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Hello, everyones. Welcome to the long-awaited Episode 30 of the gay furry romantic serial drama Free Association. By that queer fellow Valanx. If you're new and interested in that description, I highly suggest you start with Episode 1, and wish you fun times archive-binging!

Yay, large round numbers! Yay, the long-awaited end of my break! Yay, you're not even reading this, are you? :P Have fun, everybody.

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_ Wednesday. _

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"Heheh, nice kill!"

The clack of thumbsticks against their margins. "I think I'm getting the hang of it now..."

"I'll say, we'll have to try multiplayer next! I wanna fight you, see what you've got!"

"Sure thing!" he chirped. "Just as long as we don't have to fight in real life..."

"Not at all..." The other male's voice grew softer. "You'd win there for sure."

"But I'm little! And I don't have muscle like you do... you could probably take me easy."

"But, you see," came the slow reply, "I don't think I could hurt a cute guy like you..."

A dawning glow, like the rising sun. Heat building like a summer morning, His face suffused with blood; his gaming gestures came to a halt. "Hehehe... thanks for the... uh, compliment..."

A big smile was sent his way. "Sure thing, buddy!"

It made him smile, a bit, and somewhat lessened his blush. They were sure good friends, even if they were new friends... He liked being good enough friends, that the other male could call him 'cute'.

Maybe it helps to think of it in those terms, as well. ...Friends.

Left, right, jump, slash slash. His swords whirled, his magic flashed... and the pause screen came up.

Huh? He hadn't pushed that...

"I guess... There's more to this than we're saying, isn't there?"

It was growing late, and the sky outside only served to accord the room dull demarcations. Enough to walk around in, at the moment... but, soon, that would become dangerous. The floor was strewn with things, mostly clothes and books and paper, that the other male had kicked aside sheepishly the first time they'd hung out, with a few apologies. It had gotten a little better in the meantime; most of the t-shirts and boxers had migrated to the hamper where they belonged.

Not that he particularly cared. All they did was sit on the bed and play video games, anyway. Well, they'd watched a movie, too, on the old CRT TV they were staring at. And just... sat around. Talked. And...

He could still recall the cool feeling of scales under his paw.

Over the past couple days... I've thought of little else.

"Maybe," he allowed. "Maybe not."

In strict honesty, he wasn't really sure. He wasn't sure he even knew what was going on, what they were or were not saying. The things that were making him feel like this.

But he couldn't deny, that there was something about this guy. This reptile who so often cast him smiles and weighted glances, the one who had grown in a few days from an acquaintance, to...

...What was he now?

The other guy dipped his head a little at the reply, his gaze meeting his socks. Both males were on the short end of the spectrum; the reptile was slightly taller, but a fair amount skinnier as well. Slighter. Not fragile... but lanky, underweight, despite his visible musculature. Sometimes, when he sat just right, he looked pretty small. Innocent. Maybe that was his age, too... They were only two years apart, but...

...He looked so awful, sitting there, looking down like that. So... lonely.

He could probably use a hug.

It was always... trailing. A thought would appear on the horizon, a feeling, an impression... and as it rushed toward him like a freight train, as his brain processed it and began to ready his motor centers and his courage... the moment would pass. The train would arrive, and preperations would finish... and the other would swallow and glance up and say something.

"Well... I guess I'm probably projecting a bit." The reptile smirked a little at the ground.

And blushed. A little.

Maybe I should ask him what he means by that.

Rushing toward him, nervousness building in his stomach, paws clenching the rumpled blankets... Choo choo!

Dededeee dee dededeee de dededeee de deeeee!

Gulp.

The younger male jumped a little, glancing around as though he'd come out of a daydream. From his desk, there came a vrrrr! vrrrr!, and the classic Nokia ringtone played again.

Heh. That would be like the reptile... It was enough to bring a grin to his face, as he watched the phone's owner hop up. He knew his companion just well enough, now, to find his fascination with retro technical gadgets and indie video games predictable and familiar.

