FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

“Ahhh, mfh! I'm getting c-close, b-bro…!"

“Faster, Tony! F-Faster—ngh! Mfh!"

The taboo of our union faded into background noise behind our grunts, moans, and huffs of breath as Anthony squirmed beneath me. Our athletic feline bodies writhed together as one while our pulsing barbed cocks leaked quarts of tiger seed all over our bare torsos, and the bed creaked noisily under us.

Someone could've walked in on us at the worst possible moment.

Neither of us let up the motions though, instead of going faster and bolder, knowing our parents and younger siblings were out of the house. Nobody could interrupt us, and we made the most of our two hours. Mainly, half an hour of our alone time spent exchanging eager blow jobs and another doing what ultimately led to Anthony cumming early: loving, leisurely frottage. Our hard, wet cocks pressed together along with our muscled nipples and well-earned abs as we made out like feverish rabbits. Okay, we were Siberian tigers, but still…

One of his paws grasped my right ass cheek, guiding my humping motions as h went faster. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, ahhh!" he moaned, kissing me again.

His lips always felt like velvet. I could never get enough, inhaling and exhaling like an addict as soon as I needed air.

“Love you, Tony," I chuffed, toes curling painfully into the sheets. “S-So much!"

I truly did. I loved my own twin, and not just in a brotherly manner. Not in the traditional sense. No matter how many girls we tried to date throughout middle and high school, or whatever different ways we tried to explain our feelings away until that ultimate night at our junior prom, we loved each other deeply.

“Love you too, Cam—ahhh!" he abruptly gasped, and smacked a paw back onto my ass. Nearly giving him a playful snarl, I echoed his desires. “Ngh, a-ahhhhh!"

Anthony chomped down on my neck without warning, causing me to buck hard against him and his fondling fingers. Several delirious seconds after he started purring midway through cumming all over our abs, I did the same, spurting out steamy cum between our hot, sweaty bodies until I collapsed onto Anthony's awaiting arms.

Together, our hearts beat. Together, we drooled in a post-sex haze words could barely describe. A mixture of brotherly, romantic, sexual love that we couldn't get enough of.

Anthony and I clung to each other for warmth, even though our sweat, cum-stained stripped fur, and the afterglow of sex provided plenty of heat. I could feel the identical man's knuckles rubbing my lower back with one paw, and his other paw being raised up to scratch behind my ear. After a moment of further purring, I gathered enough strength to lift my whisker nose up to plant a soft kiss against his lips, and we stared at each other in relaxed adoration.

“Tha-That…Tha-That…T-That was…"

“Amazing," I said for us.

“Yeah," Anthony exhaled, and we kissed tenderly between breaths.

“What a way to spend an eighteenth birthday, eh?" he asked, and laughed with me when I kissed below his ticklish chin. “S-Stop that! It—It tickles, Cam!"

“This," I spoke between rough licks with my tongue, “is…payback…for spanking…me!"

“Uncle, uncle!" he chuckled.

“Wrong relationship, bro," I said, giving Anthony one more surprise kiss into redneck before scooting up to lie beside him. My arm draped behind his head, and he casually wrapped his arm around my back, his fingers kneading the base of my tail. “So…you excited for dinner? Mom and Dad said they're bringing us pizza." A smile grew wider between us. “Reckon it's from Gemini's?"

“It's gotta be from Gemini's, Cam," he scoffed. “There's nothing better!"

“Except for the Pan-Asian Buffet," I mentioned.

Like clockwork, dueling growls vibrated from our taut stomachs, and our fingers each traced the abs we fought so hard to maintain. Hours spent after school in the gym and on the running track, juggling time for track-and-field as well as summer baseball. How Anthony and I found the time to keep straight A's eluded me.

Being it was the middle of January in our senior year of high school, between the post-Christmas season and comfort foods everyone indulged in, it was torture not to be tempted. Until spring came, every day was a struggle to make sure we didn't overindulge.

“Second break day tomorrow?" Anthony proposed.

“Second break day tomorrow," I confirmed with a nod. “We can add an extra few sets. Maybe several to make up for eating too many slices?

“Works for me!" Anthony sat up from bed and offered a cum-stained paw. “C'mon, let's get showered."

In the end, the timing came down to the wire. We scrubbed each other squeaky clean, dried each other in the bathroom when the fur dryer failed to go fast enough, then got clothed in time for us to receive a phone call from Mom. She and Dad were approaching our road and needed help putting groceries away. Plus, they had the pizza from Gemini's.

We practically ran downstairs into the kitchen the instant after I hung up. The sound of a garage door opening and closing could be heard from down the hall. As me and Anthony stood in our pajamas, matching white bottoms and black tops that Grandma had given us for Christmas, I could hear our parents talking.

“Should I tell them?" Anthony asked.

“About what?" My eyes widened, and I let out a relaxed chuffing noise. “They'll be fine about it. It's not that unusual."

“Think they won't bat an eye?"

“At what? Us living together?" I scoffed. “I bet colleges accommodate all the time."

“They might insist we be more independent…" he mentioned worriedly.

I managed to say, “We'll get there when we get there," just as a door opened and footsteps heralded our parents' arrival.

