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Troika froze in place, his mind racing to process what he had just now heard. But no matter how many times he thought through it, he couldn't find any alternate explanation for those words that Cas had just spoken to him.

It was clearly, without a doubt, a confession of love--the kind that Troika saw in films and books, but not once in real life, let alone one that was directed to him.

Cas was also sitting still, his eyes fixed to Troika. The fox's tail waved slowly from side to side behind his back. Cas's face remained calm, but his eyes held the pained expression, one that appeared to come from fear of losing a friend.

"I..." Troika started after a minute-long pause that, at least to him, seemed to last an entire hour. He didn't know what his face looked like at that particular moment, but he imagined that if someone held a mirror in front of him, he would see one very confused calico cat staring back at him, the cat's eyes beckoning him to instruct what to do next.

But the next words didn't come out. Troika's mind kept racing through various thoughts in the seconds during his pause. Was he attracted to other males? Could he reciprocate Cas's feelings toward him? Was he ready to commit himself in a relationship? What did it mean to be in love with someone romantically?

As Troika struggled to keep his thoughts straight, Cas sighed quietly and lowered his gaze away from Troika's eyes. "Sorry," he muttered, "I didn't mean to give you a hard time."

"Cas--"

"Look," Cas interrupted softly. "You wouldn't know it because you're straight, but it's really tough for a gay guy to tell his crush that he loves him. It takes all of his courage to just say those few words, and for what? If he's lucky, his crush will accept who he is and they're remain good friends, but if isn't, the friendship is over, then and there."

The red fox chuckled to himself, in a somewhat self-loathing way.

"Don't you think that's stupid?" he asked Troika. "For all that effort he put in to tell a simple feeling, he won't even get what he really wants in return."

The cat remained silent.

Cas looked at his friend again. "But sometimes, it's more painful for him to hold those feelings inside forever. He can't move on if he doesn't let go of them, even if it means jeopardizing everything that he built up for himself."

The fox stood up, and before Troika could ask what he was doing, he placed his clothes back into his daypack, chucked it on his back, and opened the door.

"Wait," Troika finally managed to call out as the fox was about to step out of the motel room. "Where are you going?"

"I'm getting another room," the fox replied matter-of-factly. "When I went to get the key for this room, I asked the clerk if there were other rooms available tonight. He confirmed that two more rooms were empty, so I'm renting one of those rooms to sleep there. Don't worry, I'll pay for that room myself."

Troika's eyes widened. "But...why?"

"Why?" Cas's golden eyes bore into Troika's hazel eyes. "It's so you don't have to sleep in the same room with me tonight, Troy. I know you're a nice guy so you'll probably say that you won't mind, but I don't wanna stress you out over something I brought onto myself. And besides," the fox smiled weakly and forlornly, "I also need some time for myself tonight, after what I did. It's...it's been a long day for me."

As he said the last sentence, Cas's voice quivered slightly--which Troika noticed immediately--and as if to hide it, the red fox quickly turned away again and walked out the door. But Troika moved quicker; he took a few steps forward, grasped the fox's arm and pulled him back into the room, after which the cat swiftly locked the door behind.

"Cas, please listen to me," Troika said a little forcefully. "The reason I couldn't say anything is because... I don't even know who I'm attracted to."

It was now Cas's turn to be taken aback. "What do you mean?"

Troika sat back down on his bed and motioned Cas to do the same. Once the two were seated, the calico cat looked at the red fox directly in the eyes. "Well, first of all, I'm a male calico cat."

"I have eyes, Troy."

Troika ignored Cas's snide comment. "Do you know what causes a male cat to be a calico?"

Cas shook his head. "I supposed it was something to do with genes?"

The cat nodded. "To be specific, it's a genetic anomaly. A mutation. You do know that the X and Y chromosomes are the ones that determine the sex of an animal, right? For a male, the animal needs to have both X and Y chromosomes."

Troika reached into the recycling bin and took out two bottle caps. Using a marker, he marked one with an "X" and the other one with a "Y", then placed them on the lamp table next to the table.

"The fur color is coded in the X chromosome," he said, holding up the X-labeled cap, "but only one color at a time. If a male cat has an orange-coded X chromosome, he'll be a tabby cat with white and orange fur. If he has a black-coded X chromosome, he'll be a tuxedo cat."

