FSE

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I’d never been particularly mindful of the passage of time. I rounded the corner into my twenties with the grace of a trainwreck, I’d decoupled from whatever direction I thought I had but as I diverged into the ditch that would become my life I found myself out of energy for whatever the hell it was I once wanted.

I gave up on the idea of my own path and submitted to the menial life of a tradie. It took until I was 21 to find a job as a pool guy. It wasn’t a productive, booming trade like my father wanted for me. But the moment I found my feet I realised I no longer needed his judgement in my life. I promptly burnt that bridge.

It was the first of many to come. Distant family, acquaintances and hook ups and whoever else seemed to only begrudge me I simply shut them out of my life. Borris. Fuck me, Borris. I told him exactly what I thought of him and he grew a dark look like he wanted to kill me. Part of me dreads to think what would’ve happened if I hung around to find out just how my words made him feel.

But I was free. Free of the shackles I’d grown into as a teenager. Free to be a lonesome, boring tradie. Stability was a struggle for me, but I found it somehow. It took me years to adjust to being a working man and in that time I learned a lot about myself. I’d had a few failed romances, even made and lost a whole new set of friends. But I was somewhere better than I was before despite the ups and downs along the way.

Life was alright, I was 29. I had a job, I had a boyfriend. I had routine and friends and that was all I really needed.

For a long, long time I had been fine enough, and then I very suddenly was not. I woke up one morning in a sour mood, and that was that. Something felt very wrong but it was indescribable, like the world had forgotten colours and tastes and scents it once held. I lay in bed that morning, the thought of getting up and cleaning pools all day made my skull ache. I barely even had the will to call in sick, I wanted to just abandon the day and start over.

I couldn’t of course, so I called in sick. My boss sounded frustrated, I nearly snapped at him.

“Fucker,” I grumbled as I crawled back into bed.

Minutes later my boyfriend walked into our apartment. Liko was a raccoon who worked night shifts as a nurse. I sighed, guilt ran through me. He dropped something in the kitchen then pitter pattered to the bedroom where he found me lying face down, my arms folded under my head.

“Sorry hun, no breakfast today,” I muttered.

“S’cool.” He hopped up alongside me, his deft hands worked the muscles of my shoulders. “All good?”

I grunted.

I spent days in a melancholy that seemed unshakable. Nothing excited me. Nothing seemed to matter. I felt mean, I felt rotten. Liko grew distressed as I slacked on my share of domestic chores but on another day I managed to force myself out of bed and have breakfast waiting for him when he got home.

We sat on stools at our kitchen counter and while I wasn’t conversational, I could at least stomach him rabbiting on about his shift. I went to clear our bowls but he swatted my hands away and did it himself.

“Good to see you’re not so down today.” He had a way of smiling through things that bothered him, it was a nurse’s flawless mask for dealing with difficult patients but I’d grown accustomed to recognising it.

“Mmm.” I wrinkled my nose. “Sorry.”

“Nah, you’re fine.” He started washing up. “Did something get you down?”

I froze. “No.”

“Hope it wasn’t me, is all.” He flashed that nurse smile at me.

“It wasn’t you.”

“Then what was it?” He scrubbed firmer than he needed to at a bowl.

“Dunno. Just felt shit.” I sighed.

He took a moment, then asked. “What were you depressed about?”

“Nothing. Everything.” I rubbed at my forehead, embarrassment scorched my cheeks. “Not everything, not you at least. It sucked. You’re a nurse, you get it right?”

He scoffed. “Depression needs a cause.” I furrowed my brow at him and said nothing. That didn’t seem right to me, but he’d debate me on it if I pushed. He scrubbed frustratingly at my bowl. “So are you sure it wasn’t me?” He still wore his nurse smile. “You can tell me.”

“It’s not you.” I put some heat into those words. “If there’s a cause I dunno what it’d be, but it happens sometimes.”

He smirked. “Hey, at least it was only four days.” He laced the words with vague positivity, I found it a little strange he’d counted exactly. I certainly hadn’t. Those days had drifted through my fingers and bled into each other to form a solid chunk of listless, grinding emptiness.

I shrugged. “Yeah, dunno what that was about.” I rubbed at my nose, this entire conversation was a bit uncomfortable but I couldn’t tell if that was because I still wasn’t feeling normal. He tucked away his nurse smile and I couldn’t quite read the expression on his face. He appraised me for a moment, almost critically, then he wrinkled his nose and let it rest.

