All Good Things, Chapter 1
All Good Things
by Kwasi Mounsou
A story of love, hate, greed, passion, and joy.
This story is an original work, written and copyrighted by me, Kwasi Mounsou. Do not copy, share, link, or otherwise export this and any other works to other sites or pages without my express permission.
WARNING : This story will be written in multiple chapters. It contains multiple explicit situations and graphic depictions, including but not limited to:
Violence
Gore
Sex (M/M, M/F, Alternative)
Profanity
Hate Crimes
Sadism
If you are underage, or feel that you cannot endure such and sundry depictions/events, I implore you to leave this page. Otherwise, read on, and enjoy.
Chapter 1:
What does it mean?
"Caleb? Honey, wake up. Your morning wood is showing."
"Huh?"
A sleep-muddled muzzle pokes out from under the thin blue blanket, whiskers askew and trembling as if scenting the air.
"Dylan, is that you? Ohh..." With a grunt the feline sits up, tawny head hanging low, black nose quivering and eyes bleary with sleep. A long, pink tongue travels over black lips, one large paw lifting to rub the sleep from his amber eyes.
"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey!" sings a bouncy fox from just outside the feline's reach, already having witnessed the cat's intense hatred of that taunting phrase.
"Oh, fox, I'm going to kill you one day," the feline grumbles, his usually charming and robust baritone laced with exhaustion and a killer hangover. "Shit... What happened last night? My head feels like a drum."
"Oh, you just drank a little, ate a little," the slim fox teases, his normally soft-spoken tenor voice rippling with what can only be seen as barely-disguised glee. "Made a right fool of yourself last night, again, Mr. Cougar."
The cat opens one muzzy eye, glaring with all the feline intensity he can muster. The fox is unperturbed, however, having been the recipient of several dozen glares to have gotten over the initial fear that gaze instills. With a swish of his tail and a giggle that sends tremors of pain rushing through the cougar's head, Dylan plops onto the edge of the bed, his lips pursed in a sardonic mix of concern and exasperation.
"We go through this every weekend, Caleb. Why must you go get drunk and lay about all night? I'm the one who has to drag your heavy ass home and wash up after you've vomited all over me and my car." With a sigh, the fox lays one soft paw on Caleb's shoulder, the concern in his green eyes genuine and profound. "Are you still upset about Marcus?"
With that one word the feline tenses, a soft but threatening growl rising to his lips before he chokes it down.
Marcus...
"I hate to say this, hon, but he's gone. He left you, no goodbye, no note, nothing." When Caleb refuses to answer, Dylan bolsters his courage and charges on. "That bastard lion used you, and you know it. He's gone, Cale, and you have to get over it. It's been, what, 6 months already?"
Caleb heaves a great sigh, his entire body seeming to shrivel under the fox's compassionate gaze. "6 months, 17 days."
"See, that's my point! He left you ages ago! He hasn't called you, emailed, texted. Why must you continue hanging on to him?"
"Shut up, Dylan."
"No, Caleb. I won't stop, not this time." The small fox pushes himself up into the bigger feline's lap, his face a mask of anger and concentration. "You're stupidly hanging on to this false notion that Marcus will come back through that front door and proclaim his undying love for you. Well, get over it. He's not coming back, and he doesn't give a shit about you."
Stung by those words, Caleb can only grimace in remembered pain. The day he came back to an empty apartment, all of the lion's clothes and possessions gone, and nary a sign to follow. No note on the table, no message on the machine, no email in his mailbox... Marcus had left as mysteriously as he had appeared, leaving Caleb none the wiser and distraught for lack of knowledge.
He leans back against the headboard, eyes upturned, gazing silently up at the ceiling. That smile...so bright and vibrant. That thick mane, so soft... Gods, I loved to run my fingers through it. That body... That long, tufted tail I'd bat at while he slept...and those eyes.
"Oh, those eyes..."
"What?"
With a start, Caleb returns to the present time, smiling sheepishly and gazing down at the covers that just barely cover his lap. "Sorry...was thinking about something.
"See?" Dylan smiles triumphantly, crossing his arms and glaring at his friend. "You're stuck."
"So?" Caleb looks up at the slim fox, his friend of 9 years, and growls low and deep. "What if I am?"
Taken aback, Dylan shakes his head and runs the fingers of one paw through his long headfur, watching as the sleek bangs fall right back into his eyes. "So, you need to let him go. He never cared for you. He said as much when he up and left." After a short pause to guage the cat's reaction, he lowers his voice, injecting as much compassion as he can into his next few words.
"Why can't you realize that?"
Those big amber eyes close tight, eyelids and forehead bunching as sharp pain, separate from the headache, contort his features into a mask of suffering.
"I loved him, Dylan. He meant everything to me." Caleb sniffs loudly, shaking his head. "I thought he loved me..." His voice breaks, chest heaving with silent sobs, as flashes of past memories flow before his eyes, his fingers curling into the bedspread. "Why did he leave, Dylan?"
Dylan, stunned silent by the sight of his best friend and supposedly unbreakable buddy crying, muzzle wet with tears and ears laid back against his head, lets out a sigh, climbing up beside the cougar and wrapping his arms round the cat's broad chest. The fox decides that only physical comfort can help right now, and thankfully he chose wisely, for the cougar throws his arms round the smaller fox, muzzle buried in the russet shoulder as the great cat's body shakes and trembles.