Troika again reached into the bin and grabbed another bottle cap, then labeled it with an "X". He held it up for Cas to see. "But to be a calico cat, he'll need both the orange-coded X chromosome and the black-coded X chromosome."

He placed the new X-labeled cap on the lamp table next to the other two caps. "This is me, a male calico cat, with two X chromosomes and a Y chromosome. But having three chromosomes doesn't just end up with this fur color...it also has an effect on his reproductivity."

The fox finally understood where Troika's sudden biology lesson was taking him. "Then, do you mean..."

"Yeah," Troika sighed. "I'm sterile, Cas. I talked to a number of doctors about this, and they all said that I can never have children of my own."

Cas furrowed his brow as if he was in pain and shook his head. "Jeez, that's... I'm sorry, Troy."

The cat continued talking, "I was first told about my condition when I was in sixth grade, right after we were taught in school about having sex and reproducing. Uncle Mack and I had a long talk about how my body was different from literally all my friends and everyone else in my entire school. We even went to see a doctor and I got tested, but the result was conclusive that my genetics screwed up and I couldn't have a kid of my own."

Troika could feel his voice choke up and his body starts to shake.

"At first, I didn't really think much about it, since I was otherwise perfectly fine and healthy. But then, when I was in high school, some guys in P.E. class--the type that you'd call 'jocks'--started calling me a 'girl-boy' because they apparently learned how a male calico cat is made."

"That's a shitty thing to do," Cas said in disgust.

"I ignored them for the most part, since that's what I was told to do by Uncle Mack. Also, at that time, I started dating a girl in my math class, a lioness called Tina. She was pretty-looking and was interested in me, and since it was my first time being asked out by a girl, I gladly agreed to hang out with her.

"After we finished our first date together, I was getting ready to drive her home as usual when she stopped me and told me that she was interested in doing something more special that night."

Cas's eyes widened. "You mean..."

"Sex." Troika rubbed the back of his head with his paw, his entire face warm. "I should've thought that it was weird that she wanted to do it right after our first date, when we still only knew each other superficially. But I was curious, and since I always brought some condoms with me on our dates, I didn't object. I parked my car at a secluded part of town, and we did it."

Cas whistled. "Did you enjoy it?"

"It was my first time so I was nervous most of the time, but I thought it was pretty hot that we could finally do it. After we cleaned up, I drove her home and that's how the night ended."

Troika took a gulp of water from the half-filled water bottle he had in his daypack. "But the next morning, one of the jocks I talked about--he was a cougar named Jared--he and his friends ambushed me on my way home from school."

"What?!" Cas's eyes widened even more. "How did that happen?"

"Jared drove up from behind in his car. They grabbed me and dragged me into the car, where my mouth was gagged while the other guys held my arms and legs so I couldn't move. Jared then drove the car to the same place where Tina and I had sex the night before."

Troika felt the muscles throughout his body tighten as he remembered what happened. The fox didn't say anything and listened intently as his friend gathered his thoughts and recounted his experience.

"Jared parked the car and told me that he had called Tina the night before but she didn't answer the phone--apparently he called right when she and I were having sex in the car so neither of us felt the phone vibrating. Thinking that it was strange, he confronted her this morning and she confessed what we did last night."

As the cat kept talking, he almost started laughing at himself for being so naïve and foolish. Of course, Tina--a pretty girl with every box on the "popular girl" prerequisite checklist checked and double-checked--had been a popular girl in school and was the center of attention from many boys she crossed path with. Of course, Tina--whose parents were wealthy and showered her with love and gifts throughout her life--wouldn't want to refuse getting all the attention she could get. And of course she and Jared--star quarterback of the school's football team--would make the most perfect alpha-male and alpha-female couple, and her decision to ask out Troika, who was neither handsome nor famous, might have been her way of trying out a different snack and compare it to the entrée (Jared).

Whatever the reason, it made Jared furious. Just as how the Greek goddess Hera who couldn't punish her adulterous husband Zeus the king of gods for his unfaithful affairs, Jared resulted in taking his anger on the one with whom Tina had a one-night fling.

