A lovely flat-colored image by  kerothestrange ;3

Original Link: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/38331963/

Now who are these dorks? XD You may remember the names Dekar and Kiriki from one of my blurbs from a pic posted a bit ago ( https://www.furaffinity.net/view/33214719/ ). Dekar was greeted by his family in a surprise party, and following up on surprises, he introduced the family to Kiriki. Now, nearly two years later, I begin to weave a view into their relationship and how they eventually get together in the family. Now, of course, being a Zerih tiggy, you know where this may end up going. But for now, enjoy a pair of new love birds being all sweet and teasing to each other. :P Big props to Kero for drawing the two based on my little poor primordial designs. Let me know if you want to see those and what you want to see of these two goobers :P

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"Dude, she's totally going to say no,"
"W-what? Why? We work together in this project pretty much each weekday, and she giggles at the little jokes I say and stuff,"
"And yet you haven't asked her out or anything. If she doesn't see you as just a co-worker by now, she's placed you in the Friend Zone, for sure,"
"But...what's the harm in asking?"

The two graduate students argued outside the Science Hall on campus. One, a cougar wolf hybrid, stood tall over the sitting blue tiger, and he shook his head while taking out a cigarette. The tiger leaned back in the bench beside his friend, tail tip swishing anxiously left and right as he tried not to get too agitated at the argument. He ran a paw over his white headfur and readjusted his glasses. Dekar was typically a very focused gentlekitty when it came to work, but that lizard girl was something he could not get around his mind. Every time she talked with him, it felt like a challenge for him to get through, and his friend was not convinced he had succeeded well enough.

"Oh, no harm, but your ego won't be the same. Like me,"
"You?"
"Yeah. I asked her out once a couple months ago. She looked at me like I had five heads. I mean, I was dressed as a Cerberus for that Halloween party, but that's beside the point. Dekar, you aren't going to just get a cute girl in class to go out with you like that. She was just being nice to you since you work together in class. Now rejecting me? That's fine. I'm a big dude and got someone to hook up that same night - some girls dig the Cerberus look - but you? I'm not sure you'll recover well from it..."

Dekar rubbed his temples softly and stood up. The stress levels were rising, and he could feel it. The cougar wolf was not helping. He felt his chest tightening as his heard fluttered. Hopefully it was not a panic attack; he had not gone through one of those in years. His friend was right, to an extent. A blow like that would be heartbreaking, and he'd probably need to eat through a few packages of sandwich cookies to walk outside again. And yet, even as he heard a soft trill in the distance, that light giggle he heard those months ago, he felt his heartbeat shift in a different way. The anxiety had not gone, no, but it changed into another kind. Is there such a thing as good anxiety?

Around the corner game Kiriki. She was a light-green lizard, save for a much more colorful set of spines that ran along the top of her head. She wore a sleeveless blouse and short skirt that likely caught the eye of more than a few men in the class. Her large tail flicked behind her, showing off the large golden ring that matched those around her wrists and neck; she said they were formal items back at her home and cherished them dearly. Dekar somehow had that passing sentence lodged in his memory, among the few other things she said about herself. Traveling abroad was a challenge for her, but she wanted to explore more and help others. And she was as smart as anyone else in class, maybe smarter! Dekar's heart thumped louder, a sonar getting stronger as she grew nearer to the couple. She clutched a pair of books to her chest - a familiar sight to and from the library. Kiriki had not noticed the pair just yet, instead discussing some odds and ends with her peers beside her.

She wasn't alone. She was preoccupied. His friend had just talked him down. The project's stress was getting to him, too. It was a bad time.

But it was the time.

Dekar walked forward from the bench and glanced over to the group approaching them. He heard his friend woof softly, "I'll start prepping your tab," before walking away, himself. Dekar's ears flicked, a little annoyed but only just. He had less than a second to react before-

"Oh, hey, Dekar," Kiriki chirped as they nearly passed the static tiger.
"H-hey Kiriki..." his sentence ebbed off a second, but before it was awkward, he finished it off, "do you have a second?"
"Oh," the lizardess paused, the rest of the group slowing slightly in case she wanted to catch up quick, "sure. What's up?"

Now was the time. His lungs flexed and vocal chords warbled. Why was this so difficult?

"Kiriki," he started, rubbing the back of his head and looking away. Words fluttered slowly, "I was just thinking if you w-"
"-wanted to go on a date tonight? Oh, yes! <3 I'm available at 8!~"

Dekar froze and looked back at her, his cheeked flushed red. Kiriki was absolutely delighted. Her eyes glittered with intrigue, and he noticed her arms hug tighter against her books. He could not see it, but her tail tip was wiggling fierce behind her. The tiger swallowed and searched his vocabulary for an improvised reaction.

"O-okay! I...I'll see you then! Uh, just here is fine or at yo-"
"hehe, my place is fine. Just call me beforehand, and I'll give you the address. It is not far from here, though. Not hard to miss, too...very blue, that house. I mean, I don't mind. Blue is a cute color...okay, better go. See you tonight!"

And with that, the lizardess leaped toward her group back to the Science Hall, and Dekar waited for her to be out of side before he collapsed onto the bench.

"Oh, God...I didn't expect to get this far..."

At least blue was her favorite color!