Backstage
#21 of Hockey Hunk Season 1
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This is a furry adult story containing gay males in sexual situations as well as explicit language and descriptions. No kids are allowed so this story is only for those who are 18/21 or whatever the age is at your legislation. If you are not of the legal age, you shouldn't view this story because you might lose your innocence. Also, by browsing this story you have done so by your own consent and wish to view such material. if you do not wish to view such material you should leave this site immediately.
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Hello, and welcome to the latest chapter!
If you have comments or speculations about the chapter or the story in general, please drop a few lines once you're done. It will help me to become a better writer, and it amuses me a great deal, too! Faves and votes and watches are appreciated as much.
Have a nice read!
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Date...date...date....date...
"And here, 4 dollars and five cents, and your receipt, ma'am."
"Thank you, dear boy."
Date...
"You're most welcome, ma'am, hope you will visit us again soon."
"Good day to you too."
I watched the middle-aged mare disappear into the street outside and realized that I hadn't closed the cash register yet. I shook my head and snuffled and pushed on the till to close it, and then yawned, quickly, into my paw while pretending to scratch my muzzle.
"Sleepless night again, muffin?" a voice purred from somewhere beyond.
I tipped my head to the side and spied a very curious-looking Marge giving me the eyes, her tail looping around behind her and threatening the structural integrity of the pile of gift boxes we had behind the counter.
"Huh?"
The cougar smirked and chuckled.
"You're even more zombie than usual and it's almost nine am already," Marge winked. "Thought that maybe you've stayed up late again."
"No later than usual," I tried to defend myself, flicking her ankles with my fun, thick tail. "I didn't go out or anything."
Not that she needed to know ever if I went out or not. Or that I might have stayed up on Facebook a little to chat with Victor and Peter. Or that I kept thinking about the date...my man date. GAY date.
"Nah, you don't smell like going out," Marge snuffled audibly.
My ears flicked curiously.
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah," she replied. "Xanthomax isn't so good in getting rid of all scents, but you definitely only smell of Rory."
My ears dropped briefly at the thought of Marge spying my scent, but at least I had the good grace to smirk.
"Since when did you know what shampoo I use?" I challenged her a little, my tail swishing slowly.
"Since always!" the cougar beamed.
A bear ambled over to the counter and chose Marge as his humble servant, thus leaving me to man my own cash register while staring at the wall ahead of me and wondering about Dobie dates in the near future. I was all poised for it tomorrow, I definitely was ready to meet the mysterious Dobie again, face to face, guy to guy...well, yeah, that was the picture... a fun picture that was, too!
So yeah, maybe I was freaking out a little bit at the prospect of a date, even after a few late evening chats with Victor, trying to get to know the Dobie a little bit more before the hugely anticipated DATE that was...
_ TOMORROW! _
My tail made a number eight behind my nice lion butt while I contemplated the prospect of a fun date. It was still quiet in the job, it being only nine a.m. in the morning, and there definitely was not a crowd outside waiting in line for the Lord Mistwillow thing. Well, notwithstanding a certain frat wolf who had been hyper all morning, arranging posters, cardboard cut-outs of Caledon Rocks characters, chairs, special felt-tipped pens for signing books and a huge pile of Justice of Helios books on a special 12% discount FOR THIS DAY ONLY! I couldn't see what was going on in the downstairs area at the moment, but I suspected that the surprisingly non-armour-wearing Mason was likely making sure that the backup backup signing pen was in a working order. I had also seen a suspiciously thick pile of well-worn Caledon Rocks books in the locker room bench and suspected that the wolf was planning to get the best out of the author visit. At least he was happy.
Crystal walked past the counter, carrying a pile of haematology books for the MEDICAL TEXTBOOKS section, and flashed me a smile. I gave her an ear flick in return and leaned on the counter, wondering whether tomorrow could feel even slower than this day did, with me waiting for my DATE! DATE! DATE!
Oh well, at least there were customers to keep me distracted, at least on occasion. Even now a leopard wearing a somewhat ill-fitting purple business suit kind of a ladies' no-nonsense outfit was standing in front of me, looking curious and probably wanting to buy a Harlequin paperback. Or maybe a book about business law.
