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Chapter 2: Sunday

Sunday, the day for relaxing before Monday would take over in just a blink alone. Keanu did not have the time to relax and promised his friends to come over for some more group studying and rehearsing for the exams. He would come over this afternoon after lunch and take the tram rail to the campus.

His father had the day off and spent the whole morning watching TV. He had not seen his son around the living room but only coming out of his room for a short water break, going to the bathroom, and getting some light snacks from the kitchen with little conversation in between.

The arctic wolf’s school schedule consisted of English Conversational, Calculous, Social Science, Art about painting, and his main major Architecture. All five classes had an exam on each day which made it somewhat convenient for Keanu to breathe once he finished with one and carried on to the next. He wondered how Hunter’s exam days were. Like, did he have two exams in one day?

After eating lunch, Keanu began to prepare for this afternoon’s group study, picking up his backpack and notebooks before looking for his purple hoodie. He overheard a short conversation between his father and the doorman speaking through the speaker device on the wall near the door. Once Keanu was prepared, he appeared in the living room where his father was standing next to the speaker.

“Ah, Keanu, before you leave? Your grandparents are coming over.”

“Is this quick? I need to take the tram before 1:30,” Keanu said as he looked at his phone, thirty minutes until the next tram.

“S-sure, just a little greet and you can leave.”

Good thing the elevators were very fast to reach every respective floor in the apartment building and luckily, Keanu’s grandparents, Edwin and Melinda Winters, rode the elevator without any stopovers. They stopped at their door and knocked.

Kendall answered the door and greeted his parents. “Hello, Kendall, how’re you doing?” said Melinda.

“Hi, Mom,” said Kendall as he gave his mother a kiss on her cheek. “Keanu’s about to leave for campus, so make it quick.”

“Oh, really?” said Melinda as she walked inside the apartment and met with her grandson. While Kendall and Edwin greeted each other, Keanu’s grandmother happily said, “Keanu, how are you?”

Keanu smiled, trying to hide he was in a bit of a hurry. “Hi, Grandma.” Both wolves exchanged a greeting kiss and hug. Keanu picked a scent of luscious flowers of many varieties. “Have you been gardening?”

Melinda chuckled. “Your grandpa and I went to the flower festival yesterday.” She even brought a fresh pot of orchids to the dining table. His grandfather placed a pot of lilies next to it, looking beautiful and tranquil. It had a first-place ribbon medal for the prettiest flower ever to garden. “Since we are here in Rexville, so why not stop over here?”

“Look, it’s nice of you both to come, but I gotta leave for university.”

“But it’s Sunday.”

“Yes, but I have lots of exams this week. I’m going to be very busy, so I’m joining my classmates for a group study.”

“Oh, that sounds nice. You made new friends in school?”

“Very much, I like it here, Rexville has been great.” Keanu picked up his backpack from the chair. “I’ll be back later in the evening, so I can join you for dinner.”

“Oh, okay, but before you leave.” She sank her plump hand into her giant handbag of lots of cluttered personal items and she pulled out the most eye-catching box and handed it to her grandson. “Here you go, something useful you can use.” She smiled.

Keanu looked at what he was holding… his eyes boggled, he could not believe it before his eyes.

A brand-new Nebula Tab 10?

“Oh… thanks, Grandma…” he awkwardly said.

Melinda did not notice Keanu’s uncomfortable smile. “I won it in a contest during the flower festival. I was very lucky.” Then she noticed. “What’s wrong? Don’t you need a useful device?”

“I appreciate it, but… I already have one…” Keanu awkwardly said. “I have a similar model to this one.”

“Oh, really? Well, I have no intention of using this kind of stuff, so I knew you kids would love to have it.”

“Well, give it to Jack or Crystal, maybe they need one.”

“I wish I could, but tomorrow, we’re going back to Little Lake. We’re spending the night here.”

“Oh, okay. Well, I’ll hold it for now then and give it to my cousins later.”

