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"Just Breathe"

A Story by TJ Folf

This story is a sequel to "Genetically Inclined". If you haven't read the original, you can find it here.

This story is dedicated to Swiftpaw and Temba, two people who read "Genetically Inclined" and inspired me to write this sequel. Enjoy folks!

www.furaffinity.com/user/tjfolf http://tj-folf.livejournal.com/

Yiffstar username: Aenzi

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The day was warm, but beneath white fur and the shade of trees, one could walk comfortably. And so this creature did.

He was male and bipedal, but one could discern so much more from his appearance. Though he wore loose clothing, one could see beneath it a lean form, slim and toughened by a meager diet and long days of travel. He was fed only by what he could carry in the small cloth pack he carried over his shoulder. There was not a person still living that could have said how far this creature had traveled, but there was no doubt that his eyes had seen more of this raw land than any other creature that was born into this new age of false purity.

His hungry appearance was deceiving, as a few creatures had discovered. There was a latent strength in this person that had been tested and proven on several occasions. He had no wish to start quarrels with others, but those quarrels that others had started, he could finish with ease.

His appearance was a proud one, but one that was confusing, even to the educated eye. His fur was pearly white, and unusual color to see with all the genes that had been mixed in centuries past. His form was most like that of a wolf, but with subtle, enigmatic differences. The ears were longer, coming to a sharper point, and his muzzle somewhat slighter. His muzzle bore upon its sides two black marks, normally found only in foxes. His height was an intermediate one, somewhat taller than the average fox, but not attaining the height of a normal wolf. His eyes, more in league with the greater portion of his appearance, were a shining, lupine gold, reflecting forth the sunlight.

The white canine was beginning to wonder how long he was going to travel. He didn't know exactly what he was looking for, but he was close. He could tell. There was something about the land in this place. When he whistled to himself, the trees almost seemed to lean in and to listen. The white creature almost considered stopping here for a few days, just to enjoy the company of these apparently more friendly trees, but something within him drove him to remain in motion.

Though, in his heart he did hope he could stop soon. Even the most well-tread paw became sore sometimes.

He stopped, and sighed. Travel in many ways was a freeing experience. But at the moment travel only reminded the white creature of the reasons one normally resided in one place. He would have to rest soon, and this place seemed as good as any other. He fell heavily to the ground, and took the brown-cloth pack off his shoulders and placed it beside him. The pack was mostly for show these days. It had been all but empty for more than a week now. He took one of his feet in his hands and began messaging it. There were days when he envied those that could walk on four legs. They were much more suited to travel than he was.

For a moment, the white canine merely looked around him, observing what he could see. It was good to know where one was, to be mindful of oneself. It was often surprising how few people truly knew where they were or what they were doing.

In his observance, the white creature noticed something odd. To the west, the sun was beginning to set, but something was standing above the horizon, blocking the last of its light. Something tall...something solid.

He looked closer. It was something metal! Something not of trees, but of the deft paws and sharp tools of civilization!

The white creature grinned, once again shouldering his light pack, and beginning to move towards this building. Perhaps his journey was over at last.

"Excuse me."

The white creature turned slowly, alertly toward the sound. But the source turned out to be quite a bit closer to the ground than he expected. Only a few yards away was a small red vixen, observing him in a calm and unconcerned manner. She was quadrupedal, and stood only a few feet off the ground. She had a strength about her. He could tell much of this vixen merely by the way she carried herself. She sat on her haunches, her demeanor calm and relaxed. The white tip of her long tail waved lazily; she was in no way afraid of him. Her eyes met his with steely resolve.

He opened his mouth to reply, and his voice came not as a voice ought to. He spoke softly, quietly, his voice barely making a ripple upon the calm surface of silence. But despite all this, his voice was as easily heard as if he had been shouting. "You are certainly excused. May I help you?"

"Probably. By letting me help you." she said, flicking an ear nonchalantly. "You are walking right into the Seanny Commune. My home. I should warn you that sentries surround the entire campus. I wouldn't want you to get hurt."

"I see." the white creature paused, musing for a moment. Then he turned back to the vixen. "Do you think there is any chance that I would be allowed to stay at your commune?"

"There is a chance, yes." the vixen replied. "But I'm not the one to tell you yes or no. If you wish to join, I'll have to take you to Dakota, one of our managers."

The white creature knelt down closer to the vixen. She did not shy away. "May I ask your name?"

The vixen stood up, her tail swirling around her like an elegant leviathan. "I'm called Sannah."

The white canine smiled. "Hello, Sannah. My name is Dayton."

* * *

Ako's mind slowly began to break free of the gentle grasp of sleep. He didn't bother to move or open his eyes, but instead merely lay there, basking in warmth. He thought that strange. He was very warm, warmer than he usually was.

It only took him a moment to realize he was warm because there were four paws and a tail wrapped around him. The wonderful smell of Trick filled the room. There was no doubt, this was surely a dream. But Ako was beginning to realize, he would forever be able to experience this dream anytime he was awake.

"Mmm, you gonna sleep all day, beautiful?" Trick murmured into Ako's ear.

Ako's heart was instantly wrenched at the sound of the word 'beautiful'. He squeezed his eyes shut and gave a low murr.

"Heh, I can see your ears twitching at me, fox," he said, and Ako could almost hear him grinning. "Don't pretend you can't hear me."

Ako slowly blinked his eyes open. "Well, in that case," he yawned. "Yes, I was planning on sleeping all day."

Trick laughed, giving Ako a gentle nuzzle on his neck. "I actually think that's a wonderful idea," he said. "Go ahead and sleep all day! But unfortunately, I have to get up." He began to untangle his paws from around the little fox.

Ako frowned. "Aww, do you have to?" he said, his eyes big and glistening. "I'd really like it if you just lay here with me all afternoon."

"Hey, there'll be no cub eyes from you mister." Trick said, sticking his tongue out at the fox as he stepped over him. "I've got to go."

"What have to got to do today?" Ako asked.

"Dakota needs help with a few things," he said. "And I gotta get you some food."

"Mm, yeah, that's starting to sound good right now." Ako said. And he arched his back, beginning to stretch himself. He instantly stopped.

Trick spun around quickly as he heard Ako give a sharp yip. He moved quickly to the fox's side. "Ako? What's the matter?"

"Oooh," Ako moaned, a look of pain contorting his face. "Oh, that hurt."

Trick nuzzled the black fox worriedly. "I know, honey...you're due for more medicine." he said, his voice soft. "Dammit, I'm sorry about last night, we shouldn't have done any of that. I'm such and idiot! You're probably so sore..."

Ako had strength enough to raise his head and firmly cut off Trick's tirade with a kiss. Trick hesitated for a moment, then leaned into the fox with zeal, a deep murr rumbling in the back of his throat. Ako gently broke the kiss and gave Trick a small lick on his wet nose. "I wanted it, too, you crazy coyote." he said with a grin. "I don't regret any of it at all."

Trick stared at him with wet eyes. "I?I..." he began, then shook his head violently. "If you just wanna sleep here all day, Ako, you don't have to move. I'll take whatever Dakota says to me, I don't care."

Ako gave a timid smile. He understood exactly how Trick felt. He slowly began to stand, taking great care to leave weight off his injured front leg. "No, I'm alright to move. Besides, I don't think I want Dakota to know what we've been up to just yet. Or anyone."

Trick grinned. "I can understand that." he said. "Here, let me help you."

The coyote slowly helped Ako down from the drying tube, where they had fallen asleep after a bath the previous evening. They slowly walked out of the bathing room into the main room. Trick helped Ako back up into one of the sleeping nooks. Ako laid down with an exaggerated sigh.

"Mmm...that's better." Ako said, his voice beginning to sound drowsy once again.

Trick put his front two paws in the sleeping nook and grabbed the blanket behind Ako with his teeth, pulling it over the little fox. He dropped the blanket around Ako's shoulders and nuzzled him gently on the neck. "You try to sleep, beautiful. I'm gonna go track down Dakota and get him to come up and take care of you. I also have some work to do around the commune, but I'll be back just as soon as I can." he said. He ended his nuzzle with a delicate nip to the fox's neck. "I promise."

Ako's eyes were already half closed. "Hurry back. I'm never quite as warm alone as I am when you're next to me." he murmured, his eyes drooping completely shut.

Ako's closed eyes couldn't see that Trick's were glistening. "I'll hurry. I promise."

Trick turned slowly away from the now sleeping Ako, and very reluctantly left the room.

* * *

"We can always use another set of paws around the facilities. We're more than happy to let you stay, but I'm certain you understand that we all must work together if a place like this is to stay running." Dakota said, tapping a pen against his red muzzle as he spoke.

Across the table from him sat a white-furred creature, several inches taller than him and slightly larger than the red fox in build. He wore simple garments: A canvas shirt with sleeves cut just below the elbow and traveling pants made of thick green material. He wore a pair of boots, designed for travel, and showing signs of having been used for that purpose extensively.

Dakota obviously could not see beneath his clothing, but the only parts of his fur that weren't completely snow white were the very tip of his tail and a pair of identical triangular patches on either side of his muzzle, both of which were black. The build of this stranger was not thick like that of a heavy worker, nor was it wiry like that of a scout or runner. Rather, his build was lean and seasoned, tested by the elements and fed only by what could be found on one's way.

Dakota realized immediately what the probable cause of this person's presence was. Almost everyone here had a genetic defect of some sort, most small and insignificant, but just enough to get you ejected from society. But there were other ways to get oneself banished. This white creature had no doubt been forced out of the citadels due to his mixed parentage.

The citadels...the few gargantuan cities that now were all that was left of a once mighty civilization. Within their walls genetic purity was law, enforced heartlessly and often brutally. Breeding was a luxury permitted to only a select few, and those select few had to be of the same species and in separate gene pools. If one wanted to have a child naturally, instead of artificially creating an embryo in a sanctioned laboratory, this pair of individuals had to go through an extensive screening process. Few passed.

If two creatures of different species created a child outside of the lawful process, they would be jailed and their offspring terminated. If the child was lucky enough to be older than six months old, the child fell under the humanity laws, and would not be destroyed. The child would be provided and cared for until the age of five years, when they would be expelled from the citadels into the wilderness.

Dakota's eyes discreetly traveled along the contours of the white-furred body. He was too big to be a fox, and too small to be a wolf. His tail was that of a fox, but not quite as long as a usual fox would have. His muzzle bore the triangular black patches just behind the whiskers, but his muzzle was shorter and thicker than a foxes. His tail and markings were that of a fox, but his build and muzzle were lupine. This creature was the child of a fox and a wolf.

And yet...there was something about him that didn't seem to belong to either species. But Dakota couldn't put his paw on it. Ah, well, there was time to worry about such things later.

"I can understand entirely." Dayton said, his voice an endless surprise to Dakota. "So, you call this place Seanny Commune? An interesting name."

The red fox looked up in surprise for a moment, but then smiled. "Ah, I forgot you were shown in by our dear Sannah. That's a name she coined herself from the name of the outpost that used to reside here; Central North-Eastern Outpost. The C.N.E. From that Sannah starting calling us 'Seanny'. I'll admit, it's a nicer name than just 'the commune'."

Dayton smiled. "I agree."

Dakota pulled up a clean sheet of paper from beneath his desk, and set his pen on the surface. "Now, we need just a little bit of information from you, so that we can keep track of your sleeping quarters and medical treatment, and other such things." Dakota said, beginning to write notes on the paper. "What's your name?"

"Dayton," he spoke with a quiet, smooth voice that was somehow still very audible. "Or at least, that's what I prefer to be called."

Dakota nodded, his black paw writing quickly. "Dayton it is, then. Do you have a surname?"

The white fox-wolf gave a small smile. "Not anymore."

"I see." Dakota said, marking his sheet. "Now, as I was saying before, everyone here works, and in return the commune provides shelter, food, and any other amenities we agree you will need."

"I can certainly understand." Dayton said, folding his paws in front of himself.

"Tell me, did you ever have a dedicated task anywhere to which you were employed? Or anything like that?"

Dayton put his paws in his lap and gazed at the ground thoughtfully. "I never really had a job back in the city." he said. "I got by telling stories."

Dakota had more or less expected this. It was difficult to find employment when you were expelled from the city at only five years old. His paw jotted down this information onto the sheet. "Well, we won't expect you to start working for a few days, so we'll let this slide for now. We have plenty of open dormitories. We'll get you set up in one of those for now." Dakota said. "Take the next few days to explore our commune, and see all the things we do. If you ask politely, our heads of staff will let you go most anywhere, as long as you stay out the way of any work being done. We'll meet again in three or four days, and we'll talk again at that¬?"

There was a small creak, and the door at the far end of Dakota's office opened, a coyote entered the room.

"Oh, hello, Trick." Dakota said, smiling.

"Dakota, I've been looking for you everywhere." Trick said, grinning. "I needed to ask you a favor," Just then, Trick noticed the white fox-wolf sitting across from Dakota. "Oh, excuse me. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything." he said.

"It's no bother." Dakota said, smiling. "Trick, this is Dayton, our community's newest member. Dayton this is Trick, another one of our managers. You'll see him everywhere about. He keeps things running smoothly."

Trick grinned. "A little too extensive a job description for running messages back and forth, Dakota." he laughed. "But welcome, Dayton! I look forward to seeing you around."

Trick turned back to Dakota to see that the fox had his back turned to him rummaging in a file cabinet. "Well, Dayton, I'll just need to relay a message to the overseer, and then we'll see about getting you a room.

"The overseer?" Dayton asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

Dakota looked at the fox-wolf. It was his eyes, he realized. They were neither a fox's eyes nor a wolf's, but originating from some other creature. They were gold, but not a color one was accustomed to seeing in a living, breathing creature. The color was metallic and otherworldly, refracting the sun's light in all directions. That pair of eyes almost seemed to glow, generating their own light.

"The overseer is the chief supervisor here. He will have the final say on whether or not your are permitted to stay." Dakota said. "Don't worry, I see no reason he should object."

Dayton smiled, and he looked at Trick. "Well, then, go ahead and ask him."

Dakota looked to Trick and then back to Dayton, frowning. "Dayton, the identity of the overseer is secret. Only the most senior heads of staff know who the overseer is. It is the easiest way to keep order here." the red fox said. "Both me and Trick are privy to this information, but we will never been seen with this person, for the sake of keeping the secrecy."

Dayton looked taken aback. "Oh, yes...yes, of course. Pardon me."

Trick smiled. "It's alright," he said. He turned to Dakota. "I'll send the note, I don't see any reason to keep Dayton waiting."

Trick turned to leave the room. "Wait," Dayton said. "Trick, do you have a digital library here?"

The coyote turned back to Dayton, blinking. "We have a building that was once a digital library. It's in a state of disrepair, I'm afraid. We were going to fix it up after getting here, but we opted not to wait the time and energy." Trick explained. "Even if we had fixed it, it wouldn't have been very useful. Without a connection to the Citadel Intranet, a digital library is little more than a collection of flashing lights."

The fox-wolf nodded. "True," he said. "Why don't you establish a connection, though? A community of this many people needs a place of learning."

"We can't afford it, I'm afraid." Dakota said, crossing his arms. "This community functions well enough, but we generate no monetary income."

Dayton frowned. "But surely you've heard of..." he began, then paused. "Well, no, I don't suppose you would know, would you?"

Trick cocked an ear. "Know what?"

Dayton stood. "About...oh, it was five years ago, I suppose. The United Humanity and Civility Council passed a resolution called the Independency of Information Act." he said in his soft voice. "There were a great many details, but the main point of it was free access to the Citadel Intranet. Anyone who wants to get online, now can."

Dakota sat on his desk, grinning. "Well, that's the first thing in a century that UHCC has said that didn't have to do with 'eradicating the plague of imperfection marring our peoples'."

Trick dropped to his haunches, his tail swishing thoughtfully. "It would be wonderful to finally have a library." he said, almost longingly. "That's something all of us miss from the cities. I don't know, Dakota. Even with it being legal, I don't know if we have anyone that would be able to set it up properly. Not to mention all the repairs that would have to be done..."

"I know how to set it up, and I should be able to return your library to working order." Dayton said, smiling happily to himself.

Dakota turned to him incredulously. "Wait, what? I thought you said you'd never had a job before?"

Dayton sat back down, once again folding his paws in his lap. "I lived for a number of years at a citadel outpost very far from here. It was one of the few outposts still in sanctioned use, and we had a digital library there." he explained, his soft voice resonating. "I worked at the library, maintaining the consoles and helping patrons find anything they might need. I didn't mention it because I didn't think it mattered. I can fix intranet consoles, but that doesn't mean I can fix other luminance systems."

Trick's ears pricked up, and he grinned. "In return for your own dormitory, and a place here within our community, would you do this for us?"

Dayton smiled. "I've always wanted to run a library by myself." he said, his golden eyes seeming to glow brighter. "I would be honored, Trick."

Trick turned to Dakota, and gave him a wink. "I think you can go ahead and get him set up in a dormitory. I highly doubt that the overseer would have any objections to him staying with us, especially with what he offers us!"

"I agree." Dakota said, grinning in excitement. "I've not been in a working library since I was a kit!"

"Go ahead and put him in block 4, Dakota, in one of the new rooms. I'll go ask Skipper if he's finished with those rooms on schedule." Trick said, tail wagging. "And Dakota...could you please go check on Ako as soon as you have a free moment? He needs food, and he's overdue for another dose of medicine..."

Dakota nodded. "I'd already planned on it, but thank you for reminding me. I'll go as soon as I'm done here. Clara! Can you come in here, please?"

"Yes...thank you." Trick said, a smile playing on his face. Trick turned and jogged out the door. On his way out he passed another creature coming in. She was silver furred Husky and stood bipedal. Dayton was surprised to see that she wore spectacles. Those were a difficult amenity to come by these days.

Dakota gave a bemused smile, looking at the door as Trick disappeared around the corner. He hadn't seen Trick jog in years. What had he and Ako been doing last night? The red fox shook his head, and turned back to the white fox-wolf.

"You'll be needing a key to the library building. I know I filed that away here someplace...Clara, can you start the paper work to get Mr. Dayton here installed semi-permanently in a dormitory?"

"Certainly, sir. Where is he to be placed?" the female husky replied.

"The new rooms, block four." Dakota said, distractedly looking through the filing cabinets surrounding his desk. "I know it's here somewhere!"

Clara went to a desk on the opposite side of the room and began writing quickly and neatly on a form she procured from one of the inboxes on the desktop. After a moment, she paused, looking at Dakota. "Sir, may I ask what you're looking for?"

"I'm looking for the key to the library building." Dakota said, his head still below his desk.

Clara pushed her glasses up the bridge of her muzzle. "All the keys to unused buildings are filed in the second cabinet from the right. The library's file is fourth from the front." she said, and then returned to her form.

Dakota seemed to wilt. "Ah. Yes of course."

Dayton folded his paws in front of his muzzle, artfully hiding his smile.

In a moment Dakota turned back around, a key held triumphantly in his hand.

"Here you are, Mr. Dayton. We have a few extras, but still best to keep this in a safe place. I do hope you'll be starting work soon."

Dayton nodded politely. "As soon as I'm able."

Dakota stood. "Any tools you will need are held by the luminance crew, under Skipper, their crew head. I'll have him meet you as soon as possible. Clara, my assistant, controls any other supplies you might need. She'll be happy to help you with anything else you might need."

Clara also stood up. "Indeed. Just let me know and I'll see what I can do for you. If you'll follow me, Mr. Dayton, I'll show you to your room."

The white fox wolf stood up. "Please, just call me Dayton."

* * *

Skiff walked through the main street of the commune kicking up dust as he walked and growling to himself. The disposition of the black-backed jackal never been so angry. Last night had been another bad night, so he was tired and sore in addition to being in a foul mood. He hurt from the tip of his short tail all the way to his large ears. It seemed never to end.

Once again, Trick had lowered the jackal down to lower than his place. Eternally the troublemaker. He didn't put himself there, the commune did. Skiff knew he was better than where he was in the standing of things, but he had no choice to accept whatever the commune gave him. He had nowhere else to go.

Trick. It always was Trick that came to reprimand him. He wouldn't have minded if it were Dakota, or one of the other staff heads. Those wouldn't have bothered him so much. But it was Trick who had come down to ruin his day yesterday.

"I don't want you to leave, remember that, Skiff. You have nowhere else to go, and you have a place here. You're an excellent hunter. I don't want you to leave, because you belong here.

But you need to learn that we settle things with words here, not with strangers with big teeth or by dropping other members off the drying stacks. You've been given your last warning. I don't want you to leave, but if something like this happens again, I'll have no choice."

Skiff growled again and swiped at the dusty road with a paw. He hadn't meant for anything to happen that way. He wasn't even that angry at Trick anymore. He knew he was angry at Trick because he was jealous of him. Trick was so perfect. He didn't have to work to make people talk to him or be with him. People just walked right up to Trick. Why couldn't Skiff do that?

And now, he had heard that Ako was to be staying in Trick's room until his injuries had healed. Skiff was sorry for the injuries, he really was. That wasn't part of his plan at all. The damn cougar and his wolf friend had done that, against Skiff's wishes. Even that part of this whole mess had come back to haunt him personally. The rest of the commune might have thought that Ako staying with Trick was just a kindly gesture on his part, but the jackal could see right though that. Ako had had his eye on Trick for months now. And Skiff knew that the fox had been doing a little more than just sleeping up there.

Skiff was even angrier over this. He thought Ako was going to be the one for him. Ako was a cute little bottom of a fox, how could anyone say no to that? He was quiet and unassuming, and scared of anything bigger than him. It was exactly the kind of person Skiff had been looking for. And now Skiff would just have to keep on looking.

The jackal stared intently at the ground. He knew that there was no one in the entire commune that would be interested in talking to him, and that was just fine with him today. For once, he didn't want to talk to any of them either. The dusty road held his interest more today than anyone else could. He just walked as quickly as he could. He needed to get out of this place...if only for a little while.

Skiff very suddenly ran into something very firm. And something that happened to be alive. The quadruped jackal instantly jumped backward, staring up at a very tall, very white creature. Skiff thought he knew everyone in the commune at least by sight, but this creature was unfamiliar to him. He was an odd combination of wolf and fox...and his eyes were wondrously golden.

Dayton looked down in mild surprise. "Oh, excuse me. I'm afraid I didn't watch where I was going."

His voice was soft, little more than a whisper, but Skiff could somehow hear it perfectly.

The jackal took another step back. "Me...me neither." Skiff murmured, unable to tear his eyes away from the pulsing gold of Dayton's own.

"I'm afraid I'm new here. What's your name?" Dayton asked.

"I'm...no one!"

Skiff suddenly turned and ran. He fled from the commune as fast as he could. Now, more than ever, he needed to be someplace else.

Dayton watched with intent interest as the jackal quit the commune. A small smile crept over his muzzle. He'd just found the reason he was here! He almost laughed to himself. That particular project was probably going to take a great deal longer than the library. But first things first.

Dayton held in his hand the key that Dakota had painstakingly retrieved from his files, as well as a small bag of tools and a flashlight that Clara had managed to dig up for him. Dakota had also already assigned the fox-wolf a dormitory to live in. Dayton had already seen the apartment he was to live in for the next few years, and it was much more impressive than he'd expected. He had three rooms to himself: A main room with a desk, lit by windows in the ceiling, another for sleeping, with two sleeping nooks to himself. The part that really astounded him was the fact he had his own bathroom and bathing pool. He wouldn't have to go down to the communal bathing pool. Though he might anyway. It was important to associate with other people.

Dayton began to walk once again to his destination: the library. He knew he likely wouldn't be able to start on it today, but it was in his nature to be busy, either with moving or with creating. Since he had, at least for now, stopped his incessant traveling, he now had to busy himself with other things.

The library wasn't hard to find, as it wasn't far from the main thoroughfare. Dayton stood in front of the building, merely observing for a time. Outside of a small set of stairs leading to a raised doorway, the building was nondescript. It looked nearly the same as every other. Dayton smiled at the semicircle stairway. The edifice was almost humorous. It seemed to make the building look self-important. Dayton walked closer and touched the brick, the same brick that every other building was made of. The building was lifeless. There hadn't been anyone in the building for years and years. Anyone would start to lose hope after so long. But Dayton knew all that was about to change. There would be life here again very soon.

