05 Jake and Mitch: Celebration
Author's Notes: So this is the grand segway between a relatively new relationship and a strong thriving old one. No yiff inside, but it's a bit of a turning point for the story and it can be called the beginning of the end. Also this inspired a short-short story that is more along the lines of Stephan King style horror, mixed with yiff and a slightly interesting writing style that I'm releasing alongside it.
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Exhausted, the wolf and fox lied on the cold tiled floor waiting to reclaim their energy. The wolf had never been penetrated before and was feeling a mixture of pain and tiredness. When they both regained their energy, they got up and began cleaning the store of their mess, as the day wasn't over just yet. The wolf got himself dressed and then grabbed a mop to clean his seed off the floor. The fox replaced anything they knocked off the shelves and also opened the door to check the weather.
"The storm is slowing, it could stop soon." Mitch said to the wolf.
"And I was hoping I would get the chance to relax after that." Jake retorted through panted breaths. Mitch went out to roll the shutters back up for the glass windows and door. When he came back inside he went to the bathroom to twist the water out of his clothing. After shaking what little moisture remained in his jacket he put everything back on, his short shorts with the hidden hole in the back as well as his button up jacket that was never buttoned. Jake was dressed in a normal tee shirt and baggy jeans, his spare clothing as his shorts and other tee were drying out.
When the rain stopped the light came back into the shop, along with the customers, although much slower than before. Jake helped an otter or two get what they needed as well as some tourists, a lion and his cub, who wanted to rent a pair of boards for the rest of the day. The day progressed slowly until the sky was orange and the sun was on its decent. Mitch reclaimed the two surfboards on loan and Jake started to clean and close up shop for the night. It was wrapping up quietly until some familiar faces came into the shop. Mitch held his ground as the tiger and wolf pair that had beaten him a while ago entered the store. Jake instantly got off his chair and moved over to Mitch and stood behind him.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Jake demanded of the two intruders.
"We figured we'd give you a proper beating, after what you did to Fang over there." the tiger said.
"Fang? Is that what you're calling yourself? Why don't you both just get out of here before I dent that pretty little face of yours, Fang." Jake said with an air of defiance. This got the wolf known as Fang riled up. He took a step towards Jake but before he could do anything he was restrained by the tiger.
"Easy, Fang. Don't let him get to you." the tiger said to his friend. "Look, you either kneel down now and we'll only beat you. Otherwise, well there's nothing stopping us from hurting your little bitch as well."
"Go to hell." Jake yelled back to the tiger. The tiger let go of Fang who promptly lunged at Jake. Jake threw the smaller wolf to the side, but not without staggering. While Jake was off balance the tiger ran over to him and landed a punch right into his abdomen. Mitch jumped on the tigers back and tried to choke him into submission but the tiger's friend, Fang, pulled him off and punched Mitch out cold with one hit to the head. Jake, enraged by the sight of his mate on the ground, grabbed one of the tiger's legs and swung him, or rather dragged him, into a nearby wall, toppling the many items onto the tiger. Fang managed to land a punch on Jake's face which staggered him. As he momentarily lost his sight he knew he had to back away from his attacker to regain his bearings. He backed up until he was at a corner, his attackers only two big steps away. The smaller wolf and tiger stared him down waiting for Jake to act. Jake reached over to a shelf to stabilize himself, and the wolf took advantage of Jake's imbalance and ran towards him to kick Jake. Jake was hit in his knee and lost his balance, bringing the shelf down upon both of them, the other wolf falling on top of Jake and losing consciousness. As Jake struggled to keep his eyes open he saw the door to the shop open and close. Good Mitch. Get away, I couldn't live if I let them hurt you again, Jake thought before losing his own consciousness.
"Jake? Jake, wake up. C'mon buddy, don't fall asleep on me."
"Mitch?"
"It's Ryan, Mitch is fine, he got up a while ago. Jake who were those two?" Jake stared into space and blinked a few times trying to remember what had happened.
"They attacked Mitch. Mitch! Is he okay?" Jake asked desperately.
"Mitch is fine, Jake. The tiger got away from me but the wolf was out cold like you. He's still out I think." the lizard said to Jake.
"Where is Mitch, I saw him leave."
