The sun had set. The group traversed the crowd as they
walked down the stairs towards the second level. There were more booths there, some
food, others merchandise and games. All around him, there were colourful
booths, twinkling lamps, and lots and lots of selfie sticks. Yeah. Selfie
sticks. Uh…

The second level was bright with lamps. And as the
group decided to split up and enjoy the night, Tom found himself walking down
to one booth serving traditional beverages. It wasn't very crowded, but there
was a queue, nonetheless. The wolf ordered a regular warm matcha latte to
accompany him through the cool night.

“Tea again?"

Tom glanced over his shoulder. Max was walking towards
him with a smile on his face, hands in his jeans. The wolf gave a smile and
nodded. “Yeah." He accepted the tea from the waiter.

“Never gets old, does it?" the dog chuckled. “You got
coffee here?"

“There is! Do you want cappuccino or macchiato?"

“Give me one shot of espresso, please. No sugar, give
it a pinch of cinnamon."

The waiter chirped happily and gave the order to the
barista.

“Uh, Tom? Thanks for before, you know, the haunted
house and stuff." Max started, scratching his nape. “Really, thanks a lot."

The wolf put his paws around the paper cup, feeding on
its warmth as well as on his own beating heart. Max's words really made him
feel warmer. “You're welcome."

“It's just that…" Max faltered as he looked for the
right word, his ears going down a little. Tom saw him fidgeting a bit as if
debating whether to tell him or not. The wolf just put his hand on the dog's arm,
making him turn around and look at him.

Tom gave him his most understanding smile. “It's okay.
People have their fears." He then added, “I have mine too."

The shepherd stared at Tom, then cracked his own
smile.

“Here's your coffee!"

Max gave Tom a pat on the back, then turned to the
waiter. “How much?"

“That's 2,1 euros."

“With the tea here?"

Tom turned to Max. “Eh…"

“That's 1,8 euro, makes 3,9 euros all."

“Make it 8 euros with this." He took two chocolate doughnuts
and handed the money.

“Thank you! Enjoy your beverage!"

Smiling happily, Max offered the wolf the doughnut as
they walked away from the booth. “Doughnut?"

Tom took a bite from the offered food. “Thanks."

They walk in companionable silence for a while, the
night breeze sweeping past them. It was a cool night, but it felt warm as Max
was beside him. Tom sipped his tea, fighting the urge to look at the dog and
enjoy the view like he usually did. “Where're the others?" he instead asked.

“Enjoying the fest." Max took a sip from his cup. “Martin,
Ellie, and Andy are going to the first level. Octo and Spencer are checking the
spot to watch the fireworks later. If I remember correctly Kevin is hunting
with Vilkas as his sidekick."

“Hunting?"

“You know, looking for someone he can bring over to
his place, or a hotel. The clear thing is I don't want to be anywhere near them
doing that." Max gave a shudder.

Tom chuckled a bit. “If, say, Andy was doing that and he asked you to stay and watch,
what would you say?"

“He can go to hell for asking that." The large
shepherd said without a pause and hugged himself tight, shuddering slightly. “I
mean, I don't like to watch, and certainly not interested in watching my friend
doing that, especially with another
dude."

The wolf laughed. He had been cautious and trying to keep
his distance from Max throughout the year, now it seemed he couldn't do that
anymore. The line dividing him being hopeful and him trying to get closer to
the shepherd was quickly diminishing, and he could only watch hopelessly.
Especially since he witnessed what happened if he crossed over the line.

He knew all too well that Max disliked gays, especially
those who chatted him up. Yet he found himself growing another seed of hope
whenever Max was being friendly with him, with Kevin. Maybe those were useless,
though, as he knew that Max was nice to everyone.

Wait, Max never said anything about if someone wanted
to court him properly, instead of
treating him as another one-night stand. Lucas then came into his mind. He
glanced over the dog who was sipping from his cup. Should he ask him that?

