Part I: Home
#1 of The City
Part I: Home
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The cold night air drifted about the angular face of the city languidly; yet its teeth were still sharp. Or, maybe she was just personifying the way her own teeth set themselves into her lower lip? She huffed out a breath, hazel tinged oculars following the ghostly visage lift above her head and disperse toward the sky. The stars seemed to mock her from their distant vantage point, glowering in a lunatic fashion - she ignored them and hurried along down the concrete path; a worn aging line - a maze upon that asphalt map.
Why, oh why hadn't she thought about what she was wearing before leaving her apartment? Actually, the question was probably the easiest thing in the world to answer, but she just didn't want to admit it. So, along she went; huddling into her favorite, well worn B-3 bomber jacket that her father had gotten her one year for Christmas. She adored it; not only because it was her favorite style of outer wear, but because she hardly ever got to see her father.
She mentally scolded herself for not simply sliding into a pair of jeans and tossing on her long leather coat. At least that had an optional liner and covered more. It probably didn't help that she was wearing a skirt that just barely brushed the tops of her knees. Oh well! She was just too excited to really worry about the low temperature, after all; she would reach her destination in a short amount of time.
Her tail, still slightly damp from her rushed shower and prompt departure tried its best to set against the back of her left thigh in a brittle attempt to flee from the draft; but without any cover from the elements it was forced to endure.
"Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cooooolllld-d-d!" She stammered as she bounced swiftly up the solid concrete steps that lead to the front door of one of the first apartment buildings in the complex she had entered. Could it be considered an apartment though? It was more like a lot of small houses, disconnected, that people could rent. She enviously wished she could have one; but they were all occupied at the time.
Finally; she paused in front of an earthen red tinted door, staring at the black set of numbers printed just slightly above her eye level. "One-three-oh-one... this is it," And with a rap of her knuckles upon the door she took half a step back, eagerly awaiting the moment that door would be opened.
*
It had been a long while since he'd been back to that city... or at least it felt like it had been a long while. Well, when one thought about it; three and a half months was quite an expanse of time to be away from any one place.
He'd left late last year, about midway through December to travel a few states away to where his parents lived. His folks hadn't been doing too well, so he had thought it best if he had gone back to see them one last time - stayed with them until their days wore down from thin to naught. It was hard; saddening... but it was infinitely better than being so far away and unable to say good bye. Overall, he was glad he had gone. It put his life from before on hold... or, it had seemed that way. It had been a stasis, and an end. Now, it was like he had been given a fresh start. And it felt much that way. Though, he was still young - midway through his twenties; this sudden renewal felt wonderful. Through his parents passing he had inherited their home, being the only child that he was, and the sum of money they had saved over the years. The house; the farm where they had lived, he'd sold. He hadn't planned on being able to find a buyer so quickly, but with the added livestock and supply of food for the animals it seemed to pass by in such a speedy manner. All for the better, perhaps it was. What else was a wolf that wished to live in the city near his companions to do? He couldn't manage the whole lot by himself.
And so, here he was again. He'd moved here with a few friends two or three years prior. Though, they all scattered to different locations they were still within the same city. The ironic thing was, was that a couple of them worked in the same company... and the other, no one had heard from for the past year or so. It was like they had just disappeared and were unreachable. It had the others set in a state of wonderment as to what could have occurred. But, oh well... that one had always been a bit flakey. That aside! It wasn't time to dwell on past and slightly present. It was a time for now. And now just happened to be knocking on the door!
He pushed himself up off the deep scarlet, something-akin-to-corduroy-material couch that he'd owned for ages, and shuffled toward the door to his desolate, blank page of an apartment, house; thing. Gray tail was flicked to one side as he reached out, twisting the dulled brass knob, and pulling the door inward. Mismatched hues of steel blue and vibrant amber; right and left, respectively - blinked against the sudden rush of frigid air parading in betwixt the door's wooden frame.
"Holy shit!" He shivered and made a motion with his other arm signaling for the brown and tan furred lupine to get inside, to which she abruptly complied, brushing past him and on into the warm atmosphere of the near empty abode.
He shut the door.
*
With a shiver that had followed her in from the outside she was hesitant to remove her jacket, but did so anyway; tossing it onto the horizontal coat rack that was bolted into his wall near the doorway. A grin spread across her muzzle as he turned around to face her; and she smoothed the soft white fabric of her casual dress shirt a bit.
She had always found him to be visually attractive; of course, he was also fun to be around - always had been. And he had more than just looks going for him. They had grown up together, and she had always loved his unequal colored eyes. The gray wolf that stood before he now was no different than the one she remembered from before; her eyes following him as he stepped from the doorway, to stand on the carpeted floor between the entry way and the couch, arms crossed just below his chest in a cool manner. His smile was genuine as he looked upon her; and there was something there in his gaze that told her he still though she was beautiful.
Where she could've walked right from his house into a business meeting, he couldn't have. Well, he could have tried... but somehow, going over stocks and finance wearing a pair of slightly baggy, faded black jeans and a t-shirt that just about matched the color of his couch didn't seem too professional-esque.
His maw parted, as if he were to speak; but the only escaping sound was formed of half a word, choked out with a tinge of surprise. "Wh-rrrck!?"
She had always been a bit too quick for him. Just when he thought she wasn't going to do something, she would do it. This time was no exception. With a small tilt of her head to the side and a questioning look that suddenly sparked into a wry grin she bolted forward and leapt onto him. "YURI!!!"
The spasmodic flare of her action caused him to fall backward; the floor accepting his body, pinned beneath hers with a protesting, but mellow thump. She clung to him, straddling his waist and nuzzling her head up under his chin with a soft murr. Yuri could only chuckle and wrap his arms around her; squeezing her body against his in a much-less-than-fragile hug.
After a moment was taken to catch his breath that had so abruptly forced from him, he kissed the top of her head lightly. "Good to see you too, Kuras."
She lifted her head and smiled down at him, setting her paws against the floor just above his shoulders to hoist her top half up just a bit. "Welcome home," Kuras said in a slowed, whisper of a tone... right about the time she leaned her muzzle back down and pressed it against his in a kiss, that at first was something light - to be shared between the best of friends; and then dipped further, metamorphosing into something lush and heated. Yuri's arms pulled back from the embrace as mouths were locked into place; claw falling to dig in against the soft, still damp fur of her exposed thighs.
In that moment he realized... just how much he had missed being home.