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School camp. He didn't know whether to be happy or depressed. Mark sighed. Crumpling the school admission paper into his bag again Mark put it by his bedroom door and went back to his homework, occasionally casting a glance in it's direction. Three hours later, and Mark had finished his homework. The clock on his desk read eight eighteen. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but if he was going on the school camping trip that would be lasting an entire week, plus an extra two days, he needed someone to sign the form and pay the fifty bucks for him. Getting up from his slightly comfy double bed Mark went to the door to his room, grabbed his bag, and took out the form again. After a week of being stuffed, removed, then stuffed back into his bag, the form looked like an abused dog. Not that anyone would abuse a dog in this day and age, especially with furre's everywhere. While Mark did go to a mixed school, he never really talked to anyone. The other humans were cruel, while the furre's were unapproachable, so after a month he just gave up on the lot of them and went about his life as best he could. Mark uncreased the paper, reading it for what was possibly the thousandth time. Though he just about had it memmorised, he still reread it, hoping for some small vital clue that would tell him whether he should or shouldn't go on this camping trip.

"Dear Parents, The Dippens middle school would like to announce a one week camping trip for students. While understandably this would give parents cause for concern that we will be taking them away from their much needed educations." Mark snorted after reading that line, as he always had after the second time he read it. "We would like to stay those fears, saying that the children involved will be learning about nature, will learn group bonding activities, and learn needed skills that will be applied in daily life. As an extra incentive to promote unity and well being, each human student will be paired with a furre counterpart. These pairs will perform tasks and jobs together, each learning about the other. A week after the end of the trip, the two students will need to write an essay together about what they learned during the trip." Mark reread that last sentence. He had a funny feeling about that meaning more than it said, but being all of fourteen years of age, he needed a bit more growing up before understanding the hidden meaning. Neglecting to reread the rest of the missive, Mark placed it upon his desk. A knock on the door and dad saying that dinner was ready was all Mark needed. Making sure the light, soft shirt he was wearing had no stains or other unpleasant things upon it, he went out to the kitchen to eat with his "family". His father (apparantly) was not above using a belt to tan his hide if he put so much as a toe out of line. Gods forbid there was a pigskin game on. Then the drinking came. If he was unlucky enough to be present when dad's team "lost"..... Mark blinked remembering the last time. He'd been hospitalised for three weeks. Mother hadn't done a single thing, and apart from lying around the house and getting the occaisional kick from dad, she never did anything.

"Big Game this weekend." Mark froze in the act of moving a forkfull of boiled veggies to his mouth. He barely breathed, glancing over to his father in his Foreman's clothing. "Yep, big game. Frankie said he was going to bet on the Chargers this time round. Normally I'd never bet against Frankie, but the Stingers are playing, and if they win this last game, they'll be in the running for the Cup. So I made a wager with Frankie. I saids to him 'Frankie me man, during this game I want to make a little bet with you. I want to bet with you that the Stingers will win, AND, I'm willing to wager three hundred on them winning.' Well of course Frankie couldn't say no to that. Three hundred would get him some nice time off, or a good present for that chick he keeps going on about, but that no one's seen him with." Mark's mother made a non commital grunt. "So anyways, we're wagering three hundred on the outcome of this game. Hopefully my Stingers'll win again somehow. But if they don't, it wont stop me from drinking and having fun." Mark finished the movement, suddenly finding it difficult to swallow the water logged vegetation. Deciding it was best to give it a shot now, then stay and await possible coma if the Stingers lost, Mark cleared his throat after swallowing.

"I have this school thing.." Mark's dad blinked, possibly wondering why Mark was speaking at all. "It's a school camping trip. I need fifty dollars and a signature to go. If I'm allowed to go, then I'll be learning about nature and stuff, and I wont be around the house for a full week." Mark sighed inwardly as dad perked up abit at the 'not around the house for a week' bit. Now how to make it sound like he really didn't want to go? "I mean, It's not like I want to go or anything. It's just tomorrow's the last day I have to bring in the form, and if I don't say that I at least tried to go, then I'd be in all sorts of strife with the teachers, and they'd be contacting you wondering if you were told. Then when you eventually said no you weren't, both you and I would be in trouble. So I'm just letting you know now that-"

"You're going." Mark blinked, turning to face his mother. Never once had she ever been a part of the dinner table discussion that happened randomly. Her rat tailed hair hung down in ragged brown streaks, while her clothing was something more suited to a prostitute's get up, Mark had learned to live with it early on, and get the fuck out of the way if she'd been anywhere near alcohol. She was almost as bad as dad when she'd been drinking, but unlike his father, her appetites when she'd been drinking leaned towards sex. Mark thought maybe he was put off girls for life. Anyway, he stopped drowning in memmories long enough to hear what she had to say about his hopefull going on camp.

"You can't be serious. We don't have the spare cash for him to be going on some field trip that'll last a week." His father almost yelled out.

"If you have three hundred dollars to be wasting on betting, he can have fifty for his trip. After all, he wont be in the house for a full week. Leaving us to do what we want with his room." Mark barely hid a shudder and his urge to retch. When he'd gotten back from the hospital he'd found his room in a mess. The sheets were filthy, there were stains in the carpeting and the matress itself, and everything in his room looked like it had been pawed through by some ravaging beast. Mark gave serious thought as to whether leaving his family for a week was worth having to clean up gods knew what when he returned.

"Fine, I'll sign the damed paper. When you bring it out to me I'll sign it and give you the money you need. Is there anything else I need to know about?" Mark shook his head lightly, keeping the fact that he needed to be driven to school before five AM, and picked up after ten PM on the return day. That, and some clothes, good shoes, and some old clothes that wont be needed again.

And that's how it was. Mark's father signed the slip and gave Mark the fifty dollars. Mark went to his room, quickly and quietly packed what he needed and went to sleep. The following school day had seemed rather hazy, but Mark handed in his slip and the fifty dollars to his home room teacher. She was an old wolf with a dark gray pelt, her eyebrows were starting to turn white, a sign of her age. He'd sat down, quietly reading and waiting for the bell to signify that lessons were starting, when he got touched by another student. Normally he'd be pleased beyond measure to have someone touch him in a non sexual way, but with the placement of the touching, he was unsure about the intention. Pulling his book down a touch, he looked both left and right of himself. To his left was another human avidly explainging to yet another human why it was the best thing in the world to have a furre for a girlfriend. Mark's cheeks coloured slightly at the unneeded information, and looked to his right. A cheetah boy, perhaps a little shorter than him was looking directly at him.

"What?" Mark asked, wondering if he could remove that tail without anyone noticing. If it kept flicking like that he was going to get a stiffy, and then he'd be in trouble. This being an all boy school.

"You're late." Mark blinked. He was late? He was never late for school. Opening his mouth to correct the cheetah he shut it almost as quickly. "I wouldn't have had a partner if you didn't put your slip in." Oh..

Nodding behind his book, Mark shifted in his chair, hoping to dislodge the tail, without success. Giving a soft sigh, he closed the book and looked at the cheetah. "I don't suppose you could remove your tail please?" The boy blinked fuzzy golden eyes, then slowly shook his head. "Why not?"

"Because as of today, we're both partners. I was the last one to be paired and as such, we have a lot to catch up on. You being human you wont know this but-" The bell rang, cutting off the boy. Mark grinned and grabbed his bag, putting his book away and heading for class.

Mark got through the entire day without seeing the boy again, much to his relief. He got home, did his chores for the week, did what homework he could, made sure everything was ready for tomorrow, then went to bed.

