Resignation (pt.1)

Story by skynero19 on SoFurry

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#4 of All in Time

Alright, here's the first part of All in Time's second official chapter! Nate and Cross have started high school, and have a whole lot more on their plates now. So they spend time together as often as they can, which isn't as much as they would like. It's time for another night of studying and pizza!

(Warning: starts with a flashback)


_"So today was your second Spanish Club meeting?" the large lion in uniform asked over the dinner table.

"Yeah; the homecoming dance is going to be Spain-themed this year, so the homecoming committee came to get Spanish Club involved already."

"I still surprised you joined, ace," the older lion laughed. "You can't speak a lick of it!"

"Spanish class is about the language, dad, Spanish club is for the culture."

"And it's an excuse to hang out with Nathan more," his mom interjected, a little curtly.

Cross's ears flattened a little bit. "Well, yeah... Even though we're in a lot of the same courses, the only class we actually share is fifth period math, and then lunch... He's not that athletic, he wasn't going to join cross country or tennis with me, so I wanted to join one of his extracurriculars..."

His father just gave a "Hngh" at that, and the dinner table was silent for a moment save for the clinking of silverware.

Cross eventually broke the uncomfortable silence. "...Actually, I wanted to talk to you two about him." That got their attention. "Do... do you remember back to when you first talked to me about being with him?"

"It's rather hard to forget," his dad commented flatly. "What about it?"

"W-well, y-you said to let you two know beforehand if we ever wanted... you know... so we c-could be safe about it?" His voice trailed off significantly as he spoke, seeing his parents already start to react negatively. His mom leaned forward, rubbing her forehead, while his dad huffed and crossed his arms, leaning his head back to stare at the ceiling fan.

After a tense moment, his mom defeatedly asked "So you want us to get you those condoms and lube for, what, this weekend?"

"N-no, actually not this weekend." His parents looked back at him then. "We're only two or so weeks into the semester, but high school has been so hard adjusting to - you're seen how buried in homework I've been - neither of us feel like we have the time or energy to do much more than just hang out while school's in session..."

His parents looked slightly perplexed. "So, what, Thanksgiving or winter break, then?"

"Spring break, actually..."

"Spring break," repeated his mom, now visibly confused. "This is an awfully long time "beforehand" to let us know."

"Well... it has to do with Spanish club as well, actually." He then stopped explaining for a moment, unsure how to continue.

"Go on," his father egged.

"Aaahhh... Well, in our first meeting, they told us that this school year was the once-every-four-years that Spanish club sponsors a spring break trip to one of the beaches down in Mexico." He stopped, waiting to see how his parents would react to that, but they just stared with slight frowns. The young lion shrunk a little bit in his chair, but to dispel the uncomfortable silence, he continued "We didn't latch on to that idea right away - especially not for... that purpose, it just sounded like a fun trip - but over the past week, I started thinking about how it might be... more special for our... first... time..." He trailed off timidly, getting the distinct feeling he was digging himself a deeper and deeper hole as he spoke.

Ears flat against his head, Cross tried eating a bit more to pretend he had never even said anything while his parents simply stared at each other, ruminating.

"You really didn't think that through, did you, Chris?" his dad finally asked. "Knowing you intend to get physical with your boy friend doesn't entirely endear us to the idea of letting you go to Mexico for spring break."

"S-sorry sir," Cross muttered quietly, eyes getting a very thin sheen of liquid on them. "I j-just wanted to be f-forward with you two like you-u want..."

"We did request that," his mom reminded them, seeing her son's distress and decided it would be better to diffuse the situation for now. "So, do you know where in Mexico the club would be going, and for how much? Mexico isn't entirely safe..."

"Um... th-they don't have many details set yet, but the club subsidizes about half, more than half if fewer people go. It sounds like they're looking into Cabo San Lucas this year."

The two parents exchanged a glance; after a pause, his father gave a heavy sigh, saying "Well, we'll think about it."

His mother nodded in agreement, adding "Thank you very much, Christopher, for letting us know now. I'm not sure about letting you go to Mexico, but we will make sure you and Nathan can be safe for... whatever."

Cross nodded in affirmation, still staring at his lap, before mumbling "Thank you for... tolerating me."

His mother relented, putting on a smile and reaching a paw out and rubbing her son's shoulder. "We love you Chris, very much."

"Sorry we haven't been incredibly supportive," his father chimed in, also softening his posture. "It's just a little... weird for us."

"Well, better one steady boyfriend than a different girl each month, right?" his mom asked, trying to lighten the mood.

It successfully got a laugh out of the elder lion, the sound causing Cross to look up at his father. "For some guys, it's one a week," the father joked. He then made eye contact with the teen. "Nate's a good kid."

"We're glad you're happy," his mom finished, causing Cross to smile weakly and relax a bit.

