“…great, it’s a date. I mean uh… well, you know.”

Jack’s words echoed in Hunter’s head as he towelled off. The rabbit had been acting a bit odd around him ever since he came back from his holiday. Of course, everyone had been a bit odd around him, but this was different somehow. He couldn’t have meant it like a date date, could he? It was just an expression. And of course it’d been two whole weeks since they last saw each other, and—

Hunter’s musing was cut off by a fit of giggles from his friend.

“What is it?”

“Your fur… it’s so floofy!”

The panther boy looked down. Indeed, his vigorous absent-minded towelling had caused his normally sleek fur to poof up hilariously. He looked at that moment like nothing so much as a bit ball of black tribal-patterned fluff. Hunter’s look of exaggerated anger poking out from all the fluff made the bun double over in further fits of mirth. This naturally caught the attention of the other boys in the locker room, and soon enough most of them were giggling too. There was no malice in it, this had happened to all of them at one time or another, it just happened to be Hunter’s turn. Hunter glowered at them all, grumbling loudly, but when he opened his locker to get his loincloth, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and even he had to chuckle a bit.

“Here, let me help you with that. Sit down for a second.”

Jack had grabbed a brush. He was a good deal shorter than the panther, but he was gentle and meticulous. He brushed Hunter’s fur slowly, making sure it didn’t form any knots. They were almost alone now, most of the other boys having dressed and left already. Jack sighed, getting a bit closer than perhaps was strictly necessary.

“I have to say, Hunter, your fur is so soft and silky. Did you know that? Even with these bare patches, it’s… nice. These patterns…”

The bun leaned in a bit closer, breathing sharply through his nose. Even after a good shower, the panther still had a strong natural musk, masculine in a boyish sort of way. Jack’s little bunny nose twitched and he inhaled deeply again, rather obviously sniffing at his friend. He sighed again and reached up with the paw that wasn’t holding the brush, gently tracing some of the lines of bare, tattooed skin with a finger and smiling to himself.

“…they’re cool,” he said in a faraway sort of voice.

A soft blush crept across the rabbit’s light grey fur, and he shook his head vigorously, realizing what he was doing. He pulled back a bit, letting the brush fall unnoticed from his other paw.

“Ah! I’m sorry! I should have asked before I just went and touched you like that. Shouldn’t have assumed…”

Hunter’s muzzle split into that winning smile of his, with those sharp white fangs… sharper than before, it seemed. He too was blushing.

“Nono, it’s okay. I did not mind. I kinda liked it, actually. You can touch them as much as you want.”

Jack’s heart beat like a jackhammer, surely everyone for miles around could hear it. Surely. Gingerly, he reached out and touched the panther’s chest again. The panther cub’s heartbeat matched his own. The bunny boy gazed up into Hunter’s bright golden eyes, always so intense. He was looking for something, but he wasn’t sure what. Permission? Acceptance? Hunter gave a small nod and Jack placed the other paw on his chest as well. He traced the tattooed lines in different directions, following where they went , but stopped abruptly when below them he felt a strange vibration. Startled, he looked up at his friend’s face. The panther’s eyes were half closed, and he was smiling softly. He was… purring?

“Prrrr… keep going, please. It’s nice.”

That was rare, Jack knew. He hadn’t heard his friend purr very often before now. He’d heard other felines do it, other cats in their class, but Hunter was a panther, and that was different somehow. His were a proud people, and often didn’t show their emotions as… obviously as other furs did. That he could get something like a purr out of his friend was… well, that was special.

Jack let out a huff, leaning in closer. His exploration soon took him in the direction of the panther boy’s nipples, each newly pierced with a shiny silver ring. He went even redder as he gently slid his fingers across them, and then through them, a little bit. Hunter squirmed and shuddered, making that purring sound once more, only this time it was louder, and somehow more insistent.

“These must have really hurt…” the rabbit’s voice was as soft as his touch.

“They did, but the pain was more than worth it, don’t you think?” Hunter replied, giving another long, low purr as his friend played around with the piercings.

“Is it alright for me to do this?”

