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"description": "With nowhere else to go, Tai finds himself staying at his newest friend's apartment, his injured paw bound in uncomfortable plaster. Better yet, he's astounded to discover Mike and his father are frequent visitors to an annual renaissance fair; and this time, he's invited.\n\nBut after the fair is where the fun really begins...\n\nThis story features scenes of an adult and sexual nature involving two pre-adolescent cubs. \nIt contains scenes of coarse language, explicit sexual themes and violence, frquently involving \"cubs.\" It's also a novel and contains actual plot. \n\nNote: The block paragraphing and complete lack of formatting is not how this story is intended to be presented. I'll likely only have part of the story displayed, and I ask that you download the actual document to see this document as it was intended. ",
"description_bbcode_parsed": "With nowhere else to go, Tai finds himself staying at his newest friend's apartment, his injured paw bound in uncomfortable plaster. Better yet, he's astounded to discover Mike and his father are frequent visitors to an annual renaissance fair; and this time, he's invited.
But after the fair is where the fun really begins...
This story features scenes of an adult and sexual nature involving two pre-adolescent cubs.
It contains scenes of coarse language, explicit sexual themes and violence, frquently involving "cubs." It's also a novel and contains actual plot.
Note: The block paragraphing and complete lack of formatting is not how this story is intended to be presented. I'll likely only have part of the story displayed, and I ask that you download the actual document to see this document as it was intended. ",
"writing": "Tai’s Story - Chapter 4.\nBy Kichigai Kitsune\nCopyright 2005 onwards.\n\nDisclaimer: This story contains coarse language, violence, adult themes and scenes of an adult nature involving two young “cubs” (young anthropomorphic non-humans). If you are under the legal age as prescribed by the laws under which you are subject to reading such material, do not continue beyond this disclaimer. \n\n\tMike slumped over the opaque glass table. “Daaad?” he whined plaintively. “Do I have to do this? Really?”\n\tHis father, Robert, was a quiet vulpine, but his tall, muscular body was testament to the fact that he was once as athletic as his son, if not even more so. Though he was now in his mid-thirties, the handsome fox had once been an avid soccer fan; in recent years, his athletic drives had merely been redirected towards the local football variant. \n\tHowever, he now sported two thin box framed glasses on the bridge of his muzzle and wore a simple corduroy jacket and pant set as he sat back down in front of his large book.\n\t“Yeah, sorry Mike,” Robert replied, adjusting his frames and squinting at the voluminous text before him. “Bloody government morons apparently don’t trust a university English professor to give his son an elementary level education.”\n\t“But this is stupid!” Mike groaned in dismay and dropped his pencil. “Look at this one! ‘Who is the current president of America?’ Are they kidding?”\n\t“It’s because they think I’m keeping you locked in the basement during the day and using you for satanic rituals at night.” Robert chuckled and shook his head. “Not really. They just want home-schooling to become so impractical that everyone just defers to the system for their kids’ education. That way, it’s easier to turn them into mindless television junkies.”\n\tMike grinned irreverently. “I’ll take your word for it… until I can prove you right or wrong.”\n\tThe older fur laughed and ruffled his son’s head-fur. “Good boy.”\n\tThe kit sighed. “Well… who was that on the phone?” he asked curiously.\n\t“Oh, nobody. We’ll be having a guest tonight, that’s all.”\n\t“Who?”\n\tHis father grinned. “You’ll see.”\n\tThey went back to their respective tasks for another half-hour before Robert sighed and leaned back.\n\t“All this reading can’t be good for the eyes…” he said. “I already wear glasses.”\n\t“Can you still throw a ball, or are you too old and frail now?” challenged his son, looking up hopefully from his ‘homework’.\n\t“Depends. Want me to change your diaper first?”\n\tBefore their playful verbal jousting could go any further, someone knocked on the door. \n\tStanding, Robert walked to the door, avoiding his son’s soccer ball in the hall, and opened it.\n\tMike couldn’t see very much, since his father was blocking the view, but as he curiously sat up, he caught sight of a pointed, blue cap. Then another.\n\t“Cops?” he mumbled to himself. \nMike didn’t really like cops.\n\tHe briefly considered getting up and going to the door to see what was happening, but he knew if it was anything important his dad would pass it on. He always did. The kit shrugged and returned to his pointless, intrusive busywork.\n\t“Um, th-thank you…” a familiar voice stammered softly, the speaker obscured by the adults crowding the doorway.\n\t“Tai?!” Mike stood up abruptly, almost knocking his wooden chair over with the backs of his knees in the process, and jogged to the door.\n\tRobert stood to the side, draping an arm over his son. “I see,” he said to the first cop, a humungous lion. “Well, we were going to look after him today anyway. We wondered when he was coming around. His mother, uh, asked us earlier.”\n\t“Good to hear that!” the lion replied, adjusting his cap. “We were worried. Good thing his school had you as an emergency contact. Then, we’ll be off for now. We’ll contact his mother as soon as possible. Good luck, Tai.”\n\t“Oh, look out,” the leopard cop added. “That kit can be one heck of a chatterbox.”\n\tRobert allowed the little fox pup to hobble inside. Mike was taken aback when he saw that his friend was utilizing a crutch and his left foot-paw was encased in a plaster cast. The kit looked like he was fatally exhausted, and terribly embarrassed. He was refusing to meet Mike’s dad’s eyes.\n\t“What the heck happened?!” Mike demanded, rushing to take the smaller kit’s arm and help him sit down. \n\tTai accepted the aid and allowed himself to be seated in the warm living room on the comfortable sofa, while Mike rested his crutch against the wall beside him. “Um, it’s a long story,” he replied, looking mightily uncomfortable. “I-I’m really sorry I had to come here, but the police-”\n\tMike interrupted him. “Hey, you let me stay at your place, right?”\n\t“Oh. Uh. Yeah, I guess.” Tai scooted along the sofa so Mike could sit down.\n\t“The least you could do is tell what happened to your paw!” Mike jumped the armrest and landed neatly on the unoccupied half of the sofa.\n\tTai just suddenly couldn’t resist telling his tale. In retrospect even he could see how crazy it sounded. \n\t“I hurt it when I jumped from the top of the shopping mall and landed in a shopping cart,” he said, shrugging nonchalantly. His green eyes glittered. “It’s not that big a deal.”\n\t“You what?!” Mike’s eyes were as wide as dinner plates and his ears were pricked. “You’re telling me what happened, hear me?”\n\t“After dinner,” Robert interjected smoothly, walking past and heading straight to the oven-stove combo in the corner of their kitchen. “We could all do with something to eat anyway.” Mike held his tongue, reluctantly.\n\tTai surveyed this new environment. It was quite different from his apartment, although they lived not more than thirty seconds away.\n\tTai’s home was cozy and homey with soft art-décor colors and wooden furniture. Mike’s home was clean and modern with more glass furniture and features. Unlike his apartment, this one was decorated with unusual pieces of modern art—strange, vaguely anthropomorphic shapes where in Tai’s new home there were more classical statuettes and the like. Tai couldn’t fathom what they were meant to be, but they looked neat.\n\tEven the lighting was different. Tai’s home was illuminated by that soft, warm glow that almost put him to sleep. Mike’s had a powerful, clear light that accentuated the apartment’s ‘modern’ feel. However, in the corners of the lounge room, surmounting tiny tables of glass and wicker, were antique lamps that looked slightly out of place, producing a softer, warmer light. The room was being kept warm by a powerful gas heater that hummed and flickered in the corner, and as Tai looked at it, he noticed the air around it was shimmering and distorting slightly...\n\t“Oh!” He suddenly exclaimed. “You don’t have to feed me, mister uh…! Th-thank you let me stay here for- I mean, the cops would’ve… Um.”\n\tRobert held up his black furred paw to silence the stammering cub. “Tai, the first rule of cooking for multiple people is to always make more than is necessary in case anyone wants seconds or surprise guests show up.” He grinned. “Most of the time, it’s the former. So it’s no problem at all.”\n\tHe opened the oven and slipped a tray out, thumping it down on the nearby counter.\n\tOn that tray was a plump, juicy chicken, shimmering in its own heat and steaming. Spices had been cooked into it, and wafts of delectable odor assailed Tai’s olfactory senses despite the distance. \n\tThe little fox jumped sharply, sitting up straight. He was absolutely ravenous and it showed.\nRobert glanced over his shoulder and laughed before carving a portion of the chicken with a large, curved knife. He handed it to Tai on a white ceramic plate. “Here you are.”\n\tTai was about to tear into the food savagely, but Mike pulled him back.\n\t“Wait!” he ordered, with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.\n\tAfter a second, Robert swept up close and cascaded a lot of pungent-smelling salt over the chicken.\n\tTai sniffed at it. “Chicken salt? O-on a chicken?”\n\t“Try it.” Mike’s grin was insufferable. “Trust me!”\n\tTai grabbed at the plate and brought it to his muzzle. He sniffed gingerly at it, and the smell dizzied him.\nHe didn’t eat the food so much as he slaughtered and devoured it as punishment for being so delicious. Each bite seemed to explode with flavor; that absurd amount of salt had made the simple meal more than a meal.\n\tTai ate the piece of chicken in less than twenty seconds and was licking the plate in thirty. He was done before Mike even had his plate in his hand.\n\t“Hungry little guy, aren’t you?” Robert asked, sitting in a leather chair adjacent to the couch the kits were on. “Had you eaten anything earlier?”\n\tTai shook his head. “No, sir.” He carefully placed the plate down on the table in front of him. “I skipped lunch at school.”\n\t“Now why would any self-respecting, sensible young boy do that?”\n\tMike coughed slightly. “Um, dad?” he said. “We’re talking school dinners here. They say if you put them in a microwave they’d come to life.”\n\t“Fair point, I suppose. Though I wouldn’t call sodium-doused chicken a fantastic meal either. I was a little pressed for time though.”\n\tTai smiled slightly. The truth was, in all the schools he’d been in you had to pay for food from the canteen; and Tai never had any money. He never asked his mom for any, either – she didn’t have any to give him. He usually ate something he took to school, provided it wasn’t taken from him, or waited until he got home, but his mother hadn’t been able to make him anything today. Besides, he didn’t have any intention of hanging around the refectory area. Not at his new school.\n\t“Ah.” Robert put the plate on the arm of the chair and leaned back. “So, Tai, what do you like to do?” He eyed the kit curiously.\n\t“Huh? Uh, I mean, excuse me?” Tai blinked. “Oh, you mean, my hobbies?”\n\t“Yeah. Do you watch TV or play sports?”\n\tFor a bemused moment, the kit didn’t seem to know how to reply. “Uh… N-no, sir. I don’t like TV and I stopped playing sports at school—I couldn’t compete with the bigger kids. At school I, uh, I go to the library.”\n\t“You ought to have played at a club or something,” Mike told him, finishing his chicken and unceremoniously dumping the plate on top of Tai’s. “I’ve heard they’re more friendly than schoolie teams.” He winced and glanced sideways at his father. “I mean, friendlier.” \n\tTai shook his head once more. “There weren’t any near my home.” He cried out in pain as he accidentally whacked his injured leg off the table leg. \n\t“Ow!” Mike said in sympathy. “Careful!”\n\t“It’s alright.” Tai shuffled back in the sofa. “Um, I really just read or go for walks when I get bored.”\n\t“Better than sitting in front of TV all day,” mused Robert, who still hadn’t touched his chicken. “So, what do you read?”\n\tThe tawny kit leaned forward again eagerly. “Well, I read fantasy, sci-fi, comics and stuff like that! I love reading history books too.” \n\t“Who’s your favorite fantasy writer?” Robert prompted. He picked up his chicken and finally started chewing on it. Slowly.\n\t“Umm, well, he’s this guy I read on the computer.” The little fox squirmed bashfully. “O-on the, uh, internet. He’s really, really good. My mom found him for me. We don’t have the internet ourselves at home, but we could use it at the library.”\n\t“I’m sure of it. It’s difficult for authors to get published these days; the new guys have a heck of a time, and the internet seems to be offering the answer.” Robert chomped into his chicken at last and reclined in the chair. “I’ve read some decent stories on the ‘net.”\n\tMike smiled to himself. His dad seemed interested in his new friend. That was good. “Dad?”\n\t“What is it, Mike?”\n\t“Do I have to do that stupid test today?” Even Tai was impressed at the irresistibly adorable face Mike pulled on his father. Mike was a very good looking kit, and he could do a dangerous ‘puppy-face’. “Can I do it tomorrow? Please?”\n\tThe older vulpine rolled his eyes. “Sure, Mike. No one cares about it anyway, except the guys in suits that want to take you away to a foster home, but…”\n\tMike started backwards in surprise. “Are you serious?!” he demanded, his hazel eyes wide. “I didn’t think it was that important!”\n\tHis father laughed uproariously and slapped his knee. “Oh, Mike!” he chortled. “I’m just kidding. The thing isn’t due for a week. You don’t have to do it right now.” \nMike let out his breath explosively. “Don’t do that, dad!”\n“What you do have to do, though, is come right here and give me a hug!”\n“Why?” Mike asked insolently, getting up and walking to his dad.\n“You need a reason, do you?!” Robert said indignantly. Mike suddenly burst out laughing and flung himself at his dad.\nTai smiled wistfully but didn’t say anything.\n “Alright!” Robert said, standing. “You can do that nonsense tomorrow; but make sure you do. Let’s put an end to the entire lugubrious affair. I don’t like having those busybodies looming over us for the sake of a little test.” He stretched and adjusted his glasses. “I’ll be in my study, probably reading some more total gibberish, if you need me.”\nMike put a paw in front of his muzzle to direct his voice and whispered furtively, “He’s marking some dumb college-student’s work, I bet! Some of them can’t spell for crap…”\nWhen the adult was gone and the two kits were left alone, Tai looked down at the couch he was seated on.\n“Um. I guess I’m gonna be sleeping here?” he surmised.\nMike looked at him almost disdainfully. “Of course not,” he spat. “You’ll be sleeping out in the hallway.” Then he grinned widely. “Actually, we’ve got a spare bedroom. We also have a fold out bed to put in my room for sleep-overs, and my bed is a double.”\nTai blushed. Thankfully, his fur hid that, but his face burned nonetheless. “I’ve never slept over at someone else’s house before,” he admitted. “I dunno what I’m meant to do.”\n“You can sleep in my room on the foldout,” Mike said slowly, as if talking to an idiot. “You can sleep in the spare room. You can sleep in my bed. Take your pick.”\nThe look Tai shot him after that nearly made him kick himself. \n“Um,” mumbled the kit, “h-how about I sleep in your bed? It’ll be less work and it’s cold. That’s not weird is it?”\n“Nope, not at all.” Mike wasn’t lying, really, as it wasn’t that unusual as far as he knew for boys to share beds during sleepovers. Not that he minded the notion anyway. Mike stood and offered a paw to his friend. “Come on! I’ll help you.”\nThey made their way slowly around the apartment to Mike’s bedroom, Tai being careful to avoid whacking anything with his unwieldy crutch.\nMike’s room was definitely Mike’s. The walls were decorated with posters, some displaying athletes, some showing rock or pop stars, and more than a few motorbikes. Some of them were of an entirely different nature, such as one right above his bed that detailed the solar system, and a periodic table of the elements that had been thoroughly doodled on. It seemed like every little thing that interested the sporty boy had to be represented in some way. The lights were small, circular craters in the roof, giving off a dimmer, softer light rather than the powerful glare throughout rest of the house. Tai thought they looked cool.\n\t“If you’re not too tired, we could play some Game-Station until ten?” Mike asked, helping Tai seat himself on his bed before sitting next to him. He affected a conspiratorial expression and leaned closer. “Or we could check out some magazines that my dad thinks he’s hidden from me?”\n\tTai shyly averted his eyes. “I-uhh, I can’t stay up late,” he murmured. “I have school tomorrow.”\n\t“Darn!” Mike punched his palm. “I forgot about that. Well, it doesn’t really matter too much. I normally go to bed at eight and read until nine or so.” He shrugged. “Dad’s normally strict about bed-time, but I thought that with you over…”\n\t“Um,” ventured Tai uncertainly, “y-you could play the Game-Station? I’ll watch? If… you want.” \n\tMike groaned silently.\n\t“I-I’ve never played before,” the little fox continued. “I won’t know what to do. I’m really tired.” Tai saw the look on Mike’s face and instantly misinterpreted it. “B-but if you want, I’ll play the game with you, or read the magazines.”\n\t“Stop that!” Mike said abruptly. “I’m not going to hold it against you if you’re too tired to play silly computer games with me.”\n\t“B-but-!”\n\t“When do you wanna hit the sack?”\n\tTai blinked, confused by that particular expression. “What?”\n\t“When do you want to go to sleep?” Mike was peeling back the corner of his bed-sheets.\n\tThe sight of a bed made Tai’s legs go numb. It looked so warm and… warm!\n\t“I-I dunno. Um, whenever you want to, I guess.”\n\tMike fought off the urge to shake his small friend by the shoulders. “It’s seven now,” he said, nodding at the clock on the wall behind Tai. “We really ought to at least be in bed by eight thirty. Earlier, if you’re tired.” \nTai turned to look; the clock had all the numbers spread out all over the face. Superimposed on them were the words ‘Who Gives A Damn?’, written in the style of graffiti. How did Mike know what time it was from that thing? Tai sucked at reading analog clocks, and he struggled to make sense of it.