{"sf1_id":796156,"sf2_id":null,"title":"The Adventures of Peter Gray chapter 2: New to the Neighborhood","author":"Domus Vocis","words":3184,"posted_at":"2014-12-16T00:30:00.000Z","tags":["City","Dream","Emotional","Fantasy","Flirtation","Friendship","German Shepherd","House","Humor","Introduction","Kissing","Mouse","Multiple Species","New York","New York City","Plot Development","Puberty","Public","Science Fiction","Shy","SoFurry","Story Series","Street urchin","Winter","Wolf","holidays","hug","innocence","laugh","prologue","teen","young romance"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/796156-the-adventures-of-peter-gray-chapter-2-new-to-the-neighborhood","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/796156","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=796156\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Chapter 2New in the Neighborhood           \"Get outta there ya filthy brat!\" the restaurant owner, probably\ndrunk of his arse again, threw the bottle, missing me muzzle by a mere\npinprick. \"Go back to the sewer ya crawled outta, ya here?! Stay out of my\ngarbage!\" \n          I dodged his next bottle, and\nfled out of the alley like the plague, the screams of the elder cat still\nringing in me ears. Boy, that guy needs a\nnap big time, I thought. Note to\nself: never ask a hungover cat for food anytime soon...          As I got out into the street, the howling wind of Manhattan\nmocked me for not asking yesterday, when the cat was probably sober enough to\nat least be polite about saying, \"No table scraps. Good day.\"          I walked outta the alley and down to a road of apartments\nand many different species. There were badgers, wolves, cats, and even a few\notters shivering in the winter. Ever since New Year's Day, the weather went\nfrom bad to improved. The wind became less, but I kept cursing Mother Nature\nfor her joking around with New York when she coulda been in Alaska.           As I started to turn a corner, I suddenly felt cold, hard\nground. \"Aye!\" I fell on me tail and winced at the pain. A couple of ladies in\nfake fur coats laughed at me pain, while a wolf gent offered me assistance.           \"Are you alright, young man?\" he asked me. He strolled over\nwith his cane and offered me his paw. \"Do you need help?\"          I took it and he hoisted me up. \"Aye, no thank ya, sir,\" I\nsteadied myself on the icy ground.          He tipped his hat. \"Then have a good day,\" the gent smiled\nat me and turned into the crowd.                     As I started to walk, I realized what happened and madly groaned.\nMe pants were wet and frozen solid. I angrily looked up at the sky and sighed. \"Ya\njust love making me miserable this\nyear, don't Ya?\" I did me best in shaking some forming icicles off me tail and\nrubbed me paws together as I edged through crowds of people.           About an hour or so, me footpaws and paws felt as solid as\nstone, almost becoming heavy for me to lift. I needed to get warm soon.By\nthe time I was nearing the local school, I got a neat idea in my special noggin.\nLance and his brothers were soon to be outta their classes and they owned a\nheater (pretty good for them being a raccoon family). All I had to do was go to\ntheir home and I'd be warmer than a moth in May. But\nas my hopes rose, I remembered. Ugh,\nI thought bitterly, let's just hope I can\nwoo their mama or I'll be really cold tonight... After\nhalf an hour of walking through snow deeper than a sewer, and passing through\nvast crowds of gents and ladies scurrying away, I made it to the East end. Ah\nyes, in all me life I never felt at home there, where kids and cubs were the\nmost with their parents. Its apartments and houses were small and sometimes cramped,\nbut it also became lively in both winter and summer. At least, when school\nwasn't here. Still, I noticed a couple of young spaniels playing on a frozen road\nwhile their parents yelled at them. I even spotted Old Man Holler screaming at\na street lamp to watch itself.  At last, I spotted the school and its iron\ngates that led to the open playground. Grinning, me footpaws ran me over in a\nsquick and I waited, standing beside the gates in hopes the guards didn't\ndecide to bully me. I was freezing and I didn't need no adult pushing me today.It\nhad been ten minutes since the bell shoulda rung, but I was almost a frozen\nstatue. \"Ugh, would ya hurry up ya raccoons?\" I muttered harshly. \"I swear if\nthat bell doesn't ring soon I'm gonna ring their necks...