“Yes… it feels good, actually. I am a panther, we heal quickly.”

This at least Jack knew to be true. Hunter had once broken his arm falling out of a tree, but he was fine in a matter of days. Apparently it was genetic or something.

The kitten’s panther tribe accent, always present, seemed somehow to grow thicker the more excited he got. It wasn’t the only thing that grew, either, as Jack saw when he gave one of the rings a gentle tug. The breathy mrowl it elicited caused him to look down for some reason. A bit of bright red poked out of the panther boy’s midnight black sheath, and at the end of it there was another silvery glint. Jack raised an eyebrow.

“…You got pierced down there too?”

Hunter nodded, the blush across his muzzle getting deeper.

“It’s okay,” the bunny boy looked back up at his friend’s face and winked, “I think it’s cool. I think they all are. Even this one.”

Jack reached up and gave the little big cat’s nose a playful tug. There was surprisingly little resistance, as Hunter lowered his head with the tugging. Jack raised his own. The pair got closer and closer, each soon only inches away from the other and closing the gap fast. Both could feel the other’s breath on their muzzles. Hunter opened his mouth just a little bit, leaned in, and…

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIING

Shocked by the sound of the bell, the pair jumped apart. They caught each other’s eyes and quickly looked away, but not before Hunter flashed Jack a quick smile. He stood up and tied on his loincloth. Jack picked up the forgotten brush and put on his own clothes, and they padded out of the empty locker room in silence, aside from the loud tandem thumping of their hearts.

Their moment having been unceremoniously cut short, the two boys walked through the halls in awkward silence, neither willing to speak just yet, nor willing to catch the other’s eye. A few other cubs hanging around in the halls gave them odd looks. Apparently they’d been held up in the locker room longer than they’d thought. There was definitely a little more than the usual amount of whispering and giggling. Hunter seemed to take it in stride, walking along with his head held high. Jack, on the other paw, seemed to be trying to make himself as small and unnoticed as possible. Next to the strange panther boy, this had limited success. They both breathed a sigh of relief when they reached the crosswalk.

“So… do you still want to come over?” Hunter asked, finally looking at his friend, “I understand if you don’t.”

“Of course I do,” said Jack, “And we’re still on for that movie, too. Just let me let my mom know.”

The bun rooted around in his pocket and extracted a phone. It was an older model Penguin phone, but one that had been top of the line when it was new. It had one of the sharpest displays on the market, capable of displaying millions of shades of grey in absolute perfect clarity. It was one of the rabbit’s most prized possessions, he’d had to mow lawns for a year to save up the money for it. He tapped out a number and held it to his long, floppy ear.

“Hey mom! I’m gonna go over to Hunter’s place, if that’s alright… Yeah, he’s back. He’s fine, I’ll tell you all about it later… No, I think I might stay overnight. Ye—yes mom. I’ll tell him. Love you too. Bye.”

Jack sighed and hung up.

“She says it’s okay if your dad agrees, and that you’re invited over for her famous stew any time you like.”

“Great! And I might take her up on that. Your mother’s stew is the food of the gods themselves. I honestly don’t know how she does it, but I completely forget it doesn’t have any meat in it every time. For tonight.. how do you feel about camping out in the treehouse?”

Hunter’s dad had built a treehouse in his backyard a few years previously. It was a fun place to hang out during the day, but at night it was downright creepy. The boys had tried to camp out in it several times before, but they’d only actually made it through one night before, with one of them getting spooked and wanting to go inside.

“Of course! Bet we can last all night now. You don’t look like you’re scared of anything anymore. And you can show me.. well, like you said.”

But Jack had something else on his mind. Whatever obscure panther tribe stuff Hunter wanted to show him was cool, but he couldn’t help but think about what almost happened in the locker room. Hunter hadn’t been about to… but he had. And so had Jack, there was no denying that. His friend was so different now. Of course, he was the same kitten he always had been, but now he seemed… stronger, wilder… almost dangerous. He had a certain rugged handsomeness now that Jack couldn’t deny. Had all that always been there? How hadn’t he noticed? Or maybe somewhere he’d known all along, that—

“Hey Jack! You coming or what?”

