The field around them was dark and the rainfall reflecting against their lamps and torches did not help, spectres of the fallen were rising from the soil, created through the steam of bodies and the thick fog around them; kind of like zombies in a B-movie, horrific sight needless to say. Each step was quiet but the shuffling of their backpacks, the weapon they were holding, the small breaths they took to listen for what could be a killer, surreal could not describe it, supernatural maybe. Maggots hissed and pulsated, nesting in the mutilated and royally torn up bodies of the fallen, both friend and foe, the stink of death masked the smell of gunfire and smoke. He could see a companion, a fellow troop, his gear and clothes were similar but his features were covered in shadows, he pointed to a cave a short ways off. When they arrived the entrance had cloth and sticks holding up a wooden door, someone had made this their abode "Some of our men were stationed here months back, rations are the usual but are still edible, even left us some gifts!" he pulled the door down and covered the entrance with the cloth, the rain still pooled around the entrance but so long as it didn't reach the sleeping station or electronics it was fine.

"Man, this is not what I signed up for! Thought I would be cleaning toilets and playing cards, or some games." the friendly lit up a smoke and sat down on a bed, Coco joined him and handed over some snack bars "Appreciate it!" he lifted up his helm and lowered the bandanna around his mouth and nose, he smiled after taking a bite and handed over the cigarette "You sure? I mean, you already took some an-" "It's fine! We can share this one." he gulped "S-Share? But my mouth would have been on it!" the other laughed, he took off his helmet and revealed piercing, bright blue eyes "Why would I mind that? Do you need to connect with my lips first?" "Huh? What no, no! I don't mean-" the other bear laughed and leaned forward, grabbing it back "Need more of my spit?" he took another hit, coughing out his lungs "Oh yeah, I fucking hate these things! Haha!" he gave it back.

Whatever, he thought and inhaled, the sound of ash forming was cut off by the other bear letting off some gear and stripped down to nothing "Those two bullets are still inside, I need to dig them out and clean before I start rotting from the inside. It hurts so much. Please don't leave while I'm fixing myself." he found it an odd request "I would never leave you." "Would you help me then?" Stupid question, he got up and escorted him to some pipes affixed to a valve, he drew some water and tasted it, it was edible so it hopefully is clean.

He too stripped down and decided it would be wise to wash the muck and blood off, even if some of it wasn't his own. "Okay, first I will dig out the metal, I need you to try and not move too much." the other bear grunted. The first bullet was located on his upper back, it may have not penetrated anything important but it was uncomfortably close to the spine. First the knife made its way to the side of the bullet casing, then came the pliers, he quickly snapped the teeth of the device around it and yanked it out, the other bear cried out in great pain and slammed his hands on the floor, letting out whimpers and swears out "That was too fucking fast! I can feel all the blood go down my body!" he reassured him that the faster it was out the faster he could patch him up "I know, dumbass! Get the other one out already and this can end sooner!" he complied and pulled out the other bullet, this one was lodged in his leg but was further away from any vital parts.
Crudely he pulled the second one out as fast as he could too and held down the pained bear "It's okay! It's over! You can start cleaning now." he looked back "It hurts, it hurts so bad! Please help me! Help clean me!" even before he asked he was starting to wash around the two small but dangerous holes in his body, more whining and screaming came but things eventually calmed when his wounds were wrapped and he was drying on a bed.

"So, contact any of the others?" he said through pained breaths "Yeah, they will come and rescue us after...two nights." the blue bear sighed angrily and then yelped in pain again "Is there anything to help me out here?" he didn't want to say, but if it helped calm him down "I found some sleeping pills in the same ration case as the bars." he sat up "Well? Gimme!" he sighed but couldn't say no.
"If you fall asleep I'll have no one to talk to." he rolled his eyes "Why not take some too?" "The dose is 3 pills...that's all that's left." he swore "Well, maybe you can serenade me then!" he playfully punched him on the shoulder "Don't be silly..." he took a puff from a newly lit cig "God that stinks" he laughed "So does the smell of blood, soil and sweat."
they laughed, they leaned in and rubbed their faces together "I'm just glad we're okay, you?" he grabbed his head and kissed him "You taste awful...but yeah as long as we are kicking I'm good, even if it hurts like hell." he handed over the pills "I'll try and catch some sleep too." he walked over to the bed opposite of the injured one "Wait! Please sleep with me...you know I like having someone else hold me when I sleep." he sighed but walked back and climbed in. "If I was feeling better I would eh..." he let out a naughty laugh, they both did, though they still kissed and tightly embraced one another.

"I wonder how my brother is doing..."





The grueling, back breaking, sweat inducing work of training was something that had to give; the more work one did the better they would be in a real scenario involving climbing or combat or...something. But it had to give, right? Some would receive that small bit of peace, the real reason as to why you'd look forward to a break aside from resting the body, the one thing that too would rest the soul.

And stink up the place

Coco struck a match and lit the first cigarette of the day, he tossed the match to the ground and stepped on it, looking around to see if any judging eyes were on him. There was one and it wasn't that of a friend.

