click.
the tv turned off
he took another hit from the pipe
"Stupid news, humans don't talk. They especially don't get in hunting accidents."
the black wolf looked of the back of the couch
"You don't talk, right Boy?"
the human just looked at him, "No..."
"Exactly. Now stop talking. Don't talk to me. Ever. Because yah know, you can't talk. If you do... I dunno, I'll stop feeding you your favorite food. Yeah."
the only thing Boy ever ate was kibble
"Ok."
"Hey! What did I just say?!"
...
"Good Boy, now go to bed."
the exceptionally large human got up and lumbered up the stairs
"Fucking news," the wolf said before passing out
one moment there was blackness
the next there was alarms
and then, as written in the Book of Alarms (Waking 1:8), there was much cursing and flailing
"God damnit Rory, you gotta stop doin that."
getting high late at night on weekdays was a regular occurrence for Rory
the black wolf stumbled his way to the kitchen
he quickly made his favorite, if not only breakfast: Cereal
"God I hate this shit. It tastes like ass..."
the rant was queue for Boy to go down stairs
Rory hardly noticed when Boy sat down behind the couch
it was just right after all, that was the human's spot
Rory noisily finished his cereal and went into the bathroom
on went the sink
on went the show
on went Rory's thoughts
thoughts about work, about life, about his past, and about his future
that was Rory's least favorite part about the day, thinking
there was just too much of it for him
Rory emerged from the shower and dried off
he walked out the door about 20 minutes later
"Alright Boy, don't destroy the house."
Boy was asleep again by the time Rory left
how he wished he could have so simple a life
"Alright Rory, just another day at work."
4:13pm
what was that noise?
that was Rory!
he's back!
that means there's 23 seconds before the door opens
Rory opens the door
a wall of muscle with snake arms tries to eat him
wait
it's just yah Boy
"Hey Boy, you can let go of me now. Seriously. Let go! I can't breathe!"
how did this ever happen?
while Rory wasn't complaining, it wasn't ideal that his human could stand eye level with most anthros
I guess this is what most humans feel like, he thought
Rory's ears, being 5'4" at his head, barely reached the bottom of his human' head
that was like 6 inches
most humans never got taller than Rory, at least he had that
most of the time
"How did you ever get so strong buddy?" Rory said, walking past his human and setting his stuff down
Boy walked to the back of the couch and layed down
Rory turned on the tv before walking into the kitchen to get a drink
"Rum and Cola today? Yeah, that'll work."
he grabbed the whiskey bottle and went back to the tv
he took a long swig
"God this shit burns. Why do I keep getting it?"
hours passed
Rory eventually went back to.his room
Boy got up and looked at the calendar
it was middle day, the one that said "Wed"
whatever that means
but middle day was when he slept with Rory
so Boy walked up the stairs
opening the door was something that surprised Rory almost everytime
Boy was surprised this time
Rory wasn't asleep yet
he was sitting on the edge of his bed, eyes wide and staring at his Boy
he dropped something heavy and metal
tears rolled down his face
Rory was upset, Boy didn't like it when Rory was upset
climbing into bed, Boy took Rory in his arms
he shook for a little while
"Boy, I love you so much."
"I love you too."
it was still the rest of the night
Rory woke up slowly, head poundind
'Water, need water' was his first thought
there were arms wrapped around him
he slowly extricated himself from the fleshy restraints
no way he was making it downstairs like this
well there was one way and he wasn't taking a tumble any time soon
luckily there was a bathroom connected to the master bedroom
Rory rolled off the bed, landed on his feet, and used his momentum to stumble to the bathroom sink
or he would've had he made it past the first step
at least carpet was more forgiving than tile
after a long moment, the wolf crawled to the sink
he turned on the sink and stuck his muzzle under it
'They need to make these things easier to drink out of'
not feeling better but not able to stomach any more water, he sat down on the tile
that was when he finally looked himself over
'Damnit! My work shirt is stained. Gonna need to take it to the cleaners. Stupid Siamese cat is gonna piss up a storm. Call it Hurricane Chong."
at least everything was still in his pockets
he fished out his phone and hit the speed dial
'Good morning, this is Moore Doors Co. Have a problem with Gone Doors? We fix it for ha-"
"Yeah yeah, Sal, not so loud ok? I've heard the spiel a thousand times. Marco thought he was so clever, the nerd."
'If you say so, Rors. Are you hungover again?'
"What? No! It's the egg salad from yesterday. You know, the stuff catering brought. Gave me the nasties, it feels like there's holes in my stomach. I need to call in sick today."
'You know you only get so many sick days.'
"Yeah yeah yeah. Haven't taken one this year."
'I'll let Marco know. But don-'
"Bye."
Rory chuckled as he set
he loved doing that
he was going to get shit for it later but who cares?
