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THE SNOWSTORM (A WALTER FOX STORY)

(WARNING: The following story contains references to sexual activity between humans and sentient alien animals. Please do not read this if you are a minor or are offended by such material. But if neither is the case, enjoy.)

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story follows the stories "The Furry Sex Scandal" and "The Furry Sex Scandal: The Aftermath.")

How do you like cold, snowy winter weather, dear reader? Not at all? Then you and I have at least that much in common. Yes, as a fox-person, I do grow winter fur, but unfortunately the benefit of that is less than you might think. Also, I hate when my fur gets wet. This is why I have gotten into the habit of taking a set of wet-weather clothes with me wherever I travel, in case I abruptly encounter rainy weather. It is not only I who am happy when my fur stays dry. The odor that I emit when my fur gets wet is not liked by humans, and since most of us animal-people have a keener sense of smell than humans, you can imagine how bad the odor is for us. Unsurprisingly, even our earliest civilizations had developed clothing to keep our fur dry in wet weather.

I have previously described our everyday clothing of pajama-like tunic and trousers and sandals. For cold and wet weather we have hooded overcoats and boots, which are considered utilitarian wear and thus are in solid colors and undecorated. And yes, when we wear our overcoats we keep our tails inside. I must admit I have never understood why your human furry art, much of which has been created prior to your discovery of our planet and us animal-people, typically depicts anthropomorphic animals as dressing in human clothing and going barefoot all the time, even on very rocky or snowy ground, and having tails sticking out even through coats. To us animal-people, this simply looks ridiculous. Feet and tails need protection like every other part of our bodies. In fact, earlier this day I happened to see a human-drawn anthropomorphic animal cartoon showing the characters dressed in full winter clothes yet walking through snow in completely uncovered feet. As, just minutes before, I had been walking through cold, deep snow wearing warm boots and heavy socks and my feet still had gotten numb from cold, the pictures actually made me wince.

What I am writing about now, dear reader, is my unplanned fourth visit with Jim and Sammy Skunk since the latter's becoming an Earth citizen. The first one I had was when I first interviewed the two of them officially, and we reconciled with but not actually befriended each other. Before my intended second interview with them (standard procedure,) the famous incident where Sammy had ferociously fought a gang of thugs who had attacked them had occurred, and I met the two of them at the hospital, where Sammy admitted he had become so devoted to Jim that he would not want to live if Jim were to die. I met with them after Jim was released from the hospital, and was not scheduled to visit them again until the next year. But it was only months since that time when winter set in and I got caught in a heavy snowstorm en route back to PERC (Planet Earth Research Center) base, returning from a multi-day visit to a major state university campus. The weather report did predict snow, but I was not expecting the fierce snowstorm that struck as I drove down the highway.

I had also forgotten how treacherous driving was in such weather. Though salt and plow trucks came and tried their best to keep the roadways clear, the amount of snow falling was too much for them to keep up with, and road surfaces managed to get white anyway-and slippery. I failed to recognize this fact as I drove in a mostly straight line, with only easy curves to have to deal with, not realizing the low traction my car had on the road while I kept going forward. But I was rudely reminded of it when I encountered a sharper curve, and turned on it-only to discover the car kept going forward as I turned the steering wheel, and I hurriedly applied the brakes, which I hoped were the antilock type. Fortunately, I had had enough sense to drive slowly, so the car skidded and came to a stop just before I was about to strike the concrete barrier wall. It was a moment before I registered what had happened, and I was thankful no other vehicles were around me at that moment. I saw the headlights of cars some distance behind me, and I wanted to get going again before they caught up to where I was. I put my car into reverse and backed up, fearing I would end up being stuck, but fortunately that did not happen, and I was able to go forward with only a minimal amount of skidding.

I felt chastened after my near-accident, but that feeling soon faded as I realized it was late evening and I was feeling tired and sleepy, and kept telling myself that I needed to keep going and get back to PERC base as soon as possible. I still had a long way to go, and my desire to get back to PERC and into a warm, safe bed so I could finally sleep made me careless again. The highway had become straight again, and it lulled me into complacency. I saw the lights of traffic signals ahead, and recognized it as the last intersection I had to go through before I would drive another fifteen miles to reach PERC base. I waited too long and was going faster than I should have, before I applied the brake to stop behind the cars waiting in front of me-

And I kept going forward without slowing down! In sudden horror and panic, I started turning the steering wheel in a desperate attempt to avoid hitting the cars ahead of me. Then my car spun out of control, skidding upon the snow-covered road, and I suddenly froze and braced myself, unable to further control the car's movement and waiting for the inevitable impact.

But fortunately there was no impact. The car suddenly stopped sliding, coming to a rest in a position so that its front was facing the wrong way down the street, and I could see the headlights of approaching cars some distance away. I turned my head to look behind me to see that the cars which had been stopped had suddenly pulled forward across the stop line to avoid my striking them. They were now stopped in the middle of the intersection, and fortunately there was no cross traffic. The falling snow had eased up so that there was more visibility than earlier, and there were bright streetlights shining above the intersection, as well as two brightly-lit gas stations on either side of the street. I could see the people in the two cars I nearly hit looking back at me reproachfully, and even if they did not see me clearly, they must have still recognized who I was: the space alien fox-person sociologist Walter Fox, now well-known throughout Earth, who nearly caused an accident because he did not know how to handle his vehicle properly in snow.

I felt embarrassment beyond description, dear reader, and cringed at their glares. Only their foresight and quick action prevented me from crashing into them. And I was still facing the wrong was on the street, the approaching cars were getting closer, and the stoplights turned green, and the cars which had been in front of me drove away. I could imagine them thinking what a tremendous idiot this Walter Fox really was, and how foxes were supposed to be clever and this one was a careless nincompoop. Rather than stay in the ridiculous position on the road I was in, I turned towards the curb, drove up against it, then turned my wheels the other way, backed up, and was able to right myself. My sleepiness had gone for the moment, and I was anxious because the approaching cars were getting close. But instead of going on my way, I ended up turning right at the intersection and pulling to the side of the road. I simply did not want to drive further because I was too upset.

Then I had to figure out what to do next. I still had to drive fifteen more miles before I reached the road that would take me to PERC base, driving conditions were slow and treacherous, and I was tired and upset. I was in the outskirts of the city which was closest to PERC base. This city was our source of food and materials, as well as the place where Sammy Skunk and his gay human lover Jim were currently residing. I noted the irony of how Sammy Skunk was staying physically close to his old people even though he was exiled from them. But he stayed close primarily because our agreement with the Earthians was that we were still supposed to provide him with medical care as needed. I could imagine what it was like for him to occasionally go see people who never liked him when he was one of them, and who positively despised him now that he separated himself from his world. I was never his friend, either, but I took pity upon him for his being friendless and alone when he was at PERC, and had him come with me to a human furry convention. Then he fell in with a group of gay human furries, and the rest is history. I went through a great deal of trouble and trauma because of Sammy Skunk's irresponsibility, but luckily enough was still able to retain my job as a PERC sociologist and still go out among humans. I am less of a novelty than I was years ago, but many Earthians still pet me and pat me on the head. Fortunately I am used to such treatment. Some humans are less kind to me than that.

I was thinking of calling a nearby motel and staying for the night, the one I had used once before when the car I was driving at the time broke down. The one I had now was like the other vehicles provided to us at PERC, a decommissioned former government sedan, worn but still viable, modified by placing holes in the seat backs so our tails could go through, as well as extra navigation and tracking equipment. PERC base was a former military base, consisting of a few remaining buildings after most of the rest of the original structures had been demolished, and some new construction that the Director was able to wheedle from our human hosts. The former military base covered a wide area, but most of the land was unsafe due to contamination from chemicals and unexploded ordnance, so we never wandered out of the known safe zones. I cannot help but laugh at the science fiction stories where aliens land on a planet in spacecraft which contain everything they need. Everyone at PERC has to depend on whatever resources and equipment the Earthians are willing to give us, and most of the equipment is castoff at that.

When I used my portable phone to call the motel mentioned earlier, the person who said "Hello" had a familiar voice. But it was not the voice of a human desk clerk, but that of none other than Sammy Skunk himself! Despite his living on Earth among humans for the past several years, his voice still carried the distinctive accent we animal-people with our nonhuman mouths have. "Walter! Is that you?" he asked.

I was speechless for a moment, and then looked at the display screen on my portable phone. I had dialed the number of Sammy and Jim's apartment by mistake! What stupidity would I commit next? "Walter?" continued Sammy, "Are you all right? Are you in trouble? Shall I call for help?"

