Out In The Country
This is my first story in some time. I've been working on it for a while ( among others ) and tweaking it in order to get it just so. That said, this is less of a sex story and more the prelude ( or perhaps an extended prologue, if you will ) to what may become a series. I say 'may' because anything I outright intend to become a series goes down faster than a mayfly on the Hindenburg. If this is received well, then I will likely do more. If it isn't, then I will focus my attention elsewhere.
As just sort of a general nudge as to what I have in the works, I may be featuring another well loved lion in a coming story, so keep your eyes peeled if you're a fan of him.
If you are under age for your given territory, if you do not like gay smut, or if you otherwise barred by law or by personal taste then please don't read the story below. To all others, enjoy.
Early morning, or late at night. Stanley didn't know which of the two it was. He'd woken up an hour or two ago and stumbled his way into his kitchen to sit at the table, alone, but for a dwindling six pack of Miller Light to keep him company. A few short days ago, the rabbit had gotten notice that he was due for another deployment in the sandbox. Ever since then he hadn't been able to get a damn bit of sleep, and even chasing sleeping pills with whiskey only gave him a few hours of peace. It wasn't that he was afraid of dying, no, that was a fear he'd learned to deal with years ago. It wasn't that he'd be leaving his friends behind either, for many of them would be serving side by side with him. It was, more than anything else, the knowledge that he'd be leaving his son Jason behind.
He hadn't taken it well the last time Stanley was deployed. Jason's mother had told Stanley that he'd had trouble sleeping, and his usually high grades slipped considerably. No matter how much she had spoiled him or tried to distract him, nothing seemed to get the rabbit's mind off his father. When Sandra had given birth to Jason years ago, Stanley had promised to himself to be everything that his own father was not. Loving, affectionate, warm.. There were times where he disappointed his son, and there were times he couldn't be there.. But he'd always tried. There was a terrible irony in the fact that the bond built upon love and the best of intentions now brought his son so much misery in his absence.
Making matters worse was a call he'd gotten from his ex-wife earlier that day. She had to attend to important business in Asia, something critical to the plans of the company she worked for. All day long, Stanley had been turning it all over in his head again and again. Where could he send his son? Who could he trust with his flesh and blood? The longer he thought about it, the more his mind focused on the people he knew over the years, the more one name stood out above all the others.
Joseph. The name rang as true and clear as a church bell in his mind every time he thought it. They'd grown up together in a small town in Kansas, gone to the same school, played on the same football team.. There wasn't a day that went by without them getting into some kind of trouble. When they both hit eighteen, they'd even enlisted in the army together under the buddy program.
But now.. Joseph had left the army years ago and moved back out west, and Stanley was stationed on Long Island. They kept in touch, through phone calls and the occasional letter.. But they both had their jobs, and more importantly, their sons to take care of. Though Joseph had been married when they were in the army, his marriage ended in divorce just before he'd moved back out west. Stanley pushed himself up from his seat and walked across the kitchen to snatch the cordless phone from it's cradle.
In every direction, there were the nearly unblemished colors of nature. Greens and yellows, tans and browns, all stretching out together across the pristine countryside. It was a far cry from the dismal stone greys, brick reds, and iron blacks of New York City. There wasn't a deli or a bagel shop in sight, not one bakery, not even a single run down Italian restaurant on the verge of collapse. The further his father drove him from civilization, the more Jason wondered just how he was going to survive without all the things he'd come to know and love.
"What'cha thinking, son?" Stanley asked, glancing away from the road to look at the brown and white rabbit in the passenger seat.
"I'm thinking if we drive much longer we're gonna fall off the edge of the Earth." He mumbled. His father laughed and cuffed him on the back of his head.
"It's not that far off in the sticks. If you saw some of the places I lived, shit. Ever heard of a place called Emporia, Kansas?"
"No."
"Neither has the rest of the world." His father hunched over the steering wheel of his rented sedan, squinting at every mailbox they approached. "You mad at me?"
