Entering The Ring - Part 5
#5 of Entering The Ring
And now Tyler and Dan face each other. Part 5 of 7.
Tyler stood face-to-face with his Gladiator bear and swallowed nervously. He'd never in his life been so close to something he had properly desired. He was feeling so exposed in front of the thousands of people there and however many more were watching at home, in bars, outside on the big screens. All Tyler wore was a yellow singlet that matched his fur and was just sheer enough for his stripes to show through when the light hit it at the right angle. He looked good, though, his figure was just muscled enough for it to pull him into an impressive shape, and even his rear was cupped nicely and tightly. The referee briefed them both; normally people in the ring didn't get to hear this.
"I want to see a good, clean fight boys. Tyler, don't let nerves get to you," the bear looked confused, flicking between the referee and him, "Gladiator, you've been here a while, so no matter what you decide, I want to see something convincing, these people here paid for tickets tonight. And Tyler here has the most expensive seat in the house." The referee winked at 22-Z-441, but the tiger just caught it.
441 tilted his head and gave a troubled look, casting his eyes from the referee to the tiger. The bear's demeanour had changed: no longer awkward and eager to get it over with, but now looked like he was seriously struggling with something in his brain.
The referee was still going over the rules, making sure to have clear and exaggerated hand movements so that the audience didn't think something was up - but the tiger wasn't listening to him. Tyler was still being looked over by the stout ursine wrestler and felt himself blushing, he smiled at the bear sheepishly and the response back was a flicker of a smile followed by the furrowing of his brow.
Before he knew what was going on the referee had backed away and the bear stepped towards him and to the side, starting to circle. Tyler was suddenly pumped full of adrenaline and started out in the opposite way, suddenly aware that this was now serious. Here he was, face to face with the object of his fascination, circling while being watched by a chanting, heaving crowd that just two weeks ago he was part of. But it faded away; it was just he and 441 now.
The bear made a step forward for him but Tyler stepped back lightly, not really sure what to do, just playing defensive for now until his brain stopped analysing the situation and started being useful. Out of nowhere the bear grinned and dived forwards, catching his waist and pushing him to the ground. He was damn strong - the tiger slowly sank backwards as the Gladiator dug his paws into his hips and it felt good to be touched. Tyler quietly bit his lip and tried not to moan. Remembering where he was, he hooked his arms under the bear's and levered him off, pushing his backwards and over. Tyler hesitated for a moment before leaping down to the bear, but he suddenly had gone. He landed without any grace on his stomach and then pushed himself back up, but it didn't work. The bear's whole body was pressing him down.
Tyler shivered, worried that this might have been for nothing, he pushed harder. He heard distantly the first call.
"One!"
Then not so distantly, he heard the bear whisper into his ear, "Twist your hips and shoulders in opposite directions." Tyler didn't need it a second time and was surprised when it work and the bear went rolling over on to the mat beside him. The tiger leapt over the bear and pinned him down, where he started to struggle.
"One!"
"I've seen you here week after week," 22-Z-441 said through gritted teeth, "didn't expect to see you in the ring, though."
"Two!"
Tyler blushed again and was pushed off backwards, startled as the short bear flipped himself off the mat with dexterity that wasn't common to his species. They circled again, with the tiger deciding to take the initiative and lunge for his quarry. The bear feinted left, but stepped right, but Tyler caught it and adjusted at the last minute and grappled the bear until he had him in a headlock.
"I had a little encouragement from a mutual acquaintance," He quietly grunted into his opponent's ear. The bear struggled and tried to pry his arms apart.
"The referee? That sly bastard pointed you out after my third match," The Gladiator adjusted his tactic and Tyler was being pushed over by his leg. In a flash, he was on his back and the bear was looking down at him smirking, in the blink of an eye he had the whole of his body being pinned down by the smaller man. He could feel the bulge of the bear pressing down against him and he swallowed.
"One!"
Tyler squirmed, but every time he did, he felt the two layers of lycra slide over each other and he became aware that he wasn't the only one that was enjoying that sensation. He stammered a little when he whispered back to the bear, "I- I couldn't stand the thought you'd be won away by someone horrible and I wouldn't see you again, so he convinced me to apply,"
"Two!"
He felt the bear falter at those words and he squirmed him off, distantly away of the referee about to call out for the third time. There was a distant gasp from an enrapt audience.
Tyler grappled the burly wrestler down and lay diagonally over him, pushing with all of his strength, "I don't need anything from you, I just want you to be happy." He felt the bear go limp under him for a moment as the words sunk in.
"One!"
The bear's strength was back and he was pushed off and he rolled out of the way to avoid being pinned again, they were on their feet and the Gladiator bear in the red singlet was grinning at him. "What makes you think you can make me happy?" He looked amused.
"I can provide a house, a bed, food and whatever you need," Tyler closed his eyes a moment, and the bear charged at him, seizing an advantage, and as he felt the paws make contact around his waist he stammered, "I'll even let you go free."
The bear stopped dead, Tyler flinched and then swung him down on to the mat, and stood over him, backing away and resuming his stance.
441 sprang up onto his feet and lunged again, Tyler was ready and swung him around into the ropes and pushed him, looking seriously into the bear's eyes, "and if that doesn't convince you, I've already agreed to fight you again next week," The bear looked startled for a moment and smiled. He pushed the tiger backwards and stumbled onto him, trying to recompose himself into a grapple.