"No, no, I'm fine," I replied, finding my voice. "I'm so sorry, Sammy. I called your number by mistake."

"Oh," said Sammy. "You're sure you're not in any trouble?"

"I'm okay, honestly. I'm in town, and on my way back to PERC. Sorry to have disturbed you. By the way, how did you know it was me before I said anything?"

"Caller ID. And I'm always happy to hear from you. But you sound like you're tired. And the weather outside is horrible. I don't think you should be driving back to PERC in this weather. You're welcome to stay with us overnight."

"Actually," I told him, "I was planning to check into the local motel and spend the night there. But thanks for the offer."

"Oh, please stay with us," Sammy insisted. "We'd be honored to have you over, and besides, you won't have to spend PERC money on a motel room and have the Director get on your back over that. We'll even prepare you a nice breakfast tomorrow morning."

"I can't impose on you like that," I said.

"But we want you to visit us," Sammy replied, a hint of pleading in his voice. "I want to see you in a non-interview mode. Is it wrong for me to ask that of you?"

At that moment I felt like I should have been displayed in an exhibition with a sign that said, "WALTER-THE LEAST CLEVER FOX IN THE UNIVERSE." I should have known better than to mention to Sammy Skunk that I was nearby. Of course I was hardly obligated to accept his offer to visit them, and I was hardly friends with either one of them. But Sammy's tone indicated that he really wanted me to visit him, and I could understand why. My job did obligate me to interview him annually, and I was sent to visit him at the time he and Jim had been assaulted, and gave him comfort in his time of distress. Becoming an Earth citizen so he could spend his life with Jim, he cut himself off from his own people and his native world. When he was at PERC, he was unpopular, and I was the only one who took pity upon him. Now that he was an expatriate, I was made the liaison between him and his former compatriots. I was the only one of his people now who would look upon him without utter hostility; my job required me to be civil even to utterly despicable people, and while I disliked Sammy, he was hardly a monster. Also, the agreement with the Earthians I previously mentioned stipulated that PERC could still call upon him, and he was obligated to help us, if there were an emergency situation and PERC had dire need of his services. Such a situation has yet to occur, of course, but there was always the possibility. He was PERC's mathematician and thoroughly knew all our computer systems, having programmed everything. It would be a bad idea for us to offend him.

"I'll have to get permission from the Director," I told him. "I'll come by if he says yes."

"Okay," said Sammy, and he hung up. Then I called the Director and explained my situation.

"I was wondering where the fuck you've been," was his response. "Why didn't you leave the university sooner?"

"I wish I could have, but I couldn't," I replied, which was the truth.

"Then maybe you should have stayed another night there," he suggested unhelpfully.

"I should have," I replied, "but I thought I could make it back in time. I goofed."

The Director smirked. "If you ever manage to get through a day without fucking up, I'll faint from shock. I guess it means we'll have to pay for a motel room for you tonight."

"No, it doesn't."

"You're not driving any further in this weather! You'd get into an accident in half a mile!" I felt a wave of embarrassment as the Director said this; I had not told him about my near-collision at the intersection. "Go to the motel where you stayed last time and check out a room! That is an order!"

"Wait, you don't understand. Of course I won't try to get back to base; I know I won't make it. What happened was...I did try to call the motel and accidentally dialed the telephone number of Jim and Sammy Skunk. He offered for me to stay with them during the night!"

It must have been a whole minute before the Director responded. "Well, in that case, you should be polite and accept their offer."

This was the last thing I expected to hear. "What, there's some problem at PERC, and you need Sammy Skunk's services to fix it?" I asked him, surprised.

"You're the biggest problem PERC has, and you need Sammy Skunk to help you because you obviously can't take care of yourself. So call him and tell him you're going to stay with him, and you can come back to PERC tomorrow morning. You can make life miserable for him instead of me tonight."

"But you already ordered me to check into the motel."

"That order is rescinded. Go stay with Sammy Skunk and Jim tonight. I hope you have a fun visit."

The Director was clearly in one of his moods, and I was all too happy to be with Sammy Skunk and Jim-or with anyone else in the Universe-that evening. I called Sammy back and told him the Director had given his authorization for me to visit him. Sammy sounded very pleased that I would be visiting him after all, though I suspected that he knew that the Director was making me do so out of spite.

But if the Director thought I dreaded the prospect of visiting Sammy Skunk, dear reader, he was wrong. I actually did want to see him and his homosexual lover at an unguarded time, when they would not be prepared for an official interview from me. I was responsible, at least in part, for Sammy's situation, and I have never been quite certain how Sammy Skunk really felt about leaving his people and bonding with a space alien, not even after my multiple interviews with them. Though he had consistently told me he was happy where he was and had no regrets about what he had done, and he gave me no indication he was lying, I admit I could never quite bring myself to truly believe it. I wanted to see how things actually were with them, up close and personal. And tonight was my opportunity.

I did not have too far to drive, but the snowstorm made it very difficult and unpleasant. I nearly got stuck going up the driveway to the apartment building's parking area. It was a small parking lot, with a multi-bay garage for the tenants and several open spaces for visitors. All the latter were empty, so I pulled into one and shut off the engine. I could tell the lot had been plowed once already, but already it was full of snow again. It would be a big task for me to dig my car out again the next morning.

Fortunately I had placed my luggage in the back seat of my sedan, rather than in the trunk, so getting it out was not such a problem. I secured the car and trudged to the back entrance of the apartment building, and Sammy Skunk, who was waiting inside, swung open the door as I got near. "Come in, Walter," he said, and I did.

I was cold inside the unheated back hallway, and Sammy had dressed himself in winter clothes, though he had not been outside, as they were dry. Then I noted he was carrying a whisk broom, which he used to brush the snow off my clothes and luggage. I was happy to see him already; I would not have gotten such service at PERC, or at a motel room I would have rented. He then took one of my bags, and I followed him upstairs to where his apartment was, and went inside.

The place was much like I remembered from last time, with the furniture arranged differently, and one or two new pieces added. It was still covered with all sorts of furry decorations, including some pictures of myself-the latter making me a bit uncomfortable, knowing the proclivities of Jim, its human occupant. In fact, he was standing in front of me, dressed in warm clothes, and he was wearing shoes and socks this time. He smiled and greeted me in the words of my native language, pronouncing them with surprising accuracy. I was stunned for a moment, and then I heard Sammy tell me, "I've taught Jim a bit about our world and its customs."

Then I gave Jim the appropriate response, before repeating the process with Sammy. This was my world's welcome for casual friends, and I had never received it from an Earthian before, nor had I any anticipation that I would be so greeted by Jim and Sammy Skunk. Did they want something from me, or from PERC, and were trying to butter me up? But it was I who was asking a favor from them, having them put me up for the night on a moment's notice. And Sammy had indicated concern that I might have been in trouble when I had accidentally called him.

I believe that Sammy at least genuinely wanted to be friends with me; I was the one who visited him after he and Jim had been attacked by the thugs and his lover's life had been in jeopardy. Of course I visited Sammy Skunk on the Director's orders rather than my own accord, and I did not really want to see Sammy at the time, but when I got there and saw how distraught he was, I could not help feeling deep sympathy for him; only the absolutely hardhearted could not have done so. It was the time he announced to the world that if Jim were to die, he would have nothing to live for as well. It was clear that he really meant it, and the news spread among the Earthians life wildfire. Sammy Skunk had become a folk hero to the people of Earth; a sentient pet totally devoted to his master, who would fight savagely for him, and would die with him. Needless to say, there were plenty of humans who wanted to adopt me (or any other animal-person) as their pet, which made it almost impossible for me to do research until after the fuss eventually died down. Before that incident, there were a number of people who did not like the idea of a human and a space alien who resembled an Earthian lower animal living together; afterwards, hardly anyone complained. Who could object to someone keeping around a creature who was so devoted to them? The idea that the two of them might have a sexual relationship was quickly forgotten.

Of course, everyone at PERC, and a number of Earthian authorities, knew the truth, but as Sammy Skunk was now an Earth citizen, it was his legal right to have sex with any human who consented to do it with him, and there were a number who did. What was the point in anyone objecting? I did not, except that what truly made me uncomfortable about the relationship between Sammy Skunk and Jim was less that they were homosexual male lovers, nor even the fact that they were different beings from two different worlds, but the uncertainty as to whether Sammy Skunk was genuinely homosexual, or whether he was essentially prostituting himself in return for Jim's affection. Even Sammy himself was unable to answer the question when I posed it to him during our last interview.

