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Right on with Cloud's prediction, many more people came up to the couple and asked about, or gave their comments on, the new relationship during the next several days.

Diane, and her friends, didn't approach Rye and his friends but there was tension throughout the school that was tearing it apart. Most of the students felt obligated to declare their friendship with either Diane, or Rye, which Rye was surprised that Diane gained so many new friends off of their confrontation but he assumed that they were all as dramatic as the mare was. The remaining students, who didn't want to get involved, didn't attempt to befriend either the mare or otter and they stayed neutral.

Even with the tension building at the school, Rye and Cloud remained happy and spent much of their time together that week. Every time they were together, the school and its problems seemed far too insignificant to even give a second thought about.

Saturday came quickly, and the otters made arrangements to spend the day at the pool since Rye had to work that day anyway. However, with both of them only in their usual swimming shorts, they were stopped at the front desk.

"Oh, hello Rye," Aaron greeted the two otters. "Hello Cloud."

"Hey Aaron," Cloud returned the greeting.

"Going to buzz us through?" Rye asked, with a smile.

"Actually, Ryan wants to see the both of you. We're ready to hire for the tourist season."

"Oh, good!" Rye exclaimed. "We'll go up to Ryan now. Come on Cloud."

Rye led Cloud to the arcade room, going further beyond and through a hidden door on the far side. It was a thin room, with a glass wall that looked out to the corner landscaping of the pool property, and a single glass staircase leading up to the second floor. Rye led Cloud down a hallway that had several rooms, but all had closed doors. The hallway itself was lit well by the glass roof.

"These rooms are for employees only," Rye explained. "Security surveillance is in there. That's where most of our cleaning supplies are kept. That's our award room where he keep all our awards won, like Best Holographs, Cleanest Pool of the County, and others like that. This is our meeting room when we hold meetings, which is not very often. Employee locker rooms if you ever want to have a private shower; there's a thirty minute time limit on the showers though, just so no one uses the showers for their . . . own pleasure. A couple offices. And here's Ryan office."

Rye stopped at a door at the far end and knocked twice. "Ryan? You in there?'

"Yes, come in Rye."

Rye led Cloud into the office room, which had a glass wall that overlooked the pool and the sand pit area. The room itself was decorated with awards Ryan has won, pictures of his family, current Employee of the Month photo, which was often Rye, and several other decorative items.

"Hello again Cloud," Ryan greeted the white otter. "Don't worry about making a good impression or anything. I know I scheduled this a bit out of the blue."

"Okay," Cloud said, after looking down to see that he was not at all properly dressed to be applying for a job.

"Have a seat you two," Ryan gestured toward the chairs. "I have to be all-formal for this so let's just get this over with." The otters sat in the chairs that were in front of Ryan's desk. "As Aaron probably told you, we're going to hire you Cloud. It'd be a great honor to have another otter as an employee here. Rye's are best we've ever had. How well do you swim?"

"He swims just as well as me," Rye answered for Cloud, with a smile.

"He must from what I saw when you two snuck in the pool last week," Ryan said and laughed. "Just to clear things up, you two are indeed dating, correct?"

Rye and Cloud's cheeks both turned a slightly darker shade of red. "Yes," Cloud answered.

"I trust that you both are mature enough to work with each other, but just for the records, I need to remind you two to maintain a professional atmosphere. Personally, I don't care what you two do, just as long as no one drowns and the pool remains clean."

Rye and Cloud chuckled, and Ryan smiled. "I think we'll do alright," Rye said.

"Oh, and no sexual intercourse while on the Lagoon's property," Ryan added.

"Of course," Rye said, again feeling his cheeks burn.

"Now that I said all I need to, we don't need to be so formal. Cloud, I have the usual paperwork for you to fill out. You can return it to me whenever." Ryan pulled out a folder from his desk and gave it to the white otter.

"I'll have it all done for you tomorrow," Cloud said accepting the folder.

Ryan stood up, while the otters respectively stood up as well, and walked around his desk and shook Cloud's paw. "I'll schedule some time to look it over for tomorrow then." Ryan glanced between the otters. "So Rye, how's school going?"

"Not worth mentioning," Rye answered. "Have you heard about the ordeal with me and Diane?"

"Yes, unfortunately there are a lot of rumors going around."

"She's up to something, I don't know what though. She probably has it in her head that she'll start a war or something, with all the 'friends' she recruited."

"Don't worry about it," Ryan assured the otter, and then turned to Cloud. "What classes do you two have together?"

"Gym, and Government," Cloud said. "The mare is in our Government class."

"Ouch."

They all laughed.