The smell of cheesy pizza fumigated the entire kitchen, while our parents walked inside wearing their office dress shirts beneath coats sprinkled with melting snowflakes, beaming at us the moment they saw us. For an odd reason, however, a flicker of sadness crossed their expressions. I didn't think much of it when the scent of cheese, mushrooms, pepperoni, peppers, and sausage made our maws water.

“Happy birthday, boys!" Mom called out.

“Thanks, Ma!" we spoke in unison.

“Piping hot! Piping hot!" Dad rushed to the kitchen island, slamming the two boxes down on the granite countertop and exhaling in relief. “Dinner is served then!"

I purred at the scents, “Mm, smells great!"

“I'm starved!" Anthony chimed in.

“No, no, no." Mom placed several full plastic bags down beside the pizza. “You boys help me put the groceries away, then we'll eat." Everyone groaned, including our father.

***

Over the next two hours, I could feel an almost-invisible tension between me and our folks. Besides awkward glances and a few instances of folded ears or curled tails, our mother and father also sounded uncertain at times. There was a tiny sense of dread that started to form at the pit of my stomach too.

I couldn't figure out what had them—and by extension, everyone—on edge.

However, the unhealthy pizza and camaraderie of conversations masked it well enough at first. While devouring greasy slices of pizza and bites of bread sticks, Anthony and I talked about what we did during the first week back at school. Plus, the fun we had with it being a snow day; with all K-12 schools closed shut on a Friday due to sudden snowfall, it left me and my twin enjoying the first day of a three-day weekend. We boasted about sleeping in all morning, then going out to see a mindless action movie in theaters once the plows cleared the street. Then, we returned home to play video games (in actuality, playing with each other's joysticks, hehe) until they arrived home.

Mom and Dad appeared content, then told us in vague terms about what happened at work. What they could and couldn't explain depended on what the U.S. government considered 'classified', but it didn't stop them from telling funny stories about office work. A hilarious story from a coworker or drama happening between rivals-turned-lovers. Dad suggested we leave voicemails for our grandparents, Mara, and Bill down in Florida, while Mom shared photos taken of our siblings going to an aquarium.

It was the same one Anthony and I had been to, but Bill and Mara were extremely lucky to see an orca show. The sight of the bucktoothed tomboy tigress and her 'gothic' preteen brother laugh in joy at getting soaked made us smile. One snapshot revealed Bill looking terrified as he stood in front of a scarily realistic shark, and it left Anthony in hysterics for a few minutes (I used that time to steal one of his slices, hehe). Our parents wouldn't stop laughing either.

Anyway, we stuffed ourselves up more than we realized. By the time I excused myself and offered to throw away the empty, greasy pizza boxes, I knew the consequences would be dire by the time me and Anthony got back to the gym.

“Never again," he whined on the couch, with Dad patting his stomach and unbuckling his belt on the opposite sofa. “Never, ever, ever again…"

“Wait until you're my age, kiddos." Dad stretched his toes on the ottoman, his stripped beer belly peeking beneath the office shirt. “Remember these words: never, ever, ever stop working out like I did when I was your age. It adds up fast, like credit card debt."

“Duly noted," me and my twin said together, then laughed. “Jinx, you owe me a soda."

“Maybe later," I sighed. “Right after my stomach feels like it's gonna weigh me down."

“Sure thing, bro!" Anthony chuckled.

“Honey! A word?" Mom called from upstairs. “I need your help with something!"

“BRB, boys!" Dad said, and we groaned as he stood up. “What? Don't be salty, I just have rizz and I'm the gee, oh, aye, tee!" We gave even more dramatic groans, and the middle-aged Siberian tiger waved a paw as he stepped out of the living room, to the staircase.

Soon as he was out of earshot and sight, I felt Anthony's paw comfortably wrap around mine, and my tail swished at our ankles as I momentarily leaned against his shoulder. If I had the bravery, I'd go further in affection. Being stuffed with stuffed crust, tomato sauce, burnt cheese and an assortment of delicious unhealthiness made us lethargic, however.

Him kissing the back of my head had to do, for now. “How many calories do you think we gained?" Anthony pondered. “Two-thousand? Three-thousand?"

“Ugh, our next workout's gonna be a bigger bitch than usual…!"

“You said it!" He patted my shoulder after wrapping his arm around me. “Do you think it'd be a good time to tell them about college? About us sharing a dorm? Or should we wait until tomorrow? I don't wanna ruin tonight with a dumb argument or something…"

“They won't argue with us," I rebuked. The nagging feeling of something being off tried breaching through the surface. “They don't suspect a thing. If they did, do you think they'd have gone this far to get our favorite pizzas? On the other side of town and in that weather? If they suspected something, we'd literally be sitting out in the cold right now."

Anthony didn't say anything. Instead, we relaxed for several more minutes only to reluctantly pull apart once our parents' footsteps could be heard from the stairs. Out of office clothes, Dad sat down wearing pajama bottoms that matched our fur colors and Mom sat beside him in a thick nightgown.

“So, you said you both wanted to watch something on Furflex?" I asked, reaching for the remote on the coffee table. “I think there's a few comedies—"

“Actually, kiddos," Dad cleared his throat, sitting up straighter with our mom. “The movie's gonna have to be cut short. There's something that really needs to be discussed."

“Anthony, Cameron," Mom asked, “can you come with us into our office?"

Anthony and I exchanged surprised, nervous looks. Before either of us could say or ask anything, they already stood up and promptly walked down a hallway. Gulping back a whimper, me and Anthony traded nods before following the two older felines.

