Prince of the Hill

Story by Kendo Kawabata on SoFurry

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#1 of Prince of the Hill

Prince of the Hill

 


Prince of the Hill

By Kendo Kawabata

Usual disclaimer goes here. If you don't know it by now, you're an idiot. I used an internet translator for the Italian language in this story, so if I get something wrong somewhere, it's not my fault. Might be future stories if this is liked enough.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have arrived at our designated terminal. Please exit the plane in an orderly fashion and we hope that you enjoyed your transatlantic flight from Venice, Italy to Arlen, Texas." The overhead voice cut itself off as the stewardess finished talking and the passengers down the length of the flight began to unbuckle their belts and move.

A middle-aged she-wolf in a very smart looking suite waited until several of the passengers around her had already removed themselves from their seats and had moved along the aisle.

"Come along Gielle" she said to the young boy sitting next to her as she picked up her handbag. "So che è stato un volo lungo, ma siamo arrivati" she added. *I know it's been a long flight, but we've arrived*

"Si I Signora Freeman" *Yes Mrs Freeman* The young, sad looking flamedramon said quietly and with a small nod as he waited for her to move out of her seat before he slowly stood up. He picked up his own satchel and stepped out. He was dressed quite casually, as opposed to her smart attire, wearing a pair of denim jeans with a white belt and a t-shirt with a stone angel on the front accompanied by the slogan "Weeping Angels." Soft shoulder length blonde hair was brushed out of his red eyes as he made his way into the aisle.

The two of them left the airplane amongst the other passengers. As they walked through the exit door, they were both hit by the hot Texan sun as it seemed to scorch overhead. Gielle had to shield his eyes from the bright sunlight. It seemed worse after so long being illuminated by neon lights. The smell of diesel fuel and roasted tarmac seemed to assault their noses as they stepped down the ladder.

Once they made it safely onto the tarmac, Mrs Freeman opened her handbag and began to rummage through it as they walked across the yellow pathway painted on the tarmac. She extracted a couple of manilla folders and held them against her chest as they walked through the automatic doors into the airport terminal.

The smell of diesel and tarmac was replaced by an onslaught of mixed smells, mainly expresso and fast food from the food outlets that were stationed all over the place at this end. Voices were heard over the p.a systems as flights were announced and denounced and furs were talking everywhere all at once.

Mrs Freeman scanned the rows of seats around them, but didn't see who she was looking for. She 'hmph'ed to herself as she checked her watch for a moment, before she started to walk out of the area and towards the main lobbies. Gielle held the satchel on his shoulder with his hand and kept his eyes on the ground as he followed Mrs Freeman.

She walked quite briskly forward as they walked through the departures terminal and into the main court. She stopped for a moment to get her bearings as she scanned the crowds around again. Assorted furs were walking all around them, many in business suites and just as many in holiday clothing. Some held up signs to show who they were waiting for and she started to tap her hip impatiently.

Gielle just stood behind her, holding onto the strap of his satchel. He didn't really glance up, he just tried to be invisible as he stood behind her.

"They should be here" Mrs Freeman said under her breath with a thick level of annoyance in her voice. "Now where on earth..."

"Guillermo" a voice called out from nearby and Mrs Freeman and Gielle both turned as they saw a young red wolf run up towards them.

"Bobby" Gielle said softly, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly at the sight of his cousin rushing towards them.

"Robert Hill, I'm guessing" Mrs Freeman said, still annoyed as the wolf doubled over in front of her and panted, obviously having run a fair distance.

"Yeah...yeah that's me. But everyone calls me Bobby" he panted out as he caught his breath and stood up. Bobby wore a pair of bleached jeans and a white shirt. His fur was a dark reddish brown and he had fairly short hair. He was somewhat overweight, and he looked like he was going to have a heart attack from the run.

"Where are your parents?" Mrs Freeman asked him as she saw Bobby turn to talk to his cousin.

"Oh, sorry" he said, going red under his fur. "Dad almost got a parking spot, until he saw the guy in the spot beside it had packaged charcoal in the back, and he decided not to park there because of principle, so he went looking for another spot. He sent me in after he found one so I could see if you had arrived" he finished saying as he managed to catch his breath.

"Well, we have, as you can see" she said with a light frown. "Now why don't you run along and get your parents here so we can get this done. I have a return flight in an hour and I don't have the time to waste" she said. "We'll be over there when you get back" she said briskly as she pointed towards a Starbucks vendor with several empty tables in front of it.

"Umm...alright" Bobby said as he backed up a little before turning and running back off into the crowd. Gielle watched him run off. He could hear him starting to pant already, and it was loud and somewhat off-putting.

"Come on Gielle" Mrs Freeman said. "You can catch up with your family when all this is over" she added as she didn't wait for a reply and headed towards an empty table. Gielle sighed a little, the look of sadness back on his face as he followed her.

It took about another ten minutes for Bobby to return with his parents. Mrs Freeman and Gielle were already seated, a steaming mug of coffee in front of her while Gielle just sat with his hands in his lap. Bobbys' mother was of reasonable height and wore some rather unattractive clothing. She had what looked like mens trousers on and a very plain shirt. Her hair was done up like an old fashioned beehive and her glasses were unusually thick, and square. She looked more manly then womanly.

Her husband was a few inches taller then her and had a thick build that was somewhat ruined by the beergut he was sporting under his shirt. Mrs Freeman recognised the type of man he was already. Ex-footballer. She could mostly tell thanks to the short college style haircut he was sporting above his just as ugly glasses. Probably the man who carried his team and never forgot, or let anyone else forget.

"Mr and Mrs Hill. I'm glad that you could finally make it" Mrs Freeman said, although she didn't look glad.

"Well, we're sorry that we took so long. Someone had to dislike the only parking spot we could find on the ground floor" Mrs Hill said with an annoyed look at her husband.

"Peggy, I told you. I sell propane and propane accessories for a living. It wouldn't sit well with my principles to park next to someone who uses charcoal" Mr Hill said to his wife with an annoyed sigh.

"And yet you would have arrived on time if you had just let up for once, Hank" Peggy said.

"Well, you're here now" Mrs Freeman said as she placed one of the folders on the table and opened it. "Now, I have a return flight to board soon, so let's get this transfer over with before I'm late again" she said firmly.

The three Hills then drew up their seats to the table and sat down. Hank and Peggy both sat across from Mrs Freeman while Bobby sat next to his cousin.

"Did you have a nice flight?" Bobby asked with a smile. Gielle shrugged a little but didn't reply. "Are you alright?" Bobby asked, his expression becoming concerned. Gielle didn't say anything and kept looking at his hands. "Boy, you're a barrel of laughs" Bobby said, the concern being replaced by irritation that he was ignored.

"Now, these forms you need to sign to become Gielles legal guardians" Mrs Freeman said as she slid two copies of papers in front of Bobbys parents.

"I uh..I'm guessing there was no-one else available? His father's parents, or brothers perhaps?" Hank asked as he looked down at the paper in front of him. Mrs Freeman looked annoyed at his question, and so did Peggy.

"As I told you over the phone multiple times, no" she said pointedly. "You are the only living relatives he has left, and you were our first priority to send to. It was either you, or he goes into foster care until he's of legal age" she said.

