Friendship Forged Among the Pines

Story by Emerald Feathers on SoFurry

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Nick pushed the door open and stepped into the room. The young wolverine looked around. There were four or five bunk beds against the wood-paneled walls, a large window overlooking large pine trees outside and the lake beyond, a fireplace, a bathroom, and a private room that was reserved for the cabin counselor. The air smelled of old, water-damaged wood and chemical cleaners. The carpet was a dingy green with holes in it that showed the wood floor below it.

Nick hated being shipped to camp on spring break every year. He enjoyed being in the woods, but it was the other campers and his cabin-mates that he didn't like. They were mostly students from his school and they got along fine... as long as they were ignoring him. He ignored them right back, but the forced intimacy of being in a cabin for a week with them made him nervous and on edge.

Having the counselors around made him feel better. They were usually a few years older, meaning they were smarter, and quieter, not so boisterous. There was always one posted in the cabins, just to oversee the campers inside, but last year the counselor assigned to his cabin never showed up. It was a free-for-all with pillow fights, farts, and some of the dirtiest talk Nick ever heard. "girls this," and "girls that!" Nick never thought of doing the things his cabin mates talked about doing to girls, and he never participated in the conversations. Needless to say, it hadn't made him very popular.

Several other boys pushed past the wolverine, nearly knocking him over, and ruffling the dark brown fur on his arm. He took a step forward to balance himself, his backpack falling off his shoulder in the process.

"Watch were you're standing, faggot," one of the boys, a young wolf, said. Nick recognized him as being in his same class. He had never spoken to him before, but apparently someone else had.

Several more boys hurried into the room, each one carrying a sleeping bag and other luggage. They started shouting and laughing with each other, and before their bags could even hit the floor, they were jumping on the beds and a pillow fight had broken out.

Nick sighed disgustedly and brushed the fur on his arm down. Ignoring the chaos, he chose a bottom bunk on the far wall near the counselor's room. He put his bag on the floor below the bed and unrolled his sleeping bag over the stained mattress.

"Hey!" one of the boys shouted. "Do you think we'll get a counselor like last year?"

"You mean the one that didn't show up?" another asked. "Yeah, that would be tight!"

More laughter and shouting followed, and Nick sat on the edge of his bed. He hoped that they'd have a counselor. He didn't like the thought of being left alone in a cabin full of his rude classmates.

The front door opened again, and a cougar with a several duffel bags and a laptop came in. He was tall, slender, and had a kind face. Nick recognized him as being one of the seniors that had graduated from his school last year. He remembered his name was Gary.

"Uh-uh," Gary said, seeing the boys jumping on the bed and beating each other with pillows. "I don't care if you beat yourselves senseless later, but for now pick out a bunk and store your stuff on it."

"Aw, man!" one of the boys said as they calmed down and did as Gary told them.

Gary opened the door to the private room. Nick could see a queen-sized bed with lots of pillows through the door. He watched as Gary put his laptop on a bedside table and stored his bags in the closet. After a few moments, he came back out and addressed the room. "The camp administrators and the school want you to call me Mr. DeVreise, but you can call me Gary."

He sat down on Nick's bed and continued addressing the other boys. "Now then, I understand you're at camp, and I want you to have a good time, but there are a couple of rules I want you to follow. First: no roughhousing. At least not the point of either property damage or someone needed to be rushed to the camp medic. Cool?"

"Does that mean we can have a pillow fight later?" someone asked.

Gary nodded. "Sure. But only if I can join."

Another one of the boys laughed. "Cool!"

"And rule number two is, you will stick to the schedule, show up at every event and mealtime. Free time is your own of course, but this year all the cabins are competing with each other. It's like a contest. Everyone that shows up to their scheduled function earns their cabin points. At the end of the week, whichever class has the most points gets an extra day of spring break."

Several off the boys exchanged excited glances.

"I graduated from your school last year, so I really don't care if we win or not. That is entirely up to you." He looked around at the boys. "Does everyone understand?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good," Gary said with a smile, his tail flicking happily. "Now then, who's hungry? I say we head down to the lodge and grab some food!"

