1
	Gus partially woke up with the all too familiar need to take a leak.  He tried to roll over, stupid bladder can wait. He caught a whiff of something in the air, something was burning, he was jolted awake, that could not be ignored.  It sure was dark in the room and he did not recognize where he was at.  He tried to get up but couldn't quite do so.  All he could manage was a crawl.  Something was not quite right with his body.  He was wearing strange grey pajamas and he wasn't totally with it yet.  Everything seemed so huge in the room.  A small popping sound got him moving, he was running as best as he could on all fours.  He got to a doorway and looked through, seeing a long hallway both ways.  He wasn't sure which way to go.  
	He saw a strange blue light down one of the paths.  He tried to focus his eyes to figure out what he was looking at.  It was a ghost or something, he never saw anything in his life that looked like that.  He had a forceful urge to move toward the ghostly thing despite it being a bit frightening.  He followed the ghost down the hallway, he could deduce it was a dog like thing.  He heard and felt a decently loud explosion, he was moving with a bit more urgency now.  The ghost was moving along faster and he was following it as best he could.  He got to a stairwell and he could smell the smoke much more strongly, time was getting short, the carbon monoxide would gas him out if he couldn't get out soon.  He ran down the stars sliding around on each one a bit.  He got to what he hoped was the bottom floor.  He nosed a door open, he could barely see anything but could still see the ghost. He could now feel the intense heat and could have sworn he smelled gasoline.  He just kept running seeing possible flames on the way and avoiding them as best he could. 
	 He finally got to the entrance of the building.  The door was immense, and unfortunately closed.  Oh fuck, he was trapped.  He desperately looked around the door trying to find another way out.  The area to the sides of the door were made of glass.  Outside it was very dark and raining hard.  He smashed himself into the glass in an attempt to break it.  He heard a click sound around his neck and the glass cracked.  He made another desperate body slam into the cracked glass and it finally broke, he fell partially through the glass.  The glass sliced his belly but he barely noticed.  He squirmed his way through.  
	He was finally on the outside.  He could barely catch his breath before he heard another explosion, this one he felt the vibration.  He began to run away from the burning building as fast as could go.  He ran for a couple minutes until he could barely see the fire now.  The rain was miserable and he was leaking a little blood.  
	He paused to catch his breath, he was panting hard, he saw something out of the corner of his eye coming toward him quickly. Enough rest he thought, he made a run toward a tree and without conscious thought ran up the tree.  It did little good as the creature easily followed him up the tree.  What the hell am I doing, he thought and lost his balance falling down.  He hit the ground with a slight thud.  He saw the creature launch from the tree, he could barely move as the creature landed on him.  It didn't seem any bigger than him but it was vicious and fast.  He tried fighting it off but he had been weakened from the carbon monoxide inhalation.  The creature had it's mouth on his neck and seemed ready to rip out his throat.  
	"Interesting", the creature said, "maybe I won't kill you .... just yet, this could be entertaining". 
	In a flash the creature was gone.  Gus was never able to make out what it was.  He stood there in the rain for a minute gasping for air and wondering what just happened.  
	Despite his exhaustion he had to find a quick place to get out the awful rain.  He moved along a bit slowly looking behind him every now and then for that thing. He could see better than he would have expected despite the darkness and rain.  He saw an old bus in overgrown field and thought maybe he could squeeze under it. He easily popped under the bus then rolled over and promptly passed out.

 
                                                                                           2
	Gus woke up under the bus.  He was feeling a bit better though still had some crap in his throat.  The bladder was actually not quite as annoying as he would have expected, he must have pissed himself during his escape from the fire or subsequent animal encounter.  He looked at his injured belly.  His belly was covered in white hair, and he could see the crusted up blood.  He wondered what the hell he was.  He knew he was a small critter of some sort.  He could see a large black and gray fluffy tail.  Luxurious he thought.  He looked at the rest of himself, he was mostly covered in gray and maybe brown hair.  He couldn't quite make out some colors very well.  He could feel something on his neck.  It was a collar of some sort, though it did not seem to be a shock collar as it lacked probes.  He couldn't really take it off as he really didn't have usable thumbs.  He wondered if he was some sort of dog. He had to find a mirror or something to see his face.  	He carefully left the safety of the underside of the bus.  He took the opportunity to finally empty the bladder.  It felt wonderful to finally be empty.  He had to admit the fur was pretty nice and comfy, though he felt quite awkward too because it was like fluffy pajamas but your balls are always hanging out.  He looked at his little hands/ paws? No opposable thumbs of course, that kind of sucked.  He had somehow managed to climb the tree using his little claws.  He walked to the front of the bus and looked at the bumper, it was chrome though hazy with dirt and rust.  He found a less bad area and rubbed a paw on it to clean it off.  He looked at his reflection carefully.  He was astounded at what he saw.  Giant eyes, pointy nose and snout.  Fairly large triangular ears with rounded tips.  He opened his mouth, lots and lots of sharp teeth and of course the usual four fangs along with a long pink tongue.  He wasn't a dog after all but a fox, perhaps a gray fox. 
	He never really thought about gray foxes,  everybody always seemed to love the red version.  He never realized how cute a gray fox was.  
