FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

This was a story idea requested by Coillscath, who challenged me to write something about someone innocent. Maybe I succeeded, maybe I didn't. Hope you enjoy it either way.

This story is not part of the Kennels series. It is not even set in the same world. It is entirely independent. Whether or not it gets a sequel will depend on what kind of feedback I get on it.

A Ghost Finds a Body

Word spread quickly about that kid, Kyle. Kyle had always been around, but always in the background. He was a border collie, his fur a golden tan, with bangs that constantly strayed across his eyes. He had a white stripe on his belly and white hands and feet. He was 14 years old, a freshman, and just beginning his high school years.

He might have dressed strange, but that was because he didn't wear the newest clothes or keep to the hottest trends. He might have acted strange, but that was because he never spoke up in class and didn't have a group he hung out with.

Every school has its cliques. The popular kids, slightly different based on the region, but usually based around sports. The music kids, sometimes choir, sometimes orchestra, usually marching band. You have the geeks and nerds, shunned for their brains and their abilities to blow any bell curve, banding together for safety. Then you have the rebels, the cool kids. Consisting of former bullies, punks, Goths, misfits, all of these congregate towards like-minded individuals.

Occasionally, a school will pick up an enigma. One will come along who fits in no group. They will usually know a few people, but those people will be from different groups, and they will be shunned for their other acquaintances. They are not a pariah; they simply seems to fit no pattern. No group claims them, so they drifts, forming no attachments. They are a ghost.

Kyle Bransau was one such ghost. He was too small for sports and, while cute enough, he did not possess enough patience to tolerate the popular airheads. Kyle had never tried music or art, and didn't care to have the fashion sense to hang with the Goths or rebels. He was too intelligent to be a thug, but didn't care enough to do the work it would take to be a brain. He was silently and consistently passed by and rejected by every clique in the school. Everyone saw him, but nobody cared.

The freshman collie took it seemingly well. Always of a melancholy mood, he seemed to let everything slip right off his shoulders. Not just the rejection, but also the responsibility. Having no friends meant no one need rely on him. It provided a lonely sense of detached freedom. He was the quiet one, the one who eventually became pushed too far and is found one day with a loaded gun and a hit list. But Kyle was nowhere near that point, and unlikely to get there. He had other outlets and other friends, unknown by his classmates, awkward acquaintances, and parents. Most of his time was spent online.

All of this changed one afternoon near the end of an English lesson in the library's computer lab. As was his habit, Kyle had been ignoring the lesson, which was to research something about some author. Instead, he had bypassed a few monitoring programs and had been chatting on a forum with an online friend. As usually occurs in forums, a glance will only give a snapshot, many times out of context. A teacher caught the chat window and pulled him away, sending him to the school office. Before she could come back and close the window, however, several other students had seen the posts he was reading, as well as Kyle's responding posts.

Word traveled fast, and by the end of the day, there was another openly gay student in school.

Kyle ended up putting up with a lot over that simple forum post. The rumor was easy to believe. After all, he was small for his age, kept to himself, and carried himself in a way that could be taken as effeminate. His parents, in denial over the subject matter, grounded him and complained to the school over their lack of supervision. Most of his teachers treated him coldly. His English teacher, who had been disciplined for what her student had gotten away with, treated him angrily. Where before he had been ignored by his fellow students, now he passed through the halls to the sounds of jokes and catcalls. Life quickly spiraled downward for Kyle.

A uniquely annoying form of attention also sprang up for Kyle. Brody, a sophomore lynx, also took notice. Brody was already openly gay, almost glaringly gay. He was the token 'in your face', aggressively defensive gay of the school. Few people were surprised when he showed an interest in the young, blonde collie. He approached Kyle in the lunchroom, at his locker, anywhere he could afford the time. He playfully mocked his own advances, and yet was forceful and aggressive in his pursuit.

Kyle was quickly becoming tired of Brody. After nearly a week, the lynx had not picked up on the collie's shy and subtle hints that he was not interested. Kyle was too shy to flat out tell Brody that he wasn't interested and too naïve to know that nothing short of that would convince him to stop. This new harassment became, in many ways, worse than the ridicule of the teachers and other students.

Another student also took notice of Kyle. Marcus was a junior, two years older than the collie. Kyle was one of many cute students that the brown bear watched and crushed on. Marcus was not openly gay. In fact, he had not yet come out to anyone. He watched with more than a passing interest at how the younger Kyle stood up to the unwanted attention. On the one hand, it scared him to see how cruel and destructive everyone was, including the teachers. On the other hand, however, it made him come to really respect the freshman and how he quietly handled everything.

Marcus really wanted to talk to Kyle, but to his way of seeing it, he would just become more of the same problem. He liked the young canine and thought he was really cute. But there was no way Kyle could feel the same way about him. Kyle was too pretty to go out with a rough, oafish bruin. And so Marcus said nothing. He did nothing.

