Doc Commission
#2 of Commissions
so here is the second of a string of commisions for all you furs...im so so so so sorry its taking so long. its literally been months. there is not reason it should be so long. im usually a man of my word and i apologize about the gross extension i have given myself :/
BUT anyway, the commission story haha
Large paw-like talons expertly did what they were trained to do, the deep green eyes of the same being stared down at his handiwork. The wood coloured fur of the griffin extended towards his notebook from a simple green shirt, feathers curled comfortably to his back. It was biology notes that should have been transcribed onto the paper before him, but instead little characters interacted and strange shapes and patterns were born along the margins.
Today his mind had wondered what his teacher, a large and educated looking bison, would look like with eyes crossed in anger, a spotted bow tie and an outrageously big tongue. The result left much to be desired, but still it was more fun to doodle than to listen to the man drone. With a little grin Harlco added little frustrated veins to the caricatures head, the veins somehow creasing in from just above his eye to in his mane.
A paw from his right bumped his hand which made him drag a graphite line threw the little doodle's mane. Startled and disappointed Harlco glared next to him into the eyes of his good friend Eric. The griffin's stare lost its edge with the expectations in his friend's eyes, "Yeah yeah," he mumbled, re-adjusting his focus to the actual bison in the room.
The freaking otter always did this; it was for his own good of course, but still... The otter was the most conflicted set of personalities Harlco had ever seen. Fun and friendly, party animal, smart studier, quiet thinker, ambitious, focused, kind, strict and motherly. It was quite the list, and Harlco felt the positives and negatives all the time. How the guy managed to keep up his grades and have a life while STILL managing to never being totally stoned or wasted was beyond the griffin.
But he still loved and respected his long-time friends and started, grudgingly, to pay attention.
~~~~
After a while the lecture ended and everyone started filing out of the hall. Harlco and Eric walked together in the general direction of their favourite on campus café.
"Dude, you really need to start paying attention in your classes," Eric instructed with a grin, "I mean seriously, do you actually think you'll be able to write a paper of Google information and not have him notice the distinct lack of minor details?"
"I know, but it's not like it's every class! I just hate Bio, why the heck does a business major need a second science anyway?" he grumbled but with a grin. They had this conversation on a regular basis, and it was mostly true. Every other class he had at least a 'B', and in most classes he had a low or mid 'A' mark, but he just couldn't ever get into Biology like the bison did, and most likely because of the bison. Professor Hale made no effort to make the class in any way enjoyable, but he DID still have to pass it.
"And the teacher is boring and strict memorization like science isn't your thing." Eric finished the classic list of 'excuses' getting a good natured punch in the shoulder from his semi-avian friend. "You know abusive friends don't get invited places," the otter continued.
The griffin stopped his attack with a hint of curiosity. "What did you have in mind before the hits?" he asked with a little grin.
The two of them had all sorts of connections around campus, but where Harlco was seemingly limited to who could get you WHAT. Eric was equally limited to who could get him WHERE. Harlco was the drinks and fun and discounted items; Eric was the party man that had his teeth into everything. It was a mutual respect of connections because the griffin kept them afloat financially and the otter kept their lives exciting. Neither really wanted to try living without the other.
"Chester Baker said something about a gathering at some bar," Eric stated rubbing his arm and starting to act over dramatic, "OH! But this pain! I'm losing details..." he added, throwing his hand across his forehead like a fair maiden.
"Yeah yeah yeah, you little pansy," Harlco grumbled good naturedly. "What would ease the pain?"
The otter laughed but played along, "My backpack, it's so heavy..."
"Sucks to be you," the griffin concluded, the two laughing the whole way over to The Coffee Hut.
~~~~
"So you guys are coming too?" Sharron, a tan little cat with too many dyes in her hair, asked. "Chester has been bugging me to get more people to go, he doesn't want it to be a flop."