"He never left, when I got here you were under a shelf with another wolf and the tiger pushed past me and ran. Mitch was on the ground but he's okay now." The lizard got Jake on his feet and helped him over to Mitch, who was nursing a small head wound.
"Hey," Mitch said weakly, "there's my bodyguard."
"Are you okay Mitch? Did they hurt you?" Jake asked impatiently.
"Jake, look at yourself. Your ear is split and you still worry about me. You must have put up on hell of a fight. This guy" Mitch said pointing to the unconscious wolf next to him, "doesn't look like he'll be getting up anytime soon at all." Jake just sat down next to Mitch and hugged him closely. When he held Mitch, Jake felt weightlessness come over him as he collapsed in Mitch's arms. He heard some mumbling voices and saw a fading light before finally falling unconscious in the arms of the fox.
The next time Jake awoke it was to the buzzing sound of florescent lighting overhead and a steady beeping next to him. He looked to his right and saw a door leading to what looked like the main lobby to a hospital. He surveyed the room a bit more and saw Mitch in the corner at the end of his bed, sleeping in a chair with a hospital blanket covering him. He looked further to the left and saw the other wolf who had attacked him, the one who called himself 'Fang'. Jake felt an overwhelming hatred for the bigot, and was hoping the wolf would never awaken.
"Look who's up again." a voice said, distracting a seething Jake from his own thoughts. The voice sounded mature but feminine. Jake turned his head and winced at the pain in his neck. He saw the owner of the voice, a female dog with golden fur covering her body where the scrubs didn't cover.
"What do you mean again? This is the first time I woke up here." Jake queried.
"Temporary short term memory loss is consistent with the level of head injury you received. Don't worry, you will be fine. You just need to spend the rest of the day here for evaluation." the golden nurse said.
"What time is it?" Jake asked.
"It's eight in the morning. That little fox must be close to you, he wouldn't leave your side all night." the nurse answered before leaving. Jake smiled at the sleeping fox. A moment later another hospital worker, a doctor Jake guessed by his uniform, came into the room.
"Hello Jake, how do you feel?"
"I'm alright considering, doctor-"
"It's Dr. Jenison. You suffered a pretty bad head injury and was unconscious for quite a bit." The doctor then moved closer to Jake and lowered his voice.
"We also noticed some minor bruising around your sphincter, Jake. We have reason to believe that you are the victim of a rape, now I know how hard that can be-"
"No doc, I'm not a rape victim." Jake cut him off, "Before the attack me and my mate were, uh, playing." The doctor took a moment to look at the sleeping fox before looking back at Jake and nodded. The doctor let out a sigh of relief and said "Okay I understand. That makes me feel better anyway." The doctor left, taking the chart with all of Jake's relevant medical information with him. When he left Mitch began to wake up.
"Mitch, good morning. The doctor says you did a number on my ass." Jake said to greet his waking mate.
"I told you that you weren't ready for that." the fox responded groggily.
"Still, no regrets." Jake said to the waking fox. The fox stood up and walked over to his mate in the hospital bed. When he got to his bed side he looked at his mate's injuries. There was tear in his ear that would scar, as well as a few bruises and cuts on his face. Mitch leaned in and held the wolf close to him, even kissing the wolf's forehead.
"Oh god, you two aren't going to start fucking right in front of me." Mitch heard a voice say behind him. Mitch stood up and turned to face the, now fully awake, wolf known as Fang.
"Why would you do something like that to me? To us?" Mitch asked the wolf. Fang took a moment before answering. When he finally did open his mouth it was to spit on Mitch's face. It took all of Mitch's restraint to keep him from attacking the defeated wolf, and then all of Jake's support to keep Mitch from crying. Mitch turned around to face Jake and then embraced his reclining mate. Jake used his blanket to clean off Mitch's fur.
"What's wrong with my arms?" Fang said, though it was ignored by the hugging couple. Fang repeated his question again, though he still went on ignored. It wasn't until Fang started yelling that Mitch and Jake looked at him. The same golden nurse that helped Jake responded to the yelling, asking Fang what the problem was.
