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1. The Journey Begins

Matt:

The air was warm and the sounds of children laughing could be heard as Zeke and I walked up the driveway to the Tucker household. It was late May now and Zeke had been invited to little Toby's birthday. After Zeke had learned he would be staying around town he had taken the offer of watching Toby on occasions when his parents needed to work or have some alone time. The little black and red fox had really taken a liking to this cold shouldered hybrid I had come to know so much better since he told me all about his past.

Zeke was definitely a complex character from what I'd learned about him. He was aggressive, moody, serious, and stubborn as hell, but while many people would see those traits as negatives, I'd come to see that those traits helped out his other, more positive traits. His aggressiveness made him very protective and chivalrous towards others, his moody behavior often was just him trying not to get upset or show how sensitive he really was, being serious made him focus hard on the things at hand and later relax and enjoy the time off, and his stubborn attitude... Well let's just say that I'd yet to find a positive outlook on that yet.

Despite that he was a good looking guy and normally pretty laid back. He didn't try to dress that nicely and the clothes that he wore to hide the stripes on his upper arms and back were just cheap normal clothes he likely got from the superstore, but I knew under that was a powerful form full of muscle and I enjoyed running my hands through his fur to feel them. Except for his black stripes and the orange on his back his fur was completely gray, and even the long hair on his head was gray, albeit a darker shade of gray. He was about an inch or two smaller than me and had told me once he weighed about 150 pounds, and while he said he didn't see anything special about himself whenever I looked at him I just saw someone I could enjoy spending years to come with.

While Zeke was a muscular guy and in good shape with a average build, I seemed to be a bit more muscular. At 6'1" and 170 pounds I was in pretty good shape for all the sports I did and was actually a bit cut too. I guess being an otter made it easier to loose fat because of our high metabolisms. Zeke especially liked how soft and thick my fur was and when we spent the night together he'd often rub his body and hands all through my fur, saying how thick and nice it felt.

Because of how well off my family was I also tended to dress pretty well with high end clothes and I normally looked pretty decent with what little fashion sense I had. I was glad Zeke had come into my life now. Having someone to work to impress actually improved my life. I worked out harder, studied more, and tried to improve myself like he was always trying to do.

Since Zeke had learned he was going to be staying here through his senior year and that his family was going to be coming back together this fall he'd actually gone and done a lot around the school as well. He'd really taken an interest in becoming a watchdog for the underclassmen and had really put a stop to a great deal of bullying that some of the younger and smaller kids received. I think the fact that he himself had been bullied and hurt so much in the past really drove him to protecting those around him from harm, he, of course, wouldn't admit to that, but anyone could see that he was something else.

Along with his anti-bullying agenda, the fight club that he had been forced to join with Jarrod had gotten a lot of attention. Several more people had joined up and according to Zeke the training was going really well. Turns out he and Jarrod, both made excellent instructors.

All this had been going on while school was in session, but now with school being out Zeke told me that Jarrod would be continuing the team's training while he went off with his dad on a business trip for a few weeks. I wasn't all that happy to hear he'd be gone for nearly 4 weeks but he said he'd write back on his dad's computer when he got the chance. That however wasn't something I could stand so I had gotten him a small PDA that he could use and email with like a nice pocket computer.

When I'd given it to him he was stunned and embarrassed that I'd gotten him something so nice and he acted mad about it, so he'd insisted on cooking for me and wash my car. I would have enjoyed the second part a lot more but with how he felt about his back he didn't take off his shirt, but still it was nice of him and if it made him feel better I wouldn't argue.

All in all, ever since Zeke opened up to me about his past and trusted me about his secret we'd really been getting close, and I guess that was why he'd asked me to come along with him to this kid's party. Zeke had been invited and he said he wanted someone his own age to hang out with. So once again here we were walking into the backyard when a small red and black fox/wolf came running up to us.

"ZEKE!" Little Toby came running up and hugged onto Zeke's leg with a big smile on his face. I guess the little guy really did like him a lot, and likewise for Zeke who crouched down and hugged the guy while handing me the present he'd gotten the pup.

"Hey there, Toby, how's my favorite 10 year old doin' today? You havin' a good birthday, buddy?"

