Friends of a Furry Sort
Rain ran down the pathway to the pond. He loved the park at night; it felt so natural to be here, where there were trees and grass and water. And other creatures, like ducks, geese, and nutria rats. It was especially nice now because it was spring and the weather was perfect, much cooler than it would be in a few months. And much more comfortable with his thick fur. His gray coat didn't shimmer in the moonlight, but was so light that it didn't offer any concealment anyway.
He yipped like a pup as he chased the ducks, geese, and nutria through the park helter-skelter, dodging attempted attacks from geese on his long, fluffy tail and nipping playfully at the ducks that took off into the air to the other side of the pond. Of course, he never had any intentions of hurting any of them. He just liked to chase them. He picked up a few feathers. He liked to put them in his room in vases the way girls did with flowers. The feathers reminded him of many happy nights he spent here.
What he really wanted was a friend with whom he could share this. It was his nature to be social, and he had never had many friends. Humans looked down on him and there weren't many of his kind in the area, the climate being subtropical whereas most of his kind preferred cold climates. His father's job had transferred his father here when Rain was very small, and they had been here since.
After a while Rain sat down under a giant oak tree. He leaned back and put his hands behind his head, gazing up at the stars and moon. He loved the full moon, its roundness and glow. He didn't know all of the constellations, but looked for the ones he did, trying to remember their stories.
He closed his eyes and tuned his other senses into the park. Being a wolf, his senses were all quite keen, and he liked to exercise them every chance he got.
He could hear the soft, contented honks and quacks of the geese and ducks settling back to roost. He could even hear the lazy flow of the pond under the bridge not far from him. He breathed deeply of the air and gasped aloud at the riot of scents he could detect, the fresh scent of the dew and water, the dusty, oily smell of the animals, the earthy smell of the ground. He felt the cool breeze ruffle his fur, making him feel frisky.
He began rolling around on the rough grass beneath him, leaves and dirt getting stuck in his fur. He sat up and shook out, feeling so good that he began howling.
Another howl answered him. A deep, mellow howl that had to belong to a male. A big male.
Rain stopped howling and listened to the other's howl. He was close by, behind Rain. Rain whirled around and scanned the area. A shape similar to his own was walking through the trees. Rain headed that way, cautious. The other wasn't approaching nor had howled aggressively, but Rain was wary all the same.
They met under a tulip tree in full bloom. Rain was more nervous now that he could see the other wolf in person. He was a big, completely black male, except for a silver crest on his chest.
"Was that you howling?" the other male asked. His voice was deep and mellow, almost musical.
"Yes," Rain replied.
"What's your name?"
"Rain. Yours?"
"Midnight. I thought I was the only one who ever came out here this late."
"Nope. Wonder why we've never met before?"
Midnight shrugged. The walked together to the pond and sat under Rain's tree. They sniffed each other in the wolf tradition, both satisfied that the other didn't have hostile intentions.
They talked for a while. They found that they were in similar situations. Midnight's father had transferred when Midnight was small, too. His parents were divorced now. Midnight hadn't gone back with his mother north because he hadn't wanted to leave his friends, who had mostly left him because they couldn't handle the flak they got at school for associating with him. Both of them were having trouble with their parents on and off lately.
They also had similar interests. They both liked hiking and swimming, anything that let them be outdoors. They liked similar music and quite a few of the same bands. Midnight, though not failing, was struggling to do well in school, finding the obligatory still and silence stifling. Rain, on the other hand, loved school. He loved acquiring knowledge and could, at least for a while, sit still for any length of time as long as he was learning.
It got late, or, rather, early, and dawn began its silent approach. Neither lived very far and had walked, and would need to head home soon to beat the sun's rising.
"Well, I gotta go," Midnight said. "My dad gets crazy when I'm not back by dawn."
"Mine, too," Rain replied.
"Why don't we exchange phone numbers? Call me, or I'll call you, and we can hang out again sometime."
Rain's face lit up in a wolfy grin. "Cool!"
They wrote their phone numbers with a pen on pieces of paper from a mini notebook Midnight had in his pocket. Midnight headed in one direction, towards town.
