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_ Helping Hands _

I grabbed a slice of sourdough outta the pack I'd brought from my kitchen section down below. Being up on the sun-soaked main counter, right next to Tomas, made me an easy target for his pleading over breakfast prep.

"Sorry, uh... I don't mean to keep pushing... but we'd have such a fun day," he muttered and mumbled for the hundredth time in just as many different ways. "Even if tabletop games aren't so much your thing, well, this gaming cafe is still really cool."

"I know. You said-"

"It's a cool place to just hang and chat." His bread topping of choice was a clumsy, Visoka-sized slathering of jam. A stray glob of it slipped off his knife, splattering the counter right next to my makeshift cookie box table. "They have music playing, great food, and even beer if you're in the mood-"

"I get it, I get it." I tried not to huff too hard, slapping a slice of cheese onto my own sourdough. "I've got a lotta things on today is all."

"What kind of things?"

"Just things." As soon as I said it, I knew that wouldn't be enough to get Tomas off my case. Glancing up, I found the bigger badger full of curiosity. "Job kinda things."

"Jiri," he said firmly yet sweetly. "You don't have to be job searching 24 hours a day. You're allowed to take some time for yourself."

"It ain't just searching," I fired back, catching and calming myself before his ears lowered any further. "I need to prep for my interview next week."

"But you have been preparing."

"And I need to prep more!" Up rushed my arms. A stomp forward carried me over to his paw placed on the counter. "You gotta understand. This is for a proper chef position at a proper cafe. I need to read up on Kharsian cuisine some more. I'm not as familiar with Kharsian cuisine as I'd like to be, and if I don't read up on it some more, that'll come out at an interview in no time flat."

"I_do_understand." His fingers rapped the countertop. Softly, but still with the force to tempt me into a half-step back. "But coming out to take some downtime will do you good."

"I've got nothing _but_downtime aside from that."

Tomas slid his paw my way, smiling as bright as the sunshine pouring over his towering, stocky self. "It's not just about the downtime..." His arm-length finger pressed against my bare shin, then started rubbing. "...I like staying in as much as the next person, but I figure it'd be nice to get you out of the apartment for once."

I folded my arms, trying to ignore how good his petting felt. "Being stuck inside is way better than being stuck outside, I can tell you that much."

Tomas sighed a warm breeze over me, nudging at my knee. "For the millionth time, you don't have to worry about that anymore."

Quietly, I glanced over to my bread and cheese waiting on the cookie box. A squeeze at my whole paw soon pulled me back to Tomas.

"And as for your interview, I've seen and heard about you doing enough reading up on Kharsian & North Ekrean cooking to be an expert." He squeezed again, finger and thumb holding my paw firm but delicately. "In fact, I feel like I'm an expert by proxy!"

I chuckled at that idea, appreciating how his eyes sweetened behind his glasses. "Have I been talking about it that much?"

"And then some."

My chuckle grew to a laugh. A laugh cut short by the sigh that came as my head sank. "But for real, I do need this job... An assistant chef position's _exactly_what I want. It's what I used to be. Before everything went south last year."

"You can only do-"

"And I need something solid I can hold down for more than a minute, so that you..." Ugh. Thanks to Tomas and his prying, I'd said too much.

"So that you...?" A fact that he'd picked up on. "You, what?"

My paw fell free from between his pads, though his happy glow offered warmth enough for me to feel right in explaining, "I need to start paying my way here. Do my bit."

"Hey..." He put his breakfast down, bringing that other paw around to yank me towards him. "Please don't start worrying about that again."

Wrapped up tight from my shoulders to my knees, Tomas' paws pulled me into an overwhelming, reassuring cuddle. I got a faceful, and armsful of his shirt, then his chubby belly as I sank deeper and deeper into him and his softness. While I might not have been any kinda expert on hugging, especially involving those of the Visoka persuasion, I could confidently say that Tomas' were the best that I'd ever experienced, by far. As a bonus, these huge, engulfing hugs also offered the perfect opportunity to enjoy the sweet, sharp, gentle scent that befitted him so well. I grunted automatically, nosing and wiggling with an equal lack of thought behind it. Very touchy, and very feely, Tomas truly was a giant cuddlemonster. But, as of roughly three months prior, I'd got well-used to the fact that he was _my_giant cuddlemonster.

"If this job isn't the one, then it might well be the next one," he said in a comforting falsetto. "I'm sure you'll find something sooner or later. Something good. You're working far too hard not to."

Tomas sounded much surer than I felt. His thick fingers stroked away at me as I huffed, blasting heat into his softness then back into my warm face. I guess he noticed it, too.

"Relax." He eased his close cuddling. His stomach pushed out enough for me to see his smile again. "It's summer, it's a nice day out. Come out and have some fun."

I started to weaken, beyond my arms struggling to keep hold of his still expanding stomach. Temptation worked its way into my mind. Almost strong enough to shove my stresses over that interview aside.

"The others want to see you in person, too. It's been a while since we last went out with Axel and Milo, and I don't think you've met Sara or Alena yet."

Axel and Milo... That evening we'd spent downtown with them the month before was a whole lotta fun. Plus, whenever Tomas convinced me to dip into an online game like Charge of Heroes, those guys always made me feel welcome. Ack, this was getting tough, and hiding my face with Tomas' shirt and stomach wasn't helping matters.

"What do you say?"

I sneaked a glance up at him and his adorable snout, a spreading smile creasing those cute, white-speckled black eye stripes. Maybe getting outside _would_be a good idea, especially if it meant spending some time with Tomas, too. "...Sure."

"Really?" My bigger badger stood up even taller, beaming away, glasses lifting along with his cheeks. "You'll come?"

I nodded, unable to resist his smile spreading to me. "Sounds like it might be fun. And I wouldn't mind a beer."

"Cool!" He bounced. I bounced. And I think I heard my cookie box table do the same. "It'll be loads of fun, and I've heard the beer's really good!"

"Heh, you don't gotta sell it to me anymore. I said I'll come."

Tomas' rocked with silent laughter, giving me a nice big squeeze before letting me out from his paws. "Noted."

"But, uh..." I did, however, have one remaining reservation. "Tabletop games."

"What about them?"

"I don't play them. Don't think I've ever really tried one."

"Aww, that doesn't matter."

"You say that, but..."

"...But?" He eyed me curiously. "What's the problem?"

"I don't wanna go slowing things down, keeping you all waiting while trying to learn the rules and all."

"Ahh, it's fine. It's always super relaxed and we learn new games together."

"Yeah, great, but they'll _all_be new to me. What then?"

"Then I'll be more than happy to help with _all_of them." Tomas grabbed me up again, squeezing me extra-tight into his well-padded stomach. "Promise."

I aimed to question him and that promise. Question whether it'd last as long as I thought it'd need to. Instead, I could only focus on having him and his soft warmth all around me. "Oh wow, another one of these?"

"Yes, another." Tomas hugged tighter, swallowing me whole, until I couldn't have moved a muscle even if I'd wanted. "It'll be fun, you just watch."

Even a reflexive squirm of delight proved impossible under all that affectionate pressure. Burying my snout deep into his t-shirt and savouring his scent some more proved a perfect backup option. "Okay then, cuddlemonster. Are we gonna have some breakfast, or do this all day?"

"Oh!" That closeness eased. Light returned. The timid tinge to his voice matched that questioning expression above. "...Hmm?"

"I sure wouldn't mind if we did." I patted his paunch. "But it's seeming like we've got plans together now. Right?"

"Uh- Right!" Tomas' shine returned in spades as he settled me back down. "Can't wait."

Once I'd got breakfast munched and myself all freshly showered, I headed into the bedroom to finish getting ready for this unexpected outing. More exactly, I trotted over to and scaled the stairway made of old computer game cases, heading into my walk-in wardrobe nestled at the bottom of Tomas'. That dim cubbyhole was home to pretty much everything I owned when it wasn't being worn or used. In fact, strange and surreal as it might sound, it's also where I used to sleep before Tomas and I discovered our feelings for each other. If you'd have told me in the winter how things would play out, all while hiding away from him, trying to save myself from freezing out on the street, I'd have called you straight up crazy.

"Jiri," I heard Tomas sing from across the bedroom. "Are you nearly ready?"

"Almost," I called towards the crack in the wardrobe door. "Looking for some good clothes to throw on."

"Oh... Still?"

"Yeah." I could practically hear him rubbing and grinding his paws together, as well as biting down on his lip. I stopped to ask him, "Why?"

"Only... Uh, we need to leave quite soon. Our table's booked for noon."

I turned back to my old shoebox dressing table to check my phone, eyes narrowing as its glow lit up this small corner of the wardrobe. "Uh... It's fine? It's not long after 10:30."

"True, but..." A fast, faint shuddering started beneath me, growing all the while: a dead giveaway of Tomas' anxious approach. "I don't know how busy the metro will be, what with it being a Saturday."

"Right... Where is it we're heading to anyway?"

"Kingsway East. The cafe's about ten minutes walking from there."

Kingsway East? That was only five stops away. Twenty minutes on the metro at most. I didn't bother pointing that out, though.

"Why do you ask?"

Instead, I simply shook my head, felt a smirk start growing, and answered, "Just wondered is all. Lemme find a shirt and I'll be good to go. Don't worry."

"I'm not worried," he squeaked insistently. "Just... thinking ahead."

Snorting to myself, I started sorting through my short stack of shirts on the dresser, eyeing up the new pair that Tomas gifted me for my birthday. I felt bad that he'd spent what I figured was a fair chunk of change on them, judging by the branding, and a month later, those feelings lingered still. At the same time, I appreciated having double the number of shirts to choose from. Plus... they really were trendy-looking. The soft orange v-neck t-shirt especially. It didn't take me long to decide to dig that one out of the pile.

"Jiri? Did you find one?"

"Yeah, yeah." I threw my shirt over my head, bringing my tone down a notch before saying, "Gimme a sec. Almost done."

