The damn tone went off again. I sat there, finger to button and directional pad. Lewie glanced over at me, then the phone. He smacked START, and brought the game to a halt.
“You can get that man. If you need to,” the grizzly said. He placed his controller on the couch, and lifted a paw to his neck. He shifted upon the couch, every bit of it creaking as he did so. I forced a smile, and shook my head.
“Nah boss. It’s good,” I said. I felt my tail begin to twitch, so I leaned back. Lewie eyed me, the black tips of his claws buried in his fuzzy, rolled neck.
“You sure about that? Looks like it’s the lady,” he said, grabbing my phone. His deep, rich baritone echoed in the room. I felt my controller meet my lap, my tail manic beneath my ass.
“Yeah, it’s fine. I promise. Let’s finish this match, okay?” I said. Thankful that my voice, at the least, didn’t betray me. Lewie pulled his paw away, his eyes darting between the screen and me. He put the phone down on his massive thigh, and crossed his paws over his belly. He tilted his head, fur bunching over his jowls.
“Tommy? You know if there’s something up you can talk to me about it, right?” he said.
God damn it. God damned Lewie. In the whole time I’d known him-since we were just cubs-he’d always done this shit. These little moral nudges. Not in a mean way-but with this tone like he’s your parent. I shook my head, and tried to force a smile. But Lewie, big fucking fuzzball he was, his eyes were on my tail. He took the phone, and placed it on the coffee table. Gently. Just as he had to handle everything. He rose, the coach groaning with relief as he did. I watched it all, and when he placed his hand on his haunches I felt my stomach drop.
It wasn’t because Lewie was big-he was. Massive and huge. But it was the fact he had the strength to back it up. He crooked a claw, and motioned. I sat my controller down, and stood up. My tail kept twirling and corkscrewing behind me. Even as I tried to force it to one side, flat against my leg.
Which was pretty damn pointless after Lewie hefted me with one arm over his shoulder. I smacked against his shoulder, cursed and tried to kick.
I might as well have been punching a wall. What everyone always mistook for fat? On Lewie, it was solid muscle. He started turning in a circle, the room spinning as I kept kicking.
“Damn it Lewie, I’m uncomfortable!” I spat.
The bear chuckled, and said “Not as uncomfortable as what’s eating you. You get to sit back down when you agree to spill,”
“I’m gonna spill all over your back if you don’t stop spinning me!”
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” he said.
I tried wriggling, but Lewie’s arm just tightened around my waist. It was fucking unfair-it always had been, every time he did this. He was the biggest person I knew, and he used that shit as leverage every chance he got.
Alright, that’s a lie.
Lewie wasn’t like that.
He only did this crap when I was fucked, but still.
Still.
When it started to get harder to breathe, I smacked his shoulder. “All right, all right. I’ll talk. Just put me down, you big bastard!”
Lewie stopped turning as his grip grew slack. “You promise? You know what I think of promises Tommy,”
“Yeah, I promise. Just-just put me down. It’s a lot, okay?” I said.
My ass and tail met the couch-and the long, fluffy snitch finally stopped twitching. The couch dipped as Lewie sat back down. His claws clacked as he crossed his paws, his eyes settling on me.
On screen, King DeDeDe-Lewie-had just hammered the shit out of Little Mac-me. Mac was being tossed back into the air. King was just standing there, a shit eating grin on his face. Froze until Lewie dared to press START again. I sighed, and leaned back into the couch. I glanced down at the phone, and lifted a paw to my forehead.
How the fuck do I even begin? Where? I rubbed my eyes, groaning the phone toned again. Another fucking text. I peeked through my fingers, right up at the bear. He sat there, still as a mountain, his face stone.
I pulled my hand away, and took a deep breath.
“So,” I said, “Eileen wants kids. Marriage. A house, all that shit,”
“Those aren’t bad things to want,” said Lewie.
“No, you’re right. They’re not,” I said. My paws met my lap, and I took another breath.
It was a trick I’d learned from him. Breathe your worries out, and they meet your lips a little easier.
“They’re not,” I said, “Except-except like holy fuck, I’m only 24. She’s 23. Can’t we just enjoy what time we have before that? I mean like, I still enjoy doing this shit. Me and you, ya’ know? Just two friends chilling. But Eileen-it’s like dating an old lady, man. She thinks she’s got it all figured out, and it’s all going to be perfect,”
Lewie gave a grunt, his neck jiggling as he nodded. “Have you ever thought maybe she feels that way because you give her the strength to?”
“I-I have,” I stuttered, hoping my tail contained the tremor. “But like. I don’t want that shit. Not right now. There’s still shit to do! People to see, places to fuck in! And like she wants kids, but-but she doesn’t wanna do the dance for ‘em. And like, what the fuck? How do you think the rest is going to fall into place if not for that?”
Another grunt. The entire couch shook as Lewie shifted, and took a deep breath. “Well, I do. And while I’m not as voracious as you, I get it. Just break it off with her dude. That’s gonna be the easiest thing,” he said.
