Color - Monster Valentine

"Hey, honey! Got a moment to meet up with a friend today? I have something to tell you!” Even through text I could tell Cass was excited. I'd gotten really close with the monster girl lately, and we had a great relationship. But much to my dismay it didn't look like it was going anywhere.

"Absolutely!" I texted back. We agreed to meet at a bar called "Bards", which was a rock music themed hang out frequented by mutants. I arrived a little earlier than she did, so I ordered my favorite beer and snagged us a table for two.

Just as I was about to take my first sip Cass walked in, a huge smile on her face. She wore a leather corset with metallic inserts specially designed for her four breasts, tight leather pants, chrome horseshoes, metal studded wristbands, and small chains adorned her horns. Her long black hair fell free over her shoulders. I was spellbound for a while. Every moment I spent with her made me fall more in love with her. I smiled the moment I saw her.

"Hey Steve! How are you!?" she said as she approached the table, a small bounce in her steps. "God, I missed you! It's silly, considering I only saw you a couple of days ago."

"It isn’t silly at all," I replied, "I could barely wait to see you again either." I melted when she smiled at me, her eyes meeting mine. There was a shine in them that I loved to see. "Hey, you told me you had some sort of news?"

Cass quickly set her beer down and gave me a big smile showing off those sharp teeth of hers. “Yeah! I found a job!” She said, bouncing a little in her seat.

"That's great!” I said. “What is it?”

“It's in a tropical flower shop and nursery. It's a bit far from the center, but it's in a very progressive neighborhood. There are a lot of mutants around, and they didn't seem at all hesitant to hire a mutant girl which was so refreshing,” she said.

"I remember you told me that you like plants a lot," I said.

"Yeah, and I'm realy good with them! I have a green thumb, as the saying goes'", she laughed.

"I'm very happy for you Cass! Isn't that a bit far from your house though? That must come with quite the commute."

"Yeah, a bit. My house is on the other end of town, so I may have a little less time to go out, you know? That's the one downside to this gig.” She told me. I don't know what face I made, but Cass took my hand with one of her upper hands. “Hey, this doesn't mean we'll stop hanging out. We just may not be able to meet up quite so often. And after all, we are just friends. I thought we both agreed that it was better to leave it that way, remember?”

“Cass I was hoping we-" I was cut off by Cass covering my lips with one of her fingers.

“Steve, please don't finish that sentence. We have a great thing and I don't want to screw that up," she said. The sad note in her voice didn't escape my notice.

“You don't have feelings for me? Or is it something else?” I said. “I just...I really like you. And I love spending time with you. If you tell me you only see me as a friend then I won't mention this ever again, but I had to tell you how I feel."

Silence hung in the air between us for a moment. She was looking into my eyes, but seemed far away in thought. Only when one of our favorite songs came on did her expression change from thoughtful to a playful smile. "How about for now we just dance?" she asked as she took my hand and pulled me onto the dance floor.

The way she moved was hypnotic and her joy was infectious. We both got lost in the music, ignoring the crowd around us and just enjoying ourselves. The song was over too soon though. A slow song started playing next and I took my cue to head back to the table like many of the other couples were doing. I didn't get more than a few steps though when I felt Cass grab my arm and pull me back. Two of her arms looped around my neck, the other two along with her tail rested around my waist as we began to sway together. We held each other's gaze as we danced, and there seemed to be words on the tip of her tongue. I wished she wouldn't hold them back.

"I'm sorry if I said too much," I whispered in her ear. "I really didn't want to ruin the moment."

"Steve," she said softly as we locked eyes again. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't have feelings for you. I just...I've been hurt pretty badly before and it's made me afraid to let anyone else in. To the point of pushing people away even if I don't want to. I just...I'm not ready yet and I can't exactly change my condition anyway."

"What do you mean by condition?" I asked.

Cass used one of her arms to indicate her body. "I think we both know I'm not exactly the kind of girl you'd want to take home to your mother," Her eyes fell to the ground and a sad note crept into her voice. "No one else did anyway. They're always fine dating me for a bit, but after awhile they always get tired of dating a mutant."

I shook my head. "Oh, Cass. I think you're beautiful, mutant or not. You're wonderful and I cherish every moment we spend together. If I'm totally honest, I lov-" I was once again cut off by Cass's finger across my lips.

"Please don't say that. Not now. It's just too much," she said.

"Okay, then I won't say it," I tilted her head up so I could look into her eyes again. "You know how I feel even if I don't and that's enough. But please know that you are wonderful in every way."

Cass smiled, disbelief clear on her face. "I think you've had a bit too much to drink, Steve."

And yet after the song was over we both had a few more beers. It was a little bit before we left and when we did I was sad to see the evening end.

On our walk to the train station Cass was quieter than normal, walking a few paces ahead of me with her head down as if lost deep in thought. Even when we got to the station and were waiting for the train there was silence between us. I wondered what she was thinking, but didn't want to pry.

“Steve…” she said after a long time. “I am afraid to start a relationship. I'm afraid of ruining our friendship. I am afraid of...a lot of things.”

“Cass, it's ok to be afraid. I'm scared too,” I said. “It's just..."

"What?" she said softly.

"Everything is better with you than it is without you," I said.

"Really?" Her train came and I expected her to get on it, but instead she just hugged me. I could feel all four of her arms on my back squeezing me tight. The warmth of her body and the scent of her hair were intoxicating. The train left leaving us in that same embrace. Cass didn't pull back for awhile, but when she did she kissed me. Not just a small peck on the cheek, but a deep kiss that had me tightening my arms around her and drawing her even closer to me. "What do you say we go to your place? Sort of a late Valentine's Day thing, if you will."

"Wait. Does that means we are..." Cass loved using her finger to silence me.

"Go slow cowboy. I don't want to be with anyone else, but I don't know if I'm ready to make it official yet. Though I will say we're one step closer to that."

I couldn't help the huge smile that stretched my lips. "We can go as slow as you want to. No pressure whatsoever. If you want I can sleep on the couch and you can have the bed."

Cass just shook her head. "We will take things slow, yes. But tonight we're going to have some fun. So much so that you may not wake up for a few days!" she kissed me again, even deeper than before if that was possible. I suddenly couldn't wait to get home.