Cas buried his face in Adrian's shoulder and hugged the human's arm to his chest. He made a little happy noise before rubbing his cheeks on Adrian, one then the other cheek and then back again. A soft fluttery purr thrummed in the fox's throat.
"My Adrian." Caspin whispered, his purrs making his words tremble. "Mine. Mine. Mine." He sighed softly. "And I'm yours."
Adrian smiled, kissing the mop of tan locks, letting Cas scent-mark him like a cat. He then wrapped an arm around his adorable lover, making Caspin look up. His emerald eyes were dilated and a little dazed.
"I like how you smell." Cas admitted dreamily.
For a moment, all that Adrian felt was heat gathering in embarrassing places. "We-we're back at your parent's house." Adrian told him, trying to ignore how his little fox was making his pants tight.
"Oh." Caspin said softly, blinking and sitting up. "Yeah. We have to tell Mom and Dad and call my aunt and uncle, let them know what's going on."
They trudged into the house, Caspin unsure of how everyone would take the news.
"Caspin!" Evangeline came rushing to the entrance of the house as soon as she heard them approach. "Oh, my baby, you're safe!" She cried as she squished Caspin's face between her breasts and all but crushed him.
"Eva, you're suffocating him again." Verlan scolded as he took hold of her shoulder.
She finally released her son and looked from the human to the small fox and back again. "Any news?"
Caspin once again took hold of Adrian's arm. "Etsu, he..." He trailed off, unsure of how to begin to explain.
"He said he found his soulmate." Adrian cut in. "It looked more complicated than it seemed, but at least in a way, it seems as if the eloping theory was correct."
Verlan got Evangeline to sit down with her feet up, her tall ears swiveled nervously as she wrung her hands. Verlan called Etsu's parents to explain that their son seemed to be alright and what had happened. They were understandably shocked and promised to be there as soon as they could, which would be a few hours. Then, Verlan called the police to let them know that their theory appeared to have been correct. Etsu had eloped… with a Kaynen. Adrian sat on a couch with Caspin. At first the little fox was next to Adrian, but his mother's anxiety seemed to make him restless, and he scooted closer and closer to his human until Adrian was holding Cas in his lap. Eva took a moment from her histrionics to glare disapprovingly at her son. Caspin blushed and looked away, but didn't move from his comforting position in Adrian's arms.
Verlan brought everyone a special tea meant to calm the nerves and he had Adrian and Caspin recount everything that had happened. When the subject of the Kaynen getting a mouthful of Caspin came up as well as the resultant chase, Adrian thought Evangeline might swoon.
"Settle down, Eva." Verlan told his wife before she could start hyperventilating. "You can see he's fine." The older Vulpan turned to Adrian. "Thank you for looking out for my boy."
“And thank you for allowing me the privilege to,” Adrian responded with a slight nod.
In a few hours' time, the entire Vulpan family and friends had gathered together and Etsu and Orin arrived, as well. As they stood outside the door, Etsu fidgeted nervously.
"You're the first Kaynen to join the family..." He murmured. "Your family isn't going to...eat me when I go see them, are they?" He questioned.
"Of course not." Orin patted his pretty mate on the head. "I would tear them to pieces if they tried." He stated it matter-of-factly. "I can protect you. I'm the strongest, fastest, and smartest in my family. That's why I run the company."
Before Etsu stepped through the door, he tossed Orin a warning glare. "I won't take kindly to you eating any of my family members, either."
"I'll apologize to your cousin like you told me to." Orin's ears drooped. "Tell them not to try to take you away from me, though." The Kaynen wrapped a possessive arm around Etsu's shoulders. "I won't eat them, but if they try to take you I might bite."
Etsu rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to leave the house, alright? If they 'take' me anywhere, it will only be to the living room or the kitchen to help out." He explained. Orin looked dubious but didn’t argue.
When they both finally walked through the door, the family's chatter fell to silence. They all seemed to gape at the Kaynen for a moment before shouting out a loud, "CONGRATULATIONS!"
The room was full to bursting with Vulpans of all colors and patterns. All were multihued except for Caspin's muted tan, making the little fox stand out. Etsu recognized cousins, aunts, uncles, siblings, family friends, and his own parents. Everyone had turned out when they'd heard Etsu wasn't just mated, he was soul-mated.
Orin didn't like all the eyes on his mate. The arm around Etsu's shoulder became tense as the big Kaynen tugged his fox close to his side. He was proud of himself for not growling, though. Etsu was talking to a Vulpan next to them, but Orin paid no mind as he steered himself and his mate through the throng to stand directly in front of Etsu's little bland cousin. The smaller fox looked up at Orin with frightened jade eyes, but he didn't run. Orin gave him credit for having some backbone.
"I apologize for trying to kill and eat you." The Kaynen bowed at the waist, pulling Etsu with him, before straightening again. "My mate explained it was a misunderstanding. It won't happen again."
Caspin blinked dumbly at the musclebound Kaynen for a moment, flabbergasted.
"Thank...you?" Cas said haltingly.
Adrian was relieved that Orin hadn't shown up only to pick a fight. The human smiled down at the confused fox in an encouraging manner. Etsu was also rather pleased with Orin's behavior. He stood on the tips of his toes and gave the Kaynen a smooch on the lips. "Well done." He purred. He then turned towards his favorite cousin. "I'm also sorry for all the chaos."
