Resolutions

One: A New Year

The club was packed, for the final hours until the new year had gotten every fur in the city to go downtown. And while Dean did not mind a bit of a crowd, he had been trying for several minutes to take his drinks back to the table his friends were all sitting at. Keeping the glasses high about his head, the Doberman pushed through the crowd.

There were not many openings in the groups of furs for him to easily walk back. When he did manage to find one, the dog had maybe a few seconds to move before other patrons filled the gap. Looking down at the groups that he passed, the canine became frustrated.

Shuffling sideways by some mice, he woofed in disdain as a smaller mouse fell backwards into his gut. The canine naturally curled a lip and snarled under his breath, but cooled off as she turned around. The rodent was clearly drunk, giggling in a fit while almost falling backwards a second time into her group of friends. She apologetically patted the dog's stomach. He continued directly through a group of tigers. The males angrily growled at him, slashing lethal claws in his direction and meowing their agitation, but the tigresses seemed less flustered by the dog. He caught a few of them looking his body over while a couple others winked. One brave tigress even meowed in his direction and tried putting a paw on his side. He slid past the group to side-step a rather large flock of sheep. While these furs took little notice of him, he wondered why they still wore full coats of wool inside the hot bar. His eyes flowed lazily over them, only for a moment catching as the little nerdy one in glasses skimmed over his body like a text book. When their eyes met, she quickly looked away and slurped on the straw sticking out of her drink. He knew she was only buying herself some time before attempting to get a second glance.

There was no denying that Dean was a handsome canine or that he wore the badge proudly. His biceps were thick, his shirt one size too tight so he could show off his nice chest, and of course he topped his good looks off with handsome pair of emerald eyes. Hell, he even made sure to groom his fur every day so that the colors (mocha and latte as his last girlfriend had described them) were displayed with perfect and smooth lines. Yet even with all these girls complimenting him, drinking him with as much vigor as they were lapping up their liquor, he just did not want any of them. He took their gazes for the praises they were and pushed on, certain that tonight would end like any other night.

He could see his other friends waving him in for the final stretch and so the dog began to ignore the animals around him as he made his way by. White, black, orange, and brown, the furs he passed blended together in a swirl of color. Their voices were now in range, though what they were saying was lost in the room, but he pressed harder. The canine was ready to sit down, relax, and rejoin the conversation; or at least he had been.

A faint smell tickled his nose that caused the dog to stop. Dean looked around for a moment, inhaling deeply to see where the fragrance was coming from, but the direction was impossible to tell in the large crowd. Closing his eyes and lifting his muzzle, he drew in a deep breath. The scent was somewhere in all those mixed musks and prominent perfumes, but just barely.

Then the canine felt someone, or rather a single paw, pressed lightly against his chest. He snapped his head downward to see a bunny girl with fur as white as fresh snow. They were against one another, that paw perfectly placed in the center of his chest where his heart beat, and their noses a mere inch or so away from one another. “Excuse me," articulated the hare. For a second they stopped, the both of them, and looked into each other's eyes.

Dean lost himself in an instant, all the while his heart pounded away under his ribs as if to try and break through to the paw on the other side. He parted his lips, but the words were not there, for his mouth had gone dry. The canine breathed out, causing the pink nose in front of him wrinkled a few times, and yet still not a single sound.

A second paw touched his hip and he knew the moment was passing him. “Sorry," the lapin added as a smile cracked across her face.

The first paw very cautiously dragged across his chest and the rabbit turned away. Where that paw touched, a tingle persisted on his fur. Little sparks of electricity were shooting through his spine, an electricity that made his heart beat faster and his nub wag wildly; but as quickly as those sensations had come, so too did they pass. The bunny pushed through the crowd, leaving the canine in same state as he had been before they had met.

The dog stayed a moment longer, perhaps reminiscing of the warm paw, before turning back to his table. He closed both eyes before mentally beating himself up for not finding the voice to speak. Dean pushed through the final few furs blocking his way and put the drinks down.

“What took you so long," ask his shepherd friend Aaron from across the table. The other canine gave a goofy, open mouth grin before continuing. “Some of us have been dying of thirst over here, puppers."

The Doberman rolled his eyes as his friend hugged his girlfriend sitting next to him. Sliding a drink across the scratched top of the wooden table, he shouted, “Here's your Nancy Drew, hot stuff."