The fox-wolf walked up to the main door, and slid in the key that he had been given. The lock opened very reluctantly, and the door itself was stiff. But Dayton managed to force the door open, and he slid inside.

The room was dark, lit only by what sunlight managed to get through the heavily stained windows. Dayton smiled, seeing all the dusty terminals in front of him. He walked up to one, grinning to himself now. The screens were the larger version, four feet by three feet, with three control panels beneath it. He sat at the chair behind a terminal, smiling wider to himself. One would use the center panel to input data, and the side panels to navigate, depending on what one was doing. Dayton wiped dust off the screen, seeing the sparkle of the liquid diamond display beneath the surface. This screen, at least, was still operational.

The fox-wolf stood and looked around him. On the wall near the terminal he had been sitting at, he found a switch of some sort. He dusted off the label and read "OVERHEAD LIGHT". He looked directly above him, and saw a small lighting panel, of several across the ceiling. He flipped the switch...but nothing happened. He nodded to himself. There was no luminant power running into the building. But the lights were magnetic, and should still be working. All they needed was power.

Dayton looked around and found the main desk. He walked behind it excitedly. He was pleased to see it had it's own terminal. Why, there was even pencils and paper left on the desk! When the previous occupants had left this place, they must have done so in a hurry. They'd taken almost nothing with them.

The fox-wolf took a clean piece of paper from a stack next to the desk terminal. He was pleased to see that it was leaf pulp paper, and well made, too. He took a pencil from a small container, and began to write:

To Do:

• Get rags and dusting fluid, clean each terminal,

• Contact Luminant Crew, restore power to building

• Check each terminal for operation, repair if necessary...

There was obviously much more to do, but Dayton would write more as he found what needed to be done. He turned and looked around. The bulk of the library was a large reading room, which would be well lit once power was restored. The room was bigger than Dayton had expected, thoroughly coated with tables and chairs. The workspace seemed odd though. Reading rooms were usually dedicated to libraries with portable reading tablets, but Dayton couldn't believe that this library had those. They were a recent commodity when Dayton had worked at an up to date library just a few years back. This library couldn't have such new-fangled equipment.

Why the extra space, though? It seemed a waste of resources in an outpost of this size to build a library this size.

But then Dayton saw a small door in the back of the library. It couldn't have led to outside. Perhaps the extra space was because this building had once been more than a library. Dayton made his way to the back of the library, and opened the door.

This door was even more unwilling than the main door had been. The metal seemed not to be rusted on the outside, but that said little for the inside. After a great deal of negotiation, the door finally slid free of its latches and open. Dayton almost tumbled backward after pulling so hard, but he managed to hold onto the door and steady himself.

Their was just enough light showing through the windows for Dayton to see that there were stairs leading down in front of him. But there were no windows or working lights in the stairwell. Dayton pulled a flashlight out of his small bag and turned it on, and then proceeded to walk down. The stairs went down half way and then doubled back, and Dayton shown the light ahead of him. And he almost dropped the light at what he saw.

Before him was shelf, after shelf, after shelf...of books. Real paper books. The kind that hadn't been printed in two hundred years. Hundreds upon thousands of books. Millions and millions of pages begging to be read.

Dayton let a breath delicately escape him. Perhaps this would be a proper library after all.

* * *

Muscles strained. The free weights clinked, tapping into each other as the wolf lifted them slowly above his head. The wolf grunted loudly, his entire body soaked through with sweat, matting the fur to his skin. He pushed with all of his might, only able to move the bar very slowly. With a growl, he managed to push the bar to the top of his reach.

"Nineteen..." he murmured.

He lowered the bar, only narrowly managing to keep it from bruising his chest. Again, he began to push. The bar began to move gradually, every fiber in every muscle of both arms and his chest crying out in protest. This might have been a mistake. He never should have started one of his heavy-lifting days without someone there to spot him. But everyone else had been busy...

He grunted, gritting his teeth and pushing upward from the bench, throwing every muscle in his chest, arms, and shoulders against the bar. Higher, higher...!

"...Twenty!!"

Skipper slammed the bar into the rack with a sigh of relief. That had been closer than he liked. He was definitely done for the day, and he silently vowed never to try benching 82 kilos without a spotter again. He sat up, every muscle in his body aching from the work. But it was a cleansing sort of ache. The discomfort always reminded him of how much he'd been able to do that day. And this day had been a lot.

The wolf had done bench press, inclined press, crunches, sit-ups, pull-ups, leg press, and lunges. Not to mention lat press, lat pull down, leg extensions, leg lifts...Every bit of him hurt. Well, except for his ears, and his nose, and his toes, and his feet. Alright, he admitted to himself, so there's a great deal of me that doesn't hurt. But there's also a great deal of me that does!

Skipper turned back to the weights he'd just finished with. 82 kilograms: that was his limit. He couldn't go higher than that, for fear of hurting himself. Besides, he wasn't a full time body builder! He had a job to do, keeping the commune powered. He couldn't lift everyday.

It still did bother him that both Muff and Alan could lift more than him, 92 kilos. But they were both taller, and broader of shoulder. Skipper remembered reading when he was a child about how much human body builders could lift in competitions centuries ago. 350 or even 400 pounds! He'd had to find a conversion in one of the few reference books he had, and he'd figured that was a whole 180 kilos! But they were so much bigger than the creatures that walked around today. Skipper was four foot eight...about average for a biped wolf. 82 was already much more than his body weight. Of course, his two coworkers, Muff and Alan, were giants: they stood nearly five feet tall. This was nothing compared to the humans of a couple hundred years ago; many of them stood over six feet, some even more than seven feet tall! Even Alan couldn't challenge that.

Skipper grabbed a towel, wrapped it around his shoulders, and headed for one of the small washrooms. The wolf was soaked completely through both his fur and the tank-top and shorts he wore. He really needed a long bath, but he didn't have time; he had to meet with that newcomer, Dayton, today...and soon. The washrooms were equipped with large basins and faucets. Not really a replacement for a real bath, but hopefully good enough to get him through his meeting.

The wolf pushed open the door to one of the washrooms, and tossed his towel on the table there inside and stretched his shoulder. Good lord he hurt...

The door suddenly shut behind him. Skipper's ears shot up. Before he could spin around, his arms were pulled roughly behind his back, and his chest was shoved against the table. Skipper attempted to struggle, but he knew before he began it was no use. His muscles were just too tired to overpower anything or anyone. His heart raced against his chest, pounding against the wood of the table he'd been roughly bent over. He was held firmly down. He couldn't see who it was behind him, and he couldn't move or fight back.

"Oh, come on! I thought I'd have a bit more trouble than that!" a low voice said.

Skipper gave a sigh of relief, even as his ears twitched with annoyance. "Dammit, Alan. I don't have time for your games." he growled. "And you scared the shit out of me!"

The German Shepherd seemed to ignore him. "Geez, Skip, I'm holding you down with one paw! How much did you lift?"

The wolf struggled feebly against the arm holding him down. "Enough to make you just as tired! Now let me go!"

"But I haven't played my game you don't have time for yet..." he murmured.

"What?"

Skipper felt a paw slip inside the elastic waist band of his shorts at the base of his tail, and move slowly around to the inside of his thigh, then upward to...

Skipper's eyes widened. "A-Alan! You fuckin' horn dog! Get off of me!"

The wolf could almost feel the German Shepherd grinning behind him. "You know you like it." he laughed.

Skipper felt his shorts slide partly down his legs, and Alan pulled the wolf's tail free of his clothing. He growled. "But I don't like it!"

The Shepherd's paw came around to Skipper's front again, and the wolf gasped. Alan's paw had closed around an erection that he hadn't known he had. Skipped closed his eyes tightly at the sensation. He was rapidly losing the battle.

"Mmm...you might not like it, but your body does." he said quietly, beginning to message the wolf's length.

Skipper gave a whine of pleasure. "I'm docking your pay."

"We're a autonomous collective. We don't get paid." Alan grinned.

"Oh yeah..."

Alan's paw disappeared again, and Skipper heard a strange click from somewhere behind him. Then Alan reached beneath the wolf's tail, and smeared something cold and slick against it.

Skipper gasped. "You asshole! I gotta be to a meeting in an hour!"

The wolf felt the Shepherd's powerful legs press against his fur. "You won't be late, I promise." he said.

Skipper fought to look over his shoulder. "I better not be or it'll be your ass!"

Alan held him firmly in place. "Perhaps, but right now it's your ass!"

Skipper held his breath as he felt the shepherd's thick girth press underneath his tail, the hot red flesh pushing up against him. With a smooth thrust of his hips, he pushed into the wolf, the lubricant allowing him slide in smoothly with a sigh of pleasure.

Skipper squirmed against the table. "G...dammit!"

Alan slowly pushed himself all the way in, stopping just short of his knot. Alan knew that Skipper wasn't a first timer. He didn't need to move as slowly as some others did. He settled himself into the wolf, his hips pressing against Skipper's backside, the he slowly slid himself back out. Just before the tip of him left the warm confines of the wolf, he slid back in.

"Ooooh, god...Did you, unf!" Skipper's voice was interrupted as the German Shepherd quickly pulled out and thrust back in. "Did you at least lock the door?"

Alan laughed. "Yeah, wolf, I locked the door." He said. He let go of Skipper's arms, convinced now that he wouldn't try to go anywhere. His paws caressed down the muscular sides of the wolf, stopping with one paw on each side of his hips. He pulled out and thrust back in once again, growling. Then he began to form a rhythm in his thrust. "Mmm."

Skipper closed his eyes and moaned. "Ohhh...damn, Alan. Maybe I'll pay you more instead." he said, raising his tail and pushing back against the Shepherd.

"No charge." Alan grinned, beginning to pant. "I'm just doing my duty, sir!"

Alan moved one of his paws down below Skipper's body, and the paw found his hardened shaft quickly, wrapping around it. It wasn't until the shepherd began to stroke back and forth that Skipper realized that the paw still had an ample amount of lubricant on it.

"Aww, fuck!" Skipper cried, thrusting into Alan's paw. "If this was your duty, you'd be the happiest guy in the world!"

"Mmf! And don't forget...unf! One of the most productive!"

The sensations were all too much, and Skipper had to bite his lip to keep from whimpering like a cub. "Unn...If you keep going like this, I'm not gonna last..."

The Shepherd increased the pace of his thrusts, pushing deeper into Skipper, producing a small "Unf!" from the wolf. At the same time he tightened his grip around the wolf's shaft, stroking with greater speed. Skipper was forced to gasp out loud.

"Heh, see? I told you I'd get you to your meeting on time."

But Skipper was far too engrossed to respond. His muzzle hung open, gasping at each breath, every muscle in his body fighting fatigue to push back into the warm member thrusting in and out of him.

Alan grunted, leaning over the wolf. His thrusts came fast and faster. Slowly but surely, the shepherd's thrusts began to become irregular, his breath heavier. After a few more moments, Skipper felt Alan stiffen. The German shepherd gave one final, mighty thrust into the wolf, his knot following the rest of his shaft, locking the pair together. Skipper felt the knot push roughly into him, and it took all the restraint he had not to howl as he emptied himself onto the washroom floor.

For almost an entire minute they didn't move, just standing and trying to catch their breath. Then, Skipper turned himself around to lie on his back, Alan's shaft sliding within him. Alan looked at the wolf's face for a moment, then leaned forward and kissed him.

Skipper kissed back, and it was a long affair, the two canine's tongues tasting one another. But Alan couldn't help but notice that the entire time, Skipper's face was contorted into an odd expression of pain. The shepherd reluctantly broke the kiss.

"It's still too soon for you, isn't it?" Alan asked.

Skipper took a shuddering breath, then wrapped both his arms around Alan's shoulders. "I'm so sorry."

"Skip...I'd never do that. I would never, never hurt you like he did. I promise."

"Conlan promised, too. Every single night before we went to sleep he promised me he'd never leave me. Not for anything."

Alan could only hold the wolf. There were no words of comfort for moments like this. "He didn't even say goodbye." Skipper said.

"I know. He was my friend, too." Alan said, pulling the wolf into a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry, Alan. I am attracted to you...god am I attracted to you! But it's gonna take me awhile to learn to trust like that again." Skipper murmured. "Give me time."

"Your worth the wait." Alan replied simply.

Skipper smiled and gave a sniff. Dammit...he hated crying in front of people. He knew Alan didn't mind. But still, he didn't like it.

"I need to go change before my meeting. Tell your dick to shrink faster!" Skipper said, laughing through wet eyes.

Alan grinned. "You know he doesn't listen to me."

Skipper looked at the sun through a small window in the far wall. "Damn, it's later than I thought. I'll have to skip lunch..."

"I brought you lunch." Alan said, nuzzling the smaller wolf. "And a change of clothes. Don't worry, you'll be in plenty of time..."

* * *

It had been an hour since he had given Alan one last kiss and dashed off to meet the new comer. Skipper still felt sore...now in some places that he hadn't been before. But all in all, he felt much better than he had earlier. After all, he thought as he approached the door of the library building, Alan was a nice guy. Skipper had genuine feelings for him. They'd work out together in the end...Skipper just needed a little more time to let go of the past.

Skipper pulled on the door and found that it was open. He pulled the door wider, and slid inside. The door slid closed with a loud creak, and settled into the frame with an ominous boom that echoed around the large room. The room was dark. It was lit only by light streaming from the windows, which was clouded with dust motes. The air inside was dry, old. It was how libraries always smelled, Skipper noted, even when they were equipped with the most newfangled gadgets, they still exuded a scent of ancient things. A library was forever a place of knowledge, even if it was a computerized one.

At first, it seemed as if the library was deserted. Skipper spun around, looking behind terminals and into the darkened corners of the room. The message he'd received said that the new arrival would be working in here all day.

"Ah...ah...!"

Skipper spun around, searching for the source of the sound. His ears pointed him towards the main desk at the far end of the room. But then, he saw a white face appear above it.

"Ah...CHOO!" Dayton sneezed, sending a cloud of dust into the air. He rubbed his nose vigorously, one of the few spots on his body that wasn't white. He looked up and saw Skipper standing there. "Oh, excuse me. The dust in here tickles my nose. Don't worry, I'll have it cleaned up in a day or two."

Dayton put both his paws on the desk and swung himself over to the other side. He walked over to the wolf. "You must be the head of the Luminance crew." he said, holding out a paw. "I'm Dayton."

The wolf shook his paw. "Everyone here calls me Skipper."

Dayton smiled. "Then I shall not break the trend," he said. "I asked you here because there are several problems that I think you could help me with."

Skipper marveled that Dayton's voice could be so quiet while still being able to be heard. "I'll help in anyway I can." Skipper replied.

"Good! Firstly, I had a question for you. None of the luminant systems in this building are working. I assume that's by design?" Dayton asked.

Skipper nodded. "Yes, we deactivate the power in the buildings that aren't in use. It helps conserve energy." he said. "I'll get the team to reinstate the grid in here. Should be able to have that done by later today. I should warn you, though, we've not ever used this building. It's possible the grid is damaged in places. If that's the case, then it will take us some time to get it up to snuff."

"That's alright, I understand. Though from what I've seen, most of this equipment is in admirable shape, considering how long since it's last been used." Dayton said. "I have another question: Is there a large furnace here in the commune?"

Skipper blinked. "There is...it's not in use now, of course. It's summer," he said. "But if you want, we could fire it up for you, if you need it."

"I might." Dayton said. "Now for my most important question...is there anywhere around here where I can get my paws on a screwdriver?"

Skipper laughed. "That I can help you with!" he said, grinning. "Follow me, I'll show you to where we store the maintenance gear. You're welcome to anything you need."

* * *

Trick padded along the main thoroughfare of the commune, crowded with people at this time of day. Everyone had a job to do, and they went about it cheerfully. Trick paused for a moment and looked around. He was proud of what they had been able to create here. These were all people who had been evicted from their homes, cast heartlessly from their families. But now they laughed and bantered with each other, filling the street with chatter as Trick walked through.

Trick had succeeded in making a home for them. Which had always been his dream.

But now, for the moment, Trick was very glad that he was done with his duties for the day. Because he'd succeeded in making a home for one other person...a certain black fox.

Trick made his way toward the dormitories, not in any particular hurry. He knew that Ako would be waiting for him when he returned, and he took some extra time to relish the thought of being with the fox again. Trick hadn't noticed it as it was happening, but now he was certain that he was in love.

The coyote was distracted as he saw someone come walking out of the Dormitories, with his paws overtly full. Beneath two synthetic bags, a tool belt, a sound proof panel, and two large coils of wire, Trick was able to barely discern the form of a German Shepherd.

"Geez, Alan! Don't take the whole building with you!" Trick said.

A darkened muzzle peeked out from underneath one of the bags, grinning. "Well, it was tempting, but I think I'll settle for what I've got right now."

"You work too hard." Trick said seriously. "Your entire crew does. You want me to fetch someone to help you with that? I'd help, but I walk on all my paws..."

"For the eighteenth time, no thank you, Trick." Alan grinned. "I don't lift weights for nothing, you know. Besides, I love my work. We all do, Trick."

Trick started to nod, but then suddenly grinned. "I think you've been enjoying working on someone that wasn't the Luminant System, hmm?"

Alan very nearly dropped everything he was carrying. "Geez...I tried to wash up. Can you still smell it?"

The coyote tried not to laugh. "Yeah, a little bit. I wouldn't worry about it, none of the bipeds can smell as well as I can."

Alan stood up straighter. "Trick, I?I apologize. I realize that I was on duty and shouldn't have wasted valuable..."

Trick waved him off. "Alan, please. You're working more than you're not, and I feel guilty every day of my life because I sleep more than you guys do. If I could use my paws the way you do, I'd be helping you every day." he said. "Besides, I'm just a manager! All I really have the authority to make recommendations."

Alan relaxed. "Well, then what do you recommend?"

"I recommend you do it more often!" Trick laughed. "Don't worry, I'm sure Skipper will give in soon."

Alan tensed again. "Man! Can you smell him on me, too?"

"No, that I inferred." Trick said, his tongue lolling out of his mouth in amusement. "You should see the way he looks at you when you're not paying attention."

Alan's tail began to wag. "Really?"

Trick winked. "Really. Now go on, I'm sorry I held you up while you're holding so much!"

Alan merely nodded his understanding, and went back on his way, wearing a smile.

The coyote continued walking toward the dormitories, musing all the while. Poor Skipper. It was the nature of this commune that relationships didn't have the habit of lasting long. There was too much opportunity around here to share love with other people besides your selected mate. The relationships that always lasted the longest were the ones that were truly loving, but not mutually exclusive. And even Trick had never been very good at that. Sharing was hard to do.

The coyote knew that was a subject that he and Ako would have to discuss soon. He was in love with Ako, truly he was. But he knew that Ako was young, and had only just come to realize the sexual freedom he possessed. Here, he was allowed to love and make love to whomever he wished. Trick loved him, and was sure that he would feel a little jealous. But it would be worth holding onto the fox, while still letting him find out who he was.

Trick meandered up the stairs to his room, feeling almost giddy. It had been a good while since his last serious relationship, and that one hadn't been anything to remember. Like so many here, the coyote's previous lover had been a wanderer. And just like Skipper's, Trick's last partner had felt the need to travel once again, and had left. Trick had more or less expected that it would happen. But that never made it a pleasant experience. Wanderlust was a hunger that nothing could quell. Trick had been with a person or two since then, but never really for keeps. Just for play.

But Ako! Ako was so perfect in so many ways! Trick knew that Ako had no desire to leave this place. And that was wonderful, because this was right where Trick wanted the little fox to stay. With Ako, Trick was playing for keeps.

Trick came up to his door, and pushed it open, looking forward to gently nudging the little fox awake for the afternoon. As the coyote closed the door behind him, he noticed something strange. Ako wasn't in his bed!

The coyote was bowled over by what he guessed was a bolt of black lighting. But it he couldn't be sure. It moved too fast! Before he knew which end was up, he found that Ako was sitting perched upon his chest, gently licking the coyote's chin and down his neck.

"Oof...I guess we're feeling better?"

Ako grinned, nodding. "Dakota came up awhile ago. He brought me food and another shot of that stuff."

"I need to talk to him about that, I thought morphine was supposed to make you drowsy, not hyper."

"Mmm...it doesn't make me hyper. You do." Ako said, looking away from the coyote shyly.

Trick smiled. "Awww...come here!"

Trick put a paw around Ako's neck, and pulled him in, kissing him soundly on the muzzle. He'd only intended for the kiss to last briefly, but it didn't turn out that way. After only a few moments, their muzzles opened to one another, and Trick huffed through his nose as he tasted Ako in his mouth. It was only with great reluctance he broke the kiss.

"Mmm, I'm gonna have to tell Dakota to stop giving you medicine. Whenever you're on the stuff, I can't seem to keep my paws off you." Trick murmured.

Ako nuzzled the side of the coyote's face, licking gently at his ears. "I don't want you to keep your paws off me."

"I don't want to, either."

"Well, then, let's not!"

It was then that Trick noticed something firm pushing at his belly that wasn't one of Ako's paws, and the fox's tail began to wag slowly.

Trick tried to look firm as he spoke, but he couldn't keep from smiling. "Ako! You're supposed to be taking it easy! "

Ako laid his head on his paws. "I can't help it!" he protested. "Trick, yesterday...I thought I couldn't have you. Not ever."

Trick gave a sigh and laid his head back. "Thanks, Ako. Now you know I can't say no to you." he said. "I still feel terrible about that. I hoped you'd have picked it up...but I guess no one really does talk about it in the open. We're still all scared..."

Ako kissed Trick's chest. "From the citadels." he finished Trick's sentence. "but I don't have to be anymore."

Ako reached up with a single paw to the door behind Trick, flipping the lock as he had seen the coyote do the previous evening. He looked back down to Trick and kissed the coyote soundly on the muzzle. Trick didn't resist. Quite the opposite, he leaned into the kiss with zeal.

Trick felt something press against him, and he broke the kiss with a squeak of surprise. He blinked up at Ako, who was grinning.

"You gonna be on top this time, huh?" Trick said, laughing.

"I thought I'd try my paw at it." the fox said, sticking his tongue out.

Trick grinned. "That's fine by me, as long as you keep weight off your bad leg!" he said. "Now, there's a few things you should knooooowwwooah!"

Trick's breath was forced from him as Ako inserted himself entirely into Trick, his hips pressing against the coyote.

"A-Ako! It's customary to use some sort of lubrication before you do that!" he panted. "G-geez..."

"Sorry!" Ako said breathlessly, pausing to lick at Trick's chest. "I'll have to keep that in mind for next time..."

* * *

Skiff slinked along the side of the main thoroughfare, trying to appear unobtrusive as possible. He really didn't need the pressure today. The previous night had been a long and terrible one, sleepless and painful. Normally he was just able to get up, stretch himself out, and then all he had to deal with throughout the rest of the day was soreness. Not true with this day; the warmth of the bright sunlight did nothing to ease his aches. His back leg was cramping, and the jackal was forced to limp. He'd hoped walking would make it better, but it didn't seem to be the case.

He walked as close to the buildings on the side of the road as possible, hoping he would not be noticed. Even so, he drew looks from passers-by. Not like it mattered anyway. No one cared about him. He just wanted to hide in the dormitories, forever if possible.

But then something happened that made Skiff stop in his tracks. It was so subtle that he almost didn't notice what had made him hesitate at first. But then he heard it. It was a melody, soft and slow, but piercingly sweet, and somehow familiar. Skiff lifted his ears, listening hungrily. He looked around quickly for the source, but didn't see anyone that making any sort of noise. Then he noticed the library.

The door stood, slightly ajar, venting the melody to the commune.

Skiff stood, merely staring and listening for what might have been minutes or months. After a short while longer, he roused himself again, and went to investigate.

