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Your comments, as ever, are greatly appereciated. Even (especially?) criticism - I promise I won't get mad at you :). Nick is bi. Don't read this if that bothers you.

• Xi

All's Fair - Part 11

I found myself wishing that my bedroom wasn't the farthest one from the stairs. It made for a very long, exposed walk around the edge of the balcony over the living room. Long, exposed, and uncomfortable, since I had no idea what expression I should be wearing. A smile just didn't feel appropriate, given the last few days. But I wanted to at least seem affable. My first instinct was to slink around the far edge in an attempt to stay out of sight and delay the moment of judgment, as it were, but I'd been doing that too much lately, so instead I tried to walk as casually as I could down the center.

There were fifteen steps in the staircase, not counting the landing where it turned a corner partway down. It took forever. Dan was on the main couch, reading; Aislyn was doing the same on the half couch. I didn't dare look at them, but I felt - or imagined - their gazes like razors against my fur.

Still, the horrendously long journey let me come up with a decent plan of action, which I expertly implemented at the foot of the stairs.

"H-hi." I faltered to a stop, searching the two wolves' faces, then mentally kicked myself and started moving again. Real nice job of pretending to be casual, there. Now, would I normally have walked around the couch to the left or the right, and would I have worried about brushing a couple feet past Dan on the way if I took the left? I couldn't remember; I'd been deep enough in my depression to not really notice or care. Eventually I tried the former; it seemed the more direct route, which was probably what I'd have taken. Of course, by the end of my first step I was having second thoughts. Usual or no, it might have been better to go around the back. More respectful. But I'd already started; it would be awkward, to say the least, to make a sudden ninety degree turn now. I could tough it out. So I took another step. Yeah, this definitely wasn't a good idea. I should have turned right when I had the chance. I mean, jeez, I must look like I was assaulting him! But it was too late now; I'd just have to pull through. Right. No problem. Jus -

There was a steadying paw resting on my shoulder. I looked up into Dan's warm hazel eyes, having not even noticed my third and fourth steps. So this wasn't awkward at all. Lord, I should have turned the other way. Even the second or third steps wouldn't have been all that bad for timing.

"Hey there." He smiled, a little carefully. "You awake?"

"Yeah." I paused to consider. "Pretty much."

"Good morning, Nicholas," Aislyn's voice was sudden, cool, smooth, and polite. She smiled a little when I looked at her in surprise. I suppose the expression might have been called a polite greeting. "How kind of you to join us." Dan shot her a warning glance.

"M'name's not Nicholas," I said, then winced. No, I was certainly not awake. "It's just Nick," I finished in a rush.

She shrugged. "Well, at least you seem to have quit sulking - for the moment."

"Aislyn!" Dan barked sharply, but I shook my head. Truth to tell, I was actually more comfortable with this than I'd been while walking over.

"Mostly," I agreed, then winked mischievously at her. "For the moment." She rolled her eyes and returned to her book. I tried to see the cover, recalling her crack about Heinlein, but my stomach interrupted me with an insistent growl. So I smiled a little at Dan, at least as carefully as he had, and headed for the kitchen instead. I heard the two wolves talking quietly while I hunted through the fridge for sandwich supplies, but I didn't bother listening. If Dan felt like telling his daughter off for being chilly towards a foster kid leeching off of her family, that was his affair.

When Dan walked into the kitchen I was already in the process of devouring my second sandwich, albeit at a slightly more sedate pace then I had my first. He eyed the third still waiting on the plate with a suppressed grin.

"So's Jake still asleep?" I asked once I'd swallowed. His door was shut, but he could have been out already.

Dan nodded, and I smirked. Lazybones. He didn't even have the excuse of spending half the night in an empty swimming pool.

"So did he talk to you last night?" Dan asked, and it was my turn to nod. I was a little surprised - either Dan was the very soul of tact, or Jake hadn't mentioned that I didn't get in 'till four-ish in the morning. For that matter, he hadn't even asked where I'd been, which was kind of nice. Explaining where I'd been last night would have been a little weird. I shook my head a little. He probably just didn't too much care, same as he was probably going to tell Dan all about it as soon as he woke up. Nothing worth gratitude.

Unfortunately, there was only so much I could do before I had to remember what we did talk about, and the little post-it note still in my room. At least this time I could keep my face from falling too much, though my ears did fold back against my skull. I sighed to myself. Now what?

