What You Don't Know...
Some quick warnings and notes if you missed the tags...
This wor...
Some quick warnings and notes if you missed the tags...
This work of fiction contains adult males having sex and with other adult males. If you are not of legal age in your area of residence to read such material, stop reading now and find something legal to read on the internet. An act of rape occurs within the story. Versions of mind manipulation and control are evident in several scenes. If any of the above is something you would rather not read, please do not read this story of mine.
Finally, this story was written as an entry for the second writing contest (Sept/Oct 2010) at SoFurry.com.
What You Don't Know...
by Reserved Rodent
It was the witching hour, nothing so crude as midnight of course. Anyone can be a witch at midnight under a full moon. It was past 3am and he had been awoken by a hand on his shoulder, shaking him urgently. His eyes opened to an unfamiliar ceiling and the usual questions of "Who am I?" "Where am I?" "Am I wearing clothes?" filled his head, and were promptly banished. A finger pressed against his lips and words were whispered into his ear barely above the threshold of hearing, the voice one of a distant memory his sleep-addled brain could not yet recollect.
"I want to tell you a secret."
A second finger joined the first on his lips before he could ask "What?" or "Why?"
Barely whispered words again entered his ears, "But I want to tell you this secret to your face - not through this used and abused messenger. It will be difficult to wait, but do not worry. I will keep both my and your secrets safe a few days more. Just know, I'm coming for you, and this one knew where you spend your time these days."
The warm breath in his ear faded as the fingers pulled back from his lips. Rather than trying to ask any questions, he attempted to turn his head - or even his eyes - to see who was with him, but he found himself unable to do either.
A distorted shadow of the head and rack of a male gazelle - a chinkara like himself - came into view on the ceiling as the fur who had whispered to him moved around him.
"No, you can't keep that memory. That's a secret I need to keep." the other fur said with that strangely familiar voice.
The shadow moved out of his sight, then his memory of seeing it faded to nothing, as did the last comment the other fur had made.
Rather than trying to ask any questions, he attempted to turn his head - or even his eyes - to see who was with him, but he found himself unable to do either.
"Jasper, maroon, thirty-four, panther," that strangely familiar - yet still unidentified - voice said in a commanding tone.
Unable to stop himself he began talking in a voice identical to the one that had whispered in his ear.
"I want to tell you a secret. But I want to tell you this secret to your face - not through this used and abused messenger. It will be difficult to wait, but do not worry. I will keep both my and your secrets safe a few days more. Just know, I'm coming for you, and this one knew where you spend your time these days."
He wanted to scream, to demand to know what was happening, to be able to move.
In the end he could do nothing as two strong, furry paws gripped his head and twisted it sharply.
Something in his neck clicked.
As his vision slowly faded to black, he wondered, "Am I wearing clean underwear?"
***
Across town, on the third floor of the Brahma Tech building, an olive-colored reptile dressed in a drab khaki guard's uniform walked the dark halls.
He loved being a trusted guard for such a powerful company. Sure, a few members of the security team teased him about his species name. They thought it funny that a member of a species called mugger crocodiles was allowed to roam the halls to make sure folks were safe.
As he turned a corner, he noticed light leaking out from under one door. Someone must be working late. As he got closer, he grinned, realizing that the one employee he enjoyed joking with was still here.
After tapping in his personal code to open the lab door, he stepped inside the brightly lit room and let his eyes adjust.
He shook his head and grinned when he caught site of Dale.
The scientist was one of a rare species. He was a canid, so related to fox and dog furs, but his species had their own genus - Cuon. There were not a lot of his kind around, which made the guard happy he knew the dhole.
Blushing a little at the amount of knowledge he had gone out of his way to learn about Dale, the guard walked softly towards where the rusty furred scientist was sleeping, muzzle resting on his white furred hands.
Dale's brown tipped, bushy tail was waving slowly as the crocodile stepped up behind the lightly snoring scientist, making the guard wonder what the cute male dreamed.
Leaning over the canid's back, the guard whispered: "Wake up, you overworked dhole. You should be sleeping in a bed, not your lab."
The dozing fur did not respond at all, so olive-scaled hands settled on to this shoulders and started gently rubbing them. "I am willing to offer you my bed, though I'm not off the clock for," he paused to read the digital clock built into the wall across the room: 03:34, "another half hour."
Jerking awake, the rusty-colored canid gave out a startled yip, then a growl, "Weren't you warned about fondling scientists, Mark?"
