A Spell of Perception 2: "Quandary"

Story by Plexadonn on SoFurry

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#2 of A Spell of Perception


Here is part 2, where Ned and Freddy "consumate" their relationship, that is, they make passionate love.

Like I said before, I'm trying to make something less banal than most other furry writing. It involves drug and alcohol abuse, some very, very mild violence, and messy homosexual relations between a human and white bear (polar bear). I know my target audience is on here somewhere, but I have no idea how to get hold of yall.

Now, for the soundtrack. The official soundtrack is "Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics" by Jon Hassell and Brian Eno. This album is necessary to get the correct mood of the story, for it was written in conjunction with the music. Of course, it's not necessary to read, it would simply make it much better. "Spiritchaser" by Dead Can Dance is the second best option. Lastly, any DCD, Brian Eno, Harold Budd, Lisa Gerard, Brendan Perry and the like will suffice very well. For part 2, I'd go so far as to suggest some melancholy, classic country or soft folk rock. I strongly suggest against any heavy rock or metal or techno.

This story is copyright Ian Tucker.


Section 2, "Quandary", Days 4 through 9

~^'^'^~*~^'^'^~ Day 4

Upon awakening, Freddy was totally unwilling to document his observations or even allow himself excessive movement, demanding that he be left undisturbed while he grasped the sofa, as if afraid he would be ejected from it at any moment. It was obvious to Ned that the human would need some time to recuperate, but was pleased to finally see his friend awake and not dead.

Ned had slept for only a few hours with Freddy unconscious in his embrace, yet disappointingly awoke to find the place slowly filling with dim sunlight, and less populated than before. Checking the wristwatch he wore, he discovered the time to be 7 in the morning. The tavern above would not be open for another hour, but William should be found present somewhere in the vicinity. It was then, that Freddy emerged from sleep and quickly achieved a passion of bewilderment in the extreme.

His achievement of full consciousness had not been by degrees; Freddy gained it quickly and somewhat alarmingly, convulsing as though from a terrifying dream. The act of being jettisoned from deep sleep had started his body towards the floor, and Ned was ever quick to help prevent the human from crashing. But Freddy was tense and very jittery, promulgating an air of confusion and alarm with bursts of his voice. The bear had to jump away from him in case the human became paranoid and violent.

No attack transpired, and no sobbing, writhing or fury. Simply a headache and some nausea, and to these things Freddy now focused his full attention. The human did not care about the time of day or what exactly had been going on while asleep, he only needed to vomit. Ned watched the human slowly stand to his feet, dizzy, and move quickly towards the lavatory. He took his time doing his business; Freddy having a hard time washing his hands, for his procedural memory had been clouded, though not permanently damaged.

Ned was ready to help in anyway possible, and Freddy insisted that he simply needed a moment to gather his wits enough to function again. William then appeared, striding towards them along the hall and asking, with cheerfulness in his voice, what the situation was, and Ned explained, causing a bit of worry. The goat only stared at the human swaggering in his Den, looking at him in increasing contempt, but this he would not express to either of them.

The symptoms diminished soon after and the human returned to normality as soon as the two males made their way to the exit and entered the dimly lit world. It had rained again slightly the previous night and the evidence showed as slick patches of soaked pavement along the streets and the scent of it still clung to the air. No pedestrians were seen, for it was only barely sunup, and the sky still light blue and cloudy.

Ned could still smell his friend, and it was more pleasant than the scent of rain.

As they drove, Ned maneuvering his vehicle along the wet roads, he occasionally glanced towards the human. Freddy seemed to be fine now, and he would not have any memory of the night under a spell, the spell of perception. Physically, he suffered only slight fatigue, his eyes half shut and looking as though exhausted from extensive labors that night.

"Are you feeling all right?" Ned asked.

"Yeah," Freddy responded quickly "I feel fine now, it's just..." Ned wondered if the human had experienced a negative flow, translated into 'bad trip' for folks outside the faction.

"Yeah." Freddy sighed when Ned asked if this had occurred, shaking his head slowly in what seemed to be regret, or that the memory was too frightening to withstand. "I just remember feeling this horrible fear."

Ned understood, for the description was a common symptom in negative flows. But in most instances, it also ended with uncontrollable sorrow and angst, or fury and mania. Freddy had projected none of those and the control was impressive. It made Ned glad that his friend had not been badly hurt from the chemicals - physically or psychologically - but that also brought concern as to how he possibly could have survived it so successfully. However, he would not presently bring this matter of concern before Freddy.

"I could see everything around me, and I could sorta hear everything. But I couldn't understand any of it, it's like I was watching a memory or ... not even dreaming, but sorta watching a dream." He looked towards the bear driving, watching the passing trees outside past the window, "It was like sleep paralysis, but things were really distorted."

The conveyance of Freddy's retaining visual management during his episode implied that he could also feel physical sensations, and it unnerved Ned to think the human knew of what he had done: petting and licking him like a lover would his mate. His immediate worry was that it would only bring suspicion to the fact, if Ned were to venture mentioning if Freddy could indeed have felt everything that happened in the night.

"I was so paranoid." Freddy spoke, "I felt so defenseless and weak, like there was something going to get me. Like a demon."

"I wouldn't let that happen, but it could have." Confessed the bear, "Is that why you felt paranoid?" Because you knew there were maniacs around?" He enjoyed calling them such, and it had become a bit of a derogatory term that many others of his own mindset had inherited, yet Freddy knew nothing of that, yet he did believe that the term suited them perfectly.

"Yeah... well, maybe." Freddy tried to think of an explanation for the anxiety, but a thought occurred to him, interrupting. "Were you there the whole time?"

"Yeah, I knew I couldn't just leave you there. That would make me some shitty friend." He expected a 'thanks' or something similar, but nothing of the sort came. Freddy just sat plainly and silently, staring at the bear's hands, but wanting to look to the face, to see his sincerity. But for the moment, now deeply considering how silly he had been, felt only shame, and took it as an obligatory humility to avert his eyes.

"Well," the human mumbled, "I shouldn't have taken that crap."

"Nope, I would have stopped you but I realized it too late. You should have taken the other one, then you wouldn't have been so cold."

Their conversation ceased there and nothing more was said save for random comments about the weather or the desire to skip work or school. Neither would take either action, and both said thanks for a good time and farewell, then parted, Freddy exiting the vehicle to go inside and eat most of the refrigerator's contents. His stores had dwindled greatly with his sloth and inability to force himself to venture out for groceries, so he ate enough to satisfy his pained stomach.

Having slept deeply for most of the night, and still heavy with an abundance of lethargy, Freddy then decided to go ahead and skip work, choosing to remain in his apartment for the day and explain to his employers of a fictitious, emergency illness that befell him the night prior. More meditation commenced, the human subduing himself with a couple shots of hard liquor he produced from a bottle in a cabinet, then with ambient and haunting music.

~^'^'^~*~^'^'^~ Day 5

His body in motion, Freddy striding along the hall of the hospital of his workplace, he allowed his concentration to wander from his tasks. He painted, in his imagination - which for the past two days had monopolized his mind - spending more time with Ned. And this, so foreign to his domesticated mentality, began a new obsession.

Freddy's psychology seemed to have such a drastic change that his perception of reality itself was now forever altered. When only days ago his eyes could have been exploited into pain with the weeping from stress overcome - and aided greatly by a large amount of spirits being drunk - and the plight of his education. Soon after, he was no longer raping his own mind into misery with the recitation of his doomed and wasted time at school.

Those thoughts were displaced by two concepts; primarily Ned, the white bear of beauty (as said before), and then The Den.

Ned's paranoia had been completely unnecessary and irrelevant. Freddy had been unaware of the excessive affection received during his 'trip', and had he either known or been told of it, the human would not have been revolted. In truth, Freddy would have found much pleasure in the knowledge he had been so sweetly loved that evening. Especially at a time which he had been convinced, by drugs, that something like love could never been experienced again.

With those thoughts of the bear, he was distracted at work and school more than ever. And with those came confusion, placed mostly in the ideas of their relationship. For quite a while, up until this time, Freddy had never considered his friend something as being intimate or romantic. Freddy's affinity to Ned had indeed been strengthened, though in a manner of which he was not fully aware, or more clearly, in a manner to which he had never felt previously.

