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Air escaped through a black nose, a point of sunlight which trickled in from the window reflecting off of Tim's sense of smell. Golden sights gleamed through his eyelids as they eased open to see the conscious world again, which...was still a bit blurry.

A stretch.

A yawn.

The fox's orange arm emerged from the quilt which covered him from the chest down, his dark-furred paw running over his face before going to work straightening out his whiskers on the left side after a number of hours of being flattened between his muzzle and the pillow. From there he'd bury his muzzle into his bicep, nipping away at an itch there, bad form according to etiquette experts, irrelevant here in a warm bed. Now he'd allow his arm to rest upon the soft little mound beside him, the appearance of a balled up blanket which would shift at the touch. Tim could feel the familiar warm sensation among his chest and couldn't help but smile just a little. He took a hold of the quilt, lifting it so he could peak underneath. There was a mouse under here, somewhere.

Right there, in fact, the grey-furred rodent's face buried well into the forest of white fur which sprouted of Tim's chest. From here, the fox couldn't see Jamie's closed eyes or his little nose, both of which nestled deep into the fur, and hidden beneath the fragile creature's paws for added security, but he could see those pink ears of his, twitching and flicking before going still again, sensing no danger, allowing the mouse to remain at rest. Of course, Tim hated that he'd have to wake him, but Jamie would be awoken as soon as the larger fox attempted to move from the bed, and startling a mouse awake with sudden movement was never a good idea. Not if, like Tim, you rather enjoyed when they slept buried into your fur and hoped for that kind of thing to continue into the following night.

Tim would do as he did many mornings, lean down toward the rodent, that pink tongue slipping past those black lips and lapping over the top of Jamie's grey-furred head. This was generally all it would take, the poor little creatures usually had such a tenuous grasp on their sleep. The rodent stirred, easing himself way from Tim's chest, before suddenly snapping his view up to the fox's face. Yes...this was the same fox. Not some new predator taking on admittedly innovative methods in an attempt to "get him." And of course, this is why Tim wouldn't just jump out of bed. Because, really, mice pretty much always woke up with a start, especially when sleeping next to somebody significantly larger. After years of trial and error when it came to mouse-loving, Tim had considered that he could probably write a comprehensive manual on the subject. "How to Love Your Mouse in 12,000 Easy Steps," he'd call it. Even Jamie himself had admitted that the title was apt.

First order of business was to outstretch those arms and perform that lovely little stretch he did every morning, before hiking further up the bed, just a few inches, to better meet Tim. If a mouse needed to wake up and jump right out of bed, their "start up" time definitely faster than most. But for now...he'd stumbled upon a place of perfect comfort, that troublesome series of factors that made getting out of bed needlessly difficult, often leading to marathon napping. Even now, he'd removed his face from Tim's chest fur only to immediately bury it again into the fur of the fox's neck, nestling his head under Tim's fuzzy chin. The orange-furred male would respond with a few more licks before whispering into the mouse's ear.

"You should take your pill."

Jamie blew out a squeaky breath, reluctantly turning over in the bed. "Yeah...."

A fleshy paw reached out to the table beside the bed, fiddling around the items here until setting onto that blue, round pill case. It was cheap, cost like a buck. He hated to think he was old enough to need such a thing in the house, although thirty-one years old was easily considered middle aged for a mouse, a fact that didn't bother him as much as it did Tim. At times, the devoted fox would vow to lead a lifestyle unhealthy enough to ensure he himself wouldn't live long into his 60's, but Jamie insisted it was silly. Either way...at least these weren't old-mouse pills. Just something to take for those days when even that sweet fox behind them wasn't quite enough to keep a smile on his face. As hard to believe as that was.

"Are these Monday?" the rodent asked in a squeaky, morning whisper as he held the pill case up to Tim.

"Mm...yeah, that's them," confirmed the fox.

