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Chapter Five - The Fen and the Fastness

There's smoke down by the river,

hear the cannon and the drums.

Even if I die I've got to try,

can you run?

Can you run to the freedom line

of the Lincoln soldiers?

Where the contraband can be a man

with a musket on his shoulders.

~ The Steeldrivers - Can You Run

July 2, 1863

Bedford County, Pennsylvania

"Leave it," Flynn said.

Calvin looked at Flynn, who was sitting on the damp moss and fern underbrush recessed in an alcove under a slight granite overhang.

"Don't put it back on. Leave it there and let the forest have it."

Calvin had just taken off the gray Confederate coat he'd been wearing as his disguise and dropped in on the forest floor. They were deep in the woods, somewhere west of Chambersburg in the ridge and valley land of the western approaches to the Appalachian Mountains, but Calvin didn't know exactly where.

Calvin wasn't familiar with this land like he was with the Cumberland Valley. Still, he had made good progress; if he had to estimate he'd say they made it a good 40 miles during the night. It was safer to travel at night while hiding and sleeping during the day, at least while they had the ability to do so. The moon had begun its waning phase but it was still nearly full. It would provide enough light to allow travel by night for at least the next few days.

"It doesn't look so good on you anyway," Flynn said with a smile.

Calvin returned a smile and chuckled slightly, walked over to where Flynn was sitting and sat down next to him. They rested in silence for a moment as the forest around them was awakening. The first tenuous light of morning was breaking, sending the fog scattering for another day. The eastern song sparrows and Carolina wrens in the trees all around them were beginning to awaken and joyously greet the dawn.

Flynn leaned his head on Calvin's shoulder. It wasn't something he'd have been able to do a few days ago, but without his left antler he no longer had to worry about accidentally poking him. Calvin wrapped his arm around Flynn and rested his hand on his head.

"How's your leg?"

"About the same. It still hurts a lot."

"Have you looked under the bandage?"

Calvin was very worried about Flynn's leg getting infected.

"Yeah, I did a little while ago, while you were feeding the horse. It doesn't look bad. I mean, not considering. I think I'll be okay. I really do. I think it just needs time. Some time and some rest."

"Yeah... so spending all night riding on horseback probably isn't the best thing for it." Calvin replied. He sighed before continuing, "I don't know where we're going Flynn. We're just running now. I don't have a plan. I never did. I'm sorry."

"Hey. Don't apologize any more," Flynn said with his eyes closed leaning on Calvin's shoulder, feeling safe in his arms. "Yesterday you said you wanted to earn my forgiveness, remember? Well, I forgive you. I said it, so there. That's it! Now your 'sorry' days are done!"

Calvin smiled again. He had the tendency to retreat into his own mind in stressful situations, second-guessing every decision and becoming depressed thinking about all the missteps he'd made. Flynn was proving to be very skilled at not letting him slip into that mental state.

"Just like that?" Calvin asked.

"Just like," Flynn said as he snapped his fingers. "That!"

Calvin heard him, but he still found it difficult to let it go. After what he'd done, could Flynn really just forgive him so easily?

"But I nearly killed you... and I nearly abandoned you."

"But you didn't. And you didn't. You only shot at me after I shot at you, anyway. Did you forget that?" Flynn said. "I know I'm a terrible shot, but I _did_shoot at you first. Do you want me to apologize for that?"

"No, I... I don't," Calvin paused, thinking about the moment when Flynn was aiming his rifle at him. He'd sincerely wished to be hit and killed then, right then and there.

"So I don't want you to say sorry either just because you're a better shot than me," Flynn said.

Flynn opened his eyes and turned up to look Calvin in the face. Calvin likewise looked down at the deer leaning on his shoulder. Their eyes locked.

"I shot at you because I was scared. I didn't know you. But now I do," Flynn said, letting the last words linger.

A feeling swept both of them then, the same one they'd felt the day before in Dr. Russell's drawing room as Flynn lay on the cot. It felt as though an unseen but unstoppable current was bringing them together, drawing them closer. Closer. Their eyes closed. Their lips met.

Flynn felt the electricity again as Calvin's tongue slipped into his mouth. It was the same warm tingling as when Calvin had kissed him and said goodbye. But this time there was no interruption, there was no planned departure, no goodbye.

Flynn sucked on it for a brief moment before opening his mouth further, leaning into the kiss not just with his mouth but with his whole body. His tongue slid along Calvin's, over it and under. He felt the sharp ridges of Calvin's canine teeth, so different from his own. He moaned slightly as Calvin sucked briefly on his lower lip. He pulled it away solely to push it back.

Neither Calvin or Flynn had any real experience - not with kissing, not with sex, not with anything. Flynn had truly never known the touch of another man, and Calvin's experience was limited to his one disastrous encounter with a minister's son. But what they lacked in experience they made up for in pure passion.

Calvin felt Flynn's hand on the back of his head, pulling him into their frenzied kissing. Flynn's other hand was on his side, gliding through his gray fur before it trailed onto his stomach. It paused slightly over the ridge of each of his abdominal muscles before feeling its way up to his chest.

