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Chapter 1: Tigers and a Polar Bear, Oh My!

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Snowflakes floated down from the cloudy sky, covering the Wisconsin lawn. The fresh white fluff added to the already-buried snow. This was Ullr's favorite time of year, when the winds grew icy and he got to take out his cute beanie collection. To no one's surprise, he wore an arctic wolf beanie today, with little cloth ears poking out of cream-white fabric. Winterized animals were kind of his thing, his signature, if you will. This time of year, you could waltz on a frozen Lake Michigan with a special someone. In this world, there is no music, just bird calls and winter winds.

'No partner this year, though.', Maple thought with a mild sadness in his heart. He hoped to invite someone to the Christmas dinner table. They would enjoy turkey, rum eggnog, and meaningful presents. Then, they would have a night of starry-eyed fun together. Wherever that may have taken them. The contemplative guy took a drag off his smokeshop vape. Ullr didn't like the harsh smoke, but for $20, he was willing to tolerate it. He knew he was harming his body with unfamiliar chemicals and cannabanoids, but c'est la vie.

He wished he had someone special to smoke with this year. There were some nice Michigan prerolls burning a hole in Ullr's shoebox. But he'd been trying to cut back, anyways. Sticking to weekends and all that hooplah. The human resources clerk and chemistry student can functionally be stoned. He could get away with this all the time if he wanted to. He'd been using cannabis hard enough for long enough that he'd developed that ability. But it didn't make him feel good, on physical nor spirtiual levels, to be "that stoner guy".

Ullr sighed, clicking his vape's pull button five times in rapid succession, turning it off for the time being. He needed something to eat, and to do some light studying ahead of returning from UWGB's[1] winter break. Ullr took a final glance at the wintered forest. He slipped his vape into a coat pocket and brushed snow off his boots. Then, he stepped inside.

He'd had the house mostly to himself that day, which he was appreciative of. Living with roommates could be fun, but it was nice to get some alone time. Ullr walked around the house naked, preparing bacon, lutefisk, potatoes, and green peas. This would be paired with a nice melted garlic butter sauce, scarfed down while reading a text on superacids for his chemistry course. Not a glamorous meal by any measure, but it reminded him of home in Norway. He could avoid his roommate's complaints about lutefisk by keeping the windows open for a couple of hours. This way, they wouldn't have to deal with the distinct ammonic smell.

Having prepared his lunch, Ullr juggled his plate and a can of pineapple energy drink as he walked up the stairs to his bedroom. The convenience of food while studying won over practicality. The dining room lost its purposefulness to another bad habit. "Shit.", he muttered as a small splash of energy drink fell onto carpeted steps. Ullr rolled his eyes at the unresponsive can. He dropped his food off in his room. Then, he returned to the scene of the crime with rubbing alcohol and paper towels.

Ullr quickly finished the damage control and went back up. He grabbed his iPad from its charging stand, food from the table, and his lapdesk from under his bed. The student sat down in a hanging rope chair. The chair, which had been a beginning-of-college gift, creaked whinily and uncomfortably under his weight. This protest went intentionally ignored by Ullr. He didn't want to think about his weight gain. The long nights and intense studying had caused it. He didn't have enough time for his favorite outside activities. Also, no denying the junk food he'd so carelessly thrown into his cart on 4 AM shopping trips after late, stoned nights out with friends contributed to his weight gain. Not that he minded much about his figure itself, as he thought he pulled it off well. Ullr needed some more time in the gym, sure, but guys liked their bears in all varieties.

No, what annoyed him were his tight snow pants and the everyday tediousness of being overweight. But such is life, and Ullr didn't feel helpless in his position. It's just that certain other things had taken precedence over this aspect of his life for the moment. For the moment. Things would get less busy in his gen ed-heavy spring semester. Ullr pushed the thought out of his mind for now, wanting to focus on whatever the fuck "magic acid" was supposed to be in his chem textbook.