Somehow, Hunter was almost two blocks ahead of him. He’d stopped walking at some point. Hunter flashed the rabbit a cheeky little smile and ran around the corner.

“Hey wait! HUNTERRR!”

Jack started running, listening to he sound of fading footsteps as he tried to catch up with his friend. When he reached the spot where the panther had been, he peeked around the corner, not seeing any sign of him. He knew that wasn’t the direction his friend lived in, so he slowly looked around to see where the panther might be hiding.

“Hunter? Come out, where are you hidi—OOF!”

The panther had jogged around the block and come up behind the rabbit. As he had approached, he had dropped into a crouch and inched forward, bit by but, and when Jack had least expected it, he had pounced on him, wrapping his arms around the bun and pushing him onto a lawn. Jack experienced a moment of pure terror before he realized what was happening. They rolled around in the grass for a while, play-fighting. Somehow Hunter ended up on top of Jack, pinning the rabbit down on his back. With the larger boy holding him down and hovering over him this way, jack felt a little like how prey must feel in the wild. He wasn’t scared, not really, but something in his mind was telling him that he’d better get free before those teeth closed around his neck. Hunter’s golden yellow eyes stared into Jack’s brown ones. He opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue a little, and for a moment he looked even more like a predator, the effect enhanced by all the new tattoos and piercings he sported. Hunter lowered himself, down, that muzzle getting closer and closer to Jack’s own. He squirmed, more out of habit than a desire to escape. He could feel the panther’s breath against his face, hot and wet.

Their muzzles met. The panther was finishing what he’d started, letting out a small purr even as they made contact. Jack immediately went red all over again, he stopped struggling. His heart was pounding at a mile a minute. His eyes closed halfway and he let out a small moan. Hunter held the kiss for a very long few seconds, breaking it off only so he could try for a second one. The second time was a little less clumsy, a little more intentional. His rough feline tongue flicked out of his mouth and into Jack’s, probing around with purpose. There’s no way that had been an accident. Jack met it with his own, but let his friend take the lead. There was something exciting about that, somehow. It felt right. Hunter lowered himself down, freeing Jack’s arms. The bunny boy wrapped them around the panther, pulling him into a tight embrace, and they rolled around in the grass once more, although they weren’t wrestling this time. Hunter was just starting to wonder how far he should take this, when—

“Hey! You kids go do that somewhere else, this is my lawn!” an elderly woman shouted at them through an open window. She mumbled something about crazy kids these days not having any respect and slammed the window shut.

Reality set in, and they both stood up, brushing the grass off of themselves, and kept walking, paw in paw.

When they arrived at Hunter’s house, they only stopped in long enough to say hi and drop off their backpacks, immediately rushing to the backyard and up the treehouse. It was already well outfitted for a sleepover, several cracks had been freshly sealed, there were a number of books and comics around, a few toys, a couple of flashlights, candles, and snacks, along with two large sized sleeping bags, although it seemed likely only one of them would be used now.

“Wow Hunter, did you get all this set up for me?”

“Of course, I wanted to invite you over as soon as I could. I had a lot of fun, but… I missed you a lot, too. 

“Hunter, I--”

The panther flashed his winning smile again.

“Oh yeah, before I forget. I was going to wait til your birthday for this, but I think it’s time…”

Jack looked at the panther quizzically. Hunter took a step towards the bun and reached around to the back of his neck. He removed the fang necklace he always wore and placed it around Jack’s neck. The rabbit’s paw wrapped around the tooth and he looked up at the panther boy, a look of surprise and wonder on his face.

“B-b-but this is special. This is yours. I’ve known you long enough to know how much it means to you. You can’t really be…”

“You are special to me, Jack. You might be the only person outside my tribe who understands how important this is. Wear it well.”

Jack’s heart swelled with joy. He knew how much Hunter valued this gift. He fingered the tooth again. It still had the panther’s warmth on it.

