Turnabouts

Story by Mog Moogle on SoFurry

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The school valedictorian and salutatorian are the brunt of a joke that brings them together and they become fast friends, but a secret might bring them a little closer.


Turnabouts

by Mog Moogle

"Like, check this out." She said in a hushed tone to the circle of girls around her as she pulled out her phone. "I got this chat app that can send texts, and I totally made this fake account just to fuck with those losers."

The group of fellow felines in female letterman jackets around her giggled and gave their approval. They looked over at the mole with the button-up shirt and the large framed glasses with lenses so thick they could probably start fire if the sun hit them the right way. His nose was in a book, as usual. They hated his type. Every now and then he would try to talk to one of them, offer something stupid like help with homework or a science project like he was actually being polite.

"So, it's like, gonna say, 'I've been interested in you awhile now, and I want you to go out with me. I totally think we'd work as a couple. Meet me by the lockers in front of the gym doors after school.' Signed, lvrbabe963. Think that will work?"

"For sure. Creepy little nerd will probably cream his pants just reading it. You're sending it to that other annoying kid too?" One of the girls with unnaturally bleached headfur asked.

"The one that always sits close to us in History? Yeah, he's getting the same thing. They're going to be expecting a girl to actually be interested in them and, like, find nothing but another stupid nerd there." And with that she hit send on her phone and they waited.

The mole's shirt pocket vibrated, causing him to grumble under his breath. He hated when something as trivial as a text or email would interrupt a good book. He carefully pulled the red twine from the spine of the book and laid it between the pages before setting it down on his desk. Pulling a Blackberry out of his shirt pocket, he tapped a few buttons on it's keyboard until he brought up the message. Reading it to himself, he suddenly looked up and then around the room.

The group of the popular feline girls in the corner were giggling back and forth, and a few of them he thought were looking his way, but he knew that a message like that wouldn't come from the likes of two cheerleaders, colorgaurd majorette and last year's junior prom queen.. It could be any number of furs in the school since he was on the student tutor list and he had contact information in the school newspaper. Maybe it was that junior he helped with her English paper last semester.

She had deep brown eyes and her shoulder length headfur was perfect. She also had nice womanly assets for her age, not that that was all that important, he lied to himself. She was a canine and he didn't usually stray far from his species, (despite that he'd never had a girlfriend in high school at all, but that was far back in his mind,) but she had something that most of the other attractive girls seemed to lack. Despite not being good at English, she was smart. But he realized that it probably wasn't the case; he could always hope though. Tucking his phone back in his pocket he picked his book back up and got right back into the story.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the school, a tall otter in an unseasonable sweater was scribbling notes in shorthand in the margin of his honors chemistry book. Something his teachers hated that he did since it was defacing school property, but he'd been a 4.0 student since he was a freshman so they tended to let him get away with it since his standardized test scores helped with their state funding.

The teacher was in the middle of explaining how two carbon chains fit together when a loud repeated chime echoed from the otter's bag. The whole class looked toward the front center table where he was at the distraction. He picked his briefcase style bag up from the floor and opened the flap, pulling out a tablet.

"Oh my. I thought I had this silenced." He said in a slightly nasally voice and snickers and chortles rose up from his classmates.

"Mr. Brayton!" The teacher called out with obvious annoyance. "You know that electronics are to be off during class."

"Yes Mrs. Lawson." The otter replied embarrassed, but opened the message to glance at it nonetheless.

He read it and then shook his head. He had always feared this day would come. It was something he had not looked forward to. There was nothing he could do about it though. The only honorable thing to do would be to show up and let this girl know that he was far too busy with not only his studies, but managing the chess club, GMing two different Dungeons and Dragons campaigns and practicing viola for the upcoming state competition.

After making sure that his tablet wouldn't sound again he slipped it back into his bag. He turned his attention back to the teacher and ignored the snide remarks from the other students as he always had.

The final school bell of the day sounded and students began to pour out of classes and out of the building in a mass exodus. The lingering students prepared for after-school activities like the sports teams practice or cheer leading practice. Nothing on the agenda for the over achieving furs with the secret admirer messages today except facing their secret admirer.

Three of the felines who originally put themselves up to the mischief of deceiving the creepy unpopular nerdy kids just happened to be near the lockers in front of the gym door. Close enough to see anything going on but staying well enough away to not be confused for a secret admirer. They watched as the mole showed up first and took his overly-large backpacked filled with far too many books for just school work off and sat it on the floor. Then the otter approached and set his bag down beside him. They giggled as they watched what they expected to be a funny scene unfold.

The two were standing about ten feet apart, eying the occasional female that would pass by. Five minutes passed, and then ten. By nearly fifteen minutes most of the students were either gone or engaged in whatever it was they were staying for, it was slowly dawning on the two that they might be the brunt of a joke. The mole held out hope that it was not the case. The otter, albeit annoyed, was relieved that it was.

They had noticed each other standing there near one another, even gave each other a polite nod when being in the same spot became awkward. The otter sighed and picked up his bag and walked over to the mole. "I suppose I can assume you're waiting on someone."

"Uh, I ... yeah. I am waiting for ... someone." The head and a half shorter mole replied.

"You got a message that someone was interested in you and that you should meet them here."

"I ... yeah. I was ... expecting a girl."

"I think I have an idea who the girl is, and I don't think they'd be interested in you or I." The otter told him as he pointed at the group of cackling felines who childishly scattered when he pointed them out.

"I ... I don't think ... yeah. Yeah, I know." He said disappointed.

"You're better for it." The otter told him. "You have no idea how complicated things like relationships can be."

"You ... have some experience in the field, I take it?"

The otter blinked and then rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, not exactly. I just ... from what I've observed and read about. I'm sure you understand."

"No, I don't. I was kind of hoping to find out." The mole looked at the floor.

"Heh. Well, my name is Geoffrey Brayton." He introduced himself and extended a paw.

"I ... try not to shake paws. It's unsanitary."

"I washed it the last time I was in the lavatory." Geoffrey said as he lowered his paw again.

"No, I didn't mean to imply ... I just ..." the mole stopped himself. "My name's Douglass Herrlinger."

"Ah, the one that almost matched my score in honors chemistry. The answer was disulphide."

"How could you-"

"Know your score? Mrs. Lawson lets me help grade the other classes work, since I most always have mine done and get terribly bored waiting for the next class."

Douglass chuckled and shook his head. He extended his paw to Geoffrey and the otter grasped it with a smile. His pad was warm and soft, even for a guy that didn't do much more physically than move the queen's bishop to king's rook four. There was something else different about it too. Was it, lavender scented?

"I know that it's not fun being the brunt of crude humor of cruel teenagers," Geoffrey began as he broke the pawshake, "but if you're not busy now, I go to this little coffee shop not far from my house to relax after stressful days. They have twelve different herbal teas."

