Epilogue: A Curious Love Story

I woke up in hospital... it was a day or two after and I was missing a tail and one of my legs had been badly broken and I'd cracked my pelvis. For a while I was trapped in hospital and though my mum, dad, sister, Oscar and even Joey would come in to visit me constantly to see how I was doing, I never saw Lior again. Apparently, he was finally in some kind of witness protection thing and, somehow, during his torture, Lior had recorded Kiburi confessing to his crimes against him, others and his father. Lior had cleared his father's name and I had apparently helped take down the notorious tail-chopper!

I should have been happy it was all over, but with Lior hidden away and no news from anyone, not even Joey, about where they went... everyone started to forget them. Lior seemed just a faint memory to everyone at school and then it was just me, Oscar and Joey left that remembered anything about the situation. Somehow, life seemed to continue on and my comics were finished and became shockingly popular as I entered into graphics design and got more and more into creating my comics and hoping that through it, Lior might know I still thought about him.

I kept to my idea of turning one of the two into a villain and in the end, the series expanded out into your typical superhero story with a terrible nemesis that fans suspected was the old friend. I was enjoying it and then I started to work on some stuff under a pseudonym... some very steamy erotica that got insanely popular to the point I was told by the publisher...

"Roman... if they weren't dudes with dicks but a straight couple... they'd make this shit into a movie."

It was quite the compliment as I got older, but old age came with odd situations as I started to try and comprehend what was missing in my life and who should have been there. Joey came to university with me doing a sports course and we ended up sex friends for two years, he was amusing obsessed with being treated like a slave and told to do gross things... which once included being ordered to drink out of the toilet bowl... freshly cleaned and flushed of course! It was actually quite a weird experience between us but I certainly could get rid of the libido that Lior had woken up within me to play with Joey. But when the second year was done, we both knew it was time to grow up and Joey went and got a girlfriend and had a big litter of pups that I was constantly having to visit for their birthday parties because I had to be 'Uncle Roman'.

Rosie of course remembered Lior and to my surprise, a lot of the guys she grew up to date were all delicate and pretty boys that I swore flirted with me more than they did her. She had a knack for finding pansexual guys and she eventually married a very handsome civet cat that worked as a model and well, Rosie was a make-up artist and certainly very popular. She helped me try and find guy friends I could be interested in, somehow she was more aware that I was completely gay than I was.

Like anyone assuming themselves bisexual and thinking it meant a 'normal life' was something you could have after enjoying yourself in youth, I met a gorgeous albino ferret named Ellen and we hit it off. We even had a son together, but we never married and certainly our relationship began to peter out from lovers to sex friends to just doting parents. My family didn't mind, they loved my son Lucian and Ellen eventually was told my story with Lior and utterly excited by it. She seemed to understand me even more then and I seemed to finally understand myself and how, I'd never find someone I loved until I found Lior again... but when would that be?

It was probably nearing thirty years later; I was a star at a comics convention after a successful animated series and then films by a major studio had been done of my work. The story of the two friends now turned enemies seemed to resonate, especially when I'd added a very dark new element to it when my editors had been complaining that the main character had become too happy and they wanted more reason for the friend to 'come back' into the series. Actually, it had been really dark killing the main character's bride just before she stepped down the aisle and leaving a letter in her blood inside the secret den... making it obvious who had done it... but the fans had gone wild for it. It just proved a running trend that happiness, fulfilment and all the things people dreamt of could never be given to the heroes that suffered like them because the audience were all sadists wanting their own fantasy romance with this character.

I was finding myself with far more females turning up to have pictures signed and a lot more gross fanart of these girls' own OCs getting with him. I was shocked too that there was no one asking for some kind of relationship between him and his old friend again, but I wondered if it was just reflecting real life like that. Sometimes, writing these stories and drawing them was all that reminded me of what had actually happened in my life and even then, they still appeared as unreal as a comic book. But today there was something odd that had been brought over to me by an assistant who was prepping me for my chance on stage before I'd have to go back to the signing booth and I was surprised by it as he passed me the selected questions.