'Cute.'

It was almost like they were friends. Were they friends yet?

I hope so... I think of him as one...

He wanted to be friends with the other man. ...Were they men? They really weren't much beyond boys, and when did one progress from boy to man, in this society where parents and authorities went out of their way to make it one smooth, long transition? To delay the onset of responsibilities as much as possible?

"Hello? Oh, hi! Right, yup, that's me."

What did you call a nineteen-year-old who hadn't known what the word 'gay' meant until last year?

'Sheltered', probably...

He found his eyes following the drake's tail as it swished slowly, back and forth. That mane was riveting, the way it ran in one long stripe all the way up to the back of his pants...

You're staring at his ass again.

Gulp. Look at the TV, at the pause screen of the video game they'd been playing. Look at the old VHS player underneath it, the Betamax sitting on top. The case was slightly askew. The motor had died, and his friend was trying to find a replacement.

"Great. Can I pick it up tonight, then? Oh... Oh, no, that's fine, I'll be right over! Great, thanks, be there in fifteen."

The old phone clicked as it was set down on the desk. The dragon turned, his onyx mane gleaming and swishing as his tail whipped around him.

I wonder what it would feel like to run my paws through it...

"Um..." he said, hesitantly. "I have to... go pick up my car from the mechanic."

"Is it fixed now?"

"Dang, I hope so," the drake grumbled, scuffing one shoe against the carpet.

There was a pause.

"Um... Do you want to come with me?" the slender reptile asked, looking up slowly.

Why does that look always make my breath catch like that...

"Sure!" Big smile.

And a new goal appeared on the horizon. A new present, a new direction. The dragon grabbed his jacket from the floor; his friend's was sitting neatly on the other end of the bed.

He tried not to walk too close behind the reptile... no matter how the other male's slender frame 'felt', near to him. No matter how he might like to feel those smooth scales under his paws again.

Last night had been such a... strange experience... In a way, frightening. Yet, in the same way...

He wished he could have stayed with the dragon. He wished they could have...

That would have been so awkward, though...

Gulp.

They headed out into the living room. "Hey mom, got to go pick up my car, okay?"

"Oh, hooray;" the dumpy gray dragoness rumbled from the couch. "I'm mobile again."

The young dragon scratched at his mane, his long, pointy ears flicking back. "I haven't been using it that much..." he mumbled.

"Only to hang out with this fellow every minute of every day..." She gave her son's friend a smile to show her lack of spite; he giggled stupidly.

"Well anyway," the male dragon replied, thoroughly embarrassed now, "I'm going to go now and get mine. Uh. Thanks, mom."

"Drive safe."

The storm door's hydraulics whistled as a yellow-scaled paw pushed on the glass. A chilly breeze made the dry leaves in the yard rustle. The reptile lived in a pretty small house, in a fairly low-rent part of town.

Feels a little awkward, realizing he's probably poor and all...

He cast a glance up at the dragon's face. The other male had his paws in the pockets of his jacket, still looking a little embarrassed from the maternal teasing; they traversed the sidewalk.

It's sure going to be awkward when he... figures it out. That I went to a private school. That his house is about the size of my garage. That my first car was an S5. Not a used one, either.

Like he needed a fucking Audi. It was sitting at home in that garage. The fewer reminders he had of home, the better. He'd given his parents the excuse that he didn't want someone to ding it with their doors. They'd accepted that.

The passenger door of the old maroon Camry clunked open. He hopped in. Seatbelts screeched and clicked.

He didn't think anyone at school knew about his family. Not Taylor, not Mike, not Jonathon. No one.

Shit. He hoped Jonathon was okay, after what had happened Monday... he hadn't seen the raccoon after, and a bit later, boom, they were on Thanksgiving break...

...And he'd been a little distracted, anyhow. He should probably text his friend and ask what was up.

He was probably a bad friend for not having done so sooner. Here Jonathon was always nice and helpful toward him, and he didn't even check to see if the raccoon was okay. Jonathon was like that to everyone, though, even his asshole fox roommate... The raccoon was probably used to not getting so much as a thank-you, let alone an expression of concern.