Every afternoon, Marcus always cut across the faculty parking lot to head home. He only lived a few short blocks from the school, and the shortcut was the quickest way out of the school. Kyle, he knew, took one of the buses home, so Marcus was quite surprised when, a week later, he saw the collie use the side door and slip around the rear of the building right ahead of him. Looking around to see if there was an obvious reason, he noticed Brody searching the crowds, looking for all the world like he had just lost sight of his prey.

Smirking about the lynx, Marcus made his way to the rear of the building, unsure if this was his fantasized chance to talk to Kyle, or if he should just head home. As the rear lot came into view, however, the two guys in letterman jackets he saw quickly decided things for him. The Bruin recognized the lion and wolf propped against the back wall of the building. Samson, the wolf, was a starting halfback on the school football team. The lion, either Shawn or John, he couldn't remember, was a starting defensive end. Both were assholes.

They had spotted the collie, who had stopped perhaps fifteen feet past the corner. Samson pushed himself off the wall, flicking his illicit cigarette away as he sauntered toward the canine. He flicked up the collar of his blue and silver school jacket as he made eye contact with Kyle.

"Hey there," he said, grinning. Marcus had seen these guys in action, and knew the smile was not a good thing.

Kyle, not sensing the danger, mumbled back a shy "Hey."

"So, you're the new fag in school, huh?" He cocked his head back over his shoulder, motioning to the lion. "Hey Shawn. This the new faggot you been hearing so much about?"

The lion had moved up on his buddy's right, out away from the wall, cutting off easy retreat. Kyle either didn't see the setup, or didn't care. Marcus may not have been as muscular as the two football players, but he was at least as big, maybe bigger. He stepped out, making his presence known to the antagonists. Samson looked up at him at once and spoke over the collie's head.

"This ain't your business, unless you want it to be."

Summoning more courage than he realized he had, Marcus stepped forward, smiled nervously, and said, "No, you're right." Reaching for Kyle's arm, he added, "We were just leaving."

"Look, fat-ass, stay the hell out of it."

Marcus wasn't really fat, just massive. Still, comments like that had always been taken to heart by the large bruin. He laid his hand on the canine's shoulder.

"Go on out of here. I know these guys," he said. "Trust me. You would rather deal with what you left around the corner."

Kyle seemed to just now realize there were people on every side that didn't have a wall. He also registered the fact that everyone else here was a foot taller and weighed nearly double his size. He let the bruin push him back, getting himself out of the circle.

"You gonna be okay?"

"I said I know these guys."

"You don't know shit," the wolf said cockily.

"Yeah," added the lion. "What the fuck makes you think you know us?"

As the brown bear pushed him back further, the scared collie took the opportunity and made his way back to the corner, not taking his eyes off the scene. He looked everything over once more before leaving. Both of the jocks seemed relaxed. He couldn't read the bear, but he knew he wanted out of there. The bruin had been right. He definitely would rather face the lynx over those two. The bear seemed nice. Good thing he knew the jocks well enough to help.

He made it to the bus without running into his stalker lynx and had made the transition back from scared to miserable by the time he made it home.

"Hey shithead!" the familiar voice called out over the heads of the students in the hall the next day. "Hey! Faggot!"

'Don't turn around,' Kyle thought to himself. 'You know they're talking at you, but answering will admit it. That will just make it worse.' He kept walking, even though it meant walking right past his own locker. He would just deal without his math book. 'What's another punishment over...'

"Hey! Faggot!" It sounded closer this time, a lot closer.

He lengthened his stride, but hadn't taken his second step when a hand snatched his shoulder and spun him around to slam him into the wall of lockers. He turned a pair of wide eyes to look up at the face of the wolf from the day before. He tried looking past the wolf, seeing if there was any help to be had. There were students all around. About a third of them were standing around watching. The rest were walking by as if nothing were happening. He saw his Algebra teacher look right at them, shake her head in disgust, and then disappear into a classroom. Kyle's veins went icy when he realized that not even his teacher would help.

"I'm talking to you, fag," Samson sneered in his face. "Your boyfriend wasn't as tough as he thought he was."

Kyle had no idea what the wolf was talking about. His confusion wasn't able to show through the mask behind which he was trying to hide his fear.

"I notice that bitch isn't here today," continued Samson. "That bitch messed up my jacket yesterday. I guess since that," he spit out the next word, "bear took your payment yesterday, you can take his today."

Suddenly Kyle's world exploded. His gut was on fire. Samson pulled his fist back and drove it for a second time into Kyle's stomach. Tears welled up in the collie's eyes as his body tried to double over in the wolf's grip, but he didn't cry out. His head hung forward, his blonde bangs falling across his eyes as he fought to catch his breath. His first gasp tore through his throat just before Samson slugged him once more.

Waves of dizziness washed over him as he fought to take a breath. His hearing and vision swam for a moment before steadying. He could just make out that the wolf was saying something else, but he couldn't comprehend the words' meaning.

"...join your boyfriend in the hospital, you freak." He slammed the smaller canine back against the lockers. His shoulder tore across the metal handle at his back just as his head let out a sickening *crack* against the steel door. The *snap* of the reverberating metal door sounded over the gathered students in the hall, startling several of them. The wolf launched a fourth and final jab before letting go of the freshman.

