"Don't be out for too long, okay?"

"Okay!"

Samaliel shook his head and sighed, watching his younger brother and his respective friend bound across the snowy, forest landscape. He lingered, for just a few moments, before he turned and shut the door, moving into the kitchen to start working on dinner.

Colder climates were always Pent's speciality. He was an Arctic Fox, after all-- such pristine white fur and tight-knit coat could only be suited to a wintery atmosphere. His friend Arthur was much the same-- as a Canadian Eskimo Dog, his shorter but tighter knit fur patterns were more accommodating to colder areas too. It was for that reason that Arthur kept himself loosely wrapped up in puffy yet small coats and scarfs, whilst Pent was comfortably in a thinner jacket. But even then, it was still colder than most could handle-- rather than being in the front lawn of a cosy suburban household, they were cosy and alone up in the mountains in the only winter vacation they'd have that year.

They had only a little while until dinner. Pent's initial thoughts were to build a snowman-- he was already pooling snow together, his mind full of creativity and thoughts of how to best utilize the forest snowbanks surrounding the little log cabin they were staying in. He jolted, however, when the sharp pang of cold hit the back of his neck, followed by a cackling giggle from the other side of the clearing. The fox whirled around, squinting across the clearing towards the trees at the other end, where he narrowed his gaze upon Arthur hiding behind a tree, covering his mouth and trying to keep quiet. Their eyes met and a flush of fondness, coupled with mild irritation, surged up Pent's face and warmed his cheeks. He quickly turned on a heel and returned to his pile-- though this time he scooped some into a neat little ball.

It was no secret to anyone of Pent and Arthur's affections for each other-- in fact, they'd had a long sit down with their respective parents, or guardians in Pent's case, to openly discuss their secret relationship and the connotations. Arthur's mother had been less-than-inclined to agree to it, but after a meaningful discussion she decided that it was only fair for Arthur to explore. By extension, it came as no surprise to anyone that Pent wanted Arthur to come with them on their little family trip. Though Pent didn't mind only spending time with his much older brother, he also knew Arthur had no plans for a vacation that year and he wanted to spend a little more time with him away from the usual school and sleepover settings.

"Pent? Are you okay?" Arthur called from the other side, peeking out from behind the tree to stare at his friend's back. He hesitated, shifting awkwardly on his feet, before he slipped out and moved closer, trotting across the snow. Pent didn't reply, and that only made him nervous.

"P...Pent?" Arthur squeaked anxiously, reaching out with a hand for a moment, before faltering and withdrawing it. "It was just a snowball, I didn't mean anything by it...Pent?"

Still the fox didn't reply. Arthur moved closer, intending on kneeling down to get Pent's attention. Yet, as soon as he was within reaching distance, Pent whirled and caught him square in the face with a handful of snow. Arthur spluttered and staggered backwards, his boot catching on a hidden trunk beneath the snow, causing him to topple backwards and land on his backside. Arthur wiped his face as his ears rang with Pent's childish giggle. The fox wasn't upset at all-- he was just trying to get Arthur closer so he could hit him with a snowball!

"Why you...!" Arthur removed his glasses, wiping them of snow before clambering to his feet, already trying desperately to quickly scoop snow into his hands as he did so. Pent giggled and quickly retreated, ducking behind one of the trees on the outer edge of the clearing just as a snowball sailed past his head, connecting with the trunk of a tree to his right.

"I'm gonna get you!" Arthur called out, his voice bouncing and reverberating from the acoustics of the mountain as he crouched down to scoop and gather more snow into his cold hands. Pent peeked out from behind his tree for just a split second, enough for him to see Arthur winding back in his direction. He quickly ducked his head behind once more and yelped in both surprise and amusement as he felt the snowball whip past his ear, mere millimetres from his fur. Arthur's aim had always been good-- perhaps it was a bad idea to provoke him into a snowball fight. Yet, Pent's tail was wagging furiously; he was having far too much fun.