Yeah. Just keep on feelin' real good about yourself, ya big dork. Being happy, being a dickhole, it's what you're good at, isn't it?

But his phone was back on that bed, where, last night... They had...

Shiver.

"You can't drive a stick, can you?" the dragon remarked, as he put the Camry in gear.

"Uuuh. Nope."

"Right. Okay. Well, you'll have to drive my car, then." They backed out into the street. The driveway was cracked badly. The car's tailpipe rattled.

"How come?"

The other male threw him a look. "So we can get back, dummy. We're gonna have two cars and you can only drive one of them."

"Oh. Right." You should have thought of that.

"So you take my car, I'll drive mom's back. You know how to get back here, right?"

"Uh."

The dragon shook his head. "Look, just follow me, okay?"

He sounds irritated...

It was quiet, except for the hum of the tires. The south side of campus was coming up on the right.

"Sorry..." he mumbled, feeling a little hurt. "I don't drive much."

The turn indicator sounded. "I didn't mean it like that..." the dragon said, more softly. "It's okay..."

To his surprise... he felt soft scales on his arm. He looked down, looked up, quivered. The reptile was more forward than he would ever dare to be... even if he was the younger of the two. Just... reaching out, and touching someone's wrist. Bill was the only guy he knew who would do that sort of thing... and the big black panther was such an energetic, physical guy that if you were his friend, even if you barely knew each other, he hugged you and slapped you on the back at least thrice a week.

Kinesthetic, Jonathon had called it, once. The raccoon was so smart with words and shit. He really had to remember to text the guy when he got back... Monday had been scary.

Was it so hard to believe he could completely forget something like that, when...

The Camry coasted to a stop next to its driver's car.

"Okay," the dragon said softly, turning the car off. "I'm gonna head in and talk to the guy. I'll be back out in a sec." He gave the occupant of the passenger seat a warm look, and a smile.

He had the greatest smile...

"Okay..."

The driver's door opened...

"Dan?"

The dragon paused, and turned back to look in at him.

"Don't... don't take too long... or anything..." he mumbled, feeling stupid.

That smile again. "I won't... Hey, uh... maybe after this, we can go grab a milkshake or somethin'..."

Blink. "We're going to have two cars," he parroted, with a chuckle.

The dragon stared at him a moment, and then abruptly blushed. "Right... you're right... never mind..." he mumbled.

"But..." the other male said quickly. "I, uh... I'd like to take a rain check... on that..."

Daniel looked up at him and offered a little smile, and got one in return. "Then... you've got it." Pause. "I'll... I'll be back in just a minute. Sit tight."

"Okay."

The glass door made contact with yellow scales and tawny pads, black claws clicking against it. Pushhh. The door swung open, and a bell sounded, bing! Inside, the ceiling lights were on to ward off the external dimness; an overweight otter in dingy overalls was behind the desk, and glanced up at him. "Ah. You..." He fumbled through papers, and grabbed one quickly. "You Daniel, uh, Ivanovich?"

"That's me."

"I get the name right?"

"Close enough." The dragon smiled. You always got better service when you smiled a lot. Heck, people just treated you nicer in general. It was a careful balance, not to slip into annoying cheerfulness, though.

The otter wiggled the mouse of the old desk computer, and clicked a couple things. "Kay. Let me get the guy who worked on it, he wanted to go over a few things with you."

Uh oh. That didn't sound good. Daniel watched the otter stomp back into the cramped office, which had a door with a small window that seemed to lead to the garage. He opened this and yelled something unintelligible. The dragon nervously fiddled with his wallet in his pocket, long tail flicking behind him.

A moment later, the otter returned, followed by an enormous guy with immense muscular shoulders. His jet-black fur rippled, sticking out from under his overalls, which he wore with no shirt beneath despite the chill temperatures. He was sweating, too, Daniel could smell it. And the dragon couldn't honestly say he didn't inhale a little more deeply, when he caught that whiff of masculine musk.

