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Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Free Association! If you're just joining us, meander your merry way over to the left and click yourself back to the first episode. It's not that big of a series yet! Not that intimidating, right?

After a break last week, we're right back on schedule with updates every Friday. No further delays anticipated, if my current pace of writing is any indicator; I'm still hovering at 4/5 episodes out, and let me just say that I am very, very excited for what is going to be coming in a month or so! I stayed up until three last night writing, it was so good! I give thanks to coffee for the fact that I am able to be with you all tonight.

All right, enough teasing :3. Without further ado, Episode 3!

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_ Tuesday. _

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The loop that was meant to go around his neck caught the wooden peg at which it was tossed, leaving the red apron swinging slightly from its splintered end. Above the peg was a card, on which was neatly pencilled the name Bradley, to match the same word stitched into the breast of that employee's erstwhile uniform.

"It's pretty good," someone was saying, as the wolf wound his earbuds around his smartphone. "Pretty well balanced, lots of respawn points on all the maps, and the new level editor is pretty cool. Some of the weapons are a little funky, but you just have to learn to aim them a certain way. You should definitely try it out, it doesn't need that awesome of a computer."

Brad nodded conversationally. His mind wasn't really on respawn points and aiming. More like masks and tail-stripes. Things his current companion certainly did not have, much to his resignment.

"That, and the beta's free, and if you download it you'll get a reduced price upgrade when they release it." The yellow dragon to his left pulled off his hoodie, leaving his black mane rumpled and disorderly. "It's a good time, you should get it so we can play a few matches."

"Maybe I will," Brad said, honestly. Maybe he would, after all. His tail swished. "Might not have time, though, been a bit busy recently."

The dragon pulled his own apron off the hook and nodded knowingly. "New girl in your life?"

Brad hesitated, and then glanced toward Daniel, his seventeen-year-old grocery store co-worker. Excitable, obsessed with indie video games and trance music, probably going somewhere better with his life than the lot the wolf had drawn. Smart guy, but a bit naïve. Just a friend.

"New guy, actually." Some days he felt reckless.

"Oh..." The dragon looked at him and paused, parsing the sentence, the insinuation. His eyes changed a bit, then his ears. "Oh. Okay. Cool. Well, if you have time, then."

And like that, the moment was over. Brad wondered at how fleeting such transitions were, as he scratched the back of his head, only now growing faintly embarrassed. "Yeah. I mean, I'm not sure what's going to happen, haven't even had a first date yet. But I already don't have much time for video games, you know?"

Daniel nodded. "And it's weird when you've been single a while, right?" He pulled the apron over his head, tied it behind his back. His behavior was almost painfully normal; Brad all but yearned for some sort of awkward, hostile reaction, simply because it would be predictable. The wolf lingered, stalling in his leaving-work routine.

"Heh, yeah. You've been with a few people, then?"

"A few." The dragon looked a bit more unsettled. "Not really an expert on things, but been single some, shackled some." He grinned a bit, making Brad snort. It figured, that the reptilian high school kid had been around, whereas Brad hadn't had a relationship until college.

Well, unless you counted Todd...

But Brad was forgetting. He didn't count Todd.

"So, uh, you into both, then? Or just guys?"

There was the awkwardness. Right on schedule.

Brad stuffed his work badge into his backpack and zipped it shut. "Just guys." His ears flicked back firmly.

"Ah." Daniel was looking at him curiously, now. Brad knew what was coming next. The 'You don't look like a fag!' line. That was the best one.

The wolf punched out of the timeclock at record speed. "See ya later, Daniel."

"Uh, sure, see ya," the dragon responded. Bradley the wolf skedaddled. He didn't like to think of himself as the kind of guy who skedaddled. But in that situation, he definitely found himself prone to some skedaddlage. And some angry-self-disgust-age.

Walking out the back door of his workplace, Brad sighed. At least Daniel had taken it in stride. Had seemed passingly comfortable with the information. It was never a fun conversation for the wolf, particularly because it was always the same conversation.

Still, the dragon teen's reaction had been normal enough that it would probably be okay tomorrow. They'd probably still be friends. Given a little time for it to blow over. That was better than usual. It sure wouldn't have been the first time his reckless behavior had gotten him into trouble. Wouldn't have been the first time he had to grumble 'Fuck you, too,' and scratch someone off the friend list.

The wolf put the conversation out of his mind with effort as he walked across the parking lot. After all, it had been a fairly good day, if a bit tense. Barring another unfortunate conversation with his boss about the fact that he'd showed up three minutes after his shift started (instead of five minutes before), it had been quiet, marked by a small number of relatively benign customers and a very large number of distracted thoughts. When his shift was finally over, he couldn't wait to get out of the damn place, if only because having something to do would keep him from thinking about last night and popping the worst-timed boners known to furkind.

'Hi, can you tell me where the jumbo franks are?'

'Well, I don't know about Frank, but my name's Brad, and this here is my friend...'

The wolf snorted, dismissing the thought. There was still an hour until his 3:00 class. Brad hopped into his Plymouth and twisted the key, grimacing when the starter cranked for three seconds before the engine rumbled to life. That was longer than usual. Great.