Most of the boys hollered and jostled each other out the door, leaving Gary and Nick alone for a few moments.

"So what about you," Gary said, turning to Nick. "Aren't you hungry?"

"Yeah," said Nick. "I just thought I'd let the others go first."

"Good idea," said Gary. He smiled at Nick.

It was then that Nick felt something tugging at the pit of his heart. Gary had a nice smile... not a bad looking guy.

"I remember you," said Gary. "Your name is Nicholas, right?"

"Yeah," said Nick. "But my friends and family call me Nick."

Gary's smile widened, his whiskers perking. "I'll call you Nick, too."

Nick smiled shyly. "I'm surprised you remember me from school."

"As I recall, we were both on the honor roll, and both part of the student council," said Gary.

"Weren't you captain of the basketball team, as well as prom king?" Nick asked.

Gary waved a paw dismissively. "Yeah, but I'll let you in on a little secret." He leaned in close to Nick, his fine whiskers tickling the wolverine's ear, and whispered, "None of that really matters once you get out of school. I wouldn't hold that against me."

Nick laughed. At least this year he had a really nice cabin counselor.

~

The camp activities over the next few days were the same as previous years; canoe races, frisbee golf, craft making, log sawing, hikes, and nature studies. Nick decided to participate in each that he could. He never finished first in the competitions, but still earned points for his cabin in the process. During his free times, he went down to the craft cabin and sat next to the boat dock, sketching in his sketchbook and occasionally staring out at the lake.

"Hey buddy, whatcha sketchin'?" a friendly voice asked him from behind.

Nick turned to see Gary coming over. The cougar was wearing a tight, form-fitting baseball shirt with red sleeves, and a pair of running shorts the same color. He was also wearing cleats and white socks with two red bands around the mouth. Nick caught a fleeting glimpse of thick calves and muscled thighs before Gary crossed his legs and sat down next to him.

"Not really anything, today," said Nick. "Just kind of sitting here by myself. It's nice to get away from the others. It's a lot quieter."

"I'm glad you decided to participate with the others," said Gary. "You're making your counselor very proud. Right now, out of ten cabins, we're in third place. You've helped with that."

Nick shrugged. "I don't really like competitive games. But, what are you up to? This is your free time, too, right?"

"Some of the other counselors and I were going up to the baseball diamond. Would you want to come with us?"

Nick thought for a moment, his brow furrowing. "Wouldn't that be a little awkward? I'm only a sophomore and you and the other counselors are seniors or already graduated. I'm not sure how much fun it would be to have me tagging along with you."

"Hey, I'm still a teenager, too," said Gary. "Not for much longer, however. But that's beside the point. The point is that it's going to be fun." He leaned over and whispered in Nick's ear again. "We don't even keep score."

Nick shuddered at the cougar's warm breath. The fur on the back of his neck and on his muzzle fuzzed slightly. Beneath his fur, he blushed.

He swallowed and nodded. "Sure."

"Cool," said Gary. He stood and offered Nick his paw to help him up.

The young wolverine closed his sketch pad, clipped the mechanical pencil to the spiral binding, and put his paw in Gary's. The touch of the older cougar's paw made the fur on his arm and spine stand up. His grip was strong yet somehow gentle. Nick felt quite warm beneath his fur as he looked up at the cougar's soft blue eyes. Gary smiled in return.

~

True to Gary's word, Nick did have a good time at the softball field. He was the youngest one there, but the other counselors were very nice, and tried to include him in their game.

Nick felt awkward and clumsy when it was his turn to bat. He missed the first three pitches, but everyone agreed that he could try until he hit one. Gary showed him how to stand correctly and the right way to grip the bat. On his next swing, he hit the ball. It was caught by the baseman at first base, but Nick still felt it was a victory. He could hear Gary cheering the loudest.

After the game finished, and free time was nearing its close, the two of them walked back to the cabin.

"Good job out there," said Gary. "I'm impressed!"

Nick smiled shyly. "Thanks. And thank you for showing me how to hold the bat and to stand."

"You're welcome," said Gary.