Looking away, he sipped from his own cup. It was warm,
probably as warm as his flat ears right now. Max had a bad tendency to pose at
the most unfortunate of moments. Especially with his shirt unbuttoned and his white
t-shirt on display like that, showing the contour of his defined torso.

“Hey, wolf," he heard Max calling him.

Tom didn't turn around and just uttered “Mrf?"

“You wanna do some fishing?"

That made him turn his head and stare at the dog with
a questioning look. Max just pointed his muzzle towards one of the booths. It
had a fishing game.

“Sure."

Max grinned, then took his hand and walked towards the
booth, not caring about the hot beverages they were carrying. The action
brought an embarrassed blush to Tom's face. While he understood that it was
crowded and they needed to hold hands as they walked in order to not lose each
other, they really… shouldn't. It made him think that they were on a date.

Now that he thought about it, they had been in plenty
of dates before.

Heck, Max was too casual for his poor heart! He was
not prepared for today! Touches were fine, embraces were okay, but holding
hands was on another level of intimacy he wasn't really prepared for. What
next? Max feeding him? Max snuggling with him?! Max kissing him?!

Wait.

Hell, they
did those! And he complied without
even a gram of shame!

Memories from that day in Octo's and Max's dorm came
crashing down on him. He quickly cut them and dismissed them away before he
could remember how nice was kissing Max and how sturdy did Max's body feel
like.

He looked at their joined hands and flustered. Max's
hand looked… big.

His face reddened even more. He liked big things.
Especially a very hot and captivating and handsome and hot big thing like Max.

The dog let his hand go when they reached the booth.
There were several people and some children there, all trying to catch the
plastic balls in a small pool with a small spoon-sized paper scoop. Oh, it was
this game. He honestly was pants at this. He put his cup next to Max's on the
counter as he went inside the booth.

A kid next to him then happily jumped in the air with
her half-full bowl. The small goat then ran towards her mother who was waiting
for her, still happily jumping in the air. Her mother smiled and guided him to
the prize section. Tom couldn't resist a smile as the attendant gave her a
fluffy wolf plush that suspiciously looked similar to Kevin.

“Here." Max nudged him, then crouched down over the
water. He gave him his bowl and scoop.

“How much do we need for a pr—"

“Shhh! I'm
concentrating." Max looked over the water that was dotted with colourful
plastic balls. He then lunged forward to catch one, then put it in his bowl.

“Njay, that
'es great."

The dog grinned at him, then went ahead to catch
another. “Fifteen balls for the top prizes. Think ya can beat me?"

Tom grinned back, “You're bloody on, jing."

Several minutes later, their paper scoops were nearly
torn. They both had their tongues lolled out as they concentrated on getting as
many more balls as they could into their bowl. Tom glanced a bit at Max's bowl
and cursed under his breath. He had to get more.

A ball inched closer to him. He quickly put his scoop
next to it and flicked it, then put it into his bowl. He grinned; he was
getting better at this.

Suddenly, the water washed over them. A kid had just
fallen into the water and cried, making the surrounding kids jump. his mother quickly
took him away and apologised to all the remaining players.

Tom looked down, his paper scoop was destroyed, but
other than that, he was mostly dry. His right sleeve was the only thing that
was wet. Letting out a relieved sigh, he turned towards Max. “Hey, I think I
got fifteen. Yo—"

The dog looked back at him with a scowl on his face,
his entire front body soaking wet and his ears flat in annoyance. His scoop was
on top of his muzzle. His shirt was dripping water as he stood up and wiped his
face.

“Oops." Tom said, holding back a laugh.

Max looked down and growled. “Great, now I'm soaking
wet." He took his shirt off and twisted it, then turned to Tom and sighed. “What
am I supposed to do now?"

Tom took his jacket off and gave it to the dog. “Wear
my jacket first, at least it's not going to let the water drip. Let's count our
balls first."

Max shook his body a little, then put the wolf's
jacket over his t-shirt.

They walked to the counter and gave the attendant
their bowls to count the balls. Tom chuckled a bit when he saw her smiling
apologetically at the sight of Max wet with a too-small jacket over his clothes.

