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Hello y'all,

welcome to Hockey Hunk again! I've got a nice, big chapter today, so please sit back and enjoy, this was fun to write, and hopefully you guys will enjoy the read as well! We've still got a few more chapters to go before the season ends, but that doesn't mean I can relax yet, so...stay on your toes for more exciting plot turns!

All comments are appreciated as always, and all feedback is much enjoyed.

Have a fun read!

*

Let's be honest with you, I've got a very special relationship with my bed. My bed is one of my best friends and my best allies, and my bed is the one friend that never lets you down. My bed also puts out easily, as it happens, and when we make sweet, sweet love every night to the gentle rock of my hips and the springy responses of my bed, my bed simply makes my world into a better place to be. My bed's embrace sends me out to the cruel world and welcomes me in the very same warm, gentle, fluffy hold once I return. Then we go to the very special place we have and drift away into our very special place where the troubles of the waking world cannot reach us. It is every man's best bliss, I think. Oh, the bliss...

All that said, when the alarm blared off at 6:45, as per my settings, I was nowhere near climax yet. My ears flopped against my skull, my tail didn't even budge from its place, and my muzzle split into an automatic groan that reverberated throughout the soft, warm cocoon that enclosed me from all sides. My fetal position tightened automatically with my knees pressing against my chest, and I hoped, against hope, that the pillow over my head would keep the incessant noise of the phone from reaching my ears.

IT WAS ALL IN VAIN.

A cold rushed over my when I resurrected one of my paws and pushed it past the edge of my duvet, to reach for the phone and tap the alarm off. I slapped the newly silenced phone back down on the night table and yanked my paw into my warm place, still rumbling through a yawn. I'm not sure whether you can say that I'm not a morning person. Maybe I simply wasn't a wake-up person to begin with. It all felt all too comfortable to me at the moment, remaining like I was, even without added factor of having slept way too little hours after spending all too many hours worrying about Mason. It felt as if I had barely simply closed my eyes after phoning Haakon and finally getting into my bed properly...but I knew that even with the added fifteen minutes I had put into my alarm, it was already necessary to get up if I wanted to catch my regular bus and be at work in time.

Work...

Oh, crap. Mason must've been planning to call in sick, meaning that we would be short-staffed in the morning...meaning more heavy duty work for Rory...well, meaning more work in general, simple as that.

I rumbled some more and blinked, testing whether my eyes still agreed to open at all. To my astonishment, they did, although I did not see anything yet but the comfortable, all too inviting darkness underneath my pillow.

One more minute...could I promise one more minute to myself?

Drudgingly, I refused my own offer for one more minute, knowing that the game was all too tempting to play, that one minute easily became five, and then I would be in all too much of a hurry and would have to rush for the bus without doing essential morning things such as having my brain-starting mugful of coffee. The horror of that happening was pretty much the only thing that could get life into me at that hour, and thus, my reanimated paw slapped the pillow away, and I greeted the world with a jaw-cracking yawn.

Buuuuuuh.

I got out of the bed and stretched a little, letting my tail flop out and my arms go up and even tilted my head back and enjoyed the tension between my shoulder blades as I put my lazy-butt lion body through the makeshift motions of post-sleep checkup. That included a quick scratch of my sheath and my balls, because you want to know that they're there even after you wake up, of course. Once I had a positive test result on the existence of my genitals, it was much easier to actually start moving, to go for the light switch in the red nightmare glow of the room, and welcome illumination into my personal Schrödinger's box of my cat existence. I squinted and must've had momentary pinpoint eyes, and the sudden brightness triggered another wave of yawning and rumbling and ear-batting.

I gave a longing glance for the pile of duvets and pillows on my bed and decided that next time I would make sure to stay in for at least ten hours, to make sure that we could catch up properly after last night's hardships. The idea of a long, long sleep after a long at work was starting to cheer me up when I made my naked walk into my kitchen area to start making the coffee, even so much as to actually make me purr a little while I loaded the coffee into the maker.

