FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

IMBROGLIO, written by Plexadonn

Music: Great Lake Swimmers' self-titled album is the primary music for this story, the title track especially being appropriate, others: Stars of the Lid, Slowdive, Steve Roach (early), Deftones (latest 2 albums), Theatre of Tragedy (Assembly and Musique only).

(I'm simply re-writing this very old story of mine and giving it a massive edit. The plot and characters are not changing but I'm making it read more fluently and trying to make more sense of it, and I'm rewording dialogue and replacing the original, amateurish narration with something that I like to think of as a bit more interesting to read.

bckgrnd: First, I must explain a few minor things that I will not implement into the narration. This story takes place on the planet Kologa (where Plexadonn and the eelnod species lives) in a small, dystopian country on the coast. The city is sectored into various domes because of oceanic flooding through the seasons. Species such as kangaroos, chameleons, bears and lesser common animals are created with sentience/intelligence artificially by genetically splicing several species with similar genetic patterns, which creates a rough ‘mutt' of the original species. Hence, why the main characters aren't typical of what they are on Earth, in real life. Thank you.)

j'''''''''''''''''fff

He closed the window shutter with the press of a button, an electronic panel near the door frame. It blocked out the sunlight; the yellow star glaring brightly outside and filling the room with its shine. The day cycle was at mid-point and the city was not flooded yet, as per the ocean tide.

The sun did not bother this adolescent kangaroo at all, truly; however, when he was engrossed in some of his v-games, he preferred the darkness. The entertainment room was now lit only by the rectangular video screen in the far wall.

The device was 1x1.5 meters in size, and he wished his family could afford to purchase for him a larger screen. It was good piece of equipment, though, and he could enjoy the games well enough to be entertained for hours.

That was his day: after coming home from dismal education -- attending a public high school, and disliking the archaic concept -- he consummated the day by playing his games. He hated school, really. However, it at least gave him a place to see those guys, and if not home playing games or relaxing, he could be looking at those handsome boys in the field playing their own non-electronic games.

He was now distracted from his previous thoughts by the images of those athletes, and his guard was lowered completely. Thus when his mother rushed into the room with horrible news, she inadvertently startled him. She was holding a telephone and set it down upon a small table, "Tom, we have to go. Dad's going critical again."

Immediately, Tom forsook his ideas of which game to play. With his parent, he rushed to the front entrance and watched as she opened the door. Tom quickly tried to push past her, not in his panic, though, but knowing that the door had a malfunction and frequently closed on his tail when traversing through the opening.

This time was no different, and he shouted in pain as the metal panel slid back to the floor and mashed the appendage. It would not severe, he was glad of that, and it automatically opened itself as it met the resistance.

Both beings cursed the device and continued. The front of their house, a plain, grey-tinted building, faced the highway. Both Tom and his mother were flashed by the sun's reflection on vehicles racing past to wherever. The lanes were very busy. They quickly entered the mother's vehicle and proceeded across the city to the hospital.

Five minutes.

She parked haphazardly and the two maneuvered through the main office up to the fourteenth level of the building where the father was receiving treatment.

His brain, lungs and liver were infected with cancer, and the intricate machines connecting to his body, all held within that bubble room, made Tom feel very anxious. With those mechanical devices surrounding him and so many doctors fidgeting about, it seemed reckless and chaotic.

This scare was the third of its kind this week. Tom's father, Jem, had been a patient for years, and occupied this room for only two months. Tom had spent many hours here with his father, both while the senior was conscious and not, and thus he was accustomed to the scenery, and yet there would always be dread present. He and his mother would have liked to remain with their relative till he either died or was healed, yet no one would have possibly survived the torment and stress of doing such a thing.

The doctors and nurses, themselves, were on various drugs to help cope with their workplace.

Jem was currently unconscious, and it was easily only a matter of seconds before he slipped away into death. Tom was skeptical about this; it would not happen yet, only the third time this week, but it was possible. He had been informed: as more of the cancer was taken care of, additional growth accumulated, and so the machines worked harder. The extensive surgery and medication was creating further problems, and aggravating the cancer.

It was like teasing an enraged beast. Jem frequently came close to his death.

This is why the two were present, for they would not be absent when he finally was to die.

Tom tried to go inside and see his father at a closer range; there were two layers of plastic between son and his father, yet the docs would not allow it. They had explained it long ago, how easily he could contaminate the area, especially right after emerging from the pollution outside.

Tom did not think there was much pollution in the city, especially on this day, but it was apparently enough to kill the sick animal. With love, Tom wished his father would die soon. All those with sense in their heads knew this hectic treatment was of no use and only prolonging his decline. Only his mother, with her spasmodic obsession of dependence, was allowing this idiocy to play.

Soon, the scare was over and the senior roo stabilized. He was fine for now, but Tom knew it would happen again very soon, probably tomorrow. The roos left and went back home where Tom found himself in a state of depression.

The teen was close to tears. Anger and frustration at the situation. He and his father had been good friends, and the illness had devastated them both. Tom had been a "regular boy" until the sickness in his daddy, and now the danger of his father's death was draining all happiness from him. This was his mother's words, her ‘regular boy'.

Tom stood in the living room, where his screen was along with all his games. Picking up a controller for the entertainment system, he turned on the screen and opened the ‘music' function. He skimmed through the artists and found what he wanted, then as the music began to play, soft and ambient tones, Tom relaxed into the sofa.

There he reclined in contemplation, prone. Tom hated how he had been reduced to this position: being practically friendless, his father dissolving in a hospital, his mother going insane and now trying to make another friend before he, too, went mad. He already had one friend, of the casual sort, and he simply needed an upgraded friend.

A lover.

Both parents were soon to be dead to him. Perhaps he would be off to the orphanage for a miserable existence. That thought of the homeless life made his gut wretch, and the thought of having his family dead did not help to fight the urge to weep in his frustration. It would almost make more sense to follow their paths.

It was a common practice, the suicide. It did seem to help with the population control. Still, Tom was not quite sure if he would be willing to adapt to a life with no family and only the single friend he had.

Of course, he could live there by himself, in the house where he had always been. He could do it with just a simple visit to the city for the ridiculous employment once a month and he would be ready. Set up by the city for life, but still bored out of his mind with only one friend.

Tom then realized he was only making himself miserable with those insufferable thoughts, and he tried to think of something active to do.

With another manipulation of the controls, he opened a data file. There were hundreds images of pornographic nature there, mostly reptiles with a few common mammals, all male. Tom sighed and went through each one, gazing at each beautiful portrait, muscular men either solo, duos or trios. After about the fourth one, he felt himself become aroused and he wanted to stimulate himself to enjoy it better.

However, it was mighty risky, for if he were to be caught he would be embarrassed beyond belief and his mother would find out about him. He would never tell her of his sexual orientation, for she was not mentally stable anymore, and the sudden knowledge would cause her to become very upset, and he knew that she would rather not know. The fuss that would ensue... Tom would probably have to strangle her.

As he looked at each handsome figure staring seductively into the camera, he decided not to worry about her too much. He locked the door then quickly unfastened the top of his pants and pulled his erect phallus from his boxers. With both hands on it, be began molding and squeezing it, stroking the shaft and fiddling with the testicles.

With a grin and a contented groan, he started jerking it quickly as he switched the picture to a komodo. The organ seeped fluid, and he gathered it with his fingers and rubbed it along the shaft. He had been lying down, but now he moved to sit up straight so he could reach it with his mouth.

And this he did, leaning down he let his long tongue flap against the head of his member. With another moan, his pushed more force with that muscle and stroked harder. As much as he wanted to take it all into his maw, his bones would not allow it. He groaned again as he felt the pressure build up to his climax and moaned when it reached.

The orgasm caused his muscles to ease a bit and he held his head back as semen shot from the head in thick globs and splashed his clothes. He caught some of it on his tongue, rolling it through his mouth to taste it. In a few moments, the intensity eased as the ejaculation slowed to dripping then finally ceased.

The roo fell to his back and relaxed, prone. But he knew that it was unwise to do so, even though he wanted nothing more than to simply relax for a minute or two. Tom had to clean up after himself quickly to avoid the possible hassle of his mother approaching.

He stood and stripped his shirt off, this being the only thing with semen on it. Opening the door, he quickly moved to the cleaning room. Here, he put his shirt into the washing machine where it was cleaned in less than a minute. Removing and re-donning it, the roo moved back to the entertainment room where he realized he forgot to remove the pornography from the screen.

The music was still playing, and he slightly decreased the volume. He positioned himself prone on the furniture and faced the screen where a colorful digital display was moving about, swirling and rushing.

Another day, more hectic emergency and more self-gratification. But although it had felt good to him, he truly had not gotten any satisfaction from it.

Tom wanted to be with another being, he wanted someone that would play with him in that fashion, but also be a companion. Of course that was unacceptable, not with the laws of the country. To have a friend of mutual sex and friendship was illegal â€" a situation called a ‘duality' -- even if one was married to said person.

He was old enough to be someone's husband, and he already had that one friend at school, the casual "buddy". She could not suffice for his romance, however; she was female, after all, and he stubbornly wanted a fellow male.

Nothing could be done about it now, for he was tired and wanted to take a nap.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

School was unavoidably monotonous, but now it had changed a bit. Just the classes, the set of four ‘blocks' was completed and time for another set to begin. New people to parody and mock in his amateur, foolish cartoon drawings. This of course was done during a session, when there was nothing else to do.

After forcing himself through the morning routine of hygiene and kinesthetics he found himself in a state of mild unconscious autonomy for the first two block of classes, then his usual, demure moping impatience through the lunch break. Usually, the roo avoided the cafeteria, not liking the idea of waiting in line or pushing through a crowd, and the food was basic crap. However, he had not eaten that morning and decided to try again.

In line, he watched a group of glitzy, female rodents (or something) bantering giddily. The roo found himself chuckling at their dramatic tales. One of them, a brownish-white hare or rat possibly, who was dressed in pink, saw his laughter and gawked at him.

"Are you laughing at us?" She asked.

"Yes." Tom affirmed.

"That's not funny." She explained, as if shocked at his reaction and possibly expecting him to be sensitive.

"I thought it was hilarious. Maybe if were a little more optimistic you wouldn't have so much stuff to worry about." He joked, referring to her "tragic" life.

"I don't need your advice, really." She assured.

Tom was suddenly seized from behind, someone's large hand firmly clamping his neck, a bit painfully. A mutt-like, ursine hybrid stepped around the roo in his grasp and grinned at the ones speaking.

"Is he tormenting you?" He asked the girls. His voice was nice.

"No." They laughed. The sound was horrible.