"Thanks." Jamie hadn't gotten up to put in his contacts yet so it was good to get a second opinion. He snapped open the specified section of the case, dumping the pink tablet inside onto his paw. He reached down to the floor...it's down there...somewhere...there it is, that water bottle. It was good to keep these things close to the bed, and get that reminder from Tim, otherwise he was prone to forgetting this small but important step of his day. In went the pills, a quick swallow of water, and the deed was done.

After putting away the items, the mouse would curl up tightly with Tim again, his back to the fire-furred male this time, the ultimate compliment a mouse could offer to his larger partner, the willingness to be held without having to keep his eyes on you. It had taken quite some time for Tim to earn this, and he did covet it, so. And while the mouse was here, it was time to move on to the rest of the morning rituals.

Jamie's tail flicked a bit as he once again felt the warmth of Tim's licks against the back of his neck. These weren't quite the same as the one which had welcomed the rodent back into consciousness, these were grooming licks. It was the same process they'd repeat nearly every morning, the red fox would slip his arms around Jamie, crossing them at the mouse's front, keeping in him "place" while he groomed the grey-furred male. Admittedly, Jamie didn't quite see the practical need for it, he was certain to shower later as he did most days, but it seemed to be a kind of comfort for Tim, so Jamie could live with getting his fur a little damp. It was a rhythmic, methodical thing, Tim lapping the fur up with his tongue, then smoothing it back down with his nose, tongue, then nose, tongue, then nose. A bit like a little massage, Jamie would figure. One couldn't deny its tranquilizing effects, his blue eyes squinting a bit more toward a close. Then would come that sound.

Tim loved that sound, "mouse purrs" he called them, not knowing how else to describe them. This kind of...shaky, squeaky sound which came from Jamie with every exhale, letting whoever was privileged enough to hear it know that the rodent was completely relaxed. Tim recalled the first time he'd heard that sound as Jamie lay beside him like this. He would ask Jamie why he was making such a sound, was he upset? In pain? The fox remembered that profound warming feeling he'd experience when the mouse would tell him, "it means that I'm happy."

The "bath" would conclude after a few moments, Tim still keeping his black nose nestled into the mouse's fur, enjoying his scent.

"How many times were you up last night?" The fox asked, his speech muffled by Jamie's coat.

"Um...twice, I guess."

Mice weren't wired to sleep through the night, often having to get up to expend some energy. Jamie's family even had activities they would do together in the middle of the night, a puzzle the family would work on, maybe a little card game, something to do before attempting to go back to sleep for a few hours.

"What'd you do?"

Jamie rose up off the bed just a bit, licking at his fingers and using them to straighten out his own whiskers. "I um...I made some pudding, actually."

"Pudding?" snickered Tim.

"Yeah, I...couldn't think of something to do so I made pudding."

"Chocolate?"

"Yeah."

"Awesome."

Jamie took in a squeaky yawn. "I thought it'd make you happy."

"Chocolate always makes me happy," proclaimed the fox, rubbing through the mouse's fur. "It's Monday, right? You've got an appointment today."

"Yeah."

"One o'clock?"

"Uh-huh."

"Should I just hang out in the waiting room, or should I go do something while you're in there...do we need anything at the store?"

"Yeah, we need more pudding," Jamie snickered.

The two would lie together for several more moments, exchanging small gestures of affection before Jamie would rise out of bed, looking for some pajama pants to slip on. The entirety of his furred body was exposed now and Tim, still comfortably flopped onto his side in the bed, couldn't help but steal a glance or three or ten at the bare-bodied mouse. This wouldn't go unnoticed by the rodent whose tail flicked with slight embarrassment.

"Do you have to stare?" chirped the mouse, tentatively grasping the pajama bottoms he'd recovered from near the closet.

The fox lifted his upper body further from the bed, tilting his head like those foxes do. "I've seen it before, Jamie. Like, you know, last night? Saw a whole lot of mouse last night."