Fully dressed, ready to go, I padded on over towards the daylight. No doubt Tomas and his 'thinking ahead' would get us to where we were going earlier than early, but I knew better than to try and fight it. Forward-planning wasn't a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination, but poor Tomas always seemed to need to plan for everything bar the end of the world. At least, _that_plan wasn't one he'd ever mentioned out loud to me.

I slipped out past the wardrobe door, aiming to take a step down onto the plastic stairway. My hips, however, needed some extra convincing to follow through such a narrow gap. "Ugh. I think the door closed itself a little."

"Are you sure?"

I glared at the bottom of his shin, almost within touching distance, rather than up to the cheeky smile I'm sure he'd asked that with. "Yeah, I'm sure." With a grunt, I tried pulling myself free, adding, "I wouldn't have got inside in the first place if it hadn't."

"I suppose."

"You reckon otherwise?"

Finally, I peered up to find a grin even wider than I'd expected, just in time for him to say, "Well we've been doing a whole lot more experimenting in the kitchen lately."

"I ain't put weight on, Tomas." I tried forcing the big door wider. It barely budged. "...That weight I put on after I started staying here aside."

"Well, whatever the case, you look great." Tomas placed two fingers to the inside of the door, easing it away from me with an effortless nudge. "Especially when wearing that shirt."

"Oh. Thanks." A warmth filled my chest as I took a moment to admire myself. "Sure beats my old tatty ones. Fits a whole lot better, too."

"That's good," he sang, pulling his arm away from the wardrobe. "I hoped that you'd like it when I saw it online..." Tomas' shining smile remained, even after his helpful paw began rubbing at the other.

"What's on your mind?"

He took my question as a cue to take a short shuffle backwards. His mouth dropped open, as if I'd caught him in some kinda act. "...Nothing really."

"You sure?"

"No- I, uh, mean yeah, I'm sure... Only, I was going to ask if you wanted me to carry you today."

"Oh." Now free to move, I stepped down onto the makeshift stairway. I couldn't miss that warmth in my chest sinking down to become a fizz in my stomach. "Nah, I'm fine, thanks. Think I wanna stretch my legs some."

"Mmm, okay..." Tomas smiled again. It lacked sparkle. "I figured you would, but I wanted to ask."

I started feeling awfully small atop those old computer game cases. Small enough to come out and say, "Nothing personal, just... I prefer to walk."

"Yeah," he said with a lingering tone of disappointment. "I know." His large frame began shifting and tilting down towards me, compacting into a kneel. Wanting paws lowered and extended: a silent but clear request to shower me with some more affection. A request I'd be happy to grant.

Tomas wrapped his pads around me, easing me into the air to smother me against his cheek. I hugged what I could of him, arms sinking into both cheek and snout fuzz, nosing and snuffling, right up until the soft rumble of his voice began to vibrate through me.

"Does stretching your legs apply to riding alone on the metro, too?"

I stiffened. Stopped. Pulling my face out from Tomas' fur, I gave him a short nod. "Well I prefer the Maleni section, standing around people my size. No Visoka around to bump me while I'm in your shirt pocket or whatnot. It's more... comfortable."

"That's okay." Tomas eased me around towards the end of his cheerful snout. "One day, I'll help you get comfy riding along in the main area."

"Alright. Uh, one day."

"Can I, uh... carry you outside at least?"

I thought about that for a second. Just the one, though, before bumping my nose to his. "Sure."

"Yay," Tomas cheered, carrying me along for the ride as he rocked and wobbled up to his full height. "Have you got everything? Wallet, phone?"

"Uhuh."

"Cool!" He nursed me away from his nose, turning towards the bedroom door. Down into the pocket of his black computer coding shirt I went. "Guess we can head out then."

Outside, stopping on the top step of our apartment building, Tomas bent down to lower me to where I could hop onto the walkway, just as I'd asked. I always liked and appreciated the space and freedom to walk out on the street, travelling alone on the moving Maleni pathways but alongside him. That preference extended to the metro too, where I could ride down in our section, using seats and handles and space all made especially for people like me while Tomas used the main area above.

All that being said, and as much I reminded myself of those preferences, a twinge of guilt ran through me from the moment Tomas let me go. He wanted so much to have me ride along with him. I knew it only too well. Hell, a part of me wanted it as well. It wasn't that I didn't like being in his possession, so to speak, or that I didn't trust him to keep me safe, but... Ack. Tomas knew my outlook on this kinda stuff. Simply put, I didn't like being around that many big, clumsy Visoka while on the metro. I was against the idea before we tried it, and even more so ever since. Admittedly, travelling with him during rush hour probably didn't help, but after having so many Visoka hovering, swaying and staggering about, up close and personal while riding in the hood of Tomas' hoodie... Let's just say it'd really, _really_put me off giving it another shot anytime soon. _Especially_if doing so meant being all too exposed in his shirt pocket. Plus, as if all that wasn't off-putting enough, on a day as warm and humid as this, the metro would be sweaty and stifling enough without having all that extra body heat around me. No, riding alone in the Maleni section made the most sense. To me, and deep down, I'm sure to Tomas also.

Metro ride done, we stepped off the train and made our own ways back above ground, emerging deep in the heart of Pilsnec's shopping and entertainment district. As expected, you could barely see all the buses, billboards, or buildings around you, what with the sheer number of locals and tourists of all sizes enjoying a sunny summer's Saturday.

We didn't wait long to leave the station behind us, squeezing and swerving our way through the crowds, Tomas up on the main forecourt while I followed along down on the walkway interchange. As I battled against gods know how many tourists trying to find which path to change onto, I never lost sight of Tomas beyond the see-through covering of the walkway's trench. Over and over he checked for me, making sure that I was right there with him, just as I had been a few seconds before. I tried waving him off, mouthing that 'I'm fine', but none of it could stop him from fretting in the form of a buzz in my pocket.

'Ok down there?' was the first message I saw, followed up with, 'Remember where we're going?'

I sighed at my phone, stepping to one side of the chaotic moving walkway to let those actually walking pass. What else was there to reply back aside from, 'Yes'?

'Good :)'

Tomas peered down at me again, smiling to match his message. I figured I ought to remind him where we were. 'Watch where you walking.'

I wasn't quick enough. Not a moment before I hit send, I saw him get barged into a stagger by a bigger, taller, tank top-wearing bull stomping towards the station with some equally ignorant friends. Sensibly, once he'd caught his balance and readjusted his glasses, Tomas made sure to keep his eyes fixed forward, but with shoulders sagging enough that even I noticed all the way down undercover. My heart sank for him. I absolutely had to ask, 'You ok?'

His reply didn't come right away. Only once we'd got ourselves into a way less congested area closer to the street. 'I'm ok'.

His head still hung low. That wouldn't do at all. 'Hoping that guy falls down the station stairs. All of em.'

Near instantly, that got him rocking back upright with a snort and a grin.'Mean'.

A grin that I couldn't wait to match. '>;D'

Once we'd finally made it away from the busy, oppressive station, we continued our walks towards Tomas' gaming cafe. The cosier backstreets still bustled, but the further we moved from the congested central area, the more the crowds thinned both above and below ground. Enough to allow cool air to breeze down into the walkway, carrying with it the faint music and relaxed chatter rippling out from the different stores, restaurants and regular cafes we passed.

Just as I'd figured, and just as I'd declined to warn Tomas about while back at the apartment, our short walk got us to our final destination early. Earlier than early. Part way along a lane barely wider than an alley, we'd stopped outside a narrow, stylish three storey building that looked more like an old terraced townhouse than a cafe. In fact, the whole street was like that, with the cafe squeezed tight between an equally camouflaged coffee shop on one side and some kinda offices on the other. I didn't spend long scoping things out, not with traffic rolling and Visoka marching past up on a cramped ground level.

"What time is it?" Tomas muttered, maybe to himself, maybe not.

"Just past 11:30," I replied regardless, jogging a few steps over to the protective shelter set up next to the cafe's Maleni entrance. "Looking like we had plenty of time to get here, after all."

"Better late than never." He shifted left and right, feetpaws moving along with him. I looked up beyond them to find him peering through the Visoka-sized door. "Mmm... We can wait outside for the others."

"Out here?"

"Yep." Tomas dipped his snout towards me. "It's nice and warm out here."

"Yeah, suppose so..." I watched, heard, and felt more Visoka pass along the pavement, topped off by a delivery van rumbling down the tight one-way street. "But I can think of plenty better places to be waiting around."

He followed my lead of scanning about the area. His muted mumble sounded a lot like agreement.

"Why not head in and see if the table's ready?"

"Oh!" His full focus rushed right back to me. Mouth open, eyes wide, he froze solid before finally piping up to suggest, "We're too early... probably. I doubt it'll be free just yet."

"Won't hurt to go ask, no?" Tomas stayed quiet. I turned around to lean over and take a look through the Maleni front door. "I can't make out how busy it is down here."

"I, uh..." He glanced through the bigger door again. Way quicker and barely even half-hearted that time. "There's some people inside... it's hard to tell how many from outside, though."

"Then let's go in and ask." More silence met me. Gods damn, this game of back and forth had got boring fast. "Look, come pick me up and take us in. _I'll_ask if I gotta."

That rocked him back onto his heels. It forced more words out of him, too. "No- well- you don't have to."

"Whatever, whoever, it'll be better to wait in peace inside and not in all this outside." More and more people marched on by. A car cruised past, window down, stereo thumping hard enough to rattle my teeth. "At this rate, my damn Normaliser's gonna wear out."

At last, I'd badgered Tomas enough to convince him to bend over to gather me up. I gave it a moment before stepping out from the shelter, making sure he'd kept his balance all the way down to the pavement.

"Are you coming?" he asked with a strangled grunt, one paw out towards me with the other waiting in reserve. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I left cover to pad those few paces over to him. "Just waiting on you getting done is all." He curled his fingers to let me step onto his fingerpads and take a seat in his tilted palm. I couldn't miss his huffing. "What?"

"I'm not going to drop you."

"I know you won't."

"I won't tread on you, either."

