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The following story is a work of fiction and is meant to be taken as such. It contains graphic sexual content that is not meant for those under the age of 18. Read at your own risk.

But most of all, enjoy! :3

A Friend in the Dark

By Summerfox

"I don't believe in ghosts but there's a ghost under my bed... "

"Ghost" - Billie the Vision and the Dancers

I was never afraid of the dark. As a cub, I never saw anything threatening or frightening about being alone in the dark. Call me odd, but I actually found the darkness comforting at times. Like the darkness of hiding under the warmth of a thick-padded duvet, or the solitary peacefulness of hiding in the closet or bathroom. I can understand why people would say they are afraid of the dark. It's the fear of the unknown. It's the fear of entering a dark room and not knowing who - or what - is waiting on the other side, possibly to pull you in as you grope for a light and horribly dismember you. I like to think I was a very rational cub growing up. I knew there was nothing that would hurt me in there, unless I bark my shin on a low piece of furniture trying to find a light switch. I like to think that the scarier things in life tended to be in the light rather than hiding in the dark.

Growing up, my fears happened to be the things that did hurt me. I was afraid of bees and wasps and other stinging, biting insects; I was afraid of the bullies who frequently used me as a repository for their adolescent aggression; the big, bad strangers that parents would warn their cubs about to never accept candy or rides from; and I was afraid of getting lost or losing my mom and dad. I felt that all of these reasons were grounded solidly in reality and justifiable. Being afraid of the dark just wasn't rational.

My earliest and only irrational fear as a cub was of the monster under my bed.

I first met the monster when I was about 7 years old, back when my family was still together and living in southern California. I was just about to fall asleep when I heard a low voice speak out from under my bed. There was a deep rumble to it but it wasn't unfriendly. It simply said, "Hello."

The surprise of hearing the voice under my bed was enough to jolt me awake and I sat up screaming. My parents came and consoled me and of course they thought that it was the dark I was afraid of. They went out and got me a nightlight in the shape of a racecar which I didn't really care for because I thought it was babyish. After they put the nightlight in, I didn't hear from that voice for a while. It lasted for about a year. By then the event had almost completely faded from my memory.

One night the nightlight burned itself out. The darkness was soothing and soon I was on the cusp of falling asleep. Then I heard that voice again.

"Hey," it said.

I opened my eyes and sat up in bed. I looked around my darkened bedroom with wide, terrified eyes, watching for any sign of movement. I licked my lips nervously and, in a trembling voice, replied back into the darkness, "H...hello?"

Silence.

I sat there for what felt like hours, watching the corners of my room and straining my ears, waiting for a reply. My heart was pounding in my chest as my young mind tried to grasp what I had just heard. The voice had been clear as day, talking as if it had been speaking from beneath the bed.

After a few minutes, I forced myself to get up and out of bed. I crept slowly and carefully, trying not to create any noise. I was almost too afraid to put my footpaw down, fearing that whoever or whatever it was that had woke me up would reach out to grab my ankle and drag me under. Normally I would never have felt this level of jolting, irrational fear because I knew there wasn't anything under my bed other than dust bunnies and the occasional toy that had migrated under there.

I dashed and turned on my bedroom light so quickly that my feetpaws almost never touched the floor. Trembling, I brought myself to look back under the bed to face the source of the mysterious voice. I lifted the bed skirt: Darkness there and nothing more.

The next night I stayed awake as long as I could and waited for the voice to come back. I had a flashlight in paw and was armed with a baseball bat, stashed under the covers just in case the owner of the voice was malevolent. The funny thing about the brain is that it has the ability to shut itself down if one goes without sleep for long periods of time. I had fallen asleep somewhere in the middle of the night. I woke up the next morning still clutching the flashlight in both paws. I never heard the voice that night.

I repeated this process for a couple more nights until the lack of sleep started wearing me down. I had come to the conclusion that the voice was just a product of my overactive imagination and that the whole matter wasn't worth losing any more sleep over. That night, just as I was on the brink of falling asleep, the voice spoke again.

"Try keeping your eyes closed."

This woke me all the way back up and I stifled a terrified scream into my pillow.

I screamed because it shattered the foundations of the reality that I had known at that young age. There were no such things as goblins and ghosts and beasties that lurked under the bed. There was nothing lurking in the shadows, waiting to pounce when you're all alone and disembowel you. But the voice I had heard had been clear as day. It was real. It wasn't the low, gurgling growl of a B-movie monster, but the voice of a friendly stranger, speaking in a low hushed tone as if to offer some bit of helpful advice that no one else needs to know. That voice was breaking my foothold in reality and screaming was the only thing that could keep me from going mad.

I didn't hear the voice for the rest of that night, which I found slightly more unsettling in its own way. Just like the previous nights, the voice had gone away right after I had opened my eyes. I devised a hypothesis over the course of my sleepless night, that if I kept my eyes closed I would be able to communicate with the voice under my bed. I decided I would test this the following night. I would try and talk back to the voice. My only prediction was that either way, it would mean that I was crazy.

I spent the whole day thinking about what would come of communicating with the thing under my bed. All throughout the day, I had a pit of anxiety resting in my stomach and was unable to focus in class or eat anything at lunch. The fear got progressively worse as the sun began to set and bedtime was imminent.

That night I tossed and turned restlessly, keeping my eyes closed but unable to sleep. Finally, just as the adrenaline had run its course and I was starting to grow tired, thinking that the voice was all just imagined, "Are you awake?"

My heart missed a beat and I nearly opened my eyes but I kept them clenched shut. I licked my lips and stuttered nervously, "Y-yes..."

"Good. Now, keep your eyes closed," It said.

Then I heard something slide out from under my bed, dragging its furry body across the wood floor and pulling itself up on the carpet. I judged by the weight of the noise it made, it sounded to be about the size of a large adult. With mounting horror, I heard a series of popping noises and a groan, like it was stretching its back.

"Ah...that's better."

I threw the covers over my head, hiding under the blankets like most cubs do when they think that their only chance of survival against the 'things that go bump the night' is to hide under the covers and pretend that it's a force field against monsters. I was paralyzed with terror as the thing in my room turned and gently shook my shoulder.

"Hey," It said benignly, "I'm not gonna hurt you."

"G-go away!" I said, my voice trembling with fear. "You're not real!"

I broke my paralysis and threw off the covers, opening my eyes to face the thing. I reached up to turn on the bedside lamp. In an instant it was gone. That voice, that thing that was in my room. All I heard was an audible popping noise and that was it. Silence except for my manic breathing.

I peered over the bed where I had heard it and saw nothing out of the ordinary. For the rest of the night I sat up in bed with the lamp on, not daring to go to sleep.

I've never told anyone about this, not my parents, not my teachers, not even my best friends at school. I knew no one would believe me. I wasn't even sure that I believed myself but I knew that the voice had been real. The large paw that shook my shoulder had been real too. I thought I would never sleep again.

After that incident, I slept with the lamp on for a long time. I was slightly ashamed of it for the same reason the nightlight had embarrassed me, because I felt like it made me more like a baby than someone who was going into the fourth grade. It made me feel immature at a time when I yearned to be treated more like an adult. And yet, I kept the light on because I knew that 'thing' or whatever it was wouldn't be able to get me.

This lasted for a few more months until the night of the first blackout. This happened back in the early 2000's during the energy crisis which I would never fully understand other than it meant a lot of blackouts and brownouts.

I remember the first night the lights went out. I was sitting up in bed, reading Animal Farm (which my teachers thought was a little out of my literary range, though I actually quite enjoyed it) when my room was plunged into complete darkness. After the initial shock of the lights snapping out, dull panic began to set in once I realized that I couldn't see a thing.

I placed my finger between the pages where I had left off and felt around the nightstand for my bookmark. As I groped around in the darkness, I imagined a horrible paw closing down on my wrist and dragging me under the bed. I felt the bookmark and snatched it quickly. I placed it in the book and carefully laid it back on the nightstand.

I quickly crawled under the covers and hid there, waiting for sleep to take me quickly. The panic had now calmed down to a dull fear, though I was waiting for that thing under my bed to speak again. I waited for it to drag itself out from under my bed on its belly and crawl up on the bed to meet me. In my mind I imagined all the horrible scenarios and outcomes but really the worst part was waiting.

Finally it spoke, "Hey kiddo."

My heart leapt in my chest.

"Listen, I know you're afraid of me but you really shouldn't be."

I kept my eyes closed, pretending to be asleep. That's the other mode of defense in cubdom, pretending that you're asleep so the thing tip-tapping at your window or the thing scratching under your bed can't get you. Or maybe trick them into believing you're not there.

There was a moment of silence.

"Look, I'll stay under here until you feel ready to meet me. Until then, what do you say me and you chat and get to know one another?"