\" I breathed on me paws\nand groaned. \"Somebody hang me-\"Just\nas the words came outta me mouth, I heard the bells ring and a grin form across\nme muzzle. Soon, cubs and kits of all species, but most of them canine and\nfeline, ran outta the school and laughed as I stood there. I earned meself a\nfew noticeable stares, but the rest were more welcoming.Then,\na twelve year-old badger came out with a group of other carnivores and looked\nat me, \"Well!\" he pointed to me and chuckled, \"If it isn't Peter Gray! Glad you\nsurvived another night!\" He waved while walking outta the front gate.\"I\ndon't plan to!\" I shouted back.I\nwas even well-known with the younger ones. One\nwas a first grade mouse whose father I borrowed money from. \"'ello Peter!\" he\nsmiled brightly. Note: he happened to look up to me, so to speak. I\nmeekly waved. \"'ello there...\" I said. \"Good day at school today?\"\"Yep!\"\nhe laughed. \"See ya around, Peter!\" He walked away when his mother scurried him\naway, while she gave me a scowl in the process. My\nears folded and me tail's fur crawled. I wasn't exactly 'popular' with the\nparents around New York. Okay, I wasn't exactly that Roosevelt fellow, but the\nadults tended to look at me and see only an urchin. Well, I was an urchin, but\nthey saw me like well...a piece of coal among diamonds. \"Peter!\"\nI felt meself stagger forward. \"Glad to see ya, buddy!\" He quickly let go and\nturned me around to widened green eyes. \"Oh my gosh, are you okay?\" I\nstruggled not to laugh at his confused face. \"Okay? O-O-Okay?\" I sneezed into\nme paws. \"I'm p-practically frozen w-wolf sushi here.\"As\nsoon as Bobby and Billy arrived from their classrooms, Lance and the other two\neagerly agreed to gimme some time with their heater. Billy even eagerly handed\nme his coat, though for only until I had me tail warmed up. As\nsoon as we began walking over to their apartment, Bobby spoke to Billy. \"Do you\nthink mum will allow us to help him?\" he whispered. I\nflicked me ears. \"I'm not so sure,\" Billy replied. \"I doubt she'll let him live\never since his um...last visit.\" I heard snickering. Me throat\ncleared loudly. \"Hey!\" I spoke up in annoyance. When I turned to them, I pulled\nthe warm coat closer as a gust of wind visited. \"It was an accident and me head\nwas not thinking straight...\" \"You\nwalked in on our mum taking a bath and didn't look away.\" Lance spoke deadpan. \"And\nyou ran out laughing like a lunatic when she threw her brush at you.\"Billy\nhowled with laughter behind us. \"Oh yeah!\" he giggled like an eleven year-old,\nthen again he and Bobby were eleven.\n\"I can still remember her face when she came outta the tub. She was more pissed\nthan a rattlesnake!\" He and Bobby laughed more. \"And from how she's been\nacting, I wouldn't be surprised if she baked you into her next pie!\" Again, that horrid laughter. It\nwas easy to ignore their teases mainly for focusing on keeping warm with their\ncoat. Still, me footpaws felt numb enough for me to stagger on several\noccasions. Luckily, Lance helped me up while Bobby and Billy got distracted\nwith joining kids on riding the back of a streetcar. A bloody streeycar. Billy even grabbed his\ncoat off of me while giving a goofy face. \"Remind me to shave\ntheir tails next time they ask for me help,\" I asked Lance in a low growl.           \"Gladly,\" he agreed with a curling tail. \"I'll even make\nyou a coat from their tail fur.\" We got a real good laugh outta that idea.We\nwere already on their street, not far from the apartment building the raccoons\nlived in. It was a nice and often empty street, even if the trash and smell of\ndecay clogged me nose like smoke. The snow helped a bit this time, as well as\nthe fact a butcher lived nearby covered the smell for most of us, but the\nbloody factories blocks away were kind enough with their ashes and soot.  At\nlast, me eyes spotted the building, and its prominent clothes lines above us.\nBut what caught me eyes was a large carriage parked by a tenant next door, and\na few adults whispering to each other opposite of the street. Suddenly,\nme eyes spotted something I thought I'd never see. It\nheld the skin color of a pig, but walked on two straight legs. It was flat muzzled,\nand had small stubby ears covered by wool hats. They also wore wool coats,\nprobably from feral sheep and gloves. And there were two of them, one older and\none probably me and Lance's age, both carrying heavy luggage while an older\nwolf helped with them. I\nheard the older man say, \"That's the last of it,\" he handed coins to the wolf.\n\"Thank you so much, sir. Here you go.\" The wolf kindly took the money and went\naway with his carriage. \"Oh\nmy gosh,\" Lance said in surprise. \"Are those...humans?\"I\nslowly nodded. \"Me eyes don't deceive...so I guess so?