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The Rutting Buck, Sunday 10:30pm.

Jennifer "Jen" Lewis sat in the middle of a small bar outside of her usual stomping grounds. The Rutting Buck was a popular bar that had just opened a few months ago. Their whole angle was that they were the first bar in the state to allow both uplifted animals, Humans and grounded domesticated animals to mingle. Jen sat a table with Laura, her receptionist at her workplace. The pair chuckled while speaking softly, the overall mood of the bar was lively while soft jazz music played to keep the sensitive ears of the patrons from suffering to much.

"So what about you Laura, see anyone that catches your eye?" Jen asked with a coy grin on her face. There were many humans that dotted the bar, most of them seems to run the gamut from young college students to older businessmen.

"What about that man over there?" She pointed to a small chubby male in his mid twenties with a large beard who seem to be engaged in a serious conversation with a male cheetah.

Laura looked over her shoulder with a smirk. "I don't know, I mean look at the way he is dressed. His shoes are caked in mud, his gut is showing out the bottom of his jersey and he is a Patriot's fan. Pass." She said while mentally dressing down the man even further in mind.

"If I wanted that kind of lowbrow man I would just date the first person that walked up to me. I'll shoot lower when I'm in my late fifties." She chuckled before pointing to a large doberman-labrador mix.

"Would you do him?" Laura said before a drunken bout of laughter.

Jen turned around and gave the doberman a critical gaze, the doberman turned his focus to Jen and gave her a small wink "I think you might want to lower your voice. Mr. Doberman definitely heard our little game." Jen commented before a sudden realization. "Wait, wasn't this supposed to be about who we would date?" She asked her co-worker with an accusatory tone in her voice.

"Well yes but I'm not the one who is so frigid that her panties have to come with a space heater inside. When was the last time you've been on a date?" Laura slurred with her words being just loud enough that a few of the male animals chuckled to themselves. Jen was a little too buzzed to be concerned with her social standing.

"I've been on a date, Last year… I think." Jen said while trying to remember the name of the last guy she was dating. "I think his name was Kevin. It was something short but we only had one date." She admitted before drinking another wine cooler.

"See, Jen, that is not even remotely normal. You're only thirty-one and you're single. You should be dating. You've even got more options than I do!" She waved her hand over all of the uplifted animals around them.

"I mean come on! In my boat, I have to deal with not knowing a bunch of stuff about the guy I'm dealing with. Hell you can pretty much go without a condom on most of these guys and not have to worry about children or S.T.D's." Laura said while nearly shouting, Jen's normally docile receptionist started to sound more like lusty nymph than anything else.

Jen adjusted her glasses causing the gleam from the light to hit them at such an angle that they seemed to glow, "Laura, don't you think your getting a little too loud?" Jen reprimanded her friend before things got any worse.

"I don't have time to date. I'm handling nearly fifty clients who have my email address so I'm always taking updates nearly every second." Jen took a deep breath before leaning back against her chair as her mind wandered, "I'm just waiting till I'm ready."

Laura's eyes narrowed at her friend, "Sure when you're sixty years old and trying to hit on the cute male nurse that's struggling to change your bed pan you're going to regret not taking advantage of it now," Laura chuckled before gathering her thoughts. "I think you should let loose, open your heart to a little fun once in awhile. I'm not saying go out and just act like you have no future, but you should just start dating." She finished while looking at a drunken horse stumble his way past their table.

A wicked smile crossed Laura's face as she pointed to a border collie sitting by himself at the bar and drinking water from a large mouth cup designed for animal muzzles. The canine turned toward her and cocked his head to the side as she waved him over, he hopped off the bar stool and quickly padded over to the plump red-haired woman.

Laura smirked and looked at him, "Hey stud, I have a question for you..." She said with a smile that would make anyone suspicious of her motives, "My friend here is single and into the wilder side of things. I'm curious would you be interested in her?" She pointed at Jen who just blushed heavily at being the center of attention.

The canine walked over to Jen and sniffed curiously a few feet from her face, "She smells good, she is attractive by human standards." He tilted his head once against and gave a large canine smile, "I think she wouldn't have a problem with any male she sought out but it won't be me. I'm... um.. well I was neutered before I was uplifted so I'm kinda stuck on being just a friend to anyone." He said with a smile as Laura reached over to scratch his ears feeling embarrassed.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't trying to be mean. I just wanted to make her feel better and get her to live a little." Laura said while quickly sobering up from the sudden mood shift as she stroked the collie's back. "I'm really sorry." She said trying to ease the situation.

