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TOO LONELY (A WALTER FOX STORY)

(WARNING: The following story contains references to sexual activity between humans and sentient alien animals. Please do not read this if you are a minor or are offended by such material. But if neither is the case, enjoy.)

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story follows the stories "The Furry Sex Scandal", "The Furry Sex Scandal: The Aftermath", and "Pit Stop".)

You may wonder how, dear reader, considering the scrapes I sometimes get myself into, how I manage to keep my job. And for what I have done this time, I wonder about it myself. And for some of you at least, I know this is the moment you have been waiting for.

For I realize that, in light of all the traveling I do in my daily work, spending comparatively little time at PERC base and having to meet so often with so many different humans, I have had little close contact with anybody at all over the years I have been on Earth. I have made some close human friends, but have had only very limited opportunities to visit them personally. It was that which ultimately led me to do what I never imagined I would have done.

There have already been times when I have gone to meet Sammy Skunk and his human lover Jim at their apartment in the city not too far from PERC base. Besides the official interview visits I had with them, I have sometimes stopped for bathroom visits and once to stay the night with them when I got caught in a snowstorm and could not risk going to PERC base. (If you wonder why I would impose on them to use their bathroom, dear reader, try imagining having to visit a lot of grungy public restrooms. Not to mention that their apartment bathroom had been modified to accommodate the way a typical animal-person uses the bathroom, e. g. not actually sitting upon the toilet like you humans do.) They never seemed to mind when I came to visit them on short notice. Even though Sammy Skunk and I were not really close friends, he always was glad to see me, evidently because I was the only animal-person who did not view him with scorn. I originally did, though that gradually faded when I learned what a lonely, emotionally-starved person he had had before he had met Jim. I have been always under the impression that his becoming Jim's lover was due to a desperate desire for love and companionship rather than genuine homosexual desires. Well, perhaps I was wrong after all.

For one afternoon, just after lunch at a restaurant that had nice food and service but horrible restrooms, I "held it in" and was driving back to PERC base. I hoped to make it back in time to use a bathroom there, but realized I would not, so I used my portable phone and called their apartment, always feeling the slight embarrassment of imposing upon them. But Sammy Skunk answered and seemed quite happy to hear from me. In fact, when I arrived, he even was waiting at the front doors, holding them open for me as I parked my car. Good thing, as I was on the point of bursting, and felt a great relief when I was able to empty myself at last. It was only after I left their bathroom that I noticed Sammy was alone.

"Where's Jim?" I asked.

"At the dentist's office," Sammy replied.

Surprised, I asked, "And you're not with him?"

Sammy looked dumbfounded. "What, you thought that he and I are so close we never leave each other's company? We have two separate jobs, remember? Besides..." Sammy gave me a malicious smile. "After what happened to the criminal scum who attacked us years ago, and how the news of that spread around the world, who would dare to attempt any harm to Jim? I can't imagine anyone crazy enough to risk what I would do to them!"

I flinched involuntarily in response, remembering the time years ago when Jim and Sammy Skunk had been violently attacked by thugs, and one of them had hit Jim on the head, nearly causing him fatal brain damage. Sammy Skunk responded with a ferocious counterattack which severely harmed each of their attackers, and Sammy was in such distress over what had happened to Jim, when it was uncertain if he would recover, that it drew the attention and sympathy of all Earth's human inhabitants. Ultimately Jim recovered fully and the standing of us animal-people on Earth had improved dramatically, and there are still the occasional humans who want to adopt me as a pet. And yes, dear reader, if you think that anyone who harms any of the close human friends I have made during my stay on Earth would get a similarly ferocious response from me...they most definitely would. We animal-people are like that.

Sammy stepped back and adopted a more benign smile as he saw my reaction. "Relax, I know you have no intention of doing either of us harm. In fact, please stay with me a while, I'm rather bored. You're not in a hurry to get back to PERC, are you?"

"No," I replied, with nothing but routine data processing work to face once I was back. Besides, though Sammy Skunk had become an Earth citizen and was now an outcast from PERC and his own people, he was not completely cut off from us. He needed us for any serious medical care, and we might need his services in an emergency. Therefore I was expected to be a sort of liaison between him and his former colleagues. So they could not get too mad at me for spending time socializing with him, if I did not overdo it.

"Then follow me," he said, and he led me into the apartment's living room. In the better light, I saw that the clothes he wore were not styled at all like an animal-person's would be, other than in fit. He wore a solid-colored pale pink pullover shirt, and dark blue trousers, though obviously specially-made to fit his nonhuman body. He went barefoot as well, and walked like he was accustomed to it. Evidently he could get away with bare feet even in places where there were signs against it, as presumably humans expected anthropomorphic animals to go barefoot, as their art and cartoons often depicted. I still wore my normal animal-person outfit; this day was green and purple with black squares, and black sandals this time. Sammy sat upon the couch and invited me to an easy chair which I sat in.

We talked for a while about various topics, Sammy about how life was on Earth for him, and me at my job at PERC. Then I had to excuse myself to reuse the bathroom, which I did. I did not have any bowel problems, and I felt good about that. I went back to the living room, where Sammy Skunk was standing in front of the sofa. I walked over to him.

"Well, I guess it's time for me to go back to work," I told him.

"Ah, too bad," he replied, reaching out his arms for a goodbye hug. I was surprised, thinking we were not on such friendly terms, but I did it anyway, and he warmly hugged me back. It occurred to me that there would be nobody to hug me back at PERC, so I was hesitant to let him go. Sammy simply kept hugging me back, showing no sign of wanting to release me.

"You and Jim aren't having any troubles are you?" I finally asked.

I could feel Sammy's surprised reaction, though he kept me in his arms. "Not at all. Why would you think that?"

"Because you're still holding me."

"I'm holding you because you aren't letting go of me," he replied. "I assume you want to keep hugging me, am I right?"

"I admit it feels good," I confessed. "Like being in a comfortable bed and not wanting to get up."

"Then I'm more than happy to make you comfortable," said Sammy. "A lot of humans love to have me embrace them, and not just gay furries. And even many of them are more interested in the snuggling instead of having sex. You want somebody to hold you in their arms, I can certainly accommodate that."

"Yes," I replied, "but I don't want to be held by somebody who's just doing it to perform a service."

Sammy chuckled. "It's not just because of that, Walter. Whatever you think of me, I do like you. And why shouldn't I, when you were there to stay with me and comfort me when Jim was in the hospital?"

"On the orders of the Director," I reminded him.

"I know, but you really were concerned about me, I could tell." Sammy smiled and added, "Even if you don't want to admit it."

"Sammy, listen to me. If I could turn back the clock, I never would have taken you to the furry convention years ago. Or at least I would have keep a constant eye on you like I should have done. I never would have let you meet Jim or his friends."

Sammy became sullen. "I know, I admit I made you suffer because of my stupidity. I wronged you terribly, and yet I still hold out hope that I could somehow be your friend, or at least do what I can to make up what I did to you. I know you're lonely, Walter. Nobody to snuggle with, nobody you can really have a relationship with because you're too busy to be able to interact much with your colleagues. I hope to relieve your loneliness as best I can."

"I do have human friends, you know," I replied.

"But you barely have the chance to visit them. I thought I could do what I can to please you."

"You let me use your bathroom and I appreciate that, and we socialized for a bit too. I already am pleased." We let go of each other. "Thank you for your hospitality, but I really should go back now."

"Could I at least give you a little massage first?" suggested Sammy. "How long has it been since your last one?"

Too long, I thought, and I was tempted by his offer. Let me pause, dear reader, to let you know that we animal-people are far less inhibited about touching each other than you humans, and physical contact is quite routine. An offer of a massage is not that unusual among visiting relatives or family friends, and I believe Sammy Skunk was not attempting to hit up on me. Even so, in light of what happened afterward, I wished I had declined the offer.

So we sat next to each other on the sofa. Sammy first rubbed my head and neck, and after a while of that, he knelt down and removed my sandals and massaged my feet and ankles. That did feel really good, and there still would have been no trouble if things had been left at that. As I was a vulpine, Sammy offered to rub my abdomen, and as a vulpine, of course I really wanted that. So I unbuttoned my tunic and lay down on the sofa.

I must admit, dear reader, that Sammy Skunk had the most sensuous hands I had ever felt. There were staff at PERC who did offer us massages as a form of relaxation, but rare was the occasion I could actually get one, especially since I was so often away from PERC base in the course of my duties. And of course there are massage parlors back on my home world, which are as prevalent as barbershops and hair salons on Earth. And no, they are not considered "adult" places like the ones on Earth sometimes are. Though I was feeling rather excited when Sammy Skunk was doing what he did to me. Clearly more excited then I should have, and certainly Sammy sensed that.

"I hoped I pleased you as best I could," Sammy finally said as he stopped his massage.

"You were a lot better than I ever would have dreamed," I responded in a way, and Sammy knew I was not engaged in flattery. Sammy smiled and leaned so that his muzzle was almost touching mine.

"If you can, Walter," he told me, "try to come here whenever you're going this way. I'll be more than happy to give you a massage any time you want."

"Aren't you worried about making Jim jealous?" I asked half-jokingly.

"We have an open relationship, remember?" Sammy replied. "And of all people, you certainly must know most of all how devoted I am to Jim. I'll never leave him, whether we are homosexual lovers or not."

