Maxwell ‘s luggage bounced to a stop in the middle of the bedspread as he used his now unoccupied hands to knead at the stiff muscles in his upper back and neck. Thick thumbpads probed at imbedded knots and he winced at the evidence of far too much time spent behind the wheel in the last few months.

Leaving off from the task of restoring mobility to his complaining spine, he sighed and glanced about the hotel room. Perhaps a bit too pastel for his taste, at least it had a reasonable set of amenities, including a free bar, courtesy of a front desk snafu that had left him roomless until the home office had grudgingly allowed him to request an upgrade via his expense account. And the view certainly did not hurt, he mused, as he unlocked the balcony door and let the breeze from a warm spring afternoon wash over him. High enough up the side of the hotel to avoid the smell of the parking lot below; it was not too remote to miss the heady scent of a fresh mowed lawn from the carefully manicured park across the way.

Stepping outside, he smiled at the low row of vines hugging the edges of the reasonably ornate stone railing, profuse flowers convincing him to lean in for a closer look at their intricate patterns. The muffled sounds of far off traffic droned in the background, along with someone on one of the nearby balconies humming an ever so slightly off key refrain. Maxell found himself unable to identify the maddeningly familiar tune, and rubbed one ear bemusedly as it twitched in time. Although…. Odd. It certainly did not sound like the melody was coming from the floor above, or even from one of the surrounding rooms. Placing one paw on a balustrade for balance, Maxwell leaned out for a better view.

And blinked.

It was the coloration that threw him, he realized. Kangaroos were not exactly uncommon around here. Balloons, an everyday fact of life. The sweater was a rather interesting shade of lime that he certainly would not have chosen, but even that was not what stunned.

Purple. Gleaming, polished, flowing. Tyrian shading merging into a deeper plum across her pads, topped off by a plume of hair that appeared to be sneaking off the edge of his vision’s color range insofar as blue was concerned.

Admittedly the whole hanging in midair from a set of what appeared to be nothing more than brightly colored children’s balloons, one leg jauntily cocked over the other in an almost reclining position while alternatively humming/whistling “99 Luftballoons” –he finally remembered that song!- and slowly drifting upwards might be adding to his hesitation.

Some involuntary sound of startlement must have escaped, since she twisted in midair to look back over one shoulder, dispelling his idea that she could be some sort of advertising balloon –for sweaters?- that had just floated free from below.

A broad grin exposed gleaming white teeth under a bulbulous nose. “Well hi! Hadn’t noticed I was this close to the building. Sorry to disturb you, but I went a bit higher than I should have. Hold on a sec.” She pirouetted through a sinuous twirl, using her broad feet as a base for her momentum, fat tail pinwheeling behind until she was facing Maxwell.

Flexing at the waist, she raised one leg and probed at the railing of Maxwell’s balcony with dexterous toes. He stared with a certain amount of fascination at her blunt nails as they slowly gained traction on the stone. No fur. Was she wearing tights? No, he could see every motion of what appeared to be rather impressive calves.

“Ahem.” Blushing, Maxwell brought his attention back up from the in depth examination of his visitor’s feet. “Bit of a hand, please?”

“Sure? Uh. Uhm.” A momentary hesitation gripped him, but one simply cannot go through life ignoring set up lines like that. He clapped once, twice. A molded eyebrow crept up under her hairline as she stared at him.

“Hah! You I like! C’mon, reel me in!” Showing remarkable physical control she hefted one leg further forward, almost chinning herself on the balloons that were, against all logic, still providing support. Reaching out, he grabbed a hold of her extremity and tugged her closer. It certainly felt like a real foot. Her skin or outfit or whatever was warm to the touch, not at all unpleasant. Settling on thick haunches on top of the railing, she let out a gusty whew and released the balloons.

Maxwell winced as they shot up towards the floor of the balcony overhead, expecting a resounding crash from anything with enough lift to haul someone off the ground. Instead the thunk and squeak of spheres filled with regular helium greeted his ears as he watched them bounce to the edge and drift away skyward. “How, how’d… What?”

“Magic, o’course,” she noted matter of factly, slipping down off her perch and holding out a hand. “I’m Seritaph.”

“Maxwell. Charmed.” Still operating on autopilot, he shook, looking down at her plastine digits with a growing sense of wonder.

“So! Two options, Maxwell. You and I can walk over to the door and I’ll be on my way, leaving you with a thousand questions and a rather odd story next time you’re at the bar. Oooor you can come with me down to the pool area and join the get together that’s going on for my birthday party. You might actually get an answer or two, and can at least get a few free beers for rescuing me from having to flag down a passing helicopter with this birthday sweater.”

“Aaah, birthday balloons.” Maxwell nodded, seizing on at least one bit of clarity. “That makes sense.”

Seritaph paused, watching him quizzically as his tail started to wag.

“Hold on and let me get my room key. If I let you just walk off I’d drive myself crazy trying to figure out what the hell just happened!”

---

Well hey! It appears to have been the short side of forever since I last posted anything a’tall. Sorry about that; I did warn most of you that I’m lazy. Had to prove it, apparently!

Let’s get an older item or two up here. I solemnly swear I have permission to post this.

For some unknown reason there are crazy folks out there that actually put up with my shenanigans. One of these brave souls is  cngsoft a far better friend than I deserve and an excellent artist in his own right. During my last birthday he got together with the skilled  s-l-b who put together the above posted image. It’s a lovely gift, and I appreciate the both of them greatly for working on it.

Artist  s-l-b
Awesome art getting friend  cngsoft

Go to s-l-b’s page! He deserves all the views! http://www.furaffinity.net/user/s-l-b/ Do eeet.