He was not accustomed to expressing his feelings in any sort of situation, and so this presentation was not an option for the time being. Then with a few days that were blessed with the absence of the Jorg person, he was able to calculate that no other option was apparently accessible. The increasing availability in his mind for fantastic daydreaming had slowly begun to bring turmoil to both places of his frequent visit.

Ascribed to the deliberate musing of his (his?) bear, he had several times been admonished for being sloppy with his scheduled tasks - and at one point been asked if certain drug usage was a cause of such (this had been joking in manner) - though no feeling of guilt nor the desire to amend himself resulted. Arming himself with the pretense of being exhausted after helping his sister take her vehicle to be repaired - and the ensuing chores she had him do - Freddy was able to avoid being disciplined.

While at the workplace, only the bear was in his mind and the longing to talk to him, but at school there was none of that. Freddy spoke to Ned whenever they saw each other, in their mutual class for example, but the feelings of need seemed to vanish completely. Being in the presence of Ned was enough for his mind, supposedly, and at these times he pondered on The Den instead.

Those beings within the concrete prison of nightmares meant nothing to him, and he would rather not ever have reason to return. Even during these times there was no presence of Jorg's offer of salvation and promise, or the dismal educational crisis. Here came the true and utter puzzlement.

Frustration came in the form of a constant fluctuation of themes, his worry with being even more closely associated with The Den, and mildly fearing for his own safety - and life - with the fact that he himself was now divulging in the illegal workings of some silly, dead religion. Not for the sake of 'spiritual enlightenment' which would only ultimately lead Freddy either to his death - at the hands of The Corporation - or to a place that saw him with no more sanity than that of a mentally-disfigured monster.

In all his time spent learning the monotonous routine of work / school, no thought had plagued him longer than that of his inability to expand in the grandest of educations. And nothing, not even the most drunken stupor or events of evanescent happiness, ever distracted his mind from it long enough that he was free of it for more than a single day.

Now, things had changed. And due to an abnormal twisted conviction of his own depraved psychology, Freddy had long ago taught himself how evil a thing such as change could be. Although he was driving himself mad with the constant routine of worry and stress - and the insipid landscape of his apartment - he knew he was comfortable with the numb doldrums of his existence. Change was only seen as catastrophic, and not only did his slothful personality fear this tremendously, he could actually convince himself that his life would turn into filth if he let himself change too much.

None of that nonsense, Freddy had discovered an absolute contraption that lead to a total absolution of misery. Not quite yet a needle cartridge, the contraption was truly his vehicle, which he applied to the roads outside, leading him to The Den for the more precise destiny. And thus, his objective was slowly achieved after work, having left about 25 minutes early.

After several days of this craziness, Freddy came to the conclusion that, of all the ridiculous notions, the loss of cognition, worry and hatred - due to the Cold- was quite specifically the most prolific thought in his mind, and not the bear. That is, it was during the times when Ned was not immediately distracting him, or any current school work being haphazardly completed. Or, while communicating with Ned, scheduling - with most certainly awkward conversations - a date of accompaniment to one of the two's residences, possibly... but it was driving him insane. Calm could be a quick and easily accessed method of attaining that tranquility.

Cold sunlight. No, Freddy knew that was preposterous. The air outside in life was chilly, but the warmth of the sun was enough to keep it from being uncomfortably cold outside. Freddy did not feel much of it in his car though, being cocooned within metal and plastic and ensconced in his preferred climate: intense warmth.

Living for the majority of his life in a country south to Ertethia, his affection for the warm and moist climate had been slightly affronted by the temperatures of the new city and its surroundings. But being an intelligent and adaptive species of animal, he could make it work for him. Technology of the present day harnessed all things capable of making this one minor flaw bearable. His vehicle had better climate control than his apartment, curiously.

This was not an immediate perception of his though, only parking and striding across the street towards Cornick's. Keeping his eyes fixated primarily on the ground, flitting a gaze to the occasional pedestrian, he kept to his goal. Through the place, virtually empty again except for the barkeep and his usuals. The fox there soon demanded that Freddy ("Stranger") identify himself before he clambered on down to The Den. Freddy reassured the male that he was friends with William and Gloria, and the fox returned to his customers.

Freddy sighed, glad to be free of any problems, and descended the stairs down into the basement, the Den, and began looking for William, the goat. Like the tavern above, the concrete, cell-lined quagmire through which he now lurked was sparsely populated. As he trudged through the smoke, hearing primal calls of passion or hysteria, users saturating themselves with their pleasures, Freddy silently - mentally - reminded himself he would not be "reduced" to such fanatical abuse.

"Ah, Freddy." Spoke William. The human had not seen the goat emerge from the UUU area.

"William, hi." Freddy returned, attempting to sound like he was hurried with business. "I was wondering if I could ask you something." William told him to presume, looking at him with less contempt, but not exactly wishing to do any sort of business with the human.

"Well uh, I want to see how much I could get for about 500 microunits of loromed." Loromed was the proper, medical term for calming-chem, but hearing the word was quite strange, even for doctors and nurses.

"But..." William sputtered shortly, then, "First, I must tell you I really don't like to sell my drugs to outsiders."

When Freddy defended that he was not an outsider, being friends of Ned and Gloria, William corrected by telling him "You are not part of the regular customers, and I know you're not here for psionic practice, or spiritual enlightenment." Of course not, Freddy had determined with himself there was no need for it, but he was ready to wield defense.

"No, I won't lie. I don't care about any of that kinda stuff."

"Don't you work in a hospital?"

Freddy explained that he could not legally take Calm from work, unless an official condition required it, and purchasing that which he wanted as even more impossible. "Besides, I thought there were plenty of folks here that weren't part of your, uh..."

"Yes, I know what you mean. Not all of us study the universe. But you have to realize, they all take their drugs here. They buy them here and take them here. I would be completely fine if you did that." It was then that Freddy realized that he had lead William to the impression - inadvertently - that he wished to, possibly, relieve the goat of a minute portion of his stock and whisk it away to the comfort of his home. Well, that was the best course of action, the human thought.

Convincing William of the safety, explaining that his possession of Calm could in no way bring indication to his acquiring it from a Den, Freddy finally after some time, managed to get his purchase. The exit and subsequent drive home were equally exciting as their opposites. Soon, the human initiated a habitual application of lies. Lying down on his mattress, he artificially suffocated the mantle of his psychology with a chemical promise of happiness, true - eternal - and then life would simply be beautiful afterwards.

~^'^'^~*~^'^'^~ Day 9

Ned himself was guilty of much of the same as Freddy, letting his thoughts accommodate him to perfect fantasies and scenarios. For several days, in which he became displeased in Freddy's increasing display of absence from school, the bear had begun construction of a mental doppelganger of that human attraction. In the hours of ennui or loneliness, and only those of Ned currently being absent from Freddy's company, he sculpted an abstract spirit in his head that obeyed his every conscious desire from an ever-loving relationship.

Simply, Ned found Freddy to be the ideal candidate of the true source of happiness and completion in his life. And during those days, Freddy not in attendance once or twice that week, he not only convinced himself that Freddy was most likely the perfect specimen for mateship, desired the bear greatly, and that Ned was perfect for him as well. However, this fancy only lingered for several hours until his sensibility overcame his desire for love, and then he understood that Freddy could most certainly not want anything of the sort.

Below his surface, undeviating fancies, Ned's physical attraction to the human male had frequently caused him a much more staggering type of distraction from life. This took place in the form of a more debilitating trance and his loins preparing themselves for action, only to be disappointed by Ned's attempts to reverse the effects - if he had been at his workplace or school - due to the inability to satisfy. For the times that he found himself at leisure, specifically at home, he took several hours to enjoy himself and the euphoria ensuing from his exploring hands and mouth via the fabrications of his fantasy, that his friend was there performing those sexual actions of his own accord.