A blush. "Yeah, well...it was dark...and you were distracted...with things."

"Fine, I'll just turrrrrrn around," offered the fox, rolling over in the bed before pulling the quilt over his head. "And now nobody can see you. You are free to do whatever it is you do while naked."

Jamie smiled a little, flicking his ears a bit as he did but wasted no time in slipping into those plaid-patterned bottoms. As pulled them up, he found himself fumbling around with the tail-snap in the back, struggling to fasten the damn thing around the furrier base of his snaking tail.

"Need some help?" the voice of Tim would ask, prompting Jamie to turn around and see the fox partially rolled back over, peeking an eye out from under the blanket.

"Hush, I've got it," insisted the mouse, continuing the fight. Why did they make it so hard on these pants...they're pants, not a brain teaser. As he began to feel as if he was closing in on the victory, the mouse could feel his pink-skinned fingers joined by the furry ones on the hands of Tim. Standing there only in his fur, the red fox's tail swayed playfully as he fastened the button, happy to help as always.

"There you go, 'tato-chip" quipped the red-furred male, adding one of his favorite pet names for the mouse.

Jamie turned to face the bare fox. "I could have done it...."

"We did it together," insisted Tim. "We're a team."

A twitch of the whiskers. "I'm not as helpless as I probably look."

"You don't look helpless, you look like the world's cutest mouse."

Jamie shrugged. "It's not really a lot different, in a societal sense."

The dark paws of Tim settled themselves just under the grey-furred rodent's arms, sliding down affectionately toward his waist. Something about mice...something about rodents in general really, there was something so nice about holding them in this exact spot.

"Can I pick you up?" asked the fox into one of Jamie's pink ears. It was always important to ask, first.

Jamie's blue eyes shifted from side to side as he weighed the proposition. They had been together for almost a decade now, so....

"Well...maybe for a second or two."

The mouse prepped himself by planting his paws onto the shoulders of Tim as the fox's own paws slipped back underneath the rodent's arms. Just a tiny little chirp escaped the throat of Jamie at the point of "lift off," Tim sliding his arms down closer to Jamie's waist once their faces met. He held him tight here in this position but knew from experience that the mouse would only tolerate being bound to such a confining grip for a short while. Already those ears were flattening, that tail was whipping this way and that, those dangling, pink-fleshed feet of his, kicking just a little, searching for the solid ground they adamantly preferred. Even so, the mouse with allow that fox to lick his small nose, lick over his face, down the side of his neck a bit, and he'd return the affection with a few nuzzles of his own. Still, by the time the larger mammal had begun those sniff-sniffy-sniffs at the mouse's scent....

"Okay, that's enough," Jamie chirped, his twitching body clearly indicating that he'd been in the fox's tight grasp for as long as his instincts would allow.

The fox, of course, would respect this and set his lover down, the rodent's feet happily touching back down to the ground. Jamie looked up to meet Tim's golden eyes, offering a little smile. No hard feelings.

"I should go make you some breakfast," suggested Tim.

"You should put some clothes on, first."

With a glance down at himself, Tim's tail swayed thoughtfully at the view. "Well...I guess I'm pretty fat. Probably not great to look at."

Jamie responded by reaching a paw up and planting it on the bridge of the fox's muzzle, pushing it downward. No, Tim. NO.

"You're not fat."

"Then what do you call this," Tim countered, pinching at his somewhat pudgy belly.

"I call that a body that happens in real life and not in any silly magazine. Magazines with bodies and foxes that you don't even like."

A shrug. "They're hotter though."

"They're fake. I like real foxes."

"Nobody likes foxes," insisted Tim, quietly.

"Actually, most people do. I certainly must. I've been with two."

"Yeah, but..." the fox looked down and way. "Well...anyway."

The mouse's eyes darted a bit, his paws rubbing nervously together. Yes, he knew what Tim meant, what he wanted to say, but...it was different now. He was different.

