Resonance
Disclaimer: This story contains adult language, alcohol abuse, and homosexual themes.
~
Samuel stood in the dark bathroom of his tiny, one-room apartment. He bent over the sink and splashed water on his face and muzzle. Drying them with a towel, he stared into the mirror.
This had been the worst fucking day of his life, paws down.
That morning at work, he had received the memo that he was being let go as his company was down-sizing, and that his division was over budget. On his way home early from the office, his truck finally bit the dust; the axel finally doing what it had been threatening to do and breaking. And now, behind him on the grimy tile floor lie the crumpled eviction notice that had only moments ago been taped to the front door.
He had promised the unctuous landlord of the weekly apartments he had been staying in that he would have the money for him, but one thing led to another, and nothing had worked out in his favor. He had no money except for what was in his pocket.
The Maned Wolf patted his muzzle dry, picked up his toothbrush and the towel, and went into the living room where a dusty cardboard box sat in the center of the floor. He dropped the items from the bathroom into the box. Inside there was already one coffee mug, an alarm clock, several ties and dress shirts, two pairs of jeans, several rolled up socks, and a small box with his watch and a fading picture of his younger brother who had died when they were both pups.
He went into the kitchen, flicking on the light as he went, the yellow bulb flickering like a broken movie projector. The fridge was already empty, having not had anything of any real substance in it for weeks.
"Then I guess that's all," he said out loud. He turned and looked back at his cardboard box.
There was a loud bang as the front door flew open, the chilled evening air rushing inside. A large, tattooed hyena had his paw on the knob and had evidently pushed the door in with his shoulder. Behind him was a small weasel with watery eyes and a runny nose. The stub of a cigar was stuck between his front teeth like a strand of hay.
"Foxy got rent?" the weasel said, more than asked.
Samuel hung his head. "No. I was just..."
The weasel pointed at Samuel and the Hyena started toward him. He grabbed Samuel by the tail and the scruff and dragged him, protesting, to the door. With a hard kick to below his tail, the hyena sent him sprawling onto the hard concrete.
"Then out you go." the weasel said.
Samuel's cardboard box went sailing over his head and crashed in the gutter a few feet in front of him. The hyena laughed.
"Hope you have jacket, foxy," the weasel said. "They say it snow tonight."
The weasel entered the apartment and the hyena slammed the door shut. The lock clicked, and that was that.
Samuel stood and dusted himself off. There was a tear in his slacks, red fur showing beneath, and dirt on his shirt and tie.
He knelt over his now ripped box and inspected the contents. The coffee mug and alarm clock were broken and his clothes lie in a small river of oil and water. Finding the picture of his brother, his ears fell: the glass had shattered and pierced the picture - right through his brother's face.
Heartbroken and dejected, he dropped the picture. His tail and ears were as limp as his spirits. He stared into the horizon; the last rays of sunlight vanishing under a heavy-leaden gray sky.
"I have nothing," he whispered, his breath coming out in a misty cloud. "I have... nowhere...."
He blinked, pushed his paws into his pockets, and began walking. To where, he didn't know. He didn't care.
Nowhere was better than here.
~
Several hours later, large flakes of snow began to drift down. Samuel looked up for the first time in a long time and saw that he was in front of a bar; the many neon lights in the front window harsh against the night.
He rummaged around in his pocket. Finding the few bills, he decided to go inside. He shook himself off, melted beads of snow dotting his whiskers and making dark specks on his shoulders.
The air inside the bar was heavy with cigarette smoke and some country-western song blasting from the jukebox. A sharp clack of pool balls split the song for a moment, followed by raucous laughter. Samuel decided to sit at the bar.
He sat on a tall stool and looked at the bartender, a large wolf with several missing teeth and a grungy leather vest. "Can I get a shot of Sailor Jerry and a pack of Marlboro Reds, please?"
The wolf grunted and slid a box of cigarettes across the counter. Samuel opened it and put one to his lips as the bartender began making his drink. "Got a light?"
