{ "submission_id": "3056725", "keywords": [ { "keyword_id": "303", "keyword_name": "canine", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "195418" }, { "keyword_id": "62", "keyword_name": "feline", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "154356" }, { "keyword_id": "123", "keyword_name": "female", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "1104078" }, { "keyword_id": "165", "keyword_name": "male", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "1214518" }, { "keyword_id": "473", "keyword_name": "otter", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "36567" }, { "keyword_id": "4530", "keyword_name": "slice of life", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "1814" } ], "hidden": "f", "scraps": "f", "favorite": "f", "favorites_count": "5", "create_datetime": "2023-07-06 06:17:49.308163+00", "create_datetime_usertime": "06 Jul 2023 08:17 CEST", "last_file_update_datetime": "2023-07-06 06:11:48.646161+00", "last_file_update_datetime_usertime": "06 Jul 2023 08:11 CEST", "username": "TerraMGP", "user_id": "46355", "user_icon_file_name": "60251_TerraMGP_terramg.gif", "user_icon_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/large/60/60251_TerraMGP_terramg.gif", "user_icon_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/medium/60/60251_TerraMGP_terramg.gif", "user_icon_url_small": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/small/60/60251_TerraMGP_terramg.gif", "file_name": "4576214_TerraMGP_collared_chapter_16_obligation.doc", "file_url_full": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/full/4576/4576214_TerraMGP_collared_chapter_16_obligation.doc", "file_url_screen": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/4576/4576214_TerraMGP_collared_chapter_16_obligation.doc", "file_url_preview": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/4576/4576214_TerraMGP_collared_chapter_16_obligation.doc", "thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/4576/4576214_TerraMGP_collared_chapter_16_obligation.jpg", "thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/4576/4576214_TerraMGP_collared_chapter_16_obligation.jpg", "thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/4576/4576214_TerraMGP_collared_chapter_16_obligation.jpg", "thumb_huge_x": "194", "thumb_huge_y": "300", "thumb_large_x": "129", "thumb_large_y": "200", "thumb_medium_x": "78", "thumb_medium_y": "120", "files": [ { "file_id": "4576214", "file_name": "4576214_TerraMGP_collared_chapter_16_obligation.doc", "file_url_full": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/full/4576/4576214_TerraMGP_collared_chapter_16_obligation.doc", "file_url_screen": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/4576/4576214_TerraMGP_collared_chapter_16_obligation.doc", "file_url_preview": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/4576/4576214_TerraMGP_collared_chapter_16_obligation.doc", "mimetype": "application/msword", "submission_id": "3056725", "user_id": "46355", "submission_file_order": "0", "full_size_x": null, "full_size_y": null, "screen_size_x": null, "screen_size_y": null, "preview_size_x": null, "preview_size_y": null, "initial_file_md5": "1c889a9d7bb9aa5f174ec5b7a77a0716", "full_file_md5": "1c889a9d7bb9aa5f174ec5b7a77a0716", "large_file_md5": "", "small_file_md5": "", "thumbnail_md5": "7a68db7d89a8d81194f0499db9565115", "deleted": "f", "create_datetime": "2023-07-06 06:11:48.646161+00", "create_datetime_usertime": "06 Jul 2023 08:11 CEST", "thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/4576/4576214_TerraMGP_collared_chapter_16_obligation.jpg", "thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/4576/4576214_TerraMGP_collared_chapter_16_obligation.jpg", "thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/4576/4576214_TerraMGP_collared_chapter_16_obligation.jpg", "thumb_huge_x": "194", "thumb_huge_y": "300", "thumb_large_x": "129", "thumb_large_y": "200", "thumb_medium_x": "78", "thumb_medium_y": "120" } ], "pools": [ { "pool_id": "82354", "name": "Collared", "description": "A young woman seeks to find her way during her first year of College.", "count": "52", "submission_left_submission_id": "3050980", "submission_left_file_name": "4566533_TerraMGP_collared_chapter_15_just_dance.doc", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/4566/4566533_TerraMGP_collared_chapter_15_just_dance.jpg", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/4566/4566533_TerraMGP_collared_chapter_15_just_dance.jpg", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/4566/4566533_TerraMGP_collared_chapter_15_just_dance.jpg", "submission_left_thumb_huge_x": "194", "submission_left_thumb_huge_y": "300", "submission_left_thumb_large_x": "129", "submission_left_thumb_large_y": "200", "submission_left_thumb_medium_x": "78", "submission_left_thumb_medium_y": "120", "submission_right_submission_id": "3064265", "submission_right_file_name": "4587882_TerraMGP_collared_chapter_17_distraction.doc", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/4587/4587882_TerraMGP_collared_chapter_17_distraction.jpg", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/4587/4587882_TerraMGP_collared_chapter_17_distraction.jpg", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/4587/4587882_TerraMGP_collared_chapter_17_distraction.jpg", "submission_right_thumb_huge_x": "194", "submission_right_thumb_huge_y": "300", "submission_right_thumb_large_x": "129", "submission_right_thumb_large_y": "200", "submission_right_thumb_medium_x": "78", "submission_right_thumb_medium_y": "120" } ], "description": "Yeah, having a small creativity burst and can't resist posting this one. No sex, just emotions.", "description_bbcode_parsed": "Yeah, having a small creativity burst and can't resist posting this one. No sex, just emotions.", "writing": "Collared Chapter 16: Obligation\nBy TerraMGP\n\n\tIt was still hot. Michigan always had a way to subvert expectations with the weather. The past two days it was raining and 40 degrees. Then suddenly out of nowhere seventy five and sunny. The weather report said it would probably stay that way the whole week. \n\n\tJustin was simply glad it was dry. The otter hung half way out of his Corvette, careful as he could be not to knock it off of the cheap old metal lift ramps he‘d found in what passed for a garage to the house. That caution made it that much while he tugged on the end of his ratchet. Every muscle in his body contorted and twisted this way and that seeking to get some kind of leverage with the absurdly cramped space.\n\n\tThe stuck bolt he‘d been pushing against finally obliged. A split second of triumph, then pain. Justin yanked his paw free of the confined engine bay and screamed in rage. He squelshed back and forth in the mud and dirt while hopping from one foot to the next. The muscles that had worked to free the bolt mere moments ago now clamped down over his fingers as he hugged it under his armpit. The reflex did very little to dull the pain. He didn‘t care. His body simply twisted around in its little involuntary war dance. \n\n\t“God damn fuckmothering son of a fucking whore!” The words hissed out in one long growl. He spun around and began to kick at the nearest tire. His foot hammered into it again and again. Luckily the foot was pulled away when the whole thing came crashing down with a shattering thud. It sent the young man stumbling back and slamming against the house. His heart raced a mile a minute while he looked on at his faithful ride of the past half decade. The ancient sports car sitting there with a new kind of menace.\n\n\t“Are you ok?” The voice was familiar, but distant. By the time Justin noticed Gretchen standing there he was only just aware that his ears were ringing. He looked down at himself for a few moments. Far longer than he should have to be sure that he was, in fact, unharmed.\n\n\t“I think so.” He finally nodded “Fucking… I was trying to bleed the breaks and take care of the starter at the same time. I gotta go in to work and, gahh“ He marched angrily towards the car and ducked down doing his best to get what little light the sun would offer to shine in “I think I threw a control rod. Fuck. Now I gotta get a ride to Autozone, and I have to take a stupid Uber.”\n\n\tGretchen moved up behind him as carefully as she dared. She tiptoed expertly around the aura of raw rage and ducked down as if she could tell what he was looking at on sight. Instead it was all just a mess of brown metal and shadows. \n\n\t“Um, Sir.” The mole offered. A small glance back at her gave the girl some pause. Normally she‘d protest this ‘on a break from the kink part of their relationship‘ thing again. At the moment though it felt like the wrong time. “Sorry I just thought today was one of the days you have class. Right?”\n\n\t“Oh, fuck me!” Just like that Justin had rolled himself into the mud and gravel. He could feel it seeping into his jean shorts, and honestly he didn‘t much care. He wanted to hit something. Or cry. Maybe both. His eyes slipped shut as he began running though the ever growing see of mental notes and reminders. All the while gripping his wrist with the opposite paw and listening to the odd sound it made as he angrily yanked down to ‘free‘ his paw from that grip.\n\n\tBoth furs knew that Gretchen wasn‘t the best with this sort of thing. She stood by for a long time before scooting up to him and ducking down, perched on her tiptoes while crouched. Her mop of frizz rested against him ass he leaned on his shoulder in the most tentative and scared way imaginable.