“Good boy.” She pinched his cheek as she smiled. Keanu blushed, good thing Hunter did not get to see this embarrassing affection. Somehow, Melinda must have her shoulders relieved in getting the unwanted device off her back.

Keanu put the unopened box in his room on the desk and finally picked up his backpack. “I’ll be leaving now. I’ll be back later in the evening,” Keanu announced and waved.

“Take care, I’ll be making spaghetti with meatballs for dinner,” Kendall said.

Keanu made it to the tram station and sighed. Only ten minutes to spare and could not help but think about the new tablet device. Knowing its specifications, it was simply the basic version of his Nebula Tab 10plus. His device had more interesting perks and better performances than that version. Heck, Keanu would have chosen that basic version if it had not been for a special discount on the plus version. His father did not miss or decline the rare opportunity and ended with the same price as the basic version. It was a good deal in the end and Keanu was satisfied with his device.

Now with the awkward appearance of a new tablet landing on his hands that was his original option came back to taunt him or something. All he needed to do was to give it away to someone who deservedly needed it for its usefulness. And there were plenty of candidates. All he had to do was ask around if they wanted it and not end up with someone who was not a technophobe.

The tram arrived in the station and opened its doors, Keanu briskly hopped onboard and sat comfortingly to his destination.

…

After coming back home from his dentist’s appointment for a checkup and receiving a travel-size toothpaste, Hunter began on his quest to find a suitable present for his little brother’s sixteenth birthday. With a limited budget and the unlikely he would get some extra cash from his parents and his remaining savings from his summer part-time job at a retail store, Hunter felt cornered. He knew this was a special birthday for River and that smile he was sporting at the beginning of this week was telling him he was going to get something special from his siblings, parents, and friends. He felt so ashamed for not properly planning to find a gift during the summer and semester. He really needed to think outside the box.

If anything, the worst-case scenario was River not talking to him for a whole month for forgetting his birthday gift. Or the best-case scenario was simply forgiving him, forgetting it, and moving on.

But the worst-case scenario was the fact that it was a fifty-fifty situation, and he hated it that River was often an unpredictable little brother. At this point, he should be mature about this kind of stuff and behave like a grown teenager.

The problem was that Hunter had a guilty pride that refused to be swallowed than Keanu’s bodily fluids. He personally wanted to give him something special for growing up in becoming a man. Especially for helping him with the family intervention for his words of wisdom. Hunter laughed at the absurd words for homophobe, like homophone. Good times.

In his bedroom, as he thought about River’s birthday present, he reanalyzed Rylan’s and Sally’s presents. Rylan had a new Pintendo 64 mini with 100 games in it and Sally had a full DVD set of his favorite animated series Pacificus: The Lost Empire. All four seasons.

Is there a Pacificus video game? Thought Hunter. He wrote it down on his phone’s note app. That show was really popular enough to have a video game.

He searched for it on his phone on Google but found that they only made one game five years ago after the series concluded. The video game acted as an unofficial fifth season and fans wanted and longed for it to become its true final season.

He watched a trailer on YouTube, and it hit him. “Wait, he already has this game!” he mumbled to himself. It had been a while since he played that game, and in fact, it was Rylan who introduced River to the series from a video game.

Rylan passed by the opened door and heard the familiar soundtrack. He stopped at the threshold and interrupted, “Another copy of the game? Really?”

“Uh, no, just I realized it now, and I thought…”

“He has a copy of the game, you know, and it works just fine in backward compatibility with the current console.”

“Yeah… you’re right…” he turned off his phone in defeat.

Rylan snorted. “Don’t tell me you forgot we have a Pacificus: The Lost Empire video game?”

“It’s been a while, you know. I haven’t played an old game since I finished high school.”

“Yeah, good old memories when we played all night in school nights.”

“Heh, yeah, and Sally told on us to Mom and Dad and forbade us to play late at night.”

“Ugh, what a party pooper she was… until she did the same and caught her in the act. She swore she wouldn’t tell on us ever again. She was having a game fever back then, too.” The wolf brothers laughed, and Rylan continued, “But anyways, I have a feeling you’re struggling to find a present for River. If you want, I can at least help you out.”