“Alright, dear, you get 15 balls." She said to Tom
with a smile, then turned to Max. “I'm really sorry about that. You get extra 3
balls as compensation, so you have 18 balls."

Tom paused his victory dance to a grinning Max.

“Which prize in the back shelf do you want?"

The wolf scanned the shelf. There was nothing good for
him, really. There were plush toys, necklaces, and some hats. He then shrugged.
“The white bunny, please."

“The black necklace, please."

She took the items and gave them. “Here you go,
dears."

They both thanked the gazelle for the prize and walked
away, carrying their cups. Tom squeezed the bunny once and allowed himself to
look at Max. His t-shirt was soaking wet and the muscles were there for the
world to see.

They moved to an empty booth away from people. Tom put
his plush toy and the cups down and stared as Max took his clothes off,
revealing his wet body with matted fur. It was now even more defined since his
fur wasn't up to hide it.

Tom gulped but refused to look away and blush. He had
seen Max topless before at the gym, but never wet, and certainly never when his
fur wasn't hiding his muscles underneath.

Max put his hand up at him, signalling him to cover
himself. Tom turned around and let Max shake his body to get rid of the water. Good
thing his fur was somewhat short, so it was rather easy to dry. Bad thing his
fur was somewhat short, so it meant it did a poor job at hiding what was under
it.

“Uh, Tom, help me here?" the dog said, making Tom
shake his head to let go of the thought.

“Ya? What
can I do?"

“Grope me to let the water go."

Tom was instantly red. “Do you really need to use the
word 'grope'?"

“Eh, sorry." Max chuckled and twisted his shirt. “You
know what I mean, press on my back fur to let the water go, then wipe it with
this." He threw Tom his shirt. “Eh, am I wet back there?"

The wolf was still red, and with every step he took,
he was even redder. The shepherd turned his back to Tom, giving him a perfect
view of that rock-hard deep-brown-furred back. His muscles rippled as he moved
his hands, captivating the wolf.

Um, okay, he just needed to wipe him. Don't think of
anything else. “N-no, not really. J-just your left side."

Max was occupied with his front. He didn't seem to
mind Tom touching him, groping him as
he'd like to call it.

“Uh, I'm going to touch you."

The dog grunted an affirmation.

Tom swung the damp shirt over his shoulder and put his
hands on the other's upper back. It was hard.
He gave it a firm press and moved his hands down, the water coming out of his
fur.

Shit, he was getting hard.

Before the water could reach Max's jeans, he quickly
wiped it with the shirt and did it again. This time, he put his hands a bit
farther apart, closer to the dog's narrow waist.

Shit, he was hard.

Okay, this wasn't helping.

Instead, he just wiped Max's back using the shirt as
quickly as he could, then twisted the shirt to let the water go, and did it
again before he could get even harder.

“Ouch, Tom, go easy."

“Sorry."

Tom did it again with the big dog's side, not wanting
to touch it in fear of having the urge to hug him from behind and just throw
him somewhere he could completely be his.

“What should I do now?" Max asked as he continued
wiping his front with his t-shirt. His scent came out more strongly now since
the water was no longer there. “I can't just walk around the festival naked
like this."

The wolf took several steps back when the dog
signalled him to do so. “You brought no spare clothes?"

Max shook his body again to get rid of the remaining
water. He wasn't completely dry, but at least he wasn't soaking anymore. “Why
would I bring spare clothes?"

Tom shrugged. He sat on the available chair as Max
turned around and wiped his arms. “You can use my jacket." He said, pointing at
his jacket. “It's going to be a tight fit, but at least you won't be naked."

His jacket was so going to reek of Max. He wasn't sure
if he wanted to wash it later or not.

“Really, Tom? Aren't you like, gonna go cold?"

“It's not that cold anyway." Tom took his jacket from
the table.

Max took it from his hand and smiled widely, his tail
wiggled behind him. “Thanks, wolf. I owe you lots for this."

The wolf just let out a small chuckle.