Jen smiled and pulled out her business card before placing it in front of the collie."I work for the Saint Francis Human and Animal Psychology Center. I've dealt with many cases of neutered and spayed animals, I think group therapy would help you to meet others like yourself. It's a good environment with many who have found interesting solutions to cope with having the procedure done without their consent." She said before leaning closer to him. "Thanks for the compliment. I'm Jennifer but you can call me Jen."

The border collie smirked at her, his green eyes staring into hers, "My name is Chance. My former owner named me because he always said, 'You take a chance when you get a border collie.'" He chuckled thinking of his old owner, "It's a pleasure to meet you both but I have to go to work in the morning so I'm turning in. I hope to see you both around here again." Chance said before scooping up the laminated card and leaving the pair as they waved him off.

"I think we should head off too, we both have work in the morning and you know how bitchy you get when you're trying to work with a hangover." Jen said with a small chuckle as she gathered her things. She noticed that Laura walked up to Chance before chatting with the border collie while giving him a little card with her phone number on it.

Jen smiled as Laura returned. They both gathered their things before Laura broke the tension. "I thought he could use a friend more than a therapist." Laura said as they squeezed between a chatting hippo, around several swans discussing politics and wolf flirting with Labrador retriever. As they walked to Laura's red Ford Focus, Laura tossed Jen her keys. "I've had a lot more to drink with you and you drink so slowly you're probably already sober." She chuckled as she sat in the car before leaning her chair back to enjoy the drive.

Doctor Lewis' office, Monday 4:00pm.

Dr. Jennifer Lewis waited nervously for her new high profile client. She kept adjusting her mushroom paperweight to ease her tension. This was to be her first dangerous animal client that had a history of violent behavior, and one of her first clients that wasn't already in a stable relationship. She slowly took deep breaths to calm herself down as the clocked ticked down to the meeting time. Her intercom crackled loudly causing her to flinch, before Laura's voice came through the device.

"Dr. Lewis, Your four o'clock appointment is here." Laura said with an annoyed edge to her voice, obviously she was a little hungover and not fond of being at work.

"Send him in, please." Dr. Lewis said trying to cover the nervousness in the voice as she tried to rationalize that this was just another client who sought her help and counseling. She would help him to the best of her ability but most of all she would not annoy this client if she could help it.

The door opened with a slow click of the latch, Laura opened the door and stepped inside holding the door to give the client the maximum amount of space to get inside. The client stepped through the door, his head was a gigantic mass of brown fur as he sniffed the room while lumbering inside. He glared at the wood and leather chairs with a snort.

"No way, I'm going to be able to sit on that. I'll sit on the floor if it's alright with you, Doc." He quickly pushed the chairs and ottoman away as Laura left them alone. Dr. Lewis noticed that her information wasn't very clear. The paperwork said that the client was a grizzly bear, but that is much smaller than the Alaskan grizzly that lumbered into office.

The male stood up to his eight feet of height before planting his rump on her carpeted floor, "Before we begin the boring introductions, I've got to ask you a serious question so we don't get off on the wrong foot. I've been reading up on this process, it's true anything I say here stays here right? So if I told you I killed and ate some humans then you couldn't say anything." The bear looked at her with a neutral expression.

Jen returned the neutral gaze and spoke calmly, "I'm not allowed to disclose your personal information unless that information is going to be a matter of public safety. If you told me you were going to murder someone tomorrow, I would be forced to give that information to the police but if you told me that you killed someone in the past and have to no plans of doing it currently. I am legally bound to keep your information confidential." She spoke with forced neutrality as she noticed that each of the bear's paws were nearly the size of her head.

"Sounds fair. My name is Terry. I was named 'Big Brown' by my human owners when I was a circus act. My name was changed to 'Akakabuto' when I was bought by a private owner out in Japan, then I was sold to a private owner back in the states where my name was changed to 'Terry' after the guy realized he didn't want a Japanese name for an American animal." The bear spoke out with a dismissive snort, "I can't stand how silly humans are when it comes to naming creatures. So, as part of my early release and good behavior I have to come here. So, Doc, how about you fix me?"