“I think I can manage, Ry. You don’t have work today at the mall?”

“At 3 PM, I’ll be back very late. Evening movies are very busy. But anyway, in the arcade section, there’s one of those prize vending machines where you fiddle with a crane with buttons or something, and… there’s some pretty cool stuff there if you get to win them, if you’re willing to waste money, of course.”

“But, Rylan, those machines are rigged, and the chances of winning a prize are, like, one in a million. They’re made to make money.”

“Yeah, you’re right, true, but I recalled almost frequently at least once a week someone would win a prize. And sometimes, someone would come to me to claim the prize as those big prizes require to claim them in case of thievery.”

“Okay, so what are there to be worth trying? I’m under budget, you know.”

“Uh, there’s a cool headphone set, an action figure –I don’t know which one was— uh, a new PlayBox controller, and a Nebula Tablet.”

“Uh, I don’t think is worth it, I’m going to waste my time there, Rylan, what are the chances?”

“Unlikely, but it doesn’t hurt to try and if it does, well, you won a prize for River’s present.”

“Ugh, I need to think this over.” Hunter slumped on his back on the bed. “I need a miracle, Rylan.”

“I think River will be happy to have a new Nebula Tab.”

He lifted his head to face him. “Why?”

“Have you seen that monstrosity? It’s the Nebula Tab 2. It’s outdated and River knows that it’s impossible as he said to me once that not one app was compatible with his device.”

“Where did he get that tablet? I can’t remember.”

“Oh, you weren’t there. We were young, I was like 12 then, so that makes River… uh, nine. So, Mom took us to the mall to buy a new mobile phone, and she became the one-thousandth customer to buy a new phone and won a free new tablet, the then new Nebula Tab 2.”

“Wow, Mom was really lucky.”

“Yup, she was, and River and I shared it for the most part, but in the end, River uses it more than I do after I got myself a laptop.” He looked at him with a little smirk. “And I heard him once that he wished for a new one.” He tried his best not to cringe as he gave him a wink.

“So, what makes you think he needs a new one?”

“Ugh, just give him a new tablet, Hunter.” Rylan rolled his eyes annoyingly. “I can guarantee he will love it.”

“But aren’t those things expensive?”

“Not really, last time I checked, about 150 bucks for the basic version while comparing with the plus, 299. And the current tablet used to be about 400, but we got it for free.”

“I can’t afford that. I’m nearly broke.”

“Dude, what the hell did you waste your money on? You had a summer job.”

“Uh...” Hunter smiled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. “I had a shopping spree for myself…”

Rylan looked around his surroundings, there was some new stuff decorated in Hunter’s room; some nicknacks on the upper shelve walls, a new mouse, a new headset, new clothes in the opened closet, a new pair of shoes, a new phone cover, and… new curtains for the windows?

As far as he was aware, it was Hunter’s money and his business regarding his personal spending. “I see…”

“Can you blame me?” he smiled awkwardly.

“Kinda, for forgetting our little bro’s birthday in a week to spare.”

Hunter hung his head ashamed.

Rylan sighed. “Whatever, you have one week to get a ‘free’ tablet in the arcade with the little money you have. If anything, I’ve checked in the backroom storage and there’s like a few new tablets left there once someone beats the machine.”

“Well, I guess I should give it a try…” Hunter sat up from his bed. “Is the movie theater still open?”

“Of course it is, duh, I have a shift at 3 PM. Just be patient, there can be a lot of people trying to win a prize on those machines.”

Hunter sighed softly. “I hope I can win something.”

…

Keanu hung around with his classmates and friends in the library for a group study. Among them were Joseph the caracal, Oliver the rabbit, Frankie the human, Raiden the snow leopard, and Robin the raccoon. They were in their third year in college, and they all nearly shared the same classes so far and had become Keanu’s circle of friends.

