{"sf1_id":590824,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Adjustments","author":"DarkSoulsSauron","words":2269,"posted_at":"2013-09-16T04:39:00.000Z","tags":["ninetales","pokemon"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/590824-adjustments","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/590824","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=590824\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Eli\nsat in his dingy apartment, sweat dripping down his brow. It was\nstiflingly humid, and no breeze flew in to cool Eli, despite the\ntemptation offered by an open window. He actually panted as he\nswirled paints about his canvas. It was almost two weeks into\nSeptember and it still felt like July, even if the leaves were\nfalling around the tiny and quiet town of Cavalier. \nEli\ndropped his brush back onto his pallet as he heard someone knock at\nthe door. He slipped off his stool and stepped over to the door. He\nopened it up to see Soren standing at the threshold, his arm\nperpetually reaching back to scratch the back of his head. Eli stood\non tip-toes to kiss him. \"You're home early. How was work? Sorry\nabout the door. I really need to get another key.\" \n\"Don't\nworry about it. It's no big deal,\" said a smiling Soren as Eli led\nhim into the tiny apartment. \"Work was ok. It was boring actually.\nNothing needed fixing, so all the people at IT just sort of sat\naround. Harold just sent us home.\" Soren dropped his backpack\nhesitantly on the couch, and then weaved his way through the\ncluttered living area to the kitchen. \"I'm actually kinda hungry.\nDo you mind if I cook dinner early?\"\"I\ndidn't eat much for lunch. Go for it.\" Eli picked up the backpack\nand put it in the room they most recently started to share. It had\nbeen two weeks but Soren still didn't feel at home here. It was like\nthey were meeting each other for the first time at school. But\nit really wasn't that far of a step from crashing at Eli's apartment\nevery other night to living there full time. The only difference\nnow was that Soren wasn't paying rent for that town home. It was true\nthat Eli's little place was smaller and a bit more pricey, but\nSoren's house was... sketchy, and that was putting it lightly. Eli\ndidn't blame Soren for not wanting to sleep there whenever he could.\nIt shouldn't take much longer for him to adjust. \nEli\nreturned to the living area and looked around, enjoying what he saw.\nThe tiny apartment only had three rooms: the bedroom, the minute\nbathroom, and the living area. The living area itself was split\nbetween the kitchen area, the space that hosted the musty, ancient\ncouch and staticy TV, and the so-called studio, which dominated most\nof it. But the minimalistic furnishings weren't what made him happy.\nIt was the fact that Soren was in the kitchen, busy with a homemade\nmac n cheese recipe, and also that his studio was filled with\ncompleted paintings, ready for his third auction. \nEli\nwas ahead of schedule on preparing for his third auction, and his\nname had been flying around and into a lot of important ears as of\nlate. He was optimistic, but cautiously so. The second auction had\nbeen even better than the first, but both Eli and Soren had agreed\nthat it would be best to see if Eli could keep this successful streak\ngoing before making any big purchases. He had broken down and bought\none big thing. He really needed a new bed. His old one was creaky and\nhard, and it really was too short for two foxes taller than six feet\nto be sharing. \nDinner\nwas ready exceptionally fast, and Eli sat down to eat, anticipating\nwhatever culinary miracles Soren had whipped up today. The\nsalty-savory flavors of five cheeses, bacon, and some leftover\nmeatballs were divine. Eli couldn't get over how good a cook Soren\nwas. It felt bizarre to be eating such good food consistently. Not\ntoo long ago he had been living off of hot pockets, and he even\nmanaged to burn those half the time. Eli had gained at least five\npounds since he started dating Soren, but then again, that was\nprobably a good thing. A few months ago, if someone had looked at\nhim, they would have been able to see his ribs clearly through his\nfur. \n\"So\nnothing else happened at work,\" asked Eli as he finished a mouthful\nof delicious pasta. \"You just sat around all day?\" \nSoren\nsmiled. \"No actually, I forgot to show you.