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Pieter walked back out into the living room, a little uncertainly but still much more confidently than Sky. The young king cheetah was shuffling along behind, obviously caught between trying to distance himself from the lion and trying to hide behind something - the best 'something to hide behind' being Pieter at the moment.

Mr. and Mrs. Aragon looked up from the kitchen as the two teens reappeared, still just a tad dissheveled.

"Oh, hi boys," Sky's mom said brightly. "Sorry to have startled you earlier."

"...When did you get home? I thought you would be out later..." Sky mumbled.

"Oh, the movie was horrid, we decided to leave and visit the old Shake Shack on route 27 by our first apartment to split a sundae."

"Heath Bar and butterscotch, of course," Mr. Aragon interjected, smiling at his wife.

She smiled back before continuing "We got back just about five or ten minutes ago, in time for - aahhh..."

"We got inside the door just as you two climaxed," Sky's father said bluntly while he shuffled through some bills, obviously unphased at the concept of discovering his son was sexually active.

"Phil!" Mrs. Aragon chastized, before turning back to her son and saying "Well, yes, we decided not to bother you two, which was why we didn't announce we were in..."

"You know your mother, of course..."

"PHIL!"

"Um, what's that supposed to mean?" Pieter asked from off to the side.

"...wait," Sky said as the realization dawned on him. "You didn't eavesdrop on us, did you??"

His mother 'hrm'd and 'haw'd a bit before saying "...I may have listened to a minute or two of pillow talk through the door..."

Sky just wanted to shrink away into nothingness at that point. "...how much did you hear?"

"Well, I left once it stopped really being 'pillow talk' and back to two guys just joking around. Then I went to go fetch something from our room, and Pieter opened the door as I was walking back here."

"...That was basically the entire conversation, then," Pieter noted.

"Yes... I apologize, Pieter, for my wife being insatiably nosy sometimes," Mr. Aragon said, apparently more focused on his calculator. "Honestly, boy, I didn't know you were gay, too. Sky came out to us a couple years back, but -"

"He's not gay," the young cheetah interrupted, saving the lion from the conversation, "he's bi; we had a lengthy discussion about both of our... situations before anything happened."

"Oh?" His mom now looked at the young lion with a bit of scrutiny, making him shuffle uneasily.

"That's fine," Mr. Aragon said nonchalantly; whether he was intentionally diffusing the tension from his wife or just making a comment, the boys couldn't tell.

---

"Pieter, hun, how many people were you expecting over?"

"Seven or eight, mom."

"So this'll be enough, right?"

The young lion walked into his kitchen to see how much Chex mix his mother was about to put into the oven. "Yeah, that looks good," he said as his father came up from the basement.

"Sound system and projection screen are all set up, son!" the big lion said happily, clapping his son's shoulder as he passed by.

"Thanks a ton, guys; I actually wasn't expecting nearly this much help setting up."

"I know we've let you take the reins for you past couple of birthdays, but sixteen is a big one," the lioness said. "We're glad to help."

"You're closer to twenty than ten, now, starting to be a man," the older lion boomed, "you deserve to have at least one loud, over-the-top party with your buds on the way there."

"Of course, your mom here can't handle loud parties, so that's why we're leaving you alone with your friends. Don't burn down the house, okay?"

Pieter chuckled "Yes, mom." At that moment, the doorbell rang, causing all three lions' ears to perk up.

"Is that one of your friends already? It's only four, I thought you said you told people to come at five."

"I did," the teen answered, walking to the front door, "I just wasn't anticipating you guys helping set up, so I asked for a little help..."

He opened the door, his parents following behind him, to reveal a young cheetah standing there. "Hi Pieter! And your parents, I assume? Nice to meet you, I'm Sky, one of Pieter's classmates."

"Nice to meet you, Sky, come in," Pieter's mother said, shaking the spotted teen's hand.

He did so as he then shook the older lion's hand next. Pieter's father didn't release is right away, though, instead giving a little sniff of the air. "Oh," he said a moment later, letting go of Sky's paw, "so you're the young cat Pieter came home smelling like a month or two ago."

Sky's eyes widened, jaw dropped, and ears flattened in horror as Pieter facepalmed. "DAAAAD! Geez!"

His father's face quickly changed to one of mild mortification. "Oh, crap, we said we wouldn't talk about "teen stuff" around you friends, didn't we?"

"Yes, yes you did," Pieter said flatly, face still in his hands.

"Aaannnyway," Pieter's mom said, "we shouldn't all be standing out in the doorway here. Come in, Sky."

"Yes, ma'am," the cheetah meekly replied, following the three lions into their kitchen. "So, uh... What's first on the to-do list, Pieter?"

"Well, not much, actually. My parents decided to help set up, so I'm not sure... Dad, is there anything still left to do downstairs?"

"Umm... Not that I can think of, actually. I mean, the pool table and air hockey aren't game-ready yet, but pool sets up in a minute and the air hockey even less since you just turn it on."

