FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

I am so sorry. To all of you who continue to read these stories thank you. Given my poor track record for uploads I don't really deserve anyone to follow my stories. I'm not going to lie, I've had ample time to write this chapter I've just been lazy. Take Monday for an example, my parents weren't home and I spent a whole 12 hours playing mass effect 2. It's a great game but i easily could've written at least one chapter in that time. And it's been like that a lot. I've spent too much time reading manga, reading other furry comics and playing videogames. I do need to study too and I do study a lot, but given the amount of time I spend procrastinating, this should have been done sooner. I'm sorry to those who've been waiting so long for this chapter and I hope you all enjoy it.

College life: chapter 8

The day of the funeral came too quickly for all of them. The Agito family sat together in the local parish church as the service was being conducted. Flowers were laid on top of the coffin and everyone offered their condolences to the family. It had all the ingredients of a typical funeral. The gospel reading had just finished and all eyes were fixed on the priest standing at the pulpit.

The priest was a rather young looking goat and had probably only recently left the seminary. He was also of very slight build and the robes, which had been worn by much larger priests than he, seemed to swamp him. He looked down at the family and begun his sermon.

"My friends, we gather here today to mourn the passing of a dear member of our parish community, Peter Agito. But let's not let his passing distract us from this current time, the time that marks the commemoration of the birth of our lord and saviour, Emmanuel."

Leo was sitting in a pew and, as had become his custom during church sermons, was silently judging every word that the priest uttered, and he couldn't help but pick out the word "distract". Was that all his grandfather's death meant to some people? It was just a "distraction". Leo couldn't help but feel some contempt for the priest. His grandfather was distracting people from a birth which had supposedly taken place at this time over 2000 years ago. A birth which, actual historians believed, had happened sometime in August anyway.

"Now, let us remember friends one of the key teachings of Emmanuel; that we are to love Him more than any person on this Earth for it was he who sacrificed himself so that we may have eternal life. Yet when we hear of his sacrifice, his innocent death, we do not shed a tear. So who are we to shed tears for someone of our own family? No my friends, I solemnly tell you that we should not shed tears, we should not mourn, but we should celebrate the life of our saviour Emmanuel."

"My god, this man's actually serious" Leo whispered as he shook his head incredulously. Diego was sitting next to Leo and flashed a smile of support. The tiger himself didn't belong to a religion but wanted to be with Leo when Leo was suffering, just as the wolf had been there for him. He had also heard that the family needed an extra man to step in and carry the coffin so he had volunteered. Unfortunately he had forgotten just how soul destroying sitting in church could be when you're surrounded by people who pray slowly and in a complete monotone.

The priest noticed that Leo had whispered something "My apologies, I did not realise the bereaved wished to say anything during the service, would you like to come up and say a few words?"

Leo wasn't sure whether it was meant as provocation or in serious terms but he stood up regardless and made his way towards the altar, genuflecting in front of it out of courtesy before moving to the pulpit.

"The man who rests in that coffin is Peter Agito... my Grandfather" Leo could feel his heart start to race as he looked around the church. Speaking in public was easy, speaking in front of people he knew was slightly more nerve wracking, especially when he knew his opinions might not necessarily be welcomed. "Peter Agito was more than just a member of the parish; he was a great man, always supporting his family, slow to anger and quick to love. In his final years his hearing had deteriorated drastically and emphysema meant that any long walks, even leaving the house was no longer physically possible. But he suffered in silence. Peter Agito was no son of God, he didn't enjoy the guaranteed knowledge of his life after death and he had no miraculous God like powers. Unlike Emmanuel who had disciples and followers to assist him on his journey towards death, Peter Agito had only a few members of his family to keep him company. There was no one to carry his cross, no; he carried it alone and in silence. He did not fall or falter nor ask for help. No, his death was more noble than that of the man we worship and the fact that you would call his death a distraction merely leads me to believe one thing... that you are a disgusting little creature who is a pathetic excuse for a man and an even more despicable priest."

Leo turned around, genuflected once more in front of the altar and made his way past his grandfather's coffin, stopping gently to rest his hand on the lion's chest before continuing down the centre of the church and out the main doors. He was quickly stopped by a firm paw on his shoulder.

