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Tonight it was the hiss of the shower rather than the rhythmic chirp-purr of cicadas that kept Eli’s ears perked. He leaned slightly back where he stood, letting the just-hot-enough water pour down over his chest. It flowed lightly across his body, staying to the small rivulets cut through his fur, trickling along his skin beneath, grabbing onto the little mats and clumps of fur, dripping down… it didn’t quite feel like fingers running over his body, but if he closed his eyes and held his breath, the feeling of his own touch through wet fur could almost fool him.

Already he missed her. Not even four hours since getting back home and he missed that damn striped hyena, missed the way her eyes glittered when she looked at him, and how she returned his affectionate touches, and how she always, always tried to be touching him at that. Missed her voice, her laugh, her smile… her scent.

Her scent. Eli bit his lip and turned, rising up onto his toes at the sudden heat of the water against his shoulders. No hint of that beneath the smell of the soap and shampoo, honey-and-something and some generic jasmine floral thing… and that was, probably, exactly how Marlin wanted it. The second thing the fox had said to him after he walked in through the door, the first being “Jesus Christ, since when are you busy enough to be gone all weekend?” was “holy Christ, you fuckin’ stink – were you at the gym this whole time? Go fuckin’ shower,” muttered into Eli’s ear during a hug and grope, finger teasing up to the spot at the underside of Eli’s tail that made him shiver.

Honestly, the wild dog hadn’t really noticed it at first – Lynn’s scent, the richness of hyena. Maybe that was because he’d spent six years with a fox, and of those six years, he’d been consistently getting a good, deep whiff of vulpine musk straight from the source at least three nights of the week. Or he noticed it, but didn’t really pay attention to it.

No, he thought, slowing in his lathering for a second. The mixed honey-and-flowers felt like it had developed a film across his nostrils. I paid attention to it. God, did I ever. Still do. It just… didn’t stick out to me. I just love it. He wrapped his arms up around his chest, closing his eyes again and pretending that the sweet floral touch of the shampoo was instead whatever perfume she wore, if any; I really do. Actually, does she even wear perfume? It’s so soft that it might as well just be soap… is that something you can ask women?

He smirked, then turned back around again. It wasn’t so bad that Marlin had basically forced him to wash off the hyena’s scent; spending all that time around her had acclimated him to it, except for when she drew him into a hug and he pushed his nose into her neck, or he wrapped around her from behind and nuzzled into her bushy mane, or when… when she squeezed his head between her thighs, back arched and hips pumping. But, to be fair, that one was a bit different. If Eli focused, he could imagine that he could still taste it… but, either way, he knew that her scent still lingered on his clothes.

Then, an idea: he’d have to have her spend the night sometime, to grind the reek of hyena into the bed. See how Marlin liked that. Eli breathed a light laugh as he reached for the soap again, this time working that froth into the little short-furred spot of skin behind his sheath, the supple sheath itself, further down. Something else that kept his mood so buoyant was that he’d been full of energy pretty much since he first woke up this morning, alongside Lynn with his muzzle in her shoulder and her arm draped across his body.

Just that little feeling of her shifting, and when she slid her leg further up between mine… the gentle warmth of the water running down his body, not quite a caress, but something close. Eli worked his fingers through his fur, pushing his sheath forward a bit, squeezing the end close, sliding it back, shivering with that feeling. Once satisfied he’d gotten the rest of the soap out, he reached forward, steeled himself, switched the shower off, and stepped out onto the cold tile floor of the bathroom.

Another twenty or so minutes of thoroughly toweling himself down, followed by ten with a well-placed blow-drier, and the wild dog finally made his way into the cooler air of the rest of the apartment – and even before he’d made it out of the hall, into Marlin’s waiting arms. The fox nuzzled up along Eli’s chin, paws already straying down across the wild dog’s bare back towards his rump.

“There we go…” he rumbled, breathing in the store-bought smell. “That’s much better. You know what I’m gonna do now that that stink is gone?”

Hell, even this couldn’t ruin Eli’s mood. He bounced forward against the smaller vulpine, pressing his fingers against the tight muscles of Marlin’s lower back. The dog had already had his share of getting off over the weekend, and an excess in the week leading up to it… but what could be the harm in one or two orgasms more? He’d have to take care of himself for the lack of hyena paws and tongue, sure, but that never came as an issue with six inches of fox and maybe a fist-sized knot wedged under his tail.

Maybe, because he found that more often than not he couldn’t cum when Marlin tied him. Finish, sure; nothing came out until that fat knot tugged free, though, and often then it came as a couple of lazy dribbles rather than his usual forceful spurts. If Marlin wasn’t willing to offer a paw to get Eli off, then at least he offered his arms to carry the dog to the couch afterwards, since he sure as hell had trouble walking afterwards.

