Chapter 3 (Wendell)
#3 of First Steps
After another hour, we get our clothes back on. Todd got a quick shower before we left. I'll admit I was a bit tempted to get in there with him, but I gave him the privacy.
The park is almost in the center of town. I get nervous quick because this is the first time I've been out with Todd since we became more than friends and I'm not ready to face homophobia. It's bad enough that my parents already kicked me out, I don't need any more.
"Are you okay?" he speaks up as we sit down on a bench near the lake.
"Yeah, why?" I tell him.
"It's just that you haven't talk at all on the way here."
"I don't know, I guess... I'm a bit nervous."
"About what?"
"H-O-M-O-P-H-O-B-I-A" I whisper in his ear.
"Relax, I doubt that's going to happen." Todd says, "Besides, we've hung out millions of times before." That, I can't argue with. But, I can't help myself. I want to be affectionate towards him, but I'm scared to face the consequences.
"I thought you were afraid of the same thing." My thoughts come out of my mouth before I can take it back.
"Mostly with you." he says, "It was mostly you since I had a... C-R-U-S-H on you ever since I met you."
"Oh." I lean back on the bench and put my paws to the side. I feel something all of a sudden. I look over and see that Todd has put his paw on mine. A shudder slips through me. I'm literally inches away from this cute orange fox and I'm afraid to do something back. Do something! my mind screams to me, Talk to him! He's your best friend!
What do I talk to him about? I say back to my mind mentally.
I don't know... just something! You heard him before: he's afraid of awkward silence between you two!
"Are you okay?" Todd breaks my conversation with myself.
"Yeah why?"
"You're staring at the lake and you're squinting your eyes like something bad's about to happen."
"No... I'm just... lost in thought." I tell him. What? It's the truth. But, who am I kidding? I sound like a crazy person.
"What're you thinking about?" Todd asks.
"Nothing. I was just... wondering if you..." My nerves cut my sentence off. I just stare at him, scared to continue talking to him.
"If I what?" Todd says, "Wendell, tell me what's up?" The second he finishes that sentence, I lock muzzles with him. When I pull back, I look at him.
"I couldn't help it." I say.
"It's fine." Todd puts an arm around me, and I do the same for him. I give him a smile.
"So, after this, what did you want to do?" I ask.
"Uh...not sure." he says, "Anything in mind?"
"How about the arcade like we always do?"
"Sure." Todd says. What happens next might be a little too much. I lay down on the bench, resting my head on Todd's lap. "What're you doing?"
"I don't care anymore. I really need a cuddle right now." I confess. I feel Todd's paw petting my head. I close my eyes.
I hear some furs walk by. I don't hear them say anything. After a few more minutes, I hear someone say "Gay!" and walk by. I flip them off. I look up to see who it is. I can't see their face but it's a male, golden labrador retriever.
"Todd, can I tell you something?" I ask.
"What is it?" I hear his voice, but I'm looking at the ground.
"I don't think I'm just bi-curious, I think I'm fully bisexual."
"That's okay." Todd says. I start to feel him ruffling the fur on my head. It's a good feeling.
"I've gotta go use the bathroom, I'll be right back." I get up and start to walk away. I hope Todd's going to be fine. Now that the public has seen us kiss, our secret's out and there's no way we can deny it anymore.
"Wendell?" I hear a familiar voice. I turn around to see who it is. It's Bruno: a friend of mine. He's a black labrador hybrid. Shit! Did he see us? Me and Todd?
"Yeah?" I say to him.
"I thought it was you," Bruno says, "What were you doing with Todd?"
"What... do you mean?"
"I saw you kiss him and then lay on his lap."
Crap! "Uh... the truth is... I'm... in.... love with him." The last words come out of me slowly, as if they could suffocate me just saying them.
"You're gay?" Bruno raises his eyebrows.
"I'm... bisexual.... yes." I tell him. It took a few seconds for me to say the B-word.
"You never told me this." he either sounds disappointed or he sounds like he's about to go off on me about it like how it's 'wrong' or it's 'a sin' and we're 'going to hell' or any of that crazy shit.