"Uh..well..." Hank said, who looked like he was going to argue with that point, but Peggy elbowed him in the rib and picked up a pen.

"We're very happy to take him. After all, it was what my sister wanted" she said with a pleasant smile. "And what we want too" she said, looking darkly over at her husband.

"I'd still be able to keep my den" Hank said none too quietly as he picked up a pen too. Mrs Freeman said nothing to that as she picked up her coffee and took a sip as she watched the signing. Bobby took his eyes off his parents and looked back over at his silent cousin.

"So, was your flight alright?" he asked him with another smile on his face. But his cousin was still silent and kept looking at his hands. "It wouldn't kill you to add to the conversation you know" Bobby said, crossing his arms over his chest in a huff. Obviously, the novelty of having his cousin come to live with them had worn off quickly when he saw his cousin wasn't as happy as he had been.

It was currently the middle of the summer vacation. And two days after school had finished for Gielle, tragedy had struck. Gielle had slept in again and decided to spend the day playing his xbox since it had been too hot to do much else. His mother, a very attractive blonde wolf, the opposite of her manly sister, and his father, a well muscled Xveemon, had decided to duck out to fetch some groceries for the day.

"Non saremo dei mieli lunghi" his mother had said that day. *We won't be long honey*

"nessun problema" Gielle had said back, not even looking away from the tv screen as he watched Dante slice his way through Cleopatras lover, Marc Antony. *No problem*

"Dubito che egli saprà anche che siamo andati." his father had said with a chuckle. *I doubt he'll even know we're gone*

"Ho sentito ciò" Gielle said as he took his eyes off the tv screen to look at his father over his shoulder, then muttered a curse under his breath as he missed the combo prompt to take out Cleopatra, and ended up watching Dante get a face full of rotten French kiss death. *I heard that*

One hour later, a police officer had knocked on the door and delivered news to a young fourteen year old about an accident that had claimed a husband and wife and left him alone.

Two weeks had passed in which welfare officers had stripped away the life he had known and replaced it with something cold and foreign. His home had been taken apart with almost everything he had grown up around sold off. His parents friends, who would have gladly taken him in, were deemed unfit to do so since they weren't family. His home, that lovely little villa with his mothers flower garden had been put for sale and sold before he knew it. And then, because someone else had decided it, he had been placed on a plane to go and live with his mothers sister in another country.

He had spent many nights alone in his room crying and wishing that it was all a dream, but every day he had woken up to another welfare officer going through his house and deciding all his decisions for him.

And there he sat now, listening to adults talk about him like he wasn't even there as they made decisions that they believed best for him.

Mrs Freeman checked her watch again after seeing both the forms signed and took them and placed them into their folders.

"Now, we have this we need you to sign and everything should be legalized" she said as she opened up another manila folder and took out another set of forms.

"Ugh, can't we just wrap this up already? The game is on in half an hour" Hank said, clearly looking annoyed by how long the proceeding was taking.

"Hank, this will only take a minute" Peggy said. "There will be other games. And besides, this is important. We need to actually show we care about him, even if my sister just dumped him on our doorstep like this" she added.

"Lei ha una famiglia così generosa Gielle" Mrs Freeman said without looking in his direction. *You have such a caring family Gielle*

"Why thank you. I got my hair done this morning" Peggy said with a smile as she ran a hand over her rather tightly done hairdo.

"Excuse me?" Mrs Freeman said with a look of surprise on her face. "I didn't say anything about your hair."

"Oh yes, you did" Maggie said with a light laugh. "I heard you quite clearly say to Gielle that I had such a lovely hairdo"

Mrs Freeman smiled uneasily.

"I'm sorry Mrs Hill, but I did not comment on your hairstyle. You must have misheard" she said as pleasantly as she could.

"Oh no" Bobby said as he facepalmed.

"Excuse me? I did not mishear" Peggy said as she suddenly looked furious. "And do you know why I don't mishear? It's because I learned Italian through self teaching. And I am the substitute teacher at the middle school. And I won substitute teacher of the year two years in a row. And do you know how I did all that? By not mishearing" she said as she glared at the surprised wolf in front of her. It almost seemed like she was daring Mrs Freeman to challenge her claims.

"Oh gods" Bobby said, going red in the face from his mothers outburst, which had been so sudden even Gielle had looked up in surprise.

"Well...that aside...." Mrs Freeman said as she slid the next set of papers towards Robert, looking somewhat shaken by the sudden outburst on her. But she quickly unshook herself. "This is Gielles financial papers. He cannot access this account without your approval, and you cannot use these finances without giving the bank a valid reason. Things like school fees are acceptable" she said.

"So, we can use this account to charge things like rent and groceries?" Hank asked, almost hopefully. "After all, we are living on a budget and with another person living in the house we will need to take him into consideration" he added.

"You can take that up with the bank representative' she said, although she did not look impressed from him as she slid him a small card with contact information on it. She decided not to tell him that the bank would be transferring an amount every week into Gielles regular account as pocket money.

"Right, that looks like everything is in order" Mrs Freeman said as soon as the papers had all been signed. "Now, I'd hate to just run off, but my flight will be leaving soon and I need to board" she said before she turned to Gielle.

"Spero che lei essere bene sorvegliato ora." she said to him. *I hope that you'll be well looked after now*

"Ringraziarla i signor Freeman" Gielle said, briefly looking up from his hand. *Thank you Mrs Freeman*

"Oh don't worry Mrs Freeman. I'm sure you don't need to remind him to brush his teeth after every meal" Peggy said with another of her light laughs.

"Buona fortuna" Mrs Freeman said to Gielle. He could hear the sympathy in her voice as she spoke to him as she picked up her bag. "che la donna stupida" she muttered under her breath as she left. *Good luck* *What a stupid woman*

"Well, we've wasted enough time already" Hank said as he slid the contact card into his shirt pocket and stood up. He then turned to look at his nephew for the first time since he arrived. "Do you have any luggage, or did you just bring that bag?" he asked.

"I've got two suitcases" Gielle said as he looked up at his uncle.

"Well, we better head over to baggage claim. Although two cases, you know that's just about telling everyone how much you have and just asking them to rob you, I tell you what" Hank said as he stood up. The others followed suite, although Gielle felt put down by that remark.

They had no trouble getting Gielles bags from the luggage claim, although he had to endure a small lecture by his uncle on how having Italian leather suitcases was just 'telling people I'm made of money.' They had belonged to his father, and they were the only cases he had been allowed to take.

Gielle just walked behind them, letting his aunt and uncle lead the way through the airplane terminal. They didn't say much to him, although he wasn't really listening as he held onto one case and Bobby took the other.

"I'm sure you'll like our house" Bobby was saying to him. "Everyone's real close to us, and I'll introduce you to Joseph tomorrow. He's so cool" Bobby said, excitement in his voice. "He got to go camping with his dad last week. He said he'll bring back some cool souvenirs. Although dad didn't let me go" he added.

"Why didn't you go?" Gielle asked him.

