An Attractive Proposal
a Night in the Woods story in Five Chapters
by DemiHuman123

Chapter One - Departure

Winter days were never good for an electric bill. The constant onslaught of wind and chill meant that most indoor environments became a solid igloo, save for a few scant moments during the day when the sun was high and shining in through the windows. Though, the problem with the chill had always been easily alleviated thanks to the invention of central heating. With modern appliances, even the coldest of climates could become a tropical heatwave. Though, at a price…

Angus ticked away at his computer, filling out a spreadsheet with numbers and calculations. Warm air pelted him from the vents above his head that, while comforting, only reminded him of what their electric bill for that month was going to be.

"How's it going in there?" Gregg called from the kitchen.

"Who are you talking you?" Angus yelled back.

"You, silly!" the fox replied. "Who else would I be talking to?"

Angus leaned back in his chair to get a good look through the doorway, seeing Gregg all the way on the other end of the apartment in the kitchen, who happily waved to him. The bear's attention then shifted to the small pile of green and black on the floor in the living room between them.

"Oh yeah," Gregg said, completely oblivious to their guest. "I forgot he was there for a minute."

Germ sat quietly on the floor, playing video games, like he did when he visited. Neither Gregg nor Angus minded. It was an oddity the first few times (at least to Angus), but after a few weeks, he got used to the bird's visits. At some point, he just started walking right in, not even knocking. Gregg gave him permission to do that. Luckily, he never appeared while Gregg and Angus were doing anything romantic.

"What are you working on in there?" the little bird asked, his attention slightly directed at the bedroom.

Angus sighed and stared back at his computer screen.

"Budget. Trying to make the numbers work."

"He's being super smart!" Gregg yelled. "He's trying to make us money!"

"And failing," Angus groaned to himself.

The numbers didn't lie. Though they were doing their best to save for the move to Bright Harbor, they hadn't been able to move the needle in five weeks. The winter chill wasn't the only issue, but it certainly wasn't helping matters.

"We have to stop the extra spending," he sighed as he heard Gregg enter the room. "I just can't see any gains. The beach hit us harder than I thought."

"But it was worth it!" Gregg said with a grin as he embraced the bear from behind. "We needed to give Mae and Bea something to send them off with. They're off in whatever part of the country right now, probably stealing all the good stuff and getting put on most wanted posters!"

"If it was you instead of Bea, I have no doubt that's probably what would have happened," Angus laughed, suddenly feeling uncomfortable from the "what-if" scenarios forming in his head.

"Mae doesn't do that stuff anymore, I think," Gregg followed. "Me and Bea have been helping her get back on the straight and narrow."

"Was she ever?" Angus murmured to himself. Gregg heard it though and chuckled a bit.

It wasn't like their friends were gone forever. They were only going to be gone for a month at most, exploring the country and trying to find whatever it was they were looking for in themselves.

"I hope she gets stabbed in the kidney with a dirty piece of glass," Gregg said happily, thinking fondly of his friend.

"And I'll bet she hopes you, uh… get punched in the throat with a brass knuckles, by a... uh...?"

"Try harder, hon. You'll get it eventually."

Angus knew he couldn't be a replacement for Mae, but did his best to try and fill some of that emptiness Gregg had been feeling with some of her mannerisms. He wasn't very good at it – at least when put on the spot – but Gregg at least appreciated it. It wasn't easy for the fox to be separated from his friend so soon after she had just got comfortable back home.

Two months had passed since Longest Night, and Bea and Mae had already had plans and set off for their road trip. True, it was mostly Bea who did the heavy lifting (due in part to some good financing from her), but Mae at least planned out the route, making sure to dot out camp grounds to save on hotel fare. All the while, they looked like they had all sorts of fun planning it out.

Angus frowned, feeling a pit in his stomach form. Somehow, the girls had got the money together for a month vacation in just a little over the same amount of time, and Bea was even able to convince her father to manage The Ole Pickaxe while she was gone. Meanwhile, since Longest Night, he and Gregg, if his math was right, had lost around 15% of their total move fund.

"Maybe we should turn off the heat," Angus whispered, the purr of the vent mocking him and his spreadsheet. "We could just bundle ourselves in blankets, or something."

"No way," Gregg stopped him. "It's cold as balls out there. News said it was the coldest in a long time."

