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MEET THE FOLKS

by

Gruffy

2017

*

Hello ,folks!

This is a continuation to the "Meet the Family" plotline started in my previous Patreon Exclusive preview - and now you get to be the first to see the next part! I hope you have a good time, and I shall look forward to seeing your comments.

This was written again with the input from Brian Silverfang whose character appears in the story with his permission.

Have a good read!

*

"DING DONG!"

"Well there you are!"

The tiger was ebullient. He was positively extravagant in the way he addressed the wolf at the door, full of nuzzles, purrs, rumbles, an European "mwah! mwah!" peck in the air over either of the lupine cheeks and his paws going down the wolf's arms.

Brian's nose wrinkled from the sudden assault of pleasantries mixed with plenty of familiar tiger scent. It wasn't unusual to find this particular tiger in a jolly mood, on the contrary, it seemed to the wolf to be his default state of being. But being doted on like this was still a surprise... usually their greetings were more tame. Druff must have been feeling really good about the evening. The wolf didn't quite know what to do, so he defaulted to what he knew. Namely, flexing his upper arms as the tiger's paws ran along them, for his enjoyment. It was a simple gesture he knew would be appreciated by his host. He emitted a suitably manly rumble from his chest.

"Evenin', pops."

He couldn't help but chuckle to himself slightly as the striped paws ran along his bare forearms. The tiger's enthusiasm was positively infectious. Brian was glad for that. He wasn't exactly floating with confidence at the moment despite his best attempts at projecting such an appearance.

"Hope I'm not late", the wolf spoke leisurely enough.

"Oh, no no, it's still quite early!"

The tiger was all smiles and purrs as he took a step back from the wolf in his doorway.

"Some of the lordly feast, as you've called it, is still in it's finishing stages." He ran his eyes up and down Brian's form, not bothering to downplay the appraisal in his gaze. There was little point by now.

"And I see you opted to dress quite presentably...very good."

The wolf sported a black shirt that Druff assumed was a t-shirt given how his forearms were left bare from the unbuttoned dark green short-sleeved dress shirt he was wearing over it, coupled with a pair of dark grey cargo pants that seemed to cling to the wolf's body quite snugly in all the right places. It was a quality shared by the dress shirt which even unbuttoned seemed to hug his sides, broad chest, a pair of visibly strong shoulders and equally strong upper arms. His attire did a fantastic job of showing off the firm masculine curves of the young man's powerful body, while still having a comfortably casual look to it. The Druff appeared to be curious to see what the view from the back looked like.

It was simple, comfortable and flattering. He cut quite the handsome image, the tiger had to admit to himself. It's been awhile since the Druff saw the lupine student in anything but his casual wear, and on occasion workout clothes. The looping tail behind him spoke volumes about how much he liked what he saw.

"Well, I am meeting a celebrity tonight..." The wolf said with a grin. "I want to look good on the paparazzi photos..."

The tiger rolled his eyes at the wolf's mimed posing for invisible cameras, but his broad smile never left his muzzle. He playfully swatted at Brian's calf with his tail before gesturing with his arm.

"Do come in!"

"Hmmmmrhhmmm..."

The wolf rumbled away while he stepped into the tiger's not so humble abode. Druff got the awaited rear view when the lupine was inside the hallway. Everything checked out there to his pleasure as much as the rest of the wolf, the tiger thought, with another slightly more private smile. He was glad about the effort Brian had taken with his clothing. The cat himself was clad in black dress pants and a burgundy red silk shirt, relatively casual as well, but neat and well-fitting. There was enough looseness to allow him to display his full range of feline motion for his own and the wolf's pleasure.

"So, uh, where's the guest of honor then?" Brian asked over his shoulder while he was obviously trying to locate signs of the second tiger he knew to be present. So far his nose and his ears remained in a questioning state. "Helping out with the cooking?"

The wolf licked his lips in a significantly hungry gesture. Whatever was being made in the kitchen would surely come under grave danger from the exotically coated wolf.

"I don't know, actually," was what Druff replied.

Brian frowned.

"What?"

The tiger chuckled.

"He went out to do something he didn't specify to me, about an hour ago," Druff explained, "But he said he would only be away for a moment, so I expect he will show up any time now."

The wolf's tail swished behind him while he took this information in.

"Huh," he mused, "really? I thought he'd be here already."

The tiger smirked.

"He's not trying to avoid you if that's what you're thinking," he said, "why, that eager to meet my son?"

"Hhrrm," the wolf retorted, "I just thought he'd be here...you know..."

"Generally when you say 'you know' , I find myself at a loss of just what I should know," the tiger said.

"Hrhm," opined the wolf. "Gonna start trying to one up me intellectually already even without your precious Gruff around, are you?"

The tiger chuckled when he stepped over to where the wolf lurked. Brian looked at him curiously as he reached to pinch the wolf's collar before giving it a little tug to straighten its edge to perfection. Brian snuffled at the gesture, though he appreciated the proximity to his host.

"No," Druff said. "I am just expressing curiosity. I am not entirely sure what you were saying before."

The wolf snorted.

"Well you said he was gonna stay here so I assumed that he was gonna be here when I came over," Brian said. "I guess that's it?"

"Hmm...I get the feeling someone is feeling a tad nervous..." the tiger mused.

"Pffft," puffed the wolf, although his ears did reveal that Druff wasn't wrong in his assessment.

"Just relax," the tiger brushed his thumb against Brian's jaw line, "I am sure you'll have a splendid time if you just be yourself."

"Hrrhm...motivational speaker now?" Brian suggested.

"When needed," the tiger blew him a kiss. "I have to check the dinner now. You can come to the kitchen or go to the sitting room and pour yourself a drink."

"Hmmmmh..." THe wolf rumbled and went on his merry way towards the aforementioned sitting room. "Barely through the door and trying to get me drunk already..." He swatted the tiger playfully with his bushy tail as he turned around. "I see your game, old man."

The tiger watched the wolf go, with a big smile of his own at the silliness that had ensued very quickly with Brian's arrival.

"Just don't drink the triple sec yet, I need it for after dinner cocktails!" he called out behind the wolf who disappeared through the open sliding doors into the sitting room.

"Can't hear youuuu..." The wolf hollered from the next room over, even though they both knew he could, his voice trailing off. The Druff just shook his head, though the smile persisted.

He was glad that the wolf's initial anxiousness and trepidation about the evening were quick to dissolve.

"The beer is in the kitchen!" was what the tiger answered. He purred cheerfully on his way towards the ever intensifying scents of food.

The wolf's footsteps careened into his direction the moment the tiger uttered the sentence.

The fact made him purr when Druff heard the commotion that ensued; he felt pleased with himself for predicting Brian's behavior like he did.

"You did that on purpose!" came a yell from the hallway.

Druff took off one of the lids covering the many pots on the stove and began to stir the delicious-smelling sauce gently simmering in the saucepan. He was still leaning over it when the wolf entered the kitchen in search of beverages.

"Did what now?" was what Druff asked when the wolf was in polite conversational distance.

The wolf shook his head.

"Sent me on a wild booze chase," he said.

The tiger chuffed.

"Well, well..."

Brian brushed himself quite deliberately against the tiger when he went to the fridge. There would have been enough space for him to pass without doing so, but he went for the contact option.

Druff put the lid back and on and turned down the flame. He moved his attention to another pan. The scent flowing from his cooking roused Brian's attention too, despite the promise of the beer behind the shiny fridge door he was just about to open.

Once he was done fishing out a bottle and uncapping it, he shifted his gaze to the pots and their handler. He sniffed the air a few times, the intermingled scents floating around the room making his tail sway in quite a pleased manner. He found himself increasingly curious, so he slowly walked up to the tiger who was currently absorbed by his task, and from a much closer proximity to his back than was necessary peeked his muzzle over a shoulder.

