Goddamn Keys I
#1 of Goddamn Keys
**NOTE: Story revised and reposted, now as a series.
This bit is supposed to be soulful and cute. If it's neither of those things (or both), steer me like the water steers a ship. And the water is made of comments.
GODDAMN KEYS
By EmergingPhoenix
Wren forced a paw through the narrow grating in a final act of frustration. For all the things his father didn't give him, he did pass down genes that coded for thin wrists. But as his middle claw just barely curled around the keys, he felt his next frustration clouding over: he couldn't retract the appendage as easily as he had shoved it in.
The daily clatter continued, unconcerned with the small fox glued to the ground and quietly cursing. A bus pulled up close, dumping off stony-faced furs before surrounding Wren in a cloud of smoke as it rumbled off to its next stop.
"Keys, fucking keysâ€"" Wren tugged again, "â€"GODDAMN KEYS!" His lungs were heaving because he hadn't been breathing enough and his now sweaty, dirty and bruising arm was going to be stuck in the ground for all eternity. "So glad Iâ€"" Tug. "Leftâ€"" Pull. "My fucking cell phoneâ€""Yank. "In my fucking crotch pocket and now!â€"" He collapsed, half-defeated. "Now I've dropped my keys which weren't even looseâ€"I don't know how they fell!â€"from the other goddamn pocket and..."
A paw landed deliberately on his shoulder, causing Wren to yip and strain his wrist even harder against the metal. "You've got quite a mouth, huh." Wren was about to direct all his anger into one awesome, scathing retort but his eyes refocused before his mouth could shoot off.
"Uhh," he heard himself breathe, vocal chords flapping uselessly.
"Good thing too, or I would have missed such a little guy." The wolf eased into a smile and retracted his paw. "Need some help?"
Wren swallowed and shook his head. "I... no, no I shoved my hand down there and it should..." He suddenly felt very foolish. "It should come out the same way. Some way."
The wolf raised a delicate eyebrow. "Suit yourself, stranger. I've got a few checks to cash," he jerked a finger towards the bank behind them, "so maybe I'll check you out when I'm done and stuff, see if you're still planning your escape."
Wren faltered. He wasn't sure he had just heard ‘check you out', but there was only time to nod as the lean fur stood up from one knee and strolled towards the bank. Wren forgot his situation for a moment, eyes tracing the light-brown tail that swishedâ€"almost too much to be just a motor functionâ€"and followed its body into the air-conditioned building.
A list of all his previous male prospects started to flick through Wren's mind like a slideshow. He sat down again, letting himself go there as he hadn't for a few days despite more practical matters needing attention. Certainly anyone who could turn his awful mood to sex with one touch deserved at least a mental once-over.
Someone bowled him over as they whisked by. Wren raised a big finger at the bastard and shouted something colorful for good measure. As he lowered one arm there was a jingle next to his other: keys! "Nice!" Wren jumped up in glee, noticing his wrist popped free at the right angle. This was soon a disappointment as he remembered the bank, and the wolf who expected a duke in distress to greet his return to the hot outdoors. It had definitely been a minute since his sexual battery got any charging.
Wren looked left and then right, slipping into his unnecessary childhood secret spy stance.
--
In a fraction of a second Reyan scribbled down his signature. It could've been anyone's name, really. The bank clerk handed him his copy of the receipt and told him to have a nice day. He returned the gesture, shoved the bills in his walletâ€"more than he was originally going to withdrawâ€"and tossed the receipt in the graveyard bin of other receipts. It crossed his mind that no one ever kept their bank receipts and dumb customs were probably going to raze the earth faster than anything else. But pondering the ways of the world was for day when he wasn't pegging strangers for gay, interested potentials. Gay, interested, trapped strangers sporting sexy, helpless looks.
He peered out the tinted entry windows to see the fox was indeed still stuck. Reyan paused for a private smile before opening the double doors, and donning his best stroll. Curious, however, was the noted lack of distress on the vulpine's features this time around. Was he bluffing afterall? The wolf took an experimental sniff. The air wasn't thick with urgency. Reyan felt his heart pace a little and his lips curved into a lazy grin.
"No luck, huh, Mr. Fox?" The smaller creature shook his head and Reyan thought he saw him lick his lips, too. "Well then, mind if I take a look?" Mid-sentence, Reyan brought his paw to rest along the fox's forearm.
"Well, I mean..." Wren's ears tinted pink as he felt fur brush against his own as a shadow hung over his bubble of space.
"I'm Reyan." The introduction rose goosebumps all along the fox's shoulders, granting the wolf another second to dip in even closer. After a second of appraisal, Reyan slide paw to wrist.
Wren was just a little frozen. "I-I'm Wren," he supplied lamely. When it came to being touched, the plan was go with whatever happened. The scent of the wolf intoxicated him far and away from any good plan. But he trusted the shy thing drove guys crazy.
Reyan could smell the sex he was going to have as he examined the stuck paw as long as he liked. The closeness was nicer than catching the cute little thing at his game. It had been a while since someone excited him enough to be this bold.
"So, what have you tried so far, little one?" He directed his gaze right at Wren's gold-flecked eyes. "Do you have any lube?"
Wren sputtered, almost loosing the fake-lodged paw in the process. "What?!"
"I mean," Reyan chuckled, "do you keep Vaseline or chapstick or something handy? It might come easier if you grease it up."
Wren spiraled. "Grease it up..." He kept the eye contact going, albeit with a drugged expression. "No, I suppose I don't keep that stuff... Don't need ‘em because myâ€"my lips are usually fine and stuff."
"I noticed." Wren's blushed crept behind the white part of his fur. "Well, do you mind if I tug on it a little? I'm pretty good with my hands." Wren just looked between Reyan and his paw a few times, wishing it were a different appendage that was stuck. Without waiting for an answer this time, Reyan wrapped his paw around the smaller one and experimented with each angle before picking the best.
Wren sighed into the touch. He was lonely enough to let himself get touched in the middle of traffic. It wasn't making it easier that the wolf was stalling and rubbing in slow circles.
Finally, Reyan pretended to have his aha moment. "Ahh, here we are." He pulled the paw free without a sound or a pop, but didn't exactly release it right after.
"Uhh, thanks, Reyan." The name was pleasant to say. He thought he might like to say it again, if he had the chance. "I... feel stupid."
"Do you now? And why's that?"
Wren looked down at his wrist, still in the wolf's grip and licked his lips again. "For dropping my keys I mean. And making you come back here to help me."
"You made me do nothing. And you're sorry?" Reyan inched closer.
"Well, I don't like to inconvenience people."
"You tried so very hard to avoid inconveniencing me," the wolf was pure, salacious evil, "and yet I freed you with just a tiny, well-placed tug?"
"Guess I was just too frustrated to calm down and do it myself. You know?".
"I don't believe you," the wolf practically whispered.
Wren produced a high laugh. "You... don't?"
The wolf had closed the remaining gap, wet nose dampening the soft, protruding hairs of the little fox.
Wren choked through his last excuse. "I-I just get like that when I don't..."
"Take it slow?"