"But I've often wondered if you really liked having sex with Jim and his human friends, or were just doing it to please him."

Sammy was surprised. "You still have the idea that I've been doing that all these years and not enjoying it?"

"Well, it seems like you're trying to hit upon me."

Sammy gave me a bigger smile than before. "I would lie if I were to say that I had no sexual desire for you. I offered to have sex with you in the past, not to tease you or to try to incriminate you. I really have fantasized about you fucking me. Why wouldn't I? Is it wrong of me to feel that way about you? You do have a nice body."

"Were you a repressed homosexual all along, Sammy?" I asked without irony. "Is that why you wanted to keep being around me while you were my colleague at PERC? And if so, why me?"

Sammy looked momentarily shocked, then laughed. "No, Walter, I never had any thoughts of you as a possible lover, not at the time. I was expecting when I came to PERC to have the chance to explore an alien world, and ended up getting stuck doing busy work at PERC base, never getting to see what this world was like outside its walls. I desperately wanted to find out what I was missing, and the only way go get any information was from you."

"And now you know far more about this alien world than me or any of my PERC colleagues," I quipped dryly.

Sammy chuckled, then turned sober. "As for my being homosexual, even now I'm not sure if I had such feelings all along and never knew it, or if Jim somehow managed to turn me that way when I was lonely and in a moment of great emotional vulnerability. Even if the latter were true, it's not as if he did it on purpose. He wasn't the one who hit up on me; I offered myself to them, and it was his and his friends' wildest fantasies come true." He paused and added, "I know I made you suffer because of my irresponsibility; that's why I've always wanted to do absolutely anything I can to make it up to you."

"You've offered yourself sexually to me to assuage your guilt," I responded.

"No, no, it's not like that! Well, perhaps in part, but I've done sexual favors for a number of human friends of mine, and I don't have any problems with doing that. Why not you? I know how you have no lover either here, or back in your home world. After three years here, your sexual frustration must be enormous."

"You're telling me. Since that time I've become scared even to masturbate."

Sammy was shocked. "The Director doesn't allow you to do even that?"

"He hasn't forbidden me to, but I've become paranoid someone might discover semen stains on my clothing and get the idea I might have been up to naughty business while I was out among human society."

Sammy smiled. "Well, there are no humans in this apartment right now, just us two animal-people. And I am very good at keeping secrets. I can provide you with sexual release here and now, and nobody would be the wiser."

"Sammy," I said in shock, "you have been away from your fellow animal-people for too long. I do anything sexual and they're going to smell it the moment I get back to PERC base!"

"Oh, but they won't. Let me show you a little secret."

He led me to the bathroom and opened one of the drawers. From it he took out a transparent bottle with a clear liquid in it. He uncapped it and held the open bottle to my nose. It had an odor even an animal-person like me would have difficulty detecting. But I knew what it was.

"Recognize it?" Sammy asked. "You can fuck the living daylights out of me, then afterward I can wash your genitalia with it, and nobody would suspect a thing, unless they stuck your nose right into your crotch."

It was my turn to be surprised. "But what use would you have for that chemical?"

"Well, even though Jim and I lived together for years, it's not as if we can shout out to the world that our relationship is sexual," Sammy replied sardonically. "So for any occasions where we might have sex and then have to go out among strangers, this comes in handy. Conceivably we could also use soap and water, but this is more effective and convenient to use on short notice."

On our world, dear reader, the chemical in question is a cleaner used for medical purposes, which is why PERC receives a supply of it. But it is also known as a way of cleaning away personal odors, the way obvious signs of illicit sex or more serious crimes might be hidden, though the faint smell of the chemical itself might be a giveaway, if one looks for signs of its use. Of course, as we animal-people at PERC require it, the manufacturers and Earth authorities would naturally supply it to Sammy Skunk as well.

"If you don't want to do this, I won't force you," Sammy told me. "But I really have long dreamed we could be lovers. Of course, Jim would love to make it a threesome, but both he and I know you'll never have sex with humans. So with Jim away for a while, I figured you might be more in the mood for an intimate encounter with me."

"Unfortunately," I replied, "I am not, nor ever will be, in the mood to have anything stuck in my mouth or into my anus."

"I'm not expecting that. I'll be more than happy to play the female partner with you, or in homosexual slang, the bottom. I've done that with a number of humans who did not want male parts placed inside them."

I admit, dear reader, that in my half-naked state, and not having had sexual release in years, and with someone who genuinely wanted me to fuck them, that I was very tempted indeed. And if you have seen my other accounts, dear reader, then you know about my penchant for sometimes doing naughty things with the idea of getting away with them...

You humans often depict female anthropomorphic animals in your art with having breasts like those of female humans, and also might give them other characteristics, such as voluptuous female figures, to distinguish female anthropomorphic animals from males. We animal-people are of course not like that. For many species of us animal-people, unclothed males and females look very similar, if the genitals are not noticed. Mammalian females are flat-chested and have multiple nipples, just like lower animals, and it is relatively easy for a female animal-person to pass off as a male, and vice versa, simply by putting on the clothes of the opposite gender. The fact that this is so is of course often featured in many of our comedies and dramas, but it is also a good safety measure; e. g. for females traveling in dangerous areas who do not wish to attract unwanted attention.

I mention this, dear reader, because Sammy's improvised outfit did not make him look like a male animal-person, and while I did not pretend he was a female, it gave him a rather androgynous look which blunted my inhibitions and made it easier to view him as a potential lover. The fact that he was smaller than me also contributed to the "perfect storm" which finally broke down my inhibitions completely and made me lust after him. I was starving, and Sammy was right there, ready to feed me and eager to do so. I took his hand, and Sammy smiled deeply, knowing how I felt, and led me into his bedroom.

He unfastened and removed the rest of my clothing as we stood beside his bed. Then his eyes devoured my naked body hungrily, and I turned around to make sure he could see every part of me. Sammy had successfully cast his spell; another male looking at me in this manner might have made me uncomfortable, but I actually enjoyed it greatly when Sammy was doing it. He then removed his own clothes in a manner that I found shockingly erotic. If any other potential lover had come around then and there, I would have scorned them; Sammy had his hooks in me and I lusted after him.

After he had removed the last of his own clothing, he gently pushed me into a sitting position on his bed, then sat his naked body onto my naked lap. He moved his mouth next to mine, and I found myself clamping my lips onto his, and our tongues explored each others' mouths in a deep, wet sexual kiss, what you humans call a "French kiss". We kissed each other with a great passion I had not known since I cannot remember when, and even thinking about it now, I remember it not with embarrassment or dismay, but with pleasure, not even a guilty pleasure. No, I did not fall in love with Sammy Skunk, but the way he made me feel at the moment makes me wonder to this day whether he was such a great seducer, or whether I was more desperate than I realized, or both.

You may be under the impression, dear reader, that I am actually a homosexual or bisexual and am not admitting it to myself. However, that is not the case. Yes, this was my second sexual experience with another male, but do not think I have desires for other males rather than females. Sammy may have seduced me, he may have aroused lust in me despite his being male, he may have given me great erotic pleasure-but his best efforts could not replace the sensations and satisfaction only a female could provide me. There would not be the female smells or the soft moist furrows of a vagina rubbing against my penis. Whatever sexual skills Sammy Skunk had, he could never replace a female lover; only provide a very good substitute.

But Sammy Skunk's efforts to please me were not in vain. I still had the pleasure of writhing against the body of another animal-person, who was writhing passionately against me. My mouth was wrapped around the lips of another animal person, my tongue exploring his pointed teeth, while his narrow tongue did the same to mine. And most of all, I felt genuinely wanted, not merely in the hands of a performer. He managed to feed not only my carnal desires but my ego as well. It was that moment which made me truly realize why Sammy Skunk had years ago had been willing, despite everything, to allow Jim and his human furry friends to use him for their own carnal desires. It might have spoiled this moment if I had not been enjoying it so much.

We both got more and more sexually aroused as we continued writhing together, and Sammy finally stopped and lifted himself up. Both he and I had noticeably erect penises, and to my surprise, Sammy suddenly got out of bed and stood up, then pulled me out of bed into a standing position. Then, almost ritually, Sammy grabbed up a readily-available tube of sexual lubricant and squeezed out a quantity, then put the tube down. Crouching down, he licked my erect penis several times, sending waves of excitement through me, before he slapped the lubricant over my penis. It hurt briefly as the cool lubricant touched my hot erection, but the discomfort was short-lived. Sammy then jumped back onto the bed and raised his fluffy tail, his anal hole exposed to me. "Fuck me, Walter," he said.

As aroused as I was, and ready to plunge right in, I abruptly hesitated. "Wait," I said. "You've only had human penises in you, am I correct?"

Sammy was surprised by my question. "Why, yes. Now I want yours. Are you teasing me?"

"No, I'm realizing that mine will be very different from what you've had. I'm a fox-person, and I knot like a four-legged fox. I form a sphere at the base of my penis that goes in along with my shaft which is meant to completely seal the hole so that my cum won't leak out. And I do produce a great deal of cum."

"I know that," Sammy replied. "I can assure you my anus will be able to take all that. If I thought it couldn't, I never would have asked you to do it. Please don't disappoint me, Walter."

"I'd rather disappoint you than injure you, Sammy. If I thought I could fuck your ass without maiming it, I'd be in you like a missile."

"Be my missile, then. You won't injure me."

