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Part 17 - Wishful Dreams...

(Alexei)

A cool afternoon breeze swept through Alexei's fur as he stepped off the bus and into suburbia, taking the edge off of the bright sunshine beaming down upon the northern side of the city. As was becoming a tradition, Nathan had taken up his seat within the breast pocket of the wolf's denim shirt.

"We can get a good view of the bay from the top of this hill," Alexei stated, gesturing towards a tree-covered hillside beyond the neat maze of white-brick houses they'd begun to traverse. "From there, it is possible to see the whole Polcian district!"

"So... I'm guessing we're not able to get up close then? Like, see the people going about their business and stuff?"

"Sadly, we cannot do this. We can be close enough to see the little cars, trains..." he drifted off for a moment, grinning. "They shall be little to me. For you, they shall of course be normal size."

"You've already mentioned about how it looks like a toy town to you." Nathan huffed playfully. "I guess it's best we don't get close. Wouldn't want a huge wolf like yourself accidently disrupting things."

"Disrupting?"

"Yeah, disrupting," the husky shifted to stand within his fabric compartment. "I mean, look at those big footpaws of yours. Probably big enough to flatten some poor guy's car in an instant. One misstep and they'd end up needing a little more than a service." He chuckled as he finished, poking at Alexei's chest with his nose.

"It is your fault." The wolf rolled his eyes, still grinning. "Your people make things so tiny, easy to break."

Turning the corner, they entered onto a quiet street filled with large homes, neatly kept lawns and immaculate pavements. The base of the heavily-wooded slope came into view in the distance, while the blended scents from numerous surrounding bushes and flower gardens danced before Alexei's nose. He didn't often travel to the north side of Kremensk; home to the city's more affluent members of society. The wolf had grown up in the more modest, blue-collar neighbourhoods of the south side, likewise for his friends, family and the vast majority of his shop's clientele. Apart from when he wished to while away an afternoon looking out over the city's bustling Polcian district, Alexei rarely had reason to visit here. In fact, he felt very much out of place whenever he did so.

"Well," Nathan piped up, pulling Alexei back to the conversation, "with things being so easy for you to break, I guess it's a good thing Velikans aren't allowed into the district. Wouldn't want you big guys wandering about, accidentally stomping and smashing everything to pieces."

Alexei chuckled, rubbing down Nathan's back. He enjoyed the fact that the husky felt comfortable with joking with him in this manner. Things had certainly changed compared to a couple of months ago, back when they were still arranging the vacation. Of course they often joked together, but back then, Nathan would likely have reacted to talk of "stomping and smashing" with a lot less humour and a lot more anxiety.

Still, Alexei couldn't help but worry about overstepping the line now and again. "Nate... you know I would not really do these things, yes?"

"Oh, don't be silly. Of course I do." Nathan beamed warmly, playfully batting at the wolf's paw. "Don't feel like you need to keep telling me."

"Okay. Good." He smiled back, grabbing the little white paw tapping at him between two fingers and squeezing gently. "Got you."

"Oh, no!" the little husky whined theatrically, lightly tugging his arm as if trying to get free. "Whatever shall I do now?"

"You shall prepare for punishment." Alexei giggled, leaning down to give Nathan a quick lick to his muzzle.

"Evil! Hideous!" came the reply, right before he tightly hugged the giant wolf's nose and returned a lick.

A deep blue luxury car slowly cruised by a moment later, drawing the pair's attention to the road.

"Hey, look. You have hydrogen cars here, too." Nathan called out, gesturing towards the small cloud of water vapour leaving the vehicle's exhaust. "I've only seen petrol ones so far."

"They are very new. First factory opened three years previous," the wolf answered proudly. "Very expensive however. Only the rich can buy them in Velika."

"I see."

"Are there many cars of this kind in Polcia?"

"Well..." Nathan looked away, scratching at the back of his neck. "I think... all cars in Polcia are hydrogen."

"Really!?"

"Yeah... they're pretty much the norm back home these days. They're not as expensive as it seems they are here."

"I did not know this... another reason for me to wish I could visit your home."