He was right; the jacket was loose for him but it was
a tight fit for Max. The dog had difficulties pulling his arm in the sleeve and
when he did, he couldn't close the zip.

“Uh, little help?"

Tom stood and walked towards the dog, hands vibrating.
He was going to touch Max's abs, god. He pulled himself together and put the
zip together, gave the abs a firm push—god they were hard as rocks—then pulled
the zip until it was closed.

That was seriously a test to his innocence.

“There." He said, masking his nervousness. “I'm sure
it's going to be loose but whatever."

Max pulled him into a hug instead, which nearly caused
the wolf's tail to knock their cups from the small table. The dog's tail wagged
happily. “Thanks a lot, dude! You're absolutely my best bro." He ruffled the
wolf's head fur with a wide smile. “Maybe I'm borrowing Andy's jacket later,
though. This one's real tight."

Tom smiled and playfully protested, ignoring the
screams for relief from his southern parts.

“The stars are bright."

The wolf lazily waved his tail as he lay on the grass,
watching the sky. Next to him, Max let out a sigh. Tom didn't turn his head,
but he could tell Max cracking a smile. “Yeah." he replied.

“They're never this bright in the dorms."

“That's because of the light pollution."

The fireworks wouldn't start until later, but they
wanted to secure their place before anyone could get it. The highest level was
already full, but fortunately there was a wide open space on the mountainside
just a short walk from the third level. The group decided to choose the place
as their spot; the fireworks would still look amazing from here.

Several people also came and lay there, but no one
disturbed the duo as they were on the lowest part of the open space.

“Hey you two, want some popcorn?" Vilkas said above
them.

“Nah, thanks." Max replied to him, then turned to Tom.
“Hey, look, there's Orion!"

The wolf glanced to where Max was pointing to. Sure
enough, the Orion constellation was bright on the sky above the forest. Despite
the lights from the city below, it was easily visible.

Letting out a sigh, Tom traced the constellation with
his finger. The Great Hunter was one of the most visible constellations in the sky,
and it remained the most recognisable one throughout his life. It was like a
celestial reminder that he was still alive and survived another night.

“Hey, Tom." He heard Max say. He turned his ear to
listen. “What're you going to do after you graduate from college?"

Tom raised his eyebrows while still looking at the
sky. “What's with the sudden question?"

“I mean, we only have 2 semesters left." said Max,
still looking at the sky. “I'm 23 now. Sometimes I'm thinking about my future."

“Quarter-life crisis?" The wolf chuckled.

Max chuckled along. “Quarter-life crisis."

Something inside Tom clicked too.

“The thing is… really, I never imagined myself besides
high school, college, and football." He closed his eyes. “I could go on to
become a pro football player, but it's gonna be hell to go through. Aside from
that… nothing."

The wolf didn't answer but he turned to Max.

“Really, I'm not even sure I could find a place for my
internship next semester since I don't really have any experience in organization
outside of football. After that, I'm gonna write my thesis, which I don't know
what I'm gonna write about. And then after graduation…" Max let out a sigh.

“Looks like you don't have to think about it much,
Tom. I mean, you're the class captain, you have lots of experience in organization,
you're basically a star in your batch, and you speak seven languages, too!
That's like, seven times the possibility."

Max was true, but with the wrong reasons. Tom didn't
have to think much about his life after graduation because he had no plans about what to do. He had always
been planning stuff until graduation, but after that, he hadn't planned
anything. He could work in a company, or increase his freelancing projects, or
continue working in the library. There was a lot he could do, and considering
his upbringing, doing everything by himself was a familiar thing.

And then what? What to do after he had the money?
Getting a place to live was one, but there was nothing more. A car, maybe, but
what to do with a car when he could just use the metro or bus or tram? He
basically had zero probability of getting married, so he would have no one to
fund.

He had always been alone, and he was going to be
alone.

Even if
somehow, magically, after all wheat fields turned into chocolates, after pigs
acquired the ability to fly, Max agreed to be his boyfriend and they were to
live together, he still couldn't imagine himself not being alone. His fantasies
were that, fantasies.