"That better not be some new problem," the wolf muttered. He wished he could just sell this piece of crap. How the hell would he market it, though?

1989 Sundance sedan! Usually starts; has seats and seatbelts. Interior scent is 'fascinating and complex'. Retro tape deck, attached fenders with racy rust-colored 'stripes'. The right side bounces when you go over speed bumps; lends a dash of excitement. Now available in 'ghastly maroon'!

He snorted once more, slithering out of the parking lot. What would the asking price be, $300? Yeah, he wasn't getting rid of this thing any time soon.

What would Jonathon think, being picked up in this hunk-a-junk? Brad rarely cared about such trivial matters as appearance... but he found in the raccoon's case, the thought caused him some concern. For being old, the car didn't look that bad... all the parts were the same horrifying color, at least... Sometimes it didn't like to start, and the exhaust system liked to rattle when the engine was idling... But it got him places, right?

Brad pulled onto the highway, pushing the speed limit, and worked his way through traffic. He wished he could see the raccoon again, and talk to him. No idea what he wanted to say... he just wanted to see Jonathon. And maybe kiss him once more, or several times more. His tail flicked restlessly behind the seat.

Ten minutes later, he returned to city streets, and five minutes after, he was stuffing his key into the lock of his apartment door.

"Ohai," his roommate offered, when he entered; the lanky boar was wearing a pair of gym shorts and nothing else.

"Hey." Brad tossed his keys down on the counter, loosening the collar of the polo he wore under his work apron. His eyes wandered to the boar's bare chest, his ribs faintly visible under his short, sparse fur. Marty wasn't really very attractive; he was skinny and unmuscular, and pretty plain, with wide-set eyes and a bit of a weedy look. Still, Brad couldn't say he didn't appreciate the sight of a shirtless guy in general; the image was nice, even if his roommate wasn't a hunk. And, better than that, Marty knew the guy he lived with liked dick, and wasn't offended if he occasionally caught the wolf's eyes straying over him idly. That sort of straight guy was all too rare, in Brad's opinion; a look was harmless, after all.

He could think of someone else he wouldn't mind seeing shirtless. Maybe they could curl up together, mostly naked, and he could wrap his arms around Jonathon's fluffy torso, and kiss him until he had to be dragged off.

Jeez, he really had it bad, didn't he? It was odd; there was still some part of him that had the sneaking suspicion this was a bad idea. But, really, things had gone remarkably well so far - the guy he tripped was cute, and didn't mind being abruptly kissed, and had hung around waiting for him, and wanted to go on a date. Considering all the ways things might have gone... Well, he'd sure pick this turn of events out of the lot of them.

Brad sat down at the 'table' region of the kitchen counter, where it jutted out into the room. "Grab me a coke, would you?" he asked, as Martin opened the fridge to stick a bottle of mustard back in. "Need some caffeine before that english class."

The can clinked as it was set down idly. "How was work?"

"Oh, not bad. Quiet. Some toddler knocked over an entire row of glass soda bottles, the expensive kind, broke 'em all."

"That's 'quiet'?" Marty asked with a wry grin.

"Well, yeah." Brad cracked his coke open. "That was the only excitement all day."

Except for...

"Except for..."

Marty looked at him uncertainly, when no further details were forthcoming. "What happened?"

"Ah. Nuthin'. Just... came out to a co-worker," Brad mumbled.

"Aaaaah." Marty sucked in a breath, his little ropelike tail doing a twisty flick. "How'd that go?"

"All right. He was a little weird about it." Mmm, coke. "Seemed okay, though. Just odd, because now Jane's not the only one again."

"That's right, Ian left, didn't he?"

Brad nodded. "Too weirded out by having a gay boy handling his sacks," he cracked.

Never mind that it had probably been the most uncomfortable few weeks of Brad's life, having to dance around a forty-year-old otter who flinched whenever he came within five yards, and couldn't keep from watching the wolf constantly, in a paranoid, almost manic fashion.

Don't drop the barcode scanner, right?

And it hadn't helped that Brad may or may not have had a wee little crush on him. He was the short, rugged type. Looked good with the scruffy beard he had. The whole mature, handsome thing.

Yeah. It had been so farcical that humor was the only way to recall it, despite how awkward it had been to experience.

"Heheh." The boar leaned on the counter, beginning to munch on the sandwich he'd been making. "So, did things go okay last night?" he asked innocently.

Brad tried to process that for a few seconds, before his ears shot back and up. "Oh, did I wake you up? Shit! Sorry, man, I'm really sorry..."

The boar smiled a bit. "That's okay, I called you a few rude names and fell right back asleep. No harm done."

The wolf grinned sheepishly. "I tried to be quiet..."

"Yeah, well, I just heard you yell something, and then you and someone else left in a hurry." Marty shrugged. "Just wondered if everything was okay."

"Yeah. Just..." He stalled for a tiny fraction of a second, trying to think how to word it. "... had to help out a friend." There. That was okay. Did Jonathon count as a friend yet? Didn't matter.

His roommate nodded. "Oh, that reminds me too. Daytime shift tomorrow and Thursday. Friday I'm going back to the graveyard shift."

