After hours of partying at the main ballroom at the Koopa Suites Denver Hotel, I wanted to go to sleep. I was about to fly home, when my pocket started vibrating. I pulled out my phone. Why is Tyler calling me? I answered the phone with that thought on my mind. “Hallo?”

“Hey Nick, you, your bee-eff and Raymond should come to Golden.”

“You want me to buy you liquor, don’t you?”

“You got me,” He chuckled, “Happy Birthday man.”

“Thanks, Tyler. I think we may do that. Though, getting Raymond to fly with me and Josef may be more difficult.”

“Oi! Babe, would you want to go see Tyler?”

“The hawkmon Tyler, or the buizel Tyler?”

“The hawkmon. The Buizel is my brother’s friend.”

“By the way, where is your brother?”

“He’s at home. He hates social gatherings like this.”

“Ok. Let’s get going.”

I found my father, let him know where we were going and then left the hotel.

“Well, shall we?” I asked Josef while putting on my VisAR glasses.

“We shall.” He said and gave me a little wink and one of his toothier smiles. I knew what that meant. He wanted to race.

“Ready,” I said as I knelt, ready to jump, “Set,” I unfolded and raised my wings, “GO!” I said and threw my wings down with all the force I could muster. I flapped quickly to get above Josef, but he was already above me a good ways. Damn it! I thought. I flapped harder to get level with him but he was always about a foot above me. We leveled out low to make sure that we didn’t have to deal with Air Traffic Control.

“Nick, I know you’re not trying to enter airspace without asking permission.”

“Dammit! Dan, what’s the big deal? We’re low enough that we won’t interfere with commercial traffic, besides we’ve got our VisAR’s night vision on.”

“You’re at an altitude where all the bandits hang out. So if you want to fly that low, ready your katana and one-niner-one-one. You’ll need the both of them.” He warned. I loosened my katana in its saya. Then, I slid out the mag in my pistol to make sure I still had enough rounds. Finally I slid the slide of the M1911A1 back all the way until I heard a click. I put on the safety and then slid the gun into the hip holster.

“Thanks for the warning, I think we’ll be fine though.” I said confidently and then started forward, “This isFoxtrot-Whiskey-Charlie-zero-nine-five-five-six-three and Golf-one-three-zero-zero-niner-one to tower, requesting permission to enter Denver airspace.”

“Permission granted.”

***

“Oh come on, Raymond, you know you want to go see Tyler. That’s where we’re going. Besides, Josef’ll carry you.” I said standing on the river otter’s front porch. Josef licked his lips jokingly, “Josef, please stop. This is hard enough without you scaring the shit out of him.”

“Entschuldigung, meine Liebe.” Sorry, my love. He responded and chuckled a little bit.

The river otter, who was going to Denver Community College, was born for cross country before the Event. He was just an amazing runner and could run distances that surprised me time and time again. Now as a river otter, He was still good at running, but he was built to be a swimmer. When we would go to the pool by our house, I would enjoy the day even more just watching him play in it. It was just adorable. He hated when I said it, but it was the truth. Not only was his natural talent for water and running obvious, but he really kept himself in good shape. Thus the constant taunting that Josef always gave him.

“Fine, but we’re going swimming afterwards. Don’t toy with me Josef. You may be a behemoth, but I still know how to bring you down.” The small otter pointed at Josef and gave him a death glare. Josef and I both chuckled. Even before becoming an otter, the kid’s face was too cute to scare anybody, his interests and hobbies did that for him. Raymond walked towards the large wolf and hugged tight. Josef put the harness around Raymond and then hugged him back. Last time Raymond had flown with us, I flew him and had nearly killed him. One of the straps on my harness was loose, and he had slipped out before I could catch him. Luckily, Josef caught him just in time. This was why Raymond was terrified of flying with anybody but Josef. That didn’t mean he wasn’t still scared of flying with him, he was just scared for a different reason. Josef had made it pretty damn obvious that he was attracted to Raymond. This somewhat scared the kid, but he knew that I was dating him and wouldn’t let Josef do anything.

“Gehen wir! Ja?” Let’s go. OK? Josef said. I led the way.

“This is Foxtrot-Whiskey-Charlie-zero-nine-five-five-six-three to tower, permission to take off?”

“Tower to Charlie-five-six-three, permission granted. Remember, Intrastate traffic is below twenty-five hundred feet, got it?” Dan responded.

“Understood.” I spoke back before jumping back into the air with Josef behind me.

