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Bear With Me By Green A Commission for Darkkoon

The door to the restaurant swung open, and the two men stepped out into the cool night air with easy smiles on their faces, shrugging on their windbreakers. "Mmmm... I haven't had a steak that good in a long, long time," said the taller of the two, a muscular polar bear with a close-cropped haircut, as he rubbed his stomach contentedly, "Thanks for showing me this place." His companion, a slightly chubby badger who had a few years on the bear, smiled and adjusted his glasses. "It was my pleasure, Tom," the mustelid said, softly, "It was good to see you happy. Doesn't feel like it's been that long since the first time I ever saw you smile. You know, if you opened up with your therapist as much as you do with me over a steak dinner, I think he could do you a world of good." Tom Sorenson's upper lip twitched, and he let out a huff of air through his nostrils, shaking his head as they walked down the sidewalk. "Brian, I... I appreciate the thought, but can we not talk about therapy, please?" he asked, just above a whisper, "Not tonight, anyway?" The badger nodded, a sympathetic look on his face. "Alright, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to dwell," he said, trying and failing to catch the bear's eyes, "I just meant that you've made so much progress since we met, it's a good thing." At this, the larger male managed a thin smile, finally glancing back down at the other man as he put his hands in his pockets. "Heh, 'you've made so much progress', that actually sounds like something I'd hear from Dr. What's-His-Name." Brian Snow laughed softly, shaking his head. "I swear you don't find it half as hard to remember his name as you let on," he said, "I told you when you first came to me, I have the utmost faith in Dr. Peterson," he assured Tom, "I've seen him help a lot of people, and as a real therapist, he can do a lot more for you than I can... Besides, even if I was a therapist, they'd call me working with you a conflict of interests. And trust me, Tommy, I'm very interested." With that, before the other man could react, Brian stretched up on his toes and planted a playful kiss on the polar bear's cheek, shattering any impression that these two men were friends or colleagues as Tom's cheeks turned a fetching shade of red.

Tom pouted just slightly, instinctively looking around as his cheeks burned. This did not escape Brian's notice, and he smiled, gently patting his date on the back of the hand. "Relax, big guy," he said, in his usual soft tone, "There's nobody around at all, and even if there was, no one would be judging us. This is a very liberal city." The look Tom gave him suggested that this did not reassure him, but the bear said nothing. Averting his eyes, Brian sighed. "And I find myself apologizing for the second time in as many minutes," he muttered to himself, "I'm sorry again, Tom, I know that you're..." His hands groped at the air as he tried to find the right words. "...That you're not used to, ah, sharing affection publically with another man," he finally finished, "I know I shouldn't push things... it's just that, well..." He bit his lip for a moment and then looked up at the bear again. "This is our third date, and we don't even kiss or hold hands. I'd just kind of like that, eh?" Stopping, Tom turned to take a good look at the older male, finally smiling. "I like when you sound more relaxed like that, not like you did at the job," he finally said, "Makes you feel less like a teacher and more like... I don't know, makes it easier to relate, I guess. Here." He extended one snowy-white hand and took a firm grasp of the badger's coal-black hand. As Brian grinned from ear to ear, his date smiled back, blushing again. "So, uh, what do you want to do next?" Tom asked, as they started walking again, "Sorry again for not having a car yet..." Brian raised his free hand and waved dismissively. "Oh no, it's no problem!" he assured the nervous bear, "It's a beautiful night, and the place was easily within walking distance." There was a pause, and then he looked back over at Tom. "Hey, the steakhouse was my idea, and that went splendidly, so... what do you want to do?" Biting his lip, Tom self-consciously rubbed at the back of his neck and shrugged. "Well..." he started, reluctantly, "There's this movie I've kinda been wanting to see, Zero Tolerance, you know, the, uh, the one with the cops and the drug cartel? But I don't know..." As he trailed off, hesitant to finish that thought, Brian gave his hand a squeeze, and when Tom looked over at him, the badger winked. "I don't mind if it's not the most romantic movie out there," Brian said, "As long as I'm with you, it'll be a good time. There's actually a theatre just down the street, let's go take a look." Tom managed to smile back, but after they broke off eye contact, the grin fell away and the ice bear looked uneasily around them. The unromantic nature of the film's plot hadn't been what was worrying him...

The nearby multiplex boasted an abundance of screening rooms, so it came as little surprise when they had Zero Tolerance on their Now Showing list. As the two men stood in line, Brian leaned up against Tom and put his arm around his back, and though the bear tensed up for a long moment, eyes darting around the theatre to see if anyone was looking at them - judging them - he let out a sigh and forced himself to relax. The truth was, he was attracted to Brian, he really was, but Tom was still having a little difficulty adjusting to publically expressing his bisexuality, having only ever gone after female attention in the past. But there was no one glaring at them, no one mumbling amongst themselves between furtive glances at the new couple, no one seemed to be paying them any attention at all - or rather, no more attention than any of the other random people in the room - and Tom smiled to himself, finally starting to feel comfortable again. Glancing over at Brian's face helped, the wide, happy grin he received made him feel warm and tingly inside, in a way that none of those ladies ever had... though to be fair, Tom's troubled past had seen him seeking out women more for release than romance, and an awful lot of 'those ladies' had come with a price tag... Pushing his past rather firmly out of his mind, he stepped forward to buy his tickets from the counter. As luck would have it, there was a showing starting in less than ten minutes, but even as he opened his mouth to address the bored-but-politely-smiling human behind the counter, Brian cut him off. "Two for Zero Tolerance, please," he said, cheerily, "The next showing, not the one at midnight." Looking up at the younger man, Brian shrugged, an amused expression on his face. "What? You got dinner, and steak doesn't come cheap," he said, "It's the least I could do." He leaned up, lips slightly pursed, but when Tom froze from head to toe, the badger pulled back, nodding. "Right, right, sorry, I forgot," he whispered, as the ticket guy obliviously got the computer to dispense their stubs, "Kissing is a big deal, I get it, I'm cool with that, we'll go at a speed that makes you comfortable." Tom felt himself blushing, but he also felt incredibly grateful to Brian for being so understanding. Brian was openly gay, and had lived that way for many years, even as he gained respect as a university professor, though it wasn't in his capacity as a teacher that he and Tom had crossed paths. Relaxing, Tom extended an arm around his mustelid companion, mirroring his pose, and gave him a squeeze, much to Brian's surprise and delight. "Thank you," Tom whispered back, as the teller turned back with their tickets. The bear could tell, from the look on the shorter male's face, that the gesture meant just as much to Brian as the badger's understanding meant to Tom.

Soon, the couple were comfortably seated and 'enjoying' the pre-movie roll. As the small group of wolves and foxes down and to the right loudly guessed at the trivia questions and scrambled actor names appearing on the screen, and the human down by the front row played a Flappy Bird clone on his phone, Tom swallowed and put his arm around Brian's shoulders. The badger leaned his head to the side for a moment, pressing his cheek against that arm affectionately. "Thank you for not yawning first," he whispered, amused, "such an old move." The bear chuckled at that, hugging his date close to him for a moment. "And here I thought you'd appreciate the classics, professor," he said, giving the man who taught English literature for his day job a little light-hearted ribbing. After a moment, Tom indicated the entrance hallway with a nod of his head. "You want me to get us anything?" he asked, "You know, popcorn, nachos, whatever..." Brian chuckled again, a quiet little purr, and shook his head as he reached up and took off his glasses. "Nah, everything's so overpriced," he said, getting out a cloth and cleaning off the lenses, "and I'm not much of a nachos man anyway." That was a fair point. Looking at the man, it was just as impossible to imagine Brian eating nachos slathered with gooey cheese as it was to picture him going snowboarding. He just didn't seem the type, and although maybe it was a tad unfair, it might be because the mustelid didn't exactly have much of a youthful quality to him; though the difference in their ages wasn't that extreme, Brian definitely gave off the impression of an older, more refined male, the kind of man with more sophisticated tastes. He actually had kind of a fatherly quality to him, which was an odd thought for Tom to have about a date. Maybe it had something to do with his fondness for sweater-vests, or the fact that he taught young minds for a living. For a moment, Tom wondered if the badger liked to be called 'daddy' in bed, but just as his mind found something tremendously important attached to that thought, the lights dimmed and the trailers began to roll, so Tom just turned his cell phone off and focused on the screen... and on the man he was hugging.