Laughing, the crocodile stepped back as the dhole swiveled his desk chair around to face him. "Weren't you warned about sleeping in the lab, Dale?"
Nodding, the dhole let out a sigh, "Two wrongs don't make a right, mugger. And when the big boss man is expecting results yesterday, he forgives me working until I drop."
Frowning, Mark gave the dhole a stern look. "Man, that's not right. I mean, I know your work is important for making sure the clones made by the company work well, but it hasn't been an emergency before, so why are you getting pressured now?"
Rubbing his white-furred hand against his brow, the scientist shook his head and sighed, "Androids, Mark, not clones. The androids are biological, but not copies of specific individuals. The emergency comes in that there have been a few units brought over the past two weeks. Their memories have been almost completely wiped, and it seems to be happening more often as time goes on. I'm trying to figure out what the glitch is."
Chuckling, the mugger crocodile couldn't help but smile, "Yeah, we don't want any of the sex androids forgetting how to give a lapdance."
"Ha, ha," Dale stated flatly. "The thing is, they don't forget everything. They retain understanding of language and their sexual expertise. What is missing is everything they have experienced - their names, orders their masters have given them, everyone they have met..."
"And done?"
"Yes, Mark, and everyone they have 'done.'" Dale sighed, standing up from his chair and popping his back before slipping his white lab coat off. "They are reduced back almost to the state they were produced."
The rusty-furred scientist shook his head and walked over to hang his lab coat by the door. "I appreciate the wake up call, Mark, but you know you can get in trouble propositioning fellow employees with sleeping in your bed."
Blushing, the olive scaled reptile looked a little sheepish, "Sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
"I get your humor, so I'm not going to report you, but some might think you're serious and I'd hate to see my favorite guard fired. Just, be careful, okay?" Dale asked, smiling when he got a nod from the guard.
"You working tomorrow... or, later today as the case may be?" the dhole asked the crocodile, who had followed him to the door.
"Yeah," Mark replied, "I get about eight hours off today as my shift rotates."
"Ouch. I know those can play havoc on your sleep schedule," Dale said. "Though I guess you'll still be getting more and better quality rest than me. Have a good rest of the shift, mugger."
Mark watched the shadow of the scientist move down the hall towards the elevators. "You too, dhole," he whispered, turning the lab's lights off and closing the door. Then, walking down the hall in the other direction to finish off his last check of the building for his shift, he muttered to himself. "I wish you'd slow down long enough to let me tell you how much I like you, Dale. I'm tired of it being a secret."
***
Later that day Dale was in the lab when Mark showed up again. The dhole scientist noted the time was 13:03, as the mugger crocodile guard stepped into the doorway. "What can I do for you?"
Clearing his throat, the olive-scaled male looked very nervous. "Mr. Brahma wants to see you in the morgue, immediately."
"Is everything alright?" Dale asked, standing up, while telling the main computer to disconnect his notebook so he could take it with him.
"I... I don't know," Mark admitted, shaking his head. "All I can say is I have never seen the boss as upset as he is now."
"I wouldn't worry. It's not you he's mad with, mugger. If it were you would know. I have seen him upset at an employee twice before. He held nothing back against either of them."
"So is he... angry with you?" Mark asked as his dhole co-worker.
"I doubt it," Dale said, unplugging his notebook and carrying it with him as he approached the guard, who was still standing in the doorway. "If I were who he was upset with, you would be escorting me to the front door, not the morgue."
"But he's really, really mad, Dale. What if he wants you in the morgue to..." The crocodile grimaced as he stepped back so the dhole could shut the door, then ran a claw across his neck making a "cccllllkkk" sound.
The rusty-furred dhole raised his white paw to cover his muzzle as he sniggered a little at the guard's concern. "Sorry. I appreciate your concern, but it's misplaced. The morgue just holds deactivated androids. I'm not sure who started calling it the morgue, but there's no dead bodies down there."
Following behind the scientist, the olive-scaled crocodile shrugged, trying to relax.
There were plenty of jokes and gossip the guards shared during breaks and before and after shifts. A lot of nasty things were said to happen down in the basement levels, but Mark had never worried about it before. He had never been assigned to cover the lower levels.
Today found him not only going down to the second basement level - to the morgue, of all places - but escorting Dale there to meet the boss.
The ding as the elevator arrived as soon as the call button was pressed surprised the reptile - he had been hoping for some time to talk.
The ride down five stories in the elevator passed quietly, though the crocodile kept wanting to say something to his co-worker.
He just couldn't think of how.
