Mandy And the Wise Wolf
(Thumbnail art by: https://twitter.com/0Lightsource)
(The following is a story of confusing canon-ness. This story was brainstormed by my Discord chat. I really, really liked the idea because it was adorable and fun and would be a good chance to show more of Mandy’s character. However, I was on edge because I almost wanted to save the story for when I do the big Mandy novel proper story whatchya-ma-callit. It was tempting to sit on this idea and wait, it was even more tempting to properly incorporate this story into the main one, but that would mean doing it differently and waiting for a very long time. I am writing this story on the pretense that I am 99% likely to rewrite this entire story here once the full thing is made, but with a lot of details changed.
Please, treat this story like what it is; A fun demo for how Mandy is and how her main story might be like. Y’know, like those big games that make the really fun demos that aren’t exactly how the main game goes. Ummm… What was a game that did that… Resident Evil 7? I think so. And Silent Hills was also trying to do that before the whole thing happened and-
OKAY, BACK TO THE RACCOON PORN.)
Part I
“Fuckin’ hell! Is that fourteen bucks for a cheeseburger?!” Mandy the raccoon girl looked on at the price board in complete disdain. That’s nuts! Mandy thought. I’ve seen tons of people walking around with those burgers and they looked disgusting. The bread is thin as a napkin and the beef isn’t much better! I think for cheese they just melt a cheesenip on the friggin’ thing. She eyed the area around the cart in the sleek white halls of the conference center, staring at the concession tables nearby. They only have a dispenser for mayo… W-what happened to the ketchup?! Is ketchup just not a thing?!
The raccoon girl nervously stuck her hands in her jacket. She was wearing what was pretty much just Futaba’s jacket from Persona 5. Beneath that was a black band shirt, and hugging around her hips was a pair of tight shorts that wasn’t exactly boosting her confidence. She also had on her red and black striped thigh-high stockingns. She adjusted her black glasses, glancing this way and that. Do I really need this burger? She blinked. The place down the street is probably the same price but gives you the works… Oh shit am I holding up the line?
Mandy turns around frantically. There were indeed a few people behind her, but they were clearly in no rush. They were forming their own little circle and discussing something or other as they became content and apathetic with their sluggish line waiting existence. Colorful wigs and revealing costumes aplenty adorned the bodies of these eager con goers. They roamed down the halls in plentiful hordes of closely-knit friends. Mandy sighed and left the cart for the time being. The people didn’t even notice she left.
MegaCon was a convention that happened in her own city about once a year unless some maniac got it cancelled. It seemed like a good way to burn a weekend. This was Mandy’s first year in this city and she had always wanted to go to a big convention. Hands in her pockets, she roamed down the carpeted sleek halls.
The hall she walked down was curved. The wall to her left was a massive window that followed the bend of the hall, revealing a gleaming utopia of shimmering light and sunny days on the other side. Mandy looked out the window of the stadium-like complex. Her eyes were glued to the bright summery outside of the city.
She took a seat against the wall on the other side, making sure to keep her distance from the other groups walking around. She tugged her phone out of her pocket and checked in on her chats. Tip tap, she typed out a little hello to see if her friend was awake and around.
[Aska: Oh heya Mandy. You at con?
Mandy: Yeah, I’m at it. It’s pretty cool so far. Just not really sure what to do. The burgers are like twenty bucks.
Aska: What. How. How can you sell burgers for twenty bucks. Are the buns like filled with gold?
Mandy: I think they just jack up the prices because they know we’re stuck here.
Aska: Capitalism has failed us.
Mandy: I mean objectively…
Mandy: Anyways, I’m a bit nervous… I’ve never been in such a busy place in my raccoon form. It feels… weird.
Aska: Well duh it feels weird. You’re not used to SLAYING!
Aska: SLAYING!
Mandy: The only thing I’m slaying is my self-esteem. I came to a convention as a big titty raccoon girl with a dog dick. Like, I really should’ve just gone as a human!
Aska: But the brand Mandy! You stream as a raccoon! How else are you going to meet your fans?!
Mandy: I don’t know! And what are the odds one of my fans are even here?!]
“Excuse me?”
Mandy looked up from her phone. “Er y-yes?” She almost dropped her phone in her surprise. Up above her was a girl dressed her best to impersonate Joker from the hit series Persona 5! Mandy blinked at her. W-was this a fan?
“Are you supposed to be a Futaba?” She asked.
Okay, she probably wasn’t. “Hehe, umm, not really. I just like the coat! My stream said I should get it and-“
“Oh, so you’re a streamer!” She said. “And a furry.” Her tone was incredibly matter of fact, quick words bordering on emotionless.
“Ummm…” Mandy’s eyes went a little wide. “I think so?”
“Furry streamer,” The girl nodded sagely.
“Can I help you?” Mandy affirmed, still bashful as heck.
“Oh, yeah. Can I have a photo with you?”
“… I mean sure?” Mandy stood up and pat her shirt down because she saw it in a show once and was pretty sure you need to pat yourself down before you take a photo with a fan. The strange girl wrapped her arm around Mandy, held her phone up, and took a quick photo. Mandy was pretty sure she blinked.
“My first photo with a furry,” The girl said so plainly it was sugar free vanilla ice cream.
“Y-you’re welcome?” Mandy winced. “Why did you want my photo anyways?”
“My big sister watches a furry stream. You might be her. You might not be,” The girl tilted her head. “Either way, you looked cute,” And then the girl just turned and left. Mandy was blushing, her paws going straight to her cheeks, pushing them together.
“C-cute?!” Her tail stood straight up. She took a second to recover from that encounter. The girl walked away, rejoining the crowd. Mandy stood against the wall checking her breath, feeling the heat slowly dissipate from her cheeks. Her thumb slid against her phone with intent.
[Mandy: Someone called me cute!] She tip tapped away at her phone, feeling the need to report it.
[Aska: Were they cute?
Mandy: ???
Aska: Mandy you need to keep your eyes open. You’re at a con. You’re going to meet cute people. You have an empty hotel room, right? Just you in it?
Mandy: Yes?
Aska: The seed has been planted.
Mandy: What fucking seed?!
Aska: Yes. The fucking seed.
Mandy: I-I’m not going to have sex with a stranger!
Aska: How else are you going to get to know them?
Mandy: Talk?! Talk about anime? Video games? I’m not here to get my dick wet.
Aska: And yet you took the dog dick pills today…? ; 3
Mandy: I-i-i-it’s a part of the package! You know I get the custom ones that do the whole thing! Tits, ass, hips, thighs, raccoon, girl, etc! The dog dick is in that! And you’re the one who got me into the dog dick thing!
Aska: And here you are. With a dog dick. In public. The seed is planted Mandy. You can’t stop it from growing.
Mandy: I’m here for the con.
Aska: C’mon doggy~ There is no stopping the turning of the clock, the moving of the globe. The sun dies out, the moon flings away, and you have a casual hookup with a waifu. It’s the rules of nature Mandy.
Mandy: No tho.
Aska: Look, you’re a hella cute raccoon babe, right? Don’t let your nerves stop you from having fun! Because this is who you are, and getting hung up on that doesn’t make sense. So you should do what comes natural!]
Mandy put her phone down. Although Aska’s last bit of advice was clearly still aimed at trying to convince Mandy to engage in casual sex, it did have a nice bit of confidence boosting packaged with it. There was no point in getting all wrapped up and concerned. Mandy dressed herself today, she chose how she was going to be, what person she wanted to be. This was who she was. She took a few confident steps forward, back into the fray of the con.
Sushi 101 was a huge waste of time. It was the first event that Mandy had gone to and it was a hideous occasion. A group of teens probably fighting to keep chin hairs pointed a camera at a small table. The video it captured was beamed up to the big projector screen that had the looming dominance of business affairs, it looked like a more appropriate place to announce a new cellphone or a legion of killer cyborgs. But instead the screen was demeaned by a kid pointing a shaky hand-held camera at a roll of sushi being clumsily cut by a butter knife. Mandy was in stitches. She howled with laughter when the roll was wheeled off the edge by accident with the dull knife.
Mandy noticed that someone else had been laughing. Well, the whole crowd was laughing at the hideous butchering of the art of sushi-ing, but as she scanned the room for who all was laughing she saw her.
This woman was pulling off the best Holo the Wise Wolf from the (not really a hit since it never got that next season but still kinda a hit in cult circles) Spice and Wolf. Just a cute girl with long flowing amber brown hair, cute wolf ears, immaculate skin, gorgeous red eyes, and even her costume was perfect. She wore that purple shirt that bore her shoulders, a red sack necklace that no doubt held a divine portion of wheat. Leg hugging black pants with purple cuffs at the ends. And that flowing groomed tail, so gorgeous and grand.