Mark woke up in the darkness of early morning. He lay in bed wondering what was going on before his alarm buzzed shrilly. He slapped it several times, his heart beating rapidly before he remembered. Quickly getting out of bed he rushed to the bathroom, showered, ate a small breakfast in darkness and went back to his room. There he undressed and redressed just as quickly. Grabbing the bag full of everything he should be needing for the next week, Mark went down stairs and opened the door. The half an hour long walk/jog to school was worth not waking his parents up. Neither did well with early morning rising. He walked into the school gates just as several cars pulled into the school's public parking lot. Lugging his bag to the school's wall he set it down and waited for the teachers to arrive. Shivering in the cold, he leaned against the stone wall.

"Mum, Dad, this is my partner for the camping trip." A shiver ran up Mark's spine. Great, so now we have to meet our appointed partner's parents as well? "His name's Mark." Mark's first and only thought to overhearing that, was Shit... Turning to his right, Mark barely made out the cheetah boy from yesterday. Behind him stood two much larger versions of himself, yet one was most deffinately female, her stomach extending with the signs of an advanced pregnancy. Mark raised his hand and gave a tiny, non commital wave, but offered a slight bow to the female. The cheetah's waved back with black and golden paws. The boy's father, still grinning cheerfully, steered his son away from Mark and the other soon to be campers. Even though he probably thought he was out of normal human hearing before he talked to his son, Mark still overheard him.

"Evin, are you sure about this? You remember what happenned the last time you went on a week long camping trip with a human, don't you?" Evin's eyes darted over to Mark who made sure not to look anywhere near the two.

"Yeah, I know, but this time I swear he's allright. What happenned last year was an accident, nothing more. That, and I got too deffensive. Honestly, it's not going to happen again, I swear!"

The elder male nodded, still keeping his firm grip upon Evin's shoulder. "I know son, I'm just making sure. You look after him though. Humans are very easy to confuse, and they should be guided gently to making the right choice, without it appearing that we did anything to influence them. Remember to slowly ease him into touching, don't just grab him and expect him to understand."

Evin nodded. "I know dad, I was just scared and he took it the wrong way. So long as we're not stuck in our tent, alone, in the middle of a thunderstorm, nothing bad will happen to me, or him. I'll make sure." The older male cheetah nodded, patting his son's back softly. He flicked an ear in Mark's direction and Evin immediately walked towards him. Mark tried to just lean against the stone wall and imagine he hadn't overheard a single word, though he was now extremely curious as to what happenned last year.

"So, you're the human that will be my son's partner during the camping trip?" Mark nodded slowly, his back still against the cold stone wall. Evin's father looked around. "Where might I find your parents?"

Mark blinked once, thinking the question through before answering. "In bed. I thought it best not to wake them and to get here on my own. Wouldn't be the first time I had to sit in the cold." Evin's father's tail gave a single swat before raising back up in a low loop.

"I see. Would I be correct in assuming that you know nothing about our culture?" Mark nodded. Why lie? "Hmmph, You're going to have your work cut out for you Evin. Try to be gentle." Mark raised an eyebrow at that. Gentle..? Shaking his head and yawning widely Mark looked around in the gloom and spotted a maths teacher. Mr Edmonds had been teaching maths for well over twenty years. Forty-nine years of age, 'And still going strong!' by his account. Mark watched as a few other human teachers arrived, shivering as a particularly cold gust of wind blew right through his cotton shirt and shorts. He was just about to go ripping through his bag looking for something warm to put on, when he was suddenly hugged by fuzzy heat. Looking just to his right, and down a touch, Mark saw that Evin had noticed his condition, walked the few steps towards him, and wrapped him up in a fuzzy hugg full of much needed heat and warmth.

"Thankyou." Said Mark softly. Evin's face raised from his chest, a wicked looking smile plastered upon his oddly shaped face.

"No problem, It's what I'm here for. Oh, something you may find interresting. A furre's body temperature is about three degrees higher than a human's. While three degrees doesn't seem like much, put in context with the fact that if a human's temperature reaches 103* Fahrenheit, it shuts down and fails. Three degrees is alot." Mark blinked, absorbing the information slowly through his slightly muddled brain.

"Oh... I'll remember that.." Evin smiled again, and Mark felt himself getting the beginnings of a boner after running that information through his head again. Much to his dismay and discomfort.

"Oi! You Two!" Mark cringed at hearing that overly loud voice. Something about his voice always made his ears hurt. "Get away from each other. You're here to go on a camping trip, not stand around and hugg like a bunch of queer choir boys!" Most of the students present laughed at the pair. All of them seemed to be human though. A burning face and a carefull nudge helped him extract Evin's delicious heat from his body. Now he was left with a hot spot around his front that was rapidly being chilled. Sighing and hugging himself again to keep warm, he failed to notice the scrutiny that Evin's parents were giving him. They both shared a look between themselves.

"It is now five fifteen. Students make sure you have everything, the bus' will be ariving shortly." Miss Dawlins, yet another human teacher. Mark frowned, a funny feeling nagging at the back of his mind about this trip. Then again, someone could be blowing a dog whistle. Well anyway, he stood in line with the other students as the bus' arrived, and he carefully loaded his bag onto the bus making sure that the bus driver didn't touch it. He'd have a difficult time explaining why it was so heavy.

An extremely light and hesitant tap upon his shoulder made him turn around. Evin stood behind him struggling with his own bag. "Could you possibly help me with this?" Mark nodded. Shooing Evin away from his bag, he easily hefted it up and slid it accross the metal baggage floor. Evin made a small 'o' of surprise. His task done, Mark went to rest against the cold stone wall around the school as Evin hugged his parents goodbye.

"Mark Summers, Evin Quickpaw." So his last name's Quickpaw huh? Both Mark and Evin made their way to the teacher who told them that they would be sharing seats thirteen A and B. Carefully stepping up the small quarter spiral steps, both Evin and Mark made thier way to row thirteen.

"You want the window or the aisle?" Asked Mark to the furre behind him.

"Aisle if you'd be kind enough to allow it.." Mark sat down quickly, taking the window seat and giving the aisle seat to Evin. Mark sat there, doing nothing but watching the other students pile into the bus. Finally, two teachers took the front two seats and the bus driver got in. Sitting down he pulled a lever that closed the doors. Miss Dawlins got up and stood in the aisle of the bus.

"Everyone, I'm to lay down a few rules for the trip. Firstly, The school will not be responsible for loss of any items upon this entire trip. Should you lose something on the bus, or at our destination, you and you alone will be liable. Secondly, Marty would like us to tell you that under no circumstances are there to be any food or drink items upon this bus. And thirdly..." Miss Dawlins trailed off, looking to the other teacher there.

"Thirdly, you rotten little shits will be our responsibility for almost a week and a half, so no getting lost, sick, or morbidly ill untill you're back in civilisation." Miss Dawlins' mouth opened in shock, her cheeks staining red. The other teacher looked up at her. "What? We're not on school premesis, and they should know the truth. Besides, I doubt they're unaccostomed to swearing. Honestly, Every day two of the little shits round me out just because I 'Pass their territory'."

"Mr Williams that is Quite Enough!" A few students in back giggled, but those towards the middle and front didn't so much as twitch. "Unless you wish to be left here like an errant child, you will behave yourself sir." Miss Dawlins still looked at him crossly, as though expecting something retaliatory from Mr Williams. However he simply nodded stiffly, before turning to face the front of the bus. Heaving a hmmph, Miss Dawlins turned around and whispered something to the bus driver, he nodded and started up the bus. Miss Dawlins sat down next to Mr Williams, speaking softly to him. The bus rumbled to life below the butts of the students, and slowly turned out of the school's public parking lot and headed out of the city.

A full two hours into the trip and Mark was already bored. He had nothing to do except look out the window, or talk to Evin. Neither of which was very appealing to him. On one hand, he was passing through areas he'd never been to. On the other hand, Evin was from a group of people that he knew almost nothing about. All he knew was that they were called the beast people, and that their body temperatures were about three degrees higher than his own. That was not alot of information. He yawned widely in the morning sunlight. He'd gotten up at around three thirty that morning, he knew nothing about where they were going, and what he did know was that he was partnered with a furre so as to increase his awareness of them. Mark closed his eyes and leaned back, listening to the students around him talk, and trying to think about the essay he was going to have to wright a week after this trip had finished. I wonder how bad they'll trash my room this time? Mark turned unconsciously towards the warm body that was sitting next to him, slowly drifting off to sleep.