\n\n\t“It seems like it‘s having a lot more problems lately, Sir“ she muttered\n\n\tThere was a small wince from Justin. His odd tugs got more frustrated, but he kept himself mostly in check. Deep breaths. Tensed muscles. He struggled to squeeze the old rage out though his forehead and could imagine it bleeding out of him bit by bit until it was at a level he could actually manage.\n\n\tDon‘t spiral. That‘s what he kept telling himself. Words his mother had repeated hundreds of thousands of times since childhood. Don‘t spiral. He could handle this. He was smart. He was rational. He could attack this rationally.\n\n\t“I‘ll need to get new lifts so I can pull it up and take a look.” He sighed. “I can‘t do any of that today. At the very least it looks like I need a control arm and I have to look over the brake system to see how bad it is. It dropped like that with a bleeder on it. I don‘t know what that‘s going to do. Tires may be punctured too. I don‘t have any classes on Saturday but I have a salon appointment so ‘Justine‘ can keep looking pretty. Keratin is a hundred eighty eight bucks and the cut with highlight together will probably be another two hundred if I include the fur treatment. I can probably find a decent arm in the scrap yard but I don’t know if I have the time for it. That’s another three hundred bucks. Assuming it’s not worse than I think. And assuming I didn’t fuck something worse up.” \n\n\tHe shook his head and looked up at the sky. Mostly grey cloud cover with a bit of sun. Dreary, foreboding. It was going to get cold again soon. That was Michigan though. Hot and cold with precious little in between. Cold rain and possibly even snow creeping in just when it got cool enough for the damn mosquitoes to die off. Or maybe it was just his mood. Who the hell knew?\n\n\tAt some point the cute mole beside him had cuddled up nice and close. He wasn’t quite sure when that happened but Justin let himself smile just a touch as he put an arm around her. For now, at least, he could try to let the rage abate.\n\n--------------------\n\n\tThis was embarrassing. There was no reason for it to be, and yet it was. Two otters sat at the familiar spot in the mall food court. Mother and son. The former sipping on a large ice cream shake drink while the latter nibbled absently on some fries and fiddled with the shopping bags he’d been pressed into carrying. \n\n\t“Thanks again, mom.” Justin sighed. His tail tapped nervously against the booth wall\n\n\t“Well I know if you don’t bring your clothes here you’re probably not going to wash them.” Meredith shrugged “and you needed that part from your dad, right?”\n\n\t“I can still bum a ride to the Laundromat.” It was a it of a lie. Justin knew his mother was right. He didn’t like admitting it, but he knew. “And you could have just dropped the part off at my house. Picking me up and taking my laundry seems like it’s going a bit far.\n\n\tThe woman at the other end of the table smiled and brushed some of her hair from her face. The same sandy blonde Justin sported reflected back at him. Though with a few touches of grey from the stress. Her body fur had gotten a bit more faded as well. All of it far too soon for a woman who was still young enough to have a child. “I wanted to go to Crossroads anyways. The shops are better here. Plus it’s nice having my boy around to carry things for me.”\n\n\tIt was true. Silly as it was Justin’s chest swelled with pride at memories of his younger self. He’d always go off to the GameStop or the KB toys when they still existed, or even to whatever shop in whichever mall they hit up had Gundam models or other nerdy bullshit. But he also remembered how he’d ‘help’ his mother carry her bags all the way out to the car. The way she praised him when he would tank in two armfuls of grocery bags from their trips to Meijer or sling her haul of clearance sale clothing from JC Penny into the back of the van while she carried something smaller.\n\n\tHe missed that feeling. He missed a lot of things.\n\n\t“Any time you need help, mom.” Justin smiled proudly “I have no problem with it. Especially now. I know you and dad probably have things on lockdown but I can still come down and do stuff if you need it.”\n\n\t“Assuming your car works.” Meredith snerked a bit and stole one of the otter boy’s fries.\n\n\t“It wasn’t as bad as I thought.” Justin’s tone quickly deflated “I thought I’d screwed up a control arm but it seems like I just stripped the bolt holding it in. Somehow. I should have her up and running again in no time.”\n\n\t“And then?” It was a question that the young man wasn’t expecting. Rather, it was one he was hoping not to hear. Meredith shifted in her seat and leaned her face on to one paw. Her tail swayed heavily back and forth while she just took in her son’s expression. “Dear, that car is well older than you. It’s almost older than your dad and me. I know how much work you’ve put into it. But it’s not safe and it’s going to keep breaking down. “\n\n\t“I’m being careful with it though, mom.” Justin snapped. He then looked away and shrank back. He couldn’t talk to her that way. Not his mother. Not like that.\n\n\t“Which is why you ditched it last winter? In a blizzard no less?“ There was a heavy sigh as Meredith reached out and grabbed her son by the paw. “I know, dear. I know what that car means to you. But I’m just saying it’s something you need to consider. Maybe something to talk to your dad about.”\n\n\tJustin yanked his paw away. He could feel his claw tips digging in to his palm. A momentary flash of something he could not and did not wish to place, followed by exhaustion. “I can get it fixed, mom. I know I can. It’s not that bad.”\n\n\t“What about your roommates? What happens if they need to get somewhere with you. Or when Collin needs a ride at the same time? How about moving stuff around? I know you need to do that for your job, right?”\n\n\tJustin replied with a very teenagery shrug “Ozzy has a Jeep. I’m sure I could probably borrow it once in a while. Or rent a U haul.”\n\n\tMeredith furrowed her brow. Age showed a bit more. Worry. Pent up anxieties beginning to flood out from her. “Look, I know you like your car. I get it. But you don’t have the time to-”\n\n\t“Mom. I’m not giving her up. Ok?” Justin should have hated himself for that. This was his mother, his mom, his mommy, the one who busted her ass and pushed so hard to help make sure things were ok for them. The one who kept things together even when his dad struggled to find work. The one who drove his ass all over from school to doctors appointments to every activity he wanted to go to. He should never speak to her like that. But at the same time she was wrong, and he was very tired of listening to it.\n\n--------------------\n\n\t“You doing ok, Flannery?”\n\n\tJustin looked up from the drafting tablet and blinked a bit. It almost felt like there had been tears in his eyes. He was quick to wipe them, and quicker still to wince in preparation for pain that never came. Just one of those habits one learns when gothy eye shadow and engine grease are both on their plate at work.\n\n\tMr. Karn was a rather disaffected feline. Not really someone Justin would have cared to talk to in his normal life. An older tabby with a look of perpetual disinterest on his face. Justin stared at him for perhaps too long, only looking away once he realized he was doing it. “Yeah, uh, I am. Why?”\n\n\t“Because class is over and you’ve just been sitting there for the last ten minutes of it.” There was probably a hint of malice there. But then Justin had come to take that as read with the man.\n\n\tNo more words were spoken between the two. Justin set the stylus down and grabbed the cheap ass computer mouse, going though the routine of saving the current pointless drafting project and sending the file over to the teacher. He wasted very little time gathering his things up while Mr. Karn began to open it. Almost managing to step out of the door when he heard a rough throat-clear.\n\n\t“Mr. Flannery” Mr. Karn chimed in “I hope you’re going to take some time this week and work on your lines. I’m still seeing some precision issues here.”\n\n\t“I wasn’t having them when I was using the mouse, though.” Justin noticed the aggression in his tone. Rage simmering just at the back of his throat.\n\n\t“It’s just like hand drawing. It’s faster if you can use it like you use a pencil.” The cat corrected\n\n\tThe willpower needed to turn away before rolling his eyes was incredible. Justin shouldered his laptop bag and rummaged his tongue into his cheek for fear that he’d lose himself in the moment. “I can’t draw well by hand.” He started. A fight that had kept up since he started the class.\n\n\t“Well you need to get good at it. You can’t just rely on math and mouse clicks in the professional world. Any decent employer is going to expect you to be more dynamic and have a more organic mindset. That’s how we were back at Bowing.”\n\n\tA paw darted into Justin’s pants and yanked his phone free. He glanced at the screen and shook his head aggressively “Look, I’m sorry but apparently I was keeping my Lyft ride waiting. I gotta go.” There was no pause to see if the man had further comments. Frankly Justin couldn’t care less. He made his way though the hallways until finally arriving just outside of the library. Only then did he pause and look down at his phone. Even though he’d lied, it did seem there were some messages for him. He popped open the first one with a small knot of trepidation growing in his gut. He knew the number, and knew the call couldn’t be anything good.