They brought us to a locked door, into a room neither of us had ever been inside, even as little cubs. Of all the rules our parents taught us and our younger siblings, 'never go inside the office, even if it's unlocked' had to be among them. Everyone was well-aware that our folks worked for the government, some of it involving classified projects and secret studies, but they never discussed what they actually did.

The office itself resembled a small library, with large filing cabinets in one corner and large dry eraser boards in the other. Scribbles, notes, and complex mathematics filled the latter. None of the calculations I could make out looked like anything taught by the teachers in AP classes, some of it looking like foreign languages.

Finally, after closing the door behind him, Dad broke the silence.

“We know you two have been having sex."

The tiny pit in my stomach widened into a gaping chasm. The same probably went for Anthony, who mirrored the horrified expression on my face, and our tails reflexively curled around each other's ankles. Then, they uncurled once the accusation really set in. Whatever merry relaxation hung in the air dissipated.

Stepping beside each other, Mom and Dad stared at us in dreading silence. They didn't look angry or furious. They didn't look pleased either though. I tried saying something, but nothing came out. The fact that me and Anthony didn't immediately reject the notion said just about enough to them. We were guilty as charged.

“Do either of you pressure each other?"

“No," we said together.

“Is there anybody else who knows?"

“No," we said together.

“Good," one of them mentioned. “The last thing we need is to make this more complicated."

I wanted to crawl underneath a blanket or wake up from this nightmare. A part of me suspected that Anthony felt the same. How could this be happening?

“How long have you known?" Anthony asked, his voice incredibly nervous.

“Several months now?" Dad surmised.

My head shot up. “How?"

“You're not as quiet as you think," Mom said after a moment. She pointed to the right side of her neck. “Plus, neither of you are as good at hiding hickies under your fur…"

I slapped a paw to my neck, blushing and ashamed. One of Anthony's paws immediately snatched my other one as he tried standing defiant. Rather, I could feel him shaking.

“I'm not going to sugarcoat it, but it did shock us at first," Mom sighed. “We are concerned about this behavior and believe that we needed to step in and discuss this with you. What you two have been doing together isn't exactly legal, and can be perceived as wrong—"

“Mom, we—" I attempted to say.

“—but for different reasons," she finished her sentence, and gave us her trademarked motherly glare to signal for us to be quiet. Mom turned to our father. “Do you think we should've been honest from the start?"

“I've been asking myself that for seventeen years, sweetie," he muttered.

“Different reasons?" It sank in for me. “What reasons?"

“Yeah, what do you mean?" Anthony asked.

A flash of regret filled our parents' faces. They motioned to a couch pushed against the wall, and we sat down. Anthony was more resistant until Mom used her trademarked glare again.

“Listen, we both love you," she stressed her words. “We aren't mad at you for being…incestuous, per se. We can't condemn you for being curious, especially with each other."

“What your mother is trying to say is," Dad butted in, “that we get it: boys will be boys. Curiosity about our bodies and all of that. It just so happens that you…your bond in particular…"

“We definitely should've been honest with him from the start," Mom told him.

Anthony stood straighter. “Honest about what?" he asked, starting to sound scared and angry at once. “What's going on? Are you mad about me and Cameron having sex, or not? Are we in trouble, or aren't we? A-Are you gonna kick us our or…or separate us?"

Suddenly, I had to fight back tears. Pangs of guilt and terror at the image of us either on the street or in separate lives filled my beating heart. My orange-and-black fur stood on end as I examined our parents' guilt-ridden expressions. Their ears remained folded, even as they walked over to the couch to pat our shoulders.

“You're not in trouble," Dad reassured us. “Nobody is being separated or kicked out."

“We still love you two," Mom explained, “We're only concerned that you two are happy, and we just feel like…there's something you both need to know. Anthony in particular."

“What about me?" Anthony carefully asked.

Mom and Dad exchanged serious looks. Then finally, one of them said it.

“You're not brothers."

Time seemed to crawl to a halt. I didn't notice my counterpart mirror my shocked face and dropped jawline. Or how our tails stopped moving, along with a train of thought. Flickers of dumbfounded confusion flooded my brain, and I asked a little too hopefully, “We're…not?"

“You are twins," Dad clarified, “but not in the traditional sense of being related by blood."

Anthony and I let out confused chuffs. “Huh??"

“You remember those superhero movies where they'd travel to other dimensions and parallel worlds?" Dad recalled with us. “We were involved with a government project not only focused on studying the multiverse, but perfecting travel between parallel universes. The first phase involved proving that the multiverse theory wasn't a theory. And we succeeded."

Once again, my mind temporarily went blank.

Chuckling in disbelief, Anthony spoke, “You can't be serious—"

“We are," Dad said to him. “The multiverse is real, and this connects to you because—"

“If this is a joke to make us feel easy about you knowing about what we do in private," Anthony motioned to himself and me, “this isn't working. I don't know how you can make a joke like that without it sounding so goddamn stupid."

“Tony," I interrupted, glaring at him. “I don't think they're joking."

“They gotta be," he guffawed while clutching his stomach. “This is bullshit! What's next? Time travel? Alien abduction? Mind controlling the President?"

“Anthony Jeremiah Dalles!"

