{"sf1_id":615323,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Keeping Secrets","author":"DarkSoulsSauron","words":2097,"posted_at":"2013-11-18T16:01:00.000Z","tags":["Flareon","M/M","ninetales"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/615323-keeping-secrets","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/615323","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=615323\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Eli had his face in his locker,\nincoherently growling. He wasn't sure what they had tipped through\nthe slots at the top, but it didn't smell pretty. Smelled like rancid\nmeat. He lit a spark on his finger, lighting up the dark recesses of\nhis locker with red light. He jumped a little as he felt something\ngrab his shoulder. There was a crash as Eli's forehead smashed into\nthe top of his locker. \"Jesus, that hurt. What's up, Artur?\" \"Just wondering if you needed a hand\ntoday,\" said the Flareon. \"You normally take your portfolio home\non Fridays, so I thought I'd stop by. You feeling OK?\"Artur\ngestured towards the smelly locker Eli nodded, massaging his scalp a\nlittle. \"Did you see the outside?\"Artur leaned against the neighboring\nlockers, frowning. \"Why don't you go talk to someone about this?\nThis is serious hate they're spewing at you.\" Eli rolled his eyes. \"You think I\nhaven't done that already. They cough out some bullshit that I don't\nhave enough evidence to point a finger and they don''t care enough to\nlook themselves. It's just some paint, really.\" He shut his locker\nwith a clatter. \"Pink triangles aren't just paint,\ndude. What if they had painted a swastika on an ice type's locker?\nThe admins would do something about that.\" \"You're right,\" said Eli, his mouth\na black slash around his muzzle. \"But I'm not an ice type. I'm just\nsome faggot to them.\"\"Don't call yourself that,\" said\nArtur, a hand on Eli's shoulder. \"It's what I am, Artur,\" growled\nEli. \"It's not like they don;t know who's doing it. Victor and his\ncronies are just getting a free pass because they're winning the\nchampionships.\"\"You think that's why they aren't\ndoing anything?\"\"Yes,\" said Eli, fishing something\nout of his backpack. \"All the alumni coming back to buy game\ntickets is making the school money. They tripled the price of tickets\nand no one noticed anything. But I don't want to talk about it.\"Artur frowned, crossing his arms.\n\"That's beyond sketchy.\" \"Hold this, will you,\" asked Eli,\nholding up an umbrella. \"I can use my jacket to protect my\npaintings if I put you on umbrella duty.\"\"Sure,\" shrugged Artur. \"It's not\nlike I got much to carry myself.\" \"Do you ever do homework, man? How do\nyou keep your A's?\"\"You keep forgetting I've got a study\nhall,\" chuckled Artur. \"And since none of my friends share a\nlunch hour with me I just work there too. Most of my classes don't\nrequire that much homework. Calc isn't that hard if you just buckle\ndown and get it done.\" \"If that's the case you can help me\ntonight,\" smiled Eli, punching Artur in the arm. \"All that\nstuff's Greek to me.\" \"Well of course it's Greek,\" smiled\nArtur. \"High level math often uses Greek letters.\" \"Smart ass,\" chuckled Eli, punching\nthe other arm. \"What's your weekend looking like? Think you've got\ntime for Star Wars Sunday?\"\"Yeah,\" said Artur releasing the\numbrella with a click. \"How are your paintings?\" \"Dry, tight, and wrapped in leather,\"\nsaid Eli. \" Just how I like my guys.\"Artur snorted into his water bottle.\n\"TMI, man. Your house?\" \"Sure. Armored Core?\" \"Always.\" The walk home was short, and, thanks to\nArtur, dry. \"What do you think next quarter's play is?\" asked\nArtur. \"Mr Blazek mentioned something about\nOscar Wilde,\" said Eli, fiddling with the house key. \"Mom must be\non errands or something. C'mon, I've got a build I've been wanting to\nbreak in.\"\"Your parents don't mind me coming in\nwhile they're gone?\" Said Artur, slowly crossing the threshold. \"It's fine,\" said Eli, meandering\nto the kitchen. \"They don't care if it's only for a few hours.\nElly's got practice today too, so it's just us for a bit.\"\"Fine by me,\" shrugged Artur. \"I\ndoubt your sister's too into mechas anyway.