"And thank you for taking me up there to play with you guys. It didn't feel so uncomfortable."

"Anytime, bud."

They arrived at the cabin and went inside. None of Nick's cabin mates were there.

Gary went into his room. "Want to go to dinner together?" he called.

"Sure," said Nick. He sat on the floor and put his sketchpad into his backpack.

"Cool," said Gary. "Let me change out of this shirt and then we can go."

The hair on Nick's back stood up. The door to Gary's room was still open... all he had to do was turn around to see...

He glanced over his shoulder into Gary's room.

Gary had his back turned to him. He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it on the floor. The cougar was slim, but defined. When he turned around, he could see that his nipples were small and pink, surrounded by creamy colored fur.

The cougar scratched his stomach with his claws. Then he pulled the waistband of his shorts open and scratched himself lower.

Nick quickly turned back around, not wanting to be seen watching. He swallowed hard and then realized that there was a pressure building between his legs; the beginning of an erection. He jostled it a little, getting his penis to lie back down.

Gary came out of his room, a clean shirt over his broad shoulders and a pair of clean socks in his paw. He sat down on Nick's bed and took off his cleats. He pulled his socks off, arching his clawed toes a little, rubbing his sore feet, and put on the clean socks.

"Forgot my shoes..." he said absently as he got back up and went back into his room.

Nick grabbed the cougar's socks before he knew what he was doing. He quickly stuffed them under his pillow, giving them a gentle sniff before covering him. They weren't offensive, but smelled like the cougar's fur.

Nick's mind reeled. Why did he just do that?

"Ready to go?" Gary asked.

"Uh, yeah," said Nick. He got to his feet and hurried toward the door. "Let's go."

~

That night, after dinner and the other boys were all asleep in their sleeping bags, Nick pulled out one of Gary's socks. He held it to his nose and inhaled deeply. The pressure between his legs began to form again and this time he didn't fight it.

Keeping one sock over his nose and breathing deeply, he slipped the other sock out from under the pillow and reached into his sleeping bag to pull his shorts and underwear down. He gently lowered the sock over his penis and began to paw. Thoughts of Gary shirtless swirled in his mind, as did thoughts of the cougar's touch, the feeling of his warm breath on his neck... his smile...

After a few moments and some licking at the sock on his muzzle, he came. Several strands of hot semen shot into Gary's sock.

When his climax ended and the socks were safely back under his pillow, he rolled over and closed his eyes. He smiled and stared at Gary's door until he fell asleep.

~

The next day was the last day of camp, and it was also the day of the fiercest competition: capture the flag.

The playing field was on the other side of the lake, with the flags hidden over a large area. All the cabins participated, divided into a blue team and a red team. Nick felt relieved when Gary was put on the red team with him.

The game began and everyone scattered. Nick trailed behind Gary. He watched as the slim cougar vaulted over fallen trees, ran and jumped. He even managed to grab two or three blue flags and send their wearers to the red prison.

After fifteen minutes had passed in the game, Gary turned to the young wolverine that had been trailing him. "What do you think? Think you and I can get the flag?"

"Yeah!" Nick said a little too zealously. "I have an idea! If we can get close to the blue camp, I can cause a distraction and you can sneak up from the rear."

"Sounds good," said Gary. "Let's head down to the lakeshore, there's not as much activity down there."

The two of them made their way to the lake. The water was still and the air was full of the cool scent of pine and brine.

"Doesn't that sun feel great?" Gary asked as they walked. He closed his eyes, leaned his head back and spread his arms wide.

"It's wonderful," said Nick. He wasn't feeling the sun, but rather staring at the cougar's nice behind.

"Invaders!" came a cry from the treeline. Two blue team members, a bobcat and badger, had spotted them and were running towards them.

The badger dove at Nick when he was in range, but the young wolverine spun on his heel and the badger haphazardly rushed past him. "Gotcha!" Nick shouted as he pulled the badger's blue flag from his back pocket.

"Aw, man!" said the badger.

The bobcat had engaged Gary and the two were in a stand-off., slowly circling one another, waiting for the opportune moment to grab each other's flag and send them to the prison.