But even if that were the case, there was nothing for me to do about it. Sammy made his choice; he would have to live with the consequences. And he certainly seemed far happier, and was definitely far nicer, than he had been when he was one of my PERC colleagues. He also showed no sign of being frightened or intimidated, and if he had been I certainly would have picked that up by now.

"Let me take your coat and boots, Walter," said Sammy, pulling me out of my reverie.

I pulled down my hood and unbuttoned and slipped out of my winter coat, then unbuckled and removed my rubber snow over boots. Underneath I wore everyday winter clothes, which is our standard pajama outfits, only in thicker material, and socks and sandals. Today's clothes were red and blue with black zigzag patterns. Sammy took my winter clothes to the bathroom, and then came out having removed his own. His everyday clothes were green and dark blue with black spiral patterns, which reminded me of those on my own favorite outfit. Though Sammy was in the habit of going barefoot whenever possible, this time he had his sandals and socks on.

"Would you like something to eat or drink, Walter?" asked Jim.

"I'll just have some water," I replied.

"That's all? Nothing else?"

"I've already had dinner, thank you," I said, being still uncomfortable from the big dinner I had at the roadhouse restaurant I often patronized during my travels from PERC base. Jim went to the refrigerator and brought out a pitcher of filtered water, which I drank gratefully.

"So," said Sammy, "how are things with you?"

"Wonderful," I quipped, "any time I'm not under the Director's nose is a great day."

The others laughed, and Sammy added, "If you wanted to, we'd be happy to let you reside with us. Unfortunately, our place isn't big enough to accommodate the entire PERC staff."

We were all laughing helplessly. Sammy Skunk was an asshole in his own right when he was at PERC, though he has definitely changed for the better since he became an Earthian. Perhaps he just needed love and affection, which he told me he hardly received when he was growing up. But the Director is married and has his wife at PERC, though she mostly stays in her quarters and rarely mingles with the rest of us. I always wondered what sort of relationship she and her husband have. But I spend so much time away from PERC base that I know relatively little about how things go on there.

"So, what have you been up to lately, if we may ask?" asked Jim.

"Well," I began, and told them in general terms of my various travels, including the university trip I just returned from. It was a sociological conference, more of a goodwill trip than anything else, and on the last day I visited with students who wanted to meet the famous space alien fox-person. I was pleased that most of them were not "furries," or humans who were particularly into anthropomorphic animals, and I say this not to denigrate this group of people, but to make the point that humans are finally starting to view me not as a novelty or cartoon character, but as a sentient person like themselves. Remember, dear reader, that on my home world I am just as ordinary and banal as a human being is on Earth.

But my conversation was not too long, as I was obviously tired and it was already late in the evening. I wanted to lie down more than anything else, and it must have been obvious to the others. Looking at his watch, Jim said, "Say, it's time for the evening news, so maybe we should put it on? They'll be talking about the snowstorm."

"Sure, good idea," I replied, wanting an excuse to not keep talking any longer.

He went to turn on his living room computer, a deluxe model with a huge video screen. Switching to live news, the reporters talked about the storm. There were several major accidents mentioned, and I momentarily worried that my near-accident was about to make the news. But then I realized that there would be little reason for that to happen, or even for the humans I nearly collided with to bother reporting that incident to anybody. They looked angrily at me when they saw me, but I am certain that they were merely annoyed at my carelessness than actually hostile toward me because of my being an animal-person.

The news showed the usual stories about how various people were coping with the snowstorm, and the weathercasters were saying that it would stop by tomorrow morning. "Good thing we have a garage," remarked Jim.

"But we'll still have to get through the lot," Sammy replied to him, "and Walter had to park outside. We'll have to dig him out."

"Oh, don't trouble yourselves," I told them. "I've got snow tools, I can do it myself. I don't have to be back at PERC base at any specific time, but you'll have to be at your jobs."

"But we want to make sure you get out safely," said Sammy. "We don't want you to take the chance that you might get stuck and have to bother the Director instead."

"That would be my problem," I replied. "The Director was the one who told me to stay the night with you in the first place."

The others looked dismayed as I realized to my embarrassment what I had implied to them. "Oh, I don't object to staying the night with you," I added quickly. "I'm sure you wouldn't, er, you know."

"No, of course not," Sammy replied equally quickly, giving a slight laugh in response. "All we're going to do tonight is sleep. We'll need it."

Jim gave a yawn. "You can say that again," he said. "If you're ready, Walter, so are we. You need to use the bathroom first?"

I did, and I closed the bathroom door tightly and locked it before I took my trousers down to use the toilet. Even though I was certain that their intentions were entirely honorable and neither of them would attempt to ogle my private parts, I felt better by doing so. I have experienced too many sexual come-ons by gay human furries, and I remembered the pictures of me that I had seen in the living room.

Perhaps I should finally tell you how bathrooms are on our world. They are roughly similar to Earthian ones, with bathing facilities and toilets in one special room. Small standard bathrooms include a bathtub, toilet, and sink. But we animal-people do not take standing showers like you humans, for those of us with fur and feathers cannot wash ourselves so quickly and easily as you bare-skinned humans can, and we typically bathe once every several days rather than daily. We also have a greater range of body sizes than you humans, so our bathtubs are designed accordingly.

Our toilets look like a cross between an Earthian urinal and a sit-down toilet, shaped rather like a hollow banana. Unlike you human males with your soft, flexible penises, many of us male animal-people have a sheathed penis and an internal bone, which makes it impossible for us to adjust the aim of our urine streams the way you can, unless we were to unsheathe ourselves, which is out of the question in most situations. When urinating, we stand over the toilet facing the back, taking aim at the vertical channel in the back. Females do the same, only they typically aim for the horizontal channel.

When defecating, we raise our tails and face forward. We do not sit on the toilet itself, but rather stand just above it, holding on to handrails attached to the floor on each side of the toilet. All toilets are installed with handrails and privacy partitions on each side of them; it was quite a shock for me when I first saw the lack of them around toilets in single-person bathrooms. Even worse was finding out you were supposed to actually sit on the toilet, and so many toilet seats are messy! (Ugh!) Large public bathrooms on our world have large partitions and doors like those on Earth, but unlike Earth, even home bathroom toilets have privacy partitions on each side, though smaller and with no front doors.

As with Earthian facilities, our toilets flush with water to empty and rinse the bowl after use, and we also use toilet paper, though ours is dispensed in square sheets rather than from a continuous roll. But our toilets also add a disinfectant/deodorizing chemical to the flush water, a definite necessity as our musk and personal scent is more noticeable to our sensitive noses, and when a female in season uses a toilet her scent can be disconcerting to a male of a similar species. Also, on our world we do not have segregated bathrooms for males and females like on Earth; both genders share the same bathrooms, public or private. This fact has led to one of the many very embarrassing experiences I had when I first came to Earth and went out into human society.

The former Earthian military base that PERC was billeted into was of course equipped with toilets and urinals made for humans. We animal-people can use them, once we are taught how, and by now I am quite accustomed to urinating in human urinals and sitting on human toilets, and in a pinch I can sit on a human toilet and lean forward to urinate. We have purposely not tried to remodel our quarters to resemble what buildings on our world looked like; we lacked the time and resources to do so anyway, and we wanted to make sure we remembered that we are not on our own planet. But we did make a few modifications, among them the removal of the seats from the toilets, in place of which we installed specially-made adapter pieces to make the toilets shaped more like our own, along with the necessary modifications to the plumbing. We also had handrails installed on the sides of each booth; fortunately those were readily available. Of course we had no supply of the special disinfectant chemical our toilets use, and the Director could not convince the Earthians to manufacture such a chemical for us, so we made the ironic decision to follow the Earthian practice of having males and females use separate bathrooms!

The toilet used by Sammy Skunk and Jim had its seat removed and the adapter piece and modified plumbing added, courtesy of PERC, and handrails designed for handicapped people were installed on each side of the toilet. I wondered how Jim was able to use a toilet that was modified for use by us animal-people, but evidently he somehow managed. Another reason I was glad I ended up at their place instead of at the motel was that using this toilet was so much more comfortable to me.

After using the toilet, I washed my hands at the sink with soap (yes, we share that practice with you Earthians,) and went outside, where the others had been waiting their turn at the toilet. Jim went in first, and I was curious to see how he managed to use a toilet adapted for our kind but of course I was not going to look. There are some things a sociologist does not do.

