FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Hmm...looks to be in order."

Dark blue eyes scanned the expanse of the small gym setup he had been trying to perfect for a good while now. The garage door was open, letting in more than enough light to illuminate the equipment he had positioned across the small space. A cool breeze swept through the garage on occasion, perfect for a noon workout session.

Zack gave the area yet another appraising look, just to be sure. Seemingly satisfied, he nodded in approval and retreated back into the house. He was clad in own of his dark themed workout outfits again, the black and crimson design complimenting his muscular form nicely. Large feet encased in black sneakers scuffed across the carpet as he crossed the living room into the kitchen, where he began filling a water bottle from the sink.

"Are you going somewhere?"

The jackal's ears perked at the voice behind him. He twisted his body to the side so that he could make out who had asked the question, finding Seth Bailey standing in the doorway dressed in shorts and a random t-shirt he had probably thrown on carelessly. His eyes watched his brother at the sink inquisitively.

Zack twisted the cap on the bottle tightly, sealing the water inside before speaking. "No. I'm having someone over."

"Oh." Seth appeared a little confused at the notion, but chose not to voice his opinions. "New boyfriend?"

Zack snorted in annoyance. Why must people jump to conclusions? "No, he's just a friend." He stepped closer to Seth, jabbing a finger in his chest. "And I want you to be pleasant while he's here. He is a welcome guest, and I want you to treat him as such."

Seth raised an eyebrow. A habit they all seemed to inherit from their mother. "Are you sure he's not your boyfriend?"

Zack sighed in agitation. Well, at least he had tried. "Look, just behave okay? This is the first time he's seeing the family and I want to make a good first impression."

The expression on Seth's face turned into one of skeptical knowing, ears tilted and muzzle twisted into a frown. "Yeah...definitely not a boyfriend..." Seth shrugged and pulled out his phone to begin fiddling with the screen. "Whatever. Doesn't matter to me. I'm going to a friend's house anyway."

Zack blinked. "You are?"

"He is." Geoff Bailey entered the kitchen now, dressed in khakis with a green button-up shirt. He was dressed casually, perfect for having guests over. "And I'll be taking him. I should be back well before you two are finished."

"I'd hope so." Karen Bailey now entered the scene, wearing one of her fancy floral blouses with white pants. "I was hoping to have some help bringing the food out."

"Wait, what?" Zack glanced back and forth between his parents. "Why are we making food? And why are you two all dressed up?"

"We're not_that_ dressed up," Karen protested. "And I said he could stay for lunch, remember? So I thought we'd make some nice sandwiches for you both to share. We can all eat out in the backyard if you'd like -"

"Maaaa," Zack groaned, covering his face with a paw.

"Zackery, don't overreact," Geoff said with a stern edge to his voice. "We're just trying to make a nice gesture to our guest. Even if he is just a friend. It's a nice thing to do."

Before Zack could respond, the doorbell rang through the house. A glance at the wall clock told them all they needed to know. It was noon on the dot.

Zack immediately left to answer the door, the other three jackals moving to watch from afar. He opened the door to find Charlie the white wolf standing on the other side, holding a water bottle and a bag of what looked like extra clothes. Unlike Zack, the wolf had opted to dress in the school gym uniform, as though this were just another gym period. An odd choice, but he wasn't one to judge.

Charlie shuffled nervously. "Um...hi..."

"Hi," Zack responded. He stepped aside to allow the wolf passage. "Come on in."

"Y-yeah okay," Charlie stammered. Glancing back to the driveway, he waved to the person waiting there in his car. The figure inside gave a nod and a wave, and began to pull out. Must be his dad, Zack internalized as the wolf passed through the doorway. He saw Charlie stop abruptly as he spotted the other jackals in the living room watching him.

Should probably introduce them before this gets awkward. Zack closed the door and joined them in the living room. "Charlie, these are my parents, and this is Seth. Everyone, this is Charlie."

Geoff stepped forward first with a pleasant smile on his muzzle. "Nice to meet you, Charlie. I'm Zackery's father."

Charlie, looking just a little bit intimidated by the jackal's size, took the proffered paw and shook it. "Heh, nice to meet you too," he said shakily.

Karen moved forward as well and shook the wolf's paw. "It really is great to finally meet you! We'll have to catch up later if you have time before you leave."