A shrug from Tim. "I'm gonna put some clothes on. And then make you breakfast."

"So how was the week. Jamie," asked the ringtail, Jan, as she led the mouse into the room with her. She took a seat behind the desk as Jamie would claim one of the two chairs on the other side.

"Um...it was mostly good, yeah. No like...disasters or anything."

"That's good," the therapist nodded, with a flick of her striped tail. She noted how he and most other mice were so cute in their button up shirts. He also wore dressy looking pants for the occasion as he often did. Jan herself wore much more casual clothing.

"Mondays are usually good," continued Jamie with his hands clasped between his legs, which bounced up and down repeatedly. "Tim and I both don't work Mondays so, you know...we get to wake up together, and...you know, just...go at our own pace." The mouse said this as his eyes darted around toward the floor.

"Jamie - eye contact," reminded the ringtail, pointing too fingers at her own eyes and then to his.

The mouse looked up at her although his eyes still shifted left and right. "Yeah, sorry...."

"It's okay, just remember, we've been working on that...so from what I can tell, getting to wake up with Tim really has a positive impact on your day."

"Oh yeah, absolutely," nodded the mouse, looking...a little bit to the right.

"So I want to follow up on what we talked about last week," declared Jan, as she leaned back in the office chair, propping up her feet on the desk. She'd always had this kind of casual presence about her.

"Yeah sure," nodded Jamie, making sure to look right at her.

"You remember what we talked about?"

"Yeah, I...had mentioned that I feel guilty because he works so hard at his job, and I feel like I don't do enough on my end."

"Right," nodded the ringtail. "Tell me more about that."

"Um...well...I mean, you know it's like I said...he works so hard doing his deliveries, every time he comes home and he's so sore, and I'm fine. Every time he comes in, he sits down on the couch, or you know, on the bed, and I just...I dunno, I give him a massage. Like, every day."

"Why's that?"

"I...guess I just feel like I owe it to him? I want to feel...less useless, I guess, by trying to make him feel a little better after working all day."

"So you don't think the work that you do is as...serious, as his? Not as hard?"

The mouse shook his head, flicking his pink-skinned ears a bit. "I definitely don't think it is. He delivers heavy packages all day, he's on this hectic schedule, his feet are killing him...I just put food on tables. Or tell others to do it." His eyes slipped back down to the floor.

"Jamie."

The mouse looked back up, meeting the large, round eyes of the ringtail.

"Thank you," she said with a smile.

"Sorry...."

"It's okay."

The pudding boxes rattled the shopping cart, bounced into the bottom as Tim snickered at the site of them. Mostly chocolate of course. And a tapioca just for the sake of variety. The grocery store was relatively close to the clinic so the fox figured he could grab a few things and be back in time to pick up the mouse. He was moving the cart toward the cereal aisle (couldn't live without his Coco-Crunchers after all) when he felt the sensation of his phone vibrating in his pocket. His dark-furred paw disappeared inside, pulling out the device to see a new message from his best friend Zachary. The message contained a photo of Zachary winking at the camera and giving a thumbs-up while fiancee in the back was bent over on all fours, apparently looking for something in the closet. The tail-button of her jeans had apparently come undone, or she neglected to fasten it, either way the end result was her pants dipping...a bit past the point of modesty. Included with the photo was a text message which simply read "Classy."

Tim snorted and shook his head. Zach was crazy. He also seemed to enjoy the benefits of having a best friend with a boyfriend, which he seemed to think allowed for the sharing of embarrassing photos and information about his fiancee which might otherwise get him kicked out of the house. Instead, it just got him beaten up a little. Audrey was a scary girl.

The selection of the cereal aisle was tempting indeed, few foods on this planet were better than the stuff. Budget though, budget was important, money sucks, until you have it, just like the popular kids in school. Just stick with the Coco-Crunchers, don't mess with success. The perceptive fox heard a sound down the aisle, the sound of what appeared to be a very old lady, shaky in the knees, dropping a box of her own to the floor. He wasted no time, trotting up to the struggling, female beaver.

