Chapter Text
He could hear the water dripping from the ceiling before his eyes began to adjust to the darkness. His shirt and shorts both were soaked through, and though he could feel that he was laying on solid ground, he could also feel the water flowing around him. He felt a fat droplet plink directly onto his nose, and involuntarily lifted his paw to his face to rub it. Somehow, before that, he hadn’t actually considered the fact that he could move. Now that he knew he could, he rolled onto his side, and then pushed himself up into a sitting position, and then, unsteadily, stood.
As he did so, lights to either side illuminated, momentarily blinding him once again. When his vision cleared again, he was able to take in his surroundings. He was underground, in a tunnel roughly cut out of the rock and supported regularly by pillars and crossbeams. The lights, likewise, were regularly placed along the walls, and burned brightly despite their obvious age. Water pooled up to his ankles, dripped from the ceiling and cascaded down the walls. Correction: He was underground, and was presently being flooded out.
His heart attempted to leap up his throat at the realization, but he took a few deep breaths, tried to calm himself. He was an otter, he was a naturally great swimmer, and he could hold his breath for longer than anyone he knew. Presumably, the water was flowing in from somewhere, so if he just walked towards where the water was coming from, he’d find an exit. All he had to do was walk, and not panic. So he set off.
As he walked, the water rose. To his calves, then his knees. To his hips, and then above his waist. The tunnel went on. Not one single bend, no shafts that might lead up to another level, or even for ventilation. Not to mention as the water rose higher, the lights dimmed. Some blew out entirely, meaning for stretches at a time he was fumbling his way forward in the dark. He was starting to panic again. The water being so high was impeding his forward progress, and it felt like it was beginning to flow faster. He took a deep breath, and dove forward, figuring at this point he’d get further faster if he swam.
Every time he came up for air, his head was that much closer to the ceiling. More of the lights were starting to go out now, he was swimming in the dark more often than not. He could feel the current start to try and drag him backwards, like a rope had coiled around his legs and was pulling him deeper, and he had to undulate harder, faster, to keep moving forward. Finally he saw it, dimly illuminated, a hole in the ceiling water was pouring in from. This was his one and only chance, when he came up for air again his head touched the ceiling. He took in as much air as he could, then hauled himself up through the hole.
He was underwater, deep, but not enough to completely obscure the light coming from the surface. He kicked off the surface, and swam upwards, feeling of relief flooding over him. He was almost there, he was going to make it. He breached the surface, never so happy in his life to see daylight. He was… In Lake Emma? He was pretty far out, but he could see where the town had begun trying to redevelop the lakeside, full of barbeque stands and shaded pavilions. He could see his friends out there; Leo and Jenna, Carl and TJ, even Flynn. They seemed to be looking in his direction.
“Hey!” he called out to them, “You guys won’t believe-”
Something closed around his leg. He felt himself get dragged back under. He looked down to see what it was, and he couldn’t help it. He screamed, and immediately lost most of his air. Connected to his ankle was an emaciated paw, covered in brown fur. It lead down to a bear, or what was left of one. Clad in the bloody remains of his yellowed muscle shirt and faded jeans, his torso cut open from the base of his neck down to his pelvis, face shaved down to the bone on the right side, Brian leered up at him. Brian’s destroyed face twisted into an evil grin, the bear began to speak. And even though his ears were sealed to keep water out, somehow he could hear every word.
“Y’all didn’t think I’d actually let ya get away, now did ya?”
The bear’s high pitched voice drove needles into his brain. He squirmed in the bear’s grasp. He kicked at Brian’s rotten face. He tore at the bear’s bony fingers. Nothing could free him from Brian’s grasp. The bear dragged him back into the flooded tunnels, what his fading consciousness finally recognized must be Danicka Mine. Brian was bringing him back to the place where he was meant to die, and where the bear had ended up dying instead. The fight was going out of him now, things were getting dark. He knew any second now his body would force him to take a breath. This was it, it was over.
~*~
Chase Hunter took a long gasping breath. He was not in the mine, or Lake Emma, or even Echo. No, he was hundreds of miles away in the apartment he shared with his boyfriend. Be that as it may, he couldn’t move. His apartment was bathed in an eerie red light. There was a pressure on his chest, like something was pushing down on it, but, of course, nothing was there. He glanced to his left, and there he was. Kudzu Téngwàn, his boyfriend of some years. The raccoon had his back to Chase, covers pulled up to his shoulders. The raccoon didn’t look like he was breathing.
