Chapter I: A Drink Called Loneliness
#1 of Kaeden's Commitment
This "fan-work," written with full permission, is based on the story written by Vexxus, whose profile can be found at the below link.https://vexxus.sofurry.com/
Although I am very excited to finally release my first major writing project in about half a decade, and am eager for reader response, I still highly recommend you read his story "Aran's Abrogation" first, as you will be able to enjoy some of the finer points and cameos in my own story.
Apart from being the inspiration for my story, Vexxus was also instrumental as a proofreader and creative consultant for polishing the story into its finished form. I am not exaggerating when I say this story is immensely better for his part.
The entire story is already written, so you do not need to worry about the project being abandoned in the middle. Each chapter will be released every other day until completion. As this is a derivative work, the CC licensing information is a bit different this time. If you wish to write or draw derivative work based on this story, you will need to get in contact with Vexxus, not me.
Although the first couple chapters do not contain infantilism-related content, it is a central theme to the entire story, just so you are aware. With that said, please enjoy the first chapter! Chapters will be shorter than in my previous stories, however, they will be more variable in length as I am not attempting to trim or pad them to fit a predetermined word count. The entire story is over 57,000 words.
Kaeden's Commitment
by Draugr
Chapter I: A Drink Called Loneliness
This work is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Kaeden hung his head in his paws, staring at the polished wooden surface of the bar, his own murky reflection staring listlessly back at him. A shot glass full of cheap rum sat beside him, untouched. He'd come here to forget, and although he'd already downed several shots and a few beers, it was slow progress. The things he was trying to so hard to forget refused to suppressed by the alcoholic haze. His failed job interview, today. His failed relationship with his girlfriend, and the last thing she'd said to him a few days before. She'd told him, or rather, yelled at him, that he was a failure of a man, and he was starting to think she was right.
There wasn't just one failed job interview, after all, there was a long string of them. Nobody wanted to hire a dog who had held twelve jobs in two years, even if it was for simple factory or kitchen work. Too unreliable, he'd been told. Well, the exact phrase the stoic-faced avian interviewer had used was "We'll call you back and let you know," but he'd heard those words enough times to know what they meant. Kaeden's didn't blame himself for the long string of jobs over the past few years, of course. The jobs were just boring, and he wanted something different. There wasn't anything there for him. And, he just knew the supervisor at his last job had it out for him! Why stick around if he was going to fail anyway?
Sighing in irritation, he picked up his shot, downing it in one go. He was about to order another beer to wash it down, when he was interrupted by one of the other bar patrons sitting next to him.
"Buy you a drink, stranger?" Kaeden looked up and over to his side to see a large Rottweiler sitting on the bar stool next to him. He didn't have an accent, but Kaeden still wondered if he was from out of town: his button-up striped shirt and khaki pants were a little out of place in the small-town seedy bar.
"Don't swing that way," he muttered, looking back at the table. He doubted the Rottweiler was actually gay, but it was easier to just brush him off. Conversation was not something he was interested in right now.
"Wasn't on my mind," the other said dismissively. "You just look like a friend in need of a stiff drink."
Kaeden grabbed his empty shot glass, rolling it around in his paw. He could use another, and he didn't really want to drink away his last paycheck.
"Guess I could use a friend. And a drink," he finally replied. "What're you having?"
"Excellent. It's better than drinkin' alone," he said, grinning, then turned to the bartender and ordered two cocktails with some strange name Kaeden's alcohol-riddled mind couldn't understand.
"It's a speciality where my family comes from, the Rottweiler explained. "I'm Rashid," he said, offering a handshake.
"Kaeden," the Shepherd offered, returning the gesture. "Your name sounds Arabic. Born there?" Kaeden wasn't great at small talk, and didn't really care about the other's personal history, but he knew how to pretend. Pick up a queue from what the other said, follow up with a question. Right now any distraction was welcome to him.
Rashid shook his head. "Parents moved here during the war about thirty years ago. Born and raised in this town."
Kaeden thought this was odd. "Strange. I don't remember seeing you here before."
"I've... been away for a long time," the other said evasively, looking off toward the far wall. "Traveling. What brings you here?"
The shift in focus didn't seem to set off any alarms in the drunken Shephed's mind. "You wouldn't be interested," he replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"Try me," the Rottweiler said, donning a friendly smile.
Kaeden relayed his job and girlfriend troubles, to which the Rottweiler offered a sympathetic nod, and simple agreements here and there. During his tale, which wound up growing longer than he'd expected, the drinks arrived. If Kaeden hadn't been quite as intoxicated, he might have noticed his new 'friend' dropping an odorless, white powder into the German Shepherd's drink before pushing it over to him.