The little kit nodded his head quickly as he lead us to where the presents were and Zeke set his gift up with the others. The kid had a lot of friends around of various species, and several parents were off to the side. When we came up a few gave us a funny look, but I ignored it with a smiling face as Zeke just walked along and talked to the kid. I guess seeing a couple of teenagers at a kid's birthday party was a bit weird, but if Zeke didn't care about them then I saw no sense in worrying about it.

"Well hello there, boys! Nice that you were able to join us today, Toby loves having you over to watch him so thank you for coming here even though it's probably not very 'cool' to be hanging out at a 10 year-old's birthday party."

A middle aged fox came up to us smiling as he shook our paws. He told us there was pizza to eat on the tables along with drinks and that they'd be cutting the cake shortly but in the mean time to do what we liked.

Zeke thanked the man who I learned to be Mr. Tucker and then went to a tree and laid down under it. For some reason he always liked to nap a lot but I guess that was just a part of his tiger nature. He was wearing a light button down long sleeved shirt that day that was unbuttoned all the way with the sleeves pushed up and a shirt under it along with a pair of shorts and some sandals. He once told me that he preferred to wear things like that mainly to make sure that the stripes on his arms wouldn't be seen and not for any real fashion sense. I on the other hand was simply wearing a T-shirt, a pair of pants, and some nice tennis shoes since it was a warm day and all.

"So what are you thinking about, Zeke? You ready for your trip and got everything packed?" I looked over at him as he laid there and tried to see if his eyes were open behind his sun glasses.

"Nah, I still got 2 weeks to get ready and packed for it all, besides I been busy workin' with Jarrod with his summer training with the fight club. He says he'll have a couple of weeks before he has to go off to that training camp you straps go to, to do whatever at, and hopefully those grunts'll try and work until we can get back. I'll be getting back sometime late June and you'll be back soon after that right, and then we can hang out and get ready for the school to start eventually... God I can't wait to be done with school, I hate it."

He growled a bit annoyed but I just pet his stomach for him like he always liked. Zeke and I hadn't gotten very intimate with each other yet, but we did have some good times. Since he rarely took off his shirt, when we were together and alone in his room he'd often lay down on his stomach and show his back to me. He'd once told me while I was rubbing his back that he only showed his back to people he trusted. I thought it was pretty poetic of him to say something like that, but then again he was a pretty good writer so it only made sense that he would phrase and do things in a way that was poetic or literal.

"Well, it'll just be 180 more class days and we'll be done... I'm already applying to some colleges to major in business and maybe minor in something interesting like sociology or computers. I'm not real sure yet, what about you?"

Zeke moved his sunglasses down and looked up at me over the edge of them and after a second of looking at me he just pushed them back up and shrugged.

"Dunno, don't know what college I'll go to, haven't applied to none, and haven't given much thought to what I might study."

I could only chuckle at that, "You're not really one to plan real far into the future, are ya, Zeke?"

"Not... at...all..." He yawned and showed all his fangs when he opened up his mouth and squirmed to get more comfortable as some of the kids started to run closer to us.

"ZEKE! Zeke c'mon we're gonna light the cake now!" Toby came running up to him and tried to pull him up along with his friends. I had to let out a small chuckle at seeing a small cub that was less than half Zeke's size try and pull him up. The kid was funny if nothing else.

After a moment of that though Zeke got up and started to walk to the small table they had outside on their patio area and I followed after him.

"So have you gotten your driver's license yet either, man? I mean you have a permanent address now so you can get one with no excuse." I nudged him softly at that; the guy was now 17 and still didn't have his license even though he'd had a permit since he was 15 but had been putting it off for ages now because he didn't think he needed one. To be honest since he didn't really go anywhere he really didn't need one, but still getting one is a rite of passage in a young person's life and he'd need one sooner or later so he might as well get it now that he had a stable home.

"I've been busy! S-shut up... I'll get it when I get back from Japan..." Zeke pinned his ears defensively as he said that and Toby looked up at him surprised to hear that.

"You're going to Japan soon, Zeke?"

Zeke sighed at that, it seemed he had 'forgotten' to tell the young boy that he was leaving this summer.