Quite a few students chuckled as Samson stepped back. "Fucking faggots," he said, turning and walking away.

Kyle slid down the steel wall, not caring if his clothes or skin caught on the grates or handles. His eyes were awash with tears of pain. He couldn't make out any of the people standing around him. He heard someone mutter, "Man, he's wasted," but couldn't even make out if the voice belonged to a girl or a boy.

Small hands, not much bigger than his own, pulled him awkwardly to his feet. He shakily wiped his eyes enough to see that he was being helped up by a girl only a little bigger than himself. Embarrassed at being helped up by a girl after just taking a beating, he pushed away and drunkenly made his way past the milling students and into the closest bathroom. He hid in a stall, his adrenaline slowly fading, until well past the start of the first class.

He took stock, wincing as he probed and prodded himself. His stomach and ribs were quite painful to the touch. When he tried to stretch, he also found that the locker had torn the shoulder of his shirt, as well as scraping his skin enough that his fingertips were smeared with blood. He felt a knot on the back of his head, but couldn't tell if there was more blood there, because of the blood from his shoulder. Whether from the knock to the head or from the punches to the stomach, the collie felt seriously nauseous.

He zoned for a moment, staring with unfocused eyes at the smears of blood on his fingertips. He relived the fight, every humiliating, painful moment of it, standing there straddling a dirty toilet in a shitty school. His heart burned with shame.

"I'm not even gay," he whispered into the silent bathroom. His whisper returned, bouncing off the tile walls to come back and mock him.

The collie had left the school that day, rather than stay, and had walked the eleven miles home, taking most of the day, rather than face his parents. He had hidden his torn, bloody shirt and cleaned up his own wounds without his parents noticing. He had missed lunch, but since it was past dinner before his nausea went away, he wasn't sorry. He was a bit worried about his shoulder, as well, as it actually turned out to have a nice gash, rather than just a little scrape. He did his best to keep it clean and kept his injuries secret, lest he get into even more trouble.

After two days at home in his room, Kyle's parents became completely fed up and forced him back to school. Kyle slipped in the side route to get to his locker. He was carrying an older backpack, a new notebook, and was contemplating ways of getting new History and English books. By the time he had braved coming out of the bathroom that day, he had found his backpack, ripped open and empty, stuffed halfway in a trashcan at the end of the hall. He had no idea why someone would steal textbooks, but they were gone, along with his notebook and two paperback novels. He still mourned his paperbacks.

He made it to his locker and then to his first class without incident. He kept his head down and made it to lunch without talking to anyone. He caught a few people whispering about him in the cafeteria, but tried to ignore it as he scarfed down his simple lunch and went to go hide in the library. As he entered, he spotted someone who brought it all back. The bruin from three days before was sitting in one of the cubicles, those rows of desks with the high dividing walls between seats. He was reading a book and ignoring everything else. Still working on the nerve to say 'thank you', Kyle took the cubicle next to him and sat down, tossing his bag on the desk.

The collie gave it a few minutes, hoping he would look around on his own. When the bear didn't look up from his book, Kyle tapped him gently on the shoulder. Engrossed in his book, Marcus jumped at the tap. He looked over, saw who it was, and smiled.

"Hey there."

"Hey," replied Kyle. I heard you didn't make it to school the day after the back lot." He asked hesitantly, "Were you okay?"

"Well, you know how it is," said Marcus. "We chatted about the weather, made fun of a few teachers, you know how it is." He chuckled, and then nonchalantly added, "You know, those are a couple of really nice guys."

"Ah," Kyle said blankly. He could tell the bruin was nervous about something, but humor was the last thing he had been expecting.

"I heard you didn't make it much past the next day yourself," Marcus said quietly. "Were you okay?"

"I'll live." Kyle paused, and then asked the question that had been killing him for two days. "Why did you do that?" He forced himself to meet the bear's eyes. "Why did you try to fight those guys by yourself? I though you knew them?" His throat caught a bit as he added, "I didn't know you were trying to fight them for me."

Marcus looked at Kyle for a moment, but looked down before answering. "In a way I do know them. They're assholes. Yeah, I know them, but I'm just not friends with them. I'm sorry, but I wanted you out of there so you wouldn't get hurt."

As he paused, apparently finished, Kyle said, "It didn't matter. We both got hurt."

"I'm sorry," Marcus said softly.

The canine looked up. "Why are you sorry?" he squeaked, his voice cracking. "It's not your fault this happened. If anything, it's mine. It's my fault you got hurt trying to keep them off of me."

Kyle softly began crying. The last two days had been embarrassing, with random crying sessions, but this was a hundred times worse. At least he had spent the last two days in his room, alone. He felt like such a wimp. He turned his head away, hoping the bruin hadn't noticed.

