Delivery
Lyal still leaned against the wall of the shower, his breathing quick, feeling better both for the steam of the shower and the equally steamy treatment his sister had just finished providing. She knew exactly what to do to thrill him, to tease him, to push him over the edge in just the right way. They'd had some time to practice since that first time... Not your fault, sis, or mine, it just... He tried to push away the idea again, just let the moment be what it was, because it was still golden, even after all the many times that she had... given to him...
He felt more than saw her stand and kiss his muzzle tenderly. It was barely a second afterward that they heard the knock and call of the old badger just beyond. Lyris quickly rinsed the last of the soap from her fur and stepped out. "The steam's helping," she whispered. "Stay in there a little longer." Louder, she called, "Be right out."
The buck stayed where he was, listening to sounds that he could almost make into pictures in his head. She hadn't time to towel off completely, but she must have put on a robe. He didn't imagine even Lyris would be quite so brazen as to march up to him nude. Then again, he thought, she's my sister...
"You could have just come in, you know." Her voice carried back to him. It still held an edge to it; she still didn't trust the badger.
"Just polite, y' know, askin' rather than jus' bargin' in. I can't imagine ye've had much privacy in yer recent days." Sounds of plastic bags rustling. "Took ye at yer word," the badger's voice called out toward Lyal. "Got a samplin' of it all."
"Be right out. Steam feels good." He shut off the water in time to hear Barton say something about the sauna, but he didn't quite catch it. Pushing the curtain aside, he reached for one of the towels on the table near to the shower area. It did not escape his notice that the badger caught a glimpse of the naked buck and then turn away without trying to stop and stare. Perhaps the old mane-dresser really did want a bit of him after all, and he was just playing the part of innocent bystander. It may be that he'd end up paying for food and lodging after all. He hoped not, though. That kiss... he still wanted to believe in that kiss...
Lyris hummed a soft lullaby as she toweled down her dark gray hip-length curls. He loved the way they hung down past her rump when they were pulled down with water, as they had been in the shower. His own wet curls needed a towel themselves, and he began rubbing at them with a second towel as he watched Barton set out the food onto the counter at the far end of the room. He felt the tension in the air, wished he had something to say to help break it. "I smell pizza," he said at last.
The badger turned, keeping his gaze up high even though the buck was covered down below. "Good that ye c'n smell anythin'," he chuckled. "Nose startin' t' clear up a bit, I hope? Got some more o' them pills left? Would do t' get 'em in ye with food fer a change..."
Lyal actually felt a bit better, listening to Barton's rushed words. It meant that he was vulnerable to the silence also, that maybe he didn't quite know what to do or say either. The buck took off the towel from around his middle and put on a robe, not closing it yet. It was a shabby trick to play on the badger, but it was... well, it was like insurance to the rabbit. He moved close to the badger and brushed his still-wet shoulder against the mane-dresser's arm, smiled at him. "I think Lyris still wants to know the price of food and shelter," he said softly. "I've tried to tell her you're not like that, but..." He picked up two clear containers of salad, a couple of forks and napkins, brushing the badger's arm once more as he moved away.
The doe had finished getting the most of the water from her curls, but she kept on using the towel and her fingers, ignoring the container that her brother all but shoved at her, forcing him to place it on the bench behind her. For his part, he sat on the far side of the padded bench, opened the nearly overstuffed container, and dug in. The freshness of the greens was a taste of heaven to him, not having had anything nearly this good in what could well have been weeks. He couldn't help making yummy noises as he chomped and crunched on everything from slices of bell pepper to the nicest heart of iceberg lettuce he'd sampled in years. "Vssiz great!" he managed to mutter though a full muzzle.
Barton grinned at him. "They've a good spread there, keep it up fresh all day. Got dressin's in packets if ye want, but I thought ye might better care for it... undressed..." The badger might have blushed, but he turned away quickly, leaving Lyal to remember that the term was absolutely correct, and Frederick would have reminded him so. That old family retainer was a stickler for good British English, even if his accent was more Midwest than anything else. The humor wasn't lost on him, but he wasn't entirely sure if he should laugh out loud, even if it weren't for the fact that doing so might cause half of his food to fall out of his mouth and into his lap.
"Right, then!" The badger tried to regain the more jaunty mood he'd started with. "I've a wee problem: I'm starved, an' I need t' talk an' chew at th' same time. That's nae a pretty sight! So if ye'll forgive me takin' a few bites first, then I'll tell ye a bit of a story. Maybe it'll explain what I'm doin' all this for."
Lyal busied himself with eating while the badger put away a slice of his personal-sized pizza. The buck felt very slightly giddy, having finally gotten an appetite back. He curbed is enthusiasm after only a few mouthfuls, unpleasantly aware of what happens when you gorge yourself after too long of not having enough food. Lyris, for that reason or still just because of her mistrust, pecked at her own salad. The silence, complete save for the chewing, was less comfortable than he would have wished. Barton, for whatever reason, seemed to keep his cheer and, wiping his face with a napkin, started in on his tale.