Chase tried to say something, but realized that, on top of not being able to move, he couldn’t talk either. Okay, he was having a sleep paralysis episode. All he needed to do was close his eyes, and in a few minutes he’d wake up properly. When he was younger, he used to fear that one day he’d ‘wake up’ into one of these paralyzes, and would be stuck forever, never to really wake up. Sometimes it still felt like that might be the case, the minutes sometimes felt like they would stretch into hours. He just needed to not panic, to try and relax. Everything would be fine.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
That was the sound of something at his window. It wasn’t real either, he reminded himself. This was not the first time, not would it be the last, that something fucked up came to him in one of these episodes. In fact, he remembered reading once that a lot of so-called alien abductions came from people having episodes just like the one he was having now. So these fucked things he was seeing, they weren’t even unique to him!
Tap. Tap. Tap.
It really wanted his attention. Chase knew better than to look at it, but somehow he found that he couldn’t help himself. He opened his eyes again, glancing right this time. He knew he’d regret doing so, and he did so almost instantly. It was the thing he saw on the highway that night. Spring Break 2015, trying to escape Echo in one of Carl’s parents’ expensive cars. That thing, too long limbs, emaciated furless body, holes where the eyes and mouth should be, crouched over the corpse of Duke Tibbits, a man who, despite his actions that night, Chase knew didn’t deserve to die that way, his gut torn open and feasted upon by some undefinable hellbeast.
The otter found that now that he was looking at the monster, his eyes were transfixed. He couldn’t look away, he couldn’t even close them again. He watched as the monster drew its fist far back. It threw its arm forward, burst through the window, sending glass shards flying everywhere. Not even injured, it then reached for Chase. He felt its gangly fingers brush against his chest, stroke against his cheek, and then close around his neck.
Only then did he wake up. When he jerked awake - really, he had more of a full body spasm - he was panting so hard he felt like he’d just run a marathon. He could feel his heart racing, threatening to launch itself up his throat and out for the world to see. As he pushed himself up into a sitting position, throwing the covers off himself, he could feel that he was drenched in sweat. He looked around the darkened room, trying to reorientate himself. He was still where he was meant to be, the bedroom of the apartment he shared with Kudzu, far away from Echo. He was safe, nothing was going to come and hurt him here.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
He twisted around in the direction of the window, fully believing that his sleep paralysis demon had followed him into the real world, as illogical as that was. But no, of course not. It was raining, Chase remembered that it had started a bit before he’d gone to bed, and every so often a particularly fat raindrop would strike their window. He slid out of bed, and looked out to take in the sights. Aside from the red neon lights of the nightclub across the street, the only illumination came from the amber streetlights. The city wasn’t up yet, the street curbs lined with parked cars waiting for their drivers to begin their day. The sky, still dark. The otter shut the curtains, and finally started to feel his heartbeat begin to settle.
So, suffice to say, when a hand suddenly clasped him on the shoulder, he wasn’t expecting it. His sense of security immediately shattered once again, he swore, loudly and involuntarily, and jerked out of the hand’s grasp, whipping around, unsure which face was about to confront him: Brian’s, or the monster’s. Neither, as it turned out. Instead, he met Kudzu’s concerned gaze, the whites of the raccoon’s wide open eyes framed by his black domino mask fur pattern. He’d jumped back a foot or so to dodge Chase’s rudder as it whipped around him, and his fur was frazzled and tail puffed out as it flicked back and forth.
“Jesus, Chase!” Kudzu hissed.
“Kudzu!” the otter practically squeaked. He took a few deep breaths, trying to center himself once again, before he spoke again, his tone still a little strained, but not nearly so loud, “H-hey. Sorry, did I wake you?”
The raccoon’s fur started to lay flat again as his tail settled into more measured, softer sways. He folded his arms, and gave the otter a wry smile, while at the same time trying to adopt a more soothing tone of voice, “You uh, kinda hit me with your tail.”
The raccoon’s eyes drifted down to the appendage in question. Chase coiled it around himself, so he could grab the tip in both paws and give it a twist. This was a common tic of the otter’s, whenever he was feeling particularly anxious or self conscious, ever since he was a child. It was kind of embarrassing to be still doing it as a young adult, but at least only Kudzu could see. The otter mumbled, looking down at his tail in his paws, “S-sorry.”
