Raiyev Part 13
#13 of Raiyev
A tiny dragonfly exploring the meadow landed on the slumbering Raiyev's large nose to rest its wings. The giant raccoon's nose twitched at the tickling sensation, and he woke up gently, opening his eyes to stare up at the cloudless, pale blue sky, the sun warming his naked body. He lifted his head and looked down his chest to see a much smaller raccoon curled up under his large paw, still fast asleep. Raiyev smiled at the tiny tail swishing ever so softly against his tummy.
This was heaven. This was the epitome of life itself, and he desperately wished this moment could last for all eternity. He didn't even care now that he was still growing slowly--or rather, that he was staying the same size, and everything else on the planet was steadily shrinking around him. Yes, that was the answer he figured a while ago, soon after he injected himself with the test solution that fateful day and began noticing the size differences. It was, after all the purpose and hope of the solution in the first place: some way to counter-act the shrinking that the entire planet was undergoing. He must have "grown" another four or five feet since he fell asleep, he realized, because Brad seemed even smaller on him now than when they were being intimate earlier that morning.
He kept staring at Brad for a while, letting his mate sleep, but then suddenly remembered that while he himself had gotten fired from EarthTech Labs, Brad had not, and he was probably still needed there today. After mulling it over for a moment, Raiyev reluctantly figured that he should wake his lover so he could return to work for the rest of the day. Raiyev gently nudged the tiny raccoon under his paw, and Brad seemed as unwilling to get up as Raiyev was to wake him. Brad eventually came around, stretching and yawning slowly as he tried to stand up on Raiyev's stomach.
"Aww," Brad said sleepily, staring into the larger raccoon's big eyes. "Why'd you go and wake me, love? I was having such a good dream..."
"I'm sorry, dear," Raiyev said, "but don't you still have work to do at the Labs?"
"Oh, pffft!" Brad replied, a goofy expression running across his face. "The Labs! Who needs them when I have you? Besides, you need me more than they do."
Raiyev smiled and laughed softly. "You're so cute when you're sleepy, you know that?"
Brad just stood there and grinned for a moment, then hopped off the big raccoon, fetched his clothes, and started dressing. "I suppose you're right, though," Brad said as he buttoned up his shirt. "We do need an income to survive, after all, and with...well..." Brad paused, frowning as he recalled the early morning's events. "...With what that old fart of a horse did to you today, I guess it's up to me to put bread on our table. At least for a while."
Raiyev stood up, stretching and scritching himself a bit, and leaned over the roof of the large moving truck, resting his forearms on the top to watch Brad finish dressing. "I think I've gotten bigger again, dear," he said, a hint of worry in his eyes.
Brad looked up, taking in Raiyev's size. "So you have," he sighed. "Do you think you can still fit in the truck?"
Raiyev's worried look now spread all across his face. "I don't think so. And what's more, I don't think I necessarily want to go home. Not right now, at least."
"What are you saying, love?" Brad asked, the same look of worry now in his eyes, too.
"That I need a vacation. That's all, really. I think I can manage on my own out here for a while, so long as no one comes around and finds me here."
"But what happens if you just keep getting bigger? You'd eventually outgrow this place. And I don't want to leave you--not after everything that's been going on. I don't want to be away from you."
"I'm sorry, Brad, but I don't know what you can really do right now to protect me." Raiyev looked sadly down at his lover, choking on those last few words.
Brad teared up. "Can't I do anything?" he pleaded as a single tear rolled down his muzzle.
"Yes, my dear," the giant raccoon responded. "Go talk to Dr. Frost. Tell her that I need as much help as she can provide."
Brad immediately ran over to Raiyev and wrapped his arms around the thick leg, crying against it. "I don't want to lose you," he sobbed. Raiyev bent down and picked him up carefully, holding him to his chest like a doll, feeling his tears mat his fur.
"I'll be okay, Brad," Raiyev assured him. "I promise to be careful, okay?"
"I just love you so much," Brad said between sobs, his face buried in his mate's chest.
