A Public Secret 
By: Chaos Blackwing

Warning! This story contains suggestive passages of cub/cub and cub/adult nature. What it does not contain however is any descriptive passages of said activities other than a little kissing and cuddling. So if you're looking for those, check elsewhere. You have been warned. As such, if your brain should implode or you find yourself horribly scarred from reading all the 'horrid perverted smut', well...don't expect much more than laughs from me.

This is my second Dangerous Lunatics fanfic, which I suppose is what I get for having a random muse and reading all those replies from the main story. It should go without saying that if you haven't read 'Dangerous Lunatics' by Alex Reynard, the story this is based upon, you should do so first.

Comments and such are welcome. Flames are too, as long as they're entertaining. If they are not, I shall print them off, cover them in a light steak sauce, and feed them to my pet mongoose.

The characters Keith, Holly, Tyler, Karen, Alf, Zeek and Monsoon are (c) Alex Reynard.
The character of Alf is based off of a character owned by Alfador Fox. 
And air is (c) no one in particular.

I really should have put this in my last story, but...the thumbnails to this and the prior story, were provided by Alex Reynard, who was kind enough to volunteer his artistic talents in creating them.

**

Keith was, to put it mildly, depressed. He guessed it was just one of those days. The rest of the team was off doing something or other, since Zeek had assured them that they were safe for a while. Deciding to take a breather, the team had split off into a few groups and gone wandering the town. Amazingly, the town was a decent sized one for a change, unlike the piddly little villages and middle-of-nowhere motels they had been staying in the past few weeks. Add to that the fact that he'd been missing his parents more than usual for the past month or so, as well as some 'other' things happening, and it all added up to one sad little fox.

Though the more he thought about it, the more he realized that it wasn't that the others were out, or that he was missing his parents that was the real problem. After all, he'd been on his own before, and at the asylum he hadn't seen his parents at all after he'd walked through the doors. If he was to be honest with himself, the main reason that he was depressed was that he was envious.

For the past few months, a few of the team members had gotten together to share some 'private' time with each other. While technically it was supposed to be a secret from the rest of the team, in a group as close knit as theirs it didn't really stay that way for long. With the rest of the team not wanting to bring anything up, it had become a sort of public secret; with everyone knowing, but no one saying anything.

Flopping down on the mattress, Keith felt his eyes drift up to stare at the ceiling as his mind began to wander...

**

It all started, as a great many things do, when a pair of cubs got bored and decided to look for something to do. That the two cubs involved were Tyler and Holly meant that the brainstorming session they had was interspersed with many an inventive insult.

Just as they were about to give it up as a lost cause, Holly remembered something she'd come across one time browsing the net. What of it she could recall had her blushing scarlet, but she did have the general gist of it, and that it was supposed to feel real good. When she mentioned this to Tyler, he'd thought it over for a bit, and though he was a bit hesitant, his curiosity had eventually won and he'd agreed to try it. 

An hour later, after a great many 'oohs', 'wows' and various other surprised and happy noises, the kits had figured out that whatever they were doing, it felt downright good, And that they would certainly be doing more of it in the future. 

They also decided to try and keep it a secret from the rest of the team. What they hadn't really come to understand was how truly impossible it was to keep a secret like that in a situation like theirs...

**

'I wonder how long they'd been playing around before Brad walked in on them that day...?' Keith mused to himself as his eyes wandered over to the wall. 'Probably for a while I guess. For a bit there they always seemed to be in the same room whenever they had a spare moment alone. And while just about the whole team had a few suspicions about it, no-one wanted to bring it up, so it was just another 'thing' to the rest of us.'

Keith was broken out of his thoughts, and nearly ending up scorching something to boot, when he felt a paw land on his shoulder from off to the side of the bed. Looking over, he saw that it was only Alf, one of the two adult team members standing there looking down at him with a concerned expression on his face.

Now, Keith wasn't quite sure what to do around Alf lately. For the past few months he'd been harboring a crush on the blue-haired fox, and despite wanting to get a little intimate with him, just couldn't bring himself to ask. He'd had some slight feelings like that for almost as long as he'd really known him, but it was only recently, when it turned out that it might not be a doomed interest, that it had progressed to the point it was now.

**

It seems that not long after Tyler and Holly's little 'escapades' became semi-public, Karen had apparently also gotten caught with a case of boredom, and, borrowing inspiration from the depraved duo, had gone looking for a little fun on her own. Thing was, the only one around at the time had been Alf, and lately he'd been acting kind of strange.