To Freddy's diminished social interaction and his reluctance to make any sort of plans with the bear, Ned next moved his questioning to their other friend, the girl called Gloria. She had strangely been taken up strictly by some unprecedented desire to perform outstandingly in her schoolwork, and thus had found little time or desire to distract herself with friends, drugs and the like. Ned tried asking her if she knew anything about Freddy's current condition, if it be some kind of illness or depression. She confessed to him that she was feeling a bit of the same, but less negligent in her duties in life, not wanting to spend too much time with leisure.

After letting him know she really did not know what was 'up' with Freddy and to 'ask him yourself', he let reluctance govern him. It was not Freddy's demeanor that had startled the bear as much as the progressive transition between the clean and handsome man he originally had been, to the unfortunate thing the bear was currently witnessing.

Not completely a physical, visual transformation; several characteristics of Freddy were slightly different. His clothes were less clean each day, and his scent was much stronger - making it quite evident he was not bathing as frequently - which did not trouble Ned, but he could notice many others glancing towards the human in ways that indicated they were curious. During the times he managed to appear in class, Ned was the only person who ventured to speak with him, but Freddy always seemed too dejected or distracted to speak, or bored with the bear, perhaps.

While Freddy had normally bestowed all his attention to the professor, and gave all the words and assignments his close consideration, recently - being these past four days - Freddy seemed to totally disregard it all. His willingness to converse with the bear was also rendered soiled. Freddy acted as though speaking more than hello and goodbye would require too much effort, or possibly engender embarrassment.

The paranoia - all anew now, thanks to that - was that Freddy had known everything, and was now punishing Ned in some kind of esoteric fashion. And the notion that Freddy was so unbelievably insulted and disgusted with the white bear that he could no longer live properly was far too much for Ned to withstand and only casually suspect something bad was happening.

Quickly, worry and stress overtook those erotic and amatory visions in his mind. It had been approximately nine or ten days since their last slightly-intelligible conversation. Ned tried to call him, dialing the numbers in the phone in hopes to contact the human of his affection. He had seen and briefly spoken with Freddy that morning. Asking of Gloria the possibilities, and receiving an additional, ambiguous, analysis.

After the first attempt at calling him came to a failure, Ned decided to wait it out for a few more minutes, then try again only to achieve the same results, only now with frustration. The sum of this nonsense - this quandary of complications - having been greatly unsatisfactory, Ned took it upon himself to make his way to Freddy's abode. His goals were clearly defined in his head as determining the basis for the human's newly exhibited lifestyle, and second, to further his efforts to assemble - within the two - a possible relationship.

~^'^'^~*~^'^'^~

Abuse had not been promised, but nor had it been a method not entirely denied. Jorg and his associate - to Freddy's utter dismay - did return. Unavoidable dread drowned him instantly, answering to their call at the door as he had before. The idea of bestowing to them the whereabouts of The Den to achieve promised passage into medical school was totally absent. Several other thoughts, however, swam like flotsam garbage on the surface of his mind.

"Freddy, we seem to be interrupting something. Are we?" Jorg asked, which only drove Freddy's instant paranoia further. He stumbled with his voice, muttering indecipherable words.

Once again, they stood in the doorway, obscuring themselves inadvertently by shadowing their faces behind the sunlight from outside. Freddy was donned only in a pair of pants, nothing underneath, and barefoot. This was customary for his leisure attire, and only exercised in his home. This lack of formality did not influence Jorg's business in the slightest.

"Why do you look like shit?" Jorg asked. Once again, Freddy could not answer. The first of his fear was that Jorg would very soon discover the hidden apparatus of Freddy's chem usage, and equally with it, his closer association with The Den. With that, the most prolific fear was of his inevitable execution, right in his very own home.

Freddy had kept mostly to his bedroom for this period, while he was under the heavy authority of chemical treatment, and thus his residence remained untouched, mostly (save for diminishing foodstuffs). This meant that all his evidence would be in his room, from which a bit of faint music was heard. The question Jorg had presented was surely on account of Freddy's complexion, and not his lack of attire. Not completely noticed by the blond human himself, but he appeared to be experiencing a heavy fever.

"I'm..."

Freddy was not positive Jorg and his fellow would kill him immediately. Perhaps they would only pummel him to a thread of his life and give him a second chance to perform his duty. Yet Freddy had never - that he recalled - promised to deliver to them what they wanted. Yet he had long ago convinced himself that this issue of The Den was something that these two were most obstinate in pursuing, even though they had been absent from their business with Freddy for more almost a wekk. It would have been outstanding luck if they had simply forgotten about him, or discovered another poor soul to challenge with such deceit and mistrust.

Jorg asked permission to enter and Freddy permitted, with immense trepidation. "I've only uh..." the secretive and paranoid human spoke, "I've just been having some... a hard time at work and school."

Yet it sounded trite, ordinary, commonplace. Thus, he added "and with my boyfriend."

Jorg had stridden to the pantry (a couple of cupboards above the kitchen sink), and began to inspect its contents. Holding a bottle of alcohol - made from fermented barley - and reading the label, Jorg glanced to Freddy with smirk in his lips that suggested he was silently mocking Freddy. He nodded and said "Yes, and I see you're handling it very well. Perhaps your lover would be a much more appropriate candidate for helping your problems than this."

The two men in his apartment stood with an air that could only be described as supercilious. Like William, these humans, especially with the countenance of Jorg's partner so bright in his face, seemed to act here as if in total authority of the place and its occupant. Freddy had witnessed it in the goats demeanor, but here at least, the humans condescended to him as much as to appear cheerful.

Jorg had given himself permission to prepare a drink of the beverage in two separate glasses, which he produced from the "pantry" as well. He moved back from the kitchen, enjoying his drink and handing the second to his friend, who took it with a nod and a patronizing smile that had been aimed at Freddy. Jorg then asked Freddy to sit, relax and tell them if he had any information that they would definitely love to know.

Freddy sat then, on his sofa. He watched as Jorg and the other man sip his booze and stare at him with patience. He was unsure of how long he sat there and appeared a buffoon. Being slightly under the influence of both alcohol and Calm, calculating the passage of time in those seconds was rather impossible. When Jorg repeated, asking if he had any additional information, his friend - the name of him still being unknown - looked towards Jorg with an expression on his face that Freddy surmised to be concern.

Another fear of Freddy's was that these two had already known of his new habit, his new rituals. Now, they were merely here to torture him with their presence, sitting there quietly all in order to see if Freddy would break and tell them everything. That game, which up until this point was only a delusion, gave more power to the clouded terror in Freddy's mind, and thus confused him more with his silent attempts to find ways of avoiding having to play.

The second guest then stood and moved towards the back of the apartment quickly, heading towards Freddy's room. The electricity in Freddy's brain moved so slowly that his nerves could react in time for him to perceive the events that would take place in the next instance. It seemed that the sudden shock of being discovered had manipulated so many synaptic responses in his brain that the fear of it put him into a state of catatonia.

Freddy did not see the other male emerge with the evidence, and barely felt the blow to his face. Jorg had punched him hard - sideways, on the cheek - then with the blond human collapsed on the floor, Jorg sent a swift kick into his abdomen.

"The little fucker knows where the Den is." Jorg's friend affirmed, although it was totally obvious at this point.

"Of course he does, Sorjin, where the hell would he have gotten this shit? Not from the hospital, certainly." The evidence was scarce, Freddy having used almost all of the quantity he had bought from William several days prior, but it was not nearly extensive enough for them to determine where he had received it.

Sorjin then knelt to place Freddy, now completely unconscious, into a supine position. His mouth hung open stupidly, and the bruise on his face slowly grew a deep hue of pink. Jorg had not even felt the clash of bone, his hands being tough and coarse, though he examined his limb nevertheless.

"Let's just beat it out of him, he'll crack very fast I'm betting." Sorjin said, closing Freddy's mouth and tidying the fallen human's hair, as if to emit forced pity on him.

"Sorjin, remember who we are, what we are." Jorg retorted, staring deeply at a picture hung on the wall. It was artwork, a morbid and surrealistic landscape that looked totally alien in the apartment. "We are civilized beings; we don't hunt and eat our animals' raw flesh, we pay for our groceries, look at artwork hung on walls and think of how intellectual it is, watch TV... we do not torture people. Leave that to the primates still covered with fur, with no brain."

