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The Lakehouse:: an Omnibus

Lakehouse chapter 1: Home at Last

It was midnight and it had been a long ride, and the two figures in camoflauged army fatigues stretched their backs after they had jumped off the softopped truck that brought them here; at the beginning of a winding dirt road on the outskirts of Indie Flats, a town in southern Michigain set very apart from the rest of the state; cradled in the woods. The two set off down the path, shouldering their duffel bags and waving to the truck as it sped away, the sound of singing men echoing from under the canvas. They set a brisk pace, as they had hours of hiking to do before they reached the house set apart from the most set apart town in Michigain: the Lakehouse. They said nothing, prefering instead to listen to the sounds of the night and the synchronised thumps of their footseps on the packed earth. after a little while they slowed to that speed just between walking and jogging that allowed a person with any stamina to steadily traverse almost any distance without the need to stop.

Two hours into the jog, one of them finally spoke: a broad, muscled siberian tiger "It is a bit farther than I remember." he said around his steady breathing, his voice heavy with Russian accent.

His companion, a slim fox built for running, answered; barely affected by the distance they had traveled "Tired already? You're gettin' old, Dimitri." He was from Alabama, though most of his accent was gone; something he had worked on since he was in high school. When he was angry, however, his voice gave away his Irish heritage.

Dimitri pulled ahead, straightening his duffel "Old, you say? I'm younger than you are, Josiah."

"Yeah, by like, a month." Josiah easily matched his pace, and began to sing, further showing off, as it was difficult to sing and run at the same time.

"for it's over the mountain and over the main

through Giberalter to France and Spain

It's a feather to your bonnet

and a gilder in your knee-

enlist bonnie laddie

and come awa' with me"

It was an older Scottish tune that he had learned in high school, but it was hard even for him to sing and jog at the same time, though he would never show it. They were only half way through, what would Dimitri say if he lagged behind? 'I'd never live it down...' he thought, but stopped singing; doing the wise thing and quitting while he was ahead.

Dimitri shook his head "God damn showoff." he spat, and playfully kicked at the fox's heels. He had one thing the fox didn't: he could see well in the dark. His hard blue eyes saw obstacles from afar, giving him plenty of time to react. Josiah on the other hand had to trust his instincts and react as needed. Dimitri chuckled as the fox nearly tripped over a large rock, thinking about how funny it would have been had the fox's reaction time not been so finely tuned.

The remainder of the four hour hike was uneventful, and the two finally spotted their destination: the two story residence that had been their home for several years now. They came here whenever they were on leave, enjoying their two weeks of rest before taking the four mile hike downhill to be picked up by the soft topped truck again.

They stopped jogging at the start of the narrow cobblestone path that led to the front door. They smiled, happy to see something familiar after months overseas. They hesitated at the door, taking a moment to look back the other way down the path through the bamboo arch that had greeted them, past the beach and at the large lake, watching the moonlight dance on the softly moving surface of the clear blue water. Dimitri was the first to look away, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder before unhooking a key from his belt and unlocking the door. It opened without a sound, and the siberian tiger reached in to his left and flipped the first of many light switches, illuminating the room before them.

The room was flooded with warm light. It was large, and the side facing the lake was made entirely of glass; offering a perfect view of the lake. Against the wall opposite the glass, there was a brown leather couch that spanned the length of the entire wall. In the center of the room there was a huge, coushioned seat, essentially just a big round bed. Dimitri collapsed on said seat, letting out a sigh of relief. "It is good to be home." he said.

"It is indeed." the fox answered. In the warm light the two men's army fatigues were clearly visible, as well as the patches that labeled the as United States Airborne Rangers. They held themselves as such; standing up straight and proud, their heads held high when in public. But when they were here, at this place they called home, they let their posture slacken in the smallest way, and stayed casual. Here there was no one to salute, no one to say "Yes sir" or "No sir" to, and no one to give them orders they would have to follow without any delay. This was home; and it meant everything to them.

Attached to this large sunroom there was a well equipped kitchen: spotless and seemingly brand new, despite the fact that the house was twice as old as them and more. Josiah opened the refridgerator, pulling out turkey, ham, two kinds of cheese and mayonaise. He himself hated mayonaise, but Dimitri liked it. He yawned as he prepared the sandwhiches, stretching after the long jog. He wondered if Jamie was awake...

As the though passed through his head a white blur whipped by in the corner of his vision, and a young, feminine fennec fox darted into the sunroom, yelling "OHMYGAWDDIMITRI!!!" as he threw himself onto the tiger. Dimitri caught him, pulling the fox into a passionate kiss

"Hello, Weylin..." he purred, wrapping his arms around the young male. The fox wasn't wearing much of anything; just a pair of black briefs. He didn't care, he was just happy to be able to cuddle with Dimitri again.

Josiah smiled; they were a cute couple, all snuggly and happy. He murred, bringing Dimitri his sandwich and taking a large bite out of his own before walking back into the kitchen to put everything away again. The commotion Weylin caused did not go unnoticed though; a tall, muscled, black and white collie from Alabama, same as Josiah, leaned against the wall at the entrance to the sunroom, his arms wrapped around the waist of a smaller, slimmer white wolf. Josiah nodded to the collie "Hello Allen," then, to the wolf "Cody."

"You're back." Allen yawned. "A little warning would have been nice."

"We called twice." Dimitri retorted.

"No voice message." Cody pointed out.

"Touche."

A light brown husky came down the stairs on the other end of the room, scratching his slim, creamy white belly. "Wha's all the ruckus..?" he said sleepily. Then, upon seeing the two returned soldiers, he smiled. "Ah, you're back." He walked into the kitchen, straightening his glasses and calling back to see if either of them wanted tea. Both refused, as neither needed to be up longer than was needed. Josiah kept glancing at the hallway, anxiously searching for a flash of red and white that would be his boyfriend, Jamie.

Allen, seeing Josiah's anxiety, stood next to him and placed a reassuring hand on the fox's shoulder. "He's had a rough week, after hearing about the latest battle over there. He was biting his nails to bits when they read the casualty list on the news yesterday. He hasn't slept in two days. Give him time, he'll come down."

Josiah nodded to the collie, and stole one last glance at the hallway before finishing his sandwhich.

About twenty minutes of playful conversation later, the little fox did show. He walked into the room wearing a white bathrobe, his tail swishing a little. He smiled when he saw Dimitri, whispering a small, shy "hello" to him. When his eyes found Josiah, he smiled a bit wider.

Josiah moved first, wrapping his arms around the smaller red fox, wiping away the tears pooling in the fox's big, green eyes. Josiah gazed lovingly at his mate, and leaned down to give the younger male a deep, passionate kiss. "Hello..." he said, steadily rocking Jamie, who was suppressing his urge to cry out with joy.

"I... I thought you might have been... y-you know..." Jamie stuttered, his voice cracking as he tried to stop the tears from flowing.

Josiah rubbed Jamie's back comfortingly, kissing his young mate on the forehead. "Well, i'm not. And you can rest assured I won't be any time soon."

"P-promise...?"

"Promise." Josiah swept the smaller fox off his feet and carried him into their room at the end of the hallway.

"Well," said Dimitri, giving Weylin's plush, womanly rump a good squeeze "They have the right idea. I guess we should all go to bed, and in the morning we can catch up, da?" The rest of the males agreed, retreating to their respective rooms and quietly finishing what was left of the night in deep, thoughtful slumber.

The Lakehouse chapter 2: The morning after

In a house set apart from everything, against a beautiful and serene sky vibrant with oranges and purples, there lived seven males just trying to get on with their lives. A mechanic, two soldiers, a secretary, a bookie, a stripper, and a waiter; all just trying to make ends meet and do better for themselves. At the moment, here at seven in the morning, all but one was asleep, staring out over the water, watching the sun rise. Alto always got up early; usually to finish a chapter in a book or finish some work on his laptop without the usual buzz the house was filled with. Though, now that the two soldiers were home, he didn't have to worry much about Weylin, or deal with Jamie's continual worrying, and that lightened his load a bit. He smiled; Jamie was a worrywort, but his concern was understandable. Josiah and Dimitri had been in several engagements since the start of the war in the middle east, and Dimitri had taken bullets three minutes into the first engagement. The Corpsman just patched him up on the field and sent him out to fight again, since no medivac was availiable at the time. When Weylin heard he demanded to talk to the tiger, storming into the recruiter's office and, rather flamingly, asked to speak to his friend. The recruiter kindly(ish) pointed him in the direction he needed to go, explaining that the recruiter's office wasn't the place to call into Iraq.

Alto chuckled at the memory, recalling Weylin's irrational behavior. Granted the fennec had overreacted, but what good boyfriend wouldn't? He had just heard that his mate had been shot, possibly seriously injured, and he was expected to just take it all in stride?

At least, that was his argument as he stood in front of Allen, fists balled up furiously, his cheeks red with rage, as the collie chided him for being so irrational. It took one of Jamie's rare outbursts to stop them from fighting. At the time he had no idea what had become of Josiah, and was sitting on the couch wrapped in a blanket, sobbing and waiting for the casualty list. He barked at them both, eyes filled with tears screaming that arguing wouldn't make anything better; then he collapsed into broken sobs, curling up and holding his head in his hands, apologizing for his outburst. Both Weylin and Allen felt terrible, but attempts to comfort Jamie were met with hollow assurances that he was okay, and that they should leave him alone. A few hours later Josiah had called in for both of the soldiers, assuring Weylin and Jamie that they were perfectly fine, not a scratch on them; blatantly lying about the seriousness of Dimitri's bullet wounds, which was being treated next to him.

Alto smiled, recalling the look on the two foxes faces when their soldiers came home, showering them in kisses and hugs. Josiah spent a lot of his time that week telling Jamie that he didn't have to worry, and not to stop eating when he heard about a battle. He made his annual promise of "I will not die, you'll see. I'll come home every time, I promise." This always reassured the smaller fox, who spent the second week of Josiah's leave making it up to him... noisily... You couldn't here them in the sunroom, or in any of the bedrooms; but anywhere else in the house you could hear the mattress springs straining and the headboard slamming against the wall. Weylin and Dimitri were no different, and Alto swore that the Rangers were having a damn competition to see who could last the longest, much to the soreness of the two small foxes. Not that they minded much.

Before the husky knew it, Cody, the young white wolf, poked his head into the sunroom "You up, Alto...?" he yawned.

"I'm always up this early." Alto answered, bookmarking the page he had only gotten to read half of. "You, on the other hand, usually aren't up for another two hours."

Cody smiled sheepishly "Well, I guess it's just a little residual excitement from last night. They did arrive unannounced."

"Not on purpose."

"But still." The wolf began to make coffee, straight black, the way he liked it. "You can't say you weren't surprised."

Alto only grunted in return. Unwilling to answer the question. "Can you get me some of that coffee, please? Two scoops of sugar." He smiled at Cody,who stuck out his tongue and swished his tail.

"Why don't you come get it?" he asked "The kitchen is like, fifteen feet away."

"But... I don't wanna get up..."

Cody poured his mug of coffee and sat next to the husky, savouring the black liquid, drinking it slowly. The scent was tantalizing, and Cody slumped against the couch, purposefully moving the mug under Alto's nose as he shifted position.

Alto whined as the mug was taken from under his nose "Fuck you, man..." he muttered, getting off the couch and heading to the kitchen to get a mug of his own to the sound of the wolf's giggling.

Upstairs, Allen had had enough of the sound of headboards banging against the wall echoing through the hallways, and walked downstairs to the basement, waving his greeting to Alto and giving Cody a kiss. As he walked through the door Alto called after him "Rent's due this week."

"Okay." Allen called back. Retreating into the basement, which had been converted into a gym and gaming room. Here Allen stripped, walking over to the pull up bar and starting his workout. Down here was his sanctuary, away from all the noise. The only time that it was disturbed was when the other residents had time to come down here and play videogames. He didn't have to worry much about anyone walking in on him, not that anyone would care anyway. Jamie didn't work out, Josiah and Dimitri did their exercises in their rooms, not having any need to use the equipment. Alto only came down here twice a week when Allen forced him to, and Weylin only came down here on the off chance that Dimitri wanted to do something kinky. So, Allen had the basement to himself most all of the time. Every now and then Cody would 'check on him', but that was it, unless the wolf had time to stay for a while.

He finished his reps on the pull up bar, falling forward and catching himself and instantly doing several push ups; stopping once every twenty five for a quick breath and a drink of water. Cody smiled from the staircase, watching his collie exercise. He was a really good guy, and just... perfect. He had protected him through high school, and decided not to go to the college he wanted to take care of his boyfriend, choosing instead to take his classes online so he could spend more time with Cody. The wolf meant everything to him.

Cody walked into the room, shedding his bathrobe. The collie had done everything he could to make him happy, and this one was of the ways the wolf paid him back...

***

Upstairs Dimitri detached himself from Weylin, cursing himself for being so rough. Weylin didn't seem to mind, but the fennec's yips of pain fell heavy on his heart. True he hadn't had sex in a while, but in his mind that didn't give him an excuse to be rough with the fox. He nibbled one ofWeylin's ears a little, scraping his teeth lightly across it.

Weylin smiled, murring as he turned to face his tiger, licking his neck and yawning. "G'morning..." he whispered, turning his body to face Dimitri's. "That was..."

"I am sorry..." Dimitri interrupted "I hurt you..."

Weylin plants a soft kiss on Dimitri's lips "I understand, hun. Over there you-"

"No." Dimitri insisted "That is no excuse."

Weylin sighed. "I forgive you, but I promise it wasn't so bad. I just had to get used to you again." In truth he was a bit shocked at Dimitri's ferocity; the tiger was never rough with him in any noticable degree. Dimitri sighed and accepted that Weylin had forgiven him, nuzzling the fox's neck. Outwardly he looked assured, that military discipline kicking in, but inwardly he would be torn up for two or three days.

He and his fox lay until the smell of coffee finally drifted up to their room, and soon after that they knew it would drift into Jamie and Josiah's: and together those two practically breathed coffee. If they wanted any, they would have to go down now. "D'ya smell that...?" Weylin asked, shivering slightly as the smell arose a need in him to obtain whatever was making it. That was one of his weaknesses: if it smelled good, he had to have it. His shelves were lined with scented candles and incense, with the occasional small plant.

"Yes..." Dimitri answered. He shared Weylin's love for good smells, though not nearly to the degree the fennec did. Nevertheless, he felt the urge to go to it, more so for the sake of getting some before the two foxes did in the next room did. He threw on his army fatigues and smiled slightly as Weylin whimpered when his chest disappeared under the grey shirt. He sat next to the fox and rubbed his face. "If you want coffee, you need to get dressed." They may have all been guys, but there were still firm house rules; one of which was to at least have on underwear when not in your respective room. This rule, as well as several others, were spelled out by Alto the first day they all moved in. It was only fair he should have ground rules; he was the house owner after all.

"I wish I didn't." Weylin reluctantly started put on a pair of black briefs, leaning against Dimitri for support. "It'd be so much easier if we could just walk around naked..." The tiger smiled, stopping them at his knees and nibbling the base of Weylin's tail, a weak spot almost no one knew about. The fennec couldn't suppress a slight yip, or the obvious heat in his cheeks.

The tiger pulled the fox's underwear all the way up, feeling a little sad that to go anywhere outside of this room they had to be dressed. "I agree. But I promise-" he embraced the fox from behind, nibbling one of the fennec's large ears "-I'll make it up to you tonight." As an afterthought, he added "And I'll be gentle."

"Mmkay." Weylin smiled as Dimitri picked him up, his imagination more than running away with thoughts of what the tiger would do with him.

***

In the room next to that one, two foxes slept peacefully, tangled within a mess of pillows and blankets but as close to each other as a couple can get. Jamie was lying on top of Josiah, resting his head on the soldier's chest. Josiah was comfortably nestled in an area of the bed where a bunch of the pillows and blankets made a sort of modified armchair, and thus he slept propped up against the wall at an angle, embracing the smaller fox in a warm, tight hug. Both males were fast together and not coming apart anytime soon. They hadn't seen each other for months, and both just wanted to feel each other's warmth again. So, when the small of coffee filled the room it did nothing more than disturb their dreaming, and leaving them to gaze into each other's hazy, tired green eyes.

"G'mornin'" Josiah murmured, and gave his young boyfriend a kiss. Jamie returned it, murring happily.

"Good morning." Jamie nuzzled Josiah's neck, his cheeks turning a little pink with embarassment. "I love you."

"I love you too." Josiah yawned, and proceeded to scritch Jamie behind the ears. The fox in question murred happily, leaning in so Josiah could get just the right spots. The small of coffee had filled the room for while now, and Josiah's stomach growled.

Jamie giggled "I'd help if I could, hunny, but I'm a little... Tied up at the moment." Josiah smiled at Jamie's pun. They hadn't finished more than an hour ago, and got less than that of sleep, so his knot didn't have much time to shrink. He just tried to tell his gut to shut up so he could snuggle with his boyfriend, reminding himself that he had eaten only three hours ago. His stomach, with a twinge, kindly reminded him he'd been having sex for an hour of that. Jamie licked Josiah's neck in an attempt to make him feel better, and for a minute it worked, distracting the soldier fox enough that his stomach twinges were nothing more than a dull ache. But the smell of coffee was pervading, and kept bugging him. He was so hungry...

Jamie layed his ears back. He should probably be cooking for the rest of the house by now, he thought about how essentially none of the others here could cook, and that they must be hungry. He felt bad, a little selfish, albeit unnecessarily so, and began to pull himself off his boyfriend's knot. It hurt, badly, and he clutched Josiah's shoulders, burying his nose in the soldier's chest fur. Josiah quickly stopped him after his first yip of pain, sitting the fox comfortably back on his lap. "Hun..." he wiped a tear from the younger fox's cheek. "Why did you do that? You knew it would hurt..." He kissed Jamie's forehead and rubbed the fox's ears, calming him down.

"I have to cook for everyone..." Jamie answered "They can't j-just not have breakfast..."

"I'm sure they'd understand, sweat pea. They can wait about half an hour to eat, and so can I." He nuzzled Jamie's shoulder "Don't hurt yourself, okay?" Those words carried further meaning than applicable to the current situation. If ever Josiah was to die over seas, he didn't want Jamie to be so depressed that... he didn't even want to think about it.

"B-but-!" Jamie tried to protest. Josiah responded by pressing a finger to his maw, indicating 'shush'. Jamie did, a his ears drooping a little.

