FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 139: Defend Your Ally

Nathanial closed his bedroom door behind him and looked over at his three friends. Geoff had already started to unbutton his shirt, but Liam and Faelen made no moves to undress, and, rather, had embraced with a deep kiss. Nathanial felt self-conscious knowing Geoff planned on fucking him next to the other two. A silly reaction, sure, but two months ago he'd never have imagined_something like this would happen. He'd never thought he'd be dating anyone, let alone someone so nice and handsome. Never thought he'd be having _sex, or that it could feel so fulfilling. Even that he'd be having sex with other people, either them penetrating him or just being in the same room while his boyfriend did it. Nathanial stifled a sigh. He certainly didn't think it'd almost be commonplace. How many people had seen Geoff buried balls deep in him?

Geoff's voice roused him -- in more than one way. "Hey, Pup. Something wrong?" The handsome, kind, muscular, smart, funny...uh, _Geoff_stood there, naked, looking at Nathanial with a mixed expression of hunger and concern on his face. Almost a full paw-span of delicious pink flesh protruded from his sheath. Nathanial ducked his head in embarrassment, even as he felt delightful anticipation at the thought of that thing sliding into him.

Liam and Faelen broke their kiss and slow, mutual undressing to look at him.

"N-No." Nathanial reflexively licked at his nose as Geoff's thick tube twitched, and a large pearl of pre oozed out, balanced on the tapered tip for a moment, and then began running down the underside of Geoff's dick. "I w-was just thinking how silly it must seem for me to b-be feeling self-conscious after all the times we've done things like this." A hungry growl rumbled from his boyfriend's chest, and Geoff took two long strides to close the gap between them.

Liam suddenly appeared by them and his paw kept them apart. "Before you begin molesting our sweet little Myo, perhaps I should check his chi to ensure it is safe for you to unload your copious emissions in him." Liam shrugged his shoulders to dislodge his open shirt. The wine cloth drifted over his dark fur and picked up tiny charges of sparking static as it went. The healer nudged Geoff aside so he could stand directly in front of Nathanial. "However, Geoff, if you wish, you may undress the pup from behind. I believe the feeling of your teeth upon his neck proves to be most distracting and arousing for him."

Both Wolves moved behind their smaller Dog lovers and unbuckled their belts. Geoff lost no time in gnawing on Nathanial's neck, the fluffy fur proving little hindrance to those large teeth, while Faelen rested his nose on top of Liam's head to draw as much scent in as he could. Faelen's contented sigh couldn't be heard over Geoff's deep rumbles; rumbles that, as always, went straight to Nathanial's dick. Geoff had to lift the waistband of Nathanial's boxers out a good way before they'd fall to the floor, but as soon as his rump was bare, Nathanial felt hot, slick meat slide in between his cheeks.

"Fuuuuck." Nathanial could barely make out the word amidst the growl coming from the white Wolf. His paws moved from waist to chest to remove the offending bits of clothing still present.

Liam smiled as he looked into Nathanial's eyes, but Liam's lids soon closed almost entirely as a soft sigh escaped the Rottie. Faelen had dropped his knees and lapped at the opening he aimed to possess. Liam ran his paws over Nathanial's torso. "Our Wolves are rather amorous tonight. I must confess to my surprise when Faelen approached me on this matter." Liam paused to let his own contented growl free when Faelen's tongue entered him. "Not that I object to it at all." Nathanial whimpered and pushed back; Geoff's dick had stopped sliding between his cheeks and instead poked inside him. He wanted it all the way in. Liam's paw paused over Nathanial's heart, and he frowned. "I'm sorry, but your chi is too yin. Adding Geoff's essence could be highly detrimental."

"N-No?" Nathanial's whimper changed to a whine when Liam shook his head. "B-But..." The dick inside him stopped its seemingly inevitable progress.

Faelen stood up. "Damn. How bad is it?" He wrapped his arms around the much smaller Rottie. They looked so cute together.

The healer shrugged. "Not dire, of course, else we would have detected and corrected it sooner. It is at the cusp of requiring attention, so this is a prime opportunity to remedy it. As my family is in bed, we could risk moving to the showers, but not all require large amounts of sleep and may wish to use the exercise facilities. It is...inadvisable to be caught _in flagrante delicto,_as it were. The turmoil may have abated, but the underlying issues remain. However, we require a vast amount of fog for Faelen's efforts to balance out any relevant quantity of Geoff's frequent ejaculations in our friend, and unfortunately, the only rooms adequate for handling it are far too likely to expose us to discovery." Liam's tan paw wrapped around Nathanial's deflating length and lightly stroked along it, causing the Akita to whimper and become erect again. "It is a great pity I cannot charge my semen as a Spirit does."

