{"sf1_id":5464,"sf2_id":"0mvbaJym","title":"Painting the Perfect Lover","author":"WolfwithaDS","words":11550,"posted_at":"2005-04-17T19:56:00.000Z","tags":["Fox","M/M","Romance","Wolf"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/5464-painting-the-perfect-lover","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/0mvbaJym","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=5464\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*  \nWARNING! This story contains content that may be  \nunsuitable for children younger than 18! It also will  \ndepict scenes of romance between 2 anthropomorphic  \ncreatures of the same gender! If any of this bothers  \nyou, please leave immediately!  \n\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*  \n  \nAuthor's Foreword: Having said that to cover legal matters, I will somewhat go the  \nopposite way in saying that this story does not contain an incredibly yiffy section that  \nI know most of you are here for, but instead a long, romantic story about. . .well  \nyou'll just have to read it to find out. If you're looking for a quick but very sexy and  \nintimate scene with little explanation of why they're doing it, you're in the wrong place.  \nBut if you're looking for an emotional joyride more powerful than the ones you're  \ngetting from those \"happy pills\" I see sitting next to you, sit back and enjoy!  \n  \nPainting the Perfect Lover  \nBy: WolfwithaDS  \n  \nIt was finally Friday. School gets so long some weeks that I just want to  \ngive up and stay home. Alas, attendance has always been a personal priority as my  \nfather was never on time and I was constantly left stranded as a child. Ever since  \nthen I'd swore I'd be where I was supposed to when I had to be there.  \n\"Clay! Get your wolven butt over here and help me!\"  \nIt was my friend Steve. He had spilled green paint everywhere and couldn't  \nreally get to the paper towels without spreading it even further.  \n\"Hey, that's a nice look for you. I didn't know tigers came in that color.\"  \nI don't usually tease people, but I'd known Steve for long time and just couldn't  \npass up the opportunity. As I reached the paper towels, I asked him, \"How many  \ndo you think you'll need?\"  \n\"Just bring them over here already. I don't want this to dry or I'll never get  \nmy fur clean.\"  \nI sighed. Being an anthropomorph is great, but having fur was a real  \nproblem sometimes. Not that I'm complaining, I really like my fur. It's a mixed gray  \ncolor, very neutral, and the obvious reason for my name. Some have said that if I  \never stood still for an extended period of time, I'd make a great statue. The fact  \nis I didn't stand out like some of my fellow furs, but at least I could wear any color  \nof shirt without worrying about it clashing. Yup, that's me, always optimistic,  \nalways looking at the bright side. No wonder I loved bright colors so much.  \nA couple more people came over to assist in cleaning up the green paint.  \nAfter we'd gotten what we could off the poor tiger and the floor, we returned to  \nour current projects. Mine was. . .well I wasn't sure yet. The topic was to paint  \nsomething without any red or blue tones. This was my favorite part of school, an  \nintermediate level art class, meaning we were expected to know already how to  \ndraw and paint fairly well, but weren't so much graded on how well we could do  \nit. The entire point was to open our minds, to meet these seemingly random  \nchallenges within a decent time frame. Usually I'm pretty quick to get an image  \nin my head and apply it to the canvas, but this time I was stumped.  \n\"Hey, maybe I should do a self-portrait,\" I thought to myself. \"But then  \nagain, I don't have a mirror handy and there aren't enough grays here to really  \npick up on my natural highlights.\" I laughed at myself. Maybe a cool forest scene?  \nLots of green and brown under a midnight sky. Feeling inspired, I picked up my  \nbrush and got to work.  \nAfter about half an hour, I stopped and looked at my work in progress.  \nIt wasn't bad, but I have had better ones. I glanced over at the fox beside me.  \nHe hadn't even lifted his brush yet. He seemed, sad, alone, like he wasn't really  \nhere at all. I found myself watching him, completely distracted from the task at  \nhand. He was pretty short, even by fox standards, wearing a shirt that was  \nobviously larger than his actual vulpine frame. I had noticed earlier in the year  \nthat he always seemed to wear some sort of. . .body armor. I wasn't really sure  \nwhy, and had never bothered to ask him. In fact, I don't believe I've spoken  \nwith him at all, and didn't even know his name. I also noticed he had no tail  \nsticking out of his pants like the other antromorphs. A pity, really, I quite enjoyed  \nthe sight of a big, fluffy tail like the one a fox generally has. Thankfully, there was  \nno shortage of foxes here, as I believed they even outnumbered the humans in  \nthis geographic region. One I especially liked was the very reddish one of a girl  \nwho sat in front of me last year in an economics class. I saw her around from  \ntime to time, but no longer got to ignore the teacher in favor of random fantasies.  \nIt seems kinda odd that I'd be in my 2nd year of college and still a virgin, although  \nI guess the opportunity for otherwise just really hadn't come up for me. Some  \nclaim viginity is a hard thing to hold on to at this age, but I honestly didn't see the  \nproblem.  \nAnyway, where was I? Oh yeah, I wanted to speak to the fox sitting next  \nto me. But really, what could I say? I've never been one to dig into the personal  \nlife of others, even those whom I'd known for quite some time. He just looked so  \ncute, sitting there, staring off into a space deeper than the galaxy could encompass.  \nThere was a sadness in his eyes that could release enough tears to fill a. . .okay,  \nI'm not very poetic, hence my taking an art class.  \nI looked back at my painting and reached for my art brush. Well, at least  \nI thought I did. When I looked down I realized that now my hand would not move.  \nAww, this is no way to paint. I sighed, knowing now that I'd be unable to work  \nunless I spoke to the still unmoving fox. I looked past him, making sure that he  \nwasn't posing for someone (a mistake I had made before) and decided I may as  \nwell ask him.  \n\"Hi.\" I stopped. He looked over at me. Well, so much for posing a  \nquestion. \"I. . .um. . .\" God, what do you say to a face like that? The golden  \nbrown fur covering his face gave him such a sweet look, even when he seemed  \non the verge of tears. \"I see you're fulfilling the requirement on your art piece.\"  \nWhich was quite true, really, his canvas was completely devoid of paint, red, blue,  \nor otherwise.  \nHe turned away from me. Okay, really bad joke. \"I'm sorry, I couldn't  \nthink of anything else to say. I hope I didn't offend you. I should have never said  \nanything at all. I'm really sorry.\"  \nHe turned back towards me. I saw on his face the faintest hint of a smile. \"It's  \nokay. To tell you the truth, I really hate the irony of this week's challenge.  \nToday I'd love nothing more than to smear dark blue paint all over this thing.\"  \nI laughed. I completely understood his wish. I'd had days where I felt like that,  \nbut never to such an extreme. What horror could he possibly be enduring? To  \nask him would be unthinkable. But maybe, just maybe I could at least figure out  \nhis name.  \n\"I'm Clay. And I. . .I don't remember your name.\"  \n\"It's Terry,\" was all he said. I just looked at him for a while, unsure of what  \nto do next. He scooted his stool over, closer towards me. He glanced at my painted  \ntrees. He seemed to stare into them as he had been staring before. For a moment I  \nthought he'd gone back into his sad memory and forgotten where he was, but then he  \nbrought his head down onto my shoulder. I must admit I was a bit shocked at first,  \nbut eventually I found myself putting my hand on the top of his head. I was glad I  \ncould at least provide him a bit of comfort, a warmth to break his cold, lonely mystique.  \n\"Well that's it for today,\" came the voice of our instructor. \"No staying  \naround late this time, I have an appointment to get to. Everyone make sure you've  \ncleaned up everything and put your work away nicely so it doesn't get ruined.\"  \nUh huh, as if we hadn't heard that before. Well, she must get paid for something,  \nright?  \nI looked down at Terry, who had his eyes closed with his head still on  \nmy shoulder. Certainly he couldn't fall asleep that fast. \"You know the class is  \nover, right?\" I whispered in his ear, \"It's time to go.\"  \n\"Hey man, thanks for helping me with the green--\" I noticed Steve was  \nbehind me, unsure of what to make of my current predicament. I motioned  \ntowards the door, indicating I would meet him outside in a minute. He shrugged,  \nthen headed out.  \n\"Come on now,\" I coaxed softly, \"if you don't get up I'll just have to let  \nyou fall on the floor. I think there's still some wet paint on it and we wouldn't  \nwant you to get all messy.\" He got up, silently. Without a word he returned to  \nhis own area, shook his head at his blank canvas, and began putting everything  \naway. \"I'll see you on Monday?\" Terry turned towards me and for the first time  \ntoday I saw his smile come out from hiding. With a nod, he grabbed his bag and left.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; I met up with Steve outside. It was the last class for both of us, so we  \nwould each head to our respective cars, which were usually fairly close. \"So  \nwhat was up with you and that fox, dude? He seemed kinda attached to you  \nfrom where I was standing. I thought you were. . .come to think of it, I've never  \nseen you with a girl.\"  \n\"Hey now, just because I don't have some ugly stripes to cover my  \nhideous tan hide doesn't mean I can't attract the ladies.\" We both broke into  \nlaughter. I'd seen some of the females he'd been with and heard what they  \nsaid to him. And I knew that at least a few of them had gotten him in a bed,  \nalthough I didn't know which ones.  \n\"In any case, his name is Terry and he came over to me. He didn't seem  \nto be feeling well, so I just didn't have the heart to object,\" I said with sincerity.  \n\"Whatever you say, Clay.\" He grinned and I knew that he believed me,  \nbut was exacting sweet revenge for the color crack I made back with the infamous  \ngreen paint. It had been so long since someone had done anything to that extent  \nthat I'm sure it would follow him for weeks and most likely spread into various  \ngossip circles.  \nWe had reached my car. It was a green \\*giggle\\* car of some make and  \nmodel that I really didn't know of the top of my head. I'm sure if I ever lost my  \ncar or had it stolen I'd be so screwed in trying to explain what it looked like to  \nthe cops. If I had something to draw on I'd be fine, as I knew what it looked  \nlike, but that deep car stuff that like every male teenager is an expert in just didn't  \never click with me. Engine types, motors, performance, I may as well be trying  \nto decipher ancient hieroglyphs. As long as the thing ran nicely I didn't really  \ncare, although one of the tires could use a little more air. I'm not totally oblivious.  \n\"Later, Steve!\" I said as I hopped in and began to make my way back  \nhome, ready for the weekend to begin.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Monday again. The weekend was quite uneventful. At least I finished  \nmy paper for my English class and got a lot further on one of my video games,  \nhaving found a controller much better suited for my lupine digits. But now that  \nthe weekend was over, it was time for 5 more days of boring and more boring.  \nFinally, it was time for art class again.  \nI sat down and uncovered my canvas, wondering if I had been drunk  \nthe previous time I had this class. My trees were all wrong and I hadn't even  \nstarted formulating the sky. What in the world was I thinking? I reached for  \nmy blue paint, then remembered why it was I started a twilight forest scene.  \nI sighed at my paint, and life in general, when I noticed Terry getting to his seat.  \n\"Good afternoon. You look a lot better today.\" He glanced over,  \nand at first didn't seem to remember me. But after a few seconds it clicked  \nand he waved. I noticed that he never seemed to say much, but his eyes were  \nall the greeting I needed. I quickly went back to fixing the monstrosity I had  \ncreated only 3 days earlier. I added more trees to fix the sense of unbalance  \nand flowers that shined in the moonlight. After a while, I felt much more at  \npeace with my art, as it was finally coming together as envisioned. I decided  \nto take a look at what Terry was working so diligently on.  \nIt was beautiful, almost too beautiful for words. Terry had painted an  \nolder female fox looking up as she was ascending to the sun. She had  \nabsolutely magnificent wings that closely resembled those of an angel. I found  \nmyself unable to speak. The detail was so intense, so carefully constructed that  \nI couldn't imagine it came from anything other than the heart. Was this. . .was  \nthis what Terry was so sad about the Friday before? As if reading my mind, he  \nanswered my question.  \n\"Yes, that's my mother. She. . .I lost her last Thursday,\" he whispered  \nso softly, I could barely make out what he was saying. \"This is the only thing I  \ncan do to wish her goodbye.\"  \nAt this point, tears began to run down my face; not even the fur under  \nmy eyes could absorb them. I could feel Terry picking up on my emotions, and  \nhe put his arms around me. \"Thank you, for last Friday. I had no one else to  \nhold on to. You made me feel at peace with myself, gave me the courage to face  \nthe situation I could not control. I don't know what I would have done otherwise.\"  \nHis words hit me, and I felt joy that I had really made a difference. I reached my  \nhand up and stroked him behind the ear, to which he put down the paintbrush and  \nleaned into me.  \nI spent a few minutes with him, thankful that everyone else was too  \nabsorbed in their work to notice us, then returned to my own work. However,  \nit seemed like I wasn't getting anything else done today, as my emotions were  \ngetting in the way of even the most simple thought. This may be one project I  \nwasn't getting such a good grade on. But it was okay, for I had found a new  \nfriend in the process. I smiled and started watching the brushes dry out, wishing  \nfor once that the picture would just paint itself.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; After class, I caught up with Terry. He seemed to enjoy my company,  \neven outside the sanctity of the art classroom. I started to follow him, not really  \ncaring where he was headed. I figured I might as well say something. \"I never  \nknew you could paint like that. Well, before Friday I really didn't know you at  \nall, so I guess that's understandable, right?\" He laughed, but then his face broke  \nwhat seemed to be a deep thought. But then he shook his head and smiled at me  \nagain. Not sure what to make of it, I smiled at him too.  \n\"So, if you don't mind me asking, what's up with the armor? Doesn't it  \never get hot in there?\" Curiosity was getting the best of me. \"I would think as  \ncute as you are you'd like to show off that slender little body I'm sure is hidden  \ndeep inside.\" I slapped my hand over my mouth, embarrassed that I had used  \nthe word \"cute\" out loud in front of him like that. He blushed, hopefully taking  \nthat as a simple compliment, and began to explain it to me.  \n\"It was a long time ago, back when I was very young. I was an only  \nchild, so I always entertained myself playing with whatever else was around.  \nUnfortunately, I ended up pawing a boulder that wasn't quite stable on a nearby  \nhill. It fell on me and crushed my already fragile spine. It's never quite healed,  \nand prone to impact. I wear this to protect myself from getting injured again. I  \nnever could find one in a smaller size, but the extra space doesn't suffocate my fur.  \nI also lost my tail in that incident, and there was no way to reattach it.\"  \nI stopped walking. His sweet voice had spoken more now that I had ever  \nheard it before. That did explain a lot, as tragic as it was. I patted my knees to  \nmake sure they wouldn't give way as Terry realized he had left me behind and had  \nturned around so I could catch up.  \n\"Wow, so, um. . .jeez. I would have never guessed anything like that.\"  \nIt was all I could manage to say.  \nHe could see that I felt sorry for him. \"Don't worry, my life isn't all bad.  \nHey, maybe some time we could get together outside of class and I'll tell you about it.\"  \nI was amazed that he had taken to me so quickly, as shy as he was, I never thought  \nhe'd ask something like that.  \n\"Sure, hey, we should meet at my place. Nobody else lives there, as my  \nformer roommate ran off with some girl to a foreign land and me with the house to  \nmyself. It's not much, but I call it home anyway. Here,\" I said as I wrote my  \naddress and phone number on a notecard. \"I should be free this weekend, pending  \nany major homework assignments some teachers just randomly throw at ya.\"  \nTerry laughed, a laugh that I began to grow fond of. \"Sure,\" he said, and  \nstopped as we reached a doorway. \"I still have another class though today, so  \nI'll see you tomorrow.\" And with a small hug he disappeared into the class. I  \nfinally headed towards my car, realizing I'd been walking completely away from  \nit. It was definitely worth it though.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The rest of the week went by fairly quickly. I enjoyed the daily art  \nclass, more and more thanks to the company of a newfound friend. As Friday  \ncame around we got our new assignments. \"This time class, we will be focusing  \non anything that starts with the letter 'T'. Feel free to add whatever in the  \nbackground, but your picture must have a main subject that begins with the  \naforementioned letter. And Clay,\" I looked up, \"this time you can add your  \nred tulips wherever.\" She held up my previous picture, which indeed had  \nsome red flowers, despite that our last challenge was not to use any red or  \nblue. I buried my face in my hands, totally embarrassed. Steve started clapping  \nloudly and suddenly everyone in the class was applauding me for my blatantly  \nstupid mistake. Oh well, on to the new task at hand. Now, what started with  \nthe letter \"T\"?  \nNo, I couldn't. There was no way. But yet, I couldn't help myself.  \nSmiling, I reached down and started fumbling through some of my brown and  \nyellow paints. This one, I thought, was gonna be good.  \nClass ended, but I wasn't even halfway finished with my work. Sure,  \nI would have a week to finish it, but I was really eager to work on it, especially  \nif I could do this one by myself. I approached the instuctor and asked, \"Can  \nI take this home with me and work on it? I've really gotten into this one and I  \nkinda don't want to leave it here over the weekend.\" This arose her suspicion.  \n\"May I ask why?\"  \n\"Why what?\"  \n\"Why you don't wish to leave it here.\"  \n\"Oh, um. . .heh.\" I didn't want to say anything, although I realized I'd  \nhave to turn in the painting in a week.  \n\"While I have no objection to you taking your work home with you, let  \nme tell you, Mr. Clay, that this is not an anatomy class. While this is art, I will  \nnot be having any depicting of sexuality. Is that clear?\"  \n\"Oh, yes ma'am. That's not at all what I had in mind. Although you may  \nwant to take that up with Steve. I think he was trying to draw some 'T'esticles.\"  \nShe rolled her eyes, not finding me funny in the least. Well, I tried.  \nAfter that I left, ready to get home quickly.  \nAs I got home, I took out my painting. I got my materials ready and  \nclosed my eyes, straining to remember every detail I could muster. Maybe I  \nshould have looked more before trying to paint at home. Of course, I never  \nlet that stop me before. I grabbed my brush and went back to work, painting  \nevery stroke with loving detail. After many hours I realized how long I'd been  \nat this, and finally hit the bed.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; It was now Saturday morning. My alarm clock went off, signaling the begin  \nof a new day and fresh new episodes of my favorite cartoons. Yeah, I'm a sucker  \nfor them, no matter how old I get. After the last of the shows I liked, I turned off  \nthe TV and thought about what I'd do for the rest of the day. I didn't have to wait  \nlong to get my answer.  \nThe doorbell rang. Naturally, I answered it, only to find Terry at the door.  \nHe brought his backpack, but I didn't think it had study materials in it. I invited him  \nin, and sat down in a chair as he took a seat on my couch, placing his stuff beside him.  \n\"So whatcha got in there?\" I asked him.  \n\"I heard you were into video games, so I brought a few of my own,  \nincluding my favorite.\" He proceeded to pull out his system and set it on the  \nfloor. \"Um, there isn't anything in here prone to falling over due to heavy  \nvibrations, is there?\"  \nPuzzled by his question, I did a quick visual sweep of the room. \"I  \ndon't think so. Why?\"  \nHe pulled out some bundle of fabric and wires and unrolled it. It was  \na mat with arrows on it. Terry saw me tilt my head and explained, \"it's a  \ndance pad, it acts as the controller for the game.\" He proceeded to plug  \neverything into place and turned on the game. \"You have to step on the correct  \narrow as timed with the song. I'm surprised you've never seen this before, it's  \nreally quite popular, or so I thought.\" He then bent over and removed his shoes.  \nFor the first time ever, I noticed how huge his feet were. They didn't look odd  \nattached to his foxy legs, but were indeed very large, with claws that came out  \nanother 2 inches. He obviously clipped his nails regularly, but it seemed they  \ncould not be cut any shorter without harming him. \"The pad is pretty much immune  \nto tearing, but it doesn't respond well to shoes. Here, I'll show you how it's done.\"  \nI watched as he set the difficulty to medium and the music began to play.  \nIt was very upbeat and did in fact make me want to dance. However, I wasn't  \nsure if I could handle the arrows, not that my actual dancing would look any better.  \nAs the song ended I decided to give it a go.  \nTerry mercifully turned the difficulty all the way down to beginner and gave  \nme a nice, easy slow song to work with. It wasn't too hard, although I tended to  \nmiss a bunch of steps and stumbled a bit, causing the fox on my couch to giggle.  \nI went at this a few rounds, then decided I wanted to watch Terry do it again.  \n\"Now it's time for me to show off,\" he said, and increased the difficulty to a much  \nharder level. I watched as his abnormally large feet moved very quickly, pressing  \nbuttons in very rapid succession. But then, just as I had earlier, he began to  \nstumble and flat out fell over. I ran over to him.  \n\"Are you okay, Terry?\" I asked as I turned him over to see his face.  \nThere was no expression of pain but instead on of pure shock.  \n\"I. . .I've never fallen over before. The songs not even that hard. Why  \ndid I. . .?\" He put his hand on his chest about where his heart would be and a  \nsense of realization came to him. \"Oh, I forgot, I really can't do it with this on.\"  \nHe patted the armor. \"Maybe we should try something else.\" And with that, he  \nput the pad away.  \nI retreated to my seat and pondered on that. Something was odd here.  \nIf he wore the armor to protect his spine, how did he manage jumping around like  \nthat? His previous comment also suggested that he didn't wear it at home, which  \nmade me wonder what was really under there. After all, if he liked the game so  \nmuch, wouldn't it be more enjoyable for him to simply remove it and keep playing?  \nIn any case, I respected his privacy and decision. \"Hey, how about a drink? All  \nthat jumping you were doing is making me thirsty.\" He agreed and we walked into  \nthe kitchen area. I opened the refrigerator and pulled out 2 bottles of water, not yet  \nsure what Terry liked. I turned to him and noticed he had frozen, staring at  \nsomething. I walked around to see what in the world he was looking at, then  \nimmediately realized what it was that caused him to stop.  \n\"You, you like it?\" I asked. He didn't reply. He just walked forward,  \ncloser and closer to my painting. \"It's supposed to be you, um, without the shirt  \nand all. But seeing as how I've never seen you with it off, I just took a guess.\"  \nHe reached forward and touched the painting. I thought it was pretty good, but  \nwasn't too sure about its accuracy. I had given him white fur all over his chest,  \naccompanied by a fair amount of muscles. His arms were fairly delicate, covered  \ncompletely by the beautiful golden brown hair on his face, but seemingly strong  \nanway. The legs visible beneath his shorts were a bit darker colored, coming down  \nto the feet which I knew now that were entirely too small. I had also given him a  \ntail, one that was very fluffy, blowing in the breeze I had created for him, and coming  \nto a white tip that matched his chest fur.  \n\"I love it,\" Terry finally said. \"Is that how you really see me?\" I nodded.  \nHe ran over and hugged me, putting his arms around my back and embracing me  \ndeeply. As I put my arms around him in return, I began to think to myself. Why  \ndid I decide to paint him like that? I had expected this sort of reaction, and in a way,  \nseemed to be anticipating it. This cute, once shy little fox was now holding me in a  \nway that really made me feel special. Holding me, so I couldn't breathe even. No,  \nliterally, his arms were squeezing the air right out of me.  \nI started coughing, gasping for air. Terry instantly let go of me, realizing he  \nhad held on so tightly. \"Wow, I surely didn't do your arms any justice in the picture.  \nI thought for a moment you were going to snap me in half with those things. Now  \nhow did a little fox like you come to be so powerful?\"  \n\"I. . .I'm not sure,\" he stammered. \"Am I really that strong?\"  \n\"Well if I ever need to rip a tree out, I'll be sure to call you.\" He blushed at  \nthis, then grabbed the bottle of water I had put out for him and took a sip.  \n\"Clay, I want to show you something.\" He paused, waiting for me to respond.  \n\"What is it?\" He grabbed my hand and led me back to the couch, so I  \nsat down. He stood there in front of me for a minute, but didn't move. Then he sat  \ndown next to me.  \n\"Um, maybe another time.\" He sat down next to me. I put my arm around  \nhim again and he scooted closer and closer, until he was practically right up on me.  \nI didn't expect him to get so close, but he felt so warm, even through his armor. I  \ncontinued to wonder what that was all about, still feeling that he hadn't been truthful  \nabout the spine break story. Still, his face was so soft as I ran my hand over his  \nmuzzle, causing him to lick my hand, causing a sharp, shooting pain.  \n\"Ow!\" I yelped, pulling quickly away from him and shaking my hand.  \nTerry gasped, and quickly grabbed his things and ran out the door. I lay on the  \ncouch, suddenly alone, speechless as I examined my hand. A number of hairs  \nhad been seared, and the skin beneath was red. What, what was that?! Did Terry. . .  \nno, it wasn't possible. But still, how had my hand. . .?  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; I woke up on the couch. I looked over at the clock. 7:30 AM.  \n\"Seven-thirty, Sunday?\" I asked myself out loud. Well, I certainly had a good  \nnight's sleep. But what had happened to Terry. He was here, right? I wasn't  \njust dreaming? I checked my hand. No trace of injury whatsoever. I tested it  \nout and could not sense any pain. Maybe I was dreaming. I stumbled into the  \nkitchen and noticed a pair of open water bottles on the table, still mostly full. He  \nhad been here then. So then. . .I was totally confused. I shrugged it off and went  \non about my daily routine. But I couldn't stop myself from looking constantly at  \nthe painting I did of Terry. He was so cute, so beautiful. I found myself stroking  \nthe painting with my hand. I then pulled away and closed my eyes. What were these  \nfeelings I had? I didn't. . .love him, did I? Was that even possible? Certainly I took  \nhim for more than a friend, but was he really like that? I thought back to the day I met  \nhim, the sadness in his eyes, the longing for someone to hold. He said he felt at  \npeace with me. Still, I couldn't say for sure whether he wanted me in that way or not.  \nI couldn't ask him, I just couldn't, not unless I was sure. And at this point I wasn't  \neven sure about myself. How could I possibly risk losing him? The thought of Terry  \nrunning away from was causing my eyes to tear up again. At least, I thought, he has  \nbeen quite open to me. I'm sure if he does want me, he will come around on his  \nown, right? Right?  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; It was now 5:00 in the afternoon. I lay on the couch, strangely tired. If had  \nreally passed out yesterday so early and slept until morning, how could I possibly be  \ntired? It didn't make any sense. But then I heard the doorbell again. Could it be  \nthat Terry had come back? I opened the door to find that my prayers had indeed  \nbeen answered. There he stood, this time wearing a white shirt, as opposed to the  \nlight blue one he had on the day before.  \n\"I came to say that I'm sorry.\" Terry looked down at me and said nothing  \nelse. I leaned against the doorframe and looked into his eyes.  \n\"For what?\"  \nHis eyes followed my outstretched arm to my hand. Then he cocked his  \nhead as he looked back at me, searching for any indication that I knew what he  \nwas implying. \"For leaving you so suddenly,\" he finally said.  \n\"It's cool. To tell you the truth, I kinda lost track of what happened later  \non yesterday. Would you like to come in? I've still got your water from yesterday,  \nalthough it wouldn't be cold anymore.\"  \nHe accepted and came inside. I sat back down on the couch and motioned  \nfor him to join me. He did, laying himself down so that his head fell into my lap. I  \nstarted to stroke him behind the ears, knowing from before that he really liked that.  \nHis tiny little head felt so good under my hand. He sat up and again moved closer,  \nthis time cuddling up to me. I continuted to stroke him, this time moving all the way  \ndown to his neck. I think I was enjoying this as much as he was. This was much  \nmore exciting that the painting. He responded to this by nuzzling my shoulder. \"Oh,  \nTerry. I've been thinking about you all day. I. . .I. . .I think I love you.\" Terry looked  \nup, his vulpine eyes so full of the same feelings I had just admitted to him. He  \nreturned his head to my shoulder and I embraced him fully, knowing that this  \ntime I didn't want him to leave. I felt his tounge on my upper arm, followed by  \nthat same burning sensation I had before. I winced and clenched my teeth. Again?  \nHow was this happening? I looked down to see steam rising from the mark where  \nTerry's tounge had been. The pain overtook me and I lost my hold on Terry as I  \ngrabbed my arm. He looked at me, his eyes now full of fear as he slowly backed  \naway. \"No, wait! Don't leave!\" He stopped. I held my arm for another minute as  \nthe pain somewhat subsided. \"What's going on?\"  \nTerry just covered his face with his hands. \"Really, it's okay. I'm fine. But,  \nplease, at least tell me what's going on?