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I'll be honest, I don't know what I was expecting to see from Tony's mom, but the woman who opened the door... well, she didn't line up with those expectations. Not entirely, at least. Maybe it was just my overimaginative mind thinking about what, exactly, a Mexican mother would look like, but when she smiled down at us and clasped her paws in front of her chest... hell, she looked exactly like any other mom. Which I guess she should, really. She didn't dress particularly unusually, except for the style of jewelry rattling at her wrist and the piercings that snaked their way up along one of her ears.

Of course being a cheetah, she had that kind of slimness that bordered on unhealthy if she were any other species, though she... well, how do I say this? - she didn't seem particularly top-heavy, you know? Tony took a step forward and hugged her - the top of his head came to about her collarbone - and she wrapped her arms around him in return and looked my way, fire-orange eyes looking me over. Guess I know where Tony got his eyes from.

"You must be Matt!" she said, her voice steady, smooth, a bit low, words accented just slightly more than Tony's. He hung onto her after their hug and grinned at me. "Tony has told me a lot about you."

"What, really? We just met this week, I think..." After I said it, I wasn't so sure, but that seemed right to my count. Weird how time seems to stretch out sometimes.

"Yes, and I want to thank you for being a friend right from the start. It's always a bit stressful on both of us when we have to move, and my 'Tonio here..." She shook her head and gave her son's shoulder a squeeze. "Ah, never mind. Come in, please! I was just getting started on dinner."

Tony fell back beside me, still smiling. I know I've said it before, but it was damn nice seeing him happy. "Ooh! Is there any way we can help?"

Kind of a dark house on the inside, most of the windowblinds drawn shut or close to it. That, and the fact that there really weren't that many windows. Small hallway from the entryway that split off into a few rooms on the sides, most unfurnished save for stacks of large cardboard boxes; we passed through the living room, a big couch set out in the center of the carpet before the television and stand upon which it sat; they had plenty of framed pictures, too, but those leaned against the foot of the wall, some covered with plastic or cloth... the kitchen seemed to be the only room that they'd actually found the time to set up, with the table and chairs and silverware already out. Something sizzled warmly on the stove.

"Ah - yes, actually; can you two go and get the nice plates? I think they are still in the garage..."

Tony's paw closed on my wrist, briefly sending a spark of warmth up my arm. "Yeah! Come on, Matt. I can show you around some..."

That just-moved-in smell didn't hang around too strongly on the air, instead dominated by something... spicy, I guess. A kind of sweet, hot cinnamon-like scent, ground into the fabric of the couch and twirling with the humming of the air conditioner. Tony released my wrist as we went through the living room, and he led me from there through what looked like an office and then into the garage hallway. Then, paw on the knob, he turned and grinned at me again, his feline eyes catching the light from out in the hallway and shining it back to me.

"This house seems kind of small," he said, keeping his voice quiet. The door opened with a complaining squeak. "And I am still having to get used to it... but the cool thing is, we have a basement."

"What? Really?"

"Sí. It is actually just the other door-" and he pointed over my shoulder- "-over there. It is nice to have a lot of extra space, and since it is so close to the garage..." Here, he stepped to the side, and showed a remarkably clean garage with one car, a few rolled-up rugs, several paint cans, a lawnmower... and then maybe three or four other boxes. "We just moved everything we could down there." Then, a sheepish grin. "Except for the nice plates. We have not had a reason to move those."

"When did you move in?"

"About a week and a half ago. Monday was my first day at school; before that, my mother and I were still getting things... ah, settled. Today we were going to do my bedroom, so you can help with that... um... can you help me with this box?"

He knelt down next to that small stack, so I came over and lifted the flaps of it. "Is this the one? Looks like... oh, yeah, that's plates. Where we bringing it?"

"Just into the kitchen. Or - living room. It is closer."

Hard to get a grip on it at first. Who knows how many plates stacked into a box with some other things, some glasses and forks and such, made it kind of heavy; Tony and I had to tilt it back and forth between the two of us while working it up into our arms, and even then, we had to settle with one of my paws on the side and the other underneath, and his fingers resting across mine with his other arm reached all the way over towards my side. It was just a whole ordeal, and we almost dropped it when I missed a step going up the stairs from the garage.

