FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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Hehhey, and welcome to the Hockey Hunk! This is the second of the three Hockey Hunk season 4 finales which we launched off on Monday, and now it's time to get further along the story with the next instalment! Yay! I hope you've been enjoying yourself so far, and hopefully I'll manage to make this a fun read all the way to the end...until season 5 kicks in with a whole new breed of drama!

Your feedback is as welcome as always, and I hope you'll give me comments once you're done reading!

Have a nice read :P

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DING-DONG!

"YAY!" I whooped as the sound of the doorbell banged in my ears and told me that my hours of boredom were going to be over in just about....now.

"HEHHEY!"

The door was open and the fox was standing outside there, one walking stick, a mild expression on his muzzle as I greeted him with a good big friendly Cleveland smile and patted his shoulder.

"So glad you could make it!" I beamed as I made room for Tate to step into Victor's hallway. Didn't want the fox to have any trouble getting up and about, not with that poor leg of his. Wonder if it was titanium or something...wonder if it was okay to ask...hmmm...

"Thanks for inviting me," Tate said as he stepped in, making little marks on the carpet with his cane, "very nice of you."

I patted his shoulder as I pulled the door closed and bolted it as per Victor's instructions and then turned around to smile at the fox some more.

"Gotta catchup with my old buddeeeeh!" I grinned, my ears flicking plenty, "our previous evening was cut so short and I just knew we had so much more to talk about, and with Victor out of town, I simply knew I gotta ask you to come!"

His tail swished the air behind him and I guess that meant he was feeling nice about it too. Great!

"Well thank you again," he said as we stood in the little hall, just getting used to each other's scent and presence, the way guys did.

"Bah, sure!" I waved my paw, "I don't really know anyone in town and with Victor gone for the weekend, I just knew I wanted to see a familiar face!"

"Well hope I qualify," he said.

"YOU BET!" I wagged my tail, whatever I had, which wasn't much compared to what he had, of course, that big bushy wagger right where it was.

"Heheh."

"Come on right in!" I said as I stomped into Victor's fancy living room kitchen, "I've got some croissants from the nearby deli and I've got coffee, tea, mineral water and cold cuts and salami..."

I heard him rumble and then chuckle a little.

"Wow..."

I gave him a look over my shoulder and winked.

"Mealtime's everytime here," I grinned.

Tate chuckled.

"Some things don't change," he said.

"Hahahah," I said, patting my stomach, "what can I say? I like to eat, and I love to cook!"

"Wonder you didn't make the croissants yourself, then," the fox said.

I harrumphed.

"I've got a poor relationship with that kind of dough," I shrugged indignantly.

"Hahhah."

It was pretty fun to hear him laugh like that. He seemed pretty cheerful today, a bit less tense than the previous time he was around. Maybe he'd been a bit nervous with Victor and all, with their history and all that, all the worries Victor had, too, and maybe Tate-guy wasn't without his own thoughts, too. He'd been the one apologizing for being mean, after all, so maybe that made it more difficult for him to relax. Better now, I hope! It was so boring here now that Victor went to that strange little town with Rory to meet Rory's parents, and he had left me at home and told me not to make a mess...but I wasn't making a mess...I had cleaned the place! Silly brother, leaving all those dirty clothes everywhere, and not emptying the dishwasher...maybe he was getting lazy with me around. A bad habit if any, if he wanted to impress Rory...hmmm...

"But these are very nice," I grinned as I entered the kitchen, pointing at the big brown paper bag.

He sniffed the air and gave a quick nod, and I suppose he thought it was okay.

"Heheh."

"Just sit back and relax, I'll just put the coffee on and I'll join you right up!" I grinned.

"Thanks, Cobb."

It didn't take long at all for me to get the coffee bubbling, and then it was time to crash onto the couch next to the fox and make myself cozy. Just sit back, spread my legs, let my stomach out, all that jazz. Murrr...nice...nice...arm over the backrest and there we go. He didn't mind. I grinned.

"It'll be ready soon," I smiled, the scent of coffee already building up in the air.

"Thanks," the fox said.

I clapped my paws together. His ears hopped up and about. Maybe I startled him a bit. Shame about that. Didn't want to make him jumpy.

"So!" I grinned, tongue lolling out, "what've you been up to? Still hard at work?"

The fox scratched his muzzle.

"Still going to school, yeah," he replied, "getting ready for that work practice that's coming up."

"Oooooohhhh yes you told about that!" I snapped my fingers, "some kind of an internet company was it?"

He nodded.

"Just a little one, yeah, designing web pages and the like," he said, "they'll have me do a small internship there as part of my studies."

"That's great!" I patted his shoulder heartily. "Putting all those skills to good use!"

"Guess it's about time," he said, "been doing so much work already...learning and stuff..."

