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4

Nomac saw stars.

Other bar-goers gasped and ooh-ed.

The coyote tripped backward and the bar bit into his spine as he collided with it and crumpled to the floor. He tried opening his eyes, but those damn stars still blinded him, red and blue ones flashing like police lights. And he was crying. His eyes wouldn't stop watering. He tasted blood, choking on it. A pain throbbed from his front teeth all the way to the base of his neck.

He thought about getting up, and then thought about just lying there. He thought Vaughn would hit him again, maybe kick him since he was in the perfect position for that, curled around the legs of a stool and wallowing in bar filth on the floor.

He felt sticky, bloody spit dribble down his chin as he laughed.

He was bar filth. He fit in well with cigarette butts and crumbled napkins with phone numbers scrawled on them.

"Get the fuck up, Mac," Vaughn growled high above him. "This isn't funny. We're going home. You shouldn't have come here."

Nomac coughed and wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve. He felt someone draw close to him, felt a paw clutch hard onto his shoulder. He smelled the rain soaked fur, felt Vaughn's hot breath across his cheeks. So close.

The coyote winced, hocked, and spat into his roommates face. And he didn't need his sight to know he'd struck a bull's-eye. There were more mumbles from other bar-folk, even a "damn, dude!"

"MOTHERFUCKER!" Vaughn snarled.

Nomac was yanked up by the collar of his hoodie, his head jerking back. That hot breath stung his face again, and the coyote laughed as Vaughn shook him a bit. Blood and saliva went down the wrong tube, but he laughed again--cackled.

His feet were barely touching the wood floors.

Vaughn seemed to notice how easy it had been to lift Nomac up, too, because he gasped. He froze with the coyote still dangling in his grasp. Nomac thought he'd be sat down gently and smiled, chuffing.

Vaughn was soft. The coyote knew that. He only ever had one good bought of hot air pressurized inside like a propane tank. And it took a lot to get him to blow, but once he did he'd fizzle out. The folf was so predictab...

Vaughn let go of Nomac's collar. Gravity tugged hard and the coyote's tail bone cracked against the floor like a bookend, sending pain rocketing through his body, curling his toes and making his balls twist in agony. A cough/wail broke from his throat. Where was Rai? Probably standing back with his arms crossed, laughing under his breath. Wouldn't be the first time. The bastard.

"Get. Up," Vaughn said again, his tone rattling and pained.

_ Better do it,_ someone said.

_ Fight, you pussy,_ said someone else.

Nomac growled. His right eye quit watering. He wiped it, squinted through it, and glared at his roommate with it. "Fuck. You." He crawled onto his hands and knees, gently probing his bloody nose and waiting for the pain tingling up and down his spine to recede. "You hit me, you asshole. You think I'm going anywhere with you?"

_ Hell,_ someone murred. I'll go with him.

Vaughn's eyes flashed around, but he just stood there. His wet grey fur made him appear almost black, but the blue highlights in it still shimmered in the bar-gloom. He only had on his Chucks, a pair of jeans, and a red tank top. He crossed his thick arms and shifted his stance, his lean waist taunt and curved, thighs bunched and solid and keeping him steady. His ears were pinned flat, dark brown eyes spewing fury, tail whipping around his calves.

He looked haughty. The folf reminded Nomac of his own father, and the coyote was sure Vaughn liked to think that he was. His face--that pinched, scrutinizing, modelesque coldness--spoke ten-thousand variations of "You're in so much trouble, young man." Nomac hated that face. He couldn't look into it for too long. It made his stomach ache. And...and...

Nomac grunted. His stomach twisted. Ohhhh shiiiit, someone wailed. Vaughn took a step backward.

Bile spilled into the coyote's mouth, but he clenched his teeth and swallowed it back down, the sourness of it mixing with the metallic twang of blood. That taste made him gag and heave, but he clasped his paws over his muzzle, eyes bugging as he fought to keep the contents of his stomach inside. Again, he swallowed. His eyes pinched as his throat bulged, and then he looked at Vaughn. The room was spinning around the folf like he was an axis, like he held everything in his sway and kept it from getting flung into space. Round and round and round...the coyote felt hot. His forehead was spewing warmth like a radiator. He whined and clutched his stomach--it was on fire, too. Vaughn just shook his head.

"You're a goddamn idiot, Mac," the folf sighed. He took a step closer and leaned down, whispering almost. "I'm taking you home. You're sick! You can't mix alcohol with your meds!" He leaned closer. "You shouldn't be here!"

"I'll do...whatever...I fucking please."

Vaughn shot out a paw and clutched Nomac's chin, yanking his head up and staring heatedly into the coyote's bloodshot eyes. The folf's lips were quivering. "No. No you won't." He shook Nomac's head and the coyote winced. "You're killing yourself, Mac..."

