FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 4 - A Little too Far

"Hey!" A girl's voice rang out over the general din in the crowded hallway. "Hey Kris, wait up!" Several students made protesting sounds as someone pushed their way through the tightly packed bodies in his direction.

Kris paused nearly tripping the red panda boy behind him as he looked back to see who was calling him. A smile broke over his face as he saw Kittara waving at him and he stepped out of the general flow of traffic to wait for her. "What's up?"

Kitt stopped beside him and thrust her calculus test toward his paws. "This!" She sounded disgusted, letting the paper go before he even had a grip on it.

Fumbling a little to catch it before it fell to the floor he looked down at a big red 62 circled in the same red ink. "Oh Kitt! What happened? You were doing so well!" He looked up to meet her frustrated gaze, placing a sympathetic paw on her shoulder.

Kitt snorted, grabbing her test from his paws and angrily shoving it into her backpack. "I froze up! Everything went right out of my head!" She zipped her bag shut and threw it over her shoulder nearly hitting Krista as the mouse girl came up behind her.

"Hey guys what's news?" Krista was her usual perky happy self until she caught sight of the vixen's face. "Oh no what's wrong? Did that cute boy in home room turn you down for a date or something?" Her ears folded back into her short dark hair as she contemplated the horror of being turned down.

"No it's my Calculus test... you know the one I had to pass in order to stay on the swim team!" Kitt fumed a little more crossing her arms under her bust and stamping her foot. "It isn't fair! I worked hard on that and I thought I had at least most of the answers correct!" She was starting to whine now and it made both Kris and Krista's ears fold back as they winced from the high pitch.

A large paw fell on Kris' shoulder making the boy turn his head and find himself staring at the good looking swim coach. He felt a blush rising up in his cheeks when he remembered what he'd done the night before thinking about just this individual...

"You kids ready for practice? We have some new members to the swim team starting tonight. Anyone know where Audio is? I'd like you all there so we can do introductions." Coach O'Brien seemed oblivious to Kitt's bad mood, smiling at each of the three impartially. Though when he looked at Kris, the raccoon felt like his whole body was going to burst into flame and disappear in a shower of ashes.

Kittara's eyes widened and she looked from Krista to Kris hoping that one of them would bail her out so she didn't have to tell the coach that she failed her calculus test. Krista missed the look completely and blabbed it out in a rush. "Oh Coach, Kitt failed her calculus test! And the swim meet is next weekend! What are we gonna do?" The mouse girl was watching the coach so she didn't see the look that Kitt shot at her. Privately Kris wondered if it was possible for the vixen to kill with that look.

The horse looked from Krista to Kitt, his eyes widening. "Is that true Kittara?" The look on her face was all the confirmation that he needed. With a deep sigh he moved his paw from Kris' shoulder to the vixens sparking a momentary jealousy in Kris. "Tell you what, I'll talk to your teacher and see if I can get you a makeup test, but the rest is up to you." He held her eyes for a few moments until she nodded. "It is going to take some work to get that grade back up where it needs to be, I suggest you find yourself a tutor who's good in Calculus." With that he turned and headed toward the athletic complex calling back over one magnificent shoulder. "I expect you all in the pool in ten minutes." Then he was gone disappearing through the large doors that separated the academic part of the school from the athletic complex.

* * * * *

Knowing that he only had a few minutes before the coach and that freak of a raccoon made their way to the changing room, Audio scampered down the hall the moment the bell rang. He pushed rudely past a few of the upper classmen as he darted between the big doors that lead to the athletic complex. It was easier to make his way down this hall as only a few furs had gym as the last class of the day and most of those were on one team or another so would be making for their own changing rooms.

Still unobserved he slipped into the pool and headed for the boys locker room. He flung his backpack down against the lockers and fumbled with the unfamiliar combination he'd soft click and he looked around to make sure he was still unobserved. Fumbling in his managed to oversee the raccoon using a few days ago. The locker came open with a backpack he pulled out a squeeze tube of "Icy Hot" then pawed through the other boy's locker until he found that damned bright green Speedo. Mumbling to himself, "I'll show you." He applied a thick coating of the gel to the inside of the suit then tucked it back into the boy's locker and locked it.

By the time Coach O'Brien poked his head into the room Audio was calmly removing his school uniform in order to put on his school issue black Speedo. "Oh good I was hoping to see you here Audio. We have a few new members to the team today and I want everyone poolside in five minutes to do introductions." The coach smiled at him and ducked back out into the pool area before Audio could do more than nod in agreement. It would be a shame to miss the sight when that raccoon put on his suit but in order to make sure that he wasn't blamed for it he hurried a little so he'd be out by the pool long before the coach wanted him there.

* * * * *

Venn walked out into the pool area and looked around, sitting on the bench along the side of the pool where two of his new recruits, both of the girls. Only Marcus was missing so far but he was sure the cat would turn up just at the last minute.

The boys changing room opened and Audio came out, dropping his backpack just outside the door. Then the main doors opened and in poured Kris and the two girls he'd been talking with in the hallway, followed, predictably at the last possible moment by Marcus. Once they were all assembled he blew his whistle to get their attention and walked over to the group that had formed by the two new girls, Audio trailing along behind him. "Okay some of you know each other, some of you don't. I want each of you to give your name and tell us why you want to be on the team. Audio since you are already dressed for the pool how about you go first?"