He gave the owner of those eyes a smile, the owner did not smile back, he frowned and went back to his chores. Typical.

Finally it was time to take a drag. God it was so boring, every day they would train and then rest, though there was nothing to do other than nap or talk about their lives before this point. Morale was important but seeing as much entertainment wasn't given to them other than smokes, books and outdated magazines, pretty damaged from being swapped around or 'used' which is what you think it is.
It didn't end there though, some of the guys would...well, it was something Coco didn't want to think about. Butterflies would form when he would even think of such a thing, it was such a sacred thing, you know? A ritual between two people who could not do without each other, something that should be seen as a taboo to be done so casually; but some of the guys here did not think as much and would freely fornicate with each other to relieve stress or to just do something to pass the time.

Coco had a set of values that were ingrained since childhood, a big one was the attitude around love and relationships. Despite how long it has been since those days he can't help but keep it as a treasured part of himself, one to call his own would be one who he would spend his life with for sure. Life was very mundane and repetitive for him so he took up some hobbies, gardening was fine if itself a process that could take time to show results (or bear fruits if related to the subject.)
When that was not doing it he would just vegetate in front of the TV for hours and hours, he actually had quite a bit of fun but he was starting to slouch and become lazy.
At work he would see friends casually trading and sharing smokes, one day he asked them to try some and after some cheers he did, ever since it has had a hold on him, not a bad one but man; trying to go a day without now is like a great battle, it's a real mood and situation enhancer but the reliance will have to stop one day.

For now though, it's the only thing keeping him sane and somewhat entertained.

"You know what to do" he looked up and saw the Sargent, he had a rack of various blades "Once they are sharp enough to slice a tree in two deliver them to the warehouse, for how much work you have to do you'll be excused from the next lesson today. Last time you all sparred you took out nearly everyone else without taking a hit. When you're done you can head back early and rest if you want, or watch the others try to fight!" he laughed a little. "Sure thing, if I have time I'll join you." Coco saluted him and he saluted back and left, it was hard making friends when you are so used to people who always think and act like you do but Caricias was remarkable at getting him to open up, with his friendship he was able to get to know some of the others around the camp, being a guard means you get to spend a few days in other barracks and meet the people there.
Some of them though were the very same who would get close, very close with one another, he hated to admit it but he felt a hint of jealousy when he saw the others...even though there were no women there they were comfortable showing affection; the first time he saw two kiss openly and sweet talk each other...

Man. Time to kill some hours, the rack of melee weaponry was not too intimidating but he was going to take it slow, intentionally to get the day over faster; there is always work to do and being able to avoid some of it by dragging out other tasks didn't hurt.

The sky being a dark orange told him it was time to head back to his quarters and for tonight it was one home to some fellow recruits who weren't pulling their weight as much as they could be.
He opened the entrance to their barracks and saw them all pampering themselves again, every night it was the same, they would only get dirty again tomorrow morning so why even bother? Morale was probably the answer, or egotism.
He stepped in to shower off the sweat and mud that had accumulated throughout the day; he always showered when the others were done.

Not to say it was an issue doing it with others but it was much better to get all the room and left over soap and detergents to himself, well there was another reason.
Being naked in this place helped his shyness exposing himself around others but even now, he gets a little uneasy when he can see the more 'private' regions aired freely, he wondered if any of the others felt like that.
When he stepped out and walked over to his bunk bed, which was all to himself due to the bed above being a spare, he caught the sight of two snowy brothers, always holding hands and kissing each other on the lips, sometimes going for some tongue. That was one of those times where he felt mild disgust, surely they just come from a family that is extra affectionate and it's nothing else, right? Still it was a way to keep morale up, he guessed.

"You still stink" Coco turned around and saw the only bear that had a problem with him, Azulin. "I just showered" he frowned "I mean you smell of nicotine still, you stink" "Okay, sorry." Coco kept walking to his bed, the blue bear followed.
"Instead of saying sorry how about you quit that stuff, huh? Its not like it's good for you anyway" Coco sat down on his bed and dried himself more "We all have our ways of dealing with stress; some of us have hobbies we can take with us and keep doing here, others, well..." he looked over to the polar bear twins "do that. I need to smoke to clear my head and deal with this shit." 
Azulin was not happy with that answer "The rest of us get on fine without that stuff, you know? Maybe you just aren't cut out for this kind of thing!" he hated to admit it but while his physical prowess put him above most of the people he had sparred with, it was incredibly stressful dealing with all of this day to day.

"You're probably right. All of this is quite intense; it's so different from how things were before...but what matters more is how we do here. Right? Compared to some of the other guys here...you're falling behind." though it seemed like an out of nowhere jab, it was pretty obvious what Azulin was trying to imply with how he could not handle stress all that well and right now he was not in the mood for any arguments.
"You aren't so hot yourself, the moment those things are gone? You will start losing , start to crack under the pressure! Plus you'd probably smell better." he laughed and walked away, what a nuisance.

