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Accidents Happen, part three

Written by Amethyst Mare (Arian Mabe)

Commissioned by an anonymous commissioner

The sheepdog paced the room, eight steps to the grimy window and eight steps to the opposite wall, avoiding the chair and table as he went. There was barely any furniture to navigate as it was and Gert kicked the floor as he paced, a low growl rumbling through his throat. Normally a mild mannered fur, his patience had been pushed to the limit and he wished for even the simplest of things to be returned to their usual status, like pants, as the Americans said. He had learned the word as 'trousers' originally but, with them, it was pants or nothing. The sheepdog whined. Oh god, he wished he could wear pants again, all the time. He would never take them off, if he had a choice in the matter! A small black box of a cell phone pressed to his ear, near forgotten in his thoughts. A flip phone, it was not the most current of styles, something that Jay mocked him for constantly.

Gert rubbed his thumb and forefinger between his eyes, expression contorted into a grimace as he talked into the phone.

"I know, I know..." He said. "It's just been busy. I didn't mean to stay away for so long, hon, truly. Things happened one after the other here with no rest or respite at all."

"What is even going on?"

The phone line crackled and Gert swallowed a whimper. How could he tell his boyfriend what was going on? He would be disgusted. Any sane fur would be disgusted.

"You're evasive... What are you hiding?"

The head on his crotch twisted to look up at the sheepdog as he whined, covering the microphone on the handset so that Jay would not hear. The Akita, much to his shame, was not simply another fur resting their head on his crotch - not that he would have allowed anyone other than Jason to be so intimate with him. Cheating would have been easier to explain, alas. No, the dirty-furred canine had suffered an accident, destroying his body beyond any hope of repair. Stupidly - was hindsight not a wonderful thing? - Gert volunteered some weeks ago to have the remaining head transplanted on to his crotch, allowing the Akita to live, though not as he once did. One would have to read into his tale a little deeper to understand the full extent of their bonding, a trial and experience intertwined. Gert thought that he might write a book about the ongoing experience.

"Pup, I haven't seen you in weeks. Are you avoiding me? Did I do something?"

"No! No, of course not, I'm not avoiding you," Gert said too quickly, shaming colouring the skin of his cheeks. "It's been...busy."

"What's been busy?"

Gert licked his lips. The truth could not, would not, be said.

Think, damn it, think!

"Stuff...it's boring really."

He cleared his throat, affecting a bored tone as if to truly convey that nothing of particular interest had occurred. Yet he knew in his gut and heart that Jay would not fall for it. The husky was too smart for that kind of trick.

"If you say so."

"Do not be like that, Jason, please."

"Oh, the full name's coming out now, is it?"

The fur at the other end of the line laughed, a hollow sound without mirth.

"Look..." Gert sighed. "I'm sorry, hon, I really am. I did not intend to be away from you for so long. I miss you so much, I miss holding you and I miss talking to you. Please, let us not fight. How about I come round this weekend, make it up to you?"

The words were out before he could stop them and there was no way for them to be retracted, hidden away so that they could never, ever be heard again. He slapped a paw to his forehead and doubled over, muscles tense with emotion. How could he have been so stupid? Apparently it was quite an easy thing to do! He twisted in constrained fury and slammed his fist into the wall, lips parting in a silent gasp of pain. Almost concerned (though not quite), the Akita looked up, craning his head far back with his tongue lolling from his muzzle as he panted like a feral hound.

"Now that sounds more like it," Jay said, voice crackling over the distorted phone line. "Friday night good for you? I'll cook you dinner."

"Yeah... Friday night it is then."

In the broken-down house, Gert lowered his head, willpower sagging like his body. He didn't even have the strength to hold himself up anymore. He needed more to eat. Sustaining Michael, the Akita, in addition to his own body required a great deal more sustenance than what he was used to, what was normal for him. He missed normal. He missed Jay.

"Don't sound so enthused." Jason's voice rumbled with sarcasm, a note of affection softening his tone. "People may think you don't like me anymore. And I'll have you know that simply everyone is after my tail."

"Oh, shut up. The only tail they want from you is a yanked one, with all your jokes, pranks and wind ups, day in and day out."

Jason laughed.

"That's better, you sound more like yourself now. Anyway, I gotta go. Takeaway's coming. See ya then?"