For quite a while now, almost since they had escaped from King's Orchard, Alf had seemed reluctant, even almost afraid to get to close to the cubs. He'd shy away from any form of physical contact, and sometimes, when he didn't think anyone could see him he'd stare blankly into space, with a tortured look on his face, as though he'd just committed some horrible crime.

At first Karen had put it down to a bit of melancholy, but as time passed and it continued, and even seemed to grow worse, the rest of the team began to worry. What was it that was tormenting their friend so? For the most part, the others didn't have any ideas what could be causing it, but Karen had a hunch, based upon something Alf had once told her.

Just after they'd escaped from King's Orchard, Alf had confessed to her and Brad that he sometimes had 'thoughts', evil thoughts he'd called them. He'd feared that they made him just like that horrible monster Thurston Caercase. While Alf had seemed utterly and completely reassured when Karen and the others immediately told him that he was _nothing_ like that monster, she was beginning to think that it wouldn't be solved that easily.

She was starting to get the feeling that it was the guilt that he still felt for the 'thoughts' he had that was tormenting him. That despite her reassurances, he still felt badly about himself. She wanted to help him, she really did, but what more could she do other than tell him how she, and the rest of the team, trusted him? 

Just then a part of her mind recalled what she had been thinking prior to getting distracted by Alf's troubles, and that part also had an idea of how she could show exactly how much she trusted him. 'No, it's wrong, and besides, he'll never go for it,' one part of her exclaimed, while another part countered with, 'No it's not. Just think, what better way to show him that you trust him? And besides, if what Holly and Tyler look like after their 'playtimes' are any indication, it feels really good'.

After a bit of thought, and taking the time to gather up her nerve, she felt confident enough to ask him. And even if he said no, she could at least see what she could do about helping him with whatever was bothering him. 

Well, she got a response all right, though it certainly wasn't what she was hoping for. At first he'd absolutely refused to even consider the idea, and it was only with a lot of fast-talking on her part that she convinced him that it was okay and that she really wanted to. Even then, he made her promise that she'd tell him the instant that she felt uncomfortable with anything they were doing, and said that he'd stop at any sign of hesitation on her part.

In the end, their encounter came out to be a lot gentler and more relaxed than the energetic play that Tyler and Holly had gone through. It had taken a bit for Alf to be relaxed about it, but after a bit he was enjoying himself just as much as Karen. Both sides were happy with their explorations, and ended their encounter snuggled up with each other in the bed, with Alf's arms wrapped around Karen.

This was, unfortunately enough, the state in which Monsoon found them.

While the rest of the kids didn't see anything, they more than heard it when Monsoon came across the scene. At first Monsoon had thought it was Alf that had instigated it, and it was only at Karen's insistence that it was her idea, and that Alf had only agreed when she had talked him into it, that Monsoon finally calmed down. 

At this point the trouble had mostly passed, and Monsoon just spent the next few minutes confirming that Yes, Karen was perfectly fine, and that No, Alf had certainly not forced her into anything.

While the three in the know didn't exactly want what had happened spread around, the rest of the team were hardly idiots. It didn't really take much brainpower to figure out that something had happened between Alf and Karen, and that Monsoon had walked into whatever that 'something' was. And so, like the activities of Tyler and Holly, it turned into another thing that everyone guessed at, but no one mentioned.

And just as Karen had hoped, while Alf still got a haunted look in his eyes occasionally, it was certainly to a lesser degree now.

**

"..something bothering you?"

Keith was snapped out of his reminiscence by Alf's voice. Looking over, he saw that the older fox had sat down next to him and was looking at him worriedly. Realizing that he'd been asked something, Keith responded with the ever-popular, "Huh?"

"I said, is anything bothering you? Lately you've been looking depressed, just not your usual self. And then today you didn't go with the other kids to explore and wander around. I'm just wondering if something is bugging you lately."

Keith looked up briefly before again staring into his lap, and after a bit of thinking, figured that maybe talking about his problems might help. So he picked a point in space to look at, let his mind go blank and just started talking.

"It's...it's a couple of things really. I've always been real close with my parents, always gotten along great with them. Whenever they had time off from their jobs we'd go fun places, sometimes out to a restaurant, sometimes just out to a park or something. Even when they were both beat from work, they always made sure that we had dinner together; that we'd have time together to just talk and stuff. And lately...I guess I've just been missing them..."