"Hey, come on," Nathan replied with a kind smile. "It's not that big a deal. Everything new's expensive. They'll get cheaper here when more are produced in a few years. Same thing happened in places like Bolstrovo and Vodaskal about ten years back, when some of our car companies joined up with local businesses to opened up factories there."

"_How_do you know of this?"

Nathan snorted. "It's one of the few things I remember from my Business studies at University."

"I see," Alexei chuckled softly. "People in places like Bolstrovo are more open to you and your technology I am thinking."

"There are a lot of Polcian descendents there, don't forget, along with a few Polcians who moved there to work of course."

"Okay, you make good points, but... even when not speaking of cars, I still wish to be able to visit your home."

"I'd like that too." Nathan ran a paw down the wolf's chest through his shirt. "Maybe one day in the future you'd be allowed to."

"Maybe," Alexei sighed, rubbing a finger through the husky's sandy blond head fur. "Someday."

"We'd have to do a lot of prep work," Nathan snickered, pushing up against the petting. "Though I'm not sure how you prepare for a sixty-something-foot tall wolf strolling down a busy street in Arlone."

"This is easy." Alexei laughed shortly, lowering his head to bump the little canine with his nose. "You just prepare to get out of the way."

They reached the edge of wealthy suburbia after a few more minutes of walking. Clean streets turned into dusty dirt tracks flanked by thick undergrowth, while the damp smell of soil and wood replaced the sweet aroma of shrubs and flowers.

"You know where you're going, Alex?"

"Yes, I have made this journey before," the wolf confirmed. "I come here to relax, to watch the Polcians go about their days... I enjoy it. I am thinking I could do this walk blindfolded."

"I'll take your word for it--" Nathan replied, ducking away from the branch of a thorn bush slapping against Alexei's chest as he strode up the steep incline.

"It may be best for you to stay inside pocket for a moment," he proposed, covering the husky with a paw. "Think you're right," Nathan answered with a nod, hunkering down until he sat completely enclosed within the shirt pocket. "Let me know when we're clear of this damn jungle."

In this moment of relative solitude, Alexei's mind took the chance to wander back to where it had done several times already that day. He dwelt on the phone call from the night before, guilty over what he saw as part responsibility for the fear Nathan's parents held towards both Velika and himself, even if the husky's deceit had helped lead on to it. He did feel happy however to have succeeded in reassuring them, or at least, get them worrying less. At the same time, Alexei felt a hint of annoyance at Nathan for putting him in that position with his dishonesty.

'I have not been so open to Grandpa however... Now we are not speaking. I suppose I am not so different to him.' He grumbled to himself, rubbing at one of his folded ears. 'I must make this right, somehow.'

"Are you okay, Alex?"

Alexei peered down, his fading hostility pulling back completely upon seeing the husky's concerned face gazing up from within his pocket. "I am fine, Nate."

"You sure? We don't have to see this... if you don't want to."

"I do!" he replied passionately. "As I have said, I enjoy coming here." Alexei turned his focus back ahead, pushing through the last of the undergrowth. The warmth of the sun hit him all over again, thick woodland giving way to a grassy clearing at the hill's peak. "We are here, Nate."

The little husky picked himself up to his feet, setting himself before peering off into the distance. "Wow."

"It is not what you expected?"

"Not at all!" His tail started to wag excitedly. "I thought... I didn't expect something called a district to be this big."

Alexei grinned, slowly setting himself down to sit upon the verdant hilltop. He too began looking down over the bay, studying the small peninsula blanketed by hundreds of tiny steel structures. "It is more like a little city, Nate."

"No kidding."

The oceanside outer edges of the development housed smaller constructions, likely houses and other residential buildings. Moving away from the shoreline, the size of these structures gradually increased, until a collection of roughly a dozen skyscrapers in the city's centre towered above everything around them.

"I'm amazed there are enough Polcians here to fill this place," Nathan stated, tail wagging even faster as he continued observing the sights.

"There are more like this, also. The biggest is in Zelengorod. I have never been, but I know it is two times this size at least. The other big cities of Velika, they also have a district."

