Max
Kleinschmidt: “Meet me at the riverbank across Wolvessye monument at 4 pm."

Tom put his phone down for the hundredth time that afternoon.
Saying that he was anxious was an understatement. Last week, he came out to
Max, confessed to him, and asked him out; of course he had reasons to be anxious.
Good thing he had been carefree days before, enjoying the fact that he kissed
and was being close with Max that night. Last night, though, he couldn't sleep
at all.

Leaning on the rails, he glanced over the River Eyl again.
It was still, calm. On its banks, people were having a picnic with their
friends or just walking around. It was a cool autumn afternoon, with winds
softly blowing.

What… what would Max answer?

He already prepared himself in case Max turned him
down. It wouldn't be surprising. Max did not like gays and Tom was not going to
pressure him into going out with him if he didn't want to. At least he already
knew that if Max did reject him, it would be in a peaceful manner.

But… what if he accepted him?

Honestly, he wasn't betting on it. Yeah, it wasn't
wheat-field-turning-into-chocolate impossible but still almost impossible. Max
would either be bi or joking to accept him. Given that Max was sensitive to
anything gay, that wouldn't be surprising, but Max also kissed him after he
confessed, saying that he'd think about it…

Argh! Tom sat back down on the bench with a thump, covering
his face with his hands. This was stressful!

“I know
it's not a good time right now, but still wanna make sure you know what you're
getting yourself into."

He took a deep breath, then looked at his sweaty paw
pads. Whatever happened, happened. Really, whatever Max would say to him would
make his poor heart beat faster.

“I know,
Lain. Don't make me even more stressed!"

“I'll be
here, alright. If that dog ghosts you again, I'm gonna punch him across the
river."

That was terrifyingly reassuring. Leaning back against
the bench, the wolf wiped his paw pads and looked at his phone again. 16.03;
Max should come anytime now. “Please
don't."

Lain just chuckled and grinned. “Well, whatever the answer, I won't interfere. Call me if you need me."

“Y-yeah.
Later, Lain."

…maybe he should come to Octo's instead and hang out
with him.

“Hey, Tom!"

He looked up at the mention of his name, and his heart
skipped. Max was walking towards him with that very hot-looking black leather
jacket with a grey t-shirt under it and a god-damned handsome smile on his face
and his very hot strong muscles. Really, the fact that he had been able to
stand being around the dog without giggling like a fangirl was admirable.

“H-hey, Max." he stood up and tried to smile at the
dog. At least he didn't slip.

“Oh wow,
he looks a lot better than I remember."

Max smiled again, almost making him melt. “Good afternoon,
isn't it?"

“Y-yeah, is of good afternoon."

The dog laughed softly. Tom was mesmerised by that. He
looked so cute, so nice, so handsome, so everything. This man was… was the
light in the dark room, the reason he pulled through, the star he almost gave
up trying to reach…

He cleared his throat. “S-so… uh…"

“Quick to get to the point. That's Tom alright." Max
smiled again.

Tom gulped and looked down.

“Yes, I want to be your boyfriend."

He looked up at the dog in surprise.

What?

What?!

What?!

Max pulled him into a soft hug, but Tom was too
astounded to respond. He froze at the sudden news, not moving at all as the big
dog pulled him. Max… Max accepted him? Max accepted him?!

Max
accepted him?!

He fought the urge to scream happily. He had done the
impossible! He had made Max his boyfriend! He had made the bloody football star of the campus his boyfriend! Was this a
reply to all the things he went through? Him, a no-one, hella gay of a broken self
had made one the hottest guys on campus his boyfriend?!

As much as he wanted to hug him back tightly, he
couldn't. He wanted to cry, but he couldn't. He was so overwhelmed with emotion
he couldn't do anything except melt into the other's warm hug.

Max then released him. The dog looked at him with
worry, “Tom, you okay there? You're trembling."

He wanted to retort, but he had to force himself to calm down.
He took a deep, very deep breath and
forced himself to look up to the dog. “Yes! I'm more than okay!" he smiled
brightly. “I'm more than okay! Thanks, Max! Makasih!
Gracias! Merc—"

“Whoa whoa whoa, easy there, dictionary." Max let out
a chuckle. “I… uh…" he scratched his ear and looked away bashfully. “I don't
know how this works, so, uh… y'know…"

Tom kept looking at that handsome and cute face.

“Teach me to love you."

He was glad the last thing he saw was Max's sweet
smile before his knees gave out and he fell to the bench with a loud thunk.

