Hey y'all! I'm back and better than ever! Sorry about the short hiatus. The last two days have been pretty busy, and I didn't have the chapter as far along as I wanted either days, so I held off on it. I was going to post it at three this morning, but I wasn't entirely done with the story, and I didn't want to post anything half done. So, here we are!

This chapter focuses on Husk and Fen's date. I wanted to get a bit more character building done, but Fen forgot what holiday it was...

So, yeah. Happy Fourth of July! I wanted to do a story focused around a more... adult theme, but I held off. I wanted to do something with a thunderstorm in my story, but the Fourth of July sounds much more appealing than a thunderstorm! So, I worked around it, rewrote some main plot points, and... here we are!

Anyways, I hope you guys have a good day and or night and or evening! I hope you like the story, and critique is appreciated! Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoy!


Café Husky
Chapter 9

As you drive to the café, you can’t help but wonder back to what Husk told you. ‘Come prepared.’ What could that even mean? You guys were meeting up in the café, so… what could you have prepared for? You think for a while, before just deciding to do something simple. You can just buy him a blueberry muffin! Maybe you could get him a tea too. You remember him drinking something like that the first time you met him, so you can get him something like that again.

The rest of the drive to the café went on in silence. You weren’t in the mood to listen to any music, and you just wanted some time to think, so you continued to drive in silence. You were growing more nervous as you were approaching the café. The last time you and Husk had gotten together, he had given you your first kiss, and it was one of the most tantalizing things you have ever experienced. It left your lips tingling, and it set your body on fire. You instantly desired more affection from this husky, if only to share another magical moment with him.

If only…


You arrive at the café minutes later, now feeling like your stomach has tied itself in knots. You take a deep breath, before exhaling out, trying to calm yourself down. It doesn’t work though, and you still feel just as nervous. You pull down your sun visor, and look into the convenient mirror located inside. You can see your own nervousness in your face. Your beige fur looks nice, but your muddy brown eyes look worried, maybe even scared. You bring your giant fennec ears down over your eyes, still trying to calm yourself down. It’s still not working, and you still felt scared.

Why can’t you calm down?

You wallow in your fear for a moment, before a knock comes at your window, shocking you, and causing your ears to pop back up into their natural position. Looking over, you see Husk staring at you from outside your window.

Feeling embarrassed, you put your sun visor back up, before hopping out of your car. Glaring at the white husky. His brilliant fur looking extra pristine today. The brown hue on his fur always making you happy. The brown looking spray painted on. His brilliant brown and blue eyes always stood out the most to you, drawing you in and derailing your train of thought whenever you found yourself staring at them.

This husky had a grip on your heart, and he didn’t even know it.

You lean on your car door, speaking angrily, “Now what do you think you’re doing!? Why would you knock on my window, knowing it would scare me?!”

Husk just shrugs his shoulders, clearly used to you getting mad at him by now, before responding calmly, “I figured that would be better than sitting here staring at you. I didn’t want to go in alone, figuring the circumstances that brought me here last time. Besides, you look like you needed some type of encouragement. You looked utterly distraught, so I figured that would at least help get your mind off of whatever it was you were thinking about.”

You can’t help but stare at him, before sighing defeatedly, he did have a point, “Okay, I’ll give you this one. But don’t expect another pass next time!” He laughs at your anger, clearly amused. You glare at him for a second, before you remember something, staring at this fluffy husky, “Oh yeah! I bought something for you before I drove over here! I think you’ll like it.” You reach into the car, and pull out the white Fluff keychain you had bought, before showing it to Husk. Closing and locking your car door.

He looks a bit confused for a moment, before his eyes fill with recognition. He snatches the keychain from you, looking it over excitedly, before looking confused again, “Wait… isn’t this Floofers? Isn’t he a blank white in your game? Why is the official merchandise the wrong color?”