\n\tSuddenly, Tai’s vision blurred and he was hit with an inexplicable dizziness.\n\tMike darted forwards and caught his friend before he could collapse forward and laid him on the bed. “Tai!” he exclaimed worriedly.\n\t“I-I’m okay!” Tai replied, blinking owlishly.\n\t“No, you’re not! You’re exhausted! C’mon, I think you should go to sleep soon.”\n\tTai nodded and sat himself up. He shook his head to clear it, but strangely everything seemed misty all of a sudden. He’d been running on his second wind for a while now, and now he felt horrible.\n\t“Sh-should I go to bed in my clothes?” Tai enquired, blinking some more. The protocols were unknown to him. He wanted to sleep next to Mike though, if he could. He could do with some warmth and such after this day.\n\t“I don’t think you should,” replied Mike seriously. “Of course, it’s up to you. I feel gross if I do.”\n\tTai nodded and promptly lifted his shirt up over his head. “Where should I put this?”\n\tMike vaguely pointed at the floor, flicking the lights off at a wall switch. “Anywhere will do,” he said, shucking his own shirt off and dumping it unceremoniously on the carpet. He pulled his shorts off and clambered into his bed, clad only in his satin boxers. “C’mon! It’s okay.”\n\tTai mentally shrugged and slid down his track pants. He climbed under the covers. Instantly his eyes closed and he drifted off to sleep.\n\n\tMike’s eyes slowly pried themselves open and his sleepy brain slothfully started to function again, though under protest. It was still the middle of the night. The quiet drumming on his window indicated it was raining outside. He blinked a few times in the darkness of his room, trying to see just what the heck had woke him up. \n\tIn the darkness of the room, it was pointless, but it wasn’t his eyes that finally explained it.\n\tHe could feel that someone had grabbed his arm, and was hugging it tightly. That someone was also sobbing very gently to himself, small, lean body shuddering almost imperceptibly as he did so.\n\t“Tai?” the now completely awake fox asked softly, leaning a little closer to the dark shape of ears in front of his head.\n\tIt took a while for Tai to respond. “Uhh?” he moaned sluggishly, and then he gasped. “Oh, sorry,” he said, releasing Mike’s forearm. “Sorry…” The little fox shunted forwards slightly on his side, separating them. Evidently in the middle of the night, Tai had woken up, cuddled up to Mike and begun crying for some reason.\n\tMike shuffled back close to his friend and laid an arm over his slight form. “It’s okay. I don’t mind.” He hugged to the smaller pup, snuffling at his ears. “I was just gonna ask why you were crying, that’s all.”\n\t“I-I wasn’t crying.”\n\t“Uh-huh. Right.”\n\tTai lay in his friend’s embrace for a while, absently registering just how warm and comfortable he actually was; he was so used to sleeping in his own bed alone. This was so amazingly different. “I was crying, wasn’t I…” he whispered. The kit inhaled deeply. The room was warm and had an oddly familiar odor… Mike’s odor.\n\t“Why?”\n\t“I-I was just thinking… tomorrow, I-I’ve got to go to back school.”\n\tMike shrugged, and Tai felt it. “Yeah, I guess so.”\n\t“I’m gonna die…” \n\t“What?”\n\t“He and his friends tried to steal something from the store in town. I told on them, and they chased me. That’s how I hurt my leg.” \n\tIt took a few moments for Mike to even realize what Tai was talking about. “Who is this guy?”\n\t“A crazy jerk.” Tai reached up and wiped his nose with the back of a paw. \n\tWith a wry grin, Mike nosed at his friend’s ear once. “Ah. So he’s just an idiot.”\n\tTai snorted a laugh, but quickly returned to being morose. “But he’s a big idiot,” he mourned. “With loads of big friends. I got them in big trouble, and they’ll be coming for me tomorrow. They tried to stab me and beat me up… and tomorrow….” A sob. “Because no one is my friend there, and no one stops these jerks! They can get away with anything! They’re gonna kill me.”\n\t“Don’t you think you’re exaggerating?” enquired Mike, giving his friend a comforting squeeze. “They wouldn’t, would they? They couldn’t!”\n\tTai bit his lip. “I-I don’t know…” He turned around slightly so he could face Mike, barely discerning his features from the darkness around them. “They’re...” Another choked sob. “What can I do?” the little kit wailed, his voice cracking.\n\tMike was speechless; he didn’t know what to do either. It sounded unbelievable. It made no sense to him, but then, he was sheltered. \n\tWithout any hesitation, he cuddled right up against the smaller boy’s back. “Hey, you’re okay,” he muttered, resting the bottom of his muzzle between both of those large, charming ears. “You don’t need to worry about it. We’ll help you deal with them.”\n\t“H-how?!”\n\t“We’ll tell your mom, my dad, the cops, the school.” Mike nuzzled under Tai’s chin, snuffling his neck and earning a sort of reluctant giggle. “We’ll figure it out. I swear.” After a brief moment of hesitation, Tai once again pulled Mike’s arm tightly to his chest and nestled against the older boy’s body. \n\tMike noticed with a slight widening of his eyes that this was the first time he’d ever actually had another boy in his bed. The first time he’d ever properly snuggled up to someone of the same sex as him – excluding his dad of course. The first time he’d cuddled up to anyone else…\n\tIt felt really nice, actually.\n\t“Can we snuggle?” Tai asked weakly.\n\tMike laughed. “What are we doing now?!”\n\tThe two kits huddled together, with Mike gently squeezing his smaller friend. Snug and contented in their shared warmth, the two drifted back to sleep.\n\n\tIt was the sound of birdsong that woke him. That surprised Tai a bit, since that had to be the one sound he thought he’d never hear again after leaving Alaska for the city.\n\tDisoriented, at first he wasn’t sure where he was. The room was strange, and there was a large window overlooking the street through which the sun shone in. \n\tA sharp stabbing pain made him wince as his injured ankle gave him its idea of a ‘good morning’. “Ooooh!” he whined, sitting up. Oddly enough, he felt more rested and happy with himself than he had before, at least in the time he could readily remember. \n\tMike wasn’t in bed anymore, but that was sort of to be expected. Tai had overslept. According to the ‘Who Gives A Damn’ clock, it was almost nine, or something close to that. \n\t“AAH!” Tai exclaimed, eyes flying wide and body going rigid. “SCHOOL!”\n\tHe pulled himself out of the sheets as quickly as he could, and wondered frenetically just what the heck to do now. He couldn’t even stand up properly, leaning against the bed on one leg, his leg awkwardly sticking out to one side.\n\t“Oh, I’m gonna be late!” he burbled, eyes darting around the room in a panicky blindness. “Mom’ll kill me! I’ve never been late to school before!” He paused. “I-I lost my satchel!”\n\tJust then, Mike opened his bedroom door. He was holding two tumblers full of juice, two sandwiches and two skinless sausages on a red plastic tray. The older boy was wearing his red shirt and denim shorts; evidently he’d been up for some time.\n\tMike laid the tray on his bedside dresser, next to the lamp, and leaned against the wall, eyeing Tai appreciatively. “Oooh, good mor-ning hotness!” he said, eyes sparkling mischievously. “You’re real cute in your boxers.”\n\tEven in his panic, Tai flushed. Mike smiled at him: the sunlight from the window behind the pup, clad only in his underwear, made his tawny fur glitter, engulfing him in a majestic iridescent aura.\n\t“Did you ask for those boxers?” Mike enquired, looking pointedly at them. “I didn’t notice until just now you were wearing pink ones.”\n\tTai blushed. “My mom bought them for me,” he said, slightly defensively. “And they’re not pink. They’re light red.”\n\t“Uh-huh.” Mike scratched his ear absently. “Anyway, good morning!”\n\tTai felt a little naked. His friend was totally dressed and looking at him like he was a marble statue. “Good morning,” he replied shyly. “Um, I’m late for school so-”\n\tMike held up a paw. “Hold it. My dad spoke with me earlier.” He picked up the tray once more and placed it on a pillow. Then he sat on the bed himself, scooting back until his shoulders were against the headboard. “The cops want you stay away from school for a few days. The hospital says so too.”\n\t“But why?”\n\tMike didn’t know why, but he found Tai’s perfect enunciation of ‘why’ to be sort of cool. “The cops want to be sure none of that guy’s friends are gonna try to hurt you – isn’t that what you were worried about? The hospital has said they don’t want you going to school because your school has so many stairways.” He picked up a sausage and bit in two. The aroma made Tai’s mouth water. “And Dad agreed to let me have the next few days off! We got a call from your mom and she asked if we could look after you for a few days. Isn’t that awesome? Mmm! These are great!” With that, he quickly ate the rest of the sausage. When he reached for the other one, Tai leaned in carefully and stole it away, grinning.\n\t“Hey, the only problem,” Mike continued, face grave, “is that we absolutely have to be at the Nerus Fair at eleven. We’ll be back by three in the afternoon, but we do have to go.”\n\tTai shrugged. A fair could be fun, and he was getting bored with being cooped up. “What’s a ‘Nerus Fair’?”\n\t“It’s a cool fair,” elucidated Mike, grinning widely. “Cool people go there.”\n\tTai hoped by ‘cool’ he didn’t mean more dumbasses of Darron’s ilk. He bit into the sausage, and a slight frown came to his features. Usually, he never questioned ‘adult matters’ like this, but… “I wonder how mom knew I was here.”\n\tMike chuckled. “I dunno. Does it matter?”\n\t“Hey boys!” came Robert’s voice from the doorway. Tai turned to look, and his jaws suddenly felt an irresistible urge to flop open.\n\tStanding in the doorway, glinting in the sunlight streaming in through the window, was an ambulatory suite of armor. It was easily grasping a seven foot lance with a brightly colored pennon trailing from it. In its other hand was a burnished shield, about two feet across. The helmet’s face guard protruded slightly, to accommodate the vulpine muzzle. \nIt saluted Tai brightly. “G’ morning, Tai!” Robert said cheerfully, before turning and clomping away in his suit of armor.\nMike hadn’t looked up, and was busy chewing contentedly on a sandwich. “Hey, come on!” he said to Tai. “I made these, so can you at least give them a chance?” His expression and tone were totally bland.\n“M-Mike?” Tai stammered, pointing at the doorway, emerald eyes wide open. “Did your dad just walk past in a suit of armor?”\n“Pfft,” scoffed Mike. “Don’t be silly. Why would a fur going to a medieval-Renaissance fair dress in medieval armor?”\n“A medieval fair…?” Tai whispered. “A medieval fair?” he repeated, a little stronger.\n“I knew you’d like the idea.”\n\tInstantly, Tai swiped a beef sausage, then devoured the ham and cheese sandwich and knocked back the fruit juice within the space of a minute. Unable to help it, he beamed at Mike.\n\t“You know, I might be wrong,” joshed Mike, having swigged down his juice, “but I think something has you excited.”\n\t“I’ve never been to a medieval fair before!” Tai gushed, still grinning. “I’ve always wanted to go to one but there was never one near us! This is so cool! Are you really taking me too?”\n\t“Yes!” the older fox pup interjected, giggling. “We can’t just leave you here!”\n\t“What are we gonna do until we leave?” \n\t“We’ve got an hour and a half until we have to leave, so why don’t we either put on the Gamestation?” \n\tTai scrambled back onto the bed, taking care not to smack his ankle off anything. “Yeah, put the Gamestation on!” he said excitedly. “I’ve never seen one before.”\n\t“Never?” asked Mike, slightly incredulous. “Not even in a department store?”\n\t“A what?”\n\tMike chortled. “Never mind.” He leaned forwards and pushed the power button on his little television. The screen burst into white static.\n\t“Don’t you have an aerial?” asked Tai, looking at the screen in puzzlement.\n\t“I don’t watch television.” Mike switched the channel and pressed a large green button on his Gamestation before skipping back to the bed. “If I was going to, I’d watch it in the den.”\n\tThe Gamestation logo appeared on screen, against a black background. Two symbols, a ‘G’ and a ‘S’ collided in an explosion of lava, wreathed in sparks and colorful purple electricity. Tai blinked. “Whoa.”\n\tAfter the logos of the developing companies had displayed themselves, the game’s title appeared. Violently. It exploded onto the screen in a fiery conflagration – Tai hadn’t expected that. It actually made him jump.\n\tHe didn’t even read the title. The colors and effects were too beautiful. He’d never seen anything like it before. At times, the graphics were almost photorealistic.\n\tMike played for a short while, controlling a squirrel jumping from tree to tree, occasionally blasting an enemy with a rocket launcher, before his manners returned to him. “Oh, sorry,” he said, offering the controller to Tai. “Do you wanna play?”\n\tThe smaller fox had been staring in awe at the television, the vivid images totally captivating him, paws resting on his lap. “R-really?” he finally replied, as if he’d been given some kind of honor. “Um, can you show me how to play?”\n\t“Sure!” Mike proceeded to explain the game’s controls, starting with the basics. Tai was a quick learner. He paid unwavering attention during the lesson. He took the controller into his paws with an odd reverence.\n\tWhen Tai started to play, Mike found the kit himself a lot more interesting than the game. The slender vulpine’s eyes were wide open, riveted to the television. His muzzle hung open, and he didn’t even seem to notice it. It was all Mike could do to keep himself from laughing out loud. The idea came to him to put on his other favorite game, which was far more of a gore fest, and see how Tai reacted to the violence.\n\tThere was a knock on the door and both kits looked up.\n\tRobert was standing in the doorway. He wasn’t wearing his armor anymore, which begged the question of why he had it on earlier if he was going to take it off. Tai glanced at his friend, but Mike’s expression showed no confusion or anything. \n\t“I’m just going down to the mall quickly,” Robert said, smoothing out the front of the ostentatiously yellow shirt he now wore.\n\t“How come, dad?” asked Mike, confused.\n\t“We need some food for today, don’t we?” Robert shucked on a black leather jacket that covered his blazing golden shirt, so that at least he wouldn’t look like an ambulatory traffic light. Then he took off his wire-framed glasses and put on a pair of sunglasses. “Back soon.”\n\tAs Robert left Mike got up and shut the door. “Well, I guess we’ve got a while anyway,” he said, kicking off his sneakers and padding back to the bed in his orange ankle socks.\n\tTai’s attention was wrenched back to the game as a wall was felled by a gargantuan quadrupedal tank. The tank gracefully stepped out over the rubble from the destroyed wall and faced off against Tai’s squirrel.\n\t“Oh, cool, you’re up to the boss!” Mike complimented, sitting down again. “Nice.”\n\t“Now what?!” Tai enquired calmly, neatly avoiding the tank’s shell-attack. The ground shattered and flaming chunks of concrete rained down upon the arena. “What’s a boss anyway? Isn’t that the guy you work for? Why am I fighting my boss? Why is he trying to kill me?”\n\tMike stared at him for a few seconds. “Right, now that you’ve asked me five questions in, like, a second,” he drawled, “why don’t you tell me what order you’d like them answered in?”\n\tTai sniggered. “Oh, any order you like.”\n\t“Get into the tree top and shoot the top of it with your rocket launcher. A boss is an enemy that is stronger than normal and is harder to defeat. No, you don’t work for him. You’re fighting him because he’s the bad guy and he’s going to kill you if you don’t get him first. He’s trying to kill you because you’re an assassin sent to kill his b… uh, employer.”\n\t“Oh,” Tai said, choosing not to ask what an assassin was. “Okay.”\n\tIn fairly good time, Tai managed to defeat the tank. It detonated in a decent display of destruction. The pyrotechnics were impressive, and Tai felt chuffed. \n\t“May I have a go?” asked Mike, politely.\n\tTai wasted no time in handing the controller back to him. “Of course!” Tai sat back on the bed. After a pause, the underwear-clad pup got onto his paws and knees, crawled behind Mike, and affectionately rested his muzzle upon the older pup’s shoulder. “Hi!” he giggled, steadying himself by placing his paws on Mike’s shoulders. \n\t“Comfy?” Mike asked, taking up where Tai had left off.\n\t“Mmm, yup.” Tai sighed and stared at the screen. He was no longer hypnotized by the graphics, but he still found them amazing. The things one could do, one could create, in a computer game, and the fun to be had with it… it just blew his mind. “So, what kinda things will we be doing at this fair?”\n\t“Well, there’s lots of food. We can’t compete in the jousting and stuff, because we’re too small, but there’ll be things like races, competitions and games. We’re gonna meet some friends too.”\n\tTai nodded. “Is it okay if I just watch the racing and that kind of stuff?” he asked, a hopeful tone to his voice. \n\t“Sure,” Mike agreed, “you don’t have to do anything. Besides, with that paw, you won’t be able to keep up anyway.”\n\t“Oh,” Tai muttered wryly, “yeah. I hope I’ll be able to walk okay.”\nAfter much gaming, the boys heard Robert returning. They went out to greet the grownup and found him sorting through the grocery bags on the kitchen counter.\n\t“Ready to go, guys?” he asked, when he sensed his son and his new friend standing behind him. “We’re leaving as soon as I sort out the picnic food.”\n\t“Yeah, dad!” replied Mike. “Give us a sec.” He turned to Tai. “Hey, come on! Let’s get ready.”\n\tThe two kits made their way back into Mike’s room.\n\tTai picked up his track-pants and slipped into them on the bed. “This is gonna be so cool!” he crowed, pulling a white and black sport sock onto his good paw. “Jousting! Swords! Yeah!”\n\tMike giggled. “Cool, huh? We go every time.” He put his trainers back on over his orange socks, still looking at Tai, who was putting his shirt on, his excitement making him unusually clumsy.\n\t“Really?” \n\t“Well, every year for the past four!” \n\t“Awesome!” Tai picked up his sneaker, slid it onto his good paw and laced it up. He was told to just treat the bandaging on his other paw as a shoe… a shoe that felt really weird, because air could be felt rushing through it with every step. A few of his toes actually poked out through the bandaging, but he could barely wiggle them. He couldn’t wait until he would be able to wear both shoes again. It felt truly bizarre.