FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"I knew it."

That was the reaction from Sandra when her boyfriend told her what Jack had said to him on the telephone. Three words that were expressed with the typical tone of someone who had seen the disaster coming, even if they didn't want to accept it. The only moment someone would wish to be wrong.

Aless couldn't agree more: it certainly hurt him hearing Jack speaking with a voice that showed heartbreak and pure sadness. Even if he knew he wasn't able to help Jack, due to the distance between their two worlds, Aless wanted to show his compassion, but he would often step back, as his way of expressing it was often misunderstood. The only thing he could do to help Jack, at that moment, was obviously picking him up.

As a result, Aless got dressed and picked up the keys of his Nissan Leaf. Before he went to the garage, though, Sandra stopped him by placing herself in front of Aless.

"I'm coming, too."

At that point, Aless remembered the rule that there was between him and Sandra: whenever he would drive, then Sandra would always be with him. This was done for two reasons: 1. To control Aless whenever he would have a meltdown while driving, as having him furious with his paws on the wheel could lead to harmful road rage incidents, and 2. To ensure Aless wouldn't have a panic attack while driving, especially on busy roads. That had already happened once, where Aless had to pull over as he felt weak, due to the fact that the busy street, with cars moving at different speeds, would make him claustrophobic. In this case, Aless felt like this rule had to be broken, just for once: seeing Sandra would only make Jack feel worse and would have him blame himself even more, since Sandra had warned him of Matthew's changed behaviour.

However, as he was about to object to Sandra's intervention, he decided to give in and have Sandra accompany him to pick up Jack. He was fully aware that, like him, she was stubborn on certain things, and that was one of them. But who could blame her, she was doing it to protect Aless from himself. Also, Aless wasn't used to opposing himself to Sandra: he would always satisfy her, as long as he wouldn't be hurt.

For that reason, the two went to the garage, entered Aless' Leaf and left, heading towards Night Rd, where Jack was waiting.

The roads of Furryth were all lovely: a series of suburban roads stood at the sides of each street, even the more central ones, where families, retired furs, singles, and couples all lived happily. Trees stood at the side of each road, giving them photo-worthy sceneries in spring, summer and autumn. Furryth was a calm and relaxing place, not far from the sea and from the mountains: for many, that was paradise. Except for Jack, who had always dreamed of running away from that town, but, for one reason or the other, he always found himself back in Furryth, a place that certainly was more relaxing than lively.

Anyway, the Leaf with the two sweethearts drove through the mostly empty streets, as it was early August and many furs had gone on holiday to the nearby resorts. Aless had no problems driving, everything went smoothly.

Once they arrived on Night Rd, the couple immediately spotted Jack sitting on the bridge, hiding his face and muzzle with his red and brown arms. He clearly was covering himself, he didn't want to show his sadness. His presence stood out from the otherwise empty road.

The Leaf pulled over right in front of Jack and waited for him to notice it. After a few minutes, he did, and he immediately recognized as Aless' car.

"C'mon, Jack, get in. We're getting you back home." Sandra said encouragingly as she lowered the window.

"Yeah... I'm... I'm coming..." Jack responded with a flat, deep voice: a complete contrast from his usual lively voice.

Jack slowly stood up as he kept hiding his eyes, only showing his red and white muzzle. The snout, though, was enough to show Jack's real emotional state. He then slowly walked the two steps between the wall of the bridge and the car, before slowly opening the back door and getting in, grunting. As he sat, he looked at the floor of the car, where his paws stood. He kept looking at the floor as he put on his seatbelt and the car started to drive off. The silent electric car respected the silence, which lasted for about two blocks.

A sigh from Jack broke it: Aless understood he could start asking Jack the tough questions.

"So... Jack, what happened?" Aless also sighed before asking.

"We've... we've broken up..." Jack sobbed as he muttered these words. "...and... and it was my fault..." the sobbing increased as Jack continued. "I'm... I'm worthless..."

"Jack, you know that's not the case!" Aless tried to sound reassuring. "If you tell us what happened, we will help you. It's him that's missing out on such a treasure!"

"Oh... oh, no... he used me enough... he... he seized it all..." Jack muttered, as he tried to breath in through the nose, which was all blocked.

"Jack, that's not true! You shouldn't say things like that!" Sandra intervened, legitimately worried. "You should tell us what happened."

Silence followed, only interrupted with a few attempts by Jack to inhale through the nose.

"We understand... this is tough... please, tell us when you're ready to share the experience..." Sandra said.