Well, dear reader, he made his choice and I was going to grant his wish. I had never fucked anybody of any species or gender in the anus before, but in my aroused state that hole looked too inviting, and I climbed onto the bed behind Sammy. Even as I was ready to enter, I felt rather nervous; what would the sensation be like?

I guided my penis to its target, started to push inside, and soon had my answer. If you are not in the know, dear reader, entering a rectum is quite unlike entering a vagina. Sammy's sphincter was a tight hoop that clenched slightly when I first penetrated. I pushed in further, and the tip of my penis felt the sensation of entering the interior of a hot smooth tunnel. The tunnel was squeezing against my penis, arousing me further, and I was feeling my knot starting to swell. I then felt a new anxiety; dare I try to push my knot past Sammy's sphincter, which might injure or at least cause him great pain? But Sammy, as if reading my mind, silently answered my unspoken question by pushing himself backward toward me. He definitely wanted me all the way inside.

A sense of roguish pleasure entered me. He wanted me to give his anus a good fucking, and I was going to give him everything I had. My initial careful insertion gave way to a rough back and forth pounding, and my knot slipped out of my sheath without my having to use my hand. I pounded harder than ever, determined to get my knot to penetrate beyond Sammy's sphincter ring...and before I knew it, I succeeded. With my entire penis inside Sammy's tight rectum, his anal muscles took over-whether by reflex or voluntary controlled movements I did not know-and soon after I shot my pre-cum into him. Shortly afterward, I climaxed and my semen shot into Sammy's anus, and when that was depleted, I shot a load of post-cum inside. No fluids leaked through the seal my knot had made, so somehow there was space inside Sammy's anus for everything I put into him.

Sammy's body was very tense from strain, and I heard it in his voice when he finally spoke. "You weren't kidding! I feel like I'm on the verge of bursting!"

"And it's going to be a while before I can possibly pull myself out," I replied. "I hope you can withstand it, because I did warn you it would turn out like this!"

"I wasn't expecting that you would possibly pound my ass so hard and fast!"

"Now I'm really sorry I agreed to do this."

"Walter, don't say that! I never said I regretted doing any of this. Okay, the whole thing was rougher than I expected, but this is what I wanted all along. Honest!"

"Are you a masochist?"

Sammy was momentarily surprised, then laughed. "Certainly not! New sexual experiences, yes, and you were definitely different from Jim or any other human I've experienced. I feel bloated, but I'm not in any real pain. But whatever you do, don't try to pull out prematurely."

"I won't," I promised. "But it's going to take a while before my knot will shrink."

"I can wait."

Suddenly, we tensed up as we heard the sound of the apartment entry door being unlocked and opened. I was still firmly tied with Sammy Skunk, and Jim would walk right in on us and see everything. How would he react? As Sammy was still tense, I knew he was uncertain how his boyfriend was going to take this, open relationship or no. Jim shouted out a hello as he closed and locked the door.

"We're in here," Sammy said, realizing there was no point in delaying whatever consequences there would be.

I was quite nervous as I heard Jim walk in, cursing to myself the fact that I could not detach myself from Sammy's anus. Then we turned to see Jim as he entered the bedroom and look shocked as he took in the sight of us.

"Jim, I know I've never had any lover when you weren't around before," Sammy said worriedly. "But after all these years, I've dreamed of having Walter fuck me, and he finally agreed to do it, probably because he was too reluctant with anyone else around. Be mad at me if you wish, but don't blame Walter."

Jim's shocked look fell away, and he spoke reassuringly. "I'm not mad at either of you. I've told you in the past that you could always have another lover if you wished. I only wanted you to clear any of them with me because I wanted to make sure they would be okay and not tell the world afterward or have some sort of disease or might otherwise cause harm. And I'm sure Walter here can be quite trusted."

"I certainly will keep quiet about it," I replied. (Since I am telling you about it here, dear reader, you might get the idea that I was blatantly lying to them. But my tryst with Sammy Skunk would shortly be discovered anyway, so I have no reason not to talk about it here.)

"I figured as such," said Jim, who went over to Sammy, leaned down, and planted a deep mouth kiss on his which was eagerly returned. I was relieved that I did not drive any sort of wedge between them, though it felt awkward that they did so when my penis was still stuck inside Sammy's rectum.

"I admit I never expected you to walk in on us when we were like this," I told him. "I don't think Sammy was necessarily expecting it either."

"I'm not jealous, really I'm not," said Jim. In fact, this happens to be my secret fantasy come true!"

"Please," I begged, "don't take pictures of us or anything!"

"Of course I won't," Jim assured me. "This will be in my memory, and that will be enough. Only us three will know about this. I give you my word."

Somewhat relieved, I said, "Just to let you know, I didn't do this because I decided I was homosexual. I admit I was desperate for a lover, and Sammy knew this all along. But I didn't pretend he was anyone else."

"That's good to know," replied Jim. "Having sex with another male isn't so reprehensible, is it, Walter?"

"A combination of sexual starvation and the other male desiring you very badly can work wonders," I admitted.

"I desire you too, Walter," said Jim regretfully, "but I know you don't have sexual feelings toward us humans. Even so, could I ask you one favor?"

"Within reason," I replied.

"I don't know if you'd call it that," said Jim, "but I really want a kiss from you."

"I can certainly do that for you," I replied, not because I suddenly felt any lust toward Jim, but because I felt I owed him that much after enjoying his boyfriend. Perhaps Jim knew what I was thinking, for he reached towards my head and grabbed either side of it, and he brought our mouths together. Then he pushed his tongue past my lips and felt his way around, and I stuck my tongue into his in return. His mouth did not have the nice feel of Sammy Skunk's, but my penis was still stuck inside Sammy's anal hole so I was in no position to object. We went on like this long enough for me to wonder if it were possible for me to actually form sexual desires for humans after all, if I stayed on Earth for enough time.

Finally I pulled my face away from Jim's. He looked rather disappointed until I pointed toward where Sammy and I were tied, for my knot had finally shrunk to the point where I was almost able to pull out. Then his faced looked eager, and I took it to mean he wanted to see my erect penis before it would withdraw back into my sheath.

But that was not all he desired. My knot had shrunk enough so that I could pull out of Sammy Skunk's rectum, and I did, and the ejaculate I had filled Sammy's colon with was starting to gush out. Much to my shock, Jim very quickly leaned forward, turned his face toward Sammy's leaking rectum, and then I could see him cup his lips around-

Ugh. I quickly ran toward the bathroom, grabbed a convenient towel, poured some of the chemical mentioned earlier onto it, and frantically started cleaning my still-erect penis with it. I used several more applications with more towels to ensure all traces of where my genitalia had been were washed away. Then Sammy Skunk walked into the bathroom beside me.

"I'm sorry, Walter," he said in embarrassment, "I wasn't expecting Jim to have-"

"Never mind that," I interrupted. "Tell me for sure if you can smell anything that would indicate what we've done together."

"Oh!" said Sammy and he leaned toward my genitals and sniffed carefully. "The smells are all gone, Walter, except for the chemical."

I figured the chemical smell itself would vanish within the hour, so I could get back to PERC base without worry. But I was quite later than I should have been, so I decided it best to get back without further delay. I found my clothes and dressed quickly, giving my hosts hurried goodbyes before practically running out of their apartment building and speeding as fast as I dared down the highway back to PERC base.

I turned onto the access road leading to the gates, and the guards let me in, though they seemed rather surprised for some reason. Due to my frequent coming and going from PERC base and the fact that I could arrive or leave at any time of the day or night, I was surprised at their surprise. Was there trouble? I was beginning to feel nervous, but if something serious had happened at PERC, I was certain I would have been contacted on my portable phone, and I had not been.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary as I drove inside and left my car in the motor pool. I went into the main building and went to the door to my quarters. But when I got there, someone was standing outside. A large gray wolf, but not a security guard. It was none other than PERC's psychologist, Jeremy Wolf. He was looking at me as if he had been waiting for me. I hesitated and said hello, but he responded by sniffing the air. My heart sank as I realized that I was busted.

"Come with me to my office, Walter," he said in a low but commanding tone. I was taken aback by his mannerism, as he and I were of equal seniority and rank at PERC. The Director could of course compel me to see him and I would be under his command, but Jeremy was acting and sounding if he were the Director. I looked around, expecting to be surrounded by security guards, but none were present, so I was not under arrest. He then commanded me to follow him again, and he turned to walk to his office and I followed. The security guards and other colleagues we met along the way acted more deferential to him than they did in the past. Something serious did happen at PERC, and I already got the idea as to what.

Once we were inside his office and he closed the door, he turned to look penetratingly at me. "We were expecting you back a couple of hours ago at the latest," he said. "Originally we thought you might have had some sort of car trouble."

"No, I didn't," I replied sheepishly. "I stopped at Sammy Skunk's place to use the toilet, and since he was alone, we conversed for a while, and I forgot the time. I'm sorry."

"Well, you did miss an important announcement," Jeremy said, "and I came to your door to tell you personally about it the moment I heard that you were back here."

"What sort of announcement?" I asked, wondering why he did not just tell me out in the hallway.

Jeremy gave a half-smile. "The Director's wife is pregnant," he said. "Our doctors confirmed it."

That certainly was a surprise, since the Director and his wife had been on Earth for the past several years, and presumably did not refrain from having sex, and as far as I knew they had no previous offspring. Of course when I was married my wife never got pregnant, so you never know.

