Connor blinked at his red-eyed friend that sat on his bed staring at him. Connor did not know what he was expected to do, so he just stood with his hands at his sides. Akihiko huffed and shook his head, "You don't know why I dragged you in here, do you?" Connor's body stiffened as he looked towards the boy, his face going a light shade of pink.

"Not exactly," He said nervously. Akihiko sighed again and looked up at his friend, slowly getting closer. Connor's body stiffened again as the small wolf boy approached him. There was silence between them for a bit, neither of them spoke. Akihiko cleared his throat getting Connor's attention. Connor looked up, still confused as ever.

Akihiko sighed, unable to believe how ignorant his friend was. "Take off your shirt," Akihiko said simply. Connor's face turned bright red, as did Akihiko's when he realized what he'd just said. "N-no! N-not that! I-I mean yes take off your shirt b-but n-not like that! I just meant- uhm, c-change your clothes or ack! J-just change y-your shirt, I-I won't look, n-not that I would I was just clearing it up, t-that's all!"  Akihiko fumbled for words, his face getting redder and redder as he tried to explain.

Finally, Akihiko turned around, his back facing Connor, his face burning red. Connor too was red but the color in his cheeks slowly began to calm as he noticed something about Akihiko. His arms were crossed in a pouting type fashion, his ears plastered to the sides of his head, and his tail swishing back and forth irritably. Connor watched the young Langrens tail swish back and forth in an almost tempting way. The wolf's tail looked so soft and fluffy, Connor wondered what it would feel like to pet his tail. He reached out to touch the Langrens tail but paused. Maybe it was rude of him to touch Akihiko's tail without asking his consent first? Connor froze, why did his brain have to word it like that?! He wasn't asking for anything lewd! He just wanted to pet his friend. Touch his friend's tail? Connor shook his head, prying his hand away from the flickering tuft of fur. No matter how he worded it, it just sounded wrong. Even though he had managed to pry his hand away, he couldn't tear his gaze off Akihiko's tail. It swished back and forth behind the Langrens legs, Connors's eyes following. He reached out again, this time both of his hands preparing to grab the furry tail.

"Are you done yet?" Akihiko asked, turning around to face Connor. The blush on his face had already managed to lighten its shade and his ears had perked up as they usually did. By the time he had turned around Connor had instead grabbed the boy's hips, rather than his tail. Heat immediately returned to both their faces and Akihiko's ears flattened themselves to the side of his head again in embarrassment. Connor made a quick recovery and stepped in to hug the wolf boy. Akihiko squeaked in surprise from the unusual act but his embarrassment quickly dispersed. His ears slowly let up and his muscles relaxed as he wrapped his arms around his human friend. His tail began to wag ever so slightly behind him, he just hoped that Connor hadn't noticed.

Connor had definitely noticed, in fact, it just made him want to pet Akihiko's tail even more. Connor's hands slowly traveled down the Langren's back to stroke the soft-looking, still slightly wagging, tail in front of him. He slowly stroked the sides of Akihiko's tail, from the bottom to the top. Shivers flew up Akihiko's spine from his tail being touched.

"Ack!" Akihiko shouted, his tail shooting straight up. He pushed Connor backward out of instinct which only resulted in Connor pulling him down along with him. Both males fell onto the floor with a loud thud, Akihiko let out a small whimper as they hit the floor. Connor had let go of Akihiko's tail, and was now trying to separate the pain of hitting his head and the weight that rested on him. After shaking his head a few times he looked up to see his friend staring back at him. They both blinked, still trying to figure out what had happened. They were so busy trying to catch their brains up with what had just happened they didn't notice Aeiko until it was too late. She slammed the door open, concern in her eyes.

"I heard Akihiko yell! Are you-," Aeiko paused as her eyes found her little brother and Connor. Concern vanished from her eyes and instead was replaced by a blank, yet confused expression. She blinked a few times as she took in the scene. Her 19-year-old little brother, his face completely flushed and his ears pinned down to his head, laying on top of his shirtless 19-year-old friend. Both of them on the floor and staring at her with so much fear in their eyes she would have thought Aokiji was standing behind her. 

"A-A-Aeiko! T-this is not what it looks like! I can explain everything, l-let me just-," a finger was put over Akihiko's lips.

"Shh," his older sister hushed him, "you can explain everything when we leave. Just finish what you're doing and come out to eat dinner," She said smiling.
She shut the door behind her and walked down the hallway back to the kitchen. The two boys looked at each other, Akihiko scrambling off of his friend. Connor remained on the floor, still dazed by the soft touch of Akihiko's tail.