"Nnnhh..." Flynn moaned into Calvin's mouth as he groped the gray wolf, hands wandering aimlessly over Calvin's body.

Calvin's hands likewise explored Flynn. He'd slid one behind the blue deer's head and over the nub of his left antler he'd shot off days before. His other felt Flynn's body, following the slight contour of his back over the light cotton shirt Flynn was wearing down onto his upturned tail. It was totally unlike his, so much shorter, but like all of Flynn's other features - his slight but toned build, his adorably cute cervine face, his sexy cloven hooves - Calvin found it inexplicably alluring and enticing.

Flynn moaned again as Calvin slid his hand further down, squeezing his ass cheek firmly through the canvas pants the doctor had found for him. Calvin knew what was in those pants, what he'd seen in the doctor's house before Flynn woke up. And in his own pants his pink canine tip was beginning to emerge from his sheath.

God, he's perfect, Calvin thought, sliding his hand further down Flynn's leg.

"Gyahh!" Flynn winced in pain, abruptly pulling away from Calvin. Calvin had run his hand over Flynn's thigh, over the bandaged bullet wound beneath his pants.

"Oh jeez, Flynn, I'm sorry! I forgot about..."

Flynn didn't let him finish before he dove back into the kiss. Calvin closed his eyes, accepting him eagerly. After a few seconds Flynn began leaning back, inviting the wolf to follow the kiss and his body down on top of him, down onto the soft moss.

There was a small voice deep in Flynn's head screaming words of caution.This is happening too fast, it said. You don't know him! You only met him a few days ago, and he nearly killed you! This is dangerous, Flynn! This is reckless! But as Calvin followed him down onto the ground, that small voice was immediately silenced. In his entire life Flynn had never met another like himself; as far as he knew he was the only one in the world who was that way, who_really_ was, and not just one of those mythical sinners the preacher in the valley talked about on Sundays, or the punchline of a joke told by one of the boys at the schoolhouse, or the hypothetical perpetrator of "crimes against God and nature" his father spoke of. It seemed to Flynn that most everyone hated him - or _would_if they knew who he was. What he was. It was a secret he had to be very, very careful with. So he'd never met another, not ever.

Now here was Calvin. All 6'4" of him, all muscle and warmth and passion, and he was clearly of the same mind as Flynn. _Very_clearly. How could he turn that away? And what was the alternative? No, Flynn thought, this isn't danger. Go away, thoughts of doubt, there's no danger here - this is the safest I've ever been.

Flynn wrapped both his arms around Calvin's back, guiding him down onto him as their lips remained locked. Calvin lowered himself gently, not wanting to graze Flynn's leg again. For a moment he lay half on Flynn, chest to chest and hungrily kissing him, but with his lower body to Flynn's right side to avoid hurting his leg.

That didn't last long.

Calvin lifted one of his legs over Flynn, dropping his knee on the other side of the deer onto the soft mossy earth underneath the granite overhang. He gently lowered the rest of his body down onto Flynn, careful to avoid his injury while they continued kissing, feeling each other. Flynn was pulling him closer, tighter, while Calvin held Flynn's head with both hands, one wrapped around his intact antler and the other sensually stroking Flynn's cervine ear. Their tongues continued to dance.

Neither of them could say when it started, but with Calvin on top of Flynn, straddling him, Calvin had started to grind his pelvis in a slow, gentle motion. They both had bulges clearly visible in their pants, the tips of their respective penises emerging from their sheaths and pressing desperately against the fabric containing them, yearning for each other.

Flynn slid his hands down Calvin's back and onto his ass as Calvin's thrusts became more deliberate. He squeezed Calvin's butt with both hands, feeling the powerful muscles flexing and relaxing.

Calvin broke their kiss and looked down lustfully at Flynn while rocking his hips, eyes half closed and tongue lolling out of his mouth. Flynn looked up at the wolf on top of him with the same expression.

"I'm gonna..." Calvin said as he quickened the pace of his dry-humping, grinding bulge against bulge through the fabric of their pants.

Flynn darted one hand off of Calvin's ass down to where their bulges met. He was getting close too. He wanted to feel it.

"Ohhh..." Calvin moaned as he came in his pants. Flynn felt Calvin's canine cock twitching under the fabric and felt the wetness bleeding through. He had begun bucking up into Calvin in time with his thrusts, and as he felt the wolf's cock for the first time he couldn't contain his own orgasm any longer. Flynn came in his own pants, his balls draining into the fabric. Unlike Calvin's ejaculations which, like all canines, came in a long series of small spurts, Flynn's came in just a few massive gushes. In seconds his pants were soaked, filled with his own thick deer cum.

Flynn felt Calvin's hot breath on him slowing as they both returned to their senses. Clumsy, messy, unfamiliar, unplanned - it was the first sexual experience either of them had ever had.

"God... Flynn..."

Calvin's train of thought trailed off, unable to find the words for it.

"Mmm... Calvin..." Flynn responded in a low, sensual voice. "Maybe next time we'll even manage to get our clothes off."

Calvin laughed as he wrapped his arms around the deer laying on the soft ground beneath him, hugging him tightly. Flynn laughed too as he embraced the wolf.