Troika reached out to his pillow and held it in his arms. "While the other guys held me so I couldn't move, he punched me a few times in the stomach, and with each punch he told me that a 'seedless girl-boy' like myself wasn't worthy of fucking Tina. Only a strong and charismatic alpha male like himself could, and nature intended for animals to live like that. Only the strong will prosper and leave offspring in making the coming generations. The fact that I was sterile automatically made me a weakling, who was deemed unworthy by Mother Nature to have any children of my own."

Troika sighed.

"Then, he said that if he ever saw me with Tina or hear any rumor like that, he'll make sure I'll be sorry I ever touched another girl. After that, he left me there and drove away. I had to walk two hours to get home that day because Uncle Mack was working overtime that day and I didn't want to bother him."

"Damn..." Cas murmured. "Did you report that to the school? The police?"

The cat shook his head.

"I didn't have any solid proof and it's their word against mine. Jared and his gang are the most perfect animals anyone would aspire to be, while I... I'm just an outcast, a nobody, a freak of nature... It was clear whose story they'd believe. Also, I was scared that they would do something much worse to me if I told anyone. So, I never did.

"After that incident, I stopped talking to others unless it was necessary, like when working on group projects for class. I also started working part-time at a local diner after school. I explained to Uncle Mack that it was to save up for when I went to college, but in actuality, I never intended to go to college. I just wanted to avoid staying in school altogether, away from all the sports and clubs and other extracurricular activities.

"Later, Uncle Mack made me promise to get a degree higher than a high school diploma, so I ended up going to the local community college just long enough to get an Associate's, continuing to work and jumping from one odd job to another--I can't even remember how many places I worked at in all. Now that I had my degree, I looked frantically for jobs and found one at Nutz-en-Boltz. Sam apparently liked my perseverance on working non-stop while going to school."

Troika took another gulp of water and looked down at his paws.

"But things were never the same for me since that night in Jared's car. He told me that I wasn't a real male because of my genetics and that I wasn't worthy of dating a girl like Tina. He actually said a lot of things to me in that one hour that he held me in his car, but it's all a blur now. All I could remember was that I was scared, lonely, and powerless, since I didn't dare deny anything he said, or he would punch me even harder. But even if he didn't threaten me with violence, I still couldn't deny anything he said."

Without realizing, tears welled up in his eyes as he spoke.

"The truth is, I am a freak, Cas. A freak of nature, who happened to have screwed-up genetics that makes me sterile. I've always felt that I was a failure as an animal since the moment I was born, and those words from Jared stuck with me the entire time. After that night, I couldn't see girls with any of the interest or attraction I had before--they were just animals I had to deal with in class, in the hallways, at work, at the stores... And I couldn't see other guys without remembering Jared's face, distorted in anger and disgust, mocking me and belittling me as he punched each word into my body. It was the worst feeling, to be either disinterested in one sex or scared of the other."

Drops after drops fell from the soaked fur of Troika's face, making spots on the pillow's white cover. He didn't bother wiping away his tears. He had opened the floodgate which had been kept tightly locked for more than half a decade, and now he couldn't keep his thoughts and words flowing out, with increasing force by the second.

"That's why, when you told me that you love me, I was so happy that someone would appreciate the likes of me, but at the same time, I didn't know how to respond to that feeling." Troika kept his gaze down, not looking at Cas, but he could feel that the fox was still staring at him--although with what expression he did not know. "I really like you, Cas, I really do. There's nothing in the world I'd rather do than to be with you. You're the only male that makes me feel at ease when I'm talking to you. Even this Fest--I wouldn't have agreed to come if anyone else asked me out for it. I agreed to come only because I could be with you, and so far, I don't regret coming here at all. But..."

"Troy," Cas called gently. Troika still didn't look up, partially because he didn't want his friend to see his face and what mess he had made of it with all the tears and mucus coming out from his eyes and nose. He didn't even notice that the fox had stood up from his bed.

"But I don't know if I can love you, Cas!!" Troika was almost screaming now, but his voice was muffled by the pillow as he buried his short muzzle deep within it. "I couldn't feel romantically attracted to anyone, male or female, for the last eight years of my life! I don't want to disappoint you, and I don't want you to leave me! If I lose you, I'll go back to being lonely and afraid again. I don't want that. I don't... I... I..."