I sighed, and shook my head. “See like, that’s the thing. I know I should-but there’s just no clean way to do it. Like it’s gonna be a fucking mess. I just want-I just want out, like. Tonight, you know? I want freedom,”
Lewie sat there a moment, his eyes on me. His claws clacked against one another, and after a beat he rose from the couch. It shoved back against the wall as he walked over, and turned the TV off.
“Lew? Something up?”
Lewie turned to me, a small smile on his face. He rolled his massive shoulders, and tilted his head towards a rack in the corner. “Get your coat,”
“Why?”
“Well, because if there ain’t no clean way to do it, that leaves the when. And frankly, the sooner the better, right?” he said, walking towards the door. He reached into his pants, and jangled his keys as he looked back at me . His bushy eyebrows raised, his eyes wide as he regarded me.
“I’m going out for a drink. You coming, or-”
I leaped from the couch, and crossed the room in a single bound. Lewie laughed, and turned the door knob. The cool embrace of fall met us as I closed the door behind me, the faint tone of my phone going off a final time muffled behind it.
@@@
It wasn’t fancy. Hell, that fact was even in the name. But Nuttin’ Fancy was the only bar in town, and the only one for an hour in any direction. You could get drunk at worse places.
A bell tingled as Lewie opened the door. A few heads turned-Jimmy, the local drunk, gave us a belary smile and waved. Lewie nodded at the old crow, and looked around the room. The place was packed for a friday, even for a small town. There were the usual blue collars, just getting off a ten hour shift. A few possums, backwoods by even my standards. A few doe, a few bucks.
But it was the badger behind the corner, scarred and cragged in his old age that met us with a smile. He let out a cry, and waved us over. His one good eye fell on Lewie, then me. When he smiled, the teeth there shined against the gaps.
“Oy, lads! How’s it do?” he said. Lewie laughed, and waved at the old timer. We approached the bar, and Jimmy let out a croak as he leaped from his stool. Lewie thanked him, and pulled the crow’s seat and another under his rump. I grabbed a spare beside him, and nodded at the bar keep.
“Hey Cornelius, how’s it going?” I said.
“Busier than a whipper-will’s ass at cherry pickin’ time,” said the badger. He let out a laugh that doubled him over, erupting into a wet cough. Lewie smiled, and pulled out his wallet.
“Careful Cornelius, if something happens, I can’t exactly do CPR,” he said.
The badger coughed into his hand, then wiped it against his apron. The smile returned, and he shook his head. “S’gonna take a fair sight more than a wee cough to kill me, mate. Why, t’wen I was in Nam, ye’ got sick er’day. Agent orange, they says! So harmless to ye’ they told us. Had a cough er’since. By the by, what can I get ye’?”
“I’ll take the usual,” said Lewie. Cornelius snickered, and gave a nod.
“Aye, I just washed out the basin. Should be ready fer ye’ imbibing,” said the badger. Lewie laughed, and beneath all that hair I could almost see him blush. The badger turned to me, his one good eye open.
“And fer you, lad?”
“Uh, just a whiskey sour,” I said. I went to pull out my wallet, but Lewie’s big paw waved in front of me. He placed a hundred on the table, one I saw for just a moment. The badger, aged as he was, snatched it before I could blink. I turned to Lewie, my eyes wide.
“Just how damned drunk are we gonna get?” I said.
Lewie smirked, and shook his head. “You? Probably smashed. But I drink by the keg, remember?”
“Oh right,” I said. I lifted a paw, and scratched my head. “So that means one for you, and-”
“You’ve got fifteen after the sour. Have fun,” said the bear.
Cornelius returned a second later. He hadn’t been joking-be brought a tin wash basin for Lewie, filled to the edge with beer. Several straws had been strung together, taped at the points they connected. The whiskey sour that sat before me looked dingy by comparison. I was about to say something-then thought better of it as I brought the drink to my lips. We sat there in silence a few minutes, sipping the seconds away. I turned, and looked around at the room. I spied a few birds clucking away in a booth. At the pool tables, bucks smoked and shot. A stack of money sat beneath a beer can.
I turned to Lewie, and lifted my glass. “So, what’s the play here?”
Lewie pulled his straw away. He smacked his lips, and shrugged. “That’s up to you. I’m here to drink, maybe shoot the shit with Cornelius. Don’t fight anybody. But the rest? That’s on you Tommy,”
I sat there a moment, our eyes locked. I gave a nod, and raised my drink to him. Lewie tilted his straw near me, and I smiled.
“Here’s to a better tomorrow then,” I said.
Lewie laughed, and pressed his straw against my glass. “Yeah. Something like that,” he said.
@@@
The crowd at Nuttin’ Fancy, it’s not the worst. Like I said, you could get drunk at worse places. But there’s a baseline for what is expected. Cornelius didn’t put up rules, but the old timer didn’t have to. I’d seen him toss people twice his height out, with one hand. Like, literally toss them out.
So. You respected the baseline, and got respect back. Certain crowds came at certain times. The blue collars bucks and college kids gave way graveyard shift. When the wolves showed, it meant the owls weren’t far behind. Always tired, always quiet. Not great conversationalists, either. They might give you a nod, but aside from that you watched for each other’s tails. Another baseline, really. Lewie and I, we’d sat there at the bar right until they came in. Just drinking. Cornelius talked about the war, about all the fights he’d been in. Lewie just nodded and drank. I kept reaching for a phone that wasn’t there.
