Counting Stars
Alright, so I saw this contest a few hours ago, and was like, "eh, not quite my style, but what the hell, I'll give it a shot." Honestly I thought the "prompt" story was fine ending where it did, with so many open possibilities and room for the imagination. I also thought expanding the story could only really lead in the direction of "sex, sex everywhere", and that's why I decided to do something completely opposite of that. Now, I'm not gonna kid anyone here, this shit ain't winning a blue ribbon and I'm not expecting it to, but it was nice to play with some characters that weren't mine in a situation that I'd normally not come up with. So, without further delay, I bring you the follow-up to some other guy's "Make a Wish", "Counting Stars". Oh, and there's an easter egg in there for people that have read my other stuff. I couldn't help myself. ^.^ (Story begins after title, yo.)
Counting Stars
The snow leopard took a deep breath, the scent of the alluring vixen inches away from him flowing through his nostrils and seeping into his brain whether he desired it or not. Of course, at least on some subconscious level, he did desire it; I don't know if you were expecting anything else, honestly. A senior in high school, and this was the closest he'd ever been to a real girl. He'd always been too shy to ever approach anyone, far too content to remain in his own thoughts, which seemed to always work out better anyway. His background as an, ahem, "erotic writer" had also given him a degree of cynicism over situations like this; a high school field trip to an open park to "stargaze"? That random fox from his English class throwing herself all over him with no provocation? "I lost my sleeping bag, can I share yours?" Inwardly, Tim the snow leopard was making a face of dispassionate disbelief (this face: -_-) and questioning why the universe thought such thick, steaming bullshit was so funny. It seemed more ridiculous than the setup for one of his pornos, and he mentally shouted to the shining stars in the heavens above him, "I could totally write this better than you. Stick to the Bible, God." (Hoo boy am I going to hell for that one)
In any event, despite his latent hormonal horniness, Tim decided to play it safe and answer the vixen with no evident concept of personal space with the fantastically inventive, "Okay. I did." The orange-furred fox brushed a strand of brown hair out of her eyes before blinking in disbelief. She had set him up for the alley-oop, the wide open touchdown pass, sent him a magical cross with the keeper off his line. She had come up with all of those sports euphemisms for sexy talk, and all the cute little cat needed to do WAS FUCKING SCORE. But it was okay. It was all good. Jackie was patient. She didn't become an all-state midfielder by lacking perseverance.
She batted her eyelashes at the timid leopard, and asked coyly, "You wanna tell me what it was?" Tim bit his lip and gave a semi-honest response, "I write a lot, in my free time. I want to be famous for it one day." Jackie's jaw went slack as she stared at the cat, glanced up to make sure his arm was indeed still holding her and looked back over at him. What the fuck, the girl pondered to herself, what the actual fuck? Motherfucker I know_what you write! I am offering you a real life vagina over here, what are you waiting for?_ "What," Tim blushed, "were you expecting something different?" Jackie regained some composure now that the ball was back in her court (I am just on fire today) and suggested sweetly, twirling her finger through a tuft of fur at the top of Tim's chest, "Well I do have a bit of a confession to make... I peeked at your phone on the bus, and_my_ wish was that, I dunno, maybe you could try some of that stuff on me." At that point Tim thought long and hard about just getting up out of the sleeping bag and hitchhiking his way home. There was no way in hell he was playing along with this line of writing anymore, and it couldn't be that far of a journey, right?
The leopard sighed so hard that an earthquake caused significant property damage in Siberia as a result of it, and replied, his frustration at the world steadily overpowering his shyness, "No. Just no. I mean, first, can we establish some boundaries here? You were looking over my shoulder? That's just rude. Seriously. Second, I just talked to you for the first time like three hours ago.I don't even know you. I'm classier than that, and for some reason I thought you were too. Third, we are in public, on a school field trip. I'm not going to lose my virginity in front of an audience." God dammit, Tim. The people wanted sexy time, not logic. Ugh. Anyway, Jackie closed her mouth and broke eye contact, blushing intensely as a speck on the bottom of Tim's sleeping bag apparently merited her attention. Curiously, however, Tim didn't relinquish his hold on her, instead recovering his normal disposition and asking, "D-do you want to talk about something? I'm sorry if I snapped... It just didn't seem like something someone would normally do." She nudged her head closer to him and nodded, adding, "I saw some woods over that way, do you want to take a walk over there?" Tim gave her a dubious look, prompting her to promise, "Just a walk, no more shenanigans. I swear."
