FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

I hope you all enjoy. By all means, please comment; I love feedback. If you don't like it, please let me know, preferably with an explanation; ditto if you do :). Nick is bisexual, and the story has some homosexual content. Don't read if that bothers you. Thanks!

• Xi

All's Fair - Part 13

Scrape.

Flump.

Scrape. Scraaape.

Flump.

FLUMP.

I immediately jumped back out of the freshly-shoveled pile of snow, growling at myself with more fury than the moment's thoughtlessness necessarily deserved. But I couldn't afford to get wet anymore, damn it; it's not like I had a nice, warm room waiting for me to dry off in. Not anymore. Idiocy like that could get me killed.

I paused in the act of violently brushing the snow off my clothes and fur to look up sharply at a passing car. But it was no one I knew. I snorted bitterly, and on a whim rolled a snowball and hurled it after the departing vehicle. Then I walked rapidly the other way, scuffing my paw through the last bit of snow remaining on the driveway as I left. I'd promised the badger to whom the driveway belonged that I'd come in afterwards for a cup of eggnog - it had been the only way to overcome her guilt and let me do it instead of her - but I'd known I was lying then and I didn't care.

I snorted. She'd been being an idiot anyhow. It's not like a couple inches of snow were going to keep her from backing out of her driveway with her kids to wherever she was going, yet she'd been out there on Christmas morning, shoveling away. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I'd only helped her to warm up anyway; husky or no, it was bloody cold today, without a coat, and obviously I'd left mine in my room.

Speaking of. I picked my pace up to a jog, then a run, to warm up. After a few minutes I felt the circulation bringing heat out to my extremities, chasing the chill away. I had just enough time to feel a fleeting sense of satisfaction before my shin slammed into something hard and sent me careening head over heels for a couple of yards to land on my chest on icy concrete. I swore viciously, clutching at my leg, and glared at the offending obstacle - a bench, in this case, situated on the sidewalk by a bus stop.

After a short while I thought I heard a faint voice calling my name. I stilled, listening hard, but it didn't repeat itself. Probably best to move again anyway. So I got up again hand continued on my way, making a quick detour into an electronics store to hopefully avoid anyone looking for me. I didn't stay long - stores tend to have a distressing lack of exits on the off chance that I saw someone I would rather didn't see me, and it made me nervous. Stepping into the cold light of day, I checked for familiar faces before continuing, and sighed to myself. I suppose it would have helped if I could just make myself get out of town. I should have been six miles up the road by now.

Fate has a sick, sick sense of humor. Hurrying along the roadside, I failed to pay enough attention to my feet. Net result? I tripped again - over the same bench. With the same shin.

"Young man, stop that racket immediately," a stern voice said a couple minutes later, interrupting my tirade. My muzzle snapped shut more out of surprise than anything, and I looked up - then blinked and looked again at the snow-white otter glaring at me. She was dressed all in pale silver only a couple shades darker, trimmed in contrasting dark brown fur. Combined with the snow still piled against the lamp posts on the sidewalk and the bright winter sunlight, the effect was quite striking. Not that I was in any fit mood to be impressed. Not that she gave me a chance to voice my opinion one way or the other.

"Honestly, mouthing off like that in public, with no thought as to who might hear. Shameful, sir. One should think you'd been brought up in a barn. And oughtn't you be celebrating this day with your family, not defacing the air alone?" Loud voice; American accent. Figures.

"No," I growled shortly, pointedly turning away. Nosy, interfering little... and besides, my shin still hurt!

The otter refused to take a hint. "Ah, so it's family troubles, is it?"

"No," I growled, even more forcefully, scooting off the bench and walking briskly elsewhere. But, showing more fitness than I'd counted on, my self-appointed irritator-in-chief followed me.

"Really?" she asked musingly, before apparently coming to a decision. "Very well, you've piqued my curiosity. Perhaps you would be so kind as to let me buy you a cup of coffee - or lunch, rather, considering the hour?"

"Oh, hell no!" I nearly shouted, stopping in my tracks.

Swiftly the older fur turned and planted her paws on her hips. "Language, young man! I already told you: it's not decent. But my offer still stands, if you should choose to take it."

My paw moved to flip her off, but I checked it, fuming. It wasn't like I had a plethora of other dining options at that particular moment. "Fine," I muttered, and allowed her to lead me towards a diner a couple blocks away.

