FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Just outside of the Malibu Nightclub in the city of Glennwood....

Argonne sighed softly as he shut the door of his car, pausing to take out the keys to lock it. For a moment, the red fox stopped to look at the vehicle. It was a bright red lamborghini aventador, 2017 edition. The car was courtesy of his father, Harley Waterbuck, owner of Waterbuck Industries Incorporated.

Argonne was an only child, and his father doted on him like an obsessed mother. His actual mother disapproved of this, and she often made it clear in the strangest of ways. He remembered the time when she had covered the lawn with those plastic flamingos. With a small sigh, the vulpine hit the remote lock on his keys then turned and headed for the employee entrance of the nightclub.

Taking out his keycard, he scanned it, then waited to hear the audible click of the magnetic locks before heading inside. He soon found himself in the employee locker room, his ears perking when he saw another red fox, changing into his frilled speedo he wore when on the stage. The other fox looked up from changing, then grinned widely when he saw Argonne.

"Hey Argonne! Come for your shift?"

The fox smirked at that, "What else would I come to this dump for?" The other fox's name was Tylar Mitchell, and ever since Argonne had gotten the job they've been the best of friends.

Tylar chuckled softly at that, "Don't let the boss hear you say that, he might just dock your pay again. Though seeing who your father is, I don't think it'd matter to you"

Argonne huffed a little at that, but put on a smile. "Yeah well, it still kinda sucks"

It was Tylar's turn to smirk now, "And so do you darling, literally"

He stuck his tongue out at that. "Oh just get out there already! I think I hear your favorite song starting!"

With another chuckle, Tylar gave him a wink as he headed out of the locker room, "Can't keep my fans waiting~"

Argonne rolled his eyes and shook his head as the other fox left the room. He then headed over to his locker, opening it up and setting his phone inside. The vulpine was already dressed for work, he just needed to grab his beeper and head set. Searching through the locker, the fox's let loose a sigh of relief when he found it, then put it on before shutting the door. All the employees were required to wear their beeper and small head set at all times so that they could contact each other without interrupting the one that they're trying to contact.

Once he checked to make sure that everything was working, Argonne turned and headed for the hallway to relieve the current bartender of his shift.

*****

Drake Holloway gripped the steering wheel with the intensity of a drowning fur grabbing a lifesaver. Or a serial killer strangling his victim, which was closer to what the gray folf felt like doing.

From the back of the van, Danny, a flamboyant wolf with a love of neon fur dye, and Austin, an outspoken hyena with a penchant for causing more irritation than a swarm of fleas, bickered at each other.

"All I'm saying is that if you put half the effort into your love life as you do your hair, you wouldn't be shacking up with me every night," Austin huffed.

"Maybe if you didn't throw yourself at me like you do everything else with a pulse-" Danny began to growl.

The light turned green and Drake stomped the gas, sending his bandmates sliding into the back door.

"Would you two please shut up!" Drake yelled. "Do you have any idea how many strings I had to pull to get you guys in on this?"

He glanced at the clock. They should have been at Club Malibu an hour ago to set up. It was their first paying gig in over a month. Austin said it was selling out to play live music at a venue that was one step away from becoming a stripclub. But as Drake was so painfully aware, punk-rock doesn't pay the bills. He pushed the pedal to the floor and cut across two lanes to make a sharp left into the Malibu's parking lot.

"Get to the stage and check the equipment. I'm going to find the boss and try to smooth things over," Drake said. He could already imagine the amount of ass he was going to have to kiss just to get paid for the night, much less turn the trial gig into a steady job that he and his band could count on.

Drake tugged at his tight tank top as he split from from Austin and Danny. The shirt itched and he wanted to take it off. His wiry physique was a major factor in getting the audition in the first place, but for now he needed the respectability that only a fur who could abide by one of the 'no shirt, no shoes, no service' signs could get.

The place was starting to fill with the evening crowd. Drake pushed his way to the bar, hoping to see the fur that booked him. The diffused glow of the bar's back light filtered through dozens of expensive liquor bottles giving the area a muted rainbow coloring. He raised his hand, signaling for the bartender.

"Hey," he shouted over the din, "where's the manager? I was supposed to be on stage but we had a car accide-" he stopped mid-lie. The fox's bored, half lidded eyes turned to him in an almost slow motion. It set a tingle through Drake. A neurochemical 'I want that!' screamed in his subconscious.

"What?" the fox leaned close to be heard.

Drake took a deep breath, stealing a whiff of the the tawny bartender. "Uhhh," Drake wasn't sure of his own name, much less what he was going to say. "Um..."

The fox glanced to see another fur waving for his attention. "Look, I'll be back when you figure out what you want."

Drake's jaw hung open as the fox walked away.

It took several long moments for the folf to even utter one word. "M-Manager!"

One of the fox's ears swiveled to him at that, and the vulpine gave him a look before coming back over. "Why do you want to see the boss?"

"I-I got a gig here from him, I was supposed to be here an hour ago, but we got into a--"

"Yeah yeah, so you're late for that one thing that was supposed to happen an hour ago. I'll let the boss know," He brought his hand up to his ear and pressed a button that was on his headset, "Hey Boris, I got that one performer guy here that the boss hired. Yeah I know he's late, but tell the boss anyway" He let go of the button and turned to help the customer who had just come up beside Drake.

The folf laid back his ears at that, then coughed before speaking up again, "Hey so uh, can't say I got your name"

At that the vulpine stopped what he was doing, and gave the folf a look, "Are you trying to hit on me?" When he saw the folf's ears go back even more, the fox smirked in amusement then leaned against the counter.

"Oh my god, you really are trying to hit on me. Look darling, trust me when I say this. I'm way out of your league," At that moment the vulpine looked over towards the end of the bar, at a pair of black double doors where a wolverine had just come out of, "Well looks like the bossman is ready to see to you. Later honey." With that the vulpine turned away.

Drake's jaw again hung wide. Out of his league? The audacity just fueled his lust. He wanted that fox. He wanted him handcuffed to his bed... Drake shook his head, clearing the thoughts as he smoothed his shirt and walked toward the pissed off wolverine.

"Morty!" Drake threw his arms wide. A doberman sidestepped in front of him, cutting him off. "Morty," he grinned and bent his head to peer around the large bodyguard. "I know I was supposed to be here a while ago, but I swear, we just barely survived! The whole interstate was backed up for miles. This tiger in a semi, drunk probably, comes barreling down the wrong side, straight at us-"

"Drake," the wolverine brushed aside the doberman with flick of his wrist. "The sign outside. Did you read it?"

The folf's ears flattened. "Yeah..."

"It says, live music. Now do you hear that?" he cupped his hand to his ear and tilted it toward the nearest speaker. "That is not live. That is something any DJ could put on, and for half of what I'm paying you and your band."

"But I-" Drake tried to cut in.

"Not the primary issue, Mr. Holloway. The primary issue is that the sign makes me a liar. I hate being a liar." Morty's calm, dispassionate voice began to take on an edge.

Drake swallowed as the looming dobermans picked up on their boss's displeasure and both cracked their knuckles. "I- I can see that. I-it's entirely my fault. If you just giv-"

Morty silenced him with a dismissive gesture. "Go. Preform. If you don't wow the crowd, I'll have my boys here show you exactly how much I dislike false advertising."

Drake offered another stuttering apology as he backed away, quickly turning to run for the stage.

***

"The equipment's shit, Drake," Danny grumbled as he tuned the strings on the club provided bass guitar.

Drake jumped up onto the stage and shot the wolf steel melting glare. "Just shut up and let's do the set we practiced."

"Gawd," Austin moaned. "Not that top-40's crap."

Drake snapped his attention to the hyena sitting behind the drum kit, fluffing his bleached hair. "Whatever happens to me, I'm doing double to you," growled the folf

"Dude, I told you this place had to be a mob front! Why the hell else would there be luxury sports cars parked in back?"

"For the last time, Aus, this place has nothing to do with organized crime!" Drake winced as his words reverberated from the speakers over the suddenly quiet club. Someone had cut the music and switched on his mic.

"Heh," he turned to the dance floor. "How's everyone doing tonight?" He grinned widely, letting his stage persona shine. As he sweet talked the crowd he kept glancing at the bar, hoping to get a glimpse of that captivating fox.

One of the customers left the bar, leaving Argonne with a perfect view of the stage. He caught the folf glancing his way, and rolled his eyes just before Tylar came over, sitting on one of the stools, grumbling to himself.

This caught Argonne's attention, and he placed an elbow on the counter as he leaned towards his friend. "What's wrong Ty, you feeling left out now?"

The other fox eyed him, then abruptly flipped him off. "Yeah fuck you too Argy"

He laughed at that, then looked back to the stage to see the folf leering at him one last time before the drums began. At this point the vulpine looked away as the live music started. "What in the hell are they playing?"

Tylar narrowed his eyes a little. "It sounds like.... rock to me"

"Rock? Really? That's the kind of music my father listens to when he's in his so-called man cave. At least the boss seems to like it" He glanced over to where the wolverine was looking thoughtfully up at the three performers on the stage, then back to Tylar.

The vulpine was eyeing the folf up on the stage, then followed one of his glances back to Argonne before narrowing his eyes even more. "Hang on a tick, is he eyeballing you??"

Argonne snorted, catching the folf's glance and rolling his eyes again. "Sadly, yes, he is. You know he tried coming onto me before going over to meet the boss?"

Tylar made a face at that, his ears splaying to the side, "Yuck, really? There is no way that guy is even close to qualifying for a date with you, I'm not even close!"

The fox smirked at his friend at that, then jokingly said, "I dunno, I'd give you a shot if you wore that hot little outfit. Where did you get that anyway?"

"Would you believe I got it for a discount at Victoria's Secret?"

"Darling, I'd hardly believe that you could even get a discount at Victoria's Secret"

Tylar stuck his tongue out at the fox behind the counter. "Well I did!"

"Oh yeah? Prove it."

With a smirk, the dancer twisted just enough and reached down, pulling the back of his speedo down so that Argonne could see the tag. The vulpine whistled, then grinned. "Guess you got them from there after all. Since when did Victoria's Secret start selling outfits like that for men?"

"Oh honey, ever since that one gay activists movement that freed more rights for furs like you and I. Apparently the store manager saw it as a chance to make even more bucks than usual, and girl was he right!"

Argonne chuckled at that, then went over to another needy customer before coming back and continuing to chat with his friend as the music went on.

******

Drake strummed his way through several recognizable songs, singing more melodically than when he screamed out his own songs. The crowd was getting into it, dancing, occasionally shouting requests and generally treating the band like a jukebox. Exactly what Drake was hoping for. Drake had a lot of experience playing in clubs and it was only when the band became a distraction that he would begin to worry.

He kept an eye of the bartender. One of the scantily clad dancers, another fox, chatted with his prize. He growled low and away from the mic. He scanned the walls for a clock, wondering when he could take his first break and stake his claim.

The fox in the speedo didn't interest him. Drake had his pick of groupies, male or female, who would happily parade around nude for him. But that other fox... there was something about the aloofness that called to the folf. His mind began to wander and he missed a cue.

Danny smacked him on the arm, waking him from his daydream. Drake played through another couple of songs before announcing a five minute break and motioning for the club's sound system to take over.

"Early, isn't it?" Austin asked from the drums.

Drake ignored the hyena and jumped down from the stage. He weaved his way through the dancers. He was almost at the bar when a fur he couldn't move around blocked him. He looked up at one of the dobermans.

"Morty wants to see you."

Drake plastered on a fake smile. "Great," he hummed through gritted teeth.

The wolverine was in a corner booth, sipping a cocktail while a doe hung on his arm, cooing ignored platitudes. Drake let the doberman push him into the seat across from Morty, moving in after to keep the folf from escaping.

