Ryan and Cedric.
The soccer team was practicing flawlessly as usual. As the fox ran upwards toward the goal at the end of the soccer field, he saw an opposing teammate running up towards him. The fox looked off to his left and saw his teammate, a cheetah named Charlie, running alongside him, waiting for the ball to be passed to him. The fox passed, and, after nimbly dodging the opposing teammate, Charlie scored. The coach's whistle let out a shrill noise, and everyone stopped and looked over.
"Good practice everyone, now hit the showers." the coach yelled. While most of the guys headed straight back to the building, the fox, whose name was Ryan, hung back. He grabbed his equipment bag and stuffed his jersey into it. "Ryan, come on! If you wait, all the hot water'll be gone!"Charlie yelled at him.
"Okay!" Ryan yelled back and ran to catch up.
Ryan walked into the locker room and immediately was overwhelmed by how strange and interesting the locker room was. There were scents everywhere, scents of masculinity: sweat, deodorant, mineral tinged shower water, even some urine. The level of noise was fairly high, with inane chatter, yells, water splashing, locker doors slamming. It was sensory overkill.
Ryan looked around, feeling a tad nervous. . Soccer practice had just finished and normally Ryan's father drove him back home right after practice, but he had called Ryan's cellphone just before practice had started and said he'd be later than usual. Ryan had no choice but to shower here. He found an unoccupied part of the locker room to drop his gym bag and to start undressing. He had always felt self-conscious about the idea being naked in front of a bunch of people. It wasn't that he thought he was ugly, but the sheer OPENNESS of being out in the buff made him nervous. What if someone made fun of the size of his equipment? Or tried to snap him with a towel? The very idea mortified him.
Ryan shoved his bag under a bench, and, after a furtive look around, he started to undress. He had just taken off his shirt when a wolf walked up to him. He was fully dressed in grass-stained football gear and looked worn out. More guys came in, all of them dressed similarly and talking loudly.
"Hey," the wolf said, looking at Ryan. "What do you think you're doing?"
Ryan felt a mixture of fear and embarrassment as he looked at the wolf. "I.......I was getting ready to go shower......" he muttered, his gaze dropping to the ground.
"Well, you're kinda in the way. My locker's right where you're standing." the wolf said, looking a bit irritated. Ryan grabbed his stuff and scooted over to the other end of the
bench, feeling a flush race across his face. "Thank you." the wolf grunted and sat down on the bench and began unlacing his shoes. Ryan went back to undressing himself, although he felt thoroughly embarrassed to have been corrected.
Ryan had just taken off his pants when he heard another voice say, "Hey fox, get out of my way!" Ryan looked up again, and this time it was a smirking tiger leaning against the row of lockers nearby.
Ryan opened his mouth to respond, but before he could say anything, the wolf beside him said, "Oh, piss off, Romanski. You're just trying to be a dick."
"Shut the fuck up!" the tiger said, looking angry. "I should beat the shit out of you, Bell...."
"What's going on here?" All three furs looked up to see a brown bear in standard coach's clothing standing nearby, looking at them.
"Romanski's trying to intimidate other guys again, coach." the wolf said evenly.
"Is this true?" the coach asked Ryan, looking concerned.
"Um....well....." Ryan muttered.
"It is, coach." the wolf said.
Romanski said nothing, a bright red flush clearly evident.
"Go run 30 laps. NOW." the bear said, looking directly at the tiger, who pushed past Ryan and ran out the door. The coach glowered after the tiger and then went back inside his office, grumbling about how rowdy kids were these days.
"Thanks." Ryan said to the wolf, grateful for the small kindness.
"Don't mention it. By the way, my name's Cedric. And you are?" the wolf said, extending his paw so Ryan could shake it.
"Ryan." he said, shaking the wolf's paw.
"I haven't seen you on the team.......are you new here?" Cedric said, standing up and taking off his shoulder pads.
"No, I don't play football. I'm a soccer player." Ryan was suddenly struck by how odd it was to be talking to another guy, with him nearly naked. He quickly snapped out of it as Cedric began talking again.
