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Fantastic Thoughts

University is difficult for its students. Despite being in class for only ten to fifteen, maybe twenty hours a week, homework, review sessions, and studying kept the students occupied from dawn till dusk. Then there was work; with very few exceptions, most students survived off loans and any peripheral cash they could make. Even part-time students found, to their misery, that university was expensive.

And then there was the social sphere.

Kyle Beauxclair didn't have issues with money, normally. He and his roommate, Aqua Stevenson, were both considered brilliant first-years, prodigious potential physicists. Provided they kept their grades above a 3.8 GPA, they had been guaranteed a full ride from the university. Kyle also never went overboard, preferring to stick to the standard fifteen weekly credit hours, giving him time to study, do his homework, and work off his stress. Jogging and swimming kept them both in shape, kept their minds sharp. All in all, Kyle was happy with his life. Yet there was something that the eighteen-year old river otter found himself wanting now that he was out of high school and ascending into adult independence, and that was somebody to love.

Being bisexual - or, at least, having found himself having fantastic thoughts about both genders, even if he had never done anything with them - gave him a wide range of potential. But he didn't want fleeting satisfaction, he wanted a companion. He wanted somebody that he enjoyed spending time with both as a friend and as more. Since coming to university and bunking with Aqua, he'd found himself a best friend, but he had yet to find somebody he felt truly romantic for.

Kyle looked at himself in the mirror on the inside of the bathroom door - freshly showered, with his brown fur standing out at odd ends after blow-drying under the dryer in the bathroom - and was just about to grab his brush when his cell phone buzzed from his room. Keeping a towel drawn about his waist he opened the door and walked out into the small two-bed room that was his and Aqua's bedroom. His phone buzzed again from the left of the two end-tables between the two beds. He walked over and picked it up. R u ready fr tonight? the text read. Kyle smiled; it was from his friend Alex. Kyle texted back, Totally. And you know, it wouldn't kill you to use English when texting. He tossed his phone on the bed and poked his head out of the door into his and Aqua's music-filled living space. "Awk, I'm getting changed, so no peeking, got it?"

The husky looked back and grinned as he squatted up and down. "Aww, but you're so cute!"

Aqua narrowed his eyes and jabbed a finger in mock anger at his roommate. "Hey, I know where you sleep."

"Rowr!"

Kyle shook his head and shut the door behind him before walking back into the still-steaming bathroom. His fingers sought the brush on the vanity and he began to brush his fur down. He wanted to look his best for his first date.

When Kyle walked back into his room, freshly brushed down, he moved his phone off the pair of jeans he had laid out on his dresser and pulled on a pair of boxer-briefs, followed by a pair of white socks and his pants. Making sure he had his wallet and cell phone in his pocket he went to his shared closed and started leafing through the shirts hanging up. Red? No, too bright. He needed something subtle, not too glaring. In the end he decided on a short sleeved silk collared shirt, plain dark blue. He liked the way his lighter brown chest fur peeked through the shirt when it wasn't buttoned up all the way. After checking again for his wallet and phone again, he stepped out into the living space and walked towards the door to slip on his shoes. "See you tomorrow Awk!"

Aqua, now seated on the long couch but still listening to the music, gave his friend a thumbs up. "Cool. Good luck man!"

Kyle smiled. "Thanks." He opened the door, took a deep breath, and stepped out into the hallway.

---

Kyle looked out over the water and then checked the time on his phone. Five forty-three. His date wasn't late yet; still had a few minutes.

"Excuse me, are you Kyle?"

Kyle jumped at the soft, deep voice in his ear. He turned around and came muzzle to muzzle with a large black tiger. After a second to recompose himself, Kyle recognized the tiger as somebody who he had seen on the university campus before - a black tiger with white stripes was certainly a rare, if not unique, breed - but to whom he had not introduced himself. And looking at him, Kyle couldn't understand why. He was impressively muscular, and he looked gorgeous in a pair of dark blue jeans and a faded pink collared polo shirt.

Chuckling at his own reaction, Kyle extended his paw to shake. "Yeah, and I'm guessing you must be Soka. I've seen you around, but we haven't actually met before."