"Not bad," Morty was back to his level, ice cold tone of voice. "Keep the vibe like it is now and I might just sign you on... say, three nights a week."

"I'm flattered," Drake grinned. In truth, he didn't care one way or the other. His mind had a new goal for the evening. "Hey, what's your bartender's name?"

Morty glanced at the bar. "Argonne. He ain't copping an attitude again, is he?" his eyes narrowed.

"What? No!" Drake put his hands up. "I just wanted to put in a good word for him. He's doing a great job."

Morty snorted. "Yeah, right, noted."

"I, uh, better get a drink so I can get back up there quick. I'll, um, try not to fuck up your club's vibe." Drake started pushing at the immovable doberman.

Morty gave his bodyguard a slight nod and he let the folf out of the booth. "Oh, Drake," the wolverine added, "try playing a few more... up tempo tunes. Furs drink more when their happy."

Drake nodded. "Got it." The moment he was back in the crowd his mind zeroed back in on his target. Argonne.

Argonne perked his ears when he saw the folf heading towards the bar, then sighed and looked back to Tylar. "And here comes lover boy over there"

The folf came over, and leaned against the counter with a wide grin, pointedly ignoring the other fox. "So, Argonne," The fox eyed him haughtily, "What would you say to coming to my place tonight, I could show you where I work on some of my more... personal songs?"

Argonne was about to open his mouth, when all of a sudden the other fox beat him to the chase.

"Excuse me, but watch how you talk to my friend here. He ain't no tramp you can just go about taking home with you just like that, this is Argonne Waterbuck, heir to--"

"Tylar, please," Argonne interrupted the fox, then looked to Drake, "What, did Morty tell you my name? Well darling, a name is all you're going to be getting tonight, because I'm not going home with you. I hardly even know you, and as I said before, I'm way out of your league"

The folf stared at him for a moment, the fox's last name sounded extremely familiar, but it just wasn't clicking yet. "Yeah, you said that before, so let me introduce myself. I'm Drake, Drake Holloway and I'm the leader of the band. I'd like to get to know you better, so perhaps after this instead of going to my place, we could grab a bite to eat--"

"Look, Drake. I'm not interested in going out. My shift here ends in.... about four hours, and once it's over I'm going to be heading home, and taking a much needed rest. So why don't you scamper off and go play that little guitar you have up there"

The folf felt a tingle run down his spine at that. The fox's tone was a thousand times as cold as Morty's, but the cold was having an opposite effect on him.

"Not gonna lie, Argonne," he let the name slid off his tongue, "I love it when they're feisty."

Argonne rolled his eyes.

Drake was already imagining him naked and at his mercy. He shuddered just as the other fox cleared his throat.

"Don't you have songs to sing?"

Drake snarled silently. "Don't you have ten dollar hand jobs to offer in the restroom?"

The fox looked shocked. His jaw dropped, but before he could get out a rejoinder, Drake called out to Argonne, who had his back to the folf.

"And you, babe, I will be talking to you later." He winked at the fox's reflection in the bar's mirrored wall.

He laughed to himself as he heard Argonne's friend start to stammer out a litany of obscenities at his back.

Drake cut across the dance floor, rushing back to the stage. He pulled off his shirt as he jumped up. A few whistles sounded from the crowd.

Danny recognized his friend's grin. "You've got a date for tonight?"

Drake looked at the wolf. "Oh yeah. He doesn't know it yet, but I've got a target in my sights." He pointed a finger gun at the bar. "Bang!"

Austin clacked his drumsticks. "Did you smooth things out with the godfather?"

Drake sighed. "He's not mobbed up." In truth, Drake wouldn't have bet on it. "He's cool. Wants us to play some up tempo tunes, so let's try some of what we practiced last Tuesday."

The hyena groaned. "Most bands make it big before they sell out. We seem to have skipped that part."

"It's a paycheck, Aus. Don't knock it."

***

Drake was no longer playing for the crowd. Every note he played was aimed at Argonne. The folf had no idea how he'd win over the fox but he was determined to break through the fur's walls.

Argonne had decided to ignore the folf entirely now, instead glancing down at his watch every now and then as he served customers. He was counting down the time that he had left on his shift. Tylar had gone over to do some private dancing in the booths, leaving his friend at the bar.

Growling softly to himself as he served another customer, he now thought about the folf up there on the stage. What was his problem anyhow? Why couldn't he just take no for an answer? Once he got done serving the customer, the fox sighed heavily and leaned against the counter.

About a half-hour later, the band took another break, and of course Drake decided to come over to the bar again. The folf leaned against the counter, smirking at the fox. "How about one on the house?"

"How about no, and leave me alone?" Argonne snapped back, "Don't make me go and report your harassment to the boss, he'll have you thrown out in the blink of an eye. He knows my father personally, and he won't stand to have some random punk treating me like some sex object!"

Drake blinked at that, opening his mouth to say something before Argonne cut him off again. "I can tell by the way you stare at me. Now why don't you tuck that tail of yours, and get lost"

Drake narrowed his eyes at that, one of his ears flicking. The folf was beginning to get a little impatient, but he willed himself to remain calm. Reaching out, he placed his hand on the fox's. "Look--"

Argonne snarled, slapping Drake's hand away. "Don't touch me!"

The folf gave the vulpine a long toothy smile at that. "Oh foxy, if only you knew what you do to me. Catch you later hot stuff" He then turned and headed back to the stage, smirking as he heard Argonne's frustrated growl.

******

"Even from back here you're looking desperate," Austin said as Drake hopped back on stage.

"Bite me," the folf growled.

As far as Drake was concerned, he was being determined not desperate. He picked up an overprice imported water bottle that the club provided and took a quick swig before plucking and tuning his guitar, he looked over to the hyena.

"Where'd Danny go?"

Austin shrugged.

"Not worried he's gonna hook up with someone out there?

Austin spun a drumstick between his fingers. "Why should I care? None of my business... Or yours."

Drake snorted. "So it's alright to get involved in my lovelife, but I can't comment on yours?"

"He's a fuck-buddy!" Austin responded to quickly. "Nothing more."

Drake let it go when he saw the neon tinted wolf grinding his way back to the stage, laughing and joking with the club's patrons. Despite his big size, Danny had a natural charisma that put furs at ease. If he wasn't completely tone deaf with a voice like dying vacuum cleaner, Drake would have been worried the wolf would want to front the band.

"Did he have any luck?" Danny asked Austin.

"Shot down like an Iraqi jet," Austin said with a sad shake of his head.

Danny shrugged. "We're almost through. I'll talk him up before we leave. The bartender, right?"

"Hey, I'm standing right here!" Drake huffed. "And if either of you get involved, you're dead."

His bandmates exchanged grins as they started the next song.

They continued playing for the next two hours, before finally finishing their last song. As Austin and Danny stretched, Drake hopped down from the stage and began making his way back to the bar. But once again, he was stopped by one of the large dobermans.

The canine eyed him, then crossed his arms and said, "The boss wants to see you now"

The folf did all he could to contain the groan that was bubbling up as he followed the canine over to the booth where Morty had been watching his performance from. The wolverine was just lighting another cigar when Drake came up.

"How'd you like the performance Morty?"

The wolverine looked to him for a moment, before snorting and give a stark reply. "You're good, but you still need some work. I suggest that you practice on the songs and notes some more before you come again"

The folf perked his ears at that, a wide grin spreading across his muzzle. "So that means we got the gig?"

Morty smirked, then nodded. "Yeah, it means you got the gig. I want to see you back here tomorrow, not for music, but to have you sign a contract. You'll get paid for every performance, via check"

He reached into a pocket and took out a check, handing it to the folf. Drake looked it over, his eyes widening when he saw how much it was for. "Nine grand??"

"Yeah, I figured that I should make it so that it could easily split three ways between your members and you. Keep up the good work, and the checks'll only get larger. Oh, and there's one other thing. My bartender just contacted me and told me that you're constantly.... bothering him, as he put it. Now, that counts as harassment, but I won't deal out the consequences now. I only suggest that you stick to your job and play music, else you may get a lawsuit on your hands"

"A lawsuit? From you?"

The wolverine chuckled at that, shaking his head. "No, from Argonne. His father is a very powerful fur, and has lots of connections within the law. I'm just saying that from now on, you should be more careful"

Drake only grinned at that. The folf wasn't going to let a simple lawsuit get in the way of him getting his hands on that fox. One way or the other, Argonne will be his.

"Lawsuit!" Drake scoffed as he marched down the back hall, past the restrooms and toward the employee lounge where Danny and Austin were waiting for him. "Guess I'll just have to spend this before it becomes a liability," he said to himself, staring at the check. The folf had no plans to stop pursuing his prey.

Drake kicked open the door, his hands occupied reading and rereading his first paycheck in a long while.

Austin jumped up from the black leather sofa, his eyes fixed on the slip of paper.

"Three thousand, each," Drake proclaimed proudly.

Austin yanked the check out of the folf's paws. "Hello new drug habit!"

Danny swatted the hyena on the back of his head, snatching the check away.

"Ow!" Austin yelped. "I was just kidding, jerk." He rubbed at his head.

"Not funny, Aus," Danny grunted. "The band is finally starting to take off. I'm not having any of us blow it." He looked at the check and whistled. "But I think we should do a little celebrating tonight."

Drake crossed his arms leaned against the wall, watching his friends grab at the check. "You two are going to need to call a cab anyways. I need the van."

"Oh God," Austin sighed. "You aren't... going to abduct the bartender, are you?"

"Not cool," Danny shook his head. "I'd almost prefer you took up a drug habit instead of a kidnapping habit."

Drake snarled. "I'm not abducting anyone! I'm... just going to do a little investigating. You know, see what sort of fur I'm dealing with..."

"Oh," Austin rolled his eyes, "stalking is soooo much better."

"Screw you guys," Drake growled. "I'll be back later. Don't drink away all the money in one night." He push open the door and stormed out.

In the meanwhile, Argonne was leaning against the counter again, this time in complete boredom. There hadn't been any customers for awhile now, and he was sorely missing the tips. With a heavy sigh, the fox reached up and readjusted his vest and the collar of his undershirt along with his tie. He always enjoyed looking presentable for work.

The vulpine's ears perked when he saw Tylar heading his way. "Hey Ty! Done with the private customers?"

The other fox grinned as he had a seat on one of the bar stools, then made a show of licking his lips. "Unfortunately, yes"

Argonne laughed heartily at that, going over and beginning to make a drink. One of the reasons why he had a position of bartender was because he liked experimenting with his drinks. Grabbing out a bottle of tequila, he mixed it with some champagne and vodka before setting the glass in front of his friend.

Tylar eyed the glass, sniffing at it curiously then making a face. "It smells like you're trying to poison me, there isn't any actual poison in this, is there?"

"Oh please, if I wanted to poison you I'd simply put some in your food. The way you eat there's no doubt that you'd catch it in time. How in the world do you manage to stay so thin anyhow?"

"Oh har har. I have a high metabolism, so staying thin isn't a big deal for me," He leaned over and poked at Argonne's ribs, "Seems to me like you have one yourself"

Argonne shrugged softly at that, "It runs in the family, then again so does the high immune system. The Waterbucks know how to enjoy a meal without making themselves look like pigs"

Tylar pretended to look offended at that. "You're saying that I eat like a pig?"

Scoffing at that, Argonne smirked before replying, "My friend, you'd make a pig want to go on a diet the way you eat"

At that moment, the folf came out from the back, and Argonne eyed him suspiciously. He watched until Drake sat himself down at a table not too far away, then groaned when the folf simply sat there and stared in his direction. Tylar turned about and eyed Drake, then looked back to his friend.