"Well, if you tell me they have English Breakfast, I'll join you."

"Mmm. Caffeine gives me a headache, but I'm sure they do."

Douglass chuckled and picked his backpack up. They walked out of the school and toward the student parking lot. When they exited the fifty year old double wooden doors, they were looking over a small downward stair set that led to a parking lot now mostly empty.

"You have your own car?" Douglass asked.

"Yeah. It's actually a truck. I'd prefer a car but my parents gave me their old truck when they got a new one last year."

"I suppose that's a good thing, considering I missed my bus waiting on a girl that never existed."

"I don't really live far enough away to justify driving, but I loathe the bus and walking with equal contempt."

Douglass shook his head a little. "Aren't otters supposed to be athletic?"

"And moles live in holes in the ground? Not everyone has to fit a stereotype. Not everything is always as it seems."

"I suppose." Douglass replied a little worried he'd inadvertently insulted his new friend.

Douglass looked around the lot at the two trucks remaining. One was a little two seater that probably had a small economy engine in it on one side of the lot, the other a monstrous lifted high dually diesel with a rollbar, mudflaps complete with chrome silhouettes of buxom women, floodlights and a recovery winch in the custom front bumper. It was obvious which one belonged to Geoffrey so he angled left toward the small truck. "Uh, no. My truck is the other way, I'm afraid." Geoffrey told him.

"You mean this gigantic thing? This would make you the envy of any jock in the school." Douglass told him as the two stopped at the passenger side of the big black truck.

"Yeah, like I said, I would much prefer a car. It belonged to my parents, well more my father. He got a new one and wanted me to have this one. I think he thought it'd help me be more ... manly. Mind the step up. It can be real troublesome to get in and out of."

Douglass stepped up on the running board and drug himself level with the door handle. Opening the door he nearly toppled backwards but managed to maintain his balance and get in the truck before it killed him.

"You see? Dreadfully troublesome." Geoffrey said after closing the driver side door.

"You could trade this thing for anything you want. Why keep it if you don't like it?"

"It would break my father's heart if I got rid of it. He clings to this archaic principle that men should be men and not ... well ..."

Douglass cocked an eyebrow and looked over at the otter curiously. Something was off about him even for a nerd. He couldn't place it one hundred percent but he knew that just about anyone at the school would love to have his truck. It certainly wouldn't be Douglass' first choice, but if it were given to him he wouldn't balk.

Geoffrey pulled a keyring out oh his well-pressed slacks pocket and turned the ignition to on. After several seconds, the glowplug indicator turned off and he started the engine. It rumbled like a lumbering beast, bellowing dark smoke out of a custom exhaust that lacked sufficient muffling for either of the two's taste.

"It's ... really loud." Douglass said.

"Dreadfully troublesome." Geoffrey reiterated as he put the truck in drive and eased out of the parking lot. For not liking the vehicle, Douglass observed that Geoffrey seemed to pilot it with a large degree of skill. He navigated a few blocks from the school to the downtown district where the tightly packed late 1800's style buildings accented the historically preserved brick roads. Pulling into an on street parking spot a door down from a quaint coffee shop built into the bay of a decommissioned firehouse.

With some effort, Douglass managed to climb out of the truck onto the sidewalk. He walked until he caught up with Geoffrey as he came around the front of the truck and they both went up to the door. The coffee shop incorporated the old built in door on the old swinging double doors which were still painted the original deep green color but with new coats of paint. Douglass thought that the aesthetic touch was a nice one.

Geoffrey opened the door and held it for Douglass. The short mole gave a polite thank you and stepped inside. The aromas of various types of roasted coffee beans, confectionery treats and trendy frothed drinks permeated the air. The walls were decorated with art from local artists and most of them apparently had talent on par with kindergartner's finger paintings with a few exceptions mixed in. Small round tables with moderately comfortable chairs were in the middle of the shop with a few booths along the walls. In the back before a hallway branched off on one side leading to the restrooms, an office and the storeroom was a counter with two furs in green aprons working the various coffee apparatuses.

"Good." Geoffrey said aloud. "My booth is open."

Douglass followed the otter to a booth on the right side about half way back that had one of the exceptional paintings hanging over it. He sat his bag down on the table to claim it and walked to the counter. Douglass followed him as they waited in a short line before Geoffrey ordered a herbal tea blend with citrus peels in it and then insisted that the mole order on his tab. Douglass reluctantly complied and ordered a hot English Breakfast tea.

Unlike the patrons with more complex drinks that waited for a number to be called, the vulpine behind the counter simply handed them two styrofoam cups with hot water and their teabags. Taking their seat in the booth after Geoffrey grabbed a few packets of honey from the table beside the counter, they opened the lids on their cups and dipped their teabags into the steaming water.

Douglass looked down at the cup as he occasionally bobbed the bag up and down. He wasn't used to being in places where others tended to gather and usually avoided them because crowds made him uncomfortable. He also couldn't help but notice that neither of the two behind the counter were wearing food preparation gloves.

Glancing up at Geoffrey, he noticed the otter's gaze was transfixed on the painting. He looked up at the frameless stretched canvas on the wall. It was a bright looking light in the center with seemingly distorted trees and rod iron fencing. Buildings on either side of the painting curved up in a concave fashion along opposing convex lines in circle that gave the illusion of a sphere. He'd never been one for art so he didn't know really what to make of it other than it didn't look like anything he'd ever seen before.

"So ... uh, you like paintings?" The mole asked to diffuse the silence.

"Nnm." Geoffrey replied in disapproving tone. "No, I don't normally, but this one in particular seems to fascinate me."

"What exactly ... is it supposed to be?"

"It's a reflection in an iris." Geoffrey replied. "I probably looked at it for a year before it dawned on me one day. See how everything is so dim? It's someone standing in front of this very shop in the middle of the street looking up the road and you're looking so closely into their eyes you can see what they see."

"That's, uh, interesting I suppose."

Geoffrey laughed and shook his head. "Yeah, I suppose. It draws me into it. I can't tell you why." He paused and looked back at his cup, giving it a quick stir with the small red stir stick before looking back at the mole. "How long have you been subjected to the wonderful public education system at our school?"

"I ... I've been there since I started high school."

"What grade are you in?"

"I'm a senior."

"Ah, the final year. On to university afterward, no doubt."

"I'm not sure." Douglass said before looking back at the painting. "I have a scholarship to ... Berkeley."

"Ah. I was thinking Oxford. Probably won't leave until I have a doctorate. Full academic ride, as it were."

"I ... I don't know if I'm going to college."

"What!?" Geoffrey exclaimed. "Correct my if I'm wrong, but aren't you in line to be Salutatorian?"

"Second in the class? Well, yeah. At least, that's what my counselor tells me."

"Why would you not go to university? Surely you have a full scholarship like I do."

