Home
It was maybe two in the morning when Tamal at last grew tired of Dave's snoring, and rolled out of bed with a groan. The tiger's feet hit the floor unsteadily, and he almost fell with his tiredness as he rose. Reaching out a hand, he pressed it against the wall, leaning there to keep himself standing up. Briefly, he reached up and rubbed his eyes, letting out a low growl of annoyance. The noise was lost amongst his roommate's bellowing snores, though, the rumble in Tamal's chest outmatched by that of the panda's rough breathing.
Tamal shook his head in disbelief, and muttered, "Randi ke beej..." He stumbled the one step it took him to get to the door of their tiny room, and pushed it open, stumbling out into the dimly lit hallway. Leaning heavily on the wall for support, he started walking, unsure of where he was going. All he knew was that he had to get away from the snoring millstone around his neck that was his friend and get some fresh air.
He padded out the front door of the hostel, and the lukewarm air of Tabatinga's night rushed to meet him, ruffling through his fur. He stumbled a few steps further into the compound's small courtyard, before finally making his way over to the trunk of the large tree that dominated the walled off space.
He pressed his hands against the rough bark, and leaned his head in against it, groaning as he felt the world spinning around him. He coughed a few times, and felt the meagre supper of beans and stale bread he'd had hours before churching in his stomach, itching for release.
"Too much fun?" a voice asked, making his head shoot up. He instantly regretted the action, his head feeling as though it were still moving up and back. He clutched to the tree's trunk, groaning a bit and closing his eyes until the vertigo passed.
"I wish," he finally managed to mutter. "Not enough sleep or food."
"Ach, sorry," the voice said, closer this time. Tamal finally managed to turn his head towards his companion, and in the dim light, he saw the grey, muscled form of a rhino looking slightly down at him. He held his head in such a way that his horns were pointing slightly above the tiger's head, allowing the gold ring through one of his nostrils to dangle down in front of him. The rhino smirked at him, and shrugged slightly before continuing. "Whenever I see a tiger stumbling and retching in his boxers outside of a hostel, I just assume."
"Eh?" Tamal blinked, not quite sure what the rhino meant. He grimaced, and looked down at himself, eyes widening as he realized he was still wearing the boxers and the dirty T-shirt he'd worn to bed. He cursed, blushing through his orange and black fur. "Maa-cho!"
The rhino chuckled, watching the disgruntled tiger. "No worries. I travel a lot; I've seen worse." He unzipped and then shrugged off the thin hoodie he was wearing over his clothes, offering it to the tiger as he said, "So, the accent says Canadian, but whatever you said there certainly didn't sound like Canuck. Where you from, man?"
"Thanks," Tamal murmured, taking the sweatshirt. It had probably been red at one point, but by this point it was a pale shade of pinkish orange as it hung off him. He worked to get his paws out of the huge hoodie's sleeves, saying as he did, "You're right. Canadian born. My parents came over from India just before I was born, and my dad only ever swears in Hindi. Kind of picked up the habit." He finally managed to get himself figured out, and he leaned back against the trunk again, trying to get his bearing. He glanced to the rhino again, murmuring, "So, how about you?"
"Canadian, too; parents're from Chad, though. Name's Noah."
"Tamal." Feeling himself still tipping side to side, the tiger decided to sit down. He pressed his back against the trunk, and closed his eyes again. Noah didn't make any comment, apparently content to give Tamal the space he wanted. Tamal just sat there for a while, content to feel the cool earth against the fur on his legs, the rough surface of the treetrunk through the rhino's sweatshirt, and the stillness of the night around him. At length, his face cracked into a smile, and he murmured, "Crazy, ain't it? I run away to South America, and instead of getting wasted and starting fights every night, I'm too busy trying to sleep through my friend's snoring to even look at the scenery."
"Snores?" Noah asked. "You wouldn't happen to be in room 14, would you?"
"With the tub of lard panda? Yeah, that's me."
"Heh, wow. Well that explains it, then. I'm your neighbour."
Tamal cracked an eye open, glancing over at Noah. "Did he actually wake you up through the wall?"
"He could probably wake up the entire hostel like that."
Tamal snorted. "Well, there you go. A week and a half sleeping in the same room as that. I mean, he's the one whose idea this was, and now that we're here, all he wants to do is eat is McDonald's and hang around being lazy all day."
"McDonald's?"
"Yeah. He drags me across the fucking planet, and he won't even eat the damn food. Ridiculous, isn't it?"