Geoff pulled Nathanial back and away from Liam's stroking paw, 'coincidentally' hilting himself inside Nathanial. "The only reason Faelen gets a shot at this ass on occasion is because it's necessary."

Liam arched an eyebrow. "Obviously. Why else would I say it is a great pity?"

Faelen chuckled and aimed to deflect any potential squabble. "And here I thought it was because friends share, or because you like looking at _my_cock as I bury it in that ass."

Geoff slowly thrust into Nathanial, and the Akita relished it while he could -- not that Faelen didn't feel nice, but, well, it was Geoff."Like I said, anything to do with this ass is hot, and you have a great looking dick as well."

Liam poked the Elemental's arm where it wrapped over Nathanial's belly. "Be careful, my friend. I require your semen as Nathanial requires Faelen's. Do not arouse yourself such that you forget."

Geoff grumbled and pulled out; Nathanial couldn't stop himself from whining and pushing back in an attempt to stop Geoff from leaving, but the Wolf merely snorted and held him still. "I know, Pup; later tonight I'll be back in there. And again after that, and once more in the morning before school. Maybe twice." Geoff seized a bit of the loose skin on Nathanial's ruff with his teeth and growled around it. "Maybe three times tonight, not just two."

Liam sighed in mock despair. "Perhaps we will require more than one session with switched partners this week." He leant back against Faelen and placed his paw on his boyfriend's cheek. The Rottie tipped his head back to look up. "I do find the thought of being able to sleep with you every night most pleasurable -- more pleasurable than mere lovemaking." Faelen said nothing in return; not verbally, anyway. He rubbed his nose over Liam's and smiled.

Nathanial read full agreement in that small gesture; the Akita agreed in some ways, but the thought of Geoff filling him over and over... Then again, having those strong arms holding him close while a blanket of darkness covered them up, hiding him from the world, as sleep stole over him. Safe. Secure. _Loved._With a thick knot lodged in his ass.

Nathanial chuckled when his thoughts went back to Geoff's dick. He was almost tempted to look for Nick, but he could sense his brother was already occupied in Micah's room...with his nose buried in the pouch of a pilfered pair of Faelen's briefs.

Geoff pulled Nathanial close and they both whimpered when Geoff's leaking penis rubbed across Nathanial's tail-hole. The Wolf laughed hollowly. "Later. Gods, it can't come soon enough. Anyway. Fog. If we don't want the showers in the gym, we could just use the shower in the bathroom. It's not all that comfortable, but it'd get the job done. Pity the fog would cause too much damage in here."

All that water seeping into everything? Yeah, way too much damage. It's not like he could just cast a...spell. Water Ward! Nick used it Monday when he went out as the storm abated. His tail began beating against Geoff's side. "Liam! Does my grimoire have Water Ward in it? I know the Succubus Grimoire does."

Liam tipped his head to one side, and his ears perked up. Faelen began nibbling on the closest one, making both Liam and Nathanial smile. "No, it does not." A trace of doubt entered his voice. "Water Ward is a fairly focused spell." Liam appeared close to saying something else, but he kept silent.

The Mage tipped his own ears back. "It won't protect the stuff in my room?"

Liam shrugged. "If you think the spell will work, I believe it will." That was an odd answer.

The voice of his Grimoire echoed in Nathanial's mind. *We have_Water Ward, _Alpha.*

The Mage levitated the book over to him from his bedside table. The soft pelt of the cover tickled his paws. "You do?" Liam wouldn't be wrong about this. He wrote the book and remembered every single thing he put in it. The book flipped open to reveal the relevant pages, all written in Liam's distinctive calligraphy. "You do."

Liam's brow scrunched up, instantly drawing the two tan spots together into a single smudge. "I did not write that, yet that is most assuredly my style."

*We heard you commenting that you wanted this spell. We don't like that other book -- she is mean -- and we don't want you looking in her pages, so we took this spell from her.*

Nathanial nearly dropped the heavy tome. "You...took it? Like, take-take, she doesn't have it anymore take, or just copy-take?"

The Mastiff Grimoire sounded very pleased with itself. *Took, not copy. We needed the magic in it to inscribe it in ourself, so we pulled the magic from her pages, as well as the spell. You don't need to ever look at her. We found we are stronger, so we will just take what you want. You are our Mage and alpha; you shouldn't be looking at other grimoires.*

Nathanial looked up from the intricately inscribed invocation to meet Liam's eyes. "He took it. The magic, the words, all of it! The spell isn't in the Succubus Grimoire anymore!"

