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Theodore stepped out into the hot afternoon air, squinting and raising a paw to shield himself from the assault of the midday sun. Summertime was always a welcome break from school but the heat could become unbearable at times for the 18 year old grizzly. Most days, like today, he would wander around topless, allowing the occasional wind to offer some comfort; And as if reading his mind, an errant breeze slid its fingers through his brown fur, tracing over his well-defined arms and tickling through the fur of his paunchy belly. The growing size of his belly was a source of self-consciousness but there was nothing for it. It was simply too hot out to cover up.

The music of rustling leaves and distant birds mingled with the alluring call of the sizzling grill from across the lawn and the well-built built bear allowed himself to inhale deeply. Hints of BBQ ribs and the ghost of a steak or two made his mouth water, but the sounds of snickering from around the source of temptation were enough to dissuade him from venturing any closer. He recognized that sound. His father had his asshole friends over and they were already a few beers in--something Theodore was certainly not in the mood for. As he turned to go back inside a belligerent voice called out to him from across the way.

"Ey! It's little Teddy!"

Theodore stopped and closed his eyes, heaving weary sigh. Most of his friends called him Teddy, but for some reason, he really hated it when his dad's friends called him by that name. There was always a hint of taunting amusement behind their words, made worse with every beer-can the Neanderthals emptied.

"Ey! Whydonchya come over here Teddy!"

The suggestion came from Mikhail; a large, nasty lion whose frothy can of amber liquid spilled all over the place as he gestured. Of all of his dad's friends, Teddy hated Mikhail the most. While a little on the fat side, the Russian ex-patriot was also tall and he worked out his glamor muscles almost incessantly. When he flexed, the large cat was very imposing.

Standing next to the lion was another of his dad's good friends, Kanth. Teddy had always mused that his dad kept Kanth around to make a complete set--the other half of the Asshole Friends Collection. Where Mikhail was fat and bulky, the black panther was trim and streamlined. He was as well-built as the rest of them, but much more athletic. Teddy had even found him somewhat attractive when they had first met. Kanth's personality, however, put an end to any childish crush that might have otherwise flourished. While Mikhail was belligerent and nasty, Kanth was snide and arrogant; always ready with the biting quip or underhanded remark.

There was a third friend who Teddy didn't recognize. He appeared to be a tall border-collie, shy in demeanor, who stood at the edge of the group, listening to the conversation but not participating in it as much as the others. Perhaps he was new. He was also the only one wearing a shirt; a white tank-top stretching over his average form.

Frank, Teddy's father, was simply a larger version of his son except much stronger and with a larger paunch. Unlike his son, however, the roundness of his belly hid a wall of rock-hard abs beneath its surface. He was currently busy flipping slabs of meat over the flames but when Mikhail called out, Frank turned to offer his son a smug smirk.

"Bring us some more beer!"

Teddy muttered under his breath as he went inside to fetch another case. Maybe he could get away with a few ribs and a steak with minimal contact?

As the young bear trudged across the lawn with two large cases of beer under his arms, Mikhail nudged Kanth with an elbow and nodded in Teddy's direction.

"So... eh, Teddy... How's the wife?"

Frank scoffed and snickered, flipping a steak, as Teddy's cheeks flushed red.

"Fuck you, Mikhail."

Teddy set the beer next to the grill and gave the chuckling lion a dirty look before extracting a few cans to toss in the open ice-chest behind the smirking chef.

"Whoa now, I know your kind will jump anything, but I don't swing that way. Back where I come from--"

"Their village is missing an idiot," interjected Teddy as he finished emptying the first case and into the bed of ice.

The lion's posture straightened, muscles tensing as he rolled his head to the side, flexing and fixing Teddy with a cold stare.

"Smart mouth you got there... Careful it doesn't get busted up..."

"Oh, don't mind him, Mikhail," offered Frank with a dismissive grin. "It's just that time of the month."

"And fuck you too."

"Such a dirty mouth!"

"No surprise..." The lion's voice was raspy and starting to get on Teddy's nerves. "We all know where it's been, after-all."

At this all of the men chuckled except the collie, who offered a nervous smile, and Teddy's dad gestured to the remaining case of beer with his tongs.

