Listen…
If I could draw—or if I had the patience to develop drawing skills until I were confident enough to put my sketches on the internet—I'd probably be making short comics out of this. Unfortunately, I can't and I don't. Therefore I might as well use text as a medium instead, because I'm slightly better at that.
These were some completely random ideas that I wanted to get out of my head one way or another. There's no plot, no meaning, no deep message, no consistency, no genre—none of that fancy stuff you can find in those quality stories that actually take effort to make. I might rush the proofreading here too.
In other words: This might not be what you expect, or it might be exactly what you expect. Either way, try not to look at this too closely or too deeply. I made this because I can, and that's it.
Lin quietly passed the desk, covering his mouth with both hands, silently praying he wouldn't step on anything. In the near darkness, he could just about see the outline of one of the masked wolves looking his way.
Lin froze—right when the light flickered on again with a sharp buzz. Now illuminated, the black latex wolf's pinprick eyes stared through the white skull-like mask, its gaze glued to Lin. Lin didn't move. So long as he didn't move when the light was on, he should be fine.
The next desk was blocking his way. To go around it was to go around the beast. Lin scanned the way ahead, ensuring not to move his eyes too much lest the creature took notice.
The light flickered off.
Lin reluctantly started towards the masked wolf, keeping his step quiet and holding his breath. He had memorized the way ahead as best as he could to ensure he wouldn't step on any latex on the ground. If he did, the beasts would immediately know where he was, and he'd be done for.
Trying not to panic, Lin froze again. The light turned back on moments later.
He stood right in front of the wolf. Looked in its eyes. The slightest movement or sound would set it off.
He forced himself to stay still. But despite his effort, he felt himself shaking just a little bit. His stomach, empty as it was, felt sick. His heart was pounding. His lungs begged for more oxygen, but he didn't dare breathe. The wolf would hear him if he did.
The creature frowned just a little bit. It leaned forward, sniffing.
No, Lin thought. His hands clamped around his mouth to silence any upcoming whimpers. Don't see me, don't see me, please…
The lights went off.
Lin snuck away from the wolf and past the desk, withholding a relieved sigh. The beast hadn't noticed him. He—
He stepped into something sticky.
He stopped, staring down dumbly. What was that?
The lights went on.
He'd stepped into one of the black latex puddles that littered the ground.
Realization hit a moment later. Lin's breath froze. He'd been so focused on getting away from that latex beast that he hadn't thought to look at the path ahead when he had the chance.
There was something behind him.
The lights went off.
Lin turned around. From what little he could make out in the darkness, he saw the wolf he'd left behind staring back, accompanied by the many others he'd passed on his way here. Several masks, each with a set of floating pinprick eyes that looked straight at him.
They weren't moving.
Lin slowly backed away. Maybe he could still get out of this alive. They knew where he was, but if he moved away while it was dark—
His stomach growled audibly.
The masked wolf in front tilted its head at the sound.
Sweating, Lin backed away more. Crap. He'd completely forgotten how hungry he was.
The beast stepped forward and reached out.
Lin leaped back—and into something soft.
Arms wound around him from behind.
Lin yelped as the arms formed a tight grip around him. He struggled, trying to break free, but his kidnapper's strength held.
The lights turned back on, and Lin froze again. The other wolves had come closer, and now surrounded him in a closely-packed group. The one he'd just passed stood just in front of him, regarding his face with what seemed to be interest.
Lin looked back, sweating, breathing raggedly. He looked the beast straight in the eye, focusing on every detail on its mask. It was all he could do to try not to faint.
Moments passed. The buzz of the light going on and off was the only sound in the room besides Lin's breathing. Unbothered, the beast continued to examine him.
Lin's stomach growled again.
The wolf's white pinprick eyes blinked. Its ears flattened, and it almost looked…embarrassed?
It gestured to the one that was holding Lin, and Lin felt the arms around him weakening. He yanked himself out of their grip and whirled around to be faced with more dark latexes. They looked back with what could only be described as curiosity. None made a move to grab him.
Lin hesitated. What was going on?
A hand on his back made him flinch. The wolf from before. With its other hand, it gestured ahead, motioning for him to start walking.
Lin glanced at the beast's face. It looked back expectantly.
Lin swallowed. At least he was still alive…and human. If he wanted to stay that way, he probably shouldn't make these things angry.
With a slow step, he started forward. The latexes followed him closely as he continued further across the room. He felt their gazes on them—he could swear he heard them sniff him a few times—but didn't dare turn around to look.
They led him past a door—the very door he'd been trying to reach.
Beyond it was something Lin did not expect to see.
Most of the ground was taken up by large pillows—and on top of those pillows were more dark latex wolves in different shapes and sizes, sleeping peacefully.