The German shepherd's mouth instantly shut and his ears stood tall as the table erupted into laughter. He glared back at Dean while a skillful paw caught the sliding glass before it tipping over the edge of the table. “It's called a Hardy Boy when a guy drinks it," he corrected. The other dog rolled the ice around inside with a coy look on his muzzle. “Besides, what did you get?"

The canine watched as his friend sipped lightly at the liquor before answering. “Whiskey on the rocks," the canine cracked back. “You might know it as a real dog's drink." Dean took a defiant sip of his own, head tilted back as the ice fell onto his black nose. The reaction he got was pretty-close to what he wanted, the small group continuing to holler before adding in their own remarks. He put his glass down on the table and smiled across the way at his disgruntled best friend.

Yet even with the conversation to distract him, his mind fogged over with thoughts of the lapin from before. There was something special about that bunny he could not explain, a pulse or whim that got his blood rushing. The dog let his eyes drift over his shoulder for a minute or so to see if he could spy the rabbit through the crowd. He hoping he could maybe to catch a glimpse of her ear, but the club was lit as dim as ever and the crowd was too thick. There was no way he could see her now. He took another sip, taking a breath of the liquor in deeply, and let his gaze drift back towards the table.

A muzzle pressed against his chest, nuzzling softly. He turned his muzzle down towards the female wolf that had been sitting next to him. Dean had never met her before, but he knew she must have been a friend of someone's at the table to be sitting with them. Putting an arm around her, he gently rubbed and hoped she could help him forget. “You know," she whispered, “I always get a cottontail cocktail."

Caught off-guard by the comment, mostly by the drink's reference to a rabbit's tail, the Doberman stared down into her grey eyes. He drifted from one orb to the other, studying her deeply as if hoping to find a deeper meaning to her drink of course. Of course, there was no deeper meaning, nor were there stars aligning above as a sign that he should go in search for the rabbit from before. Everything she had said was a mere coincidence at best, and the real reason a fur like her would even state that was as a way of asking him to buy her another drink.

He groaned deep in his throat knowing perfectly well she would hear him with how her ear was resting against his body. He wanted her to know he was not interested in buying her another drink, because that was how they trifled one another in these little games. In a firm voice, he asked, “I take it you want me to buy you a round?" His words were perfectly stiff in dissatisfaction.

A paw gently caressed his leg and she smiled back up at him. “Well only if you want to," she played along.

The dog patiently held off for a moment, waiting until her paw wander a bit too high on his thigh, for this was just another part of the sport they were playing. Dean was no stranger to invitations, but he needed to be sure they both understood how she planned on ending the night. Now that she had proposed her part of the bargain, he thought the deal over for a minute. She was pretty, that much he knew, but he was still uncertain if he wanted to wake-up next to her in the morning.

The thought of being alone the next day drifted into his mind. He could feel the cold covers and the empty bed, a shiver shifted down his spine. His ears fell flat as he realized ending the night with some tail was better than going home alone. With an annoyed roll of his eyes, he finished off his drink and got up from the seat to venture back towards the bar once more.

The shepherd across the way called out. “Hey Dean-ey, you gonna to get me another drink?"

“Get your own, bitch boy," he shouted while stepping around his chair He flipped off his friend with a paw held high as he drifted back into the over-crowded room towards the bar.

Passing through the groups again, he pushed aside several furs. Without drinks in his paws, he could be more forceful with getting through the different packs. At that moment, he felt like being a bit rougher. Something had been rubbing him the wrong way all night, though he was uncertain as to what. Maybe he felt dismissed by his friends and their new year's antics, or by the wolf and her persistent persuasion of sex for drinks. Yet he knew he could never be forceful or malicious to his friends, at least not if he wanted to continue being friends with them this next year. Instead, he would need to roll all of those grievances off of his shoulder, let the liquor soak in, and keep his building frustration on the other furs packed in the club.

Except he did not care about his friends or his friend's friends tonight, nor did he care for the crowd and the celebration. Somewhere inside he knew that tonight was no more special than any other, but rather just another reason for furs to gather and drink until they felt sick. Dean was ready for the festivities to be over, to be back home in his own bed, and waiting for the year to tick upwards another number.

Forcing himself between two furs at the bar, he questioned why he had come out to the clubs anyway. He knew why, and as he pulled out his wallet and grabbed a couple of fresh bills he thought back to the night's original quest.

Tail.

He knew the scene all too well and had become well versed with knowing bitches did a lot of dumb shit when they got drunk. Maybe that was a little bit sleazy of him, but he wondered how many other guys had left home in hopes of getting some under-the-covers action. Truth was, most of the men at the bar were looking for it, so he wondered why should he feel any more ashamed than any of them.