When the lights went out he stared at the ceiling and wondered; what would it be like to go a day without them? Would it get to him or could he make it? If he could endure the harsh training and even extra work without too much trouble surely he could lay off some smokes for a day, just one. Couldn't hurt to try, right?

That night Coco had another dream about insecurities for the future and what was ahead, seeing many possible futures of how things could go wrong or how it could go right but not in ways he wanted. Before leaving for boot camp he had finally met someone to call his own, but she was strict on how certain 'relations' would be carried out, first would come marriage then they would become one. That was the plan at least but with him being drafted out before they could wed he promised her they would continue things when he got back.
Every time he lit one up she would complain, one habit that would have to go was his addiction to nicotine. Tough sell, it was, but compromises must be made for those you love, or want to love.

Morning broke and as every day starts the horns blared and they all got up and saluted both the corporal and general, they would check on them every morning, the general gave the usual speech of doing your best for the day but walked over to Coco and gave him his own salute "You have done exceptionally, I must ask young man: have you had experience in this kind of thing before?" Coco saluted back "N-No sir! I had a demanding job before and well, I liked exercising so when I came here regular training was not that bad!" he tried to not seem boastful or full of himself, such attitudes get you nowhere and can make others think lesser of you.

When he left the same blue bear looked over and had a very pissed off look, Coco tried not to eye him but he did the honor and stood there, with his arms crossed. When Coco walked by he grabbed his arm "I bet you're feeling pretty big right now, yeah?" Coco snatched his arm away "What's your problem? He just praised me, doesn't mean I'm better than anyone else here..." Azulin rolled his eyes, making sure he saw him do so. "You're not better than anyone else and later, heh, you will start to falter. Then everyone will see me as the best!" this confused him "You are really full of yourself, aren't you? Why does it bother you so much, if you were seen as more fit than me at doing something I wouldn't hate you." he gave him a not so playful punch to the arm "Watch yourself Coco, you-" Azulin had his clothes shoved into his arms by his brother "Training has already begun you two!" "No breakfast today? What hard asses!" they soon left, Coco sighed and opened his drawer; odd, there were no cigs or lighters, he thought, probably used up yesterdays amount without realizing it, but his lighters...now was not the time to worry about such things.

When lunch came around they all made their way to the cafeteria, all but Coco who felt that need come up again "I can do it, I can go without any for the day." For a few moments he wondered if he should break the challenge he put on himself. After one of the bears called him over he went to their lunch table and he could see others smoking in the distance. All of their meals were bland, awful looking dishes that only consisted of porridge, that were mixed with various seeds and oats to be nutritious but the taste was not kind, while the occasional bugs could be considered extra protein it was not something they would lower themselves to. One puff and it would be bearable.

Coco was sweating and his hands were shaking as he ate "Is something wrong?" he looked over, Azulin was smiling. "No...lunch isn't good is all" he leaned over "Is that it? We don't like it either but you seem to hate it!" the others looked at him, he didn't want to show weakness but without anything to clear his head it was hard "Maybe he is just sick..." Gordi spoke up "No, he just doesn't like this crap, I don't either!" Pandi also piped up "The blandness is itself disgusting, but we have to put up with it-" "No you don't!" Mimosin was interrupted by his brother "You can always sneak in a quick smoke or swipe some booze from the corporal's quarters!" they both laughed "We aren't craft enough for that though..." they both sighed in unison. 

Azulin formed an even bigger smile "Yeah Coco, why not have a smoke?" he gave him a hateful look "Why would I need that? The others are right: this food is just horrible and I am sick of it!" the others all nodded and hummed in agreement "I know a guy who could probably take some wine from the higher up guys, no promises though." chimed in Blackie. When they were finished Coco quickly headed to the restroom and when he got in he could smell it, nicotine. The rest of the day was torture, that nagging feeling like he was missing something, something that eased the mind.

The sun was setting and while everyone was relieved the day was over, one person was not feeling any better.
"You got a mi-minute?" Coco shakily asked the sergeant "I don't supposed you can lend me any more smokes?" he shakes his head "Sorry son; we won't get any more until next Monday, so that'll be three days, think you can wait that long? You go through them awfully quick." he couldn't believe what he was hearing "Yeah, I have some left anyway, just curious!" he saluted him and rushed back to the barracks.

He slammed the door behind him and dashed for the showers, things were getting worse. While showering he justified he could try and sleep early, maybe skip small talk as feeling ill and to get to Monday faster.
As he was drying off and heading to his bed Azulin grabbed his shoulder "You feeling alright? You seem a little shaky, friend..." he moved his arm away "Everything is fine, I just feel unwell is all." "And you still stink, maybe cut down on the smokes!" bastard. Coco began to walk back to his corner but stopped halfway and went back "Do you know where they are?" he gave a mock look of confusion "Whatever do you mean?" "Don't mess with me, where are my smokes?" he could feel the stress taking him over. 
Azulin backed away a little "I have no idea where they could be! Perhaps you should ask someone else, they might have stolen it from you." Coco stepped closer "You are the only one to bring it up. Where are they?" Azulin puffed up his chest "Like I'd tell you!" he laughed in his face, he sucker punched the blue bear and walked back to his bed.