He didn't get very far. Maybe thirty minutes passed. He had just finished his plate of Nordic lunch. Suddenly, his phone buzzed, interrupting his concentration. Ullr's eyes widened a bit in pleasant surprise. He hadn't communicated with Lewis in over a week and a half. However, for the past couple of months, they had been casually flirting in Telegram messages. He was a bit worried that the spark had died out by this point. Hookups at furry conventions didn't exactly have a good track record for stability.

Ullr quickly set aside his textbook and brain fuel. He moved with measured movements, as if trying to impress someone. He didn't seem desperate, just focused. Swiping open Telegram, he smiled as a blue Amur tiger waved back at him, baring a toothy grin. He was about to respond with a similarly jovial white tiger, when he paused as typing continued on Lewis' side. "Heyyyy~", the flirty caption came back. "Heyy, what's up, tiger?", Ullr sent back.

"Oh, you know, not much. The usual. Work, hiking, all that jazz.", the blue tiger said. "I found a nice bar nearby. I'd like to take you there when you visit ^w^," he added. Immediately after, Lewis sent a sticker of Zefir, his sona, clearly drunk. Ullr giggled like a schoolgirl under his breath. Both of the tigers were partial to their drink. After all, it was how they'd met in the first place. Ullr blushed, strawberry notes showing in his paler Caucasian skin.

Ullr strolled up to the convention bar line confidentally. He wore a flamboyant outfit, blending in with thousands of other gay furries. The outfit was wonderfully eye-catching at this year's Midwest FurFest. He wore a white tiger button-up and glacier-blue slacks. The collar, begging to be leashed, was made of silver cloth, thread, and pearl. He had many accessories that covered his body from head to toe. The accessories were a mix of everything from pride to pan, enough to make a corporate Pride float blush. Even his shoes had a furry flair, angular black pawpads on the bottom of shoes depicting East Asian forest landscapes. Not his preferred place to live, but it served as a not-so-subtle homage to his beloved Bengal tigers.

His phone buzzed. The big cat reached into his pocket and flipped it into the air. He caught the spinning rectangle effortlessly with one paw, showcasing his practiced skill. He played it cool, but smiled when the wolf behind him gave a thumbs up. "Hey, what did y'all feel like for dinner tonight?", read Sam's reply to the #midwest-furfest Discord channel. Ullr had traveled from Northeast Wisconsin to attend this convention. Out of convenience and friendship, he shared a hotel room with his friends. It was an expensive place, but also exactly the kind of unwinding Ullr needed at this point. He did well on his midterms. However, he felt overwhelmed from weeks of studying and working. The occasional breaks helped, but his mind was still racing.

At the end of a long convention day, there was nothing that Ullr wanted more than a soak in that hotel jacuzzi.

The line shuffled forward, but not quickly enough. Ullr glanced at his watch. He had a panel on animal genetics to make his way to in 40 minutes, and damned if he was going to miss it. A themed convention drink sounded nice to try out, but if he had to miss out on what was likely to be a sixteen dollar drink and abscond to a fun zoology panel instead, he knew his plans. He was about to leave and go to the quiet room. He wanted to decompress from the busy con, in lieu of the possibility of a stiff drink. But before he could, someone at the front of the line spoke up.

An older, portly gentlemen with white hair, dressed in a suit not of the furry variety, but with a walrus badge of his own, spoke to the line. "Hello, furries! Thank you for coming to check out the hotel's con bar. Unfortunately, the bar's pretty full up at the moment, so there's not much room. Do we happen to have any single travellers in the crowd tonight?"

'Single travellers? That's a pretty interesting way to put it.', Ullr thought to himself. Raising a hand in the air, alongside a canine of ambiguous speciation in front of him, Ullr caught the attention of the bar's friendly host. "Wonderful! Come right this way, folks.", he said, leading the two into the bar. Ullr caught a glare shot at him from a fennec fox gal near the front of the line. Actually, a whole group of them. 'Jeez, these foxes are catty.', he thought as he turned away, responseless. The urge to flip them off was severe, to tell them, "What the fuck do you want me to do about it?". But he was trying to behave himself right now. Ullr, a tiger with a temper, had already exploded at someone at this year's con. That person was drawing on people's clothes with a green marker.

