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\n\n This is a one-shot I did for my friend, :iconNewFur: a while back. The plot is his idea I took my liberties with it and I hope you like it. I forgot to upload it, so here it is now, enjoy. -Kerg
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\n\n Deep Breaths now. You hurt yourself once, it won’t happen again, David thought to himself as he continued jogging with careful strides, so as not to harm his ankle. David was a runner. He always was. Unlike most rats, he ran for fun and not for survival. He had been approached by every school he’d gone to with a proposition of running for them. But he wouldn’t accept. Running competitively would take the fun out of it. It was one of the few things David enjoyed.
He started the climb to the top of the hill where he lived. His calves burned in effort as he kept mostly on his toes to propel himself up the steep incline. Taking no effort, David reached the top of the hill and took a left up the driveway to his house.
Opening the door left unlocked, he walked straight to the kitchen where a bottle of water lay unopened just for him. He opened it and took a drink, letting it hydrate the coarseness of his throat. He rubbed his eyes and went upstairs to his room.
He didn’t have the biggest room, it was barely big enough to fit his bed and dresser in, but it worked. It was rarely messy, because David wasn’t in it long enough for it to be considered lived in. He spent much of his time running, at school, or ignoring the pain of having no close friends. He’d never had that great of an affinity towards the house. It was just a place for him to sleep. David removed his shirt that was drenched in sweat, and unhooked the buttons on the back of his pants so his tail could slip out comfortably. He walked down the hallway, and to the left, entering the bathroom. His eyes met his naked form in the mirror. A tan rat with a few white splotches on his ear, crotch, and left thigh. On his chest there was a small tuft of fur that had white towards his right side. But none of these were visible to those that saw him on a day-to-day basis. His clothes covered all except the spot on his ear. Breaking the line of sight with his own reflection, he turned on the water and slipped into the hot stream, letting the water soak him entirely.
David washed the sweat out of his fur, scrubbing hard with his claws. Lathering up, he proceeded to clean his body. He was naturally thin and toned because of his adoration of running. He wasn’t ripped and huge by any standard, but he wasn’t a twig. He was, as his doctor would say, just fine. His body clean, David switched to a more delicate shampoo for his headfur. Finished in the shower, he stepped out and, with a quick go-over of his towel, dried himself.
David grabbed his toothbrush and scrubbed his front teeth to a squeaky-clean state. His front teeth stuck out only a little, not as much as the feral rat’s but still enough to give him an occasional problem with speaking. His hair stuck up until a go over with his hands sent it all down, except for one tuft of hair that always refused its obedience. It stood up, completely defying what David was trying to do with it. Giving up on taming such a beast, he put his pants on and walked out of the bathroom.
He chose to forgo breakfast to get to school on time, so he grabbed his backpack and walked out the door. David was only a Sophomore in high school. He’d had a lot of personal problems -- mostly friends abandoning him -- when we came out last year. David chose not to hide it. It was tough, but better than lying to everyone. David decided to go the long way to school for one reason: Steven.
Steven was a ferret about a year older than David. He was very tall, and very smart. His tests scores consistently well above what anyone else would get. He was a baseball star, and a fantastic baritone in the school’s choir. But all of this was only exceeded by his complete humility. He wasn’t after fame or fortune or anything. He was just out to have fun and do what he loved. Steven regularly walked this way to school, leaving David to follow close behind. Steven and David got along well enough in their few classes they shared, but they never really talked, to David’s disappointment.
David had been crushing on Steven for a long time. He’d gone with a friend to a baseball game and saw Steven for the first time. That was when things really started. He just had this moment where something in him clicked, and he felt this undeniable attraction towards Steven.
David walked around the corner of the street Steven lived on. The sound of a closing door was the sign that Steven was headed out too. David walked up behind Steven and tapped him on the shoulder.
“Great game on Friday,” he said.
“Thanks, David,” Steven adjusted his backpack and coughed.
“You have a good weekend?” David asked. He wasn’t good at small talk. Not even in the slightest.
“It was okay, could have been better.”
“Why’s that?”
“Just... lot of stuff, man,” Steven sighed.
“Homework or something?” David asked.
“I don’t really want to talk about, if that’s okay,” Steven said in a tone that was a mixture of sadness and anger.
David’s ears went down and he bit his lip, feeling embarrassed for bringing up the subject. “No, it’s fine. Sorry,” he said.
“Don’t worry about it.”
The rest of the walk there was marred by a silence that David couldn’t break through. He couldn’t find the words to say.
Not that that was new. Whenever he found himself crushing on someone, he would often freeze up. But things would change that night.
\n \\/ /\\ \\/
\nGoing with Shae, a raccoon friend a year older than himself, David walked into the party, fighting against the crowd to get inside. The house stunk of smoke and beer, two things he had done before, but wasn't the biggest fan of. The smoke made him throw up, and the beer made him a bit of an ass. Shae broke off from David to go with her friends. Shae was a Thespian, and acted all the time. She had tried getting him to try out before, but it never went well, so she coerced him into joining crew.