"You can have him thrown out you know. The boss would never let him back in again"

The fox eyed the folf for a long moment, before sighing heavily and giving Tylar a tired grin. "No it's alright, I find his attempts to woo me rather amusing really. It's not like he has a chance in hell to actually accomplish the feat, but at least it rids me of some of the boredom that lurks about in this establishment"

Tylar stared at the other fox blankly for a long moment until Argonne finally looked back to him. "What?"

"You were talking richie rich again" Argonne blinked at that.

"I-I was? Sorry Ty, I was brought up in a multi-million dollar mansion with servants and butlers, sometimes my old habits like to rise to the surface here and there" Tylar snorted ruefully at that.

Drake flagged down one of the scantily clad waiters.

"Yes, sir?" asked the zebra in skintight pants.

"If I order a drink, does it come from the kitchen or the bar?"

The zebra blinked. "The bar is right over there..."

Drake narrowed his eyes. "I know that. I'm asking you, if I gave you an order, would you make that bartender," he pointed, "make the drink?"

The zebra looked confused. The bar was not that far, but a tip was a tip. "Sure thing. What can I get you?"

Drake took out a twenty. The last of his money until they got that check cashed. "Order me the most sexually suggestive sounding drink you have."

The zebra didn't think the folf could get any stranger. "Ummm.... Sex on the beach?"

Drake clapped his hands together. "Perfect! And say it real saultry like. And, tell Argonne something like, 'that hot folf wants sex on the beach from you!'"

The zebra was only able to suppress his annoyed groan by thinking of the tip. "Yes... sir." He slipped the twenty into his pocket. There was no way the folf was getting any change back after making him do this.

***

"Hey, Argonne," the zebra leaned on the bar.

The fox sighed. "Let me guess, that weird fur over there wants you to give him my number?"

The zebra grinned. "Nope. He wants me to tell you, and I quoting, 'tell Argonne that the hot folf wants to have sex on the beach with him.'"

Argonne couldn't help it. He laughed, soon joined in by Tylar. They could see Drake still staring, his grin only slightly begin to falter. Argonne had to admit the fur was persistent, but he still had zero interest.

"Alright. I'll mix the drink, but I'm off the clock in about five minutes, so if he wants to try again, let him know it will be with a polar bear that has a much shorter temper than I do." He scratched his chin. "On second thought, don't let him know. He might like surprises."

Argonne began mixing the drink at that, taking his time with it. By the time he had it ready, he was already working a minute overtime. Handing it to the zebra, he winked at him. "There you go, one sex on the beach for the patron," After a moment, Argonne suddenly had a rather nasty idea and smirked before saying, "Hey James, I'll pay you a hundred if you spill it on him. Make sure that it looks like an accident though"

James grinned widely, then took the drink and headed over to Drake while Argonne took the money out of his pocket. Sure enough, as the zebra reached the folf, he pretended to trip, spilling the drink all over Drake.

James gasped loudly, and began quickly apologizing while the folf growled and dried himself as best he could, all the while telling the waiter how much of a clutz he was. Once the zebra picked the glass fragments from the glass, he headed back over to the counter. "Well? Pay up"

"In a moment," Argonne waited until Drake looked back over to him, then the fox smirked and handed the zebra the hundred dollars while the folf watched, "There's the money"

Drake narrowed his eyes when he realized what just happened. Argonne then looked over to the polar bear, Ben, who had just made his way back behind the bar. "Alright Ben, bar's all yours"

The bear nodded, making room for the vulpine as he made his way past him. "Hey Ty, your shift almost over too?"

The other fox nodded with a flick of his tail. "Yeah, I'll head back with you" Argonne grinned, then led the other fox back into the locker room.

Drake dabbed at his pants with a cloth napkin. When he looked up he noticed Argonne leaving. He jumped up, walking briskly to the bar.

"What can I get ya?" the towering polar bear asked.

Drake motioned for him to come closer. "Argonne's off now?"

"Yep," the bear squated , fishing out a clean rag from under the bar. "Why you ask?"

Drake thought quickly. "Uh, well, we were hitting it off pretty well. And it's getting kind of late, and being the chivalrous folf that I am, I'd offer to drive him home. Not safe out there for an attractive fox like that."

Ben laughed. "Argonne, need a ride? He's got a car that's worth more than this whole dive!"

Drake's eyes widened. "The sports car?"

"Yea-" Ben stopped mid nod, wondering if this was too much information, even if the folf did seem nice.

Too late. Drake was already formulating a plan. "Thanks, dude. I'll probably see you around, I work here now, sort of." He wave a farewell to the bear and hurried for the exit.

Ben called after him, "I think Ty might need a lift, if looking to do some good."

Drake spun around, pointing to his ear and shrugging apologetically as if he didn't catch that. "I'd rather slam my nuts in the door," he said to softly to be heard over the sound system's music.

The night was chilly but even his alcohol soaked fur was enough to keep him warm. The sports car stuck out like a firecracker at a funeral. Drake glanced around making sure he was alone. Then creeping as stealthily as he could manage, he ducked next to it.

Careful so as not to set off the obvious alarm system the car had to have, he deflated the two tires on the drivers side. He crawled away, grinning wildly. Then, putting on the saddest, most dejected look he could muster, he pretended to load his van, ready to come to the rescue of the poor fox.

***

Once Argonne got his stuff from his locker, he turned on his phone and noticed there was a notification from his electronic car service app. The fox narrowed his eyes when read that his driver side wheels were both out of air.

Sighing heavily, the fox then left the locker room using the back employee entrance. Making his way over to his car, he knelt down and checked the tires. Sure enough, they were out of air. "Great."

Drake saw his opportunity, and began making his way over before Argonne suddenly opened up his driver door and took out an electronic air pump The folf stopped and stared in disbelief as the fox hooked the pump up somewhere inside the lamborghini, then started the car and hooked one of the nozzles to the air nozzle on the first tire. Within minutes, the tire was refilled with air. Argonne took off the pump nozzle, and switched it over to the other tire.

Drake growled to himself. There goes his plan, right out the window. Despite this, he decided to go over there anyway, "Hey uh, need some help?"

The fox perked his ears, then looked to the folf for a moment before snorting and looking away. "No thanks. I'd rather take a key to the car than have you touch it"

Drake laid back his ears at the low blow, "Hey come on, I ain't that bad! At least let me put the pump away"

Argonne didn't even bother looking at him now, "You know what I'd appreciate? Being left alone. I don't accept help from anyone, I can take care of myself"

The folf crossed his arms over his chest at that. "Oh yeah?"

The vulpine unhooked the pump, then proceeded to put it away, "Yeah. My father is the owner of a multi-million dollar company, and I don't like accepting help from even him. So what sort of help do you even think you can offer to me?"

"Well.... how about save you from the effort of thinking of what you're going to have for dinner?"

Argonne blinked at that, then chuckled as he sat down on the driver's seat, facing the folf. "Look, you might as well give up. I don't have any particular interest in you, stud" He had spat out the last word.

Drake growled under his breath. He was captivated by the fox's attitude.He let the car get to the edge of the lot before he bolted for the van, cranking it into gear and following after him. Naturally the car was fast, but Drake had nothing to lose and could afford to drive recklessly. He ran yellow lights, cut across lanes, took shortcuts through parking lots and somehow managed not to lose the fox.

Drake slowed down as he watched the car pull into what looked like an average rundown block of apartments. It stoked his curiosity. Why would such a wealthy fur be parking there? Drake's eyes lit up. "So, Argonne, is it a prostitute or a dealer that you're meeting?" Either one would show the folf the weakness he needed to break through the fox's defences.

He let the van idle for a few minutes before killing the engine and crossing the street. He found the sports car on the parking structure's second level. Drake entered the neared door. A lobby with a small bank of elevators. The was a plaque, listing all the residents' names and rooms. Drake doubted he'd find a Waterbuck on the list but to his amazement, there was one. Argonne Waterbuck.

Drake rubbed his hands together conspiratorially. Without another thought, he noted Argonne's room number and immediately hit the elevator button. The folf flexed his fingers on the ride up. When the bell dinged and the doors opened, Drake took off like a rocket.

He found Argonne's door was as bland and lifeless as the others. For some reason it annoyed Drake. He wanted the fox to be expressive. He grinned, thinking of all the fun things he could do to the fox to get him to open up.

He pressed his ear to the door. The shower was running, but Drake had nothing better to do and so he waited, listening intently to the sounds of a naked Argonne showering alone.

After about thirty minutes, the shower stopped. Drake listened intently, hearing no other sound. Reaching down, the folf placed his hand on the door knob, then hesitated. What was he going to do if he just barged into the vulpine's apartment? It occured then that he didn't really have a plan, but was making things up as he went along. Taking a deep breath, Drake was about to let go of the handle when all of a sudden the door opened, throwing him off balance.

The folf let loose a yelp of surprise as he was practically flung into the apartment, slamming right into Argonne and knocking them both to the ground. That was when Drake realized that he was laying right on top of the fox, and he stared down at Argonne in shock and surprise.

The fox opened his eyes, then widened them when he found himself looking right up into Drake's eyes. The folf knew that look all too well, and before the vulpine could scream or call for help, he quickly reached up and clamped the fox's muzzle shut. "Don't scream!"

Argonne flicked his ears in annoyance, and instead glared up at the folf venomously. Once he was sure that the vulpine wouldn't scream, Drake let go off his muzzle.

The fox glared at him for another moment, before suddenly saying in a rather icy tone. "Get off me, before I make you get off me"

Drake smirked at that, "Oh? How are you going to do--" the folf felt the fox's knee come up and smash him right between the legs.

His ears went back as he saw stars, before the folf rolled off the vulpine, cupping his very tender balls as he curled up on the floor. "I warned you to get off me. Now what the hell are you doing here?? Did you follow me home?"

Drake only let out a strained wheezing sound at that, and Argonne rolled his eyes before shutting his door and heading into the kitchen. Moments later he returned, throwing an ice pack at the downed folf. "Ice them."

Drake fumbled with the ice. He coughed. "Follow you? N-no. I was heading this way and," he gasped as he moved the pack, "and I saw your stupid car pull in here. I thought you might be in trouble or something."

Argonne snorted derisively. "Yeah right. I live here, you psycho."

"I'm the psycho? You nearly neutered me!"

"'Nearly,'" Argonne grinned, "and don't think I can't finish the job of you try anything."

Drake rocked forward. "Don't think I'll be trying anything for a while," he glared at the fox.

"Serves you right, you know." he looked over to his couch then back to the folf on the floor. He sighed. "You need to leave as soon as you can walk... but until then, would you like to sit down?"

Drake grinned through the pain. "Thought you'd never ask." he held out his hand and Argonne reluctantly took it. Suddenly Drake decided the pain was worth it. Just touching the fox's hand was reward enough.

The folf limped across the tiny apartment, held up by Argonne. He collapsed into the couch with a sigh. The ice was beginning to dull the throbbing ache.

"I can't believe you did that," Drake managed a laugh.

Argonne stood with his arms folded across his chest. "And I can't believe you followed me home! Do you know how much trouble you could be in?"

"Worth it," the folf grinned and lifted the ice pack. "You going to tell Morty?"

"I should tell the cops," Argonne sighed.

"So should I," Drake smirked and experimentally cupped his tender parts. "But I won't. Now help me get my pants off."

'What!" Argonne yelled.

"Don't flatter yourself. They're too tight and I'm ducking swelling up. Now get down there and pull." Drake couldn't believe he managed to keep a straight face.

Argonne growled at that, then came around in front of Drake and knelt down, before gripping the folf's pant legs. "Well are you going to undo them or not?"

Drake reached back down and unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, and right on que the fox began pulling them off. "I really do hope that you're wearing something under them, I'm not quite ready to be scarred for life"

"You're telling me that you haven't seen another guy's junk before?"