Tom did not find the situation funny. His face became hot when he saw the athlete, felt the male's firm paw on his neck, looked into those dull, green eyes. Kyle was his name; he played football and was one of the boys in Tom's fantasies.

"Hey, you're that guy that watches us play sometimes, right?" He asked Tom.

"Uh... yeah." Tom stared at the mutt's face.

"Why do you do that?" Then to the girls, "He just stands there writing or something and watches us."

"I'm drawing. I like football, and I like watching it, so I draw it sometimes."

All three were lies; he hated football, could not stand to watch it, and would not draw something related to it if his life depended on it. He was not watching the game; his focus was mainly this boy. Handsome as can be, strong, fairly attractive smell...

"Why don't you join us then?"

"I don't think so, I'm too weak. I'd rather just watch it." He wanted badly to talk Kyle, to hang out with him. Yet Kyle would eventually discover Tom's predicament, that the roo knew nothing of the sport and was only interested in him... his ursine body.

Tom continued forward and grabbed some food, ignoring the athlete and girls as he passed them by and situated himself at the end of a long table where the occupants were sparse.

The food was greasy and extraordinarily unappetizing, potato pieces and synthetic meat. He stomached as much as possible and threw the rest away, dropping most of it into the trash on his way out. He moved to the destination of his next classroom, not really caring to visit the library or music room as usual.

Tom entered; two other students had already arrived and the teacher was absent. The students waved in salutation as the roo sat down as far from the front as possible and nearest to the window. There were a few simple computers lined up on a desk on the other side of the room, and he was tempted to use them for the internet, but not sure if he wanted to move again, or just rest in the chair.

It had been about ten minutes, and he had been staring at his current sketch, a random, beast-like monstrosity, when an intriguing person arrived.

A reptile moved past him and began looking for his desired position at the desks. It was a chameleon, dressed in loose-fitting clothes: trousers and a decaled shirt, barefoot. Tom could not discern what was emblazoned on the reptile's shirt, but it seemed to be music-related (a rock band or something, possibly). This was not important, though, for Tom found this creature to be absolutely beautiful.

He was pale green, and had blue-tinted eyes. It was so unlike the untouched, un-evolved chameleon of the wild. This boy was still sluggish and moved about in almost complete silence, yet there was something about the character that was unlike reptile. There was no way for Tom to know what genetics had been used to create this line of beings unless he asked. For this, the moment would have to wait.

The chameleon sighed and rummaged through his school bag to pull out a virtually microscopic music player and strap it to his hearing organs. Next, to Tom's surprise, he removed a thin book and began perusing it. This, of course, was a drawing tablet, much like Tom's own.

Tom could not help but smile as he stared at the lovely boy, and wanted to approach to see what he was drawing, what his voice was like, or how the reptile smelled. But he was too nervous and convinced himself that he would only make himself look stupid or maniacal. Thus, he simply enjoyed gazing at the lizard-thing, sitting there and consumed in his own world.

Tom felt inspired by this newcomer, and resumed his own drawing.

Eventually, the other students arrived and the lessons ensued. It was literature, so the students had to read a lot of nonsense in their supposed "free-time". Tom was sure to keep his attention on the instructor, in order to understand the responsibilities he would be expected to follow, but no more than this; he had other things in his mind that demanded attention. He felt stupid for being so engrossed in the chameleon, however, and after their eyes had randomly met twice, Tom decided to focus on his drawing instead of the scenery.

As always, Tom was the last to leave, having stuff spread everywhere on the desktop and being clumsy in attempts to gather everything. He took his time with it while the others left and headed around the assortment of desks towards the door. The chameleon and the teacher were discussing something, and Tom stopped as he neared them to get a closer look at the reptile and his curious shirt. He was taller than the roo, thinner, and his voice was deeper. He smelled wonderful.

The teacher glanced to him, wondering if the roo had a question; he was standing there waiting for something, was he not? They both looked to him and waited.

More blushing. Tom excused himself and moved along. Down halls, down a pavement and past another building, on the left was the football field and there was a practice today. But he would not stay to watch, his interest in Kyle and his sort had been dissolved by that gorgeous chameleon. But Kyle had apparently been waiting for him to arrive, for Tom heard him shout the roo's name and wave in a greeting, far out there amidst his teammates. Tom waved in return and continued.

Then, for a second time today, Tom was attacked from behind. This time, a female canine mutt had been the attacker, having pat him hard on the back with a "Hello".

"Hey, Jill." He greeted.

"How're you?" She asked.

"Fine. I'm tired; I'm going to sleep as soon as I get home."

"Me too. Hey, come over to my house and we can sleep together, huh?" She grinned and straightened her hair from the back, fidgeting with the tie. Tom made no rejoinder, but chuckled at the phony offer.

"You'd rather sleep with Kyle!"

"That's very true." Tom agreed.

Jill was one of the only people that knew of his homosexual tendency. And even then, he had tried to keep it a secret, but she was apparently clairvoyant and figured it out by observing his behavior. She was not bothered by it, and to his great confusion, she told him that she had suspected it since they had met. She was attracted to him, for his sense of logic and way of handling stressful circumstances had helped her occasionally in the past with her own problems.

She wished that she could help him with his own problems. Jill knew of his father, and knew she could do nothing about it, but as far as his singular-friend self went, she tried to help him. By offering to hook him up with people, she only managed to irritate him, and by trying to get him interested in her, she added confusion to her already ludicrous attempts. Her sympathy was only half-hearted, for as soon as her interest in help arose it dissolved quickly and she eventually left it alone. Thus was the plight of this mercurial bitch.

They continued to walk in their directions till the point of separation became inevitable and each went their own way. He lived much closer to the school than her and was home first.

Tom did not go to sleep right away as he said he would. The roo stayed awake a bit longer to play some more games. After the mindless monotony of it, he turned off the machine then moved to his bedroom. Down into the thick plush of the mattress, not even undressing, and he fell asleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

School would be attended to this day. To avoid the eatery in the place, Tom took sustenance in his own kitchen prior to departure. Chewing on a nutrition stick â€" coconut flavored -- he began walking to school. The journey would not be lengthy, but with the proper path, it would have been as such. Instead, Thomas meandered through the highway lanes as his course for the school building. It was not actually dangerous, but it was foolish. He did not enjoy being struck by cars.

The chances of a vehicle colliding with him were low, yet there would always be someone or some people that found doing such things to pedestrians entertaining.

Tom was in good spirits and looking forward to beholding the beautiful chameleon and perhaps starting a conversation. Leonard-something was the reptile's name; it was the only name Tom remembered from during the attendance debacle.

A car hit him then. Downward his body was propelled, landing hard against the plastic walkway of the lane. He had not been smashed with full force; but only grazed enough to be projected at least a yard. Vehicles in the lanes were equipped, of course, with machines that created cushions of air around their perimeter, so no blunt force trauma would be suffered. The cushion was used to prevent major collisions with other vehicles. It was not intended for harassing people.

It did not hurt, but it certainly startled him. His food had been lost, for what was left of it had been thrown from his hand and fell over the edge of the lane, down into the sewer conduit. There would be no way he could retrieve it now.

"Fuck you!" He screamed, raising his middle finger to the car and laughing. He could see several heads emerge from the attacker vehicle and wave at him, screaming indecipherably.

Boring classes ensued. All academic and nothing entertaining. Once again, he decided to skip visiting the library and loiter in his classroom again till he could see Leonard or nap at one of the desks. The reptile was there before he arrived, and was interacting with the teacher again. Strangely, the teacher, a Mr. Mason, was playing an acoustic guitar.

Thomas stopped and watched, Leonard watching Mason play. Apparently Mason was ‘out of practice' but his enthusiasm was a good sign. Tom noticed that Leonard was wearing another rock band shirt; this one was known to him, for "Roving Images" was printed along the bottom. Tom liked the group associated with the title, a "classic" band called Crush!, a very old rock group from decades ago.

"Their chords are actually really easy," Leonard explained as he took the guitar, "he uses simple patterns and all you have to do is get the timing right."

He began playing some finger style pieces, stuff that Tom had never heard from the band, but Leonard claiming it was some of his favorite of their work. Mason seemed to enjoy it, for he was smiling. Even though he did not know the songs, Tom stood there and watched. Leonard and Mason were aware of his presence, and now Leonard was becoming nervous that he had an audience.

As the remainder of the classroom's students arrived, Leonard stopped playing and put away the instrument. Everyone rested in their positions for the second day of the new block schedule. It was even more aggravating today, for Tom wanted to speak with Leonard even more so than he had.

After class, Leonard and Mason went back to the music talk. Tom, once again, joined the duo to watch the plucking, but their talking went over his head. The roo did not have a good knowledge of many music groups, especially of anything from the 40th-41st centuries. They got back to talking about Crush! and Leonard started playing some stuff from their older catalogue again.

"Do you know anything from "Roving Images"?" Tom asked him. Leonard looked to him with amusement.

"Yeah, I know it all. It's really easy." The reptile began to show the roo, and played a few chords that both he and Mason recognized. They remained there for a few more minutes, doing such things, until Mason had to leave for home and locked the door.

"That's really cool," Thomas commented as the two moved down the hall, "I wish I could play the guitar."

"Just pick it up and play, man," Leonard said with a smile, such a warm smile, "you never played before?"

"No, my dad had one but we sold it." The mother quite honestly could have just thrown it away, for all Tom knew.

Leonard moaned in disappointment, "That's all I do is play my guitar. Whatever I listen to, I have to know how to play it."

As they walked, Tom could more easily pick up his scent. He had tried before but he thought someone's cologne had been affecting his senses. But it was not someone else; Leonard had that strange smell about him. It was not some sort of perfume though, it smelled more natural. A chemical of some sort, perhaps.

"I don't know any of that stuff you guys were talking about." Tom admitted.

"You don't?" Leonard replied, "I gotta get you into some of it then. What do you normally like to listen to?"

"I only listen to ambient or minimalist music, pretty much all from this era. Crush! is the only one I know that old."

"Ah, I think you might like it. You should expand your taste a little, man."

"I spend most of my time playing v-games." Tom once again admitted.

"Video games, huh?" Tom could sense disdain in the tone of Leonard's voice. "I play sometimes, but I think most of them suck."

"Many of them do, but I like all of them anyway. Which ones do you like?"

He and Tom moved through the exit doors, the roo holding it open for the reptle so he could easily pass through with the bulky instrument case. "Stuff that's slow and easy, none of that flashy shit."

"You don't want a seizure?" Tom joked.

"No, it's not that. I just like slower paced stuff, quiet stuff."

Tom was feeling very pleased with what he was learning from the chameleon. He was about to ask if Leonard would like to spend time with him at his home and enjoy the mutual hobbies together.

