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So here is the next long-awaited i.e. excessively delayed installment to the lives of Leo and Diego. Once again, my apologies go out for my failure to upload this in a timely fashion. If it would make you feel better I shall provide you with a brief list of the mangas that I have fully read since my last upload (you really don't have to read the list, you can skip straight to where the centre text title is and read from there if you feel so inclined to read the chapter :P) Uzumaki, Hoozuki no shima, Alive!, Bokurano, Parasyte/kiseijuu, Inugami and Hideout (not to mention also finishing off death note). On the topic of games I've also finished off shining soul 2, Yu-gi-oh! the sacred cards, batman arkham city, gears of war 3, the lost oddysey, infinte undiscovery, bioshock and onimusha 3. (I'm also playing yu-gi-oh! reshef of destruction, breath of fire, shining force, onimusha tactics, mass effect 3 and the last remnant.) So hopefully that's given you an idea of how much time I have wasted on not writing this story and should evidence the fact that no apology I can currently make would suffice for the amount of time I've kept you waiting for this upload (although that makes the slight assumption that anyone actually 'waits' for this to come out :P). Anyway, if you're still reading this then you're a trooper and I think you're awesome and I hope you enjoy the chapter. Any comments or suggestions etc. would be appreciated.

College Life 9

A young coyote was alone in a small dark room. The stool he sat on was barely big enough for him and he couldn't help but wonder how some of the larger species managed to balance themselves on it. The dank smell of old dust permeated the air and quickly stagnated in the canine's olfactory organ, leaving a mild but slightly unpleasant smell that would linger in his nose for some time after he left the tiny room.

A grill opened in the wall next to him, clattering loudly as the small handle connected with the wooden frame, and bringing the coyote back to the situation at hand. A figure could be heard breathing slowly on the other side.

"Bless me father for I have sinned. It has been two months since my last confession." The coyote stated in a calm but quiet monotone.

"Very well, child. Now, in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy spirit why is it that you have come to me today?"

"Um, well father, I would like to have penance for some of my sins but I also want to talk about a friend of mine. He recently told me he was... a... well... a homosexual. I was just wondering what the Emmanuelite Church's teachings on that matter and what I should do."

"Oh my child, this is very serious. We have to do something to save your friend from himself before the situation worsens"

"What do I need to do?"

*****************************************************************

(Previously in College Life.) Diego: "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."

There was a pause. To any other bystander it would have looked like Diego had cut off mid-story and was staring into space. But Leo could see that, beneath the stare, his tiger was reliving memories that he would much rather forget.

"So...... what did Cha- or whatever his name is- do to you?" Leo asked as he gently put his hand on the feline's shoulder in an attempt to bring him back to the current.

"Che", the tiger corrected before sighing to himself. "Well..."

********************************************************************

It was the week after Diego had come out to Charlie and everything seemed to be still going fine. The coyote even seemed to have managed to keep his mouth shut which, given how much he liked to talk and gossip, was quite an achievement. Diego was coming home late in the evening from another session with his confirmation group when he spotted Charlie leaving his road. Although not peculiar to see the coyote around the neighbourhood given the relative close proximities of their houses; there was nothing of interest on Diego's road for the coyote, and Charlie knew full well that Diego wouldn't be at his house at the time due to the confirmation classes. Diego couldn't help but feel his suspicions slightly aroused.

"Hey, Che, how's things? Whatcha doing hanging around here at this hour of the evening?" Diego asked with a smile on his face. If nothing was wrong then the smile would go unnoticed like every other quotidian action. However if something was wrong, the smile would catch Charlie off guard and the coyote would do something to let him know that all was not well. Diego couldn't help but marvel about how he sometimes drastically over thought some things. Nonetheless, there was a slight hesitation in Charlie's response.

"I... was just delivering a message to your parents. It's from the priest. Don't ask me what it's about I don't really know, but I didn't have anything better to do this afternoon." The coyote grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. Diego had known the coyote for several years and he knew that this was the characteristic set of actions which represented that the coyote was hiding something or was nervous about something, like when he had tried to pretend to a teacher that he had got a good grade through lots of revision when in reality Diego had let him copy in a test. Diego didn't ask what it was about and decided to bid the canine a simple farewell before making his way back to his house. Wait a minute... which priest was that message from? I've only just arrived back from my confirmation class.