"I should congratulate him," I replied.

Ignoring my reply, Jeremy continued, "And because of this, the Director is retiring from his position, and he and his wife are going back home."

"They don't want their offspring to be the first ones to be born on Earth, I take it," I half-jested.

"PERC's doctors and medical facilities are hardly equipped to deal with pregnancy and childbirth," replied Jeremy, "especially if there are any potential complications. But my point is that I have just been named the new Director of PERC."

That explained Jeremy's current commanding manner and the deferential manner my PERC colleagues had given him. The fact that he was the one chosen to be the successor to our retiring Director was no real surprise to me. He spent most of his time at PERC base and had contact only with Earth authorities, while most of the rest of us had little or no contact with Earthians, nor had the right temperament to lead all the different departments at PERC. Automatically I adopted the deferential posture toward him as was the practice among us animal-people, and I would have expressed my congratulations to him-but there was the fact that I knew I was in trouble with him, and his term of office had barely begun.

"I was formally installed as the new Director only hours ago," Jeremy continued. "It was a spontaneous ceremony, and since you happened to be away, I realized you couldn't attend. But I did wonder why you were much later than you normally would have been, and I had thought you might have run into some sort of trouble on the way back, and I wanted to find out what it was. Unfortunately, when I came to see you to inquire, I smelled a certain chemical smell-faint, but I could still tell exactly what it was. I figured there was only one possible reason you would have it on you."

It was all I could do not to whimper in reply, dear reader!

"Before I came to see you," Jeremy said, "I checked the route the car you were using had traveled. Your car was at Sammy Skunk's apartment for a while longer than normal. You also made no attempt to contact us from there. So when I smelled the chemical smell, the conclusion was obvious. I could have you go through a medical examination, or you can just confess to me exactly what you did."

And I gave him a full confession, explaining everything and omitting nothing, including my motives for my behavior. When I had told him all I could, Jeremy regarded me in a way that made me feel like a specimen under a microscope.

"So," he finally replied, "you got lonely indeed. Even to the point where you were willing to have sex with another male. An outcast from your employer and your world, and one who had once almost cost you your career at PERC."

"Yes," I said when I realized he was expecting an answer. "After three years when I was afraid even to resort to masturbation, I...I never in my wildest imagination would have expected to have done this."

"You're hardly alone in having had no lover for the past several years," Jeremy replied sardonically. "But it wasn't just sexual frustration or even loneliness. You thought you could break a serious PERC rule and get away with it."

"Well, I found out otherwise," I replied sullenly.

"And you already received one reprimand. I would have ample justification in having you dismissed from PERC and being deported from Earth. And the portal between our worlds opens in less than two weeks."

I stood in gloomy silence.

"But that leaves enough time for you, Sammy Skunk, and Jim to receive a thorough medical examination from the Earth authorities. If they don't ask for it, I can. At least for you."

Now I was starting to feel frightened.

"And think of how the National Space Agency would react when I send them the report of what you did. You probably wouldn't even have your old sociological career to fall back on."

"Enough!" I shot back. "You can stop taunting me now. Just call security and have me put into detention already!"

"If I had intended to do so, I would have done it the moment I met you in the hallway and smelled the chemical on you. I wouldn't have taken you to my office to have this conversation with you."

I had wondered about that myself. "So what do you intend to do?"

Jeremy stared at me in a way that made me feel very uncomfortable indeed. "I too have spent several years without any sexual release. Why should you get it and I cannot?"

"You also want to have a go with Sammy Skunk?" I replied incredulously. "His rectum was barely big enough for my penis. I doubt he could tolerate yours."

"I wasn't thinking of using Sammy Skunk for sexual gratification," Jeremy said in a tone that managed to make me feel even more uncomfortable. "Technically he's an Earthian, so he's legally off-limits for me, as he was for you. But there are no rules stating that you and I cannot be lovers. Neither of us are married, you know."

My dread turned to anger. "Nobody blackmails me, especially not for sexual favors! You might as well call security now!"

Jeremy laughed. "You stand on principle when you already committed one very serious breach of PERC regulations for the sake of your sexual gratification? You, who are already known for getting out of trouble by playing on the old Director's ego? Well, my price is higher!" Then his tone suddenly became more genial. "You've already gone ahead with having sex with another male to satisfy your desires. Why can't we just satisfy each other? My rectum is larger than Sammy Skunk's! If you can accept my putting my penis into you, I'll let me put yours into me." Jeremy turned toward the door, moving his rear end in a lewd way. "I'll leave you to think about it." And he opened his office door and went casually through it, closing it behind him.

I went to the door, and sure enough, it was locked. I looked around at his office. A large desk with a computer and papers, a chair, file cabinets, and other standard Earthian office equipment-nothing out of the ordinary. Of course we have to depend on you Earthians to supply our equipment and materials, dear reader; the portal between our worlds opens for three hours, once per year, when our planets align in just the right way, severely limiting what and how much can go back and forth. It was three years ago I had gone through that portal from my planet to Earth, which at first was quite alien to me, but now I am accustomed to it. I wondered how I would feel about my home world once I got back to it. Then I remembered I was facing going back to it in deep disgrace, and my depression returned.

Already, my long-ago mishandling of Sammy Skunk when he was in my care almost destroyed my career at PERC; I knew another blow like this would destroy everything beyond redemption. I acted out of sexual desperation, but most everyone else at PERC was in the same situation I was, and I was sure Jeremy's hitting up on me was nothing more than a pretense to test my integrity. Or was it?

Was he genuinely homosexual after all? Did he actually sexually desire me? Even if he did, I felt no desire whatsoever toward him, and the last thing I wanted was anything inserted into my rectum, especially knowing how big his penis must have been, and how huge his knot would swell once inside me. I shuddered. Nothing else he could do to me could be any more terrifying than that.

I did have fun running around an alien planet and an alien civilization, despite the associated nuisances and aggravations. I realized that that would now be cut off from me, but I was expecting to go back home to stay sooner or later anyway. Still, I did not anticipate going home under circumstances like these. There were some things and people on Earth that I would miss, but I had nobody really to go back to on my home world. I had a brother I was estranged from and an ex-wife I never wanted to see again.

My initial dread was turning to boredom, so I finally stood up, went to the desk, turned on the computer, and typed and signed my resignation letter. If the new Director was hoping to extort anything out of me, he would be in for a disappointment. I folded and put the letter into one of my pockets and sat in a chair, waiting. Eventually Jeremy Wolf came back into his office and closed and locked the door behind him.

"So, Walter," he announced, "I trust you have thought about what I can do to you. So what shall you do, now that you have thought about it?"

Wordlessly I pulled my resignation letter out of my pocket and practically shoved it into his face. He opened it and read it, and smiled sardonically. "But I don't have to accept this, you know."

"And I don't intend to be your sex partner under any circumstances, no matter what you threaten me with."

"Oh, I figured you wouldn't," said Jeremy. "But like I said earlier, you're known for getting away with things by playing upon the old Director's ego. You can certainly do the same with me." He raised a foot several inches and added, "Lie down and grovel before me. Show me your remorse for your misbehavior by licking the bottom of my sandal, and I just might let you off."

"No. Do what you like with me, but I won't grovel to you."

"All right, then, if that's how you want it, I'll take you right down to detention. You'll undoubtedly be subject to another medical exam by the Earth authorities, and I'm, sure it will be worse than the last time. You won't beg for mercy and I shan't give it to you. You won't even get the chance to say goodbye to your human friends. You'll never get to see them again, and they won't get to see you!"

He finally hit me where it really hurt, for we animal-people can develop very strong emotional connections to others. Losing all my self-control, I let out a stream of invective and threw a punch with all my might toward his face. Jeremy was evidently prepared for my reaction, for he grabbed my arm to stop me, but he was still unable to stop my fist from connecting with his snout with a blow that must have hurt him. He managed to grab my other arm and hold both tightly. He was stronger than me, and while he could not hit back, he had me effectively restrained. I was in a fighting mood, and I was sure the blow to the snout I had given him would have put him in one too.

But looking at Jeremy, I saw that his face looked shockingly calm, even apologetic. "If I let you go, will you promise to sit back down and listen to me?" he asked in a calm voice I never would have expected from somebody who took the type of punch I had just delivered.

"I promise."

Jeremy Wolf let go of me and I sat down, my fighting mood dissipated. He rubbed his snout where I had punched him and quipped, "Well, at least you haven't gotten soft."

I was unable to restrain myself from laughing, and it took a great deal of effort on my part to stop. Jeremy looked at me, rubbing the spot where my punch landed, but he still had the same calm look of before.

"I'm sorry to have put you through such a harsh test," said Jeremy apologetically. "Unfortunately in light of what you've done, I had no choice in the matter."

I was emotionally depleted by then. "To punish me, or to give me a strong warning about violating PERC rules?"

"To determine if you were still fit to be a member of PERC. To see if the three years you spent as the head sociologist at PERC, going out constantly into Earthian society while spending comparatively little time among your own kind, has damaged you psychologically. To see if your yielding to temptation to have sex with Sammy Skunk was a sign you've lost your capacity for judgment and professional behavior. To see if your self-control has broken down. To see if I don't need to send you back home for your own protection."

"I thought the idea of being a PERC member was that we were expendable?" I replied sardonically.