Argonne looked up and eyed the folf at that, "Is that supposed to be some sort of quip about how foxes are only out for sex and all that rubbish? I have seen junk before, for your information"

The vulpine then pulled the folf's pants completely off, looking relieved when he saw that Drake was wearing a pair of black briefs. The folf pressed the ice pack to his balls again as the fox tossed his pants onto the couch then went over and sat down in a chair at the small dining table not too far away.

With an audible sigh, Drake reached into his pants pocket and took out a lighter and a pack of smokes, then took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. But Argonne stopped him before he could light it.

"What do you think you're doing?"

The folf perked an ear, "Lighting up a cig, want one?"

"I detest smoking. If you light that in here, I'll throw you out in the blink of an eye" Drake blinked at that, then sighed softly before taking the cigarette from his mouth and putting it away.

"Do I really have to leave once my balls are feeling better? I mean, it's almost ten at night and it's awfully dark out there. I could get in a car accident"

Argonne rolled his eyes at that, then growled. "I don't rightly care if you do get into an accident. Also, for your sake, you better hope that whatever you're driving doesn't get towed. The manager of these apartments doesn't take very kindly to strange cars parked outside"

"Let him tow it," Drake laughed. "The thing barely runs anyways. Not to mention the mountains of tickets I owe on it."

Argonne rolled his eyes. "Everything is a big joke to you, isn't it?"

"It is kinda funny. I mean, I'm here trying to charm your pants off and yet," he grinned and glanced at his exposed legs.

Argonne growled. "I think you're well enough to leave."

"I dunno, dude. I'm pretty tender down there... a kiss might speed up recovery."

"How about I knee you again?" Argonne crossed his arms and glared.

"Let's make a deal. You play the nice hostess you do down at the club and offer me a drink -just one little drink- and then I'll leave. Sound reasonable?" Drake smiled and took the ice pack off his crotch.

"Reasonable? From a normal fur, not at all. But from a crazy stalker who by all rights should be leaving in the back of a squad car..." Argonne narrowed his eyes

"C'mon, I'm harmless. Now be a dear and offer your guest a drink," he licked his lips, delighting in the fox's rising annoyance.

Through clenched teeth, Argonne asked, "Would you like to have a drink?"

Drake smirked at that, "Why yes, I would love to have a drink"

The fox's eye twitched at that, and he got up and stormed into the kitchen. Once out of sight of the folf, he grabbed down a glass and took a bottle of wine out from the cupboard. As he opened it, he spotted the bottle of laxative that was behind it, and smiled darkly. Once the wine was poured, the vulpine grabbed the bottle of laxative and poured some of it into the glass. Mixing it up, Argonne then turned and headed back into the living room.

"Alright, sir, here's your drink" He handed the glass to Drake, who smiled as he took it.

"What is it exactly?"

"It's just some red wine that I've kept up in the cupboard. It's been there for awhile, but wine does get better with age" The fox settled back into the chair that he had been sitting in, and watched Drake.

The folf took a big gulp of the drink, then licked his lips and grinned at Argonne. "Thanks, this makes me feel a lot better"

"Oh you're quite welcome"

Almost immediately, Drake became suspicious. "Uh, why so nice all of a sudden?"

"Oh well it's nothing really, only that I'm just waiting to see how your body will react to the laxative I poured into the wine" The folf's eyes widened at that.

"W-What?"

Argonne smirked. Quite pleased with his little prank.

Drake sighed and lifted his glass. "Cheers." He gulped down the rest of the wine.

Argonne's smirk faltered. "What... are you doing?"

"Accepting your invitation to spend the night." Drake set down the glass and struggled to his feet. "Now, which way is your bathroom?"

"No! No, no, no, no. You can leave now. I'm officially throwing you out," Argonne pointed to the door.

Drake raised an eyebrow. "Think you could drag me out in time?"

"Are you insinuating-"

"Keep in mind that I'm not wearing any pants and the clock is ticking." Drake put a hand on his stomach. "Go ahead. Call my bluff."

Argonne's jaw hung open. His arm rose limply, aimed toward the closed door of his bathroom.

"You made the right decision," Drake said with a flourish before running for the facilities.

Argonne stood stunned, snapping out of it as he heard the bathroom door lock. "H-how... how long are you going to be, Drake?" he called out.

"Depends how good of job you did poisoning me," came the muffled response.

The fox's plan had completely back-fired. He had been hoping that the folf would leave, and end up shitting himself on the way down to the lobby, but as it turned out he had used too much laxative. With a heavy sigh, the vulpine leaned against the table, with one elbow on it as he rubbed his temple.

All he wanted to do was go to bed, the fox was tired from dealing with all those customers. Finally, after a moment Argonne got up, then headed into the bedroom. He simply flopped down on the bed and stayed there, staring up at the ceiling.

Thankfully his room wasn't next to the bathroom, so he didn't have to listen to any disgusting sounds as he laid on the bed. About a full half hour had soon passed, until he heard the sound of the bathroom door opening. He heard Drake's voice, calling his name no doubt, then sat up as he heard his door open.

The folf stood in the doorway, his pants back on now. "Oh, there you are, I was beginning to think that you just ran off"

"And leave you here in my home all by yourself? Please, I'm not stupid. Now could you please leave?"

Drake shook his head at that, "Sorry, but I think I'll just spend the night here. It'll be better than driving, or walking, in the middle of the night"

When the folf began to step into the room, Argonne quickly stopped him. "Well if you're going to insist on staying, then go sleep out on the couch!"

"How about a blanket and a pillow?"

"How about no, and get out of my room?"

Drake laughed on his way back to the couch. "You're lucky, you know?"

In his bedroom Argonne pulled a pillow over his head, hoping the folf would take the hint.

Undeterred, Drake just yelled louder as he flopped down on the couch. "I said, you're lucky, Argonne, you know?"

The fox growled. "Why, Drake? Because I haven't murdered you yet? I really don't think a jury in the world would convict me!"

"Hah! No," Drake yelled back. "You're lucky because I usually don't count a date as successful until one of us is tied up."

Argonne took the pillow off his head. "As if I needed a reason to lock my door tonight."

Drake giggled at the sound of Argonne's door slamming shut. Seconds later it creaked back open.

"This is so not a date!" the fox screamed.

Drake shrugged to himself. "Well, I'm counting it." He pulled off his shirt and wadded it into pillow. "See you in the morning, sweet cheeks."

"Shut up!" Argonne yelled.

Suddenly there was a pounding coming from the apartment below. "You think we're loud now, just wait til the sex starts," he laughed to himself before rolling over and closing his eyes.

Argonne snarled loudly, slamming the door shut and throwing himself down onto his bed. He didn't even bother taking off his clothes, instead he wrapped himself up in his blankets and buried his face in his pillow.

Sleep didn't come as easily as he would have hoped. He stayed awake for another hour or so, simply laying still on his bed. His ears were swiveled towards his door, to make sure that it didn't creak open or anything. He even strained his hearing a bit, trying to find out whether or not the folf was asleep.

He couldn't help but wonder if Drake snored or not, then it'd be a lot easier to tell whether or not he was actually asleep... or whether he was faking it even. Finally, after awhile, the fox growled to himself, thinking how ridiculous he was being. He could at least hope that Drake wouldn't do anything to him in his sleep, right?

No, Argonne didn't even think that the folf would try anything during the night, and on that note, the vulpine fell fast asleep.

***

Argonne's nose woke him up. A deep sniff and his eyes open. "Eggs?" He crept from his bed and cracked the door. Sure enough the sizzling crackle of frying eggs confirmed it. Drawing him like a sirine's call the fox headed for his kitchen.

He was greeted by the sight of a shirtless Drake poking at a frying pan with a spatula. The grease popped and the folf jumped back. "You motherfu-"

"What are you doing?" Argonne asked.

"Oh, you're awake," Drake grinned. "I was thinking-"

"A first. Congratulations," Argonne snarked.

"-and I might have come on a bit strong-"

"Hah!" barked the fox. "That is an understatement."

"-so the least I could do was make you a nice breakfast."

"That..." Argonne narrowed his eyes, "actually sounds good."

Drake smiled and took a plate out of the cabinet he'd been snooping through earlier. "You're out of eggs by the way."

"No I'm not. I just bought a dozen," Argonne glanced at the fridge.

Drake shrugged. "So I'm not the world's best cook. Also, I broke your toaster."

"Dammit, Drake," Argonne growled before the plate was placed in front of him. His mouth began to salivate and he picked up his fork. Drake took out his jug of orange juice and set it next to an empty glass. Argonne skewered a forkful and lifted it to his lips, stopping suddenly and glancing between the food and the smiling folf.

Drake rolled his eyes. "You're wondering if I'm still mad about your little prank," he chuckled. "Not at all, and if you want me to take a bite to prove it," he reached out his hand.

Argonne pulled his plate away. "No, I think I'll trust you."

Drake sat across the table from him. "Good. Because I think you secretly wanted to keep me here last night."

Again Argonne's fork stopped before he could taste the eggs. "What? You must be joking."

The folf smirked. "Fine don't admit it. But subconsciously you were hoping I'd be forced to spend the night locked in your bathroom."

"No," Argonne huffed. "You spending the night was a product of me misjudging the dosage."

"You're cute when you lie," Drake leaned forward, propping his head on his hands and fluttering his eyelashes at the fox.

"I just woke up, so let me eat in peace." The folf only grinned at that, continuing to watch the fox as he ate.

Argonne glanced up at Drake every now and then, unable to shake the uncomfortable feeling that the folf thought he had the vulpine all figured out. After several long moments, the fox pushed his food away, causing Drake to blink. "You're not going to finish it?"

"No, it tastes like shit," The folf laid back his ears at that, looking genuinely hurt, "I think I'd have better luck at that one coffee shop that sells piss in a cup. What was it again? Oh yeah, Starbucks"

"N-Now come on, the least you can do is finish it out of politeness!" Argonne snorted at that, getting up from the table.

"And risk getting food poisoning? I think I'll pass. Anyway, I have a whole day out on the town planned before I have to go to work at three, so I think I'll be heading out, and that means you're leaving as well. I don't want you ever showing your face around this apartment again, or I'll do worse than just almost neuter you."

He then left the kitchen, heading into the bathroom to get himself ready.

Drake sat at the table, drumming his fingers and contemplating his next move. When the sound of the shower started he got up and went to find his shirt. Argonne's attitude was turning every romantic gesture into yet another setback. But Drake knew that a fur's mouth became a lot more agreeable when fitted with a ball gag. He groaned at the mental picture he got.

At the door he noticed Argonne's keys sitting on an end table. A moments hesitation before picking them up and taking the apartment key off the chain and slipping it into his pocket. Then he opened the drawer. As he suspect it was filled with assorted junk. A dumping ground for the odds and ends that all furs accumulate without trying.

He fished around until he found what he was hoping for. A marker. He popped the cap off with his thumb and in twelve inch lettering across the faux wood door he wrote his phone number, and under it in a practiced script: Drake, rockstar and sex god.

He dropped the marker and strolled out of the building, whistling to himself.

The van had a new ticket slipped under the wiper. He plucked it out and dropped it without bothering to see how much it was this time. He headed toward his own place, an ever so slightly nicer apartment where his bandmates became roommates, wondering if he should take them up on their offer to assist in wooing the bratty fox.

***

"He followed you to your apartment??"

Argonne nodded as he sat on a park bench, his phone up to his ear. The fox had done the only thing he could think of, and that was call up his friend Tylar. After the vulpine had gotten done showering, he found that his apartment key had gone missing. Naturally, the fox kept a spare in the top drawer of his dresser, but he had informed the manager immediately, and the locks were going to be changed later on in the day.

With a heavy sigh, he leaned back in the bench. "Yeah, I'm not even sure how he could have kept up with me on the way home. He probably had to break some traffic laws to do it."