My brother and I sat straight, even though I didn't have my full names shouted at me by our mother. Dad stared at us with stern conviction, while Mom wiped something from the corner of her eye.

“Boys, we are completely serious," he said. “I wish this was a joke, but it isn't. This has been gnawing at us inside for so long, but due to work protocol, we could only keep the truth from you. However, after finding out the full extent of your…relationship, we felt you both needed to know. It required going through hoops, but we finally got our employers' permission."

Mom walked over to a nearby desk—filled to the brim with paperwork—and pulled out a beige manila folder from beneath it. It wasn't as thick as the others but still had 'classified: top secret' stamped across its cover in solid black lettering. The way she held it in her trembling paw made me notice tears being fought back. It made me and Anthony do a double-take. The previous time that any of us had ever seen our mother shed a tear was when she first sent Mara off on her first day of kindergarten.

Since then, neither of us had ever seen Mom be that emotional. Dad noticed too, because he stepped over to place a comforting paw on her shoulder. They exchanged soft smiles, encouraging nods, and he gently took the folder before turning to us.

“Read it, please."

Mom followed our father's gaze to Anthony. Not to me or both of us though, only him. Their faces held apologetic agony, regret, untold fear, and dread as Dad handed us the beige folder. Having it closer, I could read in the corner three words: 'Operation World Tree'.

I ended up being the one to take it. Anthony peered over my shoulder as I opened the folder and surveyed the first page.

As me and Anthony skimmed or thoroughly read each page, examining typed memos, photographs, design sketches, and research notes, Dad told us a story.

“Twenty years ago, your mother and I had just completed a graduate program and started working for DARPA as researchers," he explained. “We were already married and had plans for a family. By the time that Cameron was born, we were already heavily involved in an extremely classified research and development project that had been in the works since before either of us were born. Operation World Tree, a series of tests and experiments using a gateway capable of opening tears into other realities. Before me and your mother joined, they could only open windows that could peer into these other alternate realities, but once we joined and helped reinvigorate some calculations, we discovered a way to transform the window into a portal capable of going both ways. It was our biggest achievement in the project yet."

The items in the classified folder corroborated what he was saying. There were research notes explaining various trial and errors, redacted internal memos, letters from the Secretary of Defense, a detailed design of the oval-shaped archway, and a photograph of what appeared to be our dad standing in front of a mirror copy of himself in front of the Gateway. He and his parallel counterpart were shaking paws, smiling eye to eye, while someone photographed them.

“We established contact with one such reality, Universe Beta," Mom mentioned, “Remember how mad your counterpart was that he lost the coin toss on deciding names?"

“Yeah, he wanted his world to be Universe Alpha instead," Dad laughed, then went sullen. Anthony and I traded worried glances as we continue to listen/read the contents of the folder. “Beta was the first parallel world we started interacting with, then formed agreements with. We traded notes and information, traveled to each other's universes, and got to hold Anthony for the first time when our counterparts agreed to hosting a play date."

Safe to say, I could feel my mouth go dry when my eyes fell on one printed photograph in particular: it showed two sets of Siberian tigers in white lab coats, relaxing together on a bench as they toasted to whoever held the camera. At their feet sat a pair of identical toddler-aged tigers, waving feverishly to each other and laughing with such joy on their faces.

Anthony blinked repeatedly at them. I did too, but my twin looked more like he was on the verge of curling up into a ball. Nevertheless, the older felines continued their story.

“Guess what nexus event caused our universes to differ?" Mom asked with a bittersweet smile. When neither of us answered, she said, “Your names. In our world, Universe Alpha, we decided to name our son Cameron, after my father. In Beta, Anthony was named after his great-grandfather."

My mind couldn't stop reeling from the information overload.

“What happened?" I asked the ultimate question. “I-If Anthony's not really my twin brother, then why did you…?"

“Cam?" Anthony gasped, “Fucking hell…look."

He reached over my shoulder to pull out a small collection of paper clipped photographs. Someone had sprawled 'EBS - Worst Case Scenario' and a series of dates on the back of each one in shaky black marker. Each photograph appeared to be screenshots of news reports. As Anthony flipped through each one, I couldn't believe what the headlines read, or what appeared on the captured TV screens: massive nuclear explosions, swallowing entire city skylines in scorching hellfire. Another photograph, taken from what appeared to be a satellite, revealed thousands of tiny bright lights scattered all over the Earth's surface.

No, not my Earth's surface. Anthony's Earth's surface.

Despite sitting on the couch, it felt like I had nothing solid beneath my feet.

“Roughly ten months after making first contact, a massive internal leak happened in Universe Beta," Mom spoke with a whimper. “Thousands of files were posted on the Internet within a matter of hours, out of nowhere. Operation World Tree became public knowledge in their world, along with everything else that was classified. Nobody knows who did it, or how it happened; weapons projects, government secrets, illegal coverups—America's enemies suddenly knew all her dirty secrets, and this caused political upheaval overnight…"

Mom inhaled, exhaled, then wiped a tear from her eye. As I heard her sniffling, my eyes fell on other printed photos of captured news headlines from Universe Beta. None were pretty.

“The next thing we know," she finished, “Beta's telling us that their NORAD had detected thousands of ICBMs in the air, and one of them was going straight for their facility."