Geoff peered over his pup's shoulder at the book. "I didn't know they could do that. Maybe that's why I've never heard of more than one grimoire in one location."

Liam opened his mouth, closed it, and then offered, "It should be impossible, from what I understand, but Geoff does raise a valid point. I have never heard of multiple grimoires being stored together. I thought it was merely due to rarity, but even the Society -- not that I am an expert or privy to most of their habits -- keeps their grimoires in separately warded spaces. I thought that was for security due to their value, but perhaps it is to protect grimoires from each other." He didn't sound convinced.

Nathanial carefully balanced the book on his left forearm and placed his right palm flat on the open page. He scanned over the spell and let the Grimoire inscribe the magic into his mind. Liam was right to hedge around if the spell would work for what Nathanial intended -- shielding everything in his room -- since the ward was only supposed to cover one touched object or a single person and their clothes. Nathanial almost snorted. It was bloody simple to tweak the spell to blanket an area. Hells, Mind Ward had an area effect built right into it to protect multiple people, and it was a simpler spell than this!

He ran through the altered version of the spell twice, to ensure it felt proper before nodding. "Got it." He glanced over Liam's head -- the tan spots of his brow still hadn't separated -- to nod at Faelen. "You may want to step out of the room for a moment. Everyone and everything in the room will be covered by the spell, which might interfere with your ability to draw power from the fog." Faelen silently nodded in return and trotted to the door. His half-emerged penis bobbed and swayed as he went, lightly tapping those hefty balls beneath.

Liam's brows finally relaxed. The Rottie's features softened at the sight of Faelen's muscular back and gently wagging tail. "I shall leave as well. I find I do enjoy the feeling of fog soaking into my fur, though I prefer sleeping under covers. If I can have both, it promises to be a great night." He hastened after his boyfriend, leaving Nathanial amused and a bit confused.

Sleeping? They couldn't all fit in Nathanial's bed and sleep._Sex was one thing; the Wolves would be _on the Dogs for that, but it'd be crazy-crowded trying to sleep together, unless the Dogs used the Wolves as, um,mattresses and slept on them. That...actually sounded kind of nice.

Geoff chuckled. "First I got you addicted to the darkness, and now Faelen has Liam craving fog." That pre-slicked hunk of delicious Wolf flesh prodded around Nathanial's rump. "Damn, let's just hurry up and get this done." Geoff scratched the thicker adult fur around Nathanial's groin. "I want to fuck you so much."

"Y-You aren't upset we need to do this, are you?"

Geoff shook his head. "Nah, not really. It's the price to pay for keeping you healthy. I...just think of how Dirk must feel, knowing..." He hung his head. "It's cheap in that regard. A bloody small price to pay." The Wolf's tone perked up in an obvious attempt to keep the mood light. "Besides, this is Faelen; he's my best mate, and we share lots of things. It's a bit erotic fucking you through his massive loads of cum, too. He really fills you up. And besides, Liam is a good guy -- at least," he said, snickering, "when he's not being a smug little bastard -- and he has lots of tricks to make it feel great."

Nathanial rubbed his paw over the back of Geoff's, and then slid his boyfriend's paw right several centimetres to the bare skin poking out his sheath. The scratching switched to stroking. "So you think you own me, eh? I'm yours to 'share'?"

Geoff laughed and stabbed his dick at Nathanial's rump. "This_is mine." He took Nathanial's right paw and moved it back to the thrusting member. "And _this is yours. You control where it goes and when. Who gets to enjoy it." Geoff released Nathanial's penis, turned him around, and put the Akita's left paw over his heart. "And this is yours, too."

"Oh, Geoff."

Liam called out through the closed door. "Has the spell been cast, yet? You are taking much time."

Nathanial said the activating word and let his mind twist the threads of magic around into the patterns he wanted. The threads meshed in the final pattern, the glyph representing it momentarily flashing before his eyes, before spreading out to blanket the entire room in an intangible hydrophobic cover. "U-Um, done! Sorry."

The two other naked teens walked back in, and Faelen shut the door behind him. Nathanial filled the room with a nearly impenetrable cloud of fog and blinked blindly. He could sense the water vapour bumping against objects, but it found no purchase to condense on. It worked perfectly. He noted that his subconscious had kept the spell from affecting their eyes or the inner portions of the body, like the mouth. Nathanial flicked the lights off and sent dozens of tiny firefly lights around the room to illuminate the room just enough to let Faelen and Liam see. Neither required much light at all, so it didn't bother Geoff, and Nathanial figured they might like seeing each other, even if they weren't having sex with each other. He knew he liked looking at Geoff, even when Geoff wasn't balls-deep in him. Hmm... Would Liam be able to see Faelen once the Spirit was manifested? Nathanial mentally shrugged and let the tiny lights dance through the fog anyway; they were pretty.

