“Ow, shit, I forgot something."

Munching his pizza, Lucas looked at Vilkas curiously, slight disappointment on his face. They had been hanging since midday, with the husky being nice enough to accompany him when he was feeling like shit. Work had been tiring, and while Tom had been a welcome distraction, most days he still found himself feeling like a turtle when he came home.

“I forgot that Kevin wanted to come to my place."

The coyote's ears dropped. “Aww."

Vilkas typed something on his phone. “Eh, you mind if I invite him over here instead?"

He shrugged at that, ears still down. He wasn't really close to Kevin, but he had Vilkas here anyway. Besides, as much as he disliked admitting it, the red wolf was an alluring eye candy. “Sure, why not?" He answered, hiding his wagging tail under a pillow.

Not long after that, someone knocked at the door. They both looked at it before Lucas stood up to answer it. Unlocking it, he was greeted by Kevin wearing an unzipped jacket and a tank top underneath with a bag of snacks and a casual, friendly smirk as usual. “Hey, Kev, come in!"

Kevin answered with a light punch to his shoulder before coming inside. Looking around, he smelled the air as he closed the door, making Lucas feel self-conscious about his flat. It wasn't that smelly, was it? “Heh, smells like cum in here. You two just fucked or something?" said the red wolf, taking his jacket off and putting it on the hanger.

That instantly made Lucas go red in embarrassment, taking the almost empty jug of water.

“Yeah, sorry, haven't really had time to clean up lately." He replied, going to the kitchen to get more drink.

Vilkas, however, only leant back on the sofa and changed the TV channel, clearly used to the red wolf's antics. “Wow, such a gentlemanly manner."

“But for real though, what were you two doing here?" asked the wolf.

Vilkas answered, “Just hanging out and playing some games, you dickhead. We hung out a lot in your dorm and you never question that."

“Yeah but we also fucked."

Lucas couldn't help but wag his tail at that. With his body covered by the fridge door as he took some more snacks like that, he looked like he was trying to hide from embarrassment.

A short while later, he returned to the living room carrying some snacks and drinks. Putting it down on the coffee table, he looked around the room. Yeah, it did look rather messy, and when he really sniffed the air, it was kind of smelly. Maybe he needed to clean his flat more thoroughly tomorrow.

When he was about to sit down, though, he saw the only empty seat was beside Kevin. Vilkas was sitting on a single sofa, and already munching the snacks that Kevin brought as he booted up the PlayBox. Meanwhile, Kevin was pouring himself a glass of water, and when he looked up at the coyote, he waved his tail in a friendly greeting.

Lucas' ears droop a bit before replying to the greeting with his tail and sitting down beside him.

“So what are we gonna play next?"

“I don't know, you wanna play something?"

“Hmm, not really. How about you, Kev?"

“Ehh, I'm just gonna sit back and watch you guys play."

“Already afraid that I'm gonna beat your ass?"

“Be glad there's Lucas here or I'm gonna beat your ass myself." Kevin smirked.

Vilkas laughed at that, whereas Lucas only gripped the controller and took a heavy sigh. He forgot just how horny the wolf was.

He scrolled through his library of games, surprising Kevin with the amount of games he had. “I already finished most of them," he added with a confident smirk as they scrolled down the list. Thanks to that, they could easily play another game when they got tired of one.

Kevin, at first content to just watch them play, couldn't resist joining some games after Vilkas teased him. Soon, the room was filled with the sounds of button mashing, triumphant cheers, and frustrated groans. When the wolf wasn't joining, he was content with watching them scream and curse as the game became a bit too competitive. Lucas couldn't afford to lose, not when he already had such high scores on the leaderboard, but Vilkas was also cunning and ready to beat his arse whenever he got the chance.

Eventually, hunger got the best of them. They turned the console off as they waited for their Over Food order to arrive. “Gotta be expensive, getting that many games." Kevin commented when Lucas was tidying up the cables.

He chuckled at that. “Well, I did sail the high seas once or twice, if you know what I mean." He smirked.

That made the wolf laugh and give him a thumbs-up. “That is the way."

