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You make me

Feel like I'm living a teenage dream

The way you turn me on

I can't sleep

Let's run away and don't ever look back.

• Katy Perry, "Teenage Dream"

Zack opened the front door carefully, poking his head around it as he slowly pushed it in. The living room, as usual, was bare, with just a dirty, off-white rug covering most of the hardwood floor. Suni's dual monitors hummed quietly off on the back left wall, slowly scrolling through pictures of furry porn.

The huskies were tied up out back, and the only car in the driveway (other than Zack's) was the one that was never used, so caution was unnecessary. Having established that none of the older inhabitants were home, Zack opened the door the rest of the way and stepped into the house.

The house was quietly cavernous. The hardwood floors in each room gave the house a sort of empty echo, noticeable to his musically-trained ears. To his left, the curtain-covered door to the indoor hot tub. To his right, the stairs and the sitting room with the enormous TV. Most days, the TV would be on, at a volume probably higher than necessary. But today the whole house was quiet. But empty it was not. Otherwise Zack wouldn't be here.

He strolled over to the stairs and started to climb. The corner of each step was a mass of dog hair, testament to both the shedding capabilities of the dogs and the relative apathy of the house's inhabitants. The stairs creaked as he ascended, and as usual he felt a faint twinge of annoyance. That creaking was a curse late at night, when everyone was asleep and they were trying to be quiet going down to the hot tub.

At the top of the stairs there was only one way to go. Directly in front of him was the bathroom, which he didn't need at the moment. Only a short, narrow hallway comprised the public space of the second floor, and the door he wanted was at the far (if one could consider that adjective appropriate) end.

Zack opened the door quietly to find Eric dozing on his mattresses. Eric didn't so much have a "bed" as he had a pair of mattresses stacked on the floor. The arrangement was chosen because, as Eric had once said, in all seriousness, that "if there was a space under the bed to use, things would go under there and never be seen again." So there was that. The enormous television that served as Eric's computer monitor showed one of Eric's Pandora radio stations, currently in the middle of Katy Perry's "T. G. I. F. (Last Friday Night)."

Zack silently undressed to his underwear, a dark blue pair of square cut briefs from Express, and settled gingerly onto the mattress. The recently bleached-blond Eric didn't react to the movement, though most of the time he did. Instead he continued to nap peacefully, his pale, rail-thin torso not covered by the sheets.

Zack slid down onto his left side, simultaneously running his right hand over Eric's stomach and hooking under it on the opposite side. This finally caused the blonde's eyelids to flutter open. Eric glanced over to Zack and smiled sleepily.

"Hey, sweetheart," Zack whispered. He leaned over and gently kissed Eric's lips. "How was your trip?"

"It was good," Eric replied, quickly coming awake as was his way. He flipped over so that he was facing Zack and rubbed Zack's arm, making a familiar "swish-swish-swish" sound. The boys relished any and all physical contact, the majority of which wasn't even sexual. Reassuring rubs and caresses, the occasional peck on the back of the neck, a firm hand on the shoulder or thigh, or a foot rub after a long day at work; all of these were part of their natural interaction.

Zack snuggled in a little closer and rested his head against Eric's shoulder. His chin was covered in short brown stubble that tickled Eric's skin, but neither boy minded. "Did you get to go see the otters?"

Zack was never quite sure how far to ask questions when it came to trips and visits like this. Their relationship was... complicated, to say the least. Eric had spent the past weekend in Boston visiting Rourkie, a fellow furry that Eric had known for a while. He had made it clear that his phone would be turned off for the duration of the trip, so Zack hadn't bugged him and let him have his time off from work. The only problem was that Zack had a nasty jealous streak, one that brought on crippling bouts of self-doubt and insecurity, and over the course of Eric's vacation, Zack had battled the depression that Eric's absence and silence brought on.

The pair were close... very close. They kissed, they cuddled, slept in each other's arms, used pet names, gave each other gifts on holidays, everything short of full-on sex. But still Zack wasn't satisfied with the extent of their relationship. Maybe it was the fact that, even with everything that they did, there was never any talk of commitment, never a mention of exclusivity or being an official couple. He knew that Eric had feelings for him; Eric had even said as much on one occasion, but still there was that one last step that was missing, and some days it tore Zack apart. There was always that nagging suspicion in the back of his mind, that lingering bit of doubt that Eric wanted someone else more, that there was another man who held more of Eric's affections.

So while Zack wanted very much to hear about Eric's trip to Boston, he wasn't sure how much he really wanted to know, so he contented himself with finding out if Eric had gotten a chance to visit the aquarium in Boston, where they would have visited the otters.

Otters. As furries, both Eric and Zack were otters. Zack, a 20-year-old brunette, imagined himself as Rayle Vance, a lithe, brown otter with a thing for sushi and music. Eric was Zyle Vaughn, a more orange-tinted otter that liked cuddles and croissants. Zyle lacked his human's moderate case of acne, and Rayle was a bit more in shape than his human counterpart. Otherwise, they were two happy otters that were probably made for each other, in one way or another.

"No, we didn't make it to the aquarium. Just did a lot of drinking," Eric responded.

"Yeah, I know." Zack smirked and gave Eric a long, knowing look. Eric loved his drink, and had posted several times on Facebook over the course of the weekend about the amount he was drinking.

