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Rock was trying his best to hide his nerves, but no matter how hard he tried, his paws kept coming back to the drawstrings on his hoody.

He already felt strange just sitting on a swing set by himself; he couldn't remember the last time he was anywhere near a public park, and most of the kids that still frequented such places were paying more attention to their smartphones than they were to him.

That didn't help his self-conscious feelings as he drifted lazily on the seat, left to wonder if his date had forgotten about their plans.

"She's only a couple minutes late," he murmured. "Maybe she got caught up with something?"

With a job and the last of his college classes to balance, Rock didn't have the kind of free time that he used to. The wolf was learning more and more about rationing the hours in his day for self-improvement, but the girl he was waiting for knew plenty about making the most out of her day.

She was actually jogging over to see him when she finally did approach the park a few minutes later, and despite her tussled hair and panting breath, there was an adorable flair to her that lived just beneath the surface of her nervous smile.

" Rock! O-oh, thank goodness...I...I was worried you'd already be gone!" she admitted. She did her best to keep her breathing in check, but as she hunched over and put her paws on her knees, she made it clear what kind of effort she put in to try and arrive on time. "I'm so sorry that I was late...band practice ran a few minutes long, and then my car wouldn't start, and I...y-yeah. Sorry..."

For someone who usually exuded so much confidence, Darma was showing a side of herself that she didn't let out so easily, but with burning lungs, she found it tough to look like she had her life together.

"Don't be sorry," Rock gave her a quick, friendly smile and stood up from the swing, showing respect to her arrival. "Honestly, I'm just glad you came! I was...starting to wonder if you got second thoughts."

"Not at all," Darma assured him. With her breath in check, she stood upright and offered a timid smile, worried that she might have upset her date before the afternoon even began. "We were just jamming out, and the _perfect_song came out of us...we had to record it before I left. It's still more of a rough concept, but we managed to get a copy of it before I saw what time it was..."

She paused, realizing that she was rambling about what happened. "But...thanks for being so understanding. I don't want you to think that you're less important than some stupid song."

Rock shook his head. "This is only our second date, Darma. You've been in that band for years, and things are finally starting to take off for you! I completely understand."

His smile was growing wider, if only to show that he meant what he was saying. Looking remorseful and reassured in one gesture, Darma shook off her nerves and stepped into Rock, offering him a quick, grateful peck on the cheek. "That's really sweet of you to say, Rock, but don't sell yourself short. If you weren't important, I wouldn't have bothered to come on this date at all, you know."

With his ears offering a bashful wilt, Rock did his best to take the compliment without putting himself down to counter it. "That's...t-that means a lot," he replied, keeping the tone of the date cheerful to start. "Thank you, Darma. Did you want to get started?"

"Sure," she said. "And just what did you have in mind at a park, exactly?"

"Well...sometimes it's easiest to relax in a place that you used to feel comfortable," Rock explained. "And I spent a lot of time here as a kid. I'm not really picky about how we spend it, so long as we're having fun."

Darma took the early spring weather as a chance to dress comfortably, and at a park, wearing sweatpants and a zip-up meant she was more free to move around and enjoy herself than if she wore her usual skirt.

Looking to the see-saw with a hint of mischief in her grin, she stepped away from him and brushed the tip of her tail against his paw. "Wanna see if those things still work?"

"A personal favorite?" Rock asked, following the obvious invitation of her swishing tail.

"Yeah...I used to love these when I was growing up," she admitted. "I never could find someone to help me go all the way to the top, though."

"I'm more than happy to give it a try," Rock offered, giving his own gut a quick pat. "I think I've got more than enough weight to help you get there!"

She rolled her eyes and jabbed her elbow playfully at his side, before straddling over one side of the wooden plank. "You're fine," she groaned, keeping her lidded stare on him until she could see him loosening up. "Besides, it's more about the legs, isn't it?"

"I dunno," Rock confessed. "I never rode these much as a kid! Guess we'll find out if I'm any good at it."