Troika didn't get to finish his sentence, for Cas wrapped his arms around Troika and held him tight. The red fox was now sitting on Troika's bed, next to him, and the embrace turned the calico cat's upper body toward him. The two faced each other.

"I know how that feels," Cas said. "Believe me, Troy, I know."

Scent of the cheap body soap supplied by the motel tickled Troika's nose as he took a whiff of Cas's fur, which had already dried at this point. The scent calmed him down. The broken floodgate remained open, but the outflow was controlled now, turning from an outburst into a trickle of stream.

"I also can't imagine myself without having you around, Troy," the fox continued, snuggling his cheek fur against Troika's. "I'm happy that you felt that you could trust me enough to tell me your stories. And I'm really happy to know that I mean so much to you--like how you mean the world to me."

"The world?" Troika asked. He could feel his cheek fur, wet with his own tears, touching Cas's, but the fox didn't seem to mind it at all. "Isn't that too exaggerated?"

"Not at all," the fox replied. He broke their hug and held both of Troika's paws with his own. Their eyes met for the umptieth time that day, but this time, the gaze was different from any that Troika had ever experienced. The fox's eyes held kindness and affection--a special combination of emotions that nobody except his mother and Uncle Mack had beheld him with.

"I guess it's my turn to tell my life story, huh?" the fox said.

"You don't have to if you don't want," Troika assured. "But if possible--I want to know more about you. About how you came to terms with who you are."

Cas nodded. "Sure. Where should I start?"

Troika thought for a moment. "Tell me when you first realized that you liked male."

"Ah, that's easy," the fox chuckled. "I think it was in junior high, in the locker rooms. I don't think it's the fact that I saw my roommates naked that got me interested, but rather the fact that I saw them undress in front of me, you know?"

"I understand that you were a pervert from early on," Troika teased. "I wasn't that horny when I was in junior high."

Cas shrugged. "I won't lie, I was a very horny teenager, as a matter of fact. Anyways, I first thought that it was just part of this thing called 'puberty' that I heard the teacher discuss about in sex ed classes, but after the feeling didn't go away even when I was in high school, I finally came to realize that it wasn't a temporary phase but something that was here to stay with me. And at the same time, I also realized that I was in deep trouble for that."

"Is it your religion?"

The fox nodded. Opening his smartphone, Cas typed a few words into it and showed Troika what was on the screen. It was a website on etymology, with the word "orthodox" shown prominently on the top of the screen.

"The name pretty much sums up everything about itself. 'Orthodox' is a combination of two Greek words: orthos and doxa. Orthos means 'straight' and 'correct', while doxa means 'opinion' or 'belief'. Basically, they only believe in being straight." With a wry smile, Cas turned the screen off and tossed his phone aside. "Jokes aside, though, it's true that some of the more devout believers don't view being gay as something that's permitted according to the Septuagint."

"But they...Orthodox Christians can't be all homophobic, right?"

"I did my research," Cas said, holding up three fingers, "and found that in this country, roughly one in three Orthodox Christians are against being gay, while the other two are apparently cool with it. Unfortunately, my family is a bit too true to the roots to fall into the latter category. They're the kind who not only prays on every chance they get, but also follows the fasting schedules vigorously."

"Did you come out to them?"

"Not in a thousand years. But nevertheless, they found out, and then they disowned me."

Troika was at a loss for words. "Oh... I'm so sorry you had to experience that."

"Don't be," Cas said. "It happened the winter before my college graduation. I was living away from home in an apartment close to the college campus since freshman year, and I finally gathered up enough courage to start using a dating app for gay males when I was in my senior year of college. With that app, I could meet with other gay animals in the region."

"Oh, so... you had lots of, um, fun?" Troika made a ring with his left thumb and index finger, then pushed his right index finger through the ring.

The fox laughed. "Not really. I used the app to find gay animals to talk to, maybe those with the same issues I had with strict and religious parents. I wanted to know how others coped with things like this. And... it didn't go as I'd planned.

