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34.

"Jake's still not back?" I'd just spent at least half an hour getting my ass plowed and enjoying a soda. The cafeteria was starting to empty.

Dimitri ignored my question as I sat down across from him. "How'd it go?"

"Really good, sir." I looked around but Tront seemed to have ducked out as soon as I was through the doors. "I think he's afraid of you."

Dimitri smiled. "He should be."

"He gave me a little information you might like to hear." I learned in, my eyes shifting theatrically. "He says Blake wants to do a cell search in H-Block this week."

"Good boy." The look of approval, faint though it was, sent a shiver down my spine. Earning praise from the tiger was a real accomplishment, and one that very few furs were capable of.

He drummed his fingers on the table. "Five minutes. After that, Jake'll have to find his own way to the Yard."

My ears flattened, but I knew better than to argue with him. I had no idea what Otto was making the red fox do, but whatever it was I was sure the fox would need time to recover. The minutes ticked by while I sat looking down at the table, my head and ears bowed in worry. Dimitri had to know the five minutes were up, but he didn't leave. I made a mental note to thank him for this somehow.

"What the hell?"

I jerked my head up too see what got a reaction out of him. Behind me, Jake was making his way up the aisle on his hands and knees. Otto was behind him, nudging Jake with occasional kicks. It was causing a scene with those still in the cafeteria. The bastards found it hilarious when Otto commanded Jake to speak, eliciting sharp barks from the crawling fox. I jumped up, my blood boiling.

"Sit your fucking ass down!" Dimitri's roar was like getting yanked by a leash. I dropped down, turning to ask why he'd let this happen, why the guards didn't care, why the Pack said they existed solely for the mutual protection of canines yet let assholes like Otto get away with what he does. A hundred angry questions I wanted to spit at him, even if he couldn't know any of the answers.

Out of the corner of my eye I caught a flash of movement. Faster than recognition sunk in, Sanders was storming straight for Otto. Just like Dimitri's style, there were no warnings, no witty one liners. The lion grabbed hold of Otto's shirt collar, jerked him off the ground and slammed him down onto one of the middle neutral tables, a surprised wombat fell backwards as his tray was smashed under a wolf.

"Out. Now, pet," Dimitri hissed.

Sanders didn't wait to see if his slam was more than enough to take the fight out of the wolf. He started raining heavy blows that threatened to break bones and tables. I made it to Dimitri's side the same instant the cafeteria erupted in chaos. Any furs not on the Yard or gone back to their cells were up, either rushing to join the brawl or sprinting for an exit. I lost sight of Sanders and Jake in the crowd. Dimitri dragged me effortlessly through the cafeteria doors right as a team of guards rushed by, closing them behind us.

We walked quickly. Well, Dimitri walked quickly, I had to jog to keep up with his longer gait. A localized alarm started to blare. We didn't slow until we were standing out on the Yard. I tried to make sense of what happened.

"You ok?" Dimitri asked.

I nodded, I think so.

Vince and his pack walked over to us. "What's with the alarm?" the wiry one eared wolf asked.

Seeing that Dimitri wasn't going to give more than a disinterested shrug as an answer, I offered my observations. "Sanders beat the shit out of Otto." I'd be lying if I said part of me wasn't happy about this.

"Too bad. I like doing business with them. Both pay up front." He shook his head. "Speaking of money, Herb got word to me that he's looking for a good time," Vince said to Dimitri. The tiger's fists clenched and for a split second I was worried there was about to be another fight. "I told him to go fuck himself."

"Literally," I laughed as the tension ebbed.

"Huh?"

"Nevermind." I could see Hash snickering, and that was enough for me.

***

I kicked at the dirt, bored with whatever Dimitri and Vince were talking about. Behind me the sound of doors opening caught my attention. "Hey!" A few furs were being let out after the situation in the cafeteria was under control. Last out the doors was Jake. He staggered and looked a little out of it.

I walked quickly to him, followed by the others. He looked at me with the same blank eyes I'd seen when he left.

"I'm fine," he said as he pushed my hand off his shoulder, getting even more uncomfortable as Vince leaned close. The wolf tilted Jake's head to the side and we could all see the flakes of dried blood around the fox's nostrils.

"What the hell happened?" Vince demanded.

Jake shook his head out of Vince's grasp. "I'm fine," he repeated softer.

"Did your date do that? Hash, who'd he fuck today?"

My fur bristled. Vince didn't even know who he set Jake up with, and Dimitri cared more about getting me out of there than he did helping Sanders and Jake. "What happened to Sanders?" I interrupted.