"Because, I was not going to take time off work just so we could sleep in tents for a couple of days" Hank said, looking as though the idea was a sour one. "Besides, he can't learn valuable real life skills in the wild like he can when he works at Strickland Propane with me" Hank, almost looking proud to that fact.

"Dad drags me there almost every school holidays" Bobby said as quietly as he could to his cousin so his father wouldn't hear.

"Hank, why don't you take Gielle to work with you as well? You could use the opportunity to catch up with each other" Peggy suggested to her husband. Hank sighed and looked cross.

"Peggy, just because I'm assistant manager doesn't mean I can't bring who I want to work anytime I want. Bobby can come because he's my son. And even if Gielle was related to me, it would not look good for me to bring outside people in" Hank said, as though the explanation should have been obvious from the beginning.

"So what do you plan to do with him then? Just let him stay at home all holidays until school starts?" Peggy asked as the finally found the exit doors and headed outside into the baking sunlight.

"I don't know. He's your nephew, technically" Hank said with another cross look on his face. "Why don't' you look after him? You're his aunt."

"Hank, we can have this discussion, again, at home. He's our responsibility. Key word, our" she pointed out, raising her finger at her husband. Hank just sighed and rolled his shoulders back and muttered something about responsible family under his breath.

Gielle sighed and felt incredibly small already. He had been in texas for no more than half an hour, and already he felt like an illegal immigrant. As they headed to the car, his aunt and uncle talking like he wasn't there, and his cousin talking about how his friends were probably better than any Gielle had, Gielle kinda wished he could get deported like one.

Arlen did not seem all that impressive on the drive through the streets. His uncles truck was barely big enough to hold more than three people, something Hank was rather quick to point out.

Gielle really did not pay any attention to any of the shops that passed by, or any of the streets. He barely heard when his aunt pointed out the middle school, something called Tim Laundry or something, he really didn't hear properly. Jet lag was starting to sink in pretty quickly and he almost fell asleep with his head against the window.

Bobby seemed to get annoyed that his cousin wasn't paying any attention to him so he seemed to sulk in the back seat, as if being the center of attention was something he expected. They rode on in silence for several minutes before turning into one of the suburbs.

"Here we are, Rainey Street" Hank said with a lot of pride in his voice as he turned into the suburban street, but then made a turn into a back alleyway. He passed by a couple of houses, one looking like a disheveled poverty stricken squalor, and another that looked as though someone was constructing either a radio tower, or a prison tower in their backyard.

"Dangit. The games already started" Hank said as he pulled into his driveway. The light rocking motion of the car was enough to pull Gielle from his semi sleep as he shook his head a bit. "The guys have probably started drinking without me."

"Well, you have a good reason to be late Hank" Peggy said as she pushed her door open. Gielle slowly slid himself out and took his first look at the dwelling of the Hills.

He realized that they had arrived through something of an alleyway road, and they were facing the back of one of the most unextroadinary houses he had ever seen. It looked like something out of a display home, or a magazine.

The lawn was perfectly manicured, the house painted to perfection. There was nothing wrong with the house from the outside appearance. But it was too bland. It was boring to look at. There was no garden, no flowers, no real life to the house.

He thought abot his mothers villa, how her garden always seemed to spring to life every day. Dozens of brightly colored flowers spilling out of pots and hangers, and a leaky old fountain his father had installed. The was old and slightly rundown, but it had character. This house, had none.

"It's lovely, isn't it? Keep it up to code myself, I tell you what" Hank said with a very proud smile across his face. Gielle felt it was best not to respond. He felt like disagreeing on the lovely part was going to start an argument. He hoisted his satchel from the floor of the car and closed the door.

"Well, let's get you inside. Il suo computer è nella lavastoviglie" Peggy said to Gielle with a smile as she and Hank headed to the sliding glass door, leaving Bobby and Gielle to take the luggage. *Your computer is in the dishwasher*

"What?" Gielle asked, confusion etched over his face from the very strange words she had spoken. "I...I don't understand."

"If you can't understand my perfect Italian, then your parents obviously did not teach you properly" Peggy said, looking down her nose at her nephew before they walked inside.

"Tradurre questo" Gielle muttered angrily under his breath for the comment about his parents. The first room they entered was a rather bland looking kitchen, with no real colour in it. Gielles' mother used to put fresh flowers from her garden on her kitchen table every day to keep the place "cheerful" as she put it. His aunt clearly didn't share the same idea. *Translate this*

"Hey Hey Hey" Hank almost shouted as Gielle stepped onto the tiled kitchen floor through the glass sliding door. He had just knelt down to take off his shoes.

"What?" he asked, looking up, again in confusion.

"Keep your shoes on. You can't walk around in dirty socks and bare feet on the floor. Ladybird eats off this floor" Hank scolded, looking cross.

"Who's Ladybird?" Gielle asked as he stood up.

"Who's Ladybird?" Hank repeated, looking more cross. "She's our purebred bloodhound. Everyone knows Ladybird" he said in exasperation. "Dangit, didn't your mother tell you anything about our family?"

"Well...no" Gielle admitted as he adjusted the satchel strap on his shoulder. His mother rarely spoke of her other relatives to him. Now, he suddenly realized just why that was.

"Ugh" Hank said, with disgust as he shook his head. Peggy had walked off and picked up a phone from the wall, and was obviously starting a conversation with someone, as Bobby retreated from the room as well. "Well, come on. I'll show you your...room" he said, his face grimacing in the same ugly-taste-in-his-mouth look, the same look he gave when he said the word 'charcoal'. Hank grabbed the bag left behind by Bobby and Gielle followed him.

As they walked into the hallway, Gielle saw the oldest looking dog he had ever seen standing in a nearby doorway and watching him. Obviously, that was Ladybird. Although why she was called that was beyond him. She was downright ugly. But he felt it better not to point it out to his uncle.

"Well, here's your uh...room" Hank said as he opened the door. Gielle walked into a dark paneled room with faded carpet. It gave off the type of feel you had when you walked into some ones 'all male' room. An old looking wardrobe, a single bed and an unmatching desk sat almost haphazardly in the room, as if placed there at the last minute.

"Sorry, but we had to uh...pick up some furniture from the second hand store. Wasn't going to waste perfectly good wood on...uh..." Hank said, before scratching the back of his neck with his hand, looking away as if embarrassed he almost made something for someone unworthy.

"It....it's ok" Gielle said quietly as he placed his satchel on the floor. He did not feel like arguing with him. Starting one was probably not a good thing to do.

"Right...well, get settled and we'll uh... see you later" Hank said as he shut the door, almost gladly.

Silence rang in the room for several moments as Gielle took in the surroundings of his new home. It was very depressing. He looked over things for a moment or two before he went to the door and very quietly opened it an inch.

"Peggy, I'm going to watch the game in the living room" Hank was heard saying to his wife. "The guys are probably back at their homes by now, since I was late back" he heard him say, before the sound of a football game was heard loudly on a nearby television set.

"I know, I know" Peggy was heard saying, probably still talking on the phone. "He arrived today... He's as skinny as a twig, and has no dress sense at all... Bad haircut too... I don't know where he got it.... Probably from my sister. She never had style... Mhm... Mhm... Oh, and I don't think his father was Italian after all Nancy. He can barely understand me, and you know, my Italian is perfectly self taught" she said with a laugh.

