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Hello, darlings,

and welcome to The Hockey Hunk! Wheeeee!! It's Monday and time for another round in the ring, and do we have fun times ahead of us today, I think! Thank you all for your continued support and feedback, it really makes my day, and keeps this story special, too, I think! *smiles*

Also remember that all votes, faves and watches will help others to find these stories to enjoy as well!

See you on Friday!

*

I know that the idea of a nap was a kind of a ruse to get a bit cuddly and cozy with my lion, but we were actually quite close to dozing off when I felt a strange vibration over my butt, just enough to rouse me from the near-slumber, flap my ears and open my eyes, to see Rory's gently rumbling muzzle, while the buzzing continued.

"Damn...phone..."I rumbled, knowing that I'd rouse Rory anyway, and pushed my paw into my back pocket to get my phone out.

COBB

Damn...had we really managed to survive...almost three hours of visiting without Cobb phoning in? Remarkable. I rumbled a little at the sight of his name on the screen of the phone, though. I was sure that he was just calling to see whether the Glieses had liked the gifts he had gotten to them, probably bouncing around the apartment nervously while he imagined their big AWWWWSS!" or slightly subdued "ohhhhhh"'s, full of Doberman anxiety.

"It's Cobb," I mumbled to curiously peeking Rory while still holding up my phone, "I'll try to make this short."

"Sure," he rumbled, still on his side, looking relaxed and somewhat amused, which was good, even with my brother being involved.

I rolled over and got sitting up on the edge of the bed as I put my phone on my ear.

"Yeah?" I answered.

"FINALLYOUREANSWERINGWHATTOOOOOOOKYOUSOOOOLONG?"

I held the phone off from my ear, my ear flicking and almost ringing at the sudden outburst, and I glance at the phone with a puzzled expression. Another look over my shoulder at Rory told me that he'd heard it too, he looked curious enough, with perked ears and a tapping tail-tuft on the bed sheets.

I rumbled and returned to the fray.

"Could you maybe repeat that, Cobb, I couldn't make out a single word of what you're saying - "

"WHY DID IT TAKE YOU SO LONG TO ANSWER?" he yelled.

I harrumphed.

"I was busy, Cobb," I told him firmly while smirking at Rory, who was looking at me from his position on the bed, "and it didn't really take me that long, did it now?"

"WELL YOU'RE HERE NOW AND I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!"

I rubbed my chest while still holding the phone at some distance from my ear, and rumbled some more. This was getting ridiculous damn fast, and I didn't want to sour the afternoon by getting worked up over whatever Cobb had now gotten in his head. That wouldn't make a good impression on Rory, nor his parents, who were so friendly so far.

"So what's up?" I extended my rub onto my muzzle and fully expected him to start talking about running out of mustard, or something.

"OH MY GOD VICTOR YOU JUST WON'T BELIEVE WHAT JUST HAPPENED I'M STILL SHAKING!"

Now that sounded a bit more dramatic than usual...I was starting to feel worried...I gave Rory another look...I could see that his brow was furrowing, too. He could clearly hear everything Cobb was saying on the other end of the line, no matter that he wasn't the one holding the phone. Maybe I should turn down the volume or something.

"If something's happened to you or the apartment or something..." I huffed.

"HE KISSED ME VICTOR! HE GODDAMN KISSED ME JUST LIKE THAT! I DON'T BELIEVE IT!"

What?

"You know, Cobb, for a while I thought you said -

"CUT THE CRAP VICTOR I GOT KISSED BY A MAN AND I DIDN'T KNOW HE'S GAY!"

What on Earth

"Did he just...?" Rory muttered, looking at me with furrowed brow.

"I think so," I mumbled, "Cobb, could you please maybe calm down and explain to me what really happened? I can't really make out what you're saying."

"VICTOR I ASKED TATE MICHAELS OVER FOR LUNCH AND HE JUMPED MY BONES!"

He what....

"What?" I grunted, simply not buying this.

"I TOLD YOU, HE JUMPED MY BONES!"

"Who?" I grunted.

"TATE GODDAMN MICHAELS YOU KNOW OUR OLD HIGH SCHOOL BUDDY OH MY GOD VICTOR!"

And was that really the same Tate Michaels, the football jock who'd thrown around homophobic slurs just like any other jock, and who had been buddies with Cobb, and who had recently approached me with a long letter apologizing for his stupid behavior when he was a kid 15 years ago, out of the blue?