\n\t“Come on!” Mike said, getting off his bed and rushing across the room to the doorway. “You ready? Let’s go!”\n\tTai leapt to his good foot and limped after his friend. “Yeah! Ow!”\n\n\tThe long car ride out of the city was uneventful and quiet. Both boys were inordinately well behaved, keeping their obvious excitement under control.\n\tNonetheless, when they finally parked, all three of the vulpines wanted out of their seats immediately. It had taken almost an hour to get off the island and this far out of town.\n\tWith some difficulty, Tai opened his door and clambered out – managing to avoid hurting his ankle or whacking anything with his crutch. In awe, he looked around at the lush forestry around. He felt an energy surge through him. Vivacity he hadn’t felt for ages.\n\tIt was so good to be out of the city! To not be surrounded only by concrete and metal and stone!\n\tThe pup inhaled deeply, smelling, tasting and breathing the wilderness. \n\t“Over here, Tai!” Mike called to him from the other side of the car. Sluggishly, Tai turned around and followed behind his friend. They crested a small hill and what Tai saw nearly made him faint. \n\tIt was huge. \n\tBlue and white pennons streamed from the high zeniths of over a dozen huge tents the size of warehouses, snapping and twisting in the warm mid-day air while a flock of pure white doves gracefully soared through the sky above, glinting in the light of the sun. The tents and various pavilions were of many colors, but they were almost all striped or had intricate, art-deco designs on them. The sound of laughter and excited chatter, mingled with the lively, distinctive sound of archaic music, floated up to the sky to join the birds in flight.\n\tHundreds of furs milled about the fairground, many in costume. As for the fairground itself… Tai could see no end to it. \n\t“Oh, my gosh…” he whispered to himself. “This is incredible!”\n\tMike hopped out the car and looked out over the large fete. “Pretty big, isn’t it?” he asked, ambling around the car until he was shoulder to shoulder with his friend once more.\n\t“H-how many… a-are here?”\n\t“A couple of hundred. I guess. It’s here for a week.” Mike laughed and started walking towards the hub-bub. “Let’s go on down. We can meet some of my other friends.” He turned to his father, who was busy hoisting up the bags he’d packed. “We’ll be at the café tent, alright dad?”\n\t“Sure,” Robert replied, slamming the trunk shut. “I’ll be done in a second. Just have to sort things out with Daryl. We’re helping with the jousting. Tai, make sure you use that crutch. Put as little weight as possible on your sore paw, please.”\n\tTai nodded.\n\t“Cool!” Mike chortled, starting to walk towards the fair. “C’mon, Tai! Let’s go! You’ve gotta meet these guys! I think you’ll find Ernie pretty funny; he’s a jackass.”\n\tTai flinched as if struck. “A what?!” That was a peculiar thing to call one’s friend.\n\tMike frowned. “Huh? Oh, no, sorry, that’s not what I mean.”\n\t“Oh.” The pup sidled up to his friend and together they walked towards the fluttering banners. Rather, Mike walked. Tai limped along with the aid of his small crutch. \n\tMike found his friends by a huge crimson colored pavilion. It was the second largest tent erected and it housed a large mobile cafeteria. Under its shade, vans and stalls were set up, and as they approached, Tai could see a forest of plastic tables and chairs within.\n\tStanding near the entrance was an odd collection of kids. Two ringtails that looked like brother and sister were dressed in utterly conflicting styles. The boy was dressed in denim shorts, a black t-shirt adorned by intricate white patterns on the front and wore a blue bracelet on his left wrist. A steel chain linked the wallet in his pocket to his belt. He leaned indolently against a support, paws in his pockets and sporting a wide, toothy grin. The female ringtail cub had long head-fur that came down to her shoulder blades, and wore a green peasant-style dress – possibly in keeping with the theme of the festival. Her right wrist was adorned by a red bracelet and her features were composed, but smiling. A sort of modest grin. It was as if she was perpetually taking part in some gigantic joke and wasn’t doing a good job of pretending otherwise.\n\tAlmost paralytic with laughter on the ground was an ash-white colored arctic fox. His jaw was wide open and he was shrieking his guffaws from behind his pointed teeth. His clothing was plain; a red surfing brand t-shirt and black shorts. His eyes glittered gold with mirth, tears rolling down his cheeks.\n\tThen there was the donkey. That long face had the satisfied grin of one who had just received a good response from a funny joke. \n\t“Hey, Ciaran!” the donkey said, prodding the laughing vulpine with a bare hoof. “While you’re down there…”\n\t“Get up, Ciaran,” the female ringtail laughed. “You’re getting grass-stains.”\n\tThe formerly ash-white, now blotched a greenish-yellow, fox rolled over and managed to force out a greeting. To his credit, it was nearly comprehensible.\n\t“Hey guys!” Mike said, guiding Tai in front of himself. “This is Tai. He lives near my apartment uptown.”\n\tThe ringtail boy shot him a two fingered salute. “Hey,” he said. “I’m Aaron. Everyone just calls me ‘Squeaker’ though. Don’t ask.”\n\tTai smiled shyly.\n\t“He’s a little shy.” Mike smiled at his friend encouragingly, laying a paw on his shoulder. “He gets over it.” \n\tNow Tai’s cheeks felt hot. \n\t The girl ringtail went right up to him and sniffed at him. Tai flinched away in confusion.\n\t“Hmm,” the ringtail mused. “Does he know the secret?”\n\t“Nope,” replied Mike, smiling broadly.\n\t“S-secret?” Tai asked, looking to his friend desperately. “What secret?”\n\t“You don’t know it?!” the ringtail pressed. “The secret? Y’know? That secret?”\n\t“Umm, I dunno…”\n\t“Millie,” Aaron reprimanded. “You’re freaking him out. Quit already. Heck, you’re freakin’ me out.”\n\tMillie curtseyed with exquisite grace. “I’m allowed to in your case, you’re my brother.” She grinned at Tai. “You know, no one knows The Secret.” She laughed. “I’m Millie. Nice to meet you.”\n\t“H-hello!” Tai said, baffled.\n\tThe arctic fox clambered to his paws and picked something up out of the grass. His glasses.\n\tHe slid them onto the bridge of his muzzle and extended a paw for Tai to take. “Ciaran! Kee-ran, spelled with a ‘C’!” he told the little fox, who bashfully shook his offered paw. “Don’t worry about Millie’s ‘secret’. We’re all trying to figure it out. Including her.”\n\t“I- I didn’t think you wore glasses when I first saw you…” Tai murmured nervously. \n\tBut the older kit merely smiled playfully.\n\t“Care to guess who the last one is?” Mike enquired, grinning. “That’s Ernie.”\n\t“Yo, what-is-up-my-homie!? Word!” The donkey greeted them with a half-speed mockery of the dialogue Tai had only been hearing recently but already despised.\n\tTai scanned them all quickly. All of them were around twelve or thirteen – if not older. That made Mike and him the youngest by quite a bit. These new furs were fascinating however, and they didn’t seem to mind that Mike at least was so much younger.\n\t“Hey, where’s your dad, Mikey?” asked Millie, running a paw casually through her head fur. She then began messing with it, twirling it around a finger idly.\n\t“Talking to yours I bet.” Mike pulled out a wallet. “Tai, are you hungry? We didn’t have much for breakfast.”\n\t“Um, I-” On cue, Tai’s stomach cut him off with a disturbing growl.\n\t“Good answer. Come on! You gotta try the caramel-mint-chocolate milkshake they do here!”\n\tThat did sound appealing, Tai had to admit.\n\tAaron shuddered. “How can you drink those things?”\n\tInstantly, his sister looked him square in the face. “Says the meat-eater.”\n\tCiaran groaned, but still kept his grin. “Millie, some of us are carnivores, okay? Stop calling us evil because of how we were born.”\n\tThe ringtail blinked. “But you are evil!”\n\tErnie nudged Tai. “Hey. If ever you wanna take a bite out of her, go ahead. No one will complain.”\n\tThe little fox giggled but didn’t trust himself to talk again. \n\tMike shook his head and walked towards the cafeteria. The serving cat took the order and smilingly offered to give the group a table. \n\t“Yes please,” Mike replied, motioning for his friends to hurry up. “Guys, c’mon!”\n\tWhen they were directed to their seats, Tai made sure to sit next to his friend. There were so many furs around, he had started to feel anxious.\n\t“What did you order?” Millie enquired, fussing over her head fur once more.\n\tMike shrugged. “Just two of the, uh, milkshakes and a beef sandwich for you.”\n\t“Har-de-har-har. So I guess we still have to order ours, huh? Typical.”\n\tRolling up a napkin and tossing it at the ringtail, Mike chuckled. “Well, whaddaya want me to do? Read your mind?”\n\t“Besides,” Aaron added, grinning hugely, “it’s impossible to feed you anyway, veggie-girl.”\n\tAfter a short laugh, they all begun chatting.\n\tAnd Tai was suddenly lost.\n\tThe conversation flitted from one topic to the next, and even Mike spoke easily with these older kids on each subject, responding to jibes and launching a few of his own with self-confident nonchalance. \n\tAs the surprisingly mature conversation went on, Tai slumped in his seat, feeling awkward and badly out of place. This was why he never spoke when his mom had visitors. He didn’t belong, wasn’t welcome. It was all furs and subjects he knew nothing about. If only they’d talk about Battle Eidolon or something he knew something about...\n\tMike leaned towards him whilst the others were engaged in an argument about video games. “Are you alright?” the brown furred vulpine asked. “Tai?”\n\t“Uh-huh,” Tai responded vacantly. He stared at the blank table top.\n\t“Hey, there’s gonna be an archery contest in about twenty minutes. Wanna enter?”\n\tThe younger boy-fox blinked and his ears slowly perked. “Archery? Are you gonna enter?”\n\t“Yep.”\n\t“Hey, what’re you two lover-foxes kissing about?” Aaron asked bluntly.\n\tEven Mike choked at that. “Uh? Nothing! Archery.”\nAnother waitress, a teenage cat dressed appropriately as a servant girl, brought the two milkshakes to the table and placed the pair of them in front of Mike, before walking away, whistling cheerfully to herself.\n“Seriously. For breakfast. Milkshakes?” Ciaran raised one eyebrow.\n“Some of us like to live on the wild side, Ciaran,” Mike replied in a falsely sententious tone. \n“Some of us don’t want to become blimps.”\n“It’s not our breakfast anyway.”\n“Speaking of that, are you competing next week?” Aaron asked suddenly, standing up, presumably to go get something from the café himself. “On Tuesday, it’s ten to eleven year olds.”\nMike nodded. “Yeah. But my coach isn’t back yet.” He turned back to Tai thoughtfully. “Hey, how would you feel like going swimming tomorrow? You won’t have school, and I don’t think your paw would be a problem. It’s just that I really ought to get some practice in.”\n\t“Sounds cool!” Tai agreed, slurping at his milkshake. His eyes went wide. “Mm!” He licked his lips and sucked mightily on the straw. \n\t“Methinks he likes it,” Ernie observed.\n\t“What clued you in, Detective?” mocked Millie, leaning forwards with a vapid, adoring expression on her face. \n\tThe donkey grinned. “It was my towering intellect.”\n\t“Oh, hey, Tai what happened to your paw?” asked Aaron, slowly edging away towards the counter. “It looks recent.”\n\t“Umm,” Tai mumbled around his straw. “I fell.” It was an absurd understatement but he wasn’t really in the mood to discuss it.\n\t“I broke my arm a while ago; I fell from a climbing frame.” The ringtail slipped off towards the counter.\n\t“Hey, Tai!” Millie piped, clasping her paws and leaning towards him. “You’re being all quiet. What kinda things do you do? Any fave TV shows?”\n\t“Oh…” Tai shrugged. “Nothing really. I don’t like TV.” The only shows he watched were for kits much younger than these guys; there’s no way they’d care, right?\n\t“Geez, you must live a boring life…”\n\tMike tossed another folded up napkin at her. “Hey! I don’t watch television much either. Are you calling me boring?”\n\t“Sorry, you bored me. What did you say?”\n\tTai sniggered and Mike looked at him with a mock expression of shock. “Traitor!” he said, poking the tawny kit in the side.\n\tWhile Tai was struggling back upright in his chair, having flailed dramatically from that single jab below the ribs, another fur suddenly walked into the busy pavilion, paws in corduroy trousers and whistling tunelessly.\n\t“Hey guys!” Robert greeted the seated kits. He walked past their table as they waved and headed to the café counter.\nMike finished off his massive milkshake and sucked around the base, making a revolting sound reminiscent of a vacuum cleaner in a swimming pool. Then he stood. “C’mon, Tai. Let’s go enter the archery tourney!”\nRobert, who was busy fumbling with some coins in his pockets, turned to them. “Don’t shoot anyone Mike,” he joked. “Be careful.”\n“Just don’t walk in front of me, dad; I might not be able to help myself!” Mike giggled. “C’mon! Let’s go!”\nHe ran to his father first, secured a paternal kiss on the forehead, then rushed out of the pavilion, Tai following closely behind.\n\nThe day was unbelievable for Tai. Everything was so huge, he almost felt swallowed up by it all. If it weren’t for Mike, he’d probably have been scared. The bark-furred fox-boy was always by his side, making light of the astonishing, cracking silly jokes and generally treating everything about this incredible day as if it was all normal.\nThe two kits didn’t even come close to winning the archery contest – they were up against archers with decades of experience. But they didn’t do badly at all. Tai was just happy that the adults supervising him didn’t belittle him, or forbid him from trying something so new and fun. He didn’t miss too often either. All in all, for a first timer, he was pleased with himself.\nAs the day wore on and the sun started to dip towards the horizon, the incredible ‘Grand Melee’ began. It was a lightly choreographed field battle between highly trained sword-aficionados, lasting more than an hour. As a testament to the swordsmen’s skill, practically no one was hurt. Obviously none of the kits could participate, but watching it was impressive, as some of the combatants seemed to have next to no interest in safety, hurling themselves into the competition like it was an actual battle. \nThe jousting event rounded off the day, and Robert did in fact attend it in his costume. It was incredibly satisfying to watch, even if the kits could clearly tell it wasn’t a real jousting tournament – Robert finally admitted his lance was made of paper-mache and cardboard. The large, un-evolved horses were interesting beasts, far larger than Tai expected them to be.\nEventually, Tai found himself at last able to speak to the older kids. They included him, and were never mean to him. A game of Tag broke out at one point, not that Tai could play with his ankle still damaged. It was still fun to see them all trying to catch Mike, who, despite being easily the shortest and youngest of all included in the game, was also the fittest and was near impossible to catch.\nAll too soon, it was time to head home. After the rocky start, it almost pained Tai when their group was split apart piece by piece.\n\tAs they made their way back to the car, Mike was skipping along, snatching at escaped feathers from the animal tent. Tai followed behind, hobbling after his friend quickly. \n\t“That was so cool!” Tai exclaimed loudly. “That big battle was awesome! It was like they were really trying to kill each other! Are you sure it was fake? Wow!!” In his delirious excitement, entire sentences were becoming single words.\n\tMike giggled excitedly. “Yeah!” he chortled, skipping merrily back to rejoin his friend. “Was it fun?”\n\t“Yeah! Of course!”\n\t“Alright, you two,” Robert said firmly, but with a warm grin. “Calm down before we get in the car please.”\n\tMike giggled once more then tried holding his breath. “Sorry, dad,” he finally said, exhaling.\n\t“Don’t apologize, ya doof.” Robert ruffled his head fur playfully. “Okay, Tai, we can put your crutch back in the trunk.”\n\t“Okay.”\n\tThey all piled into the car, the kits in the back, and buckled up for the trip back.\n\tImmediately, Tai slumped in his seat, yawning. “I’m tired,” he finally managed to say, ears drooping.\n\t“Fun though,” chimed Mike, also yawning. “Uuunh! Hey, don’t do that!”\n\t“Do what?”\n\t“Yawn like that! It’s contagious.”\n\tTai giggled again before idly leaning on the brown-furred shoulder next to him and yawning once more. Without even thinking about it, he grasped the older boy’s arm and cuddled into him, getting comfortable. “Pillow,” he stated simply.\n\t“Ready to go, guys?” Robert finally started the engine and looked back at the kits. “Gosh, Tai looks wiped out.”\n\t“He’ll be okay soon, dad,” Mike laughed happily. But despite his best efforts, yet another yawn forced its way out his muzzle. “Oh, man…”\n\t“What did you think of the archery, Tai?” enquired the adult vulpine, showing his incisors in a knowing grin.\n\tTai cracked open one eye and muttered, “Oo-de-la-li!”\n\t“That good huh?”\n\t\n\tIn spite of it all, the kits were certainly re-energized when they returned to the apartment building – almost the instant they got out of the car, they were talking loudly, and they briefly chased one another about on the way to the elevator. Even within the cramped elevator, a poking-war broke out, with Mike the clear victor in less than ten seconds. Robert tolerated their antics as they made their way down the corridor noisily.\n\tHowever, when the grownup, bearing several heavy bags, finally managed to unlock and push their apartment door open…\n\t“Go, go, go!” cried Mike, quickly slipping past his father and shooting ahead through the door.\n“Hey!” Robert protested. “What was that about?”\n\tMike merely smiled, stopping in the corridor just some feet ahead. “Nothing.”\n\tRobert raised an eyebrow. “You know, you worry me, Mike…”\n\t“I know, I’m worried too!”\n\t“So, what should we have for dinner tonight?” Robert asked, pointedly ignoring Mike and hanging up his black jacket. He never needed it at all; far too warm a day. “Haven’t had barbecue in a while.”\n\t“I was thinking Chinese?” Mike offered hopefully. “Something a little special?”\n\tRobert held up a paw. “Uh-uh! As guest, Tai shall be the one consulted.” He turned to the kit. \n\t“Umm… I suppose Chinese would be fine. If that’s okay with you.” Tai flushed. “I-I don’t…”\n\t“Wicked!” exclaimed Mike, punching the air. “Two ta one!” \n\tTai was taken aback by that. Voting on issues like that wasn’t something that happened with his mother. \n\t“Alright, I’ll order it then go pick it up,” Robert said resignedly, picking up his car keys once more. “In the meantime, Mike, you have to have a bath.”