Mark rubbed his face against something that was fuzzy and hot. It was cold, and there was something over him to keep him warm, but the fuzzy thing he was pressed up against was what was keeping him warm and stopping him from shivering. One hand moved from his own thigh and slowly went up against the grain of the fuzzy fur, making it fluff under his hand. Warmth spread from the contact, giving him a pleasant feeling. He put his right arm around the fuzzy thing, feeling that it was familiar somehow. He was about to open his eyes when..

Mark got poked in the shoulder, hard. He opened his eyes and yawned widely. "I'm up, I'm up." He stretched upwards before realising he was sitting down. He looked over to Evin, who had a funny smile on his muzzle. "What?" Mark asked.

Evin shook his head, the grin fading. "We're here."

"We're here?" Evin nodded as the bus turned a corner. Mark blinked and looked out the window to his right. Indeed, they were here. Huge green trees lined a small driveable pathway that they were now taking. Large boulders were spread along the increasingly rising track. Something large and deep blue could be seen in small gaps in the tree leaves, untill eventually there was nothing but rock. Mark almost wet himself, seeing that there was nothing but a few inches of rock seperating everyone in the bus from a fall of over three hundred feet. Below them, and stretching far away, was a large semi-oval body of water that was dyed a deep blue. Mark turned back to Evin when he felt a light paw grasp his shoulder.

"I know you're terrified about what's only a small slip away, but if you grip any tighter, you just might crush the armrest." Mark blinked, then hastily released his grip from the straining metal. The faint handprint he left there in the painted metal wasn't something anyone could do. Mark fidgeted, waiting for Evin to say the inevitable. "Wow, I guess they just don't make things the way they used to.." Mark blinked, before smiling nervously.

Coughing once or twice, Mark replied. "Ye-yeah.. I guess they don't." Mark's nervous grin quavered slightly, his eyes fearful.

Evin smiled, patting his shoulder lightly. "Don't worry about it, I wont tell no one you almost broke some cheap metal. However, you have to promise one thing if I do." Mark closed his eyes and hung his head. Of course, always a catch.. "If we're in the group that camps out, You have to promise to sleep with me." Mark's head came up so fast it was a wonder it didn't snap off. Mark mouthed the word, making it a question. Evin nodded, his ears flat against his skull. "You .. uhhhh .. You don't have to if you don't want to, I just wanted to know what your reaction would be." Evin gave a nervous laugh, somehow feeling sick.

"No no, I'd love to. You'd probably keep my warm at night." Mark smiled genuinely, completely forgetting about the drop that was only a few inches away, and soon to be a few meters and more behind him. Evin's ears flipped forwards, his eyes bugging out slightly. Then the second meaning of what Mark could have meant hit him. Evin coughed hard, bending forwards over the seat. Mark patted his back softly through the thin white shirt. "You okay Evin?" Evin nodded, getting himself under control. Evin thought to himself that this time away from society would be fun, very fun.

The bus slowly turned left, easing up the rest of the gravel road before coming to a slow halt in front of a log cabin. All the students started getting up from their seats, and made to head for the doors. Miss Dawlins got up and stood in the aisle. "BE SEATED!" Everyone sat, though Evin and Mark hadn't made a move to get up, too busy concentrating on getting themselves under control. "Now, while I do understand that everyone would like to get off and stretch their legs, We're going to do this civily and efficiently. The seats closest to the doors will empty first. That means Mr Williams, myself, and Marty. Then each row of seats after us may get up and depart the bus. I do not want to hear foul language, nor see any pushing and shoving. Everyone's tired and irritable after such a long drive so try not to make things worse for yourself and everyone else." So saying, she nodded to Marty, who opened the door and allowed them to leave the bus. Marty immediately moved to the luggage compartment of the bus, opened the door and started removing bags. Miss Dawlins pulled out a clip board and held a pen ready. "All right, line up and exit propperly." There were grumbles all around at that, but the students complied, however sullenly.

Each row emptied slowly, and Mark gained a feeling of unease the longer it took for everyone to get off. His and Evin's row was just starting to get up and it had already been a half an hour! Evin got up to join the slowly moving line, but got shoved back down by a bigger kid. Mark glared at him.

"Animals wait their turn." He made to move on, but Mark stopped him.

"You're right, animals can wait their turn. Evin, this animal is waiting for you to take your spot in the line." Evin gave him a worried look, but didn't move. Mark nodded his head to the aisle, and the small gap that was growing larger. "Go on. He reckons he can pick on you just because you look weaker than him. However I wont take anyone slandering my partner when I can stop it." Evin gave a worried nod, and cautiously stood up. Mark slid accross the seats, watching the other young boy glower at the two of them. Finally, Mark stood up, being carefull to place himself between Evin and the guy behind him. The guy swore softly, Mark's sharp hearing catching it as his feeling of uneasyness grew. Keeping part of his mind upon the guy behind him, Mark followed the slow line of students out of the bus. Evin was standing upon the bottom step, while Miss Dawlins had called the last few students away to pick up their bags and told them to move over to the lodge. The guy behind Mark reached over him and shoved Evin hard in the back of the head. He leaned forwards, arms windmilling to regain his balance, trying to stay upon the last step.

Only Mark saw the danger while others started to laugh. A broken piece of rusted pipe poked out of the rocky ground, it's jagged edge poking up three inches from the rock. His mind calculated instantly, already knowing that Evin would hit it, and the resulting wound would be fatal. He moved quickly, grabbing Evin and swinging him round so that he fell backwards with Evin to fall ontop of him. To Mark, it appeared that everything now moved faster, but in actual fact his brain was simply slowing back down to normal functions. Mark held Evin tight to him while they fell. They both landed with an Ommph, Evin more so than Mark. Evin's head lightly hit the rocky ground to the right of Mark's head, while to the left the sharp spike of metal glinted with dull rust. It was almost like it resented not taking it's intended life.

"HOW DARE YOU! I SAID TO WAIT UPON THE BUS, INSTEAD, WHEN I COME BACK YOU'RE PLAYING IN THE DUST!" Miss Dawlins came trotting around the bus, sidestepping luggage that was spread in a small circle around the still open baggage compartment. Mr Williams followed close behind, looking as though he had just been rounded out. Even though his face was slightly pale, he still walked with authority. Mr Williams arrived shortly after Miss Dawlins. Miss Dawlins reached down an aging hand to grab Evin by the collar of his shirt and haul him upwards.

"Amelia, Stop!" Amelia? Miss Dawlins' hand froze where it was. She turned to face Mr Williams. However, Mr Williams was no longer right behind her. He was kneeling at Mark's head, his left hand lightly touching the spike of rusted metal jutting out from the ground. He looked down into Mark's angry gaze.

"Judging by the position, if you hadn't had intervened, young Evin would now be dead, yes?" Mark felt Evin semi faint on top of him. His breathing slowed and his muscles greatly relaxed.

Mark nodded from underneath Evin. "Yeah. If I hadn't of grabbed him and twisted us away from it, yes, he would have died." Mark leaned his head towards Evin's left ear and whispered. "Can you get up Evin?" Evin nodded weakly, and slowly got up, helped by both Mr Williams and Miss Dawlins. With Evin up, Mark also got up, dusting himself off.

"So, was it just an accident?" Mark shook his head slowly, before Evin placed a slightly shaking paw upon his arm. Mark looked into those eyes that had shown such warmth a moment ago.