"Calm down," I harrumphed, "you sound like you're hyperventilating.

"YOU'D BE HYPERVENTILATING IF YOU GOT KISSED BY A GIRL A SUDDEN!"

"Well as a matter of fact I have managed to kiss a girl without passing out, Cobb," I snipped back.

"THAT'S NOT FUNNY VICTOR!"

Well it wasn't, but a little part of me could certainly see that it could be. Maybe it would be in a while. Right now I was just feeling like my stomach had fell down somewhere between my thighs or something, and there was a strange tingle there as I contemplated what my hysterical brother was telling me. I could even barely realize what was going on.

"Yeah, I don't feel very amused myself, " I said, "so, could you maybe try once more, Cobb? Just to makes these things absolutely clear."

And quickly, please!

"I ASKED TATE IN FOR SOME CROISSANTS AND SALAD AND COFFEE AND WE WERE EATING AND TALKING AND HE SEEMED SAD AND I HUGGED HIM AND HE STARTED KISSING ME!"

I guess that left nothing open for interpretation.

"Uhhh...so he...kissed you?"

"HE DID, A LOT!"

I snuffled.

"And you...let him?"

"I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO, HE GOT A FEW ON ME BEFORE I PUSHED HIM AWAY!"

A glance at Rory told me that he was biting his teeth together so as not to laugh. He looked like he was going to burst soon if he wasn't careful. I didn't find the heart to scowl at him for his amusement at Cobb's expense, no matter how nervous I felt.

"Did you...maybe say something then?" I asked.

"I TRIED BUT HE DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING AND OH MY GOD HE HURT HIMSELF WHEN HE GOT UP FROM THE COUCH HE FELL!"

I frowned, and the hot sensation in my belly suddenly seemed to be much colder.

"He's hurt?" I grunted. "Cobb, you didn't hurt him or something?"

Fuck, that'd be the last thing that needed to happen now.

"I THINK HE LOST HIS BALANCE I THINK HE WAS BLEEDING WHEN HE LEFT YOUR APARTMENT!"

"He was bleeding?"

"FROM HIS MUZZLE I THINK HE CUT HIS LIP OR SOMETHING WHEN HE FELL!"

"Didn't you help him?" I grunted.

"I TRIED TO VICTOR BUT HE JUST LEFT HE WOULDN'T LET ME DO ANYTHING AND THEN HE JUST LEFT, OH GOD VICTOR I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!"

"Did you try to call him?" I asked. "You have his number, don't you?"

"I JUST HAD TO CALL YOU FIRST VICTOR I'VE BEEN JUST SITTING HERE FOR LIKE HALF AN HOUR JUST THINKING ABOUT IT, VICTOR, IT'S SO AWFUL!"

"You'll live," I harrumphed, "but looks like you've got some unfinished business with Tate now."

"WELL I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WHEN A GUY HITS ON ME! I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HE'S GAY!"

"Neither did I," I said, honestly, "but it doesn't really matter considering that you let him go when he was obviously hurt!"

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO STOP A GROWN MAN WHO IS RUNNING AWAY FROM ME?"

"Maybe speak nicely to him?" I suggested, feeling my temper flare at Cobb's stubbornness.

"WELL I DID TRY!"

"Oh come on, Cobb," I harrumphed, "can't you really see what happened there? Eh?"

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!"

Now wasn't this going to be interesting. I better get to it, too.

"Well, I know this is going to sound weird but I think he might have thought you are...hmm...gay...and decided to make a move on you, Cobb," I bit my teeth together after I'd spoken and waited for the onslaught.

Rory had his paw covering his muzzle. I wondered if he was choking yet.

"WELL HOW THE HELL HE COULD THINK I'M GAY? I'M STRAIGHT! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S GAY!"

"I don't need to be told," I grunted, "Cobb, it's surely what happened -"

"HE - HE SAID HE SAW THE PHOTOS OF US IN THE GAY PRIDE AND THOUGHT I WAS GAY!"

Photos...photos...hmm...damn, yeah, right...photos...hadn't he put some of those on Facebook or something? I remembered it vaguely...much less than the actual pride, which was insane, of course, what's with Cobb pointing out all sorts of harness-wearing leather daddies and loudly asking me if I liked that kind of men...while those same leather daddies could hear every word, and one of them even asked me out...but...but...

"But we were wearing those shirts, weren't we?" I cringed at the memory of the awful pink thing he'd made me wear, with a stupid text like "I'M WITH THE HET" or something reading on it.