"Connor, what the heck was that?!" Akihiko whined. Connor sat up and shrugged awkwardly as he stood up. He looked down at his friend, his cheeks bright red and his tail slightly in between his legs in order to protect it. Connor laughed at his friend who was pouting cutely, putting his hand on his friends' head and slowly petting him.

"Haha, Aki~ I'm sorry, forgive me?" Connor jokingly pleaded.

Aki huffed in annoyance, "No, and don't Aki me you perv." He said quietly, fighting against wagging his tail.

Connor smiled at his friend, "Aww, Aki! Please forgive me!" Connor begged jokingly, slightly scratching him begging his ears. Akihiko fought not to give in but the temptation was too strong. He pushed his head into Connor's hand, his tail thumping against the dresser drawer next to him.

"I-If you're going to do that the least you could do is do it right," Akihiko said, his head getting properly scratched now.

"Hmm, alright, you're tail seems to be wagging a great deal too," Connor teased

"C-Connor!" Akihiko whined, "M-my tail is not wagging!"

Connor rolled his eyes and chuckled, "oh really? What's this then?" He asked, grabbing Akihiko's tail. Once again, shivers rode up the small wolf's spine, making the Langren shake.

"S-stop doing that!" He yelled at his friend, embarrassment thick in his tone.

"But it's so fluffy," Connor said teasingly. Akihiko just groaned, throwing a random shirt at Connor.

"J-just put your shirt on," Akihiko mumbled under his breath.

"Alright, Aki," Connor said, pulling the shirt over his head. Akihiko sighed, his face still red. "Alright, my shirt is on, you can look now," Connor said.
Akihiko turned around slowly, his hands over his eyes, carefully parting his fingers so he could see. Akihiko cautiously peeked at Connor afraid he was being tricked into looking at his friend shirtless again, he didn't exactly appreciate being embarrassed. When he finally looked at Connor, his eyes widened as he put his hands down to his sides. "Ta da." Connor joked, putting his arms out as if he were presenting himself. It was a dark green casual t-shirt, nothing special but seeing Connor looking like that caused heat to rise to his cheeks. "Could you hand me that, Aki?" Connor asked, pointing at a belt behind Akihiko and snapping him out of his trance,

"o-oh, sure," he replied shakily, handing Connor the leather belt.

"Thanks." Akihiko just nodded, unable to look away from his friend, was it the shirt or was it just Connor in general?

"Alright, let's go, dinner is ready and the others are getting impatient," Connor said, looking back at his friend. "How do I look?" He asked the wolf boy, Akihiko blinked at him before saying a single word,

"Cute." It was barely audible but Connor heard him, steadily becoming flustered. Akihiko then noticed and began to stutter. "A-ah no I meant you look ho- great! You look great!" He said chuckling nervously, "L-let's go eat!"

Connor mumbled a brief, "Y-Yeah, let's eat," as they headed for the door. Both boys walked out of Connor's room, equally flustered. Faye was smiling confidently as she collected the 15 dollars from Lucas.

"Told you they would," Faye said smirking.

"Yeah yeah, you won this time," he said annoyed. This was the third time in a row he'd lost a bet to Faye.

Connor rushed over to Lucas and Faye alarmed, "Were you guys seriously betting on us?!" He shouted angrily, Faye and Lucas only smiled at him.

"Yeah, we bet you two would both come out of your room completely red, and I was right so I won." Faye said, counting her "prize money".

Connor opened his mouth to shout at her again but she interrupted him, "What were you two even doing in there anyway? Aki looks as if he-," Connor cut her off.

"You leave my Aki out of this! Only I can call him that! And we weren't doing anything," Connor said defiantly. Faye's eyes had gone wide, as had Lucas's and Arya's. Aeiko's jaw dropped to the floor and Akihiko's face turned a bright shade of red. He slowly walked up to Connor and tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. Once he turned around and saw Akihiko, confusion was mixed in his eyes, lost by everyone's reaction.

"C-Connor," he started, "y-you called me 'my Aki'," He whispered, Connor's face going pink again. "Y-you probably don't know this but," he paused, looking at his sister, Aeiko. She gave him a slight nod, giving him the go-ahead. Akihiko's face darkened its shade of red as he looked back at Connor, his ears flattened to his head. "Uhm, in m-my culture, the only person that can call you "mine" is their m-mate," he stuttered, his face going a deeper shade of red.

