Jackal Date by anonymous
And it got me thingken
Ywn be innaEgypt
Jackals, crocodiles, hippos, falcons oh my
And sand
Everywhere
Ywn make friends with a handsome local jackal
He's polite, friendly, outgoing and knows just how to make you laugh
... and how to make you blush (jackals are as flirty as they are friendly)
Except you can never tell how serious he is about it, so you've been keeping it to yourself whenever he's around your heart starts to beat faster
And that when you're alone in your bed, chilled by the cold desert night, it's him you wish were there with you
And then, one day, out of the blue he asks "hey Anon, wanna go for a date?"
Stammering and red faced, you incredulously ask if he's serious only to give you a confused look and say "of course!"
You emphatically accept and he tells you where to meet him in the morning
Everybody in town notices that you're beaming and have an extra spring in your step, and a bunch of them begin visibly gossiping amongst themselves
But who cares? Let them!
And so before Aten is even done rising in the sky the next morning, you're already fully dressed in your Sunday best and bolting to the address he told you to meet him at
And it's a... date... farm...?
"Oh, wow, you're early Anon! I didn't realize you liked dates so much!"
...
O-oh... he didn't mean go on a date, he meant...
Pick some dates...
Ha... ha... oh gods, you're such an idiot...
He asks with concern in his voice if something is wrong when he sees you visibly deflate and you have to do your best to hide your sadness and put on a fake smile as you tell him nothing's wrong
Y-yeah... nothing's wrong at all...
You try your best to have a good time in the morning sun, telling yourself as long as it's with him you'll be able to enjoy yourself
And you do, though both yourself and the jackal can tell there's still a pallor of sadness about you
Waving goodbye with a basketful of dates piled high, you set out back for home
But the dates don't taste sweet, they taste bitter, and so you leave the rest untouched
As the next few days go by the jackal seems to notice you're not getting better
Quite the opposite, you can't hide your gloomy disposition and you've been avoiding him
And you haven't touched the dates
Stupid fucking fruit!
It's all their fault!
So you pitch them, preferring to do so before they start to go bad
But when you wake the next day, the dates are mysteriously back
No... rather, it's an entirely new basket full of them
Did he...?
No, you just must have forgotten to throw some of them out
It doesn't matter, you still don't want them
Yet despite your refusal to eat them, they just keep showing up
After cleaning up in preparation for the new day, you find a bunch of them placed on your dresser
When you stop to get a drink at lunch, a date mysteriously appears inside your drink
And finally, when you arrive back home, there's ANOTHER bunch of dates on your fucking pillow
Are you losing your MIND?!
In a fit of rage, you pick up the bunch of dates and chuck them, as hard as you can, out your window
... only to hear a familiar sounding "ACK!" ring out, and see two twitching black ears reveal themselves from under your windowsill
What in the fu-
"What gives Anon?!"
Wait, so HE'S the one who's been-
"Trying to cheer you up?! YEAH! But you haven't even eaten a single one! Why did you even pretend to like them in the first place?! And WHY are you so gloomy?!"
Wait, wait, you-
"Oh, forget it! It was clearly a waste of time if you're going to THROW THEM at me!"
And before you can react, he stomps off in a huff
After a second to gain your composure, you rush after him
He's pretty fast when he wants he to be and he knows the labyrinthine alleys of the town far better than you do, but eventually you catch up to him
He hears your approach, however, and is trying to ignore you, a grimace plastered on his long muzzle and his fangs visible as he refuses to look in your direction and crosses his paws indignantly while carrying on, not bothering to stop even as you finally catch up
You try to apologize and tell him that you weren't trying to hurt his feelings, and for a second his ears droop down from their hostile "at attention" position, but it's only for a second, and he rather snootily turns his head up at you as the two of you continue walking
No matter how much you plead, he's not listening to you
Damn it, this whole thing wouldn't have happened if you had just had the balls to tell him how you really felt in the first place...
It's probably the worst possible time to talk about it then, but what other choice do you have?
You said a bunch of that out loud and he's actually stopped in his tracks, so you take the opportunity to spill your spaghetti and tell him that you thought when he asked you to go pick dates with him, you thought it meant something VERY different, and that the word date has a very different connotation to it to humans
"... but... w-what did you think I meant?"
Urrghhh ffffuck...
Even if it comes out as practically a whisper, you finally stammer out that to humans, going "on a date" is basically the first step of formal courtship
You stand there, face date-red, as he stands there visibly processing the information
It takes a little while, but his pupils turn pin-prick and the flesh of his ears as red as your cheeks as realization dawns on his face, softly muttering "oh..."
You can't meet his gaze anymore and just stand there awkwardly, until he finally breaks the silence by asking "... is that really all?"
And before you can ask him what he means by that, he's grabbed you and pulled you into a kiss
A REALLY deep kiss, tongue included
You really should have figured, but he tastes like dates
And this time it tastes sweet, not even a hint of bitterness
You spend a while locked in his arms, his short black coat pleasant to feel against your skin, silently thankful you're in an alleyway
Eventually you have to lightly push on his snout when you begin to run out air
His scowl has now replaced with his usual, toothy, fanged smile with his small tail whipping uncontrollably behind him in glee
"Well, we'll have to go on a REAL 'date' then! How abou-"
You're not going date picking with him again
"... I wasn't gonna suggest that!"
Yes he was
T. never eaten a date even once