Apparently, it was washable, but he sure didn't know that when he'd grabbed that kid by his collar. Ullr lifted the 17-year-old forcefully off the ground with one hand, angering the nearby Public Safety officers. Yet, both parties accepted blame, so no action was taken. The guy's parents weren't too mad at Ullr after all was said and done, scolding their kid on the way back to the car.

Ullr was led to an empty seat at the front end of the bar, a drink menu already waiting for the big cat. He thanked the host. Then, as soon as he sat down, a chance to talk came up.

"Heyyy, fellow tiger!", the man next to him said, pointing out Ullr's badge. His own white tiger fursona, Trubochka[2], was displayed. Trubochka playfully engaged in cannibalism, biting into the cannoli-like dessert.

He was named after the dessert he was biting into. The man wore a blue Amur tiger fullsuit without a head or handpaw. He was accompanied by a handler without a specific species affiliation. The duo, they were easy to have a good conversation with.

Lewis, with wet hair and sweat drying, had energetic brown eyes bordering on manic. Ullr quickly became fond of him as they discussed tigers passionately. Zoology at first, followed by animal behavior, then their depiction in the furry fandom. The conversation between them became deep. The bartender intervened politely but firmly, redirecting Ullr's attention to the drinks menu.

Ullr felt slightly embarrassed as he held up the line.

Other congoers were waiting to get a drink.

He quickly and purposefully looked at the menu for MFF-themed drinks. His eyes caught on the "Polar Bear". He'd always had a soft spot for the snow-bound ursine. He briefly glanced at the ingredients and found them intriguing. Ullr hoped that this drink would be worth the eighteen dollars. The "Arctic-chilled" martini glass contained mezcal, vermouth, white crème de menthe, and celery bitters. He always had a taste for the eclectic in his drinks, so it was at least worth a shot.

The trio engaged in casual and lighthearted discussion during the trialogue. Ullr and Lewis dominated the conversation. They shared and overshared, expressing their evident common interests. Lewis' eyes sparkled as he got to engage in mutual infodumping with his new bar buddy. Tigers and cats and snow animals galore! By now, Ullr had switched drinks from the delicious Polar Bear to a White Russian. Lewis, on the other paw, opted for a fruity beach cocktail with a cute, pawprinted pink umbrella. Sarah didn't mind, but eventually, she stood up, whispering something in the blue tiger's ear. Lewis nodded and smiled in a slightly different manner. He waved goodbye to Sarah and then turned back to Ullr.

Those chocolate brown eyes, gods, those eyes. The Amur tiger's gaze was sharp and focused, moreso than it had been before. In any other circumstance, its intensity would've been frightening. Lewis grinned slyly, pulling out a darkly-striped lanyard from under his fursuit. Several pieces of plastic and metal were attached to it. The surfaces of these pieces were still slightly wet and warm from tiger sweat. "Here, check these out." Lewis extended the bundle to Ullr. The white tiger eagerly accepted the collection of cards and pins into his paw.

On his lanyard, he had the usual con stuff. This included MFF's standard name badge, an acrylic badge of his own fursona in a canoe, and a range of pins with different fandom affiliations, furry species, and colors. Ullr's eyes were caught by a pastel-colored, gradiated badge. The badge was placed below everything else and proudly displayed. Ullr had no idea yet of the artist or the identity of the ecstatic-looking feline on it, but the white tiger's breath immediately caught upon catching a glimpse of it.

This beautiful badge read "Horny Tiger", and horny that tiggy was! This cute orange tiger had a gold tooth and a heavy cherry blush, extending from his muzzle to his ears. Its feline face was contorted into an expression of absolute bliss, akin to an aheagao face from your favorite hentai. Drool dripped from the big cat's sharp fangs, dribbling down its lolled tongue. "Horny tiger...", Ullr whispered, thumbing the adorable badge in utter admiration.

