FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

I am in no way responsible for any damages, mental or otherwise caused by the reading of this story. It contains graphic depictions of sexual contact between two males of differing species. If you are offended by this in any way, then DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER! 'Nuff said.

(I will be expanding on this world in a later story, as I have lots of stuff planned, but for now, just enjoy!)

Free yawned widely and leaned back in his chair, bringing the front legs off the floor a bit. He glanced over at the clock.

"Shit, almost midnight and I haven't even showered yet." He said to himself, as there was no one else in his small studio apartment.

He got up from his computer desk, leaving it on and connected to the internet. He briefly thought that dial-up service really sucks, but his apartment complex didn't even offer broadband, and it was a luxury right now anyway. He only had two years left, he kept telling himself. Just two years. Then he could get away from this hellhole that he had moved to. Texas. Ye gods what a place. He suddenly felt a little homesick for his native California. He yawned again as he slipped out of his loose shirt and sweatpants and tossed them on the floor next to his bed. He always kept the drapes closed, so he could cavort around the place nude all he wanted, though he usually did wear at least some pants, except for when he was sleeping. Since getting out of his parents place, he found that sleeping in the nude was more comfortable for him, and he seemed to sleep better like that. Tiredly, he padded into the bathroom and turned on the hot water in the tub. The water took a few minutes to heat, so he grabbed his toothbrush and brushed his teeth while waiting. "Man, I look like hell..." he said, again to himself, as he looked in the mirror.

True, he had been studying hard all week for an important test, and it showed. The area under his caramel brown eyes were a little puffy and dark, and his fur had seen better days. His eyes were slightly bloodshot, too. Oh, well, he thought to himself. He brushed his teeth quickly, making sure to get behind his large front ones. After rinsing, he went back to the tub. The water was just about right, so he stepped in and closed the curtain. Leaning over, he flipped the little metal knob on the faucet that turned the shower on, and put his hands against the wall under the shower head. It kicked in, a little cold at first, but within seconds, it was hot and soothing as it spashed down his back. He stayed like that for a while, as his back muscles ached from so many long hours in front of the computer. As he stood up, letting the water now wash against his muscular chest and stomach, he stretched a little. Grabbing the bottle of fur shampoo, he turned the water off and lathered up. Normally he would have just let it run, but the cheapasses who ran the complex charge the tenants for water. Fuck 'em, he thought as he lathered up every square inch of his body. Once done, he turned the water back on and rinsed off thoroughly, lingering in spots so the hot water could do it's thing. A good twenty-five minutes passed before he stepped out, dripping everywhere like mad, especially from his floppy ears. Getting his favorite huge fluffy towel, he dried off as good as he could with it, then tossed it on the bar where the shower curtain hung and got out his blow-dryer. After another ten or so minutes, his fur was dry and poofy. He looked in the mirror again, and chuckled a little, as he always thought it was comical how he looked after blow-drying. He had very light grey fur, almost bluish in color. His belly was white, as were his hands and feet, the tips of his ears, and the white from his belly extended down his groin to his butt, creating a heart shaped design there. Getting his fur brush out, he went to work quickly on his body fur, smoothing it out. He had a short mane of soft, wavy, very light brown hair that contrasted his body fur nicely. He grabbed a different, more stiff old-fashioned wooden brush for his hair, and spent several minutes removing the tangles and smoothing it out. After he was finished with his hair, he looked at the brush, smiling. He remembered the time one of his lovers wanted to spank him, and he spent a fun time over his lap getting whacked with that very same brush. His butt was bright red afterwards, visible even under the fur, but the sex was oh so incredible that night. He mind then switched tracks and he thought about how showering always made him sleepy, and that's why he does it before bed, but his thoughts quickly blanked once more as the tiredness set in even more fiercely. Padding back into the main room where his bed was, he looked at the clock again. Almost one. He decided that sleep was what he needed more than anything right now (well, his body decided. He didn't have much say so in the matter.), so he shut down his computer, set his alarm, and collapsed on the bed. Hot. It was hot. He got back up and turned on his box fan and turned it towards him. The noise of the fan drowned out the noise of the street anyway, and helped him sleep. Within minutes, he was out, half of him hanging off the right side of the bed. Waking up to the harsh sound of his alarm clock, he sat up and turned the stupid thing off. Squinting slightly, he could see a little daylight coming from the bottom of the drapes that covered the window. Forcing himself out of bed, he lazily slid on his sweatpants and scooted his feet over to his little kitchen area. Looking in the fridge, he pulled out the other half of the salad he was eating the night before and began munching on it while he flipped on his computer. Looking at his meal, he wondered what it was like for all those other species who ate meat. While the thought itself repulsed him, he was sorta growing tired of eating nothing but vegetables all the time. Sure, his mother taught him a thousand different ways to dress them up to make meals interesting, but damn, those omnivores sure got the good piece of the evolutionary wishbone. There wasn't much left, so he was done even before his computer finished booting up. He clicked on the 'Connect to Internet' button and waited while it dialed in. He always checked his e-mail in the morning, to see if his friend, Mitch, in California had sent anything. He was a childhood friend and they kept in touch pretty regularly, and Free loved hearing about what was going on in California, as opposed to the gigantic redneck truckstop of a state he was now living in. Nope, nothing this morning. He deleted all the junk in his inbox and got up, flipping the computer off again. Time to get ready for class. He looked at his calender as he dressed. Damn, gotta work tonight. Gonna be tired as hell tonight, he thought to himself. The one bright spot about his time here, was oddly enough, his job. Working at a small, almost bohemian coffee shop, called the Latte Night, made him feel more like he was back in California. It was just about the only place he'd see any local gays hang out, too. Not that he had time or money for a boyfriend right now, even though there was this one cute chinchilla that came in from time to time that he'd like to get to know better. As he finished buckling his belt and slipping on his sandals, he glanced at the clock and noticed that if he didn't hurry, he was going to miss the bus. He took a minute to use the bathroom, then grabbed his backpack and raced out the door. Fortunately, him being a rabbit, he was able to quickly get to the bus stop. He was early, even, as he had to wait almost 5 minutes till the thing showed up. When it finally did, he got on and paid the driver his exact change, like always, and took the closest empty seat. A somewhat skinny lion was sitting next to him, his nose stuck in the newspaper. Free was big for a rabbit. He stood just a hair under 6 foot 4 inches and weighed about 200 pounds, and that was all muscle. He worked hard on keeping his body in shape, as the collapsable weight bench under his bed would attest to, and he was extremely defined, especially his legs. He half smirked/smiled when he noticed that he was quite a bit larger than the lion next to him. Predator and prey indeed. Though some of their animalistic instincts remained intact, though usually to a greatly diminished degree, Free thought it was rather comical that sometimes the traditional roles were reversed. Free was a lover, though, not a fighter. He'd never been in a fight in his life. He turned to look out the opposite window, and before he knew it, the bus was coming to his stop. He got up as soon as the bus stopped completely and trotted out the door. "See ya tomorrow, Jay!" Free said as he turned and waved to the bus driver.

Jay the driver said nothing but held up his hand and waved back. Over the last three years, Free had gotten to know a few people. He wasn't very social, normally, but it's hard not to eventually learn the name of the guy who drives you to class every day. Turning away from the bus and towards the building that held his first class, he rushed in hurriedly to try and get a decent seat.

The rest of the day seemed to drag on forever. His Lit. professor seemed to have popped a few valium or something this morning as he was just talking...sooo....sloooooowly....sloooooooooooooooowwwwww... Free almost fell asleep during the class, but the guy sitting next to him dropped his book and it jarred him back to consciousness. Finally, the professor finished the class, and he went to his next one, his major, architecture. No matter how tired he was, he always paid attention in this class, as not only was it his major, but he intended on being a big-name architect in the very near future, and wanted to do as good in this class as he could. Once the professor was finished, he zoomed to his next class, his last for the day. Once again, time just seemed to freeze as the professor just droned on and on about something incredibly boring. Since today was one of his short days at the campus, Free decided that once this class was out, he would go into the coffee shop early to see if he could get some extra hours. His parents were pretty well off, but they decided early on that Free should try and make his own way in the world, and he was glad for it, honestly. He hated those spoiled assholes that had everything given to them on a silver platter. He wanted to earn what he got, and if that meant working his ass off and living in a tiny little studio apartment, so be it. These thoughts were interrupted by the shuffle of many feet as the professor dismissed the class. Getting up and slinging his backpack over his shoulder, he headed off quickly to catch the next bus to the coffee shop. It was 2 in the afternoon, and his stomach was grumbling a little. He figured he'd just get a bagel or something at the shop, since bread was one non-vegetable he liked (and could actually eat), and he got a pretty good discount. The bus was right on time, and Free occupied himself on the ride there by sticking his nose in a book about Greek architecture. He almost missed his stop, he was so absorbed into the book, but he rushed out of the bus and into the shop, his flopped ears trailing behind him. "Hey, sweetie. How you t'day?" called the woman behind the counter. Her name was Sara, a slender young human girl.

She'd been working there for almost 8 years, 6 more than Free. She was the night manager, the shift Free worked.

"Hey, Sara. You're here early today. 'Sup?" He said as he walked behind the counter. The store only had one customer, sitting in the corner with a laptop and a tall latte next to it.

"Oh, Jenna called in sick, so I came in to cover. I could use the hours, anyway. Speaking of which, ain't you here early yourself?" Sara said in her thick Southern accent.

"Yeah, I was gonna ask you if it's cool if I get some extra time myself tonight." Free said as he put his backpack into his locker and got out his nametag. It was one of those that hung around your neck, and everyone had decorated theirs in a different way. His sported a small, clipped out picture of his favorite actor, Tom Cruise, and a little carrot pin that he thought was quite comical.

"Oh, hell, I don't mind hon'. Dave shouldn't mind, neither, but I'll take any blame if he does, ok?" She said as she hurried around the counter, wiping and cleaning as she went. Dave was the store manager, and was a cool guy, very laid back. Probably a serious stoner, Free thought. Free chuckled a little "Sure." He said. "Hey, I'm gonna sell myself a quick bite before I clock in, ok?" He said as he found the bagel he wanted and got a small plastic tub of carrot-flavored cream-cheese. He went to the register and paid, then quickly cut and toasted the bagle, spreading the cheese over both halves and devouring them as fast as he could. After he clocked in, the rest of the night went by pretty fast, considering how slowly his day had gone. It was a Tuesday night, so it was slow, but they had a musician come in and play a set. A mouse who played a pretty good guitar. He looked like a total bum, though, Free thought. His hair was down to the base of his tail, and didn't look like it had been combed in a month, and it looked like he was trying to shape his chin fur into a goatee. A few folks came in to hear him, but only a couple of them ordered anything. Free browsed his book during any spare time during the night, and before long, it was closing time. He mopped the floor quickly, and helped Sara do the dishes, and they actually got out of the place early. Almost 20 minutes ahead of what they usually do. "You need a ride home, hun?" Sara said as she locked the front door.

"Nah, thanks though. I'm gonna catch the bus and maybe stop off for a beer or two before I head home." He said as he slung his backpack over his shoulder.

"Well, you be careful, Free. There's a lot of crazy folks 'round these parts. And if some of those folks knew you was...I mean, you know, that you like other...shit." Sara smiled awkwardly, giggling, and trying to not look foolish.

"What, that I'm a gigantic queer?" Free said, not too loudly, lisping in his best flaming gay voice. "Damn, am I really that obvious?" Free said, looking himself over. He'd always thought of himself as a sort of anti-gay gay guy. No shirts with rainbows, or pink triangles, or "Raisin' Tail" logos on it or anything. No form fitting biker shorts. He liked to think that unless he actually told you, you'd never guess his sexual preference. Sure, that made it hard to get boyfriends sometimes, but he just hated the idea of being a flamer.

"Oh, hon', no, no. But you know how damn prejudice some people are, so if you go to..you know, one of those kinds of bars, you just be careful, that's all." Sara said, stammering slightly. Free liked her, but she had so many of those hangups and preconceptions that seemed to be so prevalent in the South. She just couldn't bring herself to even say the word "gay". "Allright, Sara, I'll be careful. You have a good night." Free said over his shoulder as he turned to head towards the bus stop.

"You too, sugah." she said as she got into her car.

Free walked at a brisk pace towards the bus stop. A cold Miller Genuine Draft sounded so good to him right now. The bus pulled up just as he was getting to the stop. He got on and sat down. He looked at his watch. Hmm...almost 10. I'll have just enough time, Free thought. There were only 2 other people on the bus, and the nighttime driver was always someone different, so Free just sat there quietly, watching the nighttime city go by. The city itself looked a lot like his home city, but it was the people that made it so very different. When the bus stopped, it was still a little ways to his apartment. He had stopped at a little bar nearby a few times, and it was usually pretty quiet in there, so he decided that that's the one he'd grab his brews at. It was down a flight of stairs...hmm, just like Cheers he thought for the first time. He found the place easily and lightly stepped down the stairs. Walking inside, he saw that the place was almost empty except for a lone guy sitting at a table in back and three other guys at the pool table. No one looked like they even noticed him come in. Grabbing a stool at the bar, he tossed his pack on the floor next to him and reached into his back pocket for his wallet. The bartender came up. "What'ya want?" He said, smiling.