Rain headed for his house. He was so happy. He had a friend.
The two spent the next weeks becoming very close. They spent breaks and lunch at school together, seeking out the cool, soothing shade of the trees like the few other furs at their school, though mostly keeping to themselves. They went to the arcade together often, and like natural wolves loved friendly competition, doing their best to beat each other at every game. Their playful growls and snarls would have been alarming to the other patrons, except they were all too involved in the games to do much more than pass them a disconcerted glance. They went to the park often, sharing in the deep magic of the night and the moon, which was a life spring to them, something they could really share only with each other.
On one such night, Midnight invited Rain to stay over at his house the next night. Rain liked the idea and agreed immediately. In a rare fit of impatience, Rain found he could not focus at school. After school, he rushed home and packed an extra backpack for the night at Midnight's. Rain's father dropped him off at the address, having refused to let Rain walk such a long way. Rain waved goodbye as his father drove away and bounded up the steps of Midnight's porch.
Rain knocked on Midnight's door. He was very excited, but very nervous. He and Midnight had become good friends over the past few weeks, but Rain had never spent the night at anyone's house unless they were a relative. He didn't know what to expect. Midnight opened the door with a peevish look on his face.
"Come on in," he growled.
Rain hesitated, unnerved by his friend's sudden aggression.
"No, I'm not mad at you," Midnight said, realizing the reason for his friend's hesitation. "My dad's just aggravating the hell out of me."
"Hey, Midnight, let me meet your guest," an elderly-sounding male voice shouted from within the house. Midnight wrinkled his nose and rolled his eyes, then invited Rain into the house again.
Rain stepped in the door into Midnight's house, the scents and sounds sending his nose and ears into overdrive. He could smell delicious meat cooking, which always made him droolly. He could smell the overpowering scents of two long-time male inhabitants, Midnight and his dad, and a faint, fresh feminine scent, definitely not that of a wolf. He could also smell age, anger, frustration, sorrow, and a dozen other emotions and mental states that hung heavily in the air. Rain could hear a sizzling sound from the kitchen and wondered if the owner of the feminine scent was cooking and if so, who could it be? He could also hear the whines of all the household appliances running and the almost inaudible noise of a television turned down very low. A computer fan whirred somewhere in the house, probably Midnight's.
After letting his friend adjust to his house, Midnight guided him into the living room and presented him to an elderly, grizzled-gray male whose coat had obviously once been black: Midnight's dad. The elderly male beckoned Rain to come closer. Rain did, nervous but smiling and paw extended.
"I'm Rain," he said. The older man took Rain's paw with his own, which felt bony and brittle, the lusterless, black nails twisted and broken.
"Call me Mr. Dan," the man said. "Nice to meet you."
Rain noticed Mr. Dan squinting at him. He wasn't sure just what, but Rain could tell there was something wrong with Mr. Dan's eyes. They were veined with milky-looking tissue, and Mr. Dan couldn't seem to focus.
"Ready for your medications and your dinner, Mr. Dan?" a sweet, feminine voice called from the kitchen. Rain turned to see a pretty brunette mousegirl standing at the kitchen doorway, apparently the owner of the feminine scent Rain had detected earlier. The smells of meat and spicy vegetables wafted out and teased Rain's nose. He had to restrain himself from drooling again and felt his stomach rumble with longing.
Mr. Dan took hold of the cane propped against his worn old armchair and proceeded across the living room to the dining area. The mousegirl rushed to support Mr. Dan and help him settle into a chair at the dining table. After Mr. Dan was settled, she asked Midnight if he wanted her to cook dinner for him and Rain.
"No, thank you, Mia," Midnight replied. "We'll probably order pizza or something."
Mia nodded and went into the kitchen to get Mr. Dan's supper and medications. Mr. Dan sat patiently, breathing deeply and panting in anticipation of a good dinner.
Midnight headed for his room, Rain following. Once in Midnight's room, and after Midnight had checked his e-mails, the boys began pawing through Midnight's video and board games. They settled on checkers, chess, and several older video games that they both still loved. While Rain set up the video game system, Midnight got on the phone and ordered two pizzas- extra pepperoni.