The fennec's eyes widened and he bit his lower lip but he nodded. Looking at his hindpaws he said, "I'm Audio, I'm here because my Dads say I have to do something physical and swimming at least keeps you cool." Then he stepped back as if that would make him less conspicuous.

The vixen was next, "I'm Kittara, but everyone calls me Kitt. I'm here cause I make the school swimsuit look good!" She got a few giggles from the other girls and a speculative look from Marcus.

"Krista, I'm here cause my mom says competition is good for you and swimming is a good full body exercise." The mouse girl took a half step behind her vixen friend when she finished speaking.

"Brittany, it was this or cheer leading." The little chipmunk looked like she wanted to be anywhere but beside the pool.

The wolf girl settled her dark grey fur and turned her yellow gaze on the raccoon, "I'm here to make sure that we win regional and boost Kris all the way to state." She paused a moment then added, "Oh I'm Sylvia."

Marcus cleared his throat, "Marcus, I'm here cause there are more girls than boys on this team." He flashed the four girls a dazzling smile and winked, which garnered more titters and giggles. His black fur was a striking contrast to Krista's white, which only made it that much more obvious when the panther put his paw on her shoulder and whispered something into her ear that had her blushing furiously.

"Kris, I'm here for the competition, I need it if I'm going to make it onto the Olympic team in four years." The raccoon boy said it without any idea that he sounded pompous and full of himself.

Venn shook his head slightly and managed to hide his smile, so young and so sure of himself, the boy was going to get himself into trouble one of these days. "Alright off to the changing rooms. Those of you without school suits follow me to the office and we'll get you set up. The rest of you be back here in 5 minutes so we can start laps." Venn headed for his office with the new students following him, He didn't realize that Kris wasn't with the group until he started handing out suits. Both girls took sizes that were in stock and Marcus was the same size as he was so there was one for him as well, but Kris was missing.

Venn's head jerked up as he heard a startled gasp from the boys locker room followed by what sounded like a scream of pain! He was moving before he realized it shoving Sylvia out of the way as he ran for the door leading from his office into the boy's changing room. What he saw when he burst through the door was utterly confusing.

Kris was wearing his neon green Speedo, but he was jerking at the material and dancing around as if his loins were on fire, screaming and yelling the entire time. He fell hard against the lockers and slid to his backside still yanking at his suit as if the thing were burning him. Behind Venn crowded the three new members of the team and through the other door came Kittara and Krista both clad in their black school issued suits. By this time Kris was curled up on the floor pulling his suit to get it off, totally unaware of the gathered students of both sexes that were watching him.

Venn quickly blew his whistle and shouted, "Girls out!" He moved quickly to the stricken boy's side and tried his best to shield him from sight as the girls scattered like frightened birds. "Marcus grab a towel." The only thing he could think to do was to help Kris get his suit off since that seemed to be what he was trying to do. His hands grabbed the green material and he pulled roughly, yanking the suit down off Kris' legs and throwing it into the corner. When Marcus handed him the towel he draped it over the boy's nude body, and tried to figure out what was happening.

Kris whimpered, "It burns!" shoving the towel against his groin and scrubbing at himself like he was trying to rub his skin off. Venn picked the boy up and headed for the showers, Marcus automatically moving out of the way. Not caring that he was still dressed in his shorts and t-shirt he stepped under the nozzle with the raccoon in his arms. He tried to get Kris back on his feet but the boy kept curling up in a fetal position as if he was unable to deal with the pain that he was feeling. With his mind only on helping the boy Venn pulled the towel away from the his groin and looked to see if he could find the source of his distress. A thin coating of something gel-like covered the boys sheath, scrotum and looked as if it went between his legs, everywhere that the suit had covered him.

Realizing that Kris was in no state to clean himself he barked "Marcus out!" as he reached for the shower controls to flip them on full blast. With his left arm supporting the boy in a half sitting position he did his best to smear soap on his right paw into a lather. Taking a deep breath Venn did his best to calm himself then started talking, "Kris, I have to wash it off. Try and hold still for me." He brought his paw down and started with the boy's pelvis trying to avoid the more intimate touch that was going to be required for as long as he could in hopes that the boy would calm enough to be able to wash that part himself. "That's it, hold still." His fingers worked at the short fur around the boy's sheath, but cleaning the sticky gel away was proving to be more difficult than he'd have imagined.

The soap kept washing away in the constant stream of water making it necessary for him to go back time and again for more to help clean the sticky persistent goo from the boy's short fur. He kept up a constant soft commentary to the boy to keep him from squirming out of his grip while he worked.

Finally the right side of the boy's hip was clean down to where his sheath started, he moved to the left side, the heel of his paw brushing against the limp sheath unavoidably as he worked soap into the fur. After what seemed like hours, but could only have been minutes, he managed to work the gel out of the left side of the boy's hip and pelvis, but still he was concerned. Kris had subsided from screaming to whimpering but still he wouldn't uncurl his legs making Venn's task that much more difficult.

