On the way to Milan
By: Rufus Quentin
Yellow morning sunshine filtered through the arched glass ceiling of the old train station and cast a quadrilateral grid of light upon the platforms. Dust scintillated as it passed through the rays which appeared as ethereal columns within the dark industrial structure. A sole pigeon swooped from the black iron rafters in a low inverted arch. It passed through the column of light, disturbing the dust and ash leaving a swirl of particulate motion in its wake. The bird landed at the feet of a young Otter standing beside a timetable on platform four. The pigeon cooed and pecked at the ground at his feet, bobbing its head as it waddled between the otter and the marquis which bore the label DEPARTURES in three languages.
The otter took notice of the bird, casting his gaze downward and meeting the bird’s crooked stare. The bird cocked its head, looking upward, gawking dumbly with big pupils in enormous yellow eyes. That moment a loud gong reverberated from the platform speaker and a tiny voice followed, announcing the immanent on-time arrival of Euro-rail 421 with service to Milan in two languages before one the otter could understand. The sudden noise startled the bird which with robust flaps that scattered dust on the ground, fluttered back up toward the high iron rafters of historic Basel central station. The otter watched the bird disappear, then hoisted his backpack upon his shoulders and wandered toward the edge of the platform.
Amidst the cacophony of the metropolitan railway hub, the dust and smoke of which the atmosphere seemed to comprise of, hundreds of people of all species crowded, passing through the space and gathering around him. An elderly vixen, holding onto her husband by the arm stood to his left, a bespectacled German shepherd with a young girl stood to his right. The German shepherd spoke to the girl in foreign language, who replied enthusiastically in the same dialect. The fashionably dressed vixen whispered into her husband’s ear in an equally unintelligible tongue. The otter looked down at himself, his loose jeans, plaid button-down shirt and felt out of place, foreign in a foreign country. He removed his baseball cap, folded it and pushed it into a side pocket of his backpack in a perhaps vain attempt at looking less like an American tourist. His bulky backpack and his comfortable less than designer clothes where perhaps an undeniable indicator of his difference he would have to deal with.
The otter had arrived in London a week and a half prior. He had traveled his way down via rail over Paris, Brussels, Cologne and now Basel, an intermediary step on his way to Milan. It was summer, high summer. The late July sun had brought with it a heat wave that baked central Europe much to the distress of its inhabitants. Though only morning, humid heat so thick it felt viscous replaced the soothingly cool, moist air of dawn. The otter had hardly been able to sleep that night as he lay in the strange bed sheets of a Swiss hostel adjacent from the train station, partly due to the heat, to excitement and yet perhaps to an element of doubt that had nagged him since well before his arrival. When asked by his parents and friends, all envious of his European tour, he himself could not articulate the source of his doubt. Perhaps fear, he thought, of being so young, only 18 and abroad all by himself. Or, he surmised, of being alone and unable to share the experience, the sights and sounds and scents without the intermediation of a photograph, the written word or through the spoken retelling of his travels in explicit detail. The inability to share this experience in fact troubled him. He wished he had not come alone.
In the distance the sleek shape of the train appeared, as it barreled its way into the cul-de-sac train station. A welcome gust of wind hit the otter as the engine passed, screeching its way to a halt before the tracks end at the terminating end of the station. The otter flinched at the high pitched squeal which echoed through the vaulted halls of the enclosed station startling birds and drawing the stares of other travelers, even those at other platforms. The train came to a halt and brought a brief moment of silence. The singing of a bird could be heard beneath the glass canopy above. Then, chaos ensued.
The doors of the train opened in a mechanical pressurized hiss and people began to gush out. Canines, felines and innumerable other species poured out and mingled with the awaiting crowed of egress ready passengers. Suitcases where all but tossed onto the platform, careless travelers paused just outside the train doors and gawked in all directions before a more impatient traveler behind them pushed them out of the way. A child a car length down began to cry, briefly separated from its parents in the disarray. The familiar gong sounded announcing the train’s arrival and possible connections at nearby platforms. Once the final passenger had disembarked, those standing on the platform began to hastily queue at the doors. The otter too, with his heavy backpack appeared drawn into the confusion. He hastily entered the crowd at the nearest door and stood impatiently for his opportunity to embark, cutting into the next available free space.
The otter had reserved a seat but had failed to note which train car his seat was reserved. He wandered through the crowd in single file down the train’s one narrow isle, forced to retrace his steps through the same throng when he realized he had gone three cars in the wrong direction. Despite the long stop in Basel’s terminus, the train and its crew prepared for departure by the time the otter found his seat in a second class cabin car. The departure announcement came over the speaker, a whistle sounded from the platform as the porter gave the engineer the clear sign. He counted the numbers of the plaques adhered to the outside of a long row of cabins and found the one corresponding to his ticket. The otter stumbled around the narrow corridor and into the small room, his backpack catching on the doorframe.
The cabin itself appeared small and cozy compared to the larger roomed wagons he had passed through. It possessed six seats facing each other in a space slightly wider than the otter’s outstretched arms. A glass door and two windows separated the cabin from the window lined isle. The otter had reserved the space closest to the window. He compared his ticket with a small square placard on the outside of the door in which paper reservation slips had been stuck, confirming the otter’s seat reservation. He noticed another seat in the cabin indicating reservation, namely the seat directly opposite his near the window. The four others in the cabin remained open. The otter sighed with disappointment. Despite there being only one reservation, he had hoped to keep to himself during this trip, feeling reluctant to run into someone wanting to start a conversation, especially in a language he couldn’t speak.
The otter merely hoped that this passenger would find a seat elsewhere. He reminded himself that despite the crowd on the platform, he saw many open seats on the way to his cabin. He hoisted his backpack up on the luggage rack above his seat and stepped back out of the cabin. He had to brace himself as the train began to depart, heaving forward with a lurch. The otter searched up and down the aisle, but all nearby cabins either had reservations or passengers already in them, only his was empty, save for his own backpack.
The otter returned to his cabin and took his seat which faced the direction of travel. The train had just departed the station and began to accelerate through the city. The sun shone bright. Long narrow clouds stretched from north to south in the otherwise clear blue sky. Narrow city buildings of many shapes and colors flew by just beyond the window. The otter exhaled and reclined into his seat clearly relieved to be underway on a straight shot to Milan without any stops. “Just four and a half hours,” he whispered to himself. It was a relief to be away from the hostel he spent the last two nights at, sleeping on a hard narrow bed and away from the other two Americans, a pair of huskies, who thought it would be a good idea to make love in the bunk on the other side of the room in the middle of the night. The sounds and scents of their lovemaking still haunted him, reminding him of his own sexual urges and his inability to address them. The otter was also glad to have left the discord and dust of the train station, and to enter the bucolic countryside with the granite capped Alps in view, ever approaching.
The pair of huskies informed him they were college students from the west coast going on a European trip of their own. They had taken him in and explored Basel together. The amorous huskies, a male and female, had decided to mate together in the belief they were the only ones in the communal room left awake. The otter heard soft whispering coming from the other corner of the room. The whispering gave way to a subtle chuckle and that to the muffled sounds of illicit pleasure with the occasional creak of an old metal bed frame. The covert act of love intrigued the young otter, who spent the rest of his stay in Switzerland in a state of perpetual arousal, producing more pre than he knew what to do with. He was pleased to be on his way, hoping that the change in scenery would distract him from arousal he was not able to address.
Seeking further distraction the otter stood and produced his Mp3 player and a book from his backpack, then settled in for the long trip. He had nearly forgotten about the huskies and the reserved seat in front of him when a knock came at the glass door. The otter looked up and removed his earphones. A young fennec with graceful features and fashionable clothing stood outside, peering in inquisitively. The fennec pushed open the glass door and said “Excusez-moi, est ce siège prises? Je crois que j'ai une réserve.“ The otter shrugged and tilted his head in a gesture of uncertainty.
The fennec continued, this time in another language. “Entschuldigung, Ich wollte nur fragen ob dieser Platz besetzt ist. Ich glaube ich habe hier eine Platzreservierung. ”
The otter struggled with a reply, uttering the few broken words of German he had learned thus far. “Ich spreche kein Deutch, nur English.”
The fennec, once again shifting languages in an instant said, “oh, I am terribly sorry about that. Is this seat taken? I believe I have a reservation adjacent from you.” The fennec spoke with a strong accent but his English sounded perfectly clear and eloquent.
The otter nodded at the fennec then at the empty seat in front of him. “Go ahead,” he said “it’s all yours.”
The fennec dragged in his backpack and two aluminum suitcases, one larger than the other. He placed the suitcase on the rack above him and took his seat directly in front of the Otter. The otter had hoped the fennec would choose one of the other open seats in the cabin further away but the fennec chose the closest one, directly across from him. The otter uneasily watched the fennec seat himself and then turned to look out the window, returning his headphones to his ears. He hoped the fennec would leave him alone.
The train had entered the outskirts of the city, buildings where smaller and further spread apart. Urban streets had given way to orchards and fields of wheat. The otter contented himself watching the countryside fly by. The train passed by a row of trees which partly obscured the sunlight, the otter noticed a reflection in the window, a reflection of the fennec. He saw the fennec’s eyes looking directly at him with a soft and serene gaze. The look struck him so precise and focused it sent an unsettling twitch through the otter, who instinctively looked back at the fennec, making instantaneous eye contact. That eye contact lasted only a split second as the otter shyly darted his glance back out the window. He stared at the rolling hills of the lower Swiss countryside, the isolated poplars and junipers capping the hilltops and separating acres of pastoral land. However, the otter couldn’t deny a creeping unease, a fennec, though silent kept looking at him with unsettling precision. Shadows that swiftly passed over the glass made it clear, each near instantaneous flash of shadow revealed the fennec’s gentle eyes. The occurrence repeated itself; the otter looked up, made eye contact and shied away. This time he picked up his book, an English copy of Milton’s Paradise Lost and buried his nose into it. The fennec’s gaze remained constant.
“Excuse me,” said the fennec in a soft voice which bordered on shyness, “I am sorry if I am bothering you, I was wondering if you are enjoying that text you’re reading.”
The otter nodded and replied, “Yea, I guess so. I’m told it’s a really good book, it was given to me by my high school English teacher when I graduated.”
“Ahh,” said the fennec, “your teacher had very good taste then. The allegory in Milton’s text is simply uncanny. I was always impressed by his interpretation of the divine.”
The otters eyebrows rose in surprise, “you’ve read it already?” he asked.
The fennec smiled and nodded candidly, “Only once, I greatly enjoy English pre-modern literature.”
“You speak English really well, maybe even better than me,” said the otter.
“Better than I,” corrected the fennec. “I’ve always struggled with it though. It is a very difficult language. It’s highly idiomatic and full of exceptions.”
“How many languages do you speak?” asked the otter.
“Just three, five if you count English and Latin which I am still learning. I want to learn Italian next.”
“Wow,” exclaimed the otter, suddenly feeling even more out of place.
The fennec, noticing that he was diminishing the otter, began to downplay his skills. “I come from a little country called Luxemburg. It borders so many countries with different languages that you learn them as you grow up. In school we learn Latin and English too, but I have not mastered those yet. Where are you from?”
“I’m from the U.S, from Fort Wayne, Indiana.”
“Ohh,” explained the fennec, with a bright look in his eyes “An American! I’ve never met an American.”
“You would think Americans are everywhere.”
“Perhaps they just don’t come to Luxemburg,” said the fennec with implied irony. “By the way, my name is Jan, Jan Fichtenholz. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Jan beamed the otter a big broad smile with his ears perked high up.
“I’m David Neuer. It’s nice to meet you too.”