Dr. Lewis adjusted her glasses and looked to the bear with a neutral expression, "Pleasure to meet you, Terry. I'm Doctor Jennifer Lewis, I'm going to be your therapist here for the foreseeable future. I'm very practiced in dealing with couples and individual counseling, I hope this will reflect in the counseling that both of us will go through together." She said with a warm smile.

Terry gave a small grunt and scratched his chest, "Sounds fine. I guess this is the part where I pour my heart to you and we both have a good cry, right?" He said with a smirk before scooting closer to her desk.

Dr. Lewis gave a soft chuckle, "That's only if you wish to talk about that, I'm more curious on what you would like to work on?" She asked while clicking her pen and looking up at the bear expectantly.

"I guess I would say anger, every time I see humans I get a little annoyed. I'm big, I'm scary and my anger makes me a bit of a problem. Humans used to make me afraid of them when I was little cub with their weapons and whips. I can't really hunt or live out in the woods because too many of the civilized like to take off in the woods, and nothing feels more terrible than catching some deer and having him plead for his life." He glanced at doctor and smiled, "I figure you want ask me if I ate him or not, I didn't." He admitted.

"I wasn't going to ask. I was thinking how shocking it would be if I was in your shoes." She said honestly, "I can understand how frustrating it must be, many predators have similar tales of going back to the wild and trying to re-adapt. Few succeed due to either under stimulation or trauma." She said while gazing at the frustrated bear sitting before her.

"Well what do you think I should do? I'm having trouble fitting in with the humans. I don't even like going to work. So many humans crowded together and most of the jobs are just heavy lifting. My current job is the one I enjoy the most and it's a bouncer for a gay bar downtown." Terry grunted with a swelling of his chest that showed his pride, "Those humans are kinda strange but the rest of the bouncers don't give me much trouble." He confessed.

"Hmmmmmmmm..." Doctor Lewis jotted down a few notes before speaking, "How do you feel inside of the bar? Do those humans annoy you as much as the crowds in the streets."

Terry gave a grunt and used his long clawed to scratch under his chin in thought, "Not really for the most part those guys smell different and the bar smells aren't strong. The alcohol tastes good but it takes nearly half my pay to get properly drunk." He chuckled and thought to himself. "I burped in the bar once and caused one of the regulars to nearly faint."

"Would you mind trying an experiment with me?" The doctor asked with a small hint of nervousness in her voice, she could tell that she messed up once Terry expression shifted from a relaxed state to an excited one. It only caused her to sweat a little more which intrigued the bear more as he leaned over the desk just inches away from her face.

"Doctor... I can smell your nervousness." Terry gave a very human-like grin, "You're sweating more as I get closer, you seem more flustered. I must be the biggest client you've had, at this close I can smell what you've been working with so far. Several dogs, a lion, a sow that smells of ink and well now this is interesting..." Terry paused and took a deeper smell. "...A human female and a male house cat." He chuckled at the absurdity of it all.

"Y-yes. I have a large amount of patients from all walks of life and you are the tallest of my clients." Dr. Lewis admitted while trying to calm herself. "My suggestion to you..." She said not backing away from the bear partially in fear of his reaction and partially from her commitment to helping him. "I want you to go into the club on your off day and socialize with the humans there. You don't have to make a friend on your first attempt but at least socialize. Would you be interested in trying?" She said finally getting the words out and slowly calming herself down.

Terry gave a small sigh while moaning, "Buuuuut doc, humans are stinky and mean." He whined playfully while pulling his muzzle away from the doctor, he was amused that she was able to swallow her fear of him to even instruct him. "Ok. In all seriousness I believe that this is going to end badly, but I couldn't think of a better place to start I guess. A bunch of sweaty humans too worried about trying to do each other to notice me." He chuckled loudly causing his fur to sway with each movement of his body.

Dr. Lewis gave him a winning smile, "Well I think that we have a game plan. But we still have time so, if you would like to get anything off of you chest I'm willing to listen." She said while jotting down the work that she did with the bear.

Terry cleared his throat before speaking. "I did have another issue that has been bugging me for a while.." His gaze lowered to the human in front of him as he spoke. "What's a relationship like?" He turned away from her as he spoke, not looking forward to any mocking expression that the doctor had.

"Well, relationships come in a variety of flavors; friends, romantics relations, even some stranger than that." She glanced down at her paperwork to with a few notes on brown bear social habits in the wild. "Normally your species in the wild have fleeting relationships compared to humans, lasting no longer than a few weeks. Humans are a primarily monogamous species with long spanning relationships that can last our entire lives."