Jack's response, though, was unexpected: his eyes closed sharply, his teeth gritted and Jack bent towards the door, as if he had been hit by a sudden painful stimulus. His mouth then moved, but no sound came out. Sandra, though, picked up two words from the silent movement of the mouth: I can't.

I can't. That was not something that Jack would say in such a situation: as far as she knew from Aless, Jack would silently nod, or just softly say "OK". That words, coupled with the strange movement, made Sandra notice that Jack wasn't simply hiding something: he was forced to hide it.

This is serious, then, Sandra thought as she looked back on the road. Aless, obviously, didn't notice the movement as he was focusing on the road.

The rest of the trip only consisted of some silent sobbing from Jack and his attempts to inhale from his nose. As they arrived home, Aless got out of the car first and helped Jack get out of his car, while Sandra was unlocking the house. Aless wrapped an arm around Jack's shoulders and accompanied his brother to the door that connected the garage to the Sotan household. Jack kept looking down, his eyes shut with the pain and his muzzle showing an almost constant frown. The two brothers reached the older one's bedroom, where Jack lied on his bed. Aless also lied down and hugged him tightly for some minutes. The silence was the only spectator to the supportive action Aless was giving.

"If you need our help, feel free to call me or Sandra." Aless said, a few minutes later, as he left his brother's bedroom.

"OK... I will." Jack simply answered in a numb tone, though that seemed to hint thankfulness.

Aless closed the door to his brother's bedroom, before heading to the bedroom he and Sandra shared. There, Aless lied on the bed and sighed hard.

"Do you know how to deal with break-ups?" Aless asked Sandra from his usual, unique position.

"I've never experienced one, so I don't know exactly how he feels." Sandra began. "However, I think the best thing to do is to let him fully express his feelings, as long as they aren't harmful to him. We also need to show that we're there for him and that we aren't judging him for what happened."

"Yeah, but... how can we find a balance? If we show ourselves too much, he'll think we are judging him." Aless asked.

"Hmmm... I would have to say you should simply show signs of affection every time you show up. Give him a hug, hold his paws, etc, while remaining silent. An act is much stronger than simple words."

"You're right..." Aless noted as he felt like he had done the right thing. "Now... it's, what? 4 p.m.?" Aless asked himself as he looked at his phone, with a selfie of him, Sandra and Jack at Foxine Lakes acting as background. "What should we do?"

"Honestly..." Sandra sighed. "I'm not in the mood for anything. I think we should just let the day finish."

Aless nodded: he could clearly feel the negative atmosphere, which almost felt like a mourning atmosphere. As a result, he spent the rest of the day surfing the Internet and listening to soothing music, while Sandra wrote her feelings on a diary she kept. Aless had always been curious to know the contents of that diary, but Sandra had warned him that he would be sexually punished if he had. Even though Aless was attracted by the feeling of helplessness, submission and the curiosity of discovering what Sandra had in store for him, his typical and rational accustoming to the rules would often get the better of his emotions.

Nothing else happened on that fateful day: they had dinner, with Jack barely eating anything, the sweethearts supported Jack as much as they could, and they all went to sleep, wanting to leave a sad day behind.

Aless, unsurprisingly, had trouble falling asleep: his brain was racing with thoughts, most of which centred around Jack and his relationship with him. Had he always done enough to support his brother? No, maybe he could've done better... Jack certainly had... For the first time in his life, Aless felt the incredible urge to sleep with his brother. That had never happened in their lives: ever since they were young, they had always slept in different bedrooms and, even after their parents' death 6 years earlier due to a carbon monoxide intoxication at a friend's house, they had moved on with their lives in two different directions: Aless took the "psychological love" path, while Jack preferred the "physical love" one. That had already been enough to create a rift in their lives, and their different sexualities only exacerbated that distance, which was best represented by the bed: the bed, where most sexual activities would take place.

However, that day was different: the bed couldn't represent their different sexual ideals any more. Instead, it had to represent the shelter from evil, a place where to put all of your problems aside and prepare for the next day, in the hopes of deleting that negative thoughts. The shelter, however, could only be completed with the support of a close anthro: a brother, in that case. If Jack couldn't build the shelter, then Aless would be the one to build it, in a way that Jack would feel fully comfortable. After all, he was the only close anthro Jack still had.

With that in mind, at midnight, he silently left his bed and slowly reached Jack's bedroom, opening the door with care. In the darkness, he could easily make out the wardrobes, computer, and bed, where Jack was lying, with only his underwear on, in a fetal position.