"WELL HE MISTOOK US ON THE PHOTO HE SAID! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE WE DON'T EVEN LOOK ALIKE, AND I DON'T LOOK GAY AT ALL!"

Pheewwwwwww...I huffed.

"Calm down, Cobb, can't you?" I scratched my uncomfortably itching muzzle.

"HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO CALM DOWN?"

"Well you're babbling nonsense, and this is even worse than the last time you had too much coffee."

"I DON'T DRINK TOO MUCH COFFEE I KNOW WHAT IT DOES TO ME!"

"That's not the point here," I rumbled.

"WELL YOU TELL ME WHAT I'M SUPPOSED TO DO I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DEAL WITH THIS GAY DRAMA!"

"You're the one who's being dramatic!" I grunted, a bit louder than I really needed to. "You're the one in a mess!"

"AND IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU THAT TATE THOUGHT I WAS GAY!"

"Don't you dare to blame me for this!" I snarled. "You're the one in this shit!"

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DEAL WITH THIS IF YOU WON'T HELP ME? DO I HAVE TO ASK SOMEONE ELSE LIKE RORY OR THAT GUY PETER OR SOMETHING?"

I let out a breath that sounded like a slowly deflating balloon or something.

"Don't you dare to call Rory!"

"I COULD ASK YOU TO GIVE THE PHONE TO HIM RIGHT NOW!"

I cupped the phone between my palms and turned to look at Rory who was still lying there, but his muzzle had fallen open somewhere during my conversation with my cumbersome brother.

"He's gone mad," I said, "this is so damn weird."

"So did some guy really kiss him?" Rory whispered.

"Yeah, I think so, "I said, "Tate."

"That guy who visited you recently...?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"HHMHPHPHPHPH!" Cobb's voice rumbled out from my sandwiched phone.

"I'm so sorry," my ears drooped.

"It's fine," Rory spoke after a pause, "you gotta deal with this or Cobb will never stop.

"I know..." I breathed.

"HMHPHPHPHPHP!"

"I owe you," I blew him a kiss before I lifted the phone up, "Cobb?"

"WHAT!?"

"Cobb, I think you should just sit down and try to calm yourself down, and then you should call Tate and apologize to him."

"HE'S THE ONE WHO SUDDENLY KISSED ME, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND, VICTOR! I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!"

Somehow I didn't believe that was entirely true, but I wasn't going to push it now, not when he'd worked himself up to a massive frenzy over this whole business.

"Okay, okay," I said, "so no apologies, then, but you should at least call him and explain what happened, and make sure he's alright."

"BUT I ALREADY TOLD HIM I'M NOT GAY!"

"I don't think he has any confusion about that anymore," I said, mentally adding 'knowing the kind of a shit storm you must've thrown at him', "But I'm sure he is upset and would like to hear that you're not angry with him."

"BUT HE TRIED TO HIT ME ON, OF COURSE I'M ANGRY!"

That was it.

"WELL IT DIDN'T DO YOU ANY HARM SINCE AS FAR AS I KNOW KISSING A MAN IS CONSIDERED TO BE A SAFETY ACTIVITY EVEN FOR STRAIGHT MEN!" I couldn't help it, my voice got loud and almost barking, and I could see Rory's ears flicker down as he heard the flared temper in my deep voice.

"YOU NEVER KISSED STRAIGHT MEN HOW DO YOU KNOW?"

"FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE COBB!"

Rory put his paw onto my arm and squeezed a little, and feeling the blood rushing into my ears, I realized I'd stepped a line. I bit my teeth together, breathed quickly through my nose, and tried to will myself to calm down. This was definitely not the time to get angry, let alone anything else.

"Sorry", I mouthed to Rory before returning to the case of my brother's insanity.

"Cobb," I huffed, "shut up for a moment, can you?"

"HARRUMPH!"

I guess indignant silence was better than nothing.

"Cobb, just think about it for a sec," I said, "if he had a thing for you, then it's bound to have hurt a lot that you turned him down. He was upset, wasn't he?"

"...YES...uh...yes, he was...he...it was like he was crying..."

Goddamn it.

"So maybe he was," I said, "doesn't that mean you have something to tell to him?"

"I...I guess so..."

"So you should do just that," I said, "you should get hold of him and tell him that he made an error but that you don't think it was a bad thing to do....right?"

"...I...I guess..."

"So can you promise me that you'll do that?"