Weaving himself through the trees, but not daring to dip deeper into the snowy forest under his brother's orders, Pent slipped out a little further away from Arthur, closer towards the rugged path that lead down the mountain to the village, Bellphorel, below. Arthur had been following him along, but his aim wasn't the best when it came to long distances. He tossed his snowball in Pent's direction, but it didn't have enough power to reach him and landed about a metre in front of Pent, who snickered in response. Arthur's face warmed and he crouched to collect another as Pent put himself a bit closer towards him-- it was the sportsmanlike thing to do. All the while, the arctic fox cradled a ball in his hand, hidden behind his back, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

As Arthur rose he hesitated, just briefly, when he noticed that Pent was a little closer to him. Thinking nothing of it, he readied his snowball and launched it forwards. Pent had to duck to avoid getting struck by it, and the rush of excitement at their little 'fight' caused adrenaline to start pumping through his body. He retrieved the snowball from behind his back and launched it forwards, but his aim was way off, and it sailed a good half a metre past Arthur's body, unceremoniously landing in a clump in the snow. Pent's ears drooped at his lack of consistent aim, but he didn't have much time to mourn his wasted shot-- a snowball hit him directly in the chest, causing him to briefly flinch and cry out, his voice a mixture of mock dismay and laughter.

They played for what felt like minutes, but was in actuality a good hour or so. It was easy for two excitable cubs, who enjoyed one-another's company, to get wrapped up in a fun game enough for them not to realise exactly how long they had been playing for. The little forest clearing grew darker and darker as they laughed and cried out, dodging each other's snowballs and trying desperately to land a hit on the other until, eventually, the holler of Samaliel caught their attention. It was time for dinner-- and that, by extension, also meant they were staying indoors the rest of the night and eventually going to bed.

The log cabin was small, but big enough for three people. Though the main living room was a little cramped, the cosy fire made the entire room warm in comparison to the cold weather outside. There were adjoining rooms-- a kitchen, bathroom, and 2 bedrooms respectively that were all equally as small and clustered with furniture, but it was more than enough for a trip that, at most, was going to last 2 weeks or so. The three of them sat in the living room and talked as they ate, until their plates were polished and not a crumb or speck remained. Both Pent and Arthur had worked up an appetite playing outside, and even after removing their coats, they were still a little warm, almost to the point of sweating-- it was certainly enough for Arthur to loll his tongue and pant, as most dogs did.

Their post-dinner activity was limited, but still fun. They had no TV to watch and drown themselves in, but instead a plethora of board and card games to keep them entertained. Pent was already familiar with most of them, since he had been to the cabin more than once before, but Arthur had to be taught how to play some of them. In a way it made it fun, and they could relax whilst explaining each game's mechanics as they went through them. They jumped between a good 7 or 8 board games before they decided it was getting too late. Even Pent's older brother said he was going to bed, which was a good indication that they should too.

When Pent came here with just his brother, they typically had a room to themselves each-- but since Arthur was here, Pent shared his room with him. There was only one bed, but it was a double and so it was enough room for the both of them. The problem was actually getting into it, for both of them were too visibly nervous to actually consider undressing. The thought of seeing one-another naked or close enough to it made them pause.

"Uh..." Shifting awkwardly on his feet, Pent was the first to break the ice. "If you turn around then we can change and get into bed..."

"Well..." Arthur began, hopping from paw to paw. "I thought we could maybe...you know."

Pent's face flushed at the prospect and he lowered his gaze, both excited yet nervous. He knew that the walls in the cabin, whilst thick, were not completely soundproof-- any kind of loud noise they could make would naturally be picked up by Samaliel in the other room, if he wasn't already asleep. But the tantalising desire of Arthur was almost too good to resist. Though he knew it was probably a bad idea, Pent inevitably nodded, reaching up to pull his sweater and shirt over his head.

Arthur began to do much of the same, though he was still a little nervous about being fully naked, for it had been a while since they'd seen one-another that way. The thought of their impending sex and the images it invoked were enough to put his anxiety to the back of his mind however, and soon enough he was tossing his top to the floor and sliding out of his pants, leaving him in just his underwear. By the time he looked over to Pent, the arctic fox was already mostly nude, also keeping his underwear on-- it seems both of them weren't completely ready just yet. 