The big tiger shook Kyle's paw with a firm grip. "Yeah, I could probably say the same for you, but there are so many otters around this part of Canada that it's tough to sort through them all."

Kyle tapped the morning star earring hanging out of his round left ear. "Just remember me by this. It's a pretty rare type of earring, so I've got that going for me at least."

Soka's laughter echoed down the tree-lined path. "Yeah, I guess you do. So, where did you have in mind?"

Kyle smiled, and the butterflies started to gnaw at his stomach. D-day. "Well, there's a great little Vietnamese place just off-campus. If we hurry, we might be able to get a window seat, they have a great view of the water. Or, you know, if you don't like pho mein or whatever, we could find somewhere else. I'm not really picky." Kyle's voice trailed off towards the end of his suggestion, and his green eyes fell down to his shoes.

Soka smiled down at the shorter otter. "Hey, don't worry. I love pho mein, actually, and I think I know where you're talking about. It's not too far, we could probably get there in fifteen or twenty if we walk."

Kyle raised his eyes and smiled as he looked into the tiger's grey eyes. "Awesome! Shall we, then?"

Soka smiled and gestured down the path. "Let's do it."

---

Kyle's paw closed around the handle to the Vietnamese pho mein shop and opened the door. With an exaggerated bow, he waved Soka in with his other paw. "After you my good sir."

A chuckle rumbled up from Soka's throat and Kyle felt his heart skip a beat. Soka made an elegant leg and said, "Why thank you sir, you're such a kind gentleman." He and Kyle shared a chuckle at their antics as the door closed behind them.

The pho shop was simple, yet elegant, which was at least partly why Kyle loved it so much (besides the incredible food, that is). The segmented walls had a flat pale green paint job, and every couple segments the green would be decorated with the beige outlines of flowers. Even the tables were a simple affair, square slabs of dark wood with straight edge chairs whose backs curved slightly back ("I think it's cherry wood", Soka told Kyle when he mentioned it).

From the main counter in the back of the store, a small golden jackal looked up and smiled. As the jackal walked towards them, Kyle looked around; they weren't very busy right now, only a smattering of customers today. But most importantly, the window table he'd wanted was free! The jackal grabbed a couple menus from a small podium near the entrance and smiled. "Hello again! If you'd like, you may sit wherever you wish."

Kyle gestured with his left paw at the table by the window. "May we sit there?"

The jackal waiter nodded and raised his free paw towards the table. "Of course! After you, sirs." Kyle led the way and was about to pull out his chair when a black-and-white paw closed over the back and pulled it out for him. He followed the arm of the paw up to Soka's grey eyes and wide smile. "Thanks," Kyle said, and sat down. He edged his seat in as Soka took his own and the waiter set their menus down in front of them. Kyle didn't really hear the specials of the day the jackal was reciting, and the menu itself seemed to be blurry and unreadable as one thought seemed to bear down on him: I'm actually on a date...

"Sir?"

Kyle snapped out of his reverie and looked up at the jackal, who had tapped his paw. "Oh, I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

"To drink, what would you like?"

"Oh! Um, just the usual chilled green tea please."

"And will you need more time to decide on your food? You were looking at that menu for quite some time."

A blush began to spread across Kyle's face, but he was saved the trouble of answering when Soka said, "I'd like a minute please; still not sure."

The jackal gave them a smile and a nod of his head before walking off to get their drinks. "Thanks," Kyle said, trying to bring down the heat in his cheeks.

"For what? I'm serious, I don't know if I want to get pho or something else." Soka opened up his menu and traced a claw down the menu.

Kyle closed his. He knew what he was getting. "Well, pick whatever you'd like. I'm paying tonight."

Soka's eyes looked up from his menu and he cocked an eyebrow. "Really? You don't have to, I can pay for my own."

Kyle shook his head. "No, I insist. I'm taking you on a date, so I'll foot the bill. If you really want to we can split the bill, but I'd like to pay tonight." When Soka smiled and thanked him softly, Kyle just shook his head again. "It's no trouble man. Besides, if anybody should be paying, it's Alex. He set us up, remember?"