"I didn't see him. The guards were sending a bunch of furs back to the cells. Maybe that's where he is." Jake's attempt to avoid Vince's question proved futile when the wolf grabbed him by his muzzle more forcefully this time and repeated his question. Jake shook his head no as best he could, "someone knocked me over during the fight."

Maybe the others couldn't tell, but as a fellow fox, I could see he was lying.

"We're leaving," Dimitri announced.

"Whoa, hold up," Vince said. "I've got a fur in Cellblock-H that I need you to collect from."

Dimitri was already walking away. "It'll wait."

I gave quick looks to Hash and Jake. "Hash?"

"Don't worry, Regal. I'll look after him."

I nodded a quick thanks and ran after Dimitri before he had a reason to call me.

***

Away from the walls, with nothing to block the wind, the Yard was cooler. Half the furs didn't bother to take coats, and many of those that did had taken them off. But that didn't mean I wasn't starting to get cold. I walked closer to the big tiger, hoping to absorb some of his body heat.

We should have stayed with Jake. Not just during the fight in the cafeteria, but out here. I wanted Dimitri to be as protective of the red fox as he was of me. I guess it was asking a lot for that to happen, but Jake needed an anchor. He was just drifting aimlessly on an ocean of the whims of anyone stronger than him. I spent so much time feeling sorry for myself, but it really could be worse. I always believed we had to look after the less fortunate, even if you were only marginally better off.

Dimitri's protective hand rested across my shoulders as we came to the feline held area of the Yard. His thumb stroked along the side of my neck. A weird mix of possessiveness and affection that I was learning to appreciate more and more each day.

"You were really going to jump into the fight." He said with slight disbelief, it wasn't a question.

I didn't trust myself to keep the accusations from spilling out. Sanders and Jake were our friends - more or less - and we left them. I admit that learning the convict code was proving difficult, but I did understand the difference between right and wrong.

"I guess I'd be pointless to have you take out Otto now. There anyone else you've got an issue with in here?"

"Piter," I said without reservation. Out of all the jerks I've had the pleasure of meeting, that husky was the only fur I thought of as irredeemably evil. And not just for what he'd done to me, but for the way he treated Jake, and his own pack... and everyone else.

Just as quick as my answer was Dimitri's sharp laugh. "He would kill you. I can teach you how to protect yourself, but I can't work miracles."

"And you wouldn't want to lose your bitch." I bit down on my tongue. My mouth has a way of bypassing any common sense. I waited for the hand on my neck to start tightening.

"I wouldn't want to lose you, Regal."

Was he agreeing, or was he correcting me? Fuck it. As long as I'm not in pain, I'll let the whole matter drop. And at least my anger was good for something. It proved a pleasant distraction from the hostile stares the other felines were casting at me. His hand left me as he moved to scare off a leopard who was using the bench Dimitri decided he wanted.

Dimitri sat on the bench, and summoned me closer with a snap of his fingers. "I'm cold," again my mouth shot off without consulting the rest of me. "Are you sure you don't want to just sit there and hold me?"

Dimitri rolled his eyes. "Drop and give me fifteen. That'll warm you up."

"Yes, sir," I replied with zero enthusiasm, getting down on the cold and gritty ground while he sat there watching. Great. Now I'm unhappy and uncomfortable.

"One," I sighed and bent my arms until muzzle nearly touched the ground. My record was twenty-three push ups before my arms would give out, so I wasn't too concerned about this... until I tried to rise. Of course, I thought bitterly. Dimitri was pressing down on my back. I twisted my head to find out what he wanted me to do.

He was bent forward, lazily keeping me still with his left arm. "Come on, pet. I know you're angry. Use some of that and push."

"I'm not angry," I lied with a grunt. Putting all my strength into it, I felt Dimitri's arm moving with me. My arms locked and I reveled in getting the first one out of the way.

"You can tell me why. I meant it when I said I was trying to control my temper." I must have been taking to long. With only the slightest increase in pressure my arms buckled and I was lying on the asphalt.

I know I do a lot of stupid things, but telling Dimitri I thought he was wrong, and that it was a dick move to abandon our friends like that, would not be the one that gets me killed. "Two," I strained at it again. He wasn't letting me up as easily as last time.

"C'mon, pup. I'm barely touching you."

"I'm trying," I growled. I don't know if that bullshit about channeling my anger was working or if Dimitri was easing up, but I made it off the ground again, before collapsing back down.

"Three," Dimitri counted. I was planning on catching my breath, but he wasn't giving me much of a choice.

