A/N: Okay, so first, just to clarify, the world's characters in this particular setting are pretty much human, though each "sub-species" has traits of their respective 'mon, such as a Flaaffy being a person with curly horns and a ball-ended tail, as well as possibly a woolen body. If I ever use this setting again, it'll be referred to as the "humanized setting". Yes, I know, not very creative, but it gets the job done.

Secondly, I'd like to point out that this was written from a rather odd perspective - it is third-person, but leaning towards more what Chester sees and observes - I believe it's called limited third-person in professional writing. This also means that all thoughts - in italics like these, but unbolded - will be Chester's.

Also pronouns suck to use when having a conversation/sequence with two same-gendered characters, and I tried my best to make it clear, but a lot of the times I had to resort to those generic descriptions like "the Chesnaught" or "the fox-boy" - sorry if they sound cheesy, but it's probably better than seeing hundreds of "he"s and being confused.

And just in case you can't translate the totally subtle and not generic hints, Dell's traumatic experience was that his father (master in non-humanized setting) wouldn't accept him as a boy, and so brainwashed him into believing that he was a girl, and then raping him, until Chester came along in a way that I'll harp on in another story and comforted him.

All right, I'm done with the writers' problems - read, and (hopefully) enjoy!


Ah, yes, the thumping of the bass, the loud banter of the night-folk, and the smoke that obscures your vision. A man stood behind the bar, polishing a glass. Nothing could beat the club scene and the night-life, no, not even a month of beautiful weather could compare to this.The man sat the glass down, aligning it with the others he had prepared previously. There was no need to speak aloud his thoughts - they would be drowned out anyways, by the beat of whatever track the DJ may have been mixing at the moment. Chester, a man about his twenty-fifth year of life, though with a large, white-and-spiky beard and skin as tough as the trunk fo a tree, stood behind his bar, preparing the drinks for his beloved customers. He truly did love the after-hours, even though he seemed like a quiet and stern man during the day, and he opened up his ears and mouth to listen and chit-chat; his better mood attributed to his being accustomed to a near-nocturnal sleeping schedule.

One more glass; cleaned. One more drink; served. One more song; thumping. It was a routine that never quite got old - in fact the novelty just increased with each half-drunk face he served and every person dancing and grinding against one-another.

"Haha! This is the life, eh, Chest-hairs?" It seemed the DJ left his set on autopilot to come have a stress-reliever. Easily done. Chester chuckled and handed him one of the many assorted fruity drinks they had been mixing for a while - the DJ liked 'em quite a bit. He looked at the younger man - twenty-two, to be exact - whom had dome-like goggles over his eyes; to protect from all the smokescreens flying around, apparently. He was quite tall for a person of his age, usually seen running around in olive green T-shirts and parachute pants. The most odd thing about the boy were his wings, sticking out of his back, the diamond-shaped appendages looking almost too small for him to use, though from what the Flygon claims, the muscles get a workout quite often.

"Indeed it is, and here ya go. Don't leave your fans waiting too long, there, or who knows what the rabid people could do."

"Yeah, yeah, old man, I gotcha." The DJ named Lee slammed down his drink before flexing his wings and, in a feat that would be gawked at anywhere else, moonwalked back up to his stand.

Chester could only grin and laugh at the comeback, shaking his head as he considered his co-worker's silliness. He'd swear, if he hadn't have carded him, he would've guessed he was still in highschool with the way he acted - not that that was a bad thing; it sure kept popular with the local night-prowlers, that's for certain.

His eyes scanned the room, looking for any troublemakers, though his eyes only met with a pair of red ones, over in the corner of the building, sitting at the edge of the bar. It was a familiar face, though not quite familiar in the specific venue. The Chesnaught shuffled over in his covert, bartender-like manner to the person sitting on the stool, head down in a pile of folded arms. It wasn't hard to tell who it was - furry, fox-like, yellow ears with orange fur bursting out of them like fire, and a tail (with a stick, even!) to match.

"Dell? Not your most usual of places to spend time, but I guess you're just as welcome as anyone else. What can I get ya?" Chester had known the little vixen from his day-life back when. He was there for the guy when he needed him most. That bastard of a father that forced himself on him...

Either way, he assisted the Delphox into getting back into a normal lifestyle, including trying to convince him that he didn't need to wear women's clothing if he didn't feel like he wanted to. Thankfully, that lesson still held rather firmly, the fox-boy wearing simply a T-shirt and basketball shorts. It was too hot to wear his regular garb anyways, even with as much as his kind liked to play with heat.

