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Tiffany did not let us forget our promise to share what we had planned, and what we had done, with the group. On Friday, just as we left the classroom building, she glowered at us. "Remember, full explanation this Sunday, right?"

Toby, who is usually so gentle, rolled his eyes at her. He stopped dead in his tracks. "Oh, for the love of Pete, Tiffany! Yes, we will share it. But you have to let us do it on our terms, and in our way. Don't you dare try to force the conversation." He waggled his finger at her nose, looking down at her from his full height, dwarfing the smaller cat, and he actually bared his teeth.

Tiffany did not back down. "As long as you keep your promise, I won't have to."

"It's not really your right to enforce this, anyway. It's our lives. It's not like we tell you everything, anyway." He glared.

"Uh, guys," I tried to interrupt.

"Hey, this is big," Tiffany cut me off. "This could cause problems for a lot of people. And besides, we're your friends. If you can't trust us with this..."

"Guys," I interrupted.

"It's not a question of trust, Tiffany!" Toby's voice went up in volume and pitch, and his hackles were starting to stand up. "But it is a question of whose business it is!"

"Guys!" I shouted.

"What?!" Both Tiffany and Toby shouted at once. Their tails were lashing furiously as the turned on me.

"Can we move on, please? We're attracting an audience." I gestured at the people who were slowing down to see the argument. "And you keep saying we're all friends, here. Act like it! There's no reason to be fighting."

"There won't be, when you two keep your promise," Tiffany insisted.

"We will," I stressed the will. "Now, can we go to lunch?"

"Whatever," Tiffany turned and marched down the sidewalk.

"I'm not hungry, anymore," said Toby, and stormed in the direction of his Jimmy, away from the dining hall. I was left between them, with the audience staring at me. I shrugged and smiled helplessly, then went running after Toby, since he was my ride to work.

"What was all that about," I demanded, as I hopped in the passenger side with barely enough time to close the door before Toby pulled out of the parking spot.

"You were there, weren't you?" Toby snarled.

"I was, and I just saw the man I love fighting with one of our best friends." He didn't answer. "This isn't like you, Toby. Even when Hayate pissed you off, you didn't get all ruffled like you just did."

"It really isn't any of Tiffany's business, to begin with. And if she can't trust us to keep our promise, well, then what kind of friend is that?"

"One who's worried about us," I reminded him. "She's upset because she cares, okay, Toby?"

He made a face. "She has a funny way of showing it."

"Sure, she was out of line. But was it worth starting a fight? You two were about ready to come to blows! And the audience! If we're going to keep things under our hats, having a fight right in front of the main classroom building is no way to do it!"

Toby sighed. I'm pretty sure he was counting to ten, because he made a long pause before answering. "I know. I know. I just don't like feeling cornered like that."

I laughed. "Everyone knows, it's canines who you don't corner. Cats can just slip right out of it, what with your silky fur, and super-flexi spines."

This earned a smile. "Now, come on. I know you're hungry. I could hear your stomach growling in class. What say we grab a Runza before I have to go to work, and you have to go to your next class?" Toby agreed, and since the shop I mentioned was coming up on the right, Toby changed lanes and pulled in. Over lunch, we discussed how we were going to do the big reveal, and then Toby took me to work.

* * *

Sunday night, we still didn't have a plan. But I had made Toby call Tiffany and apologize for the fight, and then I took over the phone and told her we would discuss it after we had eaten and before we started the game. Giving her a time frame would hopefully keep her from trying to force our hand, and I asked her to keep her cool, because we still weren't sure how to introduce the topic. She promised to keep her cool, and let us do the talking.

Roger arrived and started cooking, while Toby and I disappeared into the office to consolidate our plan. It was no surprise that Tiffany and Charles showed up early this week, but we left them in the living room to be entertained by the cook. By the time everyone else arrived, we had our game plan in place, and had only to wait for Charles' dinner. He served up a real winner, having prepared teriyaki stir fry, sushi rolls, fish bowls for those who'd eat them, and he even mixed up a pot of fresh green tea. Everyone speculated over dinner that his new friend must have been teaching him, and he admitted we were right, but still insisted that she was "just a friend," despite the fact that she'd been having dinner at his place every night this week.

Discussing Roger's not-girlfriend provided the segue we had been hoping for, and as Toby gathered up the dishes, I made the connection. "Hey, everyone. Speaking of such matters, Toby and I have a bit of a confession that we need to make."

Tiffany sat back and crossed her arms. Charles spoke up. "Is this the announcement that Tiffany tells me you guys have tonight?"

I shot a look at Tiffany. She had the good grace to look guilty. "Yes," I nodded slowly. Everyone leaned forward at that.

"I guess we'd better start at the beginning," I said. It had been decided that I would do most of the talking. Toby opted to stay in the kitchen and rinse off dishes. I sure could have used him by my side, though!

"Remember back when I first started going to class with Tiff' and Tob', and we were wondering about whether Professor Druff might have had any special connections with his students?" Everyone nodded, with faces ranging from confusion to skepticism. "Well, we kind of let it drop at that point, but Toby and I kept our ears open. And then you may remember, we ran into him after the Yena Matthews concert, while we were at the diner." More nods. "Well, he slipped a note into my paw there, asking me to call him."

