The dead body hung totally still. There was no wind, and the dead fur had been hanging for days. Nine-year old Brady stared with his eyes wide, his fluffy tail hanging limply between his legs, not unlike the corpse in front of him.

Mind-blowing.

But maybe not in a good way. He glanced over to Oliver, as the lab shot a quick grin back over, raising his eyebrows questioningly. The body belonged to a goat, probably in his mid-thirties by the looks of things. The act was obviously deliberate, the noose secured tightly around his throat, wound up and around the branch that was supporting the corpse. Brady was most disturbed by the eyes, they had swollen outwards, each of the pupils drifting and pointing in opposing directions. His mouth hung open, and Brady curiously noticed that his tongue wasn't poking out, like in all the cartoons and movies.

“Cool huh?" Oliver asked, anxiously peering at his friends face. Doesn't he like it?

“I guess." Brady said slowly, walking up a little closer. Neither of the young pups said anything as they approached the suicide victim. His body was suspended a good metre and half off the ground, the death quite literally hanging in the air over the youngsters.

“I found him the other day like this. Nobody else knows about it." Oliver said, walking around the tree to see the back of the corpse. He cocked his head, in a very doggish kind of manner, looking the goat up and down.  

“Why do you think he did it?" Brady asked, biting his lower lip. He would never admit it, but the dead fur frightened him a bit. It was so impossibly still, so unmoving, so lacking of life. There wasn't a single twitch in its movements. Normally, when you look at other furs, even if they're really still, you can see them breathing, or the fur moving…but not this one. It was the same kind of feeling that Brady felt when he looked down a really dark hole; usually a well or some kind of other nightmarish pit, a compelling voice inside telling him to jump inside. Later in life, he'd know that was called 'The Call of the Void'. Nine-year-old Brady had no concept of this however, he just felt like the corpse was going to grab him at any second…just come to life and start screaming and spluttering, flailing its limbs manically.

“I dunno." Oliver replied, shrugging nonchalantly. “Maybe he was lonely, didn't have any friends?" He suggested, for once not making light of a situation.

“That's really sad." The wolf pup replied. Oliver nodded his agreement. “I just…" He stopped himself. The chocolate labrador stepped around from behind the tree, staring seriously into his friends face.

“What? You just what?" He asked, seeming genuinely concerned. Brady hesitated, before answering;

“How can anybody be so lonely they don't even want to be alive anymore?"

Marley woke up to a weird, wet sensation on her neck. Upon investigation, she realised Oliver was lying on the ground with her, kissing her neck passionately. Looking around, the golden Labrador had her memories repair themselves, slowly piecing together how exactly all the naked furs had ended up that way.

“Oliver, get off." She groaned. The dog ignored her, slipping a paw between her legs and growling playfully. She put her own paw onto her boyfriend's face, pushing him back. “Fuck off." She grunted, climbing to her feet. Oliver held his paws up, staring at her in disbelief.

“What? I'm just trying to be nice. Fucking hell Marl, just chill out." He said, shaking his head. She ignored him, walking down the hallway to Oliver's bedroom. She rummaged through his bedside table, digging out a Xanax tablet. With the pill in one paw, she walked back through the lounge room, picking up cigarettes and a glass of water from the kitchen. Ignoring her sulking boyfriend, Marley pushed outside into the backyard, sitting down in a lawn chair and sipping her water. Sniffling lightly, she lit up the cigarette, taking a deep drag before swallowing the drug. Sitting back, she grimaced as the door from the kitchen swung open. Marley let her eyes sink shut, as she listened to the sound of Oliver padding around. When she opened her eyes, the lab was sitting cross legged on the grass, smiling up at her.

“You alright babe?" He asked, cocking his head. Marley briefly considered saying something snarky, but quickly let the thought fall aside. It wasn't worth it.

“Fine." She ended up replying, smiling a little as the Xanax began to kick in, relaxing her.

“How you pull up after last night?" He followed up.

“Fine." She repeated, shrugging.