And then I remembered that I was there as a guest, not on official business. I was not playing my role as a sociologist, I was to be nice and polite to them because they were so kind as to put me up for the night and save me the trouble and expense of checking into a motel instead. Sammy Skunk seemed anxious for me to visit him, though I was not really his friend and he knew it. But I was the only one of his kind who would talk to him, let alone go near him and touch him. Was he in need of contact with another animal-person? Was there something special he wanted to tell me, or PERC? He had left his people to be with Jim. Did he now regret it? How was their relationship now? He was ready to die if Jim had also died when the thugs had attacked them. Did he still feel this way?

We animal-people can form very strong emotional bonds, perhaps stronger than those humans can form. (Or perhaps humans can form such bonds, dear reader. I honestly would not know, not being human myself.) Sammy obviously formed such a bond with Jim. But did Jim reciprocate such feelings? Did he take in Sammy Skunk because of mutual love, or did Jim simply feel compelled to do so out of obligation? Does Jim view Sammy Skunk as a pet, or a toy?

Perhaps I am being unfair to Jim, dear reader. He did adopt Sammy Skunk and take him into his household when it would have been far more convenient for him not to. He has faced strong social pressures (including physical attack) as a result of having a space alien skunk-person live with him. But they still live together, and Jim has yet to show any sign of resentment about Sammy Skunk's presence. Certainly Jim had some sort of emotional attachment to Sammy, or else he never would have put up with the liabilities of having him around for as long as he had.

Jim came out, and Sammy went in. "We're about to go to bed," said Jim, "So we need to change into bedtime clothes. You want to go first?"

Silly me, I had completely forgotten about undressing for bed. "Why don't you go first?" I suggested. "I've got to get my things out of my luggage."

I went back to the apartment's front entrance, where my bags had been left. I opened one and removed my sleep shorts, deciding I would reuse today's clothes for my drive back to PERC. It would be time for me to bathe anyway the moment I got back, and I would change into fresh clothes after that. I waited until Sammy had left the bathroom, and then went back in to change into my sleep shorts. When I emerged, carrying my clothes, Sammy had also changed into sleep shorts, and I saw Jim dressed in flannel pajamas. I wondered if they were wearing those for my benefit and normally slept naked together, but I had no intention of asking them that.

Sammy looked at Jim, who walked into the bedroom. I was expecting Sammy to follow him, but instead he stayed and turned toward me. I knew already that Sammy wanted to talk to me privately. "Um, Walter, we can get the sofa ready for you," he said rather quietly. "But what I wanted...and please don't interpret this the wrong way..."

"What?" I replied, feeling uncomfortable.

"I was hoping you might possibly join us in bed," he replied, obviously embarrassed to ask. "It's plenty comfortable for three." In response to my expression, he added quickly, "And no, I definitely don't mean for sex. Just to have you with me, nothing more."

I was stunned by this request. Of course I did not think he was hitting up on me, and that he genuinely wanted nothing more from me than my presence. But why would he want it when he had his lover Jim? "Um," I asked awkwardly, "are the two of you having problems?"

"Oh, no, no, not at all," was his hurried response. "It's nothing like that. We still love each other very much, and still enjoy each other's company, don't get the wrong idea." His tone and mannerisms convinced me he was telling the truth. "It's just that, well..."

Sammy hesitated, as if he was about to reveal a longtime secret and was unsure how to go about it. "All right. I love Jim, I still enjoy being with him, and if I had to give up all other sentient company to be with him, I wouldn't hesitate to do it. I have no regrets about cutting all ties to my home world to be with him; after all, he gave me love and kindness, which I got precious little of from my own kind. Nothing personal, Walter."

I understood; Sammy told me of his loveless home life and lifelong unpopularity among his fellow animal-people in the past, and I doubt he was lying. Everyone at PERC, including me, found him weird and annoying, and I am the sort of person who gets along with everybody. I pitied him enough to take him with me to a human furry convention, which eventually led to the situation he was in now. As a result he formed a sort of emotional bond with me, though it was not really friendship. I was a confidant to him, to tell intimate secrets to. Being a sociologist who has heard many intimate secrets from many different people, I guess I am an appropriate person for this role.

"I know you don't like me much, and I understand. And what I ask of you I realize is very presumptuous to ask. If you refuse, I understand. But I was hoping you would lie in bed with me, just for one night."

"Instead of Jim?" I asked.

"No, I thought all three of us could share the bed, but if you don't want him around, he'll go sleep on the sofa."

"I think he'd likely resent it," I replied sardonically.

"Oh, no, he won't. I don't mind when Jim has other lovers, and he doesn't mind if I do the same. I'm not asking you to be my lover, of course."

"I know that," I said with a hint of exasperation.

"And you won't have to worry about Jim hitting up on you. He knows he's not supposed to, and I would be very upset with him if he did. And I mean very seriously upset."

"You'd walk out on him?" I asked incredulously.

"Of course not!" This time it was Sammy's turn to be exasperated. "I left my world to be with him, remember? But he would be coming home every day to a lover who was sore at him, which would not be a pleasant prospect." Then he smiled. "But don't worry, Jim isn't a sexual predator. I was the one who initiated sex with him, not the other way around. I've never seen him hit up upon anybody unless he was sure the other person was willing. So you're safe, he knows you're off limits."

"So why do you want me to lie in bed with you?"

Sammy turned sullen. "All right, this is going to require some explanation. I've never had any sort of intimate contact with another animal-person, not since my sister died when I was a child. My relatives never hugged me; I've never had any lovers or any real friends among my own kind. It's not an absolute necessity for me, but I want to know what it's like to have another one of my kind lie down next to me. All I've had were humans."

"You're tired of having humans for company?"

Sammy turned sardonic. "Oh, not at all, considering that they've been for the most part far nicer to me than most of my own kind have been." Then he must have realized how he sounded, for he suddenly looked embarrassed and added, "I'm sorry. That was unfair of me to say that. It's as much my fault I've been unpopular as much as anyone else's. I guess I never got interested in making friends. I was so accustomed to being alone I couldn't imagine being any other way. I never fit in anywhere. I never tried to. I didn't care if people liked me or not."

"So you feel differently nowadays?"

"I feel differently about a lot of things. I never knew what it was like to have someone to come home to who was concerned about me, or whom I cared about. I lacked any desire to have sex, and now I've had a lot of that, in a number of different ways. I hated being touched, and now I enjoy being hugged and cuddled.

"And that's my desire. I want to lie down next to another animal-person, and why not you? You're lonely at PERC, aren't you? You're still bitter over your failed marriage, even though it was years ago? I do want to make you happy. I realize that in the past, I tried to please you by offering you sexual favors and I realize that that was a stupid mistake. I won't do that now, but I do want to offer you the comfort of another warm body to lie against, of someone who won't try to have sex with you."

"Tell me, Sammy," I asked sardonically, "what if I did want to have sex with you, after all?"

"Oh, I wouldn't hesitate to accommodate you," he replied seriously. "Neither Jim nor I would say anything, of course. We know you're not homosexual, and that you would just want another warm body to use as a receptacle for your sexual urges. You want me to give you a blowjob, or you want to put your cock in my ass, give the word and I'll satisfy your desire."

"I'm sorry," I said, suddenly very embarrassed. "It was wrong of me to ask you that."

"Oh, I'm not offended," Sammy replied. "I like you, even if you don't like me, and I offered you sexual favors not to be a whore, but to make you happy. I may be a swinger, but Jim and I are still quite careful of who we have as sexual partners, for obvious reasons. In any case, I realize you don't want to have sex with me, and I understand. Even if you wanted to, it would be much too great a risk for you to take, with your career at PERC already teetering on the edge. But please, come and lie down next to me. That alone would make me very happy."

I still could have refused, but I realized how badly he wanted me to, and while I did not actually like Sammy Skunk, I did not want to displease him, either. If for no other reason, there are things I have written into my laptop computer that, if they were to be publicly revealed, would definitely end my career at PERC and probably my career as a sociologist. The computer into which I am writing this account is encryption-protected and would take someone with great mathematical skills to break into. Sammy Skunk is one such person. I also admit, dear reader, that unlike everybody else at PERC, I do not actually despise Sammy Skunk. He had a lonely, unhappy life, and considering that he finally got love and companionship from Jim, who am I to criticize Sammy for wanting to be with him, even at the cost of breaking away from his world? Yet I suppose he did not want to completely isolate himself from his former people, and that was why he wanted me around.

"All right," I said, and followed Sammy into the bedroom. The bed, located in the middle of the room, was a queen size (how appropriate), big enough to accommodate all three of us. Jim was already in bed, lying toward the left side, and was surprised to see both of us heading toward him. Sammy moved the covers and climbed in, then slid himself into the middle, leaving a space for me. Sammy turned to his surprised lover with a brief smile, and then looked toward me. To Sammy's satisfaction and Jim's surprise, I climbed into the bed as well.