\n\t“What about Tai?!” protested the brown pup shrilly. “Why are you picking on me?”\n\t“Tai’s a guest. If he wants a bath or a shower, he’s welcome to have one. But in your case, it’s bath-time.” Robert frowned. “Tai, if you do decide to have a bath or shower whilst staying here, make sure either Mike or I are there. If something goes wrong and we weren’t watching, I’d be in deep trouble.”\n\t“’Kay,” replied the sandy furred kit, nodding his head in affirmation. \n\t“Baby…” teased Mike, but his expression showed he meant no malice at all. \n\tRobert opened the front door and turned around. “Alright, I’ll be back in a little while. You know how long they take.” He double checked everything in his pockets. “Right, I’ve got my cell phone if you need to contact me. If I get back and don’t see some proof that you had a decent bath, Mike, I’ll be upset. I’ve let you get away with it for two days now.”\n\t“Okay, Sir Dad.” Mike said in his usual pseudo-sober tone.\n\t“I think you’ve had too much sugar today, Mike. Okay then… Oh!” Robert walked quickly over to his son and gave him a kiss on the forehead before turning to go. “Almost forgot. Silly me! Alright.”\n\t“Bye!” the two kits called as the door quietly closed.\n\tTai swallowed. He felt… wrong. Suddenly sad. Robert reminded him of his own father with almost everything he did, even if Tai didn’t even quite recall what he looked like. There was just something… so oddly familiar. Something he missed.\n\tMike saw his friend’s expression and came over to him. “Are you alright Tai?” he enquired, put a friendly paw on his shoulder. “You keep spacing out today!”\n\tSomething sprung to Tai’s mind, and he looked up at his friend, suddenly smiling. “Yeah, fine!” he said cheerily. “So, are you gonna have a bath?”\n\tMike rolled his eyes. “Ugh… everyone just can’t wait to get rid of me, can they?” he asked sourly.\n\t“No,” Tai said in a quiet voice, limping closer to his friend. “I haven’t had one for days. Can I come with you?” The naughty sparkle in his eyes hinted that hygiene wasn’t the fox boy’s only incentive.\n\t“Oh…” Mike giggled, laying his paws on Tai’s shoulders. “Well, we’ve got a spa. You know, a shower and bath with those water jets? Haven’t used it in ages. I’ll set it up and get us some towels.”\n\t“Okay!” \n\t“Oh, can your cast get wet?” \n\tTai nodded. “The nurse told me it was okay if it got wet if I dried it properly.”\n\t“Cool! One sec!”\nWhen Mike darted out of the room, Tai started thinking. The night when he and Mike had first met was sort of distant to him, something he could barely believe he’d done. But he’d jumped immediately at the prospect of doing it again. All of a sudden, he had some inexplicable drive to be near Mike, to touch him, to look at his body… just looking at him caused his heart to flutter. That incredible feeling Mike had given him on the night of their meeting was one thing, and he wanted to feel it again, and again, and again, but that wasn’t the only reason he wanted to do this…\n\tAfter a few stunned, thoughtful moments, he started to follow his friend.\n\tMike turned the taps and switched on the spa, warming it up. A thick jet of water burst from the shower head above him and splashed noisily onto the plastic surface below.\n\tThis was great! This was awesome! A powerful sensation started to make Mike’s entire body buzz and glow all over and a broad smile snuck onto his face. This was exactly what he had hoped for. No, more than that! Tai wasn’t just willing to be naughty with him again – he was even suggesting it himself! Awesome! \n\tMike pulled his shirt over his head, feeling the moist, steamy air ruffle his chest and stomach fur. “Mmm…” he hummed to himself, checking the water with his paw.\n\t“Boo!” Tai said quietly from behind him. Mike looked over his shoulder.\n\tThe little vulpine had shed his clothes and laid them on tiles by the door. He stood there, dressed only in his satin boxers and a sheepish grin.\n\tMike’s breath caught. “Nearly ready,” he said. The tawny boy’s slender body made his stomach flutter. “Just gotta get some towels…”\n\tTai simply watched him, a shy little smile on his face.\n\t “I’ll just get the towels…” Mike said, dashing out of the bathroom again.\n\tWithout delay, Tai slipped his boxers down. For a brief moment, he stared down his skinny body, lightly touching the little sensitive protrusion on his downy-furred groin. Just knowing what was about to happen made him feel strange. \n\tHe gingerly put a paw under the jet of water – it was quite hot, but it felt nice. He didn’t notice it until now, but after a few days with no bathing and a day at a carnival he felt a little… dusty. Dirty and dry. This would be wonderful. He’d never been in a spa before, and now he was gonna be in one with another boy who made him feel funny just to look at. This was gonna be great!\n\tTai took the next step and dabbed a foot-paw into the water, leaning heavily on the edge of the tub to avoid putting weight on his plaster-enclosed one. The temperature was almost perfect. Hot, but the stinging sensation wasn’t overwhelming – it would be just right when they got in. After he got used to it anyway.\n\tHe shivered slightly. Whether it was from leaving one paw in the warm water or what was to come, he didn’t know…\n\tCome to think of it, he had never bathed with another boy before. With anyone else at all, actually. Who knew how crazy his mom would go if she found out? Would she even care? He didn’t know. But it didn’t bother him… it felt so right somehow. He desperately wanted to. Besides, he would never, ever mention it to his mother. Same with the first night Mike kept him company while she left him all alone.\n\tIt was time for him to keep secrets too.\n\tMike returned, also butt-naked, having shed his underwear in the hall outside, carrying three towels. He laid one on the floor near the edge of the spa, and placed the remaining two folded towels at the side of the bath. Tai realized the first towel on the floor was so they wouldn’t slip when they got out – Mike just did that sort of thing without even having to think about it. It was amazing just how he was so… what was the word? Responsible? \n\t“I’ve got a bath-robe about your size, if you want me to get that?” the brown pup asked. “It’s my old one. It’s very warm. So you don’t have to get dressed in dirty clothes when we’re done.”\n\tTai shrugged. “Sure!” Still leaning on the tub, he rotated himself fully into it, gingerly lowering himself into the rising water.\n\tStepping into the spa himself, Mike sat down abruptly under the shower’s stream. “Sit under the shower with me!” he urged, closing his eyes and tilting his head back, allowing his face to get thoroughly soaked.\n\tAfter only a moment’s hesitation, Tai reached out and took a hold of his friend for balance as he tried to sit down, with Mike’s patient help, cross-legged directly in front of him. With a grunt, he lowered onto his backside and grinned at his older friend. The water barely reached up to Tai’s knees, and the large tub was going to take a little while to fill at this rate.\n\tThe brown-furred vulpine looked openly at Tai as he sat down, unable to keep a wry smile from his features. Tai was just adorable, he thought. Under the hot shower, his eyes were squinted slightly to keep the water from them, but those clear grassy-green irises were still visible. The water had drenched his head-fur, giving him a long fringe that hung wetly in front of his face like a soaked curtain. Suddenly, he wanted nothing else but to reach out and touch those narrow, delicate shoulders…\n\t“What?” Tai giggled, noticing Mike’s unwavering gaze. A thrill went through him – he knew why Mike was staring. Probably for the same reason Tai stared back. \n\t“Nothing,” replied Mike, still smiling. He scooted a little closer under the shower, adjusting his position so he was also cross-legged. “Just looking…”\n\tTai gladly returned the attention. He slid even closer, so their knees touched. He looked his new friend over, holding his breath without even knowing it. He paid particular attention to Mike’s perfectly flat tummy, covered in that lush white down, now matted by the water. As his gaze lowered, he swallowed loudly. Cross-legged like this, they openly displayed their private parts to one another. His eyes locked onto Mike’s, and he got a sudden urge to reach forth and touch…\n\t “Hey, do you want some shampoo for your fur?” Mike asked. He reached around behind himself and grabbed a bottle from the edge of the tub. “Here!”\n\tTai blinked and took the bottle. “O-oh.” He looked at it speculatively. “D-do you want to do it?” he asked suddenly.\n\tMike cocked his head, his collar-length head-fur artfully draping over one of his eyes. “How do you mean?”\n\t“You can do the places I can’t reach!” Tai smiled bashfully. “Like my back. Afterwards, I’ll do yours!”\n\tThat sounded appealing. In fact, Mike liked that idea instantly. “Sure!” He took the bottle back, squeezing a little into his paw. “You know what, I’ll just do your chest and tummy too. Turn around!”\nEagerly, Tai twisted around. Mike pulled himself closer and guided Tai slowly backwards, spreading his legs out to either side of him. Tai giggled and put his arms down by his sides to allow the larger kit more access to his chest region while he lay back onto his friend’s soft, comfortable body. Mike’s paws started to rub through his chest fur, and a thick, bubbly lather erupted from beneath them as he did.\n\tChortling, Mike got some more shampoo and started to massage Tai’s white tummy fur. He liked running his hands through that dreamy, cloud-like fluff, not to mention touching Tai’s warm, skinny body. “Mmm! You have nice fur.”\n\tTai giggled shyly. He leaned back into his friend’s embrace, getting himself comfortable. \n\t“Good idea!” he complimented, taking the shampoo bottle and squirting some more of the peach colored substance onto his friend’s tummy. He started to massage and rub Tai’s sides with slow, firm movements, investigating the warm nooks and crannies of his armpits and feeling the contours of his ribcage beneath his luscious fur and tight little muscles. \n\tTai’s head drooped slightly and he let out a contented sigh. “Keep doing that please…” he murmured.\n\tDistracted by the lapping, warm water and intimate massage, neither boy noticed the activity beneath the thick bubbles that obscured the shallow water. They both recognized the tingly, warm feeling deep in their stomachs, but their little members had quickly stiffened unbeknownst to them also.\nAt last, when a clearing in the bubbles appeared, Mike looked down spotted Tai’s erection. His heart stopped briefly. “So, you like this?” he enquired, resting his head atop his friend’s and letting his tender paws wander a little lower down Tai’s belly. Tai looked down and smiled.\n\t“Y-yeah,” the tawny kit whispered, spreading his legs a little. Mike’s slow, gentle rubbing of his lower belly caused his stiffy to waggle, and even though his paws were still some inches from it, they were giving him a strange, pleasant feeling. Trusting his friend and the wonderful feelings, Tai closed his eyes and relaxed.\n\t“Don’t fall asleep!” Mike objected loudly over the white noise of the shower. “You still have to wash me, you know.”\n\tTai twisted around, lying on his side now. He rested his head on Mike’s outstretched leg. “Haven’t forgotten,” he assured him. Then his eyes clicked onto to Mike’s two-and-a-half inch erection. The older boy was at least as hard as he was. Tai hesitated only a moment, looking curiously at the smooth, hard little organ only just above the water’s surface, before murmuring, “I still owe you from last time, don’t I?”\n\t“Huh? What do you mean?”\n\tTai shifted a bit, bringing his head closer to the erection that so demanded his attention. With his tongue, Tai pulled into his muzzle.\n\tThe bigger boy twitched. “Yerk!” he exclaimed, shuddering as that smooth tongue firmly swirled around the head, manipulating his foreskin. “Oh, Tai!” he muttered, not really caring how lame he sounded.\n\tTai was pleasantly surprised. The little object in his mouth didn’t taste too badly at all. He was worried it’d taste foul, but not at all! It was smooth, warm and for some whacky reason just felt alright to put in his muzzle. He mentally shrugged and kept going, suckling the soft penis like it was a lollypop. Tasting it. Experimentally rolling it around his muzzle. Feeling it. \n\tForcing the sensations between his legs out of his immediate attention, Mike rinsed Tai’s chest of the shampoo and got the soap off his fingers. Slowly, he reached down and laid a paw on Tai’s belly, sliding his fingers slowly towards his ‘prey’s’ groin.\n\tTai felt the paw on his stiffy, gently lifting it up and exposing it to the warm air, brushing aside the dense bubbles, but he attempted to ignore it. However when Mike took the sensitive head between his thumb and forefinger and gave it a firm rub, he yelped and kicked a leg, splashing water over the spa and onto the ceramic tiles below.\n\t“Wh-what was that?!” he mumbled around the penis in his muzzle.\n\tMike grinned and looked down at him. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” he teased, doing it again. Affectionately, he stroked Tai’s cheek with his other paw. \n\t“Ah!” whimpered the smaller boy, shivering slightly. “It’s weird!”\n\t“But do you like it?” Mike started to do it again and again, rubbing the sensitive penis’s tip over and over. He swallowed involuntarily, watching the little stiffy twitch and press into his fingers, seeking stronger sensation even while Tai started to shake and tense all over. The kit’s leg would twitch, and his stomach would visibly tighten beneath his sodden fur, but despite all of that Tai didn’t even attempt to stop him…\n\t“Uhh-huh…” Tai groaned shakily. “Nnhnn! I-it’s like a t-tickle! A strong tickle on my d-dick! Ah!”\n\tDelighted, Mike doubled his efforts. “I know! It feels good, doesn’t it?” He chortled happily as Tai forced himself to start suckling again. \n\tThey continued, even as the water threatened to get in Tai’s way. The tawny kit was determined to do as much as possible before his friend’s groin was submerged in the soapy water. He didn’t want to stop. Neither of them wanted to stop.\n\tBut a horrific, painfully shrill noise erupted from the table next to the spa. Mike squealed in surprise and Tai flinched away, narrowly avoiding nipping his friend’s member with his tiny, sharp incisors.\n\tIt was the waterproof telephone by the spa.\n\tTai groaned out loud. “I hate phones!” he cried vehemently, pulling himself off Mike as the brown kit reached up for the cordless device.\n\t“Ditto…” Mike said sourly, shaking his paw dry then picking up the plastic phone. “Hello, Donaldson residence.”\n\t“Heya Mike!” was the tinny, distant sounding response. “It’s your dad.”\n\t“O-oh! Hi dad!” Mike settled back into the tub, touching shoulder to shoulder with Tai as they both sat with their backs against the side. “What’s wrong?”\n\t“Is that you in the shower? What’s Tai doing?”\n\tMike couldn’t see anything wrong about saying the truth, so he did. “Oh, he’s having one with me. He hasn’t had one since before he moved in.”\n\tRobert didn’t miss a beat with his reply, which Mike took to mean that he found nothing wrong with that idea. “Okay, good! Uh, I was in such a hurry to get out that I forgot to ask you guys what you want from the restaurant. I’m almost next in line in the queue; you should see this. It’s not anywhere near dinner time, but everyone seems to have had the same idea as me…”\n\t“Get there before it gets too busy?” Mike guessed, giggling. He laid his head on Tai’s when the kit suddenly rested against his shoulder. “Uhh, I think I’ll just have a beef curry with rice. Nothing fancy from me today, dad.” He spoke into his friend’s ear. “What about you, Tai?”\n\t“Umm, I’ll just have the same,” Tai replied. “I don’t like veggies.”\n\t“Tai wants the same, dad.” Mike scratched his tummy absently. “Oh, don’t forget the prawn crackers! And can you get us some soda? We’ve run out.”\n\t“I suppose so,” replied the voice from the phone. “Right, so no vegetables, I take it?”\n\t“Dad, we’re meat-eaters…” Mike’s voice had an exaggerated long-suffering twinge to it. “That stuff is gross.”\n\t“I’m kidding, Mike. Alright, boys, I’ll be back in about thirty minutes. Try to clean yourself properly this time. Behind your ears, the back of your neck, you know the deal.”\n\t“Yes, dad. See you soon!”\n\t“Yeee-up. See you soon. Love you!”\n\t“Love you too, dad!” Mike placed the phone on the edge of the spa. “Sorry, Tai…” he apologized. “Ugh. The water’s too high now.”\n\t“S’okay,” Tai replied quietly, silently relieved that Robert hadn’t blown up when he heard that Tai was sharing Mike’s bath. His mother would have gone bananas. At least he thought she would…“I didn’t do that well, did I…? I mean, I didn’t give you that feeling that you gave me, right?”\n\tMike hugged him close. “That’s alright; it takes time, and we’ve got all the time in the world!” He leaned closer, an idea forming in his horny preteen mind. “Hey, still wanna play?”\n\tAn excited gleam came to Tai’s eyes, and he smiled broadly. “Of course!”\n\t“Well,” mused Mike, “let’s wait until bed-time! We’ll have hours, since my dad will be working in his study, but if we keep going now, we won’t be as interested later on.”\n\tTai remembered that heavy lassitude that descended on him like an overly-comfy blanket after Mike gave him his first orgasm and agreed with an emphatic nod. “Yeah, it’s a good idea to do it in bed, huh?”\n\t“Uh-huh.” Mike reached for the shampoo yet again. “In the meantime, that doesn’t mean we can’t keep cleaning each other.” His eyes narrowed mischievously. “Or that I can’t keep rubbing you…”\n\tTai gulped, but didn’t move away as Mike cuddled right up to his back, the way they had been before, and dropped a paw to his crotch. “C’mon, spread your legs…” instructed Mike, grinning naughtily. “Let’s see if you can handle it for a little longer!”\n\t“H-how long?” Tai squeaked as the bigger boy’s fingers closed around his penis. \n\t“Oh, I dunno… until dad gets back. About half an hour.” The barky-furred kit nestled against Tai’s shivering body. Amazingly, Tai also snuggled up, resting his head on his new friend’s chest, completely willing.\n\tBut after a second, Tai stiffened, his ears perking straight up. \n“W-wait. H-how long?!”\n\nChapter Four – Fin. \n\n-- By Krazy Kitsune/Kichigai Kitsune\nCopyright 2005 onwards.\n\n",
"writing_bbcode_parsed": "Tai’s Story - Chapter 4.