\" I got no answer from him, but was struck  \nby an idea. I got up and grabbed on of his hands. \"How about we walk down to the  \nlake. You would like that, wouldn't you?\" Finally he nodded, sobbing, unable to  \nspeak. I walked him outside and closed the door behind us.  \nWe were both quiet as we made our way down a path that I knew so  \nwell. I came to the lake often, as it was a good source of inspiriation for me as  \nan artist. We finally reached the lake itself, and I saw Terry brighten a bit.  \n\"I'm so sorry I burned you, Clay,\" he finally said. \"When I'm around you,  \nI just totally lose track of myself. I forget that I'm--\" he stopped and picked up a  \nbranch that had fallen near to where we had been standing.  \n\"So it was you. Why didn't you say anything earlier? And, what exactly  \nis going on? I don't understand.\"  \n\"Here, watch,\" Terry whispered as he held the stick up. He drew his breath  \nand blew on the branch. After a few moments, the end of it burst into flame. I felt  \nmy jaw drop in utter amazement. He let the wood burn a bit before chucking it into  \nthe lake, where the fire instantly died.  \n\"How are you doing this?\" I managed to ask, my eyes still watching the branch  \nfloating in the water? I had heard of dragons and higher reptilian creatures having a  \nfirebreath, but it was a rare ability among them, and certainly never seen on a furry  \ncreature such as a fox!  \nThat sweet vulpine face. . .it needed no explanation. We locked eyes again,  \nand suddenly, it didn't matter anymore. I walked over to him and hugged him once  \nmore, feeling for him more than ever. \"It doesn't frighten you?\" he asked from inside  \nmy arms. I held him even tighter, although not sure if he could feel it within the armor.  \nHe seemed to understand, this time putting his hand on my head and stroking me.  \n\"Shouldn't we get back before it gets too dark?\"  \n\"Sure,\" I replied, \"but between my superior wolf nightvision and your ability to  \nturn any random stick into a candle, I don't think we'll have much problem.\" He  \nlaughed, looking even cuter than before. I found that I couldn't help myself so I kissed  \nhim on the nose, knowing now that mouth to mouth might prove quite painful.  \nWe made our way back just fine, but it was getting late. I wanted badly  \nto invite Terry to stay the night, maybe even to sleep with me, but I knew that we  \nwould have to be at school the next day. \"I'll see you tomorrow then, okay?\"  \n\"Of course, just don't forget to bring that wonderful painting of yours with you.\"  \nThat's right, I did bring my painting home. Good thing he mentioned it, I  \nalmost forgot. I waved and watched him leave. Finally, I grabbed the painting of  \nmy wonderful fox friend and, fighting off an urge to kiss it too, put it near the door  \nso I wouldn't forget it in the morning. I reset my alarm, and finally hit the bed for  \nsome much needed rest.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Monday. Again. When will this vicious cycle ever end? This time, with  \nthe added bonus of rain. I sighed. I didn't like getting wet and definitely not going  \nto let the moisture ruin my painting. However, I found right before I left that I  \ncouldn't very well keep the trash bag closed tight around my painting and hold an  \numbrella at the same time. Faced with a hopeless situation, I abandoned the  \numbrella in favor of preserving my art to its fullest.  \nClass after mind numbing lecture class, I trudged along. Finally, reaching  \nthe beloved art class. I kept my picture hidden, having finished over the weekend,  \nfiguring I'd just dabble away at something else for the rest of the week. This time,  \nTerry had beaten me to class. After setting my stuff down, I went over to him and  \ngreeted him with another kiss, this time on top of his furry little head. I heard a gasp  \nand looked over to see a group of classmates staring at me. I saw Steve elbow a  \nmale panther in the ribs and shoot him a dirty look. After that he approached me,  \ngently grabbed me by the shoulder, and led me out the door.  \n\"So what was that, exactly?\" Steve asked me, his voice displaying a tone of  \ncuriosity.  \n\"Oh, I, well. . .you see. . .\" What was I afraid of? Steve had been my buddy  \nfor the longest time. Surely he'd understand. \"I love him.\"  \n\"Ah, I see. Hey that's cool man. I don't mind, but you may want to be  \ncareful about what you do in front of some of the other guys. They may not be so  \nnice about it.\"  \n\"You don't think it's odd?\"  \nSteve slapped me on the back. \"I can't say I would have suspected you  \nof that before last week or so, but if you have your thing, go for it. I respect that.  \nJust don't go hugging me or nothin'. I think the lioness has been checking me out.\"  \nI grinned. \"Hug you? Never. And no way dude, she's got her eye on that  \npanther. I know it.\"  \nWe walked back in, Steve playfully shoving me back into my seat. Terry  \nlooked at me and I winked at him. I think he already knew, as I should have. Just  \nthen, the instructor entered the room.  \n\"Afternoon, class. Sorry I was late, I got caught up in. . .ah, forget it. They  \nhad doughnuts in the lounge and I couldn't help myself.\" This brought a collective  \nsnicker from the class. \"All right, get to work people.\" I sat there, knowing that my  \npicture was already finished, and proceeded to wave my clean brush at a blank page.  \nRight then I realized that our instructor was right behind me.  \n\"Well now, Mr. Clay, what happened to that picture you were so eager to  \nwork on over the weekend?\"  \n\"I finished it, it's sitting over there,\" I said, and pointed towards my masterpiece,  \nstill currently inside the trash bag.  \n\"Then why don't we take a peek?\" She walked over and uncovered the  \nportrait of who was now my new lover. \"And where does the \"T\" fall into this one?  \nWhile you've drawn quite a dashing young fox, I fail to see--\"  \n\"It's Terry,\" I whispered in her ear, interrupting her before she could attract  \neveryone's attention as she did with my red tulips. She glanced over at him and he  \nturned around to blush at her, the face obviously giving away my inspiriation for  \nthe project.  \n\"Oh my! Well I guess I can't argue with that. As much as you stretch my  \nartistic boundaries, I must say this is very well done. Excellent job.\"  \nNow it was my turn to blush. Never had I received such praise from her  \nbefore. I guess, when you paint from the heart it just comes out better.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; I headed out the door at the end of class, not in any real hurry, just bored  \nof having nothing really to do for the past hour. \"Wait!\" I heard Terry calling me  \nfrom behind. I stopped and turned to him. He seemed quite eager. \"I don't  \nsuppose I could come over again soon, say, tonight?\"  \n\"Hmm, sure, I don't see why not. Any reason in paticular?\" Terry nodded  \nvigorously and quickly dashed off for his last class. I'm sure whatever he had in mind  \nwould cause him to not learn a thing in there, but what can I say?  \n  \nI got home and sat down, anxious for my lover's arrival. I had about an hour  \nand half before he showed up, entirely too long for my mind to roam free, exploring  \neach and every forbidden fantasy that Terry could possibly have in mind. Finally, he  \nwas here. I almost jumped in esctasy as I heard the doorbell. I quickly let him in,  \ntrying to stay cool but failing miserably.  \n\"Are you ready?\" he asked and motioned for me to sit on the couch.  \n\"Anytime you are.\" Now my heart was truly pounding.  \nI sat down, but Terry stood in the center of the room. He let his hands  \ndrop to his side and took a slow, deep breath. He exhaled slowly, thankfully not  \nburning anything nearby. He then removed his shirt, revealing the ever present but  \nhidden layer of armor. Another deep breath, then he slowly grabbed the armor  \nand began to pull it off.  \nI watched him, paralyzed completely. I then noticed something slip out  \nfrom the back of his armor. It was his tail. Still unable to move, I looked on as  \nthough in a trance. I couldn't believe it. He really did have a tail. But it was not  \nthe tail of a fox. It was devoid of fur, the skin a light pink in color, extending out  \na good 4 feet behind him. It was much larger in diameter at the base, getting  \nsmaller proportionally as it got further down. It seemed that it would belong to a  \nreptile, only it didn't have any scales. Almost like. . . \"A dragon. It reminds me  \nof a dragon. Oh wow, I feel so lucky. I've always loved looking at pictures of  \ndragons. I never dreamed in a million years that I would ever see anything like  \nthis up close before! Terry, you're so amazing.\"  \nAt this he looked at me, astonished. But that quickly faded into a joy  \nbeyond all compare. He rushed to me and held me, as if I could not have said  \nanything more right to him. I felt his strong arms around me, starting to crush me  \nonce again. I didn't care, this was better than anything I had imagined. Nothing  \nwould have prepared me for this. But it wasn't over. Terry returned to the center  \nof the room and energetically removed the armor completely. I was pleased to  \nfind that I had correctly depicted his chest, his fur a nice white blending gently with  \nthe surrounding golden brown color I'd fallen in love with. He brushed his stomach  \noff and unfolded his wings.  \nHis. . .his wings? What the. . .? They were very large, making him appear  \nalmost 3 times as big when they were outstretched. I marveled at their majestic form.  \nThey were also covered in his golden brown fur, causing them to shine, even in the  \ndull lighting that I had. The shape was not at all intimidating, as I had seen pegasai  \nwho could smile at you and scare you away, but instead quite inviting. I wanted to  \ntouch them, to feel the texture of every inch, but I was glued to the couch, my knees  \ntoo weak to lift me and my arms heavy as lead. Terry smiled and began to move them  \nback and forth, completely mesmerizing me. I knew he was having fun with me now,  \nhaving established that I absolutely loved him more than ever before. I could have  \nsat there for hours, just watching him. Finally he moved closer to me.  \n\"So what do you think of me now?\" Terry inquired, anxious to hear my  \nthoughts in a verbal form.  \n\"You're gorgeous!\" I exclaimed, surprised that I could speak. Terry kneeled  \ndown in front of me and grabbed my hand, bringing it to his wing so I could touch  \nthem. They felt heavenly, as if the gods have created a new form of velvet just for us.  \nI had so many questions racing through my head but could do nothing more than  \nstroke his wonderous and enchanting wings.  \n\"Why, why have you hid them? I can't see how anyone would ever want  \nto keep such treasures hidden away like that?\"  \nTerry closed his eyes. \"Because people would never accept me as a  \nhalf-dragon.\"  \n\"Half-dragon?\" I could see it now, but I couldn't understand how that  \nwould ever happen. He sat down next to me, eyes still closed.  \n\"Yes. You see, my mother was a very beautiful fox, but just as curious as I was.  \nOne day she found herself nosing into a cave, just looking around with no real  \nintention. But that cave was already inhabited by a dragon, and a very rich one  \nat that. He assumed that she was there to take something, and took her prisoner.  \nShe was held captive for 3 days, pleading for her release the entire time. The  \ndragon didn't have the heart to torture her like he did every other prisoner he had,  \nand at the end of the 3rd day, he broke down and gave her back her freedom. She  \nwas so happy that he had let her go without harm, she thanked him dearly. The dragon  \nwas pleased, but made one final request. He asked her if she would willingly stay one  \nmore night, not as a prisoner, but as. . .\"  \nTerry broke down and began crying, tears flowing freely now. I held him  \nwithout a word for what seemed like an eternity, until he finally regained himself  \nand continued.  \n\"There had been stories of dragons having sex with other creatures, willing  \nor not, but never had one of such unions led to conception. But I. . .I am the  \nexception, the abnormality, that resulted. I was my mother's only child, and not  \nlong after my birth we caught word that the dragon had been slayed and his treasure  \nlooted. I could tell she loved that dragon and loved every part of me that reminded  \nher of him, but I learned to hate him for making me the way I was. My mother, she  \ntried to teach me to be proud of who I was, to embrace myself and never let others  \nhurt me. But it was impossible. All I ever got from outsiders was ridicule and fear.  \nIt was okay for a fox to be half-wolf, half-dog, or half-horse even. But for me to  \nbe half-dragon was never accepted. I disguised myself, hiding my tail and wings,  \nhoping to be accepted for the vulpine creature which is so commonly seen around  \nhere. But then, then my mother passed away. I felt alone. There was no one left  \nwho understood me. Nothing left for me to hold on to. If I lost the fox in me, what  \nwas there left? I couldn't go on. I just couldn't. I had lost all hope, until. . .until  \nyou held me that day. You accepted me, having just learned my name moments  \nbefore. You restored the part of me I lost, and in time brought me here, lovingly,  \nnever pushing me away. I am so thankful.\"  \nOkay, now we were both crying. I was seriously gonna have to wash  \nthis couch off. But that would have to wait. As our tears flowed, I found myself  \nleaning on Terry, his large wingspan quite comforting. We sat that way for hours,  \nnever caring what the time was. Finally, after we both had stopped crying, I had  \none final question for him:  \n\"Can you fly?\"  \n\"I thought you'd never ask,\" he replied, and let me outside by the hand.  \nAs soon as we stepped beyond the walls, he grabbed me firmly around the waist  \nand flapped his graceful wings, lifting us both high into the air.  \nI figured he could get himself off the ground, but this! This was incredible!  \nI never imagined he would have the ability to carry me high into the midnight sky!  \nI understood now why his arms were so strong and was very thankful. I had always  \ndreamed of flying, but this easily surpassed any dream I had ever had! He carried  \nme around a bit, swooping down over the lake so I could get a good reflection of  \nus- his golden dragon wings on his tiny little fox body with a silver wolf wrapped  \ntightly in his powerful arms, the full moon making the perfect background. I had  \nnever felt so wonderful in all my life! But finally, it came to an end as we returned  \nback to my home.  \n\"You know I won't be able to sleep now,\" I told him with a smile more  \ngenuine than the lake itself.  \n\"Me neither. But I'll see you tomorrow at school if you somehow  \nmanage it.\"  \n\"Right.\" I sighed. Maybe the adrenaline could just carry over for the  \nnext 16 hours or so. I felt like that was a definite possibility.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; I don't know how I got there, or have any real sense of anything from then  \nto the events of last night. I just know that in some form or another, I was back in  \nart class. I shook my head, trying to make sense of anything other that the half-fox,  \nhalf-dragon I now knew so well sitting next to me. He was back in his armor again,  \nwhich almost saddened me. I wanted again to see those glorious wings, radiating  \nbeauty and bringing joy to me with every little movement. If only there was some  \nway to make him feel good about it, to let himself free. Suddenly, I was struck by  \ninspiriation. I didn't pick up my paint brush, for this was something no canvas could  \n  \naccomplish.  \nAs soon as I got out of class, I hurried outside and began searching and  \nscanning the crowds of people for someone who could help me. Finally, I spotted  \nhim, a gryphon morph that I knew from last year. I rushed over to catch him.  \n\"Hey, um, nice shirt,\" I said, knowing that it came out wrong.  \n\"Thanks?\" He looked at me somewhat suspiciously.  \n\"Listen, I have a friend, a friend with wings, and I was wondering where  \nyou get shirts like that.\"  \n\"Ah!\" he exclaimed, his suspicion dissapated. He then told me where the  \nstore was and what it looked like.  \n\"Thank you so much!\" I waved as he flew off. I was glad to have caught  \nhim, there aren't very many winged creatures around these areas. They generally  \nlived in more mountainous terrain where they were more free to fly around without  \nhitting anything.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The next day I approached Terry before class asked if he would meet  \nme after he was done for the day. I told him I could wait for him. He agreed  \nand went back to our projects. Well, except for me, I had long since finished it,  \nand just didn't have anything else in mind to create.  \n  \nI waited by my car, knowing Terry would meet me here shortly. I smiled  \nas I saw him approach.  \n\"So where are we going? Back to your house?\" he asked.  \n\"Nope, today we go shopping!\" I looked over with a big grin.  \nTerry looked at me like I was crazy, but decided to trust me anyway. He  \nsat back and enjoyed the breeze coming in through the window as I drove towards  \nour destination.  \nI looked down at the instructions I'd written, then back at the store. Yup,  \nthis was the place all right, a place called \"Hanging in the Breeze\". An odd name  \nperhaps, but one that made enough sense if you thought about it.  \nI grabbed Terry's hand and we walked into the store. It was nice inside,  \nalthough seemingly a bit large, although understandable if you considered the general  \ncustomer would have wings and feel more at home with the high ceiling and open space.  \nWe were greeted at the door by and beautiful pegasus.  \n\"Hi,\" she said with a warm smile, \"and welcome! Can I help you?\"  \nI looked over at Terry, who had nervously put his hand in his mouth and  \nstarted nibbling on it. \"Come on, Terry,\" I prodded, \"I know you want to. Won't  \nyou give it a shot, for me?\"  \nHe stood there for a while, the pegasus clerk waiting very patiently, albiet  \nconfused. Finally he shifted his gaze up at me, a new purpose instilled in his eyes  \nand in his heart. \"Okay, but only because I trust you, Clay.\" He then removed his  \nshirt and armor, revealing his slender body, along with his dragon wings and tail.  \nThe clerk took a few steps back. \"We're looking for some stuff that would  \nfit him, you know, without the armor,\" I explained to her. She somewhat composed  \nherself and began to slowly circle Terry, checking out his anatomy in order to get an  \nidea of what he might need. Her business instinct now on autopilot, she led us to the  \nappropriate section.  \nTerry and I spent hours in that store, picking out stuff for him to try on. I  \nloved it every time he stepped out of that dressing room with some new garment of  \nclothing on. We finally decided on a good dozen or more shirts and a few pairs of  \nshorts for the upcoming summer.  \nAs we left, I could see that Terry was so happy, now wearing one of his newly  \npurchased shirts. We realized when we got out to my car that he had left his armor back  \nin the dressing room. He laughed. \"I won't be needing it any more. Thank you, Clay.\"  \nHe then hugged me, preventing me from starting the car until he let go. \"Can I stay the  \nnight with you?\" He asked.  \nI hadn't expected that, but I couldn't say no. \"Sure, I think I'd love that!\"  \nWe drove back to my place and he took his bags of clothing in with him, not wanting  \nto leave them in the car.  \nAfter we got settled in, I opened the door to my room, where my bed was located.  \nI motioned for Terry to follow me, but he just shook his head. \"You, you don't want  \nto sleep with me?\" I asked him, feeling as though maybe I had gone too far and  \nregretting the gesture.  \n\"I do, but. . .\" he paused, and I waited for him to finish. \"But not tonight. It's just  \nbeen too much. You understand, right?\"  \nI nodded. Of course, he has to prepare himself to go out tomorrow, no longer a  \nfox with a spinal injury, but as a majestic being, half-fox, half-dragon. \"I'll see you  \nin the morning then.\" He gave me one last hug and plopped himself on the recently  \nwashed couch.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; The next morning, I woke up to find Terry already rummaging through his  \nnew pile of clothes. He didn't see me peeking through the barely cracked door, so  \nI continued to watch him. He had already put on some jeans, so I wasn't getting any  \nnaughty sights. He finally picked out a shirt that was a bright, but not overbearing  \nred color. For once you could see his white chest fur a bit through the fabric, a  \ncommon style of dress among modern foxes. I shut the slightly ajar door and reopened  \nit, giving the image that I had just gotten to it. \"Wow, you look so beautiful. I've never  \nseen you in the morning light like this. How are you feeling?\"  \n\"A bit scared, I must admit, but I'm ready.\" He closed his eyes and held  \nhis fist up in front of his heart. The pose really took me in and I went over and  \nstroked him behind the ears to comfort him. He then licked me on the muzzle. His  \ntounge felt so smooth and soothing, sending waves of pleasure and warmth through  \nme with each pass. I pulled away slowly, something in the back of my mind was telling  \nme something was different, but I couldn't remember what. \"How about you?\"  \nTerry inquired, looking deep into my eyes. \"How do you feel?\"  \n\"I feel great. I feel. . .like you didn't burn me this time. Why is that? Not  \nthat I'm complaining or anything.  \nTerry smiled. \"I don't know. You're the first one that's ever had the  \ncourage to get close to me again, the first one that I've ever loved.\" His words  \ntouched my soul.  \n\"Promise me you'll kiss me later?\"  \n\"Of couse I will, Clay!\" And with that we jumped back in my car and  \nheaded off for another day of mindless work and torture.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; As we stepped out of the car, I felt everyone's eyes instantly drawn to  \nTerry's dragonic form. The young fox boy they once never saw was now the only  \nthing they could see. I watched Terry walk off by himself, crowds reacting with  \ntotal awe as he passed. It was so great to finally see him come out, to be so proud  \nof himself, so beautiful. . .I almost followed him, but remembered I had my own  \nclasses to attend to.  \n  \nThe day took absolutely forever. Seconds now took years to pass by, as  \nI could think of nothing else but seeing Terry again, and seeing how he had taken  \nto the general reaction to his new identity. The time came at last.  \nI got the art room, noticing instantly that Terry hadn't arrived yet. I started  \nto wonder if something terrible had happened to him, but looked at the clock and  \nrealized I had gotten here so quickly and that Terry didn't usually show up for another  \nminute or so. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling until Terry thankfully made his way into  \nthe room. There was an instant collective silence from the students that had already  \nshown up, joined quickly by those walking through the door. The silence broke as Steve  \nyelled, \"Oh, how cool!\"  \nTerry blushed as I'm sure he had many times already today and came bounding  \nover to me. Unable to speak, he grabbed my arms and started to lean close to me.  \nTouched his nose, stopping his forward movement. With a huge grin I said, \"not here,  \nwe're being watched.\"  \nAt this Terry brought his wings forward and wrapped them around the two of us.  \nWe then locked muzzles, sharing a kiss that could have lasted for hours if we had been  \nalone. Terry's wings had hidden us from view, but in no way could mask the  \npassionate act we were performing beneath the veil. A snicker came from the  \npeople around us, and we released each other and retreated to our seats. We then  \nheard a familiar voice coming from outside.  \n\"All right people, let's go ahead and get to work,\" our instructor walked  \nthrough the door and continued, \"I've got another appointment today, this time  \nearlier so I'm afraid we'll have to cut short our--\" She stopped suddenly as she  \ncaught sight of Terry. \"Wow, Terry! Are those. . .are those real?\"  \n\"Yes ma'am,\" came his reply, as he moved them softly back and forth as  \nhe had done for me the first time he had showed me.  \n\"Amazing. I've never seen anything like that.\" She then somehow sat  \ndown at her desk and started to work on some papers.  \nTerry looked over at me, smiling once more with that intoxicating smile.  \nHe didn't have to say anything.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; As soon as the instructor let us go, I met up with Terry outside. Since she  \nhad let us out halfway through, there was thankfully nobody else around.  \n\"Thank you so much, Clay! I don't know if I'll ever be able to repay you  \nfor what you've done for me. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me.\"  \n\"Hey, don't get all teary on me yet. I still have something for you.\" He  \nlooked up and I pulled something metal out of my pocket and tossed it to him. He  \ncaught it and stared at it. It was a key, attached to a tiny metal chain. He didn't  \nneed me to tell him what it was for. \"I want you to stay with me, Terry. Forever.\"  \nHe stood there, motionless, as if he hadn't even heard me. I started to  \nwonder if it was possible for him to pass out with his eyes open and not fall over.  \nBut he then broke the spell and ran towards me, squeezing me harder than he ever  \nhad before.  \n\"Ow, ow, ow,\" I thought to myself, \"I hope he doesn't kill me in his  \nexcitement.\" I smiled to myself inwardly, unable to control the muscles on my face.  \nI could see my car in the background, slowly started to swirl, and finally fade to black.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; I woke up on my bed, Terry watching over me closely. As I opened my  \neyes I saw a wave of relief wash over him. \"I'm so sorry!\" he apologized to me  \nquickly, \"You should have told me you couldn't breathe!\"  \n\"If I could have told you that I wouldn't have had a problem.\" I looked  \nout the window. \"How did I get here anyway?\"  \n\"I flew you over here. Um, your car's still at school though. We can go  \nback for it later if you want.\"  \nI rubbed my head and sat up. \"Ah, I feel much better now. Yeah, how  \nabout we just fly back to school tomorrow and then I can drive it home? Sound  \nlike a plan?\" I watched him for a minute. He seemed restless, like he wanted  \nsomething. \"What?\" I asked, and instantly understood. I knew right then that I  \nwould do anything for him. I had started getting out of bed, but now I saw there  \nwas no point. \"Terry, I. . .um. . .I would like you. . .I want you in me.\"  \nI motioned for him to join me on the bed and he accepted, eager to hold me  \nand then do so much more. We both stripped down carefully, not wanting to ruin  \nany clothing, until finally we were both naked, him laying on top of me his wings  \nblocking my view of anything else.  \n\"You sure you can handle me?\" As soon as he posed the question, he  \nkissed me deeply, giving me no chance to respond. After a few minutes he  \nreleased his hold on my mouth  \n\"Oh come on, a little fox like you? Surely I'll have no problem--\"  \nI stopped suddenly as he then lit my entire world on fire. It was a fire  \nlike none other, a fire that would always burn brightly in my heart.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; I woke up. The sun now glaring fiercly into my eyes. Terry was now next  \nto me, still not wearing anything. But then again, neither was I. Slowly, I got up  \nand headed for the shower, knowing that I needed one and praying that it was now  \nthe weekend, for neither Terry nor I were going to be doing much of anything today.  \nI had enjoyed our first night as mates, both in living and intimacy.  \n\"Morning,\" came the sweet voice behind me. He sounded as tired as I was.  \nNot having yet reached the bathroom, I turned around and nearly fell over. I felt  \ndrunk off the intense love we had made last night. \"How are you feeling?\"  \n\"Ooh, incredible. That was really something last night.\" I staggered back  \nover and tried to kiss him but missed completely and ended up falling onto a pillow.  \nWe both began to laugh.  \n\"Jeez, that's some piece of equipment you got there. Your dragon  \nfather left did not leave you short on any of his wonderous genes.\" He laughed  \nat the intended pun and I continued. \"I felt like you were going to rip right through  \nmy stomach and come out my mouth. You could easily make a horse jealous  \nwith that thing.\"  \n\"Stop that,\" he managed to say through his extreme giggles, \"you're  \nembarrasing me.\"  \n\"That's certainly nothing to be embarrased about. Me, well, I'm sure  \nyou saw. There's no comparison. I should be the one embarrased.\"  \n\"I think it'll be perfect.\" As he said that he ran his hand down my chest.  \n\"Now go take your shower. I need one too and I doubt we'll both fit with my  \nwings and all.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Later that evening, which somehow miraculously was Saturday, Terry  \napproached me again. \"Have you recovered from last night?\"  \nI flipped off the news I'd been watching for no appearent reason, and  \nlooked at him. \"Yes, I do believe so.\"  \n\"Then I think we should try something new tonight. Are you ready?\"  \nI could feel myself already getting excited. \"Why whatever did you have  \nin mind, my love?\"  \nHe simply smiled his beautiful smile and led me back into my own room.  \nAt that point, I knew it didn't really matter. I'd do anything for him.  \n  \nAuthor's notes \u0026 other legal stuff:  \n  \nWell, yeah, that's it. The end, people. And now my fingers are ready to fall off.  \nThe entire 18 pages (at least by Microsoft Word) are now complete, within 48  \nhours. And yes, I did manage to get a full night's sleep in there somewhere, don't  \nask me how.  \n  \nI hope you enjoyed my story. It's the first story I've ever written, and I wasn't sure  \nhow to cap it all off, but I finally came to a decision on it. But seeing as how I didn't  \nkill anyone off or have some major event, there's still room for further adventures. I  \ndon't have any current plans to continue this story, but I maybe could be persuaded  \notherwise.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Okay, as far as the legal junk goes, my basic rules is that you don't claim this work  \nas your own in order to lure your boyfriend out of the closet. If you'd like to use  \nsome of my characters in your own story, just ask and I'll most likely give you  \npermission. And if by some chance you're inspired enough to attempt to illustrate  \nthem, then please, by all means! I'd love to see them come to life, but unfortunately  \ncan't draw my way out of a paper bag. Just let me know so I can see!  \n  \nAny questions, comments, aforementioned inquiries of character usage, ect, should  \nbe e-mailed to me at the following address:  \n  \n[[email\u0026nbsp;protected]](/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection)  \n  \nAnd finally, thank you.  \n  \nNew as of April 29th- One of my fans, Dark\\_Moomba, has actually painted a picture of Terry. Assuming it stays up, here's the link:  \n  \n[http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v737/darkmoomba16/Not%20My%20Stuff/TerryFinal.jpg](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v737/darkmoomba16/Not%20My%20Stuff/TerryFinal.jpg)  \n  \nAnd, as an added bonus, I'd like to take this opportunity to let you guys know that this story will, in fact, have a sequel. Keep your eyes peeled!  \n  \n  \n\n"}