Cerise was a canine, a diminutive cocker spaniel, and the sum of her adult life could be summed up in a name; ‘Drevari’.

The spaniel had met the bat during her internship at some other company, and with that one chance encounter her entire path had changed. It wasn’t love at first sight, rather, at first, more a feeling of awe, of hero worship over someone she couldn’t get out of her head.

This had meant poor Cerise getting too distracted at work, her performance dropped, and eventually she was let go by the company that was reviewing her. However this turned to her advantage as fate let her meet Drevari again, and in turn, she was hired as her personal assistant.

The love built from there, Cerise went above and beyond the call of duty on countless occasions. She learned everything she could about Drevari to not just meet her needs, but to anticipate them. Years went by and Cerise finally identified that she loved her employer, lusted for her, and that itself was a problem due to what she knew of Drevari.

The bat was asexual, not the kind to get intimate with anyone in the way that the spaniel craved. Cerise had struggled to believe it at first, digging into many things to try and find the secret truth. After all, she’d seen enough of what Drevari did with friends and other entanglements. But there was no mystery to be found, no strange path that had scared Drevari off sexuality. The bat had always been asexual and repulsed by sex itself, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t romantic and explorative.

Drevari and Cerise had spoken frankly one night on the spaniel’s insistence. Cerise making demands for time was rare enough that Drevari was quick in clearing her evening out of concern. Cerise confessed her feelings, all of them, and Drevari didn’t know what to say. For the first time ever, Cerise saw the bat with her guards all down.

“Cerise.” She had said. “You know me better than I know myself sometimes. Almost everything you’ve ever done has been in my service or for my comfort.” She’d been sat on a large sofa and she beckoned Cerise to join her, taking her hand in hers to calm the visibly nervous woman. “The truth of it is, I love you too, but I can’t satisfy your lust in the way you truly want.”

Drevari usually kept herself calm, composed and unflinching, but her face let her emotions through. There was vulnerability there, a true aching, the bat knew she could never bring herself to be what Cerise desired. The dog had tears in her eyes, though she was smiling up, the flood of joy and relief at hearing the object of her desires requite her love, at least on the romantic level had stirred her spirits higher than they’d been in years.

“Ma’am, that’s more than enough, just to hear you say it.” She’d said back. They’d talked deep into the night, Cerise having to do some convincing before Drevari believed that she would be truly alright with it.

Even so, the following month had been awkward, Cerise was off her usual game, and Drevari realised over that time, with some wry amusement, how much she’d come to depend on her assistant’s ability to seem precognisant of her needs. But they soon found peace and returned to where they were before.

Drevari could be romantic, warm and loving, and Cerise could content herself, even knowing she would never get the night with Drevari that she often dreamed about. She never had eyes for anyone else, only Drevari, and she was okay with serving her to the best of her abilities.