"Mmmmrh, looking good..." He scooted just a fraction of an inch closer to Druff's back. "The food looks nice too." He rumbled merrily after delivering the intentionally cheesy line. "Not the only thing that's smelling good either... old spice?"

The tiger swiped the wolf with his tail and did not turn away from his cooking.

"Ha," he rumbled. "You've seen every bottle in this apartment, whether alcohol, scent, or shampoo. Make your own guess."

The challenge was made in a casual tone and a smile still playing on his lips.

"Might need further inspection, in that case..." The wolf murmured and pressed his nose to the tiger's neck and took a few generous sniffs. He found the scent filling his senses to be quite pleasurable, as well as just the comradely gesture of a nice nuzzle.

"Master bathroom, medicine cabinet, third shelf." He spoke after idling in his enjoyment of the pinewood scent, with a smirk of his own forming on his muzzle.

"Close," was what the tiger replied. "Top shelf."

He snickered and added a pinch of a salt into the soup underway.

"Hmm...I wonder if I remembered to add the sage..." he sniffed the vapor rising from the soup in the hopes of identifying the specific spice from the bubbling broth.

"Better hope you did because I ain't moving." Brian said, quite content with his place up the tiger's back and idly taking in the pleasant scent, beer in his paw almost forgotten.

The tiger was keenly aware of his visitor's presence, that much was sure. He felt it on his skin and fur, and enjoyed it quite viscerally while he was at it.

"Hmmm...just imagine my poor son walking in just now..." he rumbled softly. "Is that the first impression you want to give?"

He wrapped his tail around the wolf's leg for good emphasis.

"Mmmrhmhmm... your tail seems to like the idea..." The wolf chuckled, tensing his calf against the coiling appendage for good measure.

The tiger chuckled.

"You like to play dangerously..." he mused. He continued his cooking nonchalantly despite the almost groping presence of the wolf behind him.

"What can I say, you look sexy in an apron." The term was used more as a figure of speech, given the lack of said piece of protective gear on the tiger. Brian stepped back slightly to take a swig of the cold beer still in his paw, and left out a pleased exhale after the fact.

"Aaaaahhh..."

He still maintained close proximity, though, well inside the tiger's personal space and more than enough to enjoy the simple state of proximity to one another while being careful not to stand in the way of the cookery taking place.

"Don't get drunk before dinner," the tiger said. "You'll have to survive an aperitif, two wines, and coffee with liquor and an after-dinner cocktail. I will be making White Ladies."

"Thought you were making black-striped orange boys." The wolf chuckled and took another swig. ""And you're showering me in booze here... ulterior motives indeed. I'm watching you, old man. " He poked at the tiger's side with a finger playfully.

"I'm sure the black-striped boy will be here soon, from wherever he went," Druff said. "You don't want to take too much Finnish courage before that, do you?"

"Relax pops, it's just one beer. You know you're gonna need a lot more than that to bring me under." There was obvious pride in that statement. "I'll be fine."

Gulp gulp.

The tiger's ears flicked at the curious noise. He deemed his soup adequate for now and put the glass lid back on.

"I may have to serve only virgin cocktails, then," he said.

The wolf tipped the neck of the beer bottle towards Druff, as if pointing a finger at him.

"You won't do such an evil deed, would you?" he pouted in mock shock at the prospect of being denied his alcohol.

The tiger went over to the sink and began to wash his paws under the tap.

"Depends on how feisty you plan to be."

"I am Mister Discretion!" Brian declared. "Why, are you afraid it's me who's gonna embarrass you and not your son?"

The tiger snickered.

"Why should I be concerned that either of you is going to embarrass me?" Druff asked.

"Isn't it meant to happen?" Brian asked. "It happens on every movie I've watched."

"Do you take all your life tips from bad romantic comedies?" Druff asked.

"Where else?" the wolf said innocently. "It's not exactly something I've done before."

"No?" the tiger's ears perked.

The wolf appeared thoughtful, in contrast to his earlier cheekiness.

"Well, no...free and wild, me, y'know," Brian smirked.

"I've noticed."

The wolf sipped his beer. The pleasure he received from the simple act was still very obvious.

"There was this girlfriend I brought home a few times, and my parents were all over her, but I think I was about 14, so..."

The tiger let out a chuckle. He turned off the tap and shook his paws over the sink to get the excess water off them.

"Doesn't count in your mind?"

"Probably not," Brian said. "I mean, nobody takes anything seriously at that age." He took another slurp of his liquid treat, the bottle almost half empty.

"And besides... even at that age I could feel something was missing, young as I was."

"Something, hmmm?" The tiger mused innocently, wiping his wet paws with a kitchen towel that was hanging on a wall mounted hook above it.

The wolf felt tempted to just grab at the tiger's groin in demonstration, but decided against it. Instead he just let his tail swish over it once.

"Something."

"I could not possibly imagine what it would be," the tiger continued on the similar trail of thought to his companion's earlier tone. He moved out of reach of the wolf's tail, just in case...or perhaps to tease him further.

"Uh huh..." the wolf vocalized.

"The food is almost ready," Druff announced. "Now we are only missing the guest of honor...and a dash of rum on the pannacotta...and maybe some of the caramelized crumble..."

"Pana-what?" The wolf sounded genuinely confused. "Ain't that cheese? Since when do you put rum on cheese? Why would you put rum on cheese?" He trailed after the tiger with honest curiosity now as to just what the older man was cooking, figuratively and literally. "And where is your boy anyway?"

Druff chuffed. He was amused by the choice of monicker, coming from someone actually slightly younger than the "boy" in question.

"You didn't see them when you took out the beer?" the tiger asked.

The wolf continued to look quizzical. Druff went over to the fridge.

"Maybe it's for the best...you might've dipped your fingers in them, and they are still forming..."

"What are?" the wolf asked impatiently.

The tiger opened the fridge and pointed at one of the glass shelves. Three white, creamy-looking confectionaries resided on small ceramic pots. An aroma of vanilla was strong enough to reach Brian's nose as well. His whiskers shook when he sniffed at the pleasant, suggestive scent.

"Hmmm...doesn't smell like cheese..." he mused.

"It's boiled cream, sugar and vanilla, congealed into a delicious treat," the tiger said. "Garnished as I described to you. Caramel and rum."

"Can't say I've ever heard or seen it, let alone tried..." The wolf was intrigued and leaned in to take a closer look. The delicious smell grew stronger and the urge to poke the gelatinous mass suddenly descended upon him.

As if reading his mind, Druff quickly warned. "No touching!"

"Aww....caught with my pants down..." Brian grumbled.

"Almost!"

The tiger grabbed Brian's tail and pulled the wolf physically further away from the fridge before closing it in front of his very nose. The tail in his grip bristled.

"Ow that's a bit harsh!" Brian rubbed his butt as if the cat had mauled that part of him instead. "I didn't even touch!"

"Maybe you got too close to comfort then."

"Don't you have a spoon for me to lick or something? " Brian asked hopefully.

"I gave that to Gruff."

The wolf suddenly felt a bit flustered and very territorial about not being the exclusive focus of the tiger's attention.

'He took my spoon!'

Outwardly he harrumphed and put on a very offended face while crossing his arms.

"So that's how it is, old man... Keeping me at the bottom of the list..."

The tiger looked surprised at first by this admittedly childish gesture. Then his appearance grew more amused instead,and a new chuff formed on his lips.

"If it's what it takes, I'll promise to apply some whipped cream on my person at some opportune future occasion and you may lick it all off at your leisure."

He sounded very matter of fact l about his offer.

At an earlier point in their relationship, the wolf might have been taken aback by the nonchalant way the tiger made his remark without breaking the stride of his activity at paw, but by this time he was entirely accustomed to it and took it in stride. He didn't doubt the tiger was serious, either. He learned it was safe to assume he was.

