So I just realized I haven't been posting up the short Corbin stories I've been writing that are suppose to lead up to the one i'm working on now, so I should probably post them!

A Night In

The tobacco at the end of the cigarette lit up, the surrounding paper burned as smoke was pulled into the avian’s lungs, dull tired eyes brought to focus on the paper in front of them as talons tapped away at the keys below. As a tiny bell rings out the talons slow to a stop, wrapping around the return lever before giving it a gentle tug, watching the roller slide along until it was in its proper place.

“Really? You’re still working on that? When did you get so boring?”

He lifted his head to look away from the paper as the voice interrupted his concentration, golden irises shining in the light at the end of the cigarette as it drew closer to his beak. His world became dark as his eyelids fell, not seeming to be in any sort of rush to answer the question, even as another question was asked.

“Oh, giving me the cold shoulder now? Come on! You use to be fun. Remember?”

With a sigh the smoke that was kept prisoner quickly made its escape from the crow’s beak, rising into the air to add to the already strong smell of nicotine. He moved in his seat, adjusting his posture till he was sitting up straight, spine popping a couple times as he went further and arched his back. He held there for a moment before letting his body settle back into relaxing, or at least as relaxed as it got these days, finally giving a response.

“Gotta work to keep the lights on and the fridge full, can’t always steal everything.”

He let out another smoke filled sigh as laughter was the response he got for giving such a serious answer, leaning forward to look at the paper he had been typing out, trying to focus on getting back to the task at hand. Trying his best to focus on what he was typing, always careful with each talon as it fell to a key as one wrong move would mean starting the page over.

“Come on, take a break. You’re almost out of cigarettes anyway, let's go break some things and get some more! You know it’ll be fun~”

His eyes fell shut once more as he felt hooves digging into his shoulders, voice sounding so smooth and inviting, making it hard to resist the invite, but he knew he needed to work. The end of the cigarette lit up once more as the crow took a long breath in, finishing off what was left of it, beak opening to let the used up tool fall to the floor before his eyes opened once more.

“I can’t, I want to, I do, but I can’t. I really need to finish these last few pages so I can make some money and pay my bills.”

The feeling of hooves on his shoulders slowly disappeared as he gave out the answer, nicotine filled smoke lifting from his nostrils, giving him a chance to enjoy the stinging burning sensation it brought to his eyes. He felt himself relaxing again, at least for a few minutes before the smoke cleared, talons reaching for the carton of cigarettes a moment later, already feeling his need for nicotine rising.

“Quit being such a fuckin’ buzz kill, Corbin! You can’t keep me cooped up in here!”

His talons gripped the carton tightly, thumb talon popping the top open before his other hand reached over and pulled out one of the cigarettes. He placed it in his beak while grabbing his lighter, shaky hand lighting the tobacco up as quickly as he could, taking in a deep breath of nicotine to calm his nerves.

“I’m not keeping you anywhere Tusk, if you want to leave you can. You were breaking and stealing things long before you met me.”

He put a hand out in front of him, watching the talons shake as he desperately tried to take in more and more of what he thought he needed. He continued to take in lungfuls of smoke as quickly as he could, watching his talons as the shaking slowly stopped, a little less than half of it left. With his talons having returned to their prior steadiness he quickly returned to typing, a few minutes was all he got all of it before his talons returned to shaking.

“Let’s go, you aren’t getting anything done anyway! I’m not going to leave without you! It’s no fun going all alone!”

He couldn’t take it anymore, the last of his nerves burning away like the rest of his cigarette as he takes a long drag off of it. He did his best to hold it in, but as he let the nicotine out and let the end drop to the floor he felt himself slip. His talons crushed the carton and then last cigarette in it, slamming his fist to the table.

“Then why the fuck did you leave?!”

He turned around with teary eyes as he stared at the empty room, beak clicking together strongly as he looked at the couch and then stood up. His head moves around as he looks for the small water deer, but he was gone, he had been gone for months now, but Corbin just couldn’t let him go. When he got too strung out, too stressed, too sleep deprived he would hear his only friend again, sometimes even see him. On occasion he would do it on purpose just because he missed being around him, but sometimes work became too much and he would come around to taunt him.

“I’m sorry...really Tusk, I am, please don’t leave. I need you around, you were the only person I ever got along with.”

He felt like he was losing grip on himself, like he was about to break down and openly cry as he sat back down in his chair, taking in a shaky breath. He slowly moved his talons along the table, scratching along the talon marks that were already there, beak clicking a few times as tears ran down the feathers of his face.

“Quit your crying, faggot.”

He slowly put a smile on his beak, as big as it would allow when he heard the voice again, running his arm over his face to get rid of the tears. He does his best to relax again while taking in another stuttering breath as he puts his talons back on his typewriter ready to work for the rest of the night.

“Fuck you…”





Also, and i'll probably say this for a lot of Corbin stories going forward, if you see this thumbnail i'm now using it means it takes place after Corbin's friend Tusk has died, if you see the usual staring at you all unamused one, it means it takes place before Tusk has died. Soooo yeah, that! Hope you enjoyed.