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And here is the highly anticipated, ok not really, Chapter 3! I'm still debating on whether or not to put the rest of the Chapters on, just know that if I do, there will be a long time span in between chapters. I'm kind of a slow writer. Anywhoozle (my word, don't take it) Here is Chapter 3! *curtain opens* just kidding (about the curtain thing. This is really Chapter 3)

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Chapter 3

Ran slowly opened his eyes. He heard his name being said, softly. He blinked a few times, and saw Mutt sitting at the foot of his bed.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty." Mutt joked, "Do you know what today is?"

"Saturday?" Ran replied.

"No... well yes, but it's also Christmas!"

"Oh yeah! I forgot!"

"Come on. Let's go open our gifts. It looks like "Santa" brought us some."

Ran chuckled as he sat up in bed. They were both still in their pajamas, Mutt wearing loose shorts and a ratty old t-shirt, and Ran just wearing sleeping pants, when they walked into the living room and headed toward the Christmas tree. The tree was lit up, brightly, with ornaments and tinsel everywhere. Mutt worked very hard on it, and by the looks of it, the work paid off. Mutt ran over to the tree and sat down, folding his legs underneath each other in the "Indian style". He reached for his first present and read the tag. "To: Dukie, From: Aunt Sue," it said. Mutt tore open the wrapping to find a nice "Call of the Wild" pullover.

"Oh! How did she know this is what I wanted?"

"I might have said something about it to her." Ran replied with a chuckle.

"Well, how did you know?" Mutt asked as he slipped the garment on.

"You've said, 'I'd really like this pullover for Christmas' about four-hundred times in the past week!"

They both laughed. Ran headed over and sat on his knees next to Mutt.

"Okay, now, your turn." Mutt said.

Ran reached for his first present and read the tag, "To: Farran, From: Sister," it said. He tore open the gift and found a fuzzy box. He opened to box to find a Sterling silver, dragon necklace.

"Oh my God! It's awesome!" Ran exclaimed as he pulled it over his muzzle, "My sister has amazing taste."

Mutt laughed, "Hey, give me some credit! After all, I helped her pick it out. Kind of. Okay so I just stood there, so what?"

They both laughed and started reaching for their other presents. Mutt got a new drawing pad and pencils, some watercolor paints, and a brand new camera from Ran, which he used to take pictures of Ran's reactions to his gifts.

"I'm really regretting giving you that camera now!" Ran said, laughing, "Do we really need a repeat of the cell phone incident?"

Mutt laughed, "Just go ahead and try!"

"I would, but I feel like being lazy today. No work, no responsibilities. Just presents and my best bud."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's lovely. Just open your other presents, but save mine for last!" Mutt said, still laughing.

"Alright, alright, stop being so pushy!" Ran reached for his next presents. He got a new mp3 player and a pair of socks. He read the tag on the socks which said, "To: Farran, From: Uncle Eddie. P.S. Don't worry, your real gift is in the mail!". Ran couldn't help but laugh, "Just like uncle Eddie!"

Both of them laughed, then Mutt burst out with, "Open mine now! Open mine!"

"Okay!" Ran exclaimed, "Don't go exploding on me now." he reached for Mutt's present and read the card, "Merry Christmas!" it said on the front. He opened it. It had the generic, "Hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year," printed, and just below that, Mutt had written, "Here's to two years of living under one roof (and to not getting crushed by that avalanche last year). Merry Christmas. Your friend, Mutt." Ran set the card beside him and started to carefully open the gift.

"Would you just open it! It's not like I got you fine China!" Mutt exclaimed.

Ran's ears perked up as he started ripping at the paper, which Mutt had intentionally put many layers on, "Does this paper ever end?!" Ran exclaimed, "You just did this to bug me didn't you?!"

"Yeah, what's the fun in only having on layer?" Mutt replied, laughing hysterically.

When Ran finally got to the last layer of paper, he tore it off, and saw exactly what he'd wanted. It was a brand new 22" flat screen TV! Ran yelled with joy, "Woo-hoo! Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!" his tail wagged frantically.

Mutt laughed, "No problem! Control your tail! It's -14 degrees outside, I don't like adding wind to it!" they both laughed, and took the TV to Ran's room, "We'll set it up later. Now, let's get some breakfast. I'm starving!"