“Probably woke the whole floor with that shouting, though,” the raccoon chided, though his voice maintained a light, amused quality to it. The apartment Chase and Kudzu shared was on the top floor of a three storey building, the first floor of which was a bakery owned and operated by the landlords, who lived on the second floor. Their apartment was one of four that made up the third floor, and though their relationship with their neighbors was cordial, Chase wouldn’t go so far as to say they were particularly friendly with any of them.
“Don’t say that,” the otter groaned, “I feel bad enough already.”
Kudzu wrapped his paws around Chase’s, getting the otter to release his tail and let it swing back behind him. Then, taking Chase’s paw in his, the raccoon led him back to the bed, where the two sat down side by side. Kudzu flicked on the bedside lamp, before turning back to the otter, “So uh, what happened? Bad dream?”
When Chase simply nodded, the raccoon continued, “Do you… Wanna talk about it?”
“I… Don’t really remember,” Chase lied, looking down at his paws again.
“You don’t remember, and that’s why immediately upon leaping outta bed, you went to the window, looked out, and then shut the curtains,” Kudzu said, voice tinged with an edge of disappointment as he crossed his arms again and frowned. “You know, if you don’t want to talk about it you just have to tell me that, Chase.”
“No, it’s just- I’m sorry,” Chase sighed, looking up again to match Kudzu’s gaze. The raccoon had been with him that night, and had experienced many of the same things Chase had, including that monster on the highway. At the time, the raccoon had tried to dismiss it as some kind of diseased animal, even after it had folded Carl’s car nearly in half and thrown them and it into Lake Emma. It had been a survival mechanism of sorts, to protect their fragile, stressed out minds on that night. Since then, neither of them talked about it much.
“I saw… The thing from that night,” Chase finally admitted. “It busted through the window and, uh… Tried to strangle me.”
At least this way he could leave out the prior dream with Brian. And he wasn’t lying, just withholding part of the truth. Kudzu’s expression softened, and the raccoon pulled him into a careful hug, one Chase accepted gratefully. Chase loved the way they fit together. Kudzu was about a head shorter than he was, and the otter loved the way the raccoon nuzzled into his neck and chest, and how he could rest his muzzle on the top of Kudzu’s head. For a minute or two, they simply pressed their furry torsos together, feeling one anothers heartbeat, and held each other. When Kudzu gently started to pull away, Chase let him go. Though he was sad to do so, the time had really helped him start to feel better.
“Do you uh… Want some water?” the raccoon asked, to which the otter simply nodded. The raccoon leaned forward again to give him a light peck on the side of his muzzle, and then stood and made for the door. As he went, Chase couldn’t help but stare as the shadows cast by their lamp danced across Kudzu’s muscular back, and then as his eyes were drawn downward, past the raccoon’s bushy tail as it flicked back and forth in time with his steps to his firm rear, clad, like Chase himself, in only his underwear. It left very little to the imagination. Of course, he soon vanished into the dark hallway beyond their door, leaving Chase alone in their bedroom.
With Kudzu gone, the otter’s eyes were free to drift around the room. First to their shared dresser, which was long and squat. They split it roughly fifty-fifty, which had worked at first, but was starting to get a little tight as they each acquired more clothes. On top of it was a small TV. Kudzu had been against a bedroom TV, the raccoon much preferring a quiet evening reading in bed before a silent sleeping experience, but Chase sometimes needed the noise of it to help him fall asleep, a sort of white noise for him to focus on instead of his own racing thoughts. Eventually, after enough times finding the otter in the morning splayed awkwardly asleep on their living room loveseat, the raccoon had finally caved, and invested in a pair of earplugs instead for when Chase was having one of those nights.
The TV was off now, and Chase had no desire to flick it on, so next his eyes drifted to their bed. It was maybe a little on the small side for the two of them, but part of Chase really enjoyed the closeness that resulted from it. Still, Kudzu had been giving subtle hints that he was interested in upgrading at some point, maybe even to a new water bed - the raccoon apparently missing his old one - and Chase wasn’t exactly opposed. They each had a bedside table, with a lamp that cast enough light to see by, but not entirely illuminate the room. For his part, Chase usually only had his phone on his, or sometimes his laptop if he decided to do a little work from bed. Kudzu, likewise, often had a book on his table.