After a few minutes of calming down he laid down and closed his eyes, soon though he felt a tugging and opened his eyes again "What?" "Sorry. My brother can be real mean sometimes a-"
Coco swiped the cigarette packs and lighters Gordi was holding and put them in his drawers, making sure to keep one of each in his hands "Thanks. Tell your brother if he does this again I'll beat him up." He struck a match and from the first inhale he was calm again. All was good.

When morning came around again they were not woken up by any brass or loud announcements, for the first time in weeks they had a proper sleep, but this was not a luxury or mercy. That was the day they would do a test mission: recover the dog tags of various troops who died just a little outside the village in wild animal or enemy troop attacks. They were all armed with a training pistol and combat knife. 
They went out in pairs of two, with Azulin and Coco being the last to be paired up; at first the blue bear protested but gave in as it was only a mission to retrieve something simple.

They all set out in different directions and were told not to wonder past specific landmarks they'd be searching around. Both Azulin & Coco headed out towards their location and grumbled to each other along the way, Coco firing up another cig and Azulin looking away from him, hoping not to inhale the fumes. When they  got to their location they could see several blood trails and equipment scattered about the place, Azulin let out a gasp when he saw two sets of dog tags nearby "Whatever got them must be nearby still, the blood is fresh." Coco rubbed a finger on the blood, it was only starting to dry. Azulin picked up the dog tags and Coco followed a trail, he found a pair of bodies; both were not wearing the uniforms they were. 

"I don't get it...these are the tags of some of our own but these bodies..." Azulin butted in "Clearly they are enemies who infiltrated and tried to blend in, but why would they keep their own uniform and not ours?" "Can't say, but I don't like the look of things, also, Azulin...these bodies..." he turned to him "What?" "They stink don't they? Of rot?" he leaned in and backed away, gasping "Ah, fuck! There are maggots!" he steadied the blue bear "How can the blood be fresh if these guys were already rotting..." they heard a bush ruffle nearby and in a panic pulled out their weapons. "We were just meant to get some tags, how can things be this dangerous so close by?" before Coco had a chance to answer a bloodied figure stepped out of the bushes, holding a gaping wound across their neck, they were wearing the same uniform as them.
Azulin walked over and got a bandage out, but as he started to dress the wound "Hey! Where's the cut-" expertly the seemingly bleeding bear swiped across his chest and suddenly a burst of crimson splashed both of them, Azulin screamed and backed away. Coco aimed his firearm and blasted the attacker in the head, it was not so powerful it would go through to the other side, but enough to quickly down him.

Azulin was on the floor bleeding, barely able to stand or speak, Coco picked him up and rushed back to base, the journey would be a short one as it was only a few minutes away. When they got back Coco explained the situation and the area was put into a lock down; trading routes were the same but inspections took longer and any folks who were not local to the area were escorted out.

Several days passed as Azulin healed up, no organs were damaged but the amount of blood lost would mean he had to spend time in the nearby hospital, every day Gordi would visit but sometimes, unexpectedly, Coco would too. First he would come with a get well card and as time went on they started to talk more; it began as small talk before he left and then went into how each others life was before the draft. He hated to admit it but Coco was not the stuffy, uptight egotist he thought he was. He even got a little excited at being able to pass the time talking to him. He even tried a smoke, although he hated it.

After being discharged Azulin first thing went back to their barracks and approached Coco "Hey umm..." he looked away "Thanks for keeping me company back there...uh...I guess we could...be friends?" Coco smiled and shook his hand "Sure! Is this the first one you've made?" "Shut up...yes, you are." "Did Gordi tell you to do this?" he looked back, shocked "No! I did this because you saved me back there...and because you were the only to visit that wasn't him." he pointed a thumb behind him, Gordi waved "I actually told him to not get in the way between us, he thinks I still don't like you." they both let out a little laugh.

The day went by as normal, Azulin was back to his regular self but when it came time to shower "Why not join us for once?" Azulin tugged at Coco's collar "I-I don't know, I'm not...well, I don't like being seen by others...naked." Azulin let out a laugh and was about to say something mean, but held back "Why not shower with just me then? Come on we know quite a bit about each other already, more than the others at least..." he knew he wouldn't be able to avoid it completely and agreed. While the others were cleaning they talked about what to do in the mean time "Wanna try one, again?" Azulin shook his head "Sorry, I can't take these things" he shrugged and lit it up. "How do you smoke so many? And every day as well..." Coco exhaled and told him about the time he was offered one by a co-worker to deal with stress and ever since he's been hooked. "But you can quit any time right?" Coco found it humorous but didn't know if it was such a playful statement "Even if I really could I wouldn't. These things are life savers." "How?"
"This won't be a great answer, but I never really knew how to cope with tough things that happen, every day we push ourselves and the only thing I can think of to make it easier are some smokes."

