A&B Chapter 1

Story by Rondo on SoFurry

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Chapter 1

The Saturday's first beam of summer sunlight pierced through the curtain pouring onto the deer's snowy white and fluffy belly, who was now lying on the bed convolved with a thin blanket. He was still in his dreamless sleep, not aware of that he was presenting an almost seducing pose with the blanket covering only his crotch.

It was already a nice enough scene that his chest and abdomen were exposed. He was a deer buck, not an elk, so he wasn't very buff. However, the muscle was still well defined. Impeccable white fur covered his torso, crotch, and the inner side of his thighs, while light tan fur covered other parts of his body which was also much shorter. He was tall, at 6 feet and 2 inches and that was only to the top of his head. He had antlers, trimmed to be short because they could be very troublesome if let to grow naturally.

Disturbed by the sun a bit, Alex unconsciously moved his one paw to his tummy, and gave his stomach a few light scratches. Then the paw continued moving down to scratch his thigh, removing the blanket away that had been covering his crotch. Now his most private region was exposed. His average-sized white sheath looked soft and cozy. Only the tapered tip of his cock was peeking out, with a glistening bid of pre seeping out from the orifice. Under the sheath was his fuzzy scrotum containing a pair of large cervine testicles. Yeah, they were plump and low-hanging, just like all bulls and bucks' were.

Alex rubbed his thighs for once, and then put his paw away, resting it again.

One hour later, he was probably having a sweet dream but was interrupted by the phone ringing in the living room. He sat up, with reluctance, clearly not ready for the unplanned phone call. Who was likely to call him this early?

"James!" Muttered the deer, who suddenly became spirited. Jumping off the bed, he ran toward the phone, hooves making noises as they stamping on the floor. He threw himself on the sofa, and picked the telephone up.

"Hello? It's Alex."

"Hey, Alex! It's me, James. What's up?" The deep voice of James sounded as manly as the gorilla himself, even through the lines and speaker with low-cut effect.

"I...just got up. Sorry about that. I should quickly get washed up and pack the things we need for the hiking trip. It won't take long though. Are you ready for it?" Alex's voice was full of excitement.

"Mmm... In fact, I'm sorry that I can't make it. I just got back home from work. I was called last night for some emergency work."

"Oh..." Alex lost his words. He wasn't happy hearing this. Not at all.

"Alex, I'm very sorry. I know you're looking forward to today, but I'm too exhausted now." The gorilla did sound genuine and tired.

"It's fine. I... uh, can understand. You should take a good rest. How was the work? Has it been done?"

"Nuh. It's a broken pipe from aging. We managed to seal the crack temporarily but we need to replace it with new one as soon as it is delivered to here, maybe tonight ."

"I see." not knowing what to say, the deer replied.

"Actually, I just called Blake. You remember Blake?"

"The black bear?" An image of a strong and somewhat unfriendly-looking black bear was brought to mind of Alex.

"Yes. He'll be happy if he knows you remember him. He told me he is free today, and he is happy hiking with you. How's that?"

James' voice sounded cheerful, but it couldn't cheer up the deer.

"Okay, I guess."

"Great! You'll need to pick him up. He's living in a house with his coworkers, and the address is no.27 on Aztec street. It's near the cement plant. You know where that is?"

"I think I can find it."

"Good! Good! So, after you finish packing what you need, you can drive to his house and meet him there, okay?"

"Yeah."

"That's it. I have to hang up though, I'll call him and then tell him to wait for you. Again, Alex, I'm really really sorry for not making it myself."

"No prob. Take care."

The phone was hung, and then Alex lolled himself into the sofa. The spirit he just had was completely gone, and the young buck was sad.

Why so sad? Wasn't it just an ordinary excursion with a friend?

In fact, James was his friend, and his only friend for now.

Alex, the 22 year old buck, was new to this town called the Town of MagTan. He came here after his graduation in a big city. He chose to leave the city and he applied a job in a rather remote town. As soon as he got the offer, the young buck came to Town of MagTan alone, with no relatives or friends. He was very lucky, and he really appreciated that the first fur he met here was someone so nice as James. Not only did James help him to find a place to live, but also introduced his friends to the new comer.

