Love was in the air in the GO! House during the Valentine's Day matchup between the Galveston Sand Dollars and the visiting Alaska Arctics. A special contest had been arranged to take place during halftime which would give 3 lucky furs a once-in-a-lifetime chance... to kiss their favorite Sand Dollars player square on the muzzle! Talk about a Valentine's Day to remember!

"Kiss and Tell Night" had 3 lucky fans picked out of hundreds, possibly thousands (assuming there's that many single furs in the crowd, and if they won and they weren't single, they soon would be) who entered a voluntary raffle before the game (so they knew what they were getting into... no surprise picks here). The 3 lucky lovebugs would then be granted the privilege of planting a wet one on any Sand Dollars player of their choice (with security likely breathing down their neck the whole time, but hoping everyone would take it in fun and not overdo things). Tickets are $5 and proceeds go to the "One Beat" Heart Disease Treatment Center of Galveston.

Of course this required some VERY easy-going players to allow a contest where they kiss a complete stranger, but in the spirit of fun, wackiness and giving to charity, 7 volunteers stepped up. Those volunteers were JTigerclaw (who was injured tonight and wouldn't play), Sarah Lancaster, Ana Azara, Jack Howell, Quintessa Hartnett, Nathan Robinson and Alex Merced. (Joshua Koda was egged on relentlessly, but even though he was turning redder than his fur was in the later part of Dec (red with green stripes for Christmas) he finally relented and agreed, though I don't think that counts as a "volunteer")

Why so many girls volunteered, I'll never know. Maybe they're really ambitious, adventures, or just EXTREMELY generous. But you can bet a good 90% of the ones who bought a ticket were male and wanted a piece of Sarah or Ana... sadly, Sasha Ivanovich did not agree to the contest.

The 7 volunteer Sand Dollars players walked up courageously to midcourt, and the 1 quasi-volunteer was nudged firmly to follow, eventually making it there along with the others. A wolf with sunglasses and a microphone garbled some jibberish to the crowd that sounded really exciting as a large "lottery ping-pong ball" cage was wheeled out by two Sand Dollars cheerleaders. Many males postponed their traditional half-time beer run as they anxiously awaited the results of the drawing.

Finally the names were drawn, and the winners were... Gary Fishburne (Gopher), Trent Harrison (Fox) and surprise, a female... Angelica Fierce (lynx... and she was quite the looker)

Fishburne was a balding, aging rodent with super large teeth who just about fell over the first 20 rows to get down to the court. He was so excited he was drooling and sweating up a storm... and looking straight at Sarah Lancaster with a borderline creeper look on his face. Uh oh... security moved in a little closer. Sarah gave a half-enthusiastic smile and a nervous chuckle.

Harrison was a lot more reserved. A well dressed fox in a navy business suit, he calmly made his way down from his 2nd row suit (Hey, a guy with money... ladies? Interested?). He had a tiny grin, slight, yet confident. He didn't make eye contact with any of the players as he made his way down.

Fierce... oh my... No one expects someone you'd actually buy a ticket to kiss yourself entering a contest like this. One would have to wonder who the lucky one really was, her or the player? About 5'2", long, flowing black hair, slim with curves, low-cut top with a Galveston Sand Dollars logo on the front. One had to wonder if she knew she was getting chosen, what with how she dressed appropriately. Hilariously, every male player's eyes grew wide as she made her way onto the court, and the audience just about blew the roof off the building with cheers. She was loving the attention too, licking her lips and strutting, flaunting every curve. Surely every fur in the building was wondering if she lived up to her "Fierce" name in the... well, you know where.

Joshua Koda started to sweat even more. And he couldn't stop twirling his wristband around his wrist as he glared fearfully forward, perhaps fearing the embarrassment of passing out or sporting *ahem*... "hardwood".

As the MC garbled his way through the rules (no tongue, no "touching" other than an innocent hug, no longer than 1 second, respect the players and their faces... don't have FIV [furry HIV], etc) a multitude of strange feelings filled all involved as the audience ate up every bit. Sand Dollars players started to shift on their hindpaws, wondering if perhaps this well-intentioned publicity stunt was a big mistake.

