Too Unlucky To Be Lucky (2)

By Wolfie Steel.

I continue to ponder the events of the day, as I think I switch the holo viewer to my CCTV Chanel, I look at the feed that is coming from the camera that is situated over the front door and I can see that Axle is still there sitting on the wall opposite the door, he has his head buried in his paws and...and is he crying?

I can plainly see that his head is jerking in his paws; I let out a gentle sigh as I stand from the sofa and head towards the front door, as I open the door Axle looks up from his paws and I can now see his bloodshot eyes.

"I have some cheap beer in the fridge if you would like to join me?"

The Rottweiler slowly stands from his seat and heads towards me, I stand to the side to allow him entry into the house, I lead him into the living room and motion for him to take a seat.

"I'll just go and get the beers and I will be right back"

I walk into my kitchen and get the beers from my fridge, I then take them back into the living room and hand Axle one of the cans, he takes the can and then pops the ring pull with his claw.

"Look Tanner, I'm sorry if me buying you the speeder has offended you in any way, but I just couldn't face knowing that you would probably lose your job, it would have made me feel worse knowing that I could have done something to prevent you losing your job"

I nod a little and then take a sip of my beer.

"Okay Axle, I could accept that as an answer, unfortunately for you I don't, I mean there are many other guys at work who are in worse situations than me and yet I don't see you going out and helping them out, so I want to know the real reason please, and don't worry, I'm a big boy now I can take the truth"

A weak smile graces Axle's muzzle, and then he closes his eyes.

"I never was any good at telling lies, okay Tanner you got me, I'm guilty as charged your honour, though when you hear the real reason you are going to throw me out of your house, you see Tanner you have been in the mail room for what ten years now? When you first started you would go all over the company delivering their mail right, and then seven years ago you were assigned a specific route, one which always led you to my office"

Again I nod my head a little as I remember the day as clearly as if it were yesterday.

"Tanner I have a confession to make, it was no coincidence that you were assigned to the route that had my office on it, it was me who asked your boss to give you the route"

I put down my can and make my reply.

"Why would you do something like that?"

Axle takes a swig from his beer, probably for a bit of Dutch courage.

"Okay here goes nothing; the reason that I asked your boss to give you that route is because I kind of had a crush on you, actually that is not quite true, I STILL have a crush on you"

I stand up from my seat and head over to the sofa where Axle is sitting, and it seems that he is expecting me to physically throw him out of the house as he begins to sigh and stand from the sofa.

"Axle, relax bud, its late in the day and I think that we have both had enough drama for one day, so why don't we both sit back down on the couch and finish our beers while we talk about this like the adults that we are"

Axle is mid-stand but then slowly sits back on the couch; I sit down next to him and take another sip from my beer.

"So Tanner, how come you are not using your footpaw to boot me outside?"

I put my beer down onto the coffee table and then I place my paw on Axle's left thigh and rub it gently.

"Axle if only you had taken the time to get to know me you would have found out that I have had the hots for you for some time too, I guess you can say that we are both guilty of being blind. We have now truly opened our eyes for the first time in years, and I don't know about you but to me it feels fantastic, as does your thigh"

I give Axle a smile and a cheeky wink. Axle places his paw on top of mine.

"I must admit Tanner it does feel as though I have had a ten tonne weight removed from my shoulders, but now comes the inevitable question, where do we go from here?"

I look at the holographic clock display on the wall.

"Well Axle, it is getting close to midnight so it is a bit late for you to be travelling home, so why not stay here for the night and then in the morning we will go to work, and then at lunch we can meet at Cafe Minsk and decide on our next move"

As if on cue the Rottweiler yawns a little.

"Thanks Tanner, I am pretty well beat so I doubt I could safely get home anyway, and besides this couch is pretty comfy"

I pick up my beer and finish the final half in one huge gulp; I guess you could say that it is my turn for some Dutch courage.

"I have a better idea Axle, if you are up for it that is, you see I have a perfectly good double bed in my room, and it would be a darn sight more comfortable not to mention warmer than sleeping on the couch, and don't worry I promise not to take advantage of you, well unless you want me to of course"

Axle is now a calm Rottweiler and is in the process of finishing his own beer; he chokes a little when I say the last bit of my sentence.

"Tanner, we have only just gotten through the 'opening our eyes to each other' stage and here you are talking about taking my bones"

I rub his thigh a little harder for reassurance.

"Relax Axle, I was joking, not about the bed I mean, that offer is still there, think about it, I have a double bed that is only being half used, we both need a good night's sleep so we can stay awake at work tomorrow, besides all that we have just spoken of our feelings for each other so to me the next logical step would be to take things to the next level and call ourselves boyfriends"

A look of acceptance spreads across Axle's face.

"I guess it would be the next logical step wouldn't it? Okay you win, besides we have both had a beer to drink so I wouldn't want to run the risk of being pulled over by the cops"

I collect the two now empty beer cans and take them into the kitchen and dispose of them down the recycling chute, I then return to the living room and stand in front of Axle and offer him my paw. Axle takes my paw and I slowly help him up from his seat and then I lead him up towards my bedroom, turning the living room lights out as I do.

We both arrive at my bedroom door and I gently open it to reveal the room inside, I slowly enter the room and I'm followed closely by Axle. I switch on the small lamp that rests on my night table and suddenly the room is bathed in its soft and gentle light.