Coldest in the past four years as it turned out. It didn't help a snowstorm was on its way, with most of the blame for it being put on a groundhog who got too scared of its own shadow.

"Cap'n…."

The fox gently grabbed the bear's forehead and gently pulled him down so he could look up at him.

"We'll make it," he said reassuringly. "We'll just work extra hard."

"That means staying the whole day."

Easier said than done, both of them thought.

"Maybe we can find some extra work," Gregg suggested. "I'll bet there's a nice street corner out there for me somewhere."

"Can I wear a feathered hat?" Angus asked, smiling.

"As long as I don't have to call you daddy."

"Oh my god, Gregg."

They both laughed, before taking a moment to gaze into each other's eyes, and giving the other a reassuring kiss. At the very least, it helped break up some of the stress.

"What's it like to kiss a guy?"

Both Gregg and Angus froze, wondering where the voice came from. They had been so caught up in their own little world they had completely forgotten about Germ.

Both of them leaned back to get a glimpse through the doorway.

"What did you ask?" Angus inquired, unsure if he actually heard what was said.

"What's it like to kiss a guy?" Germ repeated, his attention unwavered from the video game. "You two seem to like it so much, so I was kind of curious."

Gregg and Angus exchanged a confused glance. That was a weird question to ask. Angus certainly thought so.

"Uhhh… I guess it's nice?"

"It's the best!" Gregg jumped in. "Kissing guys, making out with 'em, especially this one. Pucker up, Cap'n!"

He landed a quick one on Angus, catching him off guard. It wasn't like Angus was upset about it (far from it) but he was still confused about Germ's question.

"Is there a reason you're asking, Germ?" he asked.

Obviously, Germ didn't need a reason. Sometimes he'd just ask the first question that was on his mind, or say something completely out of left field. That was Germ. Germ was Germ.

"Because I wanted to know," he answered. "I asked Mae about it before she left, so now I'm asking you guys."

"About kissing guys? You asked Mae about kissing guys?"

Gregg snorted out a laugh, doing his best to contain a joke.

"Not about guys," Germ continued, "but about just kissing. I've never kissed anyone, unless your parents count when you're little, but I guess they don't."

"What did Mae say?" Gregg asked.

"She kind of tried to explain it, but wasn't very good at it. Bea tried to chime in and give her take, but I think she got embarrassed. So, when neither of them could explain it, Mae just showed me."

"Mae showed you?" Angus wondered. "Wait, did she kiss you!?"

Gregg was off like a bullet, sliding onto the living room floor to get the whole story.

"Tell me everything! How was she? Did she slip you the tongue?"

Germ nodded.

Suddenly, Angus had to hear this. He fumbled to save the sheet on his PC, and turned the monitor off, walking into the room in a steadfast pace.

Germ continued once Angus had plopped down on the couch.

"It was… fun, I guess? Wasn't sure how to feel about it, really. Is fun a good way to put it?"

"Yeah, it is!" Gregg exclaimed. "Did she do anything else? Did she cop a feel? Did she try to score?"

"No."

Simple answer, to Gregg's disappointment.

"We just kissed. And then we made out for a minute, I think. In front of Bea. I think that made her really uncomfortable."

That didn't surprise Angus. It probably would have made him just as if not more uncomfortable. Though, the thought of Germ and Mae making out seemed almost like a train wreck in his mind. He tried to look away, but there was something almost beautiful in the destruction of it.

"So, like," Gregg sputtered, "are you gonna ask Mae out? Please say yes. I want you to say yes. It's a yes, right?"

"No."

Another simple answer, again to Gregg's disappointment. The look on his face suggested he wanted to poke the subject further, but Angus thought it might be better to keep the conversation on the subject at hand.

"I think he's asking us about kissing guys because he's kissed a girl, so now he wants to see what it's like with a man. Am I right?"

"Yeah."

They all paused for a moment, letting the bips and bobs of 32-bit sound from the TV fill the room.

"So, who do you want to make out with then?" Gregg asked. "Me or Angus?"

Angus flinched. "Gregg!"

"What? If Mae can make out with him that means one of us has to too. That's how it works!"

"I don't think that's how it works, Gregg," Angus gently argued.

"Yes, it is! Isn't it?" His attention shifted to Germ.

"No."