“What’s that?” Eli’s breath caught in his throat when a finger found that same spot under his tail again, though this time continued down a bit to trace a careful claw across the just-washed ridges of his tailhole.

The fox’s other paw gripped his waist, claws here unafraid to dig in through his still slightly damp fur. Marlin’s breath in his ear made him shiver all over again:

“I’m gonna make you reek of me again.”

~ ~ ~

And so Eli settled back into living with Marlin, and the similar-yet-so-different rhythm of that relationship as compared to whatever it was that continued quietly burning between himself and Lynn. Marlin was… shameless, really, as he had always been: just like in the week leading up to this past weekend, the fox would sneak up behind him to slip his paws into his pants or grind up under his tail, or he’d pull down on Eli’s shoulder when the wild dog leaned against him during a movie to push his head down, or he’d slip into the shower behind him… those first three days after coming back, Eli nearly made it into work late, and all three times he bore the heavy scent of fox on his breath.

Not that he could really complain about that. Or, at least, after so long of going along with it, he’d been conditioned out of complaining. And, really, it wasn’t so bad: Marlin’s so-familiar voice and scent, the warmth of his body, the way he tried to make jokes, his sharp, abrasive laugh. All of it Eli knew quite well, from as far back as those nervous, excited times in high school, messing around in the two or three hours between when he got home from class and when his parents would return from work.

Marlin was confident back then, too – Eli looked up from cooking dinner Wednesday night, the persistent yet distant throbbing under his tail shoved into the back of his awareness – just as he still remained. The wild dog could remember thinking that strange about the fox, how he seemed sure enough to bet his life on every answer he gave in class and absolutely beyond a shadow of a doubt certain that he knew only the truth and was never wrong.

Well, he’d gotten better about that last part in the years since then. Eli slowed in his chopping, careful not to nick a finger, and traced his eyes over the reclined form of the fox as he lay sprawled across the couch, in a pair of gym shorts and nothing else. Not even underneath. At least now the fox could – could; that doesn’t mean he does it often – admit that he was wrong.

Well. Whatever, right? Everyone’s got their flaws. He’s put up with me all this time, so I can put up with him.

_ _

The wild dog looked back down to the cutting board, finding his place before continuing. The sizzling of the onions and garlic in the pan on the stove behind him drowned out the echo of cicadas outside the closed door; it seemed that a couple had made that large tree out by the parking lot their home.

He and Lynn had continued talking since he’d come back, of course. Strange to think that it feels like it was some… huge change. I just moved, and spending time with her made it feel like I was moving all over again. Like I left something behind, almost. Satisfied with the cut of the bell peppers, Eli lifted the board onto his paw, turned, and dumped those into the pan, exchanging his knife for the spatula with the other. Then, turning the vegetables idly with that paw, he reached for where he’d set his phone down on the counter.

~elijasdfgh [7:27 PM]: o hey when can I cook for you :3? I can make some killer fried rice

As he reached for the handle of the pan to flip the veggies while stirring them, though, the wild dog’s ears flicked back again towards Marlin’s voice, coming over the sizzling of the food and the noise of whatever he had playing on the TV: “Eli…”

“Yeah?”

“When’s it gonna be ready?”

Eli glanced at the oven. “Fifteen minutes left on the chicken, so probably… twenty or so total?” He looked over his shoulder, just in time to see Marlin watching him. He stuck his tongue out at the fox. “You could help, you know.”

“You’re right.” Marlin nodded, then returned with a wink. “I could.” And then he turned back to the TV, slouching down a little further, perhaps to avoid the glare that he thought might come. Eli felt the also very familiar stirring of annoyance in his chest and at the back of his throat… and managed to push it down, roll his eyes, and go back to the work.

His phone slid a little bit across the counter with a sudden vibration.

~stripesandhypes [7:29 PM]: But we’ve already cooked together a couple times! and aaaaa that sounds lovely

~stripesandhypes [7:29 PM]: Would you believe that I know how to make pot stickers from scratch?

~elijasdfgh [7:30 PM]: What the fuck that’s amazing

~stripesandhypes [7:30 PM]: hehehe. One of my exes taught me.

~elijasdfgh [7:31 PM]: Did he teach you anything else?

~stripesandhypes [7:31 PM]: Food-wise, a couple of things. Asian parents, I never bothered to ask where from specifically, but i’ve forgotten most of the recipes since the ingredients are so expensive here.