Marcus waited awkwardly for him to finish, unsure of what to do. When the collie continued looking away, he put his hand tentatively on the collie's shoulder. The friendly touch caused the younger pup to begin sobbing harder. He threw his arms on the desk and buried his head in his folded arms. Totally thrown, Marcus began rubbing his shoulders, whispering soft words to the collie.

"It's alright," he said quietly. "You're gonna be all right. Things will work out." He repeated these types of phrases over and over, providing a quiet mantra of comfort.

After a moment, the collie winced and pulled sharply away from Marcus's touch. Marcus was confused and hurt, until he saw that a few spots were appearing on the canine's shirt.

"Oh, damn!" he said. "I'm so sorry. Did I do that?"

He watched in horror as the tiny dots spread until they became dark, connecting patches. Kyle reached back, slapping his hand over the spot. It gave a slightly wet slap, and he pulled the shirt forward over his shoulder so that he could see the mess on the back of his shirt. He winced as the shirt scraped over his skin.

"No," he said, pulling the shirt back into place. "It wasn't you. This happened at the lockers."

"Let me see," said the bruin. He pulled the neck of the shirt open so that he could try to peer at the wound. While it wasn't really bleeding, there was enough smeared around for him to not be able to get a good look.

"This is from three days ago?" he asked sharply.

Kyle nodded.

"Well, if it can still bleed like this, then that's not a good sign." He gripped both of Kyle's biceps and turned him so that they faced. "Okay. Your choice. Nurse's clinic or my house. The nurse is gonna call your parents and cause all sorts of shit and paperwork. My house is, like, four blocks from here."

"What's at your house?"

"My mom's a doctor, Marcus said, chuckling. "What's not at my house?"

"Fine," answered Kyle. "Your house. When? After school?"

Marcus began glancing around the library, seeing who was around. "I was thinking a little more immediate than that. Like, right now."

He got up, leaving the library book at the desk and grabbing both backpacks. Kyle thought about saying something about his backpack, but decided to keep his mouth shut. They walked out of the school unchallenged and crossed the faculty parking lot. Kyle stared at the area around the back corner, trying to imagine what had happened there with just four days before. He hoped that what had happened with...

He paused in his train of thought. Out loud, he said, "I just realized. I don't know your name." He felt his face flush, embarrassed that he had failed to ask it already.

"It's Marcus. Good to meet you."

"My name's..."

"Kyle," interrupted Marcus, laughing good-naturedly. "Like I said. Good to meet you."

The walk to Marcus's house was only fifteen minutes, but was spent in awkward silence. The only things either of them could think of to talk about, they were too embarrassed to say out loud. At long last, they reached the house. Marcus opened the front door and ushered Kyle inside. The bruin did a quick walkthrough of the downstairs, calling out for his parents to see if anyone was home. Kyle waited near the door. Between skipping school again and being in an unfamiliar house with someone he barely knew, he was quite a bit nervous.

Satisfied that no one was home, Marcus led Kyle upstairs and into a bathroom off the hallway.

"Take off that shirt and have a seat on the pot while I go get my mom's bag."

Kyle stepped hesitantly into the small bathroom. It was decorated in such a way that you could tell that parents had dressed it up for kids. He could also tell that Marcus either had at least one sister, or some very weird tastes. Next to some nice, adultish items such as deodorant and fur grooming supplies, there was a toiletry set with cup, toothbrush, and other knickknacks from an older superhero movie, and a newer toiletry set done in pink with flowery princesses and unicorns. Hanging from the towel rack next to the bath tub and across from the toilet were two towels; one a deep brown, the other a pale lavender. There were other signs, such as a character-themed tube of toothpaste, which made Kyle really hope Marcus had a little kid sister.

The room was spotless. Reflections from the harsh overhead florescent bulbs above the mirror gleamed off of chrome and tile wherever he looked. It seemed like any place not gleaming was covered by covers or bathmats. He wondered who the neat freak was, Marcus's mom, or his dad. Maybe it was Marcus, and he just had his sister well trained.

He sat down on the padded toilet lid and carefully removed his shirt. He didn't want to make a mess, so he held the shirt in his lap. Looking it over, he was a bit alarmed at how much blood there was. He didn't think there should be that much blood after three days of healing. Not wanting to look at it any more, he folded the stained section in toward the middle of the shirt and wrapped it up.

Marcus was barely gone two minutes before he came back into the bathroom. He was carrying a tan leather case which reminded Kyle of an old camera or camcorder case. He sat the bag on the edge of the tub and looked the collie over.

"My mom is apparently out running errands. I called her and she should be home in fifteen minutes or so." Detecting how nervous the canine was, he gave a relaxing smile. "Don't worry. She's cool. She'll fix you up and not tell your folks." He chuckled as he said, "And don't worry. She won't charge you any more than some lame jokes."

Noticing the folded shirt in Kyle's hands, he gestured toward it and said, "Come on downstairs, and bring that." He picked the bag back up and began backing out of the bathroom. "Mom wants us to set up in the kitchen."