It was quiet on the tables and little soft chatter during their helping sessions. They discussed and questioned each other about the subjects and how to prepare for the exams. For Oliver Oliveira was suffering the most and groaned when he finally got the oral questions right for once.

“Good,” said Keanu as he held the textbook. “You’re finally getting them right.”

“My brain, it cannot take it!” he groaned. His long ears had flopped dramatically behind his head. He laid his head on his arms on the table.

Frankie said, “It’s not that hard, Oliver. You can take some rest and refresh for tomorrow and it’ll be a breeze for stimulating your brain sooner.”

“What a drama queen,” said Robin stoically. “This isn’t that hard, you know.”

“I thought I got it in the bag until Professor Stuart added more difficulty.”

“True…” Sighed Joseph as he closed his notebook and picked the next one to rehearse. He really liked doing this little gathering but realized how dull and boring it was but liked it once they all finished for today. “Anyone up for a snack break?”

That alone was naturally a good idea. They put their notebooks and textbooks away on the tables and walked to the vending machines.

It just dawned on Keanu how every single one of them had their own personal devices. Laptops, phablets, and especially tablets. They all had one and they seemed happy and satisfied with their needs. It didn’t hurt to try and ask.

As Keanu waited for his turn for the vending machines, he asked, “Hey, guys, umm, do you guys are interested in owning a new tablet?”

They all looked at him a little puzzled. It was very unusual to hear about such giveaways.

“A new tablet?” said Oliver.

Keanu explained his situation about his grandmother winning a new Nebula Tab 10 from a flower contest and how he already got one and planned to give it away to someone who needed it deservedly.

Of course, they all answered with the same response similarly.

Oliver said, “I already have a small laptop and that’s enough for me.”

Frankie said, “I already own a MyPad Mini.”

Joseph responded, “I have a phablet. Best investment I made.” He even pulled it out from his pocket to show its unusually large phone with a stylus.

Robin cooly said, “I have a phone and a laptop I got before I started college.”

Raiden shrugged and said, “Just a phone and a PC at home. I don’t feel like needing a tablet.”

“I see… well, I’ll find someone else who really needs it,” he said as he took his turn at the vending machine. A pack of mini doughnuts. “I’m planning to, uh, look for suiters and it seemed that you guys already have a device.”

“You can always keep it as a spare in case you lose the other,” Robin said.

“I already have a warranty for my current tablet in case something happens to it, and the new one is a basic version of my Nebula Tab 10plus.” Keanu opened his pack of mini doughnuts as he walked back to the table. “Well, thanks for knowing, guys. I guess I should talk to my family members if they are interested.”

…

The movie theater where Rylan worked had a separate section of arcade games with dozens of prizes to win. Without a doubt, they were aware of how rigged the machines were once they reached a particular amount of money received where the chances of winning increased. Hunter was about to dice his luck in winning a new tablet for River.

Hunter carpooled with his brother to Rexville Mall where the movie theater was. Not too long after they arrived at three in the afternoon, the wolves went their separate ways, Rylan to work on his shift while Hunter went to the arcade.

The arcade section was dazzling with lights and high and mixed volumes of sound effects from the machines roaring at every corner plus the shouts and joy from the arcade-goers. Classic and new modern games were displayed everywhere where Hunter wandered through as he looked around for the machines that contained prizes.

Hunter exchanged his money for tokens in the token machine. It was a bit old-fashioned in comparison to Jake & Bumper’s, in which they used cards to play, but this would do in the end.

There were a few people around fiddling with the machines, trying to win a prize from a plushie and candies to an electronic device. The cooler prizes were obviously the hardest to win, depending on the type of games Hunter had to play on.

He looked at each different machine. There was the classic claw machine with miscellaneous stuff. The Key Master where you had to insert a key into a slot, and it had to fit right through it, one little hit on the corners of the slot would not budge. The last one was the Block Stacker machine where you had to stack moving blocks left and right without passing over the edge on a screen in a similar fashion to Tetris.