As he took the other end of the plank and settled in, Darma giggled, and that proved to be her only warning before she pushed her end of the see-saw and lifted Rock from the ground. His eyes went wide as he soared up into the air, and only before the peak did he manage to get his paws on the handle in front of him.

Darma was full of playful energy, once she got past her nerves about arriving late.

"Good enough to hold on, at least," she claimed. "That's better than most people can say!"

"And I suppose your pastime was knocking your friends off one of these things?" Rock teased. He tried to push hard with his legs when he sunk back down, but Darma was ready for him long before she was jolted up into the air.

"I may have had a bit of a mean streak when I was younger, yeah...but I'm glad there's someone out there who can actually keep up with me," she murmured. "You don't realize how much fun playground equipment is until you decide to ignore everyone that tells you you're too old to be playing on it."

"No kidding," Rock agreed. "Just sitting on the swing set made me feel like I was a kid again!"

Darma grinned. "And what else makes you feel like a kid?"

"Uh oh...am I getting grilled already?"

"Isn't that what a date is?" she pointed out. "Us grilling each other with silly questions?"

Rock would have tapped his chin in thought, if his paws weren't clenching the see-saw with white-knuckle intensity. "I guess you're right," he conceded, "But... you should have to answer a question first."

Darma stuck her tongue out. "And just how is that fair?"

"Because you're the one who was a couple minutes late."

Much as she wanted to have an answer for that, the vixen realized she'd been checked. "Fair enough," she replied, offering a melodramatic sigh. "What's your question?"

"Same thing."

"O-oh," she stammered, thinking Rock would need more time to think of something. "Is it kinda lame if I say that playing in my band makes me feel young?"

"Why would that be lame?"

"Because we've met all of three times, and I feel like that's all you know about me," she explained. "But if you're okay with that answer, it...it just makes me feel alive, you know? I know every note has already been played, and no song is original, but when you're strumming a guitar and creating something that's new to you , it feels so...exhilarating. It reminds me that there's still plenty left to discover in life, just like when I was a kid."

Rock never doubted Darma's talent, but he was caught off guard by her inquisitive nature. He was expecting a simple answer; he didn't know if he had a response that was fitting.

"That's...r-really deep," he stumbled over his reply, unable to hide how fully her words struck a chord in him. "You make it sound like being in a band is a lot more fulfilling than the money you make for it."

"Of course it is," she agreed. "Money is great and all, don't get me wrong...but even when I'm just sitting in the garage, playing by myself, it brings me back to a younger time...just like this playground does for you."

Rock's muzzle was shifting without his permission, as a full, heartfelt smile took his lips. "Thank you for sharing that with me, Darma...and don't ever worry about focusing too much on your band."

"You sure?" she asked, flustered at how happy her date looked. "I do have other hobbies, you know."

"And I'd love to hear about those, too," Rock assured her. "But this is such a huge part of who you are, I don't want you to think you'd ever be able to bore me with it."

Music was at the backbone of their young relationship: After getting invited to a bar with some friends, Rock only agreed to go because of the musical acts that were taking place that night. He didn't know that Darma would be playing there, or that she was in a band at all, at that point.

After a roaring performance, the crowd was so fired up that the band played an encore, but there was a certain magic in how easily they blended into the audience when their time on stage was done. Darma bumped into Rock on her way through that very crowd, and a spilled drink brought out the best of her good nature.

A trip to the mini-mart for a new shirt and a nervous, but joyful meal at a late-night diner later, Rock and Darma were trading phone numbers and looking forward to the next time they'd hang out, whether it was at a concert or not.

"As long as you're sure that you don't mind," Darma checked one last time, unable to help herself. "I didn't want to open with it, but I was really excited about the new song that we were recording."

"I'm just glad you were able to get the bones of it before you left," Rock replied. "I'd hate to think you might have lost the song just because you wanted to go on a date!"

As their legs grew tired, Darma and Rock settled the see-saw back to a resting position, but when it came there, the vixen was looking down at her paws with timid energy. "Is it too early for me to say that I think you're more important than a rough draft, Rock?"

Rock was a fan of Darma's music, and he loved her band...but no song they'd ever written struck his heart as soundly as the words she uttered, right then.