The main thing on Kudzu’s table, however, were two framed photographs. The newer one was one Chase had taken himself. It had been intended to be a selfie of the pair of them, to celebrate them moving into their new home here. Of course, the raccoon had decided to sneak a kiss right as Chase was capturing the moment, and the otter had lost his composure, ears splayed back and eyes and mouth open wide in surprise. Still, he couldn’t argue that it was a cute picture of them.
The other picture was older, showing a younger Kudzu at his college graduation, diploma in paw. The smile the raccoon was giving the camera was a large, beaming one that lit up Kudzu’s whole face. It was a face Chase saw only rarely, and he cherished those times. Of course, Kudzu wasn’t alone in that picture. He was wrapped in the arm of a hare, tugged tight against the other mammal’s side. This was Fallion, Kudzu’s previous, now deceased, love. Chase sometimes found himself wondering what the hare might think of the otter. Hopefully he’d be happy that Kudzu had managed to find love again. Kudzu didn’t talk about Fallion much, and it wasn’t a topic Chase had much desire to push him on.
Of course, Kudzu didn’t keep him waiting long. Chase accepted the water gratefully, and drank it down greedily, a lot thirstier than he’d originally thought. The raccoon, in the meantime, circled around the bed again, before taking a seat on his side. His drink finished, the otter set the glass on his table, then spun to face Kudzu, giving the raccoon a grin and a thanks.
“What time is it?” he asked next.
The raccoon picked his phone up off his table, and powered it on. Then he frowned, “Just after four. When’d you head to bed? Think you can sleep more?”
“Uh… Around midnight, I think?” Chase replied, shooting the raccoon an embarrassed grin. Four hours was a pretty good sleep for him. It wasn’t uncommon for Chase to manage only two hours here or there. Still, Kudzu looked pretty disappointed, which caused the otter’s grin to falter somewhat, “And, uh, no. Sorry.”
The raccoon sighed, and nodded. Then he swung his legs out from the bed and stood up again. “Whelp, guess that means I’m getting up too.”
“Kud, no,” the otter protested weakly, reaching out to grab the raccoon’s paw, “You don’t have to do that.”
He turned to give Chase a knowing smirk, “Oh yes I do. If I don’t cook something, you’ll drink half a black coffee and then starve yourself until lunch. Besides, unlike some people, I get to bed at a reasonable hour. So don’t worry, I’m bright eyed and-” the raccoon paused to yawn and stretch, “- bushy tailed. You, on the other hand, reek of sweat and otter musk. Shower, now, and you’re washing the sheets this week.”
The raccoon leaned in close to give Chase a peck on the forehead, then slipped his paw from the otter’s and sauntered towards the door. Well, Chase couldn’t exactly argue with the raccoon’s statement. Typically, he really wasn’t one for breakfast, in fact, most things tasted disgusting to him when he’d just woken up. Not Kudzu’s cooking, though. The raccoon was a master in the kitchen, the otter always looked forward to when he cooked. Hell, Chase was trying to pick up a thing or two for himself. Although, there were things about the raccoon Chase enjoyed more than his cooking, for example…
“Join me?” Chase asked. Kudzu stopped in the doorway to look at the otter over his shoulder. Chase gave the raccoon his best attempt at puppy eyes, to which the raccoon rolled his, but the corner of his muzzle twisted up into an amused smirk all the same.
“No, otter. You’re meant to be getting clean,” he chided, good naturedly, and then vanished into the hallway. Ah well, Chase didn’t regret trying, at least. And a quick smell check did confirm he was a bit… Ottery, this morning. Another thing for him to be embarrassed about, thankfully Kudzu was understanding when it came to natural mustelid smells. So, he hauled himself out of bed, grabbed a fresh pair of underwear from his side of the dresser - the rest of his clothes could wait, wasn’t like Kudzu was wearing much - and marched his way to the bathroom.
Said bathroom was an ugly beige and cream tile thing. Off white tub on one side, wood paneled counters with laminate tops on the other, fur drier all the way at the end. Long enough for Chase and Kudzu to stand side by side comfortably - and the counter even had two whole sinks to facilitate it! But too narrow a space for either to squeeze past the other comfortably. Seemingly at war with the rest of the room, the bathmat and shower curtain Chase had purchased were deep forest green and stamped with floral and leaf patterns. He’d thought they’d be a fun surprise for the raccoon, Kudzu did study flora for a living after all. Now they were the only thing in the room Chase’s eyes could settle on without feeling an oncoming headache.