"Okay... mom?"

"Chex mix is in the oven, fruit & veggie tray in the fridge, cake and other sweets on the counter... You'll have to order the pizza still, but I assume you won't do that until everyone gets here, right? Oh, wait, I guess we haven't gotten the tables covered nor the plates, cups, and plasticware out, so there's that."

"Okay... So, you wanna help me set the tables, Sky?"

"Uh, yeah, sure!" With that, the two teens set out to fetch the tablecloths while the adult lions went back to their room to get ready for their date night. Five minutes later, the tables were ready to accept food, leaving Sky and Pieter to loiter around in the kitchen; five minutes after that, Pieter's parents reappeared, now dressed-up a bit more than they were earlier. They chit-chatted for a while before Sky excused himself to use the restroom.

"Anyway, I guess it's about time we head out," Pieter's mother said.

"Okay. Have fun at dinner with your friends! And say 'hi' to Marc's parents for me. I guess Sky and I will just chill on the couch and watch TV or something until the guys get here."

"Okay, we will! Have fun with your party, hun, and happy birthday."

"...Hang on," his dad said, stopping mid-exit. "So... By helping you set up early, did we give you almost an hour of complete down time with your only lay so far?"

Pieter groaned, rolling his eyes and throwing his head back, before eventually responding "...well, if you really want to put it that way, yes," in a flat tone.

"You think anything will happen before your other friends show up?"

"Dear!! Don't sound so excited," the lioness chided while their son just glared.

"We'll be on our way now!" the older lion said next, with a tone as if nothing out of the ordinary had just been discussed. His wife simply shook her head and gave an apologetic look at Pieter before following her husband out the door. Pieter sighed as he heard the car start and a toilet flush. Sky appeared back in the kitchen a moment later.

"Did your parents leave?" he asked, looking around the kitchen.

"Yeah, just now."

"Ah, okay. So.... what do you want to do until the party starts? And can I break into some of the soda now?"

"Eh, I was just thinking of watching TV - and sure!" Pieter went over the fridge and dislodged two cans of soda from a six-pack, handing one to the cheetah as the two of them plopped down on opposite sides of the couch in the living room and turned on the TV. They found an animated sitcom on Netflix and laughed through an episode before the young lion took his turn going to the bathroom. When he came back out to the living room he saw that Sky had gotten up and was rummaging through his bag. /I wondered why he brought that,/ Pieter thought as he sat down, asking "Whatcha doing over there, Spots?"

"Oh! Um," Sky stood up and walked over to the couch, though instead of sitting down he stood right in front of the lion. "Well, it's this," he answered simply, holding out a little envelope. "I know you said no presents, but I can't go to a party, birthday or not, without bringing something." He shrugged. "It's an iTunes gift card, help you stock up on songs."

Pieter had at first taken the envelope uncertainly, but upon hearing what it was happily started opening it, saying "Oh, cool, thanks bud!" He looked over the card, how much it was - and then noticed that Sky was still standing directly in front of him. It was rather noticeable, as like many teen guys Pieter usually sat with his legs slightly spread, and the cheetah was definitely standing right between his knees. Not confidently, based on how he squirmed a little when he saw the lion take notice, but he was there.

".....aaaannd?"

"Ahhh well... uh, well since it's your birthday and all... I, er, I thought of maybe giving you another present... IF you wanted to, mmm, unwrap it, of course, if you're happy with the gift card that's fine too... I originally thought of giving it to you after the party, since I thought you wouldn't have time to enjoy it as we set things up, but now that we're just kinda waiAIEE-!"

In one smooth motion, Pieter swiftly stood up, almost tackling Sky as he lifted the cheetah off the floor, draping the spotted cat over one shoulder, one hand on the small of Sky's back and the other on the back of the cheetah's thigh. "You know, you're really cute when you're nervous, Spots." Sky just stuttered though, still recovering from having the wind knocked out of him as he was literally swept off his feet. Pieter turned off the TV and started walking toward his room, but paused as he got closer. "Umm... I hope I'm not being too presumptive about what you were implying for me to unwrap..."

"N-no," he heard from behind him, followed by a timid little giggle.

That was all Pieter needed to hear as he continued to his room, flipping the cheetah off his shoulder and back-down onto his bed when he got there, grins plastered on both of their faces.

---

"Coming, coming!" Pieter yelled, scrambling to the front door quickly after hearing the doorbell ring a second time. He dearly hoped the cloud of Febreeze and spritz of cologne would be enough as he adjusted his shirt and opened the front door. "Hi guys!"

"Hi Piet!" "Yo, dude!" "Happy birthday, bro!" Hyena, otter, and wolf streamed in, and Pieter saw two coyotes and a red falcon getting out of a second car that had just pulled up. As he stayed in the open doorway waiting for the other three to come in, the otter asked "Did Sky beat us here?"