"Stop trying to please everyone." Josiah whispered "It won't get you anywhere." He pressed his boyfriend against him, rubbing his back so he would stay relaxed, at least until his knot had shrunk enough for Jamie to get off easily. Then after that there would probably be walking issues...

Lost in his train of thought he barely realized the half hour go by. Jamie had actually fallen back to sleep, a rare, peaceful look on his face. Josiah smiled, glancing at the clock and slowly, gently pulling out of Jamie, but leaving the fox to rest on his chest. The only reaction he got was a slight flutter of Jamie's eyelids, and then the younger fox dozed off again. It was another half hour before Josiah needed to get up, the smell of coffee suddenly dictating his actions. He stood up, careful not to wake Jamie, and got to putting on his pants before a slight, almost unnoticable knock came at the door.

The soldier covered his boyfriend with one of the many blankets, opening the door wide enough to poke his head out. "Yeah?" he yawned.

Alto was holding two mugs filled to the brim with hot coffee, and offered them to the fox. "Here, this was all I could save for you. And Weylin complains about you two breathing down coffee. Hah!" He motioned to Jamie "Is he doing alright?"

Josiah took the mugs, setting one down on a bookshelf and drinking deeply of the other. He sighed contently, savoring the taste and feeling the warmth flow through his body. Yeah, he's doing okay. Oh, and thank's, Alto. I-, we, needed this."

Alto nodded, walking into the room. "This place needs febreeze... or one of Weylin's candles. It smells like sweat and sex in here."

"You aren't far from the truth, my friend." Josiah chuckled, taking another deep drink of his coffee.

"It's strange actually."

"Hm?"

"I usually don't have to worry about dents in the wall or the sound of headboards and springs for the first week; only the second. Is something going on?" Alto inquired.

"Naw..." Josiah looked lost in thought. "I guess we just... nevermind. Don't worry."

Alto placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "But I do, Josiah, we all do. Not a day goes by we don't worry for you and Dimitri."

"I know, I know." Josiah said, brushing Alto's hand off. "I guess it was... just our latest brush with death."

"Do you-"

"No." Josiah finished his mug, burning his mouth a bit. "Fuck..." he swore, holding his jaw in pain. "No I don't wanna talk about it."

Alto sighed. "Alright. I understand."

"No." Josiah retorted, a bit sharply. "You don't. You can't." then, seeing the hurt expression on Alto's face, he pulled the husky into a tight hug. "I'm sorry... I'm just stressed."

Alto hugged back, though not as zealously as Josiah. "It's alright." he dare not say 'i understand' for fear of further offending the soldier. He broke the hug, taking the empty mug with him as he went back to the kitchen. Josiah sighed, and turn to see Jamie stirring, his sleep disturbed by the smell of ceffee and Josiah's outburst. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Did i doze off...?" he asked, staring up at Josiah with tired, foggy green eyes.

"Yeah." Josiah answered, sitting next to his boyfriend and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "And Alto brought coffee."

"How kind of him." Jamie yawned, sipping from the mug Josiah offered him.

"Yes." Josiah smiled "Very kind."

The Lakehouse chapter 3:

Alto almost punched the wall on his way downstairs. How could he be so stupid? Of course Josiah didn't want to talk about it! What was there to talk about? Nothing he could just brush off and say 'It's okay, man', or that he could even attempt to understand. Josiah and Dimitri had been soldiers for nearly four years now, and both were still very young. Younger than him, certainly; but they were far more experienced souls. In the five years Alto had known Josiah, he'd grown up fast, too fast. He shouldn't be having back problems this young, or feel tired and old despite how much sleep he got. He and Dimitri were so unlike the other five here; disciplined, experienced, tired and sad...

How could Alto hope to understand? The concept of a soldier was confusing enough for him, and thus he didn't have a hope of understanding this one. He didn't understand why you would willingly join a group of men holding guns, throwing themselves at other men holding guns who were just as adept at killing than you were? When he asked Dimitri years before, the tiger just turned away, unwilling if not unable to answer. Josiah did answer, but he wasn't sure if the fox was lying or trying not to remember all the fighting when he explained it. "For honor." he answered.

"Just honor?" Alto questioned, confused. Honor meant that much to these men?

"No." Josiah smiled, a little half heartedly "For glory, for family, for friends, and for freedom. I fight for you and me, and for everyone else who can't or won't."

"I'm afraid i don't understand."

"Then you never will." The fox answered, finishing the coffee he had been holding those years ago. "Now when's the rent due?"

Alto leaned against the wall, trying not to cry. 'Then you never will.' he didn't know what that meant! How could it not be described? Everything could with words, right? Everything had a definition. It all could be understood.

Right?

He remembered Josiah's words from some time ago, remarking to him that his father narrowly missed Desert Storm, his grandfather was in Vietnam, after that his great grandfather was in World War Two, after that his great great grandfather fought in World War One... The list went on until The War of 1812 when no one in his family had any further information. So that's where honor and glory came from, Alto thought.

He shook off his frustration, feeling the need to cry disappear. He told himself shouldn't dwell on it much, Josiah did already say he wouldn't understand, maybe he should just accept it.

He walked into the kitchen and started on another pot of coffee.

***

Allen lay on the couch in the basement, holding Cody close, nuzzling the now very happy little wolf. "How d'ya feel, hun?" he asked, rubbing the wolf's back.

Cody was comfortably laying on Allen's chest, listening to his boyfriends strong, steady heartbeat. He was pretty out of it, exhausted, and barely heard Allen talk at all "Hm...?" he wagged his tail "Did you say something?"

Allen chuckled, it was obvious that the wolf felt fine, great even. "Naw, I didn't say anythin', sweat pea."

"Mmkay..." Cody murred, resting his head back on Allen's chest, his eyes fluttering and threatening to close. Allen smiled, steadying his breathing until it was slow and monotonous, sending the wolf straight to sleep. God knows he deserved it. The four days a week he did work he worked twelve hour days, from eight to eight, trying to pay for college. His brother, who had abused him in high school, had made sure he didn't get any inheritence from his deceased parents by squandering it all on the run from the cops, buying out entire isles in gas stations and such. He threw the family into debt, he spent so much; and was only caught when the debt was so high the banks got after him. Cody, then a senior, found out that his house had been foreclosed and everything, everything repossesed by the bank, leaving him with nothing really; just his clothes and a street corner. Allen found him afterwards, the wolf sitting on the corner trying on a networkless cell phone to dial his boyfriend so he could have a place to go. He didn't go to school for a little while after that, instead trying to get the bank off his back with help from Allen's father. Surely there must have been a policy for this sort of thing...?

No. There was no help. Not a single way of insuring the money lost this way. Cody's brother had left him with a sixty thousand dollar debt and no credit with the bank at seventeen years old, a hell of a way to start your adult life. Cody was majorly depressed afterwards, and tried to drop out of school to work full time, but neither Allen nor his family would hear anything of it, instead going to court saying that the debt should be placed on his jailed brother. For a year they pushed, all the while making sure Cody graduated and got to college, giving him the same amount they gave Allen, to start a higher education. It wouldn't get him all the way through college, and certainly wouldn't pay for rent anywhere close, but it was something. They began taking classes online and for a years they searched for places to go live together. Their money almost gone, they were growing desperate, despite Allen's parent's assurance that they could stay. Cody explained that he couldn't encroach on their hospitality any longer and Allen said he would go where Cody went, making sure the wolf was well taken care of. When the offer arose to homestead with Alto, whom at the time was looking for people to keep him company as he inherited the large lakehouse, they took it instantly, packing up and saying goodbye to Allen's parents. Cody couldn't stop thanking them for letting him stay, and right before he left they informed him that the court had agreed to place the debt on his brother. Cody was practically penniless, but happy to hear whatever money he did make could go to his life, and not the bank.

Allen smiled, remembering when Alto greeted them under the bamboo archway. Cody couldn't stop staring at the large house, holding on to his boyfriend as they met the other residents of the house, at the time being only Josiah, who was out fighting; Weylin, who greeted them with a shower of hugs and scented candles and chatter; and Dimitri, whom none of them had met but paid his share of the rent from over seas. Josiah assured them that the tiger was cool, and thus Alto accepted that he could stay when he got there. Jamie came afterwards, hailing from the same household as Allen, his adoptive older brother.

He dwelled on when Josiah met Jamie for the first time, both foxes not really saying anything just throwing shy glances at each other. It took Josiah getting hopelessly drunk for him to express to the littler fox that he was infatuated with him, and one love confession and a hangover later and the foxes were a couple. To be honest it was shocking, to think the his adopted brother would fall for a soldier, who at the time was drunk. But it didn't turn out bad. They were happy enough, and loyal to each other without question. Jamie had had so many oppurtunities to get someone better, according to Allen, but the fox just smiled when the subject was brought up and asked 'Who?', at which point Allen would go through the list. But, in the end, Jamie was dead set on Josiah, and Allen had given up trying.

The collie sighed, not really seeing what Jamie did in Josiah.

He licked his sleeping boyfriends ears, eliciting a whimper and twitch from the wolf. He murred, and a sloe smile crept across Cody's face. Maybe he didn't see what Jamie saw in Josiah, but his own parents had never really figured out what Cody saw in him; and the wolf had also had plenty of opportunities to ditch him for better guys. Ironic, really.

***

At about 1:00 p.m. the young males all showed themselves, peeking quietly into the kitchen for lunch. Cody was staggering a little, and leaned on Allen for support. Dimitri was used to sex, and thus didn't have to lean on anyone; but made sure he was as close as could be to Dimitri, who was possibly the sleepiest tiger in history. Alto tried not to look at Josiah, who was casting apologetic glances the husky's way.

'Gods, I shouldn't have snapped at him...' The fox thought, pouring himself another cup of coffee.

'I wonder if he's mad at me...' Alto pondered, still not meeting Josiah's apologetic gaze. Josiah, having given up and dead set on taking the issue up with Alto later, leaned on the fridge and watched Jamie work his magic. The littler fox was a master with food, though you'd never guess it. He didn't have the plump look about him, nor was he vocal. In actuality, the young fox was slender, shy, and possibly one of the most subtle cooks in Maine. He glanced back at Josiah and blushed, turning back to the stove, where there was a pot on each iron and two homemade loaves of bread baking in the oven. He'd tossed a salad too, more so for Alto than anyone else, which he tended to now and again with a drizzling of flavored sauce and mixing it all up again, occasionally adding more lettuce and basil leaves to balance out the flavor. The six furs whom he shared the kitchen with watched hungrily, stomachs growling occasionally, several of which imploring about the food.

"That looks done there, Jamie."

"No, it isnt. See the red in the center? Not done."

"That roast sure does look good..."

"I know, sweetie, but if you ate it now you'd get sick."

"Wow... How i'd like to bite down on-"

"Oh shush, Weylin, its still doughy." And so it went on. Jamie actually got a little peeved, a rare occasion, which all the other furs tried to avoid. "Please oh God get out of my kitchen!" He huffed, waving a wooden tossing spoon at the others "I will tell you when it's ready!"

The others, deftly dodging Jamie's swings, left the kitchen post-haste, not wanting to get swatted with the spoon. Jamie never meant to, but when he actually hit one of them it hurt like the blazes, all of which had learned through bitter experience.

An hour after Jamie had hurried them out of the kitchen, the little fox poked his head into the sun room, his ears laid back apologetically. "I-i'm sorry I y-yelled... But L-lunch is ready if you want it..." All six gladly jumped up and headed for the kitchen; Josiah picking his boyfriend up and planting a kiss on his lips. Jamie blushed, closing his eyes, appeased, his feelings of apology vanishing instantly. "I d-didn't know you liked it that much..." he stuttered.

"We all do, hun..." Josiah said, hoisting Jamie up and over his shoulder, carrying the now very flustered fox into the kitchen, on the way giving his ass a good squeeze. Jamie yipped and blushed, struggling a little.

"Put me down you big brute!" He laughed, making a pretense of trying to get down. Josiah held on tighter, gifting every struggle with a good squeeze, flustering the younger fox even more. Jamie's only relief came when Josiah had to put him down to eat, and even then it was onto his lap, where he could tease Jamie even more.

"I-i'm g-gonne get you..." Jamie whispered, burying his face in Josiah's chest.

"No you wont..." Josiah whispered back, holding a forkful of roast in front of Jamie's nose.

"J-just you wait." Jamie murred, accepting the forkful of meat, rubbing his boyfriends crotch under the table.

"Not at the table, you two." Alto warned "Or you two," he waggled a finger at Dimitri and Weylin "Oh God... not you too!" he shook his head and stared at the table as Allen and Cody blushed sheepishly "I'm going to go eat in my room, now, and escape you crazy bastards."

The Lakehouse Chapter 4: Goodbyes

A week had passed, and it was a wonderful week for the two young soldiers. But, they had to leave in a few days and their boyfriends were getting anxious. Jamie had already started making Josiah promise he'd come back, and Weylin was being a little reclusive. It would be another several months before they would see each other again. The two littler foxes were none to happy about it, but it was the last time. The two were almost done with their contract; six more months and they would be together for more than two weeks at a time. There was still a risk though, if they were needed during their four years inactive duty, they would be pulled back into the fray. It pained the little foxes more than anything to know that even after their boyfriends got back, they could still be ripped away from them.

The last few days were spent in their respective rooms, enjoying whatever time they had left as much as possible. But, all good things come to pass, and the day they had to leave arrived all too quickly. Josiah woke at 6:00 am sharp, as he had for the past four years, and would for years to come. He sighed, laying amongst the mess of pillows and blankets with Jamie clinging to him, unwilling to let go even in his sleep. Josiah picked him up, supressing the urge to use the bathroom as he slowly shook his boyfriend awake.

"Wake up hunny." Josiah whispered into Jamie's ear "Come on, wake up my lovely."

"Mmn..." Jamie mewed, "Five moar minutes..."

Josiah thought for a moment. They had in fact stayed up most of the night, actually, they'd gone to sleep only three hours ago. Jamie needed sleep.

"Alright, sweat pea." Josiah murred, putting Jamie back on the mess of pillows and blankets. He watched Jamie curl up and murr like a happy kit, hugging his tail and surrounded by soft, gentle things. Josiah marveled at just how beautiful the fox was, and felt humbled at, after a long life of having no one, could end up with someone like him. He smiled, creeping out the door and closing it softly before making his way down to the kitchen.

He yawned, stretched, and quickly covered his eyes. "Dear God, Weylin..." He huffed "Really?"

The little fennec in question lightly tapped Josiah's shoulder with a wooden spoon. "What? I'm dressed."

"Hardly."

"Turn around and help me please, i can't reach the top shelf." Weylin tapped a little harder "Come on, you lug, please?"

Josiah sighed, removing his hand from over his eyes. "Can you at least put on some boxers? Or something other than the apron?"

Weylin smoothed his long, frilly apron with 'kiss the cook' written in pink on the front "No... It's actually a surprise for Dimitri..."

The soldier sighed, reaching easily up to the top shelf "What do you need?"

"The flour."

"I didn't know you baked."

"Well... I don't... but Jamie makes it look easy so I figured i'd give it a shot."

"You have no idea what you're doing, do you?"

Weylin huffed, putting his hands on his hips sassily "Of course I-" he lowered his ears "No..."

"Well, i'll help you. Why don't you start with the bacon first though? I'll work on the batter." He turned around and mixed the flour and a few other key ingredients into a thick, sticky batter.

"I didn't know you baked..." Weylin giggled, bumping his hip against Josiah's leg.

"I grew up in Alabama, Weylin, down south we can all cook at least a little. Me, I can make bacon, eggs, toss a salad, bake cornbread and scratch biscuits, fry almost anythin', make a mean roast, porkchops, a decent rack of ribs, catfish..." He stopped, blushing lightly "I'm sorry, I started blabberin', didn't I?"

Weylin looked a little flustered "Wow..." he leaned on the counter "Teach me?"

"Well first you need to watch what you're cookin' constantly." he pointed at the bacon, which was starting to burn.

"Oh!" Weylin quickly, too quickly, slinging grease across the kitchen. Josiah covered his face, feeling the familiar burn against his fur.

"Fuck!" He yelled, grabbing the bacon from Weylin and ushering him out of the kitchen.

"I'm sorry... I-" Weylin started to apologize, tears welling in the corners of his eyes.

"Just... stop." Josiah rubbed his temples, walking back into the kitchen "Stay there, I have to clean this up..." A little while later, he called out "Alright, come on in."

Weylin peeked in, tears running down his creamy white cheeks "I'm so sorry..." He pinned his ears back and sobbed.

Josiah turned away from the batter, wiping the grease from his arms. It burned, but nothing serious. He sighed "Listen... it happens, okay?"

"B-but I-"

"I know, I know. Made a mess. We all do." He sighed, leaning against the counter. "Listen its's not that bad. My first time cooking I blew up six eggs and made charred pancakes and hashbrowns."

"R-really?"

"Yeah. Cooking, especially when dealing with grease, is very trial-and-error. You just panicked is all. You were actually doing well." He opened his arms wide "C'mere, you."

Weylin rushed into the hug, burying his face in the bigger fox's chest. "Sh..." Josiah whispered "It's all okay. C'mon, help me finish. And don't freak out, alright?"

Weylin sniffled "Mmkay." and broke the hug, moving over to the bacon to give it another shot. Under the watchful eye of an experienced cook, he did rather well, and had a pile of bacon he could be proud of. He would have leapt for joy if Josiah hadn't stopped him. He still couldn't help a little shiver of joy though. "I did it!" he mewed happily "I really did!"

Josiah smiled and patted his head "So you did." He took a piece off the stack and munched on it. "And it's very nice indeed."

Weylin murred and hugged him again "Thanks."

"No problem, now stop hugging me before Dimitri wakes up." He smiled, pinching the fennec's rump playfully "As a matter of fact, where is that damn tiger? He should've been up an hour ago." He ushered Weylin out of the kitchen "Off you go, wake him up the sexiest way possible, okay?"

"Okay!" and the little fennec bounced off "Oh hunny..."

Josiah sighed. "Good lord that boy..." and took another piece of bacon off the stack, munching on it before pulling the sweet smelling biscuits out of the oven, replacing it with previously shredded hashbrowns. "And now it's my turn..."

***

Jamie woke up, startled "Josiah!" he exclaimed, looking around for the fox. He was starting to panic a little; what if he'd...?

No. He would never leave without saying goodbye. Jamie got up, stretched, and peeked out the door. "H-hun?" he asked, and heard nothing for a few seconds. "Hun?" he asked a little louder.

"Down here, Jamie." Josiah called "In the kitchen."