The gorilla was tall and muscular, especially his upper body where the arms and chest muscle were making obvious bulges through his shirt and his thick black fur. The body shape of the gorilla, even for a straight guy, could be described as beautiful in aesthetic way, not to mention to a gay fur like Alex. It wasn't his fault that the deer saw James as such a boyfriend material. Knowing that falling into a guy you don't know whether he is interested in men was dangerous, Alex still didn't blame himself for starting to have imagination of James. The gorilla was so perfect, both mentally and physically, and the deer was so lonely in this new place. Anyway, after they had met for a bit more than three weeks, Alex picked the courage to tell James the truth that he liked guys.

Now, Alex was glad that he hadn't added the fact that he wanted James to be more that a friend, because it had already been somewhat awkward between the two after he coming out. James used to see Alex almost everyday before coming out to his friend, asking how his day was, and asking whether he needed anything so he could give to him if he had spares of it. The gorilla even sold his pickup to the deer, despite the fact that Alex had no money to pay. He said Alex could pay him whenever he wanted, and whatever amount of money he thought reasonable.

But this week, after Alex had come out to him, the gorilla didn't show up once. He only gave him a few phone calls to explain that he had been really busy over the past couple days. That is why Alex was worried, and resulted in a lot of overthinking about the situation.

Could it be that James didn't want a homosexual friend? Did he now regret being so nice to Alex before?

Just as Alex was torturing himself with his doubts and thoughts of the worst case scenarios, James called him on Wednesday and asked him to go on an excursion on Saturday, that is today. Alex was of course happy about this and he was looking forward to it. But here was the call to tell him the gorilla wouldn't come. So you can imagine how much the call turned the deer down.

Alex had been sitting in the sofa disappointed and defeated for minutes, before he realized someone was probably waiting for his coming. He exhaled a long sigh and got up to prepare for the hike. Later, he drove the pickup away from the driveway to the house in which Blake was living. That should take about 15 minutes.

*

Alex tried to recall the image of Blake, but he could only make a rather vague one. He had met Blake once before in James' home when the gorilla introduced Alex to some of his close friends. There were about 10 strangers for the deer there, the bear being one of them. Blake wasn't the most attention-drawing one. He was actually, as far as Alex could say, a rather taciturn young black bear. Also, the fact that the bear wasn't very good-looking didn't help Alex to give more attention to the quiet ursine. He remembered there was a... terrible scar on his face. On Left or right side? Alex couldn't remember. And the bear's eyes had a bit of a squint, so Alex didn't try to communicate with Blake out of so many new furs. He remembered feeling embarrassed that he couldn't tell where Blake was looking at, whether it was at him or not.

Anyway, Alex didn't know much about the bear yet.

*

The pickup was pulled off at an old, wooden house in which the bear should be living. Getting out from the car, Alex went to knock the door, and the door was quickly opened. The bear on the other side of the door pretty much fit the impression Alex had from his vague memory, though the bear in person seemed more energetic and cheerful. With a heartening smile, the bear said welcome to Alex.

"Hi, Alex."

"Uh... hey."

"Do you want to come in, or should we get going now?" Holding the door, the bear asked. His voice didn't sound as deep as James.

"No, thanks. We can go now. I'll be waiting here for you to get your stuff."

"Sure." With that, Blake turned away.

Alex noticed that the bear was definitely not a small one. He was as tall as James, at about 6 feet, and his body looked as broad as his gorilla friend. Nevertheless, Blake was not clumsy in his movement. Alex saw him swiftly climbing up to the 2nd floor and coming back with a small sized and shabby backpack. The two left the house and headed toward Alex's pickup.

Before Alex reached the door, Blake asked, "Can I drive?"

Giving the bear a somewhat doubtful glance, Alex nodded and gave him the key of the car. After all, Alex didn't have the mood to drive.