The trail of thought, however, gave me a stop, when I realized that if everything would go well and according to the plans, I would not be spending the next night alone in my own bed, but possibly happily tucked under the beefy arm of a Dobie named Victor. Now wasn't that a nice idea, I had to admit, even smiling a little now, along with my purr, while I snapped the coffeemaker on and headed for the next stop in my morning routine.

Victor-date...Victor-date...a date with Victor... a sleepover with Victor... a dinner with Victor...(AND COBB!), an evening with Victor...amusements with Victor...a goodnight kiss with Victor...fooling around with Victor...AND COBB!

My tail swiped against my laundry basket in my tiny bathroom as I stood in front of the altar of relief and played the leonine fountain while my mind was wandering to all sorts of directions. I was sure that spending quality time with Victor after yesterday's disaster would do me good, even with the added complication of having Cobb around, but I was certain that it could NOT be that bad, not now that we had actually...interacted, somehow, in a way that didn't involve Cobb finding me balls deep inside Victor.

I shouldn't have let my mind go to that direction, but it was inevitable, of course it was, that when I shook and flushed and washed and moved on to my shower, Rory Jr. was having a breath of fresh air as well. I grumbled a little, knowing that once I had the hot water running, it would be impossible to ignore the sensations that would bring, of having warm water flowing over my bare and sensitive flesh.

I snuffled and pulled the sliding door closed, and my ears went flat from the sudden rattle of water cascading down from the tap. I used my toes to gauge the temperature just right before I hit the switch and leaned my head down to catch the rush of water over my head, not over my muzzle. I rumbled deeply, enjoying the feel, and flexed my back again, simply glad to be me for a little while.

Would Victor be glad, too? He did sound like he really wanted to see me again, and then there was the sleepover, and tomorrow, once we got Cobb wished well on his way, there might be some more, too...hadn't we talked about possibly catching a movie, or dinner, or...?

My barbed companion looked up to me, extended out to his full curved glory, and told me that his preference would be a very private party held in the back room of the Victor Holden Ball Room, perfect for those very special occasions. I rubbed my paws over my chest and my belly, washing the night and last evening's grime away from myself and shook my head a little, sending water everywhere. The temptation was there, of course, both to grab myself at that very moment and to suggest what Mr. Barbs was suggesting to Victor, during the night, but I wasn't sure whether it was such a good idea. Maybe Victor wouldn't want to do anything while Cobb was around the house, lest we had a rerun of one of the most unfortunate incidents in my life, and I suspected that even Victor who must've had his share of embarrassing Cobb incidents would not like to experience that again. But if we'd make sure to tuck Cobb in before and were really quiet...

The water rolling off my chest caught my sheath and my proud flesh, making me rumble and hiss a little, softly, when the warm water hit my bare skin. It felt great, of course, it was adding tension into my body, although I was trying to tell myself every few seconds or so that there really wasn't any time for that. And besides, maybe I wanted to save myself for tomorrow...at the very latest, heh, if things would turn out to be alright...

I desperately wanted things to be turning alright. It'd been a rough week for me, considering that I had caused all that trouble with Colin, and now the Mason-Haakon-Jessica incident was on my mind, too, still puzzling me to no end. At least I had give up even trying to explain the reasons behind it on my own, instead opting to think that should any of the parties involved come forward the want to explain or talk about it in general, then I would take my chances and find out. Besides that, I thought, they ought to sort it out on their own. They were grown adults, after all, or at least pretended to be, so I suppose that had to be as good as it would get.

My paws scrubbed over my thighs, making me lean over a little for reach and making sure that my eyes were filled with the sight of my bobbing length, its color highlighted by the golden fur on my legs and the white patch on my belly. My cock looked so lonely there, all alone in the torrent of warm rain, without a friend to...

Oh, hell, a quickie would be better than nothing and might prove to be inspiring considering tonight, I decided, caving in without a real struggle to the urge to grab my paw around myself. I purred and hissed properly when the slick grip closed on me, adding my own body temperature to the warmth surrounding my member. I kept my spare paw on the move, too, stroking over the rest of my body, to both work me up some more and to continue the wash, too, while my concentration was definitely moving to the other task at paw. It made me rumble and grunt, softly, when the squishy up and down motion began, easily, my paw moving without a hurry, for there was no point to spoil this with a breakneck speed, even if it was a quickie.

