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My Breakfast with Androcles

Chapter One - Intros and Interviews

My name is Jimmy Olson and I work for a great metropolitan newspaper. Okay, that's not true. I'm really a student at Eaglespoint working on the college rag there. All the news that can be crammed into six over-sized pages once a week. With the occasional political cartoon. That's the Eagle's Nest for ya. Eaglespoint is a small town with a smaller college that just happened to be close enough to one of the recently discovered Anthro populations to qualify for the government's "Integration Program". Of course, the college gets all kinds of wonderful grant money, so it was a no-brainer for them, plus they get all kinds of publicity every time an anthro student farts or picks its nose.

I don't mean that to sound like I resent the anthros, because I don't. I'm totally 'equal rights for everybody' and even sat in on one of the student panels supporting their coming here. Of course, I didn't know at the time that even if every student had been opposed the integration, it would've happened anyway because of - surprise! - government grant money. What we didn't anticipate was how integrating was going to segregate us. The college suits took one of the dorms and moved everyone out and into the other - now very cramped - dorms, so they could convert it and have a special place just for the new anthro students moving in. Before the first arrival we named it Anthro Alley (even though a few buttheads wanted to call it Animal House), and made a banner that hung over the front entrance, but it didn't last more than a few days. Cheap paper banners. But the name stuck even if the banner didn't.

The first couple of weeks were pretty weird. We were barraged with flyers and public service announcements urging us to make the anthros feel welcome, but leave them alone. Um, huh? And the anthros were told to mingle and learn all about their new home, but keep to themselves. No doubt they saw all this and figured humans were lamer than they anticipated. But since the government was in charge of it all, everyone just sort of laughed it off. I mean, how serious can anyone take a government agency designed to mingle humans and furs together that chooses the name Anthro Integration Program - Mainstream Acceptance Negotiations. AIPMAN? Seriously?

Most of the integrating happened in the classrooms, but because those pesky professors keep insisting that no one other than them talk, not much interaction occurred. Sure, there are some people that have reached out and made friends, and I honestly thought that it was going to be easier and really take off - kinda like how everyone did shit back in the '60s - all love and peace and stuff. And there were a lot of 'welcome' groups that sprung up in all the anthro towns, but for every good action, there's a more powerful hate group waiting in the wings.

I'm not gonna get into the Westbrook Freedom Church bullshit because the media has covered all their "God hates Anthros" campaign to the point of insanity. I guess no one should be surprised that any group perceived as different is going to face resistance, and maybe I'm naïve, but I didn't think so many humans would freak out so seriously. Almost every gun group in America has become an anti-anthro wingnut organization now, demanding that anthros either go back to the forests or be hunted, or both. Fortunately, the government stepped in and revised the Hate Crimes laws to include anything towards our new furry friends. And with all the Hollywood celebrities endorsing Anthro Acceptance, and even coming up with a brown ribbon (with fur!) to show their solidarity, it all sort of leveled out.

So, you'd think that my working on the college paper would put me in a position to have talked to some of the anthros here. Sadly, the editor is one of those small-town, 'change is bad' types, so he keeps any stories involving anthros to a minimum. He claims that the regular papers and TV and internet cover them so much that we should stick to stories that relate to college life. I see his point, except that having a dorm full of anthros who take the same classes as the rest of us IS part of college life.

It wasn't until after a human student went missing that I was given the okay to talk to an anthro for the paper. A few lions had been reported to have seen the missing kid the night they think he disappeared, and I convinced the editor that interviewing one of them would be a good story showing how anthros react to human law enforcement. The lions weren't suspects, but the detectives wanted to talk to anyone who saw the kid - a pizza delivery guy - once he was reported missing. The problem was, it was a few days after anyone last saw him before anyone realized he was missing, so the trail was already cold by the time the detectives started. And that meant that everyone got interviewed until they got their shit together. The only 'persons of interest (or should that be 'anthros'?) were some bears in Anthro Alley that had ordered the pizzas and supposedly were the last to see the kid. But since the missing guy's co-workers had also been with the bears all night (a scandalous sexual orgy that really fired up the hate groups and anti-integration nuts), the bears had a pretty good alibi. No one even knew if the kid had run away, got home sick, been kidnapped, abducted by aliens, or was trapped in an elevator somewhere, but he was missing and his car was still in its normal spot, so it appeared that something questionable had happened. Because the bears were still under suspicion, the authorities didn't want anyone interviewing them, but the lions were okay to talk to.

One bit of information I was able to drag out of one of the detectives was that one of the bears had initially been a stronger suspect because of some serious wounds he had when they interviewed him. The thought was, if that bear had done something to the kid, the kid might've fought back, causing the wounds. But it turned out there was no way a human could've done that kind of damage to a bear, and the other bears said it was because of a tussle that happened Saturday night - a full day after the missing student had been to the bear's room - and wasn't connected to the case. Due the extent of the injuries, the bear was taken to the hospital and he's still not in good shape at this point. The authorities haven't decided if they are going to investigate more or press charges or what since no one will say who it was that hurt the bear, and he's not talking. But it just adds to everyone's increasing distrust of what's been going on in Anthro Alley all this time, just like the hate groups want everyone to think.

And that's where I am this morning - standing outside Anthro Alley, gathering up my courage to head up to the 2nd floor of a building that humans no longer occupy. Of the two lions 'of interest ' in the case, I chose the one named Androcles. A quick bit of research revealed that he had been one of the first anthro students, so he had more time here, and that seemed to make him a better candidate for my interview. Plus, his name is Androcles. Androcles the Lion! How cool is that? So, my plan is to be unbiased for my article, but I also want to try to put a positive spin on this if I can. When the kid disappeared and the cops started interviewing anthros, a lot of negative press came out and people all jumped to conclusions - mostly fueled by the "God hates Anthros" dipshits. And everyone then finding out about humans and bears having sex - even worse; gay sex! - really caused a shit storm. Human parents wanted to pull their kids out of school and the government threatened to reduce its funding if things got out of control. It helped that supportive, non-anthro universities broke the shocking news to America that sex happens at colleges all the time, so sex with anthros would be a natural progression. The hate groups still hated and screamed, but most people settled down.

So, I slowly walk up through the commons area in front of the dorm, reviewing my notes so I'll have a clue about what I'm talking about before I get to the lion's room. There are quite a few anthros filling the tables and benches and I can tell that every one of them has subtly checked me out as I sauntered past. My impression is that they either don't get too many human visitors, or they think I'm another part of the law enforcement team here to further harass them or their suspected bear friends. When I hear the splat of a large loogie nearly hit my shoe, I determine they think the latter and increase my pace just a bit.

Given the treatment they've received since the student's disappearance, I guess I can't blame them. Not that "The Integration" had been seamless to begin with, but all the unrelated bullshit that's been brought out - sex orgies, wild parties, something about animal sacrifices, accusations of eating humans, and the endless interrogations - they had good reason to not be overjoyed to see me on their turf. It made me a lot more nervous now, thinking that I may be walking into a room with a hostile anthro. But Androcles had agreed to be interviewed, so I hope this isn't like walking into a lion's den. (note to self: leave the lame puns out of the article).

Since all the dorms have the same layout, I'm able to find room 206 without asking anyone, which also allows me to get into the building and upstairs as fast as possible to avoid any more potential gifts of mucus. I notice that the few anthros I pass in the hallways don't bother wearing the minimal clothing that they wear on campus. I guess when they're in their own space they don't feel the need to cater to human restrictions. Oddly, I don't feel awkward at all about seeing 'naked' anthros. If they had been humans in the same state of undress, I'd probably be turning more shades of red than Adobe Photoshop™ has names for.

Standing outside the room trying to compose myself, I see that the door had taken a bit of abuse. Indentations that looked like they were from a very large fist dotted the upper section, with smaller dents below, and all look recent, judging from the way the paint still splintered out from them. I wonder if that's from one of the recent parties that reportedly got out of hand, or an encounter that hadn't been discussed, or just that anthros were so much damn stronger than humans that the door simply suffered from normal anthro wear-and-tear.

I take a breath as I raise my hand to knock, pausing briefly to mentally review the 'facts' as assembled by the authorities. Friday night, near midnight, three bears on 4th floor order pizza from Pizza to Pray For (a local pizza joint). Two lions in front of Anthro Alley observe Peter, student and delivery boy, entering the dorm with pizzas. They report not seeing his car so it's assumed he walked. The lions leave a few minutes later and don't witness boy's departure. No witnesses other than the bears can verify that Peter made it to their room, but that's not in dispute. The bears claim Peter came in for a few minutes, had a beer, and left. Due to an order mix-up, two other pizza employees (Danny and Chris) show up a short time after (time undetermined, but estimated 12:40 Saturday morning) after Peter has left (estimated time of Peter being in bear's room is between 10 and 20 minutes). Danny and Chris admit to staying with the bears all night and are involved in a cross-species sex orgy (no charges pending at this time). Employees at Pizza to Pray For said that Peter didn't show up for work on Saturday, but flaky pizza employees wasn't an unusual thing so they didn't bother reporting it. Peter's dorm roommate had gone home for the weekend, so he had no knowledge of Peter's comings or goings since he left early Friday afternoon. On Sunday, Peter wasn't scheduled to work, but his roommate came back that evening and didn't see him. Again, not an unusual circumstance given it's a college and college students don't just sit in their rooms all weekend. Monday morning, Peter didn't show up for any classes and his roommate was curious but not concerned. Monday night, Peter didn't show for work again and one of the other employees called his cell phone and got his recording (location of phone unknown - cheap, pre-paid phone). Late Monday night, one of the employees (Danny) stopped by Peter's dorm room to check on him. He talked to the roommate and together decided that something might be wrong and notified campus security. Campus security called the sheriff's department since it appeared to be a few days since Peter was last seen. The clusterfuck they call an investigation began shortly after that and all of Tuesday was spent interrogating everyone in Anthro Alley.

The really sad part - aside from the kid having gone missing - was how the media immediately pointed the finger at anthro students; acting like the entire dorm was guilty just because that's where the guy was last seen and the investigations started. And I have no clue how the Westbrook Freedom Church assholes got their information, but they started posting accusations on their website about crazy parties and sex orgies, and then they turned out to be right! So then when they posted that the missing kid had been eaten by anthros, people immediately assumed it was true. If the "church's" intent was to create fear and distrust of all things anthro, then they succeeded, and many of the areas involved in "The Integration Program" went as far as setting up curfews for anthros only. But the ACLU quickly jumped all over the constitutionality of that, and the rift between pro-anthro and the anti-anthro groups got bigger. But, constitutional or not, a lot of businesses across the country started refusing to serve anthros, and the anthros didn't like being treated as second-class citizens and threats of retaliation followed. Living on a campus that was in the middle of it, I was really surprised at how quickly everything changed in 24 hours.