Gielle gripped the doorknob tightly in his hand at the insult against his mother. A moment later, he heard his cousin join in.

"Hey mom. Is Gielle going to have to share my bath towels with me?" Bobby was heard saying.

"Honey, I'll get him some of the old ones. I'm not letting him have your good ones" his mother reassured him.

Gielle shut the door, unable to hear anymore, and walked over, sitting himself on the bed. The room was silent, and felt very empty. The bed felt cold and hard, and the sheets were old, probably second hand.

"Mom....dad...." he whispered softly as he laid himself down on his side, wrapping his arms around one of the pillows as he buried his face into the soft material. "La madre... il padre..." he said into the pillow as he struggled not to cry. He had been crying so much lately he felt like it was almost like breathing. He felt sleep overtake him and he fell asleep quickly. *Mother...Father*

He was woken up after what felt like five minutes by a vigorous shaking. Startled and instantly awake, he jolted out of his sleep and found his aunt staring down at him with a clearly annoyed look on her face as she took her hand from him.

"Gielle, we're about to have dinner" she said with her hands on her hips. Gielle slowly pulled himself up, and realized he must have fallen asleep for a couple of hours, judging by the darkening light outside.

"Sorry" he said as he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. "I'm...I'm just really tired from the flight" he said.

"Well, tired or not, we don't like holding up dinner" Peggy said as she briskly marched herself out of the room. Gielle said nothing to that as he slowly stood up and stretched his cramped body a bit before he left the room. He didn't feel hungry.

Hank and Bobby were already seated at the table in the kitchen, quietly waiting. Gielle felt their annoyed looks on their face before he saw them as he entered. With a point to one of the empty chairs, his uncle grunted his disapproval of his tired nephew.

Gielle didn't have much of an appetite, especially after seeing the food his aunt plated up. It turned out to be something she called "Spa-Peggy", which was what she called "the perfect recipe of spaghetti." Either the day was spaghetti day, or his aunt was at least trying to make him feel more at home. Unsurprisingly, it was probably the former.

It had to be the blandest thing he had ever tasted. His aunt made a point to tell him about how she added the perfect amount of mince and the right amount of cheese on top, but he could still tell it had come from a can. Even with blandness and no appetite, he still made it a point to at least eat something to avoid being disrespectful on purpose. His mother had obviously inherited the cooking skills over her sister. Her spaghetti actually tasted like it was home made.

His aunt and uncle began to talk to themselves, the talk just background noise to Gielle. He pushed a mound of tasteless noodles on his plate as he heard his uncle talk about some propane convention in a place called McMainerberry, that was happening in a couple of months, and his aunt discussing why they should or shouldn't go.

He looked up as he heard his cousin say something, but all Bobby seemed to be doing was messing with his food by pretending the noodles were very explorative worms. He was completely ignoring his parents and his cousin as he acted like a child much younger then he was.

When asked to pass the ketchup, Bobby placed both hands on the bottle and thought it was funny to struggle to lift it like it was twenty pounds. The look his father gave him told him it wasn't funny and Gielle saw his cousin relent and hand over the bottle normally. Bobby looked almost hopefully at Gielle, like he was expecting a laugh. But when Gielle didn't so much as react, Bobby seemed to sulk in his chair.

"Not hungry Gielle?" his aunt asked, which snapped him out of his thoughts as he sat back up at the table. He hadn't eaten much, most of his plate still covered.

"Well...to be honest...I don't have much of an appetite tonight Aunt Peggy" Gielle admitted as politely as he could. "I'm...I'm still pretty tired. I guess I have more jet lag then I thought. Would it be alright if I be excused and go back to sleep?" he asked.

"Uh uh" Peggy said with a swift shake of her head. "I'm sorry Gielle, but I put effort into making dinner tonight. If you want to leave the table, finish it first" she said firmly. "We do not waste food in this house. I don't believe in leftovers" she said firmly.

"I'm sorry Aunt Peggy" he said with a nod as he sat back up and started to force himself to eat.

"Is he going to be this difficult every night?" Hank asked in an annoyed tone. "I'm used to eating dinner without people interrupting about how tired they are."

"Hank" Peggy said with a stern look on her face. Gielle closed his eyes as he ate, not wanting to start anything as he made sure he ate everything on his plate. The food didn't seem to settle well in his stomach as he finished the last reluctant bite.

After finally securing his allowance to leave the table, his Aunt did suggest he take a bath or shower first. She insisted they didn't take one in the morning, probably more because it was out of routine and not to make him feel better.

If he thought that having a nice hot bath was going to make him feel better, he was mistaking. The Hills bathroom was almost like a showroom. Nothing personal anywhere, or anything to show that people could actually enjoy themselves in there. He had to put all his own bathroom things in a small drawer at the bottom of the bathroom cabinet, because they didn't believe in sharing personal toiletries. After being lectured about how no-one walked around in exposed pyjamas or underwear, he was handed what looked like an old robe that his uncle had decided to keep for rags five years ago to use.

Apparently, Ladybird was a lady, and she could get offended by such acts around her.

It took a while for the bath to fill. Gielle just sat on the edge of the tub naked and watches the bubbles slowly rise before he turned the water off and slipped in. The water felt good on his body after spending so long on a plane. It was nice to relax in.

Which is what happened for about ten minutes before his cousin pounded on the door and hollered at him not to use up all the hot water in the bath. After scrambling to get out of the tub as fast as his blue feet would take him, he dried off and wrapped himself up in the very worn out robe before opening the door to his angry looking cousin.

"I like my baths hot, and clean. There had better not be grey water in there" Bobby had said rather pompously before he pushed his way into the bathroom and locked the door behind him. Gielle hurried to his room as fast as he could before his uncle or aunt decided to tell him off for walking on the carpet barefoot.

He could not help but start to cry as he laid himself down on the bed and hug the pillow to his chest. He just couldn't believe that his mother, a mother so caring and wonderful to him, could be related to people like.....that.

He lay for a while as he felt the tears run down his cheeks, clutching the pillow against his chest as he cried silently. Maybe if they heard him his uncle would come in and tell him off for being heard over the television.

Not for the first time he found himself wishing that he wasn't there. But like all the previous times he had wished, wishes wouldn't come true for him. He knew that when he fell asleep, he'd wake up in this strange, almost otherworldly house with a family that had clearly grown tired of him before he even showed up.

He closed his eyes as he curled up as best he could, just wanting to disappear and wake up somewhere else. He didn't bother to change as he curled himself up and forced his eyes closed.

If he thought the next day was going to be any better, he was wrong. It did not start well. After waking up early in the morning and unable to get back to sleep properly, he decided to finish, or rather start his unpacking. He figured as long as he was quiet he could get it done. And it would keep his mind off things.

One suitcase held his clothing, a foldable electric keyboard with its stand, a laptop computer, and a Microsoft bag. He set the keyboard up in the corner of the room and found a socket to plug it in. Plugging in the headphones he played a few notes to make sure it still worked. Satisfied it was, he unpacked his xbox, but didn't see anywhere to put it, so he put it on the bottom of the closet.