Mom and Dad didn't need to explain the rest of what happened. One final memo signed by them explained to their superiors why they felt justified to help evacuate 'inter-dimensional refugees' from Universe Beta amid a nuclear holocaust. An attached photograph showed the sixty-two survivors, one of them being a confused, familiar Siberian tiger no older than two years of age. No parents in sight.

The memo (and my parents) explained that during the chaos, Anthony's mom and dad had sacrificed themselves to make sure the Gateway's portal was closed before the missiles struck first. Though not before making sure their son had been one of the refugees to make it through. Ever since then, the refugees had been living in witness protection or pretending to be related to their Universe Alpha counterparts. As for Operation World Tree itself, the research team primarily refocused on the surveillance of other dimensions.

Otherwise, contact with parallel worlds had mostly ceased, and the rest was too classified for even Mom or Dad to discuss further.

Anthony didn't say anything. Not to me or to Mom and Dad. Two hours after we first entered the office, he was the first to leave in complete silence, walking to our bedroom like a shellshocked veteran. He didn't even respond to them saying 'love you' or 'happy birthday'. I decided to leave minutes later, giving my folks a hug and wishing them good night. Then, I handed them the folder.

“Thanks for telling us, Mom. Dad," I whispered. “I'm gonna make sure Tony's okay."

“Good night, sonny," Dad murmured, planting a kiss on my cheek.

Mom did the same. “We love you," she said. “And we love Anthony too. Neither of you forget that."

Upstairs, I found him lying in his bed with his back facing me. Sitting down beside him, unsure of what to say, I simply hugged him from behind, I curled up closely to my twin as our tails entwined with our legs.

“Hey, Tony?" I murmured. When he didn't say anything, my nose buried into his back, and I drifted off to sleep. “I still love you, bro…no matter what…"

***

The bed was empty by the time I woke up at the ass crack of dawn. A cold chill pulled me from my slumber, and I found myself alone in bed. However, I did hear movement downstairs, mostly Mom's voice and some shuffling.

Whimpering at the lack of Anthony's warmth and presence, I lazily got out of bed and joined the family downstairs. When I came into the kitchen to find the parents silently cooking breakfast. Mom was cooking the eggs, and Dad made some pancakes—the kind he only made to make us feel better after something happened, like Bill's best friend moving away or when me and Anthony lost an important competition.

Speaking of whom, he sat at the kitchen island, staring down and lost in thought. I went to the refrigerator without looking away from him, but the awkward tension in the air made my twin(?) look up at me. For less than a second, we stared at each other with our extremely similar features; same jawline, angular cheekbones and exact same smile beneath two beautiful hazel eyes. The same ones that used to stare back at me with deep, brotherly love. Now, they avoided mine after I looked away to pour milk into a cup, and they didn't look back at me throughout the rest of breakfast. In fact, Anthony didn't so much as say another word as Mom and Dad forced conversations out of us. All of it avoided anything to do with last night.

“So, do you two got anything planned for the day?" Dad asked us after we finished cleaning up. “The news said the roads are closed up, and your…we, don't want you staying indoors all day."

Anthony interrupted whatever I tried to say. “Actually," he said, “I'm thinking of going to the mall. Maybe drive around a bit to think." As if he expected me to object or suggest I join him, he glanced over to say, “I just…need time to be alone. Think a little. Okay?"

I forced my tail to uncurl, nodding silently. What hurt the most though was when I tried moving forward for a hug, only for Anthony to grab my paw to shake it. Then, he promptly left the kitchen and went into the garage midway through putting on his jacket. Seconds later, we heard our car start up and leave.

“Is…Is he doing okay?" I asked, my voice quavering as I turned to my parents. “What did I miss while I was asleep?"

“Anthony's been through a lot, kiddo," Dad told me. “Imagine you're in his shoes, and one day, you're told that not only are you from a different parallel universe, but the one you're from is destroyed too. And the family you grew up with isn't—"

“We are his family, hun." Mom frowned at him, and Dad nodded apologetically. “Our Beta counterparts might have been the ones to name him and give birth to him, but they told us to raise him as our own, and he is. No technicality changes that." She turned to me. “He is our son, your brother. Does where he come from change that, Cameron?"

The hesitancy lasted for only two seconds. “No," I replied. “No, it doesn't."

“Good," she sat down beside my father at the dining table, then offered for me to sit down. I politely did so, despite feeling the dread in my stomach boil again like it did the night before. “Anthony told us that you two wanted to go to the same college. And share a dorm room too. Is that right?"

“Yes," I said after a moment. “We've been discussing a long time. We…I want to go for a physics degree and Tony's interested in engineering." My eyes locked with theirs. “And we do wanna share a dorm room together."

Awkward silence. I let out a trill of embarrassment.

Then, Dad turned to Mom and sighed.

“He said the same thing to us, before you came downstairs." She chuckled. “If there's one thing I regret, it's teaching you two to be stubborn…"

“What your mother's trying to say," Dad said, offering an olive branch, “is that we…in the grand scheme of things, we should've expected this. We know you two are close—extremely close—but neither of us want you to stay limited." He clasped paws with Mom's and smiled softly at her. She returned it tenfold. “I love your mother the same way you two love each other, but that doesn't stop either of us from having independent lives and interests."

“We just don't want you to be codependent on each other," Mom said.

“We're not codependent," I argued, feeling my tail twitch and my ears fold. “Tony and I have friends, hobbies, and spend time away from each other."

