Fox was used to running into walls or walking into doors but this time he really didn't see anything extraordinary. And yet, he'd walked into something solid. Confused, he moved his hand forward and his fingertips grazed something. A... body?

A moment later, that body materialized. 

Kris' best friend! 

"Hi!" Fox said with an enthusiast smile, although the nervousness was coiling in his stomach. In the past weeks, he'd sent Kris a little gift three times; chocolates, a poem, and a little bear holding a heart, but Kris had responded to none of these things. 

Had he sent his best friend with a message? Nervously, he bit his lip, looking expectantly at the boy. 

"Kris doesn't give a damn about you." The boy glared at him. "But the message doesn't seem to land so before you make a fool of yourself again, I'll tell you this: the way you're stalking him makes you fucking pathetic."

Crestfallen, Fox looked up to the boy. 

Did Kris really not like him? 

Fox knew very well other people thought he was overdoing things but... he'd hoped that Kris would secretly like it.

"Oh, okay," Fox said with slumped shoulders. "You uh, you know him well. What—what does he like?"

"Nothing he can't do with me."

A bit awkwardly, Fox raked a hand through his curls. "Maybe uh... maybe the three of us can hang out some time?" he asked, refusing to let go of the hope.

The boy huffed and stepped past him. He bashed his shoulder against Fox's, with such a force that Fox almost lost his balance.

Rubbing his shoulder, Fox watched the Buffalo leave. That wasn't very nice... Had he done something wrong? Was Kris complaining about him? Somehow, he'd expected Kris to tell him in person when he didn't like the presents.

Biting his lip, Fox turned around and walked to his campus. He wouldn't give up, but maybe he should try a different approach. Maybe it was time to do a little more than leaving surprises behind... he needed to come up with something that Kris would like. 

☆☆☆

Two days later, Fox slipped into the Buffalo campus. It was dinner time, so there was nobody around. Nevertheless, he held his breath as he went up the stairs to the bedrooms of the boys. He had no idea where Kris slept, but he thought he would figure it out soon enough. He went into the first room and opened the closet door. A quick inspection told him the clothes in it weren't Kris's. The same happened in the second room, so he ended up in the last room where there was only one closet with clothes. It surprised him; he thought that Nish and Kris were sharing a room. The room wasn't very organized, which filled Fox with relief; he was a bit of a pack rat himself too. He put down the roses on the desk and glanced once more at the card attached to it. 

Will you meet me at the forest tonight, at 1 AM? 

It was a simple message; normally he would have come up with a long story but Nish had made him a little insecure. He however did draw a small fox so Kris would know who the sender was.

Quickly he left the room, his heart thumping heavily in his chest. At first, he thought it was because he was afraid to get caught; but when his heart beat didn't slow down in the hours that followed, he realized there was another reason. 

Would Kris show up? 

If not, it might be time to cut his losses. 

Otherwise, he would really turn into a stalker and that had never been his intention. 

He was a bundle of nerves by the time he was standing before the fence surrounding the forest, looking out for a lonely figure. Every minute seemed to endure forever and although the evening air was pleasant, he felt cold. 

Hopefully, he would come.

☆☆☆

A little dazed, Kris looked at the roses on his desk. Perhaps he shouldn't have been surprised, although getting into his room was a bit bold. He thought back to the boy who could only stutter around him in the beginning, with a face so red it was about to explode, and he chuckled because of his boldness. 

If he wanted to come to the forest. 

After a month of giving obvious hints, the Lion apparently thought it was time for Kris to show him if the interest was mutual. He was absolutely right. 

Kris had held him off a bit, not knowing whether this would work or not. Deep down, however, he knew this wasn't the way to figure it out. Therefore, he needed to spend time with the boy and actually get to know him. 

And secretly, he was looking forward to it, despite the fact that his best friend was constantly complaining about him and that Fox's best friend clearly didn't want him around the boy. He'd listened to their complaints long enough. 

Around a quarter to one, he put on his shoes and some black clothes. He couldn't transform into an animal to cross the terrain unnoticed, but he slipped outside at night enough times to know how to stay out of sight. 

Twenty minutes later, he saw the boy in front of the fence. The corners of Kris' mouth curled up when the Lion waved enthusiastically at him. Had someone else ever waved at him? 