"Ri' then," he said, clapping his paws together softly. "A bit of story, I called it. Three hankies, if yer easily moved, but it's th' truth. And that's th' first thing I want t' get clear here: I'm only tellin' ye the truth. It's nae somethin' you two have had much of, so it may take some time t' get used to."
The buck shifted a little, wishing he had something better to say. He set his container aside and tried to let his belly relax for a bit. It was going to be doing more work soon than it had for quite a while.
"I've already told ye I'm gay. I was wedded to an amazin' meerkat name Wallace - and no relation t' Malik, who works here, ye saw him earlier when we were oot lookin' for ye. Wallace and I met at uni, an' we were together for nearly twenty years."
He paused in a reverie that Lyal was loath to break. At length, he said, "That's a long time." He felt stupid for saying it, but it did get the old badger to start talking again.
"Passed like a month, I sometimes thought." He smiled, a little sadly. "Longer than you two have been alive." His muzzle twisted a bit in a more wry grin. "We wanted t' have kits o' our own. Adoption, though. The whole medical Frankenstein bit gi' me the pip, mixin' our DNA, having a host mother, all of that. Just seemed a bit ... complicated. We even toyed w' the idea o' tryin' to find a female who wanted to have a child by either or both of us, and we'd impregnate her oursel's."
"I thought you were gay," Lyris said tersely.
"We're intelligent," the badger shot back. "We can learn a skill."
Lyal couldn't help himself. He burst out laughing until he had enough of a coughing fit that his sister pounded on his upper back until he stopped. When he recovered himself, he managed to say, "Gotcha there, sis."
Irritated, Lyris looked at the old badger and shot back, "So, you want to adopt us or something?"
"Nae if yer gonna keep actin' snotty!" Barton grumped, then smiled a little. "I get th' idea that it dinnae work s' well the last time. And I'm truly sorry fer that. Look, lass, all I'm sayin' is that I've got a soft spot fer kits, especially them as need help. Ye wanna know what I'm expectin' ye t' pay me wi'? Nothin'. Not even gratitude, come t' that. What ye can do t' repay me is to stay alive. To make yer lives better. Before ye ask, no, I've nae idea how t' get that done. But if ye'll let me help a bit, maybe we c'n have a stab at findin' out."
"We're not going back," Lyris said flatly.
"No, yer not."
Lyal glanced a little sideways at his sister, seeing clearly that this wasn't the response that she was expecting. Neither was he, for that matter. "You don't want to send us back?"
"Whate'er 'tis ye've run from, ye've paid dear t' keep away from it. No one does that wi'out reasons t' outweigh what ye've done just t' keep alive." The old mane-dresser looked them each in the eye. "Yer nae goin' back, and yer nae gettin' put back into that system, either, because sendin' ye back will be their first an' stupidest choice. We've got to find another way."
"What will your Wallace say about all that?" the doe spat.
"Ye c'n ask 'im yerself, if ye've got a Ouija board at paw. He's dead."
Lyal felt his blood chill, saw Lyris' jaw drop open a little. He looked to Barton, who sat calmly, as if gauging their reactions. "Sir, I... she didn't... I mean, we didn't know..."
"Course ye dinna ken. S'all right."
"It's not all right." He rose and turned on his sister, his jaw set and angry. "I told_you he wasn't like that! I _told you he wasn't trying to hurt us!"
"It's a sob story," Lyris insisted, though clearly not believing herself. "We've heard that a million times."
Lyal took a few steps toward Barton, stopped, paws at his side. "What happened?"
"Muggin'," the badger said simply. "Back alley, where he was prolly tryin' t' help someone. He was like that, y' know. Tryin' t' help. He just picked the wrong person an' th' wrong time."
"And you still..." The buck felt his breath hitch, piecing together the day's events, only now realizing just how much Barton had been giving to them all this time. "I can't imagine what it took for you to trust us even this far. And you did it because..."
Behind him, he heard his sister's little sigh, but he didn't let it stop him. He felt that he understood now, felt that the trust he'd wanted to give to the old badger was justified. Clad only in the robe that kept threatening to open itself intentionally or not, he reached out to take Barton's forepaws in his own. "He ... Wallace ... he really meant everything to you, didn't he..."
It was a statement more than a question, and the badger didn't really need to do more than just smile, the way he was doing. Lyal let his ears dance briefly. _*Lyss... give us just a minute, please?*_He kept his eyes on Barton as he heard his sister grumble a little bit but, at long last, get up and move behind the curtained partition to start dressing herself. He moved slowly forward, standing between the seated badger's knees - not trying to come on to him, just getting closer. Their eyes were still locked as the buck put his arms around the older male's neck and, leaning in for a moment, kissed his forehead before holding his head to his bare chest.
"Just a hug," the buck whispered. "To thank you. It's been a while since anyone did anything nice for us without expecting anything in return."
Lyal rested his cheek on Barton's head and held him for just a little longer.