“Oh mein Gott! Raymond ist schwerer als ich mich erinnere. Was ist passiert?“ Oh my God! Raymond is heavier than I remember. What happened? Josef complained sarcastically. Raymond looked up at me and I down at him. I raised my left eyebrow. He mouthed, what did he say?

“Wölfchen, Du weißt besser. Ruf nicht Menschen ‚dick‘!“ Wolfy you know better. Don’t call people ‘fat’ I chided. Looking at him. Then to Raymond, “He called you fat.”

Raymond hit Josef in the chest with his fist. “You asshole!”

“Hey, I’m just being directly honest. It’s what we Germans are known for.” Josef looked down at the otter, laughing, “You’re too cute, Ray.”

“Babe, back off! He’s straight; you’re in a relationship.” I said to Josef.

“Ahhhh! What? You’ve said it, too.”

“Um, once.” I retorted, slightly pissed off at him, “You, on the other hand, have been flirting with the otter since day one. I do not appreciate it. Josef, control yourself. Unless you don’t want to be with me anymore?”

“Don’t even joke about that, Nikki! I love you, you know that. Why this sudden spark of jealousy?”

“I don’t know. I just can’t help it. I’ve become enamored with someone for the first time in my life, and he’s flirting with one of my best friends from high school. It’s just a little hard for me not to become jealous… And if you truly love me, show me.”

“Later, I’ll prove my love for you.”

“Oh my God! Will you two just shut up! All this mushy stuff is making me uncomfortable.” Raymond interjected.

“Tower to Charlie-five-six-three, If you’re going to Golden, adjust heading to three-two-five. You’ll be there in about ten minutes.”

“Thanks, Dan. I know I can always count on you to get me where I need to go.”

“No problem, Nick.”

***

“Nick, Oh my God! Y’all got here quickly.” The 5’1” Hawkmon said.

“We left like right after you called. When we got to Raymond’s he put up a little bit of a fight, but agreed when we promised we’d go swimming. Please tell me there’s an indoor pool around here.”

“Of course! We’ll discuss things once you come inside.”

“Alright, after you, Ramon.” I said, using my own nickname for the kid. He was of Hispanic decent and I learned Spanish in high school, so I called him by his Spanish name.

“You better not be lying, Tyler. It’s been too long since I had a good swim.” The otter grumbled as he went inside.

Tyler raised an eyebrow at me. “Josef was flirting; I got pissed. That’s not what he’s grumbling about, though. Josef called Raymond fat. That’s really all there is to it.”

“You three get along about as well as a cobra and a mongoose get along with a hawk.” He chuckled. I laughed as well.

I entered the digimon’s apartment. I was surprised to see that it was spotless. “Get a new girl or something, Tyler.”

“No. It’s better for me to work in, so I clean my apartment regularly.” He lied. I could tell it was a lie because he wouldn’t look me in the eye. He kept shifting his weight and he hesitated slightly before he spoke.

“Is there something we should know, Tyler? That was honestly the most horrible lie I’ve ever heard from you.”

“I cleaned it because I haven’t seen you all summer. I also wanted to make a good impression on your boyfriend. Which, by the way is another thing I wished to speak to you about.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What? Are you alluding to something, Tyler?” I asked, looking at him.

“No, no. I really do have a girlfriend, but she really isn’t why I had the place spotless.”

“I’m at a loss, Tyler. What could you possibly want to talk about, relating to my boyfriend?”

“Yes, I’m interested to know what you want to talk about as well.” Josef said, still staring at Raymond’s beautifully toned Runner’s body.

“Babe, I think Ray gets enough attention from the females. He doesn’t need you ogling him as well. Besides, you’re in a relationship.” I said as I sat down on Tyler’s sofa.

“Nick, it’s fine. I know I’m in a relationship. That doesn’t mean I can’t look. Seriously, I talked with Aiden, you weren’t this jealous with him. What the hell is going on?” Josef stated with a harsh tone.

“I’m in love. That’s what’s wrong. I am in love with someone, who seems to forget that he has a significant other!” I said my voice rising, little by little until I was practically shouting the last sentence.

“Nick, Shut up! Josef’s right you’re not acting like yourself. ‘You’re in love’ is not a good enough excuse. There’s something else going on here. It really sounds like you and Josef need to talk things out. You guys can stay here and talk things out and I’ll take the otter to a pool.” Tyler came over and sat down, “I may have not seen you in a while, but you haven’t really changed that much, have you?”

“I… I… don’t know.”