Aless could hear sobbing: that was enough to make his heart sink... For how long had Jack been sobbing? 8 hours, at least. 8 hours... and he still had tears to release. How much pain had he held during his life? Why did he always hide it under his easy-going, friendly personality? Aless didn't cry, but he felt really bad. As a result, he slowly approached the bed and silently sat on the side, waiting for Jack to notice him.

"Can't sleep either, huh?" Jack asked with the numb tone he'd displayed earlier. Then, a sob followed.

"Jack... I'm sorry..." were the only words that Aless muttered with an even number tone, which clearly showed his heartbreak, even if no tears were dropping from his eyes into his snout. To Jack's surprise, then, Aless got behind him, placed himself into the same fetal position and wrapped his paws around Jack's body, just below his pecs, ensuring that most of their bodies would be in contact.

Despite the heat of that summer night causing both to feel warm, despite having never slept with his brother in a common bedroom, despite everything... Aless wanted to stay there: Aless wanted to ensure that his brother's back was fully in contact with his chest... He was going to act as the shelter, he was going to take all of his brother's unhappiness away and into him... After all, he'd dealt with so much anxiety, he was used to it. He was doing that to repay Jack for the lack of support he claimed to have given over the years.

Now locked in that position, Jack suddenly felt a wave hit him... a wave that washed all of his worries and negative thoughts away. That wave was Aless, his younger brother... Aless was giving him... happiness? Happiness? From his anxious, suspicious and stoic brother? How...? But that didn't matter, because he felt happy. He felt the genuine warmth from Aless' care and brotherly love: Aless' snout on his shoulder, Aless' chest on his back and Aless' legs against his... the support and the genuine care were being transmitted from these three channels (Aless had ensured that there wouldn't be a fourth, as he'd purposely moved his butt behind to avoid a contact between his underwear and his brother's)... and Jack loved it. Not in a sexual way, but in a genuine way, which would probably be implanted in his brain for the rest of his life. Matthew and his other boyfriends had never given him such a feeling of shelter, warmth and safety... in the end, most of his memories of them were painful: break-ups, fights, cheating, etc. Aless, on the other hand, was giving him a different type of love, a love that wasn't based on temporary pleasure, but on mutual support, which had nothing to do with sex and gave happiness, not simple pleasure. Maybe it was time to change what he was looking for... all of his worries were gone, even those that had been attacking him up until that point!

Aless was also happy to stay in that position: he felt like he could perceive his brother's real emotions, creating a strong emotional bond, based on trust and transparency, where they could discuss anything, even things that the other would probably never experience. A type of relationship only Sandra had given him. He'd finally repaid his debt with Jack, and he felt thankful.

With these thoughts, the two fell asleep and stayed in that position for the whole night.

The following day, Aless and Jack were woken up by Sandra, who had found them sleeping in that position: she didn't ask any questions, as seeing Jack and Aless happy made her feel good enough. They were brothers, after all, and their bulges were normal, so it clearly wasn't sexual: it was simple brotherly support.

"Good morning, sleepy brothers!" Sandra announced like a mother to wake them up, with a lively and happy tone. "Time to leave the bed!"

The two brothers both groaned as they slowly moved out of their position, with their furs smelling awful. The stench reached Sandra, who showed a disgusted face.

"Gosh, boys! You really need a shower."

"I'm going first: I have to go to work today." Aless said.

"All right, Al!" Jack happily said.

They have never been so lively with each other, Sandra thought, smiling, as she saw the two brothers laughing, smiling and joking. Then, she looked at Aless, who headed for the shower, and her muzzle showed an even bigger smile: he was quite a special fox and that's why she loved him. He'd managed to shoo all of Jack's unhappiness away and wanted to enjoy the moment, since she knew fully well that, eventually, one of the two would run into Matthew again. Without that greedy husky prick, there was much more authentic happiness in that household. Power really makes us more greedy and worse... unless it's agreed, I guess... She reflected, while also justifying her top position in the relationship with Aless.

After showering and getting dressed, the younger fox walked to work, as he only lived 15 minutes away from Moosely Plc.

Moosely Plc was located just outside of Furryth, in an area where the last houses gave place to the massive faux fields that allowed the production of linen clothes. A 360° view of the fields and the mountains surrounded the white building that hosted Moosely Plc, which was massive: it was about 4 stores high and it looked like a cube, indicating that it had been recently renovated. The shadow the building would cast on the visitor was almost frightening, as it took up all of the northern parking area, leaving it in almost permanent darkness. That was because the sun had to reach the solar panels located on the roof and in the surrounding areas, which were enough to power the sustainable production cycle that Sarah Moosely had developed and even a few houses around the building. In the parking area stood many cars, almost exclusively electrical cars that were charging: that was one of the many projects that had been developed by Sarah a few months prior, with the monetary inflow from the Scandinavian sales. Not far was also the entrance to the warehouse, where many tractors from the surrounding fields and a few lorries/trucks would unload their raw materials, which would then be used to create the clothes.