	He stood there thinking about what the hell was going on, this was getting a bit ridiculous.  He wondered about that ghost and what was that animal was that attacked him, perhaps another fox, but why, and it could talk too.  He would remember later that the creature didn't seem to have any scent.  
	In any event he had to decide what to do next.  This area didn't look at all familiar and in fact he was a bit disturbed that he couldn't remember much about his life other than his name.  He seemed to keep all his general knowledge but couldn't remember squat about things that pertained to his life.  He walked around inspecting everything around him and noticed much more detail in things than usual, lots more smells all around, some quite pleasant and some not so much.  Some smells were interesting though he wasn't sure the possible significance of them.  He realized he was covered in smells, smoke, pee, oil, blood and maybe fox smell.  
	He would have to eat something at some point even though he wasn't hungry at the moment.  Dead animals didn't seem all that appetizing though.  He knew foxes could basically eat anything subject to the same restrictions as dogs.  No more chocolate bunnies for him anymore though.  
	He decided to explore a little, maybe see if he had any other superpowers other than being cute, as that didn't exactly pay the bills. He decided to attempt another tree climb.  He looked for a suitable beginner tree.  He found a nice basic tree and looked up to the top.  He felt a bit intimidated, he wasn't exactly thinking during his last tree climb.  He noticed himself sniffing the tree, though he was clueless what any of the smells meant.  He grabbed onto the tree, his little claws digging into the bark, he slowly climbed a few feet up the tree.  It was kind of fun and a bit scary, he wasn't going to press his luck too much and carefully backed down the tree.  At least he could climb if need be.  He decided to try to slow down time a bit and see how fast he could run.  He found a nice pathway and went for it,  he was amazed at how fast he was able to run though he realized he wouldn't be able to keep it up for long.  He tried to make a quick turn and felt a sharp pain in his stomach.  Shouldn't have done that he thought as he came to a stop. He stood there panting for a few seconds to catch his breath.  	He looked at his injury, it was bleeding a tiny amount.  The cut had been awfully close to certain sensitive areas and he was glad not to be hurt there.  He poked the area with a little paw and his little red tip poked out.  Ok enough of the perv shit he thought.  He would actually forget that he was actually naked sometimes, the fur did a darn good job of reducing the draftiness.  He was reminded of those dreams he used to get when he was naked and nobody else ever noticed.  At least if anyone saw him now they wouldn't think anything of it, just another random woodland critter.  
	He wasn't sure what else to do other than wander around.  He had decided to keep using the bus as a home area for the time being so he wasn't going to wander too far away from that.   After a couple hours he decided to go back to the safety of the bus.  


                                                                                            3

	He woke up under the old bus which had become his crappy home for the last few days.  The collar was a bit itchy and he mindlessly scratched it with a foot.  "Oh fuck, I am getting worse" he thought.
	He thought he heard something outside, he was a bit frightened, in his present form a large housecat could probably wax him.  It was nighttime as per usual, he couldn't sleep at night anymore. It sure seemed like he was being watched, but he couldn't let paranoia prevent him from doing what needed to be done.  The cat food just tasted kind of crappy and he wanted something better.  Even more of issue for him was his mental wellbeing, he thought a couple times he might lose it.  The world seemed so huge and he was so tiny and alone.  He carefully nosed out from under the bus and carefully padded his way to the old shed. 
	He stuck his nose in between the door and doorjamb and it actually opened. Inside there was the usual shed junk, old lawn equipment, an old snow blower and lawnmower.  He couldn't quite make out the brands or colors.  Even in the best of light he could no longer see red.  Nothing edible in here he thought as he turned around to waddle out.  Something caught his eye, an old hand held mirror, he peered into the mirror positioning it in such a way that he could inspect his unusual collar carefully.  There was 5 green led lights all lit up on some sort of electronic box. The collar also smelled vaguely of chemicals, perhaps flea killer.  He was in no hurry to remove it because it could possibly be useful, not that he could easily remove it anyway without thumbs. 
	He walked outside again and saw something move in the corner of his eye. He found an old frisbee on the ground filled with rain water and he stuck his tongue into the water.  It tasted great, he just hoped he didn't get the shits from drinking questionable water.  He looked up again and saw some creature not too far away.  He then saw it was a fox of some type.  Perhaps it was the same kind as he was. The fox seemed to have a slight limp.
	He slowly walked toward the unknown fox trying not to scare it away but truth be told he was scared himself.  This fox looked a lot bigger than he would have expected.  When you only weigh like 10 pounds everything seems huge. The fox came up to him and he tensed up, ready to test out those afterburners if necessary.  It didn't show any sign of aggression and it stuck its nose in his butt.  "Oh yeah that's what they do" he thought a bit uncomfortably.  His heart seemed to skip a beat, he got a sniff of the fox.  It wasn't unpleasant, in fact he would describe it as cute though that didn't really make any sense either.  
	"You are a bit odd" the fox said.  
	"Whoa I can understand you?" Gus said 
	"Why wouldn't you be able to?" the fox said quizzically. 
	"Um Long story er um what is your name, uh if you have one?" he stammered.  