Maybe his mom just hadn't really_gotten started on dinner until then, though, because as soon as we left the constricting air of the hallway - God, my stomach growled at me, even with us having literally _just had lunch maybe an hour or so ago. Tony must've noticed my licking my lips in anticipation once we set the box back down, too; he flashed me another grin and moved forward to start piling things out.

"Yes," he said, his muzzle close to mine as he leaned down. The plates all rattled against one another, stinging at my ears. "My mother's cooking often has that effect. It will be another hour or two before it is finished, though - can you wait?"

"Yeah," I replied, and took some of the plates from him. They were that kind that looked like they should be light, but really weren't; smooth silver shined along the rims and snaked towards the center in cool patterns, halfway between organic and geometric. Of course I kept an extra sure grip on them; I'd feel bad if I dropped one. "That's fine. Lunch wasn't that long ago, either."

Tony shrugged, briefly brushing alongside me. "Well, neither of us ate much... though you did treat me to that gelato..."

"Oh, come on. That wasn't that special. You looked like you really wanted it, and I had the money, so I figured..." This time I was the one who shrugged, and lagged behind Tony so he could let his mom know.

"Mamá." He settled the plates more fully into his arms and nudged her back with an elbow. "Los platos."

Her ears perked and she half-turned, spatula held in one paw while the other gripped a bottle of some reddish-brown spice. "Ah! Sí, sí. Gracias, gatito. Pero - there will be three of us tonight. You did not have to get so many!"

"I thought it would be better to keep them in the kitchen instead of out there. They would gather dust."

Ms. Amador waved that other paw for us to set them out on the table. "Ohh. 'Tonio, I left your abuelo in a garage for three years when your father and I were engaged, and he came out fine. No dust. Yes?" For a moment she stirred whatever it was she had in that pan, then set down the spice and the spatula, wiped her paws on her pants, and turned to me. "Ahh. Matt. I am sorry I am so busy - we can get to know each other over dinner, yes?"

"Yeah! Of course." Seeing her smile, how it so strongly reminded me of Tony's and of his eyes and face... it made me wag my tail a little. I think that just made her happier in turn. "What're we eating?"

"Ahh. 'Tonio's papá makes a really good, ah - soy porkchop? Marinaded in soy sauce. Not very... traditional, but it is fast, it is easy, it tastes good." Once more she picked up her spatula, face scrunching up with a little blast of spiced steam wafting off the meat in the pan. "That will be the easy part. It takes... ah, twelve minutes, talvez. The rice is what takes time. I want to make it as good as I can."

Tony nudged me, partially to get my attention and partially to get me to hand my plates over to him. "It is _very_good. I think you will like it."

"The secret is what kind of pepper you mix into it when it is cooking! Have you ever heard of an ají, Matt?"

Clattering of that stack as the younger cheetah set it down on the table, then quiet clinking of him setting each one out... and it looked like he already knew where to put the spares, too. He took a more reasonable number in his paws and skirted around his mother, having to stand up onto his tiptoes to get into one of the higher cabinets.

"A who?"

"Ají! It is a kind of pepper. Hotter than habanero and just as cute." She swished the spatula to her other paw and leaned over to grab another spice. The scent in this kitchen had started to become something salty and savory, soy sauce with an undertone of some other things. I don't know. I don't cook. "My little plants almost did not make the drive, and I will have to replant one or two of them, but... ah. I remembered to pick the peppers before we moved this time, so I still have a few. Just a quarter of one is more than enough to really light the dish, yes?"

"Well, my dad sometimes puts chili powder in his spaghetti sauce..."

Two pairs of amber eyes fixed sharply on me right in that moment, and I couldn't help but cover my muzzle and stifle a laugh. Ms. Amador waved us off with her spatula, shaking her head as she did so.

"Baah. 'Tonio, you told me he wanted to help move; so go do! You need to get your bedroom set up."

"Sí, Mamá. Ah, Matt - help me move some furniture from the basement?"

Usually I had a bit of nervousness and reluctance about doing things in a new friend's house, especially on my first visit, but already I felt fairly comfortable here at Tony's. Small place, quiet save for the sizzling coming from the kitchen; each of our footsteps tweaked at my ear just a little bit, little thumps padded by the carpet floor that then turned into more resounding tapping along the concrete of the stairs down into the basement. Tony briefly fumbled along the wall for the light switch, found it, flicked it on... and then waited a moment for the yellow-orange light to buzz to life. Then, he turned back to me and showed me another shy grin.