Sal works too hard anyway, the bitch
not literally, he'd feel sorry for every canine if she was a bitch
what do you call a female lizard anyway?
when the world decided to stop drop kicking his head every second, he stood up
mostly
it was more like walk a few steps, regret life choices, walk a few more steps
at least until his hit the gun in the middle of the floor
"Oh shit!"
he scrambled to pick it up and check it
safety off, round in chamber
fuck
'Why was this out?' he wondered while throwing the safety on and unloading it
it hit him then
he remembered why
'Wait. It's not what I think. At least this isn't the right place to think it, not here. The couch is were.'
the stairs were an issue to get down but he made it
the couch was familiarly comfortable though
the tv was even better once he got a hold of the remote
'Now, back to the important part: the whiskey.'
it happened before
this was the 3rd time
why did he keep drinking it?
he actually almost did it this time too
the fucking thing was in his mouth
"You know you want to," it tempted
"What would dad say? How would mom feel?" he replied
"It won't matter when it's done," it said
"Ok."
then Boy had walked in
Rory's weak resolve shattered
the thought sent shivers up and down his body
maybe he was depressed
'No. Not this first time I've asked, not the last. Don't have that luxury. Or maybe that's just denial and maybe that's good enough.'
"Fuck it," he said aloud
"I'll discuss that next time."
someone scrambled down the stairs
he looked over in time to see his Boy run into the sliding glass doors and fall over
"Ha! Fuckin idiot. Come one, I'll open the door. Let's go outside."
Boy was asleep
until he heard the neighbor's lawnmower, that was
'Oh no! I slept to late, my schedule will be ruined!'
at around that time everyday the local landscapers would start working
the goal was to be ready before then
he shot up and ran downstairs
"What's Rory doing here?' Boy thought before slamming into the door he'd forgotten about
"Ha! Fuckin idiot. Come one, I'll open the door. Let's go outside."
Rory opened the door and stepped outside
it was still cool from the night before
he looked around
'The landscapers are slacking again. Gonna have to fix that.'
while not the prettiest, it was big enough
his position as sales manager at a door company made him bank enough to land a good house
3 bedrooms, two bath, a good patio with a few comfy chairs...
where'd Boy go?
Rory looked around before finding him hanging from the biggest tree, an old oak
he was doing the oddest thing
pull ups
'Damn, he's goin at it. No wonder he's so big."
"Damn Boy! Kill em!" Rory slapped Boy's back
Boy just laughing happily
'Just like a child. It's been too long since I've spent time with him. How long? At least a year or two.'
the pull ups stopped after Rory had counted 37, though who knows how many he did before the count started
the next hour was all exercises
legs, core, back, everything
he'd put a lot of athletes to shame
'I'm not out of shape, right? I hope not.' Rory thought
he whistled, "Hey! Boy, come here."
Boy looked up from where he was sitting, eyes shining, and made his way over
Rory ran his fingers through Boy's hair, fixing it
"You're a mess, you know right? Come on, let's go!" He said before taking off across the yard
Boy was on his heels in a moment
'Damn long ass legs'
he'd done this before, but it's been a long time
a long time
let's he still can
Rory stiffened his leg in front of him, sliding for a second before reversing his momentum
he was heading straight for Boy as fast as he could
or just to the left of him actually
Boy moved to grab him but he ducked
he wrapped his arms about the human's waist, using his momentum to spin him off balance
or that was the plan
the human was too big for that to work anymore
Rory found himself on the ground with a giant on him
"Ah! Off! I can't breathe, off!"
oh god, the headache was returning
"Oh come on, this isn't fair! It wasn't always like this. I used to win all the time. You were the small one and I'd lean on you!"
'That did it, that got him moving'
"Come on Boy, let's go inside and lie down."
Rory grabbed a cup of water and went to the bathroom before sitting down on the couch
he through his arm over the back of the couch and slapped it a couple times
"Come on, get up here."
a weight settled next to him
'No wonder he sleeps behind the couch. The couch sounds like it's about to die. Might just be time, the thing's old.'
the remote found it's way into his hand and the tv turned on
morning cartoons
something that hasn't changed and hopefully never will
his other hand found itself running over Boy's back
Boy plopped into Rory's lap
"Ooh, you bastard. Don't you think you're a bit big for that?" Rory hugged him in response
Rory jumped back awake. 'What time is it? Four in the afternoon. Sheesh.'
His stomach reminded him that he hadn't eaten yet.
Boy still hadn't moved yet.
"Come on, up, off, down! Move!"
The human was startled in consciousness, flailing as he went
"Ah! Stop that!" Rory said as he rolled onto the floor and away from the whirlwind of limbs
Another growl came forth
Thankfully the kitchen opened into the living room
'Something quick, cereal. Then sustenance."
Bowl, check
Spoon, check
Rice Crunchies, check
Whole milk, check
'Damn that hits the spot. Unsweetened, but still not bad."
