Unspoken (3/3)
This story uses characters from Proper Motivation, however, this small series can be read entirely separate.
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The drive to Skylar's house gave Morgan plenty of time to think. The party was two nights ago, and Morgan had kept his phone turned off ever since reading Kano's missed texts. His body ached from yesterday's workout, and the more-than-a-little-rough sex he'd had with a good friend.
"Only someone you care about deeply would make you that angry... You should just talk to them..."
Cal's words had rung in the wolf's mind as he lay down to sleep. He wanted to talk to Kano, but there was someone else he had to see first.
Skylar's parent's mansion looked pristine, as if a huge party hadn't been thrown barely more than a day earlier. There was only one other car parked in the driveway, and Morgan stalked past it towards the front door. The electronic key on his phone let him through the front door, and he was unsurprised to find the house empty of people.
Skylar's bedroom was upstairs, and Morgan thighs and calves protested as he took the steps two at a time. He pushed open the door to the otter's bedroom and flicked on the lights. In the mess of sheets atop the bed, Skylar groaned and curled into a ball, burying his face into the pillows.
"Get up," Morgan said, striding over to the bed and yanking the blankets off the otter's bed.
Skylar grunted and his eyes opened, taking a few seconds to come into focus. "Morgan...? What are you doing here?" he asked, rolling onto his back and yawning wide enough to show his wisdom teeth.
"I want to talk to you," the wolf grumbled, his tail flicking back and forth as his hackles began to rise. He couldn't help but glance over the otter's naked body, though, but it fueled the anger inside him.
"Hmm?" Skylar stretched out and rubbed at his eyes before looking back to Morgan. "What about? Is this about your friend?" he asked, yawning again.
Morgan felt a flash of anger and he took a deep breath, looking away. "Why did you do that to me?"
To his surprise, Skylar laughed at that. "To you? What did I do to you?" he asked, shifting around on the bed to stretch one way or the other, his joints popping audibly.
"What did you do?! You. You took-" Morgan stammered, his heart beginning to pound in his chest. "You took him! You just... you-"
"Flirted with him? Had sex with him?" Skylar supplied, sitting cross-legged and yawning again.
"Yes!"
"So?"
Morgan blinked at that and part of his anger deflated. "I... what? What do you mean so?"
"So, what?" Skylar said, shrugging. He leaned forward, reaching as far as he could until the joints along his spine popped and he let out a happy groan. "Was he your boyfriend?"
"No, but-"
"Was he off limits?" Skylar asked, cutting him off.
Morgan's lips set into a line and he grimaced. "No," he said again.
"Then what's the problem? What's a little fun between two guys, hm?"
Morgan ground his teeth together, now more frustrated then angry. "Because you knew that I..."
Skylar looked at his cousin and grinned, quirking an eyebrow. "I knew that you...?" he repeated. "Hand me some clothes."
The wolf blinked a few times and then scowled at the otter. He stalked over to the closet and grabbed a shirt and some jeans before throwing them at the icy-blue otter. "You knew that I... you know."
Skylar laughed and began worming his way into the shirt. "Oh, come on. It sounds like you don't even know. You can't even say it!"
Morgan's cheeks heated up and he felt a bit of the earlier anger start to come back. "It's not that easy," he muttered.
"Okay, so what? That's my fault? I couldn't have known how you felt. Yeah, you looked angry, but then again, you always look angry." Skylar flopped onto his back and began pulling the jeans up over his legs.
Morgan paced a few steps, rubbing the back of his neck and grumbling to himself. "Come on. You've done this shit to me before. You turn everything into a needless competition. If I have something, you want it. Doesn't matter what."
"A little competition can be healthy! And it's so fun to get under your sk-"
"NOT to me," Morgan barked, turning on his cousin.
The otter blinked in surprise, paws on the fly of his jeans. He froze there and then opened his muzzle to speak but Morgan cut him off.