"Just a couple of MGD bottles, please." Free said as he handed him a bill. The bartender came back in just a moment with two bottles, dripping with condensation, and his change. Free popped the top to one and drank half of it in one go, letting out a slight "ahhh" when he was done. Turning to see the tv, he saw that, naturally, there was a sporting event on. Even worse, it was a really damn redneck sport...Monster Truck competitions. He scrunched up his nose and turned back to his beer, finishing off the bottle in another two gulps. Just as he was getting ready to open the second bottle, he felt something bump him from behind. Turning to see, the three guys who were playing pool were standing right behind him now, only a foot or so away. Their combined stink almost overwhelmed his sensitive nose.

"Hey, Bugs, you get lost on the way to your fuckin' rabbit hole or somethin'?" One of them said, a fat, overpoweringly smelly guy with greasy hair.

"Yeah, Roger, didn't your momma tell you to go right home after school?" This time it was a skinnier guy, but no less smelly. Or ugly. "We don't like your kind in here, lunchmeat. So you best take your Peter Rabbit ass out of here before we decide to make us some rabbit stew." This time it was a big guy, not fat, but pretty well muscled, and about the same height as himself. He poked Free in the chest every few words, just to emphasize what he was saying. Free was about to grab his backpack and acquiesce when he noticed that someone else had joined the little party. The lone figure that was sitting in the back was now standing behind the three goons. Free wondered for a moment if he was there to join them in kicking his cotton tail out of the place, but that wonder dissapated when the stranger spoke.

"Hey boys, why don't you leave this one alone and lemme buy you all a round, eh?" He said in a deep, steady voice.

"Why don't you fuck off and mind your business, pal, or maybe we'll do to you what we're gonna to to this little shit right here." The fat one with the greasy hair said.

"Hey now, guys, seriously. Lemme buy you all a pitcher and I'll play a little pool with ya, ok?" The voice was still steady and calm. Free could see that the guy talking was tall, but the three walking piles of crap in front of him obscured most of his view of the man. "Listen, asshole, why don't you go fuc..." The fat one was interrupted by the bartender.

"Hey! You three! I don't want any damn trouble in here, so you three get the hell out of here! Now!" He shouted, rather loudly.

The three turned back and were going to say something, but were deterred by the fact that the man had a semi-automatic pistol resting on the countertop. He was just about a foot to the right of Free, and he could see that it said Ruger .45 on the side of it. The three goons thought about it for all of one second, then went and got their things and their beer bottles and headed to the door.

"And don't come back either, you jerkoffs!" The bartender screamed after them.

"You ain't heard the last of this, you fuckin' fur-lovers!" the fat one yelled back as they left and slammed the door behind him.

"Stupid jerks hadn't even ordered a drink in the last 3 hours. Here, on the house." The bartender reached down and produced two more beers and handed one to both Free and the stranger. Now that Free could get a good look the human, he almost gasped when he stood up and got a look at his full frame. He was huge, standing at least a good half foot taller than Free, probably more. He was wearing a somewhat loose black sweatshirt, but Free could still see that he had a massive chest and his arms were bulging against the fabric of the shirt. Free hoped he wouldn't start bulging against any of his fabrics anytime soon, as he tried to think of something else other than that huge chest that was standing in front of him. He smelled like most humans he had encountered, but nicer somehow, and the cologne he wore wasn't disgusting smelling, like most human perfumes Free had encountered, it was more of a musky scent. When Free finally looked up, he saw a rather handsome face attatched to the huge body. The human man was definately older than him, and his short, neatly trimmed dark brown hair was showing a little grey in front and some salt and peppering on the sides. He wore a closely trimmed goatee and had the most alarming blue eyes. His face showed some signs of aging, such as several worry lines on the forehead, but it held a soft, friendly expression. He smiled a sort of crooked smile and held out a hand to Free, and he took it, limply returning the strong handshake. "Name's Craig." He said in the deep, even voice.

"Ummm...I'm Free." He said, a little weakly.

"Hehe, so am I." Craig said laughing.

"Hehe, yeah, it is kind of a dumb name, but my parents were hippies back in the 60's, so I got stuck with it." Free said, again a little weakly.

Craig turned to the bartender. "You gonna be cool, Mike? Those dumbasses might come back looking for trouble. If they find out that you don't have any bullets for that thing..." he said.

"Nah, no sweat. It was their first time in here anyway. They'll never have the balls to show up again." Mike the bartender said as he put the empty pistol back under the counter. Free and Craig spent the next hour making small talk and half-heartedly watching the tv. Neither wanted to leave right away because those thugs might still be hanging around, but at about midnight, Craig said it should be ok to leave, so they both headed out the door and up the stairs.

As they slowly ascended the staircase, Craig stopped a few step short of the top, craning his neck to look into the street. "Hmmm...doesn't look like they stuck around. Let's go." He said. "Hey man, I wanna thank you again for that back there. I mean, I'm pretty good sized myself, but three on one isn't fair, ya know?" Free said quickly as they ascended the last few stairs.

"Damn, it's way later than I usu..." Free was cut off by the sound of something made of glass breaking.

He instinctively turned his face away from the shower of glass pieces that came from next to him, and as he did, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head and again heard the sound of glass breaking. The force of the blow sent him sprawling, but he had enough sense in his currently ringing head to turn and see what the hell was going on. Naturally, he thought to himself. The three goons had actually waited for them to come out of the bar, and with the way the entrance to the stairway was constructed, they were able to hide on the sides of the building and ambush them as they topped the stairs. He could only see two of them, one with a broken beer bottle in his hand, the other unarmed. Craig was holding the back of his head, and Free saw him turn to look towards him. Free could see the expression on the big man's face change, from what could be called surprise to what was most certainly anger. The next few moments seemed to blur as the large man moved far, far faster than someone of his size should be able to. Free turned his head slightly to his rear and saw the third assailant was standing over him, the fat one, preparing to stick the broken end of the bottle right in his face. He had no more than turned his head when from the side he saw a flash of movement and saw a leg extend out faster than he thought was possible and catch the guy right on the point of the jaw with a vicious kick. The force was so great that the fat one did a half backflip before landing squarely on his face on the concrete. Still half stunned, and now half astonished, Free turned back towards Craig just in time to see him deal with the next closest thug. Free saw him duck a clumsy punch and bring up his hand, laid flat as if for a karate chop, into the thug's sternum, fingertips first. The blow wasn't that hard, but the thug reeled back, gasping for air. He didn't have but a split second to consider his situation, though, as Craig brought up his right leg, this time in a front kick, and caught the man squarely in the chest. He reeled backwards and slammed hard against the brick wall, almost tumbling down the flight of stairs as he crumpled to the ground, still gasping for air. Free tried to rise, but his legs didn't seem to want to work at the moment, so he stayed down and watched. Craig manuvered between the fallen rabbit and the last goon standing, the large, muscular one. "Leave now and take your buddies." Craig said evenly, with no menace in his voice. There was no need for menace. In less than 10 seconds, he had completely disabled two opponents, one of which was armed. That should have been menace enough.

"I ain't afraid of you, big boy. I'm gonna fuck you up real good..." the large thug said as he rushed at Craig, brandishing his broken bottle like a rifle bayonet. Free watched as Craig, in one fluid, almost effortless move, stepped to the side of the charging assailant, one hand knocking the bottle from his hand, and the other arm hooking around the man's throat. In less than a second, Craig had the man in what looked like to Free like some sort of sleeper hold. He was proven right a few seconds later as the large man stopped struggling and wilted to the pavement, unconscious. Craig wasted no time, coming up to the downed rabbit and pulling him to his feet. Free's breath was almost taken away at the ease in which his own rather large body was hefted from the concrete.

"Let's get out of here fast, before they wake up. I'm parked right around the corner." Craig turned and ran, heading to the side of the building. Free snatched up his backpack and followed, still dizzy and wobbly, but he kept his footing and rounded the corner after the large man. Craig ran to a parked car, a smallish maroon colored Nissan Sentra, and got in quickly, unlocking the passenger door and starting the car. He pulled out of the parking lot and into the sparse traffic as fast as he safely could, then glanced back to see if any of the three were trying to follow him.

"Whew, I think we're gonna be ok. Damn, my head's ringin'...you ok over there?" Craig said in his deep voice.

"Yeah, I think so...I'm still dizzy, though." Free said, gingerly rubbing the quickly rising lump on the back of his head.

"You think they'll go after the bartender when they wake up?" Free asked.

"Not likely. That gun may not have any bullets, but Mike wouldn't hesitate to smack 'em upside the head with it if they tried anything." Craig said.

"Good." Free replied.

"Let's head to my place, so I can see if there's any glass in your scalp." Craig said as he rounded a corner. "Sure, thanks." Free said.

They drove in silence for some time, crossing the nighttime city before Free finally spoke.

"Hey, back there, I mean, damn man. That was friggin' amazing! Where'd you learn to do that?" Free said, genuinely intrigued.

"Oh, I got a buddy who's been teaching me some kung-fu moves for the last couple of years. Nothing spectacular, just enough in case I need to defend myself." Craig said, pulling up to a stop light.

"Nothing spectacular like hell. You looked like some lion or tiger fighting for it's life back there." Free said.

"Well, I'll take that as a compliment then...aaaaand here we are." Craig said as he pulled into the driveway of a small, one story house.

Without saying anything, Craig got out and waited till Free opened his door, then hit the lock button on his side and shut the door. He headed up the two stairs to the porch and unlocked the front door.

"Nice neighborhood." Free commented.

"Yeah, it's really quiet around here. Not much crime. None of the b.s. you get downtown." Craig said as he reached blindly against the wall and turned the light on. They both shuffled inside, and Free shut the door behind them. He looked around the small living room. It was sparsely furnished, only a couch, a tv, and a single chair. There were a few pictures around, standard landscapes and the like. His eyes were drawn to a glass cabinet with what looked like trophies or awards in it, but for now he was going to be polite and not ask a bunch of questions.

"Nice place, too." Free said as he turned his head, looking about.

"Thanks, it's small as small can be, but it's home. Just a rent house, but no upstairs neighbors." Craig said.

Free knew only too well what that was like. His upstairs neighbors, a cheetah couple, liked to party sometimes, and it sounded like the ceiling was going to collapse. Craig pulled up a small footstool near to one of the lamps on a little side table.

"Here, sit here while I get some stuff, I still wanna see if you got any glass stuck anywhere." He said as he strode off down a hallway.

Free sat down on the vinyl footstool. It was well used and worn. In less than a minute, Craig returned with a first aid kit. "Lean your head under the light." He said. Free did so, and in a moment, he felt the big human's fingers touching the back of his head. The touch was extremely gentle, and it sent a slight electric shock down Free's neck and back. He didn't physically react to the touch, but his mind was certainly working up it's own scenarios about how those fingers would feel on different parts of his body. Free inhaled deeply, drinking in again the human's scent. It was heavenly, he thought. After a few moments, the fingers ever so gingerly brushed over the lump on his head, examining it, but the touch was so light it didn't cause Free any pain at all.

"Looks like you got off lucky. You're gonna have a damn nasty lump there, though. Probably be twice that size by tomorrow." Craig said as he moved to the front of the footstool.

"Mind looking me over? He said, setting the first aid kit down.

"Oh, sure, no prob." Free said as he switched places with the tall man.

He manuvered Craig's head to the light and gave the back of his head a thorough once over, but he lingered a little longer than he probably should have, enjoying the feeling of the man's soft, wavy hair. "You got off luckier than me, you don't even have a lump or anything." Free said as he moved back from the footstool.

"Nah, I don't hurt easily. Body's been through the wringer so many times it's hard to even bruise me anymore." Craig said as he pointed towards the glass cabinet.

Free walked over and looked into it. There were pictures of Craig in what looked like a wrestling outfit, and several small trophies, one of which said 'Winner - OXCW Hardcore Round Robin 2002'.

"What, you're a pro wrestler?" Free asked over his shoulder.

"Yup. Right now I work for an outfit called the TPWA, the Texas Pro Wrestling Association." Craig said as he shut the first aid kit and got up to return it to it's place.

After he returned, he asked, "So, you into wrestling at all? It was really big back in like '98 and '99, when guys like Austin were working, but it's not so huge anymore."

Free turned and looked at Craig. A professional wrestler. That explains the physique, then.

"Uh, not really. Not anymore anyway. My uncle lived with us when I was a kid, and he watched it, so I got kinda hooked for a while, but that was years ago." Free said as he examined some of the pictures more closely. Free happened to look at his watch. "Oh, crap, man is it late, I got classes tomorrow. I better get going." He said as he turned towards the door.

"Sure man, lemme drive you." Craig said. He rummaged into his pocket and got his keys out and they both went out to the car.

Free noticed that the car was a little small for the big man, but he didn't really seem to mind. In fact, he had little trouble driving it at all. They made more small talk as they drove to Free's apartment, which it turned out was only a few miles away. They mostly talked about Craig's wrestling and what they did for jobs. Craig told Free that he was originally from Oklahoma, but came to Texas when the federation offered him a good spot with them. Turns out that Craig also had to work part time at a factory, doing things like heavy lifting and box packing, as the wrestling didn't pay all the bills. Free told him about the coffee shop, too, and Craig said he knew of the place, but had never been there. When they got to his place, Free got out of the car and Craig opened his glovebox and produced a piece of paper. He wrote something on it. "Hey man, we do shows Friday through Sunday. If you wanna go to one, call me here. I probably won't be there, but leave a message." He said, handing the paper to Free.