Jeremy looked back me in disbelief. "Did you seriously think that the old Director meant it like that? Did you agree to come to this world with the idea that you were never going to go back home? I certainly didn't! Certainly you didn't think the National Space Agency had spent so much money training you and everyone else here just to have us disappear! How do you think people felt when Sammy Skunk defected and became an Earthian?"

"Maybe I'm imperceptive, but I could have sworn nobody seems to have missed him."

"Maybe nobody personally liked Sammy Skunk, but that doesn't matter," replied Jeremy. "What matters is that a member of PERC has come to this planet and will never return. And if PERC members don't come back, or if they come back psychologically damaged, do you think that won't have a detrimental effect on new people wanting to come here to replace the ones who leave? The old Director kept you in your spot at PERC despite your screwup with Sammy Skunk because he was afraid it would have scuttled the operations of the sociological department. You had only two assistants at the time, but now you have four, and the older ones are probably ready to take your spot."

"So you want me to leave PERC and go home, is that it? Did you deliberately provoke me to attack you as a pretext to expel me?"

"Walter, you've already given me more than enough cause to expel you from PERC. Sammy Skunk may be another animal-person, but he is now technically an Earthian and it is just as much a violation of PERC rules to fuck him as it is to fuck any human. No, believe it or not, I don't want to expel you from PERC. Why? For one thing, I don't want to start my term as Director of PERC on a sour note by having to throw somebody out. Second, I must admit you're clever in one sense: as a fox-person, you have a degree of popularity among Earthians, especially human furries, that most other species don't have, and you know this, and know very much how to exploit it to the fullest. I guess it helps that few humans have hen houses they fear being looted."

I smiled. "And this must be of assistance to you as well."

Jeremy Wolf was momentarily confused, then gave a half-smile as he realized my point. "Third," he went on, "when you first went out among humans, you were unhappy with how they kept touching you and petting you, but since then you changed and now you seem to enjoy it, or at least not mind it. Of course you have managed all this time not to succumb to any sexual offers from any humans."

"Trust me, I'm not tempted." (Yes, dear reader, I was telling a lie, if you've read about my foot-masturbation of a human friend of mine who has a paw fetish, but who that is, I will definitively keep a secret.)

"I can imagine. You even refused to succumb to Sammy Skunk's offers until now. But going back to my main point, while you are quite accustomed to being patted by humans, none of your assistants are as willing to undergo such treatment as you are. That is why, though you are the head of the sociological department, you end up doing far more field work than your underlings. You're more willing to endure what humans will dish out to you than anyone else at PERC."

"I've learned not to let it bother me," I said.

"But I admit I had been wondering, long before your tryst with Sammy Skunk had come up, if in fact you were developing an addiction to being treated like a cute cuddly being by the Earthians. Would you be able to return to our own world and be able to again interact normally with your fellow animal-people? Or would you be like an astronaut who had spent too long in outer space, and therefore become unable to deal with terrestrial gravity? You managed to resist the temptations to act out your sexual desires upon Sammy Skunk, and finally you broke down and did just that."

"It won't happen again, honestly," I said hurriedly. "I give you my word, and I can tell Sammy Skunk what happened and I know he won't do anything sexual with me ever again."

Jeremy Wolf looked at me regretfully. "Unfortunately, you seem to forget one thing. This isn't merely an internal PERC matter. I have to report all this to the Earth authorities. They might demand that you have to leave Earth, and if they do, I have no choice but to send you back then."

"I understand."

"So in the meantime, you're confined to quarters until further notice. You are forbidden to say anything or use the telephone or Internet."

And Jeremy personally walked me back to my quarters and once inside, removed all my communications equipment and computer. Then he left me, and there was nothing for me to do but wait, for what seemed to be a very long time. I was so sick with fear that it did not bother me that I was served no food, and somehow I managed to fall asleep after a while.

It was no small surprise when I was shook awake by none other than Jeremy himself. "Get dressed quickly," he commanded. "As soon as you're ready, we're going to meet with the Earth authorities."

I had not expected that the meeting would have been arranged so soon. I changed out of my sleep shorts and into a set of regular clothes, green and white with zigzag patterns. I would have bathed and groomed myself more thoroughly than normal, owing to who I was going to meet, but the fact that the new Director was standing in my room watching me suggested haste was desired, so I was ready to go without being fully awake. I was awake enough to notice him favoring the spot on his snout where I had hit him yesterday.

He had noticed my noticing and said, "Yes, it still hurts, but I was able to avoid your doing me any real injury. And I admit I did deliberately provoke you into losing your temper, so I blame myself and not you for what you did to me. In the meantime, let's get moving, for we've got a long trip ahead of us."

The Director walked out and I followed him to his personal car, now for his use after the resignation of the old Director. We got in, and as he drove out of PERC I realized how luxurious it was compared to the ordinary vehicles I had to use on my field trips. But, as might be expected, I was not enjoying the ride, and I doubt Jeremy was either.

It was a long trip, and barely dawn, so traffic was not a problem. Our destination was the same office complex where everyone at PERC had been taken years ago, when we had the meeting with the Earth authorities to divest ourselves of Sammy Skunk and allow him to become an Earth citizen. I had been there on several occasions since that time for various matters, but for nothing like I was going to face now.

A man came and escorted us to a conference room. I was surprised to find that a number of humans were already arranged for a conference or hearing or whatever it was going to be. They seemed as barely awake as I was, but looked prepared for business. Was it really only twelve hours since my tryst with Sammy Skunk?

Among the dozen humans who were there, I recognized my former handler and that of Sammy Skunk, who had years ago harshly examined us at the laboratory when Sammy Skunk had escaped from the furry convention and wound up among a sex orgy of human furries. I had since made friends with my former handler, but when he saw me now, he looked at me without expression, as if he was unsure how to react. So was I, but I was truly nervous, deeply worried that what I had done with Sammy Skunk was going to cost me his friendship. Which to me, would hurt unimaginably.

Sitting separately from the others were Jim and Sammy Skunk themselves. When they saw us enter, Sammy looked at me and cringed in such guilt that I almost felt sorry for him. But he did get me into deep trouble, for the second time in my life, so I did feel a bit of resentment. But almost immediately the meeting was called to order.

And it was not a pleasant meeting at all, dear reader. What I wrote down in this account I had to give out verbally to a group of human strangers who found what Sammy Skunk and I had done quite distasteful, even as they pressed for details. It was a humiliating time, to recount everything I had done with Sammy Skunk in intimate detail, but I had no choice. Finally they were satisfied, and I was brought into a separate room to wait, with two humans to watch over me. I just sat hunched over in a chair in nervousness until I was finally called back out.

I was brought back to the same room as before, with everyone arranged in the same way. They were all staring at me as the man who had originally called the meeting to order spoke.

"Walter Fox?" he asked.

"Yes?" I replied.

"We have considered what you had done, allowing for your behavior on this planet and among human society over the three years you have been here."

I waited nervously as he paused.

"We understand that you are not human and should not be judged as if you were one. We also understand that spending years on an alien world would put unpredictable stresses on anyone, human or otherwise. Since it would be difficult for us humans to judge you fairly, by necessity we consulted with members of your own kind." He indicated Jeremy and Sammy Skunk. "Our judgment is as follows: you will be allowed to stay on Earth, and no penalties or restrictions will be applied to you."

I felt such relief that I exhaled sharply and fell to my knees in exhaustion. Then the man ran up to me, a horrified look on his face. "Mr. Fox, are you all right?"

"Sorry, sorry," I managed to get out. "The whole thing has been so nerve-wracking."

The man helped me back into a standing position, then observed me to make certain I was going to stay that way. "I can understand," he said. "What you did was no minor offense. Even though Sammy Skunk is an animal-person like yourself, he is still technically an Earth citizen and what you did was a serious rules violation. However, we have taken into account your good behavior over the last three years, plus your lack of sexual outlet. It also would look silly to punish an animal-person for having sex with a fellow animal-person. So, for this one offense, we will forgive you. But we will not overlook it if you do this again."

"Thank you," I practically sobbed. "Thank you so much."

"We realize this situation is only partly your fault." He turned and glared at Sammy Skunk, who cringed. "As you yourself have confessed, over the past several years you did everything you could to entice Walter Fox into sexual activity with you, knowing full well it could have destroyed him. Was this desire of yours so great that you didn't care about what would happen to him afterward?"

"No, no!" Sammy Skunk practically shouted. "I swear I didn't expect things to come to this! Of course I knew Walter could have gotten into trouble for this! But I didn't think he actually would."

There was some uncomfortable laughter from the assembled humans, though it did not last for long as the meeting leader glared at them. "Well, now you see the trouble you did cause. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Sammy threw himself to the ground and started weeping loudly. "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry..."

The meeting leader's tone softened somewhat. "You don't have to resort to this melodrama."

Jeremy spoke up. "Sir, this melodrama happens to be perfectly normal behavior for us animal-people."

The meeting leader's tone softened completely. "This means he is genuinely deeply sorry, then?"

"Yes," I said, and walked up to the prone Sammy. I raised my foot and moved it toward his head. He spotted it, grabbed hold of my foot, and turned onto his back and started licking the sole of my sandal. The humans around me gasped.

"What are you doing?" shouted the meeting leader in great dismay. He started toward me, but Jeremy stepped over and intercepted him.