The canine stepped on over and clambered up onto the bed, shivering briefly from the cold as he pushed the heavy blankets back so that he was sitting directly on the sheets. Pent scooted to join him and they awkwardly sat opposite each other, both too nervous to speak. They'd gotten this far, but it was no surprise that the two bashful boys would inevitably choke, despite the fact they'd done this many times before. Perhaps it was just how long it had been, or maybe it was due to the situation-- who wouldn't be nervous about being quiet when their boyfriend's brother was in the other room? Soon enough however, Arthur bit the bullet, plucking up the courage to curl his legs inwards and push them outwards, towards Pent's crotch.

"Y...You like this, right?" Arthur murmured, barely above a whisper, as the fullness of his warm, sockless pawpads met neatly with Pent's underwear, specifically right up against his young package. Pent's face flushed as he stammered a word or two, but couldn't form a complete sentence amidst his embarrassment. He eventually resigned to keeping his mouth shut and fervently nodded instead, encouraging Arthur to go further. The canine curled his toes, pressing each toe pad neatly against the outline of Pent's package, where he felt it throb and pulse against his assault. Each tender curl of a toe and press of his paw elicited a twitch or two, steadily arousing Pent's cock from its sheath.

Pent slowly shifted, hooking his thumbs into the waistband of his underwear and slipping it past his ass and down his legs so that Arthur could get better access to his loins. It took some adjustment and realignment from both parties, namely because Pent needed to spread his legs to get the most out of it, but the underwear was eventually removed completely and Arthur's paws returned to Pent's crotch. The fox leant back, closing his eyes and groaning under his breath as his member, fully hard and swollen at the base, twitched fervently against Arthur's toes, which neatly curled and squeezed around his length. Though Pent's cock was dry, it was easy for Arthur to please-- his pads, soft and supple, stroked and caressed along every inch of the length, occasionally dipping down to squeeze the boy's knot, the bulbous base vividly pulsing against Arthur's paws.

Pent's desire for paws was common knowledge to the two of them, which is why it was no surprise that Pent was already getting so eagerly worked up. As Arthur dragged his paws up towards the tapering end of Pent's cock for what was effectively the 5th or 6th times, pre-cum met with his toes and slickened his pads, allowing him to slide them down with ease, each movement accentuated by the wet sound of their lewd action. Arthur dexterously began to pump, working his ankles up and down as he glided his paws against Pent's cock over and over, occasionally reaching the tip and angling his paw perpendicular to Pent's length so that he could squeeze and worm the cock between two of his toes, watching with amusement as Pent's cock throbbed powerfully and needily oozed pre-cum in response. Each movement was like pure heaven to Pent, who couldn't resist whimpering and huffing, his head rolled back fully and his eyes scrunched shut.

"Oh...!" The vulpine gasped and thrust his hips upwards against Arthur's paws, and the canine knew to pick up the pace. He sped up his slick movements in unison with Pent's instinctive thrusts, the arctic fox still trying to keep quiet as he effectively humped his boyfriend's paws. Their movements grew more audible but still muted as more and more pre-cum met with Arthur's toes, until every inch of Pent's cock was coated in sticky pre-seed. Eventually, Pent could take it no more-- his thrusts began to slow and grow irregular as his chest heaved up and down, loins growing tighter and tighter. Suddenly, he abruptly paused and his muscles relaxed in an instant, a sigh escaping Pent's lips as a thick glob of cum spurted from the end of his member, travelling barely an inch upwards before landing neatly down on top of Arthur's paw. Another spurt soon followed the first, and then another, until both Pent's cock and Arthur's paws were painted with sticky white streaks of cum.

Pent sighed, tempted to flop back on the bed and get some sleep, but intuition told him their little play time wasn't over. He sat up a little straight and cast his glance over at Arthur, who was withdrawing his paws and awkwardly attempting to scoot towards the edge of the bed without messing up the sheets. He eventually managed it and awkwardly cleaned off the cum with a sock as best he could, jamming it between his toes and across his pads as Pent slid a little closer. Arthur's arousal was obvious, the bulge in his underwear sticking out a sheer right angle. The arctic fox licked his lips in anticipation and put a hand on Arthur's shoulder to get his attention.