Terry gave a grunt and chuckled, "I see... I was curious since I've been working at the bar I've seen men with all kinds of uplifted, Horses and dogs seem to be pretty popular but what makes me curious is the amount of happy couples. My supervisor who is a gay human started a relationship with this crazy large reindeer, the guy couldn't even get in the bar easily because of the horns." Terry continued to chuckle.

Dr. Lewis chuckled herself as she jotted down more notes, "I'm going to give you my early opinion from what I can see of you." She noticed that the bear stood still in rapt attention, this was her time to set the template for the rest of their session. "I see you as a person that would be able to mingle in human society but you are missing something. It could be romance, it could be a purpose that drives you to work." She said with a small grin on her face.

Terry nodded before standing up to his full height, "I see..." He said while using his claws to scratch at his belly, "I'll give it a shot. Can I end this session a little short, I've gotta cover the late shift and I don't want keep my ride waiting." He said as he desired to leave before the doctor prodded too deeply into his life.

"That's fine Terry, but before you leave I would like you to take this worksheet. I know writing can be difficult for many but this sheet has simple bubbles to fill out so even if you have trouble you can just press or punch out the holes to the sheet." Jen said with a confident smile on her face.

Terry took the sheet into his claws and sighed, “Ehhh... Fine, I'll do homework." He groaned teasingly before letting out a loud yawn that caused the doctor to flinch before grinning. “Got you." He chuckled before dropping to all fours to lumber over to the door. He was thankful at the lever design of the door as he just pressed the handle and lumbered out quietly.

Spitfire Bar, Tuesday 2:27am.

Terry grunted, watching most of the patrons leave as the lights came on. He gazed around the bar with a curious expression. With the crowd thinned he decided he would try being a little more sociable with the lingering customers. The night had been a quiet one with no one needing to be thrown out.

Terry's shift wasn't over yet but he didn't have much to do but wait for the rest of the workers to finish their shift and the manager to finishing counting up the night's earnings. Soft music was playing and the overpowering smell of human sexual tension hung in the air like a mocking cloud around the bar. He sat across from his boss while the short balding Caucasian human with coke bottle glasses counted the earning quickly.

“Mark, I gotta question for you." Terry called to the man.

“I can't spot you a raise but you can drink a little on the house." Mark grunted while flipping through the ones.

“I'll help myself to the drinks but I have something more curious on my mind. I went to the doctor yesterday and she said something I want to bounce off of you." Terry grabbed and slid a bowl under the bar's tap before pouring himself a bowl of some local brew.

“Go for it, I'm still listening." Terry said taking a moment to glance at the large bear.

“Well my doctor said I need to find a purpose. I think eating and not getting shot by humans is good enough, but she mentioned a relationship. Only human I can stand enough to even ask about this is you. What's it like being with your partner." Terry asked feeling a bit embarrassed at his boss's blush in response.

The human chuckled while rubbing his head, “Well… I met Ahanu a few years after I started working in this bar. It was my off day and I wasn't into animals. Ahanu wasn't into humans but we started talking and just hit it off."

“You are both males. I've seen some caribou before, even eaten a few but none his size. You are small and kinda frail while I wouldn't want to fight with reindeer of his size." Terry admitted with a grin on his muzzle.

“Tell me how you really feel, Terry." Mark grumbled sarcastically before glance back at the money. “Ahanu makes me feel good. He is a little stoic outside the home but he is very protective and nurturing."

“So, does that make you the female in the relationship?" Terry wondered while lapping at the bowl of alcohol.

“Don't make me fire you, there is no female in the relationship." Mark said sternly while bagging up the money. “I know that you are a little unused to humans but most homosexuals hearing something like that would get insulted."

“I see…" Terry said staring into the glass bowl thoughtfully.

“Don't over think it. I think that you might be better talking to Ahanu. The big lug is about as blunt and insensitive as you are at times." Mark chuckled, “Once I put up the money I'll clock you out, then you can meet me out back. Ahanu should be here by then."

Terry watched as the man slowly descended the stairs near the counter into the money room. The bear quickly finished the foul tasting liquid, the awful substance was a nightmare on his pallet but it was enough to keep his mind off of the budding discomfort he felt speaking to his manager.

The large bear made his way outside with a tired grunt, his nose picked up a familiar smell as he stepped out. Strutting into the alleyway was a large, antler-less caribou approaching him. the caribou paused and gave a friendly snort to the bear.