"See you later," Gert replied, ears drooping. "Love you."

"Love you too."

The line went dead and Gert dropped the phone on the floor, too tired to find a more suitable place to deposit the device. It did not seem worth it anymore. What did it matter to him if the phone broke or not? It made no real difference to anything or anyone. He leaned back against the wall and slid slowly down to the scruffy, torn carpet, sitting on his tail. Michael huffed as his head was jostled, then cocked his muzzle to the left with a thoughtful look in his eyes as he sifted through conversation that he had only half paid attention to. The Akita grunted.

"What was all that about?" Michael sniffed. "You have a boyfriend?"

Gert stiffened.

"Yes," he said cautiously. "We have been together for a few months. We are even thinking about moving in together. Or we were thinking about it. I do not know what he will want to do anymore."

Michael shook his head.

"Poof."

Gert barked a laugh.

"Are you really in any position to comment on me?" Gert said dryly. "You are, effectively, my dick. Does that not make you, in a way, a 'poof' too?"

"I'm not a dick!"

"You god damn well are."

"Don't take the Lord's name in vain."

"As if you're one to talk".

Gert rolled his eyes. They bickered like an old married couple. The notion bothered him and so, with a great show of willpower only gained through the wish to quiet Michael, the sheepdog heaved himself to his hind paws and staggered to the kitchen. Swaying like a drunkard, he grimaced at how the room spun sickeningly. The brain was the most demanding organ in the body and it was difficult to support two, even as his body adjusted to the addition with higher levels of red blood cells. The dizziness still caught him off guard if he did not eat frequently enough, however.

Opening the fridge carefully - the door was liable to fall off if opened with too much vigour - Gert peered inside, cheered by the giant pot of spaghetti Bolognese within: he loved to cook in large batches. The fridge itself had been cleaned in one of his few bouts of energy and sparkled from the inside out. Michael had not enjoyed the harsh scent of the cleaning chemicals but that was not any of Gert's concern. Cleanliness had to be had if he had to stay with Michael for much longer. There was only so long that a fur could stand to live in a shit hole.

Pouring half the sauce into a saucepan, Gert set it upon the hob and gathered up pasta strands in his paw from the cupboard, dropping them in a pot of water to cook, somewhat. It was double the volume of food that he would have eaten before the transplant. Whatever happened with his boyfriend, he would have to make sure he ate well beforehand, otherwise he was sure his stomach would be rumbling through the night, waking up the poor husky. He found it hard enough to sleep as it was.

Gert's brow furrowed. Jason. Jay. What was he to do? The dog expected him to show up with a smile on his muzzle and, likely, apology flowers in paw. Both of which he could do but he was pretty sure Jay did not want him to show up with another fur's head on his crotch. Generally something best left at home. Groaning, Gert stirred the Bolognese, lips twisting as he concocted a plan.

He would have to play this little visit back to his husky very, very carefully.

*

Gert's heart pounded as if to the beat of an invisible, malicious drum. Two flights of stairs up and he stood outside Jay's apartment door, paw frozen in midair, the motion of knocking half completed. To knock on the door would be to begin the whole ordeal, good and bad, and he wanted to tend hope in his heart for a while longer, just a little while. A few minutes would not be too much to ask, surely? He turned to leave and gather his nerve, a bouquet of flowers hanging from one paw.

The decision was taken out of his paws, however, when the husky himself opened the door with a flourish, one eyebrow raised as he pointed to the peephole in the door. Gert swallowed: he had forgotten that. How had be forgotten? Wearing a smart button-down shirt and black trousers, he leaned against the door frame, one ankle crossed over the other in the most purposefully casual manner one could imagine. Gert suddenly felt himself quite underdressed in a t-shirt and jeans: they had been the best to hide his 'condition'.

"Leaving, are you?"

Gert gulped.

"Hey, honey..." He held out the flowers with a sheepish, shy grin. "I bought these for you."

"You bought them, did you? And there I was thinking you'd picked them out of someone's garden."

The husky took the yellow flowers, brought them to his nose and inhaled deeply, eyes closing.

"Daffodils... Wherever did you find these? Hardly common around here."

"There are some specialist shops about and I've found a florist that adores them," Gert explained with a smile, stepping over the threshold and popping his coat on the hook behind the door. "She has a real taste for them, apparently."

"Sheep?"