Making sure the collie was following, the bruin led the way downstairs and into a fairly spacious kitchen. The cabinets were done in a honey colored oak which fairly glowed once the brown bear stood in front of them for contrast. As with the bathroom, the candy apple red countertops were immaculate, with the few items sitting on the countertop having an obvious home. The gleam of the white-tiled floor was muted by the darker cabinet doors above. Marcus led him to an island bar in the center of the room, and motioned for him to climb up on one of the tall stools. The bear unzipped the bag and began removing layered trays of supplies and laying them on the island counter.

"You ready for the bad news?" he asked.

Kyle nodded, feeling quite scared by the big deal Marcus was making out of everything.

"Well, she's probably going to have to shave a bit of fur from around the wound." He picked up a gauze pad and a bottle and stepped behind Kyle, out of his line of sight. Kyle did his best to hide his panic at this point. "She told me to go ahead and start cleaning it, and then she will take a look once she gets here."

The canine braced himself for the antiseptic bite. Cleaning the wound had hurt like hell when he had done it, and his body was expecting the worst. He was therefore surprised when all he felt was a wet cloth dabbing at the skin around the cut. It still had not hurt him, and he had relaxed somewhat, by the time they heard a door open and shut somewhere in the house.

Moments later an adult female bruin came into the kitchen. She casually set a duffle bag sized purse on the counter and extended a hand out toward Kyle. Unsure how to act, he tentatively took the paw and they shook.

"So, this is the kid who is dying, huh?" She had a playful smirk on her face as she said this.

"I never said that," interjected Marcus. He leaned forward so that Kyle could see his face. He was grinning as he said, "Really, I never said that."

Marcus's mom looked up at Marcus. Her voice picked up a more businesslike tone as she said, "There is one bag in the trunk that has frozen stuff, and one more with refrigerated. If you could please bring those inside? The rest can wait."

Once she saw that her son was on his way, she turned her attention to Kyle. "So," she began, walking around behind the collie. "Is there a reason this hasn't been dealt with?"

Kyle really didn't feel up to a lecture from a strange woman, but was too nervous to say so.

"Don't worry," she continued cheerfully. "I'm not going to give you a hard time. I just wondered if there was anything I needed to know."

Kyle shook his head. Marcus's mom began inspecting his shoulder, poking and pulling the area around the wound.

"How old is this?" she asked. "When did you get this?" She sounded casual, but Kyle read a lot of concern in between the lines.

"It happened Tuesday," he responded. "Is it bad?" He began speaking faster, near tears again, feeling like he needed to explain himself. "I tried to keep it clean. I poured alcohol on it three times a day. I just didn't know what else to do."

She finished her inspection and stepped away from him just as Marcus was heard coming back into the house.

"Well, your friend here is lucky," she said to Marcus as he entered the kitchen, his arms loaded with plastic grocery bags.

Marcus nodded, looking over at the pup and grinning as he began putting groceries away. His mother continued talking, addressing Kyle again.

"This really should have had stitches on Tuesday. You got lucky in that there doesn't seem to be any infection." She pressed on with her analysis of the wound in full medical swing. "That wound is right across a major muscle group. Every time you use that shoulder, you are tearing open the wound again. The fact that you were washing out the old, clotted blood is probably the only reason you don't have a hundred and four degree fever right now.

"Now, I am going to stitch that thing closed and bandage it, then you are going to go lay down for a bit." She patted him on the other shoulder and said, "I'm not going to call your parents just yet, but you are going to give me a good reason as to why you didn't tell them about this.

"Now, where else did you get hurt?"

While Marcus continued busying himself with the groceries, pretending like he wasn't paying attention, Kyle went over the other places he had been hurt, backtracking several times to elaborate on how the injury had occurred. When he explained about his head, and how he had been ill all day, Marcus's mom took a moment to explain about concussions and, once again, how lucky he was. She kept him distracted by keeping him talking, while she gave him a local anesthetic and stitched him up.

Twenty minutes later, they were finished. Kyle's shoulder was cleaned, stitched, and bandaged. His left arm was wrapped to his side to immobilize the shoulder muscles. In the end, it had been easier to explain everything from start, rather than keep jumping around in his explanations.

"That's what is so sad about all this," he said, wrapping up his narrative. "I don't even think I'm gay. I'm what they call 'bi-curious'. I've just expressed some interest in what it is like being with another guy."

By this point, Kyle was quite relaxed with, as she turned out to be named, Dr. Veeson. She laughed at that, but by now he was able to tell she just enjoyed the irony.

"So, that's what you get for doing online chats at school," Dr. Veeson said. "I guess that will teach you."

She playfully flicked him on the nose before helping him down off the stool.

Completely innocently, Dr. Veeson said, "It's been nice to meet you, Kyle. Now I see what all the fuss is about."

Kyle paused, not at all sure what she was getting at. Marcus, too, held back, waiting to see where his mom was going with this. Seeing the twin looks of confusion, she decided to elaborate. She was quite casual in her speech, as if commenting on the weather.

"Well, I just mean that it is good to see who my son was willing to get into a fight over. I mean, I agree. You're cute enough that I would have taken on two jocks, as well. Has he asked you out yet?"