"Hey, we should hang out sometime." Leonard offered.

"Yeah, that'd be awesome." Tom was pleased to know that Leonard was interested in a friendship. However, if Leonard was interested in a common friendship or a sexual friendship, Tom did not know. Personally, the roo was not concerned, and would not bring the subject to light.

"Where do you live? Nearby?"

"Yeah, if you take the lanes, otherwise it takes me about 20 minutes to get home." A car trip that took twenty minutes was not ‘nearby', thus Leonard deduced that Tom moved to and from school by foot or a smaller vehicle such as a bicycle.

"You walk on the lanes?" Leonard asked, wanting clarification. "Are you fucking crazy?"

"It's fine, there's usually no trouble."

"Do you ever get hit?" Tom laughed and explained his recent attack and Leonard laughed heartily at the story. They soon came to the football field, another practice, and more shouting hello from Kyle.

"Who are they yelling at?" Leonard wondered.

"Me. I kinda know one of them." Tom was not interested in spending any time explaining.

"You play football?"

"I'd rather die." He replied sternly.

"Me too." The chameleon agreed.

As they passed the first corner of the field, they entered the parking lot area. It was virtually empty except for a few beings walking here and there with a minimum of vehicles.

"I drove here, so I guess I could give you a ride if you wanna head over to your place." Leonard explained.

"All right, if that doesn't bother you."

"Not at all, I don't have to refill my car for another month, and if you live close by it won't drain the energy except for, like, 1 percent. I won't fine you for it, don't worry."

It only then occurred to Tom that Leonard could be older than he. "How old are you?" The roo asked.

"17. You?"

"15."

"You youngin'." He joked. Tom was relieved that the reptile's reaction had not been alarm or surprise. Leonard himself could have cared less if the roo was younger, it did not matter to him. Leonard explained that most of his other friends had been younger than him, most of them the same age as Thomas or a few years less.

"Oh, crap, I forgot. My name's Leonard." He offered a handshake, another archaic concept that Tom did not like. But in this case of this friendly reptile, he would accept it with great pleasure.

"Yeah, I'm Thomas."

"All right. Here it is, isn't it pretty?" They had come to his car; it looked identical to every other car in the city. Vehicles were only different by color: black, white or red. Leonard's was white and very dirty.

They entered and Leonard sped dangerously from the lot towards the adjacent lane.

"I'm gonna hit everyone along the way." He joked, causing a chuckle from the roo beside him. Tom gave some simple directions to his house and Leonard found it easily. They exited and approached the front, walking across the diminutive front lawn.

"Do you have a big family?" Leonard asked.

"No, it's just me and my mother. Dad's in the hospital."

"That sucks, what happened?" Tom then explained his father's situation and Leonard empathized.

"Geez, my dad died of brain cancer too." Tom was surprised by the information, and he too felt great sympathy for the chameleon.

"Sorry for reminding you." Tom replied.

"It's all right; he was 88 so he probably didn't mind."

They entered and Tom asked what he wanted to do. At Leonard's request, the roo took him to show what music and v-games he had. Thus they spent the majority of the day listening to the roo's "crappy music" -- Leonard's own label -- and playing games. Although Leonard did not like any of the games either, he enjoyed playing them with the roo.

The presence of Leonard so close to him and within his house made Tom happy. But he became anxious when Leonard started to manually browse the roo's music data. Although his pornography was well hidden, there was still trepidation, and Tom did not want to reveal this particular to his secret.

Yes, he was to hide this bit of news from the chameleon, at least for the moment. Tom would not be letting it out in trust or in hopes of Leonard somehow able to feel something similar so the two could love each other. No, that was too risky, and Leonard would rather not risk perturbing Leonard with petty sensuality.

Still, Tom was very attracted to the reptile. He could not tell by the species' standards if he was truly "handsome", but the roo felt this was of no consequence. He could no longer think of Leonard in a sexual manner, for as the two were slowly getting closer in their friendship, Tom felt that it sullied his paradigm of Leonard. Leonard was most likely not gay or bisexual, and not interested in being with someone else. All this, of course came from silent observation from Tom.

Nevertheless, they both enjoyed each other's company and were looking forward to the next meeting. om's mother arrived an hour after the two males had settled. Introductions were made and Leonard tried to present himself as polite, but his horrendous posture and tendency for jargon crippled the effect. Tom's mother was pleased that her son had another friend besides that "flirtatious hussy", referring to Jill.

Leonard departed soon after, saying that he had to be at home when his kid sister arrived so he could apply supervision. They said goodbye and Leonard left, speeding along the lanes towards his own home. Tom was left with an elevated spirit and could not settle his mind from the perfection that was Leonard the chameleon. He did not nap that day.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Somehow, Jill managed to find her roo friend in the library. He had not been there for a few days, and she had almost given up hoping to meet him there. The fem-dog spotted him from afar, staring at a computer screen, clicking a keyboard. She approached and ignored whatever he was doing and asked him the usual jargon of pleasantries.

"I'm reading about reptiles." He explained.

"Why?"

"I met a chameleon, so I thought I'd see what the race is about."

She sat next to him, stealing a chair from someone who had wandered from it (returning, the occupant had to find another one). Without asking, Jill opened his bag and began pawing through it; he glanced and thought nothing of it. She glanced through his sketchbook, and having seen most of it many times before, she skipped past the first half of the book and went to the back.

Tom had drawn random images of the aforementioned animal, lower forms along with bipedal. It appeared as if anatomy study.

"Is that him?" She asked, indicating a chameleon wearing pants that looked more like a dress.

"Yeah."

"How come you don't draw me anymore?"

"I drew you enough, it's gets boring doing the same thing over, and over again."

There was a pause as she returned the object and started gnawing on a nutrition stick. This one, Tom could see, was pineapple-flavored. He only liked the coconut ones.

"He's cool." Tom mumbled.

"Who is?" She wondered, leaning forward to see if was referring to something on the screen.

"The chameleon, his name's Leonard."

"Leonard what? That sounds familiar."

"I don't remember." She noticed that he was not eating, and she was still hungry.

"Are you gonna eat that?" Jill asked, motioning towards the nutrition stick he had set beside his hand.

"Yeah, later."

"You can't eat it later." Of course he could, yet her meaning was that Tom would risk offending many people by eating outside of the generally accepted timeframe for meal intake. Tom found the rule to be stupid, and he consumed whenever he wanted.

"I'm going to anyway." He would, yes, but he would have to be careful, for if stolen by another hungry being, he would lose rights to it. She then tried to take it, but he harshly slapped her hand away and she slapped him back.

They both laughed and he stood to leave. She intercepted his attempt to leave the area by forcing him into a hug, the girl nestling her head on his shoulder. He smiled and embraced her for the moment, Jill pulling away to lean in and gently kiss his muzzle. He could only look at her then, staring into her brown eyes.

"What was that for?" He queried with amusement.

The roo expected a casual statement of ignorance or jesting, such as "I don't know", or "just for the hell of it".

Yet she replied with, "Because I like you, Tom, you know that, and I've always wanted to kiss you." He simply stared at her, not caring that a few creatures in the vicinity were watching with curiosity. He wanted to walk away, but she held onto him, lightly gripping her hands on his forearms. He quickly became annoyed and was feeling embarrassed.

With a smile, she turned and slowly fled his perturbation. Those around him smiled or ignored it, thinking the two were just young lovers, and with the awkwardness, perhaps they had only just now officialized their relationship. He watched her move past the security gate and through the doors. That phrase of her last speaking did nothing short of confuse him.

Yes, he knew she liked him. He liked her. That is what is meant by friendship after all, but if her connotation had been for extra curricular love, then she was obviously insane. For how could she love someone who was so non-compatible?

It had occurred to him that his sexuality did not have to be limited to males, even though that is what truly felt he needed. He could mate with her, and the copulation would be satisfactory, correct? However, the male is what he longed for, what he craved, and for the moment he wanted to pursue only that. Thomas was prepared to stand and ponder over the subject more over, however he decided that he did not want to think about it at the time. He did not want to bother with upgrading their relationship when he was busy developing a new one.

Time passed, a few hours, and Tom was with the chameleon again. Leonard had invited the roo to his home to show off his art and music collection. Tom was happy to go along with him, but very much did not enjoy Leonard's bizarre enjoyment of head on collisions during their driving. Threatening the reptile with nausea after the third such tumbling, Tom managed to convince Leonard to cease. Having only eaten half of his nutrition stick before it got stolen by a fellow student, he would not have been able to vomit much anyway.

Upon their arrival, Tom noticed that the chameleon's house was very tall, not flat and wide like most of the city's housing architecture. To Tom's delight, Leonard told him that the family was out for a few hours. The roo would enjoy his company much better without distractions, and Leonard felt the same. Neither conveying this to the other, both mutually understanding it to be obvious.

The house smelled like reptiles, and Tom liked that. But Leonard's bedroom reeked of chemicals. Tom could not help but comment.

"Geez, how can you breathe in here?"

Leonard chuckled as the roo shown signs of discomfort, "I got used to it. Don't worry man, we won't stay in here. I just wanted to get my stuff." The "stuff" was a stack of black books, the same kind as Tom's own drawing books. The two moved upstairs to the entertainment room where there was a bigger screen, the sort of screen Tom would like to have.

"You want a calming-chem?" Leonard asked. Innocuous and relatively harmless in relation to other substances, Tom agreed and thanked the reptile for offering.

Leonard crouched to open a compartment in an enlarged table and remove a first aid box. From it, he removed two hypodermic needle cartridges. Each took a shot of the drug, only after the chameleon careful to diluted it -- to lessen the intensity -- and they felt the effects immediately: euphoria and relaxation.

The males reclined on an enlarged sofa and began discussing what game to play. They eventually settled on Leonard playing an old fighting game while Tom browsed his sketchbooks. Leonard's "skill" at v-games was pathetic, but his artistic ability was astounding, and he was capable of details and proportions that Tom had convinced himself he could not find the patience to learn. Leonard could play all that music and draw better than him, what a jerk.

It took over an hour to look through them all and scrutinize each one. The entire ordeal thing had been greatly enjoyable and Tom knew he would like to look over them again, but then, something grabbed his attention. Leaning against the wall was an electric guitar, and the roo asked permission from its owner to play with it.

Tom had a basic idea of how the contraption was utilized, and he mimicked it easily. But producing an authentic ability to register correct notes was impossible, and the vibrations coming from the amplifiers made the chameleon cringe. Leonard hurried to reduce the volume and reduce his torment as Tom fumbled with the device. Turning off the overdrive, Leonard proceeded to aid his friend.