Somehow, he doubted his uncle would pay to get him a television set. Perhaps he could save up enough and buy one. If his uncle did get him one, it would probably match the old furniture.

Then he started hanging up his clothes. There really wasn't all that much room, giving Gielle the impression that maybe his uncle was secretly hoping he wouldn't be staying long.

"Si, prendo il suo messaggio" he said to himself as he hung his clothing up piece by piece. *Yeah, I get your message*

He picked out a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt with a stone angel on it holding a police box in its hands, with a slogan on the bottom that said "The angels have the blue box."

After getting dressed he opened up the other suitcase and started unpacking the other things he was allowed to bring. Namely some books, some soft toys, and some mementos the bank had decided had no real value to anyone but him.

His laptop was setup on his desk and a framed picture of his parents sat beside it. He slowly ran a finger over the smiling faces of his mother and father and felt a pang in his heart. His books were stacked up neatly and his plush animals placed on the bed. He was just setting up his sport trophies when a knock was on his door.

"Gielle...uh...its breakfast BWAAAH" he heard his uncle exclaim. He turned around; almost dropping the picture of him with his old team he was setting up.

Che? Che ha torto?" Gielle asked, his heart pounding slightly as he looked at his uncle, who was wearing what looked like the dullest blue uniform he had ever seen. *What? What's wrong?*

"What...what is all this?" Hank asked as he gestured towards the desk.

"What's What?" Gielle asked, suddenly confused. His heart started to slow down after his initial shock from the shout.

"This" Hank said, starting to look angry as he pointed to the trophies sitting on top of the desk. "You play soccer?" he said, looking highly disgusted.

"Umm....I do karate too" he said nervously, suddenly wondering where this was going as he pointed to the silver medal on the desk.

"You play soccer? Do you know what that does to boys?" Hank said incredulously. Gielle shook his head slightly.

"They sap boys of their masculinity and turn them into sissies. It's the worst sport imaginable" Hank said. "I can't believe your father would be so stupid to let you play such a sport" he said angrily. "what, was he a sissy too?" Gielle just looked up at his uncle in surprise for a moment before he got angry. Before he knew it, he found himself shouting.

"Come osarla dice che del mio babbo. Lei non lo chiama mai stupido, lei mi sente lei il conservatore?" Gielle shouted at his uncle. His uncle looked taken aback for a moment, before he looked down at him. *How dare you say that about my dad. Don't you ever call him stupid, you hear me you redneck?*

"We use English in this house Gielle" he said firmly. "And no-one plays soccer either. So if you want to play sport, you will play a real mans sport. So you'll play football, or nothing" Hank said with a glare down at his nephew before he stormed out of the room.

Gielle felt himself tremble after his uncle left. Wether it was from anger or something else, he didn't know. He took several deep breaths to calm himself down before he left the room.

His aunt seemed to have heard him shouting before, and told him that although she thought it was a nice compliment he made, it was rather rude of him to shout out how much he enjoyed the inexpensive bed he had slept in. Gielle did not feel like arguing with her. Somehow, he knew it wouldn't work.

Gielle had absolutely no appetite for breakfast, which consisted of his aunts version of French toast, (which was burnt), and tinned orange juice. Hank left after eating for work, without more than a goodbye to his family. Bobby left after breakfast to go across the alley to his friends house after telling his cousin he had no dress sense and only little kids believed in angels. His aunt apparently thought so too before she announced she was leaving to play Boggle with someone she called 'Nancy.'

"Oh, and since you're our guest, you can do the breakfast dishes for us. E ha messo il gabinetto nell'armadio a muro di cucina come un buono pesce rosso" she had said with a smile to him before leaving the house. *And put the toilet in the kitchen closet like a good goldfish*

"How can she possibly think I understand that?" Gielle had thought to himself as he stood at the kitchen sink and scrubbed the dishes. He wondered why they didn't have a dishwasher. His father had installed one. But they usually only used it when they had company.

Doing the dishes wasn't a bad thing. The house seemed slightly better without his uncle and aunt in it. It only cheered him up slightly though.

After a bit of searching around the kitchen to find where everything was, and seeing how his aunt kept everything almost military organized, he had decided to just go back to his room and hopefully stay there without being discovered. He had the feeling that if he touched anything in the house they'd notice right away.

He sat on his bed with his keyboard and headphones on. Even in a quiet house he had the impression to not make a sound. He picked up some sheet music and started to play for a while. He managed to keep his mind off of everything, starting to lose himself in the music when he heard voices in the house.

"Come on, we can play the game in my room. You know dad doesn't like us playing it in the living room" he heard Bobby say. Gielle took his headphones off and listened. When he heard it was his cousin he relaxed a bit.

"Dude, this game is going to be killer" he heard another boy say. It sounded like he had a mouthful of cotton or something. He was hard to make out.

"Isn't your cousin here? I thought you said he arrived" he heard a third person say.

"He's probably in his room. I gotta tell ya, he's weird. Doesn't laugh at my jokes, and he's got no dress sense. He'll never make it at school like I can" he heard Bobby say.

"Maybe we should invite him to play. The game does have multiplayer" he heard the third person say.

"No. He'll probably just weird up the place. Besides, I bet he doesn't even have a playstation" he heard bobby say.

"Yeah dude. Romanians are weird enough" he heard cottonmouth say.

"Joseph, he's Italian" he heard Bobby say. "And from what mom said, he can't speak it good."

"Come voglio appendere fuori con lei" Gielle thought angrily as his mood for playing was ruined and got up to put his keyboard back. He picked up a book from his desk and was about to read it when he heard a soft knock on the door. *Like I want to hang out with you*

"Entrare" Gielle called out as he pulled his bookmark out. *Come In*

He looked up as he saw the door open and a thin looking dragon leant against it. At least, Gielle thought it was a dragon, until he saw he had a lion style mane. He was various tones of a dark brown across his hide, a long lion style tail, but without the tuft of fur on the end, having instead a thick white talon. He had nice looking blue eyes, and was dressed rather casually. His mane hung around his shoulders, just barely reaching his red shirt.

"Your Bobbys cousin, aren't you" he asked. He seemed to look at Gielle with genuine interest. Gielle shut his book for a moment as he sat back a bit. It was a funny look to receive.

"Yeah, I am. Sfortunatamente" he added. *Unfortunately*

"Sorry, what did you say?" the new boy asked. "Oh, I'm Alex. Alex Shepherd by the way" he added as he stepped into the room.

"I'm Gielle, and I said 'unfortunately'" he said to him. It was slightly surprising to hear someone ask him what he said, instead of assuming.

"I can bet you did" Alex said with a smile. "Don't think anyone would be happy to live here" he admitted. Gielle felt surprised to hear that, but he didn't disagree.

"So, is Gielle short for something?" Alex asked. "Oh, I hope I'm not interrupting anything" he added.

"Oh, no. You're not" Gielle said as he heard the sounds of Bobby and his other friend starting up whatever game they had going.

"Good" Alex said with a smile as he shut the door, the sounds getting cut off instantly.

"Oh, and yes" Gielle said, remembering the question he had just been asked. "It's short for Guillermo" he said.

