FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Bedroom Conversations

copyright 2009

comidacomida

"Paul, this is Casey. Casey, Paul." the introduction was a simple one, but Paul realized that a lot more was going on in Tanner's mind than his relative calm gave away.

"Cool." The dalmatian standing across the table from Paul smiled in a friendly manner, tail wagging genuinely as he offered the young man a paw.

"Uh... hi." Paul answered back. The dalmatian's demeanor was slightly distracting, not to mention the eagerly wagging tail and the limp-wristed shake. He really wasn't any good at social situations, and meeting an ex of Tanner wasn't exactly his idea of harmless practice. Tanner had insisted it, however, to show him that both dogs had moved on.

It was a touching sentiment, especially since it had only been three days since the fated dinner that led them to become something more than friends. Paul still didn't feel comfortable with the idea of an introduction to the dalmation but, he reminded himself, Tanner was the one who was most exposed in the situation of having a current boyfriend come face to face with a previous boyfriend.

The human tried not to be concerned by the fact that Tanner was apparently taking it well. He knew that, were he in the dog's position, he would have likely been a sniveling mess; some of his previous relationships were things of nightmares. It amazed him how well some people were suited to social situations. In Paul's case, as soon as a gathering exceeded two, he was out of his element.

"So..." the dalmatian noted casually, taking a seat at the table, "Tell me... did Tan-Paw here pull the whole 'car engine trouble' thing on you yet?" Tanner coughed around a mouthful of food court chow mien, and Casey continued unabated, "He's a tricky one... keep an eye on him at all times." the dalmatian gave a conspiratory wink to Paul.

"Car engine trouble... thing?" Paul inquired of the spotted dog, whose wide smile got even wider as he looked between the two before answering Paul's question.

"I take that as a yes." Casey noted, taking a swig of his bottled cola. Unlike Paul, both of the dogs chose a bottled drink over one with a straw; muzzles just weren't well suited to fast food soft drink containers. Paul's mind wasn't really on drinks at the moment, however.

"So... why the turtleneck?" Paul asked, eager to get the conversation to a safer subject. He had considered it casually as the dalmation came to join them at the table, but it seemed like a more important topic since it meant a good distraction from the direction Paul had a feeling the talk was going, "Isn't it a bit too warm here for winter wear?"

"Fashion statement." Tanner spoke up.

"Oh pfft..." Casey noted, waving Tanner's comment away, "The human wants to know, and honesty IS the best policy, right, Tanner?" the dalmatian half stood from his seat and leaned forward, pulling the edge of the sweater away from his neck, revealing a thick green cord attached around his throat.

"A collar?" Paul asked, confused.

"Yep." Casey answered, taking a seat back in his chair, tail wagging, sounding quite pleased with himself.

Tanner turned to Paul, "It's a subculture among dogs." he explained, "Casey is what we call a 'Burb Dog'."

"Burb Dog?" Paul repeated, "Is that something like a 'bird dog'? Hunters use them back home when they go hunting for quail or duck or phes--"

"No... not like a bird dog, silly boy." Casey responded, leaning forward, resting his muzzle on his paws as he regarded Paul, "It means I like the whole idea of being a human's pet." he winked, "It's just not a kink many humans like to humor... and the ones who do end up with someone like Tan-Paw, who has no idea how lucky he is to snatch one of you up. Just the thought of doing anything and everything a human might ask... well... let's just say I find that... enticing."

Paul felt uncomfortable being the target of Casey's gaze, "It's not really that I'm into... well..." he realized the argument wouldn't come out well no matter how he formulated it, so changed the topic as quickly as possible, "But... uh... I thought you and Tanner had a... um... history... and Tanner isn't... well... human."

"Just because it's a kink doesn't mean it's my entire life." Casey rolled his eyes, "Tanner's a really good guy. We had a 'thing' going for awhile but, you're right... we're still friends, but we each kind of went our own way in THAT department. Anyway, I'm pretty happy keeping my eyes open for a human who likes the idea of having a dog all his own."

