Genetisis - Chapter 5
Story by gigarandom on SoFurry
Sorry for the two day hiatus, I really am trying to get on the same daily schedule that I had with Inferno High, but unfortunately now I actually have a life, and a job, so it's harder finding time to write.
Anyways, maybe you'll enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 5
Me and Al left his house to find the sun beginning to dip below the horizon. We quietly headed to my place and found everything inside to be lit up warmly despite the cold and bitter air outside. The aroma of tomato sauce and meat washed over us as I heard a car pulling onto the road. This street had always been quiet, tucked out of the way of majority of the town, perched upon a hill, and marked by delicate homes looming over the city slums below.
My whole life I’d felt a little detached from everyone else, but it wasn’t until I got into U.S. History that I started to actually understand why.
This town was actually about two hundred years old, some of the very first settlers from back east had made it their home. Well, two homes. It used to be two towns: Rust, the mining town with steel mills and coal mounds, and Arborton, the lumber yard of botanists and arborists. As the years went on the river became the only thing splitting the two towns, and now a days no one really thinks of them as separate towns, but rather separate schools. The Arborton Wolves and the Rusty Foxes were sworn enemies in appearance, but like any rivalry, they’d rush to the aid of the other in times of need.
Of course, being a working class town, there’s a very clear, very definitive economic class system. The Lower class lived in the small houses nearer to the river, and farther west, while the middle class lived nearer to the heart of the city. Anyone who was upper middle or upper class lived on the hill, and it’d taken me sixteen years to understand what that meant.
Me and Al headed for the kitchen, where we found the fox sitting at the bar, reading aloud while mom kept an eye on the sauce as she prepared garlic bread. The fox stopped reading when we walked in and looked at us, “Hey!”
I smiled at him, wanting to show I cared, “Hey. You getting better at talking?”
He nodded, “Mhm, I’m-b also getting p-better at understanding peeb-ple.”
“That’s good!”
He opened his mouth to respond when the door to the front of the house- invisible from the kitchen- was slammed shut and a voice boomed from the hall, “Where! is my new son?” There was a pause as we heard footsteps towards the kitchen, “And why does it smell so good in here?”
Dad finally revealed himself from around the corner and walked over to mom and gave her a hug, “Hello wife,” he walked back around the bar and gave me a hug before giving Al a hug as well, “Hello son, hello other son,” and finally came to the fox, “And hello new son!” The fox cowered for a second before being scooped up entirely into the arms of my father, being half-cradled in his shorter stature, which was amplified by how big of a man my dad was. He’d always worked harder than he needed to, and giving himself the additional push to be physically above average while still being money-smart had given me the life I had, and I’d watched a good chunk of that development.
Dad let the fox slip out of his arms and ruffled the fur on top of his head. Dad leaned against the wall, looking at him, “So, what’s your name?”
The fox paused, staring at him, mouth open as he struggled for words. He completely froze, not making any sound or even clearly breathing. Dad glanced at mom and then back at the fox, deciding he should stop torturing him, “Well, that’s okay, you don’t need a name.”
The fox shivered and looked away, all of his body language suggesting he wanted to be left alone. I always pick up on these things, and Al always picks up on my changes in behavior, so it was just a matter of hoping my parents didn’t fuck it up.
Mom looked up at dad, “So the sauce is ready, as are the noodles, now it’s up to you to do any of the actual work.”
Dad nodded and went around the bar, washing his hands before he started work grabbing onions and peppers out of the fridge. We sat in awkward silence for a bit before the fox looked up at us, “Uh-… Where, is, the, uh, bath, room?”
“It’s just around the corner and to your left.” The fox darted away and mom immediately leaned over the counter, “Why don’t you guys go play a game with him in your room?”
I shrugged and got up, starting off towards my room. Obviously mom and dad needed to talk about my new brother, and I honestly was glad to get out of that tension. As we started up towards the stairs, the bathroom door opened and he came out. I got his attention and gestured for him to follow us, which he did, looking kind of confused as he did so.
My room hadn’t ever been too decorative, and not for lack of space, but more for lack of care. My family wasn’t dull or under-expressive, but my family wasn’t over expressive either. Anything I was into I just waved to the side, understanding that it wasn’t worth the money or that there are better things I could buy. It wasn’t like my parents wouldn’t drop two or three grand to buy a fursuit for me, it was just the thought of so many people in a community spending that much money was… I dunno, it made it hard for Al to talk me into being a fur.
So my attic room was pretty bare, my bed had plaid sheets and blankets on it, my dresser was dusty, as were the old lego creations on it, my desk was clean save for the excessive amount of empty soda cans on it, my gaming computer was watching us with its two monitors, begging to be used. The TV in the far corner of the room hadn’t been touched in a few months, and the same went for the xbox. About the only part of my room that seemed to have any character was the bookcase, being loaded from ceiling to floor with board games, dice, notebooks, card games, colored pens, grid paper, boxes of unused card protectors, and the one lone corner that had a few hard-back collections of books by Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, and H. P. Lovecraft.
I sat down on my bed, looking passively at the fox, “So, this is my room. Um, don’t come in here unless I give you permission, and… uh…”
The fox cut me off, “Why are we up here?”
I shrugged, “I dunno, mom and dad wanna talk, probably about how to handle this. You don’t have a name, eventually you’re gonna need to go to school, and that brings up the social issues. You’re not human, so… people aren’t always going to take well to this.”
The fox tipped his head to the side and flipped one ear down, “What makes me so different from you?”
I rolled my eyes, “Tail, snout, ears-”
Al cut me off, “Soft fur,” he scratched under the fox’s ear and we both watched as he whimpered and collapsed into Al’s arms.
I scoffed, “Easiness to be subdued.”