	"My name is Nutmeg, what is wrong with you, you seem scared shitless?" Nutmeg asked looking concerned.
	"My name is Gus" he said "just scared of um wild animals and rabies and uh everything around here", he trailed off.  
	"Your name is Gus?", Nutmeg said "sounds kind of human-ish".  "You can't live your life in fear, you're not a bunny".  "As for wild animals, none around here, haven't seen any humans in several days".  "I've been looking for a good dog lately".
	"Why would you want a?"  It dawned on him what this Nutmeg was looking for, "Oh this could get awkward" he thought looking at "her" he guessed, never really checked the downstairs, it seemed rude.  He tried to look at her closer,  she had huge eyes,  really quite cute, the same gray, brown?, and white fluff he had.  She looked perfectly snuggle able, just not in that way. 
	"You smell funny, unnatural", Nutmeg said sniffing the collar, "I could probably nibble that off".  
	"Hold off on that for awhile, I think it does something though I'll be damned if I know what, maybe kills fleas?"  Gus said. 
	"Kills fleas, that would be great",  she said, "Hate those little fuckers". "If that is what it does I want one too".
	"I don't know where it even came from",  Gus said while getting up.  "What happened to your paw"? 
	"I injured it several days ago and it seems to be taking a long time to heal" Nutmeg said seemingly unconcerned.  
	Gus was a bit concerned though, an injury like that could become infected.  There was nothing he could really do about it though. 
	"What happened to your belly?" Nutmeg asked, "that looks kinda painful". 
	Gus felt a bit embarrassed, his injury was about an inch away from his sheath.  He had to remind himself that foxes don't think like that.  "I got cut on a piece of glass while escaping from a burning building, it's actually healing faster than I expected".  
	That morning, his new night, he went back under the bus again to snooze, that he could do well.  He wasn't really sure what foxes really did for fun, he curled up and Nutmeg plopped down beside him.  She started chewing on his head.  He thought it was pretty sweet she was grooming him. He would nibble her head later though the thought of loose hairs in his mouth was a little off putting. She started nosing his injury, he was unsure if he should let her continue, she was licking the bloody area.  It was soothing and helped the pain, though in all honesty it didn't really hurt that much unless he twisted himself.       
	He wondered what he was doing with this situation, was he getting in too deep, was he doing the right things, he realized in some ways he didn't have a whole lot of options.  Eventually she would want something else and that would be awkward.  He wondered when that time would come.  It had been Halloween several days ago though he was losing track of the time now, that could be for the best as his lifetime had now been reduced quite severely.  He tried to get those thoughts out of his head. He poked his nose into Nutmeg and took a deep breath through his nose.  He felt a lot better now.  


                                                                                          4
	Several hours later Gus woke up and looked at Nutmeg, curled up in a fluffy ball.  He wondered what she thought about him, and just her thought process in general.  Did she realize how clueless he was.  He did still have some human knowledge and that could definitely be useful, but with almost zero fox knowledge, that was a big issue.   
	He got up and left the bus area unsure of what his next move should be.  He had tried to get up without disturbing Nutmeg but she had far too good of hearing with those huge ears.  She followed him outside.  He took a pee somewhat uncomfortably, not used to an audience for that, he wasn't exactly into water sports, not that there was anything wrong with that of course.  She came over and took a sniff of his pee spot, than followed suit and peed over it.  Oh yeah they do that too, he thought.  
	Gus walked over to the grass to think.  Nutmeg ran over to him and pushed him over albeit gently, her tail was wagging.  It took Gus a moment to realize she wanted to play, he figured what the hell, got nothing better to do.  He wrestled around with her for awhile and realized she was pretty darn strong, a couple of times she had her wide open mouth and teeth on his neck.  She was however very careful not to actually injure him and was extra careful of his hurt belly.  It actually felt a bit exhilarating, the smells of the grass and other plants they were rolling around in seemed wonderful. He wasn't used to giving a crap about such simple things.  He found himself drooling and panting after a few minutes and flopped down.   Nutmeg curled up next to him.  
	Gus looked at her furry little head.  Damn the cuteness was astounding, he thought.  He started to nibble her ears, he wasn't really sure what he was doing but she seemed to enjoy it.  "So how is the foot feeling?" Gus asked while chewing on her shoulder blades.  
	"Finally starting to feel a bit better,  shouldn't have to gnaw it off" she said jokingly.  
	Gus didn't find that all that funny.  He got a loose chunk of fur in his mouth and tried to spit it out, yum he thought.  "You know I don't know what I am doing" he said "I don't know how to be a fox".  
	Nutmeg felt puzzled.  She looked at him, yup he is a fox, that didn't really make any sense and yet something was different about him.  He seems so unsure about himself.  "So what do you know how to be?".  
	"I used to be um... something else..."  He was unsure if he should spill the beans.  He didn't want to say it out loud like that would make it worse.  He whispered it into her ear.  	"Wait what?" she said "That doesn't really make any sense, you are here, you look just like me,  how would that even happen?"  She didn't actually believe him but didn't want to press it any further.  He seemed genuinely upset and she felt bad for him, unsure of what trauma could have caused his issues.  He was so sweet and loving and she wanted him for a possible mate but how could she help him? she pondered.  "I don't know what happened in your life, I don't know what to say about what you told me, but maybe it doesn't really matter".  She paused while chewing his armpit trying to relax him.  "I guess all we can do is make the best of our life now, enjoy just being foxes, and all the other fox stuff".  She started chewing on his chest fluff,  that always worked on her when she was just a pup.  She could tell he wasn't so tense anymore and he flopped over and closed his eyes.      