"Huh?" the lion asked, turning to follow the otter's gaze to the cheetah's bag on the floor and the pair of soda cans on the coffee table. "Oh, yeah, he volunteered to help me set everything up, he's been here a while actually. Not sure where he disappeared to a moment ago..." he said, hoping it was a nice, opaque lie.

None of his first three guests seemed to latch onto it, though, so he was relaxed as he welcomed the next three of his friends in. Gio then asked about sodas and Pieter answered they're free to take in the kitchen, as were snacks. As the other six guys wandered in that direction, he felt a little tickle on his chest. Looking down, he nearly gagged; his T-shirt was on backwards! Thankfully it was a completely plain crew-neck shirt, so no-one else could tell he had it on wrong, but he felt his ears burn. Quickly as he could, while the others had their backs to him, he yanked his arms into the main part of the shirt and turned it around, getting his arms back out and the fabric adjusted before the guys started walking back into the living room with their sodas. He smoothed some of his mane down a bit more as casual conversation started and the wolf flipped the TV channel over to tonight's local hockey game.

A minute or two later, he noticed Sky slink out of the hallway as surreptitiously as possible - though not enough so, as Gio noticed as well. Pieter could see the trainwreck coming, too, as he saw Gio latch on to the part of Sky's headfur that was still all messed-up. (Not to mention Sky apparently hadn't remembered to 100% close the barn door, either.) Carlos (the falcon) was the first to speak up, though.

"Oh, hey there Sky, where'd you run off to?"

"HOLY CRAP, YOU TWO WERE BANGING, WEREN'T YOU??" Gio suddenly exclaimed, glancing at Pieter's still-slightly-unkempt mane before staring back at Sky, the hyena looking giddy beyond belief. "You just came from the hallway, he was late to the door, and your fly isn't all the way up! You two were TOTALLY banging!!"

Even without verbally answering, the poor cheetah gave the truth away completely with the horrified and embarrassed look suddenly plastered on his face. He was so shocked into place that he didn't even make any movements to correct his pants. He hated being the center of attention, and here everyone was staring at him now. And Gio wasn't shutting up.

"hahaha I guess our little gay friend isn't a virgin anymore, huh? Congrats! And birthday sex, too! I mean, holy crap Piet, we all knew Sky was 'fabulous', but you too? Or was he just that seductive, hah? I assume you were the one topping, right? I mean, I can't imagine a football stud like you bottoming, especially to a runt like our little ol' Sky! I bet you had him mewling like a kitt-"

" Shut the fuck up, Gio," Pieter heard himself growl in a voice that somewhat surprised him. Some of the others latched on, though.

"Yeah, Gio, you know he hates talking about that kinda stuff," the otter said. "You really don't always have to make sex such a big deal."

"Yeah, can't you see you're traumatized the poor guy?" Wes the wolf added. "Sorry about him, Sky. Oh, and buddy...?" He started making a motion with his hands, but when Sky didn't react, he reached over and finished zipping the last third of the cheetah's fly. It wouldn't have been an appropriate act in most circumstances, but it saved the small feline some grace and brought him back to reality. After one glance around at everyone, he started walking again, trying to make himself as small as possible as he shuffled over and sat down on the floor next to his bag.

Gio could tell he had struck out, but apparently was too thick to know when to quit. "Oh, uh, s-sorry... But isn't it at least a little bit of news that Sky's no longer a virgin and that Piet bats for the other - ?"

"It wasn't our first time together, and I'm not gay, I'm bi. Besides, who cares?" the lion answered matter-of-fact-ly, effectively ending the conversation. "Anyway, now that everyone's here, we can decide on what pizza to get. Who wants what?"

After a moment of silense, Wes asked for meat-lovers, and then the TV erupted with noise as that home team scored on a power play; the distraction noticeably reduced the awkwardness remaining in the air, and soon the room was back to a party feel as the guys got into the hockey game while Pieter called the pizza place.

The party went without incident for the next hour or so, some of the guys retreating downstairs to take on air hockey instead of TV hockey. But then the doorbell rang. Pieter didn't get up immediately, a clearly-confused look on his face. The doorbell rang again, thrice in quick succession, and the lion popped up to go answer it. He heard some boisterous laughter on the other side of the door just before he opened it to reveal five of the other sophomores on the football team.

"Yo, Piet, happy birthday, man!" the leader of the pack, a big German shepherd, bellowed as he took the lion in a big bear hug.

"-oof!- Well, hi there, Nate..." Pieter replying once he was free again. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Kessler overheard Cam and Wes talking about your party the other day, so he got some of us together and we decided to crash it, hahaha!" the shep laughed, along with the Akita in question behind him. In fact, all five seemed a bit loose... and Pieter definitely smelled something off.

"...are you guys drunk?" he asked with a bit of disdain.

"Nah, dude, we all stopped at one beer."

"Yeah, Nate made sure of it," Kessler the Akita added. "We wanted to crash your party but not actually be jerks about it; he remembered you don't party like that, so he made made sure none of us had more than one."