They switched their position, and both got into the car. The buck watched the bear ignite the engine, seemingly familiar with the exact pickup. Alex felt relieved and let himself indulged in his own thoughts about James with slight depression. When the bear drove out of the driveway, Alex had another glance at him, finding the large male with an interesting posture. The bear was sitting at the front of the seat, sticking his head to the front, and holding both paws at the top of the wheel, which indicated he might not be an experienced driver. The bear would make an exaggerated move in turning and moving his head to watch the mirrors. It looked a bit comical especially due to him being a bear.

Do all bears drive like this? Alex thought.

Alex averted his eyes when Blake looked back, who sensed that he was being stared.

"Hmm... what?" Blake asked in a friendly tone.

"Nothing. You seem a bit tensed driving like that."

"Oh... heheh." The bear readjusted his sitting posture and tried to be more relaxed.

"You know the route to the Kul mountain, don't you?"

"Definitely I know it. It's a good time to go. The temperature is much cooler in the mountains. In fact, it's why it is called Kul mountain."

"You know the place a lot?" Alex asked.

"Know it a lot? Heh, I know it better than anyone in this world does. I've been there many times, and explored a lot of nice spots others don't know."

"Oh, really? Then you can lead me to somewhere nice." Actually, Alex didn't care much. His mind was full of a particular gorilla right now, having no mood for natural scenery.

"Sure. You wouldn't be disappointed."

I'm being right now. Alex thought and fought off a grimace.

Then the two remained quiet on the rest of the road. Alex was glad that the bear had his full attention on the road, so he wouldn't know his current mood and be affected by it.

*

They finally arrived at the foot of Kul mountain. However, Alex saw no other cars parking there. Even the road to here was not obvious, indicating that few furs had been here.

"I thought Kul mountain is famous, but here it seems desolate." Alex asked as they leave the parked car, heading into the forest mountain.

"It is famous, but almost every fur went into the mountain from the south. We are at the west side of it now. I think the scenes here are better, and there are seldom traces of furs so it feels completely pristine."

"I see." The deer answered tersely. His gloomy mood was contrasted by the black bear's good spirit, which became even higher since they came to this natural place.

"I'm glad to be coming out here with you." The bear said, confusing Alex slightly while leading the way into the woods

"Hmm?"

"I've come here like a thousand times. Only a few times was I accompanied," said the bear, who was giving his back to Alex so his countenance wasn't showed.

"Why not?" Alex blurted out.

"I... wasn't the most popular fur in town."

"What about James?"

"He is my friend, and my only one. But he is the opposite of me in that he is very popular. He makes friends more than the furs I know in town. I'm merely one of them, so I don't want to occupy him too much."

Way to go being a buzz killer, Alex, and now the bear is affected by your stupid depression. The deer thought. He blamed himself of asking why Blake had gone here alone so many times. He didn't want to evoke any more pessimistic feelings, so he decided to simply reply, "Kay."

Their footpaws/hooves trampling on the dirt road, snapping twigs was the only sound they made in the next whole hour. The deer was still not cheered up, thinking about James. It's funny that he found something in common with Blake, which was that they only had one friend, James. Ironically, Alex was about to lose the friend, or at least he thought so.

Without James, Alex thought, the town could be a terribly lonely place for him. His coworkers were friendly, which consoled himself greatly. However, they only talked about work, and after work they were none other than strangers. Perhaps later Alex would make some close friends at work.

Why did he choose to go to this utterly strange place? Was it a wise or an impulsive decision? What if he got regretted for this decision? What could he do if, IF, James really didn't want to talk to him anymore? Could Alex just leave and find another place? Would another place be any different that here?

It isn't really Alex's fault to be so overthinking. Being in a new place without any relatives or old friends sure can lead to that sometimes, raising the doubts and confusion hidden in one's heart. Triggered by some reason, the bad feelings will eventually strike a new comer. Being seemingly aloofly treated after he came out sincerely was a good reason to cause Alex's questions and uncertainties about his life and future.

He was pondering anything that just randomly came into his head, having absolutely no mood to appreciate the trees, the birds or the rest of the scenery. He didn't notice that he was walking slow, and Blake had looked back at him at times.