Both teens were floored. Kyle was trying to figure out if he was being made fun of. Marcus was entirely sure that she was serious. 'How did she know?' he thought, panicking. "I've always been so careful. What clues could she have possibly picked up on?'

Utterly enjoying the look of horror on her son's face, she playfully filled Kyle in. "Marcus is gay." She paused for a moment, and then added, "Or at least bi. I'm not quite sure if he's figured that part out just yet."

Seeing that Marcus was near panic, she turned the humor down enough to seriously say, "Sweety, I've known for a while. There's nothing wrong with it, and there's nothing you have to worry about from this family."

She took a step toward her son. When he didn't pull away, she pulled him into a hug and asked, "Okay?"

Slowly coming out of shock, Marcus nodded. His mom pulled back and, looking him right in the eyes, cranked the humor right back up.

"So, then. Have you two masturbated each other yet?"

Kyle's jaw dropped. Marcus squeaked out, "Mom!"

Dr. Veeson laughed. "Well, get upstairs. Kyle, I want you to lay down for a bit. At least until that local wears off. You just send Marcus off if you need anything."

Both boys sheepishly marched out of the kitchen. Neither was quite ready to talk yet, after the announcement Marcus's mother had just made. Marcus silently led the way back upstairs, past the bathroom, and to a door at the end of the hall. Once the door was opened for Kyle, he realized at once that his new friend was definitely not the neat freak of the family. The room was a disaster. Granted, Kyle's room at home was messy, but this place was so far beyond messy, it was crazy.

Kyle hadn't realized someone could live like this. The floor was nowhere to be found, due to the layer of clothes, books, notebooks, and... Kyle got tired of guessing after a moment, so he looked at the walls. There was no telling what color they were supposed to be, as every square inch that wasn't plastered in multiple layers of posters had been spray painted and graffiti-ed. A dresser and a night stand were filled to overflowing with books, papers, and goodness only knew what else. Two book shelves were filled to overflowing, not with books, but with toys, action figures, plushies, and models kits. More models, both aircraft and space ships, hung suspended along with models of the planets in the solar system beneath a ceiling just as cluttered as the walls.

"My goodness," Kyle whispered, at a loss for anything else to say. Marcus pushed past him and fell across the unmade full-sized bed.

He spread his arms above his head and said, "Well, this is home."

Kyle grinned, as he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. He felt like the door should be closed so it didn't infect the rest of the house.

"Okay. I've seen the rest of the house. How can you possibly be allowed to keep your room like this?" He paused, looking around, still in wonder. "My mom would kill me."

"Well, that's just it. You've seen the rest of the house. Me and my sister are allowed to keep our rooms any way we want, as long as the rest of the house stays spotless."

"Here," he said, sitting up and gathering a collection of pillows off the floor. He made up a kind of back rest out of pillows, and then motioned for the canine to lie down.

Hesitantly arranging himself on the bed, he scanned the room once more while the bruin swiped a computer chair clean by dumping the stack of papers on the floor. Only then did Kyle even register that there was a computer monitor sitting on what he now realized wasn't a dresser, but a desk.

As Marcus shoved his hand into a pile and turned on his computer, Kyle tried once more. "I just don't get how you can live in this. How can you find anything?"

Marcus started to be offended, but saw that Kyle was grinning with amusement. "I have a very careful system," he replied. "I use six items in this room. The rest is camouflage. As for the clothes," he said, sweeping his arms to take in the room, "everything on the floor is clean. Anything I've worn even once goes in the hamper down the hall. I can't stand dirty clothes. Also, I never eat anything in here, so there's actually nothing dirty in here."

He motioned to his monitor. "All the dirty stuff's in here." Both boys paused, realizing that they were touching on what Marcus's mom had said downstairs. The bear turned his back to the bed and started signing on to the computer.

Kyle, his curiosity finally overcoming his nervousness, voiced his biggest question. "So, is it true? Are you, um..."

"Gay?" the bruin finished. "Yeah, I've known forever." He still didn't turn to face Kyle. It was easier to have this conversation if he didn't have to see the collie's reactions. "I just thought I was better at hiding it."

Kyle momentarily blushed. He suddenly became aware of himself. He realized that he was lying in Marcus's bed and without a shirt. At home, he normally went around shirtless. Now, suddenly, he felt half naked. He also noticed, to his horror, that his cock was extended and was beginning to slip its sheath. He tried to drape his hand across his pelvis, hoping he could cover it until it went down. Trying to distract himself, he jumped into the first topic he could think of.

"So, what's it like? You ever been with anybody?" The second he said it, he about died of embarrassment. He saw Marcus stiffen. For a moment, Kyle thought he was pissed, but his shoulders relaxed just before he answered.

"Yeah, a couple of times," Marcus said. "I like guys. Mostly, though, I collect stuff online."

"Me, too," said Kyle. "I haven't been with anyone yet, though. I like pictures and stories of guys, but I haven't been with anyone yet."

