Quick Bread
#2 of Discoveries (Gideon x Travis)
A distraught Travis shows up in the middle of the night, and his best friend Gideon Grey is there for him. The tape they found in the basement is eventually on both of their minds.
Gideon Grey groggily opened his eyes. Despite the darkness of his room his vulpine vision was still quite good-especially due to the bright moonlight shining through the window. Likewise the portly fox's sensitive ears twitched, searching for whatever had roused him from sleep. As he slid out from under his blanket, his sensitive nose wiggled as he sat up on his bed, instinctively inspecting the air for anything unusual.
It didn't take long for him to locate the source: from the very same window the moonlight came through. He could hear stifled whimpers and sobs. Gideon's ears lay back flat and his fur bristled as raw rage started to overcome him. "Again!" He muttered to himself as he took a deep breath and let it out with his eyes closed, trying to get ahold of his temper. Hastily he slipped a t-shirt on and pulled on some boxers, lightly tying the rear flaps around his tail's base.
"Come on now Travis, git on in here it's chilly out there." Gideon said as he opened the window.
With some hesitation, finally black feet shuffled backwards through the makeshift entrance, followed by a long tail and the rest of the ferret. Travis avoided looking at his long time friend and attempted to keep his voice steady as he lied, "I couldn't fall asleep and I was bored. I figured I'd stop by."
Gideon frowned as he wordlessly moved to sit on his sofa, ratty exterior covered by a moderately less beat-up blanket. As per usual he took a seat on the right side as his friend sat on the left.
An awkward silence filled the room for a couple minutes, occasionally broken by sobs coming from the fox's smaller friend. Said fox spoke as softly as possible, "Ya know this is kinda silly. Ya can talk about it with me if ya want. There's no point pretendin' everything's okay every time this happens."
Over the prior years Travis would stop over in the night fairly frequently. They both would pretend the dark fur around his eyes hid the tear stains, ignoring the fact Gideon could easily smell the distress of his friend. It wasn't only times like this that Travis stopped over in the night and there were plenty of other adventures (and misadventures) over the years, but nights like this were all too often an excuse to play some games or watch movies when they should have been sleeping.
They had even snuck out into the woods a few times in the middle of the night, especially in the summer to strip down and take a swim in the cool secluded waters of "their" secret swimming hole. Still as they grew older it didn't happen nearly as often anymore, making that visit show just how upset the diminutive mustelid was.
Travis chucked, "You really have changed Gid. I just need to cool down. Besides what's there to say? You've been over at my house. You've heard my parents screaming and hissing at each other," the ferret sobbed, "calling each other names... accusing each other, when they didn't know anyone else was over... or sometimes even when they did know."
"Aw Trav I just got help gettin' better at expressing myself. I mighta called ya a wuss for cryin' when I was younger but I still cared about ya." He jabbed his smaller friend on the shoulder playfully, to no avail. The fox put a stern look on his face, "Don't ya be changin' the subject though. This's worse than usual." He let out a low growl. "And it shouldn't be usual!"
Gideon could tell his friend was about to lose it again. His ears perked straight up as he looked his friend in his eyes and with only moderate success tried to contain his rage. "Ah didn't mean it like that. You can come here whenever ya want but it's not fair they put ya through this all the damn time!"
The ferret still didn't look at his friend as he spoke, "They act like they can throw gifts at me as if it makes everything better." A sob interrupted him for a moment. "I mean I wouldn't say no to getting pretty much whatever I want but it doesn't make up for it." Travis blubbered on increasingly losing his composure, "You're right. It... It does seem like it's getting worse."
Gideon put on a sneer that befit him in his past days as an angry bully. Raising his voice, he exclaimed, "Those good for nothin' folks o' yours should know what they put ya through! I mighta turned out a right mess but mah folks never put me through anythin' like this!"
Travis started openly bawling as he blubbered on, "Just.. stop it Gid okay? I'm.. I'm done with the yelling today... tonight... whatever it is I don't care right now."
The smaller form jumped as he felt a large warm paw rest on his back. "Jus' know I'm here for ya okay bud?" Gideon kept his paw on his friend's back for a few more minutes as the ferret sobbed into his own paws, his shaking form slowly trembling less violently as time went on.
Finally after a while some more controlled words came, "Honestly nothing's different. It's always been this bad. I just think they're only staying together for me. I bet if I'm out of the house for college it'll be all over." He took a moment to catch his breath, "There are lots of good memories too. It's not like it's all bad, you know?"