"Let me get that for you, ma'am," he called out as he approached. Before she could react the orange-furred male was knelt to the floor, picking up the item for her and placing it into her cart.

"Oh...thank you, you're such a nice boy."

"Just doing what I was taught, ma'am."

A smile. "Your wife must feel very lucky to have you around."

Tim smiled back with a shake of his head. "No wife, ma'am. A boyfriend, named Jamie. Best mouse ever, or at least, I think he is."

"Oh," the old rodent said with a bit of a bewildered look in her eye before quickly hobbling her way further down the aisle.

The red fox turned back for his cart, shrugging to himself. Can't win over everyone.

"So Tim's always been very cautious with you?"

Jamie nodded, still bobbing his leg up and down. "Yeah. I guess, um...he's always...he grew up around...mice, and rodents. He said that's why he kind of has a crush on them, mice especially. Almost all of his friends are rodents, so he knows, like...not to come on too strong."

Jan leaned forward, the female ringtail crossing her arms on the desk in front of her. "And that was very different from your last boyfriend?"

Another nod. "Derek was okay at first...I think I just wanted to be with somebody, but...yeah, pretty soon he wasn't...gentle at all."

"So you said it took you a while to trust Tim because, like Derek, he was also a fox. Did Tim ever do anything that reminded you of Derek?"

Jamie thought for a moment, his pink ears fidgeting around a bit as he did. "No, not really. Other than being a red fox...Tim's entirely different. Like I said, he's always been very careful, very...cautious, slow...affectionate?"

"And you like that?"

"I, um...well, yeah."

The therapist raised a brow. "I sense a 'but' in that statement."

"You...you do?"

A smile. "Do you like it...all the time?"

Jamie looked down and away, which Jan decided to let go, this time. He mouse was clearly searching for his words.

"Well...I mean...I like...to take things slow. But...sometimes, I guess, I feel like, you know...like I feel too...fragile. Like he's always acting like I have to be taken care of, and like I'm made of glass...you know, either emotionally or physically."

"So you think that maybe he's...babying you?"

A shrug. "Well...yeah, maybe...I don't know if I'd say THAT but...I guess I don't know what else to call it. I don't know, he's...Tim's naturally a very nice guy. Like...super nice, I've told you before."

A nod. "Yep, I remember."

"Like he goes really far out of his way to help people, and I really think it's like...some kind of compulsion of his own." Jamie smiled a bit, thinking about his boyfriend's almost hysterical need to do good deeds.

"It could be," Jan agreed, nodding her head to the side.

"Anyway...so I mean, obviously he's going to be that way anyway but...I mean...I don't know. I guess he doesn't have to...ALWAYS do it. I mean I don't want him to just start being...mean. But...I'm an adult, you know? I know it's hard to remember sometimes, none of us mice ever seem very 'grown up' I guess, but...sometimes I just think he doesn't have to be so...soft with me."

"How would you like him to treat you?"

"Well...."

"Eyes."

"Right, sorry...um...I mean honestly, how he treats me now is...great, really. He's really sweet, and you know...I love him, I really do, he's so good to me. I guess I don't want him to completely change, just...sometimes he could...he doesn't have to be so cautious."

A nod.

"Like, at night, if we're in bed, and we're...we're...you know, we're together and we...." the bashful mouse gestured heavily with his paws as he spoke, unable to come out with it until Jan would rescue him.

"Yeah, I get you," she said with a grin.

"Yeah, um...when we're...doing that, he's always so...slow and...like I said, cautious. And that was good, at first, I...needed that. But I mean...I've been with him for a while now, I know him, I trust him, I know he won't hurt me...so I mean...I know, I...like...bigger...guys." Jamie had to pause to blush a bit before continuing. "I mean, I'm also terrified of bigger guys because, you know, mouse...but I always end up with guys who are bigger than me, I've never been like...with another mouse, you know? I guess I never really thought about it but...it's true, I think, I like bigger guys and...." more gesturing, another loss of words.