"Who are you?" I asked, with hesitation. I was skeptical of the thing's offer, uncertain if this was genuine or just a trap to lower my defenses.

"My name is Laune." It said. He pronounced it 'lawn-uh'.

"I-I'm Andrew..." I offered back cautiously.

I heard a good natured chuckle, "Hello, Andrew."

"What are you?" I asked softly.

"It's difficult to explain...I'll tell you when you're older."

I felt a little angry being told I wasn't old enough to handle an explanation.

"Are you a monster?"

"No Andrew, I'm not. It's much more complicated than that. But I assure you, I am not a monster."

At the time I could not explain why I found the thing's voice comforting. It spoke simply and plainly, not talking down to me in a condescending manner like most adults do with cubs. Its voice was deep, but not like the rumbling, gurgling growl you'd expect from some horrible, drooling B-movie monster. It spoke like an adult, which in perspective might have been more or less terrifying than having a monster under my bed.

"Then what are you? Who are you?"

There was a pause from under the bed, as if it were taking a moment to carefully calculate and word its response.

"Call me your imaginary friend for now. It's the best way I can explain it now."

And he was right about that. When he later explained who and what he was, it made a whole lot of sense. But for that moment, it was sufficient enough.

The more and more I talked with it, the more I began to trust it. Given the absurdity of the situation, I tried my best to keep in perspective that this was something living under my bed, in the dark, that I could not see, and spoke with me as if it knew me all my life. By then I had already figured out that Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy weren't real, so the thought some kind of monster or imaginary friend living under my bed was surreal and a bit daunting. It wasn't overly polite or anything but it gave off good vibes. Though I tried to keep in mind that even devil knows how to deceive.

~~~

I had the misfortune of sharing a Birthday with the first day of fourth grade. It was also on a Wednesday, which is just as equally tragic but maybe less so if it had fallen on a Monday. At least on Monday I could have had an early party on Sunday. But I would have to wait until Saturday to have the party. I would have to wait for half a week, which is practically longer than waiting a whole month to have it.

I came home from school that day and slammed the door. No one was home. My mother would be out running errands and my father would still be at his work. Neither would be home until about five or so. The slam of the door was stifled by the deafening silence of the house.

I stood there a moment before slumping back against the door, sliding down to the floor and began crying. I wanted to scream until my throat was raw but all I could muster was a series of wet sobs, pushing the heels of my palms into my eyes.

I hadn't cried in a long time because, like nightlights, it fell out of vogue. Crying was for babies. Crying because you didn't get what you want or because you got a 'boo-boo' had fallen out of style once I developed a sense of shame and a sense of self-awareness. But I was alone now and the day had greatly overwhelmed me. There were new math equations, heavier books, reading chapters, writing reports, and bullies whose last names coincidently landed them in a seat next to me while my friends sat further away. Alphabetical order can be a cruel mistress.

A thump from upstairs halted my crying spell. Not a loud thump, but just enough for me to hear over my own crying.

"Hello?" I called out into the empty house.

No response.

"Laune?"

Again, no response.

Over the past month, Laune and I had been talking and we had struck up a kind of bond. It was like instant messaging; you may never see the person you're chatting with but you know they're there on the other side. They could be anyone though.

He (I assumed it was a 'he') told me that he couldn't come out during the day because he couldn't be in the direct sunlight.

"So you come out at night? What about moonlight?" I had asked him one night.

"Moonlight is only reflected light from the sun. It's safer for me to handle."

It sort of made sense. Vampires came out at night, and werewolves transformed under the moonlight. Sure, why the hell not.

"What about nightlights or lightbulbs," I asked.

"Painful," he replied, "Artificial light is painful to me."

I still don't fully understand that one though.

But still, the thump from upstairs startled me out of my upset disposition. I thought it might have been possible for him to be up there blanketed under the darkness of my bed or hiding inside my closet out of the light but I couldn't be sure. Maybe it was nothing.

At that moment, I felt Laune was the only one I could talk to about the day I had had. I wanted it to be nightfall so I could go to bed and tell him about how Robbie Dogan had called me a 'chubby dickhead' while the teacher wasn't looking and how he and his friends chased me around the playground during recess and tried to push me into the girl's bathroom when they had caught up to me. Granted, I was overweight for a Dalmatian pup and it was fairly easy for them to catch up. All the other Dalmatians I had known at school (which weren't many) were lithe and very athletic. I was always lagging behind in everything in P.E. I didn't know what a 'dickhead' was, though. But I knew the 'chubby' part was spot on.

I could have told my parents when they came home that night but I didn't. My mother noticed that I was morosely pushing the peas around my plate and asked me if I had a bad day. I lied and told her no, but her intuition told her otherwise. They both assumed that it was because I was having a late Birthday.

"Don't worry, sweetheart," she said comfortingly, "You'll have a great Birthday this Saturday. You can invite your friends to Burger World for dinner, and..."

She went on describing how great my Birthday was going to be. It did make me feel a little better, knowing that it was going to be fun this Saturday, but it still didn't change the fact that I had had an all-around rotten day at school and I was overwhelmed from all the new things I had to deal with.

That night as I was lying in bed, waiting for the voice of Laune to come out from under the bed to ask me how my day was as he always did, I recounted all the events of the day. When I remembered every detail of that day, it sunk in that I had to go back and do it all over again the next day. And the next day, and the next day, and so on. There was a lump of hopelessness in my throat. I didn't want to do it anymore.

I didn't feel like crying then because I was exhausted from everything. I was almost fast asleep before I heard Laune's voice from under the bed.

"You awake?"

I sighed softly, "Yes..."

"How was your day, kiddo?" He asked pleasantly, as he always did.

"Bad..."

"Oh," his tone turned into concern, "What happened?"

I told him about all the things that had happened, from being pushed into the girl's restroom to not knowing the answer when the teacher called on me to answer the question. All the sordid details and parts that I would never talk about with my parents even if they had asked. I felt like I could trust Laune and tell him anything, even if he was a monster or an imaginary friend.

He listened patiently until I finished. I sighed and pushed my face into the pillow, "I don't ever want to go back..."

"Andrew?"

"Yeah?" I asked, lifting my head back up.

"Do you trust me?"

My ears picked up in surprise. It was a very unusual thing for him to ask, but I supposed that I did trust him. He had stayed under the bed since the first time he tried to come out and we had talked for so long that I probably would have considered him a friend if I didn't have the underlying feeling that he was most likely a figment of my imagination.

After some deliberation, I said with slight uncertainty, "Sure...I guess so."

I heard shuffling under the bed and my heart began to race again like the first time. He crawled out from under the bed, grunting as he pushed himself up. I didn't hide under the covers this time, but I shivered with trepidation. I kept my eyes closed and told myself that if he wanted to actually eat me, he would have already done so.

I tensed up as the covers pulled back and the mattress sunk under the weight of Laune crawling into bed with me. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me gently to his chest.

I couldn't see him, but based on what I felt he was a canine, just like me but taller and lanky. His fur was shaggier, like a wild animal. I could feel the knobby ribs on his chest and how his flesh clung to his bones like a curtain. He rested his muzzle on my head, snorting softly into my headfur. His muzzle was longer than most canines and probably held a lot more teeth.

I was deeply terrified at the prospect that this thing felt very real and now it held me his arms. I could smell his pungent scent and hear his heartbeat thumping behind his boney ribs and it all felt very real. And yet I could have opened my eyes and made it disappear into the night.

He whispered softly and comfortingly in my ear, "It's going to be alright, Andrew." He rubbed his paw against me gently. "It's not as bad as you think it is. You have your friends, you have your Birthday coming up, and you have your parents who love you." He chuckled, "It's not all that bad."

I was a little taken aback by the smell of his breath, which smelled like the stench of rotting meat on a hot day, but I listened to what he had to say.

"No matter how bad things may seem, things will get better after time. You'll have your share of bad days and good days but you just have to remember what you do have and how lucky you are to have them."

I nodded softly.

"Don't let them get to you, pup. If you do, they'll always win. You don't have to fight them or hurt them to win, alright?"

I nodded again and he kissed my forehead. It was strangely comforting despite his 'unique characteristics'. I smiled and said, "Thank you."

He gave me a squeeze and said, "Now, off to sleep with you, kiddo. Tomorrow's another day."

I fell asleep quickly, feeling a whole lot better. He stayed with me, holding me as I drifted off to sleep.

When I awoke the next morning he was gone and there was no sign that he had ever been there in my bed with me.

