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Chapter 1: The Falchion

In the constellation Canis Major, around the twin stars of Sirius, there is a world, much like our own. With vast oceans, dry deserts, frigid icecaps, and humid forests, all of which are teeming with life.

This world has been named Sirius by the people of the planet Earth. The evolution on Sirius is equal to, if not further advanced than our own, and in the year 2130, the first signal from our world was heard. It was very faint, but the Sirians were able to locate our planet's star-system and hastily sent a reply.

The distance between the two worlds was great enough, that the reply took more than a century to arrive. It was detected by a small lab in the Himalayas and quickly broadcast to all of Earth's major powers. It was a speech sent by one of Sirius' foremost leaders, and its message was a plea for help. It featured a video broadcast, and Earth's citizens reacted both scared and relieved that they were not the only life out there, and that at least the other life they had found was friendly.

The message was thus:

"I am commander Siva Caprius the Third of the planet you call Sirius. We received a transmission from your world, that we have come to know as Earth. Our brightest minds were set to work and have deciphered your language so that we could send you a reply, and we are quickly teaching our students to speak it, in the hopes of becoming allies."

The voice had come from a woman, with stark white hair and emerald-green eyes. The curious similarity between her and an Earth life form was astonishing though for this woman resembled a wolf. She had canine-like ears, and the silvery fur to boot. Her hands had only three fingers and a thumb, however each was slightly more plump that a human finger, and was covered in that same fur. Her face was, unfortunately, not graced with a pronounced muzzle of the canines of Earth, as if she were some sort of cross between a wolf and a human. The muzzle did extend somewhat, however, and it's tip was crested in a dark, canine nose.

"This message should take around one-hundred of your Earth-years, to reach you, despite sending it through subspace. We are sending our most decorated flagship to meet you. By the time this reaches you, I will be long deceased, however offspring of that ship's crew will live to meet you."

The message then faded into a three dimensional view of both their planet and their starship, which, by Earth standards of the day, was less than advanced. The message continued:

"Our world is in the throes of an interplanetary war, and though we cannot spare more than this one ship; we hope that by the time they meet with you, we will have defeated our assailants the Craganii Empire. We give you a library of all Sirian Language, and a schematic of our ship the Falchion, in the hopes that they might aid your arrival at our doorstep."

The audio from the message terminated, and characters started to run themselves across the screen. It was like a dictionary; translating phonetic versions of the Sirian's language and their proper Earth, English translations.

In the present day aboard the starship Falchion under the command of captain Icarus Kincaid, a young ensign, born on the ship, was looking through his quarters in a desperate attempt at finding a birthday present that he had made for a friend.

He was a lithe fox; about five foot ten, with fluffy white fur. His eyes were a transfixing amethyst-violet and his small snout stuck out about an inch from his face before ending in a cold, black nose.

Now, he was a strange fox indeed. The first thing you would notice about him was that that, unlike most foxes, he had three fluffy tails extending from a wide opening in the back of his pants. The hole stretching just low enough to barely see the grey that ran on the inside of his thighs and up to his tail bone.

He was cursing in both his native tongue and in the dialect that he had been taught he had to use, "Flizzik, scrim aiyaah. Where the hell is it!?". His low, energetic, and youthful voice showing through his anger. "Ahh, she'll never forgive me if I don't bring a gift!" he scolded himself.

His mind seemed to race for a moment and a thought struck him. Heading quickly into the washroom he cheered in success. Snatching up the collar he had made, he began to search around for the box that he had found to put it in.

A shrill beeping sound came from all around him and he reflexively shouted in both languages he knew; "Come! Ivek!"

Into the main room walked a well-built wolf, also an ensign, with white strands of head fur falling over his eyes, the rest tied back into a ponytail, and a silver-grey tinge to his fur. His sharp, piercing, blue eyes were near cold enough to freeze you in your tracks, but right now were warm and inviting. He walked with an purposeful grace to him, to the edge of the unmade bed that sat off in a corner of the small cabin.

"Ivek? God you're still using THAT old language?" asked the wolf, obviously talking to the fox in the washroom. The fox in question was quickly putting the collar in a box and wrapping the black box with a small, thin strand of abused silver ribbon.

