by A. J. Mayall
Kyle giggled. “Go on, let’s see what you can do.” I smiled up at him and opened my mouth, taking him in. I missed the taste of him, the feel of intimacy, the loving man who loved me.
I wrapped my arms around him and kneaded his ass with my hands as I nursed on him. Kyle moaned. I bobbed faster and he reached down, stroking me between the ears with a free hand. Then he gripped me and held me in place as he slowly thrust back and forth.
God, I love this man. I’d give anything to be back with him as I had been.
I was fairly certain that he was getting close. I fondled his low-hanging testicles when he released my head and pulled back. “No, no, no…get on the bed,” he said, putting his hands under my armpits, hefting me up. “Get on all fours, fox boy,” he said, turning me away from him.
He crawled up and positioned himself behind me. “Kyle, I don’t have any—”
I felt him slap his manhood right there. He gripped what I had of an ass and squeezed it inward, hotdogging me. He rocked himself back and forth, shushing and reassuring me.
“I don’t care what you look like. I don’t care what limitations we have. I love you and I want to be here for you, and I want nothing more than for you to feel like you always did: loved.”
I ground back against him, and after a few minutes, he shifted to a sitting position. I sat on his lap, my back against his chest. Below, I could feel him rubbing his hardon where my manhood had been.
It felt wonderful.
He guided my hand down to stroke him off as he rubbed me in turn. We moaned in ecstasy together, and I leaned up, turning my head to kiss him deeply. I could feel his pulse quicken. He arched his back and shot rope after rope of seed across the white fur of my belly and face.
Kyle chuckled and kissed my nose.
“I love you so much,” I said to him. “You’re the best partner a fox could have.”
The sound of breaking glass scared us enough that we screamed. Toon or not, I had to protect Kyle. As soon as I got off the bed, I saw the intruder in the doorway. Holding a broken bottle of soda was Scratch T. Skunk, staring in abject horror and fury.
“I’m your partner!” he said. “What the heck do you think you’re doing?!”
CHAPTER 15
“Get the hell out of my—” I stopped and realized what was about to happen. “I’m sorry, Scratch. This is my boyfriend, Kyle. I really, really am sorry.”
I can’t believe I actually apologized to him. I wanted nothing to do with him; he was just some side effect of my conversion.
“No, you’re not his boyfriend,” he said, looking at Kyle. “I am his friend and, might I add, he’s G-rated.” He faced me again. “So, answer me, Fairfax,” he said, motioning wildly to the pair of us.
“Scratch, I understand that this seems like an aberration to you,” I said, grabbing a bed sheet for modesty and to wipe myself off, “but you have to understand…all of your memories, everything that you think is going on here is wrong.”
Kyle piped up, “I don’t know who you are, or what’s going on, but Fairfax has filled me in on some of the details.”
“Oh, really, Mr. Homewrecker?” Scratch said.
I slammed my foot down. “I’ve apologized for the stuff I said and did at Miss Blake’s house. I’m also going to let you know the reason I’m apologizing is that Snappy held my copyright and told me I had to.”
I grinned. Technically, I wasn’t breaking any command I’d been given. I didn’t have to say why I was apologizing; I only had to apologize for the initial issue.
Scratch took a few steps back and shook his head. “I don’t know you anymore.”
“We never knew each other in the first place.”
“Okay,” Kyle said, “Scratch, right?”
The skunk nodded, a huffy look on his face. “Yeah.”
“You follow movies?”
“Yeah…”
“Okay. Do you remember Dark City?”
I watched for a moment, as he seemed scrunched his face in thought and suddenly nodded. “Yeah! I remember seeing that back…was it the late 90s? Boy, did we look weird back then! You with that neon pink hat!” he said, chuckling and pointing at me.
I gritted my teeth and just let Kyle do the talking.
“Do you remember the whole point, where people were fed memories? You know, they were convinced of a complete life they’d had…an entire marriage, an entire created history with someone, even if they’d only met each other three minutes prior.”
“Yeah!”
“That’s what’s going on here with you.”
“But that’s silly! I—”
I said, “Scratch, the first time we met was two seconds before you hit me with that frying pan.”
Scratch backed up and shook his head. I couldn’t tell if it was disbelief or him understanding what was happening. “I have to go. I just—” he hissed at me, “you were making whoopie with a human! And you’re G-rated!”
He actually cried and walked out, slamming the door behind him. I peeked out the window and saw him sobbing and shuffling down the street.
Kyle held my shoulder. “Go to him.”
“What?!”
“I know that he’s some new toon who just popped into being a couple of hours ago, but to him, you’re his oldest friend.”
“He’s my foil. We’re like rivals, you know? Anything I want to do, he makes it his job to stop me.”
“He honestly seems concerned about you.”
“Well, he can be concerned somewhere fucking else. I don’t know him. I don’t share a history with them.” I held his hands. “You, I have a history with. You, I would give anything for.”
He smiled and kissed my nose. “And what if the first time you had actually met me was the moment you opened the door to let me in, before we made love tonight, and everything before this was a fabrication of your brain.”