~~~

I had a few friends growing up but as friends go they were pretty inconsistent. They came and went over the years, some staying for a whole grade and falling out with them after, and some I still speak with to this day. Kylie Meere and Trevor Lewiston are a couple who I've stayed acquaintances with long after Elementary, Middle, and High School. I never quite understood how it works, when the ones you thought were friends drift apart while others devoutly stay together. I think it has to do with personality and chemistry. Sometimes the time and balance is just right with another fur or person. Kylie, a ferret, was always gravitating towards the offbeat and the outcasts, while still maintaining a good rapport with the more mundane and popular crowd. She reminded me of a goth kid the way she obsessed with the paranormal, but without all the makeup or Hot Topic clothing. She was able to blend in perfectly wherever she went. Plus, she was as sweet and quirky as can be unless you got on her bad side.

Trevor, a red fox, used to be a normal, happy-go-lucky guy when I met him in the 3rd grade. Over time he became more and more cynical and quiet but he was still a pretty nice guy. He came out to Kylie and I in the 10th grade and I came out a few months later. I don't think I'd ever seem Kylie so happy when she found out that she had two gay best friends. She of course tried to set us up but we didn't want to get into anything more complicated than a platonic friendship but that didn't stop her from at least trying. I think overall, she was the adhesive that held our little triad together and kept us from falling apart.

Of course I never told them about Laune, my other consistent friend. We talked every night about anything and everything that came to mind. He was a patient listener and offered wise advice when needed. He always loved to cuddle, which after a while I didn't mind. I enjoyed being cuddled; it was like having a great big sentient teddy bear.

I was 13 when he finally explained to me who and what he was.

"It's difficult to explain," he began, "Are you sure you want to know?"

I nodded eagerly, keeping my eyes closed tight.

He was casually lying in bed next to me on top of the covers while I rested beneath them. I felt his talon-like paw pat the back of my head and he sighed.

"Well...I'm one of many, almost countless forces in the universe."

"What are you called?" I asked.

"We don't have a name. Just like you, we come in all shapes and sizes and species. We range from benign, malevolent, neutral, and all the spaces in between. People and furs give us names like angels, demons, ghosts, and the like but really we're all one in the same."

"What's that?"

I felt him place his paw on my chest and he asked, "Do you know what you're made of?"

I shook my head, shivering slightly as his sharp claws tugged at the fabric of my nightshirt.

"Stars."

I tilted my head, confused.

"Billions of years and exploding stars fusing atoms together created life in the universe. Every atom inside you, everything you eat and the air you breathe came from the stars. Your planet is the culmination of stardust and gravity, my friend."

My young mind struggled to wrap around the concept.

"But what does that have to do with you?"

"In the beginning, we came from supernovas all across the universe. Just like you, atoms came to form a life that existed between matter and consciousness. While stars and planets full with life were formed, we were never given a solid form. We had energy but we stayed in a loose particle form. We couldn't be seen or felt in the beginning. We just were like canvasses that the universe forgot to paint."

I reached over and rubbed his shaggy chest, "But you seem pretty solid right now."

"I'm getting to that," he said and continued, "We drifted throughout space, some of us colliding with other elements to create life or stars, while others died alone and forgotten in the middle of the birthling universe." He drifted off at this, sounding distant and a little sad.

"But then we found your Earth. It was so full of life and teeming with elements. Most of all it had imagination."

"Imagination?"

He chuckled softly, "Yup. Imagination to give us form. We thrived on it, becoming everything from faeries to angels and ghosts, to demons."

It started to make a little sense but one thing kept bothering me, "Then...why can't I look at you? If others can see ghosts and angels and stuff, then why can't I open my eyes and see you?"

"My pup," he said, "You can't see me because if you did, it might drive you insane."

I shivered, feeling as if someone had dumped cold water over me, "W...why?"

"What you feel," he said, taking my paw and guiding it over his boney chest, "Is only an illusion. It takes massive amounts of energy for us to appear in a form that can be seen without being driven insane. In our true form, we exist as the darkness within the light. I can only exist in the shadows because I am old and weak."

"How old?" I asked curiously.

He chuckled and gave my paw a gentle slap, "Never ask a gentleman about his age."

I giggled and he gave my nose a bop with his finger.

He answered, "I'm sixty thousand years old, Andrew. I came to your Earth just as your peoples were emerging from their caves, forming tribes and cultures. We watched as they explored their world and the universe. They told stories of monsters and gods, giving forth an explosion of imagination we'd never seen anywhere else in the universe. We adapted by changing our atoms and particles to form them and we became them."

"So...if I saw you...in your true form...what would you look like?"

He was silent. "Imagine the dark depths of the universe. It's cold, silent, lifeless, and completely devoid of light. The abyss. If you saw me as I really am and were I came from..."

He was silent again. "You see into forever. Infinity. And nothingness."

I shivered again.

"You can feel fur. You feel the heat and the flesh because in your mind you're imagining them. I can take form of your thoughts but I can't give it light or color. That's why I disappear when you open your eyes. I'm protecting you."

Silence fell between us. I was awed by everything he had explained to me and while I still didn't understand it all, I knew that he wasn't just a figment of my imagination. He was most certainly real and I had so many questions to ask him.

"Why do you make a popping noise when you disappear? Why can you only come out at night and not during the day? Why can..."

He laughed and gave my forehead a firm kiss, patting my back with his paw as he laid me back down in bed.

"No more questions, pup. It's 12:30 at night and you have school in the morning. You can ask them tomorrow night but for now, you need your sleep, kiddo."

I dropped my ears and frowned, laying back in bed and pouting, "Gah...fine..."

He chuckled and put his boney arm around me, pulling me in. I cuddled up to him, feeling like I knew him a lot better now. But I still had one question I wanted to ask him.

"Laune?"

"Yes, Andrew?"

"You can change your form into whatever I imagine, right?"

"Mm hmm."

"So I can imagine you as something else then?"

He let out a rumbling chuckle and said, "Of course. I always wondered why you kept imagining me as a horrible monster."

I pressed my mind for a different image rather than the werewolf being I had always imagined him to be. I thought of a bear; a friendly, anthro bear with soft fur and more meat on his bones. As I did, I felt his form shifting and changing next to me. His fur grew and tickled my nose, becoming more voluminous and full while his boney frame changed. He grew in size and shape, his arms and legs inflating and becoming more muscular. His belly rounded out and protruded slightly, like a warm, furry cushion. He didn't make a sound through his transformation but I hoped it wasn't painful in any way to him for him to change his whole appearance.

When his transformation was over, he pulled me into a tighter hug.

"Mmm, thank you Andrew," he said, his voice staying the same as it had been before, "I like this form a lot better."

I hugged him tight, feeling a lot more comfortable hugging his plush, furry body. I could smell his breath, which smelled like warm, fresh baked cookies. A lot better.

"I like it too," I said happily. I leaned up and planted a kiss on his cheek.