\n\n\t“Miss Dubois?” Justin’s voice shaking. He pulled himself off the wall again and began trudging down the tiles on his way towards the cafeteria.\n\n\t“Justine” The older woman’s voice was smoke and satin. “I trust you know why I am calling you?”\n\n\t“Fuck.” he snapped “I forgot a client again didn’t I?”\n\n\tHe just barely picked up the wicked chuckle from the woman over the sound of his own boots clomping down the hall. Somehow even her pissed-off voice was commanding and seductive. Enough so that he found himself eyeing the other students in the hallway lest one of them think he was having phone sex.\n\n\t“No, darling. If you’d done that again so soon I’m fairly sure I would not be this calm. And you would not be permitted back here for quite a while. However, I did have a complaint from one of your guests. It seems that dark smudges of motor oil on a girls face and grease under her claws is quite a turn off for someone willing to pay for a cute girl to step on his balls. Need I remind you how exacting some of our clientele can be?”\n\n\tBy this point Justin had gone though the cafeteria without even realizing it and was now bursting out of the front doorway. He stopped and leaned himself on the brick façade, pulling a thin steam punk-pipe vape from his pocket and taking a heavy hit of whatever candy-like flavor he’d found on sale at the shop that week. “I check my face before I go in. Every time. And I keep an eye on my nails, too. I mean I try to. I know I have to do a lot more with hand tools ever since Carlos bitched at me for borrowing tools from other people. But it’s not like I have a full chest myself.”\n\n\tA string of what Justin presumed to be curses in French, followed by a heavy breath. The boy could picture his employer’s sour face as she dragged on that cigarette holder of hers. A gesture which seemed scientifically formulated to cut off a discussion she was not pleased with.\n\n\t“I do not care what happens in the rest of your life, girl. When you work for me I expect a level of professionalism. The last I checked you were old enough to work here. That means you are old enough to handle your problems without someone mothering you. Now if you wish that, I can take the cost from it out of your pay with each client. But even for one as cute as you, I warn that it would leave you with precious little left over.”\n\n\tJustin sank back into the wall and reached for a coat which wasn’t currently there. He so wished he could hide his blushing right now. If he could make people feel the way he felt right now, then he’d never have to worry about money again. But it wasn’t a headspace conducive to dealing with problems.\n\n\t“This is not a conversation or discussion, Justine. I expect you to up your appointments at the salon, and stop going for what is cheap. Do not bore me with your excuses. I have more than enough to deal with”\n\n\tThe whole world fell away. Yes, technically Justin slid down the wall. But his brain sure as hell didn’t register things that way. He just sat there staring at his phone. Even as it went to the lock screen. Every once in a while he took a hit of what his brain told him was some sort of vanilla flavor. In truth his senses fixated a bit more on the brass tip that he traced with his tongue than on the vapor itself. He was past rage now, just sitting there in reboot.\n\n\tIt stopped only when a message popped up. The little box for it popping down from the top of the screen. It was from his dad. The words sent him past numb as his blood turned to ice.\n\n\t‘Hey kiddo. I think I found someone interested in your car’\n\n--------------------\n\n\tIt was late, and it was going to rain. Neither of the Flannery men had spoken for the entire car ride. John Flannery had driven up with an old flat bed hooked trailer hitched to his pickup. He and Justin had pushed the car up on to it without Justin saying two words. By the time they got into the car Justin had shut down entirely.\n\n\tHe wanted to cry. He wanted to scream. It didn’t matter how stupid his feelings were, it felt like someone was tearing his soul to shreds. Justin didn’t have any experiences he could liken this to. Vulgar as it sounded to him it was like someone driving a pet down to the vet to be put to sleep. It was a stupid analogy. The thing behind them was just a mass of white fiberglass and mostly rusted metal. It was having problems and devouring time even before he got in to college. It was unsafe and about as fuel efficient as a brick.\n\n\tIt was also his. His car. His baby. Even if he’d never named her, it was the car he picked out from the scrap yard. The project he and his dad started when he turned thirteen. He could recall every desperate push to get her working. The chain of problems that would keep him up with his father well into long summer nights. Sitting on the garage floor with his father while the older otter walked him though the details of what they were doing while pulling apart and carefully inspecting the transmission for the first time. He’d had this car for nearly half of his short life, in one way or another. And now this?\n\n\tThey drove back down Red Arrow highway to avoid any complications with idiots on I-94. The highway was bad enough without hauling a whole car behind a pickup. Eventually that turned into the familiar backroads and fields he was used to. Justin wasn’t sure where they were going. He didn’t ask. He knew the occupants of more homes they passed than he probably cared to admit and could only speculate on which one of them likely figured they’d snap up his precious car and lock it away where he could never see it again.\n\n\t“You doing ok, kid?” John muttered the words and turned down the radio a bit. As was usually the case his voice was gentle. He had a way of dancing on eggshells without coming off as demeaning. A skill Justin absolutely had never picked up.\n\n\tThe young man in the passengers seat shook his head and said nothing. He watched a cherry orchard fly by in his vision. His eyes bounced up and down as if bobbing between the gaps in the rows. He knew if he spoke he’d call this off. He wanted to scream at his father for even suggesting this. So he stayed silent and held himself in check. Barely.\n\n\t“I know it wasn’t easy to do this.” John continued. “The economy is shit right now, and you can’t work full time. I mean there’s a reason I never did what you’re doing and things are way worse now. Makes me wish I’d taken those W protests a bit more seriously back in the day” As always John paused for some kind of laugh. As always there was none to be had. “Look, I’m proud of you and Hui for waiting and letting yourselves get a shot at this. You were responsible.”\n\n\t“If I was responsible I’d have gotten a scholarship way before now.” Justin snapped “Then I wouldn’t be having to put up with this shit.”\n\n\t“Ok, so what?” The elder otter shrugged “So you did some dumb shit as a kid and fucked up. Everyone does that. Guess what, you’re going to fuck up more before things are over. That’s life buddy. You’re not hooked on drugs. You’re finally taking your damn meds, though right now I’m kinda questioning it.”\n\n\t“I’m taking them, dad.” Justin corrected\n\n\t“Right. I get that this has you freaked out. But I know you wouldn’t do it unless you didn’t have a choice. It’s not like you’re blowing the money on a bunch of that plastic 40K shit, right?”\n\n\tThat finally managed to crack a smile from the dour teen. A small one, but a smile all the same. “What, you think I’d give her up for half a new army?” The boy rolled his eyes and leaned back into the seat. “You know why I need to do this, dad. I need tools. I need stuff for work. And she…”\n\n\t“She’s not an ‘everyday use’ car. I know that. It was one thing driving to school or the game shop. You barely put any miles on that thing. Now you don’t have us to drive you anywhere and you need to go all over every day.”\n\n\t“You sound like mom.” There was a pout to the voice. Justin let himself sink back into his seat and stopped bobbing his vision though the various obstacles on the roadside. Instead he just crossed his arms and shoved his feet hard against the footwell.\n\n\tThe truck slowed near a familiar road. It was the same stretch Grandma an Grandpa Flannery lived down. Once again Justin worked to stave off his frustration by running though the list of people he knew who lived on that road. A list which unfortunately included his cousin Bug and about half of the worst stick-up-their-ass members of the church’s congregation. Plus, at some point, Ryan. Fuck he hoped it wasn’t Ryan.\n\n\t“You got it backwards. I actually ‘coached’ her a bit on that. Just because she wanted to be a bit more blunt. You know how she is. Only got worse since she got pregnant. Though at least this time she’s not dealing with schoolwork on top of it all. Unless her RN renewal comes up. God I hope that’s not this year.” \n\n\t“This was your idea, then?” Justin snapped\n\n\t“More hers than mine.” John shrugged “But is it wrong?”