"Hey Gavin... there's a question here that's hand-written and isn't on one of the cue cards, how'd it get in the pile? You know as soon as I get on stage I'll have to answer it because we're giving them to the announcer..." I questioned the rabbit that was hurrying to straighten my tie and try to make me look less of a rough old male these days. I flicked my jangling collection of earrings on one side, thinking of how funny it had been when Lior's feline nature had clicked onto something shiny. I looked down at the question in my hand with a grimace, it was a question I was dying to be asked and yet one that my publishers and editors would spin in circles and complain about. However, if it got a good reception from the audience... I ended up grinning and pulling it away from the rabbit as he stretched out a paw to take it back, brushing my paw aside before strolling up the stage. Every time I walked up a stage I heard the audible gasps from beasts that saw the stump of my tail remaining and heard the story... others though would ask if I was half badger!

"Hey there everybody and welcome to the platform, your beloved author and artist... Roman..." They always seemed to go quiet on my last name or say it so fast beasts couldn't hear and it was all because there was that slight fear and excitement of someone linking my name to the Tail-Snatching murders. It was just in case anyone tried to link that to my work and with everyone trying not to get involved back in that mess, it was just how it was. But as the audience smiled and I told them the story of how me and Lior had been attacked by a bully and wanted some way to take him down leading to the creation of the story, with hearing all the gossip and thinking how we'd want someone to fix it, never using Lior's name or saying how Oscar had mouth-raped him. We moved onto the questions and though it was a slow process to be asked the same things all the time, the last question appear. "For our final question, something unique here... an audience member asks about the relationship between our protagonist and antagonist... considering they were friends and they did fancy each other and you alluded to them experimenting... would you ever have them consummate this relationship... especially in light of the fiancé's violent death?"

"Well now... thank you so much for that wonderful question... it's a difficult question when we're talking about the current situation and certainly, depending on what the publishers will allow depends what I'll be permitted to work on. But... I would say... I would like a chance to do a little 'X-rated' artwork relating to something between them... but certainly the antagonist still has an obsession that includes a sexual obsession but they are aware that the circumstances that caused them to stop being friends would be the overwhelming factor in their relationship. But... you have all come to the same conclusion over the bride's brutal death as the protagonist, but are all the facts truly there?"

I was imagining it in my mind, a chance for the two to get together now he was mourning his loss, the antagonist appearing in the rain and begging to talk to him before revealing a plane ticket or something to show they'd not been anywhere near there and seemingly proving they'd come purely to console their friend. That could then move into a drunken one-night stand, the regret and then obsession growing and making their relationship worse and then making their relationship come to the fore, but not directly from him killing the bride. I'd alluded to that to my publishers and they'd been a little anxious about it, but putting it out now I thought it would be something exciting to make them all realise there was potential as the audience was squeaking and whispering before I took a few more questions and now related to this possibility of any 'love' between the two and yet I refused to give a clear answer, stoking more interest.

When I settled back down, Gavin hurried over to me with a phone and pushed it over to me, apparently it was my agent at the company who had just watched and was talking with the bosses. Apparently 'LGBTQ+' heroes were big money and news to make a company look diverse and with it already being a possibility in the plot, they felt my work was fine to start moving that way. I was a little miffed that I had to get 'PR' permission to do what I wanted, but if it gave me the chance then I was content as I was taken back to the booth to sign, only to watch a figure in a thick coat and wearing a hat walk past it. He looked like he was cosplaying as an investigator character from one of the other comic series, but he'd left a note on my table and I had been sure I'd spotted a cream and ginger tabby tail swishing about.

My heart skipped a beat, but could it just be something pointless or even dangerous? I was not sure, but I unfolded the piece of paper and found that someone was asking me to go to their hotel room at the end of the day. I was shocked, the handwriting was the same as on that snuck in question and this one had been signed 'L'. My heart began to thrum in excitement, could this have something to do with Lior? I was smiling stupidly, but in truth it probably was not the case at all and I was just being teased by a weird fan who probably wanted something dangerous. I looked towards Gavin though and then as he gave a few shakes of his head, rubbing the back of his neck, I noticed there was a slight spot like he'd been bitten by a mosquito there and then I thought about the question and the fact Gavin had disappeared for nearly a whole hour earlier when we'd been setting up after saying 'ouch' loudly but no on had seen him.

