{"sf1_id":589755,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Reminiscence","author":"DarkSoulsSauron","words":5221,"posted_at":"2013-09-14T06:17:00.000Z","tags":["M/M","Shower","ninetales","pokemon","vulpix"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/589755-reminiscence","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/589755","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=589755\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Savory\nsmells of flank steak wafted about the kitchen. Soren was finishing\noff the dish with extra barbecue sauce, and the potatoes and green\nbeans were already done. He always liked to make something nicer on\nFridays. They would definitely have leftover steak, but that would be\nsandwich fodder.Eli\nstepped down from the loft stairs, his nose in the air and eyes shut.\nHe moved through the kitchen as though he was being led on a string\nof delicious smells. He sat down at the table as Soren brought them\ntwo plates. They tucked in, and after a minute or two they slowed\ndown so that they could talk.\"How\nwas work? Are you still on the same project,\" asked Eli.Soren\nnodded. \"It seems that the test subjects are reacting positively to\nthe drug, but we need to keep gathering data. I was mostly watching\nmice sit in their cages all day. One of the potential side effects\nmight be motion tics. We saw it in three subjects, but we're not sure\nwhether it's the mice or the drug.\" Eli nodded. Soren switched the\ntopic, as he knew Eli couldn't get too deep into his lab job without\nfeeling overwhelmed. Science just wasn't his thing. \"Did your last\npiece turn out well? The arctic landscape?\"Eli\nnodded enthusiastically. \"Yeah. I also managed to finish both my\nabstracts today too. I just built up a lot of steam. I could take a\nbreak tomorrow and not fall behind at all.\"\"That's\ngood,\" said Soren. \"You think you'd have time for Pathfinder\ntomorrow? I think I still have one of your characters on pdf, that\nway you don't have to be dropped to level one again.\"Eli\ntapped a finger on his the bottom of his muzzle. \"Yeah. I think so.\nYou mind if I snoop around to find it. I think I remember where I\nsaved Lash.\" Soren\ngestured to his open laptop. \"Go for it. I have a big folder\ndedicated to gaming stuff.\"Eli\ncleared his plate. Both of them had demolished their food at record\nspeed. Eli helped Soren clean up and then moved to the L-shaped couch\nthat made up their living area. Flicking through the folders, he\nfound one for Pathfinder. But next to that one there was a folder\nlabeled \"Old Photos.\"\"Old\nPhotos...\" said Eli. \"I'm surprised you have any photos on your\nmachine. You're always so camera shy.\"Soren\ngrinned a bit. \"Those ones are important to me. You can look\nthrough them if you like.\"Eli\nopened the folder, curious about what he might find. The first icon\nhe clicked was from four years ago, and the most recent in the\nfolder. It showed Eli, Sasha, Di, and Danny, standing on a pier.\nTheir arms were wrapped around each others shoulders and they all\nwore swimwear. The lake behind them was a brilliant emerald color.\n\"Where are you guys?\"Soren\nsat down behind Eli. \"It's one of the many lakes around Wisconsin.\nSasha's dad owned a summer home up there, and the four of us would go\nthere every year. We kinda stopped that tradition for some reason.\nOur schedules kept crossing wires. Sasha wants to make sure it\nhappens this summer though.\"Eli\nclicked on the forward icon, bringing them back to the very first\nphoto. It showed the four friends in the same spot, with the same\npose, and the same smiles. But this photo was over twelve years old.\nNone of the four had evolved. Soren was still on the far left, a\nchubby Vulpix with brass colored fur instead of the normal orange, a\nshirt pulled over his swimming trunks. Sasha was a wiry brown\nZigzagoon, Di a cute purple Purrloin,\nand Danny a tanned Buizel, his fur dripping wet.Eli\ngrinned. \"You were a pudgy little kid.\"Soren\nchuckled. \"Yeah. I was. This wasn't the first time we were up\nthere, but none of us could find a photo older than that one. We were\nall fourteen at that point. It was the summer right before we started\nhigh school.