So here I am, Wednesday morning, lightly tapping on the door to room 206, feeling increasingly nervous about this whole idea of wanting to interview an anthro. After a moment with no response, I cock my head near the door to see if I can hear anything inside. And then the door opens so it looks like I'm spying or something. Great first impression! My second impression probably isn't any better as my mouth drops open and I stare stupidly up at the seven-foot orange and brown lion that stands in front of me. I've seen anthros; I've talked to anthros; but none of them had been this tall, big, large! - usually foxes or raccoons closer to my height. I'm not a big guy, so at five-foot-six, a lion that's a solid foot and a half taller can be just a tad intimidating. To be honest, if I was this close to a non-anthro lion, I would be filling my pants with everything I ate this morning.

Luckily for me, the lion was probably used to the surprised reactions of uninitiated humans, and with a smile that seems forced through sadness, he says, "Hi. I must be Androcles. You're here to interview me."

Whatever journalistic training I had learned conveniently ran and hid, leaving me a flustered novice. Trying to pull myself together I nervously extend my hand and say, "Hi. I'm Androcles." Awesome. Four whole seconds into this and I've made a complete idiot of myself.

The lion chuckles as he takes my hand into his large paw and firmly shakes it. "If I recall from the phone call, your name is Jim. But feel free to use Androcles if you like. I never got around to trademarking it." He smiles again, more naturally this time as he steps to the side, indicating that I should come in. Which I do. Very slowly.

Androcles has a gentleness to his nature that I somehow pick up on, and that helps to calm me down from the nagging thought that I just walked into the room of a seven-foot anthro version of a creature I had been brought up to fear. But I can also tell that he doesn't really trust me. That's something I picked up from doing interviews (before all my journalistic talents fled in fear); I learned to tell who felt guarded around reporters and who felt the need to embellish their life story. In this case, given what he had been subjected to by human authorities the past day, I couldn't blame Androcles for feeling distrustful of me. But he's polite regardless, and all I can hope is that he'll believe my intentions are to help tell his side of things.

I stand in the middle of the room while Androcles shuts the door. There's no click of the lock or maniacal laughter, so I figure I should stuff my nervous imagination back into its dark closet for the time being. The room seems smaller than I would have imagined, even for the previous human tenants. It would make for a comfortable residence if only one person was assigned here, but with two beds and desks, it's obvious anthros have to put up with roommates, too.

Androcles motions me to a chair that he had already pulled out by the desk in the corner of the room, so I walk around the bed and sit as I try to recall any of the questions I had planned on asking without having to use my notes right away. He sits on the end of the bed at an angle so he can face me, and adjusts the loincloth wrapped around his waist. It hadn't occurred to me that he isn't "naked" like the other anthros I had seen since entering the dorm, and that draws my attention to the cloth. It's mostly a light khaki green with thick stripes of red and yellow, and the front has a multi-colored beaded section that hangs lower than the rest. I must've studied the cloth a moment too long and Androcles cocks his head at me quizzically. Suddenly embarrassed, I look up at him and stammer, "It's really nice."

"Yes, it is," he replies with a sly grin. "Too bad I have to cover it with a loincloth." His grin turns into a big smile as I feel my face flush red.

"No, I meant the ..." Even though I know he was joking, I seem to feel I should explain. But he laughs softly to let me know all is understood. I follow with a nervous chuckle and take a deep breath to try to regain my journalistic bearings.

"I got it at a shop that specializes in authentic African clothing," he offers, letting me off the hook. "But unless China has relocated, I doubt its authenticity." He grins again and I find that I'm beginning to appreciate his relaxed humor as I smile back, which seems to please him. It occurs to me that he probably didn't see too many smiles from his earlier interrogations, which might explain the sadness I saw in his eyes when he first answered the door.

"I noticed the other anthros in the dorm weren't wearing anything." It was an unconscious comment and I mentally slap myself the moment I say it, wondering why I continue to draw my attention to the lion's lap/midsection/waist/crotch.

"I'll take it off if you prefer," Androcles responds softly with another sly smile. I get the feeling he enjoys helping me embarrass myself, and he chuckles lightly as he watches my face turn deep red again. "We wear clothing when we're out among humans because of their 'modesty', to put it politely." He flashes a quick grin, "But here, we prefer to be natural. I put this on for your benefit," he says, giving a quick tug to the bottom of the loincloth.

"Oh, you don't need to wear it for me!" Again I find myself blurting out things I should at least have the sense to phrase in a way that doesn't make it sound like a drunk hitting on someone. I get so flustered that I drop my notepad and, instead of picking it up, I bury my face (red again!) in both palms. I hear Androcles lean forward and take the pad in his paw, holding it out for me.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable," he says quietly, that sly smile showing.

"No, no, it's not you," I reply, taking my hands away from my face. "I just didn't think I'd be this nervous about interviewing you."

"Nervous because...?" The lion looks at me with an expression of curiosity, probably thinking that, as a reporter, I should be more in control of the situation.

And I'm asking myself the same thing. Nervous because... what? Nervous because he's a big anthro lion? Because I made too many stupid innuendo comments? Because none of this is going the way I had run it through my head before I got here? Because every time Androcles looks at me I feet like he's examining my soul?

I think that's part of it. For all his gentle demeanor, he has a way of looking at me that seems like he can read my mind. And that's pretty unnerving for someone who's supposed to be asking the questions and being in control.

I reach out to take my pad but he doesn't release it, allowing his claw and my finger to touch. I glance up into his emerald green eyes, relaxed and friendly, but still appearing to be taking stock of who I am. He smiles as our eyes meet and fingers touch. "Nervous because?" he repeats as he releases the notepad.

"Because this is probably the most important thing I've written for the paper," I reply, continuing to look into his eyes. "And I don't want to mess it up."

"And what would messing it up be?" His head tilts to the side a bit, but our eye contact remains. It isn't a staring contest, but more like he's still evaluating me, and I just can't stop thinking that I've never seen such deep green eyes before.

"Messing up would be not presenting an accurate account of your side of the story," I mumble as I finally break eye contact and look down at my pad.

"Why is my side important to you?" His tone is soft and gentle, but I detect a bit of suspicion and figure it's based on yesterday's questioning. I also detect that he's done a great job of turning the interview around so that I'm now his subject, and I really feel I should try to get this back on track.

"I'm a student here, too," I say as I glance back up to see Androcles still looking at me. "I was here when the "Integration Project" started and I know how smooth things have been up until yesterday. The media and hate groups have trashed you guys so much in 24 hours and I think someone needs to set things straight."

"And that someone is you?" The question could have easily been a challenge, but his tone is almost like he's asking for me to help end the crap that has turned his - and all the anthros - world upside down.

I return his gaze, my eyes narrowing a bit as I focus myself, "I assure you that my intention here is to present your story as you tell it to me so the rest of the campus, and hopefully beyond that, will know that the crap being said about anthros is baseless hate-mongering."

The big lion holds my gaze a moment more before leaning back on the bed and smiling. "Then we should probably get started." He looks more relaxed now, and doesn't seem to be inspecting my soul with his eyes. "Unless you'd rather talk about my loincloth some more." He giggles and I turn red. Again.

I flip through my little notepad, partly to stall until I get over my most recent sense of embarrassment, and partly to find the notes I had jotted down for topics I want to discuss. Keeping my eyes on what I had written, I click my pen to prepare for the lion's reply. "So, starting with the worst part first, how do you feel about the Westbrook Freedom Church's accusations of what goes on here in Anthro Alley? Specifically, the claims of sex orgies, wild parties, animal sacrifices, and the latest one, anthros eating people?"

For the first time it appears that Androcles is irritated as I watch his expression change to a scowl. He grumbles the name "Westbrook Freedom Church" under his breath as I suspect that this could be an unpleasant exchange.

"I don't see any reason to bother talking about sex orgies and wild parties since nothing happened here that doesn't happen at every other college. And besides, anyone who thinks that consenting relations between adult anthros and humans is illegal should take a look at the Constitution. As much as the Westbrook Freedom Church wants to deny that we're citizens, the fact is anthros are just as American as they are, and just because we've been hidden until recently doesn't mean that we can be bullied into being second-class citizens." Androcles remains calm as he speaks but it's obvious to me he's bothered by the church's stance.

I jot down his comments and quickly continue, wanting to get the nasty stuff out of the way. "And the claims of animal sacrifices? You can't really say that happens at other colleges. Well, except maybe Harvard."

"Heh." The big lion leans back on his elbows and gives me a sly smile. I get the feeling he's been waiting for this question and that makes me a little uncomfortable. "Animal sacrifices," he repeats slowly. "I would need to know how the Westbrook people define 'sacrifice', but in the looser term, yeah, it happens."

That really isn't the response I was expecting. I was sure Androcles was going to strongly claim that anything resembling animal sacrifice was an absolute fabrication, and as I pull my mouth back closed, he continues, "So, let me ask you what you had for dinner last night."

Okay, I think I see where he's gonna go with this, "Um, a hamburger and fries with a coke."

"And the night before?"

I have to think a moment before responding, "KFC. Um, fried chicken."

Androcles tilts his head as he smiles at me. "Did the cow or the chicken you ate consent to your eating them?"

I mentally debate whether I should try to defend myself, but then remember that I'm hoping to support his side, so I figure I'll let him play this his way. "Consent? No, they were already dead."

"Okay," the lion appears amused as he narrows his eyes a bit. "Let's suppose we could go back to right before they were dead. Do you think they would've consented to the manner in which they were made dead?"

The way he avoids using the word 'killed' is not lost on me. "From what I've read about it, no, I don't think they would've wanted to die the way they did."

"I would agree," the lion's tone becomes serious and the smile fades. "The slaughterhouses you humans use are brutal. We've read about them and seen videos. Cows hung by their hind legs have their throats slit so they slowly bleed to death. And chickens with their necks twisted, left to run until they die. And this is after the wonderful lives they've had penned up in cages so small they can't move. Very humane, huh!"

"They're not all like that." I realize I'm feeling very defensive about this, although I know I have nothing directly to do with it other than supporting them by buying their products.

"True, those may be the worst cases. Or at least the worst that's been made public so far." Androcles sits up, placing his paws on his knees, bringing his large, maned head closer to mine. "So let me repeat my question - did the cow you ate give its consent to you eating it?"

"No, it didn't!" My response is obviously defensive, bordering on anger because I feel like I'm being persecuted for something I had no control over.

"No." Androcles repeats softly to emphasize his point, "It didn't." He leans back again, giving me a chance to regain my composure. "But let's say you had asked for its consent. Let's say you went up to that cow and said, 'hey, cow, do you mind if I eat you?' What do you think the cow would say?"

My eyes couldn't get any wider in disbelief as I take in the question. "...if I asked its permission to eat it?" I look at Androcles, totally puzzled. "It would probably say 'no', wouldn't it?"