"It was an accident. I lost my balance and fell forwards." Mark blinked. He opened his mouth to protest, but Evin beat him to it. The cheetah boy leaned close and whispered softly. "Please, it was just an accident." Mark gave a sigh, casting a glance to the guy that had caused all of this.

"Yeah, it was an accident. I plan to make sure such accidents never happen again." Evin's paw gripped his arm a little tighter.

"Well, Maybe you'd like to get a head start on everyone?" Both Mark and Evin blinked. Head start..? Mr Williams nodded at Mark's confused look. "Well you see, the whole point of everyone coming up here is so that we can throw you into the wild, and see how you cope. Those that last untill Sunday without sending out a distress call, wont have to write the essay a week later." The students around the bus let out a hissed 'Yes!' "However, the first pair that send out a distress signal, have to write double the length." Some groans from the bus, but that was an otherwise acceptable punishment. Mr Williams turned to the students still on the bus. "Come on out, it's pointless for you all to be standing there waiting untill Miss high and mighty's ready for you." Miss Dawlins let out an aggravated hiss, much like a cat would before swiping.

Mr Williams turned to Miss Dawlins as the remaining students filed from the bus and milled around. "Please... You claimed that this was the most efficient way to deal with everything. However, had the students all gotten off, the bags would have been unpacked earlier, and we would already be preparing for tonight and tomorrow."

Miss Dawlins' size seemed to increase. "You listen to me Mr Williams. My plan was extremely efficient. There was no problem with my plan. The problem lies in the ineffectiveness of you and the students." Mark sighed. They were going to be at this for ages. Looking towards the boy that had almost killed Evin, he frowned as he watched him talking to a few others. Mark was just about to step closer when someone came jogging around the back end of the bus. A tall fox morph, just a few inches shy of seven feet, appeared. Dressed in some light cotton fabric, he slowly eased himself between the heated discussion going on between Mr Williams and Miss Dawlins.

"George, pleasure to see you again." Called out the beautifully bright orange coloured fox. Mr Williams smiled, breaking away from Miss Dawlins' glare.

"Martin! You old dog, How long have you been waiting for us to come up to the cabin?" Mr Williams clasped hands/paws with the fox, who was smiling as well.

"Oh, about three hours. So how's that she demon of yours been treating you?" Mr Williams grin, if it was possible, got even bigger. His eyes glanced over to Miss Dawlins' glowering face.

"Oh not too bad. I'd say she was due to be serviced a while back, but of course she's being a real pickle to get around." The fox nodded his head.

"Aye, she will at that." Mr Williams and the fox leaned close together and touched foreheads with one another, making Mark and a fair number of the remaining human students blink.

Evin tugged gently upon Mark's arm. Noticing, he leaned his head closer to Evin's muzzle. "They're brothers." Mark raised his head so that he could look Evin in the face. Evin nodded. "I know, but it's true. They were probably raised by the same female and brought up as siblings. Though him being human would mean they're not blood related. That's why they used the strong bond symbol. When two touch their foreheads together, it means they have close ties with the other person. It could mean anything from a very close friendship, brotherhood, or even.... a relationship of a sexual nature." Mark turned his gaze back to George and Martin. They grasped each other in a tight hugg before whispering excitedly to one another. Miss Dawlins looked about as PO'ed as one could get, and she was busy telling everyone to grab their bags and walk to the cabin. She said that the rest of the students would be there, seeing as Mr Surefoot was here.

Mark turned back to Evin, who was about to move to the luggage to get his bag. "So this," Mark manouvered Evin a little untill he could do what George and Martin had just done. Pressing his slightly sweat slicked brow to Evin's yellow gold and black obsidian fuzzy forehead, he finished what he was asking. "Means a strong bond?"

Evin jerked away from the contact, a few of the furre's nearby sniggered. Evin backed away towards the luggage, and gently shook his head. "No, just the forehead press means that the one innitiating it either wants to fight, or feels superior to the other person. Do you remember how they did it?" Mark nodded.

"Yeah, they clasped hands first." Evin nodded.

"That's right. Both of them clasped their hands together before touching foreheads." Evin walked and talked. Explaining the minor, yet massive differences between the two forms of communication. When he huffed trying to pull up his bag, Mark grabbed it and raised it easily, after putting his own fully packed backpack on. Walking along a pathway, away from the bus and the still happily talking males, Evin continued explaining the differences that could mean anything from a polite greeting, to a veiled threat. Mark nodded and yawned, taking the information in as they made their way up the path untill finally reaching the cabin.

Several students were sitting upon their bags and talking to each other quietly. Evin lead Mark over to a log and they both sat down together, Evin still talking and explaining. Finally Mark had to put a stop to it. "Evin, please." Evin stopped speaking. "All of this is very, very interresting, and I'd really like to know more, but untill we know more about this trip, can it wait please?" Evin looked sad, but nodded. Mark moved his arm around Evin's shoulder and gave him a buddy hugg. "Hey, I understand what you meant about me having alot to catch up on. And if we actually do get tents, I intend to keep my promise." Evin's gaze clouded for a moment, before he coughed and looked away.

Mark smiled, then focused upon Mr Williams as he made his way up the path, the fox and Miss Dawlins coming up behind him. "May I have everyone's attention?" Students all around looked to him. Furre and human waited and listened to their current teacher. Mr Williams raised an eyebrow. "Well.. Some of you may know this already, but here on this trip, You'll be sent out with your partner to 'Brave the Wilds'." A few human boys shuddered. Mr Williams smiled. "Your furre counterparts have already been taught about the surrounding area. If you don't listen to your partner, you will fail this camping trip survival test." A student raised his hand. "Yes?"

"Sir, wasn't this just supposed to be a camping trip? A week where we could play around and have fun?"

Mr Williams smiled. "While that would normally be true, you lucky sods were selected for a certain course. Depending upon how well you do here, you may or may not have a future with certain people." A number of hands raised after that little piece of information, but Mr Williams shook his head. "No more questions. Inside the cabin you will find tents, sheets, supplies, and a distress beacon. In order to activate the distress beacon, all you have to do is twist the sides and pull. The tube will grow longer, and the glass head will start to flash. Within the next hour you'll be picked up. You'll be brought back to the cabin to spend the rest of your days in civilised comfort. That means hot water, beds, plumbing, and a tv with access to some DVD's to watch." A few students were looking at each other, as though looking to see if they'd missed something. "Of course, the first person to activate their distress beacon will have to write double the length on their essay, while the last surviving pair wont have to write one at all." George motioned towards the cabin. "Humans, go grab two bags from inside. They'll be seperated into two completely seperate packs. The bags on the left will have everything needed to set up tents, along with blow up air mattress'. The bags on the right will be packed full with food packages, canteens, maps of the area, and everything needed to eat and wash yourselves. Go." All of the humans in the class bar one stood up and headed into the cabin. Almost everyone was grumbling about this being unfair, and illegal. Mark sat next to Evin on the log, waiting to hear the rest of what Mr Williams was saying. George noticed this. "You're not going?"

Mark shook his head. "There should be two bags left when everyone's finished, I want to know what my partner has to do. I don't mind lugging everything, so long as Evin doesn't have anything too difficult to do." Mark was suddenly the centre of attention. The teachers, and all of the Furre's in the group, stared at him. Mark blinked. "Did I say something wrong?"

Mr Williams nodded. "You're nowhere near strong enough to carry everything. I can carry the tent pack easily on my own, but you have your backpack, along with Evin's bag. You wont be able to carry everything." Mark just shook his head. He'd been at the school for a year, and still they didn't realise. "Well, anyway," Mr Williams turned his attention back to the Furre's. "You lot should know what you need to do already, but just to recap. You will be going out into the wild and searching for a suitable place to make camp. The further you are from the cabin, the better. That will discourage any of your counterparts activating the distress beacon just to watch tv. Now, while I don't mean to alarm you, I have to let you know that there are feral animals here. And by feral I mean actual animals. Your scents should keep them away from you and your human partners, but if you do get attacked I want you to activate the beacon and run." A gazelle raised a furred four fingered hand. "Yes Fred?"