~stripesandhypes [7:31 PM]: But he was my first sheathed boy, too. So other than food? Yes =]

_ _

That gave him a warm, sweet smile. Slowly the wild dog reached to turn the stove off. Halfway through the week, he told himself; halfway to seeing her again. He almost called for Marlin to fetch the tortillas from the fridge, then decided to just do it himself. That would be faster, and more reliable anyway.

He sighed and shook his head, a ghost of a smile touching his lips. Marlin could get exhausting sometimes, but at the end of the day he was still himself, and Eli loved him. That had never changed.

At least, not that he could tell.

~ ~ ~

“Are you sure about this?”

“Huh?” The young fox pressed his paw against the bathroom door, just enough to push it open and peek inside. When he turned back to his companion, excitement glittered in his eyes.

_ _

Those had been one of the first things to catch Eli’s attention, smooth sharp blue in the pure snowy white of his fur. Wonderfully soft, that fur; it had been one of the most nerve-wracking things he’d yet done in the seventeen years of his life, running his fingers through that fur for the first real time, feeling the hints of muscle buried beneath, the bumps of stiff bone, the stretch and pull and supple skin. Not the first time he’d touched another boy, but the first time it had gone that far.

_ _

“Of course I am,” Marlin went on, and nodded towards the bathroom. “Look. Light’s off. Nobody’s coming down here – it’s a band concert, and the auditorium is way on the other side of the school.”

_ _

“Yeah, but, like…” The wild dog fidgeted, reaching up to rub one of his ears. That was a bad habit carrying over from early elementary, something he did when nervous. The velvet-softness and sensation calmed him down a bit. “What if one of the janitors, or a teacher, or-”

_ _

Suddenly, warm paws gripped his own. Marlin looked up at him, the fox’s slightly smaller stature doing nothing to diminish the control and confidence he exuded. “Eli. It’ll be okay. I’ll keep an ear out, and besides, if someone does come in… well, we’ll have the stall locked, and you’ll be in my lap, right? Nobody will know.” A grin and wink.

_ _

Not the only thing he exuded. Even now that scent, so strong, so enticing, tickled at the wild dog’s sensitive nose: Marlin was worked up already. Really, he was amazed that he hadn’t been able to pick it up before he’d gotten to know the fox better – it cut through the air, sharp and pungent, intoxicating. Even so, until their first time a month ago, he had never identified it on the air even when the two sat next to each other in class.

_ _

Still it gave Eli that guilty-pleasure feeling, too, now that he could recognize it; still his parents didn’t know he’d gotten involved with another boy. Marlin didn’t much seem the type they’d approve of, anyway.

_ _

Marlin’s paw slid back into the space between the door and threshold, and a second later, the lights clicked on and buzzed gently to life. “Although…” the fox went on, now leaning against the door with his shoulder, “you… do want to do this, right? I don’t wanna make you do anything you don’t want to. If you’re not into it, we can go back. No worries.”

_ _

Eli swallowed. He couldn’t deny the tightness in his pants, and the stirring interest that had been roiling in his head since the fox had found him in the lobby, squeezed his wrist, winked, and leaned in to murmur an invitation and plan in his ear. In fact, it had been nearly word for word what the wild dog had fantasized about the previous night.

_ _

“Yeah.” He licked his lips, swallowed again, and tried to emulate the fox’s confidence. Sometimes that helped, pretending he felt something he didn’t really. If he could convince Marlin, he could convince himself, too. “Yeah, I’m sure. I, uh – brought a condom from… from home, anyway, since I thought maybe…”

_ _

Still leaning against the door, Marlin reached forward to grab Eli’s wrist again. Strong, firm grip. Confidence. “Oh,” he purred, “we won’t use that.”

_ _

“But Mom told me-”

_ _

“C’mon, Eli, you’re not gonna get pregnant.” There was that grin again, the one that filled the wild dog with warmth. “I like the feeling without, and you can’t tell me that you don’t. I heard you last weekend – I think if anyone else were in the house, they would’ve heard you, too…”

_ _

“Oh, stop!” The dog had to cover his mouth with his other paw, Marlin pulling him into the bathroom, to keep his giggles from bubbling out and down the hall. “You’re making me blush.”

_ _

“I’ll do more than that.” Then Marlin tugged at his other wrist, too… though as soon as the door swung closed behind Eli’s back, the fox’s paws shifted to the waist of his jeans, and from there to the fly as he pulled him back towards the stall. “I’m gonna make you reek of me again.”