"My grandfather is Lieutenant General Anthony Herrlinger. He's the commanding general of the Third Army. My father was killed in Afghanistan two years ago. He was a Sergeant Major in the First Special Forces group."

"I ... you ... you want to join the military?" Geoffrey asked confused. "You do realize that ... you'd be wasting a lot of potential. Not to mention, you'd have to do horrible things."

"How many in the military have you ever ... asked what they do?"

"Well, none I suppose."

"I know I'm not strong, but I am smart. My ASVAB scores were high enough that I could do a job that will put me in a position to ... help people. Help bring home men like my father."

"I ... I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Douglass said as he looked back at Geoffrey. "Once when I was very little, my dad told me that you should never be sorry for the decisions you make or what you decide to do. The only thing that matters is you do your best in whatever it is. I've been a straight 'A' student ever since."

"I've never heard of motivation like that." Geoffrey smiled. "Well, I'm saddened that I won't have a colleague close to my own aptitude in the private sector, but at least I can take comfort in the knowledge that you're at least doing what you feel is right."

"You ... have quite an ego on you, Geoffrey." Douglass said half-sincere, half-facetious.

"And well deserved it is!" The otter boasted in the same half-and-half tone. The two laughed for awhile then Geoffrey looked back at the mole. "So why is it that I've only ever met you on paper before now?"

"I ... don't know. I mean, I knew of you, and you knew of me. Maybe it's just chance."

"Come now." Geoffrey said with a curled brow. "You've never been to a Junior Honors Society function, I've never seen you involved with any clubs or with orchestra or band, none of the International Baccalaureate award ceremonies. I've heard you name called at them a few times. Since our student body is as large as it is, I can excuse us never having a class together, but surely ..."

"I ... don't do well ... in crowds." Douglass looked around the coffee shop nervously. "I ... never have. I only joined the student tutor program only after incessant nagging by my counselor."

"Well, less than half a year left before I go off to university and you go off to the military, but maybe I can coax you into going out a little more. Perhaps it will be easier with a friend along?"

"Yeah." Douglass said with an almost goofy smile.

They sat and talked awhile longer as they sipped their tea until the cups were empty. A few times Geoffrey's bag would chime with a repeated tone and he'd pull out his tablet and quickly pen a response, but only after an annoyed, "Oh my." with each tone. Something else they found in common was their dislike of interruption from their electronic communication devices.

They agreed that it was about time to leave but Geoffrey excused himself and made his way to the restroom. Douglass waited anxiously standing beside the booth for him to return, but noticed that Geoffrey had left his tablet out on the table instead of quickly putting it away as he normally did. The chiming message tone drew his attention to it.

The message indicator on the touch screen caused the power saving mode to turn off momentarily allowing Douglass to see his background. It was an otter in a one piece red dress that stopped at her thighs and shoulder length brunette headfur that was in silky waves. The image faded quickly, but Douglass tapped the button on the side of the tablet to bring the screen to life once more.

She was in a bedroom and the angle was tilted slightly up as if it had been taken from slightly below her instead of straight ahead. Posing with a sultry 'come hither' expression, her breasts weren't large but they seemed to accent her frame really well, and the dress hugged her hips perfectly. The young mole found himself blushing a little at admiring her but his attention was pulled away when he heard Geoffrey's trademark, "Oh my."

The otter scooped the tablet from the table and quickly put it in his bag, completely ignoring the message icon for the first time since Douglass had seen him answer the first of many during their visit to the coffee shop.

"Was that ... your girlfriend?" Douglass asked.

"No! Uh, no. She's just ... someone I know." He replied quickly.

"Who is she?"

Geoffrey's eyes looked over at the opposite wall where Douglass would have only been in his peripherals when he replied, "She's ... she's my ... cousin." Something was obviously off. Geoffrey didn't want to tell Douglass something about her and that much was brutally obvious.

"Well ... I'd like ... I'd like to meet her. She's really pretty."

"You think she's ... pretty?" Geoffrey asked as he looked back at Douglass curiously.

"Well, yeah. I mean, her hair looked nice, her outfit was nice. Why wouldn't I think she was pretty?"

"I ..." Geoffrey paused as he noticed his own deep smile and shook it off. "Because she's frightfully trying at times."

"Well, you were saying most women are."

"I suppose I did." Geoffrey said with a smirk as he picked his bag up and walked toward the door.

Douglass followed behind and they returned to the truck. The mole was about to ask if Geoffrey would mind giving him a ride home but the otter managed a, "Would you like to come over to my home for awhile?" first. The mole nodded in response, sent a quick text to his mom so she wouldn't worry about him being home late and the two got in the truck.

It didn't take long at all to get to Geoffrey's house. Two rights then a left in the nicer part of the historic residential area. Geoffrey lived in a three story Victorian house that was a little narrow but more than made up for it with the vertical height. He pulled up into the long and narrow driveway that opened up into a larger parking pad and a detached two car garage that was originally a carriage house. He parked the truck off to one side of the garage where a slab had been poured recently by the mismatched coloration presumably just for him.

"This ... looks like a nice house." Douglass said as he looked at the well kept back yard and the coat of paint that couldn't be more than two summers old.

"My father inherited it from his father who inherited it from his father. My great-great-grandfather built it himself, or so I'm told. Presumably he had help." Geoffrey paused as Douglass chuckled at his remark. "The third floor is mine."

"The entire floor is your room?"

"Well, there are multiple rooms, of course. My bedroom and two others. One I use as a game room the other I use as a library."

"Game room?" Douglass asked as he looked up at the otter, his interest thoroughly peaked.

"It's where I host my tabletop games. I'm running two_D&D_ campaigns at the moment, but I have several other games I host from time to time. Shadowrun, Warhammer, et al."

"Oh ..." Douglass' disappointment was obvious in his voice.

"You don't like games?"

"I ... I play PC games."

"Ah, but pen and paper is the exact same thing, but without the limitations of programmed code or random chance algorithms. Your only limit is your imagination. As the GM, I craft a story for my characters, but the characters are free thinking. It's an intellectual and creative challenge to not only create a world to ensnare them, but to keep ahead of them."

"I just ... don't do well with others. It's different online because I can be anyone I want to be, and no one can tell I'm really ... me."

"Well, in actuality, that is something I can relate to. Nevertheless, you can do the same thing in a role playing game around the table."

"But ... everyone there can see you. The _real_you."

"I have a proposal then. I'm hosting a game tomorrow. After school, I'll walk you through rolling a character and we'll write you into the game, on a trial basis of course. If you don't like it, simply inform me and you don't have to attend any other games."

"I ... I don't know."

"I understand that the prospect can be intimidating." Geoffrey said as he put a house key in the deadbolt on the back door, "I'm merely asking you to give it a try."