"Quiet you!" came the agitated but relieved reply from the fox as he walked back into the room, carrying the gift with him. He seemed glad to have his dear friend with him and gave the wolf a warm smile.

"You ready to head to the party, kit?" asked the wolf, smirking at the younger fox.

"I'm sixteen," came the scornful reply at the nickname. He was used to it but he still felt obligated to let his disdain known through his near-traditional response, "I'm not a 'kit'"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Come on, or we'll be late." said the teenaged wolf as he grabbed his friend's paw and ran out of the room with a deep chuckle. "You know what happened last time we were late for something"

The fox's face and ears flushed as they ran, embarrassed by the light contact. Years of conditioning had made him wary of any contact with another. They both started off towards the ship's mess hall, and upon entering the darkened room, they took their places.

The clicking of formal boots on the metal floors in the hallway approached their ears, and the entire group of hidden furs made no noise at all. Voices soon joined the tapping, clanking sound, and as the young fox strained to hear he could make out a conversation.

"I just don't see why we can't just stay in my quarters tonight, I'd love to have some time alone with y-" said the girl, a young husky dressed in the same formal uniform the rest of them were forced to wear. She stopped as she stepped into the room, the lack of light uncommon.

"Why are the lights out?" she said, before uttering a command to the ship's on board computer. "Lights on!" she said commandingly, and just as the lights flickered and buzzed on, the entire congregation jumped up and yelled "Surprise!"

The husky yelped in shock and chuckled as she held a paw over her racing heart. "Damn it! You scared me!" she shouted, jumping toward the wolf that was walking with her. He was was tall, roughly six foot tall. His shoulder length, black head fur tied back into a ponytail with two clumps of the long hair on either side of his face, a traditional Military hairstyle for male Sirians. His ears were tipped with black, but his fur was a majestic silver-grey. His eyes seemed to almost shimmer with an unusually powerful quality. He wore the red, yellow, black, and grey of a commanding officer's uniform, and his rank pins were that of a lieutenant commander.

"Happy birthday Claire," he said as he gifted the girl in his arms with a kiss, which she graciously returned. Her ears lay back as she gently leaned into her mate, and when they broke the kiss the rest of the congregation cheered and started to mill about and chat amongst themselves, or congratulate the husky. It was her nineteenth Sirian birthday, and it meant that she was formally considered an adult on Sirius; and unbeknownst to them on Earth as well.

The young fox ensign padded over to her and smiled, waving calmly as he held the box behind his back. He bowed respectfully to the girl and blushed slightly at the two pairs of eyes watching him, the girl's and her mate's.

It was no surprise the disdain that the wolf seemed to show. Here he was, a fox approaching him and his chosen life mate. It was almost unheard of but the woman was kind enough to let it pass. She even gave a silent giggle and smirked, "Ah, hello Fox, what's that you're hiding?" she asked, smiling at having noticed the box.

The young fox tipped his head downward a bit as he slipped the box out from behind his back, looking at it for a moment before deciding finally; "Uhm... it's a present, for you,". He held the gift out timidly, and with a shy smile spoke; "Happy birthday," as the girl's paw wrapped gently around his meager gift. She examined it and smiled, before she gently tugged at the ribbon. Trimmed claws grazing the material of the container.

As she removed the lid her eyes lit up, she smiled and almost squealed as she wrapped the handcrafted and thoughtful collar around her neck. It was made from the hide of an animal that the crew had had to best some months before. The ship's third stop in the century it had been away from home. Its scales could be fused with ease, and that is what Axis had done. He'd made a collar out of the tiny scales.

"Thank you Axis, it's beautiful," said the husky as she placed the box down beside her and gave the fox a hug. Her mate watched without even a twinge of jealousy, knowing that the husky was devoted to him. His pride was thrown off by the act, or so it seemed, and he seemed to just be making sure the fox gave him no reason to bite.

The little fox smiled and as he walked away. Before turning and bowing in a societal respect for the tall wolf. He walked slowly through the masses of people, a few foxes but even more groups of other breeds. Dalmatian-like, husky like, collie like. He spotted a familiar shine of icy blue and quickly rejoined the wolf whom had dragged him here. "Hey Jayse. That Sota really is lucky, don't you think?"