“What brings you here to Europe? Are you on your way to Milan too, or going further?”
“I’m here on a European trip, I don’t want to call it a vacation and myself a tourist, I’m more here to learn. It’s educational,” said David.
“I see,” said Jan, crossing his slender legs and leaning forward, awaiting elaboration.
“I graduated high school this spring and my parents bought me the flight over here before I go to college in September, as a sort of graduation present. I’ve been saving up spending money since last year.”
“Have you been enjoying your trip? Where have you visited and where are you going?” asked Jan.
“I flew into London and spent three days there. I took the chunnel over to Paris, where I stayed another three. Then I went to Cologne for two and Basel for two,” said David. “I’m going to Milan for two nights, then Rome for three, then back up to Munich and Berlin.
“Oh I love Cologne!” interjected the fennec, “have you been to the old town? The Hay Market or Rudolfplatz? Cologne is simply my favorite city in Germany. I travel there whenever I can.”
The otter nodded, not recalling all the names the fennec was mentioning, “I was in the old town, yes. I saw the Cathedral and the museums.”
“What else did you see there?” smiled Jan, squinting through his eyes as if inspecting the otter. “Did you go to any bars?”
David tilted his head a little, finding the fennec’s questions quite specific. “My mom told me I should go see Cologne, her grandmother came from there after the war. I didn’t go to any bars there, no, but I did go to a pub in London and a bar in Basel with two other Americans I met in my hostel.”
The fennec said, “hold on,” and stood up, retrieving the smaller of the two expensive looking aluminum suitcases he brought with him. When he opened it the otter saw two large camera objectives and a large professional camera amidst black padding foam. The fennec removed a writing pad tucked in on the side, along with a pen. He wrote down a list of names and addresses. “Here,” he continued. “You should visit these places. They are good bars where you will have a lot of fun. I also wrote some down in Munich and Berlin, though the one in Munich is more traditional.” The fennec put emphasis on the word traditional, though the otter was unsure if this was intentional or just Jan’s accent. Jan tore the sheet of paper off the pad, folded it and handed it to David, saying, “the third one down is for the bears, so you know.” David wasn’t sure what that meant.
That moment a knock came on the glass door to the cabin. A uniformed bear stood just outside and slid open the glass door. “Speaking of the bears,” the fennec whispered, “show him your ticket.”
The bear came in saying, “Billets s'il vous plaît, permettez-moi s'il vous plaît consulter vos billets.”
David stood up and dug into his backpack, eventually bringing forth his ticket which the bear stamped and returned it saying, “Bon Voyage.” He did the same to the Fennec’s ticket and disappeared back into the isle, closing the glass door behind him.
David appeared more relaxed around the Fennec. He began speaking now more openly than before. The otter still felt shy around the fennec but found himself beginning to identify with him. He actually felt quite glad that he found someone to talk to, especially someone around his age. It was a relief not to sit next to an old grandmother who saw the need to instruct him in the finer aspects of needlepoint. David still found Jan to be quite different, though he could not place why. Perhaps it was the European-ness of the fennec, his accent, his dress and his mannerisms. The otter found himself intrigued by Jan.
Jan had very direct speech patterns, tended to be very frank and had very definite gestures. He wore a white button-down collared shirt with the top two buttons undone and narrow black pants of some soft, most likely Italian fabric. A pale green silk scarf was wrapped around his neck, despite the fact it was July and oppressively hot outside. He also wore a set of spectacles on the end of his muzzle, which he often looked over and beyond when speaking to me. His fur appeared sleek brown over his ears and head but tapered into a creamy tan at the end of his muzzle which continued down his chin and neck, into the fluffy fur of his chest. The otter realized that he had only assumed that the fennec was his own age, due to the small slender frame of the fennec, he could be much older. The otter felt reluctant to ask, as he feared it may prompt the fennec to ask in return and he did not want to reveal that he was only 18.
“I would guess 16 or 17,” Jan stated, pulling the otter from his train of thought. “Which is alright, you’re obviously old enough to be travelling on your own.”
David, a bit startled, sat quiet for a moment. Feeling he was studying the fennec a bit too closely and his train of thought was obvious. “18, I’m 18 actually.” He finally stated, bringing himself back into the conversation.
“Ahh,” he said, “My apologies. I am 21.”
The otter nodded, slightly relieved. He felt slightly less ashamed speaking to the fennec, though he still perceived himself to be woefully inexperienced in worldly matters.
“I am a photographer,” he continued. “I make photographs for magazines and newspapers. I am currently on my way to Milan for a fashion exposition, but I am most interested in the churches and cathedrals there. I am looking forward to take pictures of them as well. I am interested in architecture, to be specific. I fund myself on my photographs. It’s not luxury but it pays for my flat and other expenses.”
The otter’s eyes brightened and his ears perked with attention. “I’m also into architecture. I already filled two memory cards so far. I have at least two hundred photos of the cathedral in Cologne.
Jan smiled broadly, happy to have found something in common with the young otter. “Amazing, isn’t it? A true masterpiece of the gothic period, though by the time it was finished it was already the twentieth century. It has been said that it is still being built.” Jan paused. “I am sorry to change the topic, but I must ask? May I take a photograph of you?” The fennec crooked his head and dipped an ear down parallel with his shoulder the other remained perked as if awaiting David’s reply. His eyes gleamed with such innocence and expectance, David felt compelled to oblige.
David shrugged off his confusion and bewilderment at the directness of the fennec’s unusual request. “It was only a photograph, what was there to lose?” he thought.
“It’s just that you are a very interesting type. Let’s say, you carry yourself well,” continued Jan.
David replied, “I’m not really that photogenic, but why not?”
“Nonsense,” said Jan as he began to sift through the small aluminum case he brought down earlier, which sat open near his foot-paws. He brought out his camera, a high end digital variety that appeared to have numerous manual functions on it. The fennec switched objectives explaining, “this one is best for indoor portraits,” and proceeded in modifying the camera. He instructed the otter to “act natural,” which the otter did to the best of his ability. With a click he had taken a photo, which he showed to the otter on the digital screen on the back of the camera. David the otter appeared confident, wise and perhaps even older than he was in real life on the image on the screen on the camera, or at least so he thought. The fennec commented, “oh my, if I may say so, this is a very handsome image of you. Of course only a handsome otter could have produced such an image.”
The otter leaned back awkwardly and smiled politely, his body tensed unsure of how to deal with the comment.
“I did not mean to offend you,” continued Jan, his ears swept back in a coyly, “please forgive me if my comment was unwelcome.”
“It’s okay,” said David, “I just don’t hear too many positive comments about my appearance.”
“Your mate doesn’t compliment you?” asked Jan, flicking an ear in the otter’s direction.
“I am,” paused David, hesitating before continuing his statement, “currently single.”
The fennec’s large ears twitched and his eyes widened in a clear look of sympathy. “I see.” He said, shifting further to the edge of his seat, sitting now stiffly on the very edge, peering at David inquisitively.
“You have had sex before, right?”
The otter demurely recoiled, looking down at his foot-paws and stuttered, “no, I…”
“Oh you poor thing,” said Jan, who extended his arm placing his paw on the back of David’s which rested on his seat’s armrest, stroking it consolingly, “you are saving yourself… for marriage? No?”
“No, no. That’s not it at all. I just, umm. I just never had the opportunity. I guess.” David’s eyes darted to his paw. He resisted an urge to recoil, not anticipating Jan’s touch.
“I see,” the fennec said, gazing wide eyed. He turned to face the window, peering outside at the pastures and small chalet’s that whizzed by. Not moving his gaze he said, “I merely read that Americans tend to be the pious types. Always saving themselves for something. They wouldn’t know their own bodies if you took a photograph of them from the waist down. Americans are always covering up their bodies. It’s a pity.”
David leaned back, once again opting for silence as a reply.
Jan turned back to David with a broad smile, his big ears where perked up and directed at the otter with his full attention. David couldn’t help but smile in return, impressed by the cute appearance of the fennec. Jan said, “so, tell me about where you are from? Details?”
The train heaved southward over the smooth rolling hills of northern Switzerland. The landscape undulated past the window, bathed in clear yellow sunlight. Long stretched swathes of shadow lay upon the countryside cast by the long, and for the otter, unusually shaped clouds. It became hot and ever hotter as the sun peaked upon the summer sky. Even in the climate controlled train cabin, with its own thermostat located just above the glass cabin door set on high cool, it still became uncomfortably warm.
The poplar and juniper hedgerows of the north gave way to small conifer forests and patches of open meadows. Small villages passed by the window, nestled in shallow valleys or on rolling plain. Church steeples jetted out distinctly from the small amorphous clusters of old houses. The otter, while engrossed in conversation with the fennec, watched the countryside fly by. He wondered how people could live in such small towns, so isolated and tight nit upon such a vast expanse. He wondered what names these villages and hamlets bore. He was glad that the train would not stop at any one of them, pleased the train would heave on to Milan without stop. He felt content to keep moving. In essence the area reminded him of home, or rather of Michigan up north above his home town, where he would vacation with his father and brothers. Only here the horizon loomed much more distinctly. The otter faced southward, toward the blue granite wall of jagged peaks. The Alps jetted up from the mottled green foothills, patches of white glacier ice caped the tallest peaks despite the summer sun and uncommonly high temperatures.
This imposing wall of stone had moved closer since their departure from Basel, or at least it appeared so to the otter. David remained unsure if the speed of the train or his skewed perception of time propelled them southward so quickly. He enjoyed his conversation with the fennec, which seemed to flow quite amusingly for them both. He quickly developed a rapport with Jan, laughing at his jokes and amusing anecdotes, telling his own to a similar response. The otter found himself opening up to the fennec, telling parts of his life, his family and his relationships that he had intended to keep private. The fennec had a way of conversation, of asking astute questions that instigated specific responses. He found himself articulating parts of himself and his personal life that brought with it realizations he had previously not considered.
David would watch the fennec as he spoke, Jan’s large ears and long whiskers twitched, each movement rife with its own affective meaning. Jan’s ears twisted and tilted with each statement, perking up with exuberance, or folding backward demurely depending on the mood he tried to convey. The otter felt amused by this body language he had seldom seen so adeptly used. He had to repress an occasional chuckle or coy smile as not to respond inappropriately to the fennec’s emotive gestures. He found Jan’s effeminate appearance, exaggerated features such as his ears and movements to be of immeasurable cuteness. In those moments the otter couldn’t, or perhaps found himself not yet willing to place into words an attraction he began to feel towards Jan, though it began to ebb at the periphery of David’s consciousness.
After an indefinite period of conversation, the otter looked out the window once more and saw the mountain range looming higher now. He could not discern depth to the granite peaks. Several foothills and crags loomed closer than others, the tallest rose furthest away. The train began to ascend a barely perceptible gradient, through noticeably thicker pine woods where the sunlight could barely a penetrate and dapple the forest floor. The tips of pine trees obscured the sunlight, which flickered into the cabin casting an ever-changing pattern of shadows upon the fennec’s gentle and dynamic face.
David rubbed his brow as Jan spoke. It had become warmer in the train cabin as the early afternoon sun beat upon the metal roof of the train. The fennec too showed signs of discomfort, first loosening, then removing the pale green silken scarf he wore, which he folded and placed on the open seat beside him. Both felt, but did not verbally acknowledge the heat which began to build inside the cabin. As they continued to converse an announcement came over the loudspeaker in the cabin. The fennec sighed and rubbed his palms over his muzzle and eyes in disappointment before the announcement came in English for David to understand. The air conditioning had failed in several wagons of the train due to the unseasonable warmth outside; they would be dispersing free water in the dining car.
David sighed and cursed.