"Yeah ... I guess so." Douglass said as Geoffrey opened the door and invited him in.

They were in a small utility area where the washer and dryer were. Geoffrey stepped out of the utility room into the kitchen and Douglass followed. The kitchen was terribly large, but the appliances looked brand new and the stove was much larger than a traditional in home stove. They continued into the front room with a dining room off to the side. The dining room table was long and ornate, and a china hutch held gold trimmed plates, glasses and serving platters, some of them on small stands to display them.

"This ... is a really nice house." Douglass said as he looked at the furniture and décor. "What do your parents do?"

"Mother is a doctor. She is employed by a pharmaceutical distribution center and handles the orders of the equipment and pharmaceuticals that the nurses or technicians can't, for one legal reason or another. Father is a part owner in some sort of construction, home remodeling or some such."

"I see. So you're family is pretty well off?"

"Well, mother doesn't make as much as an MD in even a basic family practice, but she still makes more than Father. And since I've always done well in school, they have no problem funding my hobbies like the gaming." Geoffrey explained as he rounded a divider near the front door and started up a flight of stairs.

Douglass didn't see too much of the second floor since he was focused on getting up the stairs without breaking a sweat. The third floor came into view around the landing as the stairs continued their trend of wrapping around the walls of the house. It came up into a small area with a hallway running down until the wall itself was the slant of the roof. One side of the hall had two doorways, one with a closed door and the other that was an open door frame. The other side had only one closed door.

After a short moment for both of them to compose themselves from climbing up two stories, Geoffrey turned to Douglass and offered to show him the game room. He guided Douglass to the open door frame and stepped in.

It had a large table with several chairs around it. It was a dining table but very plain in comparison to the one in the dining room. There were bookshelves along the walls filled with monster, weapons and race manuals and rule books. Free spots on the wall had multi-hundred if not multi-thousand piece jigsaw puzzles coated in some kind of sealing glue depicting fantasy scenes of knights and dragons. There was also a drafting table with a very slight angle on its surface with a half complete puzzle on it.

"This is ..." Douglass began as he looked around the room, "incredible."

Geoffrey smiled as his ego was boosted by the compliment. "It's taken several years to compile my collection of game manuals and handbooks. I try my best to get the latest editions when they come out. Sadly, I've had to resort to ordering most of them from the internet, since our game stores are about three months behind on their stock."

"Can ... can we see the library?" Douglass asked enthusiastically.

"I suppose so." Geoffrey began. "Personally, I've found that creating my own stories is much more entertaining than studying those of others."

"I ... read a lot of stories. I like them."

"Perhaps in a little while though. I want to show you something I think you'll enjoy even more."

"Okay." Douglass replied a little disappointed.

Geoffrey lead him out of the game room and to the single door on the other side of the hall. Opening it up, he revealed his bedroom. It was half the size of the floor so it was almost like another house in itself. It had a large bed and a dresser of course, but there was couch with a large flatscreen TV and several game consoles hooked up to it. It almost seemed familiar but he dismissed the feeling as he saw what else was in the room. On the opposite wall was two computer desks, each with its own PC.

"They're connected over a 10/100 megabit LAN. Not the best, but then I usually don't spend much time on personal computer systems." Geoffrey told Douglass. "If you think gaming over broadband is fast, have you ever tried over a LAN?"

"No." Douglass said as he looked at the computers. "Just online."

Geoffrey smiled and walked to one of the desks and pulled out the chair. Douglass followed him and stood behind him as the otter grabbed the mouse and slid it across the pad a few times to bring the screen to life. The flat LCD illuminated and transitioned from black to its full brilliance quickly. It was at that point that Geoffrey realized his mistake.

The picture viewer was open and image that he was last looking at was right there where he'd left it this morning. It was the same picture on his lock screen background on his tablet. He quickly clicked the red 'X' in the top right corner and the image disappeared leaving his icon cluttered desktop. He looked over his left shoulder to see Douglass looking at his screen as the light reflected off his thick lenses.

"Oh my." Was all he could manage.

"Who is she, really?" Douglass asked. "You seem to have an obsession with her." The mole paused and eased back from the chair as the otter swiveled it to face him. "I don't think it's weird or anything, I just wonder if you have a secret crush or something."

"I ... It's ..." Geoffrey paused as he searched his defiantly blank large intellect for a decent excuse.

"If she's not a secret attraction of yours, I would really like to meet her." Douglass said with confidence in his statement that surprised himself. "She ... looks so nice. I'm not usually attracted to girls right away like that."

"I ... you ... well ..." Geoffrey paused again, drew a sharp inhale and bit his bottom lip. "I ... can introduce you." He said finally.

"Really!?" Douglass said with a sharp crack in his voice.

"But you have to promise me that you'll keep it a secret."

"Uh, okay?" Douglass said a little confused.

Geoffrey stood up from the chair and walked past Douglass. The mole watched him as he went over to a closet and opened the sliding door. He bent down and took ahold of something and tugged it into view with a grunt. It was an old looking steamer chest with peeling leather skin and black iron bands. Geoffrey stayed crouched down and pulled his keys out of his pocket again. There was a worn old key on it that fit the keyhole and he turned it all the way around and there was a loud click. Putting his paws on either side of the lid, he lifted it up while its old hinges creaked and whined.

"Douglass, please come over here." Geoffrey said after standing back up and turning to face the mole.

Douglass complied reluctantly as the whole ordeal left him a little worried as to what he might find in the trunk. Worst case scenarios of villains from horror stories ran through his head as he imagined the attractive otter girl cut into pieces with her final look of terror frozen on her dead face. Fortunately, it was only his imagination as he peeked over the edge of the trunk and saw her red one piece dress neatly folded and sitting on top of a stack of dresses. In a compartment separated by built in divider in the chest was a styrofoam display head with a wig that matched the hairstyle of the otter in the picture.

"It ... it was you?" Douglass asked as he looked up at the otter.

Geoffrey bit his bottom lip again and nodded softly. Douglass looked back at the contents of the trunk and then back at Geoffrey, and then back to the trunk and up at the otter again.

"But she ... uh, the otter in the picture ... she had breasts, and broad hips, and ... she was ... pretty."

Geoffrey shied his gaze downward as he felt a deep shame. To the shorter mole's surprise, he suddenly grabbed the bottom of his sweater and lifted it up over his head and took it off. The puffy fabric concealed Geoffrey's body shape. His form was curvy and feminine, just like in the picture with the fur hugging dress. Around his torso over his breast was a tight brown elastic bandage that compressed his chest down. Geoffrey swallowed hard and removed the metal clips causing the end of the bandage to snap free. After a few times unwrapping himself he revealed a pair of b-cup sized breasts.

Douglass went wide eyed at the sight of the exposed breasts and his cheeks heated at his boyish arousal. He'd never seen a woman's breasts exposed in person. A woman's breasts? "Geoffrey, I ... are you a girl?" Douglass asked but his eyes were still transfixed on the otter's womanly assets.