Diego walked in the door to the sounds of an argument emanating from the kitchen. He passed quickly through his living room to see his mother sitting with her arms crossed, sitting on one of the uncomfortable wooden chairs around the kitchen dining table. Standing with his paws resting on the opposite edge of the table was his father who seemed to be somewhat irate. It was obvious the dispute stemmed from the contents of a small piece of paper that lay curled up in the middle of the kitchen table. Both parents fell silent as Diego walked into the kitchen. Their stares switched to the message, each other, and then to Diego who had an ominous sense of foreboding about the upcoming conversation.

"Um, I heard you arguing when I came in. Is something the matter?" Diego asked, unsure as to what could have sparked such a vociferous discussion.

"No quiero que sigas siendo el amigo de este perro. ¿Entiendes?" Fernando snapped.

"Dad, mum is a part of this conversation too so can you speak in English for her? And why do you want me to stop being his friend anyway?"

"He's just brought some sick practical joke." The older tiger answered with a certain degree of disgust, "It's supposedly a letter from his parish priest telling us that you're gay and that you need to see a spiritual healer for conversion therapy or that we would have to disassociate ourselves with you or risk us all going to hell."

Diego couldn't help but feel slightly taken aback at his father's words. The way he spoke with such disdain about conversion therapy and the rest made him feel that perhaps his father would support his sexual orientation.

"So, it's suggesting some extreme actions, if it's just a practical joke then what's the problem?"

"That's not what we care about," Diego's mum interjected, "This letter is suggesting that you're gay. Now as far as we're concerned that's just completely slanderous and insulting. The fact that your 'friend' would be happy to make such accusations and claim it to be the words of a priest is absolutely disgusting."

"That's right!" Diego's father said slamming down his paws onto the table, "My family has a history of males. My father had sons, my grandfather had sons, and my great grandfather had sons. I'm not going to break that pattern for fuck sake."

"I keep trying to tell you, we don't know if he's gay so stop getting so worked up. Emmanuel! Stop jumping to conclusions like a fucking twelve year old." Diego's mum said scowling at his father. "Diego, just so we can sort out this problem once and for all, please confirm to your father that you are not gay."

Diego quickly glanced from his father to his mother and back to his father again. He felt himself starting to stutter not sure of quite what to say. He'd only come out a week ago and he hadn't been intending to be coming out again so suddenly. That is, if he decided to come out. He hadn't intended to come out to his parents; at least not for a while. It would have meant that he wasn't lying since he would not have been denying it; however, now he was faced with the issue- lie or tell the truth. As he stuttered over expressions of how his parents could ask such a thing he quickly weighed up the options. Lying was in direct contrast to the Decalogue and hence was wrong in general. Not only that, but lying would have meant he would have to sever his relationship with Che. Alternatively, telling the truth meant that he could continue to be friends with the coyote, get his sexuality out into the open and, since he hadn't had sex yet, wouldn't have done anything wrong. The choice was obvious but the words eluded him like salmon darting between the digits of someone trying to catch them with untrained paws.

"Well, the Lord calls us not to bear false testimony. And since I'd rather not get on his bad side..." Diego watched as his parents' expressions changed from annoyed to shocked and then slowly back to anger. The young tiger could feel the will start to escape from him and though his mind tried to call it back, fleeing was the only thing most of it was willing to do. Fortunately there was a small patch of will, somewhere in the depths of his mind that would stand by him as he uttered the next few words. "Yes... I'm gay. I'm sorry..." He said with a resigned shrug of his shoulders.

And with that shrug whatever had compelled him to stay in the kitchen up to this point vanished. He didn't want to be there. Confirmation class had been irritating enough, his friend had told a priest about his secret and now his parents were going to want to talk about it. He turned slowly on his heel and walked out of the kitchen, back through the living room and up the stair to his room. As he ascended the narrow staircase he could hear his father shouting at his mother again.

"This is all your fault. You gave birth to a gay son. You always ruin everything!"