"Walter has to," Jeremy said. "It is the way he has to accept Sammy Skunk's forgiveness." At the surprised looks of the surrounding humans, he added, "We are space aliens, remember?"

"That's enough, Sammy," I told him. "I forgive you, and I'm sure everyone is convinced you're really sorry."

"But what about..." Sammy began, then looked toward Jeremy.

"I had no choice but to bring the matter up to the Earth authorities," Jeremy said. "They decided to forgive Walter for what you and he had done, and so can I. If nothing else, as the new Director of PERC, I don't want my term of office to begin with a scandal. He won't even receive a reprimand."

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you..." began Sammy, but he stopped when I nudged him with my foot.

"I think everyone would prefer you stand back up," I told him, and Sammy did.

The meeting leader said, "The matter of Walter Fox's fate has been decided. He will not be deported or otherwise penalized. But there is still one other matter."

We all resumed our old places in the meeting room, and the leader spoke again, looking at Sammy Skunk. "You, Sammy Skunk, have elected to become an Earthian to be with your human lover." He indicated Jim and added, "Is this correct?"

"Yes," Sammy replied.

"And years ago, your human lover was brutally attacked and nearly died, and it was an emotionally devastating time for you."

"Yes," Sammy said in a tone which indicated how painful the memory still was.

This gave pause to the meeting leader, but then he asked, in an appalled tone, "And now you just cheated on him?"

Sammy responded in surprise, "Didn't I tell you earlier that Jim and I had an open relationship from day one? That doesn't mean we don't deeply love each other. And no, this isn't any more normal for us animal-people as it is for you humans." There were a couple of brief noises, as of people wanting to laugh but not daring to. Sammy continued, "I admit I have always cleared any potential sex partners with Jim, but I made an exception for Walter Fox, figuring Jim would not object, though I admit I wasn't absolutely certain. Walter never seemed willing to have sex with me with Jim around, but when he happened to call on me when Jim was absent, I correctly figured he would be amenable to it. I didn't expect Jim to walk in on us as he did, that we would have been long finished beforehand, but I would have told him about it anyway. I assumed he would keep it a secret under any circumstances."

"Yes, I would have," Jim piped in. "I'm only telling you about this now because it's obviously no longer a secret, at least not to you. Yes, Sammy is right, he and I do have an open relationship but we still love each other very much. And I have made it a point to filter out who could be his sex partners, but only to protect us both. There are plenty of people I don't want to be within a mile of him, and you can guess what sort I refer to. Yes, I was absolutely shocked when I walked in on them actually having sex, but I didn't feel betrayed. What I did feel was amazement that this was really happening. I wasn't displeased by it; in fact this was my fantasy come true. Believe it or not, I've heard of married straight men who have expressed fantasies about their wives having lesbian affairs."

"Were they necessarily serious when they said that?" asked the meeting leader.

"Who knows? But this is what I wanted. I wished I could have a go with Walter Fox too. It's why I gave him a French kiss when I did, just to see how responsive he was to it." Jim added sullenly, "And he didn't seem to enjoy it much."

"I allowed you to do it so," I said, "because I felt obligated to please you because my penis was stuck inside your lover."

"I know," Jim said. "I wished you could have placed it inside me too."

"Sorry, you're not my type," I replied rather quickly, as a way to break the tension among the human audience, who laughed. "And neither are the many humans who have tried to hit up on me."

"Many humans?" asked the appalled meeting leader.

"I don't mean a majority of them," I replied. "Not even a majority of human furries. Just more than I would have imagined. Fortunately, I'm quite accustomed to these people and know how to brush them off."

"My apologies, Mr. Fox," said the meeting leader uncomfortably. "Your job is much more stressful than I realized."

"I can assure you I've dealt with a number of, er, different people on my own world as well, long before I came to Earth," I told him. "There are a number of unpleasant experiences I've had in my career, but I can assure you I still find it exciting to explore an alien civilization."

The meeting leader turned back to Sammy. "And you, Sammy Skunk, have come to live in an alien world. Do you have any regrets over that?"

"To tell the truth, no," Sammy replied. "I grew up in a wealthy family, but that didn't mean I had a happy life. I had few friends and no loves. Shameful as it was for me to meet with Jim and all his human furry friends and have sex with them, it was the first time in my life I felt appreciated and loved. It was also the first sexual experience I ever had in my life." Sammy paused and added, "Yes, I'm telling the truth."

He was interrupted by gasps of shock and dismay from the human audience. The meeting leader looked upon him in horror. Sammy continued, "That's right. Walter Fox is the first and only animal-person I ever had sex with. I didn't need to have the experience, but I desired it. Especially since he was the only animal-person who doesn't regard me as a leper. I did want to make up to him the trouble I had caused him previously, and I thought the whole thing would bring pleasure to both of us. Unfortunately I only would up causing even more trouble."

There was a tense silence while the meeting leader was trying to figure out how to respond. "You have indeed," he finally said. "But in light of what you all have told us, we are willing to forgive this one instance, as no real harm has been done. However, we are not going to overlook it if you do this sort of thing again. Sammy Skunk, I hope your one-time tryst with another animal-person has fulfilled your desires, but we cannot allow you to have sex with anyone other than other Earth citizens. If Walter Fox or any other animal-person becomes an Earth citizen as well, you can have any relationship you like with them, but not with anyone who is still an employee of PERC. Walter Fox, for reasons previously explained, we are sparing you any penalties. But if you have any more problems with loneliness or sexual frustration or the like, that is something you need to bring up with your own Director. In the meantime, I think we can bring this meeting to a close, and you and your Director can go back to your base." He turned to Sammy and Jim and added, "And you two are also free to go home." He then addressed me again. "But if there are any other matters you wish to discuss, now is the time."

"Actually, there are," I said, and turned toward my former handler at the laboratory. "Can I speak with you in private?"

I tried to avoid looking too desperate, but my former handler must have seen how I felt, so he quickly agreed and we left the meeting room to again go into the smaller room where I had waited before.

He closed the door, and I cringed, unable to suppress my whimpering pleading. Looking rather surprised at my behavior, he said, "If you fear another lab examination, Walter, I can assure you that we're not about to do that. And even if we were, I promise I would be much more humane with you than I had been."

"That's not what I'm worried about," I replied.

"What, then?"

"I saw how you looked," I slowly choked out, "when...when I described what Sammy Skunk and I...we had done."

My former handler winced. "Yes, after what happened to me as a little boy, it was the last thing in the world I could have wanted to hear about."

What happened to him as a little boy, dear reader, was that he was the victim of a child molester, and he is still seriously psychologically damaged from it. And as to be expected, hearing about homosexual activity is torment for him, for the bad memories it brings back. And because of me, he was forced to hear about another such encounter in detail. He had become a close friend of mine, and this was what I had done to him.

Instinctively I did to him what Sammy Skunk had done to me earlier, by throwing myself onto the ground before him, turning over onto my back, grabbing his foot, and licking his sole. Tears streamed from my eyes as my tongue started licking the dirt off the bottom of his shoe in deepest remorse. But my friend quickly pulled his foot from me, and with surprising speed, he stepped around and was kneeling on the floor near me, looking into my face with an expression of dismay.

"Walter," he said, "I know it's the custom of your kind, but don't do that! Please don't do that! I'm not another animal-person, and it hurts me to see your denigrate yourself like that. It reminds me of how shamefully I treated you back at the laboratory years ago!"

"I would rather endure a hundred laboratory sessions like that again than lose you as a friend!" I pleaded.

He instinctively cringed, knowing I told no lie. "You haven't lost me as a friend, Walter."

His manner told me that he definitely meant it, and I felt a great sense of relief. I could not stop crying, but I practically threw myself upon him in joy and started licking his face with my tongue. After several moments I stopped, realizing he was not enjoying the experience. But he knew my motives, and he smiled and petted me on the head. Soon after, we arranged ourselves in facing chairs.

"Walter," he said, "officially I was only your handler when you were at the laboratory. However, especially when you've become so emotionally attached to me, I've effectively become your contact among the Earth authorities. Whatever happens involving you is brought to my attention. And I've developed a sort of fascination with you. Of course I had to be there when I learned of what you did with Sammy Skunk."

I was horrified. "You mean you were compelled to listen to us spill out the details of our sexual activities, despite the childhood trauma you went through?"

"No, no, no," he replied. "I could have elected to leave and sit that part out." He paused briefly and continued, "But I felt it necessary to sit and hear out exactly what you and Sammy Skunk did together. And I wanted to know why you finally succumbed to his advances after three years of resisting. Have you discovered previously suppressed homosexual feelings?"

"No no no no no!" I told him, cringing in terror. My former handler reached over to me and put his hands upon me in a reassuring gesture.

"Walter," he addressed me gently, "if you're afraid that I'm going to stop being your friend if you turn out to have homosexual proclivities, that won't be the case. I swear it." I must have looked unconvinced, for he added, "Really, I'll still be your friend no matter what. You can still see me and cuddle with me and I'll still be happy to see you as before."

"All right then," I said. "In all honesty, I didn't have sex with Sammy Skunk because I discovered any secret gay side to me. It was lack of intimate contact with another animal-person which motivated me. It was because Sammy Skunk genuinely wanted me, even though I don't think he was in love with me as such. It wasn't so much the sex as being in the arms of another animal-person, to being hugged and kissed passionately, to exploring the teeth and mouth of another animal-person." I added sheepishly, "Yes, you could say I had gotten really desperate."