Answer, apparently: walk two miles to nowhere with a phone and a number I didn't dare use. Not that I didn't try, per se; I unlocked the keypad a good dozen times, and a few of those I even got the first digit of his number dialed. Once I actually managed to get three, before the swarming butterflies in my stomach forced me to drop it. So, revised answer: find a convenient park bench and sulk, as my stunning, politely-hostile foster sister would say. I stuck my tongue out and made a face. Lord, had I actually just thought that? Jeez, just because I'm living with them doesn't mean I've been buried that deep. I wasn't sure exactly what I was to her, legally, but hopefully not that.

Anyway.

Damn it all, just do it! Get out the phone. Unlock it and start pressing numbers. Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap. Press 'call'.

Pressing the little device to my ear with a peculiar combination of nervousness and desperation, I suddenly realized I'd actually done it. Oh, shit. What was I thinking? I must've been -

First ring. God. What was I going to say? All that time stalling, you might at least have thought up some kind of plan of action. Maybe I should hang up now, think about what the hell I was going to do when he -

Second ring. I must have been out of my mind. One of these days, I absolutely had to learn to think before I did something this dumb, or I'd wind up diving off the deep end. Like now. I definitely should have hung up when I had the chance, I mean, he was probably still furious with me and -

"Hello?"

Shit. I opened my muzzle, but nothing came out except a tiny whine, probably too quiet for him to hear. The seconds slid by while I tried desperately to get my voice working.

"...Hello? ...All right, you've got three seconds to start talking before I hang up."

"Wait!" I squeaked, shaking from head to foot with my tail tucked between my legs. But that might have been the temperature outside. Right. "I-Ivan? Um, hi. It's me. Nick. I -"

Click.

It took a couple seconds of dial tone for me to really grasp what had happened. Slowly I lowered my paw and tried to end the call. On the second attempt my trembling thumb managed to hit the correct button. One minute and nineteen seconds. Equally slowly, I pulled first my left leg, then my right, onto the bench and up to my chest. Folding my arms on my knees, I lowered my face until the trichromatic fur hid my tears.

But you know something? After you do that long enough and often enough, a couple of things happen. First, you realize that it doesn't really solve your problem. And second, you start to realize you're just hoping someone will notice. For me, that time, the combination was sufficient, after a minute or two, to make me abruptly straighten, stifle my sobs, and think determinedly about nothing until I had myself under control. More or less, anyway.

I used the rest of that determination to get out my phone and redial. First ring. A slight pause, and then Alltel was telling me that the wireless customer I was trying to reach was unavailable at this time, and would I please record my message at the tone.

"Ivan, it's me again," I said after said tone, doing my level best to keep my voice calm. "Listen, I'm -" I had to stop to swallow "- I'm really sorry for last week." I paused to consider how much apology I should put in a message. At length I decided on something fairly brief. "I shouldn't have blown up like that. I - could we maybe meet somewhere to talk things out?" Jake, virtually verbatim. "Maybe at the mall, like three-ish today, at the Starbucks? Or you could call me back. I -" hope you'll be there was the rest of that sentence, but I decided against it. "- sorry again. Bye." Three gave me another half hour or so before I had to start walking, or somewhat longer if I intended to go back to Jake's and mooch a ride. Which I didn't. But I really ought to consider a bike, or a skateboard. After all, how hard could it be to learn?

I chuckled to myself, with more than a little ironic bitterness. Jake wouldn't be there this time, either. Maybe I would be able to keep from screwing up quite so badly on round two. Then again, that assumed Ivan would be there, which was probably unlikely. My lips twisted, and I had to inhale sharply and ponder the grey sky for a while to get a hold of myself. Once I'd done so, I got up and started meandering deeper into nowhere. It might have been better to ask for a time that didn't leave me free for so long. But too late now. The odds were slim enough that Ivan would listen to my first message; they were pretty much nill that he'd listen to a second, especially for something as stupid as that.

It can be kind of annoying when other furs are constantly telling you to wear a coat, but they do have a point sometimes. One half-hour circuit later, I paused by my park bench to shiver and rub my paws together. Then I started for the mall.

Traffic was significantly louder as I walked nearer the center of town. It was nearly enough that I didn't hear the phone ringing in my pocket. But only nearly, and I wondered at the sheer power of such a simple instrument as I pulled it out. The ability to connect to virtually anyone no matter where you are is pretty incredible, but it can also be pretty annoying. At the moment, it was a bit of both, and I checked the screen to see who was calling.

Said screen claimed it was Claire, and I spared a moment to wonder both how it knew and how she'd known my number, before I realized that the company must have transferred all the data from my old phone onto this one.