"Uhh, maybe. I don't have a lot of spending cash right now, though." Free said, making a crooked little smile as if to say 'I'm sorry'.

"Oh, no sweat. Guests of the wrestlers get in free, and I can probably convince our concessions guy to at least part with some popcorn or something." Craig said, leaning over and looking through the window.

Those eyes. God, those eyes, Free could almost feel them looking right through him, and even in the dark, he could see their magnificent blue hue.

"Oh, well in that case, I'll see how my work schedule is then." Free said, pocketing the piece of paper.

"Sweet. Lemme know ahead of time and I'll even drive you there. It's across town at the Expo center." Craig said.

"Oh, sure thing. Hey, thanks again for saving my ass back there." Free said, smiling slightly.

"Hey, don't mention it!" Craig said loudly as he pulled out of the parking lot and drove off. Yeah, don't mention it. It was all Free's mind could do right now. Mention it. Over and over. And over. He went inside, undressing for bed as his thoughts drifted to the possibility that maybe, just maybe...

"ow. Ow. OW! SHIT!!!" Free pracitally screamed as he lifted his head off the pillow. He felt like...like...exactly like someone had hit him on the head with a damn bottle.

Reaching back, he felt the now double sized lump, and jerked as he touched it a little too hard. Great. He reached over and turned off the screeching alarm and went about his morning routine. No e-mail from Mitch today, but he had a few minutes, so he decided to do a Google search on TPWA. Their website was quite nice for a non-mainstream wrestling fed. Sure enough, looking through the 'Stars' section, there was Craig. Or rather, 'Scary' Terry Burton. It was only a headshot, but he even looked intimidating from the neck up. Some of the other characters on there made him chuckle. There were only two bipeds in the federation, it looked like, a frickin' gigantic bull (with a cowboy motif, even...how original, Free thought), and a cute looking wolf, and about 20 other humans. Free browsed the site for a bit, till his time to leave came, then he turned off his computer and headed out to another routine day. He had to work again tonight, and wasn't sure if he should tell anyone at the shop what happened. No, Sara would definately see the huge lump and ask, and he was never any good at lying, so he'd have to tell them. He was pretty sure he had to work all weekend, too, but since Jenna had called off, she might be willing to trade him a day. He went through the motions at school that day, only really intently paying attention during architecture class. All day he found himself looking forward to going to see Craig wrestle this weekend. After school, he went back home to eat and shower, as he didn't go into work until 6 that evening. When he got into work, the first thing he did was check the schedule. Bingo. Jenna had Saturday off. She was currently in the back, doing dishes. Free stowed his pack and clocked in, then went to help her. "Hey, Jenna, you got any plans for this weekend?" He said, grabbing a towel and drying off a cup.

"Same as always, stay at home with Charlie." She said as she wiped a bit of sweat from her forehead.

Jenna was a lean and slender vixen, and Charlie was her son. She was a single mom and Free could tell that she loved her son immensely.

"Well, ummm, I got a favor to ask. You think you could maybe switch me Saturday for Thursday this week? I kinda need Saturday off." Free said as he put a plate into the dryer.

"Oh, lemme go see." She said, grabbing a towel as she went to look at the schedule. She came back a moment later. "Sure thing. And I'll just work Saturday for ya, since I missed yesterday. What, you got a date or something? You always told me you didn't have time for a boyfriend." She said smiling.

Yeah, that's my excuse allright. To myself and the world at large.

"Oh, no, nothing like that. I...kinda got invited to something Saturday night and I just really would like to go." Free said.

"Well, all you seem to do is go to class and work, so a little fun time sounds like just what you need...sweet Lord, honey, what happened to your head?" Jenna said as she finally noticed the goose egg on the back of his head. "Oh, had a little run in with some racists last night." Free said.

He told her all about the events of the night before, making sure to leave out the part about how he had been invited to a professional wrestling show. And about how attracted he was to his savior.

"Well, we all have a guardian angel. Looks like yours was right there for you last night." She said as she finished the last of the dishes.

"Gonna be another slow night. No music or anything tonight." She said, drying her hands and heading to the front of the cafe.

"Good, maybe I'll have a little time to study." Free said as he came out front with her.

Sure enough, the night went slowly. He did everything that needed to be done, and still had time to finish his homework. Sara fretted over him all night, making him sit down when he wasn't busy and study. She said something about a delayed-reaction concussion, but he dismissed all thoughts of it as he felt fine. It was only the damn lump that hurt. After they closed the shop, Sara made him promise to go right home and put either some ice or a steak on the lump. Free explained that he never had any steak in his house, so it'd have to be the ice. On the bus ride home, all he could think of was watching Craig wrestle. When he got home, he only surfed on the computer for a little while, wanting only to shower and hit the sack. He did like he promised and put a pack of ice on the lump, and he had to admit that it did help with the pain. During his nightly shower, he let the hot water soothe the accursed lump until the hot water ran out. The warmth after the cold ice seemed to really help. It wasn't five minutes after his head hit the pillow (the side of his head, of course, as the back of his head was still quite tender) till he was out like a light. The next two days went by slowly, Free thought. Time always seemed to creep by just before something that he was looking forward to was coming up. The lump had subsided somewhat by Thursday night, too. Friday night he called the number he was given, and sure enough, he got the machine. He left a message, giving Craig his e-mail. When he woke up Saturday morning, he got on the computer immediately, not even bothering with food. Mitch still hadn't sent anything, but there was one from Craig. 'I'll pick you up in the parking lot at 6:30 tonight.' Wow, short and to the point. He had no classes today, and since he didn't work tonight, he thought he'd familiarize himself with the wrestling world a little. He checked out the big federation, the one that was on tv twice a week. Hmmmm...they had some problems with the World Wildlife Fund it seemed. He laughed out loud when he read that, and was glad that the wrestling federation had lost that one. When he was a kid, he remembered one guy who was really popular...a big bear biped...Hogan something or other. He couldn't remember the exact name. Looking at the website, he saw that most of the guys on tv were pretty similar to each other, and lost interest in that pretty quickly. He headed back to the TPWA site, looking at each and every wrestler there. Wow, as big as he was, Craig wasn't even the biggest guy there. The bull biped stood seven foot three and another guy, called Big Mountain stood seven even, but weighed almost 400 pounds. He was the current Mid-South champion. Craig's bio said six foot ten and 285 lbs. It said his finishing manuver was called the "Terror Drop". Hmm. Sounded interesting, at least. There was a link next to him where you could buy a t-shirt with his 'Scary' logo on it. Cool, he thought. His mind began to drift, thinking about how handsome Craig was. He wasn't normally attracted to humans, but Craig seemed somewhat different. Not only was he cute, he just had that...indefinable something. And those eyes, no matter how long he lived, those gorgeous blue eyes would always be somewhere in the back of his mind. Almost without thinking his paw had drifted down into his sweatpants and was fondling his sheath slightly. He kept clicking around the website until he found a full body picture of Craig. This time he consciously toyed with himself, squeezing the head of his cock through the sheath to try and entice it out. It only took a few moments, as he hadn't pawed off in almost a week now. As his cock emerged and rapidly stiffened, he leaned back in the chair so he could get a better angle and began stroking himself in earnest. It only took about two minutes or so before he came, as he was amazingly horny. He came into his free paw and lapped up the hot cum quickly before it cooled. He always lapped up after himself, as he figured it was a waste of good cum to just wipe it up. Looking over at the clock, it was almost 4 in the afternoon. His stomach grumbled a little. Getting up, he grabbed a quick shower and picked out the clothes he'd wear for the night. Hmmm...what to wear. He looked through his closet at his modest collection of clothes. What would be appropriate. Suddenly, a thought struck him. He was going to one of the most redneck places imaginable tonight. He could wear a worn out pair of overalls and go barepawed and no one would notice. He chose a pair of black jeans and a white t-shirt with a coiled green snake on it. He thought it was sort of a joke when he bought it, but hadn't worn it much, since it was just a little too small for him. Perfect, he thought. It would show off his physique nicely. Wait, what the hell am I thinking? There's no way he's even remotely interested in me, since he's almost certainly straight, he thought to himself. Free sure as hell didn't want to go through having a crush on a straight friend again. He had enough of that in high school, and it almost tore him apart. He slipped on his nicest sandals and grabbed a black leather belt. He had tried to find shoes to fit his large feet, but even the largest were uncomfortable as hell, so he always wore sandals wherever he went. Nobody seemed to mind, though, as most rabbits wore them, so it had become a sort of cultural thing, he guessed. Grabbing his things, he went out of the apartment, intending to go to the little mom-and-pop convenience store that was less than a block away. They always carried these pre-packaged little salads, and they kept the best dressings there too, so he liked to stop in every now and again and grab one. Once he got there, he settled on a creamy ranch dressing and a can of V-8. Once he got back home, he ate quickly while at the computer, still studying about the federation. Once he finished eating, he tossed the packages and can, and decided to go ahead and take out his now full garbage. As he washed his hands, he looked in the mirror. He decided that he didn't like the way his hair was laying and took his brush to it, doing his best to make sure it laid back like he liked it. He used to keep it long, and in a ponytail, but got it cut just before he started college, and decided he liked it short, since it was less work to maintain. After his last minute preening, he glanced at the clock. 6 o'clock. He decided to go out into the parking lot and wait, since Craig might show up early or something. A small brick ledge was set next to his building, so he sat there, enjoying the warm spring evening, until he saw Craig's car turn into the parking lot. He waved and Craig angled towards him and stopped, reaching over and opening the door. The first thing Free saw were those angel blue eyes. Trying hard to put the vision of them to the back of his mind, he leaned down and got in the car. There was an assortment of smells in the car. Doritos, probably from a discarded bag, a pine scented air freshener, Craig's cologne, and the one thing he was trying to single out, Craig's own body smell. "Hey, man, glad you could come. Gonna be a hell of a show tonight!" Craig said, a subdued enthusiasm in his voice.

"Yeah, I've been looking forward to it." Free said, putting on his seatbelt. Yeah, looking forward to seeing you again, he thought to himself.

"Cool. How's that head?" Craig said, turning up the radio a bit as he pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road.

"Oh, it's ok now." Free said as he reached back and felt the now smaller and less painful lump. "Thanks again for that."

"Ahh, don't mention it." Craig said.

They made more small talk on the way to the arena. Free found that it was easy to talk to Craig. He listened intently to whatever Free had to say, no matter how insignificant. Free noticed that when he talked about wrestling, his voice held a certain passion that it didn't have when talking about other subjects. He spoke with a genuine love of what he did. Very few people Free had met ever sounded like that. They chatted about a variety of things. Free asked Craig about the whole 'wrestling is fake' thing, and Craig laughed when he did. Craig explained to him, somewhat firmly, that there was nothing fake at all about it. It was choreographed or predetermined Craig told him. And there was nothing fake about the injuries he'd collected. Changing the subject, Craig asked Free if he played videogames at all, and Free told him that he didn't have any consoles, as his money was always tight, but he did play some on his computer when he had the time. "Well, I finished the first Freedom Force a while back, and I got it for like 5 bucks used. I also picked up Doom 3 a couple of months ago cheap. I'm still trying to get through it. It's harder than hell in some spots." Free said.

"Oh, cool, I've been wanting to try that one. My computer is a real piece. an 800 megahertz Celeron. It gets me on the net and stuff, but that's about it." Craig said. "You gonna see the Doom movie? I love The Rock, man. He's like, every single wrestler's role-model." Craig said, chuckling slightly.

"I dunno, honestly. If the last few videogame movies were any indication, it'll probably suck. I might catch it at a dollar show or something, if I have the time." Free said.

They drove for about ten more minutes, then turned into the Expo center. The place was positively packed.

"We can seat 3000 here, and we sell out the place almost every night." Craig said as he parked in a 'Reserved' space. "We all work our asses off hard to entertain the crowd, though. That's why we sell tickets so well." He said. "Wow, 3000? That's cool as hell man." Free said as he shut the door on his side.

"Yeah, and at ten bucks a ticket, and five bucks for kids, we make some pretty good bank. Enough to even afford some low-end pyrotechnics and some nice lighting and stuff." Craig said as he shouldered his duffle bag.

Free followed him through the large parking lot, almost having to dodge a few cars jockeying for a good space along the way. Once they got close to the building, he handed Free a ticket and told him to get in line. All he'd have to do is show the person at the box office and he'd get his seat.

"Meet me back at the car. By the time I get out, most of the traffic will have died down." Craig said.

He went off through a side door in building while Free sauntered up to the line that was there. Craig had also told him that if he wanted anything from the concession stand, to just tell the clerk that Craig said it was ok, just not to go overboard on ordering stuff. Free had to laugh at that. He doubted they'd have much he really liked anyway. Damn, what a line. He hoped he'd get in in time, but figured they'd wait till most everyone was in to start the show. People were lining up behind him quickly as well. When he finally got to the front, there was a rather rotund human woman taking tickets. She smiled at him. "How many?" She said, her southern accent very thick.

Free handed her the ticket and she looked it over.

"Friend of Craig, huh? Well, I got a nice seat for you. Right behind the announcer's table. Just holler at an usher if ya can't find it hun, ok?" She said, smiling widely again.

