Tortoise and Fox [BL]

1.3

Everything was lopsided. Or rather, Cedric was the one lopsided.

This is a story of how a young college student falls in love with her best friend. She stumbles upon a small, frightened fox, who she nurses back to health. It transforms, and suddenly becomes the prince of the nearby high school. Her kindness and care caused him to fall for her, but his love will inevitably be unfulfilled. The girl picks her childhood friend, the one she loved all her life, over someone she took care of for a short period of time.

***

The first time the small fox woke up, he was alone. It shivered and quietly sat in the dark waiting for someone to depend on.

But nobody came. From then on, Felix was plagued with feelings of anxiety and loneliness. He subconsciously avoided the dark as much as possible.

The second time he remembered being conscious, his feelings amplified threefold. He lay frozen with fear of the unknown. The chill froze him past his fur.

But then warm arms covered the fox, protecting him. He had never felt so safe, so comfortable...

All his anxieties melted away, and all that was left was an intense happiness and satisfaction. This was how things should be.

He snuggled further into the arms, scared that they would disappear and never come back. Or rather, he would disappear, and leave this warmth to die out...

"I didn't want to leave, but I had to. I have go back soon."

***

Cedric groggily woke up to a heavy feeling on his face and neck. As he tried to push away something soft in order to sleep better, a wet feeling and rough texture appeared on his hand, leaving Cedric wide awake.

He blinked the tears out of his eyes and looked down to see nothing but white fur squirming around. He slowly sat up, holding the fox up in the air. It stilled, waiting for Cedric to place him down. As soon as it was in Cedric's lap, the fuzzy ball started to wag its tail once more, staring up at Cedric with big, amber eyes.

"...So cute." Cedric rubbed the adorable arctic fox's head, fiddling with its squishy ears. Fox eyes squinted in satisfaction, content with Cedric's attention.

'Morning 85.'

[Mornin.]

'Does Felix know who I am right now?'

[No. He's basically reverted to a childlike state, but by the end of the next three weeks he will gain full power over his transformation and will remember everything that has occurred.]

'Okay then. No point in being sneaky.'

[Do as you wish. I'm gonna go back to sleep...]

'Mm.'

[Night.]

System 85 cut off their mental conversation and left the bedroom.

Felix gnawed on Cedric's fingers, causing him to refocus his attention on the fox. The animal playfully chewed on Cedric's hand, keeping his bite gentle.

'Young cubs have lots of energy. I have to find a way use up this little fox's,' Cedric thought with a smile. He tugged and pulled his hand, moving it around to entertain the fox.

After Cedric played with Felix and took care of daily needs, he recuperated in the bedroom once more. The arctic fox bounded around the room, pushing and clawing at items one after the other.

Cedric quickly scooped the excited animal up. He watched the fluffy kit thoughtfully as it squirmed and shifted around. It only settled down when it could see Cedric in clear view. The youth sat down on the floor and placed the fox down. The arctic fox circled around Cedric a few times, licking his hands every so often, before seating itself in front of Cedric.

Cedric stroked the fox's fur and spoke to it. "I'm going to change back into a tortoise so that you can grind your teeth and claws at my shell. I don't think your human self would like it if you started tearing everything up."

The small animal gave no indication of understanding; it simply leaned into Cedric's hand and made happy noises.

The arctic fox suddenly stood straight, its ears upright when he realized that Cedric's hand disappeared. A jumble of clothes laid where Cedric was. A small bump underneath started to move. The little fox sniffed curiously at the clothes and the small bulge. It tilted its head, confused as to why the lump under the clothes smelled exactly like Cedric.

The fluffy animal softly pawed at it. The lump stopped moving. Concerned, the fox quickly started to tug at the clothes. After removing the fabrics, it watched curiously as the green shell started to move slowly to turn towards it.

The white fox approached the tortoise's head and thoroughly sniffed it. Afterwards, it rubbed its snout against the shelled creature's face and started gently licking it. The young creature didn't understand how his favorite human and the strange creature could be one and the same, but the fox trusted its instincts.

As the playful animal attempted to grapple with turtle's shell, Cedric settled down and initiated a connection with System 85.

'Hey system.'

[Afternoon...]

'Mhm. Could you check something for me?'

[Sure. Whaddya need?]

'Can you check if Felix and the Winter Demon General from my world are the same person?'

[Winter Demon General? Alright. I can do that. I'll check back with you in a few hours.]

'Thank you, it means a lot to me.'

[Anytime.]

When Cedric cut the conversation off, he felt his body lurch and thrown into the air. Everything was lopsided. Or rather, Cedric was the one lopsided. He flipped over.

"Ao..." The fox made a pitiful noise, as it guiltily stared at the dazed turtle. The small animal quickly tipped Cedric back over and generously handed out several apologies in the form of fox kisses.

The tortoise rubbed his face against the cub's little snout in response, before seating itself comfortably on the carpet. The white animal laid down against the tortoise and attempted to curl its tail around the chitin shell. The tail only circled halfway.

And together, they fell asleep.