"Yeah I'm goin' over seas with my dad for a few weeks while he's on business. He and I have been goin' there for the last few years and it's a nice chance to have a vacation that my dad's work pays for. I'll be back before July though, given any unforeseen actions that might take place..."

"Woooooow... You're gonna go all the way there?! What's it like? Do the people there have really funny hair? Are monsters always stomping on buildings? Do they really have weird ninja that can walk on walls? OH, what about-"

"Whoa.... Toby... Just hold on... " Zeke gave one of his 'split second smiles' as he pet the tyke on the head and thought a moment to what he was going to say. "Japan is just like any other place on earth. It's got its own set of people, its own environment, architecture, language, and has cities that are pretty much just like in any developed nation. They have lots of humans there that have normal hair of mainly black coloring, tall buildings and structures that are built to withstand earthquakes because they are numerous there, and they have parks with lots of local plants and animals that can survive well in the soil and weather there. It's just like any other place, but they do have a decorated history and they have numerous shrines and monuments because that has been a part of their culture for hundreds upon hundreds of years. And there are absolutely NO 80 story monsters that frequently destroy the city there either... Does that satisfy your questions now, Toby?"

The young boy looked disappointed with that answer. I guess he thought that having giant monsters wrecking a city would be cool and all and that all those anime cartoons were what things might really be like over there. He just nodded and sat down though, getting much happier as his cake was brought out and everyone, including Zeke and I, started to sing 'Happy Birthday' to him.

After he gave a second to think, Toby blew out his candles and everyone cheered. I never understood why people did that, but who was I to argue with tradition.

"So what did you wish for, Toby?" A middle aged fox woman asked him, whom I guess was his aunt.

"You shouldn't tell anyone, Toby, it's bad luck to tell your wish, plus it won't come true." Zeke looked at the cub and I could only smile at how he looked serious, which he was. That was another weird thing about Zeke that I couldn't figure out about, he was a bit superstitious about things. He never stepped on a spider; he believed lady bugs were good luck; that hurting something small was bad karma, and just a ton of other things. I guess it added to his charm though because the way he talked about that sort of stuff just made me see him as more than just a tough guy.

"Well enough about that, everyone come get your cake and then Toby can open his presents." Mrs. Tucker came with a knife and started putting pieces of the cake on plates for people to take them.

I took a slice myself but Zeke declined, he said he didn't much care for sweets, but what was funny about that is that he seemed to really enjoy baking them. It didn't matter though, he talked with a few people on the random conversations. It was a pretty nice time, and I was glad to have been asked along really. It wasn't often I got to have a fun time that was this simple. Most times I had to maintain an image of a straight white collar jock that was of high class and had to act a certain way and be conscious of my actions and looks, but I didn't need to do that here and it was a big relief to feel. I guess that's what really drew me to Zeke, he was a new guy here that didn't know anything about me and with him I could just be myself and not have to worry about how I acted with him. It was really going to suck being away from him for so long, but I'd muddle through camp and I'd be able to email him at night when the evenings to ourselves.

The cake was quickly dealt at with and once everyone had gotten some we gathered around the table that had all the presents. Toby took each one and thanked the person who gave it to him before he tore open the paper and expressed his shock and excitement at what was beneath the brightly colored papers. Eventually he got to the gift Zeke got him, I had no idea what he had gotten the kid, but it looked like a rather big box. Upon tearing off the paper though the boy, along with nearly everyone around was surprised at the gift. It was a box of cereal, and it looked like it had been opened too.

"You got me a box of cereal...?" Toby looked almost hurt at the gift. Zeke was someone he really looked up to and to get something like this I guess made him feel that the gray hybrid didn't really care about him all that much.

"I did, but look at the front, it says it has a special surprise inside..." Zeke gave a slight smirk and I raised a brow to him, was he actually giving the young guy a cheap plastic toy that they gave away for free?

Curious, Toby opened the box up and pulled out the cereal and suddenly his eyes grew extremely wide as buried at the top of the cereal bag sticking out a bit was a video game.

"NO WAY! You got me the new Legends of Arcadia game!" He jumped up from his seat and practically pounced at Zeke from nearly 8 feet away. He caught the kid and smiled down at him and pet his head.