The sun crested over the hills to the east of their tryst as they lay in each others arms, the guileless smiles of new experience on their faces beaming as they held on to each other deep in the forest. No, they didn't know where they were going, but as they fell asleep to wait out the sunlight and travel in secret for another night they knew they'd get there together.

• -

Flynn was still asleep, clinging tightly to Calvin when the wolf opened his eyes. The sun was almost set and they should be back on the road soon but he decided to let Flynn sleep for a while longer - with his wound healing he needed as much sleep as he could get.

When Flynn awoke they'd spent some time kissing and groping each other before doing anything else. They couldn't help themselves. After that they ate. They'd already gone through a surprising portion of the small amount of hard tack and dried meat Calvin had managed to take with them before he was interrupted by Sgt. Thayer, so they'd have to think of something soon for food.

Once they'd eaten they decided to wash their pants and underwear in a creek nearby, since they were still dirty from their escapades before they slept. The prospect of starting their ride through the night with wet pants wasn't especially appealing, but it was better than the alternative. Initially Flynn tried to hop on one hoof to make it to the creek, but they both found it easier for Calvin to just carry him on his back. They stole coy glances at each other as they washed their pants without any pretense.

The night ride through the deep woods was uneventful. Flynn was consistently amazed by Calvin's skill with the horse, guiding her expertly through the forest in the dim moonlight. By the time the first hint of morning appeared they had traveled west a solid 60 miles.

They stopped on the bank of a stream that ran through the heavily forested hills of western Pennsylvania. The stream was too small and the water flowed too quickly and tumultuously over the granite and gneiss boulders scattered on the streambed for them to need to worry about traffic, and the sandy embankment they'd found was tucked too closely into the surrounding trees and roots for them to be seen by unlikely passers-by until they were almost upon them. With the dense summer canopy of the deep woods over it all, they could likely stay in this spot for months without a soul knowing they were there.

On the far side of the sandy embankment the stream cascaded over rocks. The effluence created eddies at the base of the rapids, which had dug out and cleared the sand on the streambed and created a small pool of still water that was half a dozen feet deep.

Flynn got down off the horse before Calvin did and hopped on his right hoof to the edge of the water. He'd found that, although he joked about it initially, it actually was easier for him to just hop on one leg than try to use a crutch, at least for short distances.

Calvin's jaw dropped. Flynn had begun stripping off his shirt, then his pants. In just seconds he was completely nude save for the bandage on his leg, and without any hesitation he dove into the cool, clear water of the pool.

"Flynn!" Calvin screamed, quickly dismounting the horse and running to the water's edge. Flynn was still submerged.

"Flynn!!" he screamed again with panic in his voice, his heart racing, fearing for Flynn's safety but not daring to wade into the water himself.

Flynn emerged from underwater with a splash, a broad smile on his face.

"Jump in! Come on, jump in Calvin!" Flynn yelled to him excitedly.

But Calvin didn't respond, and then Flynn noticed the expression on his face.

"What's wrong, are you okay?" Flynn asked, his own face furrowing with concern.

"I... I never..."

"What?"

"I can't swim."

Now it was Flynn whose jaw was dropping. He looked at Calvin as if he'd said he was from the moon.

"_What??_Are you serious? You can't be serious."

Flynn could see the fear in Calvin's eyes.

"Oh my god, you're serious," Flynn said.

"I am. I can't swim."

Flynn paused and tilted his head.

"What kind of a canine can't swim? I thought you were born knowing how. Doggy paddle, you know? It's kind of a thing."

"Well... I can't. I just never learned."

"Why not?"

"It was never something you had to do where I grew up I guess."

Flynn could see there was more to it, it was written on Calvin's face clearly.

"And you're scared," he said.

Calvin looked down at the ground, blushing under his fur.

"Yeah. It's embarrassing but I've always been afraid of the water. I don't know why. It's just... what do they call it? It's like a 'phobia,' I guess that's what you'd call it. But whenever I see the water I always imagine falling in and sinking to the bottom and drowning. I don't know why that scares me so much but it always has."

"I didn't think you were afraid of anything," Flynn said.

"There's no one alive who isn't afraid of something."

Flynn felt a pebble stuck between the two prongs of his right hoof as he stood on one leg in the neck-high water. He leaned back slightly a lifted it up, floating temporarily while he pulled it out. He tossed it a few feet back into the water, sending ripples radiating outwards as it landed with a plunk.

"I was scared of you when I saw you the first time. Terrified," Flynn said. Calvin lifted his gaze and looked at Flynn with apologetic eyes. They both knew what Flynn meant; he didn't need to say any more. Calvin still felt regret and shame for that moment even though Flynn had forgiven him.

"But then I got to know you a little bit," Flynn continued. "And the more I got to know about you the less afraid I got. Then I got to know you even better and the fear left completely, and there was something else where it had been. Something wonderful that keeps getting better the better I know you. The water is like that too."

Flynn let the words sit for a moment before continuing. Calvin didn't reply. He was thinking on those words, what Flynn was saying and what he really meant.

"I could teach you to swim, Calvin. Right now."