She looked like one of those photoshopped cosplays. The ones that were doctored for hours and hours on end to be as perfect as could be. But here, in the real world, it had that celestial quality. She was a goddess in more ways than one. Mandy gasped as she looked on.
A lot of cosplay was improved with the advent of casual transformation, but people still underestimated how much work it was. Styling hair, fixing the color if the pill was cheap, making the costume, applying makeup! The art form was enhanced for sure with the ability to have wolf tails on the cheap, but that didn’t mean the tail would look perfect right out of the box! Mandy took a gulp. She wasn’t sure what to do, what to feel. She had a Holo figurine on her nightstand, one of her first ventures in weeb-hood. It was a prized possession. And now someone who looked like the actual girl was there. And she was laughing at this fucking train wreck as a teen got on his hands and knees to hunt for the escaped sushi-roll, his breath panting straight into his attached microphone.
The time allotted for the panel ended. The Holo stood up, hoisting her nose high, turning on her heels elegantly. Mandy felt her whole body ache from just how accurate this girl was. She made her way down the hall. Mandy couldn’t help but stare… Yep, she had a bigger booty and tits than what would be considered canon. Someone was taking liberties. Mandy liked that. She knocked herself out of her dopy state only to realize that the girl was long gone. She threw herself up onto her feet and almost threw up. The tension was on. She had to find her or at least try or at least awkwardly stare at her for the rest of the convention and never make any attempt at contact!
She speed walked down the aisle, her shoes patting against the carpeted floor back out into the convention hall proper. The whole building was about four stories. The halls were a halo surrounding a main unit where all the meeting halls were held. She looked to the left; no sight. Looked to the right; even less sight. She was gone.
“Dang it, missed that Holo!”
“Missed a Holo?” A voice. A regal voice trained on the English dub of the anime.
Mandy turned towards the walls. There she was. The cosplayer. She had stopped at the water fountain to sip, the water fountain that was against the wall near the door, built in to a little alcove. Her heart skipped a beat. No, forget that. It skipped every beat ever for the rest of her life. She just couldn’t beat anymore. “Hello!” She beamed, speaking like a fish begging for water.
“Yes, hello,” The cosplayer raised her brow at the raccoon girl. “You were looking for me?” She asked quite politely.
“Looking? For you? Ahaha!” Mandy echoed. She waited long enough to realize that repeating people’s words out loud didn’t do much to progress the conversation. In fact, it froze the conversation dead in its tracks. Holo was looking at Mandy quizzically. Mandy felt the awkward squeeze of social awareness eating at her. “Um, your cosplay is- oh gosh I’m wordless. Y-you nailed it! Everything about it! And I don’t want to sound like a creep because I’m not, I’m just supremely stupid.”
“Thank you darling~” Holo said, waving her torso a little. “You don’t seem that stupid, however. Perhaps just a little flustered?”
“Flustered? Yeah, guess I am. You just look so much like her, it’s like meeting a celebrity! As dorky as that sounds,” Mandy shakes her head.
“Well, this is, as some one would figure, a sort of gathering of the dorks. I think you’ll find you’re in fine company if you are capable of sounding like a dork. Some struggle with the dialect, but you might blend right in.”
“No one speaks dork as well as I do!” Mandy beamed awkwardly, thumb pointed to herself. “I could get a job as a translator,” Then she realized that she was dragging the conversation out. The poor cosplayer was probably just being patient. “Hey, can I please um have a photo?”
“A photo?” Holo smiled. “Why, certainly. I won’t even charge you, fufu~”
“Oh my god you could charge me anything you want. I’ll pay. Your cosplay is just so good…” Mandy said, trying to sort of say it to herself but it was also sort of loud enough that she was pretty sure the cosplayer could hear her. Mandy pulled her phone out and just awkwardly noticed that Aska had sent her a few more messages.
[Aska: Mandy. It is time. It is time to give in to your animalistic urges.
Aska: You and I, we shall rule the world.
Aska: bigdick.mp3
Aska: Btw wrote a new song I think it sounds good. We got a guy who can play a mean kazoo.]
Mandy flicked past it and opened her phone. She started to point it at Holo before she felt a hand on her wrist. She froze. Holo gently positioned Mandy so they were close together. Holo took ahold of Mandy’s phone when she saw the raccoon was shaking too much. Holo wrapped an arm over Mandy and tugged her close so they were both in frame. Click. She took the photo. She exited the embrace and handed the phone back over to Mandy.
“That’ll be 20 Trenni Silver Coins~” Holo winked. “If you don’t have any on you its fine. We can discuss other payment options.”
Suddenly, something clicked in Mandy. Like, she just randomly rolled a natural 20 in her head or something. It was a spark as she realized how kind the world was to her. “I can pay you back alright. How’s about some lunch?” Mandy asked. “The food here sucks.”
Holo looked surprised by the offer. Her face gently relaxed and turned back into a smile. “Sure. I have some time to waste until the cosplay contest. Do you have anywhere in mind?”
“I know a few places. I live around here anyways. I um, go to college here.”
“Oh, a student? My, how interesting. And what are you studying then, scholar?” Holo asked, following Mandy as they headed for the exit.
“IT, information technology,” Mandy said, too used to people asking what IT stood for. “I’m going to try and be a cyber security person or something.”
“Very interesting. I heard there is good money in that. I would assume you are also interested in this field. One can make money many ways, especially when one is so fine on the eyes.”
“Fine on the eyes?!” Mandy blushed. Holo snickered at the sight of the flustered bandit masked girl. “I don’t really think so.”
“You do not?” Holo asked, perking up a little, her smile taking on that smug look one got when the game was well afoot. “A pity beauty often comes paired with blind eyes to its own grace. Such fine ears, rich dark fur, a womanly figure, and not to forget that bushy striped tail. I dare say it nears mine in its quality.”
“Oh wow I um just remembered that I um left my oven on! And the bath water running! I totally forgot I was going to um take a bath and bake at the same time!” Mandy was flustered as hell. The first time the world would see a naturally red raccoon. Mandy was barely able to get away before she felt an arm wrap around her own. Holo stayed by her side, her eyes low and flirty.
“You needn’t be so worried. Does my praise bite so cruelly?”
“No it’s just that I’m um… Not used to it I guess, haha…” She scratched her ears a little, a little tic to get her nerves unclogged.
“It twas only fair. You had praised me so highly. I sought to make that trade more fair, but only so you could not claim it was partial payment towards those photos. I’d hate for you to skimp out on the meal~” Holo giggled.
“Well you er, needn’t worry,” Mandy said, trying to mimic the well versed wolf girl. “I mean, I might have enough money to pay for us both. I’ll just have to dip into the stream fund a little…”
“Stream?” Holo asked. The pair were outside of the con now, their name badges flowing the summer air.
“It is kinda my job right now,” Mandy said. “I um, stream me playing video games to nerds, and it makes me enough money that I don’t have to do a real job.”
Holo seemed interested in this as they walked on the sidewalk to the crosswalk. Their sign was red. The cars beamed past them. The city was filled with high buildings. The cluttering sounds of people living in this megacity filled the air. Honks, chatting, music, laughing, wind. It all blurred together into a sound that was strangely cold. It only made Holo’s arm feel warmer against Mandy’s fur.
“So you play video games for others to see? Yes, I’ve heard of this before. It’s fairly popular now,” She said with a sagely nod. “Though how is it that you make your revenue? It is not like conventional jobs so you have no employer, yet you also do not create a tangible product to sell…”
Mandy blinked. Holy shit she’s in character, she thought. “Well, it’s um, kinda simple really,” They walked across the walkway once the light changed. A few other cosplayers walked with them. A herd of multicolored nerds overtaking the city for a bit. “So basically, as you get bigger, you attract more people. First, you get the people who just really like your stuff and donate money straight to you. I get a lot from that actually!” Mandy said.
“I see,” Holo glanced across Mandy, particularly at her chest. “I can see why the tips come in. Your cup must overfloweth.”
“Ehehe,” Mandy snickered. “Yeah, the tits play a big part in it. I try not to whore out or anything, but sometimes I wear costumes on stream and…” Big blush. Big flaming hot blush. “A-anyways!!! Ahaha! Anyways, other ways are a bit more straightforward like TV. You get ads that roll on your stream. I try to only play a few. One at the start, middle, and end, and never during a big game, usually when I get up to get a drink.”
“Ah yes, that does sound more traditional,” Holo said. Mandy was still blushing, thinking about the time she sucked herself off on stream… But you don’t bring that up on the zero-th date. Nor do you bring up the crazy amount of tips you make doing such an action. Holo tilted her head. “So in that way you are similar to television, but with the donation aspect you are less beholden to the interests of advertisers. I’ve read that television is nearly dead with rates of subscription dying. I doubt anyone is donating their money to these mega groups and are much happier giving it to a very humble self-made person. However, I imagine advertisement money is more consistent than donations?”