I felt oddly judged by it. I got up, wrapped my arms around him and planted a wet kiss on his forehead. My tusks scratched at the base of his ears and he made a sound I couldn’t place. “I gotta get ready for work.” I let my hand dangle on his shoulder a little longer. “Love you.”

“Love you too.” He wore his nurse smile. It felt like someone hammered a nail into my skull. I’d done something wrong, clearly. We’d been together eight months and we’d only moved in a month ago so we were still feeling each other out.

I thought our little arrangement was cute, the nights he worked nightshift I’d make him breakfast in the morning and he’d have dinner ready when I came home from work. It felt balanced.

And obviously I’d thrown that off, but it was only a few days and I was planning on making it up to him. It just felt awkward to acknowledge. I grimaced, I knew I needed to acknowledge it.

“Hey, I’ll get you back for how good you’ve been to me.” I clapped his shoulder.

He nodded. “Appreciate it.” He seemed to relax a little bit at that, but it didn’t entirely resolve the uncertainty I felt about the moment. Whatever. I finished getting ready and took off, if anything bothered him that much he’d let me know eventually.

Something about returning to the outside world after my brief hibernation was energising. The daily grind felt like it sanded barnacles from my brain instead of exhausting me. For once, my spirits lifted from cleaning pools and there was a spring in my step as I went about my day. I came home that evening to find dinner waiting for me– creamy pasta just how Liko knew I liked it. The gesture wasn’t lost on me, maybe he felt bad about this morning too.

I grinned at him. “You spoil me,” I spoke as I stepped up behind him. He drew in a tight breath as he eased his little body against mine, even for a raccoon he was small. His ears didn’t even reach the bottom of my pecs. Whatever angst seemed to exist between us this morning scattered under the warmth of my embrace. He rumbled softly as he nuzzled the back of his head against my belly. I kissed his muzzle, he licked my lips. “I’m already feeling better, but this is awesome.” I put my hands on his shoulders and pressed into his tense muscles.

He exhaled contentedly and shut his eyes for as long as I massaged him. “I’m really happy to hear that.” He shot me a real smile. I kissed him again and again while he dished up our dinner. As we settled onto the sofa to eat and veg out I reached for a conversation starter instead of the remote.

“Would you rather get married in a chapel or a park?” My snout tingled as I asked it, I knew it was a loaded question. We’d never spoken about where our relationship might go before.

He paused with his fork held before his open mouth, a smile curled the corners of his cheeks and he made a startled sound. “Park,” he squeaked.

I laughed. “And are you the marrying kind?”

“For the right guy.” He flicked his gaze to my waist before he poked his tongue out teasingly and met my eyes.

“Curious.” My grin widened. I tried the pasta, it was rich and creamy. “This is so good.” I made a satisfied sound.

“But are you the marrying kind?”

I drew in a tight breath and oinked excitedly. “For the right guy.” I winked at him. He giggled, his brown eyes were bright with mirth. Adoration poured from within me. He was so cute. I leant over and kissed his muzzle. “Hard to believe it hasn’t even been a year together.”

He nodded. “Yeah. But at the same time we’re still just learning about each other really.”

“You think?” My heart tripped at that a little.

“Yeah, but I like learning about you.” He rubbed my arm. “The last week has been, interesting I guess.”

“Oh?” I didn’t want him to reach for that.

“I dunno, yeah, interesting. Good to learn a new thing about you, sometimes you can get down in the dumps. It’s alright. I’m aware now, and I’m sorry if I got a little weird I just wasn’t sure how to respond to it.” He wrinkled his nose. “So I figured I’d make it up to you first.” He gestured with his bowl.

I nodded. “You’re amazing.” I lifted a finger under his chin to scritch him. He chittered excitedly and kissed the back of my hand. “But I’ll still make it up to you too. I didn’t mean to throw off our rhythm for a few days.”

“Good!” He took in a deep breath and beamed at me. “I like this a lot.”

“I love you.” My heart glowed as I said the words. He nodded.

“Love you too.”

We stared into each other's eyes, then returned to our food. The moment I cleared away our bowls, he put the moves on me. He snuggled up to me on the couch, his lithe body fit so easily into the nook of my arm. He leant across my chest and nuzzled my belly. I exhaled and circled a hand on his back.