Calvin's eyes widened. His aversion to the water was so great that he had never even tried to learn to swim. The thought of wading into the water with Flynn was terrifying.

"No, no... I... no, I can't..." he fumbled.

"Why not? Look, I can touch the bottom," Flynn said, hopping slightly, his head bobbing up in the water as he did. "It can't be more than five or six feet deep anywhere. Nothing bad can happen. If you get scared you just stand up."

Calvin swallowed nervously without responding.

"Do you trust me?"

"I..." Calvin responded, his throat dry and his heart pounding in his ears. "Yes. I do. I trust you."

He meant it, too. It was true that he'd only known Flynn for a few days, but he was just genuine and honest in a way Calvin hadn't known anyone to be except, perhaps, his cousin Lizzie. He couldn't explain it or rationalize it - maybe it was just the fact that he'd never had any sexual experiences before the awkward, clumsy dry-humping session he'd shared with the blue deer. If he was completely honest, that could be it. First times do strange things to your head. But he did trust Flynn.

"So trust me on this, Calvin. Nothing bad will happen. I won't let it."

He was right and Calvin knew that he was. The water was too shallow for him to sink down into it, and Flynn was clearly skilled and comfortable in the water. The only way to overcome this unfounded fear was to face it head on.

Calvin took a deep breath and took a step towards the edge of the stream, dipping his toes into the water.

"Hold on a second," Flynn said slyly, "you can't go swimming like_that_."

"What do you mean?" Calvin asked, confused.

"Your clothes... can't go swimming with those on! Ditch 'em..."

Calvin began blushing under his fur but offered no words of protest. Instead he turned around, feigning modesty, and slowly took off his thin cotton undershirt. Flynn's jaw dropped for a second time as he saw Calvin's back muscles underneath his fur flexing and twisting with just the simple act of removing his shirt.

Flynn felt himself starting to become aroused, the pointed tip of his cervine penis beginning to slide out of his sheath. He closed his mouth and lowered himself further into the water such that only his eyes, ears and antler were above the surface as Calvin unbuckled his_US_ belt buckle, took off his pants and threw them casually to the ground. He looked back over his shoulder at Flynn.

"You practicing being a frog?"

Flynn almost choked as he started laughing with his mouth underwater. Calvin was laughing too as he turned towards the water; he was trying to lighten the mood so that he wouldn't be so afraid of going in. Flynn's laughter dissipated somewhat as, for the first time, he got a full view of Calvin's naked body. Good god, he thought, I can see his muscles tightening under his fur with every laugh. He's as solid as Appalachian granite.

"Guess not, maybe not," Calvin said, his laughter trailing off. "So... how do I swim?"

Flynn started wading over to the edge of the pool where Calvin was standing, half swimming and half hopping on his right leg. In the water he could even put a slight amount of weight on his left leg, and it didn't hurt at all. He had been too excited when he jumped in the water initially to consider whether it was a good idea or not to submerge his wound, but the doctor had apparently done an excellent job closing it.

"Well, first... I'm not actually going to teach you to swim. Not right at first. Before you can swim you have to get comfortable in the water, not be afraid," Flynn said. "So... just walk in."

Calvin wasn't breathing, he was so tense he was holding his breath without realizing it. Flynn noticed.

"Calvin..." Flynn said. "Breathe. You'll be okay. I promise. I'm here. Trust me."

Calvin exhaled the breath he had unconsciously been holding and took a few deep breaths, then a few steps forward. The only sound was the water rushing over the rocks and flowing into the pool as Calvin closed his eyes and waded in.

Flynn watched as Calvin took labored, determined steps into the pool. The water covered his paws, then his hindheels, then his knees, his balls, his sheath, his waist. He'd kept his arms up and out of the water in a sort of tense boxer's pose. Calvin stopped for a moment, breathed in deeply and opened his eyes.

Flynn kissed him. Calvin melted immediately into the unexpected sensual assault, arms instinctively wrapping around Flynn's back. Flynn slid his arms behind Calvin, one on his back and one on his butt. He pulled the gray wolf closer, and as he did their exposed sheaths and balls brushed against each other.

Calvin slid one hand up to the back of Flynn's head and the other down to his ass as they kissed and groped each other passionately. Now the tip of Calvin's canine cock emerged from his sheath. It briefly slid across Flynn's nearly full erection under the cool water.

Flynn broke their kiss and looked into Calvin's eyes with a satisfied smile.

"See, the water's not so scary. Now..." Flynn said as he tried to pull Calvin down into the water on top of him.

But Calvin didn't budge. Flynn tried pulling him again with a bit more force, but he may as well have been trying to pull one of the oak trees surrounding them into the water.

"Flynn..." Calvin said, and Flynn saw the fear that was still in his eyes. Flynn realized his first strategy of just overpowering Calvin's fears with affection and lust while they were in the water wouldn't work, not really. He had to take a different approach.

"Hey, it's okay. You're doing good, it's okay to be scared," Flynn said as he let go of Calvin and took a step back. "Look, you're in the water! That's a lot of progress already!"