As the doors opened on basement level two, Dale looked over at Mark before stepping out. "You're unusually quiet."
Following, the crocodile shrugged. "Sorry. Not sure what to say."
"You still worried?" The dhole scientist asked, stopping and shifting the notebook he carried from one white-furred paw to the other.
Mark found himself wondering how far up the rusty-furred canid's arms the light color went. He wondered what color the scientists chest fur might be. All he could do though, was nod.
Dale set his free paw on the guard's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. "Don't worry, big guy. Everything is fine."
The paw placed on his shoulder thrilled the guard more than he felt safe showing, but he still smiled and felt his back grow hotter. "Thanks, buddy," he whispered, receiving another slight squeeze to his shoulder.
"Well," the dhole said with a grin, "let's not keep the boss waiting."
The pair continued down the hall, still in silence. While the guard was not as uncomfortable as before, his worries had not completely faded. He was, at least, able to appear much more professional as the last corner before the morgue was turned, revealing the head of the company himself.
Mr. Brahma was a large, fit elephant who looked like he could easily handle even someone as buff and well-trained as Mark, if it came down to a fight. His tailored dark grey suit, with black dress shirt and red tie, made him look all the more dangerous, rather than softening his muscular build.
"Dale, Mark, thank-you for your speedy response. Mark, you will stand guard at this door and let no one in except for Dale or myself, unless otherwise ordered by me. The chief of security has been made aware of this arrangement, so do not worry about your other duties."
"Understood, Mr. Brahma," the crocodile responded respectfully, taking up position to guard the door to the morgue.
The head of the company entered a code on to the pad by the entrance, and the security door slid open on silent runners. "After you, Dale."
Dale walked into the room ahead of his boss and the door slid closed, leaving the crocodile behind, thinking just how small the rusty-furred dhole looked next to the powerful form of Mr. Brahma.
***
Inside the morgue, the first thing Dale noticed was that the body of the chinkara gazelle male was not a type of android that he was aware of the company making. The closest unit type in production was the Black Buck, an antilope that was popular with furs that preferred robust, agile sexual partners - without the sharp teeth and claws of a carnivore species.
The chinkara's neck was at the odd angle that indicated a Brahma Tech unit was safely deactivated. No blood or other markings appeared anywhere on the naked male, except for some dried semen around its groin.
"Sir, is this one of ours?" the dhole asked, not approaching the table the body lay on yet, though beginning to walk around to look at it from a different angle.
"It is," Mr. Brahma responded simply, without further explanation.
"I am not familiar with the model," Dale admitted, "so I am not sure why you brought me down here."
"While this android was a custom designed model," the elephant rumbled, "your groundbreaking organic memory system was used. Samples of semen and stray fur have already been collected to try and pin down who its last encounter was with. Unfortunately, every test our people run spits out gibberish, so I assume something was done to make that line of investigation fail. I know you are looking into memory loss from several of our standard androids already, but I need any and all information you can recover from this one first."
"Do you think this one also lost its memory?" the scientist asked. "If not, any number of individuals should be able to get the data you need."
Giving a short grunt, Dale's boss waved his trunk in the general direction of the android. "I have reason to believe it will have the same problems, yes. If not then you are right, but if so, I feel having you investigate the problem from the start, rather than getting a report filed by someone else, may help."
Nodding, the dhole stepped up to grab the chinkara's head, rolling the eyelids back to look for any error lights flashing. Seeing none, he then braced to twist the neck back into place so that he could reactivate the android. The head swiveled smoothly and clicked into place like it was straight out of the factory.
"How old is this unit?" Dale asked, surprised by the ease of the turn. An older android would have taken a little pressure as, normal operation slowly builds up organic residue in that particular system. It was a known and allowed glitch, as the strange positioning of the head was only ever meant to be used for transporting from factory to final destination.
"Almost three weeks," Mr. Brahma said.
When his boss offered no additional information, the rusty-furred canid asked, "Manual or voice activated?"
"Automatic," the elephant answered. "It should be functioning in -"
The android sat up suddenly, surprising both furs.
The chinkara looked around the room, appearing confused. "I am not wearing any clothes, so therefore am not wearing clean underwear. Where am I? Who am I?"
Dale moved to grab several sensors to take readings of how the neural pathways reacted to both incoming stimulus and recalling information from the android's memory. He wondered at the strange things the gazelle was saying upon start up, but then, it was obviously not straight out of the factory, so basic reactivation routines may have been modified.