"I ... it's complicated. Technically speaking, no I am not." Geoffrey said as he moved his arm to conceal his nipples and then he looked down shyly. "My name is Freya." She said in a very soft and soothing feminine voice that lacked the nasally rasp or arrogant tone of Geoffrey. "I was born male, but I've always loved being in dresses and wearing panties and bras. I style my headfur and wear make up. I love making myself look pretty.

"Mommy and dad both found out when I was really young after I was caught taking a pair of high heels from my mommy. I talked with mommy about it and told her I felt like I should have been a girl. She ... understood somehow. When I was thirteen, she asked if I wanted to be a girl or stay a boy. I told her the truth." Freya paused as she looked up from the ground and at Douglass. "I told her I had always felt like a girl, and that's when she started giving me treatments and medicine to help my body follow that course."

"F-Freya?" Douglass said as he was trying to let it sink in. "I don't really ... understand. How can you be two people?"

"I'm not." Freya said before reaching into the trunk and picking up the dress with her free paw. "I was born Freya in my heart and soul. For some reason that I don't understand, I was born with a man's body."

Freya turned her back to Douglass and then put the dress on over her head. She let the silky material cascade down her form until it went as far as it would go against the rigid fabric of the pleated slacks she had on. She reached up under the end of her dress and unfastened her belt and then behind her to loosen the tail flap and her pants dropped to the floor. She stepped out of her shoes and her pants one leg at a time and lightly pushed them away with her foot. She moved with a lot more grace and coordination than Geoffrey did.

"But, you talk different. Not just your voice, but your vocabulary. You move different and you act different." Douglass stopped as he looked down at her loose tail flap as she buttoned it, taking note that Geoffrey's underwear looked as if they were bunched up in the pants Freya had just taken off.

"Yeah." Freya said as she reached into the trunk again and picked the wig up and put it on her head, adjusting it until it fit over her ears and straightened it out. "Geoffrey is a little on the annoying side, I know. He's a sweet boy at heart though." She giggled softly and smiled. "He's me at heart, after all."

"I ... I don't even know what to say." Douglass eyed her up and down. "You're ... so pretty."

"Thank you." She said as she smiled. "I think I'll look even better when I can actually grow my headfur out and style it."

"So, I have to ask. Why pretend to be Geoffrey if you're really Freya?"

"You're smart, just like me. You know just as well as I do how cruel kids are to kids different than them. Our chance meeting was because of a few of them. Do you honestly think they'd understand if I were myself at school? Not to mention my dad would go nuts if he knew." Freya paused as she looked toward the window. "It's one of the reasons I'm looking forward to college. My mom and I have already talked to a few of the representatives and the Dean. I'm enrolling as Freya Marie Brayton. My gender on the application forms and in the student records is female. It's going to be a fresh start."

"So ..." Douglass began as Freya looked back at him. "This, uh, is a little awkward. I've never hung out with a girl before."

Freya smiled and stepped up to Douglass. She took her paw and ruffled his headfur a little, brushing his bangs up. She then carefully picked his glasses off his head, folded them up and put them into his breast pocket. Douglass blinked a few times and then rubbed the bridge of his muzzle.

"I can't see without my glasses."

"Oh, I know you're not blind. Look at me." Freya instructed. Douglass looked up at her face. He could see her blurred image but could not make out any fine details. "I knew you were handsome under that nerdy visage." Freya eased a little closer. "Dougie, would you like to kiss me?"

"Uh ... I ... but ..." Douglass nearly stumbled over his own feet as he tried to back away. "You ... you were just Geoffrey. You know, a few minutes ago."

"I know it's a little sudden. I'm not normally this impetuous. There's just something about you though. And, after all, didn't you say I was pretty?"

"Uh ... well, yeah but- mmph!" Douglass was cut off as Freya leaned in and pressed her lips against his suddenly. Douglass left his eyes open but could make out little more than a brown blur. His heart raced and his paw pads began to sweat. It felt like his chest was heavy and his feet were in the clouds. The mole's cheeks were so hot with blush he was sure that his fur would singe off. His very first kiss, and it was as awkward as he suspected and greater than he had hoped.

Freya pulled her lips away from him briefly as she stepped closer and put her paws on his cheeks. Douglass felt her lips part and her tongue probe at his closed muzzle. Giving into the emotions swirling around inside him, he too parted his lips and brushed his tongue up against her invading one. It shot through him like a bullet. He'd read about tongue kisses many times but to actually experience it he realized that no author has ever truly done the kiss justice.

His paws nervously moved from half raised in surprise to Freya's sides. Her body felt so soft and delicate. Douglass could feel her curvature through the fabric and soon found himself with his eyes closed and his paws pulling her tightly against him. They were both on the verge of the kiss turning into a full blown make out session with the only obvious male feature of Freya's confined in her dress rubbed against Douglass' tented bulge in his pants.

They eased away from each other and out of the kiss so that their bodies and extremities no longer rubbed together and Douglass shied his gaze away as his ears and cheeks burned with blush. Freya leaned down and nuzzled against his cheek.

"I'm sorry Dougie." She said softly. "I guess I got a little caught up in my first kiss."

"I ... I ...." he paused as it sounded like he was on the verge of crying.

"Are you okay, Dougie?" Freya asked concerned.

"I ... want more. Can we kiss again?" He looked back up at her.

Freya giggled and put her arms around his neck. Douglass noticed her leaning in so he closed his eyes, tilted his head and met her. They locked lips again and wasted no time in melding their tongues together. Douglass wrapped his arms around her once more but his paws slid lower this time. He felt around her shapely tail and then down to her butt cheeks that had only the thin fabric between his paw pad and her bare fur.

Freya responded to Douglass feeling her backside by sliding one paw up to the back of his head and pulling herself as close to him as she could get. Douglass felt a little embarrassed that he as feeling her bottom and that her pent up erection was rubbing against his once more but she was obviously enjoying the torrent of new emotions and sensations as much as he was, so he merely returned the embrace while giving her buttocks intermittent squeezes.

Freya began to grind her hips against Douglass. The little mole felt a rush to his head and begin to feel a little faint while the taller otter felt her whole body light up as though it were on fire. She had never felt anything like it before, and when Douglass' paws slipped below the end of her dress and then back up under it. It wasn't actually intentional, but both he and she liked it very much.

Realization slowly began to dawn on Freya. The swelling emotions swirling in her chest and the progression of events could only have one outcome from here. She broke the kiss and they both panted heavily. Douglass still idly squeezed her rear while she was still grinding her hips against him.

"Dougie, I want you." Freya said with a quiver in her voice. "Please make love to me."