"Good morning," I pulled myself out of the land of Victor Holden Date dreams and put on my happyhappy face. "How may I help you?"
"You could start by telling me who's in charge here," the leopard drawled at me, her voice deep and purring.
Oh shit...reclamation...I was sure it was a reclamation. Furs came over unhappy with their gift books all the time wanting refunds for books their friends or relatives didn't like, or the recipients themselves came over demanding their books to be changed. Of course they came in without a receipt. It was always so much fun alright.
"You probably want to talk to the manager, that'd be Marge...uh, Ms. Pitt, please, she's here," I waved a paw towards the cougar standing next to me who was still serving the oddly verbose bear who seemed to be asking for books about swivel chairs.
"Ahh...," the leopard gave me a suspicious look before she gave Marge a suspicious look.
"Anything I can help you with, ma'am?" I persevered in my good deeds for now.
She reached out with her paw, her stern eyes on me while she drawled again.
"Guadeloupe Lopez, of the Lopez Agency," she spoke, waving her outstretched paw.
I took her little paw and gave it a quick squeeze.
"Good morning, Mrs. Lopez."
"Miss," she purred, "I represent Lord Mistwillow, I'm here about the book signing."
My ears flicked and I nodded.
"Ahhhh...," I rumbled," ohh, right."
"I really should talk with the manager," the leopard replied dismissively.
"I see."
Marge finally managed to send the talkative bear on his way and turned to look at me and the leopard, smiling.
"Hello," she greeted, her ears flicking.
The purple leopard pushed out her paw for Marge to squeeze.
"Guadeloupe Lopez of the Lopez Agency, I'm here for Lord Mistwillow," she spoke as soon as their fingertips touched briefly.
Marge's eyes lit up and she smiled.
"Marge Pitt, I think we've talked on the phone before?" the cougar smiled.
"Perhaps," the pushy leopard replied, her eyes moving around the shop floor slowly. "I assume everything is ready?"
"Oh yes!" Marge exclaimed, her tail looping about happily. "I've got my junior assistant manager in charge of all the preparations and we've all things ready!"
"Good," the leopard didn't sound too impressed. "And I hope that you have the required space for him outside the shop floor, as we agreed?"
"Our staff room is at his full disposal," Marge defended our preparations with a sharp look upon the leopard.
"Good, he can't just hang around the shop all the time now can he?" the leopard didn't sound too amused. "Well, if that really is set, I better get him."
"He's here?" Marge's ears jumped.
Well, even my perked a little at the idea of at least semi-famous someone being in the vicinity.
"Out in the car," the leopard huffed. "Not like the Lord Mistwillow can just walk into places now can he?"
"Uh...I guess not," even Marge was speechless for a little moment, before she nodded.
"We'll be here in one minute," the leopard Lopez declared before turning on her high heels and disappearing out to the street.
I gave Marge a look and shrugged.
"Too much coffee, I hope," she hoped.
"I hope so too," I shook my head a little.
"Think she's going to be around all the time that guy's here?" Marge whispered.
"I don't know...," I scratched my scratchy muzzle. "I wonder if I should warn Mason..."
Marge chuckled, making her whiskers wobble.
"Nahhhhhhhhh," she purred.
A couple of happily chattering foxes entered the shop while we watched, curious and eager while we kept vigil on the door, and they were followed by a wolf girl, and a black Lab. This sudden influx of customers passed our counter in a single faceless throng while we only had eyes for the door which we expected to open at any moment and reveal the mysterious face behind the books Mason got so geektastic over.
Next arrival was the leopard, standing by the door in a clearly bodyguardish pose while she held the door open for a tiger wearing a green coat, and who had eyeglasses. He looked like...well, like nothing, really, just a bespectacled tiger, a bit taller than the purple-clad leopard, and he had stuffed his paws into his coat pockets. He looked around the shop with a slightly bemused look, gave a little smile, and looked over to the counter. The busy leopard was quick to move over to his side, staying practically shoulder to shoulder.