"Look, if there's a problem with it, that's fine, but I don't want you saying anything about Todd 'cause if you do, I won't be kind about it." I say.
"I don't care that your bi," Bruno responds, "I'm mad that you couldn't be honest with me about it." Oh. Now he tells me this. He should've said that instead of "You never told me this".
"Oh. Sorry for going off like that." I say.
"It's fine. Just next time, tell me instead of keeping it from me." he says, "By the way, you haven't... you know...?"
"No, we've never had sex! I've only started to date him yesterday!"
"Ok, well see you around." and with that, Bruno walks off.
***
When I get back to the bench, Todd looks worried
"Everything ok?" I ask him, sitting down.
"Yeah, it's just... who were you talking to?" Todd asks.
"Bruno, he's just a friend. Why?"
"Oh, I thought that maybe he was giving you crap about you and me."
"No, in fact, he's ok with it." When I say that, he calms down, "Did anyone say something to you?"
"Nothing bad," Todd says, "But this rabbit did come up to me and said she saw us cuddling and thought it was cute. Although her mother sure didn't approve."
"How old was she?"
"About five or six."
"Haha. Cute." I smile at him again. Todd kisses me again.
"You want to head to the arcade now?" he asks.
"Sure." We get up and start to walk out of the park. The arcade (which is named Zuma) is only a few streets down. I hold Todd's paw on the way there. I'll admit, my tail might have brush against his a few times, and it felt great.
"There it is." I point it out a few buildings ahead of us. When we get in, I hand the feline $40 and she gives us token.
"Are you two a couple or something?" the red cat asks.
"Yes." I say. I turn around and give half of them to Todd.
"What's your favorite game here?" Todd asks.
"The Namco one. The one in the back." I point in the direction.
"Nice. I kind of like that what too."
"Cool. What's your favorite one on there?"
"Pac-Man."
"That's ok. I personally prefer Mappy."
"Is that the one with the mouse and the burglars who are cats?"
"Yes." I say. We walk to the back. When we get to the Namco games, we sit down on the stools sitting in front of it.
"You want to do Pac-Man or Mappy first?" Todd asks.
"I'm fine with either one." When I tell him, he puts in two tokens and puts on Mappy 2-player mode. "I thought you were going to play your favorite game first."
"I guess not." Todd winks at me. Damn that fox is cute. At first, Todd has trouble with the game since he lost a life about right away, but when his turn comes around again, he gets good. On my first life, I have about 10 or 12 thousand, Todd has 2,530. When our second round comes, Todd is kicking my ass. We're both on round seven, but Todd has 44,560 and I still have 38,000. Perhaps I've underestimated him in this game.
After a few more minutes, we're both on our last life. Todd may be ahead of me, but only by a couple hundred points. I'm on round 11 and he started 12. After another minute, I hear the "Game Over" sound and see Todd's final score. 101,490. Damn! I've never gotten that high before.
"You're pretty good." I tell him.
"I've learned from the best." Todd leans over and kisses me.
"Hey! No distractions!" I say playfully. When I start, I'm faced with a new challenge. First off, the house changed. Each level of the house looks completely different. Eventually, right when I'm close to Todd's score, one of the pink cats corner me. Last life lost. Game Over. 99,780 points. So close.
"Nice job." Todd says, hugging me.
"Thanks," I return the hug, "But let's face it, you kicked my ass in that game."
"Well," he says, "Pac-Man is my favorite game, let's see how you do on that game." Todd puts two more tokens in and puts on Pac-Man 2-player mode. I went first this time since I let Todd go first last time. I'll admit it: I haven't played this game in a long time, but I know how it works.
I got through the first two levels easy, it's the third level I had trouble with. I almost was caught by Blinky twice but was trapped in the tunnel by Pinky and Clyde. When it's Todd turn, he slips through the first two levels easily, even the third one, but finally loses a life on round four.
After two more lives, I clearly know I've been beat again. I'm stuck on level eight, Todd's on level twelve.