The silence lengthened. Finally, Kyle broke it by voicing something they were both thinking about.

"Are you scared about what's going to happen now that your mom knows?"

"Naw," the bruin answered, blowing it off. "If she was going to be pissed, she wouldn't have joked about it. She would have gone doctor on it."

Kyle could tell in Marcus's voice that he was really registering what he just said. The bruin perked up a bit as he said, "Actually, it feels kind of good. Like a bit of weight has been lifted." He turned enough that he could look back at the canine.

"What do your parents know? What are they saying about all this?"

"Well," said Kyle, flicking his bangs back, "I don't think they really caught the 'gay' part. If they have, they didn't mention it. And, trust me. They have balled me out good about," he began ticking off points on his fingers as he spoke, "Talking to strangers on online forums, going to restricted websites at school, going to 'sex' sites, and hacking the school computer."

He sighed back into the pile of pillows propping him up. "I think they would have mentioned the 'gay' thing if they had heard it. That means I still have a little bit of time with them." He paused and then added, "I just don't know how I am going to explain to them about missing another day of school. Oh, well." He shrugged his shoulders, and then winced. "I'm still grounded over the posting. What else can they do to me?"

Their conversation stalled again, as they approached the forbidden subject. Kyle almost brought it up, but hesitated until the moment had passed. He relaxed back into the pillows and Marcus turned back to mess with the computer.

Kyle closed his eyes as he began an internal debate. 'On the one hand, Marcus seems like a really nice guy, and his mom is awesome. On the other hand, though, Marcus is a lot bigger than me. A 'no' could be violent.' He didn't really believe that one, though. It was more the embarrassment of sounding like he was begging. Plus the humiliation of getting turned down, probably to the sound of laughter. He was also nervous because he was still a virgin, and had very little idea how to do a lot of the stuff he had seen and heard of online. After all, Marcus was a junior, and had already had sex a couple of times. 'What would he want with an inexperienced kid like me?'

Still, he must have seen something. He did try to break up a fight for him. He thought of what Marcus's mom had joked about, and decided to go for the big risk. Kyle flicked his honey colored bangs out of his eyes. He inwardly winced, bracing himself for the disappointment and embarrassment as he spoke up in a quiet voice.

"Marcus? Would you... Would you show me?"

Kyle watched as Marcus froze, his back stiffening. His stomach falling, he began stammering as he tried to backtrack his way out of it.

"I mean, I understand if you don't want to. I just thought... I mean, you're experienced, and you know you like guys, and you know what to do."

His speech became faster and louder, as if he was afraid that if he quit speaking, that's when the bruin would turn on him.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. You've already done so much for me. This is too much. I'm just a kid and everything. You probably want somebody who knows what they are doing and..."

His speech trailed off as Marcus turned the entire chair around to face the bed squarely, his hand raised in a "stop" gesture. Kyle had a hard time reading the expression on the bear's face.

"Since we are laying everything out on the line here, I just want to say that my mom was right about pretty much everything she said." He looked away just enough to break eye contact as he said, "You are probably the cutest guy at our school. But I wasn't about to ask. You already had that asshole Brody hitting on you. I knew you would see me the same way. There was no way I was going to risk that."

"But you tried to save me. You're not an asshole. You're amazing and cool. I'm just some jerk freshman."

"A hot freshman, you mean." He paused, blushing, then looked up again and burst out with, "You really want to fool around?"

Kyle flushed with embarrassment, but nodded and said, "Yeah. I do."

Marcus got up and came around to sit on the edge of the bed. The bruin reached out and ran his hand from Kyle's white-furred belly, just above his belt, up his bare torso until he reached his left arm strapped across his chest. Kyle shuddered as his fur was ruffled by the older boy. Sure, he had had someone ruffle his fur before. Exactly like this, in fact. This time was different, though. This time, for the first time, he knew it was about sex. That seemed to change how everything felt.

Even through his own sensations, he could feel the slight tremble in Marcus's hand as he skipped over his bad arm and worked up to circle his fingers through the soft, golden fur of his good, right shoulder and then back across his chest, just below his throat. Kyle's right nipple was hidden by his crossed hand, but his left was cupped by the crook of his arm. He let out a slight gasp as Marcus rubbed the claws of his fingertips over the ticklish bud of flesh. The bruin then reversed his course, covering the same ground, smoothing the fur back into place wherever his hand passed.

Kyle was tense as a bowstring by the time Marcus reached his belt again. They both noticed the tent pressing hard against the collie's pants, just a few short inches away from Marcus's fingers. The plain, dark tan of the pants made the gold in the collie's fur stand out even further, and made the white fur of his belly all but glow in contrast. He passed his fingers over the belt and brushed the material of the younger boy's khaki pants. His fingers passed far enough away that they missed the obvious bulge, but close enough that their passage pulled the material tighter across it.