Chester's smile faltered when Dell lifted his head to greet him. Under his eyes were dark circles and stains, from what looked like unrest and tears, though they were from at least a couple of hours before. His usually well-kempt, copper hair was a mess, and he was trembling noticeably.

"H-heh. You're unusually cheery, aren't you, Chestnut? I guess this is your natural habitat, huh?" He tried to laugh off the uneasiness, though it was obvious to both of them that it wasn't working. "Just get me something that'll help me feel a bit loopy."

The bartender clicked his tongue at his friend, shaking his head. "Eh, sorry, man, but that was more of a formality than anything. I can't serve to anyone under twenty-one anything that ain't the crappy soda water we have in the back, and sadly, that includes you. But you know I'm here, so you can always just speak to me about whatever's going on." He set an elbow down on the counter, leaning his head on it, displaying a face full of worry for his friend.

"W-well, I couldn't get some proper sleep, and I remember you telling me you worked at this place, so I figured I'd stop by and see my bro, huh?" The nineteen-year-old's nervous chuckling was starting to get pathetic. He sighed, knowing that his trying to keep cool wasn't going to work on Chester - not even in the slightest. The man knew him too well to not know; why was he even trying? Besides, he never seemed to mind hearing him whine, so why the hell not.

Another sigh from Dell. "I... I haven't gotten any sleep in days. I mean, I've tried, but the only results I get are a cold, sweaty body, and even less energy than when I started. I'm running off of coffee and energy drinks, and I'm seriously about to crash. I was wondering... the last time this happened, it was... well, you know, that, but I was able to sleep when it was with you, so..."

The prospect had no sooner left the fox's mouth before Chester nodded, letting out an affirming grunt. "Of course, Dell. You know I'm always here for you. Besides, it's been a while since we've seen each other, so it'll be nice to catch up. My shift'll be over in an hour or so, when this place finally locks up, so you can just sit here until then and chat with me. Unless, of course, you want to mingle, then go ahead. Just don't let anyone buy you drinks - I've seen some bad shit happen to people your age."

Dell smiled - genuinely, this time - and shook his head. "No, no, I don't think I'm up for dancing, or... whatever it is those people are doing over on that dance floor. I can definitely wait. Just make sure no creeps hit on me thinkin' I'm a girl." The two both shared a laugh. Chester was glad that they reached the point where they could joke about that; beforehand, the topic was a very sensitive one, and even though Dell kept telling him otherwise, he would refrain just for the little one's sake. The request, though, would be taken to heart all the same. If someone was going to flirt with his little Delphox, he was going to make sure they wanted the bulge in his shorts just as much as his pretty face.

The hour went by pretty unremarkably - people came for drinks and promptly left, though some lagged a bit to check out the new piece of tail - some quite literally, in fact - and few were disappointed in the shocking gender-related news, which almost surprised Chester, though he did have to restrain himself from cracking a few bigoted skulls. Perhaps things were looking up for Dell; the real world wasn't so bad when you visited the right places, after all. He looked up from his reverie to notice that almost everyone had left. It was just him, Dell, Lee, and a few stragglers trying to get said DJ's autograph. Chester walked up to the Flygon and tossed him the keys.

"Here, Lee, I gotta go. Lock up when your little fanboys are done strangling your personal space, 'kay?"

"All righty then, Chest-hairs; see ya 'round!"

Chester tapped Dell on the shoulder to wake him, telling him that he was about to leave. He reached over the bar and grabbed his shield, menacingly adorned with spikes, and attached it to his back. Dell was by his side, idly flipping his stick-wand through the air and holding the door open for them. Now that he was standing, he could tell how much his friend had grown in the past months they hadn't seen each other, though he didn't have time to dwell - Dell seemed ready to pass out while standing.

"Heh; don't fall asleep on me yet. I may be stronger, but even I couldn't carry a person all the way back to my place."

That seemed to jolt the late teen awake again, spurring them both out into the dark streets and sidewalks of Castelia. The air was colder and more bitter, and it seemed to wake Dell up enough to strike up a conversation.

"You know, like I said before, I've never seen you quite so chatty and upbeat, even after, what, two years? Exactly how long have you been such a Noctowl?"