“Hey, Uh, Ahanu." Terry said feeling strange at seeing the large male without a pair antlers still stretching out of his head. They stared at each other for a minute in a simple moment of predator and prey sizing each other up.

“Hello." Ahanu grumbled out with a small bit of an accent with his more rounded muzzle taking more effort to speak the words than Terry. “So do you need another ride home?"

“No, I'm probably going to walk." Terry said as his own tense nature caused the other male to sniff him a little more intently.

“Ah." The Caribou spoke simply while looking toward the door and waiting for his lover to exit, it was an uncomfortable silent wait before Mark exited the door and finished locking up.

The human entered the alleyway with a grin on their face as they glanced at the Caribou, “Hey Ahanu. From the silence I'm going to guess that our ursine friend didn't ask you anything."

Ahanu shook his head, “Nope."

Terry shrugged, “I was getting around to it." Terry paused for a bit before speaking, “Wait, what was I supposed to be asking?"

Mark pinched his nose for a moment before grinning, “Ahanu, Terry wants to know about relationship and what things that encompass being in a such a relationship."

Ahanu leaned his head back and gave a loud chuckle, a very strange sight in the post-uplifted world. “Really…? Ok. Ok. I think I can help. Call Eric and set them up." Ahanu bellowed with a good natured chuckle.

Mark rubbed his balding head and started to make a call, he stepped away from the pair and leaning against his pickup truck. While Mark was busy on the phone Ahanu turned his gazed to the large bear with a grin as the pair once again stood in silence.

“I'm just going tell you, since you aren't going to ask and are just standing their like a big brown lump." Ahanu grunted with annoyance at the bear. “I'm going to tell you about them. They are male and have a fascination with bears; both the human kind and the ones like you."

“What? You're setting me up with a male? I'm not gay, what would make you think that I am?" Terry shouted loud enough that his voice echoed around the alleyway.

“We don't, but we think you could use someone that would brighten up that normally grumpy face." Ahanu stated calmly as Mark returned from his call. The human glanced from the bear to the caribou with a smile on his face while he rubbed the top of his head.

“Well I spoke to Eric, he was so excited when I told him about Terry that he wanted to meet tonight but I'm tired and don't feel like driving two places. Would you be opposed to spending the night with Eric, he lives right on the way to my place." Mark said with hope coloring his voice as he seemed to sag even while standing before both of the large creatures.

“I don't know… He might try to date rape me or beat me up. I'm scared." Terry said sarcastically.

Mark snorted, “Yeah. I could see it now, the big bear beaten by a guy I think I could probably take in a fight."

“Eric would win." Ahanu said as he walked to the back of Mark's truck before laying down, Terry quickly joined him before sitting down. Ahanu watched as the large bear gazed down at him with a questioning expression on his face.

“Something on your mind?" Ahanu asked as the truck's motor roared to life.

“You're Caribou, human have hunted your kind for a long time. How are you just so comfortable with them?" Terry asked bluntly.

“Same way I'm comfortable with you. Human still eat my kind and so do bears. You've even insensitively mentioned that you've personally eaten a few of my kind, so what am I to do? Attack you? Hate every bear that I pass on the street?" Ahanu snorted loudly.

“You uh, heard that?" Terry grunted bashfully.

“You are pretty loud so I heard it easily." The Caribou remarked, “My advice is grow some thicker skin. Humans screwing you over in the past is true of most of us but you are living in a human city, eating human-made food, riding in a human vehicle, and you have the capability to talk and rationalize things because of humans. Take the good with the bad." Ahanu rose his head, “Thanks to humans, I can sit here without worrying that you'll go for my neck."

“Thicker skin, huh?" Terry rubbed a paw against his belly in thought.

“Hmpf." Terry grunted as night air billowed over his fur. The rushing lights of the street and the curious glances of humans whenever they reached a stoplight. The ride was bumpy but short as they arrived at a small house in a idyllic suburban neighborhood. The truck parked in a driveway of a large red brick house with a matching garage.

Terry watched as Mark got out of the car and opened rear door for Terry to disembark the truck. He grunted as he moved on all fours to solid ground, and he lumbered up to the door before turning around to notice that Mark simply drove off, leaving him at the front door alone.

“Oh thanks Mark. Sure, Terry, I normally just drop my friends off and ditch them without introduction." Terry grumbled before reaching the door, he lazily slapped a paw against the door. Terry flinched at the sound of scraping on the other side of the door.