Let me pause to mention that we animal-people do not normally sleep lengthwise on a bed like you humans do. We typically curl up when we sleep the way our four-legged counterparts do, and as a result our beds tend to be square or round in shape, not rectangular like human beds. Rather than being on a raised frame above the floor, our mattresses are placed on a framework that sits on the floor, and in most cases said framework is a cabinet containing a large drawer typically used for the occupant's personal items. Our mattresses have fitted cloth covers, of course, but we animal-people don't normally cover ourselves with blankets or sheets except when it is very cold. PERC is equipped with Earthian beds, of course, but we animal-people sleep on them in our traditional manner. Of course I sleep on many different types of Earthian beds when I travel. Fortunately most of them are big enough so that curling up on them is no problem for me. But now, I was lying in bed with two other people, and had only space to lie down straight. I was unused to this, but I noticed that Sammy Skunk was doing so as if he were accustomed to it.

It also occurred to me that it had been years since I last occupied a bed with anyone else at all, not since my marriage mentioned previously had fallen apart. And now I was in bed with two male homosexual lovers, which until now I had never imagined I would ever do-and I was doing it by my own choice, not because I was compelled to. This was not in violation of PERC regulations, as long as I avoided sexual contact with my bedmates. I did not even have to specifically mention this to the Director, though I would the next day. His reaction would be a joy to see, especially since he ordered me to spend the night with them in the first place.

Jim's surprised reaction to my presence in his bed was a pleasure in its own right. "Oh, I'm sorry, am I taking too much space?" I inquired lightly. "I'll go move to the sofa."

"Oh, no, stay where you are," replied Jim. "I can move to the sofa if you prefer."

Sammy sat up and placed his hands atop each of us. "Look, I want both of you here with me, okay? Please just lie down, both of you, there's definitely room for everybody, and I don't want to hear any arguing. You got that?"

I lay back down, shocked to see Sammy so assertive with us. Was he the dominant member of the relationship? Though he was an alien to this planet, naturalized Earth citizen or no, he was a coveted prize for human furries, many if not most of whom were aware of the true relationship between him and Jim-and Jim was unique in being the only human furry to have a real animal-person as a lover. A few other lucky people might get the chance for the company of Sammy Skunk, but Jim was the one he was attached to. Of course, though Jim was technically Sammy Skunk's sponsor, he did not actually have him as a pet or slave, and Sammy Skunk could choose to walk out on Jim at any time, and live on his own, or find a new lover-and there were plenty of candidates for those.

But while skunks were reasonably popular among the furry community, the most popular animals by far are wolves and foxes. Being a fox-person, dear reader, you cannot imagine how many human furries want me for a lover! Too bad I am unavailable. I admit I am uncertain as to why. Perhaps wolves are such because they resemble some types of domesticated dogs, but why foxes? My theory is that our coloring looks pretty to humans. I have the standard red fox orange and white with black lower limbs coloring, and I have come to the conclusion that orange fur is simply aesthetically pleasing to humans. I have noticed that orange cats are the most frequently adopted by humans in shelters and pet stores. Foxes also have a reputation among humans for cunning-but unfortunately I do not live up to said reputation very well, as you might have guessed, dear reader.

I saw that Sammy had turned so that he was looking toward me instead of Jim, who was snuggling along his back. I had left a space between myself and them on the bed. "Walter," said Sammy, "I think it'll be a lot more comfortable for you if you moved closer in."

"I'm quite happy where I am, thank you," I replied.

"Walter, please." There was a hint of plaintiveness in Sammy's voice, and it was obvious he wanted me to actually move close enough to lie against him. He may not have desired sex, but he definitely wanted body contact with me.

Let me pause again, dear reader, to point out another aspect of our culture. We animal-people are not only less inhibited about touching one another, but it is even quite acceptable-and commonly practiced-for two or more of us to sleep together and huddle against one another. This is not necessarily sexual or even bonding behavior, but rather a survival behavior. Huddling together is sometimes necessary for warmth or protection, and even animal-people who may dislike one another will huddle together during sleep for these reasons. Though my estranged twin brother and I were never particularly close, all our growing-up years we would sleep curled up against each other, unless it were too warm for that, simply because that is how things are done on our world. In my military days, members of our unit slept huddled together in a single tent, as is the practice of every other military force in our world. An unfortunate aspect of Earthian culture is that adult humans cannot huddle together without it being construed as sexual behavior. At PERC, lesser-ranking members huddle together in common rooms, while senior members such as me get our own rooms. My assistants-there are now four of them-get their own room, and huddle together when they sleep. I sleep alone because I travel a lot and keep odd hours due to the nature of my work, so I never am certain when I go to bed or wake up. My assistants travel as well, but less than I do. And I realized why Sammy wanted to huddle with me. He missed out on it during his lifetime. I was missing out on it, too, so I agreed to join him.

And though I was occupying the same bed as Sammy Skunk, I was avoiding touching him and had refused his request to huddle with him. There was unmistakable hurt in Sammy's expression as he looked toward me, and I suddenly felt guilty. After all, I had agreed to join him in bed, rather than sleep separately on the sofa, and it was quite rude of me to keep my distance from him. Ashamed of myself, I quickly slid in closer and pressed my body hard against Sammy's, looking into his eyes and hoping my expression was sufficiently remorseful. Evidently it was, for the hurt left Sammy's expression and he looked quite pleased, and he wrapped his arms around my body and hugged me tightly. Huddling together is not necessarily supposed to involve hugging and affection, but after having previously hurting his feelings I was hardly about to object. Looking past Sammy, I saw Jim look toward us uncertainly.

He started to sit up and ask, "Uh, do you want me to..."

But Sammy quickly let go of me, sat up himself, and pushed Jim back down as he said, "I want you to stay exactly where you are. Or is there anything wrong?"

"Oh, no, no," replied Jim quickly. "I thought this was a private moment between you two."

"If it were, would we be having it right in bed with you? Or is there something else the matter?"

"No, nothing's the matter. I just wasn't expecting you two to, well..."

I decided to step in. "We're not becoming lovers. I'm just letting Sammy know that yes, I am quite willing to huddle with him, which is quite normal and common among us animal-people."

"That's nice of you," replied Jim with a hint of sarcasm.

"Actually, it is," Sammy shot back. "I abandoned my world and my people, and they have every reason to consider me a traitor and a pariah. Walter here is being quite generous to me in spite of this, so you should thank him for being so kind."

"Um, sorry Walter," Jim told me awkwardly.

"That's quite all right," I replied. "Can we just go to sleep already? I'm tired."

So Sammy lay down, facing toward me, and I lay down against him, facing him and Jim, who huddled against Sammy's back, facing me. Jim also put an arm around Sammy's body, but Sammy and I did not put arms around each other-only close friends or lovers do that. Ours was the proper two person huddle, where we just lay against each other for warmth. Sammy was quite happy to have my body against him, but he showed no sign of sexual arousal. Having personal contact with another of his kind in spite of everything was happiness enough for him. And I admit that I was happy just to have someone else to huddle with, which I had not experienced in years.

I was falling asleep as Sammy Skunk and I lay against each other, and I assumed the three of us were through with everything for the day and we would sleep through the night until morning, but that was not to be the case. I noted Jim getting out of bed and going to the bathroom, and I expected him to simply rejoin us afterward. But I was in for a rude shock. One flash of silver-blue light suddenly appeared from the direction of the foot of the bed, then another. Before I had time to react, I felt as if Sammy had been suddenly ripped from my side. I turned to face the foot of the bed, and saw in the darkness Sammy violently pulling something from Jim's grasp. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Sammy half-shouted angrily. (I suspect it was the fact that we were in an apartment building and that there were other people around that prevented Sammy from screaming outright. Score one for Sammy Skunk; he had more self-control even when infuriated than I had given him credit for.)

"I-I was just taking pictures..." Jim replied nervously.

"What are you trying to do, ruin Walter?" Sammy spoke more quietly, but rage was definitely in his voice, and I probably was as frightened as Jim must have been at that moment.

"No, no, of course not!" Even in the darkness, I could see Jim cowering before his shorter and smaller, but definitely faster and stronger, roommate. "I saw the two of you huddling together, and the sight look so cute, I couldn't resist preserving the sight!"

Sammy gave an exasperated hiss. "How could you be so stupid? I'm an outcast from PERC, and from my world! And Walter's career as a sociologist is already on the line because of what we've done! How do you think the Director and everyone else at PERC would react if they saw the two of us huddling together?"