Nomac grunted. He smiled and it was hollow. He felt like that all of the time. Like a shell. "Good," he said. "That sounds nice: dying."

Vaughn's eyes grew big and watery, his arm shaking as he pinched the coyote's chin, like he wanted desperately to crush it but knew better. He was biting hard on his bottom lip. He let Nomac go.

"You don't mean that," he said, slapping his thigh harshly. "Don't fucking say that, Mac!"

"Heh." Nomac smirked at his roommate. "The truth hurts." He poked the end of his snout. "And you hit me..."

"Mac..."

_ Just kiss him already! Fuckin' tease!_

Nomac chuckled dryly and spat on the floor. Vaughn leaped up, his tail snapping, and looked toward the guy who'd hackled them. "Go to hell, you son of a bitch!"

_ Only if you tag along, pretty boy! MmmMMM..._

Vaughn clenched his fists and started toward the guy. "You ass! I'm gonna..."

"ENOUGH!" boomed a roaring voice that shook vodka bottles behind the bar. Rai came out, a hulking, muscle-straining mountain of fur contained within the confines of a tiny apron. His paws were flexed, claws unsheathed and glinting. He jabbed one toward the heckling guy--a badger or something--smiling arrogantly. "Shut your goddamn mouth, mother-fucker, or I'll give you a grin from ear to fucking ear." He swiped a claw in a "U" shape across his face to drive his point home. The badger sank into his booth. Rai then rounded on Vaughn standing stock-still, eyes wide. "And you..." He latched onto the folf's shoulder and tugged him back toward Nomac, still on the floor. The lion leaned into Vaughn's face, growling softly into his flicking ear. He pointed toward Nomac. "Not that he didn't deserve having some sense knocked into him..." Vaughn whimpered as the lion clenched his paw and his claws pierced the folf's flesh. "But don't ever, ever, EVER pull that shit in my bar ever again." He released his grasp and patted Vaughn on the back, still anything but warm. "It's bad for business."

Nomac dared to chuckle up at the lion, blood dribbling down his chin still. "You called a customer a mother-fucker..."

The lion's amber eyes flared as he looked at the coyote. He smiled a little, evilly, his muzzle pulled back and revealing his fangs. "That's different. For me, it's a term of endearment."

Nomac smirked. "Awh, I didn't know you cared."

"Shut up," Rai rumbled. He bent down and easily lifted Nomac to his feet, steadying him with his paws on the coyote's shoulders. The coyote didn't dare look in the lion's eyes. Rai shook him a little but didn't say anything. Then Nomac flinched as the lion brought a massive paw up and patted the side of his face. The coyote then looked, and Rai was frowning. "It's just a game with you, isn't it?" he asked.

"What?"

"Life, dumbass," Rai sighed. His hulking form hunched, arm falling then rising again. He'd grabbed his rag. He dabbed gently at the crusty blood on Nomac's snout, wiping away the gore a bit.

Nomac just froze. He'd wince when the lion would scrub hard, but that was it. He didn't know what else to do. He'd never known the lion to be so...so...not a hardass. The big cat's face was...sad. Sad and concerned. Nomac didn't like it. He didn't like being babied either.

"What the fuck," he spat, knocking Rai's paw aside. He scowled at the lion, ears flat. "I'm not a fucking cub."

Rai chuckled...for a split second. He went from "haha" to "hell no" in point-five seconds flat. A growl rumbled deep in his barrel chest and he poked Nomac hard in the ribs. "Could've fooled me." He pocketed his rag and looked at Vaughn standing close behind him, eyes still wide from realizing he'd lost control of the situation. "Get him the hell out of here," the lion said. Vaughn started toward Nomac.

"Oh, hell no!" the coyote half stuttered half cackled. He wiped his face with a dirty sleeve. "I was in the middle of something!"

Rai rounded on him, and Vaughn paused. The lion just rolled his eyes and tossed a thumb over his shoulder toward the door. "Your 'something' took off, Coy. A wise decision, if I do say so myself." He lifted a paw and motioned toward Nomac. "Look at you. You're a fucking mess."

Nomac just huffed, shuffling in place and peering around, wiping his nose. He looked to where Denver had been sitting before, the stool abandoned. He looked toward the door and imagined the black lab darting out. Hell, the coyote couldn't blame him. Still, it might have gone somewhere...

Rai noticed Nomac's divided attention and sighed. It was a boisterous, ragged sound, like a tire blowing out. "Get the fuck out."

Wipe. "Wh...what?"

