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Hehhey, and welcome to The Hockey Hunk! We're on the final stretch, but that doesn't mean the race is over yet, with plenty of fun still in store before the end of the season! Here's a nice, hefty chapter I had a lot of fun writing, of course!

Don't hesitate to comment, I am most curious to hear your thoughts about the chapter and the story in general. All feedback is always appreciated.

Don't forget that all votes, faves and watches will help others to find these stories to enjoy as well.

Have a fun read!

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The lumbering bus dropped me off on the corner of Patrick Lane and Duffy Street, the latter that was now passing under my shaky footpaws with every step I took on the spring-slickened pavement. Thankfully, the weather had decided not to rain, but the wind rattled in the large green paper bag swinging from my paw. I almost wished that I was wearing a trench coat that would have allowed for some proper hem-flapping action, but since I did not possess such a garment, I had to make do with the swing of my very own and pretty tail instead. I kept it in check, of course, not wanting to smack any of the passing furs, although it was certainly the case that my full attention was not in collision protection.

I could already see Victor's building, only maybe 50 yards away and sandwiched between a red brick and a stucco apartment blocks. They looked old in that faux way buildings sometimes ended up looking like after they had been renovated to be almost wholly modern except for the actual stone walls that remained standing. Perhaps it was the double-glazed windows with their spotless white modern metal fittings that stood out in comparison, for example, to the much more depilated building on the opposite side of the street that hardly looked as inviting as the one where Victor lived. That's not to say that it was a run-down slum, by no means, it was a pretty nice place, definitely nicer than where I lived, though that isn't saying as much as you might think.

The cold wind ruffled my mane and seeped through the thin fabric of my second nicest shirt. Even with the coat I was wearing, it felt just a little bit chilly, and made the prospect of getting indoors and into the same room with Victor an even nicer possibility. My tail made an extra number 8 behind me at the thought, not to mention that the familiar twinge in my belly renewed itself. I was going to meet not one but two Holdens, one of them being the hockey hunk Victor, of course, the other being the...assistant manager COBB? I wasn't sure what his exact title was, though I feared that after a sufficient liquor intake, the Dobie brother might be more than eager to enlighten me to the intricacies of the family business.

OKAY SO I USE A COMPUTER DO YOU KNOW HOW TO USE A COMPUTER RORY ITS PRETTY NEAT SO YEAH I USE A COMPUTER TO KEEP TRACK OF THINGS LIKE THE INVENTORY AND THE STUFF AND I TAKE CARE OF THE STORAGE FACILITY AND SOMETIMES I EVEN DRIVE THE FORKLIFT CAN YOU DRIVE A FORKLIFT RORY THAT'S NOT A JOB FOR SISSIES HEHEHE JUST JOKING I KNOW YOU AIN'T A SISSY MY BROTHER WOULD NEVER DATE A SISSY HE LIKES BIG STRONG MEN WHO CAN SHOW HIM WHAT THEY'VE GOT DO YOU KNOW HOW TO SHOW WHAT YOU GOT WHY DON'T WE WRESTLE A BIT TO SEE IF YOU'RE GOOD GROOM MATERIAL FOR MY BROTHER AND SEE HOW YOU DO WITH YOUR FUTURE BROTHER IN LAW YEAH AND THAT''S COBB BY THE WAY AND YOU DON'T MESS WITH VICTOR UNLESS YOU WANT TO MESS WITH COBB AND NOW WE'RE GOING TO TAKE SOME JACK DANIELS!

The idea of COBB caused an extra tremble into my stomach, but I braved on, more than determined that this night was going to be for Victor and me, and Cobb could not ruin any of that. I deserved some good times for myself after the string of social failures I had partaken in during the week, and I also felt that accomplishing that via quality time with a randy Dobie might be a good solution to the problem. I knew that I wasn't in the clear yet about many things, such as the whole Colin incident and Mason's problems with that damn good-looking cat friend of his, but at least there was a fair chance that COBB incidents aside, I might actually get to relax and blow off some steam.