Nathan's awestruck expression didn't falter until Alexei's paw wrapped delicately around his midriff. He lifted the husky out of his shirt pocket, placing him down upon his lap.

"This is more comfortable, Nate?"

"Much. Thank you," Nathan answered, settling down so that his back rested against the giant wolf's stomach. "Oh hey, there's a train!"

Alexei chuckled as he too spotted the rail cars hurtling along their elevated track, winding between the buildings while road traffic milled about beneath them. "That is the train that connects this district to Kremensk city centre through underground tunnel. Those who work outside of this area travel on it."

"That's cool. It really is like a city-in-a-city."

"Yes." He began petting over the tiny canine. "Like I have said, it is not a normal city, but all you would find in one is here."

"You did say this," Nathan replied, grabbing at the stroking paw and pulling. Alexei smiled, letting his arm go limp. He slowly moved it in response to the tugging, giving his little husky the impression that he had control of it.

"But like I have said, Alex, just because a big lump like you would have trouble squeezing past some of those buildings doesn't make it less of a normal city."

"I would not have trouble getting past," Alexei snorted, placing his paw over Nathan and hugging softly. "I am thinking I would just move them."

"Oh, come on. You're not that big. Sure, you'll be bigger than those houses, some of those apartment buildings, but anything more than seven or eight floors high'll be taller than you.

"I can try." The wolf extended his right arm, pulling up his shirt sleeve before flexing his toned bicep for Nathan. "You may be surprised about what can be moved."

"Alex, don't," the husky grunted, turning to bury his muzzle into Alexei's stomach.

"What?" he replied, lowering his arm so that it hovered beside Nathan. He gave it another flex. "You do not believe?"

The little canine pulled his head back, reaching up to quickly stroke at Alexei's firm, grey bicep. He let out a gasp and a shiver a moment later, pressing himself back against the big wolf's midriff.

"Perhaps this is not it," Alexei stated, voice little more than a whisper as he began to pet down Nathan's back. It didn't take long for the unmistakable sensation of the husky's erection growing against his stomach to begin, stretching his wide smile even further.

He moved his paw away from his midsection after a few minutes of gentle petting, holding it at a forty-five degree angle so that Nathan sat reclined within it. "Perhaps it is that you would like to see me try this," he cooed, running a finger down the husky's chest to his stomach. "Am I correct?" Alexei moved his paw further downwards, lightly pressing upon Nathan's crotch and winning a series of high-pitched, squirming giggles.

"Stop it. You're making me blush," he moaned, rolling over to hide his muzzle, and the lump in his trousers, in the wolf's pads.

Alexei glanced over his shoulder, watching his fast wagging tail batting at the long grass and shrubbery behind him. He turned back to Nathan and rolled him onto his back, giving his bulge another delicate squeeze. "What did you say? I cannot hear such a little voice."

"Stop!" Nathan cried with breathless laughter.

"Do you not remember last week? Sitting in my lap upon the couch, pressing at me? I thought this something you would enjoy." Alexei pushed again, the husky's erection even firmer now. A pleasant heat started to radiate from his loins as his own length began to harden.

"Alex..." Nathan muttered, his words broken by his panting. "What if... someone comes?"

He flashed back a big, lupine grin, letting that act as his reply alone.

"No... I don't mean... filthy wolf." The husky took a moment to collect his breath before continuing. "I mean what if somebody else walks up here?"

"Nobody comes to this place. In all the times I have been here, I have almost never seen another person."

"_Almost_never?" Nathan sat up, grabbing at Alexei's paw and squeezing tightly. "That's still too much for me."

"You did not mind other people when we sat in my living room."

"That was different."

"How?"

"Because," Nathan groaned, throwing himself back to lie down. "Are you going to hold that against me forever?"

"Yes, I am." Alexei chuckled heartily, pulling the husky's black t-shirt up with a claw. Slowly, he revealed the white fur of his rounded little belly, deliberately causing it to wobble as he began petting at it with a finger.

"Hey, come on," Nathan muttered, brown ears lowering. "Leave my fat belly alone."

"You do not have fat belly."