\"Eli\ncontinued to flick through the photos. Di and Sasha had evolved by\nthe next year, growing from short and awkward little girls to tall,\ngraceful, and really pretty females. They still stood in the same\nposition, but Soren now couldn't reach Sasha's shoulder easily, and\ninstead had her hand on the small of her back. The year after Danny\nwas now a Floatzel, powerful and tall. The year after that yielded no\nchanges in any of them.On\nthe fourth photo, Soren was still a short Vulpix, but this picture\nwas different. Instead of the fat little fox from the past photos,\nthis Soren was slim, toned, and muscled. He wasn't wearing a shirt\nwith his trunks anymore. Eli\nwasn't sure, but it seemed to him that Soren's cute smile didn't\nquite reach his eyes. \nEli grinned. \"What happened to you? You went from a cute little kid\nto boy candy in one year.\"Soren\nsmiled. \"This was after Jeanne died. I was really depressed, so I\nstarted running and lifting weights. I guess I was just trying to get\nout of the house, really. To be honest, I also hoped that maybe it\nwould kickstart my evolution. I was teased a lot for being so late.\"Eli\nflicked through the next photo. This one was much different than the\nothers. A new member was added to the cast, A tall Furret was now on\nthe right of Soren. He wore a blue baseball cap on his head, and he\nwas smiling widely, resting his head on Soren's golden shoulder.\nSoren was dangling between Sasha and the Furret, his feet a few\ninches off the ground. He had bulked up a bit, but he was still a\nshort little Vulpix. His smile was widest of all of them.Eli\npointed to the newest member of the gang. \"Is that Milo?\"\n \nSoren\nnodded, giving a half-nostalgic, half-melancholic smile. \"That was\nour spring break. Sasha convinced her parents that we could go up\nalone. It was fun to have the place to ourselves. Sasha did it for me\nand Milo, really. It was nice to be able to spend time together\nwithout having to fear for our lives at every turn.\" Eli\nnodded. \"He's really cute. And really buff. In fact I'd say he's\ndownright gorgeous. You make a cute couple.\"Soren\nsmiled. \"He was a great boyfriend. I still wish I could talk to him\nnow and again.\"Eli\nhugged Soren. \"Tell me what he was like. How'd you meet?\"Soren\nput his computer on the coffee table and wrapped his arms around Eli.\n\"It was pretty early into our senior year. It was only a few weeks\ninto the year, I think. But the whole thing was, to say the least,\ncomplicated...\"_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________Soren\nwas in the locker room shower, letting the scalding water scorch away\nthe results of two hours of lifting. He canceled his gym membership\nfor the school year. He had to pay with his own cash, and the school\noffered the same services for free while classes were in session. He\ntook out his body wash and began scrubbing. He hated how his fur had\na habit of collecting grime and sweat. It took forever to get clean,\nespecially after a long session like this. And he couldn't fake it\neither. His brass colored fur showed every speck of dirt and grime on\nit because of how reflective it was.As\nhe finished scrubbing his arms, Soren heard the clattering and\nchatter of the baseball team coming in from practice. A year ago,\nSoren would have been scared shitless of showering while others were\nnearby, but now... well he wasn't that fat little kid anymore.\nSpending entire days at the gym over the summer had really\ntransformed him. He was sleek, powerful, and defined. If it weren't\nfor his distinctive fur, most people wouldn't have recognized him. If\nSoren looked in the mirror, he could unironically say that he was,\nwell, sexy. If only he could force his body to grow up...There\nwas another benefit, a guilty pleasure, for working out at the\nschool. He could ogle the other boys as they changed. Looking up out\nof the corner of his eye, Soren glanced around almost greedily,\nadmiring the strong arms and bare chests of the other guys for a\nmoment, but snapped his head down almost instantly. No... this was\nstupid. This was risky. Hell, this was damn creepy, but Soren\ncouldn't resist admiring the specimens off to his right. He just\nwished that one of them might admire him back.Soren\ncontinued to scrub himself, taking his time. It