\" He quickly trotted\noff to their bedroom and came back with his backpack. \"I got these\nat the lab.\" Soren reached in and pulled out a dozen plexiglass\nboxes and put them on the tiny table in stacks of three. \n\"What\nare these,\" asked Eli as he picked one up and delicately turned it\nin his hand.Soren\nsmiled even wider. \"You can vacuum seal these boxes.\" Soren\nwaited a beat as Eli's face lit up with comprehension. \"You can\nstore the leaves in here without having to laminate them.\" \nEli\nclapped his hands. \"This is fantastic! Now I can showcase them in\ntheir original shape!\" \nSoren\nreached in deeper in pulled out some velvet pads and tiny pins. \"You\ndon't mind poking a hole in them? Otherwise they'll fly around the\nbox when I vacuum seal the box.\"Eli\nnodded excitedly. \"Thanks, Soren. I've got some that you could take\nin tomorrow. Is that ok?\" \n\"Yeah,\"\nsaid Soren. \"Harold gave me the OK. Vacuum cases like these are\nhardly high profile or dangerous. Do you mind if I practice for a bit\nafter we clean up?\"Eli\ngot up and kissed Soren on the cheek. \"Of course. You know I love\nit when you play for me.\" The two foxes worked quickly through the\ndishes. Eli went back to his final painting and Soren pulled the old\nmaple violin gingerly out of its case. \nEli\nclosed his eyes for a moment and bobbed his head to the music as\nSoren began to accompany a song from the Legend of Zelda soundtracks.\nSoren's timing was flawless and his notes blended into the recording\nso that it felt like the whole orchestra was playing with Soren in\ntheir cluttered apartment. Some days Soren was so funny about music.\nHe just played along with songs rather than trying to alter or\nrearrange them. Some songs, according to Soren, were just perfect,\nand attempting to alter them was \"blasphemy.\" For an atheist,\nSoren could get so spiritual about music. \nEli\nreturned to his final painting. He looked down at the leaf he was\nusing as a reference. It was green and brown, curled and wavy as it\ndried, and littered with minute holes. Looking down from above, Eli\ntried to turn the leaf into a rolling, hilly landscape. He spent\nabout thirty minutes playing with his paints, but he took the canvas\noff with a grumble. This one wasn't right. Eli worked for more than\nan hour on the next one. But it still wasn't right. He swore audibly\nas Soren finished his piece. \nSoren\ngot up and turn off the music. He walked over to Eli and hugged him\nfrom behind. \"What's up, sweetie?\"Eli\ngrowled, partially in frustration and partially in pleasure. They\nwere both such cuddle whores, but his irritation with the painting\nwas all consuming. \"I can't get the perspective right. And please\ndon't tell me it's good. It's completely awful.\" \nSoren\ngave a light squeeze. \"It does look\ngood,\" said Soren, but he raised his voice and spoke quickly to cut\nEli off. \"But I know that this isn't what you are looking for. I\ncan tell it's a leaf. But save those canvases. You could re-purpose\nthem. You use green a lot.\" \nEli\nnodded. \"Thanks, Soren. I've been working on this one all day.\"\nhe gestured to five different canvases laid on the reject pile. \"I\nfinished my other stuff but this one keeps hanging me up.\" \nSoren\nexamined the leaf. \"Could you try adjusting your perspective?\" \nEli\nshook his head. \"I've been doing that all day. This one seems the\nmost promising.\" \nSoren\nnodded, \"Hrmm... have you tried using more than one leaf?\" \nEli\nlit up. \"No. But that's so obvious!\" \nSoren\nwent to the card table that housed all the unused leaves that Eli\ngathered from around Cavalier. Snooping around the pile, he picked\nout a few and also retrieved a few of the tiny pins he bought to\nsecure the leaves. He passed Eli a round and slender red-purple leaf,\ntwo leaves of differing shades of orange, and a tall, wide yellow\nleaf. Pinning the new leaves together, he lined it up with a brown\npeak of the rolling leaf Eli was trying to paint. Adjusting the\nlineup and playing with the perspective, Soren arranged the leaves\nvertically to make a brilliant leaf sunset. \nEli\nclapped his hands. \"This almost works... I just need to find the\nright colors!\" He dashed back to the little card table, looking for\nleaves that would match his needs. He frantically sifted through the\nleaves, searching for the leaf that would complete the set. \"No...