"How dangerous are the animals here sir?"

Mr Williams shook his head slowly as a crash came from the cabin. "I wont lie to you. There are a few grizzly's around here, and a young male's been seen rummaging through the garbage looking for food. Also, the females will be coming into season soon, so he may be aggressive and easily angered. Should you have any suspicions that there are bears near you, leave your camp, activate the beacon, and either return to the cabin, or climb up a high tree." A few of the furre's shuffled where they stood or sat. "Also, you are here to evaluate your partners. I want you to tell me how well they fit you, your species, your specific animalistic qualities. I need information on how they act towards you, how they treat you. The essay a week after this trip will help those certain people I mentioned earlier, but what they need more than anything is your input. If your partner is cruel, cold, and destructive, don't give him a good representation, you will only cause others harm." One of the human students came out of the cabin carrying a slightly beat up student. Mr Williams, Miss Dawlins, and Mr Surefoot jogged over to the pair. "What happenned?"

"It was Tony sir, Michael grabbed a bag and Tony said that that was his, Michael didn't give it up, so Tony hit him." Mr Williams nodded, his face hard.

"Well, He'll be fine." Mr Williams turned to the group of furres. "Who's Michael's partner?" A young light brown bovine stuck up his hand, horns just starting to grow. "Name?"

"Geoffery Thickskin." Mr Williams motioned him over.

"Take care of your partner. But before you leave, go inside, grab two bags, then take your partner out to a safe site. You should be strong enough, but if you need to, leave a bag or two here and come back for them later." Geoffery nodded his head before ducking under the cabin's doorway. Mr Williams sat Michael down upon the step of the Cabin, before Geoffery came out with two bags, one significantly larger than the other. Mr Williams helped him with the bags, then gave the woozy Michael his and Geoffery's bag of clothes. Michael struggled under the weight, but he and Geoffery made their way down the track and into the surrounding shrub. "Well then, I'll be having a talk with Tony. Everyone else, help your partner with their gear, then go." Mr Williams went inside, then the rest of the humans came out. All of them were struggling with two bags each, before their partners helped lighten their loads.

Mark turned to Evin, who was watching the trail that the first pair had gone down. "Well, I don't suppose you know where we are, and have a place picked out already?" Evin jumped upon the log, then turned to face Mark.

Shaking his head, he answered. "No, not really. I've been here once before with my parents, but I don't think I'd be able to find the place we were at again. Dad said something about it being a special place that only he and mum could find. I know we walked straight through what I would have sworn was thick bramble to get to it." Evin frowned, one paw resting near Mark's leg while the other scratched behind his fuzzy head.

"Not to worry, I'm sure we'll find a nice quiet spot where we can enjoy our time together." Evin nodded, somewhat confused as to how he'd protect Mark if a bear did attack the camp.

"Right then." Both Mark and Evin jumped hearing Mr Williams voice clearly from inside the little cabin. "Unless you want detentions for the next three months, you will grab two bags, and leave with your partner. They're all the same, there's nothing different about them. Do it now." Mark got up from the log, and walked to the door of the cabin. Ducking his head inside he saw the guy from before, Tony, in the corner, glaring up at Mr Williams. Shifting his gaze to the right, Mark saw two bags near the entrance to the cabin. Ignoring what was going on, he picked them up casually and walked out the door. Back in the sunlight, he skirted around the other students that were milling around, listening to Tony being chewed out by Mr Williams. Mark nodded his head to Evin as he came up to him, eyes wide at the amount of weight he was carrying.

"Wow, you must be really strong! So that armrest on the bus.." Evin shut his mouth, scenting the fear coming off of Mark. "Sorry, wont talk about it again. But what are we going to do? I can't find the place that my parents went to, not on my own." Mark offered a shrug, the bags slowing the movement down considerably.

"I suppose we could just pick a direction and walk it for an hour or two." Mark watched as Evin thought about it, then watched as he slowly turned around in a small circle. He stopped, facing towards a glimmering light away from the cliff face they had come up.

"How about that way? It looks like there's a small lake over there, it'd be perfect for swimming and bathing in if no one else was around." Evin looked back over his shoulder at his partner. Mark nodded at him, hefting the bags untill they sat right upon his frame, then he started moving, like an over burdened pack mule. Evin moved towards him, his eyes overflowing with concern. Mark shook his head in warning, being careful to put his foot down on solid ground before moving forwards. It wasn't that it was too heavy, it was the fact that it wasn't balanced entirely right. Evin paused, worried that Mark was over extending himself.

"Move it Evin, I need you in front so I can see where I'm going." Evin gave a soft sigh, doing as he was told. He gave a half serious thought that the camping trip wouldn't be so fun, but then he reminded himself of what he'd seen sitting next to Mark's sleeping form. The joy returned, and Evin moved forwards, leaving a path for Mark to follow. He never went too far, only enough to be ahead as Mark carried everything they needed upon his back. Mark watched his footing, being careful to watch where Evin put his nimble feet. He was sure to watch each careful step, each light half jump that made him land effortlessly upon the rocky soil. Made sure to watch the tail swing and dance, inscribing small arcs as it rose and fell with each small jump. He remembered watching how Evin's shorts moved with his lengthy tail, how it seemed to allow full movement while keeping the fur covered. That was when he fell. He'd had a brief moment to think that he'd been watching another guy's ass when his face hit the ground.

"Mark! Mark! Are you Okay?" Mark mumbled something about tails and rockdust. Evin shook his head. He had to have heard wrong. He tried again, pushing the human as hard as he could, and still barely budging him underneath all that weight. "Mark, please get up, I need you." A strong hand suddenly wrapped around his ankle, causing him to shriek and fall backwards into the dirt and rock.

"Damn your cute tail." Mark blinked stupidly. Evin gaped in shock. Thoughts whirled through his gold and obsidian head.

"You think my tail is cute?" Mark shook himself, both physically and mentally. He put his hands flat to the ground and pushed. He heaved with muscles that weren't entirely human to thrust himself and the weight he carried up. Evin got to his feet and moved closer to help, his shock starting to wear off. "Don't touch me." It was immediate, harsh, but if Evin touched him, Mark wasn't sure what would happen. Evin gave teary eyes and nodded, a mask slipping over his furred visage. There was a type of serene calm coming from Evin's face, but any furre inside of a hundred metre's would have been able to tell exactly what the problem was, and find themselves flabbergasted in trying to explain it. Mark moved slowly, pulling his knees underneath him and concentrating upon balancing the weight upon his back. He moved slowly, carefully, keeping his eyes locked upon the ground and nowhere near Evin.

Evin gave a hiccuping sob before controlling himself. He turned around and started walking, already preparing for a very miserable week. He had been hoping that maybe, just maybe, Mark would be the one. He'd had his doubts, but his hope had rekindled the last day for the permission slips to be handed in, watching Mark drop it and the money into the home room teacher's paws. He'd forbidden himself from touching the human, but his tail had moved unbidden, to curl and uncurl in his lap. Evin gave a soft sigh, trudging wearily through the brush, Mark trudging behind him.

Mark was having his own trip down memmory lane, nothing as pleasant as what Evin was remembering. Suffice to say a drunken mother crawling naked into his bed to retch upon him and demand that he pleasure her was the gist of the memmory. (No more will be said about this, for this is the time for bonding and merriment, Or I'm no Demon.) If Mark hadn't been held up in his own personal nightmare, he probably would have noticed the sigh and tried appologising, but he was too far gone in his own misery to recognise the signs. Evin stopped abruptly and Mark damn near walked over him! Holding back his tongue, he looked around to see what the hold up was. A perfect clearing of shorn grass met his eyes. He made a soft whistle. There was enough room for seven people with four man tents to sleep comfortably. He caught a slight movement, and saw Evin's paw pointing to a side close to the long grass that they had just been trudging through for almost an hour. He made his way over to it and carefully set the bags down. The tent bag went first, then the food bag, then Evin's then his own bag.