"Honey, you have a serious stalker on your hands"

"You don't think I know that? I just.... ugh I just don't know what to do!"

There was silence for a few seconds, before Tylar spoke up again. "Call the police?"

"No, I don't want the police involved. I can handle myself"

"Then... well this is going to sound crazy, but perhaps you can just...."

Argonne waited for a moment, then asked, "Just what?"

"You know, maybe give him a chance?"

The fox couldn't believe what he had just heard. "You're joking right? There's no way in hell I'd give him a chance! I'm not even interested in him, not even in the slightest!"

***

"You followed him home?" Danny asked in disbelief.

Drake flipped the wolf off. He was sprawled out on a beanbag chair and Danny laid on the couch, his feet in Austin's lap while the hyena gave his toenails a new shade of fluorescent green polish.

"Like either of you would have done different."

Danny and Austin exchanged looks before announcing in near unison that they would have indeed done differently.

"Whatever. I still slept with him... in the same apartment, but different rooms."

"Wait," Danny held up his hands, "I'm confused. Why did he let you stay?"

"Yeah," added Austin, "shouldn't you, like, be in jail right now?"

Drake scoffed. "Like I told you, he wants me. That's why he poisoned me."

Danny choked, jerking his legs and earning a scowl from Austin. "He fuckin' poisoned you?"

"Sort of," Drake said. "He spiked my wine with some laxative so I wouldn't be able to leave."

Danny roared with laughter and Austin smacked his leg. "Stop moving or you can paint yourself!"

Danny leaned forward and ruffled the hyena's bleached hair. "Sorry, but c'mon, this is hysterical."

The hyena rolled his eyes. "They're both crazy. Drake for going all stalker, and Argonne for feeding into it."

"You'll see," Drake grinned. "I left my number where he'll see it. Any second and that fox'll be calling, begging for more of the Drake treatment."

***

Argonne stared down at the number that the folf had left for him as he stood near a trash can. The fox wasn't able to contain the constant low growl that rose up from his throat. Taking the paper that the number had been written on, he tore it to shreds then threw it away before heading into the local mall. Some mace and a taser would do rather nicely in case he ran into the folf again.

Heading to one of the shops inside, he began looking through the display cases at the assorted knives, lighters, mace, and yes, tasers. He soon spotted a rather powerful one, smaller than his phone but able to knock a horse on it's ass as the clerk had said. It cost about $300 and was fully charged already, so the fox decided to tap into his savings, and buy the taser via debit card.

He now began looking through the mace, stopping when he came upon one that read: MADE WITH GHOST PEPPER JUICE

Grinning widely, the vulpine pointed at it and looked up to the clerk who raised an eyebrow. "Ya want that one? Jeez kid, who're you trying to kill?"

"I'm not trying to kill anyone, it's only for self-defence"

The clerk sighed heavily at that, but then nodded and grabbed out the mace, setting it on the counter. As it turned out, it cost about $100 so the vulpine had spent around $400 on defensive measures, as he liked to call it.

On the way out, he checked the time, then made his way back to his car to go meet with Tylar for some brunch.

***

"Why, God? Why!" Drake howled. His right hand clasping the blank phone, the other draped over his eyes.

Danny and Austin stood looking down at their friend on the beanbag chair. "It's not even eleven," Danny pointed out. "He could still call."

"He won't," the folf wailed. "He hates me."

Danny brushed back his colorful hair and sigh. "This is depressing. Aus, give him a blow job."

"Fuck you," the hyena snapped.

Drake whimpered and Austin felt sorry for their lead singer. "Don't be like this, Drake," he knelt down and patted the folf's arm. "Um... would it help if I sucked some part of you? Cuz, if that would hel-"

"Leave me alone," Drake whined. "I wish to die from a broken heart in peace."

"Drake," Danny tried to sooth him, "look at it this way, he was probably an asshole anyways. All rich furs are. That's the theme of half the songs you write."

"Yeah," Drake sniffed, "but he was going to be my asshole."

"This isn't good," Austin said. "You can't just sit around feeling sorry. Let's get out of here, grab some food, and get you a horse to get back on!" He tried to sound cheerful but he and Danny ended up have to drag the moping folf out of the beanbag chair.

"Where are you taking me?" Drake sighed.

"There's this new cafe I've been dying to try," Austin chirped. "If you don't like the place, you can go all rockstar and break something. We can afford it, Danny cashed the check this morning."

Drake didn't reply to that, only nodded softly. Before he knew, it, he was sitting in the back of the van while Danny and Austin sat up front. Austin was driving, as his road skills far surpassed Danny's. All Drake could think about was Argonne, and as he sat by himself, he stared down at the phone that was still in his hand.

After some time, they arrived at the cafe and Danny had to come back and drag the folf out from the back of the van. They then made their way across the street to the cafe, when Austin suddenly coughed loudly.

"Hey look over there! Looks like their doing some construction, what are they working on? The sewer?" Drake brought his head up, eyeing the hyena.

He knew when the fur was trying to distract him from something, and he soon found out what. Sitting out in the front of the cafe, was none other than Argonne's lamborghini. "Th-That's...."

Danny quickly grabbed him, "Actually, I don't think a cafe is a very good place to eat right now, how about we go to that one place we always go? Rick's Burgers? It's a great place to--"

The folf snarled, tearing himself free of the wolf's grasp and rushing towards the cafe. Austin and Danny quickly ran after him.

Drake shoved open the door, instantly disliking the the place for having frilly curtains. A startled lioness looked up from the register.

"Hello, uh, there's a fifteen minute wait for a table, but if you'd like to have a seat at the counter-"

The folf brushed past. He stormed into the dining room, a single word question repeating itself in his mind. Why?

Argonne was sharing a booth with Tylar. In his lap was the pepper spray he'd bought, showing it to the other fox.

The folf walked up to them. "Argonne?"

Argonne flinched in surprise, his finger contracting on the spray's trigger sending a jet of liquid pain into Drake's face, the waitress next to him, the retirees at the counter, and the young couple sharing a frappe in the next booth.

For almost a full second the cafe was dead silent. Events unfolded in a preternatural slow motion as the brains of a dozen furs thawed from the shock to register the blinding agony their bodies insisted on feeling.

Austin and Danny ran through the door just as the place erupted in a hellish earsplitting chorus. As Danny took a breath to ask just what was going on his nostrils were assailed with the collateral sting of the most powerful legally available mace. He coughed but it was nowhere near the pain being experienced by the furs at ground zero.

A sudden stampede of wheezing cafe patrons carried them back out the doors.

Once the cafe was emptied of nearly all the patrons, only Argonne, Tylar, and Drake remained. The folf's eyes grew watery from the pain, but he didn't let it get to him. "W-Why?"

The red fox eyed him for a moment, "Why what?"

"Why don't you just give me a chance? I know my behavior sucks and my respect for boundaries along with it, but I just want a chance to prove that I'm good enough for you!"

The fox remained silent for a long while, to the point where it was Tylar who had to speak up. "Argy, come on, just give the guy a chance. You don't have to act all uptight ALL the time you know? Besides, think of the kick your father will get out of you dating someone who isn't part of the 1%, eh? Bet he'll be furious! Maybe so furious, that he'd cut back all of your savings?"

The other fox snorted at that, shaking his head. "No, he wouldn't ever do that, Mum would never allow it.... but he would be furious...."

Argonne looked to Drake, contemplating what his friend had been saying. After several long moments had passed, he chuckled, then looked back to Tylar. "Give him a chance huh?" When the other fox nodded, Argonne looked back to Drake, "Alright. I'll give you one chance to impress me, that's all you get. So that means no flouting me about like some sex object, no bragging about me, and no trying to use me to make others jealous. Oh, and as I know it's been on your mind because of the way you look at me, no sex. If you can impress me, then perhaps I'll consider it"

"You won't regret it," Drake flashed his grin blindly, missing Argonne by a few feet, but flattering the shopping bags left on the next table during the evacuation. "I'll pick you up at seven. Don't worry if you're making yourself pretty, I can let myself in."

Argonne rolled his stinging eyes. The spray was perhaps a little over powered. Good thing he'd sprung for the taser too.

Danny and Austin finally managed to get back inside, finding the two foxes and their folf standing with watery eyes.

"Drake," Danny coughed, "Not sure what you did, but let's get out of here before the cops show up!"

"What I did," laughed Drake, "was score a date!"

"Nice work," Austin slapped Drake on the back. You'll have to introduce us sometime when the air is toxic."

They guided their friend toward the door. Though in a horrendous amount of pain, Drake couldn't have been happier. "Hey, could one of you grab a glass of something on the way out? I need to soak my eyes before tonight." He laughed. "I told you my fox was feisty."

Argonne watched as the folf left, before chuckling to himself and turning to Taylor. "Guess I won't need the pepper spray huh?"

The other fox eyed the spray for a moment. "Honey, I think that stuff is way too dangerous in your hands" Argonne only smiled devilishly at that.

***

Several hours later, Argonne was standing on the other side of the bar counter, serving customers. The fox was going to be leaving his shift early, with the boss' permission. Drake wanted to meet him at his apartment at seven, and that required him to take two and a half hours off work.

He was surprised at how accepting the wolverine was of it, remembering how surprised the larger fur had been at the fact that there was someone who actually was up to the higher standard of dating material for the vulpine. Argonne had merely let him know that this was only a trial run, and mentioned that he only said yes because of how persistent the guy was.

So the boss called up Ben, telling him to come in to work two and a half hours early, and that was that. Argonne leaned against the bar counter, eyeing the stage where just yesterday, Drake had been eyeballing him from. The vulpine sighed softly, wondering how his mother would take to his dating of a folf from the lower class. She was a rather aloof fur after all.

***

"I like that shirt," Drake frowned as Austin tossed it off the bed and back into the closet.

"A good rule for date fashion is that if it'll get you kicked out of a Denny's, it's too inappropriate," the hyena picked through the pile.

Drake rolled his eyes and leaned against the bedroom doorway. His friends had insisted on helping him get ready. The folf thought it was only because his sight was just now starting to clear up, but to his surprise Danny and Austin were under the impression he was incapable of having a successful date if left to his own devices.

"Ah! I knew you had shirt that didn't have the f-word on it or tries to incite a riot." Austin tossed it at him.

Drake shook it out. "It's just a plain gray t-shirt."

"Exactly. Don't let your clothes overshadow your personality."

"Maybe he should go naked, then" Danny laughed from the other room.

While Drake tried to find a suitable comeback, the hyena left the bedroom. "You get the reservation?"

"All taken care of, Aus. A nice low key place down by the canal. No chance in hell anyone we know will be there, so foxy can't accuse Drake of showing him off."

Drake growled. "I'm not that kind of fur anyways. I'm the show off. I don't want a date to overshadow me."

"Relax," Danny said soothingly. "Have a smoke. You're so tense."

Drake's hand moved instinctively for his pocket before he remembered he'd taken the pack out. "Nah. I'm kinda trying to quit." He looked at his phone again. "I think I'm going to leave now."

His friends grinned at each other. Drake mumbled a thanks and left before things got a chance to get mushy.

***

Argonne perked his ears when he saw Ben come out of the employee lounge. Checking the time, his ears flattened when he saw that it was already six-thirty. Tylar came over to the bar at that moment, a grin on his muzzle.

"So ya heading out big guy?" He leaned against the counter.

One of Argonne's ears flicked. "Yeah, gotta head back to my apartment to meet Drake there. He doesn't know that my manager changed the locks already, so he'll be stuck waiting out in the hall if I'm late"

The other fox nodded at that, then smirked. "So are ya gonna take him to bed tonight?"

