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Felix stood frozen in horror as the shepherd moved down to pick up the picture from the coffee table. He tried to speak up, but no words would come from within. He was paralyzed with fear. His heart pounded against his chest, his body went into an immediate cold sweat, and he felt like he was about to faint. How could he have been so careless? He knew that Kaiser would be there. Why did he even keep the stupid picture. He should've just thrown it away.

You moron!

Insult after insult, Felix tore himself apart, meanwhile, the anxiety started to set in. What would Kaiser think? What would he say? Would he be creeped out? Mad? Would he start yelling? The thoughts flooded him all at once, his tiny body began to tremble and time was moving in slow motion as the dog pulled the picture a bit closer to examine it better, all the while a blank stare remained upon his face.

DO SOMETHING YOU IDIOT.

Then it happened.

...The overload...

Down went the mugs of coffee, crashing into the hard wood floor and breaking apart as the hot liquid spilled out all over, splashing up onto the walls and over the fox's pants. It burned like hell, but at this point, it was nice to feel alive after being numb from the anxiety. This most definitely caught Kaiser's attention as his eyes shot over to the scene of commotion.

"Felix!" He shouted, tossing the picture down and hurrying over to him. The fox then sprang to life, kneeling down in the puddle and sweeping the big pieces of the broken mugs into his paws, in an obviously distraught panic. He did his best to play it off, but it was a sorry attempt at best."Shit, I'm so clumsy! I'm sorry. I-I'll go make some more in just a minute. L-Let me just get this cleaned up.." He said in a shaky voice, his paws trembling as he attempted to pick up the pieces, dropping them over and over again onto the floor as his pants continued to soak up the coffee, ultimately ruining them. But he didn't care, he was a disaster, and Kaiser knew something was off as the fox continued to struggle with gripping the broken ceramic shards.

He just kept babbling on and on, his voice shaking and scared, ultimately embarrassed about the entire situation. He felt like dying right there. Just curling up and ceasing to exist any longer. It wasn't until he felt that warm paw touch the side of his cheek and pull his gaze up to meet those deep blue eyes that he felt everything just stop. Suddenly, the worry, the fear, and the anxiety all just stopped.

...How does he do that?...

"Shh.. Felix." He said calmly, removing his own paw from the fox's cheek and reaching down to grab his, softly tugging at it. "It's fine. Here, get up, let me take care of it okay? You're covered in coffee."

Felix just quietly obeyed the dog's wish as he weakly stood on his own to legs again, half expecting himself to fall right over, but Kaiser wouldn't allow that. Instead he stay supported by the dog who just smiled and walked him over to the hallway, his paws gently massaging the fox's shoulders. They stopped in the corridor and stood there for a moment in silence before Kaiser gently spoke out again.

"You gonna be okay from here?".

Felix simply nodded his head in response. He still couldn't speak. He was so drained of life, no energy within himself. But Kaiser understood, he just nodded back and slowly let go of him. "Go get changed." He said calmly. "I'm gonna get everything cleaned up.

At that, he turned and went for the kitchen to grab some towels and a broom. Meanwhile Felix shambled his way down the hall and into the bedroom shutting the door behind himself and falling back against it, sliding down to the floor with his face buried in his paws.

...What did I just do?...

Felix's mind was in pieces, his thoughts were jumbled, but most of all, he was humiliated. Kaiser probably thought that he was such a weirdo. Leave it to him to ruin the one friendship that he somehow managed to forge in his life with his stupid anxiety and all out weird obsessive tendencies. He still couldn't believe Kaiser saw the picture. This day was quickly going from being one of the best to the worst in a matter of minutes. All over that damn drawing he did. But why was it such a big deal anyway? It's not like it mattered that much, it was just a drawing. It wasn't like he had a shrine hanging up or anything. But then again, why the hell was he so obsessed with Kaiser or what he thought about him? Was it really the thought of friendship with the shepherd that he was clinging to so tightly? Or was it something more..?

...Not a chance...

"Please let this just be a dream." He mumbled as he sat there in the darkness of his room, trying to gather enough strength to stand again, which he eventually did after a few more minutes of sulking and pinching himself just to be sure he was awake. Felix squinted as he flipped on the lights, standing there for a moment trying to adjust to the light before swiftly pushing off his pants and kicking them aside as he walked to his dresser to grab a new pair. Those were ruined..

Meanwhile, Kaiser had just finished up wiping up what was left of the coffee Felix's pants didn't soak up. Poor thing. He thought to himself as he sighed and pushed himself up to his feet. He knew all too well what anxiety could do to a person. Alex had gone through it almost just as bad sometimes, and he responded just the same way he had done with Felix. Calm, collect, and reassuring. As he walked back to the kitchen and washed out the rag in the sink, he pondered for a moment on the picture he had seen. It was obvious that Felix didn't intend for him to see it, and it seemed to have shaken him up quite a bit that he had now. But why was it such a big deal? Shouldn't he be proud? It was a good drawing! Better than anything he had ever seen like that before, and it was so detailed.. Beyond that, it wasn't like he was in the room when it was done, which meant the fox had quite a memory. What was there to be embarrassed about? Maybe he was just shy?

...Or maybe it was something else...