“Typical,” exclaimed the fennec, reverting to a thicker accent than before. “This always happens when it’s hotter than 35 degrees centigrade. The cooling system cannot function efficiently and fails. It’s a design flaw of these trains and it happens every summer. Sometimes people die in these trains.” The fennec’s ears swept backward in pathetic show of sympathy. David, however found that gesture to be so cute that had to cover a smile with his paw and a sympathetic groan.
David changed the subject and asked, “does it always get this hot?”
“Seldom,” replied Jan, “it’s called the Föhn.”
“What’s a Föhn?“
“The Föhn is a strange and infrequent weather phenomenon. It happens when hot, moist Mediterranean air creeps over onto this side of the Alps. It usually only happens in the spring, where it is never this bad, but it can happen in the summer as well. It can effect Switzerland and Austria and even as far north as Stuttgart or Munich. Do you see those long elongated clouds up above?” Jan looked out the window and pointed up above the pine tree tops at a long ribbon of cloud that passed overhead. “That is a tell-tale sign of the Föhn. If there are clouds during the Föhn wind, then they appear long and stretched out like that one.”
David nodded and glanced out and up at the long cloud, which stretched all the way to the chain of Alps, where it pulled itself over the cleft ridge of the rocky peaks.
“It’s said that the Föhn wind has other effects,” continued the Fennec. “It is said that people sometimes behave strangely during the Föhn. Some people become lethargic or moody; others who are normally glum or shy become elated and outgoing. For some people, it can trigger the libido, others it can make physically ill. Suicides also rise during the Föhn wind. It all is supposed to have something to do with rapid and significant changes in barometric pressure as the heat creeps north, but I am not sure.” Jan glanced at David, peering along his tapered muzzle through his spectacles inquisitively. “Do you feel any different?” he asked.
“Hmm,” uttered the otter, considering what Jan had said. He had felt different, he thought over the past few days, but could not express why. David thought about what Jan had just said about the libido. He had felt a distinct increase in the awareness of his own sex drive he had thus far repressed, but had attributed it to witnessing the pair of huskies and the long time since he had, shall we say, addressed his own needs. Yet there he sat, talking more openly with a stranger than he had been able to with his friends and family back home. He even noticed himself picking up some of the Fennec’s emotes. Perhaps he had opened up and became a little more outgoing and aroused due to the strange phenomenon, but the thought intimidated him. “I don’t think so,” he less than truthfully replied.
“I see,” said Jan “I’m glad I won’t have to talk you out of suicide then, we were having such a good time.” The fennec turned his inquisitive glance into a smile, a telling smile of sly awareness which perhaps implied that the fennec knew more than David let on. David, while flattered by the direct smile felt uneasy about what belied that gesture.
“Either way,” said Jan “it’s starting to get very uncomfortable in here.” He tugged at his collared shirt and undid another button. “How about you?”
David rubbed his temple and expelled a breath through his lips. “Yea, it’s really getting bad in here. Hold on.” The otter stood up and began digging in his backpack which rested on the luggage rack above his head. He fished out a large bottle of water which he opened and took a sip, then handed over to Jan, who also drank from it. “Why thank you. I was getting thirsty.”
The fennec reclined in his seat and began to fan himself with his notepad. Both he and the otter looked out at the passing landscape. A large body of water, a lake shimmered in the distance. “I wish we could stop and take a dip in that,” said David.
“I’ll bet you are a fantastic swimmer,” said Jan with wide eyes and an accentuation of genuine praise.
“It’s one of my favorite hobbies. I was on the swimming team back home at school and I’ll sign up as soon as I make it to campus this fall.”
“Did you ever swim naked?”
David paused, not expecting that question though he gave an answer as truthful as possible. “Occasionally.” He paused a moment and realized Jan expected him to elaborate. “I think I swim faster when I do. My friends and I used to skinny dip in the lake when I was a kid, but…”
“It is a delightful feeling isn’t it? Especially on a day like this. We don’t get that many warm summer days up north, when a peaceful dog day like this arrives. When I was in school I would count the seconds until the end of the day and make a beeline to the reservoir, throw off my clothes and dive right in with my friends. Those classrooms where so hot and stuffy, almost as bad as this cabin. Oh, you are making me lust over those days. Remind me to find the nearest lake when we get to Milan.”
“You can follow me,” David joked. Jan however appeared to take him for his word.
“I’d love to. I can’t wait until we arrive. There are a number of baths in Milan we could go to, some that date back to the Roman Empire. You will notice that they don’t frown upon nudity there, we can skinny dip all we want.” Said the fennec with melodic intonation laden in his native accent, his ears were perked and his eyes wide and expectant with anticipation.
David looked up in surprise, about to correct Jan and clarify his previous statement, but before he could, Jan changed the topic once again.
“You have me all worked up now. I simply can’t stand it in here anymore. Do you mind if I take off my shirt? I fear I might expire if it gets any hotter.”
David, still confused, stuttered out, “umm,” not entirely comfortable with the fennec’s suggestion, but the fennec looked at him with a pleading glassy eyed stare that seemed to urge him to say yes. “I guess so.”
Jan smiled and proceeded to unbutton the rest of his cotton shirt. He stood up and slipped it off his back, hanging it on a hook intended for coats beside his seat. His chest now bare save for a thin silver chained necklace with an oval pendant. He appeared very slender, despite the fluff of his fur. The long creamy tan fur of the fennec’s chest seemed to obscure the pendant as he reclined back into the seat. The fur transitioned into sleek shorter tan and brown fur along his belly, shoulders and limbs. He looked at David through his spectacles with the sides of his muzzle turned up in what might have been a subtle, modest smile and said, “ahh, that feels much better now,” as he continued to fan himself with his notebook.
“If you need to take your shirt off,” Jan said, “I don’t think anyone would mind.” He pointed his nose at the four remaining empty seats, then at David.
The otter blurted, “I think I’ll be fine,” and begin to fan himself with his copy of Milton.
“Suit yourself,” said the fennec and batted his eyelashes, continuing to watch the otter with an expectant gaze. David, feeling the fennec’s stare upon him, shyly attempted to direct attention away from him and asked, “What’s that?” pointing to the silver pendant, half hidden in the fennec’s fur.
“Oh this,” he said pointing to himself, “this is a pendant I bought last summer on Crete, it’s an Ouroboros.”
“A what?”
“An Ouroborus, it’s a serpent that consumes its own tail. Here.” The fennec reached behind his neck and fiddled with the clasp of the chain. He unlatched it and handed the small oval pendant, not too much larger than a dime, to the otter. David held it within his paw and inspected it. It weighed more than he thought it would for its small size, deducing it was pure silver. A gray patina filled the intricate groves and pits on the serpent depicted on the medallion.
“It’s a symbol,” said Jan, “it’s been interpreted many times in the past by as many different cultures. It’s come to represent…” he paused, struggling to find the right term. “I apologize for the foreign word, an Urform, something… primordial.” David nodded as the fennec continued. “It’s something that means both a clash of opposites and a struggle for wholeness at once. I view it as a symbol that represents open-mindedness, a state of mind that is receptive to the world and is open to change and experience. In other words, know thyself. It’s come to represent my personal philosophy.”
“Wow,” David uttered otherwise speechless, deeply impressed with the object he held and its significance to the fennec. The otter looked up at Jan, who held a soft and serious gaze, the playfulness of his ears and whiskers suddenly halted, then back at the pendant. He flipped it in his paw, on the obverse side appeared a Star of David chiseled into the surface. The otter respectfully handed back the pendant with deepest reverence. The fennec immediately put it back on. With a glint of silver it disappeared back into the fur of his bare chest. Jan held his paw over the medallion and looked at the otter. Peering at him just over the rim of his spectacles with a gaze David hadn’t seen himself ever looked upon. The seriousness in that gaze surprised David, especially having seen it upon the Fennec’s gentle features. The look in the fennec’s eyes bordered on sadness but also a discernable element of hope that startled David, but at once comforted him.
“David,” the fennec said in a steady voice, deeper and more accent laden than usual, “you may take this as my word of advice to you, or you may one day learn it for yourself. It may benefit you to see the world as I do, with an open mind. You are a catalyst of wholeness. Learn to know who you are. Look at the world with open eyes and consider every experience as a way to better understand yourself. Don’t ever deny yourself an experience, for it may be a way to learn about the world and who you are within it. If you want to get the most out of your time here on this continent, or of your future education, be open. If you don’t want to live a life of regret, I suggest you take this advice, or I hope you swiftly come to it on your own.”
They both fell silent. The fennec slid back into his seat and reclined with his chin resting on his chest. He held onto his arms, crossing his chest and continued to look at David with an expectant gaze. The otter reclined as well, contemplative. He looked at Jan, who sat motionless were it not for the occasional flick of an ear. He met his gaze, then at the glint of the silver chain which shone through Jan’s mocha colored chest-fur. David’s eyes focused on the slender fennec’s taught belly and where it ended in the soft black fabric of his pants, a black leather belt with a polished metallic buckle hung around his waist. He looked comfortable, David thought, he looked sexy.
The monotone sound of wheels passing over the track below and the sweep of wind along the skin of the train car became the only discernable sounds. David averted his eyes and looked back out the window. The train had entered higher foothills and passed through a ravine. Deep dark woods rose on either side of the train. It remained dreadfully hot. The otter felt clammy and brushed sweat from his brow. His paw instinctively reached for the top button of his plaid shirt, which he undid. The fennec still looked at him, silent and without motion. Something gave inside David, probably in response to the oppressive heat, or maybe because he felt something expected of him. The otter undid the next button, then the one below that until he slipped out of his shirt and sat bare chested opposite from the equally shirtless fennec.
“Was that so bad?” said Jan, breaking the silence. David considered and did in fact feel cooler, more comfortable and even liberated.
“No,” David said shaking his head, “not so bad at all.”
The fennec smiled, his innate playfulness returning as if it never left. “It’s a good first step. You should be proud of who you are and how you look. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”
“Thanks,” said David modestly, “I appreciate your advice.”
“David,” asked Jan. “Can you take a photograph of me, I’d like to remember this trip.” The fennec picked up his large camera, adjusted some of its settings and extended it to David, who gingerly took it into his paws. “Just press that button, the red one. It’s set to focus on its own.”
David lifted the camera to his eye and aligned it toward the shirtless fennec who sat in his seat reclined, one leg hiked up on a molding strip attached to the wall of the cabin. The fennec beamed an amiable smile with his ears perked in a practiced position. David pressed the red button and the camera clicked with an electric shutter sound. “Another,” said Jan. The camera clicked again. “And another.” Jan sat up and looked through the window, the reflection of the landscape reflected in his eyes. David pressed the button several more times. About a dozen or so more clicks later, David handed the fennec back the camera. Who smiled, “Thank you.”
“Can I take another picture of you?” he asked in an emphatic voice, manipulating his ears to look as coy as possible.
“I…” David sighed nervously, “without my shit?”
“Sure,” encouraged Jan, “you’re just so… cute.”
“I guess so.” David crossed his chest with his arms and looked timidly at the floor, feeling awkwardly flatted by Jan’s description of him. He had thus far never been called cute before and it touched him in a positive way.
“It won’t hurt,” said the fennec, reaching out to pet the otter’s knee. A snap and a click later and Jan had finished. “Can I take another?”
“Okay,” David said with more self-confidence.
“Look natural, open up,” the fennec encouraged, pulling the camera back to his eye.
He didn’t quite know how to look natural. He simply reclined and leaned back, looking expectantly at Jan. Jan smiled from behind the camera and arranged his ears a peculiar asymmetric position that made him look absurd. David smiled just as Jan said, “hold it.” The camera clicked and then clicked again. “Cute, so very cute,” said Jan as he put the camera back down. David smiled, flattered and amused, though unsure of how he should interpret being called cute by the male fennec opposite him. While the compliment touched him, it intimidated him in a way he was unable to express.