I rested my head on his new chest, smelling his fur and feeling happier than I had felt in a long time. I fell asleep quickly and dreamed of pleasant things.

~~~

We talked, we laughed, and we shared joy in each other's company for eight wonderful years. He shared stories from his time; detailing the many people and furs he'd met since the beginning of history. He told me all about his other friends (or monsters) throughout the galaxy and our world and he explained many of my questions. The reason he made a popping noise when he vanished was because of air being sucked into the spot where he had existed, like thunder after lightning goes away. All he did was teleport his molecules away until the next night. A few nights I would accidently open my eyes and he would vanish. I would be sad but I always knew he would come back. And he was never angry about it, but amused.

I was about 2 months away from turning 15 years old when some of my antagonizers found out that my parents were both human and that I was adopted. Like racism, speciesism, and homophobia, being a fur that was adopted by humans or parents of a different species was as taboo as it was fuel for taunting and bigotry. Like all the other 'isms' it was slowly being phased out as society becomes more progressive. But that progressiveness almost never reaches to the perpetual cruelty of 8th graders.

They called me a 'human's pet' and endlessly taunted me about it. The assembly set up to tackle this specific kind of bullying only exacerbated the abuse. On two occasions someone had slipped a collar and a leash into my locker, as well as hurtful and threatening notes.

I remember coming home in tears because of the teasing and the name calling. My parents were deeply saddened when they heard about this and spoke to the Principle of my school which prompted the assembly. They told me never be ashamed of who I was or where I came from and that they would always love me as their son. I was never their pet or 'puppy'.

I told Laune about what had happened as he held me close. Though I always found comfort in his arms, I cried into his warm pelt. I told him between sobs that they had even followed me home after I got off the bus, asking if 'I wanted to go walkies'. He rubbed my back softly and let me purge my miserable experience.

When I was finished, he said, "Don't let them get to you, kiddo. They'll only hurt you as much as you allow them to. Do you remember a long time ago when you came home from your first day of school in tears?"

I sniffled, hoping not to get my snotty nose all over his fur, "Y..yes..."

"I told you never to fight those kinds of people because you will never win with them. There will always be people like that where ever you go in life, Andrew."

He kissed my cheek which was still damp with tears and said, "You're better than them. They make fun of you not because you're different but because you come from a different background. There is nothing wrong with you at all, Andrew."

I sniffled wetly and nodded, feeling a little better.

"Hey..."

I turned up to face him without opening my eyes. He gently held my chin and kissed my forehead. "I love you, Andrew."

"I love you too, Laune," I replied, my voice broken and croaky.

He held me close against his broad chest and I nuzzled into his warm fur, hugging him back. After a moment he lifted me back up and laid me back against the bed gently.

"Laune?" I asked with amused confusion, "What are you doing?"

He didn't say anything but instead he placed his paw on my forehead as if he were taking my temperature. Suddenly my mind lit up like a light bulb. All I could see was bright light. The light made me feel happy and warm and safe. I felt a sense of euphoria as the rest of my body fell in the trance and my whole body seemed to vibrate and tingle, like when your footpaws fall asleep and they begin to wake up. Except there was no numbness or that prickly stinging after it wakes up.

Just as it had started, he took away his paw and the feeling began to vanish. After a few seconds I was panting heavily, my body and mind now back to their normal state.

"Wha...what did you do?"

He laughed heartily and rubbed my belly, "Telepathic emotive transference."

"Tele-what?" I said, still dazed.

"Telepathic emotive transference," he repeated, "I was giving you a taste of how I was feeling right now."

"What's that?" I asked.

I could almost hear him smiling, "Happy."

"Is that how you feel all the time?"

"No...I have other emotions too, you know."

"Like what?"

He chuckled, "More or less the same ones you have. Happiness, sadness, anger, et cetera."

"And that was happiness?" I said with a hint of skepticism.

As if he knew what I was thinking, he laughed and said, "Emotions are subjective, Andrew. Do you know what that means?"

I shook my head.

"It means that emotions and feelings can be different for everyone. Your sense of joy might be different from his or hers or mine."

I sort of understood where he was going with it, "So...your feeling of happiness is different from mine?"

"Yes, Andrew," he said warmly.

"Your joy felt..." I waved my paws, trying to convey how powerful and euphoric it was.

"Powerful?"

"Yeah!"

"The emotions I feel come from a culmination of knowledge and observation of your people across many millennia."

"So you learned everyone's emotions...?"

"Yup."

"How...how did you do that thing where you made me feel it?"

"The Transference? It's an ancient telepathic ability. Came in handy when I was an incubus."

"A what?"

"Nevermind," he said.

"Can you do others?" I asked curiously.

"I could," he said, "But like I said, our emotions are powerful and ancient. You really wouldn't want to feel sadness or anger. And besides, being here with you makes me happy."

That felt good to hear and it made me smile wide. I felt him lean down and kiss my forehead. I hugged him back, all my previous anxiety from school completely gone and forgotten. I realized in that moment that the bond we had with each other was more than just friends. I had never talked or bonded like this with any of my other friends from school. Laune was so much more than just a friend. I loved him. I suppose it was my confused, mixed up teenage hormones that were responsible for that, but I did feel that my feelings for him had gone past platonic friendship. It was deeper, somehow. More meaningful.

"Can you do it again?" I asked.

"I can do it anytime," he said with a hint of delight in his voice.

"Right now?" I asked eagerly.

He chuckled, "Of course."

He gently pushed me back onto the bed and laid his paw on my forehead like he previously did. The lights came back on and the sensation of blissful elation consumed my body. It was powerful and beautiful, the things he felt.

He asked me how I was feeling, but his voice seemed to come from far away and from inside my head at the same time, speaking in synchrony. I told him I felt absolutely wonderful. Suddenly, the feeling changed. It transitioned gradually, while the buzzing throughout my body stayed the same. What I felt was overwhelming joy was being shifted and unified with another feeling. It was more deep and passionate, all while in a state of ecstasy. I had recognized it almost instantly because I had felt just the same a moment ago in his arms, multiplied by ten.

He loved me back.

I'm not sure how I did it and at first I thought I was pushing back but it felt more like letting go at the same time. I didn't want or intend to resist but I felt myself doing something which I can only describe as 'projecting'. He gasped and pulled his paw away, the light fading to black again. Then I heard him laugh jovially, guffawing so loud I was worried my parents would wake up.

"My Gods! I knew you were special!" He said, grabbing my cheeks and kissing me hard on the lips.

Deeply confused and still a little light headed from the transference, I asked, "What? What did I do?"

"You shared right back, Andrew!" he said boisterously, still holding my face in his paws.

"I did?"

"You did," he said, softly and proudly, "I've not met a lot of people in my time who were able to do that. I was transferring to you and you transferred right back! Gods, I've never been happier...and impressed...I've forgotten how strong and beautiful the emotions of youth are."

He laughed again and pulled me up, hugging me tight enough to squeeze the air out of my lungs. I was worried that on top of my parents hearing Laune laughing raucously, they'd come in to find me with crushed ribs. Fortunately, they didn't. He apologized and set me back down, laying another wet, hearty smack on my lips.

"Gods...I knew you were special," he repeated.

"But...I didn't even try...how did I do it?" I asked. My head was clearer but I still confused.

He tapped a finger to my head and said, "You didn't have to do anything, kiddo. All you did was open your mind up and let it out."

I thought about it and it sort of made sense. I know in meditation they tell you to empty your mind of thought and allow yourself to flow freely and all that and that's essentially what I did. I had allowed myself to relax and not think of anything, focusing on the emotions that poured through me.

I muttered, "Wow..."

"Wow is right, pup," he said happily, gently running his paws over my cheeks, "It's been a long time since I've met someone with power like that..."

We shared a quiet moment as he calmed down. He was still hovering over me, not exactly pinning me down but up on all fours. He still held my face in his paws and I could feel him watching me. I imagined the smile on his face, wishing I didn't have to keep my eyes closed.

He leaned down and pressed his forehead to mine, his shorter muzzle kissing my nose. The world lit up again and my body buzzed back to life. I opened my mind and we linked with each other.

I remembered my first orgasm and the first time I masturbated. I was 12 years old and visiting my grandparents over in North Carolina for the summer. One muggy afternoon I had gone out to explore the woods behind their home by myself. I remembered the heavy thunderstorm that had been brewing all day. The air was thick and smelled of pine and oak and sweet honeysuckle. It also felt electrically charged and full of static. My body buzzed with awakened thoughts and urges, feeling wild and lustful. I had stripped my clothes off and fled into the forest, laughing and howling like I had just gone mad. I climbed trees and pretended that I was a feral animal, hunting and running the best I could on all fours, and rolling around in the foliage. My young cock was off and on hardening and exposing itself from its sheath. I had never masturbated before or even heard of it. I just instinctively grabbed it and humped into my paw, on my knees and holding onto a small birch tree. I came quickly into the leaves just as little droplets started to sprinkle down, signaling that the storm was ready to begin. Thunder rolled in the distance as I finished my orgasm and looked down at the small splatters of clear semen on the leaves. I felt a mixture of strong relief and shame, wondering if any wandering hunters or hikers had spotted me at my most animalistic. I quickly ran and found my clothes just as the rain started to come down heavier. I was chastised by my grandmother for coming home late, filthy, and covered in ticks.

I recounted that feeling of erotic, electric lust I had felt that day. It was almost as powerful as Laune's transference had been (although time does tend to distort the memories). I opened my mind and fed it through, that feeling. It intensified and burned through my body, from my head to my toes as he fed his love right back to me.

Without breaking the connection, his forehead left mine and he held me gently. Our lips touched and he kissed me with sweet tenderness. My mind and body were now ablaze with open passion and I kissed him back, parting my lips and granting him entrance. He responded by deepening the kiss. Tongues caressed one another between our muzzles and he breathed softly, filling my lungs with his air.

I was suddenly aware that I had an erection, stiff as a rock and almost painful as it pushed against the fabric of my underwear. He must have felt it too when he pressed down upon my body with his. I heard him growl softly, a rumble in his chest. It was a sound of lust both primal and hungry.

The transference continued as his dragged his paw down my chest and over my small mound of a belly. I could feel his claws gently tugging down the fabric of my shirt as he reached for my bottoms. He gripped them and tugged them down along with the elastic of my underwear, exposing my naked lap. He growled with satisfaction and said something that I couldn't quite make out. Then I felt him wrap his lips around my cock and suck all five inches down to the knot. I gasped softly when his maw enveloped my meat, both out of surprise and pleasure. He moaned in response as he glided his lips and tongue slowly up and down my length.

I didn't last long between the transference and my inability to hold an orgasm. I signaled my climax with a squeaky whine and bucked my hips up into his hot muzzle. I could feel him sucking and milking my canine meat, swallowing my modest load. I assume he didn't swallow it all because as soon as he was done, he leaned up to kiss me again and slipped my salty, slightly bitter essence into my muzzle with his tongue. I swallowed eagerly and even suckled his tongue as the warm, buzzing feeling began to fade out.

His paw caressed my stomach under my night shirt. He kissed my lips again softly and said, "I love you, Andrew."

I hugged him and nuzzled his neck, "I love you too, Laune..."

We held each other close in the afterglow; no transference, no telepathy. Just us. I was worn out.

Then I heard him chuckling again.

"What?" I inquired in a drowsily amused voice.

"It's three in the morning." He said.

We both burst out into tired laughter, realizing that we had both been so absorbed in what we were doing that we had lost track of time. I had to wake up at 7AM to go to school.

When our laughing subsided I nuzzled back into his neck and said, "I don't care...it was worth it."

He kissed my headfur and said, "Yes, it was...but I still shouldn't have kept you up." He pulled my bottoms back up over my spent and shrinking member and pulled me close. His paw travelled down my back and cupped my rump, giving it a squeeze. "Get some sleep, kiddo."

I smiled and leaned up to kiss his chin. He kissed my forehead and whispered, "Goodnight, Andrew."

"Goodnight, Laune," I whispered back. Moments later I was fast asleep with my head resting on his warm chest.