By Kichigai Kitsune
Copyright 2005 onwards.
Disclaimer: This story contains coarse language, violence, adult themes and scenes of an adult nature involving two young “cubs” (young anthropomorphic non-humans). If you are under the legal age as prescribed by the laws under which you are subject to reading such material, do not continue beyond this disclaimer.
\tMike slumped over the opaque glass table. “Daaad?” he whined plaintively. “Do I have to do this? Really?”
\tHis father, Robert, was a quiet vulpine, but his tall, muscular body was testament to the fact that he was once as athletic as his son, if not even more so. Though he was now in his mid-thirties, the handsome fox had once been an avid soccer fan; in recent years, his athletic drives had merely been redirected towards the local football variant.
\tHowever, he now sported two thin box framed glasses on the bridge of his muzzle and wore a simple corduroy jacket and pant set as he sat back down in front of his large book.
\t“Yeah, sorry Mike,” Robert replied, adjusting his frames and squinting at the voluminous text before him. “Bloody government morons apparently don’t trust a university English professor to give his son an elementary level education.”
\t“But this is stupid!” Mike groaned in dismay and dropped his pencil. “Look at this one! ‘Who is the current president of America?’ Are they kidding?”
\t“It’s because they think I’m keeping you locked in the basement during the day and using you for satanic rituals at night.” Robert chuckled and shook his head. “Not really. They just want home-schooling to become so impractical that everyone just defers to the system for their kids’ education. That way, it’s easier to turn them into mindless television junkies.”
\tMike grinned irreverently. “I’ll take your word for it… until I can prove you right or wrong.”
\tThe older fur laughed and ruffled his son’s head-fur. “Good boy.”
\tThe kit sighed. “Well… who was that on the phone?” he asked curiously.
\t“Oh, nobody. We’ll be having a guest tonight, that’s all.”
\t“Who?”
\tHis father grinned. “You’ll see.”
\tThey went back to their respective tasks for another half-hour before Robert sighed and leaned back.
\t“All this reading can’t be good for the eyes…” he said. “I already wear glasses.”
\t“Can you still throw a ball, or are you too old and frail now?” challenged his son, looking up hopefully from his ‘homework’.
\t“Depends. Want me to change your diaper first?”
\tBefore their playful verbal jousting could go any further, someone knocked on the door.
\tStanding, Robert walked to the door, avoiding his son’s soccer ball in the hall, and opened it.
\tMike couldn’t see very much, since his father was blocking the view, but as he curiously sat up, he caught sight of a pointed, blue cap. Then another.
\t“Cops?” he mumbled to himself.
Mike didn’t really like cops.
\tHe briefly considered getting up and going to the door to see what was happening, but he knew if it was anything important his dad would pass it on. He always did. The kit shrugged and returned to his pointless, intrusive busywork.
\t“Um, th-thank you…” a familiar voice stammered softly, the speaker obscured by the adults crowding the doorway.
\t“Tai?!” Mike stood up abruptly, almost knocking his wooden chair over with the backs of his knees in the process, and jogged to the door.
\tRobert stood to the side, draping an arm over his son. “I see,” he said to the first cop, a humungous lion. “Well, we were going to look after him today anyway. We wondered when he was coming around. His mother, uh, asked us earlier.”
\t“Good to hear that!” the lion replied, adjusting his cap. “We were worried. Good thing his school had you as an emergency contact. Then, we’ll be off for now. We’ll contact his mother as soon as possible. Good luck, Tai.”
\t“Oh, look out,” the leopard cop added. “That kit can be one heck of a chatterbox.”
\tRobert allowed the little fox pup to hobble inside. Mike was taken aback when he saw that his friend was utilizing a crutch and his left foot-paw was encased in a plaster cast. The kit looked like he was fatally exhausted, and terribly embarrassed. He was refusing to meet Mike’s dad’s eyes.
\t“What the heck happened?!” Mike demanded, rushing to take the smaller kit’s arm and help him sit down.
\tTai accepted the aid and allowed himself to be seated in the warm living room on the comfortable sofa, while Mike rested his crutch against the wall beside him. “Um, it’s a long story,” he replied, looking mightily uncomfortable. “I-I’m really sorry I had to come here, but the police-”
\tMike interrupted him. “Hey, you let me stay at your place, right?”
\t“Oh. Uh. Yeah, I guess.” Tai scooted along the sofa so Mike could sit down.
\t“The least you could do is tell what happened to your paw!” Mike jumped the armrest and landed neatly on the unoccupied half of the sofa.
\tTai just suddenly couldn’t resist telling his tale. In retrospect even he could see how crazy it sounded.
\t“I hurt it when I jumped from the top of the shopping mall and landed in a shopping cart,” he said, shrugging nonchalantly. His green eyes glittered. “It’s not that big a deal.”
\t“You what?!” Mike’s eyes were as wide as dinner plates and his ears were pricked. “You’re telling me what happened, hear me?”
\t“After dinner,” Robert interjected smoothly, walking past and heading straight to the oven-stove combo in the corner of their kitchen. “We could all do with something to eat anyway.” Mike held his tongue, reluctantly.
\tTai surveyed this new environment. It was quite different from his apartment, although they lived not more than thirty seconds away.
\tTai’s home was cozy and homey with soft art-décor colors and wooden furniture. Mike’s home was clean and modern with more glass furniture and features. Unlike his apartment, this one was decorated with unusual pieces of modern art—strange, vaguely anthropomorphic shapes where in Tai’s new home there were more classical statuettes and the like. Tai couldn’t fathom what they were meant to be, but they looked neat.
\tEven the lighting was different. Tai’s home was illuminated by that soft, warm glow that almost put him to sleep. Mike’s had a powerful, clear light that accentuated the apartment’s ‘modern’ feel. However, in the corners of the lounge room, surmounting tiny tables of glass and wicker, were antique lamps that looked slightly out of place, producing a softer, warmer light. The room was being kept warm by a powerful gas heater that hummed and flickered in the corner, and as Tai looked at it, he noticed the air around it was shimmering and distorting slightly...
\t“Oh!” He suddenly exclaimed. “You don’t have to feed me, mister uh…! Th-thank you let me stay here for- I mean, the cops would’ve… Um.”
\tRobert held up his black furred paw to silence the stammering cub. “Tai, the first rule of cooking for multiple people is to always make more than is necessary in case anyone wants seconds or surprise guests show up.” He grinned. “Most of the time, it’s the former. So it’s no problem at all.”
\tHe opened the oven and slipped a tray out, thumping it down on the nearby counter.
\tOn that tray was a plump, juicy chicken, shimmering in its own heat and steaming. Spices had been cooked into it, and wafts of delectable odor assailed Tai’s olfactory senses despite the distance.
\tThe little fox jumped sharply, sitting up straight. He was absolutely ravenous and it showed.
Robert glanced over his shoulder and laughed before carving a portion of the chicken with a large, curved knife. He handed it to Tai on a white ceramic plate. “Here you are.”
\tTai was about to tear into the food savagely, but Mike pulled him back.
\t“Wait!” he ordered, with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.
\tAfter a second, Robert swept up close and cascaded a lot of pungent-smelling salt over the chicken.
\tTai sniffed at it. “Chicken salt? O-on a chicken?”
\t“Try it.” Mike’s grin was insufferable. “Trust me!”
\tTai grabbed at the plate and brought it to his muzzle. He sniffed gingerly at it, and the smell dizzied him.
He didn’t eat the food so much as he slaughtered and devoured it as punishment for being so delicious. Each bite seemed to explode with flavor; that absurd amount of salt had made the simple meal more than a meal.
\tTai ate the piece of chicken in less than twenty seconds and was licking the plate in thirty. He was done before Mike even had his plate in his hand.
\t“Hungry little guy, aren’t you?” Robert asked, sitting in a leather chair adjacent to the couch the kits were on. “Had you eaten anything earlier?”
\tTai shook his head. “No, sir.” He carefully placed the plate down on the table in front of him. “I skipped lunch at school.”
\t“Now why would any self-respecting, sensible young boy do that?”
\tMike coughed slightly. “Um, dad?” he said. “We’re talking school dinners here. They say if you put them in a microwave they’d come to life.”
\t“Fair point, I suppose. Though I wouldn’t call sodium-doused chicken a fantastic meal either. I was a little pressed for time though.”
\tTai smiled slightly. The truth was, in all the schools he’d been in you had to pay for food from the canteen; and Tai never had any money. He never asked his mom for any, either – she didn’t have any to give him. He usually ate something he took to school, provided it wasn’t taken from him, or waited until he got home, but his mother hadn’t been able to make him anything today. Besides, he didn’t have any intention of hanging around the refectory area. Not at his new school.
\t“Ah.” Robert put the plate on the arm of the chair and leaned back. “So, Tai, what do you like to do?” He eyed the kit curiously.
\t“Huh? Uh, I mean, excuse me?” Tai blinked. “Oh, you mean, my hobbies?”
\t“Yeah. Do you watch TV or play sports?”
\tFor a bemused moment, the kit didn’t seem to know how to reply. “Uh… N-no, sir. I don’t like TV and I stopped playing sports at school—I couldn’t compete with the bigger kids. At school I, uh, I go to the library.”
\t“You ought to have played at a club or something,” Mike told him, finishing his chicken and unceremoniously dumping the plate on top of Tai’s. “I’ve heard they’re more friendly than schoolie teams.” He winced and glanced sideways at his father. “I mean, friendlier.”
\tTai shook his head once more. “There weren’t any near my home.” He cried out in pain as he accidentally whacked his injured leg off the table leg.
\t“Ow!” Mike said in sympathy. “Careful!”
\t“It’s alright.” Tai shuffled back in the sofa. “Um, I really just read or go for walks when I get bored.”
\t“Better than sitting in front of TV all day,” mused Robert, who still hadn’t touched his chicken. “So, what do you read?”
\tThe tawny kit leaned forward again eagerly. “Well, I read fantasy, sci-fi, comics and stuff like that! I love reading history books too.”
\t“Who’s your favorite fantasy writer?” Robert prompted. He picked up his chicken and finally started chewing on it. Slowly.
\t“Umm, well, he’s this guy I read on the computer.” The little fox squirmed bashfully. “O-on the, uh, internet. He’s really, really good. My mom found him for me. We don’t have the internet ourselves at home, but we could use it at the library.”
\t“I’m sure of it. It’s difficult for authors to get published these days; the new guys have a heck of a time, and the internet seems to be offering the answer.” Robert chomped into his chicken at last and reclined in the chair. “I’ve read some decent stories on the ‘net.”
\tMike smiled to himself. His dad seemed interested in his new friend. That was good. “Dad?”
\t“What is it, Mike?”
\t“Do I have to do that stupid test today?” Even Tai was impressed at the irresistibly adorable face Mike pulled on his father. Mike was a very good looking kit, and he could do a dangerous ‘puppy-face’. “Can I do it tomorrow? Please?”
\tThe older vulpine rolled his eyes. “Sure, Mike. No one cares about it anyway, except the guys in suits that want to take you away to a foster home, but…”
\tMike started backwards in surprise. “Are you serious?!” he demanded, his hazel eyes wide. “I didn’t think it was that important!”
\tHis father laughed uproariously and slapped his knee. “Oh, Mike!” he chortled. “I’m just kidding. The thing isn’t due for a week. You don’t have to do it right now.”
Mike let out his breath explosively. “Don’t do that, dad!”
“What you do have to do, though, is come right here and give me a hug!”
“Why?” Mike asked insolently, getting up and walking to his dad.
“You need a reason, do you?!” Robert said indignantly. Mike suddenly burst out laughing and flung himself at his dad.
Tai smiled wistfully but didn’t say anything.
“Alright!” Robert said, standing. “You can do that nonsense tomorrow; but make sure you do. Let’s put an end to the entire lugubrious affair. I don’t like having those busybodies looming over us for the sake of a little test.” He stretched and adjusted his glasses. “I’ll be in my study, probably reading some more total gibberish, if you need me.”
Mike put a paw in front of his muzzle to direct his voice and whispered furtively, “He’s marking some dumb college-student’s work, I bet! Some of them can’t spell for crap…”
When the adult was gone and the two kits were left alone, Tai looked down at the couch he was seated on.
“Um. I guess I’m gonna be sleeping here?” he surmised.
Mike looked at him almost disdainfully. “Of course not,” he spat. “You’ll be sleeping out in the hallway.” Then he grinned widely. “Actually, we’ve got a spare bedroom. We also have a fold out bed to put in my room for sleep-overs, and my bed is a double.”
Tai blushed. Thankfully, his fur hid that, but his face burned nonetheless. “I’ve never slept over at someone else’s house before,” he admitted. “I dunno what I’m meant to do.”
“You can sleep in my room on the foldout,” Mike said slowly, as if talking to an idiot. “You can sleep in the spare room. You can sleep in my bed. Take your pick.”
The look Tai shot him after that nearly made him kick himself.
“Um,” mumbled the kit, “h-how about I sleep in your bed? It’ll be less work and it’s cold. That’s not weird is it?”
“Nope, not at all.” Mike wasn’t lying, really, as it wasn’t that unusual as far as he knew for boys to share beds during sleepovers. Not that he minded the notion anyway. Mike stood and offered a paw to his friend. “Come on! I’ll help you.”
They made their way slowly around the apartment to Mike’s bedroom, Tai being careful to avoid whacking anything with his unwieldy crutch.
Mike’s room was definitely Mike’s. The walls were decorated with posters, some displaying athletes, some showing rock or pop stars, and more than a few motorbikes. Some of them were of an entirely different nature, such as one right above his bed that detailed the solar system, and a periodic table of the elements that had been thoroughly doodled on. It seemed like every little thing that interested the sporty boy had to be represented in some way. The lights were small, circular craters in the roof, giving off a dimmer, softer light rather than the powerful glare throughout rest of the house. Tai thought they looked cool.
\t“If you’re not too tired, we could play some Game-Station until ten?” Mike asked, helping Tai seat himself on his bed before sitting next to him. He affected a conspiratorial expression and leaned closer. “Or we could check out some magazines that my dad thinks he’s hidden from me?”
\tTai shyly averted his eyes. “I-uhh, I can’t stay up late,” he murmured. “I have school tomorrow.”
\t“Darn!” Mike punched his palm. “I forgot about that. Well, it doesn’t really matter too much. I normally go to bed at eight and read until nine or so.” He shrugged. “Dad’s normally strict about bed-time, but I thought that with you over…”
\t“Um,” ventured Tai uncertainly, “y-you could play the Game-Station? I’ll watch? If… you want.”
\tMike groaned silently.
\t“I-I’ve never played before,” the little fox continued. “I won’t know what to do. I’m really tired.” Tai saw the look on Mike’s face and instantly misinterpreted it. “B-but if you want, I’ll play the game with you, or read the magazines.”
\t“Stop that!” Mike said abruptly. “I’m not going to hold it against you if you’re too tired to play silly computer games with me.”
\t“B-but-!”
\t“When do you wanna hit the sack?”
\tTai blinked, confused by that particular expression. “What?”
\t“When do you want to go to sleep?” Mike was peeling back the corner of his bed-sheets.
\tThe sight of a bed made Tai’s legs go numb. It looked so warm and… warm!
\t“I-I dunno. Um, whenever you want to, I guess.”
\tMike fought off the urge to shake his small friend by the shoulders. “It’s seven now,” he said, nodding at the clock on the wall behind Tai. “We really ought to at least be in bed by eight thirty. Earlier, if you’re tired.”
Tai turned to look; the clock had all the numbers spread out all over the face. Superimposed on them were the words ‘Who Gives A Damn?’, written in the style of graffiti. How did Mike know what time it was from that thing? Tai sucked at reading analog clocks, and he struggled to make sense of it.
\tSuddenly, Tai’s vision blurred and he was hit with an inexplicable dizziness.
\tMike darted forwards and caught his friend before he could collapse forward and laid him on the bed. “Tai!” he exclaimed worriedly.
\t“I-I’m okay!” Tai replied, blinking owlishly.
\t“No, you’re not! You’re exhausted! C’mon, I think you should go to sleep soon.”