Mark sat in the small circle of bags, shivering without realising it. He wanted so badly to be hugged, told that it was all a nightmare, that it wasn't real. But it was, and had been for several years.

Evin sniffed the air with his sensitive nose, turned, and found himself facing Mark who was about to go into a nervous breakdown. Evin's gae little heart almost broke in sorrow at the thought that he had caused Mark such pain and terror simply by trying to help him up. He turned to leave for a few hours to allow Mark to settle, when his ears turned behind him as he heard, or thought he heard, the sounds of a zipper being drawn down. Evin turned, blinking stupidly and watching as Mark stood, stripping himself off. He took careful pains to put everything in a precisely neat pile, along with certain belongings. Then, fully nude, he went searching through his own bag. Evin had a wild thought that maybe he was going for something intimately pleasureable, but when he pulled out a sharp hunting knife, he looked away, unconcerned. He'd taken two steps towards the tall grasses when every little clue and piece of the puzzle coalesced. He turned, watching in horror/fear as Mark raised the blade, getting a firm two handed grip upon the backwards facing blade. He brought the tip down to touch skin, then pulled away. Evin was running for Mark before he saw the muscles start to strain to hold the blade still so that it could pierce the flesh easily.

Evin did the only thing his muddled brain could think of to do in such a volatile situation. Taking a flying leap, Evin landed upon Mark, slipping his arms under Mark's, and behind his head. He pulled his head after them and lip locked with Mark. Evin knew he only had a fraction of a moment, and he begged forgiveness from Mark mentally before he did it. Evin opened himself up to Mark, and almost died as a consequence. Evin swam through fear and pain, abuse, molestation, rage, sorrow. Such drowning sorrow that one could only hope there was an end to it, a small bit of land to hang onto and avoid drowning. Evin swam and searched, looking and then finding it! There was a small island within that drowning pit, a small lump of substance that only wanted a few things from this world that hurt and tormented it so. To be cherished, to be loved, and to be cared for. Evin gave it everything he could, and more. Evin filled that small piece of positive space with love. Filled it with the need he felt for Mark even now, heartbroken as he was by this betrayal of trust. He also gave it the caring spark he had carried for Mark ever since he'd lain eyes upon him last year. The raging sea of sorrow crystalised, held at bay for the moment. Evin left the place he'd found within Mark, and found himself looking into the face that he had often humped his pillows over.

Mark's tearful, fearful, raw eyes looked into Evin's. He wanted to ask Evin something, but was too choked up to even stutter. Evin did everything for him. Leaning close, Evin softly frenched Mark, making sure to be gentle. He felt a response under him, a very large and willing response. Evin let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, and found something sharp sticking into his back. He looked behind him to see the point of the hunting knife digging into his shirt and between his shoulder blades. The hands dropped limp, and the blade fell with them, a quarter inch of the tip soaked with Evin's blood. Evin turned his eyes back to Mark's, seeing horror, shame, and the dreadful tide of sorrow rise up to crash back against that little place that wanted so very little.

"I love you." Mark's heart stopped. Beated. Stopped again. Mark scrabbled at his chest, feeling like he was burning from the inside out. Evin repeated his words, gripping one of Mark's hands and placing it against his chest. "I love you, feel my heart and know it bears no lies. I love you heart, mind, body and soul, and will be yours if you will take me." Mark looked at him, stricken, half hoping, half fearing. Evin kissed him again, rubbing his lithe body along Mark's to prove he was serious. He found a hard sausage poking into his shirt and belly. Letting a paw trail down to it, he couldn't believe the size of the thing he held in his paws. His eyes boggled over it, wondering if even his father could take such a length. He kissed Mark again, then kissed his cheeks, his brow, his cute nose. Mark let out a sob and Hugged Evin tight, which caused Evin to be extremely uncomfortable. Finally, he bit Mark's nose to get his attention. When Mark understood what was happening, Evin was released immediately, appologies flying from Mark's lips.

Evin held up a gold and black paw to Mark's lips, caressing gently. "Do you accept me?" Mark blinked.

"Of course, so long as you swear to hugg me sometimes." Evin smiled, placing a paw upon Mark's chest. He pushed gently, taking and giving to Mark. Mark blinked rapidly, then, "I accept you in heart and mind, body and soul, Mate eternal till the oldest depths of death make me forget this vow."

Mark blinked.

Evin blinked.

Where the Hell had that come from? Both asked the question at the same time, within their own minds. For a moment their minds meshed, melded, then they were forcefully seperated by walls that encompassed them entirely, but these walls had keys. Mark and Evin blinked at one another, each intimately aware of the other, and what to do. Mark pushed the feelings aside, trying to remember what he was meant to be doing, the blade forgotten with the knowledge that Evin would protect him. Blushing, Mark raised Evin from him and placed him to the side, rolling over and grabbing the underwear he had taken off to avoid staining them with blood. Still blushing, he pulled them up his lilly white ass feeling Evin's heated gaze.

Mark slowly turned around, blushing so hard it felt like his face was going to melt. He barely met Evin's laughing eyes before the cheetah boy rolled towards him, a gold and black paw trailing up his leg. The colour in Mark's face drained as suddenly as it had flowed in, the swelling within his underwear decreased dramatically as Evin unintentionally did something that his mother had done to him a few weeks ago.

Mark stepped back and picked up the tent bag, rummaging through it and picking out the simple instructions for setting up the tent. He glanced over them, trying to ignore Evin and his sudden need to touch him. To rub against him, to put his hands in places that were dark and private. Mark blushed again, trying to focus upon setting up the tent, forcing the strange new feelings away. Memmorising the first few steps, Mark removed the bags from the large tent bag. Each was different in size, some holding poles for the tent, others the tent pegs and ropes. In two seperate areas were the base of the entire tent, and the top frame that covered it to stop the people and items inside it from getting wet.

"Evin..?" The other boy was at his side in an instant. Mark blinked, hiding his surprise. Looking down into Evin's open, caring eyes he had to remind himself that he was a school boy, on camp, and he was in the middle of setting up a tent for the both of them to use. "I-I just wanted you to pick a level spot, then help me scour the area for sticks and stones. Don't wanna be sleeping on something hard." Evin grinned slowly.

"I wouldn't mind sleeping with something hard in me." He turned and moved off a bit, leaving Mark puzzled enough to form his own thoughts. Mark shook himself and moved to help Evin out, digging carefully through the soil to dislodge small and large rocks, tossing sticks to the side for later use if it got cold tonight. Evin took his lead, tossing the rocks he found into the brush, while tossing the sticks at the small pile that Mark had made. Finally the two of them had cleared an area that was roughly three metre's square. Mark smiled, actually feeling his muscles strain after doing something repetitive that he'd never put them through. He'd almost forgotten what muscle pain was. He turned and found Evin staring at him. Not just looking, or glancing, but full out staring. Mark decided to put his foot down.

"Right. After the tent goes up, and we get comfortable with everything where we want it, we're going to have a nice long talk about what just happenned." Evin smiled, somewhat dreamily.

"Whatever you want."

"Are you okay?" Concern coloured Mark's voice.

Evin's dreamy gaze said otherwise, but, "I'm fine, I'm just waiting for tonight, wondering if you sleep with clothes on, and if they'll be there tomorrow morning."