That idea was almost too good, I had to remind myself, and make sure that my jeans felt and looked modest enough, while I reached the dull stone building marked with a big number 16, and stopped by the glass doors leading into the hallway. I had never been there in daylight, and it almost seemed unfamiliar to me, for a brief moment. I had to walk across the whole entrance not once but twice before I spotted the bank of door buzzers embedded into one of the walls of the alcove.

"Well that ought to make it..." I rumbled to myself and stopped by the panel to study it, letting my eyes run along the neat rows of names under their little plastic covers.

It only took me a few moments to find the little button labeled "31" followed by "HOLDEN" written in the familiar block letters, impersonal and almost unfriendly in presentation, but the power the name held over me made me smile nonetheless. I actually tapped the little text with my claw, making a popping noise over the plastic, while I squinted and studied the little button to make sure that it really was the buzzer for Victor's apartment.

"Here we go..." I breathed deeply and held my tail still, hoping for the best, when I pressed the button and waited.

The panel did not make a sound, and thus all I could do was to simply stand there in the cool evening air and wait, shifting my weight from one paw to another while my ears flicked and my stomach was having yet another case of the butterflies. I was sure that I shouldn't be so giddy for a situation so casual as this dinner, it being an informal night with the boys, between me and Victor and his bro, nothing more than that. I was sure there'd be some simple, masculine food, some drink, and some terribly embarrassing questions from Cobb, but even that didn't seem so bad, knowing that at least there were two furs in this town that were still genuinely happy to see my sorry lion.

Seconds went on, and I was slowly starting to slip back into the sour mood that had overtaken me throughout the week when my mind happened to be too idle and go back to its old ways of mulling through everything over and over again. I had to make a conscious effort to push those thoughts away, and I did, determined, with a rumble and a huff that even bared my teeth.

The panel by me buzzed and the "31" button lit itself up with an amber lamp within.

"Holden," a voice squeaked from the tinny speaker.

I frowned. It was a deep and rumbling voice, sure, but the filtered quality of the intercom made it impossible to figure out which of the Holdens I might be speaking to. That made me stop for a moment, and bite back the very enthusiastic greeting I had been considering as my initial line to speak, and instead I went for a much more moderate...

"Hello? Uh...it's Rory," I spoke, as clearly as possible, hoping that the voice quality on the other end wasn't as bad.

A crackling laughter filled the small speaker, making my tail and ears jump.

"Hehhey, welcome, Rory! I'll just open the door and you come up!"

The panel buzzed again, and with a loud, electronic beep, the door opened, accompanied with a clearly audible click of the lock being remotely opened. I quickly navigated myself through the doorway and into the small, neat hallway, already looking for the relatively familiar way into the elevators on the other side. Both were in use at the moment, but I didn't have to wait for too long before one of the elevators came to a stop on the ground floor and a fox exited, his tail swishing behind him in a carefree manner. I gave the fox a polite nod and slipped myself into the mirror-walled box and tapped the number of my desired floor, quickly.

The doors closed with a "BING!" and all I could do for now was to stand steadily and clutch the green paper bag against my belly. I could feel the lumpy shapes of the gifts against my paw, and once again, for who knows which time after doing the actual purchase of the presents, I wondered whether they would go down well on their recipients. It had been hectic enough for me to go shopping after work and still have time to get home and freshen up before catching the bus to Victor's place. If only...

I didn't have the time to finish off that thought, for the doors opened with another shrill "BING," and I ejected myself into the corridor. Victor's apartment was nearby and only required me to take a few steps before I was actually standing behind his still closed door. I took in the few details of note that were there, the number plate, the doorbell button and the non descript color, which was only memorable for its forgettable quality. The flicking of my ears and my tail intensified, and my paws continued to clench around the rumpled edge of the green paper bag I held like a shield over my midriff. If I had squeezed any harder, I might have made clawmarks on the bag, and I didn't really want to ruin it.

"Okay, calm down now..." I rumbled to myself, and let my eyes wander away to the doorbell.