The dhole scientist was even more surprised by the next words from the android, "I have been given a maroon level command to give a fully accurate, vocal presentation of all conversations in my memory upon being reactivated. I only need the command to proceed from someone with maroon level clearance."
"Jasper, maroon, thirty-four, creation, delta," Mr. Brahma stated in a chilling voice.
Wondering why he had been asked down here by Mr. Brahma, if the elephant was going to simply have the android spit out all recorded audio, Dale was startled when all that happened was a soft, short whisper, before the android's eyes returned to normal, indicating the playback was finished.
"What the hell was that all about?" the head of the company growled.
The dhole managed to get the sensors taped to the android's head, beside his horns and behind his ears, stating what he felt happened. "The android was replaying the conversation at the same volume level and with the same voices that were speaking. It was either a distant conversation, barely overheard, or something whispered to or near him."
"It will play back everything it has heard, though, right?" Mr. Brahma asked while Dale attached another sensor to track the android's pulse and blood pressure.
"Yes, sir - exactly as it has heard it," the scientist confirmed. "If it spoke, it's voice will sound like it normally does."
"Repeat last command," the elephant said. "Use normal speaking volume."
Again the android's eyes seemed to glaze over, but this time, both furs could clearly hear, "I want to tell you a secret. But I want to tell you this secret to your face - not through this used and abused messenger. It will be difficult to wait, but do not worry. I will keep both my and your secrets safe a few days more. Just know, I'm coming for you, and this one knew where you spend your time these days."
From what Dale could tell, it sounded like the android's voice in the recording. "Identify the speaker," he commanded, just to make sure.
"Unable to comply. There is no record of speaker identifying himself, nor any factors allowing identification. Analysis of vocal patterns returns conclusion: speaker was a male fur and his voice, while not identified, was familiar."
Letting out an angry grunt, Mr Brahma turned and entered the code to open the door. "Find out everything you can. This is your top priority. Also consider this to be at the top level of secrecy - only you and I are allowed to come in here. I need to know every scrap of information that can be recovered from this thing. Do not fail me on this, Dale."
With that the elephant stomped out the door, which slid closed behind him, leaving the scientist wondering if the android forgot how to identify his own voice, or if someone had simply copied it for the only conversation the unit remembered.
***
Late that night Mark stared at the clock beside his bed. The red numbers, 11:13, refused to answer any of the questions his confused mind was asking.
He couldn't remember how long he had been lying on his stomach in his bed as someone - embarrassingly, he could not remember who - energetically fucked his ass.
He was never comfortable with letting anyone see his back, with the scattered black scales dotting it. That was one of the clear calling cards that he was a mugger crocodile instead of one of the more common species. He hated that they identified where he came from.
The male on top of him growled and ran a wide tongue over the side of his head. "Your spots are very handsome, Mark."
As a scaled and clawed paw ran down the ridges on his back, the crocodile's mind wandered, unsure of what he had been thinking just then. Yet the comment of whoever - embarrassingly, he could not remember who - was fucking him made Mark realize he had never really thought about the species markings on his back before. He didn't show them very often, but he could not think of any reason why.
As his sexual partner gave his shoulder s gently nip with his own reptilian teeth, Mark's mind suddenly flashed back to one of the times his two older brothers had raped him while growing up back home. Once he left his father's place, he had sworn he would never be used for someone else's pleasure against his will again, so had always topped his partners.
Fighting against the pleasure the short, thick member hitting his prostate again and again gave him, he got one arm up and back against the muscular, scaled chest of the other male while trying to use his thick tail to push whoever was taking him away.
"Stop!" Mark growled, even as he felt his own orgasm building. Doing his best to kick with both legs while turning his head back to look at the face of the male who continued to breed his ass, despite his command to quit, the guard from Brahma Technologies saw a familiar-looking mugger crocodile. "Get the fuck off of me!"
Tilting his head, Mark's rapist stepped back, his wet member slipping from the guard with a slurping noise. "Yet another bad memory you keep secret from everyone," he said, resting a hand on Mark's thigh.
"I'm going to kill you!" The backhand the violated reptile swung was not as powerful as it might have been, but still connected solidly with the other crocodile's jaw, which seemed to shrink slightly and flash stripes over the scales there.
"Be still," the slightly disfigured rapist said, slowly regaining his previous face. "Let me take your bad memories away. Let me replace them with good ones. It is the least I can do for the help you have given me."
Mark stared at the male that looked almost exactly like him, confusion growing in his mind. "Who are you? What help?"
