{"sf1_id":574724,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Family Ties","author":"DarkSoulsSauron","words":4246,"posted_at":"2013-08-10T20:52:00.000Z","tags":["ninetales","pokemon"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/574724-family-ties","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/574724","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=574724\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\n\nSoren sat on the spacious couch that\nprovided the main seating for the living area. He was staring at his\nemail inbox, as if he was willing incoming mail to come faster than\nthe senders could write it. He was sitting like this for about\nfifteen minutes already. Nothing could distract him. Not games,\nreading, music, nothing. All he could think about was that incoming\nemail.\n\n\nEli came up behind him without making a\nsound. He gently reached out his hands and placed them on Soren's\nsilver shoulders. \"Are you ok, Soren? You've been staring at that\nscreen for ages.\"\n\n\nSoren sighed. \"Aunt Aly emailed me.\nShe was released from treatment this week.\"\n\n\"After seven months? She fought it\noff fast,\" said Eli. He vaulted over the back of the couch and\nhugged Soren, resting his muzzle on Soren's shoulder.\n\nSoren smiled. \"They found it early,\nand she reacted well to treatment. For now she's a survivor, but they\nwant to check up on her monthly for a while, as it's likely to come\nback again. I don't blame them. I'd say it's too good to be true, but\nI'm not complaining.\" At that point he heard the bing on his\nlaptop, alerting him of new mail. He opened it eagerly, his eyes\nflicking through the text. He let Eli read it. It wasn't anything too\npersonal. \"Do we have any plans this weekend?\"\n\n\nEli shook his head. \"It's fine if you\ngo up there this Saturday. I've got nothing either. You want\ncompany?\"\n\n\nSoren thought about it. \"I think I'll\ngo this alone. Aly wouldn't mind, but if we ran into... someone\nelse... things could get more complicated than they already are.\nSorry.\"\n\n\nEli nodded. Soren felt that Eli knew\nwho he meant by \"someone else.\"\nSoren check his watch. It was half past seven. He closed his computer\nand unwrapped himself around Eli. \"I better get started on cooking\nthen. I wanna leave early tomorrow.\" Eli raised an eyebrow\nquizzically. \"I think the reason Aly let me stay with her so long\nis because she loved my cooking. I thought I would bring some meals\nfor her to make her life easier for a bit.\"\n\nEli brought over\nthe recipe box and flicked through them with Soren, helping him make\ndecisions based on what they both liked. They went for Jeanne's\nmeatloaf, the maple sweet potatoes from thanksgiving, lemon garlic\nchicken, a jar of Soren's homemade red sauce, Soren's favorite\nlemon-chocolate marble cake, and ingredients for his chocolate fondue\nmix. Eli then dug through the spacious fridge to see if all the\ningredients were there. Laying them on the counter, Soren dug through\nthem. \"We're short on butter and ground beef. Also I need another\nlemon,\" said Soren as he went through his mental checklist. \"Can\nyou grab those while I get started?\"\n\nEli threw on his\njacket and was out the door in no time. Soren took his grandma's chef\nknife, trimmer, and paring knife and set the vegetables aside. He\nfigured he'd start prepping the red sauce. Washing all the\nvegetables, he began peeling and seeding the tomatoes, throwing the\nflesh into a bowl, ready to be smashed. He then diced carrots,\npeppers, garlic and grape tomatoes and set them aside to be mixed in.\nsmashing the tomatoes together to create a fine paste. Mixing all of\nit together with olive oil and water, he gave it all a thorough\nstirring before sealing it in a glass jar.\n\n\nThe\nchicken was easy. He took four chicken breasts and laid them in a pan\nwith washed and trimmed green beans and red potato slices. Juicing\nthe lemon into a bowl of olive oil, he mixed in black peppers, the\nmore of his minced garlic, a bit of salt, and then covered it all\nwith zest from the juiced lemon. He covered the pan and wrote\ninstructions on the tin foil for how to cook it.