\n\n\tThey were getting close to Ryan’s driveway, and Justin didn’t want to look up. He jammed his feet against the footwell and braced himself back into the seat like the petulant child he was. His ears twitched and twisted this way and that. “I need something that isn’t constantly breaking. And apparently I need a full set of tools. I could probably get all of that right now. But I’d be starving myself and I wouldn’t be able to afford tuition next semester. Not unless I let rent slide, which is probably even worse. I know what I have to do.” He could feel his throat close up as he said the words “I know what the ‘grown up’ thing to do is. But I, It’s not fair. It’s not fucking fair! She’s ours. We made her. We saved her. We brought that car back to life. Again and again. Now I just have to throw that all away. I never get to see it again. All because I need to worry about one semester at a stupid school for a stupid degree for my stupid future! I know I can’t. I know I have to at least hear this asshole out. But I just want to go fucking home!”\n\n\tA pause. Tears were streaming down his cheeks. His throat ached from echoes of tweenage Justin coming back to the now adult otter to scream his childish and impotent defiance for not getting his way. He looked up at his father. The man was smiling. It was a strange view. A curious view. He didn’t understand it.\n\n\tThen something caught his eye. A familiar pole shed. A large grove of walnut trees surrounding a fire pit. The ruined remains of his fathers first attempt to make Justin and his friends a tree fort, back before the actually functional one they had gotten in the woods the year after.\n\n\t“We’re here.” John nodded\n\n\t“Gramma and Grandpas? What, you don‘t trust this Asshole enough to go to their house?” Any civility for whoever was buying his car was long gone. His dad could take care of negotiations if he wanted. He just wanted to shut down until this was over.\n\n\t“oh, I wouldn’t trust this particular asshole if you paid me, kiddo.” John Smirked.\n\n\tJustin wasn’t stupid. But he also wasn’t about to get his hopes up. Even with his father grinning the way he was. Even with the comfort of the familiar setting. He reached for his door handle. He looked around. He waited for the other shoe to drop. There was always another shoe.\n\n\tJohn silenced those worries with a firm grip to his son’s shoulder. His grin turned into a beaming smile. “Kid, I know this was hard for you. I also know I’m going to sound like a patronizing asshole. But I’m your father so I’m allowed to do it. I want to buy your car.”\n\n\t“I… what?” Justin’s jaw gapped open “Dad, you can’t be, I mean that’s… Ok I can’t handle this right now. This isn’t funny.”\n\n\t“It’s not a joke either.” John laughed “Your mom and I talked about it. We had some money stored up to help you with college shit. While I can’t spend all of it on this, it is technically to help you with college. And also it’s gonna be my Christmas present for the next, like, decade. I want to buy that old girl and I want to keep her here. Probably in the pole barn for now until I can figure something else out. You’re not the only one with a lot of memories attached to it.”\n\n\t“B-but you guys… you have a baby on the way!” Justin snapped “How are you going to cover all of that. It’s not like you can drive it.”\n\n\t“Will you relax? Jesus, You just had to get all the neurotic shit from my side didn’t you? I’m saying we’re going to help you, and that I want to keep that car around. Can you just trust your old man for once?”\n\n\tThe speed of the hug was such that Justin was as surprised to give it as his father was to get it. The boy squeezing as tightly as he could. It hurt, in no small part due to having caught the seatbelt about an inch before he could reach his dad. But then he really could not have cared any less about that at the moment.\n\n\tJohn returned the hug for a long moment before pulling back. He looked at the boy with his eyes suddenly very solemn. “Listen.” John’s tone leveled out a bit. His paw gripping his son’s shoulder firmly “We’re not just buying you a new car, ok? Your mom put down some caveats on this, so I really want you to think about it. First of all I’m only able to foot five grand. You wanna add in any more from what you have then that’s fine but I can’t imagine you have all that much more. I also have a friend who’s willing to sell you his old tool box and whatever I can’t give you for the basics pretty cheap. Not sure how long any of it will last you but it’ll be a start.“\n\n\t“It sounds like a now brainer” Justin’s smile only grew\n\n\t“Maybe, but think about this. You could probably get ten if you put in some work and detailed the Corvette. That’d get you a decent enough car and some money to help save for school. Which is where the second part comes in.” \n\n\t“What part’s that?“ Justin nodded slowly. He knew that tone all too well and some small part of him braced internally.\n\n\t“Your mom wants it to be a new car. Or at least newer. I know, you’re more than able to get a beater and keep her running. That’s not what this is about. Your mom talked to her friend Janet at the credit union. If you take out a loan for something then it‘s going to do wonders for your credit score. But that means you have to make the monthly payments. Every month. It also means you can’t just pay huge chunks of it off if you end up with some extra cash.”\n\n\t“Wait what? Why the hell not?” The younger otter shocked by his own indignation.\n\n\tJohn’s face curled into a wry smirk “Because credit scores are bullshit, son. You pay it off early and it will actually make things worse. But if you’re making consistent payments on a new car that will help it a lot. That means you’ll be able to get a student loan more easily if you still decide you wanna try Western out after you get your associates. It also means when you and Hui finally start looking for a home of your own you’ll have actual options.”\n\n\t“Because I’m stupid enough to have debt?” Just saying it felt wrong. It left a bitter aftertaste in Justin’s mouth. Every gamer instinct he had struggled to find some angle to the system where it would make sense and each one only caused more psychological trauma.\n\n\tThere was a small chuckle and John leaned back into his seat looking out at the field before them. “Look, kid. I’m just as stumped as you. I don’t make the rules. We have our house now because your Grandpa helped us out and even then things were getting out of hand. If it’s an emergency your mom and I might be able to scrape up a bit to help. But if you can budget this out and pull it off it means you might actually have a shot at the kinds of things most kids in your generation won’t get. You know, assuming we don’t all end up in a nuclear war.”\n\n\t“Well someone’s reminiscing about the old duck and cover days.” Justin laughed.\n\n\t“Boy, do you really think I’m old enough to remember all that cold war shit? First president I ever saw was the first Bush and that was leading up to the most fucked up drug trip of an anti-drug PSA I’ve ever seen. Talk to your Grandpa. He’s the Gen X-er.”\n\n\tIt finally felt like he could breathe. Justin leaned back into his seat and looked up at the sky. The ominous grey clouds screaming as they prepared to split open with a heavy rain. He didn’t care. He couldn’t care. Not now. Instead he simply kicked his feet up and gazed at the sky.\n\n\t“Take all the time you need to think.” John said firmly “But maybe try to make up your mind before it rains. I wanna roll this thing into the barn without getting soaked.\n\n--------------------\n\n\tEverything was the same at the garage. Half a dozen furs flitting between just as many lifts. Some flitting between almost as many lifts. the stench of oil and metal mixed with the roar of pneumatic tools. None of them looked up from their work as an unfamiliar vehicle pulled itself behind the shop. The intruding vehicle, some twisted hybrid of wagon and pickup truck, rolled itself up into the parking spot usually claimed by an old white Corvette. It shone in the afternoon sun, anodized blue paint shimmering with all the luster a home-done spraycan repaint could provide. \n\n\tThe back of the car was plastered with stickers. Most prominent among them a pair of anime girls. Futaba Sakura in the drivers side back window corner, and Sumire Kasume at the passengers side. The ‘Subaru‘ name on the back tailgate was also crossed out with a line of red masking tape and instead beside it sat sticker of a blue slime that even the most basic bitch anime watcher would know. Which, naturally, meant that none of the men in the garage likely knew or cared.\n\n\tThe not-truck‘s small bed was filled with a standing toolbox. Old and dented but likewise repainted, this time in a metalflake raven black straight out of the spray-paint section from Meijer. On it were more stickers. A stylized red and black tophat on a red and black background, the Heartless emblem from Kingdom hearts, a sticker with the stylized title for ‘The world ends with you‘ and countless other logos or references nobody would get.\n\n\tA femmy, well groomed otter boy popped himself triumphantly out of the drivers side door and jammed his fist in the air with all the bravado of a John Hughes character. His cheap leather bracelet dangling from his wrist as if to punctuate the gesture.\n\n\t“Noot noot Motherfuckers!”", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "Collared Chapter 16: Obligation
By TerraMGP