"I ... I ..." Douglass looked up at her and eased his muzzle to hers and pressed his nose against hers. "I don't know how. I've never ... I mean ..."

"Let's just see what happens. It can't be that hard to figure out. All I know for certain is I want my first time to be with you."

Douglass nodded softly as he kept his nose pressed to hers, causing it to rub affectionately as he agreed. Freya smiled and kissed his lips briefly before easing back away from him entirely, causing the mole's paws to reluctantly lose grasp of her bottom. Freya walked over to her bed and eased on top of the comforter. Douglass could see her fuzzy outline but couldn't make much more out. He saw her moving her arm behind her. Douglass reached into his breast pocket and started to grab his glasses, but he heard Freya call out to him.

"Ah, no. Keep those off, Dougie."

"But ... I can't really even see you."

"You can put them on in a bit. For now, come over here."

Douglass sighed loudly as he carefully padded to the bed, trying his best to make sure he didn't bump into anything or trip over anything that his blurred vision might hide in his path. Fortunately the way was clear and he came to the edge of the bed without incident. Freya giggled a little at the sight of him awkwardly standing and looking down at her as she imagined how frustrated he must have been not being able to see clearly what was going on.

She lifted her rear in the air and lifted her tail out of the way before grasping the button on her tail flap and loosening it. With a seductive moan she leaned down and folded her arms and rested her head on them, looking back enough to still see Douglass in her peripherals. "I want you to do what you've always wanted to do with a girl."

"I ... I'm not sure ..." Douglass swallowed hard as nervousness overtook him.

"Yes you are." Freya told him bluntly. "You've read more than one erotic story, bookworm. Time for you to put that imagination to good use, Dougie."

Douglass felt his cheeks heat with embarrassment again. She couldn't possibly know that he read erotica. It was a guess. And educated deduction. A spot on one, but a guess nonetheless.

"Well?" Freya insisted a little impatiently.

Douglass took his paw and put it on her bare rear. Freya cooed softly and pressed back against it a little. The smaller mole was almost petrified, but he shut his eyes and imagined that they were both in the same situation but laying on a blanket in a field of tall grasses with the sounds and smells of spring all around them and the afternoon sun bathing their fur in radiance. The very setting of the first erotic scene he'd ever read.

He moved his paw around a little and then gave her cheek and experimental squeeze. Her whole body seemed soft and feminine. Douglass thought of himself as open minded, for the most part, but the idea that she really was female and just by some strange twist of fate had been born a male was becoming increasingly more plausible.

"Don't be afraid." Freya said reassuringly. "You can touch me wherever you want."

Douglass opened his eyes and looked down at his paw on her backside. It was hard to tell where the two actually met since it looked like they were blurred together like runny water colors, but he didn't mind the fact that he was melding with Freya. As confusing and strange as the situation was, it still felt nice.

He decided to be a little more adventurous and he let his paw slide over to the crack of her rear and then downward. He followed the cleft until his pads came to where her absent vagina would have been. Douglass would have liked to feel what the warm, soft female lips glistening with arousal would have been like but in lieu of that he slid farther down until his fingers brushed against Freya's furry sack.

Though it wasn't a vagina, he did know how to handle the male bits from personal experience. He closed his paws around the two orbs and gave them a delicate squeeze. Freya gasped and jumped a little.

"Am I hurting you?" Douglass asked with concern at her reaction.

"Never had ... someone else ... don't stop Dougie. Touch me, please."

Douglass nodded softly and then obliged her by rolling them in his palm a bit. He was careful not to apply too much pressure since his own tended to be a little sensitive. Freya's weren't nearly as large as his, probably because of hormone treatment or the like he concluded, but they did seem to be just as tender and it seemed she liked it as much as he did. After a few moments of manipulating her balls she eased forward out of his grasp.

"Dougie ... take your clothes off." She instructed.

"But, Freya ... what if your parents catch us. I could never explain this to my mother."

"I'd be more worried about both of us trying to explain it to my dad." She said and then giggled. "Daddy doesn't get home until after six, and mom works until five. We have a good two hours to do whatever we want." She paused as she rolled over onto her back and then sat up on the edge of the bed in front of Douglass. "Now, let's get these clothes off."

Freya reached for Douglass' belt buckle and loosened it. Douglass exhaled in a nervous sigh but brought his fingers to the top button of his shirt and started unbuttoning all the way down. By the time he loosened the last button, Freya had his fly down and took a moment to squeeze his paws before sliding her thumbs in his waistband and pushing down both his slacks and cotton briefs to his knees. Douglass eased the button over shirt off his shoulders and then peeled his tank top undershirt off over his head.

Freya leaned back and looked at his sheath sporting his already full erection that he'd had pent up since the kissing began. His thighs were a little on the thicker side and concealed sight of his testicles, his midsection was rounded and it declined upward toward his chest giving him a barrel shaped body. He was pudgy, but not fat, and it was obvious a lot of his mole traits were strong in his build. She looked up his grew and brown-ish colored fur until she was looking at his squinting eyes. Even through the half-closed eyelids, she could tell his irises were a genetic cast-off deep green, instead of the normal brown.

"Not too bad, Dougie." Freya commented and looked back at his maleness. "And I think there might be some mutual attraction, by the looks of things."

Douglass blushed deeply and looked away. He'd never been naked in front of anyone except his pediatrician when he was younger and his mother when he was an infant. He didn't have too long to let that feeling sink in though as he heard Freya shifting around on the bed back into her hiked backside position.

"Dougie?" She cooed softly.

"Yeah?" He queried with a nervous quiver.

"I want you to do something for me."

"I ... I-I'll try."

"I've always wanted a guy to eat me out."

"I ... I ... I ... but ... are you ... are you asking ... tongue ... there?"

"You're so eloquent, lover." Freya teased with a giggle. "Yeah. Just like you've read about. Would you eat my pussy, Dougie."

"But ... well I mean ... You only have ... and there's bacteria, and ..."

Freya sighed and then rolled over and sat back up in front of him. Taking both her paws she put them on his hips and forced him to turn around and then sit on the bed. She stood up and reached down and lifted his legs up, pulled off his shoes and pulled his pants off. The smaller mole yipped in surprise as she picked his feet up by the ankles and spread his legs apart, pulling him until part of his rear was hanging off the bed and Douglass gripped the comforter tight to steady himself from the sudden movement.

Kneeling down on her knees she pressed her muzzle firmly between his cheeks and extended her tongue, brushing it over the surface of Douglass' tailhole in a broad stroke. Douglass gasped and tensed his body instinctively as he felt her soft textured tongue against his rough puckered tailhole. He could feel her distinctively firm whiskers tickling against him as she opened her mouth wider and wormed her tongue past his tailring and into his body.

