Brigid slammed her fist on the table again, rattling the bowls and drinkware. "It was like I wasn't even there, Eligh!" A day had passed since the missed opportunity for a reunion had occurred at the coffee shop. Brigid was sitting alone at the big window seat, the wolf that had occupied her thoughts for months had been at the counter.
The large grizzly bear loomed over the stove, pushing an egg and milk mixture around a heated frying pan surface, merely growled at his much smaller friend's gripes.
"And he had two cups of coffee, Eligh. Two! Who the FUCK was that other one for, anyway?!"
Eligh sighed heavily, content for the time being, letting the girl vent her frustration. It's not like she didn't spend the majority of last night ranting about it over two pints of Ben & Jerry's ice cream.
Outside, a thunderstorm rumbled somewhere in the distance, teasing the small mountain town with relief from the heat but promising nothing as it rolled across the western horizon.
The fox took a sip of her coffee, then a gulp after realizing it had cooled down enough. She looked at her reflection on the black liquid's surface, noting the bags under her eyes, the heavy eyelids, and her messy hair. She sighed as she settled back into her chair, pulling one of her legs up and allowing her paw to rest on the edge of the chair.
Brigid had several relationships in her life and easily twice as many crushes, if not more. She'd never admit it to anyone but herself, but this one felt different somehow. The fact that she still felt the same rush of infatuation that was prevalent throughout her teens had assuaged her of the fears she'd been passively instilled with. The stuff she'd always been told she would eventually grow out of simply never came to pass.
She wondered what else she had been told she'd grow out of that was still very much part of her.
The dulled clatter of two bamboo plates dropping to the table snapped her out of her deep thoughts. Eligh had placed a platter containing scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausages, arranged in a way that resembled the smiling face of an alien creature.
She slumped harder into her hand, elbow resting on the tabletop as her overly large shirt slid off her shoulder and exposed the strap of her black bra beneath. Her eyes went to the table, then slowly drifted up to the bear who, despite sitting down, still towered over her.
"Eat, Brigs." He said sternly. A tone that caught the moping fox off guard. Eligh had, from the few times she had the misfortune of hearing her giant roommate roleplay with his one-night stands. She was grateful for the thicker walls they had here in Brickhedge, but back home was a different story.
"It's just not fair, Eligh. I feel all tangled up."
"Then eat." The tone again. The bear's appearance, more often than not, betrayed his demeanor, which was that of a soggy paper towel. Even when addressing the town in a high-paying government job, his voice cracked and wavered. But get him alone with a hard-on and a boy toy, and he turns into the beast one expects upon glancing at him. "I might be able to help you unravel."
She cocked an eyebrow and popped a sausage in her mouth and chewed.
"I've got some news that I think is going to perk you up, but you got to promise me you will slow down a bit and actually think things through before doing literally anything with the info I'm about to give you, okay?"
He'd definitely got her attention now as her ears perked up. She popped a rasher of bacon in her mouth and chewed.
"It is about Advrik. I really shouldn't be doing this, but I got some info on your wolf." She straightened up in her chair, pulling the shirt back up and over her shoulder.
"Eligh, you didn't." She said in disbelief. "You could lose your job if they find out!"
The bear laughed despite the mouthful of eggs. "Oh? No, no, no; That's not my source at all. I wouldn't dream of it." His expression was one of shock and maybe a little bit of fear. He'd never use his position for such petty means of information gathering. "Let's get dressed and go for a walk; I could use some fresh forest air in my lungs before spending the rest of the day in that office."
The distant thunderstorm had ridden off to the north, allowing for the clear blue sky to shine through once more, taking with it the promise of precipitation and relief from the heat.
Eligh and Brigid walked along the Green Way entrance, past the bike racks and bathrooms, and onto the dirt trail. Grass and trees were heavy with morning dew, still, and thick patches of fox moved through the trees with an eeriness that only came with the knowledge that some monsters were known to hide in the vapors.
"All right, Big Guy, you've made your case. I won't be a creeper, and I won't rush to his house or anything, so please, tell me what you know!"
Brigid wore her usual attire: A black tank top under the long-sleeved black and pink plaid button-up and a black pair of shorts that hugged her thighs just a tad bit too tightly, creating the slight indentation all around her pant legs that drove men and women alike crazy.
Eligh wore a similarly casual outfit of a simple pair of black pants, a white tee, and a backward baseball cap.
He stopped to think about what sort of path divulging this info might put both her and the wolf down and what that might mean for Eligh's personal life as a result. But the previous night had been a rough one for his little foxy friend, and if sharing what he'd learned with her would eventually end this turmoil, be it in a good or bad way, then it was best to get over with sooner rather than later.