"It would probably say 'moo'!" he replies, giggling. "Cows don't talk. Anthro cows talk, but we're discussing animals here." He flashes me a goofy grin.

Given how serious this conversation had just been, something about a lion saying 'moo' causes me to try to stifle a laugh. But Androcles seems to be waiting for me so he can continue. "So, okay," I say, controlling my smirk. "The cow is incapable of giving me permission to eat it, and I think we're in agreement that slaughterhouses are not nice places, but what does that have to do with animal sacrifices?"

"Comparison. We both eat animals. The difference is that the animals anthros eat are usually fine with being eaten." The lion pauses, watching me.

As his comment sinks in, I look up from my notepad. "How do you know they're fine with it? That seems a bit presumptuous to imply any animal you're about to eat gives you its blessing."

Androcles cocks his head to the side. "Well, 'blessing' wouldn't be the right word, but animals have an instinctual sense about their place in the food chain, as do anthros, to a lesser degree."

"Wait. You're saying that anthros are okay with being eaten?" I hadn't expected any revelations like this and suddenly feel a bit uneasy.

"I'm getting ahead of myself," Androcles says as he gives me that casual look like he's gazing into my soul again with his tail flicking up by his ear. Seeing it distracts me enough to pull my mind off the immediate issue, which I suspect is what the lion wanted as he gives a slight smile to my regained calm. "The party we had Saturday night involved two wild rabbits. They were found out in the field behind the tennis courts. You know what other kinds of animals are out there? Coyotes."

"Yeah, I've heard that people shouldn't leave their cats outside." I'm back to looking at what I'm jotting down but can see Androcles peripherally.

"And you know what coyotes do to rabbits or cats, right?"

"Um, kill 'em and eat 'em, right?" I glance up to see if the lion's expression would change.

"Exactly." He says, calm as always. "And how do you think the rabbit feels about that?"

"I would imagine he's not too happy about it."

"Why?"

"Why?" I repeat incredulously. "Because the poor rabbit is probably hunted down and torn to shreds while it's trying to escape before the coyote eats it."

"Yup." Androcles nods slowly. "It's a terrifying way to die, even for a creature without intelligence. So, in a sense, we saved those two rabbits from that horrible fate."

"You saved them..." The whole sacrifice thing isn't making sense to me anymore if all they did was rescue a few wild rabbits. "So, where are they now?"

"They were eaten alive at the party."

Androcles responded so matter-of-factly that I drop my pen. I sit frozen, realizing that he isn't joking as he bends forward to pick it up. Holding it out to me, he says, "Don't jump to any conclusions." As I hesitantly reach for the pen, the lion takes my hand in his paw and gently cradles it as his eyes look directly into mine - our faces only a few inches apart. "The rabbits consented." He says softly.

"They what?" My voice is close to a shocked whisper, and since we're so close to each other it didn't need to be any louder. I can't look away from his emerald eyes and his paw feels so soft as it encompasses my hand - not at all like I imagined a lion's paw would feel.

After a moment, he quietly continues, "They gave their consent to be eaten. In fact, they were somewhat appreciative." He gives a slight tilt to his head, still just inches from my own, and releases my hand but holds his paw in place ensuring that I will be the first to break contact. And a second later I slowly let my hand descend to rest on my knee as Androcles sits upright on the bed again.

I don't know if it was his intention, but the lion has done a near perfect job of causing me as a journalist to forget almost everything I had learned about interviewing. Between the unnerving way he would look at me, to the bizarre things he was saying, I feel more like an awestruck little kid than any kind of reporter. He's discussing eating animals alive and I can't stop thinking about how soft his paw is! In an attempt to refocus myself, I hold up my palm in a 'give me a moment' way as I close my eyes.

"Wait... so you already said that animals can't talk, so how can you tell me that the rabbit approved and enjoyed being eaten?" Okay, I think I got myself together here. As long as I don't look into his eyes again I should be able to finish this interview without reducing myself to a babbling idiot.

Androcles pauses a moment before responding softly in that deep voice of his. "It's kinda hard to explain. It's a feeling that's similar to intuition, I guess. I don't think humans are tuned in to it, except maybe a few. It's not like we pass thoughts back and forth, since animals don't have thoughts like you and I anyway, but it's a subconscious exchange of ... how can I put this? Of 'self'. Does that make sense?" He had leaned back on his elbows again as he spoke, looking very relaxed.

"I'm not sure." I glance up from my pad. "I'm kinda getting stuck on this being like a cross between mental telepathy and mind control. Or hypnosis."

Chuckling lightly, Androcles tilts his head. "It's not mind control or hypnosis. There's absolutely no coercion going on. In a way, it's like conveying to the rabbit that his struggles are over and his life will be honored by becoming a part of something greater than himself. The rabbit is promised a peaceful and painless passing." The lion gives me a slanted half-smile, knowing that I will have a few dozen questions about what he said.

But I pause, wanting to jump all over the spiritual implications of his statement, but deciding to continue on the topic that got here first. "That's a lot to convey to a creature that has no concept of things like death and honor." I'm looking Androcles in the eyes again, but the subject matter is too intense for me to be distracted. "How do you do it?"

The lion's eyebrows rise. "How?" he replies, looking like he's trying to find the right words. "I can't really explain 'how'. It's something we - anthros - all have to varying degrees, although I think animals have a stronger sense of it. You knowhow they say a dog can sense if you're afraid? It's like that, sort of. I'm pretty sure humans had it back when they were still primitive, and it faded as they relied more on verbal communication."

It's my turn to raise my eyebrows. "So, you can't do it on humans?"

Androcles shoots me that warm smile of his, "I really don't know since I haven't had the opportunity to eat any humans."

I give him a 'I hope you're just kidding' grin back. "You can only do it when you eat something?"

"Oh, no," the lion explains. "We can do it anytime. Like I say, it's something we just have. I've been 'reading' you since you got here, but 'conveying' to you takes more concentration."

"Reading me? Reading my mind?" I suddenly feel like I'm sitting there naked. "I thought you said..."

"Not reading your mind," Androcles calmly holds up his paw to stop me from going off on a tangent. "You have an aura that I can read. But it's just real basic stuff about you, like fear or happiness."

"Like a mood ring?"

"Heh. A bit more than that," the lion chuckles.

"Okay, I've heard of people who claim they can see auras, so that's not too far out there, but what about this 'conveying' part?" I'm now wishing I had brought a recorder with me because my note taking might leave something out. "Did the rabbit read your aura?"

"Well, I wasn't involved Saturday. But in general, yeah, a rabbit has a keener ability to sense auras than anthros for the same reason humans lost it thousands of years ago. I think we hung onto it because our physical being is more closely related to the animal side still." He waves his tail around behind his head and I wonder if it's to emphasize his animal half or just because he's enjoying dragging this whole conversation out.

"So, the rabbit can..."

"Wait." Androcles leans forward, tilting his head and smiling ever so faintly. "This would be easier if I showed you." Resting his elbows on his knees, he turns his paws upward. "Give me your hands."

Without thinking, I obediently set my pad down, but then hesitate as I reach my hands forward. "Wait, what will you..."

"I'm going to convey my 'self' to you. Or try, at least. Like I say, it's not as natural or easy with intelligent creatures. Thoughts get in the way of simply being." He raises his paws to gently take my hovering hands, and again I'm struck by how soft they are. I stretch out my fingers in order to grasp back and the lion smiles warmly. "But I think this will go well," he whispers.

With the warm, spongy pads of the big lion's paws pressing against my palms, I feel a nervous giddiness that again reminds me a reporter should never let personal feelings interfere with an interview. But I can't deny that within the short time I've sat here with Androcles I've developed an attraction to him. It makes me wonder how the interrogators felt with him yesterday, but then I recall Androcles' sadness when I first arrived, along with the general reception I got when I came into Anthro Alley. But as our eyes meet again, I notice that the sadness I saw in them earlier is gone. He looks...

"Try to silence the voice in your head and relax," Androcles interrupts my mental ponderings with his calm, deep voice. "All I'm going to do is try to pass a sense of my 'self' to you. It probably won't be in any form you're familiar with, so don't think about getting thoughts or images, okay? Clear your mind and silence your inner voice."

I give a faint nod as I gaze into his emerald eyes, feeling so comfortable with my hands in his warm paws. His eyes soften and I wonder if I should return the gaze or close my eyes or ...

"Silence your inner voice," he whispers, and after a quick flush of embarrassment, I make my brain shut up.

. . . . . . . .

Androcles lightly squeezes my hands and my mind snaps back to the room where we're sitting, facing each other, but I realize that I never lost consciousness in any way. I have no idea how much time passed, if any even did, but I know that there are things in my head that weren't there before. Not thoughts or images as he explained; not even memories, but like a sensation of something - almost like a forgotten dream or déjà vu feeling.

I feel very relaxed and take a deep breath. Androcles continues holding my hands in his paws as he smiles, his face only a few inches from my own. "How are you?" he asks, quietly.

"I'm... " My mind is still trying to decipher whatever it was that had joined it. "You... " I have a sudden sensation of not being me, but not not being me either. "You want me to take my shirt off!" I blurt it out because it isn't me expressing it and I realize that I'm reflecting back whatever Androcles had conveyed to me. "You're attracted to me." It was a statement of fact, but not_my_ fact - I was again expressing what the lion had passed to me. And there's so much more: fragmented bits of Androcles - not his memories, but who he is. I keep wanting to compare it to something so I'll understand it, but it's such a new sensation that I can't. It's knowing without knowing how it's known.

The lion gives me a sheepish smile and squeezes my hands again before letting them go. "I guess it worked." He says as he leans back on the bed. If I thought it was possible, I would've imagined he blushed.

I remain sitting upright in the chair and after a beat ask, "So, do you?"

"Do I what?" Androcles responds, looking slightly confused.

"Want me to take off my shirt." It's more a question, and since it had been one of the main 'things' I 'received' from him, I'm curious what it means.

"Oh. Heh." The big lion giggles and shoots me that sheepish smile again. "That was sort of unintentional. I wanted to pick something out of the ordinary and conveying that I'm attracted to you seemed to fit. That part about your shirt just slipped in."

"You're really attracted to me?" I feel myself getting embarrassed.

"I really am," he smiles. "Should I not have conveyed that?"

"No, it's fine! It's... " Holy fuck! Did he pick up on my attraction to him and he's just reacting to it? He probably knew I was attracted to him before I did! "I... I am, too," I finally say, not sure why I'm saying it. But it's me, and not him in my head.

He moves his footpaw forward to nudge my shoe, "I know."

I look at him, reclining on his bed - so calm, so confident, so masculine - and I wonder what it would be like to hug him. Would he let me? Do anthros even hug? Wait, yeah, I've seen them hug on campus between classes. In fact, now that I think about it, they seem to exhibit affectionate contact with each other a lot more than the human students. Is it because of their all being in a relatively new environment and a sign of support, or is it... My mind suddenly stops its inner reflection and I know the affectionate touching is simply how they are. That must be something Androcles conveyed to me. Andro. He prefers being called Andro.

