FSE

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IT was early the next morning, Levi was face down in the booth at the roadhouse, right arm curled up under his head, left hand propped up on an almost-empty longneck. The jukebox was warbling out a bluesy honky-tonk riff. The old irish wolfhound had passed out earlier than the rest of the club, and so he'd awoken. Russet, Sam and Pax would be riding in sometime from The old Horndogs' clubhouse up the mountain between here and Los Juramentos. It sounded like everyone had made it out okay for the most part, but the fact Russet and Sam had to go and get him had put everyone on edge, whether they'd admit it or not, himself included.

The old wolfhound had taken a liking to the younger mouse, recalling fondly catching a mouthfull of the mouse's hands-free orgasm at speed when they were strapped to the seat of honor for their initiation on the back of the Dobe's bike.

He caught himself smiling a little, pants tenting as he idly rubbed at his groin as he slowly lifted himself out of the seat. The mouse had started to become more vocal lately, and a night without them, especially with this tension in the air, the roadhouse had felt extra quiet.

Levi shuffled and surveyed the roadhouse, It'd clearly been another long night. The Longsuffering Hippo Barkeep was slumped over in a corner booth, several empties and a stubbed out spliff, unusual for the pachyderm, was nearby. He and Pax had been starting to spend more time with one another, and the night had been rough on him. Brandywine and the kangaroo twink in another. The fat skunk and the slim marsupial cuddled up against one another. Azzy was passed out on the bartop, laying in repose, hands clasped over his pouch, hat over his snout. Levi looked around and couldn't find either cam or the Dobe, but The smell of a Cigarillo wafted in through the saloon doors, a reassuring whisper.

Levi swirled his bottle and slowly moved out the doors to the porch, pushing his way through the doors..

The Dobe's head snapped to her left as if it'd been spring-loaded, her hand moving towards her hip surreptitiously. Before realizing who it was and gently letting out a long sigh and a cloud of smoke.

"Jesus, Levi... how many times do you gotta do that?" the dobe spoke in her soft gruff timbre.

"D'whut?" Mumbled the old dog.

"Slink around like that takin' folks by surprise, y'old git."

"Clearn yer ears about it, then...."

The dobe stood up off the wall of the roadhouse and turned, left hand on her hip as she took another drag on her cigarillo.

"YOu gonna finish that sentence?"

Levi took a pull and finished the last of the bottle, before setting it on the railing near the front of the porch.

"oh....yeah..Clean yer ears about it then...Boss." He mumbled and smiled again, and leaned forward and patted The Dobe's shoulder.

"Sorry, Boss, this early n' hungover I'm liable to ferget stuff...I ain't mean nothin' by it, Boss. I respects you too much." He mumbled a little as he patted his denim vest, hunting for his pack of smokes, finding one, he slapped the back a couple times, gently, popping one of the cigarettes up into his mouth, he fumbled around and couldn't find his lighter. He looked up at the dobe with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Awkard timin' on my part but...if I could trouble you for a light, Boss?"

The dobe snorted, and took out her zippo, and rolling the striker wheel across her leather wrapped thigh, struck up the flame, and gently, lit Levi's Cigarette.

"Thanks, Boss."

"You're welcome, Levi."

The two canids took a drag on their respective smokes, their faces lit by the orange firefly glow of the cherries in the predawn light.

"Don't 'spose yer up early, are you?" asked Levi,

"Nope. Late." Replied the dobe.

"I'd expect nothin' differnt, from you."

The dobe snorted, "again, You gonna finish that sentence, old man?" She said, her voice harder this time.

Levi took another drag, and continued.

"Maybe. put one of them fancy punctuation marks in front of it mentally." he mumbled, smoke pouring from between his teeth and under his shaggy moustache as he continued.

"Brandywine's too stoned, and the Hippo's too preoccupied himself, but it's clear t'me yer worried. Not just 'bout Pax."

The Dobe felt her ears laying back as Levi continued.

"I ain't. gonna ask you. Again. old man: Are you gonna finish that sentence, properly?"

She wheeled around in front of the wolfhound, and glowering over him, put one of her arms against the wall of the roadhouse. the faintest raising of her lip, a crescent of white shown amongst her black and brown fur.

Levi looked up, seeing the bared fangs, greated them with soft, sad eyes and a tiny smirk.

"Yer worried about losing control in the midst of a crisis. Yer road captain's gone and so's a few of your friends, and you know everyone's lookin to you fer an example, and Somethin deep down in you's questioning yer decisions, and so yer leanin' extra heard on formality, trying to shore up that insecurity but I'm tellin' you point blank; Everyone believes in you, and I believe in you, and you and I both know what the cost of that belief has been for me to sit here, and look y'dead in the eyes, and take a while t'member to finish m'sentences properly...." He took a long drag finishing his smoke and stubbing it out against the wall of the roadhouse behind him.

"because Nobody here is unerminin' ya, nobody here is even -thinkin- about leaving, because we see what you're doin' for two folks who ain't even in our club. Boss."

The Dobe felt her hackles sink back down.

"That there quality is a huge part of why I gave up what I gave up. So take it from me, young-buck tho y'are, boss, you're doing head n' shoulders above most, Boss."

The old dog put a hand on The shoulder of the Dobe's outstretched arm. Her voice, spoke, stifling a cough.

"That's better, Old timer. And...thank you.."

The old wolfhound cast his eyes down again as he fished out another cigarette. The Dobe asked as she removed her hand from the wall and straightened up again.

"anyone else awake?"

"nope, just you, me, the breeze, n the road." Levi said, absent mindedly patting his pockets for a lighter again.

Wordlessly, The Dobe fished out her lighter, and flicked it open again, and then, knelt down on one knee to light the old wolfhound's cigarette. The gesture had the wolfhound's eyes raise up a little, taken aback. "Th...thanks, b...Boss but..i'm not...trying to violate the terms of-" He stammered out quietly.

"I just lit your your smoke. That's all, we both know our places."

"Yes....yes we do... Boss."

She leaned back up against the wall, next to Levi, looking out towards the coast as the first hints of dawn began to creep in. She took a final drag off her cigarillo, and let her left hand wander down Levi's chest, and then his groin, and slowly she rubbed her leather-wrapped palm in a slow circle against the old dog's bulge, cupping once, before sliding right and off of him.

The old dog's tail thumped against the back of his thigh as he smiled.