"It's a lifestyle thing." Tanner noted.

"And not exactly your thing, right." Casey added matter-of-factly, as if it were a return to a conversation the two had shared more than once.

Paul couldn't help but feel more and more like a third wheel. He tried to carry the conversation in a different direction, "So... I know why Tanner is called Tanner, but... um... the name 'Casey'... did your parents choose a human name or did you change it?"

"Neither." the dalmatian grinned, "Cute question though." Casey affixed his gaze right on him, making Paul feel uncomfortable anew.

"But Casey is a human name, and I thought--"

"Casey is a human name, yea... but my name is K. C." the dalmatian made the difference much clearer by putting an extended pause between the initials, "My parents named me Kitten-Chaser because, when I was a pup, I would always chase the neighborhood cats away when I started crying."

"Well... that's... original." Paul offered a hesitant smile.

"Right... but the story really doesn't do much for making my life easy when I went to school. K.C. was easy enough and teachers didn't ask too many questions, they just guessed that I chose a more human name and started writing it out as Casey, so it kinda stuck."

"But you like sticking with K.C.?" Paul asked.

Casey leaned closer, lowering his voice, "Yea... K.C. looks better on a dog tag anyway." and the dalmatian flicked the front of his turtleneck, allowing Paul to hear the sound of muted metal jingling from underneath.

"Ooooookay." Paul noted.

"Paul... why don't you tell Casey about your dog tag collection?" Tanner interjected.

The dalmatian sat up straight immediately, "YOU have dog tags?"

The human glanced past Casey to Tanner, who was just managing to hold in a laugh. Paul hoped his 'I am going to kill you' look translated well enough for his boyfriend.

"You're not wearing a collar though... humans have tags?" Casey inquired, suddenly paying an even greater amount of obsessive attention to Paul.

"Um... no. They belonged to my grandfather." Paul noted.

"Your grandfather? Was he like a human Burb Dog?" the dalmatian looked as energetic and as hyper as a puppy.

"No... he was a soldier. Back home they call the metal tags soldiers wear dog tags." Paul noted.

"That's a funny name for em... sounds almost racist." Casey noted, sitting back into his chair, energy deflated, "Here, they just call em FIDs.. Field IDs." the dalmation dug into one of the pockets of his cargo pants and pulled out a set of tags, tossing them onto the table next to Paul's tray, "a little less derogatory for us canine soldiers."

"Even though you don't mind a little abuse." Tanner added, but his comment was largely ignored by the spotted dog, whose attention was on Paul.

Paul looked down at the tags, "Private Kitten Chaser... serial number..." he mumbled his way through half of the numbers before looking up, "You were in the military?"

Casey shrugged, "For awhile. The guys in my unit used to call me 'Private Chaser'... they didn't really think the nickname was very funny after I broke the 'dont tell' part of the creed and realized I really did chase after 'privates'."

"My grandparents wanted my dad to join the military because my grandfather was in it." Paul noted.

"I thought it'd be fun. Nothing makes you feel like a dog more than having a drill sergeant treat you like dirt." Casey smirked sidelong. The expression came across nearly unreadable, making it impossible for Paul to know whether the dalmatian was kidding or not. The consideration ended as Casey took the tags back and returned them to his pocket. "Anyway, it's a good story to tell when I'm drunk, and I'm not drunk, so we'll leave it for another day."

"Another day?" Paul asked.

"Yea... another day. If you and Tan-Paw there are glued at the hips, I'm sure I'll be seeing a lot more of you in the future." The dalmatian's choice of metaphors made Paul blush; it wasn't even a half a week previous that he and Tanner really were stuck together at the hips. The human quickly pushed the thought from his mind.

"So you're bailing on us already, huh?" Tanner asked of the dalmatian. Paul could tell that Tanner was not entirely bothered by the thought of Casey leaving.

