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Venn pushed the door open with his foot, juggling the four bags of groceries he was carrying. "Hey, Kris, can you lend me a hand here?" His words echoed in the empty house. "Kris?" He glanced at the still-open door to Kris's room. The raccoon should be home; he'd been released from school nearly three hours ago.

Venn set the bags on the counter and pushed the door closed as he walked back past it. "Kris?" Maybe he was listening to music with that new personal headset of his, and he couldn't hear his name being called.

Venn tapped on the doorway, before he stepped through. "Kris?" The bed was empty, as was the desk chair. There was no sign of him.

Venn reminded himself that the raccoon was old enough now to be able to go out on his own, though this would be the first time he hadn't left a message. The Stallion checked his phone, just in case he missed something, but no there was no voice message, and no text from Kris either. He dialed the raccoon's number and listened as it rang several times before it went to voicemail. "Kris, when you get this, call me back." He hung up.

He couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. He went back to the kitchen and started putting things away, all the while checking his phone to see if Kris had responded yet. When he had everything put away, he started making dinner, more because that was what his routine was than because he was hungry. He was just about finished making the meal when an idea came to him. He pulled out his phone and hit one of his preset numbers.

It was answered on the second ring. "Vincent? Is something wrong?"

He felt a little silly when he heard her voice but pushed past it. "Have you heard from Kris this evening? He wasn't home when I got back."

There was silence on the other end for a moment, "No, I haven't heard from him. I thought you were driving him back and forth from school." Clawdia's voice was picking up that menacing tone she got when she thought Kris was in danger.

"Usually I do, but with two swim teams to handle, I asked Dastinon to br-- I am an idiot. I'll call Dastinon and see where he is. Sorry to have bothered you."

"Vincent, you had better call me when you find him. I don't want to have to fly back there just to deal with you for losing my kit." She paused to let that sink in. "Do I make myself clear?"

Venn swallowed hard enough to make his throat click. "Yes, Ma'am." She hung up, and he cursed himself for a fool as he hit another preset and waited for it to ring.

"Yeah, Coach?" The otter picked up on the first ring.

"Kris isn't home; did you drop him at the house?"

"Nah; he asked me to drop him at Liran's, said they had some homework they were gonna go over together." He could hear the concern in Dastinon's voice. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no, you didn't. It's just that Kris didn't call to say where he was going to be, and he's not answering his phone so I was worried. Thanks for telling me where he is."

"No problem, Coach."

* * * * *

"Go ahead, Kris; if you don't eat, it will just go to waste," Adele Hirsh said as she pushed the dish closer to the raccoon.

Liran giggled and bumped Kris' arm as he reached for the last of the steamed mussels. "You act like you haven't had shellfish in a while." He was prying the last oyster open with his blunted knife.

Kris plucked the mussel from the buttery sauce and shrugged slightly. "You do know I am living with the Coach right now. He's a horse. I don't think he's able to eat shellfish any more than he can eat regular meat." He used his fork to sever the connection between the mussel and the shell and tilted the shell so it slid into his waiting mouth.

"Oh, you poor boy!" Liran's mother was a near carbon copy of him, dainty and temperamental. "You must come over more often so I can feed you properly!" She bustled about collecting empty dishes and taking them away to the kitchen.

"Quick," Liran whispered, "we need to go back downstairs now, or she'll find some way to keep us up here and talking all night." He wiped his mouth on a napkin then pushed away from the table tugging on Kris' arm. Kris downed the last of his lemonade then stood up and followed the cacomistle back down to his bedroom.

"You boys let me know if you need anything else!" Adele called out as she saw the raccoon's tail disappearing down the stairs.

Liran closed the door behind him and giggled. "That was a close call." He leaned back against the door and smiled at Kris. "You know, they say that shellfish is an aphrodisiac." He licked his lips slowly his eyes roaming over Kris in a way that sent shivers all through the raccoon.

"Liran, I have to get home." But the cacomistle didn't seem to hear him, or perhaps he was focused on something else. His nimble fingers had Kris' shirt open in a flash. "Hey, come on, your mom could hear."