“You need to learn to open up a little more,” said Jan. “There is a lot too you. There is something in your eyes, a certain euphoria. You need to let that out more.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s hard to explain.” The fennec scratched his chin, his long whiskers twitched. “Something…“ he paused, “Wesentliches.”
“A what?“ David asked, tilting his head inquisitively.
“Substance,” Jan said, “something essential. It’s sexy.”
“Sexy?”
“I’m sorry, that’s probably not the right word. I think we’ve reached the limits of my English.” The fennec shook his head and glanced obliquely at the cabin floor.
“I think I understand,” reassured David, though still somewhat uncertain as to what the fennec meant.
The fennec leaned back and fanned himself a few times. He removed his spectacles and cleaned the lenses with his discarded scarf before putting them back on his muzzle. He dabbed his brow and temples with the cloth as well. David took another drink of his water then handed it back to the fennec. They exchanged the water bottle a few more times and sat in silence. The heat remained immense and showed no sign of mitigation.
“Damn these high speed trains,” uttered Jan softly, “one should at least be able to open the windows.”
Silence ensued a few more minutes. The fennec continued to fan himself, his ears sagged and he occasionally brushed perspiration from his eyebrows. David too appeared no more comfortable, he sank into his seat feeling the warmth surround him, making it difficult to breathe. The fennec gasped and indignantly unlatched his belt buckle, pulling it off his waist in one motion, tossing it on the seat beside him. David watched perplexed, but felt too lethargic to make note of it.
The fennec stared at David with big glassy eyes. “David,” he said, getting the otters attention. “This might come as an unusual request, but I was wondering if you had anything against me getting undressed.”
“What!?“ exclaimed the otter, “you want to do what? Here?”
“Please,” said Jan, “I’m not used to this heat and humidity and this fur of mine is a garment in and of itself.”
“Won’t people see you?” David questioned, nodding in the direction of the glass door and the isle just outside where people where liable to pass and object.
“These cabins are made for privacy,” the fennec pointed at a set of thick cloth curtains on either side of the glass door, “those are moveable.”
“I don’t know if I’m comfortable with that,” said the otter as he reached for his shirt which he had hung up beside him.
“What’s there to be afraid of?” the fennec asked, “it’s just the male body. Surely your familiar with it already? You have a sheath, do you not?”
“Well, yea, but…” stuttered the otter, getting visibly distressed.
“Hey,” said Jan in a soothing voice. “Look, you said yourself earlier that you’ve been skinny dipping before. It was hot, you wanted to swim and be comfortable. How is this any different? Maybe if you joined me?”
“No,” said David flatly.
They both sat quietly opposite each other, no one spoke for a few minutes as the train moved on. The young fennec looked pleadingly at the otter, who remained indignant. His ears sagged and a look of disappointment and resignation began to settle in his emotive eyes. “It’s just your body.” Jan said after a while. “You would think of all things in the world, you would think you would want to know it best of all. To treat it with the respect and reverence it deserves.” David looked back up at the beseeching fennec. What he saw did not seem like lust, or perversion. The fennec was sly, he had realized, manipulative in a playful way, but he was neither dangerous nor salacious. David genuinely admired Jan. He enjoyed the friendship they had been building and he knew he had established a connection, an understanding with this fennec that he had never shared with anyone since childhood. In the light of what his new friend suggested, he felt too shy, afraid. He felt apprehensive of what he might uncover, or what might arise from that experience. However, David could not deny the humility with which Jan regarded him. David realized that his gaze lacked any recognizable depravity, but rather expressed pity and disappointment. Behind the fear and apprehension he felt palpable intrigue that nagged at the far corners of his consciousness. Despite the taboo, the ingrained need for privacy and a conditioned sense of wrongness to lay eyes on another naked male, let alone sit and converse in the nude, he knew he felt an urge to express himself in just such a way. He felt envy of the ease with which the fennec could suggest such a thing and of the confidence, openness and playfulness he had regarded him with.
The fennec’s gaze never faltered, several moments later he continued, “I just don’t understand how you can be so afraid of your own body. Hopefully, one day you will learn to take pride in it and use it to perceive the world with an open mind.” Jan reclined in his seat and looked out the window and the now close mountain peaks and exposed rock face beyond the glass.
“Okay,” David said, with a nervous sigh of resignation, “let’s do it.”
“Are you sure?” asked Jan, “I didn’t want to pressure you. I only meant to give you some advice that I had to learn when I was slightly younger than you, in other words, not that long ago. It has been wisdom that has treated me well and I hope it treats you well too.”
“No, it’s okay. It’s my decision,” replied David, “I admire your openness. I was never like that and to tell the truth, I have always wanted to be more open.”
The fennec stood up and invited Dave to stand. The slender, bare-chested fennec wrapped his arms around the otter’s torso, the fluffy mocha fur of his chest mingled with the sleek short fur of the otter. Jan pressed his cheek against David’s neck and clung to him with a vigor that David did not expect. The otter hesitated in an instant of confusion before bringing his arms around the fennec, reciprocating the act of kindness. They clung to one another for a tender moment of cursory brevity. David felt the softness of Jan’s fur against him and beneath his paws. He took in his elegant scent and perceived the warmth of his exhalation upon him. The innocent gesture moved David, which touched upon an element of the otter’s subconscious that welcomed the affection of others.
The fennec’s ears perked up again and he beamed at David clearly pleased. “I’m proud of you,” he said. “You just made a difficult decision, but it’s a step in the right direction. You show promise after all.” Jan stepped back, bracing himself on the luggage rack behind him as the train swayed along the curved path in the alpine mountains. “If at any point you feel too uncomfortable, our clothes will be right here. We will both put them back on and you will have learned something about yourself.”
The fennec reached for the curtains on either side of the glass door, pulling them closed along their aluminum track, obscuring the interior of the cabin from the hall. “That should do,” he commented.
No sooner had he closed the curtains, did he begin to unbutton and unzip his pants which fell to the floor. He picked them up, neatly folded and placed them on the rack above him, along with his scarf. His underpants followed, placed carefully atop his other garments on the rack above his seat. He stood before David, totally exposed.
David, out of respect and humility tried not to look at or even acknowledge the fennec’s maleness, but it stood there hard to ignore as he moved about the small cabin. The fennec confidently sat down, crossed his legs and looked out the window at the serene alpine landscape. The fennec’s fur shone a sandy brown on his back and transitioned to a lighter mocha colored tan on his chest and belly and even his sheath. The soft fluffy fur of his slender body resembled the frothy foam of said beverage. The otter noticed a delicate fragrance fill the small cabin, the fragrant musk of European cologne that the fennec must have been wearing. David stood there, holding onto the rack on his side of the cabin for support. He hesitated to join Jan in nudity, struggling with his reservations but eventually gave into the urge to reciprocate the openness the fennec had showed him. Jan turned his head to face the window, obviously giving David time and space to accept the idea of causal nudity.
David reluctantly shed his pants and boxer shorts, folding them and stowing them, emulating the orderliness of the fennec. He stood there, now nude himself, holding onto the rack as the cabin jostled around. He looked down at himself, naked from head to toe, revealing his sleek short dark brown fur, his sheath and furry sac exposed to the warm stagnant air of the cabin.
“Come here and take a look at this,” said Jan, pointing at the tallest of the mountains ahead of the train. “We’re getting into the high Alps now, on the other side is Italy. We’re about to go through some tunnels, some of which are the longest in the world. We are going through the mountains, literally.”
David sat, joining Jan in admiration of the scenery. The heat began to taper off slightly due to the increase in elevation and thinning atmosphere, but the sun still shone on the roof of the train and relief came slow.
“What do you think?” Asked Jan.
“It’s magnificent. I grew up in the flat countryside, mountains like this are breathtaking.”
“And about yourself?” He asked again with his ears now at attention, pointing his nose at the otter, once again peering at him over his bespectacled muzzle, in the general direction of the otter’s sheath. David, noticing the direction of Jan’s glance crossed his legs out of modesty, trying his best to obscure his maleness.
“I feel okay,” he said, “it’s not that I don’t like being naked, like I said, it’s the best way to swim. It’s just weird being next to someone naked, especially… another guy.”
“And how does that feel? Does it bother you?”
“I guess not.”
“Good. It shouldn’t,” said Jan. “While our sex is an important part of who we are, sexuality is something much more fluid and mutable. You should never have to feel ashamed of your sex, or your sexuality. That is something that either is, or changes with you.”
David nodded, still not entirely self assured.
Jan continued, “confronting your own sexuality, in yourself and with others is a vital step in our development as individuals. You are male, I am male. Insofar nothing has changed. We have merely set aside our clothing and are carrying on the same discussion we did before only now more comfortably.”
“That’s true, I guess.” Said David.
“I really like you David,” he continued. “The fates really shined upon us both when they brought us here. It’s been a pleasure getting to know you over the past two hours.”
“It certainly has been,” David replied in total honesty. “You know, I’ve felt awfully lonely on this trip. I came to believe that it’s been a bad idea coming here all alone. I was supposed to have a friend come with me, but these days, money is scarce and he had to bail out. I’m glad I finally have someone to talk to who understands what I’m saying.”
“Traveling can be lonely and daunting, especially for someone so far from home. You’re very brave and I admire that,” said Jan. “I am glad we met and could bond the way we are right now. Once we get to Milan, would you like me to show you around? Then we can visit those baths you wanted.”
“About that…” David chuckled, realizing that was now a mute point.
They continued to converse as the train heaved over the mountain passes and through the first tunnels along the way to Milan. The normally fast high speed engine struggled to pass along the uphill gradient and slowed to a creeping crawl. After one of the tunnels, the train entered along a cliff side portion of track facing a glorious view of the mountain range, including lakes, meadows and forests that stretched far off into the distance. Jan reached for his camera, hastily switching objectives and fumbling with the settings. He took a myriad of photographs of the view before facing David, asking, “would you like to take another picture of me?”
“Of course.”
David’s quick response pleased Jan, who beamed an elated smile back at the otter. Jan’s quick paws manipulated the camera, resetting many of its features and returning the original objective before handing it back to the otter. The fennec huddled in upon his spot, sitting on his tail which draped over the edge of the seat. He brought his legs up to his chest and hugged his knees, resting his chin upon them. His tail flicked up to obscure the little bit of the fennec’s maleness that appeared visible between his legs. Jan swept his large expressive ears back and out in a gesture that David interpreted as modesty, a coy smile appeared on his lips, a smile so slight it would not have appeared in on a photograph under different lighting conditions. The fennec sat in this posture opposite the otter, sunlight and shadow cast upon him from outside. David brought the camera to his face and clicked a series of photographs.
The fennec wagged his tail with delight, otherwise remaining motionless. Perhaps a glimpse of his sheath would make it into the photographs, he hoped. Jan gradually unraveled his body. He slowly leaned back, casually looked out the window and back at David, who continued to snap away. A few moments and several dozen photographs later, the fennec lay stretched out across two seats on the bench opposite David. Jan leaned against the room’s wall by the window, his arm rested on the seat head behind him. His legs spread apart, displaying the creamy brown fur of the fennec’s maleness, the furry sheath and ball sack revealed to the humid air and the innocent eyes of the otter.