My footpaws took a slightly wider stance while I stood there, under the hot water, still dutifully bathing myself while the focus was on the slide of my paw and the gentle rock of my hips, my instincts kicking in for good while the sensations in my groin grew warmer and more pleasant. I didn't usually think anything specific while I masturbated in the shower, it was like washing my furs, you just tended to do it when you were in the shower, and it was part of the deal. Sure, my mind knew how to come up with some racy ideas alright, but that usually happened in bed, or on the computer on the occasions when I decided to whack it off to some...inspiring viewing materials.

Now, though, instead of working myself off to a frenzy over porn or simply relieving a morning boner, I couldn't help but think of all sorts of attractive aspects of Victor, things to fuel my morning excess, and make it all its worth. I closed my eyes, even, and envisioned how it felt when I had stuffed myself with Victor into this same shower, how I was standing pretty much the same way I was doing right now...except that then I had Victor's paw around my cock, not my own. It was still easy to imagine a different state of affairs, especially with my eyes closed, the air full of warm steam and lion musk...if only there was some Dobie musk in there...or the slick slide of his big body against mine, my thicker furs mingling and stroking with his smooth, short...

My breath began to quicken as I drove myself on, going at a good pace now and really thrusting into my paw, to enjoy the stroke of my fingers against my barbs. My tail kept batting the walls of the shower, adding strange noises to the slippery slap and the sound of my breathing, filling my ears with their vibrating tones. In my mind, it was no longer my paws around my dick, it was Victor, I was pushing myself into Victor, driving our bodies together mightily, mating him and taking him for good, running our bodies towards the inevitable explosion of pleasure that would leave us panting and tired, and happy to be where we were.

I bit my teeth when the pressure blasted through me and I came, over my paw that was briefly painted white before the water washed the evidence of my dirty deed away. My whole body rocked and tensed, my tail mimicking the greater notions of my body in its own miniature state, I hissed, I snarled, and the pleasure coursing through my lower belly and my balls and under my tail ebbed only after a long series of warm contractions. I couldn't help but purr once I was done draining myself, and abandoned my sensitive skin with a little mournful squeeze that gave me one extra thrill, before the magic was gone, and I was left panting, slightly musky, and most of all, relaxed and smiling to myself.

It seemed easier to break out the Xanthomax and lather myself all over with the cheap shampoo and give myself a good rinse, now that the tension in my body was gone and I could concentrate on the smaller things, like how the warm water trickled off my whiskers once I turned off the shower and began the process of drying my thick furs. I slipped on my bathrobe and threw a towel over my head before I left the bathroom, to meet the cloud of heavenly scents floating towards me from that little black box on the kitchen counter.

I felt that the purr was well-deserved when I poured myself a good mugful and put it down onto the table to steam there for a moment more while I fetched a bowl and some cereals to round up my quick breakfast. I could still feel that lingering effect of a night cut too short, the sensation that can't be shaken off even with a round of do-it-yourself sex and a shower or a combination thereof, but at least I managed to keep my eyes open, not guaranteed that they'd be bright and sharp, but at least I was open to the world, and a little bit hopeful about it, even. It might not be such a bad day at work either, I was there, Marge was there, Crystal would show up around midday, there was enough staff, I hoped...and after my freedom for the day from work was called, then the only thing left for me was to haul my ass back home and start preening for the evening.

"Shit!"

I splashed some over-excited milk over my paw and the kitchen counter, urging the soft cuss out of me. I put the milk jug down and grabbed the towel to mop it up, my nose cringing at the idea of dried milk all over my furs. Obviously I shouldn't have been doing anything in the kitchen while so pre-occupied with my current favorite topic. I washed my paw quickly under the cold water from the tap, along with the kitchen towel, and told myself to calm down.

"Calm down, it's only a date," I told myself.