"Sorry," he said, and continued on his way down. He kept one paw on the wall and one on the other handrail. "I do not like the dark. My mother had to come with me down here when we first moved in..."

"Wow." Pretty sizeable basement, not that I had anything to compare to other than the ones I'd seen on TV. Not as dreary or drippy as all of those, too: it looked like whoever last owned the house had refurbished it to be a living space, with glossy natural-finish clapboard walls and a lighter rectangular section in the middle of the floor that looked about the right size and shape for a carpet rug. "You've got a lot of stuff down here. Did I hear your mom say you guys drove?"

"Ohh. Yes, we did. It was a... ah, what's the word..."

"Pain? Hassle? Um... ordeal?"

"Yes! All of those. We ordered a couple of moving vans, too... expensive. But sometimes we have trouble with... with airports, yes?"

While we spoke, I followed behind him through the stacks of boxes and furniture, at one point having to turn sideways to squeeze through a gap that this cheetah had no trouble with. He stopped near a dresser, about the height of the middle of my chest."Yeah?"

"Mhmm. I was born here - well, not here," and he pointed to the ground beneath his feet, "but, here, ya sabes?"

"Not in Mexico. I remember you mentioned that."

Tony squatted down to get his paws beneath the dresser, and I did the same - and after a moment of preparation, we hoisted it up into our arms. "Yes. I am an American citizen too, but airport security does not want to believe that all the time. Or most of the time. We had missed four flights because of security holding me or my mother for extra... extra questioning-" For a moment Tony strained, and adjusted his grip on the dresser. He repeatedly glanced behind himself, and I kept my head craned out as well. "So eventually we just stopped going, because losing those flights was more expensive than the cost to drive."

"That makes sense. Man, I - used to get randomly selected all the time. But nothing as bad as that."

"No?"

"Nah. I remember once when I was a puppy, my dad got dragged off into those individual questioning rooms, though."

"Why? Oh - stairs, be careful... here, do you want to go up first? I think you are stronger than me..."

"Yeah, okay. Here, lemme just... okay. Well - we were coming back from visiting my gramma, right? Imagine, if you can, what a grandmother dingo looks like."

Tony's head poked around the side of the dresser. We had a kind of slow step-by-step thing going, making our way up another one, then holding for a second to be sure we had it, and then going up another. "A dried-up lady dog?"

"Kind of, yeah. Small, wrinkled, kind of... kind of the same color as beach sand? Oh, hey, watch that step - you got it?"

"Yes. I am okay."

"Alright. Well, yeah, an old wrinkled dog, lives off rare steak and fiber supplements, but the nicest person in the world. I was a puppy back then, and into arts and crafts and junk, so she bought me this big supply of clay and sent it home to me... and the airport X-ray machines didn't like that. They couldn't see inside it."

"Really?"

"Yeah! And when my dad denied knowledge of it - my gramma made me keep it a secret, since Dad always got onto her for spending a lot of money on me - of course they didn't believe him, and they took him off to their interrogation room 'cause they thought it was a bomb or something, and left little puppy me all alone in a big airport..."

"What about your mother?"

"Ahh... hey, can you set it down for a sec? My arms are screaming at me." With that, I shook out my paws and leaned atop the dresser, looking right across at Tony. He watched me with full attention and perked ears. "Mom didn't come with us that time. I was an even smaller puppy when the thing between her and Dad happened and they split up, so I don't remember a lot of it, but... I think I made a bigger deal out of it than it was?"

"Oohh. I am sorry, Matt... I was worried it was a bad subject with you."

"Oh, nah, nothing like that." I bent back over. "You ready again? Dad's doing just fine, I think, and I don't really see Mom often. I mean - we had a bit of a rough spot last year, but that rolled over once I got a job, and now we're back on it. Oh, hey, that reminds me-"

"Ah, turn to your... your left here. In the living room, then another left. My room is down the hall."

"What does your mom do? Whatever it is, she looks like she does it well, I mean. She seems happy."

Instead of answering me, though, Tony just tilted his head towards the kitchen as we passed through the living room-

"Mamá!"

"Qué!"

"Where do you work? Matt wants to know."

The sizzling started to die down, only to give way to more rattling of pans and a deep, thick bubbling. "I am a substitute teacher right now at the elementary school nearby. It is nothing big."