David took several photographs of Jan in that pose, observing his naked and now very exposed male form mediated through the camera’s lens. Shadows and sunlight dappled the fennec’s features and lean slender body. Jan’s complex expression revealed modesty, an awareness of his own vulnerability due to his nakedness which belied elements of mature cunning that surfaced in the details of his appearance. A look shone in the fennec’s eyes that appeared timid, coy, yet highly suggestive. David could not tell if he gazed past him, at the camera or directly at him. Either way, the fennec’s form and demeanor would have enticed even the most reticent of men. David found himself enthralled, intrigued as if allowed to behold something forbidden. The fennec’s maleness appeared prominently, perhaps intentionally directly before him. He had thus far averted his eyes out of respect and his own apprehension but now, behind pseudo-anonymity of the camera, he allowed himself look upon Jan’s distinct male attributes. Perhaps through curiosity or perhaps guided by temptation, his eyes drew to it. The outcome as he would later discover resulted in three photographs with the fennec’s sheath centered in the images.
An urge began to flourish within the otter, an urge that he had vehemently denied, but one that had accompanied him throughout his trip and in fact, since his adolescence. The urge of arousal, associated with myriad fantasies and memories catapulted into his consciousness all in that instant. He remembered the huskies in the hostel, the near misses of his teenage years, the self-gratification he turned to instead and the scents and sights that had remained just out of reach. Now, something lay within reach. He saw a counterpart male much like himself; open, exposed and needy. The maleness of a friend he met hours before and was now shared with him in an act of bonding. The otter felt a sudden twinge of realization; he actually considered the craving and desire so illicit and taboo that he had forbidden himself from considering it since his childhood.
The fennec’s eyes quickly darted to the otter’s lap, catching a glimpse of the otters pink cock-tip which had begun to protrude from its sheath. “Ohh,” he said “Oh my, what have we here?”
David looked up from behind the camera, then down at his lap, immediately confronted by the tip of his own maleness peeking out distinctly from its furry sheath. He put down the camera and covered himself with his both paws, a look of shock and intense shame upon his face. The otter quickly got to his feet, concealing his sheath and the exposed tip of his arousal from the fennec’s view. He reached for his folded jeans and draped them in front of his lap. “I can’t do this,” he exclaimed and sat down in the seat furthest to the fennec. “I need to get dressed, this isn’t right.”
“What’s the matter? Get a little excited did we? Relax.”
“I didn’t want this to happen. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. This is not right.” The otter clutched his jeans against his crotch uttering numerous apologies and excuses. He felt too ashamed to even stand and risk another glimpse of himself.
“Relax,” said Jan in calm, composed voice that sounded more effeminate and caring than before. “That’s perfectly normal for someone our age. You’re just a little excited that’s all and there is nothing wrong with that.”
David appeared shaken; he didn’t know what else to say, struck by the painful sting of shame at having become aroused from the fennec’s maleness.
“Are you worried because that happened because of me?”
David nodded.
Jan smiled and consciously downplayed a sense of glee, secretly flattered by the occurrence, but he wouldn’t allow himself to show it. “That’s sweet,” he said “that really means a lot to me, especially coming from you. Like I said, it’s perfectly normal for a boy to...”
David interrupted with a stern elevated voice. “You don’t understand. I don’t know what you think I am or what’s going on here. I am not gay!”
Jan’s appearance suddenly shifted from the warm consoling gaze to a look that could imply nothing other than hurt. “David,” he said with great emphasis and a palpable degree of sorrow. “Why do you have to accuse me of putting you into a category you don’t want to be in? I would never do that to you. All I ever wanted was for you to be yourself, so we could become friends. David, you are a clever, intelligent and creative young otter. I admire that. I truly do.”
It began to dawn on the otter just how much he must have hurt Jan just now; he began to calm down, his shame now in the form of remorse.
“Please,” continued the fennec, who once again resumed the uncharacteristic seriousness he had before, to the same effect, “don’t put yourself in a box you think you need to be in to be happy. Gay, straight, bi. Those are just words we make up to help us understand who we are, to help us feel proud if we feel a certain way. In reality, they are totally arbitrary. You are who you are. You are what you experience and want to experience. It’s so fluid. I would never force you into such a narrow archetype before you have come to know who you are and what you want to be. Please, please don’t tell me I did this to you.”
“I’m sorry,” continued the otter, “I was just shocked, embarrassed.”
“Like I said, you shouldn’t have to be,” said Jan, his sudden and discomforting hard edge softening into sympathy. The fennec paused a moment and looked down at his naked self. He sat on his tail which remained tucked between his legs. He began to fiddle with his tail tip. “So you know.” He said, “so there are no secrets between us. Yes, I like boys. I always have and I like you. You might call me gay. I don’t think of myself like that.”
“Look,” David said, “I really didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. It was just overwhelming that moment. I always thought of myself as straight and then that happened.” He pointed at his sheath, still tucked beneath his folded jeans.”It just felt wrong.”
“Your body thought it felt just fine,” said Jan, a smile spreading back on his face.
“I guess so,” said the otter, regressing into a pensive state. “So much has happened in the last few hours I totally didn’t expect today.”
“But you are enjoying yourself? Am I in the way?”
“No no, not at all, I mean, I was apprehensive at first, but I’m glad I met you. I’ve shared more with you in the last few hours than with any of my friends back home. Not to mention this…” David gestured at himself, “it’s been fun, but so strange.”
“Why is your body so strange?” asked the fennec.
“I don’t know, it’s just that I never really did this outside certain circumstances. I never really pushed to learn my body.”
“If you don’t know your own body, what do you know?” said Jan.
Both fell silent. The train passed into a tunnel. They sat for several minutes and still there appeared no end in sight. The windows shone black. The interior of the cabin reflected itself in the glass. Both looked at each other, then at their reflection in the windowpane.
“There is still plenty of time. I think we only made it to the new Gotthard Tunnel. There is still a long way to go. Can I help you learn to be okay with yourself?”
The otter nodded, still feeling ashamed. He felt ashamed that he hurt the fennec that had thus far only been friendly and helpful. He still had difficulty accepting the fennec’s advice. He knew that deep down, he resisted this urge, this desire he knew he shared with Jan. He knew it would continue to impede him. He sighed, fighting his own resistance and got up, placing his folded jeans back on the rack above his head and returning to his seat. “There,” he said.
“Good,” smiled the fennec fox, clearly relieved. The return of his optimism shone apparent on his every feature. “I know I said I like you. It’s true. I know I said I think you are…” he paused, searching for the correct, perhaps least vulgar word, “very handsome, but please don’t think I want anything from you. All I want is your friendship.”
“Deal,” David agreed, reaching out a paw to shake the fennec’s own, only to his surprise the fennec didn’t let go.
“I’m glad,” he said. “If I ever do something that pushes you or makes you feel uncomfortable, don’t get angry and just let me know.”
“Will do,” said David.
The tunnel continued and did not seem to want to end. The glass remained black and the cabin dark as if it were night and the train traveled over a vast plain under a starless sky.
“May I take some photographs of you now?” said Jan, again pleading cutely, “they are just for you and me and I’ll be happy to share them with you once we get a chance. Maybe they well help you realize how wonderful you are.”
David agreed, still trying to subdue the childish voice inside him that begged for him to stop. David couldn’t help but feel flattered, diminishing the influence of the voice of doubt. He felt a growing enthusiasm for these photographs having become eager to see himself represented on them to determine truth in the fennec’s flattery.
“Stand up,” asked the fennec, “and try standing over by the window.”
The otter obeyed, it still finding the feeling of nudity strange and unfamiliar. The lens of the camera directed upon him felt odd, but at the same time, it remained a fascinating experience. He had to distract himself from renewed arousal. Jan resumed his photography. David moved about the small space, contemplating what it meant to be “natural” according to Jan’s previous advice. He faced the black of the window then over his shoulder at the fennec. The fennec asked, “move your tail a little,” which he did.
Once he made several rounds of the space, he took his seat again and reclined just as the fennec had done earlier in his most arousing pose. The sleek and slender otter, toned from hours of swimming and sport tried his own interpretations of subtle, sexy and coy poses to the fennec’s robust encouragement.
The otter’s short and sleek two-tone fur reflected the dim electric light. He lay on the brown fur of his back and gazed down at the fennec along the lighter shade of his belly and sheath. His long whiskers twitched as he beamed a subtle smile at Jan, attempting to manipulate his short rounded ears in the same way the fennec could. The otter lay down on his side, supporting his upper half on his elbow, sprawled across all three seats on his side of the cabin.
“Hold it,” said Jan. The fennec took several pictures of David in that pose, including what must have been several of the otter’s sheath. David began to feel more relaxed and even enjoyed the attention. Like before he felt the all too familiar urge begin to creep through him and ache in his sheath. The ache he knew from adolescence which had only grown stronger as it carried over into adult hood. He scooted over into his original seat and reclined deep into the spot. He hiked a leg and propped his foot-paw on the small shelf-like table just beneath the window. It was a position he intended to be seductive, but appeared perhaps more lude and erotic than suggestive. He realized he had flashed a bit of his own tail-hole. The fennec was quick to exploit this and maneuvered into position to photograph what was offered. As the shutterbug fennec clicked away at his camera, David noticed his furry sheath swell and the venous pink tip of his cock reemerged from the sheath-slit.
“Oh murr!” exclaimed the fennec, who stopped politely and asked, “are you feeling okay about this now?”
Despite the still hot and clammy atmosphere in the cabin, David shivered and wondered why. He felt very nervous, no doubt, but also excited in more ways than one. “I’m fine,” he said with a skittish smile.
“Good,” said Jan in a brief tone and continued making snapshots of the otter’s intimate flesh as the long narrow member grew from its sheath. David suddenly noticed a small pink arrow protrude from the fennec’s sheath.
David chuckled, attempting to mimic the fennec’s accent, “hey now. What have we here?”
“Shush,” scolded Jan cutely, peering down at the aroused otter through his glasses, attempting to look authoritative.
“It’s kind of hard to look bossy when you’re peeking,” said David in a nervous smile, pointing his nose and whiskers at the fennec’s pink fox-hood.
“So I am,” he said nonchalantly, “looks like we’re both hot and bothered.”
The fennec plopped himself down with so much forced he bounced into his seat just opposite the otter, resting in between David’s spread apart legs. “Are you having fun? Not so bad is it now. Does it still bother you that I have one of these?” The fennec pointed down at his cock-tip, which now clearly protruded.
“I think we have broken so many barriers today, this is not so weird anymore,” said David, visually inspecting himself and comparing his maleness with that of the fennec.
“Does your reaction to all the fun bother you at all?” asked Jan, seeking elaboration.
The otter contemplated, “I guess if a girl asked me to do this, she would have gotten this reaction too. It’s not surprising that you managed for this to happen either. You know, I feel like the same person I did when I got on this train, but now, I feel more relieved, less bothered.”
“That’s excellent,” smiled the fennec, “you should know I didn’t have this planned. I’m just glad I could meet you and help you open up.”
Both the fennec and the otter smiled at each other from opposite sides of the cabin, their naked bodies and unsheathed arousals in palpable proximity. The fennec tilted his head to peer around the otter’s semi-erect shaft which lay upon his belly. David noticed a new emotion upon Jan’s features, something more amorous but sly at the same time. He felt his nervousness return if only in the periphery of his mind. He expected what would come. That moment, with a quick whoosh, the train left the near endless tunnel. Daylight reentered the cabin and the view outside opened up to a renewed mountain vista. The otter and fennec looked out at the open space again, then back at each other.
“David,” Jan began, “you can still say no at any time, it won’t bother me. Can I… help you take care of that?” Jan stared through his glasses at the otter’s exposed male flesh.
David paused and sighed, looking up at the blue sky outside the window.