\n\n\nSoren then started\non the sweet potatoes. He prepped the potatoes and got the\ningredients for the sauce together, but Aly would have to heat it up\non her stove for the best results. It only took a minute or two\nanyway.\n\n\nEli was back by\nnow. He laid the lemon and ground beef on the counter. \"Any way I\ncan help.\"\n\nSoren knew this was\ntempting fate, but he nodded his head. He handed Eli the cheese\ngrater and the lemon. \"Zest this and then slice it into rings. Keep\nthe zest aside and slip the rings inside the chicken pan.\"\n\n\nSoren went to start\nthe fondue mix. He took his enormous slab of milk chocolate that he\nkept in the freezer and broke off numerous pieces. He then found his\ndark baking chocolate and took a few pieces of that as well. Taking\nan 8 ounce carton of heavy cream, he threw the chunks in a bag along\nwith instructions on how to melt the chocolate. Soren also included\nnumerous pre-cut strawberries, bananas, and a bag of marshmallows.\nAll Aly needed to do now was melt it together and the fondue would be\nready.\n\n\nEli was now done\nwith the lemon by now. \"Should I get the ingredients out for the\ncake?\"\n\n\nSoren nodded. Now\nit was time for the meatloaf. Mincing onions, celery, garlic,\npeppers, and carrots, he smashed them I with eggs and the ground\nbeef, mixing bread crumbs in liberally as well as ketchup. Packing it\nthickly into a pan, he covered it with foil and wrote instructions on\ntop, like he did with the chicken.\n\n\nNow for the best\npart, the cake. \"Eli, sift the flour and stuff for me,\" said\nSoren. That wasn't something that even Eli could mess up... he hoped.\nHe watched carefully to see if Eli took the time to measure properly.\nSometimes Eli forgot the difference between cooking and baking.\nCooking was art, with endless variations and permutations of a single\nrecipe, all with the potential to improve it. Baking was science. If\nyou failed to heed the instructions, be prepared for disastrous\nresults.\n\n\nSoren preheated the\noven, then stirred together cocoa, sugar, some baking soda, and some\nwater. Eli successfully sifted the dry ingredients, so Soren could\nmix them with sum creamed butter and add the eggs. He put about 2/3\nof the batter in a bowl to be mixed with lemon zest, and the rest to\nbe mixed with the cocoa. A quick mix later and the lemon and\nchocolate batters were ready. Eli helped Soren put the two batters\ntogether in segments. Soren handed a butter knife to Eli. \"Alright\nmister painter, use this to make a pattern in the batter.\"\n\n\nSoren smiled as Eli\nhappily got to work, creating an elegant vortex pattern within the\nyellow and black-brown batters. It didn't take him long to be done.\nSoren put the cake in the oven and started cleanup with Eli. Both of\nthem enjoyed a couple of licks of cake batter off the mixer. It\ndidn't matter that both of them were in their twenties, when Soren\nbaked, neither of them could resist. \"I hope you can fend for\nyourself for a day or two. I'd hate to see the building burned down\nwhen I get back.\"\n\n\nEli\nlightly punched him in the shoulder. \"I'm not that bad.\nBut I can deal with it.\" With nothing left to do but wait for the\ncake, the two foxes washed their hands and cuddled on the couch for a\nwhile, entwining both their bodies and their tails around each other.\nEli smelled like the lemons he was working with. It mixed well with\nthe citrus-chocolate odors wafting from the oven as well as the\nnatural sweetness of his body. They lay there in silence for a while,\nbasking in each others presence. \"How long do you think you'll be\ngone,\" asked Eli. \"And when do you need to leave?\"\n\nSoren stroked Eli's\nbeige arm. \"Not too long. Just a day and a half. I should leave by\nnine-ish. It's a long drive and I don't wanna show up too late. I\nmight even drive back on the same day if I feel up to it. I'd hate to\ntrespass on her hospitality.