"No." Jason looked down at the seat between his thighs, then at his father. The truth was that he wasn't mad at him, he was mad at the army uniform he was wearing. He was mad at what it meant, that his father would be leaving. The last time he was deployed, Jason stayed with his mother.. But that wasn't an option this time. She was doing something, business in China or Thailand or some other Asian country. Jason didn't really care which.
"You still love me?" Stanley turned his head to meet his son's green eyes, their gazes lingering on one another.
"Always and forever." Jason murmured. It was something his father had always said when he tucked him in at night, back when he was smaller. 'I love you son, always and forever.'. The words brought back crystal clear memories of teddy bears cast in the glow of a night light, and of the warm, comforting smell of a child's room.
"Always and forever." His father promised in return, scruffling up Jason's short, curly red hair. Their car crested a tiny hill, and there they found a black mailbox on a crooked post nearly consumed by a patch of tall grass. The faded white letters on the side spelled out the name 'Hall'.
"Dad!"
"I see it!" Stanley jerked the car to a halt, then carefully eased the sedan onto a narrow gravel driveway. The house the car was approaching was, like everything Jason had seen so far, not at all what he had expected. It was a stout structure composed of stones of varying shades of grey, with long chimney made of similar stones climbing up it's left side. The front of the house bore a roofed over porch with a rocking chair at one end, and a large wooden bench swing on the other.
"How old did you say this guy was again.. ?" Jason asked apprehensively as he pictured himself spending the summer with a crotchety old man.
"Relax. He's not much older than I am, and he has a son about your age."
"Kids live out here?" His father laughed, mistaking his son's genuine surprise for sarcasm.
"Just grab your bag. I'll get the rest of your things after we introduce ourselves." As if on cue, the screen door of the house swung open with a clatter and out stepped a tall buck who's grand antlers made the burly man seem all the more impressive. He wore a faded red and black flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up over his hefty forearms, worn blue jeans and a pair of brown leather boots that matched his belt. He walked with his head held high, sure of every step, his green eyes staring down at the car before him as if it were an intruder in his kingdom.
"Still dressing like the fucking Brawny man? I know the army didn't pay us much Joseph, but Christ!" His father jovially shouted, climbing out of the car.
"You want to talk about my clothes while you're wearing that uniform? You look like someone fucked your mother and washed your olive drabs with the cum." By the end of the short exchange, both of the men were grinning. Now that they were closer, Jason could see that Joseph only had four or so inches on his father.. Not nearly as tall as he thought at first, but still noticeably taller more than the five foot ten Stanley.
"Yeah, I know. These new ACUs are the worst shit they've rolled out with in years." Stanley plucked at the front of his uniform. "If I knew they were going to make me wear this I'd have left years ago, like you did."
"If I'd known you were going to make me your goddamn baby sitter, I wouldn't have left."
"You're a real charmer, you know that Joe? Let me introduce you to my son." Jason climbed out of the car, pausing to fetch a black duffel bag from the back seat. He'd have been lying if he said he wasn't a little intimidated by Joseph, but despite his gruff voice and exterior.. He had a friendly air about him, like a tank you'd want to have a beer with. The closer he grew to Joseph, the more an odd mixture of apprehension and excitement built within Jason.
"I'm Joseph Hall, and you can call me Joseph. Your father's told me a lot about you, Jason." Joseph stuck his hand out, and when Jason took it, the rabbit half expected his paw to be crushed to a bloody pulp. Instead the buck's calloused fingers gave Jason's an almost gentle squeeze accompanied by a single, brisk pump of his arm. "Why don't you give me that bag, and head on around back. My son Curtis is out there chopping wood, and he'd be glad to show you around." The way that Joseph shifted from a barracks-talking man's man to a warm, fatherly figure in a matter of moments astonished Jason.
"S-Sure Mister H-, uh, Joseph." Jason sheepishly passed off his sack to Joseph's waiting hand, then turned to meet his father's eyes.
