Swinging Both Ways
#28 of Hockey Hunk Season 2
Rory has to juggle his social life around.
Hello, and welcome to the latest chapter!
If you have any comments, don't hesitate to drop me a line or two!
All feedback is appreciated, and also remember that all votes, faves and watches will help others to find these stories to enjoy as well!
Have a fun read, and cheers for reading!
*
I must have been silent for so long, that he spoke again, soft and rumbling, in my ear.
"Hello? Rory?"
I blinked.
"Hello?"
My lips moved practically on their own accord, and I heard myself say "Hello", as well, and fell silent again.
The voice on the other end of the line sounded relieved.
"Oh, it's working! Hello, Rory, I...I see you decided to call me."
Well I hadn't really decided to call HIM of all furs...
I rubbed the back of my neck, and my tail came to life as well, swaying about erratically to the tune of my puzzled nerves, as I frowned and tried to think of something intelligent to say, while knowing that certainly didn't have more than a few seconds to do so before the silence would become suspicious.
"Uhh, yeah, I did."
Really great, Rory, simply fantastic.
"I'm glad you did, Rory, I...I started to think that maybe it was a...bit much."
My eyes fell to the expensive chocolate on the table, sitting on top of the glossy Sears catalog and looking all so innocent in its gold-rimmed, French-endorsed wrapping. The mystery number card lay nearby, abandoned after I dialed in the number...the number that had led me to the last place in it world I could think of...to the pocket of the surely very expensive cell phone belonging to Colin Mist-tiger. What the hell was he on about? Thanking for the nice afternoon chat we had at The Lefties? Trying to come onto me? Thanking for the signing back at the Albrecht Brothers? Just being a stalker? I had no idea.
"Uhhh...," I scratched myself behind my ear and tried to think rationally about it all. The chocolates were delivered in Friday, and now was Monday, so probably he had expected me to call the mystery number as soon as I got the chocolates...and that was two days ago. Admittedly, I probably would have called if it wasn't for the hospital phoning me about Peter, so I certainly had my reasons to why I hadn't called as soon as possible. To be perfectly honest, I hadn't really even thought the whole chocolate affair during the weekend, it had been swept aside by more real, tangible concerns, and now that it had been revealed to be even more strange than I expected, I was really almost speechless.
I chuffed heavily, rumbled, put my paw down over my belly, for comfort.
"Uhh...Colin, I...well, first off, thanks for the chocolates."
"You're...welcome."
Dang...he didn't sound too happy about the chocolates...damn...damn...
"It's really nice, and it's even lactose free, hehe, that's...that's nice."
I sounded pathetic.
"I...wanted to play things safe."
I chuckled, slightly forced a sound it was, but it was there.
"Well you played it right," I tried to sound enthusiastic.
"Hmm."
Oh, shit...
"Uh...look, Colin, I'm sorry about calling so late, but I wasn't home all weekend, and I was really being horribly busy, and I forgot the chocolates," I decided that the most honest explanation was probably the one best suitable for the situation, and I simply went along with it. "My friend was sick, and I had to take care of him all weekend, and I didn't really have the time to think about it all. That's why I'm calling only now."
The silence seemed to stretch on and on and on, and I wondered whether the tiger on the other end of the line thought that I was making it all up, to try to let him down easily. I had no idea what he had expected my reaction to the chocolates to be, so I couldn't even really speculate anything much about it...I just had to wait and hear what he had to say, and make my assumptions on that.
"Oh...is your...friend okay?"
"Yeah, it was just a minor mishap, but my friend needed all the help he could get, because he couldn't walk and he needed someone to take care of business at home."
"Is your friend alright now?"
"Yeah, he's fine," it felt odd having to assure someone I didn't know about the health of someone he certainly didn't know.
"That's good to hear."
"It's good, yeah," I nodded and felt more and more like a fool.
"Uhmm..."
"Yes?" I spoke almost too fast, too loudly.
"Well...I was wondering...well, I'm hoping that my...approach wasn't too unusual for your...comforts, Rory. I...wanted to thank you for our nice time and I also wondered...well, I hoped that you'd call, so that I could ask you whether you'd like to spend some more time with me...during the weekend."
I felt a twinge of guilt in my belly as I listened to the Colinfellow's explanation, and my ears flattened, slightly. He'd wanted to hang out with me during the weekend? Had he spent the whole weekend wishing and hoping for a phone call from me, offering some company? Had I accidentally ruined the tiger's weekend? What was he after, anyway? I wasn't so special, I really didn't think he'd been after my tail, that wasn't the vibe I had about him, and surely he'd have other places to go to in order to get some, whatever kind of tail it was he was after.
Just company, then? I'm not sure if I counted as a good conversationalist, though agreed, we did have a lot to talk about while we were at the restaurant, so perhaps he wanted to talk more...needed someone to talk to, someone who didn't want to talk about the Caledon Rocks books, for starters. Could it be that someone who was ignorant about his literary career would be the best kind of company for him? Hmmm...perhaps.
Or maybe he just wanted a familiar face, a familiar scent, maybe, to share his evening with. That sounded reasonable as well.
"I...I see."