Jamie sighed with relief "Oh thank god..." and walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, where amid piles of bacon, hashbrowns, and eggs Josiah stood over the stove, watching the cornbread and biscuits.

"Good mornin', hun." Josiah smiled, leaning over to kiss Jamie. "How are you feeling?"

Jamie's ears drooped a little "Well..."

"I understand." Josiah said "But I promise i'll come back, you'll see." He winked, poking Jamie's maw with a piece of Bacon "Eat up, sweat pea."

Jamie's maw snapped around the bacon, gently, playfully nipping Josiah's fingers. "mmn... good." He smiled and nibbled Josiah's finger.

"Hun..." Josiah pulled him in and ran his teeth over Jamie's sensetive ears. "You shouldn't have..."

"Hm?" Jamie murred, blushing.

"Given me a naked fox to play with..." He lifted Jamie easily and sat him on the kitchen counter.

Jamie's ears dropped instantly, realizing just then he'd forgotten clothes entirely. "Oh dear... Alto-"

"Won't be up for a few hours." Josiah finished. "Let's have fun..."

"Yes by all means, screw on my kitchen counter." A familiar, authoritive voice came from behind them.

"A-Alto! We-" Jamie buried his face in Josiah's neck, furiously blushing.

"What?" Alto shrugged "Wasn't expecting my up so early?" He walked up next to the embarassed couple, opening the cabinet above them and pulling out some easy-make coffee and an extra coffee pot. He started preparing himself a cup, grinning at the two foxes. "What? Suddenly shy?" he chuckled, straightening his glasses.

"Alto..." Josiah growled lightly, moving closer to the husky, pressing his bulge against his back. "If you don't go..."

Alto blushed, shuffling uncomfortably. "B-but... but Jamie..."

Josiah glanced back at his boyfriend and winked. Jamie looked a little displeased and kind of worried, but nodded, finding a towell to wrap around his naked form. Josiah grinned, unzipping Alto's pants. He wasn't going to do anything, maybe just scare him off. "Jamie gave me the go-ahead... nothing can stop me now..."

"Wh-what if i don' wanna?" Alto's voice grew girlier, submissive. He whined, instictively trying to get away. Josiah held him fast, tugging Alto's pants to his knees.

"You shouldn't have tempted me then." Josiah whispered in his ear.

"B-but... but..." Alto whimpered, raising his tail and pressing against Josiah, giving up. "P-please be gentle..."

"Aww...." Josiah smiled, licking Alto's ear. "I couldn't do that to you, I have a boyfriend." He moved away, kissing Jamie, leaving a flustered Alto bent over the counter with his pants around his ankles. He whined, tears pooling in his eyes.

"Dammit, Josiah!" he pulled his pants up, crying. He left in a huff, running for his room.

"Alto I-!" Josiah sighed as he heard the door slam. "Dammit..." he looked at Jamie for guidance.

The little fox sighed. "Well don't look a-at me, go apologize." He kissed Josiah's neck "He'll understand."

Josiah wasn't looking forward to it, but maybe Alto was so angry he forgot to lock the door. No, busting in on him wouldn't solve anything... Similiar thoughts were running through his head as he walked toward ALto's door. He knocked "Hey, Alto?"

"-sniffle- G-go away..."

"Alto let me in."

"N-no."

"Alto... please?" Josiah sighed "I'm sorry Alto, and I want to apologize to your face." there was silence for a few seconds, and Josiah heard several locks being undone and the door open, leaving him standing with a tear-stained husky.

"W-well..." Alto wiped his eyes "I'm w-waiting."

"I'm sorry for teasing, Alto, i was just trying to-"

"Get me to leave?"

"Well, yes... but-"

"You only had to ask, you know, not play that game with me."

"Listen I was just playing around, i didn't think you'd actually-"

"Want to? I'm lonely, Josiah, I have been for years. You know that. Why did you play my feelings for you like that?!" he covered his mouth and turned away when he saw the confused look on the Fox's face. "Oh..."

"I didn't know that..." Josiah leaned against the doorframe. "Gee... Alto. That... Thats a bombshell." He sighed.

"I didn't mean to... I didn't... I..." Alto started to cry again, sitting on his bed, which was very neatly made.

Josiah sat next to him, pulling the husky into a tight hug. "Sh... Alto... Don't cry." he said, rocking the husky back and forth. "Hey..."

Alto gave in, hugging Josiah back, burying his nose in the fox's chest. "Oh please... please forgive me..."

"For what?"

"For... for..."

"Liking me? Don't be. Actually i'm flattered. But Alto... I do love Jamie, and that won't change." Josiah rubbed his ears, comforting him.

"I kn-know..." Alto buried his face in Josiah's chest. "B-but can you... um..."

"What?"

"J-just hold m-me... a little longer..." He was instantly swept up in the fox's arms, and was sat on his lap. It felt... good... being held. He murred, almost falling asleep on the fox's chest.

Alto didn't notice, but Jamie was watching from the doorway, smiling a little. Josiah smiled back as Alto fell asleep, and tucked him in to the neatly made bed. He crept next to Jamie, an apologetic look on his face. "Don't worry hun." he whispered. "I'm not mad. C'mon... you only have a few hours left." He rubbed Josiah's crotch, murring. "ZCZ'mon, sweetie, show me a good time?"

Josiah picked him up and disappeared into Jamie's room, where for the next two hours moans and pleasured whines could be heard, as well as the banging of headboards against the wall.

***

At 2:30, the two soldiers were packed up and in their uniforms, getting in the car with Allen and Cody. Jamie and Weylin had already said their goodbyes, and were waving to their mates. Josiah and Dimitri waved back, smiling.

"Promise me you'll come back!" Jamie called.

"I will!" Josiah called back before rolling up the window. "Drive, Allen... I wanna get to the trucks before I change my mind."

"Sir, yes sir." Allen smiled, driving off down the gravel road. The ride was uncomfortable, it always was, and long. An hour drive down the hill from the lakehouse, after which they would face another four hours to base, then a twelve hour flight to the F.o.B. All in all, a very full day.

They got out at the junction connecting the gravel road to the main road. There a soft topped truck was waiting for them, painted green. Dimitri stepped out first, hailing them. The response he got in return seemed grim, because his smile fell from his face. He whispered something to Josiah, whose smile also disappeared. They told Allen and Cody to go, quickly, and that they didn't hear anything.

The two drove off, ignoring everything they heard; which wasn't much.

"Alright, Sarge, what's going on?" Josiah saluted and addressed the older, grizzled bloodhound male.

"Well, son, we've got a problem..."

The Lakehouse Chapter 5: Coping

It was always difficult to say goodbye, but dealing with the sudden emptiness, that was a serious problem. Jamie knew he couldn't drive down to the end of the road with Josiah, well, because the military had a bias against gays, and he'd probably be hanging all over the soldier, unwilling to let go without promise of return, and a goodbye kiss. It was hard, but that's the way it had to be. Just a few more months, and they could be open without fear that one of Josiah's comrades might get him discharged.

Still though, he wished he could just have hugged him one more time...

Weylin sat beside him, pulling one of the blankets off his head. "There you are, sweetie." Weylin kissed his forehead "Hiding yourself in blankets already?" Jamie had buried himself in a pile of blankets and pillows in front of the television in the living room, and Josiah hadn't even been gone two hours.

"I can't help it, Weylin." Jamie pulled the blanket back over his head, poking his nose out for breathing "I'm worried."

"He's been gone two hours, Jamie, he's fine." Weylin assured him. He had been keeping Jamie from worrying too much for the past two years, when honestly he himself worried about Dimitri just as much. "C'mon, hun, we have to jog for the day, or Allen'll get mad at us when he gets back."

The door opened "Speak of the devil..." Weylin murred "Hai, Allen."

"Hey there. Jog yet?" Allen asked.

"N-no..." Jamie poked his head out of the blankets, pinning his ears "Sorry, Allen..."

The collie sighed "Get up, you two." He hauled Jamie out of the blanket pile, carrying them both down to the gym in the basement. He put them in front of the treadmills. "C'mon, setting three, one hour. You know the drill."

Jamie and Weylin did as they were bid. It was difficult, though, given as their bums were still very sore from the night before. The two foxes got off prematurely, their rumps burning. "Why'd you get off?" Allen asked, moving to pick them up and put them back on. Weylin raised his hand, stopping the collie.

"Listen, Allen, maybe you've never taken it in the ass, but try to understand that it takes nearly an entire day before we get back up to full speed. It hasn't even been four hours." He leaned against the wall. "I think a half hour is a good walk for two foxes who've just gotten out of bed with well hung males."

Allen looked at Jamie, who was lying on his tummy on the couch in front of the xbox. The little fox nodded, and Allen sighed "Fine, fine. But an hour tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay Allen." Jamie promised, picking up a controller. Allen wondered how the boys kept their slim, girly figures by only walking an hour a day, and was honestly a little jealous at their lack of a need for exercise. He was about to say something about it when Cody pinched his bum, giving a warning look to his collie.

Allen surmised that it was their eating habits, which were indeed healthy, and brushed it off, continuing with his workout.

***

Alto sat down with his book, thinking about what had happened. He couldn't stop wondering why Josiah had touched him like that... or why he felt so comfortable in the fox's arms. Truth be told he liked the fox, a lot, and coupled with his want for a mate, well... things got out of hand easily.

He put his book down, unable to concentrate with his hard-on poking uncomfortably at his shorts. He adjusted his glasses, sighing. He didn't really like masturbating, at least not using his hands, so he grabbed his pillow and held it close, humping it. It was soft and fuzzy, and folded easily around his cock. He murred, thinking about an adorable female, or male... Maybe...

He stopped humping the pillow, walking over to his closet and digging around for a large, velvet covored box. He opened it, and an assortment of dildos and vibrators of varying types were exposed to the warm light of his room. He selected fox, thinking about Josiah, and then Tiger, remembering Dimitri. He felt bubbly; he hadn't used them in a while, it'd take a little getting used to. He turned them on, setting them vibrating in his hands. He murred, setting the tiger one on the ground, making sure it was nice and weighted so he could ride it easier. He lowered himself onto the large vibrator, and shivered as it tickled his tail hole. He smiled, lowering down onto it a few inches before feeling a familiar painful twinge in his backside. It really had been too long. He cringed, alowing himself to adjust before lowering himself the full ten inches onto the vibrator. He gasped, pleasure coursing through his body. He moaned, getting used to the feeling again. He started slowly riding the length of the vibrator, letting himself fade out of focus and fall into a state of nirvana.

It had indeed, been far too long. He didn't know exactly how long he was riding the vibrator, but it felt like too little time before he came, shooting his load onto the carpet. He huffed, sliding off the transluscent purple tiger dick and laying on his tummy, turning the vibrator nob to 'off' with his foot. He breathed heavily, and stood up, picking up the dildo by the base and cleaning it with a rag and some disinfectant he always kept around. Making sure there was not a trace of use, he placed it back in the box alongside the fox one he didn't use, and threw the rag in the dirty clothes basket by the door. Jamie or Weylin would be by at the end of the day to collect, so he made sure the rag was wrapped around a shirt, hidden from sight. He lay back on his bed, his cock hanging limp between his legs. He sighed, adjusting it to a more comfortable position before yawning, burying himself in bed and falling asleep.

Cody giggled, ushering Allen away from the crack in the door. "Well, that was interesting." He whispered, and made an impression of Alto "'Oh Dimitri...'" he made a mock imitation of Alto's moans "'Oh Josiah...'" he giggled, pulling his pants back up. He and Allen had been jacking each other off watching the husky, and were very pleased with their find. Allen pulled his shorts back up, but stopped Cody before the wolf got to cover up his butt. He gave it a squeeze, and a slap "Naughty wuffie, spying on others." he murred "I'll have to punish ya..." he whispered into Cody's ear, rubbing his palm against his boyfriend's soft, round rump. "Let's start with a spanking, shall we?" he dragged a giggling, now once again horny Cody into their room, ripping off the wolf's clothes as he did.

***

"Oh!" Cody yipped, Allen's firm palm slapping his ass, which was turning a nice shade of pink, once again. "St-stop...stop..." He whimpered, and Allen licked his ears.

"Had enough, my naughty little wuff?" he smiled.

"Y-yes..." Cody whined, sitting up in Allen's lap, nuzzling his boyfriend's chest, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Aww... i'm sorry sweet pea." Allen licked the wolf's ears, genuinely sorry. "I was only trying to be kinky..."

Cody felt lucky to have such a sweet, strong male; his rump was the only one complaining about the strong part. Sweet guys were hard to find, and he'd had his for nearly four years now. He knew Allen was just trying to be kinky, and loved him for it; but he needed some training. "It's okay... but next time you spank me please be a little gentler." he rubbed his eyes "Its supposed to arouse me, not kill my hard-on." He smiled. "Maybe you need to be punished..."

Allen smiled, setting his boyfriend down and bending over his knee. Cody giggled, giving the collie's ass a firm slap. "Not what I meant, baby." He smiled, his hard on poking Allen's tummy. "I kinda... maybe wanted to-" he pinned his ears "Bend you over and take your tail..." he rubbed Allen's firm butt, awaiting a response.

The collie got up, pressing Cody onto the bed and poking at the wolf's tail hole. "What didja want?" he asked, grinning wolfishly.

"To take your- Oh!" Allen pushed quickly into Cody's ass, thrusting in and out roughly, eliciting a moan from his mate. "Ngh..." Cody winced, the collie's thrusts getting faster and harder.

"Take my what?" Allen asked, nibbling Cody's neck.

"T-tail!" Cody whimpered, shooting his long-held load onto their chests and tummies. He huffed, Allen's orgasm filling him up shortly after. "Mmn... that was mean..." he pinned his ears, looking away. "You could've just said no..."

"But I want you to." Allen smiled, lapping at the bite mark on Cody's neck. "I'd like to bend over for you, i was just setting the bar."

"But now I-" Cody started to say before feeling his boyfriend pull out and lick his limp cock. "Ngh... Hunny..." he grabbed the sheets, unused to the sensation. "A-already?" It hadn't been more than thirty seconds since they came together, and the collie was already hard and licking.

"Yeah, get ready baby." Allen smiled, licking Cody's shaft until it stood stiff again. "This is gonna take a little bit." He started to lick up the shaft slowly, before taking the whole thing in his maw. Cody moaned, pleasure consuming him and his knot reforming at the base of his cock. He tore at the sheets, bucking his hips into the collie's maw.

Allen murred, truth be told he had thought about this since high school, and had just been waiting for his boyfriend to ask. He bobbed his head up and down is boyfriend's shaft until it was nice and well lubricated. He felt the wolf's orgasm coming quickly, and was happy to be pleasing his wolf in yet another way. Cody stopped him though, holding up a condom. Allen smiled, lifting off his boyfriend's cock and bending over the bed. Cody positioned himself, pouring lubricant all over the condom and some on his finger, sliding it into Allen's ass.

The collie gasped at the sudden intrusion, clenching around the wolf's finger. Cody pulled it back out and tickled the collie's tail hole with the tip of his cock, pressing the first few inches in fast. Allen clenched and growled "Hey... be gentle back there." he bared his teeth at his boyfriend, who looked at him apologetically.

"I'm sorry..." Cody pinned his ears back "I've just never-"

"I know, hunny, but please," Allen's scowl went away, replaced with a slightly pained look "Gimme some time to adjust..." His rump felt painfully stretched; Cody had shoved his way roughly past his hole into his ass, too fast, to hard. He sank his teeth into a pillow and bore through it, until he finally relaxed and gave Cody the go-ahead. The wolf pushed in slowly, and they only had to stop one more time before the wolf's knot pressed against his boyfriend's tight, hot ass. Allen rested on the pillow, trying to relax despite the pain. Now he knew how Cody had felt their first time, and felt a little bad that all he did was enjoy himself at his boyfriend's expense: he hadn't been the gentlest with Cody's virginity.

Cody murred, his cock resting in Allen's warm, tight insides. He smiled, and looked to the collie for guidance. "Wh-what now?" he asked, his voice leaking pleasure.

"Pull out slow, and then push back in." Allen instructed through gritted teeth. "Emphasis on-" Cody pulled out until the tip eas left in, making Allen shiver with pleasure "-s...slow..."

Cody moaned, thrusting back in with vigor. Allen groaned, his advice obviously hadn't been heard. Cody repeated this, thrusting in and out of his muscly boyfriend. He bent over his boyfriend's back, leaning in "S-so... t-tight!" he whispered, screwing his boyfriend faster. The sensation was new, for both of them. Allen began to enjoy the slick cock pumping in and pulling out of his ass, and it didn't take long for him to cum, Cody's cock hitting his G-spot perfectly with every thrust. He spread his load all over the side of the bed, followed by the rapid inflation of the condom in his rump. Cody murred, colapsing on his boyfriend's back. "Mmn..."

Allen smiled, enjoying the happy murrs coming from his boyfriend. He would get him back for not being very gentle, in the good way. Maybe a spanking...

***

Jamie and Weylin sat in front of the television in the basement, playing campaign on Halo Reach, the best game ever in Weylin's opinion. He was about to jetpack over a ravine when he got shot in the face by a sniper, killing his spartan. "Dammit!" he huffed "Stupid covenant and their rape beam rifles..." he looked at Jamie's screen while he waited to respawn, and gave the fox's butt a nice, hard pinch, making him yip, jump, and miss the shot he was lining up entirely. Jamie looked at him, a little hurt.

"H-hey..."

"Oh, don't fuss, hun." Weylin murred, nuzzling the other fox's cheek. "You have several clips left."

"Not what I meant..." Jamie mewed.

"The pinch? Oh God, Jamie, I was being playful." Weylin hugged the other fox, pausing the game "I'd never do it to be mean." he nuzzled Jamie's neck "Forgive?"

"Y-yes." Jamie answered quickly, he wasn't used to anyone but Josiah being that close to him, and honestly wanted it that way. Josiah was his, not Weylin. He lightly pushed the fennec off and unpaused the game, blowing the head off of a covenant grunt. Thoughts of Josiah dying the same way flashed through his mind, and he put the controller down, burying his face in his knees. He sniffled, and Weylin moved in close, pulling the fox closer and embracing him. This happened all the time; whenever Jamie thought about Josiah overseas it always led to thoughts of him dying, and never coming home. This always depressed him to the point of tears, and usually Weylin had to pull him aside and take swift action to reassure him. He was the only one Jamie would listen too, given the fact he had a boyfriend overseas too.