"Don't worry son, I ain't going anywhere just yet. Go meet Joseph's boy." Jason forced out a small, buck-toothed smile, then reluctantly turned and walked around the side of the stone house. The further he walked, the more his mind began to wander as it had been for the entire trip. It wasn't just about his new life in a new place with new people, although that in itself was troubling to the young rabbit. It was the fact that soon, too soon, his father would once more be a world away and in harm's way.. And he might not come back.
The world outside Jason's troubled mind wasn't shut out so much as forgotten, and though his eyes were open, they didn't see. He was but halfway around the house when he tripped over a garden hose he never even saw and fell, pulled to the ground by the merciless force of gravity.
"Damn it!" He swore as he pulled himself up on his knees and punched the earth in front of him. Nothing was hurt aside from his pride, but it that didn't make him any less angry. He glared at nothing in particular and grit his teeth, doing his very best to fight off the tears of frustration he felt building in his emerald eyes.
"Shoot! You alright?" The words were accented with a slight drawl, imbuing them with a dash of southern charm.
"I'm fine." Jason let out a frustrated sigh. "I just wasn't watching where I was going." The rabbit wiped his eyes dry with the back of his forearm, then looked up and found himself looking at one hell of a sight. There in front of him was a six foot tall buck with a face that was a spitting image of Joseph, without the fine lines, scars, and wrinkles of time. His was a curious mix of the rugged, almost blockish qualities of a masculine face blended with the subtle elegance that deer were wont to have. His eyes were green, and his short black hair ( from under which his antlers sprouted ) was matted with the sweat of labor.
Unlike Joseph, he was considerably less modestly dressed. The only thing on his body were semi-loose, knee-length denim shorts that were clearly once a pair of blue jeans. Even just one quick, stunned glance was enough to tell that his was the body of an aspiring athlete or a seasoned, hard worker. He had his father's broad shoulders, complimented by a toned chest, arms, and a flat stomach with flattering curves and ridges of a budding four pack.
"Dad always tells me to put the hose away when I'm done, but I guess I forgot." Curtis admitted with a sheepish smile. He offered his hand to Jason, who accepted it while drinking him in. The country boy kept talking but for a brief time, the only thing Jason could hear was the beating of his own heart. "What's your name?" He asked as he pulled Jason up to his feet. "Jason, right?"
"Yeah." As close as he was, the heady aroma of musk and sweat coming off of Curtis made his heart beat all the more quickly. Just as Jason was regaining his composure, the buck reached up and grabbed him by his long ears, tweaking them from side to side.
"I bet'cha could get HBO on these things if you sat on my TV!" Jason sputtered, his brown and white face growing hot with a rapidly spreading blush.
"I-I bet you could, yeah!" Curtis laughed and Jason joined in, despite his embarrassment.
"C'mon. I'll show you around the house." Curtis turned and walked towards the back of the house, showing Jason a pinchably rounded butt complimented by a flagged, vibrant white tail. Jason followed eagerly behind, doing his best to keep his eyes on something other than Curtis' eye-catching tail. They walked around back, up a steep, narrow concrete stoop and passed through a screen door.
"This is the kitchen." Curtis gestured at nothing in particular and walked towards the fridge. "You want a coke or something?"
"Nah, I'm good." Jason replied, shuffling forward while looking this way and that. The walls were an off white and the floors were linoleum, grey and dull black splotches laid over a white base. The outside wall of the 'kitchen side' of the room was lined with brown, wooden cabinets and and counters, the tops of which were made of a stone that matched the floor. Though the room was twice as long as it was wide, it was still wide enough to comfortably accommodate a modest, square wooden dining table and four matching chairs.
"Couple little farms around here. We got plenty of fresh stuff, cabbage, cucumbers, potatoes.. Dad always keeps the place well stocked." Curtis led Jason onward, though an open archway and into a narrow hallway lined with carpet that was somewhere between grey and biege. Though everything he saw was clean and well maintained, there wasn't much in the way of art, or family pictures for that matter. Nothing was hung on the walls, not even so much as a 'Home sweet home' stitching. "Basement door. We got some exercise stuff down there, some junk and a pool table."