Annie, a black and brown border collie, giggled, "Your boyfriend is crazy Sher," she stated to the cat, "He knows that anything too big wouldn't really work right? Eclipse doesn't have a lot of casual seating as is so most people would be away from the table anyway."
The cat rolled her eyes, "Try telling him that, he just wants a high chance of getting a designated driver or something."
"Everyone always gets too drunk and gets a taxi anyway, can't he just do that?" Eric asked taking a seat with Harlco amongst their friends.
"Too cheap," the cat motioned offhandedly, "And where were you two?"
"That damned Bison kept us a few minutes late again," Harlco grumbled.
"Aww someone still sucks at science." The last of their friends, Allen, a German Shepard mix, mocked playfully; he sat directly across from Harlco at the bench right outside The Coffee Hut. The griffin shot him a dirty look but it melted into a smile.
"Stupid mutt, don't mock me," he laughed, drinking some of his latte and quickly put it down as Allen stood up on his seat and put one foot on the table top like Captain Morgan.
"Is that a challenge?!" he declared dramatically.
"Oh Jesus you guys are still in kindergarten I swear. Not here!" Annie scolded, looking around to see who might be looking, "I don't know you if you do anything!" she declared.
"It's no use; they've ruffled each other's feathers," Eric sighed, drinking some of his own drink.
The five of them at the table had been friends since grade school and all just went on to attend the same college, the plan was to stay together at LEAST for their Liberal arts. Harlco and Sharron were the only ones with already set majors anyway. Sharron was always the quieter one of the girls, but she was in no way shy. She was a party animal; she was just softly spoken until you got her dancing. Annie was the strict, dramatic mothering type. She had universal connection and always planned out their outings. Eric was the 'cool' guy, always neutral, but always awesome. Harlco and Allen shared the 'goofball and immature little bother roles' as Annie had one day put it, but Allen was more than that. He was a star athlete with an amazing body that still never lost sight of his friends, even if sports kept him busy. College tennis kept him occupied year round.
The two 'goofballs' always duked it out. In Kindergarten they had always gotten into little wrestling matches much too the teachers (and their parents) dismay. That is when they had learned the valuable lesson of 'a time and place for everything.' So naturally, college was perfect all the time.
"You're so funny," Harlco tossed, standing up on his bench, one foot on the table to accept the challenge. "So how do we settle this one?"
Allen laughed a bit giddy, "No idea, you call it." The dog breathed, laughing under his fur as his built but still agile body jumped with excitement.
"Bravery shouts?" The griffin asked, making the rest of their friends groan.
The dog nodded, "I accept."
"I'm OUT!"
"Me too!"
The girls left, scurrying away before they could be involved. Eric just sighed and sipped his drink. He stayed though, Eric always stayed to watch them goof off.
Harlco laughed a bit, "Aww come on stick around!"
"Screw you! You two are so embarrassing sometimes!" Annie shot back. "Eric text me later okay? We'll talk about the bar."
The otter nodded, and Harlco swallowed in anticipation, "You first."
The German Shepard took a deep breath and let it out, looking around and laughing a bit, "Sorry sorry...okay..." he exhaled again and pushed his face towards the brown griffin's. The rules were they had to get louder every time, first one to laugh or say anything other than the key word loses. They had to keep looking at each other and they had to be close as well.
"Penis," the dog started softly, barely more than a hushed whisper.
"Penis," Harlco countered at just below regular talking volume.
"Penis," the dog reacted like he was talking down the table.
"Penis!" Harlco called out to someone the next table over, never breaking the stare.
"Penis!!" the athletic Shepard called out to someone far away.
"PEEENIS!" the griffin demanded attention, already hearing people commenting on what the hell they were doing exactly.
Allen had a dopey grin on his face but pressed on. It was all or nothing. He took one big deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs, "PPEEEEEEEEEEENIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!!!!!!"