"The first guy I met was a Siberian husky in his mid-twenties. He was good-looking and we hit it off pretty good when we met for the first time. I thought he would be a good friend because he understood my struggles and told me that his parents were Roman Catholics and anti-gay as well. I saw him as a big brother I've never had.

"But it wasn't until the fourth time we went out that I learned the other side of his personality. We usually only went to movies theaters and cafes in the city, so it surprised me a bit when he invited me over to his condo in the middle of the city. It was a really nice condo, too, with a great view of the skyscrapers. We had dinner, watched TV drinking some beer, and when we were nice and drunk, we... hit it off in bed."

Troika asked, "That was your first time?"

"Yup. Although I didn't prepare myself well in advance and I've never bottomed before--oh, when guys have gay sex, the one inserting his dick in the other's ass is called a 'top' and the guy being inserted is called a 'bottom,'" Cas clarified for his friend. "Anyways, the husky was a top and he wanted to put his dick inside me. Although I didn't have any experience doing that, he seemed really eager and I couldn't get myself to say no, and since I was also a little curious about whether it'd feel as good as they make it seem on porn, I agreed to let him top me."

The fox's face turned into a pained frown as his bushy tail swung side-to-side.

"I regretted that right away. It hurt. Like. Hell," he emphasized strongly. "Every time he pushed his dick in me, I felt like my body was being ripped apart in half. And even worse, the husky enjoyed playing aggressive so he pushed his paw against the back of my head so my snout was buried in the pillow, stifling my shouts of pain."

Troika cringed as he imagined his best friend being forced to go through such ordeal. "That almost sounds like he was forcing you," he opined quietly, intentionally avoiding use of the word "rape."

Cas didn't disagree. "It was consensual, sure, but the way he did it was downright inconsiderate, to say the least. After he came inside me--oh, I forgot to mention, he put on a condom so it wasn't bareback--he seemed really satisfied and asked me how it was. I was nearly in tears at that point and just wanted to give my ass some time to rest, so I don't remember what I said, but..."

The fox fell silent for a few seconds, deep in thought.

"Cas?" Troika called softly, which snapped the fox back to reality.

"Oh sorry, I was remembering what he said afterwards... The guy said that he liked how tight my 'virgin pussy' was and the way I 'moaned in pleasure' when he plowed me." He placed his paws up to air-quote the two words. "It apparently didn't even cross his mind that I was in pain the entire time. And that was the wake-up call that really disenchanted me from what illusions I had of being in a gay relationship."

Leaning backward, Cas allowed his body to fall on the mattress with his arms outstretched. He now gazed at the ceiling, his voice seeming slightly removed, as if he was trying to distance himself from the memory he was retelling.

"The bottom line was, he really didn't care for me at all. As long as he was experiencing pleasure, everything was fine to him. I wasn't moaning in pleasure or enjoying myself, those stifled moans were because of him violently pushing his dick inside me, and all I could do was yell in pain. And he thought I was having fun, just like he did."

Without uttering a word, Troika stared at his friend for a while, then asked, "What did you imagine an ideal gay relationship would be like?"

Cas lay there, ruminating on that question for a minute, then replied, "I don't think it's any different from a normal straight relationship, to be honest. I wanted a partner I could confide in when I needed mental support, and when he needs me, I'll make sure to always be there for him. He and I could live under one roof, divide up chores and other daily tasks, and celebrate each special occasion together... But whatever we do together, there's one thing I definitely wanted, and that was for us to be considerate to each other. You can't make any relationship last if you don't care about your other half.

"After that night, I stopped using the app. I figured maybe I wasn't mentally prepared enough for it. After all, I've never been in a relationship before, and I didn't know what to expect. So, I decided to spend the rest of my senior year focused on completing my degree. I deleted the app from my phone. I thought I'll download it again after I graduate."

Cas paused, drank from his water bottle, and sighed.

"It was winter break, so I was at home with my parents for a week. I was charging my smartphone in the living room as I was watching TV there. And while I was taking a short bathroom break, the husky who I hooked up and gave me a terrible first-time experience texted me, asking if we could meet again. He said his dick missed my 'sweet foxy ass,'" he made air-quotes as he said it, "and guess who read that message?" There was a dry laugh. "I'll never forget the expression on my dad's face when I came back from the bathroom."

"Oh no," Troika gasped.