“We mean romantically, son," Dad clarified. “If there's another guy out there who you're interested in dating, nothing should stop you. If there's a guy that Tony's interested in dating, nothing should stop him. If you two wanna be in an open relationship, go on ahead. That's what me and your mom did in college, and it didn't stop us from marrying."

“Wait, wait, wait." I suddenly held my paws up. My nostrils flared from the surprise in his words. “You and Mom were—"

“It was the Nineties," she laughed. “Everybody was swinging, Cam. Then, we decided to buckle down and have you. Then Anthony became our responsibility before eventually, our little family grew." Mom's smile became a little more serious, but her sincerity bled through easily. “We love you two, and we only want you to be happy. Just be careful, okay? And for the love of God, make sure that Billy and Mara never figure out what's going on with you and Anthony."

“Will do," I conceded, smiling until it became sullen. “But I'm not sure if Anthony and I are still a thing…you saw how freaked out he was. It's…It's one thing to be twins, but now…I'm worried that this is changing things forever…"

“Well," Dad asked me, “did being twin brothers make a difference with what you two did in secret? Did being blood-related keep you from having…well, relations with a relation?" He laughed as if it were the funniest joke.

“Dad!" I groaned, along with my mom.

“What, it was good. Sue me," he chuckled while ignoring Mom's evil eye. “My point stands though. It's like your mother said, you're both still our sons, and therefore, that makes you two still brothers. You grew up together, share birthdays, get into fights with your younger siblings, and still push each other to be better…You and Anthony may be parallel versions of the same person, but it shouldn't change the love and affection you have for each other."

“Thanks, Dad." I beamed, “And thank you, Mom."

For the rest of the day, we decided to laze around and not overthink things. Mom went about reorganizing the office in-between listening to a science fiction podcast—coincidentally, one that involved time travel and dimension-hopping—while Dad relaxed into his recliner and tuned the family room TV to a cable movie marathon. I joined him once he mentioned 'The Star Wars' tetralogy being included in the lineup. We laughed, quoted memorable lines, and appreciated the movie majesty of such a classic film series.

“So what was it like, anyway?" Dad jested at one point, and pointed to the screen after Luka had been kissed by Princess Lena, both unaware they were separated twins. “Did Anthony kiss you like Lena did to him, or—"

“Dad!" I groaned into my pillow as the older tiger went into hysterics.

“Hey," he bellowed with laughter, almost falling backwards from his recliner, “at least you two don't have a bounty hunter pining for you on the sides. Oh! Wait, did it only start off with a kiss? Or did it go—"

“Daaaad!"

I managed to survive the rest of the marathon without dying of embarrassment. It didn't stop Dad from asking the occasional harmless question though. Not in the interrogative way that Mom would prefer though, but almost always with curiosity during commercials. When did me and Anthony first 'experiment'? About fifteen. When did we 'go all the way'? On our sixteenth birthdays, after everyone was asleep following the big house party. Were we careful, and did we make sure to always include lubrication? Yes, and yes, but I did have trouble walking to the bathroom afterwards. Did anybody else know about what me and Anthony 'did alone'? No.

“Hey, if you vet potential boyfriends carefully," Dad proposed, “you might get lucky and find a guy who's really into that. Like, when me and your mother were at university, there were these two hot, hot vixen twins, and I somehow managed to convince them—"

“Daaaaaaaaaad," I groaned again. “TMI!"

“Hey, if you and he find a guy who not only tolerates you two, but actually enjoys it," he pointed out midway through cracking another beer can, “I'd suggest marrying them. So long as he's good for you and not a toxic narcissist."

“Not a narcissist?" I queried, shaking my head. “You do realize—"

“Ohhh, right!" he chuckled, pointing a finger at me. “Yeah, good point."

***

It had gotten late. Despondent, I decided to go to bed early, and Dad elected to join Mom as well in going to sleep. All of us were certain Anthony would return home, and he did, not an hour later. My back faced the doorway leading into our bedroom, and I lay on my bed on my side, but I didn't need sight to know Anthony had come home. I'd heard him park the car in the garage, close it, the door, then walk upstairs to apologize to Mom and Dad for the radio silence.

Dad said, “It's no problem, kiddo."

Mom asked, “How was your day?"

And Anthony answered, “It…It was fine. Thank you."

They talked for a short while, then exchanged good nights, 'I love you', and the tiger sauntered into our bedroom like a poltergeist. He stood by the doorframe, closing it behind him. Then, I felt Anthony climb onto my bed and wrap his arms around my torso.

He kissed between my two shoulder blades. Unable to resist, I let out a low purring that rose from the back of my throat. He did the same.

“Hey," I murmured.

He replied, “Hey."

“How are you feeling?" I asked, letting my tail curl comfortably around our ankles.

My twin brother didn't answer for what felt like minutes, then sighed. “Driving back, it hit me," he whispered. “If our friends can tell us apart, then so can we. I missed talking to you all day, and now…I don't care if we're twin brothers, parallel clones, or unrelated at all, you're still the guy I fell in love with. I…I love you, Cameron."