"Mmmmh... promises, promises..." The wolf rumbled, and then added with a lurid lick of his lips, "I'm more of a chocolate person anyways."

"Hah," the tiger exclaimed at the playful admission. "That might get even messier than expected, I would suspect."

He stepped closer to the beer bottle-wielding wolf and smirked.

"Unless that is exactly what you desire..." the tiger purred.

The wolf merely grinned at him. "The bigger the mess afterwards, the better the party."

"Well I would prefer it didn't apply to this kitchen at least," Druff said. "So you better put that bottle away once you're done with it."

Brian glanced at the bottle he still held in his paw.

"It's not done yet!" he yelped. "Besides, what do you care? You keep saying you've got that maid, Consuela..." The wolf eyed his companion suspiciously while taking another gulp of his cold drink.

"... who I'm still convinced you made up just to mess with me." Brian stated accusingly.

The tiger smirked.

"I'm sure your paths will one day cross," Druff said. "Hopefully not under very compromising circumstances."

The wolf's ears flickered.

"Oh?"

The tiger poked Brian's smirking chin with his thumb.

"She might forget to knock..."

"From the way you say that, somehow I think she wouldn't be too surprised by the sight." The wolf returned the gesture with a gentle bump of his fist against the tiger's chest.

The Druff let out a deep rumble.

"You'd just like that," he said.

The wolf stayed nonchalant.

"I will neither confirm nor deny your obscene ideas about me," Brian said.

"Hmmrmhhmmm..."

The tiger rumbled away and appeared that he might've indeed planned to do some licking, if it wasn't for the doorbell that rang on that very moment. Both of the pairs' ears perked at the sound.

Brian was the one to speak first.

I take it that's not pizza delivery..."

The Druff took a glance at Brian with his tail looping behind him in amusement at the obvious nervousness that befell his young companion once again.

"No."

He could be ruthless still.

"Nor the stripper..."

Brian chuffed.

"You wouldn't!" he declared.

"Hope you're ready for the grand introductions." The tiger said as he turned to head for the door.

The wolf just huffed and took another swig of his liquid treat.

"Har har," he grumbled.

"Remember to wipe your muzzle!" the tiger chimed from the hallway.

The wolf's paw flew up to his chin to feel up the fuzz there for any remains of the beer. He snorted when he realized what he had just did.

"Such a mother..." the wolf muttered.

Brian felt indecisive, besides the unfortunate butterflies occupying his stomach. He didn't know what to expect from the encounter that loomed imminent. He also wasn't sure just what he was supposed to do now. Was he expected to wait in the kitchen or did the Druff want him to march to the hallway and introduce himself? He was almost shocked that he had not asked such a thing from the tiger. Then again, his preconceptions had been forced out of the window by their special guest's non-presence when Brian had first arrived. He had come to Druff's apartment fully expecting to be immediately thrust face to face with the mysterious Gruff. His carefully laid plans were not realized.

His ears picked up the noise of the door followed by hushed voices - Druff's and another one, though so low that he could not say anything about it's owner. That only made him more curious. It felt like he was being teased almost deliberately at this point.

The wolf tipped the rest of the contents of his bottle down his muzzle and swallowed. This time he put the bottle neatly down to the kitchen counter. The food was still cooking and he wondered if he was in charge of it for the duration. The rising smells made him feel hungry despite his churning tummy.

He heard laughter, and steps.

"...seems to have grown stuck to the kitchen, probably because of the beer supply..."

More laughter followed their movement through the hallway.

Crap! They're coming!

He didn't even have time to tug on the hem of his shirt to look just a little neater before two tigers burst into the kitchen. They were smiling and rumbling and shared swinging tails upon their entry.

"...and here he is!" Druff announced.

The big cat's paw landed on the shoulder of his progeny with obvious pride and care. The younger tiger was the same height as his father, although appeared more slim, overall, from his body to the curve of his muzzle. The smile on those thin lips must've come from Druff, Brian thought, as a first impression. Perhaps that was the source of the eyes, too, looking through a pair of glasses in a rectangular design and perched on his nosepad. The effect was one of wisdom beyond his years, even without him having opened his muzzle to speak a single thing as of yet. The new tiger was more colorful than his father, too. His pants and his jacket were a bright shade of blue, not enough to remind the wolf of naval uniforms, but certainly nothing screaming loud either.

"Hello!"

His voice was brighter than his father's, that much Brian could tell from the very first syllables.

A paw was thrust onto Brian's and squeezed on the wolf's fingers. Not digit-crunching firmly but he wasn't being dainty either.

"Evening," Brian uttered out. He hated that his nervousness had now peaked and he felt ill at ease in the presence of this guest. He was fairly certain he wasn't blushing but he didn't dare to speculate on the matter.

What he did do was return the firm grip with one of his own, his eyes sizing the new arrival up as much as his paw did. A strong handshake bequeathed strong character, was what Brian believed. A relic of his old-fashioned upbringing, perhaps. This wasn't a good time to start thinking about his own father and his mannerisms, Brian decided.

Gruff didn't shy away or flinch. He liked that. And judging from the unbroken eye contact from the ever.smiling face, he was pretty sure the younger tiger of the duo was thinking the same thoughts. He struck an impressive figure, for sure, standing a few inches taller than the wolf but lacking his father's girth. But despite their differences, the family resemblance was more than obvious to Brian. Perhaps a bit eerily so.

'Probably the glasses' the wolf idly thought to himself as his eyes continued to roam over the smartly dressed man. He couldn't have been much older than Brian himself was. He hadn't asked the tiger's exact age from Druff, thinking it would be nosy.

"Very nice to meet you," was what the tiger replied to what Brian felt was a very stilted greeting compared to the smooth ways of the tiger. Nothing in the cat's manner spoke of nervousness at this moment that Brian had felt was very sensitive and with potential for making a fool of himself.

"Thanks," Brian said. "Same."

Their pawshake was finally terminated and Brian pushed his paw to his hip and rubbed it there, out of habit.

"I'm sure I have already bored him by talking my maw off about you," Druff patted his son's shoulder while he made his chuffed remark.

The Gruff chuckled.

"We talked about a lot of things," the younger tiger said. "Including...may I call you Brian? You may certainly call me Gruff."

"Sure," was all Brian could say. "Why not?"

"One never knows for sure with new people," Gruff said.

Druff smiled and then shuffled away towards the stove, leaving his son and Brian at their stand-off.

"I have to make sure I'm not burning anything," he mused.

"I've been there when you did that," Gruff said.

The older tiger sighed dramatically.

"And he keeps reminding me..."

Gruff smirked.

"He likes it when I remind him, really," he said.

Brian nodded. He still felt awkward, but at least the initial ice had been broken. His first impression was that the tiger certainly didn't sound any more foreign than his father did. His English was perfect down to the tiniest details of pronunciation, though the wolf was sure he could hear hints of the accent he associated with Druff. The older tiger was the only Finnish cat he knew, after all, and Gruff being his son...it was only natural, wasn't it? Being a language genius probably ran in the family.

Not to mention that he was a published writer. Exceptional language skills would have to be essential. Brian didn't know what kind of stuff he wrote, actually, but surely it had to be something high brow. The Druff would not allow it otherwise, he thought wryly.

"Well, if you forget the past, you're bound to repeat your mistakes." Brian mused with an amused swish of his tail. "Or so he keeps saying..." He cocked his head in the direction of the elder cat.

"Exactly!" The son beamed, his smile as wide as ever.

The Druff grinned from his pots and pans.

"Told you, that's the psychologist talking," the big tiger said. "He can get deep when he wants."

"I can tell..." the younger cat murmured.

Brian glanced between the two with a curious expression frowning his face. He wondered if they were poking fun at him.

