Chapter Text
[Chapter One]
Thick blasts of rain poured down upon the roof of the bus stop as Todd Wilde blankly stared out the wet glass. His reflection shot back the same pale, flat expression that he'd seen day after day since he came to the college. Getting dragged along from District to District within Zootopia gave him little sense of 'home' anywhere, and the campus proved no exception. The fox ran a paw against the little butterfly icons on his pink t-shirt before pushing himself backwards on the metal bench, idly kicking his legs.
He had some protection against the elements in the glorified phone booth that was the bus stop. Rubbing his paws against his long, tight jacket helped with the cold somewhat as well. Todd also had his old friends of boredom, depression, and tiredness right by his side, just like nearly all of his waking hours for the past few years, to keep him company.
Still the fox decided to get a start on the next step of the sleep-eat-work-eat-study-class-internet cycle by pulling out his phone. He fiddled around updating a few apps before clicking over to various imageboards. Few things stuck out to him, and the fox ended up returning to this one particular online haunt serving his far edge of the Rainforest District.
[Recent Posts - Previous 10 Minutes]
2130. Way to miss the mark on that one, cupcake.
2131. Those are some sweet trips, preddo! But, seriously, what?
2132. >tfw no gf
2133. We've all seen the thread poll. Like 75% of us are either gay or bi males.
2134. >tfw no multiple guys to tie me up and turn me into their submissive sissy 'girl'
2135. You're using "preddo"... without a hint of irony? It's long past the point of being insulting.
2136. Yeah, I'm with him, it's like telling someone you're going to call in threats to their house using your rotary telephone.
2137. {{ I can't believe how long these damn buses are delayed. }} {{ You }}
2138. I wonder when kids are going to stop understanding that telephones used to be connected to walls in the first place.
2139. >walls >not living as a full naturalist in the middle of your own private forest >having any cable connections
2140. {{ >having friend connections }} {{ You }}
2141. >having friends
2143. Second.jpeg on buses. Third.jpeg on friends.
2143. Having friends is so stupid. Who bombs the midterm and then goes out for a drink to smile and have fun or something? And miss the opportunity to just sit in your dorm and cry for half an hour while listening to your favorite EwE2 songs?
Todd would have started to nod off had the rain not hit so hard. Instead, he just zoned out, tapping off a few smarmy comments and letting himself mentally drift. He fantasized for the hundredth or so time that month about getting his mother and step-dad one of those prank packages from Bugburga— crammed full with plastic insects that fake explode when touched. It would really needle them to see the box printed in those bright rainbow colors just like the rest of the company's stuff celebrating LGBT pride week.
Of course, coming completely out the closet right when he left home did plenty of damage by itself— not that, given the way that he thought, he believed that he actually could have a boyfriend. The acne scars, gangly limbs, misshapen fur, and the like caused him to recoil from horror at almost every photograph of him that he'd seen. While at about one and a half times the size of the average fox, he still heard a bunch of stupid remarks as he went about his day just like the rest of them. Todd sighed before idly checking his phone once again.
2199. So, how tall really are you?
2200. Answer the damn questions, come on, cupcake.
2201. Sheesh, okay, 11 inches. 11. Happy now?
2202. Wow!
2203. Oh, God, so like: this means that when you go to Timber or whatever, you go 'Hey, ladies, ready for these 11 inches?'
2204. Shut up!
2205. You wouldn't happen to the same Skatr33 as on this little scholarship app here, would you?
2206. Uh-oh!
2207. Knock it off, guys, seriously!
2208. Look at how tiny and skinny he is! I'm almost dying!
2209. You sure you're not prey?
2210. Come on, seriously... just what the hell are you guys doing...
2211. What would possibly make you so stupid to go this college, cupcake? Why aren't you off in Little Rodentia or just buried in some little hole somewhere?
