A/N: Thought I'd try uploading another chapter. Hope you all enjoy and review. I'm thinking of at least updating this once a week, but if anyone thinks I should update more on this story, just leave it in the reviews.
Usual disclaimer: I own nothing but my own A/Ns, not even this story or plot. It started With Toast- Chapter 1
Warning: This story will contain romance between two males, don't like it don't read, if you don't care, enjoy the story.
Ripper Roo looked over to one of his companions, chuckling maniacally and he hopped over, getting Tiny's attention. Tiny wasn't quite sure what Ripper Roo found so funny, until the kangaroo pointed a foot in my direction.
"Heheh, he's fallen asleep again." The two looked at my sleeping form, noticing I was resting my head against the table, and drool began to pool at the side of my mouth. Puzzled, Tiny poked Ripper Roo, hoping he'd have an answer.
"What Tiger dreaming?" Tiny asked, a small frown appearing as Ripper Roo gave a small shrug of his shoulders and slight shake of the head. "Beats me."
As the dream began to form, I found myself standing in a flowery meadow of various colors. Looking up at the sky, I noticed a few small clouds dotting an otherwise brilliant clear blue sky. I felt a small gust of wind that blew through the landscape and caused the flowers to sway gently. The wind felt oddly pleasant against my fur, and I felt as though I were light enough to be carried off by it. But…Something felt… off… after doing a quick investigation of my surroundings the blood in my body came rushing to my face… I was standing naked in the field. 'Well…that explains the breeze…' I thought quietly to myself. A noise from behind startled me as a mysterious smoke began blanketing the meadow. I slowly turned around to find a black, shadowy figure standing a few feet away. I couldn't make out any defining features, yet the shadowy figure had a rather masculine outline if the toned, well-built body was anything to go by... causing me to blush deeper as I realized not only was I standing naked in front of someone else, if the dream followed any patterns, it was likely they were as well. Just as they were walking up to me, a sensation of pain pulled me from the dream.
I bolted awake, sitting straight up in my chair before growling and looking at the source of the painful sensation. My glare met the face of a smirking Dingodile, who looked ready to smack me once again. "Sure you're awake there mate?" He inquired, now folding his arms as he stood next to me. I was about to question why he woke me up when Doctor N. Tropy spoke up.
"You my lad have been asleep throughout Cortext's big speech, now he's gone off to finish one of his experiments." I blushed in embarrassment as I gave a nervous chuckle, scratching the back of my head. For some reason this led to Dingodile smacking my head with the back of his hand again. I growled in irritation again while he gave a look of feigned innocence. "What? I wanted to make sure you stayed awake this time." After hearing a small snicker from Ripper Roo I stood up and left, giving Dingodile the middle finger on the way out. The agitated shout I got in response gave me some satisfaction, but I still grumbled quietly to myself over the fact that the dream was cut short. I walked through the station to my room in hopes that I could find some rest there, and maybe finish the dream. Walking into my room I noticed a few changes. For one, It was noticeably cleaner than usual, and two, there was a second bed on the opposite side. I thought little of it at the time and moved to lay out on my bed, finding that after a few minutes I had dozed off, and sleep had claimed me once again. Unfortunately it wasn't long before I was woken up for the second time that day. This time it was the intercom speakers that had disturbed my rest.
"Tiger, get to the control room at once! We're having an important meeting." Cortex's voice commanded, pausing a moment before adding "And don't fall asleep this time!" I chuckled softly to myself as I picked out the signs of irritation in the man's voice. Clearly he wouldn't forget I fell asleep during his meeting for quite some time. As I stood up to make my way over to the door, I noticed that the second bed was actually quite bigger than mine. My immediate thought was that Tiny was being moved into my room, and I hoped that wasn't the case, but I decided not to ponder it any further.
A small clock from the nearest screen announced that I would be running very late for the meeting at my current pace. Fearing the worst of Cortex's anger I bolted in the direction of the meeting room. As I rounded a corner I found myself charging head first into some unknown object; the impact knocking me to the ground, causing me to smack my head against the floor. I gave a small groan as I rubbed my head, mumbling the phrase "Who put that wall there…" It took me a moment to realize I was being offered a helping hand up, and only then did I actually notice what, or rather who I just ran into. The outstretched left hand appeared to be made completely out of metal, and as my gaze traveled further, I found myself looking into a pair of emerald green eyes. The owner of said eyes gave me a slightly concerned look, and I heard the phrase "Are you okay?" ring out in a slightly deep, gentle tone. "Yeah…I'm alright." I replied as I took the hand gratefully and stood up, deciding to get a full look at the person I just ran into. His arms and most of his head was covered with a dark brown, tinted slightly purple, fur color, while the fur on his muzzle, chest and abdomen was a creamy mocha color. He wore no shirt, yet wore a pair of camouflage pants accompanied with a pair of black boots with the toe of the boots colored white. There was a metal band around the upper part of his right arm, and as I said before, his left arm was metallic. From the well-muscled build the man was sporting, I found him attractive almost instantaneously, and once again thanked my fur for being able to hide the raging blush that covered my face.
"Err…thanks for the help.." I said awkwardly, looking away as my voice trailed off slightly. He stood there, grinning widely at me and I almost missed what he said as the only thing my mind allowed me to hear was 'God he's so hot…don't freak out…whatever you do, don't freak out…too late!'
"The name's Crunch, and you are?" The man held out his right hand in a friendly gesture. Unfortunately my mind barely allowed me to process anything, and I stood there helplessly as the red tint began showing through my fur.
"Hey…you sure you're alright?" Before any more concern could be raised I quickly forced myself to look back at him and shake his hand.
"Sorry… I'm Anthony, but everyone calls me Tiger." A quick glance at the nearby screen had me panicking. "Oh-no! I'm going to be late! …Sorry Crunch but I've really got to go." I gave a hasty goodbye and tore down the corridor, hoping that I could at least make myself less tardy than I was going to be already.
Meanwhile in the control room Cortex was growing more impatient by the moment.
"Where the hell is that boy?" As though on cue I burst into the room, looking as though I had just took place in a triathlon.
"Sorry…Cortex…I overslept and… my room is… on the other side of the station…" I managed to say in between pants. Cortex rolled his eyes and folded his arms, waiting for me to take a seat while Dingodile snickered at my appearance. When I was seated in my chair, Cortex cleared his throat to speak.
"Now that you're all here…" He paused, shooting a glare in my direction before continuing. "I'd like to introduce our newest recruit." Cortex then pointed towards the door I had just entered from and it opened to reveal a familiar face.
"Everyone. Meet Crunch Bandicoot." Everyone turned to look at the man who had just walked in. My eyes widened as I realized this was the same person I just ran into moments ago, hoping he wouldn't bring up the recent unexpected encounter. Luck seemed to be on my side at the moment as the bandicoot simply waved in greeting to the various faces looking at him.
"Oh, and Tiger." Cortex said, grabbing my attention, revealing what had to be the best news I had heard all day. "Crunch will be sharing a room with you." I turned to look at the figure standing in front of the door, then back to Cortext. I was left physically speechless, although my mind was questioning "You're letting the hot new guy share a room with me?" I managed not to voice my thoughts and said something else instead.
"Oh…okay.. That explains why the room was neater when I got there.." I let out a nervous chuckle as Ripper Roo joined in with his own cackling laughter. Cortex looked a bit puzzled at the laughter he received, but dismissed it momentarily and ordered me to go show Crunch to his new room. I all too happy to play tour guide for the new recruit. Many thoughts began to stir inside my mind. But the two most prominent ones were 'Looks like I'll get to know the new recruit better' and 'I wonder if he swings for the same team?'