Looking down on the kit, Alf was surprised to see that Keith's eyes were moist, as though he was trying to hold back tears. Reaching over, he took the young kit in his arms to try to comfort him.

"Hey, it's alright. With all the traveling we do, I'm sure that you'll see them again soon. It's only a matter of time really until you see them again." 

Hoping that a small gesture of affection would cheer him up, Alf leaned over to give him a small kiss on the head. Keith however had chosen that moment to look up to ask Alf a question.

And so what had been meant to be an innocent kiss on the head became instead a very surprising kiss on the lips.

Both pulled back as soon as they realized what was happening, blushing furiously and looking anywhere but at each other. The difference being that while the thought foremost in Alf's mind was a major 'Oops', Keith was thinking more along the lines of 'Wow'.

Trying to get back on a more stable footing, Alf tried to bring the conversation back to where it had been. "So...you miss your parents. And uhh...what are the other things that are bothering you then?"

Finally able to bring his blushing to a manageable level Keith looked back over at Alf. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well you said that there were a couple of things bothering you. So what were the other things?"

This time Keith was absolutely crimson with his blushing. He couldn't even look anywhere near Alf.

Seeing this, Alf rushed to reassure the young kit. "It's alright if you don't want to tell me if it's private or something, but I just want to help; and sometimes talking about a problem can lessen it. I really hope you'd trust me enough to talk to me about anything that's bothering you."

'Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt. And who knows, maybe he'll agree..?' So decided, Keith looked back up at Alf, still nervous, but with an inkling of hopefulness as well. "Well...umm...it's just that lately I've been feeling a bit...envious of the others."

THAT certainly wasn't what Alf was expecting, and it took him a few seconds to get his bearings back. "What do you mean 'envious' of them? Is it because they've visited their parents and you haven't? Is that it?"

Still pretty nervous, Keith couldn't help but stammer a bit as he tried to correct Alf. "Umm...not...not really. The thing...that I'm envious of is...is...that Holly and Tyler and Karen have gotten to play around, and...and I've seen how they look after doing whatever it is that they're doing, and...and they look so happy afterwards." Seeing that Alf was getting a little edgy, Keith continued on before he could lose his nerve. "And...and the other thing is...is...I was kinda hoping that, just maybe we could play around too? Like you've done with Karen maybe?"

Alf was pretty much at a loss of words at this point. It wasn't as bad as when Karen asked, but he was still struck pretty speechless nonetheless. 'Maybe you're getting used to it' murmured a little voice in his mind. It was only after he felt Keith put one of his paws on his shoulder that he snapped out of it, looking down and seeing that Keith had an expression that seemed to be one half embarrassment and one half hopefulness.

Realizing that the kit was waiting for an answer, Alf tried to get his thoughts organized enough to give him a response. First of all, he had to make absolutely certain about what Keith meant. Maybe he just wanted a hug, maybe something more. After Karen had gotten to him, he knew better than to dismiss something like this as just a passing idea; Karen had thought out all the angles, and Keith had more than likely done the same. "Umm, well Keith, what exactly did you have in mind?"

"I dunno, I was just thinking that we could just have fun, do whatever feels right at the time. I really do want to though, as long as you're okay with it anyway..."

Gently guiding Keith's muzzle over so he was looking him in the eyes, Alf looked for any hesitancy, any chance that Keith might not want this like he said he did. "You're absolutely sure about this Keith? Completely?"

Gathering up his courage, Keith could only reply with a soft, "yes".

With that response, and sensing no doubt in his voice, Alf gathered Keith back into his arms for a hug, nuzzling the kit's ears a bit. "Okay then little guy, I guess you convinced me. I'd love to make you happy."

And so saying, he proceeded to do just that. Hugging the kit to him, he leaned back onto the bed until they were both reclining, with Keith lying on top of him. Looking up at the kit, he reached up to caress his cheek, as they shared in another kiss, this time most certainly _not_ accidentally. As he pulled back from the kiss, he saw that Keith's eyes no longer shone with suppressed tears, but rather from joy. 

And deep within himself, Alf felt as though a great weight had been lifted, as yet another part of his self-doubt and guilt disappeared...

**

And that...is how the third public secret came to be.



END

Comments and such are welcome. Just make sure that they're well thought out comments. Similar to 'Animal Farm': "Intelligent comments good, idiotic comments baaad".