~~~

I used to be so excited to go to bed as a pup that it confused my parents. While most cubs would have dragged their paws to stay up a little longer, I was finding reasons to go to bed as soon as the sun went down. It never seemed to bother them as much as it just confused them; I think they were probably happy that I did.

The night after our first telepathic union, I went to bed and tossed and turned excitedly under the covers, waiting for him to come out. It wasn't long before I heard shifting under the bed as he pulled himself out and crawled up onto my bed. With my eyes closed tight, I jumped up and hugged tight to him before he had a chance to lie down next to me as he usually did. He chuckled and rubbed my back, "Happy to see me?"

I pushed my stiff puppyhood against his round belly and replied, "Very."

He pressed his lips to mine and we kissed for a moment before he pulled back and said, "Get out of your clothes. I have a surprise for you."

My ears perked up as he let go of me. I wagged my tail in anticipation and listened as the sound of his heavy footpaws padded across my room to the lock the door. I obediently stripped off my clothes. I was completely nude before he got back, blushing but trembling with excitement. He sat on the bed across from me and gently took my paws, holding them.

"Feel." He said quietly as he guided my paws down his soft, portly belly to his crotch. I gaped silently as my paws found what he wanted me to feel.

Up until that moment I had never imagined him with reproductive organs or anything of the sort. I always imagined him as an asexual creature; nude but not endowed. But now I held in my paws his massive and warm genitalia. I felt his balls, each as large as oranges. I was able to hold one in each paw as they hung like low hanging fruits. I felt my way up along his newly formed crotch, feeling the heat radiating off him like an oven. He rumbled with pleasure as my paws found his fully erect shaft. To my surprise, it was shaped like a canine cock. Just like mine but bigger. I shivered as my fingers felt over the swollen knot and up the shaft. His cock must have been about 9 inches in length with the knot and 2 inches in diameter.

I was both stunned by the fact that he now had a pair of balls and a cock and by the sheer size of them. I held his new member, marveling at its girth as it throbbed softly and hotly in my paws.

"You like it?" he asked, rumbling deeply.

I nodded numbly, still caressing the leaking shaft. "Yeah..."

"I thought you would," he said. His paw snaked behind my head, rubbing behind my ears gently.

I snapped out of my daze and said, "Wait...I didn't imagine this..."

He chuckled and said, "No, but I've been inside your mind before. I know what kind of dicks you like, dirty pup."

I blushed slightly. I was wondering why I had never thought to put genitals on him in the first place when he leaned in and kissed me. I kissed him back, still idly stroking his member in my paws. He reached over and pulled me up onto his lap and held me, kissed me deeply and passionately. He held my ass with his free paw, using the other paw on the back of my head to begin the transference.

I was in heaven. His tongue invaded my muzzle and he started to grind his massive cock between our bodies. I moaned deeply and thrust back against him, rubbing my young prick against his belly. I felt his pre dribbling down his shaft and soaking my fur. We did this for a while before he shivered and dropped me down against the bed slowly. I smiled, knowing he had been close.

I sat up on the bed, feeling it shake beneath me like a mini earthquake. Laune groaned, masturbating himself before crawling up to me and touching his cock to my lips. His tip smeared pre across my lips and I could smell him. His hot, raunchy musk reminded me of my own except stronger and more potent. It was intoxicating.

I parted my lips and slipped my tongue over the head, tasting hot flesh and salty sweet pre. I nursed the tip, suckling and rolling my tongue around it as more pre dribbled out onto my tongue. His rich scent and flavor made my maw water and I was hungry for more.

I opened my maw wider and he carefully slipped his cock inside, stretching my lips. I could feel him pulsing heavily in my maw, leaking sweet pre over my tongue. He didn't thrust or cause me to choke on him, but allowed me to finish him. I took him in my paws and stroked him, suckling his cockhead with my muzzle.

He tensed up and came inside my maw, filling it up quickly. I was surprised by the taste of his load. His semen wasn't bitter or salty like mine. It was sweet, like those crème eggs but runnier and not as sugary. I swallowed hungrily as he came, feeding me about seven ropes of his thick seed. He plucked his member from my lips when he finished and tapped me on the nose with it.

"Like it?" He asked.

I nodded and licked my lips, wanting more. I could feel his load in my belly, warming my insides like comfort food on a cold day. My body kept buzzing and all my senses seemed enhanced.

"There's a lot more where that came from." I felt his tongue graze my lips and chin, collecting stray droplets.

He ordered me on all fours, to which I obeyed. He went behind me and lifted my tail with his paw. Curious, I turned my head slightly but kept my eyes closed.

"What are you...?"

Without responding, he spread my asscheeks with his paws and went to work on my tailhole with his hot tongue. He grunted like a feral as he dug his face into my rear, bathing my tight ring and probing it gently. As amazing as he made it feel, I was slightly embarrassed and disgusted by it. I wondered why on Earth he would want to even do that. I would later ask him why he liked to do that. His only answer to that was, "You never know unless you try."

He finished rimming my tailhole just as I was really starting to get into it and gently rolled me over onto my back. I could feel him hovering over me, our bodies sharing more than just heat. I wondered what he had next in store for me. The night was young and I didn't have school in the morning.

"I want you to relax, Andrew," he said in his deep, soothing voice. "This is going to feel really good."

He lifted my hips and pressed the tip of his massive cock to my scrunched up hole. Even though my body and mind were still lost in that pleasant buzz, a part of me woke up and started to panic.

"You're too big..." I mumbled, worried that he would tear me open.

All he said was, "Trust me..."

He laid a paw on my chest. The sensation blossomed and grew inside me, blocking out my panic and filling me like a euphoric anesthetic. From far away, I could hear his voice, "I won't ever hurt you, Andrew. I promise."

He entered me. I could feel every inch of his hard cock pushing inside me, but there was no pain, no tearing. He slid his cock inside me as smooth as satin. All I felt was pure pleasure as he pushed all the way inside me, filling my insides. His massive knot went in with equal ease and my tailhole locked back around it elastically.

He picked me up and held me to his chest again, this time tied to his giant member. I moaned deeply into his chest fur, feeling so wonderful and full with him inside me.

He rolled his hips as I rode his cock, our bodies in slow undulation with one another's. We made love for what could have been minutes or hours or eternities because I had lost all perception of time. All I remember was the bright, intense orgasm that followed.

He laid me back against the bed in the missionary position. His size dwarfed me but didn't crush me or cause me any discomfort. He sped up his thrusts and growled, deep and feral. I wrapped my arms around him and whined into his neck, not out of pain but the hot, burning pleasure building up in my own loins. He shuddered. I felt warm jets inside me, feeling him marking my insides with his seed. I felt every throbbing pulse of his dick, every load he shot into me. I wanted it to never end.

I was closing in on my own orgasm as his was starting to abate. I thrust my hard prick up between our touching bellies, feeling the heat our bodies generated and the smell of our sweat, sex, and wild musk surrounding us like a haze. Finally, when I came, the lights in my head seemed to explode with brilliant colors as I experienced the strongest, most intense orgasm I had ever had.

I don't remember anything after that so I assumed that I had blacked out after I came. I woke up the next morning, naked and on top of my covers with dried semen caked on my belly. I quickly put on some clothes and ran to the bathroom to get clean.

I stood in front of the bathroom mirror, running my finger over the dried seed on my stomach. My little cock hardened and peeked out of my sheath as I remembered the events of last night. I took the cosmetic mirror from my parent's bathroom and set it down on the floor, sitting down in front of it. I rolled on my back and drew my legs to my chest like I was going to cannonball and craned my neck to see the mirror. Reflected in it was my tight, pink tailstar. It was just as tight as it had ever been, untouched and unbroken.