The griffin felt his lips pick up, trying his best not to crack a smile cause that meant laughter. Allen's call had actually hurt his ears a bit. He was all in as well; with his superior avian lungs he thought he had this in the bag. "PEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNIIIII...fuck..." Harlco lost, he burst into laughter and fell forward onto his friend, the pair of them laughing like idiots.
Being a flier, the brown griffin should have realized something. When something doesn't have its feet firmly planted on the ground you need wings to stay up. German shepherds don't have wings. Harlco fell forward into his friend, who, being on one foot, fell backwards like the next domino, the griffin going too.
Harlco landed with a thud on top of one of his oldest friends, the laughing cutting to a close. The two looked up, inches from each other once again, eyes meeting, lips but inches away... and laughed.
"Hahaha! You freakin' klutz!" Allen burst, eyes closed, head back and just lying on the ground. "Oh...oh my God! Hahaha get off I can't-I can't BREATH!" he kept laughing.
"I'm sorry! Ha ha, learn to stand properly or something! Haha!" the griffin tried to speak clearly, rolling off the dog.
"I was challenging you! I had to stand like that!" the two continued to talk pointlessly between fits of laughing for a while, Eric all the while just drinking his coffee and just smiling at his two ridiculous friends.
"Okay, okay...I win," Allen breathed, standing up and offering a hand to Harlco, "Better luck next time."
The brown feathered friend took the offered paw and felt himself hoisted up to his feet, "Yeah yeah, off to practice already I take it?"
The dog sighed and nodded, "Yeah, coach has us on crazy times this week because of some wedding or something, hope I can make it out tonight."
"You better come; I'll look stupid dancing if you're not there to dance terribly with me!"
"I'll try and make it there birdy," He stuck out his long pink tongue, "See yah, bye Eric! Keep me posted, bird brain won't."
"Noted."
"Hey!"
But the dog was off at a jogging pace back to his dorm. Harlco hated it when he had the last word. Calmly he sat down back with Eric and said nothing for a while.
The otter sighed, putting a hand on his friends shoulder, "You gunna be okay?"
The griffin nodded unconvincingly, "He was...I was ON him dude," he groaned, falling back on the ground, this time intentionally. He saw the lips of his good friend, and he wanted them. Harlco had had a crush on Allen Stare since high school, and the dog STILL didn't know, "FUCK!" he growled at the sky.
The otter looked down to his currently grounded aerial friend, "I think the word was Penis."
"That too," came with a little laugh. Eric always knew just how to make him feel better when he was in a slump, but he was the ONLY one who could pull him from an Allen slump so flawlessly. (He was the only one who knew of his crush but that was beside the point) "Thanks for that."
~~~~
Eclipse was as Harlco had remembered it. The music was fast, the dance floor was full, and the drinks were fairly priced. The people were also just like Harlco remembered. Most on the dance floor were college girls who had the bodies to just move and look like they were dancing and the jock boyfriends who could shake their toned asses all they wanted and they would still resemble brick walls. Harlco, Eric, Sharron, Annie, Chester and a handful of other people Harlco barely knew hung out at a very cramped table.
Not that Chester was going to say a word. He was happily drinking away on the fine liquors and despite her original frustration Sharron was joining him. Eric was casually talking to some ox Harlco was sure he had never met and Annie was leaning into the shoulder of a shy looking Rottweiler. The griffin stifled a grin. If he was as shy as he looked, his natural muscle hidden in bulky clothes and his eyes shifting everywhere but off the floor, Annie would eat him alive.
His green eagle eyes shifted back to the dance floor. He stalked each body, greedily trying to somehow absorb their fun. He longed to be out there, but for some unknown reason everyone at the table decided they didn't feel much like dancing at a_dance _club.
"When did Allen say he was getting here?" Harlco asked his otter friend.
The water dog turned away from the Ox with a little glare, "You know you can dance on your own right? You don't need Allen to be here to dance like a headless chicken."