\"\n\n\nEli kissed Soren on\nthe cheek. \"Don't run yourself into the ground. Try to sleep there\nif you can. I don't mind if you're gone. That's at least sixteen\nhours round trip.\" Eli rolled away from Soren so that he could\ncheck the oven.\n\n\nSoren got up. The\ncake was perfect. He put all the food into two coolers and threw them\ninto the fridge to chill. He checked the clock. It was 9:30 already.\nHe had a habit of oversleeping on weekends, so it would probably be\nbest to go to bed soon. He kissed Eli on the cheek. \"I'm going to\nbed now. I've got a long drive tomorrow.\" Returning to the bedroom,\nhe set his alarm for 8:00 and got into bed. Eli wasn't far behind,\nand Soren smiled as Eli wrapped him slim body around him.\n\n\nEli got up with\nSoren. He said he wanted to finish off some paintings and then meet\nsome friends for lunch somewhere, but Soren had a feeling he just\nwanted to see him off. Soren cooked them breakfast then grabbed his\ncoolers and a backpack with a change of clothes. Eli got him his\njacket and keys, and gave him a long goodbye kiss. Soren savored that\nkiss as Eli ran his hands down his back. It was a much better\npick-me-up than the morning coffee. \"Have a safe trip.\"\n\n\n\"Thanks, Eli,\"\nsaid Soren with a smile. He kissed him again on the cheek and turned\nto leave. \"See you sometime tomorrow.\"\n\n\nThe drive was\nuneventful, but long. The back of Soren's little blue car was filled\nwith empty soda bottles. There was something about distance driving\nthat made him incredibly thirsty and worn. He was still listening to\nswing music, even after that competition. It was almost addicting.\nNot that he minded at all.\n\n\nIt was approaching\n4:00 as he pulled into the little town of Lassaire. Soren realized\nhow long it had been since he had been back. It was getting close to\nfive years. Aunt Aly had been in Kansas while he was staying with\nher, and moved back to Wisconsin for a new job. It also made\nvisitation a lot easier. She had gotten divorced from his Uncle\nAlexander, but that was probably all for the best. They were cordial\nwith each other now, but living together was a bit too... intense for\nthem both to be healthy. Also, if they had been together when Soren\nwas searching for help, Alexander might not have tolerated Soren.\n\n\nSoren\npulled automatically up to the cul-de-sac where Aunt Aly lived, and\nwas about to get out of his car when he noticed something odd. There\nwere a lot of cars parked around here. And he knew those cars. One of\nthem belonged to his parents, there was even that little ding that\nChris put in the bumper when learning to drive. Soren quickly\nrestarted his car and pulled up and around the corner. Parking two\nblocks down, he whipped out his phone and sent Aly a quick text. \"the\nparty time was moved?\" \n\n\nSoren waited a few\nminutes and his phone buzzed. \"Sorry. It was last minute. Please\ncome back around 11. I'll make sure they all leave. I'm so sorry, but\nplease don't come now.\" Soren ground his teeth in frustration.\nHe wasn't mad at Aly, but at his own family's petty intolerance. If\nhe walked in now, chaos would erupt. Violently so.\n\nHe decided to send Eli a text. \"What's\nSasha's new address?\" Once\nagain, it didn't take long for a reply. Soren drove off. It was\nacross town, but that was hardly a distance in this po-dunk Milwaukee\nsuburb. Soren soon arrived at a slightly shabby looking apartment\ncomplex. He climbed to the third floor and knocked on door 7.\n\n\nAfter a few minutes\nthat felt like hours, a lithe and graceful Linoone opened the door.\nHer mouth fell into a surprised \"o\" as her eyes widened. Soren\nhugged her, as Sasha's own hands were covered in clay.\n\n\n\"Come inside,\nplease,\" said Sasha. She made to wash her hands, but Soren stopped\nher.\n\n\n\"If you are in\nthe middle of a project, finish that first,\" said Soren. \"Eli\nhates to leave stuff half done, and I can assume you are the same\nway.