The wolf took a step back and left, against the fridge to keep both of them in his field of vision. Something about being caught between them like the proverbial deer in the headlights felt off. He also felt the urge to respond to the older tiger's words like he usually did, not to mention walk up behind him and show the mischievous cat just how deep he could go, but had to fight the urge. He didn't know how much Gruff knew knew and felt slightly self-conscious about sleeping (fucking) with his father.

He still marveled at how dirty the knowledge felt, now that he was standing in front of his actual son. Brian was sure that his mind had been corrupted thoroughly by some rather more lurid uses of the terms 'dad' and 'son' he had seen in various forms of visual entertainment in the past. He wondered if Druff felt anything of the sort at all, that his grown up son could speculate on the exact nature of their relationship, despite Druff's best assurances that nobody really wanted to think about such a thing.

Brian couldn't help but dread the possibility.

"Hmmrh... you're the one who has the tendency to go on sagely monologues out of the two of us..." Brian shot back at Druff.

That he could do. That was what he knew, it was a way of acting and reacting that he was comfortable with. It made the situation easier to process.

The younger tiger's ears perked.

"Yes?" he mused. "Even outside the lecture hall?"

The Druff busied himself with a pepper grinder over his sauce pan.

"He doesn't seem to make any difference there," Brian said. He crossed his legs at his ankles to lean more fully against that fridge. "I don't know if it's become his default mode of operation or if he just likes to pull my tail."

The big tiger chuckled amidst his magic pots.

"What do you think?" he asked. Brian wasn't sure who he was making the question to. He glanced at Gruff, who only appeared amused by the response from his father.

"Consider me unsurprised," was what Gruff said. "Dad likes to talk."

"I have noticed," Brian said.

The younger tiger smiled sweetly.

"Have you been to any of his lectures?" he asked.

Brian's ears drooped guiltily.

"I haven't, actually," he admitted.

"Different disciplines, after all," Druff noted. "We met at the social mixer for the post-graduate students."

"Sounds like a great opportunity to make new friends," Gruff said.

'Prowling grounds, more like.' Brian thought to himself wryly while he thought back to how the evening ended for him, played right into the big cat's... arms...

"Pretty much, yeah." The wolf said. "Met several fellow post-grads that I still hang out with here and there. Couldn't guess I'd hit it off best with one of the senior faculty members, though." He remarked in a teasing tone, putting deliberate emphasis on the bit he always did when he was poking at The Druff.

"I doubt you would be here otherwise," Gruff noted. "My father is quite particular about his company, even if you don't always notice it."

That made the wolven ears perk up and flick into Gruff's direction, closely followed by the muzzle they're attached to. He eyed the younger tiger in the wake of that deceptively loaded statement.

"Oh?" He sounded genuinely intrigued and grinned after adding, "Does that make me a member of the elite few?"

"You're making it sound like I run a club," Druff complained. "Stop it."

"Oh, I bet you'd just love it, d-" He almost blurted out the monicker he had gotten so used to using about the older tiger, but managed to catch himself before using such a damning. "-ruff!"

Now he felt properly flustered and wished he still had some beer to drink, if only to distract the others by the act. Damn it! The evening per se had been going on for about two minutes and he'd already almost slipped something he could not recover from. The young tiger appeared much too perceptive to let anything like that go past his ears.

"Well, our little conversation club will soon be able to enjoy the results of my labors," Druff commented. "Everything is almost ready."

"It smells like it," Gruff said.

Brian had to agree to that. It made him feel hungry, and he hadn't even realized that he was hungry until he had been presented with the tiger's multitude of pots and pans.

He turned and moved over to the elder tiger's side again to take another peek at his workspace, as well as to get a better whiff of all the scents in the air that were slowly but surely making his mouth water.

"Damn, you really went all out, didn't you?"

Sniff sniff.

"Don't think I've ever seen half the stuff in here either..."

The other cat in the room, after observing the pair for a few moments, decided to leisurely stroll over to join them, making the stove that much more crowded.

"I did, though." Gruff purred. "Nice touch with the thyme on the steak."

The wolf chuckled. "Don't tell me you've been eating like this all your childhood."

The two cats shared a look before Druff's reply. It only lasted a second or two but it made Brian wonder just what was being spoken between them without saying anything aloud.

"Not always," Druff said. "But I certainly try my best when I have such a good reason to."

"Trying to impress someone, dad?" Gruff asked.

The Druff turned off the flame under the simmering sauce in what appeared to be a declaration of a job well done.

"I recognize a won battle when I see one," he said. "Would you be a dear and get the sparkling water from the fridge, Gruff? I prefer it to be very cold."

The wolf chuffed at Druff's smug remark. "I'll give you this one, old man. It looks pretty damn impressive."

The comment on his father from the wolf made Gruff's round ears flick slightly as he turned to do as asked, but he didn't react otherwise. He let out an audible purr once he opened the fridge and spotted the white desserts inside. The scent made his tail loop behind him in joy.

"My favourite!"

"I'm going all out," Druff sounded pleased. "Still haven't added the finishing touch on the pannacottas either."

"I can tell," Gruff mused. He now held several bottles of water in his paws. "Shall I take there to the dining room?"

"Yes," Druff said. "I will be serving the soup, the salad and the bread in just a moment."

Brian chuckled at the sound of that.

"Here I thought you'd asked the mysterious Consuela to stay over and serve the food in a maid uniform," the wolf mused.

Druff chuffed.

"She only cleans," he said. "And she is very particular about what she does and doesn't do."

"You're making her sound like quite the character," Brian said. "Damn it, now I want to meet her too..."

"You keep saying that, yet you're never around when she is." Druff simply stated

"That's something parents say to their children about the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus." THe wolf retorted while watching Gruff saunter off towards the dining room.

Druff laughed at that.

"I'm sure that she would appreciate the suggestion that she is the stuff of fairytales," he said. "Now hop along to the dining room, you too. Don't be afraid of Gruff."

The wolf snuffled and swiped his tail threateningly.

"Whut?" he snorted. "I ain't afraid of no big bad cat." The wolf huffed and puffed demonstratively.

The Druff smirked and winked at Brian. "On the contrary, I've found you to be quite the fan."

"Bah!" The wolf chuffed, exasperated. "You don't want your son to hear stuff like that!"

"He has pretty good hearing..."

"Hmmph! I'm going now," the wolf concluded.

He turned around and did as he announced, tail swishing with finality when he did so. His boisterousness did not really subside all that much over the few steps it took him to get through the doorway and into the adjoining dining room.

"Hello!"

The tiger was there, arranging bottles to the table that had been set for three. He seemed quite happy to be fussing around in assistance of his father.

"Heh, hey." The wolf almost muttered, the mild headbutting mood scattered away by the change of immediate company.

"I'd offer to help, but you already did everything" he added with a friendly tone, just trying to strike up a natural conversation. He wasn't at all sure about how small talk worked with this new acquaintance.

"Dad did," Gruff replied. "The water is about the only thing he lets me do."

Brian's ears flicked at hearing that.

"Really?"

"I'm sure it doesn't come as a surprise to you that he can be very specific about some things," said the tiger. "And today it happens to be the food that he is serving to us."

"I see..." Brian said. He didn't really know what else to comment to that. The tiger said it very matter-of-fact, too, like he was used to his father behaving like this. And Brian...he was only learning about it. Everything Druff did was a first time for the wolf. The young tiger had lived it for years.

The tiger chuffed.

"Why do you think I was suddenly busy?" he mused. "I gave him room to do as he pleased while I was out of the way."

That surprised Brian. What Gruff described sounded outright sneaky. Not uncharacteristic when it came to this family of felines, he thought, but certainly quite premeditated.

"Oh..." Brian said.

The tiger smiled.

"It is not like he deliberately tries to be difficult," Gruff said. "At least not most of the time."