The wolf chuckled and shook his head, "I guess so kit, but it doesn't matter much to me. We'll be at the planet in less than a day, then we can meet these 'Terrans'"

Axis chuckled and sighed, before he caught himself staring at the wolf. He blushed a bit and looked out the window as the filaments of slipstream reached toward the ship, tugging it forward in the strange null space. The view was hypnotic, golds and reds reaching almost lifelike toward their tiny lifeboat and throwing them at 'speeds' unimaginable. He knew how the stream worked, at least as well as the best engineer, but it was always an awe-inspiring sight.

"Hey, Axis, did you hear me?" asked Jasyn, obviously trying to get his attention. The fox snapped out of his reverie and flushed yet again. His gaze fell upon the wolf again and he smiled with friendly warmth at the question. "I said, d'you want to head out? It's getting late."

He tilted his head in a nod, and followed close by the wolf as he lead. They spoke of this and that, things that passed for small talk mostly, and this left Axis with ample time to think his own agenda. Multithinking, there was a useful skill. Being able to speak one thing and be thinking an entirely different subject.

He was distracted so much so by his own silent thought, that he hardly noticed the corridors passing. The two rounded a corner and as the scent of his friend filled his nose, the kit fox smirked softly. He swatted at him the wolf playfully and asked, "Okay Jayse, what's going on."

The older wolf dodged the paw and delivered a swat of his own, hitting Axis' nose gently before he replied, "I thought we could spend some time together, I don't have a duty shift tomorrow, and neither do you."

Several thoughts rearranged themselves for dominance in the white-furred canid's mind, and he grinned as he delivered another question. "What did you have in mind?" he queried, his arms crossed over his chest in scrutiny as he leaned back upon one heel.

Jasyn seemed to chuckle lightly at the look the fox had given him. His ears flicked as he heard the words and he shook his head in humour. "You look like you're judging me, kit," he said, smirking, then added, "I dunno, we could just talk, I haven't seen you in forever."

A quick smile painted it's way across the kit fox's lips, and he twitched an ear in habit as he replied, "Sure, that'd be great, let me just go get my sleep pants." He began to turn and the feel of a paw tap on his shoulder was all the incentive to stay that he required.

"You still sleep in pyjama pants? Or is it just that you're going to be sleeping here?" he asked, with a snicker. He knew for certain that the fox was only looking out for himself, with protocol and tradition. Regardless he spoke warmly in his argument, "Cause, you know it's nothing I haven't seen before."

This was enough to cause the young vulpine to turn. Lifting himself into the air as though weightless, he grinned at the gravity-bound wolf from mid-air as though the most natural thing in the world, before he said, "I didn't think you'd be that intent on seeing me naked, Jayse, considering you're not into that sort of thing."

This time it was Jasyn's turn to blush, and he did, but quickly caught himself and shook his head, grabbing Axis' shoulders and pulling Axis down to eye-level with the him, hanging onto his friend's shoulders strongly. He wasn't even startled at the strange ability the small fox exhibited. He looked him in the eyes and smirked, "Well, since you're the one that suggested that I'd want to see you naked..." he chuckled and let go, watching the fox jump about a foot from the sudden lack of counter-force. He added softly, "I'd think you almost wanted to show me."

The smaller canine coughed lightly, shaking his head with a chuckle before rolling onto his back, still in midair, and dropping so that he was about waist high to his friend, "You know the rules Jayse. It's bad enough we're friends, best friends even. If anyone caught me nude in your room they'd have us both thrown in the Brig."

Jasyn sighed and closed his eyes, his head tilted back in thought for a moment. He knew the rules about interacting with foxes. 'If I'm not fucking him, he's not even supposed to be in here,' the thought rattled around in his head. He was a wolf, a Beta at that, his father being the second in command aboard the ship, whereas Axis was a fox. He was a low-level fox too, so it wasn't good publicity to even be his friend, let alone have him in your room.

The way things worked, Axis was lucky he wasn't a slave. If they had stayed on the planet - had Sirius been at peace - then he would have had no real rights. Thankfully they needed the expertise that foxes seemed to show in engineering. Foxes didn't tend to be aggressive, except amongst themselves, and made for good engineers, but their physical weakness made them ill-suited to be leaders in the eyes of the stronger and more leaderly eyes of the wolves in charge.