Another burst of nerves coursed through me and made me stop before I reached to press the button. Was I okay now? I cursed myself for not really taking the opportunity in the elevator before, to check myself out from its numerous mirrors. There were no others mirrors in sight, and rushing back to the elevator to simply peer at myself from the mirror seemed...a bit extreme. I snuffled to myself at the thought and decided to simply run my paw over my head furs and mane to make sure that they qualified with the level of fluffiness I expected from myself. My mental checks were alright, though. I had showered and washed myself all over. I had dried and combed everything, including my tail, and applied a little bit of mousse to make sure that my mane and tail tuft were perfect. I know that it was a bit vain, but a guy was allowed to have moments of vanity, right? Besides, being in the possession of thicker fur meant that I also had to make sure it always looked good, and if a little bit of chemical help was needed, I would go the distance. That said, I also brushed my teeth, flossed and gargled, for that minty effect, and made sure that my second nicest shirt was properly ironed. I hoped that Victor didn't mind a stripe or two...

The memory of my earlier oral hygiene made me wonder whether it was still holding up, and prompted me to lift my cupped paw over my muzzle and breathe into it, to catch the whiff of my own exhalation. I snuffled at the odd scent, not finding it particularly pleasant nor unpleasant, which was probably alright. Having breath like a glacial wind might be too odd, anyway. That was one less of a worry, too. I smelled nice, I was clean, I was neat, I was...ready, I hoped I was ready.

"Ready or not, here I..."

I clutched the paper bag in one paw and with my other, extended a finger and pressed the doorbell, just quickly, and held my breath.

I heard the heavy pawsteps first, coming through the door, followed by the click of at least two locks before the door started to open. I stepped off to the side to make some room, still holding my breath before the familiar shape of Victor filled the doorway.

Okay...

The Dobie looked hot.

Victor was wearing some nicely fitting pants and a blue silk shirt that fit him even nicer, since it left little to the imagination when it came to the shape of his thick torso. He filled out the sleeves, too, not to overbulging but still in a way that certainly was fun to look at, not to mention that he had left the two top buttons open, to show a V of brown fur between his pecs. He smelled of Victor and extended a cloud of Victorness into the corridor as well. His scent tickled my nose and made me smile automatically. He was wearing his glasses, and looking at me curiously through those frames, with a flick to his ears, too.

He was fun to look at.

"Rory, hey!" he was the first to speak. lifting a paw to wave me a greeting, even if we were only three feet apart.

I swallowed. My tail snapped the floor.

"Hi there!" I smiled toothily.

Victor's paw landed on me quite suddenly, thumping over my shoulder hard enough that I knew that I would feel it after a minute, too. My bag rustled when his paw moved down along my arm and gave it a squeeze, and he was still smiling, and I bet he was smelling me because I was smelling him, checking him out properly in this way as well. I heard a deep rumble rise from him and hoped that it was a pleased reaction to my presence.

My cheeks felt a tad warm when we parted, and Victor stepped backwards, into his apartment, and gestured at me with his paw.

"Come on right in!"

"Thanks," I smiled still as I stepped inside the small hallway that led into Victor's combined kitchen and living area.

I could hear vague sounds coming from beyond my line of sight, but speculating on their nature was not really in my mind yet, I was all too concentrated on the sight of Victor, so broad that he almost seemed to will the narrow space from wall to wall. I had the chance to observe him from the back for a moment, the curve of his back and the roundness of his rump noticeable even under a casual glance, and my eyes knew where to look. All too soon, that ass disappeared when Victor's smiling gaze fell on me again.

Oh,God...

He was leaning against the wall, now, elbow and paw flat on it, for the perfect angle to look even nicer. I had to swallow again. He was looking at me.

"Just hang your jacket and you can come in to see what's happening," he spoke with a mildly amused voice accompanied by numerous ear flicks.

"EVENING RORY!"

I had already lifted a paw to the topmost button of my jacket when the voice boomed from beyond the blind corner, stopping me on my tracks. There was no mistaking that voice, the loud voice that seemed to echo off the walls and sounded even bigger than I remembered it to be in the real life, opposite to the hysterical voice of RORY-COBB who had been my...friend for the past weeks ever since the beginning of my acquaintance with Cobb Holden. Now it was echoing through my head, but it was not coming from within, but through my mildly flattened ears.