While they talked, Zack glanced behind his parents to find Seth standing still in the back, just watching the wolf with a glint of suspicion. He caught Seth's eye and gave him an exasperated look, silently nodding toward the conversation taking place between them. Say something, damnit!

_ _ And he did say something, though maybe not what Zack anticipated. "I think it's time for me to go," Seth announced, moving towards the door.

That got Geoff's attention. "Okay, I'm coming." As he picked up his keys from the table, he said to Charlie, "That's Seth by the way, one of our younger sons. Sorry he can't be here today. He's spending some time with a friend today."

Charlie's ears flicked as he said politely, "It's okay, I understand."

Geoff gave him a smile and followed his son out the door, shutting it behind him.

Zack chose that moment to speak up. "Uh, I think we should get started too." He turned to Charlie. "I'll take your clothes if you want. Go ahead and wait in the garage. I'll be out in a minute."

Charlie nodded wordlessly, handing over the bag of clothes. He gave Karen another nervous glance, and went back out through the front door.

Karen chuckled after he had gone. "He's cute. Cuter than that fox."

Zack groaned. "Ma, please. You're embarrassing me!"

"That's my job, isn't it?" Karen teased, her smile still sweet as ever. Then on a serious note, she continued, "But don't let me keep you. You two have fun."

Zack sighed in relief. "Thank you." As he took a brief detour to the kitchen to grab his water bottle, his mother got one last word in.

"Don't forget to tell him he's welcome to stay for lunch!"

"Sure, Ma!" Zack shouted back. As he headed to the stairs he told her, "We'll be done in an hour or so!" Without waiting for a response, he went upstairs and put the clothes on his bed. Then he went back down and out the front door, heading to the garage. There he found Charlie standing there awkward as ever, admiring the jackal's custom gym setup that was inside. He stood mere inches from the entrance but didn't go in, as if afraid to touch any of Zack's precious equipment. His ears perked as Zack approached, his tail swishing gently behind him.

Leaning on the brick wall of the house, Zack crossed his arms. "How's your day been?" He offered politely.

Charlie seemed a bit surprised at the question. "Well, it's only noon so..." The wolf appeared deep in thought as he scratched the back of his head. "We'll see," he concluded.

Zack let out a puff of air from his nose. "Fair enough. You ready?"

Charlie glanced at the gym equipment and back again. "As ready as I'll ever be..." The wolf certainly didn't seem very confident. We'll have to work on that.

"Good." Zack stood up straight with a clap of his paws. "So! First things first: we need to stretch."

Charlie blinked. "Oh. I thought we were gonna do pushups or something..."

"We are. We'll get to that." This pup's got a lot to learn. "But it's always important to stretch first before you start your routine. That way you don't pull a muscle and hurt yourself."

Charlie nodded before looking away. "I knew that..." He mumbled sheepishly.

Zack walked up and gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder. That seemed to comfort him somewhat, because his fluffy white tail gave another swish that Zack felt on his legs. The jackal walked a small distance away and brought his arm across his chest, holding it there for a bit before switching arms.

"Go ahead and do whatever stretches you want," Zack instructed. His eyes were directed elsewhere as he bent down to reach for his toes. "We can measure your flexibility later. I want to focus on something else for now."

Charlie complied, and the two spent the next couple minutes in silence as they stretched their muscles to prepare for their routine. The situation might have been awkward had their minds not been elsewhere at the time. As he stretched, Zack thought over the routine he had planned for that day, hoping it wouldn't be too much for the poor wolf. He really was rather scrawny; Zack sincerely hoped he didn't end up hurting himself.

After he finished stretching, Zack turned to the wolf, who eagerly straightened when he noticed he was watching.

"Okay, so now we're going to take a jog around the neighborhood," Zack announced.

Charlie gulped. "You mean...the whole neighborhood?"

"Yep!" Zack walked down to the sidewalk, the wolf following him. "Just follow me. The route we're taking is about a mile long. Don't worry, as long as you keep a decent pace, it shouldn't be too bad."

The words seemed to cheer him up a little as they moved into position. Despite his encouragement, Zack wanted to get this part of the routine over with relatively quickly. It was a particularly hot day today, and he was eager to get back under some shade.