In a surprise maneuver, Gary started directly toward the bobcat. Momentarily stunned at the coming attack, the bobcat took a step back. Gary made like he was heading toward the bobcat's left side, but faked him out and suddenly zipped to the right. It was the type of move that probably made him Captain of the basketball team, it was graceful and quick.

There was a sharp snap of fabric, and the bobcat's flag came out of his back pocket.

Dejected, the blue members began heading for the red prison.

"Nice work, buddy!" Gary said as he gave Nick a high-five. "Let's keep up with the plan."

They started walking again, but after a few steps, Nick stepped on a rock covered with green algae and slipped. Reacting instinctively, he reached out and caught Gary by the tail.

The cougar howled in surprise and went into the lake on top of Nick with a loud splash.

Struggling to their feet, Nick coughed and sputtered. "Sorry! I'm so sorry! I lost my footing, I didn't mean to grab your tail!"

Gary clamored out of the cold water, his clothes clinging to him, revealing muscular curves and private lumps. Nick tried not to stare.

"Crap, man," said Gary. He helped Nick out of the water and they stood on the pebbly shore. "Are you alright?"

Wiping his face off, Nick said, "Yeah. I think so. Just embarrassed."

"...And wet..." Gary said, none to happily.

"I don't want to play any more," said Nick. "I want to go get dried off and warm up." His teeth began to chatter in the cool verdant air and he gripped his shoulders.

Gary looked back up at the treeline. "I guess they can keep playing without us. Let's go back to the cabin."

~

The cabin was deserted again, as everyone else was at the game. By the time they got back, they were both shivering, their clothes still dripping.

"I'll shower first," Gary said. "But I won't take long."

Nick sniffed, his nose was running. "Okay."

Gary grabbed his towel from his room and went into the bathroom. Nick stripped off his wet clothes and sat on his bed, waiting his turn. He heard the sound of the shower being turned on and reached under his pillow. He took out Gary's socks and sniffed at them more. He wanted to masturbate in one of them again, but there would be time for that later.

~

Gary opened the bathroom door and stepped out into the room, his clothes in his paw and the towel around his waist. He told Nick it was his turn and went into his room. Nick went into the bathroom and turned the shower back on. Gary decided to go stand on the porch for a few moments.

When he passed Nick's bed, he happened to look down and see a red-striped sock poking out from under the pillow. Isn't that mine? he though to himself.

He picked up the pillow and found a pair of his socks there. What are these doing here? He picked them up and discovered one of them was crusty. Curious, he held it to his nose.

It was filled with the male musk of semen.

Who's bed is this? he thought. He looked under the bed for a backpack with a name on it or any sort of identifying mark, and saw a sketchpad poking out of the front pocket of the bag.

The cougar stood again and looked at the closed bathroom door.

~

Nick shut the water off and grabbed a towel from the towel rack. He dried himself off as best he could, his fur poking every which way. When he finished he wrapped the towel around his waist and opened the door.

He didn't see Gary, so he thought he was in his room. He crossed the room and knelt next to his bed to fish out dry clothes from his bag.

"Nick?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you come in here a minute?"

"...Yeah."

Gary was sitting on the edge of his bed, his towel still wrapped around his hips. Nick swallowed hard and tried not to look at how far open it was hanging. Not wide enough to see anything, but still open far enough to know the cougar wasn't wearing anything under it. Beside him on the bed were his socks.

"Shut the door," Gary said. Nick closed it behind him.

Gary motioned to the socks. "Care to explain what this is? I found them under your pillow."

"I..." Nick stared at the floor. "I know they're yours."

"Did you masturbate in one of them?"

The question hit him off-guard. His bottom lip began to quiver and he started to cry. "...Yes..."

"Why?"

Nick couldn't answer for a moment. He waited until he stopped bawling long enough to take a breath and calm down a moment. "Because...I..."

"Here, come sit next to me. It's okay, I'm not mad, I just want to know what you were thinking."

Nick slowly shuffled next to Gary and sat on the socks. "I just wanted..." He stopped and sniffed several times.