That got a laugh out of Soka. "Yeah, I guess he should. It wouldn't take much to convince him though, he's generous that way."

"Lucky us." Kyle looked up at the returning waiter and accepted his drink from him.

The waiter pulled out a small notepad. "Are you ready to order yet, or would you like more time?"

"I'm good." Kyle looked at Soka. "What about you, you ready?"

Soka closed his menu and nodded. "I'll just get whatever he's having."

The waiter looked expectantly at Kyle, who had not expected that. "Oh, um...uh, I'll just get the sliced beef pho please, and can I get extra onions in mine?"

"Not in mine please," Soka interjected.

The waiter jotted down the order on his pad. "Absolutely, would you like anything else?"

"Yes, an order of spring rolls please."

"Spring rolls, excellent. They are delicious, aren't they?" The jackal chuckled and collected the menus from Soka, who had gathered them and held them up for the waiter. "Your food will be out shortly. Thank you very much!"

"You're welcome," Soka said. When the waiter left, he looked over at Kyle and asked, "So, what's the plan once we're done?"

Kyle shook his head with a coy grin. "Now that would be telling. Why don't we eat first, get to know each other, then I'll tell you?" Truth be told, Kyle was still feeling very nervous about the whole thing. He wanted to take Soka back to his apartment like he'd planned, but he needed to see how this would all go first. He reached over and poked at a muscular tiger bicep. "So what do you do for fun? I can't imagine you get muscles like that from just sitting around on your duff."

Soka flexed both arms. "What, these things?" He chuckled. "Yeah, I go to the gym four times a week. Don't play any sports, just exercise to stay in shape."

"Oh? There's something we have in common. I mean," Kyle gestured down to his trim swimmer's body. "I don't go to the gym or anything, but I swim and run to stay in shape. Besides, I don't have time for sports; way too many labs, way too much studying." Kyle took a small drink of water and swirled the water around in the cup. "What else do you do for fun? Play games, watch TV, play music, any hobbies or anything?"

"Not really. I guess my hobby is my gaming and my gym. I play lots of FPSs, a bit of parkour. I do read sometimes, but I mostly play shooters, or WoW."

Kyle's face scrunched up. "Ugh, Warcraft?" Any further comments were delayed as the waiter approached their table with their orders. The bowls were set in front of them, as well as two plates of bean sprouts, basil, and limes, plus vegetable spring rolls. The waiter wished them a pleasant dining experience, and Kyle's paw shot for the chili sauce set on the side of the table. As Soka drizzled hoisin sauce into his own, Kyle loaded his pho with the spicy red sauce. "Wow," Soka said, "Like it spicy much?" Kyle said nothing, only grinned as he exchanged the chili sauce for the hoisin and squirted it into his pho. Once he replaced the hoisin sauce he grabbed his chopsticks and started dumping the bean sprouts into his soup while the other hand squeezed the lime wedge over the broth, dripping limey goodness into the bowl. Kyle's chopsticks pressed firmly against the webbing between his thumb and forefinger as he swirled the now reddish-brown broth around, then picked up a pile of noodles from his bowl of pho mein and shoved them into his mouth. Soka laughed at the subdued slurping sound coming from between Kyle's lips. "Wow, you really love pho, don't you?"

Kyle nodded and chewed before taking a drink from his chilled green tea. "Yeah, love it. Love most Asian food, but get this: I can't stand seafood."

"What?" Soka's jaw dropped with his chopsticks. "You're an otter! Isn't that, like, biologically impossible?"

Kyle shrugged, still smiling. "What can I say, I just don't like it. I'll eat some fish, sometimes, but otherwise no. I like my meats, my vegetables, my fruits, my breads, but not my fish. Weird, I know."

"Yeah," Soka agreed, "But it's kinda cute." He slurped some of his noodles and raised his eyes again to look at Kyle. "So what is it you're taking here at the university?"