~ ~ ~

“I’m amazed, you know,” the hyena rumbled, her voice low and sweet in the darkness of the room. “I just… don’t get it, y’know? I don’t get… how…”

_ _

Eli squirmed beneath her, holding one of her footpaws against the side of his muzzle and gladly thrusting against the other, loving the way the firmness of her toes gripped his hard cock, and squeezed and resisted the movements. He swallowed again, then let his mouth hang open – and turned his head the half-inch so he could flick his tongue across the underside of the hyena’s pawpad, a bit calloused yet still soft. He could just slightly taste the soap she’d showered with; something sweet, floral. A touch of honey.

_ _

“But…” Her footpaw gave a little twitch against the tickling of his tongue – only driving it more firmly against the wild dog’s muzzle. He let out a breathy moan, or rather a hungry sigh, and closed his eyes to nuzzle against it again. It smelled like – like her, really, though a bit sharper and richer, a little bit more. “You certainly do love it, don’t you? That’s what I love to see.”

_ _

Eli half-opened his eyes and looked up at her, expecting eager warmth and certainly finding it. That sweet smile, satisfied while still gentle, with the little curl at the corners that showed the hint of amusement; the one paw at her lips as if she were chewing on the side of her finger, with the other paw hovering down near her bare belly, thumb so close to the ring piercing that Eli had played his tongue across a little earlier; the glimmer in her eyes, the adoration that was always there mixed with the arousal that had been smoldering since she’d first crawled atop him.

_ _

Lynn hummed softly – “…hmm~” – and after a moment slid her footpaw away from the dog’s muzzle, tracing it down his chest, pressing hard enough for him to feel the tightness, then a bit awkwardly sliding it up underneath his already-raised cock. Her other untangled from around his length to move down, carefully kneading his sack against his body; he squirmed again, gripped at her ankle, raised his hips up into the extra attention, gave voice to another moan. “Needy boy.”

_ _

He tried to respond, but all that came out was a tense “mmh” and a full-body shiver.

_ _

“Yeah?” Lynn leaned down from where she sat, having to spread her legs for the angle. That gave the reclined Eli quite a good view. “I bet, huh?”

_ _

“Lynn-”

_ _

“Ooh.” This time, she was the one to shiver. “I love it when you say my name like that. Eli…”

_ _

A bit of adjustment, a little extra pressure between his legs, and Lynn reached down to lift the wild dog’s upper body up a bit; he propped himself up on his elbows, lips still parted in gentle, rhythmic panting. “Huh?”

_ _

Lynn licked her lips – and Eli felt the hunger on her breath, the warm cloying desire. So familiar. Suddenly she was above him again, knees on either side of his thighs, one paw pinning his shoulder to the soft floor. “You’re down to go again, aren’t you?”

_ _

Eli swallowed. As the hyena churned her hips gently against him, he could feel – hot firmness grinding against his own cock. He looked down: now she wore the strap-on harness she’d showed him, complete with the thick, knotted shaft. Almost as good as the real thing: laced with veins, soft exterior with a more firm interior, warm and wet. Sticky-slick. “Again?”

_ _

“Mhmm.” She grinned. “Not too sore, I hope? Take me to the knot and past? I wonder if I could fuck you on it, like…”

_ _

• and a shift in the mattress jerked the wild dog awake, for a moment confusing him with the mass of soft fur in front of his muzzle, the heavy arm around his waist, the gentle panting in his ear, and most of all the strong scent of fox. It was Marlin’s cock hard against his own, a vulpine paw gently stroking the two of them together; it was Marlin’s musk and slickness that oozed across his length and pooled on the sheets between them, and Marlin’s breath in his nose and on his body.

Just fox. No hyena. Eli swallowed again, blinked against the darkness of the room…

…and shifted to pull his arm out from under him, so that he could push the smaller fox onto his back. “Take me to the knot and past,” Lynn had said right at the tail end of his dream; “I wonder if I could fuck you on it…” so the wild dog climbed up on top of Marlin, smiled slyly at the fox’s look of surprise, then reached back to angle his length up towards his tailhole.

He’d been going for a while, it felt like: the thin coating of masculine arousal stuck to his fingers like grease, like oil. After settling him into place, tip twitching against his only slightly-sore tailhole, Eli brought his fingers to his muzzle, drew in the rich, delicious scent, then swirled them into his maw to thoroughly cover them in saliva… and reached back again.

“Whoa.” Marlin’s voice came soft above the buzzing of the insects, cicadas and crickets and whatever else, outside the window. “It’s – like, 3 in the fuckin’ morning. You have work tomorrow.”

“Mhmm.” Gentle rhythm back and forth, pushing back against that tapered tip, like a string of kisses gradually deepening… Eli straightened his back, pulling in a steady breath. “I do.”