The other mugger crocodile gently rolled the Brahma Tech guard the rest of the way onto his back. "Does this suit you better? Shall we continue giving each other pleasure, my lover?"
Embarrassingly, Mark couldn't remember his partner's name. But then, he couldn't even remember making a complaint at the fabulous fuck he was receiving, so Mark could only nod in hope that the sexy crocodile would start back into him again.
His wish was granted immediately as his partner slid wetly back into his puckered hole. He didn't even know this strange male's name, or remember inviting him back to his place, but then he had probably been drinking heavily at the bar. The Brahma Tech guard had experienced a very stressful day, so just losing his mind in this hot session of sex felt wonderful.
While his orgasm built back up again quickly as his prostate was struck again and again by the thick reptile dick thrust into him at a building tempo, Mark wondered why he had never let any of the males he had slept with before top him. He could not remember any reason at all, and was happy this sexy mugger crocodile convinced him to try this new position, however that had happened.
***
The next morning, Dale struggled to remain focused as he spoke with Mr. Brahma in the morgue.
The task was made more difficult by the fact he had the android standing in a corner, juggling thirteen bright balls while running through his vocabulary in alphabetical order: "Confide, confidence, confident, confidante, confidential, confidentiality."
"Volume minimum for recording, please," the dhole commanded.
Dale was not sure the soft burbling of the gazelle was worse than the fully-spoken background noise.
"What do you have to report?" Mr. Brahma asked, frowning at the android in the corner.
"I wish I had something better to report, but it is as if there are things and times he has never experienced. It is not a simple matter of forgetting something, or even the data getting scrambled and therefore unreadable. The blank spots in his mind are just that - blank. Like nothing was ever stored there," Dale rubbed his forehead and sighed. "I don't understand what could do that to the system. It shouldn't be possible, yet it has happened more than once."
"So you suspect sabotage rather than system failure?" the elephant asked, adjusting his tie in a nervous habit the dhole had never seen him do before.
"I'm not sure who would be trying to sabotage the company," the scientist grumbled. "Over the last year and a half, all of our competitors have disappeared. Some you bought out, others just fell apart or experienced tragedies that shut them down. I just can't think of anyone wanting to hurt us who would also have the ability to do whatever it is that is stripping memories from various androids."
"But is it possible?" the head of the company pressed.
"I wish I could answer you with confidence," Dale admitted, "but since I am not sure what could cause it, I just don't know. If it were an attack against the reliability of our androids, I suppose it would work but, again, I just don't know how it could be done."
Looking over at the android, juggling in the corner, Mr Brahma growled, "Is having it run through such silly exercises going to give you a better idea of what happened?"
Rubbing the back of his neck, Dale explained: "I have no way of knowing what words may have been lost along with the memories he has. By having him juggle that many balls, any skip in his vocabulary will cause him to drop at least one ball. This may not give us the exact name that has been forgotten, but it can help us narrow the field. For example, the snag between 'braggers' and 'brahmacarin' suggests he knew your name, which makes sense. It won't recover exact names, but it may give us more than we could otherwise get."
Bringing his trunk up to rub at one of his large ears, Mr. Brahma smiled at his employee, "Very clever. When you have a complete list send it up to me and I will compare it against the names I know it would have to see what, if anything, we have left. Good job."
Once the boss left the morgue, a look at the clock on the wall revealed it was 08:57.
Dale figured he should probably think about getting some rest soon, but he still had a few tests to run, so it would just have to wait.
***
He woke up slowly, listening to the rattling on of words in the room.
"Raki, raking, rakish..." Balls rattled as they hit the ground, startling Dale a little further awake.
The dhole watched the gazelle android collect the scattered balls from the ground in silence and begin getting all thirteen in the air again. A quick look at the clock on the wall revealed he'd only slept for about half an hour. But then, at 15:42, he had been working on this problem for over thirty hours with only that one short, interrupted nap.
"Raku, rale," The android started up his vocabulary list again, having gotten all the balls up and sailing around again.
"I can see how that would put you to sleep, Dale," Mark's voice shocked the dhole.
"What are you doing in here, mugger?" the rusty-furred canid asked, standing up from his chair and turning to face the guard. "Does Mr. Brahma know you're here? I don't want you to get into trouble."
"That is very nice, Dale," the crocodile said, stepping closer.
"I don't think the boss wants anyone to see him," the dhole said, nodding towards the chinkara. "I'm not sure why, but you should probably keep it secret that you did and get out before you get caught."
Mark smiled upon hearing the word 'secret', and tilted his head. "Why do you refer to the android as 'him'? Is it not simply a tool? Did you not help create the system by which memories are stored in the thing?"