He gasped sharply and moaned out loud while his knuckles turned white underneath his fur from the grip on the bed. The young mole had never felt anything like it before in his life. It was intensely widespread but sharply focused at the same time. His modest five inches of length twitched and pulsed. Douglass thought that just the feel of Freya's tongue inside him would push him to the brink of orgasm but never far enough to go over the edge.

Freya's tongue was a little clumsy and she really didn't have a technique, but she made up for her lack of experience with gusto. For several minutes she worked on Douglass while the mole moaned, gasped and shivered. It was a constant cycle of coming right up to the relief of orgasm and then a slow creep away from it. Douglass would have easily been able to paw himself to an orgasm if he could have released the comforter.

He received a bit of a disappointing respite when Freya pulled back and stood up over him. Struggling to catch his breath, he looked up at her panting. She eased over him and lifted him up, scooting him back on the bed until he was no longer hanging over the end. Freya brought her muzzle level with his and lowered it toward him. Douglass noticed what she was doing and tried to recoil but was stopped by the mattress. With nowhere to go, Freya pushed her lips against his and wasted no time in pushing her tongue into his mouth.

Douglass' eyes snapped as wide as they would go and he reeled his arms back to push her off with the thought of what she had just done and what she was doing now. Her tongue brushed over his and her muzzle locked tight. Douglass put his paws on her shoulders and was about to push her off when he again felt Freya's erection rub against his, only this time there was no material in the way.

By chance or design, Freya's dress was also tucked up and it was her bare maleness against his. Douglass shivered as he the head of Freya's penis rubbed against his own, accented by Freya softly grinding her hips. Douglass slid his paws around to her back and pulled her close. Perhaps it wasn't the most sanitary thing, but he couldn't deny how good it made him feel.

Freya eased out of the kiss and rubbed her nose against his. Her hips were still grinding and their members still sliding against one another. Douglass opened his eyes and looked up at her. Freya was staring back into his eyes and smiling.

"Are you ready to eat me out, Dougie?" Freya asked softly.

"Unsanitary ..." Douglass said as he shied away. Freya reached down and playfully pinched his side, causing him to jump and yip. "I ... I suppose I should at least return the favor."

"Good." Freya said as she eased up and then turned around until Douglass was looking up her skirt and she was easing her rear closer to his muzzle. "Get me good and slick, Dougie." She hiked her tail and rested rear against Douglass' muzzle. "And I'll work on getting what's going in me slick."

Douglass exhaled nervously as he looked at the top of Freya's rear and underside of her tail. He was terrified to do what he said he was going to. Closing his eyes tightly with a grimace he extended his tongue. Before he could even get it between her cheeks, he suddenly felt her warm lips wrap around his glans. His eyes opened in surprise and the grimace was gone.

Freya wasted no time in lowering her head on his length and then working it back up. Douglass moaned deeply as pulses of pleasure hit him so hard he started to see stars. Even though Freya was diligently tending to her mole lover, she wasn't about to let him forget his own obligation. She ground her rear down against his muzzle again, catching him with his mouth open in mid moan.

Douglass closed his lips around her velvety fur before he even noticed that Freya had sat on him. He held his tongue as far back in his mouth and throat as he could so that it wouldn't touch her, but as good as his first blow job was, he knew he couldn't just leave his lover unsatisfied. He counted up in his head from one to three. On the third count, he pushed his tongue up and it lapped against Freya's pucker.

It was a sharp taste, almost as if musk was tangible on his pallet. Though he wasn't entirely sure he liked the taste, he was surprised that it wasn't a bad taste. Douglass ventured another lick and then another. That's when it happened; Freya suddenly moaned like she never had before. It was the same wonderful moan that Douglass had made when she forced him into getting rimmed. It wasn't traditional, conventional or even what most would consider acceptable, but he was eating his lover's pussy and she loved it.

Douglass became a little more adventurous and eased his tongue up into Freya as she had done to him. The flavor was more intense, but still not bad. He couldn't count it among the favorite events of his first time so far, but he did definitely enjoy the reaction of his lover and her own ministrations to his cock as he worked.

They stayed in their improvised sixty-nine until Douglass began to tighten his muscles and his paws gripped Freya's fur in balled fists. The otter knew what was about to happen, so she slowed her pace down to a crawl and then eased off his penis, letting it slip from her muzzle with a lewd slurp. Douglass' breathing returned to normal and Freya felt his tense body relax so she lifted her rear off him with a giggle. She eased her way back around until she was face-to-face with him again and she nuzzled at the side of his muzzle.

"Freya ..." Douglass said softly. "You keep ... teasing me. And picking me up and pulling me around. I thought that's what the guy was supposed to do."

"Otters are athletic, remember?" She giggled and nuzzled him again. "Now, why don't we find a hole for you to crawl inside of, hmm?"

Douglass blushed deeply as Freya sat up on him in a straddle and lifted her dress up over her head, taking care not to pull her wig off with it. She tossed it off the bed and looked down at her little mole as he looked up at her. Douglass drank in the curves of her body, her soft breasts, the lighter brown fur from her groin to the middle of her chest almost making a heart shape on her small mounds accented even further by his blurred vision.

Freya leaned back and eased her rear down against Douglass' erection. It slid up the crack of her rear, causing her to coo softly and him to moan. She reached back and pushed his erection up against her entrance with her fingertips. She closed her eyes and lowered herself until the head of Douglass' saliva slickened member pushed past her saliva lubricated opening.

Douglass put his paws on her hips and instinctively thrust his hips upward. Freya gasped at Douglass' length suddenly bottomed out in her. Douglass gripped her hips tightly and held her body as close to his as possible as his length swelled, and then very suddenly an orgasm overtook him. Multiple near-orgasms culminated in just the second that Douglass was in her and now it erupted into her body.

Several intense jets of semen shot up into her and she felt every pulse. Freya closed her eyes as she imagined the orgasm inside her body, picturing in her vivid imagination Douglass' member hugging her insides as it sprayed her full of his seed. The two lovers moan lustfully and panted. Freya eased her body down and rests her bare chest against Douglass'.

"I ... I'm sorry." Douglass said softly as he tried to get his breathing under control.

"For what, Dougie?" Freya asked as she nuzzled his neck and cheek softly.

"I wanted to ... longer."

Freya giggled and then kissed him deeply. Douglass was a little surprised but returned the kiss, rubbing her back and caressing her tongue with his. Douglass was sure that Freya would be as disappointed in his performance as he was, but it definitely seemed just the opposite. Freya broke the kiss and lifted her head after giving his lips two more quick pecks.

"Dougie, I'm surprised you lasted as long as you did." She smiled and moved her paw to his head and brushed his headfur. "I probably couldn't have done as well, considering all of the attention I was giving you. Besides, we're no where near done."