“Nick, if there’s something else going on, tell me,” Josef said. He switched to German, as I had once switched back to English. He was showing his sincerity through speaking naturally, “Ich liebe dich. Du weißt das. Warum ärgere ich dich? Raymond ist ein schöner Mann, aber er kann zu dir nicht vergleichen. Du bist mein und ich bin dein, erinnerst du dich? Ich werde dich immer lieben. Du musst das wissen.“ I love you. You know that. Why do I anger you? Raymond is a beautiful man, but he can’t compare. You are mine and I am yours, remember? I will always love you. You must know that.

I went over to the huge wolf and hugged him tightly, crying. “Es tut mir leid! Ich weiß nicht, was mit mir los ist. Ich habe Angst, dass ich dich verlieren werde.” I’m really sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m scared that I’ll lose you!

“I think that Nick and you should join us after you calm him down. He’s only cried around me once. So I don’t really know exactly how long that’ll take. Remember fly low. Lower than you would fly intrastate. It’s important that you stay low in Golden. They have laws about Intracity flying that confuses even the cops.” Tyler said and he motioned for Raymond to join him.

“I’ll remember that, thank you.” Josef replied. Tyler and Raymond left without us. Josef looked down at me and said, “Ich werde dich nie verlassen! Ich werde immer an deiner Seite sein. Wenn du wissen möchte, wie viel ich dich liebe, zeige ich dir,“ I will never leave you! I will always be at your side. If you would like to know how much I love you, I’ll show you. He said as he kneeled down on one knee and grabbed my hand. I tilted my head to the side and then gasped as understanding fully gripped me, “Wirst du, Nicholas Jack Coulter, mich heiraten?” Will you, Nicholas Jack Coulter, marry me?

I looked down at the gorgeous white wolf. “Natürlich! Ja, Ich werde dich heiraten. Ich liebe dich so viel!“ Of course! Yes, I will marry you. I love you so much. I responded and he slipped a circlet of gold onto my left ring finger. It was simple and unadorned, just as a man’s ring should be. In Wolfyr, around the ring, were the words, ‘Now and forever, I will always love you.’ The gold was beautiful. It accentuated the dark grey fur on my hands perfectly. “Wie lang hast du dies machen wollen?” How long have you wanted to do this? I asked, pulling him into a hug.

“Seit dem Anfang der August, meine Liebe… Sollen wir Tyler und Raymond treffen?“ Since the beginning of August, my love… Shall we meet Tyler and Raymond? He responded. Then hugged me even tighter.

“Ja, treffen wir sie im Badehaus! Gehen wir!“ Yes, let’s meet them in the ‘bathhouse.’ Let’s go.

“Ok.” He replied, simply.

***

We arrived at the rec center about two minutes later. I was still glowing with excitement. I was getting married! We walked into the locker rooms and undressed. We put on swim trunks and exited the locker room. I was too excited to notice any of the other males in the locker room. Though there was a bull whose member stuck in my mind. Long and thin, as was the case with most bulls, but this bull’s length while completely flaccid was completely unnatural. That was my thought when I exited the locker room.

“Hey Nick, come on in. The water’s great,” yelled Raymond when he saw me. He swam to the edge of the pool closest to the locker room door. I looked down at the otter. And then slid into the water myself.

“Gahh,” I let out in response to the shock of the slightly chilly water. Raymond laughed. I glared at him and bared my teeth. A much more frightening experience after the Event, but wasn’t any less common before.

“You seem to be in a better mood than when we left. What happened?” Tyler asked when he got over to the wall Raymond and I were at.

“Josef pro… he pro… well he asked me to marry him.” I stammered out.

They both looked at me, somewhat shocked. “And?” they both asked at once.

“I accepted. I’m getting married!” I said with so much excitement I could hardly keep myself from jumping out of the water.

“Yes, my love. We’re getting married. Now let’s calm down and enjoy this swim.”

For the next half hour I leisurely swam in utter bliss. It was the first chance I had to relax since the ceremony. On top of that, I had the excitement of being engaged to deal with. I was only twenty-one and already on my way to being married. It had been made clear that the federal government would allow gay marriage when the new president’s Supreme Court stated that any anti-gay legislation went against The Constitution of the United States of America. When the LGBTQ community heard this, there were parties in the streets. It was such a new ruling, though that it took until June for all anti-gay legislation to be nullified.

***

We landed back at Tyler’s apartment after the swim and I still was just too excited about the engagement. Josef had done something that I thought I was going to do for him. He’d asked me to marry him. I was so happy to know that we both loved each other that much. It just made me love the wolf that much more.