But I wasn't fooling myself. I knew that a lot of pressure was being put on this evening dinner with the Dobie duo. First off, I was going to meet Victor again, in a relaxed, casual setting, in Victor's own home, and the prime reason of my visit wasn't to have him spit-roasted on my dick, but to actually SPEND TIME TOGETHER, with the purpose of having fun and getting to know each other a bit better. I knew that it was COBB who came up with the idea in the first place, sure, but Victor hadn't sounded too much against the idea at any point, even with the 100% certainty of embarrassment for Victor in the paws of his...playful sibling. Still, no matter how much they seemed to argue, I was sure that with all the protectiveness that Cobb had expressed over Victor, especially when it came to the furs he spent time with, I suspected that Victor might be more open to hearing Cobb's opinions than it appeared at the first glance. Perhaps Cobb's opinion did mean something when it came for Victor choose the furs he liked to hang out with and even have sex with, not that it was anyone's business except Victor's...but there was the possibility that the Cobb test might be part of Victor's repertoire of tricks to see how potential candidates measured up.

Candidates to what?

I put my damp butt down on the chair and placed my bowl of cereal and my spoon neatly down on the table next to my coffee, which I then promptly grabbed for a good, long sip.

I purred.

I came.

A little bit.

I purred again.

"Purrrrrrrrr..."

Say whatever you want about catnip, my psychoactive chemical of choice was now in my muzzle and soon down in my tummy, and that was how I liked things to be at 7 am in the morning. I smacked my lips and let out a deep breath of relief, smiling softly to myself when the warmth began to grow in my belly.

With that small relief making its way into my system, I could return my mind to the other pressing matter, that being, my sleepover-dinner-date-evening-extravaganza with Victor and COBB. I couldn't deny that I was excited for the prospect, I seriously needed after this week, I certainly required a proper distraction from everything that had been going on, and I was sure that Victor would be able to provide just that. And then, with Cobb gone, too, by tomorrow, that might open the door for some further and perhaps more regular meetings with the Dobie...call them dates, even...to see where we might be going.

I stirred my coffee and shoveled cereal into my hungrily chewing maw, enjoying the menial activity for my paws, while my mind wandered. My pace slowed a little when I reminded myself that there was also the Colin issue to deal with, in regards to Victor, that was, since the Dobie was obviously very much keen on preserving complete honesty in whatever our relationship was called at this point, and I knew that he would be very much hurt if he didn't know that...about that. I knew that I should tell him that I had met Colin, and all the circumstances around it, how I hadn't known he wanted to make a move at me, how he had made a move at me, how we had kissed and I...kissed him back for a little while, and felt horny over it, and...

My ears drooped a little with dismay. I knew that it hadn't been much, but it might sound much, much worse for Victor. I rumbled. I knew that there would not be an easy way to speak about any of that to Victor, not without making it sound like I had been much more active in the whole train of events relating to Colin and the library. I wasn't so sure how to explain it properly, but I knew that honesty was the way to go...but how??? It wasn't something I could just pop at him out of the blue...not with Cobb around nor under other circumstances either...but when...

I would think more about that, I decided, and continued my breakfast at a good pace, to make sure I was on time. I could think about it later on, then I decided to concentrate on making it to work, doing the best I could with the day, try not to worry too much about Mason, and make sure that I would be as presentable as possible for the date. That didn't sound too complex to me, just another interesting day for me, nothing too special, except that it probably was a bit special, too, but that might have been just me.

*

Breakfasting done, I quickly put on some clean clothes, put my last night's little used festive apparel into the hamper, and then made a final checkup of the place and my pockets to make sure I had everything I needed before I left, the time about a quarter past seven. My tail flipped in the air behind me slowly, in the hallway, in the elevator and even out in the relatively cool morning, during the short walk to the nearest bus stop.

I joined the little throng of furs and was just like anyone else, waiting to hop onboard, everyone shivering in a collective boredom and cold on the graffiti-smeared little shelter. I was on time, though, and knew that I didn't have to wait for very long, something to boost my mood, certainly, and I was proven right when a bus with the familiar number 10 finally lumbered along and came to a hissing and screeching halt on my stop. Shit, I even smiled to the big otter driving the bus when I flashed my bus card and took one of the plastic seats all for myself and scooted up close to the window. I wrapped my tail securely around my leg so that it wouldn't touch the bus floor and would not get trampled upon, and then relaxed, to enjoy, carefully, the couple of minutes of extra rest this trip to the city center provided. It wasn't a long trip, not by any means, but the constant stopping to load and unload furs made it uneven, with a lot of rattling accelerations and noisy halts, but I made the best of it, gazing out of the window at the night-light shopfronts and the shapes of the furs going on their ways. I felt oddly anonymous, in my mobile peeping position, and calm, too, despite the blaring music coming to my ears, too, from the eyephones of the hoodie-wearing teenaged Doberman sitting opposite to me.