My cock twitched to life. I loved him so, so much. His little paws slunk under my shirt, his fingers coiled the bristly hair of my belly. I let my hand slip further down his back until I cupped his ass. His bushy tail flicked eagerly, the black and grey bands of fur were mesmerising.

He purred, the sound a more rattling vibration than a cat’s. I exhaled, the way he rumbled just wasn’t quite the same. It felt a bit like a tease, but it was fine he wasn’t a feline. It wasn’t something lacking, just something that could’ve been more.

His purring shifted to a cooing sound as he grew more involved with rubbing my chest. I knew exactly what he was thinking. He loved objectifying me for my career, he loved thinking about his big boar tradie boyfriend. He loved knowing he’d always get what he sought from me. I think I liked that. I was still learning how to be good at boyfriend sex. Hell, I was still learning how to have sex without submitting myself utterly to the whims of a pervert twice my age.

I wasn’t entirely used to being in the position I was in, I was used to coveting another’s domination of me. I suppose it helped that he objectified me. I wanted to be an object.

His pointy muzzle prodded at my shorts. I exhaled and let him rub his face against my stiff cock. It still thrilled me to see how my bulge compared to the size of his head. He could barely suck me off, and he couldn’t go deep. Mostly, he’d lick me. And I loved the sight of his little muzzle tracking across my fat cock. I loved rubbing all ten inches across his lips.

I just wish I could hear the sound of him swallowing me to the hilt. But it was too much for him to want to try. But I’d fantasised about it ever since we started dating.

Liko was the most normal guy I’d ever been with. His biggest kink was group sex. It hardly even registered as a kink to me, it seemed so vanilla and mundane. It was a perspective I would never tell him, I welcomed his excitement for threesomes and more but there was always a part of me that craved something more deviant than boyfriend sex.

He was also a devout bottom who could never bring himself to top. Sex with him was really not sex as I knew it, but I still did my duties. His paws reached for my bulge. He kneaded me through my clothes. I moaned as I squeezed his ass. “That’s it,” I muttered under my breath. In my head I envisioned ripping him out of his pants and slamming the flat on my hand hard against his ass cheeks. In reality, I slid the waistband of his pants down and patted his fluffy rump gently.

He giggled like the prospect of sex with his boyfriend still made him nervous. He nosed at my crotch again, I wanted to jam my thick cock so far down his throat his teeth made indents on my shaft. Instead, I let him go his own pace. He made soft, sensual sounds as I moved my hand closer and closer to his crack.

I tickled his hole with a thick finger. He gasped aloud, his face creased. He buried himself in my pants, I knew he was hiding from my contact. He liked to go slower, but I knew his shortcuts. I placed my hands on either side of his ass and dragged him up to my face. His pink hole twitched as I snuffled at his taint, my tusks prodded at his thighs.

I felt him exhale as he leant into me. I wanted to call him my little raccoon. I wanted to manhandle him and make him suffer the sheer size and strength difference between us. I knew how deeply he trusted me but I could pick him up and ravage him easily. I oinked as I snorted his taint, then pressed my tongue brazenly between his cheeks.

He yelped, his paws gripped my thighs. I lapped at his asshole before he could tell me to slow down. He whimpered and nuzzled my cock. Boyfriend sex was checks and balances, I could take some of what I wanted from him so long as I paid for it correctly. His ears flattened as he loosed a moan that left his entire body shuddering. I shoved my tongue into him and delighted in the way he squirmed.

Nothing made him give in as fast as a forceful rimming. I exhaled into his asscrack and rubbed my snout under his tail. He groaned as he fumbled for my fly. He couldn’t do uneven pleasure. If I was eating him out, he always wanted to lick and play with me. I made a low sound as he freed my cock from my pants. My tip was already wet with pre. His little tongue flashed across my slit as he lapped it up.

I grunted and ground my tongue deeper into him. I stared down his back as he delicately lapped at the thick head of my cock. I was broader than the tip of his muzzle. I growled into his body as I envisioned stretching his jaws. He whimpered as he slobbered over my dick. I crammed a finger in him. He jolted forward and hid his face between my thighs. His coarse tongue nudged my nuts.

I wanted to sit on his little face. I wanted to cram his entire snout up my ass. I wanted a hundred things he’d never give me. But that was fine. I took what I could. I spread his cheeks and admired the way his hole stretched. I circled him with the tip of my tongue.

