It was a few weeks after the night I had cooked dinner for everyone. Ava had finally gone back to the pizzeria, though, not that I minded her, it's just that she's a bit of a 'free spirit' for lack of better term. Mangle was once again out with her friends while I was off work for the day; thankfully the mini-fridge had been stocked this time around. Goldy had left as well, God knows where he had gone, but he said he'd be back later that night. Currently, it was around two o'clock in the afternoon, so I had plenty of time to stroll around town. Right now, I was at Clark's store getting another set of clothes as I had recently torn up a good deal of mine while working. The fights were starting to get out of hand, and it was starting to show. Thankfully, I could keep it under control after a few minutes, but my clothes didn't seem to say otherwise.
"How've you two been," Clark asked me as I set some clothes on the counter with a sigh, pondering on what to say. "Uh, pretty good. Work's been a little tiring but I can't complain," I replied with a slight chuckle as the lupine started working out the amount, but I could tell there was something he was considering saying as well. "Y'know, I'm curious about something," He said, setting aside a pencil and notepad as he looked up at me, setting his hands on either side of the counter as he leaned against it. "Shoot," I replied. "Does she bare your mark, yet," He asked me, earning a very confused look from me as I went from my usual carefree self to straight dumbfounded.
"I assume you don't know what that means, then. Okay, lessons with gramps here," He said with a chuckle as he motioned me to lean against the counter with him, soon pulling back from the counter himself and undoing the top of his flannel shirt before pulling the left side off his shoulder, exposing a bite mark along his left shoulder. "This," He told me as he motioned at the scarred bite, "Is a mark. It symbolizes that you're with someone." His words fell on half-deaf ears as I pondered why someone would even do something like that. "Why," I asked him with a somewhat dumbstruck voice.
"As I said a second ago, it shows that you belong to someone. Since we don't have access to much jewelry here, we have to improvise how we show we're together," He replied, my vision drifting over the mark as it was placed in such a way that wouldn't cause unneeded harm, but was visible enough to show it. Just above the left side of his chest, following along how his body structure was shaped in a somewhat upside-down, triangular shape; the fangs stopping between his left peck and shoulder. It wasn't insanely large either, just enough that it would be seen and wouldn't cause too much trouble. "This here's been showing on me for twenty years strong, but the process can take hours to ensure your body doesn't patch it up entirely," He said with a slight chuckle as he closed the top of his shirt and buttoned it back up.
"Well, then," I said, still unsure about it to it's entirely, which Clark seemingly took note of. "I'll explain it a bit. The different types of animal animatronics have different ways of marking themselves. We canines tend to use our teeth. Felines; their claws. Avians… I can't really remember at the moment, though, I do remember something about their talons, I believe," He said with a sigh at the end, soon speaking up once again. "We do it on the left side of the chest as that's where's a human's heart is, and granted we don't have hearts, it just seems fitting. But, we only do something like this when we're absolutely sure that we want to be with them. The mark's permanent if you do it correctly. And only the person who made it can fit their maw in the same pattern, showing that you're undeniably together," He finished, his look wouldn't dare falter as he gave me a glare showing how serious it was.
"How long did it take before you did it," I asked him, somewhat hoping he'd say something along the lines of 'years, it took years.' "Probably five months," He replied with a nonchalant tone as I was left once again dumbstruck. My face matching my feelings as well. "Isn't that kinda quick," I asked him, only to be shut down with one of his hearty chuckles I've grown to know too well. "Not at all. There have been even quicker times. The quickest I heard of was about a week," He told me with a slight grin as my jaw fell agape. 'I guess people are lunatics here,' I thought to myself while I straightened my posture, soon thinking of a loophole.
"Were those months you spent together, or all the time you've known her," I asked, sure that me and the vixen had only been together officially for about two months now, even if we were falling for each other long before. Though, my saving grace got shut down with his response. "All the time I've known her," The man replied, now working out the numbers of the sale total as he looked down at the notepad. "Okay, is it bad that I've known her for about eight months now, and we've only just started officially going out just recently," I asked him, seeing his eyes go wide at what I said.