"Jayse?" Axis' voice pierced through his thoughts, and roused him from his half-trance, "Command to Jasyn, come in space cadet!" he teased, floating gently back to standing as he tried to grab the wolf's attention.

Jasyn looked around the room once. Had he been stuck in his own thoughts for that long? He smiled at the fox in front of him, pulling him into a friendly hug. "I'm here, I'm here."

Axis didn't even dare to breathe, startled by the gesture. He knew he was safe in the wolf's quarters, at least somewhat, but he was still surprised with the casual comfort that he was always shown. He looked up at his lifelong friend with a slight tilt to the head and confusedly asked, "Jayse, what was that for?"

The look upon his friend's face made the wolf's ears burn, and he quickly released the kit fox with an upset sigh. "I just missed you, kit. That's all," he spoke softly, and trembled for a moment. He shook it off, smiling a toothy grin, and his confident demeanour showed strongly "Don't worry about it, I'll be fine."

Axis just measured a soft and curious gaze on the wolf, more confused now than he had been before, and chuckled. "Well, if I'm going to stay here; perhaps we could put some background music into this captivating conversation," he teased, sarcasm apparent in his silky voice.

Smiling, with a cant to the head, the wolf nodded happily. Stepping back into his quarters towards the console, he caught his own scent on the air. The presence of the fox had always done something to him and if he didn't do something soon he would surely be given away.

"Kit? I'm going to grab a shower," he spoke quickly, slipping away towards the connected, but tiny, restroom. "Sorry, but I just didn't get to change after my shift," he reasoned, hoping he wasn't as opaque as glass in his lie.

Axis thumbed through a collection of music, seeing one song he hadn't seen in the ship's database. 'Maybe Sota wrote it' he thought, remembering the wolf that was at the party. He idly mumbled out an "Oh, go ahead, I'll just find something to listen to while I wait."

He hadn't seemed to notice, and the wolf quickly shut the bathroom door and leaned his head against it. Quickly, he started to strip himself out of his uniform. He started with his long-sleeved jacket, undoing the zipper and rolling his shoulders. He tossed an arm to the side a little and the jacket fell into a pile on the small floor space. He watched himself in the tiny mirror, grunting softly as he shook his head.

'Dammit kit...' he thought silently as he hooked his fingertips under the red and black T-shirt. He lifted it over his head, the ponytail falling onto his back as he revealed toned muscles. Dropping it onto the ground as well. He wasn't nearly as muscular as most of his lupine friends, but he liked the slip and lithe look his body gave; almost feminine if not for the lack of other curves.

Finally he reached down to the fly of his immaculate, almost pure-black denim pants. They weren't quite jeans, not having the pockets to either side, but they weren't quite dress pants because they were comfortable enough to lounge in. He unzipped the fly and undid the little clasp before sliding that too down his form, exposing himself fully to the scrutiny of the internal sensor array. Not like anyone could take pictures.

The tapered tip of his maleness peaked high above his sheath, and he peered down at himself with a quiet scowl. 'If not for you, I'd be out there with my friend,' he scolded himself. His fingers tapped at a wall console, and he activated the 'indoor rainstorm' of his shower. He slipped quickly into the falling droplets and slid the glass shut after him, leaning heavily against the wall to think.

It had been happening more and more recently. He had always loved that fox's company when he was younger, and his affection seemed to be mutating now with the rush of hormones from adolescence. Reaching a paw down slowly, his fingertips enclosed his needy length and he watched the pads slowly rubbing and sliding along it.

The little shocks of pleasure were bright in his mind, as his handpaw slowly glided back and forth on it. Eyes shut gently, he muttered soft and quiet 'oohs' and 'aahs' as his thoughts drifted over the fox he had just left in his room. If Jasyn had wanted, he could have simply forced himself upon Axis; 'No... no I couldn't.' he told himself, grunting softly as warm pads brushed slick skin beneath.