Unsure of what to say or do, I nervously pick up my pad and pen again, thinking that I should try to get back to the interview even though I feel more like delving into our seeming attractions to each other. "So, um, the rabbit was..."

"The rabbit understood that it had nothing to fear, unlike its life in the forest where it hid from the constant threat of coyotes. In the same way you now know I think your shirt is interfering with my appreciation of your belly button..." he pauses quickly to grin, "the rabbit knew it was being honored in its sharing of its life with another. Peaceful and painless. Calm and comfortable. And in a sense, the rabbit continues on within the one who ate it." Andro pauses again, but this time with a thoughtful look on his face. "Let me revise that," he continues. "Because saying that the rabbit was 'eaten' is only partially accurate."

I'm jotting down notes as fast as I can, trying to keep up and grasp what Andro was telling me. Calm and comfortable? My belly button? What about my belly button?

"Technically, 'eat' would be correct," the lion muses, "but it's a different way of eating than the hamburger you had last night. You chew, you swallow, your stomach acids break it down, and you crap out whatever your body doesn't absorb."

I look up at him with an 'eww' expression. He smirks back like 'get over it' and doesn't stop.

"The rabbit was swallowed whole... alive, able to enjoy its final journey."

"Wait... what?!" I have to stop him there because enjoyment just doesn't register as anything I would associate with being eaten alive! "The rabbit enjoyed it? You're saying he's being swallowed by someone and he's acting like he's on a carnival ride?"

Andro shoots me a quick look of irritation and I realize that my incredulous reaction was probably more like the interrogators he dealt with yesterday. Quickly realizing that I'm supposed to be learning his side of the story and not passing judgment, I shoot back a look of surprised apology. Without saying anything, I see his eyes slightly narrow and I suspect he's 'reading' me again. After a moment his look of annoyance softens and I assume he picked up that I hadn't meant to come across so harshly.

"Death doesn't need to be frightening." The lion begins again quietly. "Since it's inevitable, why not choose the way your life ends? Especially if the other option is terrifying and painful?"

"But isn't being digested kinda painful?" My tone is curious and as respectful as I can make it.

"Normal digestion would be, I imagine." Andro cocks his head sideways as he watches me taking notes. "Like I was explaining, this isn't 'eating' in the sense you're familiar with. It's probably closer to absorbing, if I had to put a word to it."

"Absorbing," I repeat as I write the word.

"Well, kind of, yeah. It's still like digestion in a way because the rabbit is in the stomach and..." Andro pauses and appears to be pondering how to explain the process. I get the feeling that it's one of those things that's so familiar to him that he never has to think about how it happens, so it's difficult for him to put into words. "It's not the acids that are..." He pauses again and smiles at me with a 'what the fuck' expression as his tail flicks at his left ear. "Okay. An anthro's body works differently. When an anthro eats - or takes in - another living creature, his stomach produces a saliva-like substance that replaces the normal acids. This saliva stuff breaks down the body, but not like acid does. It sort of works into the cells and then disassembles everything so the stomach can then absorb it as energy, passing it to the body. Not 'energy', but I can't think of a better word. Energy-like."

I finish jotting a quick note and look up. 'But wouldn't that still hurt? Just your body coming apart like that?"

"If you were still conscious, I guess it would." Andro rolls onto his side and props his head up with his paw. "Once in the stomach, the rabbit would fall asleep after a while, and eventually its life fades. The belly is a pleasant place to be and sleep is very peaceful. For the rabbit, the entire journey is actually quite enjoyable."

"That's the second time you described this as a 'journey'." I comment. "I mean, it's just going from your mouth to your stomach, right?"

Andro gives me a sly smile. "Well, that might be an anthro conceit, I suppose. But it is, in a way." His tail waves leisurely beside his head and he gently grasps it near the end with his free paw and tickles his nose with the bushy tip as his smile becomes a wide, toothy grin. I can't help laughing. "It's not just tossing something into your maw and gulping it down," he continues after letting his tail go free again. "It's an acknowledgement of what the rabbit - rabbit in this case, at least - is giving to the one taking it in. There's a sensuality that's shared between the two, and there's pleasure for both. In fact, anthros do a lot of partial swallowing of each other all the time. It's a sign of affection, or playing around, or teasing. Or a prelude to sex. " Again I get the sheepish smile from him.

"Partial swallowing? You mean like..."

"Mostly paws, in the lighter scenarios," Andro continues. "You may have seen it a few times around campus; one anthro sucking on another's paw and maybe even taking it down his throat."

I almost drop my pen again. I had noticed the displays of affection and hugging, but hadn't seen anything like what Androcles is describing. Unconsciously, I lift my hand to my mouth just to remind myself that I couldn't fit it in if my life depended on it. I know that anthro's have larger mouths - or maws - but even so, I can't imagine any of them taking a paw the size of Andro's down their throat. For that matter, how do they swallow rabbits whole?

Andro must sense my confusion, or my expression gives it away, as he goes on, "Our bodies stretch more than humans. We can take in things almost as large as ourselves if we have to." He quickly adds, "Or want to."

I reach for the lion's paw and he holds it out for me as he lay on his side on the bed. I hold it with both of my small, human hands, turning it over to examine its size. As I consider the idea of it fitting into someone's mouth, it makes it seem that much larger to me. I look at him incredulously as I release his paw and pick up my pad to pretend taking notes again while I grapple with the idea of what I'm hearing. "You've had your paw swallowed before?"

That elicits the most impish smile I've seen yet from him. "Oh my, yes." Andro laughs. "Anyone who knows me at all knows that all they have to do to get me in the sack with them is swallow my paw."

I drop my pen and my pad. And my jaw.

Andro is clearly enjoying my embarrassment. "There are other ways, too. Which is good because my paw would never fit in your mouth." He flops himself flat on his back as he flashes a devious grin at me.

I have no idea how red I turn this time, but I realize I'm also intrigued - and kind of aroused - by his boldness. If I didn't have an interview to finish, I could see things going a whole different direction right now, but I still have a deadline and lots of questions. Including questions about what Andro seems to want to talk about now. Picking my stuff up off the floor, I glance at him as he lies back, now with his paws behind his head. "So, what's the biggest thing you've swallowed?"

His smile turns to an expression of pleasant melancholy. "Another lion, a bit smaller than me. He was my best friend."

"Wha.. what..." Does every statement from him have to shock me? "You ate... you ate your best friend?"

"He wanted me to. It was right before I came here to Eaglespoint. We talked about it for a few days before I agreed." Andro sat up again, speaking reverently, looking down at the floor.

I know there's a lot about anthros I have no clue about, but this is simply boarding on bizarre to me. "Why did he want you to? Why would he want to be eaten?"

"Like I said, 'eaten' really isn't the right word, especially in this case." The lion looks into my eyes again. "It was his gift to me, to help me succeed in the new world; this new adventure."

"Gift?"

"We had been best friends since we were little cubs. Always together, inseparable. But he didn't get selected for the "Integration Program" and wanted to make sure that I'd be strong enough to make it on my own. His strength, his wisdom, his kindness... his love... are now a part of me. Taking him in me helps to guide me because if I fail, I fail us both. And I will not fail my best friend. His spirit will be within me the rest of my life. Always together. Inseparable."

Part of me wants to yell how crazy I think that is, but the other part is strangely touched by the sacrifice his friend had made. Either way, I jot down my confused thoughts.

Andro's eyes look saddened, but he gives me a faint smile. "If you write about him in your article, his name is Bahrku."

I carefully write it in my little pad and return Andro's sad smile, leaning more to the 'touched' side now, and not so crazy. As much as I want to keep asking questions, I feel that I should give him a moment since he still seems to be reflecting on his friend.

"So," he begins again after a bit, "Back to paw swallowing." He shakes his head, ruffling his mane, and the sadness from a moment ago seems gone. "Like I said, it's a way anthros play around and show affection. I don't know if there's a human equivalent. I haven't really seen anything. But then you humans seem to be kinda repressed as far as affection goes." He waves his tail at me. "No offense."

"No. No, I think you're right. But what does it do for you?" Outside of sex, I find myself curious how swallowing someone's extremities would be a sign of affection.

"Well, first off, it feels good." Andro shoots me that cute smile of his again.

"For the swallower or the swallowee?"

"Both!" he responds enthusiastically. "When I talked about the rabbit's journey? I mean that in the gentle way the rabbit is ..hrmm... eaten, that's it's a very pleasurable experience."

"Really?" I sit back in the chair and stop writing. It's just too strange a thing for me to comprehend that being eaten alive would be described as 'pleasurable'.

"Oh yeah!" The big lion leans a bit forward, his eyes sparkling emeralds. "And the one doing the swallowing, well, it feels good for him, too! Heh."

"And it doesn't hurt you when your throat stretches?"

"Nope, as long we're prepared for it. It'd probably hurt if someone tried to shove himself down my throat when I wasn't ready. Heh. But that hasn't happened."

"What does it take for you to prepare?"

"Very little." Androcles is still leaning forward and as I sit back up to continue note taking, we're only a foot or so apart. "It's a mental thing, mostly. In fact, I'm ready to swallow you now if you want."

I knew he was going to say something to throw me off guard again and had been gearing myself for it so I wouldn't blush or drop anything. But that statement was more than I was prepared for. "Me? Swallow... swallow me?" My eyes had to be saucers at that point.

"Heh, I mean your hand. To show you what it feels like."

"What? Are you serious?" A shot of fear shudders through me as I consider sticking my hand into a lion's mouth, but I realize I'm also curious about how it would feel based on his description. And my attraction to Andro is influencing my sense of restraint because I want to trust him to not harm me if I let him do this.

"Only if you want. I wouldn't force you to try anything you didn't want to try." His eyes narrow a bit but it doesn't seem like he's 'reading' me this time. His smile is warm and assuring and before I realize it, he has my hand held gently in his paw. "But you're a reporter so I thought you might be... curious."

"I can report on car accidents without feeling the need to experience one." I'm almost whispering as he slowly caresses my hand. I look down at his large, soft paw and then back into his deep green eyes and feel a sense of warmth. "But yeah, okay. I wanna try it."

Androcles doesn't move but I see his eyes sparkle again and his grin become a smile. Still lightly rubbing my hand in his paw, he whispers, "I think you'll like it, but if at any point you want to stop, just say so."

I nod as we look at each other. He waits a moment before slowly raising my hand up towards his mouth. "Just relax," he whispers. Keeping his head in a relative position, he scoots his body back on the bed giving a straighter angle for his neck. One more smile and then his lips part just enough for his huge, pink tongue to slide out and lap at my fingertips. The tongue is warm and wet and soft and seems erotic as Hell to me as it covers my fingers in his slick saliva. I can already see why anthros like this, but I'm having trouble separating the initial sensations from anything sexual, and all he's done so far is lick my fingertips.

