Striped and Spotted
A little story about a striped hyena putting his feelings aside so his boyfriend can be happy. Another flash fiction.
***
Deakin idly twirled his pen between his fingers as he sat on his bed with his sketchbook in his lap. The striped hyena's purple eyes constantly drifted between his picture and the other spotted hyena sitting on the opposite end of the bed, periodically shifting through TV channels, apparently unable to settle on any one. That was pretty much commonplace for Wesley, unable to settle on any one thing, and that was also his biggest problem. At least, that's how Deakin felt.
Best friends since high school, boyfriends since they entered college. He loved Wesley, for sure, but their relationship was... unsatisfactory. Wesley's ineptitude of settling on one thing overlapped many areas, especially sex. He loved having sex with all his close friends, and in some cases, even more than with Deakin-his own boyfriend. As open, understanding and supportive as the striped hyena tried to be-and he tried damn hard-he was never really okay with the notion of an open relationship. He didn't like the thought of his boyfriend having sex with other guys, and sometimes he was uncomfortable just thinking about it.
"Hey, I'm gonna get a drink from the fridge. You want anything?" Wesley asked, getting up from the bed.
"No, I'm fine." Deakin replied, trying to smile, but mostly feigning one.
Truth be told, he actually wanted a smoothie, but he wasn't about to make the other hyena fix him one, despite the fact that Wesley probably wouldn't have minded. That was Deakin's biggest problem: he found it so difficult to express his true feelings a lot of the time. He was aware of the importance of communication in a relationship, sure, and he even hammered to his own brother, for his own relationship, but Deakin himself had trouble living up to it. Deep down, he just didn't want to seem like a nuisance or a bother. That was the main reason why he never spoke up about his discomfort toward Wesley's sleeping around. But at the same time, it was actually kind of sweet. Set your own feelings aside so your boyfriend can be happy. Let him do what he wants. But... at the expense of your own happiness.
He sighed and lied back against the pillow, closing his eyes. He had a hard time distinguishing whether he was being selfish or noble. Again, putting your own feelings and discomfort aside so your boyfriend can be happy. Regardless whether such a thing was selfish or noble, it was ultimately... dishonest. He knew that much. And three months of that was gradually taking its toll on him, stressing him to the point where he couldn't even focus on his art half the time.
At the core, he was just afraid of coming off as selfish. He wanted Wesley to be happy above all else. But at this point, Deakin himself wasn't... very happy at all.
His thoughts came to a halt as a familiar tongue snaked its way past his lips along with a paw resting on his cheek as he was drawn into a kiss. He opened his eyes to see Wesley smiling at him with those beautiful golden eyes before the spotted one resumed watching TV.
They both loved cute kisses like that, especially Wesley. That was one of Deakin's favourite things about his spotted boyfriend: he certainly knew how to be clever, cute and affectionate. Now if only Wesley could just be satisfied with only him and him, alone...
"So, are you gonna tell me what's wrong?" Wesley asked, his eyes idly focused on a wolf reporting the news.
"What?" Deakin was slightly taken aback.
"Come on, you were hardly into that kiss. You're always like that when you're not feeling cheery. So what's wrong?"
Deakin turned his head, letting his own eyes focus on the lamp shade next to his bed.
"Are you going out tonight, again?"
"I was thinkin' about it. Why, did you want to come?"
"No, I... I'll just be here."
"As always. You hardly ever come out anymore, Deak." Wesley glanced back toward the striped hyena. "Come on, what's wrong?"
Deakin laid back. "Is there anything wrong with... just staying home... with me?"
"I think I see where this is going..."
"I guess... I just... don't like sharing my boyfriend."
Wesley immediately shifted, crawling over to the other hyena, placing both paws on Deakin's legs. "If you don't want me sleeping around, why didn't you just say so, you idiot?" He licked Deakin's nose.
"I just wanted you to be happy. You seemed like you were always having a good time with those guys. Kinda left me lonely. But I didn't want to pull you out of your fun." The striped one frowned, though trying to smile.
"I'm not happy if you're not happy, sweetie. I wish you would have said something earlier." He kissed him again. This time Deakin actually responded, wrapping a paw around the spotted one's neck.
"I'm an idiot, I know." He gave a genuine smile, this time.
"Yeah. But you're my idiot. You striped bastards are so weird." He snickered.
Deakin uttered a small chuckle, too. "You love it. Anyway, look at this." He announced, handing sketchbook to Wesley.
"Whoa." He marveled at a sketch of a spotted hyena kissing and riding a striped hyena. "Is that us?"
"Who else would it be?" Deakin said, kissing Wesley's nose. "That's our favourite position, isn't it?"
Wesley grinned. "Definitely. How about we bring that picture to life right now?"
"Well, I was actually going to finish it tomorrow-"
"That's not what I meant." Wesley stopped him, his grin widening.
Deakin giggled and the two hyenas brought their muzzles together in another, deeper kiss.