"Sure, thank you." Free said, smiling back at her.

He had noticed that for the most part, people here were fairly friendly. It was just the bad experiences that stuck out in his mind the most. Moving in with the crowd, he found the concession stand easily enough. He waited there another 10 or so minutes. When his turn came, he told the guy manning the stand what Craig had said, and ordered a large popcorn and, luckily for him, they had V8 as well. He figured he'd better not mess with a beer right now, as there'd likely be a lot of drunks in here anyway. Slowly moving along with the crowd, he looked around once he was inside the center proper. Wow, it was a big place allright. Immediately the smells assaulted him. Drinks, food, body odor, other biped's smells, the arena itself. It wasn't unpleasant, he thought, just a little overwhelming. He couldn't single out Craig's smell, nor did he think he'd be able to. Scanning the arena, he saw a table set up on the right side of the ring, right next to the railing that was 'ringside', and assumed that that must be the announcer's table. When he got there, he had managed to not spill his popcorn, and looked at the seat numbers. His ticket said 83. There was 81...82...and 83. He sat down and started munching. He figured he'd better eat before the show started, cause his seat was front row, and Craig had told him that at ringside, most fans spent their time standing at the rails. It looked like they were still getting everything ready. Two burly guys were tightening the ring ropes, and at the announcer's table, there was a guy with a shoulder held television camera who was going through some last minute checks on it. The ring itself was dark blue in color with a black apron, and there were red mats placed all around it on the floor. Free finished the popcorn and drink in a few minutes, surprised at being hungry at all. Before long, both seats next to him on either side were filled. To his left was a human man with his small son sitting on his lap, and to his left was a large, brawny bear. The bear had a gigantic smile on his face, and seemed to really be anticipating the show's start. Free scanned the crowd. It was a good mixture of human and biped, he thought. Most were just normal looking blue collar types, and he saw just about every species of biped scattered here and there. Soon enough, two men came down to the announce table. One was rather tall, but skinny, and wearing a nice fitting blue suit, while the other one was short and fat, wearing what looked to Free like some sort of clown costume. He had a bright orange jacket, neon green pants, red shoes, and big sequined sunglasses. The fans booed when he came down, so it was pretty obvious that he was a character of some sort in the show, even though he was at the announce table. Craig would inform him later that he was the 'heel', or bad guy announcer. Another man came down and took a spot at the ring bell, and several security personnel came down as well, spreading out among the crowd and at ringside. It looked as if things were about to start. A few moments later, the overhead lights began to flash and some extremely loud heavy metal music came over the loudspeakers. He didn't recognize the song, but there were no lyrics, so it was probably something they had custom recorded, Free thought. The music blared for a few minutes, then a fox biped dressed in a tuxedo walked slowly to the ring along with a short, balding human referee. He stopped at the announce table and took a microphone, then climbed into the ring. The referee followed and went to the corner, standing silently. "How is everyone doing tonight!" He said, the mic turning his voice into a booming echo.

The crowd yelled their response in unison, making for an almost deafening roar to Free's sensitive ears.

"Is everyone ready for a great show tonight? The fox said, gesturing with his hand for an even louder response.

The crowd responded in kind, screaming even louder. Free winced and almost covered up his ears.

"Allright then, here we go! Our first match tonight will be one fall with a thirty minute time limit! Introducing first...he stands seven foot three and weighs in at 388 pounds, from Tombstone, Arizona...Cowboy Ace Brahma!" The fox said, gesturing to the entry ramp as he spoke.

Most of ringside got to it's feet, and Free did the same so he could see what was happening. A country song started to play on the loudspeakers. Free didn't recognize it either, but he didn't listen to much country to begin with. In a moment, the gigantic biped strolled slowly down to ringside as the crowd besieged him with boos. He was dressed in a pair of short black tights with a white 'ace' symbol on the back, a simple black vest, and black boots that looked like cowboy boots. His tights had a small hole in the back for his tail to fit through. Atop his head was a wide brimmed cowboy hat, designed to fit with his horns. Free noticed that the horns had been capped with what looked like rounded silver metal sheaths. Saftey reasons, he thought. The last thing one of the wrestlers wanted was to get impaled on this guy's horns. After the huge bull had entered the ring, the referee checked him for any foreign objects. He tossed his vest and hat to a ring attendant and went to stand in the corner, taunting the crowd a little as he waited. "And introducing his opponent...he stands six foot three and weighs in at 255 pounds, hailing from New York City, New York...The Demolition Man!" The announcer said, again gesturing to the ramp.

'Life in the Fastlane' by the Eagles began to play as a brawny looking human dressed like a construction worker stomped his way to ringside. He carried a sledgehammer over his shoulder, but set it by the ring before walking up the steps and going in. Free watched as the two circled each other, then finally locked up. Free was no expert, but judging by the reaction of the crowd, the match was pretty good. The bull biped ended up winning pretty handily, with a hard slam maneuver that Free thought looked extremely painful, and the crowd showered him with boos, which grew even louder as he took his fallen opponent outside and 'beat' him with his own sledgehammer. Several referees from the back eventually had to come break everything up. Free found himself booing and heckling the bad guy wrestler as loudly as any of those around him, and was already enjoying himself more than he thought he would. The bear next to him was also really getting into things, as he bellowed and hooted all during the match. Soon, the next match started, and Free found himself yelling and screaming once again. This match made Free wince several times, though, as it was dubbed a 'Hardcore' match. The wrestlers beat each other senseless with everything but the kitchen sink. It was kind of morbid, Free thought, but he still got into the spirit of things, and even high-fived the 'good guy' wrestler when he walked by him after the match. Two more matches went by, then finally the fox announcer got into the ring to announce what Free was waiting for. The announcer introduced the first wrestler, a guy named 'Skip' Jones. He was pretty good sized guy, about Free's size actually. The fox then gestured towards the ramp again. "And introducing his opponent...he stands six foot ten and weighs 285 pounds, hailing from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma...'Scary' Terry Burton!" The announcer said.

A rock song started to play. 'Scary's on the wall....scary's on his way...'The crowd practically exploded, and Free yelled at the top of his lungs as well. He had heard the song before, but couldn't remember it's name. The lyrics were appropriate, though. At the top of the entry ramp, he saw Craig. He wore a floor length black leather duster and small, rectangular sunglasses, almost like the ones the Agents wore in the Matrix movies, Free thought. He stood motionless in the entryway as the lights flashed, then slowly strode to ringside. He looked scary, allright, almost like a hitman, Free thought to himself. Before getting in the ring, he took off the duster and glasses and handed them to a ring attendant. Free looked at his wrestling outfit, and thought it was quite nice. Craig wore a modified tank top that covered most of his torso, except his arms. It was black except for two dark blue stripes going down each side, and a single stripe across the chest, making a sort of 'H' pattern. On the back of the top was his 'Scary' logo in stylized airbrush. His pants were of a different material, a semi-glossy type fabric, and weren't like the tights of the other wrestlers. They were looser, like pants. They were black in color and had the same dark blue stripes going down the side. The pants covered his boots, but Free could see that they too were black. He also wore a pair of tight fitting, black leather gloves. Craig walked around the ring, high-fiving the fans before getting in the ring. He didn't even seem to notice Free, but he figured he was just too caught up in things right now. This was his job, after all. Free could get a better look at Craig's musculature now, too. His chest was big, but not massively bulging, as were his arms. Big, but not overly so. He looked like he was built for power, not for show, like a power lifter would be. Free was mesmerized by the sight of him, and it took the ringbell nearby ringing to snap him out of his daze. As the match got underway, Craig at first simply overpowered his opponent, tossing him about and showing the crowd the difference in strength levels. Free yelled along with the crowd with each showing of power by the big man. After a few minutes, the smaller man switched tactics and began to actually wrestle, but Craig switched right along with him and the two engaged in a three minute long exchange of moves and countermoves. Hammer lock to headlock, headlock to hammer lock, hammer lock to ankle lock, ankle lock to headlock. Back and forth they went. Craig may have been bigger, but he kept pace step for step with the smaller man. When the exchange was over, both men were standing in a defensive posture, and the crowd went wild. Again, the smaller man switched tactics, this time trying to brawl with Craig. Big mistake, Free thought. Craig will eat him alive. Sure enough, Craig's big, ham-fisted punches began to wobble his opponent, eventually driving him into the corner. Craig knocked him to the floor, then with surprising agility, hopped up on the top rope, only to come crashing down with a leg drop a second later. Free was really getting into things, completely forgetting that everything was 'predetermined'. Finally the smaller man got an advantage when he nailed Craig with a low blow while the referee was looking away. He took the opportunity to kick and punch the downed big man for a few minutes, but once Craig got back on his feet, things turned around again. 'Skip' attempted to rush Craig as he was slumped in the corner, but was met with a vicious looking kick right to the face for his trouble. The kick was accompanied by a loud 'SMACK' sound. Hmm, different from the other night when Craig kicked the thug in the jaw. That made more of a 'crack' sound. Free realized that, of course, he didn't really kick his opponent just now, but it sure looked impressive. Craig came to the ropes and made some sort of signal, and the crowd went nuts once again. Picking his fallen opponent up, Craig punched him in the stomach once more for good measure, then stuck the man's head between his legs. Leaning over on top of him, he heaved him up into what Free would later find out was the 'Power Bomb' position. Instead of slamming the man back down on his back, Craig shifted his grip and tossed him forward a bit. As he fell, Craig hooked his hands behind the man's head and went into a sitting position. The end result was the smaller man getting his face rammed into the mat with an immense impact that made him bounce almost a foot back into the air after the initial slam. The sound of both men hitting the mat simultaneously sounded like a gunshot to Free's ears. Craig quickly rolled the man over and hooked his leg, pinning him. ONE! TWO! THREEEE! The crowd counted along with the referee as he pounded the mat three times. Craig stood up as the ref raised his arm, and the crowd once again exploded into cheers and yells. Free yelled right along with everyone else, pumping his fist in the air. Craig worked the crowd for a minute more or so, celebrating his victory, then stepped right over the top rope and went to the back. "He's damn good ain't he?" The bear next to Free said, elbowing him in the arm.

"Yeah, he is. Really damn good." Free said enthusiastically.

There were two more matches that night, but Free hardly noticed what was happening. He kept replaying Craig's match over and over in his head. He inwardly marveled at the man's strength and agility. He marveled at more than that, as well. Dammit, stop that! He thought to himself. The guy's not even gay, and even if he was, he wouldn't be interested in you! Soon enough, the show was over. Looking at his watch, Free noticed that it lasted just a little over three hours. He filed out along with the rest of the crowd, and it took quite a while for everyone to get outside. Once there, he waited by the entryway until the parking lot cleared a little bit, then started weaving his way toward's Craig's Nissan. It took him a few minutes to find it, but it was still there, of course. Craig hadn't made it out yet, so he leaned against the hood and waited. After almost all the cars had left, he saw Craig making his way across the lot. Craig waved at Free, and he waved back. Free noticed that he was limping slightly as he got closer. "Hey man, did ya like the show?" Craig said as he unlocked the car and tossed in his duffle bag.

"Oh, hell yeah! It was great. Man, you were fuckin' awesome in there! That crowd totally loves you." Free said, some of the excitement of the night still in his voice.

"Yeah, I do love that crowd. That's why I do this." Craig said as they both got in the car and left the arena.

"That Hardcore stuff is really out there, though. Looks dangerous as hell." Free said.

"Oh, yeah, it can be. It's kinda my specialty, ya know. I've never lost a Hardcore match with this fed." Craig said, just a hint of pride showing in his voice.

"Wow, impressive." Free said.

They drove for a few minutes in silence before Craig spoke.

"Hey, you hungry? I sorta got a routine that I don't like to break, and I always eat right after the show." Craig said, looking over at Free.

"Yeah, I am a little hungry, but I can't eat out tonight. Not in the budget." Free said, smiling and shrugging.

"Did I ask if you could pay? No. I asked if you were hungry. I know a killer all-night pizza joint, just off the highway." Craig said. "Oh, well, sure then. I mean, I don't wanna impose or anything..." Free said, a little nervously.

Is he really taking me out to eat? Is this a 'yes' signal? Free thought.

"Naah, nothing of the sort man. Besides, they've got good prices there. Uhhh...wait...you do eat pizza, don't ya?" Craig asked, a quizzical look on his face.

"Oh, sure, just no meat ya know. A cheese or veggie pie is good with me." Free said, his stomach growling a little.

They made more small talk on the way to the pizza place. Craig decided to teach Free some wrestling terminology, and by the time they got there, Free had a pretty good working knowledge of the lingo the wrestlers used. It was a smallish place, but amazingly enough, it was fairly busy for the time of night. It was called 'Mamma Mia's'. Free had never seen it before, as it sat off the highway, and the buses he rode never went there. They got out and went in. Behind the counter was a rotund human man with a gigantic mustache. The whole scene looked like a funny sort of stereotype, Free thought. Craig let Free order first. A small veggie pizza and an apple juice to drink. Craig ordered a large pepperoni and a soda. "A large? You gonna eat the whole thing by yourself?" Free asked.

Free realized that with that question, he might be able to get a little info on whether Craig was currently attatched.