Kyle shifted positions a bit, both to loosen the material at his crotch, and to release some of the tension in his body. It did no good, as his back arched slightly as Marcus ran his hand across the canine's leg, cupping the flesh of his inner thigh through the khaki pants. He slid his hand up until the back of his hand brushed solidly against Kyle's shaft. Marcus grinned, while Kyle blushed, as a wet spot began to bloom where the tip of his organ pressed against the fabric.

"Did you cum?" Marcus asked softly.

"I don't know," answered Kyle. "I don't think so."

"I don't think so, either," the bruin declared. "It looks like you just shot out a good dose of pre."

Kyle grinned, and then gasped in surprise as Marcus rubbed hard at the material. He reached both hands up and began undoing Kyle's belt.

"Let's make sure, though. Shall we?"

Both boys giggled as Marcus unfastened Kyle's belt and then unclasped his pants. Kyle tensed again as he felt the slack at his waist as the belt and pants no longer pressed against him. The only pressure the pants were now providing was against the head of his penis, where it still pressed upward. They stopped giggling and held their breath as they watched the zipper slide down, allowing the straining fabric to fall to the sides.

They stared in awe at the package laid out before them. The smooth tube-like outline of Kyle's penis swelled in a ridge from the top of his briefs down into the V of his spread fly. His penis was so stiff that it strained against the material, lifting the elastic waistband away from his skin by the faintest distance. Between breathes, his penis relaxed, dropping down, before swelling once more. Marcus stared as it bobbed back into place. He reached forward. Kyle gasped in pleasure as the bruin ran his dark finger from the tip down as far as the pants would let him.

To Kyle, the touch was electric as it rubbed the fabric across his sensitive skin. They both noticed the wetness of the fabric, running in a line from the center of the material, where his head had been, to the top, where it was now. His heart was hammering in his chest with nervousness and excitement. He still felt that faint trembling of desire in Marcus's hands.

Unable to wait any longer, Kyle reached down to his groin. He sat up slightly and lifted his leg, in order to give himself some slack, as he dug into the piss slit in his jockey shorts and pulled his penis out into the open. Physically, it felt good to have it out in the open air, so that its firmness was no longer restrained and bent down. It stood straight out from his body, just over six inches in length, the pink skin infused with blood. It jerked once, twice, adjusting to the cooler air of the bedroom.

Emotionally, Kyle felt a thrill and a rush of adrenaline. Here, for the first time, he was showing someone else his privates. Not because he happened to be naked, but because they wanted to see them. He felt deliciously dirty and naughty, especially because he was the only one unclothed, and Marcus's mom was right downstairs, only a thin bedroom door away.

Holding his breath, Marcus whispered, "Can I?"

Kyle smiled, nodding. Marcus reached forward and wrapped his large, dark hand carefully around the canine's shaft. Kyle gasped at the pleasure. The bruin gave a few tentative tugs, as if trying it out. Kyle sighed and sunk back into the pillows. Grinning, Marcus began stroking gently up and down. As Kyle began leaking more pre, the bruin worked the liquid all around the shaft, rolling his palm around the head a few times. Every time he did this, the collie's stomach would tense from the cross of pain and pleasure. It was almost more than the sensitive organ could tolerate.

Kyle began to pant as his friend resumed stroking his penis. Nothing compared to what he was feeling right now. Of course he had jerked off by himself, and it had felt wonderful. But this, the feeling of someone else's hand on you. Stroking you. His grip sliding up and down your slick length. The grip was so different from his own. The fingers were bigger, and they kept sliding across his sensitive head, something he instinctively avoided. Oh, it felt so good. Kyle's breath came shorter and shorter, until so did he.

The collie's whole body tensed up. He hissed at the intensity of the orgasm as the first shot of cum arched up a few inches to wet the fur on his belly. The second and subsequent shots fell more or less on his underwear, until they were merely sliding out of his slit, welling up at the tip as if appearing by magic, to roll down across Marcus's hand.

The bruin pumped his shaft a few more times, assuring himself that Kyle was finished, before letting go and sitting back. Kyle relaxed back down, closing his eyes and catching his breath.

"Wow," he finally said out loud. "Thank you."

"No problem."

Now came the moment of truth. Kyle began straightening out his underwear and pants, trying to put he whole mess away like it was supposed to be. He waited for the embarrassment or guilt to hit. He felt a bit nervous, even giddy. But he didn't feel bad. In fact, he felt relieved, relaxed even. Then a thought occurred to him, one he wasn't sure he could do now.

"Do you want me to..." he trailed off, nodding at Marcus.

Marcus chuckled. "No, I'm good. Thanks, though."

He turned so Kyle could see his crotch. There was a wide wet spot, spread all across the front. He had gone in his own shorts, without being touched. They both laughed, all the tension draining from the room as they began cleaning up. Kyle continued smiling. He didn't think he was going to be a ghost for much longer.

Fin

There you go. Hope it was worth the read. Feedback is definitely appreciated. I have further I can write on this story, if there is enough interest.

Comments left here are adored, and do much for my self confidence. You can also reach me through the following means for more "private" communication. *clears throat* Don't worry. I won't hit on you too much.

E-mail: deamonic626 at yahoo dot com

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