"Or, tried to, at least," Nathan added, not laughing as he continued. "Benson managed to down, like, three while the rest of us were working on one. So he was..."

"Plastered," Pieter completed. "Yeah, that sounds like Ben..."

"Right. We dropped him off back at his house before coming here."

"I appreciate that. Though I still don't like you guys having driven at all after a beer... Come in, come in."

The other footballers piled inside, cheering at a "successful party crash", distracting Sky, Wes, and Carlos from the last part of the pro hockey match on TV. Nathan vaulted over the back of Pieter's couch, his feet narrowly missing Sky's lap as he flopped down, taking up most of the couch. The cheetah jumped at the sudden appearance of the German shepherd, and didn't exactly relax either even after Nathan settled down. Pieter noticed, and thought Nathan didn't notice - but the canine caught him while they each got a soda once the hockey game was over.

"Yo, Piet... Is there something wrong with your cheetah friend? He's seemed kinda tense this whole time."

The lion decided to play half-dumb. "Sky? Yeah, I noticed... Not like him, and he wasn't like that before you showed up. Normally he's good with conversation, as long as it's not empty small-talk or something. I know no-one on the team has picked on him or anything, so I don't think he'd be scared of footballers for any reason... I dunno, maybe he has a crush on you or something?"

Nathan glanced in the direction of the living room. "You think? So, like, even the guys like me now?"

Pieter laughed. "Dude, you're the starting quarterback, and you look the role, too. I bet that's a draw to just about everyone. Or at least everyone who's interested in guys. Or - well - maybe just 'everyone', as a lot of straight guys want to be the quarterback too, heh," he rambled.

Nathan smiled, ego stroked a bit. "Yeah, true," he said before turning and heading back to the living room with his soda. Wes had stolen Nathan's spot at the far end of the couch and was channel-surfing, so the shep plopped down on the middle cushion - even closer to Sky than before. He threw his arms over the back of the couch, which didn't get a reaction from the wolf, but the young cheetah definitely tensed up a bit at having the quarterback's arm almost draped over his shoulders. The shepherd didn't let him just sit uncomfortably for long, though.

"So, spots - er, it's Sky, right? Can't say I've seen you around much; how do you know birthday boy?"

"H-huh? Oh, um..." The king cheetah seemed very small for a moment, trying to hide the fact he was shocked the quarterback was talking to him. "Well, we had nearly identical schedules last year, and still have Bio and Pre-Calc together, and the same lunch period..."

"Hmm... Piet was in band last year; that's usually a big limiting factor in schedules, right?"

"Uh, for freshman it is, yeah," Sky replied, nodding and relaxing just a little bit. "We were both in band last year to cover our "arts" requirement, hence the similar schedules. Same with Christie and Jackie, actually."

"Oh! You know Jackie?" Nathan asked with a smile, liking the name-drop of his new girlfriend.

"Yeah; we sat next to each other in the clarinet section. I may go back to band next year, but this year I was too excited for AP World History..."

"Whoa now!" Nathan said in mock surprise, miming the 'badass over here' meme while adding "Sophomore in an AP class!" He then chuckled at his own joke, which Sky copied meekly, and continued "Seriously though, nice! But why are you subjecting yourself to something that intense so early?"

"Well, I really like archaeology..."

"Oh, like Indiana Jones stuff?"

That got a single genuine, loud "HA!" from the cheetah before he clarified "Indy is NOT an archaeologist," with a smile.

Pieter smiled, glad to see Sky coming out of his shell (he didn't want anyone not enjoying themselves at his birthday party) while Carlos squawked "Wait, isn't he an archaeology professor at a university or something?"

"Well, technically yes, but his "fieldwork" practices are way off-the-mark, even by Hollywood standards!"

"Oh, speak of the devil," Wed said, suddenly pausing his channel-surfing as he landed on Indy, Willie, and Shorty rafting down a Himalayan river. Sky groaned obviously, making the other four furs left in the living room laugh.

"Better change the channel, Wes, or you'll give Sky an aneurism!" Nathan joked.

The wolf scrolled up a few more channels before the TV rolled over back down to the network stations. "Aw, man, nothing else is on??"

"Eh, let's go see what the others are doing downstairs," the red falcon suggested, getting up from the easy chair. Wes and Nathan took a detour into the kitchen to grab some snacks as everyone made their way to the basement, apparently dropping in on a rather epic game of air hockey. Surprisingly, (or maybe thankfully,) Gio was a spectator in this match, and quite a loud one at that - way too much energy, and seeing the others come down only amped him up more. He immediately challenged the newcomers to a game of pool. To Pieter's surprise, Sky volunteered to take Gio on; when the hyena demanded two other people join in the pool match, both the lion and the German shepherd decided to join in. Gio demanded that he get to partner up with the birthday boy, brandishing his cue around wildly, putting Sky and Nathan on together on the other team.

