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Hi guys! Welcome to Free Association, back again for its 29th episode! Wow, we're flying by the round numbers... Unfortunately, you're going to have to wait a bit for the big episode three-oh. As I discussed last week, FREE ASSOCIATION WILL BE GOING ON BREAK after this episode. Yes, it's true, and I have had this planned for a very long time. The next Free Association episode will be posted on April 5th. Thanks for your attention.

Without further distractions...

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_ Saturday. _

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Some good things don't come easily.

There was a glimmer, a gleam, a shimmering opalescent shine. A sparkle, a cascade of stars. A phenomenon, a trick of the light, refracted chaotically from delicate strands, where they tufted out from under their captor. All manner of evocative descriptors could be applied to the brilliant image, as well as the practical - in video games, it would be called bloom; in real life, it was due to the scattering of light through the lens or camera aperture; in image editing, it could be emulated with careful but excessive application of the dodge tool... but, regardless of how it was put to words, this dazzling sight was the first thing that passed between Bradley's eyelids.

The wolf didn't open beyond a squint, at first. Fucking sun. So fucking bright. Morning... Was it time to get up? Did he have to go to work? His phone wasn't going off... what...

It had been such a very long time, since he'd woken up in bed with someone else. Eight months since Dillon, but the shark hadn't been willing to sleep with him after they fucked for quite a while before that. A lot like Wallace, in that way. So... it had probably been almost a year, now. Since...

It was a little shocking.

What hit him first was the smell. His nose seemed to be waiting in line for him to wake up, along with all the other organs and senses with pending reports, and quickly, it piped up, 'Raccoons have a smell! Did you know that?!'

Eyes. 'Huh? Open up so I can see - FUUUUCK IT'S BRIGHT SQUINT YOU DUMMY SQUINT - "

Paws. 'Hmmm, this is fluffy and nice, you should move me a little, you should... ohhh wow, this is really amazing, you have to feel this... wait...'

Fur. 'I'm hot. No. Seriously. I am very warm. Due to the fact that I am dark. And the sun is shining on me. Please move me. So that I can cool off a bit. Or apply a fan to my environment.'

Cock. '...Unghhhh... whaddid I do last night... Feel like somebody ran me over with a tail... Hey, whassis fluffy thing against me... is it... a tail?! Mmm, I like tails...'

Bladder. 'Hey, you know, I'm kind of full, so whenever you get around to it, no pressure or anything...'

Bewildered by the surge of input, his brain stammered, 'Uh... w-what the fuck? Oh hey, you know what? That's Jonathon. See what I did there? Identifyin' like a boss. I'm so good at this job. I totally deserve like... like twice my salary. At least. Oh, right, Jonathon. Here's a huge repository of information on him, and here are some feels. Have fun. Oh, hey look, some more feels, you can have these too."

Managing to open his eyes a little more in the face of that blaze of sunlight hitting Jonathon's chest, Brad snuffled a little, a smile progressing across his wolfy features.

How on earth did I end up in bed with him?

He remembered what happened last night... but still, the question persisted, as he shifted his paw a little to get it out of the sun... tightening his grip on the raccoon in the process. He'd somehow managed to keep Jonathon in his arms all night... notably, an unusual thing for the wolf, who tended to fall asleep on his side and wake up on his back.

Yet, somehow... Here was a Jonathon, in his arms. Cuddly and snuggly and raccoony. Still asleep, his breathing soft and slow... but he was shifting a little. Waking up? Maybe? Brad had probably woken him with the paw-stroking, in his first moments of consciousness, while trying to figure out what that fuzzy thing under his paw was.

"Nnngh..." the younger male voiced, whiskers twitching. His tail shifted, and Brad's dick informed him of this fact directly. 'Hey, fun fact, I'm hanging halfway out, if you didn't realize! Yeah, got kinda excited before you woke up... Ugh, I'm so hung over... must'a really partied pretty hard last night, heh... Oooh, this tail is fluffy... do that again... Always up for some more partying...'

Brad couldn't help but wiggle his hips a bit closer to the raccoon tail, then. Jonathon was showing an awareness of him, shifting back against him; the raccoon was yawning, smacking his lips... and then looking back, over his shoulder.

"Morning..." Brad rumbled, quietly.

