The wolf shouldered the framed glass door that served as a means of keeping the elements from getting into the little homegrown coffee shop. Holding a coffee cup in each hand. Each cup was cloaked in a little cardboard sleeve to protect the sensitive pads on his palm and fingers.
Outside, the same heat that had become overbearing on his previous fishing trip still lingered on; the air was thick and heavy as the humidity ran high, making the otherwise abnormally dry summer all the more unbearable to deal with.
Advrik swung sharply down the alleyway between the coffee shop and the building next door. The narrow space would have been a nice reprieve from the heat if not for the rancid odor of the dumpster that called the dank space home.
"Got your..." he looked at the two cups, one full of a light roast coffee mixed with a medium amount of cream and two pumps of lavender-flavored syrup. In his other... "cup of milk and caramel hazelnut creamer. Desmond, man, I'm pretty sure Toh knew this was for you."
The short, fat mole emerged from behind the dumpster, eyes glued to his phone. He reached out his claw, which the wolf met by placing the cup within its grasp. "I doubt it, sir wolf." He said with a matter of fact tone. "In fact, I am talking to Toh right now, griping about the pain in my lower abdomen." The mole flipped the screen of the phone around for Advrik, who saw a photo the mole had sent to his landlord/boss.
"See? Totally thinks I'm back at the boarding house."
The old, rusted door to their left swung open, revealing an orange cat in a familiar apron and white cardigan. The corner of his mouth twitched as his yellow eyes fell on the mole that had, up until just that very second, thought he had the cat in the bag.
"Nine to five tomorrow, Desmond?"
All eight tentacles on the mole's nose had drooped in reaction to the cat's energy long before the rest of Desmond's head dropped in similar shame. "Yessir..."
The cat tossed a bag of recyclables into the green trash can beside the door before taking one last look at the duo. "Oh, and before you come in in the morning, stop by the grocer and pick up some more cucumbers, would you please? Thanks." The old door slammed behind him, almost catching his fluffy orange tail in the process.
Advrik shook his head. "Told you he knew it was you."
"He so did not--" The door suddenly swung open again, and the cat's head popped out.
"And next time, get your flavored milk from somewhere else other than your workplace."
"Told you," Advrik said matter of factly.
The cicada invasion of 2024 was beginning to wind down, with the dead or dying remains of the billions of insects becoming less numerous amid the streets and homes of beasts living within the emergence zones. The constant song produced by the swarming insects, too, had all but stopped. Replaced by the usual harsh on-and-off again trill of the everyday cicada species and accompanying bandmates in nature's symphony.
Wolf and star-nosed mole walked side by side through a mostly vacated sidewalk, heading north along Main. Advrik had been steadily nursing his coffee while Desmond chugged his just a few minutes after the encounter with Toh, tossing the cup into a recycle bin outside the general store. Together, they appeared to wander aimlessly, just two beasts going about a lazy summer afternoon.
Several speechless minutes pass as the beasts break away from the hot pavement and find themselves along the Brickhedge Greenway. Then, shortly after that, they're off the beaten trail, pushing past bushes full of sticker vines, sticky brambles, and the occasional spider web.
Eventually they come to a little clearing at the base of a steady incline, shaded by a heavy tree concentration and the hill that loomed overhead. Cold air wafted off of the surface of the slow-flowing stream that cascaded gently down the hillside from higher up.
"Welcome to my secret spot," the wolf said, gesturing to the opening with a sweeping gesture. A crab pot sat half-submerged at the base of the waterfall.
For the first time in a long time, Desmond had looked away from his phone and removed the buds from his ears. He stopped himself before he could gawk, but the feeling of amazement at the sight before him struck him with a weight he hadn't expected. His tentacles wiggled with excitement.
Advrik stepped into the stream and hefted the old, rickety cage from the water, revealing a mass of crawfish within. Small, freshwater shellfish that typically dwelled in streams, rivers or just about any open body of flowing water.
"You up for a crawfish boil?"