"Doesn't sound Italian to me. Isn't that the name of that filmmaker that did Pans Labyrinth?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, he did. My dads favorite film" Gielle said with a small smile. "And mom always loved that name" he admitted. "Said her best friend growing up here in texas was from mexico."

"Ah, so it's true. Your mom and Peggy are related" Alex said with a light smile. "Bummer. And I thought you were going to be good" he added.

Gielle just stared at him in surprise for a moment or two before Alex smiled and Gielle realized he was joking. He breathed a sigh of relief to that.

"Well, my moms related to her, but they're not really..um....sisterly" he admitted. Alex nodded to that as he took a seat beside Gielle on the bed. Gielle shifted over a little to make room for him.

"You read Terry Goodkind too?" he asked, pointing to the copy of 'Chainfire' in Gielles hand.

"Yeah. He's my favorite author" Gielle said. "Mom wanted me to learn English, so she made me read English books when I was little. Never really broke the habit" he admitted.

"Yeah, he's good. Bit long in the dialogue though" Alex admitted to him with a nod."Seems to take forever to explain something. But I like him too. You see the tv series about his books?"

"Yeah, I did. Not as good as I thought it would be though. But I still liked it" Gielle said to him. For some reason he found it easy to talk with Alex. Maybe because he actually seemed interested in talking to him. "So, are you friends with Bobby?"

"No, not really" Alex said. "I know him and his family though. My dad and I live on the other side of the block, so we're not 'alley people', as my dad puts it" Alex said. "We go to the same school, but it seems everyone does" he said.

"Who was the other person that came over? The weird talking one" Gielle asked.

"Oh, you mean Joseph" Alex said. "Yeah, he talks like he's constantly hocking something from his throat" he said with a smirk. "That, and he's an idiot" he added.

"He is?" Gielle asked.

"Yeah. He's too stupid to realize he's....."Alex began, and then waved it off. "Doesn't matter. Not important."

"Won't they miss you? I mean, if you're playing games together" Gielle said.

"Nah. Only came over because I heard there was a new kid on the block. Thought you might be interesting to check out" Alex said with a smile.

Something about the way that Alex said that made Gielle feel like blushing, but he didn't know why. It was then he realized just how close Alex was sitting next to him. Their legs were almost touching. But for some reason, he didn't seem to mind it. Alex wasn't saying anything about it, so he didn't mind, or he didn't notice.

"So, what's your last name? Bobby never said" Alex said. "And neither did you" he pointed out.

"Oh, sorry" Gielle said, feeling himself actually starting to blush at that.

"What, you got an embarrassing name?" Alex asked him with a chuckle. Gielle felt himself get redder as he tried to get his voice back.

"No....no I don't. Well, at least not to me" he admitted as he found his voice. "My full name is Guillermo Rodin Auditore" he admitted. Alex stared with a surprised look on his face, which made Gielle laugh a bit.

"Yeah, just like Ezio" he admitted. "Everyone said that lately, since the game came out" he said.

"Never knew a famous assassin before" Alex said with a grin. "Man, you are interesting after all" he said, which made Gielle laugh a bit more. He suddenly realized that it had been a long time since he had laughed about anything, and it suddenly felt good too.

"So what, your dad ran around killing Borgias?" Alex said with a grin. Gielle found himself laughing again.

"No, he didn't do anything like that" he said with a smile as he stood up and picked up the picture of his parents. "He was a boss at a construction company. He did a lot of renovating around Venice" he said.

"Wow. You're dads a stud" Alex said as he looked down at the picture, seeing the well muscled male in the picture.

"Thanks... I guess" Gielle said, having never heard someone his own age call his father a stud before. "His name was Rodin. And my moms name was Michelle" he said, feeling slightly sad as he looked at the picture with Alex.

"You must really miss them" Alex said with a smile to him. Gielle nodded for a moment.

"I do" he admitted as he wiped the back of his hand over his eyes, feeling them start to water a bit. He felt something touch his shoulder and he looked over to see Alexs hand on his shoulder.

"My parents are divorced" Alex said to him softly. "It's not the same, I know. But I understand how you feel" he said quietly.

Gielle felt quite touched by that. It was the first time since ... well in a long time that someone actually tried to do more than just tell him what they thought was best for him.

"Thank you" he said softly as he gave a small smile at Alex, who gave him one in return.

"So, got any good games on your laptop?" Alex asked as he put the picture down to change the subject. Gielle blinked his eyes clear and pointed to a cd case.

"I got Blossom recently" he admitted.

"Wait, you serious?" Alex said with surprise. "You have that? No freaking way" he said as he excitedly grabbed the case. Gielle found himself smiling again as he picked up his laptop to set it up.

"I can't believe you got this. This was supposed to be Oblivions biggest rival" Alex said as he sat back on the bed. Gielle took the disc from him and slid it into the drive.

"It is, trust me" he said with a smile. Maybe the afternoon wasn't going to be so bad after all.

The few days that passed seemed to follow almost a set routine. His aunt and uncle would have their breakfast and leave the house, leaving Bobby and Gielle by themselves. Then Bobby would leave to go hang out with his friend Joseph or some girl called Connie, leaving Gielle by himself.

But it didn't bother him that his relatives left him alone as it did the first time. The empty house didn't bother him anymore, because he found being left alone was better than listening to his relatives criticisms.

Alex came over almost every day after his first visit, sometimes with Bobby, and sometimes without. Unlike his family, Gielle found that Alex actually seemed to enjoy having him around and spend time with him.

Mostly they ended up reading together, or playing games on his laptop. But Gielle was happy to do that. It was more then what his uncle and aunt were doing to show they actually liked having him around.

Alex did always seem happy to be around him, and Gielle found themselves sitting or lying pretty close to each other when the hybrid boy was around. But he found the closeness...comforting.

After doing another mornings worth of dishes and finding himself alone again, he heard the clatter of the mail slot on the front door. Walking past Ladybird who seemed to do nothing but sleep and eat, he found a pile of letters at the welcome mat.

A few flicks through found letters addressed to his aunt and uncle, which he put on the kitchen table before he found a fat envelope addressed to him. It surprised him a bit. He didn't think anything would come to him this soon. Curious about the contents, he sat down and opened the envelope to find a set of forms inside.

"Oh, they're for school" he said to himself as he realized they were class submission forms for his new school. "Tom Landry Middle School" he said as he looked them over. "That's what Aunt Peggy said on the way over. Who's Tom Landry anyway?" he said to himself as he looked over the list of classes.

He saw that he had already been selected for the mandatory classes, such as English, Science, Math and History. The typical subjects. But he did see a list of secondary subjects that he could choose from.

He heard Ladybird walk in and lay down at his feet under the kitchen table. He idly brushed a sneakered foot against her as he looked at the selections.

"Shop class....Auto shop...Home Economics...Visual Art...they have language classes too" he said as he saw the list of classes in that subject. "Come la sopporterò alla scuola ed a casa allo stesso tempo" he said with a small smile as he picked up a pencil and began to select anything but the Italian language class. *Like I'm going to put up with you at school and home at the same time*

"I wonder what classes Alex takes" He found himself wondering as he selected auto shop and visual arts. The other classes didn't really appeal to him as he turned his gaze down the sheet and saw a list of sporting activities to try out.