“One of two things will happen. It will either feel good and right, in which case you have learned something new about yourself, or it won’t, which is also a learning experience you will take from here. If it doesn’t feel right, I’ll stop and we can go back to where we are right now. Remember, nothing you do is binding. You will always be who you are and can be whatever you desire.”
David was unsure if he felt prepared for this next step, though he had expected it would come since the moment his cock-tip emerged for the first time that day. He remembered the years since puberty where he had lusted for such an event and pined for intimate contact. He felt the tension he had perceived between incidents of faltered young love and the near omnipresent arousal that followed, that not even masturbation could cure. He had encountered his first opportunity at intimacy, only with a member of the same gender. If he said no, would he come to regret this? He wasn’t sure.
The patient fennec waited for the otter to consent. He gazed at the otter, perhaps too intensively at his swelling maleness. The otter too watched his cock swell to erectness and realized that his body had spoken for him.
David looked at his member and then at the eager fennec, “I guess you have your answer.”
“Oh murr,” he said once more in a guttural tone, “remember,” he continued in his normal soft accented voice, “if for any reason you don’t like this, I’ll stop.”
David nodded in reply and pulled his body up a little, putting his foot-paws back on the floor. He spread his knees apart in an inviting motion. The fennec got to his knees and slid between the otter’s. He placed his petit paws on David’s thighs, petting his sleek smooth fur soothingly. “Thank you,” he said.
Though the fennec seethed with anticipation, he wanted to reassure David and keep his pace reasonable. He knew fully that he would usher in the otter’s first experience and wanted it to be pleasurable and memorable and especially free of pressure or haste.
Jan’s paws caressed the otter’s thighs and groin. He resisted touching the otter’s furry sack or the smooth otter-cock just yet. Instead he almost teasingly caressed the otter’s sleek taught thighs and hips, passing his delicate paws along the outline of his muscles. The fennec licked his lips as he eyed David’s long shaft, which stood tantalizingly erect only a muzzle length away. He gradually encroached upon his prize, eyeing the otter’s virgin maleness with lustful anticipation. He felt eager, perhaps more eager than David himself, to take the broad tip and the sleek venous girth into his mouth. The fennec slowly brought his muzzle closer between David’s legs, closer to David’s erect, yearning cock. David could feel Jan’s heated breath upon the exposed flesh. His entire maleness ached with arousal and anticipation. The distance between the fennec’s slender, tapered muzzle and the otter’s rigid shaft decreased with each tantalizingly slow second. David watched the inches between them disappear with a contemplative gaze that belied his eager expectations. The fennec too beamed with palpable excitement as he eyed the prize of his persistence. His bright eyes darted to David’s, expressing sympathetic understanding and an amiable charm that comforted the otter’s last misgivings, then to the girth of the otter’s cock which stood a whisker away.
Jan’s paws played over David’s thighs and waist, his muzzle breaching the now minute distance to the otter’s shaft. The fennec’s head tilted and his supple lips pressed to the smooth pink surface of the otter’s cock in a tender kiss. Jan’s tongue tip then dashed out in a quick lick, moistening a portion of David’s member. The fennec’s eyes looked up at David with his ears tucked back in humility and a pleading look desiring consent to continue. The otter inhaled with delight and excitement, eyes half open at the contact, he nodded quickly without hesitancy.
The fennec’s tongue returned to the exposed otter cock, showering it with quick and lustful kisses and licks, slickening the member with ample saliva in a matter of moments. David gasped as his arousal finally began to receive the attention he had longed for since puberty, attention that he had stifled out or denied himself though his own inwardness. The otter exhaled a sigh of pleasure and bucked his hips lustfully. Jan brought his paw to the base of David’s cock, wrapping his dainty fingers around the otter’s girth. He directed the otter’s length toward his muzzle and applied a long lick along the dampened underside of David’s cock from base to tip. The fennec’s tongue passed over soft ridges and pre-cum laden pee-slit of the otter’s cock. Wrapping his lips around David’s cock-tip, Jan let the tip into his warm muzzle. David shuddered with pleasure, much to the fennec’s relief and own delight.
The fennec’s tongue danced over David’s cock-tip, passing slickly over the smooth dome and its sides. Jan lapped at the otters pee-slit, sucking gently, welcoming the slightly sweet drops of David’s pre into his muzzle. The taste of the otter’s arousal began to spread through the fennec’s muzzle, enticing him onward and fueling his hunger. The needy fennec-fox slid his muzzle down the slickened girth, letting more and more of David’s cock past his lips with every moment. David squirmed and bucked out of inexperienced eagerness. The fennec, with his firm controlling grip on the base of David’s cock was not negatively affected, only pleased to have exalted a response. Jan, with his advantage of experience, began to squeeze and massage the base of the otter’s cock. The movements of his grip pumped up and down the slick girth as his lips clenched tight, his tongue swirled around it closer to the tip.
Jan murred with his mouth full of the otter‘s maleness. The taste of David’s arousal filled his muzzle and the scent permeated his sensitive nostrils. The alluring sensation of the smooth flesh of the otter’s member gliding past his lips and along his tongue coupled with the unique and telling tastes and aromas both satisfied and stimulated his own desires. Soon the fennec’s own crimson cock protruded erect, dangling stiffly beneath his belly. Jan’s attention however remained directed upon on the otter. With pride and pleasure he skillfully suckled and slurped his way down the otter’s cock, honored to be the first able and permitted to take the young otter’s maleness into his muzzle. With that sense of satisfaction that he administered all the skills and experience he knew he had.
The fennec’s head, with its large and prominent ears began to bob up and down the long shaft of David’s cock. David felt enraptured as he felt the moist warmth of another’s muzzle surround his cock for the first time in his life. The deft and blissful sensations of the fennec’s tongue, lips and paw working in unison to please him, reverberated through his body and mind in a previously unknown way. The unfamiliar urge that had aroused him and later convinced him to permit the invitation of the male fennec now merged with the unfamiliar sensations emanating from within his erection in a way that seemed forbidden and illicit, yet undeniably good and exciting.
David reached out and began to caress the fennec’s enormous ears, which had been tempting him to do so since the fennec had entered the cabin. Jan emitted a muffled murr of delight in response to the otter’s touch. Jan’s soft tan-furred ears appeared larger than David’s paws and playfully twitched and shifted to his touch. The otter caressed Jan’s ears tenderly, running his paws over their broad surface and passing his webbed fingers through the fennec’s head-fur. The grateful fennec softly moaned and murred at the otter’s attention, seemingly equally pleased on his end.
Jan moved the paw on which he supported himself on David’s thigh and brought it down to the stiff cock hanging beneath him, idly stroking it as he concentrated on the otter. Jan bobbed continuously, sliding the domed otter-cock-tip deep into his muzzle and throat. The smooth rounded tip and the shaft that followed it gild between the fennec’s tongue, the ridges of his palate and the soft tissue at the back of his muzzle. A mix of saliva and otter pre slickened David’s maleness allowing it to slide easily and pleasurably between Jan’s fangs. Jan’s tongue-tip flicked along the underside of David’s cock, coaxing more of his delicious otter-pre into his muzzle.
The train they rode in heaved continuously down a long narrow mountain canyon. Tall stone mountain tops obscured the hot summer sunlight and cast shadow on the slender shape of the train as it heaved through steep mountain passes. Sparse pine trees grew from between boulders and crags and out of hillside meadows on either side of the train. The winding track jostled the train and those within it, including the fennec and otter, both totally engrossed in an illicit act. Within their cabin the monotonous rumble of train on track persisted amist the sounds of slurping, moist fapping and the occasional groan, gasp and murr of its inhabitants, both encompassed by warm moist summer air laden with the musky scents of arousal.
David held his paw on Jan’s scalp, his fingers idly playing and teasing the fennec’s ears which angled back down his neck. The otter bucked eagerly, passing his long otter-hood through the fennec’s pre and saliva soaked paw and on further into his muzzle to the back of his throat. Jan’s experience and skill allowed him to accommodate the long otter-cock. The fennec held onto the cock-base, which would not fit into his small muzzle, griping and squeezing it in unison with his sucking. A mixture of pre and saliva dripped down the otter’s shaft and spilled onto his moisture resistant fur, where it formed droplets which rolled down his sheath and balls.
The otter, lost in an embrace of pleasure he had never before experienced. Both knew he and the otter could not last long, nonetheless he held on, clinging to the pleasure for as long as he could. The otter desired to cling to those sensations, the wonderful feeling of the fennec’s muzzle and tongue, but the urge kept growing. The inevitable desire to release kept growing, rising from within the otter’s abdomen, aching from within his cock and ball-sack. David struggled between both urges, wanting to last as long as possible, but the need to cum became so urgent, so forceful that his body gave in before his mind.
“Jan!” he said, but before he could warn the fennec, he came, flooding the poor diminutive fox with weeks of pent up otter cum. The fennec didn’t seem to mind. David’s balls tensed up and his cock throbbed, jetting copious amounts of hot, pungent seed from the otter’s domed cock-tip. Numerous bursts oozed from the otter’s pee-slit, coating the fennec’s throat and tongue with the flavorful fluid. Jan murred and slowed his movements, coming to a halt with the otter’s cock deep inside his muzzle, swallowing all David could give him. The fennec’s tongue slid around the base of David’s shaft, not permitting a drop to escape. Jan continued to suckle until the trickle of otter-cum ceased and David’s arousal began to wane. With tightly pinched lips the fennec slid the otter’s now semi-limp cock from his muzzle, leaving it clean and slick, glistening with saliva, pre and cum.
The fennec smiled bashfully, licking his lips and whiskers. “What a poor deprived little otter you were,” beamed Jan, “feeling better now I hope.”
David’s features shifted to a smile, seeing the fennec’s elation. “I’m sorry about that,” he said.
“About what?” said Jan, perplexed, tilting his head and shifting his ears in an asymmetric pose.
“It just sort of happened,” continued David, “I didn’t want it too, I wanted to warn you, I just couldn’t control it in the end.”
A smile quickly returned to the fennec’s face, who’s ears perked back to their upright position. “That’s just fine, it wouldn’t have made any difference.” Trying to talk dirty he continued, “I wanted you to cum in my muzzle.”
The otter smiled and said, “thanks, that was fantastic. Good job!” putting emphasis on good job as if praising a pet.
The fennec got to his feet. His knees ached and trembled from leaning on them so long. He climbed up onto the otter and wrapped his arms around David. The otter returned the hug without reservations, even though he felt the fennec’s erect cock press against his belly. Jan kissed David’s cheek and smiled at him cutely, with his nose a fraction of an inch away from the otter’s. David felt their whiskers touch. He felt bashful and sensitive in post ejaculatory tenderness. He felt the creeping doubt return, the sensation of shame and his internal condemnation of his own behavior. David had come to loath those emotions and wanted to dismiss them once and for all. In an act of total spontaneity, David leaned in and kissed the cute fennec on his lips.
Jan’s eyes and ears perked in a moment of total surprise and then relaxed. The fennec closed his eyes his ears falling back and met the otter in a tender kiss, the otter’s first. David held the fennec against him, lips pursed upon lips for many moments, not wanting it to end. They exhaled softly against one another, their naked body’s held close, fur pressed against fur. Jan’s arousal throbbed and seeped pre on the otter’s belly. Neither cared for the moment, they simply lost themselves as participants in a meaningful kiss.
As the kiss came to an end, the otter leaned back, both smiled at each other with newfound warmth. “Wow,” said Jan, “I didn’t think you had that in you.”
David nodded, “neither did I. A part of me wanted to and I let it happen.”
“Good,” smiled the fennec, “I’m glad you let that part through. It’s cute, it’s special and it’s made my day more special than it’s already been.”