"Remember, just follow me and keep up," said Zack. Charlie had to stand behind due to lack of sufficient space on the sidewalk for the both of them. "Okay. Ready...set...go!"

Zack kicked off with a burst of speed, propelling himself easily across the pavement. He could hear Charlie's footfalls behind him clumsily clapping on the sidewalk. Without even looking, Zack could tell that the wolf's form was off, but he didn't say anything about it just yet. He wanted to finish the run first.

So off they went, jogging at a decent pace through the development. On occasion, Zack would glance behind him to make sure Charlie was doing alright. His form was clunky, but he seemed okay. That is, until about halfway through when he stopped altogether.

"Zack, wait!" Charlie stopped in his tracks with his paws on his knees, panting heavily. His white fur glistened with sweat. "I need a break! Can we -"

"No!" Zack immediately turned around and pushing the wolf's back, urging him forward. "Don't stop. Never stop! Speed walk with me, let's go!"

"But I -" Charlie was hopelessly out of breath, but he managed to get moving again, though a bit sluggishly. "I need some water..."

"You can drink water when we get back, I promise." Zack brought their pace to a speedy walk, still plenty enough to keep the blood flowing. He truly felt sorry for the wolf, remembering back to when he used to have a lot of trouble with the mile run. "But whatever you do, don't stop. Not only are you padding your time, you're making it harder for yourself. By stopping, you're tricking your body into thinking it's done, which means it's harder to get going again."

"I...I..." The wolf couldn't barely get a full sentence out due to how heavily he was panting. He blinked in the hot sun. "I'm sorry..."

Zack frowned and gave him a gentle shake on the shoulder. "It's okay, don't be so hard on yourself. This is what you're here for after all."

About fifteen minutes later, they arrived back at the house. Charlie was out of breath again after his trainer had convinced him to jog the last quarter mile or so, and he gulped down half his water immediately after collapsing onto his back in the shade of the garage. Zack wasn't sure how long the entire run had taken, but he knew it was much longer than his usual time. They would have to work on that.

Zack brought up a paw to shield his eyes from the sun. It really was blisteringly hot today. He could feel his black fur absorbing the heat and making it even worse, an abundance of sweat clinging to his body but doing little to cool him off. The tight workout shirt he wore was absorbing heat as well, trapping said perspiration against his body and preventing it from reaching the open air.

I chose a bad day to wear black...

_ _ This wouldn't do. With a grunt, Zack peeled the tight shirt off his body, exposing his torso to the sun. Ahhh, that's better. He used the balled-up shirt in his paw to mop off some of the sweat off his muscles. This caused his fur to smooth over some, further accentuating his musculature. He felt the gentle breeze that kissed his sweat-soaked body, letting out a sigh in satisfaction. Zack gave his chest and abs an appreciative flex, relishing in his newfound comfort.

Zack turned back to see Charlie staring at him in shock. Having sat up against the brick wall, the wolf was gawking openly at his bare torso, eyes wide and muzzle slightly agape. Zack grinned and walked up to him, the wolf's eyes becoming wider as he approached. He didn't even notice Zack was standing right in front of him, seemingly off in his own world.

Zack snapped his fingers to get the wolf's attention. "Eyes up here, pup."

Charlie blinked in surprise and looked up. Those green eyes met his and were suddenly filled with fear as he blushed. "Oh my god, I'm s-sorry!" He tried to get up and leave, but Zack stopped him with a paw on his shoulder.

"Don't be sorry. If I'm offended, I'll let you know." Zack turned the wolf around to lock eyes with him, the grin still lingering on his muzzle. "I appreciate the attention, but try not to stare in public alright?"

The jackal's teasing only flustered him even further. "I - uh..." Charlie stammered and looked away. "Sorr - okay."

Zack chuckled in amusement and stepped into the garage. "So, you ready to do some pushups?"

"Already? I'm still worn out from all that running."

"We'll take a break after we do these and the sit-ups, I promise." Zack beckoned him into the garage, where the wolf wearily followed. He stood back and crossed his arms. "Alright, let's see what you can do."

Charlie got down on the hard floor and got into position. Immediately the jackal snapped, "Back straight."