Calvin looked down, then back up at Flynn and smiled. It was the smile of being reassured by someone more skilled than yourself in an unsure situation. It was the smile of reassurance, the same kind of reassurance Flynn's father had denied him all those years ago that winter morning after he'd missed his shot at the feral wolf.

"Now, the first thing you have to know about swimming is that you can't fight the water. And I don't mean that just as a figure of speech either. You actually cannot fight the water, no one can. If you _try_to fight against the water then you've already lost. It's a game you lose as soon as you play it. So instead you have to work with it. And if you can't work with it, you have to just... not fight it. That's what we're going to work on first!"

Flynn leaned back into the water and lifted his leg off the streambed, floating on his back.

"You can only drown if you panic and try to fight the water. If you just do nothing, if you just relax and let yourself exist_in it, _be in it, you'll float. Do you think you can try that?"

Calvin could feel his heart racing.

"Can you stand behind me? Pull me up if I..."

"Sure," Flynn said as he swam over to Calvin and behind him. "But just remember, if you panic you can set your feet down and stand up and you'll be okay. Try not to if you can, that's bad practice, but remember that you can if you need to and that's okay."

Calvin nodded. He could hear his pulse in his ears again.

"Okay... okay, I'm gonna do it."

He took several deep breaths to try to calm himself down. His instincts were going to tell him to panic, to flail wildly, he knew that. But he was going to try as hard as he could to do what Flynn had told him.

"Okay... okay! Here I go!"

Calvin leaned back into the water, sending a small wave towards Flynn who was standing behind him. He lifted his feet off the streambed. He was floating.

His mind screamed at him to do something. Do something, do anything, it shouted. _You're in danger, you have to fight! Fight!_But he did not fight. And he floated.

"Calvin..." Flynn said. "Breathe..."

He had been holding his breath, he realized. He opened his mouth to exhale, but when he did he felt a slight change in his buoyancy, a tiny dip downwards in the water as some of the air in his lungs left his body. It was the feeling he'd always dreaded. Sinking. Drowning. And in that moment he panicked. He tried to fight the water.

Flynn caught him immediately. It was like wrestling against a force of nature, and Flynn knew he could never hope to overpower Calvin. But he didn't have to - he only had to channel Calvin's strength and keep his head above the water until the wolf was able to set his feet down on the streambed again. Until the panic subsided. It took less than a second. Calvin gasped for air as his feet touched down, standing again in the chest-deep water.

"Hey, it's okay! You're okay, see?" Flynn said as he swam from behind Calvin to in front of him.

"Flynn! I did it!" Calvin exclaimed with childlike exuberance as a smile returned to his face. "Before I fought, I was floating!"

He wrapped his arms around the deer and pulled him in. Flynn was powerless to resist as Calvin hugged him tightly. Flynn would have wrapped his own arms around Calvin if they weren't pinned to his sides. Instead he just smiled and laughed.

"You did, you were..." Flynn said, straining to speak through both the wolf's hug and his own laughter. "Now... can you let me go so we can try it again?"

Calvin didn't realize how tightly he was squeezing Flynn until he let him go. He couldn't help but laugh along with the deer once he did.

• -

The sun was high in the cloudy sky by the time Calvin and Flynn left the water. Calvin still couldn't swim properly, but he had gotten to the point of being comfortable floating on his back, which was good for progress from where he'd started.

Calvin's fur was dripping wet when he walked back onto the sandy embankment. The sound of thunder rolled distantly as he shook his head and nude body, an instinctive action to dry off which was surprisingly effective. He looked back at Flynn but saw that he was struggling slightly at the edge of the pool. In the water his wounded leg wasn't much of a hindrance, but back on land he was still unable to put weight on it.

"I've got you!" Calvin said playfully as he went back to the water's edge. He effortlessly scooped Flynn up in his arms and over his shoulder.

"Calvin! I'm all wet! Put me down!" Flynn squealed in faux-protest, bare butt and flagging tail in the air, draped over Calvin's shoulder. He was enjoying this, just as he had enjoyed it years ago when Edward did the same thing.

"Put you down? You sure? Okay! Yes sir, right away, I can do that! How about... right here in the sand! On your back!"

"Calvin, stop! On my hooves, knucklehead! I'm gonna get dirt all in my fur! Don't!"

"Too late! You said it!"

They were both smiling and laughing as Calvin gently set Flynn down on his back in the sand. He followed Flynn onto the ground so that he was on his elbows above Flynn, face to face, chest to chest, knees on the sandy embankment between the deer's spread legs.

"Hope you're happy... I'm all dirty now..." Flynn said teasingly, looking up at Calvin with bedroom eyes and arms splayed submissively in the sand above his head.

Calvin started forming a response, a witty pun or a clever double entendre, but he never got that far. The look Flynn was giving him was too alluring, the feel of the deer underneath him was too intoxicating.

"You are so beautiful..." was all Calvin was able to say, almost in a whisper.

In the 21 years Flynn had been alive, no one had said those words to him, not once. He didn't know whether to giggle or blush or smile or cry or...

Calvin didn't give him time to consider these options. He leaned down and kissed Flynn passionately.