Diego wasn't sure whether he should be hurt or upset by the comment. After all, obviously the comment was indirectly insulting him in some form; however, he had never wanted this to cause problems between his parents. He didn't want their relationship or their marriage to go to pieces purely because of his sexual orientation. As he walked into his room and locked the door behind him he let out a long sigh before collapsing onto his bed. Why was all of this happening? And out of all the possible people in this world, why had Che told a priest about him? Che was supposed to be Diego's best friend; he was the one person who shouldn't have done this kind of thing.

As Diego rolled onto his side he caught sight of a Swiss army knife on his bedside table. He reached out slowly to it and picked it up. His world just seemed to be crumbling around him. Che's betrayal, his parent's argument, some sadistic fuck of a priest's suggestion for "conversion therapy". Things seemed to be changing at an exponential rate but amongst all that change there was a minuscule constant that had revealed itself to Diego. In that world which seemed to be spinning out of control the small Swiss army knife would always be a Swiss army knife. It would never suddenly be a DVD player nor would its opinions of someone else change in the blink of an eye.

Diego started pulling out each part individually until every blade, corkscrew and nail file were sticking out at an assortment of angles. With the task complete Diego focused all his attention on putting every part back in. By keeping all his attention fixed on this small task perhaps he could forget the real world; even if only for a brief moment.

As Diego repeated this task he started to focus more and more on the details of each part: the winding spiral of the corkscrew, the multiple ridges on the nail file, and the sharp edges of the many small blades. How sharp were they really? Could they be used to stab somebody? Perhaps they were sharp enough to cut through skin? Diego felt his curiosity pique as he examined the longest blade with one eye. An identical eye stared back at him from the blade as if it was examining Diego himself, practically daring the tiger to carry out a scientific experiment of his own. Without even thinking about what he was doing Diego brought up a digit to the sharp edge and pressed it lightly against the knife. Examining his finger there was no sign of blood nor any kind of depression where he had pressed against the blade. Probably for the best I guess. It's certainly no Anduril.

The tiger went back to pulling out all the parts of the Swiss army knife and putting them back in. His desire to examine the blades had faded for the night and it was only after half an hour of fiddling with the knife that he heard a rattling of his door handle, which was subsequently followed by a loud banging against the door. Diego huffed to himself, put the Swiss army knife back onto his bedside table and went over to his door. All the while the banging persisted.

"I'm coming, just gimme a sec" he called out to who he knew was his father on the other side of the door.

"¡Venga! Tu madre y yo queremos hablar contigo. Estaremos en el salón." His father called back before making his way back downstairs and into the sitting room.

"Fucking hell, could've at least waited for me" Diego grumbled to himself. He was not in the mood for what was going to happen next.

***************************************************************

"So what did happen next?" Leo asked. While Diego had been explaining he had started to feel cold in the large priestly robe and, with a nod of approval from the tiger, had snuggled up against him for warmth.

"Well, you can probably guess. The whole 'you're just going through a phase' mixed with 'You know that lifestyle is an abomination' and inferences that being a gay male was equivalent to being a female trapped in a male's body." He replied. "It wasn't exactly the coolest of conversations. I don't know why though. I could have just agreed with them; agreed to live a lie. Everything would have gone back to normal, I could've told Che it was just a phase and that I just needed a bit of help to get through it. God, everything would have been so much simpler. But there was a phase I was going through; rebellious independent teenager phase. I held my ground, affirmed my sexuality and just caused a whole lot of trouble, not just for me, but for my family as well."

"You did the right thing Diego" Leo said as he lightly held the tiger's paw in his.

"I don't really know. But I wouldn't be who I am today if I hadn't. And I certainly wouldn't be snuggled up against a half Irish wolf using a priest's robe as a blanket and an empty church for a temporary shelter." His face remained composed for a moment before he grinned mischievously down at Leo.

"I'm sorry." Leo said with a smile as he nuzzled the tiger's muzzle and gave it a quick affectionate lick. "So, is all that the reason you hate Emmanuelites or is there more to this story?"

"There's always more unfortunately. Well, not always but you catch my drift." He said with a half smile. "A certain someone decided to spread the word around school about my sexuality in the vain hope that my other Emmanuelite peers would 'persuade' me to turn straight again. I had quite a few 'accidents'. Y'know the kind, a group of friends pushing each other as a joke when suddenly a perfectly aimed elbow 'accidentally' hits you straight in the muzzle as one of them stumbles back from a particularly hard push." Diego sighed to himself. "Che was often friends with those guys but wouldn't say or do anything to try and stop it from happening. He'd just scurry off with the rest of them, almost like he was afraid that I would bite if he dared to talk to me.