He then removed from his jacket pocket an intricate and small electronic device, sized an inch - or a bit less - in diameter.

"We'll try this, next." He spoke, and Sorjin smiled with a nod and added, "Good, I've been wanting to see how it might work, if it even does."

Jorg's motions where cast like a blur, grabbing Freddy's chest and shoving the device against the space below his sternum, the xyphoid process. It sunk itself deep in, as it was programmed to do, and completed their task, the two leaving quickly with other business to attend, and were sure to lock the door behind them for Freddy's protection and consideration.

~^'^'^~*~^'^'^~

Ned knew very well where Freddy lived, and he drove there after his classes. The human friend had not attended that day. There had been no answer when Ned called him the third time, so there was no certainly that Freddy was within, yet Ned was to go bashing on his door regardless. Four times, loudly with his fist, his knuckles lightly tingling afterwards. Then he waited for a response.

Here at the door and for many paces beyond lay an accumulation of dead leaves and dried vegetation. Glancing behind him, Ned could only now perceive that autumn was approaching, or had already approached. This, of course, was a silly attempt at briefly distracting his mind from the fear that within Freddy was dying or a was miserable wreck.

Thirty seconds, ample time for someone to answer if he had heard. Ned knocked again, calling out the human's name. Constructed into the wall adjacent to the door was a window, whose curtains Freddy had not shut fully, and Ned's face peering, squinting through, shown clearly to Freddy as he moved slowly towards the door. Ned had seen the human emerge from the hall, but not clearly enough to see his face well. The bear did not notice, right away - until the door had been opened and salutations made - how weakened the human was.

"Freddy, hi, how are you?" Ned spoke irregularly. He had originally wanted to be open and friendly, but now he automatically took the role of concerned family member or parent. Ned had expected much worse than he saw, however. Disheveled, and looking very tired, Freddy was a bit ripe.

"Hello, Ned." Freddy smiled slightly and invited the bear to come inside. Even with the curtains only partially drawn, the lack of light gave the apartment a shadowy pall, and a feel of gloominess. Freddy's school gear - books, writing supplies - were scattered on his sofa, and next to the furniture was a pile of crumbled clothing. The intense fragrance from that pile of clothes was redolent to the bear. Freddy's aroma was so strong here Ned could almost feel it permeate the clothes he wore. Ned could not help but stare at Freddy's exposed torso; the male wearing only a pair of trousers and socks - brown and white, respectively - It made him smile, and he felt relaxed.

"You're not lookin' too good, man." The bear spoke, deciding to sit on the couch, close to Freddy's clothing pile. Even in the environment of Freddy's obvious degenerating lifestyle, the atmosphere of being near his friend was exciting to him, and he was quite optimistic about helping to pull his friend out from whatever this negative situation was.

"Well uh..." Freddy muttered. He could not seem to conjure an excuse for his behavior though. The human removed himself several paces away from the bear sitting on his sofa, striving not to avert his eyes. Ned looked good today, he thought to himself. The ursine was wearing a white shirt that had short sleeves - his fur a brighter white than the cloth - and it only intensified his beauty. "I'm just kinda, taking some time off. I've been making myself crazy with stress about so many little things lately. I just wanted to relax a bit."

Ned gazed at him with a bit of hesitation. The speech had been unexpected, and Freddy had given the impression that he had been waiting to say to him, or anyone who had shown him empathy. It sounded ultimately recited.

"Alright, I can understand that. But I really wish that you'd still talk to me. I know it's not like we're dating or anything, but I wish you would at least answer when I call."

The look of grief on Freddy's face - a bit fuzzier now that he had not been grooming himself regularly - and an apology gave some relief to the bear. Freddy explained that he was not refusing to talk to him, exclusively, but all of his contacts; they had all be included in his grand hermitic routine. Ned watched the slow expanding of his friend's chest, the dark beige skin very faintly coated in perspiration along the male's neck and shoulders. He particularly liked the darker hair sparsely growing along the belly, originating at his chest - which stretched across laterally towards his shoulders - and alluringly vanishing into obscurity beyond the waistband of his trousers. Ned still stared at him, in admiration... in sincere friendship.

Freddy, occasionally peering into Ned's face during those pauses of silence, knew he was being watched, though was currently unaware he was being admired. He felt dirty, felt slimy, and was quite sure that Ned was not in the mood for hearing more of his emotional sniveling.

"I'm real sorry about ignoring you. I'm ..." He stepped backwards a few paces "I think I need to lie down, I'm starting to feel a little warm."

Not certain if that had been truth or a ruse, Ned followed Freddy through the hall and into his room - where the human had retreated - to find the cause of all this drama. Freddy had been taking Calm on a regular schedule of abuse. Surprise and disappointment, dually, simultaneously replaced the thoughts of anxiety.

"Freddy? What the fuck are you doing here?" Ah, and also frustration. The paradigm shift in his perception of Freddy had been so radical, Ned found himself seizing the creature into his grip with both large hands, in a subconscious attempt to practically shield Freddy from the chemicals splayed across his bedside table, or to shake the insanity out of him.

"Come on, get off me." The human insisted, with no physical defense of his own. Ned's strict demand that Freddy look at him intimately - the bear needing to tilt Freddy's head in order to do so - brought a strong feeling of brotherly companionship, the aura of concern emanating from Ned's blackish brown eyes. Freddy squinted, as if light penetrated his retinas too extremely.

It was foreign, both this unusual display of concern from another and the feeling of intense acquiescence, and then the human found his willpower stripped. Freddy could not contest the bear and did not want to; he could muster no sense of defense to the silent and visual accusations. He was wretched; it lay in some black swamp deep inside that electricity called a soul. In a way, there was felt a viscous burning of recognition, that he could see and perceive his own vulnerability.

For those few days in which his mind had been reduced to functioning on bare necessity, there had never been a thought of the possibility that he was destroying his life. Even now that possibility was unfathomable; however, Freddy could only now see himself as if from an omnipresent dais situated in the heavens. He could see an idiot. He saw himself as a fool... and extensively blind, in a manner of which that he was successfully missing every hint from his fluffy ursine friend that he was truly cared for, that he was loved.

With a quick sniff towards the human's skin, Ned spoke "Come on," and taking Freddy's arm into lead added "I'm guessing your water still runs, right?" Freddy was unconcerned with the question or the intention. He jerked his body in a way that loosened the hand of the Bear. Then, succumbing to his shame, he collapsed onto his bed with his back turned towards Ned.

Ned quickly moved from the room and made his way into the lavatory, where he began to fill the bathtub with water, throwing open the faucet's valve to let forth spill cold water into the plastic basin, human-sized. Adjusting the nozzle to set it for a higher temperature, in order to add comfort and warmth for Freddy's wash, Ned then pondered what sort of insanity he would find in the kitchen. He garnered enough trust to believe that Freddy would not commit himself to the truly mad by running forth and shutting the water off, or doing something crazier by simply fleeing the apartment entirely. Ned knew this would never succeed, for Freddy could be easily tackled and subdued in this state of his. (And with that aspect out of the way, Ned was sure he was fast and strong enough to do so anyway).

Basic foodstuffs in the cupboards, and meager in amount. There were several emptied bottles of various alcohols and sodas, and within the refrigerator remained the mutilated pieces of several meals: sandwiches and pastas the only two truly recognizable. Aside from the untidiness amongst his sofa, and the general rank, unclean nature of the being himself, Freddy's apartment appeared to be immaculate. Pale walls remained the same, no grime or dirt touched a thing except some light dust in the carpet; everywhere in the place, there resided no insectoid pests.

Ned did not see Freddy again until the bathtub was most entirely filled. He then proceeded to mix a liquid soap into the hot water, evenly spreading it amongst the collection. Freddy, Ned decided, would need to soak, and soak nicely he would. To the bedroom, where - to Freddy's slight protesting - Ned convinced him to sit up onto his rump so the bear could gather him into his arms. Touching that warm, soft flesh, Ned could not even smile now, as pleasant as it was. Cradling his friend in both arms and raising up into his embrace... it could have been enjoyable if the circumstances had not been so ridiculous.