took forever to wash\nout his fur anyway. He still looked up now and again at the hot guys\noff to the side, but he had to be careful. Gossip was currency in\nLassaire, and if someone caught him ogling a bunch of hot, undressed\nboys, rumors would spread like wildfire. But none of them were\nlooking his way. Soren wasn't surprised. No one would guess he was\neighteen, a senior, by looking at him. Even if he wasn't that fat\nlittle kit, he was still 5'4'' and a pre-evo. Soren sighed and went\nback to cleaning himself, focusing on some grime that was resisting\nin vain to cling to his calf.Soren\nwas still grungy even as the last of the team left. Soren began to\nwork on his tails as the last guy left the locker room. He was\nbeginning on tail number three as he heard the door to the locker\nroom open again. He heard someone say \"See you tomorrow, coach,\"\nas well as a sigh of exhaustion. The voice was slightly familiar to\nhim. He knew he had heard it before. The voice belonged to a tall and\nrather robust furret whose cute face definitely rang a bell, but\nSoren couldn't place him. He grinned internally as he watched the\nother male take off his dirt covered uniform out of the corner of his\neye, but snapped his head down almost at once, feeling guilty.Soren\nbegan work on his fourth tail. He sneaked a glance upward again to\nsee if that furret was still changing. He looked hastily back down as\nhe saw the other guy walking towards the shower, a towel around his\nmuscled waist. The furret passed without comment and took a nozzle in\nthe back of the shower. Both washed themselves in silence, their\nbacks to each other.A\nsmooth and rather cute voice rang throughout the echoy shower. \"Do\nI know you,\" asked the Furret.Soren\nblushed a bit. They were in the nebulous zone of social awkwardness\nof talking in a public shower. But conversation had been made, and it\nwould now be even more awkward to ignore him. But he was cute. \"I\nkinda stick out in crowd,\" joked Soren. \"You, know, the fur.\"\nSoren heard the Furret chuckle. \"I'm Soren, if that name makes a\ndifference to you.\"The\nother male snapped his fingers. \"Ah. That's it. I've seen you\naround Games Club a bit. You've always been at the D\u0026D table\nevery week.\"Soren\nfelt a flash of recognition surge through him. \"Oh! So you're...\nMilo, right?\"\"Yup,\"\nsaid Milo. \"I normally just play a board game. I never had time to\nplay a long running game before. It looks like fun.\"Soren\nlit up. He loved recruiting new players to tabletop. \"It's a blast.\nYou should try it sometimes. The rules take a bit, but everyone at my\ntable is perfectly happy to help new players.\"\"I\nmight have time this year. I got most of my harder classes out of the\nway last year. Physics and calc are all I gotta really worry about.\nAlso, no practice on Wednesdays this year.\" Soren heard Milo turn\noff the shower. \"I'll be able to join up if you'd have me.\"Soren\nsmiled as he began to clean his final tail, \"We're always glad to\nhave new guys. I'm running a game this year. It's low level so\nthere's less complex stuff at the start.\"Milo\nwalked by, toweling off his hair. \"Then see you tomorrow.\"Soren\nglanced up a moment to wave goodbye, but snapped his head down,\ntrying to keep his face\nstraight. \"Did he just wink at me?!\" Soren's mind raced.\nHe was imagining it. He had to be. But wasn't this why he was down\nhere though? But maybe he was just being hopeful. He had never gotten\non well with jocks anyway, but to meet a geek down here was almost as\nunlikely as finding a guy.Wednesday\nclasses moved on in a flash. Soren really wasn't paying much\nattention. He was anticipating gaming. He always did that, but today\nmoreso than usual. Part of him was incredibly excited to induct a new\nplayer into the geeky side of life. But a smaller part of him was\ncautiously hopeful.Physics\nwas the last class of the day and also conveniently where games club\nwas held, as their sponsor was the physics teacher, Mr. Samson. Soren\nset up quickly for game, keeping a spare character sheet out as well\nas his materials for game. He'd need to make a bit of time to help\nMilo build a character, but most of his players were a tad late\nanyway.Milo\nwas the first person in, and he sat down at a table next to Soren.