You can only shake your head, just as confused as he is, “I don’t know! Maybe Floofers is so special, he just developed his own color or something. I can’t figure it out! I bought the Feral Findex™, hoping it would provide some insight on what is up with Floofers, but I haven’t been able to look at it. I drove over here after I bought everything. Maybe I can see what’s up tonight, I’ll look through the booklet, just to see what’s going on.”

Husk nods his head, clearly wanting to know the answer as well, before he changes topics, “So, why don’t we head inside? I’m feeling a little peckish, and I wouldn’t mind having another blueberry muffin like we had the other day. It was delicious!”

You laugh at his burning desire for blueberries, before patting his back, and walking with him inside.

The usual smell of the café invades your nose, instantly putting you in a state of relaxation. You’ve always loved coming here. The smell and atmosphere of the place always put you at ease, and the things they served here were always delicious, whether it be a plain bagel, or a fancy tea. It was all just so good!

You and Husk walk up to the counter, seeing the same shark girl from the day you first met Husk. You never noticed her nametag then, but it said her name was ‘Lavey’. Hm, what a cool name. You can’t say you’ve ever heard a name like that before.

You walk up to the counter, and Lavey greets you half-heartedly. “Hello and welcome to the Revitealize. What would you like today?”
You and Husk give each other a look for the stupid name. You always forget the café is called that, but it makes you chuckle to yourself every time. It was such a dumb name.

You respond happily, not bothered by her attempt at trying to work, “Hello! My friend and I would like two blueberry muffins, and…” You turn to Husk, before having a sidebar with him, “What would you like to drink? I’ll probably just get what you get.”

Husk doesn’t even hesitate to respond, spitting out an answer, “A blueberry tea! It’s my favorite type of tea! I’ve tried a few different types here, but the blueberry tea always tastes the best!” You didn’t know they had blueberry tea here. You always stuck with a calming green tea, never really wanting to explore outside your comfort zone.

You nod at his decision, before turning back to Lavey, “We would also like two blueberry teas please!”

You pay for the snacks, and Lavey walks off, before returning with your muffins. She looks just as excited as she did when you both got there, and she talks again, sounding bored, “And who should we call when it’s done?”

You respond quickly, knowing Husk doesn’t really like his real name, before giving her your own name, “Apollo should be fine.”
Lavey writes your name down on a notepad, “Your teas will be ready in a minute.”

You and Husk walk off to find a table while you wait. You wanted to sit at the corner table where you found Husk sulking when you met him, but you saw that Eggy, the mint green bunny, who served you guys at BunHop, was sitting at that table. You didn’t want to bother him, so you walked off with Husk, finding another table with a view outside, and sitting down with him at it.

“Apollo, your orders are ready!” Of course, just as you sit down. With a sigh, you stand up from your table, and walk over to get your tea. This time, a short rat hands you your order, obviously having made the teas himself. You weren’t sure if Lavey could actually do anything other than sound bored, so you guess that made sense. You pick up the blueberry teas, before walking back to the table where Husk was sitting. The teas let off a wonderful scent. The bland sweetness of the tea really whets your appetite. Making you want to try it as soon as you get back to the table where Husk was sitting, eagerly waiting for you to get back.

When you get back to the table, you hand Husk his tea, and as you sit down, he looks at you hesitantly, and seeing the weird look on your face, speaks up, “I want to see your reaction to the tea! I love blueberry tea, and the tastes it gives off really compliment the muffin! Go ahead and try it!”

You take a sip from your tea. The bitter flavor of the tea being overpowered by the sweet taste of blueberries. This was really good! You then take a bite out of the blueberry muffin, and wash it down with some of the tea. The flavors intermingled inside your mouth, making a perfect mixture of bitter and sweet, and the blueberry taste of both items complimented each other so well. You could have this every day and not grow tired of it.

Husk had been watching you intently this whole time, a look of concern in his eyes. You had probably made a lot of noise while going through your blueberry trip. You take a second to bask in the aftereffects of the muffin, before speaking up, sounding ecstatic, “This is perfect! The flavors work so well with each other, and the tea isn’t overwhelming at all! Overall really good!”