I was confused, wondering how he could have been so big and thick and yet I took it all inside me. I had no tears, no sign of abuse. I coated my finger in saliva and pushed it inside myself. I hissed through my teeth as sharp, bright pain lit up my asshole. I managed it all the way to my second knuckle and felt around. I was empty and dry as the desert in there. No cum.

I stepped into the shower and turned on the hot water. I poured shampoo into my paw and scrubbed the cum out of my fur. As I sat on the little stool in the shower and let the water rain down on me, I contemplated everything that I had been through with Laune up until last night, pondering over whether he was real or imagined after all. I had agreed with myself that Laune was most certainly real. I could literally feel him and touch him. I remember the taste of his lips and smell of his fur; everything down to the flavor of his cum. And yet there was no evidence that we had ever done anything, other than my cum-stained belly which I could have passed off as the most violent wet dream I'd ever had. I pondered this, letting the heavy steam fill my lungs.

As I dried myself off, I remembered what he had told me about disappearing when I open my eyes. I figured that whatever he had filled my stomach or tailhole with would have vanished with him.

I padded down to my room, naked as the day I was born because my parents both worked on Saturdays. I had the whole house to myself, meaning I could spend the majority of the day not wearing anything. It was especially good during the hot Californian summers.

I knelt by my bed, lifting the bed skirt and looking under it. It was cluttered with dust bunnies and nomadic toys, boxes of school projects and old clothes. There were plenty of places for him to hide in the dark if he wanted.

"Are you under there, Laune?"

I heard a soft thump, somewhere in the labyrinth under my bed.

"Did you..." I stopped, wondering how I was going to ask it about last night. "Did you make your cum disappear?"

Another thump.

"So...it was all real?"

A warm breeze, almost like a breath, came out from underneath the bed and passed me. I swore I could smell his scent on it.

~~~

Laune and I had sex almost every night after that for a year. I've heard about sex ruining friendships from people all around me, how it made everything complicated and all that. But really, I think it enhanced our friendship, making it stronger and more intimate. Our ability to share emotions with one another bonded us and made us more drawn to each other.

Some nights we just cuddled or talked with each other, but I never wore clothes to bed again. We were always naked with one another, enjoying the feel of each other's bare fur. On school nights I would go to bed extra early just to spend time with him. I would usually tell him about my day and he would tell me stories from back in his day, centuries before I was ever conceived. He told me how he used to be a squid-like sea monster off the coast of Norway, a poltergeist in Germany and an incubus in a small Italian village, which he said he particularly enjoyed. He used to be a prankster back then but now has taken to haunting houses and highways while travelling around the North America.

Eventually he had stopped allowing himself to be seen and instead chose to hide out in empty houses and wander the darkness of night looking for a place to stay.

I remember telling him one night that I wished I could see him instead of always having my eyes closed. He was quiet for a moment and I really wished I could have read his expression. He only replied, "I know." Something about the way he said it made me worry. I touched his chest were his heart would be and tried to telepathically read his emotion but I couldn't. It didn't work that way. Laune pressed his paw to mine and suddenly I felt a sense of overwhelming sadness and loneliness. He took his paw away after a second and the feeling ended. I asked him why he felt that way but he wouldn't respond. He held me close and said nothing.

I still wish I had never said those words.

~~~

"Come with me."

"What?" I asked curiously, sitting up in bed.

He grabbed my paw in his, tugging me, "Come with me. Outside."

"Why?" I asked, resisting his gentle tugs.

"You'll see. Come on," he said, with thinly veiled glee in his voice. He sounded like he had a surprise waiting for me outside.

"We can't," I protested, "What if I get caught?"

"We won't get caught, kiddo," he assured me. "I promise."

I was about to protest again but his paw tugged mine almost hard enough to pull me out of the bed.

"Alright! Alright!" I hissed softly, crawling naked out of bed. I went to put something on when he turned me around and started pushing me towards the door.

"I can't go outside like this!" I said, more anxious than angry.

He took my paw again and said placidly, "Pup, I promise you will not get caught." He gave me a quick kiss on the lips.

I gave in and sighed, "Okay...fine."

I held his paw as he opened my door, leading me out. I followed him as we treaded carefully down the hallway. The floorboards creaked and groaned in the places where they could not be avoided and each time they did I tensed up. I was almost sure that it would wake my parents up and they'd find me sleepwalking in the nude. But thankfully they didn't.

As we held each other's paws and walked through the darkness of the house, two things came to mind. A quote I had read somewhere, probably from a High School yearbook though I can't remember, from Helen Keller who said "Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light." Laune had been with me through my dark times. He was always there at the end of the day to pick me up and brush me off. He was always there to tell me that there would always be another day and another chance to improve my life even when times were tough. He gave me advice on dealing with things as they came and how to roll with the punches. He told me not to build thicker skin but to build a kinder, more compassionate heart, saying that even if I was never able to change the minds of my tormenters that I would still lead a happier, more peaceful existence. He was more than my friend in the dark; he was my spiritual guide.

The other thing that came to my mind was a particular tune; a classical earworm known as "Moonlight Sonata" by the late Beethoven. At the risk of sounding like I was a pretentious teenager, I was more into classical music than mainstream pop and rock music back in the day. My motive wasn't to be different or counterculture to the rest of my peers. I just found it relaxing and calming to listen to classical piano, strings, and orchestral music.

As Laune guided me through the darkness, I started to realize that the music wasn't only in my head. I heard the drifting piano melody in front of me, soft and subdued.

"Is that you?" I asked.

He didn't respond except for an amused chuckle. The music continued with an ethereal, almost unearthly quality. It began to fade and drift back into the darkness as Laune stopped. I heard him unlocking and opening the door to the sunroom. The sunroom was still warm from the day as we walked through it and out onto the patio. It was cooler outside but still warm enough not to chill my naked fur.

The light was brighter outside as well. A full moon was high in the night sky, illuminating the world with its own brand of light, almost as bright as the sun. I kept my eyes closed, but I could still tell the difference in light indoors and out.

My bare paw pads walked across the stone slabs on the patio until the met grass. I blushed; imagining what would happen if my parents caught me or what the neighbors would think if they saw the Morris's boy standing out in the middle of their backyard, naked as a jaybird.

'They'd probably be admitted to the state mental hospital when they see who I'm walking with.' I thought to myself.

I heard Laune suppress a laugh.

We stopped somewhere in the middle of my yard and Laune let go of my paw. I felt him put his broad paws on my shoulders and rub them gently.

"Now Andrew, I need you to think about what I look like in your head. I need you to really concentrate on it for me."

I asked him why and he replied, "You'll see."

He took my paws and held his palms flat against mine, holding them up in front of ourselves. I focused on Laune in my mind's eye, thinking of how I'd always imagined him to look. The way his body was shaped and colored and the way his fur was textured. I even imagined the shape, size, and color of his atypical 'anatomy'.

I heard, "Andrew, open your eyes."

In a sense, I knew what he was doing but I was afraid that it might not work. I was afraid that maybe he wouldn't come out fully formed and I would see part of his true form and lose my mind. But when he told me to open my eyes, I obeyed because I knew that I could trust him.

I gasped when I saw him in my imagined form. Everything, from his rotund belly covered with the deep brown locks of fur, to the massive orbs that swung beneath his fattening sheath, was perfect. I looked up to see the handsome face of the bear and I caught his eyes. I locked onto them for only a few seconds but in truth it felt longer. A lot longer.

His eyes were pitch-black, like sharp chips of obsidian. My body went chillingly cold despite the balmy weather, like I had just fallen into a swimming pool full of ice water. My mind began to swim and my vision tunneled, almost fading to black but I couldn't take my eyes off his. I knew instantly what his true form was like.

The next thing I knew, I was being hugged to the bear's thick chest as he frantically rubbed and patted my back, calling my name. My vision was still fuzzy, coming back into focus. I groaned and nosed his chest to let him know that I was alright.

"Oh Gods Andrew, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, pup."

I was still cold and shivering, but being held close to Laune's body was bringing back some of my lost heat. He kissed my forehead and whispered, "Are you okay, kid?"

I nodded and giggled, despite my near brush with insanity.

"Oh thank the Gods," he breathed, still rubbing my back, "I'm so sorry, Andrew. It's all my fault. My eyes...the hardest part to change are my eyes."

My body was warming up. I chuckled and said softly into his chest, "Why don't you try keeping your eyes closed."

He let out a nervous chuckle which gave way to wild, raucous laughter. I laughed with him as the tension melted away. He held me in his arms and planted another relieved kiss on my head. When he settled, I looked back up at him with a bit of caution and saw that his eyes were shut. I studied his facial features. He was handsome and rugged, a bit mature and aged but with full colored fur. I traced my paws gently down the sides of his cheeks to his muzzle.