"Do you need a rest?" Blake asked turning around to look at the deer, interrupting the pessimistic thoughts that trapped Alex.

"No. I'm okay."

"Are you sure? You seem like you're too tired to move. I can help you carrying your bag if you want."

To Blake's defense, he didn't mean anything to offend the deer. It was simply a question out of concern. After all, Alex had truly been moving slowly, with his head hanging low looking tired. However Alex, already in a bad mood, took that as an insult for his physical strength.

Are you kidding me? I can't move? Alex was kind of pissed off. Though he admitted he wasn't the strongest fur, he was very confident and proud of his physical endurance. He had even completed a couple marathons during his college years, with decent records for an amateur. Climbing such a mountain was definitely easy for him. And who was the bear to question him? He looked heavy and presumingly clumsy.

It was so not a day for the usually prudent and calm Alex. He was annoyed by a benevolent asking. He turned his blues to anger at the bear, and wanted to prove that he was much better at this. He murmured inwardly, You will beg me to slow down later, wait and see.

"I'm fine. Let's go faster if that is what you want." With that, Alex dashed toward, passing by the puzzled bear, walking deeper into the woods blindly with no aim.

*

They started to stride in the woods, almost running. Alex, the robust young buck with endurance he proud of, was having no difficulty to keep up with such speed for a few hours. To his surprise, the bear kept closer to him, never falling behind.

Blake had something in his mind also. As he just told Alex, he wasn't popular at all. In fact, he was infamous in this town for his past and almost every fur knew him from a certain bad event. This is why Blake was so eager to become friends with Alex, the new comer. But now, from the attitude of Alex to him, he guessed the deer didn't like him much. Blake was never good at talking. How could he? There were barely furs willing to talk to him. The black ursine didn't know what he could say to Alex to make the deer like him, or at least dislike him less.

However, after another whole hour of the silent mountain-climbing competition, Blake couldn't hold it anymore. He must talk to Alex before it was too late.

"Alex. We must stop now." He shouted at the deer.

"Why? You can't catch up with me?" After finishing the short and bitter sentences, Alex already felt a bit sorry for his tone and mood to this innocent bear.

"Uh... I think I'm okay, but we really shouldn't go too far. It might be raining later."

Looking up at the sky, Alex did find it kind of gray, but there were no clouds. The city boy, certificated from a university though, didn't know about the weather in mountains, whose mood was probably as unpredictable as his now.

"It doesn't look like it's going to rain."

"Trust me, it will be raining." Blake said seriously.

"There isn't any clouds." retorted Alex.

"We are IN the clouds."

Looking around, Alex said, "Even if it is going to rain, I don't think It will be heavy."

Alex's stupid stubbornness today could irritate most of the furs in the world, and they would likely to leave the deer here in the deep forest mountain, which would be horrible since the deer had no idea about where he was now. Nevertheless, Blake wasn't irritated. He patiently tried to persuade Alex.

"You are right, it wouldn't be heavy. But it would still be dangerous for us. Besides, do you even know where we are heading?"

That question got Alex.

"N... no. I simply want to walk my mind off J... uh... Never mind. Do you know where to go? I haven't seen any impressive scene along the way to here."

Letting out a sigh, Blake said, "We have missed some nice ones on the road, but if you want, about 20 minutes ahead us there is a tree that...well, I'm sure it will leave you in awe."

"Okay. Then let's do it. Do you want to lead the way?" Alex seemed to get back to normal mostly. The walk really had James out of his mind, as well as other worries.

"Nah, with you walking ahead, we can actually reach there faster. But uh... I'm really worried about the weather. If you sure want to see something, fine by me. Just go straight ahead and you will find it yourself." The ursine said.

Alex nodded. Turning to the front again, he continued his way into deeper of the forest.

Later, when Alex was just getting doubtful that if he was on the right direction, looking up through the misty air, he saw a shadow of tree that was much higher that others.

"I think I've found it." The deer looked back at the bear, with a smile on his face, for the first time of today.

"Good." Blake smiled back.