 	Getting life advice from a woodland creature, he thought humorously.  He had to admit he would take any advice he could get and no better source than an actual fox.  He wasn't sure what fox stuff meant.  "Should I even  mention the fox thing that attacked me?" 
	Nutmeg looked up, "huh?"
	"Something attacked me right after I escaped the burning building, I was disoriented and out of breath, it had me by the throat and could have finished me there but he let me live after taunting me."  "It looked kind of like a fox or something but I couldn't really tell, it moved really fast, I could've sworn it had no scent".   
	Nutmeg seemed a little shook up.  "I have heard stories about such a fox though I always just assumed it was just a forest legend to scare us little pups".  "That is a little concerning to me, not having any scent is like not having a nose print."  "I don't know what else to say but both of us together could probably take him out if needed".
	Gus wasn't so sure but he did admire her confidence.  "At least I don't think he had a hook for a paw" he joked while nibbling some eye goop off of Nutmeg. It was gross but he couldn't leave it there, had to keep those eyes huge and cute.  He sniffed her fluff, her cute scent, it inexplicably always seemed to make him feel happy.  


                                                                                         5
	"I think I might take a little trip back to the building that I escaped from, I want to see if I can figure out what happened to me",  Gus said.  
	Nutmeg wasn't sure what to think, if you almost died there why would you go back?  She was a bit worried about him though in this situation he seemed to know what he was doing.  She followed him along.  
	Gus carefully retraced where he had come from and found the tree he had climbed during his attack,  he looked up the tree.  "This is the tree I had climbed in my attempt to escape that animal, it had no trouble climbing up after me and then I of course fell, well you heard the story", he said. 
	Nutmeg walked up to the tree and sniffed it.  She started to climb the tree, she obviously had no fear of climbing.  Every foot or so she would sniff the tree.  Gus wasn't sure what she was doing, though perhaps being a little furry detective.  She climbed back down the tree with ease.  
	"Well?" Gus asked. 
	"The scent is pretty weak, but I only smell you up there, I really am dumbfounded", Nutmeg said.
	"I need to get back to that building, I want answers or something", Gus said.
	Nutmeg wasn't sure where this was going but she followed Gus along.  They got to the building.  The front door had a large broken section and she wondered how he managed to break through that.  A sharp part of the glass had dried blood on it.  She sniffed the blood.  She could also smell his scent and soot.  Lots of burnt smell and unnatural burnt smell was concerning to her.  "I don't really want to go in there and I am not sure you should either" Nutmeg said.  
	Gus looked at Nutmeg, he could tell she was definitely nervous about him going in there, such a sweetheart.  "I will make it quick", he said while he carefully squeezed through the broken glass avoiding the sharp parts.  He walked down the hall, most everything was charred and burned quite well and he was starting to wonder what he could possibly find in here.  He got to the staircase and looked at them, unsure of their structural integrity though they should be able to hold a measly 10 pounds.  He climbed up the stairs noticing the soot collecting on his feet.  He got to the top of the staircase and was not sure where to go.  He couldn't remember what room he had come from.  He could smell something different up here, it reeked of death and rot in addition to the burnt smell.  Despite his better judgment he decided to investigate further.  He went into one of the rooms and stumbled over the charred remains of something.  He wasn't sure he wanted to know what it was.  He looked at it closer and saw it was indeed a fox.  His heart skipped a beat and he gasped, the fox had a plastic tube down its throat,  he wondered what for,  was some sort of experiment done on this poor fox.  He wasn't even sure if this fox was the same kind as him, it was pretty messed up.  He looked around a little more and found two more foxes, they looked pretty bad too,  he could see their teeth through their curled up lips though they weren't exactly smiling.  He wondered if he was an experiment too that somehow survived.  He looked at what appeared to be a small chest freezer, though he didn't dare to nose the lid open on that thing, he didn't want to know.  
	He was sure of two things,  he was getting the fuck out of here,  and wasn't going to be sleeping very well for a while.  
	Nutmeg was waiting outside the front door as Gus got back and squeezed through the glass again.  She could tell he was upset.  "What was in there?, she asked not sure if she really wanted to know.  
	"It's bad", he said wondering if he should elaborate, he figured she could handle it, wild foxes handle terrible shit all the time.  "Dead foxes, not sure why or how, I found three, sure there is more, probably lots more", he said.  "I think I may be one of them that somehow lived, though I don't really know how or why." "I think I need to find a stream or something to clean myself in, I feel gross and reek of death."  
	Nutmeg could smell the rotting smell on Gus, it was a bit alarming.  
	They both wandered to nearest stream and Gus immediately went into it up to his eyeballs in the water.  