“This is… new.” The fox settled back a little further, bringing his paws to rest on the wild dog’s thighs. “I think I like it.”

Quirk of the lips into a smile, throb of his own hard cock. Now that the thought had been put in his head – “I wonder if I could fuck you on it” – the hunger, the need had started to grow. “I think you do, too.”

Then the coaxing, the insistence: the grip on his thighs tightened, the weight pushing him down further. He closed his eyes, swallowed, let his mouth hang open as the fox’s girth sank up into him…

~ ~ ~

Maybe he hadn’t been so wrong to move back in with Marlin. It really wasn’t that bad once Eli got used to it again – to the fox’s jibes and comments throughout the day, to the way he could hardly have a minute to himself, to the way he was always poking his sharp little nose into Eli’s business to the point where he could have sworn he’d seen at least ten of Lynn’s messages by the end of that week.

It was just… small doses. Ten or fifteen minutes in the morning, more attention after work for the days that Marlin actually went, quality time after climbing into bed, and sometimes just before. That was what kept Eli here, what kept him in place: it all felt natural, was all familiar and comfortable to him. Sometimes he’d need time to cool off, but luckily the strongest came right around the weekend.

The first after the step forward in his relationship with Lynn, Eli had gotten caught by the fox on his way out the door – “Where you goin’?” he’d said, wearing a grin on his muzzle that looked like it was meant to hide genuine curiosity and maybe a bit of disapproval. “I usually don’t work weekends. You know that. I thought we had plans.”

“Maybe you had plans for us,” Eli had replied, “but I didn’t hear of them. I have plans too. I’ll be back Sunday, okay?” Then a moment of silence, of blue eyes watching his muzzle – and he felt that also-familiar feeling, guilt flowing in to fill the space left by words spoken in annoyance. And he leaned in, pressed his lips to Marlin’s, wagged his tail when the fox’s paw wandered in along his waist towards his rump. “Love you.”

It had just come out. Like usual Marlin didn’t return it, but he did grin, laugh, and smack the wild dog’s rear as he turned to leave. That was okay: maybe, Eli had thought, I don’t need his love.

_ _

That maybe turned into a definitely as soon as he pulled up in front of the hyenas’ house, as soon as he saw Lynn standing there against the pillar outside the front door. She’d donned her usual crop-top and jeans look today, belly-button piercing glinting smooth gunmetal-grey against the sandy cream of her belly fur; “look, Eli,” she’d said after roping him into a hug and kiss for hello; “I got a new piercing. Look.”

“It’s a stud?” he’d asked: it was larger than usual, round, spiked. “That’s pretty cool.”

“No, no,” Lynn had gone on, grinning like a fool. She’d tapped her finger against the spikes. “Look. It’s a navel mine. Get it?”

I don’t need his love. Because he had Lynn. Richard’s words still hung in the back of his head, and Eli did his best to hold them up: he tried to make Lynn smile and laugh as often as she did him, tried to make her feel all the same ways. Most of the time, it seemed like it worked. She knew – knew – how to make him feel good, and he was just now learning the same for her; she was patient, though, and gentle. The collar and leash didn’t come out until late that Saturday night.

Lynn knew how to use those, too.

Still, though, another hug and a kiss goodbye Sunday evening, and he found himself thinking… maybe. That awful, terrible maybe that had kept him coming back, countless times now over the six years. Whatever had kept his mood so bouncy and buoyant the previous week had faded, and returning to the cool, dim apartment, lit only by the flickering of the TV in front of which Marlin softly snoozed, Eli felt… different. Like something was missing. As if some_one_ weren’t there. So he sighed, set his keys up, checked his phone to see the expected and welcome Next week? <3 from Lynn, and headed over towards the couch, that warm smile still tingling at his muzzle.

Then he curled up with the fox, nuzzled into his neck, and felt the smile return a bit when an arm came around to squeeze him close. Just a bit. Right as the wild dog felt himself drifting off, though, Marlin’s other arm shifted between them, and then came the too-familiar feeling of wandering, searching fingers, lifting the hem of his shirt, pressing against the front of his pants… and he went along with that, and it also helped him feel a little bit better. At least it resulted in the two of them floating, considerably more tired, into the bedroom to sleep.

What an odd feeling that was. The wild dog rolled it around his head at work the next day, sitting in front of the open document of his still-in-progress story on which he’d gotten another two paragraphs’ progress. I’m missing something, he decided; there’s something that should be here, that isn’t. There was Lynn making him feel all kinds of things that were familiar, yet in a distant way, as though… as though he’d forgotten them. Like the taste of a meal he’d loved long ago, and hadn’t been able to have in years. His dad’s Spanish rice.

