Chasing the Sun - Chapter 07: Shirts and Hot Pots

Story by hashtse_apxan on SoFurry

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#8 of Chasing the Sun

Sorry for the late update! This chapter and the three after this have gone through so many revisions x'D

This was supposed to be uploadad on schedule but real life stuff got in the way


Octo put his phone back in his pocket and looked up. He gave a polite smile when he saw Kevin near the entrance, leaning on the wall with arms crossed. "Took you long enough." said the wolf with a grin, tail beginning to wave behind him.

The panther just shrugged. "I'm on time."

Kevin laughed. "Yeah, yeah. Come on." He threw his arm around the panther's neck as they went into the mall. Octo just gave an amused chuff.

He usually didn't like it when people asked him out to get some food. Usually, it ended up with him paying for the food. Even Andy was guilty of it a few times. However, he had exceptions, and Kevin was one of them, mostly because the wolf didn't usually ask him to get some food and when he did, he had the money.

Sometimes, he thought there might be other reasons, but yeah, that was mainly it. He didn't really mind buying stuff for the wolf.

That also sometimes made him think that he had feelings for the wolf, because despite his attitude, Kevin really was a good guy at heart, even if a bit too horny at times. Octo found himself liking him more than he thought he would. He was no stranger to having feelings towards a fuckmate, even a hook-up, but those feelings usually disappeared as they drifted apart. Kevin, though, they still met up from time to time, sometimes with sex, sometimes not. Octo just thought that it wasn't strange since he met the wolf as a friend first and fuckmate second.

"By the way, where d'you want to go first? I already did groceries. Or you wanna go right to a restaurant? But it's still too early for dinner."

"This is your idea, you know."

"Yeah, well..." Kevin's tail wagged as he chuckled sheepishly. "I didn't actually think you'd agree."

The panther ruffled his head fur, earning a soft yelp from the wolf. "Let's just go sightsee first."

Walking through the mall, Octo couldn't help but notice Kevin's air more intensely. He was confident yet dared admit when he was in the wrong. He was horny yet wouldn't do anything or push without consent. He was well-built despite his horrible diet--well, from what Octo could tell--which actually made him responsible. He might do the wrong thing sometimes, but he wasn't afraid to apologise and take responsibility like a man.

Although, his dirty and musky flat said otherwise.

The panther shook his head fondly. A home is one's safe place, so if Kevin were comfortable with it, then Kevin was comfortable with it.

They went to an electronics store. Looking at the phones on display, Octo noticed he might need to upgrade soon. His phone was already two generations behind. Then, Kevin took his phone out to reply to a message, making him hold back that thought. The wolf's phone was, well, at least functional, so Octo should be thankful for what he had. Maybe he should hold back till the new ones were released during summer.

Going to the blower section, Kevin inspected some of them. Octo recalled that the wolf had no blower, so maybe he was going to buy one. Taking one, the wolf showed it to him. "You think this is good? Looks small enough."

He took it and looked it over. "I don't think this one's strong enough for you. Your fur is thick." He gave it back to the wolf, then took another one from the display. "This one seems better."

Kevin looked it over. "Can we try th--w-whoa!--h-hey, seems stronger."

After paying for the blower--and playing with a new vacuum on display--they left the electronics store. Octo noticed as they walked that the wolf smiled more often lately, which made him smile more in turn. Maybe it was because they had made up? Octo didn't know, and he didn't really want to dwell on it because they were already over it. Looking at Kevin's tail which was waving at medium height, it looked like the wolf was over it, too.

Seeing his friends being happy made him happy, too.

They then headed to a clothing store. Looking at the casual clothes, Octo decided that maybe he'd buy some. He took a black t-shirt with text on its front side. The fabric felt comfortable, though too tight for him.

Kevin also looked at it. "Feels soft."

"Too tight for me though."

"Give it to me then."

"Can you stop wearing tight clothes and be so hot for just a day?" Octo huffed.

Kevin snickered at him, tail thumping against the panther's legs a few times. "Can't help with this hotness, eh?"

He put the t-shirt back into the hanger and grumbled under his breath. "What a fuckboy."

"Says the one who fucked me~"

Octo walked away and saw a shopkeeper looking at them weirdly. He just nodded at her before walking away to the shirts section, Kevin following him. He began to sift through the shirts on display, looking for one that was to his taste. There was one that looked good, though.

"Hey, you think this fits me?"

He looked up and saw Kevin holding a simple white shirt with five red lines on the left side running through the chest pocket. It looked simple but good, formal yet casual. He touched it, inspecting the material. "Feels good, but isn't it a bit small for you? What's your size?"