"Hullo?"

"Hello, Nick?" I immediately sharpened my regard. I couldn't tell you exactly what about her tone sounded off, but whatever it was made it painfully obvious that something was wrong.

"Hey, Claire. What's the matter?"

"It's - you remember when you said we could go climbing sometime?"

It took a breath or two for the implications of that question to sink in, and my eyes sharpened even more. "Yeah. Claire, are you okay?"

Her voice was shuddering more and more noticeably. "C-could we maybe go do that?" She dropped to a half-sob, half-whisper. "Now?"

I was having trouble getting enough oxygen. God, why did it have to be now? Why couldn't it have been just a couple hours later, when I knew for sure whether Ivan would be there? Part of me knew how petty that was, how selfish, when the girl on the other end of the line was clearly an inch from tears, but I wanted to be at the mall. He might come.

I swallowed hard. "Claire -" one deep breath. "Sure. Where are you?" She gave me directions to her house from where I was - it turned out I wasn't even a mile away, but in the wrong direction. I couldn't get there and still be at the mall in anything near time, and it didn't sound like Claire was in a state to come to me instead. But I kept that out of my voice while promising to be there as soon as I could, and carefully pressed the button to end the call.

Then I fell to my knees and sobbed.

Her house was one of the old brick ones, two stories and an attic and joined to another on both sides. I'd made it in seven minutes, including forcing myself to get going in the first place. The surface was charcoal-grey and pitted with age, covered, like all the rest on that row, with the residue of decades spent in smog. Still panting a little, I tentatively knocked on the door, right under the tarnished brass number.

The ancient wood was flung open almost before my paw touched it, and the dark hole left behind served - poorly - to frame an enormous bear. She must have been nearly Jake's height, and he's one of the tallest furs I know; but where his frame is fairly lithe, hers... wasn't. A lot of it was a massive base of slab-like muscle, topped by a hefty layer of fat and covered in thick, curly, filthy brown-grey fur. As if that wasn't intimidating enough, she reeked of alcohol, tobacco, and weed, and was wearing a furious expression.

"Wadd'ya want?!" she not-quite-roared, while I pretty much cowered back from her and started praying I was at the wrong house.

Still. I straightened my spine, in the process reminding myself that I had one, and met her gaze. "Good afternoon, Ma'am. My name is Nick, and I'm a friend of Claire's from school. Is she there?" Formality seemed like the best approach for this.

Oddly enough, that seemed to calm the behemoth in front of me - a little, anyway. "Oh," she grunted, suddenly giving me a bleary appraisal. Then she turned to shout into the house. "Claire! Get your fat ass down here!" She shut the door in my face while I throttled an impulsive urge to hit her.

The door remained shut, though I could hear raised voices behind it. Eventually, just as I was getting ready to knock again, it opened, and Claire just managed to slip out before it slammed shut again.

We looked at each other in silence for a moment, taking inventory. Her eyes were bloodshot and still damp with tears; her fur and clothes were scrupulously clean, especially in comparison with her mother's, but a sliver of white gauze showed past the end of each sky-blue sleeve. I bit my lip when I saw that, and she nervously pulled the sleeves of her jacket down a little while looking at me. I just hoped my face showed nothing, and especially that she couldn't see the dried tears still in my eyes. Without a word, I took her paw and started leading her up the sidewalk.

Once we had a block or two between us and Claire's house, she smiled weakly at me. "Thanks for coming out here, Nick."

"Any time." Literally - it must be right about three now.

Which thought suddenly reminded me that I hadn't called Ivan to let him know where I wasn't.

As casually I could, I excused myself and typed a quick text message. Voice would probably have been better, but that would have let Claire know what she'd interrupted. Then, very deliberately, I turned the phone off, because I couldn't have handled it if he called back. Pocketing it, I turned back to Claire and put on a fragile smile.

Not that it helped. Someone with issues like hers really has no business being so sensitive to other furs' (relatively) minor problems, but she was. "Are you okay?" she asked.

I managed a small laugh. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?" the bear-fox dropped her eyes in chagrin, and I took a step closer to touch her shoulder. "Seriously, it's not a problem."

We started walking again, not really going anywhere in particular; just talking about nothing. After a couple minutes Claire chuckled. "I hope you don't mind, but I think Mum thinks you're my boyfriend or something."

I blinked a couple times. "Where'd she get that idea?"

"I dunno. Something about what you said when you got there, I guess. She didn't really say."