He cooed as he recovered enough to lap at my cock. Warm sparks of pleasure tickled through me as he held me with his paws and licked me with increasing fervour. I speared my tongue back into him. He arched his back and gasped, his breath grew tight as I fucked his hole with my tongue. He hung his head and shuddered. His body crumpled under the pleasure.

He collapsed against my leg and moaned. “Fuck me.” His voice was soft and edged with pleasure. “Davie.” The way he moaned my name only excited me further. With a satisfied smile I leant back against the couch and exhaled contentedly.

I sat him in my lap. My thick cock throbbed against his back. The comparison of my ten inches to his torso always blew my mind. I stretched from his hip to nipples and I was as quarter thick as his torso was wide. I knew he strained to take any of me, but fuck it drove me wild just to see how much he was really having stuffed into him.

He was still panting as he stood up on the couch. I grinned into his eyes as he lined my cock up with him. He gasped as he shifted his weight. The fat head of my cock pressed into him. I gently pushed upwards and we moaned together as I slipped past the rim of his hole. His face creased, his eyes shut and his sounds grew silent as he concentrated on taking me.

I stared at him, hunger roiled within me. I wanted to slam myself deep. I wanted it to hurt. I wanted to feel his body constrict at my lust until I could convince him of the pleasure. I wanted to feel him give way to me and accept it’s for the better.

Instead, I waited and I watched. He struggled as he worked his way down in staggered, gasping motions. Warmth spread through my lap as he took more of my ten inches. I threaded my fingers behind my head and sighed contentedly.

“Go on.” I goaded him, my mind appended slurs to the end of the statement. Stupid little faggot, I wanted my slut of a boyfriend to take me faster. He groaned as I pressed up into him a little more firmly. “That’s it.” He shuffled down another inch, his tail lashed against my thigh. I felt himself stretch around me. He stopped about halfway down.

He collapsed forward. I grit my teeth and caught him in my arms. He whimpered and gasped. He worked his way to my neck, he bit me but not how I needed him to.

His little teeth were like needles against my throat. I leant into the stinging pain, though my fantasies surged towards him biting me in true. I had requested it from him, and he did enjoy nibbling at my neck but I think he thought it was cute. I didn’t do cute. I needed brazen, forceful stimulation.

Gently, gently I finished slotted my cock into him. I went slowly, I watched his body for a sign of anything short of bliss. I truly enjoyed that, the careful pressure manifested as a warm glow in my belly. He leant back and exhaled. His brow creased and his mouth was wide. I leant over and kissed him deeply. He moaned into my face and I slathered my tongue across his to distract him as I pressed the final inch of my cock into his asshole.

I gave him a moment to adjust.

I held in my mind depraved fantasies of fucking him to tears. Of overpowering him and taking more pleasure from his body than he could reasonably give. The thoughts were as dark as they were stimulating. They’d started smaller at first, a desire to choke or slap him. But it escalated and escalated as our sex stayed vanilla.

He lifted himself up in my lap. I grinned. That was my fucking nasty slut of a boyfriend. He was so desperate for cock he couldn’t even wait until he was comfortable. He moaned aloud. I stared as his knees trembled. He made a weak sound as he fell back onto me. He gasped as his cheeks rested against my groin. He started lifting off of me again, I chased him with a gentle thrust. His ears flicked, his chin dropped as he groaned. I could feel myself widening him more. I tweaked his nipples as a distraction as I took over.

He sat back onto me, his back arched as I squeezed his sensitive skin. My cock tingled as I imagined myself picking him up and dominating him hard and fast until my seed was dripping from his hole.

Pleasure compounded at the fantasy. I did pick him up. He held himself against me. I thrusted into him experimentally. He could take it.

I held him by his ass as I spread it under his own weight. My fat cock throbbed deep inside of him. I growled as I started humping him at a cautious pace. He whimpered. He clawed for purchase against my shoulders before he clasped his hands behind my neck. He weighed so little. “Fuck yeah.” My voice was a passionate rumble. I rocked him gently, his body contorted as I fucked him with my arms. He nuzzled into my neck and nibbled me weakly. I exhaled as though he’d bitten me.

In my head he had. I humped into him with more force. I wanted to breed him. Fuck, I wanted to feel him give out under me. I carried him to the bedroom, my cock still buried in his hole. I put him down on the bed and crawled over him. He hugged himself to me as I thrust harder into him.