All these machines alone were rigged in general, once it collected double the amount of the prizes’ price tag from thousands of players, the machine would make it slightly easier to win. Sometimes it was skill-based, sometimes it was artificial luck or actual luck from the player. A true spinning roulette of unpredictable fortune.

Hunter gulped as if he was going to gamble for real money even though he was 21 now. All he had in his savings left after having a shopping spree was now under a hundred dollars, but he only brought ten dollars in his wallet and now carried 40 tokens in his pockets after the exchange.

He had one week to win a new tablet for River.

He waited his turn and watched a young teenage otter boy playing the Block Stacker. Hunter watched from behind in a respectable distance as he was concentrating. The machine had a Nebula Tab 10 hanging in one corner, but it was actually an empty box with a picture of the said device in case of thievery. Once you win those prizes, you claim it from the clerks in the prize section. Hunter checked on the other machines and also had a Nebula Tablet hanging inside with the same empty box each.

The young otter pressed the blue button strategically, stacking the lighted blocks into a tower as it slowly reached the minor prizes which were just candies and keychains, but the otter didn’t stop there and made for the mayor prizes…

Hunter gulped nervously, fearing that he was about to witness a winner and missed the opportunity. The moving blocks were reduced into one and now the otter was heavily focusing on the last stack. Hunter followed the moving block and waited but the player had less than ten seconds to press the button.

The otter let out a cry and tapped the button hard but missed it, the block stood over the edge.

“Darn it!” he said and sighed. “I almost had it.” He took a deep breath from the tension and moved on, leaving the machine available.

Hunter took his turn and got a feel of the machine. It only had a blue button to start the game and for stacking. He inserted four tokens and the machine’s sound effects came alive.

“Okay, here we go.” Hunter took a fresh breath of air to begin playing.

The game started with four blocks moving left and right lazily. The first row was easy, and Hunter just stacked it right in the middle almost perfectly. It ascended to the second row and moved around left and right jumpily. Hunter pressed the button and lost one block.

“Damn it,” he muttered. His green eyes followed the block in the third row and made sure he had all blocks present as he climbed his way to the minor prizes line. But the game made it more challenging as it removed one block even if Hunter didn’t miss one. He now had two blocks running a little faster and one row away to reach the minor prizes.

The two blocks were teasingly bouncing left and right and hoping to miss both edges, but Hunter would not allow that. He pressed the button and stopped the two blocks right on top of them and reached the minor prizes. Hunter pressed again to continue for the mayor prizes and now the block was reduced to just one.

“Ugh, what a troll.”

Hunter concentrated and focused on the middle and did not let the moving block break his focus. He tapped the button to stop and…

It went over the edge. “GAME OVER!!!” cried the machine.

“Damn it!” Hunter bumped his fist on the small dashboard.

Then his phone rang a notification. It was too loud for Hunter, he remembered setting it to medium or in vibration but likely he forgot. He picked it up from his pocket and read the text.

It was from Rylan. It read, “Don’t play Block Stacker. Too hard. Play Key Master or Claw Machine.”

Hunter texted back. “Thanks for the tip.” He looked out through the arcade’s main entrance and caught a glance of his brother behind the food court area.

“I guess I should listen, then.” He mumbled to himself.

The wolf walked to the next machine, the Key Master. He poured another four tokens into the machine and sang a jingle tone. On the small dashboard, Hunter only had a joystick to move the key left and right and an ascending-only button to align the opening of the decided prize. He looked at where the Nebula Tab 10 was hanging and pressed the button to ascend. The prize was in the far-right corner so once Hunter measured the plastic key at the right level and moved it to the right with the joystick. He stopped right where he wanted and waited for the countdown.

“Okay, here we go.”

Once the remaining time ended, the plastic key moved forward to insert into the wide keyhole but then it stopped, Hunter saw it only touched the top of the keyhole and turned back spinning in vain.

“Oh, fuck.” Hunter sighed as he picked up another four tokens from his pockets. “It’s only the first try and why not try again.”

Hunter started another round; he wondered how many people so far had played the machine before him to pay off the prize. He knew these machines were rigged but the chances of winning were very vague and uncountable but the machine.