"That's... disgusting" Leo said, although not perfectly satisfied with his own choice of adjective; it didn't quite accurately portray the feelings of revulsion and rage that were welling up inside of him.

"Yeah, that was why I started going to the gym at school. I didn't always look like this. It only started last year. At least there was always a teacher on watch in the gym and they could only turn a blind eye to such an extent when there are so few people there. Nevertheless there were always whispers of discouragement from my peers that 'my kind' didn't belong there, and that I should be doing sports that suited people like me; activities like netball, not weightlifting. That was reserved for 'real' men. There was the one encouraging pat on the back. Although that was next to a treadmill that someone was running on and was "accidentally" a bit too strong."

"What happened?"

"Well, it turns out that my nose breaks easily when it collides with the high-speed belt of a treadmill. Though to all watching eyes it looked like a simple hearty slap to the back." As he recalled this he felt a deep growl. Originally he thought it had come from him, but he realised the vibrations he was feeling against his chest were those of his partner. The wolf was growling and shaking uncontrollably. During their few months together Leo had made clear how he felt about injustice. Diego never really quite understood it until that moment. He held Leo close to him and stroked his head softly while he waited for the wolf's rage to subside. After about a minute Leo's growling and shaking subsided and he leaned against the hairless chest of his big muscular feline.

"You okay, Leo?" Diego asked, somewhat concerned by the wolf's sudden mood shift. "I've never seen you like that before." The wolf smirked in response.

"Oh you've seen me like this. You just didn't notice it at the time." He replied. A raised eyebrow from the tiger prompted Leo to continue. "When you're father punched you after you had clearly won the Rite against him. I was so angry back then too, the only difference was that I wasn't restricted by some priest's robe and I had someone to target that anger at."

"Ah yes 'the one hit ko' as we like to call it in my family now. Fair enough, I understand you but you'll need to keep calm cos it didn't end there. After a few weeks the headmaster asked to see me. He gave me a form to sign stating that I would renounce my homosexual tendencies and live a vow of chastity while I remained at the school otherwise I wouldn't be able to continue my education with them, nor would I be able to sit any of my public exams there. After I refused, he called my mother and father. When I got home, it was the last straw with my parents. They were fed up of my 'fad' and my attempts to be an unruly rebellious teenager."

*************************************************************

Diego sat down at the dining table in the kitchen to have dinner with his mother and father. The meal was eaten predominantly in silence. The few words that were spoken were exchanged between Diego's parents. After a sigh his mother turned to him.

"We received a call from your headmaster today. He said that you wouldn't sign a form renouncing this stupid phase of yours and that you would rather leave school than stop pretending to be some homosexual."

"What's to pretend; what's the point in me signing a document that no one else in the school has to sign except for me? Besides, if, as you believe, this is just me pretending, then the validity of the document would be compromised and it would be pointless for me to sign it anyway." Diego replied. He was trying to keep cordial despite the anger he felt towards his mothers' words. The sound of cutlery clattering against the table caused Diego and his mother to jump slightly as his father slammed his hands down onto the table's wooden surface.

"Diego Sabre. You will never speak to your mother like that again, do you hear me. Emmanuel! What's wrong with you nowadays? Does being gay mean you have to disobey your parents wherever possible. I don't really see any explanation for your actions recently. You've brought shame on me and your mother and it's ever since we received that letter from the priest."

"Although I appreciate your concern" Diego replied in a slightly exaggeratedly courteous manner, "I do believe that I have eaten a sufficient amount for the present and would like to be excused from the table."

"You will stay where you are," Diego's parents responded in almost perfect unison.

"No, I'm seriously wrecked right now. It's been a difficult few days at school, my nose is still really painful and I just want to go lie down and rest for a bit. We can continue this conversation when I come back down in say... an hour's time."