"Oh no? What's this then?" He patted at the brown fur on the side of his stomach, causing it to jiggle again.

Alexei peered down into Nathan's searching blue eyes, spotting the hint of sadness hiding within them. "I think this is cute. I like it."

"Really?" "Yes, I do," he confirmed eagerly. "It is nice to stroke, to have hug against me."

Nathan's ears flicked back up and his sorrowful expression brightened. "Thank you."

Alexei leaned down, raising his paw up to meet him. "You do not need to thank. I am saying the truth." He placed a gentle lick upon the husky's little nose, to which he received one in kind.

The pair relaxed upon the hilltop together for the next half hour; talking, watching the city bustle with life between the beautiful clear sky above and the crystalline blue water below.

"You know, Alex," Nathan muffled, peering down to the cityscape while still reclined upon the big wolf's paw. "You say you could just move those buildings down there, right?"

"Of course," Alexei replied, deepening his voice so that his words were little more than a guttural growl. "I could move these tiny buildings easily."

"Oh, big words there, big wolf," the husky snickered with a wink, poking at the palm pad he rested upon. "How about we head down this hill and find out for sure?"

"Heading down the hill... would not be possible." Alexei sat up slowly, pointing down to the left hand side of the miniature metropolis where the peninsula connected with the mainland. "Do you see those guard posts?"

"I... think so, yeah."

A set of four Velikan-sized towers stood high along the only access road into the district, accompanied by an equally imposing chain-link fence and two armed Velikan guards. On the other side of the barrier sat a half dozen Polcian structures, each armed with imposing-looking weaponry atop their roofs. "If we get too close, we could be arrested... if we got very close and they think of me as a threat... maybe also shot at."

"Really!?"

Alexei nodded. "Only authorised Velikans can pass through that gate. It is... to stop people from getting inside and trying to cause harm."

"Harm? Does that... did that happen a lot?"

"It does not, but... there was an incident in another city, Sokolka, to the east. In the early days, when Polcian districts first opened, the security was not as strong as it is now. A protester, a fox, managed to sneak past the barrier and get inside."

"What... happened?"

"It took only seconds for him to be grabbed and arrested, but... it is believed he wanted to cause damage." Nathan sat silently in Alexei's paw, his ears gradually folding. "Please do not be sad, Nate. This does not happen now. Even if people wished to cause harm, there is no way past the Velikan and Polcian security forces."

Nathan's sombre expression remained for a moment, until a small smile finally cracked through. "Things are really better now?"

"I believe this, yes," Alexei answered with a sigh, turning his gaze back to the district. "It is a shame for this situation to exist, I am thinking."

"How do you mean?"

"Since I was young..." He rubbed the fur of his cheek, ears warming while he worked up the will to continue. "I have always had dream..."

"What dream, Alex? You can tell me."

Alexei swallowed hard, gathering his resolve. "Each time I have come here to watch the little Polcians go about their lives... I have always wished to go and get close." He sighed again, glancing down to find Nathan watching back with an even expression and a kind smile. "Sometimes, when I sleep, I have a dream of swimming across the bay and floating beside the city. When I am there, I can see all the people. Some look back, and they are happy. They are not scared of me, of Velikans..." The wolf drifted off, closing his eyes. He brought his free paw up to his face, the warmth of his blushing tangible against its pads. "I will stop. It is very silly dream."

"I don't think it's silly at all, hon. In fact, I think it's lovely." Alexei opened his eyes in response to Nathan's petting of his paw. "I tell you, if all Velikans were like you, you'd be able to come straight back home with me, 'cause people back in Policia would have no problem with you and your countrymen."

"Thank you." He whined softly, sensing himself beginning to well up. "And for me to be able to do this, it would be wonderful."

A soft breeze rustled the long grass around the pair as they gazed at one another. Caught up in the moment, Alexei lied back, further ruffling the surrounding greenery as he sprawled out among it. Once settled, he placed Nathan upon his chest, positioning him right in front his muzzle.

"It's really nice here," the husky mumbled under his breath, lying down himself and rolling onto his stomach. "Peaceful."