"Would either of you show me the way to the staff area, please?" Lopez snapped at us.
"Good morning, " the tiger spoke quickly and smiled for us two.
Marge was just...kind of staring at the tiger, not sure what to make out of this who was presumably the mythical Lord Mistwillow....and he wasn't wearing medieval dress, or carrying a sword. I wouldn't have spotted him on the street.
"I'll be happy to," I spoke quickly and gave a big Rory happyhappy smile, passing behind Marge to get out of the cattle pen that was the service counter.
"Thank you, " the tiger replied, giving me a nod.
"You're welcome, " I spoke quickly, leading the pair to the stairs leading to the old books section.
I spotted Mason standing behind the table he had hauled in to a convenient corner of the downstairs section, adorned with the familiar Sir Wilbur and Princess Catalina cardboard fantasy characters and giant posters plastered on the walls and publicizing The Justice of Helios. His tail was swaying slowly about as he re-arranged the glass and pitcher on the table, and once again I smirked at the black T-shirt he was wearing, the one that had a valiant knight pictured on it, along with the text "_ I'm With Aydrian _". At least he didn't have the chainmail on again, I observed wryly as we went down the stairs, me trailed by the leopard and the tiger.
Then he saw us, and Mason almost pushed the pitcher over, something that would have destroyed the carefully arranged pile of Lord Mistwillow fan photos on the table covered with a purple fantasy cloth. His ears were flicking at 100 flicks per minute and his tail wagged, and he just...stood there, otherwise immobile.
I gave the wolf a quick wink as we walked past his spot and entered the coolness of the back room, greeted by the clatter of the metallic grate stairs under our footpaws. I could hear a small "tsk" from Lopez at the sight of the messy coffee corner and the endless books in steel shelves, but at least the Mistwillow fellow didn't react too badly. He didn't react much at all, really, just followed us around.
"Maybe you'd like some coffee?" I tried, turning to face the duo.
"If you can get me a double d-caf frappuchino, I'll say yes, if you can't get me one, I'm going to say no," Lopez's tail swished like a whip behind her as she observed the dirty mugs and the 1980's leather couch.
"I wouldn't mind a coffee, thank you," the tiger spoke from the leopard's side, his own tail making a more languid motion behind him while he stood there, his paws still held in his coat pockets.
"Sure," I smiled and headed towards what we referred to as the kitchen, though the combination of an electric kettle, a microwave oven, sink and a small fridge hardly was good enough for some heavy duty gourmet cooking. "Just...uhhh....sit wherever you like, it'll be right up."
Ms. Lopez leopard didn't move a muscle, but the tiger flopped down onto the chair Mason frequented, as spied by me from the corner of my eye while I put fresh water into the electric kettle and rummaged the cabinet for clean mugs. I wondered how Mason would react to the knowledge of one of his idols sitting in his chair, just like that. I was also pretty surprised that he hadn't already slinked down here, on some pretence, maybe, to get a really good ogle at his idol. Hahah, he was probably already chattering to that lynx Haakon on the phone, sharing first impressions.
"I always wondered how it was like working in a bookstore," the tiger rumbled after the quiet lull in the storage backroom seemed to stretch too long.
I turned to face the room again, my tail flicking as I tried to fight the urge to lean on the kitchen counter the way I sometimes did back up on the shop floor.
"Just like any retail, I guess," I rubbed my chin, trying to figure out something interesting or smart to say to the so-called esteemed visitor.
The electric kettle thrummed.
"I used to work on a Wal-Mart when I studied" the tiger mused. "Long hours."
I still didn't even know what to call the guy. Should I call him "sir", maybe, since he was a famous writer? Well, at least famous enough to be listed in Wikipedia, I suppose that was one way to define famous. Lord? My Lord? No, he didn't look too much like a Lord, too...mild-mannered, I suppose. Mistwillow?
Would you like to have sugar with your coffee, Mistwillow?
It was probably a pen name anyway, I decided, and kept on being vague about nomenclature.
"Yeah, they do like to push the temps hard," I tried to sound really empathic.