"You should know not everything is what it seems, Tobes. You know I wouldn't give you something silly like a box of cereal," He kneeled down and gave him a big hug and grunted, "Happy birthday, pup. Maybe we can play the game sometime before I leave and if not we'll play when I get back. Deal?"

He nodded and smiled as his tail wagged a mile a minute, "Deal!"

After that the party slowly started to wind down. The Tucker parents thanked people for coming, and Toby thanked everyone for their presents. It took awhile but eventually almost everyone was gone and Zeke was helping clean up the papers and things in order to help out however he could.

"Thank you so much, Zeke, you didn't have to help with the clean up." Mrs. Tucker smiled at him as he bagged up more of the trash and she carried in some of the leftover cake and pizza.

"Eh it's no trouble, ma'am, anythin' for my favorite lil' folf." He looked over at Toby who was running around with a toy he'd gotten as I tied up a bag and tossed it into the garbage can.

"Still thank you so much for all you've done with him, he really likes having you around and I think it's nice for him to have a 'big brother' type influence in his life especially since he's an only child."

"It's no problem, gives me something to do and a way to pay it forward." Zeke chuckled at that and I knew he was thinking about his adoptive older brother Skye that he looked up to so much.

After things had calmed down and we'd helped clean up some, Zeke and I left the Tucker home and started to walk along the roads back to his house. I didn't have to go home tonight so I had driven to Zeke's place and we'd walked the few blocks to the party. I'd offered to drive us there but he said it was a waste of gas.

"So what do you want to do tonight now that the party is over with and we have the night to do what we want? Your dad's going to be home I know but he won't bug us too much will he?"

Zeke shook his head as we walked up into his neighborhood. The sun was starting to set and looking at him bathed in the golden glow of the setting sun just made him seem so handsome to me. It was a shame he didn't see himself the way I did, but maybe one day he could be less self conscious about himself.

"I figured we, or more than likely I, would make a pizza or somethin' an' hang out downstairs to watch a movie or play some games before we go to sleep. IF we ever get to sleep, I know I could stay up all night sometimes."

"Pizza, movies, and video games? That's pretty much the life of a teenager. Add in porn, sports, and rebellious music and you've got all that you need to keep the normal teenage male happy." I chuckled at that but Zeke pinned his ears a bit embarrassed. For some reason whenever the subject of sex or anything sexual came up he got a bit embarrassed and clammed up. It was cute in its own way and when I asked why he was like that he just said that being around people and talking about sex made him uncomfortable. I guess he just had some intimacy issues that came from being a hybrid.

Whatever the case though, we got to his place and Zeke went straight to the kitchen to make some pizzas. A gifted cook, he seemed to love cooking things and as I made some room for us to watch some of the movies I'd brought with me I started to hear the sounds of Zeke getting things started. It wasn't long after I had made some room for us that the scent of cooking meat and the sound of chopping told me that Zeke was preparing one of his specialty pizzas.

It didn't take that much longer and he came out a bit sweaty and with only his t-shirt on. The pizza would be ready to eat in less than 30 minutes and as he looked at the clock he saw that his dad would be home any time now as well.

He sat on the sofa and smiled up at me as I sat next to him and we leaned against the arm of the sofa. I had to hand it to him; he may not have been a jock or been into any sports or anything, but just leaning against him and feeling his body I could feel the muscles beneath his soft fur. He wasn't all just bark, he really did have the body and power to back up anything he might say.

We just sat there for awhile watching tv until the oven timer went off and Zeke went to get the pizza out. It was at this point that I heard a car pulling up and a few minutes later Mr. Thomson came in smiling at seeing me.

"Hey there, Matt, I see you're back over here again. You two wash the sheets after you were done messing around?" He laughed as I blushed at that comment, we hadn't had sex yet and the farthest we'd actually gone is some serious petting action and grooming in our underwear. At seeing my embarrassment though, Mr. Thomson just chuckled some more and went over to sit on his easy chair that was next to the sofa but facing the kitchen.

"I'm just messin' with ya', Matt, I know you two ain't ready for that yet, though I don't know why not, you two should be getting it on like rabbits in the spring time." I just blushed more at that.