Kyle faked a swallow to hide the sheepish expression that crossed his face at the compliment. "Mmph...Um, I'm in a Bachelor of Science right now, Physics major, Math minor, only in my first year. What about you?"

"I'm a Psych major, business minor, second year. Seems like it should get me a job in HR one of these days."

"Always a market for that." Kyle checked his watch. Six thirty on the nose. Deep breath. "So, after this, would you be up for going back to my dorm and maybe playing some games? My roommate Aqua is practicing for the swimming team tonight, and he's going to be staying over at another friend's after practice, so we'd have the whole place to ourselves." Kyle's eyes widened and his shoulders stiffened as he realized the implications of what he'd just said. "Wait, wait, I didn't mean it like that. I'm so sorry, this is the first time I've ever been out on a date, I'm trying to do this right, but I've never done it before so I really don't know what I've gotta do, and-"

Soka chuckled and reached across the table to lay his paw over Kyle's, stopping the otter's rambling. "Don't worry about it. I know what you meant. And yeah, that sounds good. Any good shooters in your library?"

Relief washed over Kyle's face and his rigid posture relaxed as Soka's paw covered his. "Thanks. Yeah, I do, but not many. I've got Call of Duty and Battlefield 3, but that's about it. I don't play games very often, but when I do it's normally sci-fi or fantasy, like Oblivion or Mass Effect."

"Cool! What's say we eat quick and get out of here then? I'd love to kill time just shooting stuff with you. Or maybe even shooting you." Soka winked and showed his teeth with a wide, teasing grin. "I've always loved shooters."

Kyle's ears perked up and he sat up straighter with a grin on his face. "Sure! They're pretty traditional here, though, so we'll have to go up when we pay...wait, you already knew that, didn't you. Sorry about that."

Soka laughed again and as he stood up he grabbed Kyle's paw. "Hey man, like I said, don't worry about it. Besides..." Soka reached over and pecked Kyle on the cheek, smiling at the blush showing beneath the otter's fur. "It's cute. Don't be nervous, just go with the flow."

A smile spread across Kyle's face over his blush. "I usually am really chill...but this is the first date I've ever been on. Completely new territory for me."

"Same principle man, just go with the flow. Do what feels natural. Now, let's finish this food so we can get over to your place!"

---

"You sure you don't wanna play on the same side as me?"

Kyle, leaning on the arm of the couch with a webbed paw over his face, simply nodded as he lost the fifth match in a row.

Soka laughed from the middle of the couch. "Aw come on, it's getting kinda sad seeing your face after I've wiped you off the map for the billionth time. You're better than the AI, but you ain't gonna win unless you're on my side."

Kyle jabbed an elbow playfully into Soka. "I've got a better idea." He stood up and shooed Soka over to where he'd been sitting before, then took his spot in the middle. "Why don't you play single player for a while; where I was sitting has a better view of the TV anyways. I'll just watch; getting tired of dying so much." Kyle jerked, startled as he felt something pressing softly on his foot. He looked down and saw Soka's white socked paw curled over his own.

"Sure," Soka said, "Why not."

"I'll even do you a favour," Kyle said. A cheeky grin spread across his face that traced its origins to the socked foot curled over his own. "Why don't we see how well you play as I give you a foot massage, hmm? All that work from this week, you said your feet have been sore, so I'll just do something about that and see how your performance is. Let's call it a mutually beneficial experiment."

Soka's eyes watched as Kyle leaned back against the other arm of the couch and lifted his foot up into his lap. When Kyle's thumbs came into contact with the balls of his foot, his tail jerked and his vision seemed to blur for a moment. Kyle's massage was so good! Soka closed his eyes and twisted to lean back against his the arm of the couch, letting Kyle have full access to his foot. "You know...I think I'm good for games for tonight. Unh!" A wave of euphoria climbed his leg as Kyle's thumb cracked a toe joint. "Wow, you're really good at this..."

Kyle smiled. "My roommate and I give each other foot massages after our nightly jog. Nice little cooldown before we go to bed. Let me know if I hit a sore spot, okay? I wouldn't want to hurt you."

"Mmmm...I don't think you could. You've got really good fingers there."