"Ha ha. Yeah me too. In all the excitement, I didn't hear my stomach growling." They listened to both their stomach rumble.

"What are you in the mood for?" Mutt asked.

"Hmm. Let's go with--"

"My specialty?"

"Ha! Microwave scrambled eggs and an Eggo isn't exactly a 'specialty'."

"Hey, it's still really good!"

"Touché."

Mutt laughed, turned, and walked toward the kitchen. Ran headed out to the living room, plopped down on the couch, and flipped on the television. He heard the microwave "ding" and smelled the eggs.

"Did you add more seasoning this time?!" Ran called.

"Yes, I added more seasoning this time!" Mutt called back in a snaky, mocking tone, "Smartass." He mumbled under his breath.

"I heard that!"

"You were supposed to!"

"Just bring the food."

"I don't think you deserve it."

Ran's ears perked up, "Oh, is that so? Am I detecting a challenge?" he turned his head to face Mutt.

"Maybe. Depends. Are you up for it?" Mutt said confidently.

"Oh it's on. It's on like Donkey Kong!" Ran sprang up off the couch, walked around, and stood directly across from Mutt. Their eyes locked, "So, if I win, I get all the food."

"And if I win?" Mutt asked.

"If you win, I'll do the cooking for a week."

"Well, who wins there? Your cooking sucks!"

"Oh, you are so going down."

Every time the two got into an argument like this, they would challenge each other to a game they called "Bout". Each one would push against the other. The goal was to get the opponent to "their side", which for Ran was the couch, and for Mutt the kitchen. When they got to the opponent's side, they had to knock the opponent down, and pin them there for five seconds.

They squared away, simultaneously they counted down, "Three... Two... One... GO!"

They sprinted toward each other, and slammed together. Each one was pushing against the other as hard as they could, but neither would give.

"You're a lot stronger than last time." Ran said through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, I see you aren't." Mutt said with a raspy chuckle.

"Oh, you're gonna get it."

Ran started to push much harder, "I haven't even started yet." They both started to pant. Ran pushed Mutt closer and closer to the kitchen. Mutt just couldn't hold up. They made it through the archway, and Ran put one paw behind Mutt, and gave one last, big heave. Mutt tripped over Ran's paw, and fell to the floor with a loud "thud". Ran got down to his knees, pinned Mutt at the shoulders with his paws, and started counting, "One, Two, Three, Four,"

Mutt was struggling to break free, but couldn't get away.

"Any last words!?" Ran said jokingly, but with a slight seriousness in his voice, "Five!"

Mutt relaxed. They both stayed there, sweaty, and panting. Mutt looked up at the victor and choked out, "G-good game. I guess you win."

"You're damn right I did." Ran said with a laugh as he stood up. He acted confidently, but Mutt saw him blush under his grey fur. He held out his paw, and helped Mutt off the floor, "Now, where's my food?" They laughed.

Mutt handed his friend the eggs and waffles and said, "Here you go, your majesty."

"Thank-you slave." Ran said as he turned. He walked back to the couch, sat down, and started eating.

Mutt turned and walked to the refrigerator, "Darn, those were the last eggs. Oh well. I guess I'll have cereal." He walked over to one of the cupboards and grabbed a box of cereal. He went to another cupboard, grabbed a bowl and spoon, and took those out to the living room. He walked back to the kitchen, grabbed the milk, and walked back out toward the couch. When he got around the couch he saw Ran eating cereal out of the box, "Ran!" he exclaimed, "That's my breakfast! Bad dog! Put the box down!"

"Sorry," Ran sputtered through a mouth-full of cereal. He swallowed, "I thought it was for me."

"I swear to God, how you aren't a total fat-ass by now I'll never know."

"Well, probably because I'm never going to be a giant donkey." Ran joked.

"You're such a smartass!" Mutt laughed.

"No, a smartass is someone that can sit on an ice cream cone and tell you what flavor it is."

"Oh-- you-- just eat your food." Mutt said, annoyed, "Smartass." He mumbled.

"I'm not sitting on ice cream." Ran mumbled a reply.