Gus came out of the water after he figured he got rid of as much of the stench as he could.  It was times like this he wished he had some good shampoo.  He gave himself a good shake until he wasn't as drenched.  He would smell like a wet fox now but oh well.  He made his way back to the bus and Nutmeg followed him.  He would stay out in the open air until he was dry. Gus plopped down next to the bus and Nutmeg snuggled next to him.  
	Nutmeg could tell Gus was very tense again, though obviously very intelligent, he always seemed to want to dig into things that were upsetting, she didn't really understand why he did that.  She nibbled on his ears and he finally began to relax a little.
	A few hours later when Gus was mostly dried off they both went back under the bus.
  
	                                                                                
	                                                                                6
	Gus woke up.  He had heard some commotion outside.  His large sensitive ears were a bit of a double edged sword,  it was nice to be able to hear everything but the slightest odd sound would wake him up from a snooze.   He stretched out as far as he could and had a huge yawn.  He popped out from under the bus.  There was two gray foxes standing there looking at him.  They looked damn near identical, he had to do a double take.  He assumed one of them was Nutmeg and he was correct.  Though the other fox showed no indication of aggression he felt immediately nervous again.  The odd fox came up to him and did the usual butt sniffing.  He could smell the scent of this fox, the scent was somewhat similar to Nutmeg's smell.  The fox slightly nosed his injured area, whoa he thought, getting a bit personal there.
	"You don't have to be so terrified, I'm not exactly viscous, just checking out my pup's newfound mate", the fox said.  "My name is Maple and if you haven't figured it out I am Nutmeg's Mom."  "She was right, you are pretty cute, and not a single flea on you either". 
	"Uh thanks", Gus muttered.  He thought that statement she said was a bit odd, after all aren't gray foxes generally cute and similar looking.  He did appreciate the compliment nevertheless.  Nutmeg obviously considered him as her mate, which though not unexpected and was super cute, it still made him nervous.  He didn't want to screw up something or hurt Nutmeg in any way.  
	"I was hoping to have a few grandkits from Nutmeg this year" Maple said.  
	Oh boy, Gus thought, that adds some awkward pressure on him and Nutmeg though he didn't think it bothered her in the slightest.  
	"Get your furry ass out here Max!"  Maple said. 
	Another fox came out of the woodwork.  Gus assumed this was Nutmeg's dad.  "Oh uh hi" Max said.  He came over to Gus and did the customary butt sniffing.  He stuck his snout in Gus's underside.  Gus was very uncomfortable but he did also think it was a bit funny,  might as well get the whole fire department out here to check out his parts.  "I guess he's fine, don't see any mange on him, I trust Nutmeg's judgment anyway".  Max kissed Maple's nose and both foxes wandered off into the woods.  
	"So that was your family, huh, I guess that's where your cuteness comes from", Gus said.  "Do you have any siblings around here?" 
	Nutmeg had a bit of a sad expression.  "My mom had two other kits but they didn't survive, in fact I don't remember them much at all, not sure what happened to them, I was very little back then".  
	"Oh sorry about that" Gus felt terrible and tried to comfort Nutmeg.  He kissed her on the nose.  
	"It's okay, it's kind of how life works sometimes, it sucks but life can be pretty good too sometimes".  Nutmeg kissed Gus on the nose.


                                                                                   7
	It had been a month maybe Gus thought.  Nutmeg did seem to love him and he thought maybe he loved her too, but that scared him a bit.  He would do lots of fox type things and play around with Nutmeg but he would also get bored sometimes.  He had found an old house and decided to maybe explore it.  Maybe he was trying to reconnect with what was left of his humanity.  He was able to convince Nutmeg to check out the house with him.  
	Gus looked up at the old abandoned house, Nutmeg was beside him looking a bit nervous.  "There could be some interesting things in here, it's just fun to look around these old buildings and see what we discover", Gus said. "We might even find some edibles in here, just don't eat anything you find until I have a look at it, some of the stuff humans eat is toxic to us".  "Oh and please resist the urge to mark territory inside, it's not technically our house anyway".  
	"I will try my best,  force of habit you know", Nutmeg said.
	Gus nosed his way through the partially opened front door, the inside was pretty well destroyed but there were still some things to explore. Nutmeg cautiously entered the building.  "This place smells bad" she said.
	"It does smell pretty awful in here" Gus agreed.  The house had been vandalized many times, graffiti was spray painted all over the walls that were still intact.  Garbage and beer cans were strewn about.  Gus kissed her nose and they both went their separate ways.  
	Gus found the bathroom.  He looked up at the toilet and against his better judgment he pushed the lid open with his nose, while trying not to breathe through his nose.  The inside of the bowl was scummy but empty and dry.  He hopped up on the seat and had thought about leaving a deuce behind for old times sake.  He didn't really have to go anyway and he also didn't want to be "that guy".  He hopped up on the bathroom sink.  There was an old toothbrush and a partial tube of toothpaste.  He sniffed the toothpaste, it smelled of the usual mint.  He thought sometimes it would be nice to be able to brush his teeth again.  He assumed his breath was pretty bad smelling.  Despite her extreme cuteness level, Nutmegs breath could sometimes peel wallpaper.  He looked at the mirror/medicine cabinet.  Someone had use a marker to write "we all float down here".  Haha Gus thought, Nutmeg wouldn't get it.  He looked at himself in the mirror, huge bulging eyes, all fluffy and stuff, he no longer was as shocked anymore.  He was pretty much used to his new form now other than feeling naked sometimes.  He inspected the collar again, the five lights were still lit up.  He figured they may be a battery meter. 
