Ruby’s Visit: Arrival
 Izzy hopped from foot to foot, clicking her beak as the feather duster in her hand whizzed along, ensuring that every knick-knack on every shelf was free of grime. The owl’s partner said that she worried too much about the cleanliness of their abode, but Izzy vacuumed, tidied, and scrubbed regardless, wanting the place spotless before company arrived. She knew it was only Ruby visiting, and it would be rather ironic for her to have issue with any degree of filth, but the owl found she enjoyed the rituals of cleaning, and if nothing else, preparing for visitors was an excuse to break out her favorite maid’s outfit. The owl was partway through cleaning the fridge, trying to decide whether a leftover box of takeout should be tossed, or given a name and surrendered to a shelter, when a firm WHAP landed squarely on her ass.
 “EEP! Roxanne! How many times have I told you to not sneak up on me?” Izzy whirled around, slammed the fridge door, and had to resist throwing the shrimp-stir-fry-turned-lifeform at her girlfriend, whose mischievous smile spread from ear to ear.
 “What? I didn’t do anything!” Rox blatantly lied, eyes twinkling, “Anyway birdy, has anyone ever told you that you’ve got a nice ass?” Izzy positioned her back against a counter, doing her best to restrict her partner’s access to her rear end.
 “Yes! You! Daily! Now if you don’t mind, I’ve still got a dozen chores to do before noon, so keep your grabby hands off!” Izzy made a shooing motion, and with a roll of her eyes, Rox complied.
 “How about you go and grab the puppy pads and plastic furniture liners?” Izzy suggested, “The couch is still stained from Ruby’s last visit, and I don’t want it happening again! I know you two won’t be keeping things squeaky clean.” Izzy snorted at her own understatement, turning back to the fridge.
 “And how about you blow me?” came Rox’s well-practiced response, though despite her playful rebellion, she did venture down into the basement to gather the protective measures. It was a white couch after all, and you can only claim ‘coffee stain’ so many times before people start asking questions.
 Izzy spent the next few hours cleaning, begrudgingly helped by her partner, and soon enough it came time to put the final touches on their preparation. The owl double and triple checked her chore list, even making Rox check it over once for good measure, before deeming their tasks done. With a satisfied trill, Izzy grabbed the gray fox’s hand, and without saying a word, led her down the hall to their bedroom.
 Izzy’s outfit was essentially already complete, and all the owl ended up doing was swapping her lacey panties for a floral print pullup, not that the design would be able to be appreciated underneath the heavy fabric of her maid’s uniform. Rox’s transformation, however, was a little more involved.
 “Pants off, puppy.” Izzy ordered, straightening her maid’s dress in the mirror.
 “But what if I like these pants?” Rox replied, allowing a rambunctious smile to grace her muzzle once more. In response to this seemingly minor refusal, Izzy employed what Rox had affectionately termed ‘the look’. It was the look of a parent who had lost patience with their child. The look that the immovable object gave the unstoppable force. A look of knives, ice, cold, and steel. It was a look that said ‘I’m not budging, so either cooperate, or be prepared for the consequences of your actions’. Rox’s eyes widened as she realized that she was no longer dealing with someone that would participate in a playful give-and-take, but rather a force of nature that was determined to shape things as it saw fit. Rox took off her pants.
 Izzy’s warm smile returned, but her eyes retained an essence of no-nonsense as she motioned to the bed, prompting the fox to lay down. This was a position Rox had been in more times than she could count, and while she stared at the ceiling, her body moved automatically, hips lifting from the comforter as Izzy worked the fox’s panties off, leaving Rox laying there in just a t-shirt. Tossing the crumpled garment aside, the owl closed in, holding open her girlfriend’s thighs, and pressing her beak between them.
 Roxanne’s scent was heavenly to Izzy, and if not for the time crunch, the bird was fairly certain she could have stayed there all day, breathing in the mix of musk, sweat, and warm, wet fox cunt. Sadly, all the owl felt she could get away with was a quick nuzzle, teasing Rox’s slit with her beak before standing up, being rewarded with a hum of appreciation from the wolf.
 “You’re going to be a good puppy for me, isn’t that right Roxanne?” Izzy asked, opening a dresser drawer and producing a cloth-backed diaper patterned with pastel animals.