“But what about you? I’ve never seen you without it…”

Hunter nodded and walked over to the far corner, removing something off of a nail. It was another necklace, this one with three fangs, the largest in the centre, separated by beads. The panther slipped it around his neck, and somehow everything felt right again. He had looked oddly naked in the few minutes he’d gone without it, in a way that mere nudity couldn’t convey.

“There,” said Hunter, “and may the spirits of our ancestors guide us in all things.”

That was one of those odd things Hunter said. Jack didn’t really believe in that kind of thing, but he knew it would be impolite to say so. Jack respected his friend’s ways, even the really strange ones, like the times he claimed he actually saw the spirits he spoke of. It couldn’t have been true, but somehow the thought was comforting all the same.

Jack adjusted his glasses a little and reached out, taking Hunter’s paw in his. He squeezed it hard.

“Thank you, Hunter. I will treasure it always. And I’m sure they’re with you.”

“They are with you too.”

That made Jack tear up just a little bit, for some reason. He still didn’t believe in all of Hunter’s mystical panther tribe stuff, although he couldn’t deny that some odd things sometimes happened around the kitten, but that comment reminded him of his father. Jack’s dad had passed away when he was very young. The only thing anyone knew was that he had been doing something for the military, and that the circumstances of his death, whatever they were, were classified as top secret. He’d been doing… something important, that’s all anyone knew. Hunter hadn’t outright said that he believed Jack’s dad was around somehow, but even still…

Jack sniffed and blinked a few times. He nodded silently and wrapped his arms around Hunter’s bare torso. The panther returned the hug, and to Jack’s surprise, he was purring again. Hunter was a mystery in a lot of ways, but it was at least clear that he had strong feelings for the bun. Hunter bent forward and kissed Jack on the lips once more. The quick peck sent an electric thrill though the rabbit all over again.

“Does this mean I’m…?”

“Mine, dear one, yes.”

Every word in that sentence made Jack’s knees go weak. He smiled up at his friend—no, his boyfriend. At least for now. They were young, and perhaps locking in right now wasn’t a good idea, but they could discuss that later. For the moment, he was content with the sudden feeling of belonging that welled up inside of him. He felt safe, held in the young panther’s strong arms. The wild boy that he loved, whom he knew would keep him safe no matter what.

They were silent for a long while, until…

“So, about that movie…”

“Oh yeah! I was thinking either we could try and sneak into Zombie Eviscerator XII, or we could go see Attack of the Vampiric Zomboids from Dimension Y! What do you think?”

“I dunno, Zombie Eviscerator XI seemed a bit derivative. I mean, how many ways can you eviscerate a zombie before it gets samey? It could be a surprise renaissance, but I still think the series peaked at Zombie Eviscerator VII. What’s the other one about?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t seen it yet, but the poster looks cool! Some kind of vampire alien movie, I guess. It’s the one that’s in colour!”

“Oh, it’ll be goofy as heck then.”

Early experiments with colour photography and film had not gone well. The quality of images was a good deal lower than with traditional black and white film, and the difficulty of coordinating things so that they looked right to any species that might be viewing it made it so that the technology was never looked into all that hard. This carried over into the digital age, where extremely high resolution greyscale panels ruled the market, aside from a few specialty applications. Colour films, consequentially, were either educational, experimental, or pure gimmicks on par with vibrating seats. While the trend came back every decade or so, colour movies were largely associated with cheesy, out of focus B-movies which Hunter and Jack were coincidentally exactly the audience for.

Jack nodded and pulled out his phone again. He tapped it a few times, and then winked at Hunter.

“There we go, our tickets are reserved… but the movie doesn’t start until 8:30.”

“Alrighty, that should be more than enough time for me to show you that thing I wanted to.”

“Oh, the… the ritual? Are you sure it’s okay? I can give you some privacy…”

“No, I need you for it. Trust me, it’ll be fun!”