Vilkas returned from the bathroom and wiped his hands. Though, when he was about to sit, someone knocked at the door. “Hey, gotta be our Over Food guy. Go open it, Vil." Kevin said to the husky.

After taking the food, they began to eat heartily. Lucas knew well the dynamic between Kevin and Vilkas, and on some occasions, he wondered if what the wolf said about them were true. No, not the part where he said they used to fuck each other—although that would be really hot—but mostly the part where the wolf said that Vilkas used to be so much more of a good boy while the wolf himself used to be much worse.

He watched in amusement as Kevin flexed his arms, teasing Vilkas and saying that he still had a long way to bulk up. Vilkas retorted that Kevin ate too much protein which didn't go to his brain.

This felt as if they were still in university, to be honest. It must be fun to have them as classmates.

Sadly, Vilkas' phone then beeped. He lazily took it and read the message. “Ah, shite, I forgot I hafta go to work." He put his empty plate down.

“Wait, already?"

“Yeah, I'm taking a half-shift today. It's gonna start in half an hour." said the husky as he tidied up his plate. “Sorry, Luc, I need to go now. Thanks for today, by the way."

“No worries." He smiled at the husky.

Kevin, though, still teased him. “You know, your number 1 client is right here." He pointed at Lucas.

Not wanting to be bested at that, the coyote retorted. “We were just about to do it when you came in, you cockblocker."

Not expecting that retort, the wolf guffawed, to which the coyote just chuckled.

“Alright, gotta go now. Sorry about the mess. Don't let Kevin bite you." laughed the husky as he put his jacket on.

“It's alright! Thanks for today!" Lucas chimed. 

Kevin stood up and shoved Vilkas' shoulder as he was walking to the bathroom. “Fuck off, you bastard!" He laughed as he did so.

The husky just shook his head, then walked out of the door and left him alone in the living room.

Wait, so that meant…

Not long after, Kevin returned. Lucas gulped down his water as he watched Kevin plop back onto the sofa. An unwelcome knot of anxiety twisted in his stomach. He knew Kevin, sure, but close enough? Not really. They never really hung out one-on-one, so it was somewhat surprising that he hadn't followed Vilkas out the door.

Actually, Lucas could see that Kevin was considering just that. The wolf was watching the telly, but his tail was waving pensively. That continued for a few minutes until finally the wolf leant back on the sofa and gave a relaxed sigh, his tail now wagging. “Hope you don't mind me." Kevin's smile softened his rather rough, handsome look. “And hope you don't bite me with your snarkiness."

Lucas felt a smile tug at the corners of his lips. The knot in his stomach loosened a fraction. Maybe having Kevin around wouldn't be so bad. “Nah, it's alright. You have work tomorrow, by the way?" he asked, noticing that it was already dark outside.

“Nah, I'm free tomorrow."

“Nice."

A companionable silence fell over them, with only the television providing some background noise. Lucas peeked at Kevin from the corner of his eye, noticing the wolf's gently waving tail thumping on the sofa accompanying his own. He seemed comfortable here, and Lucas was rather glad that the wolf stayed around. He wanted to scoot closer to the wolf, but this was already more than enough.

Still, Kevin was one seriously attractive wolf. With a tank top clinging to his broad shoulders and short pants showcasing sculpted calves, it was almost like the wolf was deliberately trying to fluster the coyote. As if to add fuel to the fire, Kevin then casually draped his arm over the back of the sofa, showing his toned upper arm and giving more peeks to the side of his chest. Lucas had to look away as the air suddenly seemed to be thick with the wolf's scent, making his southern parts perk up for attention.

The worst part of this was that Kevin's ear was pointed at him, a clear indication that the wolf knew he was being stared at.

Tail curling, the coyote turned his attention back to the television. However, his mind instead remembered those times when he went to the bar when Kevin was still working there. Of course, he'd seen the wolf topless before. The wolf was very open about himself, showing off his body without any care whatsoever and even invited Lucas to touch him. Of course, with Vilkas usually keeping him busy, he didn't really pay Kevin much attention other than he was very brazen and forward, and also someone he must keep a healthy distance from.

Lucas took a deep breath. He was really easy to rile up, wasn't he?