They took a few minutes to get to the foot of the tree. As Alex saw the mighty tree he was indeed awed. The trees in the mountain were pretty dense, but around this mighty one, there was only ground. Alex assumed it was because the tree had been absorbing all the nutrients nearby. And the girth, the deer guessed in astonishment, might need 20 furs to circle around it with paw in paw. Standing right under the tree, he couldn't even see the top of it. Of course the misty air should also take some credit of it.

"Oh my... What is this? Is it even a tree???" Alex couldn't suppress how he was amazed by it now.

"Heheh, it is a tree, and we call it 'the Mohr'."

"Is it a name for its species, or for itself only?" Asked Alex.

"Both, because we believe it's the only one left of its species."

"Wow. I can't believe it. I mean... I am so lucky to see the only one in this whole world." Alex said excitedly, still looking up to the sky trying to see the top of it.

The bear chuckled, happy to see the deer's exhilaration and said, "I guess we are both very lucky. Kul mountain has many mysteries. You will find more. I'm sure."

"Yeah."

When Alex calmed down from the discovery, he thought it was good to have their lunch here, which the bear agreed who had been quite hungry for the past hour.

They sat down at the huge root of the Mohr, dropping the backpacks on the floor and started to take the food out. Alex, as a vegetarian, brought four sandwiches. Two of them had meat in them, which were prepared last night for, sadly, James, while the other two were completely meat-free, which were for himself.

Alex gave a look at the bear, finding that he had "prepared" five cooked sausages, seeming like he got them from the refrigerator. And there was nothing more, no sauce, bread, or vegetable.

The deer was hungry, but his hunger was nothing compared to the bear's. When he finished half of his first sandwich, he saw Blake was already chewing his last sausage. Then, after Blake gulped down the mouthful sausage, the unsatisfied, pouting expression on the bear's face was so interestingly obvious that almost made Alex burst into laugh.

"I have another two sandwiches for you." Alex said, digging out the two with meat from his bag, and handed to the bear, who was almost brought to tears in happiness.

"Thank you. You are my savior."

Blake took the sandwiches, and soon got a bestial bite. He moaned with food full of his maw, mumbling while chewing, "This is delicious! So nice." He ate the sandwiches voraciously.

Alex was flattered to hear the compliment, and he felt good to feed the bear full to repay Blake who brought him to such a splendid natural resort. The deer finished his first sandwich while Blake gulped down the last bite of both ones. Alex gave the bottle of water when he saw Blake swallowing too fast.

"Thanks."

"If you still want more, we can share the last one, though there is no meat."

"Really? I've already taken from you a lot." Blake scratched the back of his neck with his right paw, embarrassed of his voracious appetite.

Alex found the embarrassed look of the big guy cute. Typical bear, he thought, but only said, "It's fine. I don't eat a lot. Half of it is enough for me. Besides, you didn't have time to prepare food because you only knew this morning."

Then Alex tore it into two and handed one to Blake. They finished them quickly.

"Uh-oh..." Blake uttered, looking upward.

Before Alex asked, he realized the reason as he felt raindrop falling on his face. Within seconds, the sound of light rain hitting the ground and leaves filled the whole forest surrounding the two furs.

"It's bad. We must go back right now, and we must return the truck before sun set, or we might be lost in here and stuck at here tonight." Looking at the foggy sky, the bear said seriously.

"Okay, big guy. Don't scare me." said Alex, frowning slightly.

"It's even worse that I just ate all the food we have, which may would save our life." Blake continued staring at the sky, as if try to read some information about the rain.

"Okay, big guy. I'm really scared now." said Alex, frowning tightly. He looked at the watch, and added, "It's 1:37 now. We spend about 3 hours to get here, so if we return at our full speed, we would make it before 4:30, right?"

"It's not th... well, I hope so. We need to go now. It's much faster when you are leading. Just return with the same route."

Alex nodded.

They stuffed the stuffs and trash into the their backpacks, and started to go down. Alex, not aware of the problems they were going to face, thought it to be an easy return. The rain in the woody mountain was like drizzling, that he couldn't feel any heavy raindrops beating his fur. Instead, it felt like he was traveling in sprayed vapor, getting wet by innumerate tiny droplets floating and abounding in the air. He had no idea how fast this world would become covered by streamlets flowing down, and so wet to the two furs that it would be hard to walk on the slippery earth.