Aless walked through the front door, which was a revolving door, and entered the reception, which he knew by heart, at that point: lovely white and blue square tiles, which were placed on a chessboard pattern, with LED lights that gave the reception a modern feel. Vending machines stood on both vertical sides, not far from 7 chairs and a series of bins that indicated how to recycle. By entering through the front door, you would be greeted with a glassed box, where the receptionist would look at you with a smile and welcome you to Moosely plc.

Aless headed to the reception, where he showed his ID, even though it wasn't necessary, as Aless, despite his personality, was a very recognizable face in the building. He then headed towards the door that led to the Marketing offices, where he scanned his ID: the door immediately opened and allowed him in. After walking in a hall, with different offices both on the left and on the right (and even one at the end of the hall), he entered his: the last one on the right, which was right next to the Marketing Manager's office.

As Aless closed the door and got ready to leave his stuff on a chair, he admired his office again: a PC with two chairs in front of the window, where he would be kissed by the sun during the day; bookshelves in front of the door, where Aless would leave a copy of his enquiries and researches; etc. It was a typical, wide office for one worker.

As he started to settle and turned on the PC, Aless heard a knock on the door.

"Yeah, come in." Aless said rapidly, as he took out his stuff from the office bag he was carrying.

As the door opened, a familiar husky entered, wearing a black tie and a black smoking: Matthew Vargsson.

"Well, well, well, looks like the best market researcher is back!" Matthew exclaimed in a warm and excited tone, as he closed the door and lied on it with his left arm and side, showing a smirk. "How have things been, Aless?"

Aless had expected such a behaviour from Matthew: with him, the Marketing Manager was informal and much more relaxed, since they had always been on good terms and Aless had always been considered a fundamental part for the Scandinavian plan. As it was typical of Aless, he didn't reciprocate such a warm tone, instead showing his typical, flat tone. That time, though, Aless felt a bit colder: What happened between you and Jack? Aless thought as he really wanted an answer. However, he didn't feel asking the fateful question, as he knew he wouldn't have gotten much from Matthew: just generic answers.

So, without looking at Matthew, Aless answered while putting his stuff on the desk. "Pretty good: the conversion rate is slowly rising, and the average time spent on our website is also pretty high, about 5 minutes... It is clear that many are scanning our site, so we should expect a series of purchases in the next few days."

"That's nice to hear!" Matthew said as he approached Aless, who was now sitting on his chair. "Got any more news?"

As he asked that question, the husky bended slightly to Aless' height and placed both of his paws on the chair's right armrest and got closer to Aless' right shoulder with his face. "I've got quite a bit of news to tell." Matthew added with a very relaxed tone, as he used the grip on the armrest to reach Aless' shoulder and place his face along it, with his left cheek now in full contact with Aless' shoulder.

"Personal space...!" Aless grunted with an irritated tone: that was not the first time he had to grunt those words and reprimand his superior, as it had already happened that Matthew would invade his physical space and give him physical contact without his consent, even as much as a simple pat on the back. It had been happening for so much time, though, that Aless was getting used to it and wouldn't call him out on that so often. That, however, was too much: for Aless, personal space was sacred and that was a clear violation of it.

"Oh, oh... Yeah, sorry..." Matthew seemed to fall from the clouds as he got back up and went to grab a chair. "As I was saying... I have to tell you about my travel to Stockholm." Matthew added as he carried the chair to Aless' desk, sitting right next to the fox.

"Yeah, so... How did it go?"

"Let me tell you, it was wonderful! I found a nice place for our physical store on Stockholm's Västerlånggatan, one of the main shopping streets in the city. Turns out that place was also owned by a friend of mine, so I got it at a bargain price with very little negotiations. Sure, that was very expensive, but that was a chance I couldn't miss!"

"That's nice." Aless remarked genuinely. "So... If you spent so little time negotiating, then what did you do for the remaining time?"

"I had fun, obviously! Something you might be unfamiliar with..." He added, joking.

"Ha, ha(!)" Aless answered back with a very fake laugh.

Matthew smirked as he went on explaining what he did. "I payed a visit to the ABBA Museum, where I sang "Mamma Mia" in front of a crowd... Let me tell you, they loved it! Three random women in their 50s even told me that I was good... Shame it wasn't three young canids!"

