"Chris," Phil sighed and put a hand over his face in frustration, but despite that a blush was evident on his face.
"Erm..." Dan said through a small laugh.
"Chris, this is Dan. Dan, Chris."
"Mind if just call you handsome?"
"Chris!" Phil groaned.
But Dan retorted with, "just don't call me boyfriend. That's only for Phil to use."
Chris gasped, as did Phil, earning a cheeky smile from Dan.
Nothing had ever made Chris speechless. Phil on one hand was grateful that he had gone quiet, but on the other hand, his cheeks went up in flames.
"Well, then. Let me know if he ever loses the right to call you that."
"Jesus Christ, you two."
"What?" Chris said, feigning innocence.
"Forget it. Come on in then, Chris."
At least I know they'll get along, Phil thought to himself.
He shut the door after Chris stepped inside.
"You want some soda or anything, Chris?" he asked him.
"Yeah, sure. That'd be nice, thanks."
Phil hummed in response and went into the kitchen. He collected a soda for Dan as well as Chris.
Chris plopped himself down on the couch, already making himself at home.
Dan sat in the recliner off to the side and opened his own soda.
There was something radiating off of Chris. An energy, a vibrancy and he seemed to be very… alive, and animated. Dan could see it in his eyes… he'd met his companion.
"What was it you wanted to tell me about?" Phil asked as he sat on the couch, nearer to the recliner.
"Er, well…" He glanced from Dan and then Phil, his playful attitude and mannerism seemed to diminish.
"I can go…" Dan said quietly, not oblivious.
"No… It's just something strange that happened..."
"You don't need to tell me about strange," Dan laughed and Phil grinned, before returning his attention to his friend.
"Er, well, Phil, you remember when you had said you had seen that wolf that one night?"
Phil hummed, prompting Chris to continue.
"I met this coyote."
"A coyote?" Phil stared at Chris without unwavering. Was it possible…?
"Yeah. He just walked up to my porch one morning and I didn't understand. I tried to shoo him away but he had this look in his eye as if I was stupid. I swear if he were a person he would have been laughing at me."
"That's sort of how it felt when I saw that wolf. Well, not exactly but I felt as if he were more like a human than an animal." Phil glanced at Dan for a moment and then back to Chris.
"So what happened then?" Dan wondered.
"Well, the bloody animal just wouldn't shoo. He came up to me and I was a bit freaked. I thought he was going to bite me or something!"
Dan chuckled, but Chris continued explaining. He looked about the room in thought, as if he were still on his front porch with the coyote.
"But he didn't. He was really… er, cautious. Like he knew I was afraid, so he walked toward me real slowly."
"And then he let out a sort of whine so I knelt to look at him evenly, in case he was injured or something and he… Well, he did the last thing I expected. He licked my face."
"Licked your face? Sort of like a dog kiss?"
"Yeah, like a dog kiss. Exactly. But what was weird is that it was sort of nice. Like, really nice."
Phil cracked up at that last remark, and Chris put his hands out defenselessly.
"I told you it was strange, mate. Don't laugh."
"So when was this?"
"Just yesterday morning before work."
"Have you seen him since then?"
"Well, yeah, yesterday night as well as that morning."
"Did you see him this morning at all?"
"No…"
"You sort of wanted to, I bet, huh?" Phil asked.
"Oddly enough, yeah. He was sort of sweet. And you know what else, he had really nice blue eyes. Like whoa."
""Like whoa." That's the most profound thing you've said since you've stepped in my doorway."
"Man, quit teasing me." Chris shoved Phil over by his shoulder and he just let out a burst of laughter at his friend.
Dan chuckled at Chris. "And Phil told me that you'd being the teasing one today."
"Well, it started out that way, but Phil always takes the opportunity to tease me if there is one."
"I have to get you back for all the times you've picked on me," Phil laughed.
"It's only fair," Chris agreed.
"So, what sort of movie do you feel like watching, Chris? Or maybe we can play something?"