\tTai nodded and sat himself up. He shook his head to clear it, but strangely everything seemed misty all of a sudden. He’d been running on his second wind for a while now, and now he felt horrible.
\t“Sh-should I go to bed in my clothes?” Tai enquired, blinking some more. The protocols were unknown to him. He wanted to sleep next to Mike though, if he could. He could do with some warmth and such after this day.
\t“I don’t think you should,” replied Mike seriously. “Of course, it’s up to you. I feel gross if I do.”
\tTai nodded and promptly lifted his shirt up over his head. “Where should I put this?”
\tMike vaguely pointed at the floor, flicking the lights off at a wall switch. “Anywhere will do,” he said, shucking his own shirt off and dumping it unceremoniously on the carpet. He pulled his shorts off and clambered into his bed, clad only in his satin boxers. “C’mon! It’s okay.”
\tTai mentally shrugged and slid down his track pants. He climbed under the covers. Instantly his eyes closed and he drifted off to sleep.
\tMike’s eyes slowly pried themselves open and his sleepy brain slothfully started to function again, though under protest. It was still the middle of the night. The quiet drumming on his window indicated it was raining outside. He blinked a few times in the darkness of his room, trying to see just what the heck had woke him up.
\tIn the darkness of the room, it was pointless, but it wasn’t his eyes that finally explained it.
\tHe could feel that someone had grabbed his arm, and was hugging it tightly. That someone was also sobbing very gently to himself, small, lean body shuddering almost imperceptibly as he did so.
\t“Tai?” the now completely awake fox asked softly, leaning a little closer to the dark shape of ears in front of his head.
\tIt took a while for Tai to respond. “Uhh?” he moaned sluggishly, and then he gasped. “Oh, sorry,” he said, releasing Mike’s forearm. “Sorry…” The little fox shunted forwards slightly on his side, separating them. Evidently in the middle of the night, Tai had woken up, cuddled up to Mike and begun crying for some reason.
\tMike shuffled back close to his friend and laid an arm over his slight form. “It’s okay. I don’t mind.” He hugged to the smaller pup, snuffling at his ears. “I was just gonna ask why you were crying, that’s all.”
\t“I-I wasn’t crying.”
\t“Uh-huh. Right.”
\tTai lay in his friend’s embrace for a while, absently registering just how warm and comfortable he actually was; he was so used to sleeping in his own bed alone. This was so amazingly different. “I was crying, wasn’t I…” he whispered. The kit inhaled deeply. The room was warm and had an oddly familiar odor… Mike’s odor.
\t“Why?”
\t“I-I was just thinking… tomorrow, I-I’ve got to go to back school.”
\tMike shrugged, and Tai felt it. “Yeah, I guess so.”
\t“I’m gonna die…”
\t“What?”
\t“He and his friends tried to steal something from the store in town. I told on them, and they chased me. That’s how I hurt my leg.”
\tIt took a few moments for Mike to even realize what Tai was talking about. “Who is this guy?”
\t“A crazy jerk.” Tai reached up and wiped his nose with the back of a paw.
\tWith a wry grin, Mike nosed at his friend’s ear once. “Ah. So he’s just an idiot.”
\tTai snorted a laugh, but quickly returned to being morose. “But he’s a big idiot,” he mourned. “With loads of big friends. I got them in big trouble, and they’ll be coming for me tomorrow. They tried to stab me and beat me up… and tomorrow….” A sob. “Because no one is my friend there, and no one stops these jerks! They can get away with anything! They’re gonna kill me.”
\t“Don’t you think you’re exaggerating?” enquired Mike, giving his friend a comforting squeeze. “They wouldn’t, would they? They couldn’t!”
\tTai bit his lip. “I-I don’t know…” He turned around slightly so he could face Mike, barely discerning his features from the darkness around them. “They’re...” Another choked sob. “What can I do?” the little kit wailed, his voice cracking.
\tMike was speechless; he didn’t know what to do either. It sounded unbelievable. It made no sense to him, but then, he was sheltered.
\tWithout any hesitation, he cuddled right up against the smaller boy’s back. “Hey, you’re okay,” he muttered, resting the bottom of his muzzle between both of those large, charming ears. “You don’t need to worry about it. We’ll help you deal with them.”
\t“H-how?!”
\t“We’ll tell your mom, my dad, the cops, the school.” Mike nuzzled under Tai’s chin, snuffling his neck and earning a sort of reluctant giggle. “We’ll figure it out. I swear.” After a brief moment of hesitation, Tai once again pulled Mike’s arm tightly to his chest and nestled against the older boy’s body.
\tMike noticed with a slight widening of his eyes that this was the first time he’d ever actually had another boy in his bed. The first time he’d ever properly snuggled up to someone of the same sex as him – excluding his dad of course. The first time he’d cuddled up to anyone else…
\tIt felt really nice, actually.
\t“Can we snuggle?” Tai asked weakly.
\tMike laughed. “What are we doing now?!”
\tThe two kits huddled together, with Mike gently squeezing his smaller friend. Snug and contented in their shared warmth, the two drifted back to sleep.
\tIt was the sound of birdsong that woke him. That surprised Tai a bit, since that had to be the one sound he thought he’d never hear again after leaving Alaska for the city.
\tDisoriented, at first he wasn’t sure where he was. The room was strange, and there was a large window overlooking the street through which the sun shone in.
\tA sharp stabbing pain made him wince as his injured ankle gave him its idea of a ‘good morning’. “Ooooh!” he whined, sitting up. Oddly enough, he felt more rested and happy with himself than he had before, at least in the time he could readily remember.
\tMike wasn’t in bed anymore, but that was sort of to be expected. Tai had overslept. According to the ‘Who Gives A Damn’ clock, it was almost nine, or something close to that.
\t“AAH!” Tai exclaimed, eyes flying wide and body going rigid. “SCHOOL!”
\tHe pulled himself out of the sheets as quickly as he could, and wondered frenetically just what the heck to do now. He couldn’t even stand up properly, leaning against the bed on one leg, his leg awkwardly sticking out to one side.
\t“Oh, I’m gonna be late!” he burbled, eyes darting around the room in a panicky blindness. “Mom’ll kill me! I’ve never been late to school before!” He paused. “I-I lost my satchel!”
\tJust then, Mike opened his bedroom door. He was holding two tumblers full of juice, two sandwiches and two skinless sausages on a red plastic tray. The older boy was wearing his red shirt and denim shorts; evidently he’d been up for some time.
\tMike laid the tray on his bedside dresser, next to the lamp, and leaned against the wall, eyeing Tai appreciatively. “Oooh, good mor-ning hotness!” he said, eyes sparkling mischievously. “You’re real cute in your boxers.”
\tEven in his panic, Tai flushed. Mike smiled at him: the sunlight from the window behind the pup, clad only in his underwear, made his tawny fur glitter, engulfing him in a majestic iridescent aura.
\t“Did you ask for those boxers?” Mike enquired, looking pointedly at them. “I didn’t notice until just now you were wearing pink ones.”
\tTai blushed. “My mom bought them for me,” he said, slightly defensively. “And they’re not pink. They’re light red.”
\t“Uh-huh.” Mike scratched his ear absently. “Anyway, good morning!”
\tTai felt a little naked. His friend was totally dressed and looking at him like he was a marble statue. “Good morning,” he replied shyly. “Um, I’m late for school so-”
\tMike held up a paw. “Hold it. My dad spoke with me earlier.” He picked up the tray once more and placed it on a pillow. Then he sat on the bed himself, scooting back until his shoulders were against the headboard. “The cops want you stay away from school for a few days. The hospital says so too.”
\t“But why?”
\tMike didn’t know why, but he found Tai’s perfect enunciation of ‘why’ to be sort of cool. “The cops want to be sure none of that guy’s friends are gonna try to hurt you – isn’t that what you were worried about? The hospital has said they don’t want you going to school because your school has so many stairways.” He picked up a sausage and bit in two. The aroma made Tai’s mouth water. “And Dad agreed to let me have the next few days off! We got a call from your mom and she asked if we could look after you for a few days. Isn’t that awesome? Mmm! These are great!” With that, he quickly ate the rest of the sausage. When he reached for the other one, Tai leaned in carefully and stole it away, grinning.
\t“Hey, the only problem,” Mike continued, face grave, “is that we absolutely have to be at the Nerus Fair at eleven. We’ll be back by three in the afternoon, but we do have to go.”
\tTai shrugged. A fair could be fun, and he was getting bored with being cooped up. “What’s a ‘Nerus Fair’?”
\t“It’s a cool fair,” elucidated Mike, grinning widely. “Cool people go there.”
\tTai hoped by ‘cool’ he didn’t mean more dumbasses of Darron’s ilk. He bit into the sausage, and a slight frown came to his features. Usually, he never questioned ‘adult matters’ like this, but… “I wonder how mom knew I was here.”
\tMike chuckled. “I dunno. Does it matter?”
\t“Hey boys!” came Robert’s voice from the doorway. Tai turned to look, and his jaws suddenly felt an irresistible urge to flop open.
\tStanding in the doorway, glinting in the sunlight streaming in through the window, was an ambulatory suite of armor. It was easily grasping a seven foot lance with a brightly colored pennon trailing from it. In its other hand was a burnished shield, about two feet across. The helmet’s face guard protruded slightly, to accommodate the vulpine muzzle.
It saluted Tai brightly. “G’ morning, Tai!” Robert said cheerfully, before turning and clomping away in his suit of armor.
Mike hadn’t looked up, and was busy chewing contentedly on a sandwich. “Hey, come on!” he said to Tai. “I made these, so can you at least give them a chance?” His expression and tone were totally bland.
“M-Mike?” Tai stammered, pointing at the doorway, emerald eyes wide open. “Did your dad just walk past in a suit of armor?”
“Pfft,” scoffed Mike. “Don’t be silly. Why would a fur going to a medieval-Renaissance fair dress in medieval armor?”
“A medieval fair…?” Tai whispered. “A medieval fair?” he repeated, a little stronger.
“I knew you’d like the idea.”
\tInstantly, Tai swiped a beef sausage, then devoured the ham and cheese sandwich and knocked back the fruit juice within the space of a minute. Unable to help it, he beamed at Mike.
\t“You know, I might be wrong,” joshed Mike, having swigged down his juice, “but I think something has you excited.”
\t“I’ve never been to a medieval fair before!” Tai gushed, still grinning. “I’ve always wanted to go to one but there was never one near us! This is so cool! Are you really taking me too?”
\t“Yes!” the older fox pup interjected, giggling. “We can’t just leave you here!”
\t“What are we gonna do until we leave?”
\t“We’ve got an hour and a half until we have to leave, so why don’t we either put on the Gamestation?”
\tTai scrambled back onto the bed, taking care not to smack his ankle off anything. “Yeah, put the Gamestation on!” he said excitedly. “I’ve never seen one before.”
\t“Never?” asked Mike, slightly incredulous. “Not even in a department store?”
\t“A what?”
\tMike chortled. “Never mind.” He leaned forwards and pushed the power button on his little television. The screen burst into white static.
\t“Don’t you have an aerial?” asked Tai, looking at the screen in puzzlement.
\t“I don’t watch television.” Mike switched the channel and pressed a large green button on his Gamestation before skipping back to the bed. “If I was going to, I’d watch it in the den.”
\tThe Gamestation logo appeared on screen, against a black background. Two symbols, a ‘G’ and a ‘S’ collided in an explosion of lava, wreathed in sparks and colorful purple electricity. Tai blinked. “Whoa.”
\tAfter the logos of the developing companies had displayed themselves, the game’s title appeared. Violently. It exploded onto the screen in a fiery conflagration – Tai hadn’t expected that. It actually made him jump.
\tHe didn’t even read the title. The colors and effects were too beautiful. He’d never seen anything like it before. At times, the graphics were almost photorealistic.
\tMike played for a short while, controlling a squirrel jumping from tree to tree, occasionally blasting an enemy with a rocket launcher, before his manners returned to him. “Oh, sorry,” he said, offering the controller to Tai. “Do you wanna play?”
\tThe smaller fox had been staring in awe at the television, the vivid images totally captivating him, paws resting on his lap. “R-really?” he finally replied, as if he’d been given some kind of honor. “Um, can you show me how to play?”
\t“Sure!” Mike proceeded to explain the game’s controls, starting with the basics. Tai was a quick learner. He paid unwavering attention during the lesson. He took the controller into his paws with an odd reverence.
\tWhen Tai started to play, Mike found the kit himself a lot more interesting than the game. The slender vulpine’s eyes were wide open, riveted to the television. His muzzle hung open, and he didn’t even seem to notice it. It was all Mike could do to keep himself from laughing out loud. The idea came to him to put on his other favorite game, which was far more of a gore fest, and see how Tai reacted to the violence.
\tThere was a knock on the door and both kits looked up.
\tRobert was standing in the doorway. He wasn’t wearing his armor anymore, which begged the question of why he had it on earlier if he was going to take it off. Tai glanced at his friend, but Mike’s expression showed no confusion or anything.
\t“I’m just going down to the mall quickly,” Robert said, smoothing out the front of the ostentatiously yellow shirt he now wore.
\t“How come, dad?” asked Mike, confused.
\t“We need some food for today, don’t we?” Robert shucked on a black leather jacket that covered his blazing golden shirt, so that at least he wouldn’t look like an ambulatory traffic light. Then he took off his wire-framed glasses and put on a pair of sunglasses. “Back soon.”
\tAs Robert left Mike got up and shut the door. “Well, I guess we’ve got a while anyway,” he said, kicking off his sneakers and padding back to the bed in his orange ankle socks.
\tTai’s attention was wrenched back to the game as a wall was felled by a gargantuan quadrupedal tank. The tank gracefully stepped out over the rubble from the destroyed wall and faced off against Tai’s squirrel.
\t“Oh, cool, you’re up to the boss!” Mike complimented, sitting down again. “Nice.”
\t“Now what?!” Tai enquired calmly, neatly avoiding the tank’s shell-attack. The ground shattered and flaming chunks of concrete rained down upon the arena. “What’s a boss anyway? Isn’t that the guy you work for? Why am I fighting my boss? Why is he trying to kill me?”
\tMike stared at him for a few seconds. “Right, now that you’ve asked me five questions in, like, a second,” he drawled, “why don’t you tell me what order you’d like them answered in?”
\tTai sniggered. “Oh, any order you like.”
\t“Get into the tree top and shoot the top of it with your rocket launcher. A boss is an enemy that is stronger than normal and is harder to defeat. No, you don’t work for him. You’re fighting him because he’s the bad guy and he’s going to kill you if you don’t get him first. He’s trying to kill you because you’re an assassin sent to kill his b… uh, employer.”
\t“Oh,” Tai said, choosing not to ask what an assassin was. “Okay.”
\tIn fairly good time, Tai managed to defeat the tank. It detonated in a decent display of destruction. The pyrotechnics were impressive, and Tai felt chuffed.
\t“May I have a go?” asked Mike, politely.
\tTai wasted no time in handing the controller back to him. “Of course!” Tai sat back on the bed. After a pause, the underwear-clad pup got onto his paws and knees, crawled behind Mike, and affectionately rested his muzzle upon the older pup’s shoulder. “Hi!” he giggled, steadying himself by placing his paws on Mike’s shoulders.
\t“Comfy?” Mike asked, taking up where Tai had left off.
\t“Mmm, yup.” Tai sighed and stared at the screen. He was no longer hypnotized by the graphics, but he still found them amazing. The things one could do, one could create, in a computer game, and the fun to be had with it… it just blew his mind. “So, what kinda things will we be doing at this fair?”
\t“Well, there’s lots of food. We can’t compete in the jousting and stuff, because we’re too small, but there’ll be things like races, competitions and games. We’re gonna meet some friends too.”
\tTai nodded. “Is it okay if I just watch the racing and that kind of stuff?” he asked, a hopeful tone to his voice.
\t“Sure,” Mike agreed, “you don’t have to do anything. Besides, with that paw, you won’t be able to keep up anyway.”
\t“Oh,” Tai muttered wryly, “yeah. I hope I’ll be able to walk okay.”
After much gaming, the boys heard Robert returning. They went out to greet the grownup and found him sorting through the grocery bags on the kitchen counter.
\t“Ready to go, guys?” he asked, when he sensed his son and his new friend standing behind him. “We’re leaving as soon as I sort out the picnic food.”
\t“Yeah, dad!” replied Mike. “Give us a sec.” He turned to Tai. “Hey, come on! Let’s get ready.”
\tThe two kits made their way back into Mike’s room.
\tTai picked up his track-pants and slipped into them on the bed. “This is gonna be so cool!” he crowed, pulling a white and black sport sock onto his good paw. “Jousting! Swords! Yeah!”
\tMike giggled. “Cool, huh? We go every time.” He put his trainers back on over his orange socks, still looking at Tai, who was putting his shirt on, his excitement making him unusually clumsy.
\t“Really?”
\t“Well, every year for the past four!”
\t“Awesome!” Tai picked up his sneaker, slid it onto his good paw and laced it up. He was told to just treat the bandaging on his other paw as a shoe… a shoe that felt really weird, because air could be felt rushing through it with every step. A few of his toes actually poked out through the bandaging, but he could barely wiggle them. He couldn’t wait until he would be able to wear both shoes again. It felt truly bizarre.
\t“Come on!” Mike said, getting off his bed and rushing across the room to the doorway. “You ready? Let’s go!”
\tTai leapt to his good foot and limped after his friend. “Yeah! Ow!”