"It's okay, take your time."

"So...yeah, I mean. It's nice that he's careful but I also kind of feel like...if you've got a bigger guy, if you're...with a bigger guy...in...bed...you know, you want to...take advantage of that? If you're going to...enjoy the benefits, he shouldn't be so...careful with you all the time." There. There it was. Now he could melt into a pile into that chair. The mouse covered his muzzle with his paws. His pink-fleshed tail snaked nervously across the floor.

"I'm sorry...."

The ringtail offered a playful smile. "No, not at all, it's fine, Jamie. That's, you know, that's real."

"I, um...it's um...I mean, it's not just that, you know. He also asks if I'm okay a lot, and I mean...of course I am, why wouldn't I be?"

"Do you think he has any reason to be worried about you?"

A shrug. "I...I guess he knows I come here, and take meds so...but I mean...I don't know...being asked if I'm 'okay' all the time, it just...makes me feel more...broken."

Jan tilted her head a bit. "Talk to me a little about that."

"Hey mom," greeted Tim into the phone, from the checkout.

"Oh hi Timmy. What's up?" Nobody but the mother fox could call him 'Timmy.'

"Nothing I'm just checking in - here you go," the fox answered, before handing over the cash.

"Huh?"

"I'm in line at the store."

"Ah...is Jamie there too?"

"No, he's at an appointment so I figured I'd do some shopping while he was in there."

"Gotcha."

"So, how's everything over there?"

"Fine, fine...your brother's still been around."

A grin. "Is he driving you insane?" The fox briefly covered the phone, glancing at the cashier. "Thank you."

"Well, I love him to death, which is just going to make it even harder when I have to kill him."

Tim snickered as he gathered up his bags. "You want me to come kick his ass?"

"Eh...he probably wouldn't even be awake for it."

"Yeah, probably not," agreed the fox as he walked through the automatic doors. "Hey, how's the house, anything you need me to swing by and take a look at?"

"Tim, you live like, forty miles away, remember? You can't just 'swing by' anymore."

The fox shrugged even though his mother couldn't see it.

"I'm always happy to see you of course but, you know, you don't have to worry so much, we can take care of things around here."

"I know, I know," Tim sighed, as he opened up the back door, placing his bags inside. "I just, you know, wanna help."

"That's because you're a nice boy."

"That's just what I was taught," insisted Tim, slamming the door of the black sedan shut. "Well like I said, I just figured I'd check in. I'm about to go pick up Jamie and I don't want to talk and drive so I guess I'll let you go."

"Okay, Timmy, thanks for calling. Tell Jamie I said hi!'

"I will, mom."

The mother fox would make a kissing noise into the phone, which was returned by her son before the call would end, as Tim hopped into the driver's seat. Seat belt on, engine fired up. Let's go get our mouse. In the rear-view mirror, the fox would see a raccoon's bag tear open from the bottom. Groceries everywhere. Such an annoyed face. Engine off, seat belt undone. Better get over there.

"...and everyone else seems basically normal, so...yeah, I mean...by always checking up on my, it's nice, but it like...reminds me that I have to be checked on, I guess."

"Have you ever told him this?" asked Jan, her feet back up on the desk.

"Not...really, no. I mean he's just trying to be nice, I don't want to, like...yell at him for it."

"You don't think he'll take it well?"

A shrug. "I mean...I know that he'd probably be fine but...I just can't...bring myself to tell people things. None of us mice can."

Jan nodded, taking her feet down and leaning forward once more. "I know that...being assertive can get challenging for a lot of mice."

"We're pretty much trained not to. Everyone expects us to just be...cute and sweet and nice and we just...do it. Maybe it's in our nature."