Freddy spoke not a word, but gasped slightly when, after being introduced to his fate and set standing next to the tub, Ned began to undress him. The bear removed Freddy's trousers, leaving the human naked and bringing Ned to a desire for full scrutiny that could not happen - at the time, that is. In both males' minds, they were disenchanted from the dream of pure sentiment, that now their first time with the human so exposed no impassioned eyes could behold it, both eyes only held humility and shame. Dual disgrace.

Timid and uncertain of the machinations within the bear's mind, he put forth no struggle or verbal disagreement when Ned aided him to sit into the warm water. In this room, Freddy felt wondrously comfortable due to the warmth and humidity, though he was struck with an utter disbelief in how he could ever find himself to be so humiliated. In effect, he was practically numb, and the chemically-treated mind of his drove him to believe that any further speaking or movement would only further intensify the sadness and disappointment in Ned.

It was apparent that Freddy was indeed enjoying it, as much as the bear could observe. To him, there was no sadness, nor did he find anything for Freddy to be ashamed of. He was, however, very disappointed. All the bear could feel now was a bit of pity and a rush of encouragement that he could turn this all around and aid his friend to stop this silly habit.

Now, in the light of the room, Ned could see a slight wound on the human's face, and immediately asked why his face was so swollen. Freddy quickly stammered a deception that he had tussled with an employee at work. Just as quickly, he began to regret the lie when Ned started declaring what sort of problems he would most certainly encounter from the battle, being fired and all. But Freddy only shook his head and explained that his situation would not come to that, having discussed his problems with both his supervisor and the other combatant (after the ordeal), and no complications should arise thus forth.

Ned gently utilized a soft, cloth-like brush, to begin spreading soapy water along his friend's shoulders. That his scrubbing would clean away the grime, he was happy. For Freddy, it was amazing; it was soothing in a way that his chem-usage could not give him. These sensations, the water, the cloth, Ned's hand and the soft tickle of his fur, eased his mind quickly. Like Calm previously, the water - and the awesome touch from the bear - coupled with being cared for, so greatly lessened the thoughts of trouble in his mind, Freddy now felt an addition of idiocy. That something as simple as this bath could provide equal peace in his mind without succumbing to the hazardous effects of drugs, yet he had mindlessly taken them up into his usage, he truly did feel idiotic.

The diminutive cascades of water flowing down his head and shoulders - precipitating across his chest - at first felt so exotic. However, Freddy soon remembered that sensation of showering. Though now he was sitting in a basin with soap-saturated water, the element of returning to the sanitary being he once was, slowly gathered some peace in his mind. And more shame then, for he realized how foolish he had been to allow himself to forsake his humanity, his ability to keep himself as a functioning individual in a life that he truly did not care much for from the start of it.

A breath at his ear, Ned was gently nuzzling the human's neck, nudging his cold nose under the soft appendage. The air puffed out from his nose and the tickling of his fur, even sharper and more course than that on his paws, thrilled the human. Freddy grinned and involuntarily pulled his head away quickly, chuckling. This also caused the bear to quietly laugh, and was greatly pleased that, for at least this moment, Freddy seemed happy again. And his assumption was correct, that the other male found the slightest bit of joy in being so close to the bear.

Freddy raised a hand and stretched it across the back of Ned's head and tenderly squeezed a handful of fur, of flesh. But then he realized his mistake in now soaking the bear's fur, and quickly removed the offending limb.

"Err, sorry, bear." He said. The bear could feel the traces of water slowly tumbling down along his neck fur, soaking in deeper to the skin.

Ned grinned broadly, enjoying the term, simply being called "bear". It sounded so thick with friendship, thick with respect for the act of custody Ned had displayed so physically. Respect, though? Ned had imagined that type of agreement from the human, but did not convince himself of it. Love, perhaps friendship, maybe not respect, the bear was certainly not prepared to further assume that Freddy's adoration measured in the intensity as Ned's own. No, he would not fool himself that way; Ned would only believe it if the human said himself. But truly, he believed he had earned the human's respect, whether or not Freddy was willing to admit it himself, or even tell of it.

~^'^'^~*~^'^'^~

Freddy's bath had been nice, and the human felt fairly wonderful afterwards. For Ned, Freddy's scent was so much less now and more pleasant, as it was faint - being enticing and not overbearing - and was glad to see him no longer haggard. The two had decided that Freddy's future break of his addiction would commence. Calm, being extremely mild even in large doses, was easily addictive, but also easily washed away from the body, thus there would be no hassle with such a thing.

After Freddy had dried himself of the water, Ned asked for him to walk. Freddy had dressed himself in the only clean garb he could find in the apartment: a pair of overlarge black dress slacks and a blue, tattered shirt. For the weather outside, he wore a wool coat of black, longer but similar in style to Ned's own black jacket. Freddy made a comment about how they now matched and it was "cute", and Ned could only snicker, but did not understand.

Outside in the moonlight with the cool breezes so frequently sweeping the city, the two had wandered past the apartments, along the streets and past the urban noise of the town for the park of green grass. Here, as they moved peacefully along concrete paths built into the land, they discussed Freddy's quite evident addiction, and his more hidden predicaments. Ned learned that not only did he greatly enjoy having his friend nestled close as they walked - with the bear's arm draping across Freddy's back - but he was a bit puzzled by the situations in Freddy's mind.

Ned attempted to elucidate for the human the problem with his logic. That taking Calm, as wonderful as it could be (in his honest opinion), was a poor substitute for something greater that could be achieved. Freddy explained that his goal was to simulate that brief bout of comfort and sanity felt during his 'negative flow'. Ned could not fathom a response, and Freddy took the silence as the bear being ignorant of a way to manage it. Or that possibly Ned really did not comprehend.

"Freddy, I was with you the whole time. The only time when you looked like you were fine is when I was holding you." Ned spoke finally.

"What do you mean... you were holding me?"

Ned then continued his explanation, now refusing to hide the details. From out of his mouth spilled his complete confession, that he cared deeply for the human, enjoyed his company greatly, and at the time of his overdose he had forsaken his own comfort and fear of accidentally hurting the human (in terms of his being so overly affectionate to a mere acquaintance) to keep him warm and secure, as much as possible.

Then, a total cessation of motion. Both males stopped walking and Freddy turned to stare, readjusting his twisted shirt (caused by a few gusts of wind). Time passed by in seconds longer than normal... or that the perception of time was not even grasped. Freddy stared into Ned's black eyes, cloaked by the darkness. The bear's visage was stern, and he could feel only anticipation to his friend's reaction.

Ned those spoke those words to his friend, holding the human's shoulders with his hands and professing, "I love you, Freddy." Neither could clearly see the other, however, and Ned did not notice Freddy was weeping.

The human leaned towards the bear and embraced him tightly with both arms, sobbing so faintly it brought not worry or fear, but tranquility to both minds there. Ned reciprocated as best he could, bringing the human closer to his chest by only millimeters, squeezing, gently raking his hands along Freddy's back, feeling each mild heave of emotion quake from beneath the flesh.

With some additional compassion, Ned then nuzzled the male in his arms with his snout, kissing so lightly that Freddy was sure not to feel it. The physical attention was satisfactory, but Freddy did not weep harder. He could certainly feel the kisses from above, and it filled him with a feeling of protection.

~^'^'^~*~^'^'^~

Ned was pleased to hear that Freddy's face was feeling better. Of course it was almost strictly because of an anesthetic he had taken before they had left Freddy's apartment. As per Ned's request - and quite insistent he had been in such - they took their company to the bear's home where Freddy would spend the night, and here they were, having driven in Ned's vehicle. His house was far from Freddy's apartment (about 30 minutes of driving), and shared with his sister. Her name was Mercedie, and so much smaller than her large brother that Freddy's first impression was of a white canine animal, rather than a bear.