"You pretended Sammy Skunk was a beautiful female?"

"No, no, no! I made no pretense that Sammy Skunk was anyone other than who he was; I would have felt wrong about the whole thing if I did. It wasn't just a matter of physical pleasure, what got me was that Sammy actually wanted me personally. Yes, it was a play upon my ego. Yes, there are countless human furries who want to get me into bed, but in their case they just want to screw an animal-person. One good reason I'm never tempted by them."

"I see," my friend replied. "But one other thing. If your having sex with Sammy Skunk was a matter of desperation as you say...is it possible that you would rather go home? I like you and I'd miss you, but if you're in danger of becoming permanently psychologically damaged from your long stay on Earth, I'd rather you go back to your own world, even if I never were to see you again."

It was my turn to put my hands upon him. "A true friend would indeed say that," I told him. "But if I were deemed unfit for further service on Earth, I am sure I would only be talking to you in physical restraints and under heavy guard. I don't want to go back home, at least not now. I have no loved ones waiting for me and I still feel the excitement of learning more and more about a whole different world from mine. Besides, any future job I might get would be quite an anticlimax compared to what I do now."

"One thing I wondered about. Can't you just leave for a year and come back to Earth the year after that?"

"I'm not sure," I said. "Presumably I can, but so far nobody who has left PERC to go back home has made a return trip here. I don't know why, but unless one of my former colleagues comes back, I'm not anxious to go back home."

"Who left and why? Or am I not supposed to ask?"

"Well, you are an Earth authority, so you can. Several left because of illness or injury, about a dozen returned to be with their loved ones, and yes, some were expelled from PERC due to misbehavior. There were a couple of cases of sexual affairs between PERC members, but everyone involved in those are gone. PERC base is a small and enclosed place, so needless to say these sorts of things don't stay secret for long."

"And sexual affairs are banned, even among those who consent?"

"Not banned, but definitely discouraged. And after getting into big trouble once, I've been scared of doing anything that the Director might not like. In fact, Sammy Skunk played on one other instinct that finally got me to go through with it."

"What instinct is that?"

"To deliberately break a serious PERC rule and get away with it." I confessed sheepishly.

My friend gave me a look. "Really."

With some trepidation, I explained, "I fought for the privilege of coming to Earth because of the excitement of going out and exploring an advanced alien world. And it can be exciting, but it has its annoyances as well. And back at PERC base, there's plenty of busywork to do, having to work on reports, processing data, making sure my assistants aren't goofing off, having to fight with my fellow department heads, and stroking the Director's ego."

"How interesting," he said sardonically. "Your job sounds a lot like mine."

"But with one difference," I pointed out. "You have a home and wife to go to, and you can go out and have fun on the weekends. I don't have that. Nobody at PERC does, except for the few who managed to bring their spouses."

"So you have fun by doing naughty things?"

"One of the very few ways we have," I replied. "And before you make any judgments, let me tell you that I know for a fact that humans behave in the same way in a highly restricted environment with very little recreational output, such as a military academy. You can ask any sociologist and they will tell you the same thing."

"I'll take your word for it," he said. "But if you don't mind my asking, I was wondering what sort of naughty things you have done? Or is that something you'd rather not tell anyone?"

"Oh, I can reveal some of the things. For one, during the first year of my visit to this planet, I happened to patronize a joke shop, not understanding right away what it was."

My friend smiled sardonically. "You must have had a real field day at your base when you came back."

"No, no. Actually, I got a catalog and bought some items, but believe it or not, it was as a serious scientific research into human behavior. Such as what makes them laugh. We even did a chemical analysis on the itching powder I bought to see what induced that sensation in humans."

"I thought we were talking about naughty things you did back at your base."

"I'm coming to that. One item I also bought was a whoopee cushion."

"And you put it onto your Director's chair."

"Oh, no, I wouldn't have dared to do that!" I replied hurriedly. "What I did was, at a meeting, when the right moment came up, I produced my whoopee cushion and squeezed it to produce the sound of flatulence. This amused everyone else at the meeting, except for the Director, and he was further displeased when everybody wanted to try that out for themselves. He didn't appreciate levity in the middle of a routine meeting."

"So your style is to play more subtle pranks."

"Not always. One time I went to use a bathroom and I heard somebody snoring in one of the stalls. I didn't know who, but I went outside to tell everyone else who happened to be around, and they all poured in and started giggling. Then I asked everyone to be quiet, which they were as I went to requisition some video equipment, into which I inserted a recording of a fireworks show I had previously attended. Then I played it at full volume. The poor guy really made an awful screech and literally jumped up over the top of the stall. Then he discovered what I had done while everyone in the bathroom was laughing uproariously."

My friend looked at me wide-eyed. "He must have been ready to kill you."

"Actually I did him a favor. One of the people laughing was the Director."

"That's a favor?"

"Yes," I smiled. "When the Director is laughing at you, he's not going to be mad at you. And the Director happened to be in one of his moods just before this happened."

"I see. And you've been the victim of some pranks?"

"Oh, yes. But most of the time I catch them before they catch me. One where I was caught was where an electronic device making occasional noises was placed in my office, and I looked everywhere before I found it. I didn't try to find out who did it; I put it in storage so I could use it on somebody else in the future."

"Any times when jokes went too far?"

"Oh, no, we've all been careful about that. The Director would have been down on all of us if we misbehaved too badly." I smiled. "But my all-time favorite prank was, in fact, a way to punish misbehavior."

And my friend looked at me mischievously, perhaps with the potential idea of solving a similar problem in his situation. "Do tell."

"When my fourth assistant arrived at PERC last year, he was all right basically, but he had a habit of sleeping in, especially on mornings when I needed to discuss matters at hand with all my assistants. He always rushed in at the last second, or even be late, and I warned him about being disrespectful to his superior, but it wasn't getting through."

My friend was dismayed. "That's no good."

"So I thought of a way to teach him manners. I noted that, when he went to bed, he put his clothes for the next day on the back of a particular chair, so he could get dressed in a hurry. So I decided that would be a way of getting back at him."

"You hid his clothes?"

"If I had done that, he would have simply found another set of clothes and used that as an excuse for being late. Besides, I wanted to do something strong enough to cure his bad habit once and for all." I gestured to the outfit I was wearing. "Let me remind you that the difference between male and female clothing on our world, apart from subtle size and fit differences, is the fact that male clothing has stronger colors than the female version, plus male clothing has the dark symbol patterns and female ones don't."

My former handler said nothing, but I could see the signs of amusement in his face. I went on, "I happened to mention this matter to a female colleague, the supervisor of another department, and she was displeased when I told her of my underling's behavior. She happened to be similar in size and build to my disrespectful assistant, and that's when I came up with my idea. So I asked her to lend me a set of her clothes which was similar to a set the assistant had, and she did, so I hid them in my office until the day my underling had laid out the right set of clothes for me to substitute. So I then waited by their bedroom-they sleep in one bed in one room while I, a supervisor, sleep in my own bedroom-until I was sure they had all fallen asleep. Then I was able to sneak in with all the stealth I could muster and carefully replace my disobedient assistant's close with my female colleague's.

"Then next morning came, and the usual routine happened, with three of my assistants coming in on time to the morning meeting, and the fourth one failing to show up. So I made a show to the ones who came about how crucial today's meeting was, and I went to their bedroom, cracked open the door, and said in a low but threatening manner that the other assistant had better be at the meeting as quickly as possible. It certainly must have spurred him to hurry, for he really rushed out of his bedroom and into my office before I even went back to my position.

"Sure enough, he was wearing the female clothes I had planted on the chair, and the others stared at him while I pretended not to notice and began my meeting." I started cracking up at the memory, and so did my friend. "While I made my opening remarks, my properly dressed assistants kept staring at the fourth one, who was obviously confused as to why they were looking at him. I kept up acting as if everything was normal, until the others began giggling at the fourth, who looked around trying to figure out what was going on, until he looked down and finally realized he was wearing female clothes, and made an obscene exclamation. Then the rest of us started laughing..." As did I and my former handler.

I finally recovered enough to say, "Then he got up and tried to run back into his bedroom, but I got up and grabbed him before he could leave. Then I sat him back down and explained to everyone that this was his punishment for being disrespectful. The others laughed at him, but I warned the others that what I did to this one, I could and would do to anyone else under me who got out of line. I also told them that this was an alternative to my original intention of reporting his behavior to the Director."

My friend had stopped laughing. "I've dealt with your Director. The one who's retiring, that is."

"So you understand," I replied. "Anyway, I warned everyone that any further misbehavior would be dealt with much more harshly, and that I had plenty of worse ways I could humiliate people." I paused and added, "As you might guess, this cured my assistant of any further lateness problems."

"Well," said my former handler, "I generally dislike practical jokes, but that last one I say was morally justified."

"Thanks," I replied. "I was worried you might have looked down upon it."

He looked at me with surprise. "Maybe it's just me, but I can't help but get the impression that you're more worried about what I think of you than what your own Director does."

"Well, since I'm an alien to this planet and you're an Earth authority, you do have the power to have me vivisected alive."

"That's not the reason and you and I both know it," he replied with a slight edge to his voice. "Like I said, I'm worried about your being psychologically damaged and being unable to go back to your own world."