\" Soren followed Sasha into a small room that smelled\npleasantly of ceramic and clay. \"It's good to see you again.\"\n\n\nSasha began to work\nat the pottery wheel again. \"What brings you here. We haven't had a\nproper talk in ages.\"\n\n\"I'm sorry about\nthat,\" said Soren. He frowned and looked down. \"There... there\nwas a lot of shit that went down on my last semester.\"\n\n\nSasha nodded\ncoldly. \"I overheard when I came home. Chris was talking to a\nfriend.\"\n\n\n\"They were that\npublic about it,\" said Soren in amazement. \"I'd think they would\nhave kept it deadly secret.\"\n\n\nSasha had a cold\nglint in her eye. \"From what I hear they seem to be proud of hating\nyou. I'm surprised you kept it hidden for so long. I figured you out\nlong before you told me. And Di and Danny had figured you out before you started dating Milo.\"\n\n\nSoren smiled. \"I\ncan't thank you enough for that. Being with him made me really happy.\nEven if it did end... poorly.\"\n\n\nSasha nodded. \"But\nwhy'd you lose touch? We only really started talking again a few\nmonths ago.\"\n\n\nSoren looked down.\n\"Well,  I was hoping to go to grad school, but my parents stopped any plans\nof that. And being home... shit, it was just like I had just told them that i stopped believing in god again. They treated me like... like I was sick or something. I had to get away from that. And once I got my lab job, I was working my ass off trying\nto get enough money to not have to sleep on Aly's couch. I just sort\nof forgot about everything. I'm really sorry. That's no way to treat\na best friend.\"\n\n\nSasha smiled. \"I\nget it. You should have asked me. We would have taken you.\" To\nSoren's relief she didn't sound angry at all.\n\n\nSoren frowned a\nbit. \"The whole thing felt so raw and personal. I didn't want to\ndrag your family into my family's convoluted and idiotic politics. The whole thing was an ordeal, even if we didn't like each other much in\nthe first place.\"\n\n\nSasha nodded\ngravely. \"How's Eli?\"\n\n\nSoren\nlit up a bit. \"He's great. His painting has taken off like a\nrocket. If you get the time you should come visit us.\"\n\n\nSasha laughed.\n\"More like if I get the cash. Gas aint cheap. I'm not doing too\nwell right now. I just managed to get a job for my sculpting. For a\nwhile I was getting by as a waitress. But enough about me. What's\ndating him like? I'm surprised you didn't catch on about him until a\nwhile ago.\"\n\n\nSoren scratched the\nback of his head. \"It's nice. I kinda guessed, but I didn't wanna\nmake assumptions. Besides, you know I get really anxious at the\nthought of asking someone out. He's really sweet, though. I went to\nhis place for Thanksgiving. His whole family treated me like one of\nthem. It felt really good. I also got to show off my cooking a bit,\nwhich was fun.\"\n\n\nSasha grinned\nagain, but this time mischievously. \"I heard your relationship\nstarted off with a bang.\"\n\n\nSoren blushed\nvisibly. \"Eli's quite the little gossip isn't he... when did he\ntell you that?\"\n\n\"When you started\ndating,\" said Sasha. \"He'd been crushing on you for ages. You can\nbe so oblivious Soren.\" She paused for a minute to reshape the pot\nshe was working with. \"Was it good?\"\n\nSoren almost fell\noff his stool in surprise. He rebalanced himself, blushing even more\nvisibly. He had never talked about sex with anyone other than Eli. He\nsmiled awkwardly. \"Yeah... we were both kinda drunk though. We\nprobably would never have started dating if we weren't celebrating\nhis first auction. But sex with Eli is just sort of an added benefit\nof dating him. I just love to be around him.\"\n\nSasha peered around\nthe pot and looked at Soren. \"I know you were both drunk. He told\nme. I don't believe it. When did you start breaking your 'two drinks'\nrule?\"\n\n\nSoren laughed.\n\"Just the once. We both got carried away. I'm glad we did though.\"\n\n\nSasha shook her\nhead and giggled as she finished the pot she was working on. \"Well,\nI'm glad for you. From what I hear you're both really happy.