In reality, it only took less than 10 minutes. First, Alex noticed the tracks they had made before were becoming obscure. Fortunately, they kept heading forward before so now they didn't have to change their direction. Then, as the tracks weren't visible anymore, Alex found it hard to see the ground with water flowing on it. He couldn't tell whether he was on dirt or a rock at times, and rock was much more slippery. Now, the deer realized it would take much longer for them to go back, so he didn't think about anything else except occasionally asking the bear if they were on the right direction.

Later, Alex's fur was totally wet by the invisible tiny droplets. The lower temperature in the mountain in the summer wasn't preferable anymore as Alex sneezed the first time. His fur, soaked with cold rain, was closely clinging on his skin, making his upper body shivering slightly. His earlier good mood when he was having lunch had disappeared again, making him a bit grouchy. However, this time his inward complaint was in a more reasonable way, that he only cursed himself of his earlier stupidness and obstinacy. If he had listened to the bear to return earlier, they wouldn't be facing the probability to be stuck in this gloomy place. Now, he guessed they could make it back to the car at 7 or even later, hopefully before it became dark.

*

The two furs kept walking like this for an hour. During that time, streamlets had became rivers flowing rapidly, almost becoming like a world of water. Sometimes when the two needed to climb down a rather steep hill, they required help from the trees. One step that slipped might have caused them to roll down the hill and get severely hurt. But they also needed to keep their speed.

The cloud was now above them, not surrounding them, which made the raindrops having time to congregate to become bigger and heavier. They beat against the whole mountain, making the noise that filled the environment. Alex's mind was kept running with only one thing, wishing to get back to the pickup fast and safely.

Oh, his lovely pickup! He had never wanted to see it more than now. He hoped its wheels weren't stuck in the wet earth, or mud. Even if they were, Alex would still love to stay in it to keep from the rain.

Suddenly, Alex's hoof walked on a bare rock and slipped. He immediately lost his balance, falling behind. However, as his hip was going to hit the hard surface, two large paws caught him under his armpits, and then Alex was lifted up by the strong paws.

The deer's heart was beating fast at the accident, gradually calming down, realizing he didn't fall.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." They both said politely.

No fur would want to take a rest standing in rain, but they didn't mind since they couldn't get any wetter. Standing there for a few seconds as resting for the first time since lunch, Alex looked at the bear, who was completely soaked just as he was. The wet look of the bear was more obvious since he had longer fur, but he didn't look tired or worried. Rather, Blake was full of spirit, his eyes glistening.

Blake gently stroked the deer's back with his paw. He could feel the deer's heart still beating fast.

"You can take a rest if you want." said the bear.

"I'm fine. I don't need to rest. But seriously, you just saved my butt."

A smile filled their soaked faces briefly, and then continued the walk. This time, Alex was more cautious, so they were moving even slower.

Blake took Alex's right paw in his, to prevent from the deer falling. Alex felt safer with his paw held in the bear's, so he sped up a little.

*

Uneventfully and hence fortunately, the two managed to return to the car right after the sky began to darken.

During the way back, Alex had almost fallen for another time, and was saved by Blake again. As they approaching the foot of the mountain, Blake began leading the way since only he knew exactly where they were.

Reaching his car, and finally breaking their tightly holding paws, Alex said, "I'll drive, while you take a rest."

"Thank you. I know you are more tired than me. Most of the time, you were the one leading." Blake said, standing beside the door not knowing what he should do because he didn't want to wet the inside of Alex's car. He saw Alex opened the door and got inside without caring his car, so the bear followed. Their hooves/feet and calves were covered with mud, but Alex didn't mind.

They shut the doors, and the world finally became quiet as the sound of rain beating the ground muffled.

Alex said, "Thank you for keeping me from falling, and... I'm sorry for the trouble I caused."

"Never mind. We made it back together, don't we?" Blake tried to cheer Alex up.