“Well, yeah, but donations are sort of interesting,” Mandy said. “I have one guy who tosses me a hundred every week. Don’t know why. He doesn’t ask anything from me. He always just sends it every Friday. He only ever has one message attatched. ‘Keep doing your best Mandy,’ so its like, he’s almost like a normal investor. And there are others like him. I also run a monthly payment program so people can subscribe to me. And after that, I also get sponsored. Companies pay me to try their games out and give them good PR, or shill a product or something. I’m obviously not going to be advertising a razor or anything,” She teases her paw through her fur. “But hey! It pays!”
Part II
They arrived at one of the places that Mandy usually liked to eat at. It was a sit down place that had some damn tasty steak and burgers. One of those places that was almost fast food, but just had too much class and dignity to bend the knee. Also, burgers were only nine bucks here, and they were all tasty burgers.
‘Holo’ and Mandy took their seats facing each other. “My, quite a fine menu,” Holo said, perusing over the few pages it had. “And you said you’ve been here before?”
“Yeah, I usually just get the bacon burger,” Mandy said. “Y’know, classic red white and blue food.”
“I see,” Holo said. “Any chance they have apples? Perhaps potatos and goat’s cheese?”
“I doubt they have any canon food,” Mandy snickered.
Holo giggled. “I simply had to try,” They were seated outdoors in the front patio. Fencing separated them from the sidewalk of the great big city. There was an umbrella above them, blocking out the most annoying parts of the sun. It was a warm day. Mandy put her coat back on her seat while Holo remained as she was. “I think I’ll have the chicken salad. A simple dish, but perhaps for the best. After all, it is only lunch. I can splurge on the finer delicacies later.”
“Mmm, yeah, if we come back I can recommend you some of the nicer stuff,” Mandy said.
“Oh? How bold of you to presume we are already booked for dinner,” Holo giggled.
“O-oh! I didn’t mean to!” Mandy said, realizing how it must have sounded.
“Relax. Odds are I may very well need some help finding a place to eat. My friends have all been dreadfully busy.”
“Oh? Who did you come with?” Mandy asked. They were just waiting for their food now, having clicked their orders in on the tablet in the table.
“Just my usual group. However, we all have very different interests. We go our own ways and find our own fun and meet again for the cosplay contests, the panels that matter to us as a group. It gets tiresome, especially when one gets a tad lonely,” She seemed a bit saddened as she spoke.
Mandy sipped on her soda and nodded. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Oh it is quite alright,” Holo said, her face returning to that playful glance, like a cat eyeing something to knock over. “Me and my group have our own ways many times at many conventions. I willingly choose this. They are my friends and help in many ways. As well, it is always interesting to see who it is I might meet. These conventions are grand in how they bring out all the interesting people. The comradery, the shared interests, the events that can only occur because such a dedicated group all agree to meet. There is nothing else like it,” She takes a swift sip of her own drink. “Mmm. I’ve always met someone interesting, and no two have been alike. Even you, Mandy, are an entirely new sort of person to me.”
“Hehe, you must have at least met one other stuttering nerd,” Mandy said, sipping more of her soda. “We’re not exactly a rare breed.”
“You are far more than that,” Holo said.
“How so?” Mandy asked.
“I shan’t tell~” She grinned. “I think it is more important you come to realize.”
Mandy groaned, but still had a grin on her face. “As you say,” With a little downtime, she decided to check her phone again.
[Aska: have you listened yet
Aska: you really need to listen to it
Aska: mandy plz
Aska: plz mandy
Aska: c’mon you trash panda!]
Well, that was typical Aska behavior.
[Mandy: Aska you’re never going to believe this.
Aska: Ye?
Mandy: I think I’m on a date.
Aska: MY BEAUTIFUL SEED. OH HOW IT HATH GROWN!
Mandy: It’s not your dang seed! I just met a cosplayer and she is tolerating eating in front of me.
Aska: send pics]
Well, Mandy did have that selfie. She flipped through her files and found the photo. Mandy was feel flabbergasted just even remembering the event took place. She sent it over.
[Aska: holy shit
Aska: that’s not a cosplayer that’s an actual waifu given flesh and blood
Aska: how did you do this
Aska: r u a wizard?
Mandy: I don’t know! I just saw her, asked for a photo in the most fucking stupid way I could muster and then for some reason asked her if she wanted to go get a bite. I guess I was thinking with my stomach.
Aska: And your dick
Mandy: I guess???
Aska: She’s like stupid cute! Like perfect!
Mandy: I KNOW HALP
Aska: Just stick with it. You’ll get your bone buried in no time if you just keep laying down the Mandy charm!
Mandy: I do not want to burry my bone, and the Mandy charm is me screaming into a pillow while pissing myself
Aska: okay don’t do that
Aska: just stay cool. Stay focused. And don’t be a total failure.]
Mandy sighed and put her phone away. It was probably rude to stay glued to it while on this date anyways. Yeah, this probably was a date, right? Holo was checking her own phone. Probably catching up with her friend group. “So,” Mandy started to talk. Holo promptly put her phone aside to look at Mandy as she spoke. “What are your friends going as?”
“Huh… Those all sound pretty cool!” Mandy beamed. She at least recognized all of the characters brought up. “So like you said, a pretty mixed group?”
Holo laughed at that. “We often try to coordinate our cosplays but often find we can’t quite find middle ground. Holo is by far the most popular character from her series so getting someone to cosplay in a pair or a group is fairly difficult. I haven’t seen My Hero and firmly will not cosplay a character I know nothing of,” She explained. Mandy could definitely see why. Holo passively sipped at her drink again. “This year was a rarity however. The last two were actually able to dress up as something from the same series. Even then, though, they both are likely on different sides of the convention all together, entertaining totally different ideas about what to do. One of them is surely glued to the gaming room, the other to the dealer’s hall. They shan’t meet again until the contest tonight, and then once more for dinner and our hotel room.”
“So you guys really take the contest seriously,” Mandy asked. The waitress arrived. She landed a pretty damn big hamburger with an ocean of fries at Mandy’s front, and spun around to give Holo her humble salad.
“That we do,” Holo said, taking a bite of her lettuce quite elegantly. “We all are career cosplayers, you could say. We do our best to make the best. I certainly pay quite a bit just to make this costume. I sewed the outfit myself,” She smiled, gripping at the shirt lightly. “I also take the character part very seriously.”
“I can tell!” Mandy laughed. “It feels like I’ve been talking to Holo the whole time.”
“I rewatched the whole show twice last week. I’ve read all the books, even the manga. Just to make sure how I spoke was consistent with the character. I just very much enjoy getting into their heads. In a way, I feel most at home with Holo so far. Our personalities just click very nicely,” She smirked. “We both enjoy conversing, in teasing, in thinking,” She stuck her fork into a nice chunk of chicken dripping with a thin clear sauce. “And food for sure. We both have that in common,” She took a good bite out.
Mandy nodded along. She grabbed her pretty cumbersome burger and attempted to take her first bite. The whole thing was threatening to topple over even in her grasp. “So, what else have you cosplayed in the past?”
“Oh, plenty of things!” She said, seeming to handle her meal with much more simplistic grace. It was easy when she could eat her food with a fork. “It usually depends on my mood that year. I only pick characters I know I can emulate well. Cosplayers who don’t know a thing about the show they are cosplaying from disgust me,” She said with a playful tone. “I did Bulma once… Then Samus another year…”
“Samus?!” Mandy gasped. “Oh my god I love Samus!”
“As much as you do Holo?” The wolf girl grinned, snickering. Mandy found her words caught in the trap. “Seems our tastes do align in at least this field. Mandy, was it?”
“Y-yeah, I’m Mandy,” She said.
“Do you cosplay?” The girl asked, clearly curious.
“Er, sorta…” She put her sloppy burger back down on its plate. “I dress up for some of my streams, and buy cute costumes here and there… I brought one here… But I couldn’t really bring myself to put it on. Figured I was already embarrassing myself enough being a raccoon.”
“You’ll be surprised how accepting people can be,” Holo said, finishing her drink. “Which costume did you bring, Mandy?”
“It was a D.Va one…” Mandy said. “I don’t have a wig or anything or any TF-ables to make me look like her. I just brought it just in case someone said I should put it on or-“
“You should put it on,” Holo insisted. “Come on. As soon as we’re done here, let’s go back to your room and get you ready.”
Mandy blinked. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Hardly~” Holo smiled. “This is a convention and you have a costume. It would be a true shame if you were to waste this chance.”
“Yeah, but, wouldn’t it be weird and character inaccurate to be D.Va but also a raccoon girl furry thing?”