Victor barely had the time to turn to look towards the source of the sound before the second Holden appeared in the entryway, filling up the space left by Victor off to one side. Cobb's broad muzzle was split in a grin and his ears flicked, and he seemed to be just as big as I remembered, his ears actually reaching taller than Victor, it seemed, now that they stood practically side by side and that allowed a direct comparison. He was broad-shouldered but not as thick as his brother, although, as I realized, I was also seeing much more of his arms than I was seeing Victor's. Cobb was wearing a black apron, and the amount of bare fur told me that he was also NOT wearing a shirt underneath the apron. He radiated excitement, not unlike the first time I had the pleasure to enjoy his presence, although...it wasn't quite the same.

God I hoped not.

"Hi Rory!" his voice was still loud but still what I would call normal, I thought, while he greeted me with that ever-broad grin and a big paw wave.

My tail coiled itself around my leg for safety when I gave a nod and a smile.

"Hello, Cobb," I spoke in as level voice as possible.

"Hey!" the Dobie replied. "You're right on time, too!"

Victor rumbled deeply and gave his brother a dubious look, but that didn't seem to stop Cobb from being all over me, at least with his eyes.

"Heh," I smirked.

"Got here alright, Rory?" Cobb asked.

"Sure!" I replied.

"Great!"

"Thanks..."

"Everything going well for you, Rory? Busy in that shop of yours? Victor tells me that you're quite the businessman!"

Wow.

The Dobie elbowed his brother lightly, who rumbled even louder than before and snorted loudly. Cobb simply smiled, his eyes leaping from me to Victor, whom was glaring at the brother with sure signs of budding annoyance all over his face. Cobb was not that easily subdued.

"Well I wouldn't call myself quite that...yet..." I smirked, deciding that playing along as smoothly as possible might spare me some Dobie trouble later on.

"Well that's the spirit!" Cobb grinned.

Victor shook his head mildly and cleared his throat.

"Why don't you go and check on the dinner, Cobb?" the Dobie spoke with that familiar, deep, rumbling edge that caressed my ears. "Let Rory settle in a bit before we eat."

I bet Cobb wanted to pout, even if he didn't, his eyes did more than enough to convey the same feeling through.

"Oooooooooooooh but I just checked the Beef Wellington, it's juicy, thick and nice and really meaty, heh, just the way you like it" the Dobie folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall, almost like his brother had done before.

Victor huffed.

"It's true!" Cobb's elbow tapped Victor's ribs again, making the big Dobie murr.

Both of them kept staring at me, as if I was the most interesting thing they had ever seen. My tailtip began to tap itself against my ankle, my nerves on the edge, sure, the initial shellshock of meeting Cobb was slowly going down, replaced by the general nervousness from before. I was on the spot, I knew I was going to be as soon as I set my paws into this apartment, but now that the reality hit me...damn.

"Well I look forward to tasting it!" I offered.

Cobb's eyes glinted.

"I saw it on MasterChef and I immediately knew that it was fancy enough to serve to our very special guest!" the Dobie spoke.

Victor snuffled.

"That's why we've had two practice rounds," Victor's ears flicked amiably. "I've had sirloin all week."

I smiled a little.

"Heh," I flicked companionably.

Cobb grinned.

"You guys and loins..." the Dobie shook his head.

Victor opened his muzzle to say something outraged, I was sure, but Cobb was too fast, once again.

"But! Hehhey, I'll let you guys get cozy or whatever you like and I'll go and fetch you some wine, Rory! I hope you like some nice red wine I bought yesterday! Should I get you a glass?"

"Uhh..."

"You guys go to the living room, I'll bring you some over," Cobb grinned once more and turned around on his heels to stomp away. I caught the sight of a rapidly flicking docked tail before he disappeared from the view, and my eyes found their way back to Victor.

The Dobie gave me a long-suffering, little smile, and shook his head slowly.

"I'VEEEEE BEEN TO GEORGIA AND CALIFOOOOORNIA...."