"So you two see each other quite often in the locker rooms huh?" asked Ryan rhetorically. "I'm married to the best ermine-woman in the universe, and I dare say that you both are attractive. Don't let your teenage hormones get the best of you in the locker rooms."

"Thanks Ryan," Rye said sarcastically and with a small laugh. "We have a bit more self-control than you give us credit for."

Ryan laughed. "I'm just messing with you kids."

"So are the rumors about us dating going around Beach Lagoon also?" Cloud asked.

"Not so much," answered Ryan. "I've heard a lot about Rye and Diane fighting, most of it probably exaggerated, but I've heard several reasons for the fight. Rye is biased against horses, Diane is freaking out for not being asked out yet, Rye dating you, Ariel and Diane are fighting over Rye, and all sorts of amusing rumors."

"I've heard a few of those going around the school too," Rye said. "Diane is using the rumor that I'm biased to her advantage and gaining the trust of more and more students."

"To be honest, that isn't flying around here. I didn't believe any of those, since I know you and Ariel rather well, so I assumed that you and Cloud were dating. It made sense too, when I caught you two in the pool. I can silence rumors from floating around here if you want Cloud."

"No, I don't mind," replied Cloud. "This pool seems really closely tied with the school."

"The Amor Games are held here, so we're tied pretty well with everyone in the city, and the tourist that visit," said Ryan. "But don't worry, the rumors stay within the students at your school since the other guests don't really care about what happens at the school. There's no need to worry that the whole system will know that you're gay."

"It's fine," Cloud said again.

"How was the fur clean-up?" Rye asked the manager.

"Horrible. The filters were completely backed up and it took us twelve hours to get clean them all."

"Sorry I couldn't help with that."

"No you're not Rye. And don't worry. You help ensure that the Amor Games involved the Lagoon, and for that I can't repay you enough."

"How much to the Games bring in?" Cloud asked.

"It ranges but usually around three hundred thousand," Ryan answered. "Most of that is from renting the pool equipment, but we still get about ten times the amount of traffic during the Games. Which that helps advertisement by reference a lot."

"Wow."

"That's why we can afford to offer free food, have the holograms, and the beautiful landscaping we have."

"It definitely pays off."

"It's all great fun also. I enjoy the Games just as much as anyone else does, so it's not like it's hard work. Anyway, you two should get going. Rye, the Sand Pit is losing traffic, so if you could stay in that region with Cloud and play some games or something to attract more members, then I'd greatly appreciate it."

"Of course Ryan," Rye said. "See you later."

"Bye. Don't forget to fill out the paperwork Cloud."

"I won't. Goodbye."

The otters left the office and shut the door behind them. Rye led Cloud through a different way than they entered the upstairs employee area which led directly into the locker rooms.

"I'll help you fill those out tonight," Rye said gesturing toward the folder Cloud held in his paws. "We can put them in my locker for now."

"Okay," Cloud agreed. "Ryan's a pretty nice guy."

"Yeah, I love working for him. He rarely does that formal thing too."

Cloud laughed. "Good, I hated that."

"Me too." Both were of course referring to Ryan's reminder about their sexual life and boundaries.

The locker room had nearly half a dozen occupants in various locations but the otters didn't pay attention to them as Cloud put the folders in Rye's locker. The otters grabbed their own pair of sunglasses before they continued toward the exit that bordered the showers.

"Do we need to shower?"

"Nah, we're in the Pit today so we're going to get dirty anyway. No need to create mud."

"Good point."

They both put on their sunglasses as they walked out into the overwhelming sunlight. Steering to the right, the otters stepped into the sand and saw that Ryan was correct; few were playing in the Sand Pit, and those that were, were only small children on the playground.

"We can play some volleyball," Rye suggested.

"Sounds good to me," said Cloud. "I'll get the ball, you wait by the net."

"Okay."

Cloud walked back toward the building, where a bin sat full of volleyballs, Frisbees, footballs, and other sports equipment. Cloud grabbed a volleyball and went back to Rye.

"You serve," Rye said, speaking loud and clear enough for the white otter to hear.

Cloud threw the ball in the air, and as it came down, he hit it with his closed fist, launching it over the net. Rye volleyed the ball back over the net a little short, causing Cloud to sprint to get the ball back in the air and send it over the net.

They continued playing the sport for half an hour, never keeping score. By the end of the half hour, others took interest and started a game of their own, using an adjacent net. And as Ryan wanted, more traffic found its way to the Sand Pit, starting games of Frisbee, volleyball, and games of tag among the cubs. Someone must have even called for friends, because soon enough, more people showed up with food and started using one of the barbeques to cook their lunch.