"Hey," the panther rumbled, friendlily; he'd done work on Daniel's car several times now, so they sort of knew each other. Not well enough that Daniel didn't have to glance at the nameplate pinned on his overalls, however... Bryan, that was right.

"Hey!" he replied cheerily.

"Well, lessee," Bryan muttered, taking the sheet of paper the otter handed him. His skinny black tail flicked behind him. "Originally you were in about it wouldn't start, and looked like the plugs, got those replaced and new cables. Still wouldn't start. Replaced the injector pump and it started right up, so we tried it with the old shocks for the helluvit and no dice. Then, along the way we noticed your water pump was leaking kinda bad, too, and you said you wanted us to fix that, so that's done. Here's the damages."

Daniel took the paper and perused it, wincing at the final total. It was going to clean out a majority of his savings from work, but he could afford it.

"Two more things. First, your bearings are going. Not too bad yet, but you're gonna wanna get them replaced sooner rather than later."

The dragon groaned, and Bryan grinned.

"Now the good news. Washed it, gave your cabin a nice vacuuming, little pine tree air freshener, and topped up your washer fluid, too, on the house." He gave a bit of a shrug. "Least we could do considering it's been here most of a week."

The dragon smiled. "Well, thanks! Here... let me write you a check..."

When he'd finished scrawling his untidy, childish signature on the piece of paper, the dragon passed it to the panther, who stowed it under the counter and hit a few things on the computer. A receipt printed. "Here ya go."

"Thanks," Daniel replied. "And sorry for keeping you late!"

"Aaaah, no problem, buddy," the giant of a feline replied, giving him a playful nudge in the shoulder. "I hate to say 'see ya soon' with your car, but I wouldn't mind so much if I did. Take it easy, Danny."

The dragon grinned big. "Right, see ya!"

Bing!

It was nearly dark, now. Twilight. The dragon paced back down the sidewalk toward the two cars, the only cars left in the parking lot. Halfway there, he tilted his head.

...wouldn't mind so much if he... And free car cleaning, and he even re-checked my old spark plugs to try to save me money. ...Was he hitting on me?

Wow. First time he'd ever had to ask that question.

Probably not. He was probably just a nice guy. I mean, gee, the panther was in his mid-twenties, at least, and Daniel was in his last year of high school. A bit creepy, that, right?

A two-year difference was much more reasonable. At least, so the dragon thought. Though, really, what did it matter, as long as you were old enough to consent?

He hoped he wasn't alone in thinking that way...

They split up between the cars, and Daniel hesitated a moment to ensure that, yes, his car actually did start up just like it was supposed to. Then he lead the way back, revving the old Camry's engine a bit in celebration. He was careful not to lose the yellow Malibu station wagon in his rear-view mirror... he didn't want the guy to get lost. As much because that would suck, as because... he wanted to spend a lot more time together. He wanted the occupant of his car to remain as close as possible.

He hadn't stayed last night. Daniel had asked him to, had pleaded, had almost begged him to... but he was too shy, even after what they'd been doing. So the dragon, resigned, had taken the other male back to his dorm, and huddled up under his blankets sadly, alone.

But tonight... The reptile was going to ask again. And he hoped... the answer would be different this time.

They had all of Thanksgiving break. They'd had even longer, before that; they'd been too excited to wait for the days off. Things were... changing. Things would continue to change. Daniel was not impatient. He was happy with the way all of this was progressing.

And yet, his mind couldn't help but wander... forward, as he climbed out, and paced toward the little mammal standing beside his car. His thoughts were hopeful... and when the other male looked up, and caught his eyes... they both smiled.

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A general comment: If you should ever happen to think that I contradicted myself, I suggest you go back and reread what I said previously very carefully. *evil cackle* Oh boy did I have loads of fun writing this episode.

Well, we're up and running again! The next episode of FA will, as always, be up next Friday! See you guys then. :3