"Oh, yeah. I'm a huge eater. My metabolism is like an incinerator, but I need a lot to power all this muscle don't ya know." Craig said.

Fuck. Maybe not, Free thought. He thought Craig might say something about having someone at home to take some pizza to. Oh well. They got their drinks and sat at a booth.

"You got any time you gotta be home?" Craig asked.

"Well, I'd rather not stay out till morning, but not tonight. Nothing major going on tomorrow. No classes, anyway." Free said as he sipped his juice.

"What're you studying" Craig asked.

"Hmm? Oh, architecture." Free said.

"Ahh, gonna make buildings, eh? I took some drafting in high school, but never more than that." Craig said.

"Yeah, I sorta fell in love with architecture after high school. I wanted to see the world, so my folks sent me around the world. All the structures I saw just made me want to be able to design something like that." Free said. "Wow, around the world? Damn, your parents must be loaded. So, why, if you don't mind me asking, are you so stretched thin on cash?" Craig asked, taking a drink of his soda.

"They're pretty well off. My dad's an aerospace engineer. But, they want me to make my own way in the world. I'm cool with it. I don't want to be handed everything in life." Free said.

The waitress brought their pizzas to the table and refilled their drinks. Free dove in, and it was pretty damn good pizza. Craig was done with three slices of his before Free had finished even one.

"Hey, that's cool that your folks want you to earn your own way. I really respect that. I never had anything given to me. I had to fight and scrape for everything I've got." Craig said as he wiped his mouth.

Craig finished his entire pizza before Free was done, and had at least four glasses of soda.

"Damn, you are a big eater." Free said.

"Yeah, hehe. It does kinda suck up my money, though, but you only live once, ya know? I'm gonna enjoy life. Eat, drink, and be merry and all that jazz." Craig said. It'd be better if you'd be fairy, Free thought. He told himself to shut up, but the thoughts just kept lingering. What if...Free asked the waitress for a to-go box for the remainder of his pizza. He had only eaten half of it before getting full. He had no idea how someone could eat an entire large pizza by themselves. They got up to leave, and Craig left the waitress a nice tip. They drove in silence for a little while, letting their dinners settle. Craig finally spoke.

"Hey, you mind if we stop by my place first? If I don't get my ring gear in the wash pronto it'll be nasty for tomorrow night." He said.

"Oh, sure thing. I don't mind." Free said.

Dammit, why can't I read him? He thought. Normally, this would be as blatant an invitation as it got, but that was with someone he was sure was gay. The chances that Craig was were very small indeed. They listened to the radio the rest of the way to Craig's house, a classic rock station. After they arrived and went inside, Craig told Free to make himself at home while he went to the basement. Free wandered around the living room, looking at the things he had seen the other night again. He saw an open door down the hallway and peeked inside. The bedroom! He couldn't pass this chance up. Maybe there'd be a clue here. The thought of finding a fat dildo and a jar of lube accidentally left out crossed his mind, but once inside, he dismissed it immediately. Besides the bed and tv, there were three bookshelves stuffed full of things. One had nothing but music cd's on it, and another dvd's and video game cases. The other held a slew of vcr cassettes. In the corner sat a computer on a small desk. "Oh, see ya found my room, hehe." Craig said.

"Oh, shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snoop." Free said, stepping away from the big man, just in case he had overstepped his bounds.

"Nah, no biggie. Hey, buddy!" Craig said as he approached a cage sitting on the dresser.

He opened the cage door and brought out something, but Free couldn't tell what it was since Craig had his back to him. As he turned around, he saw what it was. A cute little black and white rat. It's whiskers twitched as Craig stroked it's head gently.

"This is Augie." Craig said.

Free approached and held out his hand to the little animal. It sniffed his finger, then immediately began to lick the tip.

"Hey, he sure is friendly." Free said, smiling.

"Oh, yeah, he is. He's my little buddy. I wish I had more time for him, but I'm sure he understands. "Oh, damn. I didn't mean...I mean...ummm...well, how do...ummm...bipeds feel about, you know...us humans having pets?" Craig asked, stammering badly.

"Well, I guess we don't feel much of anything, honestly. I guess we sort of look at the non-evolved animals the way you guys look at monkeys and stuff. Kind of like distant cousins. Hell, I know several bipeds who have pets themselves." Free said as he petted the little rat. "Oh, cool. I really hate offending someone, ya know? Makes me look like a dumb, ignorant hick. That's a stereotype I've tried damn hard to avoid." Craig said. Free noticed that Craig had very little of the Southern accent that was so prevalent around these parts, and didn't use much of the Southern slang, either. Craig looked up at Free. Damn, there are those eyes again, boring holes into my mind. He looked back into the big man's eyes, trying to find something, anything he could read. Nothing. Nothing in those beautiful eyes except kindness, and nothing in his scent, either. Craig put the little animal back in it's cage and gave it a treat.

"You got a lot of...entertainment in here." Free said.

"Oh, yeah. I'm really just a big ol' geek, I guess. Video games and movies and music and stuff." Craig said, somewhat sheepishly.

"Yeah, I see you got a nice cd collection." Free said as he looked over the bookshelf. There were mostly rock cds with a few oddities here and there, like an Enya disc and an all bagpipes cd. "Yeah. What kind of music you like? Wait, you're a rabbit, you must like hip-hop!" Craig said, smiling.

"Ohhh, GROAN dude. That was terrible!" Free said, smiling back. Hmm, he had a sense of humor, it seemed.

"I like a little of everything I guess. Some rock, some techno. Other stuff, too." Free said. The techno was his one little bit of gay showing through, as he loved dance music.

"Yeah, I'm the same I suppose. I'm not into the whole rap scene, though. Too violent. Ever heard any Kenny Wayne Shepherd?" Craig said.

"Nuh-uh." Free said. Craig put a cd into his player and they listened to a couple of songs. It was a modern bluesy/rock sound that Free kind of liked. After a few minutes, Craig looked over at the little digital clock on his nightstand.

"Hey, we should be going. I got another show tomorrow night and I need to hit the gym in the morning." Craig said as he fished his keys out of his pocket.

"Yeah, sleep would be good for me too." Free said, following him out of the house. They chatted more on the way home. Free loved how easy Craig was to talk to. It was like they were old friends who just reunited or something. They didn't have a lot of the same tastes, sure, but that was ok. Opposites attract, Free thought. If only there were some way of finding out if he actually had a chance in hell with this guy. Maybe if he could contact one of his friends or something. Well, the next time they met, Free was going to try and slip into the conversation that he was gay and see what happens. He better let him know early on, in case he reacted badly, that way Free wouldn't end up falling hard for this guy and then he'd run off because of the news. Free kept telling himself to stop thinking about it, that falling for a straight guy only leads to trouble and heartache. When they got to Free's place, Free got out, turning back to the car. "Hey, thanks for the pizza, and the entertainment. You're really good in that ring, you know." Free said.

"Don't mention it, and yeah, I know, thanks." Craig said, laughing a little. "You gonna get to make any more shows? It'd be cool if you could actually start following the storylines and stuff." He said.

"I dunno. I'll check my work schedule. I usually work weekends, but I'll see. Thanks again!" Free said, turning towards his building.

"Lemme know if you can make it!" Craig shouted behind him.

Free turned and waved as the car pulled out of the parking lot. He went inside, feeling completely exhausted, and just a little hoarse, but content and happy. He never thought he could really get into a 'redneck' sport, but there he was, hooting and hollering like the rest of them. He slipped into the shower, letting the hot water ease his tired body. For a moment, he dreamed of having Craig there in the shower with him, holding him close. Those big arms wrapped around him. They kissed, ever so tenderly, as the hot water cascaded down their naked bodies. Free snapped out of his dream to the sensation of cold water hitting him in the face. Damn, he had ran the hot water out again. Finishing up, he went through his brushing routine and laid down for a good night's sleep. The very last thing he saw before sleep took him away to his dreams were two piercing blue eyes looking at him. The next morning, Free decided that he did indeed want to keep watching the shows. Whether he had a chance with Craig or not, he really liked the guy, and he didn't have many good friends here, so he figured he should make the best of it no matter which way it went. He got up and called his boss to see whether or not he could have Saturdays off permanently. He was told that it would be ok so long as someone would work for him. He immediately phoned Jenna and asked her, and she agreed. When she asked why he needed that day off, Free just said that he had something he wanted to do on Saturday nights. She teased him about having a secret boyfriend, and Free let her have her fun. He phoned his boss back and set everything up. He thought about calling Craig to tell him, but that would be too...well, too damn forward, he thought. He'd wait till like Thursday to let him know, so it didn't seem like he was too interested. Or worse, seemed like some fawning little fanboy. Thursday came about and Free waited till the late afternoon to call. Surprisingly, he got Craig. Free told him that he could make it this week, and Craig seemed to be rather happy. Craig said he'd meet him same time and place. All day Friday, Free thought of how to slip in that he was gay. He thought of how to phrase it, how to start a conversation that would lead into it, anything, but found himself pretty stumped. He even thought of asking him, casually of course, if he had a girlfriend, then when asked back, he'd say something along the lines of "Oh, no, but it's a little harder for me to get a date around here". Then, Craig would inquire as to why, and bingo, instant lead-in. Yeah! That might actually work! It would also be a good gauge as to exactly how forward he could be with Craig about things. When Saturday finally rolled around, Free found himself wound up really tight during the daytime. So much so that he pawed off twice, just to relieve some tension, and that was something he rarely ever did. When evening decended on the town, he went outside to wait. Amazingly enough, while he was waiting, two male bipeds walked by, one a cheetah and one a muscular horse, and when they got to one of the apartment doors, they kissed passionately before one went inside and the other got into a car. Wow, haven't seen many gays around here at all, except the few that came into the cafe, Free thought. With as damn conservative and religious the place he was in was, he was sure that there were roving bands of Christians just itching to lynch all the sinful homos. He guessed that he was just too busy with his studies and work to notice anything anyway. Right on time, Craig's little Nissan pulled up, and Free bounded in, perhaps a little too excitedly. "Hey, man, glad you could make it!" Craig said as he offered his hand for Free to shake. Shit, it's hard enough to just look at you...now I gotta touch you again. Free thought nervously. He shook the big human's hand firmly.

"Yeah, my schedule got shifted a little because of one of the girls at work, so it looks like I might be able to make at least a couple Saturday shows a month." Free fibbed.

"Oh, that's cool. Saturday's our big night. If we have any title changes or anything, it's almost always on Saturday." Craig said as he pulled the car out onto the road.

Craig informed him of some of the things that had happened in the storyline that he had missed on Sunday and Friday. Free listened intently, determined to actually start following this stuff, even if he had to write it down to remember it. After he was brought up to speed, they mostly drove in silence the rest of the way there, with the only real noise being the radio in the background. Craig seemed different tonight. Free tried to pick up on what was wrong, but couldn't until they hit a bump in the road and Craig grimaced. Ahh, he's hurting somewhere, Free reasoned. Not wanting to pry, Free said nothing, but tried to notice any more signs that he could. Once they got to the arena, the same routine as last week ensued. Free even got almost the same seat. Craig had informed him that he was in a tag match tonight, and would be the next to last match. Free paid more attention this week, trying to catch as much of the storylines as he could. He found himself getting into the action just as much as the week before. This week's Hardcore event almost made Free's stomach turn, though. One man was so bloodied that you couldn't see his face anymore. Free noticed that the crowd went absolutely haywire for the stuff, though, and he even found himself cheering and booing, despite the blood making him queasy. When Craig's match finally came, Free was on his feet yelling as loud as he could. He was tagged with the wolf biped this week against a team called 'The Annihilators'. Although Craig wasn't in the match half the time, those times he was in Free made sure to shout extra loud. Craig and his partner ended up losing when his partner got tossed out of the ring and Craig got double-teamed. After the match, 'Terry' cleaned a little house, though, hitting that big kick on one of 'The Annihilators', and tossing the other one out of the ring on his ear. Even though they lost, the crowd still cheered Craig and his partner as they left the arena. The main event was a brutal match between three men for the right to wrestle the champion next week. One even left bloodied, though no where near as bad as the poor fellow during the Hardcore match. Free forced himself to pay attention this time, even as he found himself drifting off as visions of the match that Craig had just had kept pushing their way to the front of his mind. After the show was over, once again Free made it to the car well before Craig did. When he finally saw Craig coming towards the car, Free noticed that the limp was more pronounced than last week. He decided to say something this time. "Hey, you ok? Looks like you took some hard falls tonight." Free said.

"Huh? Me? Ok?" Craig said laughing. "Sure, I'm ok man. Nothin' hurts me, remember? Besides, injury is part of the life."

Craig offered to pay for Free's dinner again tonight, and Free acquiesced. On the way there Craig told him of all the injuries he'd accumulated in his eight years in the sport.

"Lemme see...dislocated my left shoulder four times, broke every finger on both hands, had three concussions, two cracked ribs, probably about at least a hundred stitches in various places, two broken toes, and blew out a knee. That's what was giving me trouble tonight. Hurts like a bitch sometimes, and I limp around like an old man or something." Craig said as he pointed to the various spots on his body. Free sat listening, almost appalled at what he was hearing. Craig didn't look broken down, though. He looked as strong as an oak tree.