He saw that soccer was listed as an after school sport, and he hesitated for a moment. He remembered what his uncle had said, but he enjoyed the sport. His parents had always been supportive of him in that regard. He made up his mind when he ticked the box. He knew they would encourage him to do it.

He heard the kitchen door open and saw his aunt walk in just as he signed his name at the bottom.

"Hello Aunt Peggy" he said politely to her as she walked in.

"Oh, hello Gielle" she said as she dropped her handbag on the kitchen counter. She saw the mail there and began to thumb through it. "You didn't open anything of ours, did you?" she asked sternly.

"No Aunt Peggy" Gielle said as he finished filling out his form. At least this was one thing he could have a say in. It felt kind of good to make a decision about something in his life for once. He put the form down as he stood up to get himself a drink of water from the sink. He filled his glass and turned around to see his aunt looking over his form.

"Gielle, next time you get a form about school, don't fill it in yourself. You're too young to know what you want" she said sternly as she used the other side of the pencil to erase the choices he made.

"Aunt Peggy, what are you doing?" he asked as he saw her sit down with a now blank form.

"Making your choices for you" she said to him, matter of factly. "I'm not just a mother, I'm a teacher. I won substitute teacher two years in a row, so I know what you need out of a good education" she said.

"But...I chose what classes I wanted to do" Gielle protested, but she was already marking the form as she ignored him.

"Well, unfortunately Gielle, you don't know what you want to do, because you're just a student" she said as she ticked away. "These classes won't help your education. And I'm disappointed you didn't want to take Italian" she added.

"It's my first language" Gielle protested, but his aunt waved the statement away.

"No. You talk gutter speak" she said as she put down the form. "I don't know what your mother was thinking, marrying off to some Italian guy who couldn't have the decency to speak the language properly" she said.

"My dad could speak Italian fine" Gielle said, starting to get angry about the way his aunt was talking about him. "And so could my mom" he protested. "He taught her."

"I don't think so" Peggy said as she picked up the form and placed it into the return address envelope. She sealed it and tucked it into her handbag without looking at him. "And I know your uncle would not want you to keep playing soccer. He's a football man. You can play that sport if you're so willing to play" she said.

"Don't I get any say in this?" he protested to her. "You can't just decide these things for me" he said.

"Gielle, I can" she said to him. "You're not just part of this family, you're a ward. And that means we make the decisions about you" she said to him. "So, we will make the decisions for you, considering your mother just dumped you on us without much thought" she said with an annoyed expression across her face.

"She...she got killed in a car accident" Gielle said, starting to feel upset about the way this was going. He couldn't believe his aunt was actually talking about his mother like she had planned this.

"Well, then she wasn't a good enough driver like I am" Peggy said firmly. "And for speaking like that to me, you're grounded this weekend, or until you can learn respect for your betters." Gielle couldn't reply to that as he felt tears brim in his eyes. Without comment from his aunt, Gielle walked out of the kitchen and out of the house. He stepped out onto the alleyway and started to walk, tears leaking into his eyes. He did not look back.

He felt so alone again. How could some agency think that these people were better off to look after him then his parents friends who actually did? He just couldn't understand it, and it made him feel terrible.

His chest felt cold, like there was a lump of ice lodged in it. Even though it was another hot sunny Texan day, he felt cold all over. He slowly drew his arms around his stomach as he kept walking. He just wanted to walk until he found himself somewhere new. Or back home.

Gielle didn't notice where his feet took him. He found himself walking out of the alley and into a street, starting to walk along the concrete footpath. He dug his hands into his pockets as he walked, just watching the ground as he plodded along.

He could feel the tears run down his cheeks as they finally broke free. He didn't try to stop them. He couldn't think of a reason to stop crying. He wondered briefly if he ever would.

He looked up as he heard a mechanical whirring nearby. After a brief look up he recognized the sound and realized it was someone mowing a lawn. He suddenly realized that he was a block or so over. It made him feel better knowing he was away from his aunt.

Gielle walked a little further, finding the source of the noise to be a shirtless lion in shorts pushing a mower across a lawn. The guy looked young and had a nice build on him, from what Gielle could tell of his back. Gielle found himself stopping to watch him as he worked the push mower across the lawn. Then the figure turned.

"Oh, hey Gielle" Alex called out as he turned the mower off, the noise dying down quickly as he saw his new friend nearby. "I'm surprised to see you out here. I didn't know you knew where my dad and I lived" he said with a smile as he picked up a towel that was hanging out of his shorts.

"I didn't" Gielle confessed as he watched Alex wipe himself down. He felt a little better to see him, although he couldn't help but notice how Alexs brown hide seemed to glisten with sweat in the sunlight. He had nice tonnage.

"I'm glad to see you here" Alex said with a smile as he walked over to him, the two of them separated by a fence. But his smile faded slightly as he saw the upset look on Gielles face. "Are you ok?" he asked, looking concerned.

Just hearing someone actually care enough to ask how he was made Gielle tear up again as he shook his head, his shoulders starting to shudder a bit. Alex saw that and hopped the fence and put his arms around him.

"Hey, come inside. We'll talk about it" he said softly as he drew Gielle with him, Gielle just nodded as he was brought up the driveway and into his fathers house.

They emerged into what looked like a house from ten years ago. Slightly surprised, Gielle took a moment to look around. Everything looked rather outdated, from the old green couch and seat setting, to the faded carpet and very large tube television. It felt like his grandparents house, in a way. Except his grandparents didn't have an xbox plugged into their tv.

He sat down on the couch as Alex went to get him a drink of water. The room had a lived in feel, unlike his uncles' house. The place was neat, but there were still personall effects around the place, such as the magazines on the floor next to a pair of sneakers and a half eaten bowl of popcorn and empty bottle of soft drink on the coffee table.

"So what's wrong?" Alex asked as he sat beside him, handing him a glass of water. Gielle took it and drank it all. He felt slightly better with something in him.

"I...I got my form for class registration today" he said slowly. "And Aunt Peggy came home and took it" he said.

"What, she didn't' like the classes you chose?" Alex asked him. Gielle shook his head a bit.

"She filled it out herself. Told me she knew which classes would be better for me and then forbade me to play anything but football, cause it would anger Uncle Hank" he said. He wiped his eyes a little as Alex took the glass from him.

"Is that what upset you?" Alex asked him as he leant forward a bit on the couch. "That she wouldn't let you take your own classes?" Gielle shook his head and cleared his throat a little.

"She started insulting my parents, like she was better then them" he said. "I don't get why" he said as he shuddered a bit. "And it was just the way she spoke...like my mother was beneath her" he said.

Alex gently put his arm around Gielle and held him for a moment as he watched the blue digimon start to cry.

"Hey, it'll be ok" he said quietly. Gielle just shook his head and trembled a bit more.

"I ....I just want to give up" he said as he wiped his hand across his eyes. "Ever since mom and dad died... I ...I can't make decisions for myself anymore. Everyone else does. And no-one asks me what I want" he said, his voice starting to break a bit. "And they act like my parents were bad guys....and it hurts so badly" he said as he shuddered.