Tom was not bothered by his own inability to play, it was intrinsic and he was having fun trying, but Leonard wanted to help him. He quickly moved directly behind the roo, positioning himself on his knees and leaning forward to take Tom's left hand into his. Tom was stunned by the contact, not expecting such close proximity from the reptile. It excited him to feel the chameleon's body against his and was not sure how to react. But it was not making his posture any better having the bulky creature practically hugging him from behind and making the roo lean forward.

Leonard's teaching was annoying, simply repeating himself many times and not giving much physical lesson. He kept positioning Tom's fingers on the frets and told him to keep his others away so as to not deaden the strings. Although Leonard was being generous and patient with him, the roo felt only frustrated at how easy Leonard thought it would be.

Tom let himself get distracted, though. As Leonard continued positioning Tom's hands, the roo found himself enjoying the touch more than the lesson. The roo just wanted to hold those hands, nothing more.

Being under the influence of a chemical, both males were quiet and breathed slowly, their bodies pressed together, Tom gripping the guitar as Leonard gripped Tom. The roo felt embraced, the reptile's arms being draped over his own, both moving slowly and carefully with each other. Tom was gradually losing interest in the instrument, and was focusing on Leonard instead, his heart being slowly but forcefully inside him.

Leonard was not sure why his friend was holding his hand; it was as if Tom wanted them to hold still and static. Perhaps the roo was not retaining the information and needed a few moments to absorb the last few instructions... but Leoanard found it strange how Tom was nudging up against him body with his head, the kangaroo's ears grazing his face.

The fur tickled him, and the mammal's scent was pleasant now that Leonard had noticed it, as pleasant as the soft fur against him. Was it awkward? Yes, and both understood the movements, and Leonard wanted to discard it, finding the situation unusual and confusing.

Leonard chuckled nervously, feeling his heart quicken, and moved away from the roo. "What are you doing, you goof?" He then moved around to the front. However, this was no better for now Tom was completely in his line of vision and was trying not to stare at him. Thomas knew that he had been inappropriate, and knew that he had affected his friend in a bad way.

"Sorry man," he offered as his smile faded, "That was weird."

Leonard smiled at him and tried to act normal, saying, "Whatever, no big deal."

Their discomfort dissolved soon after, and both spent another hour playing the instrument, switching in and out in order for Leonard to show another position or technique. Leonard then offered to draw him with the guitar. Tom was glad to pose, and it took half of an hour for the said drawing to come to completion. Like his other art, it was fantastic and Tom begged Leonard to sell it to him -- which is customary, for gifts were reserved for mates -- but Leonard simply gave it away. It did not surprise the roo, for Leonard had offered to provide transportation in his vehicle free of charge before.

Both grew weary of playing the thing, so they resumed playing v-games instead. They enjoyed it greatly, but soon the rest of the family arrived, two parents with two siblings and thus Tom knew he had to leave. He quickly stood and greeted them all -- which was met with indifference, since the protocol was almost involuntary -- the roo said goodbye to his dejected friend. Leonard was going to offer a ride home but decided that it would just further complicate the situation.

But as he watched Tom disappear from his sight and his pastel family fill in the space, Leonard became discouraged and exited the room. Tom was at the front door, and was surprised by the chameleon's grabbing him to prevent his exit. They looked firmly at each other, neither sure of what was going though either of their minds. Tom thought he might have accidentally took something and was being confronted, or possibly something worse...

"Don't leave, please." Leonard stated.

"I have to, you know that." Tom said, trying to be afraid... "unless I did something wrong. Why do you need me to stay?"

"No, I don't want you to leave, I'll just tell them you're uh..." He paused to think.

"Your mate?" Tom attempted.

"No, they won't believe that one, I'll just have to stick with the friend one."

It was confusing to the roo. Tom had a common friend and no mate. He was looking for a mate or a duality, but none of this was ever mentioned by Leonard. Tom did not know of his reptile friend's status in either relationship, and it never occurred to him that Leonard could be in the same position as he. Tom knew he should have known when Leonard invited him that first day, but he had been that attentive to the situation. He liked Leonard too much to allow an absurd law control his life and limit himself. Nevertheless, that did not mean Leonard felt the same.

"Look, Tom, I don't have any friends." It was a depressing for Tom to hear this, "They traded me."

It should not have been that surprising, though, for it was common to have a friend for a year and still be traded. But in the roo's perception, Leonard was perfect and he loved him. The idea of some buffoon trading him for someone different was appauling.

"I want you to stay; I figured you had at most â€"one- friend, that's why I never asked you and you didn't push the subject any further." Tom being accepted into Leonard's abode had indicated that the reptile was willing to take him as a friend, and usually, people did not behave as such unless he or she were lacking one of the two relationships.

"Yeah, I just have one." Tom responded.

"A friend or mate?" Tom was reluctant to answer, for if told the truth -- of his want for a mate -- then he could risk perturbing the chameleon. If lied to, it would damn his desire for Leonard's love forever. But he was not a liar and he was not willing to change that even for Leonard. Leonard saw the hesitation and understood the dilemma, and he could only sympathize.

"It doesn't matter." Leonard said, "I don't really care about all that; even if you had two friends, I wouldn't care. I won't tell anyone."

Still, Thomas had no response ready. He wanted to seize the chance, but did not want to mess up the structure of Leonard's life. He knew that he was letting the situation get to his mind too extensively and being vexed would only make him angry. So he decided to forget about it and agree with Leonard. Tom did not even consider asking why. It did not occur to him to inquire as to the reptile's motivations. He was simply glad that he would spend more time with his new friend.

"All right, I'll stay as long as you want." He said, a bit of a confessional on his part.

"As long as I want?" Replied the reptile with a grin, then he rustled the roo's head fur.

It was apparently settled that Tom was to spend the night there. He was more than happy to sleep with his new friend. Yet, not to allow his mother to think he wasted her money by staying at the hospital in hopes to speak with a semi-conscious Jem, Tom used the phone to call her and explain the situation. He was worried that she would accuse him of over-friending or taking a mate too quickly or trading Jill (which Tom assumed she would agree to), but in her mental state, she had lost interest in obeying those superficial laws and told him to leave her alone to her rest.

To keep the roo from prying eyes, Leonard hid him in his aroma-saturated room. He opened a window, brought an air cleaner from the maintenance bay in the back and sanitized the atmosphere as best as he could. It helped quite a bit.

It was now evident that Leonard could have simply been desperate and only wanted to make Tom a friend as quickly as possible simply to rebalance his life. Yes, maybe, but the roo still did not care about the selfishness, if he could make someone happy -- someone that was as great as Leonard -- he would do it.

That was not the case though. Leonard liked the roo, they shared common interests and perceptions -- so it seemed -- and he genuinely wanted to get him as a friend before he was lost to disinterest. It â€"was- a bit selfish and Leonard admitted to this, but he felt that the roo was looking for a second anyway, and he would definitely like to be that second.

Leonard had the sort of bed that split in half, both males taking either halves and reposing on them. Together they lay in the darkness, both wide awake, listening to ambient music of Tom's selection, watching the moonlight shadows of leaves shiver on the window. I t was cold outside and the sky would soon drop rain, and the air outside was still cleaner than this chamber. Nevertheless, both were relaxed as they held a sedated conversation. Both offering random subjects and branching those into more interesting things.

Tom felt that he could identify with everything the reptile was saying. They had lived similar lives and had similar problems in earlier youth. It seemed that he had met a perfect match. Then again, he had felt something very similar with Jill; it was just his confusing sexual orientation that prevented him from looking further into her to see how they would live as upgraded friends.

They talking stopped when the chameleon fell asleep. Tom would not wake him, so he simply turned onto his side also fell asleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

That day had been Friday, and on Saturday Tom found himself in another home besides his own. Jill had wanted to invite him that morning but he was not at his house. So when he finally decided to get home before an emergency transpired in his absence, she called again and was received with warmness that was unprecedented.

He walked to her house, traversing the lanes with utter caution, and she greeted him lovingly. The bitch was quick to clamor him with whining, and though solemn spoken, she impacted him with her words. Apparently, her family was dying left and right from various accidents and it only made him worry about his own family.

And there he was again, sitting in the darkness with someone that he loved. Only this female had much more to say than reserved Leonard, and he had known her for much longer. The two had gone through many emotions together, all those mutually felt and processed into a full empathetic relation that both enjoyed and cherished. They cherished it because both had resolved to be at least a casual friend for eternity. Either could take a mate, but they would never trade the other, for the friendship they had, they felt, was crucial to their existence.

But she held that love in a different light. Where Tom found a solid foundation of agreements, she saw compassion. He had told her of his secret affinity for other males, and she felt honored to be trusted with it, knowing that he had found her to be trustworthy, and she greatly admired his honesty. Tom had always been honest to those around him; he always spoke his mind and yet was careful not to offend anyone with his anarchistic beliefs. Jill had no problem with governmental policy as he did, but neither did she obey it.

She had never been one to desire for an extra curricular friend though, so it was strange for the canine to find herself attracted to her kangaroo friend in that way. Jill had never, and would not ever, tell him directly of this -- that sort of forwardness was an inappropriate way to find a mate -- though she was sure to give subtle clues to her infatuation. Those signs had not gone unnoticed by the roo, and he could read them clearly. Honestly, he liked the fact she was attracted to him -- though it was not flattering -- and was happy to give her some bit happiness.

Immediately upon entering, he had noticed that she was under the influence of a drug of some sort and asked her to explian. It was a similar calming drug that Leonard had offered him, but this one was more often used as an anesthetic, and Jill had used it for a migraine. He would not partake in this one.

The couple sat in the lounge of her house, a living space of typical size and comfort. It was quiet and both had been speaking for some time now, and she was feeling exceptionally comfortable in his presence. Because they had been separated during their talking, she decided to move closer till they were touching, her arm around his shoulders and soon they were both holding each other close.

No one was home, normal, and it was only noon. The sun was slightly obscured by overcast and filled the room with pale light. The tide was slowly rising and the city would probably be underwater by tomorrow. The environment was calm, and even though her soft touch caused no anxiety with him, her scent did. As the two settled against each other, he found himself soothed by her and risked seeming compliant by reciprocating. He could smell her sex and was not sure how to respond.

"I wish you weren't so adamant about it." She said to him, and he knew what to what she was referring. "What you're looking for..." she sighed and moved to pet him, rubbing at his cheek. "What I am looking for. It's close, you know?"

"I know." He did, truly, and had known it all along. It seemed logical for him to take her and not feel strange as her hand continued to move along his neck and arms and under his shirt. But it was all notion, no emotion. The roo knew his feelings well, and knew hers well: those two concepts which contradicted their relationship. Yes, they shared plenty with each other and were connected in a "special" way â€" her own words, whatever it meant -- and he did not want to be her mate, for even though she was attractive for a female, he felt no desire to explore her.

