Tom put the last piece of lemper on the plate. That was all, the snacks were ready for tonight, well, extras since apparently his guests liked his snacks and they ran out. The wolf let out a satisfied sigh and brought the plate to the living room. “Here's more lemper."

“Great!"

“Nice!"

“Love you, Tom!"

He just chuckled at their responses. “You're welcome."

After almost three years of saving money, he finally dared rent a flat for himself. Octo recommended this one to him. It wasn't very far from the panther's flat and cheap enough without being too small and barebones. Tom rented it for now, planning to buy it later when he had the money. He'd paid for six months of the rent and didn't have to worry about anything again, maybe electricity and water but they wouldn't cost him much.

Now, he had a place to rest, a home. And it was his, earned through his sweat and blood.

And now he had a kitchen.

The grey wolf sat down on the sofa. Next to him, Octo smiled and put his arm behind his neck while taking a lemper with another. “Seriously, if I'd known you could cook this good, I would've asked you to cook for me every day." He said with a grin.

Tom laughed a little. “Nah, I just happen to be lucky that I didn't burn the cooker."

They all laughed. Somehow, he felt Max's gaze boring into him.

“Eh, give these ones to Theodore and those in the balcony," he said as he took one for himself.

“Nope, this is a treasure." Kevin said, already on his third.

Andy and Yohan laughed. “Yep, fuck them for not actually congratulating you." The lion said, his hand coming back to his girlfriend's neck. Finally, after years of hunting and sad stories of being dumped, the lion had a girlfriend.

“I think you're the one who came here just for the food, right, Andy?" Nathan joked.

Everyone laughed again at a reddened Andy. “I did not!"

Actually, Octo's arm was making him uncomfortable… in a good way. He knew he should not feel this way, but the way he was embraced made him feel the panther's hard muscles, not to mention smell his scent. He had been sitting next to the panther since he came and now he was starting to regret it… actually no he did not regret it.

Also, the panther planned to stay for tonight, so no, he did not regret it at all.

But, for the sake of his lower parts, probably it'd be best if he stepped away for a bit.

“Bathroom." He said to Octo. The panther smiled at him and took his arm off, only for Kevin to put his arm over his neck and pull him close.

“Cheers for the wolfy!" Kevin said, putting his lemper in the air while pulling the grey wolf close.

Everyone laughed merrily and did the same. “Cheers!"

Tom couldn't join, though, since he was pressed against the red wolf's barely clothed body. His scent was everywhere; Tom could even feel his pecs against his nape… wow they were thick. While this was hot, it was also embarrassing, so he pushed Kevin's thighs to get away. Sadly, the red wolf only pulled him closer, oblivious to his attempt.

Looking up, he saw Max's looking at him apologetically from another sofa in front of him, then glared intensely at Kevin.

“Kev, sorry, mate, would you just…"

Kevin finally looked at him and grinned. “Yo, what is it, Tom? Heh, trying to get into my pants now? Y'know, you look badass with that eyepatch."

“Kevin, let him go." Max said sternly, which unfortunately went unnoticed by most of them.

Octo, catching the German Shepherd's irritation, took Kevin's hand away and freed Tom. “Kevin, let Tom go." He said, not as stern as Max but still enough to reprimand.

“Hey, what gives! I just wanna get up close with 'nother wolf~"

Tom was starting to feel uncomfortable, being amongst Kevin, Octo, and Max like this. Octo pulled him close, while Kevin was making lewd expressions at him, while Max glared at them both intensely.

Wait, wait, wait how did it turn out to be like this?

Fortunately, or unfortunately, perhaps, Max stood up and pushed the red wolf away. Kevin protested, to which the others just laughed, and swapped seats with Max instead. Andy threw the red wolf some lemper wrappings, saying that he was too horny for his own good.

Yohan threw the lion some lemper wrappings in return and told him to go look at himself in a mirror.