Despite the huge size and age difference, it still was enough to remind me of Victor, and I smiled a little to myself. It did not bode well for the day, though, knowing that I would be heavily distracted throughout with all sorts of Victor thoughts and maybe a few COBB thoughts, but perhaps it was not something I would consider to be a hindrance. My job didn't require much thinking, anyway, it'd do me better to fill the gaps with...well, thinking about filling some Victor-gaps, maybe, like the gap between...

Another jarring stop took me out of the thought, and for a second I gave a bewildered look out of the window to make sure that I hadn't missed my stop. To my relief, I wasn't quite there yet, and planted myself properly on the seat again. My fingertips thrummed against my knees in a little nervous gesture, and I wondered whether I would be this jittery throughout the day. I might have to keep that in check, though, for I knew that Marge could be as nosy as Cobb if she had one of those moods, meaning that I should and I would have to stay on my toes and not drop any hints about possible Rory-excitement.

I wondered, briefly, whether it'd be easier if I was going to meet a girl. It'd be a non-issue, I supposed, rubbing my chin now, just to mention, off-paw, that I happened to meet a girl tonight after work, a kind of a date, with a girl I had met a few times, seeing how it would turn out. Would it be a such a simple thing? Would there be simple encouraging smiles and maybe a "Good job, man!" from Mason and a meaningful look. Would Marge bombard me with questions, innocent and not so much? The answer to these was probably a yes.

So how about telling them I was going to meet a dude...hmm...

I wasn't so sure. Guess it wasn't supposed to matter so much in this time and age, but you never knew. Past experience had told me well enough that you never knew. You just couldn't, no matter what you thought about someone. It was just something you had to deal with, sure.

But then again...even if I had indeed been going out with a girl, telling Marge about that might not be the wisest idea to begin with. The curiosities, bombardment of questions and the endless flow of suggestive comments would probably be just as bad, anyway, or even worse. I wasn't so sure that it was compulsory for straight furs either to open up everything about their private leaves, let alone their sex lives, or...I almost hesitated to say, romantic lives.

My musings came to a natural halt when the bus turned the final corner and started to brake for my usual stop, something that prompted me to get off the seat and grab onto the shiny bar running over the ceiling of the bus, for balance. I felt moderately flailing for a moment, hanging in the air by my paws, practically, or so it felt for a second or so, before I joined the other bustling furs trying to exit the bus in as disorderly manner as possible, it seemed.

The Albrecht Brothers shop front came to my view after only a couple of minutes of walking, inviting me in with the new "20% OFF ON TRAVEL GUIDES" poster we'd put up yesterday, along to the glow of lights coming from within. Their brightness told me that they had been already turned on to normal intensity, and that meant that Marge, most likely, was already in and keeping busy. The door was still locked, though, but with a little jingle of keys, I was in, entering the bookspace of the quiet shop. I paced along the red carpet and past the counter, noticing the number of brown boxes that littered the floor with a mild frown of worry.

I barely had the time to start to unbutton my jacket before Marge appeared, coming up the stairs from the second hand section, with another box in her arms. She appeared breathless and her tail flayed the air.

"Oh thank God you showed up!" she rumbled, going past me without stopping.

"Good morning to you too, Marge," I smiled, looking at her over my shoulder, watching how she went on her way.

Marge heaved the box down on top of another one standing near the magazine and newspaper section and straightened herself up quickly, turning to look at me. Her ears flicked rapidly.

"It's not good," she snorted. "Mason called in sick only about half an hour ago, I haven't had anyone here helping me with setting all this up and it's only fifteen minutes until we open!"