Mark couldn't help the smile that spread accross his face. This was almost like a perverted dream, where some guy finds out his best friend since childhood had the hots for him, except where normally it was a girl, this time it was a guy. It just happenned that he was giving suggestions to another male instead of a female. "For your info Evin, I prefer to sleep naked. It's bad enough having to wear clothes all day, then have to wear them all night. So I sleep naked, unless it will offend you or make you crave my body, I'll be sleeping naked tonight. You?"

Evin smiled, the dreamy look fading away. "I don't care how I sleep so long as it's with you." Mark shook his head, wondering just exactly what type of drug was in the air. He walked back to the tent bag, grabbed the tent and stretched it out over the recently cleared ground.

"Evin, pull the other side taught please." The cheetah boy moved, then lay at the other end of the tent, his body weight keeping the tent base flat as Mark tugged on it. "Not exactly what I had in mind, but it'll do." Mark got the bag of tent pegs, sliding the hook ended metal shafts out. He looked the bags over for a hammer, and couldn't find one. Well, Evin already knows about my strength, why hold back? Mark placed a peg inside the small metal ring at the right corner closest to him, and tapped the metal. It hit something hard underneath the surface, then went straight into the ground. The hook of the peg curled over the ring, keeping it in place. Mark nodded satisfactorily and went around to all the other corners, giving each one it's own attention. He had eight pegs left over, and was wondering what to do with them when he remembered that this was only the base of the tent. There was still a second piece, the top that went over it to protect the insides.

Grabbing the bag with the elastic poles inside, Mark slid them out and started connecting the fiberglass rods. He poked Evin in the rump with one end as he held the other side of it. "There'll be a small metal spike attatched to the ring in the corner. When you stick it in, start clipping the tent up on the pole, I'll do the same for my corner." Evin nodded, doing as instructed. Both were surprised that it happenned so quickly. One moment the tent was flat on the ground, and the next it was being held up by an X that wrapped around it's corners. With a grin, Mark went to the tent bag, suddenly noticing that it was turning into afternoon. Just how long have we been out here? Mark grabbed the other folded material that was the tent cover, and pulled it open.

"Evin, a touch of help please." Evin helped pull it apart, stretching it out untill it covered a space greater than the actual tent. Mark walked around the thing, looking for, and finding, the door. It was a rectangular flap in the reflective silvery surface of the outside of the tent. Mark understood now why there were eight extra pegs. Mark gave it a little thought before he gave Evin directions. "Evin," Evin's gaze focused solely upon him, his eyes looking at him in a strange way. "Uhmm, can you take the side opposite the entrance flap, and help me put it on top of the tent?" Evin gave a sharp nod.

"Sure." He grabbed the end on the opposite side of him, waiting untill he picked up the entrance flap. Once he'd done so, they coordinated themselves and heaved the sides over the tent, letting the top fall down, almost perfectly around the tent. Mark gave a soft smile, picking up the left over pegs. Going around to where Evin stood, Mark pulled out the little band of elastic loop that was in the middle of the back side. He stretched the loop untill it touched the ground. Setting the pegs down, he kept one in his grasp, placing the long end in the loop before pushing down heavily upon it. The peg slipped through the grassy ground easily, the bent end hooking the loop and holding it in place. Mark went around each side, doing the same to the two side edges. He finally came around to the front, where he came upon a small puzzle. There were three elastic loops in the doorway area. There was one loop to each side of the rectangular opening, and one right in the middle of it. Mark decided to go with his instincts. He placed a peg at the bottom of the two zippers that framed the rectangular doorway, then lightly tapped the third peg into the loop that held the reflective flap of rectangular material.

He knew he had done it correctly, because the rectangular flap stayed in place. Moving forwards slightly, he took a hold of the zipper on the right hand side, and gently tugged it upwards. The zipper flowed smoothly towards the op of the tent, the flap gently folding in on itself at the middle. The gentle whir sound made Evin walk around to Mark. Mark proceeded with opening the second and third entrance flaps to the tent, unaware of Evin's presence.

"Can we start putting our stuff inside now?" Mark jumped slightly, then nodded.

"Yep, but you go in, I'll grab the stuff and pass it through. All you need to do is move your stuff to one side, and leave my stuff where it is. You wont be able to move it on your own." A frown crossed Evin's face, but he nodded anyway. Mark sighed in relief as Evin ducked underneath the flap and entered the tent. He had been worried that Evin would do something else he wasn't prepared for, but the fact he followed the order immeidately suggested that tonight wouldn't, or rather shouldn't, be so bad. He got up and went to the pile of stuff. Picking up what remained of the tent bag, and the food supply bag, he then picked up Evin's and his own bag. He moved with a shuffling gait, making sure that he didn't drop anything as he crossed the short distance to the tent. He set everything down, then fed the thoroughly diminished tent bag to Evin.

"Here's the tent bag. It's almost empty so set it down anywhere." A muffled "'kay" was Evin's answer. Mark carefully moved Evin's bag inside, waiting untill he had a firm grip upon it before he let go. The next one he picked up was the food bag. This one he handed to Evin with a warning. "The food bag's next and it's rather heavy, be carefull with it." Evin's furred hands touched his own, and Mark almost dropped the bag in shock. Mark quickly reasserted his grip, and stopped the bag from falling onto Evin. "You got it?"

"Yeah." Mark carefully let it go, surprised when there was no gasp or request for assistance from Evin. Maybe Mark had been wrong about him. Maybe Evin wasn't as weak as he looked. Carefully hefting his own bag, Mark backed into the tent. He was partially carrying, and partially dragging the bag when he tripped, falling backwards into the tent. Soft hands suddenly held his waist and back. "I've got you." Evin levered Mark up untill he'd gotten his lost footing back under control. Mark then proceeded to back into the tent more carefully. Once he was in, Mark took off his shoes and placed them in the small section of the front of the tent that was the entrance flap. He nudged them to the right with his sock encased feet. Mark then proceeded with dragging his bag into the tent, making sure he didn't damage the tent as the end came through.

While he was backing into the tent, he had seen Evin's stuff on the right hand side, along with the now empty tent bag. So Mark moved his bag to the left hand side, and bumped into the base of an inflatable mattress. He positioned his bag in a way that it was within easy reaching distance from the entrance, but still out of the way enough that it wouldn't hamper movement. Finished, Mark turned to view how Evin was doing with his bed and gear, and stopped. There was no other bed. It took Mark's actual eyes to pass over the middle before he realised that the mattress that had been in the bag was a queen sized air mattress, not two seperate singles like he had first thought. Evin's bag was positioned simlarly to his, but the food bag was set at the rght hand side of the entrance flap. The two bags almost made an L shape.

"Mark?" He looked up into Evin's eyes immediately, trying to get over his understandable reaction of there being only one bed to sleep on. "Would you happen to have any uhmm ... sheets with you?" Mark nodded after a moment's thought, going to his bag and unzipping it. The contents within just about exploded outward. Mark's face went red as he moved his underwear to the left hand side along with a small mass of shirts and shorts, three pairs of socks, and some strange strap like equipment. Underneath all of that, Mark took out some type of blanket from the bag. Evin almost gasped at the soft mink blanket that Mark took from his bag. Mark held it up for a moment in order to admire it within the filtered afternoon sunlight that made it's way through the tent. He brought the blanket to himself, hugging it, before he brought it over to the bed and laid it out. The king sized blanket easily fit over the queen sized mattress, and Evin was stunned by the pattern that was on the top of the blanket. The blanket was white, with leopard prints upon it, making the blanket look like it was made from one gigantic snow leopard.

While Evin was staring at the blanket, Mark went back to his bag and grabbed a single sheet that was about the same size as the blanket. Evin looked at him as Mark laid the sheet on top of the blanket.

"Do you have a king sized bed at home?" Mark blushed and shook his head. Evin waved at the sheet and blanket. "Then why do you have two king sized bed items?" Mark's cheeks paled, turning the blush into a faint rogue tinge.