Ullr looked up at Lewis wide-eyed and mouth slightly open, saying the first thing that came to his mind. "I need one of these." In his blindsided, furry desire, Ullr missed everything he could've said. He could've complimented it, flirted with Lewis, or asked where he got it from. He was immediately annoyed with himself for that being the first thing to pass through his mouth. 'Goddamnit, Ullr. Get yourself together. You're talking to a cute guy, and that's what you say? No, you need to say something like--"

Lewis stopped Ullr's thoughts cold by unclipping the badge from his lanyard. The blue tiger stood up, and Ullr was immediately struck by the height of the dude. He wasn't short himself, owing to his Nordic heritage, but Lewis easily took three or four inches on the white tiger. Leaning in, Lewis clipped his Horny Tiger badge onto the edge of Ullr's shirt pocket. Ullr's nostrils were filled with the scents of blueberry and pineapple. The Amur tiger's breath was hot and humid, adding to the sensory experience. Lewis kept his teeth clean and his tongue brushed, so the experience was far from unpleasant. The Amur tiger then leaned down, nearly nose-to-nose with the quickly flustering Ullr.

A soft fursuit paw reached around Ullr's back, forcefully pulling the chubby white tiger off his seat and onto his feet with minor effort. The two big cats were now body-to-body, lips-to-lips. The Amur tiger's eager tongue poked into Ullr's mouth, teasingly, wantingly. Ullr's body experienced intense stimulation, creating pleasurable shocks throughout him. These shocks resembled the effects of adrenaline. He felt the tip-tap of a solid fursuit claw against his slacks pocket. His phone buzzed with acknowledgement of a data transfer, and Lewis let his grip on Ullr loosen.

The fursuiter kept that sly smile, his eyes mellowed out somewhat into a calm adoration. "Call me, kitty." Before Ullr could comprehend the situation, the nonchalant sapphire feline casually threw money on the table, finished his drink quickly, and waved a peace sign at Ullr. Keeping his fursuit head off for the time being, Lewis set out to find Sarah. Ullr was surprised. He was also horny, stunned, and wondering. He wanted to know what Lewis' body looked like under the loose-fitting fursuit.

With mildly trembling fingers, Ullr grabbed his phone from the pocket of his icy blue slacks. Ullr looked at his phone screen and saw a message. It said, "New Contact Added: Zefir[3]". The message made Ullr smile. The phone screen showed a blue tiger fursuit head, smiling up at him cartoonishly. Zefir's smile differed greatly from how Lewis enthralled him. However, it was still endearing and cute in its own way, the way of the fursuit. The bartender returned to Ullr's seat and glanced at Zefir, who had just left the bar vicinities. Zefir disappeared completely from sight. The bartender looked back at Ullr.

"Seems like he left enough for the both of you. Enjoy the free drinks.", the bartender noted happily. There was a good tip in there, too, but Ullr didn't take the time to look at that. He simply nodded in the general direction of the bartender as he walked off in a slight daze. He wasn't sure if his feet touched the floor all the way to the escalator. It took him until he hit the bottom of the escalator to glance at his watch. He was already late for his panel, and while he picked up the pace, he wasn't worried about it. Certainly, he didn't regret the near-hour he'd spent with his newest furiend.

He would maintain a happy, starstruck expression on his face for several dozen minutes. The expression continued until a troubling event happened at the animal genetics panel. The event displayed, live, the unfortunate results of experiments on human-animal hybrids. The panelists later got banned from the convention for misleading MFF officials in the planned contents of their presentation.

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[1] UWGB stands for University of Wisconsin -- Green Bay

[2] Trubochka, also known as "torpedo dessert", is a traditionally Slavic (& Turkish) dessert, similar to a cannoli. It has a buttery, flaky crust filled with pastry cream and topped with powdered sugar.

[3] Zefir is a type of soft confectionary endemic to post-Soviet states, made by whipping fruit and berry purée with sugar and eggs whites. Additionally, this meringue-like dessert includes a gelling agent like pectin or gelatin, giving it a delicate, airy consistency.