My eyes followed the long wispy tail with curiosity as it brushed against my leg before traveling up to meet those of it's owner. Ever since I'd told Dao the truth of why I had always been so mean to him, he seemed to be playing some sort of game with me. He had accepted my feelings but made no attempt to even hint at feeling the same. I couldn't tell if he was teasing me because of my attraction to him or in spite of it. The short Chinese Crested had a way of making me happy to see him only to end up with no more than a friendly hello.

This time I sat on the couch at his aunt and uncle's house waiting for him to do something. I was growing tired of the burning desire to know if he was playing with me or sincere. He'd never been very affectionate in public, even going as far as to question Rei when he openly hugged and kissed his girlfriend in the middle of the school yard. It upset me to know this was also likely the cause of my confusion. If he'd been more open to such behavior, then just maybe I'd have a better reference of whether this was just some sort of odd friendship or not. When my eyes had gotten to his face, I had barely caught the glimpse of a smile before he turned and started to pad away. I sat there dumbfounded by this action until he tilted his head back and called out to me.

"You coming?" his voice was soft, as always.

Rather than answering him, I simply stood and followed the tiny dog. After a few minutes, I quickened my pace to keep close to him, unsure of where he was leading me. The stone path of his family's garden quickly gave way to lush green plants until I could no longer see the house behind us. Panic rose in my chest, and a light growl of anger escaped, not liking his game.

Before I could begin to yell at him though we walked into a patch of light that managed to break through the shade. My eyes widened when I felt his hand in mine pulling me to sit with him in the cool, but tall grass. Suddenly his smile grew more affectionate as he looked at me expectantly. This too was one of his taunts. There had already been several instances where he would give me body language signaling an openness to my advances, but then a metaphorical slap to the face when he pushed me away. My body hesitated this time as I leaned toward him, the afternoon sun shining on my black and tan fur as my muzzle neared his. A hand on my chest froze me in place, though his expression hadn't changed.

"I know you're still pretty unsure of this, Josh, but I do feel the same. I'm just a bit too shy to let this be so blatantly known in the company of others." he whispered.

A smile touched my face before I leaned the rest of the way to kiss him. For once, he didn't stop me from being affectionate with him.

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Just a bit of story typed of for sake of image. Probably some bits that could be written better, but don't care at this point. Doesn't need to be perfect. Enjoy.

Art ©  Atroquine
characters © me