Or… more like a scent his nose remembered, but his brain didn’t. That seemed to fit better.

He knew the source of that feeling, of course. That came from Marlin, at arm’s length in one direction, and then Lynn in the other. Someone he’d spent his entire adult life with thus far, someone who knew him nearly as well as he knew himself, someone with whom he was dangerously comfortable… and then someone new, someone who shocked and surprised him, who overwhelmed him with feelings and thoughts and desires. One he felt comfortable calling his partner but couldn’t, one he wanted to call his partner but couldn’t.

Lynn had said what she said, at least. Those words returned to him Tuesday, suddenly springing into the forefront of his consciousness on his drive in: Wait and see what happens. I’m not really on the market in that way. I don’t want to push for there to be anything that shouldn’t. Wait and see. She’d said, and just as Lynn always, always made sure to find Eli’s boundaries and stick well within them, he owed her the same.

“I’m sure you’re curious,” she’d said to him that night, that hungry glimmer in her eye, claws tracing so sweetly down his bare back.

_ _

Somehow he’d found himself on top of her, both of their clothes tossed to the floor, one of Lynn’s legs raised up between Eli’s. He’d had to look up from where his muzzle had just been, tongue breaking the string of saliva hanging between his lips and her nipple. “About what?”

_ _

She shrugged. So simple, so casual. “Topping a woman. There’s condoms in the drawer. Only if you wanna.”

_ _

And he thought he did. He thought, and at least for now, he was wrong. “That’s alright, Eli,” Lynn had murmured, stroking his head against her chest; he couldn’t meet her eyes out of embarrassment. “That’s why I asked. I don’t want to make you do anything you’re not absolutely sure about. If you want to, we can try again another time. Okay? Look at me. Come on, puppy. Okay?”

_ _

Boundaries. Whatever was happening between them would just… stay as it was, maybe. The awful maybe. Grapes dangled just out of reach of his muzzle, and he was terribly hungry.

Marlin was there, though. As always, Marlin remained. Eli didn’t love returning home to the fox night after night, but he didn’t dislike it. His familiar scent and voice, his laugh, his comfortable mannerisms… rhythm, routine, regularity, as if nothing had ever happened between them. As if, two years ago, Marlin hadn’t shown up at Eli’s house unannounced, and hadn’t spoken a single word about how Eli had cheated on him – by receiving an unsolicited nude picture from someone they had once considered having a threesome with.

Or if the time a year before that, when Eli had again gotten fed up with the fox’s infuriating personality and broken up with him when out at their third anniversary celebration at the local zoo, hadn’t happened. Or the time in high school when the day after they’d broken up for a reason Eli couldn’t even remember, Marlin had asked him to follow him behind the gym to talk it out – and Eli had ended up on his knees of his own accord and decision, nose buried in the fox’s pubes with a hard cock pumping hot cum into the back of his throat, hadn’t happened.

It wasn’t so bad. Really. The longer he spent with the fox, the easier it was to smile at him in the morning and evenings, to eye his body when he stepped out of the shower or slid into bed, to chuckle at his jokes or lean over on him for some impromptu cuddling. Easier to grin together, and laugh together, and not only make plans but also hold to them. Dinner at the fried chicken place down the road Wednesday night, grocery shopping trip Friday afternoon, walk in the park Saturday morning, since Lynn said she’d be busy at the music store for a bit.

Then a squeeze of the paws, a hug, a kiss… another kiss, another kiss, a tongue against his, trying to wriggle into his throat, trying to suck his tongue out of his mouth. Then Eli was pushing his way back through the door to pin Marlin against the back wall of the kitchen, ignoring how the front door hung slightly open; and it was his paw sliding up under the fox’s shirt and from there down under the waist of his pants, his paw unbuttoning and unzipping Marlin’s fly, his paw bringing the fox’s half-hard length out into the air.

And then, of course, right into his muzzle, taking the opportunity with only half of Marlin’s shaft out to purse his lips against the end of his sheath and swirl his tongue inside, digging into the warm slickness, drawing the slightly-salty taste into the back of his throat…

…and on his way to see Lynn that buoyant mood had returned, and he felt great. Even when he caught her nose twitching when she nuzzled against him, and then again when he spoke to her. Soon enough, though, the scent of dick on his breath ended up replaced by the pork roast she’d prepared with her brother, and then a little later by her own scent.

That time she’d collared him again, and had him lie back on the bed with his head propped up on the pillows while she straddled his muzzle, one paw tugging the leash and the other gripping the headboard. Richard had to have heard that one, too; right around the time Lynn’s hips jerked and squeezed and shook against Eli’s buried muzzle, he’d managed to catch sight of her biting into her finger to try to keep quiet, but that didn’t really work too well.

