Caspin had finished drying his tail and hair, dropping the towel over the back of a chair. Adrian was stretched out on the fox’s bed, looking delicious. Cas felt a little burst of lust even though they'd just finished getting frisky before they’d bathed. With Caspin’s extra fur, Adrian was much faster washing up. Unless they were fooling around, Adrian always was out of the bath first.

The soccer player had been on the fox’s ship for nearly two weeks. They had gotten to know each other a bit and found that they truly enjoyed each other's company, though they had consciously avoided talking about when or if Adrian would go back to Earth.

Caspin looked at his computer screen, displaying their position. The fox sighed softly and pulled on some shorts. He climbed onto the bed next to Adrian, curling into the tall man's warm muscular chest.

"Adrian..." Caspin started hesitantly. "Can I talk to you about something?"

The human immediately began to run his hand up and down the fox's back in a gentle manner. Every now and then, the tips of his fingers would brush along the fur of his tail.

"Mmm? What's on your mind?" He asked. The lazy smile on Adrian’s face diminished when he noted just how nervous the smaller man seemed to be. What could be worrying his new partner?

"Um, so we're getting pretty far from Earth." Cas stated, feeling calmer with Adrian's soft touch. "We're heading toward my home. I need to check in for work and personal reasons." He took a deep breath to steady himself. "We're getting to the point where if we're going to take you back to Earth, we need to do it...today."

"Are the living conditions on your planet safe for a human like me?" Adrian pondered out loud. "I wouldn't implode or run out of oxygen, would I?" The questions just kept coming. "I mean, I could stay on the ship if I couldn't survive physically there, right?" He looked at the fox's eyes. "Do you want to take me back to Earth?"

"No!" Cas said much more loudly than intended. "I mean...dammit." He sat up, settling himself cross-legged next to Adrian. "Conditions on my planet would be fine for you. The gravity is slightly greater and we have a little more oxygen in our atmosphere. I'm not sure you'll even notice the difference. I mean, would notice...if you came, decided to come..." Caspin's emerald-gold eyes were wide as he sputtered. "I want you to come!" The fox blurted and then covered his face in embarrassment.

Adrian outright beamed. He gently pulled the hands off the fox's face and gave him a soft kiss on the lips.

"Then I’d very much like to go with you. I have nothing left on Earth, Cas." He explained. "I was raised by my dad. He passed away before I even became a professional player. My uncle hated our guts, though I did get along with my one and only cousin, Zane. The two of us became professional athletes as adults and barely saw each other after that…" He let out a sigh. "And you saw what happened...in the end I wasn't even allowed to play anymore." He ruffled the top of the smaller man's hair and ears. "Whether you've realized it or not, you just gave me a new home these last couple of weeks. A new home with you."

Caspin flushed with pleasure, a wide smile breaking across his face. He hugged Adrian tight. The bigger man smiled back and gave the little fox a squeeze. The captain sighed softly and pulled back, the smile falling from his lips.

"But, there are things you don't know. You might not want to stay..." The smaller man suddenly appeared close to tears.

The human immediately frowned at the look on Caspin's face. "What don't I know?" He questioned softly as he reached out to hold the fox's face in both his hands. "Is everything ok?"

Caspin shook his head sadly, hands clenched in his lap. Nothing was okay. Cas was sure that after this Adrian wouldn't ever want to kiss him again.

The fox leaned over, stealing one last kiss from his bewildered lover.

"I'm a throwback," Caspin admitted wretchedly.

Adrian didn't know how to respond to that. "Throwback? I don't understand." And he so desperately wished to understand. What did he mean by throwback? Why would being one make the petite captain so miserable?

"It's part of the reason I have the coloring I do." Caspin tugged at a loose thread on the blanket under him. "You've been so kind not saying anything about it." Cas looked at Adrian adoringly. "You're such a good person."

"What are you talking about?" Adrian insisted. "Your coloring is absolutely lovely...your hair, your ears, your eyes, and your tail..." He slid a hand down the side of Caspin's neck and over his shoulder. "This skin...it's all lovely to me."

