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Hello, and welcome to my latest story!

Good grief, has it really been 10 months since the previous chapter? Damn it, sometimes these stories really let themselves wait for them...but no mores! Here's a new installment in this miniseries of sorts, continuing with the story of these two furs. If you're a new reader - and I'm sure I've gotten a few during nearly a year that has passed, I'd advice you to start from the beginning, for maximum enjoyment of the plot! I've been told it is most satisfying. *smiles*

As always, I hope for your feedback, and remember that all votes, faves and watches will help others to find these stories to enjoy as well!

Have an interesting read!

*

The insistent beeping of the alarm going off in his phone seemed even more shrill than usual, when Mark opened his eyes, felt his ears flick back, and his body tensed, as the lion reached for the phone.

"Shit..."

The lion grumbled to himself and his eyes went bleary with the brightness of the screen. The little clock told him that it was 6:30 in the morning, his usual time for waking up for work, it was...but today, it was just an ugly reminder that he hadn't really gotten much sleep last night.

A heavy shuffling coming from his other side told him that the reason for his lack of sleep had been roused by the beeping, too. Mark scowled as he hurried to mute the alarm and then put the phone down back to the nightstand before he rolled to his back and breathed out, deeply, staring up at the ceiling in the glow of the phone.

An elbow brushed against his side, followed by the touch of breath on his mane, the brief warmth enough to make his furs spike a little, the way they did in reaction to such sensations, easily. His heavy tail flicked beneath the covers, but thankfully did not try to escape. A rumble coming from such close range made his ears flick.

"Huumhmmwhatisit?"

"Just my alarm, Jake," the lion spoke, leaning over to his right so that he faced the tiger sharing his bed for now. The phone screen went dark at the moment and plunged him into a momentary blackness before his cat-eyes became accustomed again to operate in the light provided by the glow through the curtains over the windows. In the dim city light he could see the shape of the tiger, and a little glint of his eyes that disappeared whenever he blinked. Soft breath still flowed against his muzzle, from the tigers, and carried a hint of a minty scent. Toothpaste.

The lion tensed a little as he remembered how it'd tasted only hours previously, when the tiger had insisted on kissing him. The memory hurt rather than allured - the sobbing tiger's weight on his body had not been a pleasant sensation, even if it could have been, if the circumstances had been different...and indeed, if the fur in question had been different, perhaps. Seeing that amount of distress had left the lion in a sour mood, too, and the knowledge that he could do very little to help didn't help.

"Okay," the tiger husked.

"Go back to sleep," the lion rumbled, "it's all fine."

"You gonna get up?" Jake asked.

Mark let out a deep breath, a rumbling one, straight from the lungs, through his tight throat. He felt almost numb with exhaustion, emotional, physical, too, the lack of sleep making his tail and his ears droop. He knew that he should go to work...he had a lot to do...but he knew that the tiger needed him, too, after such a distressing time, he really needed the company...someone to rely on...just to be there, the lion thought...prop him up, if needed, or just for the friendship, whatever that meant at the moment. He also knew that feeling this tired, he'd be likely to blow things off at work, make a mess of himself and be unable to really do anything productive while he'd doze off in front of his computer, while occasionally likely waking up to worry about Jake and how the tiger might be sitting alone in his apartment, hugging himself...

Damn imagination, the lion thought, as he let out another huff.

"Think I'm gonna call in sick," he said, the decision finally made.

The tiger shifted on the bed again, and his breath seemed even warmer against Mark's muzzle and his ear.

"Do you feel sick?"

The lion huffed and yawned.

"Just don't feel like it," he said, "how're you?"

The tiger grunted.

"I feel like shit, and I'm sore," he said, "and I don't want you get into trouble because of me or something."

"I haven't slept," Mark snipped back, "I wouldn't be any good at work."

"Mark..."

The lion rolled onto his side, so that the tiger would only see his back.

"Go back to sleep," he said, "you've slept even less than I have, I bet."

The tiger's breath tickled against his neck, and a grumble rose from his chest, Mark could tell...a creak of the mattress...was Jake leaning closer to him? The lion's body tensed as he waited for the touch he expected to come...did he want it to come? It didn't, after all, not after another creaking noise the bed made, a shuffle of sheets and duvets and the rustle of a tail.

"Okay," the tiger huffed.

Mark put one of his bag paws over his muzzle, closed his eyes, and tried to relax himself back into sleep.

*

Mark didn't feel any more refreshed when he finally forced his eyes open, grabbed his phone and checked the time again. It was a few minutes after nine am, he noted, and wanted to groan at the shitty state he was in. At least Jake seemed to be quiet, he noted, which encouraged the lion slip out of the bed as carefully as possible, holding his phone. A quick glance in the now slightly more illuminated room told him that the tiger was sleeping on his side, curled up like cats tended to do, and seemed peaceful enough for the moment. The lion thought that was slightly encouraging, he mused, before he tiptoed out of the room and made sure not to make any undue noise.