"Yea," Casey responded, glancing at the watch band on his wrist, "I gotta get back to work."

"Fire Fighter?" the words escaped Paul's mouth before he could manage to stop them.

"Cute... real cute." the dalmatian noted, not failing to miss the implied humor, "No... I work at an eye doctor's office... they have me stand in front of the eye chart so all people can see are spots." Casey said mockingly, "Gets them more business."

"Sorry." Paul noted, unable to hide his smirk.

"That's fine... I hear it all the time... yeesh... humans." Casey rolled his eyes, "You know... I could work as a valet too... I'd have no trouble driving cars into parking *spots*... plenty of *barking* in the rear... maybe I work at a newspaper-- I'd fit in just fine with all the black and white..."

"I like the color you chose for your collar." Paul noted, interrupting the stream of snide comments.

"You do?" Casey was back at his side in a moment, tail wagging madly as his tongue hung out of the side of his muzzle, "I have a leash too! Maybe if Tanner says it's okay I can come over later this week and--" Tanner's shaking head was not missed by the excited dalmatian.

"Who asked you anyway..." Casey grumbled. The dalmatian grabbed his soda pop bottle from the table and trudged toward the mall doors, "catch ya later."

"Well..." Paul noted, once Casey was suitably out of ear shot, "That was... interesting."

"You said you wanted more exposure to dogs." Tanner offered, bemused.

"Well... now I feel overexposed... like walking out into the snow in my underwear."

The dog laughed in response, reaching across the table to take Paul's hand in his paw. "You did fine."

Paul became slightly self conscious at the dog's touch. Public displays of affection weren't exactly the easiest thing for him, and he quickly drew his hand back out of Tanner's paw, but he did well to hide his insecurity at the situation, "Well... he seems nice enough, if a bit... um..."

"Fruity?" Tanner offered as Paul searched for a word.

"Yea... in more ways than one."

The two finished their lunch, the conversation moving on to lighter, more relaxed topics. Tanner had a split shift, so his 'lunch break' was actually a three hour span between his morning shift and evening shift. The two spent the time walking up and down the mall's main concourse, chatting and laughing together about any number of topics.

They parted ways just outside the shoe store as Tanner's next shift was almost ready to begin. "My landlord finally got the okay for his building permit."

"So you ARE moving?" Tanner asked, "You're still going to be local, right?"

Paul nodded, "'Course." he confirmed, "I already have a new place signed for."

"Wow... must be nice to have good credit." the dog smirked.

"Anyway," Paul continued past the wry witticism, "I'll be spending tomorrow moving."

"That was fast." Tanner remarked, "He told you two days ago, and you're ready to move tomorrow. If I were you, I'd be suffering from whiplash."

Paul foraged ahead despite the dog's humorous take on the situation, "I'm just saying that I won't be around for lunch tomorrow."

"Well that's fine." Tanner noted, "I'm off tomorrow, and I'll be helping you move." his tail wagged.

Paul's business-like, matter-of-fact demeanor finally cracked, "I wasn't trying to talk you into helping me you know." he smiled. He really hadn't been, and it had been a long time since Paul had known someone who was so eager to help.

"I know you weren't." Tanner noted, "When you ARE in control you aren't very subtle about it." the grin on the dog's muzzle revealed the double-meaning of the statement. Paul quickly fought back the embarrassed blush and changed the conversation.

"Okay... well, if you're helping tomorrow, you're coming over tonight. I'm getting started pretty early in the morning, and dinner seems to be a good start on repaying you for helping out."

Tanner's grin grew larger, "Dinner is a good start... we'll figure out where to go from there." The comment made Paul lose the fight with his reddening face as the blush came through despite his willing it under control.

"You're horrible." Paul noted.