He finished the bowl and dumped it in the sink before grabbing a skillet.
What to eat? The ultimate question for anthros.
Grilled cheese maybe, but that doesn't feel right.
Steak is too expensive for everyday and he was saving that cut for later
Seafood?
No.
Rory noticed Boy standing in the kitchen holding his bowl.
There was only a few bits of kibble left in it.
"That settles it, reubens. Gimme one sec Boy."
He pulled the pastrami and the swiss out of the fridge, the rye was in the freezer.
Sauerkraut was in the jar in the back of the fridge.
Put half the reuben together, toss it on the pan with some kraut, and leave it there for a while.
"Alrighty Boy, time for dinner."
The kibble, some kind of food for active big and active humans, was in the pantry.
He didn't know why he kept it there, it's not like the human couldn't find it.
Unrolling the top, he scooped it out with the bowl and filled up the water bowl.
"There yah go. Wish my food was that simple. Still got a few minutes."
When the sauerkraut was turning brown, the meat hot, and cheese just melting, he finished putting it all together
He smiled, 'Yeah! That's how you do it."
The first bite was bliss.
The second was good.
By the third, he realized he hadn't used enough butter to fry it
Eh, still good enough. He could fix it next time
Looking around, 'Maybe I should remodel.'
The fake wood paneling didn't mix at all with countertops and cabinets.
'Ew, screw that. I hate remodeling. That was always mother's thing anyways. Speaking of which, maybe I shou-'
The doorbell rang
There’s something about answering the door that makes people hurry. Rory hopped up and went to the door. ‘Maybe someone ordered pizza to the wrong address, saved me the time.’ He couldn’t think who it might be, he hadn’t told anyone to meet him at his house.
A peep through the eye hole reveals a green-brown lizard in business attire. It looked like an iguana or chameleon, Rory could never tell the difference. “Rors! Don’t you act like you’re not home! I see you in the peephole.” Shit.
He opened that door, “Hey there, Sal!”
“Ror, you know you shouldn’t have skipped out on work today. Marco had to close that hotel deal himself and he’s not happy, says he gonna take 2/3 of the commision himself. I tell him that you’re not gonna be happy but all he says is-”
Rory cuts her off, “All he says is I’ve worked too much in the past year and need some time. Marc can go bite his own tail. Good to know >you came over just to tell me this.”
“I came to tell you that I’m taking your up your offer get me a drink.”
…
“Did you seriously forget?! Last Monday you said you’d take me out for a drink sometime and I should drop by your house.”
…
“What?” Rory laughed, “No. Of course not! Just wasn’t expecting it today. Now come in, let me get your coat.”
‘Great. Note to self, never walk into work blasted again. What was it that day? Vodka or something.’
He opened the door fully and let the lizard in, taking her coat. “Sit down on the couch, I’ll fix some drinks.” The wolf took a turn for the kitchen and noticed Boy walking into the living room. “Someone’s here, place nice Boy.”
The liquor cabinet was the one in the left corner, past the sink. A quick perusal of labels showed his whole collection. ‘Oh hey, I got another bottle of whiskey! Wait no, gotta get rid of that. Vodka. Scotch. Wolf’s Whiskey, no. Another bottle of whiskey. Fuck I’ve got too much whiskey. Ah! Rum!’
“Sal!” He yelled out, “How’s rum shots sound?”
“I came here to have a good time, not get blasted and take a cab home!”
“Well too bad, it’s all I’ve got.”
The glass cabinet had an assortment of shot glasses. While not as flashy as some he had, Rory opted for a pair of plain glass ones.
The living room was awkwardly quiet with the human sitting on the floor. Rory set down the glasses on the coffee table after taking a seat, “Wanna play a game?”
“Sure. As long as I’m can make it home tonight.”
“Totally, totally. It goes like this: you pick a game show and every time they get the answer wrong or make a bad joke, take a shot.”
“Sounds like a bad time.”
“Ok Ms. Serious Sally, you got any better ideas?”
“No. But you’re on now.”
The first show was a jeopardy rip off. Comedy gold with stupid people. They were 3 shots in when Sal gave up. “I think I got a better idea. Something a little heavier, maybe a little sweatier.”
‘What?’
“Haha, yeah. You wish.”
“Don’t think you can a fiery woman like me?”
“I think I can and have before, you’re just here because you wanted an easy lay in your lonely life.”
Sal was taken aback, “You listen here you little shit!” She started to stand up, dwarfing the smaller wolf. There’s times when being so short is a boon in Rory’s life. This wasn’t one of them.
The lizard woman was only up for a second before a hand came down on her shoulder. “What the fuck?! Get your human off me!” She tried shaking it off her but nothing could dislodge it. In another few seconds she was in the air, lifted off the ground with a lot of grunts and flailing.