"Oh?" I frowned after a beat, remembering that I wasn't supposed to know anything about Mason being unable to work, for the simple fact that nobody in the shop was supposed to know that I had gone out with him last night.

Another lie, but at least this time it was to protect someone who wasn't my own sorry ass self, so I took it in the stride, as much as I could.

Marge shrugged, already coming towards me, bobbing in all the right Marge places.

"He called and said that he can't come to work today, he sounded pretty rough," she replied.

I frowned. That didn't really ease my own lingering worries about the wolf's well being, although I did hope that what Marge heard was either a show the fratboy was well versed in putting up, or he simply sounded crap naturally because of an impending hangover, or maybe the early wakeup, too.

"Was he alright though?" I asked, trailing Marge on her way to the back room.

"DOUBT IT'S SERIOUS!" Marge boomed from beyond the doorway, the door still halfway open and not yet automatically closed.

I sneaked myself past the door and down the stairs. I located Marge easily, standing by a pile of boxes near the storage shelves. She grabbed a writing pad that was resting on top of one of the boxes and was flicked through the pages at a frantic pace. I snuffled to myself at the high powered performance, but kept back my comment about the fact that she wasn't usually this high strung, especially during the mornings. Maybe we all could do without snerking, just this time.

"Anything you want me to help with?" I spoke, not sure whether the mumbling cougar heard me.

"Hmhmhmmhmhmhmhm...today's papers, if you may, I already hauled the boxes up," she replied.

"Sure," I flashed her a whisker-shaking smile on my way to the locker room. "Just a moment, alright?"

"Uhhmmh."

"Sure!"

I opened the locker room door and found out to my pleasure that the lingering stench of Alex's deodorant had finally dispersed, and I could actually breathe in the room. That's not to say that it was the most best-smelling place to begin with, by nature it wasn't, but the lack of the distinct Alex-scent was more than enough to make it at least a bit more tolerable. I didn't plan to spend any more time than was necessary in changing out of my street clothes and into my uniform, and thus it only took me a couple of minutes before I re-emerged, clad in black and red and with a well-practiced happyhappy smile.

Marge was nowhere to be seen, and thus, I simply retraced my steps upstairs, only to find the cat digging into one of the boxes, her tail keeping up the earlier fast-paced action.

"Where are the papers?" I asked her as I joined Marge on the pile of boxes.

"Under this stuff," Marge replied, hissing from the corner of her muzzle as she spoke, "damn, I can't believe they brought this much stuff today, they never usually deliver everything on Fridays..."

I snuffled and remaining on my position by her, waiting for Marge to give me some room to work while she rummaged through the box and then pulled out something plastic-wrapped and pink. Marge made a disapproving click with her tongue.

"Three boxes of Justin Bieber diary gift sets...give me a break..."

I chuckled when she set off for the Teen Angst section, carrying her pink load in her paws. I lifted the box off to the side and got into my own part of the work, which involved putting today's newspapers onto the big paper stand.

As I toiled, a thought came into my mind, a slowly growing one that I could not ignore after a while.

I needed a gift.

I snorted to myself. Why had I not thought about that before? I shook my head. How was it possible that I had let that essential part of a dinner visit go past my mind completely? Of course I would need a gift, a present, some token of my appreciation for the pair of Dobies, Victor especially, of course, but technically it was COBB who invited me over so it should be something the brother Dobie would especially enjoy...

I frowned, thankful that my expression was hidden by Marge for the virtue of being hunched over the newspaper stand. I could hear Marge's steps from behind me, though, coming closer.

"Five minutes to go, can you manage?"

I gave her a quick glance over my shoulder and caught her eyes. I smiled quickly and flicked a friendly ear at her.

"Just about," I gave the stand a quick glance to see how many empty slots there were left. "Nothing to worry about."

"Oh I know, I know," her voice rose and waned along to her relative distance from me, much to my amusement. "It just seems there's so much to do when it's just two..."

"I wish I'd come earlier, I could have helped some more!" I replied, quickly.

"Never mind, Rory, you're right on time, you couldn't have known that we're having a situation here," she replied.

I felt a twinge of regret inside my belly, but kept my lips tightly together. No more troubles for the poor wolf, that was my motto.