"Ah, well, better luck next time, I guess." Aless raised his shoulders in a friendly manner.

"I also happened to be in Stockholm during the pride, too! Obviously, I took part in it." Matthew added smiling.

"Yeah, I imagine..." Aless simply noted.

"And there was this handsome Norwegian blue and white dog... Shame I didn't bring him on my bed, though."

"Ah, well, it's a shame." Aless showed sympathy, which looked a bit forced. "But the trip was a success for the business, wasn't it?"

"Yes, yes it was."

"That's what's important." Aless remarked. "Now, I have to get back to work. May I please be left alone?"

"Yeah, sure. See you soon, Aless!" Matthew said as he left Aless' office.

Aless just waved his paw in the air.

Finally, some alone time! When will he learn that I don't like having him rubbing against myself? Aless wondered as he checked the mail. Nothing new.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful: no new assignments were given, so Aless just analyzed some older data and read some marketing newspapers and magazines.

As he left work and headed back home, though, an event made up the uninteresting and boring day.

The sun was still shining high, albeit with a few fluffy summer clouds, as Aless approached a pedestrian crossing, about halfway through his trip. He knew that crossing like the palm of his paw: Hood Rd on the left, with fewer trees than usual, and the crossing with Lola Ave just a few steps to the right of this crossing. He'd done that hundreds, if not thousands of times, and not many anthros would turn into or come from Hood Rd: being a Saturday (Aless had decided to take the day off that Friday, while everyone at Moosely plc also had the right to stay home on Sunday), the road was also emptier than usual. Despite that, Aless spotted a pick-up coming from Hood Rd at a fairly high speed, certainly higher than the speed limit on a suburban road.

Whatever, that prick will stop, whether he likes it or not, Aless thought to himself as he started crossing the road.

The pick-up driver, surprised by Aless' sudden appearance, braked hard, locking the tires and causing the typical nasty sound that accompanies heavy breaking. The pick-up stopped at a safe distance, before the driver, clearly irritated, honked his horn for a few seconds.

Aless was incredibly sensitive to sounds, so the honk was much louder than it actually was, according to him. Yet, he didn't cover his ears, instead raising his paws in frustration and irritation. "PEDESTRIAN CROSSING, YOU FUCKING PRICK! HOW MUCH DID YOU BRIBE TO GET THAT FUCKING LICENSE!?" Aless screamed in anger at the driver.

The driver, who had already lowered his window due to the hot day, answered back, screaming and growling just as loudly: "THERE WAS NO ONE BEHIND ME! YOU COULD'VE WAITED 5 FUCKING SECONDS, YOU STUPID FOX SLUT! GET KNOTTED, YOU YIFFER!"

"WHY COULDN'T YOU WAIT 5 SECONDS, HUH!? IS THERE A FUCKING EMERGENCY, OR ARE YOU JUST TRYING TO SHOW OFF HOW MUCH OF A SHIT YOU ARE!?"

"NAH, YIFFER, YOU JUST CAN'T WAIT TO GET HOME AND GET KNOTTED IN TWO DIFFERENT WAYS, DON'T YOU?!" The driver then indicated with his finger towards his mouth, first, and then his butt.

"LOOK, DIPSHIT: IF YOU WANT TO LEAVE A MARK AND BE REMEMBERED, CRASH STRAIGHT INTO A TREE. BOY, WILL YOU LEAVE A MARK! Maybe it will even be featured on the news..." Aless' tone was starting to change, he could feel it inside his cranium. He did a middle finger and a "up yours" at the same, as he could feel he was heating up and the higher blood pressure inside his brain. Aless knew fully well what that meant: the ruler of his body was about to become a tyrant. A tyrant guided by pure evil thoughts and a frightening lack of positive emotions. A tyrant that wouldn't be afraid to hurt to keep his privileges, whether it would be physically or with words. The first sign of that change was already showing up: his tone had become deeper and flat, but with a creepy smoothness. And in that situation, the usually kind, respectful and nice fox would become a complete monster, guided by thoughts of mass death, evasion from police and promises that would make everyone shiver. If you knew Aless, that was the moment you had to stay away from him as much as possible, especially if he held any object... because that was going to be used as a weapon, since everything could be harmful if used in the wrong way. Aless' face had also changed his expression: from an angry look to one that indicated calculation and the will to harm. His brown eyebrows narrowed, his eyes looked like they were flaming, and his snout was releasing lots of air.

It would've been best for everyone if the two fighters had left the scene.