Hunter aimed his key into the slot where the new tablet was. With no one helping him to measure it correctly and just guessing it out of pure luck. If he had any…

The countdown ended and the key moved forward towards the keyhole and…

The key touched the bottom part of the hole and returned back to the bottom.

Hunter could not just grow angry and annoyed by a rigged machine. He knew he was wasting money on something so stupid and money-hungry but hoping to win a new tablet for his little brother was all he could do.

He decided to try the Claw Machine. He recalled winning a few times in the past. He fondly remembered winning a stuffed animal for his little sister Sally and River. It took a few tries, and he pulled out an orca plushie. And for River was a colorful mini beach ball which took twelve tries in four rounds as each round gave three tries. And another time Sally won a moon pillow from a giant claw machine.

Maybe the simple prizes from claw machines were mostly skill-based and easier, but the ones with expensive prizes were very much rigged to pay off the product. The biggest money maker in the whole arcade.

Hunter waited for his turn and watched a father and son standing on the machine. The young husky boy was bouncing around behind his father as he fiddled with the controls.

“Get the new PlayBox controller, Daddy!” cried the little bouncing husky pup.

Hunter chuckled fondly, it reminded him of a young energetic pup himself and his younger siblings. Yet River still had his little naive traits and Rylan hoped he would grow out of it in the future, especially since he was turning sixteen the next week.

The father husky grunted, “I almost got it!” Hunter saw the claw grabbing the empty box of the new game controller and lifting it swiftly with little problems. Hunter was appalled, this meant that the machine had paid off the price of the prize. He was too late.

The claw moved toward the hatch to claim the prize but was losing its grip and fell off almost reaching the hole.

“Oh no!” cried the young husky.

“Don’t worry, I have one more round,” said the father and returned the claw back to reach the box.

Hunter was tense, either rooting for them to win or hoping they would lose their final round so he could get a pure lucky chance of winning a tablet. His brain was mentally sweating at the incoming outcome.

The claw grabbed again the box, this time more secure-looking, and it did not take a long journey to reach the dropping point. The claw let it drop successfully.

“Yay! You did it!” The young husky child jumped in joy and cheered.

The young pup went into the lower part of the machine to claim his prize. The father explained they must claim the new controller from the clerks standing in the prize section.

“Now we don’t have to share a controller!” said the child as they left.

The father and son walked from the machine while Hunter stood there knowing that the machine probably had reset to zero or something. Hunter was now in a tight spot toward this machine, but he did not let the crestfallen scenario that he witnessed for missing the chance to win a prize take over him, and now he must focus on winning.

He took over the machine and looked around the inside, covered in shiny obsidian-like pebble stones like a fish tank and everything was decorated with novelty items and some cool electronic devices.

Hunter added four tokens to the claw machine and gave him three tries to catch anything good. He looked around for a tablet and found an empty box with the Nebula Tab 10 printed on all four sides in one far corner away from the hatch. Obviously, they were intentionally placed there as he saw a moment ago when the husky man grabbed the box and fell while the claw was returning back to the hatch.

Hunter moved the joystick; the claw moved all the way toward the far corner where his objective was. He pressed the red button and watched the claw descending toward the box. It looked like it got a grip on it but… the claws nimbly brushed it, and the box was unbothered…

“You got to be kidding me…” Hunter said, saving his annoyed growls.

He tried again once the claw came back from the base and made for the same objective. He pressed the button and watched it descend and… the claws were opened wide and widely covered around the box. Hunter held his breath. The claws closed and scraped the pebbles until the box was properly gripped.

“Come on, claw, hold it.”

It got a proper grip and began to lift with the box, but Hunter was not dropping his guard yet. After a good five inches of ascent then the claw would reach a completely abrupt stop which was the worst part and the hardest moment as it could easily lose its grip and… it slipped…

“Oh, damn it!!!”

