"Aw, come on Sunil...just a little bit?"

"I don't think so. I really don't feel comfortable doing this, I mean...what if someone sees us?"

"Please, Sunil? Blythe won't be back from school for hours, and I can't have Minka do it, she'd try to paint it yellow and call it a banana."

"But I've never done anything like this before! Wouldn't it be better to wait and get some professional advice first?"

"Uch, Blythe didn't have this much of a problem with it."

"That's because she didn't think you were coming on to her."

"You think that I'm..." Pepper paused for a moment. He thought she was hitting on him? Oh, she could use this...

"And what if I am coming onto you, Sunil?" Pepper said as she lowered her eyelids and cast a sultry glance his way.

The turquoise mongoose's eyes widened in shock. This certainly wasn't the direction he expected this conversation to take! This was more akin to taking a left turn straight into a brick wall!

"Uh...um...what uh...what do you mean by that?" He stammered as he tried to regain his composure.

"What if I think you're a really, really nice guy and want to be more than 'just friends'?" It was all Pepper could do to keep from bursting into gales of laughter right then and there.

The bedroom eyes, the enticing voice...who said she couldn't be girly? All those hours of watching Zoe dramatically flail about like some disowned Broadway star were finally paying off! And now...to move in for the kill!

"I think that we should get to know each other better, Sunil...and what better way to do that," here she wrapped her long, bushy, unkempt tail around his neck, "Than to have you groom little old me? Starting with my big, beautiful, voluptuous tail?"

Pepper suddenly understood why Zoe was so dramatic all the time; it was loads of fun!

Poor Sunil couldn't even talk anymore. All he could do was look down at the fluffy grey-and-white appendage now curled around his neck. Slowly, he grasped it with one paw, then the other. It really was beautiful, and Pepper did come to him first...what would the harm be, really?

Pepper tried her hardest not to laugh as a tomato-red blush crept over his blue mongoose cheeks.

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Well, Christmas is over, the New Year's on it's way, and I've got meself some new toys to play with!

More specifically, a brand new tempered-glass art desk, a deluxe executive chair, some beautiful new pens and pencils that I get to try out, and the collector's edition Littlest Pet Shop set with six of the seven pets from the show for referencing!

Now that that's out of the way, I wanted to try and use a new style for inking and coloring, so here's a delightful little scene where Pepper is just trying to get Sunil to brush her tail out, but it ends up turning into something quite a bit more...romantic than either of them were expecting.

And you guys have all been so wonderfully patient with me I couldn't help but give you something to enjoy in the meanwhile. Proofing is what is taking so long right now, the revisions keep having me adding and taking away scenes in Chapter 3 to get it absolutely perfect. But trust me, when it's done it'll be great.

Now everybody shower our new Mongoose/Skunk couple with love and well-wishes. They were made for each other.

Comments are always welcomed and appreciated! They let me know if I'm doing a good job or a bad job!

P.S. What was the first thing that popped into your head when you read the story above?