The mattress creaked under our weight. The bedframe tapped the wall. I worked my hips, careful to keep a pace. He shuddered under me. He curled into a little ball. Why did it thrill me to think he was trying to protect himself from me? Fuck. My cock throbbed. I grunted as I fucked him harder.

His gasps took on a ragged edge. Pleasure churned through my entire body. I clenched my jaw as I slammed my cock into him. His voice cracked with each rushed intake of breath. My balls slapped his cheeks in an uneven rhythm as I gave myself to the pleasure. I was too far gone to keep myself tame.

I growled, I grunted and cursed under my breath. “Fuck.” The tips of my fingers were going numb. “Fuck yes.” I rutted him like there was no tomorrow. His little body tightened its hold and then he broke. His arms went lax. He squirmed under my weight as he uncurled and lay senseless on his back. I lifted off of him to survey his submission, his mouth was wide. His tongue hung over his bottom lip. His eyes shut. His fingers curled in the sheets as he gripped them tight.

I stared down at my fat cock splitting his cheeks. The pink edge of his hole strained to hold me there as I bottomed out a final time. I threw back my head and shouted. “Fucking nasty little cunt.” I bucked my hips and my cock throbbed. He moaned wildly, I grunted a dozen more obscenities under my breath as an orgasm crashed through me. I sprayed a load deep, deep inside of him and collapsed over him to heave breaths.

I could smell my sweat in the air. I curled over him to nuzzle his head and kiss his ears. He smelled of me, and so he should.

He crawled out from under me. “That was good.” He spoke a little guarded. “But uh, remember what I said about the uh, degradation thing.”

I stared at the ceiling for a long moment. “Oh? Shit. Sorry.” I rubbed my snout. “Kinda, yeah. Lost myself. Didn’t mean it.” I rolled to face him. “You got me going too much.” I tried to laugh it off awkwardly. He chuckled, but the sound was a bit reserved. My wits came back to me. I checked his chest. I didn’t think he’d finished.

“Sure.” I could see him pondering what I’d just said. I hope he didn’t read it as me blaming him. I could make it up to him. I drew in a steadying breath and dragged him onto my chest.

He wouldn’t lick me after I’d penetrated him. Oral after anal was just off the table for him, but I held no such reservations. I parted his cheeks and growled as I lapped my seed out of his ass. He wiggled and moaned, his hips bucked wildly as he welcomed the pleasure I pressed into him. I used my tongue as a channel to spread my cum around his ass. To dirty his fur and clearly mark the mess I’d made on him.

With any luck, he’d be eager for more in the morning and I could revisit the sight, taste and smell of what I’d done to him tonight. As one sided as it was, marking him as mine was all he was comfortable with. He wouldn’t indulge the fantasy, but I could live it out inside my own head– right up until he usually rejected my advancements the next morning.

The few times I’d fucked him before he’d had a chance to clean my spunk off of him, he complained I was a bit rough. It was hard for me to moderate my own passion when I was really into something. I wanted to give into my own impulses and go wild. He just wasn’t really about that, at least for my own passions.

I kept rimming him, my tusks pressed into his firm ass cheeks. I wanted them to leave a mark, but I was careful that they wouldn’t.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like having sex with him, it just seemed a bit hollow. But I didn’t like that I felt that way. I wanted to welcome this, to find contentment in it and love it as much as he did. It felt possible to enjoy this for the rest of my life. To place my heart in Liko’s paws and accept him as a soulmate. I wanted that and I was trying harder than I ever had before to make that so.

“Thanks.” His voice ripped me from my thoughts. He was panting as he tried to climb off of me. Only vaguely was I aware of all the noise he’d just made. His cum splattered right down my chest. I grinned up at him.

“Always.” I kissed the air. I could taste my cum on my lips.

He blew a smooch back at me and collapsed onto his side. He cuddled up to me and I knew there’d be no hard feelings about the degradation. I grinned as I embraced him. I was good at boyfriend sex. I felt I’d mastered his checks and balances.

He didn’t have a shift that night, so we cuddled up together and chattered for hours. Pillow talk with him could go anywhere, but tonight we talked about us and a future we could share. Excitement crackled through me like I’d been struck by lightning. His little naked body pressed against mine always felt just right, but tonight I felt so restless. There was nowhere else I’d rather be, but hours after he’d dozed off I was still fidgeting and couldn’t sleep.