I didn't really sound like I saw, but...yeah.
"Perhaps it was silly of me."
"Not at all," I said quickly. "We had a nice chat in the restaurant, didn't we?"
I tried to smile, I really did, and hoped that I sounded like I was smiling.
"I did enjoy myself a great deal, yes, Rory."
"So, you wanted to have another go at it and...decided to send me a gift."
"It was just a whim, really, " the tiger rumbled. "I phoned the office and got your address and...well, everyone likes chocolate..."
I chuckled, honestly and brightly.
"Yeah!"
The tiger laughed, briefly, and sounded happy.
"Well I do hope you liked them."
"I haven't eaten them yet, but I will," I promised, it was the least I could do, after all.
"Heheh."
"And...I hope your weekend was a success, otherwise," I felt I had to say it.
"Oh, it was, quite so, thank you, now that Ms. Lopez is out of town," the tiger rumbled. "A little bit of shopping, walking in the nice, fresh air..."
My tail wound itself around a chair leg upon the memory of the said Ms. Lopez, compassionately.
"Sounds nice."
"And you have a fantastic library!" the tiger purred. "I went to the university library, and it was excellent! I felt right at home."
I chuckled.
"Spent a lot of time there, myself," I spoke, and chuffed before I added, "maybe not as much as I should have, but...yeah, heh."
"Heh," the tiger rumbled.
"Heheh."
"Which reminds me...uhh...I'm still in town for the week, so...if you aren't too busy, I would really like to meet you again. For a coffee, maybe?"
Wow...
Wow wow...
Was I busy? Well...I still had the man-date with Mason coming up on Thursday, and I had promised to check up on Peter, and Victor was going to be free on the weekend...yeah. The Rory Gliese Social Calendar seemed to have a lot of things marked down, and I wasn't sure how I was going to deal with all that, but...well...no, I didn't owe anything to Mistwillow, no matter even if I did feel a bit guilty for having stood him up accidentally, and if he really had looked forward to seeing me...but what if I he had simply been polite....
Well, was I being polite? Would it be impolite to turn down such an offer? It wasn't like it was a date, it was just an offer for a coffee, and a chat. Would I be up to anyway? I would have to work, of course, and going out every evening was surely putting a toll on me...
Who was I kidding? I knew that if I wasn't going out, it was going to be me, something greasy to eat, Married with Children reruns on the television, and probably with my paw in my boxers, if I just happened to be wearing anything at all. My lazy butt was going to be planted in the couch until it would be time to roll over to bed, and sleep until it was time to get up for a morning jerk-off in the shower and then go to work and...
Ugh.
Yeah, it would be better if I got a grip of myself and actually did something, and maybe this was going to be part of the great plan to be a better Rory, one that would be more approved of by a certain Dobie, perhaps, if things turned out fine. Just maybe. The distraction after the weekend I had wouldn't do anything bad to me either.
"I would really like that, Colin" I spoke, enthusiastically.
"Really?"
"Yeah, sure!" I answered.
"Uhh...well...yes, that's...well, thank you."
"No problem, heheh," I hehe'd.
"Would tomorrow be alright, Rory? Could you make it?"
"Yeah, that's fine, I think."
"Well, that's nice! Say, would the library be okay as a meeting spot? Somewhere around...well, I assume you'll be working, so what'd be a good time?"
I ran my schedule through my mind quickly before giving my answer.
"How about five thirty?"
"That sounds nice," the tiger replied.
"Well...that's set then, I think?"
"Definitely," Mistwillow said.
"Well...see you tomorrow?" I tried.
"Yeah, see you, Rory, I look forward to it."
"Me too...Colin."
"Hope you have a good evening, Rory."
"I...same to you, Colin."
"Bye."
"Bye, Colin."
Wow...
So that was that. It was Monday evening and I had three man-dates coming up during the week. One of them was definitely one with benefits, I hoped, and Rory Jr. hoped that, too, while the others were more of a social nature, I thought, but still, it'd do me fine to stop sulking around and actually do stuff and not just hang around with myself and my balls.
That said...hmmm...
I rolled my phone in my paw and wondered whether I should phone Peter first, and then call Victor...the Dobie was certainly back home after his long day at work, and a cheering up phone call from me might be something he'd enjoy, not that I was trying to sound bigheaded about just how much he might like it. Peter needed his call too, after all day alone in his place, probably unable to do much with his leg still hurting, but he had seemed alright enough in the morning...but I'd still call him, and make sure how he was, I did promise I would call. I really did want to hear Victor's voice, though...we had only texted recently, and it wasn't quite the same as to hear the deep rumble he could produce off his big chest. It was a pretty sexy quality to him all told, not that he probably had to be told that.
My tail flicked errantly behind me as I flipped the phone over in my paw and quick-dialed Victor Holden, and then held the phone up over my ear, and waited for the tone, exited.
After a couple of beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeps, the telltale click told me that the line was open, causing my ears to flick swiftly, and I felt a surge of tension go through me, in a pleasant way, though, as I expect to hear that familiar, deep, handsome...
"This is Victor's phone, Cobb here, hi, Rory!"