Connor smiled, "Aki, that's fine," he said, Akihiko looking up at him shocked by his calm reaction. Aeiko looked away from the two boys, no longer concerned, taking a sip of her water. Akihiko took a deep breath, and sighed out of relief.

"So it's fine?" Akihiko asked relieved, Connor nodded, wrapping his arm around his friend's shoulder.

"Cause we are mates," he said nonchalantly, smiling as per usual. Akihiko's face went 50 shades of red as he began to stutter a response but he couldn't find anything to say. Aeiko spit out her water, coughing and choking as water dripped from her mouth.

"What the actual f-," Aeiko was cut off by Akihiko.

"N-no! W-we're not mates!" Akihiko yelled frantically.

"You better not be!" Aeiko yelled at her brother, Connor still lost in confusion.

"Aki, we are mates right? You know, good friends?" Connor said, a little upset, he thought they were good friends, this reaction was odd. Akihiko stared at him, realizing their definitions of mates were completely different.

"We are good friends! It's just that, mates in our definition is different." He said, embarrassed, not wanting to explain this to his friend.

"Oh, then what does it mean in your definition?" Connor asked, curiosity lacing his words.

Akihiko paused, he took a breath and opened his mouth to explain, "In our terms, it means we, uhm, it means that we..we...w-we-,"

"It means you slept with him and you claimed him," Aeiko said, glaring daggers at Connor, waiting for his response. Both boys' jaws dropped, Akihiko covering his face with his hands.

"N-no we haven't slept together and I have no idea what you mean by 'claimed him' but I'm not going to ask," Connor said defensively.

Aeiko then smiled at him, "You're a good boy, Connor," she said smiling, "now come over here and eat your dinner before it gets cold, you too Akihiko, Faye, and Lucas. Arya made it and y'all are going to eat it and you're going to like it," she said, digging her fork into the chicken Arya had prepared. All four teens walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Connor and Aki sat in awkward silence the entire night as they ate dinner. It wasn't like them and Connor didn't know what had happened between them but he didn't like it at all. Dinner dragged on in silence for what felt like hours until it was finally over. The two boys went to hug as they usually did but this time they ended up headbutting.

They both pulled away, "Sorry," Connor said apologetically,

"I-It's okay," Akihiko mumbled. He wrapped his arms around the taller boy, Connor doing the same to Akihiko. "Please don't touch my tail this time," the small wolf boy whispered into Connor's shirt.

Connor laughed, "okay, I won't. I promise I won't do that again without at least asking you first," he whispered back, hugging the little wolf boy tighter. Akihiko gasped as Connor increased the force he was putting on his back. He buried his face in the taller boy's chest, his eyes beginning to water as he hugged him back tightly. This was the last time he would see Connor in awhile. There was no telling how long it would be until they saw each other next.

Akihiko began to cry softly into the taller boy's shirt, "I'll miss you, Connor." The Langren whispered to his human friend, Connor nuzzled the significantly shorter wolf boy.

"I know, I'll miss you too, Aki," Connor said, "Don't cry, I'll come back alive, I promise." He said smiling, Akihiko just nodded still gripping onto Connor's T-shirt.

"You better come back, a-and promise me if there's any sign of danger, y-you'll get out of there!" Akihiko yelled, pulling away from the hug and looking Connor straight in the eye. Connor smiled and nodded, putting his hand on the wolf boy's head, petting it softly. Truth was, Connor had signed up for a rather unexpected "job". There had been an unknown group lurking around Akihiko's home. They'd been wandering around for a while but they had suddenly disappeared before the police could see what they were up to. It had been kept on the down-low but Akihiko had shared the information and his fears with Connor. Akihiko's brother Aokiji had been on high alert as well. This worried Connor far too much for him to just stand by.

He'd asked Arya and Aeiko if he would be any use. Arya had begrudgingly said that the police would need as much help as they could get, as would Aokiji. He'd told Akihiko the news the last time they spoke and while they were working on catching the group of people, Aki and his sister would have to live somewhere else. Arya had agreed to allow them to stay with her, Faye and Lucas for as long as they needed. But unfortunately, Connor wouldn't be able to come home until the police were sure he wouldn't be followed by the people. There was no telling how long that would take. There was no telling how long Connor would be gone and if he would even come back alive. Akihiko wanted to believe that his friend would return safely, unharmed and alive, but he wasn't so sure. Akihiko hugged Connor tightly once more, nearly knocking the taller boy over.