Husk beams from your happiness, and you watch as he also takes a bite of the muffin, his white fur standing on end, and his tail wagging quickly behind him. You loved seeing him like this. The way his smile across his maw accentuated his white fur, and the tail wagging sporadically behind him making you overjoyed that you were with him right now, and that he was happy to be with you.

Husk looks at you for a moment, a grin spreading across his face, “Now what’s got you grinning from ear to ear? Is it the muffin? C’mon, I know it’s not that good!”

Your face stiffens up a bit, and you can feel your cheeks grow hot, you didn’t know he was looking at you. You can’t hide the nervousness in your voice, as you respond, “N…No, it’s not the muffin… It’s just… seeing you happy makes me smile. You’ve been through so much these past few days, and I can’t even imagine the pain going through your heart, and yet, you can find moments, like these, to smile.” You grasp your necklace for a second, nervous by what you said, before you look at Husk again, continuing, “It’s just really endearing. I could sit here watching you all day, if only you could stay happy forever…”

He clasps your paw that was wrapped around your necklace, pulling both of your paws together, clutching them both lightly, before looking you in the eyes earnestly. His eyes grabbed your attention, the brown and blue putting you at ease. You both sit there staring into each other’s eyes, both of you having lost your train of thought, choosing to just sit there, lost in each other’s eyes for who knows how long, before Husk suddenly looks away, his white cheeks becoming tinted red. He musters the courage to look back at you, and you can see him hesitant to speak. You rub his paws that were atop yours, before he squeezes your paws tightly, appreciating the support.

Husk takes a moment to collect himself, before he continues on, not able to look into your eyes, “So… ummmm… do you maybe want to… date me?”

You sit there, shocked at his sudden question. Your maw had dropped, and you couldn’t come up with the words to say yes. Your mind was suddenly drawing a blank, leaving you sitting there, looking stupid.

You take a moment more to collect yourself, swallowing all of the saliva that had formed inside of your mouth, before you respond, stuttering along, “Ummm… of c… course I do… But, umm… are you sure you want to date me? I can be quite a pawful…”

His paws clutching yours tightened considerably, you see tears welling up in his eyes, and you can see him smiling from ear to ear. You think it will be a while before you see him this happy again. Tears run down his cheek, as he continues, “Oh Fen… You’ve made me so happy. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come to my aid in this café two days ago! I know we’ve only known each other for a short time, but I can’t imagine anyone else could make me so happy like you have. With the whole situation of my parents… I’m really glad you helped me through it. It’s been so stressful dealing with them these last few days, and I can’t imagine having anyone else beside me through this.” He grins broadly, while squeezing your paw.

The grin turns sour however, as he continues, “But… My parents have changed their mind about the whole moving out fiasco…”
Trying to remain optimistic, you grin at him, expecting this to be good news, despite his somber face, “Well, hey! That doesn’t sound terrible.” You still see his somber face, and your mind drift to the worst-case scenario, “Don’t tell me they’re kicking you out earlier than you thought…” Looking at his face confirms those exact suspicions. You grip his paws, your own eyes tearing up, feeling sad for this husky. You continue speaking, your voice turning softer, “Oh. Husk. I’m sorry. I… didn’t know this happened. I’m so sorry…”

Husk looks solemn for a moment, before brightening up a little, then he continues on, “But! There’s a reason I asked you to come prepared.” You look at him, wiping a tear from your eye, before Husk continues with his explanation, “The first thing was to ask you if you wanted to… date me…” He releases your paws, rubbing his own paws together, before putting them in his lap, “And the other thing I wanted to ask is… is…” He takes a moment to steel himself, inhaling deeply, before he continues asking the question, “Is… your apartment… still…” He blinks, and sighs loudly again, “Can I come live with you? My parents said that I have until this weekend before they kick me out, and I have nowhere to go…”

You take a moment to process all of this information. It was a lot to take in at once. Was it too soon to take him in? You both barely knew each other, and you only have a one room apartment. So… were you rushing this decision? Sure, this is the person that you are sure you love, but… is this too big of a step?