"But you had told me it was normal among you animal-people, and not considered sexual!"

"Of course it is, but that's not my point! Do you think it's going to look good at PERC for Walter to be seen getting so intimate with me, an outcast from their group? Walter was lucky to keep his job and not get kicked off Earth last time! You think he's going to be so lucky next time? And besides, what if other humans see the pictures? You know they'll take it the wrong way!"

Jim drooped. "B-but I only meant it for us..."

"You think other people might not see the pictures? We can't take that kind of chance! Now we've got to destroy them before they can do any damage."

Jim seemed relieved. "Oh, they're easily erased. Here..." He reached for the camera, but Sammy pulled it away.

"Unfortunately, it is still possible that the images might remain in the memory even after erasure, and I don't want to take even that chance. We're going to have to destroy this camera completely."

"Oh, no," groaned Jim. "That's my best camera, and it cost me a fortune! Do we really have to?"

"Yes, we really have to," replied Sammy acidly. "We've already damaged Walter's position at PERC; I'm not going to take even the slightest chance that we might ruin it completely!"

Then Sammy went to the dresser, opened the top drawer, and rummaged through it briefly before pulling out what looked like a credit card. He then stormed over to Jim and thrust the card at him. "Here," said Sammy, still maintaining his acid voice, "you can use my credit card to buy yourself a new camera. And while you're at it, you'd better buy yourself some brains as well. You're clearly in need of them!"

This proved to be too much for Jim, and he bolted from the bedroom. Seconds later, from another part of the apartment, I heard sobbing. At that, I got out of bed. "What's the matter?" asked Sammy.

"I wish I never came here," I moaned. "I ruined your relationship with Jim."

"None of this was your fault, Walter," Sammy replied, in a more soothing voice. "It was Jim who was the idiot."

"I still feel terrible," I shot back, not reassured. "What if I hadn't come here tonight? Or..." I paused before adding, "Is your relationship with Jim falling apart anyway? Are you fighting like this all the time?"

"Are you suddenly a marriage counselor?"

"Sammy..." My own voice became acidic.

"All right, that was uncalled for," replied Sammy after a pause. "No, this whole situation is an aberration. We never had a fight like this before."

"And I caused it."

"Enough already!" Now I was getting Sammy angry. "Jim did something very stupid, and it pissed me off, so don't you do the same. Don't worry, I'm not going to leave Jim, or refuse to sleep with him again. But right now, let's worry about destroying this camera. You know as well as I do people are going to take the pictures of us huddling the wrong way, so we can't take any chances. Let's go in the workroom."

"Workroom?"

"What we use the other bedroom for. Come on."

Sammy led me into the other bedroom, and I winced as he turned on the lights. The room was filled with file cabinets, shelves of books, folders, and stacks of papers, and computer equipment. Sammy was of course PERC's mathematician, and he undoubtedly still worked in that field as an Earth citizen, being not only adept in the mathematical system of his former world, but able to very quickly learn the much different mathematical system of Earth. I was uncertain about Jim's exact profession, and even if I were I would not be allowed to reveal it.

Sammy went into the closet and brought out a toolbox. He took that and the camera and put both on a desk which was relatively clear of papers. Then he produced a small paper bag, put that on the floor, and opened the toolbox. Selecting the appropriate tools, he broke off the camera's lens and threw it into the bag, then broke apart the case, after which he threw out the battery and broke apart the camera's insides. The electronic circuitry he put aside, and after the rest of the camera was broken apart and disposed of, he methodically shattered the circuitry into tiny pieces. At length he finished.

"I'm sorry about your losing such a nice camera," I told him.

"Not as sorry as you would have been for a ruined career," replied Sammy sardonically as he packed the tools back into the box, which was returned to the closet. The bag was left on the desk. "I'll make sure every last bit of that is destroyed completely tomorrow," he promised.

"Let me pay for the camera," I offered.

"Why? You didn't wreck it, and besides, I doubt you could afford it," scoffed Sammy. "I'll buy Jim a nice new camera later on. I can afford it easily on my salary."

Sammy shut off the light and we left the room. In the hallway, we could hear the sound of Jim's sobbing coming from the living room. We looked at each other, and I saw that Sammy's anger had vanished, and he looked guiltily in Jim's direction. I felt guilty myself, as Sammy's blow-up at Jim was on my behalf. Wordlessly, we walked over to the living room sofa, where Jim was lying prone, shaking with soft weeping. Tears were forming in Sammy's eyes as he knelt beside his lover and put his hands on his back. "Oh, Jim," he said plaintively, "I'm so sorry I hurt you like this. I'm such a heel. I said things I didn't mean, and..."

Sammy's voice trailed off as Jim stopped sobbing and turned his body to face him. "Really?" he asked hopefully. "You're not mad at me anymore?"

"You did a foolish thing, but it was terrible of me to blow my top at you like that. I was worried about what would happen to Walter. We nearly wrecked his career once already."

"I know. You're right, I was stupid. I wasn't thinking." Then he turned further, and spotted me. "Oh, Walter, please forgive me. I never would have taken any pictures if I had known it would put you in danger. I did a terrible thing to you."

I went up to him and put a reassuring hand on him. I realized it was the first time I had ever touched Jim, and certainly the others must have also realized this. "No harm done, the camera has been destroyed," I told him. "I know you never had any malicious intentions toward me."

He looked as if he wanted to hug me, but then realized that I didn't really want him to, and besides, Sammy had priority. Turning back to him, Jim said, "You were right, I was stupid and I deserved your anger at me."

"Not to the point where I tore into you like I did," replied Sammy. "But I'm not angry at you anymore anyway. As Walter said, no harm done. So let's put this fight behind us and go back to bed, shall we?"

"You're not mad at me?" It was a moment before I realized Jim's question was directed at me.

"Oh, no, not at all," I replied hurriedly. It also occurred to me that things had happened so fast that I did not even have time to get angry with Jim in the first place. "I'm ready to forget everything and go back to bed, too."

"You heard Walter," Sammy told Jim. "Let's not keep him waiting."

Jim moved into a sitting position on the sofa, but did not stand. Sammy was momentarily curious, and then he understood. He leaned forward and gave Jim a deep-mouth kiss which was passionately returned. Normally I would have been repulsed at such a sight, but this time around I was relieved, and even touched. But do not get the impression that I came to approve of the sexual relationship between Sammy Skunk and Jim, dear reader. I do not, and I doubt I ever will. But I did not want the legacy of my visit to have brought the two of them grief and hard feelings. I remembered how deeply it hurt me when Frank, the human I had formed a deep but definitely nonromantic emotional bond with, originally wanted to break off our friendship, and how happy I felt when he relented. I certainly did not wish to bring such hurt upon these two.

Finally, they broke off, and Sammy helped Jim to his feet. "Come on," said Sammy, "let's get to bed while there are still night hours left to sleep in." It occurred to me that I had not noted what time it was, or how long this whole situation had taken. But no matter, I did intend to sleep tonight, and despite all the fuss we had gone through, my sleepiness was starting to return.

We returned to the bed, Sammy getting in the middle as before, I getting in next and laying against him, Jim getting in last and laying against Sammy's back. I huddled closer to Sammy than I did before, even putting an arm around him. The latter gesture surprised Sammy momentarily before he got the idea; I was showing my appreciation to him for his swift and harsh action to prevent the potential ruining of my career at PERC, even at the cost of temporarily straining the relationship between him and his lover.

I was also pleased to learn the answer to another question I had about Sammy Skunk. He was totally devoted to his lover Jim, of course. But tonight's events proved that Sammy was no subservient pet, nor was his devotion such that he would overlook any wrongs committed by Jim. Though I was still not ready to consider Sammy Skunk an actual friend, I held him in greater esteem, and was assured I could trust him. This was why I huddled closer to him, to communicate this idea to him.

Then I looked past Sammy at Jim. He may have been pleased that Sammy and I had become closer to each other, but he was clearly chagrined as well, and I realized why. After the unpleasantness of before, he too wanted to be closer to Sammy Skunk, to feel him in his arms and know all the hostility was gone and he was still loved. But my huddling with Sammy was making this impossible. Also, I had always wanted to keep a degree of distance between myself and Jim due to his proclivities-and here I was, hogging his boyfriend. I realized this situation would not do; I was trying to eliminate hurt feelings, not cause them.