"Needy sunuvabitch, aren'tcha?" the bartender chuckled. He took a silver lighter out of his vest pocket and slid it down. Samuel flipped the lid open and held the small flame to the tip of the cigarette. There was the sizzling of the cherry being ignited and he took the first drag. Bracing the cigarette between his pointer and middle finger, he rested his face in his paws.
Where was he supposed to go, what was he supposed to do? He was jobless, no vehicle, and homeless. He had no family that he could go to, no bank account he could draw money out of, no friends to stay with. This was the lowest he'd ever been in his life.
The bartender wandered over with a shot glass of a strong-smelling amber colored liquid. "You wantcher tab open or closed?"
Samuel exhaled blue smoke through his nose. "Closed." He said. He took all the money out of his pocket and dropped it in front of the wolf.
The wolf gathered them up and unfolded them. "Yer about a buck short."
"I'm sorry, that's all I have in the world."
The wolf made the sound of something between a grunt and a sigh. "Well, I won't ask ya fer yer life story. I'll call it square if yuh return th'lighter."
Samuel nodded, and muttered, "Thanks." He handed him back the lighter and he went back to whatever business he had been working on before Samuel had ordered.
The Maned Wolf took a long drag on his cigarette and held it in. Exhaling, he resisted the urge to cry.
~
An hour turned into two. His shot was still sitting on the counter but the pack of cigarettes was significantly lighter. When one cigarette burned down to the filter, he took out another and lit it with the previous one. Occasionally he would glance from his now room-temperature shot of rum to stare through the television set above the bar. A football game with no sound was playing.
"Who's winning?" someone asked him.
Samuel looked at the stool next to his. A tall, sharply dressed Kodiak bear with soft black fur and dangerous green eyes was sitting on the stool next his. When he had come in or how long he had been there, Samuel didn't know. He was wearing a black suit, probably designer, with a tan shirt and dark brown tie with a latticed black shape on it. A silver tie-tack embedded with a sapphire held it to his shirt, and shiny sapphire cufflinks kept the sleeves of his shirt closed.
"I don't know," he told the Kodiak, and looked down at his shot glass.
"What are you drinking tonight?" the Kodiak asked him.
"Something to make me forget," said Samuel.
"Bad day?"
"The worst."
"Then here's to forgetting bad days!" said the Kodiak. He raised the shot glass in front of him and offered a toast.
Samuel grudgingly picked his glass up and, without looking at the Kodiak, tinked his glass against the bear's.
The Kodiak downed his in one gulp and Samuel put the rim of the glass to his lips. He closed his eyes and winced as the burning liquid ran down his throat. He coughed and sputtered as he put the glass back down.
"Sailor Jerry plays rough, you know," the Kodiak said with a smile.
Samuel coughed again. "...Yeah..."
"How about another?"
"Can't. Broke."
The Kodiak raised an eyebrow. "On me, then?"
Samuel looked at him. "I don't *cough* like charity."
"Don't have to to enjoy another shot."
"Why do you want to buy me a shot?"
The Kodiak smiled. "Because I've had bad days, too. And nothing makes a bad day better than forgetting it."
Samuel sighed. "Sure."
The Kodiak ordered two more shots, one for each of them.
"What's your name, anyway?" he asked Samuel. "I'm Dominic."
"Samuel." said the Maned Wolf. Neither of them offered to shake paws.
"What's made your day so bad, Samuel?"
Samuel sat up. "Lets see," he said. As he listed what had happened, he ticked them off on his fingers as he went. "I got laid-off, my truck broke down, I was evicted, all my earthly possessions thrown into the street, and I'm flat broke. I have no place to stay, nowhere to go. I can't even couch-surf with anyone I know."
Dominic shook his head. "Yeah, that sounds pretty bad." He raised his paw at the bartender and ordered two more shots to go along with the previous two. "What did you do for a job before you were laid off?"
The wolf bartender brought the shots over and placed two in front of each of them. They both downed two more. Samuel coughed several more times before speaking again.