"Woah, hey!" Connor shouted in surprise, but he froze when he felt the small wolf boy shaking. His tail tucked between his legs, ears flattened against his head, he looked outright scared out of his mind. It broke Connor's heart to see him in that state, but there wasn't anything he could really say, he knew it was possible that he wouldn't make it back, no matter how much he didn't want to believe it. He squeezed the little Langren back, resting his chin on his friend's head, his breath slightly blowing the shorter boy's hair. "I leave early tomorrow morning, if you can get here early enough, then maybe-,"

"You leave here at 6 in the morning, you expect them to make the hour-long drive over here, you're basically asking them to wake up at four in the morning to come all the way here. And for what, to tell you goodbye?" Arya butted in, tears welling up in her eyes as she spoke. Connor frowned, about to walk over to her when he felt a tug on his sleeve.

It was Akihiko, "C-Connor, could I spend the night?" Akihiko asked, a pleading look in his red, teary eyes. Connor stared down at him,

"W-Well I don't-,"

"Please, Connor!" Akihiko cried, tears running down his face, "I need to be here to say goodbye, just incase you don't come back." He whispered, his tears falling faster now, Connor pulled him close, stroking the back of his head.

"Shh, shh, you can spend the night, okay?" Connor whispered, trying his best to calm his friend down. He looked to Aeiko as she stared at her brother. She'd never seen him like this before, it made her sick to see her little brother in so much pain.

She looked to Connor, "It's okay, he can stay." She mumbled, "You should stay too, it's late and I don't feel comfortable with you going home, especially alone," Arya told her. "I'll get some extra pillows and blankets," Arya said, walking into another room.

"A-Actually, can I sleep with you?" Akihiko asked, looking at the ground. Blush rose to Connor's cheeks, nodding slightly,

"Sure, yeah you can sleep with me." Akihiko smiled, a silent thank you from the Langren. Connor walked the boy to his room where he could get him some clothes to sleep in. Once the door closed,  Akihiko collapsed as he began to break down. Connor could only rub his back and try to reassure him that he would come back safe.

"It'll be okay, I'll call you every day to update and let you know I'm okay, alright? I promise," Akihiko calmed down a bit, his cries degrading to a sniffle, he was still skeptical about Connor going but he tried his best to smile. Connor smiled back, handing him some clean clothes, he changed in the bathroom and Akihiko changed in Connor's room. The clothes that Connor had given him were a bit big but they were clean so he didn't complain. Akihiko lifted the collar up to his nose,and gave it a quick sniff, it smelled like Connor, which oddly enough, gave him a sense of calm. He liked the smell, it wasn't any type of cologne, it was just Connor's natural smell. He smelled it again, seeking comfort in the scent, he yawned, his eyelids heavy and tired from crying.
Akihiko sat on the bed, waiting for Connor, desperately trying not to fall asleep, his ears drooped and his head fell forward and backward. He shook his head trying to stay awake but it wasn't any good.

The wolf boy finally gave in to his tiredness and crawled under the covers, resting his head on the pillow. He fell asleep almost immediately, as he was engulfed in Connor's scent. "Sorry Aki, I was trying to find an extra pillow and blanket but there wasn't any so I guess you'll have to sleep in my bed with me," Connor said, setting the alarm on his phone. When his friend didn't answer he looked up to see Aki fast asleep in his bed, his face heating up immediately. Connor slowly made his way over to the opposite side of his bed, crawling under the covers with Akihiko. He smiled at the sleeping boy, pulling him closer into his chest, the sleeping Langren smiled in return, nuzzling into Connor's chest. Connor smiled again as he leaned his head down to kiss the small wolf boy's head. "Goodnight, Aki. I love you, sorry I couldn't say that to your face," Connor said as his smile fell, tears forming in his eyes.

He reached behind him to turn off the lamp that lit up the room, once he flipped the switch, it went pitch black. Connor sighed into the boy's hair, hugging him close, a few tears fell from his eyes before he closed them and fell asleep. He'd fallen asleep next to his best friend, the one he loved the most, he just hoped that it wouldn't be the last time he did this. The last time he saw Aki or heard him laugh, see him smile, breathes in his scent, or worse, the last time he'd breathe at all. Dread washed over him as he dwelled on that thought through the night, he needed more time, just enough to get a chance to tell Akihiko how he really felt about him. Unfortunately, you don't always get what you want in this world, or any other world for that matter.