When Coco was finished Azulin led him to the showers and they stripped, Azulin quickly turned around but he still caught sight of it "...Azulin, your body, it wa-" "I know. I didn't want the others to see it, it's ugly is it not?" he turned around and gave Coco full view of his scarred chest, it was healing but the bumpy skin was poking through the fur. Coco reassured him no one would think less of him and they began cleaning themselves, every now and then they would sneak peeks at each other "Like what you see?" Coco looked at himself "W-What do you mean..." Azulin laughed, then he did shortly after. When they were done they both walked back to their small personal spaces and dried themselves, Gordi made sure to help hide his brothers scar too.

The next week was the same but with one change: Azulin & Coco started to hang out and would even do chores that were reserved for Coco together. By the weekend they grew far closer than they thought they would, bonding as the days went on and it seemed like something was going on between them, to outsiders at least. Even those in their own barracks took notice of the time they spent together. Then rumours started to spread.

They found them to be kind of funny but soon took notice of how seriously some of their allies were taking things and one day Azulin confessed himself to Coco; he reminded him of the promise he made before he was drafted and he understood. Giving a big smile Azulin went back to his own business, but in Coco's mind he began to wonder...




Quiet taps and shuffling would sound throughout the dark room, the small slaps of footsteps against the dry but cold tiles would sound as their breaths got heavier. "I can't believe we're doing this..." said Coco, a pair of lips met his own and he felt a hand run itself down his body, only stopping when it reached its destination. Soon his lips were let free and Azulin pulled his hand away, bringing their bodies closer "What? Do you have cold feet already?" he wrapped his arms around him and brought him in until their bodies touched as well as their bulges "Of course not, but do you remember what I said before...about already promising someone something?" Azulin froze up, he knew what he was talking about, neither of them had done this kind of thing before but he badly wanted to get off, and using someone else instead of his own hands was a welcome change.

He pushed him back "Yeah, I know." he started to walk away but Coco grabbed his arm "No! Don't go..." Azulin looked back and yanked his arm away "Even if you were comfortable with breaking that promise, you...am I really special to you?" Coco looked down, he was still aroused but wondered; is this something he should go through with? No one has to know, absolutely no one but them...no, he pushed those feelings down, this was just a one night stand.
"Fuck it." Coco grabbed him by the shoulders and kissed him deeply, drool ran down their chins as they made out, still trying to keep as quiet as they could. Azulin shoved his hand down the needy bears boxers and rubbed around, he returned the favour.
After only a minute they both gasped and pulled their boxer shorts and picked up the pace, soon releasing each other. They took a few moments to calm down, Azulin licked his paw "Hmm...kind of salty!" "Gross..." they both laughed and recovered, washing themselves off.

After a few more minutes of kissing and caressing each other they agreed to continue this tomorrow in a more secluded spot. But the moment they got to their beds a massive, shattering noise woke everyone else up, it was an explosion.

They all scurried under their beds and cowered; the sound of vicious gun shots filled the camp and by extent the room, it was deafening. When they all got dressed and grabbed their training arms and held position. When the gunfire and screaming stopped the door was opened and the sergeant rushed in "Men! Get out here and head to the warehouse, all of you are to gear up and head South to where the attackers came from. It's confirmed to be enemy troops and some Unicorns were with them."

They all gathered around several weapon containers and picked what seemed the most appealing to each, Azulin & Gordi got matching sets of assault rifles and magnum side arms, Coco took a sniper rifle and two sub machine guns, they could be folded as to not have too much bulk. All of them pocketed several grenades and medkits; just as they left another loud boom sounded out, it was thunder and with it came rain. This was going to be a long and unpleasant night.

They all split into three groups and covered different parts of the occupied Forest that led into their camp, two groups would charge on ahead whereas another, formed by Coco, Azulin & Pandi were to travel deeper into the Forest, beyond where the others would go to see if they could find any encampments or gatherings of troops to take them out. They all knew this was a suicide mission if there were enemy combatants but couldn't do much about it.

Only a few minutes out and already they engaged several opponents in gun fights, some of them were bearing it with one rifle and nothing else, others had made their own spears and arrows out of the trees and shrubbery around them. Despite the savage tactics they were putting up a good fight, but eventually were taken out.
Their radios blared and there was a cave ahead of them that had been converted into a shelter months ago when they had a previous incident involving Unicorns, it was a few miles away but would serve as an end point of sorts that they would have to hold out at. Along the way they face more enemy troops, they came without many arms it seemed but in turn had made weapons out the area around them; no traps had been set up it seems but they were still cautious.