A reason why he should be ashamed of his actions drifted back into his head, the rabbit. His shame burned where her paw had pressed on his chest, the thought like a plague on his plans. The Doberman was not looking for a one-night stand or a quick hook-up, for he wanted something more fulfilling. He wanted a girl that made his heart skip a beat, that made a moment slow-down and speed-up at the same time, and a fur he could wake-up to without regrets. He wanted that electricity against his fur again, he wanted to nuzzle between those bunny ears, and he wanted to feel her body against his.

He shook his head and let the fantasies drift off. Putting a paw to his muzzle, he whistled for the bartender to come over, and the pudgy panda on the other side did just that. “Another whiskey on the rocks," he shouted before putting his empty glass on the far side of the counter. “Oh, and I a cottontail cocktail, I guess."

The panda nodded and went to work, but a sweet voice suddenly prompted the canine to raise his ears. “A cottontail? Why're you getting that shitty drink?"

Turning about, he found himself staring at the white rabbit from before, and for a second time his heart skipped a beat. Dean licked his lips while his eyes got lost in her rosey irises. “Well it's not for me," he barked in defense.

“I never said it was, stud." The bunny let her ears drop and smiled back at him, that undecipherable coy grin etched across her muzzle. “I guess she must be pretty beautiful though if you're willing to pay for that tonight."

Chuckling at her comment, he scooted a bit closer so they could hear each other better. “Well, she's not quite what I was looking for," he continued, “but I didn't really feel like going home alone." Lifting his paw, he whistled again for the pudgy panda on the other side of the counter. The bartender turned around and glanced his way, shrugging as a sign to ask his patron what he wanted. Dean called back, “Scratch the cottontail," while making a cut motion across his throat. The bartender nodded again, then returned to working on the other drink. The canine reestablished his focus towards the cute, little lapin near him with smiled. “Can I at least get you something?"

The rabbit laughed with a paw covering her muzzle, then leaned in and softly kissed him on the nose. He felt his heart explode in his chest, his eyes automatically shutting as her little paw grabbed at his shirt. But she kept their touch simple, then let go. “Maybe I'll see you on the roof deck in a little while?"

Dean watched as she turned away, taking her drink in one paw while sliding through the crowd towards the stairs. His eyes followed her ears until again she had disappeared into the crowd.

A glass landed next to him with a thud, his whiskey on the rocks poured and ready. “Thanks," he said while tossing a ten onto the sticky counter, which would be more than enough for the drink “Keep the change."

Twisting back towards the crowd, the dog leaned against the bar to enjoy his drink. He lifted the glass to his muzzle, feeling the cool tip touch his lips, and thought about how many furs were packed in here. He wondered what the odds were of meeting someone like the rabbit and if having a larger crowd increased or decreased his chances. Taking a long sip while the ice bumped his nose where she had kissed, he let that thought settle. His idle paw pulled out his phone. He needed to send a text before heading up the stairs. After unlocking the device, he opened the messaging app and selected the picture of his shepherd friend from the list.

Met a cute girl 

Woof 

Going to the roof 

He put the phone down and took another sip of his drink. His chest warmed, though he was unsure whether from the alcohol or thoughts of the bunny. He let her memory and her delicate kiss resurface as a smile cracked across his face. His smile faded as his phone buzzed.

Bark bark 

Meet you up there soon 

He looked at the texts, thinking for a moment before realizing he did need to do one last thing. Whistling for the bartender one final time, he asked for that cottontail cocktail. By the time the panda had finished making the drink, he had tossed back the rest of his whiskey and handed him another ten. “Thanks."

Dean pushed back through the crowd towards the table with his friends, though this time noticing a lot of the same groups from before had barely moved. He managed to walk around the pack of striped cats this time and noticed the sheep were still in their corner chatting. But he was more agile and faster this time, using his free hand to carve openings in the furs until he was back at the table.

The canine gently set the drink down next to the wolf and leaned over, kissing her on the cheek before she could ask him why he had taken so long. “I have to go," he calmly stated, “but you were lovely." With a final pet and scritch behind her ear, he grabbed his coat from the chair and moved away.

Quickly circling around the table to his shepherd friend, he leaned over to whisper in his ear. “Try to lose the group first, I don't want any of them getting upset." While no specific motions were made towards the other dog, he knew his friend would take the hint. He stood back up and watched as Aaron nodded before giving him wink. Dean patted the German shepherd on the back, smiling at his girlfriend, and then waved them all off before slipping back into the crowd.