He shifted the boy then, pulling him against his chest and working his right hand down over his backside, again thinking that if he could just sooth the boy enough he could let him clean the rest himself. The sticky goop had gotten under the boys tail on the bare skin that ran down between his buttocks which, considering how swimsuits fit, wasn't surprising. Still it meant that he had his fingers down the crack of the boys backside. As carefully as he could he worked more soap into the skin, which was starting to look raw and red, trying to hurry his movements but still reluctant to move onto more dangerous areas of the boys anatomy.

His fingers slid down lower and lower, carrying the cleansing soap to the abraded flesh. He steeled himself as he felt the tips of his fingers brush over the boys anus. A shocked gasp came out of the boy and he reminded himself that Kris was in pain and needed him to get the stuff off him. As gently as he possibly could he spread the soap further down making sure the goo was truly gone from the boy's skin as he went. The soft sounds Kris was making against his shoulder were a combination of pain and pleasure that he'd never heard issuing from a throat that young before. Rather than arouse him as it would if those sounds came from a man his age he found that it enraged him and made his blood boil. Who would torture a child this way?

Finally the bare patches were clean and the black skin looked less angry and raw and more like it should. Again he rolled the boy over, this time onto his bottom now that sitting wouldn't cause more pain. "Okay Kris can you finish? Do you think you can wash the rest of it off?" He had a moment of hope before Kris' shaking paws made him realize that the boy was still far too traumatized to manage that simple act. "It's all right. I'll get it off." Taking another deep breath he reached for the soap again.

His paw felt huge and fumbling as it wrapped around the boys scrotum, fingers working under his bunched up skin to work the gooey stuff out of that sensitive fur. Knowing just how tender that area could be he was as gentle as he was with the boys backside. "Hush Kris, it'll be over soon." The boy had calmed further as the goop was removed but he still couldn't stay still, it made Venn worry that he'd missed some of it on his bare skin. It wasn't until he'd finished cleaning most of the boys sac that he understood the reason that Kris couldn't stay still.

The warmth of his palm on the boy's scrotum made him start to become aroused. As if that wasn't bad enough, the boy started screaming again when his tip pushed from the lips of his sheath. The black skin was abraded and raw looking worse than his backside had been since the gooey gel had been on the skin longer due to Venn's reluctance to touch him there. With horror he watched the poor boy reach down and try to pull the skin off his own penis. He grabbed for Kris' paws and held them back with his left paw, dumping the container of soap directly onto the abused skin. His right paw wrapped gently around the exposed portion of the boys glans and with no further regard for his innocence he started to rub the skin clean.

The water washed the soap away but some of it got into the boys sheath, all Venn could think of was that if the soap got in there than the gel likely did as well. Steeling himself for another agonized scream from Kris he pulled the boys young sheath down and exposed the raw looking skin on the inside of the top portion. "Jesus, hold still Kris I'm trying to be gentle but it's got to come off or it'll burn more." The boy thrashed in his arms as he tried to be gentle, but soon found himself holding the whimpering young man down as he forcefully cleaned the goo from his sheath and shaft. The boy eventually stopped whimpering but was reduced to broken sobbing. Venn had tears running down his face and a lump in his throat. He gathered the sobbing boy into his arms and just held him, rocking slightly back and forth. "Hush now, it's over. I got it all off. Shhh, it'll be all right now."

Several more minutes went by before Kris was able to stop crying, when he did, Venn lifted him to his feet and helped him stumble out of the shower to one of the benches. He grabbed a handful of towels and started rubbing the boy's shoulders and back dry. When Kris took the towel from him he used another to wipe his face, retrieved the soiled Speedo and turned to look at the door to the pool. "Can you dry off and get dressed on your own?"

He waited until Kris whispered "Yes coach." in a husky cracked sounding voice, then headed purposefully toward the door.

Out by the pool all heads turned toward him and all eyes met his. He did a quick head count and asked, "Where are Audio, Kittara and Krista?" But before he got an answer the two girls came running back into the pool with Jennifur the school nurse practitioner. Jennifur didn't even pause just slipped past him and into the boy's changing room the ginger collie to focused the fact that she had a patient to worry about more anything else right now. With only Audio missing Venn had a pretty good idea who it was that pulled that horrible prank on the raccoon boy. His back stiffened and he took a deep breath before he called out. "Practice is cancelled tonight, go home, I'll see you all Monday morning for laps before school." Then he returned to the boy's changing room.

Jennifur was talking in a hushed voice to Kris as the door closed behind Venn, she didn't even bother to glance up just kept her attention on her patient. "It burned, did it stop after the soap washed it off?" Her dark eyes never left Kris' face as she asked him questions about what happened. He had a towel wrapped over his lap and seemed to be holding it there for dear life. Seeing the boy's discomfort Venn thought it was because of what he'd had to do to get the glue like substance off and stayed behind Kris by the door so that he wouldn't have to face the person who'd just basically molested him.