But when Cornelius stopped, his eye focused at the door? Well hell, of course we turned. At least I did. Lewie couldn’t really do it without scuffing the floor.
Now look, I’m not saying we’re one of those small towns okay? We’re not. But scalies of any sort were really rare this far up north. We didn’t mean to stare. We just couldn’t help it. Especially as she slithered right up to the bar.
I was three sours in, but that didn’t change how damned sobering she was. Not like with the owls, always dour. With a single stool between us, this snake girl glimmered in the light. Her cheeks were high, her eyes sharp. Her tongue lapped from between her lips, the forked end twirling for just a second. It disappeared, right along with the silence. The baseline came back, and Cornelius broke into a smile. He clutched his hands, and approached her.
“Aye lass, I welcome ye’. What will ye’ be having at this hour?”
The snake smiled, her tongue flicking forward again. “Just a bloody mary,” she said. Every y just dragged a second too long. She reached into her coat as her tail coiled around her seat. She pulled out a debit card, and slid it across the bar. Cornelius nodded, and slid it back.
“I’ll run ye’ a tab,” he said.
The snake nodded, and the old badger went to work. He returned just as quick, and placed the drink before her.
When Lewie’s claw jabbed my side I almost screamed. I whipped my head around, and looked up at the bear. He had a dumb smile, one that could only be brought about by drink. He leaned forward, and cupped a paw to his maw.
“H-hey, I’m going to try and get a nap in the car. You have fun. Call an uber, okay?” he said. I blinked, and Lewie tilted his head towards the snake.
“O-oh, yeah man. I’ll do that, okay?” I said.
“Yeah, you better,” said Lewie. He pushed the empty basin across the counter, and exchanged a wave with Cornelius. The stools almost clattered to the floor as he slid off them. Every step had him wavering as he made his way to the door.
“Looks like your friend is jumping ship,” came a voice behind me. I turned around, only to have my eyes meet the snakes own.
It was like staring into pools of amber. Massive and gold, their black slits widened as I sat there. I shook my head, and looked away as I raised my glass.
“Y-yeah, he just needs to rest. I uh, I’m Tommy by the way,” I said. She giggled, and I looked back at her.
Right back into those eyes.
A moment passed as a lump grew in my throat. “Uh, what’s-what’s your name?”
“Oh,” said the snake, “Just whatever you want it to be, really. Does it matter?”
“No,” I stammered, “No I guess it doesn’t,”
The snake laughed again as her tongue flickered out. It wrapped around the straw, and disappeared a moment later. She pulled away from her drink, and rested her head on her palms.
“I like you Tommy,” she said, tongue flickering over her lips. “Do you like me?”
“I uh, I don’t know yet,” I said, “But I could certainly try,”
She laughed again, her lips parting. Her teeth, massive and needled, glistened all the way back in her maw. “I’d like that. I’d like that quite a bit. Why don’t you buy me a drink, Tommy?”
“S-sure,” I stammered back. I finally looked away from her-only for my gaze to fall on Cornelius. The badger had his arms crossed, his eye watching me. He gave a slight shake of the head-then peeled into a smile.
“Aye, another sour mister? Or a’haps something different?”
“Let’s go with the latter,” I said. I slid some bills towards the badger. He swiped them in just a moment, and went to work.
“Thank you,” came the snake’s voice, “That’s so sweet Tommy,”
As her tongue curled the words, that’s when I felt it. Felt what should have been a lurch in my gut. Something telling me to get up, go wake Lewie. Get the fuck out, and go home. But instead, I felt something a lot different.
Something I hadn’t felt in a long while. Not in the entire time I’d been with Eileen.
Warmth.
@@@
Just because it happened quick didn’t mean it wasn’t loud. I mean, if we’d gone slower, it would have been just as noisy. I can’t remember all of it, but I remember enough now that the phone number scrawled on this piece of paper feels real.
Eileen being gone feels real, too.
She didn’t give me her name, even as my knot pressed inside of her. Even as she squeezed my cock, her coils pressing me deep. I didn’t dare look away, not even for a second. I bucked her in a frenzy, one brought by a year of jacking off beside Eileen. When I came, it erupted out of her and splattered the both of us.
She laughed, and held my chin. I looked her in the eyes as she asked me to go again.
My claw marks are probably still in that bathroom stall. Hers are still on me. But it’s not like I’ll ever find out. Cornelius was nice enough to wait until I paid our tab to ban me for life. Fine, I guess. Lewie, when I got ahold of him again, he just asked if I was happy.
I told him I guess I was. I don’t know. It felt great, then terrible when I told Eileen.
But I’m sitting here now, knot warm against my thigh. This number on the paper, without a name. My phones in my hand, and I’m already dialing.
Already thinking about those eyes all over again. Holding my own as she tells me to go deeper. To fuck her harder, her coils tightening around my waist. Daring me to try and breathe.