\nI don't think it is here...\" He checked his watch. \"We've got\nabout an hour of light left... Can you help me find some more?\" \nSoren\nnodded. \"What are you looking for?\" \n\"I\nneed a leaf that is partially dried. It needs to cleanly transition\nfrom dead brown to orange.\"\"Let's\ngo then,\" said Soren eagerly. He fished two flashlights out of the\njunk drawer as well as some baggies. The two dashed outside. There\nwas a park nearby, and there were plenty of leaves. Splitting off\nfrom each other, they began to scour the ground, looking for that\nperfect leaf. Eli seemed to be finding nothing but reds and yellows.\nEli bagged a few of the ones he found for later, but his priority was\nto find that perfect leaf that could get him the color transition he\nwas looking for. \nThe\nsun was now below the horizon, and soon the light would be gone\ncompletely. Soren came back to Eli every few minutes, handfuls of\nleaves in his hands, but neither of them could find the right one.\nTheir crappy old flashlights weren't doing them any good, and after\nhalf an hour of stumbling around in the almost-darkness, Eli gave up.\n\n\"Let's\njust go, Soren,\" said Eli, a frown of irritation on his face. \"I'll\njust have to look while you're at work tomorrow.\" \n\"Alright,\"\nsaid Soren. He offered his hand to Eli. \"Do you wanna take the long\nway home?\" \n\"I\ndon't see why not,\" said Eli, unable to resist a smile. The two\ndawdled their way home, walking around the exterior of the park. The\ntwo turned a corner on the path that led towards the tiny playground\nand was also the best route back to their apartment. \"I'm just\nfrustrated right now. I have a vision in my head, but it'll just have\nto sit pretty until I get the things I need. I hope I don't lose it.\"\n\nSoren\nactually smiled a bit. \"I found something that might make you feel\nbetter.\" Soren pointed towards a pile of leaves. But it wasn't an\nordinary pile of leaves. It was a massive pile, the result of\nwho knows how many kids piling leaves as high as they could reach.\nBut the pile was immaculate, sitting in a perfect heap, as though the\nchildren had built the masterpiece but were called home before they\ncould destroy it themselves. The pile sat there; an aura of\nunfulfilled sadness permeated the park. \n\"Race\nyou,\" said Eli. The two sprinted down the path, running full pelt\ntowards the monstrous pile, two flashes of color in the darkened\npark. Eli got there first, leaping into the air and turning so that\nhe would land in the pile back first. There was a rustley crash as\nleaves cascaded around him. Soren wasn't far behind. Soren jumped\nhigh and landed on top of his boyfriend with a light thump. The\ntwo clutched each other, giggling like little kids.Eli\ngave a little growl as he felt Soren's lips brush against his neck,\nagain and again. Both gave a sigh as Soren continued, kissing his way\nup to Eli's slim muzzle. Soren kissed him, once, twice, and- \"Soren,\nstop,\" said Eli, abruptly breaking away.Soren\nlooked confused. \"What's wrong?' \nEli\nsat up, frantically patting down Soren's shirt. \"I just saw it! The\nperfect one! It fell down your collar.\" Eli ran his hands around\nSoren's torso, taking great care not to pat too hard in case he\ncrushed the leaf. \"Dammit, I can't find it.\" Without warning, Eli\npulled open the button down shirt Soren was wearing. He ran his hands\nacross Soren's body, probing for a stem that may have gotten tangled\nin the silver fur. \n\"Oh,\"\ngrowled Soren, a teasing tone to his voice, \"at least take me out\nto dinner first.\" \nEli\nignored the jibe and continued to search Soren. \"Found it,\" he\ncried in delight. \"It's beautiful.\" Eli held the flashlight to\nhis prize to show Soren. The color transition was flawless. \"Thanks\nfor the help, sweetie.\" He kissed Soren on the muzzle. \nSoren\ngot up and began to button his shirt up again. \"Well let's not fool\naround here. Let's get home so you can finish.\" Soren offered a\nhand to Eli, and he took it. \n\"Did\nI ever tell you you're the best boyfriend ever,\" asked Eli as he\npulled Soren into a one-armed hug and kissed his cheek.\"I\nthink you just did,\" said Soren, his blush visible even by the\ninconsistent light of their flashlights. \"Thank you, Eli. You're\ntoo nice to me.\" \n\nEli\ngrabbed Soren's hand and began to lead them back home. \"No, I'm\njust being honest.\" \n"}