The grey wolf wanted to sigh in relief, but now Max pulled him close to him rather roughly. Looking at the panther's fur bristling on his arm, Tom could see that even Octo was surprised. It seemed as if Max was… jealous.

He went red. Maybe it really was true. Although Max had been protective of him, his protectiveness increased ever since that night in which Max came to his dorm and pretty much confronted him. The dog kept him close, seldom letting him out of his sight.

Despite that, Tom was very thankful that the dog came. That really helped him to calm down. Many nights before that, he couldn't sleep not just because he was half-heartedly clanking away writing his thesis, but also because of the nightmares. They were getting worse and worse after that fight. One night he even stared through the window for several hours, staring at the abyss.

After that, Max kept a close eye on him. They didn't meet every day, but when they did, the dog would keep him close, making sure that he was fine and safe. They even snuggled a few more times. The nightmares had gotten less and less frequent and the call of the void had gotten fainter and fainter.

It made him happy and scared. Happy because just… damn, it felt like a dream, being so close to the dog. Scared because it might make him fall in love harder with the shepherd and that moving on from him would be more painful.

Such was the curse of loving someone who did not love him back.

Max smiled at him, making butterflies fly in his stomach. That smile… that unlawfully handsome smile… “How do you make this? Tastes amazing!"

“Uh…" he scratched his cheek. “y'know, steaming…"

Pulling him closer, Max chuckled. Oh wow, now his scent was everywhere and something in Tom's pants began to get hard. The dog's grave voice was making him shudder a bit and his tail began to wag, thumping against Octo's thigh. The panther looked at it, then at him, then at Max, then chuckled and put his glass in the air and drank the avocado juice as if toasting to him being this close to Max.

Dammit, Oct!

The dog then released him and rejoined the conversation, to his relief. Tom was still close to him and had no intention to leave. However, for the sake of his lower parts, probably it'd be best if he stepped away for a bit.

“Bathroom." he said to the dog. Max smiled at him before letting him go and went back to the conversation. Somehow, Octo was smirking. Tom paid the panther no mind and stood up, took some lemper, and walked away.

Only, he didn't go to the bathroom and instead walked towards Martin and his gang near the kitchen. Lucy had given him a wooden decorated shield and she was now telling stories to them with the shield. He thanked her for the gift, but really, it was going to be kept somewhere safe and out of his sight because its brightly coloured patterns unnerved him.

The wolf stood back and leant on the wall, watching them fondly. Martin, James, Ellie, and Lucas were watching Lucy as the cat told them a story, sometimes posing with the shield for effects. She really had skills in telling stories.

“…and after that, the forest returns to the people and the people return to the forest. There's now not a monster to drive the two halves from each other again."

They clapped their hands at her. “Whoa!"

“That's great!"

The wolf decided to come closer. “I think you forgot the part where the people used to hunt other tribes and keep their decapitated heads as trophies." He said, letting out a chuckle.

Lucas went rigid. “They did that?!"

“This isn't about that one, sota lu." The cat threw him a used paper cup, earning a laugh from the wolf.

The other four looked uncomfortable.

“Eh, anyway," Tom said as he caught the paper cup from Lucy. “here's more lemper. There're some more there. I take it I'm a pretty good cook, ya?"

James took one lemper and ate it. “Gotta admit, you are."

“These are amazing, really." Lucas said, eating the lemper. “On another note, how's thesis?"

All of them except Tom let out a groan. The coyote chuckled.

“I'm pretty much done with mine," the wolf said casually, sipping his soda. “I'm going to ask for a final revision next week, then propose for defence."

Ellie seethed at him.

“You are so. Damn. Lucky." Martin said as if he were offended.

The wolf just shrugged nonchalantly.

“Buddy, it's what, late-March and you're already done with yours?" Lucas laughed.

“Well, I did spend several nights not sleeping, and I remember correctly someone slept through a consultation session."

Martin almost stepped on his foot, but he was faster to move it.

“Tom's cheating, I knew it." Ellie said.

“I do not!"