“Cool. You reckon Brady enjoyed himself?" The lab quickly asked. Marley resisted the urge to roll her eyes, her boyfriend had many great qualities, but his weird insecurity involving friends was always infuriating. Marley and Oliver were together more out of convenience than anything else; once you've had sex with someone so many times you might as well just say you're dating. Neither of the dogs was under any impressions though, if they were honest, then there weren't many qualities about the other that they actually liked. She held nothing against Oliver per se, but she wasn't anywhere close to head over heels for him. He was a good fuck, good fun, and besides…what other options were there? She had to date somebody, might as well be a chocolate lab, they made a cute couple for photos.

“He seemed fine. How'd he look when he left?" She asked, already having noticed the grey wolf was nowhere to be found. Oliver shrugged.

“He was okay I guess, quiet. He's never done K before, and he drank a lot last night. Guess he felt kinda drained y'know?" Marley nodded, sucking on her smoke again, letting out the toxic vapour dramatically into the air.

“Yeah. You give him anything to pick him up?" She asked, finishing the last of her water. Oliver shook his head.

“Nah, just let him be. He'll be right." He claimed. Marley could see in his eyes however, that the dog hadn't even thought to offer any uppers. Now he'd go through a whole thing of worrying about it.

“Yeah, good idea. Don't want to freak the city pup out too much." She added, snorting. Oliver smiled, grateful for the reinforcement. Putting what was left of her cigarette out, Marley climbed to her feet and went back inside. She pulled her clothes out from under the pile of still sleeping furs, awkwardly dressing herself.

“Where are you going?" Oliver asked, letting the door slam shut behind him as he followed his girlfriend inside. Marley turned around, sighing with frustration at the Labrador. He was always asking where she was going, what she was doing. It wasn't any kind of abusive thing, as many furs assumed upon hearing, he just got nervous. She'd seen the movies; she knew what an abuser looked like. Oliver was a dear, but he couldn't take not knowing just…ordinary stuff and after a while it got exhausting.

“Jesus Ollie, I'm just going home, okay?" She snapped, hefting her handbag up over one shoulder. Her boyfriend looked at her with a slightly hurt expression, obviously unsure as to why he'd been shouted at. She briefly considered apologising for the lapse in patience, but then thought better of it. Let him think about it for a while, teach him a lesson. Without another word, the golden labrador left the building before her boyfriend could say anything.

Oliver watched her go, slowly moving to the window as she walked up the street, heading towards the centre of town. A part of him wanted to go after her, make her come back, but he couldn't be bothered. It was too hot. Instead the dog crossed back over the living room mound, stepping carefully around the naked furs on the floor-some of which were just now beginning to stir-and entered his bathroom. Once inside he set the water on hot, letting it drip down his body, soaking his fur and washing the night out of his hide. Fuck Marley, if she wanted to act like a bitch that was fine by him. He didn't care anyway, who did? Fucking females. Sometimes he envied Brady, being like that, it would just simplify things. Make it all easier. No more dealing with bullshit like that scene Marley pulled. Oliver pulled his eyelids shut, letting the burning hot water soak over his face, imagining his frustration as the steam, slowly evaporating into the air and being sucked into the fan. By the time it was really gone, the hot water was starting to run out, and so the lab shut it off. He shook himself in the shower; sure it was a pup move, spraying water all over the cubicle and even onto the roof, but fuck it. He climbed out of the stall and dried himself, wandering back out into the lounge dressed in nothing but a towel around his waist. It seemed Paul was up, since he was the only one no longer part of the furry pile in the centre of the room. Judging from the fact that the back door was now hanging wide open, Oliver imagined the horse was outside, having his morning fag.

“Morning." Oliver said, stepping outside to join his friend, who was still not dressed, and lounging spectacularly nude on his lawn chair.

“Afternoon, really." Grunted the horse, sucking in the ash from the cigarette and moaning. “How're you doing then, hey? Not lookin' so fresh."

“What's that supposed to mean?" Oliver asked, falling to the ground and stretching out on the warm ground. “I just fucking showered."