The two Spirits manifested with contented sighs. Faelen pushed one of Liam's ears with his nose. "This is almost perfect." He stepped away from his boyfriend and pulled Nathanial into a hug. "But, like Geoff said, this is a small price to pay. Frankly, it's not really _paying,_since it's damned enjoyable on occasion." He pushed his muzzle against Nathanial's and slipped his tongue in to start a really deep and _hot_kiss. Nathanial had thought it before, but wow, Faelen was great at kissing. Geoff's kiss had lots of passion behind it, but Faelen just seemed to keep the perfect pressure, touched the right spots, and had impeccable timing. The other two just watched them for a minute and enjoyed the show -- _really_enjoyed it, going by the throbbing of their penises and the river of pre that began dripping down Geoff's.

Liam dropped to his knees in front of the Dark Elemental. "Let us not waste this. You have a most pleasant flavour." The Rottie opened his broad muzzle and closed in, wrapping his tongue fully around the top of Geoff's knot. He slowly pulled his head back. The wide tongue caressed each millimetre of skin and the precum spilt up over the thin edge to pool on the underside of Liam's tongue. Geoff shivered and shut his eyes in ecstasy. Liam drew his tongue back in, swished it around his mouth, and smiled. _"Most_pleasant." He opened up again and began suckling on Geoff's length, taking much of it into his throat. Geoff moaned and cupped Liam's ears in his paws.

Faelen broke the kiss. "Let's claim our half of the bed while they're occupied." He took Nathanial's paw and led him to the right side.

Nathanial spread out a towel over the cover. "U-Um, where do you want me?"

The Mist Spirit's eyes seemed to twinkle. "Where do you want to go?" The blue glow and lack of pupils made it hard to tell exactly where he was looking. Nathanial grabbed his tail and debated what to do; Geoff always took the lead in bed, so he was used to being...placed where he should be. Faelen seemed to realize that and laid down. "Here." He patted his broad chest. "Come here."

Nathanial let his tail go and crawled on top of the Wolf. He placed his legs on either side of Faelen's body, pressed his rump against the tip of Faelen, and lay down so he could resume kissing. "Like this?"

"Like however you want." Faelen must have appreciated his choice, because a small jet of pre splashed over the bare skin of Nathanial's entrance. "This may be to balance you two out, but it's also about mutual pleasure. If you like something, or don't like it, just say so. Have fun."

Nathanial smiled shyly and pressed his muzzle back against Faelen's; the Wolf lost no time in resuming their kiss. Another jet squirted over Nathanial, and Faelen thrust up a tiny amount, just enough to put more pressure on Nathanial's ring, but not enough to penetrate. On the next 'nudge,' he pushed back to meet it, and the blunter, thicker Wolf cock partially opened him, but not enough for the larger stream of pre to pass by the ring of muscle. The slick liquid coated the skin and dripped down. The two Spirits must have naturally higher body temperatures based on how hot their, um, _fluids_felt. Faelen certainly had a thicker penis than Geoff; even that bit of extra stretching approached discomfort.

Geoff moaned a bit louder. He was really enjoying the blowjob he was getting, but the moan seemed to be caused by the sight of Faelen's dick poking into Nathanial. Liam pulled off, to Geoff's dismay, and he looked over, too. "Well, now. That is a most arousing sight." He stood and fondled the Elemental's nuts. "Enough teasing. Let us fuck."

Faelen chuckled and put a paw on Nathanial's rump. He gently massaged the firm muscles, but the true purpose of its placement was revealed on the next slow prod. He kept the Akita from pushing back so his penis still didn't fully penetrate. "Take your time, Nathanial. Only Da can take me all in one go, and it still hurts him. He just loves the hurt."

Meanwhile, Geoff and Liam moved to the bed, but they stopped at the bottom of it and faced the other two. Apparently they both wanted to watch the show. Perverts. Liam bent over and braced himself; Geoff stroked his shaft to spread all the natural lube around before pressing against his target to let some more leak out. The Elemental grinned. "Carry on; don't mind us."