But the driver really wanted to impose himself over Aless. As a result, he got out of the car, and he was, to put it mildly, massive: a 6'4" red, brown and white wolf of pure muscles, which paws that could easily punch through a tree. His snout was also breathing heavily, showing his intention: he was going to subdue the fox with violence and he was going to show Aless that the fox shouldn't have messed with him. He walked towards Aless with malicious intent, as he got his paws ready.

Aless' behavior immediately changed and he started stepping back: he was certainly good at hurting with words, but he always wanted to avoid direct physical fights, simply because he was hopeless with punches and body-to-body fighting. He probably would've ended up in hospital... It wasn't about harming anymore, it was about saving his fur.

If I only I had an object I could use for self-defense... Aless thought as he kept stepping back, his face now showing fear.

Suddenly, he remember what he was carrying in the right pocket of his pants. He quickly reached for it with his paw and pointed it towards the massive wolf's face. That was enough to make the burly attacker freeze.

It was pepper spray.

"TAKE ONE MORE STEP TOWARDS ME, I DARE YOU! I FUCKING DARE YOU!" Aless screamed towards the driver, as he pointed the spray right towards the wolf's face. He also shook it, indicating he wasn't joking. After all, when would Aless joke when his brain was into a mixture of "tyrant" and "self-defense" mode?

The large wolf stood there, pondering his choices. In the end, thinking his punches could easily destroy that brat, he stepped forward.

Big mistake.

As soon as he took the step, Aless pushed his finger as much as he could into the spray, releasing a yellow flow that hit the wolf straight into his face.

"AARGH!" The wolf growled as he shut his eyes and brought his paw to attempt to cover his eyes. He also started to step back, but the pain he was experiencing was enough to cause him to lose balance and land on his ass on the road.

As he fell on his ass and lied on his back, Aless placed a foot on top of the red wolf's remarkable pecs and brought the pepper spray even closer to the squirming wolf, who was flailing his arms and legs around to try and hit something. But he missed Aless.

The usually shy, submissive fox was now a sadistic torturer. The tone in his voice confirmed that, as he bent his right knee onto the wolf's pecs and placed the pepper spray right on his snout.

"I want to ensure... that I use every single bit of this... with you... fucking shithead..." Aless grinned, with a deep, flat and smooth tone, even though there were a few pauses, as if the tyrant was creating the words that the messengers would then give to the vocal chords, which would then pronounce the brutal words. That tone wasn't a tone of desperate self-defense, that was a tone of downright psychopathy.

"No, please!" The wolf pleaded with a voice that, in reality, was slightly higher than Aless' normal, average male voice.

Aless only chuckled at that words as he pushed his finger again. The wolf immediately felt immense pain, as a high quantity of pepper spray was going straight into the respiratory channels. The wolf kept squirming on the road, grunting and screaming things like "Please, help!", as Aless used every little bit of the canister. It was surprisingly quick, about 15 seconds, but, for the wolf, that was an eternity.

As for Aless, that time was... morbidly enjoyable. He kept chuckling, almost laughing, with frightening similarities to those typical of villains. His darkest thoughts were becoming concrete... it was almost scary and unbelievable, even for him. The tyrant inside his head was sitting comfortably, as the body was doing his bidding.

No one intervened, as it was clear approaching both subjects could've been dangerous: one was armed with massive arms and was a dick, while the weaker of the two had shown that you shouldn't mess with him.

After the 15 seconds, Aless stood up and looked at the wolf, who was lying on the road in a fetal position and covering his face with both of his paws and panting: he was actually in immense fair.

"This... This is what you get... knotter!" Aless told the wolf with his psychopathic tone, as he spat on the wolf's white tank top. That was accompanied by an evil chuckle, almost evil laugh. His brain had turned a nice fox into a villain.

Aless then casually left the scene of the argument, all of his muscles under heavy tension. His walk was tense, much more tiring than it was meant to be.

As Aless walked the remaining 8 minutes to the Sotan household, his tension was starting to dissipate. But, with it, the full awareness of what he'd done was coming in: he'd attacked a stranger. Not with a simple push, but with a full canister of pepper spray, in a way that would maximize the pain. That wasn't self-defense, that was an assault. He looked at the empty canister of pepper spray and remembered it wasn't the first time he'd used it: in fact, that was only the second time. Back when he was 19, maybe 20, he had come across one of his bullies from high school, which was the only one that had avoided Matthew and Aless' revenge, so he was still feeling hatred towards Aless. He was a raccoon and the typical type of student that wanted to impress the others with his behavior. In a negative way, obviously. So, that day, the raccoon was using a very colorful language with Aless, until Aless threatened that he would report everything to the police. That had only triggered more anger in the raccoon, who tried to lunge at Aless. And that was why Aless pressed on the canister for the first time.