She seemed to be busying herself with paperwork of some kind, which the human noticed spread across a table in the dining room, and told them she'd stay out of their way. Freddy was exhausted, and unconcerned for the slightly bad first impression, of for her even being present and being virtually ignored by the hostess. Their house was almost entirely devoid of furnishings and decoration. While the latter was appealing to Freddy, leaving his apartment free of extraneous clutter as the same, the lack of a place to simply sit down puzzled him.

Of greater dislike was the temperature. Within the walls the two bears had let the air chill greatly, and apparently kept it regulated as such; it was colder than any moonlit night. Coupled with the whiteness of the walls and carpet, and then with the bears' demure attitude, all there in Ned's home seemed bleak, like a stark winter landscape.

When Freddy expressed his desire to rest, Ned was quick to suggest he 'crash' on his bed. But then just as quickly corrected himself, saying that he was not implying they sleep together so soon.

"I actually wouldn't mind that. Is there enough room for both of us on it?" Freddy responded; his only intention was to lie down for a few minutes, to let his muscles relax a bit.

"Would you like me to give you a backrub?" Suggested the bear, and Freddy agreed completely, stating that he'd love it dearly. So off they went, disappearing into Ned's bedroom. As the human did not feel it was his place to complain about the cold, he kept his mouth shut about it. But there dwelled in his mind the notion that he could not be comfortable in such a climate, even with the bear, especially if they were to act sexually on each other. If that was true, Freddy wanted this night to be more accommodating to both males.

Yet he quickly understood that with the anatomy of his large bear friend, being covered in enormously thick fur - and having thick skin - these temperatures did not affect him as they did a naked human. Therefore, he was unsure of what to say, so he said nothing.

Freddy glanced across the room, spying a similar décor to the outside room. The walls were bare, books and stacks of paper were piled upon a desk and also on shelves. It was all clear of dust, though, telling him that Ned frequented his studies quite a bit. The only interesting objects that immediately stole his attention were a collection of music discs stacked next to their respective player. Seeing these, Freddy spoke that he would enjoy looking through Ned's collection sometime... tonight possibly, or in the morning.

Ned explained that Freddy would be welcome to it, but only after he received his massage, and instructed the human to lie down on his front side on the bed. As he lay down on his chest, Freddy heard the quiet rustle of clothing being removed, and noticed in his peripheral vision that, indeed, Ned had removed his shirt. But he was unable to turn to see, desiring to observe the bear's body free of obscuring attire, as Ned moved close and softly touched the human, pressing down gently on his shoulders.

Ned's mattress was huge, it turned out, and quite heavy with thickness. The human felt himself sink, in effect, into the soft and voluminous cushion of a comforter. The texture of which was equally as appealing as the comfort. Soon, his silent and mental analysis of all aspects of the bear's home came to a stop, being completely arrested by Ned's massage.

Lying there in utter ecstasy, Freddy could do nothing but receive the treatment and moan his happiness through his mouth, expressing with no words how much he had truly needed it. The session lasted for about ten minutes until Freddy asked with such plea in his voice that Ned continue for a bit longer, it then became fifteen.

The sun had only recently set over Ertethia (within the 3 hours they had been together that day), so by Ned's suggestion that there was still plenty of time left in the day before taking to bed, they should enjoy some time by occupying themselves with some music, as Freddy has suggested prior. Freddy, delighted by such, eagerly went to the aforementioned collection of music, while Ned removed an acoustic, nylon-string guitar from his closet.

"Freddy, I was wondering if you would mind listening to a song that I wrote on this."

Freddy agreed fully, with no hesitation. Thus, twenty minutes resumed with the two males hearing a gentle and soft song played on the strings. This particular guitar was built to be used specifically by larger beings, such as Ned, and thus was much larger than Freddy's own. He had only seen an instrument such as this once, and had not had the opportunity to handle it. But now he would enjoy doing so, and both had fun in watching the human attempt to manage the large neck and frets.

~^'^'^~*~^'^'^~

After their subdued merriment, Ned had somewhat pounced his friend onto the bed when Freddy had stood, and enticed him to cuddle. Being so generally serene, and now entirely comfortable in the presence of the large entity, Freddy allowed it. Several minutes lapsed then, the human needing to change his position frequently, claiming his arms got numb after lying on them for too long, and their conversation shifted dynamically to life.

Supine, staring up into the bear's face, his neck, his chin, Freddy listened intently to the words spoken. Ned had initiated the conversation and had been speaking an elaborate detail of past relationships and history with his family; however, the length of which his story required soon brought boredom. All that saved Freddy from totally succumbing to ennui was the affectionate rubbing he was currently receiving on his bare chest, Ned having pushed his shirt upwards to bunch it at his chest. During the dull and only slightly interesting tale, Freddy had interjected that he would have liked to remove the article so he could feel Ned's fur on his skin.

And that he did. Ned had propped himself on his left arm, having shoved his pillows off of the mattress entirely, and let Freddy use the arm as a pillow instead. When he found his story weakening with both detail and in his interest to continue it, he focused his energy on simply pleasing the human creature in his arms. The bear never once, nor the human, noticed the tiny wound in Freddy's skin below his sternum.

Ned then, fracturing the mood of serenity, moved his hand far backward onto the table, and pressed a button on a remote control. The noise that ensued, fluent and melancholy, ensconced them both, drenching the room mystically in its embrace. It was smooth, tranquil music of Ned's choosing. Droning synthesizers, chanting in a foreign tongue(s), stringed instruments plunking melodically.

Frustrated by the lingering presence of his origins of stress in his mind, Freddy began to instruct his mind - and his body - to relax. With none of these conundrums currently affecting him, all he wanted now was to feel that one concept in life that many people refer to as "happiness". The human's mind focused only on two targets: the bear touching him - gently petting of the chest - and the aura around them both, which the music had created.

Freddy slowly lost the immediate memory of the pain in his face and head, from that pummeling he received earlier, and of the fact that he was failing success at school, and possibly to be fired from his job. He relinquished that conscious grasp - the mangling - of which he forcibly held onto, of his frustrations of being lonely, and of certain people who irked him intensely (The last of which was the least troublesome of his worries and only a minor irritation, but dwelled in his mind frequently).

And why should he? This now was a time that all the tribulations continued without their typical affect. Stress... it was useless.

The bear's claws now soothed him even more strongly, and in a way invigorated senses beneath his flesh, nerves therein inviting him to rise in more ways than the discreet arching of his back. Rubbing and scritching now along the human's hips, Ned noticed the reaction, the delight. Like Freddy, he had been working the same notions, blocking pessimistic thoughts or irritations to allow the peace of blind passion take his mind. Driven far from the path of his inhibitions, he arched his neck, tilting his face downward to embrace Freddy's lips with his own.

They pressed gently against each other, the flesh of their mouths molding and enjoying the other's anatomy. The warmth of moist tongues then collided softly, hot breath escaping first, bringing even more tranquility with the bear's tenderness in the deep kiss.

Ned's first intention had been to arouse the human for sexual pleasures. And while he could smell Freddy's sex growing in anticipation, his own - had this been some sort of contest - had far surpassed the human's in speed. However now, with a sigh of the utmost joy, he abandoned his journey down along Freddy's torso in place of hugging him closely, bringing the human nearer to his soft warmth.

Their kiss was prolonged then by Freddy reciprocating the affectionate display and embracing his friend as well. It became feverish, and now so greatly aroused both of them it caused a slight discomfort. Each could feel his own skin become hot, from the face down to their toes and fingers, and adding to that warmth was the mild electricity coming from every little touch.

When Freddy forsook his side of the embrace to readjust his phallic misplacement, Ned broke their kiss to chuckle and gaze with curiosity. "I see you enjoyed that as much as I did." The bear commented; then hovering his hand above that area of Freddy's, he asked permission to inspect it more intimately. Freddy agreed with fervor, telling him, "Please do." And Ned did not hesitate, understood no need to prolong the episode of wanting any further. Both were very well aware of that desired contact, and thus simply teasing themselves was seen as ridiculous. For while lust and love did not ever require the other, nor did they always coincide. They loved each other now, it was certain, but at this point their lust was dominant and only satisfying it was on the agenda.