"Not sure if that's reassuring..." Brian rumbled.

"That just means he's very particular about everything he does. " THe smiling tiger replied reassuringly.

Brian chuckled in return . "That's a gentle way of calling your dad a control freak."

"I prefer the term perfectionist." Gruff returned with a wink.

"You mean he does?" Brian asked. "Or do you?"

"Is there are a difference?" the tiger asked.

"You've now called him 'particular' twice, I think," Brian said.

The tiger's ears perked.

"Did I?" he said. "I might have. You are very perceptive! That is good."

Brian wondered if that was a compliment.

"Well, he does like to go all out..." the wolf said in reference to the neatly set and decorated table, and the whole room as well. He didn't think he ever saw that fireplace crackling since he had been.. cohorting with the patriarch of the family. It added quite a comfortable glow to the ambience of the room, the wolf thought, as he stared into the flames. A fireplace and a piano. The tiger liked nice things. He wondered if Druff knew how to play it. He was tempted to go and try to press a few keys just the check out the sound the piano made. The young tiger probably wouldn't appreciate him going around fondling Druff's stuff.

Ahem.

"When he has a reason to," Gruff said.

"His celebrity son coming for a visit springs to mind..." Brian felt confident enough with his new acquaintance to tease a little. A tried and true method for establishing a rapport, even though the ever-smiling tiger wasn't quite like his usual company.

The tiger opened one of the plastic-capped bottles and poured sparkling water into a tall wine glass.

"His words or yours?"

"Inferred from his own." The wolf plopped down onto a chair and made himself comfortable. "Though his tendency to embellish things might've rubbed off on me somewhat."

"Hmmm..." the tiger rumbled mildly. "Are you also sure that is your seat?"

That gave Brian a stop. He wasn't sure if the tiger was serious. He realized he hadn't ever sat down to eat in front of this table. They'd usually eaten in the kitchen and its small table when the Druff served some food. This was a new setting for him.

"Oh, is this Druff's?" Brian asked. "You just poured yourself a drink so I presume you sit there..."

He pointed at the spot where the tiger was found. Gruff chuffed amicably.

"Acute," he said.

"Is that sarcasm?" Brian asked. "I think it is."

His tiger co-host lifted the glass as if planning a toast, but instead only studied the water fizzing within.

Brian just observed him curiously, matching the inquisitive look on the tiger's own face.

"Something wrong with the water?"

"No," Gruff said. "I just rather enjoy how it looks like."

Damnit, thought Brian. It was truly impossible to ever tell for sure when one of these tigers was joking or not. The young one was as bad as his father, he was proving very quickly.

"Oh really?" Brian asked.

"Inspiration hides in strange places," Gruff said. "Often mundane ones."

He put the glass down to the table again, next to a shiny fork.

"I guess that's what writers do," Brian said. "I mean, get ideas from stuff they see..."

The tiger chuffed.

"Steal," he said. "That's what writers do. We steal everything."

"Literally?" Brian asked. He wondered if he should pat his hip as if checking whether his wallet was still there.

Gruff just gave him a coy smile.

"I shall plead the fifth, as they like to say here."

The wolf chuffed and gave him a look. "Does that even apply to foreigners?"

"You need to ask dad, he's the one with a Green Card."

"Haha."

"I, however, do not jest," Gruff said. "Larceny is my way of life."

Now Brian frowned with puzzlement, and was sure he looked like a complete doofus for it.

"Huh what?"

"Larceny," the tiger repeated. He moved along the table, followed by the swing of his tail. "Petty theft. Literary shoplifting."

He stepped even closer. Soon Brian found himself face to face with Gruff without the table between them. Their lack of height difference became all the more acute in such close quarters.

"Writers have to steal everything for their living," Gruff said. "That is where characters and stories come from. A pair of eyes here...a manner of walking...a habit of dress...a nervous tick..."

The tiger smacked his lips.

"The realization that every person you ever lock eyes with has an inner life as vibrant, complex, and convoluted as your own..." he let the statement hang in the air .

While Brian felt confused before, now he found something in the tiger's words that he could hold onto, and comment.

"The theory of mind," he said. "The basis of all interaction and understanding."

"Hmmm...yes," the tiger smiled. "The ability to put yourself into someone else's place...or in my case, inside their skin."

Brian was pretty sure that he should come up with some stupid remark about the tiger being inside the wolf, but knowing that another tiger whose name ended in -uff was very fond of such activity, he avoided it. Yet he was impressed by the way the tiger was saying it, his eloquence well apparent from how he spoke.

"So whenever you see someone you don't know, you come up with a life story for them?" Brian asked. "Just like that?"

"Sometimes," he said. "But more often it is just like I said."

The tiger reached towards him and gestured at the air near Brian's left ear, as if planning to pinch it. The ear flicked curiously despite the lack of actual contact with his body, in anticipation.

"Grabbing something here, and another thing elsewhere, and putting it all together to make something hopefully at least a few people will find interesting."

"You've done pretty well, if your dad is to believe," Brian said.

Gruff pursed his lips.

"He exaggerates," he said. "Surely."

Brian chuffed.

"So what would you steal from me then?" the wolf posed the question.

"From you?"

"Well if you steal something from everyone you see..."

The tiger in question smirked.

"I'm still working on it."

Their conversation was interrupted by the appearance of Druff, carrying a large wooden tray with pots on it.

"Aren't you already sitting?" he grumbled. "And you haven't even poured me a drink...the soup is going to get cold..."

"Then hurry up and bring it out already. You'll get your drink, old man." The wolf spoke without missing a beat while grabbing the last empty glass on the table as well as the open bottle of sparkling water and started serving the fizzy liquid.

Gruff just sat and watched from his seat with a highly amused expression on his face, face graced by a half smirk half smile of characteristically feline proportions. Both the manner of response and the way the wolf appeared to automatically assume the patriarch of the household was addressing him did not go unnoticed to his experienced observer's eye.

"That's better," Druff commented on the services provided by the wolf. "Now you sit yourself down and prepare to feast on this."

"It smells great even if I don't know what it is," Brian commented.

"It tastes as good as it smells, believe you me." The son chimed in from the other side of the table, while eyeing the tasty cargo being brought in. "Dad is a fantastic cook."

Druff chuckled warmly at the compliment and set one of the pots he was carrying down onto the table, on top of a small wooden tray to keep the tabletop safe.

"I like to enjoy myself, and food is one of the great pleasures of life."

Down went the pan.

"And being able to make it yourself is certainly something special."

He raised the lid. The contents were creamy, and almost pink.

"We are starting light," Druff announced. "Onion and leek soup with cream and croutons."

Gruff chuckled.

"You call that light?"

"Well..." the big tiger shrugged. "Plates, everyone!"

Brian followed suit on how Gruff handed over his own plate towards his father. Druff ladled out healthy portions for all three of them and added some sour cream onto a spiral on top of each dish.

"This'll clean your palate for the upcoming treats," he commented.

"I'm not sure if I should eat it or frame it." The wolf commented upon receiving his plate back and putting it down in front of himself, gaze focused on the spiral of sour cream still holding it's own, but slowly and surely being claimed by the thick creamy soup.

"Hope there's more meat on the rest of the menu, though..."

It did look good, and smelled even better. Brian found his stomach growling slightly.

"You'll be filled to a degree that you will be loathe to move...even more than usually so, when you find my couch," Druff commented.

Now that his initial serving duties were done, the older tiger could finally sit down. He let out a rather pleased sigh when his rear landed on the padded seat.

"Hmmmrm...well it is always a lot of work but very much worth it, wouldn't you agree?" the tiger decreed.

"The more work you put into something, the more satisfying the results. It's how it is with most people." The wolf was the one to speak up first again, promptly. He looked at The Druff.