"How did you guess?"

Stepping further into the flat, Gert breathed in. Jay was not the best cook around (rather hit and miss at times) but the smell of cooking meat made the sheepdog's mouth water. Sniffing, he leaned into the husky and gave him a tight hug, careful to keep his crotch angled away. God, he smelt so good, that combination of spiced aftershave and freshly washed fur that was inherently him.

Gert shook himself and stepped away, hoping Jay did not feel the blush in his cheeks. It was strange to become aroused without the awkwardness of a hard-on, yet constantly facing a similar discomfort. Michael, bless him, sat quiet and still in his loose, stylish jeans, cowed into a peaceful state by the promise of cheetos later that night.

"What's cooking?"

"You'll see."

The husky loved a note of the mysterious and Gert gave a small smile as he followed him into the kitchen. Even though he had eaten a large bowl of pasta - the cheapest meal that could sustain him for more than a few hours - only a short while before beginning the trek of a drive over to Jay's apartment, he was starving. The dog's stomach growled and he had the good grace to appear abashed as the husky laughed.

"Don't worry, hon, it'll be ready soon. Could you set the table?"

Nodding, Gert padded the three steps required across the small kitchen to the drawer that he remembered as the one that contained silverware: forks, knives and spoons. Upon opening it, however, he found nothing but spare nails and a ball of string rolling around. He turned and caught the husky mid-stride, paw resting in the small of his back.

"Ya'll moved the silverware?"

"Ya'll?" Jay wrinkled his nose. "What lingo've you picked up now? Where the hell have you been, dog?"

"Nowhere." Gert laughed. "Quite literally."

Though he raised an eyebrow - the other one this time - the husky made no further comment and directed Gert to the correct drawer. As the sheepdog busied himself with being useful, setting the table as he knew Jay preferred. He didn't care much for cutlery anymore, using it only as he saw fit. Perhaps Michael was rubbing off on him.

Jay bit his lip as his eyes roamed his lover's body, covertly observing out of the corner of his eye. Was his, ah, bulge larger? No, no... He must be imagining things, a trick of the light or underwear. Shaking his head, Jay laughed at his idiocy and served up dinner with a smile twinkling in his eyes. It was good to have his lover around once more. It felt right.

Dinner was a quiet affair in the sense that they avoiding the big topics as if they were going to leap up and bite them in the arse and caught up on recent events with a vicious hunger. Gert knew that Jay was right really - they had been apart for too long. Talking to the husky was like slipping into a comfortable pair of shoes: dazzling, safe and all kinds of right. He repeated the thought several times during the course of their conversation, longing growing.

They cleared the plates from the table together, working as the team that Gert had forgotten. As if finely tuned to each other's position and responses, they passed plates between sink and drying rack until there was no evidence that they had enjoyed a meal at all. The only objects that indicated that a meal had taken place were the two half empty glasses of wine on the table - white, a compromise between the two who preferred opposites - and the canines themselves, sliding into their seats with relaxed smiles.

"Is Sam out somewhere tonight?" Gert asked belatedly, wondering why the shared flat was so quiet - not that he minded.

"Yeah. He is."

They looked down at their glasses and Gert curled his fingers around the neck of his, mouth suddenly dry. The so far patient and quiet canine in his jeans stirred, snuffling over the sheepdog's thigh. Heart in mouth, Gert reached down slowly and patted Michael's head, hoping to soothe him. He sipped his wine simultaneously, though Jay caught the odd motion, stared and then shook himself. The husky always caught himself imagining all manner of craziness when he looked too closely at things. He had to be more careful to avoid that going forward.

"So...sweetheart..."

Jay cupped his cheek, leaning upon the table. A lazy smile spread over his muzzle and he winked suggestively, his intent unclear to the dog who was more concerned with keeping his transplanted partner in crime as quiet and amenable as possible. Was there even such a thing with Michael? Gert stifled a growl. Unaware, Jay pressed on.

"It's been a while...hasn't it?"

"What do you mean?" Gert blinked and licked his lips, tasting wine and imagining the taste of his lover still lingered upon his lips. "A while since what? We have been speaking for some time, hon."

Jay tapped one hind paw on the floor, impatient.

"Come now."