"Sh... it's alright hun, they'll come home, I promise." To be entirely honest though, Weylin was never sure of that promise himself.

The lakehouse chapter 6: A Stern Mother

Jamie had finally calmed down several days later. After, of course, the long evenings of Weylin helping him cope with Josiah's absence. Again. Every time the older fox left Jamie was on the couch, watching the news or in his room crying for about a week. After this week of tears, after Weylin had lost lots of sleep and the rest of the house being worried sick: the little fox would emerge, apologise excessively and cook an elaborate (and very delicious) meal for everyone. It would take hours of him slaving in the kitchen, refusing all help, but for him it was worth it: seeing his friends enjoy his cooking. After they were done, he gather what little leftovers there were and munch on those for a while.

After he had finished the leftovers this time, he sat watching the television. He was riveted; it was a report on the war in the middle east. Many times he had seen these reports, many times he almost worried himself to death watching the casualty list slowly appear on screen....

But no Josiah.

He sighed in relief, thankful that his lover wasn't among the dead as he so feared. Instantly he felt guilty, and glad, but mostly guilty that he was happy that one of these men or women died instead of his lover. He couldn't help but imagine if one of these brave soldiers had thrown themselves on a grenade or stepped in front of a bullet to save a comrade: who could very well have been Josiah. He hugged one of the pillows he'd buried himself in, sobbing brokenly. How could he be so selfish...? How could he be happy that these people died instead...? How could he...

He wrestled with his consciense then like he had so many times before. It was the same story, every time. The same missions the same death count: the only differences were the names and faces, and the families who lost a loved one. But in the end, he was in fact, though guiltily, grateful that his lover was alive, and not one of these brave soldiers.

He felt strong paws reach in to the pile of blankets and pillows he'd become so accustomed to staying in. He meeped, the two strong, fuzzy arms reaching around him and pulling him easily from the pile. "Now what do we have here?" a familiar, southern voice inquired as Jamie was pulled from his temple of soft things. "Now, we can't have this, can we?" Allen smiles and pulls the fox into a tight hug. "What's got ya' troubled?" He sat down on the huge couch lining the walls of the sun room, and sat the little (rather embarrassed) fox on his lap.

"W-well..." Jamie started, looking down. "I... I kinda..."

"C'mon, Jamie..." Allen sighs "Spit it out, li'l bro."

"Okay." he takes a deep breath "I f-feel guilty about b-being happy that Josiah is alive instead of the other marines and rangers that have d-died..." he looked down, expecting to be hit.

The collie sighed: Jamie had been like that since his family had adopted the little fox. "How many times do i have to tell ya, kiddo, I will never hit you. Ever." he draws the fox into a tight hug "C'mere..."

Jamie seemed confused "I... It's n-not wrong to think l-like that?" he asks

"Well, when you look at it that way, yes, there is something wrong with it." The collie adopted a stern tone "To be happy about another's death is terrible." Jamie pins his ears back, tears springing to his eyes.

"Im sorry..." he whimpered, pulling back from the hug.

Allen pulled him gently back "Now now... don't be like that." he rubbed the younger male's back soothingly, calming the fox "Now, it's not bad to be happy Josiah ain't dead, but it is bad to be happy it was someone else."

"B-but i always feel g-guilty when I think that." Jamie buried his face in the collie's chest "I... I never feel right when i think that way. I always cry..." Allen looked dwn at the fox. He was sensetive, very sensetive. Attempts to toughen him up had only ever made him more sensetive; his buttons easier to press. Allen felt terrible about being one of those people guilty of making the fox ever more sensetive: having tried to toughen him up before they got out of high school. Jamie needed a protector at essentially all times: and the only person he truly trusted for the job was away for months at a time.

"I know, Jamie, I know." Allen gives the fox a loving squeeze, hugging him tighter "C'mon... Ain't nothin' wrong with that... we all feel guilty about feeling that way. But i'm telling you, kiddo; it's perfectly okay to be happy your mate is alive: just not that someone else's is dead."

"I know..." Jamie mews.

"Look at it this way: Be sympathetic to the sufferin' of others who are going through a tough time, but don't be happy about it. If anything just be happy that Josiah is still kickin'." Allen kissed the fox's forehead. "Okay?"

"Okay..." the fox mews, kissing Allen's cheek "Thanks, Allen." he smiled; a short but happy smile: and one of the rarest things in the world to see while the soldiers were away. Allen smiled back, happy to see the fox's smile.

"Well well well..." a rather girly voice said from the stairs "What do i tell Cody?"

Both of the adopted brothers looked at the stairway in surprise, and saw a very mischevious looking Weylin standing there, his hands on his hips.

"I promise this isn't what it looks like" Allen says, a heat in his floppy ears as he blushed. "I was just comforting Jamie-"

"Uh huh." Weylin sauntered over "'Comforting'. Got it. "I'm sure that Cody sure would like to hear about this 'Comforting'." the fox giggled playfully, swishing his tail "I think i'll go explain it to him..."

"Oh hell no! I know what you're gonna do!" Allen put Jamie back on the pile of blankets and pillows and lunged for Weylin. The fennec eeped and dodged, running up the stairs.

"Cody! Your boyfriend's gonna hurt me!" he calls

"No I'm not!" The collie calls up to the wolf "Just gonna... teach him a new stretch!" he runs up the stairs, tackling the fennec. Weylin's head bumped the wall hard, and he started to cry.

Cody emerged, looking rather peeved, to find an aggressive looking Allen pinning a crying Weylin "Allen!" he huffs, pushing the collie off and pulling the fennec into a tight hug "How could you!?" He rubbed the fennec's back comfortingly "Sh... its okay baby... sh..." He turned angrily to the collie "You know damn well the foxes are fragile! How could you be so rough with him?" He pulls Weylin in to the room, slamming the door and locking it behind him; leaving Allen bewildered.

"B-but he..." he attempted to say, despite his boyfriend already having slammed the door. He gets up and knocks on the door "Cody... C'mon..."

"Go!"

"But-"

"You get the couch tonight, Mr. Brewer!" Allen winced, Cody only called him that when he was very angry with the collie.

"B-but-"

"No!"

"I c-cant even explain?"

"Weylin can!" muffled talking came from the room "Oh..."

Weylin's voice was sad and kind of scared "So yeah... it was my fault... i was teasing..."

"Not your fault, little fox, but you will need to be punished."

Weylin whimpered "P-punished?"

"Yeah. Allen, come on in."

Allen heard the door unlock and walked into the room. Cody looked at the little fennec "Say you're sorry."

"Im s-sorry..." the scared, hurt little fox whimpered sincerely.

"Okay. Now go get the paddle"

"P-paddle?"

"Yes." Cody pointed to the door and an ashamed little fox went to go get what the wolf asked for. The wolf then turned to Allen, who had a triumphant look on his face "You are gonna get paddled too."

"What-?" the collie's triumphant look was replaced with shock. "Why?"

"Because he was just teasing, you hurt him." Cody explained as the fennec appeared, carrying the heavy oak paddle. He handed it to the wolf, who beckoned him over. "C'mon, you only get three." The fennec bent over the bed, and Cody pulled his baggy shorts and underwear to his knees; exposing the fox's girly rump. Cody raised the paddle, and brought it down hard on the fox's ass, eliciting a pained gasp from the boy. "Two more..." Cody said, bringing it down twice more. When he finished, the fox's little white rump glowed a soft pink.

The wolf pulled up the fox's pants. He knew how much Weylin secretly loved getting a spanking, but would never tell Allen how many times he'd bent the fox over and made his rump glow a deep red. He smiled and gave the fox's bum a light pat "You can go." he said, and Weylin left the room, a small, almost unnoticable tent in his pants.

Cody turned to Allen, who was inching toward the door "Oh no, you too." He pulled his boyfriend sharply on to the bed, expertly bending him over and dropping the collie's pants to his knees.

"C'mon, Cody..." The collie said, his tone turning a little whiny "Please? I haven't been spanked since I was like, ten..."

"Well you shouldn't have hurt Weylin." The wolf smiled, kicking the door closed behind him. He dropped his own pants, laying his hard, knotted member against Allen's butt. "Now you'll learn your lesson" he giggled, rubbing the paddle against Allen's butt cheek. He raised the paddle and gave a well placed, hard smack on one of Allen's butt cheeks. The collie gasped, tensing up. Cody smiled and alternated between the two cheeks, spanking his boyfriend until the collie's rump turned a deep red.

Allen looked behind him, kind of ashamed at the spanking. "W-we're d-done, right?" he asked, tears in his eyes.

"Yes we are, hunny." Cody smiled lovingly, rubbing the collie's stinging bum until it starts to feel better. Had the wolf been anyone else Allen would've started throwing punches; but he knew the wolf was just playing, not actually meaning to be mean. In the wolf's mind this was fair, and a punishment divided equally based on what both of the guilty parties did.

"Okay good..." Allen growled, pulling the wolf in and bending him over "Now for striking your boyfriend... you get fifty..." He growled, breathing heavily in Cody's ear.

The wolf whined submissively and hinged up his hips as the collie pulled down his pants.

***

Downstairs Jamie heard the loud, pained whimpers and gasps coming from Cody. He grew concerned, and started up the stairs. The smacks grew louder and he could hear Cody saying "Stop! Stop oh please... it hurts so much..." It seemed like Allen was being way too dominant again. He huffed, putting his hands on his hips.

"Forty nine!" Allen growled

"Please no-" SMACK "Ah!"

"Fifty!" SMACK

"-whimper-... S-stop... stop p-please..." Cody whined.

Jamie sighed angrily "Allen!" he yelled, losing his temper. "Don't you DARE hit him again!" He kicked at the door twice "ALLEN I SWEAR TO MOTHER AND GOD OPEN THIS DOOR!"

The door opened and Jamie stromed in, pinning Allen against the wall. Small as he may have been, he could still pin the collie. He looked over at Cody, whose rump was a stinging red color. "Go Cody."

"B-but-"

"GO!" The wolf limped out of the room, glancing apologetically to his mate. "What the hell were you doing?!" he yelled at the collie.

Despite being much bigger than the fox, the collie was kind of scared, tucking his tail between his legs. "I... I was j-just-"

"SPIT IT OUT!" Jamie yelled.

"Wewerejustbeingkinkyimsorry!" Allen blurted out. The fox was scary when he was angry, despite being completely adorable and mostly submissive and quiet. When he DID get angry, he was a force to be reckoned with.

"Speak clearly..." the fox said calmly, but the anger in his face was still very apparent. He was the mother of the household, and kept every one in line when things were getting out of hand. Usually he would get hurt somehow because of the situation and every one would stop: but here... when he got angry... everyone fell in line.

"Me and Cody w-were just being k-kinky..." The collie repeated.

"STOP MEANS STOP, ALLEN!" Jamie burst out.

"B-but-"

"No! Stop means STOP! I wont have you hurting him, or anyone! You, mister, are sleeping in the GUEST ROOM until i deem you fit to LEAVE!" He pointed to the door, and a shame-faced Allen walked to the guest room with his tail tucked between his legs. Jamie rubbed his temples, feeling bad. "Oh... what have I done...?" he asked himself.

Cody peeks into the room "J-jamie?" he asked "I-is everything all right?"

Jamie looks over to the wolf and pulls him into a tight, motherly hug. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you too much... Oh Cody..." The wolf was much older than the fox, but Jamie had a motherly way about him. Comforting; but stern, and only stern when he was angry.

"I'm okay, Jamie, i promise." The wolf says. "I heard you yelling... I-is Allen really confined to the guest room?"

"Yes. Until I say he can sleep in your room again." Jamie explains, confident in his decision.

"But we were just being kinky, I promise." Cody insists.

"Stop means stop, did you really want him to?"

"Y-yes, but-"

"Then his punishment is deserved." Jamie resolves. "I will bring him his food. I will escort him for exercise. He is to be starved of you for two weeks." Jamie resolved. "And no less. He will learn to stop when you tell him too." He walked away, towing Cody behind him. He was back to his shy, loving self again almost as quickly as he had turned into the stern mother of the house. "H-help me in the k-kitchen, please?" he asks the wolf with big, gentle eyes.

"Okay." Cody followed the fox, bewildered once again at the sudden transformation.

Chapter 7: A rough week

Breakfast was an uncomfortable ordeal for Cody, who couldn't stop wondering how his boyfriend was holding up. So, sometimes the collie got a little rough... well, Cody could deal with it, though sometimes not voluntarily. The collie was far from abusive though, and him being a little rough was usually followed by a week of apology and romance. When Cody weighed it in, he thought it was all worth it.

Jamie was a different story. He got very angry when Allen got rough; very, very angry. He was the single force in the house that could stop and make Allen think twice; despite being the collie's adopted little brother. He was a force to be reckoned with, and wouldn't stop until Allen was practically crying. He always felt terrible afterwards though, right after these bursts of motherliness.

The little fox in question was cooking an elaborate breakfast: bacon and eggs, both of which cooked at least three different ways; buttermilk biscuits and cornbread, toast with several kinds of jam and butter laid out for spreading, marmalade, fruit preserves, bowls of fruit of all kinds he could find in the house, a sort of pastry with fruit cooked inside of it, creating a warm, steamy addition to breakfast to top it all off. Laid out for such a pastry were cream and syrup, also set aside were pancakes and waffles with blueberries and blackberries cooked into them; all in all, a fine breakfast with a southern touch.

Weylin sat next to Cody, and gave the wolf an apologetic look. Ultimately the event was his fault, but there was no use bringing it up. He prepared a plate and sat at the edge og the table, eating quietly. Alto had emerged from his hiding place and took a seat next to the white fennec after piling high his own plate of good food, mainly the pastries. Weylin pinched one off his plate and Alto shot him a dirty look, but was only greeted with big, begging eyes. He sighed, waving it off and got a kiss on the cheek, sending a wash of heat into his cheeks.

Cody sat where he usually did, on the far side away from the kitchen; his plate barely full.

Jamie was still slaving away in the kitchen, eating bits and pieces of this and that that nobody wanted. He managed to sneak a pastry into his maw though, the sweet, warm fruit sitting nicely in his tummy, sending a wave of warmth through his body. He sighed; he was gonna have to bring Allen food at some point in time... He set a plate aside and gradually filled it up with good food. He picked up the plate and whisked up the stairs, light on his paws as ever.

When he at last stood in front of the door he sighed heavily, and knocked softly on the wood. "Allen." he adopted a stern tone, but he couldn't be angry. "I brought you breakfast. Open up, please."

The door opened a crack, and Allen peeked out. "Th-thanks..."

"All the way, Allen. Please."

The collie opened the door the rest of the way, and Jamie softly padded in, setting the plate on the desk in the corner. "Allen, I-"

"No... Don't, please. It was my fault..." the collie sat on the edge of the bed.

"I'm not saying it wasn't, Allen." Jamie mewed, sitting next to the dog. "I just... I'm sorry I was so... forceful..."

"Like mama used to be?" Allen chuckled.

"Yeah..." Their mother had been rather stern with them when they were young, but they ended up being grateful to her: she had taught them alot. She was only like that though when she was very angry, often scaring her kids into avoiding her for a few days; but the message always got through. She made it up to them though; usually with good food and a few... privileges... that they didn't usually have. Like staying up really late or not having to go to church. She was christian, yeah, but she didn't let it affect how much she loved her kids; defending them against christians who were narrow-minded enough to believe she should behave otherwise.

She was a good mama, and the two brothers missed her a lot. She moved back to Alabama with their father a year before, so they only got to see her when they could afford to fly out.

"So..." Allen sighed and shuffled a little on the bed.

"So what?" Jamie mewed softly.

"What'd you bring me?" a slight smile appeared on the collie's muzzle.

Jamie huffed "You're lucky I brought you anything at all, you rough, bad collie!" He reached for the plate and handed it to Allen, who dug in.

"My punishment stands." The fox crossed his arms and thought for a moment. "Well... maybe not two weeks..." He sighed "You aren't gonna get to sleep with Cody for... one week."

The collie groaned "Aww... a whole week? That's gonna be hell..."

"Well maybe you should've thought twice before hurting him." The fox resolved, getting up to leave. "The only time you will be able to leave is to work out and go to work."

"What about the bathroom?"

"Fine, that too."

"Can I shower with Cody?"

"No!" Jamie whirled on the collie.

"Well you said I couldn't sleep with him... You didn't say anything abou-"

"No. No touchy feely stuff, and you aren't gonna have him strip for you either. No loopholes. If I catch you doing stuff with him... I'll extend the sentence to a month."

It was actually sort of funny to see Jamie like this, so much like the woman who adopted him. Allen smiled "Okay... mom." he said sarcastically "Whatever you say..." Staying in the room was gonna suck... he was gonna be extremely pent up when he finally did get out. But that would make sex all the sweeter.

"Finish your food." Jamie ordered, the words seeming alien coming out of his mouth in his high, musical voice. "I need to clean the kitchen."

Allen did as he was bid, handing the fox his plate when he was finished. He would wait a few hours before his workout, letting the food digest before he got into too much activity. "I'll be down for my workout in a few hours. Okay, Jamie?"

"Okay, big brother." Jamie resigned from the room, closing the door on his way out.

***

The next week was in fact hell for the collie. He was limited to simply talking with Cody from a distance, and under a watchful gaze from Jamie. He drove to work with a hard on and cursed his hard on, getting several stares from the gym-goers; some good, some bad, others confused. He got hit on by a girl, who was probably new in town, and had to kindly explain that he was gay. She seemed a little embarassed, but she didn't seem all that sad. Probably for the best. But she, like everyone else who asked, learned about the gay guys who lived up the road. Thankfully, people tended to keep their mouths shut, so even if they didn't approve they didn't voice it. It was good, Allen liked it that way. Every now and then he was poked and picked at by the odd over-zealous christian or two, but nothing he couldn't solve with a few threats and his fists.

When he got home on the last day of his sentence he was painfully hard. He was driving Weylin home from work, and the fennec was still wearing his skimpy stripper's clothing. The fennec giggled, pointing at the tent in the collie's pants "Has that been a problem?"

"You have no idea..." Allen sighed.

"Get any stares?"

"Too many."

"Didja get hit on?"

"Duh."

"How many?"

"One."

"Boy?"

"No. Girl."

"Cute?"

"Sort of." He had had this conversation with the fennec before, but it was still a little weird. He thanked the gods they were approaching the house fast.

"Cat or dog?"

"Cat."

"Well?"

"Panthress. Amber eyes. Very confident and forward. I wouldn't be surprised if she showed up at the strip club."