The pair shifted a bit on the bed, facing each other while propped up on one arm. There was a comfort there between them, knowledge that each was completely open to the other. The pair knew each other's intimate secrets; fetishes, exes, thoughts, hopes, and dreams. They had shared so much in so little time, and this knowledge connected them whenever they were together, not just when they were alone. It was the reason they were as close as they were, and completely impregnable.

Zack had come today with a purpose, one greater than just the goal of seeing his friend after such a long absence. "Hey, I have a surprise for you," he began.

Eric looked at him quizzically. "Another surprise? You already surprised me with my Christmas present that was out of stock. What else is there?"

Zack's eyes sparkled as he grinned widely. "I entered a contest on Fur Affinity. Maybe you saw it... it was that sweepstakes for a custom-made fursuit and a trip to a great furry vacation spot."

Eric remembered the one; it had been plastered across the top banner for weeks. "Okay, so you won, I guess?"

Zack smiled even wider. "Yup. And the prize was for 'you and a friend,' and of course there's only one person I could possibly consider including in such a thing." He leaned over and planted a light peck on Eric's cheek.

Eric smiled. "So what do I have to do?"

"Nothing at all. I referred the contest people to your account so they could get at the pictures of Zyle."

"But you don't have pictures of Rayle, do you?" Eric looked puzzled.

Zack grinned. "I got in touch with Pandora and had her draw me some reference pictures. Cost me a little bit, but it was worth it."

Zack rolled over and gently nudged Eric over onto his back. He rested his chin on Eric's chest and looked him in the eyes, smiling widely. "I think it's the most awesome thing ever, don'tcha think?"

Eric returned his gaze. "Yeah, I think so."

***************************************************************************************

The following week was filled with anticipation and preparation. Both boys asked for four days off of work, earning them amused glances from Mel, their store manager at McDonald's. Both of them wondered, out loud and silently, where their vacation destination was going to be. As the contest winner, Zack received periodic updates from the prize company, a firm known as Fursonality, Inc. None of the communications were particularly informative, however, and none of them included mention of their destination, telling them only to prepare for "an expansion of your horizons beyond your wildest dreams," with a special font emphasizing the word "wildest."

How cute, Zack thought to himself as he looked at the very first letter he had received from Fursonality.

---

Congratulations!

You've been selected as the winner of the "Fursonality: Visualize the New You" sweepstakes!

You've won a custom fursuit and all-expenses-paid trip for two to the ultimate furry destination!

Our representatives will be in touch to discuss how you would prefer to receive your prize.

Congratulations from all of us here at Fursonality, Inc.!

---

At the bottom of the letter in tiny print was "Fursonality Inc. - Catering to all dimensions of furry travel."

I like how I can't find any mention of them anywhere online, Zack thought. I'll be very curious to see the quality of these fursuits, and ESPECIALLY where they're gonna be taking us.

He put the letter back in the large manila folder that held all of the letters, emails, and paperwork from Fursonality, and put the folder in the top of his suitcase. He was ready to go... all that was left to do was pick up Eric and wait for the transportation to arrive. Fursonality had said they would send a limousine, and Zack had requested that it pick the pair up at Eric's house, so that a two-way trip would not be necessary.

The drive to Eric's house was usually fifteen minutes, but it felt like an hour, for all of Zack's anticipation of arrival. After unloading all of his luggage from the car and bringing in the house, the boys settled down on the couch in front of the big-screen TV to relax until their transportation arrived.

No sooner had they gotten comfortable than Zack received a text message from an unknown number. YOUR TRANSPORTATION HAS ARRIVED. PLEASE ENJOY YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Puzzled, the pair glanced out the window to the front of the house. Sure enough, there sat a stretch hummer limo, patiently waiting at the end of the driveway. After sharing a quick glance, the boys grabbed their bags and nearly ran out the door, eager to get underway.

The driver was quiet, but pleasant and helpful. He wouldn't answer any questions about where they were going, however, saying "I'm sorry, I've been asked to respectfully keep it a surprise." The boys shrugged and climbed into the back, settling in for what they guessed would probably be a long trip.

Lying across the seats toward the front of the limo were two bags, labeled "Zyle" and "Rayle." Zack grinned and shimmied over, gingerly picking up the one labeled "Rayle."

"These must be our custom fursuits," he said in awe. He unzipped the bag slowly, marveling at the beautiful fuzzy fabric. The fur was glossy and smooth, and felt completely authentic. "Eric, you need to see this."

He passed Eric the bag labeled "Zyle" and then continued to unpack his own bag. There was a tail, gloves, a top and a bottom, and hood-like headpiece that included a pair of tiny ears. The top and bottom pieces were both form-fitting and beautifully tailored. Eric's appeared to be of the same quality, but was of course different in color.

Only a few minutes later, the pair was fully suited. The suits, though tight, were comfortable and breathable, and not at all too warm. They spent a few minutes simply feeling the luxuriousness of the fur, completely lost in how real and smooth it felt.

Zack yawned deeply. "Eric, I'm getting kinda tired. You wanna take a nap for a bit? I'm sure the driver will wake us up if we sleep until we get to where we're going."

Eric giggled and laid down on one of the long seats, allowing Zack to slip in behind him. "Sure, hon. Let's get some sleep." The boys drifted off in each other's arms, content and ready for the adventure that they were sure awaited them.