'Yes you could,' a darker part of his mind manifested, and the image of the fox kneeling before him was a vivid picture in his lust-filled self-pleasure. He brought his vacant paw down slowly, squeezing gently on his sheath and sac. His thumb on the first paw working slowly down around his budding knot.

'He trusts me, and I respect him more than that,' he told himself, ears falling backward as he made the quietest whimper of lust.

'But the rules say,'

'To hell with the rules! Axis is more to me than that!' he scolded himself, the image of the fox being dashed from his mind as he stroked and squeezed softly.

He didn't understand it at first, why he was so adamant about not using the fox. He hadn't used any of the others, either. In fact he was almost protective of Axis. The fingers squeezed tighter around a half-formed knot as small rivulets of water and pre dripped off of his throbbing member. Sac drawing upward slowly, he let out a near-silent groan; biting it back for decency sake.

Head leaning against the cool tile, the wolf's body lurched as his seed quickly shot free. A stifled moan escaping his throat as slivered eyes spotted the messy splotches he had painted on the glass. Swimming in his head were thoughts of the fox. 'I think... I need to tell him...' he told himself with an inward sigh.

'What if he doesn't understand?' that inner voice spoke hazily, and the wolf's ears flicked quietly in distress.

'I still have to tell him...' he reasoned, and slowly tried to push himself off the wall.

The spray of the water had begun to clear away the splotchy white mess on the glass as the wolf's heart began to calm. Thankfully, the knot was quickly relieved of it's pressure and with a few well-placed tugs he managed to stuff himself away.

Outside the tiny washroom Axis had found six or seven songs that he hadn't heard of, let alone listened to, and copied them into a small hand held device. He sat down on the bed, resting his back on the wall beside the bathroom, and played the first song on the list. He listened, intent on hearing either some rock band, one of four active bands on the ship, or a classical score, done by Fay, an attractive vixen, and Axis' mother.

When he heard the first few words, he realized that they weren't songs, but rather poetry, written by Jasyn. He turned the volume down to make sure that the wolf didn't hear, and listened carefully as he started the poem from the beginning.

It was set to a soft tune, one of the many tracks that were in the music library of The Falchion, and the words came in an almost melodic and painfully slow rhythm.

_Let me ask, what do you think of me now?

I'm a hopeless romantic, of course you could see.

Tell me, baby, are you angry with me?

Cause I didn't tell you how much I love you?

I don't know if I could tell you, and how,

This is the only way that we can be.

Please, oh god please, baby don't run from me,

I'll tell you someday what I know to be true._

There was a pause, and the music picked up a bit, as though Jasyn timed it to do that. A chord in the background really, nothing too fancy, but still giving a great effect just the same, and then his voice came back, this time more firm and commanding, matching the music.

_You're not inferior, not even close,

And dammit I wish I could shatter that law.

You're strong, and you are the one that I chose,

To hell with it, all now please just take my paw.

It shouldn't matter who you were born as.

Cause I'm going to take you one day.

I just want to be with the one that I love,

Even if they seem miles away._

Axis blinked once, then looked blankly across the room to a picture of him and Jasyn that was sitting on top of his dresser. 'What law...' he began to think, his ears flicking as the sound of the water stopped.

He quickly flicked the small device; having the songs stored for later, and looked back up to the doorway as Jasyn stepped out, wearing only a towel, followed by a trail of steam. The wolf smirked over at Axis and winked, before he said, "Forgot to grab something to wear, you don't mind though, do you?"

"N-no" answered the fox, nervous to no end, "Go ahead, it's your room after all."

"Heh, that it is kit, that it is," added the wolf before he padded over to the dresser and grabbed a pair of blue jeans. He slipped them on, without so much as an afterthought about boxers, or briefs, and turned around as he zipped up the fly. "So, find something good to listen to while I was in the shower?"

Axis shook his head and sighed softly, smirking, "Nope, not a thing," he lied easily, his eyes slowly dancing about the different features of his lupine host's face.

As though Jasyn were reading the fox's mind, he asked "You hungry?"

On cue, with a nod, Axis' stomach growled and he blushed a bit and rubbed it gently. "Starving," he said, before letting out a yawn and scratching his sides, "Can I take this damned jacket off? It's really warm in here."