"Cool." The fennec stopped talking as they pulled into the driveway.

Allen stopped the car and hopped out, walking through the archway and down the all too long cobblestone path leading to the door. Cody was gettin' it tonight... Oh yes. He wasn't walking for a week.

He finally reached the door and pulled it open, tossing his bag to the side and walking up the stares without so much as giving Alto, who waved hello, a glance. He pulled off his pants and tossed them in the hallway, followed by his underwear and shirt. He pulled Cody's door open, stark naked with a rock-hard member.

"Oh my..." The wolf looked up at Allen when the door opened. "Aren't we pent up today?"

Allen said nothing, simply closing the door behind him and easily pinning the wolf to the bed. "C'mere..." He rubbed his erection against the wolf's leg.

Cody smiled and pinned his ears back submissively. It was going to be a long night...

***

The next morning Cody had to be carried down the stairs by Allen, who nuzzled him lovingly.

Jamie smiled when they entered, back to being the shy, reserved little fox he usually was. "Well good morning, lovebirds." He murred, setting two plates on the table before glancing at the news. A report on the recent troop movements in the middle east. "Sleep well?"

"More like not at all..." Cody yawned.

Weylin giggled "None of us did either." He hugged his tail, pretending to smooch with it "Oh Cody! Oh Allen!" he mocked.

Cody blushed "S-shut up, Weylin!" he aimed a swat at the fennec's arm.

Weylin dodged, giggling. "What? It's not like me and Dimitri are any different." He smiled and continued leisurely eating his breakfast.

"I can vouch for that..." Alto said around a mouthful of bacon. He slept in the room next to Dimitri and Weylin; a couple that was very, very amorous.

"Oh shush we know you masturbate to it."

Alto blushed a deep red and looked at the table, swallowing his mouthful of bacon.

"Aww... don't feel bad hunny." Jamie patted Alto's shoulder and turned to Weylin "Shame on you, Weylin. Apologise."

"I'm sorry Alto." Weylin giggled "I'm sure you'll get laid eventually."

Alto choked on his biscuit and stood up, leaving the room after clearing his throat.

"Weylin!" Cody huffed "Go apologise! Right now!"

"What..." Weylin mewed softly "I didn't mean to be offensive..."

"Just... go apologise. Then Allen will take you to work." Weylin left the room to go do what the wolf ordered.

Jamie sat at the table, setting out two plates: one for the empty spots on the table where the soldiers would have sit, and continued to watch the news.

Chapter 8: He's not coming home

The next few months were pretty regular: Jamie would cook, Weylin would strip, and the others would go about their business as usual. The day was rapidly approaching when the two soldiers would come back for the last time: coming home for good. The two foxes in the house were constantly watching the door; glancing at it several times a day and paying careful attention to the news. The action overseas was heating up, and casualties were high, but Jamie never saw Josiah, nor Weylin Dimitri.

Both foxes did essentially nothing out of the ordinary: ate, slept, worked, worried.

Alto worked with books, same as he always had, but was getting more fit thanks to Allen's dogging him to work out. He was even persuaded to go to the gym every now and then. He still felt very self-conscious, despite Allen's assurances.

Cody did the exact same thing as everyone else: Work. Eat. Sleep. Worry.

***

On July the 15th, the knock everyone was waiting for finally came. Dimitri dashed for the door, undoing the many locks and chains that kept the door shut (put there on Alto's request) and threw the door open, tackling the tiger on the other side "Dimitri!"

The tiger caught him and placed him on the ground. "Not now... please darling..." He had a sad look on his face. Weylin looked up at him and gasped.

"Oh my god... Dimitri your eye..."

The tiger had an elaborate bandage and a patch over one eye. "Gone." he stated.

Weylin teared up, wrapping his arms around the tiger's neck "Oh my gawd... Im so sorry..." he started to sob, and Dimitri rocked him back and forth.

"Sh... do not cry. I am alive." He wiped Weylin's ever-flowing tears, kissing the fennec on the cheek.

"That looks painful..." Allen said from the doorway, and Jamie covered his maw, tears in his eyes.

"It is. I do not need to be told." Dimitri picked Weylin up and made for the door, walking inside.

Jamie stood by the door, watching the path that lead away from the house. Dimitri looked back and sighed.

"Jamie..."

"Yes?" The fox looked back, avoiding the tiger's one-eyed gaze.

"We need to talk."

"Now?"

"Yes, now." Dimitri sat on the couch, turning away the sandwhich Alto offered him. "Everyone needs to hear this."

"Can't we wait for Josiah?" Jamie stated plainly, looking back out the door at the path.

"Jamie... He isn't coming."

The room fell silent, and Cody started to cry. Allen took him upstairs.

"W-what do y-you mean?" Jamie looked back at the tiger "H-he stayed in town? He... he must be shopping."

"No, Jamie-"

"He has to be shopping, or at the gym... or... or something."

"Jamie please-" Dimitri tried to say.

"No... He's coming up the road now. It's j-just taking h-him a little while. He-"

"Jamie, he's not coming back!" Dimitri shouted. The little fox winced, shaking his head.

"N-no... he is coming back i kn-know it..."

Dimitri rushed over and embraced him, turning the fox around and holding him close. "No... No he isn't. He's..." Dimitri choked up, as if unable to say the last word. "He's dead, Jamie."

Jamie broke down sobbing, going limp. "No! No he p-promised!" he grabbed Dimitri's shirt and buried his face in the male's chest. "He... -sob- he's g-gotta..." he couldn't say anymore, crying hard into the tiger's chest.

Dimitri picked Jamie up and sat on the couch, holding the fox close. "Sh... Sh..." he couldn't think of anything to say, simply holding Jamie close.

Weylin sat next to them, leaning on the tiger's shoulder. He was crying as well, though not nearly as hard. He couldn't comprehend the grief Jamie was feeling... He still had his lover; Jamie's was never coming back. He felt Dimitri's strong arms pull him in, and the tiger held both foxes close, tears rolling down only one of his cheeks.

When at last Jamie calmed down enough to speak, he clutched onto Dimitri, looking up at the tiger with big, teary green eyes. "How... How did he die?"

"With honour." Dimitri answered, unable or unwilling to relate the tale. "He... He died saving us."

Jamie started to sob again, and the tiger lifted both foxes up and took them into his room, holding them both close to him. He laid down on the bed and pulled the covers over them, letting the two grief stricken males cry it out.

Downstairs, Alto was sobbing, staring down at a small, wrapped package he pulled out of the closet. It was supposed to be Josiah's coming-home present, welcoming him back to the house for good: but now it seemed he would never return to claim it. He set it on the table; shock had prevented him from crying until now, and he broke down sobbing. He grabbed a pillow and buried his face in it, biting down on the fabric and yelling into the fluff- muffling his screams of anguish. He couldn't be gone... could he? He was so close to home... so close... and now he was dead? No... No... images of the soldier fox flashed through his head and only made him cry harder. No... No...

He found himself hating the military; how could they ask so much? How dare they take the fox from them, and Dimitri's eye? How dare they?! He cried until it hurt, and then cried some more- at last crying himself to sleep.

***

Dimitri stood in the kitchen in the morning, before the sun came up. Usually he would sit here the first dawn, watching the sun rise. It felt different though; this would be the first dawn he watched without his friend.He stared out the window with his one, stone-cold blue eye. The sun was showing it's first signs of coming up: the first rays of golden light peeking up over the horizon, setting the lake ablaze with light. He stared at it, unflinching, and watched until he could no more; the sun hurting his eyes. The dawn was magnificent, but seemed cold to him. How could the world be so... so normal. His friend was dead. Dead! and the world didn't seem to care.

He found himself getting angry at the world. There was a little fox in his room, sleeping deeply, only because he cried himself to sleep. He growled and punched the counter, sending a shock of pain through his hand. He didn't care, instead punching it again. Luckily the counter was granite and made a dull thud when he hit it, not making enough noise to wake anyone up.

He stopped, staring down at his hand. "Damn..." he sighed, and put the hand under the sink and tunring on the nozzle. He'd started bleeding, and washed the blood off with warm water, wrapping the hand in a towell. He looked around for a bandage, and found some gauze and surgical tape in the kitchen closet. He wrapped up the wound and threw the towell in the hamper.

A small whimper came from the doorway. He turned, seeing Weylin standing there; his eyes wet with tears. "He... He isn't really gone... is he?"

Dimitri pulled the fox in, kissing his forehead. He felt guilty; Josiah would never hold his lover again... He squeezed the fennec tighter, kissing his ears. "I... He... is..." Dimitri, felt his own eyes start to water again, and pushed the tears down. He had to be strong... for Weylin. Jamie. And everyone else.

Dimitri stopped crying and Dimitri wiped the tears away, kissing the fox lightly on the lips. "Sh... He... He is in a better place now..."

"H-he p-promised..." Weylin choked up and hugged the tiger closely. "H-he said he'd c-come back..."

"I know... I know..." Dimitri sighed. "But... but some promises cannot be kept..."

"Why?" Weylin asked around his tears.

"Because... because life is unpredictable."

"How d-did he die?" That was the second time Dimitri had been asked that, and the second time he felt he could not say it. "I... I can not tell you. Not yet. Maybe never."

"B-but-"

"Niet. Stop asking." the tiger pulled Weylin in. "Come on, let us make breakfast for Jamie."

"Okay..."

***

Jamie woke up, staring at the ceiling. Could he really be gone? So quickly...

He had imagined them growing old together, adopting kids... loving each other for as long as they lived. Those hopes were dashed now...

He held up a yellow slip of paper; a message from Jamie's commanding officer, the one who led him into battle.

It read:

Mr. De Vu Craux

It is my deepest sorrow to have to convey to you this unfortunate news. Your friend Josiah was killed in action; taking a sniper shot to the head the day before he was supposed to ship out. He was an honorable ranger, and a dear friend of mine.

My deepest condolences:

Staff Seargant Duvall

S.S. Duvall

Jamie started to cry, unable to comprehend that his lover was gone, well and truly. He hugged a pillow, burying his face in the soft fabric. He felt himself getting angry, and was frightened by it, pushing the anger away. Never before had he felt such... wrath... and coupled with his sadness...

Grief unmatched filled his heart. He heard his stomach growl but felt nothing. He wasn't hungry; he didn't know how he could ever eat again...

He lost the desire to get out of bed and simply cried.

***

Over the course of the next few days Jamie's condition worsened: He refused to eat, barely slept, and didn't leave the room unless he had too. He'd holed himself up and shut out the rest of the world.

Dimitri grew distant, refusing to talk unless he had too. He found he couldn't smile much anymore, not even with Weylin's best attempts at cheering him up.

"Hun... please... smile, just a little..." Weylin sat in his lover's lap, tears appearing at the corners of his eyes. He'd quit work and stayed at the house with Dimitri, trying to pick up the pieces at the house and pull everyone back together.

"How can I?" Dimitri, hugged the fennec "My best friend is dead..."

Weylin couldn't say anything, just hold on to the tiger and hope that one day he'd see the cat smile again; even if he felt that he couldn't smile anymore either...

Cody, Alto, and Allen were the first to move on; getting back to work and restarting their lives. It had been a week since Dimitri had brought the news to them, and for over a week they grieved for the fox. But they recognised the need to get on with their lives; how were they going to pay rent if they didn't work? They resolved to pay for Weylin, Jamie and Dimitri; but none of them could really stomach picking up the pieces of Josiah's share.

At some point during the week a man in uniform knocked on the door. Dimitri answered and saluted. "Sir?"

"Please, Dimitri, don't salute me." An older looking lynx raised his hand and handed the russian tiger a slip of paper.

"As... as you wish sir." Dimitri slowly took the paper "Funeral arrangements?"

"Yes." The lynx sighed. "May I come in? There are details we must discuss."

"It... yes sir." Dimitri stepped aside and let the lynx enter. The spotted cat stood tall and erect, just like any other military man.

"It is a nice house-" the officer looked out the window "-with a beautiful view."

"I've never had the pleasure of another like it, sir." Dimitri sat down on the couch.

Weylin walked into the room and stopped, seeing the lynx. "Who's this?" he asked, taking his place next to the tiger, away from the cat's blind side.

"My... Our Staff Seargant," Dimitri explained "The man who lead us into battle. Duvall."

"Thomas, please. I'm not your C.O. anymore." The lynx stood by a chair "May I sit?"

"Please." Weylin said.

The lynx took a seat and adjusted, unused to such a comfortable thing. "Now, funeral arrangements-"

"I-" Weylin glanced at Dimitri "-don''t think we should be doing this without Jamie..."

"Agreed." Dimitri nodded.

Weylin stood up "I'll go get him; i'm the only one he'll listen to." the fennec left to go get the fox.

"Ah. His girlfriend?" the lynx asked Dimitri.

"Boy."

"Hm?"

"Boyfriend."

The lynx looked slightly taken aback "I did not know-"

"You never asked."

"And the fennec-"

"Yes. He is mine." Dimitri leaned forward, a little menace creeping into his voice "Is that a problem?"

"No. I just never could tell." the lynx sighed and took off his hat, laying it on the table. "It doesn't make me think any less of him. He was a good soldier."

"Yes. And a good friend." Dimitri sat back as Weylin returned, towing a bedraggled, tear stained Jamie along with him.

"Come on sweetie we have to get this done..."

"I... I don' wanna... I can't-"

"He wouldn't have anyone else in the world do it for him. C'mon." He sat Jamie on the couch and took a seat next to him so Jamie was sitting between the two lovers.

Duvall offered his hand, but took it slowly back when Jamie just stared at it. "I... I've come to see how you want him buried."

Jamie stared at him, not answering.

"Do you have any preferences?"

Jamie said nothing. Weylin sighed "Oh Jamie, I know this is hard but you have to say something." Jamie looked blankly at the fennec and then to the lynx.

"C... Cremated..." he finally said, his voice sounding strange to him.

"Okay. Any special way?"

"No..."

"Do you want the ashes?"

Jamie thought for a long moment. "N-no... he wanted to... to be sunk in the lake."

"Okay." Duvall sighed. "His body will be cremated overseas, and we will ship the ashes here for you to do with them what you wish."

Jamie nodded dully "Can... can I go back t-to my room?" he asked.

"Okay hun." Weylin helped him up and led him to his room, disappearing for a moment with the other fox.

Duvall stood, smoothing his crisp dress uniform. "I'll be going now."

Dimitri stood and saluted the officer "Goodbye, sir."

The lynx returned the salute "Goodbye, Dimitri. Take care of yourself." and with that he left, the door closing with a click behind him.

Dimitri stood in the living room, unsure of what to do. So he sat down on the couch and sighed. He felt a tremendous sense of melancholy, and a need to break the crushing silence. He turned on the TV, flipping through the several hundred channels, but nothing appealed to him. He resolved to go for a jog when Weylin appeared at the foot of the stairs. "Where are ya going?" he asked in his high, musical voice.

"Jog." Dimitri answered, and was surprised at the coldness in his voice. "Sorry." he sat back down on the couch and patted his leg.

Weylin quickly sat in the tiger's lap, nuzzling the male close. "I worry for Jamie..."

"As do I." Dimitri embraced the fox. "I fear for his safety."

"I... I'm afraid he'll try something-"

"Dont. Dont say it. We all fear that." Everyone in the house had had the thought that Jamie would commit suicide, and kept him under consant watch. They'd hidden all the knives and pills in the house, as well as the cleaning supplies, ropes, anything they thought he would try to use; they kept the gun locked up tight in Dimitri and Weylin's room, knowing the tiger would wake the second the doorknob turned.

Weylin snuggled close to the tiger "Im sorry..."

"For what? The loss of my friend or the threat of losing another?" Dimitri kissed the fox's forehead.

"Both." Weylin sniffled.

"Do not be." Dimitri started to say. "He... he died honorably, saving us... our squad that is." He stroked Weylin's ears, eliciting quiet murrs from the fox. He started to tear up "I... I cannot tell you yet. Maybe never... but-" he stopped, a snowy white finger moving over his lips.

"Dont... Dont tell me." Weylin had tears in his eyes. "Not until we're all ready."

"Very well." Dimitri kissed the fox, adjusted his bandage, and went out for his jog.

Chapter 9: Seven Minutes

Dimitri went out for a jog days after their meeting with Ducall: like he had whenever he started to think about his fallen comrade. He left in full uniform, despite not really needing to wear it again, and jogged around the lake until even he couldn't take it anymore. He stopped on the opposite end of the lake from the house, gasping for breath. The woods were beautiful out here; he was surrounded on all sides by beautiful things: trees, grass, flowers: everything. He took small joy in them however, still trying to cope with his friend's loss.

Compensation had come in and been deposited in Jamie's account; the money the military promised in case Josiah ever did die. Jamie found he couldn't bring himself to use any of it; depositing it all in a seperate account.

Dimitri sighed: Jmie was getting worse. He resolved that the fox needed to hear how Josiah died, and maybe he would take comfort in that fact that his lover was a hero. He took off the pack he carried with him and walked over with it to the pebbly beach surrounding the lake. He sat near the water, letting the waves softly lap at his feet. He pulled out a picture of his friend and two sandwhiches, unwrapping them both and setting them on the blanket. He set the picture on the pebbles beside him, facing the image of his friend toward the sunset.

"Hello my friend." Dimitri started, biting into his sandwhich. "This will be the hundredth meal I've had with you by the lake."

The image didn't move, didn't answer, just stared out over the water.

"We are going to sink you in the lake tomorrow, just like you asked. And... and I promise I wont feel sad anymore, just like you asked." A cold wind blew over Dimitri, and he shivered despite his thick fur. He set the second sandwhich beside the picture and stayed silent for a moment. "Turkey and cheese. Just like you like it." He said.

The picture didn't respond.

"I understand that you can't talk to me anymore, Josiah, but it still hurts when you don't answer." he chuckled, tears in his eye.

The picture stared out over the lake, still unmoving and making no sound.

Dimitri pulled out a slip of crumpled up white paper; Josiah's last will and testament. "I'm showing this to Jamie tomorrow, just like you said. One hundred and one days after I returned to the states." He refolded the paper and put it in his pocket. "And... And I'll tell him how you died, and give him your tags.

"You know, my friend," Dimitri started, finishing his last bite of sandwhich "I wanted to thank you for saving my life. For... for pulling me back before I charged headlong into that hail of gunfire. I still lost an eye though, you bastard." the tiger chuckled and looked at the picture, which depicted a smiling fox in full uniform simply looking at the camera. Such pictures were rare, as Josiah hated to be photographed. "I don't blame you though. The stupid rifleman was a lousy shot. He just got lucky is all. Besides, I got out a lot better than you did." he made an attempt to laugh, but it came out as a choked sob.