Rain and fog picked up all around them and through both they could see more figures approaching; in the way was a huge tree that had been cut down to form cover of sorts, before they could call out or shoot a huge stick came flying through and impaled Pandi through the body, he let out a whined gasp and gun fire soon followed, turning him into to swiss cheese; one of the soldiers hidden by the fog swore loudly and told the others to start throwing spears until Coco & Azulin were taken care of.
They ran behind a tree and Coco grabbed a grenade he had "Should I cook it first?" "I don't know! Just throw it!" he pulled the pin and waited a second then tossed it. The grenade landed at the enemies feet "Shit! Throw it back! Thr-" it went off and obliterated the closest to it, two more caught some shrapnel and were downed as well, they screamed in pain and called for help. Azulin rushed out of cover and leapt over the fallen tree and fired at the two still breathing, Coco called to him but it was too late; Pandi had lost too much blood and even if he could be patched a huge hole was formed by the spear. They took his tags and equipment with them, making sure it would not be adopted by the enemy.

The rain picked up and their already unsteady trail would not be much more difficult to manage with thick mud and visibility getting lower. They kept pushing through until they came to a clearing; Coco pulled Azulin behind a tree and lit up a cigarette "I need this." Azulin sighed but didn't protest. While Coco kept trying to shield his smoke from the rain Azulin tried to not panic and run to where they wee told to, the promise of shelter was enticing but anything could be in the way.

Coco budged his blue friend "So, about what happened back there..." Azulin let out a stressed laugh "What? You mean with Pandi? I know it's horrible, but we can't give him a burial now, we've got to keep moving..." Coco sighed "No I mean...what we did back at camp, before the fighting started." Azulin looked behind to see if anyone was there "You're thinking about that now? What you wanna continue?" Coco took a final drag and tossed it to the ground "Yeah, later." Azulin blushed but quickly regained himself. They both kept walking in the direction of the cave camp, carefully observing every bush and tree to make sure they weren't ambushed.


"I'm sorry, I have to take a break." Azulin set down a small tent he took from Pandi's corpse, the rain was starting to die down but was still enough to obscure their view. Coco took out his soggy pack of smokes and sighed, he threw them out angrily, Azulin handed him some loose ones he was holding on to "Guess these had a use after all." Coco flicked his lighter but stopped "Want it?" he looked at him questionably "I would like something else...all of this to end!" he nodded and lit the smoke.
"We should try and sleep for a while, one of us can keep watch, yeah?" Coco agreed and zipped the entrance, holding his weapon in his arms.

"I can't do it." Coco looked back "What?" Azulin looked at him with guilt "I can't...sleep...without..." he laid his head down again "Whenever it's time to sleep I would have Gordi hold me. Since I was young I could only sleep with someone...holding me." He wanted to judge the needy bear but considering the situation they were in; and with what happened earlier he was considering something "Shall I?" Azulin sat up again and looked surprised "But the entrance what if-" "We have our weapons right next to us, it'll be fine..." his voice trailed off.

Coco laid behind Azulin, the sleeping bag was for one so they chose to keep their clothes on, undressing themselves of their coats and boots, they noticed blood was seeping from their socks "This whole thing is terrible, I just want to go home and forget about this!" Coco calmed him down with several head pats and rubs "We will get out of this. Tomorrow we should get there." he turned back to the calming bear and smiled "You said you wanted to talk about...what we did in the showers...when everyone was asleep." Coco laughed "I would say now is not the time, but sure. What did you want to talk about?" "Liked it?" "Loved it."
"Really? Well..." he felt a hand wrap around his body, but it stayed firmly in place under his chin "I'm so tired, Azulin. Can we ju-" Azulin pushed his hand away and turned around, he took off Coco's pants and pushed him on his back; he too would undress and kiss him on the lips "At any moment that could be it for us. Please let me do this, all you have to do is just lay there." Coco shrugged "Yeah, sure. Don't be too rough now..."

They continued kissing and frotting, Azulin started to kiss and lick his nether-regions while he fought to stay awake, letting out small tired moans and gasps. When he finally hit his orgasm and covered Azulin's face in sticky white he would pick up the pace rubbing his own member to reaching point too.

With both now even more tired and sticky they embraced and quickly drifted off to sleep.




"Well? What did you get me?" she was beautiful: a cute bear, yellow just like him, wearing a pink ribbon and a floral dress; he stumbled out an answer and handed over some flowers and chocolates, both with her name on them. Sweet giggling sounded all over the church grounds and he got a quick kiss to the cheeks, several girls let out mocking shocked gasps, they all knew they had a crush on each other. Both took happy, carefree steps outside of the grounds and to the rest of the village they lived at; it was a small, industrialist town that had a split between a more natural side with homes made from logs and brick, and the other had many small structures.

The industrial sector was where Coco worked, while his love-to-be worked as a florist.
"You only have eyes for me, yes?" he giggled and hugged her "Of course, why would you even ask?" she giggled back and dragged her heel across some dirt "You've been getting awfully close with that weird blue guy. He seems pretty unstable and a little needy, clingy even. You only have eyes for me, yes?" he didn't know what she meant.
"Blue guy? What do you mean?"
"You only have eyes for me, yes?" she stepped aside and a strange figure appeared, it was Azulin "You only have eyes for her, yes?" he took another drag-huh? He hadn't started smoking yet.

"Think carefully before you do anything else." she smiled and skipped away, Azulin looked at her skip away then back to him "Don't be stupid. You know she's the one. Don't fuck this up..." he looked down at the line she made in the dirt "Or...do you think she isn't the one?" he smiled and shrugged.