"Huh?" The wolf didn't seem to know what he meant, so Zack knelt down with him and placed a paw on his back. Charlie flinched at the contact, but said nothing.

"Shift your weight back towards your feet. And lift your ass a little. A little more...there." Zack watched as the wolf was already straining in his position. Frowning, he moved forward to sit right in front of him. "Okay. Go ahead."

Arms shaking, the wolf brought his body down close to the floor and back up again, and repeated the process. Zack observed him carefully as he slowly progressed, offering advice along the way. Charlie didn't get very far, though, for he locked his arms after his fifth pushup, holding his body high above the ground.

Zack snapped into action. He quickly got down on his paws as well, holding the same position the wolf was in. "Two more. You can do it."

Charlie gasped as his arms strained to hold his weight. "I can't -"

"Don't talk, just do it," Zack instructed. "Come on, let's go. Down..."

The wolf shakily brought his weight down again, Zack going down with him. Still maintaining eye contact and not showing a hint of strain, the jackal pushed himself up.

"Up. Good. One more time." Zack did one more pushup in sync with the wolf before Charlie collapsed in exhaustion. He waited few moments for the wolf to catch his breath before he spoke up again.

"You did good. But your form was a little off." Zack readied himself while Charlie sat up on the weight bench and watched. "I'm going to do my own pushups now, and I want you to watch my form as I do so. Form is key."

Without hesitation, Zack began pushing his body up and down considerably faster than Charlie had and without strain. He showed no sign of exhaustion as he pushed himself past Charlie's record of seven...past ten...past twenty! He could almost feel the wolf's amazement as he effortlessly pumped his arms, his eyes staring straight ahead and his back perfectly level with the rest of his body. Zack pushed his count to an impressive forty before he finally stopped.

Charlie gaped at him as the jackal got off the ground. "How'd you do that?!"

"Like I said: form is key." Zack flexed his arms a little after the strain he had put on them. "Not only to make it easier, it also prevents you from getting hurt. And I've had plenty of practice, too." Zack beckoned his closer. "Come on. Let's get these sit-ups out of the way and then we can take a break."

Charlie nodded reluctantly and laid on the ground with his knees bent. Zack held his feet so that they wouldn't move and gave him the green light.

"Go ahead. Whenever you're ready."

Charlie put his paws behind his head and tensed his stomach, lifting with all his might. The wolf bent his torso until his chin rose above his knees and descended back down. He seemed to be having more trouble with every repetition he completed.

All the while, Zack was staring at him intently, dark blue eyes analyzing his every move. He watched those green eyes coming closer every time the wolf came up, seeing Charlie's face strain with effort. The sight reminded him of the two new paintings that he had hung up on his bedroom wall...

It took Zack a moment to realize that the wolf had finished. Charlie rested on his back panting heavily while the jackal still held his feet.

Zack blinked. "How much did you do?"

Charlie took a couple gulps of air before replying. "Eight!" He gasped.

Still on the low side... "That's good. We can work with that." Zack now lied down on the floor and began his own sit-ups. "You can go ahead and take a break. I'll go get us a snack after I'm done, then I'll join you."

Charlie nodded and went back out to grab his water bottle, taking a hefty gulp of the liquid. Zack meanwhile powered through his sit-ups, once again reaching his goal of forty and getting up again.

"Be right back," he said heading into the house through the rear door.

He arrived back moments later with two granola bars in his paw. "Catch," said Zack, tossing one to the wolf who caught it easily. He sat down next to Charlie against a section of bare wall in the shade.

"You doin' all right?"

Charlie nodded while drinking his water. "I'll be fine," he said after swallowing. "It's just a lot of work, that's all."

"You'll get used to it," said Zack. "Or maybe not," he chuckled at the wolf's glare.

Charlie began wolfing down the granola bar as he talked. "I'll never get used to this. I don't know how you do it."

Zack shrugged. "I guess it's 'cause I am used to it. That, and it's fun." He looked over at Charlie. "You ever done something difficult 'cause you liked it? How about drawing? You do that a lot, right?"

"Well yeah, but that's different," said Charlie as he gazed out onto the street. "I've been drawing since I was a pup. And I don't really notice how hard it is at times because it's just...fun..."