"Evelyn's the computer whiz of our family," I said with a grin, "I'm the one who gets the ideas, and she turns them into reality, just like that! Awesome!"

The fox nodded and gave me a bit of a look.

"So Evelyn went for computers, then?" Tate said. "Didn't know about that."

"Heh, she was always such a bookworm," I waved my paw in the air, "guess it all paid off since she got to study computer science and programming in Cleveland. Then she worked for IBM for a few years before we set up the company together, heheh."

"Not her thing, then?"

I chuckled.

"We'd been talking about it for a few years," I said, "I was working with various little retail companies for some time but it wasn't going anywhere so I decided that I was better off as my own boss, heheh."

"Yeah, I think you told me about that back when I last visited," Tate said.

"Hahahah, I must have," I grinned, "sorry, I tend to ramble about it when I get talking about my work, I hope I didn't bore you!"

"Not at all," the fox smiled, "I came here to catch up, didn't I? I like hearing about it."

"Well don't just feel like you gotta sit there quietly," I smiled as I patted his arm, "I wanna hear all about you too! So much to talk about!"

"Heheh," his tail swished against his legs, sneakers, all that.

"So did you enlist to the army right after high school?" I asked. "I don't think I got to hear about that yet!"

He scratched his side slowly and looked thoughtful.

"I did some odd jobs for a few years in Cleveland," he said after a while, "I knew it wasn't going anywhere, and since I didn't have money to go to college or anything, I decided to enlist. Seemed like a good way to get a job and some education, maybe, if nothing else."

I nodded a couple of times.

"Yeah...guess that's one job that never ends for this country..." I huffed.

"So that was it, then," he said, "training, service...tour of duty..."

His paw patted his thigh.

"...this..."

I cringed, my ears dropping down.

"...and now I'm here," he said slowly.

I couldn't really even imagine everything he had to go through. It was just beyond my entire life's experience, so different to anything I ever had to encounter. I felt a bit uncomfortable, and wasn't sure what to say, or to do, or to do anything else...I just didn't know enough. Damn. Wish I was better at these kind of things. Victor was so much better...but maybe that was because of that. Must've come with that, being so kind and sensitive and all that shit that I just had to struggle with sometimes. I dunno. Weird...I don't know.

"And looking great!" I smiled.

His ears flicked a little, and he looked kinda sheepish, like that.

"Well I don't know about that..."

"Nonsense, " I winked. "COFFEE TIME!"

I got up as well as I could, tugged on my pants so that they wouldn't slip down my ass and then turned to face the fox.

"You wanna come sit on the table or sit down here?" I waved my paw over the little coffee table that stood between the couch and Victor's big TV system on the other side o the room, "I can drag this table a bit closer so that it's comfortable..."

"If it's not a problem..."

"Hell, I like it better here, can watch TV!" I grinned, tail wagging, "though now I've got you instead, heheh!"

"Glad I beat daytime TV", the fox said with a smile.

"Glad you could come!" I beamed as I went back to the kitchen to get the food ready.

And was there food! I had the croissants on a plate, and then brought over butter, cheese, salami and salad so that we could put any fillings in them we'd like - that was for salty snacks, and I also brought a plateful of cookies, in case he felt like something more sweet, and of course a whole pot of coffee and Victor's least gay coffee mugs on the offer, and milk and sugar and artificial sweetener and cream and spoons and...

"SERVIETTES!"

Damn, I had to make another run to the kitchen to find some serviettes...where did I put them...hmm...

"It's fine, Cobb!"

"No, they're needed!" I declared as I opened and banged shut cabinets and drawers that didn't contain what I was looking for.

"It's just fine..."

Where the hell did I put them? I knew I saw them before, I used them often enough...down here...hmmm...

"Where are they..."

"You could always bring some of that kitchen roll!" the fox commented.

My ears perked.

That's it!

"Hahahahah," I chuckled as I stood up right again and then went over to the little dispenser to tear off a couple of pieces of Victor's flower-decorated kitchen roll. I flopped down onto the couch next to the fox and grinningly placed the papers onto the low table I'd hauled closer to the couch.

"There we go!" I smiled. "All nice and clean now, and manly, hehheh."

He lifted a brow.

"Manly?"

I poured myself some coffee from the thermos pot and added a little bit of cream and two sugars before I started to stir the murky mess into something dellll-lishious! I gave him a wink.

"Well we're just two guys here...nobody telling us to not to belch and not to hold our elbows on the table...heheh..."

"Well there's that..." he scratched his muzzle.

I sipped my coffee for a taste and found it to be great.

"Hmmmmmmm!" I smacked my lips.

"Nice?"

"Very!" I grinned. "Can't wait to taste one of these croissants, though...they're so leafy, and they add a little bit of coriander, that tastes so well with savory stuff like salami...ohh yes..."