Jason glanced at the door Curtis pointed at in passing, set into the side of a staircase that led to the second floor. The hallway ended in a T junction, the top of which was capped with the front door. To the left was a doorway that was left open, from which Jason could see a room with a handful of bookcases, a computer set up in a corner, and large green safe that appeared big enough for the five foot, nine inch high rabbit to fit inside.
"What's in the safe?" Jason asked curiously, looking to his host.
"Guns'n stuff." Curtis replied dismissively, turning to walk towards the right branch of the hallway.
"You hunt?" Jason's voice took a turn for the befuddled, something reflected in his puzzled face. Curtis just laughed and shook his head.
"Shoot no, it's just.. Well. Fun. Dad's been taking me out shooting ever since we moved out here when I was little." They stopped together at the open archway leading into the living room, which had a little more decoration than the rest of the house. Dominating the far side of the room was a stone fireplace, complete with a wooden mantle on which sat a series of photographs. It was hard to make them out from across the room, but Jason figured they were of friends and family. An immense brown couch sat towards the middle of the room, turned diagonally to face a tall entertainment center set in a corner.
"Living room. We got a lot of channels, but we don't really watch a lot of TV. It's part of a cable package deal dad got with the internet."
"You've got cable?" Jason wondered just how many more surprises the day had in store for him as the laughing buck began to lead him upstairs.
"Down that end of the hallway is dad's bedroom." Curtis began when they reached the top, pointing to the left. "And over here- " He paused, walking briskly down the hall to shove open another door. "Is mine." There was another pause as Curtis walked into the room and turned on his heel to face Jason. "Ours, I mean." Jason walked into the room, which was neither cramped or overly spacious, and illuminated by the sunlight pouring in from a window overlooking the front yard. It was by far the cleanest teenager's room he'd ever seen, with a polished wooden dresser, no stray laundry, two perfectly made beds set against opposite walls- 'Two beds?' He suddenly thought. 'Ours?'
"We're sharing a room?"
"Bathroom too, and a closet." Curtis replied, waving his hand at the two doorways. Jason walked over and sat on his single bed, slouching forward to sit with his elbows on his knees. He wasn't sure how to feel about it. It wasn't that he didn't like Curtis : The buck was not only friendly, but he wasn't hard on the eyes either. What bothered him was that he'd never shared a room like this before. Even without having spent a single day in it, there was a tangible sense of privacy being lost, and of the fact that this was someone else's home, someone else's room, already filled with their things and their scents.. An inescapable reminder he was but a guest in someone else's home, not within his own.
"I need to take a shower after all that work, but if you need anything, you can just knock on the door'n ask." Curtis grabbed a handful of clothes from his dresser, then flashed Jason a parting smile. "It was nice meetin' you." Jason looked up just in time to get a glimpse of Curtis' white tail as he stepped into the bathroom and shut the door. It didn't bother him that he was being left alone. He'd barely done anything that day, and yet.. He already felt he was exhausted. As Jason laid back on the bed behind him, his long ears bending against the wall, he could already feel the inky black arms of sleep beconing him into a nap.
The rest of the day went as was expected. Joseph and Stanley spent much of the afternoon on the porch, drinking beer and reminiscing over the years they'd spent together and apart. The boys spent the majority of their time in the basement, getting to know each other over games of eight ball. The sons of old friends were quickly becoming new friends themselves by the time sunset rolled around, and everyone gathered in the kitchen for dinner. It was a lavish spread of greens, enough salad and vegetables both cooked and raw to sate the hunger of even the most picky of herbivores.
When all had had their fill, Jason's father broke out a most delicious and decadent surprise : A gallon of rich, chocolate gellato, the likes of which no trendy coffee shop could hope to match. Neither quite solid or liquid, the sinful treat was equal parts gluttony and sloth in substance. By the end of it all, neither rabbit nor deer at the table was left wanting for anything. After the table was cleared, all made their way into the living room, where they collapsed in unison upon the sofa.