	The mirror had reminded him when he tried to explain to Nutmeg how a mirror worked.  She just couldn't seem to grasp the concept, but at least she did understand that what you saw in the mirror couldn't hurt you.  She did however understand love,  Gus was happy about that and a bit puzzled why she chose him,  she was always so loving and didn't seem to get annoyed at his lack of fox knowledge.  
	He looked behind the mirror and with a paw and his nose was able to pry it open.  Inside the medicine cabinet was full of the usual stuff, medicine bottles, some prescription medications, tubes of cream for who knows what.  He figured any "interesting" medications would have long been taken.  He wouldn't mess with that stuff anyway.  He did find a bottle of aspirin and briefly thought about taking that with but he would have to chew off the cap to get at it and there would be no way to safely dose for his tiny size.  He guessed the tree bark would have to do.  
	He wandered out of the bathroom and found Nutmeg nosing through a pile of laundry in a bedroom.  She poked her little head up and a bra was hanging from her snout.  Gus found that to be hilarious.
	Gus found some plastic toys including a little space shuttle.  He didn't know why but he decided to bring it back with him.  Nutmeg saw him carrying the toy in his mouth.  Nutmeg looked puzzled.  "What is that thing you have?" she asked.
	"It is a toy of something I remember from a long time ago", Gus said.
	"Oh ok", Nutmeg said as she hopped on the bed.  Gus set the toy down and jumped on the bed also.  He showed her how to jump on the bed, she seemed to love bouncing on the bed.  After a few minutes they were tired and hopped off the bed.  
	They wandered into the kitchen area.  Gus found a quarter on the ground.  He pawed at it a little, cash didn't do him much good these days and he didn't have pockets anyway.  They didn't find much for food except for a plastic bin partially filled with dog food.  Gus was able to pop the lid open and carefully set the bin on the ground.  He sniffed the food, it didn't smell great.  It had to be very old but Gus decided to take a nibble.  It was almost edible he thought.  "I guess it's edible but wouldn't eat too much of it", Gus said.    
	Nutmeg took a taste of the food.  "It doesn't really taste like much, but I guess if you are desperate it would work".  
	Gus nosed the lid closed and with a bit of effort clicked the latch closed in case they ever decided to eat anymore of it.
	They wandered away from the house with Gus carrying his plastic toy.  Nutmeg thought that was a little strange, but Gus was different and she guessed it was pretty harmless. 

                                                                              
                                                                                  8
	It had been a couple months and Gus was getting used to the weirdness of fox life, at least Nutmeg did her best to help him along as he learned what he was supposed to do.  The raw meat was kind of gross but that is what you have to eat.  He tried not to taste it when he first nibbled it but found it really wasn't that bad. Things were about to get weirder though. 
	Gus walked up to Nutmeg, something seemed off about her.  He felt funny himself,  she pushed her nose into his side and he kind of tipped over.  She smelled of something fierce but he was unsure of what it was for a moment.  "Oh god you're um", he could feel a coldness down below.  He immediately felt dirty.  
	Nutmeg could tell Gus was very uncomfortable.  "Are you okay?"  she asked him.  
	It's not as if he hadn't tested the equipment beforehand, he had attempted to avoid having Nutmeg notice but he was pretty sure she knew exactly what he was doing.  At least she didn't mention anything about it , hell maybe she expected it. He was kinda holding on for dear life, afraid he might injure something.  It had been a very strange experience and he was a bit shocked when he saw what his equipment actually looked like.  When he finished he felt the familiar relief.
	Gus stood up and tried to regain his composure.  "This is just very weird to me".  He thought about what happens to dogs and foxes when they do that "thing".
	"I am not going to live forever, I'm already two years old, I missed last year and I don't want to miss again" Nutmeg said.  "I want like 10 at least" she said half jokingly.
 	Good lord, two years, could be quarter of her life, time is getting cramped, I can feel the telomeres getting shorter already, Gus thought shaking his head.  He thought to himself he couldn't really just leave her hanging and she really wanted kits and after all it can't be that bad, just once, never speak of it again. "Ok I've never done this before so don't make fun of me too bad". 
	"Me neither, though I think it's pretty self explanatory",  Nutmeg said as she pushed her fluffy butt in his face.  
	"Right here?" Gus asked, "what if someone sees us?"
	"So what?, this is what we do this time of year, let them watch, who gives a shit"? 