I made it to six and a half before my body decide to say fuck it and refused to do anything more than wheeze. His hand left my back, not that it made any difference.

"Good effort, Regal."

Why did he have to use my name. Exhausted as I was, I still wanted to be angry at him. "You said... fifteen," I panted. six and a half wasn't good.

"I'm making a point. Do you know what it is?"

I rolled onto my back, pulling in my aching arms like a dead bug. "That you can do whatever you want to me?"

Dimitri chuckled. "No. I think you already know that." He tilted his head, looking up at the same pale blue sky I was looking at. "Could you have done fifteen if I hadn't pushed you down?"

He looked down at me. The question wasn't rhetorical. "Yes, sir."

He nodded. "I counted you doing twenty-three last time we worked out. You could have done fifteen by yourself. But then I got involved and you could only do six."

"Six and a half," I corrected him before a big foot nudged my side and shut me up.

"What I'm saying, pet, is that you might have wanted to go fight for Jake, and maybe you might have gotten in a lucky shot against Otto. But it wouldn't have been just you and Otto. The place was in pandemonium. Now, Sanders, he can handle himself. If he'd needed any help, he could have brought half the fuckin' felines in the cafeteria with him. But what went on was something personal that he wanted to do on his own."

"But it-" I finally regained some control over my mouth and shut it. There was no point in arguing.

***

Sore and exhausted, I followed Dimitri back inside after our Yard time was up. Jake met us at the door looking somewhat better. The distant look in his eyes had gone and in its place, a more familiar one of resigned indifference. He didn't say anything as we walked to our cellblock, but Jake barely spoke under the best of conditions, so it was no help getting a read on him.

I caught a glimpse of Sanders in his cell. I was so relived the guards didn't haul him off to solitary confinement I started to shout a greeting and wave. Dimitri was quick to put a stop to that.

When we got to our cell and the doors locked for a half-assed headcount, Dimitri growled a warning at me. "I'm starting to wonder if I'm spoiling you. You used to be more obedient."

The comment surprised me. It had been a long time since one of his erratic mood swings, I guess it was foolish to hope they were something he'd gotten over so easily. I'd weathered the worst of them, back when he would hurt me and I feared for my life. If all he would do to me now is snarl and growl, I'd do what I'd always done. Wait it out until he calms down.

I whimpered an apology and withered into my corner, hugging my knees tight to my chest and tried not to draw attention to myself.

***

Dimitri, as always, chose to show up at the feline table fashionably late. And after his not so veiled threat of reminding me of how a good pet behaves, it was fine with me. Absolutely fine. No complaints.

Styen was in the middle of losing his second checkers game of the evening when we got there. With only four seats bolted to the table, Jake and I ended up awkwardly sharing one again. I really wanted to start talking, but given the thin ice I was on, I just sat there giving Dimitri my best puppy dog eyes.

Styen was eager for a new diversion. "Dimitri, did you see what Sanders did in the cafeteria? I was outside and he's found a sense of modesty somewhere."

The lion smoothed down his already slicked mane. Looking everywhere but at Jake. I swear, he looked like he was turning red with embarrassment. "I told you. It was a slight disagreement that I had to settle."

"Bullshit, dude. That's not your style." the panther turned to Dimitri, "come on. I need some details. You know I live vicariously."

"It was some sort of personal shit. None of my business," Dimitri said.

Styen rolled his eyes just in time to witness Sanders bring a close to their game of checkers. "Fuck."

"Still the champ," Sanders laughed. "Who's next?" He joined me in looking expectantly at Dimitri, though for a different reason.

"Pet's got something to say," Dimitri finally relented to one of us.

"Thank you, sir," my ears flattened reverently to stroke his ego. They sprang back up as I turned to Sanders and Styen. "One of the guards told me they were going to search the cells in H-Block this week. He didn't know when exactly, but I thought you furs should know it's coming up."

"Damn it," Styen said. "Looks like I gotta clean tonight." He looked at me with a mischievous grin, "Oh, and you should probably just flush that white powder I told you to hold. It's not sugar."

"Wha-," I started to proclaim my complete ignorance of whatever the hell Styen was talking about before he quickly interjected while laughing wildly.

"Just fuckin' with ya! You should have seen your face!" he pounded on the table trying to get control of himself.

I would like to think he was a decent enough fur to have kept his jokes to himself if he'd known the mood Dimitri was in, but there's really no accounting for what some find funny.