Androcles moves his tongue forward, gliding it across my palm and I nearly gasp at the sensation. If I didn't already feel attracted to him, his actions might not have this much effect on me. But as it is, I know that if I don't start picturing images in my head of my grandmother in a bikini, I'm gonna have a pretty obvious bulge appearing in my pants.

Either because he's reading me again, or my shyness about the situation is that obvious to him, he coos softly, "It's okay to enjoy this." And with that he sucks my entire hand into his maw.

This time I do gasp as his lips gently clamp down on my wrist and his tongue wraps around my fingers and palm, covering them in warm saliva. What is probably light sucking to him seems like an irresistible force to me as I feel my forearm being drawn into his slurping maw. Our eyes meet for a moment before his close in what seems a state of bliss. I can hear him purr. Hell, I can feel him purr as the vibrations travel up my arm. I don't need to look down to know my pants have a serious tent.

Pinning the back of my hand to the roof of his maw, Andro's large tongue continues exploring and tasting my palm and wrist, soaking it in his warm juices. For a moment I imagine how those rabbits must've felt as their entire bodies experienced this incredible sensation, and considered that, as an ending to one's life, this isn't a bad way to go! How did anthros keep this little ritual of theirs a secret from the humans? And why? How much easier would the "Integration Program" go if everyone had their hands sucked on like this?

I open my eyes, not even aware that I had closed them, and realize my ideas are being seriously influenced by my attraction to the big lion. As logic kicks back in, I realize that most humans would be way too freaked out by anything remotely considered sexual to even conceive of allowing an anthro to lick any part of their body, even something as innocuous as a hand. Their loss, I think as I let the logic side of my brain go away again so I can get back to my fantasies of Andro eating me. Wait, did I just think that? Holy shit! That's a bit extreme! But I can't deny that the idea is nowhere near as bizarre sounding as it had been a few minutes ago, although I have no intention of allowing things to go anywhere near that point. Paw sucking - as he called it - is as far as it's going to go.

And then Androcles swallows my hand.

Oh. My. God. The lion's lips form a seal right below my bicep, which puts his nose about six inches from my face. His eyes lazily open and gaze into mine and I can tell he's smiling. I'd probably be smiling too if my mouth wasn't hanging open. For all the pleasant eroticism I felt by having my hand sucked, it is nothing compared to what his throat is doing. It's warm, wet, squishy and tight, and my fingers must be as far as Andro's esophagus because I can feel the muscles kneading them downward. And combined with his gulping and sucking on the rest of my arm, it is, by far, the most intense pleasurable sensation I've ever experienced.

His large, flat tongue continues to explore every inch of my arm in his maw, tickling the inner part of my elbow. Saliva has built up and is dribbling past his lips and down the backside of my arm, so I use my free hand to pull the sleeve of my shirt back, exposing my shoulder. I don't care if the shirt gets wet, but I assume Andro would appreciate not tasting it. And apparently he takes that as a sign to keep going because he gulps again and slides his mouth up to my now-exposed shoulder.

My hand and wrist are now under the sensual peristalsis effect of his throat; the thick saliva lubing and massaging, and I cock my head back to keep his nose from rubbing against my face, our eyes now only inches apart. The green emeralds are even more impressive at this close distance and I can't stop looking into them. I feel him suck a little harder as his lips widen to reach the edge of my chest and shoulder blade. He slides his tongue out and lets it trace under my arm, soaking the pit hair as it finds it's way under my shirtsleeve to my chest. His eyes sparkle as I take quick, deep breaths. This is so much further than I thought he meant, but trying to stop it seems insane! It feels too good to even consider stopping, and as my breathing becomes faster and noisier, I lean my head forward to kiss his big, wet nose. In response, his eyes close and his tongue presses against my nipple and he gulps me deeper, now at the base of my neck.

With his face right up next to mine, with his amazing tongue massaging my chest, with my arm in his maw and my hand being rhythmically squeezed by his throat, I have the most intense orgasm I've ever had. And without even touching myself! In blind passion I throw my free arm around him in an impromptu hug as both of his paws respond in kind. He has to know what he's done to me, but doesn't let up on any of his sucking or swallowing or gulping, and now hugging. Outside of some crazy breathing and minor moaning, I hadn't made any noise, showing amazing restraint on my part, particularly considering I hadn't planned on having an orgasm in the first place and feeling a bit embarrassed over having done so.

At this moment, ignoring my thoughts from a moment ago, if Andro just decides to eat me, I really don't think I'd object. I have to wonder if the rabbit had anywhere near the pleasure of this when it was swallowed by whatever anthro that ate it. As my breathing slowly returns to normal, the big lion loosens his hug and slowly begins sliding his maw off my arm. I'm kinda disappointed that all this is coming to an end, but Andro makes even this part of it sensual. As he moves himself back, exposing my bicep, he's using his mouth and lips to suck off most of the saliva, so my arm is coming out nearly dry. Besides being handy, it feels incredibly good. And with his head now back a ways, I'm able to glance down at my pants to get an idea of the damage they suffered. As would be expected with my most intense orgasm ever, the wet spot left as a result covers the entire crotch area.

After a moment, my hand is (sadly) free from Andro's amazing maw and he hands me a small towel to wipe off what little of his saliva lingers. He remains sitting so that our faces are close and he glances down at my wet pants before smiling slyly. In a near whisper, with his mouth a few inches from mine. He says, "It was good for you, huh?" He grins again and tenderly kisses me.

I'm still totally under his spell and can't pass up the opportunity to return his affectionate kiss, so I lean into it and open my mouth enough to taste his lips and tongue. Even though anthros have been on campus a number of months now, and I casually saw them every day, it never occurred to me that I could be attracted to them, much less want to kiss one. But with Andro... my God, is it attraction or lust or something else? I don't know, and I don't care! Whatever I'm feeling with this big lion is unlike any emotion I've ever felt with anyone and all I can think is how much I want him to take me and make me his forever. And I've only known him for an hour!

Andro leans slightly back so that our lips just barely remain in contact for a moment, than sits back looking at me with that cute little smile he seems to always have. "This isn't going into your article, is it?"

"No, but I think a few pages of my private journal will get a workout tonight!" I grin back, but then begin remembering that my whole purpose here is to do an interview; not get myself caught up in a romantic escapade. I glance back at my pants as I reach for my notepad, "God, look at me! No wait, don't!"

I feel all embarrassed again and hesitate about what I should do, but Andro stands and retrieves a large towel, passing it to me. "Here. Cover yourself with this and I'll dry your pants with my blow dryer."

I reach for the towel out of instinct and then pause. "You sure?"

"Sure!" The big lion is grinning. "What, you think you're the first human to cream his jeans in my dorm room?"

All I can do is look at him with my mouth hanging open.

He laughs as he sits back down on the bed. "Okay, you're the first. Well, first human. I confess there have been a few anthros in here before. Hee hee."

He casually watches me as I work my pants and boxers off under the security of the large towel, letting them drop to the floor. As he leans forward to reach for them, I get embarrassed again thinking that he shouldn't be the one dealing with my mess. "Um, I can do that instead of..."

Without pausing, Andro snags my dirty laundry off the floor. "Not a problem, Jim. Besides, you'll need your hands free for note taking if we're going to continue the interview." He steps over to his dresser and plugs in the blow dryer, but before turning it on, lifts my boxers up and deeply sniffs the wet area. "Or... we could just skip the interview and..." He gives me sly grin as he lets his sentence trail off suggestively.

I smile back at him. "To be honest, if I didn't think this interview was so important, I'd pounce on you right now." Did I say that out loud? What the Hell is wrong with me? I mean, it's how I feel but I've never been this forward before.

Snapping on the dryer, Andro keeps his sly grin even as he turns his attention to the task at hand. Um, or paw. "Pounce, you say?" He shoots me a quick sideways glance. "Hmm, perhaps we'll have to ensure you get a reward when your article is done."

Although intrigued, I halfway try to shrug off the lion's comment as I gear my mind back to business. Any ideas I may have had about being unbiased are totally shot, so the best I can hope to do now is present this as something that still shows the anthros' side of things without my personal feelings interfering too much. As Andro dries my cum-soaked clothes, I sit with his towel wrapped around my waist and flip through my notes to refresh myself on where we were and what I still plan on asking.

Oh yeah. "Androcles," I start, before looking back up at him. "Andro. Um, a few things you said about the rabbit - or the end of the rabbit, I guess - I wanted to touch on. Also, kinda what you said about your friend, Bahrku, if you don't mind, since it ties in." He cocks his head slightly to the side before nodding.

"You said the rabbit would become a part of something greater, and also that it would continue on in the one that ate it, or, I mean, took it in. And you said that Bahrku would be within you the rest of your life." I notice Andro begin to smile as I mention these and I assume he's been expecting the question. "Did you mean in the figurative sense, or do you not ...?"

He holds up his paw to cut me off, smiling thoughtfully. "I can't speak for all anthros, obviously, but generally, we have no deities like what you humans worship. Our philosophy is that there are things we will never understand, and we don't turn them into gods just because we don't understand them. We hold our selves to be sacred to ourselves, and our spirits - or souls or whatever word you want to use - can continue on within another, or wander, or, if it decides it's been around enough, fade away."

I jot his comments as quickly as I can. "So then, the idea of Heaven and Hell doesn't fit into anthro philosophy?"

The big lion chuckles. "We're aware of a lot of the human religions and concepts. I've even read the bible, but it doesn't address anthros so that makes it kinda hard for us to want to join that club." He smirks slightly. "But there's a lot of historical morality in the bible, so we see it as a guide for humans, and even anthros, and simply pass over the rest of it."

Andro clicks off the blow dryer and sets it down, still standing by the dresser as he continues. "I 'get' the idea of God, but it's still as strange a concept to me as my eating a close friend because I love him is to you."

I pause to consider if I could ever 'get' his philosophy. "Does it bother you that certain religious groups, like the Westbrook Freedom Church, have been so opposed to anthros being brought into the mainstream? I mean, they've protested at every city anthros have been integrating into."

With a sad smile and a slight shake of his head, the lion steps over to the bed and lays my pants and boxers out to cool before he sits again, this time closer to my chair. "We knew we'd run into a degree of opposition when all this started. But the Westbrook group? Meh. They have every right to say what they want. But like I said, I read the bible and I find it funny that they seem to go against so much of what it supposedly teaches. I'm just glad that the majority of humans seem to have accepted us. Well, until yesterday."

He shrugs and seems to be waiting for me to ask something else, so I go with an unplanned question that I'm curious about. "So, any idea how the Westbrook loonies seem to know so much about what's been happening here? So far, every accusation they've made has ended up being true, except for the one about the missing kid being... " I almost catch myself before blurting out the last word, "eaten." I consider that I maybe shouldn't ask any more unplanned questions without first thinking them through.