Lin looked around, perplexed. This was their sleeping quarters? Why would they bring him here? He swallowed. Were they going to eat him? Cut him into pieces for each beast to—
He felt something tap his shoulder, and he turned with a start—to see the beast from before all but shove a piece of fruit in his face.
Lin took it. It was an orange.
His mouth began to water as his hunger acted up again. Forgetting everything else, he devoured the fruit in full. Sour, but so sweet. It really felt like forever since he'd last eaten.
He only came back to his senses when the very last scraps of fruit were gone.
He looked at the wolf, who gave him that curious look. Lin suddenly felt embarrassed.
"Uh…" he mumbled. "Can I…have some more?"
It nodded vigorously and turned to the table behind it—which Lin just noticed had a whole bunch of peaches and glasses of water on it. His eyes grew wide. Food…
They patiently let him eat and drink, giving him food and water whenever he asked for it. They even peeled the oranges for him. As minutes passed, Lin began to feel more at ease around the creatures despite their ever-present stares.
When he finally had enough, he glanced up at the wolf and found himself uttering, "Thank you."
None of the beasts had said a word so far, but judging from their nods—and the odd smiles they sported, which Lin hadn't seen before—they seemed to understand him perfectly.
Lin hesitated. Then he slowly raised his hand, careful not to surprise the wolf. It looked at him curiously, but didn't resist as Lin slowly moved his hand towards the wolf's head. When he reached its ear, he gently began to scratch it.
The wolf let out a noise of surprise. Then it leaned into the gesture with half-closed eyes, growling quietly and contently.
Lin found himself smiling as it accepted his affection, and the sickness he felt earlier had been replaced by warmth. Maybe these creatures weren't so bad after all.
He noticed some of the others had begun gesturing to something further in the room, where the many other latexes slept. Curious, Lin followed their gazes, but wasn't sure what they were looking at. He slowly lowered his hand, much to the one wolf's disappointment. Upon seeing the others, however, its face lit up again, and it placed its hand on Lin's shoulder and gestured towards the pillows.
"You want me to go that way…?" Lin asked, keeping his voice down.
It nodded.
Lin glanced at the nearest pillow—one with a larger latex beast sleeping on it. Then, with a careful step, he slowly passed it. The wolf behind him followed.
He was guided towards one pillow in particular. Unlike the other wolves, the pup on it lay on its back rather than its abdomen. Despite the skull-like mask on its face, Lin had to admit it looked…cute.
The wolves kneeled down around this one. Lin followed suit. The wolf from before looked at him, gestured to its ear, then towards the juvenile.
Lin raised his eyebrows. He had an idea as to what the gesture meant, but should he really do that? He didn't want to wake the pup.
The wolf nodded, as if to encourage him.
Lin glanced down at the pup. It looked so peaceful.
With slow, gentle movements, he began to pet the pup's fluffy ears. They moved slightly under his touch, but the young latex remained asleep.
Lin carefully began to pet its belly, eliciting a light, contented growl that gently shook its abdomen. At some point he poked the pup's front legs, and it weakly slapped his finger away in response.
Lin smiled and glanced up, expecting to see the other wolves' looks.
And oh, he saw them alright.
At least a dozen adult dark latex were watching him from all sides, accompanied by several juveniles. Somehow, thanks to his focus being solely on the one pup, he hadn't noticed the other beasts awaken and approach. The wolves from earlier were still present too, with the one wolf he'd petted looking at him and the pup with wide, wondrous eyes.
Lin suddenly felt very small under the sea of gazes. He gulped. They were all so…intense.
He heard a quiet purring before him, and he looked down to see the pup waking up. It looked up at him with that same curiosity as the others. Lin hesitantly returned its gaze.
Then it jumped into his arms. He just about caught it in a hug.
He looked up to the other latex again, feeling like a child who'd been caught stealing cookies. He felt like he had to say something—as if he needed to defend himself.
Then the wolf from before crawled over, gesturing to its own ears.
Lin hesitated. Leaving the pup in one arm, he reached out the other to pet the wolf again. It leaned into the gesture just like before, exclaiming that same happy growling.
Another bumped into his hand with its head, silently asking for the same treatment. Lin complied and let his hand pass over to the second wolf's ears, much to the chagrin of the first.
A juvenile nuzzled his arm that held the other pup. Then he felt an adult latex carefully rub its head against his from behind, as if to use his head as another petting medium.
"Uh, guys?" he said.
The remaining wolves slowly and curiously approached. One of them experimentally hugged him from the side; others began to fight over his one free hand, wanting to be pet. Yet others tried to get to him for one reason or another as they all demanded their share of affection.
"Guys!" he called. "Calm down. Form a line or something. I can only pet one at a time— Guys!"