The case with the wolf, though, couldn't be fully justified: sure, it was for self-defense, but the harm done was excessive. Aless was starting to become aware of that: how was he going to explain it to Sandra? How was she going to react? She knew Aless would have these moments with dark thoughts, but they had never materialized. Up until that point.

Aless accelerated his pace: he had to get into a place where he knew he could stay alone and reflect. The shower of his house was the perfect place. But he had already showered that morning...

Fuck it, Aless closed his processing of thoughts: he was going to shower again, in order to reflect on what had happened.

Aless reached his house, rang the doorbell and was greeted by Sandra.

"How's it been, Al?" Sandra asked, with the typical tone of a loving wife.

Aless just walked past as fast as he could, without saying anything or looking at her. Something had gone wrong and Sandra was fully aware. Knowing Aless, she didn't ask anything, as an irritated "Nothing!" was the only answer she would have gotten.

Aless immediately disrobed and headed for the shower, tossing his work clothes on the bed and immediately entering the bathroom, wearing only his underwear.

As Aless entered the bathroom and locked the door, he could feel a terrible headache: that was the sign his brain was fighting between "Tyrant" mode and normal mode. Aless placed his paw on his head: he could feel it pounding... but he was used to such pain, thanks to anxiety and the headaches it would cause. He wanted to cry, cry to release it, but no tears would fall down. Instead, dark thoughts came back flowing into his head, and he could visualize them in creepy detail: he saw himself pretending to steal his own car, and then... ploughing into... No, he didn't want to believe what his brain was creating... So that the DNA... an alibi... phone records... probably... Why, you goddamn brain!? Why are you doing this!? Aless grunted as he slapped his paw on his head, as if he wanted to make the brain behave. But he failed: the brain kept developing such brutal images in detail, and Aless' eyes couldn't avoid them, even if closed.

"Please... stop..." he muttered to himself... the fight inside his head was involving the whole body, now. He tried to stand up, close his eyes and take a few deep breaths... and that seemed to work. He could feel his tension slowly dropping, as he went into the shower and turned on the water flow. Hot water was flowing on his fur, clearing him of the musk that had developed due to the hot, sultry day. He simply showered for about 20 minutes, enjoying the flow of hot water onto his fur... He wasn't thinking anymore, he'd shut down all paths the brain could use to show his crude images. And he could finally enjoy some peace, as the water flowed on his handsome body and lovely orange and white fur.

Still, that peace was short-lived: as soon as he got out of the shower and into the towels, he started thinking... and the thoughts were, unsurprisingly, negative. Still, they weren't as painful as the first one, instead being more philosophical: Is this why no one is happy? Because, when you have fun, you don't think, "I'm having fun", but it just happens. When the fun stops, though, the only thing you can do is think, and that's when the memories of happy times hit you with nostalgia. You look back with sadness at the happy moments, when you were carefree and relaxed... but, then again, if you had thought "I'm having fun", then you would have become aware that it eventually would have ended and that would have made you sad... Is there no escape from sadness? From anger? From anxiety? Maybe there is... But I haven't found it yet.

As Aless reflected, while sitting on the toilet with his underwear on, he looked at the clock inside the bathroom, which indicated it was 5:45 p.m.. Aless sighed: he was going to have to get out of the shower, eventually, and go back with Sandra and Jack, who would then notice the behavior and ask "What's wrong?" And then he would have to explain everything, most of the times under tears. Aless had a love-hate relationship with crying: while he would feel pain while crying, he would then feel better after crying. But, he knew he was going to have to live that experience again.

Aless lied on the bed for about an hour, waiting for dinner to be ready: obviously, he couldn't cook, so it was Sandra who prepared the food. Considering he couldn't even open the front door, it was clear he was hopeless in the house. He was certainly much better at work.

At dinner, he expected the fateful questions to arrive, but they didn't: Sandra and Jack just looked at him, both understanding he was swimming in a sea of thoughts... stopping his swim wasn't the best way to approach him, they had to wait for him to stop.

That happened that night.

Sandra had gone to bed a bit earlier, since she was planning on working a bit from home on Sunday, so she saw Aless reach the bed and drop himself onto it. After a few seconds, Aless placed himself on a fetal position and started sobbing, kind of like Jack had done the night before. He also started growling and squirming his legs, as if he was fighting with a virus inside his head.