"Whoever owns that paw better remove it right now." He snapped.

"It's just me hun" Came the voice of the tiger who, perhaps against the teachings of the Emmanuelite church, he had come to love more than anyone else in the world. He turned around to see a worried expression on the tiger's face and could feel the tension that had overrun his body start to dissipate.

"Sorry about that." The wolf said with a frown. He hated to make his tiger worried; the tiger already had enough on his plate without Leo adding any more.

"About what, that last comment or the little speech?"

"The comment. I don't care about the speech. It needed to be made. Anyway, I can't stand the thought of going back into that place. I'm gonna wander around town for 15 minutes and clear my head. Say, uh, would you mind heading back in there and, if I'm not back when they're about to carry the coffin out just send me a text?"

"Sure thing, Leo" Wary of people that could be watching Diego exchanged his normal display of intimacy for a friendly punch to the wolf's muzzle, something which brought a smile to both of their faces, before heading back into the church to the rest of the family.

The wolf had no plans for where to go next; he just knew that he wanted to get away from the church; far away from it. He ran and ran until he reached the edge of the small village. The suit he was wearing wasn't exactly appreciating the perspiration and if it had emotions would have appreciated the situation even less when Leo decided to sit himself in a ditch at the side of the road where most cars and people wouldn't notice him.

Diego was kneeling down next to Luca and explained in a whisper that Leo would be back to carry out his grandfather's coffin. She nodded her understanding and then turned her attention to the priest who was conducting the consecration of the holy bread. Diego couldn't understand why it took so long to ask God to come down to the bread, surely if God was omnipresent and omnipotent he could do it in a split second. Why did it require 10 whole minutes of constant recitation. After some minutes of listening the only way he could find to amuse himself was to translate in his head everything that the priest was saying into Spanish. By the end of the consecration neither he nor anyone else present had noticed a wolf with grass stains all over his suit standing quietly in a dark corner of the church.

"And now we will take the coffin to the cemetery at Clonfarrels town where we shall bury Peter Agito."

Diego had already texted Leo so he and Stu got up and took one side each at the front of the coffin. Peter's nephew, George, stood at the back on the left side, and before anyone had time to enquire as to his presence, Leo appeared to take his place at the right hand side at the back of the coffin. Together the four men lifted the heavy oak coffin onto their shoulders and with arms locked, made their way down the nave of the church. Leo could feel the stares of some of the parishioners burning into his back, but at this moment in time he couldn't care less. Grass stains or none he was proud to carry his grandfather towards the next life regardless of the fact that he was now probably hated by at least half the parish for insulting the priest.

Through the combined efforts of the undertakers and the four men, the coffin was loaded into the hearse. Luca drove the family car to the cemetery. They were silent the whole way; everyone knew that a tension had been created as a result of the comment so Luca, Stu, Leo and Diego where just waiting for what Teresa was going to say. Fortunately, by the end of the car journey, no one had made any passes at each other and they filed out into the cemetery calmly. Leo, Stu and Diego went to transport Peter's coffin to the grave leaving Luca and Teresa by themselves for a short period of time.

"It's lovely to see you've taught Leo the values of manners" Teresa remarked sarcastically.

"Yes, indeed, I believe he has come to know when to regard and disregard them given a situation. I feel that his disregard for them during the mass was an excellent rhetorical tool to emphasise the shortcomings of the priest's choice of words." Luca responded deftly without so much as a moment's pause. Teresa shrugged her shoulders.

"The priest's point was perfectly correct, we are never supposed to love anyone more than Emmanuel."

"The priest's words may have been correct in religious terms, and in this way he fulfils his role as spiritual leader for the community. But a priest is also an important provider of pastoral care for the community, a duty which he expertly disregarded through his words. Leo was making an important point in reminding him of such shortcomings since the latter is arguably a much more important role." Luca smiled at her mother, an expression which was merely façade so as not to make a bad impression on the few parishioners that had come to witness the burial. Their conversation was cut short as they reached the grave and entered into ear shot of the priest.

