Water was dripping from Meldan's lower body as he walked through the moonlit night. His heart was still racing, even though he had been out of immediate danger for a while. But in the distance, he could still hear the shouting and cheering of the crowd he had escaped from. His soaked legs were getting cold as the wind blew through his fur. One more time he looked behind him at the town of Posbank, his old home town. Several fires lit up the night. Sounds of breaking glass and fireworks could be heard echoing in the distance, if it wasn't drowned out by the voices of the zealous vandals that caused this. It had been a terrible night for Meldan. He had been shot at, chased down, they wanted him and anyone who's not human dead. All this trouble because he decided to sacrifice himself, to be a distraction to pull the attention of the mob of religious zealots towards him so the last group from the hospital could escape to safety. A heroic sacrifice indeed, but one that had almost killed him. He could narrowly escape the mob, hiding under a bridge, down in the cold and dirty water below. His hooves were still a bit muddy, his lower body was soaked, but at least he had made it out alive. But he feared his old home town of Posbank may not survive the night...

He ran further away from the town behind him, away from the misery behind him, to the only safe place left in this area: his parents' estate, the old sawmill at the edge of the forest. Only the moon lit his way. The sound in the distance started to die down with every step he got away from it, until the sound of his own hooves clopping into the earth below was drowning it out. He saw the familiar sight of his parents' home in the distance, even though all the lights were out. Probably to make it look abandoned and not to draw attention from the mob, Meldan thought. He walked down the gravel path at the entry of the estate, but to his surprise, someone was there waiting for him, someone he didn't expect to be even around here. The figure was tall, standing on a pair of hooves and with the head of a bull. A figure Meldan recognised in an instance...
"Fedor?" he called the bull figure.
Fedor turned around, seeming to have frozen in his tracks. "Mel?" he spoke with a deep, soft voice.
"FEDOR!" Meldan sprinted towards him, and overwhelmed his minotaur friend with an embrace, his dirty left foreleg instinctively hooking around his friend's hip. Fedor hessitantly put his arms around his friend, still stumped about his friend's sudden arrival. "What are you doing all the way here? I thought you were still in Hågeth."
"I just had to see you," Fedor replied. "After our last phone call, I was worried about you. You seemed to be in great danger. I just couldn't leave my best friend hanging."
"Oh Fedor, it has been terrible!" Meldan started to tear up. "I thought I was a dead man, really! There were hundreds of them, hundreds! And they were armed! I gave them a good kick, but it was too much. I could run away from them, but it was close. Too close!"
"Then why in the hell did you do it? Why you? Why not someone else?"
"Because... because I saw my life as... more expendable. The others had a bright future ahead of them, but me... I was deeply unhappy... It was like a part of me wanted me to die there."
"Oh please, Mel, don't say that! There's so much to live for!"
"Not for me. This job is slowly killing me, and I'm so far away from family over there in Hågeth. I just... I don't know how to go on anymore."
"Sssssh, hey, you're not alone. We're in this together, you understand?"
Meldan nodded.
"If you quit your job, I quit as well. And whatever comes next, I'll follow you there. Because... well, because you're part of my herd."
"Fedor, I - there's something I need to tell you."
"Go on, I'm all ears."
"You know you're my best friend, right? Well... in the past few days, I'm realising you're more than that. I just... I didn't dare to admit to myself what I was truly feeling about you."
"Mel, where are you go -"
"I LOVE YOU, FEDOR! Aliste's Fire, my heart screams for your love!"
Meldan was breathing heavily, his confession still dripping from the tip of his tongue. "I... I hope you don't think I'm weird..."
Fedor just embraced him tighter, the minotaur also being brought to tears. "Oh Mel, I've been trying to tell you myself since the day I took you to Hydefeld, to my herd. But I too was too scared to say it to you... because I thought I would lose you. I hope you can forgi-"
But before Fedor could finish his sentence, Meldan held his head and locked him into a passionate kiss. Fedor felt himself melt inside, and let himself carried away in this gesture of love. And for the first time in their lives, they both were in a kiss they had never been in before, a moment that seemed to last a century...
Meldan released his lover from his embrace, feeling very relieved. The weight was off his heart. He knew for sure now that his true love, the one that had been staring him in the face for all these years, also loved him. He had finally found the person he wanted to grow old with together.
"So... how was that?" he asked the minotaur.
"It... it felt so right," Fedor answered, "like it was always meant to be."
"I just want to stay together with you, you know."
"For the rest of our lives?"
"Yes."
"I wouldn't want it any other way," Fedor smiled. "Just one condition."
"What is it?"
"Take a bath first, because you stink."
Meldan snickered. Even in this stressful moment, Fedor still hadn't lost his sense of humour...

_______________________


This scene has been drawn by the wonderful  reigohoo, with whom I've worked together with several times before with wonderful results. This is a very emotional scene, a pivotal point in both of these two men's lives, who finally get their love answered. I've wanted to show this scene to the world for a long time, and what better time to show this scene, between two gays confessing their love for one another, during Pride month?

Visit the original upload at the artist's page

This scene will be later incorporated into my story of The Cleansing, whenever I come around to it again...

Have a wonderful Pride Month!