"Stop." He told her, taking her hand from his thigh, "I can't let you do that."

"You should, though." She grinned stupidly.

"Maybe, but I don't want to settle for that yet. I have things I want to do first."

"Yeah, I've heard that before." It was a foolish thing to say, and made all her endeavors of the past seem shallow and self-centered, almost a ruse to get him to reconsider.

"Really? Did you understand why?" He stood up to stretch, Jill leaning forward to grab his tail and pull him back down. He moved quickly away from her and turned to look up through the window. They could hear vehicles outside and the sun was fading ever still.

"There are just too many things to get." She said, "Too much to comprehend."

"It's not that hard, Jill." He crossed his arms after reaching down to straighten his pants, staring at her with a sigh. He could tell she was thinking of a way to convince him to be more willing to share her love freely, be with her minus his reservation to commit. It would not have to be a commitment, but the casual sex that had caused so much turmoil in the past was what engendered the rules of today.

It was not simply carnal. It was her need for genuine relationships, for she needed a source through which to channel her feelings. Jill's world was her environment, and she did not like feeling inferior, feeling as she was just a friend as per the function of a silly society. But she had always assumed that Tom's world was the same, for neither of them had had a mate.

No. Tom desired a mate, and he desired friends. He would not see difference. He could love someone in both ways, genuinely and lustfully, and he could do this with either of his friends. He said it then, telling her right out that he desired her for both, but not strictly to the sexuality. He could fornicate with her and enjoy it, but it would not solve his problem. For that, he would have to mate with the chameleon.

Good enough for her. She stood and approached him, taking his face in both hands, and kissed his lips. Once again, the action surprised him, only this time he was not confused. He knew why she was doing this. It was her desperation. He was not desperate though; still, he could not help but feel her warmth in the coldness of the room. His beliefs were too dogmatic, and he was not prepared to become fanatic.

This would not complete his life or fulfill a personal dilemma. Tom would probably not feel much after this, but he would allow himself to flow with this sex without encumbering it with excessive philosophy. She wanted it and he was willing to give it up for her; she was a friend, after all.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Leonard sat there, trying to stomp on the roo's tail. It had been a slow day for the chameleon and he had asked his friend to come over and spend some more time with him. Thomas was peculiarly quiet that day though, and as both males reclined in the peace of Leonard's room, they mutually became quiet and sedated. Of course, that was aided by further usage of chems.

This time, they utilized a minor hallucinogen in attempts to gain some inspiration for mutual drawing. But after the first hour, neither of them had the energy to pick up a pencil. Eventually the colors dancing in their eyes faded and left them with a continuous fatigue.

The chameleon watched his friend stare into space; Tom had not been interested any form of conversation, and was slowly wagging his tail left and right along the floor. When it approached, Leonard tried to pin it to the floor with his foot. It turned into a game, and each time he succeeded, the roo just laughed and pulled his tail free with his own foot.

Tail mashing was rendered boring when the phone rang. It was only a yard from Leonard's hand, but both were so relaxed that they hesitated to answer. After eight rings, Leonard decided to answer.

"This is Leonard Barret, what can I do for you?" The voice, a female, demanded he return her son so they could rush to the critical liver failure of the father.

"I'll take him there right now." The firmness in Leonard's voice startled Tom and the roo sat up quickly to see what the trouble was. "You're dad is slipping again!" He stood and pulled on his friend's hand to lead him outside. But the roo needed no help, and he was quick to dash with Leonard outside and run to the lanes. He would be home in only a few minutes, he imagined.

"I'm taking you to the hospital, right now, Tom." Leonard said, "Don't wait for your stupid mother."

Thomas agreed and the two entered the vehicle to speed down the lane. He went the wrong way, though, driving against traffic in order to take it as a shortcut. It was strange to see the chameleon react so frantically to the news of Tom's dad. But the roo knew it was because he had experienced something similar and this scenario was probably bringing unpleasant flashbacks. Leonard had not been present upon his father's death, and he regretted it ever since, and he would not let his friend feel that helpless absence he had.

Leonard arrived at the hospital in less than a minute; the two males ran inside followed by a police officer with intents on fining the reptile. The officer would have to wait before cooperation could take place, for although Leonard would accept the fine, he would not bother with it yet. The distress Tom was expressing was more important. They were not supposed to be running inside the hospital like that.

If he had slowed, Thomas would have missed his dad decease. He barged into the room, he ignored the plastic layers, the ad hoc casing, and moved directly to his father's bed. For a full minute, they only looked to each other. While Jem was still alive, he could not speak, but he loved his son and Tom knew this.

For another minute, Tom stared at the lifeless body, trying to comprehend the death. Next, his mother arrived.

A shower, moisture precipitating from her eyes as she joined her son to stand and stare at Jem. The sounds of anguish she made were met by him with confusion. He had expected this for quite some time, but the event should not have been devastating to him, and Thomas sunk to the bed, resting his weight on it.

He grew angry at the machine and wanted to destroy them. And what would it matter? They did not work, so what good were they? There was a doctor present, and he remained silent for the entirety of the drama. Long before this, they had all said their peace and explained whatever to the family.

There was no point worrying over what could have been done, Tom could only use defensive coping, and it would not be intellectualization. Staying in the presence of death would only cause paralysis on his part, so he left the room to join Leonard, who was giving his middle finger to the exiting officer. The chameleon turned to his friend and watched for a moment, expecting news.

Tom pressed against his friend and wrapped both arms around the reptile's torso. Leonard hugged him back and knew that his father had not survived. No surprise, though, for his father had been the same. And just as Tom was doing now, Leonard had wept. Only the chameleon had been alone upon his particular discovery, and he was glad that he was present to offer his condolences. However, he said nothing, but he would be there for Tom however long he needed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Now Leonard had a trio of disappointment. For with his lack of confidence in the medical system and Thomas' psychology, he found the roo to be absent from school. It was unexpected for Tom to react so poorly as to regress like that. However long it would take, Leonard knew that he could do nothing to help the situation.

Leonard was beginning to relate with the roo's newfound concept of dreariness. School continued to grow more boring, and he considered dropping out to join the employment force of the city for a while. He could live by himself if he wanted. Be provided with a house by the government and all he would need to do was a monthly visit to the city for employment.

But that was for later, for today he would not worry about it. He would first like to determine the health of his only true friend. But it would be a week before the chameleon could see the roo again. For seven days, Leonard gave him a single phone call per day and asked of his well-being. Each time, Thomas seemed to be doing much better than the last, though he was still a bit blue. On the eighth day, Tom asked if Leonard would like him to come visit for the day.

Leonard agreed and soon they were together again, "Sorry if it causes any problems, me being here." Tom explained.

"No way, it's fine." They moved to the entertainment room and settled down.

"I just found my house to be miserable, especially with my mother carrying on like that."

Leonard had heard of the maternal roo's incessant mania that week. At times, she was demure and quiet, in another hour it mutated into anger or delirium. At first, Thomas had been concerned for her health, but he eventually became annoyed by it and strove to ignore her entirely. She could have been going insane, yes.

Leonard offered a drug to help the roo's mind, and Tom took it without hesitation. Once again, their dosage was raised to gain the previous state. In minutes, both were lying in silence and semi-paralysis. More of the same quiescence that day, both males relaxed in the room for the entirety and barely spoke, one of them drawing and the other playing a quiet game. Then they switched. It was when Thomas spied the stylized portrait of himself when he spawned an idea.

"Hey!" Thomas blurted. Leonard had been staring at the screen and jumped at the exclamation. Their intoxication had almost worn off, and both could perceive time properly again. Thomas smiled, almost mischievously, "Let me draw you."

Leonard agreed to it and was enthusiastic about the idea, "Sure, go ahead."

"No, I mean... like, natural."

The chameleon shot him a frown. "You want me to be naked?"

"Yeah, man, I've always wanted to do a full portrait." Leonard hesitated and looked off into the air in contemplation. It would be strange, yes, but it really did not bother him.

"All right, that's cool." He sighed and stood to remove his outer clothes. Thomas watched his strip off his shirt and was pleased with the sight. It was strange to see how thin his legs were, after seeing him wearing those enormous slacks all the time. He looked wonderful naked.

Leonard stood there and waited for the roo to tell him what to do. He felt slightly embarrassed though, for he was being gawked at. He wondered if Tom was simply getting his shape into his memory, calculating his shading and limb length, proportions et cetera. Yet it seemed weird to see Tom smile and simply gaze at him. The chameleon waved his hand in the air to distract the roo; Tom blinked and apologized for it.

It took an hour. Thomas had spent a few minutes on positioning his friend on the couch, not allowing himself to touch in order to do so. Reclining with one leg bent at the knee and hip, elevated, the other stretched out with the ankle turned inward. His upper body was leaned away from the raised knee and rested on an elbow; both arms pointed forward and the hands lay with palms down. It seemed good enough.

The chameleon was careful not to move and proved to be a good model. Thomas tried to imitate Leonard's kind of attention to detail, and using patience he was able to produce a very accurate depiction. Leonard sure loved it, and he grinned when he saw the final product. Lush praise was showered on him and Leonard hugged him and demanded he do the same for him.

"Same thing as you? Just a portrait?" Tom asked.

"Yep. I can't wait to draw that big, fat tail of yours."

Thomas laughed and undressed to match his friend. Thoughts of sensuality disappeared as their spirits were elevated to forget the disaster that had befallen the roo over a week ago. But this took longer than an hour. The chameleon could not get a good position; he tried prone, tried crouching, on all fours, curled into a ball...

They settled for leaning against a wall. With his head barely touching the surface, Thomas used his muscular tail to keep his body up; his feet were planted firmly to the floor and both hands on his abdomen. He felt no stress at first, and then the position became uncomfortable, though bearable. Eventually, it eased, but that was moments before it was complete. He sighed and collapsed to the floor in mock exhaustion.

After crawling to sit next to his friend on the sofa, Thomas observed his portrait and was impressed. Juxtaposing themselves, they juxtaposed the images horizontally and compared them. Though both drawings were done in a realistic sense, they held clear individualistic style. Leonard's was smooth and precise, while Tom's was a bit more rough and intricate.

They both redressed and lounged for a bit, turning on some music. As they sat close, Thomas feeling that connection with Leonard once again, and he put his arm around the reptile. Leonard could feel the fur rubbing against him; he could feel the sofa move as the roo nudged closer. He tried not to look at him, tried not meet his vision, but the proximity was too much to ignore. It was not a simple gesture of friendship; it was an expression of intimacy.