His heart was yet again vigorously pounding against his ribs, the force of which increased with each step towards the stairs. Excitement rushed through his veins. Something about this rabbit set his nerves on fire, something he could not put his paw on, but he wanted to learn more. Pushing through the furs, he rounded the iron hand rail and began his climb. At the top of the stairs was a heavy, metal door held open by an old, metal chain. The closer he got, the cooler the air became. When the cold began tingling the short fur on his arms, he pulled on his jacket and breathed in once more before walking outside.

The rooftop deck was less crowded than the bar below, though there was still a fairly-large crowd on the terrace for a December night. He looked from muzzle to muzzle, eyes darting quickly across the different coats and furs as he hunted for pure white. After searching for a bit, he spotted the slightly smaller rabbit leaning up against a twisted-iron column. The lapin must have spotted him at the same time, for he could see the other fur push-off the column to stand-up straight.

The rabbit waved him over, to which he moved quickly towards her. “I needed some fresh air," she breathed. Dean watched as the fluffball in front of him shivered a bit before breathing out a foggy wisp. “Besides, it's quieter up here."

“It's a fuckin animal house tonight, that's for sure," He agreed. Wrapping a paw around his waist and getting in close, the canine noticed she ever-so-slightly relaxed. “Wanna sit by one of the heat lamps?" The hare nodded and they both walked around the terrace in search of a spot to sit, but most places near the warm electric heaters had already been taken. The canine guided her around while continuing to ask questions. “So, can I get a name, or should I just call you cottontail?"

The rabbit laughed with a paw in front of her muzzle. “Well, does that make you whiskey in my address book," she puffed, “or do I put you under 'on the rocks'?"

He laughed, and he like that she was playful. “You can call me Dean," he replied as they rounded the small roof without finding a place to sit.

She nuzzled into his arm, which made him breath in excitedly. “Well then I guess you can call me Riley."

The canine smiled as they rounded the roof for a second time. “Riley," he softly woofed. Dean was happy to have a name to put to her sweet, white face.

Finally, a couple of polar bears got-up from a couch and moved away, giving the two a nice spot right next to one of the gas lamps to snuggle around. The two sat down close to one another, his paw still wrapped around her, and cuddled for warmth. She shivered, but still smiled at the dog before asking, “So, what did you tell her?" She could tell by his look that he did not have a clue what she was talking about. She restated her question. “What did you tell the fur you bought that drink for?"

Dean erupted with a bark of a laugh, rocking backwards before he pulled the bunny in close. “I just said I had to go." He smiled, but more-so because he liked the feeling of her smaller body pressed against his side. “I guess I figured she wouldn't come up here," the canine added before looking down at the hare.

The rabbit leaned in, letting her nose touch his very gently. “I take it then that you met someone," she paused, her little eyes darting around theatrically as if searching for the right word, “better?"

But the dog did not answer her with words. Instead, he rubbed his wet, black nose against her smaller, pink one. His eyes closed and he twisted his head to gently press his lips to hers. He then let the moment play out in what looked romantically planned to onlookers; a paw to pull her closer while his other one wrapped around her side.

She did not resist his dominance of affection, which he recognized as her arms wormed their way past his open jacket and around his chest. They clung weakly to the Doberman, paws gripping his shirt as if to hang on. When he pulled her in even closer, kissing her a second time by sucking lightly on her upper lip, he felt her leg move across his.

They broke the kiss off slowly, but Dean's ears twisted towards the sound of a slow clap. He kept his eyes on the bunny for a moment, smiling into his performance before turning to look up at his friend and the shepherd's girlfriend. “Enjoy the show?"

“Well I sure as shit wasn't going to stop yah." In a manner of teasing the two, Aaron pulled his girlfriend in close to him and tried to kiss her. She resisted with a head tilted back and a paw on his chest, but he persisted until he kissed her cheek. He then turned back towards the two and smiled. “Besides, I'm sure you've watched Dezi and I make-out more times than you care to remember." He licked the female dog's nose quickly before releasing his girlfriend.

With a small squeak, the rabbit got up. “I'm going to go get us something to drink. Beer alright?" Before anyone could answer, the hare had turned to walk away. Her quick motion was for naught, for they had all already seen that she was flush with embarrassment.

“Hey, can you get me another Hardy Boy," the other canine asked his girlfriend while pulling out a twenty from his pocket. Desiree kissed him on the cheek and took his money, but he held on tight until she gave him a real kiss. He released her and watched as she trotted over towards the bunny.