This led to outbursts. Michelle cried out in alarm and Roger said, "Whaaaaat?" Charles and Jack both let out a laugh, as if to say, "I knew it!"

"We didn't know what to think, and the only way to find out was to do it, so we called. And he invited us to his office over the break, ostensibly to ask me how I was doing with all the crap with Michael. We talked for a while, and then we decided we wanted to know, you know? So Toby asked him about the rumors. And, well... instead of answering, he showed us."

"You mean, you guys -" Michelle's eyes were wide.

"Yes," Toby said, coming over and sitting next to me at this point. "Don't worry, he didn't force himself. He was quite the gentleman, in fact."

"What does that mean," asked Charles.

"That means, he asked us what we thought, and if we'd like to know, and then made sure that we understood that he wouldn't touch us without our permission," I said. I wasn't sure whether I was defending myself, myself and Toby, or The Druff, at this point.

"But that we did consent," Toby continued. "And... we enjoyed it. All three of us. Together."

Everyone started talking at once. It took several minutes to get everyone to calm back down, and when we did, Tiffany popped up with, "That's not all, either." Everyone looked at her.

"Yeah, Tiffany found out, because of another conversation we had," I continued. At the dance, we ran into Druff. He was there with another man, who was dressed up as Queen Elizabeef."

"Is that who that was," asked Jack. "That costume was amazing! I didn't realize it was a bull until I was next to him at the punch table. But I didn't get a chance to speak to him, or I would have complemented him on the costume. How funny; a drag queen dressed as the Queen."

"Yeah. We still don't know who he is," said Toby, "But between the two of them, they managed to invite us to play with Druff again. And so, since we won that hot tub suite in the costume contest, we decided to invite Druff there to play. Tiffany overheard that conversation, and demanded that we come clean to all of you."

There was a pregnant pause. Then Michelle spoke up. "Well, I, for one, want to say, 'congratulations.'"

"What?" demanded Tiffany.

"I mean it!" defended Michelle. "They're both adults. The Druff is an adult, and he behaved like a gentleman. And you have to admit, Tiff, he's pretty hot. I know plenty of Cornhusker women who'd love to get that chance. Heck, if I weren't devoted to my beefcake of a husband, here," she squeezed Jack's side. "I'd be one of 'em."

"But he's a teacher!" said Tiffany. "This could be a problem for everyone!"

Charles put his arm around her. "But it won't be, unless it gets out. And even if it does, it's not that big of a deal. They're all adults. As long as it's clear that they earn their grades, and no one's using this to play with their grades, it should be okay."

"But they didn't trust us to tell us sooner," said Tiffany.

"Babe," Charles said. "I think they were worried that we'd react just like you're doing." This shut her down. Her ears laid down flat, and you could see the blush through her face fur. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then she looked at both of us.

"You're right, Charles. I'm sorry, guys. I definitely overreacted."

"So did I," said Toby. "I'm sorry for starting the fight on Friday over this."

"You didn't," confessed Tiffany. "I totally picked that fight. You were just defending yourself and Craig."

"So, if there's nothing else to this, are we still up to play?" I asked, squirming. "We'll be happy to answer questions, but I'd like to at least get off the hot seat."

Everyone seemed amenable to that, and we moved our chars over to the table, where we resumed play of Twilight Imperium. There were more questions throughout the night, including a couple about how good The Druff was, which Toby and I took great pleasure in answering with just enough detail to get cries of "TMI!" And at the end of the night, everyone was smiling when they left, and Tiffany stayed behind long enough to hug both of us and exchange one more round of apologies before heading home.

It's good that we made up with Tiffany, because when Thanksgiving came, we were spending the holiday together with her and Charles. Michelle and Jack were going to her grandparents' home in Denver, and Roger went home to his family. That left the four of us to make our own feast, which was hosted by Chester at his farm north of town. Since the ruminants were not joining us, we had decided to buck the traditional meal and answer a craving for a nice, non-sentient, beef roast.

The meal was a smashing success, and we all got along great, even engaging in a cat tails battle while taking a walk around the lake. The cat tails were perfect this time of year for sword fighting, as the seed clusters that earned their name were opening, and smacking someone with them would cause an explosion of the tiny seeds. By time we were done, everyone's sides were sore from all the laughter, and our pelts were thick with the tiny seeds mixed thoroughly throughout our fur. A thorough brushing session, and a second meal of the leftovers from lunch, and we all went home. Charles and Tiffany wished us luck on our Friday endeavors, which Chester and his wife thought were all about shopping, as they gave us tips on the best stores to hit for great local deals, as well as where to go to avoid the crowds. We smiled and took their advice graciously, then all four of us piled into the Jimmy to head home, and all of us laughed the whole way, saying, "If only they knew!"

It was good to have that time, and especially to share that laugh with Tiffany. It made both Toby and I feel much better about what was coming. We were excited, oh, yes, but we were also quite nervous, and knowing that our friends were cool with it made us a lot more comfortable. Still, it was no surprise when Tiffany urged us to call if anything got too weird, and made sure we understood that she was free all day, and could come get us, or call and give us an excuse to get out at any time we needed. We promised we wouldn't forget.