Gregg was beginning to become annoyed from these one word answers.

"I mean," Germ began, "you can if you want. Mae just sort of grabbed me without asking, so it took me a bit to get what was happening, but I guess I enjoyed it. So, I guess you could do the same if you wanted to. I don't mind, but, I really just want to know what it feels like."

"What it feels like?" Angus said to himself. "I mean, it's like kissing a girl, except with a guy instead. I guess there's like stubble or a beard and stuff like that, but, I guess that's the only difference."

"Girls can have a beard too!" Gregg added. "And kissing someone with a beard feels great! So does kissing in general! You got so many different types of kissing. You got the nice ones, and the sexy ones too, and then the drunk ones. And the drunk ones can be really hot, but most of the time they're pretty ass. And then… uh… well…"

Gregg was at a loss suddenly. He thought he had the perfect description lined up, but he couldn't find anything else to say, outside of the garbage that fell out of it.

Angus wasn't any help either. He was a little confused on the question, unaware of what Germ meant, if anything. It was always up in the air what the bird's curiosity was directed at, and the right answer to give.

"Sorry," Angus eventually said. "I guess we're not very good at explaining it either."

"That's okay," Germ replied without even a hint of disappointment. "I was just trying to understand it. How's the budget coming?"

He had to remind them. Angus felt himself frown, as a hand was placed on his shoulder. Gregg was doing his absolute best to keep his partner stress-free, but when it came to the subject of money, things didn't always work out so well.

"It's coming along," Angus answered, not wanting to delve into details.

"That's cool," Germ said, still focused on the video game.

That was the usual conversation with Germ. His words always sounded like they were important and full of strange curiosity or knowledge, but in the end, it always felt more like idle chit-chat. Whether it was just his curiosity, or just conversation, nothing seemed to affect him the way people thought it would.

"Is it cool if I stay the night?" he suddenly asked. "It's really cold outside, and our heater is broken."

"It's cool, Germ," Gregg said who was more focused on Angus. "Couch alright again?"

He nodded, and then got up to term off the game system. It was getting late, and since he couldn't go out and explore the town, he decided to just go to bed.

"Sleep sounds like a good idea," Angus sighed. He didn't want to think about money for the rest of the night.

With all of that said, he and Gregg adjourned to the bedroom, closing the door, and climbing into bed.

Angus let loose another long sigh, and covered himself under the blankets. Gregg climbed up to the bed and playfully crawled on top of the bear.

"You want to fool around a bit?" he asked with a grin.

"Not really."

There was enough light from the window to give Gregg a good look at his boyfriend's face. He didn't look well, deep in thought and mind elsewhere. Angus looked like he was doing his best to get his mind off of their finances, but Gregg knew better.

"We'll make it, really," he assured, joining Angus under the covers. "This year, remember? We're going to move this year, even it's by the next Longest Night."

"You think so, Gregg? I don't think we're very good at saving money."

"We totally are! We just have to work harder on it! We can eat more noodles or something, and maybe get, I don't know, cheaper toilet paper."

"We already eat ramen once a day, Gregg, and the next option for toilet paper is that stuff that feels like sandpaper."

One time. They tried that brand one time. Never again.

"Bright Harbor is right around the corner, Angus," Gregg cooed. "We'll try harder."

The fox wrapped his arm around the bear and held him tight. Angus did the same to him, squeezing hard for a moment. He didn't feel better. They were supposed to move by Spring. Now that had been pushed back.

At the very least, Gregg was there, and that counted for something.

With the hum of the heater singing them a quiet lullaby, they both drifted off to sleep.

"Hey. Hey. Wake up!"

Angus opened his eyes as he was greeted with the ceiling.

"Down here!"

He peered over his bed, flinching as the meek sunlight of the morning began to peek in through the window. Germ stood below them, looking up at their bed curiously.

"Germ," Angus sleepily groaned, "what's wrong?"

"Can we go see Bright Harbor?"

Gregg sat up from the bed, making his appearance to Germ.

"Are you two naked?" the bird asked.

"No," Angus replied as he watched Gregg let out a great yawn.

"What's this about Bright Harbor?" the fox asked as he tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

"I want to see it!" Germ replied. "You guys are always talking about it and your budget, and you two are always making a big deal out of it, and I've never seen it, so I think we should all go visit."