\"Humans\nwere a very strange species on Earth, having no fur or tail as a distinct\nfeature to them. They even held not as strong of noses as every other species\ndid. I remember once reading in a newspaper that humans were scattered across\nthe planet and often in bands like packs, keeping together and struggling the\nmost in winter. It wasn't until decades ago that it was considered illegal to\nkeep them as slaves, thanks to a kind wolf named Lincoln. Some, mainly canines,\nstill look down on them as dirtier than soot in snow.Personally,\nas long as they had a stove and coal, any humans was me friend.As\nme and Lance got closer, the young one saw us. \"Hello there,\" he smiled\nwide-eyed, then called out, \"Hey dad, are they our neighbors?\" The\nolder human turned to us with some luggage and looked at us in surprise. \"I'm\nnot sure, scamp,\" he said, then turned to me and Lance. \"Are you with them?\"\nFrom his gaze, me eyes could tell they were looking at the crowd of adults that\ngathered opposite of us. While\nLance was hypnotized by seeing a human up close, I was more of a social gent.\n\"Nah, I'm not with that lot,\" I smiled while tapping me cap. \"Me friend here\nthough lives next door to ya.\"  I turned\naround and saw the raccoon was speechless like an idiot. \"Hey Lancie, wake up!\"\nI snapped me fingers and he dazed outta his dreams.\"Oh-Oh,\nhello sir!\"  he nervously walked next to\nme, still keeping his eyes on the humans. \"Do...do you need any help?\"\"I\nwas about to ask the same friend for your friend,\" the father said with a smile.\n\"You look like you're a frozen statue, lad.\" A\ngust of wind blew by, and I shivered again. \"Touché,\" I chuckled, curling me\ntail around me leg. \"I fell in a p-puddle earlier and I'm turning into the Hudson.\"\"But\ndon't wolves have thick fur?\"\"Just\nbecause I have fur doesn't make me a darn fireplace...\"The\nfather lifted a piece of luggage and grinned. \"Would you like to warm up\ninside?\" he asked. \"I'm pretty sure my wife Laura already started up the stove.\"Just\nlike that, me eyes lit up and a smile formed across me muzzle. \"Oh God bless ya\nsir! Thank you to the ends of the earth sir!\" With a wagging tail I happily\nwalked over to the man. I extended a paw for me to shake his...God what was the\nword...'hand'? \"The name is Peter sir. Peter Gray. The raccoon that's staring at\nyou two is named Lance.\"\"Hey\nI wasn't staring!\" Lance shot. \"I just...I've never seen a human this close\nbefore...\"The\nman chuckled. \"It's okay; I can honestly say the same about you two. I'm Henry\nLawton,\" he happily shook me paw. At first, it felt weird shaking the hand of a\nhuman, but it felt firm in me paw. \"That wee one over there is my son, James.\nJames, say hello to Peter and Lance.\"\"Hello!\"\nJames lit his face up as he climbed the small stone stairs and to the door.\n\"Uh, a little help please?\"Lance\nquickly went up the stairs and opened the door for young James and Mr. Lawton,\nand we went up a flight of stairs to the third floor. Mr. Lawton gave Lance the\nkey and opened the door for him while they brought the last luggage inside. I've\nbeen in tenants and apartments before, but I had never been in a human's tenant room before. It was a\nrather large room with boxes and luggage piled around, but with enough room to\nhold a small family. Speaking of which, two other humans were inside, both of\nthem female and wearing warm dresses and with pale skin. The eldest had to be\nthe wife, but the small girl sitting on the table I did not know.As\nsoon as everyone went inside though, I felt a sharp pain in me tail as James\nclosed the door.  \"Dang it all!\" I yelped with baring fangs.While\nLance fought back a giggle, the human boy rambled on with apologies. \"Oh my\ngosh, I'm so sorry! I'm so, so, so\nsorry!\" James quickly opened the door. \"I hope it's not broken?\" I\npulled me numb tail outta it and glared in annoyance at the door behind me.\n\"Ugh, ya wooden demon!\" I kicked the blasted thing and it felt like me footpaw bones\nshattered. \"Aye, damn it!\" I\nhopped on me other footpaw and glared for a moment at Mr. Lawton as he laughed\nalong with the giggling human girl who sat at the table. \"He\nhe he!\" she laughed. \"Funny doggy!\" Aye,\nshe was cute, so I couldn't be mean to her for laughing at me misery. Mr.\nLawton however, showcased it like a show. \"Be careful next time, James,\" he\nsaid while shaking his head. \"Fursons are very sensitive with their tails.\nEspecially wolves, not doggies Annabelle.\"\"'Sensitive'?\nTry brittle as a twig,\" I smoothed the fur out and sighed at me numb limbs, but\nas soon as I saw the stove on the other end of the room, I laughed. \"Excuse me...