Zack smirked. "See? It don't matter if it's hard if you like it enough." He sat silent for a moment before giving the wolf a nudge. "I'm curious, though. How did you decide to start drawing? Never thought someone like you would be into that."

An almost-offended look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

A shrug from the jackal.

Charlie shook his head. "I don't really know. I mean...I guess it wasn't really a conscious decision. Like I said, I always enjoyed it as a pup and my mom just kept buying me art supplies because she knew I liked it. That's pretty much it." He smirked a little as he looked over at Zack. "How about you? Never thought someone like you would be into art."

Zack gave a small scowl at the remark, but shook it off. "Nothing exciting here either. Went to my first art class in elementary and enjoyed it, so I did it some more on my own. Later on, I found out I was actually good at it. So here I am."

"Huh," the wolf sounded interestedly. "I have to say, I'm kinda surprised you're not on the football team or something instead."

"I'm a bit of a jock, I know." Zack took a drink of water before continuing. "But the sports teams at school just aren't for me. I do what I want."

"But don't you ever get weird looks from other people in the club?" Charlie asked curiously. "I mean, you really don't seem the artsy type...has anyone ever said something about it?"

Zack shook his head. "I stopped giving a fuck long ago," he said with a sigh. "Life's too short to be worrying about that crap. If you wanna do it, just do it. Ain't nobody got the right to stop ya."

The silence from the wolf made him look over. Charlie was staring at him again, but this time with a look of contemplative interest. "What?"

Charlie blinked and looked away. "Nothing. Just thinking."

Zack thought of pressing him, but decided against it. He sighed and stood up. "You ready to get this last part out of the way?"

"I guess." Charlie scarfed down the last of his granola bar and stood as well. "What are we doing?"

"Benching. My favorite part, personally." Zack went into the garage with the wolf following behind.

"You first," Zack said, inspecting the selection of weights he had on the rack. After careful consideration, he chose a low amount of weight to put on the bar, which he did so with ease. Charlie sat patiently on the bench, looking a little worried as the bar was loaded.

Noticing his hesitation, Zack spoke up. "Don't worry, I'm your spotter. I've got you if you mess up."

That seemed to the wolf's anxiety for the time being. He lied back on the bench and gripped the bar tightly. Zack moved over behind him and got into position.

"Whenever you're ready."

Charlie glanced up at him and back to the bar in confusion. "Just...lift it?"

Zack nodded. "Yep. And do it slowly. Don't want to get hurt."

The wolf tightened his grip and slowly lifted the bar off its supports and over his head.

Zack observed his actions with careful eyes. "Good, good. Now bring it down more, over your chest...there you go. Now bring it down...slow and steady...good, now back up..."

Once Charlie finished his first rep, he seemed to have the basic premise down, although his arms were a bit shaky. Understandable, as this was his first time, but Zack was a bit worried for the wolf. He knew by now that the wolf was lacking a lot of strength in his body and wasn't in great shape, so he was ready to spring into action at any moment. Zack kept his paws underneath the bar as Charlie lifted, just barely supporting it just in case things went south.

After only five reps, it was clear the wolf was struggling. Charlie was sweating bullets and each lift took longer and longer to complete, his arms became more and more shaky by the second. After one particularly violent shudder, Zack's eyes went wide as he went to grab the bar.

"You're done. Put it back."

"No, wait!" Charlie said through gritted teeth. He seemed bound and determined to get in more reps despite his obvious exhaustion. "I can do more -"

"No. You're done. Put it back," Zack snapped, taking on more of the weight and lifting the bar back onto the support.

Charlie jumped up and glared at him angrily. "Why'd you do that?! I could've done more!"

"No you couldn't!" Zack said with eyes narrowed. "You were about to hurt yourself!"

"No I wasn't -"

"Charlie!" Zack placed both paws on the wolf's shoulders and looked him in the eye. "Trust me. I've seen people get hurt because they tried to take on too much. It's not pretty and I don't want that to happen to you, okay?"

Charlie slumped and hung his head. "I just wanted to try and do some more."

"I understand. Really, I do." Zack spoke in a rumbling, yet comforting tone. "But remember, we're here to help you improve. Not to show off."

Charlie nodded. "I know. I'm sorry," he mumbled.

Zack sighed and shook his head. "We're done for today. You can use my shower if you want."