"I know that, too!" We started upwards. I scooted and shuffled around to face him as his paws cupped and passed his knees. "It's the falling I'm thinking about."

"Falling?"

"Falling over." We made it to the black fur of his underbelly, almost poking out from beneath his matching t-shirt. "I still remember when we were heading out to see the new Novafox movie."

"That was weeks ago." The white-speckled chest fuzz peeking from his shirt collar came and went. We stopped not far short of the matching speckles around his questioning eyes. "I lost my balance a little picking you up from the table at that pizza place. That's all."

"Tomas, what's losing balance a little to you is a whole lotta _you_looking like it might come crashing down on top of me."

"...Huh?"

"Having you falling on me doesn't seem good for my health." I patted him on the nose. "So forgive me if I don't put myself in the firing line."

His eyes rolled, head shook. His nose pushed my paw aside and bumped at my chest. "If I was about to fall when trying to pick you up, and it's a _big_if... well, I'd make sure I landed on anything else before you. Even if it meant... uh, I dunno, breaking every bone in my body."

"Woah." We began to move; two times the surprise. "That's sweet... in a morbid kinda way."

"Oh..." His bushy white eyebrows furrowed with concern. "I didn't mean it to be."

"Heh, it's fine. I got the sentiment and it's appreciated." I gave his snout a quick, firm squeeze. "Let's get inside."

We headed through an ornate front door that could've been that of someone's home. The hectic, unending racket from outside ended with a clunk of the door's latch, replaced instead by a soft, soothing atmosphere befitting the cosy cafe that greeted us.

A few, mostly empty wooden tables filled the ground floor, coupled with cushioned wooden chairs on a solid wooden floor that rounded off this oh so homely aesthetic. My ears found comfort in the chilled downtempo music playing at barely speaking volume; the polar opposite to what they'd put up with since leaving the metro.

I turned along with Tomas, moving slowly towards a small counter running parallel to the left-hand wall. It sat beneath a big blackboard menu advertising the different coffee, food and other treats on offer. Treats that included the cakes and cookies being loaded into a display counter by the spaniel girl serving, all freshly-baked, judging by the comfortingly sweet aroma wafting our way.

All in all, the only thing that looked out-of-place compared to a regular, ordinary cafe were the stacks upon stacks of games, packed into a ceiling-high shelving unit in the rear corner. Board games, card games, and a whole lot more that I didn't get the chance to study further before we reached the serving counter.

"Hey, guys. Welcome." The server offered us a pleasant smile before loading another cookie into the cabinet. "I'll be right there with you."

With how quiet and empty this place was, I felt kinda silly over asking about our table. Still, it's what we'd walked in to do, and no doubt the server wouldn't have minded confirming for us. So, I sat up taller, raised a finger... and got beaten to the punch by Tomas clearing his throat and saying, "Uh, hey- Sorry, excuse me..."

The girl paused, tongs hovering over the next cookie to be picked up. She didn't seem to mind the interruption.

"I wanted to ask, uhm... check." Tomas started shifting on his feet, rocking side to side. That meant I went right along with him. I made sure to keep myself perfectly quiet. "We have a table booked. For noon. Uhm, is it available for us yet?"

"Oh, okay," the server replied, full of an almost musical cheer. "I can certainly check for you." She loaded that next cookie into the countertop cabinet, then another, before setting down her tongs and striding over towards us. "What name is it booked under?"

"It's, uh, Tomas."

Still bright and bubbly, she tapped away at the screen next to the register. A moment later, she nodded and confirmed, "Yes, your table is free and all ready to go."

"Ah..." Tomas sighed. I physically felt him calm down and loosen up. "Cool."

"Just so you're aware, the kitchen doesn't open until twelve, so you won't be able to order anything from our lunch menu at the moment." She clasped her paws together, grimacing like she'd delivered us some worse than awful news. "I hope that's okay."

"Oh... That's no problem."

"I can get you some drinks if you like. Coffee, soda, beer?" She dipped her muzzle to direct her smile at me. "We also have baked goods, if you'd like?"

"No, I'm fine," I said. "Thank you."

"We'll wait until our friends get here," Tomas added in a voice that battled the server in the sweetness stakes. "If that's okay?"

"Of course." She gestured towards the back of the cafe. "I'll show you to your table."

We followed the server away from the counter, passing a bunch of empty tables, plus one occupied by a group of three taking part in a game involving what resembled a deck of playing cards. I didn't get a proper look at the setup, or at them. Not before Tomas whisked us on by, heading towards our table at the rear of the cafe.

Things there looked kinda cramped at first glance; a circular table with Visoka seating for four, half-tucked beneath an L-shaped staircase leading up to what I figured was a second floor filled with even more seating. Those shelves full of games sat on the other side of those stairs from us. I still wouldn't get a decent view of its contents once Tomas settled me down atop our table.

"It's quieter than I expected," he said, adjusting his t-shirt back down over his peeking underbelly before parking himself in a seat. "Much quieter."

I strode over to the matching yet scaled down Maleni table sat in the centre, opting for the chair facing Tomas. "Is it usually busy here?"

"Later. Usually from dinner time onwards... but even at lunchtime I'd expect more than just a couple of tables to be taken." Something put what looked like a bad taste in his mouth. "If I'd known it was going to be this quiet, I wouldn't have bothered booking."

"Better safe than sorry. Especially if it's gonna get busy later, right?"

"I suppose... but it'd sure be easier if they offered online booking here, rather than having to call."

I sat back in my seat, arms folded. That bad taste of his made a little more sense. "Well done on speaking up and asking about the table, by the way."

"Oh..." He shone me a small smile, ears flicking as it grew into a cute half-grin. "Well... y'know."

"Well, I know I figured it'd be me asking about it."

"That's how I figured it, too... but I also thought that you speak up about enough things as it is. Like calling the power company the other week, and, uh..." Tomas broke into a bashful chuckle. "I don't think I sounded too awkward just then? Asking about the table?"

"Not at all," I said, nodding and offering a stiff thumbs-up. "Sounded perfect."

All settled and, personally, much happier in cool, peaceful surroundings versus the humid chaos outside, we ended up chatting more about this and that while waiting for Tomas' friends to arrive. I started things off by catching up with how Tomas' work was going, and in turn, he asked all about the books I'd been reading between searching for work of my own.

The conversation slowed into an idle but still enjoyable chatter after that. Idle enough to offer space for me to start thinking about that meetup ahead. This round table I sat atop sprawled far and wide enough with Tomas as my only company, but how would things look, feel, once I had three more Visoka surrounding me on all sides? Once everyone has arrived, would I stay sat there in the middle of the table, front and centre, as if under the spotlight? How would that even work once the games got underway? So much to think about, to the point where I moved to ask Tomas about it, only to be cut off with the most imperfect timing.

"Yo, Toma!" I recognised that loud, confident voice instantly. The tall wolf stomping over to slap a paw on Tomas' shoulder completed the picture. "How goes, dude?"

"Oh!" Tomas peered up, lit up, even as he damn near jolted up out of his chair. "Uh, yeah! Good, Axel. How are you?"

"Great, dude. All good." The low music and hushed chatter flowing through the cafe didn't stand a chance against Axel and his cheer: a cheer that got only more cheerful once he spotted me down at my table. "Ahh, Jiri, you came!"

"Hey, man-"

"Toma was talkin' on how you mighta been busy today." His huge paw came my way fast. A part of me almost scooted my chair back. The other part lifted my own paw instead as he added, "Real glad you made it."

"Same-" He hit me with a fingerbump to the palm. Like an affectionate punch, almost. "...I really didn't wanna miss this."

"I'm glad you made it, too," I heard someone say, muffled by Axel looming there between us. "Been so looking forward to having another Maleni here today." No prizes for guessing it was Milo before the wolf swung his Charge of Heroes-branded shoulder bag around, setting it on the table. "Ahh, it's gonna be so good, not having to keep craning my neck up all the time."

"Hey, I reckon me and Toma wouldn't mind coming down to yous two's level." Axel leaned further and further down, resting his snout atop his bag, nose right in line with the smaller hyena. "But thinking our backs'd be all kindsa messed up from sitting this low all day."

"Puh." Milo batted a paw through the air. "That's on you for being an overgrown lump."

"If ya say so." Axel unzipped the bag, easing him from the seat he'd taken in the Maleni compartment near the handle. Their joking stopped, giving way to a close, mumbly, nuzzling embrace. One that lasted until Milo leaned back to look up and over at Tomas.

"Ah, Toma. Did you check the group chat lately?"

"Oh... No, I haven't. Not since just before we left the apartment."

"Right..." Milo waited to be settled down next to our table before continuing. "Sara and Alena can't make it."

"Aww, no. Really?"

"For real," Axel replied, straddling over behind me to thump his large self down into the seat facing Tomas. "They gotta drive out to Radno to visit Alena's folks later today. Soundin' like they got the days mixed up and thought they were leaving tomorrow..."

The others kept on talking, sharing in their disappointment at the smaller-than-expected party. Not me, though. Not quite. Sure, I was sorry not to meet more of Tomas' friends, and way more sorry for Tomas not being able to play with them, but a sense of relief overtook it all. As I kept my grip firmly on the trembling table, still waiting for the aftermath of Axel settling to subside, I found it easy to breathe knowing I'd not be surrounded by such a large group of Visoka after all.

Things soon moved on to how to organise the seating. Mostly, it involved Tomas and Axel staying sat opposite each other while shifting the smaller table over towards one of the empty seats. Milo and I sat ourselves facing the centre of the main table, him closest to Axel with me nearest to Tomas. Before he took his own seat again, Tomas made sure to unclip the section of guardrail behind me, needing a helping hand from Axel to lift and secure it around the edge of the table.

Our spaniel server came back over a few moments after, still all smiles as she started handing out paper menus. One for Tomas and Axel, and another for Milo and I.

"Our kitchen'll be opening soon," she said. "If you'd like to order something from there, you can just let me know, or you can use our app. Our menu's available on there, too."