All it takes is one look at Husk to make up your mind. The husky has a look of extreme sadness on his face. The face of someone who has reached the end of their rope. The face of someone who has been through so much in so little time. The face of someone who is forced to walk a lonely road. The face of someone who needs a friend.

The face of the husky, that stole your heart, and keeps a firm grip on it to this day.

Seeing that face was too much for you, and you finally build up the courage to respond. Clutching your necklace, before saying happily, “Yes, of course. Of course you can live with me. Nothing would make me happier.”

Husk looks at you, in disbelief. It seems he didn’t think you would say yes, and you didn’t think you would either, but his cute face always gets you.

His look of disbelief quickly turns into one of being overjoyed. He clutches your paws, and bounces them up and down on the table. This just causes you to laugh. Watching his childlike demeaner come out always made you laugh. And it was certainly one of his cuter sides, one that you wouldn’t mind seeing more.

After a minute, he calms down, before looking into your eyes. His gaze instantly renders you speechless. Those eyes, which are usually filled with happiness, are now filled with… hope. The hope of a new future. The hope of making this work.
The hope of a new beginning.

You stare into his eyes for a moment longer, before he starts speaking, sounding overjoyed, and almost shouting, “I was hoping you would say yes! I know we barely know each other, but I know we can make this work! I believe we can!” Husk notices people staring at him, before he clears his throat, and calms his voice down a little, “If you’re up for it, we can get all my stuff tomorrow. It is Friday after all, so as long as you have off, we can go get my stuff.”

You just nod your head, still a bit dazed over everything that just happened, before responding happily, “Yeah, that works with me. My job gives me weekends off, so this should be a cinch.”

Husk smiles for a moment, before looking worried. He looks down at his watch, and out the window, and when you look, you see the sun beginning to set. Maybe Husk doesn’t like driving at night?

Husk grabs your paw, and tries to pull you out of the café. You stop however, because you both left your trash on the table. Husk turns to you, before seeing the confused look on your face. You point at the cups. This causes him to blush, embarrassed that he forgot something like that.

You both dispose of your drinks, and Husk continues to drag you out of the café. Only releasing your paw once the both of you had reached your cars. When you look at him again, you see a look of concern on his face, directed toward you. You look at him still confused, before you decide to finally ask him a question, “Husk, what is going on?”

“He must not know…” Husk whispers that under his breath, but you still hear him. He sees your still confused face, before he decides to elaborate, if only a little, “Hey, why don’t we go back to your place? I want to watch you play some more Feral Finder! I bet we could even find out why Floofers is white!” He is fidgeting, clearly nervous about something, but seeing that you won’t get the answer out of him now, you concede, and just sigh out in exasperation.

Your voice comes out more confused than you mean it to, “Yeah, that sounds like fun. We can figure out why Floofers is so much cooler than Tuft!”

Husk nods his head, waving goodbye, before quickly getting in his car. Something must really have him spooked, if he’s rushing off like this. You get in your car as well, and Husk lets you lead the way back to the apartment. You drive off, thinking about what may have him so spooked.


You both arrive to the apartment in due time. Husk finds you, before grabbing your paw again, and pulling you along. You grab the bag holding your Feral Finder figures. And you have enough time to push the button to lock your car, as he drags you along to the elevator.

He pushed the button to call the elevator, and while you wait, you finally decide to ask him what’s going on, “Husk, why are you so rushed tonight? Feral Finders will still be in my apartment if we were to go slow, so why the rush?”

He looks at you with that concerned look again. That’s not a nice look. His look continues to disturb you, before he speaks up, “Fen, do you not know what day it is?”

You look at him confused. What’s so important about today? You begin to think, before the realization, “Wait… is it your birthday!? All I got you was the dumb keychain! I could have gone shopping if I had…”

BOOOOM!

The loud noise startles you, causing you to jump. Your large fennec ears were always sensitive to loud noises, but it’s not until another sound booms into your ears that you finally realize what day it is.

BOOOM!