Off-key singing echoed from what I presumed to be the kitchen.

"Sorry about that," Victor mouthed.

"It's okay," I smiled, quickly, showing the tips of my teeth in the open-muzzled smile.

I decided that this was as good a time as ever to bring attention to it, and thus, I lifted my green paper bag and gave it a quick wave. Victor's ears flicked curiously.

"I brought gifts too," I smiled, hoping that it would cheer up Victor a little and give him strength to not to throttle his brother tonight.

"....AND SIPPED CHAMPAGNE ON A YACHT..."

Victor's ears flattened mildly, but he was smiling, intimately, even, at me, and I smiled back, feeling oddly shy.

"Something for Cobb, like you suggested, and a surprise gift for you, heh," I added, hoping to sound flippant about it, while it really was something I had spent a great deal of the day thinking about.

"I'll look forward to seeing what you've come up with, Rory," Victor winked.

"Heh," I grinned again.

Victor stepped a little bit closer to me in the small hallway, standing by the door into which I presumed to lead into a second bedroom, considering that I had been to every other room in the apartment other than that, I thought that a safe bet. Victor and I were only about three feet apart now, looking at each other in the relative calm of the hallway, now that Cobb was out of sight. That feeling of shyness threatened to resurface again, but I decided that this wasn't the time for it, not now...too much Cobb hazard at present.

"Glad you could make it," Victor scratched over his arm while he spoke, slowly.

"I'm glad you invited me," I replied with a smile, my own free paw fondling my once forgotten buttons again.

"I know it's a bit of a mess but..." Victor shrugged.

"It's perfectly fine, "I smiled reassuringly, "I looked forward to it all week. It'll be great."

"NEVER BEEEEN TO MEEEEE EEE EEEE EEEEE EEE"

Victor flinched.

"I really hope so."

I snuffled.

"Yeah."

A few exaggeratedly loud steps later, Cobb re-appeared on the doorway, holding half-way filled large wine glasses in each paw.

"Come on, guys, save the snuggles to the couch, I've got your wine here!" the Dobie rumbled.

I saw the corner of Victor's muzzle jump, baring a single vicious tooth, but it was such a brief gesture that I wasn't sure whether Cobb even saw it, but what he did see was the paw wave Victor gave for his brother.

"Let Rory undress first, would you?" the Dobie brother rumbled to his twin.

Cobb let out a barking cough and flicked his ears flat against his head, audibly, before he let them spring up.

"Whoah, I don't mind if you do but excuse me first!" Cobb winked and indeed disappeared, this time moving to the left and to the direction of the living room.

Victor's paws curled into fists.

"Never mind," I whispered, unbuttoning my jacket with one paw now, as fast as I could.

"I'm..." Victor rumbled.

"Don't over do it," I snuffled, tapping Victor's calves with my tail.

"Okay," the Dobie rumbled.

"...I'VE BEEN TO NICE AND THE ISLE OF CRETE..."

Cobb's singing renewed itself and I caught a sight of the very Dobie, briefly, as he made his quick way walking across my field of vision, towards the kitchen, now without his wine glasses, tail flicking rapidly still and showing off the brown fur over his arm that had much the same tone as his brother's did.

I put the gift bag down to the floor and appropriated myself a coat hanger from the rack filled with Victor's clothes, and hung my own modestly sized garment there, next to the expansive winterwear belonging to my host for the night. I stretched myself out quickly, drew a deep breath, and gave Victor a broad smile, now that I was done, and picked up the bag again.

"Lead on," I smiled.

