Fine Zinc Teeth

[ninefox]

There was a time Jedao would have said that half a century was barely any time; less than a mortal life, not more than two generations. But the world has changed so much since he first put the Americans' uniform on. Even the uniform has changed - they don't call dance halls dance halls any more, for another thing. But the smell of the place - sweat, desire, alcohol - that much is the same.

He slinks in under a stranger's face, although he doesn't disguise his own scent when he smiles, glittering, at the bouncer: a flashed lure that Fives might not even notice or recognize, let alone pursue. It took a few months to get someone to handle all the things which apparently needed handling for his "retirement", and a few more to track down one particular squad of decommissioned weretroops, out of thousands, mostly paperless, in the busiest city this side of the Pacific. But Jedao did find them.

He dances without keeping track of the time, lets his face slowly slide back to its default arrangement, lets his spine relearn how to hold him up without being army rigid. He has several drinks - people buy them for him, which is nice; one or two of them he even dances with until they can't keep up with him any more. Fives rotates from the receiving line onto the floor as the night wears on and patrons get drunker, and he maneuvers himself into Fives' line of view, always moving, twisting, flashing glances that catch on Fives' eyes as the beat hits. Slowly, as if by the whim of the music, he draws closer.

Comments

[ninefox]

"Nooo, I didn't say that. Everybody needs some slutty friends. It's an honorable calling."

He is. Rambling.

"You do need to be careful with any females in estrus, though, you wouldn't want a pup transforming in the middle of the woods with a mother who didn't know how to deal with that."

The malamute mothers at the mills didn't really know either, but they were at least acclimated to human presence, and the breeders - for all their many, many other sins - were invested in keeping most of the pups alive.

[callmefives]

"... estrus?" His eyes go wide and he shifts uncomfortably at the thought of what the General's... much more than implying. "No. That... it would be bad. Definitely. Careful would be good." Not doing it at all would probably be better, he thinks, especially since females of any species still set him on edge in a way he wishes he could get past faster. They're. Fascinating. And entirely too intimidating to even consider doing more than looking at wistfully from a distance, even when they actively flirt with him at the club.

[ninefox]

Jedao pats him on the arm.

"It's only really a risk factor during spring, but the smell is a little crazy-making, just to warn you."

[callmefives]

"Oooh." His expression goes an odd combination of strained and dreamy when Jedao brings up the scent. "Is it worse than human women?"

They'd had to learn early and learn the hard way not to react to that, at least not outwardly, but he still remembers the first time one of their female commanders had examined them on parade while in estrus. Remembers being instantly, achingly hard at the scent of her and wanting desperately just to throw himself at her. Remembers the three boys who'd broke ranks being shocked back into line and beaten bloody for it later. The barracks had been a chaotic mess or horny, confused and frustrated pre-teens that night.

[ninefox]

"Yes," Jedao mutters, and gulps down the rest of his drink, half just to hide his face for a moment. "Well, maybe. Women don't bother me as much as vixens, but..." he doesn't feel like explaining exactly the ways hushen are and aren't supposed to be seducers, so. He doesn't.

"It'd probably be...a little comparable to dogs in heat, for you. You must have run into that from city strays by now?"

[callmefives]

"Yeah. Once." He just about croaks the words, cheeks coloring at the memory as he shifts restlessly again. And wishes he had something to hold over his crotch. Or to cover or control the scent of lust he knows he's radiating... has been radiating low key since the General walked in, but is now probably rolling off him in waves. Lust and confusion and the faint tinge of intimidation and fear that thinking of any female like that always seems to bring.

"They tend to run. When they smell us." Thank the gods, he doesn't add, but definitely thinks, that they recognize a much larger, more terrifying predator by scent, as so many of the city's animals do.

[ninefox]

Jedao smirks a little, toothy in a way that gives him an excuse to breathe it in through his mouth, get the taste of it; he distracts Fives by mercifully passing him a pillow.

"Anyway, yes, it's worse when they're yowling 'please now please come on' and don't look like a garbage mop."

[callmefives]

He takes the pillow with gratitude and tries (with very limited success) to look casual about positioning it over his erection. Casual or not, it's still better than sitting there with his pants so obviously tented.

"So definitely no, uh, no going anywhere with wolves in... in the spring?" He's sure that's what the General said, but he's definitely a little dazed and, well, it's something to say. Something to ask to shift the conversation along while he collects himself. And tries not to obsess about the General's toothy grin or how much he wants to taste him.