Kyle moved towards the heel and smiled when he saw Soka's toes twitch under the cotton socks (and in no way was that smile trying to hide a rising blush from the scents wafting towards him from the tiger; nope, not even one). He closed his eyes as well and focused on feeling all the tension, rubbing and kneading at the sole. As his thumbs brushed the edge of Soka's heel, Kyle couldn't help a little squeak as he felt a socked paw push in between his thighs. When he opened his eyes, he saw Soka staring at him with an infuriatingly teasing expression on his face. As Kyle's blush intensified, Soka said, "So, you like rubbing feet?"

Embarrassed, Kyle thought, was an understatement to how he was feeling right now. He only screwed his eyes shut with embarrassed pleasure as Soka flexed both feet. "Mmnn, yeah. I can't help it, they've just always been a fascination for me, and-"

As Kyle began a new ramble, Soka couldn't help but stare at Kyle's own socked feet. Without waiting for Kyle to finish, he picked one up from the couch and started to rub and stroke it with his paws. At another squeak from the otter, Soka said, "You talk too much, bud." He cracked a toe and giggled at the sigh of bliss that came from Kyle. "You know, I'd just love to watch you do things with my feet. You don't have to be shy," he added at Kyle's embarrassed expression. "I love foot rubs, of all kinds."

Kyle's blush intensified as he realized what Soka was getting at, and a sense of unease crept through his belly. "Well, you know, I like feet, but I don't know if..."

Soka put down the foot he was holding and pushed himself up on the couch, simultaneously pulling his foot away from Kyle. Kyle looked disappointed for a moment, but when Soka crawled over top of him, his disappointment disappeared. "You know," Soka breathed, "It ain't nothing to be ashamed about." And before Kyle could reply, Soka bent down and kissed him full on the lips.

At first Kyle wasn't sure what was happening. Then, when Soka pulled back and went for another kiss, he felt a tongue probing at his lips and opened them even as he closed his eyes. Something sparked in his mouth when their tongues met, accompanied by an almost sickening jolt in his stomach that he tried to ignore. His first kiss...felt so good. With his paws, he instinctively reached up behind Soka and wrapped them around his back, pulling him in closer. Soka let out a moan and pushed harder into the kiss.

When they separated, both Kyle and Soka were breathless. Kyle's breaths came in short bursts. "Wow...that was amazing. Is that what it's supposed to be like?"

Soka, likewise breathless and staring in amazement at Kyle, replied, "I don't know, that's the first time I've had a kiss that good. That was...wow."

Kyle smiled and pulled Soka down. "How about another?" Their mouths met again and their tongues curled in on each other, and Kyle's eyes closed again in bliss. Instead of holding Soka down, Kyle's paws began to roam over the tiger's pink shirt, feeling the firm muscles beneath them. When they stopped for a breath, Kyle said, "Wow, your muscles are amazing...so firm."

Soka chuckled and set himself on his knees over Kyle's lap. "So I'm told. If you want, you can see them." Kyle said nothing, only nodded, and Soka gripped his shirt collar and pulled upwards.

Kyle stared at Soka's body. He wasn't really a muscle man, but there was no denying... "God, you're built like Adonis."

Soka smiled and leaned back down, capturing Kyle in another kiss. "Maybe," he said when they pulled apart. "But I can't help but wonder about you. You certainly don't look or feel fat."

Kyle swallowed and shook his head. "I'm not, I'm just toned. Don't have time to work out, just to stay healthy."

Soka's thumbs hooked into one of the buttons over Kyle's torso. "May I?" Kyle nodded and Soka started to unbutton the shirt, piece by piece. When he got to the top, he gave Kyle another quick kiss before fully opening the shirt. He smiled at what he saw beneath. "Oh man, this is a great body." Soka ran his paws over Kyle's sides, trim and toned, letting his claws sink just past the fur.

"Really? I'm not very muscular-mmph!" Kyle's question was cut off as Soka pulled him into another kiss.

"Really," the tiger said when they separated. His paws reached down and stroked at the otter's thick tail, eliciting a soft moan from Kyle. "Sensitive tail?"