The coffin was laid across two planks directly above the grave. As the priest finished the final few remaining prayers, belts were hooked through the handles of the coffin and together Leo, Diego, Stu and George lowered Leo's grandfather into his grave. Slowly those members of the parish that had attended started to leave. Leo couldn't help but think how it reminded him of the diffusion of a potassium permanganate crystal in water, although in this case it was a very small crystal and a heck of a lot of water. Finally just the Agito family and the priest remained. Teresa turned and stared at Leo and then indicated in the priest's direction.

"Don't you have something to say Leo?" She hissed.

"Nope, except you guys can head off, I want to bury granddad myself. Get the undertakers a meal in town and I'll call you when I've finished."

"That's not what I meant. Don't you have something to say to father?" Teresa said, her eyes looking sternly at Leo. Leo held the badger's gaze before replying.

"I feel my words back at the church were an accurate representation of my feelings and require no further explanations or pardons."

"However," came the voice of the priest, "I would like to ask for your pardon in this matter. It was neither my intention to belittle the death of your grandfather nor to compare his life to that of Emmanuel. I was merely trying to use your faith to prevent you from grieving."

"With all due respect father, grieving is a natural part of life. To deny someone the right to grieve is unhealthy and has proven to have incredibly negative impacts on their recovery following the loss of a loved one. I understand, I really do, your desire to prevent people from grieving as it seems like the right thing to do, but if you've lost someone yourself, or known a friend who's lost someone, you'll realise that grieving is something that can't be avoided. Even the people who seem to be "so strong" are emotionally broken inside. So for future reference, the best thing you can do is to support people when they grieve not try to stop them. But thank you for apologising. Now, I've got to bury my grandfather.

"Thank you for the advice....." The priest started, hoping that the wolf in front of him would supply his name.

"Leo."

"Thank you for the advice Leo. Now are you sure you don't want some help with this?" The priest asked.

"No thank you, it's something that I need to do alone." Leo replied solemnly. The rest off the family nodded and walked into the town to share a meal. Diego stayed behind, he wasn't going to help with the burial; he understood that it was something that Leo needed to do. Nonetheless, he wanted to be there in case Leo wanted to talk.

For the most part the burial was silent except for the crunch as the shovel entered the pile of earth and the rattle as soil and tiny pebbles fell into the grave. Leo continued on in silence, the look of determination never leaving his face. Diego could see Leo was getting tired; the wolf's movements were becoming more sluggish and slow but he didn't stop except to remove his suit jacket and undo some of his shirt buttons to avoid hyperthermia.

An hour after he started, Leo had patted down the last patch of soil and evened out the pebble chips on top. Diego was holding onto some flowers that had been laid near the grave earlier. When Leo was finished the big cat handed them to him to place down on the grave. Leo placed them down and was about to turn around and leave but he decided that, if he was only going to make one thing in his entire life look beautiful, it might as well be his father's grave. He took the flowers which had been presented and arranged them carefully; even swapping some flowers between bouquets to ensure that the colours matched perfectly. Finally, satisfied with his efforts he took his suit jacket and turned to Diego.

"Let's go hun." The tiger nodded in response and followed Leo to the restaurant where he knew his family would be eating.

When the couple arrived everyone else had finished eating but there was a large bowl of spaghetti Bolognese on the table and it was still hot. Stu nodded to 2 seats and Leo realised his dad had purposefully ordered some food in anticipation of their arrival. It was a seemingly insignificant action and yet it brought a smile to the guys' faces and the two of them quickly finished it off.

"So, we all ready to head home? I saw to the rest of the grave so the undertakers shouldn't have any more work to do there." Leo spoke up. There was a general response that the undertakers weren't needed any more and that they were all ready to head back home.

Strangely, even though his grandfather had gotten somewhat reclusive in recent years and had spent a lot of time in his room, the house still seemed slightly emptier without him there. The family were all in the sitting room. Luca, Stu and Theresa were sitting in rather plain beige arm chairs while Diego and Leo had temporarily taken control of the couch which was normally Charlotte's personal spot. It made sense as to why Charlotte was constantly staring at the couple and letting out a deep groan every now and then.