Gregg rolled his eyes and fell back down onto the bed. He didn't know what time it was but he knew it was still too early to get out of bed and deal with Germ.

Angus gave a similar response, trying to scooch himself back under the nice warm covers.

"We'll show you around when we move there. Let us sleep, Germ."

"I thought we could go today!" he countered. "I can pay for it too."

Angus sat up a little, ready to shoo the bird away so he could finish his dream at least. They could talk about it later, he thought. But then, he noticed Germ holding his hand up, multiple bills clutched in his palms. He grabbed his glasses and slipped them.

"Are those fifties!?"

Gregg shot up stiff, like a board of wood, eyes wide and focused in on the money.

Germ looked at the wad of cash, shrugging and saying, "There's one or two hundreds in there too."

"Where did you get that much money!?" Angus asked as he leaned over the railing of the bed. He adjusted his glasses just to be sure he wasn't seeing things. Sure enough, there was a lot of money. Especially for someone who they knew didn't have a bank account.

"Seriously, dude," Gregg added in, "where did all of that come from?"

Germ just glanced to his left and right, and then back up to the two of them.

"Places."

Angus was at a loss. What was he supposed to say to that?

"That's a lot of money."

"I guess," Germ replied. "So, you want to go?"

Poor Angus had to shake himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Was this person, a few years his junior, honestly offering to pay for a trip to Bright Harbor – that very day? It had to be too good to be true.

"Germ… I mean, this is really very nice of you, but I think…"

"Sure, we do!"

Gregg was quick to answer for the both of them. He sprung out of bed, revealing that he was, in fact naked, and made a beeline for the closet.

"Gregg!" Angus yelled.

"I know what you like to wear, Angus! I'll pack your stuff! We can get breakfast on the way there, right? Or maybe not. I don't know what's open yet."

Everything was going so fast. Gregg tossed out some backpacks and clothes began to fly everywhere, while Germ smiled and headed into the other room.

Angus kicked the covers off (revealing he was just in boxer briefs) and jumped down the bed.

"Gregg, we can't do this! We have work, and we don't even have a car!"

"We can manage, Cap'n," he assured the bear. "Really, trust me!"

"I got a car!" Germ yelled from the other room.

When did Germ have a car, Angus wondered. And there was no way they could just up and leave their jobs for no reason, again. They were trying to stop that.

Angus quickly found that he didn't get any say in the matter. By the time he had tried to open a discussion about it, Gregg had already packed a bag for Angus.

Germ dangled his legs back and forth as he watched the scenery pass by. It was strange watching Possum Springs disappear from sight, only to be replaced by woods, the distant mountains, and eventually the nothingness of plains.

He noticed a gas station whiz on by. "Do you think they have those big angry trucker types at that gas station?"

Gregg grinned and added, "You mean those big, angry, hunky truckers? They totes do, I'll bet!"

"What constitutes hunky?" Germ had to ask.

"You know, huuuuuuunky. The kind that has those thick arms and big bellies, you know? Good for hugs and cuddling."

"Is that your type?"

"I don't got a type," Gregg blushed. "Hot is hot. But I got lucky and got a big, hunky, hottie right here." He grinned all wide at Angus, but got no response.

Angus had barely said a word since they left. He kept his eyes on the road, and occasionally on Germ in the backseat, just to make sure he was comfortable.

"Is there enough heat back there for you, Germ?" he said in a very stoic tone.

Germ nodded. "Yeah, I'm good."

Angus's attention shifted back to the road. He knew the route alright, having visited with Gregg a while back. It wasn't too far off. They had driven a little while, but were almost there. The ride itself was smooth at least. Germ's grandmother's car was in surprisingly good shape for being a model over twenty years old.

"You're gonna love it, Germ!" Gregg yelled back. "It's got all these cool restaurants, and bars and clubs, and everyone's just really out there. They're weird to be weird! Kind of like us!"

Germ cocked his head.

"Am I weird to be weird?"

"Yeeeeeeah, dude! We all are."

Angus growled a little, barely catching the boys attentions.

"Except Angus," Gregg corrected. "He's the guy to keep all the weird people from doing stupid shit."

"I'm not very good at it, it seems," he grunted.

Needless to say, the rest of the car trip was left in total silence after that.