Laune opened his eyes again. The fur on my neck stood up but settled when I saw that his eyes were different this time. They were beautiful and golden, like ancient pieces of amber and they glowed luminously like the moon overhead. His lips turned up in a smile.

"You have beautiful eyes, Andrew," he spoke softly, running his paws down my back. He gazed lovingly into them, filling my body with the rest of his warmth.

"You too," was all I was able to manage. He leaned in and kissed me softly. Not forcefully or passionately, but gentle and intimate. I kissed him back, allowing myself to become lost in him. My mind began to fill with the familiar glow and the sensation spread from my lips out into the rest of my body.

I parted my lips and opened my mind, allowing him in. I shared my innermost love and devotion for him, feelings that I would never have with anyone else other than with him. His tongue invaded my maw. His ancient love and passion filled my mind. I opened my eyes and saw an aura around us, shrouding us in a white, glowing light.

We slowly broke the kiss. The light faded back into the night but the warm, comforting bliss stayed.

"I love you so much, Andrew," Laune said, gazing down at me.

"I love you too, Laune," I whispered. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him close. He held me back in the safety of his powerful arms.

He let me back down and my rear plopped gently back into the grass. I sat up cross-legged and grinned up at him. He looked back at me with a mixture of adoration and bemusement.

"What?" I asked him playfully.

He shook his head, still smiling, "You're a mystery to me, pup. Tens of thousands of years and I've never met anyone quite like you."

I cocked my head, bemused.

"Not a lot of people or furs are able to look directly into our forms and come back from it."

I remembered what he had told me about people going crazy when they look at the true form of his nameless race and I had seen what those others had seen, but I had come back. I saw the deepness and emptiness of the universe in his eyes. I saw the cold, vast expanse of space and time and the infinite knowledge that they held of the past and the future. Of life and death. Creation and destruction.

But I wasn't afraid.

"You truly are one of a kind, kiddo," he said, a broad grin on his face. He looked at me lovingly, almost with a sense of pride.

I blushed softly and turned my eyes down. He kneeled in front of me and tilted my back up to face him. He beamed and rubbed the underside of my muzzle affectionately.

I got back up on my feetpaws and stood before him, naked and unashamed. I had grown a lot over the years and yet he was still taller than me by at least a foot. I was thinner now than I had been at 14 but I still had a little belly fat left. Laune was large, but not obese. He had more of a gut than I did but I suppose most of it could have just been his thick fur pelt. I prefer the term, 'cuddly'.

Laune sunk to his knees in front of me. He ran his paws over my chest and down my sides as if he were studying my shape attentively. He rumbled deep and approvingly in his chest while his paws drifted down over my waist and around the curve of my butt. My arousal was obvious as my cock pointed up at him, nodding softly as if in agreement.

He pressed his nose to my chest. He snuffed hot breath into my fur, sniffing and kissing down my chest and belly. I murred deeply as he touched and caressed me in all my pleasure spots, knowing from experience just how to turn me on. His paw massaged behind my balls as his lips kissed and sucked each of my nipples. He kissed down to my belly button, quickly darting his tongue inside as his fingers moved back to play with my tailstar.

I watched him as he closed his eyes and kissed around my canine meat, lapping at the beads of pre dripping from the tip. He slid my knot the rest of the way out of my sheath and rolled his tongue from the base all the way up to the tip. I shivered and moaned at his attention.

He turned his focus from his tongue to his nose and started sniffing around my crotch. I saw his little stubby tail wagging as he snuffed around my pubic fur and sac, drinking in my scent thirstily. He had told me once that he loved the way I smell, not just my privates but all over. He said I had the scent of life and vitality and youthful lust around me.

He asked me to get down on my hands and knees, which I promptly obeyed. He got down behind me and pushed his head under my tail, spreading my cheeks with his paws. He pushed his snout between them, blasting my tailhole with hot, humid breath. He growled appreciatively as he drunk in more of my scent. His tongue lashed out and bathed my fleshy ring.

Despite my initial embarrassment, I had allowed him to rim me whenever he desired to because it actually felt pretty amazing. He never pushed me to do him and I never offered because the thought alone made me feel grossed out. But that night I felt different. I felt like taking his advice from a while back and trying new things.

"Laune?"

He muffled a response into my ass.

"I...I wanna try." I said.

I saw his ears twitch. He lifted his muzzle so that his nose was touching the underside of my tail.

"Are you sure, pup?" he asked, not with concern but thinly concealed joy.

I grinned and nodded.

He stayed on all fours as I stood up. My knees shook a little as I walked around him, nervous but excited. I got down behind him, eyeing his meaty rump. I spread his cheeks apart and spotted his tight, pink tailstar, winking alluringly at me.

I hesitated, licking my lips nervously. Laune looked over his shoulder and said reassuringly, "Don't worry Andrew. I'm 100 percent clean down there."

It made sense that he would be completely clean down there. I didn't know much about how his anatomy worked but I knew he didn't eat anything, at least not solid food. He'd swallowed plenty of my loads before but I like to believe that he somehow recycled it rather than disposing of it, perhaps absorbing it or reusing it as his own. Either way, his shape and form was a product of my imagining. He was the embodiment of perfection for me and I trusted him completely.

I leaned down and gave the fleshy ring a cautious lick. It wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be. As he promised, he was clean. I rolled my tongue over it again and I heard him sigh with pleasure. His ring clenched and unclenched as I started lapping at it like a hungry puppy. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to be carried away by his musky, earthy scent and his raunchy flavor. I listened to Laune's moans of pleasure as I eagerly tasted my own newfound turn-on.

I heard him say something, which I didn't hear. I pulled up, licking my lips, "What?"

"Mount me," Laune said, breathing heavily.

Without any hesitation whatsoever, I got up on my knees and positioned my cock towards his hole. I held it in my paw as I guided it in through the entrance, which was tight and slicked with my saliva. I slid in very easily, all the way to the swell of my knot. I moaned deeply, feeling how tight and hot he was as it enveloped my puppycock. I bucked my hips and let out a yelp as my knot popped inside him with equal ease.

My feral instincts left over from my ancient ancestors took over and I mated him like a canine. I wrapped my arms around his midsection and bred him hard. I could tell by his sounds that he was enjoying it as much as I was. It didn't take long for my climax to build. I could feel my balls tightening up as my hips slapped against his ass. The pleasure was too intense and I couldn't hold it in for long. I came inside him, resisting my urge to howl loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear me.

My orgasm died down and my knot popped out of him. I panted heavily and slipped off his back, landing back softly against my rump. I watched as he spread his cheeks with his paws and showed me his used tailhole, pushing some of my cum out and letting it dribble down his taint. I eagerly crawled forward and lapped up the trail of seed with my tongue, tasting my own salty and bitter essence. I probed his ring with my tongue, pushing it in. I heard him rumbling with pleasure as I tried to clean him out.

I pulled my tongue out and fell back against the grass, panting and wagging happily, my tongue lolling out of the corner of my muzzle. Laune turned around and crawled over next to me. He set his paw on my belly, rubbing softly and looking down at me with a cheeky, 'I-told-you-so" grin on his lips. I reached over and took hold of his massive, dripping manhood and said, "My turn."

We made love all night long and while I only lasted one orgasm, Laune had plenty to spare. He rimmed my tailhole while I sucked him, swallowing a hefty amount of his sweet cum before he pulled out and finished on my face. I worshipped his heavy balls and ass while he pawed; only stopping me to dump his second load on me. I graciously accepted his offering as he fired rope after rope of thick seed on my chest and face, into my open maw. By the end of the night, I was covered in a thin glaze of semen and he was breeding my ass. The last thing I remember before I passed out was laying in the cool grass, smelling his hot musky scent and seed coating me, the sensation of his telepathically shared emotions, and being filled with hot cockmeat.

As he reached orgasm, I reached up and held onto his fur pelt, sensually moaning, "Laune" before I faded to black.

It was the last time I ever saw Laune in visible form.

~~~

I woke up the next morning in my own bed, still naked. As I recalled the event of last night I realized that I was also completely dry. I didn't have a single drop of dried cum on my body from the night before. I almost began to believe it was a dream until I pulled back the covers and saw that my feetpaws and sheets were filthy with dirt and strips of grass.

I went throughout the morning, feeling happy as I usually did. I showered and stealthily changed the sheets on my bed, throwing them in the washer before anyone had a chance to see them. All I could think about was seeing Laune for the first time that night and the passionate love we made under the audience of celestial bodies.

As the day drew on, a dark cloud seemed to form and hover over me. I had a dense pit in my stomach, as if I were expecting a shot from the doctor or expecting some terrible news. The cloud darkened as the afternoon gave way to evening and the night drew nearer. I could sense something was going to happen. I had a vague idea of what it might be but I dismissed it; ignoring all I could.

My fear would be realized that night.