He was unnerved by it, and slowly moved his eyes towards the roo. Tom smiled and wanted to embrace him again, put his face against his. But there was no indication of happiness in the reptile's expression or his rigid stature. Knowing this, Thomas pulled away and scooted down the sofa to put distance between them.

"Sorry, man." He sighed and leaned forward to put the drawing upon the table. Tom then felt the chameleon's hand touch his shoulder. He looked up as he slowly moved back to sit straight, Leonard running his hand down the roo's back to his tail. It made them both nervous, to feel that sort of contact, for Leonard to suddenly shift in emotion, and venture out to test his level of comfort.

It had been a long time since the chameleon had felt any sort of sensual attraction, and it puzzled him to feel it now for this roo. Never before had he considered loving Thomas, and still, he did not. For it was simply the contiguity of bodies that caused him pleasure. He was double-friendless, yet he had a friend in the roo, and he did not desire a mate. So why did he feel urged to embrace him?

Embrace they did. Leonard huddled to him and they entwined, Thomas easing all his tension. In an action that surprised them both, Leonard moved his face towards the roos and kissed him. Straight for his lips, soft and warm. Though exhilarated, the roo managed to comply and return it. Leonard wanted to do this, but he was hesitant to issue a full kiss, and Tom was ready to take it up.

As soon as their tongues met, the sense of joy in the chameleon became so much that he could only see how absurd it was. It felt good, yes, but it was unbelievable to him how he could have been so moved by it. From where in his mind and body did this lust come? He knew that Tom had desired it, and it was quite obvious now that the roo longed for him in a manner, and did not enjoy destroying his hopes. He did so anyway.

Leonard pulled away, feeling Tom's resistance as he tried to pull him back, but it only made it worse for him.

"Wait, Tom. Stop." He demanded while pushing against the roo's chest. His fur was soft and he was warm, pleasant. Leonard felt joy with the contact and proximity, but this was so foreign, he let trepidation take hold of his curiosity.

"Why, Leonard?" Asked baffled Tom.

"Because..." Leonard stood and put distance between them, an entire room of distance. "It's just not right."

Tom grew demure, was disappointed but not angry. "What do you really think is wrong with the situation here, Leonard?" They stared at each other, it was clear to Tom that Leonard had been disturbed by it; it was clear to Leonard that Tom had been pleased by his touching.

As the question settled in his mind, Leonard tried to find a way to explain his predicament. He liked Tom, simple as that; he liked what they had in common, but he did not seem to like him sexually. This could have possibly be a lie, however. Did he not just kiss his friend in passion? No, perhaps it was curiosity; he wanted to see what the reaction would be. This was all intellectualization, and Tom knew it would have no impact on reality.

"I'm sorry, Tom. I shouldn't have done that." Tom would not accept that as an answer. He had enjoyed in immensely, and he knew that Leonard had enjoyed it. But his instinctual beliefs must have gotten in the way. He either already had a mate and had been hiding this fact or was not comfortable with other males. If it was the latter, Tom had a chance of either helping him to adapt or he would have to learn to accept a non sensual relationship.

Manipulation was unfair to the chameleon, but if those feelings were already present, there would be no damage. Curiosity was not so harmless, it seemed, for there was obviously a level or faint grain of love here, a deeper sort of love.

"Well, I'm grateful for what you gave me, just now." There was pseudo humor in his voice, but there was no humor in the chameleon. He was still feeling strange, and needed to release himself. He told the roo to wait while he went somewhere. The chameleon moved to his bedroom and shut himself in.

He quickly opened his trousers and pulled down at his underwear to see his emerging phallus. The fact that he had actually been aroused by feeling Tom's tongue on his only made the dilemma more veracious. He put his fingers against it and gently stimulated it till he was fully erect. Then, grasping it, he began jerking himself.

He allowed himself, for this one episode, to forget his trepidation and revel in the memory of having the roo in his arms. In his mouth.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The remainder of the day went on with each male feeling disappointment and uncertainty. Yet soon it dissolved and they returned to their regular happiness and banter. Tom spent the night again, Leonard having to clean the bedroom air of incense and chemicals again. Each took another dose of their recreational substance, increasing the dose largely to cause instantaneous unconsciousness.

Neither of them mentioned their intimacy of that day. The issue of their relationship was successfully suspended in the air. It was causing panic in the chameleon though; he did not want to be found out by his parents. Revealing that he might be gay would not bother any of them -- and neither would it bother him much -- but his relationship with the roo was a duality, and thus, it was not going to be tolerated. It was too complex a situation to convince them that Tom was simply an upgraded friend. If they were mated, they would not see each other ever again except for sex.

He would not let it bother him any longer though, for as he considered the legality of it all, he forced it out of his mind with thinking it would simply blow over. In a way, it did, for Thomas did not appear to be gushing his emotion all over the reptile. Though he could have secretly been fantasizing about him. Whatever, as long as it was in his mind and not manifested.

Thomas mentioned it to no one. But then again, Jill was someone, was she not? By telling her, he was not breaking any trust, for Leonard had not bade him to secrecy of their encounter. It was dishonest, for he knew that the reptile would rather have the memory to only himself and the roo. But Tom and Jill's past had given him the habit of sharing his life. Thus, he did so the day after.

The kangaroo and canine had to stay away from Tom's abode. Jill had found his mother's behavior to be quite disturbing and it was agreed by both that they should stay away from neurotic parents. This day was an official "off-work" day, so everyone in Jill's family was at home, and Jill did not want to spend her time around any of them.

She invited him to walk with her to the research facility. It was a building in the center of this dome that had a library and science laboratories -- for cosmology and marine biology -- here they could find some quietude and a peaceful atmosphere. The tide of the ocean rose and ensconced the dome, as usual this time of the year, so there were some scientists present to study the life at the leisure.

As they made their way to the top level, they sat near some windows and stared out into the ocean. It was still bluish, and the sun pierced through brightly; today's sky was cloudless. Being there made Thomas want to grab a handful of books and spend the rest of day reading quietly, but she wanted to further discuss their relationship. Such a typical female.

"I can see that you are forcing yourself into this situation." She began.

"There is no situation right now, what're you talking about?"

"With you, me and that scaly." She meant to say "reptile" but Tom would not harass her for this.

"That's no situation, it's more like a, uh..." Tom could not think of a word to describe his thoughts, so Jill took gave a try.

"Boggle?"

He agreed to it, and wanted to end it there, tell her to shut up and leave the subject alone. Jill was persistent, however, and she did not like boggles in her life. She wanted to love him; she wanted him to love her. Normally, she would give up in a situation like that, but in this case Tom was distinctly troubled by his feelings: whom he should keep as a friend and change -- not upgrade as society called it -- to a mate, or if to go with the logic of having them both as a duality.

She continued; he turned his head in attempts to ignore her, "It would be reasonable to try each set. See who you want as a mate, and who as a friend."

"How about I have you both as friends and a casual mate?" That was his answer, and that was the perfect explanation. He would have closeness to both, and he would enjoy their physical love equally. If he could not have Leonard completely as a lover, then neither would he just give in to Jill's rambling and take her.

"Keep your voice down." She spoke softly.

"Like I give a shit?"

"Well, unless you want to either get the cops to spy on you or to get stuck in a year of employment, go ahead. But I'd rather you not."

"They won't do that shit anymore; I'll be surprised if they even fine me."

She made no rejoinder, and he grinned at her and reclined in the chair, pushing his feet on the ground to pivot the backrest.

"Don't you think it's exciting? To be so "dangerous"?" He asked in a pseudo-sly tone.

"No, I find it to be kind of stupid, actually."

"We are closing, and thank you for visiting." Someone from behind explained. Both beings turned to see a staff member.

"Why are you closing? It's too early."

"We're tired, and no one else is here. So get out or we'll lock you in till tomorrow." Jill did agreed, not caring about being locked in.

"I'm not paying for oxygen when I have it at home." Tom said, standing and walking away. It is customary to pay for used oxygen when visiting a stranger's home or facility. If one were to stay behind when a particular facility closed, he or she would have to pay for the oxygen generator or suffocate and die.

"You'd rather go home and face that lunatic?" Jill wondered.

Tom expressed no concern for the idea. The two left without further complications before they were locked inside and hurried to his home. He made her pay for the oxygen. With the amount of currency she had, she could only stay for a few minutes, so she was off, but not with pleads of reconsideration. After rejecting her, he returned to his v-games and spent the rest of his evening as so.

However, his evening was not a pleasant one, for his addiction to the calming-chems was making him restless. He already dropped out of school, now having two friends and not caring for education, and could live by himself. But without that chem, he could not fall asleep. So, in order to tire himself, he ran along the lanes for about an hour, trying to get hit as many times as possible. It was exhausting.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jill wanted to be with him again that next day, but he said he wanted nothing of that. Tom, however, wanted to be with Leonard, and invited him over. He arrived shortly after that phone call, not entirely happy. It was conveyed that his family had found about their duality and would no longer allow the mammal's presence in their household until he straightened out the situation.

Thomas would not feel offended, for the reptile could still be at the roo's house, and Leonard's family could not legally prevent the chameleon's visit. Of course, by law, Leonard could challenge their accusations and have them evicted and he live there alone.

No matter, though, for he was glad to get away from their prejudice and into the roo's proximity. Both were glad to see the other, but were evicted from their play in the entertainment room by his mother shouting at them to leave her alone there. They did not argue, having monopolized the room quite a bit as of late.

The males relocated to the Tom's bedroom and sufficed to play v-games on an inferior screen. Playing on the screen that was 44 percent smaller than the main was no fun, but seeing the visual graphics to badly-rendered was humorous in itself. The display was very saturated and the sound was the same, so it was both annoying and entertaining.

Their fun was enhanced by a strong hallucinogen, much stronger than the other they took that last time, and with more side effects. As with the calming-chem, a hallucinogen of this type would cause mood swings easily if the affected were triggered by something.

Leonard wanted to put on some hard rock or heavier to blare the room with, but upon inspection, he realized that he forgot his music and Tom only had one kind: obviously not heavy enough. He did not even have that rock album they both liked. Leonard mocked him, not in a cruel sort of way, and thumped him on the head, telling him he had no taste. Tom responded by slapping at him, but only hit defensive forearms, and was parried by another thump on his head.

Upon passing behind the Tom, the roo stood and shoved at him hard so he would fall into the mattress. Lying there in surprise, the chameleon stood and lunged for the roo, grabbing his shoulders, throwing his body against his, and attempted to drop him to the ground. Tom fully wrapped around him and swiped his tail to knock Leonard's legs out from under him; this tactic worked. As the reptile fell into the chair Tom had been reclining in, he reached to grab at clothing.