"I don't really care… maybe just a movie, or a show."
Dan could see that despite Chris' previous animated mannerisms, he became a bit more dim. Not dim-witted, but he just didn't seem quite as alive as a few moments passed.
"Alright, Chris?" He asked him.
"Er, yeah. I am, Dan. Thanks, though."
"So Dan didn't know what Doctor Who was until yesterday," Phil said to Chris.
"You're serious," he deadpanned.
"It's not my fault I'm a recluse," Dan defended himself.
"So we got through season one, maybe we could start season two?" Phil suggested.
There was a mumble of agreement amongst them and Phil selected Doctor Who from the titles on his television screen.
"David tenant is so handsome. You'd fuck him, huh, Phil?"
"Oh god," Phil shrunk into the sofa, putting a hand over his face. His face was as red as a cherry within seconds and Dan's belly began to roll with laughter.
"Don't laugh at him, Dan. You'd probably fuck him too."
Dan just laughed even harder and Phil glanced up at him as he laughed and for a second he thought he'd never seen or heard anything quite as wonderful. But he let the feeling pass as Chris was right beside him.
"I bet the both of you'd fuck him at once."
"Stop! Oh, my god, stop!" Phil looked at his friend in shock.
"What? I'd fuck him too."
Dan let out another howl of laughter.
"I think I'm killing him." Chris said flatly.
"Yeah, you probably are!"
Outside, at the edge of the forest, a coyote was curled up beneath a tree and could faintly hear the wild laughter of the wolf and his companion, and his own companion.
The previous morning PJ had found him.
He saw the small house a few neighborhoods over, and he lingered for a moment, considered moving on, but then he had stepped out.
He had stopped in his tracks looking down at PJ, who finally knew why his feet carried him here.
He had tried to shoo him away, which PJ knew would have been a foolish thing to do if he were your average coyote.
Carefully, PJ approached him and he looked a bit frightened, so he moved even slower. He took a step back, so he tried to lower his head and ears, make himself look as harmless as possible as he let out an a small whine almost involuntarily.
His companion looked down at him in concern, and sensing that he was not a threat to him, knelt in front of PJ.
And PJ could no longer contain it. He dragged his tongue up the side of his face.
He received a shocked look in response, but even as surprised as he was, he reached and patted the coyote, letting his fingers slip between the strands of surprisingly soft fur.
His companion stood again and stared at PJ in wonder.
"You're sweet and all, but I've got to go to work."
PJ looked up at his companion sadly, but then retreated a few steps as if to say, "Well, what's keeping you, then?"
Inside Phil's home, their host decided to cook up some hotdogs and chili sauce and bake fries in the oven.
"How late are you staying, Chris?" Phil wondered as they ate.
"Oh, right. I imagine you two lovebirds want to be alone. Just kick me out whenever."
Phil had learned to take his teasing in stride a long time.
"In that case, there's the door," he retorted back to Chris, who knew he'd been joking by the smile on his face.
"No, for real, though, you can stay as late as you like."
"I'll just stick around for a couple more episodes of Doctor Who, I think."
After they ate and watched another hour of Doctor Who, Chris did rise from the couch.
"Thanks for dinner, Phil. Excellent to meet you, Dan."
Phil also got up from the couch, Dan following suit. They walked him to the door and Chris turned to them.
To Dan he said, "I'm glad Phil's met you. I can tell you make him happy."
"Chris," Phil was a bit touched, but still he was embarrassed.
"He makes me happy," Dan smiled and he nervously pulled his bottom lip in between his teeth. He glanced at Phil, and then back at Chris.
"Right. Goodnight then guys." He pulled Phil's door open and turned to walk out, but then he stopped, looked back, and said "Don't forget to use protection."
He left Dan laughing and Phil shouting after him.
Phil turned to Dan and he tried to reign in his giggles. "It's good advice," he said, and burst into laughter again.
Chris walked down Phil's porch steps and heard Dan's laughter fading as he walked towards his car. He climbed into his car, thinking he was so glad Phil had met Dan.