Both looked upon each other and met in a renewed kiss, a shorter but no less special one. “Here,” said Jan, leaning back and getting to his feet, “let’s get more comfortable.”
Without warning, he reached under David’s seat and pulled. To David’s surprise, the seat he sat on, the cushion beneath him budged and him with it. The seat-back slipped down along with it and fell flat with a clank. He no longer sat reclined on a seat, but rather a cushioned plank that extended halfway into the cabin. Jan turned and did the same to the seat he had rested on. With another clank it locked into place. David moved his legs out of the way and realized the opposing seats had now become a makeshift bed, or cot that stretched from wall to wall.
“These cabin’s convert to sleeper cars for long overnight trips,” explained Jan, noticing the otter’s bewilderment. “That’s why even modern trains have these old cabins, curtains and convertible bed-seats.”
David nodded, pleased to have a more a roomy place to lie down and relax. He scooted his body down and lay stretched on his back with his arms behind his head and his tail to the side. His cock still hung out of his sheath and on his belly. The fennec saw this and smiled. He took the opportunity to bring forth his camera and take another dozen or so photographs. Thereupon he climbed up on the makeshift bed and laid down chest to chest, facing the otter nose to nose. As soon as he lay upon David he humped, sliding his erect fox-hood through the otter’s belly fur. “Sorry,” he smiled, “just making myself comfortable.”
Their lips returned to each other in a new, prolonged kiss. Their eyes closed and their heads tilted to make way for the tender gesture. David brought his paws to the fennec’s back, where his fingers spread through Jan’s soft fur. The fennec’s tail flicked with pleasure. David’s long whiskers brushed against Jan’s, who’s twitched with delight. The scent of arousal now filled the room, especially the smell of released otter-cum which still lingered in the fennec’s muzzle. David thought he could taste it upon his own lips and darted his tongue to wet them, upon which the fennec did the same. Jan’s tongue-tip dashed out, poking at the otter’s lips as a sign of invitation. David coyly repeated the gesture and Jan’s lips parted. Soon both engaged in a deep passionate kiss with tongues gliding slickly against one another through partially opened muzzles. The fennec demonstrated himself more than eager to share the taste of the otter’s pre and semen and allowed David to explore the recesses of his muzzle with his tongue, where the flavor still resided.
The still very aroused fennec began to buck his hips, pressing his firm cock against the otter’s belly. The pre-slick shaft slid through David’s fur, leaving it damp with the fennec’s essence of arousal. Jan continued to hump, grinding his member against the otter in lustful and needy motions as they kissed. David felt the intimate part of the fennec pressed against him, driven across his torso in lustful bucks. Its girth and bulbous knot, as well as its tapered tip as it parted his belly-fur. Whatever objections or reservations David had about intimate contact with the same sex were now a moot point; he had already crossed too many boundaries to feel shame. The otter slid his paw between both bodies and took hold of the fennec’s cock. Jan moaned into the kiss, feeling the otter’s webbed paw wrap around his length. David felt the fennec’s cock throb, its smooth venous surface slick with pre that made it pass easily through his grasp.
Jan occasionally moaned and murred, all muffled into their intense kiss. David held the aroused member of another male, enjoying the touch of warm slick fennec cock on his paw-pads. The passionate heat, the scents and musk around him and his youthful libido caused a stir in David’s own maleness. The otter’s cock soon grew back to its full firm size, wedging itself between David and Jan. The otter bucked, sliding his exposed firm cock against the fennec’s sack, sheath and fur. The soft downy fur of the fennec felt good against the slick skin of the otter’s member. Their hips shifted and soon their exposed cocks touched and slid against another. Jan bucked faster, inching himself closer to release, which he too, badly needed.
The urge within David that had enabled him to cast aside his reservations never truly departed. The ache for climax had only been temporarily stilled and now resurfaced with as much force as before. Everything that made him male throbbed with renewed desire not only for release, but to go all the way for the first time in his life in other words, to fill his highest sexual desire. Upon him lay a body which surly had the same goal. A fantasy emerged that saw him sliding his cock into the fennec’s tail hole and mating with him until both climaxed in a moment of passion.
David overcame the last reservation and broke the kiss, he looked at the fennec who amorously gazed back down and asked, with a shaking timid voice, lacking eloquence but stating the important question on his mind. “Do you want to…” he said, without finishing the statement.
The fennec smiled back at him, pleasantly surprised. His ears shot up and his eyes sparkled, “you want to mate with me? I’d love to! That is, if you think you’re ready.”
David simply nodded, revealing his eagerness, “I am.”
The fennec kissed David several times all over his face and lips. The inexperienced otter wasn’t quite sure of what he should do next or how he should proceed. Fortunately the more worldly fennec saw this and began to guide the otter. He had come prepared, for he always brought a bottle of lubricant in his sundries bag. “Wait a minute,” said Jan, who climbed off the otter and got to his feet. The naked fennec stood up and began to shuffle through his backpack which he had placed upon the luggage rack. He had to stand on his toes to reach the bag, his tail raised for balance and to give the otter a view of what he would soon be a part of. Between the rounded mocha furred butt cheeks resided the bare vulpine tail-hole which stood out pink amid the brown fur. Moments later he returned with a small blue bottle of something labeled Gleitmittel, which he placed on the small shelf beneath the window. “For the future,” Jan said, “you’ll always want to have some of this around.”
The slender fennec climbed back on the makeshift cot, straddling David. He kneeled above the otter with his knees on either side of his waist. The otter smiled, taking Jan’s slick crimson cock back into his paw and giving it a few strokes. “You be careful now,” the fennec warned. “It’s been a while for me.” David nodded with understanding. The fennec kissed him on the lips once more.
Jan leaned back and took the bottle into his paw. He opened it and poured some of the liquid it contained onto his finger paw-pads and lifted his tail. Then he began to rub the substance onto his own tail-hole. Another few drops were used to lubricate the otter’s long hard shaft with its domed tip. David moaned softly with pleasure as the fennec applied the slick cool substance onto his arousal. Pre-cum resumed its flow from the otter’s tip, aiding in the process.
The fennec looked down at David, displaying the exuberant eagerness on his features that had come to characterize the fennec’s demeanor, but also something else the otter had seen before. Jan looked timid, perhaps even afraid, as if he were about to give up something of his own. “I’m ready,” he said, “are you?”
All David replied was, “yea,” as he brought a willing smile to his face. The otter’s gaze went from the fennec’s eyes down to his cock, which he held.
In that moment the sunlight vanished and darkness enveloped the train as it entered the Lötschberg tunnel whose terminus would be miles away in the north of Italy. The sound of the train changed, its rumble diminished to the point where all they could hear was the rush of wind and spinning of wheels. The dim interior lighting that could barely brighten the cabin cast all the light that remained once in the dark of the tunnel. Flashes of white light flooded the room as the train sped by the tunnel’s interior lighting, strips of bright fluorescent beacons that lined the tunnel walls from mouth to exit. The passing lights flashed two or three seconds apart, illuminating the totally naked furred bodies poised in anticipation and arousal on the verge of mating for a mere instant. The tunnel lights shone upon their features, their glistening cocks, their sleek fur and their emotive faces. Both brimmed with an untellable multitude of thoughts, emotions and reservations, dominated by burgeoning affection for one another. They gazed at each other nose to nose in the alternating strobe of light and dark.
The fennec raised his tail and scooted forward, positioning himself above David’s abdomen. He took the slick glistening otter-cock and directed its wide domed head at his slick, wrinkled tail-hole. He lowered himself to the point where the tip touched the warm opening to the fennec’s body. Both looked at each other and knew they did not have to respond for each other’s consent, that their desire and their needs had become mutual. Jan grunted as the tip of the otter’s cock pressed its way into his body as he descended. David felt the heat of Jan’s intimate passage as it touched his arousal and as it began to envelope his maleness within its tight taboo confines.
Jan’s body shuddered as the wide cock-tip parted his tail-hole and pushed its way in, deeper and deeper, at the fennec’s pace. David remained still, refusing his instinct to buck up and hilt the poor fennec. Jan’s eyes clenched tightly shut. A quiver shook his long eyelashes. A look not of pain but of endurance took over his features. David’s cock-tip slipped past the tight ring of muscle and into the hot, smooth passageway of billowy tissue. It inched its way in, spreading apart the fennec’s tail-hole with its girth until the fennec came down to rest upon the otter.
David massaged Jan’s member, hoping to make the process a little more pleasurable, though he grew distracted at the sensations of warmth and tightness creeping around his cock as the fennec took him in. The significance of what had occurred began to compute in the otter’s mind, the never before experienced pleasure of mating, the awareness of being inside another body coursed through his limbs and nerves along with the understanding that in those very moments he was being initiated into true adulthood. He gasped and sighed out of pure bliss, feeling his cock throb inside Jan, restricted by the tight confines of the slender fennec whose slick insides hugged every inch of his girth.
The fennec hilted himself on David’s arousal and emitted a deep sigh of relief and satisfaction. He only paused when the otter’s sheath bunched just beyond his tail-hole, indicating the totality of union. Jan smiled down at the otter with an affectionate gaze, visibly taxed by the task of accommodating the larger young otter. His features looked strained to their limits but the smile upon his muzzle and the rock hard firmness of his cock expressed that effort of fitting every inch inside him was worth it. “You’re in,” he said with a wavering voice, “how does it feel?”
The otter reached up and caressed Jan’s stressed face in a gesture of empathy. His paw passed over the cool black nose, long whiskers and supple tan and mocha fur of his muzzle and cheek. “It feels great!” he said, realizing what a woeful understatement he had uttered, that nothing that coursed through his mind that could adequately express his affects and sensations. David knew that even if he could speak as many languages as Jan and a dozen more he would still have come short. The pleasure felt beyond physical, much more intense than the feeling of one’s cock wrapped in the hot velvet confines of a fennec’s tail-hole alone. He felt pride and emotional satisfaction for having defeated shame and hesitation, rewarded with the pleasure of leaving adolescence through the arbitration of a caring newfound companion.
The fennec in an absence of words leaned down and met the otter in a renewed kiss. The otter held onto the fennec’s cock, rubbing its tip with his thumb paw-pad, his other paw slid down the fennec’s slender frame and came to rest upon his hip. The fennec braced himself above the otter, who’s cock throbbed deeply within him. Jan murred with contentment at the feeling of the tense otter-cock flexing inside him. He constricted his tail-hole which clutched firmly around the base of David’s cock and began to slide his supple body back up along the slick length.
The fennec’s body shuddered as the otter’s cock-tip tugged against his insides with the reversal in motion, then forced its way back in, spreading the passage apart with his renewed descent. The otter could no longer hold back his restraint and met the fennec’s descent with an eager bucking movement that saw the poor fennec re-hilted and moaning with delight into their kiss. The movement repeated then reiterated itself. The experienced fennec, familiar with the nuances of the position subtly guided an controlled the otter’s tempo, who while eager, bucked out of instinct rather than know-how. Jan kept their pace slow and intimate, desirous of making the experience memorable for the otter and keeping him from over eagerness which would bring too soon an end to their union.
David felt enraptured by the slick warmth of the fennec gliding up and down his maleness; his hips bucked and met Jan’s rear with every motion in an audible clap. David’s otter-hood easily slid through the exposed flesh of Jan’s stretched tail-hole and warm slick body. The involuntary constrictions of the fennec’s tail-hole were futile in their efforts to obstruct the eager otter, they only enriched the pleasure of his movements. David moaned softly into the kiss, feeling his slick cock slide in and out of the lithe fennec, who welcomed his every thrust with warm snugness that massaged his shaft and sensitive cock-tip. Every withdrawal left him yearning to re-hilt Jan, to be part of him in the most intimate of ways. The longing for union, to mate, that had accompanied him through adolescence was finally being realized. He felt as if he could not thrust deep enough, could not cling tight enough, could not kiss passionately enough to fully satiate that ancient longing that held him. Every fiber in his body willed him to proceed and every moment of pleasure was its reward.