Finding his way into the kitchen, David saw a keg sitting on the kitchen table, and figured he might as well. He poured himself a glass and went into the living room. That's where he saw him. The object of so much secretive love, Steven, was sitting in the corner. Acting normal, David walked over to him and sat down.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey. How's it going?" Steven asked.
"Not bad. Got dragged here."
"You too? At least you don't have to be the designated driver," Steven said.
"People use you for that a lot?"
"You have no idea... Man, this party sucks,” Steven mumbled.
“Yeah, I hear ya,” David pulled a pack of gum and took a piece. “You want some?”
“Sure,” Steven took the piece from David, hands connecting in a spark of static electricity for one glorious moment as chills swept through his body.
“Ya wanna get out of here?” Steven asked, more friendly than he’d ever been to him.
David smiled, unwrapping his gum. “Yeah. My ride is... drunk anyway.” He nodded towards the lightweight Shae who was rolling around on the floor and screaming with joy.
Steven laughed at the sight of the known party animal. “Let’s go,” he said, standing. He led David through the crowd of people to the front door where they forced their way through the people in the doorway. Following, he went with the ferret to his car.
A white 1992 Dodge Viper was parked at the end of the street. David had seen Steven in the car before; he’d never, in a million years dream that he’d get to ride in it. The convertible top was down, allowing the cool night air to help alleviate the heat felt in the party.
“So, glad baseball season’s over?” David asked.
“Not exactly. I’m not gonna be as busy, so I’ll get bored and restless.”
David bit his lip and tried to stop himself from saying what was on his mind, but wasn’t fast enough. “You could always hang out with me...”
"Yeah. I could." Steven started the car and pulled away from the curb, driving to places unknown.
"Nice car," David said.
"Thanks. It was a gift for myself. Took a while to get the money for it."
"Yeah, I bet." David leaned against the door, getting comfortable.
"So what you want to do?" Steven asked, heading towards downtown.
"I just want to do something, you know?" David didn't really have any preferences, all he knew was that after such a long week, he wanted to unwind.
"You ever go Geocaching?"
David looked at the Ferret and blinked in confusion.
"What?"
"Geocaching. You've never heard of it?"
"No..." The car lurched around the bend at remarkable speeds before coming to a sudden stop, the engine ceasing all noise.
"We'll have to fix that then." Steven reached over to the glovebox and pulled out a small device that fit in the palm of his paw. David couldn't get a good look at it, but followed suit when Steven left the car, running into the open field.
"What are you doing?" David asked, catching up with the ferret.
"Geocaching," Steven said blankly.
"What is that?"
Steven pulled out a small container from his pocket, about the size of a tennis ball. "This, is a cache. You find a place to hide it, anywhere in the world, and you write down the GPS coordinates from it. Then, you put those coordinates online for other people to find. It's basically like a giant, world-wide treasure hunt."
"I'm still lost," David said, playing with the stubborn tuft of fur on his head, his nervous habit.
"Lemme show you." Steven took off running farther into the brush, leaving a very confused and concerned David behind. Not one to be left in the dust of another, David chased after him, quickly gaining ground.
Steven might have been in good shape, but he was nowhere near as good of a runner as David. Feet digging into the ground, breath smooth and controlled, David gained the lead over his crush and pushed forward, determined to win the race to wherever they were going. But with a sudden yelp, David's injured ankle flared up and stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Shit!" he groaned. Steven ran up to him, and held his back up for support.
"You okay?" David could see the flawless teeth of Steven's and his heart fluttered at the concern in his eyes.
"Yeah, I think. I twisted my ankle last week, and it just flared up." David stood, careful not to put too much pressure on the bone.
\n “That’s what you did. I saw you fall and was wonder-”
“You saw me fall?” David all but yelled, surprised.
“Yeah, I was in my mom’s car getting some groceries when I saw you. That looked like it hurt.”
David blushed at the thought of being seen. Worse, seen falling and twisting his ankle, and making a fool of himself.
Steven wrapped his arm around David’s shoulder and supported him. David’s nose was filled with the scent of Steven. He couldn’t lie, he enjoyed being so close to Steven... even with the circumstances.
\n “Here we are,” Steven said, letting go of David, whose ankle was in substantially less pain.
\n “We’re still in the middle of a field,” David said.
“You’ll learn to keep your eyes open soon enough.”
“Open to what?” David said, stepping forward into a hole and falling face first onto the grass. “Ow,” he said, snout still in the soil.
“There it is!” Steven said.
“No, don’t worry about me, I didn’t twist my other ankle or anything.”