"Sometimes I have to change my bedding before I should. Sometimes, they're the only things I'll have to sleep on for months." Evin shut his mouth at seeing the barely held in sorrow and desperation within Mark's eyes. He crawled upon the bed to Mark, and hugged him gently. "If you wanna talk, talk, but I'm gonna have to ask a favour of you."

Mark's eyes became closed and guarded. "What?"

Evin grinned, giving a soft snort. "This is an inflatable mattress."

Mark's eyes took on a bored and disinterested look. "So..?"

"So there's no compressor or hand pump that we can use to inflate the bed. My lips aren't like yours, so I can't form a seal and blow air into the mattress. It looks like if we're not sleeping on the ground tonight, you're the one that'll need to inflate the mattress."

Mark stayed where he was for several moments before nodding. "Okay." He moved to the base of the bed at Evin's prompting, and quickly found the plug that he was meant to use. Evin had managed to remove the plug for him, making his job that much easier.

"Is there anything that you want me to do while you're blowing up the bed?" Mark looked up at him from where he was concentrating upon the plug, wondering how best to approach inflating the bed. He glanced over his shoulder at the small clearing in front of their tent.

"I suppose you could find a way to dig a small hole a few feet from the tent, line it with stones, and then arrange all the sticks near it. I'll set a fire when I'm done blowing up the bed. If you could find some logs as well, that'd be great, but please don't damage the trees if you can't find any." Evin nodded at his request, and ducked out of the tent, leaving Mark to blow up the mattress. Immediately upon leaving the tent, Evin saw Mark's clothes in the folded pile he had left behind. Sadness swamped him for a moment, reminding him that nothing was set yet, that Mark would most likely reject him if he tried anything at all. That didn't stop him from gathering up his clothes and tossing them into the tent for Mark. He then went about doing as Mark had requested.

It took him a while to find a large pointed flat rock with which to dig into the ground with, but after he found it, the digging was done quickly, and he had made a sizeable hole. Evin stabbed the triangle of rock into the grassy soil, making sure it was between the pit and the tent. He then went about laying stones in and around the pit. It didn't take him long to cover the earth of the pit, and the sides, with rocks and stones. After that was completed, he picked up the sticks and placed them behind that triangle of rock, so that they wouldn't catch fire if Mark was actually making this a fire pit. In a half an hour, he had just about finished what Mark had asked him to do. He had just gotten up to go search the forest for logs when Mark exited the tent.

Evin's breathing increased slightly as he saw Mark rise from the stoop he'd been in so that he could exit the tent. His eyes went just a little bit wider when he saw that Mark's underwear weren't exactly sitting the way they should. Evin could have sworn that they were riding a little high on Mark's rear end. His suspicions were confirmed when Mark moved a hand to his ass and tugged at the piece of clothing.

"I was just about to go get some firewood." Mark startled, then peered about, trying to locate Evin. Evin blinked in surprise, before shaking his head. It was now night, not yet dark enough that the stars were out, but dark enough that human eyesight was extremely hampered. Evin jogged over to Mark, his hands rising up Mark's ribs before they completed their journey and Evin hugged Mark. Mark startled, before realising it was just Evin that was hugging him.

"I was going to start a fire, but maybe it's better that we stay inside the tent, seeing as I can't find my way around in the dark." Evin opened his mouth to offer him his flashlight, when he shut it. Thoughts raced by inside of his head. Devious thoughts about Mark, and about how maybe this might be the most perfect time to approach him.

"Well, if you can't see, maybe we should stay inside the tent and tell stories?" Evin looked up into Mark's face, easily seeing his expressions within the darkness. Finally, Mark nodded his assent.

"Sure, but you're gonna have to help me get back in, I can't see a single thing out here." Evin smiled, raising his hand and gently lowering Mark's head so that he could duck and enter the tent. Evin followed after him, moving to the left hand side while Mark merely moved a few steps forward. The first thing Evin noticed upon reentering the tent, was that the blanket was on top of the queen mattress, and the sheet was underneath. Another fact was that the mattress was blown up far enough that it was firm, and even with him kneeling upon it, his knee couldn't reach the ground through it. Evin turned to face Mark, and watched as he waved his hand about in front of him, searching. Evin belatedly realised he was probably searching for him, and gently gripped Mark's hand in the darkness. Mark's smile of relief spread accross his face for Evin to see.

"I kinda thought you had left me alone in here, so I was making sure." Mark paused there, thinking. "You wouldn't happen to be in a talkative mood, would you?" Evin nodded, then almost slapped himself for his stupidity.

"I can talk if you want." His soft voice was made softer still by the emptiness of the tent. "You want to know what happenend to me the other week?" Mark shrugged noncomittaly.

"Sure." Mark laid back upon the air mattress, his face and body turned towards Evin.

Evin smiled within the darkness. Quickly and carefully, he stripped off his clothes and stowed them by his bag. That done, he opened the blanket and slipped between it and the sheet, delighting in the feel of such softness upon his fur. He started to talk so Mark wouldn't realise what he'd done.

"The other week I was walking to the arcade near my house, when some guys jumped me. Three big guys and one smller guy did their best to corner me, but I escaped by jumping over three fences, then racing away fast enoguh that they didn't catch up with me. I then spent the next five minutes huddled in a corner coming to grips with what had almost happenend, before moving onto the arcade to play some games." Evin had been watching Mark's face during the telling. Already he knew that he would like Mark, especially seeing as he didn't like the fact that four guys had ganged up on him.

"That's not exactly a nice story..." Evin reached over and tapped Mark's knee. Surprise spread accross his face, before understanding caught up with it. "You're underneath the blanket, aren't you?"

"Uh huh." Mark smirked, then got underneath the blanket as well.

"Well, since you told me a story, I guess that means I gotta tell you one." Evin snuggled a little closer to Mark and nodded. "I don't suppose you'd help me out by asking something about me?" Evin thought about it for a little bit before answering.

"Tell me about your parents. I didn't see them as we headed out." Evin stopped speaking as a small mix of emotions passed accross Mark's face. Rage, terror, fear, sorrow, not once did a happy emotion pass.

"Next question." Mark's voice was flat and cold, all emotion drained from the voice. Evin winced, trying to think of a way to make him feel better. An idea hit him and he considered it.

"What would you say or do if I undressed, and snuggled up close with you?" Evin waited almost impatiently as Mark's face revealed nothing. Evin's nose told him about the answer before Mark said anything minutes later.

"I suppose I'd be alright with it. I said you could earlier, didn't I?" Rather than debate the fact that he had said yes before the incident, Evin snuggled up to Mark, watching his face show shock and surprise. "You were already nude, weren't you?" Evin grinned as Mark blushed, the red tinge starting from his neck and rapidly rising. In answer to his question, Evin snuggled into him, wiping his face into Mark's furless chest and hugging himself to Mark.

"So what if I was? You going to tell on me?" Mark shook his head above Evin's face which was trying to meld with Mark's chest.

"I'll tell on you if you're mean though. I'd rather us be friends than enemies." A small, wicked smile crossed Evin's furred lips.

"We can be more than friends though," Evin thought about how best to phrase it without tipping Mark off and making him run screaming into the darkness. "We could be the bestest of friends, like family." If Evin's face hadn't been pressed right up against Mark's chest, he probably would have missed the small stutter that ran through his body.

"Okay, I'll bite" Mark's voice went soft and quiet, something Evin had been waiting for. How exactly would we become like family, the bestest of friends?"

Evin decided to show him, but instead of rushing straight into everything, he started off slowly. He started off with a single lick that ran from Mark's right nipple to his left nipple. Mark jerked away from Evin, his right hand splaying accross his chest as Evin's rough tongue did more than just tckle hiskin, it was a mean thought away from sandpapering his skin off,

Evin winced, immediately after he'd done it he realised he'd applied too much force, He had to remember that human's had thinner, finer, and softer skin.