Everyone was quiet; no one really knew what to say, or if saying anything at all was appropriate given the circumstances. Theresa turned on the television and switched to EWTN, the Emmanuelite channel. Perhaps she was searching for some kind of spiritual support or perhaps she merely wanted to see what was happening in the world of her faith on an international scale. The religious news programme was currently showing and the presenter, a lean black mouse, was commenting on the legalisation of gay marriage in New York, evidently in slightly less than positive light.

"This whole gay marriage thing. It's disgusting really. How does the state think it has a right to redefine marriage, especially to allow it to between two homosexuals? The whole world's gone crazy." Theresa's grumbles did not fall on deaf ears. Even as she spoke an almost telepathic communication was going on between the other members of the family to decide who was going to respond to the flippant remark. On this occasion it was Leo who got in the first word.

"Well personally seeing as marriage has been redefined throughout history I fail to see why people are so up in arms about it. Recent changes have improved marriage immensely in my opinion including the permission of interracial marriages and the criminalisation of marital rape."

"Yes, but marriage is a religious institution, the state should have no power over it. We're now seeing the state trying to eradicate religion from government altogether." Theresa replied vehemently.

"Well," Diego piped up, "From what I remember when I studied religion a few years ago, Emmanuel said 'give unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God'. Most scholars comment that this emphasises the fact that religion and state are to remain separate. Notwithstanding the fact that marriage is an institution that was founded not by a single religion but by multiple countries and religions throughout the world and now there is a civil branch of marriage separate from the religious institution."

"But homosexuality is a sin, it says so clearly in the bible." Theresa responded, her voice starting to rise slightly in frustration. Leo looked at Diego in an overdramatic state of shock.

"Oh my, homosexuality is a sin. To think that every time the two of us have engaged in intercourse we have been sinning. We even engaged in coitus last night while Emmanuel was watching over us. Oh Lord save us from the fires and the gnashing of teeth!!" The look on Leo's grandmother's face was priceless, especially when he decided to plant a kiss right onto the muzzle of a rather surprised tiger. Being thrown out of the house until he had "learnt his lesson" was something he wasn't so keen about though. Leo had urged his mum and dad not to get involved and claimed that he already had an arrangement set up with his friend Paddy. As Leo and Diego left the house the tiger turned to the wolf.

"You don't have any arrangement made do you?" Diego asked the canine. Leo grinned sheepishly in response and shook his head.

"Not with Paddy anyway. I do know where we can stay the night though." Diego cocked his head in anticipation of the location of their accommodation for the night. Leo's grin took on a slightly more mischievous nature as he pointed towards the church.

"This world is an equilibrium Diego, somewhat like the formation of an ester, except rather than carboxylic acid and alcohol being in equilibrium with the ester, we are in an equilibrium of house and no house. Religion is merely a catalyst; it sped up the rate of me getting to the situation of no house, and now it will speed up the rate of me getting into another house. It's all very logical."

"Ok, mr. Smarty Pants. But how's this going to work?" Leo winked and tapped his nose; the signal for Diego to wait and see. As it turned out, Leo knew the location of every key to every part of the church and while no one was present he 'borrowed' the key to the choir's gallery. He also took the opportunity to 'borrow' a few of the altar server vestments to make a make shift bed. And finally, he 'borrowed' the priest's robes- the robes that were far too large for the priest from earlier- and wrapped himself and Diego up inside it.

"I'm so sorry about the state of the place; I assure you I would have tidied up if I knew you were coming." Leo gestured dramatically around the church, but for all his fun poking, Diego couldn't help but notice that, without the monotonous drone of parishioners praying, he actually took in the beauty of the church itself. He had originally taken the large marble altar for granted but upon a second look he noticed the workmanship of the large structure. Well, it wasn't so much the altar, which was a regular plain marble alter, rather it was the structure which held the tabernacle. In the churches he had seen this was normally just a small box perhaps held on a pillar, but this tabernacle had a whole marble structure built around it, adorned with flowers and candles. Diego wasn't going to deny, when Emmanuelites wanted something to look good for God, it looked goooood.