“Perhaps so,” Holo said. “But then again, many people are willing to look past that, look past the pageantry and just see a fellow nerd perhaps trying to have some fun,” Holo said. Mandy felt strangely flattered. She wanted to insist they not go, but Holo was already stood up.
They finished paying up (Mandy did indeed get the whole check as prior promised) and they headed to Mandy’s hotel room. Mandy insisted she was well able to get the costume on herself, but Holo refused to stray away, staying glued to Mandy’s arm as they walked. “I wish to help you with your costume. I believe I can help being such a quality cosplayer~”
Mandy guided Holo down the street to the hotel nearby. Inside they went through the sliding doors. The hotel was one of those decent ones. The lobby had white floors and pale walls decorated with mass produced paintings. A table with coffee and tea was set up, along with the accessories and condiments needed to dress one’s hot beverage. Mandy lead Holo over to the elevators hidden in the back of the lobby. Door slid open. Two nerds walked in.
They stood in silence as the elevator slid up the shaft. Mandy just sort of stood there, blushing down at the world girl who was still very much wrapped around her arm. Mandy was having a hard time realizing just how lucky she was feeling. “You sure do like um, holding my arm,” Mandy said.
“You’re warm, soft, and as I said, your fur is quite luxurious,” Holo insisted, pushing her cheek against Mandy’s side. Mandy let out a little sound as she grew more flustered. The door slid open. In walked someone in a full suit of power armor. Mandy and Holo awkwardly pushed back into the corner of the elevator to let the hulk of metal in.
The door closed. They awkwardly stood in silence as the elevator slid up. The door opened again and the metal man walked out. “ALRIGHT, WHICH ONE OF YOU FUCKERS TOOK MY DILDO?” And the door closed.
“… Oh shit…” Mandy blinked. She can feel a laugh starting to push against her lips.
“Pfft-“ Holo was doing the same. “L-look out guys. Someone took his dildo!” And they both broke down into laughter. They nearly missed it when their elevator opened on Mandy’s actual floor. The door was starting to close when the raccoon threw herself forward.
“Shit, this is my floor!” She just barely caught the door.
Mandy lead Holo back to her room. Mandy put her keycard against the reader. Didn’t work. She tried it again. Didn’t work. Then tried turning it upside down. Didn’t work. Okay, maybe she went too fast. She tried it slower. Didn’t work. No, these things work if you go faster. So she did it faster. Didn’t work. Okay, she should go upside down and slow. It did not work. But then it did work for no reason except cosmic wills. “T-tadaaaah!” Mandy gasped out weakly as she opened the door.
One queen bed. Suitcase in the corner, unopened. Bed still made. Little TV on a table. Desk in the corner. Double windows staring out to a normal sight of the city, the convention center looming over on the horizon, like the center of a network. It was cramped, it was simple.
As soon as they were in, Holo took a few eager steps towards Mandy. “Alright, let’s see this costume of your’s.”
“Sure, sure,” Mandy kneeled down and unzipped her suitcase. She dug around through the folded clothes until she found her costume.
“You said you live here, right?” Holo asked. “So, why is that you have a hotel room.”
“Hah, I had to get one anyways. The roommate was having a party. I just wanted to get out of the house for a bit. He’s a nice guy, and considering all the dumb shit he has to put up with, he deserves his party,” Mandy eventually retrieved her costume. It was a pretty decent looking D.Va bodysuit. Every detail seemed accurate, and the material of the suit was pretty high in quality. Like, good for a fan film. Holo pushed herself against Mandy’s back, letting out a little sound as she loomed over her shoulders to see it.
“Not bad~” She grinned.
“Y-yeah,” Mandy said, feeling the wolf girl against her. Holo slowly wrapped her arms around Mandy so she was hugging her at about stomach level. Mandy’s heavy chest was resting on the top of Holo’s arms. She gulped. Her heart was doing the opposite of stopping forever; It was racing. She had no idea what was happening, but her mind felt like it was slowing down while her everything else was speeding up.
Holo’s hands pushed up against Mandy’s form, gently sliding up along her torso until she had grasped ahold of a breast. Mandy let out another sound. “Forgive me if I am being too forward… I’ve just been excited to feel how soft you are.”
“I-It’s alright,” Mandy gasped. Holo gently pressed her other hand into Mandy’s breast. Both were being groped now through her shirt. Mandy’s tail started to slowly rock back and forth and dig against her legs. “I never did catch your name,” Was the only thing Mandy could think of saying.
“I’m Holo the Wise Wolf~” She said. She hugged Mandy again and gently guided her over to the foot of the bed. Mandy stood before it, looking back at Holo, staring at her in a sort deer in the head lights way. Holo gently pushed her finger against Mandy. She fell forward like she was kicked by an atom bomb.
“Are we actually gonna…?” Mandy was a bit caught up in it now. She laid against the bed, her arms at her sides, her chest rising and falling gently as she breathed hotly. Holo fell forward, straddling Mandy’s lap.
“Only if your big guy down here cooperates and you desire me as much as I believe,” Holo said. Then she feigned bashfulness, looking away as though prepared to hurt. “Pray tell, you do desire me, yes? Or is a wolf such as myself unworthy?”
“Oh my god no, you’re more than worthy!” Mandy said. “I just don’t get why me…”
“Because you’re cute,” Holo said, pushing herself against the bulge in Mandy’s pants. “You’re humble. You’re smart. You’re kind hearted. And you’re a huge dork. Sadly, those are my tastes~” Holo gently leaned in and planted her lips against Mandy’s.
The raccoon girl’s eyes closed as her resistance faltered. She was melted butter. She wrapped her arms around Holo and tugged her in close. Their breasts pushed against each other. Their lips mashed hungrily. The warmth from their shared bodies swelled up around them. Holo exited the kiss, panting with a hungry hot breath. She slid back and gently tugged on Mandy’s shirt.
It slid up and off. Mandy’s black bra lied beneath. That went off as well with a little finesse from the wise wolf. Mandy laid back, her huge chest bare and needy. Holo giggled, pushing her lip against one of the breasts. And she did so slowly, as if waiting for Mandy to protest. When no words came, she pushed her lips together and gently suckled. She pulled her back, giving the nipple a teasing tug. Mandy gasped out a sensitive moan.
“T-that feels incredible,” Mandy gasped. “Oh my god. This feels like a dream.”
“You humble me~” Holo said, waving her tail. “Then let’s take the dream a bit further,” She stood up out of the bed and held her arms aside. Quickly she tugged her shirt off and dropped her pants. Beneath was nothing save for the nude wolf girl. She leapt forward and tugged back Mandy’s shorts, revealing Mandy’s monster.
Beneath her shorts was a huge red dog dick poking right out of her matching black panties. Holo seemed surprised at first, at the girth or maybe the exoticness. Mandy winced, certain that she was about to be told she was a freak. Instead, Holo ground her bare loins against it. “A wolf’s dick will make me feel more at home~” She giggled.
Mandy practically came right there and then.
The rest of it was all a blur. The sort of blur that only rises when the heat is so intense that the vision ahead becomes impossible to make out through the rising mist. Holo pushed herself down on the spear, taking the entirety of it inside her. Then she began to ride. Mandy was a mess. She moaned far too easily. She was completely lost in the moment. She was hungry to grasp and kiss Holo’s body but wasn’t sure what she could get away with.
Part III
Even as she came, Mandy felt like an awkward mess being gifted too much too soon. Holo cooed out so sweetly as she finished riding the cock, cumming herself just a few ticks of the clock later. “Mmm, that was nice, Mandy~” Holo said, tugging herself off as soon as Mandy’s knot descended. “A shower now, yes?”
“Y-yeah,” Mandy gasped. They joined each other in the cramped hotel shower, standing in the hot water, cleaning themselves. “That was umm, my first time having sex in this form,” Mandy said as the steam of the warm water rushed around them. Mandy was a bit taller than Holo, so she had to stand out of the way of the water when possible.
“And what a shame that is. Your form is quite adorable! I relished every moan, and if I could play with breasts so fair more often~” She grinned. “And have you had sex in your other form?”
“Yeah…” Mandy said. “It’s been a while, though. And that form isn’t really all that good…”
“I truly doubt it. But, if the form you are in is more to your taste that is certainly fine with me. I’m quite happy with my own form truly,” Holo leaned in and pressed a kiss against Mandy’s cheek. “The form you are happier with is the true you, after all.”
“Thanks,” Mandy said, meaning it so sincerely yet lacking the strength to say it in all its meaning. “What is um, your true form like?”
“Well my true form is much like your’s,” She said. “I have the bland normal me. It is fine. But, I maintain a much more pleasing form. At least for my taste. We are in an era where it has never been easier to be the real you, so to say.”