After breakfast they both went and took nice long showers to clean their fur after their little dispute. The rest of the day went on as normal. They watched some TV, Mutt went out to ski for a while, and Ran went to the resort's gym. When They got home that night, they went into Ran's room and set up his new TV. They hooked up Ran's DVD player, and started to watch Bruce Almighty, Mutt's favorite. About half-way through the movie, both of them started to drift off, and feel asleep.

Early the next morning, Mutt woke up, stretched, and looked around the room, 'Hey, this isn't my room. It's Ran's.' He thought. He looked over and saw Ran laying next to him. "Oh my God!" he exclaimed silently, "We-- he-- us-- I--" He couldn't find the right combination of words. He took a deep breath and mumbled to himself, "Okay. We were watching a movie, and we fell asleep. That's all. Nothing happened. It's not weird, or strange, or anything. It's just two friends that just happened to fall asleep in the same bed. Nothing happened," he sighed, "Nothing to worry about." He climbed out from under the covers, slowly, and headed for his room. He looked at his clock, "4:14" it read. Mutt tried to go back to sleep, but thoughts kept flooding his mind. "Did we do anything? Did we... cuddle? Is this considered sleeping with each other? If we did do something, would I have liked it?!" That was the scariest one of all for him. When he finally did go back to sleep, it was about 5:20. He had forty minutes before he needed to wake up Ran for work. Mutt had the day off, but Ran worked from Seven o' clock to Four. Mutt's alarm went off. Mutt shot up, heart beating quickly, "Man, that was one hell of a nightmare." He mumbled to himself. He got dressed, woke up Ran, made breakfast, and they headed off to the resort.

On the way to the resort, Mutt told Ran about the nightmare he'd had.

"And I just kept running, and running, but I couldn't get away!" Mutt finished his story.

"Wow, that was one Hell of a nightmare." Ran replied.

"That's what I thought!"

They reached the resort, said their "See you later's" and went their separate way. Mutt headed back home, taking pictures of the beautiful scenery, with his new camera, along the way. He'd lived there for years, and the landscape still took his breath away. When he reached the cabin, he plopped down on the couch, slipped off his coat, and tossed it onto the coat rack.

Over at the resort business was going along as normal. Ran's friend and co-worker, Katie was talking to him. Katie was a dark purple cat with silver spots on her cheeks. She was always very perky and inquisitive. She brought up a rather, strange subject, "So, Ran."

"Yeah?"

"You know your friend, Mutt?"

"What about him."

"I don't know. I just get this strange feeling when you two are together."

"What are you talking about?"

"Do you... well... like him?"

Ran was shocked, "What?! What do you mean 'like' him?!"

"Well, every time you two are together, you have this look in your eyes. The same look as him."

"What? You're crazy. Mutt's my friend. Just my friend. Got it?"

"Yeah, but--"

"I don't want to talk about this any more."

"Okay, okay. Not another word. So, are you coming to see the band concert tonight?"

"Sure, what time did you say it was?"

"It starts at five."

"Alright, I'll be there."

"Be sure to bring Mutt_."_ she said with a giggle.

"He's just a friend!"

Katie turned and started to walk away, "Oh, I know. I'm just messing with you. I love to see you get all riled up. All your fur sticks up, it's so cute!"

"God, women." Ran mumbled.

"Oh, men." Katie giggled.

The rest of the day went on as planned. After Ran got off work, he headed home to get ready for the concert.

He walked through the front door and was greeted with a smile from Mutt, "Hey, how was work?" Mutt asked.

"It was fine. You know, the usual."

"Yeah. I tell you, it's been boring as Hell here. I haven't had anything to do but sit around and watch TV."

"So, what's wrong with that?"

Mutt laughed, "Nothing. I just don't know how you do it. I got so bored I was ready to tear out all my fur!"

"Yup, I'm pro like that."

"'Pro' yeah right."

"Okay, okay, if "Insult Ran day" is over, I've got some news: Katie, my co-worker, is having a band concert tonight. Do you want to go?"

"Of course! It's better than sitting around here all night. What time?"

"Five, so you'd better hurry."

"As should you. You're the one who's still in your uniform."