“That’s ridiculous. We both—”
He nodded. “I know. I’ve loved you for years now, but to him, you’ve been partners for the better part of a century. Go to him.”
I shook my head. “Maybe later. If I’m going be working at Snappy’s place, he’ll turn up eventually.”
“Okay, just don’t take a month to reach out to him. Right now, you look like you could use all the friends you can get.”
“Yeah, but what I don’t need is someone who doesn’t realize I can’t survive having an anvil dropped on my head.”
Kyle smiled and kissed my forehead. He lifted me in his arms and cradled me. “You are rather adorable like this.”
I chuckled. “Don’t get used to it. As soon as I can find a way out—”
“I’m just saying…if this is how things are, I’m okay with it. Just do me a favor, okay?”
“What, you want me to do what Barry’s been telling me to do? Just accept it and move on?”
Kyle shrugged. “You can’t confront the woman who did this to you, right?”
“Correct.”
“And there’s already some private eye or mercenary or something who’s trying to take her out?”
“Yeah.”
“Did Snappy at any point say you weren’t allowed to stop someone else from taking her out?”
“No.”
“And didn’t you tell me you wanted to be this guy’s eyes and ears inside the complex?”
“Yeah.”
“Then it seems like your role in this whole thing is kinda settled.”
“But she did this to me! I need to be the—”
Kyle put a finger to my lips. “No, you don’t. What you need to do is just go to work, do your job, get paid, and come home to me every day.”
“Kyle…what are you saying?”
“I’m saying, ‘Would you mind if I moved in?’”
I blushed and shook my head. “No, I’d love you to be here! Heck, Barry and Betty love having you around.”
He smiled and carried me back to bed in his arms. “Come on, let’s just try this out for a bit, okay?”
“Okay. I just—”
“If this Chance fellow that you mentioned can find a way of reversing the process, then we got it settled, but we have to accept the very serious probability that this was a one-way trip and we’ll adjust our lives accordingly.”
I felt tears well up again. I’ve been trying to hold onto the hope of being human but if even Kyle was trying to tell me this was how things would be…
“Fairfax, let’s say you had been in a car accident on the way to Burger Circus, and you’d been paralyzed. I’d still be by your side and you know what? Yeah, there might’ve been some hope for you to regain the use of arms and legs, but eventually, you just have to accept that these things kinda happen.”
He paused. “Okay, not these things,” he said, gesturing at my current form, “but you get what I’m talking about. I’ve been worried that I was gonna lose you for a month, and I don’t care how I have you back. I’m just glad that you’re here.”
I leaned in and kissed him passionately. I closed my eyes, putting my head to his chest to listen to his heartbeat.
Weeks passed before I heard from Chance again. I actually wasn’t expecting to hear from him again.
Snappy had made a point of having me work remotely. He was still upset over the incident at his estate, and even though I had been commanded not to interfere with Miss Blake, he didn’t want to take any risks. He said I was too crafty for normal commands…I acted too human. He also mentioned I was the best executive assistant he’d ever had; once a week, Kyle drove me down, we collected a few briefcases full of papers, and he helped me do all my data entry.
I did keep a copy of all the information, eventually convincing myself that, if Snappy needed a backup, I wanted to be a good employee. I wanted to be a good toon, but deep down, I knew in the unlikely event I heard from Chance, I’d be ready to give him more information.
When my cell phone rang, it showed the number as “Unknown.” At first, I thought it was just a spam call, but I answered it anyway.
“Fairfax,” he said. I felt a chill go down my spine.
“Hey,” I said.
“You doin’ all right?”
“Yeah. So…what ended up happening outside that night?”
“I tried to get a good couple shots, but the guys were good and while the dark wouldn’t usually have been a problem, they had their high beams on; I couldn’t aim right. They tore out. What about you?”
“Snappy’s got me doing the same project. Kyle’s been helping me with it. I’m getting close to having all of the information done, and I’ve been doing such a good job that Snappy’s been subcontracting me to other really old toons who work in his field. Basically, he’s piling me with as much paperwork as possible to keep me busy and away from the estate.”
“Yeah, well, be ready for round two against her.”
“I don’t know what I can do!”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve been commanded not to raise a hand against her.”
“You can still do tactics.”
“Like what?”
He paused. “You were able to establish the situation pretty fast, and aside from the unforeseen circumstance of your foil popping into existence, you would have had her dead to rights.”
“I can’t even approach her house. I don’t even know what sort of security measures she’s got up now. Honestly, I’m shocked she’s still living there. For all I know, she’s moved. I haven’t even asked Snappy about it. He never wants to bring her up in conversation.”
“Okay. Point taken. Do you know anyone who might be able to help, then? Someone who’s good with a gun?”
“If only we could get Boost Beaver to break his rating. I’ve followed his livestreams in the past couple of weeks. When it comes to first-person shooters, the dude could teach you a thing or two.”
He grinned. “That’s something he’s got over you, then.”
“It was my first go, and I had seven—” I stopped myself from completing the sentence as Kyle looked over at me. “Listen, I’m trying to get my life back in order. I’ve been getting more information and you’re welcome to it, but I don’t want to risk what I’ve got now. I’ve got someone who cares about me, who’s willing to help me out. I’m trying to have a support network.”