“Who is it?" A soft female voice called out, even with his acute hearing Terry could barely hear her.

“Terry, I'm supposed to meet someone named Eric. I'm Mark's employee." Terry grunted out before a soft click reach his ears and the door opened.

A man dressed in a fuzzy brown robe with equally fuzzy slippers stood in the doorway, he gazed at Terry nervously while Terry just stared at him in silence. The only noise around the two was the soft chirping of crickets as they looked at each other.

"Are we just going to stare at each other or what?" Terry said trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

"Thank God." Eric said with a slow release of breath.

"What?" Terry asked.

"Well... I wasn't sure if you were uplifted or not. There are bears in the area and I didn't want to get mauled by thinking you were something you weren't." Eric said nervously as he opened the door.

"Bears don't just run around mauling people." Terry said while lumbering to the door frame, he squeezed his way into the door with a grunt.

"What's with humans and having these stupidly narrow door ways?" Terry said while trying to fit his wide frame through the door.

"It's an old house before people started remodeling with larger creatures in mind." Eric placed a hand over his mouth while staring at Terry, the soft musk of fear spiked from him.

"I am a creature, what did you expect me to get mad and maul you for pointing out the obviou-omph!" Terry slipped on the tile as he managed to fit his butt through the frame.

"Are you ok?" Eric asked crouching down to look at the fallen bear.

"Just a little crack in my pride. So, where can I sleep?" Terry said while standing back on all fours. The feeling of the cool air conditioning on his fur felt way better than the cheap one back at his apartment.

"You can have the living room, my roommate has the upstairs so… unless you have to go--" Eric thought for a second before speaking, "Do you know how to use a toilet? Can you even sit on one?"

"Um... Do you really want to know that? I gotta admit I was expecting something more strange when Mark told me about you." Terry said following Eric into the living room, his eyes widened as he looked at the room.

The painting above the floor model television was of a bear sitting in a forest, bear plush toys were piled in a corner and a few bear figurines dotted the windowsills. A fake bear skin rug was on the floor with pink ribbons tied to the ears. Terry blanched in the doorway as he gazed over the bear themed room, the smell of fear from the human was almost suffocating.

"Mama....?" Terry said looking down at the rug, "Noooooo." He said in complete deadpan.

"I can explain, I just-- I mean it's not real, It's just a rug that I found and, and, and--" Eric started to stammer incoherently as he watched the bear sniffing the rug.

"Calm down, I'm just making a joke." Terry rumbled before plopping on top of the rug, the couch would probably break under his weight and he didn't want t risk owing Eric for anything broken.

"Oh right... a joke, Sorry I just must have missed the humor in your voice. Can I get you anything? A drink or a blanket? Maybe some food?" Eric said.

"Don't let him touch my fish or I swear to Bastet I'll eat you alive!" A shout came from the top floor.

"Bastet?" Terry asked unsure if he heard the roar above them.

"My landlord is a cougar, who doesn't know anything about Egyptian religion. She thinks Bastet is the god of the dead and I don't have the heart to correct her." Eric grinned.

"I didn't think I would hear the day that an uplift was religious. I thought that was more of a human thing," Terry said while reaching a claw down to scratch his belly, "If the food offer is still on the plate, I wouldn't mind if you got me anything to drink and some strong alcohol if you got it."

Eric nodded before stepping into the kitchen connected to the living room. Eric grabbed a few apples from the refrigerator along with a bottle of cheap wine. Eric stepped back to find that Terry was laying on his back rubbing against the floor to scratch some sort of itch.

"So how do you know Mark, you don't seem like one of the people that would come to his place of work?" Terry asked as Eric placed the food in front of him.

"Um, I know him because I used to DJ there, but when I moved on to better work we kept in contact. It's kind of funny because we have met once before, Terry." Eric said sitting on the couch.

"We did?" Terry said as he took a whole apple into his mouth, he chewed messily.

"Yeah. There was a bar fight in the club, you knocked one guy down and on the turn away to toss the other one out you clocked me with your arms mid swing." Eric said rubbing the side of his head in memory.

Terry chewed another apple while mumbling out a half-hearted apology, he gazed at the human with a small bit of curiosity. The house coat made Eric look like a skinny bear and the strong scent of sweat that clung to him reminded him of a weaker bear. Terry snorted as he swallowed down the final apple.

