of her tail as she hurried back down the
hallway.

Oria smiled a bit and shook her head, "she has more energy
than a cub," she said as he started back down the hallway.
"Still, it's nice to see her have more emotions than cold
and dark."

I nodded, "Ya, it's nice to see her not all Anne Rice,
vampire chic angsty," I said as I played with her tail
again.

My wife let out a soft purr and leaned up against my
shoulder, her muzzle resting against my neck. We walked that
way for the last minute that it took us to get to Rachel's
room. It was busy inside with her, Jadith and Sora packing
the last things while Ravindar and Santhera stacked the
boxes to one side.

The older vixen smiled as she saw me, "If you could move
some of those boxes to the fold room?" she asked as she
waved to one of the stack of boxes.

"No problem," I replied, picking up a pair of boxes and
taking them out of the room and down the hallway. Oria came
with me, her own load of boxes in her arms, but she still
keep one paw free to type in the unlock code when we got to
the door. We set the boxes down on the floor next to some
others that were already waiting there. On the way out I
entered a second code into the door, one that only Oria and
I knew, that would keep the door open.

Together we headed back to the room, passing our bodyguards
on the way as they moved more of the boxes.

Rachel was closing up the last of the boxes when we
returned, only leaving her furniture in the room. That would
follow her when she had a proper home on Della Prime.

"Thank you for you help," she told our friends as she picked
up one of the boxes.

Sora nodded, taking some of the boxes in her arms. "I'm glad
I could help. It's nice to get away from my classes every
now and then."

I helped Oria with some more of the boxes and picked up my
own load, and together all of us walked back down to the
fold room to drop off the boxes. We left Jadith there to
prepare the fold as we went back for the last load.

The elf was nearly finished by the time we were done. She
had setup a metal framework around the fold, a cable ran
from the frame to her console. A second line plugged into a
transformer then into the wall.

"Nearly done," Jadith said as her fingers danced over the
buttons of the console.

Santhera walked around the frame, eyeing it suspiciously as
her tail flicked. "What is this?"

"She's going to open a Tunnel," Sora replied.

The tigress turned to look at my winged friend. "And what is
a Tunnel?"

"It's how you put a road through a mountain," Ravindar
replied, teasing his girlfriend.

She sighed and shook her head, "Other than that?"

Sora smiled and walked over to the bodyguard. "It's a way to
open a fold so that it's bi-directional. It takes a lot of
power to open one, and the frame is there to control it."

"It will make it easier to move my things," Rachel replied.

Santhera nodded, "I somehow suspected that would be the
case."

Jadith smiled and rose to her feet, "The only problem is
that there has to be a control frame on each side of the
fold, with all the supervision that entails."

"You do have someone to run the other side?" I asked.

"Of course," she replied as she picked up her bag and dug
through it for a moment. With a smile she pulled out a
second console and held it out to Sora. "I believe you've
been wanting one of these."

Sora's eyes went wide for a second as she reached out to
take the device. She held in gently in her fingers, her
muzzle open in disbelief. "But, I'm not suppose to get one
until I graduate."

"Officially no, but I trust you with this, and I also trust
you to not tell anyone you have it," Jadith said with a
knowing smile.

Sora vigorously nodded her head as she opened the console, a
wide smile on her muzzle. "Thank you!" she said as she
hugged Jadith with both her arms and her wings.

"It's no problem," the elf replied as she untangled herself
from the bat-wolf. "Everything is set up for you on the
other side, just wait for my signal."

Sora nodded and said, "Give me ten minutes." Quickly she put
the address of the fold into the console, and rushed through
the open fold. I took the opportunity to reach and get the
feeling for her destination, so that later on I could open
it on my own.

We continued to wait around as Jadith finished the work on
her console, and presumably Sora was doing the same thing on
the other side. As we were waiting I took the opportunity to
walk over to Rachel's side. "I haven't asked, but how's the
new place?"

"Small," she replied. "It's not much of a place, just an
apartment in the same block where all the other Consorting
Members will be living. It's only for a few months until the
Presider's Manor is completed."

"Why move now then? You could stay here and commute until
the new place is finished," I suggested.

She smiled and shook her head. "Like you are doing? There
are a lot of Members who are talking about doing just that.
I decided that it would be a good example if I led the way."

I nodded as I felt the brush of her thick tail against my
leg. "It is a good idea, I assume that's why you are staying
with the others and not renting one of the fancy apartments
they have up?"

"That would be the basic idea," she replied, "and my
security insisted, so that they could stay close."

"That's a reasonable request," Ravindar said.

Rachel smiled and nodded. "Reasonable, but still annoying.
The only reason they aren't living here is because of Fox."

"Only because I didn't want to have any more guards running
around," I said with a smile.

My bodyguard snorted and shook his head, a slightly amused
look of his face.

"We're ready to go," Jadith said, pressing a few buttons on
the edge of the framework. "If you could all stand back,
this could be a bit painful for non-Nulls."