Jonathon smiled.

It was the most beautiful thing the wolf had seen in his entire life. No joke.

The raccoon was still just waking, still watching the metaphorical bootscreen of his metaphorical operating system. Jonathon OS. Jonathon XP - stands for experience, you know. And in this limited, progressively more aware state...

...there was no fear in his eyes.

No connections, no restrictions. His feelings were simple, and were broadcast openly, unhampered by shyness and hesitance.

And what was it, that he was broadcasting? Through those soulful, black-masked coppery eyes, that warm smile on that small gray muzzle?

Brad's heart was pounding, surging. It was so obvious, now. So... real.

"G'morning..." came the soft reply.

'Oh hey look, I found an entire room full of these things! Really need to organize this place... Want me to just start chuckin' em at ya? Think quick!'

The raccoon rubbed one eye blearily, adorably.

"How'd you sleep?" the wolf asked.

"Nnn... Okay..." Rub rub rub... little giggle. "You woke me up a couple times..."

"Did I?" The wolf pulled him closer, nuzzling the side of his face. "Sorry..."

"S'okay..." The raccoon yawned again. "Didn't keep me up or anything... You snore a bit, but not too loud..."

"Heh," the wolf replied, a little embarrassed. "Make me sound like and old guy, snorin' and keeping his bedmate up..."

The raccoon chuckled, rolling partway over to look at him. "Mmm, maybe... you're a sexy old guy, though..." He stuck his tongue out.

Brad snorted a bit, but it wasn't unflattering, really. He wouldn't mind being a sexy old guy, all things considered.

"What time is it?" Jonathon mumbled, squinting at the bright curtain that was blurring the edges of the sunbeam striking his chest.

"Mmmmhhh... Dunno..." Brad said, allowing his eyes to slide shut again and snuggling his coon. "Probably a bit late, it's Saturday..."

"Hmmmg..." the raccoon replied, shifting in his arms, now lying on his back. He sounded content with that reply. "Marty's at work, right?"

"Heh... yeah, he'll be back around one, probably crash as soon as he gets home..."

"Dunno how he stands that job," Jonathon remarked.

"Me neither. He likes it, though..." Brad gave a little shrug.

He felt Jonathon sigh softly. It was very quiet.

"Last night was... really nice," Brad ventured hesitantly. "I really enjoyed it."

He felt a slow rumble rise in his boyfriend's chest. "Yeah... me too," Jonathon replied dreamily. "That was..."

"You were really good," Brad said, and then huffed. "Maybe I'm just not used to it anymore, but it was really... wow."

"Heheh, you liked?" the procyonid giggled. "Good."

Everything was silence and smiling for Brad.

"Um..." the raccoon ventured. "I'm glad. I actually..."

The wolf's eyes came open lazily, and he regarded the other man with quiet interest.

"...last night was... actually the first time I've... ever done that," Jonathon admitted, voice almost a whisper.

Slowly, Brad's eyes opened more fully. He stared at that black mask and pointy muzzle, at those coppery eyes that wouldn't meet his. There were responses flitting around in his mind, emotions, thoughts, images... he dismissed them. "...Hm. You... didn't tell me that."

"Yeah, I was..." The raccoon blushed quickly. "I... was worried that... if I told you I didn't have any experience... you'd assume that I'd be really bad at it or something..."

"Mmmm, no one ever said that..." the wolf rumbled, eyes closing again. "Everyone loses their virginity sometime, Jonathon. Even people who are great in bed."

"Could... could you tell?" Jonathon asked, sounding a little anguished.

"Well..." the wolf snuffled. He was aware, on some level, how thin the ice he trod on was... and yet, in spite of the tension underlying this moment, he didn't hesitate much in his reply. He felt almost... dreamy. "I... did have my suspicions. But I didn't know, no. You seemed like... you had a fairly good idea of what you were doing, good enough, at least... So... I didn't think about it all that much." He shrugged, and pulled the raccoon a little closer.

Jonathon was quiet, then. He seemed content to let the wolf hold him... and Brad was quite content with that, as well, for the time being. There was nothing so pressing that they needed to do, as what they were doing now.

"I guess that means I'm the first guy you've done any of this with, huh?" the wolf mused, after a minute or two.