“Can I know your real name now?” Mandy asked. “It feels weird just calling you Holo…”
“But that is in a way the excitement for me,” She said, pushing closer up against Mandy. “I am Holo to you now, and only Holo. As soon as I reveal any other aspect of me, I will betray that illusion.” She puts her hand to chest dramatically, her tail sashaying in the water. “In a way, we only met because of this illusion. Keeping it up is just my way of honoring our meeting.”
“Well I sure as heck never expected this to go down this way,” Mandy said as she lathered her black hair, her little red streak getting its own even coating of soap. “This is probably the first time I had sex with a stranger.”
“Probably?” Holo snickered.
“Blegh, I worded that weird!” Mandy groaned. “This is definitely the first time I’ve had sex with a stranger! Hell, I’ve only ever had sex with my ex!”
“Ah, so there is a former in your life,” Holo said.
“Yeah, probably would have been a good thing to check.” Mandy rolled her eyes quite jovially. “You know, if I’m single or not… A-are you single?”
“I am,” She said, pushing her head against Mandy’s chest. She stared out through the canyon of tit, her red eyes locking with Mandy’s face. “Though that may not mean much yet. We barely know each other.”
“That’s fair,” Mandy figured.
After a little more auxiliary scrubbing, they slipped out of the shower. The grabbed up all the hotel towels that were on offer and rubbed themselves down nice and dry. Holo took extra care to comb her tail out. Mandy figured it was equal parts being in character and also being ready for the cosplay contest coming up.
She left the bathroom a little early to go get dressed back in the main room. Mandy sighed, sitting on the toilet. She pulled up her phone that was sitting on the sink and started to thumb through the messages that Aska had been sending. Yeah, it was a couple dozen more mp3 files. Aska was probably having a recording day and sending every single thing her and her band got finished.
[Mandy: So I just had sex with a stranger
Aska: THE SEED. THE SEED HAS SPROUTED!!!!
Mandy: She’s really cute. Really really cute.
Aska: What’s her name?
Mandy: Um. She hasn’t told me yet. She’s really in character.
Aska: You MOTHERFuCKER I am jealous!!! That’s kinky as hell! Blaire never rps with me either!
Mandy: Just talking with you already feels like an rp : P
Aska: Send pics
Mandy: What
Aska: Send pics of her
Mandy: She’s naked right now
Aska: That is what I was hoping
Mandy: I’m putting the phone away.]
Mandy put the phone back. She left the restroom. A ball of something came flying at her and landed right on her face. Mandy struggled against it before unraveling it to realize it was the D.Va costume.
“It twas what we came back here for. Besides, I will not be seen being escorted back by someone wearing that,” She said pointing at the band shirt. “How plain~”
Mandy giggled. “Alright, alright. It’s only fair,” The raccoon said. She sat down on the bed and put her first foot into the tight body suit. Holo was already fully dressed and ready to head back over. They had probably been in the hotel for a little over an hour. No doubt the time for the contest was getting pretty close.
Overall the suit fit pretty well. Mandy had worn it a few times before. Halloween and a stream or two. Barely even played Overwatch anymore, but at least she saw all the memes of D.Va being a piece of garbage. She loved it. The suit hugged Mandy’s every curve and emphasized it, decorating her in the emblazoned logos along her shapely legs. Mandy was a bit tall to pass off for a good D.Va, and the custom tail hole for her big bushy feather duster probably wasn’t very canon friendly, but hell, she felt good in it, especially with Holo there to egg her on.
Together, Holo grasped around Mandy’s arm, they walked their way back to the convention. The walk back was decorated with a brand new neon ocean of decorated dorks and cosplaying crones. Mandy recognized the power armor wearing cosplayer. For a moment, she wondered in a storm of strange sympathy if the man ever managed to get his dildo back.
“I am a tad nervous for this year’s contest,” Holo said, clinging still close to Mandy. “If I must confess, every year is closer. I have won a few years, and all the others I was always pretty close to first. But this year my friends have really upped their game. It used to be that I was always the best in the group…”
“Hey now, I’m sure you’ll do fine!” Mandy said. “Besides, you’re easily the best Holo I’ve ever seen!” That seemed to at the very least earn her another smile from the prideful wolf.
“Then that is in its own way a great success,” She said. She still seemed troubled, but she spoke no more of it. Mandy escorted her the rest of the way to the con. For a second Mandy was nervous she forgot her con badge, but Holo had gone through the trouble of gathering both of their badges and saving them for when they were actually at the gates. They showed them off and made their way straight to where the contest was going to be.
There, in front of the largest stage in the conference hall, they met with the rest of Holo’s group. The girl cosplaying as Tsuyu turned and waved. “Hey! There’s Holo!”
“Sorry I am late!” Holo said. “I am afraid that this trash panda here insisted on escorting me back to the con and slowed me quite dreadfully. They are only forgiven because their cuteness exceeds their inconvenience!”
“Jeez, always so in character,” The Tsuyu said. “So, you’re Holo’s new friend then?” And no, she wasn’t really doing the voice.
“I guess so!” The raccoon girl laughed. “My name is Mandy. And you are?”
“Melissa,” The froggy girl said. Around the girl was a man in a tall suit of golden armor, another dressed as a knight on fire, and another dressed like a big knight with a lunar theme. This was the friend group that Holo had reported on. “Lord Eiren is Xander, Soul of Cinder is Elizabeth, and Eclipse Emperor is Crystal.”
“Damn, your costumes are crazy good!” Mandy gasped.
“Thanks!” A feminine voice replied from the suit of glowing armor as though it were bathed in flames.
“We all work pretty hard on it,” The lunar themed armor replied. Crystal adjusted her helmet, pulling it aside to reveal dark skin and loose messy black hair. “Christ its hot in this!”
“Beauty is suffering,” Elizabeth replied, very straight faced behind her helmet that was apparently almost always slightly on fire. The entire group gave off the ‘try-hard’ vibe. Everyone except the Tsuyu, who’s costume seemed very homemade. Clearly wearing a wig, using her normal body and everything. Mandy smiled at her. That must take guts to go as you are with someone willing to transform their own body and study a character endlessly.
“I hope you are all ready for the contest,” Holo said with a rather smug expression.
Xander, the third person in a suit of intricate and pricey armor, spoke back, “Oh, we are very ready. May the best costume win!”
There wasn’t much time for gloating or difficult to write out conversation scenes between three people in suits of armor that are confusing to describe and probably frustrating to read about. The contest was well prepared to go underway. Mandy entered on her own and took her seat as the group of try-hards went their own way to prepare for the contest proper.
Mandy found herself seated next to a familiar face. It was that short girl in the Joker (from the HIT game Persona 5) cosplay. Mandy let out a little internal sigh. She’d just ignore her.
“Hey, I sent my big sis the picture of you,” She said. Mandy waited a little while before she figured out this was a conversation she had to reply to in order to keep moving.
“Yeah?” Mandy replied.
“She watches your streams. You’re Mandy, Raccdoom,” She said.
“O-oh!” Mandy smiled. “Well, that’s nice to hear! Always nice to meet a fan vicariously!”
“Yeah, she wants more pics of you,” The girl said, raising her phone with the sort of cosmic certainty of gravity pulling a planet into a burning star.
“H-hey! Give me a second to prepare!” But it was too late. There were already photos being snapped. “I-I didn’t even get to pose…”
“She just wanted photos of you. If she wants poses, she should’ve come.”
“It would have been nice to meet her,” Mandy says. She turns away from the strange girl and pulls out her phone to see that Aska was sending weird messages again.
[Aska: Did you know that you can’t toast wet bread and it like
Aska: Starts a fire and stuff
Aska: and that like
Aska: this hypothetical toast fire can like
Aska: well
Aska: the gold fish was pretty close to the top of the bowl
Aska: But I really didn’t expect what was going to happen next
Aska: Rest in peace captain gills
Aska: the captain was the best mandy
Mandy: How did you catch toast and a gold fish on fire
Aska: I threw the toast into the aquarium to undo the fire but the fire hit the fish
Mandy: I have literally never heard of a fish catching on fire. You might be the first.
Aska: I loved that fish mother fucker! AAaaaaugh! Maybe if I buy a new fish and forget I killed the captain everything will be okay
Mandy: How did you even do this you had like fifteen minutes since we last spoke to catch a fish on fire.
Mandy: And wait, the bread got soggy so you tried to toast it anyways
Mandy: How does soggy bread catch on fire
Mandy: Aska how the fuck do you keep burning wet stuff
Aska: If only I could burn wet puss
Mandy: Aska why are you like this
Mandy: Why are you a stupid meme but a real person
Aska: Mandy I really don’t want to be like this. I’ve learned. Wet bread doesn’t belong in a toaster. Fire doesn’t belong in a fish bowl. It’s a shame this lesson cost the death of a true friend. Blaire’s gonna kill me tho
Mandy: Look, I’m at the cosplay contest. I’ll send you photos. Please, stop burning stuff?