There was a grumble of approval from Diego's parents. Diego placed his plate into the sink and made his way up to his room. But rather than rest as he had said he would, he started packing the largest rucksack he owned. Some necessities such as money, clothes and a phone with a charger were the first to go into this bag. With the remaining space Diego packed his textbooks, a train map and timetable, his diary and a small flick knife that he had bought the weekend after his parents had received the letter. He didn't know when the worst case scenario could happen and he had already memorised bus timetables in his area, and the area he intended to travel to in an emergency as well as homeless shelters in both. Things had been getting progressively worse and it would only be a matter of time before things escalated too far and somebody got hurt. Diego didn't want to get hurt but moreover he didn't want to hurt his parents. He knew someday he would have to undergo the Rite with his father, and on that day all metaphorical gloves would be off. _But this is not that day! _Diego couldn't help but think to himself with a small chuckle.

As promised he came downstairs. His parents were still angry. They didn't want their child expelled from school, but it was more out of some desire to maintain their good standing in the parish community rather out of any care towards his education. Things quickly got out of hand and Diego was glad he had packed the rucksack. He quickly found himself standing at the threshold of his door. His parents were still annoyed, proclaiming that if only he would renounce his homosexuality and revert to heterosexuality then everything would be alright.

"That's not who I am though!" Diego shouted back at them. "I've known this for years, and your current reaction is the reason I kept it a fucking secret. You've been treating me like shit these past few weeks. No apologies, no sorry. Just 'we're only doing what's right for you'. Well you know what, supporting me for who I am would be what's right for me. Not trying to change me so that I fit in with some ancient teachings from a section of our ancient text that doesn't even apply to modern Emmanuelites anymore."

"You disrespect us, and you disrespect our holy text, Diego. This is your final chance to turn back on your wicked ways because once you walk out that door you will no longer be a part of this family and we will no longer support you." His father replied angrily. Despite what had happened these past few weeks he still felt some sadness knowing that this may be their last farewell.

"In your eyes I stopped being a part of this family the second I admitted I was gay... mum, dad... goodbye." Diego turned on his heel and made his way towards the nearest bus stop from there he could get a bus to the train station and then a train to London. From there he would probably be able to find a homeless shelter somewhere. He winced as he heard the door slam behind him but continued walking. With every step the rucksack on his back seemed to get heavier and heavier. However, it was merely the psychological rather than any physical weight that was slowing him down.

Eventually, at about 1am in the morning, an exhausted young tiger dragged himself into a homeless shelter in the middle of London. A tired looking doe was sitting at the front desk. Diego approached her shyly and knocked quietly on the desk to get her attention.

"Hi, um, you wouldn't happen to have a spare bed in here would you?" A sorry expression crossed the receptionist's face and Diego already knew that it wasn't going to be good news.

"I'm afraid we don't. Most beds are taken by about 9pm each night."

"Well is there any floor space? I don't necessarily even need a mattress, just somewhere inside where I can sleep. Also... I kinda need some form of fixed address for a temporary basis. I'm going to start looking for a job but I'll need an address just in case I need to register details or anything, you know what I mean?" The doe nodded in understanding. The tiger certainly wasn't the youngest person she had seen using the services of the shelter but that didn't stop her feeling sorry for him. She spotted the rather large rucksack that was now resting at the tiger's side.

"Most of the people here are good people; none of them are going to steal your shoes or the clothes off your back or anything, but there may be one or two that wouldn't hesitate to see what's valuable in that rucksack of yours. Here, I can look after it for you if you would like, we do have a storage room for the volunteers stuff. If I leave a note on it detailing your name and species you should be able to ask the receptionist in the morning to get it for you. As far as I'm aware there aren't any tigers staying tonight so you should be in luck."

Diego watched worriedly as the doe stumbled with his heavy rucksack towards the store room. He wasn't supposed to go there lest he saw something that he wanted to steal. He wasn't in any way offended, he was sure that there probably had been one or two people like that in the past and that this was a ubiquitously applied principal. While the receptionist was gone he couldn't help but notice that everything on the front desk was incredibly cheap; even the computer was a very old model. This must have been a further deterrent to any potential theft.