"I was a copy editor for a law firm. They told me my department needed to downsize, so I got the axe while my boss kept my partner...who's female, by the way. She's probably sitting on his muzzle with her panties around her ankles as we speak."
"Ah," said Dominic as he licked his lips. "It's one of 'those' situations. I've been there."
Samuel could feel the liquor burning in his stomach. The room felt warmer and he felt a little rosier; the skin under his auburn fur growing red and warm. "What do you do, Dominic? Like...f'r a job?"
The Kodiak adjusted his tie. "I build houses."
"You're a contractor?"
"You could say that. How about another shot?"
"I don't know, man. I'm kind of a lightweight and I'm feelin' this already."
"One more it is!" Dominic said. He held up the glass and gestured for Samuel to do the same. When the he did, they clinked the glasses together and swallowed them in one gulp.
~
Another hour passed, more shots were ordered, and Samuel had become quite drunk and was resting his head on the counter. Dominic, however, seemed to be just fine. The bartender approached the two of them and addressed Dominic. "Is yer friend here okay?"
"I think so," said Dominic.
The bartender raised an eyebrow and walked away. "Keep an eye on 'im."
"You okay, Samuel?" Dominic said, placing a heavy paw on the Maned Wolf's shoulder.
Samuel looked up and wiped his nose on his shirt sleeve. "Yeah. M'good. What were we talking about?"
"About how you felt like no one in the world understood you. How everyone, instead of trying to understand you, just walks away and takes no notice."
"Thass right." Samuel slurred. "I...I think you mus feel th'same? I can tell. I can see it in yer eyes. Y'know..." he paused and stared at him. "Yer a good lookin' guy."
Dominic chuckled. "You really are a lightweight."
Samuel sat straight up and smiled. "I tol' you so!"
"Are you lonely?" Dominic asked him.
Samuel looked at him, his eyes swimming. "I don't really have mush t'look forward to. Juss a lifetime of blah, you know? Man?"
Dominic chuckled again.
Samuel kept staring at him. "I really wish I met you a long time ago. Yer a good conversationalist. I r'lly enjoy talking with you." He smiled drunkenly at him. "What time's it?"
Dominic looked at the silver Rolex on his left wrist. "Almost one in the morning."
Samuel got up from the stool and swayed a moment. "I haf t'get going...I should leave."
"You got something going on?" asked Dominic.
Samuel responded as if he hadn't heard him. "I should go. Dun want t'be late f'work tomorrow. Thanks f'the drinks." He patted Dominic on the shoulder. "Yer a good man. Don' let anyone tell you 'therwise." He stumbled past him and whispered in his ear, "I've n'ver felt close to anyone b'fore you. You've been the bes' friend I ever had."
Dominic watched him leave, something stirring inside him. Something telling him he shouldn't let him just leave. He took out his wallet, paid the bartender, and left.
~
The cold night air stung Samuel's bleary eyes. It had been snowing the entire time he had been in the bar, and now several inches of it had collected on the sidewalk and streets. The cold and the snow had driven everyone inside, Samuel was the only one out.
He stumbled and fell under a streetlight, a cone of orange snow falling below the lamp.
"Oh, fugg," he slurred. "Iss not good."
His stomach heaved and he vomited on the sidewalk. He coughed and wiped his nose, and then vomited again.
He rolled away from the puddle of vomit and stared up at the snow drifting gently toward him. He coughed again and rolled his head to the side. Even though he was lying down, the world was spinning.
He closed his eyes in the muted silence of the night. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard a car approaching and saw the inside of his eyelids turn red as the headlights fell on him. The redness didn't fade and he heard the sound of a car door opening and footsteps in the snow coming closer. He felt warm arms wrap around his chest, lifting him from the ground, and felt the gentle walking motion as he was being carried closer to the idling car.
And then he heard and felt nothing more as his drunken stupor got the best of him, and he passed out completely.
~
The particularly loud sound of a dry log snapping in the fire roused Samuel. Disoriented, he opened his eyes. His head pounded and his throat and mouth burned. Where was he?