\" \"Spot on,\" chuckled Eli. \"You\nwant something to drink?\" \"Coke if you've got it.\"Eli produced two cans from the fridge.\n\"Upstairs, or should I move the console?\"\"Your room's fine,\" said Artur.\nThey trumped up the stairs, Eli leaving his jacket on the railing.\n\"Before we get started, Eli, can we, uh, chat for a bit?\"\"Sure,\" said Eli, cracking his coke\nopen. \"What's on your mind.\"Artur slowly sat down on Eli's bed,\nabsently twirling his fluffed up tail. \"Can you keep a secret?\" Eli raised an eyebrow. \"Yes. I'll\nalways be a safe person to talk to, Artur. What's up?\"There was a pause. \"Well... this\nmight be a bit out of the blue, but... Well, lately I've really\nadmired how well you've taken all the hate lately. Ever since you\ncame out, you haven't really let anything get to you.\" \"Thanks, I guess,\" said Eli,\nblushing a bit. \"It's just stupid bullying. They'd have to try\nharder if they want to get to me.\" \"That's what I mean,\" said Artur,\npicking at his wrist tufts now. \"You're just taking it so\nstoically... And I sort of started to realize watching you... well...\nI like guys too.\" Eli pulled up his office chair,\nbringing his legs up so that his muzzle rested on his knees. \"Well,\nyou know that's fine by me. You can tell me to shut up if you want,\nbut can you tell me more about your thought process?\"\"You're thinking about my exes,\nright,\" said Artur with a grin. \"Yeah, I've dated three girls.\nAnd yeah I liked all of them. Hell, I've laid two of them. But I\nalways noticed guys too. I just sorta told myself that I could ignore\nguys and be OK. But seeing how brave you were when you came out... I\nfigured I could tell you of all people. There's not too much else\nbeyond that.\" Eli shrugged. \"Well, you know it's no\nbig deal for me. Sounds like you're into both males and females, and\nthat's fine. Like who you like, I don't care.\" Artur's blush was visible even through\nhis -red-orange fur. \"Would you care if I told you I've kinda been\ncrushing on you lately?\" Eli wobbled in his chair. \"Really?\nMe? \" \"Sorry I mentioned it,\" mumbled\nArtur. \"I understand if you wanna just stay friends.\" \"No, no,\" said Eli, waving his\nhands. \"I'm just, well, surprised. I never thought you'd like me.\nCause I kinda like you too. But I gave up on you cause I thought you\nwere into girls. Well, exclusively into girls, I mean.\" Artur looked up, his eyes brighter.\n\"So, uh... In that case, you wanna go out to lunch tomorrow?\" \"Are you asking me on a date,\"\nasked Eli, his eyebrows raised. \"Do you wanna call it that?\"\"Yes. I'd like to call it that,\"\nsaid Eli, smiling now. He leapt from his chair to the bed. Sitting on\nthe heels of his paws, he picked up a controller. \"Still wanna\nplay?\" \"Sure. Show me the build you were\nbragging about,\" grinned Artur, pressing the center X. \"Then you're about to get fisted,\"\nsmiled Eli, selecting a blue and silver biped mech, hiding the weapon\nselection from Artur. Artur ribbed Eli with a fluffy elbow.\n\"I'd make a gay joke after that remark, butt fuck it.\" He\nselected his favorite mech, the Crimson Zweihandler. \"Parabolic\nGrove?\" \"I''m feeling Old Peace,\" said Eli,\ntapping his muzzle. They selected the map, waiting for their game to\nload. \"You're scrap, buddy.\" \"Dream on, fox boy.\" They boosted head on at each other,\nArtur lit up his moonlight blade, rushing down Eli's silver mech.\nCompletely unfazed, Eli pressed a single button. THUMP! A blast on\nEli's right arm discharged, propelling it into Artur's crimson mecha.\"Dead,\" cackled Eli. \"Wh-wh-what?!?!\" \"You just got fisted,\" cheered Eli,\npunching the air with his controller. \"How'd you do that?\" asked Artur.\n\"You one-shot me! What's on that arm?!\" \"I''ll tell you after I kick your\nbutt,\" said Eli, his eyes glowing with the imminent challenge.. \"Don't get ahead of yourself,\" said\nArtur, toggling his triggers to boost shuffle away from a missile\nbarrage. \"You're gonna get shredded.\" The red mech rushed forward\nagain, laser blade raised high.\"All talk, no walk,\" taunted Eli,\ndischarging his right arm unit again. \"Crunch! Whose ass is\ngrass now, huh?!\"\"Two points is piss and vinegar.,\"\ngrumbled Artur. \"I'm not done yet.