Chester shrugged. "I'm not sure. I've been working here since about... a year ago. After you got on your feet and moved out of your father's place and into your dorms, I realized I wanted something to keep me busy and a bit of extra money flowing in. I remember seeing a flyer somewhere about a club needing a bartender. I figured 'what the hell', a job with some social interaction and loud, thumping music would do me some good. So I applied and was almost hired on the spot. At first, the hours killed me and I wasn't too friendly with anyone but the DJ, who owned the place, but after a few weeks I guess I finally got into it; sometimes, I'd even dance a bit to the music when there was a lull in drunkards."

"Well, I guess it's nice to see you aren't as old-minded and crotchety as your beard makes you seem." Dell nudged his shoulder.

"How about yourself, oh young-and-pretty one; how's college goin'?"

Ít was the fox's turn to shrug. "Eh, it's going fine - most of the classes are actually pretty easy, and we definitely don't get that much homework. Only problem being that, well, I can't sleep, so I can't focus. But that's why we're both going back to your place, then, am I right?"

"I guess so. Don't worry, Dell, I'll make sure you get some sleep. Even if I have to knock it into ya, haha!" His guffawing made Dell flinch. The little fox wasn't sure he liked to think back to then, when Chester was a lot more... aggressive to his less-than-favorable attitude. Granted, he probably deserved a smack or two - or five - but Chester mostly just made hollow threats; he never followed through with it.

The two men approached an apartment complex - about 20 stories, it seemed, and very wide to accomodate lots of rooms - and entered. They greeted the night-desk sectretary dully before making their way up through about five or six flights of stairs and stopping at room 6-2. Chester fumbled a bit with the key before the door finally gave and they were inside.

"Well, here we are; home sweet home and all. It ain't anything fancy, but there's TV, internet, a nice balcony, and in relevance to our interests, a double bed." He smirked at Dell, who stood in front of a large body mirror, looking at himself and gawking.

"Wow... I really do look like shit, don't I, Chester?"

Said Chesnaught eyed him like he was crazy, snorting while setting up his spiky shield on the wall above his nightstand. "Pff - you kiddin'? I'd kill to still look hot after what looks like a week with no sleep. You have any idea how many ladies were after your adorable little face? Not to mention all the lads... to tell ya the truth, I may be a bit jealous."

In fact... Chester couldn't help but eye the little guy. Of course, he wasn't that little anymore. He stood only about four inches shorter than the former's five-foot-three. His formerly shortened fox-ear fur had grown out enough to droop, though it was groomed, looking almost like fiery pigtails to match his now-grown out copper locks. Sure, those locks may have been matted and fraying and sticking up everywhere, but it still looked, somehow, just right on the kid. His eyes still shined with the same old rubies that had been there before, but were dulled just a smidge from being tired. His body, it's... plumper? I wonder what he's been eating, he wondered.

A warm breath on his chest made the big guy jump - when had Dell gotten this close to him? Well, as long as he's this close...

"Hey, now," The fox pratically snuggled against Chester as he spoke up, "When did I give permission for you to grope my body?"

"Hmm... just wondering. What have you been eating? You seem... a lot more full these days."

"Oh, my, Chestnut, are you suggesting that I've gotten fat? Remember, I'm still quite the expert at burning things!" He giggled, almost as if to accentuate the half-joke, half-threat (Chester shuddered a bit as he remembered a certain incident with his bed; one that helped him learn of Dell's situation).

"No, no, not at all. Actually, I think your new curves look quite nice. Makes you look pretty and cuddly."

"O-oh." Suddenly the fox grew nervous, stepping away and gripping his shirt. "H-hey, do you mind if we go to bed now? You know, tired and all..."

Dammit; I guess I made him feel uncomfortable. "Yeah, sure, whatever you want."

It was an awkward couple of minutes before they were both down to the nude. Chester purposely avoided staring at Dell in fear of making him scared. They both shuffled under the covers and muttered a good night.


"Mmmgh." Ugh, what time is it? The bright LED of his beside alarm clock told him 7 AM. In other words, way too damn early. He tried to quietly lift himself off the bed, but found himself stuck - Dell's arms were draped around him, looped under his own arms. It wasn't desperate clutching, thankfully, but rather more delicate, like cuddling. Chester chuckled - it wasn't often he was the little spoon, but he didn't mind it. Dell's arms may not have been too strong and protective, they certainly were gentle and loving. He managed to wriggle himself from under the sheets without waking up the Delphox, but on closer inspection, it definitely wasn't a feat. The guy was out cold - almost like a coma. No sleep in a while, indeed.