 “Y-Yes.” Came Rox’s reply, the girl having to fight past the fluttering in her chest to get the word out. At the fox’s utterance, Izzy froze, halfway through fluffing the diaper she held.
 “Pardon me, young lady?” asked the owl, as if Rox were a child who had been caught cussing.
 “Y-yes I’m going to be a good puppy, Miss!” came the fox’s reply, her tail swish, swish, swishing across the bedsheets.
 “Better.” With a curt nod, Izzy resumed diapering her partner, sliding the padding beneath Rox’s rump, and readjusting to ensure it would properly fit, “Now I want you to be civil while Rubella is here. She might still have accidents, but you’re the one in diapers, so I’m sure there will be no confusion as to who is the ‘bigger girl’” Izzy looked up from rubbing powder into the fox’s groin, clearly waiting for a response.
 “Y-yes Miss, of course Miss.” Rox complied, earning a finger slipped briefly into her sex, which drew a whimper from the fox.
 “You are to share your toys, not fight, and not complain if I decide it’s time for a diaper change. Am I understood?” Izzy’s question came just as she secured the fourth tape on Rox’s diaper, but the owl kept a palm firmly planted on the front panel of the fox’s padding, not yet allowing her to rise.
 “Yes Miss, you are understood” came Rox’s reply. And just like that, she was dressed, ready for their guest’s arrival.
 “Good, now go wait by the door, and let Rubella in when she knocks.” Izzy instructed, pulling Rox to her feet and exchanging a gentle kiss with the fox before pirouetting her to face the door.
 “Oh, and this is for earlier!” Izzy teased, planting a firm SMACK on Rox’s ass, and causing powder to puff out of the fox’s waistband in a small cloud. Rox stumbled towards the door with a surprised ‘YIP’ as her partner’s hand impacted, and the fox quickly turned back around, sticking her tongue out at her girlfriend before dashing down the hall towards the front door.
 While Rox was on door duty, Izzy prepped lunch. Crustless turkey and american cheese sandwich quarters were placed on colorful sectioned plates, along with apple slices, ants on a log (celery sticks spread with peanut butter and topped with raisins), and chocolate chip cookies. The owl had just finished constructing her own, much more ‘adult’ sandwich when the doorbell rang.
 “I got it!” Came Rox’s shout, and Izzy stepped out of the kitchen as the fox pulled open the door, revealing their guest.
 Standing on the porch was Ruby, a pink and white patterned wolf who was smiling so hard that it made her squint. As Izzy was behind Rox, she had time to process Ruby’s magenta skirtalls, pink bone-patterned top, and chunky shoes, unlike the fox, who was promptly tackled. 
 “Roxyyyyyyyyy!” Ruby squealed, “Hi hi hello hi hello! It’s been literally FOREVER since I seen you!”.
 “Ack! Ough! Rabid dog! Izzy, help!” Came Rox’s playful cries, and the two grappled on the floor for a handful of moments before Ruby managed to straddle the fox, pinning her under her hips. The wolf’s tail was a blur as she wagged with joy, and both girls were beaming.
 “I love love LOVE youuu!” Ruby yapped, “It’s been so long, and we’re gonna have so much fun! I brought dolls, and nail polish, and gameDodecahedron cartridges, and ALL SORTS!”
 “Just mind you don’t get polish on any of the furniture.” Izzy warned, smiling warmly down at the wolf. Ruby turned with a look of surprise, as if she hadn’t realized Izzy was there, before jumping to her feet in a flash, becoming a pastel blur as she dashed towards her other host.
 “Hiya aunt Isabel!” the wolf shouted, colliding with Izzy with enough force to make the owl stagger slightly, “It’s so good to see you too! You can play games with me and Rox, and I know you cook really yummy food, and you can change Rox when she gets smelly, and we’re gonna have a really fun time!”
 “Now Rubella, be nice to Roxanne. Just because she’s not toilet trained doesn’t give you a right to make fun,” Izzy chastised, placing a hand on Ruby’s head and ruffling the pup’s fur, “But it’s nice to see you too. Are you hungry? You and Roxanne can head into the den, and I’ll bring you lunch.”
 “Thanks aunt Izzy! I’m starved! Come on Roxy, we’ve got cartoons to watch!” And just like that, the girls were gone, Ruby having grabbed Rox’s hand and tugged her towards the den, the fox yipping in surprise as she was dragged along.
