Something hot and warm was what woke you up, pleasant pressure, friction, heat, sensual caresses.

You groaned, the intensity of the sensation catching you completely by surprise, you had to blink blearily as you were jolted awake. "Purrsian." Monica spoke with a look of satisfaction, her hips grinding against yours, the shirt draping down her flanks and just barely hiding her nipples from onlookers, but leaving them perfectly framed for you.

"Monica?" You had to ask, gears in your head not quite spinning properly just yet.

"Meownica." She replied, catching your hands to bring them to her breasts and purring loudly right after. Her face flushed deeply, her grin spread wide.

It didn't take her much to coax you into some more morning fun.

Starting to come down and catching your breath, something clicks in your head and you bite back a curse when you realize she'd torn your belt and the hem of your pants to get you "out" for her to "attack". You'd complain about it after she'd calmed down as she was still urging more out of you.

The sky was blue, but there was barely any light in the forest just yet, it was a strange twilight that made you squint. Around the cave there didn't seem to be anything, but you noticed something off about the inside of the cave. A momentary frown before you realized what it was that had caught the cat's attention.

Those inside were not "sleeping".

My oh my.

You felt like smirking, but your eyes had then wandered towards Mr Gabriel and the diminutive mouse next to him, you had to do a double-take. Was it something in the air that was causing this? It felt almost as if Monica was rubbing off on everyone.

Opting not to say anything, you let Monica have her fill before gently easing her off with some light petting.

It took her much less than previous times for her to agree, but she didn't seem very troubled by this. Just as you'd started to look for a way to either repair the damage or replace the belt, Monica had cleaned herself slightly and with a deep sniff, grinned widely. You saw as her tail gave a first swish and a second before it stilled, her shoulders turning to face towards Tomas and Kat, her eyes dilated.

Instinct told you where exactly she was about to go to. You look towards Monica, and make the decision within a split second, reaching out and grabbing her hand to tug softly. The keyword here being "softly", you weren't going to even think that you could force her, and she seemed to recognize your intent as she turned towards you with a look of curiosity. "Purr?" Her single word caused everyone to jolt, you could even see Tomas turning ever so slightly and looking in your direction with a bit of panic in his eyes.

Taking out the water bottle, you take a swing, swirl it around your mouth and spit it. "Kiss?"

Monica blinks slightly, her head swivelling back towards her intended targets to get some extra romping, and then back to you. You reach out and place a hand on her breast, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Kiss?" You offer again with a look that holds a bit more meaning to it. She brightens immediately, leaning forwards and looking slightly upwards while opening her mouth. You pour some water, and she repeats the gesture you'd taught her, swallowing, and taking a step forwards and wrapping her arms around your neck. "Purrsian." She whispered.

You guide her back down. "If anyone's awake, I'll be keeping her busy, better prepare to leave." You stated to no one (everyone) in particular.

She ignored them, her eyes solely on you, her legs locking around your hips and her lips puckering in anticipation.

You can only chuckle at this, using your hands to grasp very gently fondle her chest, drawing her close at the same time she moaned. She was eager to move to the next step, already her hands moving from the hug and trying to go downwards. You're all too aware that your stamina was not at the level Monica would've preferred it to be, so you stop her, returning her hands to your shoulders as you continued to kiss and touch, feeling the heat that oozed from her. You could sense Monica's heart beating powerfully, and how her body flushed as you kept so gently stroking and teasing her, carrying on for several long minutes as she became increasingly worked up.

It was after nudging her around and watching her squirm that you moved your right hand and pressed against the base of her tail. Her reaction was instantaneous, she very abruptly tensed all around you like a steel frame and screamed.

"RICK!" The name rung from her lips mixed in with a roar, she was clutching you so firmly it became hard to breathe, it was as if she was a steel statue, and yet you knew she was restraining herself because right here and now she would've turned you to paste had she not been holding back.

Your mind was entirely reeling from the fact that she'd said your name.

For several seconds she didn't move, and with a deep long gasp, she became completely relaxed as your fingers kept moving around the base of her tail, stroking it, drawing out happy little purrs from her as she slumped and relaxed. "Rick." She half yowled, weakly hugging you even as her head pressed against your shoulder, she was taking deep breaths, licking the base of your neck as she did.

Your name was repeated over and over with every little breath, barely muttered while her sweat covered body kept struggling to recover from the experience.

Needless to say, everyone present was clearly quite shocked at her declaration, Katherine was the first one to comment. "Did you just fuck a new word into her vocabulary?" She was half-joking half-serious, to which you could only shoot her a glare.

"Riii-hi-hi-iick." Monica's arms were weakly holding your neck and pulling you into her hug. It took you a second to realize that despite having been left with jelly legs, she was still trying to hold on to you. You could only laugh at that, unsure whether she was just that much of a horn-ball or if it was something else or both.

"Uh, guys? Could I have some privacy?" You asked, looking at the others. There was more than one pair of rolled eyes, and maybe someone gawked at you.

It was Katherine. "You shitting me? Now is when you ask for privacy? After a day and a half of...?"

You have the decency to blush "All the previous times I really wasn't the one initiating." You muttered, frowning. "Though I have noticed some rather curious things this morning; I could talk about those if you'd like."