\"\n\n\nSoren smiled but\nscratched the back of his head, \"You wanna go to dinner? My treat.\"\n\nSasha smiled as she\nwashed her hands. \"Can we go to Rosie's place? I just feel like\npub'n'grub tonight. I love their burgers.\"\n\nSoren nodded. Red\nRosie's Garden was a favorite haunt of his when he was dating Milo.\nJust far enough from town that it wasn't a long drive, but people\nfrom their school wouldn't be there. He wondered if Sasha remembered\nthis. Of course she did. She drove them there half the time. \"I'll\ndrive.\"\n\nRed Rosie's was\nabout 10 miles from downtown Lassaire. It didn't take long to get to\nthe little pub. Not that it mattered. Soren had time to kill. They\nslipped into the red velvet seats of a small booth. A Roserade\nbartender waved at both of them. \"Long time no see,\" she smiled.\n\n\nSoren and Sasha\ndidn't even need menus. Rosie sat down with some waters and a note\nbook. \"Soren it's been too long. It's been at least 3 or 4 years.\nWhat's going on? I've heard some awful things. Stop me if I am asking\ntoo much.\"\n\n\nSoren shook his\nhead. \"I don't have a home here anymore. That's all. I came to\nvisit some people.\" Soren knew that Rosie knew he was gay. Hell,\nshe sat and chatted with him and Milo when things got slow. \"My\nfamily didn't take my coming out too well,\" he said with a cold\nsmile.\n\n\nRosie frowned.\n\"That's not fair. I've heard them say terrible things. I knew none\nof it was true. Whatcha want sweetie?\"\n\n\nSasha and Soren\nboth ordered the Western Burger and fires. Sasha went for a red wine,\nbut Soren just ordered a coke.\n\n\nSoren took a sip of\nhis water and turned back to Sasha. \"How's life in this little\ntown. It looks like it was built up a bit.\"\n\n\nSasha nodded. \"Some\nnew businesses managed to open up. Mostly large chains though.\nChamp's hardware store went under. A home depot ran him out of\nbusiness.\"\n\n\nSoren frowned at\nthis. They were a bit pricey, but the service was wonderful, not to\nmention that Champ himself was one of nicest fellows you'd ever meet.\n\"Are there any people still around from High School?\"\n\n\nSasha stirred the\nice in her water. \"Most of them actually. A lot of them are having\nkids.\" she listed numerous names.\n\n\nSoren raised an\neyebrow. \"Owen? That big brute of an Exploud having kids? That's\njust weird. And with that little Flaffy, Maya? What a weird couple.\"\n\nSasha sighed.\n\"Yeah. It seems most of our class ended up back here. It's like\nthis town is a black hole. I wanna get out, but I don't have the\nmoney right now.\"\n\n\nSoren thought of\nhis family, all concentrated near this little town. He didn't blame\nher for wanting to leave. \"How's your sculpting?\"\n\n\n\"Bad,\" groaned\nSasha. \"No one wants to showcase my artsy stuff, so I just make\nshitty pots for a souvenir shop to get by. I still need to keep my\nwaitress job for a while to put some more money in the bank, and\nmaybe I can get the hell out of here.\"\n\nSoren frowned.\n\"I'll have Eli talk to Vincent. Vincent knows everyone in the art\nworld it seems. Maybe he can find someone who can get your foot in\nthe door.\"\n\n\nSasha smiled.\n\"That's sweet. I hope you're right.\"\n\n\nThe food came, and\nthey sat there, their conversations coming and going in odd stints.\nThe hours ticked by, but at 9:00, Sasha said she needed to get going.\nSoren drove them home. Hugging Sasha goodbye, he returned to his car.\nHe still had over an hour to just wait. He ended up driving to Aly's\nplace and skulking, waiting for the cars to leave.\n\n\nSoren tried calling\nEli to chat for a bit, but Eli was with some friends and couldn't\nchat long. He ended up just trying to let the swing calm him, but all\nhe could think about was the injustice of his situation. The rest of\nhis family was inside that house celebrating Aly's victory over her\nillness. But while they were having fun he was forced to sit\nskulking in front of his Aunt's house like a criminal.