"I love you, too," Raiyev professed, his own tears quietly rolling down his muzzle.
Brad looked up after a moment, affectionately licking Raiyev's chin. "You promise you'll be okay?"
"Yes," Raiyev asserted. "I promise." They hugged once more, and Raiyev set down the smaller raccoon. Brad gathered up the rest of his things and slowly got into the truck.
"When should I come back for you?" he asked.
"When you can bring Dr. Frost to help me. She knows me well. She'll be willing to help--I know it."
Brad wiped a tear from his eye and smiled once more at his mate. He then started the truck and drove off slowly, Raiyev watching the truck until it disappeared from view. He didn't know it at the time, but that was the last time he would ever see his mate smile.
****
For the next couple of days, Raiyev simply explored his new temporary home. There was a small, uninhabited cave close by that provided good shelter. Having a little knowledge in horticulture, Raiyev was able to locate some edible plants and berries to sustain him. The lake was a great place to bathe and relax, and the forested areas all around were wonderful to explore. Raiyev found himself wandering for hours at a time inside the woods, and despite how critical and desperate his current situation was, he couldn't help but feel peaceful and relaxed and totally at home in this new place.
Everyday, though, he would also wait for a while at the end of the small dirt road for any sign of his lover and Dr. Frost. He didn't have to wait too long before one day, just as the sun was almost set, a large white semi cab towing a long trough-like bed rolled up. He hid around behind some trees first to make sure that it wasn't anyone he didn't want finding him. He watched carefully and was relieved and delighted to see Dr. Frost hop out of the driver's side door.
"Dr. Frost!" he cried out in a booming voice, startling the much smaller hybrid, and popped out from behind the trees, running up to meet her.
"Goodness, Raiyev," Frost said, clutching her chest. "You scared the dickens out of me!" She looked up, taking in Raiyev's new size. "And it's no wonder, too, at that size!"
"I'm so glad to see you, Dr. Frost!" Raiyev said elatedly. "Where's Brad?" He looked around, as if expecting him to pop out from anywhere.
"That's what I've come here to tell you," Frost began, talking very briskly and urgently. "Brad told me a few days ago about your dilemma and where you were staying, and I promised to come help you as soon as I had some solution. And I just went over to your apartment where he was supposed to be this evening, but he wasn't there!"
"What do you mean wasn't there? Where is he?" Raiyev asked worriedly.
"That's the thing, Raiyev--I don't know! The apartment looks awful, like it was ransacked! Raiyev," Frost said, a pained expression on her face, "I think Brad's been kidnapped!"
"WHAT?!" Raiyev roared. "Take me there, NOW!"
"Yes, yes!" Frost said quickly, shaking a little at Raiyev's violent reaction. "Get in the bed, over here, and lay down!" Raiyev quickly hopped into the bed like he was told, and Frost made short order to cover him with tarps. She then hopped into the cab and drove off as fast as a vehicle that large and heavily loaded could go.
The trip seemed to take forever to Raiyev as he lay there, staring up at the blue tarp veiling his entire body. Questions raced all through his mind, and his heart was beating rapidly as he worried about his mate. What happened to Brad? Was he really kidnapped? How bad did the place really look? Where was he? Who would do this to him and why? After a while, Raiyev started to calm down a bit, thinking and hoping that Frost had simply jumped to conclusions like a bad scientist.
Finally, the truck came to a stop and Raiyev heard Frost hop out of the cab and run around to remove the tarp. Raiyev quickly got up to see his apartment door hanging wide open. He was far beyond being able to fit inside, but he could still see inside. He pressed his eye up to the door and looked around, peering all around inside as best as he could. It was as Frost described it--ransacked. Papers and oddments were strewn everywhere, window curtains and blinds had been torn down, furniture had been uprooted, and a lamp lay flickering on the ground, but there was no sign of Brad at all.
Raiyev started to panic again and pulled away from the door, looking around to see Brad's car still parked in its space. Where was he? Raiyev turned to Frost to say something, but he never got it out, for at that moment he felt something prick his neck, and he fell into a dreamless sleep.