\tIt was still hot. Michigan always had a way to subvert expectations with the weather. The past two days it was raining and 40 degrees. Then suddenly out of nowhere seventy five and sunny. The weather report said it would probably stay that way the whole week.

\tJustin was simply glad it was dry. The otter hung half way out of  his Corvette, careful as he could be not to knock it off of the cheap old metal lift ramps he‘d found in what passed for a garage to the house. That caution made it that much while he tugged on the end of his ratchet. Every muscle in his body contorted and twisted this way and that seeking to get some kind of leverage with the absurdly cramped space.

\tThe stuck bolt he‘d been pushing against finally obliged. A split second of triumph, then pain. Justin yanked his paw free of the confined engine bay and screamed in rage. He squelshed back and forth in the mud and dirt while hopping from one foot to the next. The muscles that had worked to free the bolt mere moments ago now clamped down over his fingers as he hugged it under his armpit. The reflex did very little to dull the pain. He didn‘t care. His body simply twisted around in its little involuntary war dance.

\t“God damn fuckmothering son of a fucking whore!” The words hissed out in one long growl. He spun around and began to kick at the nearest tire. His foot hammered into it again and again. Luckily the foot was pulled away when the whole thing came crashing down with a shattering thud. It sent the young man stumbling back and slamming against the house. His heart raced a mile a minute while he looked on at his faithful ride of the past half decade. The ancient sports car sitting there with a new kind of menace.

\t“Are you ok?” The voice was familiar, but distant. By the time Justin noticed Gretchen standing there he was only just aware that his ears were ringing. He looked down at himself for a few moments. Far longer than he should have to be sure that he was, in fact, unharmed.

\t“I think so.” He finally nodded “Fucking… I was trying to bleed the breaks and take care of the starter at the same time. I gotta go in to work and, gahh“ He marched angrily towards the car and ducked down doing his best to get what little light the sun would offer to shine in “I think I threw a control rod. Fuck. Now I gotta get a ride to Autozone, and I have to take a stupid Uber.”

\tGretchen moved up behind him as carefully as she dared. She tiptoed expertly around the aura of raw rage and ducked down as if she could tell what he was looking at on sight. Instead it was all just a mess of brown metal and shadows.

\t“Um, Sir.” The mole offered. A small glance back at her gave the girl some pause. Normally she‘d protest this ‘on a break from the kink part of their relationship‘ thing again. At the moment though it felt like the wrong time. “Sorry I just thought today was one of the days you have class. Right?”

\t“Oh, fuck me!” Just like that Justin had rolled himself into the mud and gravel. He could feel it seeping into his jean shorts, and honestly he didn‘t much care. He wanted to hit something. Or cry. Maybe both. His eyes slipped shut as he began running though the ever growing see of mental notes and reminders. All the while gripping his wrist with the opposite paw and listening to the odd sound it made as he angrily yanked down to ‘free‘ his paw from that grip.

\tBoth furs knew that Gretchen wasn‘t the best with this sort of thing. She stood by for a long time before scooting up to him and ducking down, perched on her tiptoes while crouched. Her mop of frizz rested against him ass he leaned on his shoulder in the most tentative and scared way imaginable.

\t“It seems like it‘s having a lot more problems lately, Sir“ she muttered

\tThere was a small wince from Justin. His odd tugs got more frustrated, but he kept himself mostly in check. Deep breaths. Tensed muscles. He struggled to squeeze the old rage out though his forehead and could imagine it bleeding out of him bit by bit until it was at a level he could actually manage.

\tDon‘t spiral. That‘s what he kept telling himself. Words his mother had repeated hundreds of thousands of times since childhood. Don‘t spiral. He could handle this. He was smart. He was rational. He could attack this rationally.

\t“I‘ll need to get new lifts so I can pull it up and take a look.” He sighed. “I can‘t do any of that today. At the very least it looks like I need a control arm and I have to look over the brake system to see how bad it is. It dropped like that with a bleeder on it. I don‘t know what that‘s going to do. Tires may be punctured too. I don‘t have any classes on Saturday but I have a salon appointment so ‘Justine‘ can keep looking pretty. Keratin is a hundred eighty eight bucks and the cut with highlight together will probably be another two hundred if I include the fur treatment. I can probably find a decent arm in the scrap yard but I don’t know if I have the time for it. That’s another three hundred bucks. Assuming it’s not worse than I think. And assuming I didn’t fuck something worse up.”

\tHe shook his head and looked up at the sky. Mostly grey cloud cover with a bit of sun. Dreary, foreboding. It was going to get cold again soon. That was Michigan though. Hot and cold with precious little in between. Cold rain and possibly even snow creeping in just when it got cool enough for the damn mosquitoes to die off. Or maybe it was just his mood. Who the hell knew?