"Stop hitting on the men and empty out that other case."

Frank pulled the ribs from off the grill and placed them on a serving platter as his son stared daggers at his back, not moving a muscle.

"Do it yourself."

Mikhail grinned, eyebrows rising as he looked from son to father.

"Looks like we hit a nerve," observed the feline as he took another sip of his brew.

"Damn-it Teddy, do as your told. I'm not gunna burn these steaks because you got a little booty-hurt..."

Mikhail almost spit out his beer as he laughed mid-swallow and Kanth nodded in approval at the innuendo, deciding to add in his two cents.

"You'd think he'd be used to that sensation by now."

Teddy clenched his fists as his eyes traveled from one bigot to the next.

"Ohhh... I think he means to do something about it, Frank," goaded the lion.

"Looks like your little princess is about to throw down," added the panther as he finished off his can and crushed it in his paw, tossing it off to the side with disinterest.

Frank sighed as he pulled the last two steaks from the grill and sat his tongs over the side-rail, turning around to offer his offspring the most bored of expressions. Upon seeing Teddy, however, he realized that his two friends were not fooling around. His son's feet had squared off and the boy's fists were clenched tight, almost shaking. The expression on Teddy's face was one of smoldering anger but for some reason the whole scene struck Frank as comical and instead of taking his son seriously, he began to laugh.

"Hahahahaha, is that the face you make when Kip pounds your hairy a--"

Frank's taunt was forcefully ended by his son's shoulder slamming into his gut, catching him off balance and sending the large bear tripping backwards over the ice-chest. The charge was sudden and unexpected; the eyes of Frank's friends wide with surprise as well as amusement as the cook tumbled to the ground, feet over his head, ice and cans of beer spilling out onto the grass.

"Ho hoo ohh, shit!"

Kanth's usual superior detachment had morphed into excitement as he walked over to see the blinking Frank staring up at his son, covered in ice and dirt. The blow hadn't hurt, having been absorbed by the strong muscles beneath his padding, but he hadn't remembered his son being able to move so fast!

"Need a hand?" offered Kanth with bemusement.

Frank ignored the panther, his eyes instead fixated on his son as he pulled himself up from the ground, wiping the dirt from his blue-jeans with large paws, cracking his neck to each side and rolling his shoulders a few times to warm up.

"Looks like someone needs a lesson in manners."

"That's rich, coming from you and your meat-headed friends."

Frank smirked.

"Don't bite off more than you can chew, boy. This ain't gunna be no pillow fight."

"Bring it, old man."

Frank's friends gathered closer, almost giddy at the turn of events. The steaks and ribs that had once occupied a sizable portion of their minds were completely forgotten in lieu of this heavenly gift of backyard entertainment.

"Give him a good one, Frank!" grunted Mikhail. "Right in his chubby little belly. That'll knock the hot air right outa him."

Frank grinned a toothy grin as he and his son began to circle one another.

"After this fight," began Teddy with a sneer and a side-long glance at the Russian lion, "maybe you and my father can give Kip and I a few pointe--"

Unnnfff!

The side-long glance was a mistake. The moment Teddy shifted his attention away from his father the large bear side-stepped and slammed a balled-up fist into his son's stomach. Mikhail was right. At the moment of contact Teddy felt his body buckle as heavy, throbbing pain chased the air right out of his lungs, bringing the bear to his knees, rasping and gasping for breath as his father straightened and chuckled.

The cheers of Frank's friends sounded muffled to the recovering son but the words of Kanth cut through the pain, replacing the cold of having the wind knocked from him with the warmth of humiliation:

"One hit wonder..."

The panther popped the tab from his beer-can and flicked it off the side of Teddy's head, much to the delight of Mikhail. Meanwhile, the collie watched with wide eyes, swallowing and shifting in place.

"Let that be a lesson to you..." began Frank as he basked in his victory.

"A boy's gotta know his place. Show some respect to his elders."

The shock of the blow was slowly being replaced with the jagged energy of explosive rage, and while Frank was debating helping his son up from the dirt, Teddy was shifting his feet beneath himself, preparing to launch himself at his old-man once more.

"Yeah, and by place he doesn't mean beneath another fairy, you pansy-ass pillow-biter."

