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Josh heard the front door slam shut with a sigh and the sound of something heavy falling against the wall next to it. The wolf grabbed the remote off of his stomach and lowered the volume on the TV as he sat up, swiveling his ears towards the door. "Scott? That you?" There was no answer. "Hon?"

"Yeah," Josh heard from the other room.

Josh swung his legs over the side of the couch and sat up with a grunt. He fumbled with the remote until he found the pause button then stood, walking over and leaning against the archway leading towards the entryway and looked towards the front door. Scott was sitting on the floor with his back pressed against the door, his ears back and his muzzle buried in both his paws and his usually animate tail curled tightly around one of his legs. "Hey," Josh said, taking a step towards the fox tentatively. "Is everything alright?"

Scott looked up at Josh through his fingers, his eyes red and weary. He opened his mouth to say something, but a lump formed in his throat that choked out any words he tried to form. He managed to shake his head, but Josh had gotten the message long before that.

"Hey," Josh said. He sat down next to Scott and pulled the fox into a tight hug, pressing Scott's face into his chest and resting his chin between the fox's ears. "It'll be okay. What's wrong?"

"It's the store," Scott sighed into Josh's bare furred chest.

"What about it?" There was silence. "Scott?"

"I told you we were looking for a new building to move into?"

"Yeah," Josh said. "Did they find a bad location? Is it too small to keep all the employees?"

Scott pressed his face even more into Josh's chest. He clenched his fist and breathed in slowly, trying not to shake as he did so. "It's a bit worse than that."

"What do you mean?" Josh pulled his head back enough to look Scott in the muzzle.

Scott drew in a deep breath, "We didn't find one."

The silence hung throughout the house for what felt like an eternity. "How long do you have?" Josh finally said.

"Two weeks," Scott said. "Our lease runs out in about three, and we'll need time to clear out before the landlords charge us another month for taking too long."

"There aren't any other stores to transfer out to?"

"Not locally," Scott said. "The closest that's taking applications is two hours away, and it'd be a demotion on my part." He sighed, "They're offering a severance package, but that'd only be one check paying me for two weeks of would-be labor."

"Damn," Josh said. He pulled the fox closer against him and kissed him along the bridge of his muzzle. "We'll manage, hon."

"I know," Scott said. "I just ... I'm still in shock."

"I know," Josh said. He shrugged then kissed Scott again, "Maybe this is a good thing. I mean, this job was only supposed to be temporary, anyways. While you got your degree, and all that."

"That's still a semester away," Scott said.

"We can manage until then," Josh said. "Tighten our belts and all that shit. Maybe have ramen nights instead of spaghetti nights."

"Yeah," Scott said softly. He nuzzled into Josh's chest and let out a sigh, "I just hate losing my job."

"It's been six years," Josh said. "Maybe it's about time you got a big-boy job, ya know?"

Scott pulled away Josh, sitting on his knees with his ears splayed to the side. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I'm just saying," Josh said with a shrug. "I mean, you've been working in a bookstore for six years. Maybe it's time to go get a real job, you know?"

"A real job?" Scott held back the growl in the back of his throat.

"Yeah," Josh said. "A desk, nine-to-five, in an actual office. Making real money. You've been playing retail for a while now, Hon, come on."

"Playing?" Scott snapped. "That's what you think I've been doing the past six years? Playing retail?"

"It's a bookstore," Josh said. "Admit it, you've been getting paid to play with books, Scott."

Scott opened his mouth to say something, then snapped it shut and looked away, closing his eyes. He rubbed at the side of his face, massaging at his temples, then looked back to the wolf with subdued fire in his eyes. "Is that really how you've thought of my job?"

"Sorry, Hon, but yeah," Josh said. "Kinda." He pushed off of the ground with a grunt, standing in front of Scott with an extended paw.

Scott swatted the paw away, standing up on his own. "How can you say that? I mean, I met you while you were working as a waiter!"

"Yeah," Josh said slowly, crossing his arms over his bare chest. "And then I grew up, got my degree, and then got a real job. You're about a third of the way there, now."

Scott just stood there and blinked at Josh. "Grow up?" He felt a snarl curl at his muzzle as he staked forward a step, poking the wolf in the chest with enough force to back him into the door. "Grow up? Who's the one who stayed with his parents all through college, working a part-time job to 'pay rent' while blowing most of your checks on games and booze? Who's the one who walked out with a business degree and got an instant job because his uncle needed an accountant? Who's the one who spends half the day half naked on the couch watching half thought out soaps and eating half your weight in chips?"