"Thanks," I said grudgingly as we approached.

She sniffed. "Your rudeness certainly hasn't abated yet."

"I was thanking you!" I protested, stung.

"You were lying through your teeth, and you know it. In my book, dishonesty is worse than ingratitude."

I rolled my eyes. "Right. Well, I take it back, then."

"Thank you," she said with dignity. I rolled my eyes again.

"So," she said a few moments later, as we sat down at a small booth. I was amazed the place was open today - it certainly wasn't getting much business. "Who is she?"

"Come again?"

"At your age, if it's not family, it often tends to be love, friends, or school, in that order. I merely wondered who she is, if it's the former."

"No one." We stopped to place our orders with a too-cute-to-be-true coyote, and then the otter spent a bit just watching me.

"I see," she said at last. "So who is he?"

"No one," I snapped, waiting impatiently for my hamburger arrive so I could eat it and escape the inquisition.

"Well, I suppose that lie was better than your first one."

"Thanks ever so."

"It wasn't a compliment."

"And I was being sarcastic."

"Are you going to answer my question?"

"No."

The otter sighed in - sadness? - and I echoed her in relief as our waiter stepped into view with a large tray. The food, while fairly plain, was plentiful - well, it was for me; the otter had ordered something rather smaller.

But a short while later I became aware of an uncomfortable nagging sensation. Come on, she bought you lunch; you could at least make small talk.

But she's rude_!_

But she bought you lunch. Actions speak louder than words and all that jazz.

I didn't ask for it!

She bought it anyway.

I don't feel like being polite!

But you're eating her food.

Bloody conscience. Never gave me a moment's peace these days. Oi. "So why aren't you off with your family, anyway?"

She gave me a smile that said my voice had given away altogether too much of my silent argument. "I was on my way when I met you. But they'll not be expecting me for quite a while; I always plan extra time in for my walk."

"Why don't you just drive?"

"I find that walking is often more interesting." Still smiling, she abruptly turned the conversation back on me. "And what of yourself? Did you have a reason for your vulgarity, or was it simple thoughtlessness?"

I scowled. "I had a reason: I'd just bashed my shin into a concrete bench! Twice!"

She snorted. "Automobile collisions cause over three thousand deaths each year in this country, yet their victims don't make half the racket you were."

"That's 'cause they're dead!"

"Exactly. So when you've been through as much as they have, you may feel free to make as much of a ruckus about it as they do."

I gave up.

Unfortunately, she did not. "Does he know you care about him?"

"I don't care about him," I snapped, before realizing that I'd just admitted there was a 'him.'

"You really ought to work on your honesty, young man. Now, I know at your age everything seems for good reason, but would you say that you really had cause to fight with him, or that you simply overreacted to some trivial, juvenile matter?"

I stared at the otter across the false-wood tabletop, the beginnings of actual hurt starting to simmer in my chest. My voice chilled. "I would say that it's none of your business. Butt out."

She smiled smugly, letting me fume a bit while she accepted the bill from the waiter, slipped a credit card into it, and handed it back. "Hm. Well, I've been around for quite some time, and I've found that running from one's issues rarely turns out well. It simply lets them fester. So, wouldn't you rather spend Christmas day, of all days, enjoying the company of this man of yours, or do you really intend to spend it sulking over whatever petty argument you've had?"

I stood quickly, paws shaking with the urge to throttle something other than my anger. "You know?" I managed through clenched fangs, "I think I'm going to sulk."

Her mocking voice caught up with me a few steps away. "Without even finishing your hamburger?"

It boiled over. Turning around, I stepped carefully back to the table and met her gaze, my face frozen. Slowly, I took my plate, turned it over, and pressed down, mashing the last few bites of my lunch into the table. Then I pointed my nose towards the exit once more.

I sardonically saluted the waiter on the way out.

I still like those big, old banks. So ostentatious, so self-consciously flaunting their out-of-date grandeur to the world. As if the Greeks had anything in particular to do with the saving and loaning of money. And above it all, the cold utilitarianism of air conditioners, drainage, satellite dishes, service access - safely out of sight behind the false façade.