“Even if Tom cheats, don't you think it's better if you ask him how?" Lucas joked.

“…that actually makes sense."

The wolf rolled his eyes. “I reckon I now know how you graduated, Luc."

The coyote laughed.

Suddenly, they perked up by the sound of someone slamming the table, followed by an angry voice, “Kevin, watch yourself!" Tom turned to the living room. There was Max getting angry at Kevin, growling softly.

Surprised, Tom walked to them. The dog was staring at the red wolf intensely, almost baring his teeth with Octo holding him back. Kevin held his hands over his chest, for once backing down before a fight. “Hey, Max, I was just joking."

“Then stop joking like that!"

“Okay, sheesh, sorry, sorry." The red wolf said. “If I don't know better, you've been very protective of Tom lately. What, you jealous or something?"

This time, Max outright growled at him.

“Okay, that's enough." John said, stepping between the two. He looked at them sternly, crossing his hands. “Kevin, why don't you freshen up a bit. Max, come with me."

At first the dog didn't bulge, still staring at Kevin as the red wolf stood up and walked to the bathroom with tail low and ears down. When Kevin neared Tom, the red wolf tried to smirk with ears still down and greeted him, “Yo, wolfy." and gave his shoulder a pat before going to the bathroom. Tom smiled at him, then looked back at Max and crossed his arms, waving his tail in suppressed annoyance.

While Max growling sounded so hot, it was unwelcome.

When he saw Tom crossing his arms, Max's expression fell. His ears went up then down again, as if realising that he did something he shouldn't. “W-wait, Tom!"

The grey wolf huffed a bit. “You really didn't have to growl at Kevin, you know." There went the mood of the party… He walked towards the door, wanting to steer the shepherd away from the others.

Max followed him with John in tow—really, the Doberman was the big brother of the football club, and not just because he was the oldest—and looked at him apologetically, shoulders sagging and ears flat. “Kevin was making explicit sexual jokes about you."

“That's just how Kevin is." Tom replied, his tone gentle. “I know it annoys you, but please don't be angry at him? You can just tell him to stop."

“But he did not stop!" The dog retorted.

“And you growled at him?"

Max deflated again and looked away. Tom took a deep sigh at that.

John put his hand on the shepherd's shoulder. “Let's cool down for a bit, Max."

“You want me to go with you, Max?" He offered, wanting to return the favour to the dog for having helped him calm down two weeks ago.

Max didn't look at him, ashamed. Then, he took his jacket from the hanger and put it on. Surprised that he decided to leave, Tom panicked. “W-wait, Max—"

Max suddenly hugged him, nuzzling the top of his head. “I'm sorry, Tom, I… need to cool down for a bit. I'm really sorry for that."

“Max, don't…" John sighed and pinched the base of his muzzle, then continued, sounding rather annoyed. “Don't ghost us again, Max."

The shepherd released the hug and looked at Tom, ears still down. “I won't do that, just, sorry for tonight, Tom."

Letting out a soft sigh, the grey wolf smiled. “You've been uptight lately, Max. Don't forget to take care of yourself, please? I know fights happen, but it's not really good if the captain himself gets angry." He took the dog's hand and held it. “Please let me help you like how you helped me before."

“Y-yeah, I'm sorry." Max smiled apologetically. “I'll leave now, I'll come back later. I-it not because I don't want you to help, I j-just have something else to do. Good night, Tom."

He returned the smile uneasily. “Good night, Max."

Max opened the door and exited his flat, followed by John. “I'll return in a bit." The Doberman said to Tom before closing the door.

Well, that was… hopefully nothing too serious.

Tom went back to the sofas. It seemed like the previous incident was already forgotten. They were back to telling funny stories and laughing. The wolf sat down next to Octo and sighed, taking one lemper and unwrapping it. He was anxious about what would happen with Max. If the situation demanded, he would do what the dog did to him—he would come over and confront him to help.

“How is Max?" The panther said, noticing his distress.

