One in the same! (Puro x Lin)

Puro's Pov: Curiosity.

I swear. I swear I thought he was about to kiss me fully. Am I just thinking about this too much? No Lin was so close that he moved at the last second. Why is this so complicated!? I should just kiss him! Right now in fact! C'mon Puro! You got this! You didn't wait for five years just to not commit to the human! 

My head swivels around and I spot Lin. He's still looking away from me…just do it, Puro. I start to walk toward him. My legs shake a little as my paws gently slap against the gym floor. Lean in and mwah! You can't dodge this thought forever. But what if Lin doesn't want to? I can't screw this up! There is no way-GAH!

My paw slips on the tip of my tail and I lose my balance. Pain shoots up my back from all my weight on my tail as I stumble forward. My arms fly out in front of me instinctively as I fall forward and I land on my shoulder roughly.

Ow….

"Puro!"

Lin kneels next to me and I sit up hesitantly. His eyes are full of worry.

He asks nervously "Are you ok?"

My face flushes as I realize I made a complete fool of myself. I nod gently and get up from the floor. I brush myself off as Lin stands right next to me still seemingly worried. As he is about to say something I bring my paw up and pet his head. 

I whisper sheepishly "Puro is ok Lin. I just tripped on my tail. Don't worry about me."

He frowns and replies "Of course, I'm going to worry about you. What if you had gotten hurt? Or worse, your mask broke?"

"Hey! That wouldn't happen….it takes a lot more than just a simple fall to break it."

"That's beside the point! Puro, you need to...."

He pulls away from my paw and looks into my eyes.

His voice softens as he finishes "Puro I love you but please be more careful. Dr.K is right. We are important. We can't just fool around constantly. I know this is your dream and I'm glad I get to be in it but we aren't the only people anymore. I know you don't like him but take him into consideration."

I still don't know what to think of Dr.K but…Lin is right. I'm getting too caught up in the excitement. I'm still a foolish latex after all. 

Not knowing what else to say I blurt out "I'm sorry…"

"Don't be sorry. It's not your fault. You have a right to not trust him. He even said it himself. I just don't want you to always be so awkward around each other."

What did they talk about when the two of them were alone in the warehouse? Did Dr.K open up? I don't know any of this….

Lin smiles gently and changes the topic.

"So Puro, have you ever worked out before?" 

"Lin…what does 'working out' mean?"

His ears perk a little and he explains "Oh! Yeah, it's when you train your body basically. You can use equipment or just do simple exercises."

"Ok! That does sound interesting…but no besides a few stretches I've never done anything like that."

I pause and ask confused "Why are you bringing this up now?"

Lin brings his arms out and grins as he spins around. 

He exclaims "We're in a gym Puro! There has to be something to do besides just standing around! Let's look for something! C'mon I know you're curious."

"Your right….I am. Alright, Lin. Let's look around."

We both begin to look around more closely. Quickly I discover near the corner of the room next to the navy blue bleachers are two locker rooms. A boy's and a girl's. I walk up to the boy's room and reach for the handle and pull. Locked. I move to the right to the girls and reach out-

"Puro!"

I jump and turn around to Lin. He looks at me suspiciously. 

"What's wrong Lin?"

"That's a girl's locker room. You're not supposed to go in there. You're a boy."

What…? 

The confusion on my face must be obvious. 

"Wait…Puro. I forgot you don't know everything about human etiquette."

I mumble "Puro is so confused…can you maybe explain why?" This is so embarrassing…..I knew I should've read more about school.

"Well, uhm…girls and boys are separated because some people can be very weird to the opposite sex because of their attraction. That's when they change clothes they are separated so nothing happens."

"Well…what happens if there is a boy who likes boys or a girl who likes girls? Are they separated?"

He sighs and explains "Puro society…didn't think about that. They assumed that everyone has an attraction to the opposite sex only. Some people even disapproved of same-sex attraction. Those people would've treated people like us poorly."

Maybe humans weren't as great as I thought. They would be upset only because others were different from them? That's ignorant. I'm glad Lin isn't like that. 

"That's horrible. Puro would defend you from people like them Lin! They're the weird ones for acting like that!"

Lin laughs a little and replies "Yes they are definitely the weird ones. Not all humans were good people Puro."

I smile gently and grab Lin's hand. 

"I must be lucky. I got a very great human to call mine!"

Lin smiles sheepishly and retorts "You're great too Puro."

"Not as great as you!" 

The more his fuzzy white cheeks get red the wider my grin gets. He's way too cute. All I have to do is compliment him and he gets all shy…I love him.

Lin decides enough is enough and begins to walk with me along the sides of the gym looking for anything noteworthy. My paw fits nicely around his. I've noticed ever since he got transfurred that he's been so warm. It's a pleasant feeling to be close to him. I wonder…..how would it feel to be held by Lin? I'm a lot bigger than him but still. It would be nice for both of us considering how much fur I have. Maybe tonight…

Lin pulls me out of my thought train as he points out "The sun is going down Puro. Look."

The lighting has gotten different. The windows near the ceiling of the gym have orange sunlight pouring through them. 

"It will probably be dusk soon, Lin. Should we head back to the motel?"

Lin thinks for a moment and nods.

"Awww alright. It was fun while it lasted. C'mon, let's go."

The two of us make our way out of the gym and through the double doors into the hallway. We walk back the way we came from and look for the exit of the school gently holding hands. The casual intimacy makes me feel all fuzzy…

Lin breaks the comfortable silence and remarks "Dr.K said he would be back at the hotel at night right?"

"I think so. Why?"

"Well while we were first going into the building I saw a door that was labeled. It said it led to the roof. Would you like to go up there? Just to see the sunset and everything. We should make it back around the same time as Dr.K."

I answer reluctantly "Yeah that would be nice…but are you sure it's safe?"

"If it isn't safe we won't stay up there. That's if the door is even unlocked…"

Lin begins to lead me through the now-familiar hallways of this school. We stop in front of a metal door. Just like Lin says in white letter drilled above the door it reads "Roof." There's a doorknob with a lock. Surprisingly as Lin reaches to turn the handle the door opens revealing a flight of cold concrete stairs. I make sure to leave the garbage bag of textbooks I collected in between the door and the door frame so we don't get locked on the roof. Just in case. Our padded footsteps echo throughout the staircase as we make our way up. Finally, we reach the top and push open the door, the sunlight streaming into our eyes as we step out onto the roof.

I get to watch the sunset with my human.

The view...it's gorgeous.