And it commenced. Ned unfastened the human's trousers, then with his fingers brought forth Freddy's erect member to the air, squeezing it happily. As an abomination to his dignity, the human spilt from his mouth the voice of utter glee. The pleasured moan left him feeling foolish in its volume and energy, but Ned took it as the greatest compliment that his job on Freddy's genitals was well done.

Freddy could feel more pressure on his shaft from the tight strangle of his trousers' opening than the bear's hand, so he moved both his hands down along his hips with the articles - pants and underwear - grasped in the crook of his thumb and index finger.

Arching his back slightly to pull them down farther, Ned aided him, grinning at the view of his friend's exposed flesh. With a paw, Ned felt across Freddy's thighs and knees, enjoying the smooth texture of his skin. For much of his life - at least the romantic and sensual aspects of his life - Ned had found a much stronger interest in the furless flesh of humans and reptiles than with other fur-covered beings. And although he found certain reptile types attractive or beautiful, he could never fathom them as sexually appealing. It was a human's skin tone, and how supple it was, the sparse hair making a uniform velvety terrain upon it... Freddy was simply gorgeous to him.

Ned then wiggled a bit in order to position himself, or rather his head, closer to Freddy's abdomen to continue his exploration. He applied his lips to this region now, kissing hungrily along Freddy's navel area, then up to the space between it and where his ribs were defined underneath his skin. Not that Ned could see, but Freddy's eyes were shut and his breath lasted in his lungs longer than usual. Then gasped lightly, then held the air inside; the bear's kissing tickled him.

It was now when Ned finally recognized a slight wound in the flesh of his friend, what appeared to be a slice in the skin, and queried as to how it came to be. Freddy was quick with another lie, that he had accidentally stabbed himself with a knife while cutting a tomato. Both snickered at the tale, Ned thinking no more of it.

Ned rubbed his black nose along the trail of hair on Freddy's stomach, huffing his hot breath deeply and smelling around, causing the human to giggle more and more. To the place where the fine hair was the finest, lateral to the middle of his chest, Ned gave a few gentle licks with his tongue. That dual sensation of moisture and warmth managed the previously assumed impossibility of captivating and pacifying Freddy even farther; the act of his ursine friend lapping at him so lovingly seemed to completely douse him in an awareness of how much he was really appreciated.

The idea of being loved, of being adored, was there circulating in his mind; but given the circumstances, he would not be able to begin to comprehend it until a time later, when he could be in a more reflective state of mind and less governed by the sexual encouragement.

Rather abruptly then, he felt the bear's paw grasp his member and the tongue slide across the underside of it. Another sigh of sensual bliss escaped from Freddy, gasping while simultaneously grasping at his own chest, where his hands previously lay dormant and still. Placated further then, the human focused purely on the heavenly sensation of Ned's stroking and squeezing him, lapping with long caresses up along the length of his stiff matter.

Within seconds, or minutes perhaps, the bear then proceeded to the next step in his method as he slid the entirety of the phallus into his willing muzzle. As he grasped it with his lips and tongue, massaging as much he could, Freddy gripped himself at the torso harder, curling his fingers and his toes tensely, sighing with longer breaths, more lustfully, and gratifying the bear just as equally as the joy of finally being able to taste the intimate flesh of his love, his (his) human.

In a phenomenon that the two noticed, their vibrating throats seemed to put out the same musical note. To Ned, suckling and pleasuring Freddy so intently was just as satisfying as receiving the most intense sexual pleasure himself. He moaned greatly, just as greatly as Freddy was, and by some intriguing circumstance, they managed to pattern their song. The notes were sung during Ned's descent, each time when he sunk Freddy into his mouth, taking it deeply and enthusiastically, all the way down to where the hair grew.

As if he could not acquire enough of the human's member into his ravenous maw, Ned began to burrow his hands downward between Freddy and the mattress. There, he gripped the supple buttocks and proceeded to pull upward on them on each of his throaty descents, forcing the very tip of the shaft to stab at the back of his throat and cause him to gag.

Freddy then spoke words, asking the bear to be careful and not hurt himself. Ned took the advice with a warm smile (as best he could with a mouthful of stuff) and continued at a much slower pace, but soon thereafter, Freddy spoke again, asking if he could bestow the same sort of kindness of that which he was receiving. Ned agreed eagerly and hopped off the bed long enough to strip away his clothes, stumbling over his entrapping slacks.

The human was only slightly disappointed that he did not receive the same fashion of presentation that Ned took from him, the erotic undressing that is. He found the act quite entertaining though, from watching the bear stumble over his pants at the heel, and from seeing his large and lengthy member pop out from the underwear when he pulled them down. Freddy expressed his surprise with words and a look of widening his eyes, saying how impressed he was. Ned giggled and thanked him, but was not quite sure what to say, as if the bear had gone through tests and conquests to receive his endowment as a trophy.

Before Ned could again lie down, Freddy stopped him and instructed him to stand at the bedside while he introduce himself to the situation. From out of the dense white fur jutted forth a mass of red flesh, moist and elongated, dripping with fluid from the tiny outlet at the tip. Freddy fervently consumed the escaping liquid, licking it up while he gripped the organ with one hand. Then, he engulfed it as much as he could and began to explore and massage the bear's phallus, just as Ned had before on Freddy.

Ned sighed and took the human's head into his hands and began caressing his soft hair, and his shoulders and neck. Like Freddy, he had not been given this sort of pleasure in months, but the bear had gone without another's touch for much longer. Unlike the human, Ned was of such a different sort of anatomy that he could, with some difficulty, achieve it on himself by his own mouth. And such an act he had committed with this very, specific scenario in his mind (during his many fantasies of the human).

However that was ridiculous, and the presence of another tongue - and another body to play with - made that self-gratifying practice so superfluous. He would have gladly given that ability in exchange for being with another, and especially that being Freddy. Simply being close to the human, and enjoying the outstanding intimacy of everything they were now doing, was ecstasy to him.

Being distracted by these thoughts of his loving of the human, he suddenly felt such shivers of quite surprising enjoyment - when Freddy lowered his tongue-working to the sac underneath the shaft - that he simulated Freddy's previous, undignified bellow of delight. Like Ned had felt upon hearing such a cry, Freddy too felt remarkably flattered.

After many lovely moments of feeling Freddy manipulate the bald testicular region with his tongue, the human bluntly asked, "How would you feel about getting inside me?" To which Ned could only respond by uttering a vowel sound of "Uh..."

The prospect of it, at first, seemed intimidating. While this hesitation lasted only for a moment or two, it impacted Ned enough that he found it to be imitating an obsolete view of standards that pertained to relations of this fashion. That being the hastening of their intimacy into what hundreds of years past of society deemed 'cheap' or 'tawdry'. However, these views were indeed obsolete, replaced with practices based more in individual judgment and not profound, ridiculous notions of chastity. Ned looked down upon his eager friend, the human now squeezing his member fiercely, and saw that performing the act entailed nothing negative of the sort.

Thus, making a mental consideration that he should be less banal in the future, he remarked "I think it would feel wonderful. Would you actually wanna do it?"

"I've been wanting something like this for a very long time." Freddy confessed. "I mean, not you specifically, just..." As he left his sentence unfinished, Ned understood his hopes of the bear knowing what he meant by it. And he did.

"Alright, I'd love to give you anything you want." He watched Freddy position himself, as best he could, in the center of the mattress and nearer towards the headboard, lying on his back with his legs arched. Feeling a bit playful, Ned then swooped down as if the human were some kind of prey, and focused his eyes close to Freddy's own, standing up on his mattress and hovering above.

"Or maybe I should just take what I want." He grinned, but was taken off guard once again by Freddy.

"Do whatever you want." His remark was not sarcastic though, as Ned's had been. His eyes told of some unknown and totally unexpected submissiveness that made the places in Ned's torso where his heart lingered flutter somewhat. His achieving Freddy's utmost sentimentality gave him an emotion of both desire and sympathy. Freddy seemingly had bestowed upon him all his trust and guidance, which alone was fantastic, but having been that person, the bear, was beyond flattering, much more obsequious. In a way, Ned was a bit perturbed by Freddy's obedience, but it was not to a degree that he gave it any further thought.