"Thanks," he said quietly, before starting to eat again. A few minutes later, when plates were empty, Cross took the dishes into the kitchen and began cleaning them. Back in the dining room, his parents stared at each other, both thinking about what he had brought up. Eventually, his father spoke up.

"So... Mexico..."

"We never told him where he was conceived, did we?"

They both smirked, Mr. Walker answering "No, no I don't think so."

"I take it you remember our week in Cabo, yes?"

"It's rather hard to forget."_


"How was the last regular school day of the semester, boys?" Mrs. Walker asked as the two teens in question buckled up in the back seat.

"Pretty good, nothing special," Nate answered. "Regular, I guess."

"Long," Cross added. "I was so glad when the last bell rang and I could get to Senor Sandoval's room and put off thinking about classes for a while."

"But you two promise to study for finals between now and dinner, right?" the lioness prompted.

" Yeees , mom." "Yes, Mrs. Walker."

"I'll hold you to it," Nate's mom chuckled, before asking "So how was Spanish club, then?"

"Oh! We got a draft of our itinerary today," Cross said, brightening up.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Nate added. "Our flight goes out of BWI early Monday morning, stopping in Dallas before getting to Cabo midafternoon."

"We'll meet in the main lot of CRHS and leave for BWI from there at six," Cross clarified.

"Right, right. Then, over the week, they've got two day trips, an overnight on a boat, and a nice dinner scheduled. Otherwise we're free to hang out in the hotel, on the beach, or around town."

"Though we have to have a group of at least four of us plus a chaperone for that last one."

"I was about to say..." his mom commented. "Anyway, if you two need any help with studyi-"

"Oh, hang on!" Cross cut in, holding up a hand to silence the other two as he caught the opening chords of the song that just started playing on the radio. A grin grew on his face as the music progressed, accompanied by a "Yeaaahhh..." before he began singing along with the opening lines "I walk a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known. Don't know where it goes but it's home to me and I walk alone!"

Mrs. Walker just smiled shook her head as her son indulged in his favorite song of the week while his canine companion joined in on the high voice in the chorus and sang the guitar in some parts. On the last word of the song, Cross's voice cracked in a very big way, causing Nate to bust up laughing for the rest of the ride. The Lab teased Cross about "not being completely through puberty" as they walked from the car into Cross's house and then his room, where they pulled out their schoolbooks and decided to work on geometry first, since that was the one class they actually had together (and also their first exam on Monday).

It wasn't incredibly long, though, before the working together in close quarters caused one errant touch to become one intentional touch that caused both of them to smile and get distracted.

Nate chuckled, his tail starting to wag even as he said "Hey now, Cross, don't start with that, we've got studying to do..."

"Start with what??" Cross answered with a high, mock-innocent tone as he draped himself over Nate's chair, one arm wrapping around his boyfriend's shoulders and the other hanging down as he began to rub over the Lab's front.

Nate was now lightly giggling as he squirmed under the lion, getting flustered in the best possible way. "You're incorrigible."

"Wait, 'incorrigible'? Is that a synonym for 'horny'?"

That made Nate genuinely laugh. "You're 'incorrigible' because you're horny so much, but it doesn't work the other way around."

"Oh." Cross was still a bit confused, so he just shrugged it off and continued smothering Nate. The dog tried to turn his attention back to the textbook on the desk in front of him, so Cross quickly cut that off by whispering "I really look forward to Cabo... to getting your knot , pup," into Nate's ear, the insides of which immediately flushed an impressive shade of red.

"W-wait, r-really? I thought you would've wanted t-to top..."

"I want that connection the first time," Cross answered. "Here's how I see it: we get to our hotel room midafternoon and have nothing scheduled until dinner. That'll give us plenty of time to just take it slooooow and enjoy tying together; you get the tingle from topping first and I get to feel the best kind of fullness. We can just bask in our afterglow, complimented by the warmth of the afternoon sun coming in the windows and the 'perfection' of a fresh hotel room."

"hehe... Sounds really nice..." Nate mumbled.

Cross' grip on his boyfriend tightened next. " After dinner, though," he growled, causing his Lab to shiver, " after dinner I'm taking you on the ride of your life. Gonna go wild on your ass!" He caught Nate's ear in his mouth then and gnawed at it.

"You really can't wait for spring break, can you?"

"Oh, I can wait," the lion answered with a smirk, "that'll make it all the better. But I don't have to wait to do this." He leaned over and around the Lab, causing the chair to lean back a bit as he planted a kiss on Nate's muzzle before reaching down to the canine's crotch.

Nate felt the kiss coming as Cross leaned down and just gave in to it, giving a soft moan that changed into a pleasured canine whine when he felt his sheath squeezed through his jeans. He let the lion control the situation, allowing himself to be pulled back as the kiss deepened. Cross was so good at pushing his buttons; he relished moments like these...