Occasionally someone would come in and leave but eventually one last elderly man arrived. He slowly locked the main doors and left through the back. Fortunately for the couple he didn't notice that the gallery door was unlocked or that the key was missing. At last they were alone in the large building.

With no one left to disturb them for the night the two of them set to cuddling each other. They had a few days of intimacy to catch up on; and what better place than a church. The thought amused Diego at first but his amusement was slowly subsiding into a mood that lay somewhere between irritation and annoyance. Leo could detect the change as if reading the tiger's emotions and body language had become second nature to him.

"What's up hun?" He whispered into the tiger's ear; an ear which quickly advertised itself to Leo as being a great impromptu chew toy. For once though, Diego wasn't enjoying the attention and pushed his wolf away from him, albeit the robe limited the distance to which the wolf could be pushed.

"I hate the Church Leo. I really genuinely hate it." He smirked to himself, "Ironic- by hating the church I'm actually stooping to its own levels. Though I at least avoid the hypocrisy by embracing the hate and calling it exactly what it is. The church on the other hand, oh no, they don't "hate" They just judge you within the constraints of what the religion allows. It amuses me that Emmanuel supposedly said not to judge people and judging people is what the whole church seems to be based on."

"Well it's not the sole-"Leo didn't even have time to finish his sentence before he was cut off by the feline.

"It is though. The church believes it's the one true religion and that people from other religions will go to hell. And look at us, why are we here? Because of a few sentences in an old book and a desire to judge homosexuals in a negative manner- that's why. I mean let's face it, the sacred book has more condemnations towards, thieves, adulterers and all other sorts of crimes than it has to homosexuals, and most references to homosexuality are shaky at best, yet it's the one thing that Emmanuelites like to uphold nowadays. It makes me sick. Emmanuelites piss me off; the world would be a much better place without most of them"

Leo remained silent and motionless for a few moments before he looked Diego sternly in the eyes.

"You don't really mean that" He stated in a matter of fact tone. The big cat was slightly taken aback. His mate's comment hadn't been a question it was a statement and the tone bordered on one of ordering. Diego felt himself frowning and staring down the wolf for a moment.

"Yes I do. Leo, you probably don't know this but I'm ex-Emmanuelite. I got so disgusted by the whole thing and left. Actually, I left right in the middle of my confirmation programme. I'd learnt enough about this disgusting excuse of a church's teachings and so I up and left. Not to mention the other people that I had to deal with on a day to day basis. And don't say you're an Emmanuelite, because I've seen what you're like, you have nearly the exact same mindset that I have, I notice your body language, I saw how you felt during that sermon the priest gave. Since we've been here your grandmother has watched the Emmanuelite channel everyday and you always try to find a reason to leave the room. You don't believe in it."

"Don't make assumptions as to what I do and don't believe." Leo replied with a tone that was cold enough to freeze nitrogen. "What has the Emmanuelite church actually done to you Diego, why do you fucking hate it so much?! Did a priest molest you or something like that?"

Diego sighed. Explaining his feelings would mean explaining a past that he would rather forget. In reality he had only left the Emmanuelite church the year before, but that year had been so momentous that it felt like a lifetime to the tiger. He looked around the church once more thinking about how, perhaps if he had been anyone else he would still be a happy Emmanuelite, following the teachings of the church in an almost militantly precise fashion. But that wasn't the case, and the wounds that had lead to such a life change weren't something that Diego wanted to talk about, but he knew that a difference in beliefs could lead to a rupture in the relationship, but Leo was his wolf, he was the man that Diego wanted to spend his life with, and if that meant pouring out his heart to him then it was something that tiger would have to do.

"Leo..." He took a deep breath and it pained him to see the look of anger that was spread over the wolf's face like paints on a canvas. "Let me tell you a story about myself"

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A tiger with an average build sat down in a chair that formed part of a circle with other guys and girls of his age. They were his confirmation group and they got on reasonably well.

"Diego would you like to lead us in a prayer?" A nun stated. She was an elderly fox and was wearing her habit with a crucifix dangling pendulously from her neck.