The sun had just begun to set as he drove home. He had lived near Phil since they had gone into high school together and never really drifted apart. When he arrived at home, he walked up to his front door, unlocked it and stepped inside. He flicked on the light and looked around his empty house.
It was a mystery why he and Phil had never just moved in together at some point to be roommates.
Phil was the type to enjoy being alone though, he remembered. Chris had never let on that he was growing quite lonely over the past few weeks.
He went out onto his front porch to sit in one of the patio chairs there.
Spending time out here was something really out of character for him, and even he realized it, but he couldn't help but notice how nice it was. To just sit and smell the cool night air and listen to the sounds of the bugs and the breeze in the trees.
He heard the rocks in his driveway shift and he looked over quickly. The blue eyed coyote was stood there, staring intently at Chris.
He wasn't quite as alone as he thought.
The coyote hesitated but then approached Chris, who only had a slight smile on his face.
"Hey, you."
The coyote stood in front of Chris and the animal gently nibbled on his fingers that were resting on the arm of his chair.
He reached out to massage the coyote's neck and he leaned his head into Chris' hand.
"You're a sweetie, huh?"
The coyote looked up at Chris and he saw a glint in the animal's eye before he reached out to tug at his jeans.
"Hey," Chris sort of giggled and the coyote looked up at him, with big shiny blue eyes.
"You're sort of playful, aren't you?"
The coyote nibbled on his jeans again, but then backed up real quick.
"You're asking for it."
The coyote repeated the action, almost with a challenging look in his eye.
Chris and the coyote stared at each other, and then, once again the coyote tugged on his jeans and Chris jumped up.
The coyote moved back as he stood, and then forward again and Chris found himself in a game of cat and mouse with the coyote, much like someone might wrestle with his dog for fun.
Chris was soon out of breath, and because he had been on his hands and knees he rocked back on his shins, letting his legs fold beneath him.
The Coyote looked at Chris and approached him again.
"You've tired me out, mate."
The coyote left a kiss up the side of Chris' face, who giggled and feigned disgust, wiping away the animal's saliva.
The coyote turned its head to look into the darkness, then back at Chris, with a funny look in his eye, before turning away and stalking off.
Has a coyote become his best friend? Chris suddenly wondered to himself with a sudden expression of "that's really fucking weird" on his face.
Yet, that night, he slept quite peacefully, hoping that he'd see the coyote again that weekend.
About a mile away, on the other side of the neighborhood, Phil and Dan had been sitting on the couch, watching a movie, but not really paying attention.
They had put on the movie after Chris had left, and almost as if it were routine, Dan laid his head on Phil's thigh to let him play with his hair.
"That coyote…?" Phil began.
Dan replied, "Yup."
"I'd be so happy if Chris got to feel what I'm feeling right now."
"I could see it in his eye. He's more alive than before. He's definitely met his companion."
"You can see it?"
"Oh, yeah. Definitely."
"Well, we'll probably find out soon enough," Phil said decidedly.
"We will." Dan agreed.
They tuned into the movie but Dan eventually said, "Hey, there was something I wanted to ask you."
"Hmm?"
"You had said the other day, you hadn't cooked for two in a long time and I couldn't help but catch that and wonder what you meant."
"Well… I used to have a roommate. Well, more than a roommate really. She was my girlfriend. And, well… it was a really bad break up."
"What happened?"
"Well, she cheated on me."
"I ought to beat her ass."
Phil chuckled and Dan was glad he managed to do that.
"Not necessary. I don't think I'll ever be speaking to her again."
Dan looked up at Phil, who gazed back steadily.
"Besides, what I've got with you is nothing like I could have ever experienced with her or anyone else."
Phil looked back up at the television and Dan spoke softly, "I love you."
"I love you."
thanks for reading! like i said in the summary this is an old story but i saw someone on phanfic asking about it so i decided to repost it and recently i set up a dan and phil blog .com if anyone wants to check it out