"Very," Kyle murmured. "You can't imagine just how much it hurts when somebody steps on it. Ah!"

Soka had given the tail a light squeeze near its tip, grinning mischievously down at Kyle. "I like sensitive tails."

"I like footpaws."

Soka laughed. "Me too. You know..." Soka's paw trailed its way down to Kyle's jeans and unhooked the button. "This is getting really hot, and I don't think your roommate would appreciate all these smells on his couch."

Kyle was about to say something when his zipper came all the way down. Soka leaned back on the other arm of the couch and placed both socked feet where the zipper had been a moment before. Kyle rolled his eyes at the pleasure of having someone touch him with their feet like that...but that gnawing feeling at his stomach only intensified. He could hear Soka saying something, but he wasn't sure what it was; it sounded almost distant, hidden behind the fog of that feeling in his belly.

The first thing he heard was himself say, "...Stop."

Soka's paws, which had begun to rub and massage Kyle, stopped moving. "Huh?"

Kyle, whose breathing was now inexplicably heavy, opened his green eyes and looked straight into Soka's grey ones. "I...I don't think I'm ready for this. I'm not comfortable with it."

Soka looked at Kyle in disbelief before he chuckled and started rubbing again. "Oh, you almost had me there. I-" The tiger stopped talking as Kyle grabbed his feet and lifted them away. "Wait, you're serious?"

Kyle nodded. "I am. I'm not comfortable with this. If we were boyfriends, then it would be different, but...I just don't want to do this with somebody I just met." Seeing Soka's expression fall, he hastily added, "Don't get me wrong, I really like you. Like, a lot. But I'm not comfortable with doing this with somebody who I only met tonight because of a blind date set up by our friends. Maybe, in time..." Kyle pulled himself up over Soka and kissed him again. "In time, I think maybe...but let's give it a few dates first, after we become official boyfriends."

As they stared into each other's eyes, Soka's expression lightened, and he found himself smiling. He reached up and hugged Kyle. "Alright, I won't force you. I'll wait till you're comfortable, but believe me when I say I'm really looking forward to it. You are a gorgeous otter, a sweet guy, and I'll wait; I'm just excited for when it happens."

Kyle kissed Soka again. "Good. I'm looking forward to it too, I just don't want to feel guilty about it afterwards. It's a personal thing."

"I can wait...you'll just be that much sweeter when it finally happens.

A giggle came from Kyle. "Probably. It's getting late, though, so why don't we head to bed. I'm not opposed to cuddling."

---

Morning came slashing through the blinds in Kyle's room, and he blinked himself awake. He started to stretch, but stopped at the feel of a pair of muscular furry arms wrapped around his torso. Kyle contented himself with a quick stiffening and cracking of his back, then laid back against Soka with a small breath. This was...nice. He'd never woken up to somebody holding him before; he'd never even gone to sleep with somebody in his bed. A warm feeling bubbled in his chest at the feel of the tiger's soft fur against his body.

When Soka's arms tightened around him, Kyle couldn't stop himself from letting out a small chirp from the back of his throat. There was a rumbling behind him that, he realized, was Soka's body shaking as he chuckled. With a soft smile, Kyle pressed back against Soka and turned his head to look at the tiger. "Morning."

Soka's grey eyes focused on Kyle's green ones through half-lidded eyes. "Morning."

"How long have you been awake?"

Soka took a slow breath and closed his eyes, inhaling the otter's scent as he pulled him closer. "Since about quarter after six. What time is it now?"

"About seven thirty."

"Mmm...we should probably get up." But neither one made a move beyond settling into the other's fur, until Kyle rolled around and Soka loosened his grip.

Kyle wrapped his own arms around Soka and the tiger returned the favour. "Sleep well?" Kyle asked.

"Mmhmm," Soka mumbled. He settled his chin into the crook of Kyle's neck. "Very. Haven't slept that well in...well, a long time. It helps to have company."