Surely, this was common here. How could anybody throw their life at something that quickly, and without a care in the world at that?
"Um, well, then. I… Huh," He said, eventually pulled the eraser end of the pencil to his jaw as he slumped into thought. "So you're telling me that in this place, people are okay with simply giving their life to someone else who they've only known for a couple of weeks," I asked, but more so stated as he shrugged. "That's just how we've done these types of things," Clark replied. I was somewhat relieved that what I had considered short, regarding everything I've done with her, was considered a long time with others. "You know, you're a surprising person," Clark said with a small chuckle as he finished working out the total.
"I get that a lot more than you'd think," I said to him, earning a more genuine laugh from the lupine as he told me the price and I eventually paid for the new clothes. "I'd imagine," He replied, still regaining his control after his little laughing fit. "Though, in all seriousness, you really should consider that by now," He told me as he gave me a somewhat fatherly look while I left the store.
"Well, that was something else," I chuckled to myself, feeling somewhat faint at the thought of it. As I looked around, only then did I notice how many people had marks along their left shoulder or breast. It felt like some grand revelation about a way of life, which, in a way it was. These were all people who've given their lives away to another. Now that I think about it, no wonder I gained so many glares when I had walked around town shirtless when we had first arrived…
I began climbing the hill, going up further with each stride I took. Though, my mind once again drifted to the thought. 'Should we,' I thought to myself, drawn into my mind from the thoughts as I walked along the street on autopilot, ignoring the several buildings around me. I mean, if what Clark said was true, it'd most likely be somewhat bloody and require an extended amount of time. Hell, maybe she had been told about it by her friends? I have no idea of knowing unless I asked them, something I refused to do as I didn't want anyone to get a wrong idea, and if I did it I'd prefer it to be a surprise, as they'd most likely go and babble off what I said to her.
This was something only I could contemplate at the moment.
There is no doubt in my mind I want to do it with her, but I don't know if either of us are ready. For all I know; we may be, or we may not. I don't want her stuck with me if she truly doesn't want that to happen, but then again, she wants nothing more than to stick beside me nowadays-
I'm doing it again, aren't I?
Over the past couple of weeks, I had been trying to stop overthinking, something I had started doing after the incident. I never realized how disastrous it had been on my decision-making skills until almost a year after it had happened, which would be right now. Everything in me, even mentally, knew I was ready to do anything with her. But there was just that singular itch, a singular, tiny, yet all-powerful itch that could convince me otherwise in mere seconds. It could convince me the sky was lime green even though I would be staring at the fair, light blue that always painted it.
I sighed as I neared the front door of the house. Part of me was hoping that I could see her there and talk with her for a little bit, but the logical part of me knew that she was out with her friends once again, leaving me to myself as it was something we had both agreed I needed for a day so I could pull myself together every once in a while. Though, it felt more torturous than it should have.
Throughout the day, I was cleaning up our room, putting clothes up in a closet that was hidden in the bathroom, shockingly just out of view of anyone as it looked like there were simply extra towels in there, nothing else needed out of it. It was beside the bathroom counter, to the right of it. Another thing I did was clear out the hamper and go put some clothes in the wash, starting the repetitive task of having to go back and forth between the other rooms and the laundry room to cycle the clothes out the washer, into the dryer, and the clothes from the dryer getting folded.
After a good couple of hours of chores, I eventually changed into some shorts and climbed into the hot tub, enjoying the warmth of the water in a cool autumn breeze, granted, it was still somewhat warm as we were more tropical than I assume the vixen preferred, but I absolutely loved it. I closed my eyes and relaxed in the tub for what felt like hours, quietly humming a tune to myself that had gotten stuck in my head.
"Foxy," I heard a voice call as I opened my eyes in the hot tub, soon seeing the sun had set already and the moon was just hovering over the horizon. Considering the time of the year, it was probably around seven or eight o'clock. I turned my head around to see the arctic vixen in the doorway with a slight smirk as I grew a smile. "I thought I taught you what happens when you don't realize I'm behind you," She said in a teasing manner as I got up and climbed out the hot tub, soaking wet from neck to toe. "You didn't do a good enough job, maybe I need a refresher course," I told her with a slight chuckle as I grabbed the towel and began drying myself off.