"Mmmm..." Flynn moaned into Calvin's mouth as their tongues met. He lifted his hands from the sand up towards Calvin's back. Calvin's fur was still slightly damp as Flynn ran his fingers through it needingly.

Calvin tilted his head and dove into the kiss. He wanted to know everything, to feel everything Flynn was. His tongue explored deeper as his tapered canine maleness began to protrude from his sheath.

Flynn slid his hands through Calvin's fur up his back. He felt the wolf's muscular shoulders and his powerful neck before pulling Calvin in closer, hands behind Calvin's pointed canine ears. His erection was rapidly emerging from his own cervine sheath, brushing against Calvin's anatomical counterpart.

As their lips danced and their tongues twisted, Flynn felt Calvin start moving his hips. It was like yesterday; it started slowly, almost imperceptibly. But this time their weren't any pants to contain Calvin's lengthening cock. Or his own.

Calvin's lengthening manhood began gliding over his. Flynn was now fully aroused, his tapered pink cervine cock jutting eight inches from his sheath. Being a deer, his penis was long but rather thin with a medial ring located about a third of its length from the base. It was smooth and pink, with the head at the end discernible but nearly flush with its overall taper. It contrasted markedly from Calvin's; although Flynn's penis was slightly longer, Calvin's wolf cock was much, _much_thicker. Flynn's was smoothly tapered and uniformly pink, whereas Calvin's had splotches of veins across its length and bulged slightly in the middle with a pointed, concavely curved head.

Then there was the knot. Like all canines, Calvin's cock had a knot at its base. During sex it was barely more than a thick ridge at the base of his penis, but at the moment of ejaculation it would swell immensely, which had the effect of locking the ejaculating cock inside whatever orifice it was in until the canine's seed was fully drained. This could take up to half an hour as the canine's cock pulsed weakly hundreds of times.

It was the exact opposite of cervine ejaculations, which instead lasted only seconds and consisted of just a handful of ejaculatory pulses. However, each pulse sent a torrential deluge of cum spraying forcefully from the deer's tapered penis in a thick, viscous jet.

Flynn slid his hand from Calvin's head as they continued kissing, back down his body and through his gray fur. But now he wasn't letting his hand wander aimlessly, roaming Calvin's body. This time he knew exactly what he was after.

He trailed down Calvin's body, down to his toned stomach, down further.

"Nnnhh..." he sighed, lips still locked with Calvin's as he felt the wolf's cock for the first time. He wrapped his fingers around it instinctively and began stroking. It felt much warmer than his fur, warmer than he was expecting, almost hot. It was slick with both Calvin's precum and his own.

Calvin began thrusting into Flynn's hand. He broke their kiss and a line of saliva connected their lips for a brief moment. They looked into each other lust-filled eyes as Calvin began humping harder and Flynn stroked faster. This was a moment they'd both dreamed of, an experience they'd both wanted for their entire lives but never had, a desire they'd kept hidden since they knew how dangerous a desire it was within the society they lived. Now it was happening. It was real.

The sound of rolling thunder was nearer now as Calvin reached down with his own hand towards Flynn's cock. It was so different from his own, paradoxically smaller but bigger at the same time. It's shape was simple and straight, honest and direct, like it knew exactly what it wanted. Calvin stroked it a few times while he continued thrusting into Flynn's hand, then put his own hand on Flynn's. He began to gently coax Flynn's fingers from their grip around his cock.

"Together..." he whispered to Flynn. "On each other..."

Flynn had no trouble understanding. He briefly loosened his hold on Calvin's cock, then coaxed it down onto his own erection. Calvin was unable to restrain himself and was still pumping his hips, their full erections now frotting, sliding across each other's entire lengths. Flynn slid his thumb between his stomach and his own cock and wrapped the rest of his hand around Calvin's.

There was no ambiguity in Calvin's thrusting now. He made powerful, deep thrusts into Flynn's hand, the underside of his canine cock gliding smoothly across Flynn's erection, lubricated by the precum that was all but flowing from both their tips.

"Ungghhh!"

Calvin made an almost bestial grunt as his lips reconnected with Flynn's, sloppily, hungrily, ravenously tasting the deer. His hips were pumping faster.

Calvin then pulled away from the kiss and pushed his body up and off Flynn's. His knees slid forward in the sand, displacing Flynn's and forcing the deer to spread his legs further. Calvin wrapped both hands around Flynn's much slighter chest and rubbed Flynn's nipples with his thumbs before sliding his hands further down the deer's naked body, over his lean stomach and to his hips. Calvin placed his thumbs on the ridges of Flynn's hips and wrapped his fingers over the sides of Flynn's ass.

Flynn struggled during Calvin's sexual maneuvering to keep his hand wrapped around their cocks, especially since Calvin couldn't seem to stop humping for even a second. His hand was now drenched in their pre - it was dripping down onto his stomach. He'd also experienced some pain in his leg when Calvin got up on his knees, but the moment was too raw, too primal, too hot to be ruined by that. Besides, Calvin was too far gone in his lust to be stopped now. Whatever control Flynn

had was gone - the wolf was the predator, the deer was his prey. Flynn was just along for the ride now, trying to hold on.