Could... could it really be Lior?

My heart couldn't take it if this was some kind of prank, if it wasn't Lior then I would be miserable for the rest of my life and so, when the day ended, I went to the hotel. It was an expensive hotel, the one opposite the cheaper one I'd been shoved into and thought there were some cosplayers around, I had to go straight to the desk because I was not wearing a badge or a band on my wrist to say I was a guest of any sort. It seemed this place was super exclusive and when I asked about the room, the gecko behind the desk lifted up a claw to silence me before she dialled in a room number and then spoke curiously to a 'Doctor Felix', which sounded like a really bad pseudonym for one of my own kind of characters before mentioning my name. She then smiled in delight and then closed the phone and opened a box before pulling out a purple bracelet and then pulling out a guestbook to sign in, which I had to put my phone number and contact details in. She then informed me that the security pass to the floor was on the band, I could see it and that the band would let me have breakfast in the morning and dinner in the evening on the room, as well as room service and that I was allowed to stay two nights, a pre-paid guest a if I'd rented the room myself and I visibly gulped... someone had real money!

Walking up to the room was nerve-wracking, I found my heart hammering in anxiety over who could be in that room waiting for me! I was also concerned that someone had thought to 'purchase' me like this, showing off what they were giving me for spending the night and well, it only made me even more concerned when I reached the room and typed in the code on the band. The door unlocked and I knocked on it gently as I opened it, only to step into a luxurious suite with the sound of a shower running. I stepped into the room, calling out to Doctor Felix but getting no response until I noticed a card on the table asking me to 'make myself at home', which was even more disconcerting. I was not sure what to do but found myself just sitting down, just as the shower turned off.

I did not want to turn around towards the shower to look, I was far too scared of what was going to be waiting behind me when I could hear a figure step out and wrap a towel around themselves. I could hear the water dripping from them and the use of shower gel overcame any sense of smell that might tell me the identity, although from the scent in the room I knew it was a cat. My body shivered as I heard the soft, gentle breaths as the being strolled over to me and then gently lay their paws onto my shoulders as I took in a deep breath in anxiety before I felt a little digit tickling at my dangling earrings and producing a soft purr before a slightly familiar voice, deeper than I recalled, spoke to me sweetly.

"I like this dangly one... I like how tall you've gotten but I have to say... your little paunch is rather cute Roman." I shuddered, suddenly long slim paws of ginger and cream tabby cat slid down my front as the purring increased to knead at my belly. I took in a deep breath of shock, feeling a cat's cheek and chin rub against my head and then I caught the familiar scent from the glands to say that I was not insane in thinking it could be Lior... this WAS Lior! I shivered in surprise as soft lips pressed to my cheek before a paw grasped my left one, turning my hand over, clearly in search of a ring. "Are you seeing anyone?"

"No." It came out with great ease, I didn't care even if I was, my heart was hammering away, my blood was boiling in excitement as the cat slid forward with a grin. I was startled and happy to see Lior, I had missed him for so long and it was clear from his looks that he'd been busy but keeping exceptionally well as he was well-preened and very healthy. He looked better than I looked and to my surprise, he straddled my lap, the towel the only thing stopping me from seeing what was beneath and my erection was practically automatic as Lior pressed his lips to mine in a loving kiss and I could only sigh. "This isn't a dream or some hidden camera show or anything like that... you're really here and I'm not having a psychotic episode?"