"Wait," said Charlie. "Aren't you going to lift too?"

Zack frowned. "Yeah, I figured I'd finish up while you go clean up."

"Oh," said Charlie, looking disappointed. "Um...could I watch?"

"Uh..." Zack wasn't quite sure why the inquiry had him so flustered. Usually he was happy to show off, but somehow this wolf was different. "Sure, I guess," he managed.

Charlie's expression brightened. "Great! I'll just...wait for you to load up all your weights, hehe..."

The wolf's awkwardness made Zack chuckle as he crossed to the rack, adding considerably more weight to the bar. As he laid down on the bench, he asked, "Hey, you mind spotting me?"

Charlie was taken aback. "What, me? I don't think I can hold all that weight..."

Zack shook his head. "You won't have to. I'll do most of the heavy lifting. All you have to do is make sure I don't drop it."

"Okay..." Charlie said uncertainly as he moved behind the bar. "Well, I'm ready when you are I guess."

Zack began without hesitation, grabbing the bar and lifting it with a small grunt. His chest and arms tensed as his muscles strained under the weight. The jackal soon established the familiar steady rhythm, down...up...down...up. Charlie in the meantime watched in absolute awe, still and slack-jawed. His eyes remained glued to Zack as his arms pumped up and bulged with power. He was still sweating heavily as well, giving his black fur a slight shine that accentuated the contours of his muscles.

CLANG!!!

_ _ Zack finished quite quickly, putting the bar back on its support with a loud metallic thud. He sat up and rolled his shoulders.

"Hell yeah!" Zack said with a couple of thumps to his chest. "That pump never gets old!"

"That was amazing!" Charlie breathed. "Do you do all this for your normal workout? Every day?"

Zack shrugged. "Kind of. I change it up to exercise different muscles, but yeah. I try to do this every day." He stood and faced Charlie. "Alright, you should probably shower now. You can use mine if you want. I'm gonna go do another short run and I'll be inside. Everything you need is there; your clothes are on my bed. My room's upstairs and all the way down the hall."

Charlie seemed rather surprised that the jackal would be going on yet another run after such a vigorous workout, but said nothing on the matter. "Okay, um...have a good run?"

"Thanks," said Zack. Before the wolf could leave, he added, "Hey, Charlie? You did good today."

Charlie grinned. "Thanks!"

Zack gave a smile back and shooed him away. "Now go on. The shower's waiting." Then over his shoulder as he turned to leave, "Oh, and Ma said you can stay for lunch if you want. She might be in the kitchen by the time you're finished."

Charlie nodded. "Okay, thanks." With that, he turned and went back into the house, tail swishing in a cute serpentine fashion behind him.

Zack chuckled and continued out onto the sidewalk, bringing himself to a healthy jogging pace.

Heh, cute.

...............................

After his shower, Zack came downstairs to find the dining room empty. He instead found his parents, Tristan, and Charlie outside, sitting at a plastic picnic table they had brought out. On the table were small triangle-cut sandwiches of varying types, mostly containing deli meats and cheeses. On the side was a large bag of potato chips and a large pitcher of lemonade.

Charlie gave him a strange look as he approached, as if he had just sprouted a second head.

"What?"

"You're not wearing black."

Zack glanced down at the clothes he was wearing, a pair of khaki shorts with a white polo that contrasted against his black fur. He gave a shrug as he sat down next to the wolf.

"You find everything okay?"

"Yeah," said Charlie. "Nothing was too hard to find."

"Good."

"Oh, by the way," said the wolf, giving him a curious look. "I saw some of your art in your room - it was hung up; I wasn't looking through your stuff!" He interjected as Zack rose an eyebrow. "One of your pictures...it looked like a wolf, with green eyes. Was that me?"

Zack froze while grabbing a sandwich, feeling his face heat up. He gave the wolf a glance - just briefly, before going back to his lunch. "Maybe. I needed inspiration."

As he took a bite of his sandwich, he could see out of the corner of his eye that Charlie's goofy smile was back.

Karen cut in. "Aww, that's sweet. So how did you two meet?"

It seemed the burning of his cheeks wasn't going away. "At the art club," Zack responded.

"Oh, do you do art as well?" Karen said, looking at the wolf interestedly.