"If...if you r-really think I'm worth that much," he stumbled over his answer, "Then I hope it's not too early, Darma."

He was so flustered that he couldn't help falling off the see-saw when Darma stood upright. Their moment of awkward silence was broken by the sound of him bumbling into the grass and dirt, but for a girl who looked so nervous before, Darma broke into a quick giggle and stepped around the side, reaching out a paw to him.

"You sure know how to make someone feel more comfortable after confessing something so heavy," she said, offering a bit of a backhanded compliment. "I hope that was a good reaction on your part?"

Dusting himself off a bit before he took Darma's paw, Rock tried to hide his bashfulness behind a nervous smile. "Just...not used to someone so cool thinking that I'm that cool, too," he surmised. "Now I'm gonna have to get into trendy music just to try and keep up!"

"Oh, no you don't!" Darma ordered him, even as she helped him up from the grass. "Don't you go trying to change just because you think you need to...you're honest, Rock. You're not trying to be someone you're not, and that is so hard to find a guy anymore..."

"Really?" he asked, startled by her staunch reply.

"Trust me, you wouldn't be the first guy to pretend to be into something just to get close to me," she claimed. "So...don't do that. Just keep being you."

Rock glanced aside when he realized that he was still holding Darma's hand: he couldn't help falling back into flustered patterns with her. "But what if 'me' is a lame-o with a boring job and nothing interesting to say?"

"If you didn't have anything interesting to say, our first date would have been a disaster...and I sure don't remember it that way," Darma reminded him. "And I don't care how lame your job is, because you're not your job."

"You...you have no idea how long I've been waiting for someone to tell me that," Rock confessed. "It's just that kind of place, you know? Makes you feel like you belong there and it's the best you can do, but that's not really a good thing."

Darma gave his paw a gentle squeeze. "Then it's just means to an end, for now. It doesn't have to define you, and it definitely doesn't make you lame. Honestly, you're one of the coolest guys I've ever dated."

"Not quite the coolest, though?" he asked, feeling new assurance in the grasp of her paw around his own.

"That still remains to be seen," she teased. "But I'm excited to find out if you are or not...if you still wanna keep this going, that is."

"Can't think of anything else I'd rather do right now, Darma. Where's the evening headed, though?"

The night was divided between an equal plan: Rock invited Darma to hang out with him at the park, but the sun was starting to go down, and street lights illuminated the sidewalks, as if to suggest that they should find shelter for the night.

What she'd planned for her part of the evening idea was still a surprise, but she didn't think Rock would object, when she finally revealed it to him.

"Well, if you don't mind...I'd really like to see just how close we really are," Darma suggested. "It didn't take me long to walk here, but I was worried when my car didn't start...cause I dunno how long the walk is for you."

Rock offered a bewildered blink. "You...really want to go to my house?" he asked, as if he didn't trust his own ears.

"If that's not too much too soon, that would be kinda nice," Darma admitted. She didn't have a fall back for if her idea fell through, but she was smiling brightly at his nervous reaction, hoping to lean things in her favor. "Plus, it's getting kinda chilly outside...and I bet it'd be a lot warmer if we were cuddled up in a bed somewhere to finish our little discussion."

It wasn't so late at night that Rock was anywhere near ready to head to sleep, but there was something in the gaze of the vixen that made him wonder about her intentions. He couldn't imagine actually going to bed with her so early on in their courtship, but she'd been more forward with him...and he didn't want to disappoint her.

"Well, I...I only live a few blocks that way," he pointed up a side street, hoping the gesture would distract Darma from how much he was getting into his own head. "If you really wanna come over that badly, I won't say no, but...uhm."

He trailed off, and Darma immediately showed a concerned frown. "But what?"

"I...k-kinda live with my parents still."

"Dude," Darma paused, shaking off her concern and putting on a cheesy grin, "You're in your twenties. More people in our age range are living at home longer than ever before."

"So that's not a dealbreaker?"

"Not even close," she claimed. "But now, I'm kinda shocked that you said yes."