All four of us offered some form of thanks in return. She stuck around to overshadow the table a little while longer.

"Also guys, if you'd like any game recommendations, don't hesitate to ask, alright?"

The other three made some noises of acknowledgement. Axel went one better and confirmed, "Thinkin' we're all good on the gaming side. We know what we're gonna play. Thank ya anyway."

"No problem at all." She brightened still further, stepping away with a small wave. "Enjoy."

Everyone's head went down, either towards these paper menus, or their phones. Seemed like food had fast become the priority around the table.

"I've been looking forward to getting one of these pizza breads all week," Tomas said, swiping and tapping his phone's screen at speed. "_So_good."

"See, I'm torn between those and their pancake wraps," Milo replied, checking out his own phone. "Question is, would I go sweet with strawberry, or savoury with cheese?"

"And here I am without the first damn clue about what I'm wanting," Axel added, snorting at the paper menu in his paw.

I slid the smaller menu over towards me, taking a closer look at what this place had to offer. For a place I assumed wasn't focused on food, they had a whole lot of variety to pick from. Sandwiches and burgers with all kinds of fillings and toppings, pizza breads with just as many choices, and a few more specialised dishes like curries and stews available. I even caught sight of some North Ekrean stuff like spiced meatballs with seasoned rice. That latter option hit especially hard, what with my interview looming ever larger on the horizon. I wondered if I'd be needing to know how to cook that...

"Does anything look good to you, Jiri?" Tomas asked, leaning over to leave his nose not far above me and my menu.

"A few things..." So much tempted me, but as good as it all might've been, my attention fast moved from the names of things to the prices next to them. Fuck... I was looking at fifteen tolars for a burger._Twelve_tolars for a sandwich. Six tolars for a _bottle_of beer! Not even draught! Big prices, even after considering Maleni tax. I hated to think how much of a chunk this'd take outta my last benefits payment... Man, I hoped the food would be as good as Tomas claimed it was over breakfast!

In went our orders via Milo's and Tomas' phones. The others all picked out some excellent sounding choices... while I settled for some chicken strips. No fries on the side. I wasn't all that hungry, and I figured I'd get something more substantial for dinner, but the more the others discussed their choices, bigging up the mouthwatering treats that they had coming their way, the more my stomach growled and grumbled.

"I'll cover this," Milo said, waving his phone up at Axel.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. You paid last time."

"Ahh, thanking ya, hon."

"And I've got ours," Tomas announced without missing a beat. No further explanation, or justification. It didn't sit right.

"I can pay my share," I said. "I don't mind... And pretty sure you paid for the takeout last weekend."

He waved that off. "It's fine. Don't worry about it."

"I'm not worried, but..." The menu called me from my periphery, reminding me. These prices were high... my benefits anything but. I bit down, swallowed hard and finally replied, "Alright... Thanks."

"Did you order enough by the way?" He asked me that in a softer voice, leaning down before getting even quieter. "Those strips aren't all that much."

"Yeah. It's plenty."

"You didn't even get a beer."

"Mmm..." I turned away, making the menu my focus. Was there anything else he figured I should've ordered? "Don't much feel like one right now, actually."

"Okay..." His harder exhale warmed my arm. No more of me than that. "You can have some of my pizza bread, if you do want some more to eat. Just let me know."

A bark back to insist 'I'm fine' jumped onto the tip of my tongue. Whipping my head up and around to find him again, along with his unflinching sweetness, made sure it got no further. "...I think I'll be fine. But thanks. Really."

Tomas placed a fingerpad to my forearm, stroking deep. "Thanks also for coming today. I'm glad you're here."

My biting bitterness dissolved, replaced instead by a pleasant lump in my throat. I set my paw on his finger and croaked, "Same."

He rubbed at me a little while longer, offering a gentle squeeze of my paw before pulling away to settle back in his chair. Tomas' delicate strength brushed away any lingering dissatisfaction. And it cleared the way for me to tackle the upcoming conversation he'd spark with the others head-on. "Did you guys make it downtown okay?"

"Oof." Milo puffed out his cheeks, shaking his head. "Heh, just about."

"It was mad crazy coming from our way," Axel added. "Like the whole city figured today's the day they wanna go shopping."

"We had to let two trains go before we could squeeze aboard. Even then, it was touch and go."

I tried to picture that in my mind, thinking how it might've looked at mine and Tomas' local station. Axel's shoulder bag was still on the table. I needed to turn to and ask Milo, "How was it riding the metro in that thing?"

"The bag? Uh, yeah, it was all good. The compartment wraps around you nicely. Keeps you secure even when someone bumps you or what have you."

"Even when it's as busy as today?"

"Yeah, straight up." A small smile grew in the corner of Milo's mouth. "It's not like bumps are common. Especially when Axel'll growl at whoever does act a fool like that."

"Hey." The bigger wolf folded his arms. "I don't growl."

"No? What about the guy who barged past us on the escalator that time? When we were heading to try that noodle place over near the river."

"Oh,him! That was one time." Axel grinned. "And he was asking for it, too. Busy fuckin' 'round with his phone like he was."

"My big hero." The smaller hyena chuckled at the sarcastic smirk he won before turning to me to ask, "How was it for you on your line? Guess you were in Toma's pocket, right?"

"Oh, uh, no... I rode in the Maleni section, actually. The C-line is rammed most Saturdays, so I figured it'd be better that way. Smoother."

"It wasn't that bad today," Tomas said. "You would've been fine."

I let his comment hang in the air, focusing instead on the trace of surprise that Milo failed to hide from his face. "Better safe than sorry."

"Ah..." He smiled at me. Full of politeness. Bursting, even. "Yeah, well, I mean, that's fair. Totally fair. The metro can get hectic and then some."

Quiet fell around the table. The chilled out atmosphere of the cafe overtook it, a little busier now that another group of four, all Visoka, had settled two tables away from ours. Bitter notes of coffee carried through the air, accompanied by the aromas of meat and spices. A few plates of food had started to emerge.

"Hey, Toma, Jiri." Axel clapped his paws together, blasting the quiet away with his bold, spirited voice. "How long's it been since we seen the two of yous? Been tryin' to place it, but can't remember."

"I told you that when you asked earlier," Milo shot back, huffing, but smirking. "It was when we all went to the cinema. Saw Novafox 2."

"Don't remember that."

"What d'ya mean? It was the start of June-"

"No, I'm meanin' I don't remember you telling me that."

"During breakfast," Milo grumbled up at him. "I swear you'd forget your tail if it weren't attached."

"Aight, fine, gotcha." Axel held up his paws. "Coulda sworn we'd all got together since, is all."

"No, that was definitely it," Tomas confirmed. "I remember we made the mistake of trying that create-your-own pizza place after the movie."

"Ahh, yeah, yeah!" Axel slammed a paw to the table. Shook me and mine by extension. "Gods, that place sucked. How's a pizza place gonna screw up making pizza, huh?"

"At least they didn't bring yours out raw," Milo quipped. "Don't think mine even saw the inside of an oven."

"Same for mine," Tomas said. "The curry place we fell back on was amazing, though."

"Yeah, for real." Axel clenched a victorious fist. "We gotta hit that place up again soon... Maybe without the getaway from the pizza place right before."

"Heh, I still can't believe you convinced us to run away like we did."

"Pfft." Milo slapped his smaller paw to our smaller table. "No way was I paying for that slop." He then turned to smirk at me. "Even if it did mean me and Jiri getting bundled up outta there like we were."

I snorted hard, remembering the fallout of Axel sharing his considerable dissatisfaction with the kitchen staff, followed up by him and Tomas rushing Milo and I out of there at speed. "It was so fast, Tomas almost fell on me and the table."

"I didn't nearly- My foot caught the chair and I stumbled." Tomas groaned, rolling his eyes. "Gosh, don't overreact."

"Hey..." Axel jerked forward, pointing at Tomas. "We all hit up some CoH later that night, yeah? Went to Sombre Caverns on some alt characters. I grabbed that sweet chestplate for my warrior."

"Yeah... Sounds right."

His pointing redirected down towards me. "And our Jiri got his Falchion of Southwood."

"Think so," I replied, trying to think back, wondering how in the world Axel remembered it so well. "...Uh, that was the sword I got, right?"

"Right, right! Ahh, man... That was such a killer day." He flashed me the widest smile, dipping his head closer to my level. "Ya need to get back playin', dude. Miss havin' ya tag along with us."

From beside and above, all eyes looked my way. Sitting on my small chair at a small table, somehow, I felt an awful lot smaller. "Yeah... Been busy with things... Job searching and all."

"You're allowed to take some time to relax," Tomas said, soft, soothing, but unwelcome.

"I know... you keep saying that." I tried to keep calm. He meant well, after all. "And like I keep saying, I'll relax once I've found something."

"But you have found something. You've got an interview."

"I mean I'll relax once I've found a job, and an income, not just an interview-"

"Oh, hey." Milo's celebratory tone cut me off and drew me towards him. "An interview, that's cool. Where is it? A place near you?"

"Uh, close? Not really. It's across the river, over in Kosnerka. A cafe called, uh... Bennabi's? They're looking for an assistant chef."

"Aww, that sounds great! Wishing you luck with that."

"Yeah, good luck, dude!" Axel pumped another triumphant fist. "But we'll make sure ya get some chill time in before that." He pointed down at Milo, then over at Tomas. "No more talkin' work, aight?"

"That's fine by me," Tomas replied.

"Same here," Milo added. "Been a rough week. Real busy with all the support tickets since the new system's gone live."

"Ah, that sucks... Sounds even worse than all the code rewrites I've had to deal with."

"Guys, what did I say!?" Axel spread his arms. "C'mon. It's game time. Time for fun stuff and fun stuff only, yeah?"

As it turned out, Axel's idea of 'fun stuff' started off by turning the topic back towards Charge of Heroes, or CoH as he and the others liked shortening it to. They got deep into chatting about their clan, their raids, and a whole lotta other stuff that I could only feign a half-understanding of at best. I hadn't played with them since about two weeks prior, and when I did play, I remember my thoughts still being focused on job searching. No doubt most of what they were talking about would've flown high over my head regardless.