Now, his thoughts were focused on what he would like to do to his human lover. The bear grinned and, as a foundation for their approaching fornication, he applied his teeth in nibbles down along Freddy's leg, from the knee towards the groin. Freddy rendered himself blind again by closing his eyes and simply enjoyed the physical sensations of everything, and this he planned to do for the remainder of Ned's voyage.

Ned, being near the human's rump now - and the region more exposed than before - began to enjoy Freddy's aroma more and more. As it was intoxicating, he could not help but also find it arousing, and it impacted his actions greatly, letting himself be taken by his lust and desire more than his restraint.

He began to somewhat burrow his nose down underneath the human's posterior and lick at it, sending out erratic strokes of his tongue across the buttocks. Freddy showed his appreciation for the actions by moaning again and used his hands to pull up on his legs to allow the bear an enhanced access to the area. Ned took this as an approach to signify that Freddy wanted to be lapped at in this position, thus Ned, slightly repositioning himself, helped Freddy to aim his feet and legs upwards into the air above them, and sunk his muzzle into the crevice of Freddy's posterior, slurping hungrily at the aperture, both the flesh and sphincter muscle therein.

Freddy let forth gasps at the sudden feeling of this warm caress. The bear's fuzzy mouth tickled him as it bristled along his flesh, and he loved every tingling bit of it. He was holding his legs apart with both hands, gripping at behind the knee, while Ned was propping his abdomen with his folded legs, and his hands gripping the human's waist, upside down.

Ned got himself into a pattern of slow and lengthy strokes of his tongue, consuming entirely the outer skin of Freddy's anal orifice with his broad, warm tongue, breathing hotly upon it as if he were feeding. Each forward motion thrust his nose into Freddy's testicles, causing them to sweep backwards then forwards, and each time the bear deeply inhaled the male's pheromones, causing his work on Freddy's backside to intensify. It was all to Freddy more relaxing and erotic than anything he had ever experienced in his lifetime.

Then, Ned began to exchange his work place, which at first was Freddy's anus, to the scrotum. After a few moments of wetly devouring in the crevice, he switched upwards to the genitalia, the two organs situated below the erect shaft, where he committed an equal amount of feasting.

Although feeling the incredible touch of the bear - each lap was extraordinary, the hands upon his body, the huffing of breath along his posterior and perineum - hearing the growling and rooting coming from Ned simply heightened the pleasure. It was not merely being treated so romantically, but it was the fact that Ned was so enjoying himself on the human's anatomy that thrilled him so.

As soon as the human's own pre-ejaculate began to seep - in quite an abundance - from his urethra, Ned stopped his motions and looked up, or rather down, with a grin, and asked verification of the enjoyment. Freddy submitted a testimony of an unintelligible grasp at words, only coming forth as stuttered moans of bliss, and a light giggle. Ned translated it as "I enjoy it", and wondered, out loud, if he should continue on to what he had originally been asked.

Freddy said yes immediately, and begged for it - almost pathetically - but Ned was now so eager to do so, he did not pay it mind. The bear lowered the human's elevated waist, keeping hold of legs via the ankle and arrange it at an angle that would allow him to penetrate the male. When he put the tip against the moist and dripping opening, he heard the human hold in his breath in anticipation. Freddy contracted the muscles in his hips, as if trying to push outward something from inside his bowels, letting the territory within relax as much as possible.

"You're gonna be able to take it, right?" Ned asked quizzically.

"Yes," Freddy assured quickly, "just please take it slow."

Ned agreed to do so, and began to push forward. The process only took a few moments; Ned eventually breached the opening completely only after gently opening and stretching his friend with a multitude of thrusts and retreats. Each of those had been the zenith of elation, it seemed, for it had engendered an amount of sounds from Freddy that had yet to be paralleled.

As he finally was fully impaled, Freddy could feel the slight discomfort and awkwardness vanish, in place of a deep warmth and invigorating electricity. As if mutually, by telepathy of some kind, both males relaxed then, Freddy encompassing the bear stretching him, and the bear enjoying the soft squeezing of Freddy's anus. Feeling that, the bear began to thrust himself inward and outward, extremely gently at first - each slide becoming slicker as he went along - then increasing in velocity.

Freddy soon found that his body was being pushed away towards the headboard as their hips met with the humping, and he needed to throw back his hands and push towards the bear sodomizing him, now with a great deal of might. Keeping Freddy's legs elevated was easy, what with his bearish strength, but Freddy being of weaker anatomy found the feat tiring. Though this was a factor he knew well of, the sore muscles of his arms soon only added to the jubilation he was feeling at his ravaged backside.

Each forward thrust, with the bear retracting his immense appendage and then reinstructing it to the inside of Freddy, caused a gleeful yelp from the human's throat. Occasionally sounding as though in pain, Ned felt obligated to briefly slow down - at least twice - to inquire as to the health and comfort of his lover, immediately being told to continue and to not ask again. The impoliteness was completely overlooked by the bear, and so he continued to effectively pound himself into the human again and again and again.

Soon, Freddy began to feel a slight trickle of fluid seeping from the gape of his rump, trailing down along his tailbone. With a bit of concern he moved a hand quickly down to the area to bring forth the matter on his fingers for inspection. It was clear, not red, and thus he grinned, knowing that the bear was so coating his insides with his sexual fluids that it was dripping out of him. Not entirely sure why, but this mere evidence excited him to another orgasm.

Freddy had felt about three or four so far. He had taken it upon himself to use the headboard and the bear's grip on his ankles to pivot himself, arching and angling so that Ned's thrusting extremity directly collided with his prostate organ. When he managed to do this - only for a few seconds until his arms burned with the exertion - he felt an intense rush of sharp pleasure gyrating from his body, as if spawned by the rocking from the mattress, the exercise of being so gratifyingly dominated by the large and powerful male.

It was not much longer when Ned had felt the friction accumulate to a degree, as much as his exhilaration, that he recognized his ultimate climax fast approaching. "Do you want me to come inside you?" Ned asked. Freddy replied by begging, again, and pleading that he should certainly do so. And then he came, diving forward so much that he pushed himself further into the human than both of them thought possible. The increased amount of penetration did surprise both of them, and brought no pain or injury to the human.

However, this added bit of implementation so invigorated the muscles closest to his anus, the prostate, and the deeper muscles - plus the very notion of his cavity now being filled with the bear's sperm - engendered an astonishing climax. Both males felt their final orgasms and both climaxed simultaneously, almost as if operative. Freddy felt his genitals convulse and expel his thick, white spunk all across his chest and face, his eyes still winced shut.

Ned glowered with amazement at Freddy's achievement, delighting himself by the thought he had caused such a powerful result. He watched with a grin at each shot and spurt of Freddy's flopping member, and chose to aid by leaning forward and giving a few wet licks at the shaft.

Freddy was still gripping the headboard, and his toes curled until they cramped, with the bear inside of him, still firm though spent. Ned slowly pulled out of his lover and let a gush of white fluid spill outward onto his mattress where it began to absorb into the cloth. Not quite yet exhausted with his lust and hunger for the human's sex - still being quite antsy for it - Ned crawled forward. He had allowed Freddy to lie properly on the bed, with his legs stretched outward, and was now straddling as he had before this all started.

Nosing and licking sloppily again, Ned began to clean his friend of the mess on his front side, eating up the warm, bitter fluid spilled from Freddy's organ. The sensation, once being sensual, was only now comical it seemed, for Freddy only giggled at each gentle kiss of Ned's tongue. Raising his eyes to the human, Freddy finally looked at him. Both could clearly read the declaration for the other. Freddy had now experienced one of his most prolific fantasies, and was able to see that Ned himself had felt quite similar.

Still, whether their fate was certainly set, their matched agendas with the other surely bade them to attempt it. Boyfriends, they should be. And now at this time, they both wanted it, for at least temporarily. However immediately, they wanted to clean themselves. Ned stood and moved to the closet to produce from it two robes, which the males donned, then stealthily whisked themselves to the lavatory, attempting to keep from being spied by the sister.

Freddy was then bathed for the second time that day by his bear.