Jasyn looked over at Axis with a sort of confused whimper, and said "Warm? It can't possibly be warm, I keep this room the same temperature as the rest of the ship is kept." Smirking softly, he added after a moment, "And you know you don't have to ask..."

"Well, I am Polar, you know," retorted the slightly panting fox as he unzipped and pulled off his jacket, revealing a form-fitting black T-shirt with white stripes on the shoulder seams. He let out another yawn and smiled, before flexing his very lean muscles.

Jasyn stared for a moment before he grabbed the handle to the built-in fridge and pulled out a large bowl of something soup-like. Slipping it quickly into a microwave-like device and setting it for eight MR. "Well, the food's on its way, so did you have any ideas about what we could do tonight?"

As the two talked, the tray in the microwave spun silently, as the food was bombarded with charged particles. There was a slight crackle from somewhere inside the soup, where a bubble had formed, and Axis' ear twitched when the sound filled it. "No idea, and I'm starting to get bored. I've been writing a little more, if you'd care to listen?" he asked. Poetry had been a pastime for both of them at a young age.

The microwave beeped once, and the wolf turned around and pulled out the broth, before separating it into two smaller bowls and handing one, along with a spoon, to Axis, blinking a bit from the question. "Poetry? Sure, I guess."

"If you give me half a second, I can pull them out of my Pad," he offered, before downing a few spoonfuls of the meaty soup. 'Jasyn likes his pasta...' he thought absently, still waiting for a reply.

"Sure. A poetry night it is," he snickered. "You start," he added with a quiet command. It was joking, but none-the-less the fox leaned back a bit. The little device shot from just out of reach straight into his paw, and he smirked.

"Okay, lemmie' just flip through and find the folder," said the fox as he put his soup down on the bedside table. He turned the Pad on and flipped through until he found the audio files and then laid the device on the bed beside him and grabbed his soup.

'This aught to be good,' thought Jasyn as he waited for the poem. The poem was to music, like most of his work, but none of it was from the ship's computer. 'Axis must have programmed it, he's a clever one,' he added to his previous thought, and listened to the words.

_Traveling endlessly with no end in view,

Our circumspect confined to the strings.

The stars in the sky could never match you,

Only you could make my heart sing.

If ever I told you how I truly feel,

I'd never win over your heart.

If I did tell you we couldn't reveal,

Otherwise we'd be pulled apart._

Jasyn blinked once and shook his head, chuckling approvingly. "I like it, it feels a bit like you're striving to find words you can't rhyme, though. Great work kit."

Axis blushed and let the tiny hand held continue playing, taking the occasional spoonful of soup as it slowly was dwindling away. "This next one's the first part to a song I'm writing, I can't quite get the words to say what I want them to, but it's still in the works."

The music was calm, almost serene, like an ocean wave lapping at the beach. Neither of them knew what the ocean sounded like, but they knew calm when they heard it. The words started melodically, and again Axis' voice was heard behind them.

_I've tried to hide the fact that I can tell,

I know how much you want me.

Living like this is worse than nine hells,

But living with you is a fantasy!

We could never be together!

It's just not right for our breeds to mix!

But our friendship IS FOREVER!

I wish I could help you, but cannot fix.

That stupid damn law, that says we don't belong,

Whether or not I can prove I'm worthy-

I know you would hold me, but it would be wrong.

You and I could never be happy.

We could nev-er be to-geth-er!

It's just insane, that we cannot fix,

Even if this friendship IS FOR-EV-ER!

That horrible truth that says we shouldn't mix.

It's been done before, but I'm not worth the cost,

You can't want me, a scrawny fox!

It's barely conceivable that I'm not lost!

One day we will be rid of this pox!

We could ne-ever be to-ogeth-er!

A fox such as I will never be picked,

Friendship is one thing, and MATING, AN-OTH-ER!

One day that truth will be all but a myth._

The music faded, and Axis' voice kept repeating 'all but a myth' as if it were echoed. Jasyn looked over at him and raised an eyebrow curiously, before dismissing his idle confusion and chuckling softly. "It sounds pretty done to me, It's a really great ballad you know. It may not seem like one, kit, but it fits the bill."

'Great... so he already knows...' the wolf thought. 'Then... maybe I should just out with it...'