He felt Alexs other hand wrap around his front and pull him close. He found his head resting against the hybrids bare chest and felt his hands rub against his back a little.

"What do you want?" Alex asked him softly as Gielle felt those tender fingers on the back of his neck.

"I...I just want someone to actually care that I'm here" Gielle said as he felt Alex hold him close. "Voglio qualcuno volermi qui" he said as he sniffed a bit. *I want someone to want me here*

Alex said nothing as held Gielle close and let him cry if he wanted to. Gielle felt those arms hold him close and he could smell Alexs sweat and musk. He closed his eyes as he inhaled. The smell should have turned him away, but for some reason he didn't want to pull away from him.

Alex gently stroked at the back of Gielles head, running his fingers through his soft thick hair as he gently rocked back and forth a little. Gielles tears slowly ran their course and stopped as he let Alex hold him. He didn't want to move.

"Gielle?" he heard Alex say softly which made the flamedramon look up at him. The two of them looked at each other for several moments.

"What is it?" Gielle asked as he ran a thumb under his eyes and looked at him.

"I ....I want you here" Alex said, a deep and brilliant blush rushing across his cheeks. Gielle was stunned for a moment and found he couldn't answer straight away.

"You....you do?" Gielle asked as he locked eyes with Alex. For moment there was silence before Alex nodded slowly, still blushing heavily.

"Yeah...I do. Since I met you....I....I can't stop thinking about you" he admitted, swallowing a bit as he found his throat starting to not work properly. The two of them looked at each other for what felt like an eternity, but was no more than a moment or two.

The two of them pressed their lips together and found that they were unable to stop once they made contact. But neither wanted to. Alex wrapped his arms around Gielle and pulled him forwards, landing on his back and holding the flamedramon above him as they kissed hard.

Gielle felt Alexs hands grab the base of his shirt and pull upwards, exposing his back and stomach as those warm hands ran over his blue hide. Gielle moaned against alexs warm lips as he slid his hands over the hybrids sides. Their lips mashed togheter as they both started to moan against the other as they pressed up together.

Alex panted a bit as he pulled his lips from Gielles and pressed them against his neck. His lips sucked in a small mound of flesh that he suckled on as Gielle let out a gasp. He let out a whine as that motion made him tingle through his body.

"Alex" he whimpered as he closed his eyes and gripped Alexs waist. His hide tingled with goosebumps as he felt Alexs lips suckle on his neck like it was a piece of fruit. His heart raced and his back arched as he moaned.

Alex pulled off his neck softly, seeing the dark moist spot on the side of his neck and dragged his lips to the other side and repeated the process as he ran his hands down to Gielles firm backside. Gielle let out a gasp as he felt those hands cup his backside through his pants and squeeze hard.

"Oh Dio" Gielle whimpered as he tingled all over. He leant forward onto Alexs half naked body as he felt the warmth of his torso press against his exposed stomach. They both moaned fro mthe contact as they pressed together. *Oh God*

"You taste so good" Alex purred as he left a second spot on Gielles neck and started to drag his tongue across any part he could access. He heard the digimon moan above him and he squeezed his hands over his rump harder to pull him closer.

Gielle started to pant as he felt their crotches grind together. They were both rock hard and the pleasure of his pants rubbing over his length was making him hotter. As he felt Alex slurp over his neck, starting to lick at the sweat that was forming against his hide, he ran a hand between them.

The flamedramon gasped as he felt the other boys package. He had never touched another boy before, and it felt electric. The bulge felt hot and moist in his hand, a mixture of sweat and sexual fluids left his hand damp.

"Oh god, do that again" Alex moaned into Gielles neck and the boy obliged as he have the bulge another squeeze, eliciting a moan and a thrust upwards from the boy underneath. Gielle felt both their clothes get tighter from the friction.

Gielle felt his shift lift up again as Alex pulled it off, Gielle lifting his arms up above his head as his slim torso was exposed. Alex found himself purring as he saw the slim body above him, the digimons white chest just showing signs of definition and two dark coloured nipples adorned his chest.

Alex leaned forward and dragged his tongue across a bud as he gave Gielle another squeeze on his ass. Gielle choked a bit from the huge pleasure hit he just received, his crotch throbbing harder as he was stimulated further. He could swear he almost shot his load then.

"Fermata indossata" Gielle panted as he wrapped his arms around Alexs neck and pulled him close. He panted as he felt a trail of sweat run down his naked back as those warm hands slid into the back of his pants to clutch at his rump. *Don't stop*

Maybe he understood Italian, or Gielles moans of pleasure were words enough, but Alex didn't stop his tongue from dancing over the flamedramons now hard nipples.

Gielle gasped as he felt his body get hotter as he straddled alexs midsection, the hybrids pulsing crotch buried against his ass as he started to grind against him as he felt his pleasure rise. He could feel Alexs bulge throb underneath him, reminding him that Alex was enjoying this as much as he was.

Gielle whimpered as he felt Alexs hands slide into the back of his underpants and grip his ass. His pleasure increased and his length throbbed with need as he panted harder, his heart racing.

"Alex.....I'm...." Gielle whimpered as he clutched Alexs head against his chest and gasped as his pulsing length throbbed and emptied straight into his pants as he choked on his breathe. His eyes felt like they were bulging out of his head as his body was tingling all over as his length throbbed. He lost count of how many times he spurted into his pants.

He heard Alex groan under him and he felt a wet spot against the base of his backside. He heard Alex whimper and felt him tremble as he realized the other boy had just climaxed as well. They both panted as their bodies rode out their orgasms before their strength left them and Alex fell onto his back, pulling Gielle back ontop of him.

The two of them panted hard as they lay with each other, their sweat covered bodies sticking together as they collected their breathes. They panted in somewhat silence together, neither having the strength to move.

"Did....did that just happen?" Alex panted as he tilted his head to look at the boy lying ontop of him. Gielles breathing slowly calmed down as he realized what they had both just done. It hit him quite hard as the reality of the situation collided with him.

"Y-yeah" Gielle said as he lifted his head up to look at Alex. "That....that just happened" he said, a thick and deep blush spreading across his cheek to match the fresh blush that Alex wore.

"Did....did you want ....that to happen?" Alex asked as his breathing finally started to come under control and his chest stopped moving about so quickly. He felt worried for a moment, like he had just taken advantage of him when his friend had been upset.

Gielle thought abuot it for a moment or two, which was all he needed for him to come up with his answer. He didn't want this to be another situation where people told him how he should feel about.

"I did" he admitted to him. "Maybe...maybe not in that way...or this quickly...." He admitted as his breathing slowed down as well.

"So...what happens now?" Alex asked as he placed a hand gently on Gielles back. He slowly rubbed his soft back up and down as he could smell the thick scent of boy musk and sweat in the air.

"Let's...just see what happens" Gielle said as he slowly pulled his arms in close and held onto Alexs warm torso. "I don't...want to worry right now" he admitted. He closed his eyes as he rested his head against Alexs hot to touch chest.

Alex nodded and slowly wrapped his arms around Gielle and held onto him as the two boys stayed close to each other. He closed his eyes as well as the two of them just rested in the afterglow of their orgasms. They would worry about details later. For now, they were too comfortable to move.