It didn't work the way he expected though, Jennifur glanced at him over the boy's shoulder and Kris turned to see him standing there just inside the door. "Coach!" There was such relief in the raccoon's voice that Venn went to place a trembling paw on his shoulder. The moment that large warm weight hit his shoulder Kris seemed to relax, closing his eyes and letting out the breath that he'd been holding since he saw the coach.

Jennifur looked at his shaking paw then lifted her eyes to his. "You did the right thing Coach O'Brien. I would have been too late to get the chemical off his skin before it caused blisters." Having reassured the adult male that she would not be pressing charges against him for touching the boy inappropriately, she turned her attention back to Kris. "I still need to see what damage has been done Kris. Now that the coach is back can you move the towel and let me see?" She didn't make any move to pull the towel out of the boy's hands, instead she looked up at Venn her eyes asking for help.

Venn threw a leg over the bench and pulled Kris' back against his chest keeping his arm around the slender form. "Kris she needs to see how bad it is, just lift the towel away. I promise she won't touch you." While he kept his voice calm and level, being behind the kit allowed him to show Jennifur the horror he experienced when he saw what the gloopy stuff had done to the boy's genitals. "Please Kris, she's here to help." He reached down and covered one of the boy's trembling paws wrapping his fingers into the towel and slowly lifting. Kris put up no resistance but he did close his eyes as the towel lifted from his lap.

Jennifur didn't make a liar of Venn, she kept her paws folded in her lap. She hissed in a shocked breath when the abraded flesh of his scrotum came into view. It wasn't until Venn pushed the towel out of Kris' shaking grasp and pulled the boy's paws up out of the way that she was able to see the opening to his sheath and the beginning of the real damage.

Venn wrapped his arm around the boy holding his paws up against his own chest. "Kris this is going to hurt a bit but she has to see what happened, you understand?" He caught and held the boy's eyes all traces of the horror gone. He nodded slowly watching the boy until Kris copied his movement, his head making a jerky shift up then back down. "I'm sorry Kris." He breathed into the soft shell of the raccoon's raised ear. His free hand slid down to the boy's lap and without giving him time to tense up or brace for the pain he pulled the young sheath down and held it to expose the head of the boy's penis.

Kris whimpered as the pain hit him, his paws tightening on Venn's chest almost painfully, but the horse bore it stoically, holding the boy in place no matter how much he wanted to twist away from the pain.

Jennifur swore under her breath, jerking her head back as soon as the blistered skin came into view. She nodded quickly to Venn, turning to the bag she brought with her and fumbling for the burn ointment that she knew was in there some place. "It looks like a severe allergic reaction to something. Do you know what it was that came in contact with his skin?" Her shaking paws came up with the cream and she opened it, holding it out to the horse. "As much as you can get onto him without popping the blisters." She held the little pot of creamy ointment steady on her palm.

"No only that it seemed to be on his swimsuit." Venn looked at the whimpering boy in his arms and the little pot of cream then frowned. "Kris, throw your leg over the bench and lean back into my chest. Come on, you can do that much right?" He assisted as much as he could while the raccoon shifted position, holding him steady until the boy was leaning firmly against his chest. His left paw moved from around the boy's chest down to hold his sheath back and he lifted his right paw toward the ointment.

"Wait, it's got numbing properties." Jennifur pulled out a large latex glove and carefully fitted it over Venn's fingers before she held the pot of salve out to him again.

This time she didn't protest when Venn dipped two fingers into the little pot and carried the ointment to the abraded skin. His head looked down along the boy's lean body as he started to rub the creamy salve into his burned skin. It was a terribly intimate position, the young fur leaning into his chest while he rubbed his right paw over his glans and sheath. He did his work quickly glancing at Jennifur nervously several times as he did.

The nurse practitioner nodded encouragingly, "Good job coach, now the scrotum. Did any of the chemical get on the boy's backside?" Since Kris had remained sitting the entire time she was in the room it was reasonable that she didn't know about it getting all down the crack of his backside.

Venn swallowed hard and nodded to her. "Yeah, from the base of his tail all down between his glutes." He tried to be clinical about this but the boy was responding, his body reacting to the touches now that the pain was muted through the numbing effect of the medicine. Kris' paws were resting on Venn's thighs, and he had his head turned away from Jennifur his muzzle resting against the horse's shoulder. It wasn't surprising that his shaft was swelling in the coach's grip but it sure made Venn squirm behind him trying not to let it go to his head.

Venn studied the situation for a few moments as he worked ointment into the last of his abraded scrotum. "Okay Kris, now I need you to put your leg over mine and turn as far away from Jennifur as you can Alright?" He helped the boy roll away from the Nurse, holding his left arm down the raccoon's chest and tucking his fingers around the boy's side as Kris rolled to face away. "That's good, just hold there a minute while I put some on your backside." He lifted the boys right glute with his fingers carefully to let Jennifur inspect the abraded skin under the boy's tail before he started smearing the soothing cream over it. "Just a little more Kris and we're all done." He tried to keep his mind off the fact that he was once again running his fingertips over and around the tight little pucker and up under his tail.

A few more minutes and he was finished the boy was like a limp rag in his arms exhausted by the combination of unexpected torture of having that gooey stuff on him and the following steps to get it off and the damage on the mend. Venn let him rest against his shoulder while Jennifur took the glove off his right paw.