Aska: I really want to promise but I feel like at least one more thing has to burn before today is over
Aska: Bands calling me back downstairs. See ya later doggy! ]
Well, that gave Mandy a hernia. She set her phone aside and gently waited for the contest. And sure enough it did come because time made that fact inevitable.
The first few people went by, putting on their little show. Everyone was in charge of putting together a little skit. There was an 18+ Cosplay Contest later in the night for the more risqué and outright porn skits, but that was besides the point. The first person to come out came and did their skit. They danced to music, synched up sound effects, waved their cardboard sword, it was a good show. And then the next, and then the next. Mandy sort of lost track and didn’t recognize any of the characters that came out.
Mandy felt her phone vibrate. Aska…
[Aska: THE CAPTAIN LIVED
Aska: HOLY SHIT THE COLD MOTHER FUCKER IS STILL KICKING
Aska: I TOOK THAT SOLDIER OUT OF THE TOILET AND BACK IN THE FISH BOWL
Aska: THANK YOU POSEIDON
Aska: The captain has a jacked burn scar now
Aska: He looks like zuko from the hit American anime avatar]
Mandy put her phone back down. At least her mind was put at peace as far as Captain Gills was concerned.
Next up was Holo. Mandy watched as the gorgeous girl walked on the stage. They played the theme of the show, a really nice folksy epic ballad tune, while the lights lower. She moved and danced so cutely. She moved between the stage with grace, really incorporating her tail in a nice show, using it to waver about and give her this spritely feel, like this moving fairy affected ever so lightly by the breeze. If only she was doing it in a field of wheat.
Mandy snapped as many photos as she could, completely hypnotized by how gorgeous she was. When it ended, she snapped out of her trance. She sat back and sighed in content-ness. That was really all she came for, to root on this incredibly nice woman.
After that there was another row of characters and cosplayers Mandy didn’t recognize. She spent a little of that time idly congratulating Aska on not becoming a maritime murderer and sending her some of the photos she had taken. When Mandy looked up there was a girl dressed like a sexy version of Blue-Eyes White Dragon, the dragon from the hit card game Yu-Gi-Oh! To be honest, it was surprisingly well done, the sharp head a nice looking hat, the lingerie look of it regal and powerful. She was able to flaunt it like a villainess on her way to her throne.
Then Crystal went up. Her armor silenced the crowd like no one else did. As did Elizabeth, who made her entrance with the lights all the way down so the first thing anyone would see is the embers burning in her armor, illuminating the small space around her in amber forlorn light. It was a holy feeling experience with the grand music somberly playing on in the background. The only thing that kept the display grounded to earth was the fact she was doing it in a conference room.
Another row passed. Mandy noticed that the girl cosplaying Tsuyu never went through. With how steep the competition was just within her own friend group, Mandy really couldn’t blame the girl.
When it was all said and done, a man came out carrying a piece of paper. “Alright! The judges have spoken! The winner is…”
At this point we cut to a commercial break to raise the tension.
“The winner is…” The judge continued. “Elizabeth as The Soul of Cinders from the game of the year award winning game, Dark Souls 3!”
Elizabeth walked on stage to claim her award. Mandy let out a little sigh, having of coursed hoped that Holo would win. Well, it’s really hard to compete with that. The costume glows and looks super hard to make. Holo’s was really nice too… But it’s a less popular character that is a lot less showy.
Mandy walked out into the main hall when it was all over. She checked her phone before realizing she didn’t even have Holo’s number and that she really didn’t want to risk seeing what Aska had done. It was simple quantum physics, if Mandy didn’t know it was happening, then nothing weird was happening.
Right when the wait was about to get painful, the girls emerged from around the bend of the hall. It was getting late outside. The sun was getting lower and lower, the whole weird hued amber. “Mandy,” Holo said. “We were wondering if you wanted to go grab a bite with us? We’re ready to get some dinner and head back to the hotel room. You’re welcome to join us.”
“Eh, why not!” Mandy said with a big grin.
“Alright!” Holo said. “We’re going to grab a taxi and go over to the hotel. Everyone else wants to get their armor off first since eating in that stuff didn’t really make sense.” Holo sounded a lot less in character. Her dialogue was less careful, her accent and effect was mostly dropped at least for the moment.
They all piled up into two different cars they ordered. Mandy sat next to Holo in the back and Froppy took shotgun. The driver took everyone back through town. Mandy recognized they were headed a fair way past the hotel she was staying at. They went further out of the way, probably about a ten minute drive through town.
On the brakes, the car gently slid into the curved driveway of one of the fancier hotels in town. Mandy had seen it a dozen times or so on her walk arounds, but had always wondered what it was like inside.
Escorted by enough knights to qualify for an adventuring party, they walked straight inside of the fancy hotel. The indoor lobby was a few stories tall. A huge fountain with a cubic structure hovered in the center. The counters were stacked with five immaculately cute girls tending desk and a couple more in every corner, eager to help. They all shared a very sleek white and dark gray uniform, the patterns all curvy and eye pleasing. The golden cube shimmered as water curtained it.
The plush red carpet beneath them showed the way to the golden elevator doors. Mandy couldn’t help but feel like she was way out of her league, yet still, Holo clung to her arms. Somehow fancy stuff always made more sense when there was a perfect girl guiding you through it. Mandy followed her to the elevator.
This elevator was very wide, which was fortunate since they had packed a small militia of knights into it. “That contest was really close!” Elizabeth remarked. “The judges had Xander and Crystal tied!”
“Indeed,” Holo said. She sounded just interested enough to be polite.
“First time I’ve actually won!” Elizabeth said, sounding a fair amount of giddy.
“You did good,” Xander said. “You’re just lucky Soul of Cinder looks so cool. I probably picked the lamest character in my game. Most people cheer when he dies!”
The elevator door opened. Imagine a normal hotel hallway. This one was twice as wide. The minimalistic theme continued. The carpet was red again, but had a cubic theme were it sort of floated off like 8-bit chunks breaking away. The effect was surprisingly breath taking. The whole hallway was well lit with white tile wherever there wasn’t red carpet. The white walls were decorated in paintings. The place where the floor met the wall was gilded in LED lights, letting off a dazzling rainbow that shimmered on the crystal clear doorframes.
“Open door,” Xander said. The door opened immediately.
Inside was a hotel room that must been bigger than Mandy’s actual apartment. First there was the main area. An open concept main room. There were a few couches laid out in a central pit surrounding a pretty massive TV. The walls were adorned with huge plate windows. A control panel was nearby to black them out. Overlooking the main room was a balcony, revealing the second floor. Going beneath the balcony lead to a short hallway. All the doors on the left lead to a private bedroom. To the right was a kitchen about the size of all the other bedrooms combined.
Up the stairs was the second floor which hosted more bedrooms, and a huge bathroom that probably had the biggest bathtub Mandy had ever seen in her entire life. The room was stupid luxurious. Mandy had figured these were try-hards, but it went deeper than that. These were rich nerds.
“So, Mandy,” Crystal said, taking her helmet back off. “What did you think of the contest?”
“Oh, well um…” Mandy was still really taking in the hotel room. She wasn’t used to rooms that took this much time to really take in. The floorboards were heated! The kitchen looked like it had a blender?! She shook. “It was really, really cool. Like, all of your costumes were awesome!” She said. “Tsuyu’s costume looked really good too!”
“It’s Melissa,” The frog girl grinned. “You’ve been hanging out with ‘Holo’ for too long. She always gets way too into it,” She said.
“I can’t be blamed, can I?” Holo asked, her voice sounding like was redoubling her efforts. “After all, the characters I choose are always quite a bit of fun!” She hugs her tail, cuddling her face against it. “I am quite wise after all. It was very easy to get into character this time!”
“Heh, you made me watch the whole show with you,” Crystal said with a smirk. “At least that show was really fucking good,” She grinned.
“I couldn’t stand it personally,” Xander said, already undoing some of his armor. “Pacing was slow, Holo was annoying, Lawrence had the personality of a box.”
“You’re one to talk!” Crystal said. “You picked a character people love to see die!”
“Hey, he’s cool! He’s just misunderstood! The game drops all sorts of hints! He’s a grey villain!” Xander took his helmet off. Beneath it was a surprisingly sleek and feminine looking man. His voice was fairly bog standard nerdy guy, but underneath was a guy with short pink hair, cute eyes with expressive brows. Very expressive.
Elizabeth took her own helmet off, revealing an Asian girl with short punkish black hair. Melissa took her wig off, her short blonde hair beneath messy inside its hairnet. Mandy just watched as everyone went to take their costumes off. Except for Holo.