"Damn, that's a lot of injuries. Must make it kinda hard to get chicks, eh?" Free said, chuckling. There we go, the ball's been played, he thought. "Oh, hell dude, I don't have time for women. If I'm lucky, I get maybe two days a month where I don't either work or wrestle. I just don't really have the time, ya know?" Craig said. "How 'bout you? You have much luck?"

Fuck, he's not gay for sure, but still, don't say anything stupid you dumb rabbit, Free thought.

"Oh, well, it's kinda hard for me to get a date around here, I guess." Free said. His stomach began to knot up.

"Why's that?" Craig asked, looking over at Free.

"Oh, ummm, well, I, uhhh, don't go out with girls." Free said, so nervous he couldn't help but stammer. The ball's airborne, he thought.

"Oh, really? I mean, it's...it's cool ya know. I just never...I mean...really?" Craig said, having about as much trouble as Free was talking.

"Yeah. It's no big deal to me, though. I'm just a little different." Free said, trying to act nonchalant.

"Well, honestly, you don't look gay, Free." Craig said.

"Hehe, I take that as a compliment. I don't like being stereotyped." Free said, smiling. Not quite a home run, but a double at the very least, he thought. "Wow, I've never had a gay friend. I guess I'm becoming all modern and stuff!" Craig said jokingly.

They talked about things the entire way to the pizza place. Craig seemed to be genuinely interested in Free's sexual orientation. Not a fascination, per se, but interested in how Free overcame things like coming out. Free explained that his parents were very liberal, and they were completely ok with it. Some of his other family members weren't so open, but he told them that they either liked it or not, he didn't care one way or another. Free told him some more details, making sure to keep any intimate things to himself. Craig was very talkative, though, and they continued their conversation once inside.

"So, can I ask you something, I guess kinda personal?" Craig said, a nervous look on his face.

"Sure." Free said, sipping his drink.

"What...what's it like? You know..." Craig said, scrunching his face up a little.

It took a few moments to dawn on Free what he had just been asked.

"OH! You mean that." Free laughed. "Well, it's quite nice actually. It's breathtaking the first time, like nothing you've ever experienced. It hurts a little at first, but once things get...going, it's an indescribable pleasure that's all your own. It's something that no woman could ever give you." Free noticed that Craig wasn't worried whether or not anyone in a nearby booth was listening. He seemed to be really cool with things after all. That really made Free relax. Even though Craig wasn't gay, Free liked him as a friend, and liked spending time with him.

"That's cool man. It's not my thing, understand, but at least you know who you are. So many go though life never being able to figure it out." Craig said.

Their pizza came and Free ate ravenously. The knots in his stomach gave way to an entire small vegetable pizza. Even he was surprised that he finished the whole thing. Craig ate his entire large pepperoni, too, just like last time.

"You know, I had a gay uncle. My uncle Marty. The family totally shunned him. He ended up commiting suicide a couple of years ago." Craig said, finishing the last of his drink.

"Oh, I'm so sorry man." Free said, genuinely concerned. He wanted to reach over and squeeze Craig's hand, but thought better of it. He was not gay, he kept telling himself.

"It's ok. Things like that happen. You just gotta keep charging ahead." Craig said. They left the pizza place, again making the stop at Craig's house so he could put his ring gear into the laundry. Free examined his extensive movie collection while Craig was in the laundry room. The VHS tapes were mostly wrestling tapes, with a few sci-fi or horror movies thrown in. The DVD's were mostly sci-fi and comic book and video game movies. Geek indeed, Free thought to himself. He noticed a box fan that sat on a two-wheeled frame set up against the wall that he hadn't noticed the last time he was there. He stuck his finger into Augie's cage, letting the little rat sniff, then lick his fingertip. That brought a smile to Free's face. Free used the bathroom while he waited on Craig. It was almost completely spartan with the lone exception of a small framed picture of a vase of flowers. Craig was coming into the living room just as Free was coming out of the bathroom.

"You sleep with a fan on you?" Free asked.

"Oh, yeah. I have too. Too many freaky noises and stuff at night. It's like white noise, I guess. Drowns the world out." Craig said. "Wow, cause I sleep with a fan on me too. The noise is a plus, but damn do I get hot during the summer and fall with all this fur. It's so damn humid down here, and the air conditioner is too friggin' expensive to run." Free said.

"That's true. I sweat an awful lot, too when it's hot out. Hey, you must have been hungry tonight. You hardly touched your pizza last week." Craig said as he snatched his keys and they headed out the door.

"Oh, yeah, I skipped lunch today. Gotta watch the figure, don'tcha know." Free said as he patted his stomach.

"Tell me about it. The booker gets on my ass hardcore if he sees so much as an inch of fat on me." Craig said as they got in the car.

"But there's that one guy who's really, really fat that wrestles there. Why do they ride you if you put on a little weight?" Free asked as they began the drive to his apartment.

"Oh, well, that's kind of his gimmick, ya know? I'm supposed to be this big, muscled, mean dude. Any fat on me makes it seem like I'm less scary, I guess. Hell, I don't know why, really. I never thought of it before." Craig said, chuckling. Free chuckled along with Craig as they drove. Craig turned up the radio, and they fell into silence. It was a beautiful, clear night with a big, full moon, and hardly any traffic. A song that Craig didn't like came on the radio, and he flipped the station to find something better. Free almost gasped aloud as the words to a country song filled the car.

'The bluest eyes in Texas...are haunting me tonight...' Came the words from the radio.

You have GOT to be fucking kidding me. Free thought. Those two piercing blue eyes had indeed been haunting his dreams as of late, but he didn't need a damn song to remind him of it!

"Oh, this is a good song. You mind?" Craig said.

"Oh, not at all. I'm slowly learning to like country music. I guess you kind of have to in this part of the country." Free said.

"Hehe, yeah, I guess. I don't like all of it, though. Those old, really whiny songs really grate on me. I like the newer stuff like Alabama and Garth and such." Craig said. "Well, we're here."

Good. He wouldn't have to listen to the rest of the song that way. As it was, it would likely be playing through his head all night long. They pulled up into the parking lot and the car stopped in front of Free's apartment. "Wanna come in for a minute? Check out my swinging shag pad?" Free said, doing his best Austin Powers voice. "I wanna show you Doom 3 anyway."

"Sure, just for a minute. I gotta hit the gym tomorrow, and got a rough match tomorrow night." Craig said as he got out of the car.

They went inside, and the first thing Free did is start up his computer. Craig did the obiligatory polite wandering of the studio apartment while Free sat at the computer, waiting for it to boot up. Finally, the desktop came into view and Free started the game up.

"One thing about this that sucks is you can't play online with a dial-up connection." Free said as he the opening screens popped up on the monitor.

"I never liked playing games online much anyway. I tried Everquest, but it was too time consuming, and there were too many jerks on there." Craig said.

"Oh, there's another chair over there by the bed." Free said, pointing towards the bed where a folding chair was leaning up against the corner.

Craig left and returned a moment later with the folding chair. Free thought it looked way too small for the big man. He unfolded it and sat next to Free as the game started up. The chair groaned a little in protest, but held firm. Free ran through the first level, showing him the ins and outs. He input a code that gave him all the weapons, and showed each of them in turn to Craig. His parents had bought him the computer, and it was powerful enough to display the game's graphics at the maximum clarity. Craig seemed to get into the game, even halfway bouncing out of his chair as a monster broke through a ceiling panel and ambushed the lone Marine that Free was playing. Soon, though, Craig looked down at his watch and got up. "Time I headed out, man." Craig said. "That's one kick-ass game, though. Wish my p.o.s. would run it, but it'd probably melt my hard drive if I even tried."

Free laughed and went with Craig to the front door.

"I'll be able to make next week's show, too, but after that, I'll have to let you know." Free said as Craig walked out.

"Cool man, I'll be here next week then." He held out his hand. Well, at least he's not homophobic. That's good. Free thought. He shook the human's hand firmly. "Cool, see you next week then."

Free turned around and was suddenly struck by how tired he was. He did his usual routine. Shower. Dry. Brush. He drifted off to sleep quickly, trying hard not to think about the song he had heard earlier. He had odd dreams that night of Doom demons attacking the wrestling arena.

The next couple of months were good to Free. He improved his grades in every class, even getting an A+ in his architecture class due to an extra credit project. His body seemed to be more energized and he needed less sleep, but he didn't have any of the fatigue he used to. He still had his Saturdays off, too, so he made every single one of Craig's shows on that day. He just felt...happy. He had made a good friend, and was experiencing new things, and it seemed that he would even be able to tolerate the town he was living in. He liked his life in general lately. His work, his school, and now, his Saturdays. He and Craig just seemed to click as friends, and though he wished with all his heart they could be more, he managed to put those thoughts far enough away that they didn't interfere with their friendship. They even hung out sometimes on days when Craig didn't wrestle, usually going for a beer or something (Craig always treated, and wouldn't even listen if Free offered to pay for anything). It was just at the start of winter when Free got a phone call from Craig. It was on a Tuesday, which was an odd day for him to call. Craig sounded extremely excited. "Dude, you are NOT gonna fuckin' believe what I have to tell you!" Craig said, so fast that the words ran together somewhat.

"What is it? Something good, no doubt." Free replied.

"This Saturday...they are giving me the the Mid-South strap!" Craig said, still quite excited.

Free knew that the term 'strap' meant a championship belt, and the Mid-South belt was this particular federation's second highest belt.

"Seriously!? Hey, that's damn cool man! You know I'm not gonna miss this!" Free said, a little of Craig's excitement rubbing off in his voice.

"Damn straight you're not! I can't give you any match details yet, but it's gonna be awesome! I just wanted to ring you and let you know, and I gotta be off, so I'll see you this weekend, ok?" Craig said.

"Sure thing, I'll be waiting outside like usual. See you then." Free said.

Craig hung up first, then Free laid the phone down. This was big news for Craig. Giving him a belt like this meant that the people in charge believed that he could bring in fans. It was also the first major belt that he'd been given in his entire career, aside from a couple of runs as the Hardcore champ when he still wrestled in Oklahoma. Free felt genuinely happy for Craig. He worked hard at what he did, and he deserved a chance like this. Now he couldn't wait for Saturday, and he faced another week where he wished it would just pass by quickly and get to the weekend. He made sure to keep up his studies, though. Usually the time went faster if he just kept his focus and didn't think about whatever he was looking forward to. Work was a different story, though, as there were times when there was so little to do, he would start to get antsy. Finally, the week ended and Saturday rolled around. The morning and afternoon seemed to creep by, though, so he immersed himself in a game of Doom 3 to make things go a little faster. At last, he was sitting outside waiting for Craig to show up. Right on time the little maroon Nissan pulled into the parking lot, and Free got in. He barely got the door closed before Craig backed out and sped off towards the arena. Free could smell the excitement in his body scent before he even spoke a single word. "Tonight's it, man! The Mid-South strap. Holy shit, I can hardly wait to get to the arena." Craig said as he sped down the road.

"Uhh, hey, you better watch your speed. You know how these Texas cops can be." Free said.

Craig slowed down and they chatted the whole way there. Craig almost never shut up the entire way, actually. He would be facing Big Mountain, the 400 pound monster that Free had seen on the website. That's all that Craig would tell him, though. Nothing about the match itself, but then again, he never talked about his actual matches beforehand. When they got to the arena, Craig excused himself and ran into the side door. Free had his usual seat, but he took a more leisurely pace getting there, as Craig's match was the last one of the evening anyway. He got his usual concessions and found his usual seat. There was a human couple seated next to him on one side tonight, and a younger human male on his other. After a while, the show finally got underway. The first matches were actually pretty boring, Free thought. Then again, it could also be that he was looking forward to Craig's match so much that the rest seemed to sort of pale in comparison. There was an interview with Craig that was shown on the large screen halfway through the show. The interviewer asked him what he thought about tonights' match, and the fact that it was going to be a Hardcore style match. Craig simply said that he had never lost a single hardcore match in this federation, and tonight would be no different. Before he could finish the interview, though, the big man who would be his opponent tonight attacked him from the back. He didn't have much of a chance to do anything, however, as Craig grabbed a nearby metal pipe and chased him off. A Hardcore match? Free thought. He wasn't too sure he liked the sound of that. All the ones he had seen had ended up very bloody. After what seemed to be an eternity, they finally announced the match. Craig would be introduced first, as it was tradition to announce the challenger first in championship matches, so the champ could get more introduction time with the crowd. The crowd exploded as Craig came to the ring with his theme song blasting loudly in the background, carrying the metal pipe from eariler. He made the 'belt' signal with his hands to his waist to signify that he fully intended to walk away with the gold tonight, and Free thought it was kind of special that of everyone in the crowd, only he knew for certain what the outcome was going to be. Craig entered the ring and stood up on the ring corner, enticing the crowd to even louder levels of cacaphony as he signalled again that he intended to leave here tonight as champion. As Craig removed his leather duster and handed it to a ring assistant, the music for Big Mountain hit and the ring announcer introduced him. He was even bigger than his bio on the website said, weighing in currently at 430 pounds. The crowd booed incessantly as he lumbered to ringside. The huge man wore a simple, dark navy blue outfit that covered his entire body except for his hands and head, which was bald and quite shiny, Free thought. His boots were shiny black, and he sported a massive beard that reached almost to his massive gut. He was so large in fact that he carried the championship belt on his shoulder rather than around his waist. The ring announcer introduced the rules of the match. "This will be a one-fall match with a one hour time limit for the TPWA Mid-South championship. Hardcore rules are in effect!" The fox said, then quickly exited the ring and took his place at ringside.