Tyler found himself looking up at the bear and remembered earlier and twisted his hips and shoulders in opposite directions before using a leg to lever the bear out of the awkward grip and flicking him on to the mat, grabbing an arm and a leg and turning him down on to his front, pressing into the mat.
"One!"
The bear struggled, but the tiger wasn't trying the best he could, and he could feel the bear was now doing it for show.
"Two!"
The bear made a good show of a twist, but it wasn't enough to free him. Suddenly, he was back in the room, the crowd was on its feet, nearly silent as the third call rang out from the referee's mic.
"Three!"
There was a deafening roar, Tyler felt suddenly sick and a paw gripped his wrist and encouraged him to his feet. It was the ref again. The mouse was grinning from ear to ear and mouthed the words, "nice show".
Dan looked up, almost in a daze; he wasn't sure why he'd allowed the tiger to win. Maybe he had just taken in what was said and let his gut decide.
He stayed down as the crowd cheered - they had been delighted with the show. They started stomping and chanting again for him, "4-4-1! 4-4-1!" and it got louder and faster until eventually the tiger extended his arm down to him and offered him a lift up.
He looked up into the face of the tiger, and there he saw a pair of caring eyes, they were tired and utterly lost, but kind nonetheless. He accepted the hand and there was a massive cheer, camera flashes went off as he was pulled to his feet carefully. And while he knew his family would be okay, he was now completely unsure of what would come next for him.
He watched his new owner accept the collar from the referee and the tiger walked around him and hooked it around the back of his neck, pulling it against him lightly and then slowly threading it through the buckle under his chin and it clicked into place.
Dan didn't realise he was blushing until the cat smiled shyly at him. He was holding the clasp of a leash in his right hand and the feeling of being owned quietly confused the bear but the sight of the leash was a little bit too much and he quietly and subconsciously whimpered in delight.
The little brown bear proudly raised his chin and let the tiger clip the leash on and lead him to the ropes. Unexpectedly, his new master did something he'd never seen before; he went ahead and held open the ropes for his new property. Dan was confused, but an unknown part of his brain fired up and said that this was exactly what he wanted.
They went to the desk by the ring and both filled in some paperwork, the feline used his right hand and he used his left, and their forearms bumped together awkwardly. When all the documents had been signed and Dan was now officially owned property, he breathed deeply and sighed. This chapter in his life was now closed.
As they turned towards the exit, Dan saw Mike standing by his chair; a tear had rolled down his friend's face. He then looked to his new owner, "May I?" he said as he pointed over to the timber wolf.
"Sure," He let go of the leash and folded his arms; smiling as he stood by and watched them share in a long hug. They were alone in a room full of thousands of watchers, saying goodbye.
"I'll miss you little buddy bear," Mike was biting back tears, "I know you threw that fight, but it was really worth watching."
"I know, but it felt right," Dan stuck his nose into the wolf's neck and tried not to cry, "Listen to the referee, he'll let you know when the right one comes along."
Mike pulled back and gave him one long look before glancing at the referee, who was grinning. The mouse tapped his nose a couple of times and headed over to the Gladiator door and opened it. Dan knew he might never see his buddy again, but he looked reassured that he'd made the decision to go instead of being taken.
Dan released his friend and watched him and the remaining Gladiators vanish through the secured door. He felt a light tug at his neck as the handsome tiger in the tight yellow lycra took up the end of the leash in his paw.
"Shall we?" He said.
Dan nodded and gave an uncertain smile, "I'm all yours," he said, without a hint of irony. The crowd clapped and cheered again as their favourite was led away through the Contender's exit.
The drive home was quiet. Dan, he had learned name of his new bear from the paperwork, sat quietly in the passenger seat as Tyler drove him to his new home.
Tyler's nerves were off the scale and he was moving as if in a dream. He hadn't expected this to go this way, but here he was. He looked over at Dan, who was toying with the end of the leash.
"You can take the leash off if you want; I think it's only for show," Tyler pushed a smile, "You could take off the collar too..."
Dan kept looking down at the end of the leash. He had accepted the clothes from Tyler, but only pulled them over his singlet. He was wearing dark grey sweat pants and a hooded top. Tyler was wearing jeans and a t-shirt; the yellow singlet he had worn was tucked safely in his bag.
"No, I'm okay for now, thank you," Dan looked up at him and he glanced back to smile, "I actually like the collar, but I might take the leash off it gets to be a problem, though."
He smiled and reached out and petted his bear's ear softly, "Okay, but it's up to you - I won't make you do anything you don't want to do."
Dan blushed and flicked his ear instinctively at the touch and then leaned into his paw, which is not something he entirely expected.
Tyler opened the front door, and turned around to gesture Dan inside, but the bear just stood there, holding out the end of the leash.
"Aww, you don't have to do that, Dan," the tiger smiled broadly and found the whole thing extremely cute.
Dan shuffled his feet and extended his arm out towards him and offering the end of the leather strap that led to his collar, "I-," he stammered, "I would actually like you to," he gave a coy little smile and blushed deep red in his ears.
Tyler felt his mouth go dry and didn't know what to say, so he reached out and took the leash again, feeling strange and confused, but quietly he was thrilled. He stood there for a moment, him on one side of the door and Dan on the other, connected only by the leash.
Dan shrugged and smiled, putting his paws into the pocket on the front of the hoodie. Tyler gave it a gentle pull until the line was taut. Dan stepped over the threshold and sighed softly as he nudged the door closed with his shoulder and it fell into place with a light click.