The negative force of backward motion pulled them both on top of each other and they slammed into the floor. Thomas scurried to climb on top of him and pin him to the ground, but Leonard saw this and moved his legs in the path, so the roo was unable to grapple his body. The roo laughed and stood up quickly only to fall directly onto the floored Leonard into a jumble of limbs.

He tried to growl, snarling, but it only made him look silly. Leonard scoffed and grabbed Tom's muzzle and pulled him close to strangle. Neither was hurt in their play, and they quickly lost the energy to continue as Tom collapsed onto his friend and sighed. Leonard quickly warned of his deflating lungs, so the roo raised himself so he could clearly see the reptile's face. Leonard was straddled, though he did not realize this until the roo did not make any move to stand.

Thomas stayed put; smiling down to Leonard, one hand on the reptile's shoulder. It occurred to the chameleon that Tom was not meaning to keep him pinned; he was just admiring the view.

"Are you gonna get up?" He asked, trying to imitate impatience. At least he was not being crushed.

"Why? I like it here on top of you." Tom explained. Leonard rolled his eyes and threw his arms around the roo's neck.

"Yes, let us make love!" He said with sarcasm. The statement upset Tom though for he was truly insulted, and he scowled.

"Why do you gotta make fun of me?" He inquired, and Leonard frowned, not having realized how he had affected his friend.

"I'm not, man." Tom groaned and stood up, pushing off Leonard's hands. Sitting down, he said, "I was just playin' around. I wasn't gonna do anything." He wanted to mention their intimacy days and days before, but that would simply cause an awkward tension in the air by offending their mutual silence. Leonard sat up slowly, being a bit embarrassed at how he had been so inconsiderate. He watched as Tom's mood dropped to either anger or discomfiture, and he felt bad. Both knew well it was caused by the chemicals in their bodies, yet the emotions were still difficult to fight.

"Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it." He saw Tom stare into space. The chameleon stood up and left the room, leaving his friend to his emotions. He was not departing the house, though he wanted to so as to eliminate the tension. Entering the lavatory, using the toilet, washing hands and leaving to move back down a hall, he was encountered by the roo.

"Oh, I thought you had left." Tom observed.

"I should go anyway, I've been here long enough." Tom stared at him, waiting for an excuse, but whatever that may be, the roo would argue with it. It was protocol pushing through again, he was using up too much oxygen and water that was not his.

"What? Don't leave, come on. I'm sorry I got mad at you." He offered, holding his hand out in apology, as if to give it away. Leonard smiled and moved forward to hug him. Tom happily returned it, and then the reptile broke away and moved to lean against the wall. They stood in the darkness of the hallway, both feeling their heads pulsing as the blood rushed through, staring at each other pensively.

"So, whatch'ya wanna do?" The chameleon asked.

Tom responded with a horribly mumbled colloquialism. Leonard rubbed his face then frowned at his hand, holding it out to inspect it.

"What's wrong?" Thomas asked.

"I feel sticky, can I take a shower?"

Tom chuckled in his reply, "Sure, I'll give you a bath." Leonard sighed and moved towards the lavatory, but Thomas stopped him.

"If you don't let me bathe you, I'll make you pay double for the water." He was serious in his tone, and his friend was aghast.

"You gotta be kidding me." He said mouth agape.

Tom scoffed and pushed him along. "Go on, forget it. I'll just spy on you and pretend."

"I repeat, are you kidding me?" Leonard frowned.

Tom left his friend to shower and went back to his room to collapse on the bed and nap while he waited. The chameleon bathed and dried himself, then the two regrouped in the entertainment after Leonard woke him. They found the roo mother unconscious on the sofa. Upon inspection, they found evidence of narcotic usage. A typical chem syringe with a small amount of milky fluid inside. Tom picked it up and moved to dispose of it, but the chameleon suggested they try it out. Tom was reluctant to, not wanting to pass out. But he was easily convinced.

After one minute of taking the drug, they both collapsed and were hardly able to crawl. The roo was able to fight the drug enough to help his friend to the mattress and push him onto it. He felt panicked to get them both up there, thinking... feeling that they had to get to safety or be left for dead on the floor. To each, the world weighed nothing, but their bodies did, and their minds seemed to stretch to each other's, and they could both see and feel the other's aura.

The temperature outside the house dropped, but it rose inside. It seemed to rise to the heat of a star.

"It's hot...," breathed the reptile uneasily, pulling at his shirt violently. "I'm burning up, you gotta..." Thomas helped to remove his friend's shirt and dropped it to his side as he began to lose feeling in the extremities. With his waning strength, he managed to align his friend's body lengthwise on his bed and moved to lie beside him.

"I think it was..." Leonard offered, "what's the shit called they give you in the emergency room?"

"You feeling hot and seeing stuff? I'm seeing bright yellow everywhere." Thomas removed his shirt as well. The heat was affecting him greatly, and he removed his pants. He began perspiring and tried to lick his wrists in order to cool off, but he could only collapse.

Leonard confirmed Tom's question, "That stuff doesn't do this. It just paralyzes you... maybe this has..."

They both fell asleep after this very thought. It was restful and peaceful, each was sill semi-conscious.

The roo dreamed, both quickly entering the deepest sleep possible. It was nice for Tom, he saw beauty, but he was interrupted by Leonard's loud groaning. He awoke to find himself damp, his lips moist and eyes watering severely. He knew he would dehydrate, so he moved to the water source and drunk from it for about a minute.

He returned to his room with a glass of water to see his friend suffering the same thing, only his mouth was affected though; the chameleon was drooling a river. Tom became woozy again, and tried to clean his friend's lips using his own shirt. Tom fumbled miserably with his friend in attempts to get him to drink some water, and he was surprised and relieved that Leonard subconsciously accepted it into him. It was clear that Leonard would not awaken for some time, so Tom went back to sleep after hydrating him. The roo cuddled close to him, draping an arm and leg around the reptile.

Leonard's life was saved by that water, and both survived their episode to laugh another hour later. Nighttime now, both awoke slowly to see each other in the moonlight. Radically, they became active in the next minute and craved sustenance immediately. They scrambled to beat each other to the kitchen and noshed till full. Then back to his room after seeing his mother still where she was, only in a different position, so they knew she was not yet dead. Tom left a glass of water for her out of courtesy for having given birth to him.

After the ordeal, the males resumed normal living and continued to play v-games till becoming tired. No more injections for that day. The roo decided to try sleep, and after replacing his bed sheets, reposed comfortably on his belly to watch Leonard play.

"What's the latest you've stayed up?" Thomas wondered.

"About a week, I guess."

"That wasn't natural, was it?"

Leonard laughed and followed his friend in the departure of gaming, "No, all the help of drugs. I had to go to the hospital and was fined a lot of time and credit." That meant he was forced to work for the city as a punishment and his lifetime value was decreased so he could not ever live quite as luxuriously as he would like in his old age.

Neither of them had bothered to redress; neither of them remembered how they had become so near naked. Since sleep was eminent, Leonard stripped to his undergarments. Both slept in the same bed now, though there was not a lot of room for movement. They did not need room, for Thomas wanted to be close, wanted to cuddle as they had when out of their minds.

The roo did not simply throw himself onto his friend, though. As both lay there in soothing quiet, Tom managed to put his hand onto the chameleon's chest, enjoying how his breathing felt. With no protest, Leonard looked at him, faces near enough to touch. Touch they did, for Thomas moved into to kiss him. The reptile accepted it and kissed back, but did not accept the tongue this time.

This was not the loving, caring passion that Tom normally felt for his friend; Tom was craving a release and wanted to get one from his friend as much as give one. He pushed up to loom over the reptile's face.

"You wanna try it?" He asked.

"Hmm?" Once again, the roo had mumbled incoherently. Thomas repeated his words, now moving his hand down to the chameleon's waist and pulling at his boxers. The touch caused the reptile to lose all sleepiness and look up, bumping his head into Tom's snout. They both chuckled and paused to see what the other would do next.

Thomas continued to run his hand along the reptile's abdomen, being careful when grazing his digits along the groin area. When that came, Leonard moaned and put a hand on the roo's hip as well. Slowly, each became aroused at the touches, both finding the other's skin or fur texture appealing. Of course, the roo had always wanted to feel a reptile under him -- or above -- and the chameleon had never been in this sort of situation with a mammal -- or a male -- and he would not pass up the opportunity again.

Leonard's curiosity would not allow further hesitation, and he began trying to pull at the roo's underwear. Thomas helped, contorting enough to remove them and allow his genitals freedom to the cooler air. The chameleon was ready to apply stimulation on his friend, but Tom next moved to remove Leonard's boxers too. He allowed it and sighed as the roo grasped his phallus and began squeezing it. The tingling of that fur on him created a novel pleasure that he wanted to absorb completely and do nothing but feel it, but Leonard did not want to upset the roo by ignoring him.

The reptile gently rubbed his knuckles along the roo's belly as he moved his hand to take the mammalian organ into his grip. The odd placement of his testicles interested him for only a few moments; his attention focused on his own pleasure as the roo began stroking him fast in order to fully arouse him. Their excitement rose as Leonard followed his friend's actions, pulling on the roo's member with enough force and pacing to entice his plateau.

He started gently humping against the reptile's hand, lowering his head to rest the muzzle against his friend's neck. The feel of his heart beating faster in his chest invigorated Tom, and Leonard instinctively wrapped an arm around his friend, grabbing at his back and running his fingers through the thick fur on top. That fuzz and the warmth from the mammal's body made him feel more comfortable in Thomas' clutches and he arched his back to orgasm.

As he ejaculated onto his stomach, he increased the speed and force of his own pumping, and the roo was quick to engage his own climax. Their seed mixed as it shot from each of them and joined on the reptile's front, the slick fluid flowing down his sides. Thomas groaned after the third shot and fell against his friend with a grin. Both could feel their own and the other's members pumping the seminal fluid out, and the warmth of it was nice. The mess between them quickly soaked into Tom's fur, but he did not care; they could take care of that easily.

Leonard sighed and hugged him close, grasping his neck, and continued to rub his friend's fur. The roo wanted to lie there and rest for a while and let the chameleon pet him, but he did not want to squeeze Leonard to death, so he pushed off and fell beside him onto his back.

"I knew you'd like it." Tom said.

"Yeah, I knew I would." He replied while sitting up, "But this doesn't mean anything; we're just playin' around." The chameleon would not accept the roo as his mate, and he would take no argument from Tom.

"I know, that's all right. We can be friends and do still do this." He sat up as well, pushing himself from the bed to stand. "Not all the time though." Tom spoke monotonously, feeling himself disgusted with having to practice such lawful dogmatism.

Leonard's emotions were stable now. Gone was the fear of falling in love or hurting his friend. With Thomas' speaking just now, their relationship had been established, and they would strive to keep it like that, no matter how illegal it was.