I moved my hand from Sammy and poked him to get his attention. He had been happily snuggling against me, about to doze off, but after a moment he opened his eyes. He looked at me curiously, and then moved slightly away, probably assuming I wanted to get up and use the bathroom. But then I gestured toward Jim, and Sammy turned to look at him. Their eyes met, and Sammy evidently got the message, for he then turned and lay on his back. Jim lay along one side of Sammy while I lay along the other. Jim looked toward me, his eyes thankful. I closed my own and huddled against Sammy, making sure I left room for Jim to have his half.

I did not even remember falling asleep, but I remembered how comfortable it felt to be huddling with one of my own kind once more. I slept through the night, and awoke at the sound of an alarm clock that I realized was neither my travel alarm nor the one I keep at PERC. I was momentarily shocked to find that I was not alone in bed, before memory hit me and I remembered where I was and what happened yesterday. Jim had already gotten out of bed to turn off the alarm, but Sammy Skunk turned to me and asked, "Good morning, Walter, how did you sleep?"

"I slept fine," I replied. "How about you?"

"Oh, wonderful," said Sammy breezily. "Thank you so much for huddling with me last night, it made me really happy that you did it. I hope you don't regret doing that."

"Only if either of you mention it to anybody," I answered seriously.

"Oh, no, no, of course we won't!" He turned to Jim. "I trust you're not going to tell anybody about last night, are you?"

"Of course not!" Jim replied, and then turned to me. "Oh, and good morning, Walter."

"Good morning," I said. "And thank you both so much for having me over."

"It was our pleasure," replied Jim. It seemed as if the argument they had had last night was forgotten. "Oh, do you need to use the bathroom?"

I did, and was pleased to be able to use the type of toilet I was accustomed to using. Sammy went in after me, and I returned to the bedroom and picked up my clothes. Jim was still there, looking at me, and then he got the idea that I did not want him around while I got dressed, so he left and closed the door. I changed into my street clothes, and then opened the door to find Sammy waiting outside. He entered and I left, and stuffed the sleep shorts back in my luggage. Shortly afterwards I heard the sound of a shower running, and realized it was Jim in the bathroom. Soon after that, Sammy emerged from the bedroom dressed in a red and yellow winter outfit with crosshatch patterns, wearing the same sandals as yesterday, but new socks. "You don't bathe every day like Jim, I trust," I commented.

"Of course not," Sammy responded. "Just because I now live among humans doesn't mean I've become one. I'm still covered with fur, and all that."

"It'll be time for my bath today." Sammy looked at me. "No, I'll do it at PERC."

Sammy laughed mildly. "I figured as such. What sort of breakfast would you like?"

In case you were wondering, dear reader, we animal-people are capable of eating things that our four-legged counterparts cannot, though our diets are less omnivorous than humans' are. There are a number of fruits and vegetables I cannot digest, as well as certain types of grains. For this breakfast, I had eggs and sausage and milk-not the breakfast I would recommend to a human, but I am not human and my digestive system is different. Also, I am better able to process fat, but a good part of that reason is because I keep myself in very good physical shape, a requirement for my position. Jim joined us when Sammy had finished cooking, and he and Sammy both had eggs and fruit salad and toast. Sammy Skunk, like his four-legged counterparts, is very much omnivorous.

We finished eating, and Jim hurried to do the dishes while Sammy went to retrieve our winter outerwear. Sammy started to help me put on my coat, then stopped when he remembered who I was. Another cultural difference between you humans and us animal-people, dear reader, is that while it is polite to help another person put on their coat, the opposite applies on our world. It is only acceptable to help small children or the handicapped put on their coats, or any other clothes; to do that to anyone else is considered insulting. I smiled to show that I was not offended by what Sammy had done; the poor guy must have had a lot of awkward moments dealing with the culture of his new home world. So Sammy and I both put on our coats and boots, after which Jim turned off everything and did the same. I picked up my luggage, we left the apartment, and Jim locked up. "It's going to be messy outside, so let's say our goodbyes now," said Sammy, and they both gave me the ritual farewells of my native world. I gave the appropriate response to that as well, and was relieved that neither one tried to hug me. Nobody was in the hallway, but they must have been aware that it would have been bad for me if we had gotten too intimate in public.

We went out to the parking lot, which was coated with a heavy layer of snow that almost went up to my knees. I winced; my sedan would not go through it easily, if at all. At least the weather prediction that the snow would stop by morning had come true, to my relief. "Somebody's supposed to come and plow this parking lot, aren't they?"

"Well, yes," replied Sammy, "they came once yesterday. I thought they'd come again by now. I guess they're very backed up at the moment. But anyway, let's dig your car out."

"You don't have to, I can take care of it myself," I said. But they were already going to the garage and opened one of the doors. Behind it was a station wagon rather than the van I expected. I thought they had changed their minds about digging me out, but they simply opened their vehicle's rear door to remove snow-cleaning tools, and came back to work on my sedan. They set to work, thoughtfully starting by clearing around my driver's door first, so I could unlock and open the door (which luckily did not freeze shut), throw my luggage in, and start my car to warm it up. I looked for my own snow brush, but by the time I got it out, the others had finished brushing off my car and were digging with snow shovels so I could pull out of the space. They gestured for me to move my car, and I was able to move it out of the space. Jim was just outside my driver's window, so I opened it and told him, "I hope I'm not making you two late for work."

"You didn't, we set the alarm early this morning," Jim replied. "But we wanted to make sure you can get out of the lot before we leave."

"Thanks. By the way, I thought you had a van?" Not really the most appropriate time to bring up this subject I admit, but curiosity got the better of me.

"Oh, I traded it in a couple of years ago. But how did you know I had a van? I don't remember telling you about it or showing it to you."

Suddenly I really wished I had not brought up the subject. "Uh," I replied rather embarrassedly, "Frank mentioned it to me at the furry convention." What an idiot I was to remind Jim of the friend he had lost as a result of his bringing Sammy Skunk to his old apartment, and the mess that followed! I ducked my head in apology to Jim for bringing up hurtful memories. But Jim did not appear hurt or offended; in fact he laid a reassuring hand on my head.

"It's all right," Jim said, "I don't blame Frank for wanting nothing to do with us after everything that happened. We weren't bosom buddies in the first place. I'm just glad you were able to keep him as a friend." I did tell Sammy Skunk about how strongly I had bonded to Frank, and how it had really hurt me when he initially told me he wanted to break off his relationship with me, and how pleased I was when I convinced his to change his mind. I do not know if he had told Jim the full story or not. "How are you getting along with him these days?"

I brightened. "Very well. I can only see him once every couple of months, but that's something."

Jim was pleased as well. Sammy came by to see what was going on, but by then I closed my window and started to leave. But shortly afterwards, my car did get stuck; they quickly pushed it free. I made it out of the parking lot and onto the plowed and salted street.

The drive back was less treacherous than yesterday; not only were most streets and the highway plowed and salted, but daylight and lack of snowfall meant much greater visibility. I made it a point not to be complacent as I resumed my drive back to PERC, however.

I made it back to the access road leading to PERC base by mid-morning, and ironically enough, our snowplow truck had not finished clearing the access road (which we are responsible for maintaining.) Spotting it as it was pushing a row of snow down the road and across the highway to the shoulder on the opposite side, I waited for it to pass before I immediately turned in, seeing no sign of tire tracks that did not belong to the plow truck, and wondering how the delivery truck that was supposed to come this morning managed to get in, or if it even did. Perhaps the morning delivery had to be cancelled or postponed by the firm that transported our supplies; I hope the delay was because of them and not us.

I was shocked to also find that the entrance gate was left open; it was a serious breach of regulations, which dictated the gate must be closed at all times when anybody was not actually passing through. But then I noticed several security guards posted by the gateway standing next to the road; perhaps the gate mechanism had failed, not a surprise when you realize that harsh weather can cause all sorts of problems. Of course the guards recognized me immediately and waved me through. How convenient it is that we look so different from humans, I noted wryly.

I dropped off the sedan at the motor pool, took my luggage to my room, and told the Director about my arrival over the intercom. To my surprise he told me to see him right away, without stopping to bathe or change clothes. I was still reasonably presentable anyway, so I went straight to his office. "So how are Sammy Skunk and his butt buddy doing?" was his greeting.

"They seemed happy enough," I replied casually. The Director took a moment to digest my reply before deciding I was being honest.

"So how did you enjoy your overnight stay?" was his next query.

"Oh, more comfy than the motel would have been, and cheaper," I quipped. "They brushed the snow off me, they fed me breakfast, and they helped dig my car out, service no motel would have given me."

"I see. So they had an extra bed, or did you sleep on the sofa?"