Argonne narrowed his eyes at that, "No, I'm not. We're going to go out somewhere, hopefully, maybe get some dinner, then head back to my place and part ways"

"Oh, so that means you haven't told him that you're a virgin yet"

His fur bristled at that, and he coughed, "I-I don't know what you're talking about!" He hurriedly came out from behind the counter, heading for the employee lockers before Tylar headed him off.

"Come on, you have to tell him y'know! You've never gotten any real action from anyone, except me from those times when you wanted to practice kissing"

Argonne sighed heavily at that. "I'll..... I'll tell him if things work out on the date"

Tylar gave the vulpine a nod at that, then moved out of the way and called after him as Argonne headed into the locker room, "Good luck!"

***

Drake drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. One of the van's headlights was burned out and he hoped he could make it to the restaurant before it got too dark. Another ticket would not be a good way to start off the evening.

As he turned down a side street, questions began to mount. He didn't want to pry but things were becoming strange enough that he might have to bring it up during dinner. Like why Argonne lived here. He'd been told the fox came from a well to do family, and the car proved it, but why live in this dump?

He killed the engine across the street from the dingy building. Counting up to the floor and across to the window he thought was Argonne's, which showed only a dark window shade. He took out his phone. He was early.

Out of habit he reached for a cigarette, swearing when he realized he'd purposefully left them at home, probably. But what he did have was the key he'd taken earlier. He looked at it, searching for a reason not to use it.

Nothing came.

Drake took the stairs two at a time as he ran up. A few sharp knocks confirmed his fear that Argonne was still out. He looked at the key.

"He'd want me to make myself at home," he told himself and slid the key into the lock.

Clicks, but it wouldn't turn. Drake laughed when he saw the lock had been changed. Thumbing it, he could easily tell it was a cheap model. Something that could be opened with a little force and a solid screwdriver.

"Not very safe," he hummed disapprovingly. Another glance at the phone. Almost seven. A good chance that Argonne would be in before he had time to walk back to the van and get something to force the lock. But in Drake's own warped way of seeing things, he figured it would be doing the fox a favor to show him how insecure living in a place like this was.

Drake spun on his heel and started whistling as he went to get a screwdriver.

As the folf headed back down to his van, Argonne happened to pull in at that moment. The fox parked the car in the garage, then used the inside door to head into the apartments. Taking the elevator up, the fox was soon back in his own apartment, getting ready for Drake's arrival. After about ten minutes, his ears perked at a strange sound at his door.

Going over, the fox opened the door to find Drake outside of it, with a screwdriver in his hand. The folf froze, looking up at him, "Uhhhh.... it's not what it looks like?"

Argonne crossed his arms over his chest at that, giving him a disapproving look. "Oh really now? Cause to me it looks like you were trying to break into my home. You know, this isn't a very good way to start a date"

The folf straightened at that, lowering his ears and rubbing his arm, "Uh, I'm sorry.... I just thought I'd show you how flimsy your lock was....."

The vulpine blinked at that, then grinned softly. "I see what you were trying to do, but I think that just telling me how weak it is would have been a better idea. Now, where do you plan on taking me?"

"Uh..." Drake tried to remember the name of the place Danny made reservations for. "It's, uh, that place, the one down by the canal."

"You don't know the name of the place you're taking me?" Argonne raised an eyebrow.

Drake laughed nervously. "Of course I know the place! I made the reservations myself. I just want to surprise you," he grinned unconvincingly.

"But you already told me where it is. The only restaurant out there is The Shrimp Shack."

Drake snapped his fingers. "That's the place! I mean, I knew that, I'm just surprised you did."

"Yeah, right." Argonne turned around and walked away from the door. "I'm going to change. Try not to commit any more felonies while I'm in my room."

"I'll do my best," Drake grinned.

He collapsed on the couch as soon as Argonne's door shut. He was genuinely surprised the fox knew the restaurant. A look at his car said 'catered thousand dollar a plate meals at the country club.' And a look at his apartment said 'soup kitchen.' Argonne did not strike the folf as midrange in anything.

He felt for his cigarettes swearing as all he felt was a screwdriver. He wished he'd tried to ease off his addiction, but wooing a fox like Argonne left little time and few opportunities to impress.

Argonne's choice of clothing was part of the test that he was putting Drake through. The fox put on a pair of skintight black leather pants and a black silk vest with a red short sleeved shirt underneath it.

The pants displayed the certain parts of his lowered body that was sure to drive the folf crazy, and if Drake chose to act on his urges, then he would have failed the test.

Going over his clothing real fast in the mirror, he gave a stiff nod and headed out into the living room.

Drake looked up from where he was, his eyes widening when he saw how tight Argonne was dressed.

Drake's jaw fell open. He was definitely getting mixed signals now. "Did you let your stripper friend dress you?"

Argonne's eyes narrowed. "His name is Tylar. And he's a dancer."

"Whatever," Drake smirked as he rose from the couch. "I can control myself, but as for any other furs, I hope you're bringing along that pepper spray you used to clear the cafe."

Argonne growled when Drake passed by. The folf purposefully avoided looking at the delectable lower half of the fox. Suddenly he was very glad he'd quit smoking for Argonne. It gave him something to focus on that was not sex.

"I need some coffee."

Argonne had half a mind to slam the door shut and end the date before it began. He sighed, knowing it would be easier to go through with the trial run rather than having to worry about the folf stalking him for another chance.

"You do look nice, by the way," Drake called over his shoulder. "Kinda wish we were going someplace with better lighting," he laughed walking down the stairs.

At the van Drake held the passenger door open, even offering a hand to help the fox up.

"Thank you," Argonne said after searching for any ulterior motives.

Drake bit his lip as he walked around to his door. He wondered what was going to be worse, the nicotine withdrawal, or resisting the urge to tear off that second skin Argonne claimed were pants. It was going to be a long night.

As Drake drove down the road towards the Shrimp Shack, Argonne cleared his throat.

The folf perked his ears, looking to the fox for a moment before his eyes went back to the road. "What's wrong?"

"Well there is something that I should tell you, about me. Mind you, this is very personal"

Drake switched off the radio, then swiveled one of his ears to face the vulpine. "Yeah?"

Argonne cleared his throat, then went on. "Well, one of the reasons why I didn't want you to try anything... Forward, was because... Well I've never done anything like it before"

The folf blinked in surprise at that, "You mean that you're a virgin? What about when you told me that you've seen another guy's junk?"

"Well I have... I've just never done anything with it orally, or anally" He just looked straight ahead at that, then added, "But don't get me wrong, I still stand by the rule of no sex"

"Huh," Drake hummed. "Those pants, and you you really never got any?"

"I've had the opportunity," Argonne huffed. "I just..."

"I get it," Drake glanced over. "You want it to be special."

"Yeah," Argonne said softly, still looking straight ahead.

"Then we'll wait. When you're ready, you let me know. Until then, let's just enjoy each other's company." Drake held his breath, waiting for Argonne to correct him and tell him that there was no 'we' and that there wasn't a chance in hell that the time would ever be right for the two of them. But the fox didn't.

For the first time since laying eyes on the fox the tending bar, Drake felt like he made some progress.

***

The folf's tail was wagging when he ran around the van to open Argonne's door. The air smelled of dead seaweed, as it came from the washed up glorified drainage ditch that everyone called the canal. If he closed his eyes, Drake could almost imagine they were on the beach.

Inside the nautical themed restaurant Drake put his arm around Argonne's shoulders. A gentle display of affection that never crossed into the more carnal realms.

"Reservations for Drake Holloway," he said to the sleek otter maitre d'.

The otter glanced at his list. "Sorry, sir. Not seeing your name."

Argonne looked at Drake. "I thought you said you called them."

"I did!" Drake began to continue the lie until he had an idea and turned to the otter. "What about under Danny?"

"Ah, yes. I have you down right here. Follow me, your table should be ready."

Drake grinned at Argonne, making a mental note to kill Danny when he got back home.

The otter checked something off on his list, then led them into the dining area. Gesturing around for a moment, the otter said, "We have plenty of tables available, though if I may be so bold, you may want to choose the private booth over here in the corner."

Drake perked up a little at that, then looked to Argonne with agrin, "I think that would be a fantastic idea"

Argonne snorted softly at that, but allowed himself to be led off into the corner of the restaurant to the private booth, which had a window view. He sat himself down on one end, while Drake sat down at the other. A female coyote came over to them once they were settled.

"Hello, Welcome to the Shrimp Shack, may I interest you in some complimentary wine while you look over your menus?"

Argonne's ears perked at that, but he pretended not to be interested. Of course Drake caught onto this, then looked up to the waitress, "Do you happen to have any champagne?"

She only grinned at that, then turned and left the two of them alone. Argonne looked to the folf at that. "Champagne? Now that is a required taste you know."

The folf chuckled softly and nodded, "I know, I actually like champagne. Believe it or not, I'll eat anything that's in front of me, as long as it's edible anyway."

The fox grinned upon hearing that, then leaned back in the booth. Alright then big guy, tell me about yourself."

"About me?" Drake laughed, stalling for time. "Where to start... uh, well, I'm a hopeless romantic, as you obviously know."

Argonne had a slightly different way to describe it, but he let the folf continue.

"I'm in a band."

"What kind of music?" Argonne leaned in. "You don't strike me as the type of fur that likes playing what you did down at the club.

Drake swallowed. "Love songs, mostly."

"Really?" Argonne raised an eyebrow.

Drake's ears fell back. "No."

Argonne sighed. "This won't work if you're going to lie to me."

"Hey, give me some credit," Drake said. "I know you don't wanna hear lies, but the truth ain't that pleasant. And, no offence, I'm getting the feeling that even the tiniest wrong answer is going to end this date."

Argonne looked at the pepper shaker, collecting his thoughts before speaking up. "What if I promise I won't walk out on a free meal? Will that buy me some honesty?"

Drake grinned. "The band's called Vivisection. Hardcore punk. Makes GG Allin look like Maroon 5."

"Who?" Argonne tilted his head.

The folf laughed. "Let's just say we're intense."

The waitress returned with their champagne and menus. Drake promptly downed his flute and motioned for another.

"Um," Argonne shook his head, "make the next one last. You are driving, and I'd rather not end the evening at the morgue."

"Last one, I swear," Drake smiled. He slid the menu away, already knowing what he wanted. "Now you," he gestured. "I'd like to know why everyone one keeps telling me you're loaded, yet you live in that-" he stopped himself from saying anything he'd regret when he say the look Argonne was giving him. "Yet you live so modestly. Heh."

Argonne's ear flicked at that, and he picked up a menu and began reading it. "Well everyone is right, I am loaded. I have a bank account with over five million dollars in it, and it all is a gift from my father, the owner of a multimillion dollar company, who of course is a millionaire."

Drake's eyes widened at that, and his ears laid back a little. "Then.... Why do you live in a dump like that?"

Argonne lowered the menu a little and eyed the folf. "Because I choose to. What, do you expect just because I'm rich I should be living all high and mighty in the city?"

The folf lowered his ears at that, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean any offense by it..."

The fox sighed softly at that, then set down the menu. "No, it's alright, I just don't like being stereotyped is all. I don't throw my money about because I don't feel it's right. I often give money as charity, but my father just pours more money into my account when he sees that it dropped below three million."

Drake soon down his second drink, then set it aside. At that moment, the waitress came back over. "Are you two ready to order?"

"Yeah," Drake said. "Grilled chicken and rice."

Argonne lowered his menu. "Chicken, at a seafood restaurant?" he asked with a shrug before turning to the waitress. "The cod fillet sounds nice."

The coyote thanked them and departed.

"And the job at Club Malibu?" Drake asked.

"So I have my own money to spend," Argonne said. "But it's my turn now. Why me? Is it just because I'm a fox that attracts you?"

Drake laughed sharply. "Music," he pointed to himself. "Remember? I get furs throwing themselves at me all the time."

Argonne rolled his eyes. "Then why me?"