The movie got off to a splendid start, with a pair of wise-cracking detectives in a high-speed car chase, hot on the trail of some fleeing criminals. Settling down and enjoying some good old-fashioned stunt driving, with no CGI that he could detect, Tom sighed contentedly. Maybe he'd worried for nothing... That thought disappeared when the protagonists cornered the bad guys, who'd robbed some business or other, and one of the goons got a wild shot off with a revolver before being roundhouse kicked into submission with a decided lack of Miranda rights. It was a pleasant enough action sequence, but when the gun went off, it was as if the theatre's speakers suddenly blasted out enough sound to shake the foundations of the building, and every muscle in Tom's body tensed up for just a second. With the exception of Brian, who stirred slightly when he felt Tom twitch, no one else in the audience reacted at all, and Tom swallowed as he told himself he'd imagined how loud the gunshot had been. The story went into more sedate events for a while, like character building moments at the police station, shots of the villains talking ominously (and vaguely) about their plot, a deliberately awkward scene of one of the heroes unsuccessfully trying to entice a gorgeous woman to date him, nothing exactly out of the ordinary for a cop movie, but all very well done. And then... and then as the protagonists were wandering around an isolated house late at night, investigating the scene of a murder, a group of thugs rolled up in a pickup truck, intent on burning the house and all its evidence to the ground. When they realized that there had been intruders on the premises, they started chasing the fleeing cops, intent on covering up anything they might have learned, plus their own guilt in the arson. But none of that mattered to Tom, not once a second car chase started, and a gangster leaned out the window with an AK-47 and opened fire. Naturally, it being a movie, the shots either pinged harmlessly off the car, starred the glass, or went hilariously wide, but as the camera closed in on the machine gun loudly venting its seemingly endless clip into the night, the polar bear began to tremble, blinking quickly, feeling disoriented, his muscles twitching, as an old, painfully familiar set of instincts he'd thought long buried began roaring back to life. As the other goons started in with uzis and pistols, and the heroic detective who wasn't driving started taking potshots at the pursuing truck with his own sidearm, it started getting much worse; Tom's heart was pumping in his chest so loud he could no longer hear the frantic dialogue or the pounding soundtrack, and he was breathing so hard he distantly wondered how anyone in the theatre could hear the movie over him. When a random shot hit a gas canister at a construction site, naturally causing it to instantly explode into a fireball thanks to movie physics, Tom gritted his teeth and sat up bolt upright, one hand snapping up to his radio, the other swinging down to retrieve his pistol from his leg holster, only to realize as he groped against his polo shirt and cargo pants that of course he wasn't wearing tactical gear and it was only a movie. But he couldn't relax, and when he distantly heard Brian's voice saying his name - low, trying not to draw attention, but deeply concerned - the white bear twitched at one last salvo of gunshots and abruptly forced himself up and out of the chair, his trembling muscles carrying him out of the theatre as he used every ounce of his self-control not to full-on sprint to the front exit.

Tom suddenly found himself out in the street, his sweat-soaked fur licked by the cool night air as he stared into the gutter, hands on his knees, breathing hard. Everything after Brian's concerned 'Tom?' had been a blur, and things were only now coming back into focus. He closed his eyes and shook his head, and wasn't terribly surprised when he felt a hand gingerly come to rest upon his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Tom," Brian said, solemnly, "I should have realized..." Sighing, the bear stood up, but he still couldn't bring himself to face his date. "Should have realized what?" Tom asked, bitterly, "That a regular-ass action movie would turn me into a quivering mess? ...All because that place killed the old me and left... whatever this is in his place." 'That place' was Iraq, and 'the old me' was Sergeant Thomas Sorenson, a man who'd grown up in Alaska, proud of his American heritage and determined to serve his country. Things hadn't exactly gone well for Tom while he was 'Over There', and he'd more or less fled to southern Ontario, Canada, upon getting back Stateside, unable to re-connect with his old life and just wanting to forget. He'd stumbled across a program run by the local university that once assisted American draft-dodgers, and now assisted soldiers who'd come back from war feeling, much as Tom did, that they'd returned missing a piece of themselves. It was at this program, desperately trying to get some help, that the ursine veteran had met a gentle volunteer named Brian. Closing his eyes again, Tom shook his head, as very different, very real memories of fully-automatic fire played before his eyes. "The desert is no fuckin' place for a polar bear, I should have known..." he muttered. It had become something of a mantra for him. Brian stepped around him and, before Tom could react, lifted both arms and wrapped them around him, hugging the bear tight. Tom didn't flinch or tense up, but then this didn't feel like one of the playfully flirtatious gestures Brian tended to forget made Tom uneasy. This just felt like... a hug. "I'm so, so sorry, Tom," Brian repeated, avoiding eye contact. The ex-soldier blushed, and he was about to try and deflect the emotional moment by making a joke about how Canadian Brian was being when he realized there was a hint of guilt on the badger's face. "What do you have to be sorry about?" he whispered back, subconsciously raising his arms and hugging the other man back, "It's not your fault war is fucked up, or that I'm still broken." The smaller man reached up and cupped his cheek with surprising tenderness, and after briefly tensing up, Tom just sighed and closed his eyes, nuzzling against that hand. He was so very, very tired of feeling nervous and worrying about being seen in public like this. He really was bisexual, after all, so it's not like there was something to be misinterpreted. "You're not broken," the badger murmured, "You just need help, big man. There's no shame in that. You're a mortal like the rest of us, not a cartoon character, no one expects you to just shrug off what you've seen in war and get over it. Lots of people get PTSD, it's not something to be ashamed of. And you've already taken the hardest step, you sought us out and asked for help. Tom, I'm proud of you. As a volunteer at the program, as a friend... and as someone who'd like very much to be more than that." Opening his eyes, Tom blushed as he realized they felt wet. "Hey," breathed Brian, "You're cute with a little red on those white cheeks, anyone ever tell you that?" He followed it up with a wink, and Tom laughed, feeling decidedly better, if a little sheepish. He sighed and glanced back towards the theatre for the first time since he'd had his episode. "...Does this mean that I'm never gonna be able to watch Die Hard again?" he asked, after a moment, "Cause that's my favourite movie, and that would be a huge bummer." Brian laughed softly at that and patted Tom on the shoulder reassuringly. "We'll talk to Dr. Peterson about this," he promised, "We can work on that."

