redemption's here at last

Once upon a time Mojito Klein had been a young man, barely even two years old and he spent a single night of passion with the only woman he would ever love, y'know, romantically. Weeks later he discovered she was pregnant and Mojito Klein barely even two years old assured himself they were not his, his lover had slept with another man around when they'd shared their night together and she did not know who the father was. So Mojito Klein barely even two years old told himself it wasn't him. The reason for this was less callous than this simple description might lead you to believe dear reader, for you see Mojito Klein barely even two years old had grown up knowing he was different. Wrong. And though his heart broke for the pain of knowing his rival in love would win Mojito Klein barely even two years old had to tell himself he had not given his lover children for he could not bear to bring that pain of being different and wrong onto new life. Mojito Klein barely even two years old had been only half right, and half wrong. And though he would go on to make a great deal many mistakes he loved his daughter with all his heart. Still he told himself it could not happen again.

Mojito shifted in his den, finding himself rather rudely dragged from sleep by Nao. He groaned and rubbed at his face with his wrists, not wanting to let even his lover's voice draw him from rest. But there was no denying the urgency in Nao's tone. Something his still half asleep mind wasn't really registering on a conscious level, but somewhere deeper and more instinctual. Amazing what a brain could do when it loved someone huh? "Nao..." He said his lover's name, about the only words he could manage for a second as his language processes woke up. "What do you wan-" Mojito would never finish that question because as he was speaking it aloud, very proud of his language processor for getting there eventually, he had started to roll back towards Nao.

And he'd nearly rolled onto something. Something that felt distinctly fleshy, something that squirmed under him, something that gave an indignant squeak as he started to roll over it.

Bam! Awake!

Mojito quickly rolled himself back the way he came, off of the soft squirming squeaking thing and onto his paws. He'd never become alert so fast. Because Mojito knew that sound, knew the feeling of soft flesh not yet worn from time. Puppies.

Which was impossible.

And not in an "I faced nothing but scorns and rejection from my family for being born as a half-wolf half-dog and the idea of inflicting that pain on another child makes me terrified so I'm forcing myself to not even hope these children are mine" kinda way. But in an "unless a brand new mother snuck her children into the den while we slept and left her puppies for us to find it should be physically impossible for there to be puppies here we are both men who cannot get pregnant" kinda way.

And unfortunately for the both of them even if that unlikely story about a new mother were true, and Mojito very much doubted it. The puppies were here now and Mojito would die before he neglected a single one of them. They needed a source of milk and soon, by his best estimate these children weren't even an hour old yet, food was paramount! They needed warmth and sleep too but the milk was the most pressing issue.

He was also doing his very best not to focus on the tiny glimpses of them he could see in the moonlight. None of them had splotches on them that looked like Nao's. None of them had little mounds of fur on their heads that meant the buds of horns to grow in as they aged. None of them were a mixture of Nao's features and his own. Because that was impossible.

Unfortunately this slurry of thoughts would likely do little to offer reassurance to Nao as it left Mojito locked in place, his expression that of a deer having just spotted it's death bearing down on it and not a word dropping from his mouth.

Once upon a time Mojito Klein, now much older and world weary, finally let himself experience love again and fell in love with a slave man. Many things happened some important some not but in the end Mojito Klein now much older finally settled down with the only man he'd ever love, y'know romantically, and let himself feel comfortable in that. Safe in the knowledge that this time there could be no accidental puppies. It was impossible. But this time Mojito Klein now much older was fully wrong. It had happened again. And it was impossible.

"Speech!"

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