"Wanted what?" Gary asked.

"I like you," Nick said. He sniffed wetly a few more times and then added, "You've been so nice to me, like no one else ever has. I just wanted to be close to you."

Gary swallowed hard. "'Close like how?"

Nick looked up. His cheeks were freshly wet with tears of embarrassment and shame, but he tried to look the cougar in the eye. "Will you promise me that you won't hate me?"

Gary scoffed. "...Yeah."

Ever so slowly, Nick raised his paw and set it on Gary's bare knee and pushed it under the towel. He didn't touch anything, but left his paw on Gary's thigh and gently rubbed it. "Close like this."

Gary sighed. He wasn't sure what to do. The little wolverine had obviously taken a big risk in telling him this. It was obvious that his heart was hurting, craving something. Throwing abandon to the wind, he said, "I kind of like you too."

He opened the towel on his lap, exposing his naked thighs to Nick.

Nick stopped sniffing. He stared at the cougar's penis. It was flaccid, with a bright pink tip, slightly darker fur around his scrotum and balls.

Gary leaned over and nuzzled Nick against his cheek and neck. He began to purr. It wasn't like any purr Nick had ever heard before, not like his cat at home, but deep and resonant. It was so soothing and made him feel at ease.

"Can I..." Nick began to say, but Gary cut him off by gently slipping Nick's towel from his hips and letting it fall on the floor. The cougar lied him down on the bed and straddled him. Still purring loudly, Gary began to lick at the fur under Nick's balls, between his legs.

Nick felt that familiar pressure again and couldn't help but start to grow erect. Gary gently licked and sucked on Nick's head, using his soft lips to brush against his skin and gently probe his slit with his warm tongue. When he had grown fully erect, Gary parted his lips and took the length of his shaft into his vibrating muzzle.

Nick had never felt something so wonderful before. Gary's muzzle was wet and warm as it slid down his shaft and slowly came back up. He couldn't help but curl his toes and grip the sheets tightly in his fists.

Gary removed his mouth from Nick's penis and took his shaft in his paw. He began to paw him with his saliva.

"Are you ready?" Gary whispered.

Nick swallowed. "I've heard it hurts to be with a feline."

Gary smiled and shook his head. "Only with barbed felines. I'm not barbed."

Nick looked down between his legs to get a look at Gary's now erect penis. Sure enough, he was smooth, no barbs. "Then yes...please..."

Gary raised Nick's legs, folding him at the hips so his knees rested on his shoulders. Nick's tailhole was small and pink. Gary leaned in closer and milked his shaft onto the pink orifice. A drop of pre formed at his slit and he rubbed it around the pucker.

He braced himself over Nick, one strong arm on each side, and pressed his penis against him. With a smooth motion, he bit Nick on the shoulder as he pushed his glans inside. Nick moaned a little, but didn't complain. So Gary gently sank himself inside, hilting him.

Nick felt his erection grow rock hard and he preed several drops of his own crystal semen onto his belly.

Gary began to rock back and forth sliding his silky erection in and out, never pulling out entirely, but just enough to get some smooth friction. He reached under his belly and took Nick's penis in his paw and continued stroking him.

It was all Nick could do to keep from moaning and growling. Every good feeling in his body was like an arrow nocked tightly in a bowstring and pointed at his crotch. In a moment more, it became too much, the arrows were released and he felt the tingly start of an orgasm.

"Gary!" he moaned breathlessly.

Knowing full-well what was about to happen to the young wolverine, Gary slipped out of his tailhole and plunged his muzzle down on the spasming erection. Nick cried out in pleasure as his first string of semen burst from him and into Gary's mouth. With each shot, a spasm of pure, white ecstasy ran through his body like fingers through his fur.

A single tear ran from the corner of his eye and fell on the pillow. As his orgasm faded, Gary slowed his sucking and gently rubbed his shaft. Nick lie on the bed panting. He looked down at Gary. "What about you?" he whispered.

"What about me?" Gary purred.

"Don't you want to come, too?"