"That didn't stop you when you came in." Liran tilted his muzzle up with an impish grin at the raccoon. "I'm sure you have time for a little more fun before you have to go back, don't you?" Liran ran his fingers around Kris' waist dragging his claw tips through the fur to press against his skin. It sent shivers through Kris' body, shivers that transformed into waves of heat as they reached his groin. His natural reaction was very soon evident, what with Liran pressing his belly against it. "See not all of you thinks you need to go."

"Ha! That's you're doing completely." However, instead of pushing the other boy away, Kris lowered his head captured both of Liran's cheeks in his paws and kissed him. For a good while after that, the communication consisted mostly of grunts, moans, and pleas, sounds that were accompanied by the creak of bedsprings and the sound of two bodies moving one with the other. Eventually, the room grew still again, the boys having found a resting place in each other's arms as they drifted into blissful lassitude.

* * * * *

After entering the passcode, Kris cautiously open door. He poked his head into the slowly-widening crack, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness and peering around to see if the coast was clear. Moonlight shone through the wall of windows at the far end of the living room, bathing everything in a ghostly white glow. As far as he could see, he had a clear shot to his bedroom. He stepped through the door, turned his back on the large room, and closed the door, quickly entering the security code once more. Still cautious, he turned and headed towards his room. He made about 10 paces before he heard the sound of a throat clearing that drew him up short.

"Where have you been?" The voice sounded odd, deeper and slightly ragged. It reminded him of his dad when he'd been drinking.

Turning slowly, the raccoon came face-to-face with coach O'Brien. "I, ah -- was over at Liran's. I guess we lost track of time." He was about to apologize when the horse raised a paw slowly, palm out, stopping further talk.

"You smell like you've been in a brothel. No. No apologies." The horse took a shallow breath through his mouth. "Dastinon told me where you were. The next time you choose to go off on your own, at least have the courtesy to text me and tell me where you are. Go to bed; we have practice in the morning." Venn didn't wait to see if Kris followed his instructions; he just checked the door to make sure it was locked correctly, then headed for the stairs to his loft bedroom.

When he looked down from the head of the stairs, the raccoon had disappeared into his room, and the door was closed. Venn moved to sit on the edge of his bed, resting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. He was awhirl with emotions, from frustration at the boy for not telling him where he was and making him worry, to anger at Liran for reasons he didn't want to look at too closely. After a few minutes of trying to sort out the warring emotions in his brain, he finally lay back and stared up into the clear moonlight through the skylight above his bed. It took a few more minutes for him to implement the training he'd learned in the military but eventually his breathing slowed, his mind shut down, and sleep finally overtook him.

* * * * *

"I just don't know how much more of this I can take!" Venn moaned into his paws. His head was bowed and his elbows were resting on the table top. He looked as if a stiff breeze would topple him over.

Kerris reached up to gently squeeze his shoulder. "I wish I could tell you it gets easier, but I have the same problem with Audio. Kittara is simple by comparison; since they instituted the mandate that all females of bearing age produce kits, when she goes into heat, we just take her into the clinic. Granted, we have to suffer through her pregnancies with her, but there is always a finite end in sight. With the boys... it's more complicated."

"Tell me about it. I made the mistake of suggesting he bring his friend to the house for dinner. He nearly ripped my throat out."

"He became physically violent?" The shock in Kerris' voice pulled Venn's head up sharply to shake his head in reassurance.

"Oh no, I didn't mean it that way at all. No, he just bristled up and glared at me. If looks could kill, I wouldn't be here now." He paused then went on. "Do you suppose we were as difficult to manage when it was us?"

"Most decidedly," a new voice interjected. "It is a natural part of the growth process. Though one usually experiences it during mating season." Tristan placed his paw on the back of an unoccupied chair. "Do you mind if I join you, gentlemen?"

Kerris looked at Venn. "I would welcome some guidance right now, Tristan." The horse leaned back in his chair nodding for the wolf's benefit. "Please?"

"Thank you. I will do my best to help set your minds at ease. I take it that the boys have been... giving you some difficulties?" The wolf pulled out his lunch and looked from one of them to the other. "Who wants to go first?"