"You're worse." Tanner responded, "but in a good way." the dog leaned forward and brushed his muzzle across the human's face, touching his cold, black nose to Paul's. It was a quick, innocent gesture, one he'd come to be familiar with as he'd paid attention to dogs interacting in public. Dogs did a muzzle-touch all the time, both in greeting and in parting, but they usually stuck with a handshake if it involved humans.

A nuzzle was far more intimate than that, however. Although Paul enjoyed the thought of it, the expression made him feel increasingly self conscious, especially since there were several mall-goers staring at him as Tanner went back into the shoe store. Several of the people eying him whispered quietly to one another, making Paul even more ill at ease. In the end, however, he tried to put it out of his mind, and he made his way to the nearest mall exit.

* * * * * *

"So... tell me about the 'car engine trouble' thing." Paul asked Tanner as the dog helped him clear the dinner plates from the table. Steak, potatoes, broccoli and carrots; it had been a decent dinner, and Paul hadn't wanted to disrupt it with the question that he had managed to hold since lunch. Tanner had no trouble picking up on the human's meaning.

"Are you looking for blunt answer or the sweet, tender, endearing one?" Tanner asked, turning to lean on the counter as Paul washed the dishes. Normally, paul would have preferred to use the dishwasher but, seeing as he'd be starting to pack in the morning, it made no sense to run a load of dishes that consisted of two plates, two forks, two knives, and a cup (one cup because, like with straws, cups really weren't well suited to dogs).

"The blunt one." Paul noted, looking critically at his boyfriend, setting a cleaned plate and cup into the drain board. He started on the silverware.

"I could tell by your scent and your heartbeat that you really really liked me, but you were too dense, embarrassed, and unsure of yourself to ask me to stay." Tanner commented as matter-of-factly as if he were talking about how to change a light bulb.

"Wow..." Paul noted, "That WAS blunt.", holding a hand out to the dog.

"I told you." Tanner confirmed, putting a plate in the human's hand.

Paul took the plate and began scrubbing it under the water, pausing for a few moments before speaking up, "And you used the same line on Casey too, huh?"

"What?" Tanner asked, ears rising, "Casey? No."

"Then how'd he know how you ended up staying the night with me on Monday?" Paul asked, "Do you talk to him about us?" the question came out a little more accusatory than he had planned.

The dog paused, cocking his head to the side, ears falling slightly, "He bothers you... doesn't he?"

"No, Tanner..." Paul noted, pausing as he set the final dish into the drain board. He turned off the water and looked down at the sink as he collected his thoughts, "I'm bothered... but I don't really know why." he admitted after the pause.

Tanner leaned over the counter and gazed at the side of his face, "Casey and I talk about a lot of things, Paul... we're still friends, but that's it. And, no... I don't talk to him about us-- it would only make him jealous anyway."

"He still has feelings for you, and thinks I'm some kind of obstacle to overcome, huh?" Paul wasn't sure how he felt about that. He never liked the idea of being in a love triangle, and had seen too many dramatic thriller movies to know that some people were just crazy when it came to obsessions.

"No... he's jealous of me." Tanner noted, straightening up, ears pulled back. Paul didn't know all there was to know about dogs, but he was able to identify the first signal that Tanner was finally uncomfortable about the situation. It somehow made him feel better to see it but, at the same time, he realized the implications of the dog's words.

"Jealous of you? Why?" Paul asked, looking at the dog.

"You were there at lunch. You couldn't tell?" Tanner asked, ears up.

"No... he was poking fun at me and trying to make himself look good. I figured he wanted to make me look bad or something, or try to make me angry." the human commented.

"Are you sure we were at the same lunch?" Tanner asked around an uncertain chuckle, "He was all over you."

"Apparently we have different views of what counts as flirting." Paul noted. Something about the whole situation seemed crazy to him. It didn't make sense on so many levels. Tanner and Casey had been a couple at one point, and yet, Casey was jealous of Tanner because--, "He's not jealous that you're with ME... he's jealous because you're with a human." Paul clarified.

