The first red maple leaf of the season drifted lazily past the wolf’s bedroom window, his vision still blurred from the previous night’s restful sleep. Trees all over town and on the outskirts had started their annual process of shedding their foliage. Once vibrantly green, the surrounding forests and hillsides were now cornucopias of different reds, yellows, browns, and oranges, with the occasional evergreen peppered in for that extra splash of color.
Advrik lifted the window, letting the cold air hit his bare chest, the wind ruffling the tuft of fur that grew out of his collarbone. It was much colder than he anticipated, but the chilly air had been just what was needed to sop up the rest of the slumber-induced blurred vision.
Having awoken minutes before his alarm had gone off, Advrik was now listening to the morning forecast being read by the same writer behind the weather article in the Brickhedge Times, a local newspaper that’s still delivered by a paperboy every other morning.
“Good morning, Brickhedge!” the voice on the radio said, with the same energy and tone every morning. Rain or shine, if the wolf needed that extra little jolt of energy, this particular radio DJ was better than any energy drink.
“If you’re one of the many beasts that use my morning forecasts as your alarm, then it’s time you got your butt out of bed and over to that thermostat because the air outside this morning is frigid! We’re expecting to see some snow flurries this afternoon, if you can believe it! Heckuva way to kick off the autumn season, am I right?”
“Snow, huh? Never would have seen that back home.” Advrik said, closing the window and locking it. Not as if any beast would attempt to scale his house and enter through the second-story window, but better safe than sorry, he thought.
Outside, the world was still dark, illuminated by the black iron street lamps and the headlights from the vehicles that beasts so slowly drove through the streets. The sky was pitch black, the sky show having turned off the lights for the night to make way for the sun as it crested the western horizon over the next hour.
Unlocking his screen, he immediately gravitated to the messaging app and opened up Brigid’s texts. There had been nothing else since she’d told him good night hours ago, long after he’d fallen asleep. He’d send her a good morning text because what beast didn’t like getting those? Waking up to messages from someone who thought enough about you was a feeling that could not be replicated.
But first, he scrolled up. Much further up, the string of messages that followed that surprising but very much appreciated lewd selfie the other night had filled the wolf with feelings he’d not felt in so very, very long. It had amplified not only his friendship with the adorable purple fox but greatly enforced the feelings he evidently had for her.
And there it was, sent while he was in the middle of registering Side Quests as an official business with the New Hampshire registry office, effectively distracting him for the rest of the night, at least until he took a few minutes to take care of it.
Until it came back every time he chanced a glance at the picture.
He’d only ever been in love once in his life, and that beast had dropped him not like a rock into a flowing river but by gently placing it down and pretending to forget where he’d been placed. Never so much as a goodbye, spoken in-person or otherwise. No explanation, nothing. He’d just been set to the side, and then, when he had finally obtained an explanation, it had simply been that she had “grown tired of him” and that she’d “fallen out of love”.
Neither of which came from her mouth.
So naturally, he’d feel the hesitance to let his feelings for this new beast in his life flourish out of fear of setting himself up for another break-up or, worse, another silent abandonment.
With the advent of the selfie, he began to remind himself that neither he nor Brigid were in their twenties anymore; They were full-grown adults with greater understandings of the world and how relationships work. Beasts simply didn’t have flings at this age… did they?
Regardless, he allowed Brigid to slip between the cracks and into his heart, with his prior lowkey actions toward her becoming more prominent in recent days. Her reactions filled him with joy and the need to see and hear from her every. Single. Day.
ME: Good morning, Brigs! They’re legit calling for snowflakes today, on the first day of autumn! Never would’ve happened back where I come from.
He hit send and then headed for the bathroom to dress for the day, for he had plans.
***
It had been another, though increasingly uncommon, restless night for the fox as she lay awake into the early morning hours. Tubi on repeat with random episodes of the Dick Van Dyke show, the volume on her television turned down just low enough that the raucous applause from the studio audience could find its way past the velvety fur that lined the inside of her ears.
She was a light sleeper, but couple that with the specific notification sound effect that he had applied to Advrik’s name in her phone, and she’d be up and about in the blink of an eye, even if she hadn’t slept in a week.
She hugged her pillow, snout hidden behind it, as she smiled, reading his text. She’d not reply, not yet. She wanted to relish the fact that he was there if only in text, first thing in the morning to greet her. None of her past boyfriends had ever done such a thing for her. She was used to always being kept at arm’s length, which was why she never allowed herself to trust the feelings of others.
It was why she eventually shut herself off from the dating scene until she turned thirty, waiting for the population to mature a bit and hopefully realize what they wanted.
She hadn’t been warned that the dating pool would suddenly dry up after thirty!
ME: Good mroning, Advrik. How are you doing? Snow in September is wild, bro.
Noting the spelling error she’d have to correct later before sending, she dropped her phone back into sleep mode and then onto her nightstand.
Turning over to her back, she grabbed her remote and shut the TV off, leaving her in a pitch-black room thanks to the combined efforts of the blackout curtains and blinds. She wanted sleep to come and take her again, if for just a few more hours, but the possibility of such a thing happening now was dead in the water. Brigid was wired from the minute her eyes opened, regardless of the time of day.