“Hey, how much did you buy that PlayBox for?"

He looked back up at the wolf, forcing his ears back up. Kevin was looking at the PlayBox under the television, either trying to invite him to ogle him more or trying to make the situation less awkward. He surely knew that he'd been stared at, didn't he? “That was… uh… I think I got that for 450 euros, I forgot. I bought that during a clearance discount a few years ago."

“Huh, nice." The wolf hummed. “Thought it was way more expensive. I don't have to save up that much, then."

“You wanna get one?" He asked the wolf.

“Nah, for my mom… or do you think it's overkill for her? Those dancing games you two played earlier, I think that's gonna be nice for my mom." Kevin looked at the coyote. “You know, to keep her moving."

Lucas looked back at the console. “Eh, I don't know. Maybe it's overkill? You can just cast an exercise video to your TV for your mom."

“I guess."

They went silent again, though the wolf quickly spoke again before it got awkward.

“You're from Hampstertown, right, Luc?"

“Yeah, I am." He looked at the wolf, only to find that the wolf was also looking at him. Forcing his ears to stay up, he asked him back, “What about it?"

“How's it like there?"

“It's… good enough, I guess?"

“Seems cool." Kevin chuckled at that.

Lucas awkwardly shifted on the sofa, cursing himself. He could manage to put up a confident and outgoing persona when he was in a group, not when he was alone with someone. Especially when that someone was so hot and alluring without even trying to.

“Oh yeah, you're gay, right?"

That… made his heart skip a beat. It was very rare for someone to ask him that, and even though he should be used to it by now, he couldn't help but curl his tail in discomfort. He'd been on the receiving end of that question for only a few times yet he still couldn't help but think of the rejection he got on the first time.

Thankfully, Kevin spoke again before his mind could go haywire. “Someone told me that it's not really a good place for gays there."

Yeah, that did not help. The coyote could only lean back on the sofa and stare at the television. So many things came up in his mind, one more painful and bitter than the one before, and he could only reply a weak, “Yeah, i-it's really not."

“Ouch, damn dude." The wolf reached out and put his hand on the coyote's shoulder, offering sympathy and a smile.

Lucas closed his eyes and smiled back, though it came out painful. He might no longer be in Hampstertown, but he still couldn't let go of so many things he was forced to learn there.

Including accepting himself.

“If you ever wanna learn more about gay stuff, you know I'm more than willing to teach you." Kevin's smile turned into a grin and his grip on the coyote's shoulder turned flirty. Before the action flustered him, though, the wolf continued, “So, first stuff, when two daddies love each other very much…"

“Piss off." Lucas laughed and pushed the wolf away. 

Kevin laughed along, though instead of moving away, he pulled the laughing coyote into his arm. Lucas, oblivious to his position, only continued to push the wolf away, pushing his chest to get him off.

Their laughter died down, leaving them in a comfortable silence. Now, though, he felt increasingly uncomfortable as he noticed how close he was to the wolf. He was pretty much snuggled up against the wolf's solid build, with his shoulder pressed against Kevin's chest and his thigh pressed against Kevin's own. In fact, his hand was resting on the wolf's thigh, only a little further from his…

Lucas gulped, not daring to move his hand.

They stayed in that position for a while, with his tail going from wagging madly to gently thumping against the sofa, matching the wolf's own tail. The action now felt more friendly than flirty, and Lucas dared move his hand to trace circles on the wolf's thigh. Kevin didn't comment on that; he didn't even say anything as he picked his phone up to reply to a message before putting it back down.

“You know, you're in Barrowisle now, yote." Kevin then said, breaking the silence. “Go wild."

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes. He already heard that sentence so many times now, even not long after he set foot in Barrowisle. It had been what, three years? Four years? Yet he was still here, in this apartment building he'd come to call home, with his tail being his only companion.

No one ever helped give him warmth. Of course, he invited people here, sometimes also sleeping on the bed with him, but never had he even dared touch another man's southern parts. He kept his thoughts to himself, kept his anxiety and insecurity to himself. There was still a border that he dared not cross.