\nHe fished into his backpack and pulled out a tablet. \"Heya. Can you\ncheck this over? I built Cyrus last night, but I wanna make sure he's\nup to scratch.\"Soren\nflicked through the pdf. \"So you're no newbie, are you.\"Milo\nshook his head. \"I am. I skyped my cousin and got help. He's the\none who got me into gaming, but I really haven't played in anything\nlonger than a few one shots. He didn't pull from any obscure\nrulebooks. At least, he told me that.\"\nSoren\nnodded. \"It's all good. Did he tell you how the casting system\nworks for sorcerers?\"\nSasha,\nDi, and Danny were all sitting down at this point. They introduced\nthemselves, not without a little bit of awkwardness. Danny laughed.\n\"New blood? Lovely! Don't die too soon, ok?\"Sasha\npunched Danny in the arm. \"Don't scare him. You freaked out the\nlast guy.\"Soren\ncleared his throat. \"Luckily we left off at a good point. You guys\ncan run into Milo on the road.\" Soren began to weave together a\nscene depicting the deserted swamp road that the four characters were\ntraversing. The armor clad knight, agile rogue, sage druid, and\njovial sorcerer were all looking into the rumors of a library of many\nages ago that had once fell into the swamp.\nSoren\nsat back and let the characters interact with each other. Milo was a\nnatural. He fit right in, and he knew how to act out a character\nwithout resorting to Ye Olde Cliches. The session went by in a flash,\nclimaxing in a harrowing encounter with a giant crocodile that had\nsampled a few too many magical potions. Three people nearly died.\nNearly.\nDi,\nDanny, and Sasha had to dash for the bus, but Milo stuck around,\nhelping Soren pack up the miniatures. Soren dug his head out of the\ncabinet to chat with Milo. \"You had fun?\" The Furret nodded.\n\"Good. So do you wanna keep playing? We'd be glad to have you.\"\nMilo\nturned to leave. \"It was a blast. I'd love to keep playing with\nyou.\"\nSoren\njumped a bit. It was weird. He said those last few words with a funny\ninflection... no. He wasn't being optimistic. He was being stupid.\nThursday\nwas as boring as Wednesday. Soren was regretting taking all these AP\ncourses. The work wasn't bad, but it was boring as sin. But he\nneeded to get a scholarship. Badly. His parents weren't keen on him\nlooking at pricey schools, and he doubted they'd be willing to loan\nhim money without a lot of strings attached. He pretty much needed\ngrad school to do anything in medical research. Grandma Jeanne's\ncollege trust could only get him so far.\nHe\nwas loaded with homework by the end of the day, but Soren still\ndecided to lift for a while. Music and exercise really helped him\nrelax. He never used to be that way. He had been such a sedentary\nkid. He started to just mindlessly run laps while listening to some\nremixes of Metroid Prime's soundtrack. He lapsed into his music,\nletting his imagination take him to Tallon IV. It was over an hour\nbefore he realized how tired he was.\nStopping\nfor some water, he went to the weight room for a while, and retreated\nto the locker room for a shower. He had exercised for a lot longer\nthan he anticipated, and he was absurdly sweaty. He slipped into the\nhot water just as the baseball team thundered in. Soren began his\nlittle routine again, keeping an eye on the fine specimens as they\nchanged. Milo's tall profile stood out amongst the other males. He\nwas tempted to try and actively catch his eye, but no... that would\nbe hasty. Soren\ncontinued to work on scouring himself, listening in amongst the\nclamor. He heard Milo's smooth voice amongst the other guys shouts.\n\"Dammit. I can't find it anywhere.\" He was clanging about his\nlocker, looking for something. \"I must've left it back at the\nfield.\" Milo dashed off, throwing his shirt back over his head as\nhe ran.As\nthe last of the team left, Milo slipped back in, looking a bit\nflustered. He snooped around a bit and swore as he found his phone\nlying in one of his cleats. He took of his uniform and walked past\nSoren and into the shower.\"Heya,\"\nsaid Milo as he cracked his back a bit. \"Wednesday was fun. Did you\nwrite that yourself?\"Soren\nsmiled, \"Almost. I lifted the idea of the potion altered animal\nfrom a book I read. But the rest of the encounters was me.