Jay rose and strode around the table, pulling Gert to his hind paws as the sheepdog's eyes grew wide. Every instinct in his body screamed at him to flee but he was paralyzed as Jason pulled him into a tight embrace, tucking his muzzle beneath the sheepdog's chin. Michael squirmed as he was squashed but otherwise remained thankfully quiet.

Whining, Jay looked up at his lover and nuzzled into his neck.

"Come on, darling..." The husky licked his lips, ears slanted back as if to appease. "You know you want me. You must be really pent up there. Usually you can't wait to pounce me. Everything's okay, I promise." He paused. "I only missed you. I don't want you to think I'm still mad or anything."

"I know, I know..." Gert blinked, eyes suddenly pricking with tears as the husky kissed up his throat. "I am happy that you are not angry with me. It simply feels...surreal to be here right now. I feel like I am going to lose you."

"What? Don't say things like that! I'm not going anywhere."

"It only feels like that."

"Don't talk like that." Jay kissed Gert's lips, a deep, passionate kiss that told of every minute they had spent apart. "Come with me. We have argued more than enough. Time for something better."

He took the sheepdog's paw and led him down the short hallway to the bedroom that Gert had become intimately familiar with during his time with Jay. Once inside the bedroom with the small double bed that was ever so slightly too small for the two of them to sleep comfortably, limbs constantly bumping, entwining until they no longer thought of sleep at all. Oh, how Gert wished for those nights.

Growling like a puppy playing at wrestling with his brothers and sisters, Jay nipped Gert's jaw playfully and buried his snout against the taller fur's chest. His paws found the sheepdog's belt and unbuckled it hastily, the back of his paw knocking the obnoxious bulge in Gert's pants. Michael grunted at the knock and half shook his head, dazed yet still struggling to remain quiet, regardless of the unwelcome disturbance. What was the poof getting up to with his boyfriend? No, he had to be quiet. If he was not quiet, he would not get cheetos. And cheetos were the most important thing in his narrow little world.

As Michael pressed his head back down, Gert shifted his hips quickly to disguise the movement, throat tight and painful. It was too much, he would never get away with it. Better that he left right now, made some excuse to escape. Surprised, Jay pulled his head back, one paw resting flat against the sheepdog's chest. Gert sighed.

"I don't know if I can do this, Jay..."

"Why not?" The husky demanded.

Folding his arms across his chest, he stood tall and defiant. Despite being shorter than his lover, Gert gulped and fought down the urge to back away from him. The little dog packed a serious punch if angered - a verbal punch. Gert could not blame him. He would feel just as upset if Jay suddenly hesitated before having sex with him. Panic racing through his veins, Gert could find no explanation that Jay would accept.

He would simply have to pray and hope that they could have this one last night together.

"Never mind..." Gert soothed him with a tight, bone-crushing hug. "I'm sorry. I am glad that I am here with you now, Jay."

The husky melted in his arms and returned the hug, tail wagging nineteen to the dozen. Gert bit the inside of his cheek, every muscle as solid and stiff as stone. How could he have thought about walking away? He could never. If he was to go, Jay would have to send him away with his tail between his legs.

Banishing such thoughts, the sheepdog clung to his mate as if his life depended on it, lips crashing into Jay's in a messy kiss. Their tongues battled playfully between their muzzles, Gert easily dominating the submissive husky and walking him backwards towards the bed until his legs hit the edge. They tumbled background in a flurry of fur and limbs, a tipsy giggle bursting unbidden from Jay's lips.

Neither noticed Michael's head twitching and jumping in Gert's jeans as the confused Akita strove to decipher out what was going on. Their passion well and truly left the Akita in the dark, though that was exactly the way that Gert wanted it, if their liaison was to be.

Huffing shared breath between kisses, Gert raked his fingers through the buttons of Jason's shirt, undoing them clumsily. So what if one ripped? He needed his husky. The shirt was quickly discarded on the bed and Jay paid Gert the same attention, dragging his plainer t-shirt up and over his head, only to be tossed aside upon the otherwise neat bedroom floor. As the husky's paws dropped to Gert's jeans, the sheepdog knew that he had to take action if they were to continue with his affliction undiscovered. And he so desperately wanted everything to carry on as it had so many times before. Just for one more night.

Pausing to consider the progress of events - oddly clinical for a turn in sexuality - Gert rose from the bed and walked to the white square of the light switch on the wall next to the door. He raised his paw and Jay whined in surprise, halting him in his tracks with his paw half-raised.