"I got yelled at about that but that is not important right now, what's with all the bear shit? You got some sort of crush on me or something?" Terry grunted in annoyance.

"I have a thing for bears in general. I will admit that I started to visit mark more often because of your sudden appearance as the new bouncer. At least you can open doors. The last bouncer was a mountain goat, he couldn't open the doors to help anyone out." Eric chuckled.

"I see." Terry regarded the human curiously, "So what about us do you like?"

"I mean I've met so many cool uplifts since the whole thing started, and when I go to work I work with a bunch of polar bears. I work at a petting zoo for Uplift to find work and for children to get used to them." Eric said sitting down on the couch.

"Hmm..." Terry thought back to the word of his therapist. "I'm going to ask a weird question, but I want your honest opinion on it."

Eric started to sweat from the seriousness in Terry's tone. "Sure."

Terry rolled on his side and noticed that the human's eyes immediately drifted to his crotch. He ignored the blatant staring. He received worse at his job daily from humans, but he took a moment to look at Eric who was laying across the couch looking down at him with small bead of sweat dotting his forehead.

"My friend thinks that I should be giving humans another chance. I know it's none of your business but I forgot to try out their recommendation at the bar so I'm talking to you." Terry grumbled while looking up at the light in the room.

"Ok. So I'm like your therapist." Eric said

"Well you aren't as dark and you lack the whole breast thing that humans seem to love dangling around even when they don't have kids." Terry snorted.

"You work in a gay bar. I wouldn't have guess tits were your thing." Eric shot back with a nervous chuckle.

"I work in a gay bar. It's not like I use it the same way as the drunks I keep safe. I'm not sure where I stand. I look at some of those people and some of those animals-- I just wonder how it would be to adjust properly. I mean I have an apartment. I pay taxes and all that shit." Terry grumbled.

"But you're bored and a little bit lonely?" Eric said with a little bit of hopefulness in his voice.

"Here I am trying to talk about life and you're already thinking about your crotch." Terry snorted smelling the arousal from the human near him.

"S-Sorry." Eric said closing his leg together which only helped to push another whiff of his musk toward the bear.

"It's fine. I'm surrounded by horny humans on a daily basis, just reminds me of work." Terry said while looking at Eric with a deadpan grin.

"What?" Eric said cautiously as his fear rose with his excitement.

"I've talked a little bit about my situation, it's your turn. I'm trying this whole friends with human's thing." Terry said scratching his chin before scooting closer.

"What do you want to know?" Eric said nervously.

"I'm not picky but since you pretty much keep getting aroused the more I talk to you. Talk about that." Terry said with a grin that resembled a snarl to the sweating human.

"Well, um. You know, it's like--" Eric said.

"Nope, nope, and very nope. I work in a gay bar as you said. Do you know how many drunk humans I have to remove that were screwing in the bathroom. I get the function, so explain what's got you so horny. I mean if you want to get laid, just go screw your landlord." Terry said.

"Well I'm gay." Eric said.

"Obviously, you go to gay bars and know Mark. I think I'm the only person who isn't gay that Mark talks to on the regular. Go on and stop avoiding the subject." Terry urged.

"You are hot. I mean you are big, you've got a fuzzy gut but I like that. You've got big arms and well I have a thing for bigger guys." Eric answered, "Like I would just love to pet you or something if it wasn't offensive."

Terry snorted, "I'm pretty much crashing at your place for the night so If you want to pet me go wild. It's not like you can really hurt me without a gun or a really big knife."

"Really?!" Eric voice rose several octaves as he reached down to rub his hands over the chest of the bear.

"Yep but let's make it amusing, I already told you a little bit of what I was told to do, but I'm curious about you, my discount therapist. What's a relationship like? Like let's just say you and I were in a relationship, what would we do?" Terry asked out of genuine curiosity.

"Well... I would do whatever you wanted. I am really a please-er kinda boyfriend. I'm happy with the company and I really like a take charge top." Eric said with a bit of smile. "You being a bear is like all of my fantasies, but being a tough as you are makes me safe."

"Not really what I expected," Terry said feeling a little amused, a human that didn't want to use him for anything seemed like a lie. "So what do you get out of it?"

"Um... You as my boyfriend. It's a fantasy, I wouldn't mind being able to kiss your muzzle and wake up to your warm body every morning." Eric admitted.