"F...fff"

Mikhail raised an eyebrow and leaned closer.

"What was that, little princess? Got something to say?"

The focus of the seething rage shifted from Frank to the lion and with a loud shout Teddy launched himself from the ground and took a swing at Mikhail's filthy face. The blow swung wide, however, as the lion ducked out of the way and circled behind. Instead of the satisfying crack of Mikhail's jaw, Teddy felt two large lion paws launch him at full speed in the direction of his father who blinked and squared-off out of instinct, catching the flying Teddy with another, weaker blow to the left of his navel.

Hnnnng!

"F... ff... fuck..." gasped the 18-year-old as he stumbled back away from his father, doubled over and clutching at his aching gut. The expletive was little more than a whisper but the anger burning through his veins didn't allow him to fall this time, instead, keeping the stumbling bear upright as he slurped down air like a thirsty child through a straw.

"C'mon, Teddy," smirked Frank, almost feeling a hint of empathy for his son. "You know you can't win."

"Is that all you got?" chimed Mikhail.

"Or is it that you queers always like a good pound'n?"

At this Teddy's head jerked upright, glowing eyes boring into the lion. At that moment he wanted nothing more than to tear that beast apart limb for limb, but the strength in those bulging biceps was very real. There was no way he could take on both his dad and his bastard of a friend. He had to keep his focus, and so his eyes shifted back to his father.

"This is what you call a friend? Washed up, bigot, closet-queen slob who can never get a woman cause he can't get it up?"

Kanth's eyebrows lifted in what could almost be called respect at the expert dressing down of the lion standing next to him. Mikhail, on the other hand, crushed his half-finished beer in his paw and threw it to the ground, letting out a guttural, growling sound.

"You better watch your fuck'n mouth!"

Teddy straightened and grinned contemptuously at the lion, whose veins were bulging, intoning in a syrupy-sweet voice, nice and low: "Make me."

Mikhail took a few steps forward but was halted by a firm paw pressing back on his chest--Frank holding him back and stepping between the lion and his son.

"Hold your horses, Mikhail. Seems my son needs another history lesson."

"I'll happily give him one myself..."

Frank turned to look Mikhail in the eyes, pulling the lion's gaze away from Teddy, and gave his friend a wink.

"Have another beer."

Mikhail searched Frank's eyes for a couple seconds before relaxing a bit and stepping back.

"Better teach him good. Boy's got no respect! Pudgy little bugger."

Teddy's eyes darted from Mikhail back to his father, the small victory over the lion giving him a second wind.

"Yeah, what're you gunna teach me, old man? How to drop outa high school and--"

Teddy was ready for the attack this time, dodging to the side, feeling the wind from his father's fist arc past his left cheek. Frank had over-committed, (Teddy knew that high school was a sore spot), and as the blow breezed past, the young bear spun and planted a fist into his father's exposed lower back, sucker-punching him in the kidney.

Frank winced and stumbled, trying to hold himself together as pain and a flood of nausea set in, but right as he turned to face his son he only found another fist descending from above, clocking him right across the muzzle.

"...Shit."

The commentary from the peanut gallery had become more silent, the spectators somewhat stunned now that Teddy had the upper hand. His third blow glanced off his father's upraised arm, and the counter barely clipped Teddy's side as the boy dodged and took a few steps back. His father was purposefully aiming at his stomach. It was Teddy's weak spot and everyone knew it, but now that his father was dazed from the blow to his kidney, the playing field was leveled.

"C'mon Frank! Not gunna let your little girl work you over like his boy-toy are ya?"

Frank growled and stumbled back to a standing position, somehow seeming much taller as his shadow fell over his son. Teddy looked up at his old man, experiencing a moment of self-doubt and hesitation. He had forgotten how imposing his father could look when he wanted to. The 'encouragement' from Mikhail was like gasoline on a fire, and before Teddy knew what was happening he received a broad, sweeping blow to his chest, sending him tumbling across the grass like a kicked football.

"That's it, Frank!"

Teddy scrambled to get back to his feet but his father was already upon him. An attempted dodge was halted by a surprise left uppercut and Teddy's feet skipped off the ground as his father's fist lifted his body from gravity's sweet embrace.