Vilkas visited him quite often, but the husky went from being an object to sexualise and drool over to an actual friend whose company he greatly enjoyed. And it wasn't like the husky didn't know that, either; Vilkas used to tease him during all those private sessions, teasingly asking how many times he jerked off to the husky's image, what position he imagined them to be, and most daring of all, whether he wanted to actually touch the husky.

Vilkas had been so open and inviting, yet he still did not dare. Not even after their sessions went from extremely sexual to very much platonic.

“Or maybe you already had so many people over here on the sofa?" continued Kevin with an easy chuckle, oblivious to his reminiscing.

Lucas took another deep breath and straightened up, making the wolf pull his hand back. They were still very close, though, and he shifted a bit to give them some space. He filled his glass with water and drank it, sighing as he put it back and pulled one leg up on the sofa and hugged it. “Kevin… well…" his tail wagged in anxiousness for a bit before going still. “You know, I… uh, how can you be so confident about being gay? Like, you pretty much told me that you're gay the first day we met."

Well, they met in a bar where Kevin was working as a topless waiter, but still.

The wolf just shrugged, nonchalance all over his air. “I mean, what's wrong with it? I'm gay, and I don't care what people think. I know you like men already—you were literally booking a session with Vilkas, so I thought to myself, yeah we both like men, might as well go forward and tell you that." He casually put his arm over the sofa again.

Lucas leant back on the sofa, looking at Kevin. “Has it ever, you know, given you a hard time?"

The wolf hummed for a bit. “Yeah, a few times, but mostly it's just people getting surprised when I tell them that. I mean, I'm pretty straight-passing—not that I'm proud of that. It's stupid to say gay-passing, straight-passing, like come on, I'm being gay doesn't make me any less of a man. I just like men instead of women. And that's what people usually think."

“What people usually think?"

“We do stuff together, stuff that 'apparently'," the wolf made air quotes at that, “only straight people do, so when I tell them that I'm gay, they say, 'you don't look and act gay'. I just reply, okay sure whatever you say, I still wanna suck dicks and fuck men, though." He ended with a grin with one fang peeking out.

Letting out a chuckle at the wolf's bluntness, he leant back on the sofa, this time not shying away from the wolf's arm behind his head. He looked at Kevin with a newfound admiration, at how he embraced his sexuality without apology.

“How many have you—wait, that's a stupid question."

Kevin guffawed.

Lucas glanced down at the wolf's body again, then shook his head and looked at the television. With a body like that, of course Kevin wouldn't have a hard time picking up on people. Even Lucas himself wouldn't turn him down…

“Don't worry, Luc, you're also hot as fuck. Got that shy bad daddy vibe going." Kevin then said with a flirty gaze. “I mean, wow, spank me and bend me over, daddy."

This time, Lucas guffawed, though it was awkward as he tried to cover his own arousal. He would rather be spanked and bent over, thank you.

“I kinda wonder how many times you have bent Vilkas over, not gonna lie." The wolf joked, reaching out for his glass before taking a drink.

Feeling more comfortable, the coyote wrapped his arm around the wolf's sturdy back and pulled him closer. “Careful, curiosity can get you bent over, you know." He whispered to the wolf in a flirty tone as he felt up his strong shoulder and arm.

Kevin's ears straightened and his tail started wagging. “Oh no, I think I'm gonna be careless."

They laughed together.

“Just be yourself, dude." The wolf continued, leaning back on the sofa. Lucas wanted to pull his arm back, but Kevin didn't seem to mind as he made himself comfortable in his hold. “Like, you're gay, so what? Don't care what people say about gays."

Lucas' eyes were glued to the television, but he paid no attention. Kevin was right. If he was born this way, then he was also going to die this way. “Yeah, you're right." he answered, defeated. “Thanks, Kev."

So why was he still afraid?

His phone beeped, taking his attention. With a heavy sigh of resignation, Lucas let Kevin go and reached for his phone. He felt Kevin watching him with curious eyes, though thankfully the wolf didn't comment anything.

For now, all he could do was sweep his thoughts and feelings under the rug, as usual. He unenthusiastically leant back on the sofa, phone still in hand. “Hey, I wanna get some food for dinner. You got a suggestion?"

Notes:

Lucas :')