Sarah Lancaster was starting to look pretty tense with that greasy gopher gawking lustily at her, the creepy smile and wide eyes unable to hide the likely NSFW thoughts running through the rodent's mind. Ana Azara started to look nervous for Sarah, or perhaps nervous about Mr. Suave fox in the suit choosing her as the next best thing after Sarah gets her face slimed. The fox stood calmly, grinning slightly, yet masking any intentions he had of doing anything other than standing there looking cool. Quintessa looked pretty calm, but worried for hir teammates, knowing all the contestants would have a hell of a time getting their face high enough to meet hers without a step ladder. Jack Howell smiled and shook his head, chuckling at the sheer madness of it all. Alex Merced wore a somewhat disinterested look that almost seemed to say "Yeah right, like anyone would pick ME... sigh..." Nathan Robinson just looked like he wandered away from a tourist group and didn't really know what the hell was going on, although he was staring pretty intently at Ms. Fierce. And JTigerclaw, in his black suit with white pinstripes and a turquoise tie (which he wore very loosely) looked like he had to muster the balls to be there, but since he was there, he was ready to do whatever PR was required. He too was making glances over at the young lynx who had strutted down from the audience, and she almost seemed aware of that fact, jutting out her chest more (any more and that shirt was going to give up hope and hurl the fuzzy round orbs overboard). And of course Joshua Koda was sweating and fidgeting like the most popular girl at school just shot him a wink on prom night.

And so it began. The contestants lined up in the order that their numbers were picked. Another rule of the game is that once a player was kissed, no other contestant could kiss them (therefore freeing them from their hell...er... taking them out of the game). Mr. Fishburne, the creepiest of contestants, had the wonderful privilege of going first, though it seemed that having the pick of the litter didn't really matter, as he had made his choice the second his name was called.

He didn't pull any surprises. He briskly waddled straight up to Sarah Lancaster and looked her right in the eye, eyebrows a-twitchin'. Sarah giggled awkwardly, looking down at the rotund rodent, then, like a good soldier, leaned over for the kiss. The gopher closed his eyes. Sarah more-or-less winced. And.... of course the gopher grabbed her head and pulled it into a tight liplock as Sarah mumbled some sort of sound of surprise and anguish. 2 seconds passed as time stood still for Gary Fishburne. Then security pried his iron grip away from the back of Sarah's head and got in between them, nudging the gopher back to his spot in the line. It looked like, at that moment, a train could have dropped from the sky and squashed Fishburne flat, and he would have died with a smile on his face. He swooned in place, mouthing (ever so creepily) "I love you Sarah" in the direction of the distraught and embarrassed cheetah. Sarah, smiling despite looking like she was about to hurl, wiped her muzzle with her arm as the audience hooted and hollered. The remaining players started to get more nervous. One down, two to go.

Next was the fox in the suit. Trent Harrison. Who on Earth would he pick? He gave no previous indication of who he wanted to choose, yet slowly, he began walking towards the players as they waited nervously. First he looked at Sarah, who was still trying to keep her lunch down. She was already disqualified. Next he looked at Ana, who was probably praying she didn't fall to the same fate as her friend. He then looked over (up) at Quintessa, but probably decided it would be too much trouble to take an elevator up there. Merced? She looked like she didn't even want to try and that kissing her now would be akin to kissing a dried-out porkchop. Not that anyone in this circumstance could blame her. Although honestly, the fox wasn't that bad-looking a guy.

Then, as he started to make his way toward a slightly tense Ana Azara, he stopped and pivoted toward the unsuspecting JTigerclaw, grabbing him and dipping him like a ballroom dancer for a juicy smooch. The crowd gasped, then erupted into a gleeful ruckus. No one predicted he would go for a guy, although it's rather surprising that it didn't cross anyone's mind before. JT's eyes, wide with shock at first, almost seemed to begin closing, subconsciously overwhelmed in the passionate moment. The kiss did look rather breathtaking, and not in the creepy molester way that the previous one had. But as charming as the kiss and the kisser were, security did have to stop it short of progressing to second base. The suave fox, almost comically unnecessary at this point, shook JT's paw to thank him, which made the tiger wince a little as that was the paw he had injured a few days ago in a Feb 10th game against the Pride (which they still won). But overall, JT looked a tad smitten by this rather unassuming, charming sort of fellow in a navy blue suit. His teammates of course couldn't get enough of it, and even Sarah Lancaster was now laughing her ass off and applauding with amusement.

Now came the fiesty feline, Ms. Fierce. At that point, nobody really looked all that nervous anymore. The females were neutral more or less, and the guys wouldn't mind one bit (and were probably crossing their fingers) that she'd choose them. Well, somewhat. Jack Howell looked to be only semi-interested, as if his politeness were preventing him from looking like he outright lusted over this busty bombshell of a kitty. He was a classy guy that didn't seek cheap thrills or perverted sexual pleasures, though surely even he would gladly succumb to it this once. Nathan Robinson was hoping against all hope that the little lynx lady would want to taste cold scales. Even Quintessa Hartnett seemed to be thinking "Now I'll bend down for THAT in a heartbeat!"