Ignoring my directness, Andro gasps and pulls his paws to his face. "It's almost like they have a spy here!" he exclaims in exaggerated shock. He chuckles a moment, shifting his eyes around quickly like he's looking for hidden cameras or something. "I have no idea how they know what's going on here! Maybe they made it up and just got lucky! Hee hee."

"But it does seem weird that they started pegging the activities here right at the same time the student disappeared. Almost like they ..." I trail off as my mind starts running through various conspiracy theories. Maybe the church sent the kid in and then helped him hide so they could blame the anthros for his disappearance! Or maybe they really do have a spy here! But how would they disguise a spy? Or surveillance devices! Hidden in every room!

Interrupting my mental gyrations, Andro hold up my boxers and says, "I think these are ready."

Engrossed in crazy theories, I don't even hear what he said, but instead reply with what I'm thinking, "Could there be a spy? I mean, do you know everyone in the dorm?"

The lion looks genuinely surprised by my taking the issue serious, but then smiles as he spins my boxers around on a claw. "Hee, I've met everyone, yeah. It'd be pretty hard to have an anthro spy for an organization like that. And the only human here is my roommate and I totally trust him."

"Wait, there's a human living here?" It's my turn to be surprised. "How did I not know that?"

"Well, he only moved in Saturday, so it probably got ignored in the middle of all the other crap going on. But I think you're off base on the spy thing, even though I have no clue how the church gets their information."

"Your roommate is human?" It may not be a big deal to Andro, but I was firmly under the impression that the Powers That Be for the college had decreed that no humans would live in Anthro Alley. Heck, that'd be a story all by itself under calmer circumstances.

The big lion gives me a look that makes me think I'm making a big deal out of something extremely trivial. "Heh, yeah. He's been very much welcomed here, even with all the other anti-anthro crap happening right now. He's as much a part of our dorm as anyone else. And other than his shyness about being natural, he fits right in."

"Natural... Meaning nude, right?" He had used the term earlier but I want to make sure I have it correct.

"Nude, right." Andro responds. "We've always called it natural because, well, to us it's natural." His paw rubs across his muscular belly and dips slightly below the band of his loincloth.

I quickly scan over my notes from the past few minutes. "So, your human roommate arrived on Saturday, which was when the big party happened that the Westbrook assholes... sorry... the Westbrook Church reported as a big scandal." I shoot the lion a quizzical expression. "But they didn't say anything about a human living here."

"Yeah, so that might work against your spy theory." He grins and flops onto his back on the bed, now twirling my boxers above him. "Want these?"

I had been so engrossed in the discussion that my usual desire to be properly dressed was momentarily forgotten, but I blush slightly (again) as I glance up to see my underwear being used as source of entertainment. "Oh yeah, heh."

As I reach for them, Andro hugs them to his chest, flashing his white teeth. "Come and get 'em!"

My mind momentarily reels with a hundred scenarios, not surprisingly, all sexual. Am I really going to jump on a seven-foot tall lion and wrestle him for my boxers? Yes, I am. I toss my pad on the desk and launch myself towards the bed, getting enough upward momentum to land on top of Andro. He had started giggling from the moment I moved, and my smaller body plopping on his didn't even warrant an 'oof' from him. Landing with my legs straddling his lower torso, I grab his wrists - or try, since my hands are nowhere near large enough to wrap around them - and playfully attempt to wrest my underwear from his grip.

Androcles is howling with laughter now and he barely has to exert any strength at all to thwart my feeble attempts. He rolls his body back and forth to keep me off balance and I feel like I'm riding one of those mechanical bull things, if mechanical bulls laughed at people. I start laughing too, because it would be nearly impossible not to, given the situation.

And through it all, I've somehow forgotten that I have only a towel around my waist, which does nothing to protect my backside from inadvertently rubbing down against Andro's slightly bulging loincloth. We both freeze with surprised expressions, but the lion's quickly returns to a sly grin. With a sudden sharp thrust of his hips, he pushes my backside upward, which, like a see-saw, brings my face right to his as he raises his head just enough to let his lips make contact with mine. The struggle to rescue my boxers already forgotten, I slide my hands down his muscular arms, resting them on his shoulders as I lean into his fuzzy kiss. It is soft and gentle, yet passionate; not the lustful expression it easily could have been. I close my eyes as we both break off and I let my body slump down on top of his as soft paws wrap around me in a tender hug. Nuzzling my face into his thick, furry neck, I sigh happily.

After a few minutes, Androcles takes a deep breath and purrs as he lets it out. "I could hold you here all day," he whispers into my ear. "But then you'd never finish your article." He tightens his hug briefly before sliding his paws off me, allowing me to lift my head and look into his emerald eyes.

"God," I reply, as I push erotic thoughts away. "After this, it's gonna seem awkward asking you about the interrogation." I slide off of him and sit on the edge of the bed thinking that, out of journalistic integrity, I shouldn't have allowed myself to get so distracted - and attracted - to this big lion. But the damage is done and all I can do is try to finish the job as best I can. But I know it's gonna be hard for me to ask the tougher questions now.

As if reading my mind (he can't do that, can he?), Andro sits up and gives me a comforting smile saying, "It's okay to do what you need to do. That's why you're here. I shouldn't be distracting you like this, but you're just too cute to leave alone, and..." he pauses a moment and I almost think I see a flash of anger in his eyes, "...after yesterday, it's nice to know that all humans aren't assholes."

That startles me a bit even though I already knew the detectives had treated the anthros like guilty suspects during their 'investigation'. "But your roommate is human and he's not an asshole, right?"

The lion smiles again. "Heh, no. He's awesome, and in the short time I've known him I already love him like a brother. I don't even think of him as human anymore. Except that he's all hairless. Hee." Andro shoots me a shy smile. "He's kinda small like you. Maybe that's why I liked you right off; you sorta remind me of him. But since he's my anthro brother, I can't really drag him into bed me with me." He giggles and looks down at his footpaws.

I also laugh. "You just don't give up, do you?"

Andro doesn't answer, but gives me a deep, quizzical stare with his piercing emerald eyes - reading my aura? - and I can't help but wonder what he's thinking. After a moment, almost to the point of it becoming uncomfortable, he relaxes and smiles, handing my boxers to me. Ignoring my earlier modesty, I stand and let the towel drop as I slip them on. He then nudges my pants towards me from their position on the bed, but I shake my head and sit back in the chair and pick up my notepad. "So, how bad was it? The interrogation?"

The big lion leans back on the bed and looks away from me as he exhales loudly with a pronounced 'whoo'. I can tell he's reluctant to relive the memories of the past day, but I also get the feeling he wants others outside of Anthro Alley to know what they had been subjected to. "Well, my involvement was only because a friend and I happened to be sitting out front of the dorm Friday night when the human... Peter... went by to deliver some pizzas. Or, that's what we assumed since he went in carrying three pizza boxes. After yesterday, I feel I need to clarify everything I say."

"Did you or your friend say anything to him?"

"Muroak - another lion. No, we just kinda waved or whatever when he went by us. About five minutes later, we came back inside. That was it. Until Monday night."

If I didn't know better, I would swear I saw his emerald green eyes shift to red when he referred to Monday. I shuffle through my notes even though I know the answer to the question I want to prod Andro along with. "Monday being the night Peter was reported missing, right?"

"Yeah." The big lion appears to be getting a bit agitated and I find myself not wanting to continue, but realize that's just my personal feelings for him getting in the way. "It was sometime after midnight," He continues. "I was here studying and my roomie was playing X-box with our hyena friend. We heard a lot of noise and yelling outside and looked out to see the entire dorm surround by police cars and what looked like an army of people in uniform."

He doesn't look at me as he relates his story, and I think it's because he's having a hard time controlling his anger. For as gentle as he's been up until now, this side of him probably should've scared me a bit, but I feel that, no matter how pissed he gets, he won't hurt me. I just hope that's my journalistic instinct telling me that, and not my moon-doggie-schoolgirl-crush side.

"I don't know how long they'd been out there before they started all the yelling, but once they did, they put the place into complete lockdown. They had people on every floor with bullhorns yelling at us to stay in our rooms."

"So, naturally, everyone comes out to see what's going on?" I cringe as I ask, already suspecting the answer.

Androcles smirks. "Yeah. I mean, this was the first time anything like this had happened and no one knew what was going on. So, anthros start coming into the halls and the police start clubbing them! _Clubbing_them!" This time is isn't my imagination; I see Andro's eyes flash red! "I think that was the moment where everything changed," he says softly with a hint of anger. "Furs were being beaten by humans just for being curious! My roomie had the sense to stop our friend from going out, and he tried to stop me too, but I wanted to find out what was happening. All I found out was how much pepper spray burns."

He pauses for a moment as I feel my own anger growing. How dare anyone hurt my gentle lion? Taking a breath to calm myself and trying to regain my objectivity, I stop writing and look at Andro sympathetically. "Did they hit you?"

"Not yet." His voice is barely more than a whisper. "My roomie pulled me back in and shut the door but the police nearly broke it down trying to follow me. They saw a human and thought he was the missing student and assumed I was holding him hostage or something. They handcuffed me and our hyena buddy and took my roommate outside to question him. We got slapped around a bit while they 'claimed to be questioning us in regard to the case', but once my roomie convinced them he wasn't the missing kid, they left us here, still cuffed, while they went on terrorizing the rest of the dorm."

"What did they ask you when they questioned you?"

Andro gives me an incredulous look as he slowly shakes his head. "All they said was, 'Fucking animals! Why'd you do it?' over and over. We didn't know what they were talking about, and our friend the hyena - he's still just a pup - got so scared that he was crying, which pissed me off so I yelled at the cops to leave him alone and they just punched me more. I don't know how bad it would've gotten if my roomie hadn't cleared up his side. But once they left us, I could hear them going room-to-room and pretty much doing the same thing; All accusations about something no one had any idea about."

I try to stifle my anger but I'm having a hard time accepting that such tactics could be used in this day and age. It seems like since there's such a small town mentality here a lot of ignorance and fear towards anthros came out and took over. But having read parts of the official police report, I know now that they seriously toned down a lot of what happened, making it appear more like a casual door-to-door inquiry.

"They never referred to us as anthros, or even furs. It was 'animals'." Andro looks at the floor and scowls. "Calling us animals is like calling you an ape or monkey. And when it's coming from what you had respected as authority, it hurts even more." He takes a deep breath before continuing, but his gaze stays on the floor. "I think it was about an hour before someone came back, and we were still cuffed. So, this guy was one of the investigators and he was more rational about how he talked to us, asking about the student who had been missing since Friday night and if we had seen him or anything. Even though I was pissed, I didn't see any reason to not cooperate, especially if they're trying to find a missing kid."

I look up and smile at Andro. "Hey, that's cool that you..."

