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Felix University Flashback

Felix Steiger made his way up the steps of his assigned dormitory. He was slightly tired, not from the climb, but from walking the campus going through the steps of registration. He could have done it all electronically, but preferred the "feet on" approach. It gave him a better feel for the campus, plus, it was mildly challenging. As he topped the threshold at his floor, he took in its theme and approved. Blue was his favorite color and seeing it applied in nautical themes was enjoyable. When Felix opened the door to his suite, he saw that his roommates had arrived before him. The Kataran lifting a potted plant out of a box had white fur with patches of silver-blue. He set the plant on the windowsill and met Felix where the entrance hall joined the living room. They stopped with their noses a few inches apart and sniffed. Scent information exchanged, Felix introduced himself.

"Pleased to meet you," the blue-and-white Kataran said. "My name is Kott Sooreela. Let me introduce my friend, Kelvin Sirta." Kott indicated a Kataran with cinnamon fur who was sitting in a chair facing the outside window, reading a slimpad. At these words, he stood up and turned to Felix. They exchanged scents and Kelvin said, "Welcome aboard!"

Felix stepped back and looked from one roommate to the other. Unlike Kott, Kelvin had fur of solid color. He could tell it was solid because it was all Kelvin was wearing. This fact brought a question from his registration trip to the fore.

"I knew I would see unusual things here," Felix began, "but while I was registering, I saw five times more people in fur than I've ever seen except at a swimming hole. Is it some kind of micro-culture or something?"

"Well," Kelvin replied, "I'm a second year student, and after my first couple weeks here I decided laundry was a waste of time."

"Right, okay, that makes sense," Felix agreed.

Felix and Kisara Flashback

Kisara and Felix lounged on the compact sofa aboard her yacht. They had nearly reached the far shore of Lake Tanaran and her family's estate had sunk halfway below the horizon. Kisara ordered the computer to drop anchor and she and Felix contemplated the castle for a moment, then turned their attention to the endless sky overhead.

"That gathering was great," Felix informed her. "Your parents and their friends are so nice. And I thank you again for the invitation to stargaze from your yacht. In case you've forgotten, you're a good friend, Kisara."

"You're a good friend too, Felix," she replied. "In the four years I've known you, you've been as kind and helpful and fun as anybody."

Often, they talked for hours. They had done so as the yacht made its way across the lake, and they continued as the sun began to sink below the horizon and the two moons came out.

"So, what have you decided to study at the academy this time?" Kisara asked playfully. Felix's choice of courses had changed so often that it was a running joke between them.

"Warp mechanics and theory, like always. Advanced starship operation. Long-term wilderness survival. If we're stranded on some planet, I don't want to have to count on help coming. Exobiology. Exolinguistics. Anything about other worlds that I don't already know."

"And you're sure this time?" Kisara teased.

"Sure I'm sure. Until the next time!"

Kisara grinned at that.

"So what about you?" Felix asked his friend. "Is your list the same as last time?"

Kisara drew back, suddenly coy. Then she leaned close to Felix. "I'll tell you, but I want to ask you something first. You want to go through the Academy, right? Be a science officer on a starship?"

"Of course. And you?"

"The same. And we're going to see if we can get on the same ship..." Kisara began.

"..to see if we'll drive each other crazy in a closed environment," Felix finished.

"Right. Well, that's still what I want to do, but now I thought maybe about raising the stakes a little."

Kisara rarely spoke other than directly, saying what she meant. Felix puzzled her words for a moment, coming up with a possibility just in time to have it confirmed by Kisara pressing her muzzle to his.

Felix returned the kiss and draped an arm around Kisara's shoulders. They turned to face each other and Kisara put her hand on Felix's shoulder. They stayed that way for a short while and then drew apart.

"That was nice," Felix informed his friend. "I didn't know you felt that way about me."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," she replied. "And I didn't know that I felt that way until very recently. How do you feel about me?"

"Well...since you asked...I would have to say...that I feel the same way too." This time, Felix kissed Kisara and they put their arms around each other.

They stayed that way for a little longer than before, enjoying their hug with a new meaning. When they at last drew apart, the two friends looked at each other as though seeing the other for the first time. Felix looked into Kisara's eyes and felt the familiar friendship for her, but stronger and deeper than he had ever felt anything before in his life.

"Kisara...I think I love you!" he blurted.

An expression of mild surprise played across her features for a moment, and then she smiled. The smile grew until all her fangs glowed in the soft moonlight. Kisara started to chuckle. Her chuckling increased steadily in volume and intensity until she was producing belly laughs that echoed back from the shore of the lake. Her laughter died down after a little while and she smiled at Felix and wiped a tear from her eye.

Taken aback, he said, "I'm glad you find that amusing."

"I'm sorry, Felix, it's not really funny, but I've just realized what's happened."

Feeling more confused than ever, Felix inquired, "Please, enlighten me."

"You see, Felix, I only recently bothered to think about it, but I love you too. We were so busy being best friends that we didn't notice how we really felt about each other."

"That wasn't a bad thing, though was it?"

"Of course not. It probably saved us from a lot of awkward moments. Can you imagine, just after we met, one of us asking the other out on dates? I wouldn't have done it."

"Me neither. I wasn't looking for a mate, and I wasn't desperate for another friend. Of course, I wasn't opposed to another friend."

"Me neither. And that's where we started out, and look where we've ended up!"

"I don't think I'd change that journey at all. If life is a trail, I'm glad we don't get to see what's around the next bush." Felix kissed Kisara again, pleasantly surprised at how good it felt, and by how quickly it was starting to feel natural. "Well, I guess we're trial-mates now, aren't we?" he said when they drew apart.

"Yeah," Kisara replied. "I can introduce you as 'my trial-mate, Felix'. Has a nice sound to it, don't you think?"

"Almost as nice as 'my trial-mate, Kisara.'"

They laughed, kissed again, and then just sat with an arm around each other, silently enjoying the beginning of their new relationship.

* * *

"Congratulations, Felix."

"You too, Kisara."

"There were times I thought the five years would never pass, but I guess they have, and in record time looking from this end."

Graduation day was over and the dusk found Felix and Kisara in their well-visited spot on the far shore of her father's lake. They had taken her yacht there as usual and, as they sometimes did, had gone swimming in the bay then made their way up the bank and started a fire to dry, using an igniter carried in a waterproof pouch. They had shaken most of the water from their fur and removed a good deal of the rest with brushes, also from the waterproof pouch. Now they lay curled up together beside the diminishing fire, having their customary pre-sleep talk. As they groomed each other with their hands, the conversation ceased as they noticed something different in each other's touch. The quality of the grooming strokes had altered. They had somehow become more intimate and Kisara and Felix felt connected on a new level. After a few moments of confusion they realized what was happening; their love was deepening and changing, bringing them closer together on a spiritual level. On a sudden impulse, Kisara kissed Felix and this kiss felt somehow deeper and more profound than any before.

* * *

"Kisara, what are you planning on doing for the rest of my life?" Felix asked casually one evening.

"Well, I want to get my warp mechanics and starship operation degrees and apply them, as well as do some exogeophysics work," she replied. "Some time in Engineering and then work on the bridge would be enlightening. Later on, I might settle down with a good male and maybe have cubs someday. Why do you ask?" she inquired with a knowing gleam in her eye, "Do you have any ideas?"

"Whatever ideas you have for your life will be fine, I'm sure," replied Felix. I just want you to share them with me, and I want to share my own life with you. I can't imagine us being apart anymore. I - I want to be your mate, Kisara. Will you be mine?"