"Because you said no."

The fox blinked. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. You've got a strong sense of self. You're not just another fur who'll roll over and take it, if you'll excuse the phrasing," he smirked. "I want someone who can resist me, and who won't be afraid to call me out when I'm doing something stupid."

"No problem there," Argonne snorted. "So... if I would have had a momentary lapse in judgement and let you get in my pants that first night, you would have lost interest in me?"

"I'm not that big of an asshole," Drake said. "But you wouldn't have given in no matter what I did that first night. It isn't in you. But we're getting into metaphysics, and it's my turn now." He leaned closer, grinning conspiratorially. "Just why did you blow me off at the club? And don't tell me it's your nature, I want to know what reason you gave yourself to push me away... Is it because I'm not rich?"

Argonne laid back his ears at that, before grabbing the bottle of champagne that the waitress had brought over and filling his glass. The fox downed his drink quickly, then looked back to Drake. "I uh.... I have high standards when it comes to other guys, very high standards. It was clear from what I saw in the club that you didn't even come close to my standards."

The folf tapped the table for a moment, unsure whether or not he should say what he was thinking. After a moment, he decided to do it anyway. "Then perhaps.... your standards are too high? I mean, don't get me wrong, it's good to have standards and all, but that perfect guy you're after, he doesn't exist."

Argonne raised an eyebrow at that, "Oh?"

"Well..... I'm just saying that you need to have faith in other guys too, I mean you're really not going to find the one you're meant to be with if you don't go out and look for him!" A few moments later Drake realized how his words could be interpreted, and cursed himself silently.

Out on a date and suggesting that the one you're trying to impress should go out and explore his options with other guys? Not a very good tactic.

But to his surprise, Argonne rubbed his chin for a moment then leaned forward with a small grin. "You know, I never expected to hear something like that come out of your mouth. That's very.... wise"

The folf perked up at that, and smiled.

They talked of inconsequential things. TV shows they liked, the furs at work, and whether or not it would be an early autumn. Drake watched the fox eyeing the champaign.

"You can have another glass. I promise I won't take advantage of you if you get tipsy."

Argonne rolled his eyes. "I don't think there's enough alcohol in the entire restaurant to make me that drunk."

Drake leaned back and crossed his arms.

"Don't act so hurt," Argonne said. "You stalked me to my home. You were about to break in when I got there today."

"So," the folf smirked. "You sprayed toxic chemicals over an entire cafe. That's a war crime."

Argonne laughed. "That was an accident. But I wouldn't have had the pepper spray if it wasn't for you." He could see the folf's eyes were still a little red. "I am sorry, you know. I got surprised and it just went off."

The folf made a dismissive gesture. "I've had worse. So, you want some dessert? The menu said they have fresh pie."

Argonne thought for a moment. "Why not?"

Drake flagged down the waitress and looked at Argonne with a smile. "It'll still be early when we're done. If I want to take you for a walk by the shops along the canal, would you count that as me showing you off or do the rules of our date allow for a stroll?"

The fox thought for a moment, then smiled softly. "Well, I do suppose that it would be alright to go out for a stroll"

All of a sudden Argonne swept his tail forward, letting it brush against Drake's legs. The folf jumped a little at that, but then blushed a little and grinned softly as the waitress came over to them. "Alright, what kind of pie would you like? Like, what's your favorite kind?"

Argonne thought for a moment at that, "Well, my favorite kind above all is pumpkin pie, but that time of year is passed.... so I'll settle for an apple pie"

Drake grinned wider, then motioned to the waitress. The coyote came closer and leaned down, and the folf whispered in her ear. "If you can get the cook to get us a pumpkin pie, I'll tip you for an extra fifty"

Her eyes widened, and she smiled before hurrying off. Argonne eyed Drake at that, "What did you tell her?"

"Oh you'll find out soon"

The fox grinned, then leaned back in the both, his tail flicking back and forth under the table.

Fifteen minutes later and Argonne's eyes lit up. The scent reached the fox before he saw the waitress come by with the tray bearing the out of season pie.

"Smooth," Argonne smiled at the folf, "very smooth."

Drake grinned and they both dug in.

***

The sun was down but the sky would remain starless this close to downtown. They walked in a perpetual twilight, the canal to their left and the pedestrian promenade to their right.

"It's a lot quieter than the club," Drake said, wincing at the obviousness but dreading the quiet turn their evening was taking.

"Calmer too," Argonne agreed. "The energy at work is always so... charged. Everyone after one thing or another."

A group of fauns holding balloons ran past them, chased by their breathless parents. A possum juggled pins for the tourists and sightseers. Drake spotted a gazelle further down, playing a worn violin.

"Want to sit down for a minute?" Drake asked.

Argonne liked the soothing music and there was an open bench not far away. He looked up at Drake. "I- I still stand by what I said. That this won't end with s-"

Drake held up his hand. "I know all about limits. They can be fun if you know how to use them." He smiled at the fox's confused look. "I promised you, Argonne, I won't take this further than you wanted and I'm a fur of my word. Let's just enjoy the music and I'll take you back home. Your virtue will remain fully intact."

Drake reached out slowly and took the fox by the hand, leading him to the ornate bench that looked out at the canal.

Argonne sat down next to Drake on the bench and they both listened quietly to the music. After a several long moments had passed, the fox suddenly felt a hand run over his tail. Turning, he eyed the folf he was sitting next to. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing, nothing at all! I was only stroking your tail."

The fox raised an eyebrow at that, flicking his tail off the bench so that it was out of Drake's reach. "And you didn't think about asking first?"

"Well... no, sorry... I just really enjoying touching you, as wrong as that sounds. You're the most beautiful fox I've ever seen in my life" Drake gave him a small, earnest grin at that.

Argonne laid back his ears as he stared at the folf. After a moment or two, the vulpine suddenly scooted closer and leaned against him. Drake's heart skipped a beat at that, and he hesitated for a moment, before wrapping his arm around Argonne's shoulders and holding him gently. He certainly hadn't expected to get this far with the vulpine.

Argonne grew a little tense as he felt Drake's arm wrap around him, but he relaxed after a moment and leaned into it more. The fox couldn't explain what was going on at the moment, but he had to admit, silently to himself, that he felt rather safe like this. He contemplated having the folf as a boyfriend, perhaps even a lover, but he knew that he'd need more time to think things over. For the time being, he just enjoyed himself, at least until he shuddered as a cold breeze hit him.

Drake noticed it immediately, and cleared his throat. "Well, I'd best be getting you home now. No doubt you'll catch a cold if you stay out like this with no coat"

Argonne looked up at him at that, "I have fur," He protested, "I can manage the cold!"

Drake shook his head at that, suddenly getting up from the bench. As soon as he did, the vulpine felt the cold breeze hit him even harder, and he shuddered again. The folf grabbed him by the hand, and hauled him to his feet. "Your winter coat isn't even in yet, so let's get you home."

Argonne opened his mouth to object, but then blinked and slowly closed it. He sensed genuine care in the folf's voice, and it give his tail a swish. "Well, if you insist..."

Drake grinned, before leading him back to where the van was parked.

***

The van rolled to a stop in front of Argonne's apartment. The fox had fallen asleep sometime during the ride. Drake left the van in park and watched his date. There were many things he wanted to do, but judgment told him this was definitely not the time. He cleared his throat loudly.

Argonne's eyes fluttered. "Huh? Was I asleep?" He rubbed his eyes and yawned with a look out the window. "Oh. I guess this is my stop."

"Looks like it," Drake said quietly.

Argonne didn't move. "I had fun tonight. Things went a lot better than I thought they would. Not that I was expecting you to go all psycho on me."

Drake laughed. "I'm gonna take that as a compliment."

"It was," Argonne grinned.

They were quiet for another stretch before Drake spoke again. "Want to do this again?"

Argonne started to speak but was cut off when Drake put a finger to his lips.

"Don't answer now. Tell me when we get off work. If it's a yes, I'll take you for a coffee or something... If it's no... well, at least the club has security."

Argonne laughed. "Ok. So I'll see you at work then."

Drake nodded. He started to lean in when all the smoothness of the moment vanished as a fur began shouting at him to move the van.

"That's the building manager," Argonne said as he slid out of the van. "You better go before he starts calling the police."

Drake sighed and forced a smile.

The fox waved good bye to him, before turning and heading for the entrance to the apartments. Now, Drake took in the sight of the fox's tight pants, before chuckling softly to himself and pulling back out onto the road. The entire way back, the folf was practically beaming. He had been on his best behavior, and the fact that Argonne had gotten so relaxed around him was a good sign, a very good sign.

Looking down at the ashtray, he blinked when he saw the pack of cigarettes sitting on it,so the folf rolled down the window, grabbed them, and threw them out. All of a sudden, he heard a buzzing sound. Quickly reaching down the folf grabbed his phone, a flip phone, and answered it. "Yo, this is Drake"

"It's about time you answered your phone Mr. Holloway." The folf felt his blood run a little cold at the ice cold voice on the other end.

"M-Morty! Hey man, uh, how you doing?"

"Considering that you're supposed to be here tonight to sign your contract, and obviously you're not here, not very well."

Drake blinked, then just barely managed to suppress a groan as he remembered about the contract signing. "I-I'm so terribly sorry Morty, I was just out on a date with Argonne and all and--"

"You're the one that Argonne is seeing? It seems to me that we need to have a little chat. Come to the club, now, or kiss your contract goodbye" The wolverine hung up at that.

The folf sighed heavily, then headed for the club as he put down the phone.

***

It didn't take no time at all to get back, and once his van was parked, the folf got out and headed for the club entrance. The bouncer at the door, a large elk, took a look at his ID and waved him through. Once inside, he made his way over to the pair of black double doors and headed for Morty's office. He was greeted by one of the dobermans, who looked down at him and snorted, before escorting him inside.

Morty was sitting behind his desk, patiently waiting for Drake as he came over. "Have a seat, and sign the contract."

The folf did so eagerly, sitting down and signing his name away before sliding the document over to Morty, who took it and eyed it for a moment. "Looks to be in order. Boys, take care of him."

Drake's eyes widened at that, and he leaped to his feet. W-Wait what?!"

Before he could go anywhere, one of the dobermans grabbed him and held him in place, while the other drove a heavy fist up into the folf's gut. Drake grunted loudly as the wind was knocked out of him, then he slumped a little before getting another heavy fist to the gut. The canine that was holding him let him go, and the folf toppled to the ground in pain.

After a moment, Morty said, "I don't appreciate being forced to wait around for you to show up. When I set a time for you to be here, you better be here at that time, and not a minute late. As for Argonne.... let us just say that I am a very close friend of his father's. If you hurt him in anyway, you'll be wishing you were never born. Do we have an understanding?"

One of the dobermans grabbed Drake, hauled him up onto his feet and pushed him down into the chair.

"Gotta say, Mort," Drake wheezed, "I like the way you do business. Right to the point. Gotta respect that."

"You mocking me?"

"No!" Drake laughed nervously. "Not at all. And don't worry about Argonne, I know how to treat a fur right."

The wolverine nodded and took a cigar out of the humidor on his desk. "Right. I think we're done here." He motioned to the door.

Drake started to stand. "What about Danny and Austin?"

"Who?" Morty patted his suit looking for a match.

"My bandmates. I mean, shouldn't they sign too?"

"Nah," Morty found a match and struck it along his ink blotter. "To be honest, I don't really care about getting them. You're the face furs are gonna be paying to see. The band is interchangeable. Keep 'em, ditch 'em. I don't really give a flyin' shit."

"Love that show biz loyalty," Drake sighed.

"Alright, now I know you're mocking me. Boys, show this prick the door... but, uh, leave his hands and face alone. He's got to be good to perform."

"Hey!" Drake yelped as he was dragged from the office. He looked up at a doberman while the hallway ceiling passed overhead.

