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Alex sat on the steps in front of Tobi's place, poking at his phone as he waited for the hare to arrive. He was looking over their recent texts, arranging the visit. The latest message was from Tobi, letting the otter know he'd be there soon. That left Alex alone with his thoughts in the meantime.

It had been a few weeks since that last, highly enlightening encounter. He still felt incredibly awkward about what had happened, and had turned down the handful of offers to hang out since. It had all unfolded so fast, and while he didn't regret it, he had needed time and guidance to realize that. Tobi was a decent guy, and Alex was happy to have him as a friend. He was just more than Alex had anticipated.

As if on cue, the otter's musing was cut short by the hare pulling into the driveway, with his adorable little compact-truck-thing. Alex waved at him, hopping to his feet.

"Hey!" He said, letting his thoughts be in the present.

"Hey, good to see ya, blue." Tobi said through the open window as he shut off the engine. He opened the door and turned in his seat. "Sorry for the wait. How ya doin' man?"

"All good, doin' alright. Ready to... get busy." Alex said with a shrug and a smile.

"Oh we're gettin' busy huh?" Tobi offered his trademark dumb grin.

"Shut up, you know what I mean." Alex grinned back.

"Wanna help me with my load first?" The hare gestured at his cargo, a handful of bags. The otter let out an exasperated sigh, though his grin remained.

"Sure." Alex said.

"Cool. Lemme get the door real quick." Tobi trotted up to the door, unlocking it and letting it swing open, then bouncing back to help Alex. He led the way in, setting a few bags in the living room, and tossing one on the sofa.

"Ooo, new couch? Looks nice." Alex said.

"Thanks. The rest goes in the kitchen." Tobi said.

It only took a few minutes to bring everything in, after which they got to sorting it all. Tobi dealt with the refrigerated stuff while Alex handled stocking the cabinets, with the help of a step ladder. The otter took the liberty of neatly organizing everything, including what was already there. In the process, he came across a few packages of oatmeal cookies. Once everything was sorted, he caved to his temptation.

"Hey, uh..." Alex fidgeted with his fingers a bit, before asking tentatively and pointing at the cookies, "you mind if I get into these?" He couldn't keep the hopeful eagerness out of his voice.

"Hell yeah dude, knock yourself out." Tobi replied with enthusiasm, a pair of drinks in hand.

"Yay!" Alex tore open the wrapper and grabbed a handful, following Tobi into the living room.

"Can we chill first? I've been on my feet all day." The hare dropped onto the couch and, with the otter's approval, turned on the TV. Alex situated himself at the other end, much as he had last time.

"Hey, my feet reach the floor now!" Alex joked through a mouthful of cookie.

"Good." Tobi replied with a satisfied smile as he reached for the bag he'd left earlier. "Y'know...I'm glad you came. Started wondering if maybe I scared you off."

"Oh... yeah, no, I uhh... I..." Alex felt a twinge of guilt begin to ballitself in his stomach. His mind started to race with thoughts of how to handle the situation, what he should say. Before his brain could run off without him, he took a deep breath and silenced his inner voice. He let all of it go with a heavy sigh. "Sorry about that. I just... I've been dealing with some... stuff. You know how it is."

"I getcha." Tobi said. "If ya need an ear, I got plenty." Helazilywiggled the end of one of his long, floppy ears, offering another dumb grin and making the otter giggle.

"Thanks." Alex said with a small smile, occupying his mouth with another cookie. He watched as Tobi pulled the item from the bag and began opening it. It was a new game controller, remindinghim yet again of his previousvisit. Struggling with a defunctbutton, kicking his legs out in a way this couch no longer allowed for. He tapped his foot on the floor as he bit into the cookie, and...

Oh...

A cold spike joltedthe otter's chest. He looked from the couch to the cookies in his hand, to the controller being plugged in, to the contented face of his friend. He felt the tears welling up, sniffling despite himself as he fought the urge to cry. It didn't go unnoticed.