"Lights off?" The husky queried, propping himself up on one elbow.

"Like our first time."

Gert smiled charmingly, hoping against hope that the husky would fall for it. He was liable to go along with whatever Gert wanted anyway, being the submissive partner in the relationship, which proved to work to his advantage at long last. Thankfully, Jay nodded his muzzle just the once, appeasing his partner, and Gert flipped off the light, plunging the room into darkness.

Stumbling through the black, Gert slipped his jeans down along with his boxers, finally freeing Michael's head from its musky confines. The Akita blinked, seeing little to nothing as his eyes adjusted and twisted to look up at Gert with a soft whine. Closing his paw gently around the Akita's brown muzzle, Gert shook his head, put his finger to his lips and breathed a quiet 'shh' to the dog. Michael heard - his hearing seemed so much keener than Gert's at times - and nodded as much as he was able, remembering why he was going through with this. It was all for the cheetos.

On the bed, Jay shifted, searched for Gert and the sheepdog padded to him, finding his paws with a playful growl. Crawling on top of his partner, the sheepdog pinned his paws playfully over his head. It was nothing unusual and Jay whimpered as he was put in his place, Gert's jaws carefully closing around his throat in a loving, dominant bite. To his credit, Michael kept his muzzle well out of the way as Gert straddled his partner. The husky could not feel anything out of the ordinary and certainly was not looking for anything different than usual as Gert nibbled and kissed. The husky's hard-on swelled against Gert's leg and the sheepdog could not suppress a rush of desire.

"Please..." Jay breathed, trembling at the sensation of sharp teeth on his throat - so close to the blood that pumped beneath the skin. "Take me, I want to feel you inside me. Please fuck me. It's been too long."

Gert shook his head, glad of the cover of darkness

"Not tonight, darling," Gert whispered. "I told you that I want to make this up to you."

In the darkness, Jay frowned, disturbed by the turn of events. It was most unlike his dominant pup to not want to mount him. Was something wrong? Jay pulled his head back, trying to find Gert's eyes in the close to non-existent light.

"You don't want to fuck me?"

"No, love," Gert nuzzled the husky's cheek, tongue lapping in a canine kiss. "I always want to fuck you, thrust into your tight rump. But I want to make what's happened up to you...me being so distant. I want you to fuck me."

Would the husky go for it? There was no way to tell. Though he would have dearly loved to mount his husky, the sheepdog no longer had a functional cock with which to give him what he desired. So it would have to be the next best thing.

"It's not often that you bottom, pup," Jay considered. "But I would never say no to an offer like that! Hell yeah!"

His enthusiasm was as palpable as Gert's relief and he released the husky's paws, spinning around on the bed so that his rump faced his lover. Jay took a moment to kick off his trousers and underwear so that they were both as nude as the other, dipping his muzzle down to lap sensually over the sheepdog's tail hole. Tensing, Gert relaxed into the sensation, enjoying the attention as tremors of arousal tingled through his body. Yet he could not enjoy completely. Jay was so close, too close, to Michael and discovery. His paw slipped further between the sheepdog's legs and he stiffened, thoughts racing in the ferocity of the moment, desperation mingling with lust. Wriggling his rump, Gert whined, enticing Jay closer and up on to his knees, husky-cock slipping between his rear cheeks and grinding through the fur.

"Lube, darling..."

Jay cursed under his breath, paws shaking, and dived aside to fumble through the drawer of the rickety bedside table until the desired object was found. He smeared two slick fingers around Gert's tail hole, sinking them inside as the sheepdog struggled to relax. It was not only the fact that he was terribly unused to anal play, but the husky's fingers were mere inches from the underside of Michael's muzzle, which pointed straight down between his legs for comfort.

He was relieved when the husky withdrew his fingers, wiping them off on his own fur and shuffling up behind Gert. The tip of the husky's cock pressed under Gert's tail and he fought to relax: it would be easier on him if he could. Jay's cock slid into his rump with only the slightest bit of resistance and the sheepdog grunted, tail raised and trembling. Thrusting gently until he was buried inside his partner up to the deflated knot, Jay whimpered and whined, stroking his partner's hips with paws that shook. Gert pushed back, encouraging him on - he felt safer with the husky's paws on the main part of his body and not close to where his cock and balls had been. Arching back, the sheepdog moaned, safe in his husky's grasp.

