Let It Be, Ch 2
Let it Be
Chapter 2
copyright 2010 comidacomida
It was after dark by the time Cory finally got the tanning shop closed. It had been as busy a
day as he'd expected and then some. At first, the morning started out at a quick-but-manageable
pace, but it quickly grew into a frenzy just before lunch as the ranchers from outside of town
brought their promised dozen livestock. The butcher met with the rancher at the tanning shop
and handled the slaughter, but then Cory had to work exclusively on that order so the butcher
could get to work cutting up the meat; other jobs were set aside and began piling up.
The rest of the day was catch-up for the buck, even with the help of the four alligator women,
his shop assistants. Naia, the eldest of Ackert's daughters spent the day tending to waiting
clients while Fedine ran orders. Yveen and Lidee, the youngest of the two daughters were
constantly racing back and forth for Cory, helping him keep his equipment in order and making
certain that the fur and leather were tended once he had the carcasses skinned.
In the early afternoon, just as Cory was finishing up the huge order, a wagon train passed
through and stopped to request the buck's services. He was as amiable as possible in explaining
that he would work to fit them in but he expected that they would have to wait for the following
day. For the amount of work it would require he informed him that it would not be a small
price; the coin pouch he received was double his asking rate-- as long as he would finish the
work by the end of the day.
And so it was that Cory was only just managing to get the shop closed. Not only had he opened
at dawn, but the sun was already behind the horizon by the time he could lock the shop.
Normally Cory made it a point to end his work day when Ackert returned, but the alligator had
been home for a number of hours when the buck could finally call it quits. He looked at the
pile of coins sitting in his secluded office and only sighed; although it had been a long day
and he had not worked so hard since he first opened, he realized the coin he made more than
tripled his normal earning.
"I brought you something to eat." the buck heard the soft, caring rumble of Agatha from the foot
of the steps. Turning around, Cory watched the matronly alligator set a tray on the shop
counter.
"Thanks, Mom." Cory smiled, "I'll get to it in a minute."
"Alright, Cory... just remember that there's more to life than work."
"I know, I know." he smiled, closing the door to the office, "I just don't want to have to worry
about cleaning up first thing in the morning; leaving the chemicals out over night would make
sleeping impossible."
"Okay." the alligator woman nodded, "Rolis finished dinner and is drawing a bath." she didn't
move from the base of the steps.
"Alright... just finishing up." he spoke over his shoulder.
"He's drawing a bath." she repeated.
"I know. I heard." the buck acknowledged, quickly placing a set of skinning knives back into
their sheathes and storing them safely away in a drawer.
"He'll be in the bath soon." her voice held a hint of humor... and Cory finally got the picture.
"Oh... okay..." he smiled, glancing back to her, "I'm done for the night."
Agatha smiled, "I thought you might be."
Cory practically inhaled his meal. Ever since he had escaped the dungeon where he spent far too
long, the buck appreciated his food the most by consuming it at a pace that few could match. It
meant that he had less time to enjoy the flavor, but it always left him feeling pleasantly
stuffed.
Most of the time Cory was not familiar with the meals Agatha prepared; he assumed that alligator
cuisine differed from what his parents used to serve. Regardless his 'mom' did an excellent job
of finding things he'd be willing to eat despite the fact that the alligator family did not
usually include vegetables in their meals and she was always kind enough to keep meat out of
his.
He brought his dish with him back upstairs and made a casual appearance at the table. He took
the time to thank each of the girls individually. Before leaving he looked to Ackert, "How did
training go today? I didn't see Rolis leave."
"Not surprising... I think you were elbows-deep in cow at the time." the older gator grinned.
"Yea... busy day." Cory admitted.
"I don't think I've seen any flat-tooth get so far into a carcass before." Fedine smirked
toothily at him. The first time Cory had seen the expression he found it disconcerting, but,
after the last few months it had become endearing.
"It's a talent, I guess." he offered a sheepish smile, moving his plates to the wash basin. He
scrubbed each one throughly and set them aside to dry. Looking back to the alligators, to his
family, he leaned against the counter, "Anyone need anything before I disappear for the night?"