"I, um....I think it's your turn." Pent suggested with a sneaky smile. Arthur grinned, moving backwards on the bed and spreading his legs apart, tugging down his underwear to expose himself completely. Arthur was a little bigger than Pent down there, but he was still more or less the same shape, so it was easy to manage-- this wasn't the first time Pent had gone down on Arthur either, so he knew what to do. Arthur watched with bated breath as Pent slid himself down into a laying position, propping himself up on his elbows as he pressed his muzzle to his boyfriend's crotch.

Pent caught the scent of Arthur's body quite quickly-- it was a warm and comforting smell, a mild but recognisable combination of shampoo and slight body odour that Pent knew all too well. He dragged his muzzle up Arthur's member, grazing along the underside, and wasted no time in closing his mouth around the tapering end, plunging himself down until his nose met with Arthur's pelvis and the cock touched the back of his throat respectively. He sighed through his nose as he felt Arthur's hand press against his head, cupping around his cheek and up towards his ear, encouraging him to continue. Pent lifted his head up, relishing each turgid throb and pulse as his tongue slid along the twitching underside. He hovered just a few inches up before pushing down again, beginning into a slow rhythm.

Arthur sighed with pleasure and gently held onto Pent's head, his gaze lidded over as he enjoyed the sight of his boyfriend bobbing back and forth, suckling and slurping with all the tenderness and affection he could muster. Arthur had to reach a hand up to cover his mouth for fear of being too loud, for Pent was particularly good at pleasing him, as Arthur was in kind. It took a great deal of effort not to hold Pent down against his cock or thrust into his mouth, and he resigned to simply sitting and savouring the delightful sensation of Pent's tongue worming around his member, coating every inch in spit as he stroked and pleasured it within the warmth of his mouth.

Much like Pent, Arthur hadn't really had much fun himself in quite some time-- so he wasn't surprised to see the pressure in his loins tightening despite Pent only sucking him for barely a couple of minutes, at that. Arthur chalked it down to being pent up, pun intended, as well as his boyfriend's eagerness to please. Arthur's breathing eventually grew a little laboured, quiet huffing moans escaping his lips as he felt the pressure grow heavier and harder to deal with. Then, all at once, it released in a tidal wave of pure bliss. Arthur curled his fingers around Pent's head and tried his best not to push him down, grunting with delight as he painted the arctic fox's mouth with his seed, much like Pent had done for his paws. The vulpine closed his eyes and gulped, swallowing down what he could and letting the rest pool from his muzzle and down his chin. He hummed his approval as Arthur caressed and stroked his cheek, eventually loosening his grip entirely as the canine's throbs slowed to a dull, weak twitch.

Pent pulled back, wiping his chin with a hand and then smearing it on Arthur's chest with a giggle, his face a little flushed with the embarrassment of their quick and easy sex-- they'd barely done any foreplay, after all. Arthur grinned and swept Pent close to him with an arm, grabbing the blankets with the other. He flung them backwards onto the bed and the blankets landed on top of them, covering them from the cold that they'd barely noticed amidst their sex. Pent giggled childishly on Arthur's chest, snuggled up close to him, before he scooted up and planted a deep, affectionate kiss on Arthur's lips. The canine wrapped him up into a hug and deepened it himself, groaning under his breath as their tongues briefly touched, for barely a fraction of a second.

"I love you." Arthur muttered quietly between their kisses, and Pent quivered against him, moved by the words. He parted his lips to speak, but Arthur silenced him with yet another kiss as they rolled over, encapsulating themselves in the throes of passion and tenderness for as long as their young, tired bodies allowed them.



---------- x x x ----------



The morning started out rough, but quickly picked up speed. Pent and Arthur were groggy from last night's passionate love-making, but they quickly attempted to clean up and hide what they had done to the sheets, before sharing a fairly warm bath unsupervised to wash off the sweat they had accumulated overnight. They only had to share it due to the nature of where the cabin was placed and the lack of an abundance of hot water, but neither of them seemed to mind-- the embarrassment of seeing each other naked had worn off, and if anything it was difficult for them not to be a little handsy. Once they were done, they got dressed in fresh clothes, dumped the dirty ones in a wicker basket and adjourned to the living room. Samaliel was already up and had made a light breakfast.