"Can't be a world traveller if you aren't an adventurous eater. Well, I guess you could, now, what with all the McDick's everywhere." The rhino stretched, bending backwards to crack his spine. "So why aren't you eating well? You could always go and get something without him."
"My parents. They cancelled my bank account." The tiger groaned, and leaned back against the bark, his fur fluffing up in annoyance. His head was still spinning, and occasionally he had to change how he was sitting to keep himself from slumping over. "I didn't think they could even do that. I mean, it's my money, isn't it?"
"Seriously? Why'd they do that?"
Tamal blinked a bit in surprise. The rhino's voice sounded like it was coming from above him. He shook his head, and put it up to his lack of sleep. He brought his attention back to Noah's question, and let out another groan as he remembered. "Well, I didn't exactly ask them if I could come here."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. And I was kind of supposed to start my summer job last week."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. Also, I was sort of supposed to give valedictory the day after Dave and I left."
There was a pause this time. Then, Noah's voice drifted down, and there was an incredulous laugh in it this time, "Yeah?"
"Don't laugh, man!" Tamal said, but he, too, was half laughing as he said it. "My parents are going to be seriously pissed at me when I get home!"
"That's if you get home." The tiger groaned; Noah's voice was still coming from above him. "You've still got to survive bad food and a snoring panda."
Tamal reached up and rubbed his fingers over his forehead, clenching his eyes tight. Then, at last, he decided to look up and open his eyes. He stared for a few long moments, his tired mind trying to process what he was looking at. Then, very slowly, he said, "You're in a tree."
"Yup." Noah was reclining on one of the lower branches of the tree, his arms hanging down on either side of the broad surface. He was facing down, so that he could look at Tamal, who was directly below him. Tamal was more than a bit shocked that the bulky rhino had managed to get so high up in the tree, and even moreso that he'd done it without a sound. Noah grinned at the surprise on the tiger's face, and held a hand down to him. "Care to join me?"
Tamal blinked again. "Uh, sorry?"
"Come on. Climb a tree with me."
"You're kidding, right?"
"What? Mr. Valedictorian is too good to climb a tree?"
"I can barely walk right now, man. How the hell am I supposed to get up a tree?"
"Pussycat can't get up a tree?" the rhino laughed. "Come on, I'll help you."
The tiger sighed, and leaned down again, rubbing the skin on his forehead. "You're serious, aren't you?"
Noah smirked, shrugged, and gestured with his offered hand again. "You're on vacation, man. You have to try to have at least a bit of fun."
Tamal took a long, deep breath, then, slowly, he pushed himself up to his feet. The rhino's large sweatshirt hanging off of him, he staggered back and forth for a moment before finding his balance. Then, he glanced at the tree itself. Its main trunk split off into two smaller ones just above his head. He reached up, and placed his hand in the crutch of the split, using his claws to dig softly into the bark. He reached about with his other paw, looking for another handhold, but couldn't find one. He tried pulling himself up with just his one hand, grunting as his feet lifted off the ground and he tried to tuck and get himself up, but after a moment, was forced to let go. He gasped, taking a few steps back as he hit the ground, then glared over at the laughing rhino.
"How the hell did you get up there?" Tamal demanded, gesturing with his head towards the tree.
"Practise," Noah offered, still chuckling. Then, he held his hand down again. "Here, take this."
Tamal nodded, then stepped back to the base of the tree. He placed his hand in Noah's, then stuck his other hand into the crutch. He started pulling, but stopped when Noah spoke.
"Don't do it all with your arms. Just use them to support yourself, and lift from your waist."
Tamal, nodded, and then tugged himself up. His feet left the ground, and then he bent at his midsection, lifting his legs up. He managed to plant one just above his paw, and other on the side of the trunk. Grunting, he used all four of his limbs then to tug himself up, and then, suddenly, he was standing in the crutch of the two trunks, panting hard, and leaning against the bark.
He looked up when he heard Noah clapping, and shook his head in annoyance. The rhino just laughed, his large, grey muzzle parted in a smile.
"Not bad, kitty. Not bad at all."
"Ah, shut up," Tamal muttered, though he couldn't hold back his own grin.
"Nah, seriously, kitty," the rhino went on. "I always try to climb different trees whenever I go anywhere new. It gives you a bit of perspective."
Tamal finally caught his breath, and cocked an eyebrow up at the rhino. "You see new countries often?"