"Fine, thanks." Yveen and Lidee said in perfect unison.
"No, nothing." Naia confirmed.
"Just remember to look into the scented oils I told you about for tomorrow." Agatha reminded
him.
"Right." Cory nodded, "I'll talk to the apothecary before we open tomorrow... I'm sure he can
get something put together." he glanced to the two youngest alligators, "Can you two come with
me tomorrow? I have a lot on order." The two girls nodded their consent, "Alright..." the buck
acknowledged, "then I'm turning in... it's been a long day."
"Goodnight, Cory." Ackert spoke.
"Thanks." the buck smiled warmly, and he headed for his bedroom.
"Have fun." Fedine called after him with a smile in her voice. Cory felt his ears turn red...
just a little.
"Goodnight." was all he responded.
As soon as the door to his room closed behind him, Cory let out a deep breath. He could already
feel the warm, steam-laden air that filled his bedroom; the door to the bathing chamber was
open. The buck undid the strap holding his apron on and carefully set it down into the basket
that held the rest of his dirty work clothing; the basket was made of Venna Reed, a plant that
absorbed odor, and he wouldn't have wanted to live without it... curing leather was bad enough,
but having the scent of the chemicals all over his room would have been murder. Closing the top
of the basket, Cory let out a deep breath, and stripped off the rest of his clothes.
The buck inhaled deeply again, stretching and yawning, enjoying the sense of freedom being
comfortably nude gave to him. He rubbed his paws all over his body, smoothing it out and
grooming away the day's activity. He smiled at himself in the mirror, rubbing at a small dark
splotch on his otherwise pure-white chest fur. Finding himself presentable, he finally made his
way to the bathing chamber, reveling in the heat that permeated the stone room.
The room was almost the same size as his bedroom, but it felt much smaller due to the deep,
broad basin inset in the floor. The basin, which held hot water for lounging and bathing in was
a nearly three foot deep oval that was approximately eight foot long and three or four foot
wide. The entire room was inlaid with orange-brown stones except for the basin, which was
formed of one solid piece of some kind of marble. All of this meant little to Cory, however, as
his eyes were focused on what lay within the basin amidst the steaming water.
Rolis was almost completely submerged in the bath. The tip of the large alligator's shoulders
just barely poked above the waterline, and his head lay back against the lip of the tub. On the
far opposite side of the oval basin the last foot and a half of Rolis' tail emerged from the
water and flopped out across the floor. Cory knew that his lover enjoyed hot baths... very
nearly too hot for the deer, but there were certain sacrifices that Cory was willing to make.
"Hi." Rolis spoke up in his deep rumbling voice, powerful enough to make the water around him
vibrate. It wasn't until after he had spoken that he bothered opening his eyes, turning his
slitted pupils to gaze at the buck.
"Your dad work you hard today? Looks like you're enjoying a good soak..." Cory noted, kneeling
down beside the basin. He brushed a few fingers through the water; it was as hot as he
expected, and he couldn't keep them in for long. Rolis simply nodded, and held up a talon to
the buck. Cory smiled, placing his paw in it, and the alligator interlaced his claws with the
buck's fingers.
"Join me?" Rolis invited. Cory nodded, and the alligator helped balance the buck's weight as he
slowly slid a leg into the hot water. Cory winced, and hissed, and slowly lowered himself even
lower, slipping his second leg into the tub as well. It took nearly five minutes until Cory had
both legs in the pool, standing up on the bottom with the water nearly up to his groin. With
numerous breaths, winces, hisses, and gasps later, the water was up to the buck's belly button,
and he lowered himself even further until the water was lapping at his shoulders.
"Sometimes I think you're crazy bathing in water this hot." Cory noted, sliding a little closer
to his scaled lover.
"I like feeling warm." Rolis answered, curling an arm around the buck's waist.
"That's what you have me for." Cory smiled.
"I want you to feel warm too." the alligator explained, blinking. Although most non-reptiles
wouldn't have understood the simple sentence Cory knew his lover well enough to know exactly
what he was talking about.
"You don't have to raise your body temperature to make me feel warm... you do fine just by being
here with me." Cory said, moving so that he could rest his side against Rolis' chest.