"Well..." Jonathon made a face. "I guess, technically... There was this... rabbit guy. Greg. We were... thinking about dating for a little while, but we just weren't that into each other. He was just... you know, I was... gay, he was gay, and we knew, and he was, I mean, he was all right..." The raccoon shrugged. "We... made out a little bit, and we were both talking about maybe doing something... but we got into bed and ended up just falling asleep together. That was the only night anything happened; we didn't even... take our underwear off..." Jonathon was blushing a little, now.

"And then there was a chinchilla guy, about a year before, his name was Ernest... We, uh... pawed together a couple times." Meep. "I wanted to maybe do more, trade paws or something, but he was kind of awkward about it, so we didn't. It wasn't really... anything. He was pretty straight, just a bit... bent, I guess." Jonathon scratched the back of his neck, face burning - Brad found it a little amusing to see the awkward gesture from behind, for once.

"In that case..." Brad pressed his nose into the raccoon's headfur, licking the back of his ear. "I'm... honored to have been your first. I hope it was good. I hope it was... want you wanted it to be like."

He felt the raccoon nod a little. "It was... it was great," came a small voice. "I... was afraid it would hurt... It aches a bit, now, but it wasn't bad..."

"I tried to be gentle," Brad replied, smiling wide. "I don't really like it very rough myself."

The raccoon was still... and then he rolled over. Brad withdrew his arms from around the guy, and then let them fall still when Jonathon grabbed his paws. The raccoon's soft brown eyes found his own. "It was wonderful, Brad. I... know it was hard getting there, and I know I was pretty nervous even last night... but... thank you, for being patient with me. I'm glad last night happened... I couldn't ask for a better boyfriend." He smiled.

Well, that just made the wolf feel all kinds of warm-fuzzy. He gazed at his raccoon for a little while... so cute and fluffy, sticking out of the blankets like that.

"Jonathon..." the wolf managed, his feelings surging. "I'm... I wanna... tell you something."

"Hmm?" the raccoon murmured, warm and gentle.

"I'm... I'm gonna tell you somethin', and then... I'm gonna tell you what I mean by it." The wolf took a steadying breath.

And then another.

"An'... the thing I want to tell you, is... that..."

Come on, wuff. You can do it.

"...that I... love you..."

A slight shiver, as the exertion left him.

Jonathon's eyes widened just a bit; the barest hint of wry surprise registered on his face. He didn't say anything.

Brad gulped.

"It's... I don't usually say that. Especially not... this early into a relationship. It hasn't even been two weeks since we met. I like to wait until I really feel it... but, Jonathon... I do really feel it." He shifted his grip a little, so he was now the one holding the raccoon's paws. "I don't expect you to return it, not until you're ready to say it... but you're important to me. You're special. And I want to... be with you, for as long as... as long as I can. And to me, I guess that means that I should tell you that..." He steadied his voice, and managed it more firmly, this time. "...I love you, Jonathon."

The sun was lazily moving down toward the edge of the bed, the fiery glow of Jonathon's fur cooling as it became grayer and softer in tone, drifting around to his back. The faint noises of their downstairs neighbors filtered up through the floorboards. In the utility closet, the heater kicked on.

"Well... gee, Brad..." Jonathon whispered.

The wolf had never seen his eyes look quite like that, before. Sometimes they were the brown of clay, of bricks, supportive but unyielding. Sometimes, they were molten copper, hot and dangerous. He'd had the privilege of catching a nice milk chocolate a fair few times as well, sweet and addictive. But he'd never seen that chocolate... melt, quite like this.

"I... gosh... I dunno what to say..." The raccoon huffed a little, amused at himself, musing aloud. "Should I say it back? Do I feel that way? Am I... Will I..."

"All I want out of you is to be what I am to you..." Brad rumbled, nuzzling him softly. "I... want to make you happy. I want you to be happy. I really do."

Jonathon smiled softly. "I know that... And, I guess it's what I want, too. I want to make you happy, too." He hesitated. "I... think I won't say it the way you did. Not... yet. But... it might not be too long, before I do. And, however I say it..." He looked deep into the wolf's eyes. "...You know what I mean."

Brad watched him a moment longer... and then tenderly pressed the end of his muzzle against the younger man's. Jonathon shut his eyes, shivering, and would not draw away.