For a moment, they both watched as the two hopped off towards the bar. The shepherd took a seat next to his friend. “Never would have guessed you'd be into another guy," he commented.

Dean turned to look back at the shepherd, which in turn caused his friend to stare back at him. “Excuse me?"

“Well I mean he's pretty cute even for a guy, but…"

“She's a woman," the Doberman proclaimed a bit louder than necessary. He stood up in frustration while turning back to look down at his friend.

The shepherd went silent while his eyes dropped back onto the two as they stood at the bar waiting to be served. “No, that's definitely a bunny boy, Dean." He got up from his seat and pointed at the lapin. “He's may a very feminine body, but trust me, that's definitely a guy."

Dean followed his friend's paw until his gaze met their companions. The rabbit sort of had that hourglass figure and moved with a sway to her hips, both of which he could clearly see from where they stood. She even stood one foot at the bar while twisting the other leg about on the tip of her toe. Yet the longer he stared the more he noticed. The lapin was flat-breasted, and while her clothes were well-fitted for her frame, they did look a tad bit more like men's clothing than feminine. Slowly the little things started to pop-out until finally he could only see another male. “Oh fuck."

The shepherd patted him on the back, laughing a bit. “Hey man, don't sweat it so much." He moved slowly around his friend until he had both paws on the Doberman's shoulders. “I mean, if you like him then go for it." There was a break in his speech as a rubbed his friend's shoulders a few times. “And who cares if you kissed another guy and liked it."

Dean looked up, paw rubbing against his forehead. The rabbit had felt so right in his paws, like he was meant to hold onto that bunny tightly. And the electricity that flowed through his body when they touched, something the canine could never explain. And that kiss. The sensation of their lips pressed together continued to tingle, as though the little hare had left a fire to burn across his flesh. He put a paw to his mouth while the thought pushed forward.

His insides began to pull him apart, his stomach becoming volatile as he felt the previous drinks starting to come up. He gagged for a moment, unable to believe the argument going on inside him. His brain shouted he should not have kissed another man, that the very action was immoral and wrong. On the other side was his heart, which beat triumphantly the strange though that this was love. His insides were twisting, his gut churned.

The paws on his shoulder shook him lightly. “Dude, look at me." He looked up into the shepherd face, though there was clearly internal unrest in his mind. “There's nothing wrong with being attracted to another man, you've done nothing wrong."

He breathed out, looking down at the ground while trying to pick-up the fragments of his heart. He lifted his head with another sigh. His eyes glancing to his friend's face before drifting over to the bar where the two were just getting their drinks. He repeated the process, then shut them. “There's nothing wrong," he mouthed.

“Don't think about any of that other crap," the other dog added. “If you like that bunny, then you like him."

His heart slowed and his insides unknotted themselves as he started to take deep breaths. There was still this nervous guilt in his veins and a weird twitch in his arms. He tried to return to being in a calm state and in control. Putting his paws in his jacket's pockets, he watched as the two furs started walking back towards them.

As they got closer, he could see Riley was smiling from one bunny ear to the other. The canine could feel his insides warming up the longer he kept focus, but he could not turn his brain completely off. Somewhere in him existed a notion that two males could not be together or love one another. That thought confused his heart. He could feel the muscle beating faster only to slow-down, or thumping hard only to pulse softly a second later. He tried putting on a smile to hide his confusion, but the look came off goofy as they approached. “Welcome back," he yelped.

His friend shot him a look from the side before quickly stepping in. “Yeah, wasn't much to talk about with you two gone." He reached out and took his drink from his girlfriend before pulling her in for a quick kiss. “Dean here just muttering on about all the girls he's had this last year."

A blush quickly spread across Dean's face as his ears shot up. “Fuck you," he spat back before turning to a giggling bunny. Again, he felt torn by how much he wanted to impress the rabbit in front of him while another part of him wanting to run away. He felt lucky his feet could only shake and thankful for the cold to hide the quivering's real meaning. “Besides, they weren't my type."

“Oh yeah, too much baggage," the shepherd laughed while pushing his wrist up against his breast.

His ears fell flat as his friend continued to make fun of his mistake in front of the others. “That's not funny," he muttered.

A white paw thrusted a beer against his chest, which he grabbed and took without much thought. “I wasn't sure what you wanted," the little rabbit smiled. “Thought maybe you'd like to sip on that."