Faelen said nothing, but Nathanial could feel him smile during their kiss. He could also feel those stomach muscles beneath him tense to draw Faelen's hips -- and dick -- up. Once more it was a mere tease, and it didn't fully enter him, but there wasn't any discomfort. Faelen's hips stayed slightly elevated, and he continued almost breaching Nathanial's barrier. More lube shot out, but there was enough force that the small bit of flesh couldn't stop it from slipping in.

'So warm.' Nathanial gripped the fur on his current partner's shoulders, sighing into Faelen's mouth. His answer was a growly chuckle from deep in that broad chest. It wasn't as stimulating as Geoff's growls but vibrations were vibrations, and the motion of Nathanial's dick on those washboard abs was... 'Gods.' The sigh switched to a moan.

Geoff put his right paw on the small of Liam's back and the left on the Rottie's hip. "Ready?"

Liam looked over his shoulder and nodded in apparent seriousness. "Give it to me. Let me see if the alpha's bragging about McDougal cock is warranted, or if O'Conall is indeed superior."

Geoff laughed. "Beware what you wish for!" He thrust forward hard, hard enough that the jostling of the bed sent Faelen's dick a few centimetres farther into Nathanial. Finally. Nathanial made sure to push down as the bed settled back so he kept that hard-earned girth where it was.

Faelen's eyes widened, but the rest of his face seemed to indicate it was because they were rolling and not from surprise. He kept still and let the now-steady rocking of the bed do the work. Each heavy slap of hips meeting farther down meant another bit of dick inched its way in. Nathanial wasn't sure if he should luxuriate in the gentleness of it, the slow stretching and gradual feeling of warmth and fullness, or scream in frustration at how long it was taking to get that fucking dick in him and feel the explosions of their orgasms.

The increasing growls of their boyfriends showed they were getting close when an exceptionally forceful thrust plunged Geoff's knot into Liam's rump. The Wolf snarled and ground his hips against the smaller Canid as he shot his load, and as he revelled in his high, Geoff reached under Liam to squeeze his friend's knot. The Rottie grunted and gasped as his seed spilt all over the covers on the side of the bed. Nathanial noted it ran off cleanly; Water Ward seemed to protect from cum, too.

Faelen broke their kissing session to say, "That was fast."

Geoff snorted. "It felt fucking good. What's up with you? We _both_got off and you aren't even hilted yet! Nathanial and I would almost be ready to start on our second go by now."

Faelen smiled and wrapped his tongue around Nathanial's before drawing their heads apart. "Yup. I know. I like it slow on occasion, so I thought he might want to try it." Nathanial felt Faelen begin his slow thrusts again now that the bed stopped shaking. It seemed this would get Faelen all the way in faster than relying on the motion beneath them; it felt better, too.

Liam straightened up. "I would lie down if you would care to move with me."

Geoff put his paws around Liam's hips and lifted. "Sure." The smaller Dog hung impaled for a few seconds before Geoff lay on his back across the foot of the bed, still in a place where he could watch the action. Liam sat up on the Wolf's groin and spun around so he could lie chest to chest. He turned his head so he, too, could watch. Geoff rubbed Liam's rump close to where they were joined. "At this rate, I'll probably fuck you a few more times, Liam. You feel good, and the live porn is good, if low on action. I won't deflate if I get to watch my pup's ass being speared by that beast."

Faelen's knot brushed against the outside of Nathanial's round cheeks. He was finally getting close, but at the same time, Nathanial did enjoy the leisurely play. It was a lot less intense than a quick fuck, but the pleasure seemed...deeper. He decided to go with it and just let it ride. On the next small motion, he gently tightened around Faelen. Not a full squeeze, nor even anything that took his abs, but just a subtle pressure. Faelen smiled and sighed softly. "That's it." They began kissing again, while the Wolf stroked the Akita's back.

In another two minutes, that knot pressed up against the ring. Nathanial knew he'd taken it before and loved it, but the way it dwarfed his opening made it seem impossible. There was no way he'd let Faelen keep it out, though. It may be a slow fuck, but by all the gods above and below, it was going to be a thorough one!

Liam sat up. "Round two." He began bouncing on Geoff's hips. The wonderful knot still lodged deep inside him kept the motions fairly small, but Nathanial knew from experience; the pleasure caused by that thing grinding over a prostate was fantastic. Oh, yeah, and Geoff liked it, too. He said the way all those muscles gripped his knot made it almost as good as the initial tie, but prolonged.

Again, Faelen took advantage of the others' work. He sat up and held Nathanial over his crossed legs. The shaking bed travelled up into Nathanial through the flesh encased within him. Faelen didn't just sit there, though; he paused to get Liam's timing down before beginning small motions of his own, each one aimed at making sure he rubbed over Nathanial's prostate.