	He could not refute that logic.  Definitely going to hell now, he thought. He stuck his nose in her foxy vulva, then he licked it, she started humping his head.  He thought that was a bit humorous. He took a look at his target again and decided it was time to mix the pop rocks and soda together, he will probably survive.  He carefully climbed on her back trying his best to guestimate his aim.  He had some trouble finding his target, he was poking around and Nutmeg was getting a bit restless but did have pretty good patience. He finally found his target, it felt so odd, he had little control over himself at this point.  He wasted no time thrusting away though wondering what the hell he was doing.  After a few seconds she made a screeching sound and he finished the first round.  Was he ready for round two?, not much choice in that now. He was super sensitive now, but this was the awkward part, he carefully and slowly turned around, trying not to stress anything too much.  It was supposed to twist but that seemed very wrong. He stood butt to butt with Nutmeg.  He could feel himself oozing, not unpleasant but definitely unusual.  Overall he felt somewhat exposed and maybe a fair bit embarrassed.  Nutmeg seemed to not give a fuck though she squirmed every now and then to get more comfortable.  
	They stood there for several minutes, not a word was needed to be said.  
	He finally finished round two and he popped out.  It was very uncomfortable, he carefully licked it, still a bit mortified about doing that in front of anyone else, but he couldn't let any hairs get caught in there.  Nutmeg wasn't paying any attention anyway, she was busy licking herself clean.  
	Nutmeg came up to him.  "That was pretty nice, just a couple more times of that and we will be all set". 
	"Huh" Gus mumbled.  He was unsure if he could do that again, looking at her huge eyes. Though it was super nice with someone as loving as Nutmeg but he felt unsure if what he was doing was right.  Whatever happens now it didn't matter Nutmeg was his mate now and that was a for life thing with foxes.  He wondered how many she would have, two, twelve, one hundred forty four.  What if he was shooting blanks, she would possibly be heartbroken. he had no idea what was going on with his genetics.  What kind of fox thinks of shit like that, not a normal one for sure.  He lied down and she snuggled up next to him.   
	Nutmeg could tell something was bothering Gus but she let him rest.  "You don't need to feel embarrassed or bad about this, I certainly don't, I wouldn't want it with anyone else but you".  He sure was an enigmatic albeit nervous fox she thought.  He was her foxy now.  
	Several hours passed and Gus decided to stretch out.  He wandered toward the bus and Nutmeg followed him.  She seemed even cuter than usual and her tail even seemed more bushy than normal.   She was super playful and she pounced on him knocking him over.  Despite her intense scent he couldn't help but breathe in her smells.  He felt the familiar cold feeling again though this time he didn't feel dirty.  He rolled on the ground and Nutmeg stood over him, she had her mouth open with her immense number of super sharp teeth and little pink tongue, a little bit of drool dripped out.  She licked his little tip and he gasped, he wasn't sure if that hurt or not.  They bounded around for a little bit longer and then Nutmeg stuck her little backside into his snout.  Gus wasn't sure if he was fully "reset", was that the word?  
	He stuck his tongue into her little foxy parts.  He decided to see if he could really make her squirm.  She started to whine, he was a little concerned.  "Are you ok?" he asked.
	"No, just a little confused, just wasn't expecting you to do that", Nutmeg said.  
	Gus noticed she was panting, he wasn't sure if she liked that and he didn't really want to annoy her.  He decided to stop messing around.  He climbed on her back again and realized how plush she was.  He had a bit less trouble this time, though it still took him a couple tries to get the aim right.  He did his thing and noticed he wasn't nearly as nervous since he knew what to expect.  Once again he stood there behind to behind with Nutmeg but this time he wasn't embarrassed anymore.  
	This time lasted longer than last time he noticed, but was it a half hour?, maybe longer, he really had no way to tell for sure.  He actually didn't really care anyway.  Eventually he was freed again.  They both cleaned themselves up.  
	He plopped down next to Nutmeg.  He felt wonderful though he generally felt pretty great anytime he was near her.  He thought about the hormones or pheromones or whatever that must have been making him feel loopy right now.  He assumed she was feeling similar but she doesn't over analyze everything like he does.  He started to nibble her ears and neck mindlessly.          
	Later on Gus walked back to the old house not sure what was on his mind, Nutmeg followed him wondering what he was doing. Gus went to the bedroom and hopped on the bed.  Nutmeg jumped on the bed too and started to bounce on it. They started to wrestle around on the bed, the bed was a bit comfy despite being filthy.  Gus and Nutmeg lied on the bed looking at each other. Gus looked at her huge adorable eyes and her adorable snout and nose. He licked her nose and snuggled closer to her.  He didn't want to ever lose her.   
	A few hours later Gus woke up with Nutmeg nosing him.  He stretched out on his back and had a huge yawn.  Nutmeg was nosing his sheath and Gus wondered if she could still be in heat.  Nutmeg started to play hump him.  That obviously answered his question. He was getting a little worn out, It was quite the process but he figured he could manage one more time.  
        He figured it would be funny to do it on the bed.  He didn't have any trouble this time but the squishy bed made it more interesting.  After they were done they both jumped off the bed.
	They both headed back to the bus to rest.  Gus took a whizz and his parts were a little sore but he figured he would survive.  Nutmeg took a leak too, Gus figured she had to have been sore too but she didn't give any indication.  They both snuggled together and went to sleep.
        

                                                                                     9
	A couple more months had passed, both he and Nutmeg were losing their winter fluff.  It was annoying losing chunks of hair and he felt even more naked than usual but it was also kind of nice as the winter fur was just too hot.  Both he and Nutmeg took turns pulling chunks of fur from each other.  