A few minutes later, the two of them were walking down the sidewalk in the direction of Tom's apartment building. Tom still felt pretty self-conscious about what had happened at the theatre, but Brian was really helping him feel better. "I get it, it's a process, gotta take things one step at a time," The bear complained to his date, "But I still wish we'd gotten to see the end of that movie." Brian made a dismissive gesture. "Eh, I had that plot laid out by the time that shootout started," he said, "The chemistry between the partners was much better than the writing." Tom snickered and gave him a look. "Oh yeah? Well then, professor, enlighten me!" he teased, "Who was the leak in the department?" The badger grinned and answered immediately and confidently. "The captain." "The captain?" the taller man repeated, incredulously. "Yeah, because his niece was sick, he needed the money. Remember that picture of his family? When humans do chemotherapy, their hair falls out, eh?" Tom grinned and shook his head. "Smarty-pants." A moment's pause, and then, "Man, what is it with these cop movies, the captain's always either a traitor or gets killed." "Or is a total asshole," added Brian, "So you can see him get grumpy when the protagonists succeed." Tom snickered again. It pleased him that Brian was able to discuss subjects like action movies as well as the literature of antiquity. "That too."

The two men fell into silence for a while, and then the badger gave his companion a sideways glance as he adjusted his glasses. "Hey... Can I ask you a personal question?" Brian asked. Looking back at the other man, Tom nodded. "Sure. What's up?" Before he responded, the professor looked away for a moment, blushing slightly. It was a good look on him. "When I first started talking to you about, you know, about how I was interested in you... you already seemed pretty confident that you were bi," he said, "But if you'd only dated women, how exactly did you know? Was there anyone...?" Tom appreciated that he'd used the word 'dated', avoiding reference to the fact that most of those women had been hookers. Looking down at his shoes, the bear let his memory wander back. "No, I've never, you know, been with a guy, but that doesn't mean I've never found guys attractive before," Tom said, softly, "I just never did anything about it, is all. I think the closest I ever came was with a guy who was in my unit in the army, shorter guy, about your height. One'a them tailless cats. I might have peeked on him in the showers a few times, and, uh, I think he might've known... and he might've liked it. We, uh, talked together a lot, but we never, you know, brought it up." Brian was nodding along, and he hesitated before he spoke up again, ultimately finding himself unable to resist. "...What happened to him?" he asked, gingerly. The bear smirked slightly and glanced at him. "He didn't bite it in the field, if that's what you're worried about," he said, mildly amused, "'Fraid whatever's wrong with me isn't quite that cut and dry. Nah, he never got a scratch on him the whole time I was there. Last I heard, he was actually serving another tour." Suddenly, as if the tall, narrow building had leapt out of an alley to surprise them, they found themselves standing in front of their destination. "Well, I guess this is your place," said Brian, somewhat needlessly, "I had a great night, Tom, even with what happened at the - well, with what happened. Can I use your cell? I need to call a cab, and mine's charging at home." Standing there, looking at the other man in the cool air, the badger's white stripes looking luminous in the moonlight, Tom felt a flutter in his chest and swallowed, slowly, realizing what he wanted to say. It made him nervous, but he felt that going with his instincts was usually the best option, so he took a deep breath and steeled himself. "Uhh... Well, you don't have to go home if you don't want," he started, rubbing the back of his neck and feeling immensely lame, "You could, uh... d-do you want to stay for a while? M-maybe have a drink?" Brian looked at him for a long moment in surprise, and then his face lit up with a wide, handsome smile. "I would be delighted," he replied, and Tom believed him.

The polar bear was thankful that the lock on his door had never given him any trouble, as he already felt so self-conscious with Brian there that he nearly dropped his keys trying to get the right one in the slot. As they stepped inside, Tom's eyes darted around the apartment, briefly panicked that it might be a mess or embarrassing somehow, but it seemed presentable enough, and Brian didn't say anything as he stepped inside, took off his windbreaker, and slipped out of his shoes. This last move was not a habit Tom usually had, but rather than mention that, he stepped out of his own shoes to make a non-issue out of it. "So, uh, I've got beer, I've got vodka..." Tom said, looking into the fridge and confirming he still had beer in there, "What's your preference, professor?" Brian scratched his chin, seeming excited but still far more relaxed than Tom. "Hmm... I'm not much in a beer mood tonight," he said, "How's that vodka?" Tom shrugged, looking into the fridge again even though the bottle was in his pantry, not needing to be kept cold. "It's nothing fancy, just Absolut, but..." He bit his lip and frowned as he looked around inside the fridge. He'd been meaning to go shopping... "Hmmm... I don't have much in the way of making mixed drinks..." He nearly jumped out of his pelt as he suddenly realized that Brian was right next to him, bent over and peering into the fridge just as he was. The badger clearly caught this, and found it amusing, but said nothing about it. "Well, you've got booze, and you've got orange juice. Let's make some screwdrivers!" he said, "Just gotta be careful not to give myself heartburn, too much OJ can sneak up on me." Tom laughed happily as he stood up. It was the first time anyone he'd been about to drink with had been worried about the orange juice part of a screwdriver. Putting his hand on Brian's shoulder much as the other man had done for him, he winked at his date and smiled broadly. "Don't worry about it, I've got plenty of antacids," he said, "Make yourself comfortable, I'll pour you a drink."

Soon, the two of them sat in what passed for Tom's living room, sitting in chairs across the room from each other, drinks in hand. The bear thought about turning the TV on, but Brian seemed more interested in just talking. The pair conversed at length, about TV shows, about their tastes in music, about just about everything except for movies and things related to war. Eventually, as he nursed his drink, a thought popped into Tom's head. It didn't exactly embarrass or surprise him, but it did make him smile, so he thought he'd share it. "You know," he said, quietly, "You're pretty good-looking for a professor." Brian laughed and leaned back in his seat. "I'll take that as a compliment," he replied. Tom shrugged. "Hey, I'm not dissing your line of work, it's just... Brian, the first time I met you, you were wearing a plaid sweater-vest." Taking his glasses off to rub the lenses again, the badger blushed self-consciously. "Well, I do like playing up to the clichés sometimes," he admitted, "But you make it sound like we're all old fuddy-duddies." He moved to put the glasses back on, but Tom stood up and held out a hand. "Wait a second..." he murmured, coming closer. Bending down and leaning in, the bear's smile widened just a little. "What? What is it? Do I have something on my face?" asked Brian, self-consciously. "No, no, you're fine," said Tom, "...it's just that I never noticed how blue your eyes were before. I, uh, I've never really paid much attention to eyes, but yours are, ah, really nice. M-maybe you should try wearing contacts." The taller male silently cursed himself for stuttering, but the badger didn't seem to notice, or at least mind. "Thanks, Tom," he whispered, "Maybe I will."