"Yeah I know." Ran slipped off his uniform shirt as he headed toward his room, Mutt directly behind. They got to the hallway, and Mutt turned to go to his room. They both took quick, five-minute showers, and got dressed. Mutt wore and old t-shirt with a guitar print on it, and his favorite pair of dark grey jeans. Ran just wore a plain old white shirt, with a black over-shirt, and regular blue-jeans. They met in the living room and got their coats on.

"You ready?" Ran asked.

"I sure am. Let's get going!" Mutt replied excitedly.

When they got to the resort, they walked up to the front door and were stopped by the security guard. The guard was a big Siberian Husky, with huge arms and an extremely deep voice.

"Hold up. I need to see some tickets or backstage passes before I can let you in."

"We don't have either of those."

"No ticket no entry--"

"Hold on Tiny, they're with me." Katie came out from behind the behemoth.

"Thank God, Katie." Ran sighed with relief.

"You didn't think I'd let you miss this did you?" She turned to Mutt, "Well, don't you look handsome."

Mutt blushed, "Th-thanks, Katie."

Katie smiled, "Oh guys, come in. There's someone I want you to meet."

The three of them walked inside and headed backstage. They saw a Crux standing next to the drums, fiddling with one of the symbols.

"Guys, this is Cat."

The creature turned around and showed her surprisingly beautiful face.

"Why hey there, stud."

Ran started to speak, "Hey, Cat--"

Cat walked right past him, "I know who you are Farran, but I was talking to your cute little friend here."

"Oh, right. Cat--Mutt, Mutt-Cat."

"Hi." Mutt said, voice slightly shaking.

"Mutt huh. Nice. I like it."

"Yeah. My real name's Dukie Mutt, but everyone just calls me Mutt."

"Cool. Hey, Ran, you play drums right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Think you could step in for me. I want to show Mutt here a good time."

Ran winked, "Sure. Is that okay with you Katie?"

"It's fine by me." Katie replied.

"And now, ladies and gentleman," the announcer's voice boomed through the crowd, "please welcome Rocky Mountain Resort's very own, Frostbite!"

The curtains opened, the music started with a soft piano part. A few seconds passed, then, the music screamed through the speakers. The entire crowd started moving, and jumping, and bouncing around. Mutt had never heard, or seen, anything like it! It was amazing!

"Come on, kid! Let's get out on the floor!" Cat pulled Mutt away from his fascination, and dragged him out on to the dance floor. They moved together. Cat moved her body vividly, wildly, erotically even. Mutt was having a blast! He looked up at Ran after one of the songs. Ran pointed at them, stuck his tongue out, and made his paws into the shape of a heart. The rest of the concert was awesome. The band was great, and the dancing was tiring. After it was over, and the band got done with their four encores, it was a little past midnight. Mutt and Cat were standing outside cooling off.

"That was the most fun I've had in a long time." Mutt said.

"Yeah, that Ran is one Hell of a drummer."

"Yeah, he sure is."

"I can see why you like him." Cat said.

The shock went straight through Mutt, "Wh-what--"

Ran came up behind them and wrapped his arms around their shoulders, "Man, was that great or what?!"

"Yeah, it was amazing." Mutt replied, "You were great up there."

"Ha ha! You weren't too bad yourself. I caught a few glimpses of you shakin' that tail."

Mutt began to blush, "Ha ha... yeah..."

"I think I'll just leave you two boys alone." Cat said.

"Um... Cat? Thanks. I had a lot of fun."

"No problem dude. I had fun too." Cat walked back inside.

"So, what do you want to do now?"

"I guess we'll just go home. Just let me say good-bye to Katie."

When Mutt and Ran got home it was about one o' clock in the morning.

"Well, I'd better get some sleep." Mutt said.

"Yeah, tomorrow it's your turn to work, and mine to sit around all day. Ha ha!"

"Yeah, well have fun with that. Good-night."

"Good-night."

"Hey, Ran?"

"Yeah?"

"Um. Never mind. I-it's nothing. Night."

"Okay. Night."

Mutt headed off to bed. Ran took off his shirts, grabbed a blanket, and laid down on the couch. He fell asleep watching re-runs of "Home Improvement".