A few more minutes passed, Kaiser by now was sitting down on the couch patiently waiting as Felix finished cleaning himself up. When he finally emerged from the hallway, Kaiser flashed a warm smile and perked up his ears. "Hey there. Feeling better?" He said in a his soft voice. Felix smiled and nodded his head, walking over and sitting down beside the shepherd. "Yeah.. Just a little tired now for some reason.." Felix said in response. Kaiser smirked. Now was his chance to change the mood.

"Tired? After all that coffee you absorbed you should be wide awake!"

The comment forced a grin out of the fox that went from ear to ear followed by a giggle, muffled behind his paws as he hid his blushing face. There it was..

...That beautiful smile...

________________________________________________________________________________________

For awhile thereafter the two just sat there on the couch and talked about whatever came to mind. Kaiser probed Felix a bit about his life, and Felix returned the favor. All in all it was a pretty good conversation that taught the two a bit more about each other.

"So have you always lived in Cape Cavada?" Kaiser said with a head tilt. Felix smiled at the cute gesture and shook his head. "No.. I'm actually from a much bigger city a few hundred miles away." Kaiser raised a brow, intrigued. "Do tell." Felix nodded and continued on. "I was born in Verona." Kaiser couldn't believe it. Verona? The city that hosted over 1.3 million furs? A diverse city booming with opportunity for any individual with a creative mind. A place where the skyscrapers fought for room on the skyline and where driving a car was almost impractical. Where you could be among crowds of hundreds on the street at any given time of day and still be invisible. Not to mention how well known Verona was for producing some of the most prominent artists. It was the perfect fit for the fox..

...So why was he here of all places?...

In Cape Cavada, a coastal city where most came to settle down or relax. A vacation town where the population dwindled in the Summer but boomed in the Winter. It just didn't add up.. So.. He probed a bit more.

"So let me get this straight.. You left behind a city booming with opportunity for someone like you, to come to this boring town? What gives?"

Felix felt warm and fuzzy on the inside from the carefully disguised compliment he had just received. "Someone like you." Which he only assumed referred to his artistic ability that the shepherd was so fond of. It was almost enough to make him forget about the answer to the question..

...The reason...

Felix's smile faded. "When my mother died she didn't have much left to her name.. Between the medical bills and the expenses of keeping us fed there wasn't much to work with. Verona is a beautiful city.." He said this with a twinkle to his eyes as he gazed off, remembering the beautiful night sky, shining bright with neon lights. "But it's also very expensive.." He continued on. "So with what money she did leave to me, I decided to put towards my education. I made a promise to her years prior that I would go to school and make something of myself.. That I'd put my 'beautiful mind', as she called it, to use. Cape Cavada University was realistically the only place I could afford, and beyond that it's the only place that offers a decent art program. So.. Here I am I guess." The fox's voice remained un-enthused.

Kaiser sat there quietly for a moment, taking all the information in as he usually did, tactfully planning his response.

"I can only imagine what Verona was like.. I've never been myself but I've heard some pretty cool stories from friends who've visited.."

Felix nodded his head silently, still spacing off.

"But you know what? I don't think the location matters much, what I think matters is your determination to get yourself where you want to be.. No matter who or what tries to stand in your way. Life is full of obstacles. We just have to overcome them."

Kaiser had such a way with words. It never failed to leave Felix dumbfounded by how intelligent the dog was.. Or maybe he was just speaking from experience..

"What happened to your mom Felix?.." Kaiser said, breaking the silence. He asked the question in such a careful tone, as if trying to gently pry, but with genuine curiosity. Felix finally turned his head to meet the shepherd's gaze and gave a crooked smile.

..."It was cancer.."...

Kaiser lowered his head a bit and winced. That word. It was so sharp, so painful as it pierced the shepherd's chest and struck him right in the heart. "I'm sorry.." was all he could manage to say.

Felix could see the effect of this grim subject on Kaiser. He felt awful. This was not exactly how he expected this day to go. First the coffee incident, now this? He must really think the fox was great company. He decided enough was enough, and with a quick jump to his feet, he sprang to life. His tail bounced around, his ears perked right back up and he gave a bright smile to the drooping dog as he spoke up in a rather energetic voice.

"Hey! I'm hungry, and if I recall correctly, this meeting was said to involve food."

The sudden mood change moved Kaiser in a way that he couldn't help but synchronize with the fox. He jumped up to his feet swiftly and towered over the fox, ruffling his hair. "Right, I forgot, pipsqueaks like you need to eat more often."

"Hey! Not the hair!" Felix squeaked out as he spazzed. He then growled playfully back at the shepherd as he walked over to a framed picture and used the reflection to frantically fix his hair. Kaiser was already at the door by now waiting with a cheeky grin. "Sometime today princess?" Felix blushed and scuttled his way over to the door as Kaiser swung it open and knelt down a bit, waving his arm out the door. "Your chariot awaits." Felix decided to play along, turning his nose up to the sky as he swayed his hips right on out the door and batted the dog on his snout with his tail.

"Just be glad I'm a cheap date." Felix called back jokingly as Kaiser shut the door and once more filled the tiny apartment with darkness.

The only bit of light left shining in now came from the window beside the couch, perfectly illuminating the drawing that lay there on the living room floor...

...Completely forgotten...

END OF CHAPTER 6