Although his mood had gone south, the Doberman glanced up to find a smiling rabbit still looking his way. His heart beat hard, which he displayed with his own grin spreading across his latte-colored muzzle. “Thanks," he murmured as the smaller hare came closer.

Over the speakers surrounding them came the voice of the DJ from downstairs. “Listen up, you wild animals! We've got less than minute left in this year, so say your final thoughts and get ready to start a new one."

“Hey," motioned the shepherd, “we're going to go back down to the table." He nodded towards the door to the stairs while pushing his girlfriend to lead the way. “We'll see you two next year, alright?"

Dean nodded, raising his beer towards them as a second signal of thank, and watched his friend begin walking away. His nerves were still tense from the recent discovery and he wished the other dog would stay, but his voice was lost. He ended his toast by taking a large gulp of the liquid courage in his hands, hoping the alcohol could help him now.

The DJ came on one more time to say a few more things. “Here's an idea, let's get the new year going right by starting it off with a first kiss! Go grab someone you love and pull them in close, because you only have thirty seconds left to find that special someone."

Dean's eyes instantly darted down to the rabbit who was slowly swaying closer. His heartbeat suddenly went into overdrive and his breathing was almost frantic. A part of him was ready to reach out and pull Riley in close while another part wanted to run. Taking a second swig from his beer, he used the moment to breath in and fight back his inner demons as best he could. He gulped and put the beer down.

But the choice was ripped out of his paws, for in the final minute's rush to be with the one you loved someone pushed the lapin into the dog. “Are you okay," he asked as he caught Riley in his paws.

The bunny looked up at him, a sparkle in those deep, red irises. “Yeah."

All around them a bunch of furs suddenly started to shout, “Ten," but the dog barely heard them. He had lost himself again in the rabbit's pupils. The voices in his head were fading into the air.

“Nine," shouted an even louder crowd, but Dean missed that as well. He was lost in the warmth that spread from his arms where the two touched and from someplace deep in his belly.

“Eight." The warmth grew as lighting shot across his nerves and his blood began to boil.

“Seven." The canine felt the need to lean forward, to let his nose just barely rub against the hare's pink one.

“Six." The lights, the people, the surrounding all seemed to fade into the distance.

“Five." He pulled the bunny in closer, pressing his firm chest against the rabbit's own.

“Four." His paws drifted down until he was holding the other fur by just the small of his back and between his shoulder blades.

“Three." He could feel the rabbit's own paws sliding upwards to wrap around his neck.

“TWO." He closed his eyes and twisted his head, feeling the hot breath of another on his lips.

“ONE!" The canine pushed forward into the embrace as they kissed.

Through the sound of the other fur's cheers, the wheezing of little horns, and the pop of cannons being shot off in the distance, they kissed. Their lips had joined, and for the time being the year and the place were lost, because those were all irrelevant. He was no longer at the brink of a new year or standing on the roof of the club. Instead, he was in a place of indescribable darkness. There were no lights, yet all the colors he knew seemed to flow around him in streams and pull him closer to the rabbit in his paws. And through that flood of iridescent color he found a warmth which radiated from within.

He became uncertain of time, as if the very thought of seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, and years was an illusion. Time felt frozen in the moment, and the moment was locked like their lips. Breathing in deeply, he lost count or care for when the now would end.

The moment faded as quickly as a blink of the eye. The darkness that had surrounded him and the warmth that had come from within dispersed as his head came back to the club and to the new year. He fought back, releasing his lips from the rabbit before pushing up against him again as the surrounding were pushed away for even just a little bit longer.

Dean could not hold time still forever, for sooner or later everything would have to fade back into view. Opening his eyes, he was surprised to find the night sky lit up by fireworks around the rabbit's head. He pulled back from their kiss, drifting away while breathing heavily.

The rabbit's puckered lips cracked into a smile, his eyes still closed as his ears dropped down to either side. Dean could feel Riley's smaller paws gripped tightly onto his jacket, just behind his head, as the lapin pulled himself in to nuzzle gently against the canine's chest. Another firework exploded behind him and his grip tightened.

The Doberman breathed in deeply, grinding his own muzzle against the soft patch of fur between the hare's large ears. He could smell that scent now, the one from before that had peaked his interest initially. Letting his paws dip down the lapin's back, he gently rubbed in circles. He felt different somehow, though the exact reason why having passed him by. As his mind began to wonder, he realized what had changed: the voices in his head were gone. No more inner demons were yelling at him and telling him that his actions were all wrong, nor were his insides twisting into knots anymore. All that remained was the warmth in his ribs and the steady, heavy beating of his heart.