Victor returned my smile, and mine certainly persisted while we walked into the main room of the modest but nice apartment. The kitchen and living area was nicely sized, at least, with a few steps 'worth between the small dining table that could easily seat four and the back of the couch that was aimed towards the big screen TV that was placed on the big bookcase on the far wall. The wooden shelves were packed with DVDs and books, as well as a few knickknacks and the compulsory graduation photos, or so it seemed from my faraway scrutiny, basing my guess on the purple gowns present. There were a couple of armchairs to my left, angled so that their occupants could chat with anyone sitting on the couch and still maintain line of sight to the important TV. A small table stood on the end of the couch upon which the wine glasses that had made their cameo appearance earlier now rested, having been placed there by the naked chef currently continuing his bad singing behind Victor's long kitchen counter. I saw gleaming pans on the gas range and Cobb's paw was resting over what I assumed to be one of Victor's cookery books, now open on the counter. I didn't pay too much attention to Cobb who seemed blissfully distracted for the moment, but looked at Victor instead, who looked slightly ill at ease still.

"Everything looks nice," I murmured, hoping to divert his attention some more.

"Thanks," Victor replied, "please sit down wherever you like."

I gave a quick visual inventory to the room and decided to sit on the nearest armchair, due to the twisted logic that it would prevent Cobb from sitting down next to me on the couch, a situation too hazardous to even properly prepare for, mentally. I felt quite glad, though, when Victor took the other armchair next to mine, after fetching the two wine glasses from the small table.

"Here."

I put my bag down to the floor between my footpaws and accepted the glass with a smile.

"Thanks."

Victor took a quick sip and seemed pleased enough with it, and I mimicked him, indulging in my own glass with a little mawful. I licked my lips afterwards and decided that watching Victor some more would be the funniest thing I could do for the moment, and thus I continued, observing the curve of his muzzle and the movement of his tall ears. Even Cobb had stopped singing for now, allowing a soothingly quiet atmosphere to fall. The air was starting to smell of cooking meat and vegetables, something that made me realize that I was pretty hungry, too, having only eaten a sandwich and salad during my lunch break, when it came to eating anything substantial during the day. I hoped that my stomach wouldn't suddenly start to rumble.

"So...uh...how was work?" that was Victor, making small talk and looking at me, rolling the wine glass in his paw.

I rubbed my chin quickly.

"Nothing too unusual," I replied, thoughtful air about myself. "Not too busy. One of my co-workers was sick so I had to do some extra heavy lifting but that's nothing so strange. It was fine."

I knew it was a heavily abridged version of my day, which had so far included desperate Mason-searching, trying to calm down a very worried wolf and a lynx as well as becoming the confident to Marge and her...very profound secret. I also knew that these were private things, not something to make small talk about, not when they had been shared with me in confidence. I was not a blabbermuzzle, never had been, and I was not going to start, not even if my small talk reserves left over from the exclusion of all the juicy gossip would plummet down to minimum levels.

Victor nodded, watching me over the rims of his glasses.

"That's good," his big head shook in agreement.

"Nice to relax now, though," I smiled, wriggling myself a little in the chair for emphasis.

"Heh."

I took a miniature sip from the glass.

"How about your day, then?"

Victor scratched his shoulder absently.

"Well, it looks like we might be getting closer to finalizing a pretty big contract, so I had to work on the assessment of the requirements for extra logistic capacity on our offer," Victor mused, not sounding quite as keen as I might have expected from someone speaking about a huge business venture. Maybe Cobb was sucking the joy out of him.

"That sounds good," I commented, "more work for you?"

"Probably," he shrugged. "That's how it tends to go with these things. More work and less furs to do it."

"Yeah."

"HEY RORY!!"

My ears made a quick flick upon the sudden onslaught of Cobb, but I made my best effort to remain calm otherwise. I looked over to my right to see the apron-wearing Dobie standing behind the kitchen counter, leaning over it a little and peering curiously in our direction.

"What is it...uh...Cobb?"

"I made the Beef Wellington with lactose-free butter so that you don't have to worry about eating it, and I've made sure that everything we're having is perfectly good for your tummy and tastes great!"

I wasn't sure whether to feel flattered or stalked, but I smiled nonetheless.

"Thank you, Cobb."

"Won't be too long, you guys keep snuggling or whatever you like to do when you're not heheh!" the Dobie waved a big paw in our direction and moved towards the stove and its steaming pots, seemingly busy at work with dinner preparations still.

Victor rubbed his whole big paw over his muzzle and rumbled. I chuffed and got a look from Victor.