"I think you remember it well enough," She replied, sticking in the doorway as I walked towards her. "You sure," I asked her in a teasing tone, soon finishing up with the towel while I stood in front of her, noticing her staring at me occasionally while I'd repay her with a smirk. She didn't respond as I finished, prompting me to incite a reaction from her while I gave her a playful growl. As she stood in the doorway, I tossed the towel over my shoulder and rushed forward, picking the vixen up by her waist and hoisting her over my shoulder while I walked into the entertainment room, soon walking over to the couch and tossing her onto it; careful not to let her hurt herself as she landed, all while she shouted at me with mock anger in her voice.
I heard her sigh as I climbed up onto the couch and rested on top of her chest, relaxing as she wrapped her arms around my neck and head. "You seem energetic today. Something happen while I was gone," She asked while I ran my hands behind her back, trapping her in a hug. "I've just been bored," I replied half-honestly. I mean, I wasn't entirely wrong. I was bored today, but I also avoided bringing up my conversation with Clark. "Well, do you feel any better than you have in the past few weeks," I heard her ask. "I feel better now that I can lay on you," I replied with a slight chuckle and smirk as she sighed, running her hands through my fur.
I was wholeheartedly melted against her like a cat in a box as I felt her hands brush through the gruff fur on my neck and upper back. It felt hypnotic as her chest rose and lowered underneath me, raising my head ever so slightly as she breathed. I never knew why we could do that, or why we did, but I always assumed it was simply to make children think we were lifelike, which would probably be an adult's nightmare now that I think about it. I chuckled to myself as I thought about the uneasiness I had set into parents, how they probably shuttered to themselves as they saw us, causing me to laugh after all the years I had been around them.
"I'd like to laugh too," I heard the vixen say as she pulled my head up to face hers, giving me a curious look while I thought for a minute. "I don't think you'd really get it," I told her as I watched from below her head, seeing a hint of disappointment in her eyes. "How would we know if you don't tell me," She replied with a smirk as I grinned. "I can't argue with your assessment there… Remember how parents would look at you when you were performing," I asked her, noticing her drift off into thought for a second before coming back to reality and nodding to me. "I was thinking about how they were probably freaking out about how lifelike we are. We could've probably started walking around and talking and they would've thought we were simply alive," I added as I reached a hand up, rubbing just along the back of her right ear, eliciting a purr with some giggles mixed into it.
"Yeah, I'd probably drop dead if I saw a robot move around freely," She said in a somewhat empathetic tone as I soon got lost, staring at every inch of her face which I had grown to become very accustomed to. Hell, I probably knew it better than the back of either of my hands, tenfold. I could name every single feature of her face, from her plush, rosy cheeks, to the couple of pieces of fur which simply refused to go in the right direction along the top of her head, I could even tell her mood from the smell of her fur.
Vanilla was a common one I had smelled, which was when she was just having a smooth day; usually just walking through town with friends, not wanting it to have too much attention drawn to her. It wasn't as overbearing as I would've thought, it was diluted just enough that it provided a fair aroma which left me wrapping my arms around her so I could get another whiff, which, she usually obliged as she enjoyed the company.
There was one that smelled like apple cinnamon which was when she was in a more feisty mood. To say the least, I knew better than to press her too much when she washed with this that morning, after her using her little trick and wrapping her legs around my head and laying me out on the deck, all while teasing me. It wasn't a malicious thing, she was simply more energetic, she would take more risks and was prone to smacking me more. Granted, that doesn't deter me from having some fun of my own with her, which includes wrestling on the couch with her, or simply teasing her until we were all over each other.
Then, there was the one she'd only wear for me, reserved for times when she simply wanted to have fun. A night out in the town (which, more likely than not, included us going across the town from the bar, to the park, and around the north side of town on our way back around), climbing the hill to see the sunset, exploring the city, or simply being together at the house. And, she happened to have washed with that specific smelling soap tonight. It was a lavender-y smell, which left me absolutely floored by its almost toxic effect on me. I couldn't help by pull myself over to her and nuzzle up against her neck and hold her tightly against me, another thing she had no complaints about as she pulled herself just as close.