The cheetah surprised all the other guys by being quite the pool ace, getting compliments all the way as he almost singlehandedly led his and Nathan's duo to victory. While the quarterback may have been excellently coordinated on the football field, he was nearly useless with a pool cue, while Sky was smooth, collected, and great at visualizing all the necessary angles for the best hits - and the shepherd said as much, which kept a huge smile on the cheetah's face the whole time. The guys played a few more games of pool and air hockey before returning upstairs from snacks and another live hockey game on TV. Sky, Nathan, and Wes reclaimed their separate cushions on the couch from before, but by the time the game was over the cheetah was casually leaning up against the shep.

The game ending was the sign all the guys took as time to call a close to the party, and Pieter thanked everyone for coming, even his party-crashing teammates. He wanted to particularly thank Nathan for being nice to Sky, but the footballers left before the officially-invited friends, so he settled for sending the canine a text once he had the house to himself again.

Hi Nate - thx again 4 coming and esp 4 hanging w Sky. i think you made his night. C you Monday!

---

A week or so later, Sky and Pieter were leaving the cafeteria when Sky unintentionally made eye contact with a certain jaguar girl that was coming down the hall - which would normally be unremarkable, but Sky felt that something was up. That hunch turned out correct as, instead of sticking to the other side of the hallway with the other students headed toward the cafeteria, the other spotted feline drifted into Sky's and Pieter's half of the hallway, trying to and finally getting the lion's attention.

He paused for a moment before uncertainly saying "Uh, hey there... What's up?"

"Hey, Pieter... I, um..." She was visibly struggling to find words, and Sky walked a few steps forward so as to give the other two felines some space, turning back to watch them once he was comfortably behind/ahead the jaguar in the hallway. She continued "Well, I was wondering - er, wait, I'm Pattie -"

"- Marigold, yeah, we've had English together the past two years." Pieter's tone was kinda flat, but Sky could see his face, which had a look of surprise that Pattie was talking to him, nervously no less.

"Oh! Right." From further up in the hallway, Sky couldn't see her face, but her back and tail seemed to relax a bit, which made the cheetah smile; it seemed Pattie may be as interested in his best friend as said lion was interested in her. "Well, ah... I was thinking... You know how, um - the winter formal is coming up in a couple weeks?" she asked, trailing off to a very quiet voice about halfway through her question. Sky grinned as he heard Pieter make an awkward sound in surprise.

"I - yeah, StuCo is advertising pretty hard this year. W-What about it?"

Pattie gave a nervous giggle before saying "Well... I kinda want to go with someone this year, instead of just as part of a group... Would... would you be interested...?"

The lion made that awkward surprised sound again, his eyes starting to dart around. They landed on Sky for a moment, and the cheetah started nodding vigorously. Pieter just stared for a moment before remembering to look back at the jaguar expecting his answer.

"I - yeah, definitely!" the lion finally said, enthusiasm and a smile breaking out by the last syllable. He still looked a bit shocked that the one person he though was out-of-reach had suddenly come to him, but the whole exchange had made him seem to inflate a bit with brightness. And although Sky still couldn't see Pattie's front, he saw her tail start swishing excitedly, though aside from another small semi-nervous, semi-elated giggle, she didn't let it sound in her voice as much. "Oh, awesome, thank you... That - really makes me look forward to it," she said with quiet, warm tone. "So... see you in English?"

"I - yeah!" the tight end replied, his ears perking up as it started to sink in that he had 'got the girl' - or, rather, she got him, but whatever, that was a minor technicality to him. Smiling, the two then went their separate ways, and Sky was waiting for Pieter with a fistbump. The cheetah opened his mouth to say something, but the lion cut him off.

"Yeah, yeah - you told me so."

Sky chuckled, answering "Well, yes, but that wasn't what I was going to say."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I was going to tease you by saying "You know, you said "I - yeah" three times in a row!" Really eloquent for your girl there, Piet!"

The footballer's eyes went wide, accompanied with an embarrassed 'eep', for a moment before he realized it hadn't really 'hurt' the interaction at all. Deciding turnabout was fair play, he teased back "You know, for someone who has a crush on me and has 'indulged' a bit in recent weeks, you seem rather excited for me to have a date with someone else."

Sky made the quick correction "Had a crush," though he had to admit to himself the lion had a bit of a point - he had grown a bit more attached to the lion recently. At the same time, he was genuinely excited at the prospect of Pieter having Pattie as a girlfriend; it seemed like such a good pair to him, he wanted to help make it work. He and Pieter would still be close friends anyway... Hopefully...

---

A week before the dance, and Pieter and Nathan were walking to English, the shepherd playing with the trinket he had received from Jackie earlier that day. Just outside of the classroom they ran in to Pattie, who made a point of getting of getting the lion's attention before they reached the door.

"What's this?" Pieter asked when the jaguar lifted a bag of something into his paws.