"You could say that," Noah nodded. He glanced around, and then grabbed onto another thick branch, slightly higher up. With grace and skill the belied his large size, he managed to slip himself up and onto the newer perch. As he found his balance in the new position, he went on speaking. "I've kind of been bumming on my own since I was sixteen. I just kinda left one day, started walking south, and now..." he grinned. "I'm here."
Tamal glanced up sharply at the rhino, his eyes widening. "Wait. Are you telling me you walked all the way from Canada to Brazil?"
"Nah... did lots of hitchhiking. I find a job wherever I end up, and stay there until I get bored. Here, man, you gotta get up to this branch. The view's awesome."
Tamal was too busy staring at the rhino. "Why?"
"I told you, the view's incredible up here."
"No, why are you... living like that?"
The rhino glanced down, then crouched and offered a paw. "Get up here and I'll answer."
Tamal stared for a few long moments. Then, hesitantly, he leaned forward, and wrapped his arms around the trunk in front of him. Using his feet and his claws, he pushed himself up it slightly, before reaching out and grabbing Noah's offered paw. He glanced around carefully, before finding another branch and holding onto it. He lifted himself up, and in a few moments, he was up next to Noah. The rhino smirked, and reached forward, brushing bark fragments off of Tamal's white belly fur. The tiger wasn't sure why, but he jumped a bit at the contact. Shrugging it off, he muttered.
"So, uh, you gonna tell me?"
Noah smirked, and shrugged. "My parents and I went on a trip back to Chad when I was fourteen. When I got there, though, it wasn't... home, I guess. It didn't feel right. I was uncomfortable the entire time I was there. And when I got back to Winnipeg, it didn't feel right either. By the time I was sixteen, I guess I got fed up, and I decided to go out and find out where home was."
Tamal stared at the rhino, more than a bit surprised by the answer. "That's..."
"Don't worry about it," the tiger said, shrugging. "Now come on, check out this view."
Noah, leaned to the side, using a branch to support himself, and let Tamal walk precariously past him. The tiger held his arms out, and tried not to look down as he went.
Just as he put his other foot down, though, a soft breeze blew through the branches. It was barely noticeable, but it was enough to push the tiger's precarious balance over the edge. He stumbled, and started leaning forward over into open space.
Instantly, a pair of strong, muscled arms wrapped around him from behind. The tiger felt his breath leaving his lungs as the hard warmth pulled him back tightly. Then, his back was being crushed against the rhino's warm chest. Tamal's tail was standing out straight with fear, its soft length caught between their bodies.
There was a moment of silence, aside for Tamal heavy panting. Then, Noah murmured, "Well, that was close."
Despite the rhino's calm tone, Tamal could feel his heart pounding in his chest, the soft throbbing pumping at his back. Deciding not to mention it, though, the tiger simply nodded quickly and jerkily, before turning his gaze up and outwards.
Then, his breath caught in his throat. From this height, he could see easily over the top of the courtyard's surrounding wall. Laid out before him, spreading as far as he could see, were the lights of Tabatinga, each one twinkling softly in the darkness. He could see the buildings stretching out, before the wide swath of blackness caused by the Amazon River. On the far side of the shore, he could see the lights of Leticia and Santa Rosa, adding their own wavering glow to the darkness.
Tamal felt Noah leaning his muzzle forward, the hard length of his horn brushing through the fur along the side of his face. Abruptly, Tamal realized just how close he was to Noah, still held tightly in his arms. The rhino's hand rested on him, one softly rubbing at his stomach, the other running its thick, blunt fingers through the fur of his chest. At the same time, the tiger recalled that all he was wearing was the sweatshirt Noah had lent him, and a pair of boxers.
"So how about you, kitty? Why did you agree to run away from mommy and daddy to Brazil with a big bad panda?"
It took Tamal a moment to find his voice. He was too lost in the feeling of the rhino against him. After a second, though, he shook himself, and stammered out, "I-I've always been... good. I've always worked hard, been at the top of my class, gone to leadership conferences, done all of that... I was tired of it. It's not who I want to be anymore. I just want... want..."
Tamal stopped, blinking and shaking his head a bit to clear it. For a moment, as he'd been thinking of what he wanted, he had seen himself, sweatshirt and boxers tossed aside; pressing his striped fur to Noah's bare, grey skin. He's seen it all in incredible detail: the rhino's skin stretched tight over his muscles, his own long tail flicking back and forth, Noah's smooth grey length-
"You want to be irresponsible?" Noah finished for him, snapping Tamal from his dream. The tiger tensed up, hoping his fur was hiding the blush on his cheeks. "You just wanted to do something stupid and see if you could find something for yourself?"