Flynn looked up at the wolf hulking above him, framed by a cloudy gray sky behind the canopy of the Pennsylvania woods. For a moment the thought returned to him, the fear and terror he'd felt just days before in that field when this same wolf was similarly hulking above him, ready to drive a bayonet into his chest. Now he was wildly stabbing with something else, driving it in and out of Flynn's hand, over and across his long cervine cock, balls slapping audibly several times a second. His strong wolf hands gripped Flynn's hips tightly, possessively, pulling forcefully with each thrust. Flynn was being dominated now by Calvin just as surely as he had been on the battlefield - and he was loving every second of it.

"I'm..."

That was all the warning Flynn got. He felt the base of Calvin's penis begin to swell as it slid through his hand and over his own cock.

"Hahhh!!" Calvin howled in orgasmic bliss as cum began spurting from the pointed tip of his wolf cock.

"Oh god... fuck, Calvin... cum for me..." Flynn heard himself saying as he felt the wolf's knot grow rapidly in his hand until it was almost as large as his fist. The first forceful sprays of Calvin's cum landed on his stomach and chest. Flynn rapidly stroked their cocks as Calvin stopped humping. He was close.

Staring down his body, down at the wolf cock on top of his, feeling the knot and feeling it pulse in time with the spurts of cum that landed on the soft fur of his stomach - that was enough to send Flynn over the edge.

"Nnnnhhh..." Flynn moaned as he climaxed. A thick jet of cum erupted from the tapered tip of his cock, shooting past his body, over his shoulder and onto the sandy ground next to his head. Some of it shot further, landing on his antler.

Calvin wasn't prepared for the volume or force of Flynn's ejaculation. He had experience with his own, of course, but he'd never seen a deer cum before. He didn't know it'd be like that. He leaned down again quickly, just in time for Flynn's second ejaculatory pulse. It sprayed onto Calvin's stomach, chest, neck and chin. Calvin thrust forward, his still-cumming wolf cock sliding over Flynn's and covering his tip. Flynn pulsed again directly against Calvin's cock, soaking it with deer cum and creating a puddle on his stomach next to his sheath. A few more weaker spurts did the same before Flynn was completely spent.

Calvin lay on top of Flynn for a moment as they both panted, returning to his senses, his long tail sweeping lazily side to side. Several minutes passed before either of them moved. Their sticky juices clung to their conjoined fur as Calvin pushed himself up. Flynn's erection had retreated back into his sheath, but Calvin's continued to twitch, proudly spewing weak jets of cum. Flynn still had his hand on it and was stroking it slowly and gently.

"Flynn... that was..." he finally managed to say.

"Yeah... it was..." Flynn whispered back with eyelids barely open. Neither of them needed to say anything else.

The sound of thunder was close now and the wind had picked up, sending green summer leaves falling around them onto the sand and into the stream. The sun was still shining, but rain began falling from the sky.

"Is it... always like that?" Calvin finally said, looking down at Flynn, the deer's cum covering and matting the fur on both their chests. "That much?"

"Yeah... it can be a mess," Flynn replied, not sure whether to feel embarrassed or proud. "Is yours... always like this? For this long?"

His hand was still wrapped around Calvin hard, spurting canine cock.

"Yeah," Calvin answered. "It keeps going for a while. Half an hour sometimes."

The rain started pouring down harder. Flynn, still underneath Calvin, remained out of the rain for the first few moments of the downpour.

"Devil's kissing his wife..." he said to the wolf shielding him from the rain.

"...What?" Calvin asked, confused, trying to understand Flynn's seeming non-sequitur. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh!" Flynn said excitedly. "Well I know most folks say 'the devil's beating his wife' so I can understand why it might be confusing, but that just seems so nasty a thing to say for something so pretty, you know? Back home in Tennessee we say 'the devil's kissing his wife' instead. That's nicer right? I like that better anyway, but it's definitely not nearly so common a saying as 'the devil's beating his wife.'"

Calvin blinked a few times and tilted his head.

"What's wrong?" Flynn said.

"Flynn... I'm sorry but I honestly don't have a clue what you're talking about."

Flynn couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"Really?"

"Really!"

Flynn gave him an incredulous look, conveying in a glance that he thought it supremely odd that someone hadn't ever heard such a common phrase.

"Well what do Northerners call it when it rains when the sun's still shining?"

"We... don't call it anything? I don't think," Calvin said. He started to laugh before continuing, "you're pulling my leg, Flynn! Right? Did you just make that up?"

Flynn squinted his eyes slightly and smiled coyly at Calvin while he laughed, realizing that this truly was a new expression for the wolf, one that must not have made it to Pennsylvania yet. He could have some fun with this.

"I did not make that up, thank you very much, that's just what it's called when it rains in the sun. Not my fault you Yankees never thought of anything to call it..."

Over Calvin's shoulder he saw a rainbow had formed across the storm clouds. It would be gone soon, once the storm reached them in earnest.

"You ever heard of that thing up there in the sky above you Calvin, that rainbow? Or do they call them 'sky colors' in Pennsylvania?"