"He'll need to apply that at least three or four times a day till the blisters go down. Are you going to tell his parents or did you want me to call them and explain?" She twisted the cap tight on the little pot of salve and put it on the bench by Venn's hip.

Venn had to think about that for a few moments while he held onto the limp boy. "I think he lives with his father but his mother is out of town, how about you call her and I'll tell him when I take Kris home?" He shifted the boy's nearly dead weight back over so he was leaning against his chest instead of over his left arm.

The collie nodded slowly as she gathered up her things. "That'll work. I will leave him with you since he doesn't seem to trust anyone else to touch him." She paused and placed a comforting paw on the horse's shoulder. "You did good Coach. Nothing you did was improper or against the law, you provided the aid he needed when he was in pain." She squeezed her fingers tight for a moment then took herself and her bag out of the room leaving Venn to figure out how to get the kit dressed and home when he didn't seem to want to do anything but sleep right now.

* * * * *

Audio heard the first scream and his lips turned up in a self satisfied smile, then the racoon screamed again and he thought to himself, what a baby. But as the tortured sounds continued and everyone rushed into the boys changing room he realized he was in deep trouble. Grabbing his backpack he beat a hasty retreat not caring that he was still dressed in his swimsuit.

Just outside the pool doors he stopped and pulled his pants out of his backpack, it would look odd if he was seen walking away from the pool in just his suit. After pulling them on he added his shirt but left off his jacket, after hours none of the teachers would stop him for not being in full uniform. But where to go...

If Kerris and Mythic find out about this they'll send me back for sure and I don't want to go back to that horrible group home! Fuck! Why did that bloody raccoon have to be such a baby! if he'd just taken it like the joke it was meant to be this wouldn't have happened and I could be back there swimming with the rest of the team right now. But no he had to be a little drama queen and scream bloody murder!

Looking around he considered his options, if he left the school, made sure to be seen then no one would be too suspicious. He could go home... No, not home, never home again, back to the Foxworthy place and grab the few things that belonged to him. But then where would he go?

While he was mulling this over another student came down the hall toward him. The boy was a fennec like him, taller, around one and a half meters in all, but slender like he was. He was already wearing his casual clothing since the last bell had rung about a half hour before, dressed in a dark green hoodie and a faded pair of jeans. His mop like hair hung down under the hood to half cover his eyes as he looked Audio over noticing the hastily donned clothing. "Hey kid, what's up? I heard some kind of commotion back there." The taller boy indicated the closed pool doors where the screaming had finally stopped.

Just then the doors swung open in a rush as Kittara and Krista raced through them and down the hall both still in their swimsuits, looking like runaway catwalk models. Audio dodged to the side just in time not to be hit by the doors pulling the taller boy with him, then made sure that neither of the girls noticed them. "Shhh!" He put his finger to his lips to indicate he wanted the older student to be silent for a bit, once the girls were out of sight he turned back to the larger boy.

The Fennec looked from the departing girls to the fennec in front of him and put two and two together. "You did something and now you need a place to hide, right?" He put his paws on his hips seeming to consider Audio's plight. "I might have a place you can hole up, but it's going to cost you. Are you willing to pay for it?"

Audio cringed inside, there were things in his past that he didn't want to think about and one of them was staring him in the face right now. He was pretty sure what kind of payment the other student would want in exchange for helping him but he really needed to find a place to go until all this blew over and he could find a more permanent solution that didn't involve him going back to that group home. His ears drooping slightly he nodded, "I'll pay. Just get me out of here!" He slung his backpack over his shoulder and looked up at the larger student expectantly.

A slow knowing smile spread over the fennec's face as he turned and motioned for Audio to follow him. They went down the nearly empty hallway until a smaller one branched off to the left, making sure that no one noticed them taking that second hall the fennec hurried Audio along until they came to an unmarked door that the fennec hadn't known existed, it was locked but the older boy had a key that unlocked it. There were stairs up behind the door and with a last glance behind them to make sure no one saw, Audio darted through the doorway and up the stairs. His guide paused long enough to relock the door before following him up.

* * * * *

Kris was finally starting to walk on his own when Venn got him out of the car at his apartment building. Though he was still leaning on the horse for support. "Come on Kris you need to pay attention now, I don't know which apartment is yours."

Jennifur had directed he get the boy home as soon as possible and bundled into his bed where he'd stay warm to counter the shock. She said he'd need to go see a doctor in the next few days to make sure the damage was healing properly and to find out what it was the boy was allergic to. She'd also given him some Benadryl with strict instructions to take it every four hours to counter the usual allergy side effects like swelling and itching. What she hadn't said was how to explain the incident to the boy's father.

Kris pointed to the stairs and Venn sighed inwardly, of course it wouldn't be a main floor apartment. With great care the two of them made it up the stairs to the second level where Kris again pointed, this time down the hall and Venn blessed any and all gods that he didn't have to try to get the boy up a second flight. He indicated a door on the right and Venn helped him in that direction. "Is your Dad home?"