“Boy! Put her down!” That didn’t help the lizard dangling over the human’s shoulder as they got closer to the door.
Not every human could operate a door. But then again, not every human could lift a fully grown anthro off the ground with ease. The door opened and the Iguana-Chameleon anthro was plopped unceremoniously onto the ground, then the door was closed again.
“Mother fucker! How dare he accuse me of not having a life! I’ll show him…” The yelling got quieter until he heard a car door slam, an engine start, and tires squealing on pavement.
Rory stood the for a moment before breaking out in laughter. “HA! The look on her face! Priceless!” He playfully punched the human.
“The woman probably weighed more than anything you ever moved.”
“She wasn’t that heavy,” Boy replied.
…
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!”
Rory scrambled backwards into the coffee table, pushing it back a few inches. The world seemed to freeze for moment with both the human and anthro staring with eyes wide open at each other. Then it exploded back into action when Boy bolted up the stairs. Doors slammed.
The wolf cursed enough to put a sailor to shame. ‘What the hell just happened? One moment I’m eating, then someone knocks on the door and it’s the lizard with a stick in her cooch. Apparently I invited her to drinks. Can’t confirm that because I was too wasted. Soon enough she tries to get my stick in her cooch. Maybe I was a bit too upfront because she tried to beat me with said coochie stick. Then he comes in and throws her out. Then…’
‘But humans don’t talk. They don’t talk. Recap: lizard, drinks, angry, talking human that doesn’t talk. But he talks. When he shouldn’t.’
“Agh! Damn circles! This isn’t helping.” Rory climbed up the steps to the master bedroom. This could go very wrong, how far did this go? Has he always been like this? Should he even be following?
He stood in front of the door. It was cheap like half the house. He’d always meant to replace them one day. If he wasn’t choked out by something twice his size. Sure he had claws, but those were filed down because only psychopaths keep them. His teeth were nasty enough but he’d have to get lucky.
‘Enough hesitation, he’s just your Boy. Right?’ The handle turned slowly and door opened quietly. It was still too much noise for comfort. Of course the room was mostly as he’d left it. The closet was open but the bathroom was closed. There wasn’t really any place to hide except behind a closed door. ‘Bathroom it is then.’
A thought hit Rory halfway across the room. What about the gun? There wasn’t enough time for someone to have found it, it’d only been two minutes maybe. No. Why was he thinking about that? It’s his Boy and not some rabid stray human. They’d been together for years, like at least 15 or something like that.
The bathroom was in front of him now. “H-Hey Boy, I’m coming in.” That came out shakier than intended. He tried the knob. Locked.
“You’re in there, right?”
...
“Everything’s ok, you know? I’m not angry. You can come out”
‘And hopefully not kill me’
...
“Come on talk to me. You can talk, right?”
There was a pause, though not as long. “You told me not to talk.”
The tone was deep and the voice distinctly different from anything he’d every heard. But there was a warble in it. Too much emotion to be a mimic.
“When was that?”
“It was night and you were acting funny. I asked if you were ok and you told me never to talk.”
“Yeah? How long ago was that?”
“I don’t know. When we were the same size.”
‘That’d place him sometime in high school when I started taking… things. No wonder why I don’t remember.’
“Well unlock the door. Come out here.”
“No.”
“What? Why?”
“I can’t. You told me not to talk and I talked. You told me to play nice but I didn’t.”
“That doesn’t matter now.”
...
“Come out here. I don’t want to go in there.”
...
“Please.”
...
“I’ll wait here. For, yah know, however long.”
Rory took a seat on his bed and watched the door. Seconds turned to minutes and his mind started to wonder.
‘It’s been that long and he hasn’t talked to anyone? Do other humans talk? No one has ever seen it. Or at least no one has seen legitimate cases. He wasn’t mimicking. It was too real, it had to be unless only a few shots messed me up that bad. No way, I do that too often to be affected so much.’
He glanced up at the clock. Over an hour now.
‘Does a talking human make a person? Is he more than an animal? There were those weird group that called almost anything a person. This couldn’t be normal. If normal humans talked then they’d use all the publicity to try to pass a new law or something.’
He was laying now. Three hours.
‘Getting your heart beating that fast and hard really takes it out of you. The rum probably doesn’t help.’
One last look at the clock. Eight hours?! Damn, he must’ve fallen asleep at some point. ‘Where is Boy? The door, gotta get to the door.’
It was still locked. Rory breathed a sigh of relief. “You still in there?”
There was no response, though that wasn’t a surprise. He repeated the question.
“If you don’t come out, I’ll come in. Everything is fine, I swear.” Still no answer.
Rory looked around until he found a screwdriver he kept in a drawer somewhere and went to work taking off the door knob. The door came open halfway through and he stepped in.
His heart dropped. The bathroom was empty and the window open.