“So, now we're boyfriends…"

Boyfriends. It sounded so… different, strange to describe their
relationship. They had been really close; one could even say that they had been
boyfriends for quite some time but only made it official now.

But along with the word, came another aspect of their
relationship: sexuality.

It really slapped him in the face. They had been
carefully arranging intimacy, commitment, and passion between them according to
rules they figured out from their interactions. Sexuality was really a part of
passion but still, it hit him like a truck.

…how did this work again?

Tom stole a glance at the dog and blushed. While it
was true that he had shamelessly imagined some… interesting sexual scenarios
with Max, he doubted Max ever did the same. He wasn't even sure whether the dog
would be interested in that kind of thing. Would Max really be willing to do
that? Would Max try to stay away from that?

Ugh, even after Max accepted him, he was still
stressed!

He looked down at the menu, then back up at Max again.
When their eyes met, they blushed and looked away. How did Max expect him to
lead if he never even had any bloody
experience in a relationship?! He was sure his face right now was as red as the
tomato sauce in the middle of the table.

But enough of this! He finally had Max! Max accepted
to be his boyfriend, so he had to do things right!

Tom took a deep breath, then looked up at the dog.
“Max,"

The muscled dog one and a half times his size turned
to look at him. Even when the fact hit him hard, he refused to back down again.

“Honestly, I…" he chuckled, masking his nervousness.
“I never had a boyfriend, so… we're going to… to learn together."

It seemed to calm Max down. His ears went up slowly as
he let out a sigh. “Lemme guess, you're still a virgin, too, right?"

The wolf's ears went down again. “Y-yeah."

“But it doesn't matter anyway." Max took his hand. Tom
only let him do it. “Teach me to love you. I never went out with a guy, and you
made me want to find out. You made me realise things about myself that I didn't
even know. Who knows, maybe I'm really bi all this time, just never got around
to accepting that I also like guys." Max laughed softly, his hold on Tom's hand
tightened. “And I don't think that's a bad thing, as long as you're there with
me."

Well, so much for trying to hold himself together. The
wolf found himself blushing again. “You sound like you want to be with me."

“Call me a hypocrite, but now that doesn't sound too
bad, to be honest. It's just you. I trust you." The dog laced their fingers
together. “I mean, sure, I dated lots of girls, but I never felt close to
them—like, you know, close to them.
But with you, honestly," He blushed. “Dude, we cuddled on the bed. We groomed
each other. We fucking kissed. I don't fucking care anymore if I'm doing
that with you, a guy. And now we're boyfriends… which means… um…"

Max looked away with flat ears, prompting Tom to blush
even more.

“W-who's… who's gonna top?"

“Here are your meals!"

Tom jumped on his seat, reflexively pulling his hand and
almost knocking the waitress down. He quickly calmed himself, although his tail
betrayed him by wagging.

“Oh… sorry if I ruined a moment!" there was no sorry
in her voice, she sounded so happy. “Call me if you need help." And away she
went, leaving the two canines to sort their feelings.

They began eating their food without talking or even
looking at each other.

The wolf dared break the silence. “Do you want to?"

Max choked on his meal upon hearing that. Quickly giving
the dog his drink, Tom helped him breathe.

“Jesus, Tom!"

“S-sorry."

“No, I mean—" Max put his glass down and wiped his
snout. He took a deep breath, but still not looking at the wolf. “I mean, if you
want me to."

Tom forced himself another deep breath—how many deep
breaths had he taken today? “Don't worry about that now." He smiled at the dog.
“We'll take it slow."

Max looked at him, astounded, then nodded with a
nervous smile. “Y-yeah. Okay."

Now that sex was out of the way, Tom found himself
calming down. His imagination was still running wildly—both being topped by and topping Max would surely be one hell
of a first time—but he ignored it. They needed to think about things other than
sex. This was his first time—no, their
first time, so he wanted to make things right.

“So, this is our first d-date?" he blurted out.

“W-well, you said it yourself." Max scratched his ear.
“Though, if you really want to be technical, that summer holiday can be thought
of as our first date."

Tom almost choked on his food, then slurped his juice
and held back a giggle. Looking back at it, he too thought of that as a date.

Changing the topic to something that wouldn't make him
fluster, the wolf asked another question. “Max, uh, where do you live?"

The dog stared at him incredulously, then chuckled,
his first genuine one today. “We've known each other for so long and you're
asking me where I live?"