He sat up, his eyes painful, and realized he was in a bed. But like no bed he'd ever been in before. It was huge, piled with warm blankets and thick pillows. He hadn't slept in a bed in... he couldn't remember how long it had been. All he had at the old apartment was a dirty couch that looked like it should have been thrown away a long time ago.
He rubbed his head. It was then he realized he was shirtless. As he reached under the blankets to feel his legs, he realized he wasn't wearing clothes, not even underwear.
The sudden realization of being naked in a strange bed made his eyes go wide. He looked around the dark room, trying to remember how he had gotten there. He leaned back on his arm and felt something soft and warm under his palm.
Lying next to him was the Kodiak from the bar.
Samuel jumped. What was the Kodiak's name? Was it Dominic? He stared at the sleeping bear, his bare chest slowly rising and falling.
Realizing that the Kodiak had probably taken him to his house, he lied back down. It was more kindness than Samuel had experienced in a long time. Part of him wondered why he hadn't been put on the couch, but after reaching out and feeling Dominic's soft fur, he stopped caring.
He was grateful to his benefactor, and cuddled up next to him. He put his arms around the bear's barreled, muscled chest and spooned him, placing his bare legs against Dominic's. He idly ran his fingers across the bear's pierced nipples and nuzzled against the back of his neck.
A pressure began to form in Samuel's sheath as he felt the beginnings of an erection. Dominic's fur was soft against his shaft, and he snuggled tighter against the furry butt. "Thank you," he whispered quietly as he held the Kodiak. Dominic roused and grunted softly. He raised his leg, spreading them open and placed Samuel's erection between his legs. He pressed his tailhole against the tip of the Maned Wolf's penis
Samuel moved the paw that was on Dominic's chest slowly down, feeling his firm chest and stomach. He traced a claw around his belly button for a moment, and then abandoned all reservations. He slipped his paw further down and felt around for what he knew was there. Dominic's penis was standing tall, hot and moist to the touch. Samuel gripped it and began slowly pawing him.
Dominic groaned and pressed his tailhole harder against his penis. Samuel circled his hard shaft around the bear's tailhole, smearing a slick layer of pre over the warm pucker. Samuel inhaled the scent from the bear's neck and then bit him on the shoulder as he slipped the tip of his penis inside Dominic.
The bear groaned again and pushed against him, slipping him inside him as far as he could go. Samuel moaned at the wondrous feeling of tightness and warmth. He thrusted his hips several times, slipping his penis in and out of the bear, getting him ready to be mounted. When he was ready, Samuel rolled him onto his stomach and lied on top of him, spreading the bear's legs wide. He leaned over and bit Dominic's other shoulder as he sunk himself in as far as he could fit.
The bear groaned happily. Samuel kept thrusting, the feeling growing more intense with each smooth dive inside. Dominic raised his hips off the sheets and pushed hard against him. "Careful," Samuel whispered. "I don't want to tie you."
Dominic smiled, his muzzle pressed hard against the pillow. "It's okay."
Samuel fumbled around with his slack sheath, pulling it down over his knot, and pressed himself down as far as he could go. It was like slipping into a warm bath, so soft and primal. His knot opened Dominic wide as it gently entered him.
At the sudden pressure on his knot, Samuel felt himself begin to come. The hair on his legs, neck and back stood up, and his rigid tail shot into the air. His toe claws raked the sheets as Dominic's toes curled and the bear moaned.
Samuel's penis spasmed, and he could feel his balls tightening up. He fought the urge to explode through his penis as the feelings grew more intense, holding back his climax. In one sudden burst, he threw his neck back and howled as the first strand of pearly cum shot into Dominic. The bear growled as he felt another spasm, and another, knowing that Samuel was shooting his seed deep inside him, scent-marking him. Samuel's ears went back and his jaw quivered as each spasm sent more cum inside the Kodiak.
After a few moments, and several small whines that were probably leftover howls, Samuel lie down across Dominic's furry back: the afterglow sending shivering waves of pleasure down his body.