"Didn't you say your little secret area was somewhere around here?" He said, noting the smell of water from somewhere nearby.
"Eligh." Her voice now tinged with the same sternness he'd used with her earlier.
"All right, all right. Remember when I told you about the new IT guy Mayor Filbert had hired a while back?"
She stopped to think, halfway pushing herself through a thick barrier of low-hanging branches. "Nnnnnot really, no."
"Come on now, Brigs. It was the mole with the tentacles on his face from the coffee shop. You've talked to him at least a dozen times already." The bear said, holding a bramble of thorny vines up for the fox to step under.
"Oh yeah, the guy whose parents literally abandoned him here in town. He's a real weirdo, that one." She giggled, remembering the thick glasses and odd appendage on his nose.
"Hm, yes, well, as unique a beast as he is, he's been a huge help around the office. Has a real fondness for old technology, which made him the perfect hire when he applied to the mayor's help wanted listing on the town's bulletin board." Eligh wouldn't mention how he fantasized about what the mole could do with those prehensile tentacles sexually. Certainly not them being wrapped around his dick and getting a nose job from him.
The two finally entered the clearing that Brigid loved so much, the giant mountain-born boulder still sitting where she'd left it on her last trip out. The sun hadn't been high enough yet, so the surface was still cool and would remain that way until the sun's rays beamed through the canopy.
A light that seemed to burn through the thick tree cover to warm this specific boulder and this boulder only.
Eligh's phone dinged, denoting a text message. He read the contents from the lock screen, "Just work stuff," He said, then slipped the phone back into his pocket. "All right. So, as it turns out, Desmond is pretty good friends with Advrik. They hang out regularly, from what I'm told, which seemed to be a pretty big deal to the mole."
Brigid tipped her head and tilted an ear while a confused look flashed across her face, "Who's Desmond?"
"I, ugh. Desmond is the mole, Advrik's friend. The same one he bought that second drink for yesterday at Toh's Beans. As in, there is no 'other girl' you ranted about last night."
"So you're trying to tell me he's gay then? Of all the fucking luck--"
"No, Brigid," Eligh growled, "Advrik is single, and if what Desmond is telling me is the truth, then he..." Eligh knew there was no going back after he muttered the next string of words. Whatever was to happen, he just hoped Brigid would come out of it none the worse for wear.
"And then he told me that the wolf had been thinking about you as well these last few months." And there it was, and whatever future this flow of information eventually carved for them, he only hoped it wasn't turbulent like the rapids back home.
Brigid remained speechless as she sat against the massive boulder, processing the info that had hit her like a tractor-trailer might hit a toddler in a horror novel. Meanwhile, Eligh took his phone out to read a new message. She wanted to smile so badly that she could feel herself getting all giddy. She felt like a teenager again. It almost didn't feel real.
"Listen, Brigs, I gotta get to work. Just stick around here a bit and process what I've told you, okay? Don't go looking for the wolf or anything like that. You're in a rare situation here, and you need to approach it like the 30-something you are, okay? Just take it slow and approach it carefully now that you have the clarity, please?" Eligh was practically begging her with the tone he'd been using, which, to her, was more like the grizzly bear she knew. Whiny and diminutive.
Several minutes passed, and still, she found herself overflowing with a sense of wonderment that she'd pined for since her late teenage years. What Eligh had said was the truth, that she'd found herself in a most uncommon situation. "Advrik... has a crush on me." She said aloud, only the babbling stream to hear. She could feel herself blushing despite the fur.
"I mean I know we've only met literally one time, but for us to linger on one's mind for so long after that... That must mean something, right?" She said quietly to herself, her words lost in the light crashing of the small waterfall.
Finally, the sun had risen high enough that it could begin to penetrate the canopy. A beam of light shone down onto the boulder that Brigid had been reclining on. The warmth felt good against her fur. It rapidly ate away at the morning chill that came off the water's surface and the dampness that flooded the area, soon to be replaced by a cool humidity.
What should she do in the situation, though? Eligh was right; she wasn't some inexperienced teenager. She was a full-grown vixen; she should be able to approach this in an adult manner, and yet...
She reclined further onto the rock, propped up by her arms as her overshirt slid down her arms. She crossed her legs and closed her eyes so as to bathe in the morning sunbeam.
There she remained for several minutes more, only to be quickly pulled back to the waking world by the sound of a snapping twig and the sight of two red eyes beset in a wolf's face that was knitted with surprise.
He slowly lowered the phone from his ear as the two made eye contact for the first time in months.
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