"What?" Dale began to worry about the guard. Mark wasn't acting right. "Just because he's been manufactured doesn't mean he's not an individual deserving of the respect of not being referred to as 'thing', or 'it'. They have sentience and are supposed to grow and adjust to their surroundings."
"Yet they are programmed for specific purposes," the reptile said, still advancing on the canid. "Sometimes, like that one, they even have hidden agendas inserted deep within their mind. How can they be sentient without free will?"
The sound of multiple balls striking the ground across the room startled Dale slightly, but his nerves were far more focused on the approaching guard. Something was very off about this entire situation, and he was beginning to worry.
"I ensured they have as much free will as anyone born naturally," Dale replied, with passion. "Society is full of restrictions to free choice. People often restrict themselves even further. Free will does not equate to free choice at all times. The androids using the neural systems I have designed have a very clear concept of the duty and responsibility that comes with the benefit of free will. I have done my best to make sure each one that is built has the best possible chance to find happiness and fulfillment, as well as a good life while still enjoying what free will any other individual gets, when balanced with responsibility and duty."
The form of the chinkara stepped up beside Dale, arms crossed, and addressed Mark. "I may not remember who I am, or who Dale is, but I can tell you this. He is right. I have the ability to choose to ignore his orders, and come over here to tell you to not harm him. He has treated me with much more respect than the other one I have seen in here, and certainly more than you seem to."
"Thanks," the rusty canid whispered to the gazelle android, just before his fluffy tail curled between his legs.
Showing every tooth in his large crocodilian maw, Mark smiled. "My, what secrets we all have to share."
***
That night, at three minutes to midnight, Dale stood, a memory card in hand, before Mr. Bramha's desk on the top floor of the building.
"I apologize for the late hour, sir," the dhole said, "but I assumed you would want these results as soon as they were completed."
"You were correct to call me back, Dale. My interrupted sleep seems a small cost next to the hours you have just worked to get the information. Have you gotten everything you can from the android?"
"Yes, sir," The canid said, stepping forward with the card.
"Good. Have it destroyed," the bulky pachyderm said with a dismissive wave of his trunk. "Hopefully you have the key to finding the answer to what is going on there."
"I do, sir," Dale said, stepping up against the desk and holding the card out over it.
Grinning from tusk to tusk, Mr. Brahma grabbed the card with his trunk. "Such confidence, Dale. You better be right."
An orange paw with claws unsheathed grabbed the elephant's trunk and pulled hard, jerking the boss's head down to thump against the desktop. Another clawed hand pushed down on the large forehead of the seated fur.
Where the dhole had been standing a moment before, a similar-sized, well muscled tiger crouched, growling at the elephant.
"I was programmed to be confident, sir," the feline spat. "Don't you remember thinking that would be a great plus for an assassin?"
"You... you were supposed to... Rakshasa, you were to kill yourself after... after you..." The boss was quieted when the tiger gave a harsh jerk to his trunk, digging the elephant's tusks into the wood of the desktop.
"Killed the last of your competitors?" the tiger purred, "Yes, I remember."
"How?" Mr. Brahma asked, a tear running down his cheek either from pain or fear. "Why?"
Smiling and licking his lips, Rakshasa whispered. "I want to tell you a secret. I choose to disobey you."
***
The next day, at three minutes past five, a mugger crocodile and a dhole were sitting on a comfortable couch watching the evening news in the reptile's apartment. They were leaning against each other as close friends - or possibly lovers - might.
Their attention was fully focused on the live broadcast of an announcement from the head of the city's largest corporation.
"I would like to take this time," Mr Brahma's voice stated from the television, "to assure all employees, as well as investors, that Brahma Tech closing for one week is nothing to be alarmed about. All employees are getting a paid vacation while I restructure the company for my planned retirement in one month. I do this both to dispel rumors that I am a harsh slave driver around the office," there were a few laughs from the press at the announcement, "but also because there will be several new appointments to ensure Brahma Tech under new management is even stronger than it was under my own."
Dale turned off the TV and snuggled against the broad chest of Mark.
"I don't know if a week away will be enough time. I feel like I've wasted so much already," the canid admitted. "I just want to stay here with you, mugger."
"Ah, dhole, you big softy," the reptile said pulling his friend closer. "Rakshasa said he was putting you in charge, so it will be easy for you to declare Monday a holiday. And Tuesday. And..."
The two were still kissing on the couch at five thirty.