Rye noticed a stallion and a rabbit watching the otters' game so after Cloud scored the point; he picked up the ball and turned toward them. "Do you two want to play?"

"Sure," the stallion said. "Bucky, here, and I will play against you two."

"Don't call me Bucky!"

Rye tossed the ball to them, which the stallion caught, and went under the net to Cloud.

"Welcome to the Dark Side," Cloud greeted Rye.

Rye laughed. "Thanks. Are you getting tired yet?"

"Not really," Cloud answered.

The stallion served the ball, which Rye volleyed it, while he covered the back end of the court and Cloud the front end. They continued playing for several rounds, with Cloud and Rye having a slight advantage for being warmed-up already but again the otters didn't keep score.

"Cloud? I-I have something I want to ask you," Rye said, after scoring another point.

"What is it Rye?" Cloud asked turning his head around to look at Rye better.

The ball was served. Rye tried to hit the ball, but the distraction cost the otters the point.

"I've never been over to your apartment," Rye began, as he picked up the ball, preparing to serve it. "But every time I pick you up from there, I catch a glimpse inside and it's so empty. I was thinking, since you don't go back to your place all that often anyway, would you like to move in with me?"

"Really?" Cloud shouted, excited. "I'd love to!" Without warning, Cloud pounced on Rye. They fell to the ground with a thud!

Rye grinned, having Cloud hugging him again and seeing him so happy, even if he was pinned to the sand. "Good, I'm glad you'll move in. I've wanted to ask you for the past several days but I didn't know how to bring it up."

"Oh Rye," Cloud hugged him tighter. "It didn't even cross my mind to move in with you. It was so simple. I don't have to go over to get clothes anymore. I don't have to continue working there. This is going to be great!"

Rye giggled. "It definitely will be. I'm glad you agreed to this. Let me up, the sand is burrowing in my fur."

"Sorry," Cloud laughed and stood up.

Rye stood up with him and looked to the stallion and rabbit. "Here, we're done playing," Rye called out to them and threw them the volleyball. "Thanks. It's been fun."

"Where are we going now?" Cloud asked, confused.

"We did what Ryan wanted, so I thought I'd give you the grand tour of Beach Lagoon," Rye answered. "First, let's go shower."

Rye led Cloud back to the showers, where they relaxed for a moment, getting all the sand out of their fur.

"I only work from eight to ten tomorrow morning," stated Rye, while he stretched the rim of his shorts, allowing the trapped sand to get rinsed away. "We'll return the folder to Ryan then, and if he doesn't have you start right away, we can move your stuff into my place."

"Sounds good to me," Cloud said with enthusiasm. "I really don't know why it never crossed my mind. I mean, these past two weeks for me have been too good to be true."

"I hope things stay this way," Rye said, but the comment triggered some of his memories and he felt his heart drop. He ignored the feeling and dismissed the thoughts.

"Me too," Cloud replied, lowering his shorts a centimeter when Rye glanced over, in his own attempt to rinse away trapped sand.

"Stop teasing me," said Rye, with a laugh. "Are you almost finished?"

Cloud laughed too. "What?" he asked innocently then said, "Yeah, I'm finished."

Rye and Cloud went back to Rye's locker where they took their towels out and dried themselves off the best they could. Then Rye led Cloud back out to the pool.

"The pool is in a rough square shape, and we call the sides A," Rye pointed to the edge of the pool that was closest and parallel to the main building. "B," he pointed to the far edge of the pool that ran perpendicular with the main building. "C," he pointed to the deep end of the pool. "And D," pointing to the final edge of the pool. "The lifeguard chairs are numbered, number one being the closest to the main building on side B and D. And number one is closest to the Sand Pit on side A and C. They're all marked so if you don't know which one you're assigned to, then you can just check, or ask me of course."

"Okay, simple enough," said Cloud, he stepped closer to Rye and slipped a paw around the otter's waist.

Rye looked at Cloud and smiled, then put his arm around Cloud's waist as well. Cloud, slightly leaned his head on Rye's shoulder.

"Silly otter," Rye muttered barely audible. Cloud chuckled, hearing the comment. "The Sand Pit is rather simple. There's side A, which is closest to the pool, and then side B; they're separated by the stream that runs through the heart of it. You know where we keep our equipment . . ."

While Rye continued to tour Cloud around, they remained arm-in-arm. Even while they worked, they still showed their affection for one another. By the end of the day, Rye gave Cloud a tour of the entire property and they were both tired so they started walking back to Rye's apartment, now their apartment.

"I don't think there's a happier person in the universe than me right now," Cloud said, on their walk back.

"If that be the case, then I'm the second happiest, close-first, person in the universe," Rye replied.