Tim accepted the offer, and the two extricated themselves from the sleeping bag, with Jackie leading him by the paw, taking care to avoid making too much noise and attracting the notice of the faculty, because that would be a bit of a buzzkill, wouldn't it? As they walked into the mess of trees, the vixen tried to follow a beaten path, but that unfortunately only led to a small clearing that she immediately yanked Tim away from, as it was already occupied by a couple, audible moans of "Oh yeah, Travis, right there, RIGHT THERE!" suggesting that it probably wasn't a comfortable spot to walk in on. As Jackie intrepidly led the way through some underbrush, Tim commented under his breath, "See? They weren't gonna do it in a sleeping bag." The fox shushed him, finding a downed log that could serve as a bench waaaaayyyy the fuck away from anyone else who would have the bright idea of doing some, ah, "hiking". Jackie took a seat on the log and beckoned the leopard to join her, which he did. Unfortunately for Tim's cardiac health, the vixen must have accidentally led him through a spider web on the way, as he looked down at his shoulder and made out a brown arachnid about the size of a half-dollar just kinda chillin'. The cat yelped and jumped, causing the fox to tell him to calm down, casually grabbing the bug by a leg and flinging it away into the inky night. The spider left behind 86 children and a pet caterpillar. Funeral services are yet to be announced.
Tim did not give a single nanofuck about the spider's life, however, and tried to get comfortable on the log, still shivering from his scare. Jackie laughed quietly, reassuring him that she was there to protect him from any more attacking spiders. The clear, starry night sky illuminated the brush enough for Tim to almost clearly make out the features of the girl's face as he shakily asked her, more politely than I'm recounting, what in the hell her deal was, exactly. Jackie faced the ground and said somberly, "I'm sorry... I'm really sorry." Tim scooted closer and replied, "Uh, hey, it's not that big of a deal..." "No... you don't know the whole story," the vixen admitted, "I was trying to use you as a rebound." Oh. Well that somehow failed to make Tim feel like the most desired male in the world, and he quietly mumbled, "...oh." "I was dating this guy. He was a wolf, tall but kind of lanky, played guitar in a punk band. He was always so open, so carefree. I loved Ray. But a few months ago, he started acting weird. He didn't want to hang out as much, and he, well, he started acting like an asshole to me. I just put up with it. I wasn't really happy, but I put up with it. Then a couple weeks ago, I walked in on him with another girl, and that did it. I left him right there, and I found out just a few days ago that he got arrested for possession shortly after. It was just hard, though... None of my friends seemed to care. They were wrapped up in their gossip. And then on the bus, I saw you doing what you were doing, and I got turned on, and my approaching heat got the better of me and I jumped you."
Tim stared on, dumbfounded. He struggled for something to say as the shameless porn plot had suddenly shifted in the direction of something much deeper. "That's... that's awful...," Tim sputtered out, unsure of how to handle the unexpectedly heavy conversation. His eyes searched the sky that he had previously cursed for some kind of answer, and eventually settled on moving as close to her as he could, silently sliding one of his paws over one of hers. After a few more seconds of silence, he added quietly, "Um, well, you have a friend in me if you ever want to talk." Jackie rested her head on his shoulder and gently nuzzled his neck, "Thanks... It feels like you're the first person that's ever listened to me. Makes me kind of glad that you didn't take my hint and fuck my brains out over there." The snow leopard gave a reserved chuckle, "Glad to be of service. Or lack thereof, I guess. So, is there any chance I can learn some more about you? Maybe something less of a downer?" Jackie slipped her paw away from Tim's and slid an arm around either side of his slim torso, softly squeezing him as she explained, "Well... I'm going to State next year on a soccer scholarship, which is why my physique probably isn't what a lot of guys are looking for... I like reading, and music, and really I just like talking to people. I love a good conversation." "I'm planning on going to State next year, too, along with half of our class, I guess," Tim mentioned, extending an arm around the fox's shoulders, "I hear their English program is really good. Though going for free like you are would be really cool, too. What kind of music do you like?"