Chester shook his head, picking up his glasses from the bedside table - usually, he'd put on contacts, but he really just didn't care at this point in the morning. The white-bearded man left to the bathroom to take of... a few things involving wood, but stopped when he heard a small voice. He looked back towards the bed. Dell was suddenly in the middle of the bed, lying with his legs curled up to his chest, and the sheets seemed like they were kicked off. He was making a small noise... whimpering, or moaning, he couldn't tell, but Chester knew that whatever was happening, his friend didn't like it.

He didn't waste time to get back into the bed, though he disliked what he saw. Dell's face was curled into an odd mixture of pain and... pleasure, it seemed. Oh, no; he's probably dreaming about his fuckin' father again...

"C'mere." He didn't know why he said it, but it came out of his mouth whenever he suddenly hugged the curled-up fox boy against him, waking the poor thing up.

"Chester! What are you doing? Y-you're clutching me..." Dell glanced around himself. "In a pretty awkard position there, buddy. You weren't thinking of...?"

"What? Oh, no, no! You were making sounds in your sleep, so I came back in the bed so I could help you out of whatever dream you were having."

"Oh; you heard that? Well, then... that's really awkward."

"Look; it's fine that you still have those dreams about your father - the trauma you experienced was greater than I could imagine, and it'll probably last with you for a while, and besides, I'll always be here for y -" Two fingers pinched his lips together and he was shut up.

"What are you talking about? I wasn't dreaming about that dickhead excuse for a father. I was making those sounds because... I imagined us being together..."

Chester's face turned a noticable shade of red, even in the shaded room. He let go of his now-laughing friend, noticing how aroused the both of them were, and blushed even harder.

"Aww," Dell teased, "Why so nervous? You were already there, why not just take it?"

"B-because, I want to make sure you want it so I don't feel like I've taken advantage of you."

Chester had draped his legs over the side of the bed, now in an upright sitting position, looking ready to pout. He was sure that Dell probably thought he looked cute or something. Dell, in response to his 'chivalry', draped his arms over the other's shoulders and around his neck, pressing everything against his back. "Well, Chester, thank you for caring about my input so much. I'll have you know that I, with a full heart and no regrets, definitely want us to have some loving sex."

"Well, before even that; are you even clean down there? I mean..."

Dell thought a bit before sighing. "Well, you have a point there - I haven't exactly cleaned myself in a week or so, so it wouldn't be safe doing that." He sat back on his knees. "Aww, man. Well, then, what do you want to do?"

He probably didn't see it coming when he his mouth was suddenly invaded by another tongue, their lips slightly pursed together. He laughed a bit, though it was muffled by Chester's mouth still having its way with his own. The now-wired Delphox pushed, somehow, with enough strength to send his different-subspecies friend down on his back.

Their need for air to breathe overtook the twosome's passion and they broke off the kiss, Dell now sitting with his knees on the outside of Chester's, their erections both throbbing very near each other. Dell smiled mischievously, mentally asking Chester is he had something lube-related.

Yeah, I have some, in the nightstand drawer. He heard the drawer open and something shuffling through it, though Dell stayed in position, his brow wrinkling from the work of actually moving objects through his mind. Chester's thoughts were even shut up when suddenly a cold sensation covered his dick, then was replaced by rubbing, though it wasn't a hand. Dell had grabbed a hold of both his and Chester's in one hand, keeping his other on Chester's stomach for stability, and began to thrust. They were quick and short thrusts, but the friction and the heat were growing just as quickly. From his position, Chester could see that both of them stood equal in terms of size, though he noticed that Dell did have a big difference - his shaft stood with a slight bulge at the base that he recognized as the equivalent to an animal's knot. His penis, however, had a bunch of nubs on it, almost representing barbs, and each of those nubs felt on fire when Dell kept rubbing against them.

It was right about then when he felt his toes curling. He mentally shouted at Dell to stop, and he did, though he had a questioning, almost worried look on his face. "What? What's wrong - I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, no, just... here, turn around; I wanna at least participate, you know."

Dell smiled. "Aww, thanks big guy." He turned around, now face-to-dick with Chester, leaving his buddy in the same situation. He giggled and raised his hips, allowing for Chester to grab his hips and suddenly bring his cock into the big guy's wet and moaning mouth. Dell's back arched and he almost screamed and came right there, but after a few seconds of deeper breathing, he was able to control himself and set upon his new morning meal. He wasted no time being delicate, knowing from past conversations that neither of them enjoyed foreplay too much, and pursed his lips around Chester's dick, coming down halfway before coming back up, his head-thrusting becoming a rhythm and allowing him to focus on pleasing every little nub to drive Chester insane while there was a knotted shaft of his own to work on.