Jack nodded his assent, and Hunter walked around the treehouse. The first thing he did was carefully shut the trapdoor and push a beanbag chair over top of it. He didn’t want to be interrupted. Then he covered the big window with one of the sleeping bags and started lighting candles. He drew a large chalk circle in the centre of the room and filled it in with various odd symbols that Jack couldn’t read. He placed the candles on the outside of the circle, the atmosphere was starting to feel less like a panther tribe ceremony and more like he was about to try summoning a demon. Jack didn’t believe in any of that either, but it send a chill up his spine even so.

“Hunter… what are you doing?”

Hunter looked over. In the dim candlelight, his yellow eyes seemed to glow, and his tattoos appeared to be moving, dancing across his fur. The effect was almost hypnotic.

“Preparing. Take off your clothes and stand in the centre of the circle.”

“Hunter, you’re freaking me out, what are you doing?”

“Just play along, it’ll be fun,” the panther said in a sotto voce whisper.

Gulping audibly, the rabbit took off his shirt  and then his pants. He paused, with his paws on his briefs, and looked at Hunter, who nodded. A blush spread across Jack’s face, but he nodded and slowly pulled them off. He walked to the centre of the circle while Hunter stepped into the shadows. Only his eyes were visible as he paced around, glowing bright in the flickering darkness.

“Jack,” he boomed, “here you stand, naked as the day you were born, before your chief.”

Chief?! The kitten was definitely getting a bit ahead of himself. That took Jack out of it just a little bit. He giggled a bit, and then stopped as he realized this must be echoing part of what Hunter had gone though. The two of them were playing, but some reverence seemed to be called for.

“Are you prepared to endure the trials, and become a full member of the tribe?” Hunter asked, and then when Jack didn’t respond right away, he whispered “psst, say the thing.”

“I am prepared, my chief. I shall endure whatever the tribe requires of me.”

He was starting to really get into character. Once he put aside his worry about possibly intruding on something he wasn’t welcome in, he started really having fun.

Hunter stepped into the light, holding a small earthenware pot in one paw. He paced around the circle three times, chanting something in a soft, sibilant purr. This was the ancient panther language, one that few people still knew. He stopped in front of the rabbit and dipped his finger in the pot. He pulled it out and dragged his finger across Jack’s forehead, leaving a thin line of some kind of fur paint behind. The panther’s lips curled into a toothy grin and he began to chant once again.

He made a few marks on the rabbit’s face, and then he traced his fingers down his neck, making a stop at those long, floppy ears. Hunter’s action was slow and meticulous, stopping and dipping his finger again and again, occasionally using his claw for thin lines. It tickled, but Jack stood as still as he could. The patterns the panther made were complex, the dark lines on the rabbit’s grey fur curving and swirling and criss-crossing all across his body. Hunter paid special attention to his chest and belly, working his way down, slowly. He got down on a knee and was suddenly very close to Jack’s crotch. The panther giggled a little and made a specific and deliberate marking just above it. Satisfied, he moved on to the rabbit’s legs, and then capped it off by pouring some of the paint right onto his paw. He clapped then together and then grabbed the bun’s… buns in a surprise move, leaving a big pawprint on each cheek.

“Hey!”

“This is what your chief requires of you,” Hunter said, in a tone that sounded completely serious.

He stepped back into the darkness, but his silhouette could be seen very obviously wiping the excess paint off. All the touching and the feeling of wet bodypaint being applied to some rather sensitive areas had made Jack get a little bit excited, in spite of himself. He stood half erect in the flickering candlelight, thinking about what it might be like to actually be a part of Hunter’s tribe. He snapped out of it when he heard the sound of a camera from the darkness.

“Hunter! Are you taking pictures of me? Stoppit!”

“You look really good, Jack. Really really good. Don’t worry, these are only for us.”

There was a ping from the corner of the room as Hunter sent the pictures over to his phone. Then Hunter appeared out of the darkness once again, this time wrapping his arms around the rabbit briefly, and then kissing him. He planted a kiss on Jack’s lips, and then several on his neck, and then on and on down. It seemed there wasn’t a part of Jack’s front that those lips didn’t touch, all down his chest, both nipples, his belly, and finally.. right above his now fully erect penis.