"Your Snow Ball gift," she answered simply. "Go ahead, look inside!"

The lion pulled open the drawstring to the little bag and peeked inside. "Oh, hard caramels!" he exclaimed, reaching in and pulling one out, noting the brand on the wrapper. "Damn, these are the really good ones, too!"

"Nice work, Pattie, he loves caramels, you really hit his sweet spot - literally!"

"Eh heh, thanks Nate," the jaguar responded as the three of them found their seats in the classroom. "I can't take all the credit, though, I went to get help..."

"Oh?" Pieter asked, "help from who?"

"Well, I kinda picked Sky's brain the other day, I know you two hang out a lot so I thought he'd be good to ask."

"Oh." A twinge of nervousness flicked down the lion's spine to his tail, worried what the cheetah might have said - or felt - during that exchange, but at that point their English teacher started class. The period went normally, the teacher going over the most recent scene of their reading, ending ActII of A Midsummer Night's Dream, then announcing group projects to go over what they'd read so far, earning some groans and some appreciative sounds as she read of groupings.

"...and that leaves the last group as Pieter, Jocelyn, and... Pattie, right."

"Auw, really Mrs. Gilroy?" a honey badger complained.

"Is there a problem, Jocelyn?" the elderly grizzly asked.

"This group is gon' be one big awkward moment. M' group members are in that weird stage o' obvously-but-not-'ficially bein' a couple! Did you not see her give him a bag o' candy earlier?"

"I may have very thick glasses, Jocelyn, but with them I can see just fine," the bear responded with a raised eyebrow before adding "I trust the three of you can all act like the mature young adults you are?"

"Yes ma'am," "Yes, Mrs. Gilroy," "*sigh* A'ight, yeees Mrs. Gilroy," Pieter, Pattie, and Jocelyn responded if quick succession.

"Good!" their teacher responded in a suddenly bright tone. "Everyone's all settled then! This project is due in two weeks, so you all have time, but the sooner you get started the better, of course!"

---

Later that afternoon, the three of them were huddled around Pattie's dining room table, having gotten to work after Pieter had shown up; Jocelyn had gotten their earlier and had mostly been complimenting how "flippin' fancy" the jaguar's house was. She had made some comment as they began about how she hoped the two felines would stay focused, but they were being rather efficient with their research and outlining, which made the somewhat-competitive honey badger also step up her game. Even though they were flying through the project, there was a glance here and a smile there that Jocelyn picked up on. She could also see both of their tails, normally flicking lazily, pick up slightly after each glance or smile, and Pattie's feet would occasionally slide forward under the table. Their conversation stayed mostly normal, but ever so slowly the two felines would say something funny or cute that would get the other chuckling. Finally, when Pattie came back with a second round of snacks for the three of them and let a paw linger on Pieter's shoulder as she stood between the other two, Jocelyn had enough.

"D' you two need a break or somethin'? I can jus' feeeeel the sexual tension risin' up in here."

The two felines looked at her in mild surprise; not at the fact they were being obvious - they were enjoying the light flirting - but at the fact it sounded like the "tension" was about to boil over. To Pieter, at least, it seemed fairly low-level in intensity for now.

"Well, maybe just a quick little moment," Pattie quipped before leaning down to Pieter's level and going for a muzzle-to-muzzle kiss.

The lion was caught by surprise a little but easily went with it, returning the kiss eagerly. Jocelyn was too shocked at how forward the other two were being to react at first, but then head-desk-ed - and stayed like that for a moment. She was about to say something when it sounded like the two felines separated.

"Okay! I'm good now," Pattie said brightly as she returned to her seat. Even though Pieter hadn't thought there was some big tension building up earlier, he found that that the not-entirely-chaste kiss certainly did feel like quite a pressure release - though he later realized that the 'release' was that of nervousness he had been building up ever since Pattie had asked him to the dance, not directly from the flirting they had been doing that evening. Either way, he definitely felt more energized and less distracted afterward.

"...Wait, that's it? That's all you needed?" Jocelyn asked, sounding skeptical, but Pattie simply nodded and got back to work. The honey badger was pleasantly surprised that the rest of the group work session went without incident, and gave a fond farewell to the new couple when it was her time to leave. Pieter started getting ready to leave as well before Pattie came up behind him with a hug.

"Mmm... hi again," the lion said with a warm chuckle.

"Hi," the jaguar happily replied, nuzzling into the footballer's back. "You know... that kiss from before..."

"That was great."

She giggled a bit, adding "Yes it was. But... it really was only a temporary reprieve..."

Pieter felt her hands and arms start to sink lower on him, and he let out a soft "Oh!" That quiet exclamation made her stop suddnely, though.

"Er, sorry," she quickly spat out, "I've always liked you, and never thought you'd just be hanging out in my house at all," withdrawing her arms form around him as she spoke, "and even if it was just for something mundane like and English group project, I've been maybe a bit too excited all afternoon..."