Sandra looked at him and was about to place a paw on her boyfriend's shoulder, until something stopped her: Aless had started squirming more vigorously and had brought his paws to his head, where he was screaming "Please, help!" It looked like Aless was in immense fear.

"Aless! ALESS!" Sandra was incredibly worried and used one of her paws to push Aless supine. As the fox squirmed, the vixen wrapped her arms around Aless' chest, at around the height of the first abs. Then, she placed her head on Aless' right side, about midway between the armpit and the crotch. Aless was moving violently, but she held on and took the hits that came from the squirming.

"ALESS! CALM DOWN, PLEASE! I IMPLORE YOU!" Sandra pleaded, almost desperately.

That seemed to work, as Aless stopped squirming and, instead, started panting.

"It's OK... It's OK... You're fine." Sandra said as she started to caress Aless' white fur on his chest.

Aless kept panting, but, between the panting, there seemed to be a light "Thank you" coming out of his muzzle.

Sandra didn't notice that, as she kept rubbing her head on Aless' side and her paw on his chest.

"It's OK... But... What happened? If you share it with me, we can solve this..." She wanted to sound reassuring, but she was clearly worried.

"It's not your fault... Don't worry..." Aless answered, still panting and with a voice that still showed panic.

"If it involves you, it also involves me... What happened?" She sounded more firm, she had to know.

Aless sighed really hard: the fateful question had arrived and he couldn't avoid it.

"I... I..."

Tears started dropping from his side, as he started sobbing again.

Sandra hugged him more tightly: she had to show that she would support him and protect him, as long as it wasn't illegal.

Aless tried to inhale through the snout, but couldn't due to the snot stuck in it.

"I pepper sprayed a wolf... at the Hood Rd-Lola Ave crossing..." Aless managed to mutter as his eyes shut tightly, indicating a flow of tears.

Sandra knew immediately that it was very serious: she had to know everything. "Why did you do that? Last time you used it was 6 years ago!"

Aless then went to explain the facts that led to the first spray of the tear gas, sobbing often.

"So... it was for self-defense, then! You shouldn't feel so guilty about it..." Sandra was about to conclude, but Aless interrupted her.

"No... At first, it was... But then... My brain..." Aless kept sobbing. "It... It entered "tyrant" mode... and... and..." He sobbed a few more times before saying a sentence that would make him drop many tears: "I purposely sprayed it from point-blank range on his snout... all of it..."

Sandra's heart skipped a beat: she didn't want to believe that Aless' violent thoughts had become real... but, after all, she had feared that, eventually, Aless would have lost control so badly that he would have hurt... Nonetheless, that was still terrible to hear, even it had been done against a wolf that looked rude and arrogant.

"Like..." She was shocked. "Like... right next to the snout?"

Aless nodded, as he cried more and more tears.

Sandra's own snout heated up and felt irritated: just imagining 15 seconds worth of pepper spray right in the snout was enough to make her feel some pain.

"Why...? Why did you exceed with self-defense?"

"I wish I knew, Sandra! I wish I knew myself in that moments! You know I can't! Don't you!?"

Aless screamed in desperation as he moved his arms around: he felt like he wasn't being understood and that was hurting him severely.

Sandra decided to interrupt the conversation: she was getting into dangerous territory and could destroy Aless' trust if she kept speaking... She was fully aware that trust was the basis for Aless' friendships (and partnership) and breaking it would only cause Aless to lose it and become dangerously unpredictable. At that moment, she knew she'd made a mistake, as showing ignorance to one of Aless' defining characteristics was considered by him, especially after years of living with Sandra, as a sign of "falsehood", which was seen by him as a way to exploit his sacred trust and use his feelings to satisfy egoistical interests. While that looked extreme by many, Aless would base his whole life and relationships on such values, kind of like a selection where very few had the qualities to pass. That probably explained the low figures, but high intimacy of all his friendships.

With all of that in mind, Sandra decided to remain supine and push Aless towards her with her left paw on his shoulder, rolling him on his side and lying against Sandra's left side. She then fit her arm between Aless' side and the bed and wrapped it around Aless' body, reaching his exposed left side (the right one was lying against the bed). She placed the paw on the side, as she regulated herself to be more comfortable. Then, she started caressing Aless' fur tenderly, as Aless placed his head just below Sandra's breasts, in order to feel the warmth of her fur, kind of like a pillow.

In that position, after giving Aless a tissue to blow his nose, she heard Aless breathing deeply for a few minutes, before the couple fell asleep, with a slight smile on Aless' muzzle.