It was a long, blissful silence.

When Brad finally broke the kiss, he lingered for a moment... snuffled a bit, and then yawned unexpectedly. Reluctantly releasing his hold on those soft paws, he rolled back onto his back, and stretched. Jonathon shuffled around under the blankets. It was definitely pretty late, judging by the brightness of the light and the aura of the day; the sun had moved entirely off of his boyfriend now, only peeking over the corner of the bed, now. But, there was no reason a guy and his boyfriend couldn't sleep in on a Saturday, right?

"Hmmmm..." the wolf hmmmmed. "How about some breakfast?"

"Oh, that sounds delicious..." the raccoon purred, and then he chuckled. "I don't know even what it is yet, and it sounds delicious!"

"Breakfast food is always delicious," Brad allowed with a grin. "All right, then. I'll make you some eggs or something."

"I can help too!" the raccoon chirped. "No reason for you to do all the work..."

"Hmm, maybe I wanna, though!" The wolf giggled and flipped the blankets back, crawling out of bed, noting with a little smirk that the tip of his dick was still poking out of his sheath. Musta been something about waking up in bed with a cute fuzzy guy... Yup!

That same fuzzy guy caught his attention once again, coming around the bed to locate his underwear. Brad couldn't help letting his eyes follow the raccoon, that swishy tail, those bare footpaws, that furry sheath... Somehow, seeing Jonathon nude and unerect was even more breathtaking than seeing him ready and waiting to be fucked. Oh, gee, and when he bent over to pick up his boxer-briefs, that remarkable ass poked itself into the air under that swishy tail... It was almost too much, given his acute recollection of how nice that ass was on the inside, as well as the outside.

More than just the tip was out, now.

Jonathon pulled his underwear back on (and that was quite nice, too, watching him thread his tail through the back and seeing the way the tight cotton fit to his thighs, his butt, his bulge). He threw the wolf a glance, and then looked back a moment later, smirking. "I wasn't aware you'd bought tickets," he murmured, ears back a little, but not too shy.

Brad shut his mouth - wiping up a very non-feigned bit of drool with the back of his paw - and hastily grabbed his boxers, pulling them up over what was growing very difficult to describe as anything less than a boner. "Sorry..." he mumbled, embarrassed.

"Hey..."

He felt a paw on his arm, and looked up.

The raccoon smiled a little. "You don't have to do that anymore. Back off like that."

"...Huh?"

"I doubt we're going to go too fast from here on out," the raccoon replied, with a grin.

"Well... yeah..." the wolf said, with a little blush. "Still..."

"If you want to ogle me when I'm getting dressed, then do it," the raccoon chuckled. "I'll return the favor... I mean geez..." his eyes flicked to the wolf's boxers, and Brad noticed that the raccoon's fly was quite a bit pointier than it had been a moment ago.

Hmmmmm...

...Nah, Brad was feeling eggs for breakfast, however tempting cock might be. Though... maybe afterward...

Hmmmfph.

"I have to pee, and then you can take a shower or whatever you like," the wolf rumbled.

"Think I'll do that," Jonathon replied, sitting on the side of the bed. "My tail's all sticky, heh."

And thus, ten minutes later, the boxer-clad wolf (now wearing a t-shirt as well) was standing in the kitchen, and the white noise of the shower was running in the background. Brad might have liked to hop in there with the raccoon, but he figured it was probably more efficient - and possibly more romantic - to make breakfast while Jonathon was un-sticky-ing himself.

Their apartment wasn't an IHOP, but there were eggs (there were always eggs!), and a little less than a quarter package of bacon (ironically, Marty tended to buy it more often than Brad, despite the slightly cannibalistic undertone of the boar enjoying his distant feral relatives). The wolf was feeling toast, too, so he made some of that. And, of course, the coffeemaker was burbling away. Brad flinched a bit as the bacon showered his bare paws with grease. Fortunately, his fur took the brunt of the assault. Unfortunately, that meant his fur was greasy now!

The shower shut off fairly soon - Brad supposed the raccoon didn't want to spend hours showering at someone else's house. Brad heard the door open "Scrambled or fried?!" he yelled into the other room.

"Fried, please!"

"How much?!"