"Yeah."

The deer ignited the engine, relieved that it was still functional. He was so exhausted feeling slightly dizzy and lightheaded. He needed a clear mind for driving, so he let the car engine boom for itself for a moment, while he was taking a short rest.

Alex heard the window on Blake's side was handed down, and the sound of rain became louder again. He turned his head slowly to the bear, and then froze.

Blake, with his shirt off, was wringing it outside the window. He had the perfect chest and stomach for Alex, not with pure muscle, but still muscular with a decent layer of fat only making the muscle more bulging. The wet, thick and black fur was clinging closely together making the outline of his pecs clearly visible. They looked wonderful to touch or, for Alex, to press his head on the manly chest.

And the nipples! Slightly pointing down and sideways on that broad chest, they were erected from the coldness. A water bead was lingering on the left nipple, and Alex had to fight back the urge to lick it off.

The two furs were extremely tired and Alex couldn't think about if what he was doing was embarrassing and impolite. He just stared at the torso of his company. What Alex didn't know was that Blake had already finished drying his shirt, and the bear was looking back at Alex, speechless yet with his mouth open.

Blake closed the window again, and the silence got Alex's mind back. The deer finally looked at the bear's face, who was surprised by his staring but said nothing. Alex instantly turned his head away in embarrassment, heart pumping fast. He cleared his throat twice, putting his paw on the shift, ready to drive.

He then felt a surprisingly warm and comforting paw gently on his paw and held it.

Their paw-holding kept for a moment. The bear kept looking straight at the deer. Alex sensed Blake was looking at him, but he didn't dare to look back. He was too embarrassed and afraid of the bear would ask, Why were you staring my chest like that, you pervert?

Alex couldn't face him now. His paw moved, shifting the gear, and that was when the bear let his paw go.

During their way back, Alex still didn't dare to look at Blake. The feeling of the bear's paw holding his was lingering in his mind, making him blush.

He felt tired and sleepy, so he turned on the music, which was James's favorite tape. Alex wasn't very into rock music like this, but it was better than silence with the only sound of rain hitting the car.

After driving for 30 minutes, his body felt numb while he struggled to keep his mind clear enough to drive. When the traffic light in front suddenly turned red, he finally took a long deep breath, recovering some of his energy. He turned to see the bear, finding that Blake was asleep. His maw slightly opened, showing his purple tongue and sharp teeth. The funny thing is that he was facing Alex, so it was like a welcome gesture of a passionate French kiss to him, or so he imagined.

Oh goodness! What's wrong with me! Alex thought, slapping himself inwardly.

The music, which had been ignored totally, reached to the chorus of James' favorite song. Alex didn't like it at first and didn't quite understand why James found it so good.

It was a song extolling flowers, saying that furs should live like flowers. Though they would wither eventually, they bloom at their best now.

The lyric wasn't related to the scene Alex seeing, but the inspiring melody and rhythm were living up his spirit.

Now the bear looked ... well, Alex found it hard to find the word to describe. Though the scar on the right side of his face was terrible, making the face far from angel-like, he still looked so kind, and innocent in his sleep.

After staring at the sleeping bear for a while, Alex still couldn't find a particular word to describe the bear, but he was sure that he liked him. It was a totally different feeling of him liking James. He liked James because James was perfect, while he liked Blake because he just liked him.

Is he having a dream now? If he is, what is it about? Alex thought randomly.

The bear suddenly looked so appealing, that Alex wanted to kiss that face, but he didn't. He would have another chance to plant a kiss, right? The paw holding had to mean something, right?

Smiling, the deer turned his head back on road, only seeing the light just turned red again. He had to wait for another cycle, which he didn't mind at all. He could have a bit more time with the black bear.

Around half an hour later, the car was pulled at Blake's house. Alex woke Blake up with a gentle nudge on the naked waist. They exchanged goodbyes, and Blake went into his house. Blake didn't know what happened when he was sleeping on the road. He had yet to find out that everything just changed. Everything.

On the road back to Alex's own home, he backed the tape and listen to that song again and again. Since then, it became his favorite song too.