"Mice are not especially aggressive, it's true...but as you might have heard, it's thought that the plague deaths, and you know, all the disproportionate blame that was put into the mice and rats...mice made the conscious decision to be as likable as possible after that, to once again be accepted by society. So while mice were already a bit timid, it was a cultural change that stuck."

A nod. "I've heard some things about that. I guess rats kind of went the other way...I mean not all rats are...I'm not trying to say...you know what I mean, right? Yeah...but I kind of envy that rats just kind of...do whatever they're gonna do, instead of acting all nice all the time."

The therapist nodded with a glance to her watch. "Well...I'm gonna have you leave it there and we'll continue this next time, as we are just about out of time."

Jamie glanced over at the clock on the wall. About 1:55 in the afternoon. These always seemed like the quickest hours of his life.

"So, for the next two weeks I want you to continue with what we've been talking about. You need to keep challenging yourself, Jamie. It's too easy to fall into those holes where you think that, you know, just knowing that you have to do something is the same as actually doing it."

The mouse nodded. Indeed, he was familiar with those holes.

"A good step in that direction would be to be more honest with Tim. After all, he deserves the honesty I think."

"Yeah, he does," agreed Jamie.

"And it sounds to me like he really cares deeply for you, so I'm pretty confident that he'll take it well and be very willing to listen and respect what you tell him."

More nods. "Yeah. Yeah."

"'Kay?" concluded Jan with a smile.

Jamie returned the smile, in that buck-toothed way that only rodents could. "Mm-hm!"

"Great," Jan said, grinning as she rose from her chair. He really was a cutie. She moved for the door, opening it for the mouse as she prepared to walk him back out to the waiting room.

"Do anything over the weekend?" she asked as he scurried by.

"Not really...Tim had a wrestling thing on Sunday so I watched that with him."

"Have you been able to, you know, get more into it?" probed the therapist as they began their walk down the hall.

A shrug. A twitch of the ears. "I know some of the guys on there now, at least. Sometimes I kinda, you know...root for the cuter ones."

Jan offered a snicker in response. "I guess that's one way."

"Honestly, I didn't used to get it...and I still kind of don't, but now that I'm at least used to it, it's kind of well...cute to watch how excited he gets for it sometimes. Like when he hangs his mouth open at what I assume to be some kind of shocking result."

"Does he still think it's real?"

"No...he said it's called...'marking out,' or something like that, when you know wrestling's fake...or scripted, as he calls it...but you kind of forget it's not real for moment when something...big happens."

"Interesting," smirked Jan as they reached the door to the waiting room. "I'm learning something new."

"Yeah," snickered Jamie. "Anyway, um...thanks."

"No no, thank you, Jamie," insisted the female as he walked through the door.

The small rodent let out a cathartic breath as the door closed behind him. He smoothed out his whiskers and shook his head, glancing around. He didn't see Tim. Perhaps the fox had gotten caught up in something, it wouldn't be...unusual. No, he didn't see Tim but he did see Martin.

Martin was...a regular here. He had his appointments at 2:00 P.M., just as Jamie was usually leaving. The immensely-sized wolverine was known to be unpredictable. Not...violent, so far, but when you made direct contact with his eyes hidden beyond those thick frames, as Jamie had inadvertently done now, you couldn't be sure what to expect. Martin's sharp-clawed fingers intertwined within each other in front of his chest as he began his approach, silently hobbling over toward the mouse who had essentially invited him. Jamie's head snapped in all directions. Does...does anybody see him? Is somebody...gonna come get Martin? It seemed rude to call out for help, but as Martin drew closer, those small, fearful squeaks escaped his throat. Boxed in between the larger mammal and the door from which he had just exited, there was nowhere for the grey-furred rodent to go. Martin stared straight into the eyes of Jamie, whose ears would flatten nervously as he was overtaken by the Wolverine's shadow.

"Oh - Martin! C'mere, Martin!" shouted a female voice.