Rock was the one who appeared relaxed, now that the tables were turned. "And why is that?"

"Because most guys would treat meeting their parents as a huge step," Darma replied. "But unless you wanna sneak me in the window like a naughty little teenager, it sounds like we don't have much of a choice, do we?"

While the idea of a cute girl sneaking into his bedroom was enticing, Rock kept that thought in the back of his mind. He didn't realize he was grinning about it until Darma nudged him once more, already moving down the side street ahead of him.

"No offense, but I prefer to use the front door," she answered for him, putting that fantasy on the back burner for the time being. "Are your parents cool?"

"They're okay, as far as parents go," Rock said, dodging the question any further than that. He picked up the pace to walk in stride with her once more, until their steps were nearly in sync on the sidewalk. "Hopefully they're done embarrassing me for one lifetime."

Darma giggled. "Okay, now you sound like a teenager. If they popped out a kid like you, I'm sure they're awesome...and probably only a little embarrassing."

All told, Rock was more worried about them grilling Darma for being different than he was about them embarrassing him, but everything that he liked about her was a part of who she was: even the fact that he was a wolf and she was a vixen didn't strike him as odd in the least.

His eyes were actually entranced by the casual swish of her tail as he caught up to her, prompting his shoes to catch on the edge of a loose piece of the sidewalk.

"Something got a hold of your tongue?" Darma asked, as she noticed Rock in the middle of his daydream.

His eyes went wide as he tripped over and tried to avoid falling right over her, but as he did, he ended up caught on a fence, instead. Recent rains left the average yard with more than a few muddy spots, and as Rock slipped across a patch, he grabbed the fence with one paw...and Darma's tail with the other.

She leapt back and tried not to yelp, but she was only _barely_able to stifle the sound with her paws, as she wrapped them around her muzzle. The sensitive appendage flickered and bristled in Rock's grasp, and as he tried to force a bashful smile, he corrected his pose and looked to her with multiple layers of concern.

It was all going SO well, too...and you had to go and screw it up, Rock thought. If she doesn't like having her tail tugged, you probably just blew it, dude...

Thanks to her more modest choices that evening, Darma didn't have a skirt to lift when her tail recoiled. Once the sound was muffled, she was left staring at Rock and wondering why he was still frozen in place, rather than clamoring out of the mud.

Her stare told the story without her having to say anything, and Rock quickly got the picture as he stepped out of the slop, holding her tail the entire time.

"You know, if you wanted to hold my hand so badly...asking might have been the more conventional way to go about it, Rock."

"I guess I thought I'd...y'know...try something different?"

"No, you thought you'd try walking into a puddle of mud because you weren't watching where you were going," she called him out, but her smirk was more entertained than it was frustrated. "I guess you've got a thing for tails, don't you?"

"Yours is awfully nice," Rock admitted, "And it was convenient."

Flickering it from his grasp, Darma crossed her arms over her chest and cocked a brow. "Just convenient? You wouldn't have grabbed it if something else was closer?"

Rock shook his head.

"Smart," she told him. Her arms lowered and she offered her paw to him, and once more, the tip of her tail gave a happy curl as they set off on the sidewalk. "But if I decide that I really like you, then...maybe I'll let you give it a tug, someday."

There was just enough allusion to sensual acts that Rock still wasn't sure what Darma had in mind for him that evening, but she was just as nervous as he was about their date going well: she didn't have even a semblance of a plan beyond sitting on the edge of the bed with him and continuing their conversation.

Of course, they'd have to get through his parents, first.

**

Rock opened the front door as quietly as he could. In his heart of hearts, he genuinely hoped that his parents were asleep on the couch together, but as soon as he and Darma closed the door behind them, there was a voice from the living room, and his mother was looking over the edge of the couch with a grin.

"You know, I was gonna ask how your date went...but since you brought a more reliable source home with you, I'm curious what she has to say about it!"

His ears wilted, but once more, Darma gave him a gentle nudge. "Your son was a perfect gentleman," Darma answered for him. "He even held the door for me just now!"

Rock's father was the next one to join in the fray. "Well, I would certainly hope he did! That's the bare minimum of what he should have been doing for you."