Kris shook his head even as he reached into his pocket to find the key. "No, he'll be at the gym for another half hour at least. He gets home when you let us out of the pool for the evening on nights when we have practice." Kris sounded so tired, granted Jennifur had said he'd be tired for a few days while the medication worked with his body's natural defenses but he hadn't been expecting this lethargy.

As the boy opened the door he suddenly went stiff, turning to face Venn with wide awake eyes. He slipped through the partially open doorway and held it mostly closed as he spoke with the horse. "Er Coach, I don't think... I mean Dad isn't home right now and... I'm awful tired. Can't you just call him or something?"

For a moment Venn felt like the boy was hiding something but then the implications of going into the apartment with an under aged boy and no parental supervision sunk in and he took a step back. "Good thought. Give me his number and I'll call him as soon as I get back to the car." Kris gave him the number and waited while Venn put it into his phone, he wanted to say more but held his tongue, what he wanted to say might sound bad to anyone who was lurking about in the hallway. In stead he settled for, "Try and get some sleep." Before he turned his back and walked slowly away from the boys door.

* * * * *

Kittara walked into the house and called out, "Audio, what did you do?" only to find Kerris in the kitchen looking at her like she'd lost her mind.

"He's not home yet." The older fox frowned and canted his head at her, "Why are you home? Don't you both have swim practice tonight?" He looked at the clock to make sure he wasn't mistaken about the time.

The vixen pulled up short and stared at Kerris. "He didn't come home?" She dropped her backpack in the entryway and shoved the door closed behind her then made her way to where the older fox was preparing something for dinner. "He left before Krista and I went to get Jennifur, he should have been home ages ago." She reached out and stole a piece of cheese from the cutting board Kerris was working with.

Kerris mock growled and batted at her paw with his own, "That's for dinner, get a snack out of the fridge if you want something now." Then he went thoughtful for a moment before asking, "Why did you have to get Jennifur?" He kept his ears turned toward her as he worked on cutting the cheese into small slices to cover the lasagne that he was just about finished putting together.

Kittara jerked the fridge open and stuck her head into it coming up with a Hotpocket and a bottle of strawberry kiwi juice. "As near as we can figure it out Audio did something to Kris' swim suit and he had an allergic reaction to whatever it was. At least we all assume it was Audio since he lit out of there like his tail was on fire when Kris started screaming!" She popped the Hotpocket into the microwave and hit the buttons to turn it on, "Coach was blistering mad when he figured out who had to have done it. I've never seen him so angry before." She leaned her back against the counter opening her drink while she waited for the microwave to ding.

Kerris stopped moving his eyes widening, then turned to his cutting board and started putting things away. "That must be why he wanted the muscle cream this morning. Good lord! If it was just supposed to be a prank..." He frowned as he carefully cleaned the knife he'd been using, dried it and put it away where it belonged. "We'll wait till Mythic gets home and see if Audio comes back on his own but if he doesn't we'll have to go find him." They had about an hour before the other fox would be home so Kerris put the lasagne into the preheated oven and tidied up the kitchen, finishing up the dishes that he'd used in his preparations.

The microwave chirped and Kittara busied herself pulling the Hotpocket out and blowing on it to cool it. "I don't get why he didn't come home yet though, I mean sure you and Mythic are likely to be upset but no where near as mad as coach was." She bit into the hot treat and had to stop talking as she tried to breathe cool air over the too hot morsel in her mouth.

Kerris settled into a kitchen chair facing her, "Think about it Kitt, he's been through a lot of changes in the last few months and all the sudden he's facing two angry parents. Don't you remember when he first came to live with us how skittish he was, it's possible he thinks we won't want him any more because of this." There was a deep sadness in his voice as he said this.

Once she had swallowed she snorted, "That's just stupid! Doesn't he know that family means you stick together through good and bad times?" She took a bite of the now much cooler snack and chewed thoughtfully.

"You and I know that but remember Audio came from a different kind of family, they didn't support each other like we do and that makes it hard for him sometimes when things like this happen." He was about to go on when he heard a knock on the front door. Standing up he headed for the door calling back over his shoulder, "Kitt, take your bag up to your room please." The vixen sighed but followed him toward the door to retrieve her backpack they reached the door together in time to hear an impatient second knock on the solid oak.

When the door opened a very flustered Venn nearly dropped his cellphone which was giving him a busy signal yet again. "Oh Kerris, you startled me. Is Audio home? I need to ask him some questions about something that happened in the locker room this evening." He shoved his phone into his pocket and tried not to look like he was about to chew the fennec's head off.

Kerris having already heard the just of it from Kittara shook his head. "No, we haven't seen him. I'm actually a little worried that he hasn't come home yet." He looked at the vixen who made a point of picking up her backpack and walking heavily up the stairs. "Come in, let's go over what happened and see if we can't find some way out of this mess." He pushed the door further open and stepped back to give the horse room to enter.

* * * * *

Tap, tap, tap. Someone was knocking on the apartment door. Tap, tap, tap.

Kris pulled his pillow over his head and whimpered. Why couldn't whoever it was just go away! He was so sore and tired, he just wanted to sleep until the pain went away.

The knocking continued getting more insistent. Thump, thump, thump!