"You didn't make much today." Pent remarked, eyeing the pancakes stacked onto plates. Normally, Samaliel liked to go all out with a full breakfast in vacation.

"We're going down to the village today. At least, I hope we are-- if you two are in the mood for it." Samaliel suggested with a smile, and the cubs exchanged a glance. They nodded in agreement and then sat down to eat, chewing through the food. Pent was a little excited-- when it snowed heavily, Bellphorel could be quite the magical place. He couldn't help but imagine how romantic it might be, and his thoughts drifted back to the night before, just for a moment, before he pushed them to the back of his mind. He glanced over the table at Arthur, but the canine was more focused on food than anything else, so he couldn't catch his attention.

"Samaliel," Pent began after a moment, with only a few pancakes left. "Can we go sledding down the mountain?"

Samaliel squinted at him for a moment, humming in thought, before he sighed.

"Alright-- but only near the bottom. I don't want you two getting hurt by running into a tree. And you'll have to drag your sled around Bellphorel, is that okay?" The older fox warned, and Pent brightened at the thought, looking over to Arthur who shared a similar excitement at the prospect of going fast.

The two cubs didn't waste any time and devoured the rest of their pancakes, leaving the plates on the side and quickly making their way towards the door, tugging on their coats and scarves and shoes in preparation for their downhill descent. Samaliel took his time for a while, but eventually couldn't resist picking up the pace, not wanting to disappoint the two impatient boys for much longer. In a matter of minutes they were out the door and into the cold of the morning light. It wasn't yet snowing, but the grey sky overhead foretold of an eventual blizzard later in the day. The wind whipped around them somewhat, but it was likely to be less windy further down the mountain, if they were lucky. Pent retrieved the large sled that could fit both him and Arthur from the side of the cabin, before following Samaliel down the snow-covered yet obvious path out of the clearing.

The walk down the mountain was long to say the least, but they at least had a lot to talk about. Since it was Arthur's first time on vacation with them, both Pent and Samaliel got to explain in detail how Bellphorel came to be and what kind of things there were to explore. Bellphorel was a small village with only 500 or so people, but it was still bustling with culture. Of course, there were no tourist attractions to speak of, but there was still plenty of places to sightsee, history to learn and local delicacies to enjoy.

Eventually on their walk, Samaliel stopped, raising his hand and turning his head to grin at them over his shoulder. He made a gesture to the stretch of snowy slope beyond, whose end met the grass just around the back of Bellphorel, near it's southern entrance. The two cubs excitedly got the sled into position, placing it atop the slope in a teetering part, where it could easily slide down with a good push. Pent sat in front whilst Arthur took up the rear, scooting so Pent could sit between his legs. They waited impatiently for Samaliel to get into position behind them, crouching down to put his hands on the edge of the sled. After a moment of suspense, Samaliel pushed forwards and the sled caught the slope, beginning its descent.

It wasn't as fast as Pent would normally go thanks to the 'extra cargo' that was his boyfriend, but it was an enjoyable experience all the same. Though he wanted to raise his hands high, he instead kept a firm grip on the tassel in front of him, which helped to steer the sled down the slope. As they began to pick up speed, he cried out with delight as Arthur clung to him from behind, giggling into his ear as they rapidly approached the bank near the south side of the village. It ended in a little ramp that, by extension, had a flat surface of snow beyond. They reached the ramp and sailed off the end at a decent speed, landing almost square in the centre of the snow below. The cushioning of the ground dampened their forward momentum and they came to an abrupt halt on landing.

Pent's heart hammered in his ears, his tail wagging furiously. No child could resist the thrill of going extremely fast, not Pent nor Arthur. They clambered to their feet as Samaliel came down the mountain after them at a leisurely walk, waving as he went to get their attention. They waited patiently enough as Pent held onto the sled via the cable until Samaliel came down to join them, and the three of them went into the village itself.