The other pair lasted six minutes, time enough for Nathanial to feel that he was halfway to his orgasm, but the pressure he felt inside was more intense than normal. As Liam and Geoff lay back, Faelen turned around to place Nathanial on the bed and curled over him. He didn't break the kiss. Those small thrusts became longer, turning into powerful strokes, but the Spirit kept each one perfectly controlled so his knot didn't do more than nudge Nathanial's ring.

Geoff rolled his eyes but kept watching for the next ten minutes of gradual build-up.

Then, as Nathanial felt the pressure build to the point of discomfort, Faelen pressed more firmly on each stroke. The large knot no longer nudged against him and instead began seeking entrance. At first, it merely felt like it pressed firmly against him, but soon it began spreading him wider as the rounded top breached the ring. Suddenly, Nathanial felt the knot pass its halfway point, and with an audible pop, Faelen fully entered him.

The pressure Nathanial felt hit the breaking point. "Ah! _Ahh!"_He howled as an intense wave of pleasure swept over him from his toes to the tips of his ears. His first explosion of cum splattered over the headboard above him, and the second caught Faelen under the chin. It hit hard enough that the splash sprayed onto Nathanial's face, too. The following jets painted both of their chests, bellies, and groins with strings of goop.

Faelen merely grinned at the mess, thrust a few more times, and roared as he hit his own limit. His orgasm seemed to last as long as Nathanial's had, but the Mage's senses noted each shot was over twice as voluminous. The Mist Spirit's arms quivered before he collapsed onto the pup beneath him.

Nathanial gasped for air. "Ho-ly fuck." Faelen grunted in amusement in between heavy pants. At the foot of the bed, grunts and the sound of one furry body colliding against another filled the foggy air as the bed resumed shaking.

Nathanial nearly skipped into school; he was that happy to be back, and, well, some things had his mood higher than his rump was sore. He could see the big grin on Geoff's face as his boyfriend followed him into the building, and Nathanial could see that Geoff was staring at his swinging tail...as well as the, ah, muscles below that. Geoff wasn't the only guy grinning -- so were Liam and Faelen -- but it wasn't because they were staring at his ass...mostly. Liam's gaze kept dropping to tail-level before sliding back up.

The Akita spun about once they left the lobby. "Principal Davis is in! I want to say hi."

Liam's grin broadened at Nathanial's chipper tone. "I did not think any teen would be so joyous to return to school after a mere two days' absence. Was the time off so taxing?"

Nathanial opened the office door. "Nah, but I felt bad about missing class, and I was kind of lonely during the day." He waved at Mr. Drake; the Hyena kept his gaze lowered. "Hi, Mr. Drake! Did you get any spare parts or material for your car, yet?"

Jon rubbed a paw through his reddish brown mane and met Nathanial's gaze. "You were still planning on helping?'

Nathanial felt a little taken aback by the question. "Well, sure. I'd love to see your car looking like it just rolled off the lot. I think it'd be awesome! Maybe with the money you save in repairs and stuff we could get some better tires and some mods. Maybe even a turbocharger or upgrade the engine to the 7.5 litre V8. Gods, just imagine how that thing would roar!"

Mr. Drake's eyes sparkled. "Like this." He pulled up his web browser which was already on a video of a rebuilt Firebird. Nathanial was pretty sure it was a '74, or maybe a '75. No, the back window wasn't right for a '75. Mr. Drake clicked play and the car revved a few times before peeling off the starting line. Hot damn, that sounded great, even through the crappy speakers. "I'll hit the junkyards this weekend. You think you could fix any engine? If I found a busted up V8 for really cheap, you could make it work again like you did for my current one?"

Nathanial's tail set off. "Sure! As long as I have the parts to work with, it doesn't matter what condition they're in. If we're replacing the engine, we will need some means of moving it somewhere quiet and some sort of block and tackle system to help me switch them. They're way too heavy for me to move on my own."

Mr. Drake blinked in surprise. "Uh, yeah. You might be strong enough to pick a student up in one paw, but this is an engine we're talking about. Unless you're the Hulk in disguise and not Captain America, there's no way a single person can lift one of those."

Nathanial pretended to be offended. "I'm Canadian, Mr. Drake. I'm part of Alpha Flight and not the Avengers, thank you very much." Granted, Nathanial didn't know much about Marvel's northern team other than that it existed and Wolverine's origin was somehow tied up in it.