"Well, we...uh...we didn't really do much else," Darma suggested. "We just went for a walk, mostly."

"Wait; he didn't take you out for a meal?"

Rock's ears folded back even further at that, and when Darma gave him a look, his parents stood up from the couch. "You two must be starving, then! My son might have been a bit of a bonehead about it, but I won't let a young lady leave the house without some of his mother's famous cooking."

The pair of wolves stepped out from around the couch, and for a moment, their welcoming nature faltered when they saw their son: soft brown locks of headfur were delicately tossed over the dark, borderline-black fur that he was graced with...all standing next to a typical red vixen in a loose, comfortable outfit.

"She, uh...she's not a wolf, Rock."

His face flew right into his own palm. " No , Dad. She's not. Is that gonna be a problem?"

Darma's smile was wide and nervous when she entered the house; it was quickly shrinking away as his parents stared her down and sized her up, wondering why their son would have gone for anyone other than another wolf.

"You didn't tell us that she was a fox, kid."

"Because I knew you'd make a f-

"I guess we never did ask what kind of girls you were into, did we?" his mother interrupted, sensing the tension that was building. "And what a lovely young lady she is! Darma, right? My son has told me a lot about you!"

Seeing his mother's efforts, Darma immediately pushed the smile back to her muzzle and offered a paw in greeting. "Hopefully it's been good stuff?"

"No mention of you being a vixen, but...our little boy always has been full of secrets," she replied. Taking the paw and shaking it gently, she looked to her husband and gestured to the kitchen, hoping he'd comply with her peacemaking attempts. "This is one of the biggest surprises he's kept from us, but all told, one of the easier ones to digest."

It was hard for Darma to hide the mild, downtrodden turn in her mood, but she could tell that her hosts were at least trying to be accommodating. "A family of purebred wolves, then?" she asked.

"Very staunchly purebred, yes," Rock's father explained. "But, for what it's worth...you sure do make the boy happy."

Darma's ears perked right up. "Really?"

"He hasn't shut up about you for the last few weeks," came a rather gruff reply. It drew a giggle from the vixen, who could hear his father's tone lightening up. "It's the happiest he's been in years."

That gave Darma an odd sense of pressure: she didn't want to disappoint her date or his parents, but the fact remained that their relationship was still rather young. She had no idea what Rock was intending to get out of it, but if he was that happy with her so early on, it did her heart well to hear it from someone else.

"Hard to believe that he's been that talkative. I usually have to gouge an answer out of him," Darma teased. She could see Rock was completely overwhelmed, but she did her best to keep from piling on him too much. "But he's a really sweet guy, once you get to know him."

His father chuckled. "If you say so, young lady. You two have a taste for anything in particular?"

For all of his concerns about his family members, Rock was impressed to see how quickly they warmed up to Darma. A quick gathering in the kitchen left everyone sharing a drink and a few snacks before his mother presented them with the only thing that she could whip up on such short notice...but Darma was planning on getting pizza when she went home that night, anyway.

Now that she'd already had some, there was only the question of what she'd do once she made it into Rock's bedroom.

**

Just because they were adults, it didn't mean that Rock and Darma were capable of shrugging off the nervous excitement of being in a closed bedroom together for the same time.

The first time they met, they were in a bar, and then at a public diner. Their first official date was a walk around a different park, some ice cream, and a brief chat on the way back to her car...but that one did end with a brief, timid kiss.

This time, they were both trembling as Rock _mostly_closed the door behind him. Darma saw his computer chair in front of the desk, but somehow, it felt more appropriate to sit on the edge of his bed...and that left his heart to drop into his stomach.

What do I do...? Do I go sit next to her? Do I sit across from her? Shit don't panic don't panic-

"Hey, so..."

Darma struck first, and immediately, Rock stiffened up against the bedroom door, pushing it all the way closed. The sound of a simple click never struck Darma so heavily, but as her ears twitched with the gravity of what Rock might have been after, she tried to keep the nerves out of her smile.