Several minutes pass before Caleb can pull himself together, sniffing and wiping his eyes with the backs of his paws. "I'm sorry, Dylan... I got you all wet."
A soft giggle conveys the fox's acceptance of that chuckled apology as clearly as any words could, a soft smile gracing Dylan's somewhat plain features. "It's quite all right, my big kitty boi. You can have my shoulder as much as you like."
Dylan scampers from the bed as a large tawny paw swipes at him playfully, giggling and dashing out of the room with Caleb hot on his tail.
"So, Caleb, what's for lunch today?"
A mismatched pair if there ever was one, Caleb and Dylan pad into the neighborhood Quiznos, the taller feline glancing down at his vulpine friend with a smirk.
"What else? Black Angus Steak, my favorite!"
"So you're back, I see?" calls an all-too familiar voice.
"Hey, Jace!" Caleb calls to the stocky beaver behind the counter, grinning fit to burst. "How are you doing today?"
"Doing well, thanks! You?" The beaver lifts a brow, resting an elbow on the counter and gazing up at Caleb with a critical eye. "You're practically bubbly."
"Oh, he always is, didn't you know?" Dylan pipes up, effecting a pose and drawing the stares of the couple sitting at a table nearby.
"Oh, stop it, Dylan. You're embarrassing yourself." Rolling his eyes, the cougar nods toward the stately doe standing at the make table and smiles. "The usual, please, dear."
"Sure thing, sugar. Two Black Angus Steaks, coming right up."
Caleb chuckles softly and watches for a second as his food is prepared, before yowling in surprise at a tug to his tail that sends him off-balance, forcing him to backpedal rather quickly to keep from tipping over. "Hey-- Dylan! Leggo my tail!"
"Sit down, and pull your eyes back in your head. You know she's taken." The fox then dumps the blushing cougar into one of the wooden chairs, standing with paws on hips and glaring down at his impossible friend.
"Seems you got over your earlier problem rather easily, huh?
With a speed that would have impressed even the fastest shots, Caleb reaches out and gropes the poor fox, his paw back in his lap almost before Dylan can jump and yip in surprise. Dylan huffs down at Caleb's toothy visage, plopping down into his own chair and stealthily shifting his tight blue jeans into a more comfortable position.
"You're incorrigible, Caleb, you really are. I don't know how I put up with you all these years."
Caleb lays on his best, and coincidentally most annoying, child's voice, keening, "By being the bestest best buddy a friend could EVER have!", earning him a grimace and a flash of tongue from the fox. "And I wuv you sooooooo much!"
The beaver chortles as he pads up, handing both furs their orders and forcing down a grin. "Glad to see you two back at it. Missed you for a while, there, Caleb."
"Yeah, so did I. Thanks, Jason." The feline's amber eyes follow the beaver until he slips behind the counter, returning his gaze to Dylan, the fox's bright green eyes fixed upon the cat's face.
"What?"
Silence.
"What?!"
"Are you really back, or just putting on airs for my benefit?"
Biting back his next comment, Caleb drops his gaze down to the steaming hoagie sitting between his handpaws, sighing softly before quietly responding, "I don't know, Dylan. I mean, I know he used me, I know his words were empty, but I still care...and I still miss him."
Again, Caleb finds the fox's warm paw on his shoulder, and that soft smile gracing those normally simple features on the vulpine's muzzle. "I don't expect you to not miss him, dear. I just want you to understand that he's gone."
"I understand, Dylan. It's just... He was with me for so long... How did I not see him for what he truly was? I mean, it's so easy to see now!"
"But that's the problem. Hindsight may be 20/20, but the present can be very fuzzy, indeed." Dylan's philosophical training takes the fore, the fox leaning close as he speaks. "You must learn to see clearly when all accounts cause your sight to fall askew. Never let outside interferences distort that which could be most important."
Heh... There he goes again with his philoso-crap...
"Dylan, how many times must I tell you not to lecture me?"
"I know what you said, but you seemed to need a good talking-to. You had really let yourself go these last few months."
"I know...and I'm sorry."
Dylan blinks. "For what?"
Caleb picks up the hoagie and takes a bite, chewing thoughtfully for a few seconds before swallowing. "For sticking by me all these years."
"Oh, hon, any time. I'd never let you out of my sight. You know that."
"I know, and I'm glad." Bite, chomp, chew, swallow. "I still don't want your lectures, though."
The feline laughs and pulls back just before Dylan's paw can make contact with his shoulder, sticking his tongue at the huffing vulpine and twitching his ears in amusement.
"Still can't catch a kitty, can you?"
Caleb then digs in to his meal, so focused on the different flavors and textures that the fox's next few words don't even register, for all Caleb's excellent hearing.
"I will, one day..."
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I know this first chapter is short, but I'm still regaining my writing shoes, so to speak. It's been months since I've written anything longer than a page, so please bear with me if I seem redundant or lazy in any aspect. Feel free to offer criticisms, and share any insights or suggestions you may have. Flames will be laughed at.
(c) 2008 Kwasi Mounsou. All legal rights and privileges observed.
NOTE: It has been a couple years since I wrote this story. I haven't truly found the inspiration to continue with it, but I am trying my hardest. If you like what you read here, let me know. It'll be much appreciated