"Tut-tut... I'm hurt you'd think I'd only ever turn up in such a bad situation. I'm real Roman... but I can see why you'd be concerned, what with the fact I had to change my name to Lyle Felix and so tell everyone just to call me L. I ended up going into medical science, got a doctorate and you know, my father's stuff I developed down into just a simple sedative without the hypnotic affects... though I get the feelings you noticed that little bunny friend of yours was... suggestable." I wanted to laugh at him for the word, how typical of Lior to say all this and sound like a villain as he did so. But I had heard about new sedatives that were using pheromones to ease patients with anxiety... and I had heard of Doctor Felix being a made recluse. I had never put two and two together though, I'd just always assumed that Lior had been forced to run away from me and we were never to meet again. I was so happy I was wrong as Lior kissed my nose again. "It's been lonely though... I got sent to England, hence the fancier tone in my voice, I had to fake the accent for ages and all I could think was how miserable I was. Seriously... there's nothing fun to do in a country that rains all day and then when it doesn't rain declares a drought. I've buried myself in work so I haven't had relationships, nor one-night stands... just lonely nights with my right hand, nipple camps and anal beads... somehow I've developed a fetish for them..."

"I see..." I gulped, suddenly wondering if that one time I'd use the chemical on him had caused such an affect, it had certainly had an affect on Joey. I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell Lior about that fling, especially because Joey had been such a great sex slave and been willing to have anything shoved inside if it would mean he'd be humiliated. I was shocked though as he kissed me again... were we moving too fast or picking up where we left off? I didn't know and I needed to ask. "Lior... what about back then... I mean, my life's been decent and I've got a kid but it never worked out properly between me and the mother and I was sex friends with Joey for a bit but... I guess... what are we doing right now?"

"Awe... Roman..." Lior purred, his paw sliding around my hip to rub near my tail, making me shudder with the thought of that loud crunch I'd heard and then the fall! I then got another shock as Lior moved to unzip my jeans... keen to have his way with me no matter how confused I was. He kissed me again, this time his tongue slid out to tickle the roof of my mouth and vibrate against my lips. I moaned loudly before opening my mouth for more, he hooked his lips around my tongue and then began to suck on it before then grasping my swelling form when I froze and he then backed off a little. "I never got to thank you for rescuing me and taking him down... nor to apologise for the loss of your tail. I wanted it to be that, with him gone, you and me go on to have a wonderful relationship with one another not needing anyone. But they said I had to go away and I had to give up my phone and any photos of you and... all I managed to keep was the video of you playing with my nipples with Oscar sucking my cock..."

"Excellent fap material... though if we'd filmed that time with Joey..." I chuckled, relaxing and returning perhaps to that mindset just before we'd been parted. Lior sniggered with me, pushing my shoulder and insisting that it would have made them a mint in the porn game. The pair of us just continued to chuckle for a while before we kissed a little more passionately and then I sat up a little and shifted my pants all the way down. Lior suddenly flashed with the towel, showing of his erection, clambering onto my groin and then laying the towel around our hips with a giggle. He leant against me, rubbing and purring his face against mine as I nuzzled into him with a sigh of delight and growled back in pleasure before we kissed once more and I had to ask one question. "This won't be the last though?"

"Oh no... only the first of many... we've got at last a decade's worth of fucking to catch up on, lover-boy." Lior teased and I almost laughed at him, if I wasn't feeling so content and comfortable right now, I might have been a little impolite over his tone, but Lior just kissed me again. He then shuffled his groin against mine, his cock rubbing against mine gently before then his wet, freshly washed and stretched, asshole was pressed to the tip of my cock as Lior gave a swish of his tail and continued to purr away in delight. He slowly lowered himself down onto the length, groaning and sighing over how thick it was whilst I groaned at how tight he was even with preparation. Then, he was sitting comfortably upon me, licking his lips and smiling down at me lovingly. "It fits perfectly once its in... touches every bit that feels good... I'm sure we were meant to be Roman and now, I'm not letting you escape me...

"

With that, I began to move my hips as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders, pressing his face to mine as he moaned. But I had to admit, I rather liked the line... it was ominous and sounded like it would suit a villain. Yet, as soon as I lifted a paw and gently pinched one of his nipples to cause that erotic cry of embarrassment, pleasure and pain, I probably got bigger but I certainly got into it and the prospect of how much we had to catch up with was exciting. It seemed like we had a bizarre set of plans for the future....

The End