Don't ask me how there came to be broken glass up there; I have no idea. It looked like it came from a window or something equally flat, as opposed to a bottle or something, but beyond that I didn't really know. I picked up a hand-length shard, feeling its smooth faces, sharp edges while I thought. Damn, I wished I could see Ivan before I left. And Claire, and Todd, and Becky, and all the other furs I'd actually gotten to like, at least a little, over the last semester. But I couldn't; one doesn't simply walk in on Christmas day, especially when one doesn't wish to raise awkward questions that might lead to the correction center, or Dan and Halo and their family, hearing about it. So instead those friendships were just chains, biting into me while they tied me here. I should have left immediately.

My paws slipped, and the glass opened a small cut on my finger. I yelped and stuck the digit into my muzzle, then frowned in thought. Slowly I rolled back my sleeve, trying to ignore the fact that it was green instead of black, and touched the shard to my skin, an inch or so past the elbow. I held it there, pressing lightly, while my stomach knotted and my heart rate picked up. Then I threw it away, disgusted. I'd not given Claire enough credit; here I had no problems risking broken bones or worse if I fell while climbing, yet something about opening a little cut on my arm made my gut twist and sweat break out on my neck. Pathetic. I angrily marched to the edge of the roof, looking over the knee-high parapet at the street six stories below. But I couldn't pull that off either; couldn't even get a foot onto the parapet, though I'd done that plenty of times when I wasn't thinking those thoughts. Even more disgusted, I dropped to sit down and leaned back against the parapet instead, staring broodingly at nothing. God, why couldn't I just leave?

But apparently I couldn't. So, a couple hours later, I got over my angst, got over my anxiousness, and started back.

I walked through the front door about as confidently as a kitten into a snake pit. But the house appeared empty.

"H-hello?" I called - or whispered, if you're feeling cynically correct. There was no answer, regardless. Yet the door had not been locked. So I tentatively ventured a little farther in, stopping in the middle of the living room to look around. After a few moments, I decided to find somewhere where I felt less... exposed... and make some phone calls, but before I could I heard the front door open behind me, and I spun around.

He hadn't taken a coat either, I noticed irrelevantly, before my gaze was pulled to his lips, his eyes. I stared with a kind of horrified fascination at him, at the ravages draped over his features, that seemed to age him years, and yet that never touched his beauty. His eyes were red-rimmed, his lips drawn and his features wind-swept and haggard. Exhausted.

He stared back like he wasn't sure I was really there. He took one stumbling little step forward, paused, then another, and another, while I stood rooted to the spot, unable to look away while my heart pounded frantically in my chest and my stomach took my lungs on a vacation to Bermuda.

The wolf stopped just out of arm's reach, and we spent half an eternity watching each other, paralyzed. Then a pair of paws at my back shoved me forward, into his arms.

Jake hung on to me so hard my ribs creaked, but I decided I could live with that. I squeezed my eyes shut, burying my nose in his scent and fighting relief that he was there - and remorse that I'd not been. Two feelings I couldn't let myself feel. In an attempt to distract myself, I opened my eyes and looked for who had pushed me.

Aislyn was waiting on the landing. She met my eyes, nodded slightly, then retreated to her room. Her face, even more than usual, revealed nothing.

Jake's body was shuddering against mine, again and again. His harsh breathing pressed against the top of my head, and it was all I could do to keep from breaking then and there.

My voice betrayed me. "Shh, I'm here," it whispered, not even consulting me beforehand.

His breath caught, and without warning he grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and threw me into the staircase. I yelped in pain as the wood corners dug into my back and side, but the sound was drowned out by his hoarse, clogged roar.

"Where the hell were you?!" Before I could answer he closed the distance between us, a snarl paining his muzzle, and shoved me violently back down onto the steps. "I spent all day looking for you, wondering if you had fucking jumped off a cliff, and you think you can cover it with 'I'm here'?!"

"Yes, I can!" I shouted, immediately matching his anger with my own. Bringing my foot up and planting it against his chest, I levered him back, forcefully enough that he staggered. "I don't have to dell you a goddamn thing about where I've been!"

"So it's supposed to be okay to just walk out anytime you feel like throwing a temper tantrum?!" he shouted back, tears burning in his eyes. "No warnings, no apologies, not even an explanation, for God's sake, just treat us like so much trash, is that it?! Yeah, real becoming, mutt. It's what I should have expected out of you all along!"