Sighing heavily Kris threw his pillow off and rolled onto his back. "I'm coming..." he said in a voice that was no where near loud enough to be heard by whoever it was that wasn't letting him sleep.

Thump, thump, bang! That last knock sounded like they were trying to take the door off the hinges.

Whimpering he pulled himself off his bed and hobbled toward the door. He raised his voice and called out, "I'm coming, all ready!" The trip down the hallway made him wince with every staggering step. HIs paws lowered of their own will, reaching ineffectually toward his groin as if he could stop the returning pain by cupping it. He finally reached his goal after what seemed like hours walking on broken glass and leaned his head against the door for a moment taking a few deep breaths. Once he felt like he could handle the pain again, for a few moments at least, he stepped back and carefully opened the door without taking the chain off.

Standing on the other side was his mother, looking worried and mad all at the same time. "Kris? What took so long? Are you all right? Where is your father?" She reached up and placed a palm on the door giving it a gentle push that met with an abrupt stop as the chain fetched up against the wood. "Are you going to let me in?"

He winced when she started asking a million questions and nodded slightly, "Yeah, just give me a second to get the chain off?" He pushed the door closed and worked the chain free before letting his mother push the door open again. "Something happened at school today--" He started to explain to her when she interrupted.

"I know the nurse called my cell. Are you alright? Why didn't your father take you to the hospital?" She took him into her arms and held him her paws stroking soothingly up and down his back over the t-shirt he'd donned with the Coach's help.

He couldn't help whimpering a little as he was forced to bend down to hug her in return. "He's not home, probably still at the gym. Coach was supposed to call him."

His wince didn't go unnoticed by his mother, "Sorry baby, here let's get you into the car and have that checked out by a doctor. Maybe they'll have something better to help with the pain." She left him standing in the open doorway leaning against the frame and headed into the living room. "Just let me--" She stopped suddenly with a sharply indrawn breath.

Kris had just enough warning for his eyes to widen before she turned abruptly on her heel. "Come on Kris, we're leaving." Her voice sounded tight and controlled like she was holding herself back from saying something. Kris tried to remember what the room had been left looking like but wasn't able to recall anything clearly right now.

In short order Clawdia had him ensconced in the back of her limo, the apartment door securely locked behind them. When Kris had tried a feeble protest, "What about clothes mom?" She'd looked even more determined to hustle him out.

"Jonathon can do a quick shopping run for you while we're at the doctor's office." She'd nodded to the good looking silver fox who drove her everywhere and settled back into the plush seat pulling Kris' head down into her lap. "Just rest loveling, we'll get a doctor to have a look at you and see if we can get you something for the pain." That last was in response to his pitiful whimpering.

He must have drifted off at some point in the drive, his eyes opened to Jonathon's face leaning over him. "Think you can slide out of the car Mr. Kristopher? I'll help as much as I can, your mother is already inside talking with the receptionist. She wanted to let you sleep as long as possible before you had to move." There was real concern in Jon's voice, which didn't surprise Kris at all, Jon had been his mother's driver since before he was born.

He bit back a yelp of pain as he sat up, skin grabbed at skin in his nether region making every move painful beyond anything he'd felt in his short life. "I'll try." He got out between clenched teeth as he took Jon's hand and scooted along the back seat toward the open door.

* * * * *

The taller Fennec lead Audio into a dorm room on the second floor of the school building. Inside were three other boys all Seniors, a doberman, a lynx and a horse, sitting around on their beds. They'd been talking about something when the door opened but as he and the older Fennec entered they all fell silent and the horse hid something under his pillow. "Fuck Zeke! Bloody knock before you come in will you! You gave me a fright!" The horse had a strange accent, something that Audio couldn't place right away.

"Calm down," The Fennec, whose name appeared to be Zeke said scornfully, "You know they don't do a bed check until nine on a school night." He slouched into a chair and propped his feet up on the nearest of the four beds.

"Who the hell is that?" came from the Doberman as he angled his muzzle toward Audio.

Zeke looked back at the smaller boy still standing in the doorway and shrugged one shoulder slightly. "The answer to our problem." He waved Audio into the room and grinned at the other three boys. "This here's my new protege! Aren't you kid?"

Audio frowned slightly but went to stand beside the larger fennec. "Uh... I'm Audio." He didn't bother with holding his paw out for any of them to shake, instead wrapping his arms around himself and holding tightly to the shoulder straps of his backpack.

Zeke grinned, "Little Audio is going to slip into the Dean's office for us since I've gotten too big to fit. In exchange he needs us to give him a good place to hide, think we can manage that fellows?" The Lynx looked speculatively at Audio while the other two boys broke into nasty sounding laughter.

"Sure we can do that for him, but he'll have to do more then just break into the office for us." The lynx licked his lips slowly in a way that Audio recognized, it made him shiver and look away from the feline.

"Now, now," Zeke said slipping one hand onto Audio's shoulder. "None of that now. You all know how much we've got riding on this little caper, don't go scaring the kit before we get the goods." He glared around at the three older boys until the laughter stopped and the lynx looked away. "Now then, we need to fill our little friend in on what the plan is so he is up to speed." Pulling Audio down onto the bed Zeke leaned in and whispered, "Don't worry I got your back little dude." Which was supposed to be reassuring but only made Audio tremble and wonder just what he'd gotten himself into.