"Over hard, please! Aaaah that smells amazing..."

The wolf chuckled and gently nudged his own scrambled eggs away from the two he'd left 'organized'. Toss some cheese on top... The toaster made a 'k-pthsch!' noise. Brad grabbed two plates and apportioned their immigrants. Hm, there was probably a bit of butter left... maybe some marmalade? Aww, didn't look like it... oh well.

A cute, damp-furred raccoon appeared in the doorway, once again clad in his underpants. "Um, can I borrow a shirt? All I have is my fancy stuff from last night, and I don't really wanna wear that right now..."

"Sure, go ahead, second drawer, help yourself," the wolf encouraged. "Though, really, Marty won't be back for a couple hours, so you don't have to wear anything at all, if you prefer."

"Yeah..." The raccoon disappeared into the room again. "But you're wearing a shirt, so I'd feel awkward if I wasn't..."

"I only threw this on so I wouldn't get bacon grease all over my chest," the wolf chuckled.

"Heheh, still..." After a moment and some distant shuffling noises, Jonathon returned, and padded hesitantly over to the table area attached to the side of the counter.

Brad put divvied up the bacon - there were only six slices total, unfortunately - grabbed some silverware, and bore his handiwork over to the table. "Ta dah."

"Yaaaay!" the raccoon cheered. "Thank you, it looks yummy..."

"Oh, and coffee!" The wolf dashed over to the maker, snagged mugs, poured. He carried those over, grabbed the box of sugar packets, and rummaged around in the fridge for the nice creamer, and then finally sat down across from the shorter male. "Here we go."

"Thanks!" Jonathon set to making up his coffee, while Brad started buttering his toast.

The raccoon looked so darn cute, like that. His fur was darker and bluer than usual, still damp from the shower. It was sticking up spikily on his head, and from the neckline of his shirt. And the fact that it was Brad's shirt... really sort of added quite a bit to the image. Brad was glad his boxers were out of sight... not that he figured Jonathon would mind that his boyfriend was always popping random drippy boners whenever he so much as glanced the raccoon's way...

Jonathon stirred his coffee. "Gee, it looks so picturesque... I've been reduced to defacing art..." He chuckled as he destroyed a beautifully preserved twenty-first century egg. From the Wilson Dynasty and all...

The wolf huffed. "Yeah... I'm not much of a cook, but I can make breakfast damn well. If I do say so myself, heh. It just comes out really good, as long as you don't fuck anything up."

"Huphm-hmm," Jonathon replied, in the ancient dialect of eggmouth.

"That, and I had a boyfriend once who was into cooking. Taught me this presentation stuff." The wolf chuckled. "Turns out people will actually think a meal is tastier if the presentation is nice, even if it's the same food as a badly-presented meal. They've done studies, it's pretty awesome."

"Hmm, makes sense." Jonathon munched. Slurped his coffee. "Who was he?"

"Hm?" Brad's voice echoed through his nose into his mug.

"Your ex. Tell me about him."

The wolf blinked. "Oh, gosh, you don't want to hear - "

"Sure I do," the raccoon interrupted. "I told you the entire extent of my relationship history - pretty much - there's nothing wrong in talking about it a little."

"Well..." Brad's fork rested against his eggs. Squishy against firm. He was aware of how intense his blush was. "He was... is, I guess... He's a schnauzer. He's the one who we ran into on that date, remember."

"Oh yeah," Jonathon chuckled.

"His name's Wallace. I met him in... my freshman year of college; he did interior design, I was still doing graphic design back then. We hooked up pretty soon after that, and then we broke up at the end of the year."

"Hm." Coons eat bacon a cute way, the wolf discovered. "Just didn't work out?"

"I... don't really like to talk about it," the wolf muttered.

"Oh."

Brad stared at his eggs, chewing, brooding a little... but, after a moment, he was surprised to find his memories of Wallace weren't really as painful as he remembered. Come to think of it, he'd barely thought of the other canine since last Saturday! Well, now, wasn't that unusual...

...Maybe he really was getting over the guy... Wish I could do that for Dillon, the wolf thought, a bit bitterly. He'd give a lot, to not think about Dillon for an entire week.

Still...