They entered Bright Harbor twenty minutes after that, greeted with a lovely drive-thru archway that welcomed them to the city. Unfortunately for them, traffic was a nightmare, so they ended up in standstill for another fifteen minutes before actually getting anywhere.

Germ didn't mind. It gave him time to move from window to window, looking out at all the shops and buildings he had never heard of. He had seen a few places on the internet and some scant shops when out of town with his uncle and dad, but never in person. So many people on the streets too, it was dizzying and kind of scary to him. He didn't expect quite as many people out with how cold it was estimated to be.

"They have an ice cream shop!" Germ exclaimed. "We should get some ice cream when we leave."

"Isn't it like six degrees out right now?" Gregg asked.

"High twenties," Angus corrected. His tone was still a bit off.

Germ watched as they eventually passed by it, sighing at the thought of real ice cream.

"All we got back home is that stuff from the quarts. It's never as good as the fresh stuff."

He looked over to Gregg and Angus, only to find something very wrong. Gregg was looking at Angus with a funny stare, while Angus just kept his eyes narrowed on the road. It felt awkward. It didn't make Germ uncomfortable, but it certainly made him feel awkward.

"So where are we staying?" he asked as a motel passed by. "Campground? Someone's basement? Seedy motel?"

"Oooo, how about seedy motel?" Gregg replied.

Angus quickly jumped in with the answer.

"We're staying at the same hotel we stayed at the last time we were here," he growled, turning a sharp corner. "It's cheap, and it's close to a lot of places we can show Germ."

Germ watched as another hotel passed by.

"Why not someplace different you guys haven't been?" he suggested. "I'm paying for the hotel, and…"

"…you're not paying for the hotel, Germ," Angus snapped. "We can take care of it for the day."

"Or two."

Angus's grip on the steering wheel tightened from Gregg's little addition.

"We don't need to stay here long, Gregg," the bear argued back. "A day is enough time to show Germ around, and let him see the nightlife stuff, and then we can head back to Possum Springs in the morning."

"That's not enough time though!" Gregg groaned. "We gotta show him everything! It's gonna be all sorts of…"

"A day is enough, Gregg! Anything else we can bring our friends up and show everyone when we move, okay?"

"We can stay a little longer," Germ chimed in. "I can pay for the extra nights, and the food, and…"

"You're not paying for those things!"

Gregg's expression immediately turned sour. He was not about to deal with an angry Angus chauffeur again. The last time with Mae was one too many.

"Don't raise your voice at him. He didn't do anything wrong! He's just trying to be good! Germ is good people, remember?"

"I don't want to talk about this, Gregg. Let's just get to the hotel and get this over with."

Right then, it had become uncomfortable for Germ.

The hotel was certainly alright. It was a two-floor building with the kind of rooms that you keyed into with a scan card, something that Germ had never seen before. They were given two of them, so he was happy to take care of one. He spent the first five minutes opening and closing the door repeatedly, getting a strange sense of enjoyment out of it.

Gregg thought it was adorable, and even started holding the door closed sometimes, just to mess with the bird's head. He did his best to get Angus involved, but he just sat on one of the two queen sized beds, staring out the window.

"I'm going to go explore the hotel a bit!" Germ said as he poked his beak into the room. He couldn't wait to try out the door one more time for when he got back.

On further examination, the hotel was more interesting than he originally thought. The lobby had very bouncy but comfortable chairs, and there were computers against the wall for anyone who needed to use the internet.

"The rooms have free wifi if you have a computer already," the clerk at the desk informed Germ who was tinkering with one of the computers. For whatever reason, the sheer concept of free wifi was foreign to him. It was almost always a paid service, or nonexistent in Possum Springs outside of some homes.

The hotel even had a tiny fitness room and an indoor swimming pool. Germ lamented that he didn't bring a swimsuit, but his boxers would work out just fine if he got the chance. It was tempting to jump right in, right then. That probably would have made Angus and Gregg unhappy though, so perhaps he could persuade them to join him later.

There was a room next to the lobby that looked like a small dining area of some sort. Apparently, that was where they offered a free "continental" breakfast. They had missed it just barely, but he was able to snag a granola bar while they were busy putting things away.

And then there was the ice machine. It was just an ice machine, but there was just something about it that intrigued Germ. He pressed the button on it for a second and watched a few pieces drop to the ground. It was so big too. He had trouble wrapping his brain around the fact that this giant machine was made only to make ice.