The otter-cock glistened with lube and pre, illuminated by the flashes of tunnel lights through the window as it withdrew from the fennec. The same lights flashed revealing an image of David’s cock, sheath deep inside Jan, with the otter’s ball-sack damp with leaked fluids, bouncing in synch with the motions of his hips. The lights in the tunnel pierced the dimness, disclosing two young bodies in heat. Fully bared sleek fur reflecting fluorescent white glow, the ripple of muscle strained and braced dealing and receiving passionate thrusts, closed eyes, locked lips, twitching whiskers and exposed arousals in graphic pose. The strobe created by the passing of a near endless, kilometers long procession of lights, uncovered the bodies of the otter and fennec, divulging details and images that would otherwise have been lost in the dimness and cast their shadows across the cabin.
Jan rocked back and forth upon the otter, meeting his hips in eager motions that sent the tip of David’s maleness deep inside his body. The wide domed tip slid in so far, it forced him to emit soft grunts and moans muffled by their kiss. It passed into tighter, deeper, seldom reached sections of his passage and gave him the intense sensation of fullness he so greatly relished. Jan milked the otter’s cock of its pre, which flowed copiously from David’s pee-slit, coating his already well lubricated fennec interior. Jan intentionally manipulated his tail-hole to that very end, vigilant of the sensations his attempts would elicit as the otter cock pulsed within him. He willed every drop the otter could give into his body, murring at that thought of pre coating his passage and in anticipation of the arrival of what would inevitably supersede otter-pre.
Jan’s body felt hot with arousal both inside and out, heat emanated from beneath his fur and the exposed skin of his fox-hood. David held Jan’s canine cock in his grasp, alternating between stroking and squeezing Jan’s girth, that felt unusually hot to the touch. The paw-pads of David’s fingertips easily glided over the pre-slick surface, exploring it from the tapered tip which terminated in a curled up point and the tender pee-slit, down the venous shaft to the fully engorged knot. Jan was unsure if the otter’s attention was ambition, courtesy or curiosity, but his effectiveness could not be denied.
Jan had long since surrendered himself to a world of pleasure that progressively grew more intense. The sensation of being filled by a sizeable otter cock brought enough pleasure. Its movement through his passage, its tug and pull along his sensitive tissue and its pressure against his prostate stimulated him even more, but the inquisitive touch and stroke of the otter upon his fox-hood brought him to the limit of what he could bear. It moved him to an in-between realm, caught between cock and deft paw, internal pressure and external pleasure. He realized then that he had surrendered control. He no longer could, nor desired to be in command of their mating. The otter’s grip on his hip had intensified, it was no longer Jan that decided how fast to rise and descend and how deep he would allow the cock within him, it was David. The fennec felt their pace intensify. He felt David begin to guide him upon his shaft. The rate with which their movements met each other grew more forceful. Jan didn’t care, the fennec knew his climax was at hand.
David allowed the pace of their mating increase. His paw now held Jan’s slender hip in a tight grasp and was subconsciously guiding the fennec’s smaller body. With a telling touch of his fingertips he could direct the fennec forward and backward to angle Jan’s body and intimate passage into his thrusts, allowing David the desired friction and stimulation he now craved for release. Jan didn’t seem to notice. With the immense pleasure and the encroaching climax he both fought and welcomed, he perceived a level of satisfaction beneath the undeniable urge that rapidly built up within in his prostate and fox-hood. Jan knew he could no longer hold back this urge, the urge the otter had instilled. He knew the otter approached the start of his own climax and neither he nor the David wanted to, or could stop.
In the intensifying moments of their heated union they broke their kiss and panted, gasped and emitted muted moans. Both noticed how heavy the scent of sex now persisted in the cabin. Male musk, the pheromones of arousal, the heat of intimate regions coated in pre all lingered heavily in their nostrils and fueled their desires. The scents were enough to push the fennec over the edge. He could no longer fight the rational desire to prolong their union. The urge, the welling of the blissful ache in his fox-hood, in his balls and prostate could no longer be held back. The fennec braced himself upon the makeshift bed and emitted a gasp laden with lustful desire, relief and the familiar agony of pleasure. Jan’s cock began to throb and shower long threads of white fox-cum upon the otter’s chest, belly and neck. The repressed male essence of the fennec coated David and splashed onto his face and whiskers.
David watched distractedly as Jan emptied his seed upon him. He saw the viscous pools of fennec cum land and cling to his fur and weigh down his whiskers. The new and intriguing scent of fox seed drowned out all other musks and fueled his own craving for release. David let go of Jan’s spent and oozing fox-cock and brought his spoogy paw to Jan’s other hip to aid in his guiding. The over stimulated fennec responded, gasping in post ejaculatory overload, receiving no reprise from push and pull of the cock within him and the otter’s heated thrusts. Jan’s last desire was to be filled up with more than just pre, the fantasy of otter cum coursing through him and filling his body as a reward for his endurance, aided him through the final moments.
David and Jan insatiately rocked together, the otter’s cock sliding quickly in and out of the weary strained passageway. Jan concentrated on flexing his tail-ring, urging the otter’s climax. David too began to feel the unstoppable sensation passing through him. His balls contracted, his cock throbbed and with a final motion, he thrust it up into the fennec and his paws held him there, restrained as he was being bred. In that moment, with that final thrust David’s virginity was concluded. Otter cum jetted into Jan’s tail-hole, amid loud murrs the hot fluid coursed through his intimate passage, deep inside him. The thick male substance shot out of the domed tip of the otter-cock and seeped into all the billowy crevices between their flesh. David sighed as his seed left his body, gazing up at the ceiling on which was cast the flashes of tunnel lights.
As the throbbing within David’ cock eased, so did the tension in his hips. Both he and Jan relaxed on the makeshift bed, breathing heavily and murring softly. In those moments of post coitus the dim in the room suddenly turned to grey, then back into bright yellow daylight as the train exited the tunnel and entered the northernmost canyon of Italy. Both shut their eyes since the sudden light pained them. As soon as they reopened them, they met each other in an affectionate glance and leaned in for another tender kiss.
Jan then cutely began to lap at the otters features, licking off his own cum which he had spilled upon the otter. David chuckled and mock-resisted. They lay together, upon one another for several moments, caressing each other soothingly in the bliss of post-coitus. The fennec, in a soft and weary voice rasped, “so how was it?”
David didn’t need much time to reply, he said, “it was simply… amazing. Thank you Jan.”
Jan said, “so how does it feel to be an adult?”
The otter took a few moments to consider this question, wondering how to articulate the change within him. He pondered the significance of his entry into adulthood and joy with which had mated with another male. “It’s like it’s a load off my shoulders. Right now I just feel like this weird giddy happiness but also that something important just happened, and it did.”
Jan said, “that’s how I felt. You’ve come a long way today, much further than I thought you would when I laid eyes upon you. I’m glad you came this far with me. It’s really been a pleasure. I hope that you take something away from this. A week or so after my first time I started feeling this confidence that has never left me since. I hope you find that confidence too and that it never leaves you.”
David smiled and said, “I hope I find it too. Thanks for showing me everything you have. I’ve been resisting saying this, but you have become one of the most important people I’ve met. I don’t think I ever made a friend like you.”
Jan smiled and would have blushed had his fur not concealed it. “Will we stay friends after this trip is over?”
David blurted out a resounding “Yes! I don’t just hope so, I will.”
They lay together upon the makeshift bed as the train passed through an ever widening canyon toward Milan. They rested upon each other, Jan resisted letting the otters cock slip from within him but it eventually did with a moist pop, leaving the poor fennec feeling stretched and empty, save for the flood of otter cum inside of his tail-hole, which he clenched to conserve. David too felt a twinge of loss, his shrinking slick cock now exposed to the air. The room remained filled with warm humid air, laden with the scents of cum and the various musks of sex they both relished as they breathed it in on the remainder of their journey south.
They wearily kissed, caressed and fondled one another, eventually moving into a spooning position to better cuddle. The makeshift bed felt far from comfortable but it served its purpose, with a few more stains than before. They continued to converse and plan for their stay in Milan. Jan offered to bring David along with him to stay in his hotel.
“Beats the hostel I had planned,” said David, “those things get creepy fast.”
“And fennecs that you meet on the train and mate with and take you in aren’t?” said Jan.
“Only the cute ones.” Joked David and both laughed.
“I might take you up on that offer to go visit the baths, I’m feeling a bit… sticky,” the otter flexed a matted paw.
“I thought that was already number one on the to-do list?” said the fennec.
“It’s a must now. For you too.” The otter petted the otter’s still damp chest and sheath.
“Murr,” Jan said with sly smile and a seductive accentuation to his speech, “don’t get me started just now.”
Both the otter and fennec noticed a deceleration in the trains speed. They resisted looking out the window to take stock of their location. Moments later an announcement came over the intercom indicating their imminent arrival at Stazione de Milano Centale. David sighed, unwilling to let go of the naked fennec and get dressed. Jan grumbled under his breath, perhaps in another language. Both got to their feet, standing on shaky legs. Jan felt especially wobbly and had to brace himself.
“Just so you know, you’re big. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” Jan said, with a coy smile and flattened ears.
David chuckled, “I always thought I was nothing special.”
“Oh believe me, your special. Extra special.” Said Jan, who tried to move and groaned.
David rewarded Jan with hug from behind and a kiss between the ears. They held each other, still naked and watched the typical north Italian houses fly by as the train entered Milan’s outskirts.
They reluctantly slid back into their garments, which looked slightly more disheveled upon their bodies. David watched the fennec’s sheath disappear back in his briefs and that bulge he found himself longing to touch enveloped by the soft fabric of Jan’s pants.
“Why don’t you take a picture? It lasts longer,” said Jan, mocking indigence.
“Maybe I will, but I’ll have to borrow your camera.” David said with a smile.
“Oh my. That an invitation?” said the fennec.
“You bet, there will be more photographs to come.”
They just finished repacking their loose belongings as the train chugged its way into Milano Centrale, stopping with a hiss at the end of a pier. They reopened the curtains, finding people standing outside, waiting in line to exit the train, appearing none the wiser as to what had just occurred within the cabin. Jan and David waited for the line to pass then exited in the markedly cooler air of the corridor. David shouldered his backpack and the smaller fennec toted his two aluminum cases. They left the cabin empty, save for the scents and musk of sex. David became the first to set his foot-paws upon the train station floor and helped Jan with the larger of the suitcases. They nudged each other knowingly and beamed each other a smile as they made their way to the exit, the hotel and in all likelihood the baths too.
Loudspeakers blared in yet another foreign tongue David could not understand. Footsteps of hundreds, maybe thousands of other travelers echoed in the large building. A whistle blew, a train departed and a child screamed forlorn. David and Jan walked down the steps into the main hall and existed into the plaza in front of the building. The air outside smelled different, it felt warm but not the stifling warmth from within the train. A moist and a cool breeze blew from the nearby mountains. Once they had entered a quieter area, Jan turned to David and said.
“Maybe I take a so called Bildungsreise, to America soon.”
David didn’t understand what that meant, but understood anyway and said, “Maybe I would like that.”
They smiled at one another in a gaze that suggested mutual blossoming affection. Jan took David’s paw as they crossed the busy plaza in front of Milano Centrale, bathed in late afternoon sunlight. David didn’t mind and squeezed it firmly as they walked toward new experiences together.

On the way to Milan © Rufus Quentin