They changed into shorts and waited for the pizza, both too hungry to do much until they had food in their bellies. Rain took the chance to look around Midnight's room. It was decorated to imitate a wolf's den, dim and quiet, with posters depicting scenes of forest and snow. Rain felt comfortable in the room, right at home.
Midnight lay lounging on the bed, hands behind his head as he watched his friend gaze around his room. Rain looked back at him, and for the first time noticed that Midnight was quite powerfully built, his bulky muscles not quite concealed by his scruffy fur. He felt strange staring at his friend, but couldn't help himself, wonder why he hadn't noticed before. Midnight noticed and laughed, flexing his biceps.
"Yeah, I've been working out. Gotta stay strong so I can kick your ass, you know."
"Or trying to impress Mia?" Rain teased.
Midnight pounced on Rain, play- wrestling his friend to the floor. After a few minutes, they stopped playing and sat up.
"Mia's sweet, but she's not my type," Midnight said. "Besides, she's sorta...off limits to me."
Rain stared wide-eyed at his friend. "So, she and your dad...?"
Midnight stared at Rain for a few moments, then burst into hopeless laughter.
"You....th-think...sh-she-she's going out wi-with my d-d-dad?" he managed to choke out. He laughed for a good few more minutes, then grew serious.
"No. Hell, one kiss from her, one look at her nude, would probably finish the old man off. She's his nurse."
The doorbell rang downstairs. The two young wolves tripped over each other to answer the door. The deliveryman, a human and apparently unaccustomed to furs, gave them too much change, but rushed away before they could hand him back the extra. They headed to the kitchen to get sodas, then back to Midnight's room so they wouldn't disturb Mia and Mr. Dan. Once in Midnight's room, they pounced on the pizza, both starving.
After a few slices they slowed down, taking the time to talk between bites.
"Dad won't care if we have pizza for breakfast, so don't try and scarf it all if you get full," Midnight advised his friend.
Rain nodded, but felt he could eat all of his pizza anyway.
Midnight put one of the videogames in and began setting it up, having to refer back to the instructions because it had been so long since he'd played it.
"Mia's your dad's nurse?" Rain blurted, uncomfortable with the silence that had fallen.
Midnight didn't look back at Rain, but Rain could tell he was glowering.
"Yeah. In case you haven't noticed...the old man's not in the best of conditions."
"Wh..what's...."
"We don't know exactly. The doctors have tested for everything, but none of them can figure out what it is." Midnight spoke with a wavering voice. Rain could tell he was fighting tears. He knew he would never admit it, though; Midnight was too proud.
"I'm sorry," Rain said.
"Don't. It's not your fault," Midnight growled. "It's no one's fault, and it can't be helped. He's just...old."
Rain then understood why Midnight was making himself strong: he knew he would have to be very soon, and this was his way of proving he could be.
"I...I don't like thinking of him getting old," Midnight admitted in a trembly voice. "I don't like..." His voice broke as the dam of tears finally flooded down Midnight's furry cheeks, matting the fur down.
"Why does he have to die? Why does he have to go away and leave me alone?" Midnight demanded. He began to howl. Rain shuddered, his hackles standing on end. It was a howl of absolute misery, from the depth of a hurting soul. Midnight turned and wrapped his arms around his friend, sobbing against Rain's chest. Rain put his arms around his friend, not knowing what to say.
How long they sat like that, neither knew. Midnight fell silent after some time, just resting his head against Rain's chest, comforted by the steady heartbeat of the smaller male. Rain let his friend stay there. This was what friendship was about, wasn't it? Helping each other when they were hurting or in trouble?
Midnight finally pulled away, eyes red from crying. He turned to the video console and finished setting the game up, then playfully tossed a game pad to Rain.
"Thanks, man," Midnight said.
"No problem."
"That was kinda embarrassing," Midnight admitted.
"I won't tell," Rain promised.
Midnight grinned. "Thanks. Now.....get ready for an ass-beating!"
The two young wolves played ferociously late into the night, forgetting about death and sorrow, just being two friends playing together.