Free thought it was kind of funny that they had announced a one hour time limit, but the show would be ending in less than 20 minutes anyway. Craig looked like a coiled spring about to let loose as he bounced back and forth in a hunched down position. The bigger man actually stepped over the top rope to enter the ring, like Craig does, but was still quite impressive given his girth. He handed the championship belt to the referee, then looked over at Craig. The bell rang. Craig stood up as tall as he could and approached the bigger man for a face-off. He wasn't but a couple of inches shorter than the larger human, but he was dwarfed by the massive girth of the monster before him. They stared each other down for almost a full minute before the huge man pushed Craig backwards. Craig just smiled and pointed at the larger man, making the 'belt' signal again and posturing to the crowd, who cheered even louder. After a few moments of circling each other, they locked up. Craig seemed to get the upper hand for a few moments, actually driving the larger man back, but he was tossed to his back by a mighty shove from the larger man. When he arose, he dashed forwards and began an assault of punches to the big man's head and gut that drove him to the ring corner. Free watched every single move each man made intently, and hoped inwardly that neither of them came out of this too badly injured. When Big Mountain finally went for a weapon, he slipped a pair of 'brass knucks' on his hand and clocked Criag square in the head with it. When Craig came up, his forehead was covererd in bright red blood. He staggered around the ring for a moment, and was met with another punch with the weapon, which knocked him down again. The crowd was going ballistic at all the carnage going on. Craig was literally dripping blood from his face as he crawled around the ring, trying to recover. Free knew that each move was carefully planned in advance, but that didn't keep him from wincing every time Craig took another vicious shot with a weapon. Finally, though Craig got a second wind and went under the ring for a weapon himself, coming up with a long chain. He wrapped it around his hand and as his unsuspecting opponent came up to him, he turned and nailed him with it. Now it was the bigger man's turn to bleed. When he got to his feet, Free could see that his bald head was now covered in blood that was a slightly darker shade than Craig's. The two men fought outside the ring for a long time, Free thought, until finally Craig was tossed into the ring steps and incapacitated momentarily. Big Mountain took this opportunity to set up a wooden table at ringside, away from the padding that encircled the ring, intending to slam Craig through it and end the bloody match. When he picked Craig up, though, he was met with an uppercut from the pair of 'brass knucks' he had been using earier! The crowd absolutely went nuts at the sight of this. The bigger man was staggering like he had been shot, and Craig pressed his advantage. He laid the bigger man down on the table and used the 'knucks' to beat him into submission. When he looked up at the ring and back at the prone man laying on the wooden table (which was bowing under his tremendous weight), the crowd seemed to sense that something was up and almost everybody rose to their feet. Free followed along, not wanting to miss what was happening. Craig re-entered the ring and climbed the turnbuckle closest to the table. He pointed to the still body of his opponent, and the crowd exploded, with chants of "Yeah, yeah! Do it!" being clearly heard over the din. Free realized what was about to happen froze in place. He couldn't be serious, could he? This could break both of their necks! That crazy son-of-a-bitch! As these thoughts ran through his mind, he saw that Craig had turned to look directly where he was. 'The bluest eyes in Texas...'

Craig pointed in Free's direction, then went airborne. His powerful leg muscles propelled him several feet above the top ring rope as he dove towards his final victory this night. Time seemed to stand still for Free. He didn't hear the crowd anymore, all he heard was his own breathing. He didn't see anything around him, his vision became a tunnel with Craig in clear, sharp focus in the very center. It was like watching a slow-motion sequence in an action movie, with the hero in the middle of everything. When Craig landed on top of the monstrous man, Free could clearly hear the sharp crack of the table splintering, and the fleshy thud as both bodies slammed into the hard concrete below. He could see the agony in Craig's face clearly as he hit the floor hard. Free wasn't even breathing anymore, he was holding it, and his own heartbeat sounded like a bass drum banging in his ears. Fear gripped him like an eagle gripping a fish in it's talons. Surely both men were seriously injured. There could be no doubt. 'are haunting me tonight...'

Craig had landed squarely on top of the larger man, who's shoulders were flat against the concrete now. The referee shot out of the ring and counted, slapping his hand against the floor with each count.

"One!" The crowd counted along. Free never heard a thing.

"Two!" The crowd counted along. Free looked around, everything moved as if it were underwater...slowly...deliberately.

"THREEEEE!" Just as the crowd screamed the last number, everything seemed to come back to Free in a mad rush, as if all his senses were being assaulted at once. The noise, the smells, the sight of the crowd cheering as loudly as they could. Free looked over to where Craig had landed, fear gripping his heart. He relaxed once the referee helped him to his feet and handed the Mid-South belt to the new champion and held his hand aloft. The ring announcer came over the loudspeakers.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Your winner....and NEEEEEEWWW TPWA Mid-South champion...'Scary' Terry Burton!!" The fox said, making a sweeping gesture with his paw towards Craig, who was still outside the ring. Craig looked at the belt for a moment, as if in disbelief, then held it aloft and shouted in victory. His face was streaked with blood, but the aura around him was unmistakable. He had finally had his moment. Free found himself almost on the verge of tears upon seeing this, but he choked them back and just cheered as loud as he could. Craig didn't even take the normal exit from the arena, he went through the crowd towards an upper exit. The people all around him were slapping him on the back and cheering him on the whole way out of the arena. After he was gone, the announcer closed the show for the evening, and the crowd began to exit. Free waited till most of the crowd had dispersed like he usually did. As he was leaving, the lady who ran the ticket counter stopped him.

"Here hun, Craig said he'd be a little bit while they patched him up, so here's the key to his car so you ain't gotta stand outside waitin' for him." She said, handing him a jangling ring of keys.

"Thanks." Free said as he pocketed the keys. He headed out into the chilly night air. He was thankful for his fur as he walked quickly across the lot to Craig's car. He got into the passenger side and sat down. He put the key in the ignition and turned the radio on, finding something decent to listen to. He leaned the seat back, as he didn't know how long Craig would be. He had just dozed off when the trunk shut and woke him. Craig got in and started up the car. It had only been about 20 minutes or so. Free turned to look at him, and was relieved to see that there was only a small white bandage on his forehead, and that the blood had been cleaned off his face.

"Dude, I swear you are fucking insane, you know that? That was the single craziest thing I've ever seen anybody do in my life!" Free said, almost scoldingly.

"Yeah, but wasn't it bad-ass? That was one of my best Hardcore matches ever!" Craig exclaimed as he pulled the car out of the lot. "Hey, some of the guys want to meet us at the pizza joint to celebrate a little. You up for it or you need me to drop you off?" He said. "I'm not gonna miss your celebration party, man! Just don't drink too much, cause you gotta drive." Free said.

"Not a drop tonight. I'll get drunk ass some other night. One in which my head and ribs don't hurt so much." Craig laughed as he spoke.

They drove mostly in silence to the pizza place. Craig was obviously in pain, but his happiness seemed to override much of it, or at least it seemed that way to Free. Once inside the restaurant, several of the wrestlers were already there, occupying three of the tables. They were loud and rowdy, but obviously having a good time. It looked to Free that they had had several pitchers of beer so far. Big Mountain was there as well, and Free noticed that he too only had a small white bandage on his forehead.

"Hey, guys. This is my good buddy, Free." Craig said.

He introduced Free to each of the guys there. Big Mountain's name was actually Richard, and out of character, he was a very nice person, Free thought. He grabbed Craig in a big bear hug before he sat down.

"'Bout time somebody took that damn thing away from me. Was killin' my arm carryin' it to ringside night after night." Richard said, his words slurring only slightly. Free sat down and joined in the celebration. He drank more beer than he really wanted, and once again, he ate his entire pizza. They all laughed and caroused for almost 2 hours, and although the beer flowed pretty freely, Craig had none, since he was driving. When things were wrapping up, he leaned over to Free and whispered to him.

"I hope you don't mind, I need to take a couple of these guys home." He said in a low whisper.

"Sure, no problem. The cool air while we drive will help me sober up a little anyway." Free said, his head spinning a little.

They left the party, each heading in his own direction. It took almost another hour of driving to drop off the other two guys, and the cool air indeed helped Free sober up. By the time they got back to Craig's place, he was almost completely sober. Just a little tipsy, and very, very relaxed. He went in and lounged on the couch while Craig went about his routine. When they got back to Free's, Craig followed him inside. Once they were in, Free put his keys away and turned to Craig. "Congratulations man. This was your big night, and you totally owned it. That crowd was yours the whole night." Free said, smiling.

"Thank you. I really appreciate it man. That belt means a whole hell of a lot to me you know." Craig said, holding out his hand to shake Free's.

Free shook Craig's hand, placing his other hand on top. They stood in silence for a moment, just looking at each other. Then Free did the stupidest thing he had ever done in his life. He moved forward, and leaned in and kissed Craig. The kiss lasted only a moment before Craig recoiled and firmly pushed Free away.

"Hey, whoa, is that the time?" Craig said, looking hurriedly at his watch. "You know, I..gotta..you know, gotta work, I mean, gotta work out tomorrow, and I'll be..having a match...so, I gotta split."

Free stood there with his mouth hanging open like an idiot, just staring at what was surely now his ex-best friend. Craig said nothing more as he turned and headed out the door. Free stood like a statue dumbfounded at his own stupidity. When his senses finally came back to him, he got so angry at himself that he punched the door, hurting his hand in doing so. Then he sat down on his couch and began to cry. He literally could not believe what posessed him to do such a thing. He fucking KNEW that Craig wasn't gay! Why the hell would he kiss him!? He found himself starting to come up with excuses to tell Craig the next time he saw him...IF he ever did see him again. He could always say he was still drunk. That might work. He sat there in silence for a long, long time, not even caring about his tear stained and matted facial fur. He had started to drift off to sleep when there was a knock at the door. He looked over at the clock. It was almost 3 in the morning, who the hell would be knocking at this hour? He got up, using his shirt sleeve to wipe off his streaked face. When he looked out the peephole, his heart almost stopped beating. Even in the dark, he could see a pair of deep blue eyes looking back at him. Probably here to kick my ass, he thought. Good, I fucking deserve it after the way I acted. He opened the door and waited for the inevitable punch in the face, but it never came. Craig just stood there with an odd expression that Free couldn't read. "Hi. Can I..uhh...come in?" Craig said, stammering over the words.

"Uhh, sure." Free replied.

Craig came in and shut the door behind him. Free stood there, still half expecting a punch to come flying at him.

"Listen, Free. I...uhhh...I came back because...I...had...to know...fuck man, I'm not good with words and stuff, ya know?" Craig said sheepishly.

"I know you're not. It's cool. What is it you had to know?" Free asked.

Craig put his hand next to his head and shook it slightly, obviously looking for the right words to say.

"I sat out there in the car for over an hour debating on whether or not to come back in here and kick your ass all over this place or not. Then I got to thinking, and there was something..." Craig hesitated.

"Go on." Free said.

"I just had to know...if that kiss...the one you gave me tonight...I had to know if it was...was...the first time that I really felt anything in a kiss that was...shit, the only word I can think of is...magical." Craig said at length, turning his gaze straight into Free's eyes. Free stood there looking back into those emerald eyes. He didn't even know what to say. Suddenly, Craig approached him and wrapped both arms around him, pulling him close in. For just a moment Craig looked into his eyes, then took him into a deep, passionate kiss. Free melted into Craig's embrace. Everything he had hoped for since meeting this incredible man seemed to be coming true all at once. The kiss went on forever and ever as their tongues became as intimate as two lovers and entwined together. Free completely lost all sense of time as he threw himself into the kiss with all the passion in his body. At last, their heads slowly pulled apart, and Craig once again gazed into Free's soul with those big blue eyes. The bluest eyes in Texas. Craig placed his hands on Free's bottom and lifted him up, holding him off the floor with his great strength. Free wrapped his legs around Craig's waist and put his arms around his neck.

"Guess I know the way to the bedroom." Craig said, his voice much softer now.

Craig carried Free over to the bed and laid him down gently down on it. He slipped his shirt off over his head. Free did the same, and slipped his pants off too, leaving him in only his underwear. He had slid his sandals off eariler. As Free watched Craig undress, he felt his cock beginning to harden quickly within his sheath. Craig removed his shoes and finally slid his own underwear down and off. Free was expecting a huge cock to go along with the huge body, but was pleasantly surprised when Craig's member turned out to be about the same size as his own. "You'll have to lead me through this, Free. It's definately my first time...well, you know. With...ummm..." Craig trailed off, not being able to find the words.

"I know. Don't worry, I'll be gentle." Free laughed gently as he spoke. "I'll take good care of you."

Free slipped his underwear off and tossed them aside. Craig moved towards the bed and laid his body down on top of Free's. Free spread his legs to let Craig snug down on top of him, and caressed the backs of Craig's thighs with the soft pads of his feet. They kissed again, more gently this time. Free felt his cock slip out of it's sheath, hardening against both his own, tight stomach and the rock-hard abs of Craigs. The big human had a hairy stomach, but the hairs were whisper soft and only amplified the nice feelings in his member. Craig rolled off of him over to the side, caressing Free's taut stomach.