 The afternoon passed quickly, the girls picking at their lunches as they explained the plot of the cartoon they were watching, ‘Our Massive Draft Horse’. Izzy knew the show front to back, she was the one who had introduced Rox to it in the first place, after all, but it was somewhat entertaining to have someone ramble at her, trying to describe major plot points while inhaling sandwich quarters and draining cups of apple juice. Ruby was certainly the more talkative of the two, though the pup didn’t seem to mind her friend taking a back seat during the conversation.
Rox sat politely, cross-legged on the puppy pad covered carpet, using her food to keep her hands busy while her canine companion jabbered on about the characters ‘Monochrome Stroll’ and ‘Dawn Tarnish’. The fox was having some element of difficulty reaching a point of full immersion, parts of her mind screaming at her that she was doing something wrong, or that she needed to keep her guard up. Rox had only ever achieved true ‘little space’, ‘middle space’, or whatever you want to call the state where you are once again able to legitimately feel childlike wonder, a handful of times, and she still very much had difficulty tapping into that element of herself. She was used to being a crass, bratty 20-something, because that’s what she was every day, but to regress her mind to the point where she could once again feel youthful joy spreading through her breast… It was simply hard. Rox wished she could turn it on, flip a switch and start seeing the world through different eyes, but the only times previously that she had reached that childlike mindset, she had been significantly inebriated, either due to alcohol, lack of sleep, or the effects of a medication. 
This wish was one of the reasons for Ruby’s visit, as Rox admired the wolf’s ability to go from ‘buttoned up real estate agent’ to ‘bubbly, bouncy kindergartener’ within a matter of moments, and Ruby had promised to lend what wisdom she could to the fox’s cause. The two had met at a gathering of like-minded folk, organized by a mutual friend, and had meshed nearly seamlessly. After a few months of talking, Rox put together a dinner so that she could introduce Izzy to the wolf, and nearly a year after that, the three had had almost a dozen get-togethers, ranging a spectrum of activities from public outings to sleepovers.
Rox sat, watching Ruby’s animated explanation of the various rules present in the OMDH universe, and admiring the genuine lack of care in the wolf’s mannerisms. She didn’t seem to mind that she had peanut butter smeared across one cheek, and indeed, she looked to be enjoying the challenge of trying to lick it all off. She made no effort to cover herself when a particularly exaggerated movement flashed glimpses of her pullups to both Izzy and Rox. She was, as far as Rox could tell, completely engaged in her storytelling, nothing mattering more than getting her point across that ‘Pear Knob’ was the most interesting of the ‘Draft Half-Dozen’. She yapped and gestured for several more minutes before pausing and turning towards Rox.
“Hey Roxyyy?” The pup pleaded, eyes suddenly the size of saucers, “Are you gonna finish that peanut butter ant stiiiiick? And if not can I have it pretty pleeeeease?” Rox had to shake herself from the trance she had fallen into while watching Ruby’s display before forming an answer.
“Uh- yeah, go for it.” Rox responded, pushing her plate across the carpet towards Ruby, who tilted her head questioningly as she picked up her prize.
“What’s wrong, Rox fox?” The wolf asked, shoving the whole piece of celery into her mouth at once, “Is your head full of rocks? Do you need a change of socks? Do you not like how chickens bawk-bawk-bawks?” Ruby grinned, teeth full of peanut butter as she continued rhyming, “Rox fox Rox fox, what’s wrong Rox fox? Did you lose your favorite box? Full of clocks that go tick-tocks? Tell me what’s wrong Rox fox!” The wolf flopped over, rolling onto her stomach and kicking her feet in the air as she looked expectantly up at her friend.
“I don’t know, really. I guess I’m just not feeling super… fun?” Rox shrugged, hugging her knees to her chest.
“Ohhh, is that all?” Ruby asked, as if the problem Rox had voiced was as simple as being thirsty, or some other easily remedied plight, “I can teach you if you like! Teacher-toddler Ruby will help you out alright!” The wolf scrambled to her feet, holding a hand out towards Rox, ever-present grin as infectious as always. The fox smiled weakly back, taking Ruby’s hand and letting the girl help her to her feet.