He let her release the hug, but as the jaguar did so her turned around and embraced her on his own. "Well... yeah, it may be a bit soon, but... I wouldn't mind, er, 'doing anything'..." He then touched gently just under her chin to establish real eye contact, hoping to communicate he was as attracted to her as she seemed to him. "You just surprised me a little, that's all!" he said with a smile.

A similar grin crossed Pattie's face as she replied "Okay! Yeah, sorry, shoulda asked... ...So can I give you another kiss? she added as she leaned up to the very tips of her paws. The lion's muzzle met hers halfway, and they pressed up against each other, the jaguar feeling a little extra pressing against the front of her hips now; it was a good minute or two before they parted. "My room?" she asked, taking Pieter's hand, and when he nodded she started leading them that way. "Umm... I, ah, don't know how far we'll go tonight, but if we go all the way - well, if we want to go all the way, would you use protection?"

"Well - I would, yeah - but I didn't bring any with me, I wasn't anticipating needing them..."

He saw her ears suddenly go flat, with a little bit of blush quickly showing. "I... er... hnnnhn," she giggled nervously, "I... maaaaybe went and bought some a day or two after you agreed to go to the ball with me...."

That made the lion laugh - in a good way which helped Pattie relax a bit. "I see! But yeah, I definitely don't mind using condoms."

"That's good," Pattie replied, wanting to stay safe. "So... if I may ask, who was your first? And have you had any since?"

Pieter almost stopped dead in his tracks - not that he wasn't expecting the questions, but that he wasn't expecting them so soon or so bluntly. Maybe it was just part of Pattie's personality, so information-oriented as she was? It certainly helped in school, but here... Now faced with the issue head-on, he was starting to realize that Sky may have had a point, as being in the moment made the lion scared of ruining the moment. "Um... I've only had one so far, that one three times..." He tried dodging the first question and bringing it back to safety. "My first time - which was theirs, too - was kinda spontaneous, and neither of us were prepared, but I used a condom the second and third times."

By now they had gotten to her room, Pieter standing in the doorway as he answered, and Pattie sitting on her bed looking at him in thought. After a short moment of silence, she said "Are you bi? You're being intentionally ambiguous about who - or even what gender - was your first. Or are you just ambiguous because it's someone I don't like?"

/Damn, she's sharp,/ he thought, sighing. "...the former; I'm bi... I hope that's not -"

"Oh, not a problem at all!" she said, brightening up. "I mean, I don't care who you're interested in generally as long as we're together..." she trailed off there, thinking about what she was saying as she said it. "...though I guess Jocelyn had a point earlier, we haven't really made it "official", have we...?"

Pieter smiled. "I would love to be your boyfriend, Pattie!"

She mewled like a kitten and jumped off the bed to give him a (short this tme) hug and kiss. "Thank you..." she cooed happily - then giggled. "...you still haven't told me who this first guy partner for you was, if I may be so nosy..."

He rolled his eyes in mock frustration. "Such a nosy girl! I'm not one to 'kiss and tell', you know; not my place to share his private stuff. All I'll say is you know him and I was on top."

"Oh, fine," Pattie mock-pouted. "Well, at least my lion knows how to handle someone, apparently!"

---

"Pieter! PieterPieterPieter," Pattie gasped, jogging down the hall and nabbing her boyfriend, quickly pulling him around a corner.

"Oh, hey Pattie!" the lion responded in surprise. "Something wrong?"

"Was it Sky?" the jaguar asked, a hint of worry in her eye. "We were talking in French and it suddenly just kinda made sense with what you said the other day..."

"Was what...? OOHH." It took a moment for Pieter to remember what "it" Pattie was referring to. He hesitantly answered "Um... ...yeah... ...why?"

"I dunno... I know he's supposed to be a really quiet and courteous guy, but... I dunno, I guess I'm not used to a guy being so polite, I thought it might've been odd even for him... but I really don't know, I've never directly interacted with him before."

"Hmm... He hasn't been acting different around me recently..."

"Okay, if you say so... You know him better. But you don't think he was hoping that you would be his boyfriend, do you? Especially sleeping with him thrice recently?"

The lion uncomfortably rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I don't think so - I mean, yeah he had a crush on me at one point, but said he grew out of it a long time ago, and has crushed on many of the other guys on the team since, including Nate currently. Heck, when Nate showed up at my birthday party the other week and hung out with Sky most of the night, Spots was on cloud nine. Each time we've been together, it's been really casual - almost more so on his part after the first time. And even before that first time, I had told him I was interested in you, and ever since he'd said a few times he wanted to help because - well, honestly, I thought you were out of my league..."

"Aww..." That made Pattie smile a bit. She seemed somewhat consoled but still not entirely certain. "Okay... I'm just worried that I may have broken something you two may have had up..."

"I don't think that's a problem... But thank you for asking," he said as appreciatively as possible.