He had had a long way to here, and he still had a long
way to go. He had raised himself from the depths of society, now it was his
time to help it run.

Tom sighed. The stars were bright. Would one day he be
amongst them?

“Truthfully," he started, his insecurity creeping into
his voice. “I don't know what to do, too. I know I'll have somewhere to work,
but where exactly is that, I don't know."

“Whoa, that's… I wasn't expecting that to come from
you. You're like the perfect guy, you know. Not very bright in some places, but
super bright in others, including life." said the shepherd.

“I'm just someone." Tom chuckled, blushing a bit from
being called perfect. That was unexpected, coming from Max, who he thought was the
most perfect guy ever. “Perfection cannot exist without imperfection. I'm not
perfect, like you, like everyone else. I'm just great at some things, like you,
like everyone else." He said, looking at the stars with a smile as the rush of
his past came into his mind. The struggles, the cold nights, the fights, they
felt so close yet so far.

Max laughed and patted his head, waking him up from
his musings. “I expect nothing less from a philosophical sage like you." said
Max. Then he raised his voice on purpose. “That's as deep as Andy's will to do
his homework, Tom. Oh wait, that's not."

They both laughed when Andy said, “I heard that!"

“Well, I think I ate too many textbooks for breakfast,
which is still better anyway compared to Kevin who ate too much protein which doesn't
go to his brain." The wolf followed, holding back a laugh.

“Tom, what the fuck!" Kevin yelled, and they both
laughed again.

“Bites and philosophical stuff aside," Tom continued,
making Max turn to look at him. “you know, I always took you as the perfect
one, Max. You're super popular, everyone likes you. Heck, just one smile and
everyone's all over you. You have the perfect body and the perfect personality.
Who in their right mind wouldn't want to be with you?" Even I want to be with you.

The dog beside him laughed a little. “Well, that's
true. But I want more, Tom. I mean, I'm tired of my exes; really, most of them
were only with me because of my status and good looks. I never really had a
stable and healthy relationship, but at least I had some." He turned to the
wolf. “You, Tom? I've never seen you with anyone."

“I've always been alone, you know, and I think I'll
continue being alone." Tom let out a sigh. Orion was covered with a cloud in
the sky. Good thing Orion couldn't see a drop of tear going down his eye. “The
thing is, considering my past, I don't reckon I can handle relationships very
well like most guys. That's why I realised I'm going to be alone, and that's
not something I'm not familiar with anyway."

“You're not alone, Tom." Max said, sounding almost
angry with his words. He sounded like he couldn't accept that Tom was going to
be alone. Then his voice softened. “I don't know about your past, but no one
deserves to be alone. Really, no one does. You'll find someone."

Max then shifted and put his arm around Tom's neck,
pulling the wolf closer. Startled, he could only let himself be manipulated
into the embrace. Max let out a sigh, and when Tom looked at him, he was looking
at the sky.

Without knowing, Tom flustered. He didn't move, not
wanting to risk Max letting him go. Did it mean something? Was Max showing him
some more-than-friendly affection? Had Max been secretly in love with him all
this time?!

Did Max even bloody realise what was he doing?!

Tom's heart was beating rapidly in his chest. He
trembled a bit but managed to calm himself. Then, Max squeezed his shoulder,
and all his worries were suddenly gone.

“Thanks, Max." he said, almost whispering. But in his
mind, he whimpered, “It hurts. Loving you
hurts."

The firework show began. Colourful bursts of light
illuminated the sky, their booming sound masking his beating heart. It was
truly a beautiful sight; the fireworks made flowers and other amazing
formations upon their explosion. The roars that accompanied them made his heart
beat faster in excitement.

However, amongst the explosions, he could make out something
spoken from next to him.

“You're welcome."

The fireworks were beautiful.

“Perfection cannot exist without imperfection." bah
did I eat too much ice cream or have I gone for too long without cuddles to be
sprouting bollocks like that x'D

But srsly even though that sounds contradictive it's
actually true when you think about it