"Sure... let's go with that." Tanner offered neutrally.

"That doesn't make me feel much better about the situation, Tanner." Paul said to the dog, "and you still didn't tell me how he knew that you said you had engine trouble when you were over here last."

"It was a joke... an inside joke, really." Tanner said.

"Really convenient," Paul noted, "and I don't get it."

"That's why it was an inside joke." Tanner answered. Despite the seriousness Paul could see the dog was trying to offer to the discussion, Tanner couldn't manage to contain a hint of a smile at the answer. It might have frustrated the human, but the dog was quick to add, "I've known about Casey's 'human fetish' for a long time, and I told him once that the only way he'd probably get to sleep at a human's house is if he convinced one that his car was broke down."

"You're kidding." Paul said flatly.

"Actually, no... I'm not kidding. We really did joke about that. When he brought it up he expected me to roll my eyes and share a laugh. I guess he never figured that it'd really happen."

"So... your car really did break down?" Paul asked incredulously.

"Well... no." Tanner responded, "I was lying... otherwise I wouldn't have had such an easy time leaving in the morning."

"Easy time leaving?" Paul asked, a hint of humor somehow finding a way into his voice, "All I can remember is a whole ton of whimpering and whining about not wanting to go to work and wanting to stay here and 'try it again'." by the time he said his piece, one side of the human's mouth was tipped into a wry grin.

"Once I got into the car." Tanner clarified. Paul could see him blushing through his fur.

"So..." Paul noted, returning to the conversation, "so I can clarify... you and Casey used to joke about tricking a human so you could get to sleep in his house--"

"So Casey could... right." Tanner interjected.

"And, lo and behold, you ended up using the exact same line so you could get to sleep in a human's bed."

"I didn't know it would end up that way." Tanner confessed.

"But you lied." Paul noted.

"Uh... yea." Tanner noted, eyes settling on the counter so he could avoid Paul's gaze.

"How often do you tell little white lies like that?" Paul inquired, smiling inwardly at the almost unhealthy warm glow he felt at being worth lying to in such a manner. He winced at that part of him that enjoyed the thought, but couldn't deny that it seemed somehow a twisted pleasure.

"Never!" Tanner insisted.

"Never?"

"Well... not often... I don't think." the dog noted.

"Not often?" Paul pressed, actually having fun with torturing his obviously off-balanced boyfriend.

"Just tell me what you want me to say!" Tanner pleaded, and Paul erupted into laughter at the faint whine that accompanied the words.

Paul reached up and patted the confused dog on the head, "Relax, Tanner... as far as I'm concerned, your story checks out. It's really too unbelievable to be a believable lie. If you tell me that you and Casey used to joke about things like that, well... I guess that's believable enough considering the kind of things we joke about."

The dog's relief was palpable. The end of his tail began wagging as he spoke up, "You mean the things YOU joke about... I'm just a poor victim."

"Right," Paul responded with a grin, "you're always the victim, says the guy who spent most of Tuesday walking around bow legged."

"You seduced me?" Tanner offered, making it sound more like an offered explaination than a statement.

"Hey... you're the one who got naked first." Paul responded, poking Tanner in the nose.

"Well... then it's only fair that you're the one who gets naked first tonight." the dog followed up with a wry grin.

"Oh... so just because you're helping me move, all of the sudden you think that entitles you to extra benefits, huh?"

"Well... I was hoping." Tanner offered sheepishly.

"Your car not starting again, I take it?" Paul inquired, unable to resist a smile in response.

"Nope." Tanner answered with a smirk, "It should be okay by morning though."

"I guess you'll have to spend the night then." Paul noted simply.

"Damn my luck." Tanner's downcast tone was easily betrayed by his tail, which wagged quite energetically.

They spent some time in the living room after dinner, just enjoying one another's company. They shared Paul's recliner, which was made for one occupant, but they crumpled together, sharing it. The closeness was only intensified as the show they'd watched ended at eleven, and they moved into the bedroom once things started to heat up.