"Damn!" I say when Todd's on his last life, "You didn't tell me you were good at these games."
"Oh." he says, "Wendell?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm good at these games." When Todd says this, I get an idea. I kiss him on the neck and lets out a tiny moan. "Hey! I thought you said no distractions!"
"I did, but I thought you should get what you gave out." I say, letting out a small laugh. A few more moments later, he's done. Level fourteen! Shit!
"You could've told me you were good at this stuff before I brought you here." I tell him.
"Sorry. But honestly, I haven't played this game in a few months." Todd says. For the next few hours, we've pretty much used up most most of the tokens on other games like Galaga, Dig Dug, Rally-X, and Bosconian.
By the time we're finished, we're tired and ready to go home. On our way out the door, I hear a dark voice I haven't heard in a few weeks.
"Well, if it isn't Wendy." it says. I turn around to see... them!
"Allan." I say.
"Who's this?" Todd asks me.
"This is that fucking cat trio I hate. Ray. Allan. And Steele." I point them out by name. They're wearing all black (I've never seen them in anything else). Allan is a red cat (like the one at the counter), Ray is an orange tabby cat, and Steele is a grey alley cat.
"Hey! I thought we were friends." Allan says in a clear sarcastic voice.
"In your fucking dreams." I say, not afraid to show my hatred.
"Listen, I'd love to stay and chat with your tail-raising boyfriend but, we've got games to play." Allan tries to walk in the door, but I grab him in the shirt and pull him back.
"What did you just call him?" I give him a death glare.
"Tail-raiser." Allan says. Before I can beat the shit out of him, Ray and Steele grab ahold of my arms and they pull me back.
"Hey! Let him go." Todd speaks up.
"Todd! Don't get involved." I tell him, "I don't want you getting hurt."
"Let him go." Allan tells his two henchmen. I'm released and I drop to the ground. "This isn't the last you've seen of us." They walk in and me and Todd head home.
I really hope that I don't have to confront the trio again. They don't really get too physical, but when they do, it somewhat hurts. I close the door to Todd's room and sit on the edge of the bed. He sits right next to me and puts an arm around me.
"Are you okay?" Todd asks.
"Yes." I tell him.
"Are they bothering you?" he asks,
"Let's not mention them again." I say. Before he can respond, I kiss him. I hug him tight, he hugs back. I hear him moan a lot into the kiss.
Todd breaks the kiss momentarily. "I love you."
"I love you more." I say. I slowly take off his clothes, and he does the same for me, leaving us both in our boxers. I get on top of him and deeply kiss him. I run my paw through his soft orange fur. Todd strokes my back.
"Can I ask you something?" Todd says in between kisses.
"Of course." I bring myself up and look into his eyes. Todd reaches over to his nightstand. When he brings his (cute) paws back in take a look at what he's holding.
"Would... you...?" Todd slightly covers his eyes at what apparently looks like a handkerchief.
"You want me to blindfold you?" I ask.
"Mhm."
"Why?"
"Well, I've been wondering a few things myself. I've been curious about what being blindfolded feels like."
"Why not blindfold yourself?"
"Because it's not as hot." Todd winks and hands it to me.
"What did you want me to do while you can't see?"
"I don't care. As long as you don't try to fuck me."
"I won't." I say, "But how am I gonna see those cute eyes?"
"They'll still be here."
"Ok." I gently tilt his head up and blindfold him, being careful not to put it on too tight. "Is it too tight?"
"No. It's just fine." Todd smiles. I go back to kissing him. I wonder how he feels? I pull him on his side so I can lay next to him. I put a paw on his back and rub it. Soon, he does the same. I slowly move my paw down and softly spank him. He moans loudly but doesn't pull away. I loop my arms around his and place my paws on his shoulders. Todd puts his paws on my back and we both pull into each other.
We together like this for a while. My thoughts run a million miles a minute , all of them are about this cute fox I don't want to let go of or stop kissing. I doze off, putting my head on his shoulder, still embracing him.