“No, not that. I mean, you're going to live here in
Barrowisle, right? Have you found a place yet?"

Putting his utensils down before pushing the plate
away, Max leant back on the seat. “Oh right. I haven't found a place yet."

Tom slurped his juice. “Where do you put your stuff
now?"

“Over at Octo's place."

He almost trembled as he asked, “How about you move
with me?"

Max looked at him, then he asked the wolf. “Is it
okay, though?"

“It's more than okay, mate. We're boyfriends now."

That still tasted weird. We're boyfriends now.

“Oh, right." The dog scratched his ear. “How much is
the rent?"

“Hm?"

“You know, how much is the rent? So we can split bills
and stuff."

“Don't worry about the rent for now." Tom put his
empty plate on top of Max's and slurped his juice. “I've paid for the rent for
six months in advance. We still have four more months without rent, well, three
and a half."

“How about bills and stuff?"

“All done for this month."

“Supplies?"

“I've also filled my kitchen with supplies for this
month."

“I'll… do the chores then."

“No need since I cook, clean, and wash by myself."

The dog leant forward. “Come on! I gotta do something!
I can't just live with you and not do something!"

Chuckling a little, Tom leant forward on the table and
looked at Max. The dog looked at him back. “Okay, I reckon you can help me shop
since we need more food now that you also live there. And maybe you can do the
dishes. And maybe," he chuckled. “I can top you."

Max glanced at him but didn't look disgusted or
anything. He simply sighed obediently. “Okay."

Tom laughed for real. “Nah, let's put sex later. Why're
you so… entah dah, obedient about
sex?"

“I don't know how things work, wolf, so whatever you
say, I'll go with it."

“You know, that's going to make me fluster."

“It's already making me fluster!"

Tom chuckled and crossed his arms. “Why do I seem to
be the older one here?"

“Because you're the gay one?"

“That kind of hurt—"

Max sat up straight. “W-wait! I-I didn't mean that
way!"

“Eh, it's okay. I mean, I'm the one who asked you to
be my boyfriend after all, of course I ought to be responsible." The wolf shrugged.
“So, moving your stuff to mine?"

Looking at him, the dog let out a relieved sigh. “Moving
my stuff to yours."

“How many boxes do you have? Should we get an Over?"

“Nah, I'll call Andy and borrow his car. He won't
mind."

Tom opened the door to his flat with shaky hands. He
was… he was going to live with Max. He was Max's boyfriend. Max was his
boyfriend. Whoa.

He went inside and put the boxes down next to the
sofa. Outside was a light shower. The wolf glanced at the clock; it was a bit
past 20. Apparently, they had dinner at the restaurant for longer than he
thought.

“Put your clothes in the bedroom." He said to Max as
he plopped down on the sofa.

After putting his suitcase of clothes in the bedroom,
Max sat down on the sofa beside him. “So?"

“So what?"

“Eh, nothing."

Their eyes met, then they flustered and looked away
again.

Fuck, it still got him.

“Uh… so… rules and regulations I guess." The dog scratched
his ear.

“Right… um…"

“Just tell me, I won't mind. It's still your place
after all."

The wolf took a quick glance at the hallway, then back
at the dog. “Okay, um… so… first, we've got to figure out where you sleep."

Max chuckled. “Do you really have to speak about our
sleeping place so soon?"

“Well, I mean, that's something you'll do most of the
time, you know." He looked back at the hallway. “You've seen the bedroom,
right? This is a single-bedroom flat, so we're…. we're going to sleep…
together…"

“Y-yeah… I-I wasn't expecting any other way anyway."
The dog cleared his throat. “What's your side of the bed?"

“Huh?"

“Your side of the bed?"

“I… I'll take the wall."

“Sure. Bathroom stuff?"

“Nothing too important, just keep it clean and remove
your fur from the drain cover after you're done, don't want to have it clogged."
The wolf shrugged a bit. “Also, I hope you fit in the bathtub and shower."

“I think I fit. It's pretty big. So, laundry?"

Tom scratched his nape. “I usually do laundry every
three days. There's a washing machine in the bathroom."

“Do I get to wash your underwear?" Max joked.

“Well… i-if you want. You have no problem with… you
know, washing other people's private garments?"

“Nope. Did laundry back home sometimes. 'S not a big
deal." He shrugged. “I'll help do the laundry, don't worry. You want me to cook
too?"

“Okay, the kitchen," he took a quick glance at the
kitchen area. “You can cook, Max?"