It wasn't too much later that our food and drink orders arrived at our table under the stairs. Man, I was happy to see the waiter march on over, not only to derail the conversation I'd failed to keep up with, but also since watching more and more food getting served to other tables had me borderline starving.

Our goat waiter served up the big plates first, with Tomas and Axel meeting him halfway down with open paws. Their drinks came next, followed by Axel reaching to take something from the tray himself. A smaller one. Milo's.

I watched him lower it down, his other paw acting as a fallback in case his fingers lost grip. So much care, effort, went into it, all the way to our table.

"Thanks," Milo chimed, waiting until Axel had set it down picture-perfect in front of him to grab its contents.

Something caught itself in my throat. At least it felt that way as I tried to get comfortable in my seat. Milo was just sitting there, doing nothing, watching Axel wait on him. It felt... off. Almost as much as the fact that I was guilty of the exact same thing. I remembered that awful pizza place we were talking about, and the curry restaurant we bailed out to. Tomas and Axel had offered us the same service there, too... All while I just sat there, useless, being waited on by more than just the staff. Hell, even when we decided to trade bad pizza for great curry, I had to rely on Tomas to help me make a getaway. He really did so much for me... everything, even. Everywhere.

"Here you go, Jiri." Tomas called me back to the present, back to that cafe. I looked up to find him following Axel's lead, reaching overhead to take my tray on my behalf.

"No, no..." Something clicked, compelling me to stand up, step away from my chair, and try to find our waiter's face beyond that big Visoka-sized tray. "It's okay. It's for me. I'll take it."

The goat looked surprised. He glanced at Tomas who shared that same expression.

"I'll take it," I insisted. "...Please."

"Well... of course." Our waiter plucked up my tray between thumb and finger, lowering it towards my waiting paws. I couldn't miss the bemusement in the corners of his otherwise polite smile.

I set my tray on the table, then settled myself back into my chair. Everyone had gone quiet, and they stayed that way until our waiter made his leave.

"You know, uh..." Tomas ground his paws together. I peered up to see him wrestling with what to say next. "I didn't mind getting your tray."

"I know... but it saved you a job. No need to have you fussing over me all the time."

"It's not fussing... It's just helping out."

"Yeah, okay, I know, I didn't mean it like that, but..." My chair started to get uncomfortable again. Tomas' increasing confusion made it hard to keep eye contact. "I can do stuff. I can help. Myself _and_you... Like grabbing my tray meant you could sort your own stuff quicker, right?"

His thick white eyebrows furrowed. That aside, Tomas didn't react. Not until he broke into a small smile. "I guess." His eyes shifted over towards my plate of chicken strips. "Remember, just ask if you want some of my pizza bread." Then came his finger, rubbing my arm. "Okay?"

"I will, I will." I huffed at the suggestion, but I gladly rubbed back. "Thanks."

With everyone's food and drinks laid out, things soon moved on to the main reason we'd met up that day: gaming.

Axel tugged a chunky box out from his CoH shoulder bag. A game of some kind called Into Darkness. Tomas and Milo were delighted to see it. I, on the other hand, did my best to gain an understanding of the game from box art depicting magic-casting wizards battling fire-breathing monsters.

Between quick nibbles at their lunches, both Axel and Tomas got to work setting the game up in the middle of the table. The large, elaborate board full of hex-shaped tiles came first, followed by a whole bunch of pawns and counters. Once those were all stacked and positioned, Axel placed a thick deck of cards at the centre of it all. They were 'action cards', apparently. I didn't bother asking what 'actions' those cards entailed.

The more I watched the setup unfold, with all these parts and pieces, the more it scrambled my head. By the time Axel gave me a prodding finger-tap on the shoulder, I reckon I'd damn near gone cross-eyed.

"Hey, y'know, I think I ain't never asked..." He scratched the tip of his muzzle, as if mulling something over. "How did you and Tomas meet?"

That question hit so hard that it pushed me away. At least, it felt like I did. Axel hadn't noticed either way. "Uh, how we met?"

"Yeah!" He grinned, ears perked. "Was it another online game, or...?"

"Ye-No, Nah, it wasn't anything like that." I reached for and took a bite from an emergency chicken strip. Fuck me, how was I supposed to answer that? I couldn't exactly tell the truth, explaining how I first met Tomas after he found me squatting in his apartment, doing my best not to freeze out on the street. What's more, I sure as hell couldn't tell them how he kicked me outta there as a result. Damn. I wished I'd ordered myself a glass of something. "It was... back in the winter."

Milo kept quiet, kept watching, waiting with bated breath to hear my story. Axel, too. I turned to Tomas. His wide, startled eyes and slack jaw said everything.

"So, yeah... It was December time." I took a moment to admire the breadcrumbs on my half-eaten strip; time enough for my brain to shift into gear. "We first met at Tomas' apartment building, actually."

"Oh, wow." Milo lit up. "For real?"

"Strange, yeah?" I had a tall tale all woven and ready to tell. A half-second more helped me find the casual tone to match it. "I was staying there for a bit with a friend who was living there at the time. While they were at work one day, I managed to lock myself out of their place, which meant having to wait around in the hall until they got home." I peered up at Tomas again. His surprise didn't derail me any. "Tomas happened to see me hanging about and we got talking for a bit... When he found out my issue, he kindly offered to let me stay- I mean- wait at his place for as long as I needed."

"Aww." Milo clasped his paws together, beaming even brighter than the sunny day outside. "That's so sweet."

"Hey, Toma, that's pretty solid of you, dude." Axel sat forward, resting his snout on his fist. "Bet ya never figured that'd end up with you two getting together, huh?"

Tomas blinked. Then again. Stupefied. Like a frozen computer needing a restart. Eventually, he put his IT skills into practice. "Uh, yeah! No, heh, I never saw it coming." He looked down at me, visibly easing with a heavy exhale through his nose. Then came the first statement between the both of us that sounded like more than just a half-truth. "No way could I let him stay camped out in the hallway any longer than he had been."

Awkwardness and embarrassment averted, I couldn't have been happier for us to move swiftly on to giving that complex-looking boardgame a whirl. I'd hoped some kinda explanation around it might've helped make sense of things, or at least offered a window towards some small level of understanding. No, not in the slightest. Axel gave us a brief rundown about the basic plot behind the game, the core rules, and a few other mechanics that were, apparently, important to grasp. Truthfully, I got as far as 'liberate Castle Hochkreuz from the Dark Prince and his machinations' before my head started to go fuzzy. Too much info, not enough capacity. I kept quiet, though. Just like Tomas and Milo as they smiled and nodded, no doubt following every word coming outta Axel's mouth. Maybe once we got started with a game, things would be clearer to me, too, or at least, maybe I could fake it enough to get by.

Reality proved me wrong. Real wrong. We'd barely got a round into the game before I needed to ask for a refresher on... everything. Which directions on the board could I move my character? Could I attack the counters that represented enemy creatures? ...Could I attack other players... and could they attack me? The answers I got were simple. A few words at most, accompanied by polite smiles that suggested, to me at least, said answers should've been obvious. That awkwardness from before had gone, sure, but in its place, came a rising sense of uneasiness. I hated having to ask for help a second, third, fourth time, especially about things that I guess should've been just as obvious. Plus, being the centre of attention each time compounded to make everything even worse, what with having all eyes fixed on me from various angles... and heights.

I persisted, though, doing my utmost to play along and pretend to be a proper player with a proper understanding of what I was doing and why. Mostly, I reckon I did a standup job. The game progressed on. Counters moved. Cards flipped. Still, despite my very best efforts, and the confident front I put on, I couldn't avoid noticing just how long my turns took compared to the others. Nobody seemed to mind, and nobody passed any comment that suggested otherwise, but still, my head refused to let up thinking about how much trouble I was causing by not being up to speed, by not being a gamer. And that wasn't to mention anything about how for each and every one of my turns, I had to watch Tomas or Axel move a counter or flip a card on my behalf. So much effort, just to cater to me...

"Aight, it's Jiri's turn..." Axel activated the roller dome once again. The rattling of dice and clattering of plastic started, stopped. He leaned over to examine and confirm the outcome. "...That's twelve. Okay dude, that means you evade an attack from those rampart guards in the next tile... and you draw another action card."

I watched him reach for the chunky action card deck, just like every other time Milo or I had earned one. But this time, I didn't wait to find out the result, standing up, sidestepping away from the table, and jogging forward towards the game board. "Actually, hold up..."

Axel stopped a moment short of flipping a card. "Wha...?" His brow furrowed, head tilting. "Ya gotta take a card... Else how ya gonna know if ya can move and how far-"

"Yeah, I know, but-" I hopped over a stray counter the size of a trash can lid, stopping just shy of the board itself. "But I, uh..." I had all eyes on me all over again, casting shocked, puzzled expressions from even steeper angles that fast had me second-guessing myself. Finding Tomas and his softer curiosity made it easier to stand my ground. "I wanna flip my cards... move my counter. Feeling kinda bad for just sitting and watching you guys do all the work while I'm getting up to speed."

He and Axel looked at each other, then back down to me. My explanation did little to clear things up for them.

"Hey, dude, it ain't a problem, y'know?" Axel grinned, leaning forward to close the distance... and to loom even larger over me. "Don't mind giving a helpin' hand and stuff."

"This is how we usually play," Tomas added, casting his own reassuring glow. "Don't worry."

"Nah, I'm not worrying, just... I wanna help out, that's all."

They shared another glance, then peered over me towards Milo, still sitting at our smaller table with an equal amount of confusion.

"Please?" I insisted.

"Well..." Axel rubbed the back of his neck. "Can't say I mind if you really wanna."

"But don't feel like you have to," Tomas added.

"I don't. I just want to." I took the small step up onto the board, negotiating the enemy counters, the ankle-high player pawns, approaching the deck of cards that came up to my knees.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!" I bent down to get my paws on the top card. Its edges were thick, like cardboard. I needed a few tugs to slide it away from the rest of the deck. Like they were slick and sticky all at once.