"I should've been more careful with my phone," Cas admitted solemnly, "but I felt safe because I deleted the app and no one would be able to contact me through that. But I forgot that I'd exchanged phone numbers with the husky, and he picked the worst time possible to text me, too."

"What happened after that?"

"Well, the first thing that happened was that I got a good beating. My dad's just as tall as I am but stockier, doing more physical labor, so each blow came like a rocket, and my face and body were so badly bruised, I had trouble sleeping for the next few nights. He told me that I was a disgrace not only to my family but to Jesus and God and every apostle living upstairs. He also told me that he never wants to see my face again. So, long story short, I was disowned and was on my own since that day."

"You've never reconciled with your dad?"

The fox shook his head gloomily. "Everything's only black and white in his world, and when he found that I'm not straight, he's already made up his mind then and there. The night my dad kicked me out, I stayed at a local motel and just thought about how to move on from there. Fortunately, I was en route to graduating with a degree in the summer, and I also got an offer from a startup company farther downstate in San Diego for an entry level job after I graduate. I thought I'd just move directly from my current apartment to a new apartment in San Diego after I graduate and start life afresh, never to rely on my parents for anything."

"If you found a job at San Diego," Troika asked, "how did you end up at Lagarra?"

"Recession," Cas answered. "It messed up everything for me. The financial crisis caused the domino effect that directly affected the small startup that had hired me, and in less than three months after I was hired, the company shut down completely for lack of fund from investors, all of which were also scrambling to save their own businesses.

"The year after that was a total nightmare. I had to do everything I could to stay afloat. I reduced my belongings to the bare-minimum, selling everything else to get as much money as I could. I also asked for help from every friend I could rely on at the time, even asking for small loans so I don't get evicted from my small apartment. I even offered..."

Cas paused there, and Troika saw that his friend seemed pale and was nearly out of breath. Cas panted shallowly as though he had just finished running a few miles and then collected himself, taking a deep breath.

"God," he said in a raspy voice, "I've never felt so miserable before in my life... After that, I went through endless interviews and got turned down by more companies than I cared to count, and I was almost at my wit's end when I finally got an offer from Nutz-en-Boltz. The moment I got off the phone, I just collapsed on the floor in my bedroom, and I cried for the entire night. I was so glad that I could finally get on my feet again, and I vowed to myself that I'll work harder than ever to keep the job."

With a warm smile, Troika said, "I'm glad that you at least found work in Nutz-en-Boltz."

Upon noticing that the red fox's bottle was almost empty, he gave his friend a new bottle of water.

"I can't imagine how hard it must've been for you, Cas. I mean, I don't have parents to rely on financially, either, but I have Uncle Mack." Troika looked at his friend solemnly. "And I want you to know that you can rely on me if you're having trouble. I don't have much money and I'm not very smart, but I can't let my best friend suffer like that again. Because I care about you."

Cas returned his gaze for a few seconds, sighed loudly, and covered his own face with his paws. "It's really sweet of you to say that and I really, really appreciate it, but...you shouldn't say that lightly because that's the kind of behavior that makes me like you even more, Troy," he warned. "And I already told you, I'm in love with you. Don't make this harder for me than it already is."

Folding his arms in front of his chest, Troika said crossly, "I'd never say something like that lightly. So now I can't ever be nice to you because you like me?"

"No!" Cas shouted. "But it's just that...you're too nice. Nobody else was ever as nice to me as you, even after you knew who I was. And that makes me feel bad because I can't give you back anything in return."

"It's not real friendship though, if you do someone a favor and expect them to help you out in return."

"I know. It's just what I wanna do."

Thinking for a moment, Troika shifted his body ninety-degrees on the bed so he could see Cas better, who was still lying on his back. "Well," he started, "if you really want to give me back something in return..."

The fox lifted his head slightly to look at the cat. "Hm?"

Troika could feel his entire body turning a little warm thinking about what he was going to say. Whether it came from embarrassment, anxiety, or excitement, he didn't know, but he was certain that there was no denying that he wanted to give it a try. He lowered his upper body so he now lay on his side next to the fox, his left arm supporting him.

"...Can you kiss me?"

Cas blinked a few times. "Um...come again?"