"...I...suppose I should..."

"You really should," I rumbled, "you really should, Cobb."

"I just can't really get it, I mean, I never thought he was..."

"Neither did I, Cobb, neither did I."

"But you'd think that you'd know!"

I chuckled dryly.

"Even gay guys don't always have a perfect sense of these things, Cobb," I said. "It's just a fact of life."

"It's confusing!"

"Yeah, talk about it."

"So what am I going to do?"

"I just told you what you should do, it's up to you now."

"I guess...eh..."

"Cobb..."

"I...uh...eh...sorry?"

"I'm not the one you have to apologize for," I lied, partially, since he'd said so many stupid things that it'd take a while to sort out my mind about them.

"Yeah...eh...right..."

"Anything else you need to say, Cobb?"

"I...guess not...uh..."

"Goodbye, Cobb."

"Eh...bye..."

I put the phone down to the bed and buried my muzzle in my paws. I felt Rory's paw on my arm, and some shuffling on the bed while I was thus blinded, when he came to sit down next to me, his tail swooping over my rump and my thighs to hold me as much as his arm did, about my waist.

"Sounds like a mess," he said, "and this really is someone you know?"

"Since junior high," I said, "Tate, Tate Michaels...I told you about him."

"Yeah, you did," Rory nodded, rubbing my side, "the war veteran?"

"Yeah," I said, "and never had a clue he was into men."

"And now he...excuse me...thought Cobb was gay?"

His earlier smirk was gone by now, just a bit of a worrying frown for me, I think, and I didn't really like that I was causing him to feel like this on a day that was meant to be a nice, friendly day, not one filled with Cobb drama.

I did manage a small smile.

"Who'd ever make that mistake?" I snorted.

"Well, he did come home that one time with a spa bag full of luxury moisturizer and furshine treatment serum and smelling like coconuts and peaches..." Rory mused.

"Don't remind me," I huffed, "he made me try it and wouldn't have it unless he made sure I smelled like the stuff after a shower..."

"I'm sorry," he nuzzled my nearest shoulder.

"It's not just that, though," I said, "apparently Tate'd seen the photos of me and Cobb at the Chicago pride and he must've thought we were there because of Cobb and not me."

"So...he doesn't know you're gay?" Rory asked me.

"I didn't tell him...yet," I added, guiltily, not really wanting to dwell to it now that things were messy enough as they were.

"Hmmm...I suppose it would've been a bit too much for him to think that both of you were gay..."

"Or maybe his fantasy..." I rumbled.

"That's filthy," Rory chuckled.

"I guess it is," I concurred, as I put my paw over his nearest arm and gave it a small rub, to return the touch he was giving to me, "but not an unusual thought, I've been told."

"I suppose..."

"Oh, damn," I could feel my ears droop again, the injured even more so, yes, "Cobb really can't give me a rest, eh?"

"It' just a bit of bad luck," Rory said, "it'll be fine. Though it sounds like this Tate guy's having it really rough."

"I bet he is," I said, "what's with that don't ask don't tell and..."

"Yeah...I didn't even think about that...damn..." the lion said.

"And now this..."

"Do you...uh...do you think he'd had a longer crush on him or whether he was just...trying to seize the opportunity?"

"I don't know which idea is more terrifying," I grumbled.

"Hahah," he exclaimed meekly.

Rory squeezed me.

"Well, at least it wasn't you," he rumbled, nuzzling my shoulder again, "that'd been...awkward."

I ruffled his head furs and smiled a little.

"I don't know how awkward this will get yet, Rory," I mumbled, though feeling nice and warm in his embrace like I was, "but I'll try not to get you involved."

"It's fine," he said.

"It's not, really," I said, "but I'll try - "

"KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!"

We both jumped a little as we heard the tapping on the door.

"Rory? Victor?" the voice of Rory's mom echoed through the door.

"Yeah, mom?" Rory called out.

"Do you feel like some coffee and ice cream? Dad insist we should have some!"

My stomach had barely dealt with the sandwiches...and now we were going to eat again? I looked at Rory, who gave me a small smile.

"Don't think we have a choice," he whispered.

"Alright," I murmured.

"SURE, MOM!" Rory bellowed.

"Awwwww that's nice!"

*

Thank you for reading my story!

I hope you had a nice time, and I hope to see your comments, too! Also remember that all votes, faves and watches will help others to find these stories to enjoy as well!

See you on Friday!

Cheerio!