It’s the Fourth of July.

The worst day for fennecs of your size.

POP!

You almost cower on the ground, but Husk wraps his arm around your shoulder, pulling you in to his chest, and walking with you onto the called elevator.

The elevator ascends, as another sound makes you hug yourself deeper into Husk’s chest.

KABOOM!

The elevator door opens up, and Husk walks you out of the elevator and to your door, he nudges you, trying to get your attention. You stare up at his face, before he speaks, the warmth of his voice calming you a little, “Fen, you are the only one with a key. Do you need me to open the door?” You shake your head. Your strong, you can unlock your own door.

As you reach into your pocket, and pull out your key, another sound resonates in your eardrums.

KRACK!

This causes you to go back and hug Husk again. You dropped your keys on the ground from the shock of the blast, and Husk bends down and picks them up, unlocking the door to your apartment, before dragging you, shaking, inside.

BREEE!

Another sound causes you to cower again, but Husk is there to hold you aloft. He puts you on the couch, and is about to sit next to you, before you stop him, “H…Husk. There’s some… H… H… Headphones in my closet for… stuff like this. C…C…Can you get ‘em?”

Husk sees your fear shaken body, before nodding, quickly running towards your bedroom. You are left to bask in your fear. Closing your eyes, and trying to shut out life. Now that you are in your apartment, alone for a minute, you can’t help but feel ashamed. Loud sounds have always been debilitating to you. Your large ears amplified the sounds of life, and you hated it. It was always the worst at around the Fourth of July though. Those fireworks would always have him on his knees, doing his best to stop the sounds.

BOOM!

You curl up into a ball. They just won’t stop.

KABOOM!

I don’t know how much more of this I can take.

BAM!

You brace yourself for the next one, but nothing ever came. You feel your head being rested against something silky smooth, and then you realize you couldn’t hear anything actually… You’ve gone deaf!

You quickly open up your eyes, and putting your paws to your head, you see you have the headphones on. And upon looking up, you see Husk looking down at you. He says something, but these headphones actually work, and you don’t hear a thing. You point at the headphones, before shaking your head, trying to tell Husk you can’t hear him.

He nods his head, probably understanding. You get up and get the BoxyBoy controller, keeping the promise to play some Feral Finder with Husk. He looks excited, and as you boot up the game, he puts his arm around your shoulder, and he pulls you towards him. You turn on some classical music, which comes through the headphones. It always helped calm you down. So, you sat there, playing Feral Finder, and listening to relaxing music.

With your boyfriend.


At about 9, Husk nudges you, and points at the sky. You look experimentally, and see dozens of explosions light up the sky. Amidst all of the explosions, there are these white water balloon looking things exploding as well…

Huh. I wonder what those are?

You continue watching fireworks, until they come to a steady stop. You hesitantly take your headphones off. The classical music playing through the headphones, before you cut it off. This thing has gotten you through so many thunderstorms, you couldn’t imagine what would happen if you didn’t have it.

Husk looks at you happily, clearly overjoyed he can talk with you again, “How did you like the fireworks? I know they aren’t 100% your thing. But did you at least enjoy watching the fireworks go off?”

“Yeah, of course! I got to enjoy my time with my… boyfriend. Played my favorite game, and got to watch some brilliant fireworks! The white ball ones were pretty weird though.”

Husk looks satisfied with your answer, probably glad that the headphones actually worked more than anything, before he continues, “Yeah, I know right? Those white ones didn’t look like normal fireworks, so they must be some weird new brand. It looks it rained down white on the surrounding area. How do they even do that?”

You shrug your shoulders, “Who knows? Must be some weird brand. I thought they were pretty cool though.” Husk nods his head, before you speak up again, “Hey, Husk. Do you maybe wanna… spend the night here? It might help you get used to living here if you spent the night. And you would get a feel for how it would be to live with me.”

Husk looks hesitant for a moment, thinking about the idea, before nodding his head “Yeah, that sounds great! I have to call my parents, but at least I’ll already be here, so I don’t have to go anywhere.”