Tears threatened to drip down my cheeks like acid. Shifting around to face him, a shine in his identical eyes reflected through the darkness, and Anthony pulled me into his arms. Our clothed bodies pressed together into a familiar warmth. Burying my whiskers into his warm neck, I sobbed and sobbed, “I love you too, Tony…"

We hugged each other and let our emotions flow. Between the tears and happy sobs, our cold, whiskered noses touched, and our lips did too. It had only been a day, but it'd felt like tortured years, and we fell asleep on the bed without a care if our folks walked in to find us cuddling in our sleep.

Speaking of whom, we woke up the next morning to a very quiet house. However, the two of us did find a handwritten note signed by our parents on the kitchen counter.

Work called us back. We'll tell the research team that you two know the truth, and if you're interested, can come by to ask questions. Otherwise, we're gonna be gone all day. Don't get into too much trouble while we're away, boys. Be right back by lunchtime!

Love, Mom and Dad.

“Hot damn," Anthony spoke before glancing to me. “So whatcha wanna do?"

“Why not get a workout in?" I suggested, and he snapped his fingers. “Read your mind?"

He snickered, “You just read my mind, bro."

Hearing him say 'bro' again caused my tail to swish happily behind me as we got ready.

***

Our workout area of the basement served as a sanctuary. While Dad used the other half of the basement to work on his detailed model train set, and Mom liked keeping a small section to store holiday decorations, me and Anthony used to the other half to keep our athletic figures. It certainly helped that with both of our parents being gone until at least lunchtime, we could crash weights and barbells as loudly as we wanted.

The workout area consisted of two barbell stations, a treadmill, large TV screen mounted on the wall, plus enough yoga mats to replace the shag carpeting. By the time that we finished doing our sets and returned it to the familiar yet deliciously aching soreness in our muscles, Anthony and I lay panting on the mats. We chuffed and exhaled in unison, staring up at the ugly ceiling with two massive grins. We were covered in sweat, grime, and happiness.

“Phew!" I inhaled and exhaled all the air in my lungs. “Think I…broke my…record!"

“Me too," Anthony huffed. One of his paws went left word until they clasped my left pec, kneading the breast's hard muscles, through my shirt. “Can feel…your heartbeat, bro."

I did the same, marveling at how it pulsed beneath my fingers as they fondled the same solid muscle. “Ditto," came my response. “Do you…think we…burned it all…off?"

“Burn off what?" he spoke out his sentence, his raspy breathing growing calmer. “The pizza? Think so…"

“Good," I murmured, groaning as I tried standing up. “Let's stretch…Don't wanna explain to classmates and the parents why we're sore all over."

“Yeah," he suddenly began to cackle, “don't wanna have 'em get the wrong idea!"

I rolled my eyes down at the hysterical Siberian tiger and helped him to his feet.

We started off by leaning against the wall, then twisting our arms, torsos, legs, and raising each in different stretching positions until the aches grew dull. Every once in a while, I would find my eyes wandering to his posterior or I would catch him ogling mine, and sometimes neither of us would bother trying to hide the fact that our bulges were visible through the fabric of our shorts. It didn't distract us too much though. By the time we were ready to go upstairs and take a refreshing shower—together, no less—something else caught our eyes.

Without a word, we examined each other in the large mirror along one of the workout area's walls. It gave us both an unobstructed view of our progress, especially as we stood together. Our fingers roamed the other's stripes, arms, then chest without looking away. Almost like the two of us were seeing our bodies for the first time. Eyes traveled over peeking stomachs, outlined groins, perked nipples tenting through the shirts, and how our calves filled out in the black workout shorts.

“Hard to imagine that…we're one person."

“Yeah. I know what you mean."

Over the years, our perfectly identical bodies had been starved, sweated, and exerted to athletic perfection ever since we started running in middle school. Staring too long made me confused at first who Anthony was in the mirror and who Cameron happened to be. Who winked in the reflection? When one of the handsome teenage tigers licked his chops, was it me or Anthony? It all blurred together the longer I stared with him at the mirror, our stripes, our smiles, our eyes and build and matching sweaty clothes. I felt like an observer looking at myself.

However, when Anthony turned to me, all of my anxious thoughts went down the drain. “Are we vain?" he asked.

“Maybe?" I mused. “But can you blame us?"

Anthony gave a soft grin, biting his lower lip for a moment. “No," he exhaled, then leaned forward. “I can't. Can you?"

I beamed. “Never."

Lips crashing together, shivers ran up our tails and along our spines as we relished the kiss. I felt familiar, but different somehow. Our tongues leisurely danced together, and our fingers roamed to the bases of identical tails that thrashed. However, the thrill in our taboo was changed. We were no longer identical twin brothers in love, but two sides of the same coin. I literally made out and a fondled with myself but didn't care. If anything, feeling a mutual erection in his pants press against mine made my excited fur stand on end, especially as I began to tug at his clothes, and he pushed me against the wall. Our tongues danced together in a leisurely waltz, feline arousal filling our nostrils and wafting over our saliva-wet, whiskered lips. The same cloud of lust filled our hazel eyes, which then closed as we melted again into a prolonged kiss.

Fucking hell, I missed it. I missed him.

Our washboard abs and hard muscles rubbed against each other, our sweaty shirts and shorts discarded as pitched tents in white boxers ground feverishly together. Fingers and paw pads fondled at familiar territory. I found at the elastic I underwear hem at the base of his tail, driving my lover wild as I pulled and snapped it back repeatedly. In return, Anthony lapped and nibbled at the crook of my exposed neck each time I arched my head in pleasure. All the while our rough cat tongues probed around parted lips drooling in sweet saliva.