Three pairs of eyes became panicked, Mr Gabriel even coughed out. "I think it'd be only fair to give it since he's the one who managed to convince Monica to stay with us."

"Meownica..." The woman spoke half dreamily, humping you again and purring. "Rick." She added. "Riiiii~iiiiiick." She drew out the word, licking your cheek.

Waiting for them to step out, you return your attention to a Monica who'd pouted when she realized the others had left, still, she was very happy to have you pour more attention on her.

You had to use an impromptu belt to keep your pants up before going to meet the others. Mr Gabriel and Katherine seemed in high spirits, Alice looked tired, May kept her restless expression, and Tomas looked overall abashed... like always. Then you noticed the mouse-girl was being carried in the stretcher that had been originally intended for Mr Gabriel. Tomas was pulling it without much effort apparently, with the stretcher having half of its weight on the ground, but the mouse-girl on it was currently clutching Mr Gabriel's hand and looking at you and Monica with about as much fear as such a little creature could muster.

With those wide brown eyes, it was a lot. "So, hill-top?" Alice confirmed, she didn't seem to be in the mood to take shit from anyone at this point.

"Hill-Top." You nodded in agreement, completely certain you'd rather not push your luck. You'd have said the path up the hill had nothing particular about it, but you'd be lying. Because Monica had made it become something to be noted about. The moment you had started to walk up the hill she'd stuck herself to your side like glue.

With her breasts firmly squished against your shoulder, the cat-woman kept licking your neck and earlobe... which made walking slightly awkward. "Riii~iiick." She whispered, causing you to shudder not in displeasure. But almost always making you trip, the one time she did, she just caught you, lifted you up before you even touched the ground, hugged you, and put you back on your feet.

"I think Monica has a crush." Katherine spoke with a false scowl followed by a giggle. "It seems my competition is all too capable."

"Are you talking of Monica? You never stood a chance." You retorted. "But you can try."

You never thought you'd see the blonde girl become speechless like that. It was probably because you'd retorted in a very un-teacher-like manner. What was she going to do? If there were going to be complaints about your behaviour when you got back, throwing sass would be the least of your concerns. That said, Mr Gabriel seemed very quiet about this though, you turned to glance at him and saw the man still holding the mouse girl's hand, but seeming very deep in thought about something else entirely.

A little banter continued, but it was mostly muted as all of you had to save your breaths due to the steep incline. Eventually, the trees began to clear out, and you got a good view of everything that laid to the east.

It was a very pretty scene, the forest was beautiful, and the mountain seemed quite picturesque. Not to mention there was a sense of relief seeing the small lakes, for they meant there would be readily available drinking water were you to head in that direction. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to have anything resembling civilization. Not even signs of it. "Fuck." You heard Alice muttering under her breath in shock.

You decided to turn around.

And you froze. There were forests and mountains, but... you squinted. There was something there, barely visible, but you were sure you could see something in the sea of trees. "Guys?" You drew everyone's attention and point into the distance. "Doesn't that look like a field and some houses?" There was a collective gasp.

"Yes!" It was Tomas, much to your surprise, who screamed out, pumping his fist into the air.

"How far do you figure?" Kat asked, looking excited.

You had to scratch your head slightly. "If we press on it, we should be able to reach those houses before nightfall... but I'm not sure how fast we can go with..."

You say nothing else, but felt Mr Gabriel stiffening slightly. "I could stay here." He spoke out. "With Tessa, so that you're not slowed down." He added with a stern voice that shocked you. "Once you get aid, you'd only need to come back for us."

Everyone shared a look amongst each other, it was Kat who spoke up first. "No way in hell, I'm not leaving my grandfather alone in a mouldy cave."

But the thought had been planted, everyone else had become tense as the idea was chewed on. Would it be worth it to take longer to get to those structures? Just how safe would Mr Gabriel and the mouse-girl... he had named her Tessa apparently... would be on their own here inside Monica's territory? You shook your head. "We're not going to leave you behind." You stated firmly, keeping to yourself the thought about the mouse since you weren't too sure about her right now.

"I will only slow you down."

"Then we'll walk slower." Alice nodded, showing a slight sense of relief at the agreement from everyone. "Better late than never they say."

The chuckle that escaped you was perhaps a bit more macabre than you'd intended, you just hadn't been able to suppress the question about how many were not going to get to safety at the end of all this. And a little voice in the back of your head kept wondering whether, if it came down to it, would you be willing to leave the others behind or not.

You clamped down on that, not letting the idea through.

"And the others?" Tomas asked.

"We don't know how far they are by now, those houses are definitely closer than they are." You stated without a moment's doubt. "If there are people, there should be people capable of finding them and leading them to safety far better than we could ever hope to do."

There was a nod, but the mood had become slightly darker again. Well, at least not for Monica and... Tessa? Monica was still biting your ear and seemingly passively listening in to whatever was being said. While the mouse was keeping her levels of horrified and grabbing hold on Mr Gabriel's hand all the while; her attention always aimed towards Monica.

"There's a stream over there." You point in a slight north-west-ish direction. "We can follow that westwards, no need to worry about water."

"Sounds like a plan."

Everyone became quiet as you began your descent.