It came to me eventually, but it was fitful and I woke before our weekend alarm. I hadn’t even managed four hours of sleep. I felt fine though, I clearly hadn’t slept enough but I must’ve caught too many hours of sleep during my bedridden days of depression. I got up and found the energy to do a quick shop to make us a big breakfast with most of the trimmings.

Liko woke to the scent of sausage and tomato, he scampered out to help me finish getting it all ready. He was grateful and that wakened joy within me. I’d done good. I knew I’d done good as I finished setting the table.

But in my haste I knocked over a glass of orange juice. It hadn’t splashed any of the food thankfully, it was under a plate I was holding and I must’ve knocked it when I blinked because one moment it was upright and the next it was lying over in a puddle of juice. I hadn’t even seen it fall, like some absurdist comedy it seemed to have done it all on its own.

I giggled. Liko jumped up to grab some paper towel as I started howling with laughter. I shuddered, clutching at my chest as I giggled into hysterics. I gasped after breath and I failed to produce words amidst the laughter. I slapped the table as he tried to mop it up, but once he had the spill draped in paper towel he turned his gaze on me and stared.

It took me almost two minutes to compose myself, and even then I was chuckling as I breathed. My chest hurt and my fingers buzzed with pins and needles.

Liko gulped. “You alright?”

I nodded enthusiastically. “It just, fell over.” As soon as the words left my mouth I was laughing again. I brought myself under control faster this time, but all the muscles in my chest groaned with exertion. “Sorry, sorry.” I snickered.

He nodded slowly and picked at his food. “Hey uh, odd question.”

“Hm?” I’d already crammed half a hashbrown in my mouth.

“Have you ever seen a shrink or something before?”

I cocked my head, the question was jarring after last night. “Is this about the other day? I saw one as a kid, why?”

He kept nodding. “Oh? What’d you see them for?”

I shrugged. “Moods, tantrums. I was a shitty kid.” I rubbed my nose. “Didn’t stamp me with anything definitive. Why?”

He wrinkled his nose. “Right, right. Have you tried seeing one as an adult?”

“Nah.” I snorted. “No reason to and they’re way too expensive.”

“Mmm.” He made a low sound. “Say we budgeted a little?”

“Huh?” I jerked my head back. “What do you mean?”

“I think, after the last few days, I would like you to see someone.” He spoke carefully, but he finished with that nurse smile. I got whiplash.

“It was just a little depression. It happens, alright. No need to break the bank to get told sometimes everyone gets a bit sad.” I grimaced. “I’m fine.”

“What about what just happened?”

“What? The juice?” I guffawed. “It’s stupid, it’s silly, I dunno. Sometimes I find that shit funny.”

He dropped the nurse smile. “If you say so.”

“Do you think there’s something wrong with me?” I asked. Fear surged up within me. Why did everyone seem to think that? I knew I could be rough around the edges but I wasn’t like I used to be. When I lived with Dad, maybe I was a bit too intense. But away from him, I was fine. Most people I knew had shit relationships with the parents and I’d drawn a short straw in that regard. Dad had been horrible to me, it was no surprise I’d grown up to be horrible back to him.

Liko said something, I hardly heard it.

I was fuming, my thoughts were racing not just about him but the perverse fear that I wasn’t normal. That I wasn’t right. That maybe there was something wrong with me. Anxiety panged in my skull and I had to hide my hands under the table to clench fists.

“You okay?” he asked.

I jolted. I blinked. I took a deep breath. “Sorry, fine.” I couldn’t meet him in the eye. “I don’t like to talk about that sort of stuff.” I shook my head. “My dad was such a piece of shit about it.”

The raccoon nodded sadly. “Right, my bad. I didn’t know that.” He cleared his throat. We continued eating in silence. Food helped me shrug off the cloud hanging over my thoughts, but I felt guilty about the span of distance that had manifested between us.

It was strange to see the bridge across it. I felt myself linger on my side. I knew what I did with bridges. But I didn’t want to be like that anymore. I took a hesitant step out across it.

“Hey do you wanna go for a walk today?” I asked.

Liko’s eyes lit up. Comfort surged through me. “That’d be great.” But he wore his nurse’s smile, I simply chose to ignore it.