He nosed the door of the library open wide enough to stick his head through. The place inside was dark, lit only by the sunlight streaming through stained windows. The jackal's eyes were still dazzled from the sunlight outside, and he could see nothing inside the building. But he could still hear that quiet, wonderful tune. His curiosity overruled his caution and Skiff walked into the library, pushing the door shut with his nose behind him.

Slowly Skiff's eyes became accustomed to the dark, and he saw before him terminals. Computers, like the citadels had. The library was even equipped with several stations designed for those who trod on four feet, like he used to have back at his old home. Skiff hesitated at the site of these. That had been so long ago he was surprised he even could remember them.

The eerie tune abruptly stopped, and Skiff's heart almost stopped along with it.

"Well, hello there!"

Skiff spun around as a white face tarnished by dust appeared above one of the terminals to Skiff's side, and grinned. "Aha! Welcome to the commune library, No One! We met briefly yesterday, I'm not sure if you remember. You seemed to be in some distress."

Skiff blinked, taken aback. The voice startled him. It was so quiet as to almost be a whisper, but Skiff could hear him as well as if he had been shouting. "What did you call me?"

The white fox-wolf stood up. "No One. That's what you told me your name was." he said. "Unless of course you were mistaken."

"I¬¬¬?" Skiff began, but then just sat down, looking away. "I didn't feel like telling you. It's not your business anyway."

The fox-wolf had already gone back to work on his terminal. He was setting a plastic faceplate in place and beginning to secure it in place with a screwdriver. "Oh, I suppose it's not my business." he said. "But if there's any chance that you might want to tell me anyway, please feel free."

The jackal hesitated, but then spoke, trying to appear nonchalant. "I like to be called Skiff."

The white fox-wolf paused in his work to smile at the jackal. "Welcome to the library, Skiff. My name is Dayton." he said. "You have the time, I'd very much like for you to stay and talk with me. It gets too quiet in here for my liking...if you don't hurt too bad for it, of course."

Skiff sat up straighter. "I don't hurt." he said quickly. How in the world could he know?

"Of course not. All the same if you'd like to stay, I'd be very grateful for the company."

Before Skiff had a moment to answer, Dayton was back at work, whistling quietly to himself. Skiff had found the source of his enchanted melody.

The jackal stood very still merely listening. Dayton said nothing, but merely whistled his strange tune, as if Skiff's mere presence in the room was enough to stave away whatever quiet the fox-wolf had disliked.

The melody itself seemed to have the ability to meld with time, making it flow much faster. Or much slower, Skiff couldn't be sure. Skiff was sure that it was unearthly, and he was certain he didn't want it to stop.

After what had only been a few moments, the melody came to end, and Dayton continued to work on in silence.

Skiff was almost afraid to speak, but he had to. "What is that song?"

Dayton looked up. "That song?" he looked upward thoughtfully. "Goodness, it's been so long, I don't even remember the name. I'm not ever sure I ever knew the name. That was something my mother would hum to me before putting me to bed."

Skiff stared hard at the floor. "I'm surprised you can sing it, then."

"Why's that?"

The jackal shook his head. "Almost no one here has fond memories of their parents."

"Perhaps I'm luckier than most." Dayton said quietly, finishing with the terminal and moving to the display screen. "Do you not remember your parents fondly?"

Skiff shook his head harder. "I do not wanna talk about that."

Dayton looked at him from around the display screen. "I assume by the fact that you're here and that you resent your mother that you lived in a citadel prior to this." he said. "Which one are you from?"

Skiff jumped to his feet, growling. "Good lord! What's with all the fucking personal questions? Mind your own business!"

Dayton held up his paws disarmingly. "Goodness! You're very angry for someone who's so submissive."

Skiff growled louder. "I'm not submissive to anyone! The hell are you talking about?!?"

"Of course not." Dayton said, his voice betraying no anger, and not raising in volume even in the slightest. "If not submissive then why not knock me over? You were thinking about it, weren't you? What's stopping you?"

Skiff's mood abruptly changed, his ears laying back in fear. How the hell did this guy know what he was thinking? The jackal took a step back.

"Who are you?"

Dayton looked up with a small smile. "Me? I'm...no one." he said quietly, and then he promptly returned to his work.

Skiff stared at Dayton for nearly ten minutes before his haunches slumped to the ground in utter confusion. Dayton seemed not to notice.

"You know, I really could use some help in here. It wouldn't be so lonely, and I could get a lot more done! Today, I think it would be best if you went to the medical staff for some pain medication and then took a nap, but I'd be very grateful if you stopped by tomorrow!"

Skiff very slowly stood up, looking very carefully into Dayton's golden eyes. "Yeah...I'll be here."

* * *

Ako wasn't used to staying put for such a long period of time. He was a fox, and it was in the very nature of a fox to wander. IT was also in the nature of a fox to move, duck, weave, run, and jump on a regular basis. It had been nice to spend a few days relaxing after his ordeal, and even nicer to be able to spend it in Trick's room. But Ako was beginning to twitch. The pain in his leg was not gone but it was bothering him less and less, and he keenly felt the desire to be out and about again. But as it was, he was confined to this room until the end of the week, so he could only lay languidly on his blankets and let his mind drift through the day.

Ako never would have considered himself to be a gossip in the commune. But now that he was secluded from the rest of the community, he was realizing that, while he wasn't a gossip, he loved to listen. He had made it a habit of always knowing who was talking about what...although, he hadn't known that everyone here shared the homosexual gene defect, so perhaps he wasn't very good at it. He'd just thought they were all discussing friendships, not relationships. As Trick had said, it wasn't something that was often spoken about in the open. Old habits die hard.

Despite how well he may have done it, he did enjoy listening around. And it pained him that while in here he was unable to do that. Dakota had been bringing him bits of news every day. Ako had heard that the library was in the process of being fixed by Dayton, the newcomer. The fox was nearly ecstatic over that!

The digital library was one of the few things that he could think of about his old home that didn't hurt to remember. The digital library had everything that anyone could want. Of course, most people had an intranet connection in their own home, but anything one could want?movies, novels, comics, recorded television shows?they were all in the library. And they were free, as long as you kept up your subscription, which was free for the citizens of the citadel. The library had been the place Ako had gone to meet his friends, to watch shows and play simulation games...

A life that Ako had forgotten.

Most of the commune felt the same way as Ako, so it was no wonder that this Dayton was the focus of most of the discussions around the commune. The black fox wondered what this Dayton was like...

Ako's thoughts were disturbed by a polite knock on the door. Ako looked up, bewildered. It was the time of day that Dakota should be bringing him food, but Dakota never knocked. He shouted in, and then opened the door. The knock came again, just as measured and polite as the first time. Ako cleared his throat.

"Um...Come in!"

The door slid open, and Ako was surprised to see a creature completely covered in white fur walk in, not Dakota, carrying a bowl of food. The black fox sat up straighter.

The creature was some blend of fox and wolf, Ako immediately perceived. The white person nodded politely.

"Pardon me, you were expecting Dakota, I'm sure. I'm afraid the wiring of the luminant system in the library has caused some sort of fuss this afternoon. Both Trick and Dakota are managing that." he said. His voice captivated Ako; it was resonating, and clearly audible, but the fox-wolf spoke barely above a whisper. The fox-wolf set the bowl of meat on the floor.

"I have to apologize, when I took on the task of repairing the library, I'd hoped not to disrupt the schedule of things here."

At the mention of the library, Ako's ears came up, and he wagged his tail. "The library? You're Dayton?"

The fox-wolf smiled. "I would be considered guilty of such an accusation." he said. "If you don't mind, could I sit with you while you eat? I'm afraid for a newcomer like me, conversation is very difficult to come by."

Ako stood as quickly as he could without losing his balance, and hobbled off the sleeping nook he was in and hop-skipped his way to Dayton. "Yes, please...I've been dying to meet you!"

Dayton laughed quietly. "I'm flattered! So, tell me, how long have you lived here?"

"A little more than a year. I like it here." Ako said, nosing the bowl with interest before tucking in with vigor.

"I like it here, as well. Everyone seems to actually care about each other here. That's...hard to come by these days." Dayton said, sitting down cross-legged on the floor. He leaned against the wall. "I'm glad I can help with the library here."

Ako paused his eating, swallowed, and looked up. "We're all glad, too. I don't know how you're doing all that just by yourself! That place was in shambles from what I heard..." Ako lowered his head and began to eat again.

"Not shambles." Dayton said. "It's actually in remarkable condition, considering how long it's been sitting unused. Besides, now that I've drafted the help of Skiff, it should go considerably faster."

Ako choked, then coughed quickly. "S-Skiff?" he gasped incredulously. "Are you sure that's such a good idea?"

Dayton grinned. "You are not the first to try to warn me away from Skiff. Everyone around here seems eager to give him a vote of no-confidence. I've yet to pass judgment on him."

Ako looked away. "Well...I don't think he's as bad as most people around here think he is. But he's the reason I'm stuck up here."

Dayton's ears came up. "He? Skiff?" he said, surprised. "Did he hurt you?"

"Not intentionally...I don't think." Ako said, settling himself in the sphinx position while still looking away uncomfortably. "He was complaining about Trick, because...well, it's a long story."

"If you have the time, I'd like to hear it." Dayton said, folding his arms.

Ako began to clean one of his paws distractedly. "Well, have you seen our bathing pool?"

"I have. I've managed to utilize a small amount of time to give myself a tour."

"Alright...so you'd have seen the drying tubes. We have a lot of them, and a big bathing pool. Dakota told me that's because there used to be a lot more people working here, and they could only bathe at the time that shifts changed. So everyone bathed at once."

Dayton nodded. "I've been to two active outposts. That's still true."

"I was bathing a few days ago, and I was having a bad day, so I went to dry myself on the top floor...I wanted to be alone. I'd half fallen asleep, and Skiff pushed me out of the tube."

Dayton sat up intently. "You fell?"

Ako shook his head. "No, I managed to catch myself just before I fell. It scared me, though. I'm still not comfortable talking about it."

"I see." Dayton said, folding his paws in front of his muzzle. "But if you didn't fall, how'd you get hurt?"

Ako's ears laid back. "I ran into him in the middle of the woods. He was with two other guys, a big puma and a wolf, and they were talking about hurting Trick. I jumped out and told them that if they wanted Trick they'd have to go through me. Skiff didn't want to, but his pals sure did. I managed to get up and chase after them, but I fell...I think. I don't remember too much after that."

The room was silent for a few moments. For lack of anything else to say, Ako began eating again.

Dayton was lost in his own thoughts. Skiff? Attacking Ako? Pushing him out of a drying tube eight floors up. Attacking Ako? No, not attacking. He was reluctant to attack Ako. But more than willing, supposedly, to attack Trick. He didn't know who Trick was of course. Neither did Ako. But that had little to do with it. Intent to kill, or at least he thought he had.

Dayton was more than willing to admit, he had only seen a small fraction of the puzzle that he had set himself to solve. But even so, these pieces didn't seem to fit. Skiff? The small jackal that he'd met in the library? Were they even talking about the same creature? Dayton could only begin to imagine...

"Excuse me...Dayton?"

Dayton quickly smiled and looked down at Ako. "Sorry, I was thinking." he said. "Goodness! I'm being very poor company, thinking to myself. I apologize."

Ako's smile returned a little. "It's alright. Anyway, I've finished eating." he said. "Please tell Dakota I said thanks. And thank you for stopping by."

"It was my pleasure." Dayton said, standing and retrieving the now empty bowl. "Thank you so much for talking with me. I hope I'll see you often."

Ako grinned. "If you'll be working in the library, you'll see me plenty!"

"I should hope so!" Dayton said. Then he gave a little bow. "Until then, my good fox!"

Dayton quietly exited the room. A quick stop off at the kitchens to return the bowl, then back to work in the library. But tomorrow Skiff would be coming by tomorrow. Then the real work would begin.

* * *

"What the hell are you doing?"

A day had past, and the jackal and the fox-wolf were again in the library, Dayton hard at work. Skiff looked at Dayton in the utmost confusion as he saw the fox-wolf, with a giant accordion-like device, and he was using it on one of the terminal stations. Dayton stretched the strange accordion open, and pushed it shut. There was a loud rushing of air, and Skiff jumped backwards as dust exploded from the terminal.

Dayton stood, now completely covered from head to toe in large clumps of dust. He wore the same apron that the maintenance staff wore, so most of the dust adhered to that while the rest grayed his white fur. He seemed unperturbed by his disheveled appearance, and stood happily laughing between sneezes. "Oh, hahahaaaCHOO! Hehee, that worked quite a bit better than I thought it was going to. And obviously necessary as well! HahhaaaCHOO!"

Skiff's ears were laid back, and his pose revealed that he considered Dayton to be possibly dangerous. Dayton's voice was an enigma to him. Even when the fox-wolf laughed, it was a resounding quiet. Skiff asked the only question that he felt he stood a reasonable chance of getting an answer to. "What the hell is that thing?"

Dayton held up the accordion. "This? This is a bellows. The maintenance crew uses it to start the pilot for the furnace in the winter. I'm using it to clear dust off the data boards in the terminals. You can't clean those with water. They short out. So, I use air!"

Skiff jumped even further back when Dayton used the bellows to blow a gust of air in his face. "Goddammit! Cut it out!" he growled.

"Take it easy, Skiff. I'm not going to hurt you." Dayton said, quickly using a nearby broom to sweep up the dusty mess he he'd made.

"How am I supposed to know that? I've known you for a day." Skiff said, scowling. "You never know who can hurt you."

"I do." Dayton said simply. "I always know."

Skiff growled again. "You're arrogant. How do you know I won't kill you?"

Dayton continued sweeping. "Any number of reasons. But if you feel the urge to attack me, please feel free. You'll note I'm looking away from you. I wouldn't even see it coming."

Skiff was instantly deflated. Dayton's voice had punctured through the jackal's anger. Skiff once again sat down, hunching his shoulders. "How can you say things like that without sounding angry?"

Dayton stopped sweeping to give a smile to Skiff. A real smile. "Skiff, I'm not angry, I just wish I knew why you are." he said. "I have no reason to be angry with you. In fact, I like you."

Skiff was taken aback. His jaw hung open in absolute surprise. "You...like me?"

Dayton laughed silently. "Should I not?"

For a moment he could do nothing but stare at Dayton. But then Dayton looked back, and under the onslaught of shimmering golden eyes, Skiff was forced to look away. "There are plenty of reasons you shouldn't. I'm not an easy person to get along with."

Dayton swept his pile of dust and dirt into a dustpan that he was skillfully holding up with a footpaw. "Do you like being that way?"

"No, of course not." Skiff said.

"Then change."

Before Skiff had a chance to blink in surprise, Dayton had deposited his dust safely in a bin, and was taking off his work apron. He threw the apron over the main desk, and began to put on boots.

Skiff peered around the desk at the fox-wolf. "Where are you going?"

Dayton finished tying one boot and moved to another. "We're going on a little field trip. I need to gather some materials from the woods around here. I'd like your help to carry the things back."

"Well, I guess. I'll help where I can."

"That's all I can ask." Dayton said.

Skiff said nothing as they walked through the forest. He idly wondered where they were going. But more than that, he wondered about Dayton. He looked up at the fox-wolf, clad now in a clean long-sleeve shirt, pants and a vest. Dayton had apparently had time to make himself several new articles of clothing, and the commune had given him several more. Dayton was the only thing he could think about. This white creature was so inexplicably strange! And Skiff couldn't have said what it was that made him so curious about Dayton, but he was most definitely curious.

They were walking north, away from the commune. Skiff had been this far from the commune before, but not without good reason. He was beginning to become agitated.

"Skiff!"

The jackal jumped into the air in fright, he landed with his paws spread and his hackles raised. "What?!?"

Dayton stopped walking, turning around. "Skiff, I need to teach you to relax. We're out in the middle of the woods and I have an excellent sense of smell that tells me we're completely alone." he said, giving a comforting smile. "No one's going to hurt you."

Skiff sat down and smoothed his ruff out with a paw. "I know that. Ya just startled me is all."

Dayton chuckled behind a paw. "Come on, Skiff, walk up here next to me. I don't want to worry about hitting you with my tail."

Dayton turned and began to walk. Skiff skipped ahead to walk beside him, dodging the fox-wolf's long white tail. "You have a very nice tail." Skiff said without thinking. Then he faltered and looked away in embarrassment.

Dayton looked over the jackal's hesitance. "Thank you! I've always rather liked it myself." he said. They continued to walk on in silence for a moment, then Dayton spoke again. "So, how long have you lived at the commune?"

Skiff rolled his eyes. "Again with the questions?"

Dayton looked down at the jackal. "Skiff, I'm only making conversation. I'm not attacking you. I'm curious about you because I enjoy talking to you." he said. "You don't have to tell me anything you're not comfortable with me knowing."

Skiff just stared at his paws, and said nothing.

Dayton returned his gaze to the path ahead of him. "Besides, I already know."

The jackal looked up sharply.

"Ako told me he's been here for a year. And you're jealous of him, because he's managed to fit in so quickly. So you've been here for...a year and half to two years?"

Skiff stopped moving, his eyes wide and his teeth bared. "How the hell do you know all of this?!?"

"I pay attention. You'd be surprised what people can tell you without speaking."

Dayton continued to walk, but Skiff stayed where he was, watching the fox-wolf's tail move back and forth with utter confusion. Eventually he began to run, trying to catch up with Dayton.

"Hey, Dayton! What else do you know about me?"

Dayton spoke over his shoulder. "Absolutely nothing! If you'd tell me something about yourself, I wouldn't have to learn from other people."

Skiff let out a soft whimper. "What do you want to know?"

"Can you tell me what you like to do?"

The jackal shook his head. "I don't do anything. I hunt for the commune so I can stay and live here."

"Do you like to hunt?"

"Not really."

"Then why do you do it?"

Skiff gave a noncommittal grunt. "It's gotta be done, and I gotta do something if I wanna stay."

Dayton look at the sky and smiled to himself. "I see."

Skiff cocked an eyebrow. "It that what you wanted to know?"

"No, I more wanted to know what you do for you. What do you do for fun?"

Skiff sighed. "I already told you, I don't do anything."

Dayton looked down, his radiant golden eyes seeming almost to glow through the afternoon sunlight. "Come now. Everyone has something they like to do. Everyone. They'd go mad otherwise." he said. "What's yours?"

Skiff somehow could not look away from the ice of Dayton's eyes. "I like to play chess." he said. Then he very forcibly closed his eyes and turned resolutely away. "But I haven't done that in a very, very long time. I don't know anyone who knows how to play. I don't know anyone who would wanna play with me."

"Have you asked around the commune?" Dayton asked.

Skiff snorted. "Why would anyone around that place wanna talk to me? No one wants to have anything to do with me, and I don't really want anything to do with them. It works out fine for me."

Dayton cocked an ear. "For someone so needy, you seem very eager to drive people away."

Skiff growled. "The fuck is 'needy' supposed to mean? I live entirely by myself!"

"And you hate it." Dayton said. Then he quickly stopped. "Ah, we're there!"

Skiff looked around. "Where?"

"Here!" Dayton said, walking over to a small mound in the ground. "I passed this mound on the way here. I'm glad I remember where it was!"

Skiff looked where Dayton was standing to see something very unremarkable; it was a mound of earth, not quite large enough to be called a hill, covered with grass, much like any other open space around the forest.

The jackal bared his teeth. "This is stupid. What's so special about?What the hell are you doing?"

Dayton was crouched on his knees, digging in the dirt with both paws. After only a few moments of frantic digging, he reached into the dirt and unearthed a small rock, black in color with a sort of dull luster.

Skiff raised an eyebrow. "If you wanted rocks, those can be found anywhere, and you don't have to dig." he said, rolling his eyes "Why are we here?"

"Rocks I don't need. What I need is a relatively pure source of carbon. This is coal. Hundreds of years ago, in the 19th century, it used to be societies main source of heat and energy. Someone must have left a pile of it out here way back when, and it just eventually got covered up. Luckily there's still some big pieces intact."

"Why do you need it?"

Dayton winked. "That's the fun part. I can use it to repair part of the library terminals." he said, taking the empty sack from his shoulders and starting to load coal into it. "I'll show you when we get back. Can you help me dig?"

Skiff didn't bother questioning further. He dug his claws into the earth and started to dig. Dayton dug right along side him, and the two began to collect coal in small pile they built between them.

"Do like doing all this? You go from building libraries one day to digging holes the next?"

"I do enjoy doing all this. I guess it started when I was a kid. I would go collect junk from around the citadel and put it together into something that worked." he said.

"You're strange." Skiff said, unearthing another piece of coal and dropping into the pile.

"Well, what about you? What did you do as a child?"

Skiff growled and dragged his claws across the surface of the ground. "Again! Again with the damn questions?!? I don't need to tell you my fucking life story just to dig, alright? Leave me alone!"

The jackal turned with bared teeth, and moved to jump at Dayton. To tackle him, to bite him, to do anything to stop him.

Suddenly there were white paws around Skiff. The jackal looked up and found that Dayton was hugging him. He stared at the white creature, completely speechless, hardly daring to breathe. Dayton pulled him tighter.

"Please relax, I know you don't really want to hurt me. I'm sorry, Skiff. I don't know what your home was like, but I know they hurt you. I apologize if I keep reminding you." he said, murmuring into Skiff's ear. "I won't ask more now, but later you should tell me about it. It might make you feel better."

Skiff tried to mouth the words, but found it extremely difficult. He rested his chin on Dayton's shoulder. "F-Feel...better?"

"...it might." Dayton replied.

The fox-wolf slowly released Skiff, gave him a small wink, and returned to digging. Skiff took a step backward, and shook his head violently, trying to clear away his confusion.

He started to turn. To run back to the commune. To hide in his room and never leave. It was safe there. But he didn't turn, and he didn't run. He stayed. He took a shuddering breath, and once again walked forward, dug his claws into the earth, and began to dig, carefully avoiding looking at Dayton all the while.

It had been years since someone had touched Skiff at all, much less touched him with any affection or kindness.

Neither of them said anything more as they dug. But Dayton began to whistle.

* * *

Trick walked through the commune, more as a matter of course than out of any real necessity. He liked to know at least a little bit about everything that was going on at the commune. It was his job, but also his hobby. He had the time, anyway. He knew for a fact that Ako was sleeping right now. There would be plenty of time for him and Ako to...'converse' when Trick returned to his room for the evening.

Trick would be able to sneak in quietly when Ako was still asleep, and close the door almost silently. Then he'd creep softly into the sleeping nook and lay down behind the little fox. Then he'd whisper in his ear, "Honey. Honey you've been sleeping all day. You need to get up for a little while or you'll never sleep tonight."

Then he'd start nuzzling and nipping at Ako's neck and Ako would slowly wake up, making little fox noises, yipping and squeaking with each touch. And then he'd slowly start to respond to Trick...Mmm...

The coyote had to stop when he reached the outside of the commune, leaning against a building and taking deep breaths. He needed to calm himself down. Those that walked about without clothing didn't have the luxury of being sexually aroused whenever they pleased, unless they wanted to be severely embarrassed.

"You know, if you'd like me to be an effective sentry, you shouldn't give me things to look at besides what I'm supposed to be watching."

Trick looked around. Standing a few yards away from the edge of the campus, the largest creature in the commune stood. He was a huge, hulking black wolf. He was a quadrupedal wolf, and his black coat was perfectly groomed, gleaming in the afternoon sun. There were huge muscles that could be seen, outlined just beneath his fur. He was terrifyingly strong. He was also the most gentle creature that Trick had ever known.

"Oh...hello, Darron. You frightened me." Trick said, grinning ruefully.

Darron laughed. "No I didn't. I know for a fact that my voice doesn't scare you at all."

Trick continued to grin. "You know a great deal about me that other people will never get to know."

Darron turned to Trick and gave a sad smile. "No, Trick. I don't think I do anymore."

Trick cocked an ear. "What do you mean?"

"I think you've cashed in your black wolf for a little silver fox."

Trick laid his ears back. "Aww, Darron..."

"Don't you mope at me, coyote." Darron said, laughing. "We were just a fling, I knew that when we started. But I will miss the feeling of a warm coyote underneath me."