\tThe long car ride out of the city was uneventful and quiet. Both boys were inordinately well behaved, keeping their obvious excitement under control.
\tNonetheless, when they finally parked, all three of the vulpines wanted out of their seats immediately. It had taken almost an hour to get off the island and this far out of town.
\tWith some difficulty, Tai opened his door and clambered out – managing to avoid hurting his ankle or whacking anything with his crutch. In awe, he looked around at the lush forestry around. He felt an energy surge through him. Vivacity he hadn’t felt for ages.
\tIt was so good to be out of the city! To not be surrounded only by concrete and metal and stone!
\tThe pup inhaled deeply, smelling, tasting and breathing the wilderness.
\t“Over here, Tai!” Mike called to him from the other side of the car. Sluggishly, Tai turned around and followed behind his friend. They crested a small hill and what Tai saw nearly made him faint.
\tIt was huge.
\tBlue and white pennons streamed from the high zeniths of over a dozen huge tents the size of warehouses, snapping and twisting in the warm mid-day air while a flock of pure white doves gracefully soared through the sky above, glinting in the light of the sun. The tents and various pavilions were of many colors, but they were almost all striped or had intricate, art-deco designs on them. The sound of laughter and excited chatter, mingled with the lively, distinctive sound of archaic music, floated up to the sky to join the birds in flight.
\tHundreds of furs milled about the fairground, many in costume. As for the fairground itself… Tai could see no end to it.
\t“Oh, my gosh…” he whispered to himself. “This is incredible!”
\tMike hopped out the car and looked out over the large fete. “Pretty big, isn’t it?” he asked, ambling around the car until he was shoulder to shoulder with his friend once more.
\t“H-how many… a-are here?”
\t“A couple of hundred. I guess. It’s here for a week.” Mike laughed and started walking towards the hub-bub. “Let’s go on down. We can meet some of my other friends.” He turned to his father, who was busy hoisting up the bags he’d packed. “We’ll be at the café tent, alright dad?”
\t“Sure,” Robert replied, slamming the trunk shut. “I’ll be done in a second. Just have to sort things out with Daryl. We’re helping with the jousting. Tai, make sure you use that crutch. Put as little weight as possible on your sore paw, please.”
\tTai nodded.
\t“Cool!” Mike chortled, starting to walk towards the fair. “C’mon, Tai! Let’s go! You’ve gotta meet these guys! I think you’ll find Ernie pretty funny; he’s a jackass.”
\tTai flinched as if struck. “A what?!” That was a peculiar thing to call one’s friend.
\tMike frowned. “Huh? Oh, no, sorry, that’s not what I mean.”
\t“Oh.” The pup sidled up to his friend and together they walked towards the fluttering banners. Rather, Mike walked. Tai limped along with the aid of his small crutch.
\tMike found his friends by a huge crimson colored pavilion. It was the second largest tent erected and it housed a large mobile cafeteria. Under its shade, vans and stalls were set up, and as they approached, Tai could see a forest of plastic tables and chairs within.
\tStanding near the entrance was an odd collection of kids. Two ringtails that looked like brother and sister were dressed in utterly conflicting styles. The boy was dressed in denim shorts, a black t-shirt adorned by intricate white patterns on the front and wore a blue bracelet on his left wrist. A steel chain linked the wallet in his pocket to his belt. He leaned indolently against a support, paws in his pockets and sporting a wide, toothy grin. The female ringtail cub had long head-fur that came down to her shoulder blades, and wore a green peasant-style dress – possibly in keeping with the theme of the festival. Her right wrist was adorned by a red bracelet and her features were composed, but smiling. A sort of modest grin. It was as if she was perpetually taking part in some gigantic joke and wasn’t doing a good job of pretending otherwise.
\tAlmost paralytic with laughter on the ground was an ash-white colored arctic fox. His jaw was wide open and he was shrieking his guffaws from behind his pointed teeth. His clothing was plain; a red surfing brand t-shirt and black shorts. His eyes glittered gold with mirth, tears rolling down his cheeks.
\tThen there was the donkey. That long face had the satisfied grin of one who had just received a good response from a funny joke.
\t“Hey, Ciaran!” the donkey said, prodding the laughing vulpine with a bare hoof. “While you’re down there…”
\t“Get up, Ciaran,” the female ringtail laughed. “You’re getting grass-stains.”
\tThe formerly ash-white, now blotched a greenish-yellow, fox rolled over and managed to force out a greeting. To his credit, it was nearly comprehensible.
\t“Hey guys!” Mike said, guiding Tai in front of himself. “This is Tai. He lives near my apartment uptown.”
\tThe ringtail boy shot him a two fingered salute. “Hey,” he said. “I’m Aaron. Everyone just calls me ‘Squeaker’ though. Don’t ask.”
\tTai smiled shyly.
\t“He’s a little shy.” Mike smiled at his friend encouragingly, laying a paw on his shoulder. “He gets over it.”
\tNow Tai’s cheeks felt hot.
\t The girl ringtail went right up to him and sniffed at him. Tai flinched away in confusion.
\t“Hmm,” the ringtail mused. “Does he know the secret?”
\t“Nope,” replied Mike, smiling broadly.
\t“S-secret?” Tai asked, looking to his friend desperately. “What secret?”
\t“You don’t know it?!” the ringtail pressed. “The secret? Y’know? That secret?”
\t“Umm, I dunno…”
\t“Millie,” Aaron reprimanded. “You’re freaking him out. Quit already. Heck, you’re freakin’ me out.”
\tMillie curtseyed with exquisite grace. “I’m allowed to in your case, you’re my brother.” She grinned at Tai. “You know, no one knows The Secret.” She laughed. “I’m Millie. Nice to meet you.”
\t“H-hello!” Tai said, baffled.
\tThe arctic fox clambered to his paws and picked something up out of the grass. His glasses.
\tHe slid them onto the bridge of his muzzle and extended a paw for Tai to take. “Ciaran! Kee-ran, spelled with a ‘C’!” he told the little fox, who bashfully shook his offered paw. “Don’t worry about Millie’s ‘secret’. We’re all trying to figure it out. Including her.”
\t“I- I didn’t think you wore glasses when I first saw you…” Tai murmured nervously.
\tBut the older kit merely smiled playfully.
\t“Care to guess who the last one is?” Mike enquired, grinning. “That’s Ernie.”
\t“Yo, what-is-up-my-homie!? Word!” The donkey greeted them with a half-speed mockery of the dialogue Tai had only been hearing recently but already despised.
\tTai scanned them all quickly. All of them were around twelve or thirteen – if not older. That made Mike and him the youngest by quite a bit. These new furs were fascinating however, and they didn’t seem to mind that Mike at least was so much younger.
\t“Hey, where’s your dad, Mikey?” asked Millie, running a paw casually through her head fur. She then began messing with it, twirling it around a finger idly.
\t“Talking to yours I bet.” Mike pulled out a wallet. “Tai, are you hungry? We didn’t have much for breakfast.”
\t“Um, I-” On cue, Tai’s stomach cut him off with a disturbing growl.
\t“Good answer. Come on! You gotta try the caramel-mint-chocolate milkshake they do here!”
\tThat did sound appealing, Tai had to admit.
\tAaron shuddered. “How can you drink those things?”
\tInstantly, his sister looked him square in the face. “Says the meat-eater.”
\tCiaran groaned, but still kept his grin. “Millie, some of us are carnivores, okay? Stop calling us evil because of how we were born.”
\tThe ringtail blinked. “But you are evil!”
\tErnie nudged Tai. “Hey. If ever you wanna take a bite out of her, go ahead. No one will complain.”
\tThe little fox giggled but didn’t trust himself to talk again.
\tMike shook his head and walked towards the cafeteria. The serving cat took the order and smilingly offered to give the group a table.
\t“Yes please,” Mike replied, motioning for his friends to hurry up. “Guys, c’mon!”
\tWhen they were directed to their seats, Tai made sure to sit next to his friend. There were so many furs around, he had started to feel anxious.
\t“What did you order?” Millie enquired, fussing over her head fur once more.
\tMike shrugged. “Just two of the, uh, milkshakes and a beef sandwich for you.”
\t“Har-de-har-har. So I guess we still have to order ours, huh? Typical.”
\tRolling up a napkin and tossing it at the ringtail, Mike chuckled. “Well, whaddaya want me to do? Read your mind?”
\t“Besides,” Aaron added, grinning hugely, “it’s impossible to feed you anyway, veggie-girl.”
\tAfter a short laugh, they all begun chatting.
\tAnd Tai was suddenly lost.
\tThe conversation flitted from one topic to the next, and even Mike spoke easily with these older kids on each subject, responding to jibes and launching a few of his own with self-confident nonchalance.
\tAs the surprisingly mature conversation went on, Tai slumped in his seat, feeling awkward and badly out of place. This was why he never spoke when his mom had visitors. He didn’t belong, wasn’t welcome. It was all furs and subjects he knew nothing about. If only they’d talk about Battle Eidolon or something he knew something about...
\tMike leaned towards him whilst the others were engaged in an argument about video games. “Are you alright?” the brown furred vulpine asked. “Tai?”
\t“Uh-huh,” Tai responded vacantly. He stared at the blank table top.
\t“Hey, there’s gonna be an archery contest in about twenty minutes. Wanna enter?”
\tThe younger boy-fox blinked and his ears slowly perked. “Archery? Are you gonna enter?”
\t“Yep.”
\t“Hey, what’re you two lover-foxes kissing about?” Aaron asked bluntly.
\tEven Mike choked at that. “Uh? Nothing! Archery.”
Another waitress, a teenage cat dressed appropriately as a servant girl, brought the two milkshakes to the table and placed the pair of them in front of Mike, before walking away, whistling cheerfully to herself.
“Seriously. For breakfast. Milkshakes?” Ciaran raised one eyebrow.
“Some of us like to live on the wild side, Ciaran,” Mike replied in a falsely sententious tone.
“Some of us don’t want to become blimps.”
“It’s not our breakfast anyway.”
“Speaking of that, are you competing next week?” Aaron asked suddenly, standing up, presumably to go get something from the café himself. “On Tuesday, it’s ten to eleven year olds.”
Mike nodded. “Yeah. But my coach isn’t back yet.” He turned back to Tai thoughtfully. “Hey, how would you feel like going swimming tomorrow? You won’t have school, and I don’t think your paw would be a problem. It’s just that I really ought to get some practice in.”
\t“Sounds cool!” Tai agreed, slurping at his milkshake. His eyes went wide. “Mm!” He licked his lips and sucked mightily on the straw.
\t“Methinks he likes it,” Ernie observed.
\t“What clued you in, Detective?” mocked Millie, leaning forwards with a vapid, adoring expression on her face.
\tThe donkey grinned. “It was my towering intellect.”
\t“Oh, hey, Tai what happened to your paw?” asked Aaron, slowly edging away towards the counter. “It looks recent.”
\t“Umm,” Tai mumbled around his straw. “I fell.” It was an absurd understatement but he wasn’t really in the mood to discuss it.
\t“I broke my arm a while ago; I fell from a climbing frame.” The ringtail slipped off towards the counter.
\t“Hey, Tai!” Millie piped, clasping her paws and leaning towards him. “You’re being all quiet. What kinda things do you do? Any fave TV shows?”
\t“Oh…” Tai shrugged. “Nothing really. I don’t like TV.” The only shows he watched were for kits much younger than these guys; there’s no way they’d care, right?
\t“Geez, you must live a boring life…”
\tMike tossed another folded up napkin at her. “Hey! I don’t watch television much either. Are you calling me boring?”
\t“Sorry, you bored me. What did you say?”
\tTai sniggered and Mike looked at him with a mock expression of shock. “Traitor!” he said, poking the tawny kit in the side.
\tWhile Tai was struggling back upright in his chair, having flailed dramatically from that single jab below the ribs, another fur suddenly walked into the busy pavilion, paws in corduroy trousers and whistling tunelessly.
\t“Hey guys!” Robert greeted the seated kits. He walked past their table as they waved and headed to the café counter.
Mike finished off his massive milkshake and sucked around the base, making a revolting sound reminiscent of a vacuum cleaner in a swimming pool. Then he stood. “C’mon, Tai. Let’s go enter the archery tourney!”
Robert, who was busy fumbling with some coins in his pockets, turned to them. “Don’t shoot anyone Mike,” he joked. “Be careful.”
“Just don’t walk in front of me, dad; I might not be able to help myself!” Mike giggled. “C’mon! Let’s go!”
He ran to his father first, secured a paternal kiss on the forehead, then rushed out of the pavilion, Tai following closely behind.
The day was unbelievable for Tai. Everything was so huge, he almost felt swallowed up by it all. If it weren’t for Mike, he’d probably have been scared. The bark-furred fox-boy was always by his side, making light of the astonishing, cracking silly jokes and generally treating everything about this incredible day as if it was all normal.
The two kits didn’t even come close to winning the archery contest – they were up against archers with decades of experience. But they didn’t do badly at all. Tai was just happy that the adults supervising him didn’t belittle him, or forbid him from trying something so new and fun. He didn’t miss too often either. All in all, for a first timer, he was pleased with himself.
As the day wore on and the sun started to dip towards the horizon, the incredible ‘Grand Melee’ began. It was a lightly choreographed field battle between highly trained sword-aficionados, lasting more than an hour. As a testament to the swordsmen’s skill, practically no one was hurt. Obviously none of the kits could participate, but watching it was impressive, as some of the combatants seemed to have next to no interest in safety, hurling themselves into the competition like it was an actual battle.
The jousting event rounded off the day, and Robert did in fact attend it in his costume. It was incredibly satisfying to watch, even if the kits could clearly tell it wasn’t a real jousting tournament – Robert finally admitted his lance was made of paper-mache and cardboard. The large, un-evolved horses were interesting beasts, far larger than Tai expected them to be.
Eventually, Tai found himself at last able to speak to the older kids. They included him, and were never mean to him. A game of Tag broke out at one point, not that Tai could play with his ankle still damaged. It was still fun to see them all trying to catch Mike, who, despite being easily the shortest and youngest of all included in the game, was also the fittest and was near impossible to catch.
All too soon, it was time to head home. After the rocky start, it almost pained Tai when their group was split apart piece by piece.
\tAs they made their way back to the car, Mike was skipping along, snatching at escaped feathers from the animal tent. Tai followed behind, hobbling after his friend quickly.
\t“That was so cool!” Tai exclaimed loudly. “That big battle was awesome! It was like they were really trying to kill each other! Are you sure it was fake? Wow!!” In his delirious excitement, entire sentences were becoming single words.
\tMike giggled excitedly. “Yeah!” he chortled, skipping merrily back to rejoin his friend. “Was it fun?”
\t“Yeah! Of course!”
\t“Alright, you two,” Robert said firmly, but with a warm grin. “Calm down before we get in the car please.”
\tMike giggled once more then tried holding his breath. “Sorry, dad,” he finally said, exhaling.
\t“Don’t apologize, ya doof.” Robert ruffled his head fur playfully. “Okay, Tai, we can put your crutch back in the trunk.”
\t“Okay.”
\tThey all piled into the car, the kits in the back, and buckled up for the trip back.
\tImmediately, Tai slumped in his seat, yawning. “I’m tired,” he finally managed to say, ears drooping.
\t“Fun though,” chimed Mike, also yawning. “Uuunh! Hey, don’t do that!”
\t“Do what?”
\t“Yawn like that! It’s contagious.”
\tTai giggled again before idly leaning on the brown-furred shoulder next to him and yawning once more. Without even thinking about it, he grasped the older boy’s arm and cuddled into him, getting comfortable. “Pillow,” he stated simply.
\t“Ready to go, guys?” Robert finally started the engine and looked back at the kits. “Gosh, Tai looks wiped out.”
\t“He’ll be okay soon, dad,” Mike laughed happily. But despite his best efforts, yet another yawn forced its way out his muzzle. “Oh, man…”
\t“What did you think of the archery, Tai?” enquired the adult vulpine, showing his incisors in a knowing grin.
\tTai cracked open one eye and muttered, “Oo-de-la-li!”
\t“That good huh?”
\t
\tIn spite of it all, the kits were certainly re-energized when they returned to the apartment building – almost the instant they got out of the car, they were talking loudly, and they briefly chased one another about on the way to the elevator. Even within the cramped elevator, a poking-war broke out, with Mike the clear victor in less than ten seconds. Robert tolerated their antics as they made their way down the corridor noisily.
\tHowever, when the grownup, bearing several heavy bags, finally managed to unlock and push their apartment door open…
\t“Go, go, go!” cried Mike, quickly slipping past his father and shooting ahead through the door.
“Hey!” Robert protested. “What was that about?”
\tMike merely smiled, stopping in the corridor just some feet ahead. “Nothing.”
\tRobert raised an eyebrow. “You know, you worry me, Mike…”
\t“I know, I’m worried too!”
\t“So, what should we have for dinner tonight?” Robert asked, pointedly ignoring Mike and hanging up his black jacket. He never needed it at all; far too warm a day. “Haven’t had barbecue in a while.”
\t“I was thinking Chinese?” Mike offered hopefully. “Something a little special?”
\tRobert held up a paw. “Uh-uh! As guest, Tai shall be the one consulted.” He turned to the kit.
\t“Umm… I suppose Chinese would be fine. If that’s okay with you.” Tai flushed. “I-I don’t…”
\t“Wicked!” exclaimed Mike, punching the air. “Two ta one!”
\tTai was taken aback by that. Voting on issues like that wasn’t something that happened with his mother.