Huunnngn!

Teddy's eyes widened as he gasped for air and grasped at his father's arm, trying to hold on as a cold flush radiated out from his father's knuckles through his soft tissue.

Frank ripped his arm back and took another swing but this time he missed his son's stomach, instead cracking him one across the cheek as Teddy fell to his knees.

Frank's friends gathered a little closer, sensing that the fight might have been ended with that last punch, but Teddy, mind blank with white-hot singular purpose, managed to get his feet back under him and launched himself into his father, pushing him backwards five yards before Frank was able to shake him.

Oooofff!

"Mother f..."

Gyahhnn!

Teddy's ribs ached, as fat and fur rippled from his father's ferocious strikes. The old man wasn't holding back and his second punch lingered, bending Teddy over completely, spittle and sweat shaking loose over Frank's tree-trunk of an arm.

As his son rasped and held himself, Frank took a few steps back and wiped the sweat from his brow. He couldn't see how anyone could have any fight left in them after that, and for a moment the father bear felt a little pride that his son was still able to stand after the treatment he had just gotten.

"How's that for a history lesson?"

Mikhail chuckled and cracked open another cold one.

"Looks like you schooled em, Frank."

"Multiple choice, and he circled them all." Added Kanth with a sly grin.

The border collie just stood silently, staring at the heaving Teddy with a mixture of compassion and... something else.

Just as Frank was starting to turn to see about the meat, (that was already getting cold), he and his friends heard a rasping murmur, stopping Frank in his tracks.

"What was that?"

"Y... you..."

Frank blinked. Was his son really not going to let this go?

"Me? Me, what?"

Teddy steadied himself, trying hard not to throw up on the grass in front of him, and raised his head; managing to give his father a weak, taunting grin.

"Bitch."

The smugness melted from Frank's face completely as Kanth giggled and looked from one to the other.

"I've had just about enough of you!" growled Frank as he marched up to Teddy and threw a savage right hook.

Teddy tried to dodge but his body refused to respond as quickly as he needed it to and instead, took a face-full of knuckles right as he was half-way through a leap. The blow spun the boy's body in mid-air, and without thinking, Teddy raised his paws towards his face, elbows arcing outward.

What happened in the next moment caught everyone present by surprise. What was nothing but a mixture of physics, impulse, and random chance appeared to all watching as an expertly executed, flying elbow strike directly to Frank's head; and as the bewildered son landed, bent over in a three-point stance, his father's body spun and collapsed to the ground in a heavy heap.

Several moments of silence passed as the three friends gawked at the boy from across the way. Frank was on the ground, unmoving save for a low, pained moan--laid low by a surprise martial arts technique that Teddy secretly knew by the name of 'dumb luck.' Slowly standing, Teddy turned to face the audience, not quite realizing what it had looked like to the ones standing next to the grill.

Mikhail opened his mouth to speak but just snapped it shut instead. Kanth, on the other hand, was looking at Teddy in a whole new light. Something that would have made Teddy blush back in the days when he had a crush on the handsome panther.

"Where did you learn to do that?" asked Kanth with a mixture of surprise and admiration.

It wasn't until this point that Teddy realized that the friends thought he had done whatever he had done on purpose, and for the first time that afternoon, he felt a surge of pride and vindication. Even Mikhail was finding it hard to make eye-contact, and Teddy's lips pursed into a sly grin.

"There's a lot of things about me you don't know," began the young man as he shuffled forward a couple of steps, trying to pull his arms away from his stomach and stand up taller, "which is why you shouldn't be so quick to judge."

Mikhail scoffed and looked down and away but Kanth only smiled. There was no longer any condescension in the panther's eyes. Instead, the intent gaze was sizing Teddy up, as if for the first time, and Teddy felt himself begin to blush. Behind him, however, he could hear the sounds of his father stirring and, while wanting to bask in the glory a while longer, the urge to give his father a scolding eclipsed his conflicted feelings regarding the admiration of the muscular panther.