"It pisses me off. We used to be really good friends, but you piss me off! You do shit like this and try to one-up me for no reason. I just want to hang out with you without everything being a competition and I... I just," Morgan's paws unclenched and his arms slackened. "I don't even know. I don't know how to say what I'm thinking. I'm just... I'm just angry."
Skylar stayed quiet for a few moments before zipping up his jeans and moving to sit on the edge of the bed. "I didn't know I pissed you off that much," he said quietly, looking a bit ashamed of himself. "I thought you liked that kind of competitiveness."
Morgan scoffed and shook his head. "No. I hated it. You always tried so hard to charm my friends and it felt like you were only doing it to prove that you could," he said.
The otter sighed and shook his head. "That's not why I was doing it. I don't want to take what's yours or anything... I don't know, I just liked getting a rise out of you sometimes... I'm sorry," he said, shifting uncomfortably where he sat.
The wolf shot him a quick glare and then looked away with a huff. "What's it matter anyway," he muttered.
Skylar laughed this time and stood up, pushing on Morgan's shoulder. "What's it matter? Well, if you just said how you feel instead of keeping your emotions so bottled up, maybe I wouldn't have done that. Okay, yeah, I was an asshole, but I can't know how you feel. And neither can your friend. If you really "you know"," he said, making quotes with his fingers. "Then you need to tell him. You can't get mad at him, or me, for not being psychic."
"But you two-"
Skylar threw his hands up in the air. "What! We had sex! Oh my god, do you think that matters? Do you really give a damn who he has sex with?"
Morgan's brow furrowed and he shoved his thumbs into his pockets. "Well, no, but-"
"But what? Sex can be casual. It can be for fun. You and I should both know that, come on," Skylar grabbed his phone and stuffed it into his pocket, searching around under some clothes on the ground before finding his wallet. "It's not like either of us were planning our lives together. I don't even have his number. If you like him, go talk to him. Don't get all mad at me because you've never been able to admit those feelings to him."
Morgan followed Skylar to the bathroom, leaning against the wall as the otter went in to pee. "What if... he doesn't like me?"
"What if he does?" Skylar called from inside, flushing the toilet and walking back out. "If he doesn't, is that going to be my fault?"
"No," Morgan replied impatiently, rolling his eyes. "But if he doesn't... it'll hurt."
"Life does that sometimes, you'll recover," Skylar said, tugging the wolf towards his bedroom door and then walking out and back down the stairs. "Tell you what, though, it's gonna hurt a lot more if you don't ever find out."
Morgan followed quietly, thinking that over. "Fine," he said after a few minutes of silence. He sat down at the island in the kitchen, watching as Skylar began fumbling around in the fridge for some food.
"Good. We good?" the otter asked, pulling out a pizza box and dropping it on the counter. He walked over to where the wolf sat, putting a paw on Morgan's chest.
The wolf tensed up for a second and then relaxed. He sighed and nodded, taking the otter's paw in his own. They hugged tightly and Skylar kissed Morgan's cheek, rubbing his back. "I promise I won't try to piss you off. Just promise me that you'll actually talk to me instead of just fuming about it behind my back?"
Morgan winced, feeling a stab of guilt at that. He nodded and let out a long sigh. "I will."
"For what it's worth, I think he likes you," the otter said as he went back to the pizza to reheat it.
That made the wolf's ears perk up and he straightened his spine. "Oh?"
Skylar chuckled. "Course. Did you see him get all flustered when I asked if you two were here together?"
"No, I was just focused on being annoyed at you," Morgan admitted.
Skylar rolled his eyes. "I see. Well, you should talk to him. Let him know what's on your mind, okay?"
The wolf nodded and stood up from the stool, taking a few steps towards the exit. "I think I'll do just that, then," he said.