\" He circled in, peppering\nEli's silver bot with machine gun fire before closing with his blade\nagain. \"Backstabbing? How crude.\" Eli\ntoggled the triggers, clicking the left stick and flicking it by a\nninety degree angle. \"Behind you!\" THUMP! \"Crunch! Your\nass is more than grass. You just got plowed!\"\"I give up,\" groaned Artur,\nplopping his controller on Eli's bed. \"What's on your arms?\" \"Well, fur,\" said Eli. This\nresponse elicited a punch on the arm. \"Jeez, violent urges much?\nIt's the Kiku. It turns my whole arm into a hurtbox. It also deals\nbonus damage to people in the middle of attack animations. And if you\nso much as touch me while I'm swinging, you get crunched.\" Artur frowned. \"Oh, you're a dirty\nwhore. That's just mean. It makes my blade next to useless.\" \"It's not without weaknesses,\" said\nEli, gesturing back to the screen. \"It doesn't really hit things\nunless they stand still or rush me down... which was what you were\ndoing all match. Artur nodded. \"Rematch?\" \"Done.\" The next two matches went to Eli as The\nFist. He trounced both Wavebuster and Sting. But the tides soon\nshifted as Artur began to learn Eli's play style. Five matches in and\nEli was eating dirt. \"Whose ass is grass now, huh?\"\njeered Artur. \"Well you can declare my ass\nthoroughly plowed,\" sighed Eli. \"Good game. You wanna stay for\ndinner?\" \"Hrmm... Maybe,\" shrugged Artur,\nslowly getting off the bed. \"Mom generally doesn't like me staying\nover for dinner unless she knows ahead of time. I should probably be\ngoing soon.\" Eli \"Heya, Artur... How do you wanna\ntell your parents? Or, do you want to tell your parents?\"Artur sat down again, rubbing his arms.\n\"I don't know what to say to them. I have no idea what they'll\nthink of me.\" Eli placed a hand on Artur's shoulder,\nsqueezing his slightly pudgy arm. \"I'll be there with you if you\nlike.\" \"You mean it?\" \"Yes. You stood by me when I came\nout. Why wouldn't I do the same?\" \"I'm sorry... I didn't want to imply\nthat-\" Eli took one of Artur's hands. \"It's\nnot a big deal. Do you wanna stay and talk for a bit more?\"\"I should go,\" muttered Artur.\n\"I... Eli, I know this is kind of fast.... but, uh, could I, uh...\nkiss you?\" Eli looked away for a moment, looking\nback at Artur with a smile. \"Yes.\" Slowly, Eli leaned in, placing\nhands on Artur's shoulders. He stopped an inch from Artur's thin,\npink lips. Artur hesitated for only a moment before pressing their\nmuzzles together. The kiss could only be described as\nsweet. All he could see was black-green eyes and beige hair as his\nbangs drooped over his eyes. The scent of autumn rain drifted into\nhis nose as he tasted the cherry coke on their lips. Gently, Eli\nclosed his eyes as a hand brushed against his cheek. They broke apart\nslowly. Eli felt the color of his face rising a\nbit. \"That.... that was a good kiss. Thank you.\" Artur gave a rather uncharacteristic\ngiggle. \"hehehehe.... Really? Nicole always said I was bad. I'm\nglad you enjoyed it.\" Eli looked down at his bedspread before\nmeeting Artur's green eyes again. \"Artur... can I kiss you back?\"Artur reached forward, grabbing Eli''s\nshoulders. They bumped together clumsily, Eli feeling their teeth\nclack together as they kissed again, much more vigorously this time.\nThey were jolted away from their passions as a wooden slam echoed\nthrough the house. They scooted away from each other, hastily. \"Mom must be home now. I won't say a\nword unless you say it's OK,\" whispered Eli, absently picking up a\ncontroller. Artur did the same. \"Thank you, Eli.\nYou're an amazing friend.\"\"Hopefully I'll be a good boyfriend,\ntoo,\" smiled Eli.\"I don't have any doubts,\" said\nArtur. Quickly, he snuck a quick kiss on Eli's cheek before picking\nup the controller again. \"I do need to go soon though.\"\"You sure you don't wanna stay for\ndinner?\" \"Maybe I'll stick around tonight,\"\nsaid Artur, tapping his muzzle. \"I must admit I have a soft spot\nfor your mom's cooking.\" \"Can you help me with calc tonight?\nIt's embarrassing to have to ask my younger sister for help on\nhomework?\"Do you have any of those brownies\nleftover from Monday?\" \"Deal.\" "}