A/N: Not my characters. This is where "Shots in Paradise" and "Tougher Than Leather" start to cross over. There's one more really big "Shot" coming, but between the time setting and the fact that I haven't finished the chapter yet, it will not be uploaded until long after "Leather" reaches at least a dozen chapters. After that, there's much more of Blue, Hige, and Quent coming in "Paradise Blues," the sequel that's now in the works, including the rediscovery of certain wolf forms.
Warning: It's a fic, not a sermon. I wouldn't trust the narrator further than I could throw her, myself.
"Blue? When you're dating somebody, the girl is always right, right?" my brother asked me. Pops might have said something boiling down to this to anyone I dated in high school, but I didn't believe it and I had never thought that Toboe did, either. What had brought this on?
I looked at him more closely, setting aside my book. Was that a black eye beginning to darken Toboe's face? "Well… not always, but it's nice if you can agree on things with the person you like."
"So why did Leara punch me?" Toboe said, utterly defeated. I put a hand to his back, waiting for him to continue. "Like, if you said Victor Thurman was the hottest movie star around, you'd like it if your boyfriend thought he was hot too, right? I mean, just because I'm a guy doesn't mean I can't appreciate good looks, whether it's a guy or a girl. What someone is doesn't make them any more or less beautiful, right?" Those light brown eyes stared up at me in honest confusion.
Oh.
"I guess you're right," I offered him awkwardly. I wasn't too good at the whole comforting speech spiel that was supposedly part of the natural feminine makeup. I could listen and hug him and sympathize with him and tell him that everything would be okay, but beyond that, - well, Toboe had always been better at putting his feelings into words. He's better at putting my feelings into words, half the time. "Some people just don't understand that, though."
Toboe looked up at me shyly though his swelling eyelids. "Do you think that Leara might? Someday?"
"Maybe someday," I offered him. "But by that point, she'll probably have more competition for your affections that some movie-star crush." I tousled his hair. "What do you say we get some ice on that eye?"
"Blue!" my brother complained, trying to straighten his long reddish-brown hair. His tone was a little annoyed, but there was a smile revealed once he had pushed it back out of his face. "That would be good. I think I'll go for a walk later. It's supposed to be a full moon tonight."
"Just be careful. There could be wolves out," I teased him.
"I'm not afraid of fairytales, Blue." Good. He deserved one.