“Nikki, it’s been an hour and a half since I asked. You’re still excited?” Josef pointed out.

“I’m just happy.” I said, barely containing the excitement in my voice.

“Yeah, he should be. He’s marrying a wolf that has given him no reason to not be. I think we should give him a bit, before we do anything else.”

Just then my phone went off. “Hello?” I answered.

“Hey Nick, it’s Chris. I’m calling to let you know I’m on my way from Breckenridge. Where are you?” My brother replied on the other end.

“Golden.”

“Visiting Tyler? Why do you sound so excited?”

“Oh no reason, just excited to be twenty-one.”

“That’s bullshit. This is more than that.”

“I’ll tell you when you get here.”

“Man, why are you being so secretive?”

“Because I know our mother.”

“Ah.”

“How close are you?”

“’Bout three miles away at this point. I’ll see you in five.” He said.

“See ya then.” I said, taking the phone away from my face. The call ended a second later. I then, said to Josef, “Mein Bruder kommt.” My brother’s coming.

“To take you drinking, no doubt.” Josef said.

“Yup.”

“Don’t overdo it, babe. You know how much of a lightweight you are.” He chided. Everyone knew that I had gotten tipsy on four shots of Captain Morgan Spiced Rum in the early morning hours of my twentieth birthday.

“I know my limits, Josef. I realize I’m a lightweight and will probably only have a few beers.” I said and stomped into the apartment building. I wasn’t really all that angry at Josef, but he’d hurt my pride. I wanted to make him feel bad about it.

“Oh come on, Nikki, you know that never worked on me. I know you’re not angry.” He came in after me followed by the sound of Tyler’s truck pulling up.

“Heh, I thought I’d try again.” I said meekly.

Tyler and Raymond came in and Tyler was animatedly talking about something, “…And then the kid lost his grip. He would have been forced to climb all the way back up on an auto belay, but I caught his fall with my Gris-Gris.”

I chuckled, “It’s either tech or climbing with you two. I should have known.”

“Oh come on, Nick, don’t forget women.”

“Let’s go inside. I need to grab some new clothes, and my fedora. My brother is coming to town. Please tell me there’s some decent bars that you’ve heard of, Tyler.”

“Of course. There’s a few.”

***

There was a knock at Tyler’s door. Tyler went to open it and in the opening stood my brother. Standing at 6’1” my brother was not the shortest man, but he wasn’t tall compared to me or Josef. His dark brown fur and ice blue eyes gave his face a certain beauty not found in many males of our species. His wings were perfectly immaculate, showing off a vanity not typically known in our race. His hair was a curly mop on top of his head. It was a darker brown than his fur, but had blonde highlights that gave his hair an unearthly appearance. He looked at me and said, “Hey, bro, you ready for a night on the town?”

“Sure, Chris. Man have I been waiting for this day!” I said and walked out the door with my brother. Giddy from excitement.

“So how have you been, man? I haven’t seen you since Independence Day.” Chris said.

“Pretty good, school’s been a bitch, but I’m succeeding.” I replied, “Gian and Junior make sure I get to class on time. Josef makes sure I get up on time.”

“Man, seems like you have a system worked out.”

“Yup.”

“You two are great together, by the way. He really does seem to like you.”

“Well, I’d say so considering this.” I showed him the ring, “He proposed to me tonight. I was so surprised.”

“Well, I can’t blame you.”

“Well, I was going to pop the question myself in January at his Oisvandea ceremony. I guess he kind of had to though. I was being super annoying and ‘clingy.’”

“How do you mean?”

“Well Josef has a tendency to flirt with Raymond. Up until tonight, that didn’t bother me. But I practically exploded tonight when He did so.”

“Really?”

“Yup. I was being kind of obnoxious now that I look back at it. I was being so weird. I mean Josef and I have only just started using the word, ‘love,’ with each other. Well for about a month, now. We’ve been together for ten months, and this past month was the first where we actually said we loved each other.”

“And then, on the night of your birthday, he pops the question. How romantic! Anyhow, Nick there’s even more reason to celebrate. My brother’s getting married! I’m so proud of you Nick.”

“Yes let’s go have ourselves a drink.”

“Yes, let’s.” He said as we finally exited the apartment complex.

“Oi! What time is it?”

“Oh, around ten o’clock, why?”

“Just wondering. We have to fly back early tomorrow.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. It sucks. So let’s not get me too plastered, alright?”

“Sure thing, Nick.”