Trick lifted his ears and smiled. "I'll miss you, too."

Darron laughed again. "Bah! Get out of here. You're distracting me from my work!"

"I'm sorry, I'll be on my way then. But remember, you're still one of my best friends!" Trick said.

"As are you. Tell Ako I said hi." Darron said, returning his gaze to the forest surrounding the commune. "He is a cute one, isn't he?"

Trick walked away from the black wolf, back into the commune, smiling all the while. "Yes," the coyote murmured. "Yes he is."

Trick walked with mixed feelings. He had never promised Darron anything, and Darron seemed perfectly all right with that. In fact, they hadn't really talked with each other for almost three months. What they had couldn't have been properly called a relationship. But still, Trick had never simply walked away from someone before. He would have to apologize more thoroughly when time permitted.

The coyote meandered for a few minutes more, inventing several places that he could go and check up on things. But in the end, he disregarded all of them. It was time to call it a day, and then wander back up to his room for a romantic evening with Ako. But he would need to see Dakota first. Third day of every week, Trick and Dakota met to discuss the commune, and made sure that issues were being taken care of. Trick huffed slightly when he remembered, but knew he had to go. It was one of the things that kept the commune running smoothly. And it probably wouldn't take more than a few minutes. He'd be able to see Ako soon enough.

There actually were several things that they needed to discuss, however. There was one large issue that was bothering Trick as of late. Skiff...who was always hanging around with Dayton. That in itself wasn't a problem, but if Skiff was making mischief in the library, Trick was going to have to think of some more serious punishment. Trick did not want to shove Skiff out on his own. He truly didn't think the jackal would survive. There was more know-how than just hunting to surviving out in the wild.

Trick padded over to the center building on the right side of the main thoroughfare, where Dakota's office was located, and began to pad up the stairs. But as he got to the door it opened, and Dayton the white fox-wolf stepped out.

"Thank you so much, Dakota. That's all I needed. I'll be sure to drop by again." he said politely into the office. "Goodbye!"

Dayton turned around, and his golden eyes spotted Trick. "Oh, excuse me, Trick. I didn't see you there, sir."

Trick was taken aback. "Dayton, I'm just a manager. You don't need to call me sir."

"Of course. Excuse me again, then."

"Actually I've been meaning to talk with you. Many people have told me that Skiff the jackal has been following you around as of late." Trick said. "If he becomes a bother to you at all, just tell me or Dakota, and we'll keep him away from you."

Dayton smiled. "Oh no, Trick. He's not being a bother at all. I know you've had trouble with him in the past, but he's really just misunderstood, I think. He's actually been a great help to me. I'd like to have him around more if it doesn't disrupt anything else."

Trick blinked. "No, we have plenty of hunters. If he's a help to you that's more valuable to the commune right now. I'll just let you two do your work, then."

Dayton nodded. "Thank you so much." he said. Without another word he walked down the stairs and outside. And Trick stared after him, astounded. Been a great help? Like to have him around more? Were they talking about the same creature?

Trick shook his head, then walked into the office, and he almost ran right into Dakota, who stood waiting for him.

Dakota looked down at the coyote tapping his foot. "Did I hear that right? He said Skiff was actually being helpful? "

Trick dropped to his haunches, looking back up at the red fox. "I know! I don't understand that jackal at all. Still, Dayton's a stout person. I don't think Skiff could really hurt him. Perhaps we should just let them go."

Dakota walked back to his desk, and looked across the room. "Clara?"

The bespectacled husky looked up, her pen resting on a piece of paper, mid-sentence. "Yes sir?"

"You can have the remainder of the evening off. And if I were you, I would leave the rest of the paperwork until tomorrow."

The female husky frowned. "The health building doesn't like when I do that, sir."

Dakota smiled. "Clara, when we first got here, I was the health building, as well as the kitchen building and the administration. They'll like what I tell them to like." he said. "Besides, I've received two reports today about a certain female that's being very discourteous to her neighbors."

Clara stood up, looking quizzically. "Sir?"

Dakota picked up two pieces of paper off his desk. "She's quote 'making unreasonable requests of fellow hunters, and calling inappropriate names' as well as 'constant angry comments and being generally disagreeable.' Sounds like she could use some attention to me."

Clara gave a small smile. "She gets upset when I work too long, sir."

"Of course. We would all feel the same. If you could just tell Darron that I'd like to see him when his shift is over, then you're free to go."

The husky put down her pen and quick arranged her papers in a semi-neat arrangement on the desk. "Thank you sir. I'll just be going, sir."

Clara walked quickly out the door, shutting it quietly behind her. Trick grinned up at Dakota. "I sorta feel like that right now."

Dakota laughed. "You got a black fox up in your room with your name on it?"

Trick nodded, staring out the window at the sun, just beginning to set. "Hopefully he's still asleep. I'm looking forward to waking him up for the evening."

"Well, with your permission I'm going to tell Darron to keep a discreet eye on Skiff, to make sure he's not giving Dayton any trouble. Other than that, I don't really have anything to discuss. Why don't you go ahead and go up there?"

"Of course...Darron's a good idea. Go ahead and have him watch Skiff."

"Alright then."

Dakota continued to write, and Trick continued to look out the window. After a few moments of silence, Dakota looked back up. "Trick. You're still here."

The coyote put a paw on the window. "Dakota, do you think I get around too much?"

"What?"

"Do you think I've had too many lovers since I've been here?"

Dakota laughed. "Trick, in the ten years we've been here, you've only been with four people, only two of them were serious. No, you have not had too many lovers."

"I don't remember being this free when we first got here. I think I've changed myself for this place."

"Trick...when we first got here you were fourteen. You haven't changed, you've grown." Dakota said, putting down his pen and turning his chair towards Trick at the window. "What's really bothering you?"

The coyote sighed. "I had to tell Darron just a little bit ago that I wouldn't be stopping by his room anymore. And now I just think that I shouldn't have started anything with him in the first place."

Dakota grinned wide. "I see what this is. Ako's making you remember your young and tender days. You missing when you were that innocent?"

Trick shook his head. "I just don't feel like I deserve Ako. He's invested everything in me, and I've just been going through people left and right. Doesn't feel right."

Dakota rose from his chair, walked over to Trick, and sat back down, resting his back against the wall. "Listen, Trick. You're a person. You're flesh and blood, not a machine. Your sex drive doesn't just switch off because you're not with the love of your life right at that moment." he said, turning Trick around and putting an arm around his shoulders. "And you've been with four people in ten years. Four. That's not what I'd call left and right."

Trick smiled. "Does that four include you?"

Dakota returned the smile. "I don't think I ever really had you, Trick. We were just young, stupid, and curious. I'm not certain that really counts."

Trick leaned into Dakota. "You know, you were my biggest regret for years and years."

The red fox sighed, still smiling. "So were you for me. But we both know that it wasn't meant to be. We both like to organize things our own way. We work great together, but we would have been terrible lovers."

Trick closed his eyes, and leaned his muzzle up towards the fox. But Dakota stopped him with a paw. Trick opened his eyes and frowned.

"You don't want to have to explain to Ako why your muzzle tastes like Dakota, do you?" the fox said, raising an eyebrow. "And you don't have a good reason to. Come on, Trick, you're not upset. You're just out of sorts from putting Darron off. You're entirely too nice for your own good. Darron's a nice wolf and a sweet person but I'm certain he has others. Most people do around here."

Dakota gave Trick a small kiss on the forehead. "Go talk to Ako. He'll make you feel better."

Trick smiled. "Thanks Dakota." he said, looking at the ground. "I'm proud of what we've done here, but I miss it sometimes. The beginning."

"I don't know what you're talking about. As I recall, the beginning sucked." Dakota laughed.

Trick grinned sheepishly. "You don't miss just the three of us? Just you, me, and Skipper in a room that barely worked?"

"Says the coyote with his own heated bathing pool and powered drying tube right in his room." Dakota said. "We've made something better. And we made it ourselves. I think I like that just fine."

Dakota stood up. "Now go on, get out of here! With your luck, Ako woke up an hour ago."

With a little more pushing a prodding, Dakota managed to get Trick out of the room and onto the stairs, and on his way to see a black fox whom he needed as much as the fox needed him.

* * *

Clara opened the door to her quarters silently, so as not to be heard. She looked inside, and there was a vixen pacing back and forth, angrily punching the wall with a foreleg each time she stopped to turn around. The female husky took off her spectacles and put them on top of her head, watching with amusement as the small red vixen vented her frustration.

"Sannah..." Clara whispered quietly. But the red vixen didn't hear her. She kept pacing.

"Saaaaannaaaaah." Clara whispered a little louder.

The fox spun around, hackles raised and teeth bared. But as soon as her eyes found the husky, her anger melted. She ran headlong across the room and wrapped both her forelegs around Clara's feet.

"Clara! Where have you been? I've been having a terrible day! Everyone's been so mean to me..."

Clara gently picked the smaller vixen up. "No they haven't, honey. You've been mean to them." she said gently. "I keep telling you, you can't fall apart every time I'm not around. We both have our jobs to do. And after that we can spend every second with each other."

Sannah laid her ears back. The one side of her that no one would ever see but Clara, her soft and vulnerable side. No one else knew that she wasn't sassy and headstrong all the time.

"Clara I'm sorry...just..." she sniffed and took a deep breath. "I feel like there are no girls around this place. Besides you I feel like I'm alone."

Clara sat down on a chair across the room, still cradling Sannah in her arms. "First of all, this place is 87% male. There are no girls around." She said, rubbing the vixen's chest with a paw. "Second, just because their male doesn't mean they're against you. A lot of them care as much about you as I do. Let them take care of you when you can."

"I don't want them like I want you." Sannah said.

"I should hope not. I think I'd get jealous!"

Sannah gave a soft growl. "I haven't seen you in two days! I barely got to sleep next to you for an hour before you had to run off to work and I finally get to talk to you and you make fun of me! I've never done anything so rude to you! I'm a good mind to?"

What she was a good mind to do was never properly revealed, because the husky cut her off with a solid kiss on the muzzle. Sannah gave a small vulpine whine in the back of her throat, reflexively trying to resist. But Clara's paws were all over her at once, pressing Sannah firmly back into her lap.

Clara slowly pulled her muzzle back. "You're not really angry at me. You're just upset. But I'm here now...can't we just relax?"

Sannah closed her eyes and pushed her muzzle up against the husky's chin. "I guess I want you too much, sometimes."

The husky's paw moved down the vixen's chest, rubbing against each small, soft nipple beneath the fur. Then, slowly sliding further down, between the vixen's legs.

Sannah gasped, lifting her hips against that gentle touch. "I think you've been wanting something else, too." Clara said, kissing the vixen's neck gently.

Sannah lifted her head with a soft whimper. "Clara! B-be nice! I really missed you..."

"I know, Sannah. I know. I'm just poking fun at you. I love you. I don't like it when you're upset."

"I love you too."

"Is it just missing me? I get the feeling something else is bothering you." she said, reaching into the drawer in the desk beside her.

"Not bothering me, just annoying me."

"Fair enough. Can you tell me about it?"

"It's Ako. He doesn't even do anything around this place and he's the most important thing to everyone."

"What do you mean?"

"He trips and bumps his head and the whole commune is all weepy-eyed for him. I've been injured hunting plenty of times, and no one so much as visited me!"

Clara laughed softly. "Sannah, it comes with the territory. When you're out there, you pretend like you don't need anyone. You try to sound stern, independent, and self-sufficient. Because of that, if you ever fall and bump your head, the commune assumes you can handle it. And besides, you've gotten a few scrapes and bruises. You've never gone and given yourself a concussion, a few bruised ribs, and nearly broken your leg either."

"But still I...nnnnnngh! "

Something warm, soft, and wonderfully slick slid into Sannah. And it took her a minute to realize that Clara was holding the other end of it. In the semi-dark of the room and in her current position, Sannah couldn't really see what it was.

Clara laid her muzzle on Sannah's chest. "Mmm, you like that?"

"What is it?"

"I made it myself, just for us! It's a little toy, and I made it just for this. But you can't tell anyone, all the synthetics are supposed to be for clothing."

Sannah wriggled as more and more of it entered her, spreading her open, and filling her with pleasure. "Ah, ah...Clara! Slow down! Ohhh, how long is this thing?"

The husky laughed. "About a foot. I think you can take all of it, don't you?"

Sannah's eyes widened. "Clara! Are you crazy? I only stand three feet off the ground!"

"Oh hush, Sannah, I'll be gentle. I always am."

Clara shifted her grasp on the vixen somewhat, and Sannah caught a glimpse of the toy that the husky had made. It was a clear plastic, and no more than four or five centimeters wide. But it was every bit as long as Clara said it was.

The husky held Sannah tightly as she pushed gently, but relentlessly inward. Sannah realized after a moment that she had made the plastic slightly textured, which was probably why is felt so good. The vixen was panting after only a few inches, and moaning and groaning each time the toy moved. Sannah swallowed quickly. She realized she had taken six inches of it without much difficulty. But she and Clara usually played with fingers and tongues, not with things this long!

And surely enough, after another inch, she began to feel a tightness develop within her. She kicked her back legs, trying to push at Clara. "Please, slow down! I don't think I can fit much more..."

"Yes you can...you're not relaxing."

The pressure began to build, and it got stronger and stronger, and it was in no way pleasant. But Clara did not stop. She pushed and pushed!

"Clara! Nonono! S-stop! St...aaaaahhh! "

The pressure exploded within her! And with it came a wave of pleasure stronger than anything Sannah had ever felt before. She gave a loud murr, and fell back into Clara's arms, spreading her legs, panting. Clara continued to push, and Sannah moaned loudly, pleasure racking her body now that she had accepted as much as she had.

Clara laughed, and gave the side of Sannah's muzzle a gentle lick. "See? That's not so bad, is it?"

But Sannah couldn't find words. Her muzzle was open and she was breathing heavily as the base of the toy pressed up against her. She could feel every inch of it inside her.

"Ooooh...I think I like this thing." Sannah whispered.

Clara smiled. "I hoped you might." she said. Then she quickly pulled the toy out of Sannah, leaving only an inch inside. "Now are you ready to do all that again?"

The remainder of the night was filled with vulpine squeaks and moans and whimpers, the power of Clara's paws dancing over Sannah's body. Before the night was out, Sannah wondered as she had many times before how in the world she had ever gotten by without a warm husky to sleep by at night.

* * *

"Alright...I give up. What the fuck is this?"

Dayton paused stirring the contents of a large bowl and turned around. "Why do you do that?"

Skiff blinked. "Do what?"

"Swear. You don't really like to. It's like you force yourself to swear just so you appear angry all the time."

Skiff laid his ears back. "I...I'll quit if ya want."

The fox-wolf smiled. "Oh, don't worry about bothering me. But you should stop if it bothers you." he said, then turned around and continued to stir the large bowl.

Skiff took a moment to think about this.

"So...what is this?"

Dayton turned again, then looked onto the table counter where Skiff's muzzle was pointing. "Oh! That." Dayton paused to laugh. The pair of them was in the medical lab, right behind the commune hospital, and Dayton was being as strange as ever. As far as Skiff had been able to follow, Dayton had poured a chemical on the coal they had gathered the previous day, which had somehow liquefied it. He had been stirring the now-liquid coal ever since. But even stranger, on the counter in the center of the lab, there was a welded metal frame, lying in which was a piece of glass. Another piece of glass lay separately across a different table.

"One of the terminals in the library has a broken display. Over the years something hit the screen or maybe it just naturally cracked on its own. I'm making a new screen for the display. I made the frame using heat from the furnace, which Skipper lit for me. That was probably the hardest part."

"So what was the coal for?"

"All screens from this era use a liquid diamond plasma medium. That's how they display in such high definition."

Skiff put his paws up on the counter and stood on his hind legs, poking his nose over the edge of the bowl. "But I thought diamonds were really rare?"

"Well, you're half right. Diamonds large enough to make jewelry out of are very rare. They take thousands of years to crystallize naturally. But diamond is just made from carbon, as is coal, like I have here. And I don't want big diamonds. I want lots and lots of very small diamonds."

"How do you do that?"

Dayton stirred more vigorously. "I'm going to put another chemical in this as soon as I get it smooth, which will turn at least most of it to liquid graphite. Then I'm going to run in through a simple filter that the doctors set up for me, and hopefully when I'm done I'll have 100% pure carbon. After that I'll add a crystallizing agent I found in the basement of the library. Then we just wait for a few minutes, and pour it in the mould I set up on the counter."

Skiff lowered himself back to the floor. "How do you know how to do all this stuff?"

Dayton shrugged. Picked it up from books over the years, I suppose. I read a lot in the places I was before."

Places he was before. Skiff sighed. "Dayton?"

"Yeah?"

"How long do you think you'll stay here?"

He paused and turned around. "Well, I don't know for certain. I've been on the move for as long as I can remember, traveling from place to place. But I think I'll stay here for as long as Dakota and the Overseer will let me."

"Do...you like this place better than others you've been?"

"Oh yes, very much." Dayton said. "Many of the other places that I had been were official. Connected to the Citadels. Everyone there just seemed...busy. They had so much to do, and they didn't care about any of it, or anyone. Here everyone seems to care for each other, and everyone seems to enjoy their work. I've never seen that before."

Skiff moved closed to Dayton. "Did you have friends at those other places you were?"

"Oh yes. Friends, and lovers. I miss them very much."

"Lovers? You had more than one?"

"Indeed." Dayton opened a small bottle, and poured the entire contents into his bowl, then continued to stir.

"How many times have you been in love?"

"Well, I've fallen in love a great many times. But I only had three lovers that I had a solid relationship with."

Skiff looked out one of the small windows in the laboratory ceiling. "I've never been in love. I can't imagine what it must be like to love someone and then stop loving someone."

Dayton chucked. "You assumed I stopped loving any of them."

Skiff's head snapped back. "You still love them? All of them?"

Dayton smiled, picking up the bowl and moving it to the other side of the lab. Skiff followed at his feet. "I still love each one of them, very much. But perhaps they never really loved me like they thought they did." he said. He opened the end of a long device, filled with tubes, and poured the liquid coal into a receptacle at one end. He flipped the machine on, and the tubes inside the glass began to fill with a gentle whirring noise. "All my loves were much younger than me. They were still feeling their way around, not really knowing what love really was."

"They all left you? Aren't you angry at all?"

"No, no...none of them ever meant to hurt me. We each gave each other part of our lives. I hope that maybe I taught them something."

The device made a odd clicking sound, then began to drip an inky black fluid into beaker on the opposite side of the machine. Dayton look at the results with glee.

"Alright! I was hoping this would work out! Looks like I'm going to have all the terminals back fully operational!" He turned to grin at Skiff. "Heh...I'm really excited. I wasn't sure this was going to work!"

Skiff stood back and watched the fox-wolf look back into the machine like a child watching a flea circus. "You really love working on the library, don't you?"

"I do. When we're done, the library will be something that you and I created from something that was broken. I take pride in that. Don't you?"

Skiff was taken aback. "Wait...we?"

"Certainly!" he said, watching carefully as the device began to pour out the inky black fluid in earnest. "I may have been able to finish the library by myself, but I also might have not. That makes it just as much your creation as mine."

Skiff touched a paw to his chest. "My...creation?"

The beaker filled nearly to the top, Dayton turned the machine off, caught the last few drips of black liquid, then moved the beaker to the opposite side of the room, pouring into a large cylinder. "You said you didn't really like hunting all that much, did you not?"

Skiff watched, mesmerized, as Dayton poured another shimmering liquid into the cylinder, and began to stir with a glass rod.

"Well, there is more than one thing that needs done around this commune." Dayton said, smiling to himself as he stirred. "The library is a big place, and it's going to need a lot of work to keep it looking and running properly. I don't think I can do it by myself."

Skiff was equally mesmerized by the quiet strength of Dayton's voice and by the fact that the inky black fluid was beginning slowly to expand. "You can't do it by yourself?"

"No...So, Skiff, if you don't take pride in your hunting, perhaps you could take pride in what you do at the library. Would you like to help me? We could both be full-time librarians."

Even as Skiff's breath caught in his chest, his eyes stared entranced at the cylinder. Within the inky black substance, swirls of pure, shimmering translucence appeared as if by magic. Sunlight from the skylights entered the room, and the liquid diamond dazzled Skiff's eyes with color.

"I...I would like that very much, Dayton."

Later that night, Skiff went to bed feeling very strangely inside. That was starting to occur with regularity. The jackal always felt strangely around Dayton.

* * *

Trick entered his room carefully, ready to once again be bowled over by an overzealous fox in an amorous mood. But to his surprise, Ako didn't meet him at the door. The coyote looked around quickly.

"Ako?"

A black head with green eyes poked itself out of the nearest sleeping nook. "Trick? You're here already!" he said, getting up gingerly and walking on three legs to the door. He put his one good foreleg around the coyote and held him desperately. Trick pushed the door closed behind him and then wrapped both his forelegs around his little fox.

"Hey, I'm here, it's okay."

Ako held onto him even tighter and gave a little whimper. Trick looked down at the black fox with concern. He nuzzled gently into Ako's neck. "Hey, hey...where'd this come from, hm? What's the matter?"

"Nothing, nothing...that you haven't heard before."

Trick gave him gentle lick on the top of his head. "Well, come on. Let's lay down and let me hear it again."

The coyote walked Ako to the makeshift bed in the corner of the carpeted room and gently pushed him into the blankets. Ako didn't resist. Once the fox was lying down, Trick lay down behind him, wrapping both his paws and his tail around the much smaller fox. Ako, even in his distress, could not resist giving a small murr of pleasure, pushing himself back against the coyote.

Trick lay his head between Ako's ears. "Now, what's the matter, beautiful?"

Ako let out another breathless whimper at the sound of the word 'beautiful', but he managed to keep talking over it. "I...don't know what I'm gonna do to earn my place once I'm well again. I know you say that I can stay no matter what, but..." Ako's voice drifted away, and the fox closed his eyes.

"Mmm, you're still worried about that, hmm?"

Ako didn't say anything, and he didn't open his eyes, but merely nodded.

"Do you like to hunt?" Trick asked.

"I do, but..."Ako started to answer hesitantly and Trick cut him off.

"I didn't ask if you thought you were good at it, I asked if you liked it."

There was a moment of silence, and then Ako nodded again.

"Well then, that's what you'll do. I'll teach you and work with you, and we'll make you into a good hunter." Trick said, giving the fox a little squeeze.

"But Trick...if I'm not very good at it, wouldn't the overseer have to..."

"Ako, I going to ask you do something very difficult, and I want you to promise that you're going to do your very best to do it for me."

Ako blinked, wishing he could see Trick's face, but in his current position he could not. "I'll try my best."

"I need you to trust me. I have the power to keep you here, and I want to keep you here. You're not going anywhere. I promise."

The black fox took a deep, shuddering breath, then rolled over to face Trick. He kept his eyes closed as he spoke. "Thank you."

Trick smiled, and delicately licked between Ako's eyes. The fox finally let out a sigh of relief and grinned.

Trick touched his nose to Ako's playfully. "How you feeling this evening, honey?"

Ako's grin broadened. "Why, do you want sex from me again? Goodness, Trick you're so one dimensional."

Trick laughed as he rolled Ako onto his back. He quickly ran his nose down the fox's chest, and then put a paw right between the fox's legs, forcing a squeak of surprise from Ako. Trick growled with pleasure as he gave the fox a small squeeze.

"Well, if you really don't want me to do this, all you have to say is stop."

Ako gave a small, pleasant shudder. "Oooh, you're mean."

Trick gave a quiet, deep laugh, rumbling in the back of his throat. "Mmhmm... Oh, I love you, little fox."

"Hey, who you calling little?" Ako said, thrusting his erect shaft against Trick's paw. "I'm big enough that I made you squeal a couple days ago."

"Heh! You came at me and humped me completely dry, ya' randy fox." Trick said, sticking his tongue out at Ako. The coyote's own shaft had completely unsheathed itself by now, and Trick shoved it mischievously under the fox's tail, and Ako yelped.