2212. The teensy-weensy skater / Went up the water-spout / Down came the rain
Todd took a deep look at the image that popped up. A young mustelid that the fox recognized as a 'least weasel' gazed back at him with big eyes and a confident smile. The mammal's soft, light grey fur matched well with his red bow-tie and dark suit. He was indeed the shortest and all around smallest weasel that Todd had ever seen, looking as if just two mice could beat him up and steal his wallet without much trouble. Something clicked inside of the fox's mind as he opened up his eyes a bit more moment by moment. He felt the urge to just reach through the screen and cuddle the little one with full force, never letting go, and he didn't even have to think about it.
2235. I wonder exactly how many of those tigers role-play as antelope with their boyfriends.
2236. That's so gay, dude, that's like as if a bright pink arrow should magically appear on your lower back. Call it a STT: Sexually Transmitted Tattoo.
2237. {{ Skatr33? Hey, are you still here? }} {{ You }}
2237. Half the team does that. I'm sure. There's a reason why those locker rooms are 'no-go' zones for some species in the 'away' games.
2238. {{ Skatr33, I really need to say this, so here goes: You're beautiful. You're a beautiful guy. 100% as nice as any twink you'd see in the damn LGBT student support groups. Don't believe a single word they've said. }} {{ You }}
2239. The hell...
2240. {{ If only you were on East Maple Drive at the Adjunct Branch, I swear by the name of everything holy I'd come right over there and give you a loving hug. Stay strong, seriously. }} {{ You }}
2241. I came at the wrong damn time again, didn't I?
2242. Umm... I guess I'll just come out and say this. I am at East Maple Drive.
Todd stood up inside of the bus stop, sucking in a deep breath. He held his phone up against his face as he pressed his forehead against the cold glass window. His paws shook with one part frigidity and three parts fear, but he kept going.
2245. The Vita Coco truck is right outside. Looking at it now right from my bus stop. Been waiting here for forty-five minutes. Damn AB-line, am I right?
2246. Thanks a ton. Small world, isn't it? And I'm disgustingly affectionate. At least, I think I'd be.
2247. {{ Really? }} {{ You }}
2248. Give me a full body hug, guy, and I'd melt like butter in your arms, especially if you're a big predator.
Tood rubbed his paws against the window in front of him. He stared straight out of the unfogged spot to see a huge delivery truck resting a stone's throw down the street. Almost as if on cue, thunder erupted far above him. He closed his eyes and listened to the pouring rain while slipping his phone into his pocket. Anxiety surged through him as he scrunched up his face, hearing the rain getting even harder, and banged his head against the glass. The months and months of loneliness, self-repression, and everything else pushed to this climax— like his blood turning to this acid that just wouldn't stop eating him from the inside out. He froze with the next batch of thunder, pressing his entire body up against the bus stop's frigid glass. As it finished, he opened his eyes wide, mouth open.
"To hell with it."
The fox made his way into the rain, walking right in the exact middle of the street. It hardly made much of a difference, each step still thrusting up cold flashes of water around his legs. He marched on as he clutched his paws against his face and jacket. Shrinking himself down, the fox sucked in as deep breaths as me could. Finally making his way blindly forwards, he smacked his body against the truck with a large clanging sound. He let himself pull his paws down just a little bit, leaning up against the hard metal, and he looked over to his far right.
The bus stop, of course, had completely fogged over. Todd almost jumped over, twisting his body around a streetlamp, and he popped inside without even looking. He immediately sat himself down on a bench identical to the other ones in the whole bus line, letting himself brush his paws and the inside of his jacket all over his face. Sucking in a deep breath before blowing it up upon his right cheek, he finally took a good look over to his left and to his right.
"Nothing?"
Todd rubbed down two paws upon his soggy legs and opened his mouth wide, though no sound came out. The sensations of acid bubbling through his blood returned yet again. He closed his eyes once more and allowed himself to shiver, wiggling off bits of the rain.
"E-excuse m-me?" asked a mysterious voice.
The fox nudged his body backward on the bench slightly and stared straight down. The small mustelid sat directly in front of him, awkwardly poised between his legs, while wearing an expression that mixed adorableness and confusion in just about the perfect way. Todd felt this warm, almost glowing sensation deep inside of him as gazed at the weasel's white striped shorts and bright, all white dress shirt with matching white suspenders. The little one even had a tiny backpack with white and light grey stripes nestled cutely between his footpaws.