"It looked like you were at it for hours."

The tiger smirked.

"Maybe I cheated?" he proposed.

"What, you gonna tell me you ordered half this stuff from a 5 star restaurant?" The wolf shot back. He did get the urge to give Druff a lower rating, but he decided to give the full 5 stars. It really did look impressive.

"Perhaps I will leave you with the benefit of doubt," Druff mused. He picked up his own spoon and began the process of tasting his soup.

Now it was Gruff who laughed.

"You wouldn't be that cruel would you, dad?" the younger cat observed.

"No?"

"No," Gruff said. "Then you wouldn't be able to fully enjoy our admiration of your culinary skills."

The tiger smiled sweetly at Brian, who wondered just who was now teasing who.

"Who knows, maybe I am taking a page out of your book and, as you like to say, thieving to embellish my own work..."

"Father, please! What will our guest think of us?" The other tiger in the room pleaded in a very over-the-top manner.

"That you're both cats and love nothing better than attention and admiration." Brian chimed in matter-of-factly while picking up his spoon and experimentally prodding the viscous soup on his plate.

Even though he was surrounded by tigers on both sides, he wasn't going to let them confound him that easily. They were sharing a look that suggested they were now ruminating this lupine remark.

"Why do you think we both have public jobs?" Druff asked. "So that we can bask, of course."

"Hah," chuckled Gruff. "Careful with that hyperbole."

The father figure was smiling too while sampling his soup.

"Worried that we're giving a terrible impression?" he said.

"He already knows you," Gruff said. "I'm the one who is in danger of misrepresentation here."

"Ain't we all with our parents?" Brian smirked and spooned some of that soup into his muzzle. It positively lit up.

"Thish ish really good!" He muffled out excitedly with the spoon still in his muzzle.

"I am starting to understand why you have the same preference as I do, for having your own parental units on the other side of the Atlantic," Gruff said. He proceeded to taste his own soup in a more controlled fashion while the wolf slurped it down.

"I'd tell you to save room for the rest, but knowing your appetite, we are in no danger zone yet," was what Druff said at the sight of the wolf eating.

"You wouldn't think something that doesn't have meat in it can taste this good," Brian opined once his maw was empty and he had licked his lips for the last morsels of taste. "Are you sure there isn't some hiding in it?"

"I did not take any liberties with the recipe," Druff said. "Just chose a plain and simple one. Don't want to blunt the palate this early on."

"A valid concern," Gruff said. "Especially after your incident with the chili peppers..."

The older tiger snorted.

"That was an unfortunate accident," he said. "And we did survive...just about..."

Brians' ears perked.

"This I wanna hear," he said.

Again the tigers spied one another, as if communicating wordlessly.

"A mistake at the greengrocer's," Druff defended his kitchen honor, "my recipe called for a particular kind of chili pepper, and I accidentally bought the wrong ones."

"To the effect that his soup ended up being about a hundred times stronger than it was meant to," Gruff said. "At least it was winter...warmed us a bit."

Now Brian truly wondered if the story had been embellished for his benefit, or if things had really taken such a turn. He did chuckle heartily while imagining the fire starting to burn on the two tigers' muzzles from the accidental chili overdose.

"Must've been something to see," he mused.

Gruff cleared his throat, as if still suffering from the after effects of the soup from hell.

Brian chuckled at the manifestation of the spicy memory.

"Well, no signs of mis-shopping here."

He downed another spoonful of the good stuff.

"Yet." he added with a lick over his lips. "Still might find beer mustard in the steak marinade."

"Do you object to mustard?" was what Druff asked on hearing this.

"Dad loves his mustard too..." Gruff said. "Be careful what you wish for..."

The wolf grinned.

"Well I happen to love mustard, in fact!" Brian noted. "The hotter the better."

Both tigers snickered.

"Would you prefer some to lob onto your soup?" Druff asked.

"And to spoil the...ah...splendid balance of this dish?" Brian mused.

"He's scared of your mustard now..." Gruff accused his father.

Brian was almost tempted to ask for a dollop right away, but held himself back. He did get the feeling that he had been egged on by the pair of tigers right there. He didn't want to start something here he couldn't finish.

"Perhaps the next course is more appropriate for it?" he asked diplomatically.

Druff looked like he might burst into laughter at any moment and splash the soup all over the fellow occupants of the table.

"Oh, perhaps..." he said.

Brian's ears perked attentively.

"Could you sound any more sinister?"

This time, he took a scoop of cream along with the soup into his maw. The joyful swish of his tail was all one needed to tell how that tasted for him.

"You're gonna make me suspicious about steak. I don't wanna be suspicious about steak," the wolf complained.

"Do you think I would intentionally spoil food that I have prepared with so much effort?" Druff asked.

Brian looked at him carefully.

"You do have a tendency of testing me...maybe I'll have to make sure to change plates with one of you after you've served, in case you spike mine..." the wolf stated.

Gruff glanced at his father.

"Have you made him this paranoid?" he asked.

Druff chuffed upon the inquiry.

"Do you really think I have that kind of an effect on people?"

"Who knows what you get up to when I'm not watching," Gruff retorted.

The fatherly figure smirked.

"Don't worry," he said. "That's all his own doing, that kind of warped sense of humor. I didn't have to encourage it. I swear."

"Oh really now?" Gruff mused.

Brian was sure that the younger tiger sounded accusing when he spoke to his father. He also wondered if he was really perceived as warped by the pair of striped cats. Was it a compliment or a jab from them at him and his sense of humor, or maybe his whole character?

"Don't let him sweet-talk you." He decided to announce to the son. "He's as much of a child under all that dignified exterior as any of us."

Another spoonful went down the hatch.

"I'm still not sure if the mythical Consuela really exists or not." He gave the elder tiger a exaggeratedly suspicious look. "And let's not forget when he sent me, I'm one hundred percent sure deliberately, into a shower with hot water shut off just so he could watch me run out shocked and naked when I realized what was happening..."

Gruff finished his latest mouthful of soup with deliberate slowness, it seemed.

"Guest or master bathroom?" the tiger looked at Brian to pose the question directly to him.

"The ahh... I dunno, one with the jacuzzi?" THe wolf chose his words carefully and feigned a certain degree of innocence. He felt like he was suddenly in the younger tiger's crosshairs. "It's the only one he sends me to."

The tiger raised his brow.

"The master bathroom, then," Gruff said.

Brian realized that he'd been busted, and quite deliberately so by the tiger. He knew that denying it at this point would only make it sound worse, although he did understand that there was likely no way to mislead the young tiger about the true state of affairs.

"He likes to show off, as I'm sure you know." Brian chuckled. He hoped that the Gruff wouldn't linger on the topic too much. He continued to eat more of the delicious brew while returning Gruff's gaze with a friendly face of his own.

"I am sure you have an eye for beautiful glazing work, " the tiger commented to the wolf.

In Brian's opinion, that made him sound even dirtier. Not to mention the subtler implications.

"I'm not into interior design if that's what you're alluding to." The wolf said, trying not to sound too defensive. "Unless clothes strewn around randomly on the floor is the latest fashion craze..." His gaze lingered on the younger tiger, sizing him up anew.

Gruff sipped from his father

"Didn't you go out with an interior designer at some point, dad?" he spoke to the older cat instead.

Brian was surprised by the openness of the question. Perhaps it implied that he had no qualms talking about his father's preferences, at least on a casual level. Chasing naked wolves through the apartment was likely too much to handle, Brian thought, almost smugly.

The Druff flicked a thoughtful ear at the question. Brian wondered if he really did have trouble remembering. Maybe he was considering whether Gruff was just pulling his tail with the comment about the designer. Brian had no qualms about grabbing said tail and pull on it, however.

"What's the matter, can't remember, old man?"