The dog laughed a bit. “Yeah, what kind of dish you
want?"

Tom only stared at him. “Somehow that says you're
going to burn the cooker in just five minutes."

“Hey! I watch whatever I eat… well most of the time."
He chuckled sheepishly. “I can make some dishes. They're not the best, but at
least I think they're delicious. Honestly though I want you to cook for me,
your meals are illegally delicious."

“Weird flex but okay."

“So, you want flex?"

Tom threw the large dog a pillow, making him laugh. Yeah,
he would want some flex, but… really,
his heart couldn't handle any more teasing for today. So he stood his ground
and leant back on the sofa, trying to smirk at the dog. “Do you want to flex in
front of me, though?"

Max was still grinning. “Heh, why the heck not?"

“Do you know what would I think if you did that?"

“Whoa! Max's so hot!"

He took another pillow and threw it to a guffawing
Max.

“Come on, nobody escapes my charm~"

“Don't make me horny right now, Max!" Tom growled
playfully. “You won't see tomorrow's sun without having problems with walking."

“Is that a challenge? Or you just described yourself?"

“Oi!" He rolled his eyes. “Really though, do you
really want to know…" He looked away as he trailed off, nervousness coming back
in. “the things… I thought… about you?"

Max scratched his cheeks in discomfort, but his tail was
wagging next to him as if the thought excited him. “Er… not now, maybe?"

Why did he have to be so cute? The wolf let out a
chuckle instead. “Don't worry, though, I won't touch you if you don't want to. Just
be ready for cuddles."

“Nah, cuddles are… uh… fine."

Probably he shouldn't make the dog uncomfortable. It
surely had taken a lot of bravery to accept him, to be boyfriends with a guy.
He should guide him slowly, and that was what he was going to do.

“Hey, Max." He said, standing up and walking towards
the dog. “Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything to you if you don't want
to. If you want me to stop, just say stop. Don't be afraid to tell me anything,
okay?" He sat next to him, keeping his distance to give the dog his space.

Max looked at him and smiled. “Y-yeah, I'd really
appreciate that."

“Nah. I
don't want to force you to do something you're not comfortable with." He smiled
back. “So, the kitchen. Just use anything if you want, but make sure to wash everything
and put them back where you take them. Oh and feel free to use the coffee
machine. Supplies are in the drawers near the fridge, while cooking utensils
are next to them."

“Right. Anything else?"

“Wait, shouldn't you be returning Andy's car when it's
fully charged?"

Max stood up, surprised. “Oh, right! Fuck, I forgot!
I'll get to Andy's!" He then went for the door but stopped before he opened it.
“Uh, Tom?"

“Ya?"

“T-thanks," he looked down. “for everything. For
taking me in, for being patient with me. Really, I don't regret being with you."

Tom smiled at the dog. “No, Max, thank you for making my world brighter. Thank
you for giving me a chance."

They exchanged smiles, then Max took the key from the table and went out of the room.

When the door clicked shut, Tom let out a deep
relieved sigh. They… they were now boyfriends. No need to keep secrets anymore.
He wanted to do this right. Max was right; he was still debating himself, and
Tom didn't want to force him into anything.

As long as they wanted to be with each other, then
everything would be fine.

Unlocking the door, Max opened
it slowly and went inside. This was going to be his home for who knew how
long, so he'd better familiarise himself. But for now, everything seemed so
new, so sudden.

“I'm home."

The dog chuckled to himself. Honestly, he had no idea
what was he doing. But this was Tom, and although he wasn't quite ready to see the
wolf as a romantic partner, he was willing to try.

Locking the door behind him, he walked into the dark living
room. It seemed like Tom had gone to sleep. It was half to 22 after all. He met
some ex-workmates before and had a quick talk; they said the company was open
to new recruits. Maybe he could apply there.

“Ah, you're home."

His right ear swivelled to the balcony. Sure enough,
he saw the wolf's silhouette on the transparent glass and curtains. Max took
his jacket off and put it on the hanger, then walked to the balcony.

“I thought you already went to sleep, Tom." He said as
he sat down next to the wolf on the floor.

The wolf chuckled a little. “No, not Tom."

Max looked at him. “What do you mean? Come on, you're
hungry?"

The wolf didn't immediately answer, but when he did,
he sounded somewhat different. “No, I'm not hungry." He looked at the dog. “I'm
not Tom."

“Not… Tom?" Max raised his eyebrows.

The wolf looked back at the sky with a cigarette in
his hand—wait, he smoked? He never told him he smoked.