"Of course sister Dorothia" The tiger replied; a genuine smile on his muzzle. He loved leading the group in prayer, in fact; he loved praying to God full stop. "Dear Lord, we thank you for all you have done for us today; how you kept us safe from harm and gave us the grace of your salvation. We thank you for looking favourably upon us as your true followers. Though we are different, we are all one with you in Emmanuel and we thank you for the gift of your love. Amen."

"Amen." Came the reply from the rest of the group. It would be a minute or two before the main discussion of the evening so each person offered up an individual wish and asked the rest of the group to pray for them.

Shortly after, the parish priest, an ageing otter, appeared and stood at the centre of the room from where he could address Diego's group and the two other groups of young Emmanuelites that were looking forward to taking their confirmation.

"Now in today's session we are going to be discussing why the Emmanuelite church is the only one true church of God." The remainder of the priest's words washed over Diego like a tide that breaks around a rock without being able to shift it. The tiger was mulling over the priest's opening statement though. One true Church? He thought to himself I mean, sure I said that we were true followers earlier, but I didn't mean Emmanuelites exclusively. What about Reformationists? They seem to be equally as religious as we are...

"Excuse me father." Diego said raising his hand politely to get the priest's attention. The otter turned to him and smiled, indicating that Diego was free to say what he felt. "It's just that, I don't see why Emmanuelites are the one true church. I mean, that seems to belittle all the other branches of the religion that follows Emmanuel's teachings. I personally don't see why we are superior to them. We all follow the same book and worship the same God after all."

The priest nodded and put his hands together to think how best to explain the situation.

"Well, you see Diego, Emmanuel didn't found the Reformationist church. He founded the Emmanuelite church, which started with Saint Pitro."

"But Emmanuel didn't mean to start any religion; he merely came to reform the religion of the Israelites. The creation of the Emmanuelite church, like that of the Reformationist churches, goes against the wishes of Emmanuel, so why do we raise ourselves on a pedestal. Emmanuel condemned pride and yet we are guilty of it".

The priest was silent for a moment. Diego couldn't tell if he was trying to put on a façade of tranquillity over his frustration or whether he was just thinking. After a few moments of deliberation the priest sighed.

"Diego, your assertion may be correct, but no religion is perfect. We as Emmanuelites and followers of Emmanuel are the closest one can get. Take the Reformationist churches. Some of them are willing to 'bless' civil unions between homosexual couples even though God distinctly said a man was to be joined to a woman."

For once in his life Diego realised he had conscious control over every hair on his body, and it was taking every ounce of his willpower to keep them all from bristling up on end. He was starting to wonder whether this was the general attitude of the Emmanuelite church as a whole, or whether it was personal arrogance on behalf of his parish priest. Either way, it was pissing him off.

"But father, I've met a few homosexual couples in my life and they tend to be the most loving couples I have met. I see little reason to fault their relationship when heterosexual relationships are suffering from such a distinct moral degradation in today's society as well."

"Look, Diego, the church does not condemn someone for being homosexual. The church merely condemns their actions. Anyone can see that homosexual relationships are neither normal nor moral, and regardless of the 'degradation of heterosexual relationships', these were the only kind of relationship blessed by God. Now, we need to get on with the discussion of today's topic. If you want to discuss it more you can come speak to me afterwards."

The rest of the session passed in a blur. Each person was expected to explain why they loved the church and why they felt that it was the one true church. Diego wasn't able to think of a genuine reason for why he felt that the Emmanuelite church was better than the rest. Instead, he took the statistical route and claimed that since it had the highest number of followers, it is the most likely to be the true church.

When the meeting came to a close the priest was nowhere to be seen. Diego could only presume he had managed to slip out during the final minutes when people were deep in discussion. Their discussion had nonetheless made him start to think. He had never felt that Emmanuelism was in any way superior to Reformationism. They both had their flaws, but from the nature of the discussion, it seemed that the Emmanuelite church took pleasure from its position as most important. Diego wasn't going to deny for a second that he loved Emmanuel and God, because he did love them, but was this church really the earthly embodiment of their wishes?