"Usually XL."

"Really? You're bigger than me and XL is usually fur-tight for me."

Kevin shrugged. "Yeah, I mean if there's an XXL size I'd go for it, but it's much easier to find an XL size." He then snickered. "Besides, you like it when my tops are fur-tight, right?"

The panther rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Go try it if you want."

Looking down at the shirt, the wolf inspected it again. His gaze lingered on the price tag, then at the display where he picked it from. He took his jacket off, which as usual, revealed a tight t-shirt underneath but this time it actually looked very good on him, and gave it to Octo before walking to the fitting room. Octo swung the jacket over his shoulder, which was a bad decision because it hit his muzzle and instantly all he could smell was Kevin.

God, didn't the wolf smell hot.

After cleaning his coat from the wolf's loose fur, he continued browsing through the items on display. He found a dark grey shirt that looked good, so he put it aside for later. There was a blue one that also looked good, but sadly it was too small for him. He noticed Kevin coming back with that shirt. Upon looking at the wolf, Octo gulped.

That shirt just hugged him in the best way possible. The shirt wasn't too tight, but still enough to show his defined build. It seemed to show his muscles just enough but not too much that it became improper. It fit him even more because the red lines perfectly matched the wolf's fur, making them look like five small windows to the wolf's body. "So, how'd you think?"

Fortunately, Octo was behind a stack of shirts so that Kevin couldn't see his tail waving eagerly. "You look amazing." he replied.

That made Kevin grin wider. "I know I am but how's the shirt, dude?"

"That makes you even more amazing." Octo said with a flat face, leaving it to the wolf to interpret it as a joke or as an actual compliment. "Really though, the shirt fits you. Maybe a bit too tight for formal occasions for my taste but you like tight clothes anyway. Where'd you get it from, anyway?"

"Over there in the 70% discount pile."

Octo walked there, looking at the pile. When he couldn't find any similar shirt, he looked around. There was another display on the side, which he promptly investigated. He then sighed in disappointment that all the shirts were with bright lines. There was one with dark grey lines, but he reckoned it would fit Tom more than him. "Wait, this isn't the 70% discount pile."

"Huh? Wait, really?" Kevin looked at the pile, then at the pile which had a "30% discount" sign above it. "Shit."

"But seriously, buy it. That fits you very well."

"Er..." He looked at the price tags and gulped. Then, he huffed almost in defeat. "Yeah, I'll buy this." said the wolf before walking back to the fitting room.

Curious, Octo looked at the price of one of the shirts. After a 30% discount, it should be around 37,45 euros. Eh, not very expensive.

...how much would a shirt cost to be considered expensive anyway? He didn't buy clothes often, mainly because of his strict tastes, but when he found one that he thought looked great, he'd buy it.

After paying for the shirts, they walked out of the shop and went away. He noticed Kevin seemed to be a bit dejected, even his grins weren't accompanied by the usual tail waving. Thankfully, as they walked away and chatted, the wolf was back to his usual flirty self.

"By the way, you ever had a hot pot, Kev?"

"Hot pot?"

"Yeah, hot pot?"

"What's a hot pot?"

"So you never had one. Let's get one."

"Oi, what the fuck is a hot pot?"

"Just follow me, I'll get you a hot pot."

Octo led him to a Chinese restaurant he sometimes dined in. Kevin seemed hesitant to go inside, but followed, nonetheless. "A table for two, please."

"Right this way, sir."

As soon as they sat down, a waiter went to their table and offered the menu. "Let's just get the simple package, not spicy." the panther said as he put their paper bags away. "And just split the reckoning, okay?"

Kevin looked at the menu, then huffed, "Sure."

They gave their order to the waiter who promptly brisked away. The wolf was staring curiously at the stove in the centre of the table, making Octo chuckle in amusement. "You went to Chinese restaurants before?"

"Yeah, but they don't have a stove on the table. What's it for?"

"For the hot pot." When the wolf tilted his head, the panther continued. "Hot pot is... a continuously boiling pot of broth in the centre of the table. We're served raw food, and we cook them by boiling them in the pot. Kinda like an all-you-can-eat style barbecue where you gotta cook the food first, only that instead of a grill, we have a pot."

"Ohh, I see. So we're gonna need to cook it ourselves?"

"Yeah."

"Can we take the broth to our plate?"

"Sure. Best to eat everything served."