\"\"It\nwasn't a bad idea,\" conceded Milo. \"Were you being easy on me? I\nwas the only one who didn't get dropped.\"Soren\nshook his head, despite the fact that he was facing the wall and Milo\nhad his back to him. \"Nope. But you were playing smart. The other\nthree rushed a freaking giant flaming crocodile. If they were smart\nthey would have let Danny stonewall it while they pegged it to\ndeath.\"Milo\nlaughed. \"I wish I knew some support spells. I felt bad that I\ncouldn't do anything to save them.\"\"You\nsupported them by killing it faster. But you can play with your\nspells as we level up. We have all year.\"\"I\nknow. I'm really looking forward to gaming with you.\"Soren\ntensed up a bit. That inflection on the last syllable... maybe he\nwas, but maybe he wasn't. Soren turned off the water and picked up\nhis towel and wash. He stepped out into the empty locker room. He\npulled on his clothes and turned to leave.\"Wait\na sec,\" called Milo, poking his head around the doorway to the\nshowers. \"You wanna grab a bite to eat? I'm starved.\"\"Sure,\"\nsaid Soren, nodding his head. \"I'd love to grab a bite of you.\"\nThere was beat, and then Milo began to roar with laughter. \"What?\nWhat's so funn-- oh.\"Milo\ncontrolled himself for long enough to say \"Is Mama Sue's OK? I\ndon't have much cash.\" He waited long enough for Soren to nod his\nhead before he turned back to rinse his hair.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________\"Oh,\nwas that your first date,\" asked Eli, now laying perpendicular to\nSoren on the L-shaped couch, his head resting on Soren's chest.\"Nah,\"\nsaid Soren, smiling. \"We didn't jump that hurdle for a bit. We\ngamed a few more times, and it didn't take long for four to be five.\"\"But\nyou liked him right away, didn't you?\"Soren\ngrinned wider. \"Of course. I liked him a lot. He was smart, he was\na geek, and he was really, really, cute.\" Soren paused, his\nface becoming more serious. \"But you have no idea how careful I had\nto be. I hadn't even told Di and Danny at that point. I couldn't just\ngo and ask him out without being 100% sure I could trust him.\"Eli\nnodded. \"So what made you 100% sure, then?\"Soren's\nsmile returned to him. \"Well, like many good things, it started\nwith a game.\"_________________________________________________________________________________________________________\nSoren\nsat atop the short bleachers, observing the game playing out before\nhim. He could never get behind sports, but it had felt rude to say no\nto Milo's invitation. He had spent the first four innings watching\nthe players, looking for patterns or habits in the players, using his\nnatural understanding for game mechanics and dynamics to decipher\nwhat made this baseball game tick. Milo\nwas pitching, and his record for most of the game had been spot on.\nIt helped that he was left handed. It threw a lot of hitters for a\nloop. Currently there was one out and some new schmuck was up to bat.\nSoren watched as Milo threw an outside curve. Swing and a miss. Soren\nsmiled a bit. Milo really knew how to mess with the hitters. It was\nclear #12 was expecting an inside hit.The\ninnings passed rather quickly, at least to Soren. Actually knowing\nsomeone playing in the game made the whole thing more engaging.\nAlthough, it did seem that both teams had issues scoring. Players\nkept getting out before runs could be scored.It\ndidn't take long to go from the top of the fifth to the bottom,\nbringing the home team up to bat. The crowd around him was cheering\ntheir heads off, Crusaders this, Lassaire that. Soren was never one\nfor vocal cheering. He experienced events silently, observing rather\nthan shout randomly at whatever opportunity may arise. Besides, he\nhated that his school team was the fucking Crusaders. \"Hooray,\"\nSoren would always say, \"Go team 'hoard of stupidly zealous\nchristian soldiers who raped and pillaged their way across half the\nknown world in three idiotic and wasted campaigns.'\" Plus their\ncolors were orange and brown. Absolutely hideous.Unfortunately,\nit appeared that the opposition also had a pitcher who could mess\nwith heads of the other batters. Three strikeouts later and it went\nto the top of the sixth. Milo struck out the first guy without\nmissing a beat. But it seemed that Milo may have been losing his\nedge, or perhaps the next few batters had figured out his mind games.