The water today was warm but not hot. Still, it felt good, and Chase felt the tension he wasn’t even aware he was carrying in his shoulders, release. He didn’t have the most time to relax, once the water got cold there was no heating it up again, and he tended to have to work to get it through his fur. Still, he could afford a minute or so of just standing under the flow and letting the water wash over him.
“Do ya know what it’s like to drown?” A voice whispered, not into his ear, but directly into his brain. He felt gnarled claws run through the fur of his neck, “Yer lungs filled with fluid. Pure ecstasy, it’s like suffocatin’, except nothin’s stopin’ ya from tryin’ to take another breath. It just don’t go nowhere.”
The voice gave a cruel, wheezing laugh. Then a hand grabbed him by the headfur and wrenched his head backwards, while another grabbed him roughly by the bottom jaw and forced his muzzle open to accept the ice cold water cascading down from above. “Here, lemme show ya!”
Chase jerked backwards, and jabbed his elbow behind him to try and catch his assailant in the gut. Of course, said assailant didn’t actually exist. Instead, the otter tripped over his own feet and fell backwards, landing awkwardly on his tail with a heavy, wet, thud.
“Fuck!” He hissed under his breath. What the hell? Did he doze off in the fucking shower? He froze in place for a minute and listened. Thankfully, it seemed like Kudzu hadn’t heard him embarrass himself, so he quickly scrambled to his feet. His little nap had wasted his daily allowance of hot water - hopefully it would have replenished some by the time Kudzu went for his - so he made as quick work of his cleaning regimen as he could before hopping out of the tub and into the air drier. After that came the heavy application of muskoff - also awkward in the narrow space they had. Then deodorant, pulling on his clean underwear, and checking himself in the mirror to make sure he was presentable.
For most of his life, Chase’s physique could have been best described as ‘skinny fat’. He swam frequently, so he had always had some muscle, but his bad eating habits had also given him something of a gut. One easy enough to cover with slightly baggy shirts, but still, he wasn’t exactly in shape, and tired out easily from physical exertion. Over the past few years, with Kudzu’s help, he’d managed to change his diet somewhat, and occasionally joined the raccoon on his walks, allowing him to build up some tolerance. His belly was flatter and firmer for it, this was honestly the best shape he’d been in in his life.
On the other hand, the bags under his eyes were if anything more pronounced than they’d been in years. His eyes often had a slightly puffy, just-finished-crying, quality to them. He was doing a lot better these days in that regard, though. His breakdowns were less frequent, he wasn’t constantly diving for cover at unexpected loud noises. Of course, every day brought it’s own fresh challenges, but he was managing. He didn’t even dream about Leo anymore.
Anyway, even freshly clean, his headfur seemed to permanently exist in a ‘mussed’ state, and his goatee was in real need of another trim and redying. His friends and work colleagues still occasionally teased him about getting rid of it, but he still liked it. He’d honestly considered expanding it to a full beard, but for now the goatee alone was enough work. That could wait though. He’d left Kudzu waiting more than long enough at this point. So enough moping around in here, breakfast with the boyfriend was calling. He did take a minute to grab his phone from the bedroom on his way, though, figuring he could spend some time catching up on messages and emails after breakfast.
Their kitchen was of comparable size to their bathroom, that is, it was a small nook with a short counter space surrounded by appliances, and not enough room for the both of them to comfortably be in at the same time. At least, with everything in black and white, it wasn’t an assault on the eyes. So instead, the pair of them had a combined living and dining area with a small table set for two shoved to one side so they each had space for their own desk for take home work, a loveseat and a recliner, and an entertainment center complete with the apartment’s other TV.
He found Kudzu snoozing at the table, which certainly explained why the raccoon hadn’t heard him take a tumble in the tub. An array of food had been set out for the two of them; eggs, berries, toast, some milk, spreadable jam, Chase certainly felt spoiled, if nothing else. He reached down to give the raccoon a gentle shake on the shoulder, before softly asking. “Kud? You good?”
The raccoon huffed, pushing himself back in his chair and stretched, “Mhm? Yeah, sorry. Forgot you otters take all day in these.”
“You could’ve eaten without me, you know,” Chase said, dropping into the opposite seat. Thankfully the food hadn’t cooled entirely yet, so he was able to dig in in short order.