Terry felt the hands roaming along his body as he contemplated the human rubbing him. He was small, chubby, male, lacked any sort of muscle, couldn't bear him children, and the list or reasons that he should deny that offer were stacking in his mind. The bear thought about the doctor's words in his head, the annoying advice of hers started to grate on his mind.

"Did I say something wrong." Eric asked as the bear just stared at him.

"Fine. We can try it out, but no weird stuff, no cages, no pens, you can't ride me, I don't want any ropes, I don't take orders from you and you don't own me." Terry said listing out everything he could remember that sucked about humans.

"Just like that?" Eric said, "Aren't you straight?"

"I don't know, I'm not exactly mating with female bears and I can't take care of an uplifted cub on my budget. My food bill alone is nearly four digits." Terry thought about it.

"Ouch. Well... Wanna continue with the questions? You seem pretty curious and I'm kinda enjoying the game." Eric chuckled, his relief giving way to a strong amount of arousal that came off of him in waves which clashed with the salty scent of human excitement.

"You are waaay more focused on your lust, but since we are a couple. You'll come to my therapy session so I can rub it in my doctor's face, right?" Terry snickered thinking about how he would rub it into her face that he got a human companion the next day.

"I'll come along, as I don't have work." Eric said before sliding off the couch to rest on top of Terry, the bear flinched from the sudden weight on his belly.

"What are you doing?" Terry asked, feeling the human's warmth against his own body.

Six Days Later...

Dr. Lewis stared at the scene before her with a mixture of confusion and amusement. She gazed at Terry and his friend who was sitting next to him.

"Did you finish the worksheet?" Dr. Lewis asked with a smile.

"Eric helped me out with it but I'm still getting used to having him visit me. It's kinda weird but I didn't kill him or beat him up or nothing." Terry said feeling proud of himself as he held his head up high with no small measure of smugness.

Dr. Lewis looked over the sheet with a smile, "So tell me about how things have been going over the week."

"Oh they have been going pretty good, I'm learning this whole relationship thing. I've been learning about lube, spanking, muscle worship and domina--" Terry was cut off as Eric poked him in the side.

"I'm going to die of embarrassment if you just list them out like that. I thought you were the one who said 'be professional'!" Eric whined a bit while sweating nervously in the chair.

"It's fine Mr. Stevenson. I can assure you that anything that is said in here is purely confidential." Dr. Lewis smiled to reassure the man.

Eric swallowed before looking the doctor in the eye. "I'm pretty happy that I made friends with Terry. I'm even more excited that he just chose to give me a shot. Even if it's because I'm not that intimidating."

"I'm glad that the both of you have a good thing going, just be sure to take it slow and learn one another. Have you two been on a date yet?" Jen asked with a smile, even though her job was to help out the ursine male. She still wanted to get under his skin a little bit.

"Oh yeah. We took a trip out to the wood and had a camping thing. It was the first time I had sex with a human. It was kinda okay but the screaming bothered me a bit." Terry said.

"Because you didn't use lube!" Eric snarled, "I was sleeping when you decided that it was time to mount me!"

"Because you said I could have sex any time I wanted and all I could smell was your arousal so I just tried it out." Terry groaned while scratching at his chin.

"I mean... well... yeah." Eric calmed down but the redness in his face was a beacon of his embarrassment.

"So I'm cured right, I don't need to come back any more do I?" Terry said patting Eric on the head for emphasis.

"You are still considered on probation so you'll have to see my smiling face for the remainder of the year." Jen said with a bit of humor in her voice.

"You don't seem nearly as nervous around me as you did the first time." Terry snorted, "Did I lose weight or something."

"Nothing like that, you just seem like you are happier and it relaxes me a--"

Terry let out a loud roar that caused both of the humans to flinch in their chairs, He leaned back before giving his stomach an idle scratch. "Oh... Did that scare you? I was just giving a loud yawn. Can I end today's session a little early? My human says we need to buy lube today so his ass won't bleed."

"Yes you may... I might need some heart medication if this is a yawn." Jen said with layers of sarcasm on each word.

"Did you really have to be so explicit about our sex lives?" Eric said as the pair got up to leave.

"She is a sex therapist and a therapist. Who else was I going to tell? Oh wait, I could tell Mark!" Terry said as he squeezed through the door.

"Don't you freaking dare!" Was the last thing Jen heard as she leaned back in her chair and tried to slow her pounding heart. She would have to watch herself around her new patients but his progress did give her hope for future cases.