"I can't move my fucking arms, that's what's wrong." the foul mouthed wolf yelled. The nurse called in a doctor who preformed a quick reflex exam and asked if he could feel any pressure in his arms. When Fang started to get violent, at least as violent as a wolf could get without the use of his arms or legs, the hospital staff wheeled him away and took him to a different room. Jake had a look of concern on his face but inside he was relieved to have that bigot of a wolf taken away from him. From that day on, Jeremy 'Fang' Pearson would never be seen out of a wheelchair.
Throughout the day, Jake tried to entertain himself as much as he could from the confines of his bed. Mitch had gone to get food for Jake at lunch time, as the hospital food was terrible, but otherwise had to keep the shop going for the day. He also played a role in explaining to Jake's friends, who mostly seemed to be customers that came in periodically, that he was alright. Ryan stopped by on his break to check up on Jake and see how he was going.
"Couldn't feel his arms, you say." Ryan said when Jake told him about Fang. "Well I doubt you will have to worry about him again. Now you're certain it was all self defense?" Jake nodded. "Good, then there are no legal troubles either." Ryan always was the kind of guy that liked to make sure there weren't going to be any problems in the future. Jake spent the rest of his day in the hospital bed as doctors and nurses came in to perform tests and examinations. They told Jake that he was free to walk about the hospital so long as he didn't disrupt anything, and that all they had to do was monitor his brainwaves during sleep to make sure his head didn't suffer any permanent damage. He slept through the night, a little awkwardly at first as he wasn't used to sleeping with wires attached to him, and when he awoke in the morning he was given a form to sign and his clothes were returned. They wheeled him out in a chair and told him he was free.
When Jake arrived home it was to a sleeping lizard on his couch, and an otter in his kitchen.
"Hey Ryan, wake up. The guest of honor is finally back." Jake heard Jo's voice say from the kitchen. The female otter was very independent, but always friendly with Jake.
"So I heard you hit that other guy so hard he couldn't walk. Good for you, Jake. He deserved it after what he did to Mitch and you."
"Thanks Jo. So what was this supposed to be?" Jake said gesturing towards Ryan.
"Well it was Ryan's idea to surprise you at your place but we were expecting you a little later." Jo said as she picked up a pillow and threw it at the sleeping lizard.
"I'm up, I'm up." Ryan stammered as he was hit. "Hey Jake, how's the head trauma?"
"Getting better every day." Jake said to the lizard. Mitch came out of the bedroom and ran to the wolf and embraced him strongly.
They four talked for a while about past fights and other life experiences. Mitch eventually said "We should celebrate."
"That sounds like a good idea," Jake said, "but what would we celebrate?" The fox thought about it for a moment before saying "Friendship." The others agreed and they all went out to the beach with coolers and radios in hand. Jake put the radio on a local station that played good party music while Ryan and Mitch dug a fire pit. By the time they got everything set up it was dark and they had recruited seven more people on the beach, including Daniel and Shannon, a fox couple that was on vacation and bought a surfing lesson from Jake the other day. With music, fire, drinks both alcoholic and otherwise, some food, Jake and Mitch celebrated their relatively short time together and said that they always hope for more times like this, minus the beatings. Jake, Mitch, Ryan, Jo, and everyone else that decided to tag along for the party had one of the best nights of their lives, as they danced and sang in the darkness.
* * *
It was almost a month after that night, and Jake's brother, Kevin, was visiting with his girlfriend Jenny. Ryan was living at Jake's house temporarily.
"Hey Jake, thanks again for letting me crash here ever since my parents kicked me out. You were right, they groomed my brother to carry on the family, not me. I'm just glad he agreed to come down help me get out of my parents reach." the lizard said
"Not a problem at all. Have you thought about where you're gonna go though?" Jake queried.
"Yeah, I found an apartment out of town. I can get a decent job there and maybe start up a life of my own. I'm heading out there in a week. Jake, for better or worse I'm glad I met you and Mitch." Jake knew Ryan was planning on leaving town when he asked for a place stay.
"Me too, just be sure to visit us every once in a while." He had hoped Ryan would stay near but Jake understood he was looking for a better life. Jake left his house to go pick up his brother from the local airport. They had kept in touch while he was at college but this would be the first time they had seen each other in almost two months. That may not seem like a lot, but for someone Jake had grown up with and around it was really different not having him be there. He picked up Kevin and escorted him and his girlfriend, Jenny, to his car. Jenny was a wolf Kevin had met at college, she was short, about two inches shy of five feet, which actually made his brother, who was about as tall as Mitch, look tall by comparison. Jake asked what the occasion was for the visit and they explained that it was their first vacation from college, and Kevin had wanted Jenny to meet Jake.