After a brief debate, a DVD featuring some legendary American football games was popped into the player. The fathers gave their sons a play by play of the games, many of which they'd seen before, which grew all the more boisterous as the night wore on. Still, by ten at night all had grown tired and the boys were falling asleep on the couch. They were soon sent off to bed, and the men were left alone on the sofa watching the tail end of a wintery Chicago versus Green Bay match up.
"The boys are getting along well, don't you think?" Stanley remarked, sipping from a glass of sweet tea. Joseph smiled and glanced a short distance across the couch at his friend.
"They remind me of you and me." Stanley closed his eyes, bowing his head in agreement.
"They do, don't they? Makes you realize just how old we really are when you think about it." Joseph snorted, feigning indignation.
"Maybe you're old. I'm aged."
"And sour, just like whiskey." Joseph punched Stanley in the upper arm, hard enough that the rabbit winced at the pain as the muscle briefly cramped up. "Ah fuck Joe, couldn'tve you have hit me in something I don't use, like my head?" Stanley rubbed at his arm, exchanging amused glances with the buck beside him.
"And risk hitting that pretty face of your's?" Joseph flirtaciously whispered back, his green eyes lingering on his friend's. Stanley glanced back towards the archway and listened for any out of place sounds, any hint that the boys might have strayed from their bedroom.
"Think they're asleep?" Stanley asked as he turned back around. Joseph slid his arm across the couch to envelope Stanley's shoulders, pulling the rabbit in against his side. They stared at each other in relative silence, separated by so little and yet so much. It'd been years since they'd kissed, longer still since they'd known the intimate touch of each other's fingers. All day long they'd been waiting for a good chance to be alone, without fear of being interrupted, without fear of being caught.. Now that it was here, it was like standing on a great precipice of anticipation. The hesitation, the near palpable levels of want and nervousness, the creeping fear that someone might stumble in and find them..
Joseph was the one that broke the lover's stalemate, closing the scant few inches between their muzzles to press his lips to Stanley's. All that tension ran out through his long feet as the stag's long, slender tongue slid deftly past his buck teeth and pushed so far back into his mouth Stanley was sure he could feel it on his palate. What had begun as a tender kiss rapidly became a duel of thrashing tongues, of hushed moans and roaming paws. Button by button Stanley plucked apart Joseph's shirt, and when the flannel fortress was finally undone he slipped his hands beneath his undershirt to slide across his stomach.
He'd always been prideful of his physique, always striving to become stronger when they were younger. Even with just a brush of his palm, Stanley could tell that the stag was probably in better condition than he was. The fine white fur coating his stomach did little to pad his abs, firm enough that the rabbit could crack an egg on them. It wasn't long before both of them had pulled their shirts off, and after a brief bit of lip locked wrestling Stanley found himself shoved back into a corner of the couch.
Joseph put one hand on the rabbit's sinewy stomach, using it both to hold him down and to brace himself as he slid off the couch and onto his knees. It really was something else, watching that tall, handsome buck easing down into position. Even if the two were openly gay.. Who would have guessed that the a guy like Joseph would suck Stanley's dick, let alone enjoy it? The truth was that there was never a 'top' or a 'bottom' between them, no, they both merely did what they wanted to, what made each other feel good.. And that moment, watching, feeling Joseph's hands tracing down his stomach, feeling his fingers loosening his fly.. It felt pretty damn good. He found himself holding his breath as Joseph started to pull down his zipper. He could hear every little metal tooth as it became undone, every heave of Joseph's chest.
"In uniform right down to the olive boxers?" Joseph murmured, his amusement evident in his subdued tone.