"Huh. Well, you could tell her we're married for all I care, as long as she lets you out."

We'd meandered our way to a park, fairly barren at the moment but at least quieter than on the main streets, and parked on one of a set of wooden benches surrounding a dried fountain. There was an ice skating pond, kept artificially frozen for a month or two in the winter and used as a reflecting pool otherwise, a hundred yards or so away, which was drawing most of the park's traffic and left us fairly isolated.

"You don't like my Mum much, do you?" Claire asked at length.

I wrinkled my nose. "Not overly, no."

She sighed. "She's not really as bad as it looked," she said. "It's just lately she and Dad have been fighting, and then Dad lost his job, and they're just - coping."

I snorted. "By boozing and abusing you." Before she could say anything, I lowered my eyes and shook my head. "Sorry. That was over the line."

"Yes it was," she answered, but at the same time squeezed my paw. "Nick, they're my parents," she whispered. "What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know," I replied quietly, a little at a loss for words. I let out an even quieter, sad chuckle and gently rubbed her arm. "But I meant it when I said you could call me."

She pulled her arm away. "Well, I tried your number a few days back, but it didn't get through."

I winced. "Oh. I'm really sorry; I broke my phone last week; I only got this one yesterday." Or early this morning, rather.

"Klutz." Claire grinned, and I gave a playful shrug. I didn't mention that it wasn't exactly an accident. "Anyway, it wasn't a disaster; I can still talk to my brother, when he's not working. I think he stayed this year instead of going to college so he could keep an eye on me."

"That's pretty cool," I said, studying her expression. "Except you feel guilty about it."

The bear-fox gave a non-committal shrug. "I think he gave up a couple fairly serious scholarships to do so."

Oh. But I put on a smile anyway. "Still not your fault. Besides, if worst comes to worst you can pay him back after you get out of college and start making a couple hundred grand. I saw the way you study."

"I'm not really that good."

I rolled my eyes. "Compared to who?"

"Well, I've seen your test scores; you probably had one of the best grades in Composition."

"That's because I'm naturally brilliant, talented, and charismatic." I considered. "Good-looking too."

She laughed. "Oh, how could I forget?"

"You couldn't, of course; I radiate my awesomeness to everyone around me. But seriously, it's pretty incredible how hard you work, and I've seen your test scores too. You can't tell me you aren't pretty near the top as well. And your brother stuck around because he's a really nice guy, not because you did anything wrong."

Claire gave me a grateful smile, which left me feeling about ten feet tall since I was pretty much winging this whole thing. Taking her paw again, I stood up. "Now, I believe we're supposed to be climbing on private property. Alternately, the donut shop down the way smells really good."

A couple hours later, though, we'd gone back to Claire's house and were feeling distinctly more somber. How do you say to have a good evening when all the evidence says it will be anything but? But before we got there she stopped suddenly and faced me. "You know, you're the only one who knows about me who hasn't asked me to stop." She twisted her arms to show what she was talking about.

I bit my lip. "If I did, would you?" Her lowered gaze proved my point. "Anyway, I'm not really in a position to tell you what to do; I'm just a friend. Try to take care of yourself, though, okay?"

Claire nodded, hugged me, and wished me a good evening - she, at least, could - then walked inside. And I took a deep breath and started walking back to Jake's.

There was a Christmas tree on the far side of the living room, and other decorations seemed to have sprung up since this morning. Not all of them had, of course; the lights outside had been on ever since I arrived, and I vaguely remembered seeing some of the holly sprigs and interior lights go up over the last week, but I hadn't paid any attention. Now I suddenly realized that Christmas was only a week away, and my stomach did a smallish back flip. I'd never actually gone present shopping before; at the center, there really wasn't anyone to shop for, unless you actually liked your handlers. It wasn't a money issue; I had allowance from both the center and Jake's parents. The only thing I was missing was the faintest clue of what to get.

But I'd have to worry about that later. For now, Jake and Michael had looked over from decorating said tree, and Jake was striding over in a way that suggested impending havoc. I smirked enjoyably, even if I had no idea what I'd done to tick him off this time.

"Where have you been?" he asked with dangerous, brittle calm.

I laughed. "What do you care?"

He didn't even acknowledge that I'd spoken. "Do you want to know where I was?"