Jack huffed. He squirmed. He wasn’t sure what to do, especially when Hunter stuck out that long, rough tongue of his and gave his preteen cock a lick. The boy had never felt something like this before, he was shocked, but more than that, he was pleased. It felt better than any of his limited self exploration ever had. And then, as if that wasn’t enough, the panther took it inside his muzzle, between the rows of shiny, deadly teeth, and began to suck on it.

Jack was in heaven. Never in his life had he expected something to feel that good. He had known about sex in an abstract health class kind of way, but this was.. something new. Something special. And just as it was starting to feel really good, while his brain was starting to feel a little scrambled from the pleasure, Hunter took his mouth away. Jack whined, he actually whined as Hunter stood up again. The rabbit’s body felt like it was filled with electricity. He blinked and realized he’d started to actually drool. Quickly, he wiped his mouth clean.

“Kneel, now, and receive your Chief’s gift.”

There was nothing else for it, Jack kneeled. It brought his face right up to that loincloth of Hunter’s. The panther lifted it up, and Jack was hit with Hunter’s natural musk. It was strong, boyish and sweaty, but somehow very pleasant. The rabbit took a big sniff, and then another, and then he was forced to breathe it in as Hunter dropped the leather cloth over his head.

“Yes, my Chief,” the rabbit said in a daze, “anything for you. Anything for the tribe.”

The panther stayed like that for a little while, and then untied his loincloth, pulling it aside and freeing his lapine lover from its confines. Hunter himself was fully erect now, his pierced, barbed cock stuck out in all it’s cubbish glory. Of course, while he was big for his age, he was still a cub, so it wasn’t necessarily much to look at, but it was Jack’s entire world in that moment.

The rabbit stared at it with a look of pure adoration, and before Hunter could even give the order, Jack took it into his mouth. He gave it a big lick, and then wrapped his tongue around it again and again. Hunter let out his best attempt at a dominant growl, though it was still high and boyish. Jack slipped his tongue through Hunter’s Prince Albert ring and gently tugged it. The feline cock twitched, and Hunter mrowled loudly. He couldn’t hold back anymore, he put his paws on Jack’s shoulders and started to hump his muzzle. In and out, in and out went his clumsy half thrusts. He got better the more he did, just as Jack sucking in earnest.

Hunter was beyond words. He hadn’t exactly intended for this to happen. He was lost in the pleasure of it. His mouth hung half open, a string of drool running out from his exposed tongue. His fang necklace bounced on his chest with every thrust. He felt like a warrior. He felt like a chief. He felt powerful. The pleasure had taken over his brain, driving his body, but as it was reaching its peak, he had the sudden feeling like he was going to pee.

“Grr… Ahh… I’m going to…”

Was all the panther boy was able to say before his young cock felt like it exploded in pleasure, and expelled… something. It wasn’t pee, there wasn’t enough of it. He pulled off and looked down, his new boyfriend coming back into focus. The rabbit was swallowing, and then reaching for his cock. He wanted more, but Hunter had no more to give. Jack was also furiously rubbing his own penis, and then like magic, something watery spurted out, hitting them both. Curiously, Hunter scooped some up with his finger and tasted it. It was salty. He scooped up a little more, and then bent down and licked the rabbit clean. He pulled him into another kiss, his tongue exploring his lover’s mouth all over again, and pushing the.. whatever into it. Slowly, he pulled away and rose again. They were both panting hard.

“…Rise, tribesman,” he said. It had an air of finality about it, somehow. As if it was official, and he really had made Jack part of the panther tribe. Jack stood, and kissed Hunter again.

“That was… some ritual. I… I really liked it.”

“Thanks… I loved it too. I didn’t expect it to… Like that… But I’m glad it did. I was just playing, I’m not a chief of any kind, you know…”

“You’re my chief, Hunter.”

They hugged again, tightly. Hunter put out the candles and took the sleeping bag away from the window, letting the gold and then crimson light of the setting sun into the treehouse. They sat and watched it for a while in silence, unbroken until Jack’s phone started beeping, making them both jump.

“Wha… THE MOVIE! it starts in half an hour! I completely forgot!”