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It was a cold day in late Autumn. The Lumbercat waited patiently for the Lumbearjack to arrive at the stump where they’d usually prepare firewood, a routine that they’d fallen into. In fact, it was the only reason why they had gotten their nicknames in the first place, since most animals don’t really do “names” at all. Still, Lumbercat thought they had a nice ring to them. Especially Lumbearjack's.
“Hey, you ready?” asked a curious voice, ripping Lumbercat from his thoughts.
“Anytime for you, handsome.”
“Actually, I’m more interested in just hanging out today.”
He deflated a little at that response. He really liked seeing the big bear at work – his heart always skipped a beat when he split a large log in two - but more importantly, they probably still had a ton of work to do before Winter.
“Don’t we still need a bunch of fuel for Winter?”
“Nope, all the cats already have enough!” He practically beamed at that, clearly excited to be done with work.
“But, wait, I don’t have any yet! Forgetting about me is not very considerate, y’know?”
The bear looked a bit sheepish at that. “Yeah, but you won’t really need it this year.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, it was supposed to be a surprise for later, but…” He pulled out something fabric from behind his back. “Here you go, made it just for you!”
The smaller animal readily accepted the gift. It was a beautiful white fluffy coat, perfect for the freezing weather that would arise soon. He blushed a bit at receiving it, before noticing something.
“Wow, thank you, this is really, really nice and I love it, but um… What is this coat even made from? There’s nothing any of us can work with around here- I mean, all of our pants are made from hemp fiber and stuff, where’d you-”
He stopped as he slowly saw a blush rising to the white, coated animal’s cheeks.
Oh.
“Since I have a bunch of fur and you have so little and always feel cold, I thought I could… give you some of mine? Also it means I won’t have to do that much hacking. My arms are kinda getting sore at this point.”
While he was more than eager to just accept the gift at this point and move on, there was still one problem that needed to be settled.
“And are you sure you’re fine with me wearing your fur on my body? Maybe you’ve not thought about it before, but that’s a bit intimate so maybe…” he looked to the side as he trailed off.
“I don’t mind being close to you at all.”
When he looked back, Lumbearjack was now inches away from him, as if to prove a point. And, well, turns out looking up at a pretty, big guy and bathing in his body heat could make someone really flustered. In a fit of gay panic unlike any other, the Lumbercat had extended his worryingly flexible body so his head was at the same height as his friend’s. While that seemed to calm his racing mind for a moment, it wasn’t long before he noticed that this was the ideal position for a kiss.
As if he wasn’t red before, he now looked like he had broken out into hives.
“Sorry, did I startle you there?”
“N-Not at all, sorry handsome.”
“What’s with the nickname, by the way? ‘Handsome’? I mean, none of the cats you know get a nickname, so why me?”
While he was not at all prepared for this question, he could manage. Do some improv even. He couldn’t possibly be worse at Romance than whoever wrote “Love Rap”, after all.
“It’s because, you’re, erm, a polar bear! That’s very different from any other bears in the forest, so you deserve a special name. You’re a very unique type, in the bear sense, not just in the sense that you’re my type-”
Okay maybe a confession could be slightly worse than Love Rap. Just slightly.
As the gears in the feline’s head turned he could swear he felt his lower body run away, his legs ready to break any previously set speed record just to escape the horribly awkward situation he’d put himself in.
Yet, his face remained in place. His cheeks cupped in large, white hands. As the owner of said hands was kissing him. It was a beautiful moment, and they both wished it could last forever.
Unfortunately for them, physics eventually caught up to them.
Through some horrid combination of his body liquefying by the power of pure homosexuality, his legs having accidentally walked into a tap dancing performance fifteen miles over, and said legs retracting immediately out of sheer shock, Lumbercat was catapulted forward into his partner at neck breaking speeds.
The only thing that miraculously survived their fall completely unharmed was the coat.
“So… I guess I’ll warn you next time I decide to kiss you?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’d really appreciate that.”