This is a little quick story I wrote, partly as "doodle writing" and partly to get me back interested in writing. With encouragement and compliments from my friends, I decided to take their word for it and write something up.

This story is about Kuu showing a little appreciation for a part some furs take for granted--the tail. It's pretty darn cute if I do say so myself.

I was happy with it when I was finished, but I'm a tiny bit worried that there may be an issue with actual plot. Oh well, if it's not a story, it's a situation. Enjoy!

Character, story belong to  zipsquirrel

---

Love for One's Own Body

Rain. Thunder and lightning struck outside with the constant washdown ambience of the shower outside. It had been pouring down rain for almost 3 full days now with very little breaks. Needless to say, this had done nothing to persuade the lazy feline to leave her own apartment over the last 24 hours.

Kuu despised the rain. Or rather, she didn't like going out and getting wet, because she didn't like changing clothes and drying off. With her thick snow leopard coat as soft and plush as it was, it was an absolute pain in the tail to get dry. She didn't enjoy weather like that one bit, unless she was inside her apartment, listening to the pattering of the drops hitting her window and the tall building. The sound of the rain was a beautiful sound; she could sit in the warm glow of her residence and hear the symphony of percussion outside.

It was midafternoon and the snow leopardess had been curled up on her couch in her satin pajamas since she woke up. An invitingly warm aroma wafted up from the mug she held in her paws, mixing with the scent of her floral perfume and shampoo to create a smell that could best be described as home.

Kuu finished the last of her coffee, setting the mug on her coffee table. Not even a second had passed from when she set it down when an epic roar of thunder echoed throughout the city. Despite her relaxed mood and being used to the rain outside, she couldn't help but jump in sudden fright from the crash. She jumped with a shy squeak, her long, thick tail flipping up into her arms. The leopardess clung onto it for dear life, breathing quickly.

Her panting returned to normal breath, and she sighed, relieved. Another echo of thunder struck the metropolis, and just like that, the apartment complex's power went out, leaving her room dark except for the bluish light creeping through the rainsoaked window.

She was no longer clinging to her enormous tail, but she still kept it in her arms, stroking it to calm herself. She desired to go back into her relaxed state, so that even in the darkness of the apartment, she could enjoy the rain and the lazy Sunday afternoon.

Kuu continued for several minutes. The power had not seemed to come back on yet. She wasn't surprised. This city very seldom got rain, especially torrents of it like the one outside. The city was probably not prepared to deal with power outages as quickly as one where they were common. She was probably stuck in the dark for a little while. It's a good thing I like the rain, she thought to herself.

In the dim light of the apartment, she looked over her long tail in her paws. She had never measured its length; it had always just been there. If she had to guess, it was probably close to seven feet long and a foot in diameter. She was thankful to have such a long tail, even though it got in the way sometimes. Kuu's arms tightened around it, giving it a comfortable squeeze and laying her head on it like a fluffy pillow.

She briefly shut her eyes and remembered a moment a few days ago where she had been leaving the office where she got her permit to start a business. She was excited to have it, having been approved for the freelance therapy she wanted to do, and ran out of the building. Of course, it would have had to have been one of those buildings with a malfunctioning doorstop. The door shut quickly, and before she was able to pull her tail out of the frame, shut tight against her large tail. Despite its size, it still hurt quite a bit.

Kuu shut her eyes, remembering the shut of the door and purring out a soft growl to herself. Her right paw drifted up close to the spot where the bruise was, and she rubbed it gently, kissing it as if it were a child with a minor injury.

She took another moment to reminisce on a day she had gone on a walk through the park. Kuu, not much for physical activity, had tired herself out from nearly a mile-and-a-half's worth of a walk. She sat down on a bench to catch her breath and check her phone. Not thinking about her tail, she set it down beside the bench, only twitching it idly. After she caught her breath, she got up and started walking back down the path she had come. From then it seemed that every jogger, biker, or driver that passed by gave her a strange look. She knew her tail was big and her skirt may have revealed something she didn't feel comfortable revealing, but it had never been a problem like this before. Finally her curiosity got the better of her and when she stopped to check it out, she saw a big streak of gooey mud in her tail's fur, dripping on the ground.

Still stroking the bruised spot, she blushed, remembering how embarrassing it was that she had gone almost three quarters of a mile with mud dripping off of her largest asset. It sure was a pain to clean up...

Despite the occasional slip-up, and forgetting to take it into consideration, her tail had always been there for her, and Kuu had always been there for her tail. Even though she had been in control of it her entire life, something about her tail was different than that of other furs'. She loved it like a sister, and quite frequently treated it like another person, even when it wasn't necessary. Even now, she had her tail in her arms, cuddling it like a child or a boyfriend or girlfriend.

Kuu wriggled her body up to let the tail wrap around herself twice, before putting her arms back around it. She gave the tip of it a gentle kiss, nuzzling her nose into it with a content sigh. There was no way to appropriately thank her tail for all it had done for her. Being a friend when she was friendless. Being there when she needed someone to hug. Keeping her balance when she was dizzy. Even providing something to suck on when she needed something to do with her mouth. They had never been apart, and she hoped they never were.

She laid her head against the tip, propping it up against the arm of the couch like a pillow, purring deeply. She whispered out a thanks to her tail, even though no one was around to hear, and that it wouldn't be enough to show her appreciation.

The rain outside continued to pour, and the feline had not noticed that the thunder had weakened to a few short growls from time to time. Suddenly, from the inside of the walls, there was a slamming noise, and then a gentle buzz. The feline's ears twitched from the sound. The lights at the bottom of the complex turned on, going up the stories until it eventually hit Kuu's apartment. She smirked as her power was rebooted. It sounded like the generator was on.

The snow leopardess contemplated getting up and turning on the news or opening up her laptop, but then she glanced at her tail in her arms, wrapped around her like an infant's blanket. She shook her head to herself. No. Kuu could wait for a little while, and make sure that the power didn't go off again. Besides, it was still raining.

With a soft purr, she clutched her tail and waited, listening to the percussive music outside her apartment. With any luck, the rain would never end. She smiled to herself at the thought, and shut her eyes.