But the one person who didn't look super thrilled to be there, the only one that had to be dragged figuratively kicking and screaming onto the court... the sweaty, nervous Joshua Koda, apparently attracted the eye of the girl who could have anyone but chose to take what was the hardest to get. In a display that almost seemed sadistic, she pranced slowly towards Koda, savoring his nervous glances, enjoying each twitch, every stutter... this girl was a straight up, grade A TEASE, and she was loving her moment in the spotlight. But poor Josh, though in his heart he probably wanted it, was just so painfully bashful that it looked like he was going to collapse from the pressure of every pair of eyes in the 15,000 max capacity building watching him and this drop-dead sexy feline about to share an intimate moment. That would give even the most confident of studs performance anxiety, wouldn't it?

Finally the lynxey lady made it to Josh, who had let his waist-length hair (which was almost as long as she was tall) fall in front of his face and hide it as he slouched over. Slyly, Ms. Fierce parted the black curtains of hair with her dainty paws, and her chest was the first thing that entered the hair cave, directly into Koda's vision. That robust rack, perfectly showcased by the snug, low-cut shirt seemed to entranced him, as there was no running from this now. But the wall of Koda's hair would probably be a blessing, as it did shield the cameras from getting a decent view of the proceedings. Slowly and deliberately, the lynx lifted her arms as high as she could, getting up on tip-toe to wrap her paws around the 7'2" tiger's neck, pulling it down towards her. And like a deer in the headlights, Koda did nothing to escape his fate, giving in to the actions of the strong-willed Fierce. She got his face close enough to whisper in his ear, and softly mewed... "There's three things I love in a man... Tall. Long hair. And shy. The shy ones are just too adorable. And so much fun to torture..."

The mere act of speaking these words was milking the torture aspect, both for the eager audience wanting less talky-talky, more tongue-hockey, the camera crew (jostling for a decent angle around the hair) and for Koda... who felt every warm breath in his ear with every word she spoke. His tension started to melt away. His knees grew weaker. And finally, she turned up to face him directly, gazing deeply into his childlike blue eyes with her soft, hazy green eyes. She then closed them and drew his lips gently to hers as all hell broke loose around them.

The crowd just went insane. They went out of their minds. It was like cheering mightily for your little brother (adult... little brother) who had finally gotten some after all these years. Someone in the audience held up a sign that said "YOU GO KODA", as if they just brought a blank poster board and a sharpie to the game, waiting for the right moment... or just called the right psychic hotline.

The kiss was more passionate and romantic than one would have predicted from this sultry, exhibitionist babe who looked like an unquestionably dominant flirt. Security even let the sweet moment go a little longer than the others. As their kiss broke naturally and Josh lazily opened his eyes, Ms. Fierce, still enshrouded in his blanket of hair, whispered once again, "That was only the beginning... call me big guy", and she pulled the waistband of his shorts out slightly, placing a small piece of paper with her number on it against the elastic and letting it snap back, snapping the blushing white tiger back to reality of sorts. She then turned and padded triumphantly back to the other contestants, leaving a puddle of quivering, lovestruck tiger behind her.

And as his present teammates high-fived the stunned tiger and gushed with their congrats, the MC exclaimed into the mic the only real thing that could be said at that moment... "DAAAAAAAYYYYYYUUUUUMMMM......."

The audience applause indicated their agreement. And now three Sand Dollars players (well... two really) had to figure out how to concentrate on the second half, despite what just transpired.

The Sand Dollars lost the game, in case you were wondering. And that might be the last time that particular promotion is ever arranged again. But despite the loss, quite a few furs seemed happy, including everyone at the "One Beat" Heart Disease Treatment Center of Galveston... and one Joshua Vincent Koda.

"She's.......... a dream," he admitted in a rare interview after the game. "Just....... a.... wow. She's... amazing...." he said as he stared into the ceiling, likely reliving the moment again and again in his mind.

The reporter had asked a question about execution down the stretch in the fourth quarter, but it's ok, we understand.




Avatars (from top): 1,3,5: ©  jtigerclaw, 2: ©  katvixen, 4: ©  rosenthal.
Sand Dollars and Arctics logos ©  jtigerclaw. FBA logo ©  buckhopper
All characters ©  jtigerclaw
Except Jack Howell ©  buckhopper, Nathan Robinson ©  darren_zeraus, Alex Merced ©  zephyrskunk

FBA ©  buckhopper