When the receptionist got back she showed Diego to a hall that had about 50 mattresses in it. All of them were occupied by homeless people. There were a few there that looked like Diego himself, dressed in clothes which looked like they could at least survive a mild winter. However, the reality for the majority was a different story. The tatty clothes that some of those wore could be described as rags at best and a terrible smell attacked Diego's nostrils. It wasn't to be unexpected; this was to be his life from now on, at least from now until he started university in early autumn. He'd already received his acceptance letter from Camford University subject to his final exam grades that summer. The target grades weren't astronomically high and Diego knew he could get them so long as he was able to arrange for a centre to take the exams in. But he wasn't going to worry about that there and then; his first objective was to find a space on the ground to sleep on. From tomorrow he would start to make decisions as to what to do with his future.

*****************************************************************

"Wait, what the fuck? You ran away from home?!" Leo spurted out as the reality of Diego's past circumstances struck him full on. If he had ever thought he had had it hard in the past, he suddenly regretted that such frivolous things could have caused him the remotest amount of bother.

"Well, it wasn't so much running away from home. I made it pretty clear I was leaving and it was made pretty clear that no one was going to try and stop me."

"I'm sorry." Leo replied, feeling a tear starting to form at the corner of his eye.

"It's not your fault, you've no-"Diego started before a look from his partner reminded him of a previous conversation that followed an almost identical route to the one they were about to have.

"I'm not sorry about what happened to you, I-I mean I'm obviously upset about that don't get me wrong and I can't believe that you made it through all of that and I am sorry that it did happen to you. But what I was trying to say was that I'm sorry about how I was acting earlier. I was being a total dick to you without listening to your reasoning. I can see why you may hate Emmanuelites, and I'm sure that my grandmother and the local priest haven't improved their image in your eyes."

"It's okay. Besides, we needed to have a fight eventually; it's unhealthy to constantly get on all the time with each other" Diego kissed Leo on his forehead but the wolf only sighed in response. "What's wrong, hun?"

"I don't know. I just don't see where I lie in the grand scheme of things. I mean, I call myself an Emmanuelite, but am I really? I'm happy with who I am. I'm happy being gay; I don't think there is anything wrong with same-sex sexual relationships. I don't believe that the Emmanuelite church is the only true church or that one has to be an Emmanuelite to go to Heaven. I believe abortion should be allowed in certain cases-though not as a form of contraception- and I think we should implement legislation permitting euthanasia for the terminally ill or severely disabled. All of that is in direct contradiction to Emmanuelite teachings. And it's not like I've gone to church in the last 3 months except for the funeral. But I do believe in God and I believe in Emmanuel. And yet I know that regardless of what denomination I belong to I'm always going to be in disagreement with the church leaders on certain key issues so where does that leave me?"

"Well, plenty of people would tell you to get out of the Emmanuelite Church and make your own one to suit your needs because the Emmanuelite Church isn't going to change its doctrine for you. And although I used to think that was a pathetic and puerile argument, I've actually come around to that way of thinking in a sense. I don't belong to any denomination or church. I just believe and live my life as I think Emmanuel would want me to, or at least in a way that I believe is morally right. Call me a Personal Believer if you want to call me something."

"A Personal Believer..." Leo murmured to himself, trying out the word on himself like he would with new clothes. "I think that could work for me. It feels like I've drifted so far from the Emmanuelite Church already. Do you think we could be Personal Believers together?" Leo asked as he rested his head between Diego's pectorals.

"It would be my honour to lead my life as a Personal Believer with you, Leo Agito." Diego replied solemnly as he stroked his partner's head.

"Cool, so how does the rest of your story go?" A yawn escaped the wolf's muzzle as he probed further into the tiger's past.

"Well..."

*******************************************************************

Diego had made a note of all the nearby bars and clubs in the areas surrounding the homeless shelter before he had left his house. Unfortunately, his planning hadn't extended far beyond that point and he had forgotten to print up his CV while he was still at his house. The morning of the next day was spent trying to draft up a CV in a library close to where he was staying. He had some difficulty remembering all the details that he had put down on his original CV and the recent version looked like it had a bit less content which worried the tiger somewhat. However, it was all he had. He printed up a few copies; all the while conscious of the finite supply of money he had available to him and how even printing was using up potentially valuable pennies. Although he did have a bank account, it was only a shortfall and contained a little over a hundred pounds; probably more than the other homeless people in his shelter had to their disposal, but not the greatest start to a new life.