Josh put his paws to Scott's shoulders and pushed him away roughly, "Oh, don't you dare play that card, fox!" Josh gave Scott another shove, taking a step towards him with his hackles raised, his normally brushed and smooth fur now splayed and puffed up, making the normally thick wolf look that much more imposing. "I work my ass off in that office - my ass off - to pay the bills. I make sure the water keeps flowing, I make sure the electricity doesn't cut out, I make sure we still have internet for you to waste hours on with your 'research papers.' So don't you dare call me lazy, boy!"

"Oh, what would you know about work!" Scott pushed back against Josh's chest. "I'm about to finish my Master's - my Master's! - after only five years because I've taken no fewer than five classes a semester since Freshman year and managed to impress my professors enough to get into the Fast-Track program that started me on Master's level courses in my Junior year! And, on top of all that, I've worked forty hours a week bending over backwards for entitled, out of touch assholes like you who think I'm just 'playing with books' eight fucking hours a day!"

Josh put his paw to Scott's throat and pushed him into the wall, ignoring the picture frames and the outcroppings in the wall that slammed into the fox's head and back. "You ungrateful, little bitch!" He pressed tighter around Scott's neck and brought his muzzle just inches from the fox's, screaming and spitting in his face. "How dare you? I've worked so hard for you, I've given up so much to make sure the life you come home to is good enough for you! And this is how you repay me, by calling me 'entitled' and 'out of touch'?" He pulled Scott back and slammed him back into the wall, ignoring his pained, choked yelps. "I bought you this house, I bought you your car, I've bought you food for your picky little bullshit diets you change every other month, and this - this! - is how you thank me?"

It was only when Scott flinched away, eyes squeezed shut, that Josh realized he'd raised his fist.

And then, in a rush, Josh realized fully what he'd just done.

Josh jumped back with a start, staring down at his paws with horror as the fox slumped down against the wall, wheezing and coughing between his pained whimpers. "Oh, god," Josh said. He backed away from the fox, ears spayed and tail between his legs. "Scott, I ... I-I'm so sorry." He thought he could smell copper on the air. He tried to step forward again, but when the fox flinched away he drew back even further. "I just ... I don't ... "

"I'm fine," Scott croaked.

"Are you bleeding?"

Scott touched the back of his head then looked down at his paws. "Yeah."

"Shit," Josh said. He looked down at his paws in disgust, and felt nausea grip his stomach like a vice. "I'm so sorry."

Scott pushed away from the wall, testing to see if he could stand on his own, then collapsed back against the wall with a thud, holding a paw to the back of his head. "I think I need to lay down."

"We should call an ambulance," Josh said.

He started to reach for his pocket, but Scott cut him off with a short, "No!" The fox locked his eyes with the wolf's and stared him down until Josh let his paw hang limp against his thigh. "They'll arrest you if we call."

Josh felt a warm tightness around his eyes. "Maybe they shou-"

"No," Scott said. He sighed softly then shakily crossed the hallway to wrap his arms around the wolf's thick chest and rest his chin on the wolf's shoulder. "No, it's okay."

"It's not," Josh said. His vision blurred as tears welled in his eyes and traced wet streams down his cheek. He held back the whine in his throat, but couldn't stop himself from sniffling.

"Hey," Scott said. He nuzzled against Josh's cheek and licked away the tears from his fur. "We'll make it through this. We always do."

Josh slowly wrapped his own arms around the fox. "I'm sorry."

"So am I," Scott said.

"You aren't ungrateful."

"You aren't entitled."

"I know you work hard."

"I know you do, too."

The smell of copper came back to Josh's nose. "We should get you bandaged up."

"Not yet." Scott hugged the wolf tighter, nuzzling into the thick fur of his neck. "I just want this moment to last a bit longer."

"Okay," Josh said. He nuzzled back into Scott's neck and pressed his nose to the damp fur at the back of his head. He breathed the scent in, feeling the nausea come back to him again then let out a shuttering sigh. "Maybe it's time I grew up."

"And maybe," Scott said, "It's time I got ... maybe it's time a got a big-boy job."