“You’re not taking your stuff off?” Mandy asked.
“Why ever would I do that when I am still having fun?” Holo asked, waving her tail cutely. “I am still enjoying being Holo. Perhaps tomorrow when I swap out my costumes…” She said, though she didn’t sound quite sure.
“Your costume is incredible,” Mandy said. “I almost feel selfish. If you tried to take it off, I would have asked to at least get one more photograph with you.”
Holo grinned. “Your words flatter. Well Mandy, we shall go meet them when they are ready in the cars.”
They went down and waited in the car. Holo was awfully close the whole time, peppering Mandy in a few kisses here and there. Eventually everyone rejoined. Melissa took her place at shotgun again. It was at this point that Mandy realized that these were the same drivers, and it was really likely that they had been hired for the whole convention.
“So, um, unless its rude to ask,” Mandy stuttered. “But are you guys like, rich?”
“You could say that,” Melissa said. “Holo, do you care?”
“No, go ahead,” She said.
Melissa nodded. “My dad owns a software company that specializes in glass factories. Holo’s mom is a surgeon and her dad is a software engineer. Crystal’s dad is the vice president of one of the huger data companies. Xander’s mom is an officer in advertisement company. And Elizabeth is our friend we met. The rest of us met at some of the fancy parties our parents went to. So yeah, we kinda are a rich kid club.”
“W-wow!” Mandy said. “I um, again, sorry if that was a rude question.”
“It’s alright, especially since Holo trusts you,” Melissa said. “We all sort of realized we were nerds in the big stuffy rooms and ended up meeting each other. Distance didn’t really matter since asking to be flown over was easy. We sort of formed a rich kid anime club and just hung out. Elizabeth joined in too because Crystal really liked her. Still surprised they weren’t dating.”
“I think Crystal’s straight,” Holo giggled. “A shame, they’d make a really good couple, but in truth, they still make very fine friends.”
“Either way, we just try to have fun and show off a bit. Except for me. I like my costumes to be simple. And Holo here likes to roleplay more than cosplay, so she tends to emphasize that part. The others, though, are really showy. Xander tries really hard to upstage everyone. Crystal doesn’t even realize it when she ends up outdoing everyone, and Elizabeth can even be a bit cutthroat. We all take the cosplay contest pretty seriously.”
“We even got in a fight once over the outcome,” Holo said. “That was the year I was Samus. The audience was stunned at how good the armor looked. Especially when it fired the beam.”
“Mmm!” Melissa nodded.
The car arrived at the place they were going to eat. Oddly enough, it wasn’t a very fancy place. Just a humble sort of half bar half restaurant place. It had a bit of a cowboy theme, but it wasn’t tacky about it. Mandy left the car, quickly catching Holo around her arm again. I wonder if she’s just considering me her Lawrence, Mandy thought.
Mandy’s time at the bar was strange to say the least. Everyone filed in and went about talking, but something about them didn’t really seem to click in all that easily. They sat at the bar and ordered some food off the menu and a couple drinks early on. Holo sat the far end of the bar with Crystal right next to her. She left a seat for Mandy to sit on the far end, away from the rich kid club.
The raccoon girl took a seat, ordering just some normal food.
“Do you drink?” Holo asked.
“Not too often,” Mandy replied. “I’ve probably only been drunk once in my whole life. And even then, it was probably just because I was overreacting.”
“Can I get you a drink, then?” Holo asked, a smile across her face.
“I guess,” Mandy laughed. “Just, get something that’s really fruity. Something I won’t really taste the booze in.”
Holo nodded and eagerly beckoned the bartender over. At the bar, the group took up the majority of the chairs with only one or two unrelated people filling the other seats. The booths in the back were occupied by a few stray cosplayers lazily eating at their thinly cowboy themed food. Chili served in a boot shaped bowl!
Before any of the food arrived, the drinks were served. Mandy eyed the waitress as she delivered drinks one after another. A shot glass to one, a tall glass to another. Holo had a glass of cider set down in front of her. And before Mandy was set a red orange drink. She eyed it over curiously.
“That is an Alabama Sunset,” Holo said, sipping at her apple booze. “A shame what happened to Alabama, but at least they had a good drink named after their state.”
“Yeah, real shame,” Mandy said, lifting the drink. She put it to her lips and took a cautious sip. It tasted sweet. The flavor of booze was hidden under the curtain of sweet orange and grapefruit. She took another sip. And then another just because she was particularly happy with how sweet it was.
Elizabeth giggled at the two girls next to her. “Mandy seems to like her drink,” She said, taking a sip at her own whiskey glass. “Just be careful, Mandy. Holo can be a bit of a bad influence.”
“Me? A bad influence? Please, all I am doing is showing my friend here that there are many friendly faces in the bar. There is vodka and then there is rum. There is beer and there is mead! And the more friends, the better. Fufufu~”
Mandy laughed. And she giggled a bit more when the second drink was put in front of her. This one was bright blue and had a little foam on top. “You’ll love it,” Holo said. “It’s a Black Yukon Sucker Punch from the cult classic Twin Peaks,” Holo grinned, rubbing Mandy’s shoulders. “Just be careful. It’ll sneak up on ya~”
“Shit, I haven’t seen Twin Peaks yet,” Mandy said, sipping at the coffee concoction. It tasted very pleasant.
“You really should. It’s a cult classic!” Holo said. “It’s just so good at combining the elements of drama and surreal art film-“
Mandy blinked. There were four glasses in front of her, each a different drink of some fruity origin. She looked over at Holo. Mandy’s face felt hot. Really hot. The heat was just rising to her cheeks and compounding with her fur. Mandy shuddered at the feeling. She needed to say something. “I love you Holo!” That was something.
Holo looked back at the raccoon. She had a few bottles of cider in front of her, her cheeks were flushed. “You’re adorable!” Holo said back with a drunken giggle. “Aw shit, I think I’m getting out of character! Fufufu, please forgive me. I am certain I will regain my composure once I get some food in me.”
“W-wait, our food still isn’t here?” Mandy looked around. No sign of the food. “What happened?”
“I’m sorry!” Crystal looked over Holo’s shoulders to talk with Mandy. “It’s totally our fault! We accidentally ordered a lot more food.”
“H-how much?!” Mandy asked.
The doors to the kitchen opened. Overworked waiters and waitresses came out and walked around them with trays held carefully by their overworked hands. They laid out before the drunken group a bonanza of culturally indistinct delicacies. Texan tacos were laid side by side with Mexican ones. Hamburgers, nachos, and to each person, their very own boot of chili. Mandy had ordered a chimichanga that was delivered at the very end.
“They got me food too?”
“Well, they did say to give one to everyone!” Crystal said. Mandy peered back and saw that she wasn’t the only one who had knocked back a dozen drinks. Crystal had only the single glass in front of her, whilst Xander, Melissa, and Elizabeth each had a couple extra glasses. Xander had by far the most with countless shot glasses laid out before him, now being used as clumsy columns to support his bonanza of border drunken food.
“It’s unfair that I lost!” Xander complained. “Stupid taco!” He picked it up and tossed it behind him.
“Holy shit, what the fuck did that taco do to you?” Elizabeth asked, drunkenly standing to lift it back up. “Someone cooked that for you, you manner-allergic shithead!”
“Tacos suuuuck!” He stated with such confidence it could be his election platform. His lithe body toiled left and right. “Why even make them!” Everyone waited an uncomfortable amount of time to learn his reasoning. He never elaborated further.
“If only he were a more graceful drunk~” Holo said, eyeing Mandy cutely. “Pray, if he were half as graceful as me when he were filled with drink he may actually be improved as a drunken fool! Perhaps enough so he could win a cosplay contest with a flask at his waist,” Holo snickered and sipped chili from her boot. The spur spun. Mandy felt the dignity of the lightly themed bar gradually sinking in her mind.
Mandy pulled up her phone and messaged Aska idly.
[Mandy: I’m drunk I think I think I’m drunk
Aska: Same
Mandy: I really figured you were
Mandy: idiot
Aska: loser
Mandy: dork
Aska: ass
Mandy: ass x 2
Aska: that’s like four cheeks and two holes you’re really giving me too much credit
Aska: how is holo
Mandy: she’s drunk too
Aska: aaaaaye
Mandy: is everyone in the drunk world right now
Mandy: wait shit
Mandy: you know what I mean!
Aska: idk I’ll ask Blaire
Aska: she’s wise and wordly
Aska: she knows things about the world ]
Mandy put down her phone and looked back to her sudden feast. Well, needless to say, she could only eat so much. She tried to tuck a little extra in her gut, making sure to touch each bit of food so that everyone in the group knew that she greatly appreciated the gesture. She was probably staring down $200 worth of food.