Tom sat down, this time on the end of his couch closest to Brian. Taking another sip of his screwdriver, he sighed and reached back, running a hand across the short fur of his neck. "Brian..." he started, "I'm sorry that I'm not more comfortable with the public displays of affection. I mean, it's 2015, it's not like we live in Texas or something where assholes would be yelling at us... I mean your country's had its shit together on the gay marriage thing for years." He'd rested his free hand on the arm of the couch, and the professor leaned over and placed his hand over Tom's, mildly surprising him. "No, no, I totally understand," he said, "I've known I was gay since I was fifteen, I've only ever dated guys, but you've never put it into practice before, it's only natural you'd be a little uncomfortable." Brian smiled, maybe just a little wider than usual thanks to the liquor. He didn't take his hand off Tom's hand, and the polar bear didn't mind at all. "I'm just glad you had the confidence to ask me out," Tom said, "God, you were adorable, all nervous and blushing." The chubby male gave his host's hand a gentle squeeze, and Tom found himself smiling right back. "I'm gonna be honest, big guy... I thought I'd hit the jackpot, thought you were way out of my league." Tom burst out laughing and shook his head. "Oh, come on, you're just saying that." "It's true! I saw you with your shirt off when the volunteer doctor was giving you your once-over. You have seen your abs, right?" The two men laughed together, and Tom realized he'd turned his own hand over without thinking about it, and was now gently holding Brian's hand with his own. He returned the squeeze he'd received just earlier, and the badger clearly appreciated it. "But you knew that I was crazy," insisted the bear, before flinching and shaking his head, "Sorry. I know, I know, we don't use the C-word." Brian shrugged. "You have your issues, sure, but like I said before, you're trying to get help for them, and you're making progress there." Brian looked at him over the tops of his glasses, a gesture Tom had always admired of his lens-wearing friends. "When I said all that stuff at the theatre, I wasn't just blowing smoke up your ass, eh?" Tom shrugged and finished off his drink, setting it aside. "Okay, fair enough," he said, tabling the discussion. For a long moment, he just looked at his date, tracing the handsome contours of the badger's face and enjoying the warmth of his hand. There was another unexpected thought in his head, but this time, he took a good, long moment to weigh it over in his mind, and as if he could hear the bear's thoughts, Brian remained silent, giving him the time he needed. When he came to a decision, Tom shivered, understanding the importance of his thoughts, and took a deep breath before he spoke again. "So... this is the part where I'm supposed to, uh, come up with something witty and charming to convince you to join me in the, uh, in the b-bedroom," he said, blushing as he saw the badger's eyebrows shoot skyward, "But I'm real nervous and I'm not real great with words at the best of times, and I'm not sure if I can manage it properly. So..." Brian gazed back at him for a moment, his expression unreadable except for surprise. Then, the badger drank the remainder of his drink in one quick gulp, bared his teeth with a harsh exhalation as he put up with the momentary burn of the vodka, and then gave Tom's hand another gentle squeeze. "Lead the way."

Shortly thereafter, the door to Tom's bedroom silently swung open on its well-oiled hinges. The bear lead the way, followed by his quietly excited paramour. Brian closed the door behind them, and Tom took a deep breath and untucked his shirt from his pants, peeling it up and off as his heart pounded in his chest. Turning around, he found the badger sat on the bed, unbuttoning his shirt and smiling benevolently at him. "Nervous?" Brian asked, softly. Tom just nodded. "It's okay," he continued, "You don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with. We can just cuddle if you don't want to do anything else, or if you change your mind and don't want to do anything, we could just get dressed again and go back to drinking." Tom sighed, nodding. "You're the best," he whispered. Brian shrugged as he left his now-open shirt on and started on his pants. "I've been there myself, remember." After a moment, the badger stood up, pushing his pants down to his ankles and stepping out of them, and walked over to Tom in his shirt and boxers. "My God, you really are gorgeous, you know that?" he said, looking approvingly at Tom's chest, "C-can I?" He extended a hand somewhat uncertainly, and Tom grinned and nodded, shivering as Brian's warm palm pressed against the bear's abs and began to explore his chest, tracing his muscles with the tips of his fingers. Tom looked up into his date's face and wondered when Brian had taken his glasses off. He spotted them sitting on his own bedside table across the room, but his attention was drawn back to the other man fairly quickly as Brian started unfastening the bear's cargo pants. Tom made no effort to stop him, and as his pants fell to the ground, revealing his own boxer-briefs - as well as his clearly-defined package - the bear reached forward to embrace the other male, kicking his pants away absently as he hugged the professor tight, taking a deep breath and savouring the badger's unfamiliar and masculine natural scent. Shivering, Tom brought a hand up to cup Brian's face, gazing into those soft blue eyes, and as Brian looked up and smiled, Tom took a deep breath and leaned in, hesitating for just a moment before he pressed his lips against the other man's and kissed him.

As Brian reached up to hug Tom back, the bear let out a sigh through his big black nostrils and relaxed in the shorter man's arms. It didn't feel all that different from kissing a woman, really. Maybe Brian's lips weren't quite as soft or puffy, but boy did he know how to kiss. He smelled really good, too, and Tom found himself idly wondering how much of it was his natural scent and how much was cologne. When they broke it off, Tom felt like he should say something, and struggled for the words, but the badger just licked his nose playfully and shucked off his shirt, moving to the bed. As Brian pulled his underwear off, Tom shivered. It was one thing to agree to go out with Brian, to spend time with him in public and talk to him about his personal feelings, even to kiss him while they were both partially clothed. But he suddenly discovered it was quite another thing to see the man strip down to his fur, to see his penis flopping around at half-mast, and to finally have it sink in on every level that he was about to fool around with another man. Biting his lip, Tom took a deep, ragged breath. "I..." he started, suddenly even more nervous. He closed his eyes and tried again. "Brian, I've never done it with a guy before, and I... I don't know what to do." He felt his cheeks burning, his ears pressing against his head in shame. "I d-don't think I'm ready to, uh, you know... go all the way yet," he admitted, "But... I'm not sure what else to do." He started slightly as he felt a hand on his shoulder, and opened his eyes to find the naked badger standing before him. "It's okay, big man, we can take it slow," he said, his voice a combination of playful and reassuring, "And I can show you a few things we can do first."

Brian extended his arm around the nervous bear, hugging him loosely, and then, moving slowly so he was sure Tom was aware of it, he reached in with his other hand and took hold of Tom's penis, which was still flaccid from the stress. Feeling the badger's soft fingers curling around his manhood and giving it a gentle squeeze, no harder than when Brian had given his hand a reassuring squeeze earlier, Tom couldn't help but moan quietly, shuddering with pleasure at the touch of another man's hand on his most sensitive flesh. As Brian began to rub and knead, the taller male felt his body responding, his cock pulsing, growing longer and fatter in his partner's grip. "Oh, fuck..." he whispered, shuddering again, "Brian, I..." He trailed off, his mind going blank, and the mustelid smiled and leaned in again. "Shhh... just relax," he whispered, reassuringly, "I just want to explore you for a bit." Tom let Brian kiss him, closing his eyes and losing himself in the sensations. It wasn't even a proper handjob, the badger wasn't doing this to make him come, but somehow, the feeling of Brian fondling him was so much more erotic to Tom than the sex he'd had with any of those prostitutes or one-night stands. It reminded him of the way he'd felt with the small handful of women who'd really meant something to him, a sensation he'd almost forgotten after all this time... Sighing through his nostrils, Tom felt his stress slowly slipping away, his muscles relaxing. One by one, his problems were evaporating from his mind until all that mattered was the man he was kissing, the man he so enjoyed spending time with. Eventually, he reached forward to hug Brian back, and after a long moment of uncertainty, he extended a hand and guided it between the other man's legs. His blind fingers found the badger's scrotum first, so he started there, cupping his date's balls in his hand almost curiously; he'd never touched another man like this before, after all. Brian paused for a moment, stirring, then made an amused noise into the kiss and resumed teasing Tom's now rock-hard prick. The white bear jostled and rolled the other man's balls around, toying with the loose, warm skin, before moving north to more exciting pastures. He wasn't terribly surprised to find that the badger was already just as proudly erect as he was, so he just grabbed Brian's thick cock and stroked his fingers up and down. After a lifetime of jacking off with that hand, it felt very strange to be fondling an erection that was pointing towards him instead of away from him, but he quickly got over that, curiously feeling up his date's hard dick, getting caught off-guard when Brian's erection throbbed in his hand and leaked a little pre-come onto his fingers. The badger shivered against him, sighing into the kiss. Tom would have smiled had his mouth not been otherwise busy; now that he wasn't so nervous, he was really starting to enjoy this...