"Bottoms up," the Rottweiler said, grinning. Kaeden wasted no time in downing the cocktail. He wasn't a drunk or anything, but his paychecks afforded him one or two binges a week, and it felt good to drink himself into forgetfulness. Kaeden sighed, growing depressed as he realized that wasn't going to be possible any longer.
They talked for a few more minutes. Kaeden actually found himself growing slightly curious about his new 'friend,' but the Rottweiler seemed quite adept at brushing the topic of conversation off himself and back onto the Shepherd. In fact, the Rottweiler seemed a little too interested in him. Kaeden wondered if his first assessment hadn't been correct after all.
Kaeden decided it was time to go. He stood up, and nearly fell to the floor. It was an odd sensation; the dog could usually hold his liquor, and it wasn't a typical drunken loss of coordination. He almost felt tired, not intoxicated. Well, he was tired, and depressed. Perhaps that was to be expected.
"Whoah, friend. Maybe I should drive you home? Seems like you've had a lot," the Rottweiler said, helping him stand back up.
"No, no, I'm... I'm fine... " Kaeden trailed, speech slowing but not slurred. He pulled away from the Rottweiler, a sudden surge of adrenaline working its way through his system. Getting picked up by a dude was not on the list of Things To Cheer Kaeden Up. Grunting with irritation, the Shepherd put his head down and determinedly paced toward the door - abruptly running right into Rashid, who had placed himself in the drunken young adult's path.
"Look, man, thanks for the drink and conversation and all," Kaeden started, "but I'm seriously not getting in your car. I'm not a tail-raiser." The Shepherd must have said this louder than he intended, as a few nearby patrons looked their way and snickered.
The Rottweiler looked left and right, but when his gaze returned to Kaeden, rather than any sort of lust, he only saw fear. Why was the other dog afraid of him? His words said he was concerned, but nothing about how he was acting felt right. Something was very wrong, and the didn't want to stick around to find out what it was.
"I told you," the Rottweiler said, in a low voice, "that's certainly not my interest. Don't be crude. I just don't want to see you get hurt, is all."
"And I told you, uh... " Kaeden trailed off again as his mind started to get fuzzy. Something wasn't right. He needed to get back home. "Uh, that... that I'm... " Another long pause. "I'm fine, yeah. I'm fine. I drive home from here all the time. Now... uh, get out... out of my way," he mumbled.
He shoved past the Rottweiler, and marched out to the parking lot, wavering back and forth a bit as he approached his car. His large ears picked up Rashid swearing under his breath, and following him.
Kaeden got his keys off his belt clip, but when hurriedly fumbling for the door key, he dropped them on the ground. Whirling around, he found the Rottweiler right behind him, just as he'd expected.
"Dude, quit following me. I'll... call the cops, I promise."
"Dude," the Rottweiler mocked. "I'm not stalking you. You're in no shape to drive."
Kaeden answered by spitting on the ground in front of him. The Rottweiler backed up, disgusted, and Kaeden took this opportunity to pick up his keys. Unlocking the door with his remote, he got in and slammed the door for good measure.
He spun the wheels, spitting up gravel as he swerved out of the parking lot and onto the highway. By this time it was dark, so he didn't even see the Rottweiler get into his own vehicle and follow him out. Despite the adrenaline surge caused by the strange encounter with his apparent male stalker, Kaeden was having a very hard time staying awake. He was certain he'd actually fallen asleep at several points.
"C'mon, man, stay awake. Just ten more minutes to home." he said aloud.
Ten more minutes proved to be nine minutes too many, as only a minute later he finally nodded off for good, drifting off the road. Thankfully, his foot had fallen off the accelerator and by the time a large oak tree stopped his forward momentum, he wasn't traveling very fast at all.
"Ughhh... ." Kaeden groaned as he opened his eyes. Despite the shock of the crash, the Shepherd still wanted to go back to sleep. He did, for all of fifteen seconds before being shook back awake.
"Hey, man, you alright? Talk to me." The sleepy dog took a moment to recognize the voice - it was that other dog from the bar.
"Oh... oh man, not you. Seriously-"
"You need some help?" he asked.
"What does it look like?" the Shepherd said, yawning. "In a... a wreck... yeah, help, I guess... nice... would be... nice" he said, closing his eyes again. "First a...nap."
The Rottweiler said something after that, but Kaeden was already in the process of passing out.
v1.1