"I forget you haven't seen any others of my kind." He leaned into Adrian's touch. "Several generations ago, there started to be much more travel and people from different regions intermarried. Most of the old colorings were lost and the children had much better, more interesting markings." Caspin looked down. "But sometimes there are recessive genes that come out in the phenotype. That's me. My coloring is just like the old people from the desert regions."

"Then, the old people from the desert regions were damn gorgeous," Adrian concluded. "I like you just as you are."

Cas' eyes widened, sparkling with unshed tears, before he threw himself at the bigger man. "You're the sweetest!"

Adrian chuckled and enjoyed feeling the smaller man against him, but Cas pulled back again with a frown.

"There's one more thing." Caspin admitted. "In some throwbacks there are other...things that show up. They're from a very long time ago when we were hunted. So, when I get frightened or, you know, really drunk, it happens. It's really looked down on by my people." Caspin looked down. "It's a sign of genetic inferiority."

"What is it?" Adrian asked with concern.

Caspin wrung his hands. "This…"

There was a soft popping sound and suddenly instead of Cas sitting on the bed next to Adrian, there was a little sandy-colored fox. It looked very much like a fennec fox from earth, with huge ears and tiny paws. This one, though, had very familiar emerald green eyes.

The human nearly had a heart attack when he heard the pop. He thought Caspin had disappeared on him for a moment, but then his gaze fell on the most adorable thing he had ever seen in his entire life. His heart skipped a beat as he reached down with his hands to gently cup the fox's face.

"Caspin?" He asked, even though he knew the answer to that question. Adrian couldn't help himself. He scooped the fox up into his arms and began to pet and gently scratch him all over. "They call this a genetic inferiority? Your people are crazy!" He huffed. "I think this is the most amazing thing I've ever witnessed!"

Caspin whined softly, peering up at Adrian, before letting out a happy yip and wriggling up to lick Adrian's face.

Adrian felt his whole world narrow down to the little fox in his arms. He knew that it was beyond just liking him at that point, but he didn't think too hard on how he felt. Instead, he focused on scratching the captain's tail in the spots that he knew felt the best.

"Hmm, now where else can I scratch you in this form?" He practically purred as he gently rolled the fox onto his back and began to scratch the fur on the fox’s chest and belly. "That feel good, Cas?"

Caspin wondered how Adrian always knew just the right spots to touch and rub him. The fox wiggled on his back as Adrian rubbed his tummy. It felt so good! No one else would touch him in this form, even his parents had always encouraged him to change back as soon as possible. Cas stilled as Adrian found the perfect spot, making his little back leg kick.

As soon as Adrian saw the leg kicking in pleasure, he grinned. He then began to promptly exploit that weak spot, along with some of the other weak spots he had found. "In all honestly, I think I'm enjoying this about as much as you are, Cas." He chuckled.

The little fox yipped and jumped into Adrian's arms, tongue lolling. There was another soft pop and the soccer player found his arms filled with young man.

"You mean it?" Caspin's eyes were yearning. "This... all this, is okay?"

Adrian immediately hugged Caspin to himself. He didn't know why the fox’s culture looked down upon his special traits, but he found them absolutely charming. "Like I said before, Caspin, I like you as you are. I would like you no matter what form you take." He pulled back enough to look him in the eye. "And, wherever you go, I want to go."

"I love you," Cas whispered, then yipped, covering his mouth, eyes wide. “Too soon! I said it too soon!”

Adrian's heart raced at the thought. "You know what? I think I'm falling for you, too." He replied honestly. "At least enough to want to abandon Earth and follow you...and enough to want to hold you in both forms for years to come."

"I think I'm getting too worked up, I..."

There was another pop and Adrian was holding a trembling little furry fox, tall ears drooping in embarrassment.

The human scooped the fox into his arms and lifted him enough to press a gentle kiss against his furry cheek. "It's alright, Cas. I don't mind." Adrian couldn't help but chuckle when the fox's tail began to sway in relief.