"Ah. That would explain it. But still......I've never seen you in the showers."
"Yeah....I kinda have a fear of showering with other guys." Ryan said, and immediately wished he hadn't.
WHAT ARE YOU THINKING TELLING HIM THAT?! Ryan mentally screamed at himself.
Cedric didn't say anything, but began to take off his uniform, first his shirt, then his pants and then the underlying cleats. Ryan tried his best not to look, but took in small peeks when he thought Cedric wasn't looking. The fox took off his boxer briefs and quickly wrapped a towel around his waist. Cedric looked over at him, now wearing only a jockstrap.
"Hey.......if you don't know anyone here....you might as well shower next to me." Cedric suggested.
Ryan thought about it. It made sense. Cedric was the closest thing he had to a friend in this locker room right now. "Okay." Ryan said, starting to move towards the showers and then stopping. "Uh.......could you put my stuff up? So nobody steals it?"
"Sure." Cedric said, smiling.
"You go ahead, I'll join you in a minute. I have to use the bathroom first." Ryan said over his shoulder, walking off to the right, towards a line of toilet stalls. He walked into the first one and after closing the door, just stood there. He took in a deep breath and then let it out. A part of him had wanted very badly to wait while the wolf took off his remaining item of clothing and then sneak a peek at Cedric naked. But no, he couldn't do that. What if Cedric noticed? What if Cedric decided to humiliate him in front of the entire school by telling everyone that he was gay? Ryan mentally steeled himself for the next hurdle of his locker-room experience. He'd have to NOT look down, no matter what. If he did, he was dead, and that was that.
Cedric watched as Ryan exited from the toilet stall. When he had just walked in from practice, he was in no mood to play around. And even though the fox had merely irritated him at first, when Romanski started to pick on Ryan, he'd felt...odd. Like he should stand up for the fox. Which he had. And look how well things turned out. Cedric thought to himself as he pushed Ryan's soccer bag under the nearest bench. He walked over to the showers and pulled off his towel, hanging it up on a hook nearby. He turned on the water and began to wet himself down, finally relaxing as the hot water washed away the aches and pains from the repeated impacts with both teammates and the hard ground. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ryan walking towards him, looking nervous. "Over here!" Cedric called, motioning to the fox to join him. Ryan looked slightly uncomfortable for a moment, then joined him.
"Thanks again.....for everything...." Ryan muttered to the wolf as he turned on the water and allowed it to hit him.
"No problem. I remember the first time I had to shower with the guys. I was scared out of my mind." Cedric replied, chuckling as he remembered what a skinny, gawky thing he had been four years ago.
Ryan didn't reply, he merely concentrated on lathering up his fur with the bar of soap he'd brought with him. He was concentrating so hard that the soap squirted out of his paw and hit the floor a few feet away with an oddly echoing clatter.
"Dammit...." Ryan said, beginning to walk over to it, but Cedric got there first. He leaned over and picked it up and held it out to Ryan. Ryan swallowed hard, looking down at Cedric's paw which held his soap. After taking the soap, Ryan tried in vain to not look any further down than that, but he caught a glimpse of the wolf's furry gray sheath. Cedric apparently didn't notice and walked back over to his shower spot and continued to shower. Ryan joined him and did the same, talking idly without noticing what he was saying, his thoughts churning around in his mind.
After dressing quickly and saying goodbye to Cedric, Ryan walked out of the gym and outside the school. Once outside, he looked around the parking lot for his dad's car. When he saw no sign of it, he felt a twinge of panic inside him. No problem, Ryan. Just call Dad and ask why he's not here, the fox thought to himself. He dug his cellphone out of his pocket and dialed quickly. He got lucky: his dad picked up on the first ring.
"Dad? It's me, Ryan. Where are you? I thought you were going to come pick me up...."
"I'm so sorry, Ryan, but something came up and they needed me at the hospital...and Kuri's out shopping for clothes with Adam. I should've called and told you, but I forgot. I can call Bridget from next door to come and pick you up......"
"No dad, it's okay, I can walk home, it's not far."
"Are you sure? Well, I guess you can do that....alright, be safe and don't hesitate to call Bridget if you get lost."