"Zeke's... just uncomfortable with that, sir... and to be real honest I'm not sure either of us are ready for that yet..."

Mr. Thomson nodded at that and looked at me with a smile, "Well whatever, just don't wear each other out when you do decide to take that step." He suddenly looked off into the air and took a few whiffs to see what I already had been smelling for half an hour now.

"My boy cookin' his buffalo pizza?" I nodded and he got up with a slight grunt, "Well then, this is a nice way to end the day."

I couldn't agree more with that as I followed him into the kitchen. The pizza was on top of the oven cooling and Zeke was going about cleaning up everything that he'd used to make the pizza.

"I just pulled it out, dad, it'll still be a few minutes before it's ready to be sliced and then served up so just wait a few, alright?"

"Alright boy, alright you don't need to be telling me that, I know how it works, it's not the first time I've eaten something of yours after all."

"I'm just making sure, dad, especially after that one time I pulled out those cookies and you ate them when they were still well over 200 degrees and you burned your mouth on them."

"Oh when are you going to let that go you runt?" Mr. Thomson walked over and rubbed Zeke's head, and didn't seem to take it personally that his dad had messed up his long hair, even if it was pulled back into a tail.

I really did envy Zeke's relationship with his father at times. They were like friends and there was never much real tension between them that I'd ever seen, which was completely different than the relationship I had with my father. I knew he loved me and all but he was the head of a big business and was often away on trips to oversee his company so we didn't get a chance to see each other much, let alone pal around. He was also kind of distant around me and my younger brother for some reason, he really never showed any affection to either of us at all. Even when I was lost in the woods years ago he didn't hug me or anything when they found me, even though my mother held me tightly and seemed so relieved I was alright. It was just really weird how our relationship was, and at times I would sometimes wish we were closer, but by now I learned just because you wish something to happen doesn't mean it will.

"C'mon, dad, just stop doin' that and sit down and get a piece, then you can go do whatever it is you wanna do, though you'll likely wanna Tums and lay down, you know how this pizza gets with you."

"Oh sayin' your ol' man ain't tough now are ya? Dem's fightin' words partna." He laughed loudly at his lame impersonation, but Zeke just rolled his eyes and cut the pizza for us all.

He and I took our pizza to the family room and Mr. Thomson followed us. We watched some TV for awhile before Mr. Thomson decided to take a walk and then head to bed. He seemed to go on walks whenever it was getting dark, I guess it helped relax him for bed. Right now, though, I had something that was more relaxing to me sitting next to me.

"You wanna get comfortable, or somethin', Slick?" Zeke looked over at me with a slight smile, which I got what he meant. Being half wolf and half tiger he had really thick fur so he would normally prefer to wear as little as possible when he was hot, but the stripes on his arms and back made it hard for him to ever be like that in public.

"Yeah... It's a little bit warm in here," I started to take off my shirt and shook my body a bit to air out my fur some. Zeke looked me over and I could see by his bushy tail wagging behind him that he was happy to see me in just my shorts.

"Well what about you? Aren't you hot in that shirt of yours?" I barely had to finish that before Zeke was working his shirt off over his head and was shaking out his long fur to air out. I loved seeing him without his shirt. He may not have been real cut or muscular or anything but seeing his unique fur pattern was just something special and I just loved seeing the orange in the grey along with those black stripes.

"So... what movie should we watch tonight, Matt? Something funny or something we can curl up together and just relax and watch?"

"I picked up a few movies from home that we should enjoy. Now how about we curl up on the floor and watch them together?"

He nodded and we got situated on the floor together. We laid pretty close and he held me to him. I liked things being this way, and I wish we could spend the whole summer like this, together, but like I had said before: just because you wish for something doesn't mean you'll get it. At least when we both got back in July we'd be able to do that, and I think that would be enough for me to get through being back on my own again.

I pushed those thoughts of being alone out of my mind though, tonight was too nice a night to ruin with thoughts like that. I just wanted to relax with Zeke and enjoy a few movies before we fell asleep together. Our journeys would be starting soon, but until then I wished to spend as much time with him as possible, but unlike my other wishes I knew that with some work and good planning that I could at least make that small wish come true.