Paul groaned, pressing his head back into the mattress, feet hanging off the end of the bed with Tanner's head between his legs. The dog was kneeling on the floor at the foot of the bed, leaning forward with his muzzle wrapped firmly around Paul's shaft.

Tanner was well on the road toward helping Paul achieve release, but was still half on the ground, squirming his way out of his own clothes. Once they had arrived in the bedroom, they quickly had Paul out of his clothes, and Tanner wasted no time in closing his muzzle around the human's ready flesh. Slowly climbing up the rest of the way onto the bed, Tanner finally managed to kick off his jeans.

The human moaned as Tanner's tongue emerged from its place in his muzzle. It extended, tickling the flesh of his scrotum while Tanner continued to massage his member with skilled ministrations. Paul gently gripped either of Tanner's ears, holding them in his hands as the dog's head bobbed up and down, his boyfriend working him towards a heightened level of intensity.

"You know your stuff..." Paul gasped between his quickened breaths, smiled down at his lover. The dog raised his head just a little, allowing him to look up at the human out of the top of his vision, brown eyes awash with vitality and humor. Tanner said nothing in response, continuing his attention to Paul's needs, returning to his task as one paw gripped one of Paul's thighs, the other resting on his furless stomach above his groin.

Paul sought out the paw on his stomach with a hand as he felt Tanner bring him ever closer to release. He entwined his fingers with the paw, squeezing it as the dog's tongue drove him to the edge, and he let out a wordless, prolonged grunt as his body gave in. He sailed along the wave of pleasure that took hold of him in a vice-like grip, and squeezed him for all he was worth, emptying it all out through his member and into Tanner's waiting muzzle.

His entire body went slack as the last of the pressure escaped, leaving him spent, and content. Paul's breathing slowed as his body relaxed, and he smiled as Tanner climbed up along the mattress to his right, laying beside him. The dog's breath was quick as well, labored by the activity. Paul blushed slightly, the scent of it quite distinct.

"Mmm..." the human murmured, turning to kiss the dog, "That was... perfect." Tanner met the kiss, not able to do the same in the human sense due to the difference in his muzzle structure, but Paul enjoyed the feel of the velvety muzzle fur nonetheless. He reached up to rub his cheek as he felt one of Tanner's long whiskers brush against it.

Tanner slowly sat up, putting his back against the wall. Paul did not fail to see the dog's excited member standing up at attention, glistening in the half-light filtering in from the bedroom window. Tanner glanced down at it as well, then to Paul. The dog reached down with a grimace, easing his sheath down over his knot to let it out.

"And what about you?" Paul asked with a smile, "Need some help with that?"

"Gonna have to do something, or there's no way I'll be able to get to sleep. I'm not too sure a repeat of Monday would be smart tonight... not unless you want to be in too much pain to get all of your stuff moved tomorrow." Tanner blushed.

Paul grinned at that, sitting up beside his boyfriend, leaning back against the wall with him. Tanner slid an arm behind him, letting the human recline against it in a half-hug. The two shared another soft kiss as Paul's hand drifted down to the exposed dog flesh between Tanner's legs.

Tanner tensed up for a moment, but relaxed quickly, legs spreading more to complacently give Paul full access. Paul slid his right leg underneath the dog's left, leaning fully against his lover as he began to slowly caress Tanner's length with his hand.

"Your skin is so soft..." Tanner murmured, brown eyes gazing into his. Paul smiled in return, reveling in the adoration apparent in the dog's eyes. "...feels good." Tanner whispered, closing his eyes as he rested his head back against the wall.

"Good. It's supposed to." Paul replied with a smile, leaning sideways so he could rest his head against Tanner's shoulder. The dog squeezed him a little closer with the arm around his shoulder, and Paul let out a content breath, even as his hand stroked Tanner, fluid from the dog's shaft slickening his palm as the human's lover squirmed under the attention.