Harlco retreated a bit at the remark, "Sorry I asked," he took another chug of his crappy beer. It was supposed to be sweetened by some sort of ginger something, but it just tasted like sugar covered piss and not just regular piss. "I was just curious."
"I didn't mean to snap, me and Walt are just talking about something important," the otter apologized, "But seriously, you can go dance now. I promise I'll try to find you in a minute."
The wood coloured griffin squinted in fake disbelief, "Pinkie promise?" he held out a talon.
"As always." His childhood friend chuckled, locking his stout finger around Harlco's long one.
The Griffin could not have gotten away from the table faster...well okay, he could have, but it was not his fault nine bodies were cramped into a table for six. He charged to the dance floor and with a held breath wormed his way into the mass of bodies. Dancing was not the same on the outside as it was on the inside of a crowd. Inside the mob at Eclipse you could not hear a thing, you could not easily escape, all you could do was dance and hope your arms didn't hit anyone you knew.
In his small amount of personal space Harlco started to move his body. Another thing you can't do in the middle of the crowd is have time to judge anyone. You could dance like a pro or like crap; you were still a superstar in the moment. Thankfully that rule swung Harlco's way as he shook his body and laughed at the results. He knew he looked ridiculous, but it didn't matter. The bass pumped through him, the chords plucked at his soul and his body responded. Techno might not have been his thing, but it did remind him of a few raves he had attended. He grinned at the memory of how many unnecessary glow sticks he and Allen had adorned on their person on one particular occasion. They flew off in every direction with each to forceful a motion and no one cared. It was such good fun.
Harlco really wished his German Shepard would show up soon. Eric was Eric, a smooth talker, a listener, smart, kind, mischievous, but he was not Allen. Allen the handsome, fun, over the top, smart assed, athletic stud muffin. Allen the best friend for all times. Allen his crush...
The griffin shook his head of the thoughts that ensued. He always felt guilty thinking about Allen in that way, it was wrong of him as a friend. He continued to let himself dance and as the songs continued to change he noticed a distinct lack of otter. Almost as soon as the idea hit a paw tapped his shoulder and a body squeezed in behind him. The griffin almost thought he heard the words "Hey there!" behind him, but the music made it hard to pick up.
"Finally! Where have you been? You almost broke a pinkie promise!" Harlco shouted behind him. For good measure he bumped his rump backwards to catch his friend off balance.
"Sorry!" the strangely hushed voice spoke again.
"You have to speak up Eric!"
Soft whiskers floated to the griffins' ear, hot breath ran over him and two large paws grabbed his waist, "That better?"
Harlco's heart skipped a beat. "Allen!" he proclaimed, awkwardly shuffling around to see his friend face to face. He rudely nudged a few people with an elbow or two in the process but he hardly noticed. "Shit ahh, when did you get here?" he still spoke loudly.
"Just now, I saw you weren't at the table so I went to find you," the dog spoke with a dopey grin, "Practice was a killer but I got a little dance left in me."
"I'd hope you wouldn't show up here to tell me otherwise," the shorter of the two replied without missing a beat. They danced their awkward dances as far apart from each other as Harlco could allow. "I thought you hated dancing at the centre?"
"I do, but you're here you goof. I'm not gunna not show up because you're somewhere I don't like," the dog noted.
The griffin had butterflies in his stomach, he felt like he was going to throw up bug parts. If only the dog knew what he did to him. He repeatedly looked up at his friend with a fake smile, looked away and felt guilt and anxiety. He wanted so much to tell him.
About a half hour into dancing the dog finally seemed to notice his friend's distress, "You okay there little bird?"
"Super."
"Sarcasm. Tell me what's up? You okay? Want to go lay down?"
"I'm fine," Harlco lied with a grin, "It's just school...Bio isn't going well."
The dog gave him a 'you're kidding, right?' look and grabbed the griffin's paw. The dog dragged his friend out of the pile and into a free set of chairs, even if it wasn't with their group. "You couldn't care less about Bio. What's up? You are a terrible liar you know."