"No -"

"I was out with Ivan, mutt." My heart suddenly decided to visit my toes, and my smirk vanished. "You see, he called me to tell me off for giving you his phone number, and then to make me come to Starbucks to keep you from doing anything stupid." Jake's calm voice was rising steadily, until it was two short steps from a shout. "So off I go, and just barely have time to sit down, when he gets a text - a text, for God's sake! - saying you won't be there. No reason; you're just standing him up. 'Sorry, but I won't be there.' So tell me, mutt, why I even fucking bothered trying to help you?!"

By then we'd acquired an audience. Jake had backed me into the door, though he kept several feet away. My ears lay flat against my skull, and it was all I could do to keep from falling to the floor and sobbing like a lost puppy. My tail was pulled in so far that it stuck out in front of me from between my legs.

"So I'll ask again: where have you been?"

"I - I can't tell you," I choked out, hearing a high-pitched whine behind my voice but unable to get rid of it. It was all I could do to speak at all.

I didn't look up, but I didn't need to; I could hear his rolling eyes in his bitter voice. "Oh. Of course; no need to explain why you ditch your would-be friends as soon as they try to give you another chance. It's not like they deserve an explanation anyway, right? Would you tell Ivan, in the unlikely event that he ever speaks to you again?" I couldn't answer, but I didn't need to. Jake snorted. "Naturally. After all, it's not like you care about him anyway, right?"

"I'm sorry," I whispered, finally losing the battle and starting to cry in earnest.

"Jake, that's enough," Halo's voice said sharply from the entry to the parlor. Walking forward, she wrapped her arms around me. I caught a glimpse of the others, also in the entry: Dan, looking deeply troubled, Michael, staring miserably between me and his brother, Aislyn... expressionless. I buried my face in Halo's sweater and slowly, slowly forced myself to stop sobbing.

"Apologize, Jake," Halo said over my head, still sounding angry.

Jake sighed and remained silent for a long moment. "I need to borrow your car, Mum," he said. His voice sounded... tired. Exhausted, really.

"Jake!" Halo snapped, but he kept going.

"I am apologizing. There's about one chance in hell that Ivan will even talk to him, and it's getting slimmer by the minute. Nick needs to get there A-SAP, so I'll drive him over." My heart, just beginning the long trek up my legs, slipped and fell back to the floor, and also stopped beating.

The tense silence stretched on for just about an eternity before Halo released me. "All right," she relented in a tone that warned of a long talk later, and went to go get the keys.

I dared one look at Jake's face, but quickly looked down again, flinching away from his anger.

The tension didn't lessen at all as Halo left; it just shifted. Jake didn't turn around, and neither his father nor his siblings moved, but I could almost hear their silent, furious arguments. Dan still looked troubled, but his silent worries slid off of Jake's cold shell like rain. Michael was still looking at his brother, and I suddenly realized that he'd probably never seen his brother angry like this, let alone in such direct confrontation with their parents. It must have been a little frightening to realize that your idol had a dark side. And Aislyn - well, I still couldn't read Aislyn. She wasn't doing a happy dance like I'd half expected, but it may simply have been beneath her dignity. Instead she stared intently at the back of Jake's head - probingly? If so, neither she nor the lighter-colored wolf gave any sign of what she found.

Halo returned and held out the keys, and Jake took them with a cool nod that abruptly made his relation to his sister painfully obvious, then stalked over to the door into the garage. I followed mutely, but just before I stepped through Dan's voice made me pause.

"Nick, you don't have to go if you don't want to."

"But I really do want to," I answered, my voice hoarse from the abuse I'd run it through today. Then I slipped through and got into the car after Jake.

He drove in silence for a few minutes, until I tentatively opened my muzzle. "Jake?"

"Don't talk to me right now," he said brusquely, keeping his gorgeous, furious eyes locked on the road. Our speed inched up a few miles per hour, then slowed again.

He didn't say another word as he took us to Ivan's apartment, and his fulminating silence held my tongue as well. He'd barely thrown the parking brake before he was opening my door, pulling me outside and all but dragging me across the pavement. A light snow had just started, somehow making the entire scene even more surreal. Finally he stopped by a door on the third floor and beckoned mockingly for me to take over. I tentatively stepped up to the too-familiar wood while Jake leaned back against the opposite wall, arms folded across his broad chest and a slight, cruel smile playing across his muzzle as he watched me.

Steeling myself, I lifted my paw and knocked.

Nothing.

I knocked again.

Nothing.

Shaking like a leaf, I carefully pressed one ear to the door, trying to ignore Jake's massive frame behind me. I thought I could hear some muffled thumps from inside. Taking a chance, I decided to try talking.