The big wolverine turned where he was met by a female of the same species, older in appearance. She pulled the male away from the mouse before turning briefly toward Jamie, herself.

"Sorry about that."

Jamie smiled politely and wasted no time heading for those glass doors, and...kind of running straight into them. Pull, don't push. He made it through the obstacle and hurried down the hallway, going...wherever Martin couldn't see him anymore. The hall always seemed so stark, no furniture, practically nothing on the walls, just some waste receptacles off to the side...he'd made it about halfway down the length when he caught sight of that familiar read fox trotting around the corner in his blue t-shirt and similarly colored jeans. He smiled at the moment his golden eyes met Jamie's sapphire sights, running up to meet the mouse. He sounded a bit out of breath. He'd been running for a while.

"Hi baby," greeted the winded fox, slowing down to a stop in front of Jamie. "How was it?"

"Good, it was good," chirped the mouse, allowing the fox to take a hold of his pink-fleshed paws. "Um...guess you're running a little late? Heh."

"Uh, yeah...yeah, yeah. Sorry, I was at the store, and this guy dropped his groceries and he had oranges and they kind of got everywhere and under some cars and...yeah, sorry. Just got kinda crazy, I guess."

The two fellows shuffled on down the hall, back toward the parking ramp. Tim rested his arm around the petite shoulders of the mouse while Jamie balanced his admiration for the fox's lack of social fear with the guilt he felt about his own.

"So...did that guy mind you chasing his oranges around?"

Tim grinned a bit sheepishly. "Um...well he said not to worry about it but...I could tell, I think he wanted 'em back. It was...it was fine."

An uncertain smile came over Jamie's face, his eyes darting around in thought as the males disappeared through the door into the parking ramp.

Can't help but make that noise, that mousey sound, those weak-sounding chirps when he lays you down onto your back, blanketed in the tranquil familiarity of your bedroom's darkness, running the warmth of his tongue through the fur on your belly. Jamie's paws pressed lightly and cutely against the top of Tim's head as he did this, tasting the mouse from his waist all the way past his collar bone, up to his shoulders. When he came face-to-face with the smaller creature, Jamie's paws would search all around Tim's body, looking for...something, something to hold onto, some kind of leverage, an anchor...that secure feeling. Yes, Jamie loved him, yes, Jamie trusted him. But Jamie was, after all, a mouse. And to have such a larger mammal lay atop his bare, vulnerable body, even in that gentle, non-imposing way that Tim had perfected over many, many nights...well, it was just nice to get a grip of his fiery coat and hold on tight.

"Tim," he said, just above a whisper.

"Mhm?"

The rodent's ears flicked, he blinked, his whiskers twitched, how to say it....

"This time, you should...just...do whatever it is you want to do."

A tilt of the head. Canids were so cute when they did that. "What do you mean?"

Jamie situated himself underneath the fox a little better, preparing for the moments to come. "I just mean...whatever you're going to do, just go ahead and do."

The red fox didn't seem to understand. "Well...don't I always?"

Abort, Jamie...abort. "Yeah...I guess you do."

The bare-bodied rose further from the mouse, his paws planted on either side of Jamie's body, gently straddling the small creature. Another head tilt.

"Are you okay?"

Jamie couldn't help but smile at himself, a breath escaping his pink little nose.

"Yeah."

"You sure?"

"Mmhm, yeah." Would he be nodding so much if he weren't?

"I hope so," murmured Tim, easing himself back down, closer to Jamie.

The mouse's eyes squinted closer to a close as he felt the licks over his muzzle and neck, preparing himself to once again entrust his body to the fox. Nobody said it would be easy...they could try again some other time. Right? Right. Besides, there was nothing wrong with slow affection. Nothing wrong with being checked up on. He cared, it could have been worse. It HAD been worse. So much worse. And now everything was good. Or at least better.

A squeak. Then a little chirp. Everything was sure to get better.