"Are they bad? Did I get the wrong ones?" Tobi asked, the concern and disappointment in his voice felt like a fist tightly gripping the otter's heart, and causing him to let out a mixed laugh and sob.

"Mm-mm." Alex shook his head.

"Dude, are you crying?" Tobi said.

The otter was too embarrassed to meet his gaze directly, instead casting a sideways look, his softresponse muffled by the cookie. "No..." Tobi paused a moment. He wasn't buying it.

"What's wrong?" His tone was soft, but serious.

"Did you," Alex forced himself to swallow so he could speak clearly, "Did you buy a whole new couch_just because of _me?"

"Oh." Tobi thought for a second. "Uh,I guess I did, yeah. I can find another if it doesn't work for you." The offer made the otter's face contort, stumbling in his struggle against breaking down.

"You didn't have to do that." Alex fought to get his words out.

"If it means you're comfortable here, then why not?" Tobi didn't seem to understand the big deal, and the fist squeezed tighter.

"That's..." Alex didn't know what to do with himself, but he had to be strong. Had to get through it in one piece. He started rocking in his seat, folding his arms and hunching over. He wasn't going to win this time, and he hated it.

"I'm sorry." He brought a hand to his face as a sob escaped. "I'm sorry."

"Why?" Tobi asked, grabbing a box of tissues from the side table and offering them as he sat beside the otter. "For what?"

"This?" Alex lookedup at the hare, gesturingvaguely at himself.

"What, crying? Why?" Tobi was unfazed, and his words were baffling to the otter.

"Because..." Alex began to protest, but as obvious as it seemed, he didn't actually have an answer. The reasons he could think of all seemed stupid. "It doesn't bother you?" He found it so hard to believe.

"No?" It was Tobi's turn to be confused. "A dude's gotta cry sometimes. Look, I'ma grab you some water, sit tight." He was gone and back in a flash, sitting closer and offering his shoulder to the otter. Alex considered it briefly before setting the water aside and leaning into the hare. He felt an arm wrap around his shoulders as he buried his face, allowing himself to let go. It was brief and mild, to his surprise. It had seemed like so much more when he was holding it back.

"I'm sorry. I got overwhelmed." Alex said.

"Dude, you don't gotta apologize." Tobi assured him.

Alex wanted to respond, to explain himself. He wanted to say how much he appreciated the hare's thoughtfulness, how much it meant to him. But as he argued with himself in silence, he felt the moment pass. Instead, he curled up next to his friend, and they quietly watched the TV for a time. After an hour or so, the show ended, and Alex sat up and scooted away from Tobi.

"Thanks." He said softly. "Thank you."

"Sure, no problem." Tobi didn't sound confident that he knew what he'd done, but he seemed happy enough to have helped. "You still up for helping me out? If not, that's totally cool."

"Oh, definitely, yeah." Alex perked up, feeling more like himself again. "Did you wanna get started, or...?"

"Just checkin' in with ya, but I'm good to go if you are." Tobi said.

"Yeah! Let's roll." The otter's enthusiasm bubbled to the surface, eager to put the situation behind him. The pair got up and started grabbing the bags Tobi had dropped off earlier. Alex peeked inside to find lots of strip lighting and hardware. "Where we workin'?"

"Down in the Bangin' Room." Tobi said, and Alex stopped dead in his tracks.

"Excuse me, the _ what _?"

"C'mon, I'll show ya. You'll love it." Tobi was cheerful as he opened a door which led to a descending stairwell. Alex hesitated as the hare disappeared into the basement. "You comin'?"

"Against my better judgment..." The otter said to himself. He descended the stairs, peeking through the door as he reached the bottom.

The room was fully furnished; a kitchenette in one corner, a massive stereo against the wall, a complete drum set, and several other little things. All pointing to a well used hosting space. There was even a large double glass door out to the back yard.

"Wow, okay." Alex immediately noticed the significant sound dampening on his voice. "Oh wow, that's... I didn't expect that. Hello.HELLO."