Axis just blushed once and reached over to turn off the Pad, those being the only two songs he could let his friend hear at the moment. They had both long since finished their soup, and Jasyn was sitting backward on a chair staring at the small device. "I haven't heard anything new from you yet, Jayse, and I'd really like to..." suggested the fox, subtly, hoping to get the wolf to explain that poem he actually HAD heard, or at least let him listen to some more of his other work.

"Fine, fine. God, you're the only other person that I will let hear these, you know," said Jasyn, reluctantly getting up and walking over to the wall terminal. He tapped in a few commands and played the poetry over the rooms internal speakers.

"Aww, I feel speckle! Get on with it, ya big baby. It can't be worse than mine," replied the fox, knowing that this wolf wouldn't attack him for such a comment.

"Yeah, yeah, shaddap. It's about to start, so pipe down or I'll never let you stay in my room again, kit!" retaliated the embarrassed wolf through a laugh, as he sat back down on his chair and, staring at the fox, said "Play Tracks."

The music was just the faint 'tsk, tick, tick, tsk' of drum set cymbals, and the words came almost monotonously, though they were spoken fluently, and with a great amount of emphasis.

_This is a simple rhyme about a very good friend of mine.

Ahem... Here goes.

Unique and different, uniform and exact,

The way he talks, and dresses, and walks,

He is alone, and yet never will be,

None would believe that my best friend's a fox,

There is a law I won't let them enact,

Cause I never want to see him in a box,

For if it happened it'd destroy me,

I'd miss too greatly the way that he talks.

A... I will always be there for you,

X... No matter how hard the fight,

I... I will not let harm come to you,

S... I for, a fact, know that it's right._

Axis cooed at the letters echoing in the last lines, and smiled, letting out a soft murr. "So you wrote it about me, Jayse?" he asked, his ears turned to the side happily.

"You always were the clever one, kit," conceded the larger wolf, smiling kindly to his friend, "But don't let it go to your head or you'll be taking a long trip out a short airlock..." he added. With a soft, and worried tone to his voice, he breathed, "I don't want to lose you, Kit."

Axis thought for a moment before he made like he was going to ask something. "Jayse..." he started, and then shook his head and looked down, "...Nevermind." His lips moved again, and he tried to force the words out once more, after the wolf had tilted his head to one side and made a very confused 'hmm' sound, "Do you... do you really stop anyone from hurting me?"

The wolf smiled and got slowly to his feet. Stepping quietly closer to his friend, he sat on his foot paws as he looked up into the fox's eyes, and nodded. Without so much as a hint of a joke in his voice, he mouthed the words, "I do, because you mean so much to me,"

Axis' heartbeat sped and he smiled down at the wolf again. He stared into Jasyn's impossibly blue eyes, almost reveling that they were so endlessly deep. Those eyes were so hard and cold, yet able to be soft and warm. An enigma he had comforted in for years. The fox's face went flush with embarrassment and he looked off to a side, letting out a quiet sound of surprise. "Jasyn, stop... Please?" he said, noticing how close his friend was getting.

Almost immediately the wolf pulled away and looked down, as if he were ashamed of himself. He cursed under his breath and closed his eyes tight, feeling like he'd just done something wrong. If not for his long strands of hair that perfectly framed and hid his face, Axis would have seen a tear try to drop from the wolf's eye. He did, though, hear a whimper of forgiveness. "I-I'm sorry Axis... I don't know what came over me, I just, felt like I had to be nearer to you... I'm so sorry if I made you uncomfortable..." rambled the wolf, not lifting his head, though still having only shed that one tear.

His mind was a twisting maelstrom of thought. 'Gods damn my arrogance' he cursed himself.

A twitch flicked through the fox's ears and he looked carefully over the wolf's body. His dark-lilac eyes gazing softly, with a hidden care in them as he extended a shaky paw. With the back of a paw, he brushed away a few strands of his friend's hair, trying to get his attention. He finally had to press up under Jasyn's muzzle with one of his tails to get him to look at him, and when their eyes met, he said, "Jasyn... are you okay?" he slid off the bed, sitting on his foot paws as well and staring straight into his friend's eyes, barely five inches separating their foreheads, and two between their noses. "Cause if something's the matter, you can tell me..."