Shortly after, a waiter came to their table bringing their food and pot. The soup in the pot was already hot, so putting it on the stove and turning the fire on made it instantly boil. They were served simple stuff. Nothing too fancy, just slices of chicken, duck, rice, and vegetables. Octo took two slices of chicken and a generous serving of vegetables and put them into the pot.

Kevin followed by putting several slices of duck, then after looking at the raw meat, decided to put everything in. "We don't have that much anyway, let's just boil everything at once."

Giving a light chuckle, Octo agreed.

They chatted lively as they ate. What used to be something he didn't expect was now something he looked forward to. Despite his rudeness and hornines, Kevin was a good conversation partner. He might be a bit narcissistic at times, but he had no problems being the butt of jokes.

This also allowed him to stare at the wolf because, well, he was handsome. His grins which sometimes annoyed the panther really did make him look hot. Even though they were of different species, Octo had no problems with dating someone not a pantherine, and from his stories, Kevin didn't, either.

After they were done dining--which was delicious but didn't really make them full--they tidied up their empty plates and paid for the food. Kevin paid for it, but when they were outside, Octo got a notification from Owo that Kevin requested 3 euros along with a note saying, "next time it's my turn to top". He looked up to see the wolf grinning and wiggling his brows at him.

Giving a grin back, Octo transferred 7 euros to him with a note saying, "you can top, but I dom".

Kevin looked at his phone, then his ears drooped when he read the note, then his tail began wagging as he shoved the panther away, a bit roughly. "Fuck you, dude."

Octo just laughed.

They spent the rest of the evening just window-shopping. After visiting various stores, they bought ice creams. Walking back to the exit, Kevin asked him, "Hey Oct, you wanna spend the night at my place?"

Finishing his ice cream, the panther threw the package to the nearest bin and answered, "Sure." Kevin's flat was nearby, anyway. Tomorrow was also Sunday. Besides, they spent a lot of nights together already, sex or no sex... er, until that incident.

After taking a short tram ride, they arrived at the street which led to the wolf's flat. The walk was a bit tense, but Octo played it cool. The wolf also didn't say anything about that incident. Octo wasn't really looking forward to coming to Kevin's flat, but since he was being invited here, he would stay polite.

When they arrived at the flat, the wolf unlocked the door and invited him in. Inside was a bit messy, but a lot tidier compared to when he left it after that incident. The small flat only had three rooms: one main room for the bed and television, one for a small kitchen, and one for a small, combined bathroom. It was rather musky, and unfortunately, the bad kind of musky.

"Just sit down on the bed. I'm gonna get some drinks."

"Wolf, your flat reeks. Open the windows."

"I thought you liked my smell~?"

"Not when it's mixed with cum inside a room that's been locked for 12 hours."

Kevin laughed and opened the windows beside the bed.

Sitting down on the bed, Octo looked at it. They spent a few nights here, fucking each other for satisfaction. There never were any strings, just them exchanging favour between one another. Yet, lately, he began to wonder if some strings began to wrap between them. Kevin was a great fuckmate, he admitted, but he was also a great guy to spend time with.

Said wolf returned from the kitchen with two cans of soda in hand. He threw one to the panther before taking his jacket and t-shirt off. Popping it open, he sat down beside the panther, shirtless. "By the way, you got any plans for tomorrow?"

"No." Octo opened the can and drank from it, giving a sigh. "No."

They went quiet for a bit. Octo's phone beeped with a notification. He took it and replied to the message, then put it on the nightstand. Then he looked at Kevin, only to find that the wolf had been staring at him.

Kevin smiled before taking another sip, then leant forward to plant a kiss on the panther's cheek.

Chuffing, Octo sipped his soda. It seemed like Kevin planned this, but he couldn't bring himself to be angry at him. It was typical Kevin, anyway, and he could always say no and the wolf would respect it, though with lots of taunting. "You planned this, didn't you?"

The wolf sheepishly looked away and scratched his nape. "No, seriously, I didn't."

Octo huffed.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Y'know..."

He turned to look at the wolf who was grinning sheepishly. Leaning forward, he softly pulled the wolf's chin. They kissed deeper this time, tongues exploring each other's mouths. He was getting horny and Kevin was eagerly responding.

They pulled away again. The wolf put his can of soda away and asked him, "So, d'you want to fuck?"

Octo put his own can away, then closed his eyes as feelings began to stir in. "Sure."

"Well, go ahead. You did say you want to dom."

That made him chuckle. Pushing the wolf into the bed, he gave a smile. Kevin smiled, laughing softly and tail wagging when Octo began to pet his stomach.

Taking the buttons of his shirt off, Octo hoped they weren't entangling themselves in more strings of their relationship.