"Is this the employee orientation you give all the new hires, or am I just special?"

From his other side came a hard kick to his ribs, effectively shutting him up until he was sailing through the air to land in a stack of flattened cardboard boxes with a loud grunt.

The service door slammed shut and the folf staggered to his feet. As he limped his way back to his van he laughed at how accurate Austin was when he described what it would feel like to sell out and get a steady job. He'd assumed the hyena had been speaking metaphorically.

As soon as he got home, the first thing he did was head into the living room and flop down on the couch, holding his stomach which still hurt. Danny and Austin were nowhere to be seen, but from the low grunts and soft growls he was hearing from their room, he could very well guess what they were up to. Rolling his eyes, he called out, "I'm home!"

The grunts and growls escalated slightly, then everything went quiet. The folf snorted, then perked his ears as their bedroom door opened, and Danny came out in the middle of putting on a shirt. The wolf flopped down into the beanbag chair and sighed heavily. The smell of sex wafted over and hit Drake's nose.

With a grin, he asked, "Have fun while I was gone?"

The wolf only snorted, then stretched out before relaxing. "What does the smell tell you?"

"That you two need to learn to clean up better. Seriously, why don't you just date him? You're practically fucking him every single day anyway!" Danny grinned at that.

"Dunno," He glanced over to the open door, then leaned closer and whispered, "Perhaps I'm waiting for him to ask me? Heh, but anyway, don't leave me hanging in the dark man, tell me how it went!"

"Tell us, how it went" Austin came out at that moment, smelling considerably better than Danny.

Drake chuckled softly, then smiled widely, "It was amazing really, I feel like Argonne and I really connected"

Danny raised an eyebrow at that. "Connected? You going for the lovey dovey shit bro? I thought you just wanted to get that fox's tail in bed as some kind of fuck buddy or something, I didn't think you'd want it to get serious"

Austin perked his ears a little, "What's wrong with your stomach? Why you holding it like that?"

"Signed our contract with the club," Drake sighed.

"And that wolverine hit you?" Danny laughed. "What the hell did you do?"

Drake laughed. "The little pussy had his thugs hit me because I was late or some shit."

Austin growled. "I told you he was in with the mob! The whole thing is going to end with us in a shallow grave in the middle of a corn field."

"Relax," Drake said. "Morty's an asshole but he isn't with the mob. This is just a good venue for us to get noticed. Not to mention the steady paychecks."

"Whatever," Danny cut in. "Are you seeing the fox again?"

Drake grinned. "Hell yes. You think I'd let someone like that get away?" He laughed sharply. "Assuming I don't screw it up, we'll be going out after work."

Austin was more interested in practical matters. "Dude, how does playing at the club get us noticed? Those aren't our songs. We sound like a completely different band out there!"

"Trust me, Aus. I know what I'm doing. They'll see we've got technical proficiency. That's what scouts really look for."

Danny scratched at his bright, messy hair. "Did you bang him?"

"No. We're, uh, saving that for a special occasion."

The wolf laughed. "Special occasion?"

"Yeah," Drake forced himself to sit up, gritting his teeth at the pain. "Sometimes sex can be special. More than just a quick fling in the bathroom of an autoparts store."

"That was one time!" Danny protested. "And I didn't hear any complaints from Austin."

The hyena rolled his eyes. "That wasn't me, dick."

Danny's ears went flat and he blushed. "Well I was thinking of you."

Drake shook his head. "Let's get some sleep. We'll try and get in some practice in the morning. I want us sounding better than ever when we're up on stage. No more half-assing it."

"Yeah yeah, I'm gonna shower before I head to bed." Danny got up and headed into the bathroom while Austin headed back into their bedroom. Drake got up after a moment, rubbing his stomach then heading into his own bedroom. Once inside, he shut the door behind him and climbed into bed, not bothering to take his clothes off like he usually did and wrapping himself in his blankets.

Sleep followed soon after...

***

Argonne shut off the water in the shower and reached out to the towel rack and grabbed a towel. Stepping out onto the floor mat, he began to dry off. The fox had gotten up early this morning and started cleaning up around the apartment. For some reason, he wanted it extra clean today.

Once he was dried off, he grabbed a comb and brush and started working on his fur in the full body mirror he had bought. He was thankful that it wasn't the time of year where he had to worry about shedding, those times were absolute nightmares. He shuddered at the memory of the power bill he got each month after having to wash his bedsheets and blankets every single day, during the shedding process.

Once he finished treating his fur, he stopped and stared at himself in the mirror. His eyes traced his curves, took in the sight of his, as some call it, 'package', and even stared into his own eyes. All the while trying to figure out what Drake saw in him. Yes, he was rather handsome, and well-groomed as he had just demonstrated to himself, but what else was there? Just because he wasn't able to say no, was that really the only reason why Drake was interested?

After several moments, the vulpine sighed softly, then left the bathroom and headed into his room. There he got dressed in his work attire, and grabbed his car keys. He was going to go into work early, perhaps mingle with the patrons until his shift starts at three. Locking his apartment door on the way out as he shut it, he then headed down to the garage, getting in his lamborghini and starting the engine.

The car purred to life, and he revved the engine a few times before slowly easing the car out to the road. He was undeniably proud of the fact he owned such a nice sports car, he always made sure to take care of it as best he could. He hesitated before pulling out onto the road. Perhaps... he could put off heading to work for now? He kinda wanted to go out on a drive along the back roads. He hasn't been out there in weeks, and on those roads he could really open the car up.

With a grin, the fox made his decision, and sped up a little as he headed out. It didn't take him long to get out there, and once he reached that familiar road he put the pedal to the metal, as he liked saying.

The engine revved loudly as the car shot forward, a wide grin coming onto the vulpine's face. He eyed the speedometer every now and then, chuckling as he saw it continue to climb. At one point, he reached a hundred before having to slow down to take a turn. As he rounded the turn, he brought it back up to speed, glancing down at the speedometer and reading eighty-five before looking back up to the road, his eyes widening.

Cause at that moment, a deer jumped out from the bushes and onto the road. Argonne yelped, and yanked the wheel to the left in panic, losing control and slamming right into the guardrail. Over the years, the condition of the guard rail had deteriorated, and once the lamborghini slammed into it, it gave way.

Argonne's world was thrown into a dangerous roll as the car began tumbling down the hillside, crashing into small trees here and there and going right through them until it finally crashed into a large fur. The fox groaned loudly, reaching down to undo his seatbelt when he felt a huge pain in his side. Whimpering, he pressed his arms against his ribs, feeling the pain again. After several seconds passed by, the fox spotted his phone. Reaching for it, he just barely managed to grab it before turning it on.

He thanked the gods that it wasn't damaged, and opened his phone app. He blinked in surprise when he saw Drake's name at the top of the list on speed dial, just above 911. When did he manage that? Was it when he was asleep on the way back to the apartment last night? Without thinking, the vulpine pressed on the name, and the phone dialed.

***

Drake chewed on the end of a straw, wishing it would magically turn into one of the cigarettes he'd thrown out. He and his friends had just finished a long practice in the improvised studio they's set up in the building's basement. Now back in the apartment the folf was wondering if he'd have time to take a shower or if Danny and Austin intended to stay in there until they had to leave for work.

His phone chimed. He reached for it and answered without checking who it was. "What's up?"

"Drake..." Argonne's voice sounded weak and the connection crackled.

The folf stood up, moving to the window in hopes of a better signal. "I'm here. Are you alright? I can barely hear you."

"Crashed... -ar. I think I b-... stuck against the door. C-can you come help?"

Drake nearly dropped his phone. "Yeah! Yeah, don't move I'll be right there!" He grabbed the van keys, listening to the garbled name of the road Argonne was on and shouting for Austin and Danny.

"Got it," he said into the phone before giving one last shout and realizing he'd waste too much time explaining to them. "Just, don't move, Argonne, I'm coming for you."

The folf ran out the door.

***

Drake wasn't sure if the call dropped or Argonne passed out. The fear spurred him on as he found his way onto the winding back road the fox said he'd crashed. He thumbed the redial for the tenth time, leaving the phone on speaker as he scanned for the wreckage.

Minutes later and he saw the dark black skids that lead to a broken guardrail. He stopped the van in the middle of the road and jumped up. Running to the edge he knew he'd found Argonne from the blue paint left on the jagged remnants of the rail.

The car was at the bottom of the hill, upside down in a stand of trees.

"Argonne!" Drake shouted.

No response. He ran back to his and grabbed the tire iron from under the seat, ready to smash his way through a window if he couldn't get the door open. "I'm coming, Argonne, just hold on," he whispered as his hand found the box of road flares he kept under the passenger seat.

After setting off the road flares and leaving them on the road, Drake practically dove down the hillside, stumbling and skidding his way down to the wreckage. His heart skipped a beat when he saw that the car had wrapped itself partially around a big tree, and thanked the gods that it was the passenger side, not the driver side. Dropping down onto his knees once he reached the car, he looked in through the broken window.

Argonne was there, his seat belt entangling him as he laid at an awkward angle because of the car being upside down. The fox's eyes were closed, and it looked like he was still breathing. Grabbing the door handle, Drake tried yanking the door open, only to find that it just gave way a few inches. Growling, the folf took the pry bar and inserted it into the gape of the slightly open door, and pried it open forcefully. The door hinges gave way, and allowed it to pop off.

Quickly, Drake came closer and reached for the seat buckle, when his nose caught a very distinct smell. Gas. Looking to the undercarriage of the car, his eyes widened when he saw the slowly spreading fire, getting closer and closer to the leaking gas. Diving down, he reached in and pressed the released for the buckle, just barely managing to grab Argonne before he could fall and get hurt even more. Dragging the vulpine out, he picked him up in a cradle, and hurried away from the car as quickly as he could.

The fire reached the gas, and the tank exploded, the shockwave from the blast knocking Drake to the ground, but he got back up and continued making his way back up the hill. Once he was back at the van, he went around to the passenger side and opened up the door, carefully setting the fox in the seat and buckling him up.

All of a sudden, Argonne opened his eyes partway, looking right at him. "D-Drake?"

The folf jumped a little but then placed his hand on the fox's shoulder. "I'm here Argonne, don't you worry, I'm gonna get you to the hospital, have you checked out. Everything is gonna be just fine."

The fox grinned a little at that, then started coughing. Once finished, he laid his head back against the seat, looking back to the folf. "Thanks.. for coming"

Drake grinned at that. "What kind potential boyfriend would I be if I didn't?"

Argonne's smiled softly at that, shaking his head. "No longer.. a potential"

The folf stared at him for a moment in disbelief, before managing, "You... You mean?"

The vulpine chuckled as gently as he could manage, then opened his hand. The folf looked down to see that he had been clutching his phone the entire time. "C-Call my father, tell him what happened.... if he asks who you are.... just tell him that you're my boyfriend."

Drake's heart fluttered at that, and he smiled widely before taking the phone and opening it as he shut the passenger door and made his way to driver side. Going into Argonne's contacts, he pressed on the word, 'Dad', letting the phone dial as he got into the van. By the time someone picked up, he was already speeding back to the city.

"Hello?"

Drake put the phone on speaker and set it in the ash tray. "Uh, hello Mr. Waterbuck! My name is Drake, and--"

"What are you doing with my son's phone? Where did you get it?"

The folf glanced over to Argonne, who was staring blankly out the window and holding his side. "Uh, I was about to get to that. Mr. Waterbuck, your son just got into an accident in his car, I'm taking him to the hospital"

There was a pause. "Argonne got into an accident?? I'll contact my pilot and have him fly me over there as soon as possible. Who is this?"

The folf grinned and took a deep breath, then said, "My name is Drake Holloway, and I'm your son's boyfriend."

***End of Part One***