Before long, with the both of them thoroughly fondled, the two men broke off the kiss, looking at each other in the room's soft light. "S-so now what?" Tom asked, quietly, submissively. Brian grinned and nodded to the side. "Lie down on the bed," he suggested, "You're gonna like this." Nodding, Tom went and did as asked, sitting on the edge of the mattress and lying back. He'd never felt so self-conscious about getting in bed with a partner before. "You're n-not gonna try and, uh... do me, are you?" he asked, staring at Brian's erection, but the badger just laughed. "Tommy, look at yourself," he said, gesturing to the tall, muscular ex-soldier, and then placing his hands on his own soft belly. "...And now look at me. There's no way in hell I'd ever be able to put something in your butt if you didn't want me to." Even as he blushed, Tom snickered and shrugged. "Okay, you've got a point there," he admitted, "So... what are we doing, then?" Brian stepped up to the bed, reaching down and gently spreading Tom's legs with his hands, before moving even closer, so that his sac draped itself over the polar bear's. Swallowing, Tom remembered an old joke about how 'it isn't gay until the balls touch', and smiled slightly, but said nothing, and just watched the badger take hold of his own cock as he bent forward... and pressed it against Tom's hard-on. Feeling the heat of Brian's penis against the skin of his own, Tom swallowed a moan, feeling his toes curling up, and the other male grinned at him, extending his fingers around both of their dicks and holding them together as he began to thrust his hips, slowly, gently. "I thought we'd start with some nice, easy frottage," murmured Brian, answering Tom's silent question as to what this deed was called, "Just lie back and watch, big man." "Ohhhh, fuck, that's nice..." Tom muttered, shivering at the delicious sensation of the soft skin of their erections sliding and rubbing together, cradled between Brian's fingers. He felt himself pulse and watched a drop of pre drool down to his belly fur. It occurred to him that if things remained as they were, they were going to make rather a mess of his belly fur, but he was okay with that, as long as it felt this good doing it. Before long, Tom started rolling his hips against Brian's, wanting to create more friction between their flesh. The shorter man grinned at this, but said nothing. They kept at it, their hot, rigid cocks grinding and rubbing against each other, occasionally seeping warm pre that either dripped down to disappear in Tom's white fur or leaked between their erections, making the flesh wet and slippery, aiding in lubrication and allowing them to grind a tiny bit faster and harder. All the while, their testicles bounced and jostled, the thin skin of their sacs rubbing together, making the whole thing feel much more intimate than the polar bear had been expecting. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the spectacle, staring at the head of Brian's penis, shuddering whenever the minute opening at its tip opened to leak some more pre-come, panting hard as his heart raced and his temperature rose. Eventually, Brian bent over still further and hungrily captured Tom's mouth with his own, and Tom moaned into the kiss, his hands gathering up tight fistfuls of the sheets below him, happily allowing the older man to have his way with him.

They kept this up for quite some time, until Tom was biting his lip, desperately fighting the pleasure, not wanting to succumb before the other male. Brian was able to read this off his face and licked his cheek playfully. "Getting close?" he whispered, huskily, "Don't fight it, Tommy, I've been looking forward to seeing you come, just relax..." With this, the badger began to kiss and nibble at Tom's neck, and the polar bear moaned out loud, shuddering happily. He'd never felt so submissive to a sexual partner before, never thought he'd enjoy feeling that way, but somehow the short, somewhat chubby badger grinding against him made him feel safe and comfortable, like as long as Brian was with him, he'd be okay... so with an embarrassed whimper, Tom let go. Almost immediately, he was overwhelmed, tensing up with a wordless cry as his orgasm spread forth to fill his body with tingling bliss. Seeing that the moment was upon them, Brian began to stroke his hand up and down their cocks even as he continued thrusting, and watched eagerly as Tom's dick began to throb and pulse, spurting thick volleys of wet, gooey ursine semen all over his stomach and abs. Whether he was set off by the sight of the bear ejaculating, or he'd just been close behind him to begin with, it was only a matter of seconds before Brian arched his back and let out a strangled groan of his own, and Tom lifted his head, watching fascinated through the haze of lust, as the badger started coming too, adding hot, slightly watery jets of his own seed to the mess on Tom's abdomen. For about a nanosecond, Tom reflected distantly on how it was interesting that the colour and thickness of the two men's come were different, and then he realized he could actually feel Brian's penis throbbing against his own as he came, that he was experiencing the spasms of the other man's climax, and all the bear could do was throw back his head and moan, lost to the pleasure.

When it was over, Tom sagged to the bed with a sound that was somewhere between an exhausted groan and a sigh of deepest satisfaction. His eyes closed, he just listened as Brian let go of their softening dicks and climbed onto the bed, lying down next to the bear and scootching up close to him, careful not to press his fur against the mess they'd made. "How was it?" came Brian's voice, whispering in his ear as one of his hands toyed with the short fur on Tom's head. The younger male chuckled without opening his eyes. He didn't normally get this kind of afterglow, warm pleasure that lasted after the orgasm was done, with the women he'd been seeking release with, and he wanted to savour it. "I haven't come that hard in a very, very long time," he murmured, "That was great, Brian. Thank you..." In lieu of a response, he received a kiss on the cheek, and his smile widened. When he finally opened his eyes, he looked down to the warm, sticky mess on his belly; by now, his seed and Brian's had merged together into a single, rather impressively-sized pool of sperm, and Tom wasn't quite sure how he was going to clean it off without it dripping onto the sheets or the carpet. Once again on the same wavelength as him, Brian leaned up on an elbow and looked down at him. "Let me help you get cleaned up. You want me to go to your bathroom and get a towel or something?" the mustelid offered, "...Or do you want me to just lick it off for you?" Tom trembled at those words. He'd had no idea that that kind of thing was even done, and now he desired it terribly. But was Brian kidding? If he asked for that, would he seem like a weirdo? Only one way to find out... "Y-you'd really lick it up?" he asked, his voice somewhat subdued. Brian grinned widely and moved down the bed, keeping his eyes locked on Tom's as he bent down towards the bear's stomach, extended his tongue, and gently, casually, lapped at the glistening coating of come on his fur.

"Oh Jesus Christ..." whispered Tom, unaware he was saying it instead of thinking it until Brian chuckled. The badger said nothing, though, and moved back down, slowly, languidly licking at their mingled seed, the polar bear shivering and twitching every time that warm tongue made contact. This was one of the most erotic experiences he'd ever had. Brian kept it up, casually running his tongue along his partner's washboard abs, teasing along his belly and pelvis, gathering up both Tom's and his own semen, swallowing it down with a smile on his black-and-white face, his eyes rarely leaving the bear's for long. When Tom was almost completely clean, Brian moved down to his penis; some of the badger's ejaculate had leaked onto Tom's prick when he came, and after a moment of not so much hesitating as lingering, Brian leaned in and dragged his tongue from the base of his ursine companion's flaccid cock all the way to the tip. At the feeling of this warm, wet sensation, Tom tensed up and cried out in surprise. He'd thought Brian was done, and was caught off-guard. At the touch of that tongue, his dick pulsed again, leaking one last small dollop of seed into his fur, and the badger dutifully licked it up, clicking his tongue and nodding in satisfaction at a job well done. "There," he said, "Clean as a whistle."

With his task completed, Brian crawled up the bed again and plopped himself down next to Tom, who turned to face him, the two men embracing and kissing as their feet intermingled. For a time, very little mattered to Tom outside of his bed, as he and Brian expressed their growing affection for each other. Even setting aside all the ladies of the night, it had been a long time since Tom had taken a sexual partner that he'd lingered with after The Deed was over; usually it would be either a meaningless one-night-stand and one or the other would just zip up their pants and leave, or he'd date the kind of girls who preferred their sex as a kind of 'wham, bam, thank you sir' experience. Now, the bear found that it was actually rather nice to just lie there clad in his fur, gently holding onto the other man. Even when they weren't kissing, he just felt so much better with Brian in his arms, breathing in the badger's scent... he struggled for the words to describe the feeling, failed, and decided that maybe that didn't matter so much either, as long as he could feel it.

