Celebration
Sound.
Everywhere, sound.
The small, square room was built to contain it, but all materials have their limits. Those limits had been reached, and surpassed, rather quickly. From there the sound had spread, something not only heard but also felt. Felt in the very bones, a vibration most would find rather uncomfortable.
He probably would have too, but he was celebrating. Another project completed, another system up and running far beyond customer expectations. And this time, there was a bonus to match. Quite a considerable bonus by the standards of a multinational megacorporation. The kind of figure one usually saw on the news, discussing national budgets. For a single Wolf male, with two gengineered Mink 'slaves' his only dependants, the figure was beyond comprehension.
So he'd sent the girls out for the day, told them he'd see them at dinner, and not before. They'd obviously wanted to ask questions, but the lure of a day out by themselves was enough to keep them unasked.
The house to himself, he'd settled down with a bottle of some lurid green substance he'd been given as a bonus by a previous client. After the first sip he'd been willing to forgive them what he'd thought was a rather cheap gift. By the end of the first glass, he was quite ready to declare it the second most wonderful bonus he'd ever been given. Halfway through the bottle who gave what to whom was a little blurry, along with his senses, and the world was indeed a fine and glorious place full of delightful people.
So he'd retired to the lounge, with it's surround sound system he'd barely used. Sound deadening had been installed after the first time the girls, and most of the neighbourhood, had discovered it was rather powerful. Today, after half a year of gruelling solo work and half a bottle of the most wonderful substance in the known world, Cerin was discovering just how loud it could go.
The sound flowed around him, the speakers pushing air around even more energetically than the air conditioning on a muggy summer day. The bottle sat forgotten on the table now, only a quarter of it's contents remaining, while the red-furred Wolf lay on the couch facing a massive screen built into the wall opposite the door. The alcohol-induced blurring was beginning to fade a little now, but for the moment he was content to lie there. Basking in the warm glow of a job well done, fuelled by his drunken state, and cast along like a buoy in high seas by the music. A slow, muttering start to the song, he floated along with the intro happily, the video on screen playing out the setup stage. Then the music swelling louder as the action picked up, his mood soared skyward.
Laughter now. Pure, unalloyed, simply the joyous laughter of someone overwhelmed by high spirits. He threw his arms wide, stretching out, luxuriating in his surroundings, in the wave of sound that was building, higher and higher. He loved this song, and the video, if pressed he'd probably have named it as his favourite. Almost as if the player was reading his mood, the perfect song for the moment. He tensed, drawing in a deep breath for the chorus, the music rose higher, the wave of sound cresting. That brief pause, he held his breath.
Pause, pause...
The wave broke in a crashing roar of sound that shook the room. Bass thumps grew frenzied as guitar screamed melodic defiance at the world. It was an angry, shouted chorus. For someone usually so quiet to shout out along with the song, comforted by the knowledge his voice was safely drowned out, was almost orgasmic in it's sheer power. He gloried in it, embracing the otherness of the moment, of being so out of character and... different. He was on his feet now, arms spread wide and reaching toward the ceiling. Sound buffeted him, his fur blowing around, as he threw his head back and screamed out the final words of the chorus.
Quiet again now, like floating along under the surface after briefly surfacing in the middle of a raging tempest. Arms slowly sinking to his sides, head tilting back, eyes closed, and he breathed. A deep, lung-expanding inhalation through his nose. He could smell the speakers, that new electronics smell still lingering on and acting like a drug on his senses. His grin spread wide, teeth bared as he drank in the moment. Rising now, sound swelling again. Another deep breath, a swimmer surfacing during a brief moment of calm, preparing for the maelstrom about to strike.
Again the chorus, again he shouted along. His fur stood on end, a chill running up his spine at the animalistic feel of the moment. The end of the chorus flared away, two bass guitars roaring into a duel that shook the room. An air guitar moment now, a brief epiphany as the Wolf finally realised that, while it looks silly, sometimes it just feels right.
Too soon, the song faded away. Waves fading to lap peacefully on a sun-drenched, tropical beach. He was on the couch again now, reaching for the remote. He'd had his moment, ridden the whirlwind and come out the other side. End it now, in the triumphant glow.
They found him three hours later, curled up in the blanket and pillow filled pit in the middle of the room with a huge grin still on his muzzle. It was impossible to resist, and soon the only sounds in the room were the soft breaths of three sleeping Furres. A red Wolf and his black and white Minks curled up together.