"Neither. I can never get comfortable on a sofa, so I shared their bed with them."

"WHAT?" The Director was stunned, and his jaw worked several times before he could get out his next words. "You actually went and lay in the same bed right with those two? You're kidding, right?"

"I'm not kidding." I smiled before adding. "But don't worry; I deprived them of a night of passion."

The Director was cringing. "Shit! Did they try to...?"

"Hit up on me? No, they weren't so rude as to do that. I lay down on one side of Sammy Skunk and Jim laid down on the other."

"Fuck, I never would have dreamed you'd actually sleep in the same bed with those perverts!"

"It was on your orders that I stayed the night with them, remember?"

"I didn't order you to sleep right next to them! What happened, did they force you to, or were they just very persuasive?"

"Sammy simply asked me to lie next to him," I replied, "and I agreed. And I lay next to Sammy Skunk the whole night; I certainly never would have lain next to Jim, especially seeing that he had had several pictures of me in his living room." In response to the Director's expression, I added, "Normal pictures, that is. If he has anything else, I don't want to know about it."

"But what about Sammy? You've mentioned all along that you weren't sure if he was actually homosexual or not. Were you using yourself as an experimental animal, the idea being that if he was gay, he would hit up on you?"

"Yes," I confessed.

The Director looked at me in wordless surprise. I looked hard at him and finally said forcefully, "Come now, aren't all of us staff at PERC essentially experimental animals, by virtue of our coming to an alien planet inhabited by a sentient alien people? I use myself as an experimental animal every day by going out so often among different groups of humans, a number of who are fearful of or hostile toward me. I've put myself on the line for rudeness, condescension, insults, assaults, and sexual harassment almost every day in my nearly three years at PERC. You may have to deal with politicians and bigwigs, but I have to deal with a lot of low-level dingbats as well as more ordinary humans. How many times have humans tried to hit up on you, not all of whom are even furries? I've lost count of the number of times it has happened to me. As part of my research, I've had to deliberately go up and put myself near a wide variety of weirdoes in order to get necessary data on them..." I smiled and added, "...and that was before I ever came to Earth."

"But this was not an official research visit on your part," replied the Director. "You were just staying with Sammy Skunk and Jim because you were snowed in and were unable to safely make it back to PERC. The reason it happened that way was because you contacted them by mistake and they really wanted you to visit them so I had little choice but to allow it. It's not that I like Sammy Skunk, or that he likes me, but PERC might sooner or later call upon him for his services, and we're going to have to get in as good with him as we can. I know you don't like Sammy either, but he likes you and wants to get in good with you, so having you see him was my way of doing him a favor." The Director smiled and added, "And despite your habit of fucking up, I've done favors for you, too, such as arranging the meeting between you and your human friend Frank, with whom you bonded so strongly."

I suddenly felt uncomfortable, not for my bonding with Frank or for the Director's knowing about it. Frank had suffered humiliating consequences because of my asking him for help which he freely gave, and his first reaction upon finally seeing me afterwards was to tell me he wanted nothing more to do with me. Because of my strong emotional bond with Frank, his response hurt me so badly I lost my self control and put up a tremendous display of weeping and groveling in front of him. After managing to explain to him how I felt, he quickly relented and agreed to resume our friendship, which heartened me greatly. I was not, and still am not now, ashamed or embarrassed at how I behaved; you humans simply cannot comprehend the emotional links we animal-people can form. But if my colleagues at PERC were to find out about the way I had behaved in front of Frank, I would be a laughingstock. I dreaded most of all the idea of the Director knowing about it. He had a penchant for humiliating me already.

"Yes," said the Director, "I remember when the time came for you to go meet him, you were acting so jittery everyone was asking me-seriously-what sort of horrible fate I was going to send you to, and how after you came back we all thought you were going to do the Happy Dance throughout the PERC compound. I even seriously wondered if you were going to tell me you were going to defect to Earth as well and have Frank adopt you as a pet." (For the record, dear reader, there is no actual "Happy Dance." This is an expression in our language meaning to act crazy with extreme joy.)

"My bond with Frank isn't so strong that I am willing to exile myself from my own world to be with him," I replied. "And we're definitely not gay lovers."

"No, no, of course not," the Director replied hurriedly. "So how did Sammy Skunk react to you when you lay in bed next to him? Did he hit upon you? Did you sense sexual lust for you on his part?"

I paused before I answered. "He did offer his body to me for sexual purposes once more, and of course I refused. But once we got into bed, Sammy didn't make any sexual moves toward me, nor did he even show any sign of sexual arousal when I lay next to him." I leaned slightly closer to the Director and added, "But this doesn't necessarily prove that Sammy is a non-homosexual who is only going through the motions to please Jim. Remember how he was instantly sexually aroused when a human male touched his genitalia, or how he expressed no regret at having had sex with human males. Maybe he was just desperate for anybody wanting to have sex with him, and he didn't care who or what. But in any case, he knows I'm absolutely off-limits to him. I'm not homosexual, and even if I were, he's an Earthian now and I wouldn't have sex with any Earthian because I'd be expelled from PERC and off of Earth, and the only way I could stay on Earth after that is to become an Earthian myself, which I don't want to do." I smiled and added, "I like humans, but not to that extent."

"And how do you like Sammy Skunk now?" asked the Director with slight smile. "You were actually willing to lie down next to him this time."

"Only because I wanted to find out about him," I replied. "And of course I have a personal interest in him; it's because of me that he's in the situation that he's in."

"No," said the Director, "Sammy Skunk is responsible for his own situation. You brought him to the furry convention, but it was of his own accord that he left with the group of human furries who gangbanged him. It was he who chose to become an Earthian so he and Jim could bugger each other. So he's not your responsibility and you don't have to worry about him. He can take care of himself."

I smiled back. "Yet you sent me over to comfort him the moment the thugs had attacked him and Jim and the latter nearly got killed."

The Director was taken aback. "Comfort him? I had you go see him to find out from him what had happened when I heard the news about him getting into a fight with a bunch of humans! I didn't even know who started the fight or what it was about! I didn't care about Sammy, I cared about us! I was scared that the Earthians might think we animal-people were savage beasts that suddenly attack humans without reason! I wanted to know exactly what was going on, so I'd have something to tell the Earth authorities when they contacted me! You were by yourself in a motel room at the time, but everyone else was at PERC base, scared shitless with fear as to what had happened and what would become of us!"

"I remember that, I was scared shitless too!" I shot back. "How do you think I felt in that motel room, far away from any others of my kind, surrounded by humans who might suddenly all become hostile toward me? At least you were surrounded by other animal-people; I was many miles away from any others!"

"All the same, I didn't send you over to be nice to him. I hated Sammy Skunk so much right then I would have loved to strangle him! And then the news showed you holding him and comforting him. I nearly fainted when I saw that! You must have a permanent soft spot in your heart for him."

I gave an exasperated snort. "You know that by then it was determined that Sammy Skunk had acted to defend his human sponsor Jim, and the Earthians came to view him as a devoted pet defending his caregiver. He had become a hero to the Earthians; if nothing else, I had to be seen showing concern to Sammy Skunk because it would look good."

The Director smiled. "But you weren't faking it, were you?"

"Okay," I replied in resignation, "say it. Say that I'm a pathetic sap with a soft heart and an unused brain. That's what you think of me, isn't it? That's probably the sort of person I really am."

The Director looked at me in an uncomfortable silence before he finally said, "Whatever sort of person you really are, you're still curious about Sammy Skunk, or you never would have lain in bed next to him. You were trying to catch him in an unguarded moment, rather than in a controlled interview setting. So I'm curious too. What did you find out? Is he really homosexual, or are you still unsure? How do he and Jim get along? Is Sammy a subservient pet?"

"Well," I replied slowly, "All I did with them was converse a little bit with them, sleep with them, and have breakfast with them, so I didn't learn much. But they do get along quite well with each other, and neither partner appears to be subservient to the other, from what I've seen last night."

"I see," said the Director. "But you're still not certain that Sammy is really homosexual, rather than merely giving Jim sexual favors in return for love and a home?"

"No, I'm not." Then a certain ironic thought abruptly occurred to me, and I suddenly started laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"I never thought I'd ever say such a thing, not in a million years," was my answer. "But it occurred to me that I spent a night lying in bed next to another male, and I would have been far more comfortable about it if he were homosexual than if he were not."

Anyone who happened to be in the hallway at the time was treated to the sight of me bursting out of the Director's office, laughing as a stapler bounced off the back of my head. :)

(Again thanks to Dr. Werewolf for toilet design advice.)