"Right. I'll see you later. Bye."
Ryan hung up and sighed. I can walk home...great, he thought glumly. He turned around and had just taken three steps when he heard someone calling his name. He turned around again and saw Cedric waving at him from not far away.
"Wait up!" he called, and jogged down to where Ryan stood. "Hey." the wolf said, a bit breathlessly.
"Hi. What's up?" Ryan said, looking at the wolf.
"Just wanted to know if you wanted a ride home, that's all." Cedric said, shrugging.
"You'd drive me home?"
"Sure. It sure beats walking, am I right?"
Ryan quickly made up his mind and nodded. "Great! My car's over here." Cedric said, and walked over to his left. Ryan followed, feeling glad that the wolf had offered. He stopped as Cedric walked around to the other side of a black four door sedan and got in. The wolf started the engine and rolled down the passenger window. "You drive this? I thought all the jocks drove pickups around here." Ryan said in a surprised voice.
"Not this jock. I don't like trucks. Too big and noisy and they waste gas. I just like this better. Climb in."
Ryan quickly got in, threw his duffle bag in the back and buckled himself up. Cedric adjusted the rear-view mirror a bit and then backed out and then they were off. The car was quite clean and Cedric put on the radio, which made the ride much more enjoyable for Ryan than riding in the back of his dad's two door coup with his brother.
"So....what street should I turn on?" Cedric said after a while, breaking Ryan's thoughts on how nice the ride was.
"Huh? Oh, uh...Chester Street."
Ryan continued to give directions until Cedric pulled up right outside his house. "Well, thanks for the ride, I'm in your debt." Ryan said, smirking.
"Don't be dumb. It's a nice neighborhood you live in.....hey, I've got an idea."
"Yeah? What?"
"Well, it's just something I thought you might be interested in....I could drive you home after practice every day." Cedric said, sounding as though it wasn't a big deal. Ryan pretended to think about it, when mentally he was jumping for joy. "I mean, it's no big deal if you don't want to, just thought I'd offer..." Cedric trailed off.
"I'd like that. Thanks for offering. But you're sure it's no problem?"
"None at all. I don't really have anywhere I need to be at that time, so why not?" Cedric said, flashing the fox a toothy grin.
Wow...big wolf teeth..., Ryan noted. I bet that's not ALL of him that's big, another voice in the back of his head replied. Ryan felt his face grow warm as he mentally envisioned what he had denied himself seeing in the locker room that afternoon.
Suddenly, he felt someone shaking his shoulder and saying his name loudly. He blinked and looked around, finding Cedric looking at him with a worried look on his face and his paw on his shoulder. "Ryan, are you okay? You look kinda...red in the face..." the wolf said, sounding concerned.
Ryan swallowed hard and looked at the wolf, taking a deep breath before replying. "Yeah...I'm fine....just.....uhhh.....spaced out there for a second. Happens all the time." he lied quickly, before Cedric could interrupt.
"Really? Maybe you should go and get checked out by a doctor or something, you scared me. I thought what little brain matter you had had exploded or something." Cedric said teasingly, taking his paw off of Ryan's shoulder and putting it back on the steering wheel. Ryan smiled slightly to humor the wolf, but inside, his mind was churning with feelings and fantasies he knew would get him in trouble if anyone were to find out. Not that they will...not in a hundred years..., Ryan thought fervently. "Anyway, are you gonna sleep here in my car or what? Go on, get out...I know you like my sweet ride, but you only get to be in it once a day!" Cedric said, grinning at the fox again.
"Yeah yeah.....thanks a lot for the ride....you saved me....I owe ya." Ryan mumbled, shifting in his seat as he readied himself to get out.
"Don't mention it. If you really want to repay me, you can buy me lunch sometime. Think of it as....cab fare." The wolf smiled, but Ryan could tell he wasn't really that serious about it.
"Okay...see you tomorrow then." Ryan said, grabbing his stuff and getting out clumsily. Cedric nodded and, after Ryan shut the door, drove off down the street, his brake lights flashing slightly as he stopped at a sign and then drove on.