Husk calls his parents to tell them what was up. Husk said they were fine with it, and they have better be, if they’re going to kick him out! Husk offers to sleep on the couch, but you quickly dismiss the idea. Once he moved in, you would be the one sleeping on the bed all the time, so you say you will sleep on the couch, at least for tonight.

You get ready for bed, while Husk goes and sits on your bed. You brush your teeth, and take a quick shower. Cleaning your fur and getting clean. Once you are done with that, you head out of the bathroom, shirtless.

You don’t get far though, because Husk is standing right there once you fling open the door, leaning against the door frame. His sudden appearance surprises you, “Ummm, hey Husk. Do you need to use the bathroom? Usually furs wait until the other fur is out before trying to barge in.”

He takes a step toward you, and you can see something in his eyes, but you can’t quite put your finger on it, he’s smiling as he says the next part, “No, I just realized I forgot something before I went to bed.”

“Oh really? Well, what is it? Do you ne-“

Husk cuts you off, embracing you in a warm hug, pulling your head to his chest. His soft fur feels amazing. You could feel his arms roam lovingly around your back, probably loving the feeling of your soft fur against his paws. The hug goes on for what feels like a way too short amount of time, wanting to stay in his embrace forever.

You both eventually step back though, and you stare into each other’s eyes, entranced by the glorious brown and blue of his eyes. You get lost in those orbs of brown and blue, before you lean up, and give Husk a kiss on the cheek. He looks happy for a moment, before he leans down, and interlocks your lips. The feeling is divine, and everything about this kiss feels different than the one you guys shared the night before. You can feel the sparks fly, and you can feel them too. Your lips are tingling, along with your whole body. This is the most amazing experience you have ever felt, being embraced by the one you love.

And you thought the fireworks ended a while ago.

You both eventually break the kiss. And when you look at Husk again. You can see a smile spread across his face, obviously enjoying the kiss as much as you did. That smile always made you smile, and this time was no exception. You could feel yourself grinning from ear to ear.

Husk suddenly grabs your paw, and leads you back to the bedroom. You go with it wondering what he was planning. Once you finally get there, you can see him blushing, clearly nervous about what he wants to ask. He speaks up, his voice stuttering a little, “N…Now that you… you’re here. Do you maybe wanna… share the bed?”

You can’t help but blush. You can’t say that you haven’t thought about it. You think about it for a moment longer, before nodding your head, wanting to lay with this husky, “Yeah… okay. I wouldn’t mind doing something like that…”

Husk looks giddy as he lays on the bed, clearly just as nervous as you are. You lay down, right next to him, looking up at the ceiling. You were nervous about the whole idea, but you wanted this. Husk has turned away from you, and you could see his bare back facing you. You slowly scoot forward, before wrapping your arms around his stomach. Husk tenses up, but he doesn’t move from your grip. He leans back against you, making you embrace him more, and you rest your maw on his shoulder, “Hey there.”

Your voice scares him out of his trance. He places his paw on your maw, caress your nose, before he responds, “Hi.” He places his paws on your paws on his stomach, before continuing, “Ummm, thank you. I didn’t know how much I wanted to cuddle.” You can hear him yawn, which forces a yawn out of you. The involuntary action making you realize how tired you were. You didn’t want to go to sleep though. You wanted him to stay wrapped in your arms.

You try talking, to keep yourself awake, speaking softer, “I know. It’s nice. Your fur feels so soft against mine. I could stay like this forever…” You can’t fight off the sleep however, and Husk notices how tired you are.

“Good night Fen. You’re tired, so why don’t you go to bed? I know I won’t stay up long with you embracing me…”

You hear him yawn, before you speak up again, “Yeah… that sounds like a good idea… I don’t think I’ll stay up long either… Not with you here…”

You slowly drift off to sleep. This is the easiest you have ever fallen asleep, with your arms wrapped around Husk, and his soft fur lulling you to sleep. Your mind thinks about the future, and you start to wonder. How many more times are you going to be able to do something like this?