The alligator smirked in a subdued manner and softly rubbed Cory's back. The buck took a deep
breath and relaxed against his lover, enjoying the feel of the scaled talon dragging through his
fur. Cory's own hand gingerly traced the scales on Rolis' abdomen beneath the water and the
subsonic rumble of approval the buck felt as the gator's scales vibrated against his paw made
the buck's whole body tingle-- he'd had the chance to feel that vibration on several occasions
against more than just his paw.
"I'm going to the alchemist's tomorrow." Cory spoke. He closed his eyes, wishing with all his
might that he didn't have to tell his lover, but he knew that he needed to.
"Why?" the displeasure was evident in Rolis' voice.
"Because I need more chemicals, and Mom wants some oils." Cory spoke, inwardly sighing at his
horrible timing-- he knew he should have waited.
"Go somewhere else." the alligator said simply; it was not a new argument between them.
"The only other vendor in town charges too much." Cory answered; it was a familiar verbal dance
and he knew the steps by heart.
"I will go with." Rolis stated without pausing, undoubtedly as familiar with the argument as the
buck.
"Yveen and Lidee are already going with me. I'll be fine." Cory reassured him, "Besides...
Ackert will probably want you with him."
Rolis fell silent after that and it surprised Cory. In most circumstances they each had at
least five or six more arguments to get out of one another. The buck looked up to Rolis' eyes,
which were gazing down at the water away from him, "I'll be fine." Cory repeated, not quite sure
if he was trying to reassure his lover or get their by-the-book argument to pick up where it
left off.
"Please don't go." Rolis spoke quietly, still not meeting his gaze, "I have a bad feeling..."
Cory was caught off guard by his lover's plaintive request-- that was NOT their usual bickering
over the alchemist.
"What's wrong, Rolis?" Cory asked, rotating in the bath so he could face the alligator. Rolis
reached out to him and Cory drew closer. The big bull gator pulled him close until the buck was
laying against his scaled abdomen and chest.
"I want you to stay here tomorrow." Rolis stated simply.
"But, I need to--"
"I will go with Yveen and Lidee." Rolis interrupted.
"I have to get--"
"I will get everything." the alligator pressed.
"I can't ask you to change your schedule just so--"
"You didn't ask. I offered." Rolis countered.
"Okay... alright, Rolis..." Cory spoke quietly, "If it's that important to--"
"It is."
"Are you going to let me get any words in or are you--" Cory's sentence was interrupted not by
any words but, rather, by the alligator's playful grin; Rolis didn't need to say anything to
make the buck laugh... or, as things heated up, cause him to make any number of other sounds.
The two lovers rested against one another in bed an hour later, reveling in the afterglow of
their coupling. The alligator was dozing comfortably, still radiating the heat from the bath,
which made Cory just as drowsy. He was more than ready to pass out for the night, but his mind
wasn't quite ready to stop working.
Cory wavered on the brink of sleep, coddled in the embrace of his beloved alligator. Rolis'
body was wrapped around him, still so warm that the buck didn't need a blanket. One of Rolis'
talons gingerly held both of Cory's wrists while the other one gripped the edge of the mattress,
stretched across the bed. The alligator's arm served as a headrest for the buck. Cory's body
was more than comfortable enough to fall asleep, but yet he couldn't.
Something about the evening nagged at Cory's mind. It wasn't anything new that Rolis didn't
like him going to the apothecary; the jackal was from the same kingdom as they. It seemed like
such an insignificant detail considering the fact that they were no longer there, but something
about it had obviously caused the alligator enough concern that he was willing to plead (in his
own way) to have Cory skip the trip.
Cory yawned as he tried to force his brain to turn off. The buck didn't know why Rolis was
suddenly more concerned than usual about the trip, but Cory knew that he'd need the supplies.
He didn't like the idea of sending out Rolis to do his errands for him but he realized that, in
his own way, he'd already said okay. Flexing his tail a few times, Cory felt the stretched
flesh of his opening still slick with the proof of their lovemaking. He closed his eyes,
realizing that being conviced to give that errand over to his lover was definitely worth it.