\nTwo batters got singles, but that was no big deal.Schmuck\nnumber #51 was up to bat, and in no time he was at two strikes. Milo\nthrew fast and hard down the center. There was a harsh crack as\nwood met baseball, rocketing the little ball into the outfield. The\nCrusader's left field missed the catch, giving time for three base\nruns for schmucks #34, #78, and #51. the score was now 3-1 to the\nRaiders (schmucks). The schmuck supporters roared and cheered,\nsupplemented with groan from the Crusader side.The\nbig hit caused a little ripple of unease across the Crusaders. But\nnot Milo though. He always kept a cool head. It didn't matter what\nthe situation was. It could be a tough fight in game, some problem in\nphysics, or a new twist in a ball game. He was such an analytical\nperson. So rational. Soren liked that in people.Schmuck\n# 49 was struck out and it was now the Crusaders at bat again. Bottom\nof the ninth. Two runs down. Two hitters in and two outs. How damn\ncliché. Milo was up to bat, but he wasn't much of a hitter. His job\nwas to get on base so he could let the pinch hitter run him in. There\nwas a pause... then the pitch, strong and fast, a crack, and\nSoren saw Milo drop the bat and run. But that was it. There was a\nloud and painful thump as Soren felt something small and hard\nmake impact with his chest, followed by a sharp and searing pain as\nhis head collided with something cold and metal._____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________\nSoren\nwas cooling down on a treadmill. The last few days had been stupidly\nfrustrating. Calculus had been giving him crap lately, and the last\ntest had come back with a big red D on it. That was the only thing\nthat would get his parents to talk to him these days. They'd never\nmiss a chance to yell at him about school. Normally he could just\nexercise the anger out of him, but the fist sized bruise on his chest\nconstricted in pain whenever he tried anything too intensive. He had\nhad been working out for twice his normal time, but it wasn't the\nsame. Low weight high reps couldn't burn out the frustration that he\nwas dealing with right now. The\nbaseball team clattered in, muttering about the rain and mud that was\nthe result of a practice from hell. Soren didn't pay too much\nattention. He was lost in his own head, ruminating half on math, half\non game, half on something else that he couldn't really place.Soren\nwas half way through machinating a ruthless encounter involving\nsummoned demons when he heard the clatter as the team left, changed\nand slightly less than filthy than before. The coaches left soon\nafterward. Soren kept walking, trying to tune out his frustration,\nbut after an additional half an hour, he was still irritated, and\nwhenever he tried to work up to sprinting speed that stupid bruise\ngave a painful twinge. He got off and went for a shower.Soren\nwas surprised to see that he wasn't the only person in here. A wet,\nmuddy, and bushy brown-tan tail was pointed in the air, a towel\nwrapped around its waste, it's owner buried in a locker. Soren looked\ndown. It was one thing to ogle a dude in the showers, but Milo was\nhis friend.\"Damn,\nyou're messy,\" said Soren. \"Coach wouldn't let you skip a\npractice? Had to make you play in a downpour?\"Milo\nshook his head. \"He just wants us to whip the Capras. Rivalry, and\nall that. And if I keep pitching like I did today, I don't think\ncoach will ever let me hear the end of it. He only let me off the\nhook few minutes ago.\"Soren\nnodded, starting the hot water. He found the last claim dubious. All\nthree of the coaches left ages ago. So why was Milo waiting around\nfor more than thirty minutes soaking wet and dripping mud? No... what\nwas he doing?They scrubbed themselves\nmutely for a minute, but Milo broke the silence in a bit. \"Do you\nhave a girlfriend, Soren?\"Soren stood still for a\nsecond. \"No. Are you thinking about Sasha?\" Milo made a small\nnoise of assent. \"No. Sasha and I never dated. But Di and Danny\nstill ship us some days. It's sort of a running jokeMilo chuckled. \"Why\nnot. She's smart, nice, a fantastic gamer, and really good looking.