"Y-yeah..." Tamal murmured. "I want to be more than something my parents can brag about to their families back in India. I need to just..."
And then, carefully, so that Tamal barely even noticed, Noah slipped his paw down, dragging a path through the tiger's stomach fur. The paw smoothed down the fur down to the waistband of his boxers, and then, barely pausing slipped beneath.
Tamal sucked in a sharp gasp of air as the paw came down, and suddenly it was brushing against his flaccid length. His legs gave out, and if it hadn't been for the strong arms around his chest, he would have just collapsed then and there. Noah began softly stroking his rough fingers over the length, and spoke.
"I think I know what you need to just do."
Tamal couldn't reply. He was too busy gasping and bucking his hips against the paw on him. He could barely move from how tightly the rhino was holding him, the warmth folding all around his body. He tilted his head back so that it rested against Noah's shoulder, and he groaned softly, openly at the sensations.
That groaning jumped in its pitch as he felt something pressing against the back of his boxers. The tiger was so lost in the feeling of the rhino all around and on him that it took him a few moments to recognize it for what it was. As it grew slightly larger and pressed harder against him, he understood that it was Noah, his arousal pressing out against the tiger.
Suddenly, Tamal was aware of the rhino's sharp gasps. Noah took a moment to gather himself, and then murmured, "Tamal... could I... would you...?"
Understanding, the tiger reached down, and without a word, he pushed his boxers down. Suddenly, he was bared; his most intimate parts open to the cool night air. His eyes shot open wide, and for an instant, he understood the madness of what he was doing. They were up in a tree, out in the open! Anybody could walk by at any moment and see them, and then what would-
He heard the sharp hum of a zipper being undone, and then Noah fidgeted a bit behind him. He felt the fabric of Noah's pants slipping down, and suddenly, a hot point of pressure was pressing against his rump, brushing over him.
Tamal felt the warmth of the rhino all around him. And abruptly, he realised he wanted to feel that warmth within himself, as well.
There were no words. They moved as one, turning themselves around so that Tamal's chest was pressed against the trunk of the tree. One of Noah's arms reached by Tamal's head to grab the trunk, and the other left the tiger's member to grab his own. Tamal flagged his tail upwards, and Noah guided his arousal forward into him.
Then, for several long seconds, there was nothing but the sensation of slick skin on soft fur, and pressure, and stretching, and power. Neither of them could think. Tamal didn't breathe the entire time that that shaft slid into him, opening his virgin passage. He simply tilted his head back, and revelled as he was filled.
The rhino's hips pressed softly against his rump, and finally the two of them could breathe again. The night sounds slipped back in, and they were able to perceive something more than just that one point of intimate contact between them.
Noah started pulling back out, and Tamal, instinctively, using muscles he didn't know he had, gripped at the member, trying desperately to hold it inside of him. It slipped out relentlessly, and then pressed back in, stretching his pucker once more. Soon, they had a rhythm going, and both were lost in the feeling of giving and receiving, of need and desire.
No words were exchanged the entire time as they remained in that state of perfect balance on the branch, of perfect pleasure between them. Noah brushed his horn through the tiger's fur again and again, making Tamal pant all the harder. He fought to control himself, but it was a battle that he was quickly losing. Soon, he was letting out high pitched, feminine yelps of pleasure.
The speed gradually picked up, as did the force. Soon, Noah was properly rutting the tiger, as for a short time, the ancestral roles of hunter and prey were reversed. Neither demanded anything of the other; both gave freely of themselves, needing no more than the other's presence to fuel their own lusts.
At last, Noah let out a low, guttural noise, and Tamal knew that it was time. He arched his back and lifted his tail high, his claws digging into the bark of the tree, and he squeezed down with all the force in his body on the rhino's length. Noah, needing no further invitation, slammed himself as far in as he could, and then both went blind with release.
There was nothing but liquid pleasure for a few magically long moments, as both of them remained their in the tree, Noah spreading himself inside of Tamal, and Tamal spurting against the tree trunk, almost as a gift of thanks to the organism that had held vigil over their tryst.
Finally, it was over. Wordlessly, Noah pulled out, and pulled his pants up. Tamal, pulled his own boxers up, groaning a bit as cum streaked over the cotton from his rump and his own member. Then, they climbed back out of the tree, Noah going first to guide the tiger.