Then, spent and exhausted, she reached back, took his hard cock in her paw, half-turned – and he almost thought she’d continue scooting back, thought she’d press down onto his length like she’d done for his muzzle right there. Part of him almost wanted her to. But she didn’t, and before long Eli was in no state to bother thinking about that any further: he bucked his hips, gritted his teeth, swallowed, gasped, as the tongue buried in his sheath behind his knot pulled his peak out of him and across his chest.

Sunday morning was spent in each other’s arms, both awake and neither wanting to get up, just enjoying each other’s presence. Lynn really did know how to make squirm in so many ways, with a well-placed paw on his lower back, or claws dragging gently across his chest, or a nose pushed into the crook of his neck, or a so, so soft kiss to his lips… and there was that feeling again, that stirring, blossoming warmth in his chest. There were words to go with that feeling, and they clung right to the tip of his tongue, but he held them back.

Lynn seemed to know, though: she smiled, softly, sweetly, then kissed him again, rolled on top of him, and pulled him upright, to tug him with her into the shower. The rest of the morning was spent at the local mall, strolling through the crowds and into the various shops, holding paws and grinning at each other like any other couple.

Except…

The words almost came on the drive back to Richard’s later that evening. Words and question, right there, so warm and wonderful now that the wild dog had figured it out, yet just barely off-limits. Still, though, they never came. Lynn glanced at him at a stoplight, and he found himself smiling unconsciously, and then she was, too. The hyena reached over and rested her paw on his; his smile widened into a grin, and they both leaned in again for another kiss.

Right there. Right there. Out of grasp. Fresh, crystal water right up at his shoulders, just out of reach when he was so, so parched.

“Oh. Eli?”

“Mm?”

Lynn turned back to the road and he shifted his paw to his phone, though she kept hers on his knee – at least until the light changed. “The week after this coming one is my final round of exams, and then my goddamn summer semester will be done.”

“Oh shit! Yeah, I remember you mentioned that a couple weeks ago.” Has it really been that long?

“Yeah.” She risked another grin at him. “And I’m gonna be in town for the weeks between then and the fall semester.”

Eli bumped his head back against the headrest. It was one of those ones slightly too firm for his tastes. “Oh, gosh. Guess we better start planning now, huh?”

“Mhmm. I don’t wanna invite myself over, but I would like to see your place sometime.” She shrugged. “Get a feel for your part of town, y’know? It’ll be a lot easier once I’m actually down here for a while…”

Another thing he couldn’t wait for. The wild dog pushed down those also-too-familiar feelings: guilt and nervousness, “well, you see,” he might say, “you can’t, since I – just moved out, and-” but that wouldn’t work. “I’m actually living with a roommate, and he’s kind of picky”… but she’d want to meet him anyway. “You can’t” just wouldn’t make sense.

“I’m living with Marlin”…

He made himself forget about those thoughts and worries, the dreadfully familiar feeling. Yet again he’d dug himself into a hole in avoiding bringing up an issue, not wanting to upset the other person – but this time that other person was Lynn instead of Marlin. And each time he could bring it up but didn’t, he dug that hole a little bit deeper; already he was past the point where he’d need her help in getting him out.

Such a tired routine.

Another thing he couldn’t wait for. Sure enough the clock continued to turn and the afternoon deepened to evening, and the night ended with Eli and Lynn curled up on the couch, Rick sitting back in the other chair as they all watched a movie that made the hyenas cackle as though they were spotted instead of striped. Eli smiled, too, but mostly it was because he loved the sound of Lynn’s laugh, so close to him and vibrating through his body as well as her own.

Then that done, they all stood up, stretched, hugged – Eli and Lynn, Eli and Rick – and led him towards the door. It opened; wild dog and hyena stepped out into the warm night, suddenly wrapped yet again in the rhythms of the cicadas; and they hugged again, and then suddenly Eli was off the ground in Lynn’s arms, and then her lips were on his, and then he was melting against her, again.

“Wait.” He rested a paw against her chest once she’d let him back down, then realized where he’d placed it, blushed a bit, and moved it. “You said you have finals next week. Will you be studying this weekend?”