"Mamá..."

"Ohh, fine. If all goes well, after this summer break... we should be settled here for good..." Rattle, rattle... I accidentally bumped my elbow against the wall, and pulled my arm in. "...and I will be full-time teaching the little perritos and gatitos like 'Tonio here, how to speak English as their second language..."

Tony grinned at me across the dresser, his mom's voice fading as we made our way into the hallway and towards his room. "I kind of wanted to wait until later to tell you, until we knew each other better so it would make you happier, but... it is looking like we will not have to move again after Papá gets home at the end of the summer. I will finally be able to get a job, and a car, and..."

You ever had that kind of smile where no matter how much you try to squish it, you can still feel it tugging on the corners of your lips? That's what I got right then. I bumped open the door to his bedroom with my shoulder and we brought the dresser in, set it down, and took a step back, and I - well, I don't know. I'll be honest, I thought about hugging him. But that'd be a bit weird.

"Hell - what do you mean? That's great news anyway! I'll be honest, I hadn't..." I scratched behind my ear. "Hadn't really thought of it. Of you leaving. I mean - since we kind of _just_met, like, Monday..."

The cheetah clasped his paws in front of him and canted his head to the side, long tail coming up to curl around his ankle. His smile reached his eyes. "I usually try not to worry about it until it happens. I want to enjoy my time with my friends, yes?"

"Yeah. I understand completely. I had to move once, and it... wasn't great." Here I took the opportunity to look around his room. He really did need to get things moved in: the cat slept on a mattress pushed up into the corner with a few blankets strewn across it, and other than that, he just had his computer desk in the other corner and a stack of clothes nearby.

"Ah. Yes." I watched him make his way over to the closet and pull it open, past the door sticking on its hinges; then, he knelt down and picked up a stack of folded shirts, to take them over to the dresser. "Like most worries, though, no matter how much I try to squish it, it always stays there..."

"Oh, yeah, I know how that is. Can't really focus on anything else. But, hey - no more worries this time, right? Except for, like, school and stuff. Which is more than enough."

"Yes, you are right - oh!" Tony's ears perked, and he turned to me as soon as he'd put those shirts away. "I want to work on our project tonight. For astronomy. Did you bring your paper?"

"Shit, I didn't - you can just text me what we get tonight, though, right?"

"Yes, of course." Another armful of shirts, followed by some pants... I took a step forward and held a paw out, and he smiled and stepped to the side to allow me to help. Fair-sized closet, something I'd love to hide in as a puppy, with shelves going up to the heightened ceiling and a squat mirror settled in beneath... and then a tattered grey wolf plush, carefully set against a stack of boxes. My eyes lingered on that for a few seconds.

"Hey," I said, and turned back towards the dresser. We'd have to move it again to get it where he wanted, since we just kind of... set it down in the middle of the room. "Will we even be able to see anything here? Back at my house there's the moon, and then maybe... four or five stars?"

"You can always see more the longer you look." Another smile. "We will be fine, I think. Besides, it is about time to start..."

I returned his smile, and then continued to help him out. The air in his room smelled of a bittersweet mix of the cheetah's own scent beneath the heavier cloying sweetness of cardboard boxes, and then the mustiness of packed clothing... but, really, I didn't mind. By the time we'd finished with the clothes and then brought the dresser closer to the wall, the smell of Ms. Amador's cooking came in through the open door, and my stomach growl even more. Tony heard it, and brought his paw to his muzzle to stifle his laugh - which just made me laugh, too.

From there he brought me back down to the basement to bring in first a short nightstand, and then each of the three drawers for it, followed by individual pieces of his bed's metal stand, which we then sat down to try to assemble. Ended up with a few cracked claws and little bits of black grease ground into the fur of our paws, which took an infuriating amount of time to clean off in the sink. Then, just as I'd started patting them down with the towel, Ms. Amador poked her head around the corner of the open door, grinned her bright, sharp-toothed grin at me, and let me know that dinner was ready. Tony was waiting outside for me, and visibly perked up when I came out.

Of course it smelled fantastic. It'd been doing so since I first got here. At first I wasn't sure whether they were going to say something or do something, or had some other kind of before-dinner family tradition, but Ms. Amador just waved me down to the table and told me to eat. Tony took his place across from me, his mom took the head seat, and then we got right into it.