The tiger didn't appear bothered by the snarky tone coming from the wolf. He smirked at the curious pair.

"My social life is busy enough but not quite that busy," Druff stated. "I have certainly had many interesting conversations with people from all walks of life, including those in the profession of interior design."

Brian chuffed.

"Way to dodge a question..." the wolf said.

"Not any worse than you avoiding the matter of you naked in my father's bathroom that adjoins his bedroom," Gruff said.

Umm...

The tiger snickered.

"Such a guilty face," he commented on Brian's expression. "Why? Afraid that I don't know about the kind of 'conversations' my father has with his friends?"

Brian felt like he had walked straight into a verbal landmine. Of course it made sense that Druff would have told the young tiger about the nature of their relationship, but now that Brian knew that Gruff knew, it still came as a shock for him that Gruff would speak about it so casually. He could never imagine anything like it happening in his own home. Such a conversation had no place around their dining table.

"Don't mind my boy," Druff spoke then, looking at Brian, "He must've been planning to see just how long he could keep up a conversation before it comes up."

"Hmmmr...just like his father then," Brian glared at the pair of striped cats, "misleading poor wolves..."

"You must have underestimated me," Gruff said. "Or my relationship with my father for that matter."

Druff chuckled.

"Don't heckle poor Brian," he said. "I am sure he found the idea oddly pleasant."

"Huh?" Brian frowned at the father figure. Druff rumbled amicably at the sound.

"The idea that anyone knowing would be absolutely scandalous," Druff commented. "You seem almost disappointed that Gruff isn't acting outraged."

"I can if you want to..." Gruff said.

"I don't think it's needed," Druff commented before Brian could get his own word in. "Time for some wine, I think."

Brian just stared somewhere between the two tigers. The fact that Gruff knew from the very start and the suddenness of the revelation left him stumped as to what to say. His mind was racing, thinking about just what he knew and how much he knew and what he thought about all that. The wolf's hope to keep the matter under wraps and potentially try to avoid the subject altogether in this context fell soundly through the water. He suddenly found himself really wanting some of that wine Druff had just suggested.

Damnit.

He even thought his cheeks were warming up. And worst of all, he had no idea why was feeling so embarrassed about it all. It's not like he was a stranger to sex before he met the devious patriarch. It really had to the be whole daddy aspect becoming all that more real now, for the fact that the Druff had some progeny of his own and the said offspring seemed to enjoy joking about his father's homosexual ways.

"Some wine sounds splendid," Gruff said.

"Yes, please." The wolf sounded almost meek. He was still unsure on what to say or how to follow up on that exchange between his host and co-host. At least he could wrest his gaze from the spot on the wall they were glued to and decided to focus on the crackling fireplace.

The wolf found it to be a mesmerizing and relaxing sight since a very young age, when his father was teaching him the ancient manly ways of the grill. The memory made him smile slightly before the wordfather jerked him back to reality. The next thing he realized was the tigerly Druff pouring wine into his glass from a decanter.

"I do hope that you will enjoy it," the Professor commented cheerfully.

"Uhhh, yeah." Druff raised an eyebrow at the docile response from the until very recently boisterous as ever wolf. He leaned in close to Brian's face and looked at him. Brian just started back at him, slightly confused and still mostly speechless from shock.

"Do I have to get out the thermometer?" The tiger questioned. Brian just tilted his head slightly.

"Huh?"

The way his ear tilted along with his questioning maneuver made Druff smile inwardly, a welcome return of animation to the wolf that seemed to have been turned into a statue suddenly.

"I find your lack of enthusiasm at the sight of alcohol disturbing," Druff said.

Gruff could be heard chuffing form the other side of table in great amusement. "Please refrain from inserting instruments into your guests at the dinner table, father." He was merciless.

Druff chuffed.

"Hah," he said as he put the glass stopper back on the decanter. "For your information, mine measures temperature through the ear."

Druff settled back to his seat after playing sommelier.

"He's always showing off his gadgets," Gruff spoke directly to Brian now. "If there is something electric that can do a simple task...he'll have it."

The comment didn't make Brian feel any better. He started to think about particular things the tiger owned that did have batteries in them and they did indeed might disappear into body cavities. He hurried to pick up his wine.

"To great food!" he toasted, desperate for a distraction.

Gruff smirked and raised his own glass close to the wolf's.

"And great company?" His words tinged with small purrs.

Now that was something to grab onto, Brian thought.

"Already know I am, but thanks anyways." The wolf shot back without missing a beat and clicked his glass against the younger tiger's.

Druff chuffed again from the side and joined his own glass in the toast. "Children, please."

"I thought I was the mature one," Gruff said.

"Hahah," the father chuckled.

Brian didn't know how to react to the comment, so he just brought his wine glass to his lips and drank. He hoped the alcohol was going to calm down his nerves after all this Druff-Gruff madness.

"He does not sound convinced," Gruff mused over the rim of his own glass.

"I am not one to judge," Druff said.

"In my experience, anyone who says that does nothing but that," Brian said.

"The only thing I judge are term papers and good behavior, I assure you." The elder tiger spoke before bringing the glass to his lips and taking a measured and gentlemanly sip, in contrast to the veritable gulp of the wolf. "I cannot speak for my son, however." He added after savouring the dark red liquid upon his tongue.

'No matter the age, a tiger still has claws.' Brian mused to himself and shifted slightly in his seat from a surge of memories of those very same claws pricking upon his skin in unrestrained heat.

'Ahem.'

Thinking about sex was the last thing he wanted to do now that the produce of those same loins was looking at him across the dining table.

"He knows better than to try to put words into my mouth," Gruff said.

The Druff chuckled.

"He thinks I'm always fussing around and misquoting him," Druff said. "He likes heckling me for it."

"It is my prerogative," Gruff said. "As a man of words to another."

"You can imagine how difficult it was to keep up with him when he was young," Druff noted to Brian.

The wolf wasn't sure what to say to that.

"I think I am sorely lacking in such experience to know how to comment," Brian said diplomatically.

"What he is saying is that he thinks I was insufferable," Gruff said.

"A feeling I have never grown out of, my dear boy," Druff addressed his son.

"He must've gotten it from somewhere." The wolf chimed in, happily sipping away at his glass of wine.

The Gruff appeared to process this for a moment before another comment came from his smirking lips.

"I'm starting to see why you choose to spend you time with him, dad," he spoke to the older cat.

"And you've only just met me," Brian quipped back.

The wolf leaned back in his seat, satisfied at having moved away from the position of scrutiny and into more comfortable territory. Namely a bit of booze, a bit of casual flirting and just shooting the breeze. As long as the younger cat wasn't going to freak out, and by now the odds looked like he wasn't quite that easily spooked by the prospect of having to bear witness to his father receiving a gay compliment.

"Why do I suddenly feel surrounded?" murmured the elder tiger in question from his side of the table, appearing completely nonplussed by any comment uttered thus far.

"Afraid that we're allying ourselves against you?" Gruff asked. "Think next we'll break out the Trivial Pursuit and we'll play as a team against you?"

"You'd certainly need to if you'd hope to win." The Druff sipped from his glass in a lordly fashion. "Though even that would be an uphill battle."

He licked his lips.

"Don't make me make you pull it out for real, pops." The wolf rumbled in challenge to Druff's

boasting, falling back perhaps without realizing to calling the elder tiger by the term usually reserved for their less family friendly but nonetheless highly wholesome activities.

"I am sure that would be a splendid way to spend some time after the Grand Marnier," Druff said.

Gruff chuffed.

"Still insist on piling up that stuff on poor unsuspecting people?" the tiger stated.

"It's a classic!" Druff defended his choice of alcohol.

"it tastes like someone tried to make orange liqueur-filled chocolates and forgot the chocolate," the tiger said.

"You do like orange-flavored chocolate," Druff said.