Ms. Lopez was studying her red-dyed claws with keen interest, blocking the two of us out of her consciousness while she brooded, disinterested and without frappuchino.
"Well, uh, we're very happy to have you over," I took another go at small talk with the quiet tiger.
The Mistwillow-someone gave me a look through his thin-rimmed glasses, followed by a little smile.
"Always glad to do these things," the tiger stroked his chin, slowly. "It's good for the kids."
I thought about the big kid going crazy upstairs, and smiled.
"I'm sure they're all going to be very excited," I replied with a grin.
"Hopefully it's going to be better than the last," the leopard observed.
The tiger flicked his tail and snuffled, thumbing over his chin again.
"It was just a small place, Ms. Lopez."
"We only had fourteen furs showing up!" the leopard flexed her screaming red claws threateningly.
"You forgot to put the date up to the webpage early enough for the word to pass maw to maw," the tiger sounded almost bored as tried to reason with Ms. Lopez.
Funny that he mentioned a date...
Crap, that's bad!
I shook my head quickly and busied myself with the coffeemaking for a few precious moments before I was ready to serve a mugful of hot Folger's for the seated tiger. He accepted my offer with a small smile, and I gave him a smile, and sat down to the couch to sip my own coffee in peace, considering that now that I was charged with keeping the writer and his agent happy, I might as well kick back and let the girls take care of the floor for now.
That Ms. Lopez kept flexing her claws and she paced a little, walking around the storage room, her tail flicking severely behind her. The tiger seemed quite happy with his coffee, though, rather taking a quiet sip and just being in his peace. Maybe he was thinking about the next Caledon Rocks book...whatever that'd be called. The Mystical Magic of Sir Tacrolimus ?
The Infamous Butt of Sir Victor Holdenius?
I almost expected the tiger to pull out a small notebook from his coat pocket and start writing rabid notes onto it with a really scribbled paw and envisioning all sorts of fantastic things on paper, digging deep into the far reaches of his subconscious for inspiration.
I sure hoped that Marge would not get the idea of trying to show her NaNoWriMos to him.
I sipped my coffee and yawned and wished that it'd already be tomorrow.
The door to the back room creaked open, and I saw a glimpse of an eye and about one half of a muzzle before the door was opened fully and a fan shirt-wearing wolf crept down the stairs, almost slow and quiet enough to not be noticed.
Of course, the leopard spotted him almost instantly and gave Mason a glare.
"Yes?" she snapped, causing the wolf to stop on his tracks, and his ears dropped.
"Uhhh..."
"This is Mason, he's in charge of the signing," I smiled and nodded at the newly arrived wolf.
The wolf's tail was tucked between his legs when he took a tentative step forward despite the sharp gaze of the leopard practically slicing him into bits.
The tiger-willow-fellow turned his head to the general direction of the wolf and smiled.
"Good morning."
Mason just gaped.
"Mason here has all your books, and his friend Haakon too is a big fan," I supplied with a cheeky grin,
The tiger's white-tipped eyes flicked.
"How did you like Helios, Mason?" the tiger spoke casually. "Hope I wasn't being too rough on Wilbur and Beckett when they had to do what they did. I know the fan reaction's been quite...polarized."
Poor Mason just stood there silently, for a long while, before he spoke, quickly.
"You know...fan reaction?"
"I visit Aydrian's Hut every now and then, yeah," the idolized tiger smiled. "Good to know what the furs are thinking about it, anyway."
Mason tugged on his ear quickly.
"They're really liking it, they really are. Everyone's...uh...they're all wondering about a sequel..."
Awww, he looked so sheepish when he said that, tail tucked between his legs and all.
The tiger, kudos to him, smiled simply.
"Do you think it deserves one...Mason, isn't it?"
His ears jumped up crazily, as if it was the most wondrous thing he ever heard.
"Uhhhh...yeah. There's still a lot that could be written about the Alchemists...like, what happened to the enchanted armchair that holds the spirit stone fragment from Feagemon," the wolf spoke incomprehensibly, but I was quite sure that it made perfect sense to the tiger, who nodded again, over his coffee cup, and smiled broadly.