\tAt some point the cute mole beside him had cuddled up nice and close. He wasn’t quite sure when that happened but Justin let himself smile just a touch as he put an arm around her. For now, at least, he could try to let the rage abate.

--------------------

\tThis was embarrassing. There was no reason for it to be, and yet it was. Two otters sat at the familiar spot in the mall food court. Mother and son. The former sipping on a large ice cream shake drink while the latter nibbled absently on some fries and fiddled with the shopping bags he’d been pressed into carrying.

\t“Thanks again, mom.” Justin sighed. His tail tapped nervously against the booth wall

\t“Well I know if you don’t bring your clothes here you’re probably not going to wash them.” Meredith shrugged “and you needed that part from your dad, right?”

\t“I can still bum a ride to the Laundromat.” It was a it of a lie. Justin knew his mother was right. He didn’t like admitting it, but he knew. “And you could have just dropped the part off at my house. Picking me up and taking my laundry seems like it’s going a bit far.

\tThe woman at the other end of the table smiled and brushed some of her hair from her face. The same sandy blonde Justin sported reflected back at him. Though with a few touches of grey from the stress. Her body fur had gotten a bit more faded as well. All of it far too soon for a woman who was still young enough to have a child. “I wanted to go to Crossroads anyways. The shops are better here. Plus it’s nice having my boy around to carry things for me.”

\tIt was true. Silly as it was Justin’s chest swelled with pride at memories of his younger self. He’d always go off to the GameStop or the KB toys when they still existed, or even to whatever shop in whichever mall they hit up had Gundam models or other nerdy bullshit. But he also remembered how he’d ‘help’ his mother carry her bags all the way out to the car. The way she praised him when he would tank in two armfuls of grocery bags from their trips to Meijer or sling her haul of clearance sale clothing from JC Penny into the back of the van while she carried something smaller.

\tHe missed that feeling. He missed a lot of things.

\t“Any time you need help, mom.” Justin smiled proudly “I have no problem with it. Especially now. I know you and dad probably have things on lockdown but I can still come down and do stuff if you need it.”

\t“Assuming your car works.” Meredith snerked a bit and stole one of the otter boy’s fries.

\t“It wasn’t as bad as I thought.” Justin’s tone quickly deflated “I thought I’d screwed up a control arm but it seems like I just stripped the bolt holding it in. Somehow. I should have her up and running again in no time.”

\t“And then?” It was a question that the young man wasn’t expecting. Rather, it was one he was hoping not to hear. Meredith shifted in her seat and leaned her face on to one paw. Her tail swayed heavily back and forth while she just took in her son’s expression. “Dear, that car is well older than you. It’s almost older than your dad and me. I know how much work you’ve put into it. But it’s not safe and it’s going to keep breaking down. “

\t“I’m being careful with it though, mom.” Justin snapped. He then looked away and shrank back. He couldn’t talk to her that way. Not his mother. Not like that.

\t“Which is why you ditched it last winter? In a blizzard no less?“ There was a heavy sigh as Meredith reached out and grabbed her son by the paw. “I know, dear. I know what that car means to you. But I’m just saying it’s something you need to consider. Maybe something to talk to your dad about.”

\tJustin yanked his paw away. He could feel his claw tips digging in to his palm. A momentary flash of something he could not and did not wish to place, followed by exhaustion. “I can get it fixed, mom. I know I can. It’s not that bad.”

\t“What about your roommates? What happens if they need to get somewhere with you. Or when Collin needs a ride at the same time? How about moving stuff around? I know you need to do that for your job, right?”

\tJustin replied with a very teenagery shrug “Ozzy has a Jeep. I’m sure I could probably borrow it once in a while. Or rent a U haul.”

\tMeredith furrowed her brow. Age showed a bit more. Worry. Pent up anxieties beginning to flood out from her. “Look, I know you like your car. I get it. But you don’t have the time to-”

\t“Mom. I’m not giving her up. Ok?” Justin should have hated himself for that. This was his mother, his mom, his mommy, the one who busted her ass and pushed so hard to help make sure things were ok for them. The one who kept things together even when his dad struggled to find work. The one who drove his ass all over from school to doctors appointments to every activity he wanted to go to. He should never speak to her like that. But at the same time she was wrong, and he was very tired of listening to it.

--------------------

\t“You doing ok, Flannery?”

\tJustin looked up from the drafting tablet and blinked a bit. It almost felt like there had been tears in his eyes. He was quick to wipe them, and quicker still to wince in preparation for pain that never came. Just one of those habits one learns when gothy eye shadow and engine grease are both on their plate at work.

\tMr. Karn was a rather disaffected feline. Not really someone Justin would have cared to talk to in his normal life. An older tabby with a look of perpetual disinterest on his face. Justin stared at him for perhaps too long, only looking away once he realized he was doing it. “Yeah, uh, I am. Why?”

\t“Because class is over and you’ve just been sitting there for the last ten minutes of it.” There was probably a hint of malice there. But then Justin had come to take that as read with the man.

\tNo more words were spoken between the two. Justin set the stylus down and grabbed the cheap ass computer mouse, going though the routine of saving the current pointless drafting project and sending the file over to the teacher. He wasted very little time gathering his things up while Mr. Karn began to open it. Almost managing to step out of the door when he heard a rough throat-clear.

\t“Mr. Flannery” Mr. Karn chimed in “I hope you’re going to take some time this week and work on your lines. I’m still seeing some precision issues here.”

\t“I wasn’t having them when I was using the mouse, though.” Justin noticed the aggression in his tone. Rage simmering just at the back of his throat.

\t“It’s just like hand drawing. It’s faster if you can use it like you use a pencil.” The cat corrected

\tThe willpower needed to turn away before rolling his eyes was incredible. Justin shouldered his laptop bag and rummaged his tongue into his cheek for fear that he’d lose himself in the moment. “I can’t draw well by hand.” He started. A fight that had kept up since he started the class.

\t“Well you need to get good at it. You can’t just rely on math and mouse clicks in the professional world. Any decent employer is going to expect you to be more dynamic and have a more organic mindset. That’s how we were back at Bowing.”

\tA paw darted into Justin’s pants and yanked his phone free. He glanced at the screen and shook his head aggressively “Look, I’m sorry but apparently I was keeping my Lyft ride waiting. I gotta go.” There was no pause to see if the man had further comments. Frankly Justin couldn’t care less. He made his way though the hallways until finally arriving just outside of the library. Only then did he pause and look down at his phone. Even though he’d lied, it did seem there were some messages for him. He popped open the first one with a small knot of trepidation growing in his gut. He knew the number, and knew the call couldn’t be anything good.

\t“Miss Dubois?” Justin’s voice shaking. He pulled himself off the wall again and began trudging down the tiles on his way towards the cafeteria.

\t“Justine” The older woman’s voice was smoke and satin. “I trust you know why I am calling you?”

\t“Fuck.” he snapped “I forgot a client again didn’t I?”

\tHe just barely picked up the wicked chuckle from the woman over the sound of his own boots clomping down the hall. Somehow even her pissed-off voice was commanding and seductive. Enough so that he found himself eyeing the other students in the hallway lest one of them think he was having phone sex.

\t“No, darling. If you’d done that again so soon I’m fairly sure I would not be this calm. And you would not be permitted back here for quite a while. However, I did have a complaint from one of your guests. It seems that dark smudges of motor oil on a girls face and grease under her claws is quite a turn off for someone willing to pay for a cute girl to step on his balls. Need I remind you how exacting some of our clientele can be?”