“Mnah, f…first to cum must bottom?"

I smirked back up at him. “First to cum must bottom!"

The only downside to our sexual escapades came down to the both of us being tops. We could definitely bottom if either of us got in the mood, but over the years, it had become clear to us that we preferred dominance over submission. It's a compromise whenever we got in the mood and neither of us wanted to lift our tails, we frotted like no tomorrow. Sometimes, we even made a game out of it to determine whose turn it was. Definitely much more fun than flipping a coin.

We were both too horny to bother going upstairs. Instead, we scanned our sweaty undies down and kicked them to our pile of clothes, then literally wrestled for dominance on the yoga mats. Barbed cocks rubbed together, along the clefts of asses, under hot scrotums yearning to be emptied, leaving small strands of pre with each thrust. Anthony used a dirty tactic by pressing his nose to my ticklish neck and occasionally chopping on my neck when I least expected it.

Meanwhile, I went on the offensive by kneading my left paw on his right ass cheek, admiring the muscles in his solid posterior, and using a thumb to pry it apart. Precisely after drenching it with his own sweet saliva. However, I didn't slide it in his exposed tailhole, but merely started teasing it, doing my best to drive him wild while my thumb made circular motions around my brother's quivering entrance.

Otherwise, we did everything in the book to get the other off. Moan like virgins, tease at our vulnerable spots, pinch nipples, grope a cock, squeeze an ass, dive into our shared library of kinks, or even theorize who would make a perfect candidate to a potential threesome in the future.

Well, if either of us ever found the bravery to explore a polyamorous relationship.

“Mnah, ahh, can you imagine us," I asked midway through another heated minute of making out, “getting a third? Think about it: our very own sub to share."

“Oh, fuck yeah!" Anthony replied with a growl. “Like Dean Simms?"

A hot scenario flickered into my mind: Dean Simms, the flamboyant and lithe rabbit twink who had been out of the closet since middle school, being spitroasted between me and Anthony in our bedroom. All three of us would definitely enjoy the experience, based on how he would occasionally flirt with me or my twin during classes. The thought of that cute rabbit taking me and my brother's barbed cocks on both ends sent a thrilling shiver up my hard erection. The same went for Anthony too.

It seemed that our shared imagination sent us over the edge a little.

“Grrrr, oh, fuck! Ngh! Ahhh, ahhhhh, oooooooh!"

“Mnahhh, T-Tony, I'm…I'm gonna—Ahhhhhhhh!"

We had overshot our trajectories. Before either of us could stop ourselves, Anthony and I had fallen into our carnal instincts, and came together. Our backs arched against the other and our shafts throbbed as pulsing tiger semen coated our naked, sweaty bodies. Our cry of unison became unregulated breathing again before Anthony collapsed atop me.

“Ow!" I grunted, still panting. “W-Watch it!"

“S-Sorry…bro," he purred into my neck. “Shame…we didn't get to…do anal…"

“Always next time," I spoke, purring also. Our tails entwined between our legs. “God, feel my chest now…"

Both of our paws felt the other's heartbeat. It went much faster than it had after our workout. Anthony pinched the nipple there and I let out a meowing gasp. He laughed, so I retaliated with my own hard squeeze around his hard nub. My twin squealed delightedly, then nuzzled into my broad chest again. Then, he began to give me a tongue bath. I did too, licking up his salty sweat from nip to neck until our whiskers touched.

“So," he abruptly asked, “would people call this masturbation or…?"

“Maybe, or maybe not," I conceded, “but I think I prefer to call it binary…self-love?"

“Binary love," he suggested, already beginning to let out a rumbling purr. “Because y'know. Two people, same person, same love?"

Without much though, purely on deep instinct, I leaned forward to peck his warm lips. Anthony's half-surprised expression remained when I pulled away. “Either way, I love you. Semantics and DNA doesn't change that, Tony."

“You're such a dork."

“Takes one to know one," I teased amid more purring.

A tired lick from him along my Adam's apple made me tickle, causing more purring to vibrate between us. “Cameron?"

“Hmm?" I chimed between labored breaths.

“I love you so goddamn much," he whispered, kissing beneath my chin. “I love us."

“I love you too, Anthony." I smiled while caressing the back of his heated ears. A sniffle escaped my nose. “And I love us too. I love us so much, I can't imagine a future without you…"

“Hey now…don't go crying on me," he murmured, chuckling. “Let's get upstairs and shower before—"

All of a sudden, we could hear the garage door opening from the basement door. We sat straight up on the musky yoga mat, exchanged horrified glances, then stormed upstairs for the bathroom. We weren't fast enough.

“Boys!" Our mom shrieked out of the corners of our eyes from the kitchen island. “You two have better not done what I think you did downstairs!"

We laughed our way into the shower, and partly dreaded the lecture she would likely give us on where we could/could not have sex in the house. Even so, it didn't stop us from enjoying the hot water descending on our bodies, standing closely together and smiling as we helped clean each other. Not just clean each other though, but hold each other, hugged each other, then kissed each other.

We were brothers. We were lovers. We were twins. We were one and the same. Whatever label we chose, it didn't change how we truly felt, and we couldn't have it any other way.