"I dunno if it's cool with your folks or not; I mean, you're an adult and all, but...sleeping at my place kinda sucks," Darma admitted. "I don't mean to impose, and I don't wanna move too fast with you, because you seem like a really nice guy, but...is it cool if I sleep here tonight?"

Rock wouldn't bother asking his parents for permission about that kind of thing: they could be as angry as they wanted with him, but he was going to be a good host, no matter the cost.

"You...you're sure you want to?" he asked, wondering if he should crack the door back open. He didn't want to give her any undue pressure, but she looked, for the most part, relaxed enough to enjoy his company. "I won't be offended if you say no."

"I'm the one who brought it up," Darma reminded him. "Just tell me where I'm gonna be staying at and make sure I've got a pillow...and I'm good to go."

Rock shook his head right away. "You're not going anywhere, in that case," he explained, but seeing a little confusion in her expression, he shook his head again, much harder. "I...I didn't mean it that way. You can go wherever you want, but if you're staying the night, you're sleeping in a bed; you can have mine. I'll just go crash on the couch downstairs or something."

"And I'm gonna go ahead and veto that," Darma told him. "It's sweet of you to offer that, but I'm not putting you out of a bed for my own selfish wants."

"And I'm not letting you sleep on the couch," Rock countered.

The pause that followed was only made livable by the mild smirk that Darma wore. Her eyes darted away from Rock and looked over the simple, blue bedspread on his mattress, following the trail of her pawtips as she stroked it.

"Seems we've come to an impasse, then," she murmured. "How do you suggest we rectify this?"

She was setting Rock up, but after her compliments about his gentlemanly nature, he didn't want to be the one to pull the trigger. "If you've got any ideas, I'm all ears."

"Well," she paused, sitting upright at the edge of the bed, "This bed is kinda snug, but I think we could both fit in it, if you were willing to give it a try..."

The lump in his throat was visible, as Rock swallowed it down at the thought. "Darma, we-

"We've only been on a couple dates, yes," she finished his thought. "But you've never come across as anything but a total sweetheart, and...I trust you, honestly."

"And I trust you," Rock agreed. "But this is...it's a lot , Darma."

"It is," she repeated his sentiment. "Which is why I'm offering to sleep on the couch if it's a little too much for you."

Now that she was past her nerves, Darma couldn't have looked more comfortable, and the bed couldn't have been more welcoming. Rock knew if he just took one step closer, there would be nothing for him to worry about.

It still took painfully long seconds of indecision before his footpaw stepped across the hardwood floor. It creaked beneath his action, but he couldn't keep questioning himself in the heat of the moment.

I like her. She says she likes me. She's getting comfortable on my bed...why question a good thing?

"Warming up to the idea?" Darma asked, as Rock finally put his palm on the bed and started to crawl in.

"I can't think of a better way to end a successful date," Rock confessed, as he butted up to the wall and lifted the covers for her. He wasn't going to change clothes in front of her yet, and she had nothing else to switch to, but the comfortable outfit doubled well as pajamas, especially on short notice. "Guess it was colder outside than I expected."

"Hopefully I can help you out with that," Darma offered. As she adjusted the comforters over herself, she left a small gap for her tail to drape over his hip, taking on the role of the little spoon in the cozy bed. "Least I can do for you showing me such a good time tonight, after all."

Rock's nervous heart continued to melt with every touch, until there was more excitement in his fingers than panic as his palm came to rest around her tummy.

Much to his delight, she rested her paw over the top of his own, keeping it there.

"And here I was, thinking the pleasure was all mine," Rock retorted. "I'm glad I'm not the only one who had a good time."

"Not at all," Darma mumbled, quickly turning to a warm, pliable lump of fur in the bedspread. "See you in the morning, Rock?"

"I'm not going anywhere," he claimed, a little bewildered...before he caught onto the meaning of her sentiment. "And, y-yeah...see you then, Darma. Sleep well."

Their state of dress didn't matter as much to Rock as he thought it would: he was still trembling with delight at the idea of holding her so close, but she was already drifting off to sleep with a lazy, contented grin.

See you in the morning, Darma...