* * * * * * * * * *
For a long moment, Barton was overwhelmed. The buck smelled a thousand percent better, and like his sister, he'd used the best conditioner in the shop. He, or perhaps Lyris, had managed to get out the grime, comb through the knots, and the kit's belly fur was soft as the finest velvet. And warm. So very warm. And in spite of all his best intentions, the badger again felt that twinge of desire that had haunted him all day long. Not yet, he thought... maybe not ever, but sure an' not now. He trusted himself just enough to wrap his arms around the youth and return the hug tenderly. Just the hug. Yes, there was more, perhaps not just on his own part, but for now...
Steeling himself more than a little, he gave the lad a gentle squeeze, then pulled back a little and looked up at him. "Would ye call yer sis over? Please..."
Lyal paused, looking uncertain. The mane-dresser nodded and released him. "Lyss?" he called across the room. "Would you... c'mere. Please."
The movement was tentative. Barton felt sure she'd been watching, not out of voyeurism but to make sure that her brother was safe in the paws of the old perv. Lyris finally stepped out from behind the changing curtain and approached cautiously. The badger reached out a paw and waited until, reluctantly, she took it.
"Ye still don' trust me." He said it simply, flatly, without accusation. "If I were you, I'm nae sure I'd feel much differ'nt. But ye need t' trust someone, and better it be me than someone of lower character." The badger smiled a little. "I'm goin' t' trust ye. Both of ye. I want ye to stay here in the shop tonight. It'll be warm, and ye c'n keep the rest of your salads in the fridge to feed on in the night, if ye wish. I think Lyal could do with another short while in th' sauna, after his dinner settles; it'll help him t' get over that cough. In the mornin', we'll talk a little more, see what c'n be done. There's some answers in here somewhere, and we'll be more likely t' coax 'em out if we're rested enough."
"Are you going to lock us in or something?" Lyris demanded.
"No. The locks don' work that way; ye could get out anytime ye want. At the least is that pushbar on the storeroom door; emergency fire door - push, an' it's open. Okay?" He nodded at them both. "I'm goin' t' stay the night here, on m' couch in th' office. I do that sometimes anyway. If ye need somethin', I'll be right here, and if anyone spots ye through a window and thinks ye broke in, I'm here t' stop the coppers, and by the saints, I'll do it. If they get hold of ye, they'll put ye back in the system, and we already ken that's nae solution."
Lyal shifted, his ears twitching nervously - not, Barton thought, the way they had done before, this looked more random. His voice was low and hesitant. "Do you want me to ... to be with you?"
Barton looked first into Lyal's eyes, felt the hurt within himself and perhaps even within the buck. Then he turned to Lyris and spoke softly. "I want ye to hear me. Both of ye. I said before, no lies. Even if I have t' hurt mesel' t' do it."
He closed his eyes, inhaled deeply and let it out in a rush. Looking then into Lyris' eyes, he all but whispered, "I promise never t' hurt yer brother, or you. I'll do all I can t' defend both of ye against a cold world. And although I want him..." He looked to Lyal, feeling his heart break a little. "Aye, lad, I do want ye, an' I don't know if I should be ashamed o' mesel' or just locked up fer thinkin'. But e'en if ye offered, I can't have ye, not now, not like this. Ye'll both think that I'm expecting it as payment for a meal, and I canna let ye think that. I canna let ye keep hurting with that. Ye'll ne'er trust me if I act like all those others afore me."
Barton hugged Lyal sideways, his cheek against the buck's warm belly, looked at Lyris as he spoke. "I know what you did. In the shower, earlier." He felt the male's body tighten, and he hugged the lad tighter. Lyris' eyes bugged slightly, and Barton used his other paw to squeeze hers gently. "Yes, I was shocked. I'm a gray-muzzle, and I was raised like all o' my generation. But I want ye t' know somethin'. I think I'm startin' t' understand."
He pulled back and looked into Lyal's eyes again. "It's when the heart is hungry, but nothin' seems t' satisfy. I know how ye've both had to survive, and it must seem as if you two are the only two in all the world who actually love each other. I've been that kind o' hungry too. Still am. But I willnae feed meself at your expense."
The old badger stood and put his arms around the two rabbits and looked at each in turn. "Trust is nae somethin' I can earn in one night. I only want just enough trust t' get us through this one night, then we'll find out about the rest as we go. I'm gonna go make up the sofa in me office, and I'll check for some more linens and blankets - we'll make up a good sleep nest for ye both in here. When dinner's settled, in an hour or so, we'll have a nice rest in the sauna, and then some sleep. Safe, warm sleep, for a change. And tomorrow will look after itself. Is that all right, then?"
The silence stretched long enough that Barton wasn't sure if his impassioned speech was going to be successful. The doe started to speak first, but the buck cut her off. "That'd be nice, sir... thank you."
"Aye then." Barton cleared his throat, gave them each a little squeeze and stood up. "I'll get me own kip settled, be back wi' blankets in a bit." He edged gently past them and went through the door. In his office, he glanced at the framed photo near his computer once more. "How'm I doin', luv?" he asked softly.
We can only give love, he heard his mate saying. We can't expect it to come back to us. We just hope. That's the job of saving the world - hoping.
Slowly, Barton nodded, wondering - and not for the first time - whether he was a bit old in the tooth to be quite so wrapped up with saving even a small bit of the world.