Everyone in the room shuffled towards the walls, I was the
only exception. Being a Natural required one to be a Null,
so I was safe from whatever telepathic noise might be
created.

The elf took a few steps back and punched one last command
into her console. As she pressed the last button the frame
started to hum, the inside of it beginning to glow with a
purple light, small trailers extending out towards where the
fold was. As they touched the fold it too started to flicker
with the purple light, the familiar colors swirling in the
middle as the fold opened.

Soft gasps filled the room as the fold pulsed wider. I
glanced back to see that Oria had one paw on her forehead.
Rachel and Santhera were both rubbing their brows. Ravindar
was just standing there taking it all stoically.

The fold expanded further, the light in the center pulsing
as the purple edges neared the frame. As the gap between the
two closed the purple light grew brighter and more of the
trailers extended out, forming a solid wall of light around
the fold. Then with a flash the edges of the fold snapped
into place against the frame and the center faded away,
revealing Sora standing on the other side.

I turned away and went to my wife's side. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, it's passed now," she said, dropping her paw.

I nodded, touching her neck, "I'm glad."

The bodyguards were already picking up the boxes and taking
them through, a purple film forming over the gateway as they
crossed the threshold. It passed as soon as they were
through.

I collected some of the boxes myself, and we all walked
through the Tunnel. Once we got to the other side Rachel
took the lead, taking us from the small room we found
ourselves in and up to the fifth floor. Half way down the
hall she opened one of the doors, holding it open for us.

The place inside was small... well, no, not really small. It
was about the size of the one I kept back on Prid. The walls
were white, and the smell of fresh paint filled the air.
Sunlight filled the rooms from a line of windows along one
wall, with a balcony off of the living room. The place was
already furnished, tables and chairs, a couch and a
television in the living room.

"It's nice," I said as I walked into the kitchen placing my
load on the counter.

Oria came in after, looking around a bit as she set her
boxes down in the living room. "Reminds me of my first
place," she said.

"Same as mine," Rachel replied, picking through the boxes.
"These go into the bedroom," she said, picking them up.

"Why don't you help Rachel sort the boxes, we'll go get the
rest," my wife said with a smile as she pulled the others
out of the room.

I sighed, shaking my head as they hurried away, leaving just
me alone with the vixen. I gathered up a few of the other
boxes and took them into the bedroom.

"I'm going to miss you," I told her as I set my load down on
the unmade bed, queen-size I noted idly.

"I know, but I'll still be around," she replied as she
opened one of boxes and started to pull out her clothing and
hug them in the closet. "If you could put that stuff in the
dresser, top shelf."

I nodded, and was a little surprised to find that the box
was filled with her underthings. I didn't say anything about
them as I placed them where she told me. "It's going to be
strange not having you around the house anymore."

She laughed and shook her head. "It's not like I'm really
ever around. I've been a shade these last few months."

I nodded again, stacking her clothing in the drawer while
ignoring just what they were, not that I hadn't seen them
before. "Of course the times I do see you kind of go all
wrong," I said.

"Not really, I just want what I can't have," she said with a
sigh.

I bit my lip and said nothing as I opened the second box.

"I can accept that, though; not that I have much of a
choice," she said with a sigh.

I shook my head as I put her things away. "Choice is a hard
thing by anybody's standard. All of this is about my choice,
a choice that will change someday."

Rachel laughed and closed the closet door, "I can't count on
that, Fox."

"Perhaps it's time that you found a new lover?" I suggested
hopefully.

"I could, I just haven't been looking, I came to be with you
almost by accident. I wasn't looking for you. I wasn't
looking for anyone, really. It just happened," she said as
she came over to me, placing her paw on my shoulder.

I nodded, and let out a sigh as I closed the dresser drawer.
"I really am sorry that I can't be there for you."

She gently grasped my shoulder and turned be around to face
her, "I know you are, Fox. I just wish..." she trailed off.

I reached up and placed one finger against her muzzle and
shook her head. "This is how it is, Rachel. Things will
change in time, I'm sure of it, but I don't know when, or
how. I want you to be happy, I want to make you happy, I
just can't do it physically, not now."

Rachel nodded and wrapped her arms around me, pulling me
into a close hug. We held each other there for a few
moments, not saying anything. The conversation was finished.
It never did come up again.

By that night we had her moved in and most of her items
unpacked, and had dinner to break the place in. None of us
really wanted to leave, but in the end we had to go; the day
was late and our time had ticked away until there just
wasn't any time left for us.

With sadness we eventually left, heading back home and
leaving our friend on her own. It felt a lot worse than it
should have. I guess some part of me thought I was leaving
something behind, but there was nothing I could do... it had
simply come to an end.

--------

This story is copyright 2004 by Fox Cutter. Hardcopy
reprints limited to one per person, all other rights
reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except
by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may
not be removed.