"Maybe I can talk about him," the wolf said quietly. He put egg into his mouth. "We... broke up because... he didn't find me attractive anymore."

"Aww, gee..." the raccoon responded, empathetically.

"Yeah..." Brad made a grimace. "Kinda did a number on me. He's apologized, though. Guess he came to value my personality a lot more after he left, heh."

"Well, you've got a great one, so I'm not surprised," the raccoon reasoned. "And I don't know what his type is, but I sure think you're damn attractive; I can't see why anyone could possibly leave you over that... even if they were that superficial."

"Heh, he's not superficial, he's just..." Brad shrugged. "It happened. It was a long time ago. I'm over it now."

The words slipped out... but in the moments following his utterance, Brad found his surprise changing to a sort of comfortable certainty. Remembering Wallace made him feel bittersweet... but he had Jonathon, now. And Jonathon... thought he was 'damn attractive', with a great personality to boot.

Brad smiled, as he finished his first piece of toast. A moment after, his smile fell a bit. "He... actually has HIV, now. Got it after we broke up."

"Wow..." Jonathon murmured. "That's..."

"Yeah. He's getting treated, though. Which is good, he sure doesn't deserve that." Brad huffed. "I actually only found out a week ago. He was pretty shaken up."

"I'll bet," Jonathon rumbled. "Scary."

"No kidding." Brad chuckled unfunnily. "Makes me want to go get tested again myself, even though I've been tested at least six times since I was with him. And once since I was with anyone." That hadn't been a fun one. A few months after Dillon, Brad had figured the shark's rampant infidelity probably warranted the full assay of blood and urine in little test tubes. Nothing had been out of order. Whatever his vices, Dillon was careful... or else Brad was lucky.

Hah. Lucky. Riiiiiight.

Jonathon sat back, drinking his coffee, he still had a bit of egg and a piece of toast left. "I guess it's natural, to fear the unknown."

"Heh, no kidding," the wolf rumbled. "Various psychologists have traced a lot of behavior back to that."

Jonathon smiled, looking up at him. "I like it when you talk to me about psychology."

"Heheheh." The wolf felt a little glow, at that. "Well, obviously... things like xenophobia and traditionalism stem from it, the urge to keep things the way they are and deal with people we feel some form of kinship with. We can plan better, that way, and it's easier make judgments. Whether or not to trust a stranger, for instance, is easier if we know what to expect from their behavior." Brad drained the last of his coffee, and got up to get another cup. "Want a top-up?"

"Sure." Jonathon looked in his mug, which was mostly empty, and settled for gulping the last of it before passing it to the wolf.

"But, it's also part of things like procrastination and the concept of 'politeness'," Brad continued. "Our brain has to react to any new stimulus that appears, things that may be dangerous to us or make it more difficult to accomplish our goals. If it's something we've seen before, we will be prepared to react appropriately, based on our memories. Unknowns are things we aren't prepared to react to, and so there's a very subtle, almost subconscious aversion to them."

The sounds of Jonathon eating came from the table; Brad could just catch sight of his eyes when he looked up, past the corner of the counter. He poured the coffee.

"If you're given the choice between an Android phone and an iPhone, you'll use the one you're more familiar with. Regardless of how opinionated you are on the difference, you'll be better at accomplishing tasks and won't feel so frustrated looking for things if you use the one you know... or, that's what you think, isn't it? Never mind that, in reality, if you try the other one, you might find - very quickly, in some cases - that you like it better than what you're used to and things are located in more sensible places." Brad returned, carrying their coffees. "Your brain basically makes up reasons to feel disinclined toward unknown stimuli, it can be quite difficult to overcome."

"Hm." Jonathon seemed thoughtful. "I suppose... that's sure had an effect on our relationship, hasn't it?"

Pulled abruptly from the theoretical space into the practical, Brad sat down slowly. "I suppose it has, yeah... Not all reluctance is bad, though. The reason we have this fear is because it does a pretty good job of protecting us from danger and distress; it at least improves our chances." He smirked humorlessly. "Even if it does mean things move slower, and some things may be missed entirely. It's a trade-off between risk and reward."

"Like insurance," the raccoon grumbled.

Brad giggled a bit. "Yeah, like that. Spend years and paychecks on an intangible even if you never get in a wreck, just on the offchance that you might. It's so classic of the way people think."