"It's all alright." Caspin smiled as he looked at his happy cousin. "He's really your soulmate?"
Etsu nodded. "Yeah. It's crazy, huh?" He mused. "But, I think it'll be worth it in the end. Especially if I can get the stubborn Kaynen to behave." He stated the last phrase in a condescending tone of voice.
"I always behave." Orin snorted. "I just don't always behave how you want me to."
Caspin covered his mouth, trying not to giggle at the disgruntled look on the imposing Kaynen's face.
"Come on, let's introduce you to the rest of my family." Etsu replied with a sigh as he gently tugged the canine along by his wrist.
"Still worried about Etsu?" Adrian prodded as he tugged Caspin closer to him. Even after seeing the rest of Caspin's colorful family members, he still only had eyes for the sandy-hued fox. It had been nice to meet his lover’s siblings and extended family, but he’d wished they’d been nicer to Caspin. However, Caspin had ignored every backhanded compliment or outright slight against him. Few had the guts to say anything rude to Adrian, who towered over them all, though he suspected there was plenty of acidic chatter going on behind their backs. Adrian had been biting his tongue all day. It sat wrong to see the people who were supposed to love Cas unconditionally treat him so cruelly.
Caspin smiled, shaking his head. "Etsu seems to have him wrapped around his finger." He looked around at all the smiling happy faces. "And everyone seems to have accepted Orin, even if he's a Kaynen." Cas scooted closer to Adrian. "We don't have wedding ceremonies like you do on Earth. Being mated is a choice made by both partners. Then there's a party like this and they're accepted by the family. If enough people come to the party then the mating is considered accepted."
The little fox's smile drooped and then slid from his face entirely.
"Hey," Adrian tilted Caspin's chin up to look into his eyes. "What's wrong?"
"I just realized that we can never be fully mated." Cas admitted sadly. "Even if you were Vulpan, not enough people would come to my party. Only Mom, Dad, Etsu a few of my siblings and cousins, and Etsu's parents would probably come. My other aunts and uncles... disapprove of me, and I don't really have any close Vulpan friends."
A scowl formed on Adrian's face. "We don't need any one of them for us to be mated." He told him in a firm voice. "We have every right to be together, just like Etsu and Orin. If they don't accept it, it's their loss."
"You want to be mated?" Caspin squeaked. "With me?"
Adrian leaned down to whisper into his beloved fox's ear. "Caspin, to me, we already are mated."
The little Vulpan squeaked again and nearly bowled Adrian over with his enthusiastic hug.
Caspin straightened, beaming. He turned and searched the crowd for his cousin, then gave that up to search for the only Kaynen in the room, who stood much taller than the sea of multicolored Vulpans.
Cas spotted them not far off. He stood, waving his hand and calling Etsu's name excitedly. It was Orin who noticed Caspin trying to get his mate's attention. Etsu was talking to an older female, but he looked bored. His mate always seemed happy when he talked about his favorite cousin, Caspin. Orin figured Etsu would be much happier chatting with the disturbingly zippy little fox than the crone, so Orin simply picked Etsu up and walked over to Caspin and his alien from Earth. Etsu looked irritated until he saw who he was standing in front of and a wide grin spread across his face. Orin nodded in satisfaction. He had been right. Now his mate was happier.
Caspin grasped Etsu’s hands and bounced on his bare feet.
"Etsu," Cas whispered excitedly. "Adrian accepted me as his mate!"
Etsu beamed at his cousin. "That's wonderful!" He responded. The dark-haired fox immediately tugged Orin down to whisper into his ear. "Can you lift me onto your shoulders for a second?"
Orin didn't even hesitate. He lifted the fox up until Etsu straddled each of his shoulders.
"EVERYONE, LISTEN UP!" Etsu called out enthusiastically. "This is actually a double party! I also want to celebrate Caspin being mated to his human, Adrian!"
All conversation halted. A few gasps were heard, along with some murmurings. "A human, he said? With Caspin?"
"Always knew that throwback would bring only more oddities into the family!" An elderly fox spoke up.
Soon, half the room chattered loudly about the scandal.
Adrian grabbed Caspin's hand and made his way to the door. "YOU KNOW WHAT?" He addressed them all. "Caspin deserves better than all of you! And if none of you accept us, there are plenty of other planets that will!" He then tugged Caspin along. When he passed by the Vulpan's parents, he paused and gave a short bow. "Thank you for your hospitality while it lasted." He all but growled. "We'll be taking our leave."
Caspin was wide-eyed as he was tugged out the door. He frantically waved good-bye at Etsu and the rest of his family as he and his new mate rushed out.
"Bye!" He called.
The little Vulpan then stood confused by the car, trying to decide if he should try to get their toothbrushes before they left. Caspin yipped as he was picked up and gently placed in the car. It looked like they'd be getting new toothbrushes. As Adrian began to set the coordinates towards the port, the shorter man was once again struck with how quickly the human had figured out the controls after his few instructions.
Cas thought he should feel bad at the cruelty of everyone who had gathered to celebrate Etsu's mating, but he just didn't. No one had ever stood up for him like Adrian had, not even his parents. His father had sheltered him and his mother had smothered him. He couldn't help his smile as the vehicle began to move and he watched Adrian seethe from the corner of his eye.
"Thank you." Caspin whispered. "You're amazing." The fox laughed happily. "Let's get off this dumb rock."
::
a/n: It's so quiet in the comment section. Are you guys enjoying the story so far?
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