Steven got the memo and helped the rat up. David was able to see what had tripped him. It was a large plastic container marked with GPS coordinates and a word: “moonrakerone.”
“What’s that?” David asked.
“What, moonrakerone, or the cache?” Steven asked, smiling at the discovery.
“Both.” David said in his ignorance on the subject.
“Well, moonrakerone is a username. You do that as a way to give credit to yourself for placing it. And this is a cache.” Opening the container, Steven pulled out a spiral and a glowing pen. He opened the spiral and filled out information.
“What’re you writing?”
“My username, and the date.”
“Do you have to do both?” David asked.
“It’s what you’re supposed to do. It leaves a record of where you’ve been.” Steven’s eyes were lighting up with the excitement of his discovery.
\n David peeked into the container while his friend was on his mental trip out. Inside were assorted items. Kids meal toys, coins with weird numbers on them, and other things.
“What is this stuff?” He asked, inching closer to Steven.
“It’s like take a penny leave a penny. You pick up this stuff and put something in its place and make note of it here,” Steven handed the notebook to him, switching items being held. Looking at the list, David could see why Steven liked it so much. There was a real sense of history to the whole thing. You read people’s writing, their contributions, how many times they’d found it, and various comments on the spiral’s pages. If anything, it only made David see another, deeper, side of Steven. His appreciation of the ferret would only increase and make him feel warm and fuzzy inside as the two walked back to the car, and David resisted his urge to take Steven’s hand and kiss him under those stars.
\n \\/ /\\ \\/
\nThat night, something clicked for David and Steven. The two bonded in a subtle, brotherly way. And while David certainly wanted to be Steven’s boyfriend, he wasn’t going to push it. He had his foot in the door to Steven’s life, and that was enough for him to be content. During one particularly boring math class, Steven texted David.
Steven: You want to get a bite to eat with me for lunch?
\n David: Sure.
So we’re going out on quasi-dates, who cares? We’re just two guys... hanging out. Nothing wrong with that. As the bell rang, David followed the herd into the halls and pushed his way to get to the south entrance doors where Steven parked. David hopped in the Viper as it pulled out of the lot, leaving others in the dust.
\n “Love that engine,” David said.
“Isn’t it so smooth?”
“Oh yeah.”
\n “What did you think of the test in math today?” Steven asked, pulling into the parking lot of the fast food joint.
\n “I thought it was a pain. Is she trying to kill us?” David asked, opening the door for Steven.
“I don’t know, man, but honestly, I could give a rat’s ass-”
“What?” David said.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like... it’s an expression.”
“It’s hurtful, man,” David said, leaving enough of a bright tone to his voice to reveal him as joking.
“Whatever,” Steven said with a slight punch before ordering his food.
Getting their fast, albeit unhealthy, food, the two sat down in a booth and began to chew into the massive burgers roughly the size of their heads. The two ate happily, with not a hesitation between them, just the abyss of hunger caused only by not eating for the entirety of the day. David smiled happily at Steven who returned the smile. There wasn’t much of a conversation to be had, but there was still a deep connection that only expanded for David when Steven absently placed his paw on David’s. After that touch, David knew that he was, unequivocally, in love with Steven in a manner that couldn’t be changed no matter how much he might want to.
But the drop of the hand was dropped much too fast by Steven’s eye focusing on something much larger and bodacious walking past his table, as his animal instincts began to coax the eyes into looking at the ass that passed him.
“Damn...” He muttered to himself which left David feeling hurt and confused... Is he gay or not? Why do I feel like I’m being led on?
\n \\/ /\\ \\/
\n Months started to pass, and the two became inseparable. Their friendship unique and deep, never once did they argue or have any disagreements with one another. Every day the pair spent together, watching a movie, or going on friendly runs, David would fall more and more in love with his friend, though he could never admit it to anyone but himself. It ate at him, but he couldn't risk harming his best of friends by coming onto him. His pride wouldn't allow for it.One morning, the two met to go on a run. David’s ankle no longer a threat, he was able to leave Steven in the dust, but he chose not to; he wanted to be near his friend.
“I can’t believe she said that,” Steven said.
“I know! She’s had it coming for a while, I’m glad the teacher called her on the shit. I mean, who lies about their parent dying?”
“I don’t know, man,” Steven’s legs pounded hard on the cement with each step.
David stopped at the end of the street leading to his house and looked at Steven.
\n “I’ll race you,” his eye twinkled with delight. He loved the races they would go on. He usually won, but occasionally, Steven would pull ahead and beat David... but only just. With a nod, the two lined up side-by-side on the sidewalk. “Ready? Set. Go!” David and Steven burst from their imaginary gates, each trying to one-up the other with a sly cut off or joke, but in the end, Steven managed to get ahead of David and hit the front door, milliseconds before David.
“Damnit,” he said, running a hand through his headfur. “So close...”