"I agree," he replied, equally quietly. The delicate sensation of Nathan's little heart beating atop his drew from him a low, contented moan, as did the husky's still semi-hard erection pressing into his chest. He leaned forward, moving his long, lupine muzzle in for a kiss.

"I think we can take a chance on people 'almost never' coming up here, Alex."

With his lips just inches from Nathan's, a buzz followed by a muted chime started within Alexei's pocket.

"Gods curse this fucking phone!" he rumbled in Velikan, bringing a curious expression to the husky's face. "I am sorry. Let me answer quickly and we shall relax together some more."

"Sure," Nathan replied, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

They sat up together, Alexei holding the little canine in one paw while grabbing his phone with the other. He caught a glimpse of his device's display as he keyed the answer button and brought it up to his ear. "Erik?"

"Hi, Alex," the leopard responded in his native tongue, sounding more than a little flustered. "I--I'm sorry to pester... I'm calling from the shop."

"The shop? It is Sunday afternoon. You are working a day off again?"

"Yes... I am," Erik confirmed. "Didn't want to stick around at home... got bored."

The sound of tools and wood being clanked and banged about echoed over the line. "It is loud there. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, working, but... I wanted to find out when you planned on coming home?"

Alexei quickly moved to glance at his phone, finding it read '14:04' before returning it to the side of his face. "We were not planning on returning just yet." He peered down at Nathan, finding that familiar look of bemusement present whenever he conversed in Velikan. His heart dropped at the prospect of having to end their day out early.

"Oh... I see."

"Erik," he groaned. "Is there a problem?"

A long, drawn out sigh made Alexei's handset crackle. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" His ears stood upright while his posture straightened. "What has happened?"

"I'm very sorry."

"I know! you have said--" He stifled a growl, forcing himself to stay calm. "It is okay. I said if there is a problem you could call me. Is something broken?" The line fell silent for a few seconds, though it felt substantially longer to Alexei as he awaited confirmation.

"No, nothing's broken," Erik finally replied, meekly," but... there is some damage to a piece we were preparing for a customer to collect this week."

Alexei set his jaw, lip curling for a second. "How much damage?"

Another silence. "I think I need you to see for yourself."

He let his growl escape into the phone, able to contain it no longer. "We are one hour from the shop. We shall leave for the bus in a moment."

"I'm sorry."

"I know. See you soon."

"Is everything okay, Alex?" Nathan asked cautiously. "Sounds like a problem."

"He will have to stop working Sundays if he cannot..." Alexei grumbled, switching back to Polcian as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. "I am sorry, Nathan, but I am thinking we will need to leave soon. Erik needs help back at the store."

"No problem." The husky smiled, sitting so that his legs dangled over the side of the wolf's paw. "I enjoyed coming here."

"I am happy to hear this," he replied, dropping Nathan a short distance down to his lap. "I just wish it could have been for longer."

"Me too, but hey..." The little canine dropped to his knees, grinning up at Alexei as he pressed both paws down into his crotch. "Whatever we get up to together'll be fun, no matter the venue."

"This sounds good me," he grunted, revelling in Nathan's touch. "We shall have to continue this soon."

They made their move back to the south of the city a short time later, arriving at the bus stop around the corner from Alexei's home after a shade more than an hour of travel. On the occasions he visited the affluent north side, coming back to more familiar surroundings always made the wolf focus in on the differences that much more.

He stepped off the bus onto the dusty pavement, terraced townhouses flanking the streets while the occasional old, petrol-fuelled vehicle chugged on by. Alexei didn't hate his home, far from it; he liked his little apartment above his little shop, but he couldn't help wonder how such drastic differences could exist in the same city. It hadn't always been this way. While the rich always had more, the disparity that existed between them and the rest of society never seemed as pronounced as it did in this day and age.

Alexei placed his paws in his trouser pockets, smiling down at the husky resting within his usual chest-height vantage point. "Let us go and see what damage Erik has caused."

He began to stroll along the neighbourhood's main strip just as the bus they had been aboard started to pull away, travelling towards the corner of his side street that lied just a few houses away.

"Hey! Polcian lover!"