"Sounds interesting," he replied with a wide smirk.
"Uh, yeah, I guess..."
"Oh!" the leopard exclaimed, staring the wolf down, which was quite the feat since she was a head shorter than he happened to be, "Did you put up the sign that makes sure that we're not giving out free copies of the books?"
My brow rose at the outrageous comment, and I watched Mason carefully when the wolf gathered his wits and spoke again.
"Uh, no, we've never implied that we're gonna give free books to anyone."
"You sure about that?" Ms. Lopez insisted "I don't want to see the same kind of chaos we saw back in...ah..."
"In Chicago," the tiger added.
"Sounds like you've been on the road for a while," I mused.
"For a month now, a new town every other day," the tiger replied. "But this is the end stop for...how long was it, Ms. Lopez?"
The aggressive leopard shrugged.
"A week off and then to West Coast," she waved a paw in the air abstractly. "Twenty spots there."
The tiger snuffled.
"The publisher is spending almost as much as I make on the books on my flight tickets," the Mistwillow chuckled.
The leopard didn't look too happy with the joke, and rumbled decisively unhappily.
"The books are doing fine! They're paying you increased percentile, thanks to me!" the purple brood snarled.
Mason was looking at this all with a strange expression on his face, his eyes flicking between the chattering leopard and the seated tiger. I couldn't help but smile.
"Hey, Mason, why don't you go and check if there are any fans already waiting out there?" I suggested with a smile. "It's only, what, twenty minutes until the signing is supposed to begin?"
The wolf gave me a look, flicked an ear and nodded.
"Yeah, I guess I..."
He disappeared up the clattering stairs, his tail swaying broadly behind him as he went along.
"You heard the geek," Ms. Lopez made clawing motions in the air in front of her as if she was doing some form of hyper-aggressive tai chi, and glared in a by now familiar way at the calmly coffee-sipping tiger. "Time to get the show rolling, Mistwillow!"
The tiger drank the rest of his coffee in one go and got up, stretching his arms a little.
"I think I'd like to leave my jacket here...where could I put it?"
I blinked.
"Uhh...well, maybe you can just leave it here...this is off-limits, it's for staff only..."
"Yeah, thanks," he was already unzipping.
I wondered idly whether Mason might try to steal the jacket and enshrine it as his private object of Mistwillow worship, but I was cut short when the leopard urged us to move again. I smiled, mildly amused, and followed the swaying-tailed pair upstairs. I had to admit that there were a few furs up on the main floor, mulling about with the telltale sign of a book pressed against their chest that signified their role as an autograph-hunting fan. It was a shame that I didn't see any cloaked figures around., though I caught a few fan T-shirts and one pointed wizard's hat on a little coyote girl's head. Crystal hovered above them all, her tail and ears flicking while she seemed to be holding the mass contained...for now.
"Now that looks okay," I tried with a smile, spotting Mason standing near the desk set up for the tiger, before I turned to face the purple leopard and tried happyhappy Rory again.
"Better than Chicago," Ms. Lopez shook her little head quickly. "And they've got lots of books, good...good..."
"We've got them all up there with special discount," I added quickly. "Special discount on the special edition of the new book with the bonus story."
"Good, good, I want to see the sales figures once we're done," she was already storming towards the signing corner.
I watched the tiger walk calmly towards his destination, clad in a pair of jeans, a green-collared shirt and a knit vest. His tail looped slowly behind him, unhurriedly. Guess this was his daily fare, nothing new, just another day at the office for the professional book-signers, in a sense. I rubbed the back of my neck and smiled quickly, wondering just how many furs might show up. I glanced at the clock and saw that there were still five minutes left before the official start of the signing.
"Heyah!"
My ears perked up at the sound of the familiar voice, and alright...my eyes did widen a little bit at the call addressed at me, along with the sight of that all too familiar butt.
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Thanks for reading!
If you have comments on the chapter or the story in general, please be free to drop a few lines! It'll help me to become a better writer, and the speculation amuses me a great deal.
Cheerio!