Morgan felt a lot better after talking to his cousin, though it had gone a lot differently than he expected. He expected to storm in, yell and shout, and make the otter feel guilty about what he'd done. Skylar had been right, at least in part, though. He couldn't have known what the wolf was thinking, and it's not like they were exclusive, or even casually dating. He was certain Skylar had at least suspected that he'd liked Kano, but that wasn't really the problem. He had always just assumed that Kano would know that he liked him and wanted to be with him. It wasn't right for him to be angry at either of them because he hadn't had the balls to speak up.
It wasn't even noon when the wolf pulled into the driveway of Kano's house. The lack of cars meant that Kano was either gone, or home alone. Morgan bounded up the driveway to the steps and rang the doorbell. When no one answered after a few seconds he rang it again, his heart racing faster and faster.
After ringing the bell a fourth time he heard someone stumbling down the front steps and then a deadbolt being unlocked. The door opened and Kano stared out groggily, his headfur a complete mess from getting out of bed. "M-Morgan?" he said, rubbing at his eyes.
"I'm sorry," Morgan said, almost robotically. His cheeks were red under the grey-opalescence of his fur and he shifted his weight from foot to foot, trying not to scowl.
Kano's head rocked back in surprise, staring at the wolf from behind the glass door. "What? I... I thought that you were mad at me."
Morgan's ears flicked backwards and flattened against his head. "I... was. Can I come in?"
There was no hesitation. Kano pushed open the door and stepped aside. "Course, come on in," he said, tugging the front of his shirt down to hide the fact he was only in pair of skimpy briefs.
Morgan pulled Kano over to the couch and sat down, trying to order his thoughts and what he wanted to say. He apologized for leaving Kano at the party, and for not responding to his texts. He told the husky about what he and Skylar had talked about, leaving out the real details about why he was so angry.
Kano just listened and nodded, slowly waking up as he listened to the older canine. When the wolf finished his explanation, the husky just sat there, gazing into his eyes. "I... just thought that you were mad I slept with your cousin..."
"I was, sort of," Morgan said, frowning. "But... I mean, I am still mad at him, a bit. But I guess I'm angrier at myself."
"What for?" the husky asked.
"Because I never... never really said things. Things that I should say or something. I just kind of assumed it, and... I'm an idiot," he said, looking down at his paws and shrugging helplessly.
Kano laughed and shook his head. "I still don't under-"
"I love you," Morgan said, his cheeks burning fire-hot.
Kano froze. He sat there as still as a statue while those words processed.
"I mean, I think so," Morgan amended.
That brought the husky back and it was his turn to scowl in confusion. "What do you mean you think so?"
The wolf rubbed the back of his neck and looked up at the husky, shrugging one shoulder. "I mean... I really really like you, and I think... I think that I could really," he took a deep breath and exhaled. "I think that I could really love you."
Kano's face softened and he was silent for a few moments. "I think that, too," he said, placing a paw on the wolf's thigh and giving it a soft squeeze.
Morgan's ears perked up and his eyes widened. "Wh-what? Really? You think so?"
"Yeah. I know I definitely like you... I have for a while. But, I mean, you're so closed off. I didn't think you were all that interested," he said, looking away sheepishly.
Morgan climbed over, straddling the husky's lap on the couch and pressed his lips to Kano's, kissing him with a fire in his chest. His tail whipped around behind him and when he felt Kano's arms wrap around his waist he melted into the embrace.
When the kiss broke they pressed their foreheads together and just sat there, holding onto each other. "I'm sorry for being such an asshole at times," Morgan whispered.
Kano laughed and shook his head, running his paws down Morgan's back. "I'm... sorry that I never told you how I felt."
"I didn't tell you either," Morgan said.
"Well, then I'm sorry for sleeping with Skylar," he said, arms drooping a bit.
Morgan shrugged and kissed Kano's cheek. "I don't really care. I don't care who you sleep with or anything like that, I just... I just want you."
"You have me," Kano said, squeezing the wolf tight.
Their muzzles met again in another kiss before breaking to talk about things more openly.