"I must have gained ten pounds during these two weeks from Cobb's cooking," Victor mused.

"I'M SURE YOU DON'T MIND IF A DUDE HAS SOMETHING TO GRAB ONTO, DO YOU RORY!" the brother, whom obviously possessed keen hearing, commented from the kitchen.

I flinched a little at the surprise invasion of our relatively private conversation, but held my calm, as well as I could. I gave Victor a little smile and an ear flick, and then turned towards the direction of the Cobb, hovering behind his counter and channeling Gordon Ramsay in his rapid stirring action.

"Does the same go for girls for you too, Cobb?" I raised my voice just enough that it would carry over the hissing of his pots.

I heard Victor make an odd muffled sound by me, while my eyes turned towards the tall apron-wearing man who was seriously in need of some payback for all his little...remarks.

The Cobb didn't stop stirring his pot, but instead, he laughed, deep and loud, reminding me of Victor's own rumbling laughter, but with the added knowledge that it was coming from the menace of a brother, not the quietly facepawing male sitting by me and huffing.

"Hahahah, yeah, sure I like a nice rack on a girl!" the Dobie replied. "But I'm not into those Jersey Shore kind of girls with huge tits and a stick-like body, eww, none of that!"

Victor snorted.

"We've watched that too," he huffed before going for his wine.

Cobb opened a cabinet above the gas range and took out a glass bottle filled with some sort of a spice he began to apply into the sizzling saucepan.

"I thought you liked the one with Vinny and Pauly D getting wild in the jacuzzi!" Cobb rumbled.

Victor shook his head.

"I don't know why you even want watch that show, it's total bullshit," the Dobie grunted.

"Consider it therapy!" Cobb smirked happily to himself. "Hmm...shallots...shallots..."

I turned to Victor.

"I didn't know that Cobb is a gourmet chef," I mused.

Victor chuckled from his chair.

"He likes to make a good impression."

I chuckled nervously.

"Well he really does make an impression," I replied truthfully.

"DO YOU LIKE MASTERCHEF RORY?"

"I haven't really watched it but I heard it was alright!"

"WELL YOU SHOULD!"

"Thanks for the tip!" I felt my own voice starting to rise into the Cobbsphere with every round of conversation we had with one another, stilted as it was.

"NO PROBLEM!"

"None!"

"Hope you're not already regretting that you decided to spend the night, Rory," Victor hissed from the corner of his muzzle, so that the familiar singular tooth was visible.

I leaned closer to him, with my elbow supporting my weight on the armrest, and whispered in a similar voice to make my quick reply.

"It's worth it," I said.

Victor smiled, and I hurried to sit back properly on my chair, just to make sure that Cobb wouldn't think that we were kissing or something like that. Not that there would have been anything wrong about us kissing or something like that, but the possible provocation for someone as...eager as Cobb, we would not have gotten away with it ever.

The avalanche-like sound of Cobb approaching told me that I had acted just in time to make myself respectable, and I was in place to witness him flopping down onto the couch. The leather made a loud squishy sound upon the sudden crash of big Dobie. He seemed to fill the whole room with himself, larger than life and all too curious, of course, looking at me and Victor with attentive eyes. They were so bright that I wondered whether he had drank any coffee recently.

"Heheh, I have the sauce simmering and the beef is almost done, thought I'd come over for a couple of minutes," the Dobie stated as he stretched his arms up over his head, baring a fuzzy armpit for me to see, whether I liked it or not. "It's not polite to make it seem like I'd forgotten you guys, especially you, Rory!"

"You weren't doing that at all," I hurried, out of politeness and with the desperate hope that he would not get the idea of somehow trying to make up for it...in whatever twisted way he might come up with.

"How's the wine?" Cobb's arms came down and slapped against his knees while he leaned closer, eying me curiously, deeply. "They told me that it's good, and I had a quick taste before so I thought it'd be great!"

I raised my glass in a mild mimicry of a toast and smiled.

"Oh it's adequate, thank you, Cobb."