“I’ve been practicing,” Steven smiled.
“Yeah yeah yeah...” David pushed his friend out of the way playfully and opened the door. Saturday mornings meant that Steven was allowed to shower at David’s house without interfering with school. The two hadn’t made a big deal over it, though the thought of Steven being naked and separated by a mere wall was almost too much for David at times. He managed to keep it together though. His love of Steven as a friend far outweighing his libido.
Stepping into the shower, David closed the door behind him, obscuring his body to the outside. He hummed quietly as all the sweat and man-stink left his body and went down to the alligators in the sewer below. As the water entered his soft ears and cleaned out the dirt, David could swear he heard a voice, but when he peeked beyond the glass, no one was there.
\n \\/ /\\ \\/
\n The two friends walked to the park where each sat on a swing and sat there in the dead of night. David was growing sick of waiting for his friend to make it clear on his sexuality. He wanted to know if he was simply wasting his time or if there was any kind of a chance that the two could become more than friends. But he could never risk his one true friendship in years without absolute certainty that he wouldn’t get himself hurt in the process.In the cold of the night that was night quite fall and not quite winter but rather, a bleak medium that left no one happy. David was wrapped in a leather jacket that he got with the urging of Steven. He often wore it at nights when he was feeling restless because the memory of the day was pleasant enough to shake away whatever ghouls kept him awake at night.
The laugh was the first time Steven started to seem more like himself in a while. He had grown distant in the past two weeks in a way that left David feeling abandoned. He didn’t enjoy feeling alone, but without Steven... it was how he felt. His lack of extra-curricular activities and shyness left him with few friends that he could regularly count on for support and help. But earlier that night, David got a text from Steven saying he wanted to hang out again. David jumped on the chance and ran over to his house as fast as his rat legs would take him.
The walk to the park where Steven spent his childhood was cold and filled with a silence. David still felt hurt at being ignored, and Steven seemed lost in his thoughts, as though he was facing his executioner. With a quiet sigh, after minutes at the swings, Steven finally opened his mouth.
“Do you know what’s funny?”
“Trying to understand the librarian with a lisp when she has a cold?”
Steven just shook off the poor excuse of a joke and looked down at his furry ferret paws. He bit his lip and looked back at David. “The way life throws you a curve ball sometimes.”
“What do you mean by that?” David asked, facing Steven a bit more face on.
“I mean...” his sigh filled the night in a way that felt as if the night was going to be a matter of importance. “When you really want something and suddenly you think that it’s not what you want anymore.”
David’s heart skipped a beat as he hoped that whatever was about to come out of Steven’s mouth was what he wanted to hear. Steven looked David in the eye and then back to his feet with a sigh. He muttered something, but David wasn’t able to catch it.
“What?”
“When you think that liking girls is the path for you... but one moment, one glorious moment throws that thought entirely out the window and leaves you feeling unsure of your very character.”
David grabbed Steven by the shoulder. “What do you mean? Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
Steven’s ferret head nodded slowly as meek eyes connected with David’s. But David wasn’t thinking about anything but the words that Steven just muttered.
David looked Steven right in the eye, "Why didn't you tell me?"
Tears matted Steven's fur as he clutched his own arms. "I- I don't know. I just was so afraid."
“Afraid of what?” David asked, arms stretched out. “Why would I have a problem with it?” He tried not to sound impatient with this creature who shared a bond with like he had no other in his life. He would never want to be impatient with Steven. Not when he had come so far from a life of being a social pariah.
Steven cringed as David yelled in his ear and whispered, “I don’t know. I really don’t.” Steven sighed and looked down at his own feet. He wouldn’t look his friend in the face. David felt both understanding and pain at Steven’s inability to look him in the eye. David moved his arms around Steven’s body as he felt instinctively that he would start crying if he didn’t. His arms wrapped around him as tears began to wet David’s leather jacket. There was silence. Perfect. Beautiful. Still. Until David finally had to know.
“How’d you find out?” David asked quietly. With voice quiet and fingers trembling, he hoped that Steven would know he really felt. Steven looked up, unwrapping himself from David and looked him straight in the eye with absolute sincerity.
"That day when I showered at your house... I-I saw you in the shower."
"What?!" David, yelled, practically screaming. Of course, it made sense, he did think he heard a voice.
"You're just so... Sexy."
David blushed and tried not to laugh, "No I'm not."
"You are... To me. I don't give a rat's ass, sorry, about what other's say about you. David..."
David swallowed and smiled only half a smile. "Yeah?"
Steven leaned forward, his face mere inches away from David's. "I love you," he said, so fast it could have been misunderstood, had they not been so close.
"Good," David said, grabbing Steven's head. "Then I won't feel bad about this." After three months, David found bliss in Steven's lips. And in the feel of his best friend's -- no, his boyfriend's -- arms around him.
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