"Dammit..." Dimitri buried his face in his knees "Why did you have to do that you son of a bitch... Why couldn't you let the rook do it? He was faster... Shit... he was injured... he couldn't have." He cried for a few moments, but wiped the tears from his eye fairly quickly. He'd done his share of crying, and Josiah told him in the will specifically not to after a hundred days. That's as long as he wanted anyone to feel sad, otherwise he swore on God he would come back and kick the tiger's ass for letting anyone be sad. Dimitri smiled at the memory; bullets flying all around them, Josiah about to make a suicide run across a field of enemy fire; and the damn fox told him "Dont you let anyone be sad for more than a hundred days, you here me you fuckin' cyclops?" And he smiled and ran toward his objective. The statement was sarcastic, and the fox was smiling when he said it; but Dimitri had taken it to heart.

The tiger stood, picking up the other sandwhich an throwing it into the water, where it sank to the bottom. He picked up the picture and smiled back at it. "There you go, my friend. A soggy ass sandwhich." He put the picture in the backpack and zipped it up, slinging it over his shoulders and jogging back to the house.

***

When he arrived, he was greeted by Alto at the door. "You're back later than usual." The husky remarked.

"So I am. What's it to you?" the tiger sighed.

"Well maybe I got concerned?"

"T'was not needed."

Alto sipped the coffee he seemed to always have. "Well, you're back just in time for dinner, congratulations." He ushered the tiger upstairs. "C'mon, go get a shower, then you can come back down." The husky had adopted the role of mamma of the house after Jamie had started to seclude himself. He and Weylin practically had to force food down the fox's throat, though, otherwise Jamie wouldn't eat.

Dimitri walked up the stairs, shedding his jacket in the hallway and simply letting it drop. He entered the bathroom, well, his bathroom, and turned on the water, letting it run until it was nice and warm. He shed his clothes and stepped in, closing his eye enjoying the relaxing feeling sweeping over his body.

Suddenly he felt slender paws wrap around him, and rub his back. His first reaction was to tense up, but he relaxed quickly and opened his eye, smiling down at the beautiful bundle of fur in front of him. "Hello Weylin." He purred, nibbling the fennec's ears.

"Hey hunny." the slender fox murred.

"How is Jamie doing?"

"Well... I suppose he's getting better... a little."

Well, good news was good news. "How so?"

"He's getting the urge to cook and clean again. I think he's starting to recover."

"That is good I suppose, I am tired of mircowaved burritos and sandwhiches and pizza."

"Amen, reverend." Weylin giggled. "Although I am still very concerned, he won't eat and still barely sleeps. I can still hear him cry at night, Dimitri..." the little fennec looked sad, nuzzling his lover's chest. "I think he needs to hear-"

"I know. I will tell him tomorrow." He picked Weylin up and pressed him to the shower wall below the nozzle. "But for now... I want to enjoy my lover."

Weylin wrapped his legs around the tiger and smiled. "As you wish." he mewed and gasped as Dimitri entered him.

***

Dinner was an uncomfortable, boring affair. Like Dimitri had said; microwaved burritos, pizza, and sandwhiches. No one in the house was much of a cook, other than Jamie. Weylin took a plate of food up to the fox and made him eat, despite his protests.

Downstairs everyone hastily ate their food, not really wanting to taste it after more than three months of the stuff. After it was gone, severl dissatisfied furs climbed the stairs for bed. Weylin slept in Josiah's room, making sure the fox didn't do anyting rash.

Everyone slept peacefully enough, most of them adhering to Josiah's wish of only feeling sad for at most a hundred days. The fox had always wanted for his life to be celebrated, not his death mourned.

***

The next morning Dimitri gathered everyone downstairs and sat them on the couch, seating himself on the big footrest in the center of the room. He glanced at Jamie, who was staring at him through dull, foggy eyes.

"Okay, my friends." Dimitri started, taking a deep breath. "Today is the day Josiah told me to tell you how he died; on the hundred and first day after his death." He looked around but no one responded, all listening intently. "He also told me to make sure that all of you stopped feeling sad. He wanted his life to be celebrated, not his death mourned. That is what he wanted."

He took another breath and pulled the piece of paper out of his pocket, unfolding it and setting it next to him. From around his neck he took the fox's dogtags and set them next to the paper. "Jamie, these are for you after I finish." He sighed, shufflinf uncomfortably. It was hard for him to talk about what happened overseas; very, very hard. But it was the last wish of his friend.

"Okay. Here we go..."

***

Far over the blue ocean, in the sand and rocks of the middle east, the two soldiers and their squad sat still and ready in the back of a plane. They stood in full gear with parachutes on their backs, waiting for the green light.

The room they were all standing in was awash with red light, and shook every now and then when the plane encountered turbulence. Dimitri sat next to Josiah, as he always had, and patted his friend's shoulder. The fox smiled at him, returning the gesture "We'll be fine, it's just a bunch of insurgents in a bunker, we've done this before." He didn't sound too confident though; the cave network they were charged with clearing was vast and winding, with little light and no real cover, and the only indication that the insurgents were there was the bunker hewn from the rock. Six other planes followed behind the one they were in, and they were very close to their objective.

"Two minutes!" a crackly voice spoke over the intercom, and the Rangers all stood, checking their gear for the hundredth time just in case they missed anything.

"One minute!" They stood ready to run out the back of the plane when the order was given. The plane started to shake with small flak impacts, and from the small window to his right Dimitri could see it had already brought down a plane and the rangers it was carrying were bailing.

Dimitri could feel his friend's anger; there were twelve rangers on that plane, and only six bailed. He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, shaking him a little. The fox smiled at him; a hollow, unreal thing.

"Green light! Go go go!" The back of the plane opened and wind rushed into the chamber, and without hesitation they stood in single file and started to run out the back of the plane. Josiah had reached the back when the plane rocked violently, sending the fox spinning out of the plane in a random direction. Dimitri was knocked back, and the plane tipped nose forward and started to spin toward the earth, one of it's wings blown off.

The tiger was dizzying quickly, but hauled himself up and toward the back of the plane. More flak hit the aircraft and wrent it apart with help from the negative g-forces applying themselves to the doomed plane. He found himself hanging on for dear life on the tail-end of the plane as it hurtled to ground.

He ignored his instincts and let go, knowing he'd have a better chance if he tried to stabilize himself. He spread eagle to slow his fall and watched the plane, and with it all their ordinance, hit the ground and explode.

He pulled the chord on his pack and deployed his parachute, aiming for a flat-ish area a ways from the crash. His squad was separated across a stretch of land God-knew how huge and he worried that his friends were dead.

He hit the ground rough, rolling across the dirt and scattered rocks until his parachute snagged on something and pulled him to an abrupt halt. Pain shot through his body, and he tried to haul himself up, but was stopped by the parachute chords wrapped around his legs. He drew his knife and cut through them, taking off the spent chute-pack.

He checked his GPS; he was two miles away from the drop zone, and the plane had crashed a few hundred yards behind him. He decided to abandon the plane and move toward his objective, hoping to find his squad along the way.

Along the way he ran into Josiah, who revealed himself by hauling Dimitri behind a rock as a bullet flew past his head. He put a finger on his maw, signalling the tiger be quiet.

'Sniper' he mouthed, putting his helmet on the butt of his rifle and raising it above the rock.

A bullet, obviously of high caliber, blew the helmet clean off the gun. Josiah examined it, and a hole the size of a quarter examined him right back. "Damn..." he whispered. "Fifty Cal.?" he put the helmet back on, moving his goggles over the hole.

Dimitri sighed and relaxed against the rock "Where is he?" the tiger whispered.

Josiah pointed behind him "Ridge. Has the whole area covered." He thought for a moment "But we can flank him, if one of us serves as a distraction-" as he said that a blast sounded from the ridge. Both soldiers looked over the rock.

"King!" Dimitri called out.

"Pauper!" the reply was in english, and both soldiers sighed in relief.

"Adams is that you?"

"Johanson, sir." A black cat appeared on the top of the rock and smiled down at both of them.

"Get down here!" Josiah pulled the private down with them. "You have no idea if there are any others!"

"Actually, uh, sir..." Johanson looked sheepish. "I just took out the last one..."

Dimitri looked dumbfounded "How did you...?" Johanson held up his last grenade. "Ah."

"I love grenades, sir."

"I have noticed." Dimitri blew out and looked over the rock. "Did you find any others?"

"No sir."

"Well," Josiah sighed "Guess we'd better." He peeked around the rock with his weapon raised and started moving toward the ridge, followed by the two other rangers.

Along the way they found the bodies of two of their squad, and the scared wreck of the last one. Dimitri pulled the ranger up and shook him, taking the shocked rookie and slapped some sense into him. The rook followed from behind as they moved toward their objective; an anti-air battery on top of a bunker leading into the cave system. Johanson shouldered the RPG he found and hoped to God it wasn't a dud.

A mile and a half later, the group of rangers met up with another squad of six, making ten of them in all. They crept across the desert toward the bunker, stopping on a ridge nearby. Johanson aimed his rpg, waiting for the order. When he pulled the trigger all hell would break loose, and everyone wanted to be prepared.

They took their positions, and Dimitri nodded to Johanson "Now."

The black cat squeezed the trigger and the rocket flared to life, speeding at odd angles toward its target.

The RPG connected with the gun and exploded, leaving it and it's operator nothing more than a pile of rubble.

And then it got interesting.

***

Dimitri paused his story. An hour had gone by already and he looked at everyone. "Do you all understand what is happening?"

He recieved several nods, but no one said anything. Alto was captivated at how the Rangers operated, how cold they seemed sometimes and how loving in others.

Jamie wiggled on the couch, leaning on Weylin. He'd been just as captivated as Alto "G-go on..." He mewed softly.

Dimitri sighed and kept going with his story.

***

Insurgents poured from every opening in the bunker, dozens of them, and took positions in the valley below the ridge, instantly showering the Rangers with bullets. Three of the rangers didn't duck in time, catching bullets. One died instantly, taking a shot through the brain. One other had a bullet got hrough his throat, and he died slowly, writhing in agony until he bled to death. The third only took one to the kevlar, and fell back on the rocks, breaking his leg.

Josiah sighed and blindly fired over the ridge, not bothering to aim. "Dimitri!" he shouted over the sounds of battle "Grab two guys and take the left flank! Rook, your with me, we'll take the right!"

The fox disappeared and Dimitri grabbed two rough-looking guys and started moving left, dodging from cover to cover until they could see behind enemy cover. One of his guys lobbed a grenade in, panicking the insurgents, and the other two opened fire.

Several insurgents dropped to the ground dead, and Josiah and the rook had pulled a similiar routine. But the enemy was pushing toward them, despite all the covering fire from the ridge. Dimitri signalled the retreat, and saw his friend do the same. They pulled back on to the ridge, and started firing on the white-clad men running back to the rocks in front of the bunker. Josiah sighed, patting the rookie on the shoulder "Good work, Rook." he took a swig out of his canteen and nudged a hawk looking out over the battlefield with a sniper rifle, looking through the scope and taking out any stray terrorists if he could. "What do you see, Adrian?"

The hawk didnt look at him. "We took out maybe twenty of them." he fired his rifle "Twenty one. But there's still over a dozen left. Two rpg's included."

"Rpg-?" Josiah started as a terrorist stands and takes a pot shot at the ridge. The area in front of the hawk explodes, sending the sniper flying back.

"F-fuck!" The hawk hits the rock and covers his bleeding eyes "I cant fucking see!"

"Medic!" Dimitri rushed over and hauled a cheetah with a red cross on his arm toward the hawk. "Go see if he's fit to fight!"

The cheetah got the hawk to remove his hands, and he tsked. "Your fine, Adrian, you'll see just fine. But you're out of comission until I can get your face cleaned up."

"Well, do it..." Adrian sighed, his eyes swollen shut.

Josiah cursed, unpinning a grenade from his belt and lobbing it in the general direction of the terrorists. He was answered with a thudding boom and several screams. "Bastards..." He spat, lobbing another grenade, though that one didn't get anyone.

A Ranger peeked over the ridge and made a quick count "Roughly ten, sir" he sighed and counted the battle-ready rangers. "And six of us."

"We can do it." Josiah reassured him. "There used to be seven of us and over thirty of them." he laughed hollowly and crawled over to the two dead rangers, pulling off their dogtags and offering a quick prayer for their souls. He gave them to their squad leader, who added them to a rings with several tags hanging from his belt.

Josiah nodded to the lion. "God rest their souls, they fought well." The lion simply nodded.

The fox fingered his own similiar ring, with only four tags on it: the two he had discovered this mission, and one for the two previous ones. He sighed and relooped it around his belt.

"Well, there's only ten, whet could go wrong?" he chuckled and looked at the clear blue sky.

The radio cackled and a staticky voice started to speak. "Whats the hold-p Foxt--t?"

"Command, this is Foxtrot; we've run into some trouble with insurgents, but the gun is down."

"G--d, We c-n send in the j-ts. Use your las-r po-nt-r to mark targets"

"What's he say?" Dimitri asked

"Use the laser pointer to mark targets." Josiah answered, picking up the hawk's rifle. He held it up and peeked over the rocks. "Suppressive fire!" he ordered.

Every able ranger started hailing the terrorists with bullets fired in random directions.

Luckily it provided the cover Josiah needed, and he lazed the area. A minute or two later a plane flew overead and bombed the area, wiping out the insurgents. Josiah sighed and leaned against the rocks, looking out at the ruined bunker. "Well... we need to get in there..."

The voice cackled over the radio again "New orders, F-xtrot, we n--d you to m-et up with Delta and c-ear out the town nearb-"

"Sir?"

"Do it, F-xtrot."

"Yes sir." Josiah sighed, releasing the radio. "that town is like, three miles away from where we deployed. Christ thats a hell of a walk..."

"Well, Let's get started." Dimitri hauled his friend up. "We don't have much time, da?"

"I suppose not... C'mon, let's go find delta." Then, turning to the lion "Sarge? Should we take point?"

"I can't leave my men here, and I cant defend them with only two of us."

"Alright. Rook, stay with them. Johanson, your with us." Jamie started off toward the deployment zone, followed by the tiger and black cat.

***

Dimitri paused again, letting the story sink in. "Well, getting to the deployment zone was uneventful. It was just a long, slow hike through the desert, but when we got there..."

***

The three rangers were pinned under hails of enemy fire, dodging bullets to try and get to cover. Johanson took one to the leg and Dimitri poked his head out from behind cover, dragging Johanson back. He felt strong arms pull him and Johanson back quicker, and Dimitri felt a sharp, intense pain in his eye. He covered it and screamed, suddenly unable to see.

Josiah pulled out gauze and his knife. "Stop moving and let me see!" The tiger did and Josiah looked for a bullet, and found that it had only, luckily, grazed the eye. Dimitri would lose it, but he would live. He patched up his friend, covering his eye with gauze and surgical tape. "Just hold still, man, I've got you..."

He finished on Dimitri and handed the tiger a gun, and turned to patch up Johanson. It was a deep leg wound and the bullet bit into the bone; and Josiah had no experience in dealing with such things.

He settled for stopping the bleeding, and leaned against the rocks beside his injured friends.

"Ah Fuck!" Johanson cursed as a wave of bullets hit the rock he was leaning against.

"Dammit, is Delta even alive in there?" Josiah took a quick peek over the rock, and saw several guys hunkering down behind a large boulder. He didn't see much else though, having to get back down behind the rock as he heard the familiar sting of sand and rock thrown at his face; debris left over from when bullets start hitting the area close to your face.

"What do you see, sir?" Johanson asked, laying his ears flat and growling, the pain in his leg getting to him as the adrenaline wore off.

"What's left of Delta. Five or six guys."

"Better than us." Dimitri observed "There's only three of us."

"Gee, thanks for the observation, Dimitri." Josiah dodged a playful, and painful, punch from the newly one-eyed tiger. He laughed, and it amazed him how he could laugh in a combat zone, bullets flying all around them, his two friends injured beyond usefulness in combat. He sighed, looking to both sides. "Well, hopefully the damn skinnies'll just run out of ammo and go home."

"They aren't skinnies, sir." Johanson winced and bit down on a ration bar. "They're 'cadas."

"Shit..." Dimitri groaned and lay his head back, careful not to jostle his eye too much. "Hey, don't we have air support?"

"Yeah, but good luck targeting anything, sir." Johanson thumbed the targeting laser looped around his wrist. "We can't go anywhere without being hit by a wall of bullets. The damn 'cadas are much better equipped for this than we are-"

Josiah stopped him, putting his hand over the cat's mouth "Oh shove it, Johanson. We all know that. But they have to reload sometime." He peeked quickly behind the rock at Delta, still pinned behind the rock. "Hey Johanson, you still got a rocket left?"

The cat, pushed the fox's hand away and pulled a salvaged rpg off his back. "Yes sir, but I think it's a dud."

"What makes you think that?"

"It's salvaged twice over." the cat examined the brown head of the rocket "Besides, it's probably been sitting in a cave for a few years. It looks old, sir."

"It'll have to do." Josiah took the rpg from the cat and peeked around at Delta again; despite being pinned down, they looked like they were doing relatively well; having not lost a man yet. He retreated behind the rock and took several quick, deep breaths. "Dimitri, I'm gonna do somethin' stupid."

"Josiah..." Dimitri looked at him, rather awkwardly, not yet used to only being able to see out of one eye. "What are you going to do...?"

"You'll see." The fox winked. "When I tell you to, I want you to run to Delta's position, okay?"

"Run?" Johanson chuckled. "I can't go anywhere, sir."

"Dimitri will help you, and you'll cover his blind side." Josiah huffed and took another peek over the rock. "Besides, I should be buying you anough time to get over there, and you can clearly mark a target there."

"Josiah, wait-"

"Naw, not anymore, man." The fox winked. "Besides, both of you are too useless to be good distractions." he laughed nervously.

"Josiah don't be foolish-"

"Listen here, you one-eyed lug," Josiah laughed and cut Dimitri off "I'm gonna distract them, and you're gonna run. That's an order."

The fox smiled. "Three."

Dimitri hauled Johanson up and leaned against the rock. "You better know what you're doing, fox."

"Two." Josiah readied the rpg and took another deep breath,

"Good luck, sir." Johanson gave a quick salute and readied his marklight.