Paul could feel Tanner's strong heartbeat against his side. The dog's breath was speeding up as Paul's hand encouraged him onward. Tanner's hips began to quiver, and Paul could feel the dog's thighs twitch with unspoken desire for the feelings to continue. He kissed Tanner's neck as the dog shifted, and the paw on his shoulder gripped it tighter. Paul felt Tanner's other paw slide by his hand as he continued stroking his lover. Looking down, the human watched as the dog circled his own knot with the paw.

Tanner's muzzle gaped and a strangled wheeze coming out of it, "Keep... going..." he rasped, eyes clenched tightly as Paul felt the dog's rock-hard flesh start to pulse in his grasp. It flexed three times before several thick jets of fluid sprayed out, slickening his hand even more as Tanner cried out in pleasure at his climax.

The human held himself against the dog, feeling the muscles of Tanner's body twitch and the small nuances of his lover's release. He listened to the dog's breathing, and the little shivers that rank through him as his orgasm slowly slackened. Paul looked up as Tanner turned his head to regard him, a quiet satisfaction of gleaming appreciation apparent in his face and on his muzzle.

"Enjoy yourself?" Paul asked, leaning forward to kiss the dog.

"Much." Tanner responded, meeting the human's lips with his muzzle. As their kiss came to a conclusion, the dog snickered, "Except now I'll have to figure out how to get cleaned up... this stuff doesn't come out of fur all that easy, you know."

Paul smiled in response, looking down to Tanner's groin, and the paw that slowly let go of the swollen knot. It was still almost impossible for Paul to consider that the thick bulb had actually been inside him, but it had. Reaching his un-splattered hand across to Tanner's messy paw, the human took hold of it by the wrist, and slowly turned it this-way-and-that, "I didn't do it right?" he asked, questioning his lover's intervention in the process.

"You did fine," Tanner responded, lowering his head to the sideways so he could lick the side of Paul's neck, "We just need to educate you a little more about the differences between dogs and humans."

"You mean a LOT more." Paul corrected.

"Okay... a lot more." Tanner grinned.

"With 'hands-on' training." Paul added.

"You're starting again, aren't you?" the dog asked with a theatrical scowl.

"And an 'oral exam'."

"Yea... you're starting again." Tanner noted.

"I just hope I don't 'blow it'." Paul grinned.

"Paul, you are horrible."

"I thought you said I did fine." Paul questioned, grinning wider.

"I changed my mind." the dog grinned back, and the two just relaxed in one another's arms as a comfortable silence passed between them.

"You know--" Paul began.

"No I don't. Tell me." Tanner spoke up quickly, and got a 'hrumph' from the human in return.

"You said there were two ways to explain the whole car thing... and you only told me one." Paul offered, recalling their discussion after dinner.

"Well... I like where that explanation got me. Do I have to ruin it with another one?" the dog offered with a complacent smile.

"I'd like to know, if it's all the same." Paul commented.

"So... you mean the endearing one?" Tanner asked.

"I think you called it 'the sweet, tender, endearing one'." the human corrected with a playful grin.

"Oh... right." Tanner noted, and turned to regard Paul anew, "I was going to say that I could tell by your scent and your heartbeat that you liked me, but you were too embarrassed, reserved, and unsure of yourself to ask me to stay."

Paul was quiet for a moment, then spoke up, "That's exactly like the blunt answer."

Tanner nodded, "Right... but this answer also includes the fact that I really really really wanted you to ask me to stay and I was too embarrassed, reserved, and unsure of myself to ask if I could."

The two shared a laugh, and both leaned back against the wall. Paul enjoyed the physical and emotional warmth of the dog, basking in a love that knew no difference beyond the fact that he felt more complete when he was with Tanner. Despite his hesitations, inhibitions, and doubts, Paul was happy. "And it's all your fault." he noted with a smile at his lover, who was already asleep in his arms.