"Will you let me wash you this time?" Asked the kangaroo, Leonard shook his head and laughed.

The two did not bathe, simply using some water to rinse their semen from their bodies and a disposable cloth. After that, it was back to bed. Here, there was no cuddling or a kiss goodnight. Thomas decided not to sleep in the bed with him. His chair would flatten, but it was not as comfy.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Unofficially, the kangaroo's love for his canine friend never settled into a specific position. It was her impression that he had taken her, and that was what she convinced of herself. She knew that he saw her as a duality, challenging the law, but did not care, for it would not be she who would get in trouble from it. As long as his mother was still alive and able, he could live there without worry.

Then she had to mess everything up.

Only a few days after his settlement with the chameleon friend, they had been playing around again -- not exactly living up to their promise -- and were going to use the entertainment room. From the aroma of the room, from the mother, it was clear that she had been dead for a while.

Thomas had not been home for two days, having stayed at his female's house to play, and then off to the library with Leonard. If only he had arrived earlier, she might have been saved.

Yet there she lay, crumbled into a fetal position, the evidence of an intentional overdose strewn about. Upon seeing the corpse, Thomas' first reaction was alarm, and then it was panic. Leonard found it strange to see him so easily skip past sorrow and grief and demand him to aid in disposing of the body.

"Where could we put it?" The chameleon asked him as they pulled the cadaver through the halls to the backdoor.

"Well, we could put her in the disposer." That was a machine designed to destroy undesired pieces of furniture or objects not so large.

"What?" Leonard gasped, "That would make such a mess; we'd get caught."

"Oh yeah. I guess we should bury her then."

"I'm not gonna dig no fuckin' hole!"

"What else can we do?" Tom shouted; it was clear to him that Leonard was unwilling to go through with this.

"Just turn her in, man." Thomas groaned and dropped to the floor beside his dead mother. It was only now as hesitation came its way was he able to realize that she was gone forever. But he could feel no sadness; he had never been fond of his mother, she had never been a kind person or really cared for by anyone except the father.

"No, I don't wanna go work for the city just because she-- she abused drugs." Leonard moved to sit next to him, both staring at the decay in front of them. "Dammit! Then they'll find out I used them, I'll be screwed. Then they'll find out I have a duality."

With a notion of calling for help, Jill was then present. All three of the dualities stood around the body, each processing the information in their heads.

"We can bury her with all three helping to dig a grave." She suggested.

"I guess, but don't expect a fantastic job on my part." Leonard spat as they passed through the door to the yard outside. About four by eight meters, that was how big the backyard was; the walls of three other houses enclosed it into a chamber of dirt and grass that opened at the top for a sunny view.

Digging the mother's grave took just over two hours, and only Thomas had worked straight through that time, the chameleon taking frequent rests to sprawl on the grass panting and drinking water. It was a comfortable temperature outside, though, slightly warm. However, it seemed to make the body rot faster, and several species of insects had already begun to take their pick at her.

Before any of them found it unbearable, she was in the grond and covered with soil. The problem was settled. After each took a shower and drunk to re-hydrate themselves, they rested in the entertainment room. Thomas was between his two friends... lovers, or whatever they were. There was no good news on TV, so they played some v-games to pass the time.

Leonard immediately searched the house for additional narcotics. Normally, the stranger ransacking the rooms would have been grounds for a legal killing. But in the situation, none of them cared. Then they cared less, for nacrotic herb was found and all three were eager to use it.

"This is boring as shit." Jill determined and stopped playing with them. Spying a drawing of her friend on the table, she stood and obtained it for perusal.

"Wow, this is sexy, Tom." She said with a sly tone.

"I didn't draw it, Jill. The reptile to my left did." He corrected her, nudging his friend with an elbow. She then found the other one, the one of Leonard, and her eyes went wide.

"Whoa, Leonard, you're pretty sexy without your clothes." She exclaimed. The reptile grinned sheepishly and tried to focus on the game; he was losing against his friend.

"Mmm..." She continued, "Just looking at it gets me hot." Then she moved over to the reptile and rubbed his thigh in a joking, provocative way.

"Get away from him!" Demanded the roo, pushing her hand off and putting his arm around Leonard, "He's mine." Leonard laughed and tried to ignore them, but the roo and dog's intentions were not totally in jest.

Both had mentioned the possibility of engaging in an act of sex with all three in mutual interest. The heat from the day had already gotten to both mammals and just the idea of getting the reptile into the sexual tryst was exciting in itself.

Thomas leaned into nuzzle his male friend and run his hands along his chest. Leonard frowned and tried to lean away, but Jill took his controller and put it at a distance so he could not reach it easily.

"Tom?" He wondered with a frown, then he looked to the female who was grinning and stroking his thigh. "Uh... what're you guys doing?"

"Jill and I thought it would be fun to, uh..." Thomas tried to explain, though he thought explanations would only ruin the situation, and it would be best if Leonard could figure it out for himself. Leonard gave each of them a look of puzzlement.

"You gotta be crazy..." He said with nervous laughter. He was fully prepared to protest when he saw Tom take his shirt off and grin at him, hands on him, tongue on his chin. The reptile lost plenty of his apprehension, especially when Jill stripped to her under garments and moved in to rub his groin.

He sighed, knowing he lost the battle, and grinned along with Tom. Leonard removed his shirt, sighed again and nudged against the reddish-brown mammal, reaching his arm around him and gripping into that thick, soft fur of his tail. He wanted to put his other arm around the female unbuttoning his baggy pants, but her fur would not be as pleasant to the touch.

Jill's tongue on his emerging member was, though, and he groaned as she started sucking on him. Thomas was not enjoying that, so he pushed her head off and scowled.

"Hey, I wanna do that!" He demanded, moving his hands to fondle the reptile with both paws. Leonard found the situation more humorous than erotic, although the stimulation felt good; being torn between two bickering mammals was distracting from the pleasure. But it soon returned when Tom descended onto the chameleon and began lapping at his wet member.

Jill sat back and watched for a few moments. Seeing the males interact in such a way was not exactly arousing, but the thoughts of what she could do with either of them were. She stood and stripped naked, moving around to get to the roo's legs.

Leonard tried to focus on enjoying his friend's oral attention, using his hands to stroke the roo's ears and muzzle, but the female continued to distract him. She grabbed at Tom's pants and unfastened them, pulling them off and discarding them. The roo did not let her motions affect his performance, although her claws tickled him.

Wordlessly, she managed to get him to lie partially on his back so she could straddle his growing erection. Pushing his boxers down and putting her mouth around it, the bitch coaxed it to rush with blood and fill her maw with its soft warmth. She and the roo grappled their particular members with their tongues, slobbering at their own rates and invigorating at separate intensities.

Just as the roo was getting deep within his own actions, the intense pleasure of sucking his friend and getting it from his other, he felt the female depart from his sex region and jerk him a little bit. He was disappointed, but then learned that her pause was only to prepare herself for penetration.. He groaned as the muscles of her vulva contracted and squeezed his phallus.

Leonard was observing the whole thing and could not help but chuckle at the double attention his friend was getting. He watched Jill move her hips in circular motions, using the roo's phallus to stimulate her insides, giving it friction against the labia to her delight. She took it slow so as not to bring the roo to orgasm too fast. The chameleon performed a similar action to the female, bucking himself upward against the mouth of his roo, pushing on his head with just enough force to slide his phallus along the back of his throat.

And so they continued till each came at least once, though the beagle had come three times during her mount. Thomas was happy to swallow his friend's seed down, and Jill was willing to let the roo ejaculate inside of her. No pregnancy there .

All three had enjoyed it completely, and were able to do it twice more: with the two males switching their positions, then another time with the female in between them. Only three times though, and after that they were not able to copulate in either way, via trio or duo, for the police arrived to question the disappearance of the roo's mother one day.

Fibbing, Tom explained that she must have gone insane and fled his life and her house. It had been three weeks after her burial, and no one until now had brought up her absence. The police believed him, knowing that she had been on drugs before her death. They searched Tom's house to find the rest of those narcotics. He demanded they leave, but they had the right to invade, as the police always did. If the roo had a gun, he would have taken it and shot them all dead.

He fled upon their discovery of his home funeral, intending to make his way to the lanes and escape to Jill's, but they caught him and he was interrogated. Using some sort of drug that impaired his ability to fib, he confessed to the burial and upon request of what he had been doing out of school, he admitted to the dualities. Thomas was arrested immediately, and soon after, Leonard and Jill were arrested.

For an entire month, they were separated and transported to divisions of the city where employment was forced for a year. During that time, the three were able to see each other, but strict observations where added to ensure their abstinence. They were to replace all maintenance employees, along with construction workers and equipment movers.

It would last a year, and they would never be able to relax until their time was spent. Neither of them worried over it, for they had nothing to regret and all things to remember in happiness.

The three dualities gathered in the observatory -- the science laboratory atop the library -- that extended above the water of the city. Here, they were on a thirty minute break and enjoyed each other's company. They were not allowed to work with each other, the city being careful to employ them in separate domes, so on their break each day, they would congregate somewhere, and the science facility was preferred by them all because of the view of the ocean in the observatory.

"I think I'm gonna be deported to another city." The chameleon stated, tugging at his uniform, a hideous white jumpsuit. With the way his superiors were talking, they needed help in reconstruction in an adjacent town.

"That's not gonna happen." Tom offered, "What more than this could they do anyway? Unless we had actually killed my mother, they can't do anything except â€"this- stupid shit." This caused laughter from all three. They were ensconced in a dome of glass and could see the top of the water from the ocean. Below was the distorted view of the city.

All three knew they were going to be rid of their punishment eventually. Then it would be back to their previous lives, though they would have to be careful with their playing. Each would quit school and move in to Tom's house; Jill's family would miss her but would accept it, and Leonard's family would be glad to be rid of him. Tom would gleefully accept them both into his house.

Their drug addictions had not been kicked in their employment, though. The city offered them cleaner forms of the chems they liked to help them ease into quitting. They would continue to do so, for with the threat of continued dualities, the city would give them as many generic drugs as possible to keep fornication at bay.

They knew, perhaps, that it was for the best interest. They did not need their drugs, and truly did not need each other. But this last idea, of their tryst, all three wanted to keep it. Maybe someday Leonard and he could be lovers, mated, and the reptile would embrace him the way Tom had always wanted. Jill would just have to be upset and pine over him.

"Maybe we should break the glass and swim away." Jill offered.

"I can't swim." Tom spoke, but he knew what their reaction would be. Neither Jill nor Leonard could swim, and if there had not been a security camera installed in the glass ceiling, they would have exercised their love for each other right at that moment.

~THE END