"...Huh?" he needed a moment to adjust his eyes, it must be morning Coco thought. He was drowning in sweat and his mouth was dry. Sitting up he grabbed a canteen that felt more full than before; he saw Azulin cooking a ration meal and was looking over their gear, he looked back to see him awake "I don't know how any of this shit works. Is any of it unusable due to the rain? Oh whatever..." he poured out a bowl of soup with vegetables he scavenged from the area and smiled "Here. You were out for a while! It's already noon!" Coco hade no response and started eating, wolfing down the bowl and then motioned for another, after the fourth and final bowl he got dressed and picked up his gear wordlessly "Let's go." he stepped out and began walking.
"Whoa! Wait up for me! Are you gonna thank me for the meal or not?" he turned around, he had an unreadable expression on his face "Thank you." he put a cigarette to his mouth and lit it up.

Azulin soon caught up and they began their trek "So I was told that the location is further out than we were told." Coco sighed "Why wouldn't it be?" they continued in silence, occasionally stopping to ease the strain on their feet and backs. The sun was not letting up as they continued on, the stink of their sweat and the cutting smell of the dried mud on their boots didn't contrast well with the smell of wet twigs and wood drying out. Azulin plucked some herbs from a bush and ripped it up "Here, put it under the face coverings, I forgot we had them under our coats..." he let out a nervous laugh.

For miles they had heard or seen nothing from any kind of enemy troop, they didn't let their guard down but did stop aiming their guns every way they looked. Azulin asked Coco to stop and ran over to a river stream; he re-filled their canteens and ran back "Let's rest for a few minutes, surely you are hungry?" Coco grunted and sat down a nearby tree. Azulin brought out some fruit bars and handed two over to his partner, he snatched and ate them in seconds, taking another drag. "Is something wrong? You've been quiet all day" he turned to Azulin "I've been thinking, about what you said...we aren't a thing. What happened last night was just us letting out our frustrations, nothing more." He looked at him with a shocked expression, he was clearly hurt "I-I mean, I did say that! But you have to admit, it did feel nice..." "Sure. But we only did it to feel good."
They sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes before Coco got up "Come on, we should get there by next morning." Azulin stood up but did not follow "True, I felt great after that night...but..." he followed suit.

Coco lit up yet another cigarette "Did you feel anything else? Anything?" "No." they kept walking, picking up the pace when it began raining again.

The silence between them continued, they wanted to say so much to each other but couldn't; not when they were spending their energy walking through the heat, even with the rain pouring down they were still sweating heavily.
They came upon several make shift tents constructed of wood and straw, they could see several enemy soldiers patrolling the sides of the camps to make sure no one would cross by them, though they probably didn't expect anyone to come from the back. That was until they heard a bullet whiz past them.
They both jumped to some nearby bushes and fired in the direction of the shot, the perpetrator fell from the tree branch and broke his neck; the gunshot putting all of them on high alert.

"I don't have time for this..." Coco pulled a grenade out and chucked it towards them, when it went off and several enemies were mutilated he began hip firing all around the camp, killing and injuring as many as he could; when the magazine was empty he ran back and Azulin, who was still in shock he would run in like that, observed those who were still standing and took careful shots, wanting to conserve ammo.
When the moaning and screaming stopped they moved to the camp: raiding their tents for anything useful, they found some ammunition and smaller arms along with some bandages, they took as many bullets and clips as their backpacks would allow and continued on their way.

The rain only got heavier as the sun started to go down, when the sky was a bright orange they re-set their tent and agreed to each take a short enough nap that by the time they were awake it would be midnight.
Before they slept they each inspected their clothes and boots; more blood was found pooling inside them. Azulin felt like this wasn't the best time, but when would it be?

"Coco, hey Coco...you've been very...cold today. Did I do something wrong?" Coco was no fool, he knew how Azulin felt but he was worried about confronting it "What we did was just for fun, Azulin. Stop thinking about it-" "You are thinking about it too! Don't lie to me!" he didn't move and kept his eyes closed "So what? I'll stop thinking about it when I go home and-" Azulin sat up and moved closer "Oh yeah? If it's really 'nothing' then why not do it again!" Coco opened his eyes and sneered at him "Fine!" he pulled Azulin towards him and forced his clothes off, tearing his vest a little and spat on his hand, he began stroking him hard.

For what was just a few seconds he already came but Coco was not done yet; he took off his own clothes and rubbed himself against Azulin's face "Do it." he gave it a few licks and suckled the head, trying not to take in too much at once "Too slow..." Coco gripped his head and slammed down on his face, trying not to nut instantly. Azulin punched him on his belly and was gagging loudly; he slammed himself down a few more times but gave in and coated his mouth in his spunk. Pulling out he groaned and wiped off his member with his boxers then slipped them back on.
They both crawled back on top of the sleeping bag, Coco would not embrace Azulin but instead light yet another smoke "That was great...but I'm not in a cuddling mood..." he turned away, Azulin was still slightly choking from the end of the throat fucking he received "...You were thinking of her weren't you? Sorry, I just thought we were...closer."