“Aren’t you still mad at what they did to you?”
“Sure, I’m still furious, but there’s nothing I can do.”
“Okay, I can come over and get a copy of the information, if you want.”
“You know, I’d like that. It’d actually be nice to see you.”
“All right, I can come over later today.”
About 45 minutes later, there was a knock on the door. I grinned and jaunted over, throwing the door open. “How’s it going, Cha—”
“Hey, Fairfax,” said Scratch. “Can I come in?”
I looked down at my shoes and then at him. “I suppose, for a little bit.”
He took a seat on the couch. Kyle walked in and gave him an awkward glance.
Scratch scowled and made a face at him. “I’m going to spray that guy one day.”
“You will do no such thing, not in my house, or you will never be allowed back in here,” I said.
That snapped him out of his feelings of indignation. “You really would do that, wouldn’t you? Everything we’ve been through—”
“We haven’t been through anything, Scratch. I keep trying to tell you this. I’ve got a guest coming over and—”
“Fine! You don’t want me around? I understand!”
“Scratch, you’re welcome to stick around and hang out.”
“It’s just…” he sniffled and looked at Kyle for a moment. “You’re supposed to be my friend! My entire existence is based around you, okay? I’m not the main one; I’m the foil. I don’t get to have rollicking adventures, I get to stop you from having them. I don’t get to have romance, I get to ruin your dates. That’s the nature of my existence and you’re just kicking me out and I haven’t done anything!”
Kyle looked at me and nodded toward Scratch. “Talk to him. I’ll be in the other room.”
I scooted up on the couch and looked him in the eye. “Scratch, I-I don’t know what to tell you.”
“Tell me that we’re still friends, at least. I can’t get a job without you; my copyright’s tied to yours. I’m just going to meander and do nothing. I’m going to be in entertainment limbo. I’ll be lucky if I get secondhand splatted by someone throwing a pie somewhere. What have I done to you?”
I patted his shoulder. “You haven’t done anything wrong. I’m not trying to do this to be mean to you or hurt you.”
“But you are! I’m your foil. You can’t just ignore me. We’re not like the humans where if they fall out of love, you know, it’s sad, they cut to black, and the next season, there’s a new boyfriend or girlfriend who comes in. We stick together forever. We go through the cycles of ‘Are they enemies?’ ‘Are they best friends?’ ‘Are they roommates?’”
I wiped away a tear on his cheek. “Scratch, it’s okay. We’ll figure something out. I’m trying to be a better toon.”
He smiled. “Does that mean you’re going to stop—”
I shook my head. “Kyle and I are an item. We’ve been an item for a very long time, and you’re not getting between us. But,” I said, “I need someone to help teach me how to be Fairfax. I need to fit in better. But you have to understand a few things.”
“Like what?”
“Okay. You remember when you smacked me with that frying pan,” I said, trying not to remind him of his recent addition to reality despite having a century’s worth of memories, “I was stabbed?”
“Yeah, with a human weapon; that was weird. And why didn’t you just shake it off?”
“That’s the thing. I can’t, okay? I keep trying to tell you. I was human, and I was converted into a toon, and they put my copyright on a really old copyright page. Pamela Blake wrote me to have a foil because I had a boyfriend
as a human and she wanted to make sure I wouldn’t be alone.”
He grabbed me by the shoulders. “See? We’re supposed to be together! Even by the story you just told me, we’re supposed to be together. If you were human and you are turned into a toon, then you’re not human anymore and you shouldn’t be with him. You need to be with me!”
“That’s not how it works, okay? I don’t know you that well, and I wouldn’t mind getting to know you, but you need to understand that there are boundaries.”
Scratch looked hurt but slowly nodded. “Okay. Boundaries.”
There was another knock on the door and I let Chance in.
Scratch backed up against the back of the couch. “I remember you! You’re the one who convinced Fairfax to do those horrible, horrible things!”
Chance smiled. “Guilty as charged. Your buddy’s got a knack for it, though. Bloodthirst like I ain’t seen in years.”
I brought a finger up to my mouth. “My boyfriend’s here. I don’t want him knowing about that stuff. I can help you out with Miss Blake but I-I can’t hurt her, okay?”
Scratch looked at me and then him.
I walked into the other room, returning with a stack of papers and a few thumb drives. “This is everything I have. Maybe I could try to make some connections for you but by copyright decree, I cannot raise my own hand to harm her, as much as I’d like to.”
Chance nodded and took the paperwork and the thumb drives, giving me a two-finger salute off the temple. “I get it.”
“Thank you for your understanding. Please stay in touch.”
“I want to be kept updated as often as possible,” he said, giving me a slightly sorrowful look.
“I want to help, but all I can do is run information at this point.”
Chance nodded and saw himself to the door. “That’s good enough for me. Wouldn’t mind having a pair of eyes and ears guiding my hand.”
That’s when I had an idea or, at least, a flash of one.
Once Chance left, Scratch hopped up. “I thought you were giving all that violence up.”
“I’m trying to. I’ve never been violent before, but I can hold a grudge like nobody’s business.”