"Ivan?" I could barely manage a whisper. Coughing a little and working up my courage, I gave it another go. "Ivan? It's me, again, Nick." I gave a hollow ghost of a laugh. "I guess you know that. I... look, I'm - I'm so, so sorry. For everything. I - did everything all wrong today, and last week." Please, just let me get through this before I fall apart. "I sh-shouldn't have not been there today; I swear I didn't mean to do that; I just - something came up, and I had to -"

Without warning, the door opened, and Ivan was standing right in front of me. I squeaked and backpedaled, then frontpedaled again when I realized that if I went too far I'd just wind up pressed against Jake instead. "Why?" the lion asked harshly.

There it was. And the answer hadn't changed. "I c-can't tell you."

Ivan snorted and started to slam the door shut, but Jake shifted very slightly and caught his eye. They stared each other down for nearly a minute, then Ivan lowered his gaze and flung the door open, stalking back into the apartment while I wondered almost-hysterically if Jake could do that to everyone. Then I stumbled in after the lion and wound up sitting across the couch from him, while Jake took a post just inside the door, arms still crossed. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the rat Ivan roomed with take a tactful position just inside the hallway to the bedrooms. He and Jake shared a glance - not a friendly one, exactly, considering that their 'teams' were playing for opposite sides, but one almost of kinship. Part of me wished they'd both back off and give us a little privacy, but another part realized they were playing referee, and that it was probably necessary.

"So, what?" Ivan asked, recalling my attention. "Did you find a butterfly to chase down instead?"

"Ivan, I -"

"And why the hell can't you?!" Ivan almost-roared, while I cowered miserably back into the couch. But he cooled as quickly as he flared. "Never mind. I was on dope to go anyway; I guess I got what was coming to me."

"I d-don't have permission," I stammered, trying to find a way, any way, to explain without hinting at Claire's secrets.

"Whose permission?" Ivan asked angrily. He jerked his head at Jake, making his mane wave in the dim gold lamplight. "His?"

I shook my head, studying my knees, curled protectively in front of me. "Just - someone I know. It was an emergency," I added pleadingly, desperate to show him that I was sincere.

The lion slumped, then abruptly changed subjects. "So, what? Do I just let you waltz back in, Hi Nick, no, it's fine, I guess I really do want you in my life after all? Why? What makes you think I do?"

"I don't know," I whispered. "I just -" hope so. "I really fucked up, and I'm sorry for it - I don't know how else to say it. I just - one more chance?"

He sighed again. "Why?" Suddenly he sounded tired, and I was reminded of the way Jake had sounded. "Why should I? I don't want you to keep acting like my boyfriend. I don't want you to touch me, or to smile at me, or kiss me, or any of the other stunts you've tried to pull ever since the start of term. I don't want you to be happy like that when you're around me. Why should I?" The rat in the hall gave the Ivan a lightning-quick, shrewd look, but immediately smoothed his face back into nonexpression.

"So what can I do?" I asked in turn, after a long pause. "I like you, Ivan. I can't help that; I said it wrong last time, but it's still true. Am I to -" I stopped. I knew the answer. I didn't like it, but I guess there wasn't really a lot of choice at that point. "Could we - just try it as friends? I'd try not to hit on you or anything, but we could still hang out sometimes?" my heart tightened painfully, and I almost didn't see Jake relax minutely.

Ivan snorted. "Right. As a friend, you're not exactly worth much, you know." Jake shifted very slightly, then relaxed again. The rat also shifted, looking at Jake.

Before I could say anything the door burst open and a trio of laughing furs - two male, one female - stumbled in, filling the tiny space with a solid wall of raucous sound and reeking of alcohol. I wrinkled my nose. "Dudes! What's up, guys?" one of them - a boar who looked about the same age as the rat - asked, still laughing.

The rat rolled his eyes and left the room without a word, heading back down the hall. Ivan sighed a little. "You guys better go," he murmured, before getting up and slapping the boar's shoulder. But he didn't sound hostile - either to us or to the newcomers. "Hey, Chase! 'Sup!"

Jake's paw wrapped around my arm and he quickly steered me out of the apartment, shutting the door behind him. Neither of us said anything until we got to the car, but it was a different kind of silence than the one we'd arrived in.

"Well," I said as I got in, as much to myself as to the wolf in the driver's seat, "I guess that went better than I had any right to hope for."

***

And there it is. I don't think I like it much - take Part 9, reverse it, add angst and subtract skill, and you get this. But you're welcome to disagree, or to add clarification to your agreement.

Anyway, thank you all for reading this.