The claw came back empty-clawed, but Hunter had one more round yet. He moved the joystick and commanded again back to the box and pressed the button. The claw opened wide, landing on the box, and for a second, it grabbed the item and lifted it off like before. Maybe this time was for real as the claw began to move back toward the hatch.

“Come on, come on, come to Daddy,” Hunter mumbled to himself.

But the claw lost its grip halfway and the box fell on top of a box for a headphone set.

“No!” Hunter cried. “So close…”

“Sorry, buddy, maybe next time.” Hunter noticed a young boar standing behind him, waiting for his turn on the claw machine.

Hunter gave him his turn and decided to go back to the Key Master or maybe try again the Block Stacker, even if Rylan told him not to play this one.

It was tortuous playing them, the machines were merciless and did not give Hunter a chance to win one specific prize.

He was now running out of tokens and the last gameplay with the Key Master was fruitless. The key teasingly hit the top edge of the wide keyhole and returned back to the bottom.

Hunter half slumped his head on the glass in defeat, and his breath sighed with condensation on the glass. “Aw, who am I kidding.”

He called it a day, and Rylan’s shift would not end until nine in the evening. The lines in the main lobby of the food court were full and Hunter wondered if Rylan was too busy.

It was dinner time, and he wondered if Rylan had a dinner break.

Then Rylan came in to check up on him, still wearing his uniform. “Hey, how was your mission?”

“Nothing. It’s all pure luck to win. I saw a father and son winning a new Playbox controller from the claw machine.”

“Damn, that sucks. Did you play all three machines? I told you not to play the Block Stacker.”

“I try anyways, but you’re right, it is hard.”

“Well, whatever. Come on, let’s have dinner, I have a dinner break right now.”

“Huh, good timing.”

The wolf brothers left the theater area and made for the mall’s food court. They went for burgers at Gwendy’s as the line was pretty moderate as the next fast-food chain was super busy due to a popular new limited edition rib patty burger.

Once they got their orders and sat around together at an available cleaned table, they chatted for a while before Hunter would try again with the machines.

“Got any plan B?” Rylan asked.

“I don’t know,” Hunter shrugged, “you convinced me to get River a new tablet.”

“Well, it’s the best present he can have to replace that fossil of his.”

“Heh, fossil.” He chuckled. “Is it really that bad?”

“Well, yeah, I am certain he wants a new one. He’s just afraid to tell Mom and Dad.”

“Right, right, I’ll do my best then.”

“Uh, also, you should be studying right now, you have—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, I know.” He let out an exasperated sigh. “Maybe I should go back now.”

Hunter called it a day and left the mall that early evening. He gave the car keys to his brother as he took the tram back to Oasis Boulevard. Rylan would come back from work later in the night. In the apartment home, Hunter began to focus on his studies as tomorrow on Monday had the first of a series of exams throughout the whole week and could not slouch and laze around in his home.

Once he refreshed himself on his studies for tomorrow, he called it a night and went to bed. He said to himself he would win the prize next time when he had the chance.

…

Across the Emerald Tower, Keanu came back home from his study group and joined for dinner with his father and grandparents. A nice evening with them was relieving after studying and helping his fellow classmates.

His father and grandmother made spaghetti together and Keanu looked forward to having his grandmother’s nostalgic cooking from his childhood.

It was nice and lively as they chatted and mingled at the dining table. Later on, they gathered in the living room to watch some TV, and then Keanu went back to his room to check his schedule for his exams this week. He could not let it go and would not drop it, even if his father told him to take a break and call it a night. Sometimes Keanu did not want to underestimate the outcome of the exams. The last thing he wanted to see or hear was an unexpected change or a surprise in his exam.

He noticed and almost forgot about the new tablet on the desk table of his computer, lying there without a new owner. Honestly, he had no idea what to do with it but find a new owner. He noted to himself to give it to his cousins tomorrow or call someone else in his family tree if they were interested.

He was too tired and went for a shower to clean up.

After a nice shower, he got out fresh and squeaky clean with a towel on his waist and caught a glimpse through the short corridor and saw his father converting the sofa into a bed for his grandparents. Oh, he remembered, they said they were sleeping here tonight.