"But not orange-flavored alcohol," Gruff said.

"He's got a pretty big booze cabinet," Brian commented knowledgeably. "I guess there'll be something there you like to drink?"

"Did you do an inventory already?" Gruff asked.

"He did," Druff interjected. "Multiple times."

Brian tried to not be bothered by the tiger's quip about his drinking habits. On the other paw, he felt glad that the tiger was comfortable enough talking about his frequent visits that he didn't shy from telling this particular fact to his son.

"Then I am sure you can suggest something to me from my father's collection that isn't flavored with citrus fruits," Gruff said to Brian.

"Alas." The exotically furred wolf opined while downing another spoonful of the tasty soup. "That's a thing he and I have in common." He said to the younger tiger while gesturing with his eyes towards the Druff. "So unless he deliberately stocks it to my liking every time before I get here because he knows it's gonna get raided, I wouldn't know."

Brian leaned closer to Gruff in a conspiratory manner. "No orange flavoured chocolate either. I'd have sniffed it out by now."

The tiger's face remained impassive, although not unamused by the remarks.

"Hmm. Just as fruity as my father then," Gruff said.

"I'm not a guy without ambition..." The wolf was almost three quarters through his plate. "But I recognize unattainable heights when I see them." He responded in a level tone while eyeing the feline that seemingly loved to tug at his proverbial tail.

"Owch!" was what Druff said.

"Meow," his son vocalized in response.

Druff laughed deeply.

"He knows how to use that sharp tongue of his," Druff said. "Almost like a cat in that respect."

Brian thought he felt a hint of a flush creep to the tips of his ears at that description. He was almost certain that it wasn't just his imagination being of its usual gutter variety, but the tiger really did mean it to be exactly as dirty as it sounded like. He also knew that the Gruff was now looking at him curiously and obviously expected some sort of a reply from the wolf now that Druff had called him out.

"Keeping up with you necessitates it." Maybe it was the beers talking, or maybe it was just because he was surrounded by them, but Brian did feel a little catty at the moment. "Must be why you like me so much."

"The jury is still out on that," Gruff said. "Although it appears that my father is quite fond of you..."

Druff snickered at the look on Brian's face that comment brought out. It only got funnier when Gruff spoke more.

"...although I do not intend to start calling you 'stepdad' quite yet, Mister Silva," Gruff said.

Brian almost panicked. He knew that it was a joke, that the tiger surely knew (and wasn't naive enough to think otherwise!) that there were no long term plans, no intention to put a ring on it, so to speak. Yet the implications were intense enough to give him a pause. For a moment he wondered just how serious Druff really was...but didn't allow himself to continue that trail of thought for very long. It was for another time, just like many other things.

"Well..." he mused, "I'm not sure how you'd like my hands-on approach to discipline..."

He barely dared to maintain eye contact with the younger tiger. If the tiger wanted to poke and prod at the beast, Brian was going to provide. If the Gruff wanted to see what made Brian tick and hence to find out just what his homosexualist father saw in the wolf...Brian was going to let him. He was gonna make daddy Druff proud.

It was just like dancing, Brian thought, amused by the idea of him and the tiger showing off their tango moves on a shiny dance floor. He even imagined the huge bright spotlight above.

"I have never known my father to raise his paw to commit corporal punishment unless it is recreational in nature," Gruff said.

Brian had trouble wrapping his brain around the wordy response from the cat. Druff's deep chuckle told him that the older tiger had noticed him looking like a dumb jock.

"He suggests that I am interested in spanking hapless rears," Druff said.

Brian just let out a chuff at that. "So an ol' perverted horncat." Down went the last of the soup. Seeing the empty bottom of the plate made him feel a little sad. "Sounds about right."

He leaned back in his seat and lightly patted his tummy. "Just don't go around thinking I let him spank me." He glanced at the devious younger cat who had probably been thinking exactly that. "Or I just might start feeling like dishing some recreational corporal punishment of my own..."

The wolf deliberately left out the target of his last remark undetermined. If the young tiger thought he could make suggestions of the sort, he might as well suffer the...backlash.

"I trust my father keeps the implements of such activities out of sight and under lock and key," Gruff said.

Druff thrummed the tabletop with his fingers.

"Whoever said I need any extra tools..."

Gruff let out a chuckle.

"Now that is a very particular image that I am not sure if I want to have it in my mind or not," Gruff said.

Now Brian was sure that his ears were turning pink on the inside, or at least considerably warming up. The older tiger had just implied that he might have given the wolf a hard spanking in the past. And not just that, but it sounded like Gruff knew that his father possessed an inventory of items meant for such purposes as well. Maybe Gruff even knew about the dungeon. He decided to attempt to test that theory, even if faintly so.

The wolf snorted audibly at the Druff.

"You're the one who keeps bragging about his supposed "sex dungeon". I'm pretty sure it's not stocked full of gardening tools." He deliberately phrased it like he did to make sure Gruff wouldn't get any ideas about the studly wolf already having fallen victim to said room and its curious implements of sexual torture.

Gruff looked at his father.

"Bragging? Really?"

"I am sure that young Brian here is exaggerating matters," Druff said. "I may have implied that I have meddled a little in the past."

Brian snuffled.

"Mister Understatement right there, dude," he said to nobody in particular, and reached for his wine.

"So you haven't showed him your "Mr Leather" trophy yet?" Gruff asked matter-of-factly.

Brian almost coughed his drink over the table. To his surprise, even Druff seemed puzzled by this statement. His mind raced through scenarios where Druff could have won a trophy like that, from dirty leather clubs full of hefty men in varying leather attires to the more silly instances of a rather literal catwalk competition. After a few moments when he caught up to his thoughts, he realized what that statement most likely was.

"Now you're being a bit obvious, mate." He told Gruff. Even so, there was that little piece of his mind that couldn't help but wonder just how much of the elder tiger he didn't see or know yet.

"In what?" asked Gruff.

"In making stuff up," Brian accused him casually.

The younger tiger laughed.

"Oh but that's what I do for my living, when I am not being hosted by my very generous dad," Gruff smiled.

The Druff cleared his throat.

"Now I cannot decide whether you are upset about the joke Gruff made, or because I don't have such a trophy," he spoke to Brian.

Brian looked at the older tiger. Druff gave him a not so innocent smile across the table.

"I don't see any way to answer that question without making me sound like a big doofus," he said. "Or a pervert."

"I find the whole 'pervert' thing to be very relative," Druff said.

"Of course you do" Brian shot back.

Druff blew the wolf a kiss through the air. It was almost more shocking than the earlier bondage comments, Brian thought.

"Not in front of the boy!" he hissed quickly.

Instead of panicking again about what the other tiger in the room would make of it, Brian decided to try and mitigate it with humor. Druff would understand, at least. Maybe the son as well. Hell, he was still a guest, Gruff was. He'd have to behave at least to some unknown standard. And Brian knew that he himself wasn't always the best guest, what's with raiding the liquor cabinet, the fridge, leaving a mess in the bathroom and lying on the couch with his shoes on. This might've been a something of an unconventional home, but Brian was still sure that the older tiger upheld to some quiet ground rules.

Gruff chuckled.

"I have seen worse," he said.

Brian looked at Druff for confirmation. The tiger appeared quite nonchalant.

"Not much worse, but perhaps a little worse," Druff said. "But I must excuse myself now, I think I will have to serve the next course. Hopefully it hasn't been ruined while we were engaged in this pleasant chat here."

The tiger dapped his muzzle with a folded white paper napkin before he got up from his seat and headed out of the dining room and into the kitchen.

"Some more wine?" Gruff asked from Brian, decanter at paw.

"If you'd be so kind, sonny." The wolf held his glass out to the tiger with a mirthful expression on his muzzle. He decided he could have some more fun with Gruff's earlier quip.

*

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