Kyle giggled. "Yeah, it does doesn't it." He reached down and pecked Soka on the nose. "But you are right...we should probably get up. We should clean up before Aqua gets back; he's kinda neurotic about having a messy dorm."

Soka chuckled. "He is, is he? Well, we wouldn't want that. But first..." Soka released Kyle with an arm and used it to tilt his chin, pulling him into a kiss that boiled their blood. "Mmm...thanks."

A little dazed from the kiss, Kyle had to process what Soka had just said. "Hmmm...? Thanks for what?"

"A great night. We really should do it again sometime. I'd...really like that."

Kyle levered himself over top of the tiger and leaned down. "I'd like that too..." He bent down and gave the tiger another kiss, this time a quick one. "But let's go clean up now. Ah, hehehe..." Kyle couldn't help the giggle that came from him as Soka's socked footpaw started rubbing his own. "No, not now hon, maybe another time."

Soka pushed out his lower lip in a pout. "Aww, do we have to?"

"Yes, we do."

"Alright, fine. Can I at least get my shirt on first?"

Kyle chuckled as he pushed himself up and traced a line down Soka's abs. "Not a chance. I like this body...I think you should keep the shirt off."

The otter fell over onto the floor as Soka pushed him playfully. Soka sat up and placed a foot on Kyle's bare chest, grinning down at him. "Fine, but you have to do the same."

Kyle nodded, blushing, and before he knew what he was doing, picked up the foot pinning him down and kissed the sole. He was about to kiss it again when Soka pulled it away, saying, "Nope. You've gotta wait till we're done now. Maybe you can play with my paws then."

Kyle humphed and pushed himself up. "Alright then, fine; faster we get it done, faster we get to that!"

It did not take very long for the two to clean up. Tidying the cushions, de-scenting the rooms, sweeping away the popcorn, vacuuming the fur that had shed in the heat of late September, then making the bed they had both slept in. Of course, while making the bed they became wrapped in each other's mouths and arms again and fell into it, necessitating a re-making.

When the time finally came to bid Soka good day - for although they both wanted to spend the rest of the day together, walking through campus or talking, or seeing a movie or something that would just let them spend another day together - Kyle gave him a parting kiss. "You know," the otter said, "That was really, really nice. I've never done that before. And..." Kyle's feet started to shuffle and he looked down at them as he fidgeted with his paws.

Soka took hold of Kyle's aw and pressed a foot down onto one of Kyle's. "I know...and I'd like to do it again, too. I have a camping trip with my buddy Miles in a couple weekends if you want to come down for that."

Kyle's eyes still didn't meet Soka's. "I'd love to, but can I ask a favour?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Can I bring Aqua along? He's been kinda down since the swimming team rejected him, and he's my best friend. I think a bit of fresh air will do him some good, and a couple days away from studying won't kill our grades." He smirked and gave the tiger a haughty look. "Comes with being geniuses."

Soka laughed. "Yeah, I don't see why not. But I really hope we can see each other before then..." Soka walked back into the room, grabbed a pen, and wrote something down on a notepad before ripping it off. When he returned to Kyle, he placed the paper in the otter's webbed paw and closed it over the note. "That's my number. Let me know when you're available this week, and maybe we can see about getting together again." He leaned forward and kissed Kyle again. "I had a really good time, and don't beat yourself up about not being ready yet. It will happen when you're comfortable with it."

Kyle smiled and hugged Soka, who returned the gesture. "Thanks hon. I had a really good time too, and I'll let you know what my schedule is like this week. See you soon?"

Soka slipped on his shoes and opened the door, waving to Kyle. "Yeah, see you soon."

When the door closed, Kyle didn't move for a moment. He didn't even realize, ten minutes later, that he'd moved back to the couch and laid against the arm. He was too busy remembering the feel of the tiger's arms around him, the mouth against his. As he lay on the couch he looked across it and remembered the fantastic thoughts he'd been having about the tiger when they'd been laying there with his feet up.

When Aqua came home a good two hours later, Kyle was still lying on the couch. He jumped out of his fur when Aqua leaned over the back and looked him straight in the eye. "Soooo? How'd it go?"