Both he and Dominic were breathing heavily. Samuel forced his paw under Dominic's heaving chest and ran it down his stomach and back to his hot, swollen erection. He meant to paw him off, but his paw met a sticky puddle of the bear's cum that was sprayed across the sheet. Samuel milked the ursine shaft, drawing out one last drop of salty semen, and raised it to his mouth. He traced his finger down his tongue, and then offered the rest to Dominic. The Kodiak licked up the length of his finger, cleaning him off.
"It might be a while before I can slip out," Samuel whispered.
"No," Dominic said. "It's okay. I can take it if you pull out. As a matter of fact, that's the best part. Please...give that to me?"
Samuel nodded and gripped the Kodiak's shoulders in both paws. He began to pull back, Dominic's tailhole keeping a death-grip on the Maned Wolf's penis. Samuel pulled again, his erection tugging completely out of its sheath, which now hung limp over his balls, and with a wet slurp, he pulled out completely.
Dominic growled again as he left him, and dribbled two more strings of semen onto the sheets. Samuel licked the bear's tailhole as it began to relax and go back to its original size.
Samuel rolled over, smiled and closed his eyes. Dominic snuggled next to him and rested his head on the Maned Wolf's chest, his paw gently lying on his stomach.
Soon, sleep overtook them again.
~
The next morning, Samuel rolled over and opened his eyes.
He was alone in bed. There was nothing but a musky-smelling stain on the sheets as evidence what had happened last night. He didn't see it and covered it with the blankets as he sat up. He tried to remember where he was and what had happened. He remembered getting way too drunk at the bar, and waking up in the night and snuggling against the bear he had met there.
He scooted to the edge of the bed and put his bare paw pads on the floor. There was no carpet or tile, just sub-flooring.
"Dominic?" he called out.
No answer.
He stood and looked around for his clothes. They were draped across the back of a recliner a few feet away. Samuel picked up his underwear and slid his legs and tail through them. When he picked up his pants, he frowned at the tear in the knee and put them down again.
"Dominic?" he called again. Still no answer.
He found a door and upon opening it, a stairwell leading up. Clutching his arms about his bare chest, he made his way upstairs.
The house was empty, no furniture or decorations, just sub-floor and unfinished drywall. Sheets of thick plastic hung down from the ceiling and pipes and wires could be seen snaking through the boards that composed the walls underneath.
There was a refrigerator in the kitchen, but not much inside: a loaf of bread, a nearly empty bottle of ketchup, and several cans of beer. Closing the door, he noticed another stairwell leading up to another floor of the house.
There were several bedrooms upstairs, all just as unfinished as the rest of the house. A closet in one of the bedrooms was full of suits and dress-shirts, and expensive looking shoes were arranged neatly in rows along the floor.
In the master bedroom, power tools lie scattered across the sub-floor. There was also a bathroom in the master bedroom with unfinished tile-work halfway up the wall, hardy-backer up the rest of the way. Samuel found a thick bathrobe hanging on a hook and put it on. It was huge, the sleeves going past his paws and the bottom covering his foot paws.
Samuel smiled softly and thought, Well, he is a Kodiak, after all.
As he wandered around the rest of the house, he realized that this is what Dominic had meant about "building houses." It looked like Dominic was living there while he was building it. Samuel wondered how many times the Kodiak had done this before he started on this house.
Back downstairs, there was still no sign of Dominic. He rummaged around in the kitchen and found a mug. Opening a few cupboards, he also found a nearly empty canister of hot-chocolate. He poured water into the mug and put it in the microwave.
~
Wrapping the bathrobe around himself and taking his mug of hot-chocolate in his paw, he stepped out onto the front porch.
Apparently the house was out in the country. No other houses were visible. The mountains stood to the west, silent and white, and there was a good foot-and-a-half of snow covering the ground.
The world was silent and gray. The only sound that could be heard was the gentle whisper of snow collecting.
He took a sip of his hot-chocolate and noticed paw-prints leading away from the front steps. They were large enough to be a bear's. He set his mug down and decided to follow them. They led in a straight line to the center of a large open field. Dominic was sitting in the center of the field, wearing only a t-shirt and jeans.