"Okay..." she shifted. "Eh, this is definitely not the conversation I was thinking of having this morning..."

"Oh?"

"Yeah well, before French, I was kinda thinking that we hadn't been on an official date yet... I was maybe hoping to go to the movies or something the day after the dance..."

"Ah, right! Well, that sounds great to me if you still want to!"

Pattie smiled meekly, still apparently a little uncertain about the whole situation but glad for the date. "Great!"

---

As the dance (and date) approached, the jaguar started getting nervous, spending less time around Pieter and speaking more hesitantly when with him. Finally, the day of the dance, she nabbed the lion - who was with the cheetah - as the two guys were coming back from their lunch period, just like the first day.

"Hey, Pieter! Oh, hi there Sky."

"Hi Pattie! Ah, what's up?" the lion asked tentatively, as he could see his girlfriend was already a bit uncomfortable just walking up to them.

"Well, ah... Well first, sorry I've been a bit - "flaky" recently. It's just that any time I know people are going to be focusing on me - like a solo in a concert and such - I get r-really nervous beforehand... So..."

"Stressing out about the dance and date?" Pieter asked, as comforting a smile as he could manage on his face as he extended an arm, welcoming Pattie closer to him.

She walked into the embrace, nodding and smiling, slightly embarrassed but glad for the warm hug. "Yeah... Less about the dance, since we'll still have people around us to hang out with, so since I'm kinda excited - for both the dance and the date - it's overriding my nerves for the dance. But yeah, the date's more... intimidating, I guess? The date itself, not you, of course..."

"I know," he said with a soft smile at her last statement. "Well, um, would bringing a friend help it be more relaxed for you?"

The jaguar squeezed around him in response before adding "Yeah, it would... That's actually exactly what I was going to ask, a safety net of sorts, though I would add that since I was going to ask about bringing a friend, it would be only fair to offer the same to you."

"Oh!" That took him aback. "I think I'm okay, but I can think about it."

"Okay," she said nodding, though Pieter sensed more than saw there was something extra in the motion. "I was just thinking that three is an odd number - literally and figuratively," she added, smiling a bit at her play on words.

"Right, right..." Pieter said, now definitely noticing something... directional about the jaguar now. He wasn't sure if she was glancing in a giving direction, or slightly leaning some way, but he finally felt he 'read' her and looked that way - at Sky. The lion looked back at the jaguar with a questioning look, but Pattie's smiling visage didn't change. Still looking at her, he asked "Hey Sky... wanna be my wingman?" He turned to look at the cheetah just in time for the spotted cat - who had previously not been paying attention to the couple's discussion - to look toward him as well.

"Huh? You what?"

"Wingman. I don't want to be the only guy when we go to the movies the day after the dance, after all!"

"Oh! Uh, sure, sounds fun."

"Awesome!" Pattie said, clapping her paws together lightly. "Well, we'll catch the two of you after school that day, then. Love you, Piet!" With that, the jaguar jogged off to lunch.

The two males stared after her for a moment before turning to each other. The lion had an uncertain look on his face, causing the cheetah to tilt his head inquisitively for a moment before diffusing the situation with a shrug and a smile.

---

Pattie carpooled with her friend Jessica to the theater; Pieter and Sky each came in their own new (used) cars. The lion paid for both girls' Nerds and slushies before they made their way to the showing, Pieter and Pattie sitting in the middle. His left hand found Pattie's right fairly early in the movie without him really realizing it. He noticed Pattie and Jessica quickly whispering something to each other every once in a while, though, while Sky felt a bit detached; he corrected this by reaching out with his right to hold the cheetah's hand as well. The cheetah jumped a little as he felt his paw taken and turned away from the movie a bit to give Pieter a questioning look, but the lion just side-smiled back; Sky relaxed not long after that, and for the vast majority of the movie Pieter got to enjoy having two spotted cats leaning up against him.

As the movie came close to its end, Sky matter-of-fact-ly let go of the lion's hand and straightened up - still smiling all the while, though. At nearly the same time, the jaguar actively nuzzled into Pieter's shoulder, so he appreciated and approved of the change of focus. In time with the movie, Pattie leaned up for a kiss, which Pieter returned. Their muzzles stayed lightly together as most of the theater applauded when the credits started rolling, forcing Sky and Jessica to wait a bit as the theater started emptying out. Jess dismissed herself right as they exited into the lit hallway, saying her family was expecting her. Pattie opted to hang with the two guys, Pieter would take her home - after he went to the bathroom, though.

When he came back out a few minutes later, he saw the two spotted felines standing close together, having obviously had an engaging conversation - Pattie was even excitedly holding both of Sky's wrists. The two turned to look at him as he approached and both grinned broadly - the jaguar a little bit more devilishly than the cheetah as she jogged over to give the lion a tight hug. A shrug was the only explanation Sky could give when Pieter shot him a questioning look. The lion gulped, wondering exactly what they had been discussing and why they looked so excited...