The Hyena's eyes widened. "Sorry, I didn't mean... Well, I was just, you know--"

Geoff cut off the stammering guy. "He was joking, too, sir. I didn't think he could play the straight man that well, either."

Nathanial hunched his shoulders up, embarrassed. 'Straight man? After all the attention my ass got last night and this morning? Hardly. Heheh, hard.'

Mrs. Davis came out of her office. She seemed to be in better shape than the last time Nathanial saw her, though she was still a far cry from the fit, handsome lady she had been at the start of the school year. Her voice still showed some frailty, too, but she spoke at a normal volume. "Why, hello, Nathanial. It's good to see you back. Hello, Smith, McDougal, O'Conall."

Nathanial's tail started wagging again. "You're sounding and looking a lot better! How are you?"

The Cougar laughed. "Better. Better. I'm still not up to snuff, but this is one of the best days I've had in weeks, so far. I have to say you_sound pretty good, too. How are _you feeling? I was getting worried when you missed two days in a row."

"Great!" His mind cast back to why he'd been off, and his tail slowed to a stop and his paw drifted toward his phone. He noticed it and halted its progress. Nick was fine. He intentionally sent his mind to another preoccupation of his -- Geoff's hard dick making itself at home in him -- and his mood began rising...along with something else. "I-I still have moments, but last night and this morning were fantastic!"

Geoff coarsely laughed but seemed to catch it and somehow converted it into a less...vulgar sounding one. "Faelen has some family visiting from Ireland, and rather than making them stay in a hotel, we're all crashing at Nathanial's. It seems our pup here loves playing the host."

'Hosting a hot-- Ahem. Wow, my mind's in the gutter.' Nathanial tried to send his tail back up into its normal curl. "His family seems really nice, and I do like having people around. And-And everyone was soo happy when they arrived!"

Faelen chuckled and clapped his paw on Nathanial's back. "You're sounding like Micah there, Nathanial. It's good to hear."

Liam smiled broadly. "Indeed it is. However, I require a few minutes with the principal to check her health, and then a visit with the nurse to discuss a few things. I will see you in home room."

Nathanial waved at Mrs. Davis. "I'll see you later, ma'am. Take care!" He dropped his paw onto the secretary's desk to get Mr. Drake's attention. "I'll be popping by, of course, so let me know if you find anything. This'll be awesome!"

Mrs. Davis brightened up. "That's right! You helped Jon fix up his car! It's looking a lot better. You two did a great job on it so far, but it's a pity you couldn't find some better body panels. Still, they're a huge improvement on the old ones."

Liam trotted over and gestured toward her office. "Ma'am?" She waved back to the other three and followed her healer down the hall.

Mr. Drake nodded silently to the teens and turned his attention back to his work. They silently let themselves out and made their way to their lockers.

Helika Leutzinger, the St. Bernard Faelen jokingly said he'd invite to a school dance, stood beside Faelen's locker as they approached. She obviously waited for them, because as soon as she saw him, she pushed herself away from the locker she leant against and watched them approach. She looked _really_serious.

Faelen's ear twitched, and he reached out to tap Geoff's arm, but his boss had already moved aside to wait at Nathanial's locker. Faelen walked over to her alone. Nathanial wondered what she was going to say but kept quiet and opened his locker to put away the books he wouldn't need.

Helika nodded to the shorter Wolf, shorter and smaller; she was a very big girl, but Nathanial's ESP noted she had virtually no excess body fat on her other than the normal fat comprising certain female, ah, attributes."Faelen."

He nodded in return. "Helika. May I ask why you want to talk to me?"

She shifted her weight onto her left hindpaw. "I...wanted to say goodbye." Nathanial dropped his chemistry text book, but reflexively caught it with his telekinesis before it tumbled out of his locker. Helika glanced over, grabbed Faelen by the arm -- Nathanial knew Faelen could've avoided it if he wanted to -- and dragged him away a few metres. That he couldn't have avoided once she got a paw on him. "Friday is my last day here, and I wanted to make sure I got to say goodbye to you without the fuss of a crowd around us."

Faelen dipped his head. "May I ask why you're leaving? I'm...sad to hear you have to."

She smiled wanly. "My sponsor is withdrawing his sponsorship. I no longer have the funds to attend, or the social clout to stay in 10-A. Even if my mother scrounged up the money, which would be really hard after she lost her job--" Nathanial dropped his math book and banged his head against his locker as he scrambled to catch it. "For fuck's sake, Nathanial! I'm trying to talk to Faelen in private!"