"Styen," Sanders shook his head, "your sense of humor is going to get you killed some day." I nodded fiercely in complete and total agreement. "Thanks for the heads up, Regal. Hey, Dimitri, it's commissary day, you mind if I tip your fox?" Sanders had a much better grasp on the delicacies of my situation.

I held my breath, thinking for a second that he might say no.

"If you think he deserves something. But nothing powdered."

The table was quiet for a moment. None of us sure how to interpret that.

Dimitri sighed. "This asshole's not even funny and everyone laughs their asses off. I make a joke and get crickets." He reached over to me, gently tracing the worried crease of my lips until they curled into a smile.

It felt good to be laughing again. But Dimitri had to start giving me a little warning before he starts to brood. The stress was going to start me shedding if it went on much longer.

***

I loved the times I spent hanging out with my friends in the common area. It was times like these I could really imagine having a normal life. Sanders and Styen were loose with the snacks we gambled with, promising ample rewards for the mental stimulation we foxes could provide. It was nice to know I had other uses beyond the physical.

Jake was playing Styen. I stood leaning on the table so Jake wouldn't have to share half a seat. Sanders thought he was being subtle, but he was watching Jake more than the game that was being played. Dimitri tried to fake an interest for a while but now divided his attention between the big wall-mounted tv, staring menacingly at Piter's pack, and making the occasional comment about how he couldn't see the draw to checkers.

Jake didn't need the help, but I made sure to make breathy little moans after either of them made a good move, just to fuck with Styen in some goodnatured payback for his earlier attempt at humor.

Naturally, my fellow vulpine won handily.

"Good game, Jake. You cheat as skillfully as Sanders," the panther laughed. "So, what's your fancy? Chocolate? Mints? Nuts... of several variety?"

Having been silent through the game, leaving me to do his trash talking, he cleared his throat and meekly asked, "last time I had hot coaco. Can I have another cup?"

"Sure. You don't mind, Dimitri?" he asked the distracted tiger as the two of them left for his cell.

"Whatever," he waved his acquiescence while maintaining hard eye contact with Piter's new thug - the one with the silver teeth - in some weird alpha male ritual that made absolutely no sense to me.

"Looks like it's you and me, Regal," Sanders reached to reangle the board and we began setting the pieces. Checking to see that Dimitri's back was to us, he mimed opening a bag of chips and mouthed when do you want them? I also gave Dimitri's ample back a quick look and shrugged a few hand gestures I hoped would be interpreted as, after the game, if that's cool. He nodded.

Keeping his voice low, not that Dimitri would have cared what we talked about, he started asking questions. "Is Jake ok? I didn't mean to almost start a riot, but, y'know..."

I knew. Sanders was definitely into Jake. "He was a little shaken up, but he's stronger than he looks." Dropping my voice to below a whisper and giving a cautionary glance to the tiger back, "thanks for stepping in. He says he doesn't need anyone, but it's really great for him to know he's got furs who care."

Sanders nodded, holding back a self satisfied grin.

The lion's opening game was fast and heavy on piece trading, leading to his opponents falling into near automatic patterns of reactionary moves, and making conversation easy.

"Before I ask Dimitri to set something up for me... when I... took you for a test drive..." He cleared his throat. "Would that be something that Jake would be up for?"

My hand hovered over a piece. Prison wasn't a place you could go on a traditional date, but was taking advantage of forced prostitution the only route to kindling a relationship? Sanders was patiently waiting for my foxy brain to think it through.

"Weellll," I drew out, "I guess, speaking as a fox in a similar predicament... uh, I do kinda like it more when I'm with someone I know."

"So, it'd be a good way to get to know him a little better," Sanders said with a smile.

"Hm..."

"What?"

"I- Nothing," I pretended to study the checkerboard.

"Regal, bro."

I wasn't sure this was something I should be discussing, but the normalcy Sanders treated me with made me desperate to please. "I don't know if it's a good idea. He sort of shuts off when he, you know?" The lion nodded, getting what I meant. "Jake puts up a lot of walls. He'll do whatever you want him too, but earning his trust and getting to open up, I have no clue how to do that. Don't tell him I said anything."

"Of course not," he said distantly.

I wanted to help them, but I truly had no ideas. Jake and Styen came back to the table. The red fox's muzzle was tinted brown from the hot chocolate. He licked his lips and grinned, genuinely happy, and making me genuinely jealous that Dimitri lived such a minimalist lifestyle. Not that I'd get to use it much, I still wondered how nice it would be for Dimitri to have a hotplate, or a radio, or even a clock in his cell.

My daydreams were rudely interrupted by the big cellblock doors opening to admit two guards. And of course, they headed right towards me.