In the subdued light I look towards my new bed partner, I have seen him nearly every day for just over seven years, and yet in this gentle light he looks so much different. I slowly walk towards Axle and then I gently cup his right cheek with my paw, I speak to him in a whisper.

"Axle, I know that this is all still pretty new to you, but I don't want there to be any fear between us, if there is fear then neither of us will sleep and that will spell disaster for us both at work"

I let go of Axle's cheek and then head back to the bed, I turn the sheets back and then remove all of my clothing save for my boxers, I then climb into my usual spot in the bed and then lie there waiting for Axle's next move.

Axle stands stock still for a few moments; probably trying to get his head around the fact that he is just about to share another man's bed. After his few moments of trepidation he slowly makes his way towards the empty side of the bed, removing his own clothes as he moves, again he stays in his boxers and then tentatively climbs into the empty space of the bed.

Now I know that my bed is a double, but we are pretty big guys, and while we are not exactly crushed up together, I can still feel the fact that Axle is now shivering slightly, I move my paw to the switch of the night light and then switch it off. Next I roll over to face Axle, I take a chance and drape my arm over him to try and ease his nerves a little.

Axle shifts a little but he does not shift out from under my arm, a silly thought enters my sleep addled mind 'Well, that is stages one and two complete, now onto stage three namely getting this hunk of male to calm down and trust me' as the thought begins to die in my mind sleep finally takes me.

I am woken up in the morning by the sound of my alarm clock and the feeling of Axle beginning to stir from his slumber, I roll over and hit the off button which silences the infernal racket that laughingly passes as music today, I then turn back and I am now muzzle to muzzle with a barely awake Axle.

"Well Axle, I don't know about you but I would call the fact that we are both awake a success, it means that I didn't stab you with an ice pick during the night and that you didn't sink your razor sharp teeth into my jugular, and I notice that you are no longer shivering, so dare I say that you are starting to trust me just a little bit now?"

A sly grin appears on Axle's muzzle as his sleepy brain detects the slightest bit of sarcasm in what I have just said.

"Alright, alright I will admit it Tanner, last night I was more than just a little bit nervous, especially when your arm draped over me, but after a few moments I didn't even notice its slight weight anymore and I just fell into what was one of the best night's sleep that I have had in a long time, so thank you for that, and thank you for not taking advantage of me while I was in my nervous state, because that would have ruined everything, I want us to both be ready for our first time"

I chuckle a little as I make my reply.

"Relax Axle, we may have spent last night in the same bed, but that does not mean that I am an easy lay"

I laugh out loud as I see the disgusting look that I get from Axle; I slowly get out of bed and head towards the bathroom.

"Well Axle, I'm going for a shower, there is another bathroom down in the basement, it has a shower as well so if you want you can shower too, and there are clean and dry towels on the towel rail, so help yourself"

With that I vanish into the bathroom. I guess I am about five minutes into my shower when I feel a slight drop in temperature and water pressure, a sure sign that the shower in the basement bathroom is being used. I step out of my showers stream for a few seconds to allow the temperature to equalise again and then I continue on getting my fur clean.

Once I finish my shower, I switch off the water and then step out of the cubicle, I dry my fur with some of the towels and then I put my boxers back on and walk back into my bedroom, once I am back in my room I go to my dresser and pull out two clean pairs of boxers and two pairs of smart socks.

Oh yeah, I know that I am only in the mail room, but the company demands a high standard of dress code for all of their workers. By the time that Axle walks back into my room I am fully dressed in my uniform.

"I left you a clean pair of boxers and a pair of socks on the bed, I'm going to head down to the kitchen and put some toast on, join me when you are ready"

With that I leave the bedroom and gently close the door a little to afford Axle a little privacy. I am just buttering the second lot of toast when I feel a strong arm wrap around my waist.

"Tanner, thank you, I really mean that, and thanks for the loan of the boxers and socks, I'll wash them when I get home tonight and I will give you them back after work tomorrow"

Oh my god, we sound so much like a married couple already, and I can't help but wonder how far things will progress between us. As soon as breakfast is out of the way we both head out to our respective vehicles.

"Well Tanner, I will see you at work; enjoy putting your new speeder through its paces"

He lets out a gentle snigger as he climbs into his own speeder. Seconds later he is almost out of sight, I stand and admire my new speeder for a while, sure part of me is still mad at Axle for using his hard earned credits to buy me something, but looking back on it now I can see that maybe it was his way of showing his interest in me without actually saying the words, there is no denying that I have had feelings for the Rottweiler for quite some time, hence the reason why I jumped at the chance to take on the new mail route at work.

The warmth of the memory evaporates as I look at my watch.

"Shit I'm gonna be late"

I climb into my speeder and activate the thrusters, part of me wants to take the long way to work to really get to know my new speeder, but instead I decide that it would be best to take the shorter route and push the thrusters to the maximum speed allowed.

Ten minutes later and I arrive at work, I look at my watch again and notice that I have just three minutes to spare before I am officially late. I shut down my speeder and jump out of the pilot seat, I hit the ground running and I make it to the door of the mail room with just thirty seconds to spare.

I'm about to open the door to the mail room when I am called by my boss to his office, I close my eyes and sigh a little as I make my way to the office, wondering what is in store for me when I get there.