"I'm not terrible, I'm a good liar!" the griffin countered, realizing it might have been better to keep that to himself.
"Fine, I'm just very excellent at reading you. What's up man?" the dog asked genuinely.
The griffin was on the verge of tears, "I think I just need to go home. I don't feel myself tonight..." Why was he freaking out? He had always managed to hold himself together around Allen before. Why was tonight so different?
"Then I'll drive you back home." Harlco was about to decline the invite, but the Shepard was guiding him to his car already, completely without a fight, "No exceptions."
The two were already in the parking lot before the griffin managed to wrap his mind around the concept of being in the same car as Allen. "Wait, Allen..."
"No exceptions," the dog repeated, "I'm at least going to see you home."
They got to Allen's beat up Chevy and the dog stopped. It was raining a bit so it was rather inconvenient. "Are you going to get in?" Harlco asked, "This would not be the ideal place to stop walking if you're going to take me home."
"Harlco...we are best friends forever right? No matter what?" the dog asked.
The question threw him off. "Of course...why do you ask?"
"And friends always tell friends the truth right? They don't hide anything?"
That hit home, the griffin felt guilty but replied quickly, "Yeah, of course."
The dog spun around and placed both of his paws delicately on the back of Harlco's head and neck, gently lifting it up to his own face and planting a kiss on his best friends lips.
The shock registered first. The griffin stiffened up, eyes wide. There was panic, but soon it all faded. The two stood there, arms now wrapped around each other, the little griffin to the big dog, and shared a kiss. It never ended. They went from just lips, to impatient tongues, to full fledge French kissing in a matter of moments. Their tongues delicately, shyly entered a previously taboo zone.
They broke apart just for a moment; Harlco savoured it all; the scent, the taste, the feel of wrapping his arms around that toned body. It was a beautiful moment. When he opened his eyes Allen looked back glumly. That wasn't right...
"What's wrong?" Harlco asked is friend, confident now enough to wrap his arms around him again. "You look like your about to cry."
"Harlco...Harlco I love you..." the dog breathed, "I shouldn't but I do and..." he threw his arms and shoulders up and down a bit defeated, "You love me."
That caught the griffin off guard; he almost opened his mouth but was stopped. "No! Don't say a thing!" the dog sounded hurt, "I had to find out the one I've been crushing on likes me when he was drunk." He looked up, "It's been eating me alive...why don't you trust me man?" he cried.
The griffin tried to make his mouth form words...Coherent words, "I-uh-we...when did I..."
"Arianna Minton's party. You got into the rum and I drove you home," he laughed, "A one and a half hour drive of you telling me how gorgeous I am, and how long you have wanted to tell me so.
Harlco almost died of embarrassment. "Uh...Oh my God...I-I'm so sorry," he covered his face, "I just didn't want to lose you." That party was four months ago at the start of term...Allen had known for a while. "Why didn't you tell me you knew?"
"I didn't think it was right for me to know that way...I wanted you to tell me...I wanted you to trust me." The dog sighed, "I know I wasn't exactly any better not telling you before, but at that moment I decided you had to tell me because it wasn't fair to go in and have that kind of information."
They stood in the rain a bit longer, their bodies close together. "S-so how do you feel?" Harlco asked quietly, "Are you mad?"
The Shepard sighed, his body moving up and down with his large chest, "I was...but I can't stay mad at you."
This was it. Harlco had waited forever for this. He had a returned love and support of his very best friend, "I still do love you Allen, and if you aren't too mad I...uhhh....was wondering if you'd like to go out some time..."
The dog laughed his good happy laugh, "I'll have to think about it," he teased, pulling his friend into a hug, "Yes I'd love to."
The griffin felt his heart burst and rise into his throat all at once, "D-do you want to start tonight...M-my bed is a bit cold..."
The silence that followed almost killed the griffin, although it couldn't have been more than a few moments in time.
"Nothing would make me happier."