"Hey, Tom..." The bear opened his eyes at that whisper, unsure of how long they'd been snuggling, and found, unsurprisingly, his paramour's smiling face. "You want to try something new?" Brian asked, playfully. Tom grinned back and lifted a hand, lightly tracing one finger along one of the two prominent black stripes running down the badger's muzzle. "What did you have in mind?" he replied, looking forward to the answer. Brian responded by licking his nose... and crawling back down the bed, then continuing onto the floor. He got into a kneeling position instead of standing up, and the ice bear sat up, curious. Reaching forward, the shorter male cupped both hands behind Tom's butt, pulling him towards the edge of the bed. "That's it, move forward just a little..." This made his intentions abundantly clear, and Tom's eyes widened slightly. "Y-you mean..." Leaning in, Brian teased the tip of his tongue under the bear's flaccid penis, lifting it up and letting it flop back down against his scrotum with a quiet slap. Tom shuddered hard and moaned softly. Brian chuckled and gave him a playful, slightly mischievous smile. "You seemed to like this earlier," he said, softly, "I thought I'd give you a treat... that is, if you're okay with it?" He said it like it was a question, and Tom liked that he hadn't just assumed... even if the bear wanted it with all his being. "Oh God, yes..." he whispered, before he could think about it, which made the badger laugh happily. "Then just sit there, big guy, and enjoy..." Brian said, his eyes moving down to lock onto Tom's dick, "God, I've wondered for so long how you would taste..."

Brian started by licking at his partner's dick and balls, bathing the skin in his saliva with gentle laps of his tongue. Tom's soft cock rapidly began to harden, pulsing and twitching each time the badger touched it until it started to fatten, to lift away from his sac. When it reached half-mast, Brian glanced up at Tom's face and winked, then bent forward and took the bear's malehood into his mouth, bringing up a hand to start massaging his balls, slowly and sensually. "Oh fuck... oh fuck!" murmured Tom, trembling at the warm, wet sensation now enveloping his penis. Getting a blowjob, unlike frottage, was an experience he was very familiar with, but somehow it seemed so much more intense this time, because it was Brian, because this man was important to him... He swallowed a moan as Brian swirled his tongue around his shaft, teasing him and coaxing him to his full pride. It didn't take long before the trembling ice bear was totally erect, and a satisfied Brian began to bob his muzzle along Tom's prick, suckling gently as he went. Tom couldn't take his eyes off the spectacle, and if he weren't so flushed with arousal, he would have blushed self-consciously every time the badger glanced up at his face. There was just something about the happy look in his eyes that made it feel like Brian was in charge, even on his knees, sucking Tom's dick. Once again, the bear was surprised to find that he didn't at all mind, happy to let the mustelid steer and just come along for the ride.

After a few minutes of watching, mesmerized, Tom reached forward, almost as an afterthought, and placed his hands on top of Brian's head. In the past, Tom had been with girls who liked it rough, who actually enjoyed it when he forced their heads down on his dick, but tonight, out of his element in this new experience, the thought didn't even occur to him. Even if it had, the bear could hardly imagine harming this beautiful man who had helped him so much, even if Brian had been into that, which was doubtful, to say the least. "Oh, Brian..." he whispered, stroking his fingers through his partner's fur, "This is so good..." As he was scratched behind one ear, the badger shivered and made a happy noise of satisfaction. He looked up at Tom's face, and his eyes were smiling, even if his mouth was busy. As the shorter man's kneaded and rubbed at Tom's testicles, massaging the orbs within their fleshy sac and squeezing them just enough to give him pleasure without it hurting, the polar bear bit his lip, trying not to moan. Apparently, Brian was looking up at just the right time, though, as he seemed to take steps to prevent Tom from hiding his pleasure, suddenly upping his game, licking and teasing at the sensitive flesh just under the crown of Tom's cock as his lips suckled along the shaft even more tightly than before. Sure enough, the bear found himself unable to contain his cries as he shuddered and gasped the badger's name. Satisfied, Brian showed mercy, going back to his usual tender ministrations, seeming quite pleased with himself.

Despite the fact that he'd had a pretty satisfying orgasm earlier, it didn't take long before Tom found himself struggling against the pleasure, and with a groan, he closed his eyes and shook his head. "God... I - I'm getting close," he warned, "Jesus, I'm gonna come..." He opened his eyes and looked back down as he felt a hand touching his own. Brian was looking up at him, and as Tom watched, he winked and then pointed to his eyes. Tom shuddered just at the implication of what he thought Brian meant; he wanted the bear to look him in the eye as he came into his mouth. That was something Tom had never done with a woman, always closing his eyes or averting his gaze at the last second, somehow it just seemed so intimate... but if Brian wanted to share that experience, then he wanted to try it. Shuddering, feeling incredibly self-conscious, Tom bent over, eyes locked on his partner's, and readied himself for the wave of pleasure he knew was coming. As those soft, soft lips ran up and down his shaft, and that nimble tongue worked against the most sensitive spots on his prick, Tom knew it wouldn't be long. He whimpered, actually feeling nervous for reasons he couldn't entirely explain, when the badger reached up with his free hand and gently clasped Tom's hand, giving it a squeeze. Just as it had out on the street, it made the bear feel better, and he found himself relaxing just before the end hit him. "Oh - oh, Brian!" he gasped, squeezing his partner's hand and quivering as, with his eyes locked on the other male's, Tom climaxed, hard. Every muscle in his body tensed up at once, his toes curled up on either side of the mustelid, and as Brian licked and suckled encouragingly, Tom's prick began to throb and pulsate, pumping hot, wet sperm directly into the badger's mouth, painting the smaller male's tongue and cheeks with his seed. Shivering as he swallowed the first mouthful, Brian began to squeeze Tom's balls in a tempo just off of the throbbing of his dick, as though he were encouraging his testes to be as productive as possible. Tom whimpered and gasped and shivered, and all the while, through the haze of pleasure, he couldn't look away from Brian's beautiful eyes, feeling like he was sharing this orgasm with his lover in a deep, meaningful way he'd never felt before... and if his mind hadn't been overwhelmed with raw pleasure, he might have realized that thinking of Brian as his 'lover' explained a lot.

When he'd finished emptying his balls into the other man's muzzle, Tom let out a heavy groan and relaxed, sagging down a little. Pulling back so that the thick ursine cock slipped out of his mouth, Brian swirled his tongue around for a few seconds, savouring the taste of the bear's come, and then swallowed it down with a satisfied gulp. "Mmmm..." he whispered, "You were delicious, Tom. I hope that doesn't make me sound like some kind of, of connoisseur..." Tom laughed gently and shook his head. "No, no, of course not," he replied, "a compliment is a compliment. And thank you... for everything. You were amazing." As the badger stood up again, Tom couldn't help but let his eyes drift downwards. "You're hard again," he observed. Brian shrugged, not seeming especially self-conscious about it. "That was really hot," he said, shrugging, "What can you do?" The chubby male sat down on the bed and sighed contentedly, before looking down at his erection. "Now then," he asked, happily, "What are we going to do with you?" Reaching out and putting a hand on the badger's shoulder, Tom swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. "Brian..." he started, "Would you... can I t-take care of that for you?" Brian seemed a little surprised, but he smiled nonetheless. "Really? Our first night together?" he asked, "Tommy, I don't want you to feel obligated to do it just because I did it for you." The polar bear shivered and grinned nervously. "I know..." he replied, "And that's sweet of you... but I - I want to do it." Brian didn't appear surprised this time, it seemed he'd just been making sure. "Well, okay then," the badger said, delighted, "But if it's all the same to you, I'm gonna lie down for this."