I heard a sneer enter my voice, suddenly wanting to hurt him, to know that I could. "Fine! If you really want to know, I was on top of a bank building, trying to fucking jump. Okay? Are you happy now, you fucking prick? The only reason I'm back is because of Ivan, not you. I'd have spent the day with him, too, except he'd have given me to you!" I snapped my jaws shut, fighting tears and looking with bitter satisfaction at Jake's poleaxed expression. Whirling, I took the stairs three at a time, ran to my room, and slammed the door. Then I flung myself onto the bed and screamed into the blood-red pillows, until abruptly the steam left my sails and I slumped into the mattress. God, I was tired.

I don't know how much time I passed lying there. Probably only a pawful of minutes, though it felt longer. The silence in my room was broken by a tapping at the door.

"What?" I snapped.

"N-nick?" It was Michael's voice, and I winced. I hadn't heard anyone else come in, so I'd not expected him.

I gentled my voice as much as I could. "Yeah, it's me. Come on in." The door opened just enough to admit the little deer, and he timidly stepped over and sat on the bed. I levered myself up and sat next to him. I debated how close I should be to seem friendly, and whether I should put an arm around him, but he ended the debate by scootching over to lean his head against my side.

"What happened?" was all he asked.

I thought for a long time before I answered. "I just... had a rough night. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you, Michael."

We sat in silence for a moment, then he twisted and hugged me. "Please, I don't like it when you run away," he mumbled into my shirt. Before I could respond, he got up and slipped out of the room.

I didn't really have time even to begin to ponder how that made me feel, that he'd be honestly distressed by my absence, before there was a soft knock on the door frame. Looking up, I saw Halo in the doorway, Dan a step behind her. "Hey," I said quietly, "come in." Part of me wondered just how much trouble I was in, while another wondered how much more I could take before I burned out and keeled over.

Halo sat in the chair in the corner; Dan took the desk next to it. "You all right, Nick?"

I nodded quietly, even though 'all right' really oughtn't be synonymous with 'okay' or 'acceptable'; it ought to be nearer to 'wonderful' or 'perfect'. But then, 'ought' has relatively little to do with 'is', so I nodded.

Looking at me, the older wolf continued softly, probingly. "I... heard you had kind of a rough time today."

After a brief moment to realize what he meant, I half-smiled sadly. "It's okay. You can say his name."

Halo leaned forward. "You're avoiding the question, Nick. Suicide?"

I looked down, chewing gently on the inside of my cheek. "It was just a game," I mumbled, doing my best to keep a pleading note from entering my voice. "I just - wanted to know if I could, and..." I trailed off, trying to get a better hold of myself. "I really don't need more therapy. I'm not going to do it again any time soon, I promise."

Neither of them looked overly convinced. "Just to see - Nick, what if the answer was yes?"

I smiled a little in genuine amusement. "Then we wouldn't be sitting here talking about it."

"You need to talk to someone, though. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just le - I had a bad day, all right? That's all." I lightened my tone, hoping the mood would follow it. "In the mean time, I don't suppose there's any way I can get out of being grounded, is there?"

Halo brushed the attempt aside with a slightly impatient twist of her shoulders. "Nick, you..." she paused, sighed, and started over. "All right. In the mean time, what happened between you and Jake?"

My voice hardened. "Nothing happened."

"Is it something we need to punish either of you over?"

"No."

"Nick, if we're going to keep you you've got to give us something, here."

I felt my stomach plunge, and my face fall after it. "Y-you - " I whispered. Oh, God, would they? Drawing a shuddering breath, I got my voice and face under control again, at least a little. "W-we had a fight. It was - well, I just - had a rough night." Always nice to know I could vary my explanations so well. I flailed around for something to say, to give them, half-whispering. "He was just mad I left, and before that I - well, I - I don't want to like him so much." I snapped my muzzle shut, realizing with sudden, dawning horror what I'd just said.

Wolf and deer both looked utterly nonplussed for several long seconds, then gave nearly identical sigh-chuckles. Halo got up and walked over to hug me. "Nick, we don't mind that you're gay. It was on your profile at the center, and Jake told us. It's completely fine. Was that what was bothering you?"

I sighed in relief. No, that wasn't it at all. But I held silence, heart still pounding over the slip of my tongue. It was just a misspeak. That was all.

After a moment, Halo released me, and when she spoke her voice was stern. "However, that doesn't excuse your behavior today. We are going to ground you, young man, for the rest of the break. No trips off the property, no friends over, unless you have our permission beforehand. Got it?"

