Hello everyone! I have an exciting new announcement! I am now going to be co-authoring my stories with the great, the amazing, the incredible...FairlyOddFaller! I am incredibly excited to be working with him, and I am sure that these stories' quality will improve greatly with him along for the ride. That's all for now! Now, onto the story.

*trumpet fanfare noises!*

The Hybrid Chronicles/The Tasso Chapters

Chapter 20/1

"Lynx Meets Hybrid"

Written by: SmilingDolphins and (soon) FairlyOddFaller

Simon walked into the Sangelui''s cafe, Delphin, Lily, and Vulperne behind him. Alina was nowhere to be found, but her son, Crodut, was working the register. He looked up as they approached, and smiled when he recognized Simon.

"Simon! I heard you were back in town. Congrats on the wife, eh?" Crodut chuckled.

"Hi, Crodut. Is your mom around? I need to ask a favor of her." Simon asked.

"Mom? Oh yeah, she's in the back." Crodut turned around and cupped his hands to his mouth.

"MA!" He shouted. He turned back to them, still grinning.

"She should be here in a sec. Anything I can get you?"

Vulperne looked up from where he was playing a game on his phone. He stepped around Delphin, who was blocking his view and was about to speak when he spotted Crodut.

"I'll take-" Vulperne's voice caught in his throat. If he wasn't so red already everyone would have been able to see the blood rushing to Vulperne's cheeks.

NO. Stop it. He told himself. He took a deep breath and pretended like he was scanning the menu positioned above Crodut's head.

Crodut raised an eyebrow. The hybrid in front of him was very cute. His gaydar was going off like crazy. The way this hybrid acted seemed strange though. He had seen how the hybrid has stared at him in shock, before quickly moving his eyes to the hanging menu over his head.

"Uh...I...I think I'll have the chicken sandwich." Vulperne said. Crodut grinned and wrote down the order on a notepad.

"Good choice. Anything else?" He said, looking at the rest of the mammals. They all shook their heads. Crodut turned back to the hybrid.

"May I have your name?"

"Why do you need my name?!" Vulperne yelped. Crodut, Simon, Lily, and Delphin just stared at him.

"For...your order. So we know who to call to give it to."

Vulperne calmed down.

"Oh. Yes, of course. It's, uh, Vulperne."

Crodut wrote the name down on the pad. He rang up the order.

"That will be $3.77." Vulperne started to take out his wallet, but Simon stopped him.

"Don't worry, V. I got it."

Simon handed over a five and told Crodut to keep the change. The lynx thanked him and turned back to Vulperne.

"Vulperne, your order will be ready soon. We'll call your name when it is."

Vulperne nodded. Crodut turned and walked through a door leading to the back of the shop.

"Well, I'm going to go explore. I saw a nice fishing store in town, and I want to check it out." Delphin said. He turned to Vulperne. "Also, I need to go find a hotel for us to stay in for the night."

"Wait, what? Why wouldn't you stay here?" Simon asked. Delphin laughed.

"I make it a point never ta sleep within 100 feet of someone who got married less than a week ago. I'm sure in the mansion, that won't be a problem, though. Vulperne can stay here if he wants, I don't care."

Delphin shrugged and walked out of the cafe, trying to remember where the fishing shop was.

"Simon! Back already? What's up?" A female voice said. Simon turned back to the counter to see Alina standing there.

"Oh, hi Alina. Um, so our house was supposed to be ready today but it got delayed. We were wondering if we could use the apartment upstairs for the night?"

Alina laughed. "Of course, dear. Make yourself at home. Oh, and who is this?" Alina gestured to Vulperne. The hybrid extended his hand, which Alina took.

"My name is Vulperne, Mrs. Sangelui. Nice to meet you." Alina got a gleam in her eye.

"Oh, so you're the one my son just told me about." Vulperne went into a fit of coughing. He beat his chest and wheezed a bit. "Very nice to meet you. And please, call me Alina. Everyone does."

"Yeah, sure!" Vulperne cleared his throat and released the lynx's hand. Simon glanced over at his friend.

"Um, we're going to go grab our luggage. See you soon." Simon and Lily rushed out, leaving Vulperne alone. He took a deep breath and walked over to a booth, sitting down. He began to play a game on his phone.

He heard the sound of a plate being set down, and then someone slid into the booth across from him.

He looked up, wide-eyed, as his gaze met Crodut's.

"What-what are you doing here?" Crodut gestured to the food.

"Bringing you your food." The lynx leaned forward, placing his chin on his hands. His tail appeared behind him, waving through the air lazily. Vulperne found himself watching the tail with rapt attention. "I also wanted to talk."

Vulperne could feel his heart beating in his chest.

"Talk about what? We have nothing to talk about."

Crodut laughed softly.

"Oh, come on. Do you think I don't see it? It's kind of obvious."

Vulperne felt a bead of sweat trace itself down his forehead.

"I have no idea what you mean."

Crodut just sighed.

"Fine. Play dumb. Hide. I can understand it. We are in public after all. But, I want to see the real you. Meet me here at 10 tonight."

Crodut slid a napkin with an address written on it across the table. Vulperne spluttered.

"What- what makes you think I'll just meet a random stranger in the middle of nowhere, at night."

Crodut gave him a smug grin.

"One, we're not really strangers, Vulpes. You know my name, I know yours. Second, it's not the middle of nowhere. In fact, you can see this very cafe from there. And third...well I don't have anything for that. It's straight up at night. But I have a feeling you'll come. See ya later, Vulpes."

Crodut stood up and walked back over to the counter. Vulperne found himself staring as the lynxes tail swished behind him. Vulperne groaned and put his head down on the table. He had a lot to think about. He picked up the sandwich and bit into it. He looked down at the napkin and almost choked. He hadn't noticed the signature at the bottom, under the address.

-Crodut XOXO

Vulperne felt blood rush to his face. He looked around, specifically at the lynx, who seemed to be messing with the register. The hybrid grabbed the napkin and shoved it into his pocket. Then, he continued to eat. He didn't notice the grin that played itself across Crodut's face as he pretended not to watch.

And, so launches The Tasso Chapters. Chapter 1 will just be this, as a bit of a recap. Chapter 2, will hopefully be the first co-project between me and Faller. Orrrr, I might hand over complete control of The Tasso Chapters to him, and see where he takes it. Let me know what you guys think we should do. Hope you guys enjoyed it!

Love y'all! Stay safe! :Dolphin's out!