\"\nI scooted past them placed me hands near the stove's flame. I made sure not to\nget in her way, but I couldn't help with the lovely heat. \"Well,\nlooks like you adopted a child without my permission Henry,\" the human woman\nchuckled. It took me a moment of bliss to realize it was Mrs. Lawton. \"And who\nis this lad over there?\" I\nheard Lance shuffle behind me. \"I'm your new neighbor ma'am,\" he spoke kindly.\n\"My name's Lance Turner, and the loon over there is Peter.\"          I ignored Lance's comment as I had died and went to heaven.\nThe fire under the stove was blissful to me paws, and the radiance from the\ncoal melted the ice in me fur.           \"Forgive me for asking but where are you from?\" Lance\nasked.          \"Buffalo! Buffalo!\" Annabelle squeaked with kicking feet.\nShe had to be no older than a kindergartener. \"We're from Buffalo!\" She turned\nto her mom with a smile. \"Isn't that right mommy?\"          Mrs. Lawton laughed while putting something in the soup she\nmade. Up close I could make it out as a spice. \"Yes, we came all the way from\nBuffalo,\" she added kindly. \"My husband got a job here in the city that pays\nmore and we thought a change of pace would be kind to the children.\"          \"You can say that again, Mom,\" James spoke up. \"This city\nis huge!\" He turned to Mr. Lawton.\n\"How big is it again Dad?\"          He sighed. \"I dunno...about three million here,\" he said,\ncausing Annabelle to widen her blue eyes. \"Yep, that many people.\"          \"Alright, the soup is ready everyone!\" Mrs. Lawton happily\nannounced. \"My special recipe of broccoli and steak soup, fresh from the pot.\"\nShe turned to me and Lance. \"Would you young fursons care for some?\"          I was about to ask, \"'Fursons'? Is that what ya humans call\nus?\" when the thought of food distracted me words.           While Lance was eager to have a bowl, I felt a bit\nreluctant to have a sip of it. However, the overwhelming smell caused me tummy\nto growl louder than a lion, so I had a taste.           And boy did I love\nit!          Not only did the soup stop me hunger, but the mere taste\nsent me tongue in an eager addiction for more. Mr. and Mrs. Lawton were kind\nenough to allow me seconds and thirds, along with a slice of fresh bread the\nMrs. Bought while stopping by the market earlier.           \"Are you two angels? Because I have a feeling me heart\nstopped and me soul went to heaven here,\" I laughed while taking down another\nmorsel of bread. \"I\nhope you have enough money though?\" Lance asked, rubbing his stomach. \"I'd hate\nto be...you know...robbing off of you...\"          \"Don't worry, you two,\" Mrs. Lawton replied with a smile.\n\"We'd be bad Christians for not helping fellow New Yorkers out, wouldn't we?\"           \"Especially if one of you is our new neighbor,\" the Mr.\nspoke. \"James here is starting school tomorrow and I bet he can't wait to make\nnew friends.\" When James commented on how he's already made some, both of us\nlaughed. \"So Peter, Lance, what grade are you two in?\"          I paused for a moment, with Lance glancing at me and Mr.\nLawton's family with mixed expressions.          I folded me ears slightly. \"Well...you see I'm not a regular\nNew York cub...\"          When the humans looked to each other with raised eyebrows,\nLance had to add, \"Peter is an urchin, been an orphan his whole life.\"          Mrs. Lawton gave me these motherly eyes that looked sad.\n\"You poor boy,\" she spoke. \"How do you survive?\"I\nlifted me muzzle and attempted a smile. \"Well...I grew up in an-\"          All of a sudden, the door to the stairs opened, and a\nfamiliar muzzle appeared. \"Hello?\" it was an elder raccoon wearing a coat, and\ncarried a baked pie in both her paws. \"Oh hello, sir. You must be Mr. Lawton,\nmy new neighbor-\"           Our eyes locked like a predator and prey, but she was the predator and I was the prey. I stood up more frozen\nthan before.           Lance choked a moment. \"Mom?!\" he gasped.          I gulped in fear, then chuckled nervously while scratching\nthe back of me head. \"Uh...h-hello, Mrs. Turner,\" I meekly waved. \"Uh...you look l-lovely today.\"          Anger burned her eyes. \"You devil! Come over here!\"          \"WellI'dlovetochatmorebutIhaveplacestogothankssomuch!\"          I ran past Mrs. Turner and heard her shouting mean things\nthat'd make a nun faint. But before I ran past the door and down the street, I\nshouted up above, \"Welcome\nto the neighborhood!\"","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/795120-the-adventures-of-peter-gray-chapter-1-new-year-s-day.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/797891-the-adventures-of-peter-gray-chapter-3-attempts-for-a-valentine-s-day-kiss.json"}