Tom scratched his cheek. “He's fine. John was helping him to cool down, but Max's going home."

“Ouch, sorry for that."

“It's okay, Oct." The wolf said as he ate the lemper, wishing that Max would really be fine.

“Where do I put these?"

Tom looked behind. Octo was holding a rubbish bag and several plates. The panther put the plates down next to the wolf. “Just put the bag there. I'll trash them tomorrow."

The panther nodded and put it down, then went beside him and started washing the pile of dishes in the washtable that Tom had cleaned with soap.

“Uh, mate, no need…"

“Shush, I gotta be useful."

Tom put another plate on it. “But you're a guest tonight."

“Just think of me as a special guest." He smiled.

They went quiet and did the dishes together.

“Wait, doesn't being a special guest mean I have to serve yo—"

“Lord, no."

Tom laughed a little.

Octo smiled. “You've cooked delicious snacks today. I'm envious."

“Envious because you didn't have enough for you?"

“Envious because I can't cook like you."

“Why can't you?" the wolf moved away when he was done, taking his cleaning gloves off. “I mean, you can cook."

The panther shrugged. “I'm not familiar with the recipes. I can make desserts but I don't think they can be considered snacks. Wait, are desserts snacks?"

Putting the frying pan on the cooker, Tom chuckled a little. “I guess. I dunno though, Indonesian cuisine doesn't really have that many desserts." The wolf took a tempeh loaf and began to cut it. “I'm going to cook you some fried tempeh."

“Thanks. Some dinner would be nice. So, what are the snacks?"

“Technically tempeh can't be considered a proper meal just by itself so it's not dinner but it's fine I s'pose." He chuckled. “There're lots of them. Bakwan, lemper, batagor, martabak, pempek… I only know those."

Octo turned the tap off and took the cleaning gloves off. “Any chance you'll cook them soon?"

“I reckon I'll do sometime. Eh, you like it hot?"

“I know I'm hot."

“Not that, woi, you want your tempeh hot chili-ful and spicy or just spicy?"

The panther laughed. “Just spicy is fine."

“Okay then. This shan't take long. Just wait in the living room."

Several minutes later, Tom came into the living room with a big plate and three small bowls and put them on the table. He sat down next to the panther and picked one. “Fresh hot tempeh out of the frying pan."

Octo took one and ate it after it cooled down enough. “Hmm, nice." He then pointed at the three small bowls next to the plate. “What are those?"

“The black one is kecap, soy sauce. No, it's not ketchup although the two words are pronounced exactly the same. The red one is sauce, what people call ketchup. The black but somewhat transparent one is salty ketchup. Or gini, the black one is soy sauce, the red one is regular ketchup, and the last one is salty fish sauce." He dipped his tempeh and ate it.

They then ate in silence, watching the television absent-mindedly.

“You know," Tom started after a while. This was Octo anyway, his pseudo-big brother. “I'm glad you stick around. The place 'es a mess."

The panther chuckled. “Figured you'd need company. Andy could be an ass sometimes."

“Speaking of Andy, how're you two going now?"

Octo gave him a curious look.

Tom simply took one tempeh piece and dipped it in ketchup. “You no longer strangle him every time he makes a bad pun, right?" he let out a small chuckle. “You two seem to hate each other with passion, well, used to."

“Nah." the panther looked away. “Do we really look like we're driving each other nuts? I mean, yeah, we did kinda drive each other nuts before, but we got along well since I met you."

“So, I'm kind of the saviour who made two football jocks get along, then?"

“Yes. Literally. Like you would not believe."

They laughed.

“That time I told you you're cute, you remember? I really mean that." The wolf let out a fond sigh, then looked at the panther. “You really are cute. And please don't bully me for saying that you're cute."

Octo looked at the wolf smiling, then he looked away, but not without a small blush. “Thanks, but please quit it."

Tom laughed at that.

“Pet?"

The panther rolled his eyes. “…yes."

Tom leant forward and petted the panther's head. “There, there, who's a cute panther?"