Making his way from bar to bar, he was uniformly rejected by the various owners without so much as a chance to prove himself. He wasn't searching for a bar job because of any particular dream to be a bartender or because he had relevant experience in the field. But he was strong and a quick learner and he hoped that would count. He also knew that with no experience or qualifications in administration or management roles he wasn't going to get any of the standard white collar jobs that were going around.

After a week he had given up on just searching for bar jobs and instead was looking for any jobs going in the local areas. He walked into every shop and establishment regardless of the industrial sector or whether or not vacancies were exhibited in the front window. But with a bare CV sporting excellent exam results but little else, no one was willing to hire him.

After two weeks of failure and a dwindling budget he decided to spend a little extra money to buy a bus ticket so he could explore areas that were slightly further away but which might hopefully have more jobs available. He doubted anywhere would hire him what with the competition from so many professionals but at this point he was running out of options and he never was a big fan of soup to begin with, the fact that it had become the only meal he was able to get didn't make him like it any more. After walking the streets of central London, asking in every shop, restaurant and bar he was almost ready to give up completely. He didn't want to go back to his parents' house; he knew that much. It was only about six months until he could go live in Camford. However, he still had to pass his summer exams to get into the university, and even though he knew a nearby centre where he could sit them, he would have to pay to do so, and the cost was more than the amount of money he had started with.

As the sun was beginning to set and darkness was starting to creep into the city's streets Diego found himself standing outside a small bar with rainbow coloured neon lights and the flag of the rainbow paw hung up in a window. Diego sighed to himself. Admittedly, he hadn't wanted to go down this route. He was in this position because he was gay and he had wanted to not have to rely on the gay community for help. He had wanted to get through this by himself, but at the current rate, it didn't seem like he was going to get anywhere by himself.

And so he crossed the threshold of the bar's door, and as he did so he crossed from the average looking street of London into what seemed like a whole new world to the young tiger. The worlds of normality and gay stereotypes somehow managed to coexist in a relatively small space. There were groups of guys sitting around tables and having drinks like it was any other pub; whereas only a table or two away there were some men in dresses, some in fancy designer clothes and even some with no clothes whatsoever. Diego meandered slowly towards the bar and found himself face to face with a highly flamboyant otter bartender.

"Hey babe, what can I get a handsome man like you today?" He said with a wink as he leaned against the counter top with one hand subtly stroking the handle of the beer tap. It wouldn't have been enough to put off someone who wasn't in the mood for sexual antics, but at the same time it would have been enough to spark someone's interest that was. At this point in time, Diego wasn't at all looking for sex, but he wasn't going to be offended in any way by the small gesture.

"A job would be nice." He replied with a weak smile.

"And why should I give you a job?" The bartender asked with both hands now planted firmly on his hips as his head did a stereotypical side to side bob which forced Diego to muster all self control in order to stop himself bursting out laughing. He regained his composure in an instant though, aware of how important this was. He was ready to give some bullshit explanation about how he was a fast learner and a hard worker, back it up with his offer for the medic course at Camford and then explain how he wanted to learn new skills so he could work in the student bar and return here for the holidays. However, this approach had not been successful so far and he decided that since he was at his wit's end, it might be worth just telling the truth.

"I recently left my home because I was no longer welcome there or at my school on the grounds of my sexuality. I'm currently living in a homeless shelter and have very little money. So long as I can get the grades in my exams this summer I will be accepted onto the medic course at Camford University. But I don't have the money I need to pay to take my exams and if I can't take them, and if I can't get a job, then I've got nowhere left to go because my parents made it quite clear that I'm no longer a part of the family and my friends don't want anything more to do with me. Please believe me when I tell you that if you give me the chance you won't regret it and I will figuratively work my ass off. I've got nowhere to turn and I guess someone who understands my problem might be able to help."

"Damn, you've put me in a hard situation, sugar." The otter wasn't quite sure what to say. He knew the tiger was probably telling the truth. Not many people would be able or willing to fabricate that kind of lie, nor would they be able to tell it with enough sincerity to make the otter believe it. He wanted to give the tiger a job but he knew he couldn't give a job to just anyone that walked in the door looking for one. Suddenly an idea came to his head. "Tell you what, sweetie. Come behind the bar quickly."