All the while, Holo began to drink some more and wolf down (HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR) some of her food. Xander’s hunger strike ended as he ate anything that wasn’t a taco. Eventually, after eating a not so signifigant percentage of the food, the group stood up, one by one.
“We’re headed back to the con,” Crystal said. “Holo, are you coming?”
“I’m going to get me and Mandy a ride back to her hotel room,” Holo said. “She’s drunk, and I do not want her getting lost on her way home.”
“That’s fair,” Crystal nodded. “I have to babysit the drunks. The after dark con gets a lot more sexy and casual sex in the hall-ish. I think expecting them to be well mannered is like letting a kid loose in a ball pit and hoping they don’t start throwing balls out of the pit…” She sighed. “Text me if stuff changes or you two come to the con,” She nodded. “Mandy, it was nice meeting you, and thanks for giving me the url to your streaming. When I am in front of a computer I’ll write it down,” And she lifted up a napkin with pen writing that said https://www.tfstreamers.net/user/raccdoom. Mandy blinked, not fully remembering when she wrote that.
And like that, the group went out the door. Holo pulled out her phone and requested their ride. Mandy stared at her for a while. “You’re going to my room?” Mandy asked.
“That I am,” Holo said.
“But my room is bad,” Mandy said, her words a little unsteady.
“I just want a break from them,” Holo said. “They’ll probably bring people back to the room. And then they’ll shower them in praise and money and decadence. They’ll use their status to look like such untouchable heroes, and oh, how generous are they to take pity on but a mere normal person and present to them a world of unfathomable wealth and pleasure!” Holo stood up. Mandy blinked. “So yes, I’d like to spend the night at your room…” She looked around nervously as the waiters collecting the signed checks. “Forgive me my outbursts… As they say, alcohol removes thoughts and makes the true ones louder.”
“Y-yeah,” Mandy said.
When the vehicle arrived they climbed in the back. They were both tired and drunk. Their heads leaned in near each other. Mandy tried to pull out her phone and look at it but couldn’t quite get the energy to do so. She let her eyes close for a moment, just feeling the warmth of the wolf girl next to her.
The car stopped at Mandy’s hotel. Holo grabbed Mandy’s hand securely. The hotel felt drowned in a strange evening melancholy. The lobby was quiet and calm, save for the laughter and chilled out chatter of the cosplayers occupying the seats. A cat girl filled her to-go cup with hot water, brewing a nice smelling herbal tea. A few dorks in armor surrounded the elevator, telling jokes and discussing the events. Almost everyone had art prints, obscure games, DVDs, and loads of candy and goodies from the con. Mandy’s head was swimming as she emerged into the elevator with the help of Holo.
The door slid shut and took them up and up. Mandy slowly walked over to the hotel room. She opened her door and slid inside. “Now that we’re alone~” Holo grinned. Mandy fell face first into the bed.
A very short Part IV
She lifted her head up. It ached. Her damn head felt not amazing at all. There was a blanket over her and her head was facing up towards the ceiling. The windows were cracked just a hair, the sounds of the city bustling from outside wavering in. Sunlight snuck past the buildings, entering through the window in the shape of the portal.
Basking in the sunlight, standing over the sink was a girl Mandy didn’t recognize. She had skin the color of coffee and cream. Her hair was short and white with cyan streaks. She was wearing a tight black top and shorts that showed off a very cute rear. A little tail lifted out from her rear. The most eye catching part were the two tiny wings sticking out of her back, and the tall ears on her head. The bat seemingly bat girl turned. Her eyes were a dark rich purple. “Heya, I got you pancakes.”
“Holo?…” Mandy blinked. “Where am I?”
“Your room,” The bat girl said, setting the stack of blueberry hot cakes down in front of the tired raccoon. “You hit the bed and fell asleep right away. So I laid down next to you and slept. My TF wore off over night so I had to run back to my room and get different clothes. I’m a lot thicker than Holo,” She grinned, giving some pretty impressive tits a slap, a huge obvious bulge in the front of her shorts also catching Mandy’s attention. “I figured I could also show you the usual setup I use. At least one of many. This is… This is what I consider to be me, I guess.”
“I like it,” Mandy said. “Punk bat?”
“A bit of a punk,” She nodded. “I just really wanted you to see it… I have to go Mandy.”
“You have to go?” Mandy blinked. “Wait, why?”
“Something… Something came up. I have my bags packed at my room… As soon as I leave this room I’m in a car to the airport. And then I’m gone.”
“Y-you can’t just go!” Mandy was surprised with how suddenly she stood up. “I just met you! You’re going to message me right?”
“That’s just the thing…” The girl barely knew how to look at Mandy. The mask was gone. Mandy looked on, her everything frozen, the air still and undisturbed by movement. “I’m… Things are… really complicated with me right now. Remember how I said I was single. Well, that’s a part of things. The person I broke up with isn’t making things easy and… Well, things are messy. I made a mistake letting you in, getting too close to you. I thought I could have a one nighter, or even a whole con with a cute, dorky girl who wasn’t too serious, who got me. But that’s the issue, I can’t. I’m the hypocrite here, the real spoiled brat. I wanted to have you and leave without breaking your heart, but a girl like you… You’re too good. And I can’t keep you and risk you getting hurt.”
“Getting hurt?” Mandy asked. “How can I get hurt by being with you?”
“I’m not a good person, Mandy,” She said. “I ruin things I’m around for too long. Directly, indirectly. And right now, I’m buried deep in my own consequences. You do not deserve to get wrapped up in this shit. Everything is so broken you might get cut if you take a step closer. I’m not going to pretend anymore that it’s safe or responsible to let you in. I’m… I’m really actually sorry Mandy.”
“Bullshit!” Mandy groaned. “Just cut it out!” The raccoon girl drew in, reaching out to huge the bat girl, but she took a step away. “I… I wanna be there! I don’t care what’s wrong, I wanna help you fix it! I don’t want to be protected, I’m-“
“Desperate,” She said. Mandy stopped. Hit it right on the head and nailed her into place. “You’re lonely. You don’t beg, and you’re not dumb or mean or pushy… but you are lonely to the point you can’t imagine me leaving. But I really, really am going because I want you happy…” She sighed. “But I’ll make you a promise Mandy.”
“A promise?” Mandy uttered. She almost didn’t have words.
“When things get better, when I’m a better person, I’ll find you. I’ll let you know that I’m ready. Don’t wait for this message. Meet other girls who are less… Edgy and stupid. Let them treasure you, protect you from idiots in this world. Let them be the real loves of your life. But… When that message comes, and if you’re still lonely I…”
“I’d be happy,” Mandy said, pushing into that hug. The bat girl didn’t dodge it. “I’d be so happy to get to know the real you. You’re right, I rushed into things, we both did. It might actually be good we think on it… But don’t be too much of a stranger, okay?” Mandy said, gently letting the hug end in moments. “Get the help you need, but just please take care of yourself. And when you’re ready…”
“Thank you for understanding…” She smiles. “I’m sorry I’m like this… I really, really had fun with you. This was the first time I had fun at a convention in a while…” She headed to the door, but Mandy stopped her.
“Wait!” Mandy yelled. “Can I please, at the very least have your name?! Just something…”
She laughed. “I legit almost just completely forgot,” The bat girl said, looking back at Mandy. “Zetza. Zetza Uwick.”
And then she was gone.
Mandy sat back in her bed and looked at her phone. A few missed messages from Aska…
[Mandy: I think I’m gonna go home?]
…
Mandy returned to her apartment after only really spending one day at the convention. It wasn’t really her scene, or at least she needed to have a better plan on how to enjoy it. She sighed as she scrolled on her computer. Being back at her desk, using her keyboard, it felt nice, but it was oddly depressing. But as she checked her donation emails, she saw something new.
[From your biggest fan, Zetza
$3,000
A donation from the wisest wolf.
Crystal pitched in a bit too.]
The raccoon smiled back at her screen and sighed. “Man it’s gonna be sad watching Spice and Wolf now.” She leaned back against her chair and tried to figure out how she was supposed to forget this girl. It’d be hard, but wounds healed, people moved on.
AND IF YOU ENJOYED THIS, THEN YOU’RE GOING TO LOVE THE FULL STORY WHEN IT COMES OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How does Mandy become a raccoon in the first place?!
What is college like when you stream as a horny big dick raccoon girl on the weekends?
Can you make it as a streamer?!
How hard is it to date in a world where bodies change so cheaply and easily?!
What does it to have a form? To choose how one wants to look?
How do you set a fucking goldfish on fire?
What happened to that guy’s dildo?
Will Xander get his shit kicked in?
Does Mandy date other cuties?
Who is Mandy’s canon roommate?!
FIND OUT WHEN I WRITE THE FULL THING!