Gideon wanted to say perhaps they would be happier separated. He wanted to say he was sure Travis' parents would still love him even if they were apart. His 'shrink' had taught him to think before speaking though, and he decided he was better off not saying anything. Instead he just dropped his paw down and wrapped his arm around his friend, snugly embracing him.
At first the ferret tensed, but soon he relaxed into the side of the larger canine. Before long the occasional fits of sobbing died down and Gideon looked at his sleeping friend cuddled up against him. Rather than disturb him he used his other arm to grab the blanket off his bed and lay down sideways onto the couch, taking the skinny slumbering form in his arm with him. The fox had no trouble joining his friend in slumber.
***************
"Gid?"
"Gid come on wake up."
Gideon Grey opened his eyes as he woke. Momentarily confused he looked down at the ferret wrapped tightly in his arms. The ferret's ears were pressed flat as he sheepishly looked to the side, "Come on Gid let me go I gotta pee!"
"All right, all right you can stop poking me now," Gideon said as he let go of his friend and pulled the blanket off them.
"What? I could barely move my arms I wasn't poking you," Travis said indignantly. He stood up and looked down, ears folded in embarrassment. "Uh.. Never mind." The ferret glanced towards Gideon's crotch before looking the other way and chuckling, "It's not like you're one to talk though."
Gideon looked down to see his red canine shaft poking through the slit in his boxers. "Oh mah goodness, sorry Trav."
Without thinking his words through first the fox smiled and remarked, "Looks like we both have a li'l somethin' to take care of eh?"
Travis grinned nervously, "I was wondering if I could stay over this weekend. I know your parents are out, if you aren't too busy and don't mind the company."
"Of course I don't mind. Ya should at least give your folks a call though, maybe stop by to bring some clothes an' stuff," Gideon replied.
"I already brought stuff," Travis answered as he ascended the basement stairs, "It's in my bag in the window well. I... uh... forgot it when I came in last night."
***************
Gideon was in the kitchen preparing breakfast when Travis emerged from the bathroom down the hall. "Hope ya didn't fall in again," Gideon teased. The fox was already dressed up in overalls, sure to cover up after his earlier mishap.
"Aw come on Gid it only happened once!" Travis exclaimed. The ferret sighed as the fox stared at him with a smirk on his face. "Fine fine it only happened twice, but I was much smaller back then."
"I figured we could use some breakfast, so I got some supplies out while ya were in the can." A wide array of cooking and baking implements were neatly arranged, including one of Gideon's aprons, along with various fruits and other ingredients. "How does maple porridge sound t'ya?"
Travis smiled, "It sounds great but it looks like you have more planned than that."
The fox beamed with pride as he casually explained, "This's all for dessert! I'll make some scones an' then we can have porridge while they bake! It won't take but a few minutes, I promise ya."
As the two grew older the ferret witnessed Gideon's growing appreciation and fascination with food, especially pastries. At the same time the fox's skill got better and better, a fact most everyone that ate his food made sure to tell him. "You just can't resist any excuse to bake some pastries can you?"
Gideon's ears pressed back in mock indignation, "Oh ya silly li'l goof. Scones are quick breads not pastries!" The fox stopped to roughly ruffle his friend's head fur, an act once done to revel in his size over his little toadie but an act that lived on as a playfully affectionate gesture. "Turns out there's some stuff ya don't know after all!"
"I can help," Travis remarked, "just tell me what to do."
"Sounds great, I need to hit the can m'self first. Scrub your paws down; I'll be right back."
***************
"Uh.. Gid?" Travis fidgeted in his chair by the kitchen table as the fox licked the remaining crumbs off his paws. The ferret felt like a little kid again sitting at the fox-sized table, as he looked away.
"What is it Trav? Are ya worried about your folks again? Like I said ya kin talk about it all ya want," Gideon said as he looked at his friend with concern.
"It's not that, I was just.. Uh.. About what you said before about needing to take care of something?" The skinny mustelid fidgeted with his tail in his paws.
The fox's ears splayed in embarrassment, the insides reddening as he looked away. "So ya did hear that. I don't know what I was thinkin' when I said that."
"Well.. Uh... I was wondering if you wanted to continue watching that tape from before?" The ferret nervously smiled at his larger fox friend.
Gideon didn't reply, verbally at least. Both he and Travis could smell the musk as their sheaths swelled, their bodies betraying beyond any doubt where the day was headed.
This was originally the first half of the second story in this little series. I decided it's long enough to be its own chapter though. I like the sappy events in it, but for people wanting to cut to the chase this is the tame part. The more explicit stuff following these events is to follow. Do post feedback if you want to, and if you took the time to read thanks! Many thanks to the artists and clients that produced work that got me into this pairing!