"Hey, lemme get that, dude-"

"Nah, no!" I threw a paw up at Axel, making sure to smile while turning it into a thumbs up. "I got it. Thanks, though."

His own paw had made it halfway towards helping me. He reeled it back in with a fold in his ears. "Aight... Cool."

Pulled apart from the others, that card remained a challenge to get a good grasp of. Thickness and stickiness aside, the damn thing stretched a fair size longer, and wider, than the trays that Milo and I had taken our food from. Man... they hadn't looked so cumbersome from my table, but as I gritted my teeth, cheeks starting to warm, I hoped that I wouldn't get another offer of help.

Finally, after thinking long thoughts, I managed to spread my arms wide enough, gripping and clinging to each short end of that card. Lifting it from the deck proved simple. Turning it over, less so. My cheeks got even warmer. Ears, too. I had the wherewithal to let one end fall to the board while lifting the other. It flipped, thank the gods. I could start to read the Visoka-scale text that'd explain my next action. "...You stumble across an encampment of soldiers loyal to the Dark Prince on the path ahead. Too numerous to engage in battle alone, you are forced into taking an alternate route..."

I guess Milo could sense my confusion, speaking up from our table behind to explain, "Sounds like you need to go sideways or backwards."

"Ya got it," Axel replied. His paws moved my way again, finger pressing down to some smaller additional text that I'd missed. "Move according to your character's Action Points. Your first step must be in retreat, and you may not advance on the board this turn..."

That explanation just made my hazy head even foggier. "I, what?"

"Your first step has to be backwards," Tomas replied. "Then, you can move diagonally backwards, or fully backwards some more. Anything but forwards." Be it from simpler words or his softer voice, my cloudy brain started to clear. "Got it?"

"Ah! Got it." I padded towards my player pawn, skipping over a couple more counters in the process. The rounded top of the cone-shaped, soup can-sized plastic piece fit nicely in my paw, making it easy to carry. One, two, three: I counted each tile as I moved back, then diagonally in retreat. In the end, I set my pawn down at the approach to a sprawling forest sitting between me and the bluffs that Castle Hochkreuz sat atop. Huh... "I think I'm starting to get the hang of this."

From then on, be it scooting my player pawn through that forest, or grabbing and turning more of those big, sheet-like cards, I made sure to spring up from my seat and do it myself on every turn. Tomas and Axel needn't have done it for me, and this just went to prove it. Why stay there at my table, sitting and gawking, as if I was incapable? Hell, the only thing I'd have struggled with would've been to roll dice, what with each of them probably needing both paws to pick up. Thankfully, that roller dome meant I could do it with just the press of a button.

The others sat back and watched me play my turns for a decent while, three or four rounds at least. I appreciated it a whole lot... especially considering those turns still didn't feel so speedy, even though I'd _definitely_got a loose grip on the game's rules and mechanics. It reassured me that I'd made a start at settling into the session. Maybe I'd become a gamer yet.

That thought spurred me on as I hurried over to the dice roller again, aiming to see if I'd evade an ambush from some highwaymen. It lasted up until Axel piped up to stop me in my tracks.

"Yo, hold up, dude." He lifted a paw, wide palm extended towards me. "It's cool. You don't gotta keep doin' this."

"But I want to." I tried to find him past his palmpad. "It's no big deal-"

"Yeah, it totally ain't a big deal!" Axel snickered. "Please, man. Imma start feelin' bad if ya don't settle and chill like the rest of us."

I stayed standing there, halfway between my seat and the game board. I'd been up and down, back and forth across the table for a while, but only then did I feel... aware of the fact. The urge to argue my case to carry on handling my turns remained, albeit dwindling.

"Listen to Axel," Milo said. "Come over and just hang." I glanced back to our table to find him gesturing to my chair. "Let the big guys take care of all the legwork... or armwork, I guess."

"And_you_can take care of that sticky kitchen drawer, hon," Axel retorted. "Fair's fair, yeah?"

"I said I'd climb in and take a look."

"Two weeks back. Still ain't unstuck, though."

"Guh, just play the game, Wolf," Milo grumbled, breaking into a chuckle that Axel soon shared, right before offering each other a loving rub.

A shadow closed in, dark yet warm; Tomas' turn to lean in and delicately drive the table's collective point home. "It really is fine," he said, barely whispering. His paw reached for my chair and pulled it out from the table. "Relax."

I'd been outvoted. Three voices to one. Tomas' words drilled the deepest, lodging themselves comfortably, comfortingly at the forefront of my thoughts. Willingly, begrudgingly, I gave in, accepting my bigger badger's offer. A few steps took me back to my seat. From there, I could settle down, sit back, and simply watch both Tomas and Axel do all the so-called hard work. Honestly, I could've carried on doing anything and everything they were, be it turning cards, moving counters or whatever else... but I had to concede, letting them go ahead and handle it all proved far easier and much less taxing. Probably for everyone concerned. Even so, it didn't sit right with me. Not completely. Having everything done for me like that, no matter how much they didn't appear to mind, would always stick in my throat. I'd never escape the fear of taking advantage of them... or worse, them thinking I'm incapable.

I looked up to Tomas, distracted from my mind by his paw reaching to flip a card for his turn. All smiles, all contentment, just as he had been since we'd first sat at the table. I knew only too well he didn't think bad of me. If only I could convince that nagging voice at the back of my head...

Confined to that seat at my table, the rest of our opening playthrough of Into Darkness passed at surprising speed. By the time Milo emerged as the player who'd vanquish the Dark Prince, slowly but surely, I'd picked up what I'd consider a passing understanding of the game and its intricacies. An understanding I reckoned I'd have forgotten by the time I'd got home.

The same went for the games we ended up playing; like the second, albeit simpler board game that Axel pulled from that bag of his, and the quick-fire card game that Tomas picked out from the cafe's well-stocked bookcase. At times, I kinda wished those shelves had a few actual books tucked away, too. Something I could've delved into without needing an extended introduction.

All that said, pushing aside all the ambient awkwardness, the whole session proved good fun, even if it was as much for the company as the games themselves. Milo, Axel, seeing them again, chatting, laughing along with them, left me glad that Tomas had convinced me to tag along that afternoon. Being a part of a group like that... by the time we'd finished the final play of our final game, I hoped so much that we'd hang out again soon.

We all left the cafe in the early evening, somewhere approaching 7pm. Tomas had floated the idea of grabbing dinner some place, but the others, reluctantly, decided against it. Apparently Milo had to be on-call for his job later that evening, so understandably that meant Axel would head back home with him. Deep down, I wasn't too downbeat as we shared our goodbyes and parted to go our separate ways. Spending more time with them would've been great, but no question the cafe had started to get awfully hot, loud, and crowded. A keen reminder that Tomas and I would face more of the same if we didn't get ourselves home soon, what with the manic rush that was downtown Pilsnec on

a Saturday night. I just hoped we hadn't left it too late.

"Ahh, that was so much fun," Tomas cheered, his contentment carrying through the warm, breezy air, rivalling the barked conversations and pulsing music droning out from the bar we were passing. "I'm glad Axel bought Into Darkness again. I hadn't played that for a while."

"Yeah..." I swerved past some fox down on the Maleni walkway. Seemed like they'd decided to dip into that busy bar at the very last second. "Took me a bit to get into it."

"Oh, for sure. It takes a minute." He glanced down from the main pavement, soft amber evening sun shining from between two apartment buildings behind him. "You got there in the end. The second time we played, you were unlucky not to win."

"Guess so. Made it to the castle at least before Axel killed the prince guy."

"That's a lot closer than I managed..." Tomas paused. We made it a few more steps before he spoke up again. "Are you glad you came in the end?"

"Oh..." I staggered. The conveyor belt below had been nothing but smooth. "Yeah, I am. Today was fine."

"Only fine?"

Tomas' face carried the start of worry. I made sure to cut it short. "It was good. I had a fun time."

"Ah, cool." From his voice to his ears to the rest of him, he perked right back up again. "I'm glad. I hoped you'd have a good time today."

"Definitely. Even with some of the awkwardness."

"Awkwardness? Like what?"

"Uh..." We started past a restaurant, quieter and calmer than the bar next door. From down at walkway level, I could see diners enjoying their meals in the mood-lit Maleni section.

"Jiri?"

"Yeah, uh, sorry." I glanced up, way up, to Tomas again. "It wasn't anything big... just thinking like, I guess, playing a game with Visoka-sized cards and stuff."

His brow furrowed. "_That's_awkward?"

"Kinda?"

"I guess I can get that." He scratched at his jaw. "You didn't have to turn the cards yourself, though."

"Nah, that ain't it."

"Then what?"

"I mean, sitting back while you and Axel do all the card turning, piece moving and what not."

"That's not awkward," he rallied back, mild yet assertive. I decided against arguing back. "I thought you were going to mention Milo asking about how we met."

I grumbled at the memory of that conversation, rubbing my eyes as I passed beneath the Visoka-sized step leading into that restaurant's main entrance. Once back out in the open air, I answered, "That was pretty damn awkward, too."

Tomas chuckled. "You came up with that story of yours _scarily_fast. The 'friend' who used to live in the same building?"

I smirked. "Did it sound convincing?"

"A hundred percent and then some!" His brightness faded in an instant, shoulders sagging like the world had just fallen upon them. "I, uh... I still feel bad for... I'm sorry for how I acted that day. Throwing you out like I did." He looked at me, offering the widest, saddest smile. "I nearly made the biggest mistake of my life."

"It's okay. In retrospect, it was a normal reaction to finding someone stowing away in your home." His downcast admission warmed my soul. I offered back the shine he'd lost. "And those two were right about one thing. You _were_awfully sweet for inviting me inside... albeit _back_inside. Easily the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"Aww..." Tomas sang out his contentment, standing tall again. I'd have hugged him so hard if I were up in his shirt pocket... Although, he might've cut me off early, stopping fast in his tracks as he did. "Oh, gosh..."