Kerris smiled and placed his paw over Tristan's. "Venn has the more pressing matter. Audio only exhibits his erratic tendencies during the vulpine heat cycle."

Venn groaned. "You lucky fox. Kris doesn't even seem to notice when the raccoons go into heat."

Tristan canted his head. "He doesn't respond to their pheromones? That's a little odd."

Both of the other males turned startled eyes on Kerris as he said, "Not so odd; I have never responded to female pheromones either." He looked from the wolf to the horse with confusion in his eyes. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's not every day that you find out something like that about your friends," Venn said as he sat up straighter in his chair. "Like, never? Even when you were growing up? I mean, I was never confused about my sexuality; I knew I was gay from a young age. But when the fillies went into heat, all bets were off."

"I must admit," Tristan commented, "even I was affected in my younger days, though back when I was going through my own growth, our lifestyle was more frowned upon than it is today. I still remember a few romps with accommodating young bitches going through their cycles." He arched a brow at Kerris. "Are you sure there isn't even one instance in your history?"

Kerris shrugged. "Nope, not a one. That may be part of why I was so upset to find Mythic in the arms of a vixen. I think I saw it as a betrayal of our life together.".

"Interesting," Tristan commented. "I knew that it was a possibility -- after all, one in about a thousand adult males has never been affected by the female heat cycle -- but you are the first I have met. Remind me to pick your brain on the subject at some more suitable time." He winked at the fox then turned his attention back to Venn. "I take it that young Kris is another one in a thousand who isn't showing signs of being affected?"

"Apparently so." Venn didn't sound as if the knowledge that there were others like Kris out there was very helpful to him. "He is reacting as if I was threatening his mate every time I even suggest that he introduce me to his friend. It's so bad, he won't even utter the boy's name in my presence."

"Hummm... this is his first real boyfriend?"

Venn nodded. "As far as I know. I mean, his father was pretty oppressive about the entire matter and made it difficult for Kris to do any experimentation. He did have a brush with a boy named Sean over the summer, but that ended badly. Kris wasn't really ready for what Sean was pushing him into. This seems to be the raccoon's idea, from what I can get out of Dastinon about the two." He sighed in exasperation, "I wish I could get Kris to open up about what's happening so I could help him through this." The horse lowered his head to his folded arms and groaned loudly into the table top.

Over his head, Tristan and Kerris shared a knowing look, both torn between wanting to help and knowing that there was little to nothing they could do in this situation.

* * * * *

Kris bristled as he spotted Liran talking with a handsome lion in the hall just as the last bell of the day rang. His eyes narrowed as he walked up to the cacomistle, but the lion was walking away with the rest of the students on their way out the big main doors. "Who was that?" The words came out as a snarled challenge, which made Liran's eyes widen and his smile of greeting falter.

Looking after the departing lion Liran frowned slightly. "That's Kymbal. He was asking for some help with his math homework, but I told him I was busy this evening." The shorter boy slipped his arm around Kris' and examined the raccoon's face. "You aren't jealous, are you?" There was a note of teasing in the older boy's voice, but it held real concern as well.

"No... I mean, yes... I mean... well, I'm not sure what I mean." Kris stammered, trying to work through the feelings that had prompted him to snap at his friend like that. His tail which had been poofed out like a bottle brush smoothed out and settled down behind him once more as he mentally worked his way through what he had been feeling. "I guess I was kind of jealous. I mean," here he blushed a little making his ears fold back into his hair, "I didn't know who he was, and you seemed to be rather happily talking with him."

Liran laughed merrily at his companion's distress, then gently patted his chest with his free paw. "It's all right; I understand. After all, it wasn't that long ago I was in your shoes." He dismissed the uncomfortable topic and asked, "So, are you walking me home again today? Or do you have practice again?"

"Practice. Though I wish I could skip it. Coach has been acting all weird lately, wanting to know what I'm doing over at your place and demanding that I bring you over to meet him." He rolled his eyes. "It's like he's trying to be my Dad or something, checking up on me all the time." For a moment, Kris stared off into the distance like he was remembering something, then he shuddered and shrugged slightly. "I just wish he'd stop asking so many questions."