"One." Josiah paused for a moment, and in that moment every second of every day he spent with Jamie; from the moment they met to the moment he waved goodbye and promised one last time that he would come home... He sighed, and remembered that last promise. "I'll come home...I promise Jamie, I'm not failing you now..."

"Go!" he yelled and stood up, firing the rpg at the enemy. Thankfully it wasn't a dud, and it exploded in the middle of a group of them. He dropped the rpg and raised his gun, firing his weapon in the general direction of the terrorists. He didn't hit anyone, but he pinned them down for a few seconds. He looked over to see Johanson and Dimitri settle behind the rock with Delta, and Johanson giving his marklight to a mamber of Delta squad; a battle-scarred cougar. He heard a faint voice, and saw Delta's leader wave him over, shouting "Suppressive fire!"

All of Delta that could began to wmty their clips into the ridge where the terrorists were dug in. Josiah hesistated for a moment, peeking out over the rock. He saw that most of the 'cadas were pinned, and thanked the Gods, sure in the fact that he was going to see Jamie again. This was his last mission; he and Dimitri were shipping out the next day.

What Dimitri saw next would be seared into his mind for the rest of his life. Josiah stood and began his run; using all his natural speed to alternate zig-zagging and beelining for Delta. Dimitri smiled; the fox was going to make it-

Just as the thought was finished, Delta had to reload, ducking behind the rock just as Josiah crossed the halfway point. He glanced briefly at the ridge.

The world seemed for a second to go in slow motion. A terrorist sniper raised his gun and aimed at Josiah, who was almost there...

"Slide you fucker slide!" Dimitri yelled.

The fox was about to do so, but the sniper fired his weapon, sending a stream of hot lead into Josiah's chest. The fox collapsed and rolled, just yards away from safety.

"No!" Dimitri lunged toward his fallen friend, but Johanson held him back "Sir! No!"

"Let me go Johanson! Let me go! Josiah!" He started to cry; tears streaming out of his good eye, and blood out the other. He struggled toward the limp form of his friend, even punching Johanson once to try and loosen his grip, but it only got two of Delta squad to help hold him down.

Seconds later, he heard the familiar scream of jets overhead, and out of the corner of his eye saw the terrorists' position, raining death on all of them.

Dimitri finally broke free and ran over to his fallen friend, collapsing beside the fox. He shook Josiah lightly, patting his friend's cheek. "C'mon, Josiah... wake up... wake the fuck up, man..."

The fox's eyes fluttered lightly, and opened just a bit. "Hey, cyclops..." he coughed, and blood leaked out the side of his mouth.

Dimitri chuckled "You're gonne be okay man..." he looked at the many holes riddling across the fox's chest. "Fuck..." he whispered.

"Don't kid yourself..." Josiah chuckled painfully and coughed, smiling slightly.

"Medic!" Dimitri shouted over at Delta squad, and a panther with a red cross on his helmet rushed over. After a quick look he patted the tiger shoulder and shook his head.

"He's gone, man... too much internal damage." The medic stood and left, leaving Dimitri alone with his friend for the last few minutes the fox was going to live.

Josiah coughed, and a spurt of blood blew out the corner of his maw. "Well, big fella, not gonna wave me off?" He chuckles, and then coughs painfully. "Dammit..."

"Shit, Josiah..." Dimitri sobbed "W-why didn't you stay where you were?"

"Someone had to come make sure those -cough-... shit... Delta g-guys didn't f-fuck up..." The tiger could tell it was getting worse; getting harder for Josiah to speak...

"Sh... Don't talk, man..."

"N-no... I have... things to s-say." The fox clasped his friends hand, a hard, pained glint in his eye. "D-don't talk... listen... I... Tell Jamie, I love him... T-tell Alto... don' be s-sad, he'll f-find someone..." he coughed and sputtered, blood pouring freely from his mouth. "A-allen... Cody... Love forever... you listenin'?"

Dimitri had pressed his forhead to his friend's. "Y-yeah... Im listening..."

"Y-you better hold onto Weylin..." he smiled, a peaceful look on his face despite the intense pain he was experiencing. "L-listen here... cyclops... don' you let n-no one b-be sad for me..." his eyes fogged over "f-for... hundred days... Give him my tags... tell him this, when h-he's ready." The fox coughed and closed his eyes, resting his head against the dirt. "Protect... Jamie..." he whispered, before falling silent.

"No..." Dimitri rocked his friend's body back and forth "N-no... you can't die you son of a bitch... you live through everything..." He closed his eyes tightly and bit back further tears. My father in heaven, hallowed be thy name... thy kingdom come... thy will be done... He paused in his prayer. Just... save a place for my friend, okay, man?

The tiger felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see Johanson, supported by Delta's medic. "C'mon, sir." he reached down and unhooked the loop of dogtags from around the fox's belt, handing it to the siberian, who held it like it was the most important thing in the world. "We have to radio for transport. No way we're completing this one with just us."

Dimitri nodded, taking off his fallen comrade's tags and looping them onto the ring of wire, tears falling silently from his one good eye.

He sat there, staring at his friend and making a silent vow to make sure his last wish was achieved, even if he died doing it.

***

Dimitri held his head in his hands, the tags laid out next to Josiah's picture. He'd started crying again, even after he vowed not to; but it was so hard to relive... even if he was only relating the tale.

Weylin sat next to him, hugging the tiger as close as he could, tears staining his own cheeks. "Oh my God, baby..." he whispered, pulling Dimitri into a light kiss.

Around the room Alto was curled up on the edge of the couch on the far corner, hugging his knees and trying to hold back the angry, bitter tears that had been plaguing him since the story started. Allen held Cody; the wolf burying his face in the collie's chest. The collie was having trouble hiding his on tears, and squeezed Cody lovingly, never wanting to let go.

Jamie looked at Dimitri, then around the room. "I..." he met Dimitri's one-eyed gaze. "I..." his lower lip began to tremble and he started to cry all over again, standing up and simply leaving to his room.

Weylin made to go after him, but was pulled down by strong, white-furred hands. "Niet. He must be left alone right now..."

The white fennec looked down angrily at his lover "Alone? Alone? After all that?" he shook his boyfriend's hand off "Lemme go! I need to comfort him...."

"Niet. Leave him be. It's what he needs."

"How do you know! You battle-hardened-"

"Shut up, Weylin!" Dimitri roared, standing up to his full height "I Know better than any of you that Jamie needs to be alone!" He saw the tears brewing anew in Weylin's eyes "I... I'm sorry." He turned away. "I didn't mean to yell." he felt Weylin's soft, small hands wrap around him, and the fennec embraced him, tears flowing down his cheeks.

"O-okay... I'll leave him a-alone..."

"Weylin..." Dimitri hugged the boy back, picking him up and pulling him into a loving kiss. "Come on, we have things to dscuss." He cradled the white fennec in his arms like a babe and walked upstairs to their room.

Allen nodded to Alto, and led his wolf upstairs.

Alto was left alone to his thoughts, and held his head in his hands. "N-no..." It astonished him, angered him, that someone he thought to be invincible simply died: gone, in the blink of an eye. Dimitri explained during the story that the fox's last fight only lasted about five minutes, and it had taken him nearly two more to bleed to death.

Seven minutes.

Just seven minutes.

And he was dead.

Alto stood and kicked a bean bag chair, took a big swig of Allen's whiskey in the fridge and had a good cough, and felt a little better. He found himself wishing he'd met someone, found himself believing that if Josiah was his and not Jamie's then the fox wouldn't have died. He growled, and resolved to go to town and get drunk, and maybe he would feel better...

He stood up and left, Allen's whiskey in one hand.

On the coffee table, aside from everything else were two bottles, each with a red bow wrapped around it's neck; one of a quality Irish whiskey, the other of imported Vodka. They were Jamie and Weylin's 'welcome home, for good' gifts to their heroic soldier boys. And now they stood lonely, cold, staring at each other as the sun set behind them, sweating their tears onto the old wood.

The Lakehouse Chapter 10: A new face, an old wound

A few months had passed since Dimitri had called everyone together and explained what happened to Josiah, and life was starting to get back to normal. It was January now, and the lake was frozen over, the gray remnants of sleeping trees hanging out over the ice, their tears frozen on their branches, mourning the loss of the beautiful orange and red hues of Autumn. Jamie was smiling regularly, somewhat, but everyone knew he was just putting on a brave face so they wouldn't worry- in truth most of the tenants of the house believed he might never recover. Often, the little fox could be found under the tree in the front yard, sitting on the swing, gazing out over the water where they had sunk Josiah's ashes. Sometimes Dimitri would sit by him, making sure the fox didn't do anything rash while he sat there and reminisced with him; remembering the good times, and some of the bad ones they'd pulled through with each other.

Jamie was back at his job, stacking books in a quiet corner of the small, warmly lit store. His boss had let him back on without much trouble, given that when the fox had quit he was overcome with grief. After all, who hadn't heard that his best friend had died overseas? Of course though, they were oblivious to the fact that the soldier had been his lover, not just his friend. There were always sympathetic looks and offers of help and comfort and apologies and this that and the other about how sorry everyone was, but in actuality Jamie really just wanted to be left to his books and his friends, quietly rejecting all offers of help and calmly ignoring all apologies. However, when he got home at the end of the workday he'd disapear into his room and bury his face in his pillow, crying. If one put their ear up to the door they could hear him, and would find themselves tearing up at all the pain in his strangled sobs.

Everyone else had pretty well moved on, occassionally looking out over the lake or in Weylin's case, quietly praying at the water's edge. For a while though Allen would vanish into town and stagger into the house drunk, yelling curses and damning God for what he had done to his little brother. Cody would pull him into the room and calm him down, and the next morning he would apologize, and a couple of days later do it again. He'd stopped just before christmas at Cody's request, and hid his bitterness as well.

Alto had been busy in his study until Christmas, and only had come out when he was needed, shutting everyone else out, claiming he had serious work that needed to be done. On occassion Allen would drag him out, make him exercise and then let him get back to 'work'. In truth, Alto was just brooding about how if Josiah had been with him, then he never would have died, feeding himself that lie until he saw what Jamie had done for christmas that year.

It had been a grim affair, with everyone passing around a present to everyone else, exchanging the occassional sad smile as Jamie sat on his knees in front of the christmas tree, silently crying. In his hand was a small box, which he had found under the pillow in Josiah's room when he went to clean it out. Inside was a ring and a note-

My Lovely, will you marry me?

-was all it said. Under it was the ring, a gorgeous golden band encrusted with a series of small diamonds in an ornate design across the entire surface- it was worth a small fortune and it must've taken the deceased fox nearly a year to save for it, especially with soldier's pay.

Jamie sobbed when he saw it, he surmised it was supposed to be Josiah's "Coming home for good" present to him. He held it close to his chest and slowly rocked himself, sitting in front of the tree, unable to participate. The ring had renewed his grief and for a few days the others had trouble getting him to eat. After gifts had been exchanged, and Jamie's lay behind him, the fox stood and walked outside, followed by Dimitri, who told everyone else to stay. Allen protested but Dimitri warned that if the Collie did come, with no inkling as to what to say he could easily just make things worse. Dimitri didn't wait for an answer and instead just closed the door behind him and followed Jamie down to the lake's edge, where the fox collapsed and began to weep brokenly. Dimitri picked him up and held him, clutching the little fox close. "Wh-why..? Why d-damn it..." the fox sobbed "It's not f-fair..."

"Sh... I know... I know..." Dimitri whispered, rocking the fox back and forth as the snow fell around them.

In the house Alto had his hands pressed up against the glass of the sun room, tearing up "D-damnit..." he cursed under his breath, realizing how selfish and callous he was being about the dead fox- believeing for even a moment that if he had had him, and not Jamie, Josiah would have lived.

After that night, Jamie put the ring on a delicate silver chain and hung it around his neck, and it rested above his heart, where it would stay.

***

On the eigth of February, Josiah's birthday, Jamie left a letter on the fox's pillow, all it read was 'Yes'.

***

Well into the year, in late March, Alto announced that there would be a new tenant coming to the house, and that he would be gone for a few hours to go pick her up in town. He explained she was from California, which confused the others because why would anyone from paradise want to live with them in the middle of the woods by a lake, but okay. No one objected, but Jamie stayed peculiarly quiet. Just before Alto turned to leave, he tugged on the husky's sleeve "W-which room?"

"Pardon?" Alto was still a little resentful of Jamie, but it was subsiding.

"Which room will the new tenant be staying in?" Jamie looked up at Alto with those big, mournful green eyes, and Alto knew this wouldn't go over well.

"Josiah's." He said.

Jamie stayed quiet "B-but-"

"No, Jamie, it has to be like that." Alto turned away.

"But that room is Josiah's..." Jamie sniffled.

"Was Josiah's." Alto pulled away but Jamie didn't let go. "Let go Jamie."

"W-why can't the new person stay in the g-"

"The guest room? No way!" Alto whirled on the small fox "It's filthy, uncomfortable and above all small! Josiah's is the only decent room left." He was growling by the end of it, his ears pinned back angrily, his hands tightly gripping the fox's slender shoulders.

Jamie pinned his ears and teared up, beginning to cry, and tried to pull away. Alto's face fell and he gripped Jamie tighter, trying to pull him in for a hug. "C-c'mon Jamie, please?"

"N-no!" Jamie, for the first time in months, raised his voice and pulled away.

"Jamie I-"

"L-lemme go!"

"But-"

"No! Lemme go!" the fox turned and wiggled, trying to get away from the husky.

Dimitri, startled by the noise, came downstairs and pried them apart. "Vhat the hell-!?" he looked at Jamie, who had latched himself onto the one-eyed tiger's arm, sobbing. "Vhat happened? Alto, vhat did you do!?" Dimitri roared and Jamie flinched, his knees weak.

"I didn't do-" Alto protested.

"Then vhy is he crying?" The tiger pushed Alto against the wall and held him there, growling.

Alto pinned his ears and whined "I p-promise I-"

"Bullshit!"

"Stop!" a small voice said from behind Dimitri. He turned to see Jamie, trembling, his arms pressed firmly to his sides, hugging himself "P-please let him g-go..."

The Siberian did as he was bid and Alto fell to the floor "Vhat happened?"

"I... It's my fault... I'm sorry...." Jamie sniffled.

Dimitri tried to hug the fox but he refused, sitting on the couch "T-the new one can have m-my room... Please... don't let them take Josiah's..."

"Fine..." Alto, bitter and grinding his teeth, "But you need to be moved out in a few hours."

"Alto!"

"No, Dimitri! I've had enough of Jamie's shit!"

"Vhy you little-!"

"N-no..." Jamie mewed, interjecting "H-he's right... I have been too... clingy." The fox stroked the ring around his neck and Alto glanced at it, wishing for a moment that the dead fox had left it to him, not Jamie. The little fox got up and left, walking up the stairs, his tail dragging the ground "I'm sorry..."

Dimitri turned to Alto "Dammit you selfish son of a bitch." The tiger started "He lost the man he loved, how can you be so callous to that?"

"I'm not" Alto whispered.

"Then explain the shit I just vitnessed!" The tiger growled, a deep, thundering sound "He loved Josiah!"

"I did too!" Alto shouted, tears in his eyes.

Dimitri was taken aback, his eye softening. "Vhat...?"

"You heard me! I loved him! I loved him damn it!" Alto teared up, but turned away "But... it's... it's all in the past now... It can never happen." He sighed and looked at the ground, his tail slowly slipping between his legs. "Tell Jamie he doesn't have to move out, I'll cook something up about the room not being ready, or something."

Dimitri, softened by Alto's confession, left to do as he was bid, shooing Weylin away from the doorway where he had been listening with a sharp tap on the butt.

***

Alto wiped his eyes as he got in the car, banging on his steering wheel "Dammit dammit dammit!" He rested his head on the wheel, trying to hold back his tears. "Stupid, stupid soldier!" He cursed "Goddamn fox! Why? Why did you go and get yourself killed, you bastard? Why!?" He stifled himself, preventing further outburst by biting down on his lip, not enough to draw blood but enough to shut himself up. He looked in the rearview at the softly featured, bespectacled young husky he was, and how ugly he thought he looked when he cried. He took several deep breaths, composed himself, and shot a practiced smile at the husky in the mirror- who seemed so removed from it all, so, indifferent.

He cursed himself for yelling at Jamie as he started the car, slowly pulling out of the driveway onto the dirt road that led to the edge of town. He had to be at the bus stop by eleven, God knew anyone who took two planes and a bus from California to get to where he lived; cold-ass bum-fuck nowhere, was bound to be dog-tired.

The drive to the edge of town was boring- nothing but trees and more dirt road, the occassional feral bird scared off by his approach or the odd pothole, but all in all, like every other time, it was very boring. Except, maybe, this one seemed a lot longer than any of the others. He wouldn't have minded much if he didn't have to think about what he had done over the last few months: neglect Jamie, become estranged from every other tenant, grow irritable and restless, curse whatever maker he onced believed in and get so caught up in what might have been instead of trying to help Jamie come to terms with what he had lost. He'd been terrible, absolutely terrible; but the others were being nice about it, probably so not to get kicked out of the house, but Dimitri didn't seem to care much about that, instead helping Jamie as best he could while also carrying his own grief and that of his lover, Weylin.

He found himself wishing he could go back and try it all again, and this time help Jamie instead of making it all worse.

But that was all in the past, and he couldn't do anything about that. What he could do, or try to do, was comfort Jamie as best he could and put his own selfish desires behind him once and for all.

Before he knew it the drive had come to an end- he'd somehow managed to cross miles more of dirt road in what seemed like only a few minutes. Of course though, when he glanced at the clock he was assured that it had indeed been the correct amount of time- about a half hour after he zoned out.

As he pulled into town he cursed his timing- he'd been doing a lot of cursing lately- because pre-school was just letting out and all the buses, slow as they were, were holding up traffic. He found himself stuck behind two of the massive things, resting his head on the wheel as they creeped across town, dropping off kids at every street corner.

When at last they were finished and started going a bit faster, he was already less than a block away from the bus stop. He glanced at the time- he was a bit early for the 11:30 bus by about thirty minutes. He parked his car and turned on the radio, and 'Now you're gone' started playing. He quickly switched it and 'I wanna know what love is' started playing. Very quickly he shut off the radio, and looked at the sky, his arms akimbo "Really God, really?" he groaned and stepped out of the car, walking over to the platform and collapsing on the bench.

He stayed there until, at last, a Greyhound Bus pulled up to the platform, and a variety of furs started exiting. He couldn't see the new tenant though, and had all but given up hope when the doors closed. "Wait! Wait!" He heard from inside, a muffled voice and a shadow crept in front of the door, and after a moment it opened.