* * * * *

Mythic was livid! Not that Audio had played a prank that went south, but that the kit had felt he needed to run away rather then come home and face the music. "Do we know if he left the school at all?"

Venn shook his head, his eyes on the pacing fox. but it was Kerris that answered him, "No, Kitt said she never saw him on her way home."

"Okay," Mythic took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "That's where we'll start then. Venn the last place you saw him was in the pool right?"

The horse sat up a little straighter and nodded, "Yes, he'd just left the changing room when we had our initial meeting poolside, before I took the new team members to get their suits." He frowned for a moment then added, "However he wasn't there when I went out to cancel the practice and send the kits home. Kittara and Krista had run off to get the nurse but Audio had just vanished."

The foxes nodded, Mythic heading for the front door and Kerris calling up the stairs to Kittara that they'd be out but to call his cell if Audio came home.

Within minutes they were standing in the pool enclosure, the two foxes sniffing the air like feral dogs as they tried to find Audio's scent over the smell of the chemicals used in the water. "This way!" Mythic took the lead once more as he caught a faint scent of the boy crossed his nose. Kerris picked it up at the doors and they moved together down a small hallway to the left pausing at a locked door. "Where does this lead?" The taller fox asked as Kerris bent down to examine the lock.

Venn frowned slightly, "Up into the dormitories. Audio shouldn't be up there." He fumbled for his key card handing it to Kerris as the fox looked up at him. "Here this should open it." A little swipe of the card and the door clicked letting the buff fox pull it open even as he handed the card back to Venn.

Mythic again took the lead heading up the stairs to another locked door at the top. "I'm guessing they don't want the non resident students up here." He stepped out of the way as Venn reached over Kerris' shoulder to swipe his card in the reader.

* * * * *

Audio whimpered trying to squirm his way free but it was impossible pinned as he was under the weight of both the horse and the doberman. The Lynx had Zeke up against the wall holding him there even as he watched with the horse was doing. "Think of it like initiation kit, just something that we all have to go through before we can be trusted with the big secrets." Almost absently he shoved Zeke back into the wall when the Fennec tried to push him away. "Now Zeke, you brought him up here what'd you think was going to happen?"

The horse was sitting on his knees holding him down even as his paws fumbled the helpless boy's pants down. "Quit your squirming, it ain't going to do no good." He smacked his hand into Audio's bare ass before he started fumbling with his own pants.

"Stop it!" Zeke said through gritted teeth, struggling against the larger Lynx's hold on him. "He's just a kit! I bet he doesn't even understand what you guys are doing!" Again he tried to push the lynx off him but to no effect.

"Zeke, Zeke, Zeke," tisked the lynx, "You'll get your turn. Just be patient." This made the Doberman and the horse laugh even as the sound of a zipper going down made Audio buck hard against the dog's hold on his shoulders.

The horse spat loudly into his open palm making Audio cringe, no matter what they thought he knew what was about to happen, and it terrified him.

The door came smashing inward bounced off the wall and swung back toward the outstretched arm of the enraged fox who'd just thrown it open. "What the hell do you think you're doing to my son?" Then Mythic was in the room and Audio felt the horse stagger back away from him as the dog jumped off the bed and backed away hands held up over his head.

Before he had a chance to collect himself Kerris was there, pulling his pants up and helping him roll onto his back. "Are you alright Sport? Did they hurt you?" The older fox's hands on his shoulders and the look of distress in his eyes undid Audio's composure and he flung himself at Kerris hiding his face in the older todd's shirt and clinging to him as he felt the tears he'd been holding back spilling down his cheeks. He heard several loud curses and a few thumps then all was quiet.

"I think you boys have some explaining to do." Venn said in a deadly quiet tone from somewhere near the place Zeke had been pushed up against the wall.

* * * * *

An eternity of torture later, Kris was the proud owner of another small pot of salve and a prescription for some heavy duty pain killers, two of which he'd already taken, when Clawdia's phone rang. The sudden sound shattered the quiet of the back of the limo bringing Kris back from his exhausted doze with a start.

"Hello?" His mother was trying to keep her voice down and had one paw on his head slowly stroking his hair back. "This is she. How can I help you?" He couldn't hear the response from the caller but his mother's hand stopped moving in his fur. "I don't think this is a good time."

Kris turned his head so he was looking up into his mother's face. "What's up?" He had a pretty good idea what it was, work. But she'd be too worried about him to go and he didn't want that. He yawned hugely then suggested, "Can you come back next weekend? I feel so tired right now that I could sleep a whole week."

For a moment the diminutive feline looked torn, but as Kris snuggled into her lap a little more she smiled down at him and told whoever it was on the phone she'd be there before hanging up. "My Darling boy are you sure you'll be all right? I mean..." She winced at the memory of what she'd seen in the living room but didn't comment on it. "Will your father be home by now?" Kris nodded even as he drifted back to sleep, the car silently making a turn to head back toward the apartment he shared with his father.