“You remember that day in the hospital when Tom told
you about multipersonality? Yeah, I'm that second personality." The wolf puffed
the smoke. “Call me Lain."

Max just stared at him. He wanted to say that the wolf
was joking, but when he really looked at him, he realised that this wasn't
exactly him. Tom didn't smoke and he was subtle about his emotions. This,
though, was different. They even had different accents.

“Call us weird, call us joking, that's fine." The
wolf… Lain continued. “You have reason, I won't hold it against you. You're
Max, right?"

“Where's… where's Tom?" He instead asked, somewhat
uncomfortable with him. So, this was Tom's second personality? What was he
like? Was he actually the one who'd been controlling the body all the time?!

Wait, was he the one who had been bloodthirsty back
then?!

Memories and nightmares suddenly came back to him. Max
knew he should've taken the mental recovery sessions the hospital offered after
he brought Tom there. Sometimes, he had nightmares about that day, about Tom
bathed in blood. He wouldn't say the dreams were about death, but they were
very close.

Fortunately, they didn't stick for long and stopped
after Tom woke up. He was sure that it was because Tom told him that he
accepted that part of himself, which in turn might make him subconsciously
accept that it was a part of Tom and that Tom could control himself.

Maybe, it was also because the sight of Tom was enough
to remind him that this wolf was a gentle one.

Not this one, though. The personality who called
himself Lain smoked again. “He's too emotionally tired for today, so I took
over."

“Is he…?"

“No, he's not dead, just sleeping."

“Oh…"

“Heh, don't tell Tom that I'm smoking. He's gonna
throw a tantrum if he finds out." The wolf laughed.

The air around him was different from Tom. The way Tom
composed himself was… calm, orderly, somewhat dignified but friendly. A bit secretive
sometimes, but it was because he kept things to himself. Lain, though… he composed
himself like a rebel, like a ragtag person who didn't care about anything
around him.

Is this… is he a more psychopathic version of Tom? Did
they even have a healthy relationship? Why did he learn so many new and
terrifying things?!

“I'm pretty sure
you're scared as hell right now. Don't worry, I don't bite much." The wolf
said, from his tone Max wasn't sure whether he was joking or not. “You have
lots of questions, ask me away."

Heck, he was even scarier than Tom?! What was he, a
psychic?!

“For starters, no, I don't fight with Tom over control
of the body. I don't usually take control, only rarely." He looked at Max with
sharp eyes; somehow, those red eyes looked harsher. “Also, I also have Tom's
knack to read conditions and people quite easily. Tom just keeps things to
himself."

Wait, did he say Tom could read people easily, could
that mean…?

Max moved away from him. He knew Tom was perceptive
but not that perceptive. “Uh…"

Lain grinned and smoked again.

Daring himself ask, he sat up straighter and looked
away. “So… um… you know, that fight back then… you were the one in control?"

The wolf chuckled somewhat dryly. “No, that wasn't me.
Yeah, I was there to help him—in fact, we're good at fights because we help
each other. But after that moment when I told you to run away after shooting those
two assholes—yeah it was me—Tom took over." Then his tone changed to something
graver. “Everything happened after the howl was Tom."

Everything…?

The dog's eyes widened as realisation hit him. Did
that mean the savage, uncontrollable brute drenched in blood whom he saw back
then was Tom?! He turned to the wolf,
horror in his face. So, the savage one was Tom?!

But, but, but it couldn't be!

Grinning at him, Lain put the cigarette in his
fingers. “Hard to believe, huh?"

“W-what about the people you killed?!"

The wolf snorted. “I don't give a fuck what happens to
them. Tom, though, the moment he doesn't give a fuck about anything, that's the
moment you should start to worry." His expression then darkened, the grin left
his face. “Trust me, you don't want to be near him when that happens."

Max debated whether he should go and wait for Tom to
come back again. This Lain guy seemed dangerous, and the way he spoke about
Tom, he seemed to dislike him.

That grin came back to his face as he puffed the smoke
away. “Fuck them for making our life even more difficult than it already is.
They can rot in hell for all I care."

“…so it's a regular thing?"

“What do you think we are, a serial killer?" Lain
turned to look at him sharply. For the first time, Max felt afraid of being
under that red gaze. He never realised just how scary was it actually. Tom never
stared like the way Lain did… well, there was that time in the café, but even
then, his gaze wasn't as harsh as this.