Diego did what he was told, not quite sure what the otter had in mind but was desperately hoping that it wouldn't involve him having to give up his body for some guy's pleasure. Fortunately such fears were quickly waylaid as the otter picked up a pint glass. "You ever drawn a pint before, sweets?"

"Um, no," Diego replied with a frown "I can't say I've seen one drawn before either."

"That's fine," The otter said soothingly as he lightly patted Diego on the shoulder. "Watch exactly how I do it. If you can do it just right on the first try then I'll give you a job. Now pay attention to every little detail. Remember, you screw this up on the first try and you're out. And I'm not explaining what I do; I need you to prove you can use your eyes, your brain and your hands." Diego nodded in response. This was his only chance and he couldn't afford to lose it. Fortunately, he would never feel the same level of fear when watching a pint being drawn for the rest of his life. "Oh and remember, you don't want your beer to be frothy. A frothy beer will be thrown straight back at you. You only want a small bit of froth for the head, got it. Now watch me."

With hands that boasted experience through the sheer confidence of their movements, the otter swiftly pulled the handle of the tap all the way down. A few drops hit the matt below and then he quickly stuck the glass under the tap. It was at a roughly forty five degree angle and the golden liquid hit the glass about three quarters of the way up before cascading down the length of the glass to collect itself at the bottom of the glass and quickly fill it up. As the golden liquid came within about an inch and half of the rim of the glass, the otter started to slowly straighten the glass up until the final half an inch saw the beer falling perfectly vertically into the glass to form a beautiful white head of foam. Finally, just as the head extended just past the rim, the bartender quickly flicked the handle up into its original position. Satisfied with his work, the otter smiled at Diego. "Your turn, stripes."

Diego picked up a glass from the same group from which the otter had taken his. Somehow he had managed to focus on the majority of the details. Fortunately, he quickly pulled the handle all the way down. The otter nodded in quiet approval; that was a step that most newbie bartenders screwed up on their first few attempts even when someone was explaining what to do. Diego managed to get the glass in at the right angle and the golden liquid collected at the bottom without any froth ruining the pint. As the liquid got up about three quarters of the way Diego started to straighten up the glass. He slowly raised the handle back to its original position so that he would be able to control the flow and prevent any spillages but to his horror the beer frothed up with thousands of tiny white bubbles. As the beer reached the rim Diego gave the handle a final push back into its starting position, set the frothy beer down and walked past the otter with his head to the floor and his tail between his legs. He had blown the one and only chance he would get.

As he reached the edge of the bar he felt a paw grab him by the shoulder.

"I'm sorry. Do you want me to pay for wasting a drink?"

"What's your name, son?" Came the now familiar voice of the otter.

"It's Diego, Diego Sabre. Thanks for the chance and sorry for screwing it up. Maybe I'll see you around."

"Look Diego, I never expected you to pour a pint perfectly on your first attempt. You would probably be the first guy in history ever to do so. In the past I've spent nearly a week with some guys before they've managed to draw a pint right. You only did one thing wrong there and frankly, that wasn't your fault. I know what you were trying to do, and without me explaining how the tap works, you weren't to know any better. But you did most of it right without any explanation from me and that's very impressive so I would be happy to give you a job. Now, not everyone gets to be a bartender straight away. You gotta work from scratch. So you can work as my barback and maybe, if you do a fabulous job, you may get to pour your own pints for customers." The otter finished off with a quick wink and a pat on the shoulder before spinning on his heel to deal with a panda in a waistcoat.

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"And that's how I got a job and how I, to stretch the phrase a bit thin on the ground, 'made it in the big city'. Soon I was renting my own place, cooking my own food and..." Diego paused and looked down at his wolf. The wolf's eyes were shut and Diego could hear his slow rhythmic breathing. "Yeah, I'm sorry it was such a long story". The tiger whispered, "You get some sleep. I just hope that you've come to understand why I may seem a bit fucked up at times. I Love you Leo. Sweet Dreams." Diego heard the wolf mumble something in his sleep before attempting to nuzzle up closer to his tiger. _I'm so blessed to have found someone like you _Diego thought to himself as he kissed his partner gently on the forehead, leant his head on that of the wolf and slowly drifted off to sleep himself.