The brother Dobie leered at me for a moment before his eyes seemed to spot the green bag still placed between my footpaws, providing a new point of interest for him. His ears began to flick rapidly.

"What've you got there, Rory?" he spoke through a smile that showed all of his front teeth.

I patted the rustling edge of the bag with my paw and smiled.

"Just something little I brought," I mused. "Something I hope you'll like."

Cobb's eyes widened.

"Is it a Super Soaker?" his muzzle went round with wonderment.

My smile froze over my lips. Victor made a sound I couldn't really classify, and Cobb kept looking at me with his big, earnest eyes. What the hell was that? He couldn't be serious, now could he...could he...not even...not even the worst moments of RORY-COBB could have brought up such a statement...had I really even heard right? I gave Victor a look, but he only looked even more in the need of a good facepaw, and the rest was not comprehensible. Well that wasn't exactly helping my mood either. Was Cobb playing some sort of a weird "let's see if we can break him?" sort of a game with me again, sizing up my potential as a companion to Victor? Or maybe it was even Victor playing ALONG to Cobb's antics, thinking that the Cobb Test might be a good measure of a man when it came to boyfriend potential...not that we were boyfriends, I could...I didn't have a name for us yet.

Cobb laughed and patted the armrest of the couch with his huge paw.

"Just kidding, Rory!" the Dobie licked his lips. "Come on, show us what you've got!"

I put my glass down, quickly, and lifted the green bag quickly over to my lap while the Dobie duo kept keen eyes on me for my every moment and my every word. I felt a new nervous jitter as I wondered, now that the moment was at paw, whether they would actually enjoy these gifts for what they were worth. It was a choice based on Victor's suggestive text, of course, but...how Cobb would like it...

"It's just a little something," I noted, a bit nervously, as I dug into my bag to bring out the first of my gifts, a black, somewhat heavy box, which I quickly handed over to Cobb's already reaching paw.

"Whoop!" Cobb whooped as he picked up the box and held it up, squinting to get a close view.

"Victor said you might need some so..."

"L'Oreal for Men Homme Parfum Irrésistible..."he read out text from the glossy title, botching the French merrily, but having fun, I hoped. "This some pansy scent or something?"

"It's some...uh...fur care products..." I spoke quickly, bashfully, especially after I saw that Victor was smiling broadly at me. "And deodorant and conditioner and shampoo and cologne...all designed for smooth-furred canines, they told me..."

Cobb rolled the box loaded with bottles in his paws, studying its black, masculine shape with clear curiosity. His ears kept on flicking slowly, but I wasn't so sure whether that was a good thing or not.

"Wow..."

I hurried to dig out a similar box that remained in the bag and handed it over to Victor, trying to smile encouragingly.

"I got you the Bonhomme version, thought it was...more like you," I spoke quickly, "more sandalwood or something...I wasn't so sure, the girl at the store was speaking so much and..."

Victor smiled and patted my arm.

"It's great! You know how it's like when you go shopping, you just see the shelf with a thousand bottles and no idea what would be the best one for your fur, and then you end up buying what you always do and that's it" Victor enthused.

Cobb chuckled roughly.

"Awww..." the Dobie leered.

Victor snorted.

"You should thank Rory for a thankful gift," Victor noted.

"Of course I was gonna do that!" Cobb yelped, staring at his brother. "I just didn't want to interrupt your little moment or anything like that..."

"Hope it'll be nice," I spoke quickly.

Cobb placed his gift box down to the couch and got up and was suddenly very close to me, looking down at me from the top of his tall apron-wearing frame, smiling all too broadly.

"Thanks, Rory!"

"You're welcome," I felt my neck prickle.

Cobb grabbed my shoulder and gave it a hefty squeeze, just a quick one, before he was moving towards the kitchen again.

"Just wait for the dinner and you'll get a real thank you, Rory!" the Dobie clattered as he disappeared into a cloud of vapor rising from his saucepan.

*

Hehhey!

What do you think so far? Is Rory doing fine? Is Cobb behaving? How will Victor do? Don't hesitate to drop a comment, and stay tuned for the continuation!

Thank you for reading my story.

Cheerio!