Rai started back toward his side of the bar, where he was divided from shit like this, disconnected from his clientele. "Get out, Coy." He tossed his rag into a garbage can beneath the bar then rubbed his face. He dropped his paws and his eyes were red. "I've tolerated your shit for as long as I can, and I'm done. You've become more trouble than a handful of Old Fashioned's are worth." He scratched his chest. "You've hit a new bottom, boy, and I'm cutting you off. For good. Now get out."

Nomac felt a literal twist in his stomach as he took in Rai's words: Now get out. The command bit into his mind. It chilled his skin and made him shutter. His tail went limp and his eyes stung as they widened. His heart started to race.

He all but fell against the bar and clutched its side, peering at Rai, the lion's face serene and impassive. "But...but...where will I go!?" he gasped.

Rai shrugged. "Not here. Another bar, if you must. But..." He leaned in close to a heavily breathing Nomac. "I think you should just...go home. Go home, Coy. Get straightened out, clean yourself up. You do that..." He rubbed his chin. "You do that and I'll lift your banishment. You've got more important things to deal with than getting laid and getting drunk."

Nomac just whimpered and wiped his nose.

Rai flicked his eyes toward the door. "Now go." He looked at Vaughn as the folf came up behind Nomac. "And you're lucky you didn't break anything. Roommates or not, I would've called the cops. I should've called the cops."

Vaughn laid a paw on Nomac's shoulder. The coyote was shaking, but he didn't protest as the folf tugged him toward the door.

"Thank you," he said. "For not doing that."

Rai just eyed him. "Next time you won't be so lucky."

"What next time," Nomac sighed, defeated. He brushed Vaughn's paw from his shoulder and walked out on his own. The folf watched him go, pausing to smile apologetically toward Rai.

"Watch out for him," the lion said. "You're all he's got."

"I know," Vaughn said. "I know..."

Then he raced out after his roommate before he lost him.

_ Gaaaaaaaay,_ someone said as the door closed. Vaughn heard Rai's voice boom through the walls, though.

"SHUT IT, ASSHOLE, OR YOU'RE NEXT."

Vaughn paused briefly on the street and snapped his head around looking for Nomac. The rain had stopped, but a haze had settled over the city, obscuring the surroundings. The coyote was shuffling zombie-like down the sidewalk, shoulder bumping against the walls and windows of buildings as he went.

"Mac!" He took off, shoes slapping against moist concrete. "Mac, wait!"

"Go to hell, Vaughn," the coyote moaned through the murk, still bumping along and grunting, sniffing and wiping his nose. "You've done enough."

The folf caught up with his roommate. "No. No I haven't."

"You hit me."

"You needed it."

"Fuck you."

"Fuck you, too."

They passed a garbage can. Nomac eyed it ponderously. Vaughn saw the coyote's back arch and stepped out of the way as he all but dived into it, coughing and hacking red vomit into the receptacle. Vaughn patted his roommate's back, receiving objecting snarls between heaves, but he just waited until the coyote was done.

"Can't mix alcohol with them, Mac."

Nomac spat into the garbage. "Noted."

Vaughn helped the coyote to stand, tugging him gently by the arm. "Come on."

They stumbled on in silence for a while, their footsteps echoing lonely against the darkened street. They'd pass beneath a streetlamp every so often, the light scattering and bursting through the fog like a nimbus. Vaughn would clear his throat and gaze sideways at Nomac beside him. Nomac would just wipe his blood-crusted nose and sniff, looking down at his feet.

"I feel like shit, Vaughn." Nomac said out of the haze, squinting at his roommate. "I always feel like shit." He pulled a pill bottle from his pocket and rattled it. "I thought this stuff was supposed to help me feel better."

"It will, Mac," Vaughn said. "Just give it time. You just started it."

"Fuck time," the coyote hissed. "And fuck Zoloft. This shit sucks."

"It'll get better."

"Hmmph..."

More silence. More sniffing and clearing of the throat. More glowing streetlamps and wet footsteps.

"I still can't believe you hit me," Nomac said.

"Yeah," Vaughn said. "Me...me neither. And I..."

"Don't apologize," the coyote interrupted, his ears flat and eyes still on the ground. "Never apologize. I don't want to hear it."

Vaughn sighed. "I was just going to say that...that..."

"That what?"

"That you really fucking piss me off sometimes, Mac."

The coyote snuffed. "I know."

Vaughn stuffed his paws into his pockets, watching Nomac closely. "Then you know...you know I'm not always going to be around to pick you up and dust you off when you fall, right? I'm not always going to be able to keep an eye on you?"

"Yes you will," Nomac simply said.

Vaughn paused, brow furrowing. "Excuse me?"

"You'll always be here."

"And what if you're wrong?"

Nomac shrugged. "I'm not...but if I am?" He paused and looked bitterly back over his shoulder. "I'll be dead."

Vaughn sucked in a cold breath. Nomac resumed walking.

The rain started to fall again.