"Gets pretty noisy in here, and I don't want my neighbors to hate me." Tobi said with an amused tone. "'Course, they usually _come_to the parties... Still, I play music, so..." he gestured at the drum kit. "And, y'know... sometimes you bring home a screamer." He shrugged.

"I'm sorry?" Alex gave him a confused, concerned look.

"Uh, loud intimate partner?" Tobi clarified.

"Do... Do people really get _that_loud?"

"Sometimes. If I'm doin' things right." Tobi's dumb grin returned. "More fun when ya can really cut loose, though,ya know?"

"Hm." Alex grappled with the thought.

"I'd be happy to demonstrate." Tobi nudged him playfully before walking over to the stereo.

"Uh..." The otter's face began to feel hot.

"We can start here." Tobi said.

"W-what!?" Alex blurted out.

"Lights?" Tobi held up the bag in his hand.

"OH. Right!" The otter said with relief. "I knew that."

They set to work, going high and low as they progressed, and chatting all the while. They talked about work and fun, the future and themselves.And music, of course. Before they knew it, several hours had passed, and their work was done.

"Alright, let's give it a go." Tobi said, phone in hand as a remote. With a tap, the lights came to life, most of them glowing around the edges and through the gaps of the soundproofing panels. He played with thecolors, cycling through a few options to get an idea.

"Ooo,neat." Alex looked around the room in wonder as the color and intensity of the lighting changed around him. "I bet the real thing will look amazing."

"Gonna find out this weekend." Tobi said.

"You're having a party?" Alex asked.

"I am now, yeah. I wanna see this action." Tobi sounded satisfied and enthusiastic as he continued messing with the lights.

"Um... can _I_come?" Alex regretted his choice of words the moment they'd left his lips. He braced himself as he saw that stupid grin spread across the hare's face. Mercifully, he let the opportunity pass by.

"_Yeah,_dude. You wanna?" Tobi said, still enthusiastic.

"I-I think so, yeah. What... what are your parties like?" The otter asked.

"Pretty typical stuff." Tobi said, counting on his fingers. "Twenty or thirty people, loud music, dancing, hook-ups, snacks, booze. All that kinda shit."

"Wait, 'hook-ups'? As in, like... y'know..." Alex made a crude gesture.

"Yeah?"

"Is that... Is that, like... required?" Alex frowned.

"Nah, nah, that's just... kinda how things are here." Tobi tried to reassure the otter. "Everybody's cool though, don't worry. Oh, actually! Check this out." The hare opened a cabinet and showed off the contents. There were several organizer bins filled with colored bracelets, and a sign he pulled out which explained the color-coded meanings for each one. They indicated different types and levels of interest and consent. "I got a whole system."

"Damn, that's pretty smart." Alex said, soaking it in.

"Got it off the internet somewhere, I forget. Been workin' great though." He packed it away and resumed messing with the lights. "But yeah, you're more than welcome to come if you want. Shit, man, if I _mention_a party to you, consider yourself invited."

"Seriously?" Alex asked. It sounded as though this decision was being madeon the spot, and that gave the otter pause. He liked the idea, but offers made in haste are often... revised.

"Yeah, seriously." Tobi sounded more certain this time, despite the goofy face he made while entertaining himself with the lights. "You've mentioned wanting to break outta your shell, right? There ya go. Hell bring your roommates, they sound cool."

"Yeah, I'll... I'll talk to 'em about it." Alex nodded, cautiously optimistic. "I think they'll be on board."

"Cool." Tobi smiled.

Alex reflected on how this visit had unfolded. He still felt a tad guilty about avoiding Tobi, and some embarrassment crying over his kindness. But more than anything, he felt good about the time spent with his friend, and the strengthening of their relationship. And maybe he could get used to the idea of casual steamy encounters. With Tobi, at least. A few minutes of quiet passed, strangely comfortable, watching the lights change.

"So..." Tobi broke the silence, still gazing upward, "you wanna fuck?"

Alexsighed, rollinghis eyes andsmiling. Of course he'd get called on it right away.