Gary smiled and stood above him on the bed. He stretched his arms high above his head, his tail going rigid behind him. He took his shaft in his paw and began to masturbate above him.

Nick smiled shyly at the sight of his friend and counselor standing naked over him and masturbating. After a few moments, Gary's tail began to shake and he rolled his head back and let a small mewing escape his lips. Nick felt a hot drop of semen hit him on the chest, followed by several more. The scent was warm and musky, smelling deeply of the musk on his socks, but with more.

Gary milked his shaft again, a large drop of creamy white forming at the tip, stringing low and falling on Nick's abdomen.

Gary looked down at him and smiled. He lied down next to him and circled a claw around Nick's nipple. "Was that what you had in mind?"

Nick giggled a little. He couldn't help it. "That was better, actually."

Gary wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close, all wet and sticky; the room smelling heavily of semen and musk.

"I want to tell you something," he said. "...Everyone wants to know what it's like to be loved and sexual intimacy is the penultimate expression of physical and emotional closeness. It connects people in ways that words cannot. That's why we have to be so careful not to abuse it because then it turns ugly. And instead of creating closeness; it destroys everything we hold dear. Do you understand?"

Nick nodded. "I think so."

"Today was a gift," Gary continued. "You must choose whom to share it with with the ultimate discretion. This was something that you and I did. It is no one else's business."

Nick nodded again, this time understanding completely. He nuzzled against Gary's bare chest and closed his eyes. The warm breeze brushed against the yellow curtains and filled the room with the cool, fresh scent of pine.

"I want it to remain like this forever," Nick said quietly.

Gary stroked his ears and held him tighter.

After a little while had passed, the square of sunlight cast from the window moving higher as the sun began to set, they got up and cleaned themselves again. Gary snickered as he took one of the socks he had found under the pillow and cleaned up his semen from Nick's chest. Now one sock smelled like Nick, and the other like Gary.

~

That nigh at dinner, their cabin sat at the same table, Nick sitting next to his friend. After the plates had been cleared away, a school official took a microphone in hand and announced the winner of the contest. Nick smiled as his class was called; they had won an extra day off school. His table erupted in cheers and Gary smiled at him.

Nothing had ever felt so right before.

~

The next morning, it was time to board the buses and head home. The other boys in the cabin rolled up their sleeping bags and stuffed dirty socks and t-shirts into their bags. Nick was folding his clothes and putting them back in his backpack when he found Gary's socks in his bag, tied in a knot together. He held them up to his nose. The memories of the previous day came back to him, and he smiled.

After finishing packing, Nick wanted to say goodbye to Gary. He weaved through the crowd of people boarding the buses, looking above heads and ears to find his friend. After a few small jumps to see above the crowd, he spotted him standing toward the back with a group of other counselors. He hurried over to him.

"Hi, Nick," the cougar said warmly. "Are you all ready to leave?"

"Yeah," he said. "But I wanted to say goodbye to you, first."

Gary drew him into a hug, the young wolverine's arms around his chest.

"Will I ever see you again?" Nick whispered.

Gary sighed. "I don't know," he said.

"I hope so," said Nick. "You've been the best friend I've ever had. I'll never forget..."

Gary stopped him. "Remember what I said yesterday?"

Nick nodded. "Sorry." He hugged his friend tighter and whispered, "Thank you for the socks."

Gary laughed. "You're welcome."

The bus driver honked the horn, signaling that it was time to go.

"I have to go," said Nick.

"Alright, get going, buddy," said Gary.

Nick happily bounded away and boarded the bus. He took a seat next to the window and waved to Gary as the bus pulled away.

Nick knew he'd never forget his time here, and hoped that he could come back next year. But above all things, he hoped that Gary would be back. Maybe, if Gary was there, it wouldn't be such a bad thing to come back to camp.

~

Gary was packing his bags in the trunk of his car when he heard someone shouting his name. He turned around to see a pretty female panther coming toward him. He smiled and the two of them embraced. She put her bags in the trunk next to his, and they kissed.

"Ready to head home, pretty girl?" he asked her.

"Sure am, sexy boyfriend."

They got in the car, and began the drive to their apartment together.