“Well I wasn’t in any hurry. Plus I wasn’t expecting you to inhale your food,” Kudzu quipped.
Chase cleared his throat, setting down his fork momentarily to grin at the raccoon, “My compliments to the chef.”
“I’ll make sure he gets them,” he replied, dryly.
“Seriously though, Kud, you should go back to bed if you’re that tired,” Chase said. Even now, the raccoon was stifling a yawn as he picked at his food. The raccoon moved to wave him off, but Chase pushed on anyway, “It’s just… You aren’t usually this out of it. You having trouble sleeping?”
Kudzu sighed, “I… Guess I’ve been having this recurring dream lately. It’s been making it hard to sleep soundly at night.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Chase leaned forward in his seat, pushing his plates aside.
The raccoon cocked a brow, “Do you want to talk about your nightmare? Your full nightmare, not just your sleep paralysis.”
Not really, if Chase was being honest. Really, he should’ve been able to guess that Kudzu could tell when the otter was withholding something, after how long they’d been together. Still, he did want to try to help his boyfriend, and honestly he was a bit morbidly curious as to what might be keeping the raccoon up at night. So, he said “I mean, if it’ll help?”
Kudzu frowned ever so slightly, before gesturing for Chase to continue. Seemed the raccoon was going to hold him to that. Well, too late to back out now. The otter sighed, and picked up his fork to fiddle with it in his paws, trying to work out how exactly he was going to explain this. Might as well start from the beginning of the whole sordid affair, “I was back in the mines. I thought I was going to die in there, but I managed to escape at the last second. I saw my old friends - just the Echo gang. You, uh, weren’t there Kud. Sorry - But I was trying to reach them, and then Brian appeared and dragged me back into the mine, and I died.”
Why he decided to leave out the bit about drowning, he wasn’t sure. Maybe something about his little episode in the shower was still bothering him? He didn’t want to accidentally overthink things and fuck up the idea of swimming, he kind of, needed to do that psychologically, as Jenna might put it. Who was he kidding, Jenna would word it much better.
“Well,” Kudzu started, a little awkwardly, but thankfully stopping the otter before his mind tangented too far. The raccoon shifted in his seat when Chase’s gaze met him. “I’m… Sorry, Chase. Seemed like you were doing pretty good lately, any idea what triggered it?”
The otter shrugged, “Not really. Some days things just hit harder, I guess.”
Kudzu nodded. The raccoon took a sip of his drink, seemingly steadied himself, and then began. “Well, a deal’s a deal. I’ve… Also been dreaming about that night again. I’ve never told anyone this, but that night, when I went to the town meeting. The body they showed then, your lizard friend Flynn said it was some boar?”
“Salim?” Chase cut in. Chase mostly only knew the boar by reputation, but they had met briefly once or twice. Salim was already a grad by the time Chase entered high school. He’d never amounted to much, just another drug addict in a town full of them. Chase had heard that the boar was among the dead in the days following that night.
“Yeah, him. Only, that wasn’t what I saw. I saw… Fallion. Big hole in his chest, blood running down his shirt. Like he was when he died, only worse. Twisted somehow, I guess,” Kudzu sighed, rubbing at his forehead with a paw.
“Shit, Kud, I’m sorry, you don’t gotta-”
“No, Chase. It’s fine. I started, I’ll finish,” Kudzu cut him off. He took another gulp of his drink, and cleared his throat again, before continuing, “I used to dream about him like that for a while after that night. Sometimes he’d be looking at me, judging me. Other times he’d talk to me. Usually though, he was just dead. Eventually the dreams stopped, or at least, they came so infrequently and I guess I got so desensitized to them, that I stopped remembering them? They started up again recently, though. Only this time, it’s not Fallion dead on the ground in front of me. It’s you, Chase.”
“Oh. Uh… How did… I die?” He was regretting the words the second they left his mouth. To be honest he was already feeling extremely bad about asking, and the more he learned the less he wished he knew. Still, having given Kudzu his verbal consent, the otter couldn’t do anything but let the raccoon continue.
“It’s different every time. Sometimes you were shot in the back of the head. Other times, you were stabbed in the back. Sometimes you were covered in black widows. Sometimes your legs got chopped off. Sometimes you’ve drowned,” the raccoon shook his head. Chase could feel his fur stand up further with every new death. Shit seemed fucked, he couldn’t imagine how he’d handle it if their positions were reversed.