I nodded, actually a little amazed at the mildness of the punishment. I mean, it certainly fit the crime, but I still had my phone, and -

"Also, you can hand over your phone and laptop," Dan added, and I groaned.

To say that dinner was awkward would have been an understatement. I felt like I was under a microscope. Dan and Halo largely pretended things were almost normal, but kept shooting glances at me, as though worried I might suddenly lose it. Michael was much less talkative than usual, and picked at his food; his day must have been pretty royally screwed up by all this. On the way downstairs I'd realized with a lurch that all the presents were still waiting under the tree, and Dan had mentioned that they were going to open them tonight instead. It was enough to make anyone feel guilty. Aislyn basically did have me under a microscope, except she didn't need the hardware. I kept thinking about how she had pushed me earlier today, trying unsuccessfully to figure out her reasons and where she stood on all this. Too much more mystery on her front and I thought my head might explode.

Jake and I weren't speaking. Weren't even looking at each other except furtively, when the other was looking away. The food between us really ought to have been so much ice after the first minute - either that, or so much ash. Whichever.

After the meal, I tentatively caught Michael's eye, and the two of us hung out in the kitchen until everyone else left for the living room. "I just wanted to say again that I'm sorry," I murmured softly, trying for a little smile. "I'll try to pick a better day next time, 'kay?" Michael started to smile back, but a voice cut across our conversation.

"Unfortunately, 'sorry' doesn't always cut it," Jake said, having somehow gotten within a few steps without my hearing.

My face twisted into a snarl, but I smoothed it out. "Happy Christmas, Michael," I said to the younger deer, ignoring Jake until Michael had returned the phrase and fled.

"What, were you not satisfied with ruining his day once, you had to do it again when I try to say sorry?" I hissed, careful to keep my voice low.

"Oh, now I ruined his day? You can apologize all you want, but you still had us all out looking for you instead of celebrating Christmas like he's done every year of his life. Nice move, there."

"If you hadn't all-but raped me, I could have been here like I wanted to!"

"So now you're gonna say you didn't like it?" His voice was brittle, mocking.

"Oh, I loved it. That's why I jumped out a window the next morning and spent the day wandering the streets, of course." Put that way, it sounded absurd enough that he believed my sarcastic tone.

Jake swayed back slightly. "I - thought that was about me saying I had a girlfriend."

Damn it, why did it have to be so hard to stay angry with him? "I don't give a flying fuck who your girlfriend is. It just made a good excuse." I waited a moment. "We should go; everyone's waiting on us now." Not quite daring to look at him, I slunk around the table into the too-bright living room.

Opening presents a short while later, I supposed the cheer was genuine enough, after a fashion. I certainly did my best to forget today and just enjoy kneeling by the tree, fishing out presents and passing them to whoever was on the note taped to them. There was music playing again, and after a few minutes there were smiles and laughter as well, and the sounds of tearing paper and excited thank-yous. But anytime I got a present labeled for Jake I passed it to Halo without a word, and she pretended she'd found it. The warmth was so incredible, so genuine, yet it seemed so very fragile next to what there'd been just a day ago. Hollow.

The gifts, for the most part, were not large, but they displayed an astonishing amount of thought - to me, at least. I've no idea, for instance, how Aislyn figured out which book I wanted most from my list, or how she'd also known that I'd decided last week that I also wanted one of the ones I'd borrowed from the library, but she had. It made me very glad I'd asked Dan and Halo for help choosing what to get everyone; she seemed honestly pleased by the return books I'd gotten her, and Michael had literally jumped for joy when he opened the rather extensive box of art supplies I'd pooled with Jake to get him - of course, he jumped for joy after every gift, but still.

I was a bit surprised that two of the larger ones were for me. But the first was from Jake, and I had to shut my eyes for a moment, wishing my insides would just hold still and quit taking unexpected trips to other parts of my body, or vanishing altogether. Then I slowly tore back the wrapping, again getting that under-a-microscope feeling.

It was a new skateboard - the two wheeled kind I'd not realized I'd envied so openly yesterday.

"This must have cost a fortune," I said quietly, studying my knees.