"I want to make sure everything's broken in when I hit combat." Joseph laughed, sending waves of hot breath across Stanley's crotch that the thin cotton did little to stop. He took one last glance up at the rabbit, then pulled his pants and boxers down around Stanley's brown and white thighs. Stanley closed his hands around the base of Joseph's antlers, the horny rabbit pulling his lover's face in between his thighs. "Lick." He half commanded, half begged, an order the stag was all too happy to comply with. His slender, smooth tongue rolled out like a miniature python, coiling around the middle of the rabbit's drooling dick.
Stanley had to bite his bottom lip to keep from moaning as the tongue tugged on his cock, drawing it right towards his open lips. Joseph's relatively slender muzzle was still wide enough to comfortably accommodate the dick that was sinking deeper and deeper into it. Stanley pulled roughly on the antlers in his hands, forcing Joseph to rapidly swallow all eight inches of his rigid rabbit meat. There was just enough space left for the tip of Joseph's deft tongue to slide out and and wriggle in the nook of flesh between the base of Stanley's dick and his fat balls.
The rabbit stood up, his hands keeping Joseph attached to him at the hip as he rose, his pants and boxers falling down around his ankles. Seeing the drool leaking out from the corners of Joseph's mouth, the way his lips were puckered around his cock, his balls resting against his chin.. It sent the rabbit's soaring lust into overdrive.
"I'm gonna fuck your lips off." Stanley whispered, pulling Joseph so forcefully by his antlers that his coal black nose was pressed into his musky pubic fur. He used Joseph's horns like handles to keep his muzzle right where he wanted it as he drew his hips back and shoved them forward, his swaying balls slapping him in the chin with every thrust. "You were always such a good cock sucker Joe." Stanley moaned in quiet praise, the knuckles on his clutching hands growing white. Every moment his dick was in Joseph's mouth, his flexible cheeks molded themselves just so to fit every curve and contour. His lips remembered the same sweet spots they'd tugged on years ago, his tongue a satin snake that all but begged him to cum. No lover ever knew him like Joseph did, not all the women he'd pretended to love, or the wife he thought he had.
He was rolling back and forth on the balls of his feet, pumping in and out of his muzzle like a John using a whore when he felt it. That moment just before an orgasm where the pressure built to a boiling point, and a man could tell that one more push, one more squeeze, one more lick would make him pop. Stanley lost what little self control he had and let out a raucous moan, rising up on his toes, his tuft of a tail flickering in delight behind him. Joseph's rough hands closed in on his ass cheeks and pulled him forward, holding him pressed to his muzzle as he drank wave after wave of the rabbit's salty cum from his bouncing balls.
He finally let go of Joseph's antlers when he felt the heart pounding throes of his orgasm taper off into a panting afterglow. He watched through lidded eyes as Joseph pulled back, his limp, sloppy dick dropping free from his lips.. The sight was almost enough to get him hard all over again.
"Think you're up to returning the favor?" Joseph asked as he rose to his feet, cleaning the gooey filth from his cheeks and lips with one sweep of his long, nearly prehensile tongue. Without even waiting for Stanley's answer, he'd already unbuckled his belt. Stanley just smirked as he grabbed the buck's waist with both hands and sunk down to his knees, folding his long legs over one another. He'd just managed to get Joseph's fly down when he heard the groaning creak of a floorboard. He jumped and his ears shot up straight, swiveling this way and that in a panic to try and determine just where the sound came from. "You heard that too?"
"You think it was one of the boys?" Stanley looked up at Joseph, and Joseph back down at Stanley. If one of them had taken a peek in at the living room, there was little doubt as to what they would have seen.
"Probably just the house settling." Joseph murmured, sounding as though he might have been trying to convince himself. The two men exchanged a worried looks, realizing only then that they'd let things get a little out of hand. Though he was sure he'd have heard either of the boys coming down the stairs well in advance, Stanley couldn't shake a niggling little doubt that maybe.. Just maybe, they'd been caught in the act. It was a persistent and bothersome thought that lingered through the night, even as he finally drifted off to sleep in Joseph's comforting arms.