"Skatr33?" Todd asked, feeling the desperation almost dripping from his voice. He could hardly manage to care.
"My friends call me 'Scamper'," the weasel replied, sticking out a paw. As Todd reached down, feeling that miniature paw rubbing on his own, he gazed into Scamper's big, anxiety-filled amber eyes. It look less than a second for the fox to get that Scamper had done the exact same thing into Todd big, anxiety-filled emerald eyes.
"Cool," the fox murmured, faced with so much sheer awkwardness that he wondered if he could manage beyond one word sentences. The weasel just seemed so incredibly delicate yet so handsome at the same time. His mind flashed through Scamper fitting under a top hat on his head to prank a teacher, Scamper resting gently on his shoulder as they watched a baseball game, Scamper slipping himself into a jacket pocket to stay warm from the rain, and all kinds of visions.
"So, uh..." the weasel muttered, slipping his head to the side and rubbing his legs idly against his backpack, "you're... big." He blinked rapidly. "I mean, uh, you're... gay. You're pretty big and gay." Scamper shut his eyes and looked as if he wanted to punch himself. "I mean, you sure are big, gay, and wet. Very wet." His whole body reflexively trembled as he stopped talking.
Without saying a thing back, Todd took a gulp and moved his paws downward— the fox picking Scamper up before settling the weasel down flat on the metal bench, sitting right beside the fox's right thigh. Scamper squirmed a bit while remaining silent as well. The fox leaned his back into where they sat even more and blankly stared. Several strained seconds passed.
"I think I like you," Todd finally said. The rain still dripping down from the sides of his face and the defeated, tired tone to his voice made for a completely terrible backdrop to his words. It didn't matter.
"I like you too."
The fox gently moved his thigh along the bench so that it touched the weasel's side. Getting rewarded with an appreciative nod, he then brought a paw over to pet along the back of Scamper's head. The weasel instinctively leaned over and brushed his body against the middle of the paw, breathing smoothly and smiling. "We can both be brutally honest, right?" Todd asked.
"Y-yeah." Scamper hopped upwards and sat himself right on the the middle of fox's thigh, looking up at Todd. The few inches of distance being obliterated shot tingles along the fox's leg.
"I've never had a real boyfriend."
"I've never had a real boyfriend either."
"I'm a virgin."
"I'm a virgin too."
"Do you wanna," Todd began, scratching nervously all around his neck, "go someplace nice-ish to eat after the bus finally comes?"
"Sure!" Scamper replied, nodding while putting on a chipper, pleasant tone to his voice for the first time.
"Great!" Todd tried to match that enthusiasm, as deeply tired as he felt. He couldn't manage another word for quite a while. The two of them simply sat down together, listening to the rain still going on and on all around them.
"Is there something," Scamper began, though not even sure what he wanted to ask.
"It's that," Todd said, suddenly turning away to face the nearest window and stare out through the fogged glass once more, "we probably can't tell the difference between 'friendly comfort' and 'love', can we?" He sensed let another kind of inner switch clicking deep inside of him.
"No," the weasel responded, lowering things to almost a whisper.
"Do you actually care that we can't, though?"
"If I think about it?" Scamper brushed the top of his head while leaving his mouth open, feeling overcome by his emotions. The fox shifted his body over to lock eyes with the little one. "Really... no, I don't."
"Well, then," Todd remarked, sliding himself up in the air a little and pressing a paw against the side of the bus stop as he towered completely over the weasel, "wanna be disgustingly affectionate?"
"But... we're outside...," Scamper let out, almost sounding like he was squeaking, "and we... we both go to this campus."
"Logically," Todd replied, leaning even closer to the little one, "the odds of somebody else stepping into this stop are basically nil, and we'd hear them, anyways, just as much as we'll hear the bus when it finally gets here. Besides, since when is hugging and cuddling against the law? Sheesh, you look as if I asked you to sell drugs or something." He took in the weasel's immense blush. "It's actually super cute."
"I guess," Scamper said, reaching up and petting his paws along Todd's arm as the fox warmly caressed the weasel, "there's nothing wrong with just being affectionate."