"Mmm, you want me to do you dry, too? That way we'd be even!"

Ako gasped, and pawed at the coyote. "Trick, don't...I mean, I didn't know before, I didn't mean..."

Trick silenced him with a kiss, his shaft sliding up Ako's haunch, to his the inside of this thigh, rubbing against the side of Ako's sheath. Ako gave an "Mppf!" into the coyote's muzzle fastened so securely around his own.

"Mmm, Alan gave me something that I think you'll like."

Ako leaned up. "And what might that be?"

The fox couldn't see what it was that Trick was doing, but the coyote threw occasional grins at the fox, so he feared the worst. Ako's large ears swiveled forward and he heard strange sounds. The tearing of paper and other things he couldn't identify. The he felt Trick's paw rub underneath his tail. The fox gasped, and then Trick's paw withdrew, leaving something warm and slick behind. Then Trick took the same paw and rubbed it along his own length, all the while smiling to himself.

"Trick? What in the world are you doing?"

The coyote laughed again. "This stuff is something Alan makes in his free time. Don't ask me how he does it, he somehow just makes it from water and some other stuff that's easy to get, according to him."

"But what is it?"

"Mmm, it has the effect of being...very slippery." Trick said, once again sticking his tongue out. "Heh, well let's see if it works."

Ako took a deep breath as he felt the coyote's paws lifting his rear end...and then pressing forward!

Ako looked up and he could see the shaft sliding into him with great alacrity. "Nn-nnph!" Ako bit his lower lip. "Aww gawd..."

Ako tried to lean farther up to watch, but Trick placed a paw on the fox's chest, pushing him back to the blankets. "Don't worry about that, little foxy! I can keep an eye on that."

The fox gasped when he felt the coyote's knot bump up against him. The knot wasn't yet fully engorged, but it was big enough that Ako noticed. "Ung...nhh...have I ever told you you're mean?"

The coyote let out a long sigh of pleasure, then leaned forward to lick Ako's belly up to his chest. "Mmm, I pride myself on being a tease."

Ako put both his forepaws on top of the coyote's paw on his chest. "Heh, ah...I don't think I'd like you any other way."

Trick smiled genuinely. He thrust himself completely into the fox, up to and including his knot. Ako gasped aloud and Trick seized his muzzle in a passionate kiss.

Ako murred deeply into the muzzle of his mate, putting both his forelegs around the coyote's neck. With the coyote completely inside him, the fox's tail-end was now fully a foot off the ground, held in place by the coyote's impressive shaft. Both of Ako's hind legs were tightly gripping the coyote's sides. In the midst of the kiss, the black fox had wrapped his illustrious tail slowly, sensuously around the coyote's shorter tail. Trick didn't fail to notice, and the coyote had a hard time of it trying not to wag his tail in pleasure.

The coyote broke the kiss, and licked at the side of Ako's muzzle, allowing the fox time to catch his breath, and time to adjust to the large piece of coyote now inside of him. So the coyote bided his time, allowing himself to savor the scent and the presence of Ako.

"Mmm, I can't wait until you're up and about." Trick said, gently running his nose along Ako's neck, drawing a little shiver from the small fox. "I want to take you out running now that we're lovers."

Ako breathed heavily, running his own nose through the fur on the side of the coyote's face. "Mm mm...do you remember, oooh, I suppose you do. Remember the day I quit talking to you."

"Oh yes, I remember. You were running laps around me, and knocked me over. We rolled around with each other for so long that I began to wonder. But I didn't say anything because it was exactly what I wanted."

"It was what I wanted, too...I just didn't know why until that day." Ako said, whimpering. "You know, I've never apologized. I keep moping about what it did to me. But it wasn't really fair to you, was it?"

Trick delicately kissed Ako's throat, and the fox whimpered again. The throat, the jugular. To let another canid touch there was the ultimate sign of trust. And Ako did trust him. The coyote loved him for it.

"It's alright, Ako. It was a miscommunication. You couldn't have done anything differently. We've fixed it now, and we don't need to feel bad about it anymore."

"Did you want me?" Ako whispered.

"Hm?"

"That day, after we had been playing and rolling for...so long. Did you want me?"

Trick pushed his muzzle against Ako's chin. "Yes, I did. Very much." he said. "But I waited. Because I knew that's what you needed. And you were worth it."

Ako laughed out loud, throwing his head back in glee. Trick looked down at him with a cocked ear.

"Ako, are you alright?"

The fox freed one of his paws to wipe his eyes before again wrapping his forelegs around Trick's neck. "Heehee...ooh, I'm sorry Trick, I could either laugh or cry about that day, and considering our current position," Ako gave a little thrust of his hips into Trick's haunches. "I thought laughing would be a better option."

Trick smiled. "Mmm, damn I love you." he said, biting feverishly at where Ako's neck met his shoulders. "Ako, it takes me a long time to fall in love. It always has! But I fell in love with you in just a day, it seems. How do you do it?"

Ako fluttered his eye lashes. "Am I really that attractive?"

Trick bucked his hips playfully. "Oooh, you have no idea."

"Do you want me?"

Trick's tongue hung from his mouth as he panted. "Oooh! You have no idea!"

Ako gave him a small lick on the nose. "You can have me. As much as you want."

Trick grinned and backed out his hips. And Ako made a very foxish noise, somewhere between a yip and a squeak, feeling the strange sensation as the coyote's member pulled out to the very tip, and then both canids made articulate sounds of pleasure as the coyote slid back in.

"Oooh, tight foxy."

"God that feels so good!"

The coyote backed his hips again and then started in earnest, thrusting his hips in and out with canine rapidity and precision. The fox yipped out loud, and wrapped himself even more tightly around Trick.

"Mmm, you still, nnngh! gotta tell me if I'm hurting you, beautiful."

"Aaah, ahh...you're not hurting me." Ako said with great effort between gasps. "You're just so nnph! big!"

Trick grinned with an open muzzle, panting as pleasure consumed his body. "Heh! I am big for you, foxy. But I'm glad it still works out for us." he said. He reached took one of his forepaws and reached between his belly and Ako's. Ako watched the paw disappear, and blinked.

"Trick what are you...?"

Then Ako felt a paw still laden with lubrication begin to rub and caress between his hind legs. The fox cried out, and his hips reflexively tried to thrust against the paw.

Trick held Ako's shaft deftly in his paw, pressing back against the fox's bucking hips. "Mmm, relax honey. You don't need to get all jumpy whenever we're making love." he said in a sultry voice laden with pleasure that was both his and Ako's.

Ako clung to Trick as pleasure cascaded over him relentlessly. "A-ahahh...Trick, I don't know if I can! I twitch an awful lot, especially when you...oh nngh! "

Trick slowed down the pace of his thrusting, as well as the pace of his paw's caressing. "Just try. Just relaaaaaaaax...and let me drive."

Ako let out a desperate whimper, tightening his forepaws around Trick's neck. But with great effort he let his hind end go limp. Trick gave a chuckle, nuzzling against the fox's neck.

"There's a good foxy. Trust me beautiful, it'll feel much better this way."

Ako hugged his chest against Trick's and moaned. "Call me it again."

Trick smiled and whispered softly into the fox's ear. "You're beautiful." he said. His thrusting and his caressing paw resumed their faster pace. "You have gorgeous black fur, and amazing green eyes."

"Oooh..."

"I love how your fur catches the sun. I love how your hips sway as you walk."

"T-Trick..."

"I love how your tail twitches when ever you're in a good mood. I love how you love me."

"T-Trick! Slow down, or I'm, oooh I'm..."

"Shhh, it's fine. Go ahead, beautiful."

"But you, I mean...nnnmmph! "

Ako let out a sharp yip, and Trick settled his shaft into the fox, stopping short of his now much larger knot. He continued to caress the fox's shaft slowly as he felt a hot, sticky wetness cover both their fur.

Ako let out a small, quiet cry of pleasure. "Oooh, I'm sorry Trick. I was trying to wait for you. But whatever that stuff is on your paw..."

Trick silenced him with a slow lick across his muzzle. "I said it was fine, silly fox."

Ako closed his eyes in pleasure, and didn't answer. The coyote smiled to himself and very slowly began again, pulling his hips back and shoving them forward.

Ako let his forelegs slide free from around the coyote's shoulders and lay his head back on the blankets. The coyote grinned as he continued thrusting, his own pleasure becoming noticeably distracting. But after only a few moments of this, something else did catch his attention. The fox's shaft was once again firmly pressing into the coyote's fur.

Trick laughed. "Foxy can't get enough, eh?"

Ako's eyes came open and hi head came forward. "Huh?"

Trick once again wrapped his paw around the fox's erect shaft. "That's fine, I've always thought the second time felt better than the first, too."

The fox gasped at the touch to his member, which was still slightly sensitive. "Trick, you don't have to...I mean, I'm not even sure I can go more than one-ohhhhhh! "

The coyote ignored the fox's excuses and one again began to caress the fox's shaft. And Ako was quick to notice that it still felt just as good.

"Ohhh, Trick..."

The coyote's trusting was became deeper, more insistent. The normally-talkative coyote fell silent, and the room was filled with the sounds of ragged breathing and the sound of a leaky coyote thrusting in and out of a tight fox.

The silence continued on for a few moments, then Ako lifted his head. "Mm, is my coyote close?"

Trick didn't answer, save with heated, heavy breaths. His thrusting began to lose it's regularity.

"Ak-ko...do you wanna, nnhh! try my knot?"

"What?"

"I put plenty of Alan's stuff on. It should be okay, you wanna try?" Trick asked breathlessly.

Ako thought for a moment, debating if the pleasure was worth the pain.

Trick grinned, as he continued to thrust. "You, unh! don't wanna be stuck to me for that long, huh?"

Ako smiled. "You know that's not true. I always wanna be stuck to you." he said, thrusting against Trick's paw. "Go ahead, let's try it."

Trick licked needily at Ako's chest and neck and he thrust ever faster.

Ako's breathing was beginning to match Trick's. "Come on, Trick...how deep can you go?"

Ako gasped out loud as he felt the coyote's teeth fasten around his shoulder like a clamp. And then those hips come forward for the final time.

The fox cried out. The coyote came forward and the fox thought he would explode. Every fiber in his haunches screamed out with pain, stretched to the absolute limit, and then the knot was inside him and the feeling changed.

The intense feeling of pain was followed by the most intense feeling of pleasure that the fox had ever felt. The large mass of coyote pressed on the fox in the most wonderful way. The fox moaned.

Trick spent a few moments coming off his initial pleasure high, coming down the more moderate and sustained pleasure of being knotted in a lover. Canines are unique in their sexual drives in the fact that they ejaculate the entire time they are having intercourse. The mixture of canine genes and human genes generations ago caused most of the semen to be ejaculated at climax, but Trick still felt the pleasure of releasing into Ako the entire time he'd been thrusting...and even now after he'd knotted.

Trick fought to keep from bucking his hips, knowing the pleasure would continue no matter what, and he didn't want to cause any more pain to the fox.

"Ooooh, oh wow, Ako." Trick murmured, trying to catch his breath. "You feel so nice..."

"Unngh... I'm glad you like it. Gawd you're big..."

Trick grinned widely. "You feel full, foxy?"

"Oh yeah..."

"Now does that make this feel better?"

Trick began to caress and massage the fox's shaft once again. Ako immediately moaned at the first touch.

"Oh...oh gawd..."

Trick leaned forward and kissed Ako's chest. "If that feels so good," Trick moved down and kissed Ako's belly. "I can only imagine," Trick kissed right above Ako's sheath. "How good this will feel."

Ako could only watch helplessly as his penis was slowly, teasingly enveloped in Trick's mouth. Ako watched greedily as Trick sucked on the very tip of Ako's shaft before pushing down his head and taking the entire thing into his mouth. Ako made little sounds of pleasure with every touch and movement of Trick's talented tongue.

Ako was in a unique position. He was knotted to Trick, so to thrust into Trick's mouth would undoubtedly cause a great deal of discomfort under his tail. But Trick had the ability to make Ako squirm with pleasure, and at the moment Ako felt a distinct urge to squirm.

Trick in this instance was helpful. He put both paws on Ako's hips and held him firmly in place. And Ako, as pleasure began to cloud his mind, was grateful. Trick wrapped his tongue around Ako's knot, and easily let his muzzle slide over it. Ako could feel the tip of his member sliding down the coyote's throat, and against his own will, he bucked against Trick's paws. But the coyote was relentless. He held Ako firmly in place.

Ako was new at this game, and even having already gotten off once, didn't have the ability to last much longer. Trick felt the little fox beginning to throb inside his muzzle, and once again took matters into his own hands. He pressed his hips into the Fox, pushing his knot another inch and half forward. Ako's resistance broke.

Ako cried out, and thrust forward once more, only to be once more held down by Trick's powerful paws. Ako climaxed into Trick's mouth.

Trick was more than aware that Ako had climaxed only a few minutes before, but still the amount of fluid his body generated was impressive. Trick smiled as he cleaned Ako's shaft with his tongue. The fox was just that turned on.

Trick lifted his muzzle from Ako's shaft and gave him a final kiss on his belly. Ako have a heavy sigh and lay his head back on the blankets. "What now?" Ako said, lifting his head to look nervously at where the coyote's hips met his.

Trick followed his gaze. "Heh, don't worry. We wait awhile, and then I'll pull myself out. My knot will shrink by then."

"Oh, that doesn't sound too bad."

"Mm, I hope not. Here, roll over so I can lay next to you."

Ako paused for a moment, then slowly rolled to his side, Trick's shaft twisting inside him. But it was still slick from the lubricant, so the sensation was not unpleasant. Trick very carefully lay himself down behind Ako, so as to not pull or cause the fox any pain.

Trick stretched out with a sigh of relief. "Mmm, thank you, Ako. That made for a very pleasant evening."

Ako grinned at what he considered a gross understatement. "Yeah." he said, pushing his head back against Trick. "You know I should go thank Dakota for pulling me out of the snow and bringing me here. Otherwise I'd never have met you."

Trick blinked. "Dakota?" he said, then he just smiled. "You know I guess we've never really talked about that night much. How much do you remember?"

Ako thought back. "Well, it was cold."

Trick laughed. "It was snowing and it was negative 18 degrees Celsius." Trick said, kissing the back of Ako's head. "It was indeed cold. I don't think I ever even asked you. How did you end up here?"

"I'd been wondering around for like two weeks since I'd lost my place at another outpost. It was a sanctioned out post, and I had the same problem as here. I couldn't really do anything. So...they told me to leave."

Trick nuzzled Ako's neck. "Which I will make sure isn't going to happen here. So you just walked here?"

"Yeah, I think it was two weeks, but it could have been more. I lost count of the days. I wasn't a very good hunter, but every once in awhile I'd catch something and it kept me going. But then it got real cold, and all the rabbits and mice burrowed away, I hadn't eaten in seven days, and I hadn't had any water but snow. And I was searching for some place to sleep for the night I'd have even taken a dry pile of leaves, a log... anything. I just kept searching and the snow fell harder and harder. And then..." Ako paused and shut his eyes. "Sorry, I don't like remembering this part."

Trick wrapped all four of his legs around the little fox, enveloping him completely. "It's alright, Ako. We're talking about the past. We should never be afraid of the past." he said warmly. "What happened?"

Ako took a deep breath and let it out. "I was searching for a place to s-stay...like I said. And I was walking though the snow and my legs...just...stopped working." he said, pushing back against the coyote for comfort. "I fell in the snow and I couldn't get up. And even though I was so cold, I started to feel all warm. After that...I only remember little bits and pieces. Dakota put me...someplace, into a hollowed out tree, I think, and he laid on top of me to keep me warm. I think he threw a coat or something over the both of us, but I didn't see what it was. I don't remember too much after that..." he said, his voice dropping off.

"Here, hold on just a second." Trick said. He pulled his hips back and Ako yipped in surprise as the Coyote's shaft slipped out of him. "Mmm, that's better."

Ako once again tried to catch his breath. "Trick, warn me next time!"

Trick's paws were once again around the black fox. "Did I hurt you?"

"No, you just surprised me..."

"I'm sorry, honey. You're right, I should have warned you." he said, nuzzling the fox's neck apologetically. Now that he was no longer knotted in the fox, he could hold the fox more properly. "What do you remember next?"

"I just remember laying in a nook someplace. And I was warm and Dakota was there, and he put a needle in me and taped it there. I guess you know the rest."

"It was an IV. You were dehydrated and starving. You were half dead when you came in. We were scared you weren't gonna make it." Trick said, murmuring quietly. "Is that all you remember? Do you remember getting from the tree to the commune?"

"I don't think...oh yeah, I remember! I remember being dragged through the snow, wrapped in that blanket I think, and I saw one of the buildings. I didn't know what it was, I thought it was a really huge tree or something." Ako giggled.

"Hmm, dragged huh? Doesn't sound like Dakota. He could have just carried you."

Ako laid his ears back. "You know, I guess it could have been anyone. I never saw Dakota, I just guessed it was him because he was the first one I saw when I woke up."

"And you said the person laid on you to keep you warm? Any of the bipeds would have just held you in their arms. Must have been a four leg."

Ako nodded. "Probably a hunter on his rounds found me. I'll have...to ask..."

The fox suddenly lost all his breath. He rolled over to face Trick with wide, wild eyes. "Y-You?"

Trick gave the fox a little lick on the nose. "I always have Dakota tie a blanket to me when I go out hunting in the winter, in case I get stuck in the snow. I used the blanket to warm you up, then dragged you back wrapped up inside." he said, smiling. "I didn't know I was saving my own life, too."

Ako let out a small cry, trembling. "Trick...I don't think I can laugh about this one."

Trick smiled in understanding. "Well, I hardly think I'm worth crying for."

Ako laid his head against Trick's chest and couldn't stop the tears rolling down his muzzle. "Yes you are."

* * *

Dayton placed one more cable into the jack for which it was designed, then screwed the connection into place. Skiff grinned widely as he admired Dayton's handy work.

"It looks brand new! What did you do to it?"

Dayton smiled at Skiff's enthusiasm. "I resealed it. I resealed all the electronics in here. It should keep the dust and the damp away."

Skiff practically twitched with excitement. "When do we get to see if it all works?"

"Well, Skipper said the luminant system should come back online today. But the Luminance Crew has a lot to do around here. We can't be angry with them if they don't manage it today."

"Right, of course." Skiff said a little too quickly. He was practically twitching with excitement.

"Now, there are plenty of things we can do while we're waiting. I need to put out paper and pens to all the stations and the desk..."

"I found them downstairs earlier this morning. They're all out. Everything's done." Skiff said, sitting himself up a little straighter.

Dayton turned, and sure enough there were small, neat stacks of leaf-pulp paper and containers with pens set out at every station, and the reference desk and the circulation desk.

"Incredible," Dayton murmured in his quiet voice. "Well done, Skiff. With you're help, this library is ready to go online far earlier than even I expected."

Skiff looked away in embarrassment, unequipped to deal with compliments. "Well, you did most of it."

"It would have taken me another week or more to finish on my own." Dayton said. He knelt and put an arm around Skiff's shoulders. "I'm proud of you."

Skiff's heart seemed to skip a beat. "...proud?

Just then the library door opened, and Dayton stood up quickly.

"Dayton! Are you in there!" came a masculine voice. Whoever it might have been, he was standing framed in sunlight in the doorway. "It's too damn dark in here. Dayton, where are you?"

"I'm right here, Skipper." Dayton said, not needing to raise his light voice to be heard.

"Oh there you are," the wolf said. He stepped inside the doorway and allowed the door to close behind him. "Anyway, I got good news."

"Yes?"

"I found out what was holding up my boys all week. It was dumb of us, really. One of the junctions in the old connector had corroded. It wasn't the wiring at all!" Skipper said, holding up a battered looking piece of metal, which Skiff could only assume was a 'junction'. "I'll make a long story short; we replaced it and I'm getting a good charge off my meter. I think you're good to go."

Dayton's tail started to swish a little faster. "My you work fast! Is that it then? Should I just try the lights?"

Skipper held up his arms. "Well, hold up now! Let me get myself outside and hook up my meter and make sure we don't blow anything. This system hasn't had any strain on it in a goodly number of years. Just wait three minutes, then flick on the lights and leave them on. I'll come back in and tell you if the grid is bearing the load." he explained. "Hold tight."

The wolf turned, pushed open the door, and began to jog around the far side of the building.

Dayton smiled as the door shut itself. He turned and admired the library, with the sunlight streaming through the windows in bright, glowing showers, lighting the dust motes in the air. Everything was fixed, and everything was clean. Even the furniture on the far side of the room had sustained little or no damage in the time the building had been unoccupied. All in all, far more impressive than Dayton had ever thought possible.

Skiff walked up and saw Dayton lost in thought, staring at the library. Skiff cocked an ear, and then bumped against the fox-wolf's legs. "Hey, watcha lookin' at?"

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Dayton said.

Skiff followed his gaze. "What is?"

"The library. Take a good look, Skiff, it'll never look like this again."

"What do you mean?"

Dayton looked down at the jackal. "See the library? It's dark, lit only by the sun, and it's exactly as we've made it. After this, the lights will come on and it'll be the commune's library. It won't be just our library anymore."

"'Ours'?"

Dayton laughed quietly. "You still think that none of it is yours? You cleaned and arranged the furniture, you stocked the entire library, you helped remake a broken screen, and thanks to your help everything isn't covered inch deep in dust. The library wouldn't look this way without you."

They both gazed on, watching the sun playing on the carpet of their creation.

"It is beautiful, isn't it?" Skiff said.

"Yes. It certainly is." Dayton said. "Well, I think you've earned the right, Skiff. Please, throw the switch."

"What the lights? Me?" Skiff said, his tail between his legs. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure." Dayton said, smiling. "Go for it."

Skiff took a deep breath. "Alright..."

The jackal turned to the panel next to the main door, and put his paws on the wall just beneath it. He reached up hesitantly with a paw towards the white switch labeled "OVERHEAD LIGHT".

Skiff turned his head. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be. Go ahead."

Skiff turned back to the panel, quickly closed his eyes, and then flipped the light.

Chthunk!

A single row of lights came on with a deep resonating noise.

Chthunk!

Another row of lights, shining their magnet-driven light onto the carpet and the computer consoles.

Chthunk!

Chthunk!

Chthunk!

Chthunk!

Within moments the entire library was lit brilliantly. A gentle whirring noise was heard emanating from the vents above. The air system had come online. Most the electronics in the room had apparently been rerouted through the main lighting circuit, for the terminals and their displays leapt to life showing bright colorful screens, then fading to the simple message "Welcome." The control panels on each terminal lit brightly, glowing softly to themselves. Cool, clean air poured from the ducts in the ceiling.

The library was online.

Dayton laughed aloud. Skiff let out a loud yip of delight. The jackal, in his excitement, leaped into the air, into Dayton's chest. The fox-wolf caught the Skiff in the air deftly and hugged the jackal to himself. The both were laughing joyously.

Dayton grinned and touched his nose to Skiff's. "Well done."

And then Dayton kissed him.

Every muscle in Skiff's body instantly froze. He didn't push away. He didn't dare push away. Breathing was suddenly something that Skiff had never learned to do, and he was drowning in a white fox-wolf, and he wasn't certain he ever wanted to reach the surface for air.

There was a bang on the door. Dayton quickly put Skiff's feet the right way and set the jackal down, and turned toward the door.

Skipper managed to open the door on his own and walked in. "Sorry, I always try to open that thing the wrong way. Well, Dayton the charge on the system is a lot greater than I expected, but she seems to be holding alright." he said, then hesitated. He looked around at the blinking consoles and heard the whirr of the air filtration system. The wolf blinked. "You turned everything on?"

Dayton looked around, smiling. "Inadvertently. The previous owner apparently has multiple circuits run through the main lighting switch." Dayton explained, folding his arms. "Perhaps they needed to be able to activate the library quickly. We did get the rare treat of seeing all of our equipment functioning, though."

"Indeed." Skipper said, obviously dazzled by all the electronics. "Where'd Skiff get off to?"

"Oh he's looking for manuals in the basement storage."

