First year (a few days later)

For the second kiss ... no, that one...that one was an experience rather far more sensational than the first one and , in a way, even more memorable. And the sense was not the positive one.

The two would remembered it in the years to come with a mixture of embarrassment, amusement and something like nostalgia... ok, this was a lie. But who did they want to fool? That particular memory brought them exclusively great embarrassment!

In the days after the dinner they stuck together a little more than usual. Not that the dynamics between the two of them changed radically, they kept bickering, teasing and jokingly annoying each other, as usual, but now they also seemed to search for the other's company more often, innocently touching each other with more frequency: a tail that lightly brushed against ankle, a hand that rested on a biceps for a fraction of a second longer than necessary, an arm around a shoulder for a quick, affectionate squeeze. But nothing more .

In the afternoon of three days later, however, things became more interesting and it also became clear to the two of them that they both were more than willing to explore the possibilities of this new aspect of their relationship: it was evident that Charlene and Vinnie were very, very motivated about it in that moment.

A caress became a brief hug and it soon became something of more vivaciously "serious" when the two strongly clutched to the other. At that point, the only thought in their heads was the idea of kissing again adding the accumulated desire: mouths searched each other, but when they tried to, so to speak, "go deeper on the subject", things went horribly wrong.

Both of them were thrown in the momentum of the act in reliance on their instincts and on their previous experiences. Unfortunately, none of these experiences concerned to kiss an alien being and suddenly the two found themselves lost in practical difficulties of two faces surely not structured to interact so intimately .

His mouth, that spread from one side to the other of his long muzzle, was remarkably larger than Charlene never really realized before and when they first slightly and then fully opened their lips to explore each other, for an irrational fraction of second, she had the horrible feeling that he was going to literally eat her face ... there had been a bit of confusion on the distances.

In turn, Vinnie didn't know how to handle her soft human lips that, yes, were very nice and inviting, but they seemed to have a life of their own, as if they were an independent part of the small mouth of his partner! And then he was also having an incredible difficulty in respiring, his nose practically pressed into her hair, completely disoriented and out of sync with her breathing.

When finally the boy's sharp incisors pressed with involuntary vehemence against Charlene's skin, the two separated from each other with a jolt, as if they had been hit by an electric discharge. All of this lasted no more than five seconds, but it was more than enough.

Followed few moments of panic in which none of them moved a muscle, a mutual grasp on each other's arms, keeping a distance but, at the same time, without letting go, as seeking a balance in the other.
Their lips tight as if they had just bitten into a lemon and eyes wide and staring, a look of uncertainty mixed with clumsiness. They were too "confused" to even try having other feelings.

Eventually , when their brain finally reconnected, they did the only thing possible: they saw in the other their own expression and then laughed hard. The two didn't stop for many, many minutes and didn't end curled on the floor for the sole reason that they were still tied in that strange embrace and were practically supporting each other, but the mouse had tears in his eyes, while the girl's ears reached a vibrant shade of red and had stated to funnily hiccup.

" It was ... " *hic* " It was ... "

"Awful! " Vinnie completed for her, between laughs.

" It was, wasn't it?! " Charlene exclaimed "the most pathetic kiss *hic* of my life! "

" Gee, I feel like a teenager again" he snorted, a little amused and a little embarrassed. In a corner of his brain, Vinnie was thanking various Martian deities that miraculously no one witnessed the disaster. His reputation ( ? ) would had come out destroyed.

" No, please, not *hic* those years! It was not bad enough to pass *hic* through them once?! "
Then, after thinking about it for a second, Charlene added, " Oh , God, I *hic* just realized that we just lacked the braches *hic* and it would have been exactly like my first kiss *hic*, on the back of the school, during break, with David Crawlford. *hip* But , that time honestly it went way better! "

" Hey! " He blurted out, sounding mockingly offended " It can't be worse than the one with that ... how the hell did you say his name was? Crew .. Crawv ... that junior high school boy! "

She laughed louder "Hell yes! "

At that point she felt his hands suddenly leave her forearms and then the warm touch of his palms on the face: the was pressing her cheeks so that her lips were comically protruded outward, as if she was a goldfish .

"Sweetheart, it's not me having a face as flat as a surfboard with two lips planted in the middle of it! Of course it couldn't work, but you have to know that until now no one ever complained of my performances as kisser! "

" ewwwidenshhhes!" she grunted.

" What? " Vinnie asked, slightly releasing his grip on the girl's face of so that she could speak more clearly .

" Evidences *hic* I want evidences! I will not believe you until I see written statements *hic* signed by your exes! "

The young woman then exploited that split second in which he recorded her phrase and began to form a offended expression, to in turn raise her own hands to his face and return the grip. Only she stuck her thumbs in the corners of the boy's mouth, while the other fingers grasped below his ears: gently , but with decision, she then forced his mouth to its full extension and Vinnie seemed now a Martian version of the Batman's Joker.

"And then at least I *hic* I do have lips. What do YOU have apart from a huge mouth that only is needed to..." she would never ended that particular sentence: Vinnie's hand quickly slipped from her cheek to the above mentioned lips, effectively and successfully silencing her.

Looking at her and raising a wry eyebrow, he tried to make fun of the unexpected vulgar turn, but he too was in communicative difficulties due to two thumbs badly hooked behind his molars.

He had to surrender shortly after " Owey!" He mumbled " Owey, you whinn . I'llh let you gohh ifsh you releashh your grishpp! "

Charlene , from behind Vinnie's hand, immediately nodded her approval to the plan : she could feel a slimy warm trickle of saliva flowing from his mouth and along her right wrist and, really , it wasn't the pleasantest feeling ever ... she wanted to stop it before it got to the elbow.

But, while releasing his grip on her face, the martian's other hand quickly slipped on his partner's nape and, when she released him, with very little effort Vinnie dragged her back to him. Then, just lowering his head to cancel the little difference in height, he kissed her again. But this time it was an exact replica of the first kiss they exchanged and, even if it wasn't anything terribly passionate, when it ended they both felt their heads lighter and that their hearts had accelerated its beat just a bit. And the human's hiccups attack had fortunately ended ...

"Charley-girl, we are doomed to a life of old aunt-like kisses" Vinnie gravely sighed, a bit serious and a bit playful, continuing to hold her tightly to him.

Charlene laughed again "Ok, stop there! First of all I hope you don't have an aunt who kisses you like this, or we'll have ask for the social services intervention. Second, accordingly to what people says... " while speaking the back of her hand was stroking the companion's profile while her gaze absently followed the movements of the tufts of fur to that gentle pressure; Vinnie 's eyes became a bit brighter to that touch "... you know, practice leads to perfection ... " .

And so they did . Engage in the practice , I mean.

Needless to say that the differences between the two were much deeper than it appeared at first. The kiss was just the tip of the iceberg : they did have a general idea of what they were going to face, but in the time they were amazed to discover that in fact there were so many more aspects and difficulties they hadn't taken into account.
But them both were equipped with perseverance and, above all, good fantasy and imagination. And the last two helped a lot.
They had to work on it, but it was a path that neither of them ever complained in following. On the contrary, they had a lot of fun and in the following months they were very focused in the mutual "discovery" and in finding "a common ground" and "compromises" that pleased them both.

Eventually they discovered that despite the conventions in which they were educated about the emotional, psychological and physical intimacy were very, very different, as it was the anatomy of their bodies, the Earthling and the Martian were still compatible . Very nicely compatible.

Long after, Charlene would reflect that perfection doesn't exist, especially in regard of the relationships, but there was a lot of fun in the searching for it.