The window pane rattled against the wind, followed by the occasional dry-sounding Pat-Pat’ing sound of leaves being hurled against the house, no doubt being dislodged by the cold wind that swept through the town outside.
“Fuck this, might as well be productive,” she said, tossing the blanket aside and showing off her black and pink plaid pajama bottoms. A color and pattern choice that Eligh had noted was becoming a bit of a trend with her.
It hadn’t helped that Advrik bought her a scarf of the same color pattern on their first date, either. Today would be the perfect day to wear it, too, she thought as her creamy pink paw pads touched the hardwood floor.
No sooner did she start rummaging through her underwear drawer than another text from Advrik arrived. Stumbling and nearly tripping over the bean bag chair in the middle of her floor, she practically jumped the rest of the way onto her bed, sliding and nearly falling off the other side of a full-size mattress!
ADVRIK: Hey, I was thinking. And feel free to say no, but how about we get together for dinner at my place tonight? You could bring Eligh along, and we could all just spend the evening getting to know each other a little better.
ADVRIK: Sorry to bombard you with texts at such an hour. Feel free to ignore them until you’re good and awake. :P
“Hold up, when did I change his name in my contacts? He’d been ‘Dickweed’ before…” Had been her first thought, followed immediately by, “Hell-fucking-yes!”
***
Eligh rolled over, releasing the completely nude mystery beast from his grasp. He stretched out in his California King-sized bed, paws still dangling over the edge, with the smaller beast sleeping peacefully beside him. He’d feel his morning wood coming along any minute now, a small glimpse into the life his body would experience if not for all the medications he was on.
The large window that stood four feet away from his bed overlooked the northern hill that loomed above the town, where a supposed drop-off and viewpoint was located. The large land mass appeared as a dark shadow against an even darker sky, like the whole planet was pitching a tent in front of him.
A clawed hand gently rested itself atop his chest, diddling with the thicker white patch of fur at the center. The beast was clearly an armadillo of some sort, though Eligh wouldn’t be able to tell you his name to save his life. Rarely had the big bear ever actually asked for a name from his one-nighters.
“Hey there, morning,” the smaller beast said with a groggy voice, his head now resting on the bear’s shoulder while still toiling away with his chest fur. “I hope we didn’t keep your roommate up last night; we got a little noisy, I hate to say.”
Eligh’s eyes snapped open as the memory of the heated passion that filled the room last night came flooding back. “Oh crackers,” he said as she reached for his phone, expecting a tirade of vicious messages telling him and his nightly snack to keep the noise down.
BRIGID: You’re not going to fuckin’ believe this!
BRIGID: Advrik invited us to his house for dinner tonight
“Huh,” was the only word to escape his mouth before the sensation of the armadillo’s claw, having traversed from the thick white fur on his chest to the very apparent bulge beneath the bedsheet.
Gripping Eligh’s throbbing penis, the armadillo said, “Want one last quickie before I hit the road?” he said, the voice emanating a pleading tone.
A release before he flooded his system with all those medications once more would be very much welcome.
“I’m sorry if we kept you up last night, Brigs. I hadn’t realized just how noisy we were getting.” Eligh said, now fully dressed in a sports jersey and pair of sweatpants. He toiled away quickly at the small kitchen, which only appeared that way when his massive frame was standing in it.
The fox sat at the table, absorbed in the conversation on her phone. “It’s seriously okay, big guy; I was having a bad night anyway. I didn’t actually get any sleep until around 4am anyhow.”
This gave Eligh pause mid-flip with the bacon, “But the text you sent me was at 6am…”
“Uh-huh…”
“Brigs, c’mon now.” He said, flipping over the last rasher of thick-cut bacon before moving on to the eggs. “You need to put your phone on Do Not Disturb mode with how light of a sleeper you are.”
The fox lowered her phone and shot a piercing glare at the bear, one ear falling flat. “You’re one to fucking talk, Mr. ‘I don’t care if it’s 2am and my roommate is a light sleeper, cram that cock in my—‘”
“Okay, okay, I get it. I apologize. Last night was a rare one for me; I didn’t feel much of a drain from my depression meds as I typically do, all.”
The two beasts ate a hardy breakfast of toast, eggs, and bacon, with the vast majority of it piled onto Eligh’s extra-large platter.
Outside, the wind had died down to a gentle breeze, leaving the sky covered in a rippling grey cloud cover that brought with it the promise of moisture.
“So… your wolf invited us all to his den for dinner?” he said, finally breaking the silence that had befallen the breakfast table.
“Don’t say it like that, damn. You speak like we’re a bunch of Primals. But yeah, he said we could even invite one extra and that he’d have plenty of food to go around. He’s inviting that fucked-up mole, too.”
“Hey now, Desmond’s unique, but calling him… that… is a bit harsh,” Eligh spoke fondly of the little beast, thankful that they had such an individual in town with knowledge of how to fix and operate such dated technology that the mayor simply refused to do away with. It was only a side gig for the mole, but he’d expressed his gratitude for the job in his own unique way.