The larger hyena shrugged. Even in the dim light of the half-moon and few stars up in the blue-black sky, Eli could still clearly trace the lines of her muzzle, the stripes along her neck and shoulders… “Some of it, yeah. I used to have both Thursdays and Fridays off from class and work, but my schedule got changed so now it’s just off from class. Which sucks, since I was wanting to come down here to spend time with you, and also study while doing so, but…” Another shrug. Her paws slid down Eli’s arms to take his in hers with a squeeze. “I really liked that schedule, too. But! That just means I gotta stay up there to work, then I’ll come down here to study, and maybe we can hang out. First exam isn’t ‘til next Wednesday. Then the rest are those next couple of days…”

Lynn rolled her head back and growled – and Eli took the opportunity to lean in and nuzzle under her chin. “Oh, you’ll be fine. You don’t have to come down here if it’s too big of a deal. That’s not really a fun drive to make, I bet.”

“Well, yeah, but…” She looked back down, to place a gentle smooch against his muzzle. “There’s you and Rick down here. Up there it’s just… classmates I never talk to outside of the classroom, a roommate who’s never around, and way too many coffee shops.”

“I guess that makes sense. We’ll-” Eli nearly choked on his own words. To try to cover it, he pulled the hyena into yet another hug. “-see what happens, right?”

~ ~ ~

Another thing…

“You know,” Marlin said once Eli had gotten out of the shower that night, “it’s been a while since you last asked.”

The wild dog, still somewhat damp, climbed up onto the bed from the foot and grinned as the fox spread his legs. Plump sheath and heavy sack, soft thick white fur, just waiting for him. He licked his lips. “What’s that?”

The fox shrugged, shifted his legs a little further, pulled one up towards his body. His eyes followed Eli as he made his way further up, as he set a paw against that raised knee to pull himself forward, as he pushed against the fox’s other inner thigh and leaned in to scoop his nose up underneath his balls…

“If we’re gonna get back together.”

Eli stopped. Maybe it was just that the scent of fox so rich from the source was muddling his thoughts, but… “Oh.” He pushed in a little more firmly, then nosed up along the side of the base of his sack towards his sheath. Delicious, intense heat. “I guess you’re right.”

Then, as expected, a paw settled on the back of his head and pulled him back down, squeezing his muzzle against a spot along Marlin’s sheath where the fox could slowly thrust – and Eli could see the glistening red flesh of his cock slip out a little further, then back in. “Well?”

“Hmm?” Hard to focus with this right in front of him. How is it I’m so lucky? he wondered; between Lynn and Marlin both, I’ve got dinner and dessert.

Another shrug, intentionally trying to be nonchalant, accidentally failing. Marlin always thought he was a lot more suave than he really was. Eli hid his smile against the fox’s sheath, pulsing gentle on his lips as he trailed kisses towards the tip. “Would you like to?”

Again he stopped, heart skipping a beat – or, hell, two or three. When the wild dog returned his gaze to Marlin’s, there was no sly trickery in those blue eyes, no humor on his muzzle. Just… genuine seriousness. Some expectation. Hope, maybe, in the angle of his ears and whiskers.

“We’ve just…” Yet again the fox shrugged. He reached up and rested his other arm behind his head, the one having lightened from Eli’s head to stroke behind one of his large ears. “Been living together again for a while, and I’m sure you can feel what’s going on too. So I was just thinking, like… it’s already there, so why not-”

“Yeah.”

This time it was Marlin who paused. “Yeah?”

Eli nodded. “Yeah.” One thing he’d been waiting for, something he’d been wanting and anticipating for – months now. He’d lost track, almost. His tail wagged behind him; he swallowed and pressed his nose back into the warm depths of Marlin’s pubic fur, drawing in that rich, familiar scent, grinding his own hard length into the mattress underneath him. “Mmh…”

“God.” Marlin chuckled, then squeezed his thighs around Eli’s head, pulled the wild dog up a bit, hooked his arms under his shoulders, yanked him the rest of the way – and then it was Eli who lay back on the bed with the fox above him. “I was worried you’d say no this time. It’s seemed like you’ve had other things on your mind…”

“Why would I say no?”

A hundred reasons. A thousand. Everything Ryan at D&D said, what Shelby warned me about, even Randal a couple times… but-

But I want this. I really, really do.

The fox laughed, then, and the sound made Eli grin. Then he was laughing, too, relief and contentment spreading through his body – and Marlin leaned in to kiss him, then did so again, and again. Eli reached to keep Marlin’s – his boyfriend’s – lips against his own, but the fox pulled away… only to kiss his chin, his collar bone, his chest, his belly, his sheath, his sack. Strong paws lifted up underneath his thighs, hiked his legs into the air, lifted his rump away from the bed. Marlin kissed his tailhole.

That hungry grin… Marlin swallowed, and flicked his tongue over his lips. “You’re mine now.”

Wait and see, and see what happens.