Teddy walked over to his father and offered him a paw as Frank looked up at his son with a questioning expression, and then past him to his friends. There was a split second in which Teddy thought he saw his father smile before the old bear returned his attention to the victor and took the offered paw. Helping Frank to his feet Teddy, for the first time in a long time, felt as if his father finally had some respect for his son. It had taken an all-out brawl, but the ache in his belly and the throbbing of his cheek-bones were a small price to pay for finally being seen as an equal amongst those who had done little else but humiliate him for all of these years. Still, he hadn't expected his father to be smiling about having been beaten in front of all of his friends. Perhaps history could be changed after all.

As Frank got to his feet he took a step back and then nodded. Teddy frowned at the gesture and gave his father a quizzical look.

"Are we cool?"

Frank's smile grew wider.

"Yeah... we're cool."

"Good," began Teddy, deciding to milk the occasion for all it was worth, "because if you want respect, you're going to have to show a little first. You got that?"

Frank just nodded and made a motion towards his friends who were standing behind his son.

"I think someone owes you something."

Teddy blinked and then smiled as he started to turn in the direction Frank was indicating. The only thing that could make the day better was an apology from Mikhail--something he had never expected to hear in his lifetime. But today was turning out to be a day of many fir--

FUUUHHGN!

Searing hot pain raced throughout Teddy's body as the chubby bear was lifted from the ground; a freight train having slammed into his belly, crumpling his fat and lifting his insides in and upwards as strings of saliva sailed from Teddy's open mouth. The lion's large fist traveled upwards along the cavity it was making beneath the bears ribcage, forcing all air from his lungs and then some as Teddy's eyes bulged and hair flew forward. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as shock and nausea made every droplet of sweat that flew from his face appear to be suspended in thin air. Every last ounce of energy had escaped him with the audible thud of the impact and the involuntary sound that followed it--the lion's fist breaking the laws of physics, suspending gravity, turning a toned young man into a rag-doll in the blink of an eye.

The fist drew back, leaving a cavernous feeling in the pit of Teddy's stomach as time wandered in confused circles. White and dark spots flashed before the boy's eyes, the young bear losing focus as his body once again fell into the open embrace of the hard ground. His mouth was open but air refused to enter the deflated body as a veil of darkness rushed in, muting out the sounds of his father laughing as the waterfall of blood rushing through his veins became the only sound in his rapidly dwindling consciousness. Within the span of a second or two--two seconds that spanned an unknowable eternity--Teddy lost consciousness, his limp body curled up on the grass as a circle of adults loomed over him.

"Sheeeit, Mikhail! That's one helluva punch you got there."

Mikhail grunted and took another sip of his beer.

"Tha boy asked me to do it, after all. Said ta make 'em and I made 'em!"

Frank chuckled, tilting his head as he looked down at his sleeping son.

"If that don't learn'em, nothing will."

Frank and Mikhail turned and headed back in the direction of the grill, leaving Kanth and the border collie to linger over the unconscious boy a few more moments before the panther followed in tow, calling out to Frank: "Still, you should have seen that move he pulled out on you towards the end."

"Blind luck!" retorted the father bear in the distance. "Now shut up and toss me a beer!"

The border collie knelt down beside the sleeping bear and placed a paw in front of his nose. The puffs of hot air were shallow but steady. Looking back over his shoulder, he could see that Frank and the other two were busy chuckling and re-heating the meat over the coals, all too pre-occupied with the recent excitement to notice their missing fourth wheel. Turning back to Teddy, and with all the gentleness he could muster, the collie scooped up the heavy bear and carried him back to the house, pressing his way past the screen door and into the living room where he laid out the young man on the sofa. Staring down at the limp bear for a second or two longer, the expression on the collie's face was unsure and conflicted, but the dog eventually blinked and made up his mind, arranging the unconscious bear in a way that seemed comfortable, before heading back out to the BBQ.

Across the way Frank looked up from the grill and waved at the border collie with his tongs.

"Steve? Where'd you go? We're just getting started! C'mere and tell me what you want."

The laughter of drunken men and sizzling meat once again filled the hot afternoon air and the distant call of birds drifted among the clouds and rustling of leaves. Inside a dark, empty house--under the watchful rotation of a silent ceiling fan--a curled up bear drifted from the gracious arms of unconsciousness into the unseen realm of languid, vivid, and shifting summer dreams.