"Manuals? For what?"

Dayton indicated the terminals. "We've got a lot of software to make sure is still working properly."

"I see." Skipper said empathetically, looking at the large number of terminals. "Well then, I'll let you get to it. Do you need me to rewire that switch? It'll take awhile, but I should be able to do it."

"Unless the strain on the luminant system is too great, I don't see a problem with it. It's convenient for me."

Skipper shook his head. "The luminant system is holding fine. We generate far more power that we need to use through the commune. If you like the switch that way, you ain't hurting anybody. I'll just leave it." he said. "And you sound like you got your paws full, so I'll get out of your fur. Good luck with all th' equipment."

"Thank you, Skipper."

The wolf began to walk to the door, but hesitated. "And, uh...tell me when the library's ready to use, would you? We're all pretty excited."

Dayton smiled broadly. "I will."

Skipper looked pleased, and with tail wagging, he departed.

Dayton waited for the door to shut. With the audible, echoing slam of the front entrance to the library, Dayton's smile immediately faded. It all made sense now, of course. He now knew why he'd journeyed so long to come to this place, and what his purpose was here. Dayton had been blind to miss it. He was here for Skiff, and this was what Skiff needed.

The white fox-wolf walked over to the circulation desk and walked around behind it, and sat down on the floor. For several moments, the library was still, only the small sounds of the hard drives of the terminals and the humming of the air system. Finally the fox-wolf spoke.

"He's gone, Skiff. "

There was no answer. The library remained still. Dayton pricked his ears up hopefully, but he heard nothing. His ears laid themselves back, silently voicing his distress.

"Skiff?" Dayton murmured. "Please come out."

A small whimper emanated from beneath the console on the circulation desk. Dayton looked for the source of the sound. There was a small space beneath the desk, for a person's legs to rest if they were working at the desk. It was into that small space that Dayton spoke.

"Skiff, I'm so sorry."

At long last, a voice answered him.

"S-Sorry?"

The fox-wolf silently moved himself closer to the space where Skiff was hiding.

"Yes, I'm sorry." Dayton said. The white fox-wolf spoke quietly, but fervently. "I didn't mean to kiss you. I was excited...it was an accident."

Skiff's voice answered, soft and uncertain. "Didn't mean to...Didn't...want to?"

"No. That's not true at all. I wanted very much to. But that doesn't mean that I should have."

Skiff seemed finally to find the strength of his voice. "Why would you want to?!? I never understood why you talk to me in the first place, and now you're...why?"

The fox-wolf folded his paws, rubbing his fingers against each other distractedly. "Because I wanted to. And because I think you deserve to be kissed."

Dayton heard canine claws grating against wood. "Why? "

The fox-wolf was not surprised by the jackal's burst of anger. "Skiff, I wanted to kiss you. I have feelings for you. Even though you don't understand, and you don't think you deserve it, you're not going to change the way I feel, and I don't want you to."

A long silence came from beneath the desk. Then, the softest of whimpers.

Dayton let out a long breath. "Skiff, please come out from under there. I want to talk to you face to face."

Skiff reacted with vehemence. "No! You're eyes are magic! I'm not coming out..."

Dayton was taken aback. He stared breathlessly at a jackal he couldn't see, then finally looked away. He shut his eyes. With a shaking paw, he touched both his eyes, something he loved and hated.

Silence reigned in the library for long moments, moments that added into minutes, and minutes started to heap atop one another, and Skiff could feel the weight of each one of them pressing down on the both of them. He stirred beneath the desk.

"Dayton?"

"Skiff, my eyes are something about me I cannot control. If you feel I've ever made you do something you did not wish to, I'm sorry." he said. "I'm so sorry."

The air was filled with a scent that Skiff knew all too well. The jackal emerged hesitantly from beneath the desk. He saw Dayton, with his eyes closed and back to Skiff.

"Dayton? Are you crying?"

The fox-wolf turned around, his face damp from the tears. He gave Skiff a small smile. "I'm afraid I am. I feel like I've hurt you."

Skiff laid his ears back. "You...haven't hurt me." he said. Then slowly, and with terrible fear, Skiff moved forward, and placed a forepaw on Dayton's chest. "Dammit, I'm not worth crying for."

"And yet I'm crying for you." Dayton said. "And don't swear."

Skiff was terribly afraid, but he felt like he no longer had a choice in the matter. He stepped forward, closed his eyes, and pressed his muzzle against Dayton's.

The previous kiss had been a short, passing event, and prematurely interrupted. This kiss was much more the proper thing. They both leaned into each other, and they both donated a worthy amount of time to the act. And this time, when Skiff felt white fur wrap itself around him, he didn't freeze.

Dayton pulled himself away, and Skiff desperately tried to catch his breath. Dayton smiled, drying his face against his shoulder. "I apologize. I shouldn't be crying."

Skiff seemed unsure of himself. "It's...it's alright."

Dayton hugged Skiff to himself, and Skiff didn't resist. The pressure of the fox-wolf's arms felt good. Dayton nuzzled against Skiff's neck as he spoke. "Come on, let's get out of here. There's things we need to talk about."

Dayton gently set Skiff beside him, then stood up. "Come on, follow me."

Dayton walked to the main entrance, and flipped off the main switch on the panel. "We'll get to the library tomorrow."

Skiff, hung back, wary of Dayton still. "Wait, where are we going?"

Dayton winked "To my dormitory." he said, pushing the main door open. "Come on!"

Skiff took a step backward. "Dayton. I don't think that's a good idea. I...I mean me...I'm not¬?"

Before Skiff knew what was happening, Dayton had scooped him up into his arms, and was walking out of the front door. With a single paw, the fox wolf flipped off he main switch, and closed the door behind him.

Skiff did not try to escape Dayton's grasp. He didn't want to hurt Dayton. He would do anything to keep the fox-wolf from crying again. But Skiff still had his voice, and he used it.

"Dayton! Dayton, no. Please, I'm not ready for this! I've never, I mean...dammit are you even listening to me!"

"Don't swear." Dayton said calmly, stepping out into the setting sunlight, and pushing the library door closed behind him with a single foot.

As Dayton stepped onto the main thoroughfare, Skiff's breath began to come quickly. He spoke in a small voice. "Dayton, please. Everyone's going to look at us. Everyone is going to see. I don't want...Dayton, please listen!"

Dayton smiled. "I'm listening, Skiff. I'm just not doing as you say." he said, touching his nose to the back of the jackal's head. "I'll go the long way around. No one will see us."

Dayton carried Skiff quickly across the main road, then ducked in between two buildings. He dodged between four more buildings, walking only in alleys. Then he stopped at a building which had four doors, one on each side.

"See?" Dayton said. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Skiff took a deep shuddering breath. "Dayton, please put me down."

Dayton laughed quietly. "Not yet, you'd just run away." he said. "Let me get

inside."

Dayton shifted the jackal's weight so that he was carrying Skiff in one arm and retrieved a key from the pocket of his pants. He quickly unlocked the door, and carried the jackal inside.

Dayton set Skiff on the floor, and closed the door to his dormitory behind him.

"There! That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Dayton! Anyone could have seen us..."

"But they didn't. I made sure of it." Dayton said. "And now we're where they can't get to us."

Skiff looked around the small room. It was one of the larger quarters on the campus, the ones usually reserved for heads of staff. There was a sleeping room to the left, with two sleeping nooks set into one wall. The entry way was gray tile, but the rest of the rooms were made with pale blue carpeting. Lining the wall of the sleeping room to the left was a wardrobe and a dresser, simple edifices made of wood. Directly ahead there was an office type room, also with blue carpeting, and lit with a skylight from the ceiling. In one corner there was a padded chair and a luminant lamp. To the right there was a closed door, but if this was a staff head room, that would be the bathing pool and bathroom.

Skiff ran into the office ahead of them and pressed himself back against a wall. "Dayton...I shouldn't be here."

"Skiff, you gotta relax. If you're afraid to even walk into my room, we're never going to go anywhere." Dayton said, smiling.

"This is too fast. Please let me leave!"

Dayton frowned. "Skiff what do you think I want from you?"

"Dammit, Dayton! I know what you want! But I just met you! And I...I mean, I've never..."

"I'm just here to talk, Skiff. I don't want anything more than that. After we've finished our conversation, you may leave if you want to. I'd be very happy if you stayed." Dayton said, crossing his arms. "And don't swear."

Skiff shrunk against the wall. "I...What do you want to talk about?"

Dayton walked into the office, moved next to Skiff, and sat down. It took all the strength Skiff had not to shrink away.

"Skiff, I just want to know something."

Skiff hesitantly cocked an ear. "What?"

"What are you hiding?"

The jackal began to visibly tremble. "What are...do you think I'm hiding something?"

Dayton folded his paws. "You pretend to be a volatile, angry person. You're not."

"Well, I mean..."

"You're malignant and hurtful to everyone you talk to."

"I was only..."

"Even when you were attracted to Ako, you tried to show it by playing pranks on him. You even went so far as to nearly injure or kill him."

"W-what! How do you know about that?" Skiff said, his ears laid back, beginning to slowly back away from the fox-wolf.

"After that, you set up a plot to injure or kill Trick? This just doesn't sound like the real you."

Skiff bared his teeth. "Enough. Enough questions. You don't need to know everything about me."

Dayton turned looked at Skiff. "I've heard all these stories about a Skiff that's hateful, vengeful. But when I meet you in person, you run away! Which am I supposed to believe?"

Skiff growled to hide the fact that his tail was between his legs. "Dayton, stop." he said, a loud rumble from the back of his throat. "Right now."

"You know, I don't think either of them are the real you. I think you're somewhere right in the middle. What I'd like you to tell me is what made you so afraid that you need to change who you are."

"I'm not afraid! " Skiff barked.

Dayton smiled, and spoke as softly and audibly as ever. "Skiff, you're terrified of the possibility that you might be in love with me. You're very afraid!"

Skiff lunged for Dayton, jaws agape in a fearsome snarl. Dayton instantly ducked to the side and wrapped his arms around Skiff's neck and torso, hugging the jackal's back against himself. Skiff was filled with confusion and even more filled with self-loathing as Dayton leaned back against the wall with Skiff comfortably disarmed in his grasp.

"Skiff, that's the second time you've tried to bite me without really wanting to. I know you're trying to protect yourself, but I'm not going to hurt you."

Skiff whimpered, clawing fruitlessly at the air. "Dayton, let me go!" he sobbed. "I shouldn't be here! Let me go!"

Dayton gave Skiff a gentle kiss on the back of his head. "Skiff, please tell me what you're hiding."

The jackal ceased struggling and lay quietly for a long moment. Then he whispered. "I don't want you to know. I don't ever want anyone to know."

Dayton nuzzled against Skiff's neck. "I won't think you're weak, no matter what it is."

"You can't know that."

The white fox wolf gave a gentle sigh. "No, I don't suppose you'd trust that promise." he said, resting his head on Skiff's shoulder. "I'm sorry."

Skiff struggled feebly again against Dayton's grasp. "Now let me go!"

Dayton held tight. "No, not yet. If I let you go now, I don't think I'd ever see you again."

Skiff gave a broken half-sob. "It would be better that way!"

Dayton gave Skiff a firm squeeze. "No, it would not! " Dayton said. Skiff jumped, never having heard Dayton speak firmly before about anything. "It would not be better! You go back to the way you were pretending and living alone. And I would be by myself, running the library all by myself, sleeping all by myself. You think that would make me happier?"

Skiff whined again. "Dayton..."

The fox-wolf nuzzled Skiff again. "Skiff, don't be afraid to be with me. If you absolutely must, fear everything else in this world, but please let me touch you without you running away. I need someone else, too. We all do. And I think that someone is you."

Skiff's breath came heavier. "Dayton...there's so much I can't tell you about me. I don't think that's fair...not to you. You don't want to be with me..."

"Skiff, I have to say something mean, now." Dayton said. "I know what I want better that you, and I want you."

Then Skiff began to struggle once again. But no longer to escape. He was trying to turn around. Dayton gently turned him around and didn't move as Skiff desperately pressed his muzzle against Dayton's.

Skiff reveled in the feeling of Dayton's arms around him. He'd never felt like there was any strength around him. Not like this. And it made him feel dirty to enjoy being touched. He felt like he was stealing something that wasn't his. But Dayton wanted him. And if Dayton's strength was going to be so demanding, Skiff didn't have the strength in him to resist. Not him. Not Dayton.

The kiss perpetuated on and on. Skiff whimpered and pawed at Dayton's chest, trying to press closer against him. If he could feel Dayton's fur just a little bit longer, maybe he could remember it forever. Eventually, however, Dayton gently broke the kiss.

"Relax, honey. We're not going anywhere."

Skiff gasped for breath, laying his ears back nervously. "Well...what now?"

"Whatever you want, Skiff. I'd like very much if you spent the night with me, but we need not do anything beyond that, if you don't want."

Air seemed very difficult to come by in the dormitory. "Dayton...I've never done anything with anyone. Not like that, I mean."

Dayton touched his nose to Skiff's. "I know. Does it bother you?"

"Well, I mean...I just don't know if I..."

Skiff hesitated, then shut his muzzle and looked away.

Dayton nuzzled against him. "Mmm, you're curious, right?"

Skiff closed his eyes and nodded.

"But you're not sure if you really want me or if you're just wondering what it's like?"

"Well, I mean...yeah. Yeah that's it."

Dayton smiled. "That's alright. If you want to try it, we'll just start off slow, and you can say stop whenever you want, alright?"

Skiff backed away hesitantly. "What's your definition of slow?"

Dayton grinned, running his paws down Skiff's back. "I won't hurt you, you silly jackal."

"I'm not afraid you'll hurt me." Skiff said. "I mean...not really. I'm just...nervous."

"You don't need to be." Dayton said, touching the side of Skiff's face.

The jackal laid back his large ears and even managed a hesitant smile. "You're not going to stop me being nervous. I thought you understood me!"

"That's not going to stop me from trying. I thought you understood me! "

Skiff gave a small grin, as nervous as ever. "Well...where do we start?"

"You have me at a disadvantage. I wear clothing and you do not." Dayton said, touching his nose to Skiff's.

"What?"

"Are you comfortable with me not wearing anything?"

Skiff swallowed, his mouth gone dry. "I...yes, I think so."

"Alright then. Let me up."

Dayton gently set Skiff beside him on the floor. The white fox-wolf walked across the room and stood by the dresser, his back to Skiff. The jackal could not tear his eyes away, and did not want to, as white paws began to caress the silver buttons of his vest, slowly undoing each one. Skiff's breath was robbed from him. Slowly, the vest came apart, and Dayton took it off.

Skiff was certain there must have been something flawed about Dayton's fur. There would certainly have to be some fluctuation of power, some blemish. No one could be that perfect. However, as Dayton began to fold the vest neatly, and Skiff could see nothing but strong muscles, gracefully flexing beneath snow-white fur. The small fox-marks on the side of his muzzle and the tip of his tail were jet-black, the only part of his body that wasn't white. He set the folded blue vest atop the dresser, then began to remove the sand-colored pants in a similar manner.

Skiff began to wonder if the fox-wolf always undressed in this manner, or if he was putting on a show for the jackal.

Dayton undid the buckle above his tail and slid the waistline of the pants slowly, delectably down his hips, revealing ever more silky white fur. Inch by inch, all of Dayton was bared before Skiff. The jackal's eyes drank in all he could see, while his ears were angled eagerly forward, listening for the soft rustle of clothing sliding across fur. Soon the pants were in Dayton's paws, being folded neatly, and Dayton no longer wore anything.

Dayton set the folded pants atop the dresser, next to the folded shirt, and turned around. Skiff's ears promptly went the other direction, pinned to the back of his head, and his eyes widened. Dayton saw this and hid a chuckle behind his paws.

"Pick those ears up, Skiff. There's nothing scary here!"

"But...you..."

"What about me, Skiff?"

Skiff's voice dropped to an energized whisper. "You're beautiful! "

And so he was. Dayton's body was lithe, lean and smooth, but at the same time he was well muscled. No part of him extended beyond his frame to the point where one could call Dayton large, but each muscle in his arms and legs was lightly outlined against the fur. Skiff grew dizzy trying to trace each muscle with his eye. The fox-wolf's chest was smooth and firm, his chest muscles running down into his torso, where Skiff could see six sections perfectly, subtly segmented off. Skiff's eyes continued downward, and the jackal very nearly lost his composure.

Dayton's sheath was just as impressive as was the rest of his body. It was more than large enough to cause Skiff worry as to exactly what manner of play he wished to engage in that evening. But none of the flesh was loose. All was firm and connected closely to the main of his body. Every inch of his fur, aside from his tail and muzzle, was perfectly white.

Skiff had been utterly serious when he'd called Dayton beautiful, but at the same time he hadn't expected to be taken seriously. The jackal had expected a casual response to his observation. A playful quip, perhaps a one of Dayton's soft chuckles. But Skiff was surprised. Dayton looked shyly at the ground, averting his eyes.

"You know, Skiff, you're just as attractive as I am."

Skiff choked. "M-me?!? Have you looked in the mirror?"

Dayton walked back over to Skiff, and only by the utmost use of his nerve did Skiff manage to not back away. "Easy, Skiff. I'm not even going to touch you if you don't want." he said. Skiff relaxed a little. Dayton smiled and knelt in front of Skiff, but he kept his promise and kept his hands to himself. "I doubt you believe me, but I feel the same way when I look at you."

Skiff's breath came in shallow shudders. "You're right, I don't believe you."

Dayton smiled, almost smugly. "Well, at least I know you that well." he said, laughing quietly. The sound was musical, and Skiff was almost convinced that without food or water, he could subsist on that music alone. "Skiff, do you know what color your eyes are?"

Skiff was caught off guard by the question. "What? Me? They're brown..."

"No, they're auburn. They remind me of cherry wood. You're scent reminds me of cherry blossoms as well. Have you ever smelled that?"

Skiff slowly shook his head.

"I'll have to find one for you someday. They remind me much of you. I know for some reason you disagree, but you really do belong out here. We are truly by ourselves, the commune is. We are cradled by nature, and not by the new creations of thoughtless people. You are a creature of nature."

The jackal had to search for words that rapidly were failing him. "What...do you mean?"

"I don't think you'd be happy in a city. Citadels are rigid and commanding. Here you are free to breathe and think...you are a creature of earth and water, not of concrete and steel."

"You can tell all that...from my eyes?"

"Yes. I can." Dayton said. "I'd like very much to see you when you are out in the woods hunting, when you feel you are alone. When you are not hiding. That's who you truly are. You do not think you are beautiful because you never allow yourself to be seen as yourself."

Skiff forcibly looked away from Dayton clenching his teeth. "Stop. Stop talking to me like this."

Laughter. More music. And more of Skiff's resolve melted away. "Yes, Skiff. I'm being kind to you. The one thing you're not quite certain how to deal with."

Skiff exhaled unsteadily. "Not fair."

Music again. Beautiful music! But the tune had changed. The music was lower, sultry...

"Skiff, may I touch you?"

"Wha¬?"

"I told you I wouldn't touch again unless you wanted me to. May I touch you?"

Hesitance entered Skiff posture. "I'm not sure, Dayton...I mean, I do want to try...that thing we talked about, but you're so much bigger than...you're black!"

Dayton looked down. "Hm? Oh, you mean this?" Dayton touched his sheath, and he was now slightly aroused, the tip of his shaft now showing itself from his body. He pressed back his sheath to reveal more of the organ to Skiff. It was thicker than Skiff had expected, but that wasn't what had Skiff's attention. As opposed to the slick flesh being a warm pink, it was jet black.

"I know, ironic isn't it? I was born with thick white fur, and even most of my skin beneath is a white color. All except this one spot." Dayton said, grinning. "Well, no one's perfect."

"Yes you are..."

Dayton looked more carefully at Skiff. "You mean it, too. You really like me being that color!"

It wasn't a question. Which was good, because Skiff was running out of answers.

"So, Skiff, you never answered me." he continued.

The jackal was jerked from his reverie. "Dayton! I...I don't know. You're bigger than I thought you were going to be. I'm not sure if I can..."

"Oh no, Skiff. I wasn't planning on doing that tonight. I'm not going anywhere near your tail-end." Dayton said. Skiff blushed hot beneath his fur. "That will come later, when we're both ready for it. And only if you want to."

"Not near my tail? What else is there?"

Dayton smiled. "Much. And things that are more comfortable that what you have in mind. Better for starting off." he said. "I can show you."

Skiff's eyes were glued to Dayton's body. "I?I just want...dammit!"

The jackal closed his eyes and looked forcibly away. There was silence for a moment. Then Dayton's soft voice spoke again. "Skiff, it's okay to look. I'm not offended. Especially since this is your first time. You can open your eyes."

Skiff slowly allowed his eyes to slide open, but forced himself to look Dayton directly in the eyes, ignoring all the soft fur and tantalizing black form below his vision.

Dayton slowly lifted one ear, leaning towards the jackal thoughtfully. "I'll make a deal, Skiff. I'll let you touch if you let me touch."

Skiff just stood for a moment, panting lightly. Then, very slowly, he nodded. Dayton gave a small, comforting smile, and then lay a paw on one of Skiff's shoulders, massaging lightly.

Skiff blinked, then grinned in spite of himself. "I let you touch me wherever you want and you touch my shoulder?"

Dayton leaned forward, touching his nose to Skiff's. "Well, where would you touch?"

Skiff looked uncertainly into Dayton's eyes for a moment longer, then he closed his own eyes. Skiff sat upon his haunches in front of a kneeling fox-wolf, and he slowly lifted a paw. He waited for just one uncertain moment longer, then very gently laid it on Dayton's chest. He paused briefly, feeling Dayton's heart beating against his paw. He just stood there, awed by that small feeling against his own skin. Then he began to slide his paw down, but suddenly stopped, his breath catching.

Dayton lay his paw on top of Skiff's. "It's alright, Skiff. You can't hurt me, and I said you could." he murmured. He slowly pulled Skiff's paw down his chest, and onto his torso. Skiff could feel the warm, still forms of the muscles across Dayton's abdomen, and he let out a small sigh of pleasure. Dayton pulled him still lower, and now Skiff resisted.

"Skiff, relax. I know you wanted to."

The jackal let out a whimper, and relaxed against Dayton's arm. Then he felt warmth beneath his paw. Real living warmth, not hidden beneath fur.

Dayton rubbed the side of his muzzle against Skiff's muzzle, their foreheads now touching one another's. "See, Skiff? It may be a different color, but it doesn't feel any different. It's just another part of me."

Skiff didn't open his eyes. "It's beautiful. All of you is beautiful. I really mean that."

"I know you do. You're beautiful, as well."

Skiff's breath was robbed from him as he felt Dayton's paw wrap itself between his legs. A whimper was torn from his throat as Dayton slowly slid a claw up the jackal's shaft, barely whispering against the surface of Skiff's flesh.

"All of you is beautiful."

Skiff trembled under the weight of both Dayton's gentle touch and the candor of his words. He was telling Skiff he was beautiful. And he meant it. Dayton really thought Skiff was beautiful. The jackal had no defense against language like that.

He gasped once again as Dayton rubbed against him with a paw. "Aahh-unhhg! D-Dayton!"

"You're bigger than you let on, you sly jackal!" Dayton said playfully. "You ought to be proud of your body."

"I haven't...I mean I've never really...oh unngh! "

Dayton laughed. "Indeed, pardon me. I talk too much. Here, you just relax."

The fox-wolf moved his hips forward, placing his legs beside Skiff's. Then put a strong paw behind Skiff's hips, and pulled the jackal to him. Skiff let out a bark of surprise, which mellowed into a growl of pleasure at what Dayton did next.

Dayton gently thrust his hips forward until Skiff felt the heat of his shaft press against his own. Dayton wrapped his paw around both of the canine members, and ever so slowly, began to move his paw up and down. And somehow, when Skiff hadn't been looking, Dayton had put something on his own paw, something cool and slick; his paw slid freely across both of their skin.

