Can you tell me about them?
#1 of As Told on the Red Leather Couch
Author notes: Ok, I'm writing this because a friend told me that I should try it, so I apologize if it isn't of the highest quality. It's all coming off the top of my head as I write it, which means there will probably be inconsistencies and spelling mistakes, which I will try to fix as I find them. You will notice that I love dialog. There is probably too much dialog, but I find it hard to keep a story going if I can't come up with a good conversational flow for the characters.
Fall, 2007
"So, tell me a little bit about yourself, Arthur."
"What would you like to know?"
Arthur, a teenage fox, gave a dramatic sigh and shifted slightly in the large, red leather couch. The therapist Ms. Bartley, a much older otter, looked across at him over her thick bifocals and crossed her legs.
"Anything that you think I might find interesting."
"I'm gay. Is that interesting enough?" retorted Arthur, expecting Ms. Bartley to recoil in shock.
She did not.
"It's a start. What about hobbies?"
"I used to play tennis a lot."
Arthur shifted in the red leather couch once again.
"Why did you stop?"
"It wasn't fun anymore. Everything stopped being fun, really."
"Why do you think that is?" asked the therapist, methodically tapping her pen on the tablet of paper lying in her lap.
Arthur glanced down at the pen, then up to Ms. Bartley's face, and then back down at the pen.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"What do you mean?"
"You keep tapping your pen like that. Why?"
"Does it bother you?" asked Ms. Bartley, suddenly quite interested.
"A little. It makes me feel as though you are impatient with me."
"Not at all. Do little things like that often bother you?"
The young fox glanced around the room, placed an elbow on the arm of the red leather couch and rested his head on his paw.
"I guess," he said with another dramatic sigh, then added, "Look, can we just skip the routine questions? I don't think we're going to get anywhere."
"Well, if it'll make you feel better, yes. Let's start with why you think you are here."
"Because my parents think I'm depressed."
"Do you think you are depressed?"
"I'm sad, yeah. I'm not sure if I would say I'm depressed. Certainly not to the extent of some."
"Why are you sad?"
Arthur closed his eyes as if trying to repress a painful memory, then looked down at the floor.
"Remember when I told you that I'm gay?" he asked in almost a whisper.
"You don't like being gay?"
"How can I not like being who I am?" snapped the fox. "No, no. I just wish things had gone differently with someone."
"Can you tell me about them?"
Summer, 2005
Arthur padded along behind his sister, stopping every now and then to pick up a leaf that would work for his growing collection that now filled three binders. Upon reaching a glistening stream, he and his sister Sara stopped.
"Shhhhhhhhhhh!" Sara hissed as she knelt down next to the stream.
"What is it?" asked Arthur, who was incredibly intrigued.
"It's a... BEETLE!" cried his sister, as she tossed a paw full of water at her brother.
Arthur screamed and backed away, slapping at his fur to remove the nonexistant beetle. His sister rolled on the ground, holding her sides as she squealed with laughter. Arthur stopped thrashing about and stared at her.
"That was not cool," he said angrily.
"You're right, it wasn't cool. It was awesome," replied Sara, brushing the grass off her yellow and orange spotted dress.
The crunch of leaves behind them signaled that someone was approaching.
"What was awesome?" asked a new voice.
"Arthur almost got the piss scared out of him!" cried Sara, trying really hard not to laugh again.
Arthur turned to look at the newcomer, a wolf and one of Arthur's classmates by the name of Ben. Ben glanced down at Arthur's water soaked shirt and smiled. Arthur looked at the ground and began tracing a circle in the dirt with his right foot. Ben glanced around him and shot Sara a charming smile.
"Listen Sara, could you do me a favor?" he asked.
"Anything for you, Ben!" said Sara, batting her eyelashes.
Ben chuckled and shook his head.
"Could you run up to your house and get a sandwhich? I haven't eaten all day."
Without another word, Sara dashed back down the path in the direction of her home to make the most amazing sandwhich she could possibly think of for the wolf that she dreamt about every night.
"Thanks for getting rid of her," said Arthur, still staring at the ground and tracing a circle.
Ben put his paws on Arthur's shoulders and shook him slightly.
"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.
Arthur looked up into the wolf's hyponotizingly beautiful eyes. For a moment, he was lost and couldn't think of what to say. The wolf blinked, which seemed to snap Authur out of it.
"Oh, um, well," he stammered, "she's just such a bitch sometimes."
"I think that's what sisters are for, bud."
Arthur cracked a small smile for the first time in at least a week. This seemed to make Ben even happier.
"There's the Arthur we all know and love!" cried Ben, patting Arthur on the left shoulder.
Ben lowered his arms and a much more serious expression crossed his face.
"Arthur, I came here to tell you that I... I don't want to be friends anymore."
Arthur's eyes grew wide as he tried to comprehend exactly why his friend would say such a thing. Ben stepped closer until their noses were almost touching. Arthur tensed up, not knowing what was going to happen next.
"W-w-why not?"
"I want to be more than your friend, Arthur. I want to spend every waking moment with you."
Arthur didn't quite know what to say, so he said the only thing that came naturally to him in stressful situations.
"I... I have to go."
Ben stared at him, completely shocked at this sudden and unexpected turn of events. Arthur slipped around the dumbfounded wolf and began the long walk to to the safety of his room, where he could think clearly about what had just happened. After the ninth step, though, he stopped and glanced over his shoulder. Ben was still standing in that same spot, staring into the glistening stream. He studied the wolf's toned legs, then his tail and ass, imaging what the wolf might look like if he wasn't wearing any clothing. Then he turned, walked back to his friend and tapped him on the shoulder.
"On second thought, I think I'll stay."
Fall, 2007
"Well, that certainly sounds like a very good experience to me," said Ms. Bartley as she scribbled notes on her tablet of papers.
"Oh, it was, believe me."
"So why do you wish it had gone differently?"
"I still have more to tell. I think you'll start to understand very quickly," Arthur said, shifting in the red leather couch once again.
"Please, continue."
Summer, 2005
Ben spun around to face the fox behind him. Without warning, Arthur wrapped his arms around the wolf and hugged him with all his strength. Ben returned the embrace and the two stood frozen in that position for quite a long time. It was Ben who initiated the kiss that finally sealed the deal. He pushed his lover against the nearest tree, then violently tore the fox's tank top off and threw it to the side. Meanwhile, Arthur was busy fumbling with Ben's zipper, which was being incredibly difficult at such an inconvenient time. He was also finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate as Ben kept licking and nibbling at Arthur's neck, then slowly moving down to his chest, not to mention the fact that he could feel Ben's cock grower harder by the second.
After much fumbling, Arthur was finally able to get the zipper to open on his mate's jeans and allowed them to slide down to his ankles. He leaned in and began to pull the wolf's shirt off over his head. Ben was now opening Arthur's zipper, but stopped suddenly when the two heard the familiar crunch of leaves.
The sound of a girl's voice entered their ears.
"I am so telling mom," she said deviously.