Troika's heart was pounding so hard he could hear his own heartbeat in his ears. He pushed himself a little closer to Cas. "I want you to kiss me, Cas."

"Why on earth do you want that?" the fox asked incredulously. He sat up and looked down at the cat, who was still lying on the bed, with a hurt expression. "Do you really understand what it meant to me when I professed my feelings for you? Or do you just want the experience of being kissed by a gay guy so you can write it in your resume?"

"I know what it means," Troika replied calmly. "I also want to make sure of my own feelings. The truth is, I'm attracted to you, but it's been so long since the last time I was in a relationship that I don't know if this feeling is a romantic one or not."

"And how does me kissing you let you figure that out?"

"It will." The calico cat sat up. Even when they were sitting, the fox was still taller than the cat, so the cat looked up into the fox's eyes, the same golden eyes that had entranced him so many times before. Without a word, he took the fox's paw and brought it against his chest. "Can you feel that, Cas? My heart--it's beating like crazy. I've never felt my heart beat so strong before. And I have a hunch that this feeling won't go away even after you kiss me."

Troika let go of Cas's paw, but this time, the fox grasped his paw back. "OK," he said, "I will kiss you. Close your eyes."

The cat did as he was told. A second later, he could sense Cas's face approaching toward him, and the moment he felt the fox's breathing against his whiskers, a pair of warm lips touched his. Not only that, the fox gently held the back of Troika's head with his other paw.

Troika thought that this situation resembled what he had seen numerous times in the movies. However, the current situation was drastically different in that now, he was the main character on the screen. Furthermore, he was not just any main character--he was the heroine who was about to consummate her relationship with the hero and protagonist, as the hero held her head with his right paw and her waist with his left paw in a passionate kiss which usually took place at the end of the film.

Without realizing what he was doing, the cat inserted his tongue into the fox's mouth. Cas's eyes widened as he felt Troika's tongue clumsily trying to navigate its way inside, but immediately responded by entangling his own tongue, which was much longer and more agile, with it. The fox's tongue began by licking the surface of the cat's teeth, then moved on to softly caressing the roof of his mouth.

Troika's body twitched each time Cas traced the curvature of the roof. Wanting more, he tried to imitate the way Cas's tongue moved about. As a result, his tongue traveled underneath the fox's and lightly brushed against the surface. This caused Cas to quiver as the surface of the cat's tongue, full of tiny hook-like structures called papillae, rubbed against the delicate underside of his own.

As time wore on, the kiss became more and more aggressive and passionate, with both of the two animals now absorbed in trudging deeper into each other's territory. They even forgot to breathe, occasionally gasping for air through the narrow opening formed between their muzzles.

Almost three minutes after they began their long uninterrupted kiss, Cas leaned his body toward Troika's, and the two fell back onto the bed, the cat sandwiched between the bedsheet and the fox's body. The kiss ended there as the two untangled their tongues and Cas pulled his face away from Troika's. The fox also pulled his paws from underneath Troika's body and stared into the cat's hazel eyes.

"Seeing how eager your tongue was," the fox said with a broad grin, "I guess it's safe to assume that you figured everything out?"

"Yeah," the cat replied, smiling sheepishly. "I'm relieved, too, because now I can reciprocate your feelings. I...I think I do love you the same way you love me. Not as just a friend, but something much more than that."

Cas raised his brows as he felt something warm and hard brush against his thigh. There was no need to take a look for him to know what it was and what it meant.

"In that case," he said in a mischievous tone, "do you wanna do something more? Your body's telling me to keep going."

Troika lowered his ears slightly. "I don't know. I'm really interested to do more with you, but I'm not sure I'm ready for...all that."

Cas laughed. "Don't worry, Troy. Sex isn't all about inserting your dick into another guy's ass. Since it's your first time, we can start with something vanilla." When Troika looked quizzically back at him, he added, "It means doing something other than inserting. Like, I can finish you off with my paws or mouth if you want."

"Oh. Uh, that sounds good," the cat replied, slightly embarrassed at the thought of it.

"Alright." Cas flashed his trademark grin that showed all his teeth. "Sit back and enjoy the ride, Troy. We've got a whole night to enjoy ourselves."