\"Soren spoke in a slightly\nimperious voice, \"Rule number one of dating: Don't date your best\nfriend.\"\"How long have you\nknown her,\" asked Milo. \"She's a senior, like us, right?\"\"All four of us are. We\nmet each other in grade school.\"\"I understand though.\nDating a good friend can really change the relationship, especially\nif there's a bad break up. Still, I'm surprised you aren't dating\nother girls in this school.\"\"I'm not into the girls\nin this school.\" Soren clapped his hand over his muzzle with a\nmuted and wet slap. He waited for an intense and terrifying minute.\nMilo wasn't speaking either. They both washed themselves in silence\nfor a minute or two. Soren swore as the last of his body wash\nsquirted out of the bottle. He was still incredibly grubby. He left\nthe shower and went to fish another bottle out of his backpack.Soren\nturned the corner and stopped. Milo's back was to him, specifically\nhis rather fine butt, pointed in the air as Milo was working on his\nlong, lustrous striped tail. Soren couldn't help but stare for a\nsecond... but then he forced himself to look away. Milo was a friend,\nnot a boy toy. Besides, a good looking guy like him must have a\ngirlfriend. Cute face, hot body, good at sports, smart, funny...\nSoren sighed internally and returned to washing his tails, turning\nhis back to Milo to avoid sneaking another peek at his friend.Finishing\nup, Soren left and got dressed, buttoning up his maroon shirt and\nbelting his cargo shorts. Milo wasn't far behind. Soren shoved his\nnose into his bag and found what he was looking for. Turning around,\nMilo had his back to him, buttoning his jeans. Soren stopped for a\nsecond, unable to not admire that sleek, silky tail that flowed over\nthe top of his jeans and drooped lazily onto the floor. And his back,\ndear god his back... Soren could see toned, powerful muscles, even\nunder that long, silky fur, alternating between beach-sand tan and\nmilk chocolate.\"Hey,\"\nsaid Soren, \"I got a present for you.\" Soren chucked the baseball\nin his hand as hard as he could.\"Ouch,\"\nyelped Milo as the ball collided with the side of his head. \"What\nwas that for?\"Soren\npointed at his chest. \"For yesterday. Your line drive home run\nhit me right in the chest. You even knocked me back into the back of\nthe bleachers.\" Soren rubbed the back of his head, twinging at the\nlightest of touches made contact with that egg sized bruise.\"Oh,\npoor baby,\" laughed Milo, slightly irritated at Soren nailing him\nin the back of the head.\"It\nhurts. A lot,\" said Soren. \"I couldn't do my full work out today.\nEvery time I tried doing anything it kept hurting.\"\"Show\nit to me,\" said Milo, challenge in his voice. \"It can't be that\nbad.\"Soren\nundid his button down, pulling apart his short brass fur with his\nhands. The bruise was visible even under the fur that wasn't pulled\napart. \"You did this.\"\"It\ndoesn't look that bad,\" said Milo, flicking it with a finger.\"Ouch,\"\nsaid Soren, flinching. \"Seriously, that hurt.\"\"Awww,\"\nteased Milo. \"You want me to kiss it and make it better?\"\"Do\nit,\" said Soren, looking Milo straight in the eyes, half\nchallenging, half secretly hoping... He puffed out his short, newly\nmuscled chest.\"Fine\nthen,\" said Milo as he put his hand on Soren's shoulder and leaned\ndown so that his face was level with Soren's bruised chest. Soren\ngave a gasp of surprise that was muted by Milo straightening up a bit\nto kiss him, full on the muzzle. Soren closed his blue eyes and\ninhaled through his nose, smelling the earthy scent of mud that still\nslightly clung to Milo's fur, the lemon scented body wash, the ghost\nof the smell of sweat from practice. It was intoxicating.Milo\nbroke away, smiling, but a look of shock at his own daring in his\neyes. \"Don't tell anyone.\"Soren\nput a hand on Milo's face, running his other hand up his bare chest,\nfeeling the damp, silky, four-inch fur run through his fingers,\nclosing his eyes again, savoring the feeling of Milo's muscular body.\n\"Can we tell Sasha? She knows about me.\"Milo\nlooked into Soren's blue eyes with his gorgeous brown ones. \"Well,\nwhat's the point of having a cute boyfriend if I can't brag just a\nlittle bit?\"\"I\ncan't agree more,\" said Soren. "}