"I should've kept my mouth shut," he interrupts. "Just saying that I had seen him walk by brought a bunch more investigators in here and they all yelled questions again and made it sound like I had something to do with why the guy was missing. They took my hyena buddy into another room and yelled at him for a while, but eventually let him go. They stayed on me for a few more hours - not sure what time, but it was starting to get light when they finished. At one point I was so tired and confused that I almost felt like saying I 'did it' just to get them to stop yelling at me, even though I didn't now what 'it' was."

He pauses again, but I don't feel that I should say or ask anything at this point. I get the feeling he just needs a moment before going on. "They finally took the cuffs off me and left. But it wasn't like they were convinced I had nothing to do with it, but more like they were sure I was hiding something." His voice drops to a whisper. "It's been a long time since I cried, but once they were gone, I ... "

His eyes reflect a deep sadness when he eventually glances back up at me and all I want to do was go over and hug him to comfort him. But journalistic integrity... ah, fuck it. I've already destroyed any journalistic integrity I had during this interview, so I move from my chair to the bed to sit right against Androcles, and wrap my arms around him. He responds by gently placing a paw around me and pulling me into his big, furry body. We sit like this, saying nothing, with every fiber of my being wanting nothing more than to somehow take away his pain from that night.

After a few minutes, Andro presses his wet nose against my cheek and whispers, "Thank you." I simply smile, probably unseen by him, but if he can sense my mood then he knows that I'm happy just to help him in some small way. I hear him let out a sigh which is interrupted by the door to his room opening. Startled that anyone would walk in, and suddenly feeling like I've been caught in a compromising position by my parents, I attempt to pull away from Andro but he holds me in place with his paw as two figures enter: a human and a hyena. Immediately figuring them to be Andro's roommate and their friend, I relax as much as someone can who's just been caught in his boxers hugging a lion. Andro squeezes me tighter as he introduces us. "Jim, I'd like you meet my good friends, Mustang and Conroy."

Slipping from the lion's grip, I stand and extend my hand to the human male. "Pleased to meet you, Conroy!"

He responds with a quizzical, almost irritated look and, after a quick pause, replies, "No, I'm Mustang. That's Conroy. But, um, yeah, pleased to meet you, too."

Wait, the human guy's name is Mustang? Is nothing normal going to happen here today? I shoot him a quick 'oops!' expression as we shake hands. Turning to the hyena, my smile abruptly fades as I see a look of angry distrust in his eyes. Andro must've seen it too, because he quickly speaks up. "Conroy, Jim is my friend. He's okay."

Conroy looks at the lion then back at me and I see his expression soften a bit, but he still seems unsure or nervous. Not knowing him, I have no idea how much of his behavior is a result of the interrogations from Monday night, but he slowly reaches out to take my hand in his paw. Shaking it firmly, he leans in towards me and mutters in a low voice, "If you hurt Andro..." He trails off into what sounds like a menacing giggle.

Shocked that the hyena could even conceive such a thing, I blurt, "I would never hurt Andro!"

Androcles stands and places a paw on my shoulder. "Conroy, I said he's okay." His other paw reaches out to ruffle the hyena's mane. "Guys, Jim's here doing an interview of me for the campus paper. He's on our side."

It strikes me that events have gotten to the point of sides being taken, but my thought is broken by Mustang.

"Do you always do interviews in your underwear?" he asks casually.

After a quick flush of embarrassment, I try to sound nonchalant. "No. No, this is the first time. Something new. Heh."

Conroy's nose flares as he takes a few quick whiffs, and grinning, Andro gives him a sideways glance as the hyena starts to giggle. Mustang looks unamused and heads toward the other end of the room. "Just need a book for my next class, then you can get back to... whatever." He says.

Hoping to be perceived as more than just Andro's latest conquest, and wanting to leave a slightly better impression than my boxer-clad appearance portrays, I grab my notepad. "Um, would either of you guys wanna add any comments about what happened here yesterday?"

The change of expression on both Mustang and Conroy tells me their answer. Mustang looks painfully overwhelmed, giving me the impression that he'd been through a lot more than just the events of the interrogation Andro had discussed, and Conroy appears to want to shrink away into a corner to escape the memories. I quickly wave my hand, adding, "I'm sorry... Never mind. Sorry."

Andro breaks the awkward silence that follows as he puts his paw on my shoulder. "Hey, if you guys grab any food after class, bring me back something, okay?"

Mustang nods silently, picking up his book and heading out the door. The hyena quietly follows with his eyes cast downward. As the door closes, I stand looking at it feeling like I've totally screwed up. Andro squeezes my shoulder before sitting back down on his bed. "It was a rough night and most of us are still kinda in shock about it. A lot of trust was destroyed in a very short time."

Trying not to sound defensive as I also return to my seat, I turn to the lion, "It's not all humans that are like..."

"I know." Androcles gently cuts me off. "We know. But it's too fresh in our minds right now, and they really did go way too far when a rational response would've gotten a lot more cooperation without destroying all the trust that had been built over the past months. I mean, I understand that an innocent kid is missing but did they really have to come at us like stormtroopers? Is it because there's still so much distrust of anthros? Is this how we should expect every situation to be handled?"

I shrug sadly and faintly shake my head. I don't have any answers and can't bring myself to offer nice little platitudes that would have no basis in reality. The situation sucks. A student is still missing, and half the human population believes the bullshit about the anthros that's being spread over the media and internet by the hate groups. A wave of hopelessness sweeps over me, but I look at Androcles and am reminded that my intent is to portray him and the others here in Anthro Alley as positively as I can. Somehow I need to make the world accurately see the lion that I've found to be intelligent, kind and gentle. But I'm just a student reporter for a dink, backwater college paper; what can I do?

As if to answer my silent question, Androcles gives me a thoughtful look. "A few of my friends have already said they might leave school to go home... back to the forests. And I think it's a mistake to give up on the whole integration thing so quick, retreating at the first sign of trouble. So, I'm going to help fix it. I've talked them into staying for now, but there needs to be a quick resolution to this before it gets worse, as if it isn't bad enough already. Someone needs to be a leader, or spokesanthro, to get the furs calmed down again and the humans to understand that we aren't the horrible creatures the media has made us out to be in the past few days. And I'm gonna be that leader. And I'm hoping you'll help me with your article."

"Are you kidding?" I can't control the smile that takes over my face as I feel like I'm watching one of those old movies where the average guy stands up against tyranny to become the hero that eventually saves the town. "I'll do anything I can to help you!"

"Anything?" Andro asks slyly with a humorous smirk.

"You know what I mean," I smirk back. "I had already planned on trying to sway the article in favor of anthros."

"What?" Andro exaggerates a shocked expression. "Bias in the media? Oh no!"

"Yeah, I know. But after what's been written and been online in the past day, you guys deserve some good press. Besides, I'm only gonna write the truth as I see it, based on what you've told me, and my impressions of you."

Andro is lying on his side with his head propped up by his paw. He's smiling again and that makes me feel good. "I'd like to leave a few more impressions on you."

I feel myself blush as I try to stay focused. "If I'm gonna help, I gotta get this done today. And I still need time to turn my notes into something worthy of the Eagle's Nest."

"Will I get to see it before you turn it in?" he asks.

"Um, I don't think so. It'll probably be pretty late by the time I'm done. But I can bring a copy by for you tomorrow. If you want."

"Ooh, another opportunity to see my favorite reporter?" Andro shoots me a big grin before lying back on the bed and rubbing his muscular belly.

"So, we should get back to this," I say, picking up my notepad and pen.

"Even though you'd rather pounce me?"

I chuckle at his candor. "Even though I'd rather pounce you."

Androcles grins and tilts his head as his eyes narrow. I have no idea what he's thinking other than my hopeful consideration that he wants me as much as I want him. Or is he just playing me to get a good article out of all this? Shit, why do I think things like that? Fucking doubts, get outta my head! As I mentally battle myself I notice the lion's expression change to confusion and figure my insecurities must've changed my aura, or whatever the term would be. Concentrating back on the task at hand - the article; not my lust - I quickly scan what I have left to ask.

"Hmm, on the topic of sex..." I begin.

"Oh, were we?" The big lion gives me an innocent look.

Smiling back at him, I have to wonder how Androcles was unable to charm his way through the interrogation the day before, even with the hard-ass detectives. But I guess that's where my lack of objectivity comes in since I seem to be smitten whereas the authorities probably were much less so. Given my performance here, I'm wondering if I'll ever really make it as a reporter, but I know I could never be a cop. "Sex. The bears that were the last to see Peter also had what was described as an orgy with his two coworkers. Do you know the bears, and do you think they had anything to do with Peter's disappearance?"

The lion gazes at me a moment, looking thoughtful before offering a slight smile. "Yeah, I know the bears," he replies, "and I have no doubt the orgy took place. The alpha of the group is pretty well known for being a horny bastard." Andro chuckles and rubs his stomach, again letting his paw slide into the waistband of his loincloth. I good-naturedly roll my eyes as he blows me a kiss.

"More horny than you?" I chuckle back at him.

"Major difference. Donner - he's the alpha bear - would fuck a knothole in a tree if he felt like it." Andro flashes his teeth at me. "Whereas I'm only horny for a certain college newspaper reporter who's sitting in his boxers but won't show me his belly button."

"My belly button again?" I giggle as my hand involuntarily covers my stomach, even though my shirt is still doing a fine job on its own. "What is it with you and belly buttons?"

Still lying on his back, Andro turns his head and gazes at the ceiling. "It's just a thing I got. A fetish, I guess. I sorta think I got it from Bahrku since I didn't used to get into them much." Rolling on his side, he props his head up with his paw. "Is yours an innie or an outie?"

And just when I thought I was going to go a full five minutes without blushing. "Um, it's an innie," I respond sheepishly, like it was a secret or something.

Androcles gives me a big, toothy grin. "Hey, when you come by tomorrow, will you show me?"

"My belly button?" Without thinking, I straighten up in the chair and lift my shirt to expose my stomach and my free hand lightly rubs over my abs. Glancing up at Andro, I'm surprised to see that I finally caught him off guard as he stares at my stomach with his mouth hanging open. Suddenly embarrassed, I quickly pull my shirt back down.

Andro's eyes shift up to mine with his still shocked expression. His mouth closes, but only so he can utter, "Ummmm."

Quickly over my embarrassment and feeling amused by my sudden power over the big lion, I raise my shirt again and peer down to see what it is about my navel that makes Andro turn into a monosyllabic anthro. Seeing nothing special about it, I stick my finger in and wiggle it around.

Again, his mouth falls open. "Homm, umm, you better stop or we'll never get your interview done."

I can't help but laugh, and lower my shirt to avoid making poor Andro suffer any further. "I'm sorry," I say, still giggling at the situation.

"Nothing to be sorry about," he says, exhaling loudly. "Except maybe for the wet dream I'll be having later."