Tail waving embarrassedly, Octo didn't look at him and said quietly. “Okay you can stop."

Tom pulled away, but without a teasing smile on his face. He knew Octo was scary—he was literally one and a half his size, and he was sure that he could defeat him if he wanted to, but this… this really warmed his heart. He had come a long way in making friends.

“Just so you know, I'm a skilled fighter." The panther said.

“That's pretty hard to take when you're looking away and blushing."

“I am not!" he turned to the wolf.

“Well, if you're a skilled fighter, then I reckon we can entertain ourselves, nih." He simply said, trying to grin wolfishly. Maybe the panther really was a skilled fighter, but he too was an experienced fighter. They could learn from each other.

Maybe his grin really came out wolfishly. Octo looked at him with disbelief on his face. He then took another tempeh and booped the wolf's nose.

“Hey!"

“Strong words from someone who can't even date properly."

“That really hurts."

“Speaking of fighters, how's you and your crush?"

“That doesn't make any sense."

“Whatever."

“Did you really mean not to make any sens—eh wait,"

“Just answer the question."

“Pfft, fine." The wolf leant back on the sofa and turned his head to the telly, a blush creeping up his cheeks. “We're… actually doing quite great."

Octo looked at him concernedly. He looked like he wanted to say something but held back. Instead, he just huffed. “That's nice to hear."

“What's nice to hear?"

“You and your crush."

“Thanks."

“Did you do the sacred thing yet?"

“What?"

“Fucking?"

Surprised at the change of topic, Tom kicked Octo who was chuckling amusedly. “What the actual fuck?!"

He couldn't fight a blush at that though… the thought of doing that with Max suddenly made its way into his mind… not that he had never imagined that… uh… yeah…

“Don't tell me you've never even thought of that."

The wolf was too red, but he fought back and grinned… while blushing. “Y-yeah. I thought of that. Happy now?"

“Who's on top?"

“To hell with your questions!"

He was not at all against the idea of being fucked by Max. The shepherd was… big… so big… he could really dominate him easily. On the other hand, he'd like to be adventurous too. Who knew he could dominate and top the shepherd instead. As impossible as those sounded, his imagination could still roam free.

“Don't think about it too much," the panther said, calming down from laughing. “I'm curious, how's it going now?"

Finally, no more teasing. Tom let out a calming sigh and leant on the sofa. “We're… we're doing great."

“That's very nice to hear." The panther smiled. “Don't rush it. Just take it at your own pace."

“Yeah, uh…"

This time, Octo petted his head with a smile. “You still got thesis to do, man, don't rush things. Except if you want to be like Andy."

“Getting a girlfriend in the middle of thesis?"

“Getting two girlfriends in the middle of thesis. I don't envy him for his own… insatiable sexual endeavour."

“You mean his lust."

“I was putting it lightly."

The wolf let out a chuckle and elongated his legs, careful not to touch the panther. “The name's Andy for you. How about you?"

Octo just took the wolf's legs and rested them on his thighs, earning a curious yelp from the wolf. “I haven't had one in a few months, I think. I've been busy. You know, moving here and stuff." He took another tempeh. “You're still living the virgin life, right?"

Move my leg a little bit to the left and maybe I'll be forced to leave the virgin life, he nervously thought. He just let out a shy laugh and tried to pull his legs, but the panther held them. “Y-yeah."

Eventually the panther let his legs go, but he was enjoying it too much to move them. Shit, he forgot just how hot was the panther actually. Sometimes it just slipped his mind. Unlike Max who was a persistent “hot, hot, hot" in his mind, Octo was like James. Likely that had something to do with Octo not being a canine.

“You put it like it's a bad thing." Tom said, getting his mind off the thought.

“Nah, it's not a bad thing. It's pretty refreshing, I think, keeping yourself until you find the one."

Tom just smiled.

“And then discovering how hard it is to give head or to keep a steady pace without an exercise."

Tom kicked the panther's groin, making him laugh.