Skiff let out a loud whine, laying his head on Dayton's shoulders and trying to catch his breath. There seemed suddenly to not be enough air in the room, and he gasped at it greedily. Dayton wrapped his free arm around Skiff's shoulders and held the jackal to him as he slowly massaged the both of them. Up and down, up and down...

Skiff continued to gasp, his breathed coming raggedly. Dayton nuzzled into his neck, murmuring softly. "Shh, calm down, Skiff. We're just going at this nice and slow. From what I can tell we're both out of practice, so we're probably going to be here for awhile. Don't waste all you energy at once."

Skiff took a deep, shuddering breath, exhaled, and immediately took another one, this one calmer than the last. "Yeah...I'm sorry, I just...I mean you just really, oh nnnnnnggh! " The last cry came as a sharp, shrill whine, reverberating through the room as Dayton's tripped across the tip of the jackal's shaft. Dayton laughed and slowed for a moment, allowing Skiff to recuperate.

"Mmm, sensitive on the top there, hmm? I'll have to remember that." he said, still chuckling.

"Oooh, sorry?That felt...wow..."

Dayton's paw once again resumed a faster speed. "Mmm, 'wow' is a good word for it. I'm sorry, too. I'll try not to touch there again. At least, not that hard."

"Yeah, okay...Dayton? Does this, unnh! Feel good for you, too?"

Dayton again buried his nose into Skiff's neck fur, savoring the sent of cherry blossoms. "Yes, this feels very good. It's not so different from what males will do when they are lonely by themselves. Except this way, you can share the warmth with someone you share feelings with." Dayton said, pressing his hips forward, and continuing to rub with his slickened paw. "See? I can feel you, and you can feel me."

"Yeah, it feels...ooh, it feels...unnph! "

Dayton grinned, breathing slowly. He finished Skiff's sentence for him. "It feels good, I know."

Skiff let out a soft moan. "But you...don't make any noises like I do."

Dayton took a deep breath through his nose, continuing to rub. "Sometimes I will make little noises the way you do. But whenever you let me be in control, I'll quiet myself."

"W-why?" Skiff spoke into Dayton's shoulder.

"Because I want to listen to you make little noises." he said, smiling to himself. "Whenever you make noises like that, I know that you're feeling good, and I'm doing everything the way I'm supposed to be doing it. It makes me feel good to hear as well."

"Well, nnnngh, you're doing just fine."

Dayton laughed. "I know. I was listening."

With each stroke of the white paw, pleasure reverberated throughout Skiff's body. It had been a long while since he'd pleasured himself, so he was indeed out of practice. He began to rapidly thrust against the source of pleasure, canine instincts driving him. Dayton hugged his chin against Skiff to calm him.

"Mmm, try not to push, honey." Dayton said. He took his paw from around Skiff's shoulder and began to massage the back of the jackal's hips. "If you can't help it, it's alright, but it will feel a little better if you relax and let me do the moving."

Skiff let out a whimper as he felt Dayton's paw massaging just above the base of his tail. He felt both of his legs go limp, and he ceased his thrusting against Dayton's paw.

Skiff couldn't take the massaging on both ends of him. Pleasure was racking his body, forcing the breath from him. He could feel his heart beating loudly in his large ears. Every part of him felt hot. "Oohh D-Dayton! Slow down..."

"You know, I don't think I will." Dayton said, laughing quietly. "It's just you and me, Skiff. We don't need to draw things out. Are you getting close?"

"Ahhh, yes...yes, I'm close..."

"Alright, watch this."

He pulled Skiff close, so close and tight that Skiff could feel Dayton's heart pounding against his chest, beating a counterpoint the loud beating in his ears. The pounding of Dayton's body got louder and louder, to the point Skiff started to be afraid.

"Dayton! Are you alright?"

"Shh, hush honey, I'm concentrating."

The beating got louder and louder...and then Skiff noticed. The beating got close and closer to the pounding in his ears...until they were synchronized. And they stayed that way. Beat for beat.

Pleasure blurred Skiff's thoughts, but not his ability to speak. "Dayton! How...how..."

"Shh, don't worry about it, Skiff."

Dayton made the strokes of his paw longer and faster. Skiff began to make little cries with each breath, pleasure relentlessly washing over him. Just beneath the surface of the turmoil of sensations that Skiff was feeling, he could feel the combined throb of both their hearts beating in time, vibrating the core of him with the strength of each beat.

Each stroke of the soft, lubricated fur of Dayton's paw sent electricity through Skiff's shaft and lit every nerve in his body. There was nothing more he could do to resist.

"Dayton! I...I...unngh! "

"Hm hm...it's alright honey. Whenever you're ready."

Skiff very much cared for Dayton, as much as he tried to fight it. So he tried not to howl aloud while he was in Dayton's dormitory. But Dayton's paw continued to move in long, firm strokes across the sensitive surface of his shaft. And the beating of their two hearts was all Skiff could hear. Everything else was meaningless.

The pleasure and pressure built to incredible levels, until finally Skiff's resistance ruptured. Pleasure cascaded over him, and he had no will left to push it away. He lapped it up greedily.

Skiff threw back his head and howled, and he felt Dayton's body tense at the exact same time as his. They both orgasmed together.

Dayton rubbed the body of their members a few more times to make sure that he had gathered the last bit of pleasure from the experience. Then he slid his paw lower and grasped firmly onto the knots that had grown at the base of both their penises. Skiff gasped aloud at the new and equally intense pleasure.

"Oooh, oh!" the jackal growled, deep in his throat, the pleasure nowhere near ended. "Dayton, what's this?"

"Hm! You've never felt what it's like to be knotted to someone before, I suppose. You're a canine, Skiff. It's not quite over when you orgasm." he said, nuzzling against him.

"Ah! Oh, I've never...felt like this. Gawd..."

Skiff, half delirious with new pleasure at the pressure of Dayton's grasp upon him, sought out Dayton's muzzle with his own. Their mouths found one another, and they kissed deeply, both basking in the warm glow of knot-feeling. As their tongues wrapped around one another Skiff could steal hear their hearts beating together in his ears. Then slowly the volume began to fade, and their hearts once again began to beat apart from one another. Skiff broke the kiss.

"Dayton, how did you do that? That...thing..."

"Shh, hush honey, we're still pretending to be knotted, remember?" he said. Skiff closed his eyes and quieted himself, concentrating on the softer, but constant pleasure emanating from below him.

Dayton gently rubbed his muzzle against Skiff's sensitive ear, and whispered. "It's a very, very old trick. It would be best if you don't know how to do it, because it's very dangerous for the person trying it if they don't know what they were doing. You were never in any danger, but I was. It was fine, because I knew what I was doing, but I'd never want you to try it, honey. I just thought it would help us out on our first time."

Skiff leaned his entire weight against Dayton, his chest heaving. "You just started calling me that."

"Hm? Calling you what?"

"'Honey'."

"Mmm, that's because I never knew before I kissed you."

"Never knew what?"

"How sweet you tasted."

Skiff whimpered. "Are you making fun of me?"

"Let me prove it to you."

Dayton tipped Skiff back, supporting his entire body weight easily with one arm. And he pressed his muzzle firmly against Skiff's and kissed him. The last of the pleasure in their bodies faded away and Dayton slowly let go of their knots. Skiff let out a whine at the sensation of trapped blood rushing back to where it belonged, but he couldn't concentrate on that long. Dayton was pushing his advantage, and practicing his art. Both arms were now firmly wrapped around the jackal, and so was his tongue.

Skiff reflexively tried for a few moments to resist this invasion into his muzzle, but within a few seconds, Dayton had already conquered him, and Skiff could do nothing but surrender and whimper.

Dayton held Skiff under his whim for a few minutes longer, then broke the kiss and let the jackal come up for air. But Skiff only took one or two gulps of the dormitory air before he was biting at Dayton's shoulder, softly burying his teeth into the silky fur, whimpering softly all the while.

Dayton laughed, nuzzling Skiff in return. "Come on, you jackal. I think I've given you plenty of excitement for today. You could use some sleep." he said. He picked up a towel off the carpeted floor and began to wipe off Skiff's sheath, eliciting a protesting squeak from the jackal.

"Hey! That tickles!" Skiff said, kicking. "Where'd you even get a towel?"

"I laid it out."

"Did you have the whole place set up before I got here?"

Dayton grinned, beginning to wipe himself off. "Yeah, I always keep it prepped just in case of occasions like this. I checked over at the kitchens for champagne, but they were fresh out. Sorry."

Skiff laughed. "That's alright, I don't drink."

"Oooh, look at that, I got a laugh out of him!" Dayton said, finishing wiping himself off and folding the towel. He set it aside. "The jackal may be mortal yet!"

Skiff gave a wistful sigh. "I never really wanted to be a jackal, I'd rather be a coyote like Trick. Or a fox like Ako. 'Jackal' used to be an insult in the old world."

"Well, in my world, it's a compliment of the highest order."

Dayton gently moved to kiss Skiff's throat, the ultimate sign of trust for canines. Skiff stiffened, and almost moved away, but at the last minute he stopped himself. He closed his eyes and leaned back, whimpering. Dayton smiled in sympathy.

"Aww, honey. I'm not going to hurt you. It's not that big a deal, I won't do it. I see we're not quite ready."

Skiff closed his eyes and whispered. "No. Come on."

"Skiff, I really think..."

"Come on! I'm tired of not trusting anyone! I thought it kept me safe but it just hurt worse!" Skiff froze, having said far more than he'd intended. He took a breath and continued in a lower voice. "I think I trust you. Let me see for myself."

Dayton nodded silently to Skiff's closed eyes, and kissed him on the chest. "I won't hurt you. I promise." Then he gently pushed his muzzle beneath Skiff's chin, and he softly kissed the jackal's throat, starting at the base, and then moving higher, gently sucking on the fur as he went. Skiff gave a whimper, but held his ground. Dayton lifted his head and gently touched his muzzle to the place right between Skiff's eyes.

"Thank you, Dayton..."

"I will never hurt you. I will do my best to protect you from anyone or anything that tries."

"Dayton..."

The white fox-wolf heaved a sigh. "Oh come now, we need to stop getting so dramatic, or else we'll never sleep." he said, smiling. "Come on, let's climb into bed."

Skiff looked around. "Where am I sleeping?"

Dayton grinned. "Silly jackal."

He picked Skiff up easily off the ground, and held him to his bare fur, wrapping both his arms around him. Dayton carried him across the dormitory and into the bedroom, and then crawled into the sleeping nook, pulling a blanket over both of them. Skiff looked around, surprised, but delighted. He stuck his tongue out at Dayton.

"Well, I can't see how you expect me to sleep like this! I'm just gonna stay up watching you all night."

"Aww, well I could say the same to you." Dayton said, pulling Skiff closer. "But let's not, let's go to sleep."

Skiff nuzzled his head into a comfortable patch of fur on Dayton's chest, smiling. "Sounds fair enough."

Dayton looked down at Skiff, laying with his eyes closed, and gave a deep murr of contentment. "I'm glad I can make you smile, Skiff. And I'm glad I made you feel good tonight."

Skiff looked up, his mouth partway open, but for a long while he said nothing. Finally he swallowed. "Dayton, I'm not as good with pretty words as you. But...I think I love you. I'm afraid to promise. I don't know what love really feels like...but I've always dreamed it feels something like this."

Dayton smiled. "Indeed, don't promise till you're sure. But I have been in love before." he said. He leaned forward to touch his nose to Skiff's. "And I love you. Now don't say anything else. Nothing else needs to be said, at least about that. I understand what you're feeling right now. Let's just go to sleep."

Skiff blinked back a tear and nodded. "Alright." He lay his head down once again.

Dayton smiled. "Do you want me to sing my mother's lullaby to you?"

Skiff returned the smile. "No thanks. If you sang that I'm not sure I'd ever wanna get up." he said. "But, uh...Dayton?"

"Yes, Skiff?"

"If I start to have any bad dreams, and I wake you up...just, uh...wake me up, too. I'll just roll over and go back to sleep."

Dayton frowned. "Alright, Skiff. I promise."

Skiff heaved a sigh of contentment, more peaceful for once not to be sleeping alone. Dayton smiled as he felt the jackal drift off to sleep.

"You won't need to worry about that, Skiff." He whispered, not loudly enough to wake him. "You won't have any bad dreams as long as you sleep here."

Way in the back of the sleeping nook, tied to the ceiling was a miniscule dream catcher. Dayton smiled, the settled himself against the padded sleeping nook. Skiff and Dayton both slept peacefully.

* * *

For half the night.

Skiff awoke suddenly. He looked around. Dayton was still sound asleep. Skiff could see the position of the moon outside one of the skylights, and it looked to be around three or four hours past midnight. It was still pitch dark outside. But then Skiff felt it. Then Skiff felt it all too clearly.

A tremor of weakness rippled through his body. Followed immediately by another. Skiff's mouth went dry. No. No, not now.

Not here! Not with Dayton!

Skiff climbed carefully out of the sleeping nook, and privately congratulated himself on not waking Dayton. Another wave a weakness swept over him, this one strong enough to make him falter in his steps. It would be a close thing, but if he moved as fast as he could, he could make it to his dorm in time. It was on the other side of the campus...but he'd be able to run for just a minute more or so. He had to try. It was the only option he had.

Skiff padded over the door, plotting out the quickest way to the main dormitory building that was also the most secluded. He didn't want to be seen by the night sentries. That wouldn't help at all either. Every second was precious. Yes, yes! There was a simple enough way. It could be done!

Skiff walked up to the door, and reached up for the latch with a paw, the paw already beginning to tremor slightly. There wasn't much time at all. He had to move fast!

But the door was locked.

The sour taste of panic filled Skiff's muzzle. He looked for a latch, but in the low light it was difficult work. His nocturnal vision helped him better see movement at night, but not in great detail. It took him a full minute to find the locking mechanism, and to his dismay, he found it was one of the new ones Alan had designed, especially for bipedal paws. You put the claw of your index finger in the latch and turn and pull. Skiff scrabbled at the lock frantically, trying desperately to unlock it himself.

"Dammit, come on! I don't have much time..." he murmured, beginning to sweat beneath his fur.

"Skiff? What are you doing?"

The jackal's stomach jumped to his throat as his spun around to see Dayton, standing surprisingly alertly for being awoken unexpectedly in the middle of the night. His arms were crossed, and he was looking at Skiff curiously.

"Dayton! Please! Unlock the door...I gotta go!"

"Why, what's the matter?"

"Please! Please, please, please! Let me out. I don't have time to explain."

Dayton flicked on a lamp and his golden eyes found Skiff in the light. "Skiff, you're shaking. What's wrong?"

"Let me out! I have to leave! "

Dayton began to walk towards the jackal. "Now wait just a moment, come and talk to me."

Skiff skittered away, beginning to sob with panic. "Dayton! I'm begging you...please!"

Dayton folded his arms, his expression stern. "Earlier tonight you said you trusted me. Prove it. Tell me what's wrong!"

"Dayton...Dayton...no...not now..."

Skiff turned and it looked as if he were going to try to run past Dayton and try the lock on his own once again. But after the first step, it looked as if his legs ceased to function properly. With each step, Skiff went less distance, and he couldn't stand his full height off the ground. The entire time he chanted. "No...no, no, no..."

Before he'd gone more than a few feet, he sank to the ground...and began to tremble. And then he began to shake violently.

Dayton's eyes widened. "Skiff? Skiff!!"

He ran to the jackal's side. "Skiff? Can you talk!" he said, running his paws through the jackal's fur. "Oh, God...wait here! I'll go wake a healer. You hang on, alright?!?"

Dayton just barely began to move when...

"No..."

The fox-wolf spun around. "What?"

"No...don't...t-tell..." he managed to force through quaking jaws. "Don't need...help..."

Dayton kneeled next to Skiff. "You don't need help? Why!"

Then he looked at Skiff again, and every piece fell in place within his mind. Everything made sense. He now finally understood what Skiff had been afraid to tell him. He hadn't been evicted from the citadels for the same defect everyone else had here. He hadn't been old enough to be caught for that.

"This happens to you all the time. You do this every couple of days, don't you?" Dayton said, touching Skiff gently.

Skiff didn't manage an answer.

Dayton laid both his paws on Skiff's side. "This is why you hurt so bad the day you first came to talk to me in the library. This is why every few days you were in such a bad mood. And this is why you hate the Citadels more than everyone else, and why you can't stand mention of your mother. You didn't even make it to the ten year retest. You would have started with the seizures before then. How old were you when you were put out on your own, Skiff?"

Skiff seemed to tremble harder. "F-five..."

Dayton's eyes filled with tears. The world had become a monster. Kind souls no longer held sway in the dos and don'ts of new society. There was only survival and blind adhesion to perfection. To a fractured illusion of perfection. Skiff had been perfect. They'd broken him.

"Oh, Skiff. This is what you didn't want to tell me?" Dayton said, touching Skiff's shaking fur like something made of glass. "Skiff, you thought I'd think you were weak...because of this? You don't know me at all."

Skiff sniffed, and desperately tried to string words together. "D-Day...ton. Sor-ry. Soor...ry! C-can't help..."

Dayton ran a paw across Skiff's neck, shaking his head. "It's alright, Skiff. Don't be upset. You haven't done anything wrong. I still think you should have told me, but we'll talk about it later."

"I...al...ri?Alri...ght"

He picked up Skiff with firm, reverent paws. "Just relax, Skiff. I think I know some things that might help." he said. Dayton stood and walked back the sleeping nook, and sat down inside, holding Skiff in his arms. He drew his knees up to support Skiff's quivering form. "Here, baby, I know you can't talk so don't try. Just try to do what I say."

"Ba...by..." Skiff struggled to mouth the words.

Dayton smiled. "Yeah, honey, I called you baby. That's because I love you." he said, gently rubbing a paw against Skiff's chest. The jackal gave a broken whimper. Dayton continued to rub against the jackal's fur. "Now don't talk. Just do what I say."

Skiff tried to nod, but couldn't quite manage the motion. He continued to tremble violently in Skiff's hands.

"Now I want you to breathe. And do it very carefully, I want breathing to be the only thing you think about. Breath in as deeply as you can without stretching your lungs too much, and then let it out slowly."

Skiff did that once, and then looked up at Dayton for more instruction.

"No, no, keep going. Keep breathing. Close your eyes and just concentrate on breathing."

Skiff did as he was bidden, not having the will or the ability to argue. His eyes closed and his chest began to rise and fall, slowly and fully. Dayton watched carefully for a few moments. He wasn't really certain this was going to work. It depended on the nature of Skiff's condition. But he could always hope.

And hope he did. And he was rewarded.

Skiff continued breathing, and slowly but surely, Skiff's shaking slowed. It didn't come near to stopping, Skiff could still feel every small muscle in his body trembling. But the shaking slowed.

"Good pup! Keep that up." Dayton said. Then he slowly began to massage Skiff, digging his fingers into the jackal's muscles on his sides.

Skiff seemed to find his voice. "What are you...d-doing?" he said, speaking much more clearly now that the shaking had slowed.

"Hey, honey. I'm glad you can talk, but keep breathing in between, okay?"

"O..kay..."

"I'm hoping by massaging you I can keep you from shaking quite so hard. I also hope you won't hurt as bad tomorrow." he said, running his paws down Skiff's sides. "Just let me know if I hurt you."

"O...kay..."

Dayton thoroughly rubbed Skiff's sides and forelegs, he moved on to his back, rubbing firmly along Skiff's spine.

"Ooooh...oh..."

Dayton froze. "Did I hurt you?"

"No...f-feels good..."

Dayton smiled as he resumed. "Mm, good. I hope so." he said. "Makes sense...I think the your back is what is seizing the most."

Skiff shook his head, trying to clear away the disorientation that always accompanied one of his bouts. "D-Dayton, I'm bet-t-ter now...It's usually th-th-the worst for the first couple of minutes. I'll be o...kay, now."

Dayton nodded. "I can see you can speak easier." Dayton said. "I'm going to keep rubbing, as long as I'm not hurting you."

"No...not hurting me. It f-feels nice..."

"Hopefully we can talk a little, then." Dayton said. "How old are you really? Fifteen? Sixteen?"

Skiff reacted angrily. "Hey, I'm sev-v-enteen!" he growled. Then he looked into Dayton's golden eyes, and shakily looked away. "W-Well, almost seventeen..."

Dayton smiled, and massaged the back of Skiff's neck. But Dayton said nothing.

Skiff weakly reached up with his paws, clawing at Dayton's fur. "D-Dayton! I'm sorry, alr-r-ight? I didn't want to lie to you! But I d-didn't want to t-tell you either! I didn't know w-what you would say!"

"Skiff, hush..."

"Please, p-please don't leave me! I know I'm too young, but I still love you!"

"Hush!" Dayton said firmly. "I'm not going anywhere. I don't care how old you are, that means nothing to me. I wouldn't ever leave you, and especially not for such a silly reason. I'm only sorry you felt like you couldn't tell me."

"D-Dayton..."

"I will never hurt you. And I'll remind you everyday until you believe me."

Skiff began to shake harder. "I...w-want t-to!" he sobbed. "I'mmma...I a-mm t-t-try..."

Dayton stroked against Skiff's neck, frowning. "Breathe, Skiff. Breathe. Please don't get upset, it's not worth it. I'm not angry, and I understand." Dayton said, leaning forward to kiss Skiff's side. He paused for a moment, waiting to watch the slow rising and falling of Skiff's side. The trembling beneath the fur once again slowed. Dayton spoke again, softer and more slowly. "Learning to trust is hard. God it's hard. I understand that you're not gonna be able to trust me tomorrow. Probably not even next month, or the one after that. I don't expect you to. I just wanted to know that I'm going to be here anyway. And I'll wait for you."

There was a skip in Skiff's breathing, but with considerable effort, he continued to breathe slowly. Dayton smiled. Skiff didn't see Dayton smile, but he somehow knew. Skiff felt like he couldn't love Dayton well enough to deserve notice, but as he felt white paws touch his silver fur, he knew that Dayton loved him plenty well enough.

"Good pup. I'm sorry for upsetting you." he said. He looked Skiff's shaking form up and down, and again, frowned. There had to be something more he could do...and then he thought of exactly what he could do.

"Here Skiff, I want you and I to try playing a little game."

Skiff managed to raise one quivering ear. "A game?"

"In a manner of speaking." Dayton said, moving his paws once again underneath Skiff's form and massaging Skiff's back. "I'm going to describe things, and you are going to try to imagine them in your head, just as I'm describing them."

"What...d-does this do?"

"Maybe nothing. But it's always good anyway. It's something I use when I'm having trouble falling asleep." Dayton said, continuing to rub Skiff's back in deep circular motions. Skiff arched his back, murring quietly in pleasure as he felt his muscles in his back begin to relax. "Just try to imagine everything as I describe it."

"I'll try...Dayton..."

"Okay, then. Close your eyes." Dayton said, massaging more gently now as he talked. He settled himself more comfortably in the sleeping nook, and reached next to him, and grabbed a blanket. He covered the both of them, leaving only his head and Skiff's head uncovered. He resumed massaging gently, on Skiff's torso this time. "Take a deep breath, then let it out slowly. Then take another. Feel the air as it moves in and out of your nose. Feel your lungs push out your chest as you breathe."

Skiff's ears twitched as he heard Dayton's voice die away. He breathed as he was instructed, feeling Dayton rub his chest at the same time. It was a peaceful feeling. After a few moments, all Skiff could think about was how his chest felt each time his lungs expanded and retracted, and how each breath brought new life to his body.

Dayton's voice came again, much softer, and more gently. As always, however, he could hear the fox-wolf despite all that. There was something strange about the way Dayton's voice came when he spoke. It seemed to reverberate within Skiff, part commanding, part coercing, part soothing. Skiff hung on every word, desperate the feeling from him.

"You're warm below the blanket." Dayton said, little more than a whisper in Skiff ear as white paws continued to caress him. "You feel safe here in my arms. The door is locked, and the rest of the commune is asleep. We are alone, just you and me. You feel content and safe here with me. You want to stay here with me."

Skiff let out a soft breathy whine. He could feel Dayton smile once again, and the fox-wolf nuzzled him calmingly.

