Natural Affinity

Encouragement

    Things slowed down with Fred's emotional training. He showed progress, but not a significant amount. His relationship with Xavier steadied to that of friends, though he still had those strange feelings. The boy felt he didn't want to rely on the raccoon more than he already was, which also involved the prospect of them sleeping together again. When prompted about it, he declined since there was still a tension in the air from the first time. Xavier seemed fine with it, if a little disappointed. Fred felt the same way but kept his decision. The two needed to slow down a bit and space themselves.

     Over the course of a few days, however, Xavier noticed the boy faltering a bit. His leg fully healed and he's getting better with eye contact, but his demeanor started to lower. He seemed quieter than usual and stayed in bed despite his rejuvenated leg. The lotor decided to confront Fred about it since they were at least able to talk to each other without any hiccups. He sat down next to him one night and looked at him worriedly, noticing a distant look in the boy's eyes. It was the same look he had the night they met.

"Is anything wrong?", Xavier asked gently, "You've been distant lately."

The boy let out a small breath, "I just feel..moody, I guess. I'm still not sure what to do now that my leg's healed. I am going to get better at handling my emotions, but I don't know if I want to go back."

"What do you mean?"

"The other furries I met, they cared about me a lot. The biggest is probably Jack since he found me in the first place. We seemed to just click, I guess. He helped me deal with the protesters- or at least tried to. I thought I could wade them out but I couldn't!"

His eyes shifted away, "I'm scared of how he feels about me, more so than the others. He's like a second father. I can't help but envy him. He has so much good in him and so much strength. When the protests started, I felt like I was burdening everyone. I don't know how he feels about me now..."

    Xavier knew what Fred was talking about- at least to an extent. He had a feeling that the boy made connections since he came to this world, and his breakdown added to that. He was already so sensitive, and it seemed that his rash decision of trying to disappear worsened it. The raccoon wanted to embrace him and say everything would be alright but was unsure of it.

"I'm sure he doesn't think that way.", he said with semi-confidence, "He must care about you if he helped you up until now."

Fred begged to differ, "I doubt it..."

    Xavier had to turn his head away to hide the grimace on his muzzle. If these doubts about how Jack feels about the human persist, he may not be able to strengthen himself. He may not know it, but his doubts are conflicting with his desires to change himself. With that in mind, the raccoon needed a way to reassure him.

A thought came, a rather risky one. It would help, but in the process, it may destroy what little remained of Xavier and Fred's constantly shifting relationship.

~~*~~

Next Day

    The night was quiet for the boy, and his nerves were nagging at him. Xavier went to town the previous day after their talk but didn't say why. The only reasoning he gave was that he needed to take care of something. Fred didn't push it, but what scared him was how the raccoon seemed when he left. He looked angry, but also hesitant. The human had to assume something was wrong, but everything was fine. Was it his disagreement? Did he offend him by not accepting his advice?

    Things seemed better the following morning, though Xavier still seemed distressed about something. Every so often his ears would fall flat briefly. Fred was worried but decided against asking out of respect for his privacy. Xavier may have asked him questions, but the difference was that he wasn't in the best condition at that point. Other than that, he mostly needed someone to lean on- even if that someone was a stranger that took him in.