Both of their worlds tipped suddenly; Cross found his butt planted hard on the group as Nate scrambled to brace himself against the desk, righting himself and reestablishing his balance in the chair. After a moment of both of them panting hard, wide-eyed and recovering from the surprise, Nate turned around in the chair to see what happened to Cross. They locked eyes for a moment, not speaking until after Cross finally gave a single guffaw.

"Eh... Forgot how that chair doesn't lean back well. Sorry, bud."

Nate sighed, his heart rate returning to normal. "Well, that's one way to get your blood pumping, I guess." They both chuckled at that, the Lab turning back forward in the chair as Cross got back to his feet. "Now, before you ever so rudely invaded my personal space -"

"You liked it," quipped, responding to the tease.

"I did - you were trying to get me through theorem 4.13 here; I still don't get what's going on between steps three and six..."

Cross went to rubbing Nate's shoulder as he explained the proof a different way, but the canine consciously focused on just the math, ignoring the touching. (Unconsciously, his tail kept on wagging.)

After an hour more of Cross helping Nate through theorems, proofs, trigonometry, constructions, and enough circles to last a lifetime, they shelved the math and shifted to world history. They reviewed the early modern period, Nate quizzing Cross on the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions, the Age of Exploration, and other things. Finally, after they had entered their third hour of exam review and made their way through several chapters (and labs) of biology, they heard Cross's mother call out from the kitchen.

"Alright, boys, I've got the ingredients ready, come make up your pizzas!"

With a pair of "yeah!"s, the two young furs left their books and papers behind, leaving the young lion's room and jogging down the hall and to the kitchen, where the island counter in the middle was covered with several unadorned circles of pizza dough and a dozen or so bowls filled with pizza sauce, several types of shredded cheese, and a nice selection of meats and veggies as toppings.

"Sprinkle some of the cornmeal on the dough before dolloping out the sauce," Mrs. Walker suggested as the boys converged on the ingredients.

"Oh, so we're not making the dough ourselves too, huh?" Nate asked.

"Nah, it'd take upwards of two hours after "making" the dough for it to be ready to top."

"Ah, darn; here I was thinking this would look something like a bakery with all the counters - and both of us - covered in flour."

That made both of the lions chuckle, though Cross' mother added "And then you'd be here all night cleaning my kitchen back up."

"Right, right," the Lab acquiesced, taking a spoonful of cornmeal and dishing it out over the pizza dough circle closest to him.

Amidst the talking, joking, teasing, and what else not, it took the boys a little over half an hour to top all four pizzas. Cross made himself a meat extravaganza, covering his first pizza with ham, sausage, pepperoni, and bacon - and, with some prodding from Nate, some mushrooms for good measure. Nate went with a Hawaiian-style pizza, with ham, pineapple, onions, and bell peppers on his. The other two became a four-cheese pizza and a veggie-heavy "supreme" pizza with just about everything. The adult lioness slid the four small pizzas into the oven as the boys cleaned things up before going to play video games while the pizzas cooked.

"Boys, that was Mr. Walker on the phone just now," Mrs. Walked said a little time later. "He's just leaving the base now and sounds exhausted, so it'll be a while before he gets home. The pizza's almost done, so I'll just let the oven cool to a lukewarm and keep the pizzas in there until he actually gets here, okay?"

"Sure thing, Mrs. Walker..."

"We'll just - ha, gotcha! - keep playing until then?"

She chuckled and replied "Right," turning back to make sure the oven was turned down before temporarily leaving the kitchen to make sure the master suite was going to be how her air captain liked it when he just wanted to relax and retreat from the world.

It was perfect timing later as the boys had finished a round of their game and were cruising the main menu when they heard a car door close outside the house.

"Dad's home! Dinnertime!" Cross called out, loud enough to notify his mother, before getting up to open the front door while Nate shut down the game system. As the older uniformed lion came up the front steps, his son greeted him with a bright "Hi dad! We made pizza!" before turning and heading back to the kitchen, leaving the from door open for Mr. Walker to come in; Nate gave a "Hi Mr. Walker," as he trotted after Cross.

Mr. Walker closed the front door behind him, staring after the boys as his wife came to give him a hug.

"You sounded exhausted when you called earlier," she said, giving a quick kiss on his chin "long day at the base?"

"Yeah..." They began walking to the kitchen, and that was when she noticed that he wasn't acting quite right.

"...Sam, is there something wrong?"

They entered the kitchen, Mr. Walker watching as the boys served themselves some of the pizza. They each grabbed two slices of the pizzas they had initially prepared, then Cross nicked one of "Nate's" Hawaiian slices, causing some joking around and laughter. Mr. Walker sighed at that, which got Cross' attention.

The young lion's face fell when he saw the look on his father's. "...Dad?"

Mr. Walker just closed his eyes, shaking his head slightly. "We're moving."