Samuel approached him from behind. "Dominic?"
The Kodiak's ears twitched but he did not move. "You're still here?"
Samuel chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah...it's not...like I have anywhere to go, or anything..."
Dominic said nothing.
Samuel cleared his throat. "Thank you for taking me in last night. I..." he suddenly remembered the sex. "...I really think that was decent of you."
"You're welcome." Dominic muttered under his breath.
"So...what are you doing out here?" Samuel asked. "It's kind of cold."
"I like the cold," said Dominic. "It makes the pain numb."
Samuel looked over Dominic's shoulder at the bear's bare footpaws. "Are you alright?"
"I'm sorry..." Dominic apologized. "I shouldn't have brought you here, I didn't ask first, and I... You just seemed like someone I wanted to get to know better. I...liked you. I wanted to help you. I..." he dropped his voice lower so that Samuel had to lean forward to hear him. "...I wanted to be close to you. But I shouldn't have brought you here. I shouldn't have involved you in my life..."
"No, it's okay, "Samuel said reassuringly. "Last night was amazing... my first time, actually. You felt wonderful."
"You're so kind," Dominic said. "I'm just...such a fuck-up. I was vice-president of a very large sales company, but due to red tape and politics, I lost my job several years ago. I lost everything; my apartment, my savings, my car. I had to have my parents help me out while I collected unemployment. Do you have any idea how embarrassing that is?"
"I can imagine." Wanting to change the subject, he said, "Did you build that house?"
Dominic nodded. "Not having a job gives me a lot of time to work on my own business. That's the second house I've built."
"That's pretty amazing," said Samuel, a small smile playing at the corners of his lips. "I could never do something like that."
"You'd be amazed at what you could do if you had no other choice," said Dominic. "I've had to."
Samuel's tail flicked.
Dominic turned his head to look at him out of the corner of his eye. "Did you mean what you said at the bar last night?"
"About what?"
"You said I was the best friend you've ever had, among other things."
Samuel brushed snow off his muzzle. "Yeah, I did. You really took care of me last night. You brought me to your home. At the worst point in my life you showed me kindness, friendship...and then love."
"No friend of mine, casual drinking buddy or not, will never be homeless as long as they know me." Dominic said.
"Thank you," Samuel said quietly.
"You're welcome," said Dominic.
A few moments of silence passed between them.
"Do you know that you saved my life last night?" Dominic asked. He took a pistol that had been sitting on his lap and tossed it aside. "Do you know why I went to the bar last night?"
Taken aback, Samuel stared at the gun and said, "No."
"I wanted to get so drunk that I could end it all without feeling remorse for myself. I didn't want to live any more. But then you were there, and I felt something inside of you, something safe and familiar. Something that reassured me that everything would be okay. Something about you resonated inside me."
Samuel dropped to his knees behind the bear. He hugged him from behind. "Yesterday may have been the lowest point in my life, but think I may have found the best thing in the world during that day. I think I found you."
Dominic swiveled his head around. "Do you mean that? Do you really think that you could...care for someone like me? I've done so many bad things in my life I doubt I'm worth caring for."
Samuel nuzzled his cheek. "I could care for someone like you. In fact, I could love someone like you."
Dominic snorted and looked away.
"Let me rephrase that," Samuel said. He put his paw under Dominic's chin and forced him to look him in the eye. "I love you."
Before Dominic could respond, Samuel closed his eyes and pressed his lips against the bear's; drawing him into a deep kiss. Dominic closed his eyes and put his paw on the back of Samuel's head.
They rubbed noses and lapped slowly at each other's tongues for a minute.
Finally, it was Samuel that pulled back, smiling. "Want to go back inside? Get you warmed up, maybe take a hot shower?"
Dominic smiled back. "Only if I'm not alone."
"You won't be."
Dominic stood, cold snow pushing between his toes. He reached for Samuel's paw, and took it in his own.
They walked back to the house, the pistol lying in the snow behind them. Their life together was just beginning, and, like the house, far from complete - but well on its way.