As true as the two of them had said, Bellphorel was a magical place. All of the architecture was of Scandinavian descent despite the village being in Canada. Low cropped houses with tiled roofs and brick walls sat scattered or in lines, following the dips and curves of the hillside, the entire village moulded within the realities of nature. The roads, now covered with snow, were made of a mixture of dirt, cobblestone and gravel, depending on which part of town they were in, but the best part of the village was its main center, where there stood a stone-craft sculpture of a wide looking owl, roosting atop a sea of neatly designed jewels and bones.

"What's that about?" Arthur asked, pointing towards the statue. Samaliel glanced over to him and grinned, watching as someone bent down in front of it, clad in wintery clothes, to pray. They placed their hands on the base of the statue and knelt for a few moments, before placing a small cylindrical candle, complete with glass holder, onto the lip. It wasn't the only candle there-- dozens of others were scattered around the base of the statue as tributes.

"Oh, that?" Samaliel replied. "I can't remember the name, but it's a folklore, mostly. They say that there's an owl who brings incredible wealth and wisdom to those who need it. I don't know the specifics, but every time we've come here people pray to the statue. I guess some people are having a hard time."

"Can I try?" Arthur asked, and the two foxes exchanged a glance.

"I'm not sure," Samaliel admitted. "We've never tried, and I don't know if it's offensive for us to appropriate their culture and folklore..."

"Oh." Arthur frowned but understood. They lingered a little longer, watching people pray, light candles and kneel before they eventually left. There were a few places they wanted to go, or rather places that Samaliel suggested.

The first was a cafe. Samaliel's reasoning for having a light lunch became clear to Arthur, but was already obvious to Pent, when they stepped inside and were greeted to the aroma of spices, baking and pastry. Arthur glanced across the tables and practically gawked at the sheer size of some portions on plates, full to the brim with vegetables, pies and lumpy dollops of the likes of mashed potato or thick-cut fries. Samaliel didn't even bat an eye as he approached the counter and ordered them three plates of the exact same thing.

Arthur didn't know if he could manage to eat so much food, yet he chewed through it one piece at a time, laughing and talking with his boyfriend and his respective brother. Samaliel didn't offer much in the way of conversation other than commenting on the history of the town a little, for he tended to do a bit of reading whenever they went, but Pent had plenty of stories of previous years as well as talks of places he wanted to go. Most notable was a small toy shop filled with hand-carved wooden figurines, made on request.

There was no chance of any of them moving after eating so much, so they lingered for a little while longer, talking amongst themselves. Their conversations stretched from the vacation to school to career choices in the future to video games-- anywhere and everywhere in between. They eventually had to get up to leave however, for they couldn't take up a table forever. Their journey brought them back outside into the cold, a direct and chilling contrast to the warmth of the cafe's inner walls.

They stopped by where Pent wanted to be first. It was early in their vacation, so Pent immediately put in an order for a figurine, which was unsurprisingly a Pokémon, which he showed off on his phone. The sculptor seemed more than happy to oblige, but Arthur couldn't even fathom what he'd get a figurine of. In the end, he also went for a Pokémon, albeit a different one, vowing that he'd figure out a more meaningful sculpture that he could either take home for his mother or gift to Pent as a little anniversary present. It could take more than a week for the figures to be finished, so Samaliel explained they would return later on next week.

Only two stories remained in the entire village: a little run-down book store that Samaliel liked to frequent for interesting old novellas and hand-written journals, and a clothing store for winter wear, which was all too common in Bellphorel. Though they didn't particularly need anything from either, they browsed nonetheless-- Pent ended up picking out a nice wooly hat to wear if there was a blizzard, and Samaliel found a book he was interested in reading.

Their visit to Bellphorel finally came to end when a blizzard began to hit. It started out small at first with a light sprinkling of snow, but quickly picked up the pace until it became too much to handle. Luckily by that time, Samaliel had already encouraged them up the mountain. They made it into the cabin before it got too bad, but they were still covered in snow. It quickly started to melt when Samaliel get the fire going and the two cubs flopped down onto the couch, thankful to be out of the snow for now.

"You two want some hot chocolate?" Pent's brother suggested with a smile, and they eagerly agreed. As he went into the kitchen, Arthur reached over and gently held Pent's hand. The fox leant to the side and rested against him, sighing happily at his warmth and proximity.

If the rest of their vacation was like this, then Pent never wanted to leave.