I pulled back from her shoulder, realizing I had been nuzzling against her just as I thought about it, earning a loving smile from the vixen as I felt her drape her arms around my neck and pull me closer towards her. She smooshed my head against her chest, holding me in place with her soft arms. I felt her tail start wrapping around mine in a vain attempt to hold me in place. She may have had fluff on hers, but she didn't have one near as long as mine which allowed me to swiftly turn the tides on her and twist it around hers like a snake when it finds it prey.
"I'm going to beat you someday," She said with a silent giggle while I lifted my head up head towards her and kissed her on her cheek. "In your dreams," I whispered against her ear with a low chuckle in an attempt to provoke her. In the few mere seconds I was holding her on the couch, she managed to wrap her legs around my waist and roll us onto the floor with a dull thud before we both began wrestling against each other, me using my strength against her flexibility. The endeavor proved to be quite the challenge for both of us as we rolled across the floor back and forth.
Eventually, I managed to shuffle my legs in a way to trap hers and grab both her wrists as I held her onto the floor, careful not to harm her as she tried to fight against me with a playful growl. That was until her tail started strangling mine, causing me to pull back a little to which she rolled us over, flopping me onto my back. I huffed as she instantly pressed down against my chest, earning a few grunts and what was most likely one of the steel ribs cracking underneath her weight as she hopped slightly. Soon enough, I retaliated by once again wrapping my arms around her waist and squeezing her.
That little maneuver was one of her weaknesses that I learned about all too quickly, it was like a reset on her mind as everything she was doing fled from her mind and instead, she would start laughing as she either squeezed me back or began shouting at me playfully. Everything she was doing stopped as she collapsed into my chest once again. This time, however, she panted into my shoulder as I continued holding her, slowly tracing the faint lines of cuts across my chest with her left index finger.
I sighed as I looked at each of the scars she traced, remembering each of them, the majority being self-inflicted. "You should take pride in these. It proves you're resilient," She said with a small smile as her face was pulled up to meet mine. "You should take pride in not having them. It shows your innocence," I replied with a slight chuckle while I pressed my forehead against hers. "I'll take your word for it," She told me as her lips traveled upwards to meet mine, the two of us getting lost in it for an unknowing amount of time.
Though, as the minutes in her embrace went by, I couldn't help but think about what Clark had said. Should I consider it? I don't know. All I know is that I never want to hurt her, but if she wanted it to happen I would never tell her no as she wished for it. If she said no, however, I wouldn't argue with her as I don't feel ready myself. Not that I don't dislike her, I just want to take things slow. We already ruined any chance of saving any intimacy for later from our ordeal from those weeks ago, which I'm not complaining, really.
'I'm giving myself a month. If I can just wait that long then I can ask her about it,' I thought to myself, my subconscious ultimately deciding to just wait and see if I'm still thinking about it. I just don't want for us to be stuck together if we were to ever fall out, not that I would think we could at this point. It's just to see if my mind isn't simply playing tricks on me, as insanity has made me lose any trust in myself over the past year. And, everything's been changing as well. I'd argue the only constant that has stayed the same throughout the past months has been that I cared for the vixen.
Honestly, if I hadn't had the reminder that I wasn't entirely mentally sound, I probably wouldn't think twice about it and rush headfirst into it with her. But, I want to be careful with her. I know just how badly I could hurt her if I were to simply say the wrong thing, and I don't think I'd be able to forgive myself after that, especially after our mini-'fight' from those approximate three weeks ago. I'd hate to see her when she's truly mad…
"What are you thinking about," I heard her ask me as I continued holding her around her waist and back. "Nothing much. Just enjoying this," I replied, leaning down and resting my forehead against hers. "Well, how about you get a bath and we can continue this in the bedroom. I'm tired," She suggested as I nodded, letting her go as she got off of my chest and allowed me to stand up and retreat to the bathroom.