“I don't mean ya' fur, dickhead. Think I couldn't hear Marls givin' ya' a talking to?" The stallion said, picking up some loose sunglasses from the ground and slipping them on. It was quite the ridiculous picture really, a chocolate labrador, looking sorry for himself on the ground, towel around his waist, while a large smoking stallion relaxed in nothing but sunnies in the nearby chair.

“You heard that huh?" Oliver asked, blushing a little.

“If ya' don't want it to be heard mate, then don't have the bloody conversation in the kitchen. Fuck me." The horse replied, dropping his finished cigarette onto the concrete.

“I guess."

“You guess?" He snorted. “You catch on quick. Anyway, enough of that. How'd Brady do? He's lookin' good for himself." Oliver shrugged.

“I suppose so, I think he liked the night. He'd never done K before, so at least we got to show him something new."

“I'm sure they have K in the city, Ollie." The horse said, not unkindly.

“Course, doesn't mean he did it though. He thought it was coke for fucks sake."

“Who does coke anymore anyway?" Paul said, scoffing as if it was some kind of utterly ridiculous notion.

“That's what I said."

“Fuckin' city geek's man."

“Brady's hardly a city geek though, c'mon." Oliver defended.

“Yeah, sure. Not yet." The horse coughed, hefting himself up to his feet and pushing his way inside, Oliver trailing slowly behind. Paul, like Marley had, rescued his sweaty clothes from beneath the stack of three remaining furs, dressing himself. Now looking like someone at least half-respectable, he gave Oliver a quick thumbs up, and left.

The Labrador stood in his kitchen, looking around in a semi-dissociative state. He spent the next few hours watching the other furs climb to their feet and slowly leave, making little conversation as they did so. He didn't mind, his brain was far away. The dog felt himself floating, the walls doing nothing to seal him inside. At some point or another he had yet another shower, and maybe even some kind of brief crying episode, he couldn't remember. The water washed away any evidence of tears and weakness, the sadness and constant misery he felt at being left alone. Checking his social media feeds didn't help either, nobody had felt the need to text him any interesting images or stories, after all they'd all only just been hanging out.

Soon after the last of the stragglers had disappeared, Oliver dug out the last of the ketamine that Paul had left behind. Measuring himself up a few lines to do, the dog pushed the creeping fears of abandonment out of his mind. Swearing to himself he didn't need Marley, or anyone else to be happy, the fur began violently snorting.

Brady's younger brother Jake bit down on his toast, smiling at the sugary rush he got from the jam. Wendy walked over, humming lightly and putting a glass of orange juice down on the table. Jake swallowed the last of his breakfast and accepted the drink, grinning as he downed it. Wendy sat down at the table, folding her paws and checking the clock. It was around the same time that Jake's older brother was meeting with Max for breakfast, although neither Jake nor Wendy knew that of course.

“Mmm, thanks." Jake said, accepting the drink. He'd been there all night, and would have to leave soon. His parents were under the impression he got up to go running in the mornings before they did, never aware that he was sneaking out the night before.

“That's okay." Wendy said, smiling. “Jake, can I ask you something?" The deer said, folding her eyebrows in concern.

“Yeah, what?" The wolf asked, placing his glass back down.

“Um, I'm…" The deer blushed. “I'm not too old for you, am I? I mean, I know a lot of other furs would have…trouble with what we're doing here. I just…do you?" She asked, tilting her head and leaning in slightly. Jake carefully thought for a moment, before shaking his head.

“No, most of the girls I know my age are really dumb. They just…I dunno, focus on the wrong things. I really like…what we have here, y'know? I kinda worry that I'm too young for you." He explained sheepishly, blushing. Wendy shook her head.

“No, no. I think you're delightful Jake." The deer replied, smiling. “I'd love for you to stay longer, but I think you really have to get back. The wolf teen glanced at the clock, wincing as he noticed the time.

“Oh shit, yeah. Thanks for reminding me. I'll see you later Wendy." He said, kissing her briefly and running out the back door.

“I'll text you!" The much older deer called after him.