"I love the feel of your fur." Craig said honestly.

Free rolled him over on his back and began to gently kiss his hairy chest. He briefly licked each nipple before moving downwards towards the prize between Craig's legs. Craig's cock was stiff as a board when he wrapped his paw around it, illiciting a soft moan from the big man. "You're obviously enjoying yourself." Free said.

He moved his muzzle towards the stiff cock and began to slowly lick the head, using his tongue in paintbrush soft strokes.

"Ohhh...it's been a long time...mmmm...since I've felt that..." Craig said. His eyes were tightly shut and his head lay to the side.

Free continued his soft licking for a few moments before pulling his head back. Craig's cock was hard as a rock, but was very average in size, so he figured he could take the whole thing in his muzzle without any trouble at all. He plunged deep on it on one swift motion. The thick pubic hair at the base tickled Free's nose, but he ignored it and began a slow, deliberate bobbing motion. His large front teeth made it difficult to suck properly, but he turned his head to a practiced angle to help things along. He made sure that every boyfriend he'd ever had let him do a lot of cocksucking, so he was extremely good at what he was currently doing. Craig's cock had a different taste from a biped's. Most biped's members had a natural layer of lubrication that their bodies produced while the cock was still in the sheath, and it usually had a pleasant, tangy taste. Craig's had a more natural, salty taste that he thoroughly enjoyed. Craig had told him that it had been a long time, and Free was very proficient at fellatio, so he didn't keep it up for too long, or Craig wouldn't last more than five minutes under his ministrations. Free pulled his head up and looked up at Craig. The human still had his eyes shut, but as soon as the sensations in his cock stopped, he looked down at Free. "Ready for the next phase?" Free asked.

Wordlessly, Craig nodded. Free reached over to the nightstand next to the bed and opened a drawer. He came back with a squeeze tube of gel lubrication. It had been quite a while since he'd had a chance to use it like this, though it was half empty due to it's repeated use on his large dildo. He squeezed a dollop onto his paw and lubed up Craig's member, taking the chance to stroke it just a few more times. There was some left on his fingers, so he reached behind him and inserted two fingers into his entrance, wincing and moaning slightly as they spread him. He spread the cool lube around inside him before pulling out. He searched around for something to wipe his paws on, and found his discarded underwear right next to the bed. Those would do for now. He looked over and saw that Craig was watching his every move intently. After he wiped his paws clean, he tossed the underwear aside a second time and straddled Craig's waist. He slowly slid himself into position, grabbing his lover's cock and angling it for penetration. "Ready for this?" Free asked.

"Yeah." Craig replied simply.

Free placed the head of Craig's cock against his waiting entrance. Once he was sure everything was angled right, he sat back firmly. His hole was rather tight and it took a few moments of pressure, but finally his muscles relaxed and the hard cock slipped past his ring and imbedded itself in him.

"Oooohhh, yeah. That's gooood....mmmm..." Free said, hardly realizing he was even speaking as the indescribable sensation of being penetrated was washing over his entire body. After the intruding member was halfway inside him, he shifted his position back and forth until he was satisfied that he had the perfect spot, then sat back on the hard cock, hilting it into him. Craig moaned loudly when he did this, and arched his back, signifying his obvious pleasure. Free sat there for several minutes, letting his insides adjust to Craig's cock, and simply enjoying the sensation of being filled. At length, he began to rise and fall in a slow, even pace on Craig's cock. It was in incredible sensation. He reached down to grasp his own cock and relieve the immense tension that was building there, but he felt the human's hand gently grab his paw and push it aside. "Let me do that." Craig said in his marvelously deep voice. Free felt the palm of Craig's hand close around his length. It wasn't exactly soft like the pads of his own paws, since Craig used his hands in his daily work, but it was extremely pleasurable nonetheless. Craig began to stroke Free's member in time with his rising and falling. This was good, as it allowed Free to concentrate solely on bobbing up and down on the hard rod impaling him. Craig placed his free hand on Free's hip and squeezed him gently there. It wasn't long before Free felt the early stages of orgasm approaching, and began to bob faster on his lover's cock. Craig increased his stroking pace in time with Free. Craig was moaning softly, and his breathing had quickened, indicating his own impending climax. Free was the first to cum, splashing his hot seed all over the human's stomach and chest. Free's orgasm made his ring squeeze down even tighter on Craig's cock, and that along with his increased bobbing pace pushed the human over the edge, and Free felt his lover's hot liquid fill his tunnel. Free's own orgasm ended just about the time that Craig's started, but both of their tense bodies relaxed at almost the same time. Free was completely winded, having expended the most energy of the two, and he collapsed forward onto Craig's cum-soaked chest. Both of the big man's arms wrapped around Free's body, pulling him close. Free reached behind him and slid Craig's spent member from him, then wrapped his own arms around his human lover, murring softly. "Hff...hff...holy shit, Free. I never figured it could be like that." Craig said, gently kissing the top of Free's head and running his fingers through Free's baby soft hair. They lay there like this for a long time, enjoying the closeness of each other's body. Free even dozed off for a moment, but awoke quickly. After a while, Craig spoke.

"You think you have it in you to...show me what it's like?" Craig asked.

"I think so." Free said, lifting his head up and kissing at Craig's neck. They both sat up and Free grabbed the bottle of lubrication.

"So, what, umm...positon should I get in?" Craig asked, unsure of what to do. Free smiled.

"How about on your knees? That'll be easier on you, I think." Free replied. Free watched as Craig shifted his position, laying his chest on the bed and presenting his rear to him. His cock got hard just from the sight of it all. Craig looked extremely tense, and that could make his first time at this an unpleasant experience, and that was the absolute last thing Free wanted right now. He remembered back to his previous boyfriends and some of the things they'd do to make each other relax. "You look so tense. Here, I know what will make you relax." Free leaned in and without saying another word, began to lick Craig's tensed hole gently. This drew a moan from Craig.

"Mmm...that does feel nice...mmmm." Craig said, relaxing a little.

Free continued the slow rimjob for several minutes, using his tongue in long, lazy strokes. Nothing relaxed an ass better than this, he thought. He was right, too, as it only took a few minutes of this before Craig's entire body relaxed, along with his entrance. Free felt the human was ready now and sat back on his knees. He grabbed the lube bottle, and put a dollop on his finger. He enjoyed the sensation of cool lube being spread inside him, but knew that the cold could make Craig tense up again, so he blew on his lubed-up finger with his hot breath for a moment to warm the lubrication up. At last, he felt that everything was set and touched the tip of his finger to Craig's hole, tickling it slightly before ever so gently pushing inside. Craig squirmed a little, but relaxed almost immediately as Free spread the now warmed lube inside him. Knowing well that the fur on his finger tickled like mad when it was inside a tight orifice like this, Free pulled out quickly. Locating the underwear he had previously used, he grabbed it and laid it next to him. He spread a generous amount of lube onto his cock, making sure that there was more than enough, just in case. Even though his cock had it's own lubrication, he still usually used lube, just to be sure. He wiped his hands clean once again on the underwear and laid them down next to the bed. Moving in close, he grasped the base of his penis and placed the head of it against Craig's now eager entrance. "You think you're ready now?" Free asked, making sure everything was ok with Craig before continuing any further.

"Yeah, just please take it easy back there." The human said.

Free said nothing as he began to press inward. He applied gentle but steady pressure. Craig squirmed again under him, but it only took a few moments before the ring relaxed and the head of Free's cock slid inside.

"Ahh! Shit..." Craig exclaimed, his head coming up off the pillow.

"You ok?" Free asked, gently massaging Craig's lower back.

"Yeah...yeah, it's just...different..." Craig said, settling back down.

Free stayed where he was for a moment, allowing his lover to adjust to his member. When he was sure that Craig had relaxed again, he pressed in again slowly until his hard cock was hilted inside. Again pausing for a moment, he gripped the human's hips, then began thrusting, very slowly. Craig moaned softly, but now appeared to enjoy the sensation. His virgin tunnel was tight, and since Free was so horny again, he knew he wouldn't last long. Longer than his previous orgasm took, but still not long. Free reached a paw under his lover and gripped his cock, intending to relieve him again. It was, as he expected, like an iron bar. He stroked in time with his slow thrusts, giving the member a gentle squeeze with his palm every time he reached the head. Free's balls began to ache, and the familiar tightening in his stomach started to occur. He made a conscious effort to keep his rhythm as steady as he could. "Mmmm...harder..." Craig said, almost moaning the words.

The big man was obviously enjoying this, so Free began a harder pace now. Not much faster than before, just harder. The new rhythm caused his fuzzy balls to slap against Craig's rear. Free managed to maintain this rhythm for a few minutes, but the tightness of his lovers tunnel got the better of him and he came in three, huge thrusts, burying his tool as deep in Craig as it would go. The orgasm caused Free to squeeze the cock in his hand harder, and it brought Craig over the edge as well. Once again, one orgasm started as the other stopped. Craig fell flat on the bed, totally spent, and Free fell on top of him with an 'oof'. For a long time they both just lay there, Free still imbedded inside his lover, but at length, his cock went flaccid and he slid off to the side. Craig turned onto his back, and Free got up and turned the box fan on both of them to cool them off a bit after all the exertion. Free laid back down, snuggling close to the big man's side and tossing an arm over the large chest. Neither of them spoke for a while, but at last, Craig broke the silence. "That was amazing, you know. Like nothing I've ever experienced." Craig said.

"Told you so. No woman could ever do that for you." Free said, snugging his muzzle under Craig's chin.

"Tell me about it." Craig replied. "Free, you know that I can't...well, you know..." He stammered.

"I know. I figured it would be a one night only type of thing anyway." Free said.

"Huh? No, no, I mean that I can't, you know, come out to anybody or anything like that. We'll just have to be sort of, secretive, I guess." Craig said.

Free rolled over on top of his lover, straddling him.

"You mean...you want to be my boyfriend?" He said, a smile forming on his muzzle.

"Well, yeah. Hell yeah, Free! You made me finally figure things you, you know?" Craig said, rolling Free off of him and to his side. He propped up on one arm and looked Free in the eyes.

"I've been with women before, Free. Several in fact. But...everytime...nothing ever felt, well, right. It was always hollow and meaningless. I was just going through the motions because...it was something that I was supposed to do, but I couldn't ever figure out what the problem was. Tonight was the first time I ever felt anything...true and real when I made love. You showed me that feeling, Free." Craig said. He leaned in and gently kissed Free, holding it for just a moment before pulling back and smiling broadly at him. "We just have to be careful. I have a reputation, you know, and it might jeopardize my wrestling career if anybody found out. Are you gonna be ok with that?" Craig said, rubbing his hand across Free's stomach.

"Yeah, Craig, I do understand. I'll be ok with it. I'll do anything so long as I can be with you. From the first time I saw you, I was hoping beyond hope that you'd turn out to, umm, 'play for my team', so to speak." Free said, smiling back at Craig. Craig slid his hand downwards to Free's fuzzy sheath and rubbed it gently.

"This part here is interesting. What do you call it?" Craig asked.

"That's my sheath. I guess it's a holdover from our non-evolved days." Free replied.

"Well, I like it." Craig said, rolling over onto his back. "You know, I can skip my workout tomorrow morning, and I don't wrestle until the evening."

"I'm free till the evening, too." Free replied. "Wait...I guess I'm Free every evening!"

They both laughed at the bad pun.

"Tell me something. Were you ever attracted to me before, well, before tonight?" Free asked, looking up into Craig's eyes. "Honestly? No. I mean, I don't think I was anyway. In the back of my mind, I probably was, but I blocked it all out. I guess what it took was that kiss to make me see things clearly." Craig said honestly.

"What about now?" Free asked.

"Now? I think you're the sexiest thing I've ever seen in my life." Craig replied, smiling. "You know, I've never even asked you your last name."

"It's Whitefoot." Free said, raising a foot up to show off the snow white 'boots' pattern that his fur made. "What's yours?"

"Well, it's not as descriptive as yours. It's Smith." Craig said.

Free rolled over and snugged back into position with his lover. His muzzle fit just right under Craig's chin. In no time at all they were both sound asleep. Craig woke Free up early the next morning, and they both squeezed into Free's shower. There was almost no room to move around, but they still had an enjoyable time. When Craig pulled him close and kissed him deeply, Free thought back to the dream he'd had in this very shower of this very thing happening, only this time, no cold water woke him from his revelrie. Craig found great amusement in Free's drying and brushing routine, and laughed out loud at the way his fur looked poofy after blow drying, but was all too happy to help him brush out his fur and hair. They made love several times throughout the day, and Craig turned out to be quite good at fellatio. It would probably take a while before he got a taste for cum, though. Neither of them even got dressed until it was time for them both to head for their respective jobs. When the time came for them to part, they shared a gentle, heartfelt kiss in front of the door. Craig dropped Free off at his workplace, then headed off to his match. At the cafe, Sara was fiddling with the store stereo when Free walked in. He put his things in his locker and got ready for work. As he was clocking in, the tuner landed on a country station. Free almost lost his breath as a familiar song emanated softly from the speakers. 'The bluest eyes in Texas...'

"Hey, Sara, would you mind turning this up a little?" Free asked.

"I didn't think you liked country music, sugah." Sara asked, turning up the volume a little.

"I don't, but this is my new favorite song." Free said.