Finally, they stood back in the courtyard, back in the land that most people occupied, alone with the tree. They stayed like that for a while, in the silence, holding onto each other against the night.
"This tree..." Noah murmured, nuzzling at the tiger. "It's called a big leaf mahogany. Heavily endangered."
"What?" Tamal said, tensing up and glancing over at the tree in surprise. "We just... we just... in an endangered tree!?"
"Yeah," Noah replied, smirking at the tiger's reaction. "But look at it. It's endangered, but it could support us perfectly fine. Even though its existence is so frail, it was strong enough for both of us. It'll survive."
Tamal was still a bit alarmed at this revelation, but he slowly found himself calming down as he stared at the tree. Yes, it was fine. It would survive.
"You should go and thank your friend, by the by," Noah added, glancing sidelong at Tamal.
"Why's that?"
"He's obviously not a traveller. He didn't want to come here. But he came anyways, with you. He did it for you."
"Yeah..." Tamal murmured, looking back to Noah. "He's a good friend."
"Heh," Noah shook his head. Tamal gave him a curious look, and Noah waved a hand at him dismissively. The rhino started walking back into the hostel. "You don't do that for just a friend, man. See you around, kitty."
Tamal stared after him, until the rhino stepped through the door to the hostel and disappeared from view. For a moment, he thought to follow him. He hesitated, though, and with each passing moment, he became more and more aware that he would never see the rhino again.
Tamal stood there for a moment, wearing his cum-streaked boxers and the too-big sweatshirt. Then, he too walked back into the hostel. He walked straight back to his room, passing by the door he knew that Noah's room was behind.
He pushed open his own door, and hesitated as he felt the heavy vibrations of the panda's snoring. Then, carefully, he padded over to the sleeping panda.
Dave was sleeping without a blanket in the warm Brazilian air. All he wore, much like Tamal, were a pair of boxers.
Grinning to himself as an idea came upon him, Tamal knelt down in front of the panda, and carefully, precisely, he opened the flap in front of the panda's boxers. He slipped his fingers inside, and then brushed them over the sleeping panda's flaccid length. Carefully, he drew it out, smirking when he heard the panda's snoring break rhythm for a moment.
Then, the tiger leaned forward, and carefully wrapped his lips around the member. The panda's snoring stopped abruptly. Tamal could tell from how he lay that he still hadn't woken yet, though; he was too relaxed.
The tiger carefully added a bit of suction to the small length of warmth in his muzzle, and suddenly, the panda's snores were replaced by rhythmic, drawn out moans. They grew sharper and louder as his shaft grew longer and warmer in Tamal's mouth, slowly pushing deeper into him. Tamal smirked as he glanced up at the panda's large, white belly, and and he began bobbing his head, brushing his own nose against black pubic fur.
It didn't last long. Within a few minutes of Tamal starting, the panda's gasps reached a peak. Then, abruptly, he cried out. Dave sat up sharply in bed, eyes wide, and placed his paws instinctively on the back of Tamal's head. The tiger gasped as his head was forced further down on the shaft, and suddenly, it jumped inside of him, and he felt and tasted his friend's hot essence slipping into him.
The two remained in that position for a few moments as Dave tried to gather himself. Then, he jerkily removed his paws from Tamal's head, and he stared down at the tiger.
"T-Tamal?" he stammered, eyes wide as he looked at his best friend, his lips wrapped about the base of his cock.
The tiger simply smirked, and slipped off of the length. He glanced up to Dave, and said simply. "I want to go home."
"...what?"
Without a word, Tamal pressed himself forward, slipping his stomach over Dave's considerable gut, and pressed his lips to the panda's. Dave gasped into his mouth, shocked. A moment later, though, he returned the action, his tongue slipping into Tamal's mouth for an instant.
Finally, Tamal pulled away, and he smiled at Dave. The panda gave him a questioning and confused look, and Tamal simply said, "I think I found what I was looking for."
A/N: JUST UNDER THE WIRE! The vast majority of this story has been written within the past two hours. Wow.
And to show off my stuck up literary self, I kind of see this story as a work... um... well... of post-colonial and/or immigrant coming-of-age narrative as a metaphor for endangered species and vice-versa. Wow. I've been at university too long.
Also, this story is dedicated to Morgan. Probably wouldn't have finished it without you. Miss you, buddy.