~~~

I was lying in bed, eyes closed and waiting for Laune to come. That anxious feeling had grown, making me feel almost physically sick to my stomach. But I waited. I waited for what felt like forever until I heard shuffling under the bed. Some of the tension melted as I heard him sliding himself out from under the bed and climbing on top. The panic settled back in when I heard his heavy, labored breathing. He rolled himself on my mattress and groaned softly.

"Laune? Are you okay?" I said, trying to hide my panic under concern.

I reached out to touch him. My paw touched him, but went through him too. It was like touching a half-solid ghost. I withdrew my paw because his insides were deathly cold.

"I'm fine," Laune replied. He sounded like he always did, but there was a pained tone to it.

I gently touched my paw to his chest. He felt more solid now but the heat that normally radiated from him was gone. I listened to the rise and fall of his breathing. It sounded just as labored as the voice he tried to cover up did.

I opened my mind and expressed my concern. I gave him a sense of anger as well, my demand to know the truth. As afraid as I was of hearing it, I needed to know. He brought his paw to mine and held it. He opened up and shared back.

I let out a racked, painful sob as the overwhelming sense of sadness filled me. My whole body ached with misery. There was no light in my head, only the dull, aching sense of loss. Without him needing to tell me what was wrong, I already knew. I knew long before that moment. I had remembered what he had told me about having to use a lot of energy to appear in visible form and that he was old and weak.

He let go of my paw and gave me the painful truth, "Andrew, I'm dying."

The news took me like a tidal wave. I shook my head in denial. Tears burned behind my clenched eyes and I sobbed again, clinging to his chest. He felt smaller and thinner than he had been before. His fur felt more shaggy and thin. His smell was fading.

I cried helplessly into his chest as he wrapped his arms around me, attempting to comfort my anguished mind. I felt like I would never be happy or whole ever again.

"Andrew, please. Don't cry," he said softly, soothingly.

"W-why?" I asked in broken sobs, "Why did you do it?"

He knew what I meant. "Andrew..." He paused. "I've been dying for a long time..."

"But you could have lived longer!" I said accusingly, angrily and sorrowfully. "You could have held on longer!"

"No, I couldn't," he replied softly, rubbing my back "I was living on borrowed time these past years. I wanted to give you something special. I wanted to give you something more to remember when I'm gone. Even if I had lived a few more years, I'd just be postponing the inevitable."

"What do you mean?" I asked, sniffling softly.

He sighed softly, "Do you know when the elderly or comatose goes to the hospital? They're slowly dying, slowly using up the last of their energy in life and the doctors and nurses manage to keep them alive, no matter what the cost. They live on borrowed time. And that's what I've been doing these past few years."

"How?"

I could sense him smiling. "You. You were like my doctor, Andrew. I was dying and alone in the world and I needed a place to stay, a place to hide. That's when I found you. I sensed there was something about you, a sort of radiant energy that gave me just a little more life. I held on because of you, Andrew."

His paw rubbed the back of my head. I was still streaming tears between my clenched eyes.

"You gave me more than just life, kiddo," He leaned down and kissed between my ears, "You gave me something I haven't had in so long. You gave me love and friendship. I was so alone until I found you."

We laid together in silence for a long while. My heart was still breaking but the well had run dry on tears. I sniffled wetly and asked, "So what happens now? After you go?"

He was silent for a moment before saying, "I don't know."

This surprised me. I had thought that with his almost infinite knowledge of the universe that he would have some idea as to what happened after death.

He sensed my surprise and continued, "I'm afraid so, kiddo. That's the thing about death. No one knows what happens. It's the great mystery of life. I...have a theory though." He said, his voice trailing off as if in deep thought.

I perked my ears and listened as he continued, "We all came from stars...you, me, other stars, planets, and life throughout the universe. Stars have lives just like us. And just like us, they die as well. Some stars, at the end of their lives, explode violently, spilling their energy and matter all across space and out of that springs new stars, new life. Smaller stars, like your Sun will expand at the end of their life and push their matter away, leaving behind only a small white dwarf star."

He was quiet for a moment. His voice sounded distant, "Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can be conserved and changed over time..." I felt him shaking his head, "It sounds silly but...it gives me a little hope. Just as your people hold on to the idea of heaven and hell, I hold onto this idea...the idea that energy from one's consciousness can be passed on. That somehow, someway, it gets passed on."

"Like reincarnation?" I asked.

"Right, yes. But...there's no proof that conscious energy...the weight of a soul...can be measured or studied. All you and I know is that when we die, our bodies break down and the left over energy goes back to where it came. Mine will go back into the universe just as yours will go back to the earth, to break down and provide energy for bacteria and fungi and...sorry."

I pressed him for more. He continued, "Well...my body will break down and go back into the universe. I don't know what will happen to 'me' though...I want so badly to believe that the conscious part of me will live on in some way. But I don't know." For the first time, I heard fear in the weakness of his voice, "And I'm scared, Andrew. I'm so scared of it..."

I clutched him tighter and felt my eyes burning again, tearless and dry. We held on to each other for as long as we could. I was lying on my side as he held me from behind with his arms wrapped around me comfortingly.

"But I'm happy now..." he finally said. His voice had started to grow dimmer, like a candle burning out, "I'm so happy that I met you, Andrew. I can't think of anyone that I would want to spend the last moments of my life with other than you."

The weight of his arms seemed to diminish. They seemed to almost float above me. "I love you so much, Andrew. If I can, I will always try to be with you...but please...promise me..."

I tried to hold on to him but I felt him disappearing, slipping through my paws.

"Promise what?" I asked, upset and distressed.

"Find someone," he said, his voice becoming more distant, fading.

"I love you, Laune," I said, grasping for him, crying out for him.

"Andrew..." And he was gone.

I opened my eyes. There was no popping noise, no black shapeless thing in my bed. There was only the darkness of my bedroom.

~~~

I was never afraid of the dark. I can see though why other people call it one of their biggest fears aside from death. Just like death, it's the fear of the unknown. The darkness is lonely and devoid of light. Even when you walk with a friend through it, the fact remains that you don't know what's ahead of you. You can't even see your own paw in front of your face. All you have is the blind faith and the notion that everything will come out okay and that the light will shine again. It's so much harder when you walk through the darkness alone.

Really, it wasn't the darkness I was afraid of. It was being alone.

And I was never alone.

~~~

A few nights ago I had this dream. It was one of those elusive lucid dreams that I have tried unsuccessfully to practice but never quite got the hang of. I knew that I was dreaming but I couldn't create the scenario. I had no control over it.

I was standing outside, under the light of the full moon. I was in the backyard of my childhood home again, where Laune and I had made passionate love. I looked up at the house and saw that it was empty and abandoned. But I knew that I wasn't alone. I sensed it.

"Andrew..."

I turned back around and saw a black, seemingly shapeless figure. It took me a moment to make out that it was in the shape of a large anthro bear. He held no light or color, and he seemed to actually absorb the light around him like a black hole. The void of light was his true form. His darkness.

I looked at him without fear. I never felt the coldness envelope my body or my mind turning itself inside out with madness as I looked at him. I had gazed into the abyss before and had seen the secrets the universe had to offer and I was not afraid.

He held up his paws before me, extending them out to me. I imitated him and held mine up before me. Our paws touched.

I was filled with the same love and passion, that same powerful feeling that we had shared for all those years. That feeling that I had not known before I met him or felt after he was gone.

I woke up from my dream, whispering his name, "Laune..."

I know for a fact that he was really there with me that night and that it wasn't just a dream. The reason I know is because I saw him right after I had woken up.

A black, shapeless cloud floated above me in bed. It was only there for a moment before it drifted up through the ceiling and was gone forever. As I gained more awareness of my surroundings, my clock radio suddenly snapped on with a loud crackle of static that made me jump.

My breath stopped when I heard Moonlight Sonata playing through the speakers; delicately and softly, but as clear as day.

~~~

I don't claim to know what happens after we die. I had seen the past and the future, the fate of stars and galaxies and the universe that cradles them but still the biggest mystery in life is death. Our only hope is that energy gets passed on from one form to another. From stars to life and life to the universe.

Laune gave me more than just love. He gave me hope and a reason to keep on.

I tried to move on at Laune's last request but I've not been successful at finding a mate. One guy I thought I had a connection with turned and ran from the relationship. It was entirely my fault though. I had scared him off. I tried to use my transference to bond with him but he became frightened and cut off all contact with me. I haven't been with anyone since.

I will keep trying though. I know I'll never have that same deep, loving connection that I had shared with Laune but it would be a lot better than being alone.

But I believe that I will meet Laune again one day. In some form or another, we'll find each other. He found me in the darkness twice before and I know he's still out there, somewhere in the vast reaches of space. All I can do is hope.

THE END

As always, comments and critiques are welcomed :3 Thanks for reading!