"Not as much as you're thinking," he answered in a strained, but level, voice. "I traded the old one in, which cut a third off the price." I pondered that in silence for a moment. The price was still substantial, and the only way he could have done that yesterday without me knowing was to take some of the time I'd thought he'd spent with Amy. My lips twisted in something very close to pain.

I didn't thank him.

But I was even more surprised when I opened the other larger gift, from Dan and Halo. "Wha - how - thank you!" I exclaimed, looking at the drafting arm and supplies under the green paper. "But - how did you know?" I'd never told anyone I liked architecture; the very last thing I needed was for the correction center to realize I had Career Ideas.

Dan smiled cautiously and looked at Jake, who blushed and looked down. "You always stop to look at unusual buildings," he mumbled. "I guessed."

"You - you were right," I said quietly, feeling my heart twist and wondering if maybe I could have jumped now.

The evening went less awkwardly after that; everyone picked one of their gifts to try out and mostly settled down with it. It had a feeling of tradition, like this was almost what they'd have done on another year. It almost covered the fact that it wasn't. I'd have gone upstairs to set up the drafting arm except I didn't want to leave. Instead I alternated between reading and just watching everyone else with a slightly uncomfortable mixture of contentment and sadness.

Things wound down after a while. I stuck around, reading in a parody of last night, until I suddenly realized Jake and I were the only ones still there.

He almost caught up in time; I slammed my door shut in his face and locked it. His muffled voice carried through, unfortunately. "Nick, open up. Please?"

"No!" I half-shouted, putting as much force and fury into the word as I could muster. I stripped off my clothes and dove into bed, shoving my muzzle into the pillows to silence any sounds I might make.

I was doing my best to ignore him, so I only heard snippets of his rambling voice. "...know you didn't really... we don't have to do anything, just... please say something... I..." He went on for a while, but the one word I never heard was 'sorry'. I wish I had. It would have meant he was wrong to get angry, and I could be furious with him for it. Slowly he faded into silence, and after an even longer while I heard his door shut. That's when I finally dared to uncurl from around the pillow, to allow my body to shake and to sob aloud, if only very quietly.

I held out as long as I could, watching every second blink slowly, slowly by on my alarm clock, fighting and failing to keep my breathing steady and my eyes clear of tears. After a small eternity, the glowing minute marker changed. After another, it changed again. Then again, and again, until finally the hour marker changed with it and I couldn't do it any more.

Trying my absolute hardest to make no sound, I stood up. My legs were so wobbly I was afraid I'd stumble, but somehow they held. I made my way to my door, opened it, looked out. No one. Desperately I told myself to just let it stay that way and go to sleep. Instead, my trembling body crept onto the balcony and made its way over to the next door down. It was unlocked, and I slipped in, trying to quiet my ragged breathing. I sat on the very edge of the bed, placing almost no weight on it. Please, just let him be asleep. I could leave if he were asleep; at least, I thought I could. Finally, I couldn't delay it any more and looked at his face in the dark.

They were open, glinting faintly in the moonlight and watching me. I whimpered. Slowly a paw stole around my waist, pressing into my fur. For a bare second my resolve held against him; then it crumpled and I let him pull me down and gather me in to his chest. Somehow he kept his breathing steady, despite the hesitant way he moved. I'd have killed to learn how; instead, I bit his pillow to keep quiet. It tasted like him. He just held me for a long time, letting his heat seep into me until I finally relaxed a little.

"Hey, mutt," he whispered.

"Hey," I replied, my voice cracking. We left it at that for a while, before I went on. "So where do we stand?"

"Same place as this morning, I guess." His arms tensed around me, as though he was afraid I'd leave, and wanted to tighten his hold on me, but wouldn't let himself. He needn't have worried; if I could leave, I would already have done so. I'd never have come.

Hesitantly he kissed the top of my head, then rested his muzzle between my ears. I tried to put an irritated growl into my voice. "You were right. This doesn't change anything. I just can't wait for school to start again, so I can get away from you during classes.

Jake nodded sleepily, and rubbed my belly softly. "Mm-hmm. But school's not for another week and some, mutt."

"It'll get here soon enough." Despite myself, I leaned back, pressing myself against his fur, and slowly drifted off to sleep as well.

***

So. This is another up-and-down kind of section. I actually meant to explain things, not just dig them deeper, but that's not how it played out in my head and that's okay. Thanks again for reading (are you detecting a pattern here? :P).