And, goddamn, it was good. I made sure to let her know after my first couple of bites. Since she'd said that there was soy in the pork, I could pick out that characteristic taste; if I hadn't known already, though, then I probably wouldn't have picked up on it, it blended in so well with the pepper and other spices on it. Sweet salty rice too, with that notable kick from the pepper she'd mentioned - a kind of tingling heat at the back of my tongue that felt like it warmed my breath, and that no number of drinks from the strawberry soda she'd poured for us could erase.

"So," she said after a while, working on cutting up another of her pork strips. Amber eyes flicked up at me from the other end of the table. "Tell me about yourself, Matt. 'Tonio mentioned you to me the first day he came home from school - ohh, Mamá, I have made a new friend..."

"Mamá, párale..."

I shrugged. "I mean. I'm pretty normal. I do my homework, I play video games... I'm okay at math and slightly less okay at other subjects."

"Sports?"

"Nah, that's not my thing. My dad wanted me to try for a bit, but when I came home with a dislocated shoulder and sprained ankle..."

"Ah! I wanted my 'Tonio to play soccer..."

Sudden flash of this cheetah in a uniform, short shorts and white shirt and everything. And it made perfect sense. Once again I grinned. "I can see it."

"But we could never stay in one place long enough for it to actually mean anything..."

Tony adjusted in his seat, and shoveled a forkful of rice into his maw. "Not to say I do not want to. I am just... out of practice."

"I think you'd do great. Really."

He looked up at me, flicked his ears and whiskers, and hunched a little further over, eyes leaving mine and a faint blush illuminating his cheeks.

"And you are a..." His mom tapped the tines of her fork against her plate. "Senior?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Ahh. No sports; what is it you wish to do after school?"

"Well, Dad probably expects me to go to college." Another shrug. "I don't know, to be honest. Haven't really put much thought into it... it's one of those things that's kinda scary to think of, you know?"

"Oh! I know!" All of a sudden, she perked up, sat up straight, and looked first from her son and then to me. Her eyes lingered on him for a couple seconds longer. "Relationships?"

"Hm?"

"Do you have a girlfriend, Matt?"

"Well-"

"Or..." She cocked her head and pursed her lips. "Boyfriend?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Tony straighten up as well, shoulders rigid and fur bristled a little bit. His grip on his fork tightened... but as quickly as it had come up did it go away, and my confidence in that faded with it. Maybe I'd just imagined it.

"No, no, none of that. I was in a relationship 'til about halfway through last semester, and, like... I don't know. Haven't been feeling like it. You know?"

She waved her knife towards me, as if waggling a finger. "Perrito, the thing about love is that you do not ever know if your person is the one. That is something that will last forever. But you, and me, and 'Tonio, and everybody else who falls in love?" Here she lifted another bite of pork into her mouth, which kind of ruined the sage atmosphere. "We only last eighty years or so. You never find out if a relationship is the one; only when it is not."

And she went on eating as if nothing had happened. That was the kind of thing I'd honestly expect from my gramma or one of my teachers or some kid in the school's poetry club if I ever find the self-hatred to go to another reading, but I could see where Ms. Amador was coming from.

I looked across the table towards Tony again. And, to keep the mood in the conversation:

"You know, the subject of relationships came up during lunch the other day, and Tony here kind of clammed up about it. D'you know anything about that?"

Dangerous, sure, but couldn't be _too_dangerous. Another twitch, another bristle, another blush... and Ms. Amador swallowed that mouthful and grinned at me yet again, long tail swishing easily behind her.

"Of course I do - soy su madre. He is not in a relationship right now..." And she leaned over towards his side of the table... "...but that does not mean he does not like someone. Since his first day of school..."

"Mamá! Me and Matt do not talk about that..."

"Okay, okay. _Lo siento, pequeño gatito._You both look like you are about done with your food; Matt, will you be staying longer?"

"Yes, ma'am. Tony and I need to start on our astronomy project."

"Ohh, so you have some time. It will get dark in... three more hours?"

"About, yeah. Do you have, um - anything else you want me to help with?"

I hadn't been expecting to get any kind of workout today. The two of us brought our dishes up to the sink, floundered for a moment while unsure if we had to do anything with them, then laughed as Ms. Amador took them from our paws and waved us off... and then got right back to moving furniture into his bedroom. By the time the sun started to dip beneath the horizon and dim the light coming in through the window, the space had actually started to look livable. A bed, a dresser, a nightstand with a lamp and little digital alarm clock on it, his computer desk over in the corner with an actual comfortable chair in front of it instead of the spare wooden kitchen chair that had been there before, a little rug near the door, a box of posters that'd be up to him to arrange...