"What's up?"

"The station..." His jaw stayed open. "It's absolutely packed."

I diverted off the rolling walkway at the next opportunity, scaling a short stairway up to ground level. The busyness sounded only too clearly before I spotted it across the main road. My jaw followed Tomas' lead. "Gods damn..."

The station's forecourt heaved with the sheer volume of people massed together. Crowds on its outer edges extended and spilled over onto the pavement proper, up to the point where passengers and passers-by mixed into one big congested mess. The scene we'd faced when we arrived that morning proved bad, but somehow, it'd grown ten times, a hundred times worse since.

Tomas and I stopped close to the corner of the street and the main road proper, taking a shelter of sorts outside the darkened glass doorway of a lifeless office reception. People and traffic flowed past beneath the bright lights and even brighter billboards, adding to the near-deafening drone rising from the scene outside the station. That swarm of Visoka-sided bodies... was way different from a regular crowd trying to enter a busy metro. More like a mob. I could hear bellowed conversations, clapping and cheering, but rising above them all, echoing off the buildings themselves, were loud, unintelligible songs and chants, melding together, rumbling on and on. Amid it all, I noticed a lot of the folk shuffling towards the station's jammed up main entrance wore claret-coloured caps, shirts, or jackets. "Ahh..." Two and two quickly made four. "Damn, uh, Tomas? I think there's rushball happening at the stadium tonight."

There came a pause, stretching out into a delay. The busy city roared on, matched only by Tomas' groan as he threw a paw to his head. "You're kidding me."

"Wish I was-"

"Everyone boarding here, switching lines... The metro's going to be chaos."

"I mean, I guess the game'll be starting soon? This close to kick off, it shouldn't be too-"

"Why tonight?" His groaning broke into a shrill squeal. "All this chaos... for a bunch of overgrown, overpaid guys thumping into each other."

"Tomas-"

"This is going to be a complete nightmare!"

"Don't panic-"

"I can't deal with these kinds of crowds tonight..."

"Hey, it's okay." I stepped away from the doorway, checking the coast was clear before padding a few more paces over to his leg. "We'll get through it." I reached out to rub the bottom of his fleshy, fuzzy calf. "Alright?"

Tomas huffed so hard that it forced me to take a half-step back. He leaned over to find me past his side-stomach. "At least, let me carry you."

"Hmm?" I completed that full step. "Carry?"

"I don't want to travel apart when it's bad like this."

"Uh..." He said that to me so deliberately, so matter of fact. Very un-Tomas. "I'm fine walking. Bad as this all looks, I've dealt with worse before-"

"Jiri-"

"I'll hop back down onto the walkway, head under the main road, and-"

"Jiri," he said that louder, almost coming close to an actual... yell. "I don't want us to get separated."

"Yeah, I guess... But if worst comes to worst and we do, I'll jump on the next train. Meet you at our stop. I'll survive."

"Only survive?"

I saw someone approaching from the way we'd come, felt the subtle shuddering underfoot. Being up on ground level, a retreat back into that glass doorway made sense. From there, I could better see Tomas. Better see how little of an impression my suggestion had made on him. "I've caught the metro alone at busier times than this. Gonna need to catch it to go to my interview next week, and twice most days if I get the job."

"What does that have to do with-?"

"Plus, with things as busy as this, am I gonna be good up in your pocket anyway?"

"Yes," he insisted, sweet eyes turning more like steel. "Of course you will. Just like everyone else travelling with their larger friends... partners." His heavy sigh cut through the hot, manic air. In front of those tall, dark glass doors, I didn't have anywhere else left to go. Tomas' turn then to make a move, bending his knees, lowering his huge, soft self to share with me a more familiar, cheerful smile. "I don't doubt you'd be okay on your own... but, please, let me help you. Without begging. For once."

Tomas' shadow seemed larger. Deeper. A stiff, cooling breeze rushed past us, itching my arm enough to demand a scratch. His big paw reached down, as if waiting for mine. Or for me. My turn to sigh. "Damn, you speak up once about a table in a cafe, and now look at ya..."

He giggled gently, brushing my arm with a finger. That there was my Tomas. The Tomas that I'd always and forever be happy to be around... maybe even while riding the metro's Visoka section at its busiest. That thought chilled me even more than the evening breeze, but I could see, hear how much it meant to him. I closed my eyes, bit down, gave in. "Okay. We can go together."

His glasses glistened in the sunlight as he bent down lower. It matched the spark that my reply set off in him, from his cheek-lifting smile to the song-like way he cheered, "Cool!"

"We don't need to force our way onto the first train, though." I waited for his paws to reach out, stepping up onto a pair of his fingers once close enough. "Wait a few minutes more, and the ones that come after'll probably be clearer."

"I know," he replied with a cheerful huff. "I've done this before."

"Just saying."

I took a seat for the short trip up from the pavement. In moments, I'd gone from travelling on my own two feet to being settled into Tomas' shirt pocket, getting a soft, protective hug that lasted the few moments more he needed to rise back to standing. His warmth and scent, his touch and heartbeat, they all wrapped around me, flooding my senses as we started towards the road crossing. Anxiety and tension tried to find a place among it all, building with every step we took towards the loud, overcrowded station. I breathed deep, then looked up at Tomas. Even beneath his snout, I couldn't miss his glow, shining away, even in the face of a crowd I knew he dreaded just as much as I did. Maybe even more.

I rested back against the cushioning of his chest, loosened to the point where I might've even been... relaxed. Yeah, the chaos we had to face might've been a living nightmare, and yeah, Tomas could be a bit of a klutz at times, but... If there was one person in the world that I'd trust to take care of me, it'd be him.

We shuffled our way onto the station forecourt, throwing ourselves head first into what I could only describe as a swampy muddle of bodies. The cheering, chanting rushball fans made up the bulk of it, creating a stormy sea of claret that from Tomas' chest, I didn't have a hope in hell of seeing out from. The heat and the noise overwhelmed everything. I wondered if there were any other Maleni riding along and suffering through that mess along with me.

Thankfully, that sea soon parted and split, flowing off into different entrance doors under the guidance of orange-jacketed stewards. Tomas kept me close that whole time, paw firm and unmoving, even as elbows and shoulders bumped and jostled us from side to side. I could hear his grumbling, feel his heavy breathing. Offering him a rub, a comforting paw in return, was the least I could do.

Out of the sunlight and into the echoing station building, the picture further improved. I let out a sigh, genuine relief, as the constricting crowds loosened. I no longer had someone's back almost within touching distance, and Tomas found himself free to walk forward without any more bumps or knocks. Three different metro lines served this station. Thank the gods the stadium wasn't on ours.

All those wearing claret filtered off to our left, flooding the gates that'd take them onto their line. Above our heads, signs for the C-line directed us to file through the gates directly ahead. The new crowd we became a part of felt like a dream in comparison, allowing both Tomas and I to breathe far easier down the escalator, onto the platform, and straight onto the first train that arrived there. Still, even with our carriage only almost full, he held his paw to his chest, shielding me from anything unexpected from the passengers standing around us, keeping it there the whole way back to our stop.

As we stepped off the train, moving free across a comparatively deserted platform, I thought about how I could've easily made the trip on my own, carrying myself under my own steam. It would've been easier, for me at least... But letting Tomas do the work while we stuck it out together, well... I guess it didn't feel so bad after all.

"Oof," Tomas mumbled as he moved us into the kitchen. His flick of the lightswitch illuminated it more than the setting sun could manage. "We made it. Good to be home."

"You're telling me." I reset my grip on the lip of his shirt pocket, moving freer now that his paws were down by his sides. "That was... an adventure."

He snorted, moving the short distance over to the counter. His tugging at the window blinds shut away the world outside completely. "Adventure is _not_the word I'd use."

"Disaster?"

"Maybe a little strong. Letting me carry you on the metro wasn't that bad, was it?"

"...Suppose not."

"Heh. Good."

"So how about... an ordeal?"

"I think that'll do it." Tomas lifted his arms, readying his paws to ease me up out of his pocket. "And after that ordeal, I need a drink." His snout angled down towards me, as did a charming smile. "Would you like one?"

"After how hot it was on the train back, definitely." I slipped off my trainers then stood up ready to be lifted. "But I can grab myself something."

"Alright." One paw scooped me towards the other, coming together to cup themselves and bring me into the open completely. "Oh!" But not without a sudden shudder beneath Tomas' widening eyes. "Do you want something from your fridge?"

"Nah, I'm good with just water. I'll grab some from the main tap."

"Cool." He lowered me down towards the still-waiting cookie box table I'd used to prep breakfast. A gentle tilt of his paws allowed me to slide out of his paws next to it. "Need a glass? I can grab one for you."

"Got one here." From atop the box, I grabbed the glass I'd used that morning, waving it up at him. "Thanks anyway."

With his sugary smile still lasting, Tomas left me to turn around and grab a glass of his own from the cupboard. A few paces carried me to the back of the sink, with a few more taking me to the small tap stationed next to the main one. The water I poured myself went down super smooth, informing me just how damn dry my throat had got during our ride home. A second glass followed in short order before I returned it to where I'd left it on the cookie box, just in time for me to watch Tomas grab a big bottle of soda from the big fridge.

"Thanks again for bringing me along today," I said, way less croaky after my drink. "You were right. It _was_good to get outta the apartment, and... I had fun. I appreciate it."

"Oh, no, thank _you_for coming." He filled up his glass and returned the bottle to its shelf. "I'm happy to hear you had fun. I did wonder."

"Wonder?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Tomas closed the fridge and turned to me. "You seemed... I suppose, tense. At times."

"I was? How so?"

"Just..." He took a large sip of soda, studying the half that remained once he'd finished. "I don't know. Maybe it was just me thinking wrong."

I thought about what he could've meant by that for a moment. Tense? Was I? I didn't think so. "Well, I'll have to pay you back what I owe you. For the food, and my share of the booking. Didn't seem all that cheap there."