"He claims you are the one that got him to go to college." she said, almost thankfully.
"Well I'm not too sure-" Jake started to say before being interrupted by Kevin.
"Bullshit. This man kept my head clear and my goals solid, he's just too humble to admit it. To be honest, I owe damn near everything to Jake. Well to Jake and Dad." After hearing about their dad Jake was thrown into thought.
The brothers' dad was very supportive, and strong in almost every aspect. When the pups' mother died, a week after Kevin was born as a result of birth, their father had taken care of them. He quit his old job and picked up the local surf shop so he could be closer to his family. He had taught them almost everything he knew, including how to fight. When their dad died of some unknown disease, Jake dropped out of school and took over the family surf shop. He made sure to keep Kevin in school, even eating scraps so his brother wouldn't starve. Kevin got through school with Jake always looking out for him. Kevin's graduation was the only time Kevin saw his brother cry since they were kids, not even at their dad's funeral did he cry.
"We've been through a lot." Jake said.
"That we have, bro."
"Hey, we're home, and I got some old friends that want to say hello to the college kid."
When Kevin walked in with Jenny, everyone started clapping. Ryan was the first to congratulate the wolf, on both his college career and the beautiful girl which made Kevin and Jenny blush beneath their fur. Jo the otter, who had always been closer to Kevin than Jake, ran up and hugged the wolf couple. After greeting Kevin, she managed to introduce herself to Jenny and pulled her away for some girl talk, asking about how her life was and what she liked. Jo was almost as good at prying information as she was at surfing. After everybody was done greeting the wolf Jake said they had prepared a spot on the beach for a small party for the wolf. Jake told everyone to head out first as he wanted some one-on-one conversation time with his brother. As the house cleared out the brother wolves stared at each other, saying as much as brothers can say without words. Kevin took notice of how little Jake had changed, aside from being slightly happier. Jake, however, saw that Kevin was much more confident, although a lot more exhausted. Jake guessed that this vacation was much appreciated by the wolf.
"College has treated you well." Jake said to break the silence.
"That's not even the half of it."
"Kevin, what you're doing, it's amazing you know. You make me very proud, and dad would be proud too."
"You think?"
"I know. C'mon, let's head down. I think they had enough time to set up."
When the two wolves got to the beach they threw their little party, which was fairly average as far as parties go, until about two in the morning. Kevin asked for everyone's attention as he stood behind the fire on the beach. He glanced from face to face, stopping for a moment on Jake's face which was being held closely to Mitch, and then moving on to Jenny's face. Jenny nodded at Kevin who then began to speak.
"It may come to a shock to you, but there is more to this trip than me just wanting to see you all again, as delightful as you all can be." This caused a few chuckles to arise from the small crowd of people listening to the wolf. "Many of you have already met, Jenny, my lovely girlfriend over there." Kevin said as he pointed to Jenny. "What many of you do not know is that, over this week, I plan to make her my wife." The crowed was alight with cheers and claps at the final word 'wife' and Jake even ran to his brother and hugged him roughly. After another hour of partying the crowd dispersed and Ryan, Mitch, Jake, Jenny, and Kevin all went back to the same house to divide up sleeping arrangements.
"I refuse to take the bed when my brother has just announced his engagement to this gorgeous wolf." Jake said.
"Me and Jake can share the couch." Mitch said, "We won't mind, we've shared it before."
"Hate to be the fifth wheel," Ryan piped up after Mitch's statement, "but where will I sleep?"
"This is pointless, we can just get a hotel for the night." Kevin said to the crowd.
"The nearest hotel is two hours away and it's three in the morning." Jake reminded his brother.
"Boys!" Jenny yelled to get everybody's attention. "Me and Kevin can take the bed, Ryan can sleep on the bedroom floor with some blankets, Jake you and Mitch take the couch." Everyone glanced from one face to the next looking for any disagreement before acting out he orders. When the door closed, the bodies laid to rest, and the lights put out, sleep finally descended upon the household.