Inside, at the top of the stairs, stood a drop-dead gorgeous husky girl, laden with bags. She was shortish, just shy of an inch shorter than Alto, with icy blue fur and a long, curly tail. She looked at Alto and smiled, her blue eyes tired after the trip. "Hello?" She said, her voice high and musical "Are you Alto?"

"I am." Alto stood, offering a hand to carry some of her bags. He was surprised when she handed him a backpack that, he swore to God, weighed two tons. He put it on his back as she exited the bus, releasing a hefty sigh.

"I'm Kaylie, by the way." She said, offering her hand.

Alto shook it, giving her a friendly smile "I know, you wouldn't stop e-mailing me the same thing for two days. And to answer your last question, yes, there is a house full of men."

"Yay!" She giggled.

Alto chuckled, she was in for a surprise when she found out most of the were gay and committed. "Why ask, though?"

"Because." She set her bags in the trunk.

"...because...?" Alto opened the passenger seat for her and got into the driver's seat, starting the car.

"Because girls are complicated and pushy and territorial and I don't wanna deal with it." She rested her head on the seat, closing her eyes. "Also helps that I get to be around dongs all day."

"Well, there are a few rules." Alto backed out of the parking lot and started home.

"Like?"

"Like, all tenants must at least be wearing underwear."

"Awwwwwww." She pinned her ears.

"No fighting, try not to be too loud and dont invade other people's space. Also, clean up your messes, and don't dirty the living room too much."

"That's it?"

"That's it." Alto sped up a bit as they got on the dirt road, trying to avoid bumps and holes.

"Simple." She yawned at stretched "Not like girls. Girls... are waaaaay too pushy about rules. And there are a lot..."

"Well, you'll find that we don't have many, but we do enforce them."

"How so?" She murred, "A spanking?"

"Only Cody does that, and only to Allen on the rare occassion." Alto didn't think anything of it, but after a moment caught her gaze "What?"

"Like, a real spanking?" her eyes widened and she started to giggle "Oh that's rich!"

"It's true." he shrugged, staring out at the road before him. "But Jamie's the one you need to worry about. He's the mother of the house, really, and keeps us all well fed... usually."

"What, is he an irregular cook?"

"No, he um... He lost someone." Alto sighs and whispers "We all did..."

"Oh..." Kaylie looks at the dash, a sad look on her face "I'm sorry."

"It's... It's okay..." He starts, and chokes up, unable to talk for a few minutes. "S-so, um, about where you'll be staying. We don't have your room set up yet, so you'll have to use the guest room. Any objections?"

"No, are there any downsides though?"

"Not really, you might hear Dimitri and Weylin go at it but-"

"Wait, go at it? Like have sex?"

'Dammit' Alto thought 'Should have kept my big mouth shut' "Yeah, they're lovers. So are Allen and Cody."

"What about Jamie?" She instantly regretted her question "Is... is that who he lost? Like, d-"

"Die? Yes. Josiah... died... overseas. He and Dimitri were Rangers and the tour before Josiah was supposed to come home he was gunned down." Alto's lip quivered. "I, I wont bother you with it. I don't think I could tell you anyway. That's something Jamie'll have to open up to you about. Just, don't tell him I told you, and don't mention it, okay?"

"Okay." Kaylie adjusted her coat, which was this big, fluffy thing. "Wow it's hot..."

"Why are you even wearing that thing?" Alto inquired.

"Because it's cold, duh."

"Not too much, not this time of year." He jumped at the chance to change the subject.

"But it's up north, isn't it like, always cold up here?"

"Nope." The male husky answered simply.

"Mind if I take it off?"

"Long as you've got something under it." He joked.

She rolled her eyes and took it off, pulling it over her head and for a moment, Alto caught a glimpse of her breasts, which were round and jiggled when she pulled her black sweater back down over them. Alto looked away before she noticed him, and she blushed a bit "Sorry about that."

"It's fine." Alto answered, maybe too quickly, but if he did she didn't notice or care.

"So."

"So what?" Alto raised an eyebrow.

"Are you gay?"

"That's..." he blushed a bit "That's an odd question to ask someone you've only just met."

"Not really. Not in California."

"Well, this is Michigan, we keep that sort of stuff to ourselves unless it comes up and is absolutely necessary. But no, I'm not gay. I'm bisexual." He smiled slightly. "And don't ask Dimitri, years in the army have taught him to say 'no'. But he is, and commited to his lover."

"Aww, that's sweet." She smiled and looked out at the road. "So, how far away is this lakehouse?"

"Couple more miles." Alto answered plainly, keeping an eye on his gas meter.

"Wow, that far out? It must be like, a log cabin."

"Far from, actually. It's three stories if you include the basement and- ah, i'll just let you see." he was starting to enjoy talking to this other canine, maybe Jamie and the others, but especially Jamie, would learn to like her too. He was worried that te fox might be resentful of her because she was taking up Josiah's part of the rent and thus, in that sense, replacing the deceased Ranger.

"Wow. Really?" Kaylie's eyes widened.

"Yup."

"What are you, rich?"

"Kind of." Alto said "But most of it is manipulating stocks, not so much inheriting it."

"Sounds cool." The husky girl rested her head on the seat again and closed her eyes for the rest of the trip.

When Alto pulled them up to the driveway Kaylie was asleep, snoozing softly. Alto smiled and softly shook her "Hey, c'mon wake up."

"W-what? No... five more min'tes..." she protested.

"C'mon, we're here. You wanted to see the house right?"

"Yesh..." her eyelids fluttered a bit.

"Then get up." He chuckled and got out of the car, shutting the door and opening the trunk. Kaylie sleepily got out of the car and rubbed her eyes, yawning.

She looked around and her jaw dropped a little "Wow... this is it?" She stood in the bamboo archway, staring out over the path to the door, and she turned to look at the lake, reflecting the dusk of evening perfectly and showering the house in purple-orange light. The sun was slowly sinking below the treeline, and the water turned from clear blue to fiery orange.

"Yep." Alto sighed, putting his keys in his pocket "Home sweet home."

"It's beautiful!" She took off her shoes and dropped her bags by the foot of the arch, running down to the pebbly beach and doing a little dance in the surf, twirling, then stopping, letting the water tickle her toes. She smiled and wagged her tail "It's beautiful!" She called up from the beach, and Alto smiled, leaning against the arch. She was so alike Jamie when he first arrived, eyes wide with wonder, soaking in every detail. For a moment he saw the little fox, playing in the surf with his older brother, and then Josiah, and then standing alone just outside of the reach of the water, looking out over the golden waves, crying.

He shook his head sadly, supressing the urge to cry. "Come on..." He said, walking down to the beach "it's time to... to..." He saw her kneeling in front of an ornately carved slab of granite, engraved in which were the words:

Here lie the ashes of Josiah Ernst

Lover

Soldier

Friend

A couple of weeks before christmas, Josiah's ashes were shipped to them, and for a long time they simply sat on the table next to the bottles of whiskey and vodka, not moving except for when Jamie would pick up the box and hold it close when he thought no one was around, and he would cry silently for a while before placing the box gently back and getting back to work cleaning the house and cooking, even though everyone told him to take it easy. In truth, it only made him more sad- everyone thinking he was too shaken to do anything when in fact, he was distracting himself so he didn't do anything rash.

The week before christmas, on a rather warm day for winter when the lake wasn't frozen over, they had had the gravestone made in town and shipped to them, where Jamie, with the help of Dimitri and Allen, placed the headstone right at the water's edge at high tide, where the water could swirl around it just like the fox would have liked it. They wreathed it with winter flowers and pictures and sealed letters that no one could read... and hanging in front of the head stone by a platinum chain was one of Josiah's dogtags, Jamie had the other. The fox had already had his official ceremony in Alabama, but in his will wanted to be sunk in the lake by the house. So, his ashes were placed in a boat, along with flowers, various pictures and in the center, a bottle of Johnny Walker Red whiskey.

Jamie walked the little boat to the water's edge, and started crying, unable to push the boat for unwillingness to let go of the fox's memory. "N-no..." He mewed, and Dimitri kneeled beside him.

"It's what he wanted, Jamie." The tiger took the fox's hands in his own and pushed the boat gently across the pebbles into deeper water, where it slowly started to fill with water. In the center of the lake the boat sank, along with the ashes, whiskey and pictures. The flowers, though, stayed afloat where the boat had sunk, softly swirling around each other in the center of the lake as the sun set behind them.

For a week Jamie said nothing, even when Christmas rolled along he barely spoke. It wasn't until late January until he got back to some semblence of normal, cooking and cleaning the house regularly and smiling sometimes.

Alto sighed at the memory, and put his hand on Kaylie's shoulder. "Come on... Its... We gotta go."

"Okay." She said, her smile having failed her when she saw the gravestone.

He led her to the door, where she started smiling again. He smiled back at her, both of them hiding sadness behind their eyes "Ready to meet everyone?"

"Ready."

Alto opened the door to a chorus of "Welcome!"'s by the house's residents, besides Dimitri and Jamie, who were nowhere to be found. Kaylie jumped a little and hid behind Alto at the sudden noise, but quickly emerged wearing a broad smile.

"Well hello! It's nice to meet you all."

"Likewise, Ma'am." Allen smiled "Can't say I expected you to be a girl though."

"And why is that?" she put her hands on her hips and pretended to pout, making it seem like Allen had offended her.

The collie's smile fell quickly "I'm sorry, miss." his floppy ears seemed to sag and Cody stifled a giggle.

Kaylie's smile returned "Aww, don't be like that." She kissed his cheek, making him blush "It's no big thing."

Cody quickly replaced her kiss with his "Mine." he said, then whispered in the collie's ear "And don't you forget it."

"You sure?" Weylin kissed the collie's other cheek.

"Oh no you don't-!"

Alto went upstairs while Cody chased a giggling Weylin around Allen, who was apologizing to Kaylie for the disturbance. She seemed to be getting along with them fine, no immediate hiccups. He found himself smiling a little, and at the same time a little offended that Jamie and Dimitri hadn't shown up. He quietly walked through the hallway and rested his ear against each door, listening for a sign of the two missing tenants. When he listened for a moment at the last door, the guest room, he heard a small sob- a quiet, strangled sound, and someone else trying to comfort the small, sad voice.

Alto slowly opened the door to find that Jamie had, with the help of the siberian tiger, moved all his stuff into the guest room, even his bed, which took up most of the far side of the room. It was still mostly just set aside, not yet organized, but he had managed to get all his things down the hall into the guest room. Alto was touched- he knew Dimitri must have told the fox that he didn't have to move, but Jamie must have insisted.

Dimitri looked at Alto, having to turn his head a little more than usual because of his missing eye. "What do you vant?" Dimitri's accent was slipping a little, returning to his Russian roots for a moment.

"I was wondering where you were." Alto looked at them- Dimitri had Jamie held close in a tight hug, both of them sitting on the edge of the bed. "You okay Jamie...?"

The fox looked up and mewed softly. "You... you don't hate m-me?"

Alto pinned his ears "Of course not. Why would I?"

"You w-wanted me to move out and go away..." The fox clutched Dimitri tighter "I can live in the guest room... please... please don't make me go..." Jamie broke down for another fit of sobbing, and Dimitri rubbed his back.

Alto looked at Dimitri- evidently the tiger hadn't clarified, or couldn't get Jamie to stop sobbing long enough to explain it all. The husky walked in and closed the door, so any prying tenants would be denied, and sat on Jamie's other side. "No... no no no no..." He tried to touch the fox's shoulder, an effort to be comforting, and the fox shied away, further into Dimitri's hug.

Alto was a little hurt "Why would you think I wanted you to go away?"

Dimitri snorted, shaking his head "Maybe because you told him 'move out'." Alto flinched a little "Yeah, remember that?"

"Dimitri..." Jamie mewed.

"No... he's right." Alto sighed "It's fine. I was being..."

"An Asshole?" The tiger offered.

"Yeah." Alto nodded "An asshole." He made to get uo but Jamie let go of the tiger and hugged him, keeping him on the bed "What-?"

"Im sorry..." the fox mewed.

"Don't be-"

"No... I am... I've been selfish in holding on so tightly... Im sorry..." The fox started to cry, and Alto wrapped an arm around the fox "I... I've been so selfish... But I can't help it..." Jamie shudders, the beautiful ring he wore around his neck hanging out of his shirt, resting over his heart.

The husky squeezed the fox, pulling him into a tighter hug "Sh... sh... No..." Alto began to shed tears, touched by Jamie's innocence "No it was me, hon, not you."

"But I-"

"No, i'm the one who's been selfish, I've neglected and... and ignored you since Josiah died..."

Dimitri stood and left, closing the door behind him. Alto caught a sliver of the happiness downstairs "Gotcha!" Cody shouted, "No!" Weylin giggled, and began to laugh "N-no! No tickles!"

He smiled and lovingly nuzzled Jamie as the door closed. For a while they sat there holding each other, rocking slowly back and forth. "Come on..." Alto said when Jamie had stopped crying "Wanna go meet Kaylie?"

"Who's Kaylie?" Jamie sniffled, wiping his eyes.

"Our new room mate." Alto rubbed Jamie's ears "She'll be taking your room, unless you want to move back."

"No... M-my other one was too big anyway. I'm d-dont take up much room, I promise."

"I know hon, I know." He stood and helped Jamie to his feet. "Come on, let's go meet her."

"Okay." Jamie managed a small smile and followed Alto out of the room.

Downstairs, The female husky seemed to be getting along rather well with the other tenants of the house, Dimitri had introduced himself to her and was talking to her about life on base oveseas, and that Weylin was his mischevious little lover. The fennec in question was pinned to the tiger's side by Dimitri's vice-like grip; it didn't hurt him, but it made sure he didn't go anywhere until he apologized to Cody. At the moment, he was busy struggling though "Leggo of me you big lug!" he squeaked a little as Dimitri gave him a sharp tap on the nose.

"No. Not until you apologize."

"But it was just a joke..." Weylin mewed and looked a bit crestfallen, his big ears pinned back as his tail began to curl up between his legs.

Kaylie aww'd, softly slapping the tiger's chest "Oh, let him go. Please? Look at him-" Weylin looked up at the tiger with big, sad eyes- a practiced technique.

"...fine." Dimitri relented and let the fennec go, faltering under the pressure of both his and the female husky's puppy-dog eyes.

"Oh, who's that Alto?" Kaylie looked past Dimitri and his lover and at the young, slender little fox standing at the foot of the stairs, slightly hidden behind Alto, who was softy nudging him into view.

"This-" he gives the fox another slight nudge, and the fox steps softly into view, his foggy green eyes looking at the ground and casting only the occasional glance in Kaylie's direction. "-is Jamie."

"Well hello there!" she bounced over to the fox, stopping right in front of his nose.

Jamie eeped and hid behind Alto, burying his face in the male husky's arm. Kaylie looked a little hurt and peeked around Alto. "Aw, I'm sorry kiddo. Did I scare you?"

Jamie let out a soft mew and clutched onto Alto a little tighter, but peeked out from his hiding spot and met her eyes for a moment. "A l-little..." he blushed, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I'm a l-little jumpy..."

"Oh, it's okay hon." She tugged on his tail, pulling him off of Alto, who was kind of surprised- he hadn't expected Jamie to say anything at all, much less let a complete stranger pull on his tail.

Jamie stood in front of her, keeping his head slightly bowed, unable to meet her eyes for a bit. Kaylie extended her hand and smiled at him, an innocent guesture, but one Jamie took to heart. "Hello again, Jamie." She smiled a little wider when Jamie shyly took her hand and shook it "I'm Kaylie."

"H-hello." He looked up, met her eyes and smiled- something he hadn't done in a while now. Everyone in the room gave them space as they talked, smiling inwardly. Some how, some way, this girl had drawn Jamie into a conversation after only introducing herself. Usually, Jamie would have to be badgered into saying more than a few words to people he knew really well, and almost never said anything to people he didn't know, escpecially after Josiah's death.

"Damn..." Allen whispered into his lover's ear "They're gettin' along well."

Cody giggled and nuzzled his boyfriend's chin "Don't think too hard on it hon."

Allen smiled, remembering a time when Jamie was that bubbly: before the Lakehouse, before Josiah's death, before when he was Allen's shy little brother, and not the young fox who lost his lover to a terrible war.

The collie watched as Kaylie lured Jamie into a conversation about cooking... turns out, she was a pretty proficient cook herself. The little fox glanced at the time, and let out a little gasp "Oh my!" He hurried into the kitchen "It's lunchtime! Here, lemme make you something-"

"Oh no, let me make you something-"

"But-"

"Hey..." Dimitri poked his head into the kitchen "Can I help?"

"No!" Both cooks said in unison as they tied their aprons off, and everyone dissolved into a fit of giggles, and turned to their work.

***

Later that evening, Jamie sat on his knees in front of Josiah's gravestone. He was smiling a little, and was messing with the white rose he had brought outside with him. "S-so... The new tenant came today..." he starts, softly brushing the rose's petals. "She's really nice, and is even a cook, just like me." He softly giggles.

He goes quiet for a little bit, looking down at the pebbly beach as the water swirled and bubbled around his lover's grave marker as the sun began it's journey to the west. "We solved the room issue... We decided that she would take my room, and I would move into yours. I had to move your bed... I hope you don't mind... but other than that I left all your things where they were." He hugs his tail, tears pooling in his eyes "Im sorry... Im so sorry... I know you wanted me to moce on but it's so hard... it's so, so hard... talking to you helps sometimes, so does distracting myself but it only lasts for a little while..."

The sun began to sink below the treeline, bathing the house in orange light and setting the water ablaze as Jamie grew silent, trying to compose himself. He managed to stop himself from crying right out, knowing that the other fox would not have liked it. After a moment, he closed his eyes and smiled "It's sunset... and the days are getting warmer..." he whispers "It's your favorite time of the year." the small fox kissed the rose he was holding gently in his right hand, and lay it to rest on the small granite pedistal in front of the gravestone, which was just high enough to keep the water off of it.

"I love you, Josiah..." Jamie stood and yawned, stretching his legs. "Now, I have to go help Kaylie make dinner... Dimitri swore to Allen that he could eat more than him, so we have a lot of work to do!" He turned and started to walk back toward the house, where he would go through the bamboo arches, and into the kitchen to help Kaylie fight a gaggle of hungry men out of the kitchen. "See you tomorrow!"

==> The End.