Mark didn't notice that he was holding his breath until he had gently closed the door behind him and he was finally in the living room. His tail bounced about and almost smacked against a wall before he got his jumpy appendage under control. The lion yawned and let out a deep rumble he'd been holding back much like his breath. His eyes smarted a little with sleep deprivation. He didn't suppress the other noisy yawn that happened then. Mark flipped the phone around on his paw and dialed one of the familiar numbers, quickly, and lifted the phone up to his ear. He began to clear his throat by coughing into a paw, but stopped himself halfway there, suddenly deciding that sounding sleepy was probably the best option.

"You've reached the Lorne Agency personnel department, this is Catherine Meadows, how may I help you?"

Mark made a muffled couch and effected his worst-sounding tone.

"Hi, Catherine, it's Mark," he mumbled.

"Hi, Mark!" the woman sounded cheerful enough. "What's up? Want a hot date for the coffee break?"

The lion almost snuffled. They'd had an endless play-flirt going on for several months now, and usually he was all in for it...but he wasn't in the mood today.

"I'd love to, Catherine, but the thing is, I'm not at work today," he said, "uh...I started puking somewhere around...uh...two pm, and soon it was coming from both ends and...uhh...'cough'...I think I've got the 24-hour stomach flu or something...I'm running a 103 fever and I'm calling in from the bed...uh...I spent most of the night on the toilet floor...my neck's killing me..."

"Awwww, Mark, that's terrible!"

The lion coughed again and pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek to create and ever more muffled voice.

"Yeah...can you...can you make sure everyone knows?" he continued. "I hope to be back to work tomorrow...but I feel so shit now..."

"Awww, that really is terrible! Did you take Tylenol and Pepto-Bismol to feel better? Lots of fluids and stuff?"

"Sure," Mark lied, quickly, "guess it's helping a bit."

"I hope it does, Mark, that really sucks..."

"Yeah, but...yeah, best to sleep it off now, I think...dint' want to give this to anyone else in the office either..."

"Oh I hope not!"

Mark wanted to snort. The vixen suddenly sounded much less compassionate, if only briefly.

"So...uh...you can handle it, right?"

"I'll talk to Percy and Anderson, we'll hold the fort up while you're recovering!"

"Thanks, Catherine, I owe you one."

"I know I do!" the vixen giggled. "You take care, yeah?"

"Yeah, thanks Catherine."

"Bye, Mark, you get better soon!"

"Bye!" the lion rumbled as he closed the line.

"Bah," Mark grumbled, not too happy with his acting performance.

Now relieved of duty, he felt awfully drained again. He might not have to go to work, but Mark knew that cheering up the tiger would be a pawful and it'd take all day. Jake had been in such a bad state last night, he thought, he'd been...completely confused and crying and...

...kissing...

The lion huffed to himself as he stalked to the question to a get a drink of water. What he really wanted was a refreshing shower, but since Jake was still sleeping, the noise would certainly wake him up, and he didn't want that. The tiger ought to sleep for as long as he could, and then he'd make him something to eat, and they could talk and relax, and generally feel better about the events of the past few days. The revelation that his straight friend had been moonlighting as a gay porn star had been bad enough...followed by his insistence that Mark gave him a private lesson in buttfucking...and now, the emotional fallout from all that...damn...it was too much. Mark scowled to himself while he dragged himself to fetch a glass and put water into it from the tap.

Just how bad was the tiger feeling? If Mark felt uncomfortable in his own furs and generally like shit, how bad could Jake feel? The tiger had forced himself through so much shit, just so that he could keep onto his dreams, namely the house he had bought in order to create a home for the family he wanted to have, so damn badly...and all those dreams had since then come crashing down, and he was holding onto whatever little was left...and he had paid the price with the ultimate sacrifice...he'd lost his feeling of dignity, the lion thought. He might've not been a psychologist, Mark thought, sipping from the refreshingly cool glass, but he could tell that the tiger's secret desperation had driven him to the brink. Last night's attempt at kissing him was a good example, he thought, feeling so damn lonely and unable to deal with everything that had been going on...so desperately looking for some kind of...positive affirmation of his character...something...

"Maybe I am a closet psychologist," the lion mused to himself, and almost laughed, as the idea went through his trail of thought. It did seem reasonable to assume all that, he decided, it made sense...but how to help the poor man...his best friend...one of the most important furs in his life, if not the most important, for such a long time. They'd shared so much...they were now sharing this, too...and he was determined to help, in any way he could.

There was something he could do, the lion decided early on. He could at least make things as normal as possible...as good as possible...and that meant that he ought to spoil the tiger a bit.

"Yes..." Mark rumbled to himself as he put the glass away and wiped his muzzle on the back of his paw, "yes..."

A gently determined look appeared over his muzzle, as he set to work in the kitchen.

*

Thank you for reading! You can expect a more substantial further installment up soon, I hope, but before that, I just wanted to put this small piece up so that people can catch up with this series :) Your feedback is always appreciated, as always!