It’s quiet. Dark. Comfy. The thick, soft blanket wrapped around me is totally heaven. All warm, and nice—definitely that perfect kind of day for sure. I yawn and open my eyes. Over on the nightstand my clock reads 7:14. Still kinda early. The comforting warmth of the blanket draws me back in, and I decide that maybe I’ll sleep in just a bit longer...
But as soon as I close my eyes, images come flooding back into my mind. Sights and smells and touches—one moment more unbelievable than the last. And somewhat troubling, actually. But it’s just a crazy dream, right? Something still feels off, though...
I look again over to the nightstand, and something is off. I don’t have a lamp on my nightstand, and actually, wait a second… that’s not my clock.
“Morning sleepyhead~”
My eyes dart over; I’m wide awake.
One naked fox boy sitting in a chair, just across from me, an earbud in one ear and the other in his hand, and a portable game console in his lap. He’s smirking right at me.
“Yeaaaaaaah I’m still dreaming.” I shut my eyes, a little too forcefully and sink my head into the pillow. But it doesn’t go away—if anything I’m only pulled back in even stronger. My heart’s beating faster and faster; I’m clamming up—like my body temperature just plummets but it’s burning hot at the same time, and then I—“Aaaah!” I yelp.
“You okay, Tyler?” the kit asks me, inches away from my face, finger still hovering over my nose where he poked. There’s a concerned look in his eye. He gazes downward, then touches his hand to my chest. I flinch. “Yikes,” he says. He smiles in surprise. “Tyler?”
“Sorry, I uh you know just uh having a bit of a panic attack is all I guess eheh.”
He grimaces and looks elsewhere.
“I’m not dreaming, am I...” I ask, not sure what to expect, though.
“Noooo… but aren’t you over-reacting a bit?” he asks.
“Over-… over-reacting. Over-reacting? Am I? Cause I’m pretty sure I just… what happened wasn’t a dream then… you’re naked right now-… I’m naked...”
He reaches over and touches my shoulder and sighs. “Tyler, chill out. I promised one-hundred percent you’re not gonna get in trouble. At all.”
“Promise?” I can’t help but scoff. “I uh… don’t think you’re really the kind of kid I can take at his word right now…”
His mouth skews and he looks away again. This time he kicks off the bed, pushing his chair back and spinning around to hide himself. “I didn’t think you’d freak out this bad…” he sighs. “I’m sorry, Tyler.”
Sigh. It’s hard to believe him, but I appreciate he’s at least trying to act sorry, I guess.
He looks back at me, muzzle buried into the back of his chair. Muffled slightly, he asks, “there anything I can do or say to make you feel better?”
I clutch the blanket tight to my chest and take in another deep breath. “I don’t know… convince me I’m not evil incarnate and didn’t just totally defile you in the worst possible way and aren’t very soon going to prison for the rest of my life getting brutalized by every other inmate and hated by the rest of society?”
He shifts uncomfortably, ears pinned back. Then he says, quietly at first, “I had fun-… I enjoyed it, so… it can’t be all that bad, I mean, in the whole ‘defiling’ part of it n’ all… right?”
My teeth clench. Another deep breath. I look down at the carpet, then back up at him. “I guess uh… yeah. From that perspective, it could be worse. But that doesn’t change that it’s still totally fucked up and there’s still everything else around it, too.”
“Welllll… I guess I’m not gonna really change your mind on that right now,” he says, claw dragging up and down the fabric of the top of his chair’s back, “but I am super careful. I made sure to plan it all out. I know my parents don’t have spy-cams or whatever, like I told you earlier. You’re not gonna get in trouble for this. And I won’t ever say a word. Lips are zipped. Cross my heart and hope to die. All that, you know.”
I stare him in the eye, and he stares back. But who am I kidding? I totally read him wrong before; he could be lying to my face right now all over again. But he looks sincere, and I guess there’s no reason for him to lie now, and it’s not like I have much other choice but to trust him. I heave another sigh.
“Even if I don’t do anything else with you from now on?” I ask.
His brows furrow, and his lips tighten. In the quiet of the room, it sounds like he even stop breathing, for a moment there. Then comes an exasperated sigh and he kicks at his desk again, turning further away from me. 
In a defeated voice, even tinier than before, he says, “Yeah. You can go run away and never come back. Whatever. I won’t tell.”
I prop up on my elbow and start to sit up, and I can’t help but tilt my head to one side. “So that stuff you said back then?”
“Yeah, I changed my mind!” He barks back, his muzzle peeking up from behind the back of the chair. It dips back down. “If it’s that scary for you… then... it’s not even worth it, okay?”
I sigh and plop back down in the bed, a bit calmer now. I can’t help but smile actually, for just a second, as I stare up at the ceiling. “You really are a good kid, Elliot...” THWAP. “Ow!” I yelp, as my arm throbs sharply in pain. Next to it, a portable game console. “Elliot,” I grumble, then turn over to see him glaring at me with misty eyes, but then the corner of his lips rises just a bit, and I can just barely make out that all-too familiar smirk. And I can’t help but smile back.