The mole shook his head, "Allergic to shellfish. This place is bitchin', though; how'd you stumble across it anyway?" The mole said as he traipsed around the place, failing to find any indication that creatures other than his canid buddy had been there.
"Oh, just bored nights on Google Earth. Do you see that mountain high above us? That big boulder you're leaning against had tumbled down from there at some point." The mole's trembling tentacles betrayed the otherwise unenthused expression behind the thick pair of spectacles.
"But don't worry, that was a heckuva a long time ago, and looking at the mountain now doesn't really show anything else happening like that anytime soon." The wolf paused, his brows creased as if in some sort of realization. "Well, not unless we experience an earthquake."
Before Advrik could finish freeing the captured crawfish into their final mode of transport(a bucket that the wolf had hidden behind the waterfall), the mole stepped up and, gritting his teeth, said, "All right, this feels like a good a time as any," He said, then forced out the next part of the sentence with a nearly audible pain, "It's not easy for me to do shit like this, but we need to talk."
While the crawfish scuttled about in their sightless, dull blue prison, a discussion of much importance was being had by the beasts that had captured them just down the stream.
A discussion that, from the mole's perspective, at least, was important. Being communicative was never his strong suit, so what he was doing was bold, new territory for the closed-off beast.
"You can't just go and say that it's no big fucking deal when practically everything you do is coded with that girl in some way, Advrik!"
The wolf's brows creased, equally curious and frustrated by Desmond's statement. "Are you referring to Brigid?" He remarked, knowing full well that's what he meant.
Desmond sat atop the cushy patch of grass just off the side of the stream, green and lush from the fertile soil that covered the forest floor. The tentacles on his nose were in a neutral position as he uttered his next sentence, "Well, for starters, she's the reason you and I are even... friends. Remember that day in the cafe when you were muttering to yourself?"
"Yeah, and you were eavesdropping--"
"Secondly, if I'm going to be playing a part in your life, then there is. No. Way. In. Hell I am going to let the potential romantic side plot linger in the background any longer than it has to." His voice had raised to pitch Advrik had never heard him used before. "She, Brigid Ashtear, the lavender-furred fox that you've been subconsciously pining over, has been doing the same for you, dickhead."
"Now wait just a minute, I-- Hold up... really?" The wolf's ears had perked up, the tips standing high on end at the mole's statement. Was he for real, Advrik wondered, or was Desmond being his usual dick self. It certainly wouldn't have been the first time this week that he'd betrayed his friendship in a way that both seemed equally villainous as it did prankish.
"After you impaled my plantar ball with your claw on Tuesday, on what grounds do I have to believe a word you say, Des?"
Like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on him, the mole's features all drooped at the same time; Even his curtained hairstyle had somehow fallen flat against his head, following his ears, eyelids, and tentacles downward.
"Look, that was a joke and you're already walking just fine again anyway, see?" He pointed at the wolf, who'd now loped over to the bucket of crawfish, ready to head home. "Besides, I've been doing some sleuthing. On your behalf, ya know? I've kind of been gathering some more info before I talk to you. About Brigid and that big bear friend of hers that definitely isn't her boyfriend." The wolf stopped and raised his head, eyes closed as he took a deep breath. "Eligh Brannigon, the town planner, is super gay, my friend. Not only that, but Brigid has become fixated on you, from what I've overheard."
"But if you're not willing to trust me, then..."
Advrik exhaled deeply, then craned his head towards the mole. Opening his eyes, he said, "Just... just hold on a second. Can we talk about this back at my place?"
Desmond's features started to come alive again, tentacles and all. "Ah, so you do care... I'll hang for a bit and tell you all that I know over dinner. But, uhh..." He said, pointing a clawed index finger at the bucket of crawfish dangling from Advrik's hand.
The wolf simply smiled and said, "I'll order a pizza or something. Sound good?"
Desmond smiled and adjusted his glasses before standing upright, trailing behind his much taller friend as they both headed for Advrik's home on Main.
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