"Yeah, can't always think ahead all that much," I replied, hoping it sounded sufficient.

Marge returned for another heap of Justin Bieber diaries, a gift that was certainly nice for its intended target group, but might not make the best impression to Victor and COBB, unless one of them liked pink things. Hmm...to my knowledge, neither of them did like pink things, Justin Bieber, or those two together, so definitely it would have to be something else...but what?

I ought to know how to do this, I told myself, it was a simple, straightforward gift, nothing more than that. It could be something fairly standard, it was just a dinner gift and wouldn't have to be anything terribly specific for Victor, or for COBB for that matters...just a nice little token...hmm...maybe something from the shop...

But I didn't know whether either of them liked to read, or what they might like to read. A Stieg Larsson crime novel? An Adalmina Woolsworth brick? A car repair manual, specific to Victor's car? I wasn't sure what model it was! A cookery book...Victor might enjoy a book with some light recipes, since he was watching what he was eating...getting those fewer calories in a palatable form might cheer him up...

Or not, I reminded myself. It was all too possible that the book might actually make him think that I was thinking that he was fat - which he wasn't, he just had a bit of a paunch, and if he wanted to get rid of that himself, that was just great, but the book might be a wrong message...

I breathed out deeply, clearing my nerves a little, I hoped to accomplish, with that gesture. Books were out of the question, then, and even so, maybe it would have been too stereotypical, I mean...

OH YOU WORK IN A BOOKSHOP RORY YEAH YOU BROUGHT SOMETHING FROM YOUR OWN SHOP BET I GOT THAT REALLY CHEAP OR DID YOU JUST STEAL THAT FROM THE SHOP, WHAT AN UNTHOUGHTFUL GIFT, WHY DO YOU HAVE TO HURT VICTOR LIKE THIS ANYWAY BRINGING HIM A WEIGHT WATCHING BOOK? YOU JUST KNOW THAT HE'S GOT BIG BONES AND HE BLOATS VERY EASILY IT'S A FAMILY TRAIT, RETENTION OF A LOT OF FLUID AND GAS IN THE BODY BUT DON'T WORRY IT ALL COMES OUT EVENTUALLY, HOPEFULLY NOT DURING YOU KNOW HEHEH BUT ANYWAY MIND IF I GET THE MATCHES MIGHT NEED THEM SOON HAHAH

I shuddered, now more than sure that I ought not to bring a book. But what else...hmm...

"Rory?"

"Yeah?" I gave her a look over my shoulder.

Marge bustled past.

"You mind managing the checkout for a while on your own, we won't have the time to put everything into place before we have to open the doors."

"Sure," I replied, "though I'm not seeing a crowd lining up behind the door yet..."

Marge snorted.

"Might as well be, it's about the image we want to give for anyone coming in here, and if there's nobody at the counter..."

I chuckled.

"You're starting to sound like Alex," I noted with a snuffle.

"That's just silly!"

"I know!" I beamed.

"One minute, Rory!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

*

We only had about half a dozen customers before 9 am, giving me ample time to consider the perfect gift for the Holdens in between infrequent advice-giving and till-operating. It was proving itself to be a more difficult venture than I thought. I was quick to dismiss ideas as too whimsical or too boring, such as the bottle of wine, because I didn't really know whether they would enjoy such a thing, and what kind of an image it would give, coming from me of all furs. It probably wasn't supposed to feel this difficult, considering that it was just a simple thing...

But what???

In the end, I managed to reach the only logical solution, something that took me some time to convince myself of, but in the end, it seemed the best kind of a thing. I decided to ask Victor about something COBB would like, and even though it thus would not be a surprise gift for Victor, I could always think that I could give him a bunch of surprises after the COBB-specific gift.

Determined, I sneaked my phone out of my pocket when there were no customers around, and quickly tapped a message.

Hi Victor!

Looking forward

tonight just wondering

what would Cobb like

as gift I want to bring

you guys something fun

See you soon,

Rory

_ _

I made sure that it read out alright and then clicked "SEND", and got a smile on my muzzle when the phone told me that the message had now been delivered to Victor Holden. My victorious moment might've lasted even longer if not for the tap of something on me back. I jumped and almost slipped the phone from my paw, and whirled around, only to see Marge standing on the other side of the counter. Judging from the earlier touch, she had just poked me with her tail. I gave her a puzzled look.