"Picture the number three. Can you see it in your mind?"

"Y-Yes..."

"Watch that three. It slowly turns into a two. Then into a one. And then it becomes a zero. Through the center of the zero you can see a window into a forest. You walk through, leaving the numbers behind. You've entered a peaceful forest, a safe place where nothing can harm you. You sniff around, and you recognize the scents of all the trees."

Skiff sniffed, and later swore that he could smell the trees. He could smell each one of them just as Dayton described.

"You smell Oak, Red Maple, Beech, Walnut, and Birch. And you pause to breathe. And you keep breathing. After a while, you continue to move on. The moonlight dapples the ground, shining between the leaves. You pause as you hear running water in the distance. The sound is beautiful, and you stop to listen and enjoy it. And you breathe. Keep breathing."

Skiff forgot that he was inside at all. In his mind, he was in Dayton's forest, and that was all that mattered to him. Dayton stopped massaging Skiff and smiled. The shaking had all but stopped. Skiff only trembled as if he were cold now. And he could sleep through that. The rest could wait until morning. Dayton leaned forward and continued speaking.

"You decide to walk towards the sound of the water. After walking only a little while longer, you come upon a clear stream, burbling softly as it runs over rocks and pebbles. Beside the river, you see a beautiful tree that you've never seen before. It's bark is a warm auburn, and it's covered with small white blossoms, catching the moon's light. You walk beneath it, and it begins to rain tiny white petals, which fall softly on your fur. And you breathe. Keep breathing.

You decide that this would be a nice place to spend the night. You curl up among the flower petals that have fallen beneath the tree, and find they are remarkably comfortable. You slowly, but surely begin to drift off to sleep."

Dayton could see that Skiff was no longer properly awake. He took a deep breath to steady himself. He was to help Skiff. It a great many ways. That's why he had come. And perhaps others in this commune as well. It was wonderful to have such a purpose...but Dayton's thoughts were interrupted by a soft whisper.

"I fall asleep...all alone...?"

Dayton smiled, and felt his eyes become wet. "You didn't see as you lay down. Beside you, cleverly hidden among the white flower petals, is a white-furred creature."

"It's you..."

Dayton closed his own eyes, so that Skiff could not smell his emotion. "Yes, it's me. I shake the petals from my fur, and pick you up in my arms. I kiss you gently as I lay you in my lap. And, together, we both drift off to sleep. And we breathe. We just breathe."

* * *

Long before Skiff awoke properly, he felt paws gently massaging him. Muscles that complained from trembling too hard gladly gave way to the kind treatment. Skiff soon was murring in pleasure with each soft touch. He never wanted to get up.

"Good morning, cherry tree." Dayton murmured. "It's afternoon already. I let you catch up on sleep from last night."

The memory of the past night came to Skiff in a flash, and his eyes snapped open. "Dayton?" he said, and then his eyes found the sun-gold irises belonging to the white fox-wolf. "Dayton, I'm so sorry!"

Skiff kicked and tried to sit up, but Dayton easily pushed him back. "Shh, Skiff. Sit still, there's nothing wrong. I'm right here and I'm listening." Dayton said, and Skiff was forced to carry on the conversation while laying back. "Now, honey, whatever are you sorry for?"

Skiff let out a half-sob. "Everything! My age, and...what happens to me every once in awhile..."

"Honey, you have to calm down. Breathing, remember? Take a couple breaths for me."

"Dayton...I?"

"Three breaths, Skiff. I'm not talking to you until you take three breaths."

Skiff knew it was no use to fight, so he did as he was bidden. He took three deep breaths and let each one out slowly.

Dayton continued to massage. "Listen carefully, Skiff. I am not upset with you." he said, spacing out each word so that Skiff could feel the meaning. "Please don't get upset."

Skiff whined softly. "I'm still sorry." he said, rubbing his muzzle against Dayton's chest, still bare and unclothed. "I don't see how you could love me. I'm not much more than a pup..."

"Three years."

"What?"

"I'm three years older than you, Skiff. I'm twenty." he said, smiling. "Well...almost twenty. That's not so bad, is it?"

Skiff's jaw hung open for a moment, then he quickly shut it. "I...I thought you were at least twenty-five!"

"Mmm, sorry I didn't live up to your expectations." Dayton said, kissing Skiff's chest. "But don't worry. I'm plenty old enough to handle you."

"Dayton..." Skiff said. But then words failed him.

"Do you love me? Perhaps that's what you were going to say?" Dayton grinned.

The jackal sniffed loudly. "Bigger. I was trying to think of a way to say it bigger."

"Why don't you just kiss me instead?"

"Alright..."

Skiff lifted his head to meet Dayton's muzzle. Dayton was as good as Skiff remembered, and better. Their tongues tussled for a moment, but of course Dayton eventually won. Skiff whimpered into his mouth.

Dayton softly broke the kiss. "And I should apologize myself. Your bout last night was really my fault, wasn't it?"

Skiff shook his head. "No, no...I would have had one in the next few days anyway. But...sometimes when I get excited, or upset..."

"Yes. That's why the meditation helped you so much. It helps you to be calm."

Skiff shook his head again. "I needed the excitement more than the sleep. I love you."

Dayton smiled. "I understand. I love you, too." he said, then he continued to massage, focusing now on Skiff's four legs and paws. "How often does it happen?"

Skiff murred again in pleasure at Dayton's touches. He was very good at massaging. "Once a week usually. I can hold it off for a few hours, if I have to. It makes it worse when I do, but it gives me time to run to my room."

"I want you to come to me from now on. I should massage you during and after. I hope I can keep you from hurting so badly."

"You are...I don't hurt nearly as bad as I normally do. Oooh..."

Skiff closed his eyes as Dayton massaged the individual toes on his paws, stretching out each paw as Dayton caressed him.

"If you feel good enough, we should go work on the library. I hope we can get it open in the next few days."

"I'll feel good enough once I get up and move around some." Skiff said. "But you're gonna have to let me get up first."

Skiff eyes remained closed as Dayton's paws moved to his belly. "Well, I'll let you up as soon as you want to get up."

"Now let's not hope for miracles." Skiff said.

Dayton grinned. "I hope for miracles every day." he said. "And by the way, I found something for you. It was among several old things in the basement of the library. I thought you would like to have it."

"What is it?"

Dayton pointed to the floor of the dormitory, and Skiff sat up, looking. Then, he lost his breath.

Sitting on the blue carpeting was a delicately crafted glass chess set, framed wonderfully in a red-stained wood. There was a clear set of pieces and a frosted set of pieces...and the far right clear pawn had been moved forward two spaces.

Skiff nearly choked. "But...but no one else knows how to play! It's a thousand year old game!"

Dayton grinned. "Well I'm just full of surprises." he said, giving Skiff a gentle kiss. "It's your turn."

* * *

Days went by. With each day, the sun rose and set on the commune, turning the concrete a myriad of colors with each sunset. And there was rain. Water fell from the sky, turning the dry dust of the main thoroughfare into a dark, muddy path. But paws trod across it just as often. Rain was a sign of change around the commune. It washed away the old, and brought on possibilities of the new, bringing nature's message to the commune.

The summer was coming to an end. Soon the earth would be turning.

Ako looked on the impending autumn with mixed emotions. The black fox looked forward to the new season for many reasons. He would be moving in with Trick permanently. He would be getting daily hunting lessons as soon as he could walk. The fall showed much promise.

But now he had to say goodbye to the lazy dusk of summer, this season setting forever. The summer had been a long and difficult one, but now he was sad to see it go. This summer had given him new hope, in himself and the future. And this summer had given him a lanky coyote who would love him forever.

It was at this coyote that Ako had his eyes fixed on as Dakota looked over his leg one last time.

Trick grinned. "Ako, you're tongue's hanging out."

Ako quickly closed his mouth. "Oops...sorry."

"Looking forward to walking around?"

Ako nodded rapidly, so that his entire body shook with him.

"Ako, hold still, I'm trying to work here!"

"Sorry, Dakota."

The fox sat cross-legged on the floor next to Ako, who sat on his haunches, holding his foreleg out for inspection. The red biped fox ran his finger's down Ako's leg, feeling the bone for any inconsistencies, and he watched Ako's face closely for any signs of discomfort. But he needn't have bothered. Ako was all but healed.

"So, doesn't hurt at all when I press on it?" Dakota asked, putting pressure on Ako's bone. Ako gave a silly grin, and shook his head.

"It doesn't hurt when I stand on it either! I can walk just fine!"

"You shouldn't know that. I haven't told you you're allowed to walk on it yet!" Dakota said sternly.

Ako laid his ears back. "I'm sorry, Dakota."

Dakota's expression instantly softened. "Oh, it's alright, you silly fox." he said, smiling. "Now, listen! You are partially weight bearing. Partially! That doesn't mean entirely or even mostly. I'll let you walk around, but you must always be leaning on someone. And be careful not to put too much weight on it! I want to make sure that when you get back to running, you can do it just as well as you ever could, understand?"

Ako kept his ears firmly pinned to his head. "Yes, Dakota."

Dakota looked him firmly in the eye. "I mean it now, Ako! If you walk on this before you're fully healed, you might re-fracture it, and then you'll walk with a limp for the rest of your life." Dakota said, now speaking with genuine concern. "You don't want that to happen. None of us do. So take it easy and be careful."

Ako nodded. "I promise."

Dakota gave Ako a pat on the back. "Good fox." he said, then he stood up, rounding on Trick. "And all those things I said go for you as well! Don't let him walk too fast, and make sure he's leaning on you when you go anywhere! I mean it!"

The coyote looked up, a saintly expression on his face. "You would impugn my honor?"

"You impugn my honor when you disregard my advice!"

"When have I not listened to you?"

"I specifically told you not to do anything to get Ako excited! I think you disregarded that...several times!"

Ako blushed scarlet beneath his black fur.

"Hey you have your medicine, and I have mine." Trick said, sticking out tongue playfully.

"Medicine? Why you?!"

"Oh, look at him, Dakota. Could you resist that face?"

Dakota turned to look at Ako, who suddenly felt very, very small.

"No...I suppose you have a point."

Trick continued. "Could you resist those eyes? That lovely tail? The delicate curve of his..."

Ako whined aloud. "Triiiiiiick!"

Trick laughed, and Dakota couldn't resist joining in. "Alright then, I'll leave you two be. Have fun!"

And Dakota exited, closing the door behind him.

Trick moved closer to Ako, who still was looking away in embarrassment.

"Still afraid to admit you're beautiful, hm?"

As always, Ako's heart seemed to jump at the word 'beautiful'. "I...I just don't know how to handle when people talk about me like that."

"Like you're cute?"

Another jump. But this time Ako managed to smile. "Yeah, like that."

Trick put both his forelegs around Ako, and nuzzled into his neck. "You really looking forward to getting out, huh?"

Ako nodded.

Trick looked away, pretending to be hurt. "You just can't wait to get out of my room, can you? You don't need me anymore!"

Ako growled. "Trick don't be mean! I still need you to lean against as I walk. And I'm not leaving for good! I'm coming back! I don't really ever want to leave you. And you're coming with me. It's not like..."

Ako was so absorbed in his attempted placation of Trick that he didn't notice when the coyote put his muzzle over his own.

Ako let out a small squeak of surprise, and before he had a moment to resist, Trick pushed him over. Just as Ako was about to fall to the carpeted floor, then Trick's forelegs caught him, and held him suspended in the air.

This kiss was one of their own, and Ako was getting to the point where he felt he could enjoy it without his breath being drained from him. The feeling he'd felt before had been only half pleasure, the rest fear. When he felt now when Trick kissed him was pure exhilaration. Like there was a reason to be alive after all.

Trick let the kiss gently end, but still held Ako in his arms. "I was joking, beautiful. I know you're not going anywhere. I trust you more than that."

Ako had his eyes closed, and said nothing, but gently nosed at Trick's chin.

Trick grinned. "What's the fox shut his mouth for? Can it be that there's a little sound in there for me?"

Trick nipped softly at the edge of Ako's neck. The fox's jaw trembled, but still he said nothing. Then Trick gave a hard, slow lick up the center of Ako's throat, and the fox couldn't help himself any longer.

Ako let out a loud, helpless whimper. And Trick gave a soft chuckle. "You don't need to hide around me, beautiful." he said, laying Ako on his back on the carpet.

Ako shook his head. "I don't want to act like a puppy all the time!"

"Maybe I fell in love with that puppy, hm? Be yourself! I love the little fox noises I can make you give when I kiss you. I know you love me back, because you wouldn't make those noises for just anyone. They're my little foxy noises..."

And Trick kissed Ako on the muzzle. just pressing their lips together without opening. And Ako gave another small whimper. "Please don't try to hush up around me." Trick said. "At least when we're alone. I don't think I'd like that at all."

"I'm sorry, Trick."

"And I love you, Ako."

"I love you too, Trick."

"But I think the foxy is in the mood for a different sort of exercise right now. Come on, fox! Let's go for a walk. We can have fun when we get back."

Ako rolled over, grinning in anticipation. "Alright!"

And Trick let the black fox stand up by himself, but then watched meticulously as the fox leaned on his side. They spent a few moments arguing technique and comfort, and then they were off.

The stairs were by far the hardest part. Trick insisted that Ako stop on each stair and switch to his bad leg, while leaning heavily on him, so that he could fall to the next step on his good leg. It did keep the stress off his bad leg, Ako supposed, but it was slow going.

Eventually, Ako conquered the stairs, and made it to the ground floor of the dormitory building. They meandered slowly through the lobby and out the front door. And Ako was met by the sun, and he eagerly drank in his raise. His black fur rapidly absorbed the sun's heat, and he reveled in the feeling.

Trick paused to let Ako bask for a moment. He gave him a soft kiss on the neck. "Welcome back, sweetheart."

Trick went to kiss Ako full on the muzzle, and Ako noticed all the people looking at him, and froze.

"It's alright, Ako. They're all on your side."

Ako hesitated for a moment longer, then forgot his reservation. He leaned into Trick with zeal, and they kissed properly.

Applause and cheers erupted from the far side of the thoroughfare. Ako nearly jumped into the air.

"Welcome back, Ako!"

"Way to go, buddy!"

"Trick and A-ko, sittin' in a tree!"

"Glad to see you again!"

Ako spun to see that most the prominent figures of the commune had come out to see him. Skipper, Alan, Muff and the entire luminance crew, Dakota, Darron, Sannah and Clara. And they all were clapping their paws together.

Ako buried his face in Trick chest and groaned. "Did you put a sign on the side of the Dormitories too?"

Trick smiled. "Sorry, couldn't afford it. The friends came free."

After much coercing, Ako was convinced to show his face to the crowd, and each one walked up and congratulated Ako individually. Ako felt terribly embarrassed, and blushed beneath his fur the whole time. But after it was all over...he was forced to admit it had been very pleasant. It was always nice to remember that one had many friends.

Skipper, Alan, and Muff all kneeled down and said their hellos, and how pleased they were to see him up and about. Skipper talked aside to Ako and begged his forgiveness. He said that he should have took Ako under his wing and told him about the commune's peculiarities himself.

"It's all my fault!" he insisted.

"There's no way you could have known. It's no one's fault, especially not yours." Ako replied.

Sannah merely said that if he hadn't been injured, she would have given him a good kick for having gotten injured. Ako grinned and admitted he probably deserved it. Clara gave him a genuine smile, and a small kiss on the cheek, which made the fox blush once again beneath his fur. Dakota just gave him a friendly ruffle on the head, saying that he'd gotten to see him plenty over the days. Darron walked up and the black wolf promptly have Ako a bone crushing hug.

"If ya' ever get in a bind again, just come running. I'll be your hero any day of the week."

"Aww, oof! " Ako said as Darron hugged just a little too hard. "Thanks, Darron!"

The afternoon seemed to last for a wonderful eternity. They all stood in the center of the commune, all chatting with one another. For an hour or more they stood, doing nothing but talking, as if they hadn't seen each other in years. Trick was enormously pleased through the whole thing. After all these people were exactly the people that Trick had crafted this commune for. He had made a place for each one of them.

It went on wonderfully, Ako so involved in the conversation that he completely forgot that he was injured at all. Trick had to remind him not to stand on his own several times. Ako wished that the talk would go on forever. There had been plenty of silence in Trick's room when Trick wasn't there. And Ako wasn't one for silence. But, the talk eventually came to and end when Dakota called them to order.

"The grand opening of the library is in just a few minutes! I don't know about the rest of you, but I plan to be there to see it!"

The group responded with heart-felt agreement. And so, with much excitement and anticipation, they all proceeded to the library. The main thoroughfare was muddy, but even that felt pleasant to Ako. He was so absorbed in the feeling that he didn't notice a white figure standing in front of the library door waiting for them. While Ako was busy using Trick to help himself climb up the steps, he ran into Dayton's legs.

Dayton frowned down upon them all. "It looks like you all are going to a party."

"We sort of are!" Alan said, the german shepherd laughing as he spoke.

Dayton did not share in his amusement. He spoke quietly, but his voice was firm. "This building is not a playground. This building is not an entertainment center. It is a place of quiet study, and shall remain so while under my care. And furthermore... furthermore..."

But Dayton couldn't continue, He burst out into laughter. "I'm sorry, pardon my joke! I couldn't resist myself." he said, covering his mouth with a paw as he laughed. He opened the door behind him. "Welcome! Come see what we've made!"

Ako decided later that it looked much like children at play. But he'd never seen a playground so beautiful.

The overhead lights were on, but they'd been covered with plastic filters. The lights breathed a warm glow over the terminals and tables. The carpeting was pale ochre yellow while the walls were painted a dark tan. The coloring gave the effect that the light in the room was emanating from the floor. The back of the library was filled with wooden tables, all stained a wonderful dark brown. And six large, double-sided bookcases had been brought from the basement and were filled with books. The bookcases were also of wood, and stained a similar tone to the tables. The terminals had all been dusted and cleaned, and looked like they were brand new. And Ako watched as all the member's of this beloved place, his commune and his home, all relived their days as children.

Way back then. Back when happiness had been so simple. Of course they all remembered how to use the terminals. It was impossible to forget. But now they shared them with new friends, some of them lovers. Real friends.

The commune members broke off into little groups. Alan, Skipper, and Muff took a screen to share, even though there were many open. Sannah and HER GIRLFRIEND also shared a screen. Darron took one of the stations designed for quadrupeds to himself. And Dakota sat at a upright terminal next to Darron and they talked amiably. All the while, Dayton stood behind the main desk, looking enormously pleased. Trick and Ako sat next to the desk, watching in amusement as the others scurried around.

"Well, Ako? There's still a few terminals open." Trick said, nudging Ako next to him. "You want to go over to one?"

Ako smiled to himself. "No, not yet. I will in a bit. I'm having fun just watching for right now."

Trick looked over to Dayton. "Did you manage to connect to the intranet?"

Dayton nodded. "The uplink here is still functional, and in good condition. I should be able to fix anything in this library if it should go wrong."

Trick nodded slowly, taking in everything around him. "This is beautiful, Dayton. There's so much work to be done around here...I want everyone to have a place to relax, as well." Trick said. And he could find no more words. He was awestruck. "Dayton, thank you."

"No thanks necessary, Trick. This is now my home, as well."

"Were the bookcases in the cellar of this place, too?"

"That they were. We spent a day selecting which books to display up here in the reading room. The collection in the stacks is far too large bring it all up.

Trick and Dayton continued to talk, but Ako was distracted. He saw a small form, trying to remain inconspicuous between the large bookcases in the back of the library. Ako looked at Trick, who was busy conversing with Dayton, and then moved toward the bookcases, hop-skipping on only three legs. Trick immediately felt Ako's absence and spun around.

"Ako? Where you going?"

Ako looked over his shoulder, pausing. "Just to go talk. I'll be back."

Trick looked up and saw where the fox was heading, and his expression became stern. "If you need anything, just shout. I'll be there in half a second."

"I don't think I'll need it, but thank you."

Ako hobbled off, and Trick looked uneasy. He wanted very much to follow Ako.

Dayton leaned over the desk. "Let him go. They both need this."

Trick said, his tail and ears twitching. "Ako and I are still new. I'm still very selfish."

"He's not leaving you, Trick. He's just finishing up something that never properly began."

Ako walked between two of the bookcases, and sat down. Soon enough, a silver creature came pacing by, looking at the ground. But soon enough he looked up.

Ako looked into auburn eyes. "Hi, Skiff."

Skiff took a hesitant step backwards. "Uh..Ako! You, I mean..." Skiff stopped. He slowly sat uncomfortably with his tail between his legs. "...hi."

Ako tilted his head, looking carefully at Skiff. "I thought it best we had a talk...considering everything that's happened recently."

Skiff attempted to sit up straighter. "Ah. Yes. Well, I'd...I mean..." he began, but then he caught sight of Ako's green eyes, and he wilted. "Oh dammit, Ako. I'm sorry!"

Ako gave a little smile, but that did nothing to ease Skiff's disappointment in himself. "I didn't mean for you to get hurt. And Trick...I was just so mad at Trick I didn't know what to do. I didn't really want to hurt him. I just wanted to make myself feel better. And that wolf and that cougar, I didn't even really know who they were. Hell, they even scared me. I don't know what I was doing!"

Ako held up a paw. "Skiff, it's alright. I think I'm at least starting to understand." he said. "But is it true what I've heard?"

"Is what true?"

"That you...like me?"

Skiff closed his eyes. "Yes Ako, I like you very much. You were about the only person in this commune that I wasn't afraid of. I felt like I could actually love you."

Ako laid his ears back, not really knowing what to say. "Are...are you still jealous of Trick?"

"Yes. But he's so much better for you than I am. I don't think I could take care of you the way you need."

Ako was severely taken aback. He'd heard people tell him that Skiff felt this way. But hearing it for himself was something different entirely. "Skiff, I'm so sorry."

Skiff finally gave a friendly smile. "Bah...it never would have worked out, anyway."

Ako let his ears gradually come back up. "Although I think you've found someone for yourself?"

Skiff's hackles raised reflexively. "What! Who said..." then he stopped. He shook his entire body as hard as he could. Then he forced himself to sit back down. He took a slow deep breath. "Sorry I still forget myself. Give me time, I'll get better." He looked to the ground, and a contented smile slowly crept over his muzzle. "Yes, I've found someone. His name is Dayton, and he's the most amazing person I've ever met."

Ako nodded. "I'm glad you've found where you belong. I think I have, too."

"I still dream of you sometimes. But I can live with that." he said. The jackal enfolded Ako in a tight embrace. "I'm sorry I hurt you. I didn't want to."

Despite himself, Ako nuzzled into Skiff's chest. "I knew that the moment I saw your eyes. That wasn't your fault."

"I should let you go now. You're not mine."

"Another few moments couldn't hurt."

Skiff gave Ako's neck a small kiss, and then forced himself to let go and take a step back.

Ako smiled. "Skiff, why don't you come out and join us? We're not against you, you know."

Skiff opened his mouth as if to say something, but then paused. He took another deep breath. "You're right. It's time."

Out by the main desk, Trick and Dayton watched as their lovers walked out from between the bookcases, Ako leaning on Skiff for support. Trick looked on, amazed, as they both walked to a terminal designed for quadrupeds, and Skiff began showing Ako how to use it.

"I'll be...look at them!" Trick laughed.

Dayton smiled. "If it's alright with you, Trick, I'd like Skiff to stay on at the library as an assistant. Permanently."

"Of course, of course..."

Trick watched once again as Skiff pointed avidly at the screen, talking excitedly. And Ako listened, enthralled. "What did you do to him, Dayton? I think you broke him!"

Dayton smiled, more to himself to anyone else. "Don't be so hasty to discard something as broken. If you shine them up a little bit...why it'll surprise you what they can be able to do."

And outside the commune, the sun set on the last day of summer. But for the first time, Trick was actually looking forward to the winds and the snow that would come with winter. There would be plenty more reasons to stay inside. And now he had a black fox to keep safe and warm.

TO BE CONTINUED.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I hope you all enjoyed my story! Please take the time to leave a comment if you enjoyed it! I'm a writer that's always trying to improve!