Brian draped himself over the sheets and made himself comfortable, head propped up against the pillows, hands folded on his stomach as he looked down the length of his body at Tom, who was nervously lying down between the badger's knees. "So, uh, you know I've never done this before, right?" he asked, meekly, "J-just wanted to make sure your, uh, expectations weren't, you know, set too high..." Reaching forward, Tom took hold of Brian's dick, taking a moment to rub his fingers up and down the shaft, getting used to the idea in his head. The other man chuckled and made a dismissive gesture. "As long as you relax and enjoy yourself, it'll be fine," Brian said, reassuringly, "Just try not to scratch me with your teeth, okay?" Tom managed to grin as he nodded, moving his hand to the base of his partner's cock and taking a deep breath. He leaned down towards his lover's cock, his lips parted, and... he paused for a moment, glancing up and trying to play his nervousness off with a joke. "Alright, Professor Snow, but I'd better get an A+ for this!" he said, faux-sternly. Brian burst out laughing and held out a hand in protest, shaking his head. "Oh God, don't say that in bed!" the badger laughed, "I'll picture it in class, and I won't be able to say the words 'oral exam' without giggling until next term!"

With that, Tom leaned down and sniffed at Brian's cock, shivering as the badger's masculine pheromones tickled his nose, getting his engine revving in a completely different way than the scent of a woman had in the past. Not better, or worse, just... different. Instead of contemplating his bisexual nature, Tom proceeded to extend his tongue and cautiously lick at the other man's penis, finding the taste saltier than he expected, because of sweat perhaps, but otherwise inoffensive. Thus reassured, he began to run his tongue along Brian's shaft in earnest, bathing the skin in his saliva just as the badger had done for him. He moved up and licked the head of the erection, and was mildly surprised when, before he could react, it throbbed in his hand and leaked a drop of pre-come directly onto his tongue. Like most men, Tom had gotten curious and tasted his own semen a few times in the past, mostly while he was drunk and feeling experimental, so after the initial shock, the watered-down flavour didn't do much to deter him. He made a point, though, of not looking up at Brian as he licked up the droplet, shivering with kinky delight as he did so. Not quite ready to take the plunge, he moved down to the badger's balls, curiously licking at the fuzzy sac that contained his orbs. Tom sighed contentedly through his nostrils. The taste was a little stronger down here, and his nose was in the perfect position to inhale more of Brian's male scent. He ran his tongue over every surface of the shorter man's scrotum, enjoying the sigh of pleasure his partner let out as Tom teased his tongue behind, licking at the backside of Brian's wrinkled sac and making him shudder. Then, acting impulsively, Tom took one of Brian's balls into his mouth, and the badger inhaled sharply, caught off-guard. He treated the testicle like it was a jawbreaker, sucking on it gently and keeping his teeth out of the equation as much as possible, though it was hard to avoid them harmlessly brushing against the surface of the other male's skin. As the ex-soldier continued to suckle, Brian quivered again and started to lean forward. "T-Tom..." he whispered, trailing off into nothing. Glancing up, the ice bear saw that the other man's face was unreadable, torn between the pleasure he was feeling and the natural worry of having one's family jewels in the mouth of a predator species. Taking a page from Brian's own book, Tom made sure he was looking the scholarly mustelid right in the eye, and then winked as he released the ball he'd been suckling, taking its twin into his mouth in turn. Brian trembled at the sight and flopped back down with a quiet moan, his muscles relaxing again. "Ohhhh, Tommy..." he breathed, "N-no one's ever done that for me..." Tom was beside himself with delight at the idea that he was returning the favour and giving Brian a first time experience of his own, but he said nothing, just kept licking and suckling at his partner's balls.

It didn't take long for Tom to work up his courage, and he released Brian's testicle, moving back up to the top of his cock. Then, with a glance up to the other man's face, which made him blush deeply, the bear parted his lips, taking his date's hard prick into his mouth, and after pausing a moment to curiously play his tongue along the rigid flesh, he continued all the way down the shaft, right to the root, and the badger moaned out loud, shaking his head and swearing as Tom licked along the shaft, discovering that he now found Brian's taste rather appealing. The bear had given his fair share of cunnilingus in the past, but as he'd said, he'd never actually given a blowjob before, so now that he had a dick in his mouth, he just improvised, doing what he'd seen others doing, either to himself or in porno movies. Scratch that last bit, he decided, using porn as an example for real sex seemed like a recipe for disaster... Putting that thought out of his head, Tom started pulling back along Brian's shaft, wincing at one point when he closed his lips a little too tight and the badger grunted 'Teeth!' as he squirmed. Carefully lifting the offending enamel away from the sensitive flesh, Tom looked up at Brian's face, hoping that the look in his eyes was enough to carry the apology he couldn't speak at the moment. Apparently, it did the job, because Brian nodded at him, smiled encouragingly, and made a 'carry on' gesture. Soon, Tom was bobbing up and down the shaft, and while at first the task felt incredibly awkward, he quickly grew used to it, sucking at the skin of the badger's dick and licking all over, trying to find sensitive spots, feeling it throbbing against his tongue just before he felt the taste of pre-come again. He also slowed down a little, to make it easier to pleasure Brian, and from the sound of the groan the other man made as he started to squirm again, he was doing a good job of it so far.

As he grew more and more comfortable with his task, Tom really started to enjoy himself, teasing his tongue against spots that were extremely sensitive on his own cock, curious about where Brian's weak points were and were not the same as his. For example, Brian seemed to be helpless when he poked the tip of his tongue against the front of his glans, licking along the natural seam beneath his urethra. As Tom focused his attention there for a moment, the badger half-sat up with a jerk. "Christ!" he yelped, "Oh, shit!" Brian shuddered, hard, and for a single alarming moment, Tom thought the other man was going to suddenly come in his mouth. He'd already decided he wanted to try and take it, for the mustelid, he just didn't want to be caught off-guard. However, when he stopped licking, Brian relaxed, slumping down a little and sighing with pleasure. Instead of lying back down flat, the badger reached forward and began to scratch the bear behind the ears as Tom went back to sucking. "Mmmm, that's so good for your first time, Tommy..." Brian whispered, "You're a natural..." That kinda felt like a backhanded compliment in Tom's ears, but he let it slide, though he entertained a fantasy of giving the other male a quick nip with his teeth before discarding it as too cruel. Closing his eyes, the ice bear sighed happily. Even though he wasn't the one receiving the pleasure, he still wasn't thinking about his troubles while he was being intimate with Brian like this, he just wanted to do his best and make the badger feel as wonderful as possible. So he licked, and slurped, and teased, and sucked, and all the while, he grew intoxicated on the scent of his lover's arousal. It wasn't long before Brian began squirming, his dick throbbing more often, letting Tom enjoy the taste of his pre, and a glance upwards revealed a look on the badger's face that Tom knew only too well, having seen it in his mirror on a few occasions when he'd been overcome with self-passion in the bathroom; he was getting close. "Oh God, T-Tommy... I won't be able to f-fight it for much longer..." he whimpered, confirming the bear's suspicions, "If you d-don't want to take it in the mouth, that's - nnngh! ...That's okay, but j-just..." he trailed off as Tom moved his arms to encircle the other man's thighs, holding Brian in place as if he feared he'd try to run. "Jesus, you're amazing," breathed the badger, as he let go of Tom's head and lay back down again, reaching up behind his head and holding the pillow with a deathgrip.