I grin and shake my head at him before flipping through my notes again, trying to get back on track. "You mentioned Bahrku again a minute ago... Do you mind if I ask a few questions sorta relating to him and you?"

"No problem," he responds, but I see his mood quickly change to more serious, almost like he's preparing for something painful to come up.

"I wanna go back to the reasons he wanted you to... to take him into you." I'm really careful how I phrase this because the last thing I want is say something that would cause Andro any discomfort, but this concept was so foreign to me that I feel the need to learn more about it.

"Sacrifice." Androcles states plainly. "That's how I assume you see it, right?"

"Kinda, yeah. Since that's the word already tagged onto it." He had said that I probably wouldn't understand this any more than he could understand humans' concept of God, so this could get touchy. And I'm worried about treading into a topic where I might inadvertently toss off an offensive comment. "I guess I just don't get why someone would give their life like that."

Andro looks confused as he responds. "He wanted to support me. His actions were to help me succeed here."

"By giving his life?"

"By sharing his life." He sits up on the bed and faces me. "He may be gone in the sense that his body is no longer here, but his spirit, his soul, who he is, still lives on within me."

"But he's still physically gone. Isn't death a rather extreme way to support someone?"

Androcles cocks his head to the side and smiles. "Humans do it all the time," he says softly. "I've read accounts of people jumping into freezing rapids to save someone, or running into burning buildings, or rushing in front of a car to push someone out of the way. Sometimes they save the other person, but many times they don't. So, they sacrificed their life for someone else. And often it's a stranger. And then they're heroes."

I catch myself scrunching up my face as he gives his examples. "But that's not the same thing."

"You're right. Those were immediate, impulsive acts without regard to the consequences. And I'm sure few of them went into the situation with the thought that they wouldn't make it out. They simply threw themselves into danger to save someone else. They really are heroes; I'm not denying that at all." He pauses to take a deep breath. "And there are also humans that act, knowing they won't survive. Like the soldier throwing himself on a grenade to save his buddy. He has to know that he's giving his life for his friend, right? Why? Why would he do it?"

I'm not sure if Androcles meant that rhetorically, but he pauses so I feel I need to answer. "Um, to save his friend?" Yes, I have flashes of brilliance sometimes. Maybe I'll have one later.

"But why does he consider his friend's life more important than his own? Obviously we'll never know his reasoning beyond speculation, but the bottom line was that he sacrificed himself for someone else." The lion leans back and again appears to be waiting for me to respond.

"I get what you're saying here, but I'm still seeing a major difference in that your friend gave his life when yours wasn't in imminent danger."

Andro gives me a thoughtful smile. "So, it comes down to timing then? You wouldn't question Bahrku's actions if he fell on a grenade for me? I have no doubt he would've, just like I would've for him. But the difference would be the end of our lives as opposed to Bahrku's spirit continuing within me. I guess that's where our personal spiritualities differ. As long as I live, Bahrku lives. If I'm ever taken into another anthro, then both our spirits continue on in him."

"That's what you believe?" I asked, not to challenge him, but to clarify that I understood his view.

"That's what I believe. Simply defined." He cocks his head and smiles. "Is the idea of a spirit existing within another body really any harder to accept than another spirit flying off to spend eternity in Heaven or Hell? Can you prove or disprove either one?"

He knows I can't. "Um, it's based on faith."

"And our faiths are both valid to each of us. I may not fully understand yours, but I respect it. And I don't expect you to grasp everything about my beliefs in just a few minutes - just accept that it's what I believe whether or not you get it." Andro lightly brushes my cheek with the back of his paw and smiles at me. I take that to mean that he wants me to shift to another topic, which I consider a good idea. He's given me enough to mull over, and not just for the article.

The lion rolls back onto his side as I clear my throat and flip through my notes again. I pause when I realize that he hadn't answered my question about whether he thought the bears had anything to do with Peter's disappearance, but chalk it up to simply how the conversation went as opposed to a deliberate dodge. Bears... sex... orgy... belly button... hmm. I shake that thought off quickly, wanting to steer clear of anything that might cause my boxers to tent again.

"You said you're going to fix the current situation with anthros wanting to leave," I begin, pushing images of Andro's fascination with my navel out of my head. "What are you planning to do?"

"It's more than furs giving up and going home. It's the whole sudden failure of the integration. How could everything blow up in just one day?" Andro's expression is serious with underlying sadness. "I mean, look at me - I have a human roommate and he's like my little brother. If people would just get to know an anthro instead of reading whatever gossip pops up about them every five minutes on the internet, I think most of what happened..." his voice suddenly softens, "... wouldn't have happened."

"So, what are you going to do?" I ask the question like a little kid looking up to his father. The feelings I've developed for Androcles in such a short time make me want to see him succeed in whatever he does, especially something that can calm the craziness and at least bring humans and anthros back to their normal ignoring of each other.

"Tonight, I'm going to have a dorm meeting here and convince everyone that we can use what happened as an opportunity to show the rest of the world that we will not be second-class citizens. And remind them that it's not the majority of humans we have to worry about. That, regardless of how we were treated, we'll show them our best side; that we'll still reach out to them as friends." His eyes shine like emeralds as he speaks and I feel a chill from his conviction. "And I'm going to have every anthro here at Eaglespoint go out and adopt a human student."

"Wait... Adopt?"

"Well, figuratively." He smiles again, but his eyes continue to show their resolve. "More like go out and meet people and make friends so the humans can see first-hand how anthros really are. Immersion! Heh. Kinda like how my roommate and I became so close so fast. Would that've happened if he hadn't moved in here? Probably not. The whole 'Integration Program' has too much segregation built into it, and it's just not working. So I'm going to fix it and make it work. I'm going to bring humans and anthros together!"

I half expect the big lion to break into the "I Have a Dream" speech. He doesn't, but I think the effect on me is nearly as inspirational. I want to hug him but maintain my journalistic composure - hard as it is. Hell, I wanted to hug him even before he gave his inspirational speech.

"And this is where you can help me, if you're willing." He rolls over so he's leaning back on his elbows again.

"Of course! Anything!" I think my enthusiasm is showing.

The big lion grins in response. "If you could include this in your article, letting everyone on campus know that we're going to be doing this outreach thing, that'd help a lot."

"You got it, Andro." As I jot down a few more quick notes I realize that I like saying his name. So much so that I unconsciously repeat it, "Andro."

"Yes?" He replies softly, curiously.

I freeze when I realize what just happened, and quickly glance up. "Um, nothing... nothing." I try to chuckle.

"You sure?" Oh crap, he's giving me his sexy smile again along with those seductive green eyes.

I return his easy gaze and wonder what it would be like to see his aura. "I don't think I'm sure of anything anymore," I whisper. "Except..." I stop myself before I blurt out another unprofessional comment, even though it probably wouldn't matter at this point.

But Androcles isn't going to let me off the hook. He tilts his head to the side as he whispers back, "Except what?"

Our eyes are still locked on each other as I hear the words pass through my lips. "How I feel about you." Wow, could I be a bigger schmuck? I barely know this lion and I'm saying stuff like this? He's probably thinking I'm a love-struck human idiot!

He casually stands and faces me, extending a paw and taking my hand to guide me up out of my chair. Holding me at arms length, his emerald eyes never break contact as he looks down into mine and softly speaks with his deep voice, "Yeah, I can sense a deep connection between us. I don't know what it means, but I feel we're going to be very close." With a warm smile, the big lion pulls me into a firm yet gentle embrace and I wrap my arms around him to hug back as hard as I can.

He feels so good; like a seven-foot teddy bear, and with my ear against his chest I listen to his heart pounding rhythmically deep inside, joined by a low purr. Is he serious about this connection thing? And what does that mean to him? Or me? It's crazy but I feel like I've fallen in love and I've only been here a few hours. Is that possible? Or rational? Is love ever rational? How can I have such feelings for someone I barely know? But in his embrace I feel safer than I've ever felt, and right now I want nothing more than to spend my life being held by him; to be within his warm embrace forever.

Taking a long breath, Androcles loosens his hold on me and sits on the edge of the bed with me now standing between his legs. His paws gently hold my hands and he gives me that soft smile I've seen so many times now. "Unless you have more questions, we both have a lot to do tonight," he says with a tinge of sadness.

"I only have one more question," I respond quietly. His eyebrows rise in what I assume is curiosity as I move my face closer to his. "What time tomorrow can I come back?"

Andro smiles in response before his soft, wet tongue slips out to quickly lap my nose. "My roomie has classes starting at eight, so any time after that would be fine."

"Mmmm," I grin. "I'll bring breakfast." He surprises me by pulling me towards him into another hug as he remains sitting, this time with his large head against my chest. I rest my chin on top and stroke his shoulders as his soft paws massage my back. God, he feels so good and I feel so safe when he's holding me, like all the problems of the past few days never happened. I realize that he was affected by them much more than I was and consider if all this affection might just be his way of countering the negativity. I hope it's more than that. I want to hope that he feels as strongly as I do. And almost as if to answer my silent doubts, he tilts his face up towards mine and lightly kisses me. I nearly melt away as I taste his furry lips. I don't want this to end but he already pointed out that I have an article to write and he has a meeting to organize. Given that our respective tasks have the same goal of humans and anthros coming together, tomorrow can be spent with the work behind us, and our growing desires ahead; one human and one anthro definitely coming together.

"I can't wait," Andro says in a low whisper that rumbles through my chest.

"For breakfast?" I reply as I rub my chin against one of his ears.

"No. I was reading your mind."

Surprised, I push away from him and look at him like he just slapped me. "What? Are you serious? I thought..."

The big lion grins and I immediately know he's teasing me. "You're too easy," he says and licks my nose. I giggle at my own gullibleness and pull him back into the hug.

He seems content to simply hold me in his strong, gentle grip, but after a few minutes I figure I should break the mood or I'll never have time to get the article written. Pulling back so I can look into his emerald eyes, I rub my nose against his much wetter one. "I'll be here at eight."

"I'll be waiting."

"I hope your meeting goes well tonight," I say as I begin to gather up my notes.

Andro gives me a contemplative smile. "I'm confident I can get the anthros to support me," he says. "By the way, not that anyone in this dorm would care, but you might want these before you wander back on campus." I turn to see him holding my pants up, having forgotten that I was still only in my boxers! With a sly grin, he sniffs the crotch and flings them at me. I slip them on and step into my shoes.

"Good luck tonight," I say as I tentatively turn towards the door.

"You too," Androcles replies as he stands. "Write a good article."

I smile back, inwardly praying that my journalistic talents will be enough to help enlighten the world at large to the injustices done here, and also to help Andro's plan of bringing humans and anthros together. Saying nothing more, I step back to him and give him a firm hug, which he returns. I lean back as he holds me and gaze into his deep emerald eyes one more moment before leaving. As I make my way through the halls of Anthro Alley, I whisper quietly, "Good night, my lion,"

** end of chapter one **