\tBy this point Justin had gone though the cafeteria without even realizing it and was now bursting out of the front doorway. He stopped and leaned himself on the brick façade, pulling a thin steam punk-pipe vape from his pocket and taking a heavy hit of whatever candy-like flavor he’d found on sale at the shop that week. “I check my face before I go in. Every time. And I keep an eye on my nails, too. I mean I try to. I know I have to do a lot more with hand tools ever since Carlos bitched at me for borrowing tools from other people. But it’s not like I have a full chest myself.”

\tA string of what Justin presumed to be curses in French, followed by a heavy breath. The boy could picture his employer’s sour face as she dragged on that cigarette holder of hers. A gesture which seemed scientifically formulated to cut off a discussion she was not pleased with.

\t“I do not care what happens in the rest of your life, girl. When you work for me I expect a level of professionalism. The last I checked you were old enough to work here. That means you are old enough to handle your problems without someone mothering you. Now if you wish that, I can take the cost from it out of your pay with each client. But even for one as cute as you, I warn that it would leave you with precious little left over.”

\tJustin sank back into the wall and reached for a coat which wasn’t currently there. He so wished he could hide his blushing right now. If he could make people feel the way he felt right now, then he’d never have to worry about money again. But it wasn’t a headspace conducive to dealing with problems.

\t“This is not a conversation or discussion, Justine. I expect you to up your appointments at the salon, and stop going for what is cheap. Do not bore me with your excuses. I have more than enough to deal with”

\tThe whole world fell away. Yes, technically Justin slid down the wall. But his brain sure as hell didn’t register things that way. He just sat there staring at his phone. Even as it went to the lock screen. Every once in a while he took a hit of what his brain told him was some sort of vanilla flavor. In truth his senses fixated a bit more on the brass tip that he traced with his tongue than on the vapor itself. He was past rage now, just sitting there in reboot.

\tIt stopped only when a message popped up. The little box for it popping down from the top of the screen. It was from his dad. The words sent him past numb as his blood turned to ice.

\t‘Hey kiddo. I think I found someone interested in your car’

--------------------

\tIt was late, and it was going to rain. Neither of the Flannery men had spoken for the entire car ride. John Flannery had driven up with an old flat bed hooked trailer hitched to his pickup. He and Justin had pushed the car up on to it without Justin saying two words. By the time they got into the car Justin had shut down entirely.

\tHe wanted to cry. He wanted to scream. It didn’t matter how stupid his feelings were, it felt like someone was tearing his soul to shreds. Justin didn’t have any experiences he could liken this to. Vulgar as it sounded to him it was like someone driving a pet down to the vet to be put to sleep. It was a stupid analogy. The thing behind them was just a mass of white fiberglass and mostly rusted metal. It was having problems and devouring time even before he got in to college. It was unsafe and about as fuel efficient as a brick.

\tIt was also his. His car. His baby. Even if he’d never named her, it was the car he picked out from the scrap yard. The project he and his dad started when he turned thirteen. He could recall every desperate push to get her working. The chain of problems that would keep him up with his father well into long summer nights. Sitting on the garage floor with his father while the older otter walked him though the details of what they were doing while pulling apart and carefully inspecting the transmission for the first time. He’d had this car for nearly half of his short life, in one way or another. And now this?

\tThey drove back down Red Arrow highway to avoid any complications with idiots on I-94. The highway was bad enough without hauling a whole car behind a pickup. Eventually that turned into the familiar backroads and fields he was used to. Justin wasn’t sure where they were going. He didn’t ask. He knew the occupants of more homes they passed than he probably cared to admit and could only speculate on which one of them likely figured they’d snap up his precious car and lock it away where he could never see it again.

\t“You doing ok, kid?” John muttered the words and turned down the radio a bit. As was usually the case his voice was gentle. He had a way of dancing on eggshells without coming off as demeaning. A skill Justin absolutely had never picked up.

\tThe young man in the passengers seat shook his head and said nothing. He watched a cherry orchard fly by in his vision. His eyes bounced up and down as if bobbing between the gaps in the rows. He knew if he spoke he’d call this off. He wanted to scream at his father for even suggesting this. So he stayed silent and held himself in check. Barely.

\t“I know it wasn’t easy to do this.” John continued. “The economy is shit right now, and you can’t work full time. I mean there’s a reason I never did what you’re doing and things are way worse now. Makes me wish I’d taken those W protests a bit more seriously back in the day” As always John paused for some kind of laugh. As always there was none to be had. “Look, I’m proud of you and Hui for waiting and letting yourselves get a shot at this. You were responsible.”

\t“If I was responsible I’d have gotten a scholarship way before now.” Justin snapped “Then I wouldn’t be having to put up with this shit.”

\t“Ok, so what?” The elder otter shrugged “So you did some dumb shit as a kid and fucked up. Everyone does that. Guess what, you’re going to fuck up more before things are over. That’s life buddy. You’re not hooked on drugs. You’re finally taking your damn meds, though right now I’m kinda questioning it.”

\t“I’m taking them, dad.” Justin corrected

\t“Right. I get that this has you freaked out. But I know you wouldn’t do it unless you didn’t have a choice. It’s not like you’re blowing the money on a bunch of that plastic 40K shit, right?”

\tThat finally managed to crack a smile from the dour teen. A small one, but a smile all the same. “What, you think I’d give her up for half a new army?” The boy rolled his eyes and leaned back into the seat. “You know why I need to do this, dad. I need tools. I need stuff for work. And she…”

\t“She’s not an ‘everyday use’ car. I know that. It was one thing driving to school or the game shop. You barely put any miles on that thing. Now you don’t have us to drive you anywhere and you need to go all over every day.”

\t“You sound like mom.” There was a pout to the voice. Justin let himself sink back into his seat and stopped bobbing his vision though the various obstacles on the roadside. Instead he just crossed his arms and shoved his feet hard against the footwell.

\tThe truck slowed near a familiar road. It was the same stretch Grandma an Grandpa Flannery lived down. Once again Justin worked to stave off his frustration by running though the list of people he knew who lived on that road. A list which unfortunately included his cousin Bug and about half of the worst stick-up-their-ass members of the church’s congregation. Plus, at some point, Ryan. Fuck he hoped it wasn’t Ryan.

\t“You got it backwards. I actually ‘coached’ her a bit on that. Just because she wanted to be a bit more blunt. You know how she is. Only got worse since she got pregnant. Though at least this time she’s not dealing with schoolwork on top of it all. Unless her RN renewal comes up. God I hope that’s not this year.”

\t“This was your idea, then?” Justin snapped

\t“More hers than mine.” John shrugged “But is it wrong?”

\tThey were getting close to Ryan’s driveway, and Justin didn’t want to look up. He jammed his feet against the footwell and braced himself back into the seat like the petulant child he was. His ears twitched and twisted this way and that. “I need something that isn’t constantly breaking. And apparently I need a full set of tools. I could probably get all of that right now. But I’d be starving myself and I wouldn’t be able to afford tuition next semester. Not unless I let rent slide, which is probably even worse. I know what I have to do.” He could feel his throat close up as he said the words “I know what the ‘grown up’ thing to do is. But I, It’s not fair. It’s not fucking fair! She’s ours. We made her. We saved her. We brought that car back to life. Again and again. Now I just have to throw that all away. I never get to see it again. All because I need to worry about one semester at a stupid school for a stupid degree for my stupid future! I know I can’t. I know I have to at least hear this asshole out. But I just want to go fucking home!”