“Anyway, every time it happens, when I wake up I need to make sure you’re okay, that you’re asleep in bed beside me. Lay my head on your chest and listen to your heartbeat. Honestly surprised it’s never woken you up,” the raccoon completed, grinning a little ruefully. Somewhere in the list of deaths, he’d broken Chase’s gaze, and was looking down at the half eaten plate of food on his side of the table.
That might explain the pressure he sometimes felt on his chest, actually. Probably better not to mention that right now though, Chase figured. He needed to do something to comfort his boyfriend here, not just sit here and be useless. The otter slowly got up from his chair, Kudzu’s head snapped back to him, alerted by the sound. The raccoon watched him round the table, shifted around to face the otter when he kneeled down next to him. Chase rested a paw on Kudzu’s hip, and did his best to give the raccoon a reassuring smile.
“Listen, Kud. I’m not going anywhere, okay? Or at least, I don’t intend to,” Chase said.
“Yeah well, lots of people don’t intend to die, Chase,” the raccoon deadpanned.
Chase cringed a little. Okay, yeah, maybe that was a dumb angle. He was trying his best here! The otter frowned lightly, quickly trying to adjust tack, “Well, what I mean is, uh…”
“Oh, just shut up and kiss me, dumb otter,” Kudzu smirked. That, at least, Chase could do. A gentle, tender thing, their muzzles met and made space for one another. No rough contortions or battles for dominance between tongues, just a quiet moment between the two of them. When they parted, they shared a smile, and Kudzu broke the silence first, “And thanks. I know you’re trying to help.”
Unfortunately, the moment was ruined by Chase’s phone buzzing. The otter actually jumped, the damn thing’s vibration rattled the whole table, he was certain he saw ripples in what was left of their drinks. The two shared another glance, a nervous chuckle, then Chase stood and grabbed the offending device to give it a properly annoyed look. Unfortunately, caller ID had another surprise in store for him. Suffice to say, when he answered, he made sure to inflict his voice with the appropriate amount of respect.
“Chief?” He said, unable to stop at least a little surprise seeping into his tone as well.
“Chase,” the voice on the other end rumbled. He could imagine the wide shouldered wildebeest sat at his too small desk, easy smile and glasses halfway down his muzzle, surrounded by filing cabinets packed full of old case files. Of course, in Chase’s imaginings, the evening sun was filtered through the closed blinds of the office windows, and it was most certainly not pre-dawn, “Travis told me you might be up.”
That was one of the interns, an excitable black footed ferret, roughly twenty or so, for whom med school hadn’t beaten the joy out of living yet. A frown tugged a little at the corner of Chase’s muzzle, but he answered, “He, uh, told you right. Early morning for you, Chief?”
“Late night, actually. You know, Chase, you’re well into your residency with us now, and I figure it’s about time you got some independent field experience,” the chief replied, “I actually just finished lining up the perfect thing. You’ll be heading to Payton, down in the Copper State.”
“Payton!?” Chase grimaced. Kudzu nearly choked, having picked the worst time to return to his breakfast, and looked up at the otter, eyes wide. Chase quickly tried to compose himself again, “But sir, that’s- that’s like a twenty hour drive from here.”
“Ah, I figured you were familiar with it already,” the Chief huffed, the amusement clear even over the phone line, “Not to worry, your gas will be reimbursed. As will your hotel stay. It actually was a request for you by name, straight from the office of the mayor. Seems you have a friend in town government.”
At this point the otter was pacing the living room, trying to work through all this without hyperventilating. Someone in Payton, asking for him specifically? There were only so many people that could be, it wasn’t like he had many contacts left in that part of the country. “Chief, I don’t think I-”
“I’m actually happy I managed to get ahold of you this early, Chase. They want you there as soon as possible. Travis will actually be meeting you there, you’re to make use of him however you need to,” the Chief barreled on, as if Chase hadn’t even said anything. This wasn’t the first time the man had done something like this, it was his way of letting Chase know that this was already decided, and there wouldn’t be any arguing.
Chase groaned, running the claws of his free paw through his headfur, “Can you at least tell me what I’ll be doing down there?”
“Hm?” The chief actually paused, seeming a little surprised, “Oh, my apologies, I get ahead of myself sometimes in my old age. Of course, Chase. You’ll be the lead forensic examiner investigating the death of one Leonardo Alvarez.”