"You go ahead, I'll do what you're doing," he said.

"Well if you're sure..."

"Yep."

I grabbed the knife I'd brought in and split the oversized croissants so that I could easily start to pile all kinds of delicious onto the leafy, crispy-surfaced crescent.

"The key is to put the things in right order," I explained, "...butter...cheese...salami...salad..."

The fox shook his head slowly.

"I could go to some kind of a restaurant and get something like this for something like....what...ten bucks?" he suggested.

"And since I'm raiding Victor's fridge, you're getting one free!" I winked as I topped my croissant off and let it sit on the plate as a tasty reminder of the food pleasures to come.

He laughed.

"What would Victor think?"

I shrugged.

"I cook for him, he might as well accept that I need my share of the stuff, too!" I flicked my ears.

"Fair enough," he nodded.

"Go, go!" I pointed at the foodstuffs spread over the shiny glass, "A good hosts makes sure a guest doesn't have to wait!"

"Thanks," he rumbled.

I sipped my coffee again, enjoying the taste, while Tate began to work with his own croissant to turn it into something nice and great. He worked slowly...little paws...well...maybe small compared to mine, but still, okay-sized...good football paws...good for grabbing the ball...though now he dripped a small piece of salad...I quickly picked it up, and our paws collided a bit. I'm glad he wasn't holding his coffee or something, since he was a bit startled.

"Here you go," I smiled.

"Thanks, Cobb."

I patted his back.

"Gotta help my old buddy," I grinned.

"This does look good..."

"Dig in, man!" I said. "And if you still have room after we're done with this, I can pop a couple of steaks to the frying pan and..."

He chuckled.

"You never stop eating, do you?"

"Not unless I have to," I replied, "Victor claims he's looking after his weight but he never declines a second helping of whatever I'm making. Silly man, hahah."

Tate smiled.

"He's lucky to have a brother like you."

I shrugged.

"I'm just old me," I said, "just trying to do the right things...sometimes not doing so well...sometimes I make mistakes and furs get angry with me..."

"Oh?"

Damn...I wasn't supposed to talk about anything like that...had to...had to get past this topic somehow...

"Well...saying the wrong things...talking too quickly for my own good..." I mused abstractly, hoping that'd be enough to satisfy his curiosity.

Tate nodded again, ears flicking when he did so.

"Guess that means the old Holden brother rivalry is as legendary as ever?"

Damn, he was good at guessing stuff...and remembering stuff...

"Heh..." I stirred my coffee, "well...sometimes, of course...we have our moments still...but we try to keep things good between us, of course! No point in arguing...since we see each other pretty rarely and all...I haven't stayed this long yet here, either, but with Victor's accident and all, I had to change all my plans..."

"Lots of work and friends waiting in Chicago?" he suggested.

"Oh, some, of course," I shrugged, "I've been working from here, too, answering the emails and stuff...we've got great staff handling everything at the warehouse, I've just been dealing with some of the new clients and stuff...easy to do over the internet, heheh..."

"It's good to hear things are going alright," he said.

"Well, it's a smooth business," I said, "I just pull the strings when I need to and there we go!"

"Sounds pretty awesome," Tate said.

"It's an okay business," I stretched out my paws in front of me and felt the tendons pop, which made me rumble happily. Nice and relaxing!

"Heheh."

"So what do you want to do then huh?" I asked curiously. "With those computer skills and all that...what is it that you're gonna do?"

He looked thoughtful.

"I suppose there are many options...trying to find work with some company, maybe...or the government..."

"How about the army?" I asked. "Don't they have job for computer specialists, too?"

"Depends on whether they want to reinstate me...I'm not exactly on active duty at the moment..."

Hmmm...yeah...I tensed a bit again, thinking about the horrible things he had to go through.

"I...I understand..."

He looked miserable, in a way...drooping ears...those never look good on a fox, I thought...they were meant to be cheerful...like...like Cobb! Cobb-cheerful!

"Sorry, Tate..."

What to do...what to do to cheer him up...just patting his shoulder wouldn't do...done that a few times already and still he looked like that...oh, man...

Maybe a hug would do better...yes...I could give those...I was good at it...lots of practice...a good hug to cheer him up...just a little one...yes...pull the smaller fox close and give him a squeeze...his paws gripping my sides...

"Dontcha worry old Tate..."

Just a little good squeeze on the fox to make him feel better...he was kinda looking at me...close...closer...just a bit closer...was he supposed to be that close?

He wasn't supposed to be...kissing me, now was he not?

WHAT?

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Thank you for reading my story! Hope you enjoyed the read, and hopefully you'll leave me a comment or two after you're done. Also remember that all votes, faves and watches will help others to find these stories to enjoy as well!

See you on Monday for the ultimate season finale! :P