So for a while then, we just sat side by side on his bed leaning back against the wall, trying to catch our breath and waiting for the burning in our arms and legs to fade.

On a whim, though, I turned my head to him, and waited a second for him to do the same. His whiskers twitched. "Hey Tony?"

"Mm."

"I like your mom."

Small laugh, lifting the corners of his mouth and making his black-furred tear tracks stretch. "Yes. I thought you would. And I think she likes you, too..."

"So you talked about me as soon as you got home your first day, huh?"

"Ya sabes - you were the only one who spoke to me. I am shy. I have to put in effort to make friends. But not with you, not with Matt." The cheetah shrugged. "It was... it was nice."

Silence for a moment, other than the sound of the trees outside whispering in the wind. The scent in the room now had come to be dominated mostly by sweat of exertion, but it wasn't too bad.

"I think..." Then I paused, to figure out just what it was I thought. "I think that's how some of the best friendships are made. Y'know? Me and Ty met at lunch one day in middle school, just because he was bored and wanted to talk to someone. And, hell, it was easier to talk to him instead of ignore him, and... there you go. There's no one else I'd rather go on a road trip with, to put it simply. Does that make sense?"

"I guess so. I think..."

But he trailed off and never finished, instead just shaking his head and crossing his arms in front of his chest. Another few minutes and I pulled myself up, stretched out, yawned... and reached over and patted his leg, accidentally making him jump.

"Hey, how 'bout we go out and do this assignment? Can't take long. If we can't see much, we just put down what we can and go from there, right?"

Tony lived slightly further away from the main part of the city than I did, and as a result, there were more stars immediately apparent once we stepped outside and looked up. Pleasant night, nowhere near cold while still retaining that not-too-warm comfort. Of course there was Orion - you can see Orion pretty much all the time where we live - then a piece of Cassiopeia, and the Ursas... and for a while longer, we just stood out there, paws on our hips, looking up at the sky and just... I don't know. Just enjoying it. Tony brushed up against me more than once, or his tail flicked against my leg, and I didn't mind.

"Y'know," I said after another moment, "it really feels like we're blowin' this off, but, like... this isn't exactly a _hard_class."

"Yes, that is what I thought. I looked over the assignments I missed, and, um... well, I took an astronomy course... a year ago, and could still answer the questions just fine..."

"Exactly my point! Hey, anyway - I should probably be getting home..."

"Oh! Yes, of course. I will..." Tony brushed past me again, towards the door into the house. He held it open for me. "I will send you what we got tonight. If you can't remember, I mean. It should not be hard."

"Really shouldn't. Oh, hey, where'd your mom get off to?"

"Oh, she is taking a shower, I think."

"Ahh, I won't bother her, then. Let her know that dinner was awesome, okay?"

That made him light up a bit. "_Sí._She always worries about her cooking. It will be good for her to hear that."

Then we were at the front door, facing each other, smiling warmly... I opened my mouth, closed it, opened it again. Felt wrong to just say goodbye and leave for some reason, and it'd just be weird to shake his paw... so, I don't really know. I swallowed, sighed, jumped a little bit when I noticed he was looking at me, and just - brought him into a hug, just because it felt like the right thing to do. Warm cheetah up against me, sleek arms making their way up my back and hugging back, with only the slightest hesitation. He smelled of warm spice and, of course, sweat, but...

"Sorry." I broke it off and scratched my neck. "Um. I'll see you Monday, okay?"

Tony's voice took on a lighter, sweeter note, the dim yellow of the porchlight coming in through the fogged windows around the front door making his fur look a fuller, richer gold. "Yes. Will see you then." Then, he smiled. "I really enjoyed today, Matt. Thank you."

"Yeah. I did, too. Let me know if you wanna hang out again, okay?"

"Yeah." Little pink tongue flicking out over his lips... "See you."

I had a weird feeling on my way back to my car, one that persisted until after I'd gotten back home. Thing was, though, it wasn't... wasn't a bad feeling. In fact, it felt almost enjoyable, if I could only put my finger on what, exactly, it was.