The moon was reflected in Fox's eyes and his smile made Kris' breathing hitch for a moment. He was almost blown away by a primal instinct to push the boy against the fence and kiss him until he couldn't remember his own name, but he fought it off and slipped his hands into his pockets. 

"So we move to nightly dates now, huh?" Kris wiggled his eyebrows. 

Immediately, the boy's face turned red. "I thought uhm—that you might like this."

A dirty comment burnt on his lips, but he kept it to himself. It would only make the boy more nervous, or maybe he would even panic. 

"I might," he said, sending him a wink. 

Gloating, Fox looked at him. Then he took a step back and pointed down. "We can go through this hole."

Kris had his own ways to get over the fence, but he didn't comment on it and nodded. After the Lion, he crawled through the hole. 

"Have you been in the forest before?" Fox asked once they'd scrambled on their feet again.

"Now and then, during a game of truth or dare," Kris answered. "But it's a while back."

A branch snapped beneath his foot, causing Fox's shoulders to tense. Kris suppressed a chuckle; Fox's face showed him that he didn't want him to know that he was scared. "What about you?"

"Only—only during the day. Mostly with Safira; we fly here." 

"Cool."

A silence fell while they walked through the forest, pushing away branches as they went. Fox's breathing gave away that he didn't feel very comfortable, even though Kris wasn't sure what was the cause; the forest or Kris himself. 

"In what animals can you transform?" Kris asked.

It turned out to be a smart question—a long tale about different animals with their pros and cons followed. Soon, the boy stumbled over his words and Kris could barely follow him, but he thought his rambling was cute. 

"What is your favorite animal?" Fox asked as if suddenly realizing that Kris was still around. 

"Hm..." Grinning, his gaze wandered across Fox's face. "Secretly, a little fox."

The boy tripped over a tree root. By reflex, Kris wrapped an arm around his waist to keep him on his feet. Fox turned towards him and looked up. "You only say that to tease me."

Kris chuckled, loosening his grip a bit so the boy could walk normally instead of leaning against him. "Maybe a little? But I do think they're beautiful creatures. Playful, but predators still. Although black panthers are awesome too."

"I never tried to change into a panther," Fox told him. "Dangerous animals scare me a little. Sometimes, my animal instinct is stronger than my normal instinct." He jumped on a fallen tree and jumped off it while Kris stepped over it. "I might attack someone."

Kris thought it was refreshing that someone was so open about their insecurities. "Why don't you practice with someone else around?" He stood still and motioned Fox to walk further. Once there was some space between them, he let crystal bars rise out of the ground, surrounding the boy like a cage. He headed to it and wrapped his hand around the bars while Fox was turning around in the cage. 

"Oh, this might work! Do you want to practice with me?" Fox also wrapped his hands around the bars and glanced up. 

There was a tickle in his stomach. Something told him there was very little he could deny this boy when he looked at him like that.

"Yeah, sure." His mouth was dry. There are a lot of things I'd like to practice with you. Before these words found their way to his mouth, he crushed the stone. Fox caught a handful of glistening dust and looked mesmerized at it. 

"It looks like stardust!"

Kris realized he was about to throw it in the air as if it was real stardust and he grabbed his wrist. 

"It's too coarse for dust; it looks shiny but it will irritate your skin when you sprinkle it over yourself."

"Oh." Taken aback, Fox opened his hands to drop the dust. "A pity."

That disappointment was already his weakness. Taking Fox's hands, he wiped his palms and created paper-thin silver flakes and turned them into powder. 

With a wide grin, Fox glanced up, tossing the dust up while watching in awe how it fluttered down like powder snow. His curls were sparkling, just like his shoulders. 

"Ha, it's on you too!" the boy chuckled. "Glitters look cute on you." He stuck out his tongue.

Kris pulled his beanie from his head and realized the boy was right. Shaking it off, he raked a hand through his hair. 

"Still there!" Fox laughed. Suddenly, the boy took his hand. "Come with me, I want to show you something."

With his other hand, Kris pulled the beanie back over his head. A bit overwhelmed he let Fox drag him along, who seemed to have said goodbye to his shyness.