"Jeez, they really like to move you around, don't they?"

"Well, I'm the only one trained to manage the equipment shipments right now, and they don't always come at regular hours. They want me to start training Kecherov next month, but he doesn't want to do weird shifts, so they're talking him into it with a pay raise." He grinned a little, shaking his head. "Then once he's trained, I know how it's gonna turn out - he'll take all the shipments from noon to eight, and I'll get all the ones on the graveyard or morning shits - excuse me, shifts..."

Brad snorted. "And you don't even get a raise?"

The boar shook his head. "I don't have much seniority and all."

"That's still BS." Brad slurped his coke.

"Yeah. At least I like being up all night, right? Not so many people in your way, and every meal is breakfast food."

The wolf chuckled. "So you won't be here Friday night?" He clambered up and wandered into his room to begin assembling his school stuff.

"Nope, probably sleep most of the day, leave at seven. Won't get back till five in the morning." Marty followed him, leaning on the doorframe.

"That's a shame, I was thinking of a bit of a crawl."

"When aren't you thinking of a crawl?" his friend scoffed, watching him pack homework and notebooks into his backpack. "The bars won't miss me for one Friday. Hell, I'll probably get home before you do!"

"Heheh. Well, the crew will miss you, but work's work, I get it."

"I'll probably be there next week. And with the way my schedule will be, I'd be totally set to go out Saturday night if you want to hit that crowd."

The wolf shook his head abruptly, with a huff. "Fuck no. You kidding? If I wanted to be balls deep in freshmen, I'd offer tutoring, payable in sex."

The boar giggled. "Mister Wilson, teach me how to cum-pute the second derivative again..." he whined in falsetto.

"Bend over, then, bitch! We can fill concavities all night!" Brad slapped his knee. "Yours."

Laughing, his roommate slid back into the hall as Brad walked through the door, swigging the last of his soda and flicking his ears playfully.

"Kay, I'm out," Brad said, crushing the can in his paw and tossing it into the recycling in one gesture. "Got class."

"All right, see ya later. Good luck with whats-his-face," the boar joked, referring to the flamboyant tasmanian devil he'd heard stories about.

"Nah, he's off at some wedding or something. See ya." He waved and shut the door, hopping down the stairs. Often, he would drive to campus, in the interest of having his car nearby in case he wanted to go eat somewhere or run some errands after his classes were over.

Today, Brad contemplated his car, and then began the walk northeast with a small smile, feet plodding the familiar streets. He had time, it was a nice day for late autumn... and the trip reminded him of Jonathon. He certainly couldn't object to that.

Eyes surveying the empty street, inhabited only by a few feral squirrels and some skittering leaves, Brad stuck his paw into his pocket, so he could feel his cell phone. It was a cool, slick, comforting presence, something that had been with him through many relationships, many ups and downs. And right now... was an up. Right now, that phone held the number of a certain Jonathon Howard, and this heart held the emotion that threatened to surge up and consume him whenever he closed his eyes.

Jonathon was special, he was convinced of that now. You don't feel like this about any old guy who runs into you in a coffee shop. Brad wanted to get to know this guy, to mean something to him. It was probably foolish to trust his feelings after all the ways they had led him astray... but Brad felt like they could be happy together. Or at least, he'd spent a great deal of time today imagining that outcome. Probably with a sappy smile on his face.

He couldn't wait to take Jonathon out somewhere. He wished he could have done it tonight, but that late math class on Tuesdays and Thursdays... Still, he supposed 8:30 wasn't absolutely too late to have dinner, maybe he should have offered...

No matter. He hadn't, and so he would call Jonathon tonight, and they would plan. He already had a few ideas; a first date it was often better to do something where they could talk. So a nice, sit down restaurant, preferably not too expensive (Brad assumed he'd be paying, since he'd proposed the date), but in no way cheap, and then maybe a walk in the park if it wasn't too chilly and the conversation was going well. Maybe go get dessert afterward, somewhere with cheesecake or something. Mousse. He wouldn't mind some lemon meringue pie, either, have to ask Jonathon what he liked and pick somewhere on the fly.

And if things went very well... maybe he'd take the raccoon with him when he headed home.

Brad didn't really expect that eventuality, but it was nice to think about. A slightly dirty grin flitted across the wolf's face. He wondered what kind of noises Jonathon made when he...

Ah, better not think about that too much. With luck, he'd be finding out, all in good time.

And it would be a very good time, he imagined. Or, at least, a self-appointed expert hailing from his underwear was pretty darn sure of that.

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And there we are! Kind of a short one this time; they'll tend longer than this, but there was enough going on that I didn't feel like I had to pad it out.

Episodes 1 and 2 were sort of the introduction, clueing us in on the situation and the main characters; now we're getting to meet some more people, who will play more minor roles in the episodes to come. May I remind you all that one of the key components of this story is the psychology of the characters, so the way various people behave and interact with each other is going to be important. Keep your thinking caps on, this isn't just a yiff-and-run story... though it seems Brad intends to make sure yiffing is not left out either! Good for him! X3

As always, comments and critique encouraged. See you all next week!