Nathanial slammed his locker shut. "Why was she fired!? Was it because she helped me?" No one should suffer because of him. Not again. There wouldn't be another Principal Davis, or Ahmed Gomeche. "What's her boss's name?" He dropped one of the Agents' scrying spells on the airport and zoomed it into the area he'd picked the Knights up from. He saw a middle-aged Muskrat sitting at a desk in an office working on paperwork. The plate on his door said, 'CATSA Manager, Chris Hubbard.' "Is his name Chris Hubbard? An old Muskrat?" He wore a Knight's medallion. Did this guy play a part in the hostage taking? He must've been informed since he held a place of authority on the airport and presumably the Knights. Would those hostage-takers have killed Aunt Naomi after the plane was shot down to eliminate any witnesses?

Her jaw dropped. "How...?" She closed her muzzle with a click and shook her head. "It's not your concern, Nathanial. Stay out of it."

Nathanial's eyes narrowed, and he sensed Snow's pack sniffing around the barrier between planes. It was too bright in the school for him to cross over easily. Chris Hubbard was a threat to the security of the Hidden world -- to his family and to Geoff! "This can go down a few ways, Helika. Either you tell me what I want to know, or I ask this Knight, Chris. Pastor Yuke didn't like my interrogation methods, and I don't think _he_will, either." Snow seemed to like that idea and loved the fear it inspired.

She stepped away. "You...wouldn't."

Geoff put his paw on Nathanial's shoulder. "Come on, Pup. This is an internal matter for the Knights. Let them deal with it."

Nathanial hissed. "They put their lives on the line to save that plane, Geoff! Helika's mother lost her job because she helped me! I'll be damned_if I abandon an ally, even a temporary one!" He remembered those Spirits they met at the Egyptian restaurant. "How would the pup, Grayson, feel if the people who saved his grandfather were left out to hang? What would be going on _right now if that plane got shot down? War!" Nathanial didn't hear the lockers rattle when he said that word, and ignored the very nervous looks he got from the three people near him. "She should be given a medal, Geoff, not a pink slip!" She risked everything because Nathanial asked! To_save_ people! To keep the peace so her daughter wouldn't be in danger, just like a good mother should! A mother that wasn't like his.

Faelen trotted over and slipped in between Geoff and Nathanial. "Calm down, Nathanial. This isn't good for you."

Snow and his pack stuck their noses through the barrier into the lockers as they sought a space dark and large enough to come over. Their growls were quite audible, and echoed oddly in the metallic boxes. "Calm down!? I'll be calm once I hear--" He sensed Ahjeet Jhansi slithering toward their hallway, and exerted enough control to tell Snow to go away. "--what I want to know!" His fierce glare seemed to pin Helika to the lockers. "What. Is. His. Name?"

"Ch-Chris."

Nathanial sought to clarify it. "Hubbard?" She nodded. "Why was she fired?" She pushed back against the lockers, frightened.

Ahjeet slithered around the corner quite quickly. "I thought I heard shouting but I didn't expect it to be you, Nathanial."

Nathanial ignored the Ophidian. "Why!?"

The Cobra's hood flickered a few times. He seemed put out that he was ignored. "You're asking about Helika's mother? That's simple news, and really not worth getting worked up over."

Nathanial whirled to face him, and Helika sagged as she gasped for breath. "If it's simple, perhaps you'll enlighten me. She's going to have to leave the school!"

Ahjeet shrugged. "I know you're friends with one pauper pup already, but I didn't know you were friends with this one. Her sponsor withdrew his support. Even if she paid her tuition for the year, she'd have trouble staying. Her mother was fired for having illegal firearms in her locker at work. Transport Canada and the RCMP take a very dim view of that. So does this school."

Weapons provided by the Knights, kept there under the direction of her boss, no doubt. She was betrayed. Just like Nathanial had been, and all for his sake. He opened a tiny portal behind him out of sight of Ahjeet and Helika and quickly tapped the collar of the Muskrat. He placed a Mage Sigil on the cloth. Now, when Nathanial was ready, he could...talk to him. He smiled. The Mage really didn't know why the other Canids shivered, or why Ahjeet's hood flared open and he coiled up in a defensive posture. "Thank you." He turned to Helika. "I'll deal with this, don't worry." Oddly, she didn't look reassured.

Geoff scratched the back of his neck, and muttered almost incoherently. "At least he isn't rhyming."

Nathanial opened his locker back up, ignored the droplets of Shadow Mastiff slobber, and pulled out the books he needed. "Let's head off to homeroom." At lunch he may just pop in to the airport and see how reasonable Chris Hubbard could be. If he wasn't cooperative...

Well, there were ways to deal with that.