\tA pause. Tears were streaming down his cheeks. His throat ached from echoes of tweenage Justin coming back to the now adult otter to scream his childish and impotent defiance for not getting his way. He looked up at his father. The man was smiling. It was a strange view. A curious view. He didn’t understand it.

\tThen something caught his eye. A familiar pole shed. A large grove of walnut trees surrounding a fire pit. The ruined remains of his fathers first attempt to make Justin and his friends a tree fort, back before the actually functional one they had gotten in the woods the year after.

\t“We’re here.” John nodded

\t“Gramma and Grandpas? What, you don‘t trust this Asshole enough to go to their house?” Any civility for whoever was buying his car was long gone. His dad could take care of negotiations if he wanted. He just wanted to shut down until this was over.

\t“oh, I wouldn’t trust this particular asshole if you paid me, kiddo.” John Smirked.

\tJustin wasn’t stupid. But he also wasn’t about to get his hopes up. Even with his father grinning the way he was. Even with the comfort of the familiar setting. He reached for his door handle. He looked around. He waited for the other shoe to drop. There was always another shoe.

\tJohn silenced those worries with a firm grip to his son’s shoulder. His grin turned into a beaming smile. “Kid, I know this was hard for you. I also know I’m going to sound like a patronizing asshole. But I’m your father so I’m allowed to do it. I want to buy your car.”

\t“I… what?” Justin’s jaw gapped open “Dad, you can’t be, I mean that’s… Ok I can’t handle this right now. This isn’t funny.”

\t“It’s not a joke either.” John laughed “Your mom and I talked about it. We had some money stored up to help you with college shit. While I can’t spend all of it on this, it is technically to help you with college. And also it’s gonna be my Christmas present for the next, like, decade. I want to buy that old girl and I want to keep her here. Probably in the pole barn for now until I can figure something else out. You’re not the only one with a lot of memories attached to it.”

\t“B-but you guys… you have a baby on the way!” Justin snapped “How are you going to cover all of that. It’s not like you can drive it.”

\t“Will you relax? Jesus, You just had to get all the neurotic shit from my side didn’t you? I’m saying we’re going to help you, and that I want to keep that car around. Can you just trust your old man for once?”

\tThe speed of the hug was such that Justin was as surprised to give it as his father was to get it. The boy squeezing as tightly as he could. It hurt, in no small part due to having caught the seatbelt about an inch before he could reach his dad. But then he really could not have cared any less about that at the moment.

\tJohn returned the hug for a long moment before pulling back. He looked at the boy with his eyes suddenly very solemn. “Listen.” John’s tone leveled out a bit. His paw gripping his son’s shoulder firmly “We’re not just buying you a new car, ok? Your mom put down some caveats on this, so I really want you to think about it. First of all I’m only able to foot five grand. You wanna add in any more from what you have then that’s fine but I can’t imagine you have all that much more. I also have a friend who’s willing to sell you his old tool box and whatever I can’t give you for the basics pretty cheap. Not sure how long any of it will last you but it’ll be a start.“

\t“It sounds like a now brainer” Justin’s smile only grew

\t“Maybe, but think about this. You could probably get ten if you put in some work and detailed the Corvette. That’d get you a decent enough car and some money to help save for school. Which is where the second part comes in.”

\t“What part’s that?“ Justin nodded slowly. He knew that tone all too well and some small part of him braced internally.

\t“Your mom wants it to be a new car. Or at least newer. I know, you’re more than able to get a beater and keep her running. That’s not what this is about. Your mom talked to her friend Janet at the credit union. If you take out a loan for something then it‘s going to do wonders for your credit score. But that means you have to make the monthly payments. Every month. It also means you can’t just pay huge chunks of it off if you end up with some extra cash.”

\t“Wait what? Why the hell not?” The younger otter shocked by his own indignation.

\tJohn’s face curled into a wry smirk “Because credit scores are bullshit, son. You pay it off early and it will actually make things worse. But if you’re making consistent payments on a new car that will help it a lot. That means you’ll be able to get a student loan more easily if you still decide you wanna try Western out after you get your associates. It also means when you and Hui finally start looking for a home of your own you’ll have actual options.”

\t“Because I’m stupid enough to have debt?” Just saying it felt wrong. It left a bitter aftertaste in Justin’s mouth. Every gamer instinct he had struggled to find some angle to the system where it would make sense and each one only caused more psychological trauma.

\tThere was a small chuckle and John leaned back into his seat looking out at the field before them. “Look, kid. I’m just as stumped as you. I don’t make the rules. We have our house now because your Grandpa helped us out and even then things were getting out of hand. If it’s an emergency your mom and I might be able to scrape up a bit to help. But if you can budget this out and pull it off it means you might actually have a shot at the kinds of things most kids in your generation won’t get. You know, assuming we don’t all end up in a nuclear war.”

\t“Well someone’s reminiscing about the old duck and cover days.” Justin laughed.

\t“Boy, do you really think I’m old enough to remember all that cold war shit? First president I ever saw was the first Bush and that was leading up to the most fucked up drug trip of an anti-drug PSA I’ve ever seen. Talk to your Grandpa. He’s the Gen X-er.”

\tIt finally felt like he could breathe. Justin leaned back into his seat and looked up at the sky. The ominous grey clouds screaming as they prepared to split open with a heavy rain. He didn’t care. He couldn’t care. Not now. Instead he simply kicked his feet up and gazed at the sky.

\t“Take all the time you need to think.” John said firmly “But maybe try to make up your mind before it rains. I wanna roll this thing into the barn without getting soaked.

--------------------

\tEverything was the same at the garage. Half a dozen furs flitting between just as many lifts. Some flitting between almost as many lifts. the stench of oil and metal mixed with the roar of pneumatic tools. None of them looked up from their work as an unfamiliar vehicle pulled itself behind the shop. The intruding vehicle, some twisted hybrid of wagon and pickup truck, rolled itself up into the parking spot usually claimed by an old white Corvette. It shone in the afternoon sun, anodized blue paint shimmering with all the luster a home-done spraycan repaint could provide.

\tThe back of the car was plastered with stickers. Most prominent among them a pair of anime girls. Futaba Sakura in the drivers side back window corner, and Sumire Kasume at the passengers side. The ‘Subaru‘ name on the back tailgate was also crossed out with a line of red masking tape and instead beside it sat sticker of a blue slime that even the most basic bitch anime watcher would know. Which, naturally, meant that none of the men in the garage likely knew or cared.

\tThe not-truck‘s small bed was filled with a standing toolbox. Old and dented but likewise repainted, this time in a metalflake raven black straight out of the spray-paint section from Meijer. On it were more stickers. A stylized red and black tophat on a red and black background, the Heartless emblem from Kingdom hearts, a sticker with the stylized title for ‘The world ends with you‘ and countless other logos or references nobody would get.

\tA femmy, well groomed otter boy popped himself triumphantly out of the drivers side door and jammed his fist in the air with all the bravado of a John Hughes character. His cheap leather bracelet  dangling from his wrist as if to punctuate the gesture.

\t“Noot noot Motherfuckers!”", "pools_count": 1, "title": "Collared Chapter 16: Obligation", "deleted": "f", "public": "t", "mimetype": "application/msword", "pagecount": "1", "rating_id": "2", "rating_name": "Adult", "ratings": [ { "content_tag_id": "4", "name": "Sexual Themes", "description": "Erotic imagery, sexual activity or arousal", "rating_id": "2" } ], "submission_type_id": "12", "type_name": "Writing - Document", "guest_block": "t", "friends_only": "f", "comments_count": "3", "views": "128" }