Jackie looked out into the distance, keeping the fur of her face firmly attached to that of Tim's neck as she said, "Oh, um, alternative rock... Like, uh, the White Stripes?" Tim's face lit up like one of the stars in the night sky as he joked, "Well at least you didn't do it with the singer, or he would've told everyone in the world." The leopard looked down at the vixen's blank expression, and his own elation drooped like a deflating beach ball as he pressed, "You don't actually listen to the White Stripes, do you?" "...You caught me. I like pop music. Beyonce, Rihanna, Onerepublic... I just don't like to admit it," the fox confessed, pulling her head back to look the cat in the eye. "Hey, no need to lie," Tim reminded her, "I won't judge you for anything. You know what I do in my free time. Though it is somewhat of a coincidence that we're sitting here 'counting stars' isn't it?" The two teens locked eyes, and Tim could have sworn a bolt of lightning dashed between them as he suddenly felt significantly more attracted to the girl after the comfortable talk. However, his shyness continued to get the best of him, and he chose not to make a move, disappointing both of them slightly, but allowing Jackie to ask, "Speaking of your 'free time', where'd you get the idea to start? And can I read it?" Tim's gray and white fur turned redder than a tomato as a struggled to explicate the origins of his adult compositions, mentioning that he was part of a website that had a ton of them posted, and one day decided he'd try his own paw at it and found he was actually pretty good. He then told her that maybe one day, if they got closer, he'd let her read some.
Jackie moved her paws from Tim's chest and back and put them around the back of his neck, declaring, "It may not feel like it to you, but I know how I feel right now, and I still can't shake the butterflies in my stomach. All I want right now is to be 'closer to you.'" Tim felt his tongue catch in his throat and his gut spin around in circles as the moment really caught up to him, "Y-you said before that guys don't think you're attractive... Well, um, I think you're absolutely gorgeous." The fox smiled as the leopard remained silently proud of himself that he'd even got that out before continuing, "B-but I've never, um, actually kissed a girl before." Jackie brought her muzzle right up to his and whispered, "I can fix that." The two sets of lips touched immediately afterwards, the warmth sending a chill down Tim's spine and causing his head to spin. The vixen pulled back an inch or two and asked him how his first kiss was, to which the leopard replied breathlessly, "Glorious. Ten out of ten, would smooch again." Jackie giggled at the comment, then hinted, "Well then? I'm waiting."
Tim caressed the side of her face with his paw and proceeded to kiss her several more times before breaking off and asking, "Um, Jackie? Just curious, did you actually lose your sleeping bag?" "No," she admitted, "I threw it in some bushes because I wanted to sleep with you. I can go get it back if-" Tim put a finger to her lips and told her that wouldn't be necessary before replacing his finger with his mouth and continuing his inaugural make-out session. The couple gripped each other tightly as they continued their oral bombardment, noiselessly loving each other in the tranquil forest. After a few minutes of the embrace, Tim suggested that they make their way back to the camp before anybody realized they were gone, citing they had all the time in the world after that night, and Jackie semi-reluctantly agreed, acknowledging his point. The vixen led her leopard back out of the woods, careful to avoid any ambitious spiders this time, and the couple left the woods just as a brown fox held what looked to be a husky or malamute girl by the paw and expressed concern that her father would "literally kill him if he found out what we just did". The orange fox and snow leopard giggled, understanding that that must have been "Travis" and his partner from earlier as they made their way back to their sleeping bag.
Tim got in first, and Jackie followed soon after, zipping up the portable bed while leaning her back against his chest as he slid an arm around her waist. She stroked the fur of that arm and worked her way down to holding his paw as the leopard kissed the top of her head before asking, "So, uh, stupid question: can I call you my girlfriend now?" "Of course you can, silly kitty," she whispered happily, to which he responded with a sigh, "Awesome, now I'll actually have a date for dances." She slightly shifted her position against him before asking, "Oh? Is that all I'm good for?" Tim squeezed her with the force of all the emotion that he'd accumulated that night before assuring her, "Nope, just a pleasant side effect of falling faster than that shooting star we watched together for a bright, shining light in my own life." "Cheeseball," she chided, causing them both to have a last quiet laugh before falling asleep together in the warm, fluffy arms of one another, ready to embrace their future together as the night sky continued to watch over them, possibly forgiving them for the jokes from earlier on account of their adorableness.
So that was how the night ended for Tim and Jackie, though their story would be nowhere near over. In fact, a few weeks later Tim did decide to let Jackie be his first time for a whole slew of other things more... intimate than what they experienced that first night, and oh my, let me tell you is THAT story a riot and a half. But unfortunately, that story will have to wait until another time, and I'll leave you with that image of the fox and leopard, falling asleep, falling into each other, and falling in love.
So tell me: Who the hell says nice guys finish last?