I almost toppled over the table as I stood up, electrocuted with those very simple words rumbling through my ear in a tone that was definitely as loud and deep and grumbling and edgy as the one belonging to his brother, but this one did ALL OF IT LOUDER AND DEEPER AND MORE GRUMBLING AND EDGIER AND SIMPLY MORE COBB!
My maw felt dry and my tail swung about quickly, heavily, and I just stood there, kind of paralyzed at the prospect of having another surprise Cobb conversation...the first one we ever had certainly hasn't ranked high on my list of most favorite social encounters.
"Hello...Cobb?"
"Yeah, that's me! How are you Rory? Doing alright? You okay?" the voice boomed through, loosing very little along the way, oddly enough, since most furs sounded very different on the phone, after all.
Not Cobb.
"Uhh...I'm well, thank you...Cobb."
"That's great! Are you trying to call Victor?"
My eyes widened a little at the bizarre question, but then again...it was Cobb I was talking with.
"Yeah, I was trying to call Victor, where is he?"
"Ohhhh he's in the shower, scrubbing that big ass of his, did you want to join in? Bahahaah, I mean, did you want to talk to him? Do you want me to go and ask him to the phone?"
WTF...
"No, no!" I scraped my claws through the thick furs of my neck and mane as I tried to calm myself down, and not let my voice fall into the panic range. "Let him...uhh...let him finish."
Fuck...I realized my mistake as soon as I had said it...this meant that I would have to maintain a conversation with Cobb while waiting for Victor to finish his shower. There was not knowing whether he had decided to have a really nice, long, maybe jerk-off-included extra-nice evening shower that could take up to ten minutes or something like that...while I was left with Cobb Holden.
"Alright! How have you been, Rory? I've been having much fun with Victor for sure!"
"I'm...fine, thank you," I tried, tentatively, repeating my answer to the question he had repeated, "And it's...good to hear that you've enjoyed your stay with Victor."
"Sure do, yeah!" the brother Dobie replied. "And he keeps being so cute about you, you know! He goes all shy when I try to ask him about you!"
My cheeks went all shy upon hearing that, and I seriously didn't know what to think about it. The idea of Victor being grilled by Cobb about everything Rory-related was not as amusing as one might think, since I did know all too well that the brother Dobie had no filter between his muzzle and his mind.
"Oh, really?" I knew I was playing with fire.
"Oh, yes! I just keep asking how you guys are doing and he tries to hush it up and you'd have to see him, he's a like schoolgirl when it comes to you, Rory, it's great fun!"
I wasn't sure whether it was meant to be great fun, but Cobb surely sounded like he enjoyed it.
"Well...that's nice to hear, I guess."
"You should come to visit, we could all sat down and drink a little bit of whiskey and let it all hang out freely!"
Oh, Christ...
"Well..."
"You should, you'd fit right in! Besides, Victor got to hang out with you last week, and I want to meet you as well! Have to see what kind of a man my brother's boyfriend is, after all!"
I flinched a little at his choice of words, not to mention that he seemed to imply that he knew the truth about Victor's hockey game...and probably suspected that we had got up to a whole lot of hard, rough gayness, too.
"Well, uh, thanks for the offer ,Cobb...but you really should ask Victor about it, I think."
"Well I'm allowed to invite you over if I want to, and I can't see why Victor would complain about having you of all furs over! You're not stealing me from him!"
"Ahhh...uhh..."
"Oh, there's the old pansy coming up now, hang on, Rory!"
My heart fluttered unnaturally fast for the last few seconds before I heard some muffled talking from the other end, followed by the calm, resonant, reassuring rumble belonging to a whole other Dobie.
"Rory?"
"Oh thank God," I breathed out.
"What's this all about? I come out of the shower and Cobb's here talking to you, apparently!"
My tail tried to tie itself into a knot, practically, as I started to pace around my tiny flat.
"Well, I called you, but it was Cobb who answered, and he didn't want to go to get you so...yeah."
"Did he say anything weird?" Victor's tone was such a resigned one that I suspected that he already knew the answer.
"A little bit, yeah," I grunted.
"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have left my phone in the kitchen," Victor grunted.
"Oh, no, it's fine!" I hurried to calm him down. "It's fine, I'll...I'll survive."
Victor grunted loudly, and I wondered whether he was planning to smack his brother before the night was over. I did have to admit that the grunt sounded sexy, and nice, and reminded me of Victor in a whole other kind of environment as well, which probably wasn't such a bad thing at all. He probably also looked and smelled nice, right out of the shower, clad in a bathrobe, maybe, dripping a little bit from his ears...probably scowling a little at a nearby Cobb...
"How are you, Rory? Is your friend alright?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine," I repeated once again, walking around in circles, slowly, "Peter is doing better, too, he's almost back to normal, I think. The leg's not too bad, and he's doing fine. Should up and about in a couple of days."
"That's good to hear," Victor sounded like he was smiling.
"How are you, Victor?" I hoped to hear that he was alright, though, considering the circumstances...my bet was on the slightly pissed off Victor.
Call it a hunch.
*
Thank you for reading! If you have any comments, don't hesitate to drop me a line or two! All feedback is appreciated.
Cheerio!