[ninefox]

"Spring," he confirms with a sharp nod. "January through April to be safe."

[callmefives]

"If we ever road trip we definitely need to not do it then."

[ninefox]

"Summer is traditional, I think? Although autumn might be the most beautiful," he speculates.

[callmefives]

"It would be nice to get out of the city when it's starting to cool off and everything's changing color," he agrees a bit wistfully. He really does love the city, all the light and life and color, but he wonders what it would be like to be somewhere really wild. To run in the woods, not the park. To hunt.

[ninefox]

"Keep it in mind. Your lives are longer than they've ever been, even if it's hard to feel it."

He catches Fives' gaze, his voice low and intense with conviction.

"Don't decide in advance that anything is beyond you."

[callmefives]

His breath catches as he meets the General's eyes, and his words are like warm fingers down his spine, reassuring and comforting. Heartening. It reminds Fives, in a way, of how good he'd always been at rallying the troops going into an operation; how easy he is to trust, and believe, and want to follow.

"Yes sir," he answers, low and throaty, just as intense in his way.

[ninefox]

"Good lad," Jedao softly, still low, easing off the intensity as he leans back in the couch.

[callmefives]

Fives shivers, feeling almost like he's been released from something. Which doesn't do a damn thing to change the way he wants to follow the General as he leans back, straddle his lap and push him back into the couch with his weight and rub himself all over him. In ever way possible. There's a reason Rex has always told him his infatuation is a problem.

He licks his lips and makes himself sit back, pillow still positioned strategically. "We can leave soon, if you want," he makes himself offer. "I know Tup will be especially excited to see you." Dogma might too, though it's hard to predict with him... and Fives doesn't really care to try. He knows he shouldn't still be bitter, but that doesn't change the fact he is, and Dogma's almost obsequious fawning over him makes it worse, not better.

[ninefox]

"How late do you think we can be before Rex tips over from grateful that he's got one more extra minute to double-check things are perfect into panicked that we might not show up before something gets cold?" Jedao asks thoughtfully.

[callmefives]

Fives laughs, bright and startled, and grins at the General. "That's cruel," he accuses cheerfully. "And I'd say at least thirty to forty-five minutes. Knowing Rex, he'll have allowed enough time for everyone to mob you with questions and greetings and then to do a little catching up before the food goes on the table."

[ninefox]

"I think it's very considerate of me," Jedao says primly. "Although I do want to catch up with everyone. Let's aim for ten minutes late. But we could take an indirect route."

A long stroll; Fives could get a head start on showing off the neighborhood.

[callmefives]

"Fine," he agrees, drawing the word out and smirking at the General's primness. "I suppose it wouldn't be fair to anyone else to give the old man a heart attack right before dinner." And for all his teasing, he wouldn't want to either: the only one of his brothers he loves more than Rex is Echo... and maybe Hevy when he's not being an asshole.

"I can show you the park... and the bodega," he offers, trying to think of places that might be of interest to someone who actually knows the world, and isn't constantly amazed by even the smallest and mundane things. "And you can get on our roof from the fire escape and the view is actually pretty amazing."

[ninefox]

"I'd like that very much," Jedao assures him, standing up and stretching briefly.

[callmefives]

Fives watches, utterly enthralled for the few seconds that the General takes to stretch, and then swallows hard and considers the wisdom of getting to his own feet. He bites back a resigned sigh, adjusts himself under cover of the pillow, and then stands himself, with considerably less grace and ease under the circumstances.

"We're only about half a mile from home, here." He figures if he just keeps talking like this is normal, everything's normal, showing around the fucking Fox General is an every day activity, then maybe he can do it without spending every moment of it tenting his pants. Maybe. "We'll take the long way, though." He grins and waves jauntily to Echo as he heads for the door, and receives a disapproving look, a mouthed order not to embarrass himself, and a wave in return.

[ninefox]

"Lovely."

Jedao waves to Echo too, although if he notices any messages, he seems oblivious; then somehow he manages to be at the door before Fives, opening it with a silly flourish of a bow.

[callmefives]

Fives' eyes go wide, he's startled and more than a little charmed by the teasing courtesy, and he absolutely can't resist the urge to turn a triumphant look back Echo's way before slipping out the door, grinning.

"Careful or I'm going to start thinking this is a date," he teases, tucking his hands into his jeans pockets and giving the General a sidelong look as he turns towards the park--and away from the apartment.

[ninefox]

"I have never been careful in my life," he lies cheerfully. It's only a little bit a lie.