Speaking of which, Chester turned out to not be that much of a slacker, either, actively either craning his neck to thrust it or thrust Dell's hips down on him. He was down all the way already, the size of their dicks enough to just reach the backs of their throats, and he definitely wasn't stopping for anything, making sure he could get as much of the warmth in his mouth as possible.

Suddenly, Dell seized up, his muscles tensing and his cock throbbing like crazy, and Chester responded by shoving himself up against his friend's crotch as much as possible, accepting the scalding hot cum that soon washed down his throat, though he definitely didn't expect the knot behind his teeth to inflate, disallowing his release. His jaw stretched uncomfortably, but he certainly felt some kink to himself, and thinking of how it would feel inside his ass didn't help either. His eyes rolled up until he could only see the ceiling and headboard of the bed, but he kept his attention on the constant trickle of thick cum down his plugged up throat.

Dell wasn't exactly out of bliss, either, as his sensitive knot inflated and filled up Chester's mouth, his cum releasing and emptying his several semen-producing glands. He hardly even noticed or cared when the Chestnaught's cum had hit him square in the face, landing in his hair, his mouth, and almost getting caught in his eye.

There was no sound between them other than heavy breathing, and, in the case of Chester, struggling for air from his nose and his erratic thoughts entering Dell's brain.

Ho-oly shit. This, this feeling, this knot in my mouth - I can't breathe properly, but it feels so good, holy fuck.

Dell couldn't respond, only waiting for his knot to deflate. It took a good half-hour of waiting before they figured he could pull out without harming either Chester's jaw or Dell's penis. Chester, after gasping almost desperately for air and coughing a couple times, turned his sexy fox towards him, landing a kiss on his cheek before falling forwards into his lap.

"Well, this is quite backwards, don't you think," Dell pointed out. They were quiet for another spell, before Dell spoke up again. "Hey, Chestnut. I'm sorry for last night, when I made everything awkward when you complimented my body. I appreciate the comment. I just thought you meant I was looking girly, and it felt... well, you taught me that if I didn't want to feel girly I didn't have to. I guess I just didn't realize that just because you meant 'pretty', that you didn't necessarily mean 'girly'."

Another silence, before Chester lifted his head and connected their lips again, for a more brief kiss. "It's no problem, really, I understand. I love the way you look, but I guess I forgot to say that I meant that I'll always love how you look - you are you, after all. I can't help but love ya. Even if you decide you want to be girly, I won't care - as long as it's what you wanna do, I'll be happy. Just don't ever change the way you are on the inside."

"Ditto, and will do."

Another silence - was it just them or were the early birdmen being very quiet today?

"I really do love you, too, Chester. I love the way you want to help me and protect me, and how you aren't overly-'manly'. All you care about is that I'm happy, and you appreciate that I do the same, thankfully. I can't thank you any more unless I take a bullet for you."

"By the way..."

Dell's eyebrows looked curious. "Hmm? What is it?"

Chester laughed. "When did you start wearing basketball shorts and big t-shirts?"

Dell's eyes rolled, but he smiled all the same. Really, the two of them had an interesting chemistry. "Well, when did you start wearing glasses?"

The two men bantered a bit as they redressed and continued a normal morning routine. Coincidentally, neither of them made plans for the rest of the day, so they decided that they would go out. Perhaps it was a date, perhaps it wasn't - they really didn't care what they called it, but they were together, and that was what mattered.

Dell, before exiting the apartment, turned back to Chester and looked up at his face, with the usual caring and gentle smirk. He, in turn, smiled back, and as their fingers interlocked, he began to giggle, before it finally grew into a full laughter.

Chester didn't hide his confusion. "What are you laughing at?"

"Oh, nothing. I just find it a bit funny - we've known each other for how long and known each others' feelings for quite some time. How has this not happened before?"

...You know, he's definitely right. Since he was seventeen, I've been looking after him, making sure his father wouldn't ever harm him again, and even giving him a place in the meantime.

But we've only just now said anything about it or acted on it.

"Well... I guess that doesn't matter, does it? We're friends; almost closer than family, even. Can't help the past - just go along with the future with a smile, huh?"

"I suppose that's true, Chestnut."

"Well, that and the fact that you've never came and asked me to sleep with you."

Don't play with fire, kids; you may get hit over the head with a flaming wand.