Breakin' Out, Part One: Yeah.
#1 of Breakin' Out
My experiment with a plainer style. Hope it lends itself well to dialogue. This is just a short introduction, and an attempt at doing something a little lighter in tone, friendlier. Since it's only the first chapter of an intended series, this is going to take me a bit more dedication. Heh.
So, it was summer. The air was warm, the sun was bright; the trees were green, spreading cool shade beneath their boughs. The University
students took note of the latter, and on a sweltering afternoon it wasn't unusual to see quite a few lounging under one especially large oak.
Especially on a day like today.
Today, there were only two students taking refuge from the sun. One was a grey and white husky by the name of Jerome, who looked
almost passed out from the heat due to the amount of clothing he had on. The other was a lion, T'Kel by name, who was dressed in comparitively light sports garb.
'I hate summer,' panted Jerome.
'That's because you wear too many clothes,' replied T'Kel.
'Hey, just because you like leaving little to the imagination doesn't mean I should,' came the reply.
The lion snorted. 'Yeah, I guess we're better off imagining what you'd look like under those three layers of clothing.' He grinned. 'Heck
knows, imagining what your bits look like is probably more entertaining than seeing the real thing anyway.' He earned a swat on the muzzle for that, and responded with a mock-growl at his friend.
'Shaddup,' Jerome said, scratching at his ear. 'It's not like you've seen me naked or anything.' He cocked an eyebrow at the lion. 'Although,
your attempts at getting me to undress have been commendable, Kel.'
The lion merely looked perplexed at this comment. 'Er, since when has trying to get you to shower with the rest of the team been an attempt to "get you undressed"'?
'Oh, ever since the rest of the team - at the time - was just you.'
The lion grinned and turned around, stalking up to his friend on all fours, tail lashing from side to side behind him.
'Well,' he said, his grin turning almost feral as he bared his teeth, 'I figured since you've seen me in the buff on more than one occasion, it was only fair for you to...' and the husky felt his lips brush against his ear '...reciprocate.'
Jerome blushed; he felt the tips of his ears go hot. 'Um... it's just that I'm not...'
The lion drew closer in. 'Comfortable? Why do you think I waited for everyone else to leave?'
'N-no, it's, well. I'm seeing someone, you know.'
'So?'
'Whaddya mean, so? I can't... it's not...' Jerome stopped, at a loss for words. He looked at his lion friend, still close enough so that his earthy musk was wafting through his nose. Still close enough to see the intent lying behind the lion's blue eyes. And that was enough; his emotional reflexes immediately brought their barriers to bear. Jerome looked his friend in the eye. 'Kel, I'm not like you.'
'Free and uninhibited?'
'Yeah.'
The lion sat back, staring at Jerome, taking in his steely-eyed countenance. And he burst into great, roaring guffaws. Jerome felt his blush come rushing back immediately, he felt embarrassed and indignant at the same time. The lion was on his back now, kicking his feet out, wave after wave of laughter rolling over him. It didn't look like he was going to stop any time soon.
'Just what the hell,' he asked, 'do you think is so funny?'
'You. And the way you look when I try to come onto you,' Kel managed to reply between chortles. 'You've got the cutest expression ever...'
He got up and stretched beneath the tree, sunlight dappling his tawny fur. 'Don't worry, though. I'm not trying to get you laid... I'm not into guys.'
Jerome's resulting smirk probably got to him, because he stopped smiling. 'I mean it. I just like annoying you. And you really need to be more comfortable around the team.' He ruffled Jerome's head. 'Because the more you avoid them, the more likely they think you've got something to hide.'
'Yeah, like my fifteen-inch wang and what it means to their butts if they see me getting a hard-on in the shower.'
Kel chuckled. 'That was awful. Really just awful. However, I meant they might think you're playing someone else's side... now what you just said, I'm sure some of the guys wouldn't mind at all.'
'How comforting.'
Kel let out a long sigh of exasperation. 'Look, Jerome. No one's going to get you laid in a shower. I mean, come on! I just want you to feel like you're part of the gang.'
Jerome nodded, and got up. He looked at his lion friend straight in the eyes again. 'I know, Kel. But I need a little time to adjust... I only got here last week. And you're the only friend I have here right now.'
Kel nodded. 'All right. I can understand that.'
'Thank you. You're the one person here who would.'
The lion nodded, and put his arm around his friend's shoulder as they started to walk towards the University. 'Jer,' he said, 'look around. This place, all of this, it's home. It's not paradise. Heck knows it's not even close. But it's one of the friendliest, coziest, warmest... all right, don't smirk. Toldja about the clothes.' He tweaked Jerome on the muzzle, which earned him a little yip.
'It gets really warm here, so you need to take some of that off. I know you feel safer in all that... but you've got to outgrow that security blanket of yours. Let all this get under your fur. Okay?'
Jerome nodded. He seemed to be a little more at ease now.
'Good. Now, I think we've got just about two minutes to get to class.'
'Good God, yes!' Jerome exclaimed. 'We gotta run!'
T'Kel tapped him on the shoulder just as he was about to dash towards class.
'Oh... and one more thing. Jer?'
'Yeah?'
'You were just making that up about a fifteen-inch wang, weren't you?'
Jerome groaned. 'We don't have time for this.'
'Because if you weren't, I'd need some actual proof...'
'Arrrrghhhhh!!!'
The next thing the lion knew was that his world had turned into a grey and white blur as seventy kilos of grey-white husky pounced on top him.
'Whoah, boy.' He looked up at his attacker, who had straddled his torso and was baring fangs. ' As kinky as this is, we really don't have the time for it.'
'Stop. Coming. Onto. ME!!!'
'All right, all right. Because you ask so nicely.'
Jerome got up and stalked towards the University. Kel righted himself, wincing a bit as he did so. 'Point taken. Next time you pounce me, I'm gonna make sure you mean it.'
Jerome didn't turn around, but he did raise his arm high enough so that Kel could read his middle finger.
He heard the lion chuckle behind him as he entered the hallway. And then, the bell rang.
'Fuck! First class and I'm already late.' He ran, then, and managed to lose himself in the corridors. By the time he found where Lit. 101 was,
he was half an hour late. And sweaty enough that the rest of the class couldn't come near him without commenting about his scent, and how he smelled awfully like he'd just gone at it with a lion.
The rest of his day was just like that.
So, it was summer. And it had just begun.