	He wasn't sure if their mating had actually done anything at first and he hoped he didn't waste Nutmeg's time, foxes have such a short life as it is.  
	His first clue was she seemed a little bit sick.  She said it was just a bit of a stomachache.  Gus at first freaked out a little but figured out that perhaps she did have some little foxes inside of her.  
	Now it was obvious that she was getting ready to have her kits.  Nutmeg had been very restless the last several hours and Gus had figured she was close to having her pups.  He had tried to keep track of the days since the last mating by scratching marks on a piece of wood.  He got to 50 some days but was unsure how accurate he was.  She had gotten quite large the last several days.  Understandably sometimes she got irritable and he would try to comfort her.  He would nibble her neck fluff, she really seemed to love that and would curl her little toes.  Lately she had been leaking fox milk.  He found the idea of fox milk amusing.  
	Gus noticed bloody liquid leaking from Nutmegs vulva.  Oh dear it's time now, he thought, worried about her.  She was not just some random fox or wild animal. If anything went south during this process she and the little pups would be shit out of luck, he would be devastated.   He couldn't really do much to help her though other than comfort her when she would yelp and screech.  When the little foxes started to finally pop out, he knew enough to keep a bit of distance during this part.  He still watched though with his heart racing.  He watched her bite the sack that the first pup came in.  He felt a little gaggy when she proceeded to eat the sack and placenta, though he fully expected that.  He was amazed she seemed to know exactly what to do.  
	The first little pup was done.  The tiny little very dark gray fox was attached to a nipple.  He looked at it in amazement wondering how many were left inside.  He was hoping for no more than six.  He had actually counted her nipples during his boredom a previous day. He had been expecting like ten or something.  Mini fox number two, three, and four came out over the next couple hours just fine.  Gus could tell she was getting pretty exhausted at this point.  When number 5 came out he could tell something was wrong with the little pup.  She was licking it furiously.  He knew that meant the little fox wasn't breathing and was probably deceased.  He felt really sick in the pit of his stomach.  He knew this was a high probability of that happening though it still hurt him.  He also knew the odds of all the rest of them surviving were not real good either though he would do his damnedest to help the odds. He wondered how foxes could handle most of their kids not surviving and stay sane.   
	"This little guy didn't make it" Nutmeg said with a bit of sadness in her eye though she didn't seem surprised.  "Could you take care of him?"
	Gus took the tiny little fox in his mouth and hopped away looking for a temporary place to put the little pup.  He would give the little guy a proper burial later when he was a little more composed.  He hoped the little fox was in fox heaven, wondering whatever that was and if he would go to fox heaven or human heaven or neither.  
	He came back to check on Nutmeg, she seemed fine though tired. The four little foxes seemed quite content. 
	"I think that is all, though I can't guarantee it" Nutmeg said.  "There is two each of girl and boy foxes". 
	Gus looked at her, she looked all ragged and rough sawn and he thought she looked absolutely beautiful and he couldn't possibly love her anymore than he did right now. 
	Gus asked Nutmeg if she was feeling okay, hoping she was okay.
	"I am beat and feel utterly empty and a little gross, but not too terrible, just glad that is done with"  Nutmeg said.
	Gus started to nibble on her head to help her relax and maybe get a snooze in.  He would have too get her lots of munchies later though right now she wouldn't be too interested in food. All those placentas, gulp, had to quit thinking about that now. 
	He looked at the little pups.  They were mostly dried off now, cute little things with their tiny little noses and little feet and little folded over ears.  Of course they didn't have their eyes open yet,  they would become little monsters once they could see.  Now they had to figure out some names for the little foxes.  How do you even tell them apart? he wondered.  He didn't know much about baby foxes but did know you had to keep them warm as they couldn't regulate their own temperature and could quickly die if they got too cold.  


                                                                                 10
	Gus woke up with a little fox chewing on his ear,  not an unusual occurrence these days.  They were getting really cute now, they had their eyes open and were starting to get their standard gray fox coloring.  Nutmeg and he had struggled to come up with some names for the little foxes.  The little female fox chewing his ear would be named Willow.  It was a pretty cute name they both thought.  The other female kit was slightly smaller than the other kits and was aptly named Peanut.  Peanut and the two male kits were in the process of torturing Nutmeg.  The two male kits would be named Buster and Rusty.  Nutmeg for the most part seemed to love the torture from the kits.  He did kind of like the little foxes being rambunctious as well as it meant they weren't sickly.
	Gus knew it would be a bit tricky to tell the little foxes apart, they only smelled slightly different from one another and he had not perfected using his nose yet.  Nutmeg however had zero trouble with that.  
	Nutmeg plopped down and all four kits ran over and quickly found a nipple.  Gus looked on and thought it was just about the cutest thing he ever saw.  
	Sometimes he felt a bit useless though other than a pretty good heat source and chew toy.  Despite all that the little kits did seem to be attached to him though Nutmeg was definitely the preferred parent. 
	Gus watched Nutmeg grooming one of the little kits and he had to turn away.  The little foxes didn't exactly use diapers and Nutmeg would basically eat their poop.  He realized he could never be a female fox.  Nutmeg had an iron stomach and he was super thankful she took care of that.