\t“Alright, I’ll order it then go pick it up,” Robert said resignedly, picking up his car keys once more. “In the meantime, Mike, you have to have a bath.”
\t“What about Tai?!” protested the brown pup shrilly. “Why are you picking on me?”
\t“Tai’s a guest. If he wants a bath or a shower, he’s welcome to have one. But in your case, it’s bath-time.” Robert frowned. “Tai, if you do decide to have a bath or shower whilst staying here, make sure either Mike or I are there. If something goes wrong and we weren’t watching, I’d be in deep trouble.”
\t“’Kay,” replied the sandy furred kit, nodding his head in affirmation.
\t“Baby…” teased Mike, but his expression showed he meant no malice at all.
\tRobert opened the front door and turned around. “Alright, I’ll be back in a little while. You know how long they take.” He double checked everything in his pockets. “Right, I’ve got my cell phone if you need to contact me. If I get back and don’t see some proof that you had a decent bath, Mike, I’ll be upset. I’ve let you get away with it for two days now.”
\t“Okay, Sir Dad.” Mike said in his usual pseudo-sober tone.
\t“I think you’ve had too much sugar today, Mike. Okay then… Oh!” Robert walked quickly over to his son and gave him a kiss on the forehead before turning to go. “Almost forgot. Silly me! Alright.”
\t“Bye!” the two kits called as the door quietly closed.
\tTai swallowed. He felt… wrong. Suddenly sad. Robert reminded him of his own father with almost everything he did, even if Tai didn’t even quite recall what he looked like. There was just something… so oddly familiar. Something he missed.
\tMike saw his friend’s expression and came over to him. “Are you alright Tai?” he enquired, put a friendly paw on his shoulder. “You keep spacing out today!”
\tSomething sprung to Tai’s mind, and he looked up at his friend, suddenly smiling. “Yeah, fine!” he said cheerily. “So, are you gonna have a bath?”
\tMike rolled his eyes. “Ugh… everyone just can’t wait to get rid of me, can they?” he asked sourly.
\t“No,” Tai said in a quiet voice, limping closer to his friend. “I haven’t had one for days. Can I come with you?” The naughty sparkle in his eyes hinted that hygiene wasn’t the fox boy’s only incentive.
\t“Oh…” Mike giggled, laying his paws on Tai’s shoulders. “Well, we’ve got a spa. You know, a shower and bath with those water jets? Haven’t used it in ages. I’ll set it up and get us some towels.”
\t“Okay!”
\t“Oh, can your cast get wet?”
\tTai nodded. “The nurse told me it was okay if it got wet if I dried it properly.”
\t“Cool! One sec!”
When Mike darted out of the room, Tai started thinking. The night when he and Mike had first met was sort of distant to him, something he could barely believe he’d done. But he’d jumped immediately at the prospect of doing it again. All of a sudden, he had some inexplicable drive to be near Mike, to touch him, to look at his body… just looking at him caused his heart to flutter. That incredible feeling Mike had given him on the night of their meeting was one thing, and he wanted to feel it again, and again, and again, but that wasn’t the only reason he wanted to do this…
\tAfter a few stunned, thoughtful moments, he started to follow his friend.
\tMike turned the taps and switched on the spa, warming it up. A thick jet of water burst from the shower head above him and splashed noisily onto the plastic surface below.
\tThis was great! This was awesome! A powerful sensation started to make Mike’s entire body buzz and glow all over and a broad smile snuck onto his face. This was exactly what he had hoped for. No, more than that! Tai wasn’t just willing to be naughty with him again – he was even suggesting it himself! Awesome!
\tMike pulled his shirt over his head, feeling the moist, steamy air ruffle his chest and stomach fur. “Mmm…” he hummed to himself, checking the water with his paw.
\t“Boo!” Tai said quietly from behind him. Mike looked over his shoulder.
\tThe little vulpine had shed his clothes and laid them on tiles by the door. He stood there, dressed only in his satin boxers and a sheepish grin.
\tMike’s breath caught. “Nearly ready,” he said. The tawny boy’s slender body made his stomach flutter. “Just gotta get some towels…”
\tTai simply watched him, a shy little smile on his face.
\t “I’ll just get the towels…” Mike said, dashing out of the bathroom again.
\tWithout delay, Tai slipped his boxers down. For a brief moment, he stared down his skinny body, lightly touching the little sensitive protrusion on his downy-furred groin. Just knowing what was about to happen made him feel strange.
\tHe gingerly put a paw under the jet of water – it was quite hot, but it felt nice. He didn’t notice it until now, but after a few days with no bathing and a day at a carnival he felt a little… dusty. Dirty and dry. This would be wonderful. He’d never been in a spa before, and now he was gonna be in one with another boy who made him feel funny just to look at. This was gonna be great!
\tTai took the next step and dabbed a foot-paw into the water, leaning heavily on the edge of the tub to avoid putting weight on his plaster-enclosed one. The temperature was almost perfect. Hot, but the stinging sensation wasn’t overwhelming – it would be just right when they got in. After he got used to it anyway.
\tHe shivered slightly. Whether it was from leaving one paw in the warm water or what was to come, he didn’t know…
\tCome to think of it, he had never bathed with another boy before. With anyone else at all, actually. Who knew how crazy his mom would go if she found out? Would she even care? He didn’t know. But it didn’t bother him… it felt so right somehow. He desperately wanted to. Besides, he would never, ever mention it to his mother. Same with the first night Mike kept him company while she left him all alone.
\tIt was time for him to keep secrets too.
\tMike returned, also butt-naked, having shed his underwear in the hall outside, carrying three towels. He laid one on the floor near the edge of the spa, and placed the remaining two folded towels at the side of the bath. Tai realized the first towel on the floor was so they wouldn’t slip when they got out – Mike just did that sort of thing without even having to think about it. It was amazing just how he was so… what was the word? Responsible?
\t“I’ve got a bath-robe about your size, if you want me to get that?” the brown pup asked. “It’s my old one. It’s very warm. So you don’t have to get dressed in dirty clothes when we’re done.”
\tTai shrugged. “Sure!” Still leaning on the tub, he rotated himself fully into it, gingerly lowering himself into the rising water.
\tStepping into the spa himself, Mike sat down abruptly under the shower’s stream. “Sit under the shower with me!” he urged, closing his eyes and tilting his head back, allowing his face to get thoroughly soaked.
\tAfter only a moment’s hesitation, Tai reached out and took a hold of his friend for balance as he tried to sit down, with Mike’s patient help, cross-legged directly in front of him. With a grunt, he lowered onto his backside and grinned at his older friend. The water barely reached up to Tai’s knees, and the large tub was going to take a little while to fill at this rate.
\tThe brown-furred vulpine looked openly at Tai as he sat down, unable to keep a wry smile from his features. Tai was just adorable, he thought. Under the hot shower, his eyes were squinted slightly to keep the water from them, but those clear grassy-green irises were still visible. The water had drenched his head-fur, giving him a long fringe that hung wetly in front of his face like a soaked curtain. Suddenly, he wanted nothing else but to reach out and touch those narrow, delicate shoulders…
\t“What?” Tai giggled, noticing Mike’s unwavering gaze. A thrill went through him – he knew why Mike was staring. Probably for the same reason Tai stared back.
\t“Nothing,” replied Mike, still smiling. He scooted a little closer under the shower, adjusting his position so he was also cross-legged. “Just looking…”
\tTai gladly returned the attention. He slid even closer, so their knees touched. He looked his new friend over, holding his breath without even knowing it. He paid particular attention to Mike’s perfectly flat tummy, covered in that lush white down, now matted by the water. As his gaze lowered, he swallowed loudly. Cross-legged like this, they openly displayed their private parts to one another. His eyes locked onto Mike’s, and he got a sudden urge to reach forth and touch…
\t “Hey, do you want some shampoo for your fur?” Mike asked. He reached around behind himself and grabbed a bottle from the edge of the tub. “Here!”
\tTai blinked and took the bottle. “O-oh.” He looked at it speculatively. “D-do you want to do it?” he asked suddenly.
\tMike cocked his head, his collar-length head-fur artfully draping over one of his eyes. “How do you mean?”
\t“You can do the places I can’t reach!” Tai smiled bashfully. “Like my back. Afterwards, I’ll do yours!”
\tThat sounded appealing. In fact, Mike liked that idea instantly. “Sure!” He took the bottle back, squeezing a little into his paw. “You know what, I’ll just do your chest and tummy too. Turn around!”
Eagerly, Tai twisted around. Mike pulled himself closer and guided Tai slowly backwards, spreading his legs out to either side of him. Tai giggled and put his arms down by his sides to allow the larger kit more access to his chest region while he lay back onto his friend’s soft, comfortable body. Mike’s paws started to rub through his chest fur, and a thick, bubbly lather erupted from beneath them as he did.
\tChortling, Mike got some more shampoo and started to massage Tai’s white tummy fur. He liked running his hands through that dreamy, cloud-like fluff, not to mention touching Tai’s warm, skinny body. “Mmm! You have nice fur.”
\tTai giggled shyly. He leaned back into his friend’s embrace, getting himself comfortable.
\t“Good idea!” he complimented, taking the shampoo bottle and squirting some more of the peach colored substance onto his friend’s tummy. He started to massage and rub Tai’s sides with slow, firm movements, investigating the warm nooks and crannies of his armpits and feeling the contours of his ribcage beneath his luscious fur and tight little muscles.
\tTai’s head drooped slightly and he let out a contented sigh. “Keep doing that please…” he murmured.
\tDistracted by the lapping, warm water and intimate massage, neither boy noticed the activity beneath the thick bubbles that obscured the shallow water. They both recognized the tingly, warm feeling deep in their stomachs, but their little members had quickly stiffened unbeknownst to them also.
At last, when a clearing in the bubbles appeared, Mike looked down spotted Tai’s erection. His heart stopped briefly. “So, you like this?” he enquired, resting his head atop his friend’s and letting his tender paws wander a little lower down Tai’s belly. Tai looked down and smiled.
\t“Y-yeah,” the tawny kit whispered, spreading his legs a little. Mike’s slow, gentle rubbing of his lower belly caused his stiffy to waggle, and even though his paws were still some inches from it, they were giving him a strange, pleasant feeling. Trusting his friend and the wonderful feelings, Tai closed his eyes and relaxed.
\t“Don’t fall asleep!” Mike objected loudly over the white noise of the shower. “You still have to wash me, you know.”
\tTai twisted around, lying on his side now. He rested his head on Mike’s outstretched leg. “Haven’t forgotten,” he assured him. Then his eyes clicked onto to Mike’s two-and-a-half inch erection. The older boy was at least as hard as he was. Tai hesitated only a moment, looking curiously at the smooth, hard little organ only just above the water’s surface, before murmuring, “I still owe you from last time, don’t I?”
\t“Huh? What do you mean?”
\tTai shifted a bit, bringing his head closer to the erection that so demanded his attention. With his tongue, Tai pulled into his muzzle.
\tThe bigger boy twitched. “Yerk!” he exclaimed, shuddering as that smooth tongue firmly swirled around the head, manipulating his foreskin. “Oh, Tai!” he muttered, not really caring how lame he sounded.
\tTai was pleasantly surprised. The little object in his mouth didn’t taste too badly at all. He was worried it’d taste foul, but not at all! It was smooth, warm and for some whacky reason just felt alright to put in his muzzle. He mentally shrugged and kept going, suckling the soft penis like it was a lollypop. Tasting it. Experimentally rolling it around his muzzle. Feeling it.
\tForcing the sensations between his legs out of his immediate attention, Mike rinsed Tai’s chest of the shampoo and got the soap off his fingers. Slowly, he reached down and laid a paw on Tai’s belly, sliding his fingers slowly towards his ‘prey’s’ groin.
\tTai felt the paw on his stiffy, gently lifting it up and exposing it to the warm air, brushing aside the dense bubbles, but he attempted to ignore it. However when Mike took the sensitive head between his thumb and forefinger and gave it a firm rub, he yelped and kicked a leg, splashing water over the spa and onto the ceramic tiles below.
\t“Wh-what was that?!” he mumbled around the penis in his muzzle.
\tMike grinned and looked down at him. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” he teased, doing it again. Affectionately, he stroked Tai’s cheek with his other paw.
\t“Ah!” whimpered the smaller boy, shivering slightly. “It’s weird!”
\t“But do you like it?” Mike started to do it again and again, rubbing the sensitive penis’s tip over and over. He swallowed involuntarily, watching the little stiffy twitch and press into his fingers, seeking stronger sensation even while Tai started to shake and tense all over. The kit’s leg would twitch, and his stomach would visibly tighten beneath his sodden fur, but despite all of that Tai didn’t even attempt to stop him…
\t“Uhh-huh…” Tai groaned shakily. “Nnhnn! I-it’s like a t-tickle! A strong tickle on my d-dick! Ah!”
\tDelighted, Mike doubled his efforts. “I know! It feels good, doesn’t it?” He chortled happily as Tai forced himself to start suckling again.
\tThey continued, even as the water threatened to get in Tai’s way. The tawny kit was determined to do as much as possible before his friend’s groin was submerged in the soapy water. He didn’t want to stop. Neither of them wanted to stop.
\tBut a horrific, painfully shrill noise erupted from the table next to the spa. Mike squealed in surprise and Tai flinched away, narrowly avoiding nipping his friend’s member with his tiny, sharp incisors.
\tIt was the waterproof telephone by the spa.
\tTai groaned out loud. “I hate phones!” he cried vehemently, pulling himself off Mike as the brown kit reached up for the cordless device.
\t“Ditto…” Mike said sourly, shaking his paw dry then picking up the plastic phone. “Hello, Donaldson residence.”
\t“Heya Mike!” was the tinny, distant sounding response. “It’s your dad.”
\t“O-oh! Hi dad!” Mike settled back into the tub, touching shoulder to shoulder with Tai as they both sat with their backs against the side. “What’s wrong?”
\t“Is that you in the shower? What’s Tai doing?”
\tMike couldn’t see anything wrong about saying the truth, so he did. “Oh, he’s having one with me. He hasn’t had one since before he moved in.”
\tRobert didn’t miss a beat with his reply, which Mike took to mean that he found nothing wrong with that idea. “Okay, good! Uh, I was in such a hurry to get out that I forgot to ask you guys what you want from the restaurant. I’m almost next in line in the queue; you should see this. It’s not anywhere near dinner time, but everyone seems to have had the same idea as me…”
\t“Get there before it gets too busy?” Mike guessed, giggling. He laid his head on Tai’s when the kit suddenly rested against his shoulder. “Uhh, I think I’ll just have a beef curry with rice. Nothing fancy from me today, dad.” He spoke into his friend’s ear. “What about you, Tai?”
\t“Umm, I’ll just have the same,” Tai replied. “I don’t like veggies.”
\t“Tai wants the same, dad.” Mike scratched his tummy absently. “Oh, don’t forget the prawn crackers! And can you get us some soda? We’ve run out.”
\t“I suppose so,” replied the voice from the phone. “Right, so no vegetables, I take it?”
\t“Dad, we’re meat-eaters…” Mike’s voice had an exaggerated long-suffering twinge to it. “That stuff is gross.”
\t“I’m kidding, Mike. Alright, boys, I’ll be back in about thirty minutes. Try to clean yourself properly this time. Behind your ears, the back of your neck, you know the deal.”
\t“Yes, dad. See you soon!”
\t“Yeee-up. See you soon. Love you!”
\t“Love you too, dad!” Mike placed the phone on the edge of the spa. “Sorry, Tai…” he apologized. “Ugh. The water’s too high now.”
\t“S’okay,” Tai replied quietly, silently relieved that Robert hadn’t blown up when he heard that Tai was sharing Mike’s bath. His mother would have gone bananas. At least he thought she would…“I didn’t do that well, did I…? I mean, I didn’t give you that feeling that you gave me, right?”
\tMike hugged him close. “That’s alright; it takes time, and we’ve got all the time in the world!” He leaned closer, an idea forming in his horny preteen mind. “Hey, still wanna play?”
\tAn excited gleam came to Tai’s eyes, and he smiled broadly. “Of course!”
\t“Well,” mused Mike, “let’s wait until bed-time! We’ll have hours, since my dad will be working in his study, but if we keep going now, we won’t be as interested later on.”
\tTai remembered that heavy lassitude that descended on him like an overly-comfy blanket after Mike gave him his first orgasm and agreed with an emphatic nod. “Yeah, it’s a good idea to do it in bed, huh?”
\t“Uh-huh.” Mike reached for the shampoo yet again. “In the meantime, that doesn’t mean we can’t keep cleaning each other.” His eyes narrowed mischievously. “Or that I can’t keep rubbing you…”
\tTai gulped, but didn’t move away as Mike cuddled right up to his back, the way they had been before, and dropped a paw to his crotch. “C’mon, spread your legs…” instructed Mike, grinning naughtily. “Let’s see if you can handle it for a little longer!”
\t“H-how long?” Tai squeaked as the bigger boy’s fingers closed around his penis.
\t“Oh, I dunno… until dad gets back. About half an hour.” The barky-furred kit nestled against Tai’s shivering body. Amazingly, Tai also snuggled up, resting his head on his new friend’s chest, completely willing.
\tBut after a second, Tai stiffened, his ears perking straight up.
“W-wait. H-how long?!”
Chapter Four – Fin.
-- By Krazy Kitsune/Kichigai Kitsune
Copyright 2005 onwards.
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