"So, you hate the Emmanuelite church because of its immoral sense of pride and superiority? Is that what it's all about? Surely you can leave the church without hating it for that reason. That seems so... I dunno... superficial." Leo was looking at Diego, he had been silent while Diego had been telling his tale, but he couldn't deny that he was beginning to become frustrated with the tiger's negative viewpoint on his religion for what seemed like a rather petty reason.

"Don't mock me Leo. If I were to hate the church for that reason I'd be even worse than it is. No, there's more to it than that. That was just the start. It was the catalyst really. Things sort of went downhill from there."

Leo gazed above for a moment before lowering his eyes back to look at Diego. He wasn't sure how much he wanted to hear. He was afraid of what this could do to the relationship. Could this tear them apart? He simply didn't know, and that scared him.

"I'm listening Diego"

"Thanks, hun" The tiger planted a kiss on his mate's forehead and continued with his tale.

A younger Diego was sprawled out on his favourite spot of the school grounds. It was a grassy knoll which was just within the boundaries of the school's field and somehow it was always dry, even shortly after rainfall. He grinned to himself. The sun was shining brightly and he could feel himself almost dozing off when a shadow suddenly passed overhead.

"Sup, Dee?" came a familiar voice. At any other time Diego would be happy to hear it, but it had just made him miss out on a nap. If it wasn't the voice of his best friend he'd probably have either ignored or growled at the person, but this guy warranted basic courtesy, even in this scenario. Diego opened one eye to see the face of a coyote eclipsing his sun. The canine's stupid grin was plastered across his face- as it often was- and Diego couldn't help chuckling.

"What's up, Che? Can you move your head to the right, you're blocking my sun."

"Sure thing, buddy." Charlie, or Che as Diego liked to call him, plonked himself down next to the tiger. "So, I hear you had an interesting discussion with the priest the other day in your confirmation class."

"Yeah, interesting is probably the best word to describe it. Oh yeah, why aren't you there? Do you go to a different church?"

"Yeah I live a few miles away from school so I go to the church which is nearer to me. Anyway, what was this discussion about?"

"Well, it started with me denouncing the idea that the Emmanuelite church was superior to Reformationist churches and then went onto me briefly defending homosexual couples." Diego explained. His eyes were closed once again and he was trying to remain conscious despite his mind drifting closer and closer to the realm of sleep. Falling asleep while talking to his friend could be misconstrued as being rude.

"Heh, I guess I can understand that. Sometimes I don't see the problem with gay couples. To be honest, I don't think most confirmation candidates actually care about the fact that the Emmanuelite church is the one true church. Most of us only really want to do it for the party."

"Mm" Diego grunted in reply. His ears flicked slightly when he realised what his friend had said. Had he said he was ok with gay couples? This was Diego's last year in school before he went off to university. He'd known he was gay for a few years but being in an Emmanuelite school he hadn't felt it wise to reveal it. But he and his best friend only had a few months before they would probably go their separate ways... Would it be smart to let the coyote know? He felt like he'd betrayed him the past few years by not letting him know. Aw, fuck it; he said he doesn't see the problem with it. "Hey, Charlie, can I talk to you seriously for a sec?"

"Woah, whipping out my proper first name; this is serious! What do you want to talk about?"

"You know what you were saying just now about not seeing the problem with gay couples?"

"Yes."

"Well..."Diego started, his heart was racing and he took a deep breath while he prepared for the words that could destroy their friendship in a second, "I'm gay as well... and I've known for a few years...I'm sorry for hiding it from you for so long."

The coyote paused for a while then smiled.

"It's no problem Diego. Nothing wrong with being gay. Just so long as you haven't been eyeing me up in the locker room."

"Ha! Don't overestimate your looks." Diego quipped with a cheeky grin on his face.

"See, your best friend was an Emmanuelite and he accepted you. They're not all bad" Leo interjected smiling at his mate. Diego's face remained sombre. If anything, it had actually darkened.

"Yes, 'accepted' note the usage of the past tense. That 'acceptance' wouldn't last long. Needless to say, he did something that would forever destroy our relationship and any compassion I had for the Emmanuelite church."