Charlie nodded. "Mhmm. I mostly draw."

"Oh, that's cool! You two should do a piece together!"

Zack looked up and met her eyes, bringing up a paw with his fingers closed and mimicked a slicing motion across his neck. Karen pursed her lips in disappointment, but fell silent.

Geoff quickly broke the silence with another question toward Charlie. "So what else do you do for fun, Charlie?"

The wolf shrugged. "Nothing really. I don't really have time for much else."

The larger jackal nodded in understanding. "I know that feeling. I did a lot of stuff with the band in high school, so I didn't have a lot of extra time either." Geoff gave a noncommittal shrug with a smile. "What can I say? I was a bit of a nerd back then."

"Still are," Karen murmured behind her cup, causing everyone to snort through their food.

Geoff rolled his eyes. "My point is, it's okay to do what you enjoy. Just don't be afraid to try new things." He reached over to shake Zack's shoulder. "We tried to get Zack into theatre a while back, but he didn't like it."

"Ooh ooh, I like it!" Tristan piped up suddenly, his eyes shining with childish glee. "I'm in the school play this year!"

"Tristan! Don't interrupt," Karen admonished him despite Zack and Charlie's amusement.

"Sorry..."

"What play are you doing?" Charlie asked.

"The Lion King!" The light in the young jackal's eyes returned instantly. "I get to be a hyena; I'm so excited! But I need to memorize my lines still..."

"I can help you, if you want," Zack offered.

"Nope!" Tristan chirped, sticking his tongue out. "I want it to be a surprise."

Charlie chuckled out loud, Zack looking over at him and shaking his head with an amused grin.

The meal continued in this fashion, the Bailey family and Charlie talking about this and that, the parents occasionally asking the wolf something about school or his art, with some interjections of friendly banter brightening the mood. As the meal progressed, Zack would periodically shift his gaze over to the wolf, finding himself thinking that Charlie may become a family favorite before long.

After a while, the doorbell rang inside the house.

"That must be my dad," said Charlie, rising out of his seat.

"I'll go with you," said Geoff, getting up as well. Zack followed them both into the house.

They opened the front door to reveal an older white wolf, presumably Charlie's father.

"Good afternoon, sir!" Geoff said pleasantly. "You're Charlie's father, yes?"

"Indeed," said the wolf, shaking Geoff's paw. "And please, call me David."

"Of course. I'm Geoff, Zack's father." He motioned toward the younger jackal. "And this is Zack." Zack waved with a brief "hello."

"Nice to meet you. My son didn't cause too much trouble, I hope," David said with a chuckle.

"Oh, not at all! He was a pleasure to have over." Geoff smiled at Charlie. "You're welcome back anytime, son."

"Speaking of which, how does next week sound?" Zack inquired to Charlie. "Same time?"

The wolf nodded. "Yeah, sounds great!"

Geoff smiled warmly. "Good to hear." He scratched his chin in contemplation. "Ah, I can hardly remember the last time we had someone over. Who was the last person to visit, Zack?"

Zack repressed a frown. "My ex."

"Ah, that's right," said Geoff, his cheerful demeanor faltering somewhat. "That didn't exactly go over well, did it?"

Zack shrugged. "His fault, not mine."

He thought he saw something flash in David's eyes after that last comment, but he couldn't tell what.

"Mhmm, I suppose." Geoff shook off his frown and the smile returned. "In any case, you're always welcome back; our door's always open."

Charlie grinned. "Thanks! See you on Monday, Zack."

Zack grinned back and waved. "Yep, see ya."

Once the door closed, the jackal moved to a window to watch them leave. Their car had just pulled away from the house when his father spoke from behind him.

"You like him, don't you?"

Zack turned around to see his father standing there with his arms crossed, much like he did often himself.

Unsure of what to say, he settled with an ambiguous "maybe."

Geoff sighed and gazed out at the spot the wolves' car had just been. When his eyes returned to his son, they were filled with concern. "Listen, if you get involved with him, I won't have a problem with it. Your mother and I are actually really happy for you." His eyes narrowed, but still held a hint of worry. "Just be careful, okay? Remember what happened with Alex?"

Zack averted his gaze, looking out the window again. "Yeah, I'll be careful. I promise."

_ How could I forget..._