Jasyn closed his eyes tight again, another tear slipping, unwelcome, down his left cheek as he bared his teeth, as though in anguish.

'I've gotta tell him,' he hissed mentally at himself.

'Then do it already!' his unconscious screamed back.

He started to say something as another tear fell, but shook his head and looked down again, hiding his face from the scrutiny of the world. Axis, though, was determined, he knew he could get anything out of the wolf. He ran his fingers through Jasyn's head fur again and lifted his muzzle, looking him eye to teary eye. "Jasyn... Please, tell me what the matter is. I can almost feel your agony; on top of that, seeing you like this makes me hurt all over."

The wolf blinked again, before he ran the back of his paw across one cheek, wiping away the tears, and then the other. He sniffed a bit and looked his friend in the eye again, his own still cloudy with the salts of his tears. He opened his mouth to speak a few times, before closing it again, managing a few 'I's and 'I have...'s before he finally just blurted it out. "I think... I don't think I'll ever find a girl to love, Axis..." He sobbed once more before lowering his head again, taking a few deep, disbelieving breaths.

"Jasyn..." the fox began. His eyes were a warm comfort, and the wolf just stared a moment longer. The fox smiled and hugged him gently, the quietest noise of caring escaping his throat as he nuzzled the side of Jasyn's face. With a soft whisper, he continued, "There's more there... Jasyn. Much more.." He pulled away from the hug and looked into the slowly clearing eyes of his friend, who had been, moments ago, afraid of losing the one thing that he was always fighting to protect. "Tell me, please?"

Jasyn looked, awestruck, into Axis' eyes, and his lower jaw moved open and shut, at a loss for words for the umpteenth time of the evening. He just stared for a few moments before he blinked twice and sighed, fists balling up as he gathered his courage. Without completely unclenching his fingers, he ran the knuckle of his index finger down one side of the fox's face with a weak smile, "Look at me... here I am crying and you haven't even flinched. You're so much stronger than me..." he said after a few strokes across Axis' face.

Part of Axis' mind saw that coming, but the statement blew the rest of his mind askew. This wolf had just admitted to being inferior in any way to a fox, and as he tried to pick up his shattered thoughts, he caught the sentence that followed and his breath hitched. "You... you what?" he asked, thinking he misheard the wolf.

Jasyn sighed softly and moved closer, almost nose-to-nose with the fox. He let out a soft murr at how close he had gotten and whispered gently, "I said, I think I want to be with you..." sighing softly and adding, "But, that won't happen... Not only because of tradition, but because I don't think you're like that..."

The fox shifted uncomfortably, slipping himself away from the wolf and turning to one side. With a paw upon his arm, rubbing gently. His mind was swimming. His best friend just told him he wanted him, it was such a lewd thought to the fox. He thought to himself solemnly, 'I don't think... Dammit it's hurting him so much...' and without so much as a word of warning, he turned to Jasyn and quickly pressed a gentle kiss to his friend's unsuspecting lips, before whispering to him, not bothering to move further away yet, "No... I don't suppose I am, but I can at least give you that for everything you've done to protect me Jayse..."

The wolf blinked several times, startled speechless by his friend's outward sign of affection. His features flushed and his mind went briefly blank as he just stayed still.

As Axis slowly slid back up onto the bed and laid down tiredly, Jasyn's mind was filled with feelings he didn't know existed. They felt like hybrids, happiness and agony, lust and torment, he wanted to reach out and run his paws over every curve and bulge that the fox could offer up, every muscle's contour, every hollow's depth. He wanted to remember every detail about Axis' body, and yet he knew he couldn't, Axis wouldn't appreciate it, and he had too much care for the fox to do it. It would just make him uncomfortable, and he conceded the bed to his friend, choosing, or rather being forced, to stay up and think about the many hundreds of possibilities that this encounter had opened up.

Axis simply fell asleep with one thing on his mind, and that thought was that he'd be able to see the planet that was the reason for his being born on this ship. He'd finally know if it was worth it to even have made the trip in the first place. He let out a quiet sigh as he drifted off to sleep, still wearing his uniform.