Douglass blushed at her comment and pulled her into a hug. Freya returned it enthusiastically, giggling softly and rubbing her cheek against his. The two there, in the moment, their bodies still joined and so close together that they could feel each others' heart beat. The young lovers understood that this was not only special for the sake of intimacy but the first time they'd been with anyone they'd want to be intimate with outside of their fantasies. The romances and erotic stories that they'd both explored since puberty suddenly took on new meanings. They now understood them.

Freya raised up and eased back into her straddle while Douglass took his paws and rand them up her sides and then over her breasts. Freya moaned softly as the mole's unpracticed paws teased underside of her petite chest. His paws slid off her breasts however as she slowly lifted herself off him a bit and then back down. Douglass let his paws slide down her sides and back to her hips as she started to raise and lower on his youthfully eager still erect penis. He closed his eyes again and moaned as her tight tailring now lubed with his first orgasm squeezed his length.

It wasn't long before Freya was bouncing against Douglass' thighs. She leaned forward and put her paws on his chest, raising and lowering at a faster pace until she was moving as fast as her body would allow. Douglass would occasionally awkwardly try to thrust his hips up against her on her down strokes, but he couldn't keep up and really wasn't sure how to keep a rhythm.

"F-Freya ... This ... wow!"

"I know what you mean, Dougie." Freya said as she leaned back up and wrapped a paw around her shaft. She started pistoning her paw rapidly but Douglass didn't notice since his eyes were still shut and his attention was focused elsewhere. Freya could feel Douglass' shaft throb and begin to swell again even thought it hadn't been too long since his last orgasm. She pushed down hard and gyrated her hips against him which was all it took to push the mole into another orgasm.

He grit his teeth and hissed a grunt as he again coated Freya's insides with his cum. He trembled all over as his orgasm wracked body lie underneath the otter utterly spent. His breathing was starting to return to normal when he felt a slight rhythmic bounce coming from Freya and her muscles suddenly clenched. The mole opened his eyes just in time to see a stream of her pharmaceutically diminished semen shoot from the tip of her member and spray up his stomach, chest and face.

Douglass winced as the sticky cream hit his muzzle and spattered his lips downward. A second shot landed with the bulk on his nose and a third on his left cheek. It was warm and thick, and he balked a little at the idea of it being on his face. Freya moaned as her orgasm trickled to a close. She looked down at the mole who looked slightly disgusted.

"What's wrong, Dougie?" She asked with a giggle.

"It ... it's all over me." Douglass replied carefully so as not to let it slip past his lips.

"So it is." Freya said as she leaned down over the top of him until she was looking down at his face. She took her finger and wiped up the large glob near his lips and then unexpectedly pushed her finger in his mouth. Douglass went wide eyed at the thought of the sexual fluid dripping all over his tongue. He gave serious consideration to biting her finger, but the strange thing about the alkaline substance was it didn't seem like it was dirty on his tongue. "A little less now. I'll get the rest."

Freya leaned in and began grooming his face with her tongue, which in itself Douglass was not particularly fond of; trading one body fluid for another. Freya seemed to very much enjoy the taste of her own semen, however. Before she could finish Douglass opened his mouth and pulled her into a deep kiss.

They kissed until Douglass' member was soft enough to slide out of Freya on its own, causing both of them to moan a bit as it slid past her tailring and the fresh seed in her began to leak out. Freya broke the kiss off and gave the glob on his cheek a few quick licks to make sure none of it was left behind.

"Freya?" Douglass said quietly, almost hushed.

"Yes, Dougie?" She replied as she eased down onto him and nuzzled at his muzzle.

"I know ... I mean, I've read that sexual relations aren't a good foundation for successful relationships, but I was thinking ..." Douglass paused and drew a shaky breath.

"Yes, Dougie?" Freya begged he continue with a contentment in her tone.

This shouldn't be hard. He had just done so many intimate things with her. She was very pretty, and she liked him. Granted, it was unorthodox as it could possibly get, but a girl liked him and he liked her. He exhaled and then drew another breath to psyche himself for the question, "Would you ... be my girlfriend?"

"Such a cute guy, you are." Freya said as she eased back and looked at him with a smile. "Not afraid to try new things, smart, open-minded. What more could a girl ask for?" Freya eased herself off him and laid down beside him, propping her head up on her paw. "We'll be apart for quite awhile after the school year, you know?"

"Well ... I mean, I will understand if the answer is no. And th-" Douglass was cut off by Freya as she kissed him deeply once more. He rolled onto his side and wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight against him. It didn't need to be spoken. They both knew the answer and that they'd have to deal with what to do after the summer break when the time came. For now, they were content that they'd finally found someone else. Douglass broke the kiss and pressed his nose against Freya's. "I ... do have a concern."

"What's that?" Freya asked softly.

"Does this make us ... I mean, do you think this was ... gay?"

Freya laughed out lout and then shook her head. "Dougie, you'd have to have sex with a man to be considered gay. Am I a man?"

"Well ... technically, yes." Douglass stopped when he saw Freya scowl.

"Am I a man?" She asked again.

"No. I mean ... Your voice, your body, the way you talk. It's amazing you can play Geoffrey so well."

"See? We're about as heterosexual as a couple can get. Man and woman." Freya giggled and nuzzled his neck. "I was worried I wouldn't find a man that would accept me, since I am so different."

Douglass chuckled and bumped his nose against hers. They spent another hour trying their best to work out their virgin inexperience, even going so far as to make love in the library. Douglass was particularly fond of that. When it was coming up on five o'clock, the two reluctantly dressed in their school clothes.

Douglass watched as Freya disguised herself as Geoffrey. The metamorphosis was almost eerie; the fact that Freya and Geoffrey were so different in how they looked and personality. Douglass saw the last of Freya slip beneath the elastic bandage that Freya had asked him to help her wrap herself in. As she was fastening barbed metal clips on the end of the bandage Douglass stepped back and looked at her shapely figure once more.

Freya pulled the puffy sweater on and it slid down to cover her sides and hips. Douglass sighed as Geoffrey pulled up his undewear and slacks, concealing the feminine backside he'd seeded for the fourth time not long prior. Geoffrey turned around to catch Douglass' eyes quickly dart up away from his lower body. Geoffrey smiled took a small step toward Douglass.

"It's ... going to be nice." Douglass said softly.

"What is?" Geoffrey asked in his well practiced male voice.

"When you and I can be together ... and not worry about being anything but ourselves."

The otter put his arms around his friend and rested his muzzle on his shoulder. "It will, very much." Freya whispered softly. "Now," Geoffrey said as he eased back from Douglass and let him slip from his grasp, "I believe we were about to get on the LAN and engage each other in a contest to satisfy our masculine bravado."

Douglass laughed out loud and shook his head. Geoffrey had no idea that about eight hours of Douglass' day was nothing but gaming. The poor otter didn't stand a chance. Douglass chuckled at the prospect of taking Geoffrey's ego down a peg or two.