“Good night,” Keanu said as he disappeared into this bedroom. His grandparents replied to goodnight, too.

His room was quiet and peaceful. He turned on a white noise device that imitated the sounds of rain. It should help him to sleep soundly for tomorrow’s first exams. He did everything he could to achieve with as little stress as possible and hoped to wake up refreshed on Monday morning.

He put on his usual sleeping clothes of loose-fit gray cotton shirt and underwear and laid down on his bed. He left two lava lamps alight on the nightstand, its white waxes slimmed around up and down inside the blue liquid with mesmerizing shapes and glowed barely the whole room, giving a soothing environment that Hunter also liked when they were by themselves intimately.

Watching the lamps doing their magic and reminiscing about their romantic times together gave subtle pleasures of happiness in his mind and… lower region.

Somehow forgetting he had guests tonight if he did, he did not mind nor cared. It was his room after all, and no one would mind his business as everyone had done it in their own rooms.

Keanu remembered freshly from yesterday, playing with Hunter and his athletic physique. Maybe next time they might fool around after they finish their busy exams to relieve themselves together in bed.

The growing lump in his underwear was straining his fabric. The soft material tickled his penis and stimulated with little effort and throbbed from thinking about Hunter once again erotically.

Keanu stood up from the bed, taking off the shirt and underwear. He looked for a new fresh hand towel from the drawers and returned to the bed.

It occurred to him to pleasure himself to relieve from today’s semi-tough day. Tomorrow, Keanu would definitely wake up all refreshed and in a lightened mood.

He pulled out a bottle of lube and applied it on his hand towel. Hiding the evidence was practically easy and he always took care of the laundry than his father, so nothing was going to be amiss.

Keanu kept quiet but his pleasures made his voice escape some warmed whispers in the air, but nothing broke out through the closed door to be heard.

His sensations grew as he imagined Hunter yesterday, he took off his shirt and flexed his muscles in front of him, posing many bodybuilders’ poses he could vividly imagine. He heard his heavy husky breathing, his heaving pectorals bouncing and flexing with dripping sweat trailing through his body while lifting his arms up to show off his thick arms and smelly armpits as he flexed and undulated his six-pack stomach like waves.

He imagined his handsome wolf resting next to him on his bed, smiling carefreely in the nude. He loved his big-brother personality which made him feel safe and wanted. His tough hands caressed gently his small body before giving him some loving kisses. Keanu watched Hunter’s penis grow out of his underwear’s fly and sprung out straight, throbbing and pointing up in the air with precum leaking out from the tip, ready for action.

Keanu envisioned himself crawling over him up closer, feeling his warmth, his strength, his manly scent, and their sharing desires. It felt nearly real, almost lucid dreaming, he could feel Hunter’s warmed body with his hands, feeling the fur and muscles of his arms, his chest, and his beating heart. He even felt the pair of warmed lips connecting with his into a deep, romantic kiss. He felt safe and warm comfortingly in his arms.

Keanu’s imagination was running wild as he shook himself off, burying his muzzle into the pillow to muffle his moans. He imagined Hunter’s moaning voices from the times they had made love together in the past. Hunter was in bliss and high on testosterone as he plowed on Keanu’s anus on top of him restlessly. Then they exchanged their roles, and Keanu thrusted his hips into Hunter. The look on his face with a lolled-out tongue spiked his thrusts into a climax, hearing Hunter moaning his name as he was about to cum.

Keanu moaned his muzzle against the pillow loudly. He shook his hips and his right hand to his limits until his whole body quivered and shuddered in great pleasure. His pulsing orgasm released his seeds into the hand towel, making sure not one drop of semen was missed.

Keanu dropped the pillow to recover his breath. He basked in the afterglow and a powerful wave of tiredness washed upon him to fall asleep. He cleaned himself up with tissues and threw the used hand towel in the hamper. Keanu was pleased as he put his clothes on and quietly slept in peace.