"You don't," he shot back, almost like I'd caught him unawares. "I invited you, it was my treat... And it's not like you ate all that much. You didn't even try any of my pizza bread."

"Oh..." I took a lean against my table. "Well, if you're really insisting... Thank you. It means a lot."

Tomas' brows furrowed hard. His mouth opened a second before he replied, "You're welcome, but... it's not a big deal. I wanted you to come. The others as well."

"Heh, good to know. I like them."

"They like you, too." Tomas chuckled, shuffling the short way over from the fridge to the counter. "All I hear when we start playing CoH is 'Where's Jiri?' and 'Is Jiri playing?'"

Hearing him say that helped me stand that little bit straighter. "I'll have to get back to playing sometime. It _is_pretty fun."

"You should do."

Now filling the whole of my view, Tomas drank some more of his soda before setting his tall glass down on the counter. A tall glass standing as tall as I did. All the while, the gentleness of his smile, his stance, and his scent, made it only too easy to open up and admit, "They're nice. Good friends... I've honestly never had too many of those." I took a deep breath, working to gather the confidence to go on. With how nice everyone had been to me that day, I knew that I owed them that. "...Especially since all my problems started, and I ended up... y'know. Homeless."

Tomas' gentleness remained, accompanied by a sweetness in the form of a surprised, subtle cock of his head. "Forget all that. You don't need to talk about it."

"I do." I pushed away from the cookie box, standing there before him, alone, exposed... but not really. "Because what I'm trying to say is, I'm not used to being around people I can trust. People that are... good."

He set both paws down to the counter's edge, lowering himself right down, until I barely had to crane my neck to find his warmth. "I'm sorry, Jiri. But I'm not totally sure what you're getting at."

"I'm saying... I guess I'm not used to letting people... help me." I needed one last deep breath. One more to get all of my thoughts out into the open. "It makes me feel like a burden sometimes. Maybe that's why I seem tense. And why I seemed tense today."

I think Tomas needed a second to process that. What I said, what I'd revealed, came straight from the heart. I can't be sure why I decided to tell him all that I had at that moment, but for sure, standing that much more at ease, breathing that much easier, I was glad I had. Relieved, even.

"You're not being a burden," Tomas insisted. "It's like I said. We all wanted you to come today. Sara and Alena, too. They both wanted to meet you."

My relief did last in the face of his assurances, but a creeping sense of embarrassment emerged to join it. The fur on my arms and neck rose, itched. I scratched at the latter, head hanging towards the former. "...Good."

"And going back to the money, I really was happy to pay. I expected it, and it wasn't all that much for a day out." Tomas paused, as if waiting for me to face him again before continuing. "And... when you get your job you're working towards, then I'll be glad to have you treat me sometime."

"I suppose." Having his smile in such close proximity meant it was a matter of time before it spread to me. Still, my itchiness persisted. "But when I say burden, I don't just mean about the money. I'm also talking about all the help you give me."

"Help-?"

"Not to mention all the offers I turn down. The offers to carry me around everywhere, all the time."

"Y- What? _That's_not being a burden. Not at all." Tomas looked, sounded shocked. "Jiri, people help each other, just like today. It's normal."

"Yeah, they help each other. You can help me, but what can I do?"

"You-"

"If not pay my way, or... I don't know what else." I stepped forward across the counter. Tomas pulled away from it. "You can carry me around outside, or on the metro, you and Axel can help while playing board games and such, but me? What can _I_do?"

Tomas seemed frozen in time, staring at me with mouth agape. I reckon he wondered where all this had come from, just as I did. I'd opened up and then some. More than I imagined. Maybe even more than I meant to. His snout lowered towards the counter again, still carrying a disarming softness as he said, "I thought the reason for not wanting to get carried on the metro was because you hate crowds as well... Is that not right?"

"Visoka-sized crowds," I confirmed. "But yeah... that too."

Tomas' attention started to wander. He set his crossed arms on the counter ahead of me, searching around the kitchen for something and nothing. I very nearly joined him as I stood there beside the cookie box table, unsure of where we were headed next. A few moments more, and I might've made a beeline for the counterend lift, aiming to head down to the floor, out of the kitchen, and away from this increasingly awkward conversation entirely.

"You know... there's a lot of things you can do. If you feel like you want to help." Tomas kept on scanning the kitchen. Only then did I make sense why. "You can... I guess you could clean things if you really want to? Places that are difficult to reach. Between the wall tiles and such?"

I looked back over my shoulder to the tiles at the back of the sink. They didn't look all too dirty to me. "I could-"

"Oh! I bet you'd be a big help rearranging the cupboards." He dipped back down towards me with hopeful eyes. "If I put you up on the highest shelves, you could take a look around and tell me what was in there. It would sure save me having to climb a chair and pull everything out."

"I guess..." I peered way up high to those uppermost shelves in the open cupboard opposite, packed to the brim with cans and who knew what else. "Uh, that's pretty high-"

"But forgetting all that for a minute, you already do help with things. Loads of things."

"Hmpf." I folded my arms. "Like?"

"There's the difficult phone calls you make sometimes... You help me out with cooking, you-"

"That doesn't count."

"What doesn't? Cooking?"

"Yes!"

"Why not."

"Pfft." I looked him up and down from his ears back to his snout. Was he serious? "Because I stand here, right here on the counter, and basically _watch_you cook. It's hardly worth mentioning."

Tomas rose away from the countertop, holding up a finger. "Sure, you watch me. You watch me while making sure I don't mess anything up. You remind me what you've taught me... All those new recipes."

I snorted. "All."

"Yes, all." He came back down to me again, smiling, warming, swallowing hard enough that I could see it. "All that aside, you don't have to _do_anything like that because, uh... Just having you here, around me, keeping me company... like on the metro today, rubbing, helping me push through those crazy crowds... that's enough for me. More than enough."

His eyes began to glisten. Sparkle. A quick wipe of his finger behind his glasses took it away. My chest grew heavy while my stomach started to flutter. I opened my mouth to reply, but I couldn't find one. That offered space for Tomas, his voice quiet, timid, to boldly continue.

"Anything else, like those things you say are hardly worth mentioning, well... those are a bonus, and... and..." He drifted into silence, watching me with a gaze that flowed into the paw he reached out to stroke at my arm. A stroke that said so much more than words could have.

"I, uh..." I reached over to place my own paw to his rubbing finger, giving a squeeze that drew a delighted, delightful grunt. "I like your company, too."

The rest of his fingers shifted, curling and wrapping themselves around me. With delicate ease, Tomas whisked me off my feet, pulling me close, and tight, to his pillowy cheek. He grumbled almost as hard and as happily as I did, rubbing and squeezing me even closer, until I could barely move.

There I stayed, totally in his grasp, nosing into his fur, breathing in his scent. I returned his hugging and rubbing as best I could, tingling from the sensation of his pads moulding around me, forming a space sized just for me and me alone. I'd have stayed there for as long as he, and I wanted, if not for something digging into my chest... Literally. "Tomas?"

"Mmm?"

"Cosy as this is..." I shook and wiggled my paw semi-free, wrapping it around the stiff arm of his glasses. "I don't wanna break this."

"Huh?" He opened his eyes, finding me at his periphery. My little jostle of his eyewear did the trick. "Oh!"

I chuckled into his fuzz, patting the bridge of his snout as he loosened his hug. "Better."

"Great." His own chuckle sent a wonderful wave of vibrations right the way through me, right before he set me the short way down to the counter. "Sorry."

"No, don't be." I decided to take a seat beside him, resting my snout atop his. Idle rubbing at his fur added to my newfound comfort. A fitting moment to say, "I suppose I'll try to relax more... About all that stuff."

"You should." He scritched at my side, jiggling my hip. "There's nothing you should be worried about."

"I just... I don't ever want to take advantage, or be... feel useless."

"You won't ever be that..." Tomas' eyes glazed over for just a moment. A moment long enough for me to tense up as he barked, "Hey! How about you help out with the cooking and such more often?"

"More often? More than every other night?"

His eyes creased up from a smile I couldn't see as he rubbed between my ears. "We can make it every night... But only if you want to."

I let his finger press me closer to him, only too ready to say, "I do. That'll be great. Thanks."

"Cool! As long as you let yourself feel better about letting me carry you around sometimes."

"Heh." I threw my arm up over his snout, squeezing him tight. "I guess I can."

"You guess?" He eased himself out of my hugging, lifting his nose to nudge at my chin. "Only guess?"

I giggled out loud, almost instinctive. No chance that I could resist Tomas' sweetness. "Okay, fine. Deal."

"Yay." he planted a soft kiss right on my snout. "Thank you."

"Aww." With warming ears and cheeks, instinct took hold once more. I couldn't wait to lean forward and return a kiss to his lip and sigh away any lingering tension. "Don't mention it."

Tomas treated me with a glowing grin as he shifted upwards, slowly rising all the way back up to his full height. "On the subject of relaxing, how about we both do that for now?" He yawned hard, stomach pressing at and spreading around the edge of the countertop. "A fun day, but it's certainly taken it out of me."

"I think I can go along with that." Tomas' yawn proved infectious. I lied back to take a load off, and to better see my badger. "Did you have anything in mind?"

"A Saturday night curled up on the couch? Watch a couple of movies or something? I've got some bookmarked that I'd like to check out."

"Good start."

"And as much as I'd love to have you helping me in the kitchen, maybe we can get some food delivered?"

"Sounds great." I raised a finger. "As long as I can pay for it."

"Oh... Hmm..."

"Please. You've spent plenty on me today. Let me treat you."

"Well... If you insist."

I threw my arms into a fold. "I absolutely do."

"Fine," he chimed, showering me with another beaming smile as he scooped me up off the counter and into his comfortable paws. "That all sounds like a plan. Movies chosen by me, and a food place chosen by you. A contribution by the both of us."

"Sounds great." I spread my arms, only too ready to be pulled into another warm, loving squeeze against my cuddlemonster, my Tomas' cheek. "In fact, that sounds like the best plan yet."