They barely got any rest that evening, getting to see the tent grow pitch black. Just as Azulin was beginning to drift off he felt a nudge against his back "Time to go."

Coco unzipped the tent and a shower of rain burst in, for once it was cold but incredibly windy. Azulin grabbed his leg "You're not going without us...talking about things, about us." he looked back and zipped it back up "Oh? You gonna tell me you actually fell for me? That it wasn't just a now three time thing? Don't mock me..." Azulin pulled him down and hugged him "Stop! You clearly don't know how I feel about us: about you." he stroked his face and looked into his eyes "I freaked you out didn't I? You already made a commitment and I broke that for you. I guess you being the first person I got close with here, if ever except for my brother and papa...I guess I got a little clingy." Coco pushed his hand away and leaned in for a kiss "I have these feelings too. I'll be honest: I can never show my face around my folks or...her...again. Don't make me regret this!" he pulled Azulin up with him and they continued onwards.

The path ahead was a terrible one, the thick rain and fog was far more oppressive than previous nights. All they could see where the bodies of comrades and enemies buried in the thick, shiny mud. "OVER THERE! WE GOT MORE OF THEM!" from what seemed like the darkness gun fire ran out and kicked up several mud puddles, staining their clothes and weapons.
"What do we do?" Coco was already planning ahead "Flush them out then fire, it's too dark to see properly but we can make them panic their way into our view by firing blindly." he tossed a grenade into the darkness "It will take more than that!" they all laughed and audibly moved around the thick mud, when they began blind firing some were hit, at least they thought so going by the screams and insults. The explosion soon followed and it knocked a tree down, more bullets came from its direction and Azulin, who thought he ducked in time fired in the same direction. He could feel a terrible sting in his leg but kept quiet and listened for more movement. They inspected the area around them and kept pushing forward.

In front of them was a strange pulsating shape in the blackness, it gave off a terrible, strong smell "Fire!" they charged towards it and the moment they laid eyes on the enemy troops cooking they fired wildly, taking out all of them in one mag each, from behind they heard shots going off and leapt forward, tossing their main arms and shooting back with their pistols, Azulin felt more steel burning in his hack but he couldn't afford to register the pain now; the attacker soon yelled in pain and tumbled to the ground.
"Fucking hell. We have to be close by now!" Coco helped him up "You're bleeding!" "I don't care. We must keep going. There is a cave right?" Coco checked his map "Yeah, this is an old camp that is just a little outside of it, one more mile." Azulin cursed but ran ahead.

In the final stretch they came upon a field of mud and gore, organs and blood mixing into a sickly looking mix with the mud "Good god...did another group come this way?" they inspected the bodies and saw some were new and others were decayed down to their skeletons "Glad I wasn't here when this shit went down!" they both moved on until they came to a clearing and just ahead they caught sight of a structure that had cloth and wood hanging out the front, but before approaching they took note of the terrible sight around them...




"...wa...Azulin...wake...wake up!" he jumped up and felt the pain return in his leg "Oww...what is it? Wait, where are we again?" Coco laughed and handed him a peanut butter sandwich "These rations are way better than the crap we got!" he chomped down; the bread was a little stale but he did not mind, neither did Azulin.
The radio kicked up and despite the signal telling they'd be reached in two days they were ready to pick them up in just a few hours. "When we get back we can head home! The work we did the last few nights constitutes a tour of duty!" "No it doesn't...but I won't complain!" they laughed and discussed what they were going to do when they got back.

Hours passed and they were dropped back at based, their families and loved ones were waiting for them, Gordi rushed over and hugged his brother, he cried into his shoulder and kept repeating himself about how worried he was. Coco's parents and fiancée though...it would not be so happy.
When Azulin saw Coco trying to explain himself he limped over and put a hand over his shoulder "Hello! You must be Coco's folks! It's nice to meet all of you!" he shook hands with his parents and would be wife.
"When we first met we were uhhh...you know: not too friendly with each other. But as we got to know each other and after he saved my life we got closer." they all smiled again and congratulated Coco on his effort in saving him. "Recently though..." Coco spoke up "We are lovers now..." they all stopped smiling. his fiancee stepped forward and screamed at them, everyone watched the scene and started gossiping "I can't deny how I fell, I'm really sorry..." his parents escorted her out of the camp, they told him not to come back for a long time.

They both walked to Gordi and his father and decided they would head to their place.


Months later they bought their own place in a nearby town. They adapted to normal life again just fine and took more domestic lines of work; Coco continued physical labor as a farmhand and Azulin lazed about all day, collecting military welfare since his leg never fully healed and would pass the time entertaining himself.




"Hey I noticed...you smell much better nowadays."

"What do you mean?"

"Guess quitting was the better option, I can stand to be around you when you aren't just in my pants..."

"D-Don't say it like that! Why are you so crude..."

"Hehe!...I think I can go another round."