“So…” the purple fox said, dressed in a black t-shirt and her brown pants. “Do you wanna go?”
“Of course. I’d like to meet and talk to this wolf in a casual setting. Gotta make sure he’s right for you and—“ he was cut off as a rasher of greasy bacon slapped him hard in the face, the image of a fox with fire in her eyes and a fork pointed in his direction on the opposite end of the table.
“That’s it, you’re uninvited. Asshole.”
***
Callista sat at her office desk, the practice not set to open for another forty minutes. She looked over records from the previous year, trying to find a trend in the sort of business that would follow. Much to her delight, the previous doctor had kept a log of just that, this time absent of any personal information.
Flu and COVID vaccines were the main themes. It seemed that as soon as the weather turned cooler, beasts young and old were in requesting their boosters or annual flu shots. She and her nursing staff would be administering a bunch of jabs this week if the trend held.
Entering the nurse’s station, only two of her staff were there already. Leif, her only male nurse on the team, and then the receptionist, who was probably the youngest beast on her current staff.
“Good morning, Leif, Melanie.” The lioness said as she stepped up to the coffee pot, pouring herself a steaming cup of the freshly brewed bean juice. Holding the cup with both hands and holding it up to her nose, she took a deep breath and savored the bitter, spicy aroma of the first cup of coffee. “This one’s different; what brand is it?”
Melanie, the little Cocker Spaniel, spun around in her hair, holding an empty bag of coffee. “It’s Starbucks’ autumn blend, says it’s got notes of chestnut and other spices… I hope that’s an okay change from the usual?”
“It smells delightful, very full-bodied, and warm. Got any creamer suggestions to go with it, or should I drink it black?” Callista was a very open-minded individual, trying to take the beasts around her in mind and include them in decision-making around the office.
Melanie had been a quiet, reserved beast that had taken some time to pry out of her shell when she’d first started, so switching up her usual Folgers breakfast blend for something else was a more than acceptable step forward for the young canine.
“I recommend drinking it straight, ma’am.” She said as she spun back around to finish typing something on the PC that she used to check patients in and out.
“Got a full line-up today, Doctor Reigns,” Leif said, handing the lion a piece of paper over his shoulder. “One guess as to who’s at the top of the list.”
“Shit…”
Minutes before 9am, as the CLOSED sign had been readied to be removed and the office opened for the day, a text message struck Callista’s phone as she prepared to put it in Working mode, which would only allow designated contacts to reach her.
BRIGID: Hey Callie. You’re probably going to say no, but I just wanted to extend an invitation to dinner tonight at a friend’s house.
With five minutes to spare, the lioness quickly tapped up a reply before switching her phone over. It was time for the onslaught.
ME: That’s awfully kind of them. Of course, I’d love to come. Shoot me the details as soon as you can, and I’ll get back to you on lunch.
***
“The things these hicks will just throw away,” the mole said in astonishment, reveling over the sight of his latest finds. Several VHS cameras from 1999, full-sized, not the S-VHS sort, were prominent by that point. A portable radio with a built-in tape deck and CD player were built into the top-loader part. The latter of which he had as a young mole that he’d listen to Top 10 Billboard hits on over and over again.
Life had been so much simpler back then. In the great year of 2000…
Toh had given him the Sunday off to revel in the rapidly cooling weather, but the star-nosed mole retreated to his basement bedroom instead.
He’d been up and out of bed by sunrise, prowling the alleyways outside of the local thrift shops for discarded donations, an activity that he’d found had been exceptionally fruitful on Sunday mornings as most places closed down Saturday night with no intention of opening until Monday, which meant old stock and some donations would be tossed out that night at closing and not be picked up until the following morning when the garbage trucks came around.
A steaming breakfast Hot Pocket and a glass of milk sat on his bedside stand as he tinkered with his latest finds.
His phone, which had been set face down and in Silent mode on his desk, began to vibrate on and off, signaling that he’d received a text message. Nobeast ever messaged him, not really. Toh knew not to bother the solitary creature on his days off, but Advrik on the other claw…
WOLF: Hey, Des, wanna come by my place for a little dinner gathering tonight to celebrate the autumn season?
“A gathering, fuckin’ really?” the mole said, reading the text over a second time to make sure he understood it right. He hesitated for a moment. Doing anything social was typically a no-no for the mole. He could stomach the company of one other beast at any given time during his free hours, but the idea of not only dedicating multiple hours to several beasts seemed unbearable.
Any yet…
ME: Maybe. Who da fuck gonna be there?
A few minutes later, a message came back from Advrik.
WOLF: Brigid and Eligh, for sure, and maybe one other friend of theirs. Are you up for it?
As much as the idea pained him, the gnawing sensation that he needed to be more open to doing things with these beasts he was beginning to factor into his life began gouging deep, becoming more than just a little spark at the back of his mind and more of a burning sensation.
ME: Sure, whutdafuck
WOLF: Great, meet us at my house at 7pm tonight!
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