Tom kept bobbing along Brian's cock, taking that thick shaft into his mouth again and again, and while he wanted to increase his speed, help get the badger off, he found it difficult to do that and keep his teeth out of the way at the same time. So he just focused on working his tongue and lips against the other man's dick as Brian's breathing grew harder and heavier, as his body began to twitch and spasm. "T-Tom?" came Brian's voice. Looking up, the bear saw his partner smiling at him - and then he winked and pointed to his eyes. Tom shuddered from head to toe, realizing that Brian wanted to repeat what they'd done when Tom had climaxed, holding each other's gaze through his release. His cheeks burned with self-consciousness, but he kept looking at Brian's eyes, even as he moved one hand up to the base of the badger's prick, stroking the shaft with his thumb and forefinger, trying to push the other male over the edge. Finally, it was all too much for the mustelid to fight, and Brian began to twitch and shudder, tensing up. "Oh God... Oh God, it's here..." he moaned, "It's g-gonna happen... oh Jesus Christ, I - I... oh, Tommy, I'm coming!" With that, the badger arched his back off the bed and cried out in surrender and ecstasy, his stiff cock throbbing and spasming against Tom's lips, erupting inside his mouth with spurts of hot, flavourful mustelid seed that coated the bear's tongue and rapidly began to spread out. At the first sensation of semen on his tongue, though, Tom's eyes bugged out and he made a noise like a muffled gasp; he found the idea of making eye contact while Brian filled his mouth with come so embarrassing it actually made him dizzy, and with a whimper, he shut his eyes tight... though he never stopped licking and suckling at Brian's hard-on, wanting the badger's orgasm to be a good one, and doing his level best to milk that pulsing erection of every drop of sperm his partner had left.

When Brian had no pleasure left to be wrung out, he flopped limply to the bed with a long, low groan that, oddly, reminded Tom more than anything else of the noise one might make after getting to the bathroom just in time after having a few beers. He found the mental image kind of amusing, like Brian had been so full of come that he was desperate and uncomfortable, and that the bear had done him a real service. But he was mostly distracted by his own failure to live up to his partner's eye contact request. Slowly pulling away from Brian's already half-flaccid penis, Tom swallowed his mouthful of warm, gooey jism, and shuddered at the sensation of it running down his throat. Avoiding eye contact with the scholarly male, Tom crawled up his bed, moving next to Brian and rolling over onto his back. The badger said nothing for a moment, just lay there, getting his breath back. Then he retrieved his glasses from the bedside table and rolled onto his side, reaching out and placing a hand on Tom's chest, where the fur was still sweaty, as though he wanted to feel the other man's heartbeat. "If that really was your first time, you passed with flying colours!" Brian said, adoringly, before he blushed and added "...Crap. Yep, definitely not gonna be able to give oral exams for a while." Tom didn't giggle along with him, and when he said nothing at all, the badger spooned up against his side, toying one fingertip through his pure, white fur. "Hey... What's wrong, Tommy?" he whispered, "Oh, do you - do you find it annoying when I call you Tommy? Is that it? Because I'm sorry, I should have asked..." Waving his hand dismissively, the bear sighed. "No, no, that's fine, it sounds... it sounds nice coming from you," he said, "It's me. You wanted me to - to look you in the eyes when you came, and I let you down." Grinning again, Brian reached over and gently turned Tom's head to face him. "Oh, is that all?" he replied, "Because that's not a big deal, Tom. It's just window dressing. I don't know if you noticed, but I still came really, really hard!"

Tom couldn't help but smirk at that, and he finally rolled onto his own side, facing Brian. "Really? You're not disappointed or anything?" he asked, as Brian stroked the bear's cheek calmingly. "No, of course not," he cooed, "I get it, it was embarrassing, maybe overwhelming... there's always next time." Finally looking into the other man's eyes, Tom shivered hopefully. "Next time?" he asked, which made Brian chuckle again. "Of course I want there to be a next time," he replied, "I really enjoy myself when I'm with you, big man. The sex is just the icing on the cake." Grinning at that, Tom reached out and embraced the badger, pulling him in close for a kiss, and the two men shared a slow, passionate moment together. The hunger that had marked their earlier kissing was gone, but the depth of their feelings remained. Which helped Tom come to a decision, actually. When they broke it off, he took a deep breath, gathered his courage, and locked gazes with his date again. "Brian? I... I..." he swallowed nervously, distantly realizing his mouth still tasted faintly of semen, and then tried again. "I... I think I love you." Brian inhaled sharply, and his eyes widened, but just slightly, like he'd been hoping but not really expecting to hear that. "Really?" he asked, smiling widely. "Y-yeah..." Tom replied, a big stupid grin across his face, "I love you, Brian!" He quite enjoyed saying the words again, especially with more confidence behind them. "Oh Tommy," murmured Brian, looking deliriously happy, like he was on the verge of tears of joy, "I love you too!" The badger pulled Tom in, and he found himself kissing his date... no, his boyfriend - well, at least his lover - with even more happiness and passion than they'd shown before. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this good. The quiet, bookish Canadian was definitely doing wonders for him, and he liked that.

Soon enough, they were cuddling in a new position, with the taller Tom lying on his back and Brian on his side against him, one arm and one leg thrown over the bear in a casually possessive way that Tom liked. As he stroked Brian's back, Tom heard his wristwatch beep, glanced up to the clock on his wall, and realized what time it was. "Man, it's late..." He stopped himself from adding 'time flies when you're having fun', as it sounded impossibly corny even in his mind. Instead, he asked, "Do you have a class to teach tomorrow?" Brian lifted his head from Tom's shoulder just enough to shake it. "Nuh-uh, schedule's wiiiiiide open," he replied, "Actually, I was wondering... I know I didn't bring a change of clothes or anything, but... Would it be alright if I spent the night? I've never met anyone who cuddled as well as you before." Suddenly the badger frowned slightly, looking thoughtful. "I wonder if that's why the first plush toys looked like you guys..." Tom laughed softly and hugged Brian tight. "Of course you can spend the night," he said, "I was just trying to work up the courage to ask you." Brian giggled and kissed his lover on the cheek. Soon enough, they'd have to get up and prepare themselves for sleep - Tom was pretty sure he had an extra toothbrush in the back of his cupboard, he'd been planning to replace his current one soon - but for now, they had nothing more important to do than cuddle.

The ice bear was taking this time to reflect on all the unexpected revelations of the night. He'd never thought he would feel so comfortable being submissive to a partner in bed... "Brian?" Tom asked after a moment, "Uhh... Wh-when we actually, you know, do it for the first time... it's gonna be me taking it under the tail, isn't it?" Brian laughed at that, and patted the other male's chiseled abs reassuringly. "When we have sex, sweetie, you can be in whichever position you like," he said, "...But if you're asking about my personal preferences?" He slid his hand down Tom's side and gripped one of his buttocks, giving it a playful squeeze. Even as he blushed, Tom couldn't help but smile. Deep down, he kinda thought he might like that... He sighed contentedly, and turned to look at his badger. "You know, you told me once at the volunteer group that 'you're gonna be okay'," he whispered, "And I don't know why, but coming from you, I believed it. I've wondered... You're always so sure things will be alright, how can you be so certain?" The mustelid kissed him on the cheek and gazed into his eyes adoringly. "The truth is, Tommy, I'm not certain," he admitted, "But I try and stay positive, and hope for the best." He reached down and took hold of Tom's hand, lacing their black and white fingers together. "But I have to admit, things have been looking up ever since I met you," Brian continued, "It seems to me that no matter what problems come up in my life... as long as I have my bear with me, I'm gonna be just fine."