Fortunately, Lain looked back at the sky. The dog could
sense the amusement from him. “We've got rough life, I know, but they can't
stop being bitches about it. No, though, we don't usually kill people. It's one
of those rules thingy Tom made, 'don't kill people without valid reasons'."

'We'…? Did that mean Tom used to kill people? Max's
eyes were wide, but he didn't look at the wolf. That was… that was crazy!

Who… who was actually the bad guy here?

However, what puzzled him the most about them was
despite their… psychopathy, none of them actually looked and acted psychopathically.
Tom was… Tom, the nice, quiet, honest wolf who was friendly to everyone, and
although he'd only had a few minutes with him, Lain seemed to be more of a bad
boy and didn't look or act psychopathic. A jerk, maybe, but not outright
psychopathic.

Maybe because he was now living with the wolf, he
would see what the wolf really was, along with his quirks and psychopathy, if
any. He hoped he wouldn't see that last part, though, thank you. That incident
scarred him for life, and even though he still thought of the wolf as a nice
guy, he could never see him in the same light again. He had to be very, very
careful not to mess with him.

Lain leant back on the glass window. “Don't be afraid,
though. Tom doesn't trust people easily—we
don't trust people easily. When Tom trusts someone, I know he's made the
right decision. You're safe, hell, all of you are safe. It's not like we're
just going to snap and start killing people, jeez."

Coming from this second personality, that didn't
really calm him.

“Tom only goes to that 'rampage mode' when the third
voice wants to speak. Even then, he still tried to keep it with himself, even
as far as isolating himself."

“T-third voice?"

“The joy of having a shittier-than-shit childhood, I
suppose." The wolf shrugged. “Don't worry, Tom's not dangerous. He's the voice
of reason. He can control himself." He elongated his legs. “Seriously, I'm not
kidding when I say that Tom is a saint baptised in blood… well okay, that's too
much. The point is, don't be afraid of Tom just because of that incident. He always
has a reason when he does something; he did that thing to protect you and
relieve himself."

“Just Tom?"

Lain stared at him. He stared back.

“Just Tom." The wolf looked away, then huffed. “Say,
Max…"

“Y-yeah?"

Lain puffed the smoke. “You've seen what we can do.
You've seen just how much we hate the world. I'm gonna ask this now before
you—we—get too far into this. I don't want Tom to be hurt even more 'cause that
means I'm also gonna be hurt." He paused for a while, then shifted and sighed.

Max gulped.

“Do you accept me, I mean, Tom—fuck, do you accept us
for what we are?" He turned to look at Max intensely. “This god-forsaken, broken-beyond-repair
self who has met Hell and came back without even a sliver of hope?"

Max wanted to look away under that intense gaze, but
he just gulped and straightened his lips, steeling his resolve. He trusted Tom
and Tom trusted him. “I more than accept you." He replied without even a drop
of doubt.

Lain laughed at that. “Thought you'd say that. I'm no
sappy romantic git like Tom but I'm sure he'd be delighted to hear that." He
closed his eyes, lips forming an honest smile. “He's been through a lot. He
just needs a fucking break with someone who accepts him."

“How about you?"

“Me? I'd gladly be a target practice 'cause I know
there's no use for me. Tom still values his life, so he still deserves a place
in the world. Me? Dude I've already got a one-way ticket to Hell and I ain't
giving that away."

Max looked away, distraught by Lain's carefree
attitude towards death. Yet, he figured that with life like him, he had a
reason. He didn't know how was his relationship with Tom, and frankly, didn't
really want to find out about that.

The wolf instead laughed again. “Don't worry about me,
really. Just worry about Tom." Then, his laughter abruptly stopped before looking
at Max intensely again. The sudden change of emotion disturbed Max. “If you
hurt Tom, I will hurt you."

The shepherd gulped. “I won't."

“Just what I want to hear." Lain snickered. “Go sleep,
lover boy. It's past your curfew. When I come to the bed, don't touch me.
You'll wake up beside Tom tomorrow, not me. Would also be wise to never mention
this conversation to him."

Maybe it was better to back away and wait for Tom to
come back. Lain seemed to be too unstable. The dog stood up, looking at the
night sky before taking a deep sigh. Tail waving in anxiousness, he turned back
to walk inside. However, before he went inside, he looked back at the wolf and
asked. “Lain, w-what's Tom afraid of the most?"

Lain didn't answer right away, but then he took a deep
sigh as he bit what was left of the cigarette, putting the ember off by biting
it with his fangs before throwing it away. “Inexistence itself."