Kevin didn't know what was between them, or why did they keep meeting up for fucks, or why did they seem to want to be near each other. It was weird, he knew; Octo was just his fuckmate, right? Other than his clients, he didn't usually fuck the same person more than twice, let alone thrice or four times, but the panther, he lost count how many times had they done it. Maybe this was their sixth, or seventh, or umpteenth, whatever, the thing was why did they keep doing this?

Yeah, the panther is hot and he wanted to fuck him again and the panther kept making him think about him. But... did that mean... they were more than just fuckmates?

He wasn't sure. He didn't know. All that he knew was last night, he got all his sex drive back, and they fucked each other like they missed doing so.

Now, like that first time they fucked in the panther's dorm room almost two years ago, he stared at the ceilings, wondering whether he was fucked up or not, whether he regretted last night or not. Red and dark furs were scattered all over the bed with blankets nowhere in sight, their mixed scent all over the room. The sun was shining brightly through the window as if reprimanding him for waking up this late.

Did he have a feeling towards the panther? Yeah, he admitted. Was that feeling genuine liking, infatuation, or just lust? He didn't know.

Groaning, Kevin rolled to lie on his back, already wide awake from the thinking. Post-nut clarity tended to just hit him like a tank in the morning. Staring at the ceilings, he couldn't help but wonder why did he think after acting. His body ached in tiredness, but in a good way. Behind his composure, Octo was quite a feisty one on the sheets; a true vers and switch if Kevin were to say. He could do almost whatever Kevin wanted him to do.

Sitting up, the wolf just weakly scratched his bare chest and took a deep sigh to clear his thoughts away. Since he was alone on the bed and the flat sounded empty, he reckoned Octo left already. His reckoning turned out to be true when he reached for his phone on the nightstand, a message appearing on the lock screen. Octo panther: Sorry I had to leave early. I got some unexpected things to do. You sleepily said I can just take one of the keys, so I locked the door from outside and took it with me.

A bit weird since Octo never left right away in the morning without waiting for him to wake up, but well, nothing too bizarre. Putting the phone back on the nightstand, the wolf stood up and stretched his naked body, his erection occasionally getting in the way. Oof, he really needed to piss.

As he did his morning business, he couldn't help but think again. Last night seemed like... like they forgot all that happened before. Octo stepped into this flat without any comment and he served the panther some drinks without any comment. On the one hand, that was a good thing, but on the other hand... no, that was a good thing and it was better to keep it that way. Like Tom said, no use meddling in the past. They had made up and forgave each other.

After he was done, he checked his body. Surprisingly, he was clean. While he smelled like a horny panther and his fluff was a rainforest with occasional black fur in his red and white ones, there were no cum or lube streaks.

Well, no shower today. Flushing the closet, he returned to the bedroom and took his brush. A quick brush and deodorant would be enough. He had nothing planned for today anyway. He would like that Octo stayed for longer to maybe make him breakfast, but well, they were just fuckmates.

Weren't they?

He didn't know, and he didn't want to think more about it. For now, he took a package of pasta sauce and another of frozen meatballs from the fridge and put it on the counter to warm it up. He took a saucepan and boiled some water, then took some meatballs and put them in the saucepan when it was boiling. It wasn't much, but it was actually a nice, healthy breakfast... if his definition of "healthy" was "anything made from meat and prepared in any way".

When the meatballs were done, he put them on a plate and cut them before pouring the sauce on them. Breakfast ready, he went back to the bed and turned the television on. It was about 9 in the morning, so he had to watch some weird music programme on the television.

Oh, right, he still had that unemployment thingy to apply for.

Lazily munching the meatballs, he elongated his legs and leant back on the headrest. Should he apply for it? He was a university graduate, so getting a job shouldn't really be hard. Then again, he was struggling lately.

Giving a sigh, the wolf took his phone from the nightstand. He wanted to look for more info about the unemployment program from the city. However, there was a text from Vilkas. Vilkas Kinky Husky: "Yo Kev. I'm gonna go to the city library. You wanna hang out?"

He furrowed his brows. Vilkas knew well he just didn't like going to the library. There were so few things to do there. However, at least he would be spending some time with Vilkas. If the husky wanted to read, he could just go to the computer section and do something.

He replied to the text, "sure. u gonna come to my place first or we meet there?"

The reply was quick. Vilkas Kinky Husky: "Let's just meet there at 14"

"aye dude"

Putting the phone back on the nightstand, Kevin continued eating. He could research it later at the library. For now, he just watched the television to distract his mind, tail softly waving.

Oh, right, he also needed to brush today.