Calvin, still laughing, looked down at Flynn. Flynn was sassily biting his lip waiting for Calvin to respond.

"How is it that you are making fun of me after you said something like 'the devil's beating his wife' _not_as a joke?"

"Kissing, not beating. Don't be nasty..." Flynn said with a teasing smirk. "And don't flatter yourself either, that's not your leg I'm pulling..."

He hadn't stopped lazily stroking Calvin's cock. It was still pulsing, still squirting weak jets of wolf cum onto Flynn's stomach at regular intervals.

Calvin rolled his hips, playfully thrusting into Flynn's hand.

"You like it though..." he said with a grin as the rain fell on his back.

"Yeah... I do..." Flynn replied, almost in a whisper. "... I like you..."

---

I have seen what the darkness does,

say goodbye to who I was.

I ain't never been away so long.

Don't look back, them days are gone.

Follow me into the endless night,

I can bring your fears to life.

Show me yours and I'll show you mine,

meet me in the woods tonight.

~ Lord Huron - Meet Me in the Woods

July 4, 1863

Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania

"No!!"

Calvin awoke in the darkness with a scream. He'd seen the badger again in a nightmare, the bloody face of the man he'd killed back again to terrorize him in his dreams. After last night - the first night of peaceful rest he'd had in ages - he'd hoped the badger would never come back, that his Nostalgia had been cured. He'd been wrong.

It was late. They were late. They should have been on horseback hours ago, but they hadn't fallen asleep until the early afternoon. God, that was stupid, Calvin thought. But it was so good, too. Maybe it was worth it. If we get caught today, I will go to the gallows as a deserter with that memory. It will be what I am thinking of when the trapdoor falls and the rope snaps my neck.

"Mmmm..."

Flynn was waking up too. Calvin watched as he stretched his legs, hooves dragging lines in the sand.

"Hey. Wake up, we've gotta go," he said to Flynn, shaking him gently.

Flynn opened his eyes and saw Calvin looking back at him.

"Mmmm... hey you..." Flynn said, smiling and stretching out in the sand.

Calvin smiled too. God, this boy, Calvin thought. He can chase away the worst darkness in me with just a glance.

"Hey... Hey, come on, we've gotta go."

Once Flynn finished stretching they ate. It was the very last of the food Calvin had managed to take before they fled from Chambersburg, which was distressing. They were still sandy and messy from before they fell asleep so they decided to take one more dip in the stream to wash off before putting their clothes back on and riding out.

"I still can't swim," Calvin said as they waded in. The dim moonlight gave an almost ethereal feel to the pool of water.

"But look how much progress you made, you just went right in this time, didn't even hesitate," Flynn said to reassure him. "And you can float now too, so that's something. If you ever get in trouble you can just hop in the river and float away!"

Flynn had said that last part jokingly, but it made Calvin stop dead in the water.

"Flynn! That's it!"

Flynn turned to look at Calvin with a puzzled expression.

"What are you talking about?"

Calvin started running out of the water, splashing noisily up onto the sandy embankment.

"Come on! We're going to Pittsburgh!"

That night, they didn't travel secretly through the forest as they had on previous nights. Calvin went straight for the road. It would take them directly and quickly to Pittsburgh. If they really hoofed it, they might be able to get there by noon. It was a reckless decision to be sure, but going to Pittsburgh would be dangerous anyway. If what Calvin was thinking worked though, they might only need to be in the city a day or two at most, maybe even just a few hours.

They passed a few other travelers on the road, more as they got closer to the big city, but none gave them any trouble. They weren't the types that wanted anything to do with two strange travelers rushing on horseback without a lantern in the dead of night.

Dawn broke as they were passing Greensburg, a town about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh. Calvin had pushed their horse very hard and it was clear that she was slowing, reaching her limit. He felt bad about it, continuing to push her to get to Pittsburgh, but it was getting light out now and there wasn't much choice. This was the dangerous time. If anyone was looking for deserters they'd be looking on this road, so the sooner they were off it the better.

Flynn smelled the coal smoke from the smelters in the city before he ever saw it. When Pittsburgh finally came into view as they crested a ridge in the road, he gasped. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen before, a forest of smokestacks spewing thick black plumes high into the sky. Two rivers - the Allegheny and the Monongahela - converged at Pittsburgh to create the Ohio, and on these rivers there were ships and barges bigger than any he'd ever seen. There were bridges made of brick and iron spanning over all three. A web of rails snaked into and out of the city, and locomotives were pulling massive freight cars in all direction. It was the industrial heart of the Union, a single city that produced more steel than the entire Confederate States of America.

Calvin heard Flynn gasp when the city came into view and slowed the horse.

"Not what you were expecting?" he asked over his shoulder to the deer whose arms were wrapped around his body.

"No. Not at all. I've never seen a city like this. I didn't know they made them like this," Flynn said.

He paused for a moment, watching the billowing smoke and the flurry of industrial activity, letting the implications of it all set in.

"The Confederates are never going to win this war. They can't fight this," he said to Calvin. "I'm glad."

Calvin put his hand on Flynn's and squeezed it tightly as they rode towards Pittsburgh.