"Marge?"

"No personal calls during work hours," she spoke, walking along the counter and keeping eye contact until she reached the end and slipped by me, behind the until now dormant second cash register.

I dropped my ears and quickly stashed my phone back into my pants pocket.

"I was just checking something," I said, feeling oddly defensive.

Marge's brow quirked.

"That said, you should say that you're going to the restroom, and do it then," her frown quickly turned into a smirk.

I flicked my tail against her calf, giving her a smile, too.

"So is that why you and Crystal always keep going to the bathroom really often?" I suggested with an outrageous grin.

Marge chuckled.

"Among other reasons," she replied. "But don't ask me for those, they're girl secrets."

I pouted a little.

"Gee, I was just about to ask!" I let my shoulders slump.

"You can't handle the truth," Marge hissed in reply.

I made a distinctively worried face.

"Why do I get the feeling that you're not exaggerating things," I mused, rubbing my chin happily.

"You'll never know," Marge winked.

"Typical," I rumbled, leaning against the counter.

The doorbell chimed, prompting us to stop the girl talk and prepare for the inevitable. The expected customers were a coyote college chick and a tiger dude, we found out at the first glance, amidst our happyhappy smiles.

"Welcome to the Albrecht Brothers!" Marge beamed.

"Good morning!" I concerted, my ears giving them a pleasant flick. "Anything we can do for you today?"

The coyote chick waved a paw at us and smiled.

"We're going for Bio-Diversity, thanks, I think we know our way."

"Don't hesitate to ask us for anything you need!" Marge continued.

The flicky-tailed pair walked towards the back of the store, paw in paw, I noticed, and couldn't help but smile. Cats and canines...hmm...

I turned back to Marge and noticed that she was yawning.

"Slept badly?" I smiled.

Marge snuffled and flicked her ears at me.

"Goggy snored."

I chuckled.

"Cat snores can be pretty bad, yeah," I smirked.

Marge's tailtip flicked dangerously close to my groin.

"Well, at least he slept, unlike when he has one of those artistic moods and stays all night with his sketchbook or his canvas..."

I snickered.

"Doesn't he demand you stay up as well, to act as a training subject?"

Marge winked.

"Only on special occasions."

I didn't really want to wonder what kind of special occasions warranted full-body bodypainting, and thus, distracted myself by wondering about my Victor present instead. I would have plenty of time to find something suitable after work...

A phone started to ring, making my ears flick curiously. It definitely wasn't my phone, nor the ancient one under the counter that belonged to the shop, but another one, which I soon found out to be Marge's, because a slim, silvery phone had appeared in her paw and was held up to her ear.

"Marge Pitt, hello?" she answered, all business. "Oh...good morning, yes, yes, that's me. Oh...oooooh, I thought I was supposed to call you myself...oh...oh, right...well, that's good...so...yes, yes, that's my number...yes, Tuesday..."

I leaned against the cash register, giving her the personal space she needed for the call without actually moving anywhere, but simply making myself appear as busy as possible without actually doing anything at all.

"Yes...yes, doctor Richards...yes, GP...yes......"

Then she was quiet, for so long that it made me look over to her, and I noticed that her ears were not moving, and the arm holding her phone up had gone tense. I couldn't really say what her eyes were saying, but I wasn't sure it was entirely positive.

"...okay...well...thank you...thanks a lot. Bye."

Her paw fell down, still holding her phone.

For a little moment I thought she was going to faint.

"Marge?"

I felt tension growing in me as I stared at her, standing there, wide-eyed.

"Marge?"

The phone clattered down to the floor.

"Marge?" I hissed, already moving towards her, to catch her, if she would fall.

"I'm positive," Marge rumbled.

*

Hehhey!

Thank you for reading my story. What do you think about it? Still going strong? All comments are most welcome and each will receive special personalized love from me, of course. All votes, faves and watches are cool, too, so don't hesitate!

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