"Oh god..." Jay moaned.

He held on to the sheepdog's hips as he thrust, rolling and rocking through the motion that was normally the task of his lover. There was not much power behind his thrusts but each and every one brought sparks of pleasure to Gert, that throbbing arousal racing through his veins like electricity through a circuit board. Hissing between his teeth, he ducked his muzzle down to the bed, reaching under his both to pet and stroke Michael's muzzle as the Akita grunted, surprised at behind rocked back and forth. The canine did not know what was going on, like a four-legged dog that had pushed open the bedroom door and was watching its owners copulate, never understanding. Each thrust from Jay rubbed over Gert's prostrate and he jerked bodily, feeling Michael respond in kind and dribbles of milky pre cum that was not truly ejaculate leak from his lips, over his tongue and through his teeth. The Akita growled and snapped, jaws working to rid himself of the taste.

"You okay, hon?"

"Yes...ah, of course," Gert said, struggling to keep Michael quiet while bearing the sensation of being so wonderfully filled. "Please don't stop. Fuck me, fill me up."

Jay groaned, eager to do just that. The canine was not known for his staying power and increased the speed of his thrusts, pounding into Gert's tight tail hole like a jack hammer. Pain ached through the sheepdog's disused tail hole - never used for that purpose - and he growled through pain mingled with pleasure, pressing the side of his muzzle flat against the bed to bear it. His fingers worked over the Akita's snout, feverish in their attention, and Jason pushed over him, breath harsh against the back of his neck as he balanced on the brink of orgasm. He gave a muffled howl as he tumbled over the edge, hips jerking and shuddering as if with a mind of their own as he dragged Gert back, squeezing the knot that remained outside his tail hole, not tied together. He would have hated to hurt his lover, even in the throes of ecstasy.

As Jay filled his rump with hot spurts of dog-cum, Gert raked his short claws over Michael's head and yelped as he hit his own climax - what had become his orgasm. He ejaculated with a drawn out whine, seed filling the Akita's mouth. The dog lapped up the mess that drooled over his lips, growling happily at what his senses told him was a treat and a very fine one at that indeed. Above Gert, Jay panted heavily and collapsed on top of his partner, softening cock. Michael grumbled as his head was squashed between Gert's lower abdomen and the bed, muzzle rubbing through the mess of seed that he had not been able to lap up in the moment of climax. It was not half bad still.

The husky sighed, softened cock slipping from Gert's sore tail hole as he dropped a kiss on the sheepdog's cheek, love there and unspoken in the moment. They needed no words to convey what they both knew intimately.

"Best get some rest... You staying?" Jay yawned sleepily, rolling over on to his back. "Tonight? Too late to drive back..."

Gert blinked in the darkness. He should leave. He should make his excuses and go, tail tucked between his legs. He had had his night.

His heart betrayed him.

"Yeah, hon, I'm staying."

"Good... Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Jay."

The husky dropped off to sleep swiftly, falling into a deep, dreamless slumber. Gert envied him and busied himself with petting Michael to keep the canine quiet, shuddering softly with every stroke. Why did it have to give him so much pleasure, to pet the dog that had replaced his cock? The fur around the Akita's lips was still damp with Gert's semen and the sheepdog apologetically tried to wipe it off, satisfying Michael with scratches under his chin to buy his silence.

Curled up in bed with a paw around Michael's muzzle to keep him quiet, the sheepdog's muzzle dampened with tears he could not hold back.

One day, he would have to tell Jay exactly what had happened. He could not keep up the pretence forever. There was no telling whether or not he would be able to maintain it even through the next day. If he was honest with himself, all he had desired was one last night of normality with Jay, or as close to normal as the two of them could manage. Once Jay found out, he could not imagine a future in which the husky would stay with him. The ring hidden under his bed would have to be pawned off. He only wanted to see it on that grey and white paw.

Squeezing his eyes tightly shut, Gert wrapped his arms around his torso as Jay, unaware, slumbered peacefully, chest rising and falling. He did not want to be without the husky, his husky. But Jay would leave him. It was the only outcome. He looked out the window at the sliver of moon and whined softly.

Soon, it would be just him and Michael, Michael and him, alone.

And then what would he do?