"Heheh." The raccoon stuck the last forkful of his eggs into his mouth. "Mmm... that was great." He gave the wolf a warm look. "Thanks for breakfast. And for... last night. Everything."

Brad sat there with his coffee in his paws, this fantastic fuzziness flowing through him. "I sure can't claim you owe me anything," he rumbled.

They cleared up the plates, and soon enough, it was time for Jonathon to head back to campus. Not that either of them particularly wanted to do anything other than spend the day together... but Jonathon had told his roommate he'd be back this morning, and they both had homework to work on before Monday. Reluctantly, Jonathon returned his borrowed shirt - grinning a bit when he noticed Brad watching him again - and then reattired himself in his fancy clothes.

Have to remember to bring something to change into, next time they went somewhere nice.

When he pulled his pants on, something blocky hit him in the thigh, and after a moment of frowning he realized he'd left his phone in his pocket. Well, hmm.

A belt buckle and a small expedition later, Jonathon poked his phone. Three new texts!

...All from Mandy. Jonathon snorted a bit, glancing over at his boyfriend, who was still digging for pants that weren't sweatpants.

Dayam, he had a nice butt, bent over like that, the dark blue plaid conforming to his cheeks as his tail swished. He'd just changed the boxers; was it Jonathon's imagination, or were these ones tighter? They had to be a different brand, at least, because the other ones hadn't had an exposed waistband like that.

With a wee bit of effort, Jonathon managed to focus back on his phone, a little sheepish at exactly how completely the wolf was able to distract him.

'Mandy Vanderberg: OMG HOW IS IT GOING (6:38 pm)'

'Mandy Vanderberg: AAAAA WHAT IS UP TELL ME THINGS OMG (9:17 pm)'

'Mandy Vanderberg: Are you fucking him yet YOU BETTER GET READY TO TELL ME THE STORY MISTER (11:46 pm)'

Rolling his eyes, the raccoon chuckled a little as he deigned the cheetah girlie with a response.

'Jonathon Howard: He made me breakfast. (10:22 am)'

There, that should do for now! With a malicious grin, the raccoon watched his message send, and then hit back reflexively. No other new texts... After Mandy was Greyson, of course, in the list. The rat was always the first or second person, never lower than that, because they texted so much.

Jonathon found himself looking at the name. Greyson Durkheim.

Then, he looked up at Brad. He'd found his pants, finally, and was stuffing his boxers into them, grumbling about laundry.

Bradley Wilson.

What the hell?

'Jonathon Howard: So i havent told you yet but... i finally gots myself a boyfriend (10:24 am)'

'Jonathon Howard: And i think... its really going to work out. (10:39 am)'

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Just in case you somehow missed it, there will be no episodes posted until April 5th. I'm taking a break from publishing (though quite probably not from writing) FA. However, never fear: I will not take a break from posting in general! I have several things planned that I would like to do over my break, and I will try to keep you guys entertaned with FA goodness and things from other stories/universes!

Why the break? Several people have asked me this. The short answer is this: Guys, we are finally nearing the halfway point of this story. Not quite there yet, and I have shown a tendency to add episodes unexpectedly... but I'm anticipating that FA will be somewhere slightly over 60 episodes long, at the moment. It seems like a good time to take a break, story-wise and otherwise, and in truth, I wish I had taken a few more already. This will probably not be the last.

Also, as I have mentioned to several people, FA used to run on a buffer, where I would write an episode several weeks before publishing it. This buffer ran down over the course of last fall, and I haven't been able to replenish it. Taking a break from publishing will allow me to do that. I feel like when I have several unpublished episodes ready at once, I am much more prepared for unexpected events that throw me off of writing, and I'm able to do a greater amount of revising. I hold myself to very high quality standards, and while I am never anything less than pleased with the quality of an episode before I publish it, I feel like allowing myself more revisional 'breathing room' helps me turn out a better product.

So, there you have it. Again, the next episode of FA will not be posted until April 5th - if anyone says I did not warn them, I am smacking them in the face - and I will post a journal in a few days detailing some of the fun stuff I'm going to be doing over my break for you guys! Thanks very much for your readership; it means a great deal to me. I hope you enjoyed the episode.

:3