True, the Snack Falcon had something similar, but that crushed ice and served it out as a delicious fruity drink. The fountain machine was the next best thing, but that dispensed soda as well. This was just for ice. Why did it need to be so big?

There was a lot to take in. Even if they didn't get to see all of Bright Harbor, the hotel was an experience still – nothing like anything in Possum Spring at all.

On the way back, Germ pulled out his temporary key, smiling as he got the chance to use it again.

"Do you even care about moving anymore!?"

He froze right as he was about to slide the key into the scanner.

"Of course, I care! Why would you even ask that?"

Germ the pulled the card away, as the voices bellowed from behind the door.

"You have a funny way of showing it!" Angus yelled on the other side. Germ had never heard Angus yell before. Raise his voice, sure, but yelling?

"We need a break every now and then!" Gregg argued back. "You're stressing over nothing!"

"I'm stressing over our future! I'm stressing over money we NEED for our future! Do you know how much I'm going to have to take out for this trip alone?"

"Germ offered to pay…"

"He's not paying for anything, Gregg! Germ is Germ! He says and does this kind of stuff all the time! You don't encourage him to actually do it! It's his money, and he shouldn't be spending so much of it on us! I've seen him around town – he ACTUALLY works hard."

"I work hard!"

"You ditched three times last week!"

"You ditched once!"

"That's because you begged me too!"

"You could have said no, you know."

They were really going at each other. Germ looked around the hallway to see if anyone else was nearby. The coast was clear, though he didn't mind shooing anyone away who got too nosey.

"He's giving us a gift!" Gregg tried to reason. "How many people have actually done that for us in our lives?"

"It's not our money!" Angus snapped back. "And how do you know it's a gift? He offered because he wanted to see Bright Harbor, not to give us a vacation! It's selfish for you to think that."

"Don't you think it's selfish to think he's only offering so he can go?"

"Yes, I do."

Germ flinched. He didn't want to hear that.

"Germ's a cool guy, Angus!" Gregg yelled. "Germ's doing cool things for us! Yeah, he wanted to see Bright Harbor, but he said we were excited about it too, so maybe he did want to give us something to…"

"The conversation's over, Gregg!" Angus roared. "We're here for the day, show him some stuff, and go home tomorrow. We're paying for everything! We can talk about everything else when we get home." He paused for a second and then added, "And you need to tell Germ to stop doing things like this. For effing sake, he just comes in whenever he feels like it, and does whatever he does. Not like he isn't already annoying as it is."

Germ let out an audible sigh. There was a pause, and a shuffle of footsteps. The door opened, and Gregg stood right in front of the bird, eyes wide. He shot a glance back at his partner narrowing them angrily.

Angus was stuck in an embarrassed stand still, opening and closing his mouth as if to say something to fix everything.

"Germ… ummm…"

Gregg wouldn't give him the opportunity. He didn't want him to have it.

Without saying anything, the fox grabbed Germ's hand and pulled him away from the room. It caught Germ off guard, stammering as he tried to get his balance back.

"Where are you going?" Angus cried out as he rushed out the doorway. "Where are you taking him?"

"Oh, now you care about my friend?" Gregg countered. "I'm taking Germ out on a date!"

"Excuse me!?"

Germ was just as shocked. When he said date, did he mean a date-date?

"He said he wanted to know what kissing a guy was like," Gregg explained as he rushed himself and his friend to the stairwell, "so I'm taking him out on a date."

It sounded like a date-date.

"That's not the same thing!" Angus yelled.

"Well, deal with it!"

"You have the other key, Gregg! What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know. I don't give a shit what you have to say right now!"

"What the hell is your problem!?"

"Eff off! That's my problem!" Gregg screamed as he flipped Angus the bird and headed down the stairs with Germ in tow. Angus let out a growl and stomped back into the hotel room, slamming the door behind him.

Gregg's grip on Germ's hand tightened as he led him out of the hotel and onto the streets of Bright Harbor. They put as much space between themselves and the hotel as they could, coming upon the harbor proper, and all of its parked house boats.

Then, Gregg let go of Germ's hand, completely stopped, and let out a blood curdling scream toward the water.

Until Next Chapter...

Stay Safe!