"I understand," I replied. "I admit I have little to go back to, but as attached I am to you and certain other humans, it's not as if I cannot bear to go back home because of it. I'd miss you, but I don't have the attachment to you the way Sammy Skunk does to Jim. And Sammy Skunk was undoubtedly damaged psychologically even before he came to Earth. In his case, it would have been no kindness to send him back home."

"I figured as such. One reason I advocated for him to become an Earth citizen."

"And you might blame me for letting him out of my sight?"

My former handler looked steadily at me, "You were guilty of that," he said. I cringed, but he hastily added, "But it isn't as if he were a child and incapable of knowing what he was doing. He was a responsible adult and he knew what he was getting into, or I'm sure he never would have been allowed to come to Earth in the first place. I don't blame you for his irresponsibility. He knew he wasn't supposed to go out of the convention with Jim and his sick friends. He knew he wasn't supposed to have sexual contact with them. He admitted it himself. Whatever you were guilty of, it's not Sammy Skunk's own folly. You animal-people may be different, but you're not so different that you don't know what responsibility is."

"But I am responsible for my own folly."

"If you mean having sex with Sammy Skunk, yes. We all decided to let you off on that offense, this one time. And I can understand that after three years of no intimate companionship with Sammy Skunk trying to seduce you each time he saw you, the temptation would have gotten too much for you. At least in your case you resisted for a long time."

He looked at me benignly, and put a kind hand on my shoulder. Instinctively I threw myself upon him and embraced him warmly, and he hugged me back.

"All right, now I understand why you were so worried about my opinion," my friend told me. "You wanted someone you could really talk to, and it couldn't be any of your PERC colleagues, not even your Director. You want someone to cuddle you without wanting to have sex with you, and that is how I am, and your PERC colleagues are out because of your social rules. I'd give you the whole petting and tummy rub and all that, although here and now it is really awkward."

He let go of me and I sat back in my chair. "I understand. Sorry if I-"

"No, don't apologize," my friend said, "I understand this has been a very stressful time for you. But what is your schedule? How long do you and your Director have before you return to base?"

I looked at my own watch. "I don't know, but I suppose we're going to have to go back as soon as we can."

"Okay, we'd better wrap everything up quickly. Wait here." My former handler abruptly got up and left the room, and soon after, he returned with Jeremy Wolf, Sammy Skunk, Jim, and the meeting leader in tow.

"So what's the story, Walter?" asked Jeremy. "Are you staying at PERC or have you decided you want to go home after all?"

"The choice is entirely yours," added the meeting leader.

"I want to stay on Earth," I told everyone firmly.

"That is fine with us," replied the meeting leader. "Of course, any personal problems you have, you will have to take them to your own Director. I trust he will be capable of dealing with them."

"Yes, Walter, I insist you do so, rather than end up doing something to get yourself into trouble again," Jeremy told me. Then he turned and looked at Sammy Skunk, who cringed. "Sammy, I know you are now an Earthian and no longer a member of PERC and I am not your boss. But for the sake of decency, don't ever tempt Walter into doing something that will get him into trouble again! Is that too much to ask?"

"No, no!" Sammy almost shouted. "Honest, I won't do that sort of thing again! I know I never should have done it to begin with, but...well, it was inexcusable."

"Not entirely," said the meeting leader suddenly, much to everyone else's surprise, including mine. "You weren't kidding when you told us you never had had sex with a fellow animal-person before?"

Sammy looked down toward the floor in embarrassment. "Yes, it is true."

"That would explain why you so badly wanted to have Walter Fox as your lover," replied the meeting leader sullenly.

"Sir," Sammy Skunk said with annoyance in his tone, "if you're about to throw a pity party for me, please don't. I'm not a prostitute or sex slave; I have sex with those whom I choose to. I didn't ask Jim's prior permission to have sex with Walter Fox, as you well know. Yes, with the humans Jim and I make sure they're okay first, but he has never tried to make me have sex with anyone if I didn't want to. I understand you're not pleased with the fact that there are humans who like the idea of having sex with a space alien skunk-person, and that I satisfy the desires of some of them. But when you think of it, what is so terrible about that? I'm not a four-legged skunk who cannot give consent."

After a pause, the meeting leader replied, "You're right, I'm sorry if I sounded like I was berating you for your life choices. If you truly like doing that, I have no right to object. Of course, your having Walter Fox as a lover was technically illegal."

"I know," Sammy said. "I just wanted to do it, even though I shouldn't have done it. But the reason wasn't because I was ashamed of having had only human lovers. I genuinely wanted to please Walter Fox every way I possibly could. I did it in a way I wasn't supposed to, but..."

"All right," I said, "dare I say it? Sammy Skunk actually did give me great sensual pleasure. No, not because I discovered that I'm gay, but...he just found the way to do it."

The meeting leader looked uncomfortable. "Well, if you two enjoyed your little tryst, that's fine and we'll forgive this one rules violation. But not again. I assume you two are expected to meet again in the future, and that we will permit-if you two can promise that you will behave properly together from here on in."

Sammy and I made our promises, and not long afterward Sammy Skunk left with Jim while Jeremy and I went back to his personal care and he drove me back. En route, he glanced at me strangely.

"You do amaze me, Walter." he told me. "I give you the harshest threats I can come up with and you don't yield. But around your human friends you act like a leashed pet."

I cringed. Calling an animal-person a "leashed pet," dear reader, is the harshest way of calling someone an abject groveler. But I did not get angry at Jeremy. He was absolutely right.

"I call you that and you're not even offended," Jeremy continued. "I don't want to throw you off of Earth, but I don't want to risk your becoming a psychological wreck who can never live in normal society again."

"That's exactly what my former handler at the laboratory told me," I replied. "If I thought I was experiencing any psychological breakdowns, I would have told you, and I know you're smart enough to determine for yourself if you thought I was no longer fit for my position. I don't want to leave my job, but if you say I must go, then I must go."

Jeremy gave me a brief look. "Walter, your job is arguably the most stressful and dangerous position at PERC, and you have to go to places and deal with people many of the rest of us would be terrified to go near. You've proven capable of taking on that task on for a long time, which is why I hate for you to go. I know your underlings are reluctant to take on your level of responsibility and don't go out as much as you. That is why I am willing to pardon this one serious offense of yours. The Earth authorities were willing to pardon you for what you've done for the same reasons, plus they felt that it would have looked ridiculous of them to punish one animal-person for having consensual sex with another animal-person.

"But one thing is definite,Walter. We'll have to keep what happened between you and Sammy Skunk to ourselves. There's no way we can ever let anyone else PERC know what you and he did together. Not merely because he's another male, but far worse, he's an outcast-from our research station and from our world. He's practically a leper. Getting close to him is bad enough as it is, let alone as close as how you did."

"And who made me get close to him in the first place?" I asked defensively. "Who required me to interview him and be a liaison to him? Who had me stay with him when Jim was attacked and had to recover from his head injuries? So how can you say I shouldn't be close to him when I was forced to be in the first place?"

"Yes, yes, the Director," Jeremy replied. "The old Director, thought I would have required the same of you. I realize it's unfair for me to criticize you for being close to him when you were ordered to deal with him so nobody else would have to. Still, however lonely you might have been, it's very difficult for me to imagine that you would end up getting so close with a deserter from your own people, especially when he's brought you nothing but trouble. I know you're supposed to be the forgiving type, but fraternizing with Sammy Skunk the way you did? I was actually more shocked by your letting him hug you than I was over the sex!"

"He has actually helped me out on a few occasions," I told him. "And let's face it, we all know that there might be an occasion we'd have to call him for some crisis at PERC and beg him for his help."

"But we haven't," replied Jeremy sardonically, "and the mathematicians we have now I assure you are quite capable of performing any task Sammy used to do. And Sammy doesn't really need us, either, now that there are human doctors who could take care of many of his medical needs."

"I still say we may end up needing his help sooner or later."

"To save our necks, or yours?"

"He has saved mine," I admitted sheepishly. "And I admit that despite what he's done for me, I avoided getting too close to him for a long time."

"But over time, inevitably, the memory of the trouble he had originally caused you faded while you remember the more recent times he did benefit you. Unfortunately, now he has caused you new trouble."

"It was my own fault. I could have resisted yet again, but when he gave me the idea that I could possibly get away with it-"

"And you didn't," Jeremy finished. "Is this what finally made you succumb to temptation? The idea that you could do something seriously wrong and go unpunished?"

It was some time before I could squeeze out an answer in the affirmative.

"Ah, now I see!" Jeremy said, almost laughing. "So that was your true motive all along! Not lust, not even loneliness, but thinking you could put one over on the rest of us! Well, it backfired! You failed to fool me, you forced me to contact the Earth authorities and put them through a lot of bother, you again risked your entire career, and worst of all, your friend was forced to listen to you recite a detailed account of your performing an act of homosexuality, which brought out bad memories in him of the child abuse he suffered!"

Jeremy got me where it hurt, dear reader. I cringed as much as I could in the car seat, whimpering.

"Ah, now you see the true evil of what you did," he said much more calmly. "I think I can trust you to be very careful about where you put your penis in the future."

"Yes, yes," I pleaded.

Since then, the portal has opened and shut, and I am still on Earth, dear reader. And I can assure you I have been very well behaved since then.

But just wait until Jeremy and the Earth authorities let their guard down! >:)