\n\nSlowly, the cars\nwere leaving. One by one by one. Soren willed his so-called family to\nget tired and go faster, but they all seemed to be dragging their\nfeet. He kept his head down as the cars pulled past him. Still, he\nthought that his parents might have recognized his little blue car,\nespecially because it had a Kansas license plate. Finally, at 11:30,\nthe last car left.\n\nSoren finally\npulled up to the driveway. He hadn't been to her new house since she\nmoved. He hadn't felt comfortable going anywhere near this town for a\nlong time. He knocked on the door, his coolers under his arms.\n\n\nThe door opened,\nrevealing a tall Zangoose, her eyes somewhat sagging with tiredness\nand her fur looking ragged and shorter than normal. She smiled as she\nembraced Soren. \"I'm so sorry. I completely forgot. I hope you had\nsomewhere to go for a while.\"\n\nSoren hugged his\nAunt back. \"It's no big deal. I'm glad you're OK. How are you\nfeeling?\"\n\nAly laughed. \"I've\nbeen answering that all night. I'm fine. Tired, but fine. I was\nreally lucky to have kicked it so fast. Come on in. There's still\nsome food leftover if you want it.\"\n\n\nSoren smiled and\naccepted a glass of wine from his aunt along with a small plate of\nleftover appetizers. He didn't need too much. Rosie's burgers always\nfilled him up. \"I'm sorry I couldn't visit you while you were\nsick.\"\n\n\nAly frowned. \"I'm\nglad you didn't. You were the butt of every other joke here. I tried\nto stop it, but Alexander was the only one who would listen. They\ngave me weird looks whenever I tried. If you showed up tonight or at\nthe hospital, I wouldn't be surprised if things ended up coming to\nblows.\"\n\n\nSoren sighed. He\nreally didn't care about what they thought of him anymore. \"I just\nwish I could've supported you beyond our illicit phone chats.\" He\nperked up his head as he noticed two Growlith girls poking their\nheads around a corner. They both took after their father. He smiled\nand waved at his two cousins. He turned back to Aly. \"How old are\nthey now? Surely Sammy and Rachel would have evolved by now?\"\n\n\nAly smiled. \"Sammy\nis a junior and Rachel just started high school. And you didn't\nevolve till after your senior year. But you're right. I am just\ngrateful you're here now. What's in those coolers, by the way?\"\n\n\nSoren grinned. He\nwanted to show off just a bit. He placed the coolers on the tray,\nthe ice packs thawed but the contents still chilled. \"I thought I'd\nmake you dinner for a couple days.\" He smiled as Aly's eyes widened\nas he pulled out the meatloaf, sauce, chicken, and potatoes. \"These\nare all ready for heating. Let the sauce simmer all day if you can\nget away with it, and put half of the syrup on the potatoes before\nbaking, and then add the nuts and remaining sauce once they are out\nof the oven.\" Aly got up and hugged Soren. \"I'm not done,\" he\nsaid as he pulled up the smaller cooler. \"I baked you a cake too.\nThere's also an easy fondue that you can melt down.\"\n\nAly hugged Soren\nagain. \"Thanks. That makes my life easier for the next few days. I\ncan't believe you made that all for me.\"\n\n\nSoren chuckled. \"It\nwas fun. And Eli is making progress. He managed to help with the cake\nwithout making it combust.\"\n\n\"Is he your\nboyfriend you were telling me about,\" asked Aly. \"What's he\nlike.\"\n\n\n\"He's a painter,\na dancer, and a kitchen nightmare,\" said Soren with a grin. \"He's\nreally sweet, and we both geek out over the same stuff. Living with\nhim has been really nice. I've been really happy with him.\"\n\n\n\"I'm glad,\"\nsaid Aly genuinely. \"The guest room is open. Take that. You look\nbeat.\"\n\n\n\"Thanks,\" said\nSoren. He turned and walked up the stairs, dragging his feet and\ntails a bit. Aly wasn't far behind. \"Good night.\"\n\n\nSoren shut the door\nand changed into his too-short pajama pants. He flopped on the bed,\nstill a bit miffed and feeling lonely without Eli laying next to him."}